As promised in a previous post about using the blackberry 8700 as a modem, I’ll explain how to get the programs so you can start creating your own themes after the phone is upgraded to OS 4.2.
What I’m using:
1. Phone: BlackBerry (BB from now on) 8700g on T-Mobile network running BB Operating System (OS from now on) 4.2
2. Computer:
- MacBook (Mac from now on) OS 10.4.10
Parallels (build 3214)
Windows XP Service Pack 2
What you will need to download:
Fortunately, the Plazmic site has links to most of the programs you’ll need to download, located under the headings Download and System Requirements. FYI- Plazmic, BlackBerry and Sun sites will all ask you to fill out informational forms before you can download.
Get the programs at http://www.plazmic.com/en/download/index.shtml and have the following files on your computer before you start:
From Plazmic site:
- BlackBerry_JDE_4[1].2.1.exe (Java Development Environment (JDE) v4.2.0 OR V4.2.1)
BlackBerry_Email_MDS_4.1.0-4.exe (BlackBerry email & MDS Services simulator package)
Plazmic_CDK_v4_2_2.exe (Content Developer Kit 4.2.2)
From Sun:
- jdk-1_5_0_12-nb-5_5_1-win-ml.exe (Java SE Development Kit)
Download JDK5: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index_jdk5.jsp
Install instructions: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/install_jdk1.5_12-nb5.5.1_ml.html (It’s updated version 13 now, so file name might not be exactly the same. I used 12 successfully and have not tried 13.)
I’m not uploading programs here, they’re easy to find on the respective sites. If you don’t have the correct version of something you’ll be notified to download it when installing or trying to run the programs.
Next, start installing the programs. I would start with the Java since the other programs need it to run. After I installed all the programs I shut down Windows in Parallels and I also restarted the Mac.
I had to open Plazmic severals times before it would stop freezing upon opening. Once the program was running well I started making a theme with the Theme Builder, which is very easy to use. Take a look around the program and note the image sizes so you can gather whatever icons/pictures/images you’d like to use for the different phone functions.
After saving the theme, the next step was loading it on the phone. Again, this was very easy using the Application Loader in the BB desktop.
The longest processes was installing the programs. Once I got the Theme Builder running I personalized a theme in about an hour and half. I now have an awesome Little Twin Stars theme on my phone!
