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Funky fonts on the P1i

Posted by DaMuffinMan | 1.10.07 | , , | 12 comments »

If you are an adventurous person, or simply just bored of the default font (like me), you might want to consider changing the font on your beloved P1i.

-- edit --
Screenshot is a P990 equipped with Kirby font
-- /edit --

Bear in mind that the instructions only work with phones with the European firmware - it didn't work properly on mine as I run the Hong Kong firmware.

Please remember to back up your files before attempting any of the hacks or mods or anything - I know you value all the information on your phone, and I don't want others to complain that its my fault their phone screwed up ;)

Firstly, use Swiss Manager to navigate to Z: RomDrive\Resource\Fonts. You should see 4 files:

1) Sans-Serif_Latin-Regular.ttf
2) Sans-Serif_Latin-Bold.ttf
3) Sans-Serif_Latin-Italic.ttf
4) Sans-Serif_Latin-BoldItalic.ttf

Now turn your phone off, then find a desired font that uses the TTF format. Rename the regular font "Sans-Serif_Latin-Regular.ttf", the bold font "Sans-Serif_Latin-Bold.ttf", etc. If your font does not have all 4 types in separate TTF files, don't worry. Simply make 4 copies of the same file, but corresponding with the above filenames.

Create a \resource\fonts\ folder on your M2 stick, and place those TTF files in the folder. Eject the memory stick, then put it on your phone and boot it up. Ta Da! You should see new fonts!

If your phone cycles between the Sony Ericsson Logo and turning off (never reaching the Flight Mode / Phone Mode menu) then it means your font is incompatible. At this stage, simply take your memory stick out to let the phone boot naturally. You can put the memory stick in a card reader and delete the fonts or you may opt to choose to let the phone boot first and then stick the M2 stick in to delete the fonts.

If the fonts aren't loading (i.e. default font even though you've added the font files), check again with Swiss Manager that in Z:\Resource\fonts\ the filenames of the default TTF files. Your new fonts must have the same filenames as the ones on your ROM Drive to overlap them.

For East Asian firmwares, I will be putting up a guide soon on changing the fonts. The reason for the slight difference with the European variants is that the P1i's with East Asian Firmwares have the ability to read Japanese/Chinese/Korean/English, and thus you will need to use an East Asian font.

12 comments

  1. Zack // October 2, 2007 8:35:00 AM HKT  

    Hi there,
    Hope you can help me. I just bought a new Sony Ericsson p1i about two weeks ago. About two days ago the phone gave me a problem. Whenever I tried to install application, it will give me "installation file corrupted" message and I can't proceed to install.
    Help appreciated. Thanks

  2. Anonymous // October 2, 2007 5:10:00 PM HKT  

    Nice, but which font is being used on that screenshot? Looks nice!

  3. xtream // October 2, 2007 6:31:00 PM HKT  

    @zack
    Sounds wierd... maybe you should bring it to SE for a fix? Or did you get yours off ebay?

    And the font in the screenshot is Kirby

  4. zack // October 3, 2007 12:03:00 AM HKT  

    hi xtream.. solve it by updating the firmware as suggested by sony ericsson support team. thanks.

  5. MikeBiKe // October 3, 2007 5:58:00 PM HKT  

    Allright, downloaded the kirby font and tried it. Looks very nice! :)

    Oh and remember that you can switch your phone to file transfer mode so you can access the root of the memcard to create those folders (fonts).
    (Meny/Control panel/Connections/USB/)

    And xtream, love your blog! Keep up the good work.

  6. Anonymous // October 4, 2007 9:56:00 PM HKT  

    Hi How do you get fring on the P1i it wont download on mine fring then says device not supported
    thanks in advance
    Neil

  7. Anonymous // October 23, 2007 5:13:00 PM HKT  

    hi, I find difficulty seeing the font in the Virtual Keyboard. can I change this to a larger font? If so what do you suggest?
    I bought new glasses before anyone suggests it.

  8. Mau // January 2, 2008 12:00:00 AM HKT  

    Thanks so much, I'm really looking forward to the Far East version.

    The non-anti-aliased text on my phone (HK software like yours) is driving me crazy, and I'm wondering if there's another way for me to get rid of this and get some anti-aliased fonts on my P1i...aside from flashing the firmware to another version of course. I don't really use the Chinese input all that much :-(

    Thanks again!!

  9. Joon // March 4, 2008 8:31:00 PM HKT  

    For East Asian firmwares, ... The reason ... is that the P1i's with East Asian Firmwares have the ability to read Japanese/Chinese/Korean/English, and thus you will need to use an East Asian font.


    Is it true that P1i with East Asian firmwares is able to read CJK?
    (Singapore one also supports it?)

  10. Anonymous // March 6, 2008 12:14:00 AM HKT  

    I m holding a P1i with Asian Firmwares. The fonts size in P1i is too tiny for me see, even the Large size. Getting older, eye sight getting worst.

    Any ways to increase the fonts size?

  11. Anonymous // May 22, 2008 1:31:00 PM HKT  

    I would to know about font.many times i try to change my P1i and fail.. please let me know is that just a simple procedure and put .ttf file in d\resource\fonts..or need to do something else..or some P1i phone that sold in malaysia can't do this tactic to changing font?Please help me!!!

  12. Shohag Bhuiyan // December 30, 2008 5:59:00 PM HKT  

    is it possible to use unicode-8 font at P1i?

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