still having issues going back from .zip to .mtz after editing com.android.mms file. here's what i'm doing, maybe you can spot the error.
rename file from [theme].mtz to [theme].zip
open in winzip (was using winrar but was getting syntax/archive corruption error)
rename com.android.mms to com.android.mms.zip
open .zip
open res/drawable-hdpi
rename conversation_list_titled_bg.png to window_background_texture.png
close mms.zip, updates file in [theme].zip
rename com.android.mms.zip to com.android.mms
this is where i'm stuck, i can rename the file to [theme].mtz all day but it doesn't convert back from the .zip format. save as doesn't work b/c it just ends up as a folder with .mtz extension but won't read on the phone, and trying to edit in properties doesn't have any more success. is there anything you can see that i'm doing differently from you?
edit: used 7zip and saved file as .mtz, fixed the issue with the thread background color but caused a new one with the thread selection background going white. a minor kink but i'll work that one out. thanks for the help
edit: solved it, there was only one .png in the theme named conversation_list_titled_bg.png so i was only renaming that one. now i've copied that image to desktop, renamed it to window_background_texture.png, and added it to com.android.mms.zip and i'm pretty sure that did the trick. its sad to go through this much trouble just for a background change but i love this rom