How To Add Unicode Fonts to Symbian

[Update 2009-02-17]: Fontrouter project has been open sourced. Some of the download URLs in this post may have been changed. See here for more details.

If you are like me, who got a Nokia N95 with only English but wants to view contents in other languages - e.g. Chinese, Japanese, Korean (CJK), Russian, Hindi, etc. then you will be in a bit of strife.

According to Nokia forum, there is no way that you can install an extra language package on Nokia. You'd have to go to Nokia Care to have them install it for you, for a fee! Well, from my previous encounters with Nokia Care (here in Sydney), they are bunch of slow, bureaucratic, idiotic waste of space. So that option is a no-no for me.

Fortunately, the Symbian guru oasisfeng has created a wonderful software called FontRouter. The latest incarnation of the software is the FontRouter LT. Because the software is in testing stage, there is no full documentation on how to install and use it. There are pieces of information everywhere in the forum and mostly in Chinese. It took me a day to figure out the end-to-end process of getting it to work on my N95. So I feel that I should record it down and share it. I believe it should work for all S60 v3, S80 and S90 Nokia phones.

Step 1 - Downloading the Software

There are many versions on the oasisfeng web site, the version that I used was the FontRouter LT for Symbian 9 Beta (Build 20071109) Open Signed Online测试版.

Also download the TrueType font from the same web site: 【TrueType】方正隶变 GBK字体. This contains all the CJK characters(should contain other european characters too). Note that I tried using other Chinese TrueType fonts and my handset failed to start. So experiment with other .ttf files only after you have successfully installed and tested with this one. I am currently using the 方正准圆(FZY3JW.TTF) which is a Chinese true type font and its English characters are very close to the original font on my Nokia N95.

Notice that all Nokia phones belong to a certain profile (to make it easy for software developers to select and test the target platform/handsets). The N95 is an S60 3rd edition phone and runs on Symbian version 9. You can find this out from the phone: Tools -> Utilities -> About. Also notice that the version of FontRouter that I used was "Open Signed Online". What does this mean? Read on...

Step 2 - Signing the Software

Symbian is pretty rigorous when it comes to security. Software needs to be digitally signed before installing onto the phone. You can try installing the .sis file just as it is and your phone will reject it and complain that the digital certificate/signature is invalid or something of that nature. To sign the file you just downloaded, you will have to go to www.symbiansigned.com. On its front page, there is a URL for Open Signed Online (Beta). Click this URL and fill in the form on the following page. Note:

• The IMEI number uniquely identifies your handset (e.g. if your phone is stolen, you can report it to the carrier and they can bar the IMEI from the network so that the thief cannot use it). You can find it out by 'dialing' *#06#
• Email - make sure you use a valid email address because you will need to retrieve email from Symbian to carry out the next steps.
• The Application is the .sis file you just downloaded from FontRuter.

Upon successful submission of the form, Symbian will send you an email with a URL to confirm the submission. Click it.

Then Symbian will send you another email with a URL to download the signed version of the .sis file. Just click the URL and save the file.

Step 3 - Installation

Now you can install the signed version of the software that you just downloaded from Symbian using PC Suite. Make sure you install it on the Memory Card, NOT on the Phone Memory (otherwise, if it hangs your handset, you will not be able to bring your phone back to life). During installation, it will warn you that your phone is incompatible with the software, just ignore it and continue.

Then copy the fzlb_gbk.ttf file downloaded in Step 1 into the Memory Card's \data\Fonts directory. You will notice that the file FontRouter.ini has also been created in this directory by the software installation process.

Now it is time to modify the FontRouter.ini file. You can use the Windows Nodepad to edit a copy of the file and then copy it onto the handset using PC Suite. Modify the two lines of the .ini file as following:

FixFontMetrics=0
FixCharMetrics=0

changed the values from 0 to 1 like this:

FixFontMetrics=1
FixCharMetrics=1

and leave everything else the same. If you don't make the changes, the fonts will be curtailed either from the top or bottom.

That's it. Phew! Now it's time to test it - bounce the phone (i.e. switch it off then on).

Euphoria!

There are a few must-read guides that I highly recommend:

1. Test Guide
2. Font Location

Related posts: Turn N95 Into Ping-Pong Bat