WM5 ROMs - Compare and Contrast - MDA III, XDA III, PDA2k, 9090 Software Upgrading

I'm in the process of getting caught back up with all of the WM5 ROMs, but there has been a lot of development and just a lot of information to sift through in general.
So, can someone give a objective (hard I know) rundown of all of the different ROMs, with their respective pros and cons? I also know that there are several pending ROMs too, so while focusing more on what is currently available, a little insight to what is right around the corner could be useful as well.

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Definitive Upgrade Bible

This one is for all the vetrans here.
I've owned my Wizard for a good 6 months now. In this time, I have learnt so much from these forums. This place is incredible and the wealth of knowledge here is mind blowing.
I've been reading up on all these different kinds of ROMs and updates and Radios etc etc. Since I am still very new to all of this, I've been researching about all of this for a while now. However, certain basic concepts evade me.
I'd love it if somebody here could outline what exactly all of this is. I see so many different kinds of ROM updates and it's like a sea of info which seems never ending. AKU's, Radio's, Extended ROMs, WWEs, A2DP... it all seems overwhelming. I was wondering if somebody could either put together or help me put together a very detailed guide about all these various facets of the Wizard.
In my opinion that would reduce the amount of newbie clutter plaguing the forums at the moment.
TIA
Lee
leepriestenator said:
This one is for all the vetrans here.
I've owned my Wizard for a good 6 months now. In this time, I have learnt so much from these forums. This place is incredible and the wealth of knowledge here is mind blowing.
I've been reading up on all these different kinds of ROMs and updates and Radios etc etc. Since I am still very new to all of this, I've been researching about all of this for a while now. However, certain basic concepts evade me.
I'd love it if somebody here could outline what exactly all of this is. I see so many different kinds of ROM updates and it's like a sea of info which seems never ending. AKU's, Radio's, Extended ROMs, WWEs, A2DP... it all seems overwhelming. I was wondering if somebody could either put together or help me put together a very detailed guide about all these various facets of the Wizard.
In my opinion that would reduce the amount of newbie clutter plaguing the forums at the moment.
TIA
Lee
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Click to collapse
that is what the wiki is for.. if you want to get started giving back to the community that taught you so much then help us by adding and cleaning up the wiki!

Newbie - HTC HD ROM advice?

Recently got myself a HD (in the UK on Orange), works fine, it's as it came out of the box.....
Would I benifit by upgrading the software/ROM on the device, there seems to be alot of info on this site about this subject but im new to this device and rather confused by it all at the moment.
Does upgrading the ROM improve the use of the phone and if so could anyone recommend a version to upgrade too and if possible point me in the direction of info on how to go about upgrading etc.
I know this is probably covered a lot on here, there are lots of threads regarding ROM's etc but they all seem to be people who already know what they are doing??
Any help much appreciated
stiscooby said:
Recently got myself a HD (in the UK on Orange), works fine, it's as it came out of the box.....
Would I benifit by upgrading the software/ROM on the device, there seems to be alot of info on this site about this subject but im new to this device and rather confused by it all at the moment.
Does upgrading the ROM improve the use of the phone and if so could anyone recommend a version to upgrade too and if possible point me in the direction of info on how to go about upgrading etc.
I know this is probably covered a lot on here, there are lots of threads regarding ROM's etc but they all seem to be people who already know what they are doing??
Any help much appreciated
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Ahhh, yes, there is a lot of info here... I can't believe I am doing this, but I am bored stiff at work, so, rather than just sending you off to read up on the wiki, I will try to answer your question, or at least preface my statement that you should go and read up on the wiki
An upgraded version of an official ROM is intended to improve upon the performance (i.e., speed and stability) previous versions and incorporate new technology/features, etc. Sometimes upgraded official ROMs are quite an improvement over earlier version. However, a good cooked ROM (a custom ROM made by a developer on this site, for instance) makes a HUGE difference for Windows Mobile devices. These ROMS generally are mush faster, more stable, more innovative and more user friendly than shipped ROMs. In fact, there usually is no comparison between an official ROM and a good cooked ROM, IMHO.
Beware though, flashing cooked ROMs is also addictive, and you may find yourself flashing a new ROM onto your device way too often (seriously).
In terms of pointing you to where you can upgrade and how to do it, unfortunately, you cannot upgrade to a cooked ROM on the HD yet, as something called "Hard SPL," which allows you to safely (i.e., without ruining your device) flash non-official ROMs onto your device, has not been released yet. You apparently can change official ROMs, but as you are new, I would suggest you wait on that. If you want to take a look anyway, see the last several posts on the stickied "Hard SPL...Placeholder" thread above (this thread will also alert you on the status of Hard SPL).
Until Hard SPL comes out, you can take a look at the Wiki pages (link is in brown bar near top of screen) for previous HTC phones (Diamond, Kaiser, polaris, etc.), as there are quite a few "Upgrading Guides for Beginners" that explain what Hard SPL and all of the other confusing stuff in these posts means. Here is an example for the Diamond: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=416211
Anyway, I hope this was at least somewhat helpful and I hope you stay interested and start flashing when Hard SPL and some cooked ROMs become available.
Good luck!
I am so glad someone asked this.
sk806, really useful info there. You should add it to the Wiki
Sk806 - Thank you very much for your detailed explanation!
Glad you posted otherwise I might have been trying to find out how to flash/upgrade my ROM only to find out this is not possible yet!
Always nice to see someone sharing their experience for the newbies
thanks for the guide.... will make sure to stay update on whats going on as a lot of info is availablle and dont want to get lost n do some crazy...
10x
thanks all so for the guide
pem1 said:
thanks all so for the guide
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Click to collapse
No problem. Although I am sure it is clear from the guide itself, just want to be sure that I state that this guide was prepared by Tnyynt (thanks!), not me.

Why is ROM cooking not organized like open source development?

Hi all,
I really appreciate the work of all ROM cookers, even if I don't use a ROM from XDA anymore. (I was using some german releases here for quite some time)
I don't know much about ROM cooking, since I'm a SAP and Web-Deveopment guy, but I always asking myself:
Why is ROM cooking not like open source stuff?
Why is everyone/every group cooking it's own little stuff?
Why not working together on few versions to provide a ultimate, stable, bugfree, nice documented and "perfect" ROM?
Newbies are totally overloaded with 1337 ROM releases, which they should take? Where to find help for your decision? Not everyone has the time/KnowHow to try out 5+ ROMs...
There are so many many advantages if they would do so:
+ bugfixes are done only one time, not many times for many different roms
+ bugfixes are always up to date
+ mistakes are not done multiple times
+ more manpower to test/optimize/develop roms (since everyone works together)
+ clean and clear buglist and release history
+ bugtracking (easier for community to post bugs via bugtracker, easier to develop for cookers)
+ better for newbies (a stronger/bigger community is maybe not a bad thing?) - people know what to download (stable/beta/nightly builds releases - maybe light and full ROMs)
+ many many more, maybe even better reasons
And you can still release ROMs weekly and in multiple version (nightly builds, betas, alphas) but you also can make rock solid milestone releases for the community.
My feeling is SOMETIMES (not in all cases!), that cookers try to compete against each other, than working together.
As I said, its just a feeling... nothing personal against anyone.
Of course there are also disadvantages in organizing such a "structure", but in the end if a cooker would stop developing and invest this time into organizing the rest in to a developer group, that would be a benefit everyone. Means, a bit less "development power", but a lot more efficient developing. The big picture counts.
Just wanted to start a discussion about this thing. It is not like I'm totally experienced in this topic.
Because to be honest... much of the work (which is great and I really appreciate) is done multiple multiple times.
And many many ROMs are more or less the same. Different languages and "feature" levels like Light/Full would be sufficient.
It does seem like a good idea. Certainly, it would allow the chefs to develop an amazing Manilla X1 ROM, and a non-Manilla ROM, 6.1 ROM and a 6.5 ROM, light/full versions and other languages quite effectively. However, I'm not sure how much the chefs would like it. It would however, be excellent for the community. Would be interesting to hear the chefs views on this.
rom are developed really fast. too much people, too much organizations will slow down development.
most part of developers has trusted betatester and bug solver, working in small groups. afaik, looking at whole forum productions, this model works pretty well
yes I have the same question
if we all put our knowledge / findings together @ the cheffs share centre thread it would be A high mile achievement
guap said:
rom are developed really fast. too much people, too much organizations will slow down development.
most part of developers has trusted betatester and bug solver, working in small groups. afaik, looking at whole forum productions, this model works pretty well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not too sure if you can call this situation "well". I would say it "kinda works".
And yes, in the short run, the development is slower, but in the long run the development is faster, because it is more efficient and there is less work which is done multiple times. As I said, it is the big picture you have to see, in the long run this would be much better.
Additionally to that "new" cooks who maybe have a new bugfix and want to release that, they have to do many of the other fixes again to release a new ROM (additionally to that they lack experience and will make "new" bugs).
In a single project, they simply post their fix, and the main developers check and integrate the fix ... done. Next build it is included.
And that's much faster!! And it is double checked for mistakes for more stable releases.
---
For the user it is unthinkable to update the ROM every week. There is a need for some "stable"-like ROM for general users.
The level of final release ROMs here are more or less like "Firefox RC" or even "Beta" Versions.
this is not the 1st time someone like u come up with this......loads of ppl had the same request. even i saw atleast a couple of such thread in this x1 thread!!!
but they neva work in most cases.....i only saw one such successful project!!!
That's not a bad idea at all.
I have been active for sometime with XDA equivalent for AVM Fritz modems (ip-phone-forum), together they made a compiler tool (Freetz.org) for all avm fritz modems, users download one tool, launch and select what features they want in their router, and build a new firmware/ROM, and there is a huge forum for support.
well, i don't say to make such a tool (while it will be so interesting to have, at least one per smartphone model)
having a xda organized in the way mentioned, many bugs can be resolved easily.
in the current state, a newbie will have much difficulty to read a 200 page thread about some custom ROM to find that in post 1232 describes the issue he encountered and later has been fixed in post 1325....
i was going to ask about making a sub forum per each custom rom, with threads divided per subjects, so if someone encounter an SMS issue will have to read one thread completely about sms issues rather than a very long one about all issues in that custom rom.....
if something could be done, then it will become much easier for everybody !!!
great idea.
There is one issue though: people have strong personal flavors of ROMs. Some might want a fast and lean ROM while others might want a mighty one.
I guess some kind of sophisticated branching is needed to accommodate these requests
yes, different tastes, but same bugs
I am down on a common knowledge database, willing to share and learn
It would be great indeed to have a common project but all chefs would need to aim to the same release that would take time to come to a common design and implementation.
Hope this can happen though!
Maybe a cooperation of some chefs would help to reach something here.
mercuriussan said:
And yes, in the short run, the development is slower, but in the long run the development is faster, because it is more efficient and there is less work which is done multiple times. As I said, it is the big picture you have to see, in the long run this would be much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is there is no long run for rom cooking.
Most of us (users or cook) seldom use a single phone longer than a year and we moved to a next device and start everything from the ground up again.
Even you keep the same device for a long time, newer WM build or other components comes very frequently and there's always a tradeoff between "new features" vs "stability". And every cook has their own perference and it natural to see varies roms among cooks. Therefore, it will never have an easy solution for rom user.
For cooks, we could open threads for individual components and work together. I did open a threads for TF3D v2 (landscape), and HD Camera as a project base, and Itje already create a chef discussion thread and I think this model works pretty well for cooks.
agree with jackleung in some points
I've created a Topic for cooking with windows mobile 6.5, too.
Everyone was invited to discuss their bugs and help each other.
But none like it really.
Or none got bugs
Basically what everyone wants is a ROM with PURE Windows Mobile as Microsoft gives it to manufacturers(No HTC, Sonyericsson stuff), cabs/packages of different applications and a program that combines all of them together according to individual needs.

REQUEST for ROM WIKI page listing details

I am requesting that the powers that be create a ROM Wiki Page where cooks can enter the vital stats of their roms in a table/spreadsheet format so that innocent rom flashers such as myself can do direct comparisons between roms with out having to wade through hundreds of pages posts etc.
And I also request that chefs use this page and follow the table structure. And that you update your rom on the wiki page when a new version comes out.
Please!
This part may be too ambitious, but I would also like to see on the table a column for user score. Could be a simple 5 star system. Each rom there could have a link to a brief review containing questions about usability, stability, battery life etc.. Graded on a 5 star scale. All the answers would be averaged together and would be reflected on the above mentioned table as a simple score
cameraddict said:
I am requesting that the powers that be create a ROM Wiki Page where cooks can enter the vital stats of their roms in a table/spreadsheet format so that innocent rom flashers such as myself can do direct comparisons between roms with out having to wade through hundreds of pages posts etc.
And I also request that chefs use this page and follow the table structure. And that you update your rom on the wiki page when a new version comes out.
Please!
This part may be too ambitious, but I would also like to see on the table a column for user score. Could be a simple 5 star system. Each rom there could have a link to a brief review containing questions about usability, stability, battery life etc.. Graded on a 5 star scale. All the answers would be averaged together and would be reflected on the above mentioned table as a simple score
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me the thing about that is a ROM can run totally different on each device and the Roms are changing every day so i think it would be to hard to keep up with it all and i do not think a chef would like his or her ROM being put next to another ROM so see if the ROM is doing good or bad i know thats what it wont be for but that will happen and it takes me 5 Min's a day to scan through the Roms and see how they are doing i doubt if any chefs would agree to it and it takes all there time to do i new rom so they dont need any extra work in double posting it just my 2pence worh
I hear your concerns. Perhaps just scrap the idea about the rating system.
But if the chef put the basic info for his rom up we could see and compare to determine what roms we may want to use. Like What build they use, whether they used manila 2.1 or 2.5. What programs they add or subtract, what dialer, what page pool setting... etc.. things like these. I am just looking for a good starting point to do my research on which rom I want to use.
There are just too many out there for a person to wade through to find the base set of features they want. I run a small business, and use my phone daily in it. I don't have them time to read about every single rom. I will read about a few though. And it would help to narrow down which ones I look at if I know what features they focus on.
Once the wiki table was set up it would require very little to enter basic data and to keep it loosely updated. As I said, I am just looking for a basic idea of the direction each chef takes their rom.
Seriously? Nobody else thinks this is a good idea? Everyone likes searching through dozens of topics, and wading through Hundreds of pages of replies to find basic data about a rom, and some user feedback? And does everyone here prefer to flash every rom under the sun to find the right one for them?
Don't get me wrong, in my spare time I am a gadget/tech lover. I love to tinker... again- if I have the time.
But there really does have to be a better way to narrowing down the list of potential roms one might want to try. I don't mind trying a few.....but not all.
Any body else with me on this? Or do I stand(type) alone?
Thanks
Yep I support this as well (That said it's fun to go through all these pages ehehe)
I totally agree with you. I am very surprised that this does not exist yet. Our great cookers are putting a lot of efforts into their ROM, but it's no use if we cannot find those.
The point would not be to rate the ROMs because everybody is not looking for the same kind of software. Brief informations like the WM build, the Sense version (if installed), the language and a small description field would be very nice already.
Thanks Alcibiade!
Later
Its a good idea. But anyone can update WIKI! So why not take the initiative?
ai6908:
I will look into it, didn't know that just anybody could edit/create wiki pages... I don't have a whole lot of time... so it might be a while.
Hopefully if I do this the cooks will participate.
Thanx
cameraddict said:
Seriously? Nobody else thinks this is a good idea? Everyone likes searching through dozens of topics, and wading through Hundreds of pages of replies to find basic data about a rom, and some user feedback? And does everyone here prefer to flash every rom under the sun to find the right one for them?
Don't get me wrong, in my spare time I am a gadget/tech lover. I love to tinker... again- if I have the time.
But there really does have to be a better way to narrowing down the list of potential roms one might want to try. I don't mind trying a few.....but not all.
Any body else with me on this? Or do I stand(type) alone?
Thanks
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Click to collapse
you are worried about how much of YOUR TIME that YOU SPEND trying to find the right rom have you ever thought about how much time we chefs spend creating these roms? i can promise that flashing a few roms and reading through some threads is nothing in comparison to cooking a good rom. im speaking for myself here, but i think its pretty sad that you ask us to do MORE than we already do....its not like this is our job and we are on your payroll. make a wiki page if you want, but i will never participate.
and end of discussion...lol

NOT a which is the best ROM thread

At the time of writing, we have Stock Deodexed N910TUVU1ANJ7 Rom by @jovy23 and three ROMs building off jovy23's base (in alphabetical order by ROM name): Dynamic Kat by @bri315317; FireKat by @megalomanic14; and Skyfall by @iB4STiD. More ROMs will be arriving.
While discussions of "which is the best ROM" are fruitless, with good ROMs from good developers, there may be different design philosophies, priorities, and emphases. Also, different users may have different wants and needs. As ROMs proliferate, it's going to be increasingly difficult for individual users to just try them all to see what best fits their perceived needs. I, therefore, thought it might be useful to have a thread where people could discuss, not which is the best ROM, but what, in their view, distinguishes one ROM from another in ways that may help users decide which ROMs to try, or try first.
My apologies in advance if this kind of thread is either inappropriate or not useful. I am NOT trying to spark any fire fights. It's just that, having been somewhat overwhelmed by the variety of ROMs available for my former GS III, this seems like a good idea to me.
TIA
There's already threads for that, the threads for those ROMs.
But those threads are ROM specific. I'm hoping for a thread that brings together discussion of different ROMs in a comparative, but not competitive framework to help users decide which ROMS may be worth trying. As the number of ROMS increases, it will be increasingly difficult for us to try all, or even most, of them ourselves.
Sent from my SM-N910T
Everybody's Rom is probably about the same right now. But, my first flash will be FireKat mainly because Viper is already built in. I have developer abandonment issues from the Note 3 but hopefully my choice of developer(s) for this device will be better.
Oh yes I find this treat useful. So I dont know who is at the stand out yet. I am still reading. I might wait 1 month before I decide which ROM to use.
The most popular cook ROM for the Note 3 is what? Did he/she make one for the Note 4?

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