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I'm fairly new to working with Linux and the Android OS, though I have pretty broad knowledge in most other systems. Hopefully someone here's willing to help me
First, a little background. From straight out of the box, I ran The Unlockr's steps to root and flash my phone. The root instructions I followed are located here.
I am running radio verison 2.22.19.26I
And using SPL version 1.33.2005
My SD card is partioned in a Fat32/EX2/Linuxswap configuration
And I'm using Dwang's Android 1.6 Donut rom. (Located Here!)
The problem:
During Black Friday, I found amazing deals on Micro SD cards. I'm moving from a 2GB to a 4GB. I copied everything over on the fat 32 partition from one to the other, but forgot about the other partitions When I switched SD cards, all of my apps and widgets crashed and whatnot. The problem is when I swapped back to the original card...they were still crashing.
I've tried a bunch of things, Nandroid restores, reflashing the ROM and starting fresh, and I'm still having problems with crashing apps. The interesting thing, is that only apps that were downloaded from the market, and use the internet refuse to work now. Here's a list of working VS non working apps.
Working apps:
App Manager
Melon (Notetaking program)
Any application that came "Stock" on the phone. (Youtube, Messaging, Browser)
Non-Working Apps:
Wikidroid
Autolock
Toggle Settings
Hi AIM
Almost anything downloaded from the market.
Other than that the phone runs fine. Texts, calls, uses the internet browser without a hiccup. It's just download apps either spam force close, or can't connect to the internet. (which the browser can)
I was wondering if anyone knew what causes a problem like this, or where I could be pointed in the direction of someone with a similar problem. I've google'd all morning and searched through the forums, but can't find anything. I'd try more things, but i have bricked a G1 in the past and am pretty damn terrified to mess with things too much.
Thanks in advance for any advice or help.
Just start from scratch.
1) Repartition the new card.
2) Wipe
3) flash
Problem solved.
Reformat the card, wipe the data in the recovery mode, and reflash the rom (Dwang's in my case?) I think I've done this which is what's causing my apps to act all funky anyway. I will try it one more time though. There's no risk in a brick doing this, no? Since I'm using the same rom that worked before?
Again terrified. If a brick shows up, I don't get a third chance
Plus I'm a mobile/program developer. I'd kinda like to know what causes this, or where I can find some resources so I can prevent it frmo happening in the future on stuff that I write.
[email protected] said:
Reformat the card, wipe the data in the recovery mode, and reflash the rom (Dwang's in my case?) I think I've done this which is what's causing my apps to act all funky anyway. I will try it one more time though. There's no risk in a brick doing this, no? Since I'm using the same rom that worked before?
Again terrified. If a brick shows up, I don't get a third chance
Plus I'm a mobile/program developer. I'd kinda like to know what causes this, or where I can find some resources so I can prevent it frmo happening in the future on stuff that I write.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, for clarification, the only way you can brick is through flashing a radio image or SPL without the requirments for either. In other words, wiping and flashing ROMs physically can't brick your phone. Stop worrying
I'm honestly not sure what happened to your partition, so I can't tell you what caused it, but honestly, reformatting the card, wipe and reflash will solve your problem, as everything is clean. If the problem persists then something has been left behind.
flashing the roms and repartition the card should fix it. its most likely caused by corrupted permissions or something to the likes. The sdcard should not be removed while the rom is on or replaced with an unidentical ext partition. Some apps that are supposed to be in the card arent there, which will cause failures. since its a hacky method for getting apps on the sd, there is no fail-safes in place
Okay i have a sprint cdma hero i sm running 2.1 sense. I started out wanting froyo i knew i had to root so i did with universal androot and then got rom manager i didn't partition sd card because i thought it wasn't needed i still dont know if it is? but anyway after that i rooted the phone then went into rom manager, made a clockwork backup then I did what i was suposed to too root it then it was about to boot up and instead of froyo it was back to sense and had restored to factory. I repeated the same thing multiple times and tried different roms it still didn't work. After all this i restored my phone and its back to normal but google "can't establish sever connection" so mail, market, talk and all that does not work! I dont know what to do. I have tried hard reset, clearing data, cache, force stop, adding another account, signing out of talk and going back in and nothing has worked. and now in my notification bar it says sign in error! with my google name and then if i touch that it will bring me to a sign in screen, i enter the password but nothing works. I dont know what i should do help! by the way I live in america, internet works, phone calls work, sms works just not google apps, I have sprint to. And if there is any way you could help me root and run froyo the easitest way please help. I am kind of new at all this.
Thanks again- Luke
Did you make a nandroid backup? If so, restore the phone. I am pretty new to this too but maybe you can try to flash the google apps, you can find the zip on here with a search.
Did you do "wipe all data" before installing? You have to do that.
Make sure you also "nandroid" and make a backup in case you need to restore.
Ok put the cm6 rom on your sd and also google gaps .
make a nanidroid back up then wipe your phone then flash the rom then the google gaps. Then reboot
i did make a clockwork mod backup and restored my phone to that that is how it is the way know i will try and get google apps and reinstall them and if that works i will do the cm6 rom but where should i get it and do i need to partition sd card? thanks
I’ve just updated from MoDaCo’s 1.5 ROM to the CM6 2.2 ROM and since it’s been so long (over a year) since I’ve rooted my phone and dived into all the information involved in doing so. Back then it wasn’t as easy as it is now with some of these rooting methods. In fact I remember it being a real mess ha. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583291)
So basically, I’ve managed to do quite a lot of things and I want to help a friend out but I want to make sure all my info is right.
ALL of this is basically on giant question. I just word it as if I know what I’m talking about. But please help me correct everything that is wrong (and I know there is a lot), help answer some of my questions, and even let me know where I’m right. I didn’t type everything up as questions so that it reads easier. If I need to repeat some sections to get clarification I can.
Customizing you Phone
The first step is to gain root access via installing (flashing) a recovery program (image).
This program (image) is only accessible via boot (boot into recovery). It allows you to make a back-up of the phone in its entirety, restore said back-ups, allow PC access connectivity (via USB), flash programs/files (“installing” in a sense), partition an SD card, perform various wipes, and some miscellaneous things.
Ok – I’ll pause here to get some info. Wipe Data/Factory Reset; this means erasing everything off the phone and it resets the current ROM back to its native state. Wipe Dalvik-cache… I’m not sure what this does exactly but I assume it has something to do with the programs installed or the SD card. Furthur, why would I want to ‘wipe battery stats’ or ‘rotate settings’ ? And wipe SD:ext partition has to do with Apps to SD?
Also, when you do these wipes and flashes and re-do your phone from scratch, the only thing that is never touched is the recovery image. It’s fair to say, when you flash the recovery image during your rooting, it’s the only set in stone thing on your phone… that is until you re-root your phone or flash an alternate recovery.
Apps2sd – When I first rooted my phone and installed MoDaCo’s ROM, I ventured into the land of Apps2sd. This too was a PAINFUL process partitioning my SD card and learning all about the ext2/3/4 and I’ve already forgotten everything. After going through all that to clear up what little space I had on my Hero, I then read all kinds of people saying Apps2SD is bad cuz it’s slow and blah blah. So I took it off. Now it seems that Google has made an Apps2sd native? I just need updated on the whole Apps2sd thing both in general and for the Hero.
Ok – Back. Some of the things you can flash are custom ROMs (a ROM is the Operating System essentially), data that tells the computer to work differently such as custom kernels (what makes the phone work, basically communication between hardware and software), new radios (what retrieves and uses signals), and battery stuff (what would it be called? “Battery kernel info”? haha). You can even flash programs right to the phone (apk files).
The biggest reason to root your phone, is to install a custom ROM. Custom roms typically cut out a lot of bloat that the stock OS would have such as un-removable programs (Sprint NFL and NASCAR… Thanks but no thanks Sprint) and OS things. Many developers have even tweaked ROMs to optimize performance and battery life. Why would the stock ROM not do this? And why would it seem the dev’s (developers) making custom ROMs are better than the devs at Google/Sprint/Samsung/etc.? Certain applications also require rooted phones (or just simple ‘root’) due to their extended abilities or required securities (such as WaveSecure?).
Reminder – everything is a question even tho some things have ‘?’ and some don’t. I know that I do not know what I’m talking about. I just want to confirm what I do know, and learn where I’m wrong!
Now some straight up questions:
When you get a custom recovery, ROM, and kernel on your phone… you’ve just about altered all major parts of your phone (software speaking of course)?
When you want to put on a custom ROM, you first wipe everything then flash the ROM. Then you may flash additional items such as gapps (google applications pack), custom Kernals, etc. When you want to change roms, do you have to undo everything and start from scratch and put new gapps back on, a new kernel, etc? What about just updating a ROM? What if you have a ROM you like, but just want to un-install(un-flash) gapps – possible?
[*]So example, If I needed something I forgot on an old setup – like a text message or file from EasyNote, I would have to nandroid backup, wipe everything, flash old ROM and additional files, restore OLD nandroid, grab the files, wipe everything, flash back newer ROM and additional files, restore new nandroid that was just created to be back where I started? (I actually have to do this too haha – want to make sure that’s right.) Basically I’m making sure I’m right about nandroid. It back’s-up all data and setting type files for current ROM?
What would happen if I tried to restore a nandroid back-up created during another ROM?
MoDaCo’s old custom ROM had WaveSecure installed with it so that it could not be removed. Is it possible to still do this with other ROMs?
Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps? Is there something wrong with them?
Back when I first tried learning all this a year ago, the Hero’s messaging app was known to be a real battery-eater and never slept so it was recommended to switch to a 3rd party and disable the stock app’s notifications. What’s the development on that?
I still have a whole paper full of other questions, but I think this is already getting loooong… so I’ll leave it here for now. The point of all this is to yes, educate myself so that I may help others…. But I plan on writing up a real all-inclusive guide to android and rooting and the like. I’ve searched a lot and learned a lot, but nowhere (including the wiki) did I find a nice, chronological guide of information. Hopefully I can fill that niche once I know exactly what I’m talking about, and even then I’ll need some peeps to clean my stuff up a bit. I also happen to be a filmmaker so I’d like to make a good video on this as well. It won’t be one of those videos where you can barley understand the person talking, shot in the basement with all the lights off, camera held in hand and shot with web-cam, etc. (Note: Just today I saw the XDA-TV post… sorry I missed it) D:
LAST NOTE:
Ok I promise I’m almost done. I just wanted to say that if anyone would not mind talking on the phone… I would love to just blow through this stuff a lot faster and be able to have a convo with some 1 on 1 feedback allowing me to get lots of questions answered. Even just 10 minutes would help me out tons! So if anyone who is a genious on this stuff (like devs… ) and wouldn’t mind chatting for a few – please PM me. I can do Skype as well.
I hope someone will take the time to answer you, it will help me too LOL. Last thing I rooted was the G1 years ago, & just yesterday rooted the Hero (& flashed CM6 today) I got off of Craigslist. Seems like some phones have better wikis than others.
I haven't been in the rooting/flashing game for a while since I've owned tons of different devices before & after the G1. Since then the only flashing I did was flashing Android onto a WM device LOL. Never bothered flashing the Vibrant, Epic, or Evo (sold, sold, & sold.)
Anyway, yeah, I hope someone answers! You have my support!
Root and recovery are two totally separate things - you can root your phone and not flash a recovery, it's totally up to you. Root gives you access to things on your phone, that you would otherwise not have - like flashing recovery, ROM(s), apps that need root access, etc. Goto the wiki there's a link which gives a high level idea of what root gives you.
Recovery - gives you features such as Nand backup/restore, wipe cache, dalvik-cache, flash stuff (ROMs, kernels, etc.,)
Apps2SD - allows you to install apps to the SD card. If you are using android 2.2 or above, this feature is available natively, so you don't need something line apps2sd
Now, answers to your "Straight up questions..."
1. Yes, once you root, flash recovery, flash ROM... you have altered your phone from a software stand point. You can return it to "out-of-the-box" state by running any official RUU provided by HTC/Sprint (for HTC Sprint Hero)
2. This varies from ROM to ROM, you should read the specific instructions provided by the ROM builder. About removing gapps, it is pretty easy to remove any apps once you have root access - read up the wiki or search for removing apps
3. Depends on what you want to get back - for all your daily needs, there are backup applications that can help you backup stuff from the phone, which you can then restore, once you have the app running and backup available
4. If you restore a nand backup, it will put your phone to a stage when you had created the backup
5. You will have to read up about MoDaCo ROM, that is a ROM specific thing
6. There's nothing wrong about the gapps - not sure what you are referring to
7. There are multiple messaging apps - handcent, chomp, google voice, etc. It all depends on your personal preferences
I would honestly recommend you to search on the forums and also visit the wiki. There's a whole lot of information about everything here. Also, Hero being a bit old phone, more often than not, the problem you might be facing... might have been already answered. Yes, it is time consuming, but will surely help you. The more you read, the comfortable you will feel.
Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help you further. Again, I started the same way as you, rooted the phone, flashed CM6, played around, something went horribly wrong, then had to RUU, root, flash... everything. But, that taught me a lot.
Enjoy!
So basically, I’ve managed to do quite a lot of things and I want to help a friend out but I want to make sure all my info is right.
Customizing you Phone
The first step is to gain root access via installing (flashing) a recovery program (image).
This program (image) is only accessible via boot (boot into recovery). It allows you to make a back-up of the phone in its entirety, restore said back-ups, allow PC access connectivity (via USB), flash programs/files (“installing” in a sense), partition an SD card, perform various wipes, and some miscellaneous things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure which phone you are working with, but I'm pretty sure, as a general
rule, you need root before you can flash the recovery image. Could be mistaken
on that, but that's how it was for my hero. Once you have the recovery image
flashed, you are correct, you can make and restore backups, you can access
the phone's internal storage and SD card, push/install apps, remove apps, etc.
Ok – I’ll pause here to get some info. Wipe Data/Factory Reset; this means erasing everything off the phone and it resets the current ROM back to its native state. Wipe Dalvik-cache… I’m not sure what this does exactly but I assume it has something to do with the programs installed or the SD card. Furthur, why would I want to ‘wipe battery stats’ or ‘rotate settings’ ? And wipe SD:ext partition has to do with Apps to SD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wipe/Factory Reset basically formats the various partitions in the phone's
internal memory, if you do a wipe and reboot your phone, you'll boot loop, as
the phone no longer has an operating system. To restore back to original,
you would need to use an official RUU as andythegreenguy stated. You can
get the official rom upgrades (RUU's) from your carrier's website.
I'm still learning a lot of this myself, but the Dalvik-Cache is basically the OS's
cache, which has files randomly dumped into it and removed from it. Wiping
the Dalvik-Cache is beneficial (and sometimes required) when making
modifications to your rom. It can help improve your performance under some
circumstances, but will make your phone boot slower while the cache is being
recreated. SD:EXT only applies if you have partitioned your SD, for example,
to be used with Apps2SD. If you have no EXT partition, you can't format it.
If you are using Apps2SD, and have partitioned your SD card, this will erase
the EXT partition.
As a general rule that I follow, whenever I am making major changes, and
especially when I am flashing between different roms, I wipe everything, and
repartition/format my SD card. This helps me to know that any problems I run
into are not caused by something from a previous rom that didn't get erased.
I've never messed with wiping rotate, but wiping battery stats can be useful.
Lithium batteries have a little controller board that basically stores the battery
state. Sometimes this can get messed up, and a perfectly healthy battery will
think it's out of power a lot faster than it should. Resetting the battery info
can sometimes fix this issue. A recommendation I saw was to run your battery
down, reset the battery state, let the phone die, then do a full charge/discharge
cycle. Never had to do this, myself..
Also, when you do these wipes and flashes and re-do your phone from scratch, the only thing that is never touched is the recovery image. It’s fair to say, when you flash the recovery image during your rooting, it’s the only set in stone thing on your phone… that is until you re-root your phone or flash an alternate recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorta.. hboot and the radio are both beyond the recovery, and messing with
either of those without knowing what you are doing can cause your phone to
become a brick. Any recovery you flash should remain in place unless you use a
RUU, flash a different recovery, flash a rom that includes a different recovery,
(haven't run across that except for the RUU's), or mess with the MTD partitions.
Apps2sd – When I first rooted my phone and installed MoDaCo’s ROM, I ventured into the land of Apps2sd. This too was a PAINFUL process partitioning my SD card and learning all about the ext2/3/4 and I’ve already forgotten everything. After going through all that to clear up what little space I had on my Hero, I then read all kinds of people saying Apps2SD is bad cuz it’s slow and blah blah. So I took it off. Now it seems that Google has made an Apps2sd native? I just need updated on the whole Apps2sd thing both in general and for the Hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps2SD is fine, any speed issues would primaryly be loading delays on slower
SD cards. Apps2SD also requires your SD card to be properly partitioned. The
Apps2SD that is in Android 2.2 is a little different, in that from my nderstanding,
it uses the Fat32 partition on the SD card, and thus does not require you to
partition your SD card. It is also to my knowledge only available on roms based
on Android 2.2.
A lot of custom roms have some form of Apps2SD now, but they require you to partition the SD card, and, as far as "speed" issues, I have ran my apps from
a class 2 card just fine, but moving the Dalvik-Cache to the SD card will cause
lag if you have a slow card. Class 4 or higher is recommended for moving your
cache.
Ok – Back. Some of the things you can flash are custom ROMs (a ROM is the Operating System essentially), data that tells the computer to work differently such as custom kernels (what makes the phone work, basically communication between hardware and software), new radios (what retrieves and uses signals), and battery stuff (what would it be called? “Battery kernel info”? haha). You can even flash programs right to the phone (apk files).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, you can flash ROMS, Kernels, Radios, apps (if packaged properly),
apk files that aren't packaged in an update.zip will either have to be pushed
via ADB, or can be installed from your SD card with a file manager.
The biggest reason to root your phone, is to install a custom ROM. Custom roms typically cut out a lot of bloat that the stock OS would have such as un-removable programs (Sprint NFL and NASCAR… Thanks but no thanks Sprint) and OS things. Many developers have even tweaked ROMs to optimize performance and battery life. Why would the stock ROM not do this? And why would it seem the dev’s (developers) making custom ROMs are better than the devs at Google/Sprint/Samsung/etc.? Certain applications also require rooted phones (or just simple ‘root’) due to their extended abilities or required securities (such as WaveSecure?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as the biggest reason to root your phone, I would have to say that the
answer to that would vary from person to person. Most users root to install
custom roms, but rooting gives you full control of the operating system. Since
android is Linux, having root access on your phone will allow you to change the
things that you otherwise could not. Utilities like Titanium backup can be used
to back up and restore your apps and data, performance benefits are always
a huge consideration. Companies like HTC and Sprint don't take performance
concerns into consideration because they are providing a product that is in their
opinion disposable, and "generic enough" for most users. Asking why they don't
fix the performance issues is like asking why every car on the road can't run 160
miles per hour while getting 40 miles per gallon. Some people don't care to have
the fastest, most efficient phone, and some people can't stand having sluggish
and unresponsive phones.
Now some straight up questions:
When you get a custom recovery, ROM, and kernel on your phone… you’ve just about altered all major parts of your phone (software speaking of course)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With a recovery, rom, and kernel, you've flashed all of the major software components
that you will be concerned about. Performance gains are all found in the ROM
and Kernel, and so most people have no need to go further than that. Basically,
think of the Kernel as the brain, and the ROM as the rest of the operating system
The recovery is important, but is transparent to the function of the phone once
everything is up and running.
[*]When you want to put on a custom ROM, you first wipe everything then flash the ROM. Then you may flash additional items such as gapps (google applications pack), custom Kernals, etc. When you want to change roms, do you have to undo everything and start from scratch and put new gapps back on, a new kernel, etc? What about just updating a ROM? What if you have a ROM you like, but just want to un-install(un-flash) gapps – possible?
[*]So example, If I needed something I forgot on an old setup – like a text message or file from EasyNote, I would have to nandroid backup, wipe everything, flash old ROM and additional files, restore OLD nandroid, grab the files, wipe everything, flash back newer ROM and additional files, restore new nandroid that was just created to be back where I started? (I actually have to do this too haha – want to make sure that’s right.) Basically I’m making sure I’m right about nandroid. It back’s-up all data and setting type files for current ROM?[*]What would happen if I tried to restore a nandroid back-up created during another ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try to answer these in one shot. It's recommended that you always wipe
everything before installing a custom rom, except if the rom you are installing
is *SPECIFICALLY* an update for the rom you are running, and the dev states
that a wipe is not necessary. Generally, you want to make a nandroid backup,
wipe, install the rom, make sure everything is fine, nandroid, install the kernel,
check things over, rinse and repeat.
In my case, I generally return to configs that I've already tested, so I skip some
steps, but the order is ROM, Kernel, then the other parts.
If you forgot a text message from another rom, as long as you have the nandroid
you should be OK. You can boot into recovery, make a nandroid backup of your
current configuration, then wipe everything, restore the nandroid from the
old configuration, retrieve your message or data, Then you can reboot, wipe,
and restore the nandroid from the new configuration. Keeping multiple nandroids
can be userful if you are using an AOSP rom as your daily rom, since on the
Hero, to my knowledge, you can only update your PRL under a Sense based rom.
A lot of users will restore the sense backup to update their PRL, then restore the
AOSP rom.
[*]MoDaCo’s old custom ROM had WaveSecure installed with it so that it could not be removed. Is it possible to still do this with other ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never used WaveSecure, but as a general rule, if you can download the APK, you
should be able to install it on any rom.
[*]Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps? Is there something wrong with them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people like fat chicks, and some people don't. The argument about
gapps is akin to asking what's better, PC or Mac, Linux or Windows, sports cars
or station wagons. It's all personal preference. What's right for you might not
be right for your best friend.
[*]Back when I first tried learning all this a year ago, the Hero’s messaging app was known to be a real battery-eater and never slept so it was recommended to switch to a 3rd party and disable the stock app’s notifications. What’s the development on that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The messaging app had a bug that would lock the dialer and prevent the phone
from sleeping. This bug was supposedly fixed in the 2.1 update, but 2.1 also
introduced a whole plethora of other bugs. Some people still prefer third party
messenging apps, but I use the stock app with no issues. on a good day I can
get 27 hours on a charge, but I do a lot and so most days I get 12 hours or so.
Hope this has helped.
LAST NOTE:
Ok I promise I’m almost done. I just wanted to say that if anyone would not mind talking on the phone… I would love to just blow through this stuff a lot faster and be able to have a convo with some 1 on 1 feedback allowing me to get lots of questions answered. Even just 10 minutes would help me out tons! So if anyone who is a genious on this stuff (like devs… ) and wouldn’t mind chatting for a few – please PM me. I can do Skype as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may sound strange from a guy with a cellphone, but I actually hate talking
on the phone. Feel free to send me a PM now and then with questions. If I know the answer, I'll help out.
I'm not as knowledgeable as any of the devs, I'm still learning all of this myself. My answers might not be
'correct', but they work for me. most things related to android have no 'correct' or 'definitive' answer, but
that's the beauty of a platform that can be customized to taste. We can all make recommendations, and
can even tell you our reasoning or logic behind them, but we can all also learn a few things.
andythegreenguy said:
Root and recovery are two totally separate things - you can root your phone and not flash a recovery, it's totally up to you. Root gives you access to things on your phone, that you would otherwise not have - like flashing recovery, ROM(s), apps that need root access, etc. Goto the wiki there's a link which gives a high level idea of what root gives you.
Recovery - gives you features such as Nand backup/restore, wipe cache, dalvik-cache, flash stuff (ROMs, kernels, etc.,)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah! So the recovery is a nice, built-into-phone way of flashing, whiping, etc; otherwise you would need to use the command prompt. (Correct?)
andythegreenguy said:
Apps2SD - allows you to install apps to the SD card. If you are using android 2.2 or above, this feature is available natively, so you don't need something line apps2sd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent. But does running apps from the SD card cause the apps to run slower or open slower? Should I keep primary apps or most commonly used apps on the phone or it doesn't matter?
andythegreenguy said:
If you restore a nand backup, it will put your phone to a stage when you had created the backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the Nand-Backup saves ALL information including flashed ROMs, Kernels, BatteryTweak, etc? What about information on the SD card especially not that apps can be moved there)?
andythegreenguy said:
There are multiple messaging apps - handcent, chomp, google voice, etc. It all depends on your personal preferences
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand this, but I just wanted to know If it's a mistake to be using the stock texting app - if the messaging app in CM6 is even the stock one. I have tried Chomp and Handcent and I actually love handcent, but it's just WAY to slow.
I have searched the forums and wiki quite a lot, thats how I got this far. I try to search for some as many things as I can, but it's just hard to get some real clarity on some things and especially the broad things. That's why I plan on taking the results of this thread and making a nice 'general' guide and possibly a video.
Thanks a lot andythegreenguy. Appriciate the help a lot
To moxlon69:
moxlon69 said:
you need root before you can flash the recovery image
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are right. I was a bit mixed up on that (even though I've done it twice! haha)
moxlon69 said:
Wipe/Factory Reset...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lot of good clarification there. Very good, thanks!
moxlon69 said:
Sorta.. hboot and the radio are both beyond the recovery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah. What is hboot? Had some trouble finding general info on it. What is there to know about the radio? I haven't done it nor think i need to, but isn't changing the radio just the same as flashing something? (http://geekfor.me/faq/flash-radio/)
moxlon69 said:
Apps2SD is fine, any speed issues would primaryly be loading delays on slower SD cards. Apps2SD also requires your SD card to be properly partitioned. The Apps2SD that is in Android 2.2 is a little different, in that from my understanding, it uses the Fat32 partition on the SD card, and thus does not require you to partition your SD card. It is also to my knowledge only available on roms based on Android 2.2.
A lot of custom roms have some form of Apps2SD now, but they require you to partition the SD card, and, as far as "speed" issues, I have ran my apps from a class 2 card just fine, but moving the Dalvik-Cache to the SD card will cause lag if you have a slow card. Class 4 or higher is recommended for moving your cache.
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Click to collapse
So if I have a 2.2 ROM... would I need to make a partition? I never read anything about needing it in CM6 threads. What was all the jazz about making different ext-s? Like 2, 3, or 4? I guess it's not relevant any more.
How do you move the Dalvik-Cache to SD?
Quick note:
AOSP and PRL are not on the wiki - not that many people don't know what they are... but why not?
Q: Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps?
A:Some people like fat chicks
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Well said haha. The whole analogy was good.
Thanks a million moxlon69 - That helps out more than you can imagine. I'm going to begin working on a write up of all this, but I do still have lots of questions. I'll probably continue posting in this thread for a while to keep it simple... unless I have an embarrassingly stupid question I can't find an answer for then I'll PM ya!
Thanks again moxlon69 and andythegreenguy.
Edit: This thread is going to become the tl;dr thread! haha
One more try.
I know it's a lot of reading, but any help you guys can offer is much appreciated and will be returned in the form of a video. You could then just send all the newbies to the video and hopefully many of their questions will be answered.
I just don't want to make the video without being precisely accurate. I have more questions, but I should probably wait for the current queue of my questions to go down.
Thanks again for the help thus far!
i was really interested in installing a new rom, specifically cognition, and i did, but i figured since i just got my captivate and all my media was on my sd card and i barely installed any apps, i would just skip the titanium backup step. I definitely was able to get the new rom, but i think i may have messed up something big, even flashing back to stock didnt help. I just want to know exactly how important titanium backup is and what it really does other than save a few settings and apps.
If you want me to elaborate on what i messed up just ask
arsenalbreak said:
i was really interested in installing a new rom, specifically cognition, and i did, but i figured since i just got my captivate and all my media was on my sd card and i barely installed any apps, i would just skip the titanium backup step. I definitely was able to get the new rom, but i think i may have messed up something big, even flashing back to stock didnt help. I just want to know exactly how important titanium backup is and what it really does other than save a few settings and apps.
If you want me to elaborate on what i messed up just ask
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Click to collapse
You are asking for help so don't you think telling what happened is important. Tibu backs up your apps and data. If you use it don't select system data because that will screw stuff up. Its not necessary to use tiny but it is very useful.
This is my Captivate. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Skipping TiBu step should not affect your ROM. It only backs up your installed apps with data, so you do not have to reinstall them one by one manually after you flashed.
ok thats exactly what i wanted to know. thanks for clearing it up guys.
Hey all,
So I'm am effing fed UP with Samsung. My Captivate is a hardware powerhouse, and with the stock Eclair firmware and all their bloatware, it's laggy, bogged down, and just not the device I wish it was. And with the talks that the Galaxy S phones are virtually unbrickable, I have decided to seriously consider ROOTing my phone and flashing the Cognition 3.02 ROM. I have watched a lot of videos, done my research, but I still have a few lingering questions for those of you out there who have recently flashed this ROM, preferably for those of you that this is the first or near-first ROM you've flashed. I know how the process works, but some specifics are bugging me and holding me back.
Ok, so I've listed some of my major questions below. Feel free to answer some or all of them if you've got the time, or DM me if that's easier. lf I think of any other Qs I have I'll post them in subsequent replies.
1. First and foremost, what process did you use to root and flash cognition on your Captivate? I've been looking at the MobileTechVideos three part tutorial on youtube which most people seem to recommend. Is this what you used? Was it as easy as simply following the instructions word-for-word? Did you run into any problems along the way?
2. I know to use Titanium Backup to backup my apps and stuff, but I've read a lot of places that I should only use it to restore those apps, and not to backup and restore user data like settings and contacts. How did you do it? My major concerns are about my contacts/phone book, which I have synced to my google account, but I also have syncs to my facebook and twitter accounts, and my phonebook is nicely linked and everything across all three. I'm afraid to forfeit this organization, so I just want to know that I'll be able to get everything back the way it was without too much trouble. I know you can export your contacts to your SD cards, and I could presumably import them from their after flashing, but I just want to be clear on how that all works.
3. Do you use your phone as a digital music player? I do, and I use iSyncr to sync it to my iTunes. If you do as well, did flashing screw any of this up? Playlists, etc? Will I need to re-sync or will it all be there once the phone scans my external SD (which wont be wiped since I'll remove it beforehand)?
4. In your first few days of use, what are the biggest improvements you see in the Cognition ROM as far as daily use is concerned over the stock firmware? Any problems you've come across? What's the selling points here, in layman's terms.
5. Do you have any regrets about flashing?
Thanks guys, and any other advice you think would be helpful that wouldn't come under any of the questions would also be GREATLY appreciated.
4. No problems for me. Phone is smoother and faster now.
5. Not at all.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
1. manually rooting is overrated. most, if not all, custom roms automatically root your phone for you, so there really is no need for you to do it yourself. except the first time: root your phone using the one click since it's simple, grab rom manager from the market and use it to download an update.zip containing clockworkmod recovery for the captivate and leave that update.zip on your phone and never change it or delete it. it makes flashing new roms so much easier and there is really no need to ever remove or change it. boot into recovery, reinstall packages twice, install zip from sd card, and pick your rom. also, you will never need to use rom manager again unless you lose that update.zip.
2. I use titanium backup in batch mode (hit the menu softkey and hit batch). click backup all user apps and system data, but uncheck everything that is in red text, therefore backing up only things in green text (useful system settings, contacts, calendar, messages, etc) and white text (user installed apps). then run batch operation. install new rom, use batch to restore all missing apps and system data. to re-backup newer settings, app data, or updated apps, use backup all new apps and newer versions, and then either redo old backups or forced redo of all backups.
3. yes, but I just copy and paste my music files over instead of syncing them. also your internal sd is never wiped unless you use master clear on odin, which I have never done, nor do i ever wish to, because in my opinion there is no reason to. therefore both your playlists and your music would not be wiped whether you put them on the internal or external sd. (unless of course, you decide to use master clear)
4 & 5. I agree with faroid.
Be sure you have the correct odin set up and recognizing your phone on your pc. Eventually you will need to use it for one reason or another. The most common is the odin3 one click jf6 but some newer builds cannot be flashed to firmware older than jh2.
1. To root i use one click root/ unroot vary simple plug in and press root then install clockwork recovery from the market its free with clockwork recovery you can flash your cognition
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
4. The best thing is froyo 2.2 then lagfixes and overclocking
5.no regrets, expect when i bricked my phone but the jig method fixed that
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
yokozuna82 said:
4. The best thing is froyo 2.2 then lagfixes and overclocking
5.no regrets, expect when i bricked my phone but the jig method fixed that
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Did you use the full MobileTechVideos method when your phone got bricked? Or did you flash without reflashing to stock and wiping everything?
newter55 said:
Be sure you have the correct odin set up and recognizing your phone on your pc. Eventually you will need to use it for one reason or another. The most common is the odin3 one click jf6 but some newer builds cannot be flashed to firmware older than jh2.
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Click to collapse
So how do I know which one I should use? Is it based on the ROM I flash, or my hardware (Captivate)?
Which odin stock firmware is based on the build (four digit number under battery such as 1006) and what version your phone came with when new, such as jf6 or jh7.
newter55 said:
Which odin stock firmware is based on the build (four digit number under battery such as 1006) and what version your phone came with when new, such as jf6 or jh7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you by chance know which one I'd need off hand? I'm at work and don't feel like pulling my phone apart, but I can tell you that I bought my Captivate the day it came out, so presumably it came with the oldest firmware the Captivate ever came packaged with.
1. No need to root. That's an extra step you don't need. My method, get the update.zip for clockwork mod, just search the Dev section, no need to even install Rom Manager or anything. Take that update.zip and put it on the root of your internal SDcard (just the normal phone storage, not an external SD. Then using adb or button method reboot into recovery, choose reinstall packages. The phone reboots into stock recovery. Choose reinstall packages again and this time you get Clockwork. Wipe data, install zip from SD, choose zip file, pick Cog, install and done.
2. I use titanium for user apps only, ie, things I got from market. All my contacts are synced with google, so once I add my google info under accounts they are back. Sorry, i don't mess with facebook or twitter so i can't answer that. As far as settings, you just have to manually do that, ie, ringtones, wireless networks, etc.
3. Yes I do. And I also use iSyncr. No problems whatsoever. As long as you don't do a MasterClear. That option under Odin will wipe your internal SDcard also. The Wipe Data under Clockwork recovery just wipes out installed apps and settings but leaves your internal SD intact.
4. Honestly, it's just a much better experience overall. The phone is faster, smoother, and more responsive. Plus DG has taken the liberty of removing all the ATT crap and un-needed apps.
5. Not one.
My only advice would be to "be prepared". My sure you have button recovery available ahead of time. Check your Rev version of phone, ie, the date under the battery. It seems newer Revs require a different version of stock Odin One-click. Some people have had issues running the original One-click. If you have any doubts about your phones ability to go to download mode, in case you need to go back to stock, spend the $1 on building a USB Jig.
You will find that flashing is easy. Recovering from unexpected errors can be easy if you are prepared.
bobbylx said:
1. No need to root. That's an extra step you don't need. My method, get the update.zip for clockwork mod, just search the Dev section, no need to even install Rom Manager or anything. Take that update.zip and put it on the root of your internal SDcard (just the normal phone storage, not an external SD. Then using adb or button method reboot into recovery, choose reinstall packages. The phone reboots into stock recovery. Choose reinstall packages again and this time you get Clockwork. Wipe data, install zip from SD, choose zip file, pick Cog, install and done.
2. I use titanium for user apps only, ie, things I got from market. All my contacts are synced with google, so once I add my google info under accounts they are back. Sorry, i don't mess with facebook or twitter so i can't answer that. As far as settings, you just have to manually do that, ie, ringtones, wireless networks, etc.
3. Yes I do. And I also use iSyncr. No problems whatsoever. As long as you don't do a MasterClear. That option under Odin will wipe your internal SDcard also. The Wipe Data under Clockwork recovery just wipes out installed apps and settings but leaves your internal SD intact.
4. Honestly, it's just a much better experience overall. The phone is faster, smoother, and more responsive. Plus DG has taken the liberty of removing all the ATT crap and un-needed apps.
5. Not one.
My only advice would be to "be prepared". My sure you have button recovery available ahead of time. Check your Rev version of phone, ie, the date under the battery. It seems newer Revs require a different version of stock Odin One-click. Some people have had issues running the original One-click. If you have any doubts about your phones ability to go to download mode, in case you need to go back to stock, spend the $1 on building a USB Jig.
You will find that flashing is easy. Recovering from unexpected errors can be easy if you are prepared.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So do I not need to be rooted to use Ti-BU? I thought I saw that under the product description in the marketplace.
Also, under #1, when you say "Wipe Data" you are referring to an option in the Clockwork Recovery menu, not an Odin MasterClear, right? Will this wipe my internal SD?
If you got the phone on release you likely have a 1006 build with working 3 button recovery and can safely use the odin3 one click jf6.
Sent from my Liquid Metal using XDA App
TiBu needs root. I rooted using one click, then backed up user apps and data (used built in contact export to save contacts and smsbackup for texts).
Then I just ran the update.zip for CWR and flashed Cog - was my first flash too and pretty painless. TiBu returns your apps as if you never changed them.
Make sure you can access recovery and dl mode though.
GerStud101 said:
So do I not need to be rooted to use Ti-BU? I thought I saw that under the product description in the marketplace.
Also, under #1, when you say "Wipe Data" you are referring to an option in the Clockwork Recovery menu, not an Odin MasterClear, right? Will this wipe my internal SD?
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Click to collapse
Sorry, forgot you would want to backup before installing a new ROM. Yes, to use Tibu on your current ROM you will need root.
As for wipe data, yes it's a clockwork option. Like I said in #3 wipe data just removes user installed apps, and changes all settings to stock, but all data on your internal store will stay there, pics, music, etc.
Master Clear is the Odin option, which I never use by the way, that will completely delete everything on your internal SD, bye bye music, pics, etc.
This is all EXTREMELY helpful by the way.
Quick question about USB Jigs--is it easy to build one myself or should I splurge on the ~$15 one MobileTechVideos sells? There's seems pretty fancy, and I can't afford to be phoneless as I putz around trying to jimmy myself a jig.
I can't speak from experience but there's a thread here in QA that makes it seem easy. Just get 3 x 100kohm resistors, wire them in series, twist it to look like a horseshoe, there you go. If you have a radioshack or other electronics store near you it's worth a shot. Like I said, I think all 3 resistors cost may $1 total. You can also test it on your phone to make sure. Touch the jig to the 2 leads, if it goes into download mode instantly you did it right. Pull battery and reboot and all is well.
Edit. Jig link,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=889128
bobbylx said:
I can't speak from experience but there's a thread here in QA that makes it seem easy. Just get 3 x 100kohm resistors, wire them in series, twist it to look like a horseshoe, there you go. If you have a radioshack or other electronics store near you it's worth a shot. Like I said, I think all 3 resistors cost may $1 total. You can also test it on your phone to make sure. Touch the jig to the 2 leads, if it goes into download mode instantly you did it right. Pull battery and reboot and all is well.
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Click to collapse
Yeah I saw that thread, I'll have to try my hand at it before I do this process. Better safe than sorry. Thanks.
Ok, so, the plan = build working jig and DL proper Odin just in case, one-click root, Ti-BU, move clockwork update.zip and cognition zips to my root folder, reboot in recovery, reinstall packages/flash clockwork, then wipe and flash cognition. This sound correct?
That sounds about right. Really the only thing different i do is on the root of my storage I create folders for ROMs. So I have a Cog folder with the rom in it. Once you have Clockwork installed and you are choosing to flash, it will let you navigate to different folders. That's just my preference because I don't like to have too many individual files on my SD. Minor thing, just thought I would mention it.
bobbylx said:
That sounds about right. Really the only thing different i do is on the root of my storage I create folders for ROMs. So I have a Cog folder with the rom in it. Once you have Clockwork installed and you are choosing to flash, it will let you navigate to different folders. That's just my preference because I don't like to have too many individual files on my SD. Minor thing, just thought I would mention it.
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Click to collapse
Haha, appreciate the advice; I like a little organization in my life as well.
Sounds like you've flashed a few different ROMs. Have you ever bricked your phone to the point where you needed a jig? Or has it always been smooth sailing?
I guess I'm just trying to figure out why one person's phone would brick and anothers wouldnt. It kind of makes me assume that if you brick your phone, you've done something wrong, and if you just do the process right, everything should go smoothly. But maybe that's naive of me.