Related
just purchased a sprint htc hero im wondering what are the advantages or disadvantages on changing the roms and can someone help me in chosing and installing a new rom
Themes. Tethering. Improve battery life and signal. Improve overall speed. New 2.1 features. And VARIETY! Just to name a few...
The advantages are many...it's fun to see what other people come up with, exciting to find new features, cool to check out many different awesome themes....
Disavantages....on occasion you have to wipe going from one rom to the next (but that can be fun too)
.....what ROM to choose, that is going to be up to you and what you like in a ROM....from all the ones you test out on your HERO!!!!
Do some reading and ROM searches my friend, you'll be surprised at all the good stuff you find
And all the info you'll need is at the top of the forum.
Here -http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=618874
And here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=618867
No one can help you chose a rom, it's a personal choice and frankly there are so many to chose from you'll get at least 5 different answers from 10 people.
The advantages are you will get much better performance out of your device and unlock potential that the average person would never know exists. Sprint bogs the thing down with so much crap you would be AMAZED at how much better it will operate when it's all cleaned up Also you can do things like wifi tether (true) and enable the built in light saber (false)
The disadvantage is learning about this stuff and doing it for yourself is so fascinating and fun if you're not careful it will quickly take over every aspect of your life (true)
There are plenty of guides from getting started for total noobs to things like compiling kernel from source code. Check out the guides wiki at the top of the forum, it' one of the stickies. First thing you will do is "root" and backup your phone, then you're pretty much good to do whatever you want and as long as you don't flash a GSM rom on your CDMA hero anything you do after you make a nandroid backup is reversible.
Welcome to xda, have fun!
*edit- LOL, there's a few of us up late tonight I see!
I finally decided to use custom ROM because I got sick of waiting for Sprint to release 2.1 update. There is all sorts of software out now that just runs on 2.1, Google Navigate was the big one for me.
Since I upgraded, there has been other things, speed, the ability to install a virtually unlimited set of apps, live wallpapers, swype keyboard, these are the big things i Like. Edit: Oh and wifi tethering is huge!!
There are some problems right now, you cant have everything at once. and it will take some time playing around to get what works best for you.
One other thing to consider is that when Sprint rolls out the 2.1 update over the air, you may lose the ability to root your phone. You can root now, and when the update comes out, someone here will make a rom from it and that way you will guarantee the ability to have root and still have latest stock sprint/htc software.
nebenezer said:
The disadvantage is learning about this stuff and doing it for yourself is so fascinating and fun if you're not careful it will quickly take over every aspect of your life (true)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha very true Sometimes i think to myself; xda is a drug.
Some more stuff you can read:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4258574&postcount=1
and this to save yourself from flaming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6271277&postcount=1
jcruz13 said:
just purchased a sprint htc hero im wondering what are the advantages or disadvantages on changing the roms and can someone help me in chosing and installing a new rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a good step by step guide I used to root my phone. Also A good rom with everything working is fresh 2.0d without overclock but with the updates. You'll get live wallpapers wait just read what he wrote
thatguythatdid said:
This is a good step by step guide I used to root my phone. Also A good rom with everything working is fresh 2.0d without overclock but with the updates. You'll get live wallpapers wait just read what he wrote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
themed regaw for me
thatguythatdid said:
This is a good step by step guide I used to root my phone. Also A good rom with everything working is fresh 2.0d without overclock but with the updates. You'll get live wallpapers wait just read what he wrote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, there are several methods to rooting but you cant go wrong doing it the old fashioned way. You get some great exposure to the inside of your phone and TTG wrote a very good guide. Just follow the steps.
Also in that guide he has a link to the 1.5.2 recovery image, thats a little outdated, you want RA's 1.6.2 found HERE, scroll about 2/3 down the page and choose one of the 4, doesn't matter which, the only difference in them is cosmetic.
nebenezer said:
Also you can do things like wifi tether (true) and enable the built in light saber (false)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because you haven't found it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Ask me some time about my impromptu circumcision and why I always disable the menu-menu-to-unlock feature.
tejasrichard said:
Just because you haven't found it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Ask me some time about my impromptu circumcision and why I always disable the menu-menu-to-unlock feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn, light saber app killed the Aardvark huh? I never thought anyone would get hurt when I wrote that app....sorry.
Im planning on customizing my new I9000, any tips for a noobie?
I had been reading a lot of posts here but it kinda made a little bit confused on where to start...
Thanks in advance for all the help guys!!!
customizing what? kernel ?
Hey there,
I got mine about 4 days back and after trying almost all the launchers available, IMHO, the Launcher Pro seems to be the best. I'm still trying all alternatives, but so far I have found nothing that compares with LP.
Do give their free version a try.
Cheers.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Thanks for replying guys, any more tips/advice?
Neo-ST said:
customizing what? kernel ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly my point, i don't know what to do first, is it like rooting the phone? But i would like to keep some default apps in the phone to stay but totally change the UI...
skiddhard said:
Hey there,
I got mine about 4 days back and after trying almost all the launchers available, IMHO, the Launcher Pro seems to be the best. I'm still trying all alternatives, but so far I have found nothing that compares with LP.
Do give their free version a try.
Cheers.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, Launcher Pro seems to be like a great alternative to TouchWiz...
spandsbab said:
Yeah, Launcher Pro seems to be like a great alternative to TouchWiz...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To your earlier post, none of the launchers need your phone to be rooted or require a custom firmware (thank god for the sake of all noobs ).
On that rooting note, I am still trying to figure out the obvious and apparent advantages of rooting. Had an iPhone from the 2g all the way till the 3gs. It had the jailbreak and the unlock. Is rooting the same as jailbreaking in terms of functionality??
As a side note, see if you can give WidgetLocker a look. The stock Galaxy S lockscreen is boring and too plain for my liking at least. WidgetLocker allows you to put your widgets and icons right on the lockscreen.
Cheers....
skiddhard said:
To your earlier post, none of the launchers need your phone to be rooted or require a custom firmware (thank god for the sake of all noobs ).
On that rooting note, I am still trying to figure out the obvious and apparent advantages of rooting. Had an iPhone from the 2g all the way till the 3gs. It had the jailbreak and the unlock. Is rooting the same as jailbreaking in terms of functionality??
As a side note, see if you can give WidgetLocker a look. The stock Galaxy S lockscreen is boring and too plain for my liking at least. WidgetLocker allows you to put your widgets and icons right on the lockscreen.
Cheers....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, great advice there! As for the rooting thing, well I heard they did some custom firmware that fixes the slight lagging thingy. I have had slight lagging when i listen to music and watch movies.. btw my firmware is JG2 (though it says in the Kies that it cannot be further upgraded, i doubt its the latest).
spandsbab said:
Thanks, great advice there! As for the rooting thing, well I heard they did some custom firmware that fixes the slight lagging thingy. I have had slight lagging when i listen to music and watch movies.. btw my firmware is JG2 (though it says in the Kies that it cannot be further upgraded, i doubt its the latest).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most welcome.
As for the updates, there are different versions available for different regions. For me in India the upgrade available was JG4. Mine was JG2 out of the box. The new version (JG4) has an inbuilt task manager and a little better performance than the JG2. It fixes a few performance issues from what I have read.
Not really sure how it works, but if you could cheat your system in believing you are in a different location (say India, for eg), perhaps you can get that update too. But do check if its safe pulling off a stunt like that. Check if the phone and the carrier like this at all.
Cheers....
skiddhard said:
Most welcome.
As for the updates, there are different versions available for different regions. For me in India the upgrade available was JG4. Mine was JG2 out of the box. The new version (JG4) has an inbuilt task manager and a little better performance than the JG2. It fixes a few performance issues from what I have read.
Not really sure how it works, but if you could cheat your system in believing you are in a different location (say India, for eg), perhaps you can get that update too. But do check if its safe pulling off a stunt like that. Check if the phone and the carrier like this at all.
Cheers....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read it somewhere here in XDA that you can actually do cheat your location and that it is kinda okay to do that but I think you have to root/flash your phone for that... that's the reason I kinda lean towards rooting the phone cause guys here do faster and better job at fixing issues with the phone than Samsung...
spandsbab said:
I have read it somewhere here in XDA that you can actually do cheat your location and that it is kinda okay to do that but I think you have to root/flash your phone for that... that's the reason I kinda lean towards rooting the phone cause guys here do faster and better job at fixing issues with the phone than Samsung...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been doing some reading on the same thing too. The damn iPhone got me so used to jailbreaking, it seems NOT rooting the android is no fun at all....
Here are a couple of links to get you started I suppose.
/showthread.php?t=746129
/showthread.php?t=739300
Will be using them tonight for myself too. In the mean while, if you get an head start over me, best of luck....
Cheers....
P.S.: The XDA system is not allowing me to enter the complete links. A spam protection mechanism of some kind it seems.
skiddhard said:
Been doing some reading on the same thing too. The damn iPhone got me so used to jailbreaking, it seems NOT rooting the android is no fun at all....
Here are a couple of links to get you started I suppose.
/showthread.php?t=746129
/showthread.php?t=739300
Will be using them tonight for myself too. In the mean while, if you get an head start over me, best of luck....
Cheers....
P.S.: The XDA system is not allowing me to enter the complete links. A spam protection mechanism of some kind it seems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, rooting seems to be a lot more fun as i like tinkering a lot (my PC at work was my first victim). Anyway as soon as i get my wi-fi going (hopefully this week) i'm gonna to PM you, thanks bro!
It's only a little like jailbreaking an iPhone, because one of the main advantages of jailbreaking is getting access to apps that Apple wouldn't approve, and Google don't do that. Features that you had to jailbreak for, like multitasking and a deeper level of customisation, are standard in Android.
It's only really needed on Android for low-level manipulation of the system, like installing lag fixes, using backup programs like Titanium Backup, or tweaks like changing the CPU speed settings in SetCPU. I expect that most Android users would be happy never rooting, but most people here are, being either developers or interested in that low-level customisation.
Luckily, the Galaxy S is very easy to root! There's very little security against that (basically none in 2.1 builds), which is quite unlike a lot of other phones, some of which can require quite arcane methods exploiting obscure security holes.
Mithent said:
It's only a little like jailbreaking an iPhone, because one of the main advantages of jailbreaking is getting access to apps that Apple wouldn't approve, and Google don't do that. Features that you had to jailbreak for, like multitasking and a deeper level of customisation, are standard in Android.
It's only really needed on Android for low-level manipulation of the system, like installing lag fixes, using backup programs like Titanium Backup, or tweaks like changing the CPU speed settings in SetCPU. I expect that most Android users would be happy never rooting, but most people here are, being either developers or interested in that low-level customisation.
Luckily, the Galaxy S is very easy to root! There's very little security against that (basically none in 2.1 builds), which is quite unlike a lot of other phones, some of which can require quite arcane methods exploiting obscure security holes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still get lag with I9000 (especially during music and video playing) though very minimal. I would like to try to just change the UI as I feel it still needs work on. Though, my question is can I still get the Froyo update with custom firmware?
As a new android user I have one suggestion for you:
Spend a lot of time reading about all the things you find on this forum and play with your phone a lot
I did not know anything about android or the phone itself (apart from tech specs and a few things I saw on hands on videos and reviews) till I signed up here. I've read a lot here that made me understand how my phone works.
Atm I'm using LauncherPro and my SGS is rooted and running JM5 firmware. If you read related articles you will find that unrooting your phone and restoring it to your stock firmware is fairly easy.
I have been installing, testing and keeping or uninstalling loads of apps. Some of them people have recommended here (like Titanium Backup) and some I just was curious about (like Unified Remote). So I would say browse the market or other onilne sources and experiment with new apps.
I even feel comfortable now to use adb to pull system files from the phone and see what's in them and if there's room for customisation.
Even been reading a bit about Java fgs
Fireloon said:
As a new android user I have one suggestion for you:
Spend a lot of time reading about all the things you find on this forum and play with your phone a lot
I did not know anything about android or the phone itself (apart from tech specs and a few things I saw on hands on videos and reviews) till I signed up here. I've read a lot here that made me understand how my phone works.
Atm I'm using LauncherPro and my SGS is rooted and running JM5 firmware. If you read related articles you will find that unrooting your phone and restoring it to your stock firmware is fairly easy.
I have been installing, testing and keeping or uninstalling loads of apps. Some of them people have recommended here (like Titanium Backup) and some I just was curious about (like Unified Remote). So I would say browse the market or other onilne sources and experiment with new apps.
I even feel comfortable now to use adb to pull system files from the phone and see what's in them and if there's room for customisation.
Even been reading a bit about Java fgs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep two thumbs up for you! Well I have always felt I'm more of a Sith than a Jedi! Be stepping on the dark side soon too, thanks for the great advice and Ima doing it!
I just ordered my Samsung Captivate and now I am just waiting...
Maybe I could pass the time learning about Android!?
Having only had a little expierience with my Friend's MotoBackflip running Doughnut and my current phone being Winmo 6.5, I wanted to know the best way to learn about Android before I recieve my phone.
What would be the best learning resource?
I have a feeling I am going to want to Root the phone which I don't completely know what that means but if it gets rid of the the Bloatware then I am just fine with it.
HTC has spoiled me so I have a feeling I am going to want to get rid of TouchWiz too but we'll see.
I have like a thousand questions but I am a pretty capable person so just point me in the right direction if you can!
as far as rooting i think you could take a look at the android dev forum , theres some info there about rooting and different roms available I believe
Don't use a task killer.
They are not needed. And there is no reason not to root. And it is pretty much risk free.
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger Gee Bees.
notasimpleway said:
Don't use a task killer.
They are not needed. And there is no reason not to root. And it is pretty much risk free.
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger Gee Bees.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weird, I thought a task killer would be essential. I've always wondered where those little programs go if you don't close them lol
Shival said:
Having only had a little expierience with my Friend's MotoBackflip running Doughnut and my current phone being Winmo 6.5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I'm in a bit of a similar situation (though I've owned an iPhone in-between owning WinMo and then Android).
First off, the best way to learn is to see whether devs had ported Android to your WinMo phone or not. If they did, use that to learn. If not, try reading an Android guidebook (e.g. T-Mobile G1 for Dummies) or simply using an available Android emulator. There's one at: http://tmobile.modeaondemand.com/htc/g1/
Lastly, there's a bit of a difference between Android's root and WinMo's HardSPL. The only purpose of HardSPL is basically to change ROMs...because WinMo pretty much allows you to do anything else you want. Android's rooting, on the other hand, doesn't just allow you to install ROMs, but it allows you to use a variety of programs which requires your phone to be rooted (e.g. ROM Manager), install certain tweaks, and so on.
As an analogy, Android's root is probably closer to iOS' jailbreaking than it is to WinMo's HardSPL. As with the iPhone's jailbreaking, rooting allows you access to a larger variety of apps, tweaks to change how your phone performs, and so on.
If you have any other questions, then basically the right direction to point you in is the Android phone forums around here. Read the questions others asked, see the answers, and learn. That's how I did it.
Shival said:
Weird, I thought a task killer would be essential. I've always wondered where those little programs go if you don't close them lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android is built on Linux. Linux does not handle resources the way Windows does. Basically, it closes programs when it is done on its own.
Sent from my iPhone with the bigger Gee Bees.
Your def in the right place. This is my first android phone and from what I understand the captivate is one of thee r easier phones to do anything with. I've flashed this thing a bunch of times already and there hasn't ben any custom roms released for it yet. Check out the stickies in the dev forum. Everything is there. And there s no way to get rid of touch whiz yet. Launcher pro is pretty awesome though. Its free on the market
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Is LauncherPro basically another UI?
When I goto root my device, which or what is going to be the best way?
Should I do the Onclick root program thing? or is there an even better way?
This is sounding like it is going to be just as much fun as the first time I Flashed my HD =]
[Edit]
I just noticed the Re-done Captivate guide so that looks like its gonna solve a bunch of my questions! Sorry that I didn't notice it before I posted.
Thank-you everyone that posted!
-Further Questions
Am I going to want to root the phone as soon as I get it?
Would it be best to use the phone with my Ubuntu partition?
I have a feeling I am going to want launcherpro, should I cash out and get LauncherPro Plus?
so i never wanted to root until i tasted what the stock froyo can do.
and it's been over a month or so and i am wondering if i should root or not.
mainly came to xda-developers for firmware updates and just some general information about phones never really read into about rooting and whatnots.
i really want a smooth experience with android and while 2.2 is indeed faster than 2.1, i'm still not quite satisfied.
so i'm wondering if rooting will boost speed performances. like smoother scroll, opening apps faster and hopefully a better music player. the custom themes are nice but performance and functionality is my thing and priority.
or should i be waiting for 3.0?
In all honesty root your nexus. I had mine since February and only rooted my nexus two weeks ago.
I had the same doubts of what would rooting give me over eclair and then froyo but after rooting and putting on a custom rom i am kicking myself for not doing it sooner.
My phone is rooted with a locked bootloader so i don't have to worry about that unlock padlock when powering up my phone. I get too use rooted apps and best of all the different roms. I was going to wait for google with each update new features being added, but it takes too long. With the custom roms they have features that should have been in the stock release like waking up the phone with the trackball and other trackball colors beside white, different customizations to your liking and speed increases.
Today it is even easier to root your nexus one then when it first came out. Since putting a new rom on my phone it feels like i have a new phone all over again without the cost and contract obligations.
Give it a try and see if you like it if not you can always unroot and go back to the stock rom. But keep in mind before you root and start tinkering with your phone read up as much as you can beforehand so you are sure you know what you are doing.
Best of luck.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Hello Everyone. I am a long time Android User, new to rooting.
Before I get too deep in this I had a general question....
I have a Droid 3 that I am finding to be slow compared to my stock Google Nexus One. I really enjoy the qwerty keyboard and don't want to go back to my Nexus, However the lag in the contacts autofill indexing and email autofill indexing is Killing Me.
I run my email, calendar, and contacts etc through the gmail/ google apps platform and REALLY want to get the speed I had with my Nexus One on my Droid3.
What would you recommend?
How can I speed this thing up and still have a very reliable phone?
I also need to be able to use the following features (which work now):
wifi hotspot
tethering
hdmi out
bluetooth
calendar
Thank you so much for any insight you can provide. I am really impressed with the knowledge base on this forum.
Much Appreciated.
I am by no means an expert in Android devices but can definitely tell you that the 'slow down' you are experiencing is due largely in part to the poor ROM/Skin that is built onto the phone by Motorola and Verizon.
I would recommend rooting and trying out one of the custom ROM's in the Android Development section.
I have an XT860 so there are no ROMs really available at this point but from my experience with my HTC Desire Z, there was a night and day difference in speed and usability of the phone after I rooted it and began using custom ROMS.
For the Droid 3, 'Steel Droid' seems to be a very popular ROM, but again I don't have any direct experience with it because its not compatible with the XT860 (Canadian GSM variant of the D3)
Hope that helped a bit...
i use steal droid its great. renaming your bloat to .bak will speed up your d3. if you do use steel droid just flash dlna back.
I am reasonably intelligent person, confident with technology, but am finding it difficult to make sense of many of the posts because of the jargon.
Is there a cliff notes version on how to do this?
I rooted my phone with the 1 click root.
I have also installed Droid3 Bootstrapper (but I dont know what it does?)
I believe this helps me build a backup in case the ROM fails?
Where do I go from here?
Thank you!
its also for flashing roms in the form of .zips
Check out this thread in the development section, it is for Steel Droid specifically but in the first post, just after the changelog, he gives pretty good instructions on how to flash the ROM.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1278056
johnniekombat said:
I am reasonably intelligent person, confident with technology, but am finding it difficult to make sense of many of the posts because of the jargon.
Is there a cliff notes version on how to do this?
I rooted my phone with the 1 click root.
I have also installed Droid3 Bootstrapper (but I dont know what it does?)
I believe this helps me build a backup in case the ROM fails?
Where do I go from here?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be like me my friend. Just start searching around the xda forums, on google, rootzwiki, etc. Start absorbing information. I started with a normal Droid 3, and within 3 or 4 days, I found out just about everything I needed to know. You are correct about bootstrap, and it also allows you to install system files, theme files, kernel files, etc.
I would recommend Liberty. It's mostly AOSP (Android Open Source Project) which means it's not bogged down by Motocrap. It flies, you can still have some blur elements and I have not experienced a single bug.
U need to root, install custom recovery, then I recommend installing a stock android rom from the android development section. Also try SetCPU to raise your processing power. But as said, the speed is mosly do to bloatware. You can also remove these without installing a rom, using root unistaller( must find of internet). Must be rooted though.
Please thank me if I helped.
Just my 2 cents, contrary to others I won't necessarily recommend flashing a CUSTOM Rom. But definitely update to the 5.6.890 to see an increase in battery life and performance, and root your phone so you can debloat.
I have seen no real improvement between custom ROMs besides the themes and user experience. however if you are satisfied with how your phone is running and have required apps you need to work, i'd just debloat the stock ROM yourself. it will be a lot faster with the bloatware frozen using an app like titanium backup. a lot of the custom ROMs end up having bugs, especially Liberty seemed to be causing trouble for some folks before the update. but basically all the speed improvements people are seeing is from the apps removed from running in the background that you don't need, so do that and youre good to go.
johnniekombat said:
I am reasonably intelligent person, confident with technology, but am finding it difficult to make sense of many of the posts because of the jargon.
Is there a cliff notes version on how to do this?
I rooted my phone with the 1 click root.
I have also installed Droid3 Bootstrapper (but I dont know what it does?)
I believe this helps me build a backup in case the ROM fails?
Where do I go from here?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CHECK THIS OUT http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1238472 THEN USE THIS http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-1192795.html TO DELETE THE REST THAT THE FIRST DOESNT COVER. I KNOW THE SECOND IS FOR A DIFFERENT PHONE BUT DONT WORRY IT IDENTICAL. I PERSONALLY DELETED THEM. AFTER I CLLEANED UP DAVLIK CACHE AND MY PHONE FLIES ON STOCK ROM.
THEN DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND MAKE YOUR CAMERA BETTER WITH THESE SIMPLE THINGS. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1271927&page=2, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1326101
techno-update said:
U need to root, install custom recovery, then I recommend installing a stock android rom from the android development section. Also try SetCPU to raise your processing power. But as said, the speed is mosly do to bloatware. You can also remove these without installing a rom, using root unistaller( must find of internet). Must be rooted though.
Please thank me if I helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What settings have you done in SetCPU??
I was having major issues with SetCPU when I originally set it up...
This was also when the phone just got rooted too though...
I thought we needed a modded kernel to do any CPU clocking things...?
Seirÿu said:
What settings have you done in SetCPU??
I was having major issues with SetCPU when I originally set it up...
This was also when the phone just got rooted too though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Set cpu will only allow you to underclock and change governor. I would only suggest switching the governor to performance, which beware will drain your battery faster, because its reported that other than stock governor and performance cause phone to act goofy.
Cannot overclock yet, we may not be ever be able to because **** bootloader locking.
Just Froze most of the bloat ware using the free Bloat Freezer in the market and am already experiencing improved performance!!! Thank you all so much!