Related
Well I want to start off by saying that I've rooted my N1 and tried several cooked roms including CM's and the Modaco version. I keep searching for a reason to use a custom rom. Every time I do, I end up reverting back to stock. I just don't get the purpose. I understand cooking Windows Mobile roms to get newer OS versions that included new features and stuff, and cooking in new updated apps... I've searched and searched looking for some solid reason to stay on a custom rom, but I can't find one.
The Nexus One is just awesome and pretty clean as it is out of the box. It seems like when I use a cooked rom, it's more bloated then stock and I "try" to make it work as my stock rom did, with same apps and homescreen setup (I like Launcher Pro/Dialer One). I know some of the roms include "newer kernels" which I'm guessing is like a newer build but I don't see anything really that "pops" out. I understand rooting the device to gain full access to the system. But you can root a stock rom.
I also understand porting different systems like Desire/Hero/whatever. But aside from cosmetics, rooting, overclocking, and undervolting... why use a custom roms?
And mods, I've searched and searched, and read and read, I've seen the stickies. I'm looking for specifics.
player911 said:
aside from cosmetics, rooting, overclocking, and undervolting... why use a custom roms?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you summed it up pretty well. cosmetics, rooting, overclocking, and undervolting.
For me, custom roms is worth it JUST for trackball wake up, and unlock, on the nexus. I hated having to use the power button way at the top.
For some, its so you can use an entirely open source phone, free from proprietary google apps.
The great chefs put a ton of thought into all the additions they use, create, and implement. Things that save battery life, improve user experience, or fix bugs / quirks.
There isn't a huge demand for ROM's for the N1 because we're at the forefront of Android right now. We're the one's with 2.2. We have flash. Everyone else is getting ports of what we get stock. This will continue for the foreseeable future, until Google selects another handset to be its in-house testing model, or launches Nexus Two/Dev Phone 4 (counting N1 as 3). Once we're obsolete, then, and only then, will you see the modding community pick up and you'll see big reasons to go with custom ROM's.
CM has the latest android code that is publically availalble. (He just synced code today). The little features that are missing are enough for me. Things like invisible lock screen, to the newly added gestures in the music app(great for driving).
If you're not a tweaker by nature then stock OS code will suffice. Me? I can't get enough of the new little things that add up to an overall great package.
/cm nutriding
Because it's fun.
720p recording.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=698287
Titanium Backup and N1 Torch
ATnTdude said:
There isn't a huge demand for ROM's for the N1 because we're at the forefront of Android right now. We're the one's with 2.2. We have flash. Everyone else is getting ports of what we get stock. This will continue for the foreseeable future, until Google selects another handset to be its in-house testing model, or launches Nexus Two/Dev Phone 4 (counting N1 as 3). Once we're obsolete, then, and only then, will you see the modding community pick up and you'll see big reasons to go with custom ROM's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea that makes sense.
I just feel that custom roms are more bloated then stock. I've been looking into trying one of the "Super Clean OC/UV Rooted" roms. But then again I think the stock OS is just the Bee's Knee's.
What is "bloated"?
There are zillions of reasons for custom ROMs, visual and functional:
Apps2SD
USB and WiFi tethering
Locales
OpenVPN
Dropbear, Bash, etc (better Linux experience)
Trackball colors, notifications
Torch (using flash LED as flashlight)
Deep system options made visible / changeable, lots of customization options
Most of Froyo features were implemented in custom ROMs way before Froyo test build.
My setup is VERY far from stock. And I use everything mentioned above. I can't even move to Froyo, because I need Apps2SD to work - overloaded with big apps.
I think that's a great reason..
player911 said:
Yea that makes sense.
I just feel that custom roms are more bloated then stock. I've been looking into trying one of the "Super Clean OC/UV Rooted" roms. But then again I think the stock OS is just the Bee's Knee's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No reason why you can't use Cyanogen's Quick Root + Pershoot's OC/UV Kernel on FroYo to benefit from rcxquake's wonderful modded Flash .apk and watch Hulu. It's obviously not quite as complete as CM 5.0.x (desperately missing trackball wake), and despite having root for some reason I still can't rm -f and pm uninstall com.amazon.mp3.apk from adb shell, but it gets almost everything done for me. The main thing that made FroYo live-able for me was the addition of ogdobber's Black Bar, which I had gotten very used to on CM5. That said, I can't wait for a CM flavor of FroYo...
willverduzco said:
No reason why you can't use Cyanogen's Quick Root + Pershoot's OC/UV Kernel on FroYo to benefit from rcxquake's wonderful modded Flash .apk and watch Hulu. It's obviously not quite as complete as CM 5.0.x (desperately missing trackball wake), and despite having root for some reason I still can't rm -f and pm uninstall com.amazon.mp3.apk from adb shell, but it gets almost everything done for me. The main thing that made FroYo live-able for me was the addition of ogdobber's Black Bar, which I had gotten very used to on CM5. That said, I can't wait for a CM flavor of FroYo...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried "adb remount" to remount the System partition in read/write mode first?
OK, this is a little strange, but I think the idea is useful for people that want to mod the ramdisk but don't want to fiddle with compilers and such. It requires a kernel, so I'm including a proof of concept here. However, once the basic support is in a kernel, you can change anything about the ramdisk and the boot process WITHOUT changing your kernel!
For example, say you want to change init.rc... You can do that, and if it fails to boot, if you stored it on your external SD card, just pop out the card and boot up, the change won't be able to copy over at boot, so you are back where you started. No odin, no kernel mod.
The basic idea is simple. It runs init.d style scripts (if found) BEFORE the android init process starts up. This allows you to change literally anything in the ramdisk without the hassle of building a kernel. You can replace the /sbin/init binary if you want to, whatever.
This also means you could install and/or upgrade a lagfix, even voodoo, by copying a single file to /system/etc/init.d and rebooting.
This is more useful for devs I think than for end users, but perhaps users will find it useful.
NOTE: This is DANGEROUS STUFF. If you store your files in a world-writable location like /sdcard, ANY app could change your ramdisk! As it is, any root app can do it with this change. Anything run in the pre-init scripts is, by definition, run as root. So watch your permissions and don't store stuff used by the pre-init scripts in a FAT filesystem. EXT2/3/4 and RFS will work fine if you set them to root-write only. If in doubt, use "chmod 700 <file>". All of this should be obvious to most people here, but I think it's important to point out just in case.
This is based on Unhelpful's 1.7 kernel. It runs great on my Vibrant. There is one known bug, it reverts the locale to en_GB on boot, which is mildly irritating. I can't figure out why this happens. If someone knows, please post. I did write a simple app that switches it back to en_US using MoreLocale 2 (market) on boot, if people want it.
Credit to Unhelpful (kernel source and nice build scripts), JAC and Supercurio (examples for setting up the ramdisk properly for this sort of thing).
All the init scripts live in /system/etc/init.d. P*** are pre-init scripts. E*** are early-init scripts run before /data and /dbdata are mounted, allowing you to override mount options and such at that point, S*** are standard init scripts that launch right before the Android OS starts up, so the full environment is available to them. So you now have 3 hooks to start init scripts up. The boot process will wait for them to complete, so don't do anything that takes a long time if you don't have to, or start it in the background with "cmd &" or similar.
http://www.tabbal.net/files/t959-ttabbal-v1.0.tar
Flash with Odin. I'll consider putting up a ZIP later. Please, be at a computer with Odin and a known good kernel when you do this, this should be considered beta at best. Hardware locked phones should probably avoid this as well. Also, disable voodoo before messing with this, it does not include the voodoo script. If you really want to try it, you should be able to copy it to the init.d directory, but it would be better to wait a bit.
If it works well, hopefully other kernel devs will include the framework. I may also start posting updates from Unhelpful's git tree if there is interest as well now that I have a decent environment set up. See his thread in the Captivate forum for details on what changes have been done. OC/UV is supported, but I haven't worked with it much. You have to enable it by creating a config file and putting it on the phone. I'd recommend the external SD card in case you have a problem with a bad config, so you can pull the card and boot without clock changes. The OC/UV config can also be changed at runtime.
There is no need to pre-flash anything, and init.d need not exist or have any scripts in it. The system will boot fine without them.
If you try it, please post your thoughts. I'd like to see if there is interest for this line of work. If you don't understand a thing I said above, please don't install it.
Updates:
http://www.tabbal.net/files/Kernel-ttabbal-v1.2.zip
http://www.tabbal.net/files/Kernel-ttabbal-v1.4.zip
http://www.tabbal.net/files/z4mod-ttabbal-v1.1.zip
Wow, I am afraid to mess with this today. (expecting an important phone call)
I will flash it tomorrow morning however. And post some results, I have an idea about what to do with this.
Thanks Travis!
I hope you find it useful! I forgot to note one thing. If you want to see what your pre-init scripts are up to, there's some info in /init.log. Not a ton, but you can at least see if your script was started and such from there.
Also, if anyone cares, it works on Frankin-Twiz Final. I decided to check it out once I got this little project working.
I'm curious to see what people come up with, I've seen some complaints about not being able to edit the ramdisk without building a kernel. So now they can.
ttabbal said:
I hope you find it useful! I forgot to note one thing. If you want to see what your pre-init scripts are up to, there's some info in /init.log. Not a ton, but you can at least see if your script was started and such from there.
Also, if anyone cares, it works on Frankin-Twiz Final. I decided to check it out once I got this little project working.
I'm curious to see what people come up with, I've seen some complaints about not being able to edit the ramdisk without building a kernel. So now they can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mind sharing your init setup. I am familiar with Unhelpfuls method and just want to see what you have changed from his.
I stayed away from his method with Voodoo as it was causing issues at diff points of development and went with the run-parts solution. But it may be in better shape now that you have gone over it.
Most users will only need one hook but options are always good.
I've always been one the fence about the runtime OC/UV. Most people are looking for a stable voltage file that will work with their phones in the thread, but it is def awesome for those that are familiar with what they are doing.
justanothercrowd said:
You mind sharing your init setup. I am familiar with Unhelpfuls method and just want to see what you have changed from his.
I stayed away from his method with Voodoo as it was causing issues at diff points of development and went with the run-parts solution. But it may be in better shape now that you have gone over it.
Most users will only need one hook but options are always good.
I've always been one the fence about the runtime OC/UV. Most people are looking for a stable voltage file that will work with their phones in the thread, but it is def awesome for those that are familiar with what they are doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Talk to braka, we been hi-jacking the init for a bit, I've been working on getting a Desire pport working on are rom.. ( Well, barak has been hi-jacking the init ) I just build kernels.
justanothercrowd said:
You mind sharing your init setup. I am familiar with Unhelpfuls method and just want to see what you have changed from his.
I stayed away from his method with Voodoo as it was causing issues at diff points of development and went with the run-parts solution. But it may be in better shape now that you have gone over it.
Most users will only need one hook but options are always good.
I've always been one the fence about the runtime OC/UV. Most people are looking for a stable voltage file that will work with their phones in the thread, but it is def awesome for those that are familiar with what they are doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The whole ramdisk is here:
http://github.com/travistabbal/linux-galaxy/tree/ttabbal-v1.0/usr/initrd_files_t959/
The pre-init stuff is in /init.sh.
The basic stuff is the same as his really, I just put the sync hooks in to stall the boot based on an older version of his stuff. The current version didn't seem to work for me. The boot didn't wait, and I couldn't see any reason it would, so I just used the property setting style.
As I said, I haven't tried voodoo with it yet, but I don't see any reason it wouldn't work. You might want to pull the "exec /sbin/init" out if you want more pre-init scripts available, but other than that, it should work fine. A fair bit of the ramdisk came from your voodoo release, useful stuff in there.
If you see any issues with the init.d stuff, let me know and I'll look into them and if I can fix them, send a pull request over to Unhelpful.
Yeah, 3 hooks is overkill, but I figured there might be some use for them all. Most scripts can run in the "standard" hook and work just fine.
I kept the runtime OC/UV stuff just because it was more work to take it out. If you have a nice stable file, I'm happy to include it in the downloads as a default. I'm sure I could pull at least older versions from your github, I honestly haven't messed with it much beyond adding the 600Mhz step and seeing that the phone would use it. I honestly don't see much call for changing that stuff constantly at runtime, but it's nice for experimenting. If it crashes due to low voltage, just reboot and no harm done.
As I'm sure someone will ask, no I won't test it with voodoo. I can't, my phone has the extra NAND so it's not compatible with voodoo. When Beta5 comes out, I'll test it though.
I'm uploading a 1.1 now. The only big change is that I've fixed the backlight notification patch from Unhelpful's tree so it works with Vibrant now! Install the kernel, then copy lights.default.so to /system/lib/hw to get apps able to use it. Anything that can do LED notifications now turns on the button backlights instead.
See the other BLN threads for Q&A's, etc.. The big one, no, we can't flash/fade the LEDs. It would require changes to the binary firmware and nobody wants to try writing it.
http://www.tabbal.net/files/t959-ttabbal-v1.1.tar
http://www.tabbal.net/files/lights.default.so
This has been tested on my phone running Bionix 1.7 and worked with the MMS and GMail apps. I haven't tested the others.
Again, it's an Odin tar file. Put it in the PDA section and flash. If people ask for an update.zip, I'll put one together.
The warning above applies. This flashes a kernel, so it will overwrite whatever you have now. So if you have voodoo, disable it or add the voodoo script to init.d with an E prefix ie. "Evoodoo".
Thanks
I've been looking forward for a way to use the backlight buttons as notification since the phone came out and the idea was hatched a few days later. I'm admittedly new to all this so I have no idea what else this is capable of but I am VERY thankful for the button lights. Also there is another xda thread up with many replies and people offering up some rewards for making this work.
Can this be applied to eugenes froyo ?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
dzeinz said:
I've been looking forward for a way to use the backlight buttons as notification since the phone came out and the idea was hatched a few days later. I'm admittedly new to all this so I have no idea what else this is capable of but I am VERY thankful for the button lights. Also there is another xda thread up with many replies and people offering up some rewards for making this work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rewards? Heh... I had no idea people were that interested in it. Hope it helps. My github has source, so I hope other kernel devs for vibrant add it.
skater991 said:
Can this be applied to eugenes froyo ?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure. Froyo usually needs a different kernel. If JAC or KK kernels work, this one should. At worst, it will boot loop and you will have to flash a compatible kernel in download mode. So make sure you can get into download mode before trying it.
Thanks for this. It's working great, and I'm so glad to finally have backlight notifications.
Definitely would like an update.zip, just not comfortable doing it through odin...but I would love to have this
The cake is a lie!
metalfan78 said:
Definitely would like an update.zip, just not comfortable doing it through odin...but I would love to have this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, since you asked nicely.
http://www.tabbal.net/files/Kernel-ttabbal-v1.1.zip
MD5: 606a1ecaa934f97bd26f0bfb617b23b8
Tested just now via Clockwork. It even installs the library for you, so the button notification should work out of the box.
Running great for me on Bionix 1.9.1.
Wow...thanks, ill give it a go. So just flash through clockwork and good to go?
The cake is a lie!
metalfan78 said:
Wow...thanks, ill give it a go. So just flash through clockwork and good to go?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup.
Let me know what you think.
Is this ready for overclocking like JAC's OC/UV kernels? If so, any chance of posting a demo script for the OC/UV settings?
Also, can we add a user-script to enable AOSP bootanimation.zip files, or is support still commented out in this kernel?
Thanks for your time and hard work, cheers, =)
I have been wanting button notification since i got the phone. Can you choose which button lights up based on what the notification is?
for example menu = txt, home = missed call, etc....that would be awesome!
s0niqu3 said:
Is this ready for overclocking like JAC's OC/UV kernels? If so, any chance of posting a demo script for the OC/UV settings?
Also, can we add a user-script to enable AOSP bootanimation.zip files, or is support still commented out in this kernel?
Thanks for your time and hard work, cheers, =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's based on Unhelpful's way of doing OC/UV, you have to modify a file and push it to the phone to enable it, then set up the min/max settings with a script or SetCPU. There's a lot of detail over in Unhelpful's thread on the Captivate forum, so it's probably better to point you over there. They have scripts and such for it as well.
Not sure on the boot animation. I'll see if I can find it.
d_bot said:
I have been wanting button notification since i got the phone. Can you choose which button lights up based on what the notification is?
for example menu = txt, home = missed call, etc....that would be awesome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be awesome, but it's not that complex. It's all of them for a notification. The Android API wouldn't really be able to deal with that level, but perhaps we could assign the buttons colors and use the color that the app requested? Maybe, but I'm not sure we can turn on just one of them from the code we have right now. The code looks to make a somewhat simple call that turns them all on at the same time. Hopefully as more people look into things, we will learn how to do stuff like that.
I searched and found nothing helpful. So...what is the best rom for daily use with the least amount of problems. I would like to be able to play games, surf the interwebs and read.
Preferably eclair or froyo, I don't give a shiz about gingerbread. I wouldn't mind if youtube worked and would like to be able to purchase games that don't show on my market now.
I am currently using whatever rom is with auto-nooter. I have a wife and kids that also enjoy everything that the rooted nook offers. Much thanks.
There aren't any ROMs available for the NC yet, except for the Nookie Froyo.
There are, however, a few kernels, that over clock your NC for extra performance.
I myself am using 1ghz-omap3630 version that overclocks my NC to 1ghz! Everything flies at 1ghz. You can find more info here.. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=925451
Before you start flashing any ROM/kernels be sure to undestand what you are getting into.. There are no other benefits of flashing these kernels except for the increased speed.
As for YouTube,.. it works! I use YouTube often. You might just need to wipe the data via Titanium Backup, and don't sign in again.. Also, my Market shows most of the apps for 2.1 or below.. what app you looking for that is not showing up?
I have been having small issues with my nook, nothing huge. I just would rather not have to set the screen timeout everytime I turn it on. And small issuses with softkeys. As for the market, mostly any 3d games aren't shown. I understand its what the market thinks is best but if were clocking in @ 1.1ghz then why can't I download something like downhill bowling? Or let's golf? I have a tab disguised as a reader and want to show it off.
As for knowing what I'm getting into, I don't know a ton but I rooted my old G1 and flashed new stuff since android began. But a hacker I am not. Just a quick learner. I just ask questions when I get stuck. Had my G2 for a few months now, I just love android.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
I have searched for this sort of thread for a while. Though I've only been changing my phone around for a couple months(Rooted & ROM changes) It's clear that every developer/group feels there's is best. While I find that different ROMs have great features, it would appear that each and every one has it's flaws. I also find that a person can literally search for hours on how to install, manipulate, customize and BRICK a phone. As a "Senior Member" I still find myself lost. Due to recommendations, I've purchased more then my share of "helpful apps". I hope that the most "Senior Members" (w/ extreme, non bias, knowledge) can help remedy a few staples for all users.
A comparative, most stable and complete ROM list per phone (updated frequently)
What do I really need? I don't know. I have purchased Root Manager, Root explorer, Rom manager, Titanium Backup, Drop Box the list goes on. To date I'm not 90% sure what any of these do, nor how they work. Ex. I've backed up my ROMs with Titanium Backup but I've also backed them up with Rom manager. I've changed ROMs and couldn't figure out how to reinstall apps, settings etc. using either one of these. You can find yourself changing a ROM and taking 2 - 3 hr's reinstalling apps, themes and settings.
Kernels! there 30 times as many of these as there are ROMs. There should be some real understanding of these. It would appear that some kernels will change the look of the ROM or is it the theme, it changes? Neither? so why do I need them, what really are there function?
There are some brilliant minds at work here. Hopefully some of them can pitch in and offer answers to some basic "need to knows" for many.
Thank you all for the work that you do
I'm definitely an enormous Noob (capital N!) but by now I can flash ROMs fairly quickly and reinstall my apps in a few seconds with TiBu. I still do agree with you that it's a bit hard to take in *everything*. Something I've been wondering since I began flashing (ROMs, not anything indecent) is:
1. KERNELS. What the hell is their function exactly? I know their compatibility with the custom ROM depends on...which Captivate model the ROM is based on, I think. But how does one know or how can one tell which is compatible to which?
2. Modem. ?! How do I flash this? Why do I need to flash this?
3. Probably O/T but what the heck is ROM Kitchen?
4. What is the other way of flashing without using ODIN?
Knowing that would set me a little further from Noobers State, at least.
Lancered said:
I'm definitely an enormous Noob (capital N!) but by now I can flash ROMs fairly quickly and reinstall my apps in a few seconds with TiBu. I still do agree with you that it's a bit hard to take in *everything*. Something I've been wondering since I began flashing (ROMs, not anything indecent) is:
1. KERNELS. What the hell is their function exactly? I know their compatibility with the custom ROM depends on...which Captivate model the ROM is based on, I think. But how does one know or how can one tell which is compatible to which?
2. Modem. ?! How do I flash this? Why do I need to flash this?
3. Probably O/T but what the heck is ROM Kitchen?
4. What is the other way of flashing without using ODIN?
Knowing that would set me a little further from Noobers State, at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not an expert but this is my understanding.
1. Kernel: Set of controls that lets the software interact with the hardware of the phone. Typically affects GPS, battery, bluetooth, wifi, display, etc.
2. Modem: How your phone connects to and transmits voice/data/everything.
3. ROM kitchen is a tool to help build ROM.
4. You can flash new ROMs through ClockWorkMod Recovery. You choose to install new software from zip on sd card. It lets you install ROMs, Kernels, & modems, provided they have been setup to work with CWM.
Hope that helps answer some things.
Lancered said:
I'm definitely an enormous Noob (capital N!) but by now I can flash ROMs fairly quickly and reinstall my apps in a few seconds with TiBu. I still do agree with you that it's a bit hard to take in *everything*. Something I've been wondering since I began flashing (ROMs, not anything indecent) is:
1. KERNELS. What the hell is their function exactly? I know their compatibility with the custom ROM depends on...which Captivate model the ROM is based on, I think. But how does one know or how can one tell which is compatible to which?
2. Modem. ?! How do I flash this? Why do I need to flash this?
3. Probably O/T but what the heck is ROM Kitchen?
4. What is the other way of flashing without using ODIN?
Knowing that would set me a little further from Noobers State, at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Three more excellent questions, all of which for nubies and Seniors (without tech understanding) need to know.
trekie86 said:
1. Kernel: Set of controls that lets the software interact with the hardware of the phone. Typically affects GPS, battery, bluetooth, wifi, display, etc.
2. Modem: How your phone connects to and transmits voice/data/everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good info but it doesn't help explain why there are so many of each. How is one to know what should be installed.
Different kernels allocate the phones resources in different ways.
For example sucker punch Or paragon allows the user to over clock the processor, as well as under volt. Both can be used to speed the phone up or reduce battery use.
Harcore speed mode tweaks brigtness settings, uses some tweaks to improve performance, and changes default from 250hz to 500hz
I guess it is like saying different kernels are like tuning your car up in different ways with different performance goals.
Modems performance appear to vary based off of your location. Only way to know what is best is to try them.
I do understand many are new to this (even I was new at some point of time). But there is one thing I would like to bring up in this thread.
A simple Google search would tell what the basic functionality of a kernel is. Likewise for most of things asked here.
Be patient, there are lots of people here who would guide/help u. Don't sound impatient nor show ur frustration here. This is a forum created by enthusiastic users, not by employees who are paid to service people.
1. Kernel:
Kernel is the heart of the system that keeps the phone running. U can consider the core machine level interacting portion of OS that translates all instructions to a format that the CPU can understand.It has complete control over everything that occurs in the system. The kernel provides basic services for all other parts of the operating system, typically including memory management, process management, file management and I/O (input/output) management.
Every kernel thread here has an OP where it tells what version it is based off, its features, etc.
Best way to know which is best for u: try it out. What's good for me may not be good for u.
2. Modem:
How do I flash this? : Modem thread is a sticky on development forum, and has details how to flash too.
Why do I need to flash this?: This is the core component needed to access the phone spectrum/signals.
3. Probably O/T but what the heck is ROM Kitchen?: OP says it all. This is one place where u can create a ROM by picking features/apps of the provided list. More for creating ur own custom ROM.
4. What is the other way of flashing without using ODIN? Check the first sticky thread in QA section "FOR NEW CAPTIVATE USERS - READ HERE FIRST - FAQs | HELPFUL LINKS"
So here's my .02 cents coming from a software engineer perceptive...
The kernel... It's the core/kernel of an operating system. It's main functions (as stated above) are to interact with the hardware a.k.a. Device Drivers, to manage resources (things like memory management and processor time sharing a.k.a. multi-tasking), service interrupt requests, network services and the like. It also provides a System Call Interface (API) to the user space (apps running on the machine) so the apps can use system resources.
Now the why so many part... First of all in general there are MANY options available when compiling (building) the kernel. Things like CPU schedulers, file system support, system type support (in the captivates case ARM), etc. etc. etc. So there are many different ways to configure the kernel and that gives many options to "test" and see which might work better or not. Some of them are dead giveaways like compiling the kernel for MIPS and trying to run it on the captivate won't work but some are "tweaks" that may help a little or a lot, like CPU management options.
Second part of the why so many is the code. Again as mentioned above things like changing code to make the colors of the display more or less sharp (display device driver), make the file system faster (voodoo lag fix) or overclocking the processor, and different "modem" tweaks are all "enhancements" that people have made to the original Linux kernel source. So those things "creep" into existence over time, since there are many people working on them, and you see different versions of the Kernel from that as well.
Anyone that plays music can relate to the options available in that there are only 12 notes on a guitar fret board but millions (or more) ways to put them together to play music. There are certain things that have to be present in the Kernel (notes) but writing code to enhance them and/or combining options at compile time is much broader (music).
ROM. Well IMO this one has a bad nomenclature. ROM is actually Random Access Memory and we flash an image to the "ROM" (which it really isn't but I'll leave that one alone). The "ROM" in this case is the operating system (a version of embedded Linux), which is the basic software needed to run and admin the phone, things like the Kernel, bootloader, device drivers, and file system plus any user apps like the phone dialer, launcher, etc. that are included in the ROM. As you can imagine the possibilities of customization are almost endless when it comes to the ROM. Different kernels, different drivers, different apps and many combinations of those. Thus we see all the different "ROM"s for the captivate with all the different options and unfortunately problems as well.
The modem is actually part of the kernel. It's the device driver for the phone hardware of the captivate. Being that it's part of the kernel it "works with" other code that's elsewhere in the kernel and ROM that is "tweaked" for a particular phone in this case. So when you see "use an i9000 modem with an i9000 kernel" it's because the code in the modem is written to work with the other code in the kernel. It doesn't necessarily mean it will brick the phone and/or not work but it quite often means it won't work the best if it's not "matched".
An example of the why so many here might be (and I'm just using this as a random example not a real world example) in the code below (which is the Samsung modem code in the SuckerPunch source in this case) notice the comment there about "no spec" and having to confirm how much time is needed to initialize. That may be an example where someone could play with those timings and get better performance out of the modem...
static void msm_reset(struct modemctl *mc)
{
<sniped code for briefness here>
gpio_set_value(mc->gpio_cp_reset, 0);
msleep(500); /* no spec, confirm later exactly how much time
needed to initialize CP with RESET_PMU_N */
gpio_set_value(mc->gpio_cp_reset, 1);
msleep(40); /* > 37.2 + 2 msec */
gpio_set_value(mc->gpio_phone_on, 0);
gpio_set_value(mc->gpio_cp_reset, 0);
}
So that's one example of how you might get another modem version if someone played with that code and saw better performance.
I don't know if that all helps or muddies the water, but again it's just an old software engineer's .02 cents.
mxracer101 said:
So here's my .02 cents coming from a software engineer perceptive...
<..............>
I don't know if that all helps or muddies the water, but again it's just an old software engineer's .02 cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good work!
I do understand many are new to this (even I was new at some point of time). But there is one thing I would like to bring up in this thread.
A simple Google search would tell what the basic functionality of a kernel is. Likewise for most of things asked here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For those seeking help, looking on XDA this is the #1 source for this information. Most other forums refer to XDA. So you should be in good hands
Be patient, there are lots of people here who would guide/help u. Don't sound impatient nor show ur frustration here. This is a forum created by enthusiastic users, not by employees who are paid to service people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MOST crucial to understand this. PLEASE don't re-ask a question in several different locations. In most cases a question will be answered in a short time.
1. Kernel:
Kernel is the heart of the system that keeps the phone running. U can consider the core machine level interacting portion of OS that translates all instructions to a format that the CPU can understand.It has complete control over everything that occurs in the system. The kernel provides basic services for all other parts of the operating system, typically including memory management, process management, file management and I/O (input/output) management.
Every kernel thread here has an OP where it tells what version it is based off, its features, etc.
Best way to know which is best for u: try it out. What's good for me may not be good for u.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an area I see more questions about, then I do ROMs. Be awre that all ROMs have built in kernels, it's a good idea to let the intended kernel do it's thing. This is a fine tweaking operation, learn what one does for each ROM. Don't feel you need to change it, because it's being talked about in a ROM post.
HTML:
2. Modem:
How do I flash this? : Modem thread is a sticky on development forum, and has details how to flash too. Why do I need to flash this?: This is the core component needed to access the phone spectrum/signals.
^^^^SEE ABOVE^^^^ Dito
kernels; the function has been explained so i wont go there. there are kernel settings that cant be changed once compiled that effect performance and battery life, often making one better hurts the other, kernel hz will affect the snappiness, some kernel devs like to put out 2 or more versions depending on the users preference. also there have been many mods made for the i9000, i9000 devs typically dont make ports for the other phones so the code is made available for other devs to include in there own kernels. part of the reason for soo many is that things are constantly developing but some people like what has been out there for a while. there are also a number of compiling tweeks that one developer or another may prefer.
some kernels have stock recovery 2e or 3e, some have cwm recovery some have steam recovery, some have a modded cwm recovery. cwm recovery and steam give you access to the rom backups (nandroid) and some other features, steam has a touch screen interface but the modded cwm versions have similar functionality with a hardware button interface.
lagfixes; lagfixes are incorporated into the kernel. some have "voodoo" which is ext4 and is like what non samsung android phones often have. voodoo only has a couple options and most run it default. voodoo lagfix options may be incorporated into the recovery or handeled by the presence of a folder/text file in the voodoo folder.
there is also ulf (universal lagfix/ultimate lagfix). ulf lets you choose between jfs, ext4, ext3, ext2 and rfs file systems on each partition. it also lets you do the earlier ext2 loopback like one click lag fix. it is total overkill with options an the benifits of each is subject to opinions and anecdotal observation. but if yo specifically want jfs it is the only option available on the captivate right now.
wifi; different wifi drivers cause problems with certain routers because of a security measure. once a couple fixes for this were found new kernels appeared.
other "voodoo" features; supercerio is the developer of voodoo and is obviously a talented dev. he has created a color/brightness/sharpness fix for the galaxy s line but the port to captivate kernels took some time to come about. some kernels have it and some don't. there is also voodoo sound which lets you change the amp output for the headphones.
overclock/undervolt; there was at one time development on this for captivate kernels in 2.1. it was stable but a lack of captivate froyo source kinda killed it. also there was no interface for it, changing settings was done on in a text file that you had to write into a folder with a script, people had trouble understanding it. many kernels now are i9000 ports but the undervolt code often causes "charge death" some prefer not to overclock do to this instability, but then glitterballs came up with a fix. glitterballs prefers the overclock settings to be "mild" they really arent in reference to a pc though, 20-28% is significant but still there are others that make 30-60% overclocks available. the overclock setting on some of these kernels is a multi stage setup and isnt that user friendly involving an app and configuration files. there are also sceduler differences that can balence battery life and speed but i think samsungs settings are just fine
basically if you want overclock i recomend glitterballs work. if youre phone handle 1300+mhz you must go elsewhere if you "need" the max your phone can handle.
if you dont care for overclock there are many other things to look at. kernel hz set at 500 is snappy but you may prefer battery life and find one set at stock or 300hz
if color sound is important to you and thats a big reason to by a galaxy s then you want voodoo color and sound. im not gonna talk about files systems and lagfixes because despite the apparent differences in quadrant the every day results are up for debate.
modems; im not gonna tell you to match modem to kernel because i never found that to be true.. what i will tell you is that if you use bluetooth and "need" hsupa(over rated) then dont choose a north american captivate rom other than the armani based roms. there are 5 poular ones for non captivates phones and many more that work as well, choose at random for all i care, the biggest factor is gps performance and none of them do poorly, i recomend jl3 but kp1 can work better with some playing around, it seems to not give a stable position because it constantly updates stalites, the list is constantly changing in lbs test mode but it does get more satalites in my experience. others are jk3/4 and jl2(different phone that jl3) some say in there area jl2 gets better transfers but i dont find that to be true here.
ported roms; i9000/m and t959/d ports are great and at this time dont give up too much, they work with canadian t959d and i9000m modems as well as many other oversees modems that have the att 850 band . but on some, not all but some ports you may experience sleep death. it's a captivate issue and captivate roms since jf7 have a fix incorperated, i have mostly good results on the ported roms but 1 or 2 have given me sleep death.
captivate roms; work great! use as is or add a kernel with x,yand z features. with a captivate rom you give up either bluetooth or hsupa but hsupa is over rated on a phone unless you tether or upload files directly from your phone, it does help snappiness loading web pages but seriously my isp gives me 30% the upload bandwidth that i get with hsupa and i only see about 50% of the hspa potential in my area. my 3g connection gives me 300kbps and my isp gives me 600kbps. i think non hsupa is fast enough most of the time.
to the op, titanium backup does a backup of your apk's and data for those apps. it is not recomended to restore all system data if a new rom has a different base rom. this is what to use to restore apps after a flash, chose the restore apps and data setting, if you have problems factory reset and restore apps only.
cwm backs up the rom. it is a fall back incase a flash fails. you need cwm recovery either in the kernel or in an "update.zip" in the root of the internal sdcard. if you have 2e recovery or modded 3e recovery in the kernel you need to reinstall packages to get there from the update.zip. you may need to try twice. you navigate with the volume and select with the power button.
if you have a stock 3e recovery (rare now that there are altenatives, unless you flashed a stock leak or rogers rom as is) it will fail, you will need to odin/heimdal/neldar sgskernel flasher app flash another kernel to reach cwm recovery.
root explorer helps you reach the system files. if you think you need it then get it but it is really most useful for making tweeks or installing themes, some of that is better done in a script via update.zip or remotely via adb so you may not want or need it.
Asking what ROM is best is like asking which midsized car priced in the mid $20k's is the best. They are all pretty close in quality and only differ so much, according to what the dev felt was pertinent to them. Look them over and see what people have to say about them and try it out. If you don't like it, flash another one. It really is that easy. As some of posted in other threads, it's fairly hard to totally brick your phone unless you have absolutely no clue what you're doing. It took me months to get to the point where I felt comfortable flashing and it scared the **** out of me to finally take the plunge. Now that i've done it, i'd have no problem doing it again when/if I find another ROM I like better than the one i'm on.
The absolutely best info I got was from this thread. I have no idea why it's not stickied. Connexion2005 has done an amazing job putting these together and has taught me more in the time it takes to watch the videos, than WEEKS of reading threads.
How to videos
Extremely thorough, thanks all!
Lancered said:
Extremely thorough, thanks all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome. It's why I started this thread
Thanks !!
Thanks to all who provided these great answers !!
Much appreciated.
This was a very informative read thanks
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
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MikeyMike01 said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meaning what exactly?
How I love when people bash people who are new to particular technologies when those same people were once new themselves.
Point is, provide education not just answer the question.
askpcguy said:
How I love when people bash people who are new to particular technologies when those same people were once new themselves.
Point is, provide education not just answer the question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my intention when I started this. It was great to see the guys above hashed it out. Even with all my posts There's a ton that people don't get. My hope is people will ask questions AND NOT BE LOOKED DOWN ON!
There are many MANY great people out there in the know, that are willing to help. Post your need, someone will eventually answer. NO QUEST IS DUMB!
Long story short: I bought my Nook to root it. I'm not a complete moron, but I'm a little overwhelmed by all of the options for modifying the Nook. I have tons of iOS experience since I have an iPhone business on the side, so I'm not afraid to mess around with something.
The problem is, the only Android device I've spent more than 20 minutes with is the Samsung Captivate, which was ridiculously easy to root and then unlock so I could sell it.
Other than that, not much Android experience.
I bought the Nook because I need a portable device to view documents and the occasional entertainment. I'm a pilot and instantly recognized the advantage of being able to take aviation publications with me everywhere, including the cockpit. I considered the iPad since I'm intimately familiar with iOS, but the cost was a little higher than I wanted to go.
So, here's what I need: a VERY stable Nook that can efficiently read PDF files, H.264 movies and still maintain respectable battery life. I will be heading overseas with less than dependable access to internet, so I need something that's pretty worry-free since I might not be able to worry with finding a fix online.
Where to start?
I've already rooted it using AutoNooter, but it seems wonky at best. The N button rarely works at all and SoftKeys isn't much help either. I currently haven't found a way to go "back" in the Market app, and still haven't figured out how to sign in on my YouTube account.
So, what are your suggestions for setup? Please be detailed with your suggestions and save the flaming for someone who cares.
Thanks!
I didn't like the stock rom either...
I went immdiatly to nookie froyo, which is the most stable rom other then stock.
You should try it.
You should also try cm7 and it varients, but those are less stable.
you can check out the tutorials on remapping the volume keys for back and menu, although I find soft keys a valiable option.
Can you point me to the best method of install for Froyo? Is it better on internal or keeping it on the SD card? I'm not worried about warranty or restoring the stock ROM, so which one is best overall?
LongbowFoSho said:
Can you point me to the best method of install for Froyo? Is it better on internal or keeping it on the SD card? I'm not worried about warranty or restoring the stock ROM, so which one is best overall?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try it on the SD card first, just to start. If you screw up, you can just format the card and start over, it's relatively pain free that way. But it will run a little snappier on the actual Nook eMMC, but you can always do that later.
Another factor is that B&N will be updating all Nook Colors to Froyo in April. If you run off an SD card until then, then you can root the Nook after that update (with new Autonooter built for that new update), and you will have a more stable Froyo since it will be a professional kernel built for the hardware.
You'll need a Sandisk Class 4 or 6 uSD card or a Transcend Class 6 (unless you have already bought something, in which go ahead and try that card).
The build is at:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=922324
Yeah......about that "don't flash the internal memory" part.....
Everything went great until I rebooted and now its stuck at the Android screen with the flashing cursor.
Now I'm just trying to figure out how to restore it. Ugh.
I'm using a 32GB SanDisk SDHC Class 6 card, BTW.
EDIT: Well, I was able to get the build from your link running from the SD card, but all of the processes suddenly and continually fail. All I get is pop up after pop up about errors.
I'm done screwing around with this for today. If I can't get something usable by tomorrow night, I'm selling this POS and getting an iPad. This isn't worth it just to save $100.
I don't know what all you did to the internal memory, but chances are this will work to get back to stock.
http://nookdevs.com/Flash_back_to_clean_stock_ROM
If that doesn't work then
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=945838
Softkeys works, and I use it, but it's...not intuitive...this page made things clear for me. Reading through this should get your n key working and whatnot.
http://nookdevs.com/NookColor_Default_Launcher
Disabling the service in the softkeys settings was good for me. That stupid little button was always in the wrong place no matter where I put it and wasn't useful anyhow. I also didn't install home switcher or whatever. If you get your n button set wrong, you can just clear the defaults from the app settings for whatever app is set to the n button.
Sounds like you got it rooted and everything, but here is a link for reference anyhow.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=942424
A note on those instructions: youtube did nothing but crash on me. The purpose of logging in with youtube is to get your device linked to your google account so you can get into the market. I didn't use youtube, i think i used gmail or the market itself or something. I don't remember. I just uninstalled youtube, you don't need it. Youtube video's still download and play in the default video player if you visit youtube.com from the web browser.
As far as your options for operating systems. I haven't used froyo, and haven't spent much time with honeycomb, so grain of salt and stuff. Plus it really depends on what you need/want.
Note: after booting a fresh burn for the first time, just walk away for five minutes. I'm not sure why (maybe something to do with the not quite jit doing it's thing?), but it will be more stable if you do.
Froyo gives flash and slightly better performance over stock. I think video is on par with stock, but it could be worse, i'm not sure. It's almost certainly not better. I can't speak for stability, as I haven't tried it. I think bluetooth is possible but not realistic? I know occip got the chip responding, but I haven't seen anything indicating it's useable. Links in previous posts so i won't make another.
Cyanogenmod gives all that froyo gives plus bluetooth support. Video framerate is poor (movies, not games and whatnot). Stability isn't as good as stock. Mostly it's fine but every once in a while things start force closing like mad and i have to reboot. Also battery life isn't good with cyanogenmod. Sleep has been disabled as there is a bug with it. It will still last over a day without a charge though. It's what i use day to day. Really amazing and fast moving. Seems like every day a new major bug is fixed or a whole new piece of hardware is working. Linkie:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1000957
Honeycomb is really cool and it's amazing what deeperblue did (without much source omgwat?) but it's still kinda just a toy until google releases all the source code. No flash, no hardware accelerated video, no bluetooth, no reason to use it, other than aesthetics. Annoying ui glitches in portrait mode. Neat and worth an sd burn to play with, but not for using day to day in my opinion.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=936995
Of course there is no need to choose one! There are a couple option for multibooting in the forums and I intend to get around to combining a few to triple boot. Right now this is what I use:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=947698
I'm set up to boot rooted stock off internal memory and cm7 off of uSD
P.S. If you just want it to work and be a full tablet it might be worth the extra $150 or so for an IPad. The nook has been fantastically useful for my needs and I don't think i've had this much fun with a piece of kit since my first apple II. On the other hand I've wasted a fair number of hours reading about and "bricking" the thing so...ymmv depending on what your needs/wants are.
Hi, Im new here, too.
Id like to do this "Go back in Root Explorer, and in system/app, mount as r-w and rename Phone.apk and TelephonyProvider.apk to anything else (adding .bak onto the end would be fine)." But I can't change the permission...
Even I do habe only CWM 3.0.0.6 and like to have the newest one (3.0.1.0) and Iam using right now the Phirmod V5.1
Has anyone some hinds? Cheers
Can you elaborate on "can't change permissions"? Can you not find the option, or are you making the change and its not working?
For your clockwork upgrade question, is your recovery internal, or on a bootable SD?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
Thanks for the detailed response, ylixir. I'm attempting to go back to stock now and will definitely try your suggestions.
I'm still going to try Nookie since the general consensus is that it's the most stable. I don't care about BT or even Flash since I'll just be using this mostly for mobile document viewing in Afghanistan.
Thanks again and will update with my results.
chef123 said:
Hi, Im new here, too.
Id like to do this "Go back in Root Explorer, and in system/app, mount as r-w and rename Phone.apk and TelephonyProvider.apk to anything else (adding .bak onto the end would be fine)." But I can't change the permission...
Even I do habe only CWM 3.0.0.6 and like to have the newest one (3.0.1.0) and Iam using right now the Phirmod V5.1
Has anyone some hinds? Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know you're new and all, but generally its considered rude to jump into someone else's thread and ask your own question. You'll probably get a lot more visibility (and subsequently a solution to your problem) by making your own thread.
Thanks!
LongbowFoSho said:
I know you're new and all, but generally its considered rude to jump into someone else's thread and ask your own question. You'll probably get a lot more visibility (and subsequently a solution to your problem) by making your own thread.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude! The forum rules tell you to search and piggyback existing threads before making your own thread. The idea is that the closely related information is localized, and searching is made much more easier without having multiple threads on the same subject...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
Well, I've got it back to stock 1.1 now. I'm VERY happy to see that since I still might sell this thing if I can't make some headway with a usable ROM.
danger-rat said:
Dude! The forum rules tell you to search and piggyback existing threads before making your own thread. The idea is that the closely related information is localized, and searching is made much more easier without having multiple threads on the same subject...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this is the first forum I've ever seen that operates that way.
Well, just tried running Froyo from the SD card and it just sits at the Android splash screen (the animated one). It also did this last night, but I thought it was because of the non-functional Froyo I had flashed internally.
I guess I'll give HC a shot to see if anything actually works on this device.
Just ran HC and although I finally got past the "decrypted data" error (after three re-images and flashing, no less), I dunno.
I'm going to try rooting the stock 1.1 again and see how that goes. If I can't get comfortable with that, then I'm done. I have better things to do besides sitting around for hours and hours trying to get something to be remotely practical for every day use.
If I wanted a tinkering project, I'd buy an old car.
Autonooker is super easy to get the stock ROM working as an Android tablet.
I'm sure it's stated on the wiki that Nookie Froyo and other ROMs are in development and not meant for stable systems.
Anyway, hope Autonooker works for you
Good news! Looks like perseverence pays off because rooting 1.1 seems to have worked perfectly this time.
I am fully signed in on YouTube and email, and all the buttons are working properly.
Now that I've finally gotten that out of the way, is there a way to OC the stock ROM? Its not really a need, just curious LOL. I've seen SetCPU mentioned a few times, but IIRC its intended for 2.2 and up only. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Also, best PDF reader for stock ROM?
chef123 said:
Hi, Im new here, too.
Id like to do this "Go back in Root Explorer, and in system/app, mount as r-w and rename Phone.apk and TelephonyProvider.apk to anything else (adding .bak onto the end would be fine)." But I can't change the permission...
Even I do habe only CWM 3.0.0.6 and like to have the newest one (3.0.1.0) and Iam using right now the Phirmod V5.1
Has anyone some hinds? Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get a Terminal Emulator from the Market. Now type in the following:
If running off SD
Code:
su
mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk1p2 /system
If running off EMMC
Code:
su
mount -o rw,remount /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system
Hope this helps.
____________________________________________________
Sent from Nookie Froyo using Tapatalk
Everything I'm installing doesn't show up on the Extras page. If I want to open FB or Dolphin or something like that, I have to search for it.
A little help?
LongbowFoSho said:
Everything I'm installing doesn't show up on the Extras page. If I want to open FB or Dolphin or something like that, I have to search for it.
A little help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install a new launcher, such as Zeam, Launcher Pro, or ADW. I prefer Zeam myself. Then you'll be able to immediately see new apps you've installed.