Hi all, I hope you're not all tired of another noob posting up how-to questions. I come from a pretty solid background of writing modified firmware packages Motorola and Blackberry units, and writing custom themes for them both, so I am a bit familiar with the processes involved in rooting. Android is an entirely new beast though. I love it already, but I've also identified some things I'd love to be able to change. I've been reading everything I can in these forums for the past week, and I think I might be nearly ready to start diving into the root world. Yes, I've used the search a LOT Before I do root though, I wonder if you all might be able to add some insight into a few questions I haven't found the answers to thus far:
My rooting goals: remove the AT&T bloatware, possibly do a lag fix, and above all, do it the safest way possible. Baby steps first for me.
1) Rooting methods: Should I do the manual way, I found in that pdf guide on this site, the "GalaxyS_One-Click_Root_All_Models.zip" method, the mystery "update.zip" folder method, or the "one click root lag fix" method? Which is the safest and most tried and true for Stock 2.1 f/w, Baseband I897UCJH7? Also, what would be the best method to use if I wanted later to unroot?
2) Lag fixes: I've read that lag fixes can cause major problems when trying to undo them later on. Is there a lag fix that works well that is safer than others to load that can be removed easily? Are lag fixes even worth it?
3) Odin3: Am I correct in assuming that since I have JH7 that the most recent version of Odin is not capable of fully restoring my phone back to stock? I've been seeing posts from many people say that even using Odin, their phones get stuck during the revert process and cannot get back to stock. This is probably my biggest concern of all, in case I brick my phone. I've done that a LOT of times with Motorolas, and it's not a bit of fun trying to restore them.
Thanks very much in advance. Best wishes to all
The first piece of advice I have is make sure you have a cappi that you can get into recovery and download modes via the button combinations - if you can do this then you will be able to recover to a working configuration from just about any situation.
second, make sure you want to do this, because as you can get back to a "stock configuration" once you begin applying lag fixes or custom roms you will not likely be ever able to get back to your own stock configuration.
As for which rooting method - I have used and update zip and ryanza OCLF to root. Both of these methods are easy to unroot - at least until you begin applying lag fixes and/or custom roms.
If you are sure you want to move forward and root the very first thing you should do after rooting before you do any lag fixes or remove any bloat is get clockwork rom manager. Learn how to use rom manager and make a full nandroid backup of your phone before you do anything. If you have a good nandroid backup saved in a safe location then you can use this to get back as close as possible as you can to your own stock configuration later on.
Oden3 will get you back to a stock jf6 configuration. This will not be your stock configuration, but it is a working stock configuration.
Lag fixes do improve the lag in the file system some. However, before you play with any of them educate yourself as much as you can about the particular one you are going to try and use. I have applied both OCLF and voodoo and have been able to remove both of them. But if you don't follow the steps correctly you can have problems - after all with the lag fixes you are reformatting part or all of your data partition where the os is residing which is inherently risky. You can easily lose data and even soft brick your phone forcing you to use Oden3 to get back to a working state.
Lastly, I am running Cognition 2.2 beta 5 very successfully - and I do recommend it for anyone that has entered the rabbit hole of modifying this phone. And with my current config my phone is running so well that the lag fix is not needed for me anyway. My phone is running smooth and fast.
P.S. Just make sure you are not going to have any major regrets if things go wrong before you do anything at all, because any and all of these steps have some amount of risk associated with them. Make sure you are prepared for dealing with voiding your warranty and even though it is hard to brick this phone, it could still happen so be ready for that too should it happen.
i would agree, go with cognition 2.2. i only had my captivate for a day, and found it very easy to get it installed without any hassle.
Thanks for the info all. I've read about Cognition a fair bit and was wondering if I ought to go for it. What are the differences between it and the standrd Froyo leak?
A more pressing question: If I went to Cognition 2.2, would I be able to easily get the official release OTA and install it normally when/if it becomes available? Are there step-by-step guides out there for getting that release onto and off of the phone? I'd hate to get Cognition on there and find out that i couldn't easily get it back to a state where I could get the full deal on there. I've read some horror stories about just that lately...
charging rhinos said:
Thanks for the info all. I've read about Cognition a fair bit and was wondering if I ought to go for it. What are the differences between it and the standrd Froyo leak?
A more pressing question: If I went to Cognition 2.2, would I be able to easily get the official release OTA and install it normally when/if it becomes available? Are there step-by-step guides out there for getting that release onto and off of the phone? I'd hate to get Cognition on there and find out that i couldn't easily get it back to a state where I could get the full deal on there. I've read some horror stories about just that lately...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are wanting to get OTA updates then I wouldn't even root your phone - while it is possible to still get OTA's after rooting, once you begin modding (lag fix, or custom rom) you oare increasing making your phone less and les compatible with any OTA available.
NOTE: I personally will not ever apply an OTA myself - but rather will wait for someone else to create a custom mod of any OTA feature I like - them donate that dev a few dollars and use their mod.
Im getting my cap this Friday, I was going to post the same thing OP. Looks like cog 2.2 is the way to go when i get it.
Related
Okay, I'm really on the fence here. I've got ADB working, I've read the warnings, I've flashed my previous WinMo phones about a hundred times. I am also getting annoyed at the missing market apps and the incredibly awful 3G uplink speed of the 2.2 test build in my area. My phone looks in no way shape or form likely to crap out, needing the warranty. So the round is in the chamber, hammer is cocked, finger is on the trigger.
Only thing holding me back is the idea of the official 2.2 update coming out tomorrow (or really any point in the first half of the week), and having to reverse everything I did (unlocking aside, I get that it's permanent, for now at least). Which all revolves around extra work. I'm not looking to flash other ROM's at the moment, just get access to tweak a few things.
So...3 questions
1) Since I'm just going to root the stock ROM, and edit a few things in build.prop, do I need to disable the online app and info backup? I'm 99% sure I read somewhere that unlocking the bootloader wipes the phone, but that's not a concern as I could just let the thing boot after unlocking it and pull my info from the cloud. This is for AFTER I root (though if you're responding, you probably already know that).
2) Any way to backup a complete system image, so that I can revert to that when the official 2.2 comes out?
3) Which SU/Rooting method do you, the knowledgable and expert [insert additional groveling] reader, suggest for FRF50? I've seen Cyanogen's and the one on Modaco ( http://android.modaco.com/content/g...-erd79-frf50-superboot-rooting-the-nexus-one/ ) I'm guessing this is a "doesn't matter," but I figure why not ask.
Was this the wrong section for this kind of thing?
I'm no expert, just have had my n1 for a couple of weeks but:
1. Can't help you there, no idea, sorry.
2. nandroid backup.
3. I've read a lot about this and I'd go with Cyan's method and amon_ra's recovery. It seems like they do the job well. Plus if you search around, you'll see instructions on going back to stock recovery from amon_ra's, but I'm not sure about the other recovery image (or whether it would be the exact same procedure)
1. I really don't understand the struggle here. Why you would want to disable app backup in the first place? It's not like Google is persecuting people who unlock bootloaders that they might cut you off if they see you're rooted. Just leave it running so you don't have to install everything manually. Unlocking does wipe everything, so it'll be convenient.
2. Well yeah... Make a nandroid the way your phone is now and go back to it whenever you like. And if you like, you can restore just the system.img from fastboot.
3. I prefer the cyan method with .34 kernel. There were some people complaining that Froyo was really slow for them, but I haven't noticed that at all.
^
1) Was because of things I've read, that if you do X, you should turn off backup syncing to keep from screwing things up. I certainly have no desire to turn it off. I love it.
2)Thanks.
3) Thanks
EDIT: Done. That was stupid-fast. From installing the fastboot drivers to installing SU was 90 seconds. Add 20 more for AmonRa's recovery.
Titanium backup installed.
build.prop edited to allow protected apps and fixes to the missing ril info.
Glad it turned out okay!
I'm so glad to be rid of Twitter!
Thanks you for your input.
so I got a samsung galaxy s captivate SHG-I896 from rogers and I really want to root it, i have z4root installed, but im hesitating. because i dont want to brick my phone, i have had an apple device, jailbroke a bunch, no problems of brick but android is a whole different story, so i would appreciate a few pointers, sorry for posting such a noobish question
Not sure about the Rogers version, but with the 897, if anything goes wrong, ODIN will return it to factory.
I have the Rogers Captivate as well, I was a little hesitant before I did it too but myself and a bunch of my friends that have the phone have done it with no issues at all. Do the permanent root, if it freezes then just pull the battery, reboot and try again. It took me at least twice to root it but it's remarkably easy. If anything really major goes wrong you can always boot to recovery and wipe data but I seriously doubt you'll need to. I'm just speaking from experience so don't blame me if anything buggers it up but to be honest it's not as easy to brick it as you might think.
Just go for it.
just rooted it
i just rooted my captivate with z4root, can any one give me any like tips/warnings/shoulds/shouldnts
Should:
- Get Titanium Backup and batch backup everything. This app will make your life so much easier and hassle free.
- Also, just be careful and don't go crazy with installing stuff you don't know about. Do your due diligence before flashing anything or installing any app or lag fix. Figure out exactly how it's done before you do it. This might sound basic and common sense but from the short time I've been here I've seen a fair few people complain of bricking their phone just because they didn't follow directions that were pretty clear from the onset.
Enjoy!
how to flash
im looking around the forums so, i copied this from the darky rom post:
HOW TO FLASH
1. Place the ROM on the root of your SD card.
2. Backup your apps using Titanium Backup.
3. Open ROM Manager (Downloadable from the market)
4. Choose "Install ROM from SD card". If after you flash and you have problems like force closes and you can't receive calls, wipe data/cache.
5. Let the phone sit for 5-10 minutes after booting.
6. Have fun!
is that all u have to do? no holding buttons and booting into some menu?
also will these roms work for 2.1 rogers version captivate? Because i checked on the wiki for the captivate rogers version and it said something about "optionally change the model in the update-script from SGH-i897 to SGH-i896"
I'm not the best person to ask about this unfortunately but from what I've read this is definitely one way to flash a new rom. Whether you're currently on 2.1 seems to be irrelevant as the rom will act as your new version of Android as it were.
A few things I've read, make sure you have access to both recovery and download modes, if anything happens you'll probably need to flash back with Odin so learn more about that before you proceed.
Best to start here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=884364
And finish by reading the remaining stickies and make sure of any special instructions for whatever rom you want to install.
I haven't flashed because, and this sounds strange, I don't actually have access to a computer at my house so I can't use Odin as easily to fix any issues that might occur so I haven't tried yet.
I'll step out and let someone else handle your flashing questions.
If you read the Q&A sticky it would've answered your questions.
As the title says, this is what I'm trying (have been trying....) to do.
I got my Captivate for Christmas 2010, I can't remember what exact version it was running, all I know is that for a fact it was Eclair.
I wish I knew what stock I had on my phone and all that jazz, but the one thing I never read before flashing or rooting my phone was that I should root and make a Nand Backup before hand. Oh well right?
Anyways, basically here is what I've done to my phone:
I flashed ODIN-1-Click for the leaked Froyo JI6 - I897UCJI6-OCD-REV02-Low-designgears_1
had absolutely no problems, everything worked like a charm.
Next, I used SuperOneClickv1.5.5-ShortFuse and I chose "Root" and "Enable Side-Loading"
again, no problems.
From there, I proceeded to do the following:
-Install of TiBu, AdFree, Terminal, Root Explorer, SGS Tools, and Busybox
-TiBu Used to "Freeze" most bloatware on phone
-Terminal given #su root command and approved
-AdFree added, packages installed
-Within Terminal, added exception to WordsWithFriends to allow ads
-SGS Tools used to replace default Camera App to allow power button for capture
-Root Explorer used to replace TW_Touch tone to modified 5% audio level version...I'm sorry, but at the lowest System Volume this is just way too loud.
-Installed Go Launcher EX and made my phone look awesome
-TiBu used to Freeze TW Launcher
I don't think there is anything else I've done with my phone that is really worth mentioning. No Lag-Fix unless it was included in my JI6, but I do know that I have free Wifi Tethering.
Now, for those still following, after all this, obviously the Official Official (Not-Leaked) Froyo came out, not a big deal, because I probably would've gone crazy just using Eclair for 2 months (I kinda flashed my phone on the 3rd day of owning it after coming from basically a RAZR V3).
Soooo, in my attempts, to get the official version of Froyo (flame on me, I don't care), I have "Bricked" my phone twice on separate occasions trying to go clean.
By bricked I mean AT&T Boot Loop of Doom w/o the ability to use any of the keys. So hey wouldn't you know it, but I have a USB Jig now.
1) WTF do people mean when they say to Flash back to Stock? There are like 20 different things available, which one is stock? and what would mine have been new out of box at Christmas 2010?
The thing that Bricked me twice was JF6 which I though was stock, guess not, I'm not sure... I have no idea why it won't work for me or if I'm doing something wrong, or I got an incomplete download of it, it's title is: I897UCJF6-final-OCD-REV0. On the other hand, I have managed to get JH2 to work (idk wtf JH2 is, I don't hear it often, but it got my phone to turn on), Kies actually managed to recognize my phone, however I could not update it in Kies and if I remember correctly, Mini-Kies wouldnt recognize the phone.
And also JI6 also allowed me to recover from Brick-mode, which I Flashed to Originally, and obviously it wont show up in any Kies in any way/shape/form...
Anyways, if anyone can provide any info, help, or advice, I would really, really, REALLY, appreciate it.
What am I doing wrong?
Help?.......
Now aside from that, I know there is a pre-release version of KB1 running around, but has anyone managed to get a version of the Official February 24th KB1 out to the masses for download that doesn't involve Kies?
Sorry to bump this, but I'm still looking for any possible advice anyone might have. I've tried using the search feature but to no avail. I've found "similar" things to mine, however no one seems to either have the same problem I have or be in the same situation.
I apologize for it being such a long read, but I just wanted to thoroughly describe my situation in the chance that it would be able to further increase the capability of someone helping me.
Here you go, these are the two files that people mean when they say go to "stock".
2.1 is the "Official Stock" for 2.1 - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SBSMALFJ
2.2 is the "Official Leak Stock" for 2.2 - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QL6NX702
As far as I know, there isn't a Odin One-Click for the "Official" Official 2.2 yet.
If updates are free if you're with AT&T... How about just going to 2.1, then upgrading it by connecting to AT&T that way? Just an idea
Sounds like the build of your phone is 1010 or higher so odin jf6 likely won't work, but you found that out .
You can try this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36
You are already through half the steps, just flash jh7ota
Or you could modify your recovery and install clockwork and flash cognition 4.1.1 which its more our less stock kbi that is already rooted and debloated
Not sure of a cmw flashable kb1
CM7
Excellent! I totally forgot about that, thanks mcord11758!
Ok, somethin i learned when using kies to upgrade to 2.2. 1) USB debugging has to be on. 2) Make sure to UNroot your phone before trying to upgrade with kies 3) I also had the boot loop. Restarted in recovery mode and cleared all user data. That fixed it.
Also, think about upgrading to superoneclick 1.7
BTW, if you want CWM to work, you should shell root before regular root (reboot after shell root) and dont forget to enable nonmarket apps
GOOD LUCK!
@venomio: I already have those two files, but thanks for confirming that no one has released an official KB1 2.2. I'm glad to know I just haven't failed despite looking thoroughly.
@mcord11758: I actually hadn't thought about that. I thought that I'd be set with JH2 in terms of being allowed by Kies to update.....yeah no I was wrong obviously. I just figured the additional steps involved with the JH7ota would make Kies hate me more. But yeah, I think this may be my solution- although if for whatever reason it didn't work it'd just be really annoying. I've already had to revert to JI6 twice now hoping for the Kies update.
Out of curiousity, why in the world does JH2 work on my phone?
And what exactly does it mean to have a 1010 Captivate?
Still @mcord11758: Now I do have clockwork recovery installed (still on JI6 as I'm typing this), however for whatever reason, I can't seem to see any of the bonus features that it should provide in the recovery screen. I think I've read that this is a typical problem and I need to get 3e_Recovery or something, but I wasn't really sure how it worked or how to apply it. And the hold up I have on Cognition is the fact that I don't know how easy it is to revert everything back to default (like lag fix and stuff). Any info on these topics would be appreciated
@mrhaley30705: Yeah, I'm updated to SuperOneClick 1.7 now. 1.5 Just happened to be what I used originally, and for whatever reason wouldn't work any longer after further trying to flash things in these recent turn of events. Long story short, after a lot of pain trying to re-root, I realized 1.7 was out, got it, and it worked.
I will say that I have avoided the Shell Root as I don't fully understand how it works and I've gotten by using just the "Root". Isn't Shell Root un-reversable? I'm just worried about that since I'm attempting to get a Kies Update.
@Everyone/All: I really appreciate all the feedback big time. This has been a pretty stressful, long process even though at times it has felt fun and rewarding.
I think I'm going to do what mcord11758 said when I'm not at my girlfriends place. For whatever reason, if I need my Jig, I don't want her to see cuz she'll know I'm messing with my phone again. (She gets upset at me when I get upset at the phone). I'll leave you with a fun image that I saw from someone's sig once.
Btw, anyone who posted above this will have received thanks.
I hope that's not totally lame of me.
Update: It worked!!!!
I Officially have the Official final release of KB1 Froyo 2.2
I used the following as suggested:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36
Afterwords I followed:
http://ars.samsung.com/customer/usa...ID=2&PROD_SUB_ID=557&PROD_ID=558&AT_ID=368733
And I was able to get Kies Mini to recognize the phone (unlike with JI6) and allow me to select Phone Upgrade (Unlike with JH2).
One big thing I've seen, is that my phone is missing the GMS Updates, I do not have google's GenieWidget (News and Weather).
I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, and I don't know if there is any fixes. I do remember though, that while I had JI6 installed, apk's of the GenieWidget I found around the web would not work.
I know it's probably lame, but I was actually hoping to get this, as I was trying to get it in JI6 as well.
Pic attached of my desktop showing Kies working.
Good stuff, great that you managed to get it going!
I have not specifically found this issue anywhere so hopefully when we can find the answer it will help alot of people looking to install Voodoo in the future.
As the name suggests, I need to install the Voodoo lag fix on a Froyo I9000 with minimal risk and hassle as I use my phone for my business so can't be without it for even a day, and don't know enough about the intricacies of the OS to be able to dig myself out of a hole I might get myself into.
So I wanted to check if anyone has done this before, and if it will work/is the right way to go about this. I dont want to use Odin it is too risky IMO.
My phone is currently stock, and unrooted. Is this the correct process?...
NB. Build Number: FROYO.DTJP5, Baseband: I9000DTJP3
1. Root using TGA_gunnman's one-click tool, info on which can be found here: addictivetips dot com /mobile/how-to-root-and-unroot-samsung-galaxy-s-i9000-with-a-single-click
2. Install Clockworkmod, further info can be found here: addictivetips dot com /mobile/what-is-clockworkmod-recovery-and-how-to-use-it-on-android-complete-guide
3. Use CWM to flash voodoo (found here dl.project-voodoo dot org /stock+Voodoo/update_zips/ , or here dl.project-voodoo dot org) P. S. how do we know which one to use/is the right one for our phone?
Any verification or elaboration on these steps would be greatly appreciated!
P.P.S. I know there are multiple ways to possibly do this, but I am looking for the process that requires the least hassle & expert knowledge, and first and foremost the lowest amount of (bricking) risk.
Well you should probably check you have download mode and recovery button combos working first(vol up, home, power for recovery/vol down, home,power for download(do a battery pull to get out of it). Then to be safe after rooting you should back up the EFS, search to find out how and what. Then your method seems fine(not the addictive tips has a separate page for installing CWM on the i9000). Personally I think it would be easier to use Odin, it's quicker and definitely less hassle, and if you do make a mistake Odin is normally your backup, if you know how to use it you should be able to get yourself back up and running.
Thanks heaps for the info shrapnel, I have a bit more reading to do..
I will do some further research and come back with an updated process, hopefully one I have tried and tested myself!
In the meantime if anyone has any further input to share, I am definitely listening.
So once you have installed the Voodoo kernel(The kernel is like the core of the OS which controls between software and hardware) you have CWM, and with that you can install new rom's(Only froyo ones) and change all sorts of things. And I think the kernel itself has the option to root in it(I used to use Speedmod so I'm not to familiar with it). So good luck and be sure to ask anything before you flash anything
I have been trying to find answers for a week now and have found a lot of info. The problem is most of the info is contradictory and I'm not really sure which is good and which is not. I currently have an AT&T Samsung Captivate, firmware ver 2.2, kernel ver. 2.6.32.9 build# FROYO.UCKB1. I believe that is the stock At&t froyo build. It is rooted, I do have SGS tools (which I don't really understand what all it can do for me) and Titanium backup (which I've not tried to use yet for fear of breaking my phone). I run 91PandaHome and a bunch of apps I like.
My problem is that the phone sometimes is just really sluggish, certain programs really kill it. For example, I have PlantVsZombies which mostly runs ok, but sometimes slows down and worse 3 out of 5 times I play will not close. I have to power/volume up reboot to get out of the game. Other programs occasionally do this to me, but not as often.
I've been reading up and see that there are lagfixes, and understand that samsung apparently chose a ****ty file system, but I don't understand android well enough to know what's safe. What I want to know is what is as of today the safest, easiest way to fix the lag. I think I am going to be told something that changes the file system to ext4 is what I want, but I really don't understand what will be safe to use for that. I thought I wanted OneClickLagFix, then I found that maybe Voodoo was what I wanted, and now it seems that neither is currently being developed. Reliability, ease of transition and ease of putting it back to stock are important factors for me.
Suggestions, links and general help will be greatly appreciated.
Try going to a custom rom where all of that is done for you. Since you are new to this, I suggest you go look up the rom Serendipity 6.4, it's very easy to install and has it's own thread in the development section.
fianor said:
I have been trying to find answers for a week now and have found a lot of info. The problem is most of the info is contradictory and I'm not really sure which is good and which is not. I currently have an AT&T Samsung Captivate, firmware ver 2.2, kernel ver. 2.6.32.9 build# FROYO.UCKB1. I believe that is the stock At&t froyo build. It is rooted, I do have SGS tools (which I don't really understand what all it can do for me) and Titanium backup (which I've not tried to use yet for fear of breaking my phone). I run 91PandaHome and a bunch of apps I like.
My problem is that the phone sometimes is just really sluggish, certain programs really kill it. For example, I have PlantVsZombies which mostly runs ok, but sometimes slows down and worse 3 out of 5 times I play will not close. I have to power/volume up reboot to get out of the game. Other programs occasionally do this to me, but not as often.
I've been reading up and see that there are lagfixes, and understand that samsung apparently chose a ****ty file system, but I don't understand android well enough to know what's safe. What I want to know is what is as of today the safest, easiest way to fix the lag. I think I am going to be told something that changes the file system to ext4 is what I want, but I really don't understand what will be safe to use for that. I thought I wanted OneClickLagFix, then I found that maybe Voodoo was what I wanted, and now it seems that neither is currently being developed. Reliability, ease of transition and ease of putting it back to stock are important factors for me.
Suggestions, links and general help will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a few quick things:
Titanium backup is a good friend to have on your phone. It won't break it - it will just take snapshots (for lack of a better phrase) of your apps so that you can restore them later if you need to.
Most lagfixes are cooked into kernels, so using lagfix will most likely go hand-in-hand with flashing to a custom rom. Not that you can't lagfix stock, but statistically speaking, lagfix will be done with a new kernel via the Clockworkmod Recovery Menu.
As for general fixing of lagginess... (READ UP FIRST) Flash a custom Rom (READ MORE). Most of the problems you're experiencing (ARE YOU READING UP ON FLASHING?) should be fixed by flashing (DO MORE READING) a custom rom. Do some research on roms and pick one that you think you'll like. (Note - don't post questions asking which one to do, it tends to be a bit of a touchy subject on the forum.) If you're wanting to be cautious, it would be safer to stay with a Froyo-based rom, as they're more tested and there's less danger involved (specifically, you don't have to flash bootloaders, which is the area where you can get a real brick).
Oh, and (shameless self plug) if you need to know what different terminology and items on the forum mean, just click the link in my signature.
jmtheiss said:
Just a few quick things:
Titanium backup is a good friend to have on your phone. It won't break it -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, it CAN break your phone if you don't know how to use it. Backing up is safe, but never, ever restore system data with TiBu when changing ROMs and only restore app data you know is safe.
I would recommend staying away from any Gingerbread-based ROMs until you have a better understanding of the phone and the process. Andromeda 3 is a good choice for a Froyo-based ROM and is very easy to flash, but do your research on the process before you attempt it. Almost any custom ROM will have a lagfix in the kernel and performance will be noticeably better than stock. You will likely have to redo your root after installing a new ROM, so read up on that process, too.
jmtheiss said:
As for general fixing of lagginess... (READ UP FIRST) Flash a custom Rom (READ MORE). Most of the problems you're experiencing (ARE YOU READING UP ON FLASHING?) should be fixed by flashing (DO MORE READING) a custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I lol'd at the "()" parts
To build on jmtheiss post. For "reliability" look for a KB1 based ROM as this is what your phone is currently running, and is the newest version of firmware written specifically for the AT&T captivate. You won't come across any major issues that make the phone unusable, nor any "annoying" bugs. Then if your feeling more adventurous, and have gotten a solid understanding of the process of flashing ROMs, look to I9000 based 2.2.x ROMs, and lastly 2.3.x based ROMs.
For "ease of transition" start by getting the SGS Kernel Flasher or Heimdall to change the kernel. From there you can get past 3e recovery and you'll be free to make other changes.
For "ease of putting it back to stock" first find out what is your stock. Since this phone technically has 3 different "stock" firmwares. Then get a copy of that firmware (and steps on how to flash it) and keep it on your computer, in a location you'll be able to find easily in case of problems. Depending on how far "to the dark side" you go, will effect just how much of the "stock" files you'll need to keep as backups.
Personally I'd suggest this ROM as it's whats currently on my phone. Many have started off with Cognition and it's still a crowd fav. Both are KB1 based ROMs