Database Develop

[Q] Going to buy Captivate.. Few questions

Ok, so after having a long battle in my head about whether I should buy the iPhone 4 or the Captivate, I decided to go on ahead and buy the captivate.
I recently found out about something called "rooting" and have been reading up about it for the past few days.
I learned that people like to root especially for tethering and installing android rom updates that have not been released yet by their carriers. However, I would probably NOT use tethering because I am planning to get the $15 per month, 200mb per month, data plan.
I have installed custom Roms before on my Sony Xperia X1, so I know the general risks of installing them. However, I am new to android, and I have a few questions about rooting.
What exactly does rooting allow you to do?
I remember reading that you must root your phone in order to sideload apps (install non-market apps, right?). This was the main reason I wanted to root. However, I found this : http[:]//www[.]androidcentral[.]com/sideload-android-apps-all-you-want-sideload-wonder-machine (sorry, can't post links yet)
This program seems to solve that problem.
Next, I want to be able to install themes, like Launcher Pro especially. Is it possible to do this without rooting by sideloading the app or must I root my phone?
Third, I know that another great advantage of rooting your phone is that you can overclock to 1.2 GHZ. Does this feature really give you that much of a power boost? Also, does it, in any way, decrease your device's lifespan? If so, is it worth it?
I don't really mind the at&t bloatware, and their censorship of the market is easily passed by turning on wifi and putting your phone in airplane mode (I think).
Now, let's say that I DO decide to root my phone. If I do, I would use the "1 click to root" program, in order to minimize the risk of bricking.
Once I root my phone, I would probably go ahead and install this : http[:]//forum.xda-developers[.]com/showthread.php?t=751934
However, there are two things I am confused about: How do I make a nandroid backup so that I may restore my phone to stock and then unroot it after installing a custom rom? Also, what the hell is "odin"?
Thanks in advance, guys.

Root is a linux term, or a unix term. On older systems the root user is like the admin in windows. On some modern distributions you can't log in as root but can use the root permissions with use of a root password and a sudo command (super user do). so the term super user and root are interchangeable.
To root your phone grants you root permissions via an app that grants or denies permissions to individual apps, no password required. By adding a terminal interface you can do nearly anything that can be done on a pc with linux. It is needed for many mods and having it and knowing what to do with it can be very satisfying.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

Odin is a computer application to re flash your phone. Most mods can be done on a captivate without it but get it just in case you do something stupid! I did!
The overclock is pretty safe. It doesn't really hinder battery life much because if it goes to full speed it gets the task done faster so its back to being throttled sooner. Its stock voltage and there is likely more to come with over and under voltages. The hummingbird has a bit more potential than that. That said the phone runs great without it.
I believe a nandroid backup can be done in clockwork recovery. And my phone didn't need to side loss launcher pro. I was already rooted but I don't think root is needed either. The search on the marker doesn't always find it. Also try adw. And do the lag fix. To see what your phone can really do in quadrant.
I used the over clock with unleash the beast and the lag fix, then I set a replacement lockscreen wrong and locked up my phone, I decided to reflash it. Now I use SRE and the lag fix. But it doesn't include the wireless teather app that comes with unleash the beast.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

NeoXer0 said:
Ok, so after having a long battle in my head about whether I should buy the iPhone 4 or the Captivate, I decided to go on ahead and buy the captivate.
I recently found out about something called "rooting" and have been reading up about it for the past few days.
I learned that people like to root especially for tethering and installing android rom updates that have not been released yet by their carriers. However, I would probably NOT use tethering because I am planning to get the $15 per month, 200mb per month, data plan.
I have installed custom Roms before on my Sony Xperia X1, so I know the general risks of installing them. However, I am new to android, and I have a few questions about rooting.
What exactly does rooting allow you to do?
I remember reading that you must root your phone in order to sideload apps (install non-market apps, right?). This was the main reason I wanted to root. However, I found this : http[:]//www[.]androidcentral[.]com/sideload-android-apps-all-you-want-sideload-wonder-machine (sorry, can't post links yet)
This program seems to solve that problem.
Next, I want to be able to install themes, like Launcher Pro especially. Is it possible to do this without rooting by sideloading the app or must I root my phone?
Third, I know that another great advantage of rooting your phone is that you can overclock to 1.2 GHZ. Does this feature really give you that much of a power boost? Also, does it, in any way, decrease your device's lifespan? If so, is it worth it?
I don't really mind the at&t bloatware, and their censorship of the market is easily passed by turning on wifi and putting your phone in airplane mode (I think).
Now, let's say that I DO decide to root my phone. If I do, I would use the "1 click to root" program, in order to minimize the risk of bricking.
Once I root my phone, I would probably go ahead and install this : http[:]//forum.xda-developers[.]com/showthread.php?t=751934
However, there are two things I am confused about: How do I make a nandroid backup so that I may restore my phone to stock and then unroot it after installing a custom rom? Also, what the hell is "odin"?
Thanks in advance, guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root if you need to - if nothing you want to do requires root, then don't bother.
You can install (sideload) apps without root. Again, root access is NOT required to sideload. The wondermachine does it by using the Android SDK (they baked it in); but you can just as easily download the Android SDK, unzip it, go to the tools directory and use the ADB tool to install apps. USB Debugging mode is required for this or the wondermachine (it is a checkbox you click on the phone).
Rooting will let you sideload directly on the phone without connecting to a pc, but you need to do more then root, you need to change a db file.
Other launchers are installed without root, so you don't need root for this.
You do need root for nandroid backup, but since it will backup your present state, a restore will still be a rooted phone.
So if you want to restore to factory fresh - the ODIN one click is the way to go. It has the ROM and Odin all in one package. Other version of Odin allows you flash different ROMs.
Nandroid and RomManager are used to switch ROMs and restore all on the phone - so you can install a new ROM, but then rollback to the old with all your configuration intact - this requires root.

That 200mb plan is going to be tough to stay within on the Captivate. The background syncing with google and mail app activity will chew up alot more than you think.
Your first concern with this phone will be how to control data, not whether or not to root.
I do think controlling the data use will be easier on the Captivate than it would be on the iPhone4.
For simplicity, I think SRE 1.2.1a does the best job of "remodeling" the phone.

Ok, thanks a lot for your answers guys, cleared up a lot of things.
I decided I wanted to root just so that I could make backups and install custom roms.
Also, about the data problem, I plan to have wifi on and 3g off most of the time. I don't really find 3g to be a necessity.
Also, is there a way to roll back to your previous ROM and keep all your apps? Or would you have to reinstall them fresh?

alphadog00 said:
Root if you need to - if nothing you want to do requires root, then don't bother.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this is much like there is a sexy girl in your room and people tell you to do nothing!!! People here tells you a lot of cool stuffs with being rooted, that changes "what you want to do"
PS: In my case I decided to wait until the 2.2 comes out. From now on, I just read this forum . However, I did root my phone and flash back to stock using Odin, just to see whether it is like original afterward (and it seems to be!). I believe I still have warranty with the phone then (can anyone confirm about that again for me???)

NeoXer0 said:
Ok, thanks a lot for your answers guys, cleared up a lot of things.
I decided I wanted to root just so that I could make backups and install custom roms.
Also, about the data problem, I plan to have wifi on and 3g off most of the time. I don't really find 3g to be a necessity.
Also, is there a way to roll back to your previous ROM and keep all your apps? Or would you have to reinstall them fresh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium backup, and maybe samsung kies, I know kies works for contacts, and media and synching to outlook. I thought it works for apps but I may be thinking of htc sync, I never really use either.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

cppc said:
Well, this is much like there is a sexy girl in your room and people tell you to do nothing!!! People here tells you a lot of cool stuffs with being rooted, that changes "what you want to do"
PS: In my case I decided to wait until the 2.2 comes out. From now on, I just read this forum . However, I did root my phone and flash back to stock using Odin, just to see whether it is like original afterward (and it seems to be!). I believe I still have warranty with the phone then (can anyone confirm about that again for me???)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you flashed back to stock no one knows you rooted so your warranty is safe.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

NeoXer0 said:
Ok, thanks a lot for your answers guys, cleared up a lot of things.
I decided I wanted to root just so that I could make backups and install custom roms.
Also, about the data problem, I plan to have wifi on and 3g off most of the time. I don't really find 3g to be a necessity.
Also, is there a way to roll back to your previous ROM and keep all your apps? Or would you have to reinstall them fresh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clockwork mod will let you create rom backups along with you app data
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

[Q] noob about to root and lag fix. advice wanted

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.

[Q] Question before flashing mods on my Captivate

This may be a noob question but I would like to modify/flash my phone but I have a question before I do. I have done a few searches to find an answer but came up with nothing so far.
I have been browsing the forums for different mods that you can do for the Samsung Captivate. Out of all the mods that I have seen (One Click Lag Fix, Root, Cyanogen, Leaked Froyo Build, GPS settings changes, Removal of AT&T bloatware, unlocking phone for other carriers, side loading enable, and various others), they can ALL be undone using the Odin3 One-Click Stock Rom process correct?
ttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731989
Hoever, each captivate has unique phone identification information such as IMEI, Device ID, Wi-Fi MAC Address, etc? Are there any mods that change the unique information for each specific phone? If so, how does Odin3 One-Click Stock ROM process correct that? When Odin3 reflashes to "Stock" ROM, I just want to know how that works if each phone has specific information.
Thanks in advance!

yes they can be undone with odin one click, however once you stray from stock it is most likeley that you wont be able to update to the official 2.2 from att.
personally im going to wait and update to official 2.2 from att then root and nandroid backup and the fun will begin because I will have a backup of the official update with my unique device id to fall back on. in my opinion this is the safest way to make sure I dont screww myself and not be able to update. once that is done it wont be long untill someone builds a decent rom from scratch plus like I stated before I will have a nandroid backup of the update for my phone if I try something and dont like it.
If you still feel compelled I havent gone to the leaked 2.2 but I did have verry good results with stock 2.1 and voodoo lagfix on anather captivate. the phone was verry fast with verry few side effects well woth it if you really cant wait.. But just remember once you stray from stock I believe the only way you will get to 2.2 will be through these forums.

shadow65781 said:
But just remember once you stray from stock I believe the only way you will get to 2.2 will be through these forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
anyway whatever you get from these forums will be much faster and cleaner then stock versions...
anyway i got question about the topic - i had stock 2.1 (JF6), backuped it, tried some cognition 2.2 beta, then flashed with odin to stock and the restored my backuped jf6
did my IMEI, Device ID changed?
(wifi's mac address cannot be changed)
thanks in advance

I am speculating here.
I dont think it can change any hardware I.D info but software I.D is anather story it could possibly cause problems with the O.S interfaceing with other stuff like market.
someone with more knowledge please chime in

Theres a new app in the app store (as of a few days ago) that allows you to change your Android ID#. Called Android ID changer
Unfortunately, it won't figure out what your unique # is. If you install Cognition, you have the same ID# as everyone else.
I'm not sure about Odin - stock. My Odin 2.1 # is different than the Cognition one. Ends in 43b1. I'd be really interested to know if anyone else could check their Odin 2.1 eclair JF6 (all stock, not modified) android ID # and see if it ends the same as mine. If it's different, then that means you can always revert to JF6 to figure out your real #. If it's the same, then I guess that means for the time being your SOL for figuring that out for now.
You can always check it before making modifications....
Shadow; you are probably right, but at the end of the day software is all that matters...

Thanks for the responses. Judging from what I have been reading on the replies so far, nothing can bring me back to my original stock android 2.1 OS with all original software IDs my phone had even if I use the steps outlined in the
[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY
forum post.
How do you find out what your android ID is?

gormander said:
Thanks for the responses. Judging from what I have been reading on the replies so far, nothing can bring me back to my original stock android 2.1 OS with all original software IDs my phone had even if I use the steps outlined in the
[STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY
forum post.
How do you find out what your android ID is?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as long as you are running any of the stock eclair 2.1 without any mods all your unique id's wil display correctly, even if you have flashed to cog 2.2 or leaked 2.2 if and when you flash back to a truly stock eclair 2.1 the id's will return correct.
The android id changer app from the market will display the current android id your phone has when you open the app - it shows the current id just above the entry field where you can change your id. So download the app open it get you id write it down, save it in a safe place, then if you flash any rom the does not populate you unique id correctly you can reinstall the android id changer and enter your correct id manually.

Is [STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY method a "truly stock eclair 2.1" as you mentioned in your post Davy? Also, are there any other IDs I should be aware of and take note before I flash/mod anything?
Thanks.

gormander said:
Is [STOCK ROM] Odin3 One-Click Downloader and Drivers CAPTIVATE ONLY method a "truly stock eclair 2.1" as you mentioned in your post Davy? Also, are there any other IDs I should be aware of and take note before I flash/mod anything?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe odin 3 one click in that thread is a straight rom off a phone with samsung jf6 stock install - yes I'm fairly certain it is stock. There is another odin 3 one click for the leaked 2.2 which is obviously not stock.
If you download an app from the market named simply " ID " it still give you four of your phones id numbers for your info.
I'm pretty sure all your phones id numbers are either generated from hardware coded info or your google account - so as long as you gave properly coded software on your phone these wil always populate correct - even if you install something that messes these up of you remove the bad software replace it with good software it should then populate the id numbers correctly again.
Such as the android id in the leaked froyo that isn't being generated but simply being copied to every phone it is installed on - when you replace the froyo leak or any of the roms built off the leak with one of the stock samsung roms your phone will then generate the id correctly again.

No thread jack but i thought id ask in here.
If im rooted and ONLY rooted on 2.1 will that not allow me to update to official froyo?

Nickel Dime Bay said:
No thread jack but i thought id ask in here.
If im rooted and ONLY rooted on 2.1 will that not allow me to update to official froyo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe, maybe not. Some of the people who were rooted only (no mods) were able to update to the jh7 update. And from what I have heard mini kies has worked to update for everyone that flashed back to stock and tried to update that way - but this is all some what of a guess as we don't know exactly how att and/or samsung will role out froyo for the captivate.

You are all really funny. Your worried about getting an official OTA from AT&T so you won't mod your phones, lol. Your choice I guess but the last AT&T OTA bricked a lot of phones that had not even been rooted. The ROMS that you find on these forums are way better than any of the stock Samsung and AT&T put on them with their bloaty, buggy software. I won't do any OTA updates, I wait until the developers here fix them, remove the crap AT&T put's on them and speed them up. I give you guys credit though, staying stock sucks bad, it freaks me out to see that stock screen everytime I flash back to stock before flashing a new ROM to my phone. I only stayed stock for 2 weeks and never turned back, glad I did it too. I would've bought an I Phone 3g if I wanted to stay stock and not mod a phone. Go look around the forums and read the threads, don't just skim them or you won't learn anything. See what custom ROMS and kernels are cooking and what people are experiencing with them. We had the OTA rooted on here a few hours after the update was rolled out, you won't miss anything by not recieving it officailly from AT&T. Hell we already have some good Froyo ROMS and kernels. Keep waiting if you want but there's plenty of goodies here why wait?

Rhiannon224 said:
You are all really funny. Your worried about getting an official OTA from AT&T so you won't mod your phones, lol. Your choice I guess but the last AT&T OTA bricked a lot of phones that had not even been rooted. The ROMS that you find on these forums are way better than any of the stock Samsung and AT&T put on them with their bloaty, buggy software. I won't do any OTA updates, I wait until the developers here fix them, remove the crap AT&T put's on them and speed them up. I give you guys credit though, staying stock sucks bad, it freaks me out to see that stock screen everytime I flash back to stock before flashing a new ROM to my phone. I only stayed stock for 2 weeks and never turned back, glad I did it too. I would've bought an I Phone 3g if I wanted to stay stock and not mod a phone. Go look around the forums and read the threads, don't just skim them or you won't learn anything. See what custom ROMS and kernels are cooking and what people are experiencing with them. We had the OTA rooted on here a few hours after the update was rolled out, you won't miss anything by not recieving it officailly from AT&T. Hell we already have some good Froyo ROMS and kernels. Keep waiting if you want but there's plenty of goodies here why wait?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different strokes for different folks man, Its not like im using the tw3.0 and the blue bubble background lol ive customized stock 2.1 how i want it to look and its working PERFECT for ME, fast as hell, gps locks on quick etc. Flashing a rom is nice and all but the risk of bricking youre phone is high (theres always odin i know) and if stock is working for people then more power to them.

The way I look at it is, the phone belongs to you, do what you want with it or to it as you please.
but I do agree with one point above, I personally would not trust a samsung/att update to not mess up my phone. But that does not mean it won't work well for you or that you won't be happy with it that way.

gormander said:
However, each captivate has unique phone identification information such as IMEI, Device ID, Wi-Fi MAC Address, etc? Are there any mods that change the unique information for each specific phone? If so, how does Odin3 One-Click Stock ROM process correct that? When Odin3 reflashes to "Stock" ROM, I just want to know how that works if each phone has specific information.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMEI can never change. I don't think your device ID can change buy your Android ID can change as you've been told by those before me. If it possible to change your WiFi MAC address, only I'm not sure how to do it. If you can do it in a full version of Linux, I don't see why it's not possible on our phones. Also, before you do any mods, make sure you backup a couple files onto your computer for safe keeping. The ones I'm talking about are in the /efs directory of your phone and relate to unlocking the phone for other networks. The second you go to mod your phone, these files will be erased and replaced with ones that are harder to get your unlock code out of.

[Q] Newbie needs some help

Hello all
I have had my nexus one for quite a while now and when i bought it the bootloader had already been unlocked, but it had not been rooted yet. The problem I am having is the lack of space the nexus one has for installing apps as apps2sd is dependent on the developers.
So after some research i have found an app called 'ModInstallLocation' which tells me i can install apps to my sd card but it needs the phone to be rooted. Is this correct?
This is where i need some help. I hear all this talk about rooted phones and custom roms and i understand the idea behind it but have no technical knowledge to do this.
At this time i am happy with the stock version of android i have on my nexus (2.2.2 FRG83G) its just the lack of space i have to install apps that's forcing me down this road. I am sure there are many other advantages to rooting and i hope to discover them in time.
Could someone please give a helping hand and point me in the right direction for an idiots guide. I am a bit scared of bricking my phone tho, never endeavored on anything like this before.
Many thanks
JW

Read my signature.

thanks you for your response, think that explains how to proceed.
couple more questions if you could help.
1. Do i have to install a custom rom after i root?
2. As i have not got much experiance in this field should i wait for the OTA update to gingerbread before i root?
many thanks
JW

1. No, if you're ok with stock ROM - you can stay with it.
2. Not really, depends mostly on what you're looking for. Gingerbread will still land on your phone (and unroot you), as long as you're using stock ROM and recovery.

[Q] Totally confused about kernel/ROM/lagfix

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.
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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