[Q] 1st Time ROMing. Input Needed - Captivate Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I realize this is probably a very frequently brought up topic, but given that I have certain specific requirements, I hope it merits not being redundant.
I'm fed up waiting on Samsung to issue out 2.2 and so I have finally decided to try ROMing it. The help that I need is determining which of 3 ROMs: Darky 7.7, Cognition 9.5/9.9, and Perception 10(.1). These all seem to be top mentioned ROMs for the Captivate. I watched the comparison video between 9.5 and 10 and am more inclined to go with 10.
However, each ROM has easily around 100 pages minimum and I've lost 2 hours of sleep trying to just keep up with Perception 10 as it is trying to find out if it will still allow me to do the things I require.
What I need is the following:
GPS Working (I believe Cognition 9.9 states GPS does not work)
Bluetooth Voice Dial/Control (I have a BlueAnt T1 which I love, but I have been told that only 2.2 allows full voice control via BT - If I am wrong, please correct me)
Froyo's Wifi Hotspotting feature would also be nice.
Other than the notice about GPS issue on Cog 9.9, I couldn't find anything to clearly confirm both the GPS and BT requirements. I know Per 10 is running 2.2.1, so that is something else that appeals to me.
As always, I greatly appreciate any help I can get from XDA. As long as the winter weather doesn't take out the power, I look forward to joining the Froyo ranks later today.
EDIT: I should also throw on that minimal risk of battery problems and/or signal/call quality issues would be great as well. And that a working (or fixable) Barcode Scanner is needed. My wallet lives off of Google Shopper these days.

Well I haven't personally used Perception or Cognition. However, I am running Darky's 8.0 with hardcore's Speedmod k12i kernel, JL3 modem and DXJPA wifi, and I haven't had any issues with GPS, mobile hotspot, signal/call quality or Barcode Scanner. I also get about 3-4 days of battery life on a single charge with light usage. Your experience may differ, but I thought I'd offer up mine in case it helps.

Johnston212 said:
I realize this is probably a very frequently brought up topic, but given that I have certain specific requirements, I hope it merits not being redundant.
I'm fed up waiting on Samsung to issue out 2.2 and so I have finally decided to try ROMing it. The help that I need is determining which of 3 ROMs: Darky 7.7, Cognition 9.5/9.9, and Perception 10(.1). These all seem to be top mentioned ROMs for the Captivate. I watched the comparison video between 9.5 and 10 and am more inclined to go with 10.
However, each ROM has easily around 100 pages minimum and I've lost 2 hours of sleep trying to just keep up with Perception 10 as it is trying to find out if it will still allow me to do the things I require.
What I need is the following:
GPS Working (I believe Cognition 9.9 states GPS does not work)
Bluetooth Voice Dial/Control (I have a BlueAnt T1 which I love, but I have been told that only 2.2 allows full voice control via BT - If I am wrong, please correct me)
Froyo's Wifi Hotspotting feature would also be nice.
Other than the notice about GPS issue on Cog 9.9, I couldn't find anything to clearly confirm both the GPS and BT requirements. I know Per 10 is running 2.2.1, so that is something else that appeals to me.
As always, I greatly appreciate any help I can get from XDA. As long as the winter weather doesn't take out the power, I look forward to joining the Froyo ranks later today.
EDIT: I should also throw on that minimal risk of battery problems and/or signal/call quality issues would be great as well. And that a working (or fixable) Barcode Scanner is needed. My wallet lives off of Google Shopper these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really not that familiar with Dark's ROM, but Perception and Cognition I think I know enough to tell you a bit about them. Perception is built off of the i9000 and Cognition is built from the Captivate. only problem I've had with Perception was that the i9000 modems don't seem to be fully compatible on the U.S. Captivate and you will intermittently lose signal for short periods of time, sometimes to the point where you will have to reboot. Both builds are by DesignGears and I really do like his designs. Cognition is most likely more stable and easier for a first time flasher. Again, this is said with ignorance of Darky's ROM. You can find change logs and problems within the first few posts on the first pages of official ROM threads. There you can find out all you need. Just PM the dev if you have questions and I'm sure they will be able to answer you.

Jmurph3 said:
I'm really not that familiar with Dark's ROM, but Perception and Cognition I think I know enough to tell you a bit about them. Perception is built off of the i9000 and Cognition is built from the Captivate. only problem I've had with Perception was that the i9000 modems don't seem to be fully compatible on the U.S. Captivate and you will intermittently lose signal for short periods of time, sometimes to the point where you will have to reboot. Both builds are by DesignGears and I really do like his designs. Cognition is most likely more stable and easier for a first time flasher. Again, this is said with ignorance of Darky's ROM. You can find change logs and problems within the first few posts on the first pages of official ROM threads. There you can find out all you need. Just PM the dev if you have questions and I'm sure they will be able to answer you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would agree with this, and I'd just like to add that I'm using Cognition 2.3b8 (not sure where you're getting 9.8/9.9 from) and it's very stable and easy for a first-time flasher.
One queston for Jmurph, with the Perception rom, would it be as simple as flashing a new modem (TLJL3 for example) which works well on AT&T?
One of the things about Darky's ROM that scared me away was that people seemed to have to mix and match kernels and modems to get one they liked. Designgears' rom seemed to work really well for most people out of the box, as it were. And I found that it's fantastic. Yesterday I decided to flash the TLJL3 modem (but I just read on the changelog that Designgears included it in 2.3b8 so it's a moot point). I've been having good battery life though I just yesterday bump charged it and deleted the battery stats. I expect battery life to get even better. I don't use Bluetooth for more than handsfree so I can't speak to that, however, I would assume that the rom would do anything that Froyo would be able to do.
In fact, on Saturday, I was able to use my phone as a wifi hotspot without any problems.

Ryan Trevisol said:
I would agree with this, and I'd just like to add that I'm using Cognition 2.3b8 (not sure where you're getting 9.8/9.9 from) and it's very stable and easy for a first-time flasher.
One queston for Jmurph, with the Perception rom, would it be as simple as flashing a new modem (TLJL3 for example) which works well on AT&T?
One of the things about Darky's ROM that scared me away was that people seemed to have to mix and match kernels and modems to get one they liked. Designgears' rom seemed to work really well for most people out of the box, as it were. And I found that it's fantastic. Yesterday I decided to flash the TLJL3 modem (but I just read on the changelog that Designgears included it in 2.3b8 so it's a moot point). I've been having good battery life though I just yesterday bump charged it and deleted the battery stats. I expect battery life to get even better. I don't use Bluetooth for more than handsfree so I can't speak to that, however, I would assume that the rom would do anything that Froyo would be able to do.
In fact, on Saturday, I was able to use my phone as a wifi hotspot without any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mix and match kernels and modems on any ROM to get one you like. Modem is your connection, some might run faster than others, and lots of things can influence that. Location, available bands at your location, etc etc. Kernels are just masses of hardware drivers, so obviously different kernels fit different peoples needs. Some people like the overclock thing, some people don't. Some people want a kernel optomized for speed, some want a kernel optomized for stability or battery life. No matter what ROM you go with, some Modems might work better for you than others, and the kernel is all about preference.

Thanks everyone. I realize my mistake with the GPS part. I was accidentally referring to the Percepion 9.5 (build 99) post that said that GPS was disabled. It was late and I had come back from a jaunt in a lovely snow storm, so my brain was kinda blahhhed.
So now I'm just down to Cog vs Per. From what I skimmed last night, Perception is designed for the Captivate. In fact some guy is starting a ROM review for the Captivate with MobileTechVideos and was comparing 9.5 and 10.
I know 10 has the latest swype keyboard installed, so that is another point in its favor. Any other suggestions? Inputs?

Related

is FROYO a big jump from ECLAIR+OCLF

I have been very happy with my Eclair firmware on the Captivate ... especially since I installed OCLF.
The only problem is the stupid imprecise GPS. Yes, I have the hack that changes the server to google etc. etc. etc ... it still is not accurate.
Before the jump in need to get some clarity ...
- is the FROYO upgrade going to fix the GPS problem
- is FROYO faster than ECLAIR + OCLF
- will FROYO allow wifi tether (I currently use barnacle on eclair to provide wifi access to my iPAD). Does AT&T charge for the tether ?
A No to all of your questions.
No, froyo will not fix your GPS problem.
No, froyo is not faster than eclair + OCLF. You'll have to do another lag fix on froyo as well.
No froyo will not allow wifi tether natively. You have to make changes for it to work.
the big benifits of 2.2 are FLASH video and "voice search by google" aka voice text input. FING sucks at names from your contacts BUT FING ROCKS!!! @ inputting text into messages and email. blows swype out of the water!
if anything install a custom rom, they greatly IMPROVE GPS not fix, improve
2.2 anything YES is better than 2.1 even stock (minus 3e recovery but that too can be fixed easy)
custom roms support wifi tethering
The lag fix on the market is utterly worthless.
Sent from my Captivate
MikeyMike01 said:
The lag fix on the market is utterly worthless.
Sent from my Captivate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well what do you know. something we agree on. The OCLF is pretty pointless now.
It depends on whether your talking about custom roms or not.
The custom roms all seem to do something for the gps, some more than others, but your pretty much assured it will be better.
But if your strictly talking froyo from samsung, then no.
If you get a Custom Froyo ROM, it's a resounding yes to all of your questions. I have near perfect GPS, my phone dances around any other one I've seen, and my tethering works perfectly.
asrrin29 said:
If you get a Custom Froyo ROM, it's a resounding yes to all of your questions. I have near perfect GPS, my phone dances around any other one I've seen, and my tethering works perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Which custom ROM do you have on the Captivate ?
vulcan195 said:
Thanks for the info. Which custom ROM do you have on the Captivate ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally use Perception, an old ROM from DG, but it's been discontinued. I'm just a stubborn old fart that doesn't want to upgrade something that is working just fine the way it is. Pretty much any of the ROMS will give you the features I mentioned, but each is themed in it's unique way. I like Perception because there was little theming done to it.
Oddly for me, GPS WAS fixed when I updated to Froyo...
My 2.2 upgrade fixed my GPS and my phone is snappier. I use Launcher Pro instead of TW and I noticed it felt quicker and more responsive. The flash support is a bonus as well.
If you don't need to worry about your phone and have the time - a custom ROM could be a good way to go.
I happen to be a person who relies on my phone every day for work. I don't have the time to experiment with custom ROMs or can I risk having something not work correctly. I stick with stock for that reason or else I would be flashing a custom ROM.
ive flashed almost every single custom ROM up in here and for my captivate andromeda and firefly have been the only two ROMs that improved GPS, stock eclair and froyo i couldnt even get a fix or see a single satellite, with those 2 custom ROMs i get a fix within 15 seconds even in cloudy weather. ive only been an android user for 2 weeks and custom ROMs are they way to go for this phone. better improvement in every which way over stock
Previously, I was on stock jh7 with oclf and was not very.happy: always rebooting the phone, looking at what processes were running, was considering installing a custom rom, etc... Then I installed official froyo and it's like I have a new.phone. No noticeable lag, the phone is now really fun to use instead of.constantly embarrassingly slow.
Gps is still terrible.
Edit: I am on official froyo with no lag fix
zelendel said:
Well what do you know. something we agree on. The OCLF is pretty pointless now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you elucidate at all? A coworker of mine was running the same custom Froyo on Captivate, as on my Captivate. He used OCLF and saw his benchmark #s doubled. I tried it and it can't complete (and backs out).
What have ye to say about OCLF?
OCLF was file conversion from RFS (Samsung) to EXT2. The latest file system lagfix is EXT4 which helps Froyo with lag issues and even some GB ROMS.
RFS is now getting mature enough that it's can run fairly fast and smooth without a lagfix (aka file conversion from RFS to EXT4).
At one small time OCLF was relevant. It is no longer.
If you insist on sticking with 2.2 look up Serendipity 6.4 or Firefly 3.0 in the development section and install one. You'll forget all about OCLF.

[Q] CyanogenMod 7 ROM for Samsung Captivate

I ran into this article yesterday, How to Flash CyanogenMod 7 ROM Samsung Captivate AT&T, and felt it was about time to learn about this. Plenty of you have already ROOTED your phones, and know from experience, what to do. But, I don't. Right now, I'm stuck with the options of accepting things don't work right, because of AT'T's unwillingness, or inabilility, to correct the issues I have, or reinsiall new, and lose all I've put on, or send back to Samsung for repair, and have them lose all I have on it, or try Rooting and adding a ROM, that may solve my issues. But to do that, I need a little help in understanding it.
First, if I try and run a program, like CyanogenMod 7, and it doesn't work correctly, snd screws up my phone, is there a way I can reinstall Android, and start over, or is that the proverbial kiss of death for my Captivate, and I'm stuck with it like that?
Second, is this the right ROM to try? AT&T can't fix my BLOCKS, of UNKNOWN APPS. The Settings change is easy, you click on activating Unknown, in Application settings..., unless you have no UNKNOWN, to choose. Also, in MMS settings, AT&T shows in a tutorial, that you have the option, of activating Delivery Report and Read Report. It shows this as plain as day, on that tutorial for the Captivate, yet mine, has NEITHER OF THOSE OPTIONS. Also, to TURN ON EDGE, the setting is missing, so I can't activate EDGE, which I guess is no big thing, since the towers AT&T has for us to connect with, THAT ARE 2G, are in such poor condition, no one can connect to them. Thank you, WIFI, for helping me get, ONLINE. Will this, or other ROM's, solve this for me?
If there are any suggestions of how to do this, and what to use, I'd appreciate hearing it from you. Again, I thank any effort, to help me.
1.cm 7 would not be the best rom to flash for your first time.
2. All roms are android, you are running at&t/samsung version of an android rom...
3. Yes you can get back to your stock rom if you don't like/something goes wrong (other than a bad bootloader flash)
4.all custom roms have all the blocking done by at&t removed so switching to 2g(edge) is possible and also faster 3g speeds known as hspa. And unknown sources is in the settings so you can install apps from outside the market.
5.the threads at the top of every section with a little thumb tacks are called stickies, give those a read through.
Like he said above. If you want the pretty much stock experience that your used to but want it fixed then I would suggest starting off with Cognition 4.4 or whatever it is now.
Sent from My KickAss Captivated CM7 OC'd 1.55Ghz/Undervolted
From newbie to a newbie, I took the advice of others and read threads for atleast a month before I flashed my first rom. My choice was Andromeda3, It has a written tutorial and a video on how to from start to finish. From what tools or apps you will need and how to use them , I watched that atleast 6 times and also while I was flashing the kernel and the rom. It may have been overkill but my flash was perfect and I'm real happy with my phone now. You may not go with the same rom I did but do your self a favor and do what I did to prepare for your first flash.

Best Settings??

Hello All,
Have just started using this forum and failed to introduce myself previously, my name is Jay; I am 27 from DC but in Afghanistan for a few more months (yea..sucks) new to rooting, flashing and all that but I have recent interest in it and it passes the time better than most thing we are "allowed" to do over here.
I just switched from a HTC Desire to a Galaxy Captivate
So far...I have unlocked it (via cellunlocker.net), upgraded to the leaked 2.3.4 Gingerbread, Rooted using the 10step method posted here, Installed Victory v1.5 Rom, tried flashing Talon kernel but bricked the phone and had to redo the above...
My question is to those more knowledgeable than myself with all this...what is the best Kernel, Rom, Modem...whatever else...that I can have on this device to keep it running smoothly, fast and reliable?
I do all the basic call, txt, surf...play games, watch movies, use apps, etc...not a developer but want my phone to be tweaked as much as possible so it does not seem outdated or lag with new things being added.
My current settings are:
Baseband I897UCKH3
Firmware 2.3.4
Kernel 2.6.35.7-I897UCKH3-CL461307
Build VictoryRom_v1.5
There is nothing wrong with the phone...as I said above, if I could do more to it and have an overall better device and pass some time here I would enjoy that. Victory seems great but all I notice myself is the battery indicator has changed and...thats about it (a lot likely goes unnoticed by me)
I do have one problem with the phone that maybe a different modem can fix? (I hope) for some reason my GPRS will not work out here with my browser...I can use the market and apps that connect to the internet but my browser seems to be WiFi only. I have changed the settings from usa to europe since I am using a sim from over here but no luck...and added the gprs settings to the phone which allowed apps internet access but zero for browser..any ideas?
I really thank anyone who takes the time to reply...I am sure teaching a new person in this is annoying just as showing the new guy here how to clean his weapon...lol...but we were all new at everything once and I thank you all for reading my novel
-Jay
Jay,
Thank you so much for your service and contribution to our freedom, I know it must be hard to be away from the life you once knew. Hang in there It's not for nothing. Hopefully someone will be able to help with your GPRS settings. I am running the same setup on my captivate only I have used Boogs kernel to install clockwork recovery as well. You can flash boogs kernel over the kernel you have now and that will let you flash roms or speedmods later. If I were you I'd keep my eyes peeled for GPRS settings in your area and wait for EXT or speedmod kernel for the 2.3.4 They are saying RFS is pretty quick to begin with though. It may be hard to beat but im sure one of these great Devs will figure out a way to make 2.3.4 smokin fast. Once again thanks for doing what you do. Keep your head down Soldier!
Steve
If you like using your mobile providers Net, you might give I9000 ports a try. They allow for better Upload speeds but you will sacrifice Audience chip support (noise suppression processor that only I897 have). Also since I9000 source usually drop first they have all sorts of kernel mods like Voodoo sound, Voodoo color fix, BLN, init.d files tweaks like V6, among many more. Sadly I897 native roms always play catch up with I9000's.
Personally I prefer native rom, because they tend to run smoother for longer periods of time (I9000 tend to slow down over time on my phone, but thats just my experience) and I don't use ATT's network a whole lot (90% of the time I'm around a wifi connection) and I like the audience chip, it is a phone before anything else.
Edit: Also there isn't a "best" rom, kernel or modem. Each rom has their own pros and cons, same as Kernels. And no 2 phones are the exact same so not all of them take well to all the tweaks, mods, etc. And most of the time i9000 kernels wont work with i897 roms, at least in GB.

[Q] Noob with unanswered questions

I've just ditched the BB (hooray!), have rooted and flashed CM9 and working out what to tweak next... I HAVE read loads of posts but still have a few questions.
1. Modem.bin files : there doesn't seem to be a list of differences, and people says some are better than others. I flashed XXKB3 and it works well. Better than others, I don't know. Does anybody know what differs in the versions?
2. GPS - Is there any way to fix the poor reception (have Fasterfix). Anyone modded the aerial or similar?? Otherwise can recommend a good GPS puck for the car
3. Supercharger V6 - yes or no? I only get redraw a bit, but always with Firefox Beta so maybe it's just that app. I understand the principles behind it, just not whether it is worth bothering on the I9000
Thanks so much (in advance) and to everyone keeping the I9000 alive and up-to-date. Still a fantastic bit of kit even if 2 years old!
H.
1. The difference is that some modems have better/worse signal in certain locations. E.g i live in Europe and i might get 1-2 bars with one modem and full 4 bars with another.. so just test them out to find an optimal one.
2. Dont know anything bout this, i think it varies between different roms. But i dont personally use gps that much that i have a need to figuree it out.
3. Definately install V6! I got to a point that i had constant redraws and the phone started to lag, etc. Installed V6 and working sooo smooth now also the dev has made an additional 3g booster script, this worked good for me also, though the speed increase wasnt very big but even an slight speed increase isnt bad , eh?

[Q] Haven't flashed in a while, help please

I haven't updated my SCH-I800 in a while and I notice that there is now a stable "cm-9.1.0-p1c.zip" on the cyanogenmod site but also CM10 builds (cm-10-20130714-NIGHTLY-p1c.zip) as recently as last week. The forums for the I800 aren't up right now so I thought I'd ask here if these CM10s are actually functioning well or if they have lots of missing features. And as much as I dig, I seem to only find half working ROMs or extremely experimental ones that have basic things like WiFi missing. Is there a solid stock Samsung ROM and a solid AOSP ROM that everyone uses at this mater point in this tablet's lifespan?
And is there a new method for flashing at all? Or is ODIN still the way?
Thanks!!!
tinpanalley said:
I haven't updated my SCH-I800 in a while and I notice that there is now a stable "cm-9.1.0-p1c.zip" on the cyanogenmod site but also CM10 builds (cm-10-20130714-NIGHTLY-p1c.zip) as recently as last week. The forums for the I800 aren't up right now so I thought I'd ask here if these CM10s are actually functioning well or if they have lots of missing features. And as much as I dig, I seem to only find half working ROMs or extremely experimental ones that have basic things like WiFi missing. Is there a solid stock Samsung ROM and a solid AOSP ROM that everyone uses at this mater point in this tablet's lifespan?
And is there a new method for flashing at all? Or is ODIN still the way?
Thanks!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have spent the last week or so trying to get an SCH-i800 to run something OTHER than the stock gingerbread well and just haven't found it yet. The closest I got was a build of CM9 but still have sporadic reboots.
It's frustrating since the only thing I want this to do is run some OBD apps for my car. The problem is that apps detect Gingerbread and run in phone mode vs. tablet mode, wasting a bunch of screen space.
Cubed has been pretty much the only non-stock rom that didn't have FC's and random reboots. I don't even use the cellular feature of this tablet - I'd be happy just disabling the modem entirely and running on wifi if it meant it being more stable.
I'm considering just getting a Nexus 7, but the problem is that this thing would need to live in my car and I don't feel like doing that with a new tablet which is why I was trying to get the i800 to work

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