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Hi,
I've just bought a new nexus one mobile phone from Egypt. Since the mobile was not officially released here, the only shops that sell it are the ones that import it from Europe...so lucky me i got my self a Vodafone Nexus one Mobile running Android 2.1-update1
After a long search on the internet i was able to update it to Android 2.2 (build FRF91). After another very long time trying to find the 2.2.1 update (build FRG83) i discovered that it wasn't released yet for the Vodafone mobiles. but some claim that by installing the FRG33 build Rom your kernel will completely change and thus you become a "Normal" nexus one
My questions are:
-Is the above true?
-How do i install this Rom?
-Does the process of installing the Rom need rooting my device?
-is there a simple tutorial for a noob (running Linux ubuntu) for rooting?
-Is it possible to root the mobile "Temporary" until I get to Build FRG83?
-Is there a high chance of Bricking the device?
Thx in advance!!!
Since you have AMOLED Nexus (otherwise it wouldn't be able to run 2.1), there is no problem flashing stock FRF91 on it.
Of course it requires rooting.
Read my signature, I hope you'll find your way from there easily. If any step in the directions below isn't clear - go to Wiki and find what it means and what needs to be done.
If you want stock 2.2.1:
Use 1-click root, install custom recovery (any), download stock FRF91, use the recovery to flash it, then download FRG83_from_FRF91 upgrade, rename to update.zip and put on SD card, go to the stock recovery (your custom recovery would be overwritten by then), flash update.zip.
If you want custom ROM:
Use 1-click root, install custom recovery, download and install custom ROM of your choice.
I would like to say that Android 2.2.1 has no major changes compare to Android 2.2.
for your questions..
-Is the above true?
I'm not sure about kernel version because I keep using third-party ROMs, but it's possible for FRG83 to have a different kernel than FRG91
-How do i install this Rom?
Stock FRG83 rom should be available to download somewhere, once you have unlocked bootloader and have a recovery (Amon or Clockwerk) installed, you should be able to flash FRG83 rom in recovery.
-Does the process of installing the Rom need rooting my device?
sorry about this
-is there a simple tutorial for a noob (running Linux ubuntu) for rooting?
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Nexus_One
-Is it possible to root the mobile "Temporary" until I get to Build FRG83?
It's not necessary to root device temporarily, because once you have acquired root privilege, you can play a lot more tricky things, so there's no reason to become unrooted again, but I've heard from people who would like to receive update OTA, they have to unroot in order to get OTA update properly.
-Is there a high chance of Bricking the device?
Nexus One is now developer phone, so it's unlikely to be broken only by flashing new ROM
Wrong info. That's exactly why people should read before asking questions - because the answers they get might be partially correct at best.
1. Kernel versions don't matter, the OP just doesn't know ROM from Kernel. He should read more. He wants stock Google ROM.
2. Stock FRG83 is available from the same Wiki I've mentioned above, and some reports say that it doesn't like to be flashed from custom recovery and doesn't proceed. So I didn't suggest it, and suggested FRF91 which 100% flashes.
3. CyanogenMod Wiki only has 1 root method - unlocking the bootloader. It's definitely not the easiest one, and some people might want to keep their bootloader locked. I don't believe OP is one of them, since he bought a phone for unsupported country and warranty won't mean anything to him, but at least he needs to be educated about the differences. In Wiki he does, in your post - he doesn't.
4. When you flash stock ROM, you lose root - as simple as that. If he wants stock FRG83 - he WILL lose root, and if he wants it rooted - he'll have to go to Wiki again and see, how to root. If he has unlocked bootloader - it'll be just a bit easier.
5. Since he already has Froyo, chances are his radio is updated. If they aren't - the stock ROM contains radio, and if it's not up to date on the system - it will be flashed. Flashing radio incorrectly (terminating it in the middle, power failure, etc) is the only way to brick the device. So if his radio is updated - there's no chance he'll brick it, if it's not - it depends on if he'll touch the phone during the radio flash or not.
And this has no place in Development section.
well I'm still kinda confused, so I'll try to explain a little better what I got in mind first.
I read this post (google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=5fe9454b7c7261e7&hl=en) in the nexus one forums that explains the difference between 2 kernels one exclusive to Vodafone (Europe?) and one to other Carriers in the USA.
The kernel version I have ([email protected] #1) get updates like a month after other one and I believe I have to insert a Vodafone sim for it to work. what I read online (can't remember where) is by installing the FRG33 leaked rom on the device it basically changes the Kernel version to the US version ([email protected]#1) so that I can easily update to FRG83, as till now the Vodafone kernel still didn't receive the FRG83 update OTA.
I tried downloading the file FRG83 from FRF91 and it simply gives me a failed to verify file whole-signature and never completes the update.
So reading online, I'm still confused on what exactly to do to install this leaked rom. Now correct me if I'm wrong but what I understand from this thread I have to gain root privileges to install custom recovery and then install roms and solve my problem. right?
I'll be following this thread (forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=747598) to root my device is it the correct one?
You need to flash full update of frg33,and after that you'll update OTA to FRG83.Here it is the full rom http://shipped-roms.com/shipped/Pas...le_WWE_2.16.1700.1_FRG33_MFG_Shipment_ROM.zip
Cheers
This is the thread with FRG33->83 OTA, link in the last post:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=51704fcd145670fb&hl=en
razlken said:
well I'm still kinda confused, so I'll try to explain a little better what I got in mind first.
I read this post (google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=5fe9454b7c7261e7&hl=en) in the nexus one forums that explains the difference between 2 kernels one exclusive to Vodafone (Europe?) and one to other Carriers in the USA.
The kernel version I have ([email protected] #1) get updates like a month after other one and I believe I have to insert a Vodafone sim for it to work. what I read online (can't remember where) is by installing the FRG33 leaked rom on the device it basically changes the Kernel version to the US version ([email protected]#1) so that I can easily update to FRG83, as till now the Vodafone kernel still didn't receive the FRG83 update OTA.
I tried downloading the file FRG83 from FRF91 and it simply gives me a failed to verify file whole-signature and never completes the update.
So reading online, I'm still confused on what exactly to do to install this leaked rom. Now correct me if I'm wrong but what I understand from this thread I have to gain root privileges to install custom recovery and then install roms and solve my problem. right?
I'll be following this thread (forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=747598) to root my device is it the correct one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The kernel versions are identifying ROM variants, other than that they're of no use.
You can't apply FRG83-from-FRF91 update to Vodafone ROM, you need to install stock Google ROM first.
Yes, this is the correct thread to root the device.
Or you could do another thing that you wanted, and it'll probably be simpler:
Go to Wiki, download stock FRG33 image, rename to PASSIMG.ZIP, put on SD card, reboot the phone into bootloader. It'll automatically apply.
Then either wait for the OTA to FRG83, or apply the update.zip as I suggested above - only use FRG83-from-FRG33, that you can find linked in the first link, or in Wiki between "All stock ROMs and OTAs".
I've downloaded the FRG33 Rom and installed it using the PASSIMG.zip method. now the last problem, hopefully, is that i can't find a FRG83 from FRG33 OTA and i don't get any automatic OTA on my nexus one phone.
i tried the link but it seems that the any file on the google server was removed or something as it says page cannot be found and i can't find the file on the wiki.
any help here? and way to force the OTA to start on my nexus one or does anyone have the file or a mirror to the download?
Copy-pasted from some Google search:
Open the phone dialer
dial this: *#*#2432546#*#*
you'll see a notification that checkin was successful
Then, hit menu>>about phone>>system updates to see if anything is there.
Still nothing I dial it and get the checkin succeeded notification but when i go to the system updates it just says my system is up to date.
P.S: sorry for not searching but it's like 3 in the morning and I've been dealing with this for like hours....my brain hurts.
edit: tried using the passimg.zip method with this file (dl3.htc.com/RomCode/Source_and_Binaries/signed-passion-img-FRG83_0923.zip) which i found on the rom section of the wiki but after checking the passimg.zip the bootloader just reboots itself and returns to the main menu without doing anything.
Yes, it's reported that FRG83 doesn't like to be installed by PASSIMG method.
You could try renaming to update.zip and flashing in recovery.
Tried that but still nothing gives me an error: E: signature verification failed.
Well, in that case, if you really want FRG83 - you have to root and apply this update through a custom recovery.
The root and the custom recovery will be gone once you apply it.
ok so i rooted my phone using the rageagainstthecage method since the 1 click root does seem work for FRGXX build. then i used Rom Manager to install this file (http://loadbalancing.modaco.com/dow.../update-nexusone-FRG83-stock-radio-signed.zip)
now the last problem, not really sure if it is anyway, after the rom was installed i lost root privileges as u said but the recovery remained custom (clockwork mod) now I don't really care if it's stock or not, but am i going to get OTA updates with no problem even with a custom recovery or do i have to put it back to stock?
EDIT: I've Extracted the recovery.img from a stock FRG83 Rom and installed using the Flash_image method now i've got the stock Recovery back, I believe that this way everything is ok to receive OTAs in the future..
THX a lot to everybody that helped me out Especially Jack_R1
Hi I have just bought Motorola Milestone which seems like Vodafone unlocked version. I am new at Android will ask few general questions.
1. How to identify if the phone is rooted or not?
2. Can I flash my phone (Build SHOLS_U2_02.36.0) to Android 2.2 I am currently running 2.1 Update1
3. What should I do before flashing rom?
4. What are Must-Have software applications to "play" (Flash, Overclock, Reconfigure) with on the phone
THANKs
Hi and enjoy your new Milestone..!
1) Check if you have an app "Superuser" installed, with a pirate's icon. If yes, you are Rooted. Or install an app that needs Root and see if it works well.
2) There's no official FroYo ROM yet, we are waiting for it any day now. But you can flash other FroYo ROMs from Milestone Android Development Forum.
3) You should Read carefully..
4) OpenRecovery, RSD Lite, Motorola USB Drivers
Enjoy modding..!
jafargio said:
Hi I have just bought Motorola Milestone which seems like Vodafone unlocked version. I am new at Android will ask few general questions.
3. What should I do before flashing rom?
4. What are Must-Have software applications to "play" (Flash, Overclock, Reconfigure) with on the phone
THANKs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3. Read up in the forums for the details. In general, you need to
A. Flash vulnerable recovery using RSD (requires MOT usb drivers)
B. Install a new recovery (androidiani is most likely best one for milestone)
C. Install the custom ROM of your choice (most newer roms are froyo based, give you root and already overclocked. My fav is CM6.
4.
In to what I listed above, a few must have (or at least nice to have) apps:
A. Setcpu (overclocking gui and profiles)
B. rootexplorer (file manager with options for root users)
C. Google apps (aka GAPPS). Many roms do need come with the google experience stuff like market and gmail). You need to downlaod seperately.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Don't want to open another thread, but someone might be able to help me.
Yesterday i got my phone back from repairs (headphone socket) and decided to try the new Sense Rom. Liked it, but performance wasn't to my tastes. i installed the backup from my normal 2.2 ROM.
My question is, for example if i install the iceandfire rom (which i see is being updated all the time), will i have to do a complete reinstall of the ROM every time?
peter9991 said:
Don't want to open another thread, but someone might be able to help me.
Yesterday i got my phone back from repairs (headphone socket) and decided to try the new Sense Rom. Liked it, but performance wasn't to my tastes. i installed the backup from my normal 2.2 ROM.
My question is, for example if i install the iceandfire rom (which i see is being updated all the time), will i have to do a complete reinstall of the ROM every time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a bit confused...dod you have a milestone. If so, did you mean your 'normal' 2.1 ROM?
The MS does not have 2.2 yet...
In any case, you usually do not need to do a full wipe for incremental versions. I have never tried iceandfire, but CM6 and others work like this. Only major revisions require wipes. Clearing the dalvik cache and cache partition (easy to do from openrecovery) is usually all that is required. This does not impact any of your data...
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
sorry, i meant the GOT version.
It seems to be the most vanillaish version out at the moment.
peter9991 said:
sorry, i meant the GOT version.
It seems to be the most vanillaish version out at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah...well if by vanillaish, you mean stock...there are currently at least 2 leaked versions more recent than GOT. GOT is actually rather old and buggy.
But your point is taken, it is a Motorolaish release. I prefer AOSP (android open source project) based ROMs. Motorola proprietary files are still used (drivers and kernel), but the rest is all open source/ customized.
IMHO, this provides features and stuff people actually want.
Sent from my Milestone using Tapatalk
Hi again. I was reading some other posts but I am still confused.
I have no understanding why all these stuff is used for updating ROM on the device.
What is Open Recovery? why is it used and what does Root-ing do?
I also noticed several times in posts saying Nandroid, Downgrading Recovery Partition, sbf recovery....
Can anyone describe what exactly all these things mean and why are they used for?
Thanks.
jafargio said:
Hi again. I was reading some other posts but I am still confused.
I have no understanding why all these stuff is used for updating ROM on the device.
What is Open Recovery? why is it used and what does Root-ing do?
I also noticed several times in posts saying Nandroid, Downgrading Recovery Partition, sbf recovery....
Can anyone describe what exactly all these things mean and why are they used for?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should start from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932196
I don't have an folder named nandroid in open recovery.please help.thanks in advance
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
vishal18793 said:
I don't have an folder named nandroid in open recovery.please help.thanks in advance
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have to create it manually...
Please could you give me a detailed explanation. Should I go in quick office, create a new folder, name it nandroid and that's all? Now when I go in recovery menu there if I chose create backup and will it get saved in the folder I've created?
Please help I'm new to rooting and flashing.
Thanks for the reply.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Hey all so I currently have an unlocked bootloader, rooted Nexus One still running the Stock Froyo 2.2.2. and I decided to finally upgrade to the OTA Gingerbread update but have a problem.
The OTA update restarts my phone with a triangle with an "!" inside it and an Android next to it, so I decided to try a manual update as described here.
Everything went well until the installation itself, during the install I kept getting some sort of error stating Twitter.apk in the system directory could not be authenticated.
So here's the problem, with Titanium Backup I made the stupid mistake of uninstalling it and not backing it up when I first rooted a while ago. I thought I could just reinstall it from the market but I get the same error. The only solution I can think of is if someone running a Nexus One Stock Froyo could possibly send me the Titanium Backup files of Twitter, hopefully this would make it work, otherwise I don't think I could ever update.
Since your bootloader is unlocked, you can use fastboot to install a custom recovery and then flash whatever you want (including a stock image)...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
danger-rat said:
Since your bootloader is unlocked, you can use fastboot to install a custom recovery and then flash whatever you want (including a stock image)...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response, but I'm having trouble figuring some of this stuff, after spending some time with the search option here in XDA:
1. I don't the difference between custom recovery and flashing an image.
2. I can't find a simple stock Gingerbread image (thought its called ROM?) Details in posts tend to be vague for people that are learning this stuff, like me.
3. Many people have written to use Amron_ra 2.2.1 but I don't know the specifics of each ROM are (ex. if its Froyo based, Gingerbread based, etc.)
4. Would using ROM Manager be a good method to use any ROM or is it limited?
I'm essentially looking for an effective method to upgrading to a clean Gingerbread, since doing it the normal way won't work on my phone (as stated in my first post).
1 - Recovery, bootloader, and 'ROM' are two different partitions on you phone. Once you break security on one, you can use it to break the security on the other. In your case, the security on your bootloader is broken (unlocked), so you can use it to install new software on the other partitions.
2 - See bullet 4 on the first post of this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1005591
3 - For recovery you have 2 choices, Amon Ra or Clockwork, If you go with Clockwork, I recommend you stay away from 3.x versions. Unless the ROM you want to install says otherwise, either of these recoveries will work.
4 - ROM Manger will work. It's an easy way to achieve results, but unless you know what you are doing, it's also an easy way to screw things up.
I suggest you take it a step at at a time, and really understand what you are doing. Reading the wiki is always a good start, then ask specific questions...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Nexus_One.png
Thanks Danger, I made the jump to Cyanogen 7, RC-4 via ROM Manager and couldn't be happier! Only problem is the known audio bug for Nexus One (person on other end of a call hears a lot of static sometimes, and have to recall them). The forced apps2sd is by far my most favourite feature, especially since the N1 internal space is pretty horrible, I've moved most of my apps2sd and haven't had any problems thus far.
Thanks for recommending CM7, I just wish their website listed the full features for newbies like me.
Thanks danger-rat http://www.nexusoneforum.net/forum/...lick-doesnt-work-gingerbread-2.html#post93952
I downgraded my gingerbread to froyo
Was pulling my hair out with a lame guide in the general section
Congrats!!
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App
Hi all, in a couple of days time I will be receiving my first ever Android device, the Motorola Milestone. I've already done some research on the phone as well as on Android itself, and understood most of the necessary basics. However, there are still many things I don't understand quite yet, and would like some help with clarifying them.
My first question is regarding the custom roms. I myself have been a long time user of Windows Mobile so I know most of the stuff that is relevant to Android as well. From what I know, the bootloader on the Milestone is still locked, but people have found ways to load custom roms on it. Can someone link me to the guide on how to do this? Now before someone tell me to search on the forum or on Google (which I already have), I just want to point out that the ones I found seemed to be outdated, and that they're for older Android versions??
My 2nd question is, do custom roms like IceandFire or Froyomod come with their own custom kernels? Because I want to be able to overclock my phone, and if it comes installed with its own kernel then I don't want to risk bricking it by flashing another kernel on top of it......I hope that makes sense??
3rd question is, which rom is the best for speed and battery? I'm guessing it's IceandFire and it builds upon the latest CM7?
And lastly, are there any crucial apps that you guys recommend I should install, or any tweaks etc I should use?
chaoscreater said:
Hi all, in a couple of days time I will be receiving my first ever Android device, the Motorola Milestone. I've already done some research on the phone as well as on Android itself, and understood most of the necessary basics. However, there are still many things I don't understand quite yet, and would like some help with clarifying them.
My first question is regarding the custom roms. I myself have been a long time user of Windows Mobile so I know most of the stuff that is relevant to Android as well. From what I know, the bootloader on the Milestone is still locked, but people have found ways to load custom roms on it. Can someone link me to the guide on how to do this? Now before someone tell me to search on the forum or on Google (which I already have), I just want to point out that the ones I found seemed to be outdated, and that they're for older Android versions??
My 2nd question is, do custom roms like IceandFire or Froyomod come with their own custom kernels? Because I want to be able to overclock my phone, and if it comes installed with its own kernel then I don't want to risk bricking it by flashing another kernel on top of it......I hope that makes sense??
3rd question is, which rom is the best for speed and battery? I'm guessing it's IceandFire and it builds upon the latest CM7?
And lastly, are there any crucial apps that you guys recommend I should install, or any tweaks etc I should use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=983516
This is still the best way to get a custom ROM loaded up onto your phone. What you want to start with is flashing the vulnerable recovery from http://android.doshaska.net/rootable by using RSD Lite. To do so, you need to put the phone into Bootloader mode (power+Dpad-up) You can google RSD Lite, make sure you use the latest version along with the latest USB Driver version from Motorola.
RSD Lite is a very finicky program, if you have any errors flashing, your best bet would be to try this post: http://androidforums.com/droid-all-...hing-process-0x7100-rsd-lite.html#post1274587
Once you flash the VR (vulnerable recovery), you will want to put OpenRecovery on your SD Card. I recommend using OR 1.46 and placing FuFu's minimod on the SD Card as well. It will overwrite existing files in OR (look for it in Milestone Development). From here you can root the phone in OR (by using power+x, then camera+volume up) and reboot, backup all data you want saved, before flashing a ROM.
Once that is done, get the custom ROM that you want (I find speed + battery can be Cronos, CM7 or FroyoMOD for a Froyo ROM) and place it in OpenRecovery/updates. You will also want the most up-to-date version of Google Apps for Cronos or any Gingerbread ROM (except MIUI).
Gapps: http://goo-inside.me/gapps/gapps-gb-20110613-signed.zip
Now, turn the phone off, and put it into recovery mode (power+x, then camera+volume up), select apply update.zip and you are now into OpenRecovery.
Here is where you will flash your custom ROM and Gapps. Wipe both cache partition and dalvik cache, then wipe all data. Select Apply Update under Miscellaneous Menu and select the ROM you want. Once it is done, wipe both caches (not data) and flash Gapps. Wipe caches again. Finally, change the baseband to your country and reboot.
The first reboot will take a while, as the ROM is configuring itself for first time use.
That is how to flash a custom ROM and get started.
2- Custom kernels are not available for Milestone, as our bootloader is locked. Overclocking the phone is done through the 10overclock file in system/etc/init.d . All ROMs that I know of are overclock, most to 1GHz (from 550MHz). You will not be able to flash any kernels, and DO NOT try ROM Manager, it will temporarily brick your phone.
Crucial apps, I would say are Root Explorer, TitaniumBackup. Those are the two that are very useful for root users, if you flash multiple ROMs or need to access system files.
Hope this helped.
awesome, thanks for the reply mate!
Hmm 2 things i'm confused with. Isn't there an app called "Milestone Overclock" that lets u overclock without installing custom kernels?
Also, from what I know you need to have the bootloader unlocked in order to install custom roms. I already know that Motorola is still keeping the bootloader locked and that as of now, there isn't a way to unlock it. Then how come we can install custom roms?
Also, since you mentioned ROM Manager, I did a quick search and it seems to be able to manage multiple custom rom installs that you have. But then you said don't try it or it will brick the phone, so I don't understand whether I can install it or not?? Personally, I love testing out different roms as well as new builds. It would be nice to dual boot or choose between different roms to use. But i'm not sure whether I want to go forward with this since your comment implies to me that I shouldn't install Rom Manager?
Lastly, this is the part I found most confusing with Android (or with Windows Mobile as well). I found some guides that tells you to install Clockwork Recovery Mod or something like that. Some of them even mentioned using Nandroid or something. There seems to be different methods & tools/softwares for different devices (or even the same device) and it can be confusing to keep up with them. My question is, are there major differences between them? Which one is better and should I keep them up to date?
chaoscreater said:
awesome, thanks for the reply mate!
Hmm 2 things i'm confused with. Isn't there an app called "Milestone Overclock" that lets u overclock without installing custom kernels?
Also, from what I know you need to have the bootloader unlocked in order to install custom roms. I already know that Motorola is still keeping the bootloader locked and that as of now, there isn't a way to unlock it. Then how come we can install custom roms?
Also, since you mentioned ROM Manager, I did a quick search and it seems to be able to manage multiple custom rom installs that you have. But then you said don't try it or it will brick the phone, so I don't understand whether I can install it or not?? Personally, I love testing out different roms as well as new builds. It would be nice to dual boot or choose between different roms to use. But i'm not sure whether I want to go forward with this since your comment implies to me that I shouldn't install Rom Manager?
Lastly, this is the part I found most confusing with Android (or with Windows Mobile as well). I found some guides that tells you to install Clockwork Recovery Mod or something like that. Some of them even mentioned using Nandroid or something. There seems to be different methods & tools/softwares for different devices (or even the same device) and it can be confusing to keep up with them. My question is, are there major differences between them? Which one is better and should I keep them up to date?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried Milestone Overclock, but I never really used it to overclock the phone. I prefer changing the voltages and speeds with the 10overclock file. If you read the description of Milestone overclock, it "tricks" the kernel into thinking it's supposed to run at a certain speed.
ROM Manager and Clockwork Recovery Mod do not work on Milestone. The only recovery that works with the Milestone is OpenRecovery or Androidiani OpenRecovery. Unfortunately, the only way to flash the ROMs is through OR or AOR, so you will have to repeat the processes every single time. I have gotten used to where all of the options are for FuFu's Minimod, so I am able to do it quite efficiently
The best way to backup a ROM, system data and the such is by Nandroid backup. That is the only sort of backup that you can do. It is recommended to do one every time you flash a custom ROM, but I only did it after I rooted and before I flashed my first custom ROM. You can do it through OR. That is the only way that will work. CWM and ROM Manager will just temp brick the phone and you will have to reflash a stock SBF all over again.
i see.....in that case there's no way to install 2 different roms to allow dual booting then? What about the app "Boot Manager", will that work? I found it on this site here:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ted-user-should-know-about-part-4-apps-26-33/
One last question, I came across this popular app that is recommended by many Android users, called Apps2SD. My understanding to this is that by default, any apps/games that you install on your device will install to the internal memory, and that this Apps2SD app basically lets you install to your memory card? So my question is, does this lag the phone somehow? I like to have many apps and especially games installed on my phone, would doing this affect the performance or something? I know this is the case for Windows Mobile, but not sure about Android.....
chaoscreater said:
i see.....in that case there's no way to install 2 different roms to allow dual booting then? What about the app "Boot Manager", will that work? I found it on this site here:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ted-user-should-know-about-part-4-apps-26-33/
One last question, I came across this popular app that is recommended by many Android users, called Apps2SD. My understanding to this is that by default, any apps/games that you install on your device will install to the internal memory, and that this Apps2SD app basically lets you install to your memory card? So my question is, does this lag the phone somehow? I like to have many apps and especially games installed on my phone, would doing this affect the performance or something? I know this is the case for Windows Mobile, but not sure about Android.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I follow AndroidPolice as well. I don't know about Boot Manager, I heard about it, but I haven't heard any reviews of it yet.
Two things when it comes to phone storage and apps on the Milestone: Old hardware makes for a lot of games to not work at all, and low phone storage space.
Almost every ROM comes with apps2ext support, which is a more advanced version of Apps2SD. You can follow this tutorial here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10994672&postcount=226
Apps2ext will trick your phone into thinking space on the SD Card (the ext partition) is actually part of the phone's internal memory. You will be able to get a lot more apps on the phone this way.
Ahh cool, that saves me the trouble of me having to install an extra tweak.
Hmm I know Milestone is old, but not that old is it?? I don't know of any games now days that require heavy hardware specs or anything......i'm just hoping that emulators will work fine on it. I mean, my iPod Touch 3rd Gen only has about 120MB of free RAM, and the CPU is crap as hell and yet I could run GBA games like Pokemon or Golden Sun fine no problem (with sound of course). I'm hoping it'll at least work smoothly on the Milestone since I'll be attempting to overclock it to 1Ghz, which should run it significantly faster in theory.
BTW I found this great tweak for the CM7, here's the link:
http://chromloop.com/2011/07/how-to-make-cyanogenmod-7-for-milestone-a853-lighter-and-faster/
are there any ones similar to this? I'm a tweak junkie addict, I like to make my device run as smooth and as fast as possible. When I still had my HTC Touch Pro and Xperia X1, and even Nokia N900 (which uses Maemo 5), I tweaked the crap out of them and got more juice and power and made its performance so much better. I'm hoping I can at least do the same for the Milestone, except I couldn't seem to find many tweaks...
Oh lastly, I know one of the big problems with Android is fragmentation. There're already some apps out there in the Android market that are exclusive to certain Android versions. The same app has a version for Froyo (v2.2) and Gingerbread (v2.3). This is true for some of the mods or tweaks on XDA. So my question is, are custom roms like CM7 using Gingerbread? I'm guessing yes since it says 2.3.5? In that case, would I be able to simply install the latest mod/tweak or apps/games from XDA or the Android market? Or must I find the versions that is identical to mine?
E.g. if I install CM7, can I still install a mod that is for Froyo?
chaoscreater said:
Ahh cool, that saves me the trouble of me having to install an extra tweak.
Hmm I know Milestone is old, but not that old is it?? I don't know of any games now days that require heavy hardware specs or anything......i'm just hoping that emulators will work fine on it. I mean, my iPod Touch 3rd Gen only has about 120MB of free RAM, and the CPU is crap as hell and yet I could run GBA games like Pokemon or Golden Sun fine no problem (with sound of course). I'm hoping it'll at least work smoothly on the Milestone since I'll be attempting to overclock it to 1Ghz, which should run it significantly faster in theory.
BTW I found this great tweak for the CM7, here's the link:
http://chromloop.com/2011/07/how-to-make-cyanogenmod-7-for-milestone-a853-lighter-and-faster/
are there any ones similar to this? I'm a tweak junkie addict, I like to make my device run as smooth and as fast as possible. When I still had my HTC Touch Pro and Xperia X1, and even Nokia N900 (which uses Maemo 5), I tweaked the crap out of them and got more juice and power and made its performance so much better. I'm hoping I can at least do the same for the Milestone, except I couldn't seem to find many tweaks...
Oh lastly, I know one of the big problems with Android is fragmentation. There're already some apps out there in the Android market that are exclusive to certain Android versions. The same app has a version for Froyo (v2.2) and Gingerbread (v2.3). This is true for some of the mods or tweaks on XDA. So my question is, are custom roms like CM7 using Gingerbread? I'm guessing yes since it says 2.3.5? In that case, would I be able to simply install the latest mod/tweak or apps/games from XDA or the Android market? Or must I find the versions that is identical to mine?
E.g. if I install CM7, can I still install a mod that is for Froyo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course you still can. The best tweak for Milestone is under Android Hacking, it's zeppelinrox's supercharger script, which you run through Script Manager. That's the best you can get.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA Premium App
I thought custom roms like CM7 or IceandFire come with the supercharger script included?
chaoscreater said:
I thought custom roms like CM7 or IceandFire come with the supercharger script included?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some do, such as HO!NO!, but not all of them do.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA Premium App
Ok so I finally got my Milestone today!
I'm about to start rooting it and install CM7 on it. But before I do that, I have one important question. I know for Windows Mobile, almost all of the device requires you to do a hard reset after flashing a custom rom. I was wondering if the same needs to be applied to Android custom roms? Because it doesn't seem like it, I did a quick Google search and found this:
http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-...4-do-not-factory-reset-your-rooted-phone.html
So ya I'm not sure....
UPDATE:
Ok so I got my Milestone rooted, and installed CM7 on it. I came across a weird problem while doing it though. First of all, I'm using a 8GB Kingston microSD class 2, and it's brand new and hasn't been used before, so it obviously has nothing stored on it as it's empty to begin with. Ok, so as I followed the instructions, the first step is obviously rooting the Milestone, so I simply copied OpenRecovery to the memory card while my Milestone was connected to my PC. The weird thing is, when I opened "My Computer", I didn't see my memory card. Instead, I see "Milestone", so I opened it and then I see my memory card "Removeable Storage". I opened it again and here's the actual weird part, there're 2 files stored in it, called:
DevIcon
DevLogo
At first, I didn't think it was a problem because I thought they were just some dummy file or something. Also, the memory card is empty other than those 2 files. So after copying OpenRecovery to it and rooting it successfully, I then proceed to copy the CM7 custom rom file to the memory card. But this time, I still see the same thing. I don't see my OpenRecovery folder on it at all, there're no other files other than those 2 files on it. I tried Unmount and Mount in the SD Card settings, also unplugging my USB cable and re-plugging back in but it's the same. In fact, after 'Unmounting' the memory card, I couldn't even access it on "My Computer", as nothing shows up after I open "Milestone". Only 'Mounting' works, but again I only see those 2 files and nothing else.
HOWEVER, I then tried to take out the memory card and use my own microSD card reader, and bam I can see all the files on it, such as OpenRecovery and even the nanDroid backup that I made while following the instructions on that guide. So this is weird, why can't I access or see the contents on my memory card while the phone is connected to the PC??
I don't wanna create another topic for this since it's unnecessary, so here's my final question. In case something goes wrong in the future, what's the best way for me to revert back to stock?
I know I can use nandroid for this, but here's what i'm confused about. Nandroid makes a backup of the complete system, including the settings and apps installed correct? But what if you flash a custom rom, and then use a nandroid backup of the stock rom, will that still work? Or would you have to install the stock rom first for you to be able to use the nandroid backup?
Lastly, if the nandroid backup works regardless of whether you're using a different rom than the rom that the nandroid backup was made, then which option is better:
use nandroid to revert to stock, or using this guide here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11902513&postcount=7
Now I understand that for Milestone, custom roms are not actually flashed since the bootloader is locked. So would using nandroid be good enough?
chaoscreater said:
I don't wanna create another topic for this since it's unnecessary, so here's my final question. In case something goes wrong in the future, what's the best way for me to revert back to stock?
I know I can use nandroid for this, but here's what i'm confused about. Nandroid makes a backup of the complete system, including the settings and apps installed correct? But what if you flash a custom rom, and then use a nandroid backup of the stock rom, will that still work? Or would you have to install the stock rom first for you to be able to use the nandroid backup?
Lastly, if the nandroid backup works regardless of whether you're using a different rom than the rom that the nandroid backup was made, then which option is better:
use nandroid to revert to stock, or using this guide here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11902513&postcount=7
Now I understand that for Milestone, custom roms are not actually flashed since the bootloader is locked. So would using nandroid be good enough?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best way to revert to stock will be to flash an sbf for your region that will wipe everything. They have those sbf's on and-developers.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA Premium App
Ahh I see, so in what situations will we be using nandroid to restore from the backup?
Also, the SBF file i'm using is from the guide that you linked me in your 2nd post. I'm using the EUROPE one because apparently it covers most of the countries around Europe, which includes New Zealand (where I live). I've had no problems with it, but just then I checked out the AND-Developers site like you suggested, and found this here:
http://and-developers.com/sbf:milestone221
It doesn't seem to have New Zealand but it does have Australia, which is like a neighbour to us. Will it be better if I flash the SBF to that instead?
Also, will flashing a SBF change the radio? Or does only changing the baseband change the radio? Because i'm getting weak signals from 2G/3G sometimes, and my Wifi has problems sometimes not being able to connect properly. Either that, or it shows that i'm connected but i'm not getting any data, apparently a lot of people have problems like this after I did some searching around.
chaoscreater said:
Ahh I see, so in what situations will we be using nandroid to restore from the backup?
Also, the SBF file i'm using is from the guide that you linked me in your 2nd post. I'm using the EUROPE one because apparently it covers most of the countries around Europe, which includes New Zealand (where I live). I've had no problems with it, but just then I checked out the AND-Developers site like you suggested, and found this here:
http://and-developers.com/sbf:milestone221
It doesn't seem to have New Zealand but it does have Australia, which is like a neighbour to us. Will it be better if I flash the SBF to that instead?
Also, will flashing a SBF change the radio? Or does only changing the baseband change the radio? Because i'm getting weak signals from 2G/3G sometimes, and my Wifi has problems sometimes not being able to connect properly. Either that, or it shows that i'm connected but i'm not getting any data, apparently a lot of people have problems like this after I did some searching around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. when you're phone will not start anymore, it's good to have one before every new flash cause you never now what's gonna happen.
2. funny thing is i know where New Zealand is (not near Europe) . about the baseband ... yes every sbf has the region specific baseband 's (you cant flash a radio only change baseband 's).
baseband can be found on dexter's (http://dext3r.komodin.org/) page but they are already included in OR (not sure about fufu's). i can't be very precise because i don't remember.
custom rom's don't think they change baseband 's, (the .zip ones)
Ya ur right, NZ is not anywhere near Europe lol
but I did do some research on which SBF I needed before I flashed it, and I found out that the Europe SBF works for NZ as well, it was mentioned somewhere I can't remember.
About the baseband, I'm still a little bit confused. First off, I already know that you can change the baseband under OpenRecovery. The thing is, there are no options to change the baseband to New Zealand, so which one should I pick? Also, here's the part I'm confused about. You said that the baseband are region specific, and yet we can choose the baseband we want in OpenRecovery.
So since I flashed the SBF for Europe, what will happen if I then change the baseband to say Argentina (one of the options under OpenRecovery)? Will it crash or something?? I don't even know what baseband i'm using right now, I haven't changed anything, I only flashed the SBF for Europe and that's it. I can still go online using 2G/3G and txt no problem, but I'm just not sure if the baseband i'm using is suppose to be correct for New Zealand or not...
BTW just another side question (sorry I'm really new to the Android scene!):
I've found a few custom roms that doesn't use the current kernel we have for Milestone. As far as I know, the bootloader for Milestone is locked, therefore we can't properly flash a custom rom onto it, as well as replacing the kernel as well. So what I'm confused with is, if some of these custom roms don't use the current kernel on the system, then how does it work? Does it use its own kernel, and if so then shouldn't that replace the system's own kernel before it can be used??
Here's one of the custom rom topic where I read from, in case ur wondering:
This is the Froyo FRG22 image for our Milestone. but as this is not using the kernel, there are some limit to functions based on kernel requirement. But its close, and works great and is alot faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734802
The same goes for the custom roms. I don't understand how they can run on Milestone even though it's not properly flashed. Like some others have mentioned, the so-called "custom roms" that we have now are just a layer of image or skin on top of the stock rom. The weird thing is, it runs faster and most of the pre-installed stock apps that came with the stock rom are removed, thus giving us more space for internal storage. But how does this work if the custom roms haven't actually flashed onto our phone? Or did it overwrite/modify the files on the stock rom? If so, then isn't that just flashing onto the phone then?
chaoscreater said:
About the baseband
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
changing baseband's that are not supported by your network op will lead to no signal whatsoever.. i don't remember if there is a problem with only data. try other baseband, in theory it will not crash anything, so do a nandroid backup before
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734802
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is an old post from "25th July 2010, 05:52 AM" moto started to leak kernel from January 2011 give or take a month, so back then froyo was used with the eclair kernel. kernel from milestone was never changed to other than moto signed, only modules loaded at an early stage, thanks to kabaldan/nadlabak and other if exists
custom roms =
moto kernel
kernel modules (this helps on overclock , app2ext ... others)
mods to system files, apps
hope you understand cause i don't know if i make it clear at the end of the post
edit:
The same goes for the custom roms. I don't understand how they can run on Milestone even though it's not properly flashed. Like some others have mentioned, the so-called "custom roms" that we have now are just a layer of image or skin on top of the stock rom. The weird thing is, it runs faster and most of the pre-installed stock apps that came with the stock rom are removed, thus giving us more space for internal storage. But how does this work if the custom roms haven't actually flashed onto our phone? Or did it overwrite/modify the files on the stock rom? If so, then isn't that just flashing onto the phone then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i doesn't make any sense, you will end up with no memory , only kernel remains, other things gets rewritten.
Code:
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/roaming/welcome-to-nz.jsp
this get out of what i know. with the frequencies,
basebands/frequency i have 900/1800
for data check if there is a problem with your apn settings
I see, thanks for your thorough explanation
Ya I know that changing my baseband will probably give me better signals, but I'm asking which one is best for Vodafone NZ because there isn't a baseband for New Zealand.
For the data part, were you talking about my wifi problem, and suggesting I check the APN settings? Don't worry that's been solved already. I flashed to the New Zealand v2.1 SBF and now it's working very stable. But like I said, after flashing to that I now have problems with connecting to my operator whenever I switch to 2G. However, 3G works fine so there's no problem with that.
BTW, I have another problem. After flashing to the New Zealand v2.1 SBF, I couldn't access my OpenRecovery anymore. I didn't delete or change any files on my memory card, so if I could access OpenRecovery and root my device as well as flash a custom rom when I was still on Froyo, then why can't I do it again when I flash to Eclair?
I *think* I know the reason, is it because it patched the vulnerable recovery or something? I think this is what I need to do to fix this:
http://android.doshaska.net/rootable
I haven't done it yet coz i'm busy these days, but i just need a confirmation so I know that it is indeed the case.
I *think* I know the reason, is it because it patched the vulnerable recovery or something? I think this is what I need to do to fix this:
http://android.doshaska.net/rootable
I haven't done it yet coz i'm busy these days, but i just need a confirmatio
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
true story . it should say something about eocd marker and fail.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=698059
For the data part, were you talking about my wifi problem, and suggesting I check the APN settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry... i don't know, last night i thought i read something else, about working 3g and 2g not ..must be the skittles... to much rainbow
i suggest finding out what country baseband are similar to New Zealand and flash/apply that one )
How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
Why this guide?
I noticed over time that my phone has become slower and more frustrating to use. For example, long pauses when trying to open a program - sometimes it takes an easy 10 or more seconds to open the dialer and dial a number.
I wanted to try a custom rom, but was concerned about the ability to get back to stock, if something goes wrong, or to be able to take advantage of a Bell update if they release a new one. Thanks to the hard work of many on this board, I have discovered how to make this possible and wanted to share with others.
Big thanks to DoomLord, HashCode, Enderoid, Rick#2, Dasilva333, Willis111 and others. Please feel free to make corrections to these instructions.
Note: This has been tested with an XT860 on Bell 2.3.6 firmware. This will probably NOT work on v2.3.4 So if you have 2.3.4, upgrade to 2.3.6 and then these instructions should work. When I first got the phone, it was at 2.3.5 and later was updated OTA (Over the air) by Bell to 2.3.6. To check which firmware you have, Home Screen / Settings / About Phone
Needed:
1. Windows pc (someone else more knowledgeable could probably tell you how to make this work on a Mac)
2. USB cable for connecting your phone.
3. Rooting tool, I highly recommend zergRush method by DoomLord found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321582
4. Safestrap by hashcode
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html
5. Custom rom of your choice.
Step 1:
Root your phone using the DoomLord tool. I used version 3. It was really easy, just follow the instructions on the link above.
Step 2:
Backup existing user programs that you might want to restore on a new system. I used Titanium Backup Pro but there are others.
Step 3:
Please read this page carefully
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/how-to-safestrap.html to download and install safestrap v1.08. Note, you should remove any other type of bootstrap (eg. ClockworkMod, ROM Manager) before installing Safestrap.
Step 4:
Now you should be ready to download and try a custom rom. Make sure to do a backup (“Nandroid” backup) of your working system before you try a custom rom so you have something to fall back on in case something goes wrong or you want to return to stock.
Find a rom, download it and save it to a location on your sdcard or ext-sdcard. There’s lots of good candidates for you to test and a good thread with some reviews here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1384676
To do this, power down your phone after you have run safestrap and clicked to make recovery active. If you did it right, when you turn it on again, you should see a different splash screen that gives you a few seconds to enter the recovery menu by pressing the “menu” button on you device.
You should see “Safestrap Recovery v1.08” and below that “Safe System is: DISABLED”
on a black screen with some green menu choices.
Use the volume keys to scroll up/down and select “backup and restore” by pressing the power button.
The screen should change to show the Nandroid backup menu. You need to make a Nandroid backup of your existing (working) system, which is simply a snapshot of the exact system with all programs, settings, sms’s, call logs, etc. It’s like a snapshot in time in case you need to revert. Select “backup”, then select Internal or External SD Card for the location (I’m not sure it it matters for the location).
Safestrap will backup your system to a Nandroid backup. It takes a few minutes.
After the backup is complete, you can enable the Safe System where you will install custom roms. Scroll down and select “safe boot menu”, then “Toggle Safe System”, then on the next screen confirm your selection. It will backup the original system to a safe area where it can’t be modified (unless you are an advanced user and install a different version of Safestrap but that’s beyond the scope of these instructions).
After Safe System is: ENABLED, scroll down to “Install zip from sdcard”, select your rom, install, reboot and enjoy.
To revert back to your original system, follow these steps:
1. Turn off your phone and reboot into SafeStrap recovery menu.
2. Turn off SafeSystem. (Safe boot menu -> Toggle Safe System)
3. Restore your nandroid backup and reboot.
If you wanted to go further back to stock you could uninstall Safestrap and even unroot using DoomLord’s zergRush tool, which would put you back to stock.
I think that’s it. Hopefully this guide will be helpful to others who want to try a new rom without losing the ability to revert back to stock Bell.
ncho2233 said:
How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
Why this guide?
I noticed over time that my phone has become slower and more frustrating to use. For example, long pauses when trying to open a program - sometimes it takes an easy 10 or more seconds to open the dialer and dial a number.
I wanted to try a custom rom, but was concerned about the ability to get back to stock, if something goes wrong, or to be able to take advantage of a Bell update if they release a new one. Thanks to the hard work of many on this board, I have discovered how to make this possible and wanted to share with others.
Big thanks to DoomLord, HashCode, Enderoid, Rick#2, Dasilva333, Willis111 and others. Please feel free to make corrections to these instructions.
Note: This has been tested with an XT860 on Bell 2.3.6 firmware. This will probably NOT work on v2.3.4 So if you have 2.3.4, upgrade to 2.3.6 and then these instructions should work. When I first got the phone, it was at 2.3.5 and later was updated OTA (Over the air) by Bell to 2.3.6. To check which firmware you have, Home Screen / Settings / About Phone
Needed:
1. Windows pc (someone else more knowledgeable could probably tell you how to make this work on a Mac)
2. USB cable for connecting your phone.
3. Rooting tool, I highly recommend zergRush method by DoomLord found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321582
4. Safestrap by hashcode
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html
5. Custom rom of your choice.
Step 1:
Root your phone using the DoomLord tool. I used version 3. It was really easy, just follow the instructions on the link above.
Step 2:
Backup existing user programs that you might want to restore on a new system. I used Titanium Backup Pro but there are others.
Step 3:
Please read this page carefully
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/how-to-safestrap.html to download and install safestrap v1.08. Note, you should remove any other type of bootstrap (eg. ClockworkMod, ROM Manager) before installing Safestrap.
Step 4:
Now you should be ready to download and try a custom rom. Make sure to do a backup (“Nandroid” backup) of your working system before you try a custom rom so you have something to fall back on in case something goes wrong or you want to return to stock.
Find a rom, download it and save it to a location on your sdcard or ext-sdcard. There’s lots of good candidates for you to test and a good thread with some reviews here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1384676
To do this, power down your phone after you have run safestrap and clicked to make recovery active. If you did it right, when you turn it on again, you should see a different splash screen that gives you a few seconds to enter the recovery menu by pressing the “menu” button on you device.
You should see “Safestrap Recovery v1.08” and below that “Safe System is: DISABLED”
on a black screen with some green menu choices.
Use the volume keys to scroll up/down and select “backup and restore” by pressing the power button.
The screen should change to show the Nandroid backup menu. You need to make a Nandroid backup of your existing (working) system, which is simply a snapshot of the exact system with all programs, settings, sms’s, call logs, etc. It’s like a snapshot in time in case you need to revert. Select “backup”, then select Internal or External SD Card for the location (I’m not sure it it matters for the location).
Safestrap will backup your system to a Nandroid backup. It takes a few minutes.
After the backup is complete, you can enable the Safe System where you will install custom roms. Scroll down and select “safe boot menu”, then “Toggle Safe System”, then on the next screen confirm your selection. It will backup the original system to a safe area where it can’t be modified (unless you are an advanced user and install a different version of Safestrap but that’s beyond the scope of these instructions).
After Safe System is: ENABLED, scroll down to “Install zip from sdcard”, select your rom, install, reboot and enjoy.
To revert back to your original system, follow these steps:
1. Turn off your phone and reboot into SafeStrap recovery menu.
2. Turn off SafeSystem. (Safe boot menu -> Toggle Safe System)
3. Restore your nandroid backup and reboot.
If you wanted to go further back to stock you could uninstall Safestrap and even unroot using DoomLord’s zergRush tool, which would put you back to stock.
I think that’s it. Hopefully this guide will be helpful to others who want to try a new rom without losing the ability to revert back to stock Bell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good writeup. As a note when your switch back to nonsafe you don't need to restore a nandroid. Actually with safestrap you should rarely have to restore a nandroid as its next to impossible to screw up your device so bad that a restore is required. The stock bell /system stays nice and untouched
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Dont you just root, install safestrap and flash paritions to preinstall from stock(to avoid not being able to return to true stock) and not flash the og /system? Obviously works on 2.3.4, 2.3.6 etc any rootable rom capable of running safestrap. You should be able to even use my rom to return to stock deodexed by flashing to /system(non-safe) and removing any custom recovery. It should be very easy to convert that or the og dumps into a system.img for use with rsdlite and even the rest of the stock img files. I'll take a look at it this aft. Thanks for the write up, hope some of this info helps.
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask, but XT860 threads are few and far between in this droid 3 section. But I've got a few questions about this method.
First off, how safe is this from start to finish? I'm by no means new at the whole installing custom roms thing, but there have most definitely been times on all three of the devices I've installed roms on (Nook Color, Milestone, Transformer) where I've gotten a non-booting device that was fixed either because it was so easy to just go into CWM or RSDlite and flash a new rom or revert to stock. Doing anything (I'm not even rooted yet) on my XT860 kind of scares me, because we don't have an sbf or anything. This method seems like its the closest thing we've got, but new things are scary.
Secondly, I read somewhere that ICS uses a different kernel than GB. Would this method be able to deal with that or are we boned (i.e. stuck with the GB kernel and hackarounds) until Moto randomly decides to unlock the bootloader and we can rewrite everything?
And lastly, we can root on bell now? Last time I'd looked into it, I seem to remember flashing firmware from another country and without an easy way to get back to stock, that kind of killed it for me.
Once again, sorry that some of this is kind of off topic, its just kind of hard to know where to read while we're piggybacking on the droid 3 forum.
Tyfighter said:
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask, but XT860 threads are few and far between in this droid 3 section. But I've got a few questions about this method.
First off, how safe is this from start to finish? I'm by no means new at the whole installing custom roms thing, but there have most definitely been times on all three of the devices I've installed roms on (Nook Color, Milestone, Transformer) where I've gotten a non-booting device that was fixed either because it was so easy to just go into CWM or RSDlite and flash a new rom or revert to stock. Doing anything (I'm not even rooted yet) on my XT860 kind of scares me, because we don't have an sbf or anything. This method seems like its the closest thing we've got, but new things are scary.
Secondly, I read somewhere that ICS uses a different kernel than GB. Would this method be able to deal with that or are we boned (i.e. stuck with the GB kernel and hackarounds) until Moto randomly decides to unlock the bootloader and we can rewrite everything?
And lastly, we can root on bell now? Last time I'd looked into it, I seem to remember flashing firmware from another country and without an easy way to get back to stock, that kind of killed it for me.
Once again, sorry that some of this is kind of off topic, its just kind of hard to know where to read while we're piggybacking on the droid 3 forum.
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Yes we can root, there is no need to flash any other countries fastboot files as long as you are on bell 2.3.6. While bell doesn't have a fastboot package yet(sbf) if you borked your device you can use motofastboot to flash just /system from the fastboot package of another country, and then restore a backup, thus everything stays bell stock.
The best advice is to use safestrap and only flash the safemode. You should always be able to get into CWR with safestrap
And yes we are stuck with the GB kernel for now, which is part of the reason developing ics roms has been so painful
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
This process does not work for me...
When I load SafeStrap 1.08, I get Recovery State: Not Installed
I try and click the "Install Recovery" button and it goes through a process (preparing something, obtaining root, etc) but the Recovery State never changes
I have an XT860 from Bell (2.3.6) that is running on Rogers (unlocked).
Root works fine for TiBu and Root Explorer....The SuperUser entry for SafeStrap lists allowed and logs a whole bunch of "granted".
Any thoughts?
Caz666 said:
This process does not work for me...
When I load SafeStrap 1.08, I get Recovery State: Not Installed
I try and click the "Install Recovery" button and it goes through a process (preparing something, obtaining root, etc) but the Recovery State never changes
I have an XT860 from Bell (2.3.6) that is running on Rogers (unlocked).
Root works fine for TiBu and Root Explorer....The SuperUser entry for SafeStrap lists allowed and logs a whole bunch of "granted".
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you don't have su binary properly installed. I've had this happen with bootstrap. Check that you have su in both /system/bin and /system/xbin
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Close...it was busybox. It was present, but borked. Nuked and reloaded..problem fixed.
Many thanks to hashcode for the pointer to busybox being most likely.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Caz666 said:
Close...it was busybox. It was present, but borked. Nuked and reloaded..problem fixed.
Many thanks to hashcode for the pointer to busybox being most likely.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Now that you say that I remember someone else having the same issue and it turned out to be busybox. I had nearly the same problem with the bootstrap and it ended up being su missing from xbin
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
OK I tried this and it works perfectly. Thanks man. This is what I needed.
Finally got around to trying this. I'd been in the middle of a move with my pc in a box, but now I've got ICS fully up and running (save for the whole camera thing). Panicked halfway through when I got into a bootloop, but then I wiped everything (forgot the cache the first time) and then everything worked.
I got wifi tether working with the app that was included in the rom, but have any of you had any luck with doing it natively through the settings? I only ask because being able to trigger it from the status bar would be pretty sweet.
edit: did some looking around and it looks like maybe its an issue with shoehorning GSM into a CDMA rom. At least that's the feel I've been getting, I'd love to be wrong.
Thanks for this thread! I hadn't realized there had been developments for the XT-860.
I had unlocked (for use on the Fido network)/rooted my phone and it was working great, then the OTA update from Bell came and I installed that. Now, I seem to have lost root privileges (I guess, obviously).
So, I guess I'm pretty much back to square one.
I would love some advice on how to proceed! I'm thinking of following your directions, and am interested in recommendations for which ROM to install.
What is the problem with the camera with ICS? I use the camera on our phone pretty often so I want a ROM that doesn't break it. Does anyone have some links to some good ROMs to try that work with the XT-860?
twitchcity said:
Thanks for this thread! I hadn't realized there had been developments for the XT-860.
I had unlocked (for use on the Fido network)/rooted my phone and it was working great, then the OTA update from Bell came and I installed that. Now, I seem to have lost root privileges (I guess, obviously).
So, I guess I'm pretty much back to square one.
I would love some advice on how to proceed! I'm thinking of following your directions, and am interested in recommendations for which ROM to install.
What is the problem with the camera with ICS? I use the camera on our phone pretty often so I want a ROM that doesn't break it. Does anyone have some links to some good ROMs to try that work with the XT-860?
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Click to collapse
Use zergrush to root 2.3.6. Picture camera works in ics but you can't record or view video. There's some good gb roms. Give me a few and il shoot you some links
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.
Bell SBF available at the following URL:
http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_solana/list.php
ncho2233 said:
How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
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Click to collapse
If there was any interest at all I would have just made a 100% stock bell 2.3.6 that you flash with CWM and then remove the recovery to be 100% stock but the deodex version seems to be good enough, especially to get a phone with a physical problem past bell/motorola reps. I'm downloading and mirroring that bell sbf right now, very nice find pfak! I made a new thread since you didn't but just linked to your post.
twitchcity said:
Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many roms on this part of the sub-forum, just look around or try a search with [ROM] as your query (might not work so hot in the d3 dev subforum )
I
twitchcity said:
Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Willis111 said:
If there was any interest at all I would have just made a 100% stock bell 2.3.6 that you flash with CWM and then remove the recovery to be 100% stock but the deodex version seems to be good enough, especially to get a phone with a physical problem past bell/motorola reps. I'm downloading and mirroring that bell sbf right now, very nice find pfak! I made a new thread since you didn't but just linked to your post.
There are many roms on this part of the sub-forum, just look around or try a search with [ROM] as your query (might not work so hot in the d3 dev subforum )
I
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Click to collapse
I have a number of xt860 adapted roms on my computer. Give me a few days to contact the devs and such and I'll see if I can get a stickied thread with xt860 ready roms to make it easy for new comers. Also willis, ignore my other post to you, I'll include that info in aforementioned thread if I can get it going
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium
Endoroid said:
I have a number of xt860 adapted roms on my computer. Give me a few days to contact the devs and such and I'll see if I can get a stickied thread with xt860 ready roms to make it easy for new comers. Also willis, ignore my other post to you, I'll include that info in aforementioned thread if I can get it going
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium
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You can just use one of the patches (small xt860 patches) to get any rom working on our phones as far as I know.
pfak said:
Bell SBF available at the following URL:
http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_solana/list.php
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Click to collapse
thank you for this it will help a ton of peeps