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n00b, but not an idiot here. been playing with handhelds for many years, new to android though.
I've been watching this forum (CDMA Hero sect.) since I got my Hero, been learning quite a bit. Held off on rooting until there was a official 2.1 release for the device that a ROM could be built around (I wanted full function of the phone and software), did the stupid thing of running the RUU (leaked official), and had to wait until Regaw (thanx!) gave us root...
It would seem the tone of this forum has changed fundamentally since the release of the EVO and an official 2.1 for our Heros. I can understand that perhaps the "thrill" is gone, and since we can all get 2.1 now without rooting, I guess it's "why bother"? (see questions below)
Aaaaanyway...
just did my first root, my first nandroid BU, my first rom flash (hated the rom), and then my first nandroid recover ;-) (what an amazing function, what a relief!) About to try out a 2nd ROM, see if I like it better...
(as an aside to the point of this post, the ROM i tried was DamageR, found it too "messy" for my tastes, and while I can appreciate the work put into it, the options it offers... not my style. was thinking on Damageless, waiting for a "rerelease" of his final. Or perhaps the Aloysius...)
Now that I have my caveats and excuses out of the way, I had a few n00b questions?
1) while I think I have figured out what JIT is, why is it "enabled" in many new ROMs? Is it not an included part of Sense 2.1 from HTC on the Hero?
2) When I was wiping before flash, I was unable to wipe davlik (sp?), insisted I had to do through adb. Is this "normal"?
3) could someone explain what "push" an APK is? Since I have rooted, will I be unable to use the application installer in the HTCsync? (haven't actually tried yet...) And how to "flash" a file? (Example: Dammageless' LWP fix...) I am sure it's something very simple that I am just not getting dues to being unfamiliar with the jargon here.
4) I would really like to use the A2SD feature, and in the recovery screen (where one does the nandroid BUs) it gives me the option to create partitions. I was of course clever enough to BU all data on the card before doing Anything re: root/flashing/etc, but I would like to know if this was needed? Will it just use empty space already present on the card? And in general, I would love to know what I am doing re: A2SD in general, I know "search is my friend", but would someone point me to a quick and succinct link to the "instructions" of doing this? And the different kinds of partitions (ext2? ext3?ext4? huh? why?) I need to know about?
5) And, so why bother rooting now? I know this sounds like a dense question, but really since I don't know enough about it, I guess I am looking for a list of "the obvious reasons" that would not occur to me, or other Android nooblets. LWP will be nice i guess, other launchers, A2SD, bootscreens, OCing... what else?
5) Personally, I am hoping people will rise to the Froyo challenge. While being ignorant of most things involving "programing", or compiling (cooking?), my understanding is that 2.2 runs several times faster due to (a new?) JIT (admitted ignorance again), so does this mean "more efficient"? Would something like a Hero be able to take advantage of that? I realize that we (due to CPU) will never have the highend features (OpenGL, gaming, LWPs being sluggish), so please correct me if I am grossly missing something, besides it not being written for this HW, I see that many other versions written for other devices have been ported to this device.... is this being actively worked on, seen a worthy challenge? Or even a possible one? One that has any benefits?
7) And the n00best question of them all: ROM suggestions? I happen to like Sense, or thought I did because of the 7 screens and other neato features in the UI, but it seems from further reading I can get most features and function out of just about any of them... As an example, what will I gain from flashing Damageless as opposed to the stock RUU? (While Damageless' ROM seems to be the most popular, it is also the least described in his post re: features added/removed, and it's benifits. It would seem like his ROM was "da bomb" when we didnt have 2.1 officially, but since we do now... do I bother with his? Or move to something "more exciting"?
Thank you for your patience.
/n00b-rant
1) JIT just speeds up the phone a bit, although, it's incompatible with Sense :\
2) Don't worry about the dalvik cache unless you're getting problems with booting up a new ROM
3) Push = copying a file to the device (usually when you're putting an .apk in the /system/app/ directory) And about HTCsync? I've never used it before, but it probably wouldn't hurt to try.
4) A2SD? I suggest you back up the files on your sd card before trying anything with it, also, make sure it's a fast card.
5) Rooting? To get rid of annoying sprint bloatware, overclocking, Wi-Fi Tether, etc.
5b) It'll be a little while before we get a stable FroYo (when they release the source, the work will begin)
7) I was about to suggest DarchDroid, but seeing as you like sense.....
(although, 7 homescreens? That's available in just about every homescreen app on the market, my favorite being LauncherPro Beta)
1. The JIT leak we have is buggy at best, and Force close city at worst, but is supposed to be fully featured in 2.2
2. What version of recovery are you running?
3. You can still use the HTCSync installer, but to push system files, you need to use ADB (Google "Android SDK"). You flash a file the same way you flash a ROM, always nandroid backup.
4. A2SD is only really helpful if you have a Class 6 SDcard, and can be hurtful otherwise. A2SD requires a portion of the SDCard to be formated as EXT, so say you have a 1GB SDcard.
256MB EXT (Space for apps)
0MB Swap (basically, "RAM" on your SDCard)
The rest as FAT. In a file manager and you phone, your SDcard will only appear to be ~760MB, as 256 is taken up by EXT.
5. Being able to completly customize everything, getting day by day support to fix bugs instead of waiting on Sprint/HTC, Basically, rooting is what makes your phone YOUR phone.
6. 2.2 is currently available in a very basic install, and will be developed further when the source code is released. Yes, the new JIT is supposedly 450% faster, by being more efficient with how it handles everything, and theorhetically with it, we can expect to see performance increases in everything.
7. I'm a personal fan of DarchDroid, it lacks Sense but he's incorporating ADWLauncher into his next release (Google it, it's amazing.) Damageless is also no longer developing his ROM as the Evo is out. Same thing with Flipz.
Anything else?
I am very new to this, so I am not sure what to looks for on the forum.
I generally followed instructions from Lifehacker and this forum, used androot to root my phone, done it after two days.. (finally figured out I had to downgrade my phone.. )
So now I'm rooted, I have super user access, and I have rom manager installed. Here are a couple of things I know I want to get to do:
- install froyo (as stable as possible)
- uninstall sprint crapware (the NFL, navigation and others.. who needs them)
- possibly overclocking a little by what I read, I have another battery and I'm willing to try and give overclock a "little" each time to see if it works.
Before I do anything (I backed up my current settings with rom manager), I wanted to post here and ask you guys what I should do first, and how do I restore things back to normal if something goes wrong?
Thanks a bunch!
beholder121 said:
install froyo (as stable as possible)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to the development forum, you should find the latest Froyo builds out there (check my signature for the latest ;-)).
beholder121 said:
uninstall sprint crapware (the NFL, navigation and others.. who needs them)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you install CM, it will remove all apps anyways. If you want to know how to remove apps - there are threads all over the place for it.
Also, attached is a script I wrote to remove apps (apk). It's a very simple straightforward script. Here's what you do, create a subfolder (not needed) on your sdcard, copy the two files into the folder, update "Apps-to-remove,txt" with all the apks you want to remove (with the full path) and run the script through terminal or adb shell. This script is not needed, but just simplifies the job, that's all.
beholder121 said:
possibly overclocking a little by what I read, I have another battery and I'm willing to try and give overclock a "little" each time to see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Goto http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=756774, read through and use, as appropriate. If you use the latest build by Jaybob, you may not need any kernels from this thread, as the builds have the latest code.
Hope this helps.
beholder121 said:
Before I do anything (I backed up my current settings with rom manager), I wanted to post here and ask you guys what I should do first, and how do I restore things back to normal if something goes wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To restore everything back to "Out-of-the-box", just run the official RUU from HTC/Sprint.
Thanks Andy.
Right now I'm going through Roms (I heard good things about Cyanogen but I can't download it because their registration page is messed up..) and I tried what comes for free with Rom Manager, which almost gave me a heart attack when the phone started... fortunately I read the instructions to restoring things so I was able to get back to my old rom (whew!!)
But now, for some reason, I don't have the market app on my phone! how am I to download rom manager...
Is it possible to chat with you or someone at least for a couple of minutes as I go through this, because at this rate I won't have my phone working well until tomorrow >.>
You need to install GAPPS, once you install a ROM.
I would highly recommend CM. The builds Jaybob has put together are based on CM code, take the latest (12/08) - it's stable. BTW, it's a mediafire link, so you should be good. I just downloaded the latest, y'day... works like a charm... (Thanks JayBob and Cm and everyone - can't say that enough).
The best way to install rom is:
1. Download copy ROM and gapps to your SDcard's root
2. Reboot into recovery
3. Wipe everything - Wipe/Factory reset, Wipe cache, Wipe Dalvik Cache
4. Install ROM from zip
5. Install Gapps from zip
6. Reboot - btw, the first reboot after a rom/gapps install takes a while, so don't be alarmed.
You can PM me, if needed.
I installed that last Rom via Rom Manager, which did it pretty much automatically.. so I didn't try to install a Rom via the SD card yet.
To make things worse, the phone does not recognized it's connected to a computer at all (there is no USB icon on my phone's notification bar) so I can restore it being to old sprint crap. No Market app, no way of installing anything or communicating with the phone, my backup, when I restore it, brings back the old HTC but without the market app and as I said, no USB support.
heeeeeelllllllllppppppppppppp
Ok,
I managed to restore things back to the old Sprint RUU. I noticed the SD card was *completely* out of room, which might have messed up my backups. I still don't know where these backups reside or how much room do they take, but making sure you have enough room on the SD card is important, as I think I have learned the hard way.
Important: the RUU detected my phone and installed *even without* the usb icon or my computer treating my phone as a "usb storage device". So resorting to this option, even though annoying (have to install and gain root access all over again), is helpful to have.
Now I am going to format my SD card, which doesn't have any important information, I don't think (my documents are all backed up anywhere and try and install the CM rom from a zip file, which I'm not sure how to do yet (people like me are used to have something like setup.exe, and everything works from there...) so I'm going to read and go step by step.
ROM installation is pretty simple, once you get your recovery going... just make sure you wipe everything, as I mentioned earlier to you...
beholder121 said:
I installed that last Rom via Rom Manager, which did it pretty much automatically.. so I didn't try to install a Rom via the SD card yet.
To make things worse, the phone does not recognized it's connected to a computer at all (there is no USB icon on my phone's notification bar) so I can restore it being to old sprint crap. No Market app, no way of installing anything or communicating with the phone, my backup, when I restore it, brings back the old HTC but without the market app and as I said, no USB support.
heeeeeelllllllllppppppppppppp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you reboot with the phone connected by USB, by any chance?
andythegreenguy said:
You need to install GAPPS, once you install a ROM.
I would highly recommend CM. The builds Jaybob has put together are based on CM code, take the latest (12/08) - it's stable. BTW, it's a mediafire link, so you should be good. I just downloaded the latest, y'day... works like a charm... (Thanks JayBob and Cm and everyone - can't say that enough).
The best way to install rom is:
1. Download copy ROM and gapps to your SDcard's root
2. Reboot into recovery
3. Wipe everything - Wipe/Factory reset, Wipe cache, Wipe Dalvik Cache
4. Install ROM from zip
5. Install Gapps from zip
6. Reboot - btw, the first reboot after a rom/gapps install takes a while, so don't be alarmed.
You can PM me, if needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had it not been for reading this again, I would have been waiting for a reply. This was awesome and now I am back to business. Thanks a ton for this. i now have what i need to do this on my wife's Hero. Thanks again
as a new Android user (the Nc is my first android device), im still a bit of a no0b. I just recently rooted using auto-nooter 1.0.1
a few questions, i have though.
before i rooted, my Nc updated itself to 1.1 , i then had to downgrade using stuff i found here. is there anyway i can keep it from updating itself other than turning wifi on/off?
and now that im rooted, this is the one thing that bothered me on stock. but, is there a way i can put other stuff other than B&N stuff on my homescreen? such as books i loaded myself and/or apps i downloaded from the market?
thanks for any help.
also, i use to add books via calibre, now when i add books it sends them to "my files" rather than adds them to the books list, and they dont end up showing on the "keep reading" button.
any ideas?
Congratz! Hope you like your rooted NC.
The first thing you can do is get a replacement laucher. that's the "interface" you interact with.. I recommend you try Zeam. It works very well and it's free. But you could try others such as LauncherPro, GoLauncer, etc.. Be sure to get Home Switcher first. You should be able to get all those from Market. Zeam will allow you to put shortcuts, widgets, and other stuff except folders.. You can also get a clock & weather widget such as Beatiful Widgets to make your homescreen nice and pretty. I also like to remap the Vol keys to back and menu, instead of using Softkeys, but that's up to you..
To prevent your NC from receiving OTA updates, you can look at this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932506
But I recommend you get Rom Manager then install Clockwork Mod and then update to 1.1 via this method: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932145
Be sure to understand everything you are going to do first, but also rest easy in knowing that it's almost impossible to brick your NC, so worst outcome is that you might lose everything and have to start all over. Once you get Clockwork Mod installed, you can make a "nandroid" backup. It's highly recommended you do that before anything else..
As for the books.. sorry.. I don't use my nook to read books so I'm not familiar with calibre...
Well, enjoy!
neozen21 said:
Congratz! Hope you like your rooted NC.
The first thing you can do is get a replacement laucher. that's the "interface" you interact with.. I recommend you try Zeam. It works very well and it's free. But you could try others such as LauncherPro, GoLauncer, etc.. Be sure to get Home Switcher first. You should be able to get all those from Market. Zeam will allow you to put shortcuts, widgets, and other stuff except folders.. You can also get a clock & weather widget such as Beatiful Widgets to make your homescreen nice and pretty. I also like to remap the Vol keys to back and menu, instead of using Softkeys, but that's up to you..
To prevent your NC from receiving OTA updates, you can look at this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932506
But I recommend you get Rom Manager then install Clockwork Mod and then update to 1.1 via this method: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932145
Be sure to understand everything you are going to do first, but also rest easy in knowing that it's almost impossible to brick your NC, so worst outcome is that you might lose everything and have to start all over. Once you get Clockwork Mod installed, you can make a "nandroid" backup. It's highly recommended you do that before anything else..
As for the books.. sorry.. I don't use my nook to read books so I'm not familiar with calibre...
Well, enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool thanks. i curently only have a small 2gb card. my Wintec 16Gb i bought is giving me problems and wont format. so i guess ill have to wait to do the rom thing.
2GB SD card is enough.. You only need 200MB free to store the NookColor_v1.1.0_r2.zip
Did you use your 16GB with the autonooter? You can regain full use by doing the following:
http://nookdevs.com/NookColor_Format_and_partition_your_SD_card_back_to_a_usable_state
Or use a free partition manager such as EASUS, http://www.partition-tool.com/ to resize and reformat the partions..
oops, so i deleted my youtube app. anyway to get it back? like i said im an android no0b, and since it was crashing i figured i could just re-install it from the market. but i deleted it first.
neozen21 said:
Congratz! Hope you like your rooted NC.
The first thing you can do is get a replacement laucher. that's the "interface" you interact with.. I recommend you try Zeam. It works very well and it's free. But you could try others such as LauncherPro, GoLauncer, etc.. Be sure to get Home Switcher first. You should be able to get all those from Market. Zeam will allow you to put shortcuts, widgets, and other stuff except folders.. You can also get a clock & weather widget such as Beatiful Widgets to make your homescreen nice and pretty. I also like to remap the Vol keys to back and menu, instead of using Softkeys, but that's up to you..
To prevent your NC from receiving OTA updates, you can look at this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932506
But I recommend you get Rom Manager then install Clockwork Mod and then update to 1.1 via this method: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=932145
Be sure to understand everything you are going to do first, but also rest easy in knowing that it's almost impossible to brick your NC, so worst outcome is that you might lose everything and have to start all over. Once you get Clockwork Mod installed, you can make a "nandroid" backup. It's highly recommended you do that before anything else..
As for the books.. sorry.. I don't use my nook to read books so I'm not familiar with calibre...
Well, enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This might be a stupid question but..
Can I download the ZiP of the file that is listed on your linked thread to an SD card from my computer, then install it somehow? I am in afghanistan right now, and I am having wifi issues...
StillConfused said:
This might be a stupid question but..
Can I download the ZiP of the file that is listed on your linked thread to an SD card from my computer, then install it somehow? I am in afghanistan right now, and I am having wifi issues...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's probably the fastest way to do it. Just download the .zip file from a computer into your Nookcolor's micro SD card then boot into Clockwork Mod, either from ROM Manager or by pressing power + n, for 3 seconds after you see the boot up text..
The important thing here is to have ROM Manager and Clockwork mod installed 1st. Then make a backup then install.. select pick .zip from SD card, find the .zip file then flash..
Good luck!
Randomhero27 said:
oops, so i deleted my youtube app. anyway to get it back? like i said im an android no0b, and since it was crashing i figured i could just re-install it from the market. but i deleted it first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try to find it here in the NC forums or I'll post it when I get to work a bit later..
neozen21 said:
2GB SD card is enough.. You only need 200MB free to store the NookColor_v1.1.0_r2.zip
Did you use your 16GB with the autonooter? You can regain full use by doing the following:
http://nookdevs.com/NookColor_Format_and_partition_your_SD_card_back_to_a_usable_state
Or use a free partition manager such as EASUS, http://www.partition-tool.com/ to resize and reformat the partions..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
darn, yes, i did use it with my autonooter, but 1/2 way through adding nooter onto the card it started acting up. now i cant format it at all. it keeps freezing windows and my nook wont even format it.
neozen21 said:
You can try to find it here in the NC forums or I'll post it when I get to work a bit later..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edit: ive got youtube installed. found the .apk here in the forums and used astro to intsall it
Randomhero27 said:
darn, yes, i did use it with my autonooter, but 1/2 way through adding nooter onto the card it started acting up. now i cant format it at all. it keeps freezing windows and my nook wont even format it.
edit: ive got youtube installed. found the .apk here in the forums and used astro to intsall it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try if you can format it with the partition tool...
if not, you might have a damaged card..
I hope mods will find this thread informative and not remove it as I think I have few things to share that people can really use and be aware of when getting their Nook Color rooted and stup with CM7 ROMs.
Reason I am writing my experience is that I feel there was some info that could have been more informative and straight forward (other than confusing minor parts that wasted some of my time )...
I started without much of the knowledge about how to root Nook, etc and read several stickies on "how to" stuff... After all I managed to get following flashed onto my nook color:
CM7 (7.0.2 stable ROM version)
Gapps
Dalingrin's OC kernel (4/24/11)
Clockworkmod (updated it through the ROM Manager at the later time).
Here is several advices I think you should know about;
1. Do go and check "How to videos" on Youtube in regards to installing CM7 on your Nook Color!
2. If you are going for CM7 ROM, there is no need to root your Nook with "manual nooter" ... you can use MN only if you want to keep all options but gain Market app and other apps as well... I recommend going CM7 since it is rooted already and everything gets taken care of in three simple steps:
a) Burn bootable SD Card with Win32DiskImager and use 1GB Clockworkmod Image you can find here at xda forums.
b) Once done, copy ROM and Gapps and Kernel .zip archives onto the root of yor SD Card (do not rename any files at any time)
c) Insert SD Card into Nook and boot it, it will go into Clockwork mode and do the following:
***FIRST go to "Mount/Storage" and format SYSTEM, then format DATA and then format CACHE
***Select Install from SD Card and then install files in this order:
-1- CM7 ROM
-2- Gapps pack
-3- OC Kernel
3. Once done with everything shut down Nook, take out SD Card and place it back into SD Card reader (do not use any phones to do this - SD Card readers are preferable... if you ask me, yes I did use my phone and it worked just fine).
4. Find Panasonic SD Formatter v2 (or v3) online, install it and then format the SD Card to wipe all of the stuff on it... I formatted the old fashioned way and it worked just fine... either or you go for it's up to you.
5. Place back formatted SD Card into the Nook and boot it.
Note: CM7 uses SD Card for a storage and that's why format was necessary
IMPORTANT 1: CM7 comes pre-loaded with ADWLauncher (regular non-EX version) and I have to say it was bit choppy (even with OCing CPU to 1.2GHz)... I went and installed LauncherPro to test it and have to say MUCH SMOOTHER... yes, iPad smooth if you are asking me when it comes to sliding home screens (video is pending update, you will see it for yourself).
IMPORTANT 2: Lots of people is talking about battery life, renaming Phone apk and Telephony service apk ... IT IS SIMPE: when you are using WiFi have Airplane mode OFF; when you are done with WiFi, simply turn Airplane Mode ON and that will (as made to do) disable phone services. Just one button more to press BUT it saves you whole lots of battery. I charged it about 2hrs ago and since then used tablet for about 10 minutes on Wifi and that was it. Phone idle is 5%!!! until I figured to try with airplane mode... and it works...
UPDATE - Important Note: I forgot to mention that kernel does allow OCing but currently I am testing it under regular clock (800MHz and 300MHz) - launcher scroll home screens works just as smooth and I turned off fade-in/out when clicking on App Drawer just because I am not big on eye-candy.
Try it for yourself and report back - I would be glad to hear this worked for others and not only me
Great post. I personally found Zeam Launcher to be the snappiest luancher for my device but YMMV. To add to the original post I made a thread concerning the volume settings for the Nook that can be found HERE. I have mine overclocked to 1.3Ghz and I can get a full day of heavy use out of it as long as I turn off WIFI when it is not needed. Just add a shortcut to your notification bar under the Cyanogen Tablet Settings option. Also add a brightness shortcut to it and keep it as low as possible. Make sure to turn off auto-brightness in the display menu that's found under Settings.
If you posted this a few months back, it would be great.
Now, it's a bit outdated.
Thanks for the effort.
There's really no reason to be using 7.0.3, much less 7.0.2. Grab a recent nightly (I can vouch for 176, but have seen some trouble reports on 177, haven't looked into the just released 197) and up-to-date gapps (bottom of this page). Dal's overclock kernel is built-in, along with other features designed to work with the Nook Tweaks app.
The problem with battery life in older versions of CM7 is that the device will not deep sleep. That was solved with the move to 7.1.
Taosaur said:
There's really no reason to be using 7.0.3, much less 7.0.2. Grab a recent nightly (I can vouch for 176, but have seen some trouble reports on 177, haven't looked into the just released 197) and up-to-date gapps (bottom of this page). Dal's overclock kernel is built-in, along with other features designed to work with the Nook Tweaks app.
The problem with battery life in older versions of CM7 is that the device will not deep sleep. That was solved with the move to 7.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
Stables are so far behind its not even funny.
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk
votinh said:
If you posted this a few months back, it would be great.
Now, it's a bit outdated.
Thanks for the effort.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you REALLY have to post that? Outdated for who? You? Maybe a few months ago this would have been outdated for me but its helpful and useful.
Congrats Mo on 602!
chefdave12118 said:
Did you REALLY have to post that? Outdated for who? You? Maybe a few months ago this would have been outdated for me but its helpful and useful.
Congrats Mo on 602!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why did you jump on too hard?
Did you see I posted "thanks for the effort"?
You don't see it's outdated?
Have you seen any threads asking why format /data yielded problem?
If you install lately nightly build, would you recommend others to install OC kernels version 04/21/2011?
I just pointed out for new comers that if they have their NC, mostly likely version 1.2, this instructions are outdated and they should NOT go out and hunting for old stuff. That's all.
My Samsung Galaxy ACE S5830 needs the kiss of life, so as to return to the 21st century.
It has slow responses and quite often freezes and messes up with my nerves.
It currently runs on a 2.3.5 android version.
I want to root it, take a backup, increase ram by creating a partition in my new sd card and install a light custom rom (like MIUI). For this purpose, I just bought a very fast Kingston 32GB, class 10 U3, sd card with theoretical 90MBs read and 80MBs write speed. I think that will suffice.
I am a simple user and I need basic functions. My main issue is to get a faster response from the phone. I don’t play games and I am not a major fun of social media. I just want to want to use it mainly as a phone, for calls, messages, Viber, and some extra facilities like emailing, web browsing, watching some videos online (news and youtube), occasional photos, listen to music, and install a GPS program like Sygic.
I’ve already read a lot about the whole process, but as I’m doing it for the first time in my life I want to make sure that I got it right. And I have a few ambiguities.
Please advise or freely suggest if any better/easier method is available.
1. Rooting.
I decided to use Kingo Root. So, I need to download Kingo Root to my pc and connect the phone (having enabled USB debugging) and just press Root. Then check if rooting is successful with Root Checker. Then download and install SuperSU app. And I’m done.
Do I need to unlock my bootloader, too?
2. Backup.
a) Take an image of the existing ROM.
Download and install ROM Manager, flash ClockworkMod Recovery and update. Boot in to recovery by using ROM Manager or manually by pressing simultaneously UP+POWER+HOME buttons. Then go to Backup and Restore and take a backup image. Right?
b) Backup apps and messages.
I want to take just 2 backups here, my text messages and my Viber messages. Do I use Titanium or something else? My contacts are already synchronized with Google. If I use a MIUI stock rom do I need to take a backup of my contacts too?
3. Increase phone's RAM
I think now is the right time to increase the phone’s RAM. Do I need to partition it with CWM? Or I just use an app like Ram Expander? Do I do both? I mean firstly partition the sd to the desired size and then use Ram Expander? None of the above? What do you suggest? I have read some other possible solutions like using INT2EXT+ after partition. And when I download a new app how will the phone know where to store it, in phone’s RAM or in sd card?
The key factor is speed and efficiency.
I’ve also read that “Even though the Internal Storage would read 2GB (or whatever is your partition size), the apps would still use some amount of REAL INTERNAL Storage for data, hence you need at least 100MB REAL Internal Memory for every 500MB SD-EXT memory.” Is this true? And if so, since I believe the Galaxy ACE S5830 has about 150 MB RAM the most I can actually get is 750 MB RAM?
It is important to get as much RAM as possible because I’ve read that Sygic (the GPS Navigator app) needs to be installed in phone’s RAM to work properly and it is about 700MB.
4. Install Stock ROM
Finally, the time has come to install a new stock rom. I am thinking about MIUI 6. I like its interface and I’ve heard it is light and fast. Any better suggestions? Can I do it in my phone?
My problem here is this, is MIUI a fully functional stock rom, which means I just download it and flash it or is it a “port rom” which means I have to previously install some android 4.4.x base rom? I have read in some article that is needs a compatible android rom to lean on before installing. Is that so?
Here I am stuck, I can’t decide how to proceed and I need your help.
Sorry, if the post is too long.
Hi there, long time galaxy ace user and MIUI lover here.
1. For rooting my device, I just flashed a zip in recovery mode. Can't find the link to that thread.
2. Yes, backup is very important right after rooting, especially for beginners.
As for sms backup, I recommend using SMS backup and Restore, which can be downloaded from the market. I haven't used viber, so I don't know which app would be the best for backing it up, but you can try Titanium backup. For contacts, you can sync them as long as you flash a g-apps package and sign in with the same google account. To be sure, you can try exporting your contacts to your sd card and import it later on (.vcf)
3. I did not even increase my phone's ram via swap, Even with a tiny ram, Miui on top of Cm7 is pretty fast and can handle any basic task such as browsing, youtube videos, music, calling, camera, camcording and messaging with minimal stutters. (I don't play games btw)
4. If you are a simple phone user just like me, who only need some calls, sms and browsing functionality, the best bet would be to use MIUI builds based on gingerbread (CM7). I found that MIUIv4 builds (ICS and JB) are poorly optimized for our device. Also, there are currently no MIUI v5 or v6 builds for armv6 devices.
My personal recommendation is: MIUIXXX http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1908444 which comes with FireKernel OC.
I use Gabreek's Miui v5 theme, which you can find it on his thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2280553 In my opinion, his v5 theme is the best, because of LOTS of app icons and the overall feel.
Also, be sure to flash a g-apps package for gingerbread after flashing the rom.
MIUI v4 snapseries build is too unresponsive for me, and missing some features like screen off animation. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1879323
MIUI v4 JB by msnnsm is also good, but consumes lots of ram http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2054460.
TL;DR: flash an miui gb rom. It is the best in terms of stability and speed.
Thanks for your prompt answer and suggestions my friend. I will follow them all.
One question please, which is the most important query for me:
After I have made all the preparations (root and have taken a backup image with CWM, messages, etc.), what is the next step?
a) I need to install and flash the phone with a CM7 first and then install and flash MIUIXXX?
or
b) I just flash MIUIXXX straight away?
Also, I am not sure I understood correctly, Gabreek's Miui v5 (which is now updated to v6) is an alternative MIUI rom or a theme? Because I have downloaded it and it is a zip file not an .mtz file.
I am sorry if these sound like very noobish questions but I want to make sure that I understand what I am doing before I actually do it.
Thanks again for your help.
tommycr7 said:
Thanks for your prompt answer and suggestions my friend. I will follow them all.
One question please, which is the most important query for me:
After I have made all the preparations (root and have taken a backup image with CWM, messages, etc.), what is the next step?
a) I need to install and flash the phone with a CM7 first and then install and flash MIUIXXX?
or
b) I just flash MIUIXXX straight away?
Also, I am not sure I understood correctly, Gabreek's Miui v5 (which is now updated to v6) is an alternative MIUI rom or a theme? Because I have downloaded it and it is a zip file not an .mtz file.
I am sorry if these sound like very noobish questions but I want to make sure that I understand what I am doing before I actually do it.
Thanks again for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's completely fine to flash miuiXXX right away (B)
gabreek's is another MIUI rom, but bluetooth is not working in his v6 build. The theme file (mtz) is somewhere in the bottom of the post, below some useful tips and just above the credits part of his post
Thanks again for your help.
I also thought the same, but I wanted to make sure.
I have already rooted my phone and I am in the process of taking various backups.
I will try the rom you have recommended and I will revert to report.
I think I owe you as much.
Btw do you know if Themer works in MIUI? It's quite an impressive app to have.
Cheers
as far as i know, themer does not work.
Also, MIUI comes with its own theme engine, and you can download online, which is very nice.
Remember that when Applying themes, do not include lockscreen (uncheck lockscreen) . Lockscreens from the Theme app are meant for HDPI device, and you won't be able to unlock your phone if you apply them. If you accidentally get stuck on the lockscreen, press volume up and back button at the same time. It will unlock your phone.
There are a handful of themes ported to MDPI which you can use over here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1428940
So far, so good, I have not experienced any major problems.
2 more things to ask if you dont mind.
a. Where do I get the gapps file to flash from? Is is a specific file for our rom (MIUIXXX) or any gapps file will do?
b. Can I add an extra language, in the android keyboard or do I have to use an app for this? Or even better in the system itself. I am from Greece and I would find it very convenient in some tasks of the phone. I mean since it is essentially a MIUI rom and MIUI has the greek language in its official roms, there must be a way that this can be done.
tommycr7 said:
My Samsung Galaxy ACE S5830 needs the kiss of life, so as to return to the 21st century.
It has slow responses and quite often freezes and messes up with my nerves.
It currently runs on a 2.3.5 android version.
I want to root it, take a backup, increase ram by creating a partition in my new sd card and install a light custom rom (like MIUI). For this purpose, I just bought a very fast Kingston 32GB, class 10 U3, sd card with theoretical 90MBs read and 80MBs write speed. I think that will suffice.
I am a simple user and I need basic functions. My main issue is to get a faster response from the phone. I don’t play games and I am not a major fun of social media. I just want to want to use it mainly as a phone, for calls, messages, Viber, and some extra facilities like emailing, web browsing, watching some videos online (news and youtube), occasional photos, listen to music, and install a GPS program like Sygic.
I’ve already read a lot about the whole process, but as I’m doing it for the first time in my life I want to make sure that I got it right. And I have a few ambiguities.
Please advise or freely suggest if any better/easier method is available.
1. Rooting.
I decided to use Kingo Root. So, I need to download Kingo Root to my pc and connect the phone (having enabled USB debugging) and just press Root. Then check if rooting is successful with Root Checker. Then download and install SuperSU app. And I’m done.
Do I need to unlock my bootloader, too?
2. Backup.
a) Take an image of the existing ROM.
Download and install ROM Manager, flash ClockworkMod Recovery and update. Boot in to recovery by using ROM Manager or manually by pressing simultaneously UP+POWER+HOME buttons. Then go to Backup and Restore and take a backup image. Right?
b) Backup apps and messages.
I want to take just 2 backups here, my text messages and my Viber messages. Do I use Titanium or something else? My contacts are already synchronized with Google. If I use a MIUI stock rom do I need to take a backup of my contacts too?
3. Increase phone's RAM
I think now is the right time to increase the phone’s RAM. Do I need to partition it with CWM? Or I just use an app like Ram Expander? Do I do both? I mean firstly partition the sd to the desired size and then use Ram Expander? None of the above? What do you suggest? I have read some other possible solutions like using INT2EXT+ after partition. And when I download a new app how will the phone know where to store it, in phone’s RAM or in sd card?
The key factor is speed and efficiency.
I’ve also read that “Even though the Internal Storage would read 2GB (or whatever is your partition size), the apps would still use some amount of REAL INTERNAL Storage for data, hence you need at least 100MB REAL Internal Memory for every 500MB SD-EXT memory.” Is this true? And if so, since I believe the Galaxy ACE S5830 has about 150 MB RAM the most I can actually get is 750 MB RAM?
It is important to get as much RAM as possible because I’ve read that Sygic (the GPS Navigator app) needs to be installed in phone’s RAM to work properly and it is about 700MB.
4. Install Stock ROM
Finally, the time has come to install a new stock rom. I am thinking about MIUI 6. I like its interface and I’ve heard it is light and fast. Any better suggestions? Can I do it in my phone?
My problem here is this, is MIUI a fully functional stock rom, which means I just download it and flash it or is it a “port rom” which means I have to previously install some android 4.4.x base rom? I have read in some article that is needs a compatible android rom to lean on before installing. Is that so?
Here I am stuck, I can’t decide how to proceed and I need your help.
Sorry, if the post is too long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi There,
To Root Your Device See The XDA's post.
Take The Backup of Current Rom Using CWM recovery or ROM Manager would do this too.
Then inorder to Increase Memory On Your Device By Partitining the SD Card.
Check My Guide over it in Galaxy Ace Development Section or General Android Dev Section.
If Helped Click Thanks
Hi,
1.
Try always to have on your sdcard a backup or a ROM that works ok.
Probe this a few times to be sure you can return anytime to the previous step.
2.
Take a notepad and make a change log with steps you made, so you can return to the previous step if something is not working ok.
3.
Try first to understand what you want to do, to be sure that you will not commit an error.
Try to learn from the mistakes of others.
It will be much easier for you.