So now that we're able to flash custom roms on the xt860, people are starting to ask "how is such and such rom?""Is this one good for battery?""Help i have no data!"
So i've decided to test drive the various roms available for the D3 on the xt 860 and see which work and which don't, battery life and overall feel.
Please note none of this work is mine, i've just compiled it all here for ease. Also i am not responsible if you brick your phone, void your warranty, etc etc
This should work with any 2.3.5 or 2.3.6 versions. These roms were all tested on the brazil retail 2.3.5. I'm using Iusacell 2.3.6 and at the very least liberty works. Please note that currently WE HAVE NO WAY OF RETURNING TO BELL STOCK. If you can't live with this hit the back button now.
You can find the 2.3.5 and 2.3.6 fastboot files here Thanks to daywalker04 for that
This is flashed to the phone via RSDlite 5.5. Google it, i don't remember where i found it.
Or moto-fastboot. I have a script for linux moto-fastboot if anyone wants.
There are a few other things we need as well, may as well download them now
Zergrush root method Thanks to DooMLoRD
3Gfix Thanks to willis111
Flashing the safestrap version in bootstrap will not work. you must get the old version to use in bootstrap
Safestrap usb fix Thanks to Rick#2
I don't think this is needed with the newest safestrap 1.08 but i will leave it up
Safestrap HUGE thanks to Hashcode who's hard work makes this all possible. Buy the man a beer
Before you do anything you may wish to download Titanium Backup from the market and backup your apps, this process will remove them all. Any photos, music or other files you have download to either the internal or external SD will be untouched.
Flashing firmware(Unless you are on Bell 2.3.4, you can skip this. And if you are on Bell 2.3.4 download the update for the love of god)
1)Install RSDlite
2)Unzip the brazil retail to somewhere on your computer, doesn't matter where, just as long as you know where you put it
3)Power off your phone, then hold M+power to boot into the bootloader
4)Choose AP fastboot, volume down scrolls, volume up selects
5)Plug in usb
6)Open RSDlite and point it at the .xml file located in the unzipped brazil reatil folder
7)Start it up
Rooting
1)Unzip zergrush somewhere on your computer
2)find and open the RUNME.bat
3)Follow the instructions onscreen
If you have issues with version 3, use version 2(I use linux so i have not tried the windows versions, sometimes i did notice with the linux version that it would hang at the point "restarting adb as root" ctrl+c the process, toggle usb debugging and try again, it will work)
Installing Safestrap
1)Either adb push, or drag and drop Safestrap into the root of your sdcard
2)Using file manager, find and open the safestrap.apk
3)This will install the app, open it and click Install recovery
4)It should ask for superuser permission, allow it
There is an issue with Safestrap on the xt860 which prevents the recovery from opening unless plugged into a usb. To fix adb push the aforementioned safestrap usb fix(recovery.zip) to /system/etc/safestrap/ to replace the existing one(or usb drag and drop to sdcard and use root explorer to move to the appropriate directory)
So now you need to choose a rom, download it, transfer it and the 3Gfix to the root of your sdcard(it doesn't need to be the root, it just makes it easy to find, you can even put them on the external sd)
Installing Roms!
1)Reboot your phone, pressing the menu key when prompted to enter recovery
2)Go to safe mode menu(vol keys scroll, power button selects)
3)Once in safe mode go to mounts and storage>format /system
4)Go back, and then go to Install zip from sdcard
5)Find your rom, install it, and then install the 3Gfix the same way
6)Go back and choose Wipe data/Factory reset
7)Reboot System Now!!!!!
Enjoy your new rom
You can now redownload Titanium Backup from the market and restore your apps. remember to repeat the process anytime you want to change roms
I've chosen several roms to test found both here and other forums, i'll link to each one as i post my results. I'm gonna run each one for 3 days, to get a decent feel of it. I'm keeping the experience pretty stock, i don't want to go through the effort of customizing the hell out of it just to wipe it all a day later. Installed 3rd party apps are, twitter, xda, droid forums, rootzwiki, TiB, Beautiful Widgets, Skype, Whatsapp. My usage patterns are mostly checking forums/twitter every so often, couple hours of music through headphones and playing with the various settings on the rom. Please keep in mind these are my experiences, i make no guarantee yours will be the same.
Also, if you have issues getting any of these steps to work, feel free to ask, however if you are having an issue with one of the roms i mention, please check the official thread for that rom before posting here(or there) as someone has probably already had the same issue as you. If your problem is unique, post in the rom thread, be sure to mention you are on xt860. You can also try here see if other xt860 users are experiencing it.
First, cm7/cm9
I am unable to use cm7 as i get constant FC of phone. Others have been able to use it, but afaik no one has data working for xt860. I was able to boot cm9/ICS on my phone, no mobile network at all, portrait and landscape are reversed, many option don;t function, but it's fun to preview it, give it a try.
Liberty3 V2.0
Very smooth rom. It was responsive, and i had no issues with it. Most blur is removed, although you can restore some of it, ie camera, launcher, alarm clock through liberty customizer, gives you the choice between blur and AOSP. 150-200 megs free RAM at all times. Managed 18 hours battery life keeping my usage moderate, when i went a little heavier i went 9 hours with 30% left. Cell standby was still top of the list but battery life was much improved over stock blur. Easily able to get you through the day. Comes with Liberty Customizer, lets you make changes to status bar, has 8 lockscreens, build.prop editor, minfree editor, setcpu amongst others. Also comes with rom toolbox which lets you change system fonts, boot animation etc. Quadrant of about 2300, up from my 1800 on stock 2.3.4. I did try overclocking, brought my quadrant and linpacks up at first, but brought them down after and hour or 2. Way down, however i at no point did it seem to make any noticable difference to the running on the UI, was always smooth and quick. I stopped using them, i didn't feel i needed to. I quite liked this rom. One thing i noticed is that although all the other status bar icons are changed, signal strength is still the stock motoblur icons. However there is an option to display in DBm instead(which i did as the blue clashed with the themeing of the rom). All in all i quite liked it and will be using it again in the future
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Eclipse 1.1.1 found at rootzwiki.
I found eclipse to have a similar feel to Liberty, it was smooth and fast, and had similar battery life. I preferred the colour scheme of eclipse more, i may see about putting the framework-res and systemUI of eclipse into liberty. It has lots of blur removed, just dialer and camera leftover, however it has less customization options than liberty. It lacks the ability to restore blur, if you're into that kind of thing. I had a few glitches pop up that required a battery pulls. They seemed to be touch screen related and only happened once each. While i had the soft keyboard up it acted like i was pressing the r key, and i had an issue where every time i scrolled down a web page it scrolled back up. I tried rebooting on the latter and the phone wouldn't turn back on until i pulled the battery. This is definitely on my reuse list.
Monster rom
I'll preface this by saying I'm not a fan of blur, and as such I wasn't a huge fan of this rom. It's blur based with an aosp launcher. It was very snappy and quick, although i felt battery life wasn't as good as with liberty, it would still be sufficient to get through the day. I got my highest quadrant ever on monster rom though 2600. Often had 150-200 MB ram free. I had no issues or glitches with it, ran very smooth. For those who like blur it's pretty good, i would consider using it again.
Mavrom
So for mavrom i've tested both versions 1 and 2. They both seemed to be pretty good for battery life, not quite as good as liberty or eclipse but i probably could have gone for 12 hours or so. New version has a maverick toolbox, similar to the liberty customizer but with fewer options. It's blur based, on the 5.7.xxx verizon system version. I don't think all the system apps are compatible with xt860, right off the bat i noticed there was a question mark for one of the dock icons, and tapping it got me an "application not installed" message. I didn't bother to run through the /system/app to figure out what it was(mostly because it just occurred to me)I also had with version 2 cause my phone to freeze a few times, there didn't seem to be any particular event that caused it, and it would normally unfreeze within a minute. Only issue i had
Steel Droid
I had issues with Steel Droid, i only ended up testing it for 1 day, as i can't have issues like that during the week. It dropped 3G several times, similar to when battery saver kills data when idle, except i had it set to performance mode. I also had terrible battery life, 6 hours had me down to 10%, and before anyone asks, yes i calibrated the battery. I may give it another try sometime and see if i have any better luck.
Darkdroid 1.0 is the only rom that did not work for me. However i do remember an older version working for me once.
DEVS! If you are cooking a rom up and need an xt860 tester, feel free to hit me up.
I m using steeldroid i feel it better than liberty and havent found any bug, battery lasts almost 20 hours normal use.
Now im using cm7 :
I flashed 3gfix, put my apn and 3g worked fine also navigation, apps, market, etc.
Then i tried to call and the fc came com.android.phone
i rebooted and 3g doesnt work anymore com.android.phone popups and i noticed that airplane mode its activating itself on and off.
i reflashed and it happened again even worst so.. now i'll try eclipse.
Cm7 the FC was so.constant it was unusable. I like eclipse. Similar feel to liberty. I like the colour scheme better though
xt860, android 2.3.5, Eclipse 1.1.1
I reworked the data patch to make it more universal, it now copies files from /systemorig rather than presupplied(xt860) files, so anything it move will match your kernel version (like if you're using an me863?). It *SHOULD* work on me863 providing they're able to use safestrap as well. Check my thread for more info/the new patch. If you use it an like it you can always click thanks on the OP in my thread as well. Hopefully we get an me863 user to confirm it working for them as well, but I think this will be the method we end up using for custom roms for a while (makes it a lot easier on the rom devs since we're more or less supporting our own models).
Endroid(or any other xt860 users): If you want to send me a pm if eclipse doesn't work that would be great. (or any other non-workings you find). Thank you very much in advance.
i will wait for android ice cream sandwitch
pujdo2 said:
i will wait for android ice cream sandwitch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ICS won't have all these data issues, a lot of the libs etc that we're hacking at are already setup in ICS from what I understand. Doesn't mean there wont be a bunch of hacking for us to do on it but data should be a lot easier on cm9 vs cm7.
thank you for the nice tutorial
Nice. Subscribed.
Really just want something stable with good battery life for my gf. CM9 might be that solution.
static416 said:
Nice. Subscribed.
Really just want something stable with good battery life for my gf. CM9 might be that solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may be, but not yet. So far I would recommend liberty to be stable and good on battery. Eclipse is pretty good for battery too but I've have a few minor glitches that have required battery pulls. I'll do a write up on it tonight and add it to the OP
xt860, android 2.3.5, Eclipse 1.1.1
Endoroid said:
It may be, but not yet. So far I would recommend liberty to be stable and good on battery. Eclipse is pretty good for battery too but I've have a few minor glitches that have required battery pulls. I'll do a write up on it tonight and add it to the OP
xt860, android 2.3.5, Eclipse 1.1.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Liberty is pretty decent, I fully charged and wiped battery stats last night and it slowed battery drain even more. One of the few things I've noticed, and this isn't all the time (might actually have to do with the fix we're using) is that when I set my phone into airplane mode with a custom rom I can't get out of it, I've only noticed it once with liberty but it's all I've been running as a daily. I've had to restore from a backup a few times while I was out, thank god for Ricks patch. Other than that I can pull off 8 hours with bluetooth streaming mp3's to my stereo and wifi on, up from 2-4 when I originally bought the phone.
I have no issues with airplane mode on my roms.
Hasn't anybody else noticed that the signal strength icon doesn't change to the roms custom icons. No matter which rom is use this is the case. I've been poking around framework-res and systemUI trying to find how to fix this. Im still learning all this stuff but as I understand it there would be an xml file that tells the phone what png to display based on the numerical value of the current signal strength. However there are alot of files in them. I've also found a blur-res and moto-res. Does anyone know whereabouts I can find this information? Im assuming its different on the 860 and 862 since screenshots I've seen of d3 users have the custom icons. I will of.course share whatever fix I come up with, whether its a flashable fix or a modded rom
xt860, android 2.3.5, Monster rom
Edit: I believe i've figured this out. Icons for cdma/evdo are located in framework-res, icons for gsm are in SystemUI. I don't know why but it's the only place i can find the blue bars that keep showing up. I'm trying to figure out apkmanager enough to make it work. Broke the status bar with my first try
I dont know why but i cant flash monster rom and ics
And im doing the same steps than the other roms.
Is there something different to do?
Enviado desde mi XT860 usando Tapatalk
goalando said:
I dont know why but i cant flash monster rom and ics
And im doing the same steps than the other roms.
Is there something different to do?
Enviado desde mi XT860 usando Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same steps should apply to all roms. I've used both with no flashing issues. What happens when you try?
xt860, android 2.3.5, Monster rom
updated OP
Still can't flash ics it bootloops and monster rom just show a black screen..
Sent from my XT860 using liberty rom
goalando said:
Still can't flash ics it bootloops and monster rom just show a black screen..
Sent from my XT860 using liberty rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm just about to download and try the new build 6 of ics, but on the previous build usb had to be plugged in to get past the splash screen.
As for monster i don't know what to tell you i had no issues. Perhaps it a bad download, maybe try redownloading and reflashing
goalando said:
Still can't flash ics it bootloops and monster rom just show a black screen..
Sent from my XT860 using liberty rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you flashing with safestrap? Flashing pretty much anything on our phones w/regular bootstrap will cause this atm.
Willis111 said:
Are you flashing with safestrap? Flashing pretty much anything on our phones w/regular bootstrap will cause this atm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im surprised anyone uses regular bootstraps anymore. The ability to keep your original system intact is so appealing. I actually reflashed the system.img fastboot file on the weekend to make it stock. Restoring my nandroid data to it when I first flashed the br fastboot seemed to have caused some issues I noticed it when I switches to non safe to update safestrap
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Endoroid said:
Im surprised anyone uses regular bootstraps anymore. The ability to keep your original system intact is so appealing. I actually reflashed the system.img fastboot file on the weekend to make it stock. Restoring my nandroid data to it when I first flashed the br fastboot seemed to have caused some issues I noticed it when I switches to non safe to update safestrap
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you test out the latest preview and see if 3G would come up for you? You *might* need to swap the phone network via *#*#info#*#* in the dialer. And once it's set. I would reboot to check.
So far CDMA/GSM seems to be working for many users.
Related
Hey!
First things first, I've never had an android phone before so please keep in mind that I'm an absolute noob .
Basically, battery life is something important to me and would therefore like a recommendation between the two roms.
I'm currently on Miui 1.5.13 MCG2.1v and I'm not so impressed by the battery life. It barely lasts one whole day and the phone sits on my desk most of the time. I tried the suggestions from the Miui thread but I hardly noticed much difference.
I am also not prepared to make my phone even thicker with a fatter battery.
Despite loving the Miui interface and such, I will be prepared to switch to Darky's if battery life is much better.
A another small question, whats a good app I can download (Preferably free) which can help monitor the battery. For example, show how much % per hour the phone uses up.
Thanks!
Thats due to the fact MIUI is based of CM7 (CyanogenMod) which has battery issues but nevertheless 1 day seems a bit weird, with CM7 or MIUI the phone lasted at least 2 days with medium usage (gaming, benching, OCing, Messaging, surfing).
But even this can depend on the used Kernel. And Darky is based of the original Sammy Firmware which in case is more or less optimized for the SGS but i recommend a battery whipe after switching Roms.
And for Battery Monitioring Gingerbread (2.3.x) itself has this feature in the Settings under (About Phone -> Battery Use -> just click on the top Bar.
According to my phone settings, the kernel version I have is "2.6.35.7_platypus-miui-quorra-r9..."
If there is better versions of the Miui rom, I'll be willing to try it but if ultimately Darky's rom is the best option, I think switching to Darky would be the better idea.
As you can tell, I'm slightly confused on what to do next
Any input would be brilliant.
I have been on MIUI since RC3 - a few months back. any how since then battery life for me has improved drastically
i used to get about half a day, now i can get 2 days + if i use it minimally, or 1 full day if i use it excessively.
for me thats good i didnt get much better results using other custom ROMs, besides, there is not 1 single ROM out there that compares to MIUI so its well worth it for me
Try the TK-Glitch kernel... see if that's better for ya.
Prasad007 said:
Try the TK-Glitch kernel... see if that's better for ya.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
forgot to add that !!
try a little undervolting with this kernel and that can also increase battery life
MIUI is very good indeed......on everything except battery life.
For battery life darky's rom is better for sure.
Thanks!
Okay, I'll try TK-Glitch's v10A kernel. Now for an even noob'er question , how do I install it
I figured I have to put my phone in to recovery mode and use odin3. If this is correct, why can't odin3 find the kernel I downloaded via PDA? I'm 100% positive its there or am I doing something wrong
tk glitch kernel is flashable thru recovery no need for odin
Done! annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd no service!
go into settings and system > mobile and network settings, and select use only 2g networks.
that should give u a signal, also check your IMEI number is not been changed.
Can't switch to 2g which I'm assuming, is because there is no service.
I tried to check my IMEI using *#06# and all I get is 'IMEI' and thats it. No number or anything
thats ya problem.
its easy to fix just restore the efs backup that you SHOULD of made when flashing MIUI
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=14275826
you can also do it using root explorer
I have something called galaxy-efsbackup on the phone which I'm assuming is what your talking about?
So for clarification recovery mode, install zip from sdcard and choose the file?
Thanks for the help so far by the way
no that is the .zip file which backs up the efs, you should of applied that before flashing MIUI for the first time,
in result that would of left a folder on your sd card called 'backup' with a subfolder inside called 'efs' << that is what needs to be restored.
if it is not there, and you do not have a copy elsewhere, try to flash back to the version you was on earlier - or the kernel you used before this happened, that might sort it out.
however if it doesnt, you will need to flash back to froyo and start the whole process again it happened to me last week
Okay I have it
It has IMEI and Android sub folders within it with other files as well. What do I restore it?
Edit: I hope I needed to select back up and restore > backup because I accidently selected it. I have however copied the file "back up" on my laptop a couple of minutes ago before the massive **** up.
*Sigh* Sorry -_-
im confused as to what you have done lol
the nv_data.bin is what needs to be restored, use a app such as root explorer or similar
navigate to /system /efs ---> nv_data.bin <-- replace with the one on your sd card
reboot, Job done !!
I dont have 'ef' under systems
Should i just create one?
shizer said:
I dont have 'ef' under systems
Should i just create one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my apologies. are you using root explorer or do you use another app
if using root explorer its just there on the first page, not under any / subfolder
Ah, I'm blind.
I've done everything and nothing. Didn't work
Everything in the ef folder hasn't been modified since I last rooted and installed the Miui rom.
help!
Hey guys,
This is my first post and first rom on my D3. I have, however flashed my D1 multiple times. So I have an idea about what i'm doing, but i'm not 100%. Anyhow, I was running 5.7 since it got released OTA. Was extremely happy with the fixes that came out in that ver. Started searching around and ended up flashing Liberty3 2.0 a few weeks ago. I noticed the battery drained somewhat fast when idling. So I did some searching and installed the speedy v7 script. Even got the "it works!" file when i looked in root browser. I also made sure to wipe data, reboot multiple times, wipe battery states and click my heels 3 times.
Battery life probably improved a bit, I still dont think its as good as stock 5.7. It is probably acceptable, but I am used to charging my phone before I go to sleep. Having around 90% battery life when i wake up, and being able to run on that one charge for almost 24 hours. This may be attributed to the surprisingly good sleep policies in the stock blur battery manager. I would love to have those built in to liberty. But I think that some of it also has to do that when I flashed liberty, my version dropped to 5.6.890.
Now after reading the entire thread for Liberty3 2.0, I see that people say to "apply hascode's patch" for 5.7. The thing is, no one links it. Did some poking around and are they talking about the second link from the bottom of this page:
hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads (please add .html, i am new)
If so, do i just drop it on the SD card, boot in to safestrap and apply the zip?
Sorry this is long-winded. I just wanted to explain the extent that I have gone through before asking a question.
dtr3030 said:
If so, do i just drop it on the SD card, boot in to safestrap and apply the zip?
Sorry this is long-winded. I just wanted to explain the extent that I have gone through before asking a question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, just install the rom and patch, both from clockwork recovery (cwr/safestrap). That patch is for his cm7 build I believe but I would still give it a shot if I was you, worst that happens is you have to restore a backup w/cwr and it might be what you need.
Haha again no link. It's a mystery patch!
it's there. i'm a noob and cant post links. thats why i said "someone please add .html"
but here it is again:
hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads . h t m l
i looked again right now and the bottom two look like rooted stock roms. the one just above that labeled "Users of OTA 5.7.894 apply this patch (after applying main .zip) md5sum 46c140b55469ab557cd053e992142223" might be what i'm after. i'm still on 5.6 tho.
hashcodes patch will work for liberty if youre installing it on 5.7.894. Yes it is for CM7, but it works for CM9/Liberty and probably all AOSP roms. I havent tried it with a blurrred rom. http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html is the link (lol)
MrJudylicious said:
hashcodes patch will work for liberty if youre installing it on 5.7.894. Yes it is for CM7, but it works for CM9/Liberty and probably all AOSP roms. I havent tried it with a blurrred rom. http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html is the link (lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does it do btw?
I'm trying to figure out how to push my system to 5.7 while running liberty. Somehow I went from stock 5.7 to liberty 5.6. I still have the verizon system update on my sd card cuz I had debloated before and needed to manually update. It was 50mb I think. I don't think that will update libery tho, will it?
I assume the hashcode patch is his own system tweaks and fixes.
Thanks for sharing this. BTW, do you know how I would go to 5.7 when I already have Liberty3 2.0 running over 5.6? I have no idea how this whole bootstrap thing works... More complicated than HTC and Samsung where you'd only get bootloader and recovery...
I'm using SafeStrap 1.6 and I'd like to not delete any settings I currently have. If that is possible...
what you should do is return to stock blur 5.6.890 (i prefer to sbf but ive received a lot of flack for it). Once on stock, root, install OTA rootkeeper from market, download the 5.7.894, install via stock recovery. Restore root from OTArootkeeper, install safestrap 1.06, install recovery from within the app, restart, hit menu during boot menu, make a backup, toggle safe system, format /system (under mounts and storage), install liberty, install hashcodes 5.7.894 patch!!!, factory reset clear data/cache, boot it up.
Obviously you would lose every settting you have. the idea behind safestrap is to leave your stock system untouched, and its about as surefire as it gets.
The title pretty much says it all. I've been reading for days and my eyes are burning yet I still haven't found anything exactly like what I'm asking...and I don't want to keep asking stupid questions in the dev section.....
I was on a custom Froyo ROM for a long time and finally got around to trying out SlimICS 4.2 a couple of weeks ago. The instructions called for a CM9 flash first, then SlimICS. It all worked perfectly and I love the ROM.
I've never tried GB and am still on Froyo bootloaders. I would like to switch to GB bootloaders, maybe for no good reason at all. I figure in the long run it will be a good idea. (different rom, kernel, JB, whatever)
I was told that trying to use Odin to simply flash GB bootloaders over an ICS rom and kernel might be a bad idea. I'm hoping someone has successfully done this but most of my reading has got me feeling a bit cautious about bootloaders...
I'm looking for a simple, logical sequence to get me back exactly where I am (ICS) but with GB bootloaders. Perhaps back to a custom Froyo rom/kernel then flash GB bootloaders then back to ICS? I'm guessing that cwm will be able to restore the state of my current rom after all that. I'm so sick of setting up everything from scratch and Titanium can only do so much....
Thanks
Here ya go...
U cannot flash the GB Bootloaders while you are running a Rom that has the mtd/yaffs or yaffs2 partition, that is, a CM, MIUI, ICS, JellyBean and such like. U will need to be on a bml/rfs partition, that is, a Stock Rom or at least a Dev Rom based from a stock firmware.
Do an Nandroid Backup on what you are running currently.
Backup everything you do want to save...apps, contacts, messages, emails, pics, efs folder, etc.
Then you will need to flash back to Stock GB Firmware with Bootloaders included. The i897ucKK4 is the latest official. Here is Stock I897UCKK4 Android 2.3.5 One Clicks. Use the Odin or Heimdall version that includes the GB Bootloaders. If you have a newer Captivate that does not like using the One Clicks, then see this thread for the .tar package of the i897ucKK4... [ROM] I897UCKK4 [17.11.2011][Android 2.3.5]. With this you will probably have to wipedata/factory reset first. Then use regular Odinv3 1.83 or similar to flash it. **Note: Flashing Bootloaders is risky. So be sure you have a trust worthy micro usb/usb cable, constant power source, etc. You don't want to loose power or connection during the few seconds that the bootloaders are being flashed. Bad bootloader flash = hard brick.
Once you are successfully back on Stock KK4, then go to this thread... [KERNEL][KK4][1/28/11] Corn Kernel and use the regular Odin to flash the .tar 7.0A version of this kernel. This will give you the CWM Recovery that you need.
Then reboot into CWM and reinstall the ICS Rom you were on before per that Rom's install instructions.
Once you are booted up on that ICS Rom, reboot into the Recovery of that Rom and then you can Restore your backup that you did at the beginning of this process.
You should be good now.
For issues along the way with connections to the pc, download mode, etc. please see this thread... Captivate Connection Issues and Download Mode Help
The most direct route would be to flash a Gingerbread-based Stock rom with bootloaders from your current setup. This will put you back at stock (including your partitioning), so you'll have to flash as if you're going to CM-based roms for the first time when you go back to ICS/JB.
Obviously, there's all the normal cautions of backing up, bootloader dangers, etc.
@ jmtheiss... I Ninja'd ya by a few minutes. Lol
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They both said it better than I could have but what it comes down to is there is no "simple" way to go about what you are wanting to do...
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app
I don't think a lousy "thanks" even begins to cover it. I really appreciate when someone puts that much effort into helping somebody out. Cheers!
And that definitely qualifies as "simple" enough...better than something requiring rooting again and getting a functional recovery, etc. A couple of Odin sessions and a couple of cwm flashes are fine.
Thanks again guys.
bcflyfisher said:
I was told that trying to use Odin to simply flash GB bootloaders over an ICS rom and kernel might be a bad idea. I'm hoping someone has successfully done this but most of my reading has got me feeling a bit cautious about bootloaders...
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done it successfully a couple of times without any issues. I have only done it when absolutely necessary since they do say there's some risk there.
What I don't understand is how you *could* run ICS without GB bootloaders? I didn't think that was possible.
I'm living proof. I was hesitant but their instructions said if coming from Froyo flash CM9 first then SlimICS. I flipped a coin and it worked fine. The developer of Slim (krarvind) knows I'm on Froyo bootloaders and didn't seem too phased by it. Whether or not I'd be able to jump to JB with whatever kernel is unknown so I'm going to backtrack a little and do what I probably should have in the first place.
Here's an update of what I did just in case it's helpful to someone else down the road.......
I did my best to follow the suggestions given by 4-2ndtwin in the 2nd post. I generally have pretty good backups of everything done but I did new ones just for kicks. Nandroid, Titanium Backup, efs, SMS, call log, APN, and a few other things. I downloaded all the necessary files, and laid them all out sequentially on my screen so I wouldn't get distracted and screw up. In the end I'm pretty much exactly where I wanted to be but of course there were a few unexpected issues.
- The Heimdall One-Click of stock GB with bootloaders was very easy. I had Samsung drivers on the computer already but Heimdall insisted on installing new ones. After that it did its thing and I was on official KK4 with GB bootloaders.
- Next up was regular Odin flash of the Corn Kernel. When I connected the phone in download mode Odin didn't give me a yellow light. If I connected the phone while it was NOT in download mode Odin recognized it. I wasted at least an hour to discover that it was just a driver issue. The drivers that Heimdall wanted weren't "good enough" for Odin. Interestingly, neither was the original package I had on the computer. The one that worked was called "Samsung_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.zip" from the Samsung website. After installing that Odin saw my phone in download mode and I was able to install the Corn Kernel. Rebooting into recovery gave an option to root the phone.
- At this point everyone in the world decided they needed something from me so between work and phone calls/texts I ended up using the phone on GB for a while.
- My boot screens had been a total mess since my first custom rom so I decided to do the boot screen fix next - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1065743 - TRusselo added a bunch of good info to the thread and there's a good post on page 10 from irishvandal that explains the whole sequence of boot screens and what you can and cannot change.
- So the next step should have been to flash CM9 on my way back to SlimICS just like I did a month ago. I figured since I had been using the phone for a couple of hours I should wipe everything ... so I did the cache, data, format system, dalvik cache, and then I went to flash CM9 and noticed that for some reason I didn't have the zip file on the phone any more. I must have deleted it myself because nothing else spontaneously disappeared. When I rebooted normally to plug the phone in and transfer files I discovered that in wiping/formatting I messed something up and I kept getting stuck on the Corn Kernel boot screen. I could get into recovery or download mode just fine, just no normal boot. I was able to mount storage in recovery but when I tried to copy over the CM9 zip it kept hanging. After numerous attempts I decided to just go right back to the beginning.....
- Heimdall once again wanted its own drivers. No problem, I did that, then uninstalled them and reinstalled the drivers Odin likes, then got Corn again, did the boot screen fix again just to try a different image, then downloaded a new CM9 Nightly and copied it to the SD, flashed it with no issues, then flashed SlimICS (which actually has 2 zips plus addon packages) and I was back to ICS with GB bootloaders. It's amazing how fast things can be done when there are no more surprises!
- When the phone was rebooting into Slim ICS I got a message I don't remember seeing before - "Android is upgrading" or something similar. Weird. The next time I booted to recovery to try to restore the nandroid backup I ended up in CWMR Touch v5.5.0.4, which is weird looking and makes me feel strange. When I tried to do a full restore it encountered a few issues such as not being able to restore data normally. I don't recall the details but when I reinstalled Titanium Backup it would just FC so I couldn't restore any of my other apps. The "solution" was to reflash the Slim zips and do a restore of the system only. This set up all the tedious stuff for me. I got TiBu again and restored apps+data and that worked. Chose my launcher and it was back almost the way I wanted it. Interestingly, I had to replace the widgets but the shortcuts were all there in the right places.
- Voice search force closed. Slim doesn't include it in the base rom but it's available as an add-on and I had the zip on the sd from last time but flashing it didn't fix the problem (it had worked the first time I installed Slim). Some random sequence of freezing the Voice Search app, wiping its data, reflashing the Voice zip, unfreezing the app and it worked. In the process I noticed that in TiBu it was originally listed as Voice Search 2.x.x but then it was suddenly 3.x.x with a different icon. Then an hour later after all kinds of restoring (SMS, call log, etc) voice was force closing again. It was also listed as 2.x.x. This time it took me twice as long to randomly do things until it started working again (and at the same time it turned back into 3.x.x. It's been fine since...
So again a huge thanks for the advice! I got to spend the better part of a day fighting my way through minor issues but I learned a lot about my phone and got over my aversion to Odin for the last time. Hopefully someone else can benefit from something I've gone through. If nothing else, I feel a renewed sense of accomplishment.
^
If all ur ics and jb roms have run well...then i see no need to flash the bootloaders.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using xda premium
Hi guys,
I have now succesfully unlocked, rooted, downgraded from HBOOT 2.02.0002, S-OFF'ed, installed BlackRose 2.02.0002 and a custom ROM.
MIUIv4.0 seemed to have a lot of glitches with apps (Touch Input and Maps) crashing frequently, no mobile network despite entering APN etc (do I need a certain version based on my provider?), and no WiFi. I have then installed Nik's Codename Vivo app, which works well except the WiFi and I have to reapply Swiftkey on boot. Otherwise the experience is incredibly smooth and Google Now seems very promising.
I've learned a lot in the process, and it's been fun flashing both through CMD prompt and through recovery. I was so proud the first time my laptop told my phone to do something hacker-ish. Continuing off the success, I'd like to play more around with the phone so I want your input on what I can/should do next? There's probably a lot of things I don't know that I don't know.
I have been doing some stuff in Tasker, which was fun. I am eg. now reminded of anniversaries and my Spotify app opens whenever I plug in my headphones. What I know that I don't know here is that I'd like to make something cool with Tasker and Ivona, I just don't really know where to start?
Any other ideas? Anything regarding tasker, customization (how does launchers exactly work? i tried a few back in the days and they seemed to slow performance a lot?) , flashing radios (are they any different? if so, how?) and whatever else, really. I'd really like to learn the full limits of what can be done both on an Incredible S and android, before eventually moving to another phone and perhaps WP8 so I can truly appreciate the differences.
I'd also like to take the opportunity to ask if anyone has ideas as to how I get the WiFi to work? I did flash the JB WiFi fix and it didn't work.
Lastly, if anyone is sitting on an Incredible S, have updated the software to the newest version and would like to mess around with it, feel free to ask away though I'm no expert. Also, I bought 4ext for downgrading but used Revolutionary for upgrading. How would I go about making 4ext interface my recovery screen again?
This is quite addictive, and I am now frequently checking for updates from Nik doing Codename on a different kernel, anything on CM10 and other stuff. So I'd also like to say thanks for a great community. Phew, I guess this post is a bit all over the place.
There are lot of stuffs present on Main Android development forum of xda..that will help you..
and for anything else you wanna know Google is your friend...
As for replacing the Revolutionary/CWM recovery with 4EXT Touch, you can simply flash the new recovery image in FASTBOOT USB mode using the command:
fastboot flash recovery [recovery.img file]
Miui v4 is still very buggy at the moment. I run the 2.4.20 GB build which I find far more stable and quicker. No Google now, however.
Never had an issue with Wi-Fi on codename, but found that my data never turned back on after I turned office Wi-Fi.
Have you downloaded Titanium backup yet? A must if you plan on flashing a lot of ROMs. Otherwise SetCPU to overclock your processor, and AdAway to get rid of those adverts in apps.
tpbklake said:
As for replacing the Revolutionary/CWM recovery with 4EXT Touch, you can simply flash the new recovery image in FASTBOOT USB mode using the command:
fastboot flash recovery [recovery.img file]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I'll try that out, downloading the recovery file now
Edit: Worked, cheers!
CyanideJack said:
Miui v4 is still very buggy at the moment. I run the 2.4.20 GB build which I find far more stable and quicker. No Google now, however.
Never had an issue with Wi-Fi on codename, but found that my data never turned back on after I turned office Wi-Fi.
Have you downloaded Titanium backup yet? A must if you plan on flashing a lot of ROMs. Otherwise SetCPU to overclock your processor, and AdAway to get rid of those adverts in apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet. Well, the WiFi just never really boots up. I press "on" and it just starts loading, eventually the indicator will be switched to on, though with no colour filling (usually ON is highlighted in cyan)
I have an app called AdFree - is it any different from AdAway? I've yet to try overclocking, so I'll make sure to check it out, thanks!
Also,
For ur current rom, y dont u use nik project x? It has literally no bugs and it is android 4.0.3 and sense 4.0...
As for radios, they control all the bluetooth, wifi and gps signals, so if u flash a custom radio, u can get either really good reception or really bad. That depends on the radio. Beware as flashing a custom radio has a high chance of bricking so flash only if confident.
Have Fun!
(Insert Disclaimer)
Sent from my HTC Incredible S
Piccilino said:
Also,
For ur current rom, y dont u use nik project x? It has literally no bugs and it is android 4.0.3 and sense 4.0...
As for radios, they control all the bluetooth, wifi and gps signals, so if u flash a custom radio, u can get either really good reception or really bad. That depends on the radio. Beware as flashing a custom radio has a high chance of bricking so flash only if confident.
Have Fun!
(Insert Disclaimer)
Sent from my HTC Incredible S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for your reply!
I flashed Codename because it was a jellybean ROM and because to my understanding getting as close to pure android as possible would enhance the performance of my phone. Though I guess with a custom rom (Codename) it's not pure android anyway.
If the radio controls WiFi and GPS, can my WiFi problems be due to a suboptimal radio in the codename rom?
I won't be able to use Google Now with Project X, will I?
Splintre said:
Thanks a lot for your reply!
I flashed Codename because it was a jellybean ROM and because to my understanding getting as close to pure android as possible would enhance the performance of my phone. Though I guess with a custom rom (Codename) it's not pure android anyway.
If the radio controls WiFi and GPS, can my WiFi problems be due to a suboptimal radio in the codename rom?
I won't be able to use Google Now with Project X, will I?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Codename is pure android 4.1 JB with a few tweaks on top.
The majority of bugs in all the JB based ROMs are due to the fact that we don't have the right kernel for jellybean ROMs available for our devices yet. People far smarter than me are working on it, but it's slow going.
As far as I'm aware Google now didn't come with Project X.
AdAway is the same as AdFree, but is better in my opinion.
Hi guys, I have done research on this but seem to get very different responses, I wanted to flash my cappy to Cyanogenmon 10.1 nightly (jellybean 4.2.2) but now I'm not sure, I've flashed it for testing for an hour before going back to stock, the problems I had is that boot times seemed to be a LOT longer and after I restored my messages with Titanium Backup the messaging app force closed as soon as I open a conversation. I also met a guy when buying resistors (to make a jig lol) and he said that when he had cyanogenmod his battery went down twice as fast and his apps started force closing (but I don't know when that was and if the mod is more stable now).
So, I really need some advise and want to know the pros and cons of the mod, also would be nice to know how I can backup and restore my messages without FC's, also how can I get the samsung apps that came with the phone to cyanogen mod (and would restoring data from a nandroid backup restore all my apps?).
Thanks in advance,
Nik
You have many more options, not only CM10.1 (still in experimental stage) and stock. What firmware you'll chose is your personal preference. Take a look at Captivate Android Development section. Notice how many downloads most popular ROMs have. Do you think those thousands of people fight every day with stability issues and FC? Me personally, I'll never go back to stock. After trying many different ROMs I found what I'm looking for and my phone is now faster (including boot time), stable (I don't remember last FC) and can do way more compared to stock. My battery life with JB is actually better than stock GB. And yes, you can have Samsung apps. For me this bloatware was one of the first things to remove after rooting stock GB. My very first ROM to flash was CM10 stable. Never had any issues with it. Most of the problems are user created (corrupted flash files, incorrect flash sequence, missed reset/format steps, incorrect system data restore from previous Android versions, etc). And you don't need a jig to enter download mode. I never had one, had my phone soft bricked twice, flashed it countless times with Odin and through CWM... and it's still alive. Read carefully all the tutorials and troubleshooting guides.
Val D. said:
You have many more options, not only CM10.1 (still in experimental stage) and stock. What firmware you'll chose is your personal preference. Take a look at Captivate Android Development section. Notice how many downloads most popular ROMs have. Do you think those thousands of people fight every day with stability issues and FC? Me personally, I'll never go back to stock. After trying many different ROMs I found what I'm looking for and my phone is now faster (including boot time), stable (I don't remember last FC) and can do way more compared to stock. My battery life with JB is actually better than stock GB. And yes, you can have Samsung apps. For me this bloatware was one of the first things to remove after rooting stock GB. My very first ROM to flash was CM10 stable. Never had any issues with it. Most of the problems are user created (corrupted flash files, incorrect flash sequence, missed reset/format steps, incorrect system data restore from previous Android versions, etc). And you don't need a jig to enter download mode. I never had one, had my phone soft bricked twice, flashed it countless times with Odin and through CWM... and it's still alive. Read carefully all the tutorials and troubleshooting guides.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW Thanks for such a detailed reply, the reason I needed a jig is that odin froze during flashing and I got bricked (the brick screen didn't work as download mode in this case). I'll have a look at other ROMs, may I ask what ROM you went with at the end?
Thanks,
Nik
10.1 is fine and stable. messaging is a system app, so don't try to restore it, but restoring only the data should work.
after flashing, you can expect the rom to have a long boot the first time, and to be pretty laggy for as long as 10 minutes. later boots will be quicker. I also use an app, system tuner, to prevent a number of apps from loading at startup.
I stayed with cm10.1, after trying a few other roms. for me cm10.1 is fav.
nosurlife said:
I'll have a look at other ROMs, may I ask what ROM you went with at the end?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but it's gonna cost you $10 per every flash/testing I did for you. And the total is a lot of money... :laugh:
Read your PM -> Info what I use + links where to find it on XDA. But again, first read carefully all tutorials and flash instructions.
laughingT said:
10.1 is fine and stable. messaging is a system app, so don't try to restore it, but restoring only the data should work.
after flashing, you can expect the rom to have a long boot the first time, and to be pretty laggy for as long as 10 minutes. later boots will be quicker. I also use an app, system tuner, to prevent a number of apps from loading at startup.
I stayed with cm10.1, after trying a few other roms. for me cm10.1 is fav.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll look into it.
Val D. said:
Yes, but it's gonna cost you $10 per every flash/testing I did for you. And the total is a lot of money... :laugh:
Read your PM -> Info what I use + links where to find it on XDA. But again, first read carefully all tutorials and flash instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I could spam the thanks button multiple times haha, I'll go check out the ROMs, so there's no way to keep my txts?
And is there any difference in RAM usage between stock and other ROMs?
Thanks,
Nik
nosurlife said:
Thanks, I'll look into it.
I wish I could spam the thanks button multiple times haha, I'll go check out the ROMs, so there's no way to keep my txts?
And is there any difference in RAM usage between stock and other ROMs?
Thanks,
Nik
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can backup your texts with a app like Titanium Backup.
BWolf56 said:
You can backup your texts with a app like Titanium Backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that but now the messaging app has the conversations when I open it but when I try to open a conversation it FCs,
What can I do now?
nosurlife said:
I did that but now the messaging app has the conversations when I open it but when I try to open a conversation it FCs,
What can I do now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok fixed it, did a reset and restored with SMS Backup & Restore now no FCs.
Thanks to everyone I am now happily running Slim Bean release 3 (4.2.2).
CyanogenMod 10.1 taking more RAM
BWolf56 said:
You can backup your texts with a app like Titanium Backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I have flashed my cappy with CM 10.1 Nightly(JB 4.2.2), but now it seems this is using more RAM. already in captivate we have only 512 MB RAM and it uses about 322 MB of it. Is there any solution for this ?? or will flashing some other rom will help ?
mangaicaptivate said:
Hi,
I have flashed my cappy with CM 10.1 Nightly(JB 4.2.2), but now it seems this is using more RAM. already in captivate we have only 512 MB RAM and it uses about 322 MB of it. Is there any solution for this ?? or will flashing some other rom will help ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's normal.
As long as your phone runs fast and smooth, don't worry about your RAM. Also, if you have bunch of apps running in the background, stopping them will lower your RAM consumption.
BWolf56 said:
That's normal.
As long as your phone runs fast and smooth, don't worry about your RAM. Also, if you have bunch of apps running in the background, stopping them will lower your RAM consumption.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aww I was going to say that haha, the main thing to watch is CPU as RAM is managed differently on android from a PC.
Another thing I noticed is that having a lot of widgets can cause a bit of lag too.
RE: RAM usage
mangaicaptivate said:
I have flashed my cappy with CM 10.1 Nightly(JB 4.2.2), but now it seems this is using more RAM. already in captivate we have only 512 MB RAM and it uses about 322 MB of it. Is there any solution for this ?? or will flashing some other rom will help ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As laughingT suggested, try an app like System Tuner to try to get startup apps under control. Greenify is another app to try before jumping ROMs. You can also go into Settings->Apps and Disable apps you do not use (personally I disable Gmail among others, seems to help battery life too). Additionally, alternate kernels may give you more usable RAM.
Edit: oops, missed the second page of posts... great responses to this question already
Just to confirm - uninstall/freeze apps you don't use (careful with system apps, some are required for the OS to run properly) but don't install any memory managers or task killers, especially auto task killers. They will only make things worse (slow). Android with full memory runs faster and smoother. Also, don't clear app cache for no reason.
After I bought the phone in 2010, it took me 6 months to build up the nerve to root. Then 2 weeks after that to start flashing.
I went back to stock GB rom at one point and gave up - from my experience,GB is the least stable of the Android versions, bloats the easiest and is overall a lousy system. It;s the armpit of Android, really.
At one point last summer I gave up on Captivate and started using an old iPhone gifted from a friend. At that point the Cappy has 3 hour batter life, nothing worked, and absolutely nothing worked stably - I thought Android was done for, but I was wrong. After about 3 months with the iPhone, I woke up the Cappy, took her back to stock (and I am talking Eclair here) and then forward to CM10. I never looked back. I am currently on yesterday's nightly CM10.1. CM10 Stable was buttery smooth and with no problems at all, but now I am hungry for the new features, so I update the CM10.1 builds about once a week.
This is not to say other builds are not as good. CM is the ROM that revived my Cappy. I am happy with it, it works and is consistently developed with high quality control. I have no reason to switch. But there are many other fantastic-looking roms out there. The Experia roms, the PAC man roms .. they seem to have unique feature sets and stable code.
What I am saying, is that DO NOT stick to stock. And although CM is a great choice, there are many, many options out there .
PS: I have soft-bricked my phone a lot of times. After the first couple times, you will a) learn the value of backing up your data before doing anything, and b) you will have all the files/programs on your computer to revive your phone with a few well-rehearsed steps. (having a backup phone also does not hurt - for a long time I carried the iPhone with me - worried the cappy would crap out on me. I finally stopped worrying)
Best of luck.
dozyaustin said:
After I bought the phone in 2010, it took me 6 months to build up the nerve to root. Then 2 weeks after that to start flashing.
I went back to stock GB rom at one point and gave up - from my experience,GB is the least stable of the Android versions, bloats the easiest and is overall a lousy system. It;s the armpit of Android, really.
At one point last summer I gave up on Captivate and started using an old iPhone gifted from a friend. At that point the Cappy has 3 hour batter life, nothing worked, and absolutely nothing worked stably - I thought Android was done for, but I was wrong. After about 3 months with the iPhone, I woke up the Cappy, took her back to stock (and I am talking Eclair here) and then forward to CM10. I never looked back. I am currently on yesterday's nightly CM10.1. CM10 Stable was buttery smooth and with no problems at all, but now I am hungry for the new features, so I update the CM10.1 builds about once a week.
This is not to say other builds are not as good. CM is the ROM that revived my Cappy. I am happy with it, it works and is consistently developed with high quality control. I have no reason to switch. But there are many other fantastic-looking roms out there. The Experia roms, the PAC man roms .. they seem to have unique feature sets and stable code.
What I am saying, is that DO NOT stick to stock. And although CM is a great choice, there are many, many options out there .
PS: I have soft-bricked my phone a lot of times. After the first couple times, you will a) learn the value of backing up your data before doing anything, and b) you will have all the files/programs on your computer to revive your phone with a few well-rehearsed steps. (having a backup phone also does not hurt - for a long time I carried the iPhone with me - worried the cappy would crap out on me. I finally stopped worrying)
Best of luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I'm never going back to stock I'm running slim bean (based on CM) android 4.2.2 and really enjoying all the features, the phone is so much smoother and looks much more professional then GB (no offense google lol).
Thanks,
Nik