[Q] Flashing XT862 - Motorola Droid 3

I just purchased a Motorola Droid 3 XT862. It came loaded with a whole lot of Verizon stuff, and assumes I'm living in the USA. I'm living in Australia and would really prefer to have a choice of locale, and just get all of the pre-installed stuff off there because I'm not gonna use most it. From what I can tell, my only option is to flash the phone with a different firmware.
While I'm aware of the additional features of a couple of the mods such as Cyanogen, because this is my very first Android phone and I'd just like to play around with the stock OS before making any decisions regarding mods, I'd prefer to just stick with vanilla Gingerbread.
So my question is, for someone who has no idea what they're doing, how do I go about putting the stock Android OS on my phone?

Honestly CM is as close for Gingerbread you will get. There are some good stripped down ROMs based off of stock.
Sent from my XT862 using XDA

You should try Ice Cream Sandwich.
Sent from my XT862 using XDA

I'm not quite ready to try Ice Cream Sandwich just yet.
Do you think it simply isn't possible to get a stock version of Android for my phone?

I use Mavrom myself http://www.droidforums.net/forum/maverick-rom-d3/200510-maverick-rom-v3-5-droid-3-a.html
use it with a different launcher to get rid of the blur launcher, and the rom is pretty close to stock android. You can choose google mucisc and stock messaging too.
No verizon-crap either.
If you don't want mavrom i heard liberty is close to stock too, but never tried it myself and not sure if's being updated still

I'm not sure what the launcher is, sorry. I literally have no idea what I'm doing.

djmattyg007 said:
I'm not sure what the launcher is, sorry. I literally have no idea what I'm doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, motorola uses blur launcher.. which is basically the way your homescreen looks (=desktop) and your app drawer. So if you don't want blur use something like go launcher, or stick with blur if you don't care.
You can use morelocale2 (app) to choose your locale.
You could also just root and use the de-bloat script (stickied) to remove all the bloat-ware

You should root your phone and install CyanogenMod 7. It's not ICS and it's quite stable. It's an AOSP (Android Open Source Project) ROM so all those useless apps (bloatware) will be removed.
The link to the thread is here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1308924
I'm not sure if Australia is GSM, but here's the link for the patch if it is. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1357350
I have not tested the patch as I live in the US

djmattyg007 said:
I'm not sure what the launcher is, sorry. I literally have no idea what I'm doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give a counter point to all those saying "root your phone" or flash this ROM or that ROM. Since you say, " I literally have no idea what I'm doing" and elsewhere you say this is your first Android my recommendation would be to just stick with stock for a while and learn how things work before diving into rooting, custom ROM's etc.
In the meantime, one pretty harmless thing you can do is to try different launchers. These give you a somewhat different look and feel to the "desktop" but since they are really an app, you can easily get back to stock by just uninstalling it. That would be much more of a pain free way to go while you try things out and learn. I would ignore those telling you to root at this point.

The only reason I would root is because the battery life is better when you make some tweaks that are only available on root. Even if you just tweak the stock ROM with a couple things it can be worth it.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA

ratman6161 said:
I'll give a counter point to all those saying "root your phone" or flash this ROM or that ROM. Since you say, " I literally have no idea what I'm doing" and elsewhere you say this is your first Android my recommendation would be to just stick with stock for a while and learn how things work before diving into rooting, custom ROM's etc.
In the meantime, one pretty harmless thing you can do is to try different launchers. These give you a somewhat different look and feel to the "desktop" but since they are really an app, you can easily get back to stock by just uninstalling it. That would be much more of a pain free way to go while you try things out and learn. I would ignore those telling you to root at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was my first android phone and the first thing I did was root it. With pete's tool it couldn't be easier

so is there still no way to flash back to stock if you do the stage upgrade to 906?

Related

cyanogen mod

Im very new to rooting and rom switching so please go easy
I just tried the cyanogen mod 6 for my nexus 1 and i have a few questions about it.
First, i cant really see anything new accept a few things in the cyanogen menu under "settings". Second, i cant see a speed increase either. Stock is actually working faster!
After all the amazing stuff i keep hearing about cyanogen, i just wanna know, what is it about this one (cm6) that im missing??? I just wanna appreciate it like everyone else
I have no clue.. i went back to Geo411m's ROM..
Personally i want a ROM that is more closer to stock as possible, and i really have no need for certain tweaks really. I used the 5.0.8 N1 quite abit before i went over to Froyo. It was allright for me but later on i really like stock based ROM's.
i agree. its seems as though the stock roms work best with froyo (for now anyway) i have been using a rom called "frf_blackbar_v3_signed" and its working great.
Since im new to this stuff (coming from an iphone!) i just figured i was missing out on something right under my eyes! I know its a new rom and it will get better too.
Have faith and give CM some time
They've been working on it for two weeks and its only their first official froyo release(RC1). Im sure things will pick up and get more exciting soon.
I also tested the performance of stock vs cm, and they didn't differ by that much...
Cyanogen has tons of additional features. What I recommended you do is look at his changelog.
He has listed all the new goodies.
Personally I like the kernal which allows overclocking, the music app which has support for flac right out the box, and the renderer which switches the screen color to save you battery.
I will pay attention to Cyanogen ROM for sure..
yea il be keeping an eye on it as well. Can i ask...
What is a kernel?
What is a online kitchen?
why do we have to flash different radios? (do they mean TMO and AT&T radios?)
Sindroid said:
I have no clue.. i went back to Geo411m's ROM..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exact same here. Went from CM6 to Geo411m's ROM yesterday. Its fast, I know what I have, and battery life is good. Tried LeoFroYo this morning but there was just too much there for what I need. A quick Nandroid restore to Geo411m and that's where I'm staying for now
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
blunted09 said:
yea il be keeping an eye on it as well. Can i ask...
What is a kernel?
What is a online kitchen?
why do we have to flash different radios? (do they mean TMO and AT&T radios?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kernel is the guts of your system
online kitchen is where users can create their own roms
new radios add new features that some roms depend on
i don't recommend you messing with any of these things until you do a lot of reading
from what i understand the only way to truly screw up is if i DONT do a nandroid backup. If i do a nandroid backup once when i just rooted and unlocked the bootloader do i still have to do them every time i wanna put on a new rom to fully ensure that i dont brick or badly screw up my phone?
not necesarily, i nandroid before i do any mods to my system just in case i trash it i can boot it right back up just like it was 5 mins prior
If you truly brick your phone, you won't be able to boot into recovery to restore. You do a nandroid once you have your rom setup the way you want, so when you restore you go back to that point. Cyanogen is one of the best, if not the best. The man went through it with Google, just to bless us with his gift, show some RESPECT!!!!! I just flashed his latest & greatest, and I love it. Although im not a fan of white status bar. I like nothing stock, but I flashed black status bar, and pushed black goggle search box, and rm the apps I didn't want, like twitter and gmail. It's a keeper, and will only get better.The more ability to customize the better. That's why I root in the first place. Options, options, options, I love it.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
blunted09 said:
from what i understand the only way to truly screw up is if i DONT do a nandroid backup. If i do a nandroid backup once when i just rooted and unlocked the bootloader do i still have to do them every time i wanna put on a new rom to fully ensure that i dont brick or badly screw up my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't brick your phone by flashing a new ROM that doesn't contain radio. You don't brick your phone with almost anything that you do, in the worst case - you're left with a phone that doesn't load OS and needs wipe+reflash, and you lose all your settings and data.
But:
You DO brick your phone by flashing the wrong radio / interrupting radio flash before it finishes.
As with the rest of your questions: I suggest you use this forum and Google and read a lot. That would answer your questions.
Also, I was a user of CyanogenMod on 2.1, kept it until LeoFroyo hit 1.2-beta, flashed, liked, and now I'm with Enomther, who has a fast, stable ROM with most of the features Cyanogen has, and it covers everything I want/need. I'll wait for CyanogenMod to integrate Apps2SDExt into framework, and then compare it again.

[Q] Tired of laggy performance on HERO

Folks: I have HERO and downloaded official 2.1 update earlier this summer. I was really hoping that issues like dialer lag and general "under-performance" feel on HERO would improve but I am still disappointed. I have still lot of time before I get eligible for a phone upgrade. I have no experience with rooting or custom ROMs. Would a HTC sense-less ROM help my case? I love the form-factor of this phone but lag just kills the experience.
I would really appreciate if someone can point me to step-by-step procedure on how to get a ROM on HERO that works lag-free.
thanks
keep it stock if you like. thats how i did it at first. i rooted the stock stuff and deleted tons of sprint bloatware and the other useless apps; peep, teeter, gmail, socialnetworkprovider.apk...tons of stuff. after doing ONLY that, my device was faster and more responsive. ive never used a 'killer' of any sorts. linux is smart and you dont need 'killers'. of course, others may argue differently.
so head over to the dev forum and learn how to root.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=674833
edit: read, read, read. thats what i was told to do and i did. a lot of prep was required before rooting but if you follow the directions, it will go very smoothly
In my opinion, the two fastest ROMs here are
Darchdroid 2.8 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=703133
and Cyanogenmod 6.0.0 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=722122
But know that these two ROMs are based off Android only, and don't have the HTC Sense user-interface (in other words, they will look different than stock and have some different apps and features).
But first you will need to root your phone following these steps here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=694572
After you root your phone, NANDROID BACKUP! Then you can try deleting apps like the post above mentions. See this post here about deleting apps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=581976
If just doing that isn't good enough for you, try one of the two ROMs I posted above. I think you'll find that rooting your phone is a very wise and eye-opening decision
Lol chromiumleaf you didn't recommend the ROM in your sig
OP if you are willing to root and still want Sense UI, nfinitefx45's stock ROM is for you. If you follow the instructions you will basically run an over clocked (if you choose, but recommended), streamlined version of stock ROM + apps2sd (your choice, but recommended)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=703267
thank you all for quick replies and helpful pointers to the resources. Looks like rooting + deleting apps is the first step. I will try that. Btw hadnt relaized that custom ROMs is a world on its own
It sure it as I have also been reading, and one more thing incase you did not know and I don't believe it was mentioned in this thread you need to not be on the 2.1 .6 firmware, you need to downgrade to the .5 firmware to be able to root, I know it is in the instructions pasted by other but was just giving you a reminder incase you still have not done anything. Now if you did finally Root I would like to know how it went, as I am also almost ready to Root, tired of mine going into sleep mode and not responding, anyways it has been a while since you were suppose to have rooted, just curious how it went and how was your experience, and if you did finally go to a custom Rom which one did you go with??
don_walio said:
thank you all for quick replies and helpful pointers to the resources. Looks like rooting + deleting apps is the first step. I will try that. Btw hadnt relaized that custom ROMs is a world on its own
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don_walio said:
Folks: I have HERO and downloaded official 2.1 update earlier this summer. I was really hoping that issues like dialer lag and general "under-performance" feel on HERO would improve but I am still disappointed. I have still lot of time before I get eligible for a phone upgrade. I have no experience with rooting or custom ROMs. Would a HTC sense-less ROM help my case? I love the form-factor of this phone but lag just kills the experience.
I would really appreciate if someone can point me to step-by-step procedure on how to get a ROM on HERO that works lag-free.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you want to stay close to stock but be rooted id say use the stock rooted .6 rom with apps2sd. you could also use an oc kernel but i never found it did much for my phone. always use advance task killer and use a memory manager like autokiller and set it to aggressive or ultimate. my hero runs pretty good now. if your daring you could try the new froyo rom too.

[Q] AT&T ROM w/o bloatware

Seems like now a days there isn't that many people making ROMs like there was back in the Windows Mobile days. Anyways, I'm looking for a AT&T 2.1 ROM w/o the AT&T bloatware. Is there anything out there? I know there are some ROMs that people have cooked up, but I'm looking for something more specific. Such as mentioned above.
If there isn't, is there any way you could assist me in making my own clean ROM, or just point me in the right direction? It seems that there isn't much documentation about how to go about making your own ROM.
Any help would be great.
mbudden said:
Seems like now a days there isn't that many people making ROMs like there was back in the Windows Mobile days. Anyways, I'm looking for a AT&T 2.1 ROM w/o the AT&T bloatware. Is there anything out there? I know there are some ROMs that people have cooked up, but I'm looking for something more specific. Such as mentioned above.
If there isn't, is there any way you could assist me in making my own clean ROM, or just point me in the right direction? It seems that there isn't much documentation about how to go about making your own ROM.
Any help would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be clear......you are looking for a 2.1 rom?
Cognition would be closest to stock, Continuum also offer an unthemed version which looks like the stock version. If you want to make your own ROM check it out here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=928955
Jemack said:
Just to be clear......you are looking for a 2.1 rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. 2.2 is officially out for the Captivate.
Jemack said:
Just to be clear......you are looking for a 2.1 rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. I'd rather not build off of the Stock 2.2 ROM since from reading everyone's thoughts about it. It's crap.
low99 said:
Cognition would be closest to stock, Continuum also offer an unthemed version which looks like the stock version. If you want to make your own ROM check it out here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=928955
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've looked at that ROM. But it looks like he's added things to it... I might tear his down and remove the things that aren't wanted... Making ROMs seemed to be much easier back in the WM days. Made a couple stripped down carrier ones for myself.
curti.nogg said:
This. 2.2 is officially out for the Captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Like I posted above, head into the Captivate General sub-forum and see how many were complaining it wasn't actually a "upgrade".
There are tut all over the place about removing the bloat from the stock roms. As for 2.2 being worse, I cant say much as all stock rom's are pretty bad. 2.2 brought some much needed features to the captivate. Don't take peoples thoughts on it, try it yourself and make up your own mind.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
zelendel said:
There are tut all over the place about removing the bloat from the stock roms. As for 2.2 being worse, I cant say much as all stock rom's are pretty bad. 2.2 brought some much needed features to the captivate. Don't take peoples thoughts on it, try it yourself and make up your own mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doing a search didn't really land me up with much. But I did find the stock I897UCJF6 files. I thought I could find them in Odin3 but they are hiding in the .exe file. Now time to remove things and test things out. I'd try 2.2 out myself, but if everyone is saying they are crap. No need to test it out myself lol.
Wondering if I'm able to replace the stock kernel with one of the OC'd kernels... Hmm...
mbudden said:
Doing a search didn't really land me up with much. But I did find the stock I897UCJF6 files. I thought I could find them in Odin3 but they are hiding in the .exe file. Now time to remove things and test things out. I'd try 2.2 out myself, but if everyone is saying they are crap. No need to test it out myself lol.
Wondering if I'm able to replace the stock kernel with one of the OC'd kernels... Hmm...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will say this for the 2.2 update as I did run it for the better part of a day before I went back to a 2.2.1 based rom. It was better then the 2.1 that came stock on it. Most people that were complaining about it were expecting the stock rom to run like a custom rom or for it to fix all the issues they had with it. While I admit it is a BS rom, if you are going stock then it is better then the 2.1. But like I said it is up to you.
I am sure there is a kernel for it but you may have to look in older posts as most of the custom kernels for a stock rom are based of the KB1 2.2 update, not sure if any are compatible with 2.1 any longer.
zelendel said:
I will say this for the 2.2 update as I did run it for the better part of a day before I went back to a 2.2.1 based rom. It was better then the 2.1 that came stock on it. Most people that were complaining about it were expecting the stock rom to run like a custom rom or for it to fix all the issues they had with it. While I admit it is a BS rom, if you are going stock then it is better then the 2.1. But like I said it is up to you.
I am sure there is a kernel for it but you may have to look in older posts as most of the custom kernels for a stock rom are based of the KB1 2.2 update, not sure if any are compatible with 2.1 any longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doing a quick look around, it does seem that most of the kernels are for the 2.2 and 2.2.1 ROMs. For example SpeedMod kernel.
So I may need to find the stock 2.2 files and go from there. It doesn't seem as hard as I thought it was going to be, but that's just from doing some quick searching. Do you happen to know the Baseband Version of the latest firmware? If not, then I'll end up finding it and hopefully be able to find it's files online.
mbudden,
The official froyo release is kb1. Cognition is basically stock kb1 with a lagfix injected kernel and much of the "bloat" removed. The 2.2.1 roms such as js5, js7 are noticeably smoother and I often used them without a lagfix enabled.
If you are looking to build a base Rom yourself and don't want to start from scratch, check out doc's kitchen.
newter55 said:
mbudden,
The official froyo release is kb1. Cognition is basically stock kb1 with a lagfix injected kernel and much of the "bloat" removed. The 2.2.1 roms such as js5, js7 are noticeably smoother and I often used them without a lagfix enabled.
If you are looking to build a base Rom yourself and don't want to start from scratch, check out doc's kitchen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I found the I897UCKB1 .tar file and was taking a peak inside. But interesting. I was looking to remove some of the other things that was added in the Continuum ROM, but the darn .apk's aren't all obviously named. I'll give a look at the Cognition though. Not really into the whole themes and this and that. I like stream lined ROM's. Nothing fancy.
Thanks for that thread though, maybe I should have taken a gander at the I9000 subforums too. lol. Now to figure out how to zip everything back into a .tar file.
Rather than cook up a whole ROM,
upgrade to 2.2 (it is better, ignore the disapointed whiners)
install a kernal of your choice (if you want)
use titanium backup to uninstall the bloat
now you have a stock rom, with a good kernal and no bloat.
P.S. some folks think that just because their lives rovolve arround android, that android pays attention to what they want. People always cry when upgrades arrive because no one at android paid any attention to them.
joshua43214 said:
Rather than cook up a whole ROM,
upgrade to 2.2 (it is better, ignore the disapointed whiners)
install a kernal of your choice (if you want)
use titanium backup to uninstall the bloat
now you have a stock rom, with a good kernal and no bloat.
P.S. some folks think that just because their lives rovolve arround android, that android pays attention to what they want. People always cry when upgrades arrive because no one at android paid any attention to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is, I just installed Continuum. I just don't like it. I do admit that it is fast. I like the stock icons and I like the stock the stock look and feel. Not to mention, some of the installed stuff I didn't care for. Also I don't need extra lock screens, or colored menus.
But anyways, got the factoryfs.rfs file apart. So basically that's the system folder like it would be in a custom ROM. Now to find out how to Deodex these .apk/.odex files.
Honestly, if you're just looking for the AT&T standard rom without the bloatware, you'd find it a lot easier to just flash back to whatever came with the phone & strip it of bloatware via titanium backup.
snapplefish said:
Honestly, if you're just looking for the AT&T standard rom without the bloatware, you'd find it a lot easier to just flash back to whatever came with the phone & strip it of bloatware via titanium backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's wrong with learning the hard way? That's the easy way out.
Doing it my way will help me understand Android.
Like I said, I used to build my own custom Windows Mobile ROMs for myself. Why not learn how to build my own custom Android ROMs?
If any ROM makers want to share some advice, do so.
Mikey has a good basic tutorial stickied here in development. There is also a guide on deodexing put up recently. Other than that it is pretty much just de/recompiling the apk and jar files to edit. Mikeymike and chancem (serendipity) have an irc and seem willing to provide advice. Sorry for no links but on the phone atm.
Hope you're enjoying the phone btw.
newter55 said:
Mikey has a good basic tutorial stickied here in development. There is also a guide on deodexing put up recently. Other than that it is pretty much just de/recompiling the apk and jar files to edit. Mikeymike and chancem (serendipity) have an irc and seem willing to provide advice. Sorry for no links but on the phone atm.
Hope you're enjoying the phone btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
His tutorial is what I'm following as we speak. A lot of the stuff he mentions isn't clearly defined though. So Google has been helpful with that. For example, he doesn't talk about how to deodex the apk/jar/odex files. But that's alright, nothing a little Googling won't fix. Will be also throwing the fixes that have been made in. A lot of reading lol.
But I am, such a great device. Battery life isn't as great as my Blackberry. But hey, it's not that much of a hassle.
Alright, I got most if it down. But when I go to load it via clockwork recovery. I get this "E:can't symlink /system/bin/cat" Any assistance?
I guess I took the "easy" way out.
I have AT&T 2.2 (WAY better than 2.1)
Root
removed unwanted bloat with TiBackup
installed SuperCurio's KB1 + Voodoo KB1 Kernel
This let me have some of the features of a custom ROM that I wanted without having to backup and restore all my apps/etc.
By no means do I have anything against that. It's just I'd rather learn things myself. So if it came time for me to build my own ROM to my liking. I have the know how.

[Q] Sgh-i537 recommended Roms

I am trying to get the AT&T stuff out of my phone, and to have updates and bug fixes every now and then.
Untill now, found only the safestrap but i did not find any ROM that seems to have android 4.4.4. Is there anything like cyanogenmod?
eliuha said:
I am trying to get the AT&T stuff out of my phone, and to have updates and bug fixes every now and then.
Untill now, found only the safestrap but i did not find any ROM that seems to have android 4.4.4. Is there anything like cyanogenmod?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't use a ROM with custom kernel, yet. I recommend 4.4.2 and HyperDrive 19. It works really well, has a nice installer with lots of extras, good battery life... All around, it's a really well built ROM.
eliuha said:
I am trying to get the AT&T stuff out of my phone, and to have updates and bug fixes every now and then.
Untill now, found only the safestrap but i did not find any ROM that seems to have android 4.4.4. Is there anything like cyanogenmod?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As someone who was blindsided and crestfallen to find out about the locked bootloader (no cyanogenmod for us,we're S.O.L.) let me make some recommendations to at least get some of that stock android (i.e. cyanogenmod) feel back (I'm assuming you're already rooted, if not, google towelroot and follow directions):
Get SafeStrap
Flash this mod to drastically improve battery life and general performance
Get rid of KNOX
De-Odex your stock ROM (it's easy and allows a lot more customization)
And enter the exciting world of SMALI editing. This takes a little practice, and still doesn't afford the full freedom of CM, but you can customize the look and feel of your phone, still feel like a champ, and just learn about android in general. I've used a bunch of these successfully, with virtually no prior coding experience. E.g. I hated those battery/charger cover notifications, thanks to this thread, they're gone and not coming back.
Also, get rid of the stock launcher and replace it with NOVA launcher. More customization, smoother, better performance, looks more like CM. You can (and should) use Titanium Backup to either freeze or uninstall bloatware (at the very least any app with AT&T in the name).
AdAway is your friend.
Quick and easy mobile data toggle mod
I would recommend the Knox_Out zip in my post here since the one in the OP hasn't been updated since July and removes an apk you might actually need.

[Q] Most Pure Rom?

Excuse my ignorance, I'm trying to learn more about this device and scene.
What is the most "Vanilla" rom available for this device? I don't need or want any extra functionally and want as pure as android kitkat can get on the device.
Thanks.
Can't argue that ignorance is present.
Didn't care about this advice http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25164221 last time same question http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29632006 came to mind?
Btw, thread got locked by moderator usually has a reason...
Anyway, to inspire away from your self acclaimed ignorance not even bother to tell what model of Active, let me put it this way:
If
'this device' = i537 AT&T
Then
Locked bootloader
Goto Safestrap in xda General forum section
'this device' = i9295 international
Then
Unlocked bootloader
AOSP 4.4.4
jbenci said:
Excuse my ignorance, I'm trying to learn more about this device and scene.
What is the most "Vanilla" rom available for this device? I don't need or want any extra functionally and want as pure as android kitkat can get on the device.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about the international version, so if that's what you have ignore this post. If you're on the i537, there's no AOSP or CM based ROMS, and the ROMS out there seem to be more trouble than they're worth. Not trying to badmouth, it's just there's always hacks necessary to even make them work properly in the first place, and no noticeable improvement. Instead, I'd recommend the advice I just gave someone else (tldr: replace launcher with Nova, freeze/uninstall bloat w/ TiBu, flash galaxy_mod, flash knoxout, and then start learning smali editing):
Get SafeStrap
Flash this mod to drastically improve battery life and general performance
Get rid of KNOX
De-Odex your stock ROM (it's easy and allows a lot more customization)
And enter the exciting world of SMALI editing. This takes a little practice, and still doesn't afford the full freedom of CM, but you can customize the look and feel of your phone, still feel like a champ, and just learn about android in general. I've used a bunch of these successfully, with virtually no prior coding experience. E.g. I hated those battery/charger cover notifications, thanks to this thread, they're gone and not coming back.
Also, get rid of the stock launcher and replace it with NOVA launcher. More customization, smoother, better performance, looks more like CM. You can (and should) use Titanium Backup to either freeze or uninstall bloatware (at the very least any app with AT&T in the name).
AdAway is your friend.
Quick and easy mobile data toggle mod[/QUOTE]

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