Database Develop

[Q] Going to buy Captivate.. Few questions

Ok, so after having a long battle in my head about whether I should buy the iPhone 4 or the Captivate, I decided to go on ahead and buy the captivate.
I recently found out about something called "rooting" and have been reading up about it for the past few days.
I learned that people like to root especially for tethering and installing android rom updates that have not been released yet by their carriers. However, I would probably NOT use tethering because I am planning to get the $15 per month, 200mb per month, data plan.
I have installed custom Roms before on my Sony Xperia X1, so I know the general risks of installing them. However, I am new to android, and I have a few questions about rooting.
What exactly does rooting allow you to do?
I remember reading that you must root your phone in order to sideload apps (install non-market apps, right?). This was the main reason I wanted to root. However, I found this : http[:]//www[.]androidcentral[.]com/sideload-android-apps-all-you-want-sideload-wonder-machine (sorry, can't post links yet)
This program seems to solve that problem.
Next, I want to be able to install themes, like Launcher Pro especially. Is it possible to do this without rooting by sideloading the app or must I root my phone?
Third, I know that another great advantage of rooting your phone is that you can overclock to 1.2 GHZ. Does this feature really give you that much of a power boost? Also, does it, in any way, decrease your device's lifespan? If so, is it worth it?
I don't really mind the at&t bloatware, and their censorship of the market is easily passed by turning on wifi and putting your phone in airplane mode (I think).
Now, let's say that I DO decide to root my phone. If I do, I would use the "1 click to root" program, in order to minimize the risk of bricking.
Once I root my phone, I would probably go ahead and install this : http[:]//forum.xda-developers[.]com/showthread.php?t=751934
However, there are two things I am confused about: How do I make a nandroid backup so that I may restore my phone to stock and then unroot it after installing a custom rom? Also, what the hell is "odin"?
Thanks in advance, guys.

Root is a linux term, or a unix term. On older systems the root user is like the admin in windows. On some modern distributions you can't log in as root but can use the root permissions with use of a root password and a sudo command (super user do). so the term super user and root are interchangeable.
To root your phone grants you root permissions via an app that grants or denies permissions to individual apps, no password required. By adding a terminal interface you can do nearly anything that can be done on a pc with linux. It is needed for many mods and having it and knowing what to do with it can be very satisfying.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

Odin is a computer application to re flash your phone. Most mods can be done on a captivate without it but get it just in case you do something stupid! I did!
The overclock is pretty safe. It doesn't really hinder battery life much because if it goes to full speed it gets the task done faster so its back to being throttled sooner. Its stock voltage and there is likely more to come with over and under voltages. The hummingbird has a bit more potential than that. That said the phone runs great without it.
I believe a nandroid backup can be done in clockwork recovery. And my phone didn't need to side loss launcher pro. I was already rooted but I don't think root is needed either. The search on the marker doesn't always find it. Also try adw. And do the lag fix. To see what your phone can really do in quadrant.
I used the over clock with unleash the beast and the lag fix, then I set a replacement lockscreen wrong and locked up my phone, I decided to reflash it. Now I use SRE and the lag fix. But it doesn't include the wireless teather app that comes with unleash the beast.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

NeoXer0 said:
Ok, so after having a long battle in my head about whether I should buy the iPhone 4 or the Captivate, I decided to go on ahead and buy the captivate.
I recently found out about something called "rooting" and have been reading up about it for the past few days.
I learned that people like to root especially for tethering and installing android rom updates that have not been released yet by their carriers. However, I would probably NOT use tethering because I am planning to get the $15 per month, 200mb per month, data plan.
I have installed custom Roms before on my Sony Xperia X1, so I know the general risks of installing them. However, I am new to android, and I have a few questions about rooting.
What exactly does rooting allow you to do?
I remember reading that you must root your phone in order to sideload apps (install non-market apps, right?). This was the main reason I wanted to root. However, I found this : http[:]//www[.]androidcentral[.]com/sideload-android-apps-all-you-want-sideload-wonder-machine (sorry, can't post links yet)
This program seems to solve that problem.
Next, I want to be able to install themes, like Launcher Pro especially. Is it possible to do this without rooting by sideloading the app or must I root my phone?
Third, I know that another great advantage of rooting your phone is that you can overclock to 1.2 GHZ. Does this feature really give you that much of a power boost? Also, does it, in any way, decrease your device's lifespan? If so, is it worth it?
I don't really mind the at&t bloatware, and their censorship of the market is easily passed by turning on wifi and putting your phone in airplane mode (I think).
Now, let's say that I DO decide to root my phone. If I do, I would use the "1 click to root" program, in order to minimize the risk of bricking.
Once I root my phone, I would probably go ahead and install this : http[:]//forum.xda-developers[.]com/showthread.php?t=751934
However, there are two things I am confused about: How do I make a nandroid backup so that I may restore my phone to stock and then unroot it after installing a custom rom? Also, what the hell is "odin"?
Thanks in advance, guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root if you need to - if nothing you want to do requires root, then don't bother.
You can install (sideload) apps without root. Again, root access is NOT required to sideload. The wondermachine does it by using the Android SDK (they baked it in); but you can just as easily download the Android SDK, unzip it, go to the tools directory and use the ADB tool to install apps. USB Debugging mode is required for this or the wondermachine (it is a checkbox you click on the phone).
Rooting will let you sideload directly on the phone without connecting to a pc, but you need to do more then root, you need to change a db file.
Other launchers are installed without root, so you don't need root for this.
You do need root for nandroid backup, but since it will backup your present state, a restore will still be a rooted phone.
So if you want to restore to factory fresh - the ODIN one click is the way to go. It has the ROM and Odin all in one package. Other version of Odin allows you flash different ROMs.
Nandroid and RomManager are used to switch ROMs and restore all on the phone - so you can install a new ROM, but then rollback to the old with all your configuration intact - this requires root.

That 200mb plan is going to be tough to stay within on the Captivate. The background syncing with google and mail app activity will chew up alot more than you think.
Your first concern with this phone will be how to control data, not whether or not to root.
I do think controlling the data use will be easier on the Captivate than it would be on the iPhone4.
For simplicity, I think SRE 1.2.1a does the best job of "remodeling" the phone.

Ok, thanks a lot for your answers guys, cleared up a lot of things.
I decided I wanted to root just so that I could make backups and install custom roms.
Also, about the data problem, I plan to have wifi on and 3g off most of the time. I don't really find 3g to be a necessity.
Also, is there a way to roll back to your previous ROM and keep all your apps? Or would you have to reinstall them fresh?

alphadog00 said:
Root if you need to - if nothing you want to do requires root, then don't bother.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this is much like there is a sexy girl in your room and people tell you to do nothing!!! People here tells you a lot of cool stuffs with being rooted, that changes "what you want to do"
PS: In my case I decided to wait until the 2.2 comes out. From now on, I just read this forum . However, I did root my phone and flash back to stock using Odin, just to see whether it is like original afterward (and it seems to be!). I believe I still have warranty with the phone then (can anyone confirm about that again for me???)

NeoXer0 said:
Ok, thanks a lot for your answers guys, cleared up a lot of things.
I decided I wanted to root just so that I could make backups and install custom roms.
Also, about the data problem, I plan to have wifi on and 3g off most of the time. I don't really find 3g to be a necessity.
Also, is there a way to roll back to your previous ROM and keep all your apps? Or would you have to reinstall them fresh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium backup, and maybe samsung kies, I know kies works for contacts, and media and synching to outlook. I thought it works for apps but I may be thinking of htc sync, I never really use either.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

cppc said:
Well, this is much like there is a sexy girl in your room and people tell you to do nothing!!! People here tells you a lot of cool stuffs with being rooted, that changes "what you want to do"
PS: In my case I decided to wait until the 2.2 comes out. From now on, I just read this forum . However, I did root my phone and flash back to stock using Odin, just to see whether it is like original afterward (and it seems to be!). I believe I still have warranty with the phone then (can anyone confirm about that again for me???)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you flashed back to stock no one knows you rooted so your warranty is safe.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

NeoXer0 said:
Ok, thanks a lot for your answers guys, cleared up a lot of things.
I decided I wanted to root just so that I could make backups and install custom roms.
Also, about the data problem, I plan to have wifi on and 3g off most of the time. I don't really find 3g to be a necessity.
Also, is there a way to roll back to your previous ROM and keep all your apps? Or would you have to reinstall them fresh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clockwork mod will let you create rom backups along with you app data
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

[Q] noob about to root and lag fix. advice wanted

Hi all, I hope you're not all tired of another noob posting up how-to questions. I come from a pretty solid background of writing modified firmware packages Motorola and Blackberry units, and writing custom themes for them both, so I am a bit familiar with the processes involved in rooting. Android is an entirely new beast though. I love it already, but I've also identified some things I'd love to be able to change. I've been reading everything I can in these forums for the past week, and I think I might be nearly ready to start diving into the root world. Yes, I've used the search a LOT Before I do root though, I wonder if you all might be able to add some insight into a few questions I haven't found the answers to thus far:
My rooting goals: remove the AT&T bloatware, possibly do a lag fix, and above all, do it the safest way possible. Baby steps first for me.
1) Rooting methods: Should I do the manual way, I found in that pdf guide on this site, the "GalaxyS_One-Click_Root_All_Models.zip" method, the mystery "update.zip" folder method, or the "one click root lag fix" method? Which is the safest and most tried and true for Stock 2.1 f/w, Baseband I897UCJH7? Also, what would be the best method to use if I wanted later to unroot?
2) Lag fixes: I've read that lag fixes can cause major problems when trying to undo them later on. Is there a lag fix that works well that is safer than others to load that can be removed easily? Are lag fixes even worth it?
3) Odin3: Am I correct in assuming that since I have JH7 that the most recent version of Odin is not capable of fully restoring my phone back to stock? I've been seeing posts from many people say that even using Odin, their phones get stuck during the revert process and cannot get back to stock. This is probably my biggest concern of all, in case I brick my phone. I've done that a LOT of times with Motorolas, and it's not a bit of fun trying to restore them.
Thanks very much in advance. Best wishes to all

The first piece of advice I have is make sure you have a cappi that you can get into recovery and download modes via the button combinations - if you can do this then you will be able to recover to a working configuration from just about any situation.
second, make sure you want to do this, because as you can get back to a "stock configuration" once you begin applying lag fixes or custom roms you will not likely be ever able to get back to your own stock configuration.
As for which rooting method - I have used and update zip and ryanza OCLF to root. Both of these methods are easy to unroot - at least until you begin applying lag fixes and/or custom roms.
If you are sure you want to move forward and root the very first thing you should do after rooting before you do any lag fixes or remove any bloat is get clockwork rom manager. Learn how to use rom manager and make a full nandroid backup of your phone before you do anything. If you have a good nandroid backup saved in a safe location then you can use this to get back as close as possible as you can to your own stock configuration later on.
Oden3 will get you back to a stock jf6 configuration. This will not be your stock configuration, but it is a working stock configuration.
Lag fixes do improve the lag in the file system some. However, before you play with any of them educate yourself as much as you can about the particular one you are going to try and use. I have applied both OCLF and voodoo and have been able to remove both of them. But if you don't follow the steps correctly you can have problems - after all with the lag fixes you are reformatting part or all of your data partition where the os is residing which is inherently risky. You can easily lose data and even soft brick your phone forcing you to use Oden3 to get back to a working state.
Lastly, I am running Cognition 2.2 beta 5 very successfully - and I do recommend it for anyone that has entered the rabbit hole of modifying this phone. And with my current config my phone is running so well that the lag fix is not needed for me anyway. My phone is running smooth and fast.
P.S. Just make sure you are not going to have any major regrets if things go wrong before you do anything at all, because any and all of these steps have some amount of risk associated with them. Make sure you are prepared for dealing with voiding your warranty and even though it is hard to brick this phone, it could still happen so be ready for that too should it happen.

i would agree, go with cognition 2.2. i only had my captivate for a day, and found it very easy to get it installed without any hassle.

Thanks for the info all. I've read about Cognition a fair bit and was wondering if I ought to go for it. What are the differences between it and the standrd Froyo leak?
A more pressing question: If I went to Cognition 2.2, would I be able to easily get the official release OTA and install it normally when/if it becomes available? Are there step-by-step guides out there for getting that release onto and off of the phone? I'd hate to get Cognition on there and find out that i couldn't easily get it back to a state where I could get the full deal on there. I've read some horror stories about just that lately...

charging rhinos said:
Thanks for the info all. I've read about Cognition a fair bit and was wondering if I ought to go for it. What are the differences between it and the standrd Froyo leak?
A more pressing question: If I went to Cognition 2.2, would I be able to easily get the official release OTA and install it normally when/if it becomes available? Are there step-by-step guides out there for getting that release onto and off of the phone? I'd hate to get Cognition on there and find out that i couldn't easily get it back to a state where I could get the full deal on there. I've read some horror stories about just that lately...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are wanting to get OTA updates then I wouldn't even root your phone - while it is possible to still get OTA's after rooting, once you begin modding (lag fix, or custom rom) you oare increasing making your phone less and les compatible with any OTA available.
NOTE: I personally will not ever apply an OTA myself - but rather will wait for someone else to create a custom mod of any OTA feature I like - them donate that dev a few dollars and use their mod.

Im getting my cap this Friday, I was going to post the same thing OP. Looks like cog 2.2 is the way to go when i get it.

[Q] Please Verify Knowledge of Rooting - lots of questions

I’ve just updated from MoDaCo’s 1.5 ROM to the CM6 2.2 ROM and since it’s been so long (over a year) since I’ve rooted my phone and dived into all the information involved in doing so. Back then it wasn’t as easy as it is now with some of these rooting methods. In fact I remember it being a real mess ha. (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583291)
So basically, I’ve managed to do quite a lot of things and I want to help a friend out but I want to make sure all my info is right.
ALL of this is basically on giant question. I just word it as if I know what I’m talking about. But please help me correct everything that is wrong (and I know there is a lot), help answer some of my questions, and even let me know where I’m right. I didn’t type everything up as questions so that it reads easier. If I need to repeat some sections to get clarification I can.
Customizing you Phone
The first step is to gain root access via installing (flashing) a recovery program (image).
This program (image) is only accessible via boot (boot into recovery). It allows you to make a back-up of the phone in its entirety, restore said back-ups, allow PC access connectivity (via USB), flash programs/files (“installing” in a sense), partition an SD card, perform various wipes, and some miscellaneous things.
Ok – I’ll pause here to get some info. Wipe Data/Factory Reset; this means erasing everything off the phone and it resets the current ROM back to its native state. Wipe Dalvik-cache… I’m not sure what this does exactly but I assume it has something to do with the programs installed or the SD card. Furthur, why would I want to ‘wipe battery stats’ or ‘rotate settings’ ? And wipe SD:ext partition has to do with Apps to SD?
Also, when you do these wipes and flashes and re-do your phone from scratch, the only thing that is never touched is the recovery image. It’s fair to say, when you flash the recovery image during your rooting, it’s the only set in stone thing on your phone… that is until you re-root your phone or flash an alternate recovery.
Apps2sd – When I first rooted my phone and installed MoDaCo’s ROM, I ventured into the land of Apps2sd. This too was a PAINFUL process partitioning my SD card and learning all about the ext2/3/4 and I’ve already forgotten everything. After going through all that to clear up what little space I had on my Hero, I then read all kinds of people saying Apps2SD is bad cuz it’s slow and blah blah. So I took it off. Now it seems that Google has made an Apps2sd native? I just need updated on the whole Apps2sd thing both in general and for the Hero.
Ok – Back. Some of the things you can flash are custom ROMs (a ROM is the Operating System essentially), data that tells the computer to work differently such as custom kernels (what makes the phone work, basically communication between hardware and software), new radios (what retrieves and uses signals), and battery stuff (what would it be called? “Battery kernel info”? haha). You can even flash programs right to the phone (apk files).
The biggest reason to root your phone, is to install a custom ROM. Custom roms typically cut out a lot of bloat that the stock OS would have such as un-removable programs (Sprint NFL and NASCAR… Thanks but no thanks Sprint) and OS things. Many developers have even tweaked ROMs to optimize performance and battery life. Why would the stock ROM not do this? And why would it seem the dev’s (developers) making custom ROMs are better than the devs at Google/Sprint/Samsung/etc.? Certain applications also require rooted phones (or just simple ‘root’) due to their extended abilities or required securities (such as WaveSecure?).
Reminder – everything is a question even tho some things have ‘?’ and some don’t. I know that I do not know what I’m talking about. I just want to confirm what I do know, and learn where I’m wrong!
Now some straight up questions:
When you get a custom recovery, ROM, and kernel on your phone… you’ve just about altered all major parts of your phone (software speaking of course)?
When you want to put on a custom ROM, you first wipe everything then flash the ROM. Then you may flash additional items such as gapps (google applications pack), custom Kernals, etc. When you want to change roms, do you have to undo everything and start from scratch and put new gapps back on, a new kernel, etc? What about just updating a ROM? What if you have a ROM you like, but just want to un-install(un-flash) gapps – possible?
[*]So example, If I needed something I forgot on an old setup – like a text message or file from EasyNote, I would have to nandroid backup, wipe everything, flash old ROM and additional files, restore OLD nandroid, grab the files, wipe everything, flash back newer ROM and additional files, restore new nandroid that was just created to be back where I started? (I actually have to do this too haha – want to make sure that’s right.) Basically I’m making sure I’m right about nandroid. It back’s-up all data and setting type files for current ROM?​
What would happen if I tried to restore a nandroid back-up created during another ROM?
MoDaCo’s old custom ROM had WaveSecure installed with it so that it could not be removed. Is it possible to still do this with other ROMs?
Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps? Is there something wrong with them?
Back when I first tried learning all this a year ago, the Hero’s messaging app was known to be a real battery-eater and never slept so it was recommended to switch to a 3rd party and disable the stock app’s notifications. What’s the development on that?
I still have a whole paper full of other questions, but I think this is already getting loooong… so I’ll leave it here for now. The point of all this is to yes, educate myself so that I may help others…. But I plan on writing up a real all-inclusive guide to android and rooting and the like. I’ve searched a lot and learned a lot, but nowhere (including the wiki) did I find a nice, chronological guide of information. Hopefully I can fill that niche once I know exactly what I’m talking about, and even then I’ll need some peeps to clean my stuff up a bit. I also happen to be a filmmaker so I’d like to make a good video on this as well. It won’t be one of those videos where you can barley understand the person talking, shot in the basement with all the lights off, camera held in hand and shot with web-cam, etc. (Note: Just today I saw the XDA-TV post… sorry I missed it) D:
LAST NOTE:
Ok I promise I’m almost done. I just wanted to say that if anyone would not mind talking on the phone… I would love to just blow through this stuff a lot faster and be able to have a convo with some 1 on 1 feedback allowing me to get lots of questions answered. Even just 10 minutes would help me out tons! So if anyone who is a genious on this stuff (like devs… ) and wouldn’t mind chatting for a few – please PM me. I can do Skype as well.

I hope someone will take the time to answer you, it will help me too LOL. Last thing I rooted was the G1 years ago, & just yesterday rooted the Hero (& flashed CM6 today) I got off of Craigslist. Seems like some phones have better wikis than others.
I haven't been in the rooting/flashing game for a while since I've owned tons of different devices before & after the G1. Since then the only flashing I did was flashing Android onto a WM device LOL. Never bothered flashing the Vibrant, Epic, or Evo (sold, sold, & sold.)
Anyway, yeah, I hope someone answers! You have my support!

Root and recovery are two totally separate things - you can root your phone and not flash a recovery, it's totally up to you. Root gives you access to things on your phone, that you would otherwise not have - like flashing recovery, ROM(s), apps that need root access, etc. Goto the wiki there's a link which gives a high level idea of what root gives you.
Recovery - gives you features such as Nand backup/restore, wipe cache, dalvik-cache, flash stuff (ROMs, kernels, etc.,)
Apps2SD - allows you to install apps to the SD card. If you are using android 2.2 or above, this feature is available natively, so you don't need something line apps2sd
Now, answers to your "Straight up questions..."
1. Yes, once you root, flash recovery, flash ROM... you have altered your phone from a software stand point. You can return it to "out-of-the-box" state by running any official RUU provided by HTC/Sprint (for HTC Sprint Hero)
2. This varies from ROM to ROM, you should read the specific instructions provided by the ROM builder. About removing gapps, it is pretty easy to remove any apps once you have root access - read up the wiki or search for removing apps
3. Depends on what you want to get back - for all your daily needs, there are backup applications that can help you backup stuff from the phone, which you can then restore, once you have the app running and backup available
4. If you restore a nand backup, it will put your phone to a stage when you had created the backup
5. You will have to read up about MoDaCo ROM, that is a ROM specific thing
6. There's nothing wrong about the gapps - not sure what you are referring to
7. There are multiple messaging apps - handcent, chomp, google voice, etc. It all depends on your personal preferences
I would honestly recommend you to search on the forums and also visit the wiki. There's a whole lot of information about everything here. Also, Hero being a bit old phone, more often than not, the problem you might be facing... might have been already answered. Yes, it is time consuming, but will surely help you. The more you read, the comfortable you will feel.
Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help you further. Again, I started the same way as you, rooted the phone, flashed CM6, played around, something went horribly wrong, then had to RUU, root, flash... everything. But, that taught me a lot.
Enjoy!

So basically, I’ve managed to do quite a lot of things and I want to help a friend out but I want to make sure all my info is right.
Customizing you Phone
The first step is to gain root access via installing (flashing) a recovery program (image).
This program (image) is only accessible via boot (boot into recovery). It allows you to make a back-up of the phone in its entirety, restore said back-ups, allow PC access connectivity (via USB), flash programs/files (“installing” in a sense), partition an SD card, perform various wipes, and some miscellaneous things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure which phone you are working with, but I'm pretty sure, as a general
rule, you need root before you can flash the recovery image. Could be mistaken
on that, but that's how it was for my hero. Once you have the recovery image
flashed, you are correct, you can make and restore backups, you can access
the phone's internal storage and SD card, push/install apps, remove apps, etc.
Ok – I’ll pause here to get some info. Wipe Data/Factory Reset; this means erasing everything off the phone and it resets the current ROM back to its native state. Wipe Dalvik-cache… I’m not sure what this does exactly but I assume it has something to do with the programs installed or the SD card. Furthur, why would I want to ‘wipe battery stats’ or ‘rotate settings’ ? And wipe SD:ext partition has to do with Apps to SD?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wipe/Factory Reset basically formats the various partitions in the phone's
internal memory, if you do a wipe and reboot your phone, you'll boot loop, as
the phone no longer has an operating system. To restore back to original,
you would need to use an official RUU as andythegreenguy stated. You can
get the official rom upgrades (RUU's) from your carrier's website.
I'm still learning a lot of this myself, but the Dalvik-Cache is basically the OS's
cache, which has files randomly dumped into it and removed from it. Wiping
the Dalvik-Cache is beneficial (and sometimes required) when making
modifications to your rom. It can help improve your performance under some
circumstances, but will make your phone boot slower while the cache is being
recreated. SD:EXT only applies if you have partitioned your SD, for example,
to be used with Apps2SD. If you have no EXT partition, you can't format it.
If you are using Apps2SD, and have partitioned your SD card, this will erase
the EXT partition.
As a general rule that I follow, whenever I am making major changes, and
especially when I am flashing between different roms, I wipe everything, and
repartition/format my SD card. This helps me to know that any problems I run
into are not caused by something from a previous rom that didn't get erased.
I've never messed with wiping rotate, but wiping battery stats can be useful.
Lithium batteries have a little controller board that basically stores the battery
state. Sometimes this can get messed up, and a perfectly healthy battery will
think it's out of power a lot faster than it should. Resetting the battery info
can sometimes fix this issue. A recommendation I saw was to run your battery
down, reset the battery state, let the phone die, then do a full charge/discharge
cycle. Never had to do this, myself..
Also, when you do these wipes and flashes and re-do your phone from scratch, the only thing that is never touched is the recovery image. It’s fair to say, when you flash the recovery image during your rooting, it’s the only set in stone thing on your phone… that is until you re-root your phone or flash an alternate recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorta.. hboot and the radio are both beyond the recovery, and messing with
either of those without knowing what you are doing can cause your phone to
become a brick. Any recovery you flash should remain in place unless you use a
RUU, flash a different recovery, flash a rom that includes a different recovery,
(haven't run across that except for the RUU's), or mess with the MTD partitions.
Apps2sd – When I first rooted my phone and installed MoDaCo’s ROM, I ventured into the land of Apps2sd. This too was a PAINFUL process partitioning my SD card and learning all about the ext2/3/4 and I’ve already forgotten everything. After going through all that to clear up what little space I had on my Hero, I then read all kinds of people saying Apps2SD is bad cuz it’s slow and blah blah. So I took it off. Now it seems that Google has made an Apps2sd native? I just need updated on the whole Apps2sd thing both in general and for the Hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps2SD is fine, any speed issues would primaryly be loading delays on slower
SD cards. Apps2SD also requires your SD card to be properly partitioned. The
Apps2SD that is in Android 2.2 is a little different, in that from my nderstanding,
it uses the Fat32 partition on the SD card, and thus does not require you to
partition your SD card. It is also to my knowledge only available on roms based
on Android 2.2.
A lot of custom roms have some form of Apps2SD now, but they require you to partition the SD card, and, as far as "speed" issues, I have ran my apps from
a class 2 card just fine, but moving the Dalvik-Cache to the SD card will cause
lag if you have a slow card. Class 4 or higher is recommended for moving your
cache.
Ok – Back. Some of the things you can flash are custom ROMs (a ROM is the Operating System essentially), data that tells the computer to work differently such as custom kernels (what makes the phone work, basically communication between hardware and software), new radios (what retrieves and uses signals), and battery stuff (what would it be called? “Battery kernel info”? haha). You can even flash programs right to the phone (apk files).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, you can flash ROMS, Kernels, Radios, apps (if packaged properly),
apk files that aren't packaged in an update.zip will either have to be pushed
via ADB, or can be installed from your SD card with a file manager.
The biggest reason to root your phone, is to install a custom ROM. Custom roms typically cut out a lot of bloat that the stock OS would have such as un-removable programs (Sprint NFL and NASCAR… Thanks but no thanks Sprint) and OS things. Many developers have even tweaked ROMs to optimize performance and battery life. Why would the stock ROM not do this? And why would it seem the dev’s (developers) making custom ROMs are better than the devs at Google/Sprint/Samsung/etc.? Certain applications also require rooted phones (or just simple ‘root’) due to their extended abilities or required securities (such as WaveSecure?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as the biggest reason to root your phone, I would have to say that the
answer to that would vary from person to person. Most users root to install
custom roms, but rooting gives you full control of the operating system. Since
android is Linux, having root access on your phone will allow you to change the
things that you otherwise could not. Utilities like Titanium backup can be used
to back up and restore your apps and data, performance benefits are always
a huge consideration. Companies like HTC and Sprint don't take performance
concerns into consideration because they are providing a product that is in their
opinion disposable, and "generic enough" for most users. Asking why they don't
fix the performance issues is like asking why every car on the road can't run 160
miles per hour while getting 40 miles per gallon. Some people don't care to have
the fastest, most efficient phone, and some people can't stand having sluggish
and unresponsive phones.
Now some straight up questions:
When you get a custom recovery, ROM, and kernel on your phone… you’ve just about altered all major parts of your phone (software speaking of course)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With a recovery, rom, and kernel, you've flashed all of the major software components
that you will be concerned about. Performance gains are all found in the ROM
and Kernel, and so most people have no need to go further than that. Basically,
think of the Kernel as the brain, and the ROM as the rest of the operating system
The recovery is important, but is transparent to the function of the phone once
everything is up and running.
[*]When you want to put on a custom ROM, you first wipe everything then flash the ROM. Then you may flash additional items such as gapps (google applications pack), custom Kernals, etc. When you want to change roms, do you have to undo everything and start from scratch and put new gapps back on, a new kernel, etc? What about just updating a ROM? What if you have a ROM you like, but just want to un-install(un-flash) gapps – possible?
[*]So example, If I needed something I forgot on an old setup – like a text message or file from EasyNote, I would have to nandroid backup, wipe everything, flash old ROM and additional files, restore OLD nandroid, grab the files, wipe everything, flash back newer ROM and additional files, restore new nandroid that was just created to be back where I started? (I actually have to do this too haha – want to make sure that’s right.) Basically I’m making sure I’m right about nandroid. It back’s-up all data and setting type files for current ROM?​[*]What would happen if I tried to restore a nandroid back-up created during another ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try to answer these in one shot. It's recommended that you always wipe
everything before installing a custom rom, except if the rom you are installing
is *SPECIFICALLY* an update for the rom you are running, and the dev states
that a wipe is not necessary. Generally, you want to make a nandroid backup,
wipe, install the rom, make sure everything is fine, nandroid, install the kernel,
check things over, rinse and repeat.
In my case, I generally return to configs that I've already tested, so I skip some
steps, but the order is ROM, Kernel, then the other parts.
If you forgot a text message from another rom, as long as you have the nandroid
you should be OK. You can boot into recovery, make a nandroid backup of your
current configuration, then wipe everything, restore the nandroid from the
old configuration, retrieve your message or data, Then you can reboot, wipe,
and restore the nandroid from the new configuration. Keeping multiple nandroids
can be userful if you are using an AOSP rom as your daily rom, since on the
Hero, to my knowledge, you can only update your PRL under a Sense based rom.
A lot of users will restore the sense backup to update their PRL, then restore the
AOSP rom.
[*]MoDaCo’s old custom ROM had WaveSecure installed with it so that it could not be removed. Is it possible to still do this with other ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never used WaveSecure, but as a general rule, if you can download the APK, you
should be able to install it on any rom.
[*]Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps? Is there something wrong with them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people like fat chicks, and some people don't. The argument about
gapps is akin to asking what's better, PC or Mac, Linux or Windows, sports cars
or station wagons. It's all personal preference. What's right for you might not
be right for your best friend.
[*]Back when I first tried learning all this a year ago, the Hero’s messaging app was known to be a real battery-eater and never slept so it was recommended to switch to a 3rd party and disable the stock app’s notifications. What’s the development on that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The messaging app had a bug that would lock the dialer and prevent the phone
from sleeping. This bug was supposedly fixed in the 2.1 update, but 2.1 also
introduced a whole plethora of other bugs. Some people still prefer third party
messenging apps, but I use the stock app with no issues. on a good day I can
get 27 hours on a charge, but I do a lot and so most days I get 12 hours or so.
Hope this has helped.
LAST NOTE:
Ok I promise I’m almost done. I just wanted to say that if anyone would not mind talking on the phone… I would love to just blow through this stuff a lot faster and be able to have a convo with some 1 on 1 feedback allowing me to get lots of questions answered. Even just 10 minutes would help me out tons! So if anyone who is a genious on this stuff (like devs… ) and wouldn’t mind chatting for a few – please PM me. I can do Skype as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This may sound strange from a guy with a cellphone, but I actually hate talking
on the phone. Feel free to send me a PM now and then with questions. If I know the answer, I'll help out.
I'm not as knowledgeable as any of the devs, I'm still learning all of this myself. My answers might not be
'correct', but they work for me. most things related to android have no 'correct' or 'definitive' answer, but
that's the beauty of a platform that can be customized to taste. We can all make recommendations, and
can even tell you our reasoning or logic behind them, but we can all also learn a few things.

andythegreenguy said:
Root and recovery are two totally separate things - you can root your phone and not flash a recovery, it's totally up to you. Root gives you access to things on your phone, that you would otherwise not have - like flashing recovery, ROM(s), apps that need root access, etc. Goto the wiki there's a link which gives a high level idea of what root gives you.
Recovery - gives you features such as Nand backup/restore, wipe cache, dalvik-cache, flash stuff (ROMs, kernels, etc.,)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah! So the recovery is a nice, built-into-phone way of flashing, whiping, etc; otherwise you would need to use the command prompt. (Correct?)
andythegreenguy said:
Apps2SD - allows you to install apps to the SD card. If you are using android 2.2 or above, this feature is available natively, so you don't need something line apps2sd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent. But does running apps from the SD card cause the apps to run slower or open slower? Should I keep primary apps or most commonly used apps on the phone or it doesn't matter?
andythegreenguy said:
If you restore a nand backup, it will put your phone to a stage when you had created the backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the Nand-Backup saves ALL information including flashed ROMs, Kernels, BatteryTweak, etc? What about information on the SD card especially not that apps can be moved there)?
andythegreenguy said:
There are multiple messaging apps - handcent, chomp, google voice, etc. It all depends on your personal preferences
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand this, but I just wanted to know If it's a mistake to be using the stock texting app - if the messaging app in CM6 is even the stock one. I have tried Chomp and Handcent and I actually love handcent, but it's just WAY to slow.
I have searched the forums and wiki quite a lot, thats how I got this far. I try to search for some as many things as I can, but it's just hard to get some real clarity on some things and especially the broad things. That's why I plan on taking the results of this thread and making a nice 'general' guide and possibly a video.
Thanks a lot andythegreenguy. Appriciate the help a lot
To moxlon69:
moxlon69 said:
you need root before you can flash the recovery image
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are right. I was a bit mixed up on that (even though I've done it twice! haha)
moxlon69 said:
Wipe/Factory Reset...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lot of good clarification there. Very good, thanks!
moxlon69 said:
Sorta.. hboot and the radio are both beyond the recovery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah. What is hboot? Had some trouble finding general info on it. What is there to know about the radio? I haven't done it nor think i need to, but isn't changing the radio just the same as flashing something? (http://geekfor.me/faq/flash-radio/)
moxlon69 said:
Apps2SD is fine, any speed issues would primaryly be loading delays on slower SD cards. Apps2SD also requires your SD card to be properly partitioned. The Apps2SD that is in Android 2.2 is a little different, in that from my understanding, it uses the Fat32 partition on the SD card, and thus does not require you to partition your SD card. It is also to my knowledge only available on roms based on Android 2.2.
A lot of custom roms have some form of Apps2SD now, but they require you to partition the SD card, and, as far as "speed" issues, I have ran my apps from a class 2 card just fine, but moving the Dalvik-Cache to the SD card will cause lag if you have a slow card. Class 4 or higher is recommended for moving your cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I have a 2.2 ROM... would I need to make a partition? I never read anything about needing it in CM6 threads. What was all the jazz about making different ext-s? Like 2, 3, or 4? I guess it's not relevant any more.
How do you move the Dalvik-Cache to SD?
Quick note:
AOSP and PRL are not on the wiki - not that many people don't know what they are... but why not?
Q: Why do some people talk so negatively about gapps?
A:Some people like fat chicks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said haha. The whole analogy was good.
Thanks a million moxlon69 - That helps out more than you can imagine. I'm going to begin working on a write up of all this, but I do still have lots of questions. I'll probably continue posting in this thread for a while to keep it simple... unless I have an embarrassingly stupid question I can't find an answer for then I'll PM ya!
Thanks again moxlon69 and andythegreenguy.
Edit: This thread is going to become the tl;dr thread! haha

One more try.
I know it's a lot of reading, but any help you guys can offer is much appreciated and will be returned in the form of a video. You could then just send all the newbies to the video and hopefully many of their questions will be answered.
I just don't want to make the video without being precisely accurate. I have more questions, but I should probably wait for the current queue of my questions to go down.
Thanks again for the help thus far!

First time using Android, please give some advices!

Hi all, in a couple of days time I will be receiving my first ever Android device, the Motorola Milestone. I've already done some research on the phone as well as on Android itself, and understood most of the necessary basics. However, there are still many things I don't understand quite yet, and would like some help with clarifying them.
My first question is regarding the custom roms. I myself have been a long time user of Windows Mobile so I know most of the stuff that is relevant to Android as well. From what I know, the bootloader on the Milestone is still locked, but people have found ways to load custom roms on it. Can someone link me to the guide on how to do this? Now before someone tell me to search on the forum or on Google (which I already have), I just want to point out that the ones I found seemed to be outdated, and that they're for older Android versions??
My 2nd question is, do custom roms like IceandFire or Froyomod come with their own custom kernels? Because I want to be able to overclock my phone, and if it comes installed with its own kernel then I don't want to risk bricking it by flashing another kernel on top of it......I hope that makes sense??
3rd question is, which rom is the best for speed and battery? I'm guessing it's IceandFire and it builds upon the latest CM7?
And lastly, are there any crucial apps that you guys recommend I should install, or any tweaks etc I should use?

chaoscreater said:
Hi all, in a couple of days time I will be receiving my first ever Android device, the Motorola Milestone. I've already done some research on the phone as well as on Android itself, and understood most of the necessary basics. However, there are still many things I don't understand quite yet, and would like some help with clarifying them.
My first question is regarding the custom roms. I myself have been a long time user of Windows Mobile so I know most of the stuff that is relevant to Android as well. From what I know, the bootloader on the Milestone is still locked, but people have found ways to load custom roms on it. Can someone link me to the guide on how to do this? Now before someone tell me to search on the forum or on Google (which I already have), I just want to point out that the ones I found seemed to be outdated, and that they're for older Android versions??
My 2nd question is, do custom roms like IceandFire or Froyomod come with their own custom kernels? Because I want to be able to overclock my phone, and if it comes installed with its own kernel then I don't want to risk bricking it by flashing another kernel on top of it......I hope that makes sense??
3rd question is, which rom is the best for speed and battery? I'm guessing it's IceandFire and it builds upon the latest CM7?
And lastly, are there any crucial apps that you guys recommend I should install, or any tweaks etc I should use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=983516
This is still the best way to get a custom ROM loaded up onto your phone. What you want to start with is flashing the vulnerable recovery from http://android.doshaska.net/rootable by using RSD Lite. To do so, you need to put the phone into Bootloader mode (power+Dpad-up) You can google RSD Lite, make sure you use the latest version along with the latest USB Driver version from Motorola.
RSD Lite is a very finicky program, if you have any errors flashing, your best bet would be to try this post: http://androidforums.com/droid-all-...hing-process-0x7100-rsd-lite.html#post1274587
Once you flash the VR (vulnerable recovery), you will want to put OpenRecovery on your SD Card. I recommend using OR 1.46 and placing FuFu's minimod on the SD Card as well. It will overwrite existing files in OR (look for it in Milestone Development). From here you can root the phone in OR (by using power+x, then camera+volume up) and reboot, backup all data you want saved, before flashing a ROM.
Once that is done, get the custom ROM that you want (I find speed + battery can be Cronos, CM7 or FroyoMOD for a Froyo ROM) and place it in OpenRecovery/updates. You will also want the most up-to-date version of Google Apps for Cronos or any Gingerbread ROM (except MIUI).
Gapps: http://goo-inside.me/gapps/gapps-gb-20110613-signed.zip
Now, turn the phone off, and put it into recovery mode (power+x, then camera+volume up), select apply update.zip and you are now into OpenRecovery.
Here is where you will flash your custom ROM and Gapps. Wipe both cache partition and dalvik cache, then wipe all data. Select Apply Update under Miscellaneous Menu and select the ROM you want. Once it is done, wipe both caches (not data) and flash Gapps. Wipe caches again. Finally, change the baseband to your country and reboot.
The first reboot will take a while, as the ROM is configuring itself for first time use.
That is how to flash a custom ROM and get started.
2- Custom kernels are not available for Milestone, as our bootloader is locked. Overclocking the phone is done through the 10overclock file in system/etc/init.d . All ROMs that I know of are overclock, most to 1GHz (from 550MHz). You will not be able to flash any kernels, and DO NOT try ROM Manager, it will temporarily brick your phone.
Crucial apps, I would say are Root Explorer, TitaniumBackup. Those are the two that are very useful for root users, if you flash multiple ROMs or need to access system files.
Hope this helped.

awesome, thanks for the reply mate!
Hmm 2 things i'm confused with. Isn't there an app called "Milestone Overclock" that lets u overclock without installing custom kernels?
Also, from what I know you need to have the bootloader unlocked in order to install custom roms. I already know that Motorola is still keeping the bootloader locked and that as of now, there isn't a way to unlock it. Then how come we can install custom roms?
Also, since you mentioned ROM Manager, I did a quick search and it seems to be able to manage multiple custom rom installs that you have. But then you said don't try it or it will brick the phone, so I don't understand whether I can install it or not?? Personally, I love testing out different roms as well as new builds. It would be nice to dual boot or choose between different roms to use. But i'm not sure whether I want to go forward with this since your comment implies to me that I shouldn't install Rom Manager?
Lastly, this is the part I found most confusing with Android (or with Windows Mobile as well). I found some guides that tells you to install Clockwork Recovery Mod or something like that. Some of them even mentioned using Nandroid or something. There seems to be different methods & tools/softwares for different devices (or even the same device) and it can be confusing to keep up with them. My question is, are there major differences between them? Which one is better and should I keep them up to date?

chaoscreater said:
awesome, thanks for the reply mate!
Hmm 2 things i'm confused with. Isn't there an app called "Milestone Overclock" that lets u overclock without installing custom kernels?
Also, from what I know you need to have the bootloader unlocked in order to install custom roms. I already know that Motorola is still keeping the bootloader locked and that as of now, there isn't a way to unlock it. Then how come we can install custom roms?
Also, since you mentioned ROM Manager, I did a quick search and it seems to be able to manage multiple custom rom installs that you have. But then you said don't try it or it will brick the phone, so I don't understand whether I can install it or not?? Personally, I love testing out different roms as well as new builds. It would be nice to dual boot or choose between different roms to use. But i'm not sure whether I want to go forward with this since your comment implies to me that I shouldn't install Rom Manager?
Lastly, this is the part I found most confusing with Android (or with Windows Mobile as well). I found some guides that tells you to install Clockwork Recovery Mod or something like that. Some of them even mentioned using Nandroid or something. There seems to be different methods & tools/softwares for different devices (or even the same device) and it can be confusing to keep up with them. My question is, are there major differences between them? Which one is better and should I keep them up to date?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried Milestone Overclock, but I never really used it to overclock the phone. I prefer changing the voltages and speeds with the 10overclock file. If you read the description of Milestone overclock, it "tricks" the kernel into thinking it's supposed to run at a certain speed.
ROM Manager and Clockwork Recovery Mod do not work on Milestone. The only recovery that works with the Milestone is OpenRecovery or Androidiani OpenRecovery. Unfortunately, the only way to flash the ROMs is through OR or AOR, so you will have to repeat the processes every single time. I have gotten used to where all of the options are for FuFu's Minimod, so I am able to do it quite efficiently
The best way to backup a ROM, system data and the such is by Nandroid backup. That is the only sort of backup that you can do. It is recommended to do one every time you flash a custom ROM, but I only did it after I rooted and before I flashed my first custom ROM. You can do it through OR. That is the only way that will work. CWM and ROM Manager will just temp brick the phone and you will have to reflash a stock SBF all over again.

i see.....in that case there's no way to install 2 different roms to allow dual booting then? What about the app "Boot Manager", will that work? I found it on this site here:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ted-user-should-know-about-part-4-apps-26-33/
One last question, I came across this popular app that is recommended by many Android users, called Apps2SD. My understanding to this is that by default, any apps/games that you install on your device will install to the internal memory, and that this Apps2SD app basically lets you install to your memory card? So my question is, does this lag the phone somehow? I like to have many apps and especially games installed on my phone, would doing this affect the performance or something? I know this is the case for Windows Mobile, but not sure about Android.....

chaoscreater said:
i see.....in that case there's no way to install 2 different roms to allow dual booting then? What about the app "Boot Manager", will that work? I found it on this site here:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...ted-user-should-know-about-part-4-apps-26-33/
One last question, I came across this popular app that is recommended by many Android users, called Apps2SD. My understanding to this is that by default, any apps/games that you install on your device will install to the internal memory, and that this Apps2SD app basically lets you install to your memory card? So my question is, does this lag the phone somehow? I like to have many apps and especially games installed on my phone, would doing this affect the performance or something? I know this is the case for Windows Mobile, but not sure about Android.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I follow AndroidPolice as well. I don't know about Boot Manager, I heard about it, but I haven't heard any reviews of it yet.
Two things when it comes to phone storage and apps on the Milestone: Old hardware makes for a lot of games to not work at all, and low phone storage space.
Almost every ROM comes with apps2ext support, which is a more advanced version of Apps2SD. You can follow this tutorial here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10994672&postcount=226
Apps2ext will trick your phone into thinking space on the SD Card (the ext partition) is actually part of the phone's internal memory. You will be able to get a lot more apps on the phone this way.

Ahh cool, that saves me the trouble of me having to install an extra tweak.
Hmm I know Milestone is old, but not that old is it?? I don't know of any games now days that require heavy hardware specs or anything......i'm just hoping that emulators will work fine on it. I mean, my iPod Touch 3rd Gen only has about 120MB of free RAM, and the CPU is crap as hell and yet I could run GBA games like Pokemon or Golden Sun fine no problem (with sound of course). I'm hoping it'll at least work smoothly on the Milestone since I'll be attempting to overclock it to 1Ghz, which should run it significantly faster in theory.
BTW I found this great tweak for the CM7, here's the link:
http://chromloop.com/2011/07/how-to-make-cyanogenmod-7-for-milestone-a853-lighter-and-faster/
are there any ones similar to this? I'm a tweak junkie addict, I like to make my device run as smooth and as fast as possible. When I still had my HTC Touch Pro and Xperia X1, and even Nokia N900 (which uses Maemo 5), I tweaked the crap out of them and got more juice and power and made its performance so much better. I'm hoping I can at least do the same for the Milestone, except I couldn't seem to find many tweaks...
Oh lastly, I know one of the big problems with Android is fragmentation. There're already some apps out there in the Android market that are exclusive to certain Android versions. The same app has a version for Froyo (v2.2) and Gingerbread (v2.3). This is true for some of the mods or tweaks on XDA. So my question is, are custom roms like CM7 using Gingerbread? I'm guessing yes since it says 2.3.5? In that case, would I be able to simply install the latest mod/tweak or apps/games from XDA or the Android market? Or must I find the versions that is identical to mine?
E.g. if I install CM7, can I still install a mod that is for Froyo?

chaoscreater said:
Ahh cool, that saves me the trouble of me having to install an extra tweak.
Hmm I know Milestone is old, but not that old is it?? I don't know of any games now days that require heavy hardware specs or anything......i'm just hoping that emulators will work fine on it. I mean, my iPod Touch 3rd Gen only has about 120MB of free RAM, and the CPU is crap as hell and yet I could run GBA games like Pokemon or Golden Sun fine no problem (with sound of course). I'm hoping it'll at least work smoothly on the Milestone since I'll be attempting to overclock it to 1Ghz, which should run it significantly faster in theory.
BTW I found this great tweak for the CM7, here's the link:
http://chromloop.com/2011/07/how-to-make-cyanogenmod-7-for-milestone-a853-lighter-and-faster/
are there any ones similar to this? I'm a tweak junkie addict, I like to make my device run as smooth and as fast as possible. When I still had my HTC Touch Pro and Xperia X1, and even Nokia N900 (which uses Maemo 5), I tweaked the crap out of them and got more juice and power and made its performance so much better. I'm hoping I can at least do the same for the Milestone, except I couldn't seem to find many tweaks...
Oh lastly, I know one of the big problems with Android is fragmentation. There're already some apps out there in the Android market that are exclusive to certain Android versions. The same app has a version for Froyo (v2.2) and Gingerbread (v2.3). This is true for some of the mods or tweaks on XDA. So my question is, are custom roms like CM7 using Gingerbread? I'm guessing yes since it says 2.3.5? In that case, would I be able to simply install the latest mod/tweak or apps/games from XDA or the Android market? Or must I find the versions that is identical to mine?
E.g. if I install CM7, can I still install a mod that is for Froyo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course you still can. The best tweak for Milestone is under Android Hacking, it's zeppelinrox's supercharger script, which you run through Script Manager. That's the best you can get.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA Premium App

I thought custom roms like CM7 or IceandFire come with the supercharger script included?

chaoscreater said:
I thought custom roms like CM7 or IceandFire come with the supercharger script included?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some do, such as HO!NO!, but not all of them do.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA Premium App

Ok so I finally got my Milestone today!
I'm about to start rooting it and install CM7 on it. But before I do that, I have one important question. I know for Windows Mobile, almost all of the device requires you to do a hard reset after flashing a custom rom. I was wondering if the same needs to be applied to Android custom roms? Because it doesn't seem like it, I did a quick Google search and found this:
http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-...4-do-not-factory-reset-your-rooted-phone.html
So ya I'm not sure....
UPDATE:
Ok so I got my Milestone rooted, and installed CM7 on it. I came across a weird problem while doing it though. First of all, I'm using a 8GB Kingston microSD class 2, and it's brand new and hasn't been used before, so it obviously has nothing stored on it as it's empty to begin with. Ok, so as I followed the instructions, the first step is obviously rooting the Milestone, so I simply copied OpenRecovery to the memory card while my Milestone was connected to my PC. The weird thing is, when I opened "My Computer", I didn't see my memory card. Instead, I see "Milestone", so I opened it and then I see my memory card "Removeable Storage". I opened it again and here's the actual weird part, there're 2 files stored in it, called:
DevIcon
DevLogo
At first, I didn't think it was a problem because I thought they were just some dummy file or something. Also, the memory card is empty other than those 2 files. So after copying OpenRecovery to it and rooting it successfully, I then proceed to copy the CM7 custom rom file to the memory card. But this time, I still see the same thing. I don't see my OpenRecovery folder on it at all, there're no other files other than those 2 files on it. I tried Unmount and Mount in the SD Card settings, also unplugging my USB cable and re-plugging back in but it's the same. In fact, after 'Unmounting' the memory card, I couldn't even access it on "My Computer", as nothing shows up after I open "Milestone". Only 'Mounting' works, but again I only see those 2 files and nothing else.
HOWEVER, I then tried to take out the memory card and use my own microSD card reader, and bam I can see all the files on it, such as OpenRecovery and even the nanDroid backup that I made while following the instructions on that guide. So this is weird, why can't I access or see the contents on my memory card while the phone is connected to the PC??

I don't wanna create another topic for this since it's unnecessary, so here's my final question. In case something goes wrong in the future, what's the best way for me to revert back to stock?
I know I can use nandroid for this, but here's what i'm confused about. Nandroid makes a backup of the complete system, including the settings and apps installed correct? But what if you flash a custom rom, and then use a nandroid backup of the stock rom, will that still work? Or would you have to install the stock rom first for you to be able to use the nandroid backup?
Lastly, if the nandroid backup works regardless of whether you're using a different rom than the rom that the nandroid backup was made, then which option is better:
use nandroid to revert to stock, or using this guide here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11902513&postcount=7
Now I understand that for Milestone, custom roms are not actually flashed since the bootloader is locked. So would using nandroid be good enough?

chaoscreater said:
I don't wanna create another topic for this since it's unnecessary, so here's my final question. In case something goes wrong in the future, what's the best way for me to revert back to stock?
I know I can use nandroid for this, but here's what i'm confused about. Nandroid makes a backup of the complete system, including the settings and apps installed correct? But what if you flash a custom rom, and then use a nandroid backup of the stock rom, will that still work? Or would you have to install the stock rom first for you to be able to use the nandroid backup?
Lastly, if the nandroid backup works regardless of whether you're using a different rom than the rom that the nandroid backup was made, then which option is better:
use nandroid to revert to stock, or using this guide here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11902513&postcount=7
Now I understand that for Milestone, custom roms are not actually flashed since the bootloader is locked. So would using nandroid be good enough?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best way to revert to stock will be to flash an sbf for your region that will wipe everything. They have those sbf's on and-developers.
Sent from my Milestone using XDA Premium App

Ahh I see, so in what situations will we be using nandroid to restore from the backup?
Also, the SBF file i'm using is from the guide that you linked me in your 2nd post. I'm using the EUROPE one because apparently it covers most of the countries around Europe, which includes New Zealand (where I live). I've had no problems with it, but just then I checked out the AND-Developers site like you suggested, and found this here:
http://and-developers.com/sbf:milestone221
It doesn't seem to have New Zealand but it does have Australia, which is like a neighbour to us. Will it be better if I flash the SBF to that instead?
Also, will flashing a SBF change the radio? Or does only changing the baseband change the radio? Because i'm getting weak signals from 2G/3G sometimes, and my Wifi has problems sometimes not being able to connect properly. Either that, or it shows that i'm connected but i'm not getting any data, apparently a lot of people have problems like this after I did some searching around.

chaoscreater said:
Ahh I see, so in what situations will we be using nandroid to restore from the backup?
Also, the SBF file i'm using is from the guide that you linked me in your 2nd post. I'm using the EUROPE one because apparently it covers most of the countries around Europe, which includes New Zealand (where I live). I've had no problems with it, but just then I checked out the AND-Developers site like you suggested, and found this here:
http://and-developers.com/sbf:milestone221
It doesn't seem to have New Zealand but it does have Australia, which is like a neighbour to us. Will it be better if I flash the SBF to that instead?
Also, will flashing a SBF change the radio? Or does only changing the baseband change the radio? Because i'm getting weak signals from 2G/3G sometimes, and my Wifi has problems sometimes not being able to connect properly. Either that, or it shows that i'm connected but i'm not getting any data, apparently a lot of people have problems like this after I did some searching around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. when you're phone will not start anymore, it's good to have one before every new flash cause you never now what's gonna happen.
2. funny thing is i know where New Zealand is (not near Europe) . about the baseband ... yes every sbf has the region specific baseband 's (you cant flash a radio only change baseband 's).
baseband can be found on dexter's (http://dext3r.komodin.org/) page but they are already included in OR (not sure about fufu's). i can't be very precise because i don't remember.
custom rom's don't think they change baseband 's, (the .zip ones)

Ya ur right, NZ is not anywhere near Europe lol
but I did do some research on which SBF I needed before I flashed it, and I found out that the Europe SBF works for NZ as well, it was mentioned somewhere I can't remember.
About the baseband, I'm still a little bit confused. First off, I already know that you can change the baseband under OpenRecovery. The thing is, there are no options to change the baseband to New Zealand, so which one should I pick? Also, here's the part I'm confused about. You said that the baseband are region specific, and yet we can choose the baseband we want in OpenRecovery.
So since I flashed the SBF for Europe, what will happen if I then change the baseband to say Argentina (one of the options under OpenRecovery)? Will it crash or something?? I don't even know what baseband i'm using right now, I haven't changed anything, I only flashed the SBF for Europe and that's it. I can still go online using 2G/3G and txt no problem, but I'm just not sure if the baseband i'm using is suppose to be correct for New Zealand or not...
BTW just another side question (sorry I'm really new to the Android scene!):
I've found a few custom roms that doesn't use the current kernel we have for Milestone. As far as I know, the bootloader for Milestone is locked, therefore we can't properly flash a custom rom onto it, as well as replacing the kernel as well. So what I'm confused with is, if some of these custom roms don't use the current kernel on the system, then how does it work? Does it use its own kernel, and if so then shouldn't that replace the system's own kernel before it can be used??
Here's one of the custom rom topic where I read from, in case ur wondering:
This is the Froyo FRG22 image for our Milestone. but as this is not using the kernel, there are some limit to functions based on kernel requirement. But its close, and works great and is alot faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734802
The same goes for the custom roms. I don't understand how they can run on Milestone even though it's not properly flashed. Like some others have mentioned, the so-called "custom roms" that we have now are just a layer of image or skin on top of the stock rom. The weird thing is, it runs faster and most of the pre-installed stock apps that came with the stock rom are removed, thus giving us more space for internal storage. But how does this work if the custom roms haven't actually flashed onto our phone? Or did it overwrite/modify the files on the stock rom? If so, then isn't that just flashing onto the phone then?

chaoscreater said:
About the baseband
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
changing baseband's that are not supported by your network op will lead to no signal whatsoever.. i don't remember if there is a problem with only data. try other baseband, in theory it will not crash anything, so do a nandroid backup before
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=734802
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is an old post from "25th July 2010, 05:52 AM" moto started to leak kernel from January 2011 give or take a month, so back then froyo was used with the eclair kernel. kernel from milestone was never changed to other than moto signed, only modules loaded at an early stage, thanks to kabaldan/nadlabak and other if exists
custom roms =
moto kernel
kernel modules (this helps on overclock , app2ext ... others)
mods to system files, apps
hope you understand cause i don't know if i make it clear at the end of the post
edit:
The same goes for the custom roms. I don't understand how they can run on Milestone even though it's not properly flashed. Like some others have mentioned, the so-called "custom roms" that we have now are just a layer of image or skin on top of the stock rom. The weird thing is, it runs faster and most of the pre-installed stock apps that came with the stock rom are removed, thus giving us more space for internal storage. But how does this work if the custom roms haven't actually flashed onto our phone? Or did it overwrite/modify the files on the stock rom? If so, then isn't that just flashing onto the phone then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i doesn't make any sense, you will end up with no memory , only kernel remains, other things gets rewritten.
Code:
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/roaming/welcome-to-nz.jsp
this get out of what i know. with the frequencies,
basebands/frequency i have 900/1800
for data check if there is a problem with your apn settings

I see, thanks for your thorough explanation
Ya I know that changing my baseband will probably give me better signals, but I'm asking which one is best for Vodafone NZ because there isn't a baseband for New Zealand.
For the data part, were you talking about my wifi problem, and suggesting I check the APN settings? Don't worry that's been solved already. I flashed to the New Zealand v2.1 SBF and now it's working very stable. But like I said, after flashing to that I now have problems with connecting to my operator whenever I switch to 2G. However, 3G works fine so there's no problem with that.
BTW, I have another problem. After flashing to the New Zealand v2.1 SBF, I couldn't access my OpenRecovery anymore. I didn't delete or change any files on my memory card, so if I could access OpenRecovery and root my device as well as flash a custom rom when I was still on Froyo, then why can't I do it again when I flash to Eclair?
I *think* I know the reason, is it because it patched the vulnerable recovery or something? I think this is what I need to do to fix this:
http://android.doshaska.net/rootable
I haven't done it yet coz i'm busy these days, but i just need a confirmation so I know that it is indeed the case.

I *think* I know the reason, is it because it patched the vulnerable recovery or something? I think this is what I need to do to fix this:
http://android.doshaska.net/rootable
I haven't done it yet coz i'm busy these days, but i just need a confirmatio
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
true story . it should say something about eocd marker and fail.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=698059
For the data part, were you talking about my wifi problem, and suggesting I check the APN settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry... i don't know, last night i thought i read something else, about working 3g and 2g not ..must be the skittles... to much rainbow
i suggest finding out what country baseband are similar to New Zealand and flash/apply that one )

Planning to get back on OTA

So its been awhile since I flashed a ROM to my BIONIC. That was back before ICS was even released for the BIONIC. So I started looking at updating to one of the more stable ROMS that has way better performance that this stock one. Currently I have 6.7.232 on my phone and I would like advice on which ROMs are best for this device. I have looked into some such as Gameblur, Raging Bionic, and Icarus HD. Thus far I havent really decided on one but I have noticed that some of them are on Jelly Bean. I am not sure if I have to return to the OTA path to update to any of these. I also have Safestrap 3.11 installed. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks.

Any help out there?? Thanks.

HarielA4 said:
I have looked into some such as Gameblur, Raging Bionic, and Icarus HD. Thus far I havent really decided on one but I have noticed that some of them are on Jelly Bean. I am not sure if I have to return to the OTA path to update to any of these. I also have Safestrap 3.11 installed. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well Gameblur and Raging Bionic both require one to be on the 98.72.22 Moto 4.1.2 Jellybean update. Incarus HD however is ICS base and can be flashed with your current setup.
If you are destine to update your stock side I would first prep what you currently have on there right now. See this HERE for getting stuff ready.
I would backup anything on the internal storage before hand and make sure that you have a full battery.
You will find the proper FXZ files HERE. If you are on 6.7.2-223 update then use the one for 4.0.4. It would be easier to root again through the update process. After you have completed the restore processes and root through the HOB. Make sure you have VooDoo Root Keeper installed on your phone to back up Root and to disable Root. Then with a good Data connection you are going to take the update Via OTA. Once the update is complete and you are fully booted up. Use VooDoo to restore your Root and test using root explore or NoFrills CPU.

nobe1976 said:
See this HERE for getting stuff ready.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The link provided there has a post from the OP that states House of Bionic is discontinued and to use House of Moto. Should I do that?
Secondly I havent for sure decided which Rom I will be moving to. I feel that the interface I have been using is kinda laggy. I installed Next launcher to see if that made a difference and it was more responsive but still my system memory usage skyrockets after a couple hours and sometimes the only way to resolve it is to restart the device. Any recommendations as to which Rom I should move to?

HarielA4 said:
The link provided there has a post from the OP that states House of Bionic is discontinued and to use House of Moto. Should I do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try using the House of Moto stuff also depending on what you feel more comfortable on using. The HOM was desighned to have one interface for all Moto devices instead of each having its own individual setup. I would still use HOB for your purpose only because I don't know if he added in the script to root the device, which was made for ICS versions not JB hence the discontinued portion of it.
HarielA4 said:
Secondly I havent for sure decided which Rom I will be moving to. I feel that the interface I have been using is kinda laggy. I installed Next launcher to see if that made a difference and it was more responsive but still my system memory usage skyrockets after a couple hours and sometimes the only way to resolve it is to restart the device. Any recommendations as to which Rom I should move to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tested and played around with a lot of different ROMs and tweaks to find the one that I am ultimately satisfied with. Flying Jelly, well the name speaks for itself, Rage, and GameBlur (which I had minor help in) all work fine for there purpose.. One must pick and choose which one suits there purpose. So my suggestion would be to install SafeStrap 3.60, which is the latest updated one, and create a few slots and run each the same as you would Stock or any other firmware to measure which one suits your needs.....

In a previous post you wrote "If you are on 6.7.2-223 update then use the one for 4.0.4.". I went to the FXZ site and it shows that the 4.04 rom has version 6.7.223 on it already. I already have root. Why would I need to install the same version again and reinstall root to get on the OTA. I just want to make sure I understand this to avoid making mistakes. Thanks.

Then if you feel confedent that all will go well then just install Voodoo to backup and disable root. Take the OTA update and see if it will install. The most that will happen is that if it detects that something is missing from the current firmware you have the installation process will fail and reboot back into what you currently have. At that point you will have to FXZ your stock back to the way it was installed originally, root, then backup root and disable, then take the OTA. ICS is way easier to root then JB. I have kept Root before via OTA when I got it, so I know it Voodoo will keep the backup and install it..

nobe1976 said:
Then if you feel confedent that all will go well then just install Voodoo to backup and disable root. Take the OTA update and see if it will install. The most that will happen is that if it detects that something is missing from the current firmware you have the installation process will fail and reboot back into what you currently have. At that point you will have to FXZ your stock back to the way it was installed originally, root, then backup root and disable, then take the OTA. ICS is way easier to root then JB. I have kept Root before via OTA when I got it, so I know it Voodoo will keep the backup and install it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I miscommunicated what my question was. The instructions say to install the FXZ for the 4.0.4 that has the same version of Android OS that is currently installed. the further instructions say to install the OTA from verizon but everytime I check for an update nothing shows up on my phone. Where else can I get the OTA?
In addition I want to know what I should do about safestrap. Should I remove it before installing the OTA or is it fine to leave as is when I go to install the OTA?

OK... If you cannot even get Big Red to send you the update. You can fxz the update, but at that point you will loose root, but have the option to keep your current data. Go see House of Moto or House of Bionic over at droidrazr.com
As far as Safestrap I would just uninstall recovery through the app the reboot so it clears out before the fxz process.
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fyi I think he took House of Bionic down, didn't see a link. I can however attest that House of Moto worked perfectly fine. Flashed fresh .232 and VZW sent me the OTA (I tried voodoo rootkeeper before updating). I did lose root despite following all of the steps. To get it back your best bet is to boot up a live Ubuntu disc. I tried the VM that someone compiled but it kept failing.
PS: nobe1976, how the hell did you fit 3 ROMS on your phone? I can only fit one ROM (besides obviously stock). Wish we could install ROMs through safestrap to SD (internal or external).

mikemikemikexxx said:
fyi I think he took House of Bionic down, didn't see a link. I can however attest that House of Moto worked perfectly fine. Flashed fresh .232 and VZW sent me the OTA (I tried voodoo rootkeeper before updating). I did lose root despite following all of the steps. To get it back your best bet is to boot up a live Ubuntu disc. I tried the VM that someone compiled but it kept failing.
PS: nobe1976, how the hell did you fit 3 ROMS on your phone? I can only fit one ROM (besides obviously stock). Wish we could install ROMs through safestrap to SD (internal or external).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the Exploit I have been using the past few days.. HERE.
However Samuri didn't remove the HOB site, He just doesn't maintain it as much since HOM. Here is the LINK to that f needed.