Database Develop

Begginers Tips

Hi all, I wanted to start a thread for beginners like me to not get confused from all the similar threads and to keep it clean for instructions that are related for basic setting up the phone.
It would be nice to keep the first post updated with data that are 100% correct for any region or provider based phone.
So, to get started with me, i have read through the threads for a couple of days but still have some questions that hopefully someone will answer.
1) SIM-Unlock
I recently got my Mini from my provider Telenor in Serbia, and the first thing for carrier based phones someone will probably want is to SIM-unlock them. You can check if your phone is locked by entering *#7465625# in the dialer pad.
The cleanest and fastest solution that works 100% so far is from this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1335548
I used the second method since I'm on OSX and have no way of installing Android SDK but can find a hex editor ("Hex Fiend" ) that works under OSX.
2) ROM-Upgrade
For people that have SIM-free phones the first step may be upgrading to newer ROM(and since Ginger is the favorite ROM my guess that I don't need to write any info for Froyo based devices), my suggestion is that you download Official ROM-s from sammobile.com because they are guaranteed 100% clean and you can also find carrier based ROM-s if you mess something up and want to take your phone for warranty reparation.
How to update your phone to Ginger is described here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1255305
After the update it is recommended to do cache and data cleanup. And a hard reset by entering *2767*3855# in the dialer pad.
Go into restore mode(Power off your phone, hold Home and Power button), and when a menu comes up select "clear cache", and "clean data", select reset afterwards and wait for it to boot .
After this you are ready to go and explore Android OS
3) Install CWM
And that's it for people who want to just use their phone as an android device. But. If you want to get the maximum potential from your device custom ROM-s are a must. For flashing custom ROM-s you will need Clock Work Mod to be installed, which is described here
http://yagyagaire.blogspot.com/2011/09/installing-clock-work-mod-recovery-in.html
4) Custom ROM
Afterwards download the custom Rom of your choice from xda , the installation instructions may wary form ROM to ROM but they always are described in their threads( SO READ THEM CAREFULLY ), here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1318735
And here is where i stopper, and need further help from experienced people
My questions are:
1. After i installed the custom ROM, I need to repartition and reformat my sd-card to a different file system ex. ex-fat for faster performance using Clock Work Mod???
2. Do I have to do some zip-aligning and how???
3. How many partitions do i must have on my sd-card and what size/file system must they be??? ( i know one must be for swap, one for dalvik, and one to expand internal storage but I don't know how big and which file system).
4. I want to use a custom kernel for undervolting(no OC is needed) and thus i need to move the dalvik to sd card as far as I understood, is there a tutorial or is it intuitive from the app that is used to do this???

Bump, does anyone know any of the related questions?

1. After i installed the custom ROM, I need to repartition and reformat my sd-card to a different file system ex. ex-fat for faster performance using Clock Work Mod???
--> Two options:
-ClockWordMod Recovery.. CWM partitions the sd-ext in ext3 format. Also, swap can be partirioned here. Partitioning in CWM will reformat the whole sd card.
-If you want ext4 format, you can dowload Minitool Partition Wizard. I don't know if there is an OS X version though. If you can partition drives on OS X without 3rd party software, that's great.
2. Do I have to do some zip-aligning and how???
--> I don't think you have to zip-align it yourself. Depends on the ROM I think, it's probably a feature.
3. How many partitions do i must have on my sd-card and what size/file system must they be??? ( i know one must be for swap, one for dalvik, and one to expand internal storage but I don't know how big and which file system).
--> You need:
sd-ext (ext3 or ext4) - partition used to expand internal memory
fat/fat32 - normal partition
swap - depends on the ROM, CM7 by squad supports swap.. emanon v3 does not since it uses s2e, no option for swap..
--> Depending on the number of apps that you are planning to install, sd-ext can be 512MB or 1GB or 2GB. Swap value deplends as well, 32MB to 128MB, I think. I have not come across an article on what's the best value for this.
4. I want to use a custom kernel for undervolting(no OC is needed) and thus i need to move the dalvik to sd card as far as I understood, is there a tutorial or is it intuitive from the app that is used to do this???
--> did not find any.. not sure with other models.. for our mini, CM7 by squad has an undervolt option but not sure if it is working..

Nexus One internal storage low

So out of curiousity I backed up all of my apps using titanium backup and installed the new MIUI Rom based on ICS. It kept crashing because for some reason the internal storage filled up. Now I re-installed CM7.1, but my internal storage is again almost full.
My question is, what can I do? I moved ALL my apps to my SD card before I even installed MIUI and before I installed MIUI, I had 170mb free. Actually while typing this I realized that I guess MIUI didn't remove CM7 when it installed or something... hmm. Anyway any help is appreciated, and be gentle this is my first post.
Also android.process.acore keeps stopping.

did you wipe data/factory reset,cache and dalvik cache atleast 3 times before flashing new rom???
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

Do it 4x, just to be sure
Each apk (program) on your system has a corresponding entry in the dalvik-cache that gets generated from the .apk. If your storage (/data) filled up things are going to be broken in all sorts of ways, including the inability to make the dalvik caches. Since you didn't format between ROMs, you'll also run into permission issues and settings that don't make sense in the new ROM. Cyanogen uses an alternate location (/cache) for the dalvik-cache for system apps, I don't know if MIUI does, but that could be some of the difference in space. Duplicating data for the same .apks in different ROMs could've also filled up your space. It's best to format all the phone partitions to not worry about this stuff. Usually you're safe not formatting /sdcard, but some ROMs are picky. Some ROM install scripts don't format /system and that leads to BIG headaches. If you format all the partitions, then you don't need to worry about clearing user data/battery stats/dalvik-cache because that was already handled when you formatted the storage that contained that data.
tl;dr: Fix permissions after installing a new ROM. If the old and new ROMs are different enough, everything will still be broken because you made the android gods angry. Sacrifice (format) /system, /data, and /cache (and sd-ext if you have it) *before* installing the new ROM and things should be fine.

Haven't used MIUI for awhile, but didn't think it had an ICS version. There is one in XDA, but it is not stable and I think requires blackrose hboot and differnet partition sizes for hboot. It also runs a2sd on reboot i think?
CM7 uses Dark Tremor beta4, that's what I use. It needs flashed after rom and scripts run to move apps. Check out their site
As suggested format all including system and format sd card with sdformatter, full erase and size adjustment on and set up 1gb ext 0 swap
copy sdcard and have a good nandroid first

rugmankc said:
Haven't used MIUI for awhile, but didn't think it had an ICS version. There is one in XDA, but it is not stable and I think requires blackrose hboot and differnet partition sizes for hboot. It also runs a2sd on reboot i think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MIUI has both blackrose and non blackrose version of ICS
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

right, but one is unstable and he can't keep his ics partition if flashing non ics one

I've tried the latest versions and both br and non-br ones seemed have problem with data connectivity. Some others have experienced the same. Thought the dev's investigating it. But, previous version, i.e. 2.3.2, worked fine.
Try non-br 2.3.2 with 185/85/166 partition layout, that was great.
Sent from my Nexus One

Having similar issues with ICS MiUI which really seems rather unstable (v2.3.2), and going to flash the latest update from a few days ago (v2.3.9).
Any suggestions on how to deal with some of the stock MiUI "bloatware" that comes with it and seems stuck on the system ROM? A2SD is supposed to be enabled, but unless stuff I dowload off market/play or restore is deemed systems apps, which I doubt is the case, I can't seem to choose to move them to SD card or in this case the "USB Storage" (Sorry, my postcount's too low to post on the actual MiUI Dev thread)
Also, as a sidetrack, does anyone know how best I can sieve through my contacts storage/DB? recently I think i might've accidentally synched with my FB countacts and it seems to have bloated up to 16-18+Mb which is alot from the previous 10-12Mb or less from what I recall. Is there an app or something to help 'manage" it better or do I have to manually go through and get rid of excess contact info on the phone or from my Google contacts list?
Thanks in advance for any advice you guys might have.

[Q] Repartition internal memory for more space for applications

Hi everybody, I am currently trying to solve a problem with not having enough space for my applications on the N7000.
I consider myself a power user that uses many applications, and I do not really understand why a phone with 16GB internal storage and the possibility of an micro sd card, which I have allocates so little space to applications.
I have searched a lot on the internet and on this forum, and the only thing I could find was how to swap the internal memory with the micro sd card, which is not really what I would like to do. I trust more in the internal memory, and I prefer to have all my media (pictures, videos and documents on my micro sd card).
So the question is, can I increase the size of the data partition from 1.97GB to lets say 3 or even 4GB?
If yes, how could I do that?
Currently I am using 1.71 GB / 1.97 GB and I still get not enough space for applications when I am trying to update something like Facebook or any plus 20MB application.
Could anyone explain why this is happening?

I don't know any way to extend the internal data partition but in order to get more storage for apps I can recommend you the app Link2SD which uses a second partition on your external sd card. You can get it for free from play store and it's not really complicated. All you need to do is create that second partition on your sd card. I'd give it a try if I were you.
Sent from my revived Galaxy Note

This post explains how:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1887864
You need at least noob knowledge of adb (ie copy-pasting commands).
The second command was
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
rather than
parted /dev/block/mmcblock0
I've just done it on my Note.

giatros said:
This post explains how:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1887864
You need at least noob knowledge of adb (ie copy-pasting commands).
The second command was
parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
rather than
parted /dev/block/mmcblock0
I've just done it on my Note.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Please can you help me with repartitioning my samsung gal gtn7000 internal storage for me ?
Thanks

Hi,
I have the Note GT-N7000 with Android stock 4.1.2 and i'm not rooted.
I have a problem with my 1,97 GB partition which is full.
Does this method require root ?
I ever use root + Link2SD on anothers devices. Which methode do you recommend for the note to free up space ? Link2SD or this method ?
Are there others solutions ?
Thanks

I would go for rooting, repartitioning and installing a new kernal that supports trim and a new up to date ROM. I chose this method for my wifes N7000 as being able to TRIM the emmc chips has really brought it back to life, almost no lag normally, just like when it was new. I installed the latest NightOwl (it's really just Cyanogenmod but with extra bug fixes etc). First you need to repartition as http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2642299 though I followed a procedure (as I had already installed CM11 I had to go back to stock first) called "How to re-partition Galaxy Note and install Android 5.1.1", there is a link to it on one of the XDA threads I mention in this post and it is on the net (sorry can't find link now). Then I flashed NightOwl http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note/development/rom-t2938649 . This Kernal & ROM are patched so risk of bricking is not any(much) higher than normal I think (though you do this at your own risk). Also being able to choose smaller GApps package further reduced bloat for me.
The only drawback is if you use the Samsung apps a lot you will not be able to install then on new ROM as you need the Samsung framework, but there are altenative apps for all of them, though I guess if you need to import actual data into new apps that may not always be possible.
Just make sure you backup all your personal files, like whatsapp photos etc that are stored on internal SD (sdcard0) as this will be wiped. Also your IMEI settings (with an IMEI app), address books, calender etc
No need to worry about ROOT as you can easily turn it on and off in developer options, I only turn it on when I need to run an app that requires it, then turn off again for added security.

Thanks for your answer, i will check the repartition method you linked.

A question about CM7

I have this good old Nexus One for a long time and it does what it does .
Now I'am looking for something that is still on CM7 but just with the mail/contacts/calendar and the Play Store in it. More is just not necessary, I think.
When I look in the GApps archive for this Android version can I delete files which are not in relation to these services in this archive?
I tried newer roms and there were quite slow so I got back to the CM rom.
And if everything is slimmed, the partitions could be resized, too. So that there is more data storage available.
I partitioned the 8GB SD Card so that mounts2sd (or any other program for that case) can use this space. But as long I don'T use the other androids and stay on 2 that shouldn#t be neccesary. Just my opinion.

After many ROMs (ICS, JB and KK) installed on my N1 I reverted to GB. Now I use the phone in car (I have the original car kit) for GPS and video recording and only GB have the video camera fully functionally. So this is what I use Silverbot2 ROM

Thanks. But there is no feature list in which I can take a peek?

Unfortunately there is no log list... But try last version from 23.10.2013 and you'll see the features.

Can I "Blackrose" it to make more space for the Data partition?
Resize the System and Cache partition maybe?

Yes, I have 240/10 and rest but i think it´s working and 220/8

Q: Good ROM for Che2-L11 ?

Which ROM would you recommend for Honor 4X - Che2-L11 ( cherryplus, Kirin 620)? I need to fix my girlfriend's phone
She needs stable ROM with working radio (so Nougat from here won't work), headphones, good battery life and enough internal storage (or possibility to move apps to SD or use adoptable storage with microSD) for apps.
Android 4.4.2 was relatively fine, but it is old. Then we upgraded to stock 6.0 (B570), however she had problems with lack of internal storage - it was not possible to move apps to SD card (4.4.2 was better in that) and adoptable storage didn't work properly (apps are crashing, reporting not enough space, new apps can't be installed etc). Then we tried RROS on Nougat from ksrt12, where adoptable storage seems to work fine, but radio and headphones don't work and there is quite high battery drain (15% per night with data disabled).
Which ROM would you recommend?

lapist said:
Which ROM would you recommend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are OK with Android 6, you can try Modaco. This was the rom I used before I switched to RROS recently.
You should get a Class 10 SD card (32 Gb if possible). Install Apps2SD from play store and partition the card. First partition FAT32, second partition Ext4, then you move apps to SD card's second partition. (If you wish, you can create three partitions, and use one of them as 'adoptable storage'. I did that.) Modaco rom has a lot of free space on the system partition, so you can move many apps there, which also saves space. But apps that have been moved to system partition will be moved back to internal storage when they are updated.
I had so much free space that I never came close to filling up the storage. But I think regular XDA users would get kinda bored using this rom, as it is basically EMUI with a little bit stock feel.
The only things not working were the default clock and the compass. Clock you can just install another clock app from play store. Compass. .. I never found how to fix. Detecting headphones works and all the other hardware things, as this is basically a modified EMUI 4. I should also add that I don't know if you can flash this from RROS, as that would be "downgrading" from Android 7 to Android 6.

Bob1900 said:
If you are OK with Android 6, you can try Modaco. This was the rom I used before I switched to RROS recently.
You should get a Class 10 SD card (32 Gb if possible). Install Apps2SD from play store and partition the card. First partition FAT32, second partition Ext4, then you move apps to SD card's second partition. (If you wish, you can create three partitions, and use one of them as 'adoptable storage'. I did that.) Modaco rom has a lot of free space on the system partition, so you can move many apps there, which also saves space. But apps that have been moved to system partition will be moved back to internal storage when they are updated.
I had so much free space that I never came close to filling up the storage. But I think regular XDA users would get kinda bored using this rom, as it is basically EMUI with a little bit stock feel.
The only things not working were the default clock and the compass. Clock you can just install another clock app from play store. Compass. .. I never found how to fix. Detecting headphones works and all the other hardware things, as this is basically a modified EMUI 4. I should also add that I don't know if you can flash this from RROS, as that would be "downgrading" from Android 7 to Android 6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the advice. I see Modaco has 2 ROMs - EMUI style and Stock style beta. Which one did you use?
With use of Apps2SD, does it move all apps to Ext4 partition on the card, or just selected ones? Or is it basically just remapping internal storage to Ext4 partition on the card?
If I have just 16 GB card for this phone, how do you suggest to repartition it?
If there is so much free space on the system partition, isn't it possible to decrease size of system partition somehow and enlarge internal storage instead?

lapist said:
Thank you for the advice. I see Modaco has 2 ROMs - EMUI style and Stock style beta. Which one did you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It must have been the Stock style beta. I didn't know there was another version.
lapist said:
With use of Apps2SD, does it move all apps to Ext4 partition on the card, or just selected ones? Or is it basically just remapping internal storage to Ext4 partition on the card?
If there is so much free space on the system partition, isn't it possible to decrease size of system partition somehow and enlarge internal storage instead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apps2SD moves the files of apps to the SD card and creates symbolic links, so the system "thinks" the apps are still on the internal storage. In Apps2SD this process is called to link apps. Just so you know the terminology. It is very configurable, so you can choose which apps to move/link to the SD card.
What you describe, to repartition /system, sounds like a good idea, but I don't know enough about Android to say if it is possible. You would probably need some recovery program that can repartition the internal storage. Can TWRP do that? I don't know. This is above my league, sorry.
UPDATE: I found this guide for how to repartition the internal storage. But I haven't tried it.

I installed that MoDaCo EMUI style ROM, partitioned my SD card and made Apps2SD working. So far it looks fine.
However, does it still make sense to use MoDaCo EMUI ROM, which is based on B506 firmware, when there is B580 stock available? Yes MoDaCo has more internal memory free (3.28 GB vs 2.50 GB), but it has security patches only from March 2016, while B580 has July 2017 and who knows how good tweaks Huawei added since B506...

lapist said:
who knows how good tweaks Huawei added since B506...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have two Che2-L11 phones, and one of them was running B580 until a few weeks ago. The few small improvements Huawei added are not even worth the upgrade. However, if security concerns you, I would give RROS another try. About your headphones problem, I don't see why it should not work. It works on my phone. (Note three-conductor is detected and switched on, but not four-conductor.)

Bob1900 said:
I have two Che2-L11 phones, and one of them was running B580 until a few weeks ago. The few small improvements Huawei added are not even worth the upgrade. However, if security concerns you, I would give RROS another try. About your headphones problem, I don't see why it should not work. It works on my phone. (Note three-conductor is detected and switched on, but not four-conductor.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also don't know why headphones without microphone didn't work with RROS for us, but it can be also related to parts of firmware that are not flashed together with RROS and they remain from previous full firmware (like modem firmware, hifi.img, dsp.img etc). Also before we flashed RROS, we had Marshmallow B570 showing Balong firmware (in the past, we upgraded from 4.4.2 to B570, but it seems she had Malaysian region set in the phone for some reason - I fixed it now) in the phone.
Unfortunatelly my girlfriend (she has this phone) wants to have headphones and radio fully working (RROS doesn't have radio as far as I know), so it seems as no go for RROS...

Can you help me to find a valid link to download modoco r7 EMUI style plz.

Taito2020 said:
Can you help me to find a valid link to download modoco r7 EMUI style plz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try this download link? (Please read the instructions carefully. )

Yes , but unfortunately I got connection refused ... did you try to open the link cause I got error "connection refused" ? just to check the link.