Database Develop

[Q] My head is spinning - how to evaluate ROMs/kernels - wait for ICS?

First - Kudos to XDA and all of the amazing developers and contributors. I never believed in the concept of "too much of a good thing", but this place has me thinking that it might be possible.
I want fast and stable (unlike others looking for slow and unstable ). Due to the frequent releases and unimaginably long threads, I'm having trouble pinpointing the info that I need. Since the forum doesn't allow me to ask opinions, please provide guidance on how to find the data.
It does seem that there are several dependable choices and I can't go wrong by rolling the dice among them. Is that a fair statement? I only want to do this once, because I do not have the time or skills to evaluate and compare the installations.
And then there is ICS. The ROMs seem imminent. Anyone want to speculate on the ETA of a stable release? Would it make sense to wait?

I will get back to you later when I'm on my computer, reserved. ...
Sent from my I897 using xda premium

steveorg said:
First - Kudos to XDA and all of the amazing developers and contributors. I never believed in the concept of "too much of a good thing", but this place has me thinking that it might be possible.
I want fast and stable (unlike others looking for slow and unstable ). Due to the frequent releases and unimaginably long threads, I'm having trouble pinpointing the info that I need. Since the forum doesn't allow me to ask opinions, please provide guidance on how to find the data.
It does seem that there are several dependable choices and I can't go wrong by rolling the dice among them. Is that a fair statement? I only want to do this once, because I do not have the time or skills to evaluate and compare the installations.
And then there is ICS. The ROMs seem imminent. Anyone want to speculate on the ETA of a stable release? Would it make sense to wait?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on your needs, and what you're running now. There are some very good/stable GB releases, I personally like Mosaic 8 the most. Apex 10.1 is also very good. For something a little different, Miui is also very good. I suffer from somewhat poor battery life on Miui in comparison to Mosaic 8.
ICS is looking good, but there are some pretty major issues in the way right now, we really do need a kernel for our devices even though the i9000 works. There is no data(3g), and no Google calendar sync are the main issues for me. Obviously the dev's are working their butts off to get ICS going, and I dont like to speculate on timelines, because you just never know. Someone could crack the code today, or it could be weeks.

kangi26 said:
...I suffer from somewhat poor battery life...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for mentioning battery life. That's a factor that I hadn't considered. I guess that I should expand my question to ask what are the factors that I should consider? So far I have three:
Stability
Speed
Battery life
---
If more are suggested, I'll add them to this post as they come in.
---
when pairing up a kernel and rom they must be the same android version (eg 2.2 2.3.3 or 2.3.5) build code (kk kj ) isnt important. (thanks TRusselo)
Do not reinstall apps that previously "fixed" issues like battery life, memory issues and GPS inadequacies because they may introduce instability, which sometimes may persist after the app is uninstalled.
Flashing is quick and easy. TiBU restores, settings tweaks and home app set-up is time consuming. Accordingly, kick a few tires to help decide which ROM works best for you.

well all the gingerbread roms are "stable". ( froyo too obviously)
many things can affect speed and battery- kernel, your apps, your habbits.
if trying a froyo first before "movin on up" MUST TRY firefly 3.0 with onix kernel. battery life worth drooling over! and many themes available for it.
gingerbread, many great roms.
when it comes to kernels, lately ive been seeing alot of "highly tweaked" kernels (eg red nebula) that well, just seems like over-kill (especially without kernel source) and to a new user is kinda "head spinning" stick with something simple and close to stock to start. samurai is a good place to start, or boogs kernels...
when pairing up a kernel and rom they must be the same android version (eg 2.2 2.3.3 or 2.3.5) build code (kk kj ) isnt important.

TRusselo said:
...many things can affect speed and battery- kernel, your apps, your habbits...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume that apps that run in the background or are processor intensive will be slower and consume more power. Is there any info to determine which ROMs or kernels are better with those kind of apps?
TRusselo said:
when it comes to kernels, lately ive been seeing alot of "highly tweaked" kernels (eg red nebula) that well, just seems like over-kill (especially without kernel source) and to a new user is kinda "head spinning" stick with something simple and close to stock to start. samurai is a good place to start, or boogs kernels...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the kernel source an issue for someone that is not a developer? How?
TRusselo said:
when pairing up a kernel and rom they must be the same android version (eg 2.2 2.3.3 or 2.3.5) build code (kk kj ) isnt important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll add that to the list above. Thanks, and thanks for all of your info.

steveorg said:
I assume that apps that run in the background or are processor intensive will be slower and consume more power. Is there any info to determine which ROMs or kernels are better with those kind of apps?
Is the kernel source an issue for someone that is not a developer? How?
I'll add that to the list above. Thanks, and thanks for all of your info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of those issues will be determined by the apps you run, not so much the kernel you run.
On Mosaic, I have very good performance with Talon, and Semaphore
Sent from a autonomous device

While going through the excellent XDA and Android Terms and Acronyms, I came across the definition for No-Wipe Package:
NO-WIPE PACKAGE: A rom update package that leaves the user's market apps intact while still performing the updates to the system files. Restoring from backup is not necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that seem like a strong reason to use a package. Does anyone know which ROMs come with a No-Wipe Package?
However, is there any advantage to clean installs through backup/restore? Can a No-Wipe Package be used when going from Froyo to Gingerbread?

No wipe packages are usually for one ROM, when some stuff has changed but not the firmware version or anything super major.
Most roms are wipe packages, titanium backup pro comes in real handy, menu> batch> restore missing apps. And walk away til its done.

steveorg said:
And then there is ICS. The ROMs seem imminent... Would it make sense to wait?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too was wondering about this.
I'm on FireFly 3.0 and was thinking of going to Dlev 4.2.
I don't like flashing roms because it takes to long to get the phone back to my config. I prefer to flash and stick with it for some time.
Should I/we stick with a GB rom or wait for ICS?
Is there anything mind blowing in ICS that will change our world as we know it?

geeksquad2 said:
Should I/we stick with a GB rom or wait for ICS?
Is there anything mind blowing in ICS that will change our world as we know it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look, too say ICS is "imminent" is just an overstatement..........if you have not done anything to oyour phone, or have little experience, ICS maybe a step too far ahead.
If you want to go straight to Gingerbread, that may more understandable.
In my OPINION, Apex 10.1 (a i9000 ROM) or Pinnacle 1.2 (a SGH-1987 ROM) are great top-of-the-line ROMs, especially because watsa includes his own ODIN packages and they are ready to go. A no-brainer for most folks. The instructions and packages are a big plus.

Now that I'm done
The upgrade was a much more painful experience than expected, but well worth the outcome.
I wanted to do it once, and I succeeded if you redefine "once" as 5 ROM flashes with full TiBU restores, settings tweaks and home app (GO Launcher) set-up. I also performed several other ROM and Kernel flashes where I just briefly checked out the look and feel and how well a few features worked. Surprisingly, basic apps such as the Market could be problematic. Even more surprisingly, the same ROM could perform differently when reflashed.
I suspect that is partly because I had a very sick cappy. Some of my problems were caused by too many app fixes that caused their own problems. One of the reasons for the multiple flashes with TiBu restores was to isolate the trouble makers while the rest of my apps were installed. In the end, I removed every app that "fixed" issues like battery life, memory issues and GPS inadequacies. Now that I know better, I think of these apps as personal bloat ware that should not be installed with any new ROM or kernel until you've had a chance to understand if you have problems requiring a fix. Sometimes, even installing and then uninstalling seems to create permanent problems.
I also learned not to be intimidated by flashing. It's an easy to understand and quick process. The key is to check out the ROM before the hard part - TiBu restores and customizing the settings.
BTW - The winner was (drum roll please ) - Illuminance 2.1.1. It has several SGSII features (new Swype is nice), seems fast, doubled my battery life and has been stable. I compared it to a friend's brand-spanking new AT&T SGS II and my reborn cappy held up. For example, the SGSII was a a bit faster on loading Google Maps, getting a fix and loading a traffic overlay, but not so much that there was a functional difference.
I actually flashed Illuminance 3 times - once just to kick the tires. I removed it once because my bloat created instability and caused the Market not to work. The only minor issue I have left is GPS optimization. The GPS works well (previously was often useless and very slow), but from reading this forum I believe it could be snappier and more accurate.
I added some of these observations to my second post on this thread.

Personally, I'd say just flash MIUI and then wait for the ICS port to become stable enough to be used as a daily driver without any major setbacks. But only because that's what I'm doing
The main attraction of MIUI is its huge degree of customization. You can customize everything from the battery icon to the framework itself without ever having to reboot your phone. You just find a theme you like and apply it.
The only downside of it is the battery life. While in use, it's the same as any other Samsung/CM7-based ROM, but it usually drains at ~5% per hour when in standby. Of course this can be kept at around ~2% an hour if you keep wifi/data/sync turned off (personal experience, ymmv).
... The more you know
Herp derp Captivate XDA Premium.

chappatti said:
Look, too say ICS is "imminent" is just an overstatement..........if you have not done anything to oyour phone, or have little experience, ICS maybe a step too far ahead.
If you want to go straight to Gingerbread, that may more understandable.
In my OPINION, Apex 10.1 (a i9000 ROM) or Pinnacle 1.2 (a SGH-1987 ROM) are great top-of-the-line ROMs, especially because watsa includes his own ODIN packages and they are ready to go. A no-brainer for most folks. The instructions and packages are a big plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so I spent a week or so reading up, and finally this afternoon, I flashed over to Pinnacle v1.2. I noticed that there was a v1.3, but I didn't get it.
It worked like a charm! I was done in under an hour. Thanks for your advice!

i would add that if you are getting into flashing a lot of different roms, its worth getting the paid version of Titanium Backup because it can restore all of your apps and settings in one step, rather than with the free version, where you have to click "install" for each one as the batch process happens. it will literally save you hours for all of maybe $6

If you really don't want to lose anything and you're getting into flashing it might be worth your money to invest in mybackup pro ontop of titanium backup pro.
It will restore call logs, sms, mms, specific app settings (like if you use a market keyboard), plus alot more. Its definitely worth it, you can restore nearly everything between after switching roms to a new daily driver.
Flashing is a disease so don't be surprised when you get the urge to look up whats new in a couple weeks and wanna try the different ICS roms and such, make all the backup software extremely important.

geeksquad2 said:
I too was wondering about this.
I'm on FireFly 3.0 and was thinking of going to Dlev 4.2.
I don't like flashing roms because it takes to long to get the phone back to my config. I prefer to flash and stick with it for some time.
Should I/we stick with a GB rom or wait for ICS?
Is there anything mind blowing in ICS that will change our world as we know it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No...not really (on Beta 2 ics)...its just cool
I would update though.....really stable.

There is not a true beta 2 ICS for the Captivate, ytt3r hasn't done it yet.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium

b-eock said:
There is not a true beta 2 ICS for the Captivate, ytt3r hasn't done it yet.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its the i9000 build with a custom captivate kernel....works the same as it would if it were a i897 rom.

Dude I know what it is... But there isn't a beta 2 kernel for the captivate yet...
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium

[Q] Can the Captivate be functional for non-hobbyists?

I don't want to make trouble, but I'm hoping there can be a dialog as to the viability of the Captivate as a long-term, stable cell phone.
Like probably everyone here, I found the ROM AT&T supplied for the Captivate to be practically (if not criminally) unusable even if I didn't care about my rights to do what I want with it (but I do). Thus I decided that I needed to flash it with something better.
Obviously, there are a lot of Captivate owners who work very hard (and presumably, enjoy) modifying and tweaking the Android system for their phone - and that's great - but I'm not one of them. I appreciate that people like to change the look of their <object> and that the latest-and-greatest functionality is an ever-moving target, but paramount to me for everything in my life is minimal maintenance.
I don't really care about flashy eye-candy and holiday color schemes if it is moderately consistent. I am not looking to squeeze the last 2% (or even 10%) of possible speed out of my phone, but I do want it to respond to my input within a few tenths of a second (faster w/ typing) unlike the stock ROM. I have to use a lock-code, so I don't give a fig about the number of lock screens. If I could flash my phone and never have a need (note: not desire) to do it again, that would be fantastic. If I have to re-flash it once every 6 months and don't need to (re)read long (long!) meandering threads with cryptic and often conflicting and (possibly - how to tell?) outdated information, I could live with that.
Basically, it seems like I have to choose between a fixed, official ROM that sucks, or a sea of ever-changing ROMs with stability problems and a lot of focus on look-and-feel.
I'm not here crying about not having the perfect phone experience, rather I'm interested in the opinion of you here, "in the know", as to whether there exists a Captivate ROM that is stable in both the short-term (little to no crashes or unplanned reboots) and in the long term (will function similarly for months when not tweaked beyond what say, TiBu or AdAway would do).
This is something I've been wondering for months now (as my Serendipidy ROM grew ever-more unstable), but it has come to a head now because my wife is insisting that I encounter so many problems with my Cappy (currently experiencing various problems with Serenity) that I need to get a new phone (and it should be an iPhone like hers). I am as jealous at her stability, battery life and lack of problems as I am loathe to sell my soul to live in the walled garden with the iDevil.
If the world of smart phones is really a choice among the walled garden, the astro-turfed basement and the slopes of a volcano in the jungle, then I will have to accept that and choose my fate. If the problem is Samsung/AT&T and Android is simply ambrosia on some other device/carrier (as my colleague claims), then I would love to know that too.
Sorry for the dissertation and thanks for the thoughts.

teknowledgist said:
I don't want to make trouble, but I'm hoping there can be a dialog as to the viability of the Captivate as a long-term, stable cell phone.
Like probably everyone here, I found the ROM AT&T supplied for the Captivate to be practically (if not criminally) unusable even if I didn't care about my rights to do what I want with it (but I do). Thus I decided that I needed to flash it with something better.
Obviously, there are a lot of Captivate owners who work very hard (and presumably, enjoy) modifying and tweaking the Android system for their phone - and that's great - but I'm not one of them. I appreciate that people like to change the look of their <object> and that the latest-and-greatest functionality is an ever-moving target, but paramount to me for everything in my life is minimal maintenance.
I don't really care about flashy eye-candy and holiday color schemes if it is moderately consistent. I am not looking to squeeze the last 2% (or even 10%) of possible speed out of my phone, but I do want it to respond to my input within a few tenths of a second (faster w/ typing) unlike the stock ROM. I have to use a lock-code, so I don't give a fig about the number of lock screens. If I could flash my phone and never have a need (note: not desire) to do it again, that would be fantastic. If I have to re-flash it once every 6 months and don't need to (re)read long (long!) meandering threads with cryptic and often conflicting and (possibly - how to tell?) outdated information, I could live with that.
Basically, it seems like I have to choose between a fixed, official ROM that sucks, or a sea of ever-changing ROMs with stability problems and a lot of focus on look-and-feel.
I'm not here crying about not having the perfect phone experience, rather I'm interested in the opinion of you here, "in the know", as to whether there exists a Captivate ROM that is stable in both the short-term (little to no crashes or unplanned reboots) and in the long term (will function similarly for months when not tweaked beyond what say, TiBu or AdAway would do).
This is something I've been wondering for months now (as my Serendipidy ROM grew ever-more unstable), but it has come to a head now because my wife is insisting that I encounter so many problems with my Cappy (currently experiencing various problems with Serenity) that I need to get a new phone (and it should be an iPhone like hers). I am as jealous at her stability, battery life and lack of problems as I am loathe to sell my soul to live in the walled garden with the iDevil.
If the world of smart phones is really a choice among the walled garden, the astro-turfed basement and the slopes of a volcano in the jungle, then I will have to accept that and choose my fate. If the problem is Samsung/AT&T and Android is simply ambrosia on some other device/carrier (as my colleague claims), then I would love to know that too.
Sorry for the dissertation and thanks for the thoughts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
......so get an iPhone then........
Currently Fusionized

I bought my wife a 4gs on launch day, and its smooth but not without a few faults. The amount of repeat info here can turn into a maze of discouragement, but I think just a little more effort might yield the results you want. I'm currently running mosaic 8 with the latest semiphore kernel and its very stable to say the least.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

KK4 seems to be the final update and source code is out so things are about to get real good. There are 5-6 real nice stable roms out right now. Take the time to find one you like and stick with it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using xda premium

Wdustin1 said:
......so get an iPhone then........
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, your view is that the Captivate and/or Android phones are best used by people who have both the skills and time to regularly - if not constantly - rebuild and tweak hidden and background settings always at some risk of bricking their several-hundred dollar device, and you see the iPhone as the proper choice for people who simply want something that works for their day-to-day use?
That's worse than what everyday users had to manage with DOS or in the early days of Linux or Windows 95. At least with those, your hardware wasn't (usually) at risk.
Is there no solution for those in the middle who want something that works day-to-day and allows them some freedom to make minor changes like block ads and install "unapproved" apps? Are they simply out of luck?

teknowledgist said:
I don't want to make trouble, but I'm hoping there can be a dialog as to the viability of the Captivate as a long-term, stable cell phone.
Like probably everyone here, I found the ROM AT&T supplied for the Captivate to be practically (if not criminally) unusable even if I didn't care about my rights to do what I want with it (but I do). Thus I decided that I needed to flash it with something better.
Obviously, there are a lot of Captivate owners who work very hard (and presumably, enjoy) modifying and tweaking the Android system for their phone - and that's great - but I'm not one of them. I appreciate that people like to change the look of their <object> and that the latest-and-greatest functionality is an ever-moving target, but paramount to me for everything in my life is minimal maintenance.
I don't really care about flashy eye-candy and holiday color schemes if it is moderately consistent. I am not looking to squeeze the last 2% (or even 10%) of possible speed out of my phone, but I do want it to respond to my input within a few tenths of a second (faster w/ typing) unlike the stock ROM. I have to use a lock-code, so I don't give a fig about the number of lock screens. If I could flash my phone and never have a need (note: not desire) to do it again, that would be fantastic. If I have to re-flash it once every 6 months and don't need to (re)read long (long!) meandering threads with cryptic and often conflicting and (possibly - how to tell?) outdated information, I could live with that.
Basically, it seems like I have to choose between a fixed, official ROM that sucks, or a sea of ever-changing ROMs with stability problems and a lot of focus on look-and-feel.
I'm not here crying about not having the perfect phone experience, rather I'm interested in the opinion of you here, "in the know", as to whether there exists a Captivate ROM that is stable in both the short-term (little to no crashes or unplanned reboots) and in the long term (will function similarly for months when not tweaked beyond what say, TiBu or AdAway would do).
This is something I've been wondering for months now (as my Serendipidy ROM grew ever-more unstable), but it has come to a head now because my wife is insisting that I encounter so many problems with my Cappy (currently experiencing various problems with Serenity) that I need to get a new phone (and it should be an iPhone like hers). I am as jealous at her stability, battery life and lack of problems as I am loathe to sell my soul to live in the walled garden with the iDevil.
If the world of smart phones is really a choice among the walled garden, the astro-turfed basement and the slopes of a volcano in the jungle, then I will have to accept that and choose my fate. If the problem is Samsung/AT&T and Android is simply ambrosia on some other device/carrier (as my colleague claims), then I would love to know that too.
Sorry for the dissertation and thanks for the thoughts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cm7. Wipe data factory reset again after flashing, let it sit for 10 mins after first boot but before you sign in.
My vibrant was perfectly stable that way.
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium

MIUI, great fast ROM. All you have to do is flash the small update every week and everything stays the same. You don't loose data!
If you don't feel like doing the update every single week just skip a few here and there. Or got the latest Gingerbread leak(KK4) and use it. It is stable, has great battery life, and pretty fast, but still can't compare to MIUI/CM7 speeds!

I'm not sure what you mean by stock AT&T ROM being no good. I've used a Captivate that had the official AT&T stock 2.2 on it, and it was pretty darn good. I then loaded the "stock" AT&T gingerbread leak on it, and it was even better. Almost no lag at all, GPS worked great, and battery life was excellent. I think you're just complaining for the sake of complaining.

derek4484 said:
I'm not sure what you mean by stock AT&T ROM being no good. I've used a Captivate that had the official AT&T stock 2.2 on it, and it was pretty darn good. I then loaded the "stock" AT&T gingerbread leak on it, and it was even better. Almost no lag at all, GPS worked great, and battery life was excellent. I think you're just complaining for the sake of complaining.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to use the stock 2.2. I really did. I was getting random shutdowns and reboots all the time and the lag, oh the lag! I can't tell you how many times I would hit an on-screen button and nothing would happen. I would hit it again a second or three later or try a different on screen-button, and still nothing. Thinking the app had crashed, I would hit home or back. Another second or two after that, everything I had done would process in a millisecond and I would be back at the home screen with no idea what I had done as the "extra" touches would register as some other command on the screens that followed and I didn't see.
Once I reflashed the first time, the lag went away and the shutdowns greatly diminished, but since then I have had various other problems. Things like:
- the phone telling me I had a cell signal when I didn't and because I don't make many outgoing calls or texts I just thought nobody wanted to talk to me. Meanwhile people were getting mad that I wasn't getting back to them.
- Apps "uninstalling" by themselves sometimes with a generic icon to replace them. Re-installing them sometimes worked and sometimes didn't (with the same app).
- Texts that come in 5 hours after they were sent and 2 hours after I emerged into a strong cell signal (I work in a sub-basement).
When I tried the KK4 stock, everything did seem to work well until I actually tried to use it as a phone. It said I had signal and I had data connection, but most calls would simply never dial, and while it would ring and I could see who was calling, I couldn't answer. This seems particularly bizarre to me as you would think the ROM/modem pair should work with all Captivates.

If you want stability, I'd recommend Firefly or Andromeda. They are both older and are Froyo builds, but ultra stable.
And I concur the out of the box Cappy 2.1 build was unusable...it's how I ended up here at xda! Unlike you however, I found that I do like tweaking my phone, and I've done some amount of that...not without peaks and valleys, but I currently really enjoy the Mosaic ROM with Semaphore JVZ kernel.
i897 running Mosaic 8.5

teknowledgist said:
So, your view is that the Captivate and/or Android phones are best used by people who have both the skills and time to regularly - if not constantly - rebuild and tweak hidden and background settings always at some risk of bricking their several-hundred dollar device, and you see the iPhone as the proper choice for people who simply want something that works for their day-to-day use?
That's worse than what everyday users had to manage with DOS or in the early days of Linux or Windows 95. At least with those, your hardware wasn't (usually) at risk.
Is there no solution for those in the middle who want something that works day-to-day and allows them some freedom to make minor changes like block ads and install "unapproved" apps? Are they simply out of luck?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, it's shaping out that way. And it's only getting worse as time goes on and the fragments march in their separate directions. When there's 20 different fundamental ROMS (Sense, TouvhWiz, all the variations and so on), and 4000 different phones it becomes increasingly difficult to provide a consistent quality experience.
The worst part being I don't see a way out for Google or a light at the end of the tunnel for consumers short of starting over, which presents more problems than it solves.
Sent from my SGH-I897

Madtowndave said:
If you want stability, I'd recommend Firefly or Andromeda. They are both older and are Froyo builds, but ultra stable.
And I concur the out of the box Cappy 2.1 build was unusable...it's how I ended up here at xda! Unlike you however, I found that I do like tweaking my phone, and I've done some amount of that...not without peaks and valleys, but I currently really enjoy the Mosaic ROM with Semaphore JVZ kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestions.
Actually, I think tweaking can be fun sometimes, but between work, family, house, etc. I'm usually stumbling through on 5 hours of sleep a night as it is (good thing I don't drive to work!). I simply don't have time to tweak, and I definitely can't be without a phone for a day or two.

MikeyMike01 said:
Unfortunately, it's shaping out that way. And it's only getting worse as time goes on and the fragments march in their separate directions. When there's 20 different fundamental ROMS (Sense, TouvhWiz, all the variations and so on), and 4000 different phones it becomes increasingly difficult to provide a consistent quality experience.
The worst part being I don't see a way out for Google or a light at the end of the tunnel for consumers short of starting over, which presents more problems than it solves.
Sent from my SGH-I897
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the sense I was getting, but when I would express it to anyone I know in meat-space, they just rolled their eyes and called me crazy. I started this thread with the optimistic hope that I was simply missing something.
It's good to know at least that I'm not alone in my thinking.

Stevenrogers_420 said:
KK4 seems to be the final update and source code is out so things are about to get real good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my hope.

I have had Cognition 5 on my phone since it was released. It has been the ultimate experience for me. Stable, GREAT battery life, awesome response, etc. It is the Plain Jane of ROMs and I won't use anything else.
at least not until a stable, working version of ICS is out. I've recently got my hands on a free captivate and have been using it as a testbed for ICS. Once I am satisfied, I will flash my everyday use Cappy to ICS and be done with flashing on this phone until I can upgrade this summer.

Im in your boat somewhat. I want all features of the device to work and I dont want reboots etc. Stability is critical.
For Froyo, Firefy 3.0 ROM gave up uptimes of 7-8 days without issue. I only rebooted once battery ran out.
GB ROMs Ive tried are all more unstable, but I have been on Illuminance 3.01 for over a week now and its running quite good. I reboot often though as I swap batteries, so I cant speak to up time but it goes over a day easily. Im using the ICS theme with it so it feels like I have a new device also.
Now that we have KK4 source I think we will see stability improve even more.
I see too many problems with the ICS builds so far but they are alpha afterall. Impressive progress from the devs working on it however!

Eventually my idea is to take the best of all the leaks and make a rock solid stable hybrid rom. Though most devs, including myself, try to cater to the masses. It seems what you are looking for isn't very popular. Most want more and better in their roms, i've tried both and still not overly successful at either. But it doesn't stop me from trying to create the best of both worlds. A solid stable rom with nice features, that doesn't deteriorate in performance over time. Hopefully a hybrid rom will solve a lot of issues we all face with the cappy.
The thing the iphone has going for it is the fact it is one manufacturer, apple. All the iphones are the same, same processor, same hardware, same specs, same, same, same. It makes it easy to have a tight knit development for the phone, so it is less prone to issues. But because of this tight, closed architecture, you don't have allot of choices as far as styles and hardware. Android and Windows, on the other hand, have multiple manufacturers and many choices of processors, hardware and styles to choose from. So it is much more difficult for Google and phone manufacturing developers to cater to all of the different phones and have each one run flawlessly. The same holds true for Linux and Windows with PC's. But I think the cappy has some of the best developers on XDA making great ROMs for it and these ROMs don't necessarily cater to hobbyists, they cater to captivate users in general.
Sometimes good things come to those who wait...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using xda premium

In my own opinion, I think one of the best ROM's out there, and quite frankly possibly the most stable I've run to date is Phoenix Unleashed. It's Froyo JS8, and was the last of the 2.2 ROM's Adam put out. It was a ROM I would absolutely go to IF I ever got tired of flashing ROM's(don't really see that happening) and wanted to just have a phone that worked and worked well.
I'm too busy now playing with ICS.......but that is a story for another day

kangi26 said:
In my own opinion, I think one of the best ROM's out there, and quite frankly possibly the most stable I've run to date is Phoenix Unleashed. It's Froyo JS8, and was the last of the 2.2 ROM's Adam put out. It was a ROM I would absolutely go to IF I ever got tired of flashing ROM's(don't really see that happening) and wanted to just have a phone that worked and worked well.
I'm too busy now playing with ICS.......but that is a story for another day
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think there's something to that. Serendipity 6 was JS8 if I remember correctly.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

MikeyMike01 said:
I think there's something to that. Serendipity 6 was JS8 if I remember correctly.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way, no offence Mikey, I'm not in any way trying to imply that your ROM's are inferior, I just spent a TON of time with the Phoenix ROM's so my opinion comes from that alone

[Q] HTC Incredible S S710e

Hi.
I have the above phone, which contrary to some posters I am actually happy with, at least I was until the last update notification which I received on Monday of this week.
I upgraded to version 4.10.405.1 (Ice Cream Sandwich I think?) thinking to myself that like PC's phones need updates too. My other software details are HTC Sense ver 3.6, and Android ver 4.0.4.
However, since updating my phone is now ridiculously slow. Example, when going from Settings back to the home screen I am now confronted with an extremely long pause coupled with a darkened / greyed out background screen with an oblong box which inside has "Loading" displayed with a round symbol which circles itself.
This has only happened since the up-date this morning, and Everything was running just Fine before this.
My phone is not bloated, and I don't have many apps on there, and I have not changed or added anything in around six weeks.
I know they release updates to improve things and or fix issues, but something has gone terribly wrong here to make my phone act like this. I even re-booted after the update, and even tried turning the phone off for a while, but none of these things has made any difference whatsoever.
All HTC support over the phone said was to run a "Factory reset" which did nothing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Peterobertson said:
Hi.
I have the above phone, which contrary to some posters I am actually happy with, at least I was until the last update notification which I received on Monday of this week.
I upgraded to version 4.10.405.1 (Ice Cream Sandwich I think?) thinking to myself that like PC's phones need updates too. My other software details are HTC Sense ver 3.6, and Android ver 4.0.4.
However, since updating my phone is now ridiculously slow. Example, when going from Settings back to the home screen I am now confronted with an extremely long pause coupled with a darkened / greyed out background screen with an oblong box which inside has "Loading" displayed with a round symbol which circles itself.
This has only happened since the up-date this morning, and Everything was running just Fine before this.
My phone is not bloated, and I don't have many apps on there, and I have not changed or added anything in around six weeks.
I know they release updates to improve things and or fix issues, but something has gone terribly wrong here to make my phone act like this. I even re-booted after the update, and even tried turning the phone off for a while, but none of these things has made any difference whatsoever.
All HTC support over the phone said was to run a "Factory reset" which did nothing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One word answer to your problem here : Sense

well... I got my incredible S this last monday, with stock rom and latest update done.
In fact, it's just the same as yours...
I don't find it too slow, but I don't know how it behaved before... what I do notice is that the battery only lasts for about 13~14hours, with wi-fi, bluetooth, gps disconected. Lot's of text messages though...
How's yours on battery?
Sorry for the hi-jack on the thread

ntmm said:
well... I got my incredible S this last monday, with stock rom and latest update done.
In fact, it's just the same as yours...
I don't find it too slow, but I don't know how it behaved before... what I do notice is that the battery only lasts for about 13~14hours, with wi-fi, bluetooth, gps disconected. Lot's of text messages though...
How's yours on battery?
Sorry for the hi-jack on the thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahaha its not the same as mine. As you seen mines is rooted and im running a custom ROM It would probably be in your best benefit to do so as well.
and in all honesty our phones arent all too well equipped to run ICS. Slap on Sense and youre in for a phone to get slow real fast. In my opinion the Inc S could run Gingerbread and Sense 2.(something lol) decently fine but with some lag.

072665995 said:
One word answer to your problem here : Sense
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ermm, without wishing to sound ungrateful, could you elaborate on this please.
I'm ok when it comes to PC's for troubleshooting, building etc, but I'm new to the whole phone side of things, so in simple form would be most welcome.
Thanks.

@ 072665995 :
I was talking to Peterobertson =D
But thank you for your input

Peterobertson said:
Ermm, without wishing to sound ungrateful, could you elaborate on this please.
I'm ok when it comes to PC's for troubleshooting, building etc, but I'm new to the whole phone side of things, so in simple form would be most welcome.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC Sense is an extreme resource hog. Just open up task manager or go to running apps in settings and RAM usage will be generally sitting at 350 or 400mb used. On top of that Sense takes up quite a bit of CPU power. All this results in maybe less battery to use (this really depends on how you use your phone). Furthermore, Sense can be at times, relatively unstable. I have had quite a good number of games crash because im pretty sure HTC made it so that the Rosie.apk is always running unlike maybe trebuchet or nova or apex (although you can set it so it runs in the foreground). So on top of sucking up a lot of power, the OS cannot kill Sense to allow more things to run at once and the last time i checked the Rosie could suck up somewhere around 40-50 mb. Add all the other applications, maybe widgets, other apps in more of a hibernation mode and you come up with that 400mb or RAM usage.
Of course theres also a ton of good things about Sense. In terms of widget, Sense really is king. You cant really beat them on that. The calender widget, the flip clock, all those goodies. Theres also a number of built in apps that might be useful like twitter, facebook, and even FM Radio (which is awesome cuz i listen to radio a lot, in fact its one of the few things make me wanna go back to Sense).

Hmm, OK, so there is nothing I can do then?
Surely there must be something. I was NOT having Any problems whatsoever, and let me make that perfectly clear so there is no confusion, NO issues at all before that so called update on Monday.
This is what is bothering me so much, and is something that I cannot get my head around. Everything and I mean everything was running just fine, and nice and fast too, with no pauses / lag etc, so I know it is the update that has done this because nothing else has changed. I have not added or removed anything for the past six weeks or so, and I am not really an "App" person if you know what I mean. I catch up with most of my friends on line using the PC and email etc, the phone is just secondary and is not the main tool I use.
I find it incredibly Arrogant of either HTC (It's their phone) or even Google (Don't they make the OS?) not to offer any backup or re-download scheme under a support link on either of their web sites in case anything goes wrong like this.
If this was a certain few software developers I can think of, then that is exactly what they would have in place just in case something goes wrong. We can even run system restore on Windows, roll back a driver, and in the case of most manufacturers we can re-download drivers etc going back two plus years, this is what makes this so bloody annoying and is really whizzing me off.
I had a perfectly good and functional mobile phone before an official update, but now I am left with a laggy, slow ass piece of crap that no one can do anything with and a manufacturer that just tells me to run a factory re-set, which anyone with a modicum of common sense knows will do Nothing at all after a firmware update because it is so deep rooted.
Way to go HTC. This will definitely make me want to buy another of your products
I wonder if the word "Customer Satisfaction" means anything in their little bubble world.

Unfortunatly a big percentage of the "tecs" at the support "team"/line don't know even 10% of what they are supposed to do, let alone know what people can do in most scenarios because the answer is not on the few post-its they have...
Nonetheless sometimes you get a tec that can help you...
I agree with you that you should be able to rollback from some updates, back to a more stable version, and that the updates shouldn't be definitive.
The system should be user friendly, not "geek-friendly", meaning that everyone should be able to do most things.
Apart from that, I can't say if my IncS is faster/slower/the same, I got it (used) on monday, connected it via wi-fi, went to see if there was any update, there was just only one, for the "customize" thing ( it's the painting pallet, where you go to choose the face, background, theme, etc) ...
My only complain as of now is the battery... how's the battery drain on yours?

"how's the battery drain on yours?"
Pretty crappy.
I sent a message to mwilky regarding this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1705334&highlight=htc+incredible+stock
I am hoping that some kind soul feels my frustration and helps. it would be great if my phone can run one of these faster software systems while still being able to use the usual apps such as camera etc.
As you agree with me, yes, there should be a tab on the support page on the HTC web site that has Drivers, Sense, Firmware etc and the facility to be able to roll back to a version that was working fine before they screwed everything up with their "Update"
Don't forget, my phone is not bloated with all sorts of stuff, and I run it very lean. I use it pretty much just as a phone.

Yeah, I use the phone mainly as a phone too...
Plus the casual e-mail, gaming, picture/video and music...
I got the phone so I could use it's functions whenever they're needed... so...
Yesterday I turned off a few things at the middle of the day and the battery lasted 15+ hours untill reaching 14%, that's when I went to bed and put it charge. will see today how it goes.
Though I'm yet to experience what you described that happened with yours... gutted for you =/

Peter
Agreed HTC doesn't offer a backup before one applies an update. If your phone is still under warranty and/or you don't want to root it, then the best option i see is to visit the customer care and get the ginger bread installed - make sure to sync your contacts and calendars..
On the other hand if you want to root it then the jellybean ROM available are pretty stable and fast...
Sent from my Incredible S using xda app-developers app

Im sure you can find a Gingerbread RUU. Sure htcdev.com no longer has the RUU's but hey, theres always google. I mean its not like its possible for HTC to shut down everything :laugh:
On the side note though, its probably most recommended to just root your phone and slap another ROM on. I used to be just like you. I absolutely HATED Sense but you goota give everything a shot to see where each ROM stands you know. Some of the devs here like Nikhil007mus and Alirez_sos and interaser have made their respective Sense ROMs very smooth and reliable (although Alirez's ROM has been shut down due to him supposedly kanging. Yes i support him that he isnt using stolen stuff).

I'm quite tired of my Inc S as well.
I tried to trade it for an iPhone 4- 16 gigs- lately. But without luck.
No stable Cm 9-10 so far, shipped with laggy firmware. It's time to invest some bucks in new hardware, there's no other solution...
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using xda premium

giudicealdo said:
I'm quite tired of my Inc S as well.
I tried to trade it for an iPhone 4- 16 gigs- lately. But without luck.
No stable Cm 9-10 so far, shipped with laggy firmware. It's time to invest some bucks in new hardware, there's no other solution...
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-_- you are aware that there are some great Sense ROMs out there that do not lag and are very much stable???

I'm running viverVivo at the moment. I'm enjoying it: really a great work. It's highly customizable, and I love to play with it. But I constantly have to kill apps, wipe everything, use seeder, play with the kernel settings...
And I still haven't found a good balance between battery life and smoothness... I must admit I'm quite a noob Anyway, despite the efforts of a great development community, this device is just old now... And as someone said some post above, is optimized for GB, ICS capable, and not able to run JB in a satisfying way.
Does anyone want my Inc S?
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using xda premium

giudicealdo said:
I'm running viverVivo at the moment. I'm enjoying it: really a great work. It's highly customizable, and I love to play with it. But I constantly have to kill apps, wipe everything, use seeder, play with the kernel settings...
And I still haven't found a good balance between battery life and smoothness... I must admit I'm quite a noob Anyway, despite the efforts of a great development community, this device is just old now... And as someone said some post above, is optimized for GB, ICS capable, and not able to run JB in a satisfying way.
Does anyone want my Inc S?
Sent from my HTC Incredible S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmmm. The Incredible S is capable of running any Android OS. The only reason why it gets more difficult to run newer Android OS is because Android is packing more and more things into their operating system making it laggier. A great example is the difference between 2.3 and 4.0.4. There was quite a noticeable difference in speed because HTC decided to bloat their firmware (damn you HTC, damn you ) To your last comment, our phone is not capable of running JB in a satisfying way, thats not necessarily the case. I think you are referring to the number of bugs that come with AOSP builds for our device?? Theres bound to be issues because no one builds stock ROMs for our device due to aging. So theres the different CPUs and screen resolutions and all that stuff which isnt exactly fun to work with. If someone manages to successfully built a jellybean Sense ROM for our device (interaser certainly did a GREAT job with Viper based off of One X for sure), theres probably gonna be less bugs.

Giudicealdo, I don't agree in totality.. If you look at the dev forums, then 4.2.1: jelly time and one by lacoste and 4.2.2: pacman and one by lacoste are pretty stable and fast ROMs...
But yes i agree that the battery life is not as great ICS onwards as it was with GB...
Sent from my Incredible S using xda app-developers app

Hi again All.
WoW, some FANTASTIC ideas and inputs from everyone (did I just make up a new word - inputs)
Anyway, can I ask everyone a big favour please.
I am new to this kind of thing, and don't really understand all this stuff below >
ROM: RENOVATE Final 1 < Is this the operating system?
Android Version: 4.1.1 < Whats this?
Sense Version: 4+ < I kind of know what this is.
Build Number: 3.14.401.31 < No idea what this is.
Kernel: Stock JB < Nor this
Radio: 5.1204.162.29 < I only found out about this from the tech guy at Monkeymobile, But I sort of know what it is now.
So, with all of the above said, What are your recommendations for me to install on the phone?
ROM: < Which should I use
Android Version: < Which should I use
Sense Version: < Which should I use
Build Number: < Which should I use
Kernel: Stock < Which should I use
Radio: < Which should I use
Bearing in mind that I am looking for fluidity and speed, not that fussed about battery time, as I can charge it in the house, car, and at work, but just want something that's quick and not laggy, but the Camera must work as well as the Wi-Fi too.
Is there anything else I need to download, again, if there is can you make any recommendations please. And, is there anything else to worry about, for example this aerial business?
I know I am asking a lot, but, I do appreciate all the help from all of you.

Peterobertson said:
Hi again All.
WoW, some FANTASTIC ideas and inputs from everyone (did I just make up a new word - inputs)
Anyway, can I ask everyone a big favour please.
I am new to this kind of thing, and don't really understand all this stuff below >
ROM: RENOVATE Final 1 < Is this the operating system?
Android Version: 4.1.1 < Whats this?
Sense Version: 4+ < I kind of know what this is.
Build Number: 3.14.401.31 < No idea what this is.
Kernel: Stock JB < Nor this
Radio: 5.1204.162.29 < I only found out about this from the tech guy at Monkeymobile, But I sort of know what it is now.
So, with all of the above said, What are your recommendations for me to install on the phone?
ROM: < Which should I use
Android Version: < Which should I use
Sense Version: < Which should I use
Build Number: < Which should I use
Kernel: Stock < Which should I use
Radio: < Which should I use
Bearing in mind that I am looking for fluidity and speed, not that fussed about battery time, as I can charge it in the house, car, and at work, but just want something that's quick and not laggy, but the Camera must work as well as the Wi-Fi too.
Is there anything else I need to download, again, if there is can you make any recommendations please. And, is there anything else to worry about, for example this aerial business?
I know I am asking a lot, but, I do appreciate all the help from all of you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Peter,
My two cents:
First you need to decide whether you want to stick to sense ROMs, that is, HTC stock Roms or move to non-sense (0 ROMS..
Since you are on ICS - I would recommed you try IceColdSandwich 8.8 which is an amazing AOKP ROM
Further take a look at the below links to root your phone and find the list of custom ROMs (stock and otherwise)
Flashing phone : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1337105
List of ROMs: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1136463
Answering some of your questions (but you will have to read on google or xda forums - that helps most):
Android 4.1.1 is JellyBean; other versions of JellyBean are 4.2.1 and 4.2.2. Android 4.0.4 is IceCreamSandwich
Stock kernel: developers use the HTC kernel available with stock ROM. Some of them use the customized ones
Thus:
ROM: try all the flavours available and then stick to the one you like most. Some of the stable ones available are:
1. Gingerbread: ARHD ROM (Stock)
2. ICS: IceColdsandwich 8.3/8.8 (non stock), Niks (Stock)
3. JB 4.1.1: Lacoste's ROM
4. JB4.2.1: JellyTime by blindndumb and Lacoste's ROM
5. JB4.2.2: PACman v21 and Lacoste's ROM
Sense: depends on your taste; sense 4 is only available for ICS ROM and not for GB ROM. Personally I had stopped liking Sense since ICS update.. even though it offers some really good widgets but it restricts a user.. the AOKP and other ROMs offer a great deal of customization..
Kernel: ideally use the ones embedded in the ROM; you can however flash available kernels
Radio: Above link for flashing the ROM will give you an insight
Hope it helps

[Q] Thinking about DOWNGRADING to this phone?

Currently have a Xperia SP, but need a little extra money in my wallet and just to add another reason, in all honestly there isn't enough ROM support for me personally, and i'm not one to wait
Thinking about getting this OR the HTC Sensation...
Seen the great ROM support for this phone, so would like to know a few questions if you wouldn't mind taking the time to help me
What is the camera quality like? (xperia SP is awful in this department)
Is it a "fast" phone? any really noticeable lag?
if the phone is locked to a network can you still unlock the bootloader? (Xperia's tend to not let you if you are locked to a network 99% of time)
and would you choose this over the sensation? I mainly play a few games, browse internet and text..... OH and install ROMS.
Thank you

I can not compare models and I might have other needs than you (I am not a gamer). But considered the age of this phone, an used one can not be expensive, and there are some great fast and stable ROMs out there and there is ongoing development.
Furthermore, it is impossible to brick: you can change bootloader (it can not be locked), ROM and kernel as much as you like and there are excellent tools for doing so. Try to look at my post here.
You have to understand, it is not a state of the art phone, and in order to use all features (BT and HDMI-output), you will probably have to run a ROM based on an older CM version. Please note that CM has not released stable versions since CM7.2, and will not, but some have managed to modify CM10-CM10.2 to run on p990.
I am very happy with the phone and like to follow development on this forum!

technostein said:
Currently have a Xperia SP, but need a little extra money in my wallet and just to add another reason, in all honestly there isn't enough ROM support for me personally, and i'm not one to wait
Thinking about getting this OR the HTC Sensation...
Seen the great ROM support for this phone, so would like to know a few questions if you wouldn't mind taking the time to help me
What is the camera quality like? (xperia SP is awful in this department)
Is it a "fast" phone? any really noticeable lag?
if the phone is locked to a network can you still unlock the bootloader? (Xperia's tend to not let you if you are locked to a network 99% of time)
and would you choose this over the sensation? I mainly play a few games, browse internet and text..... OH and install ROMS.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are my 2 cents. The main problem that plagues this otherwise quite likeable device is the RAM, or lack thereof. CPU as well as GPU are quite powerful despite being almost 3 years old.
Though one thing that goes in its favour, as you rightly mentioned, is the support of awesome developers. Guys like pengus77, tonyp, jishnu, sreeprajay, spyrosk & all the usual suspects have done such a awesome job of the utilizing every single ounce of its potential to the fullest.
It's usually fast as long as you manage your resources well. Don't allow too many services chewing precious RAM in the background. Using apps like "Greenify" comes quite handy to achieve the same.
Still, not a bad device to tinker around as long as one doesn't set his expectations a bit too high. Personally, I would suggest you to choose Sensation over this primarily for more available RAM. Having said that, Sensation has its own fair share of issues too like the infamous "death grip".
Basically choose your poison

Sorry to interrupt, but i'm in the same situation. Just changed my phone, and i like this one a lot more than a newer Samsung.
I'm looking for a rom, anything above CM7.2, preferrable 10.x at least with HDMI, BT and WiFi hotspot working.
I have flashed about 5 roms on the above CM10.x and everyone is missing a different thing, be it camera, BT or WiFi hotspot, even battery eating issues. (why no one makes a full one?)
And all lack HDMI.
I would use even a rom based on ICS if it has everything on it's place.
Altough, i really liked the new lock screen on CM10.2 meanwhile overclocking and Kowalsky opened a few doors.
Does anyone know of any mostly stable rom closest to this?
Which would be the newest ROM of any flavor with everything working and no battery issues?

I tried quite a few ROMs & here's my set-up. The best so far I could find in terms of performance, stability & battery life was pengus77's "Unofficial CM 10 ROM" coupled with his own Kowalski M1 Stable Kernel.
Though being primarily a CM10 based ROM which is a derivative of 4.1.2, it will not have lock screen widgets if that's the thing you really care about. As far as camera is concerned, I use jishnu sur's camera mod.

Thanks for your answer and my apologies for the thread opener for the kidnap.
I dont care much for the lockscreen widgets. Is just something that could be helpful.
I'm having real trouble with battery life when 3g enabled, overnight my battery drop about 1%, today i enabled 3g and tt went down by almost 30% in only 2 hours. Quite dissapointing issue.
By any chance do you know where could i find more info. about HDMI not working issue? I can't believe that no one ported the driver or worked it out since it appeared.

Frankly, I have neither tested HDMI out function nor it has any real world use in my case. My best guess is it'll work with Stock based Custom ROMs & stock ROM itself of course. You may test it out with Pengus77's ROM if it works.

why don't you want to downgrade to another better phone, for example to Xperia M it's really cheaper and much better than Optimus 2x.

Questions about LG L90

I purchased the LG L90 last week, and am now using it as a daily driver (WOOT WOOT). I have retired my old phone (Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G).
I currently have questions about this phone, I love it overall, but some things are kind of bugging me out a bit:
1. Signal & Service: I understand this device is not LTE capable, but my internet speeds are slower than my Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G (which is a really old phone, in a tehcinical perspective), my speeds on "4G" max out to around ~10-11 Mbps where my old phone usually hit ~15-25 Mbps. Furthermore, my Wi-Fi speeds are slower, for example, when I am at work, my iPod can easily pick up ~42 Mbps, but on the LG L90, it barely its ~15 Mbps. Is this just an issue with the phone? I really want to resolve these issues, as the speed does make a difference for me.
2. GPS: I no longer have a physical GPS, as I figured our phones can do the job now, and my old phone did a great job at it. I don't want to say the L90 is bad, but there is some noticable lag, and at times, the GPS is unable to detect where I am physically located. I live in Seattle, so I figured beign a major metro-city, this should not be an issue, any solutions to resolving this?
3. Current ROM: I am running everything at stock, as I don't want to root just yet (warrenty purposes). That being said, if I were to go on a app and hit the home screen, there are those moments where I can see the lag processing all my apps and widgets, as I only see my wallpaper for a few seconds. There is also a crap load of T-Mobile software that I feel like are draining my battery, any possible way to delete that as well?
4. Battyery Life: Obviously, this phone is a better battery life than other phones, but are their best tips/advice on preventing battery drainage? I am a college student, so I am always on the go, and really woud love something that is stable, to also last me the entire day. Any advice on charge cycles and what not? I usually just charge my phone when I am about to go to bed (around 11 or 12 PM) and unplug it after I wake up in the morning.
Those are all my questions/issues... I really love this phone, and bought a nice case and screen protector and it just looks beyond awesome (better than the iPhone 6 ) I would appreciate any help/support you guys have to resolve these issues for me!

It's good idea to install another ROM like CM11 - it makes a big difference compared to stock one, also could mostly solve your issues, but can't provide any proof on that since I don't use these features at all. I know your warranty is void in exact moment of rooting, but it's not a problem to install stock rom again, and at service most of time these guys are too lazy to check logs

If installing a ROM is seriously the only option, what is the MOST stable ROM out there? I honestly don't want to go back and forth trying different ROMs, as at this point, I really do not have the time to do that... I guess any ROM that is stable, fast, and of course light (so my battery's potential is kept to the max!)

1. Signal & Service: You're comparing a true LTE device to a HSDPA+ device. Not the same. HSDPA+ is not true 4G.
2. GPS: GPS is flaky with this device. On stock or a custom ROM such as CM11
3. Current ROM: The only way to remove TMobile's bloatware is to root the device
4. Battyery Life: No special charging cycles. I charge mine basically the same way you do. Battery life is drastically improved running CM11 instead of stock however.
As for installing a custom ROM. Currently the most stable for the D415 is my ROM which a link can be found in my signature. Myself and many others are using it as a daily driver... but there are some issues that I'm currently in the middle of working out.

shinobisoft said:
1. Signal & Service: You're comparing a true LTE device to a HSDPA+ device. Not the same. HSDPA+ is not true 4G.
2. GPS: GPS is flaky with this device. On stock or a custom ROM such as CM11
3. Current ROM: The only way to remove TMobile's bloatware is to root the device
4. Battyery Life: No special charging cycles. I charge mine basically the same way you do. Battery life is drastically improved running CM11 instead of stock however.
As for installing a custom ROM. Currently the most stable for the D415 is my ROM which a link can be found in my signature. Myself and many others are using it as a daily driver... but there are some issues that I'm currently in the middle of working out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was comparing it to my old phone, which does not have LTE, instead it also has HSDPA+.
I'd love to use your ROM, but I also am looking for something that his minimal issues... perfect for a Daily Driver, and never looking back. I really am not into reinstalling ROMs every few days, like some people do, I'd just like to stick onto one thing and go from there.

darkgiant said:
I was comparing it to my old phone, which does not have LTE, instead it also has HSDPA+.
I'd love to use your ROM, but I also am looking for something that his minimal issues... perfect for a Daily Driver, and never looking back. I really am not into reinstalling ROMs every few days, like some people do, I'd just like to stick onto one thing and go from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been working feverishly to fix the issues my ROM has. I've worked out most of the issues but while doing so I managed to introduce a new one. Lol. Go figure. Keep an eye on my thread. Ill hopefully be uploading an update with most issues fixed within the next few days.
Sent from my LG-D415 using Tapatalk

Battery life on stock is bad?

xantanion said:
Battery life on stock is bad?
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Click to collapse
Woah, what ROM is that you are using? Battery Life on stock is not bad (At least compaed to my previous phone ) but I was trying to go towards the direction of, what are some good tips/advice to saving battery life and what not.
Question: Are you always on 4G? That is completly insane that you manage to pull off that much battery life!

shinobisoft said:
I've been working feverishly to fix the issues my ROM has. I've worked out most of the issues but while doing so I managed to introduce a new one. Lol. Go figure. Keep an eye on my thread. Ill hopefully be uploading an update with most issues fixed within the next few days.
Sent from my LG-D415 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah okay. I will keep my eye out for now, once your ROM is close to 100% (there is no such thing as "perfect" haha) do let me know... I respect all the developers who volunteer their time to create these tools available for us, but I also value my time a whole lot!

darkgiant said:
Woah, what ROM is that you are using? Battery Life on stock is not bad (At least compaed to my previous phone ) but I was trying to go towards the direction of, what are some good tips/advice to saving battery life and what not.
Question: Are you always on 4G? That is completly insane that you manage to pull off that much battery life!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on the stock D415 with my personal debloating. I don't use greenify or anything, all I have is xposed and gravity box on. Got rid of all the T-mobile crap and the lookout anti virus And yes for the most part I'm in 4g all the time.
Edit: Almost forgot, always have bluetooth, wifi and high battery location services

shinobisoft said:
I've been working feverishly to fix the issues my ROM has. I've worked out most of the issues but while doing so I managed to introduce a new one. Lol. Go figure. Keep an eye on my thread. Ill hopefully be uploading an update with most issues fixed within the next few days.
Sent from my LG-D415 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xantanion said:
I'm on the stock D415 with my personal debloating. I don't use greenify or anything, all I have is xposed and gravity box on. Got rid of all the T-mobile crap and the lookout anti virus And yes for the most part I'm in 4g all the time.
Edit: Almost forgot, always have bluetooth, wifi and high battery location services
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mind sharing how you did all that? I currently avoid turning on things like Bluetooth while I drive because I am scared of draining the battery (even though I can always charge it) but I also want to keep the charge cycle consistent.
Another question, any good suggestions for Maps? Is Google Maps the best solution out there? I have tried Waze (personally dislike it) and currently am experimenting with Sygic maps, but want to see other options out there as well...

Bump? Seeking more advice on this!
Also, what is a preferable GPS app around here?

darkgiant said:
Bump? Seeking more advice on this!
Also, what is a preferable GPS app around here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had D415 last night and tested GPS a bit today with Copilot Live USA. The first test in the morning was terrible. The phone took half hour to get a fix, then was swinging between fix and lost every other minute during my commute to work for more than one hour. The second test was great on the way back to home:good:. GPS took <30s to get a fix, and hardly lost any connection, only a few seconds during the 90-minute trip.
SO what did make the difference? I believe the GPS chip in L90 is not great, but workable. It needs sometime to warm up before starting to work. The first test was running Copilot immediately after turning GPS chip on. There is no warm up time, resulting in disaster navigation. The GPS chip was then turned on the entire day, so the second test was almost perfect.
For D415, turn on GPS chip at least 30 minutes prior to using navigation. This way may keep you away from flaky problem.