Database Develop

CONFUSED N1 Owner

Hello folks,
Well I recently made the switch from iPhone OS to Android , picked up a used Nexus One in pretty good shape, no scratches, like new and what not, the phone is amazing BUT I am having a hard time understanding some stuff (I thought I was getting a stock N1, and it seems it has been loaded w/ custom ROM and is rooted and unlocked. -which not bad in my opinion, but...
I still have some questions, I am trying to update to Froyo 2.2, and im not sure if I will ever get OTA since the phone has been messed around with and if i manually update to 2.2 it will cause trouble.
1) When I boot the phone it shows the "lock" to be opened, so I am assuming it is oem unlocked, the phone has working WiFi tethering (just like in 2.2)
2) also in the menu of the phone there is an app "superuser permission" which thats why assume the phone is also rooted
And finally In the "About phone" I get the following:
firmware 2.1-update1
baseband
32.36.00.28h_4.06.00.12_7
kernel
2.6.34-cyanogenmod
mod version
cyanogenmod-5.0.8-n1-test3
build
epe54b
I have reset the phone to factory settings, but the same info comes up everytime. the phone runs flawless, no lags, overall i love the phone.
And finally if anybody knows please feel free to share, I am trying to open port 80 on the N1 while it is running Wifi tethering and the only way i have found to do this is if the N1 is rooted, correct me if im wrong... i have a rovio that is refusing to connect to the N1s network...
Any positive input will be highly appreciated! thanks!

Your not very confused!
Your phone is unlocked and has root. its running cyanogenmod-5.0.8-n1-test3.
You can install a custom froyo rom without too much of a problem from recovery. Remember to nandroid-backup everything from recovery first.
Get into recovery by holding down the volume down button as you press the power button to power on the phone.
Heres an example of tethering via usb/forwarded port
http://blog.tangorangers.com/2009/02/tetherbot_android_and_slackware_how_to/

you can install 2.2 with no problem but you have to manually do it. you might get a notification for ota's but you won't be able to install them. just install it manually.

Man you guys are awesome! thanks for clearing this up for me.

atomoz said:
Man you guys are awesome! thanks for clearing this up for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah man, you're money. For a used phone it is set up in possibly the best way possible for someone new to android and ready for you to throw the new CM6 ROM on there. You even have the proper radio already. You're good to go.

You can install Froyo in various ways. If you want total stock you can follow the instructions on this link and let OTA froyo install itself. If you need root you can download that from HERE
This method requires SDK installed with Fastboot on your computer with mandatory USB Drivers.
Or you can go the very easy way and use ROMs that is allready cooked, ready to flash in recovery right over your old ROM, like the link that is in my signature. It works great for me and is pretty much stock with root and a couple of extras you can delete via ADB if you don't need them..
Just download the Rom, drop it on the root of your SD Card and flash away in Recovery. all done!
What you are running is a test version of Cyanogen which is not the stable version. So it seems the previous owner didn't bother flashing it.

First time using Android, please give some advices!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Q] New to android

I just bought a Motorola Milestone from a friend with android 2.2.2 fryo already installed and running at 800mhz.
i was just wondering since this isnt exactly the latest rom, how easy is it to install a new rom (are they all ready to go, no weird stuff to install after?) and to go back to the current rom just in case.
it also already has been rooted.

it is very easy. does the phone already have an open recovery installed on it?

dont know really.. i have ROM Manager installed, believe this also contains backup thingy like NANdroid?

Well if you have clockwork recovery already installed just put the custom rom file in your sd card and boot in to recovery then wipe, install zip from sd, pick the rom, wait for it to finish then reboot.

since you're asking for a good rom, and for the relative howto, these are my 2c:
1) you should really put in your sdcard a good recovery, if you don't know what version you have at the moment. Download the zip and put it in your sdcard.
http://code.google.com/p/minimod/downloads/detail?name=Minimod%20V0.06.zip
MAKE A FULL NANDROID BACKUP before flashing roms, to get back easily
2) to me, CyanogenMod 7 is the best rom for daily use, since you have a sort of equilibrium between features and performance. I prefere original kabaldan rom, but you could also try OH NO! version. In general, all you have to do is put the zip file you want to flash in sdcard/OpenRecovery/updates, and reboot by holding camera button. You'll get either OpenRecovery menu (wher you'll find "apply update" functions) or standard recovery screen (a warning triangle).
If you get the triangle you have to press volume up and camera button together, and "apply update"; you'll get the aformentioned OpenRecovery menu.
If you want to try CyanogenMod 7, look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=941346 (first post)
KEEP IN MIND that you'll have to put both the rom zip and the gapps zip in the updates fode of your sdcard (that is, these links: https://github.com/downloads/nadlabak/android/update-cm-7.1.2-Milestone-KANG-signed.zip and http://www.multiupload.com/NQAPSYPKIW)
2bis) you should give a look at the milestone development forum; you'll find info about almost every good rom you can use

Scoutme thnx for your reply! yes i was looking at cm7 so i am going to try that. So if i backup and the new rom sucks, i can just go back to the previous one using the backup. Just wanted to know, current rom is actualy really nice and fast, so dont know if cm7 is going to make it slower. Just gonna give it a try then^^
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App

just updated with your link, works perfectly! phone seems fast enough, but does anyone know if its still clocked at 800mhz or is it al back to stock? anyone using this also clocked their phone becouse of getting slower? fyi it was already clocked when i got it

[how to] install rom to Bell XT860 without losing ability to return to stock

How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
Why this guide?
I noticed over time that my phone has become slower and more frustrating to use. For example, long pauses when trying to open a program - sometimes it takes an easy 10 or more seconds to open the dialer and dial a number.
I wanted to try a custom rom, but was concerned about the ability to get back to stock, if something goes wrong, or to be able to take advantage of a Bell update if they release a new one. Thanks to the hard work of many on this board, I have discovered how to make this possible and wanted to share with others.
Big thanks to DoomLord, HashCode, Enderoid, Rick#2, Dasilva333, Willis111 and others. Please feel free to make corrections to these instructions.
Note: This has been tested with an XT860 on Bell 2.3.6 firmware. This will probably NOT work on v2.3.4 So if you have 2.3.4, upgrade to 2.3.6 and then these instructions should work. When I first got the phone, it was at 2.3.5 and later was updated OTA (Over the air) by Bell to 2.3.6. To check which firmware you have, Home Screen / Settings / About Phone
Needed:
1. Windows pc (someone else more knowledgeable could probably tell you how to make this work on a Mac)
2. USB cable for connecting your phone.
3. Rooting tool, I highly recommend zergRush method by DoomLord found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321582
4. Safestrap by hashcode
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html
5. Custom rom of your choice.
Step 1:
Root your phone using the DoomLord tool. I used version 3. It was really easy, just follow the instructions on the link above.
Step 2:
Backup existing user programs that you might want to restore on a new system. I used Titanium Backup Pro but there are others.
Step 3:
Please read this page carefully
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/how-to-safestrap.html to download and install safestrap v1.08. Note, you should remove any other type of bootstrap (eg. ClockworkMod, ROM Manager) before installing Safestrap.
Step 4:
Now you should be ready to download and try a custom rom. Make sure to do a backup (“Nandroid” backup) of your working system before you try a custom rom so you have something to fall back on in case something goes wrong or you want to return to stock.
Find a rom, download it and save it to a location on your sdcard or ext-sdcard. There’s lots of good candidates for you to test and a good thread with some reviews here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1384676
To do this, power down your phone after you have run safestrap and clicked to make recovery active. If you did it right, when you turn it on again, you should see a different splash screen that gives you a few seconds to enter the recovery menu by pressing the “menu” button on you device.
You should see “Safestrap Recovery v1.08” and below that “Safe System is: DISABLED”
on a black screen with some green menu choices.
Use the volume keys to scroll up/down and select “backup and restore” by pressing the power button.
The screen should change to show the Nandroid backup menu. You need to make a Nandroid backup of your existing (working) system, which is simply a snapshot of the exact system with all programs, settings, sms’s, call logs, etc. It’s like a snapshot in time in case you need to revert. Select “backup”, then select Internal or External SD Card for the location (I’m not sure it it matters for the location).
Safestrap will backup your system to a Nandroid backup. It takes a few minutes.
After the backup is complete, you can enable the Safe System where you will install custom roms. Scroll down and select “safe boot menu”, then “Toggle Safe System”, then on the next screen confirm your selection. It will backup the original system to a safe area where it can’t be modified (unless you are an advanced user and install a different version of Safestrap but that’s beyond the scope of these instructions).
After Safe System is: ENABLED, scroll down to “Install zip from sdcard”, select your rom, install, reboot and enjoy.
To revert back to your original system, follow these steps:
1. Turn off your phone and reboot into SafeStrap recovery menu.
2. Turn off SafeSystem. (Safe boot menu -> Toggle Safe System)
3. Restore your nandroid backup and reboot.
If you wanted to go further back to stock you could uninstall Safestrap and even unroot using DoomLord’s zergRush tool, which would put you back to stock.
I think that’s it. Hopefully this guide will be helpful to others who want to try a new rom without losing the ability to revert back to stock Bell.

ncho2233 said:
How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
Why this guide?
I noticed over time that my phone has become slower and more frustrating to use. For example, long pauses when trying to open a program - sometimes it takes an easy 10 or more seconds to open the dialer and dial a number.
I wanted to try a custom rom, but was concerned about the ability to get back to stock, if something goes wrong, or to be able to take advantage of a Bell update if they release a new one. Thanks to the hard work of many on this board, I have discovered how to make this possible and wanted to share with others.
Big thanks to DoomLord, HashCode, Enderoid, Rick#2, Dasilva333, Willis111 and others. Please feel free to make corrections to these instructions.
Note: This has been tested with an XT860 on Bell 2.3.6 firmware. This will probably NOT work on v2.3.4 So if you have 2.3.4, upgrade to 2.3.6 and then these instructions should work. When I first got the phone, it was at 2.3.5 and later was updated OTA (Over the air) by Bell to 2.3.6. To check which firmware you have, Home Screen / Settings / About Phone
Needed:
1. Windows pc (someone else more knowledgeable could probably tell you how to make this work on a Mac)
2. USB cable for connecting your phone.
3. Rooting tool, I highly recommend zergRush method by DoomLord found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1321582
4. Safestrap by hashcode
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/android-downloads.html
5. Custom rom of your choice.
Step 1:
Root your phone using the DoomLord tool. I used version 3. It was really easy, just follow the instructions on the link above.
Step 2:
Backup existing user programs that you might want to restore on a new system. I used Titanium Backup Pro but there are others.
Step 3:
Please read this page carefully
http://hash-of-codes.blogspot.com/p/how-to-safestrap.html to download and install safestrap v1.08. Note, you should remove any other type of bootstrap (eg. ClockworkMod, ROM Manager) before installing Safestrap.
Step 4:
Now you should be ready to download and try a custom rom. Make sure to do a backup (“Nandroid” backup) of your working system before you try a custom rom so you have something to fall back on in case something goes wrong or you want to return to stock.
Find a rom, download it and save it to a location on your sdcard or ext-sdcard. There’s lots of good candidates for you to test and a good thread with some reviews here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1384676
To do this, power down your phone after you have run safestrap and clicked to make recovery active. If you did it right, when you turn it on again, you should see a different splash screen that gives you a few seconds to enter the recovery menu by pressing the “menu” button on you device.
You should see “Safestrap Recovery v1.08” and below that “Safe System is: DISABLED”
on a black screen with some green menu choices.
Use the volume keys to scroll up/down and select “backup and restore” by pressing the power button.
The screen should change to show the Nandroid backup menu. You need to make a Nandroid backup of your existing (working) system, which is simply a snapshot of the exact system with all programs, settings, sms’s, call logs, etc. It’s like a snapshot in time in case you need to revert. Select “backup”, then select Internal or External SD Card for the location (I’m not sure it it matters for the location).
Safestrap will backup your system to a Nandroid backup. It takes a few minutes.
After the backup is complete, you can enable the Safe System where you will install custom roms. Scroll down and select “safe boot menu”, then “Toggle Safe System”, then on the next screen confirm your selection. It will backup the original system to a safe area where it can’t be modified (unless you are an advanced user and install a different version of Safestrap but that’s beyond the scope of these instructions).
After Safe System is: ENABLED, scroll down to “Install zip from sdcard”, select your rom, install, reboot and enjoy.
To revert back to your original system, follow these steps:
1. Turn off your phone and reboot into SafeStrap recovery menu.
2. Turn off SafeSystem. (Safe boot menu -> Toggle Safe System)
3. Restore your nandroid backup and reboot.
If you wanted to go further back to stock you could uninstall Safestrap and even unroot using DoomLord’s zergRush tool, which would put you back to stock.
I think that’s it. Hopefully this guide will be helpful to others who want to try a new rom without losing the ability to revert back to stock Bell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good writeup. As a note when your switch back to nonsafe you don't need to restore a nandroid. Actually with safestrap you should rarely have to restore a nandroid as its next to impossible to screw up your device so bad that a restore is required. The stock bell /system stays nice and untouched
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

Dont you just root, install safestrap and flash paritions to preinstall from stock(to avoid not being able to return to true stock) and not flash the og /system? Obviously works on 2.3.4, 2.3.6 etc any rootable rom capable of running safestrap. You should be able to even use my rom to return to stock deodexed by flashing to /system(non-safe) and removing any custom recovery. It should be very easy to convert that or the og dumps into a system.img for use with rsdlite and even the rest of the stock img files. I'll take a look at it this aft. Thanks for the write up, hope some of this info helps.

Maybe this is the wrong place to ask, but XT860 threads are few and far between in this droid 3 section. But I've got a few questions about this method.
First off, how safe is this from start to finish? I'm by no means new at the whole installing custom roms thing, but there have most definitely been times on all three of the devices I've installed roms on (Nook Color, Milestone, Transformer) where I've gotten a non-booting device that was fixed either because it was so easy to just go into CWM or RSDlite and flash a new rom or revert to stock. Doing anything (I'm not even rooted yet) on my XT860 kind of scares me, because we don't have an sbf or anything. This method seems like its the closest thing we've got, but new things are scary.
Secondly, I read somewhere that ICS uses a different kernel than GB. Would this method be able to deal with that or are we boned (i.e. stuck with the GB kernel and hackarounds) until Moto randomly decides to unlock the bootloader and we can rewrite everything?
And lastly, we can root on bell now? Last time I'd looked into it, I seem to remember flashing firmware from another country and without an easy way to get back to stock, that kind of killed it for me.
Once again, sorry that some of this is kind of off topic, its just kind of hard to know where to read while we're piggybacking on the droid 3 forum.

Tyfighter said:
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask, but XT860 threads are few and far between in this droid 3 section. But I've got a few questions about this method.
First off, how safe is this from start to finish? I'm by no means new at the whole installing custom roms thing, but there have most definitely been times on all three of the devices I've installed roms on (Nook Color, Milestone, Transformer) where I've gotten a non-booting device that was fixed either because it was so easy to just go into CWM or RSDlite and flash a new rom or revert to stock. Doing anything (I'm not even rooted yet) on my XT860 kind of scares me, because we don't have an sbf or anything. This method seems like its the closest thing we've got, but new things are scary.
Secondly, I read somewhere that ICS uses a different kernel than GB. Would this method be able to deal with that or are we boned (i.e. stuck with the GB kernel and hackarounds) until Moto randomly decides to unlock the bootloader and we can rewrite everything?
And lastly, we can root on bell now? Last time I'd looked into it, I seem to remember flashing firmware from another country and without an easy way to get back to stock, that kind of killed it for me.
Once again, sorry that some of this is kind of off topic, its just kind of hard to know where to read while we're piggybacking on the droid 3 forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes we can root, there is no need to flash any other countries fastboot files as long as you are on bell 2.3.6. While bell doesn't have a fastboot package yet(sbf) if you borked your device you can use motofastboot to flash just /system from the fastboot package of another country, and then restore a backup, thus everything stays bell stock.
The best advice is to use safestrap and only flash the safemode. You should always be able to get into CWR with safestrap
And yes we are stuck with the GB kernel for now, which is part of the reason developing ics roms has been so painful
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

This process does not work for me...
When I load SafeStrap 1.08, I get Recovery State: Not Installed
I try and click the "Install Recovery" button and it goes through a process (preparing something, obtaining root, etc) but the Recovery State never changes
I have an XT860 from Bell (2.3.6) that is running on Rogers (unlocked).
Root works fine for TiBu and Root Explorer....The SuperUser entry for SafeStrap lists allowed and logs a whole bunch of "granted".
Any thoughts?

Caz666 said:
This process does not work for me...
When I load SafeStrap 1.08, I get Recovery State: Not Installed
I try and click the "Install Recovery" button and it goes through a process (preparing something, obtaining root, etc) but the Recovery State never changes
I have an XT860 from Bell (2.3.6) that is running on Rogers (unlocked).
Root works fine for TiBu and Root Explorer....The SuperUser entry for SafeStrap lists allowed and logs a whole bunch of "granted".
Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you don't have su binary properly installed. I've had this happen with bootstrap. Check that you have su in both /system/bin and /system/xbin
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

Close...it was busybox. It was present, but borked. Nuked and reloaded..problem fixed.
Many thanks to hashcode for the pointer to busybox being most likely.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

Caz666 said:
Close...it was busybox. It was present, but borked. Nuked and reloaded..problem fixed.
Many thanks to hashcode for the pointer to busybox being most likely.
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that you say that I remember someone else having the same issue and it turned out to be busybox. I had nearly the same problem with the bootstrap and it ended up being su missing from xbin
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

OK I tried this and it works perfectly. Thanks man. This is what I needed.

Finally got around to trying this. I'd been in the middle of a move with my pc in a box, but now I've got ICS fully up and running (save for the whole camera thing). Panicked halfway through when I got into a bootloop, but then I wiped everything (forgot the cache the first time) and then everything worked.
I got wifi tether working with the app that was included in the rom, but have any of you had any luck with doing it natively through the settings? I only ask because being able to trigger it from the status bar would be pretty sweet.
edit: did some looking around and it looks like maybe its an issue with shoehorning GSM into a CDMA rom. At least that's the feel I've been getting, I'd love to be wrong.

Thanks for this thread! I hadn't realized there had been developments for the XT-860.
I had unlocked (for use on the Fido network)/rooted my phone and it was working great, then the OTA update from Bell came and I installed that. Now, I seem to have lost root privileges (I guess, obviously).
So, I guess I'm pretty much back to square one.
I would love some advice on how to proceed! I'm thinking of following your directions, and am interested in recommendations for which ROM to install.
What is the problem with the camera with ICS? I use the camera on our phone pretty often so I want a ROM that doesn't break it. Does anyone have some links to some good ROMs to try that work with the XT-860?

twitchcity said:
Thanks for this thread! I hadn't realized there had been developments for the XT-860.
I had unlocked (for use on the Fido network)/rooted my phone and it was working great, then the OTA update from Bell came and I installed that. Now, I seem to have lost root privileges (I guess, obviously).
So, I guess I'm pretty much back to square one.
I would love some advice on how to proceed! I'm thinking of following your directions, and am interested in recommendations for which ROM to install.
What is the problem with the camera with ICS? I use the camera on our phone pretty often so I want a ROM that doesn't break it. Does anyone have some links to some good ROMs to try that work with the XT-860?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use zergrush to root 2.3.6. Picture camera works in ics but you can't record or view video. There's some good gb roms. Give me a few and il shoot you some links
Sent from my XT860 using xda premium

Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.

Bell SBF available at the following URL:
http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_solana/list.php

ncho2233 said:
How to install a custom rom (eg. CM9, Ice Cream Sandwich, Liberty, Maverick, SteelDroid) to a Bell XT860 without losing the ability to revert to stock later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there was any interest at all I would have just made a 100% stock bell 2.3.6 that you flash with CWM and then remove the recovery to be 100% stock but the deodex version seems to be good enough, especially to get a phone with a physical problem past bell/motorola reps. I'm downloading and mirroring that bell sbf right now, very nice find pfak! I made a new thread since you didn't but just linked to your post.
twitchcity said:
Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many roms on this part of the sub-forum, just look around or try a search with [ROM] as your query (might not work so hot in the d3 dev subforum )
I

twitchcity said:
Starting the process now. Can someone please send me a link or two to a good ROM for the XT-860?
I would prefer ICS (I want Chrome on my phone), but if that causes to many problems, a GB recommendation would be fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Willis111 said:
If there was any interest at all I would have just made a 100% stock bell 2.3.6 that you flash with CWM and then remove the recovery to be 100% stock but the deodex version seems to be good enough, especially to get a phone with a physical problem past bell/motorola reps. I'm downloading and mirroring that bell sbf right now, very nice find pfak! I made a new thread since you didn't but just linked to your post.
There are many roms on this part of the sub-forum, just look around or try a search with [ROM] as your query (might not work so hot in the d3 dev subforum )
I
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a number of xt860 adapted roms on my computer. Give me a few days to contact the devs and such and I'll see if I can get a stickied thread with xt860 ready roms to make it easy for new comers. Also willis, ignore my other post to you, I'll include that info in aforementioned thread if I can get it going
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium

Endoroid said:
I have a number of xt860 adapted roms on my computer. Give me a few days to contact the devs and such and I'll see if I can get a stickied thread with xt860 ready roms to make it easy for new comers. Also willis, ignore my other post to you, I'll include that info in aforementioned thread if I can get it going
Sent from my GT-P5113 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can just use one of the patches (small xt860 patches) to get any rom working on our phones as far as I know.

pfak said:
Bell SBF available at the following URL:
http://sbf.droid-developers.org/umts_solana/list.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for this it will help a ton of peeps

Stock RUU (with root) anywhere?

Sorry guys, I've been piecing together different posts/threads to try & find my answer without much success, but I haven't had too much luck
We bought somebody at our office a rooted Droid 4, using Safestrap 3.11 recovery, which appears to be running CM10.1 in it's slot 1. For some reason, unclear to me exactly, she wants to remove the root, if possible & just run the phone the way it comes. My initial thought was to just run a rooted stock RUU on the phone & give it back, but I've had difficulties finding one for this phone so I decided I might as well just do as she'd initially asked.
From reading other posts, it appears as if I'm supposed to disable Safestrap from the recovery, allow the phone to boot into the stock rom, then remove the safestrap app. However, I'm at a loss for finding the option that would allow me to disable safestrack out of the recovery, as everything I've seen/read doesn't seem to be an option anywhere that I can find.
There's an option for Stock ROM, but after attempting to switch it to that rom, the phone just reboots over & over. After I've selected the stock, it appears as it it's wanting me to Install the rom from somewhere, & the previous owner does have a stock maserati ROM listed in his downloads, but I'd like to confirm that selecting this option is what I'm supposed to do before I run with it, as previously mentioned, it's not my phone to get to enjoy fixing if I mess something up.
I'm not a complete NOOB, as I'd rooted all of the HTC EVO branded phones I'd owned, but I'm typically a little braver at trying first & fixing later, when it's my phones than when it's somebody elses.
Thanks for any & all advice.