Database Develop

[Q] What are the benefits of a custom ROM?

By custom ROM I mean like Cognition or CyanogenMod.
Are there any advantages to these over the stock ROM on my Rooted Device?
Such as more features or whatever else?
Am I just better off waiting for FroYo to be released?
I kinda miss flashing ROMs from the good ol'days of WinMo =]

Sometimes, it's the little things that make a world of difference. Cognition, for example, makes my battery indicator give me a number, the percentage of power left. Much better than having to make a fuzzy guess based on a tiny blue/yellow/red battery graphic. It also comes packaged with a nice lagfix as well as app sideloading - things I can and did do for myself, but are nice to not have to redo with a new ROM.
And in general, my phone is just smoother with the new kernel and everything else. So I don't regret flashing a custom ROM at all; it was worth it.

Do I need a Lag-fix?
This is my first android device so I have no idea what slow is haha.
I think I already enabled sideloading, I did something with a command prompt window and my computer, thats kinda sad that I don't remember what lol.

If you edited a database file in something like SQLite Manager, you enabled sideloading.
And I totally recommend a lagfix. There are several wonderfully technical reasons as to why one's good to have, but practically speaking, I like it because the phone is noticeably more responsive. Although, watch which one you get... I had one that utilized a program called SL4A, and removing that lagfix broke my phone for the day. -_- I had to do an Odin3 flash to make it usable again.

I have noticed that lag when I try to resume the phone from stand-by. The lag-fix doesn't have any negative side affects to the phone like over-clocking does?

[Q] Performance Question

Hey
I just updated my Galaxy S to firmware 2.3.3, JVQ through kies
I was just wondering if there would be any dramatic performance advantage if i used a custom ROM or something?
Also another question, when i updated through kies i didnt do a factory reset, Should i do one now? would it make any difference to my phones poerformance?
Thanks for any help

If you are currently experiencing nothing out of the ordinary (errors, lag, etc.) then I don't feel doing a factory reset would help in any way.
Custom ROMs are made for plenty of different things. If you like what Samsung has to offer, keep at it. If you feel you'd enjoy more speed, power, etc., then try a custom one. That's literally why people make one—to improve on an area where they feel could use improving. Personally, I use CM7. If you're after power, that's the ROM for you.

Thanks for your reply, I do sometimes get a little bit of lag, sometimes apps freezing up...
What im really asking is how noticeable would the difference in performance be?

Shotdog said:
Thanks for your reply, I do sometimes get a little bit of lag, sometimes apps freezing up...
What im really asking is how noticeable would the difference in performance be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use CM7 with Glitch's kernel, and I usually have my phone running at 1.2 GHz. I never, ever experience lag in the launcher—opening the app drawer, transitioning between homescreens (filled with widgets); for the most part, my phone doesn't lag when using/multi-tasking between apps (although some apps still take time to load, of course); I virtually never, ever have any lag whatsoever when browsing the web (I use Opera Mobile); and I rarely have any stuttering in games, although I simply bump my CPU up a bit more if I need the extra power (some games are fairly intensive).
For the most part, I don't experience lag. When I do, I feel like I haven't tweaked my phone quite right. I quickly jumped off the Samsung boat once I realized that there were different, more performance-oriented ROMs available—and I must say that I am extremely pleased with both the performance and elaborated settings menu of CM7, which leaves for a truly customizable experience. If you're at all interested in an experience like this, I'd start looking into custom ROMs. It takes a little bit to wrap your head around it all, but once you learn the basics and set your phone up just right, you'll have a much more enjoyable experience. I certainly have.

I found ram tweaks had the most effect, there's a thread in the dev section on optimizing your phone, or you can use the simplicity rom, I think it has those tweaks all pre done.

[Q] Would you recomend flashing android?

Hi guys, as you can see from my sig I owned a few HTC in these years and I moved on from WM to Android about 2 years ago.
I'm writing this post as a request of suggestion from you as I don't have any experience with how Android behave on Tytn II and it's not for me but for my dad..!
He's been using his Tytn II for quite some time so far and I wanted to know if you would suggest me to flash for him Android on his device.
Please before answering considere that it's not for me, it's for a man of a certain age (around 60) that doesn't want any complication and doesn't have any time to dedicate to solve any issue that my come from the process.
So if this would bring him an increase of its device performance and usability I would definetely go for it, but don't want to hear him complaining all the time bout me having ruined his phone because of FC or random reboots or whatever ...
Is there any ROM free of issues and stable enough?!
I enjoy changing kernels, roms and radios of my devices, but you got what I meant before right? Once again: it's not for me..!
Thanks everybody in advance for your suggestions

First of all, before recommending anything.
I understand that your dad is as you say "a man of a certain age (around 60)". Is he savy on learning how to use new things? Meaning navigate his way around using things. IE: with his WM.
As far as if problems will arise, these things will happens (IE: FC, etc...) Depending on how he use it too. But it can be control to the minimum.
From my experience all ROMs are pretty much the same as far a being stable. It will depends on features and a few other things.

BeenAndroidized said:
I understand that your dad is as you say "a man of a certain age (around 60)". Is he savy on learning how to use new things? Meaning navigate his way around using things. IE: with his WM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well..he use his Tytn II as he would have used any "old style phone". No app or whatsoever installed a part from a navigator (which I installed..) ....and once that something was not working properly he didn't anything for about 6 months till I discovered it, PIM backupped everything and made a hard reset to get it back to its functionality...so I'd say: yeah if he need to he will learn, but he won't search by himself any workaround..
And the main problem is that we don't live anymore together, I'm currently at them just till Feb and then I'll b back to Athens where I live...so I won't be here to help him out..!
That said, he's quite tech friendly, he's on his PC all day long and part of his job is to build different sites for various committents...
But from your words I can understand it need far more attentions than I think my dad would like to give to this thing..

Best way is to ask him.

my 2 cents
Well, as far as I can see,
my TyTn II with android is faster, more reliable and overall most usable.
The touch screen feels more like a capacitive touchscreen rather than a resistive one (wich is actually what the TyTN has).
Regarding the "age" of your father, I think it's not a problem.
mine has the same age of yours and he's arguing with Samsung Bada Os every day...so I showed him how "easy" is Android regarding Bada and he was amazed.
the counterpart is that, if he want to move to Android, you have to set up the whole thing in every little piece:
Android version, htc overclock, hiding "dangerous" icons from the drawer (such as the root app ) so he can't cause any "damage" by hitting something wrong.
I'm currently running under Froyo on mine, and it's pretty faster as I said BUT...
sometimes it FC (well, I'm like an addicted to customisations, so it's pretty normal... xD), it freezes for a while, Launcher Pro will FC (I personally hate ADW), my battery drains fast (but again, is because I put all kind of custom on it...IE: live wallpapers, custom lockscreen etc etc)
IMO if you go to a pretty simple version (such as 1.6 or alike) it won't have any kind of problems...
I give you a tip:
google for simosoft project...
he developped an Android "emulator"... install it on his device and see his reactions... from there you can do everything: phone calls, text messaging, emailing (because it basically uses the WinMo programs ) and it's not a flashing rom, it's just a installable .cab file.
try and see
I think this is the best thing you can do to avoid any kind of "stress"...
otherwise, for instance, you can make a huge backup, flash a rom, make him try
and then, if in few days/weeks he can't go on with Android (wich IMO is impossible) you can revert it back to the useless WinMo
let me know :-D

Thanks for all the advices..I'll think about it & I'll let you know
Sent from my brain with Beats Audio using my psychic powers

I'd suggest leaving him with a good stable WM ROM. There are still newer ones but I my favorite was an old one by shifu. You might look for a WM rom that has not a lot of extras, good stability, and updated versions of any "aftermarket" apps.
Or, give him a haret install. If he likes it but complains that it is too slow, you can get more speed by installing nand. But don't do that until you know he likes it.

Samsung S3 mini gt-i8200n: so, I can't really do much anything with it?

Hi there,
I've bought this phone some months ago, first smart phone ever.
At the time I didn't pay much attention to all the rooting, rom, apps options, mostly because I had no idea what all this was about.
Now I'm getting curious, if only because the performance of my phone aren't exactly fast. If I keep the wi-fi off, battery has a decent duration, but I wouldn't call this phone extremely responsive or a phone with a smooth experience. I've replaced the launcher with something lighter, removed wallpaper, sounds, tried the kill task application (and learned that probably isn't a good idea after all, in fact I uninstalled it).
So, long story short, I started looking for a more robust way to take control of my phone and I've got here.
I understand I need to get root administration privileges in order to have more control on what I can or can't automatically run.
But at this point I'm also getting interested about rom, updating the UI which some more elegant, minimalist theme (I don't like Andoird 4.2.2 UI).
After some research on line it seems to me that with the gt-i8200n I can't run any rom. Yes, I can root it, probably at that point optimize it, but it seems I've to forget about customization or new android system releases.
Is that true?
Thanks for any clarification.
Best,
Andrew

Alright, I keep doing my homework. So, if I still want to customize my gt-i8200n without using any ROM, I think I can do it using Xposed.
I'm reading about Xposed right now, but it seems promising.

Anyone? I though the gt-i8200n had some users after all..

Wow, two days no help.
I get that people is busy, but it just seems to me no one is going to help.
bummer

it's becouse it's a not common version of the s3 mini, my cousing haves one, the only thing you can do to speed up a little bit the 8200 it's using Greenify to hibernate apps, cuz it's kinda ****ed up that there's no roms for that version.

xposed is awesome mate. Iv had androids for a while now and the first thing I used to do was find a rom, but for my last phone and my current z3, I rooted and xposed it and Im more than happy.
Sorry, cant help with a rom for you gt-i8200n though :/

Help me get some more usage out of this phone :/ Asking basic questions!

Hi guys!
So I'm probably not as good with phones as you, but I learned to install a ROM, I've tried many of them but then returned to CyanogenMod ROM that was offered on their site. The performance is not that good, it lags often and battery life is too bad! The questions I want to ask you are:
1. Which ROM do you think is the most stable and would be a better alternative to Jelly Bean CyanogenMod?
2. What ROM are you using and why? Experiences etc.
Thank you!

Kind of in the same boat, just three meters further out. Have been putting off buying a new pho.... embiggened touch-pad device with phone capability and less battery life, that should in a reasonable world come with a carrying case with a shoulder-strap, and a stock portfolio for the handset maker... for a few years. But finally caved in, and bought something on sale with a really good screen, a replaceable battery, and a 3,5mm jack not made exclusively out of conductive rubber.
But. Now that I had a new phone pad, I wouldn't have to worry about bricking my old phone. All that much. So I went through a bunch of excruciating testing and failing yesterday to get something without ram-crippling bloatware and google applications that essentially force the 4x to run constantly at max speed.
What I seemed to be running into was two types of problems: a lot of the roms (custom firmware) were made by someone who was simply testing something new at the time, experimented a lot, and then left the project behind (or simply focused on other handsets). That's not necessarily a problem, but it can mean that you have stability issues you might not expect, and that has not been tested or reported while the project was active. And that might actually stop you from getting far enough to install some app that changes cpu-governor, ram-handling, and so on (even things like the standard keyboard/language variant.. kind of essential that that works). Install instructions also tend to link to outdated bootloaders, or have workaround suggestions that worked at the time, but now are obsoleted completely. The second problem was the OpenGapps - some of the core apps conflict with the builds' own apps.
And then there's the fact that the kernel in these roms tend to be from when the project was last maintained. I can't seem to decipher exactly what's going on, but I think a lot of the early roms were based on an old kernel with inserts (like the original one from LG). While the older builds on new kernel branches tend to have better support, but then have certain types of functionality simply gone completely. I don't know why that is, but the experience with this on linux laptops and android devices is what made me hold off until I had something that could replace the 4x before starting to try out some of the experiment builds people have.
So I went through getting the bootloader unlocked, trying a billion different methods before realizing they were all workarounds for the non-eu handsets - just use the oem-unlock method with fastboot. It's really as simple as it sounds. Use the "all in one" thing on the forum, set up the drivers, get root, and things like that - and then install a new, updated bootloader. I think after one of the official LG updates, everyone can actually use the oem-unlock.
Then I chose the wrong bootloader, apparently.. the cwm touch thing - superb bootloader. But apparently has some quirks that prevents it from installing certain firmware packages. I think it has something to do with consistency checking. I liked the idea of a multiboot, and didn't see why that wouldn't be extremely easy on android (with a storage size vs. cfw package being basically infinite to naught). But apparently what you want(need) is the twrp bootloader, and it has to be the last version. I don't know why that is, but you really don't want to be stuck - after basically wrecking your only boot - with an uninstallable image on your sdcard. So if you try something else than the "best one", just be prepared for an exit strategy with a backup and things like that before trying to install new images. There's also no way on these bootloaders to simply run a test first, nor is there a very easy way to partition the on-phone storage without having to start configuring install packages, so this is kind of awful if you're not actually deep into the development toolchains already.
I'd really love it if some of the tutorials said things like: our build really doesn't need a thorough wipe, and you can happily choose the file system you'd like, and the one that actually makes sense. For example. Or "for this cfw, you can just install gapps later on, that's going to work perfectly - don't force the install before you get through our own intro stage", etc. Alas.
Then I went through slimkat, an aosp lineage based rom, an old 4.1 rom, a new 5.1 rom, which all had different game-breaking problems. One refused to install gapps (note: you'll need the gapps that fit with the android version - but some packages simply won't install, period), another build had no sound other than on the speaker. One hanged randomly, another didn't scale the processor cores.
The good news is that this isn't really a problem - once you're set up you can just keep wiping and installing new ones. But it might be a really good idea to make a backup of your initial rom/custom firmware, just in case (i.e., you root, install the bootloader, and once you're in the bootloader, you make a backup of your current "rom" that is installed now. Then you can just revert to that without any problems later. I obviously didn't do that, because I was just fumbling around).
Some of the issues I ran into also might have workarounds, but I don't know - how would I, there's no way to actually tell what the problem is, or what it's related to. The most useful ones in the end seemed to be Vanir 6.0-based, and the one I ended up with, something called Euphoria on lollipop/5.1. That one seems to have all the hardware functions and benefitting a lot from a later kernel. I haven't done incredible amounts of testing on it yet, but it seems to work a lot better than the original firmware ever did.
And when you choose a gapps package, just go with the pico version. You can install everything you need after that from the store (and it takes less time than pre-installing the infinite amounts of crap in the stock package).
In sum - while you can get pretty far with the 4x on just rooting it and uninstalling some of the infinitely memory-hogging google crap, along with installing a new governor for the cpu and things like that. You can actually get something extremely neat by installing a new "rom"/cfw, that doesn't necessarily have the "oh, but you just have to forgo feature X, Y and Z because open source" problems.
I'm sure a cfw-developer is going to see this one day and roll their eyes back in their heads. And will have some very sharp words about the kind of effort that went into making a specific kernel, insert and build combination to even boot. But the later kernels seem to work really well.
And thanks to that Euphoria thing, I'm probably not going to use my new padphone-thing as much as I would. Because that one is over the "just testing stuff, getting it to work" stage. There's things with the home-button bar lighting up when there's notifications, things like that, that kind of show someone who used the handset was maintaining the build.
Anyway - I really recommend that you try out some different types to find these really good roms that works well. I'm sure there are lots of unknown cfw packages out there that work.. you know, for the 300 people who use it every day. That might be some of the early cfw variants with old kernels. And it might clearly also be some of the new ones, which I really didn't expect. Honestly, was kind of expecting stripes across the screen and hangs, but that didn't happen.
Optionally, a dev who actually knows what they're talking about could maybe suggest a list of cfw that have the later kernels that work, or the same kernels that Euphoria has Really, trying to search the net now, and find possible candidates was not easy.