Database Develop

n00b question.....

this is my first post on this forum, and I've just acquired a Kaiser - my first pocket PC. I'm with Orange, and I've been installed the HTC home plugin, audio manager and black theme. This has vastly improved the look IMO, but I'm wondering what's the benefit of flashing the ROM?
From what has appeared on other threads, there does seem to be an element of risk involved, so there must be a good reason taking that risk.
tia

Hey,
Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new Kaiser.
Read the Wiki first and then read read read read read all the posts you can, then read them again.
This one is a another must read:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=332438
I have read almost every thread since I got here, and since I have joined I know I have spent 20 hours a week reading and sorting and have yet to pose a question, because this community prefers for newbies to educate themselves so we can avoid having multiple threads concerning the same issues.
The benefits to flashing a ROM are to numerous to cover in one post, especially without you acquiring some knowledge first.
Different ROMs have different attributes, and without the knowledge to fully understand a lot of the different aspects, you can brick your new piece of tech.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Loot at the top menu bar. See the donate link? The community would really appreciate it if you hit that link and contributed whatever you can afford.
Where else can we go and get so much knowledge? No where. So I know the Admins, Mods and members would really appreciate your support.
I Admin on several message boards ( not affiliated here though) and you wouldn't believe the costs involved and since xda helps so many of us, I really believe we should do what we can to help back.
If money is tight, even a dollar or a euro would be appreciated.

People requesting ROM advice

As a member for some time, I have seen many people post looking for advice on which ROM might best suit their needs.
Typically the response is anything from a small flame to a raging inferno. The most common response from the learned people here is for the OP to "try them all."
Well, I am finally fed up with those lame and rude responses. You see, there is absolutely nothing wrong with soliciting advice from those who have tried things and ergo have more knowledge and experience. That is why "user reviews" are so important. Think about it, have you ever asked a salesman about a product or do you just try them all? Do you eat everything on a menu, or do you ask the waiter what's good... what would best meet your needs? If you are a normal person, you ask if you have questions!
Also, there is much made about creating different threads asking for the proper advice. Well, the very nature of the request requires a new thread. Each OP might have a different set of preferences that are unique. To use the waiter example: "I don't like salty and greasy foods. I do however like light foods. What would you recommend?" You see how asking for advice has a certain individual and unique set of components?
Some people have told the OP to search and read up on all the ROMs. Well, unless your Einstein or have made ROMS your passion, no sane human can even begin to digest all the information. Some ROMS have hundreds of pages in their thread. One ROM might be a novel to itself. Some people simply don't have 40 hours to read up. Worse yet, those who do have the time, won't have a clue as to which ones to invest it in. Seriously, there are a LOT of ROMs.... with new ones being released almost daily. Unless you live here, you cannot learn about them all.
I think a fair solution would be for the fine people here to focus a bit more on creating a sticky thread of User reviews. However, it has be quite organized and kept current. There is nothing worse than sifting through a couple dozen pages in one ROM thread just to find out the bugs never were addressed in that release, rather the author issued a new separate release.
In conclusion, I think that until ROMs have a better system for Peer Review, which can be easily understood by visitors, people should lay off those seeking advice. Actually, people should be more than willing to be of help and not be so quick to blow the OP off. As for the ROM reviews, I suggest a new sub-forum for just that. It would go a long way to servicing all parties; those who seek advice, those who don't want to see it in these sub-forums, and those who want to help by giving reviews.
Well that is that.

Nice words and I partly applaud, however, you also have to see the other side. Let me reply by copying a user complain and the mod's reply out of his guest comment:
ashleyhall said:
Can I just comment that closing this thread...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=443839
...is simply ridiculous. As the owner/moderator of a large internet forum myself, my moderators and I actively encourage discussion and the airing of personal views - if someone asks an opinion, you expect responses based on personal opinion, otherwise what is the point of a forum?!!?
Absolutely ridiculous, bad moderation, pathetic infact, very disappointed...
Regards, Ashley Hall
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JimmyMcGee said:
Ashley,
Thank you for your opinion. The Guidelines for the Kaiser Section were not invented by me solely and for no reason.
The reasons most Kaiser Mods discourage this type of thread, is these threads not only can create hard feelings between chefs but has been known to lead to all out flame wars
If you want to know peoples personal opinions on ROM, you are more than welcome to ask these questions in the ROM thread.
Also, the Kaiser forum is very active and placing peoples opinions of ROMs in the ROM Thread, where the chef can see and respond to such opinions, is more helpful to the community at large.
This guideline was not created to stop person opinions and speech. But to lead to a better organized Forum Section.
Thanks,
Jimmy McGee
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you see, it is not always easy to justify a thread, especially not if you're talking about a forum with the size of XDA Developers. If people think they want a review of the particular ROM, why not asking directly in the THREAD of that ROM?

"If people think they want a review of the particular ROM, why not asking directly in the THREAD of that ROM"
That only works if you want a review from a SINGLE ROM.
If chefs have that fragile of an ego....

jimlivingston said:
... If chefs have that fragile of an ego....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you now can see for yourself, this is where flaming begins - exactly the reason why threads like that are mostly not welcome!

I definitely think there's room for a single, stickied "ROM discussion" thread. People always have opinions, and it'd give people a place to vent them. The reason there's so many clutter-y "WHAT ROM?!" threads is because there's nowhere to ask that question, and new users have no real reason to understand how repetitive that question IS because all the threads get closed and deleted.
Simply telling them "you can't ask that!" makes it awfully tricky for new users, since they often don't even know WHAT they're looking for. By keeping a "ROM discussion" thread around, they might be able to at least get an idea of what people like about different ROMs. Heck, even if the place turns in to a pit of snarky vipers, it'll at least serve as an example of why people don't like ROM comparison threads!
The problems with just directing people to the ROM threads are thus:
1. Most ROM threads consist largely of bug reports or feature requests from long outdated versions of the ROM, so the information isn't really relevant.
2. Some (not all!) chefs are better at creating their ROMs than they are at describing them -- making it awfully hard to get an idea of what the author was "going for."
3. This makes it even LESS likely that some of the small, less popular ROMs will get noticed because the most popular, most updated threads are the ones that get bumped onto the first few pages.
4. ROM threads generally do not (and should not) contain information comparing different ROMs. This is, however, useful information -- if there's two ROMs claiming to be the "fastest and lightest," for example, users should be able to make their observations about those claims.
There's ALWAYS going to be a chance of getting people's hackles up and of some folks getting defensive of upset. At the same time, there's MORE chance for some chefs to get appreciation for what they've done, there will be a better starting point for folks new to this whole ROM business, and I think there's even a chance that the ROMs themselves will be improved because chefs might be able to keep their eyes on the rest of the "scene" better.

My 5 cents as a veteran noob.
First of all: This site is free to use. Lets keep it that way, by accepting the rules.
I think we have to realize, that this is not a service organization. This site is created by developers for developers.
Yes, it would be nice, if we could get answers quickly, but that is not the purpose of this site. Help - About: XDA
If you want to make this site a better place, Go Here!
A review-thread might be a great idea, but nothing is keeping you from creating another site for this!
So, you want a brand new ROM doing this, and this and that!
Well, so did I. And by trying different ROMs, I now realize, there are no shortcuts.
No matter how cool a ROM looks, there is always one thing about it you don't like.
One example: The new Manilla 3D looks incredible cool. Even if it is slow, I might still be using it, if it wasn't for one little thing that I just can't live with; The 3D "People" tab is very cool, but it is a pain to scroll through one contact at a time. I find the 2D version so much better.
You just have to try for yourself, what works for you and what don't.
Bottom line: To get the ROM that makes you most happy, you've got to make flashing your phone a hobby.
Read the stickies. Start flashing. Stay cool.
Happy hunting

I know this thread is closed, But I wanted to add to the statement of mine that was quoted earlier in this thread.
If you are going to get an objective Comparison or "Reviewed ROMs Thread" That would mean the reviewer would need to be unbiased. In order to do so they would have to flash EVERY version of EVERY ROM that was released. A difficult proposition at best.
I, like most people, will try a few and then Stick with one I find I like. There might be a better one that I haven't tried yet. But that's the fun of this Forum.
There was at one point a ROM Reviews thread. That thread was never closed. As it gave unbiased comparisons between ROMs. Something Impossible to get from just creating a thread saying "What's the Best?" Well ultimatly, "BEST" depends on your tastes.
The ROM review thread gave The features and bugs of a ROM and gave you a pretty clear pictures of the difference between the ROMs, All with the same "spin" from the same guy. By having the same "spin" from the same guy, you can grasp better which ROM is right for you. The effect of Me telling you what I like best and Junner Telling you their favorite is it has different "spin." Also, I may not have tried the ROM Junner recommended.
In the END the ROM Reviews thread died, because it was alot of work. And I believe we have even more ROMs available now!
So you can see why Best of ROM threads serve no purpose then to take up space. With the vast size of XDA's membership, you're not going to get a lot of worth out of a few vocal Fans of a certain chef's offerings.

[Poll] New "Android only" forum?

Sorry for posting this here, but I couldn't really find a suitable place since most of the Android action is right here.
These past weeks I've noticed an increase of irrelevant threads and clutter being made in regards to Android development in the HTC Dream forum and every other Android development forum on xda. A lot of Android devices out on the market now are not made by HTC. This of course is causing a problem since this forum is for HTC devices only.
Maybe it would be a good idea if a new forum was created that accounts for all native Android devices (Motorola Droid/Milestone, Motorola Cliq/Dext, Samsung Galaxy, etc...). That way, a lot of the clutter would surely be resolved and a considerate load would be taken off of this server (Gotta hate the horrible load on xda these days...).
I'm sure there are quiet a few people on here that have an HTC device and are fully satisfied with it (Me included!). That doesn't mean that everyone else has to feel the same way. People that choose to go with Samsung, Motorola, etc. for their next Android device should not be left out. That's why I believe there should definitely be a forum that serves everyone.
To put up a new forum specifically for this matter takes no time at all, but it does take participation. So if you feel like this is something you would like to see, please feel free to leave a comment.
What are you're opinions on this matter? Agree? Disagree?
Discuss.
EDIT: If there's enough people interested in this project, would there be anyone willing to help getting things started in terms of hosting space or something similar?

my thoughts are that the few changes that have been recently made should help if they are utilized. now we have a forum for general android development for devs, and the rom releases are in the device specific forums. Here was my idea, but i think they made the right choice. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4795376&postcount=1

jaaronmoody said:
my thoughts are that the few changes that have been recently made should help if they are utilized. now we have a forum for general android development for devs, and the rom releases are in the device specific forums. Here was my idea, but i think they made the right choice. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4795376&postcount=1
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Click to collapse
It's a start. But I don't think xda is going to put up more sub forums for each new device out there. Thus, development and ROM threads for Motorola and other devices will be left out. Unless I understood your post incorrectly

no, you're right, i just dont think xda WANTS to keep up with every brand that uses android. they apparently keep their focus on HTC devices. there are gonna be a FLOOD of manufacturers utilizing droid in the future, and unless xda wants to change their focus, they will stick with one brand

jaaronmoody said:
no, you're right, i just dont think xda WANTS to keep up with every brand that uses android. they apparently keep their focus on HTC devices. there are gonna be a FLOOD of manufacturers utilizing droid in the future, and unless xda wants to change their focus, they will stick with one brand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea that's exactly my point.
There WILL be a flood of Android devices from all kinds of manufacturers and it would be nice if there was a place for all of them come together. That way, everyone can keep track of specific development without having to switch between dozens of forums.
My $0.02.

good luck, my friend. Most likely it will take someone to else to start a new site to accomplish. funny, i was fooling around a couple days ago and did this. http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=176593179336&v=wall
not saying this is the solution, but you are not alone in your concerns.

I see that a few agree with me, care to share your point of view? Maybe it will spark this thing.

Where are the mods?

What the hell is going on in this forum? I've never seen a forum with so many posts for other devices. If there are any mods out there, would you be so kind to clean this place up a little.
from my Tranquil Rezound

I've been wondering the same thing. I realize XDA is a huge forum, but there are MANY Mods (so it seems). I find it hard to believe that these threads have been out of place for this long. I don't like to sound like I'm being rude, but there are threads that have been here for day after day and there's a list of mods at the top that look over this part of the forum. I know people have lives and all but I'd think that a mod would see things like "Xperia 8" "Zte v970m" and "monetize free desktop applications" and knew that something was wrong. o.o
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

I'm sure we have been wondering that...

From my Count there are 20 threads that have nothing to do with the one and were posted all for other devices. Thats quite ridiculous. I think its time that I unsubscribe from the Question and troubleshooting forum for the HTC One. Its quite a waste of time. Too many posts for devices and problems I don't really care about.

Instead of instantly saying "wrong forum", you might try asking what steps did they take to get to this post. Just a thought.
Sent from my Evo LTE using Tapatalk 2

I can understand maybe the odd noob getting confused and posting in here related to a "One series" phone....but posting in here for a "sammy" phone? WTF....even a noob couldn't be that dumb....could they?:silly:
Deffo agree that the place could do with a big clean up though.:good:

I am sure there were people who were really confused and made mistake posting other devices' question here.
BUT! This should not happen so frequently like this! People are noob in solving their phone's problem but are not so blind that they can't see the forum title!
So I believe this is organized activity that aims to mess up our htc one q&a section. They actually achieved their goal, see people are not subscribing to this section few posts above.
This is very sad, not trying to point finger to anyone/any company behind this, but if you consider xda forum is so powerful now those company's marketing people could easily use this place to promote their product, or on the other hand, prevent people from accessing valuable information by distracting them, then in the end, make them lose interest or potentially delay their decision of buying the forum related product.
We are all clever enough to figure out, if my theory is true, who is more likely behind this and so afraid of HTC's new flag ship One!
I think what we should do is, keep sticking to this forum, and post more related topics actively to show our support to our beloved device. We need this q&a section and it is down to us in the end to keep it active!
actually, I found it quite amusing, every time I come here, there were new posts asking unrelated questions, and this actually makes me come here more often.
Also, I would like to point out, we should NEVER answer those unrelated question but only point out they are posted at the wrong place, and only the first one or two people doing that will be enough. We want those threads die out quickly not keep remerging at the top!!!
Please help all of us keep this place as it should be! And keep calm and carry on.

Reported all the threads which should not be here to the mods so hopefully they will pop along and do a quick tidy up for us.

How does one become a mod anyways? Because I've never seen any of the mods for these forums, I'd rather see one of us (that is seen on the ONE forums frequently) to become a mod that way at least we have someone who will see all these post about different devices.

BigNate said:
How does one become a mod anyways? Because I've never seen any of the mods for these forums, I'd rather see one of us (that is seen on the ONE forums frequently) to become a mod that way at least we have someone who will see all these post about different devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They used to take applications, not anymore
We have plenty on mods, they just won't really moderate this forum until the device is released
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk 2

So where are the mods?
We are here of course. I alone have moved 15 threads today to the right forums, and I must admit that I also haven't seen so many ill-placed posts anywhere yet. Maybe the One-Forum is like a magnet, lol. Or it really is some deliberate action.
Those threads are taken care of if reported or if seen by coincidence. But we don't open every thread in Q&A. And at least the ones I have moved today were not recognizable as misplaced from the thread title. Or would you see from "Never worked" that the poster meant his SGS3?
So I close this now.

It seems there has been some kind of technical issue, which meant threads ended up in this forum, without actually having been posted in this forum.

Nokia 7.1 or Motorola G6plus

Hey
I can buy one of these phones used 1-2 months for similar good prcice. And I have dilema.
The most important for me is camera(quality in night condition also matters) - I have no idea which one is better in this field.
Also I pay attention to screen and design - I guess in this regards Nokia win. However I have some doubts about 3gb ram in Nokia, it seems too little, but maybe its enough because of pure android?
I have also option to buy LG G6 but for similar price, but it would be used about 12months.
What do you think?

Hi there,
There are threads already established that are devoted to discussions about devices, please read, and if necessary, repost your question in one of these threads: The what should I buy thread or the The Device Suggestion Thread or the The Device Comparison Thread.
There are also several other discussion threads that you probably should review to help you. They are What phone do you wish you had? or
The Worst Android Device That You've Ever Had & Why or even this place that talks about The best phone you ever owned.
I will have to close this one. Thanks for understanding.