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Hello folks, I know ill have no problems flashing the phone to a new rom (not worried about bricking it) but one thing after searching these forums I havnt found is how hard is it to go back to stock if you dont like said rom
I dont even know why I am flashing it, my phone works great, seems snappy enough but im one of those types of people that just has to toy with things.
So id just like some information for you guys first what i asked above but also why do you use custom roms does the phone work better, all I read about is apps not working? is there an added benefit to flashing?
Most important to me though is how hard and the steps to revert back to stock
Thanks alot
sprockets2000 said:
Hello folks, I know ill have no problems flashing the phone to a new rom (not worried about bricking it) but one thing after searching these forums I havnt found is how hard is it to go back to stock if you dont like said rom
I dont even know why I am flashing it, my phone works great, seems snappy enough but im one of those types of people that just has to toy with things.
So id just like some information for you guys first what i asked above but also why do you use custom roms does the phone work better, all I read about is apps not working? is there an added benefit to flashing?
Most important to me though is how hard and the steps to revert back to stock
thanks alot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, all you need to do is download the stock RUU which will return your phone to it's original factory settings. There have been a few people who've encountered an error running this utility to retorn to stock but it has been very rare and has only affected a small percentage of the population of hero owners. Worse-case scenario, you can try and get a warranty replacement or use your TEP plan if you are enrolled in it.
I find I enjoy the phone more with a custom rom for several reasons. It feels more responsive and usable, also I am a true gadget-head and tweaking customizing and playing around with my phone is just in my nature. Android as a platform is well suited to this kind of mentality and is even encouraged.
Of course there is also the current situation we are in that we are able to run a newer version of android than what is available from the manufacturer at this time.
Then you can get into custom themes etc etc.
I'm going to try after my test in school and give this a shot as I'm unrooted and on 2.1. However not being familiar with the nexus root method does anyone think that the incredible root method just simply unlock the bootloader anyway? Has anyone tried the incredible root method on their phones yet?
I dont think the root method will have any bearing on the N1 due to the Incredible being CDMA and the Nexus being GSM.
Im not totally positive, but if I remember back When us CDMA Hero users were trying to achieve root the GSM way was unable to get us there.
If im wrong let me know, dont wanna spread around false info.
Oh I didn't know about that. I guess we won't know until someone tries. I want to root anyway and if it does work and unlocks my bootloader.. oh well I tried. It's a busy week so i didn't want to waste my time, but I wanted to try before the official 2.2 update comes out just in case it doesn't work for 2.2.
This is actually a really good idea, think this could work. Don't see how CDMA/GSM factors in here....
Rooting =/= unlocking the bootloader.
Rooting == getting root privileges in OS.
If achievable, it will get you root permissions in OS. It might not give you write access to system partitions, and might not allow you to flash custom images.
The difference between GSM and CDMA is that they're sporting different Snapdragons, thus running different baseband builds, a bug in one doesn't say anything about the other.
Anyway, please update, how did it go - interesting
Tried this for 3 hours yesterday w/ a dev from XDA. He's still working towards it, but its a timing issue. It has to be within a half second timespan with no way of telling when that is. I ended up just breaking my bootloader after I realized I'd rather have root then have us keep trying all day...
HTC gives us this super elegant solution, and you boneheads still try to find a different less effective way.
mortzz said:
HTC gives us this super elegant solution, and you boneheads still try to find a different less effective way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't feel as much like hacking if you're doing it the way they want you to. Totally defeats the point.
:roll eyes:
Alright, I currently have an Incredible. I have yet to root it, because I'm thinking about using my 30 day satisfaction guarantee to switch for the DroidX. Now, from my understanding, root is essentially inevitable on all phones. However, the Incredible has custom ROMs available already, whereas from reading a thread elsewhere, it's looking like it will be nigh impossible to get custom ROMs for the DroidX? Is this true? Does that mean the Incredible is unsigned?
I was considering switching to the DroidX because of the bigger screen, better video and sound quality, among other reasons. Should I still consider this, or am I better off sticking with my Incredible?
The Inc. bootloader apparently will work with non-signed ROMs. Motorola has started to make their bootloaders check for a valid digital signature on any ROM it starts to load. If there is not a valid digital signature on the ROM, it won't load it. Therefore you cannot load a custom ROM with that type of bootloader. It hasn't been determined if the bootloader on the X will only work with digitally signed ROMs, but that is the expectation.
Whether or not you care depends on what you expect to do with the phone. Many people don't care to load custom ROMs. If the manufacturer keeps up with development, then the need for custom ROMs drops even further. There will always be those people that want to play around and tweak ROMs, but the general poplulation won't bother with ROMs.
It just depends on what you want to do.....
This is purely a guess... but I would venture to say the X will be rooted at some point. I'm basing this off the assumption nothing new is being implemented here. I can't imagine this phone is suddenly using some new technology that cannot be cracked.
But who knows. Only time will tell.
sic0048 said:
It just depends on what you want to do.....
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As I understand it, the Milestone is the only phone Motorola has locked down the ability to load unsigned roms. Is it also the only Android phone released by Motorola since the Droid? How can we know if this is something they simply decided to do after they released the Droid or if it was a one-off? I've read they said they will require signed roms on all future phones, but who knows. I thought the Droid was vanilla android, is the milestone not. If it runs without a manufacturer custom UI, what's the point of locking it down?
I dropped my iPhone in the lake a month ago, but was planning on replacing it in July with an Android phone anyway. I was waiting for the Evo, and now the Droid X but I don't think I can wait any longer without a phone. Reading all the reviews of the Droid X I've just ignored all critisism of the UI assuming I'd be able to throw vanilla Froyo on there within a few days when the community released something. This is really discouraging and sorry to say even with the Motorola UI I think it's still my best option. As a side rant, I know it's been said before, but I don't see how this is any different than buying a computer and not being allowed to put whatever OS I want on it as long as I can find drivers. It seems like the sort of thing the FTC would go after Dell or HP for doing, so why should smart-phones be any different, especially unsubsidized? In short, to answer your question, I'd like to not have the annoyance of feeling like MY hardware is being arbitrarily limited by the manufacturer, even if their custom android "does" everything I need it to.
What if you wanted to do development on your phone and not just virtual consoles on your computer. In a year or two is your only option going to be a designated development phone like the Nexus One? I can see why it has little effect on Motorola, people who care make up a very small percentage, but shouldn't Google care enough to step in and prevent Motorola from doing this?
Ok, I'm fairly new to all this, which leads me to my confusion on this issue. If we are worried about the bootloader, as with the milestone - no roms then what is this about?
[ROM][V0.3][28.06.2010] Senseui Mod for Milestone - xda-developers
Is he using a different version of milestone?
All im looking to do is get rid of the bloat apps that the X comes with. Even if we cant have custom roms, can this still be done? Im coming from an Omnia and i know the only way to get rid of the useless stuff was to flash. Does this work the same way with Android?
Yes Yes i have never had a Android phone before. Very excited about making the switch once the X is released
sjones765 said:
Ok, I'm fairly new to all this, which leads me to my confusion on this issue. If we are worried about the bootloader, as with the milestone - no roms then what is this about?
[ROM][V0.3][28.06.2010] Senseui Mod for Milestone - xda-developers
Is he using a different version of milestone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understand, there's a[n experimental?] method to bypass the bootloader entirely on the milestone, and slip in a custom ROM that way. I think it's called kextern.
Mudvayne622 said:
All im looking to do is get rid of the bloat apps that the X comes with. Even if we cant have custom roms, can this still be done? Im coming from an Omnia and i know the only way to get rid of the useless stuff was to flash. Does this work the same way with Android?
Yes Yes i have never had a Android phone before. Very excited about making the switch once the X is released
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once it's rooted, yes, you could easily do that. However if you don't like the psuedo-blur UI, there would be no way to get rid of that if the bootloader is encrypted.
Jyosua said:
However if you don't like the psuedo-blur UI, there would be no way to get rid of that if the bootloader is encrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installing something like LauncherPro will go a long way towards removing the blur-like elements on the droidx. Getting rid of the motorola widgets and using a 3rd party launcher brings you fairly close to a stock android experience.
about DroidX development
The developer will need to CUSTOM make it for the EVO.
Howdy all.
Just got a new AT&T Galaxy Tab and for the love Christ these telco's are making it really difficult to do anything with our phones (or, tablets in this case).
For the first time ever, my near-universal, grandfathered AT&T unlimited data SIM was rejected by a device. I've been clinging to this SIM for over 3 years, because it worked in everything.
(I'm familiar with changing the APN, just providing an example of how aggressive the telco's are in preventing us from modding our own property, as there's no contract for the GTab, and even though we're paying full price for it, we still can't use it universally.)
I've spent the greater part of this weekend poring through the forum and it's becoming increasingly difficult to find anything useful in these forums. Many threads are outdated, or just plain wrong, and considering the prices of these devices, I'm reluctant to just plug in and start running hacks on the GTab w/o first understanding the dev history behind what I'm about to do. I've always been somewhat self-proficient with applying hacks and installing ROMs, as I've been doing it for years, but simply finding the requisite information is becoming quite a challenge lately.
With that in mind, I'm looking for the AT&T STOCK ROM to have saved and ready just in case something goes sideways. However, even the stickied thread here includes dead links. The target page is in Korean, but I've seen the HTTP 404 error enough times to recognize it in any language.
Is anyone familiar with any 3rd party repositories with that host the stock ROMs? Perhaps someone has compiled a dump?
TIA...
Stock AT&T firmware: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=847609
You might want to check this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=933400 will save you time searching around forums.
Finally Stock firmwares site: Samfirmware.com
Thanks for the reply, very helpful info.
I've been reading quite a bit on the forums, and I've noticed folks are having serious issues with ROMs from samfirmware.com, due to the different ROM versions Samsung is distributing with the GTab.
I'm trying to determine the cause of those issues? Are they related to flashing the wrong hardware rev with the wrong ROM, or are they primarily due to locked bootloaders?
I haven't tried anything with my GTab yet, as finding conclusive information is difficult, and to put it bluntly, I'm scared sh*tless that I'll brick it like so many others have?
I'm figuring AT&T is probably going to be the hardest to flash, considering how militant AT&T has been "protecting" our GTab's.
Toe_Cutter said:
Thanks for the reply, very helpful info.
I've been reading quite a bit on the forums, and I've noticed folks are having serious issues with ROMs from samfirmware.com, due to the different ROM versions Samsung is distributing with the GTab.
I'm trying to determine the cause of those issues? Are they related to flashing the wrong hardware rev with the wrong ROM, or are they primarily due to locked bootloaders?
I haven't tried anything with my GTab yet, as finding conclusive information is difficult, and to put it bluntly, I'm scared sh*tless that I'll brick it like so many others have?
I'm figuring AT&T is probably going to be the hardest to flash, considering how militant AT&T has been "protecting" our GTab's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well Flashing wrong firmware on tab is one of the reasons for problems. Also samfirmware's ROMs have protected bootloader which prevent downgrading or installing custom ROMs.
As for AT&T its always recommended to do backup before flashing any other firmware on an AT&T (or any TAB for that matter). Many ways to do backup. through CWM (clockworkmod) or ROTO backup.
I am new to this whole experience, and to this forum, so it may take me a bit extra to understand things at first. That being said, I do have experience rooting and installing custom ROMs on android devices, and understand what needs to be done in general terms in order to actually be successful.
A friend of mine posted about wanting to install a custom ROM on my S3 mini to this forum recently, but not much was accomplished other then the realization that I likely have a locked boot loader, and therefore have limited to no options. Although, I am aware of the ability to actually unlock the boot loader, but am unsure of how to do it, or if I even can on my model. So I pose the question, how do I unlock my boot loader so I can install a custom recovery, and then a custom ROM? I have been searching around for a while without much success and need the help of more experienced group of people.
I am fully aware of the dangers that arise when attempting to flash an unlocked boot loader, but if I come across a relatively safe method I want to try it.
Thanks in advance for any time you spend responding to me, I am very grateful for all your help.
--nav
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Sorry forgot to say the model of the phone, it is SM-G730W8.
nav13eh said:
I am new to this whole experience, and to this forum, so it may take me a bit extra to understand things at first. That being said, I do have experience rooting and installing custom ROMs on android devices, and understand what needs to be done in general terms in order to actually be successful.
A friend of mine posted about wanting to install a custom ROM on my S3 mini to this forum recently, but not much was accomplished other then the realization that I likely have a locked boot loader, and therefore have limited to no options. Although, I am aware of the ability to actually unlock the boot loader, but am unsure of how to do it, or if I even can on my model. So I pose the question, how do I unlock my boot loader so I can install a custom recovery, and then a custom ROM? I have been searching around for a while without much success and need the help of more experienced group of people.
I am fully aware of the dangers that arise when attempting to flash an unlocked boot loader, but if I come across a relatively safe method I want to try it.
Thanks in advance for any time you spend responding to me, I am very grateful for all your help.
--nav
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Sorry forgot to say the model of the phone, it is SM-G730W8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me clear up some stuff for you, and hopefully for all the others that come across this thread; there are 2 official versions of the "S3 mini" as far as I'm concerned. The GT-I8190 which includes its variants GT-I8190L and GT-I8190N, and your version the SM-G730W8. They have absolutely nothing in common, other then their names. They have a similar appearance, but they use different hardware, because of this anything created for the GT-I8190 will not be compatible with your phone and will screw up your phone (maybe even to the point of hard-bricking it where it will no longer work and beyond recovery, unless you send to Samsung or a service shop that can JTAG it back to life). As far as I know since your phone's bootloader is locked, you cannot install anything to it. I know that there might be a build of CWM Recovery floating around for your phone, you won't be able to install it until the bootloader gets unlocked, and so far no one has managed to unlock the bootloader.
By the way, most of the threads for your phone the SM-G730W8 and its variants SM-G730WA, etc seem to be in the Q&A section of the S3 Mini forums. The general forum discussion seems to be predominantly users with T599, T599V, T599N (like myself) who have similar hardware to the GT-I8190 to the point where we can use each other's sources with some modifications, but the ROMs/Recoveries/Kernels are not interchangeable.
I do know that root has been achieved (if I recall correctly) and beyond that, nothing else in terms of development can be done until the bootloader is unlocked. Search around the Q&A subforum, and you should see more threads pertaining to potential development.
I hope I explained this clear enough, I'm just worried that someone may come on here screw around with their phone and end up with a paperweight!
Exothermic said:
Let me clear up some stuff for you, and hopefully for all the others that come across this thread; there are 2 official versions of the "S3 mini" as far as I'm concerned. The GT-I8190 which includes its variants GT-I8190L and GT-I8190N, and your version the SM-G730W8. They have absolutely nothing in common, other then their names. They have a similar appearance, but they use different hardware, because of this anything created for the GT-I8190 will not be compatible with your phone and will screw up your phone (maybe even to the point of hard-bricking it where it will no longer work and beyond recovery, unless you send to Samsung or a service shop that can JTAG it back to life). As far as I know since your phone's bootloader is locked, you cannot install anything to it. I know that there might be a build of CWM Recovery floating around for your phone, you won't be able to install it until the bootloader gets unlocked, and so far no one has managed to unlock the bootloader.
By the way, most of the threads for your phone the SM-G730W8 and its variants SM-G730WA, etc seem to be in the Q&A section of the S3 Mini forums. The general forum discussion seems to be predominantly users with T599, T599V, T599N (like myself) who have similar hardware to the GT-I8190 to the point where we can use each other's sources with some modifications, but the ROMs/Recoveries/Kernels are not interchangeable.
I do know that root has been achieved (if I recall correctly) and beyond that, nothing else in terms of development can be done until the bootloader is unlocked. Search around the Q&A subforum, and you should see more threads pertaining to potential development.
I hope I explained this clear enough, I'm just worried that someone may come on here screw around with their phone and end up with a paperweight!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do thank you for making things a bit clearer for me to understand. I am very disappointed that they advertise these phones as being the "S3 Mini" when in fact they are a completely different version. I bought the phone with the understanding that is was a quick and modern little phone, and that I could install a custom ROM on it. It is a good piece of hardware, but I guess I should have researched deeper then I did into the whole situation. I assumed there would be a little bit ore consistency with the hardware.
I have achieve a root though, and with that there is a lot of things I can change that I wouldn't otherwise be able to. But unfortunately it's not the same as the true Vanilla Android I wanted to install. With some tweaking touchwiz is fine, but it has it's moments. I'll keep looking for something, but if I can't find anything, my time with this device may be limited. Within time, I may end up trading up to an S3 or something that is unlocked.
--nav
nav13eh said:
I do thank you for making things a bit clearer for me to understand. I am very disappointed that they advertise these phones as being the "S3 Mini" when in fact they are a completely different version. I bought the phone with the understanding that is was a quick and modern little phone, and that I could install a custom ROM on it. It is a good piece of hardware, but I guess I should have researched deeper then I did into the whole situation. I assumed there would be a little bit ore consistency with the hardware.
I have achieve a root though, and with that there is a lot of things I can change that I wouldn't otherwise be able to. But unfortunately it's not the same as the true Vanilla Android I wanted to install. With some tweaking touchwiz is fine, but it has it's moments. I'll keep looking for something, but if I can't find anything, my time with this device may be limited. Within time, I may end up trading up to an S3 or something that is unlocked.
--nav
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Click to collapse
Well for the time being, look into debloating your system through Titanium Backup, and slap on a 3rd party launcher (nova launcher,etc)!
Exothermic said:
Well for the time being, look into debloating your system through Titanium Backup, and slap on a 3rd party launcher (nova launcher,etc)!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Titanium installed, can you point me in the right direction for guides on what to remove?
nav13eh said:
I have Titanium installed, can you point me in the right direction for guides on what to remove?
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Click to collapse
Sadly there isn't one extremely particular to your phone, but be careful with this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2322375
See if any of these apps matches up with your phone. I highly recommend freezing them, over removing them, as you can revert it if anything goes wrong. If you have Polaris office apps, then you can delete that for sure, but other that freeze these apps and it should feel snappier and more fluid. I also highly recommend a third-party launcher, TouchWiz is downright horrible.