Database Users

Making sense of different roms

The title of the thread is just to get all you fine people steaming in here to tell me off. But now your here by your own free will...
I've been a long time browser of these forums and recently a more active member. I used to be a very amateur coder when I was yonger and know to a small extent the hard work you guys put into these roms, so seriously to everyone congratulations on some amazing efforts.
I did want to address the reason topic titles such as the one I chose here crop up however. When I had a diamond before my HD2 there were just a few good roms to choose from and I soon settled down and chose one after trying them out. A few months back I started this same process with my HD2 but found every ROM I flashed to have a few bugs which annoyed me in day to day use, and I eventually went back to stock. Since then I havn't really tried again.
Today I have again been looking at perhaps flashing to a cooked ROM and in the beginning of these efforts I tried out the search term "best HD2 ROM". The threads that resulted were obviously very short and the authors told off for being lazy and discrediting the great works of all the chefs here. But the very good point is made that there are ALOT of ROM's for the HD2, and whilst it may only take 5 mnins to flash a ROM it takes hours, if not days, to find out if it suited to you. With the risk of losing personal info on each flash and having to reconfigure your apps each time this can be a very tedious process.
I'm basically wondering if there is any way to have a thread that can provide a way of rating the advantages and disadvantages of each ROM without having to wade through topics with hundreds of pages of mostly useless posts. It just so daunting with all these ROM's that many people may never even start.
I am just now thinking of flexing my (somewhat out of date) webmastering ability to create a "ROM Review" website - good idea?
What are people's thoughts?
p.s. This is probably also in the wrong section of the forum... just clicked "new topic" where I was browsing without thinking where it should go, please move if appropriate, thanks.

I completely agree with your idea to open this thread.
Finally we have someone who wants to put it to rights. Because every day we have new ROM or several ROM's, and every time flashing and soft re-installation takes a lot of time... and after all that you understand that "this ROM is not really what you wanted to be"...
Go on with your idea.. and I think - this section is the right place for your thread.

you got my vote

Good to see I'm not alone here, any feedback is much appriciated, even if its just a +1

Agreed, Sir.

This was taken from another thread about a similar question
"I also see no point to a list of pro's or cons of any particular ROM as most are built for the same thing, speed and stability. The only real differences you are going to see are what programs the person has loaded."
If this is indeed the case. then a list of the roms with the space taken up by the rom on the phone. the apps installed and how quick, stable each one would be must surely be a good idea?
I truly hope you can follow through with your idea.

I think there is no such thing as "the" best ROM.
Each user has different preferences, especially WinMo smartphones are
rarely one the same like another: Included software, tweaks, mods, themes, designs.
The possibilities are endless.
Also, an earlier thread here at the HD2 forum about speed (with benchmarks
as neutral as possible) ended up in unfriendly discussions (which is a mild
term to describe what happened).
An HD2 is so extremely fast that I seriously doubt that the "average" user
can tell a big difference between different ROMs. Sometimes, a buggy ROM
may be obviously slower, but in the average case, the difference will just
not really be felt, but only perceived, sometimes only imagined.
I think that it is part of this forum that there is no rating of the available
ROMs. If you watch the forum, you can easily find out which ROMs seem to
have more acceptance and therefore more fans - and if you check the ROM
description and screenshots of the chef, you can easily find out if the ROM
is something you might like.
Just to finish: How exactly does a ROM qualify as "the best"? Speed? Come
on... Software which comes with it? Come on, again...
Imho, it all ends up in optical mods and tweaks plus some extremely basic
software which is really a must for everybody. If you would ask me what
this could be, I cannot give you any name because WinMo and Manila are
on most ROMs anyway...

I couldn't agree more Mega. Very brave of you to start this thread ; )
I was a bit of a flashaholic with both my Elf and my Raphael, but I still haven't flashed anything to my Leo because it's so hard to figure out exactly what I'm going to get. Apart from the features of each ROM, it's hard to get an idea of the things that might be missing from each. Like, have the original bugs been fixed? Stuff like the audio booster turning off, AAC files being mis-sorted in the audio player, volume keys still active when the screen is off and incremental volume control or even the relative volume between headphones and phone speaker. I just can't be bothered to start flashing a million ROMs to find out. That's not laziness by the way, honest! I'm sure I'll get over it and start flashing soon ; )

tictac0566 said:
I think there is no such thing as "the" best ROM.
Each user has different preferences, especially WinMo smartphones are
rarely one the same like another: Included software, tweaks, mods, themes, designs.
The possibilities are endless.
Also, an earlier thread here at the HD2 forum about speed (with benchmarks
as neutral as possible) ended up in unfriendly discussions (which is a mild
term to describe what happened).
An HD2 is so extremely fast that I seriously doubt that the "average" user
can tell a big difference between different ROMs. Sometimes, a buggy ROM
may be obviously slower, but in the average case, the difference will just
not really be felt, but only perceived, sometimes only imagined.
I think that it is part of this forum that there is no rating of the available
ROMs. If you watch the forum, you can easily find out which ROMs seem to
have more acceptance and therefore more fans - and if you check the ROM
description and screenshots of the chef, you can easily find out if the ROM
is something you might like.
Just to finish: How exactly does a ROM qualify as "the best"? Speed? Come
on... Software which comes with it? Come on, again...
Imho, it all ends up in optical mods and tweaks plus some extremely basic
software which is really a must for everybody. If you would ask me what
this could be, I cannot give you any name because WinMo and Manila are
on most ROMs anyway...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, how would one rate the BEST? Well to be honest you cant really as each person has there own needs and wants in a rom. What might be an Ideal rom for me might not be the best rom for you. I could rate a rom at 10 and you might give it a 2, then it turns into a bashing session and that can not be allowed. The rating system has been brought up many times before and each time it comes to the same end. There will never be an accurate way to tell the best rom. I am not trying to be harsh here but threads like this are beating a dead horse.

After speaking with the OP I have decided to reopen this thread. On the condition that this is "NOT" a best rom thread. This thread will be to help those that are new to ROM flashing. I will be keeping an eye on this thread and if it turn into a Best rom or bashing thread I will reclose it for good. I understand that sense the release of the HD 2 that alot of people are new to WM and with the available options in the rom thread it can be confusing. I am also moving this thread to the General Section as it is not Rom development. To all the new guys welcome.

Just wanna say thanks to Zelendal, the topic title originally wasn't constructive.
As we all know from doing a little reading about the ROM's, each one can be individually suited to different people, it like argument about which is the best smart phone or computer platform. So the kind of discussionj I was trying to provoke was about the best way to help out newcomers decide which ROM would indeed be best suited to them.
As I posted before I have been pondering making a seperate website that would allow some organisation of peoples opinions on the ROM's and I am interested as to how much support there would be amongst the community, I am also interested as to how the Cook's themselves would see such an project, providing it was done right.

sike222 said:
This was taken from another thread about a similar question
"I also see no point to a list of pro's or cons of any particular ROM as most are built for the same thing, speed and stability. The only real differences you are going to see are what programs the person has loaded."
If this is indeed the case. then a list of the roms with the space taken up by the rom on the phone. the apps installed and how quick, stable each one would be must surely be a good idea?
I truly hope you can follow through with your idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You quote me but you leave out an important part. The problem with making a list is that ROMs change. What might have been an issue in one build might be working just fine in the next. Keeping up with these changes and trying to keep on top of a list would be a nightmare. Also this mystical list you are looking for is usually on one of the first few post of every ROM thread. Most good cooks will list all these things that you are looking for. Only way to tell if a ROM will fit your needs is to try it. Every bodies idea of a good ROM is different. What one person might see as a con another sees as a pro. Personal opinion is a ***** and unfortunately everybody has a different one.
Good luck but I don't see a list being started or maintained for very long. Nor do I see this thread going anywhere productive.

Will Badger -
I don't think anyone is dis-agreeing that each ROM is suited individually to different people. Each cook makes his ROM how he wants it and if you share those wants with that cook you a likly to enjoy his ROM. That doesn't make it any easier to find what ROM is indeed suited to you, and as a newbe it can be extremely daunting, there are 30 odd cooks for the HD2, thats ALOT of time spent flashing and tring out ROM's.
Having said that I have been pointed towards
http://www.xdaroms.com/Default.aspx
Which is more or less everything I had in mind for a ROM information site, so its safe to say I wont be needing to build another. Iv'e been on this forum for a few months now and have not seen this site, somthing like this would need the direct support of Cooks asking people to visit in their ROM threads to submit reviews of their ROM.
Personally if that could happen I think it would be great and a fantastic resourse for newbes but I know there are alot of differing opinions on here, and perhaps its somthing the chefs would have second thoughts about.

Cool nice to know you found what you were looking for. I still find it easier to just read the actual thread for the info I'm looking for. Going over that page quickly I see no information stating whether the any of the HD2 ROMs are T-mobile compatible. You can flash a standard HD2 ROM onto the newer T-Mo HD2 since they use different processor.

i hadn't come across that site either, lol... but looking at this thread i think the guy's pretty keen to make the site useful. see here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=658641
there's also another thread in the ROM section that might be helpful... i'm sure jaimeeee would appreciate any input and help you wanna give
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=683743

Hi,
Thanks for the extra info, whilst the site I posted does seem to be more or less what I was thinking of doing myself it simply doesnt have the activity require to truely make it useful to anyone. It needs the support of the Forum, especially the Cooks if its going to succeed. I keep meaning to conatct the owner of th site to discuss how to push traffic onto the site but I got all caught up making a skin recently.
Hopefully we can make somthing of this!

ROM Vote - Support Your Favorites!

I posted in an earlier thread that I was getting worried that there is so much noise in the Evo development section that high quality ROMs by dedicated programmers were getting lost in the fracas of those that feel slapping a new wallpaper on a ROM qualified as its own distribution.
I was thinking that the best solution would be to see if the community would be interested in a way to uprank and downrank distributions in a one stop gateway that would help everyone clearly see which ROMs are the brightest and the best.
To that effect, I've created a Google Moderator series that lists ROMs. You can put a checkbox next to the ones you support, and an X if there is one (or some) in particular that you had some bad mojo with. If one you love isn't there, you're more than free to add it yourself to get the voting going!
The best part is, you can change your votes at any time!
http://bit.ly/aaZbOD
This may work, this may suck. Time will tell if this can become at all useful

If you dig this idea, please bump it for awareness. Otherwise, we can let it disappear.
No harm, no foul
We've had 15 people contribute so far. The more we get, the more comprehensive the data!

I'll bump this. Before I used to check the thread rating and whichever ROM thread had the best rating, I would go in and test it out. This could help out.

This'll definitely help in deciding a ROM to flash. Bump.

Sure I'll support this...
NOTE: please don't use this list as a bible...once we start rooting phones, they can tend to have a mind of their own. Some roms run great on some phones but are unstable on others. Same goes for kernels and themes. Remember, YMMV.

Great Idea.

jd9900 said:
Sure I'll support this...
NOTE: please don't use this list as a bible...once we start rooting phones, they can tend to have a mind of their own. Some roms run great on some phones but are unstable on others. Same goes for kernels and themes. Remember, YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Hopefully the whole "wisdom of the crowds" thing can at least push people in the right direction.
You all owe it to yourself and your phone to read the threads associated with these ROMs before flashing though!

I removed two added suggestions that did not follow the style of the vote. Please add roms not "MORE ROMS PLZ"

Awesome idea. Will vote.

Sticky this. I think it would clear up alot of questions too. Id say combine this idea with the release matrix from androidspin.com would be great.
for reference to what im talking about
http://db.androidspin.com/androidsp...id_build_base_os=&android_developer_id=&go=go

bump
this will be good for those rooting from froyo
sent from my baby. . . the evo 4-gees

I think that it's a great idea to add some sorting/ratings/details about all the roms out there, to anyone that hasn't been on these forums a while I'd assume it's quite overwhelming.
I'm not sure what the best idea is, as voting in a thumbs up/down fashion might not be the greatest way to show evaluation, I'm sure a lot of people with negatives are gonna be the ones with bugs or couldn't get it to work right.
In the end, I think rom reviews would be ideal, if we could get someone to do them. I remember shopping for a Nintendo DS cart, if anyone is familiar with them, and I found a website that had frequently updated reviews of the different available cartridges from the various teams that made them, and even though everyone knew the R4 brand cartridge I was able to get a good feel for the developers and features I was choosing from and I chose another brand that I was quite happy with.
I think voting makes it a popularity vs people with bugs/problems contest, more detailed voting (stars/categories) would end up being too tedious for most, and the spreadsheets, tho useful, don't really tell you everything you need to know.
Reviewers can also make the community more aware of who is making our kernels, the differences between them, available themes, battery life comparisons, etc.
We just need to find some people that swap roms enough and would be willing to do the write ups...

i think it will become a popularity contest which is part of the point, but the problem i see is that there are many die hard fans of this rom or that rom and i have no doubt they will negatively rate other roms just to try to move there fav rom up the list whether or not they used the rom, was something wrong with it, or not.
I think any type of ranking system is more hurtful then helpful. If you are a dev for a rom that isnt as popular or is new you may show at the bottom of the list even though your rom is bug free stable and fast. If people use this list as a true reference they will see your rom at the bottom or not on it at all and assume your rom isnt very good this could be very discouraging to the devs that even though they work hard and have a very solid rom they may not get many users and may be considered a "bad" rom since they haven't been around as long or arent one of the big 4-5 that people frequently use.
just my take on it. i like the review idea of the above user that along with nief's rom comparison that actually compares performance and battery life i think is the most helpful personally giving every rom its fair chance. it also takes popularity out of it to some degree and gives newer roms a fair chance vs coming in down 1000 votes.

I agree but people certainly do gravitate toward quality.
I took a lot of time to think about what the best way of doing this would be, and Moderator seems to be the best idea:
1. Reviews get outdated with each iteration. What you cite as problems now, can be fixed tomorrow.
2. The benchmarking idea is also bad since each phone is different. My phone pegged in the high 40s on old Linpack on most ROMs where others were seeing mid thirties. Again, outdated is an issue.
3. A poll on the site doesn't allow for other ROMs to be added easily
4. You can always change your mind.
Unfortunately, since the question is "what is everyone's favorite ROMs" is technically a popularity question, a popularity contest is what it is.

shameless TTT

Bump! Sticky?

Bump for fantastic happy goodness.

If this would have saved us from the inevitable 400 other threads started each week asking, "which ROM should I flash?", I think it could have been a great idea!

You have my vote I support it.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Q] Best ROM so far?

I have rooted my HD2 acouple of times now I just want your opinnion on what is the best ROM that has worked for you. Also the first time I rooted it I got a 4g or H signal, so please let me know if that ROM will be 4g or H.
Thank you.

I've been using this rom for many awhile now...no problems!
[12.Apr.11][CWM ZIP]★★★★★HyperDroidGBX-v12[GRI54-2.3.3][a2sd+][TytR8.3][INSANE SPEED]
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=918899

Hardnutz said:
I have rooted my HD2 acouple of times now I just want your opinnion on what is the best ROM that has worked for you. Also the first time I rooted it I got a 4g or H signal, so please let me know if that ROM will be 4g or H.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the best car in the world?
Whats the best movie in the world?
And best of all, .. whats the "best" color in the world?
Answer: NONE because its subjective, What is "best" for you is not necessarily "best" for me. Please stop asking silly questions. If this is your kind of topic go read one of the other eleventy million topics by people who have asked this question.
Btw, you havent "rooted" your HD2, You have simply installed a different rom. The roms already come with root access.

Like the other poster said, the best ROM will be based on what you want. I have seen people on this forum rave about their ROM but unfortunately wouldn't work on my phone. I have my Froyo and Gingerbread favorites that work really well on my phone but may or may not work for you. By the way, our HD2 phones do not support 4G but H that you see on your phone which is equivalent to 3.5G.

as mentioned above, what works for one user may not necessarily work for you. i was previously using mdj's froyo rom. i just recently started using americandroid and it works fantastic for me. so what's the best rom around? i reckon you should try out the roms and from there you can decide which one suits you best. cheers

I am sticking with official Miui for now

Typhoon
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Wow you people who ask for the best rom are getting really annoying...

beston94 said:
Wow you people who ask for the best rom are getting really annoying...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is a VERY valid question! The Android development for HD2 is really fascinating and all developers work is very very productive! So a BIG thanks to all the developers here!!!
Unfortunately this productivity has so many threads that it is almost impossible to follow all and the streams inside are definitely confusing! Nobody can follow them all or foresee the impact of a installation of a single ROM compared to an other ROM! Installing many ROMs and trying them takes ages and when you're through, almost each version has new major or minor version developments and could start from the beginning again!
So if you ask me: We in the forum should take such request serious because they show orientation is hard here! And we really should share experiences with ROMs exactly here since this is a sticky.
My opinion on the best ROM: You first have to decide whether you
a) need operational business strength Sync: If so you should go for a Sense ROM. You Sync with HTC Sync and it is great. I like LeoRCMix Rom is here best.
If you like speed : use 1.6 - if you like 3D effect but accept it to be a little bit slower - use 1.9
But: So far all Sense-like ROMs have issues with graphical errors (glitches) - they show horizontal black lines ...
b) you need/like full android reaction speed: CyanogenMod or CoreDroid are great. But you have to sync outlook with MyPhoneExplorer which causes sometimes problems!
c) you want speed and Sense-like GUI (but need no HTC Sync): Then use a MIUI ROM - i have no experience here ...
Cheers!

ramba69 said:
I think this is a VERY valid question! The Android development for HD2 is really fascinating and all developers work is very very productive! So a BIG thanks to all the developers here!!!
Unfortunately this productivity has so many threads that it is almost impossible to follow all and the streams inside are definitely confusing! Nobody can follow them all or foresee the impact of a installation of a single ROM! Installing many ROMs and trying them takes ages and when you're through almost each version has new major or minor version developments!
So if you ask me: We in the forum should take such request serious because they show orientation is hard here! And we really should share experiences here since this is a sticky.
My opinion on the best ROM: You have to decide whether you
a) need operational business strength Sync: You should go for a Sense ROM. You Sync with HTC Sync and it is great. I like LeoRCMix Rom is here best so far for me. If you like speed : use 1.6 - if you like 3D effect but accept it to be a little bit slower - use 1.9
But: So far all Sense-like ROMs have issues with graphical errors (glitches) - they show horizontal black lines ...
b) you need full speed: CyanogenMod or CoreDroid are great. But you have to sync outlook with MyPhoneExplorer which causes sometimes problems!
c) you want speed and Sense-Like (but need no HTC sync): Then use a MIUI ROM - i have no experience here ...
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask any of the experienced developers and people here and they will you the same thing.. TRY IT OUT YOUR SELF!
Simple as that. Roms that run smooth for me or someone else might not run smooth for you.

1.7.1 JW MIUI is the best

I vote for cmylxgo's Stock DHD 1.1.18

ramba69 said:
I think this is a VERY valid question! The Android development for HD2 is really fascinating and all developers work is very very productive! So a BIG thanks to all the developers here!!!
Unfortunately this productivity has so many threads that it is almost impossible to follow all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You dont have to follow them all, Once you have spent some time trying some you tend to know what kind of builds you wish to follow or not.
ramba69 said:
and the streams inside are definitely confusing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Streams?
ramba69 said:
Nobody can follow them all or foresee the impact of a installation of a single ROM compared to an other ROM! Installing many ROMs and trying them takes ages and when you're through, almost each version has new major or minor version developments and could start from the beginning again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats the fun part of LEARNING!
ramba69 said:
So if you ask me: We in the forum should take such request serious because they show orientation is hard here! And we really should share experiences with ROMs exactly here since this is a sticky.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not a sticky??
Also WE DO share, There is a billion of these topics already we dont need to have a new one every day, just go read teh others instead of making your own and getting same answers, All it does is piss people off as it clogs up the forum.
The only reason why these topics get created is because the posters are too lazy to spend some time researching, trying or simply reading. Also if they really wanted to discuss a topic like this they could just go and read one of the other ones that discuss this EXACT subject instead of creating a clone and making browsing such a annoyance for those who actually go and read.

As I have looked through this thread I have noticed that everyone has had there own preference on Roms. I personally am a fan of sense 3.0 Roms even though they are buggy. My current Rom is AD Kingdom Sense 3.0
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1112810

HyperDroid CM7 2.1 everything works flawlessly

instead of wasting your time explaining on each thread that gets made "BEST ROM" ignore the thread as they will never stop asking the same questions, yes you lot are correct with the "WHAT WORKS FOR ME, MAY NOT FOR YOU" but don't use get tired of messaging them the same answers, just ignore the thread and let them enjoy telling each other what rom is best. NO HARM DONE

For me BOYPPC-SHIFTPDA GINGER 2.3.4 CM7 Sense.s is the ROM I've been using for sevral weeks. Runs really smooth and very very fast without any bugs!!!

ROM Reviews

So, basicly, I wanted to try all available ROMs for Buzz and write a short/long review about it and give it a rating 1-5 stars. That should prevent lots of questions and should be helpful to newbies. What do you think? Write a comment/PM me.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App

smokzye said:
So, basicly, I wanted to try all available ROMs for Buzz and write a short/long review about it and give it a rating 1-5 stars. That should prevent lots of questions and should be helpful to newbies. What do you think? Write a comment/PM me.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you ask me, I would suggest everyone not to compare and rate different roms. It is not like one rom is better than the other. Roms will be according to the needs. Some roms aim at performance tweaks while some aim at display effects. And there will be some people who cannot live without sense widgets. Sense roms will be the option for them. So I think comparisons cannot be made.
And I think that number of topics (by newbies asking what is the best rom) on roms will outreach the number of roms. But if you start something like this what happens is there will be differences in opinions. Some may give worst opinions just after using it for few hours [ LOL, they don't even think about the time taken to develop a rom]. Because users will get pissed off even when everything is fine but just little bugs in the couple of features they need. I think there will be people who shift roms because of little things like dialer app etc. So basically the standard will be missing because everyone likes a rom which satisfies his needs ( and obviously everyone's needs will not be the same ).
But I think you can give feedback to xda in general section about controlling spam.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App

Yeah, I wanted to review it by stock settings, just for people to see what do they get by flashing it and to see if it has potential of fulfilling their needs. Means no modding or installing additional apps by me during/before the review. I think it's easyer to read an article about a ROM and to see some *in use* screenshots than self flashing every ROM (pain in the a**).
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App

bharatgaddameedi said:
... there will be people who shift roms because of little things like dialer app etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree 100%, except for this observation: an dialer, on a phone, is not just one little thing!
Well, I dont want to be a troll, it doesn't matter at all, your opinions are correct.
If you dont know how to start, or what rom to try at first, start reading! There is a list of rom topics on dev section, topic "the complete wildfire index". Try to enter each rom topic, see when was the last rom update, see the principal features of the rom, and read some feedback from users, searching for bugs.
I like to use the numbers of comment pages on the topic as reference of how many users have that rom, also, but pay atention on the age of the topic and, of course, if a lot of that replies are not bug related.
Again the choice of a rom is very personal, but this are parameters that I used to start tests.

louiscypherbr said:
Agree 100%, except for this observation: an dialer, on a phone, is not just one little thing!
Well, I dont want to be a troll, it doesn't matter at all, your opinions are correct.
If you dont know how to start, or what rom to try at first, start reading! There is a list of rom topics on dev section, topic "the complete wildfire index". Try to enter each rom topic, see when was the last rom update, see the principal features of the rom, and read some feedback from users, searching for bugs.
I like to use the numbers of comment pages on the topic as reference of how many users have that rom, also, but pay atention on the age of the topic and, of course, if a lot of that replies are not bug related.
Again the choice of a rom is very personal, but this are parameters that I used to start tests.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, sure, i dont have problems with choosing roms, i read, but, majority of people just post a thread asking which rom to choose.. thats where reviews come in, u know, every dev will talk best about his rom and etc, but this is "for users, by users"
and like bharat said its controlling spam

its not a bad idea. i have tried every rom for wildfire and i have to say that the cm7 nightlies is the most stable 2.3.4 for wildfire. enough said

ROMs ROMs and more ROMs

Can someone tell me whats up with the 50+ ICS ROMs? It's a bit concerning that all this effort seems to be put into reproducing the same exact thing. I think the community would benefit from cooperation rather than competition... But I feel like I must be missing something here, I am new to the Nexus S but not to Android, is there something about the Nexus S community that I'm not getting?
Not complaining at all, or should I say, I'm not trying to complain. I also want to point out that I appreciate the developers who pour their time and effort into our devices and help us to get the maximum value out of them.
(Want to note, I am running AOSP's ICS build and loving it.)

joenathane said:
Can someone tell me whats up with the 50+ ICS ROMs? It's a bit concerning that all this effort seems to be put into reproducing the same exact thing. I think the community would benefit from cooperation rather than competition... But I feel like I must be missing something here, I am new to the Nexus S but not to Android, is there something about the Nexus S community that I'm not getting?
Not complaining at all, or should I say, I'm not trying to complain. I also want to point out that I appreciate the developers who pour their time and effort into our devices and help us to get the maximum value out of them.
(Want to note, I am running AOSP's ICS build and loving it.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Man, I am much similar to where you are right now. I am not new to Nexus S or Android, but I feel that the abundance of ROMs is a good thing.
Having so many ROMs shows that the device is still running very strong: Something Android phones NEED to have behind them.
On the other hand I dislike it. To all the developers out there, I think you guys are amazing and genius no doubt. So take the following lightly...
What people don't like to see when browsing for a ROM is a dozen ROMs that are all identical. We need something new and fresh, hence why I like MIUI.
What I think should be done is as you said, have co-operation to make one master ROM because we have hundreds of people in the Nexus S community ready to help.
Speaking on my behalf I HATE SO MANY ROMs Because I simply cannot decide which is best because they are all similar in many ways, and I don't have time to try each one out as much as I want to. I do like having these ROMs but when it comes to choosing one its a big choice for me.
Any feedback on this?

I agree with a not so great abundance or ROMs. But most are not devs. They are simply "chefs" because they never actually developed anything. They just price and scrap things from source to mods. Cm9, ASOP, Peter A(because of his radios and kernal) are devs. We have lots of chefs.
I made brickROM just because of this situation. Its never been done, but the community wasn't ready for it yet.
Either way you can tell what rom has Is "real" I would say there's about only 5
And its sad for new Android users that come here get presided by a catching slogan and rob themselves from using a much better rom
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App. Developer of brickROM, and OP of XDA Thread of The Year 2011.

What would you do if you don't like any of the existing ROMs? May be one is missing a feature you need, another just has too many features you don't want? The answer is simple -- create your own ROM, or modify an existing one... I think most devs just make the ROM they want to use as their daily driver and simply share it here (i.e. what's going on is not about competition, at least from my point of view)
It sounds good to gather all devs to create a ROM that suits everyone's needs, but IMHO it is nearly impossible to do that

suksit said:
What would you do if you don't like any of the existing ROMs? May be one is missing a feature you need, another just has too many features you don't want? The answer is simple -- create your own ROM, or modify an existing one... I think most devs just make the ROM they want to use as their daily driver and simply share it here (i.e. what's going on is not about competition, at least from my point of view)
It sounds good to gather all devs to create a ROM that suits everyone's needs, but IMHO it is nearly impossible to do that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But these futures found in everyone's ROM are just mods that you can flash. I flash 8 zips with every rom update but I know that a personal mix so I have no need to share it.
I'm capiale of changing my waklppaer
I flash custom font, and inverted apps with some tyranny Widgets and kernal. With gnex sounds. No reason to "cook" it. This is not development.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App. Developer of brickROM, and OP of XDA Thread of The Year 2011.

Reserved
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App. Developer of brickROM, and OP of XDA Thread of The Year 2011.

suksit said:
It sounds good to gather all devs to create a ROM that suits everyone's needs, but IMHO it is nearly impossible to do that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CyanogenMod team pull it off quite well, all that is needed is a bug tracker and patch review system and boom! instant cooperation.
Maybe we have too many "chefs" in the kitchen

joenathane said:
The CyanogenMod team pull it off quite well, all that is needed is a bug tracker and patch review system and boom! instant cooperation.
Maybe we have too many "chefs" in the kitchen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am agree with you CyanogenMod need a bug tracker for CM9.

Here is an interesting fact in case anyone didn't know but MR. Cyanogen himself is rocking a Nexus S http://twitter.com/#!/cyanogen/status/153353404159234049
I wonder what build of ICS he is running, probably from his own private reserve...

joenathane said:
The CyanogenMod team pull it off quite well, all that is needed is a bug tracker and patch review system and boom! instant cooperation.
Maybe we have too many "chefs" in the kitchen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will be honest here and say that I personally dislike Cyanogen Mod for the most part. True that they are the gut best in performance, but if the only ROM I had was Cyanogen, I would not be very happy with it. I just think that for my favor, Cyanogen focus' so much on power, yet takes the look of the ROM as a after thought. The modified music on Cyanogen ROMs and the overall execution of his work lacks style and design, as if he first said "Make it fast, then maybe make it look ok" MIUI on the other hand has a great deal invested in how it looks which gives a very effective illusion of performance.
I think that the problem is we have so many chefs in that small kitchen and they have all made so many great dishes that sooner or later they will have eventually all used the same spices by some point, so we are beginning to lose that uniqueness in each one.

LGIQEXPO said:
I will be honest here and say that I personally dislike Cyanogen Mod for the most part. True that they are the gut best in performance, but if the only ROM I had was Cyanogen, I would not be very happy with it. I just think that for my favor, Cyanogen focus' so much on power, yet takes the look of the ROM as a after thought. The modified music on Cyanogen ROMs and the overall execution of his work lacks style and design, as if he first said "Make it fast, then maybe make it look ok" MIUI on the other hand has a great deal invested in how it looks which gives a very effective illusion of performance.
I think that the problem is we have so many chefs in that small kitchen and they have all made so many great dishes that sooner or later they will have eventually all used the same spices by some point, so we are beginning to lose that uniqueness in each one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only problem with that is Miui uses CyanogenMod code as a base(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI#Development) and CyanogenMod 7 has the theme chooser integrated for easy themeing(check the last three links in my signature to see some themes I created for it).
I don't think any mod team have contributed more to Android than the CyanogenMod Team, they certainly have my respect for that.
I agree about the spices, all these chefs cooking the same exact entree and now which on to choose...

joenathane said:
The only problem with that is Miui uses CyanogenMod code as a base(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIUI#Development)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a fact, not a problem.
Back on topic,
LGIQEXPO said:
I think that the problem is we have so many chefs in that small kitchen and they have all made so many great dishes that sooner or later they will have eventually all used the same spices by some point, so we are beginning to lose that uniqueness in each one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe at some point the community will decide which dishes live and which will die. I don't think people will keep posting ROMs if nobody uses it.

suksit said:
It's a fact, not a problem.
Back on topic,
I believe at some point the community will decide which dishes live and which will die. I don't think people will keep posting ROMs if nobody uses it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This^^ plus one thing, good all these chefs are popping up, that's showing a swell in number of people interested in development, in the end it can only have a positive outcome. Let em dev.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

suksit said:
It's a fact, not a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I obviously didn't mean problem in that sense, I meant it as in the 'problem' with his argument not the problem with CyanogenMod or Miui, I'm not sure how you interpreted it the way you did...
suksit said:
I believe at some point the community will decide which dishes live and which will die. I don't think people will keep posting ROMs if nobody uses it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what about the "noobs" who are instantly confronted with 20+ ICS ROMs and not a clue to which is worth its weight in salt?

joenathane said:
I obviously didn't mean problem in that sense, I meant it as in the 'problem' with his argument not the problem with CyanogenMod or Miui, I'm not sure how you interpreted it the way you did...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry if I interpreted it wrong (English is not my native language anyway ) I thought you're trying to imply that "since MIUI is based on CM, @LGIQEXPO shouldn't compare them together" or "if you like MIUI, it means you already liked CM." Just wanted to say that it is not a problem if one wants to compare those two.
joenathane said:
what about the "noobs" who are instantly confronted with 20+ ICS ROMs and not a clue to which is worth its weight in salt?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Occasionally I'd see a thread titled "Help me decide which ROM is best" and the most popular answer would be "Why don't you try them all?" Yeah it would be madness to try all 20+ ROMs in a row, but I don't think anyone will do that.
Before flashing a ROM, I'd (suggest them to) read everything in the first few posts by the OP, and take a look at the screenshots (most of the time I can decide if I will like this ROM or not by these two factors) If those "noobs" are not too ignorant I believe they'll have a small list of ROM(s) they want to try (may be 4-5 choices, which is reasonable.)

I know it is on the same code, but I more so meant the apps that MIUI re-did for their ROMs, and how they offer a nice end user appeal.
What would be amazing is if all the known devs of these ROMs would just once come together to use their own strengths, and make a mast ROM out of it. MIUI Design and style, Cyanogen tweaks and speed, Peter A. stability, the overclocking everything! (I can't wait for that hahah )

you want fewer rom, get a ns4g. Although we only have a fraction of the roms found in the other forum, they all seem to have their own distinct character.

i was using an SII before this so i was a frequent on that part of xda.. they do have a separate page for original development and another one for development (being kitchen products)

Hey,
Just wanted to add my opinion in all of this that there are so many "equal" roms.
I as some mentioned on another thread am a chef to rom developing, and I don't mind.
Why I do this is because I don't have the time or knowledge to create Android source apps so I take what I think is the best from each rom and create my own.
For example for me CM9 is way to bloated with too many configurations and options I prefer a more real cleaner AOSP, something like Peter Alfonso (buglessBeast), but I do like the T9 dialer from CM9, so I cherry-pick that from CM9 and add it to a PA base.
Also for the notifications power menu I liked TeamKang one so I added that. That way I'm making my own custom rom to my liking and also I don't have to be flashing 20 zips every time there is a new update or wipe my phone
I just thought on sharing it just if some one has the same likes in roms I'm no asking for anything in return. Also I do this in my little free time.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

mandaman2k said:
Hey,
Just wanted to add my opinion in all of this that there are so many "equal" roms.
I as some mentioned on another thread am a chef to rom developing, and I don't mind.
Why I do this is because I don't have the time or knowledge to create Android source apps so I take what I think is the best from each rom and create my own.
For example for me CM9 is way to bloated with too many configurations and options I prefer a more real cleaner AOSP, something like Peter Alfonso (buglessBeast), but I do like the T9 dialer from CM9, so I cherry-pick that from CM9 and add it to a PA base.
Also for the notifications power menu I liked TeamKang one so I added that. That way I'm making my own custom rom to my liking and also I don't have to be flashing 20 zips every time there is a new update or wipe my phone
I just thought on sharing it just if some one has the same likes in roms I'm no asking for anything in return. Also I do this in my little free time.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for adding your voice to the discourse.
If I was asked to offer an opinion on what you do, this is what I would say....
I think what you do is okay for you, but the problem is when you release it. There is a problem because as you state, you cherry pick features and/or "code" from other ROMs, and that can/will lead to issues for your user base. Lets take for example the T9 dialer, what happens when security bugs are found and fixed and optimizations make it into an update of the T9 dialer? Well that would mean you would need to update your ROM, but what if you're busy with your job or just with life and are too busy to get around to it? Well now your users of your ROM are without those security, bug fixes and optimizations, and multiply that by all the other pieces of the ROM that you cherry picked from other sources.
My point here to be clear is that due to the nature of your ROM, it will always lag in patches to security issues, bug fixes and optimizations and I think that is ultimately a disservice to your user base.
There is a value that you create, so I guess the question here is, does that value of bringing all these pieces into one convenient package outweigh the negatives of the lagging patches/fixes?
I mean no offense, and I hope this isn't taken as such, I just want to encourage some discourse on these things...