I have a relatively new Aria that I have been considering rooting. Several reasons.
1. Not impressed with the onboard memory and would like to delete bloatware such as Peep, AT&T Maps/Navigator/Hot Spots, Footprints, Friend Stream, IM, Latitude, and a few others. A few of those apps keep showing up in my ATK list, so I'd like to just get rid of them, as I have no intent to use them...why let them wreck my RAM?
2. Speed. I've read enough forum posts to believe that my device will run selected apps faster. Make it so.
3. Use MicroSD card for apps. Hate to be limited to the internal capacity. I expect to partition the new SD card, 1GB dedicated to apps. New card likely to be 8GB.
Here are the questions...
1. I'll be getting a new SD card before the rooting begins. How important is the whole Class 2/4/6 thing. Is Class 4 good enough?
2. If I simply swap out the SD card with a new one before the root, what would I lose besides the photos, movies, music that I have manually transferred to the existing SD card?
3. How do I go about backing up the phone for restoration if the rooting thing doesn't work out?
4. What apps/functionality will I find in the phone after the rooting?
5. Is there a list of apps/files that should not be deleted after the rooting?
6. What is all this "flasing ROM" talk about? How do I chose what I should be flashing? What are the differences and does my device model matter in this decision?
I saw your post in the android forums also and will try to help you out. I can't help you much with your questions about just rooting it, as I switched to a CM6 ROM right after I rooted mine. I am also new the the Aria/hacking world and have only had my Aria for 4-5 days. With that said, I'll help with what I can. If anyone sees my n00b mistakes, please correct me.
1. For an Aria a class 4 MicroSD will be plenty. From what I've read, the classes only relate to write speed and not read speed. Class 4 writes at 4MB/s Class 6 at 6MB/s. I believe this means you would just have to wait a little longer for the files to write to the card. Also, read speed is always faster than write speed. I've also read that the speed rating is not universal. Some companies list their Class rating as their read speed instead of write speed. I've read that Kingston is one of the ones that actually list it as write speed. With this knowledge, I decided to buy a 8gb class 4 MicroSD from Kingston.
2. Before you root, I would format the new MicroSD card and move everything from the old one onto the new one.
I'm getting tired... it's nearly 2am and I can't answer your last questions without researching into all of it. I'll quickly type up what I can answer though.
3. When I rooted my phone, I was walked through using the Ubuntu LiveCD in the IRC. I think I made a backup using Clockwork Recovery, but I'm not totally sure if this program comes on the phone or if I put it there. I've read about unrooting some phone, but know little about it. I do suggest using the Ubuntu LiveCD method for rooting though. It definitely was simple. I also suggest going into the IRC if you are unsure of anything in the rooting process. They are really helpful there even though they don't have to be. Here's a link to the Ubuntu LiveCD root method. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=741824
4. Like I said, I switched to the CM6 ROM right after rooting so I am not familiar with a stock Aria that's just been rooted. I am pretty sure that it doesn't install any apps and just gives you superuser access to modify the programming.
5. Don't uninstall anything that you aren't sure of unless you make a nandroid backup in Clockwork first. I don't believe it's that simple to just go in there and delete important files anyway. I know that on CM6 I had to access the adb to delete some things. I won't get further into that.
6. A ROM is sorta an emulator. Think how people play Nintendo games on their computers. The ROM emulates a Nintendo system on your computer, so a ROM for your phone emulates another operating system on your phone. (in this case Android 2.2 would being emulated on your phone) You don't have to install a new ROM after you root your phone. You can if you want, but you don't have to. As far as what version to install... I do not know the exact differences in each ROM. I am running CM6 Liberty A012 and don't have problems with it. The different builds of CM6 just fix bugs, I believe. I don't think they are 'theme specific', for lack of a better term, meaning that one isn't better than the other for gps use or whatever. Finally, as long as you have an HTC Aria, your device will work for any mod listed in this Aria forum.
Hopefully I didn't confuse you more and hopefully I didn't give the vets of this forum more work to fix my mistakes. I also hope that what I wrote is at least a little better than letting it go unanswered, as I assume you are as impatient for information as I am.
Anthony1s, your post is spot on except for a bit of confusion on what the term "ROM" really means. You basically have the idea right except that it really has nothing to do with emulation. You aren't emulating an operating system on your phone; you are running it natively!
The "ROM" (in terms of how it applies to an Android phone) is basically the main operating system and a collection of apps necessary for the phone to function. When you "flash" a ROM, you are replacing what is currently on the phone with a new version of the operating system. That's all you really need to know as far as Android ROMs are concerned.
For the Aria, there aren't a ton of options yet on which ROM to use. The Liberated ROMs by attn1 are created by taking the default ROM that comes with the phone and making minor adjustments -- namely, deleting a few built-in apps that most people don't want and removing boot up sounds. If you use this ROM, your phone will appear to function virtually unchanged from the way it comes out of the box. Everything will look the same, it will still have Sense UI on Android 2.1 (Eclair), etc. If the only thing you want is to remove some of the "bloatware" apps, I suggest using one of the Liberated ROMs instead of trying to delete the apps manually. It's a lot simpler this way.
There's also the CM6 Froyo ROM. You can read the thread on it to see all the differences, but it uses Android 2.2 (Froyo) with the default Android UI (not Sense UI). Also, if you install this, you have to do a complete reset on the phone to clear all settings/etc., which is not necessary with Liberated. The CM6 ROM is still in an early development stage which means there are probably some bugs that you will encounter although it may not be anything too significant, whereas the Liberated ROM seems to have almost everything working correctly. The main advantage of this build is the fact that it uses Froyo which has some speed improvements for apps among other new features.
Hopefully that answers all your questions.
Thanks Drumist. I got a question that I've had on my mind for two days. I've read that the Nexus One gets more MFLOPS because froyo 2.2 uses a JIT compiler. Does the CM6 ROM use a JIT compiler or is that something we have to wait for in the official release? I don't mean to hijack, but your knowledge reminded me of my question.
Yes, the CM6 ROM has the JIT compiler. It's one of the reasons the benchmarks for the Aria on CM6 are almost double that of the stock rom. You can actually turn it off as well if you hit Menu > Cyanogen Mod Settings > Performance Settings.
Related
Okay, so here's the deal:
- I've done some thread surfing.
- Read some tutorials.
- Compiled a list of my ideas, thoughts, comments, etc.
- Finally; have common knowledge of some "lingo."
Now, having stated all that; I'm trying to figure out HOW TO CREATE the "userinit.sh" file and insert it into my SD card. I'm trying to do this based on what I've been discussing in my previous thread regarding Compcache w/ back_swap vs. Linux-swap comparisons.
The issue here being; I flash new ROM builds often, whether it's HERO or Cyanogen, Enomther, etc. I'm always doing a WIPE, because I don't mind. I have MyBackupPro...it's never an issue to restore my applications in APK form using that method. Otherwise, sure if I am completely satisfied with the way a particular ROM is operating on either my MyTouch or G1, then I'll even Nandroid it, then back it up to my PC.
Keeping all that in mind, does anyone suggest SwitchROM? I hear that is a pretty convenient thing to have when you're like me...frequently flashing a new build or ROM port. Typically, I only WIPE when necessary, so it's not always every time. I'm just looking for a way to save time between switches and create that file to be able to ALWAYS set my Compcache and Linux-swap or if I wanted to enable back_swapping, etc.
I could really use a little bit of help in this department, I would greatly appreciate it. Despite this being a lengthy read, it's not too complicated if you know what to look for in this!
THANKS GUYS.
Well, even though I actually don't have a problem with WinMo 6.5 outside of a few minor annoyances I've decided to make the switch over to Android...guessing NAND...though, still looking to here about WinMo 7...
I'm just noticing that there is more support and apps being developed for Android and the future of my HD2 suddenly shows more growth...have my fingers crossed waiting for Netflix to resolve the DRM issues they have with Android!
I was always waiting for a solid Android build that actually replaced WinMo (NAND is finally here). During that time I used WinMo and actually liked it. First thing I will miss is the customization. I don't think there's another Mobile OS that beats it in that department...and I REALLY like customizing.
I've been using Android more now and still don't understand how the NAND will work. Have read a lot...as far as installing, that won't be a problem with me. My questions start with customizing. Where will the media folder be? Is there a folder on the SD card that Android associates ring tones with? I make my own ringtones as mp3 files, so i need to know the structure of how Android handles media. WinMo was simple. Also, the Android build I was using did not support USB without major hickups...well...it just didn't work. I'm not going to assume all Android builds are like this, but can I expect Android to be able to link via USB and I can work with it as a storage device and create folders and organize in this manor?
I know you guys work hard and appreciate it, so please do not take this the wrong way. Which Android build is the most stable at this time with all features working? I ask this cuz I notice there tends to be some builds that come along much slower than others and bugs as well as a lack of hardware support can occur. Is there a build that's considered stable and all hardware is supported?
I've basically been trying to make Android provide the same experience as far as apps and ease of use I had with WinMo...I think I'm there.
Does Android have a set structure with Wallpapers...ringtones...documents and such? Example...does each file type have its own folder on the device or storage card in which Android associates the tools which manages them? I always keep my device clean and move all files to the card that don't NEED to be on the device. Is this possible with Android?
Android play well with Microsoft Docs?...Word?
I've always felt that Android ran smoother than WinMo 6.5. I noticed after a while it can get a little sluggish. Is Android like that? I believe Android is Linux base? I'm expecting memory management to better. On PC, I'm use to any Unix based OS to out perform WinAnything with resource management.
I also noticed something strange about some of these apps in the Android market. One, a lot of adds within the apps. Two, a lot of these apps tend to require access of priveledge areas that can be security risks...to make it worse you fine yourself saying why a browser would need access to anything else outside on internet and maybe GPS. Other apps have access to areas that make no sense to me.
Are their security issues with Android...it's market...or apps?
That's all i can think of now. Didn't have a moment to proof read, so please excuse me. Have to take care of a few things. be back shortly.
Thanks.
WOW! What can I say... Ditto. I love WinMo, but I'm fearful that I'm watching it's death rattle. Win Phone 7 seems like a illegitimate infant in a world of fast moving, focused, college freshmen (albeit, not the brightest).
I had a lot of reservations with switching from WM. Mainly related to the phone being able to handle work related stuff. So I too ran WM and android on SD. I must admit though, that after having run android for almost 2 months without loading WM, (I basically pretended I had bought a new phone and forgot all I could do with WM), I had figured out work-arounds and got it running more than sufficiently. The only problem I had was having to back-up the SD in fear of a random reboot corrupting the data.img. Now with NAND, it's no longer a problem. I can honestly say that the switch was easy, and I'm glad I no longer have winmo in my life.
IMO Android is a far superior OS, and I can't sing it's praises enough.
As for all the questions:
Media folder is built like this:
media
->audio
->->alarms
->->notifications
->->ringtones
->->ui
Different folders are available for their obvious uses (i.e. go into ringtone selection, and you don't get the ui folder listed).
USB is more than stable (for me at least), never had a problem since NAND. Having most stuff moved to SDCard the phone hates it when I plug it in as a disk drive, (widgets disappear etc.) but within a minute of unplugging it it's back to normal.
I personally feel the desire build are the best, however as for more stable? I believe we are reaching a plateau where stability is the norm. I have tried nexus builds, and have had no problems with them either, it's just personal taste. The HD builds (Desire HD Base) are a little more 'experimental' but with reading, you'll learn what works on each build, and what doesn't. Figure what's important to you, and check.
The best advice I can give is get hold of SPB Backup (For WM). Do a full backup. Then jump in at android's deep end. (After reading how obviously). If you don't like it, re-flash winmo, redo your backup, and it's like you never left. You won't regret it though.
Man I'd love to dump WM as well, bu I can't bear the thought of all the days going by where I can't be the dude on the bus who reboots into ubuntu to pass the time...sigh.
MattOG said:
The best advice I can give is get hold of SPB Backup (For WM). Do a full backup. Then jump in at android's deep end. (After reading how obviously). If you don't like it, re-flash winmo, redo your backup, and it's like you never left. You won't regret it though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Microsoft My Phone actually does fine with all the backup I need.
I'm still wondering about security issues. Example: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-20026804-83.html
Also, hit a bump in the road. It would seem that Android doesn't support the Mugen 2600 Extended battery!
The primary security issue with Android isn't Android or Linux, it's Google. Google's security is very problematical, Gmail has been hacked (as has Gmails security software) by someone.*
*Some think it's the Chinese government, the official Chinese response is, "No, it's just kids" but since all hacked accounts we know about have been dissidents, the government theory looks pretty solid....
The primary issue is NOT Google. It's the user.
If you're loading up banking apps on a device that you could lose, be stolen, or bluetooth hacked, then don't blame anyone but oneself.
I've yet to know anyone who's been phone-hacked if that's any consolation.
As a former hd2/android user Id have to say It makes the entire experience of the phone better.
I think it also depends on what you are use to. as far as customizing I would venture to say that there is just as much customization with winmo as there is android. Though id have to say I found myself looking for skins more often than not cause winmo was so ugly to me.
I enjoy having almost direct access to all my data without it having to look like winphone7.
As far as security I think its always been tighter because most people were on different types of phones. now that we have blackberrys and iphones and android phones I think possible viruses will show.
I believe google has a built in kill switch for rogue apps. Also if you buy apps from the legit market you should have no problem!
Ok two things that I'm trying not to get frustrated about before I put a little research into it...
First, why in the world does Android want to crop every image instead of using the entire image as a wallpaper?
I even have wallpapers that are the exact size of the display and Android still wants to crop a small portion of that image?....help please...
Second, why can't I get a simple widget or window dedicated to favorite contacts, such as sense in WinMo does without having to pay for it?
Android doesn't have a simple tool that allows you to setup a favs like Sense does in WinMo? There's this LaucherPro that wants to charge me to do so?
Thanks
Why does Photoshop Express require access to personal information, phone calls and full internet access?
Devils1stBorn said:
Why does Photoshop Express require access to personal information, phone calls and full internet access?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
checking the install notes It says
the only one that bothers me is the it reads contact info.
the phone state is different than phone info. it basically should shut down when you recieve a phone call. why it needs access to your contacts is why im uninstalling it.
I can also set basic contacts by long pressing a blank spot on the screen and selecting shortcuts>contacts>the actual contact.
wallpaper I believe if you set the picture with the proper resolution it shouldnt crop it
Devils1stBorn said:
Ok two things that I'm trying not to get frustrated about before I put a little research into it...
First, why in the world does Android want to crop every image instead of using the entire image as a wallpaper?
I even have wallpapers that are the exact size of the display and Android still wants to crop a small portion of that image?....help please...
Second, why can't I get a simple widget or window dedicated to favorite contacts, such as sense in WinMo does without having to pay for it?
Android doesn't have a simple tool that allows you to setup a favs like Sense does in WinMo? There's this LaucherPro that wants to charge me to do so?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. You can just expand the crop window so it encapsulates your entire wallpaper, if it indeed is in perfect size. Keep in mind the crop window is sized for 3 homescreens or 5 or however many you have, so if your perfect size is for just one screen (480x800) you'll have a bit of a problem there.
2. You can just place contacts on the desktop. That's the closest you'll get without paying for this in LauncherPro. While you're at it, even if you don't want to pay - get LauncherPro and replace the default Launcher already. You'll love its speed superiority immediately.
A lot of devs put permissions on to prevent possible problems, also, not sure if it relates to android, but I know some permissions are needed for things that you would not normally relate them to, possibly things like automatically pausing operations when a call comes in etc...
schunniky said:
1. You can just expand the crop window so it encapsulates your entire wallpaper, if it indeed is in perfect size. Keep in mind the crop window is sized for 3 homescreens or 5 or however many you have, so if your perfect size is for just one screen (480x800) you'll have a bit of a problem there.
2. You can just place contacts on the desktop. That's the closest you'll get without paying for this in LauncherPro. While you're at it, even if you don't want to pay - get LauncherPro and replace the default Launcher already. You'll love its speed superiority immediately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured out the contacts on desktop, thanks though!
As for the wallpapers, I do try to expand the Window and it never completely encapsulates the entire image. I just dont get why Android doesn't allow the Wallpaper to remain static while your homescreens maneuver over it.
well, after a fair play with my DHD android device and coming from HD2 winmo, yes i have a good impression with android, it's better in many cases, but fail in many other essential cases too. not speaking about any visual, gaming, or any specific app here, cause mainly android have the power in this area, but we are speaking about native and essential issues:
1-in a platform where you have the option to have 32 gb as sdcard, i guess u have the right to full this sd card with apps, documents, mp3, movies, images or whatever. instead, of that, if you install more than 100 apps on the sd card (knowing that the htc devices comes preloaded with a bloatware of 165 apps, i guess 100 apps is nothing here) the device have a chance to not load properly the sd card apps, or start to have a massive lag (happened a lot of times).
2-i have a 16 gb sdcard, and now i have 8 gb free, so used 50% of the sd card, and the device have lagging symptoms.
so basically android is functioning better with less files and apps, when winmo have no effect whatever i have on my sdcard, the system will never lag according to sd file system, or the system will not lag to death whatever apps are installed on the sd card.
3-folder browsing applications is better handeled in winmo, like image gallery browsing, music, videos, support the folder browsing option better than android.
4-for now, my test are based on built in video player and mvideo player, and i can say movies have better smooth play on winmo.
5-winmo connect to pc with one single way (active sync) and provide, syncing files, internnet passthrough, exploring the disk files. on the other hand, each time u want to make a job in android, u have to change the way it connects to pc (internet passthrough, or disk drive or sync files) winmo can do all at the same time.
1. You install all those apps on the SD Card and each time you start one its always running, no wonder you experience lag.
2.Same as no.1
3. My experience with winmo and everything to do with it was horrid, it was completely laggy and it was a clean wipe. Folder browsing was hideous and so was everything else.
4. Movies definitely play smoother on android, I couldn't even get a video file to save on winmo, nevermind play it.
5. Why is there the need to use the phone as a disk drive, charge it, internet passthrough?
Definitely not the case for me.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
To be honest I think your problem is just unfamiliarity with Android. After all, people get used to whatever they use everyday then, when they have to change, all you see at first is 'but this doesn't work like <insert old system here> ...'. ALL operating systems/phones/computers are ideal for someone but ALL of them have faults. As long as you can live with them then all is well. If it's a phone you have for 12/18/24 months the best situation is to make the most of the positives, rather than complain about all the negatives. Or sell it and get a new Winmo phone.
Dave
I agree to 2nd post
sent from my DHD
Spelling
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk
mikecoffee said:
Spelling
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here come the english teacher.
To topic, there's no way winmo do those things mentioned by original post better than android. My friend has Htc HD2, I sold it to him...lol Like someone said try learning the curve or sell the HDH.
most of the times peopels on board flame threads with opinions or sharing experiences. please try to undersntand that it's something to be discussed not flamed, and as i was expecting some negative replies, i also expect some positive and constructive discussions. and to go further, it's my third month with android, yes i'm new kind of, but fairly i have a good background in troubleshooting, developping, customizing... briefly i tried almost more than 1000 applications from marketplace (apps and games) i categorised and filters most of them, i also did select the best app in each field, and for those who said that 75 apps is a lot, let me tell you that it's just apps and not the games list, and 75 apps that are installed are very essential to be on the phone, and by the way all of them are on the phojne memory and i still have 750 mb for internal memory.
it's just that puttings more installed games on sd card may corrupt the start up of the apps, since android get dizzy loading bunch of them at starup, the thing that winmo dont have this prob, and saying that is not like saying i want to go back winmo, dont take it rude, but please stop acting like the guards on the (your favorite or your owned device) castle, things dont go like this.
in fact if you see that there is a solution, workaround, something to discuss or share, or even if you passed with this experience, please share it, that's what make the forum helpful and going forward.
yes guys i like android more than winmo (winmo is a dead OS anyway) and failed for long time, but for me i faced these problems in android, they maybe a problems for others, maybe not for you, and yes winmo handeled the above listed issues better than android, face it, so why not we discuss why it's better in winmo and how to enhace it (in workaround or developping something to fill the gap).
ex.: "why do i need to make the device as disk drive" cause it's helpfull to have the option of moving files btw device and pc, and browse it in astro or any other explorer at the same time, install apps, or preview images, no need to switch btw disk drive and htc sync or internet each time you need to do any task, for sure it's a better choise to have them all done at one selection sync.
why documents files (music, movies, images) on sdcard may slow the device, if you think it's a normal issue, and the device should start to lag normally if you have bunch of them, then let's ask why they gave us the freedom to have a 32 gb of sdcard (is it to fill it with only 4 gb in order to not lag the device) something wrong here, no? let's ask again, why winmo or iphone handle this issue better (mmm, is it something about handling file caching, file indexing, refreshing..) can we discuss it this way, can we try to figure it and maybe find a solution for now or wit for a android future solution (maybe honeycomb).
sorry if being harsh but please read well before a harsh replies and flame the post.
thank you for your understanding.
The limitations with the sd card you are talking about are not an android problem per se. It is a dual problem with device manufacturers failing to provide enough user accessible rom. The other prong is that developers design their apps to install straight to sd, to accommodate the aforementioned devices.
The dhd has no such limitation, 1gb is plenty for apps. I have 50 apps including some games, all have been moved to internal rom if not done so automatically. I don't get any lag at all.
Of course I can see how someone new to android may not know to move their apps off the sd and think their phone is laggy but this is an unfortunate side effect of Google offering manufacturers the freedom to run android on anything they wish.
Sent from my performance enhanced Desire HD.
Do you think the speed or "class" would have any effect on lag?
e.g. if you had lag on a class 2 card would you expect a class 6 to 10 to resolve this or would this have no effect.
Not that I have any lag problems at all, just curious
Here comes the English teacher.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
point #5 is true but its not a major problem i guess
personally i feel that android is what winmo should have been
win7 is a disaster and it'll remain that way, they've tried too hard to copy apple and will never succeed being a copycat
but coming back to the topic, i guess that the fundamental problem with android is that its java based and as a java developer i know for certain that its a pain in the ass to develop applications on java... i can't forsee myself building a java game especially one that runs off 3D because the number of objects and classes will grow its complexity exponentially
on the iphone we have games like street fighter, winmo has prince of persia
i doubt we'll be seeing such complex games on android anytime soon
I have something to add since I've had the chance to use both OSES.
Ever notice how YouTube has to re-download the video you're currently watching if you want to repeat it? Not only am I wasting bandwidth but I can't enjoy my videos in HD because my connection isn't fast enough.
WinMo YouTube app > Android YouTube.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk
Hey guys,
I broought a desire z nam (Bell mobility branded) over the holidays. This is my first android device, so after a month of using it, I finally feel like I have my bearings for the platform (I'm coming from symbian). However, I have a few questions:
When I brought the phone, it came unlocked (I'm using it on AT&T's network in the US. Does this mean the phone has already been rooted? Is there an easy way I can check on this?
Since I am using the phone on at&t network, how will updates work for me? Is it possible for me to get any OTA updates? Or am I restricted to custom roms for updates? I am a little hesitant to use custom roms, as I need this phone to be reliable above all else, and I keep hearing about how unstable some of those roms can be.
What exactly is Cyberon Voice Commander? I always see it hogging a huge amount of memory in my running apps, and I'm wondering if its one of the base apps included with android. Searching around, it seems that it is used for speech to text, so if I remove it, will voice seach and voice actions no longer work?
Speaking of running apps, is it normal to have 50+ apps running at the same time? This phone boots with a ton of apps already running, and a lot of them seem like system processes. The phone does feel sluggish at time; however, this being my first and only android device, I don't really have a good reference to whether this is normal or not.
The touchscreen seems off. It always tends to register touches slighty above or below where my finger hits (super annoying when you're trying to select something on a list) is there any way to calibrate the screen?
On the subject of screens, is there a way to activate the screen other than pressing the power button? That button is a bit hard to reach for me, especially with 1 hhand operation
Htcsense.com doesn't seem to be working for me. It can't locate my phone, making the phone ring doesn't do anything, and I don't see the menu bar up top. Anyone know what's up with it?
And finally, I'm trying to find a good chinese handwriting input method; the phone comes with pinyin and wubihua input methods on the default htc keyboard, but no handwriting reconginition. The only app I found on the market for it is terrrible at picking up my strokes (HanWriting IME), can anyone recommend anything for it?
Thanks a bunch
I have the same device running on ATT as well.
The phone does not come 'rooted' even if it is an unlocked version. Root allows you to write to the 'OS Partition' on the phone memory in addition to other things. To check if you have root, you need to boot into the recovery mode of the phone. The first line in recovery will read either S-OFF (root obtained) or S-ON (no root). I suggest reading up on 'GFREE' and using that method to obtain root. Visionary is also an option, but doesn't appear to be as 'safe' as GFREE.
As far as I know, we are on our own for OTA updates. I have been using Custom ROMs on my device since about day 3 of owning it and it was the best decision I have made. I currently run CyanogenMod 6.1 and it runs great. Much better than stock. It is VERY stable and I haven't had any issues, everything is working. They are currently developing CyanogenMod 7 (Android 2.3) but it not officially released as stable version yet.
I am not familiar with that Voice Commander app. Check Google.
I don't have 50+ apps running but do have quite a few. Froyo 2.2 (shipped on phone with HTC Sense Skin) is designed to automatically shut down applications that are not being used so they do not eat up system resources. I didn't use stock for long, so I can't say how it performs but I have no lag issues with Cyanogen.
I do recall a 'calibration' option on Stock, but again I didn't use it for long and can't remember where it was.
In Cyanogen mod you can wake up the screen by pressing the track pad. Search in the Themes and Apps section of the Desire Z/G2 forum and there is an application you can install that does the same thing. I think its called Trackpad Wake.
Sorry never used HTCsense.com or any chinese writing apps. For the writing app, you can check the Android Themes/Applications thread from the main forum page. There are lots of other apps discussed there that are no in the Desire Z forum.
Welcome to Android!
Some good answer in the post above. Just to add some additional info:
The Vision Wiki describes how to verify root
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision
But your phone is likely not rooted. When you buy a phone unlocked, that usually means SIM unlocked, so you can use other SIM cards besides Bell. Cell phone dealers usually just have ways to get the SIM unlock codes for phones, same as the paid SIM unlock services you find on eBay and other places.
All ROMs have bugs, including the "official" ones. In my experience, the custom ROMs usually are more stable and less bugs than the official ones they are based on. In any case, I wouldn't worry too much about OTA updates. If you want to flash an official ROM, they get posted on here faster then you would get them OTA.
I just checked, and I have exactly 50 apps running on my Bell Desire Z (running on AT&T like you). I wouldn't worry about it. As mentioned in the previous reply, Android is designed to keep processes open in the background until the memory is needed, then it kills idle processes as needed.
I've never used a Symbian phone. But the Desire Z is one of the fastest Android phones currently on the market. It gets bogged down a bit by the Sense UI in some conditions (especially if you have lots of widgets loaded). But this is minor, and I have found the performance to be very good overall. If you want some more speed, you can root and overclock the CPU. Overclocking to 1 GHz does not even increase voltage to the CPU, so the effect on battery life and risk is minimal.
HTCSense.com is still a work in progress, unfortunately. The features not working is normal, its not just you.
Cyberon Voice Commander is bloatware pre-installed by Bell. Its supposed to allow you to command the phone (with your voice, obviously) without having to touch the screen to perform certain functions (call or find a contact, play a song, etc.). But its pretty useless, and pure crap, IMO. Even when it recognizes your command, it will often still require touch input to make the selection, which completely defeats the purpose! Its faster to just access the functions the normal way.
Bloatware is part of the ROM, and therefore not completely straightforward to remove. All methods require the phone be rooted, AFAIK. The following thread has a method (using Titanium Backup) to remove most of the bloat.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=831584
I've also found a paid app ($1.99) on the market called Absolute System Root Tool removes the bloatware successfully
As mentioned, there is a hack to make the trackpad button wake the phone. But I couldn't tell if the feature could be removed or turned off, so I haven't tried it yet, personally.
Aha, a fellow Symbian convert! Welcome to the greatest phone ever - like an N97 that doesn't suck. I used to run Symbian-Guru.com - please feel free to PM me with *any* questions, I still love to help folks.
I would *highly* suggest you root your phone, if for no other reason than to dump the bloatware that comes with it and be able to take screenshots and that sort of thing. You may also want to look at the Virtuous ROM - it's a port of the Desire Z ROM that has some extras built-in. I've been using it on my G2 pretty much since I got it and it's fan-freakin-tastic. I easily get 12-15hrs of battery life, and that's with normal usage. It also has trackpad wake built right in - it's awesome.
Most of your other questions were answered above. In any case, welcome to XDA, and to Android.
Thanks for the replies. I'm loving the phone so far; just there's a lot of quirks in android that I'm not used to. That's to be expected with any transition to a different os, so I'm sure ill adapt.
you mentioned offical roms are also posted there as well; will flashing those roms require S-OFF? I might be in the minority, but I actually like senseUI. The only thing I wish I could change would be replacing the customization button on the dock with a browser shortcut. I've tried adw and launcherpro, but everytime I end up missing the htc widgets and going back to sense.
Ill probably start looking into some custom roms. I'm really holding out for the offical 2.3 update though. Ill also have to find a way to revert to the original rom should I not like the new one. I can't seem to find a copy of the original rom from bell to download anywhere; so is titanium backup my only option? Finally if I flash in a new rom, (offical or custom) will I lose my carrier unlock?
Thanks
Before you flash any different ROM you should do what is called a "nandroid" backup of your current ROM via Clockwork Recovery/ROM Manager (which you can install once you have root and S-OFF).
No, flashing a different ROM will not lose your SIM unlock.
If you have SuperCID from gfree, then you will be able to flash different official ROMs, not just the Bell one.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z
makken85 said:
Thanks for the replies.
Thanks
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Click to collapse
Please hit the "thanks" button on the responses that were helpful to you. So those of use that took the time to answer can increase their thanks meters!
You're not completely alone. I like Sense also! FYI, the Virtuous ROM recommended by orange bandit is a custom one built on the Sense UI. Although I'm probably going to wait until a Gingerbread Sense ROM myself.
makken85 said:
Thanks for the replies. I'm loving the phone so far; just there's a lot of quirks in android that I'm not used to. That's to be expected with any transition to a different os, so I'm sure ill adapt.
you mentioned offical roms are also posted there as well; will flashing those roms require S-OFF? I might be in the minority, but I actually like senseUI. The only thing I wish I could change would be replacing the customization button on the dock with a browser shortcut. I've tried adw and launcherpro, but everytime I end up missing the htc widgets and going back to sense.
Ill probably start looking into some custom roms. I'm really holding out for the offical 2.3 update though. Ill also have to find a way to revert to the original rom should I not like the new one. I can't seem to find a copy of the original rom from bell to download anywhere; so is titanium backup my only option? Finally if I flash in a new rom, (offical or custom) will I lose my carrier unlock?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Virtuous ROM is basically the same as what you're running now, but fully rooted with some improvements here and there (trackpad wake, a bit of overclocking, etc).
There is a Rosie hack to be able to replace the right dock button with whatever you want, here's the link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=876464
I did it on my Virtuous ROM, works great, though I couldn't stand the simplicity of Sense and went back to LauncherPro, myself.
My apologies if my thread manners are off. Please feel free to move this post to the appropriate spot (and please reply telling me what the general rules are) if I'm posting this in the wrong place. I'm a relative noob when it comes to flashing ROMs, though I have tried about 12 in the past few weeks after I finally rooted my G1. Thus, I think XDA won't let me respond in the specific Rom forum because I haven't written enough posts (this is my first) or something.
Anyway, I have a few questions about this ROM and its settings after flashing it on my G1 last night. For clarity & redundancy, I am running "SUPERFROYO V8.4 Update 11/01/10." I downloaded and installed it last night (Sunday, April 10th, 2011- in the event there is a newer one available after I post this)
I have not installed the battery saver yet, though I plan on doing so once I figure out the answer to my more pressing question:
QUESTION SETUP:
I know the main issue that plagues the G1 is its ridiculously low internal memory, but according to the Phone storage settings page, I still seem to have roughly 8 megs of internal memory left for apps. I've moved a number of apps to the SD card, but the phone keeps telling me that my internal storage is low anyway. I never got these warnings unless I had roughly 1 meg or less left when I was running stock 1.6 Android (before and after rooting it in mid March).
ACTUAL QUESTION: Is there some setting I can tweak within the ROM, or app I can download to allot more internal memory for apps? Failing that, is there a way to change the warning threshold to more closely match stock 1.6 Android's threshold on the G1? I'm thinking that Froyo has a different idea of "low phone storage" than the stock ROM because newer phones all have assloads more memory available, and that I might be able to tweak that setting somewhere. Unfortunately, a lot of the pre-installed system management apps on this ROM are in Spanish, and it's been over a decade since I took Spanish. I could go through the menu options and attempt to translate, but I'm hesitant to delve into a new program that is ALSO in a foreign language.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, I would like to thank the entire XDA community for all of their efforts and support for users. Finally, I would like to tip my hat to the unlockr community for their entry-level tutorials. Thanks again.
I think you forgot to mention this, and i dont see you have no signature with your specs, radio, boot etc...
But did you partitioned your SDcard with the correspondent EXT/SWAP/FAT32 paritions ??
Also the developer on that ROM (superatmel) doesnt give support to his ROM is if isnt within the forum where he orignaly releases his work.
Make sure you install the 15MB-boot from the DEV site. it will give you and additional 15MB.
Also, turn on Apps2SD option in the SupSetup. Then you can move apps to SD.
Depending on the size of your SD card, if you have 8GB SD, I would recommend the setting on my sig.
yeah that sounds about right.. you either didnt partition correctly or some how some way you forgot to do a wipe but still got the rom to flash, which would amaze me so i doubt it.. but i would recommend re partitioning your sd, my pref.. swap128mb ext1024mb(1g) and also do a reflash of the rom but be sure to wipe EVERYTHING and i mean everything.. it doesnt hurt to clean out the system completely every once in a while.. besides that flash the ram hack and do whatever else you normally do try keeping widgets to a minimum.. regardless wat rom it jus always helps to keep a nice clean home screen but dont be scared to make it look nice.. (contradicted myself a lil there lol) anyways good luck and happy flashing i hope this helped...
also try wiping your cache from the browser.. not sure if you surf the web alot but it builds up pretty fast try to stay on top of that lol hope it helps you out
BEST SETTINGS for Super Froyo
I did some research on compcache settings and vm heap settings so I can know what they're intended for. Upon doing so, I found it is best to disable compcache and increase vm heap to max then reboot as instructed by the rom being used. This made my super froyo run superfast compared to when the vm heap was at its default setting. Also, where Linux Swap is concerned, it is best to have a 50% swappiness and the 64mb swap partition on the sd(I actually have about 80 something mb swap, but thats just me). Maybe these settings wont work for you but they definitely worked for me. Give it a shot and see!
Current Devices
HTC Vision/G2-Virtuous Quattro beta8
Samsung Vibrant-ICS Passion v10.5
HTC Espresso/MyTouch 3G Slide-Cyanogenmod 7.1.0
Motorola Cliq/DEXT-Cyanogenmod 7.1.0
HTC Dream/G1-Super Froyo v8.4
Scratch what I said about...
...setting the vm heap to the max. Instead, set it to the lowest possible setting and that will make this rom much snappier. I've been playing around with the settings non-stop and found this to be the best. Also, what would really help this rom is to use Firerats MTD Hack and repartition the devices internal memory partitions in order to better suit the roms performance.
Current Devices
HTC Vision/G2-Virtuous Quattro beta8
Samsung Vibrant-ICS Passion v10.5
HTC Espresso/MyTouch 3G Slide-Cyanogenmod 7.1.0
Motorola Cliq/DEXT-Cyanogenmod 7.1.0
HTC Dream/G1-Super Froyo v8.4