Whole HEAP of noob questions (sorry, but my head is hurting!!!)... - HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera

I have been playing around with SD builds since they first came along on the HD2. I have done a lot of skinning (and a really small amount of coding!) in WinMo/CHT. I am an intelligent guy, but I am beginning to think that everyone who's really into Android is speaking a different language to me! I have searched and read and searched and read, but really hope there is someone out there who knows what they are talking about to answer these few utterly basic questions which I can't find simple answers to
1. Are all of these builds that are being cooked for HD2 already rooted (I did say basic!)?
2. If not, how do I tell and what do I need to do?
3. Does Magdlr allow you the option of retaining WinMo on device and booting into an SD/RAM Android build?
4. What is ADB and does it do anything I can't already do on my phone with ESExplorer/Root Explorer/Titanium Backup?
5. What does mount/unmount SD card mean?
6. How can I tell what mods from other device threads can be safely applied - is it basically whatever device the HD2 ROM is based off is a safe bet for mods (framework.res, etc)?
7. Why is it all the devs never answer reasonable questions in their own threads and everyone in the Android forums treats you like a total idiot if you don't know EVERYTHING already! (Don't need an answer to this one, just blowing off steam )
So please, if anyone can stoop low enough to offer me answers in my quest for a basic understanding PLEEEEEASE do. And if we can make this thread a safe haven for fellow idiots to ask blindingly stupid questions of their own then so much the better

Dunc001 said:
I have been playing around with SD builds since they first came along on the HD2. I have done a lot of skinning (and a really small amount of coding!) in WinMo/CHT. I am an intelligent guy, but I am beginning to think that everyone who's really into Android is speaking a different language to me! I have searched and read and searched and read, but really hope there is someone out there who knows what they are talking about to answer these few utterly basic questions which I can't find simple answers to
1. Are all of these builds that are being cooked for HD2 already rooted (I did say basic!)?
2. If not, how do I tell and what do I need to do?
3. Does Magdlr allow you the option of retaining WinMo on device and booting into an SD/RAM Android build?
4. What is ADB and does it do anything I can't already do on my phone with ESExplorer/Root Explorer/Titanium Backup?
5. What does mount/unmount SD card mean?
6. How can I tell what mods from other device threads can be safely applied - is it basically whatever device the HD2 ROM is based off is a safe bet for mods (framework.res, etc)?
7. Why is it all the devs never answer reasonable questions in their own threads and everyone in the Android forums treats you like a total idiot if you don't know EVERYTHING already! (Don't need an answer to this one, just blowing off steam )
So please, if anyone can stoop low enough to offer me answers in my quest for a basic understanding PLEEEEEASE do. And if we can make this thread a safe haven for fellow idiots to ask blindingly stupid questions of their own then so much the better
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Click to collapse
1. Most of them are, if not, you read the 1st post and it's most likely being mentioned there.
2. Read 1.
3. No. You can check the Android Development Section (non NAND) to use builds running from the SDcard so you can keep your WinMO)
4. It's a piece of software where you can edit/copy/add files and scripts to your connected Android device. Personally I don't use this.
5. IT mounts, or unmounts your sdcard. (Please do a google search)
I'll leave the other answers for what they are... as you are blowing off steam.
The only thing i can tell you is to read before you start. There are topics for first time users that explain how everything works. Read these topics and i doubt that anything can go wrong.
Sorry if this is not a satisfying answer, but there are more and more of these threads piling up with questions where answers easily can be found on XDA and if not, Google a little bit. I've been answering so many questions from people that or "can't find" the answer or simply are too lazy to do some homework before they take the plunge into Android.

1. They are supposed to be but sometimes the end up not been rooted properly.
2. Just install z4root from market.
3. No, it was suppsoed to have this feature originally but not sure if they changed mind or posponed it.
7. Because devs get far too many questions that have already been answered in abundance. 90% of questions can be answered if you do research. If you serach and cant find a answer then ask in the relevant questiosn forum unless the question specifically relates to a specific build. Plus devs dont always read all posts because teher is far too many retarded ones liek "hey thanks" (which is why the thaks button has now been added).

KrewsialNL said:
Sorry if this is not a satisfying answer, but there are more and more of these threads piling up with questions where answers easily can be found on XDA and if not, Google a little bit. I've been answering so many questions from people that or "can't find" the answer or simply are too lazy to do some homework before they take the plunge into Android.
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Click to collapse
Faith in XDA members duly restored, thanks. Like I said, I have read and read, and have been resisting asking these questions because I can easily find the answers to the bigger more complicated ones so though I must be missing the basics everywhere I looked. So thanks for taking the time to answer, sorry if anyone thinks this thread is unnecessary (mods please delete it if you think it needs to go).

Dunc001 said:
Faith in XDA members duly restored, thanks. Like I said, I have read and read, and have been resisting asking these questions because I can easily find the answers to the bigger more complicated ones so though I must be missing the basics everywhere I looked. So thanks for taking the time to answer, sorry if anyone thinks this thread is unnecessary (mods please delete it if you think it needs to go).
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Click to collapse
I do admit sometimes it's a big pile of nonsense where you have to read through to get a straight answer, though with persistence and the will to know Android and setting it up, it will get you somewhere.
Next to that, I am very happy i've restored your faith in all XDA members

Related

HELP NEEDED FOR NOOB THREAD! Please read all of this, then decide if you will help!

**DO NOT POST ANYTHING IN THIS THREAD AT ALL, PLEASE READ THREAD, THEN INSTRUCTIONS** PLEASE READ AT LEAST ONCE, THEN DECIDE IF YOU WILL HELP OR NOT.
Do to the success of the "General PPC Question" thread at the top of this page, and the amount of members, from noob to seniors, that are willing to support any cause that will stop unnessicary posts, I have created this.
This is a work in progress, but here is the concept. This thread will list every imaginable question you can think of , that may be asked by a nooby, or any member, and give the best possible answer. There is no other thread like this, and it will need help from all of you genius members.
In here will be the answers to question such as,
*What is a ROM
*What is G.U.I. or Graphical User Interface?
*What is MortScript?
This may seem unnessicary, but it's not. This is the most popular section in this forum, and will not stop being the bombing ground for every question and thread that hits this site. So why not cut the problem off before it even lands as a new thread. So heres what I need from you.
If there is a TOPIC you would like posted, or if you have the exact answe to a question posted here , please PM me. Put the question you would like to see listed, and the exact answer, and label it , "Question".
Afte a couple of days, this thread should be jam packed with questions and answers.
At least give it a try.
INSTRUCTIONS:
*MAKE NO POST WHAT SO EVER ON THIS THREAD, ALL QUESTIONS WILL HAVE THERE OWN SPECIFIC THREAD AND THREAD NUMBER, AND WILL BE LISTED IN AN OVERALL GLOSSARY FOR EASY FINDING.
*PM ME THE QUESTION (ex: What is a ROM? , What is MortScript?) FOLLOWED BY THE EXACT ANSWER. NO GUESS OR YOUR EXPLANATION. TRY TO WORD IT WHERE IT CAN BE UNDESTOOD FROM A NOOBY POINT OF VIEW, AND MAKE SURE IT IS RIGHT. THE SIMPLEST QUESTION YOU CAN THINK OF MAY BE THE HARDEST FOR NEW USER, SO USE YOUR IMAGINATION.
*LABEL THE PM, QUESTION FOR NEW THREAD
*I WILL DO THE REST, AND THIS WILL BE UP AND RUNNING WITHING 48 HOURS AND JAM PACKED WITH HELP FOR EVERYONE.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, Give this a try. No one thought the General PPC Question Thread would help or make a difference either, but look at how it is growing. So at least give it a try. The worst that could happen is you help some noob with an answer, and stop a thread from starting to find out what a rom is!
GLOSSARY
**all Subjects Are Listed By Post Number**
*1)general Ppc Terms & Definitions
*2)
*3)
RESERVED
TweakMan said:
**********************RESERVED*********************************
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RESERVED**********************8
General Ppc Terms & Definitons
*ROM::: ROM (Read Only Memory) stores critical information which is neccisary to boot the system. It aslo contains predefined programs which cannot be removed. The ROM retains its contents even when the system is turned off , or goes thru a reset.
*RAM::: RAM (Random Access Memory) is the available memory used to run an application or program.
*HARD RESET::: Used to return a PPC/PDA to factory settings. This operation deletes any and all information/applications installed by the user.
*SOFT RESET::: Used to stop all running applications. This feature is most often used to stop programs which are not running properly or when a device is locked up. This feature can also be used to put into effect any changes made to the device.
RESERVED
***********************************************************
sorry to break your post..but all of which you are posting is already In the FAQ here plus alot more
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=FAQ
ather90 said:
sorry to break your post..but all of which you are posting is already In the FAQ here plus alot more
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=FAQ
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Click to collapse
I agree. I mean, congratulations on your stickied post - it's already helped me and a lot of others but isn't this a little extreme? It seems that you want to condense the entire forum into one thread. People would be searching within your thread rather than within the forum...
This thread is a decent idea and commendably well intentioned, but I tend to agree that the Wiki is the place for this.
However, this begs the question as to whether the Wiki is included in the standard search facility. If it's not, it may explain why some users claim to have searched but failed to find the answer. Equally, if it's not, perhaps it should be, if technically feasible.
The issue seems to be around the simplistic and repetitive nature of some queries. I see three main underling causes:
- People come here looking for help because they have exhausted other avenues, however basic those avenues may be. There is an inevitability to some people approaching this in a clumsy fashion and there isn't much we can do about it other then close the site or accept it. A little gentle education can help too - we all started somewhere and we have all probably made the same mistakes at times!
- Failure to search; this is inexcusable but inevitable and there isn't much we can do about it. No matter how accessible the information is made, if you are lazy, scared, in a hurry...or possibly just stupid, they will not find it
- Efficiency of the search tool. Can't comment overly, but it does sometimes seem like feast or famine in that one either gets too many hits to be useful or too few. Is there anything that can be done to make the search tool more intelligent, search more widely, or more specific about what it has found and where, e.g. 'this' from the Wiki, 'this' from the Forums, etc?
iain.fraser said:
This thread is a decent idea and commendably well intentioned, but I tend to agree that the Wiki is the place for this.
However, this begs the question as to whether the Wiki is included in the standard search facility. If it's not, it may explain why some users claim to have searched but failed to find the answer. Equally, if it's not, perhaps it should be, if technically feasible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The wiki is included if you use google
searching... said:
E.G.1. Prophet Recovery site:xda-developers.com
or
E.G.2. Prophet Recovery site:wiki.xda-developers.com
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iain.fraser said:
The issue seems to be around the simplistic and repetitive nature of some queries. I see three main underling causes:
- People come here looking for help because they have exhausted other avenues, however basic those avenues may be. There is an inevitability to some people approaching this in a clumsy fashion and there isn't much we can do about it other then close the site or accept it. A little gentle education can help too - we all started somewhere and we have all probably made the same mistakes at times!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first few times it is acceptable, but when the question has already been asked and answered, it gets boring for everyone, and just clogs up the forum with avoidable clutter.
- Failure to search; this is inexcusable but inevitable and there isn't much we can do about it. No matter how accessible the information is made, if you are lazy, scared, in a hurry...or possibly just stupid, they will not find it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somewhere with info (such as the wiki) will at least reduce peoples time wasting...
I think this thread is a little too far, but there are alternative systems (the wiki for example) that will be easier to use...
you know there's also an encyclopedia at the bottom of the forum? Its a bit dated but has the fundamentals
fzzyrn said:
you know there's also an encyclopedia at the bottom of the forum? Its a bit dated but has the fundamentals
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one notices that, and there is not much new information...
These threads are a great idea, but I think it would be a better idea to make a forum specifically for questions, and nothing BUT questions.

A noobs fustration in using this forum...

Okay I have been on this forum for a few months now and I still consider my self a noob it seems as though that magical search feature that everyone demands us noobs use is not too noob friendly and to prove this I documented my frustration when trying to get this nandroid thingy to work.
Supposed noob thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=3816278&postcount=3
EDIT: I am 99.9% sure this will work with a PVT board. I am not sure about DVT BUT if you are willing to risk bricking your G1 to find out, that would be great Reboot in fastboot and make sure it says "DREA100 PVT"
First of all what the hell is a PVT board? And what the hell is fastboot??? UHh wait I have to do another search on this stupid PVT board and this stupid fastboot. Searching…..
Searched for fastboot here is what came up:
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=000825...boot+&sa=Search&cof=FORID:0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
After clicking several search results there is not one single post that defines exactly what fastboot is or specifically what it does.
Searching for PVT Board……
And the results were: http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&...G=Search&cx=000825531964825142534:cqr2sjirilw
Not one single related post that clearly states what a PVT Board really is. Okay that’s out the window, maybe I can figure it out by reading how people are talking about it. Fun stuff. Unable to decypther what the hell people are talking about, NEXT search!
Okay now I want to find out what the hell a nandroid backup is.
Searching Nandroid…
Wow First success!! First result takes me to this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=459830
Oh no not again more words to search!!
Okay I see two strange words I do not know Busybox (wtf?) and adbd.
Searching Busybox….
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=000825...sybox&sa=Search&cof=FORID:0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
Results are not clear, just links me to some posts that have some RC30 release (is the RC30 busybox? That is still not clear. Other results refer to it as some kind of back up tool, I thought the nandroid was a backup tool? SO that goes out the door Next search adbd….
Searching adbd..... Nothing that directly defines what exactly adbd is, all I got was people talking about it but never directly referencing exactly what it is ( ex: “need some questions answered about adbd and debuggerd Dream android development.” Or “restarting adbd as root”) Maybe it stands for a dumb big day? God knows.
Okay back to the original Nandroid post because its really important that a noob does a back up just incase right?………
I decided to go ahead and proceed without knowing what those two words were (of course I’ll get yelled at by everyone for not searching if I make a post asking what they meant so no point in posting).
Oh this is probably my favorite part of the post!!!
LOL the easy part!!!-* How to use this (the easy part)
And below it is this sentence:
“Just boot your phone in recovery mode with the correct recovery.img (one that has adb shell as root + busybox installed with symlinks to tar, md5sum etc) and connect it to your pc/laptop/server. Then run the nandroid.sh script. If something is wrong or missing, it will tell you. “
So lets break down this sentince (as a noob) line by line.
1st line: Just boot your phone in recovery mode with the correct recovery.img
Recovery mode? I think that is the pressing of the HOME+END key or is it the END+CAM keys? Which do you mean????? My guess is the HOME+END.
2nd line: (one that has adb shell as root + busybox installed with symlinks to tar, md5sum etc) WOA dude what planet you on?!! This entire line makes no freakin sense to me. And I do not think searching will help us there. “one that has adb shell as root” WTF is the one that has adb shell???? And wtf is adb??? And symlinks to tar? Is that encrypted language for his secret lover to find him? Geez how is anyone supposed to learn by searching stuff like this?? Okay at this point im just about to give up on this whole damn back up and just live without it, next line….
3rd line: Then run the nandroid.sh script. If something is wrong or missing, it will tell you.
Umm HOW? How do I run the nandroid.sh script and on WHAT operating system? Mac, Windows, Linux??? The only thing wrong or missing is proper Instructions and good English course!!!
If you are going to post a tutorial please don’t assume that everyone knows what your talking about and skip over steps that you think are elementary when in-fact you will discover that sometimes not everyone knows what you are talking about.
BTW I found this tutorial here (where supposedly 95% of my questions are answered….. umm sure): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=519523
Isnt this article supposedly posted to be in the pre-reading material before a noob posts questions?
This is not the only article that I found not to be noob friendly, in-fact I found very little articles that were noob friendly, here is yet another thread that I found to be rediculy confusing: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=512453
When I first went to this thread (before knowing what WIPE meant) I was like WTF is this guy crazy. Then he goes on to talk about some crazy loop (which he does not state how or where you get this mysterious loop) then he goes and pasts some code that god knows where the hell your supposed to paste it, on the phone in the command prompt or is it only in the mac????
There are soo many more threads like the ones above. It is no wonder why noobs post the same questions over and over again, its because people assume that everyone else knows what their talking about and skip what they think are useless 2 or 3 steps, well I got news for you buddy, those silly 2 or 3 steps are probably the most important steps to beginner. I am still fairly new to this forum and still am having trouble figuring out what people are talking about. I just wish that there were some kind of rules or guidelines when writing instructions or how-to guides. The ONLY guide on this entire forum that I found to be clearly written and total noob proof is this thread here:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=502010 Everyone should take a few pointers from this person that wrote that thread, although he never stated the purpose of it at the start but that’s minor.
Sorry if I offended anyone but this is the ugly truth for us noobs, it really is hard when your first starting out and some one bashes you for asking a question that’s been asked before or the noob didn’t search. Well the search feature is not exactly that great and you almost always do not find the answer to that one noob question. And yes I am very grateful for all these great hacks and I am just posting this just out of frustration from having to constantly search and after having spent hours searching and searching. I am almost certain that I am not the only noob with this problem.
My next journey is Themes my G1 phone (God help me).
Thanks,
Abe
well the essential problem is that there will always be more noobs than not...no matter how many tutorials and guides that are posted it still will not be enough for some noobs...i did not know what i was doing myself but you first you have to understand what you are reading. so after a while after reading and searching the internet i understand what i am doing and am continuing to learn...this place was not meant to be a place for exacting directions and tutorials (ala development for Dummies)...
And i do not mean anything as an insult...i am just trying to explain that this is not an organized affair with a specific hierarchy, it is a community of developers experimenting and passing that knowledge off to others in the community.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=519523
that link is from the first or second thread on the development section...reading through those will give you a lot of the answers your looking for....
and to be honest if you do not have a clue as to what the stuff your reading is then research the internet...otherwise you definitely should not attempt any of this stuff.
All I will say Is I managed to root my phone by reading multiple threads.
I actually started reading threads before I got my phone . It was confusing but thats why I kept reading . If i didnt understand something I would read over and over again. As far as finding out what busybox was I used regular old google search for that . Heres what i found based on that search.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BusyBox.
I have learned to not soley rely on the in forum search because it doesnt always seem that helpful. I think overall what the vets what is for the "noobs" to help themselves first before having someone hold their hand.
It is pretty ironic that you bought a phone featuring Google search and now want to hack it, and instead of taking time to actually learn searching techniques you write a page long rant on your incapability to do some simple research. If you cannot figure out what some of these basic terms mean, then you shouldn't be hacking your phone in the first place.
Also, what in the hell are you talking about? You say that we are asking you to search first, hello? You only have ONE post in our community, you haven't asked us ANYTHING.
Honestly, this forum is already very organized. Granted, you are a noob, but really, it isn't all that difficult. If there is something you just really can't figure out, ask it now, I would be happy to answer it for you.
SolemnWishing said:
It is pretty ironic that you bought a phone featuring Google search and now want to hack it, and instead of taking time to actually learn searching techniques you write a page long rant on your incapability to do some simple research. If you cannot figure out what some of these basic terms mean, then you shouldn't be hacking your phone in the first place.
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Click to collapse
Take it easy, man. What's basic for one person may be quantum theory for another. Everyone isn't the same-we all perceive and learn differently. The noobs are tired of senior members telling them to search, and the senior members are tired of noobs asking redundant questions.
Also, what in the hell are you talking about? You say that we are asking you to search first, hello? You only have ONE post in our community, you haven't asked us ANYTHING.
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I think he means other noobs have been told to search when asking a question...
Anyway, OP:
the forums are huge and contain a boatload of information. If you don't understand a tutorial or certain terms, ASK. PM the OP of the tutorial or someone in the thread that sounds like they know what they are saying. Follow devs on twitter, and read extensively. Get involved.
You have to understand that there have been hundreds of noobs that only come here to ask "OMG HOW DO I ROOT??" without wanting to understand ANY underlying details. They get caught in a bootloop, get errors, or brick their phone because they don't follow directions and they want to hold devs responsible.
These people want the easy way out, so don't be surprised if senior members and devs here are hesitant in replying to a thread that has been started countless times before. Also, every one here has a life (almost everyone ), so they may not always be available 24/7 to answer unimportant (to them) questions.
I've been with this forum for little over a year now and search function may not be the best but does help a lot. I've started out with the dash, mda, tilt and now the g1. i've just been recently been posting because everything everyone does here is great. I still consider myself a noob and still learning. Ranting like this doesn't really help, spoon feeding noobs gets tiresome and i can see why the seniors gets frustrated. All you need is the patients to read thru the posts and not get blown away with all the lingo and information overload that gets yourself more confused.
This is a community built by the community no one expects to get payed for helping out, so be thankful for what this forum bring. [/rant]
I don't see whats hard about this forum.
I just followed the guides and I was set.
This is a DEVELOPER forum, so I expect it will be a little difficult to use
You don't take physics before taking elementary school math.
That's the way I look at.
But I partially share your thoughts.
I am the first to agree that a search button or Google are your best friends.
What makes a successful search, though, is your choice or keywords or phrases. And I've run into those times that had I known the proper combination of terms to use (one's that would weed-out the bizillion of results that don't relate), I would have easily found the proper answer. I've gotten buried in search results that lead to endless threads only to find out that the Google search I did for "Android Bluetooth Cupcake" might have been better had I narrowed it further with "Android Bluetooth +"File Transfer" +application". That was probably a poor example, but you know what I mean. Searching for broad and common terms usually turns up useless results, we give up in disgust, and that's when some of the redundant posts get made. I also continue to have trouble decided whether a post belongs in the "Dream" forum or the developer forum. And we won't even go into whether they belong in the developer forum, app forum or theme forum. To me, they all cross similar boundaries at times.
There are lots of other forums that are intended for end-users with technical questions. They break things down in easier to understand terms (at least for me). Most of them link to XDA for the downloads, but they offer support on their own forums. I frequent XDA the most, but I still haunt the ubber-newbie sites as well. I still learn from them.
One last thing... It's been said that the internet is akind to the wild, wild west. Forums and mailing lists are usually the worst. If there wasn't some type of moderation/control over XDA, there would be telling how deep we would have to wade to find one meaningful post. I'm as guilty as the next person of wanting immediate answers when I think I've ruined a $400 phone. Luckily, I think the rescue tutorials here are fairly good at outlining the needed steps. No, they may not explain what's happening with each step along the way... but they do give you the necessary steps to get you out a bind. If you'll remain calm, follow the steps, not expect your hand to be held during the process, and only resort to asking for help when all else fails, you'll probably get your phone working the way you want it AND learn along the way. It's the equivalent of junior high vs a college or university. Once you make a conscious choice to go beyond what's required, you're expected to do a lot of the work yourself without the teacher constantly having to offer a refresher course on the basics.
Just my opinion.
Damn double post

Root but no ROM, yet

When I first got it, I thought that "maybe" I wouldn't even root it, but very quickly I felt the lag. Knowing that you can do a lot of stuff with root apps like Auto Memory Manager, Titanium, Set CPU, Cache Mate, Autostarts and the good old Terminal Emulator, just to name a few, and finding out how easy it was to do so, that was an easy decision. I just read some guy's take on ROMs, and the old saying "it ain't broke" seems to fit, at least for now. I've read a whole lot of stuff, most of it confusing for a mid-knowledge guy like myself. I think I'm waiting for something similar to what the main guys like Ben, Cyan and others have put out for Eclair, that were fairly simple downloads & flashes. I checked the MoDaCo site and got totally lost, looking at all the preliminary gyrations, twists & turns and possibilities for screwing it all up. Is there anything out there yet that is "simple" in the context I mean it? I know it's early, and the phone has some inherent challenges, but ultimately it seems the floodgates will open? Anyone with similar thoughts or disagreements? Thanks...
I'm also rooted but patiently waiting for a port of cyanogen's rom. But I haven't heard any news about it yet. =(
without a recovery all noobs are lost...
with adb/ or fastboot you could push what you want to your phone... build your ROM inside the device.... but until we have a custom recovery no flashing ROMs
OP dont worry... some high-knowledged 16 year old will make a simple click method for your mid-knowledged brain... Then you can start asking different questions in the Gen section...
like... "how do I get apps2sd on my vibrant?"--- we dont need it... we got a 2gb partition on the internal memory
the lag issues are mostly due to the way the phone stores your program data. you don't need a kernel or really even any of those other apps at all. check out this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=727279
method 1 worked like a charm AND is reversible AND works with just stock rom (so long as you are rooted)
echoing comments about, a bootloader is the key to making user-friendly mods...
We seriously need a moderator in the dev section, its getting out of control with all of these dumb questions that belong in the general area. Read the forum rules for posting in the correct area people, you're cluttering the wrong section!
sombionix said:
We seriously need a moderator in the dev section, its getting out of control with all of these dumb questions that belong in the general area. Read the forum rules for posting in the correct area people, you're cluttering the wrong section!
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The rules also say to be respectful. You can tell someone they posted in the wrong place without being rude about it.
Besides, Development requires research, research requires experimentation, and experimentation often comes from or causes questions.
It's all semantics, but calling someone's question dumb is getting close to "2.3 Flaming: XDA was founded as a group of people sharing information about certain mobile phones. Sharing does not involve virtual yelling (flaming) it does involve working together to solve problems in an environment of mutual respect and understanding. Losing your temper and flaming another member, or group of members, is not acceptable behavior."
On topic: There is not official blanket MOD for the US version that anyone seems to be talking about, MoDaCo is for the international version only, I tried to get to work but it caused me too much headache to be doing late at night and I worked to get it back to a stockish feeling.
If you don't want to fiddle with it yourself, I suggest waiting, there are plenty of posts here even of people working on mods and/or the stepping stones.
junkdruggler said:
without a recovery all noobs are lost...
with adb/ or fastboot you could push what you want to your phone... build your ROM inside the device.... but until we have a custom recovery no flashing ROMs
OP dont worry... some high-knowledged 16 year old will make a simple click method for your mid-knowledged brain... Then you can start asking different questions in the Gen section...
like... "how do I get apps2sd on my vibrant?"--- we dont need it... we got a 2gb partition on the internal memory
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Thanks for the response. Sorry for posting in the wrong place.
sombionix said:
We seriously need a moderator in the dev section, its getting out of control with all of these dumb questions that belong in the general area. Read the forum rules for posting in the correct area people, you're cluttering the wrong section!
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Sorry, I thought even among the elite it might stimulate meaningful conversation. Lesson learned, I'll stay with my own kind...

Suggestions for cleaning up and moderating the Forums

1. A FAQ listed on each section. I know we have Wiki, but its usually outdated and hard to navigate. There really is no need for gigantic lists, but simple things like how to root, use odin, use clockwork, install roms/themes, etc... can be put there along with a warning on asking questions which have already been posted on the FAQ.
2. More Mods! I think just one or two more mods can help the forums a lot and clean things up.
3. Warnings for people who post questions that have already been answered on the front page of a thread or faq followed by a temp ban if they continue.
I'm really tired of the cycle of
- Dumb question posted
- Followed by "read the damn thread or use the damn search button"
- Followed by "Hey you were a noob once and theres no harm in answering the question you ass along with lengthy answer on the question that will inevitable be asked 10 more times in the near future"
- Continue flame war that now has nothing to do with the thread anymore
You enable people by holding their hands. Don't be an enabler. If you managed to find out how to do all this crap on your own, they can too. At most you should point them to the right thread and let them read up on it on their own so they can further their own education.
4. Don't PM the Devs for requests. They have enough work on their hands and don't need to be flooded. Remember the rule of think before you speak? Try thinking before you PM.
Anyhoo, there was a bunch more, but I'm sure you guys/gals have other ideas.
riceknight said:
1. A FAQ listed on each section. I know we have Wiki, but its usually outdated and hard to navigate. There really is no need for gigantic lists, but simple things like how to root, use odin, use clockwork, install roms/themes, etc... can be put there along with a warning on asking questions which have already been posted on the FAQ.
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Click to collapse
I don't understand why the "[How To] Return to Stock / Fix Bricked Epic" thread is not sticked.
If someone posts they bricked their phone and needs help you post the link to that thread and lock it.
I like the sentiment of this thread but fear it might be taken the wrong way. Whosdaman is really a wonderful guy and has been very helpful to me but it seems like he is very busy (and who can blame him for dealing with things outside of the interwebs?) so I support this I would also like to issue a blanket "Thank you for your hard work" to Whosdaman.
Seeing as this is a collection of developers I don't see why we don't customize the forum itself.
I don't see any reason we can't flag the development and Q/A threads for every phone. Then, if "is this a question" is set to yes, automatically put it in that phone's Q/A forum. On top of which we could add a "You are posting in the development forum, this is reserved for people developing for [insert phone]. Please check the box below to confirm that you are developing something you wish to share." anytime people posted in the development forum.
Obviously people can still screw it up, if nothing else on purpose, but we can expect people who have never been on the forums to know how the forums are laid out, usually by reading the rules, which never happens, to sort their own, or we can make it as self sorting as possible.
Sounds like whosedaman just needs some support. Perhaps another mod added to help out. We all have to keep in mind that these guys don't get paid for this and real life always trumps forums life. Just my thought on this.
Sent from my Epic while i should be working
I was wondering why there was so much confusion in this forum, as I really liked the forums I used for the month I had a Moment before the Epic dropped. Was there ever a forum on here for the moment??? I couldnt find one, so I checked sdx, which I remember lurking back then and found my answer. Why can't Xda have 'child forums', with descriptions of where and why to post things?? They have a 'market' forum section for ROMs, etc, which we here are using development exclusively. I understand why, but it seems its this way here because of limited tools for organizing, can this sites software not do that? It is completely logical and intuitive to post questions directly regarding development or roms in the development section if you are new... I would have expected a sub-forum for roms only, or at least some direction other than after the fact... usually unless its horribly out of order, whosdaman is pretty polite about it, and given the feelings regarding this device, things get silly in here. Anyways, yes, at least sticky all roms and things 'coolguy' or whatever dont warrant flaming, and then politely notify the new people that questions regarding development actually get booted over to general, where intuitively people would assume GENERAL questions like 'do you like gmail or the stock app better?'.
More mods? Better structure? Who has control over this? Are there any experienced volunteers that can help whosdaman out with his daunting task?
We need to expect more 'joined in Dec 2010' and later members as every idiot with a blog and engadget included seem to think this site and forum are the authority, even over Sprint and Samsung (if XDA says 2.2 is dropping, it must be true, head over there and complain about it). NOTHING against new members, just that there is little direction other than the 'rules' that most people think are just 'dont flame, no kiddie porn... etc...' Dont get all elitist because people couldnt figure out your simple, non-intuitive structure because its their first 5 mins here.
Love this forum, but its like people are baited into getting flamed by assuming this forum runs like most any other... I thought I saw the end of this when I refused to go to another BBC chat... guess not.
If you feel that you must deputize yourself, please, copy the link to the wiki, rules, etc and paste them in misplaced, repeat threads and leave it at that.
since this is a fluff post, BigJim, whats the 1488 stand for??? Just curious...
ungovernable1977 said:
since this is a fluff post, BigJim, whats the 1488 stand for??? Just curious...
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Pardon? I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'a fluff post'. I sincerely hope Whosdaman reads this thread and takes into account that there are some of us who would genuinely like to help him make our forums a more manageable place to browse and share ideas/roms/themes/etc. I am in no way asking for myself to be made a mod but rather I believe there are people here who would make good mods and I hope that WDM sees that we support him and want to help him make our community more accessible!
I'm willing to be a mod here I have experience and would know and how to handle things here...
Admins or mods pm me
sent from my Epic 4G
riceknight said:
1. A FAQ listed on each section. I know we have Wiki, but its usually outdated and hard to navigate. There really is no need for gigantic lists, but simple things like how to root, use odin, use clockwork, install roms/themes, etc... can be put there along with a warning on asking questions which have already been posted on the FAQ.
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Click to collapse
Did you do a search before posting this? There's already a thread on it, learn how to use the search.
Ok, that was my attempt at humor
ungovernable1977 said:
since this is a fluff post, BigJim, whats the 1488 stand for??? Just curious...
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I don't think this is fluff at all and whosdaman does deserve to be thanked for his, well, thankless work.
1488 is a race thing. They usually won't tell you what the ideology of it is in public. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Words
Although I don't agree with the sentiment of the belief structure, I support their right to peacefully observe their beliefs.
Yeah I know that meaning its generally a tattooed target, was just hoping it was just some retarded interweb speak. Sorry to hear. Almost forgot what it was though... not many Boneheads around here, not anymore.
BTW, I respect Lady Gaga's work, although I dont like it, therefore I see no reason to put it in my username.... its ok, you have a right to be a Nazi in this country...
Regrettably, I do read almost every thread in this forum, and forums I maintain...
<--------- Look here, I have 8 forums to maintain full time, but 6 are dead lol
Yeah I do have a life outside this for sure. Not only am I a senior in High School, I am on the Mock Trial team, the Robotics Team, a Sales Representative for Sprint, and a Writer for BriefMobile.com
So yeah I would say I'm busy, but I look over the entire forum as much as I can. Shep211 has been extremely busy in his personal life, that's why I started helping.
It is a thankless job, it's a volunteer job. All free, I don't get paid. The only thanks comes from the owner of the site when I say "if you fix this the site will be better."
Besides all that I can single handedly control this entire forum. I know it sometimes looks cluttered and in a mess, but then again...the Development section is spotless, which is truely the only thing that matters. The General section is meant to be a mess because it's where everyone posts their questions and complaints.
There are applications to become a moderator here on XDA, you have to meet certain requirements to be considered and then be approved. No one of this forum knows my experience as a moderator unless you used GameBattles.com for PS3.
If you want to help me out the most, please please please, use the "Report Post" feature. Every reported post goes straight to my inbox, and I see every single one. Normally RP's get extra attention as they obviously have bothered someone enough to have it reported. 90% of the RP's are either Ghost or Kenvan.
The search feature would do alot of people good, it's nice to tell people to do something, but Report the post/thread and I'll take care of it. You clutter up the forum and threads by posting in threads saying to post in General, just report it. That's all.
Sure, I wish everyone searched because there are at least 5 can't root threads. I would rather merge them all but it too much work to find them. Like I said, let the noobs make their mistake. The members report the post, don't tell them they were wrong. I'll move it, shoot them a PM, and then post in their thread telling them where they should have posted. Then hopefully they will learn.
Thanks again,
WDM
kenvan19 said:
Pardon? I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'a fluff post'. I sincerely hope Whosdaman reads this thread and takes into account that there are some of us who would genuinely like to help him make our forums a more manageable place to browse and share ideas/roms/themes/etc. I am in no way asking for myself to be made a mod but rather I believe there are people here who would make good mods and I hope that WDM sees that we support him and want to help him make our community more accessible!
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Click to collapse
Sorry, fluff may have been a wrong choice of words, I was implying that as this has been talked about before, and ignored by the powers that be, I saw it was going to end up an off topic post eventually, or at least until the elitist post Nazis (no offense bigjim) came in and said how we are cluttering their precious first page of posts, because as most have trouble with the AMAZING search function, a lot here have a lot of trouble with 'next page', you dont even have to pick which page, it takes you right to the next one!
Sorry, this is just getting really retarded around here, oh and BigJim,apologies, last comment on your beliefs, if off topic, but being an anarcho-punk, its hard not to at least ask if that is REALLY what you are talking about.
hehe *blush* I've tried to resort to reporting posts lately as opposed to trying to deal with problems on my own. Hope its not too much of a burden.
THANK YOU whosdaman! that is a very simple way to deal with the clutter issue... didnt even realise what the report button was till i looked around for it. I agree that not replying, positive or negative is good, if its easier for you to redirect them (you could probably easily make a form letter, just sub in 'froyo', 'GPS', or 'search' and the rest is pretty much the same!)
So what of the ability to make sub forums??? to be able to have a section under Dev that is for general DEV RELATED questions would be cool... most people assume that General is for stock, non rooted phone discussion, and Development is for anything to do with development. I think I remember one called 'all things root'?? Idunno, but you get the idea. So what is the plausability of this?? not possible with site software? Too much work??? Just curious, I have asked in similar threads and I think you were too busy with other stuff... I tend to avoid PM especially if it is something someone else may be able to answer, as we all know, mods are busy, especially in this forum. Thanks for all your hard work!
I certainly appreciate all the hard work Whosdaman has been doing with these forums, but unless he enjoys handling all this, wouldn't an extra mod or two be helpful?
My biggest thing is the FAQ post. Someone asks questions, you can point and say you should have read that first. Like I said before, the Wiki is great, but its a little cluttered and outdated as well as being hard to edit. Having one person willing to just moderate that one thread would be so helpful.
It bugs me when the whole community seems to be represented by the lazy people who just spam post. There are plenty of helpful, polite and very well informed that get lost among the clutter. In fact, they probably outnumber the newbies but don't feel the need to post nonsense. For every idiot that asks a dumb question, there are probably 10 that actually do research and figure it out for themselves.
kenvan19 said:
hehe *blush* I've tried to resort to reporting posts lately as opposed to trying to deal with problems on my own. Hope its not too much of a burden.
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Click to collapse
Nope, I love you and ghost for reporting post. I always look forward to waking up and seeing 10 new PMs lol
ungovernable1977 said:
THANK YOU whosdaman! that is a very simple way to deal with the clutter issue... didnt even realise what the report button was till i looked around for it. I agree that not replying, positive or negative is good, if its easier for you to redirect them (you could probably easily make a form letter, just sub in 'froyo', 'GPS', or 'search' and the rest is pretty much the same!)
So what of the ability to make sub forums??? to be able to have a section under Dev that is for general DEV RELATED questions would be cool... most people assume that General is for stock, non rooted phone discussion, and Development is for anything to do with development. I think I remember one called 'all things root'?? Idunno, but you get the idea. So what is the plausability of this?? not possible with site software? Too much work??? Just curious, I have asked in similar threads and I think you were too busy with other stuff... I tend to avoid PM especially if it is something someone else may be able to answer, as we all know, mods are busy, especially in this forum. Thanks for all your hard work!
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I have no control over sub-forums. And right now it is only me working on the entire Epic forum. Like I said shep211 is gone atm.
svetius is in charge of the entire site, and I've talked to him about improvements that can be made. I wouldn't bother him too much or he'll just ignore ya. Most of the time the only things he is interested is fixing errors with the site itself. Right now I don't think we are in the area of reorganizing the entire site.
ok, so adding a subforum is not possible? Or is it a decision to make the structure uniform across the whole site? Just thinking, because this forum is like maximum security, different from the rest... or so it would seem...
I'm not so sure making more areas, and thus more chances to be wrong, is a good way to combat posting in the wrong area.
If you have a rom question, ask it in the rom thread. All that would happen if there were subforums for things in development, and discussion of things in development is we'd have 37 threads about how "I just discovered ___ doesn't work in [rom]" instead of 50 posts about it in the rom thread.
(Not to mention you'd then be blurring the line of when it is or isn't ok to post in the DEV forum, where as now, if the person bothers to read, there's a pretty clear cut "If you aren't about to post about the thing you just developed, GTFO" rule.)

General Rant

A plea to all users.
There are two things that are annoying in this forum:
People who can't use the search box....
But even more annoying, replies telling others to use it!
The idea is to keep a forum to the point. A question is asked and hopefully answered, and therefore doesn't have to be asked again. Hence the use of search.
A post asking the same question later is a useless post.
*However*, a post saying "Use the search button" is just a complete waste of time, space and energy.
Even though the former is annoying, it would be much easier instead of wasting a post on "Use the search function" with an appropriate answer, or even better, just don't post at all.
Both are forms of forum clogging, so don't think you're helping by being blatantly unhelpful.
Rant over.
This has already been posted about and discussed before, USE THE SEARCH!
PS. I understand what your saying but the only way to get through to these ignorant/lazy people is to be straight to teh point and tell them to use search and read stickies or to simply delete/close their topic and message why.
I agree. New people aren't going to search alot of the time, and even once they get scolded for it once or twice and learn their lesson, they don't know what keywords to use in their searches alot.
Then along comes some jackass who doesn't want to take the time to explain what the person should be searching for, or what way to go about it. Usually like you said telling the person in a rude way to use the search function.
In the end, it takes roughly the same amount of time and energy to help someone and show them how to do something for themself, as it would take to be a smart ass and be of no assistance.
Part of being a decent human being is to help others, even if it takes a little of your time, or is annoyingly repetitive. I would rather be a patient, helpful person than an impatient ass who doesn't have the self control to be kind and help others who are in a position I was once in, instead becoming annoyed and spewing snotty comments in an attempt to feel clever and superior.
So uhhh, yeahh... I guess I agree with your rant lol
But next time use the search function you damn noob theres already like 100 or so rants just like this one. lol
how can i go about putting adroid on my hd2
and can it be dual booted with winmo
and what is cwm and magdlr
Joking lol
well, i dont really agree. people dont get mad here because someone asks questions, its because they resist to read the first page of any thread (carefully) and then opening a new one, because they were to lazy or impatient to read. almost every issue can be solved, just by reading the first thread page. they look for the download link, download, do something and come back opening useless threads. i was also a noob, then like i allways do in any forum, i went thru the stickies. you get everything explained there (i dont mean the specific stuff, like memory mapings or kernel compiling).
cheers
here's the problem i often see on forums
you use search, you get an interesting old thread about your problem. You post on this thread with new questions... everyone just shouts: Don't revive an old thread create a new one... and when you create a new one, they shout : Use the damn search, it has been answered before etc... etc...
And most of the time when you use search, you get old threads and the latter may contain outdated irrelevant info.. hence sometimes i think it's better to just create a new fresh thread so that you can get the fresh info. just my opinion.
@ yeahman
I find your point on how members of xda will shout at another member for "reviving" an old thread to be ridiculous.
I'm sorry, but I've never encountered such before, if you could refer me to a thread with such then I'll come to accept your point, but for now, it's utterly ridiculous to me.
The search button may or may not answer your needs, it's impossible for all cases. However, what I've noticed, is a majority of new threads opened nowadays in the HD2 forum concern how to install MAGLDR, HSPL, radio, a Build, Cwm, or something in relation. Now first of all, none of those topics even require one to use the search button. All are referred to in the stickies of their respective forums.
So it all boils down to users being downright lazy.
I had a rant about this in the "About xda" section a while back....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=920113
I did title it HD2 specific, but it's obviously not specific to the HD2. It just happens here a lot more than other forums because of the popularity of the device. I've seen it in other device forums (when I've had other devices) but never to the extent I've seen it here, especially since the introduction of Android.
People need to stop thinking about how their reaction relates to a specific user and how it makes them look. It's all about the forum, as that's 100% the reason why we're here.
Incidentally, as you'll see from that thread, the majority of posters agreed with our mutual point. It's nice to know we're not all shrivelled with envy and trying to prove something.
Kailkti said:
@ yeahman
I find your point on how members of xda will shout at another member for "reviving" an old thread to be ridiculous.
I'm sorry, but I've never encountered such before, if you could refer me to a thread with such then I'll come to accept your point, but for now, it's utterly ridiculous to me.
The search button may or may not answer your needs, it's impossible for all cases. However, what I've noticed, is a majority of new threads opened nowadays in the HD2 forum concern how to install MAGLDR, HSPL, radio, a Build, Cwm, or something in relation. Now first of all, none of those topics even require one to use the search button. All are referred to in the stickies of their respective forums.
So it all boils down to users being downright lazy.
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Click to collapse
i was talking about forums in general.. not xda in particular (probably i was a bit out of subject by saying that, srry about that).
yup i agree for threads like how to install MAGLDR, etc.., creating a new thread each time is not right as you say (it makes search results so difficult too as you get tons of redundant threads about it), there are so many stickies and faqs for that.

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