Database Users

Life after EnergyROM?

Don't worry, NRGZ28 has no plans to retire yet (I hope ). This thread may get closed or may only get a few replies, but your feedback is appreciated if you would be kind enough to post a few words...
It's not one of the usual "which ROM should I choose threads". I'm experienced here enough not to annoy you all that much!
The problem is that since I flashed my first EnergyROM on my Diamond or TP (can't remember which), I can't divert from them. Great for NRGZ28...that's obviously the desired effect, but I see so many other ROM threads in these fora, and it's obvious so many people choose them over EnergyROMs for one reason or another. Basically, I like the fact that they look great and come "fully-loaded", and a big thing for me is that the latest WM build (currently 23563) is used to cook from. A "stock" or "lite" ROM isn't much good to me as I would just fill it with all the same stuff anyway, only not being cooked in it probably wouldn't all work together so well.
What I'm asking for is what others are using instead of EnergyROM and why.
What I'm most worried about is that I'm so stuck on EnergyROMs that I might be missing something else. I recognise completely that all of the ROM chefs are super talented in what they do and I wouldn't know where to begin in cooking myself. I mean I like to think that I'm pretty well techie-minded, but the thought of ROM cooking hurts my head! All those XIP and SYS and pagepools, lua script & manila files, all the ExtROM stuff that gets constantly updated that I wouldn't be able to get hold of, not being in the right circles. I just can't bring myself to try because I know it could always be better.
But also, I don't like to constantly flash all the time, once a week is enough I think and this is what keeps me from testing other ROMs.
Thanks for reading and I hope I didn't just waste 2 minutes of your life and a few kilobytes on the xda server! I'm sure there are more "EnergyROM addicts" out that are wondering if anything else compares.

Whatever ROM you choose you will be missing something. The right question is:
Can I live without that feature/application/tweak/theme/etc?
Choosing custom ROM over stock has its obvious advantages. Using stock has its advantages also: warranty is not violated, you have support from manufacturer etc.
Custom ROMs are different story. They are made by individuals according to their taste: from eye-candy (or lack of it) to choice of apps and tweaks.
EnergyROMs have nice eye-candy, they are nicely optimized with good app choices. There are ROMs that are faster. There are ROMs that are close to stock look, so you can modify it according to your own taste. There are ROMs with no additional apps so you can install exactly what you need. Some chiefs refresh their ROMs more frequently than NRGZ28, so you get new build faster.
Personally, I stick to the "good old" 21XXX builds and flash only when there is important update in newer build. Something like improvement in speed or some feature that is important to me (battery life, newer Office build, or fix for something that was not working as it should).
EnergyROMs are used by many so bugs and problems are found much faster and, consequently, fixed faster.
I have tried almost all other ROMs but for some reason, EnergyROM on HD2 presents for me, personally, perfect combination of looks, features, stability and battery life.

You make some very valid points...am I right in considering you an EnergyROM addict too?
In fact all of what you have said is completely my way of thinking. Although I use the 23XXX builds. For some reason I have some (un)healthy compulsion to have the latest of everything, which is one of the main reasons I use EnergyROM in the 1st place (and I also why I bought a HD2 when I had a perfectly good TP2, much to my wife's dismay!
)
I couldn't go back to having the "Start" and "X" buttons at the top. That's SO 4 months ago!
Anyone else wanna throw anything in?

Admire al chefs but..
Yes, I admit I have a NRG addiction as well.....
I do try other chef's cooking as well, especially because NRG takes the time to release new builds, and others come out with theirs earlier. I find myself time after time going back to his, either 'downgrading' or flash one of his as soon as they come out.
What other ROMs I try?
I would categorize them like this:
1. Eye candy - Some chefs here are extremely talented is combining their own looks, or co-operating with people with high skills of developing beautiful looking screens.
2. Performance - I always look for a ROM that will have no lag , be memory efficient (not that the HD2 lacks any) , and one without bloating.
I think the appeal NRG ROMS has on me (at least) is the combination of the Italian beauty (see the cars they make) and the German precision. On top NRG is here in the US, and it gives him another advantage for me. Not sure if he is on AT&T or not, but until now any recommendation he has (like going back to 2.07 radio) was a great advice.
I try from time to time Miri's , Tom Codon's , IT's (sorry, not on this forum any more, but still a great chef) and Dutty's, even some others. All are great piece of work, and I do want to take the opportunity and thank all of them, but as stated - NRG's are always the ones I finally keep on my phone, and dare travel with..

i think there are some fundamental differences in chefs way of thinking.
I for one (and i know a few others who have stated as much) are cooking primarily for ourselves. we just choose to share the work. I will listen to requests, and if it is valid that it gets taken care of. Of course bugs affect everyone, so they take a priority.
Many other Chefs seem to "cook for the masses" and therefore appeal to a wider audience.
I dont think it is any any way fair to consider one chef over another by something as simple as post count on their rom thread (not saying you do this its just an observation).
If you feel comfortable with a style of rom, there is nothing wrong with sticking to it. but as you say, it never hurts to look, and so you have.
Going back time and again to one chef is more a compliment to that person, and nothing to be concerned over.

matmaneyre said:
But also, I don't like to constantly flash all the time, once a week is enough I think and this is what keeps me from testing other ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flash every morning (atleast)...sometimes even before taking a crap
Anybody knows any bone diseases I may end up with, please warn me !

On the better side of the thread intention , I for one personally end up with a Clean rom with no extra apps so I can make it my 'own'.
Always two sides to a coin... or many sides to a paper note if you fold it

!!!List of ROMs!!!

Sorry I am new to the whole Phone based world as last phone I had was a Moto Razor as a *nix dev I like things compiled in simple tree. So I was wondering is there a place where I can view the top cooked ROMs with its pro/con's comparing it to others? Searching is pointless as I have no idea what it means and I see so many same posts.
ATM I am using the TmoHD2 with standard ROM. Its tweaked to the max but I hit the limitation of it as most things I want to remove is stored in ROM and can't delete it. So looking for a clean ROM if anyone have suggestion as I am sure many have tried other ROMs please name few for example like linux distro, thanks.

Your really not going to find anything like that. You can find plenty of threads where somebody asks for " what is the best ROM " or something along those lines and you will find that they are all filled with the same type of post. Everybody has a different idea as to what is the best ROM o the cleanest ROM.
Your best bet would be to start reading learning the flash process and start flashing till you find what you like. Or you could start reading on how to cook a ROM and make your own using somebodies kitchen.

For now I am still a virgin in the Phone world it won't take me long before I jump in this bandwagon if I have the time that is, ATM I am busy with our own CVS only reason I got the HD2 is to view source code for our current project as it would be accessible from any where. Also my own P2P client has me pined down thats another convo for another forum, so ya.
I understand as I seen for myself the mess in Rom Dev thread there is so many I was just hopping few people here has at least tried few and can agree on. I don't have the time to play with HD2 ATM as this is the only WinOS I used let it be WinMO 6.5 if it was up to me I would already went on and deployed a linux distro on it but ATM I am not up for that as its a new world for me.

i use energy as there loaded with loads of tweaks programs i like and setup nicley, there is Duttys his are pretty stock, ligh and fast, Miri are good, it depends what you want really there all built up for specific reasons, so take ya pic

Oh I understand the whole to busy thing. I currently use NRG's ROM as well , always seems to do what I want with no issues.
As for linux on the HD2 good luck with that one. There are several Devs currently working on getting Android running on the HD2's hardware. Since Android is based on linux you would run into the same issues they are having, getting the software to run on the new SnapDragon processor.

I appreciate it is a pretty hefty time commitment but for the uninitiated (holds up his hand) it would be really useful to have a list of the main custom roms with a few lines giving a very brief summary of the selling points of that Cooked ROM.
This would allow us to scan down for the things that might interest us and go to the appropriate threads to read further to decide.
As it is, it is rather overwhelming to try to plow through all the threads in the cooked rom section.
For example some might want a similar-to-stock but with better radio functions, faster and stable.
Others whilst prefer ones with lots of flashy things cooked in etc

Well you can feel free to start this thread you so desperately need. As well as keep up on it. The thing is that new ROMs are coming out daily and trying to keep an on going list of these new ROMs would get old fast. Usually each ROM builder will ist what he was trying to accomplish inside of his thread with in the first post. Most will same the same thing. They were going for a fast and stable build.
Like I said before about the only thing you can really do is look over the ROM choose whether you think it is right for you and flash it. Give it a test drive, if it works for what you want great if not onto the next one. Sorry this is not the answer your looking for but unless you want to step up and start making the list then it's not going to happen.

i was after something similar.
I am in need of a cooked rom as i have less than 2mb spare on my phone so need one. However, i have no idea which one to pick.
So if there was a thread with a real brief description of the pro's-cons of each cooked rom that would be a god send.
Please?

Wil Badger said:
Well you can feel free to start this thread you so desperately need. As well as keep up on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was surely no need to be so arsey about this matter was there?

Ya well sorry if I offended anybody but I'm sure most here would agree with me. It's not hard to read the first few lines of a ROM thread to see if it's right for you. If it's not after you flash it move on to the next one. Ya it sucks having to flash a couple to find the right one but that's the way it is. Keeping up on a list would be a pain in the ass. I also see no point to a list of pro's or cons of any particular ROM as most are built for the same thing, speed and stability. The only real differences you are going to see are what programs the person has loaded.

Wil Badger said:
Ya well sorry if I offended anybody but I'm sure most here would agree with me. It's not hard to read the first few lines of a ROM thread to see if it's right for you. If it's not after you flash it move on to the next one. Ya it sucks having to flash a couple to find the right one but that's the way it is. Keeping up on a list would be a pain in the ass. I also see no point to a list of pro's or cons of any particular ROM as most are built for the same thing, speed and stability. The only real differences you are going to see are what programs the person has loaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tbh mate maybe this is my noobish? But for me it is the fear factor of having never done it before and the fear of 'will i brick the phone'. So the thought of having to do it several times is not something i am keen to do. Maybe after i have done one i will be more laissez faire about the whole idea? but atm i want to do it once and once only.
i dont know the real differences between the roms? Is it really just programmes loaded on them? If it is then what is the quickest and stablest rom?

From what I see most all cook from the same files. Sure some tweak the reg settings a bit here and there while some might not. But for the most part they all do their little thing to make it theirs in some way. Themes that are load, programs that are loaded, and different sms clients. But like I said they pretty much all list their little tweaks in the first few posts, what they have preloaded,etc,etc......
As long as you follow the guides flashing is a simple affair and trust me you will have to reflash several times since going to a custom ROM will usually bring it's own set of problems. And because of this the ROM builders are always updating the builds. Whether it be because a new build version of Windows came out, or they feel some reg edits really make no difference, to change up the preloaded apps to newer build versions. It's on going. Welcome to the world of windows and the ever changing progress.
Now are you starting to understand why a list would be of no use. It would only link to a ROM that would most likely not even be close to what was originally posted upon. Things are always changing and to keep up with that would just be to much. So you flash till you find what you like and you stick with him for awhile or if the ROM works for you maybe you leave it for a bit. But at some point you will come back full circle and you will be looking for something better.
Like most I run NRG roms and have for some time. Sometimes I'll go a month or so with the same build while the ROMs build might have been updated once or twice. So you roll the dice back up the stuff you need and flash to the newest one it could be faster it could have more bugs. You will never know till you try it. If it doesn't work out try another ROM from another builder. No that wasn't it either ok flash back to the last ROM that served you well restore the file you need. Stick with it again for awhile till the urge hits you to try something new.

Ok guys we all knew this was gonna happen j\k
"Best Rom" Threads never last long So it is time to close this one as well.
Here is the best advise I can give you. It envolves alot of reading, Most roms have a list of issues if any in the first few posts. So read over them and then find one that sounds good and give it a go. As far a bricking your device, yes the chance is there but they are slim as long as you read. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

[Q] information overload, what do I want?

So I've had bad experiences with phone hacks in the past, namely bricking my iphone thinking I could jailbreak it only to spend the weekend learning that "oh sure it can be jailbroken, if you meet criteria A,B,C,D,A1,G4, Alpha 3, Section 12 subset 15 paragraph 9" etc etc.
Point is, I'm scarred for life now and really dont want to be doing a bunch of seemingly innocent rom flashing, only to find out because I missed the reply on page 192 of 568 that I needed version .18.1 instead of .18 and now my phone is now yet another glorious paperweight.
Youtube videos seem to indicate that you just copy an android build to your SD card and launch. I come here and theres 500 threads with 20 different builds and each build is tied to a certain radio which is tied to a certain rom which requires these 3 applications first and bla bla bla.
I want froyo 2.2 on my HD2. I dont want robotic voices. I want bluetooth and media player to work and stream to my car. I want functioning youtube. I dont want a sluggish piece of junk that is impossible to navigate. I want my 3G HSPDA connection to run as good as it does on WinMo, and I would like to be able to tether.
Is this a painless enough process? Or am I gonna go through 10 different downloads and hours of flashing and reflashing to probably ultimately end back up on WinMo to get **** done?
I mean if none of the android builds are really ready for primetime and are more or less for goofing around with then I wont bother. Im not in the mood to experiment, I still need a phone I can rely on.

I'll try to make it simple for you, having done all of the above:
1. don't do it yet (unless you are ready for some frustration)
2. touch screen unresponsive some of the time (infrequent to frequently), but I am fine with it personally
3. to guarantee problem free, you need to redo your WinMo ROM to the same as the one used by the android ROM chef, I did and it worked fine (before it did not and I got robot voice)
4. if you are ok with #1, 2, 3 then YES, all you have to do is copy the files to the SD card and boot away, you will not lose anything on the WinMo side
Hope it helps!

RunNgun42 said:
So I've had bad experiences with phone hacks in the past, namely bricking my iphone thinking I could jailbreak it only to spend the weekend learning that "oh sure it can be jailbroken, if you meet criteria A,B,C,D,A1,G4, Alpha 3, Section 12 subset 15 paragraph 9" etc etc.
Point is, I'm scarred for life now and really dont want to be doing a bunch of seemingly innocent rom flashing, only to find out because I missed the reply on page 192 of 568 that I needed version .18.1 instead of .18 and now my phone is now yet another glorious paperweight.
Youtube videos seem to indicate that you just copy an android build to your SD card and launch. I come here and theres 500 threads with 20 different builds and each build is tied to a certain radio which is tied to a certain rom which requires these 3 applications first and bla bla bla.
I want froyo 2.2 on my HD2. I dont want robotic voices. I want bluetooth and media player to work and stream to my car. I want functioning youtube. I dont want a sluggish piece of junk that is impossible to navigate. I want my 3G HSPDA connection to run as good as it does on WinMo, and I would like to be able to tether.
Is this a painless enough process? Or am I gonna go through 10 different downloads and hours of flashing and reflashing to probably ultimately end back up on WinMo to get **** done?
I mean if none of the android builds are really ready for primetime and are more or less for goofing around with then I wont bother. Im not in the mood to experiment, I still need a phone I can rely on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow were do I start.
Based on the fact that you have no info about your phone whats so ever I will assume you have a tmo us phone with atleast 2.08 radio.
Your radio will be ok if thats the case. As far as windows mobile rom its of personal choice. I've tried chuckydroid Ive tried Miri's 17 and always reverted back to a june version of energyrom that worked well for me.
The rom's and radio's you choose my help or hurt your call quality and battery life. Other than that they pretty much are just a big launcher.
Most builds you must place the folder called android In the root of the sdcard.
From there if you plan to manually run haret(the program that starts the linux kernal)
You must first selec clrad.exe( which will show no signs that it worked)
then select Haret.exe and the kernal will boot show a bunch of text then android should load.
If you should run into any problems please use the search function as not everyone has the same problem.
As far as the Iwants this is probably not ideal for you we are really just beta testers and if it works for us then it works. I didnt have robotic voices ever but I sounded like i was in a wind tunnel.
I Had sod's but I do not have them anymore My lock screen usually works every else is really hit or miss depending on the build you use.
You will have to do some searching on your own and it doesnt really sound like you are prepared.
This is the main thread that started it all It has the must info about the kernals
which is where most features are added.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7829012#post7829012
This is the thread for the build I use and Like
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=740963
Cyanogen based rom's are famous as he has given the android community alot.
shu8i does a great job of keeping us up to date
I hope that with this little bit of into you can get on the right track.
Coming from A g1 I had a hard time with winmo but I need to go back because android for the hd2 hadnt matured yet These guys have done a fantastic job getting it to work.
They have me saying I love my phone. Go in with no expectations.
Enjoy!

Well I guess my biggest confusion is, why are there so many different builds? I had the impression there was really only 1 dev team porting the actual android OS. Are the other builds just people monkeying with their work to get other features functional? I see things like "energyrom" and other "x-rom" names but dont know why I should choose one over the other.

RunNgun42 said:
Well I guess my biggest confusion is, why are there so many different builds? I had the impression there was really only 1 dev team porting the actual android OS. Are the other builds just people monkeying with their work to get other features functional? I see things like "energyrom" and other "x-rom" names but dont know why I should choose one over the other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think hazard99 hit the nail on the head. If you are not prepared to do the leg work then i would say just wait for a fully functional, fully flashable android port. Pick the one you want, whether it be the rom the desire uses, one with sense, one without or the newest android rom at that time.
I was adamant i would use android but have been rather unimpressed and other than not getting wifi to work (and i understand there is a workaround for that as well) it has all worked for me? So i have switched back to my glorious energy rom and will await a final build (maybe gingerbread)
So in summation maybe you should wait also?

Read as much as you can. Anything that says sticky or ref are most important. There is more risk with flashing radios and roms so be delicate with that. At this time android builds cannot brick your phone but they can be a little buggy as development is in progress.
Good luck
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

RunNgun42 said:
Well I guess my biggest confusion is, why are there so many different builds? I had the impression there was really only 1 dev team porting the actual android OS. Are the other builds just people monkeying with their work to get other features functional? I see things like "energyrom" and other "x-rom" names but dont know why I should choose one over the other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What dcordes and cotulla and the guys are doing is creating a working kernal for the hd2. The builds are just are just brought over from other devices.
You have to look though all the info. You cant be told pick this one and it will be golden.
I rock shubcraft because cyanogen is the man and I believe its smooth. Darkstones with be my second fav.

can we agree on a single winmo rom to use with android?

should we all pick a specific winmo build and radio and test our android builds on it?
that way we can pinpoint the issues easier.
because as of now theres about a dozen different winmo builds running under android and the whole ****load of issues were having with android gets blamed on different radio and winmo builds.
can we kinda get our sht together( the users not the developers and cooks) and participate a lil more in this? at least by submitting productive reviews of the android build we use.
and having same exact winmo build and radio would im sure help alot in tracking down the problems that we re having.
i mean does it take alot to agree on one winmo build at least untill android is able to boot itsself up without winmo.
because as everyone can see,
even though the cooks claim to have no problems, we still get problems with pretty much everything, happening on random phones, and im assuming part of the reason is using different winmo builds.

i agree. there are many good winmo builds. and a great number of them run flawlessly with android. however its always a good idea to run what the developer is running. as i have been using the 'standard' energy build with 2.12.50 and have still been encountering strange issues like settings not being present on my phone (froyostone)
id personally like to hear what the developers think is the best winmo base rom.
and have everyone who wishes to run android and participate in bug reporting etc. to switch over to the chosen winmo rom.
would make life easier. +1 to the OP

I pretty much keep quiet in these forums but think this is a great idea. I'm using radio 2.12.50.02_2 which I've found as best and Elegencia V2.0 Final WWE rom.

Maybe we can force some sort of format to be used when stating an issue? Region, carrier, WinMo rom and version, settings changed, Android build? Maybe we should vote on a main rom for WinMo ment just for Android, with an active chef, that way we can iron out the bugs.

a group effort would help alot i think, since we all technically testing the builds we might as well be a bit more organized as HD2 users since it would benefit all of us by speeding up the android development.
i havent been diggin thru this phone long enough to know the whole system, maybe one of the cooks or few cooks can get together and bake an apropriate android winmo rom so we can all use it as a reference.
since most of android users/ testers run android daily without going to windows much i dont think anyone would suffer from running a stripped winmo build.
and once the robot can breathe on its own we can then focus on stability with different winmo builds, if that would be needed at all.
that involves cooks as well, i know you guys are running your own builds and all
but it would be a lil harder for us users to switch winmo builds for every different version of android that is coming out, because theres a new andy build almost every day.
if we could pick one and update it when needed????

well i see there are couple roms that are made for android,
i personally been using chunkyrom for all my androids
and seen alot of them beeing used as well.
can someone list the roms so i can make a poll

As stated earlier, just follow the setup the developer is using and you minimise any issues.

Personally I think a specific rom will be useful in trouble shooting.
But personally I cant stand most of the winmo rom's I dont use it very often but Incase something isnt working I need a rom that i can switch to and everything works.
I've tried chucky ive tried miri and both didnt work out. Honestly I am more versed in android than I am in winmo. So when I had problems with data connection Id revert back to energy.
So id have to vote for any energy based rom with working tethering!

Sorry, I dont think this is ever gonna work. I use my own WM ROM that I cooked myself, it has been stable for the last 6 months and I really cont be bothered faffing around changing the rom as it is exactly how I like it. The hardcore flashers may just about go with this but I actually have to use winmo quite heavily for work.
I have played about with the radio but still prefer the old 2.08 because it works best for me on my carrier where I live, but for someone else a different radio will be better for them. See where I am going with this?

I don't think it'd be a good idea, personally. One of the things I love about these android builds, and the wm roms, is the available choices. (But I also love tinkering with things, so it could just be a personal preference.)

hazard99 said:
Personally I think a specific rom will be useful in trouble shooting.
But personally I cant stand most of the winmo rom's I dont use it very often but Incase something isnt working I need a rom that i can switch to and everything works.
I've tried chucky ive tried miri and both didnt work out. Honestly I am more versed in android than I am in winmo. So when I had problems with data connection Id revert back to energy.
So id have to vote for any energy based rom with working tethering!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me, Energy roms are the only winmo rom's that I haven't had issues with so I vote for energy based roms.

you guys dont understand, nobody is forcing you to stay with one,
all im sayig is to pick one while the android is in development stage, that way we know that the problems are coming from android and not winmo build since we use same build, or how about 3 builds that we can pick and stick to it untill we get android on main memory working, then you can all go back to any winmo build,
if you dont want to participate like i said nobody is forcing you , im simply suggesting this in hopes of speeding up the development since with same build we can actually trace the problems easier than having 30 random problems with different builds that are not even related to android.
so far i ve seen alot of chunky roms and energy roms used with android.
is there another popular roms there so i can list them in the poll

+1 .... Energy barebone for use andriod as an everyday OS radio 2.12.50
Sent from my FroyoStone V.1using xda app

This could be problematic when you consider that the ROMS being developed on are made for different phones, different version of WinMo, and different carriers. Each variation has the potential to change the quality of the outcome.
How about this instead. The cook develops the A-ROM on whatever W-ROM meets the cooks requirements and releases it. The cooks part is done. People can either use it or wait until a test group tests it against a base W-ROM.
For those who want testing before using an A-ROM, then a stripped down base W-ROM can be developed in minimal variations (device, OS, carrier) for the end users to test against.
This way cooks get what they want, bleeding edge users get what they want and those less willing to chance a balky phone get what they want.
I'm all for standardizing, but trying to limit a cooks options is not the way to go. In fact, it totally defeats the whole purpose of what they are doing.

some input from developers would be of great help. since they know more about the workings of the systems.
im just assuming that this might help.
if it would great im willing to use a single rom for all my andro builds since i dont ever go back there( like dos)
a good example would be battery life.
im running the new Nexus One Android 2.2 Build FRG33
and today my battery went down by only 1/4th all day in standby,
then another user reports that his battery leaks out like water.

[Q] the ultimate android build? not asking which is the best..

ok so we are all aware of all the various android builds out there for different phones. some with sense, some stock. all the chefs have their own basic formula for the perfect rom when they try to cook them for us. now most builds we apply to our phones are mod's of builds for other phones. After working with so many builds and liking certain features of each, but only available to each, i found myself asking the following question.
Companies like htc, etc. are assigned to build a certain phone with a certain android build with certain features activated/deactivated (ex. some builds have tethering, but tmobile said to cut tethering option out of g2. or some builds have a 2g/3g on off option where as others don't) this must mean that there is a general android build they start with that has all features and they just decide to keep/omit things they want or things carriers don't want. (or add some version of sense ui to it or touchwiz). My question is, is there a general ultimate android build that is available that has every feature there? i'm not a developer so i've never cooked a rom, but it would be awesome to have one build with everything and a simple way for users to decide which options they want or to omit. i know it sounds simple in theory and will never be that easy. but it would be awesome to have one general build with all options and can choose which ones i want to use or not to use vs. a developer selecting them for me.
this is a major problem with many winmo builds i've worked with compared to android builds, but its still something that bugs me when i try a rom and say damn i wish there was a 2g/3g on off in the network options vs having to dig for gsm/wcdma options. like i said in theory it sound easy and i'm sure its not, thats why i give all the chefs credit. but just throwing it out there in case something were to exist like that. thanks

I think I understand what you mean.
I've played with the Android SDK and the BASE 2.2 (what we know as Froyo) has all you mention (tethering etc), but looks kinda bland, this may be that I'm now so used to Sense and it's niceties that anything less than Sense to me just looks wrong.
If you want to see Android as Google intended for us all to use just download the SDK and start a 2.2 session with no modifications and you'll see the differences that carriers and the cooks here do, it's amazing work.
Also, almost all cooks here in XDA will try and give you access to everything the phone itself can do, that's part of the fun of running a rooted OS.

thanks for the tip about trying out the sdk Reno, i'm gonna check it out this weekend. Don't get me wrong, i love all the fun of flashing and its an addiction since 2007 on my HTC 8525/G1/HD2 lol. and i give mad props to all the chefs, god knows if i started messing with code, my phone would be a brick an hour later lol. Android chefs are really good and don't tweak much like winmo chefs do at times which i like. so many builds for winmo you'll find are scraped down to bare minimum because the chefs wanted a bare rom that gave u the "most space and fastest speed" which all went to hell once u install crap you want on it anyway, but half of the features and options have been deleted! thank God android chefs are good with keeping things there.
woohoo sdk fun friday night! will i become a chef? do chefs need to wear the silly hat?

I'll be perfectly blunt you'll need more than just the SDK to get a build made. I only downloaded it out of pure curiosity. You'll hopefully see in the attachments exactly what default Froyo looks like and realise even more what a godsend these guys here are.
I would honestly love to make my own build (more for my own fun and use than for general consumption) but I realise after many hours of reading and research that it's ridiculously hard work and these guys deserve every penny we can afford to donate for their toil.
Going back to the original point though: I think to create one overarching build that upon install you could pick: stock/sense/launcherpro or whatever other flavour there is available out there would actually be impossible. The look of the build is so deeply embedded in the build itself and requires so many different parts of the operating system itself to be changed you would need several copies of each file with the different variations for each look/style you'd end up with HUGE download sizes and it would be more difficult to keep up with when there is an update.
As things stand now, I know I could never drop my Sense builds, I love hastarins kernel tree, and I have my favourite small group of cooks that I follow, and that helps me limit what builds I download and test. Having a couple of small spare memory cards helps and only cost me £20 or so to give me that choice.

Reno i feel that you are correct. i couldn't resist and went to download the SDK after replying to your post. its still downloading a bunch of things and as i read the android developer page i'm enticed to hit the cancel button! I think i'll just go back to picturing the chefs as the magicians and let them entertain, instead of being the guy who tries to figure out all the tricks lol.