Related
Is too much flashing bad for our phones? I've seen people asking sellers how many times they've flashed their phones with custom ROMs and this worries me . I do do a task 29 before every flash btw... Just wondering of any side effects of over-flashing.
you can do around 100,000 to 1,000,000 read/write operations to each cell in flash memory before it starts to enter danger territory.
So no, its very unlikely to cause any issues unless you change rom every day for 30 years.
(in theory, anyway, anyone stress tested the flashing process?)
This is news to me!
I didn't know flashing could damage a phone!
But surly you'd have to flash 100's/1000's of times before that!?
only an idiot wouldn't read up on each rom and flash after flash after flash afte... (you get my point lol)
lonelykatana said:
only an idiot wouldn't read up on each rom and flash after flash after flash afte... (you get my point lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you, sir, are clearly NOT a Beta Tester
uh oh!
Dear readers,
This is really a valid topic - flashing is a bad bad thing.
Especially out side of schools.....get u in all sorts of trouble.
- I flash every few days - end up spending my friday nights doing it sometimes - thats gotta be bad news!!
Yeah, it's not so much how often you do it.
The fact is, each time you flash, you risk bricking your phone.
The Law of Averages will run into Murphy's Law at some point and you're gonna be screwed ;-)
I've flashed my Excalibur about 20 times, my Wing about 30, my Kaiser 12 and my Rhodium 3 times (HardSPL, Radios don't count!). I haven't bricked a phone since 2007, but sooner or later this will catch up to me too :-D
I'm flashing many years many times a day and never bricked a phone.
5 to 10 times a day believe it or not.
Knock on wood.
Snarksneeze said:
Yeah, it's not so much how often you do it.
The fact is, each time you flash, you risk bricking your phone.
The Law of Averages will run into Murphy's Law at some point and you're gonna be screwed ;-)
I've flashed my Excalibur about 20 times, my Wing about 30, my Kaiser 12 and my Rhodium 3 times (HardSPL, Radios don't count!). I haven't bricked a phone since 2007, but sooner or later this will catch up to me too :-D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
General everyday read/writes to the filesystem represent a LOT more wear than 10, 100 or 1000 ROM flashes during the phone's life.
Well, every Data the phone saves on its internal memory and every Data thats viewed by you (includes booting) will read/write the internal memory.
Flash Memory has a limited lifetime due its material wearout.
If you will ever get to this point within warrenty it maybe covered .
Only think you can do against it is to take out battery and never ever touch your phone.
I remember maybe a couple of years ago in the Touch Pro forums, there were a few cases of people "killing" there Touch Pros by overflashing. This worried me for a while, but since I only ever reflash probably about once a week and buy/sell every 6-12 months, I don't think it will ever cause me a problem.
I haven't seen a recurrance of this problem since my Touch Pro days, so maybe something was different about that particular device. But now I feel like I've tempted fate, I'm not gonna say any more!
SAME
Laurentius26 said:
I'm flashing many years many times a day and never bricked a phone.
5 to 10 times a day believe it or not.
Knock on wood.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have flashed many times a day including beta testing for many roms/phones currently my HTC G1 is acting really wierd lately ever since I flashed that EXTREMLY SUPER FAST ROM and its been acting as if it were bricked at times, it wont even boot up it gives me that black screen (when you have a brick) so im going to an OEM rom and stop flashing for that phone now just to be safe
But I think I have flashed THOUSANDS of times my 2 EXCALIBURS, WING, TILT, TILT2, G1, Mytouch, and my cool new HD2 and not a SINGLE BRICKED
Im soo proud of myself haha lol
Laurentius26 said:
I'm flashing many years many times a day and never bricked a phone.
5 to 10 times a day believe it or not.
Knock on wood.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol i flash as much myself
i'm sure i'm not alone in this, or at least i hope i'm not alone - lol
i seem to be addicted to flashing new roms on my droid x every couple of days.
i rotate thru several if not all of the available roms, only to return to the current favorite rom, but then 2 days later it's back to the flashing - lol
the wife thinks i'm crazy, maybe i am, but maybe i'm not.
anybody else have this problem/addiction/need/etc?
just curious as to what other people's rom habits are...
senfoo said:
i'm sure i'm not alone in this, or at least i hope i'm not alone - lol
i seem to be addicted to flashing new roms on my droid x every couple of days.
i rotate thru several if not all of the available roms, only to return to the current favorite rom, but then 2 days later it's back to the flashing - lol
the wife thinks i'm crazy, maybe i am, but maybe i'm not.
anybody else have this problem/addiction/need/etc?
just curious as to what other people's rom habits are...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yes... I think many of us do... Gotta try them all..
I kinda can say I have an excuse tho... I help test themes from time to tiime...
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
I am a recovering addict! When I first got into Android I was obsessed with flashing (my Droid that is) a ROM a day was nothing out of the ordinary...
After a 12 step program (and a locked bootloader...) my flashing habits have drastically slowed down.
Now I typically keep a ROM for a couple of weeks on my X before getting the itch.
This is called ORD and has been identified long ago. There's a thread for addicts (recovering and non-recovering) here.
same here....now a days...flashing new roms has become my new hobby.....
its great to be on android....one can do any tweak whatever he likes
CHEERS YO THE ADDICTS
Jeez dis forum is dead.
Even sd_shadow dont post much no moh.
Hey guys theres a thread you may enjoy in ot
Have fun
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=652857
Hello, I'm new to the whole Android thing, but I managed to recently root my Shift, and I can attest to the addictive properties of trying out ROMS/Kernels and all that good stuff. But I was worried about the idea of all this flashing I'm doing, as in the month or so I've been rooted I've flashed about four ROMS, messed up a few times, done a good 5 or 6 Nandroid restores/backups. I was just curios to know if this is excessive, or if this could damage my phone in any way. Thanks for any help guys!
P.S., I apologize if this is either in the wrong thread, or has already been answered >_< I'm still a young'un
As far as I know by flashing a lot you can damage the relationship with your wife or g/f due to spending a lot of time doing it.. besides that I believe that the only way you can damage your phone is due to a bad flash or flashing something that wasn't exactly supported by the Shift.
I recall this discussion back when I had a TouchPro2, I don't know if it applies to the Shift as well but I assume it does. From my understanding it was determined by people far more informed than me that flashing would eventually wear out the NAND memory...but it would take more flashes than even the most fiendish flashaholic could complete in the phones lifetime to do. This is what I know from discussions of a past phone, I'm not claiming anything about the lifetime of the phone and take no responsibility if you flash 5000 ROMS tonight and your NAND burns out. lol
I think the only way you can actually brick your phone from flashing is if you flash a bad ratio from like a gsm carrier to a cdma phone. Might be wrong. Cause even if you flash a bad rom as long as you have a working recovery you can always just reflash a new rom or ruu
I think his underlying question may have to do with the fact that every NAND flash memory module has a limited number of writes in its lifetime before it can't write another bit and tell whether or not the module is in the 0 or 1 state.
This is also why data2ext/apps2ext etc anything that constantly writes information to your SD card will also degrade the lifetime of the SD card.
Basically yes, in principle the number of times you write new data to the phone's built-in memory, you shave off another write from its life. But I don't think this is significant at all. Just as a reference, I'm sure there are people with the original G1 who have flashed a countless number of times over several years and still have it working.
^^This.
If it gives you peace of mind, think about how many times a ROM chef's phone gets flashed in its lifetime and usually if the phone dies it's on account of flashing something experimental that bricks the phone (wrong radio, etc.) I've never heard of someones NAND actually burning out. I flashed my TouchPro and TouchPro2 quite literally hundreds of times if that makes you feel better.
kbrn said:
As far as I know by flashing a lot you can damage the relationship with your wife or g/f due to spending a lot of time doing it.. besides that I believe that the only way you can damage your phone is due to a bad flash or flashing something that wasn't exactly supported by the Shift.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS. Main danger.
^ Shift Faced
jesusice said:
THIS. Main danger.
^ Shift Faced
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed!
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA Premium App
Thanks for all the answers, you guys are great I really appreciate your help. You're replies have put my mind at ease seeing as my level of flashing honestly doesn't seem that excessive compared to that of a developer's.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App
On my HeroC I changed roms two to three times a week. When CM6 came out, it was everyday (with full wipe) thanks to the nightlies. Then aosp started releasing his stuff in IRC yada yada.
My heroc made it well over a year of that torture. My wife did as well, barely.
I'm considering switching to the LG G2. I currently have a nexus 4 on tmobile but want more battery life which the G2 seems to be very good at providing. However I keep reading threads all over this g2 section saying people accidentally bricked their phone or somehow lost their imei number. Just how easy is it to brick the g2? If I got one I would most likely root it to remove bloat apps. I'm used to the nexus 4 where there really doesn't seem to be a way to brick it permanently.
Also how is the gps? I've read several threads of people complaining it fails to lock or loses lock. Is that a significant issue still?
lazer155 said:
I'm considering switching to the LG G2. I currently have a nexus 4 on tmobile but want more battery life which the G2 seems to be very good at providing. However I keep reading threads all over this g2 section saying people accidentally bricked their phone or somehow lost their imei number. Just how easy is it to brick the g2? If I got one I would most likely root it to remove bloat apps. I'm used to the nexus 4 where there really doesn't seem to be a way to brick it permanently.
Also how is the gps? I've read several threads of people complaining it fails to lock or loses lock. Is that a significant issue still?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS was always terrible for me, and I think I just bricked my G2.
lazer155 said:
I'm considering switching to the LG G2. I currently have a nexus 4 on tmobile but want more battery life which the G2 seems to be very good at providing. However I keep reading threads all over this g2 section saying people accidentally bricked their phone or somehow lost their imei number. Just how easy is it to brick the g2? If I got one I would most likely root it to remove bloat apps. I'm used to the nexus 4 where there really doesn't seem to be a way to brick it permanently.
Also how is the gps? I've read several threads of people complaining it fails to lock or loses lock. Is that a significant issue still?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just ignore the post above ^ . Bricking a phone depends on the user. Well, there will always be a way to get out of trouble. Flashing stock. As soon as you know what you are doing and you follow instructions correctly then ur good.
I'm a heavy Waze user and I never had any issues with GPS (I've got the phone for about 2 weeks now so something might still pop out).
It is not easy to brick this one.
rokfor2000 said:
I'm a heavy Waze user and I never had any issues with GPS (I've got the phone for about 2 weeks now so something might still pop out).
It is not easy to brick this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought there might be something different about the G2 that made it easier to brick like the OP of that thread mentions at the end. I'm still not completely sure about it though because in addition to the gps sometimes people say malfunctions, they also mention the touchscreen behaving erratically.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2521663
lazer155 said:
I'm considering switching to the LG G2. I currently have a nexus 4 on tmobile but want more battery life which the G2 seems to be very good at providing. However I keep reading threads all over this g2 section saying people accidentally bricked their phone or somehow lost their imei number. Just how easy is it to brick the g2? If I got one I would most likely root it to remove bloat apps. I'm used to the nexus 4 where there really doesn't seem to be a way to brick it permanently.
Also how is the gps? I've read several threads of people complaining it fails to lock or loses lock. Is that a significant issue still?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess, in theory, any phone can be bricked to a certain extent (soft bricked, if you will). However, the common factor to all of these "help, I'm bricked" threads is the user. Read through them and you'll see that in nearly everyone the reason for the bricked device is the user made some idiotic decision or they didn't follow directions. They flashed a ROM for a different variant, or modded some system files they had no business messing with, or one of a hundred other stupid things you shouldn't be doing unless you absolutely know how to undo it. Heck, sometimes it was as simple as not making a backup before making these changes. If you're going to root a device (be it a G2 or anything else), read and reread the how-to thread. And when you're done, read it again. See if there's a YouTube video to follow along to (for the G2 there are a couple good ones). Take your time, follow the directions exactly as they are written and you should be fine.
Regarding GPS, I use it often and never once have I had an issue.
From reading on these forums, its very easy to brick the G2... Rooting is not the issue but I think the custom recoveries are causing a lot of bricks....
GPS has been mostly ok for me to be honest... Don't see why so many people are complaining...
Could someone point me to a thread where somebody actually hard bricked his g2? I haven't seen one yet.
I get a gps fix within seconds btw.
I am completely new when it has comes to Android, but with the LG as my first phone that has been flashed with a cyanogen I found it pretty difficult to brick the phone, which I believe is a very good thing. I initially had the fears of jumping out of the stock ROM, but I haven't regret since ^_^
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
I've had my G2 for almost 2 months now and haven't had any gps issues yet. My coworker also got one about the same time and hasn't had any gps issues either.
marshygeek said:
Just ignore the post above ^ . Bricking a phone depends on the user. Well, there will always be a way to get out of trouble. Flashing stock. As soon as you know what you are doing and you follow instructions correctly then ur good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He caught me at the perfect time. I restored back to stock several times, and keep getting nowhere. See my thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2560284
Also, GPS is terrible. Up to now GPS was my only major complaint with this phone. Now I just hope I can bring it back to life!
It seems everyday someone bricks their phone and pleads for help, never seen anything like this with all the previous phones i had. Been here with my g2 only a month and its almost comical to read who will brick their phone next.
peachpuff said:
It seems everyday someone bricks their phone and pleads for help, never seen anything like this with all the previous phones i had. Been here with my g2 only a month and its almost comical to read who will brick their phone next.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it seems they are a bit easy to brick. I've unbricked mine, luckily (took about 8 hours of research and complete repartitioning to do it, too), though now, contrary to my memory of the phone before, it's possibly running hotter. Any ideas what might cause that?
Because people are too lazy to read...90% of the problem...only a few are due to rom error/bad flash...i have never in the year+ i have had my g2 had anything that i couldn't fix in recovery...i also refuse to flash these "frankenstein" roms that are missing elements and require that you hold your tongue in perfect position when flashing...read as much info as given and you should be fine
peachpuff said:
It seems everyday someone bricks their phone and pleads for help, never seen anything like this with all the previous phones i had. Been here with my g2 only a month and its almost comical to read who will brick their phone next.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the users who have bricked their devices have between 0 and 9 posts. This fact alone says a lot.
And like James said, they don't read a thread fully or research enough before modifying their partitions.
They came to XDA for a "QUICK FIX" on Rooting or Flashing a Custom ROM, and don't bother thinking about what they're doing.
Probably we need a great threads clean, because a lot of that 'omg I bricked my phone' deliver to nothing.
_____________________________________Read more write less and be smart