Database Users

[Discussion] Stock or Custom ROMs

Well with all the hype going on about custom (and sometimes stock) firmwares. I thought I would start a discussion and Perhaps a poll to see if you are using stock or custom ROMs.
As for my 2 cents: Samsung makes great hardware (at least to my experience) but sinks it down to sleep with the fishies with poor software support including bad very bad software suites (like Kies or Media studio the latter which installed a nasty rootkit on my laptop believe it or not for DRM), prematurely axing support to its newly launched devices (I remember hacking my samsung MP3 with korean firmware as I was really angry at samsung for axing the device 2 months after its release whats up with that ).
So what about you: Do u use custom ROMs or stick to late to almost never released stock ROMs?

Stock rom.
It does what I want. Internet-games-programs. It is fast and good.
I do not see a reason to go with a custom rom.

I use modaco. because its sooooo fast.

Overcome. Hands down the best rom/kernel IMHO.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App

okay ... dumb question ... i've just ordered a Tab from T-Mobile, should have it Monday or Tuesday, so ... just what is a custom ROM/Kernal going to do for me?
Thanks,
pat----

Im sticking with stock atm...
As posted above, it does what i want.

Im on Overcome 1.3, undervolted, not overclocked
what it does for you is it removes bloatware, includes fixes to known bugs that samsung has not addressed with a proper firmware update, allows for overclocking and undervolting if you're into that, formats the file system to EXT4 making IO faster, installs a full backup and restore facility from recovery, and provides better battery life*
quadrant score from original firmware: 1000-1200
quadrant score from Overcome 1.3 no overclock: 1690
so yeah, custom IS better than stock until samsung gets all these tweaks into their official ROMs.
(*I don't know how it does that, but it does )

It should be said that in reality the split isn't just between stock and custom, but stock, "unreleased', and custom.
Most of the custom ROMs you can find here are based on Samsung's own unreleased test/dev builds (e.g. MoDaCo is based on JMI, Overcome is based on JMK). Even in their "raw" form, these unreleased ROMs are far better than those that actually ship on the device (BEWARE LOCKED BOOTLOADERS IF YOU ARE THINKING OF FLASHING ONE!!!).
If you take say Rotohammers build, it is stock JMI (JMK now?), without the locked bootloaders and pre-rooted. MoDaCo and Overcome go quite a bit further as they have completely rebuilt kernels and are tweaked for speed. Then you have Technomancers Gingerbread ROM, which is completely custom and based on CM7 rather than an existing Samsung build.
In my opinion, staying on a shipping Tab ROM means you are not getting as much out of your device as you could. Even the Samsung unreleased dev builds are way better than the shipping ROMs, so I don't know why Samsung haven't actually formally released them.
Regards,
Dave

I user overcome 1.4.4
Its much faster than the stock rom and seems to use less battery power in my particular use case.

Custom, as indicated in my signature. I have a T-Mobile Tab and in stock form, it was extremely slow. It sucked.

chicken roms is better ever

For those who say stock is fine i say you have no idea what you are missing. Try both, then make a decision. Custom all the way baby!
T-Mobile tab running latest Overcome

As a bell mobility tab user, i used the stock one (jj3) i think for about a month.
After that i decided to go with roto jme then jmg and after that went to modaco.
Was on modaco for about the last 3 months and i have decided to flash overcome.
There is a significant speed difference between modaco and overcome. I noticed lag in angry birds seasons with modaco but with overcome, barely any.
I am happy with flashing a custom Rom and would never go back to stock.
If only i could get a copy of the stock Rom just in case of any issues.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App

The hardware is superb but it's let down badly by Samsung in not keeping it up to date with firmwares.
Using Custom roms solves this and provides an all round quality tablet so, yeah, custom roms for me.

I use a stock rom for now, but once my download for Overcome is done, I'll switch to it.

pendevous said:
I use a stock rom for now, but once my download for Overcome is done, I'll switch to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the guides before flashing.

I had stock. It was excellent, good multi-language support, excellent hardware support.
Tried MoDaCo. Lost most of language support. Hardware support only for the basic stuff.
Replaced with Overcome. Language support even sketchier. Battery performance awful. Hardware support still only basic stuff.
Tried going back to stock. I could not find the stock firmware that was originally available on the device. All «stock» firmwares in the wild had the same issues as the MoDaCo and Overcome. I was shocked and seriously puzzled!
Went to the repair shop and asked them to flash the device with the original.
- Two days later I was told, that they need some special cable to flash the device, and it's going to take a week to get it from Korea(!).
- One week later I was told, that the device needed motherboard replacement.
- One more week later I got the device.
Now my device has Excellent language support, but still fails to report Neighbouring GSM Cells.
Eventually I installed a Winblows in a VM (Bleh!) to try Kies.
To my greatest surprise after eventually connecting Kies says that my device is 'Not Upgradeable'.
So my adventure with custom firmwares is MOST unfortunate.
My ¢2: new users should NOT replace firmware unless they BADLY need something that SUPPOSEDLY a custom firmware would give.

Lachezarian said:
I had stock. It was excellent, good multi-language support, excellent hardware support.
Tried MoDaCo. Lost most of language support. Hardware support only for the basic stuff.
Replaced with Overcome. Language support even sketchier. Battery performance awful. Hardware support still only basic stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please elaborate more what do you mean by "hardware support", what would be the difference between "basic stuff" and "excellent"?
AFAIK, the custom ROMS are based on stock ROM, thus I can't understand there will be any difference over hardware support level.

With custom ROMs you are more free!

DarkPal said:
Read the guides before flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did. I ended up installing Rotohammer's instead, though. It works fine.

Finding out what ROM was installed

Hey
I used to have a nice ROM installed with a kernel that allowed overclocking. I would run my shift at 1.5Ghz and was really happy. Then when Gingerbread was coming out, I decided to flash a Gingerbread ROM because I was just excited for 2.3
Now there were not kernels for Gingerbread ROMs at that time. So formatted/wiped everything from my device using Clockwork Recovery. Now here's where I have a few questions:
After I wiped the entire device, when my phone booted, it seemed to have 2.3 installed so I assumed that since there was an OTA update for Gingerbread, it must have gotten updated somehow. I want to find out whether I have a custom ROM with 2.3 installed or is it a regular Gingerbread stock ROM that's on my device?
I would like to find out what kind of ROM is installed on my device right now and do whatever it takes to be able to flash a kernel that allows overclocking, because going back to 800Mhz from 1500Mhz is just not doing it.
I would also really appreciate if someone gave me direct links to a custom ROM (since I understand at this time it is impossible to flash an overclocked kernel, since HTC has not released official Gingerbread source code yet) with a flashable kernel that's completely stable and allows overclocking to 1.5Ghz.
I really don't care about the whole Cynaogen Mod etc, because I use LauncherPro anyway and from what I understood when I was reading about Cyanogen Mod, it doesn't change THAT much other than adding a little bit more functionality and mainly focusing on changing the phone interface, which is completely irrelevant to me.
Thank you in advance.

sajmonides said:
Hey
I used to have a nice ROM installed with a kernel that allowed overclocking. I would run my shift at 1.5Ghz and was really happy. Then when Gingerbread was coming out, I decided to flash a Gingerbread ROM because I was just excited for 2.3
Now there were not kernels for Gingerbread ROMs at that time. So formatted/wiped everything from my device using Clockwork Recovery. Now here's where I have a few questions:
After I wiped the entire device, when my phone booted, it seemed to have 2.3 installed so I assumed that since there was an OTA update for Gingerbread, it must have gotten updated somehow. I want to find out whether I have a custom ROM with 2.3 installed or is it a regular Gingerbread stock ROM that's on my device?
I would like to find out what kind of ROM is installed on my device right now and do whatever it takes to be able to flash a kernel that allows overclocking, because going back to 800Mhz from 1500Mhz is just not doing it.
I would also really appreciate if someone gave me direct links to a custom ROM (since I understand at this time it is impossible to flash an overclocked kernel, since HTC has not released official Gingerbread source code yet) with a flashable kernel that's completely stable and allows overclocking to 1.5Ghz.
I really don't care about the whole Cynaogen Mod etc, because I use LauncherPro anyway and from what I understood when I was reading about Cyanogen Mod, it doesn't change THAT much other than adding a little bit more functionality and mainly focusing on changing the phone interface, which is completely irrelevant to me.
Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you just did a wipe and didn't flash anything, your still running the same ROM as you were before the wipe. If you go into setting > about phone > software information > more, this will tell you your current ROM (build version). If you would like to continue using Sense but want to overclock I would suggest MikShift 1.1, otherwise I would suggest the Shift Deck ROM. Both can be overclocked with several different kernels, just do a little reading through the dev section to see what best suites you.

Disregard, just typed what crump said but he beat me to it!

[Q] Why should I put a Custom Rom on the A500?

Hi All,
I am a new A500 owner and a long time Viewsonic G Tablet owner; I know why I put a Custom Rom on the G Tablet (Stock Rom Sucked and VS dropped support). However after playing with my new A500 for the last week I really can see no reason so far to put a custom rom on this tablet.
The stock rom rooted and a few extras added/fixed like...
GPS Fix
NTFS Mount
Rooted
CWM Added
have really made this a very stable and very effective rom. I have been reading through the forum and I see a significant number of custom roms out there. I am sure they are there for a reason however for the life of me I can not determine why I would want to install any of them. I do also understand that I am coming late to the game on this tablet as I am sure these were probably developed to fix deficiencies in the stock rom when the tablet was first released.
So can someone explain to me why I would want to switch to a custom rom today given the stability and fixes available for the stock rom?
This is not meant to be a dig on any individual, group or any dev of these roms; I know these folks do an outstanding job and I appreciate every single one of them. However for someone new to this tablet it would be great to know what makes the custom roms better than what I already have with the stock/fixed rom I am running. I am currently running;
Android Version: 3.1
Kernel Version: 2.6.36.3
Build Number: Acer_A500_4.010.11_COM_GEN2
This is a sincere question and I would appreciate not getting flamed or bashed for asking. This is in the Q&A section so I am hoping this is the right place to get the answers I am seeking.
" The only way to learn is to ask... so I am asking "

To me I think everyone installs custom roms for all diffrent reasons. Each rom has its own benefits and restrictions. I have tried a few and always go back to stock.
Good luck and flash with great Caution

erica_renee said:
To me I think everyone installs custom roms for all diffrent reasons. Each rom has its own benefits and restrictions. I have tried a few and always go back to stock.
Good luck and flash with great Caution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Erica Renee,
Thank you for the quick reply... I was just not sure if there was a relevant issue that would persuade me to move from my stock rom to a custom one. I very much appreciate your response!!!
Rick

I'm coming from a Viewsonic Gtablet, and with the gtablet a custom rom was a must, here with the iconia I don't see any advantage to use a custom rom, Android 3.1 has everything I wanted. I only rooted it for ad-hoc support, but barely I use the ad-hoc, is only for emergencies, besides that, even rooting is not really necessary. Android OS backups all application settings, so each time I uninstall and reinstall an application, my former settings are there.
Just enjoy your Iconia

Frankly, I haven't felt the need to flash a custom ROM to the A500. I did root it to be able to use certain apps.
I have tried a variety of ROMs and kernels on my HTC EVO 4G, but that's because stock Froyo and even stock Gingerbread is boring. I think stock Honeycomb looks and performs great. It makes me really look forward to Icecream Sandwich.
I did add ADWLauncher to my A500, so maybe that's another reason why I haven't felt the need to flash a custom ROM.

i find myself in the same boat...
Running stock 3.1, rooted, cwm running - quite happy.
If you want to take it a step further, install Richardtrip's custom kernal and SetCPU and you will be amazed.

entropy.of.avarice said:
Running stock 3.1, rooted, cwm running - quite happy.
If you want to take it a step further, install Richardtrip's custom kernal and SetCPU and you will be amazed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi entropy.of.avarice,
Thank you for the feedback, it is truly appreciated! I would not mind installing the new kernel as long as I knew for sure it would not break all that works well on my tablet right now.

Still on stock since I got mine - though I have since rooted - I'm not really making any use of it, only for file permissions and dropping boot animations onto the folder directly rather than through ADB.
I shopped around some of the ROM's floating around here and other that a few of the Touchwiz UI functions from Galaxy, [I don't even think it's supported or still available right now] there's nothing out there that would add to my experience in any appreciable way to risk going through all that [and back again] when I want to.
Stock is stable, runs smooth and fast and is supported if something ****s up and that is all I need - my life doesn't live and breath by the tablet so it's perfect for what I need it to be and what I need it to do.

I am using self-cooked official honeycomb 3.2 ROM (rooted, ad-hoc fix, etc)
with self-compiled 3.2 kernel, OC and apply different kind of fixes & patches.
Installing custom ROM & kernel is the act of tailor making your own OS.
It is why android is so attractive and additive.

Whay a non-stock ROM?
There are about as many answers to this as there are ROMs.
I have CWM / Recovery / Taboonay 2.0 w/ richardtrip's OC-able kernel (oc'd to 15000) and the tablet is Super Snappy! It has ad hoc support for tethering to my phone via WiFi, no random wake ups, Netflix with no broken cameras, Good GPS lock (after a bit of futzing...)
I was originally just gonna put 3.2 on there to experiment with and flash back after playing with it, but I got REALLY lucky. Did a FULL CWM backup and just flashed the ROM & Kernel over my existing ROM without wiping and...it just worked without me having to redo everything. So I just kept going..
I'd say at this point on the tablet no one REALLY needs 3.2, but a few of the modded kernels out there fix a number of sore spots that I wish ACER would just take care of...
I love our DEVS!
So...Up to you! But I currently LOVE taboonay 2.0 and the RT kernel...No issues at all for me...
(p.s. I still have two preceding backups of a couple of states of working 3.1 on my SD card that are 3 weeks apart that function wonderfully Just In Case! so, yeah..nothing really to lose by playing and testing...)

Why a non-stock ROM?
There are about as many answers to this as there are ROMs.
I have CWM / Recovery / Taboonay 2.0 w/ richardtrip's OC-able kernel (oc'd to 15000) and the tablet is Super Snappy! It has ad hoc support for tethering to my phone via WiFi, no random wake ups, Netflix with no broken cameras, Good GPS lock (after a bit of futzing...)
I was originally just gonna put 3.2 on there to experiment with and flash back after playing with it, but I got REALLY lucky. Did a FULL CWM backup and just flashed the ROM & Kernel over my existing ROM without wiping and...it just worked without me having to redo everything. So I just kept going..
I'd say at this point on the tablet no one REALLY needs 3.2, but a few of the modded kernels out there fix a number of sore spots that I wish ACER would just take care of...
I love our DEVS!
So...Up to you! But I currently LOVE taboonay 2.0 and the RT kernel...No issues at all for me...
(p.s. I still have two preceding backups of a couple of states of working 3.1 on my SD card that are 3 weeks apart that function wonderfully Just In Case! so, yeah..nothing really to lose by playing and testing...)

I rooted to gain performance. Taboonay and Richards kernel have given me a huge performance increase, no more lag.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

Don't change unless you don't have a life and you want to spend all your hours figuring out what is wrong, have tried them all and stock is less head ake.

Question about rom's

This is probarly asked alot so sry
But considering the risk with putting roms on your phone.
and considering the advantages from these roms.
What do you suggest to do if i want to play save
-> Upgrading to 2.2 with Kies (samsung software)
-> Upgrading to 2.2 stock with odin
-> Upgrading to 2.2 ROM with no OC
And for the roms wich do you suggest as the safest and stable (no bugs)
Greetz

aropop said:
This is probarly asked alot so sry
But considering the risk with putting roms on your phone.
and considering the advantages from these roms.
What do you suggest to do if i want to play save
-> Upgrading to 2.2 with Kies (samsung software)
-> Upgrading to 2.2 stock with odin
-> Upgrading to 2.2 ROM with no OC
And for the roms wich do you suggest as the safest and stable (no bugs)
Greetz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well if u're on 2.1...i recommend to first go to 2.2 with odin(stock)...and then look at dev section and select a rom which suits you best...
i use three rom's...two are froyo&cm7(2.3.5)...and with froyo ones i have zero problems...i think if you choose betwen these two and follow all the instructions tight....then you should be fine
but it's your call
Sent from my hybrid g3
Kyrillos' 9.0.5
powered by
g3mod 2.1 Final OC

If you want to play safe, just do nothing.
But if you want to upgrade your phone, do it with some custom rom from this forum. I believe the Kyrillos rom is the most popular (hence, 'the best'). I upgraded my phone being a total noob to the kyrillos rom and I'm very happy with my galaxy 3. It's much faster (without overclock) and my battery lasts much longer. I can do things my phone never could before (with stock 2.2).
Regarding your points of concern:
- Messing things up: it's really difficult to really really **** up the phone. Follow the instructions and if you have a question, search on the forum or ask it. Once you've done the rooting, you realise it's a very simple proces.
- The possible bugs: sometimes you encounter a bug, but in most cases it's no big deal ( some visual letter or icon thing) and chances are high it's repaired in the next version.
If I was you, I'd consider a custom rom (like Kyrillos 9).
grtz

drolllll said:
If you want to play safe, just do nothing.
But if you want to upgrade your phone, do it with some custom rom from this forum. I believe the Kyrillos rom is the most popular (hence, 'the best'). I upgraded my phone being a total noob to the kyrillos rom and I'm very happy with my galaxy 3. It's much faster (without overclock) and my battery lasts much longer. I can do things my phone never could before (with stock 2.2).
Regarding your points of concern:
- Messing things up: it's really difficult to really really **** up the phone. Follow the instructions and if you have a question, search on the forum or ask it. Once you've done the rooting, you realise it's a very simple proces.
- The possible bugs: sometimes you encounter a bug, but in most cases it's no big deal ( some visual letter or icon thing) and chances are high it's repaired in the next version.
If I was you, I'd consider a custom rom (like Kyrillos 9).
grtz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think he's on 2.1...
Sent from my hybrid g3
Kyrillos' 9.0.5
powered by
g3mod 2.1 Final OC

rkkoby said:
i think he's on 2.1...
Sent from my hybrid g3
Kyrillos' 9.0.5
powered by
g3mod 2.1 Final OC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im indeed on 2.1 bought my phone one year ago. But i have linux so need to use my brothers pc and i dont wanna bother him every week to upgrade my rom to solve anoying bugs

I just bought a new one!!!!!!

I just bought a new i9000 and I want to upgrade it to the latest OS possible (hope ICS 4.0 is available)..
I am REALLY a beginner in this..so please I need a tutorial from the scratch..

..

Why is so hard to read even the title of the very first thread in the General section? There you will find your answers...

ghenn4 said:
Why is so hard to read even the title of the very first thread in the General section? There you will find your answers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because you don't get banned for at least 1 week starting thread #143 like this.
Tapatalked - There's a Thanks button somewhere

Lesson n. 1
How not to begin a topic.

welcome to the NIGHTMARE

you should look at S. U. R. F. A. C. E Rom thread. the Rom is very nice and he has very good tutorials for beginners!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

Well, first of all, the latest roms are not always the best ones. Since gingerbread 2.3.4, we've had in sequence: JVQ, JVR, JVS, JVT and now JVX, JVW and JVZ.
However, many still consider JVR to be smoother and more stable than the newer ones. Then, there is also the wifi problem on JVS and above.
Similarly, there is the infamous phone.apk force close problem on all these roms, which was not present on gingerbread 2.3.3.
But gingerbread 2.3.3 had serious battery drain issues, which weren't present on Froyo roms.
So, here's what you need to know as a beginner:
-The latest roms and custom roms give you the advantage of theming, modding and tweaking, all of which are very fun and exciting. Seriously. I used to flash my galaxy s multiple times a day.
-But the smoothest, lag free roms are the Froyo 2.2.1 roms. Stick with those if you want stability and speed. After all, gingerbread doesn't have any important extra functionalities. But, froyo roms lack support for latest tweaks and themes.
So, if you're happy with your current rom, there is no actual need to change it.
But, if you are really keen on trying other roms before settling down, you need to be able to flash roms. To do that, you'll need to:
1) Install Samsung Kies to get the samsung usb drivers
2) Download odin 1.3 or above
3) Download the rom of your choice and follow their flashing instructions
4) To be safe, download a froyo stock rom and a gingerbread stock rom with bootloaders just in case you need to revert to stock
5) To be even safer, perform the unbrickable mod on your phone first, though the SGS is pretty hard to hard brick anyway.

thanxxxxxx

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