[Q] New Vibrant user looking for advice. - Vibrant General

I did some looking and finally settled on the Vibrant, which should be here in a few days. I have ordered an extra memory card and a screen protector (invisibleshield) so far. I tried to look through here since this seems to be one of the most comprehensive forums on the phone but I guess its Info Overload? I don't know where to begin. I guess I will just ask the few questions I have and go from there.
1. What would you all think are the top 3 case options that are available?
2. What are some recommended apps?
3. I stumbled on BlackFroyo and wondered do I have to have any changes to the phone to use this? looks great and I am sure there are others out there that will look good to but just using this as a starting point.
4. If I do decide to flash the phone what is a good starting point for someone that has never flashed a phone before? The only CFW experience I have is with my PSP, and that was so simple it was almost a joke.
Might not have placed this in the best location but since it had questions that seemed to cover most if not all of the sub-forums figured general was a good place to start.
Thanks for any help... guess im back of to reading and trying to learn what little I can before my phone gets here.

if you are flashing roms then clockwork recovery/rom manager and titanium backup are must haves.
here are some apps i like/use (copied from my post in a recommended apps thread):
games:
angry birds
horror run!
robo defense
sudoku free
bonsai blast
widgets:
fancy widget
setcpu (also an app)
battery left
apps:
winamp (also is a good widget and has wifi sync ftw)
alarm clock xtreme
chrome to phone
google goggles
gps status
my tracks
titanium backup
rom manager
adw
as for that theme, it was for nero3 (a rom) and will not work with stock froyo or any of the current roms and flashing roms requires root. i'd recommend flashing bionix v 1.2.1 or the 2.2.1 stock stable beta2. for info on rooting and flashing roms read this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=732458

tunein radio

my first suggestion is to learn how to use ODIN which is in the bible sticky section this will help you greatly if you think you may have bricked your phone. its also a guide to using odin and i think one for flashing rom's learn the in's and outs of flashing. always read up on what you are about to flash. and happy flashing.

to be honest why not just wait for the 4g version?

blader3759 said:
to be honest why not just wait for the 4g version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where I live 4g is only about 5 years away... god i hate B.F.E. aka the mississippi delta.

caliga4221 said:
Where I live 4g is only about 5 years away... god i hate B.F.E. aka the mississippi delta.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok makes sense then. make sure to invest in angry birds

the hardest part about flashing a ROM is figuring out what to backup beforehand, not really the act/process of flashing itself. I Still am not completely sure what to backup when I flash I just go to the stickies and try to follow their instructions as best as possible using titanium backup. One thing, for your contacts try to have them all saved to google if you ever flash again so that you can just pull them from there instead of having to do it with an app.
I guess you will be starting fresh so you might have a hardware locked Vibrant, be sure to look up the file you need to flash to get out of the hardware lock if so.
the whole process is pretty much just saving a .zip file to your vibrant's internal memory, rebooting into the "BIOS" I guess you could say, and then going thru the selections to install the .zip that contains the ROM. It is very simple then you wait for the phone to reboot and give it 10 min or so to fully complete loading and you are good to go.

As far as cases go case mate makes some good cases. If you need or want heavy duty then check otter box or trident cases out.
The black froyo theme is nice but you can only flash it with compatible roms. Check out the thread and it will tell you what its compatible with.
Please read the stickies you will save yourself alot of headaches.
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Related

Post your ideas of how to customize stock (non rooted) vibrant

Hi everyone...
Im looking for suggestions on how to customize my stock vibrant and try all col things with this powerful phone... So far I have launcher pro and a beautiful widgets... And some games like need for speed shift demo... Anything else cool and exciting I can try or download on my phone w/o rooting it? Or screwing up ota uodates in the future?... Like changing tmob boot up screen or any suggestions at alll...
Thanx
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
In the settings you can change the "font style." (New fonts can be downloaded for a buck.) It can have a significant effect on how things appear. Some suggestions from the tips thread are Helvetica Nue, Soho Gothic, Frutiger and Felbridge. I'm digging Helvetica a lot.
Thanx for suggestion.. I forgot to mention I downloaded a few flip fonts I love how it changes the look of the phone.. Any other suggestions? Or performance boosters?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
you can not change the boot logo (or shutdown) if you are not rooted. If you are rooted, you still get OTA, but once installed it will unroot the phone
No problem do this
Fancy Widgets
Pure Messenger/ Grid Calendar and an Agenda app... (can't remember the name)
I am running Agenda Widget and liking it ok so far. I am always looking for a better one.
Launcher Pro or ADW, Beautiful Widgets, change the font style.
Here is a link to a thread with a plethora of Flip Fonts to choose from. Just download the .apk. locate and install on your device. Go into settings and change the font, restart and there you go
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=748916
Don't mean to pick on the op but I'm curious why people don't want to root.
I did the day it was possible and haven't looked back. So many things you can do to customize all reversible if you have to. Just don't try doing really crazy stuff unless you know what your doing but most things in the stick under the root section are easy and awesome.
Anyway I'd love to understand why people don't just do it.
Battery usage with percentage would be really nice.
drhonk said:
Battery usage with percentage would be really nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One more awesome thing to do with root. I don't get why you wouldn't.
joshthewaster said:
One more awesome thing to do with root. I don't get why you wouldn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get why people who don't root their phones go on XDA. XDA is a place for rooting and ROM development. Not a user-friendly website for non-rooters. But yeah definitely root, you can customize a lot more. Customize the notifications bar, I don't really big the light gray and blue 3G icon
I've gone from a few different Nokias, to a Motorola Razor, to a Blackberry Pearl and now finally to a Samsung Vibrant. I'm pretty good with computers and software so I know I could get rooting/recovery/flashing down, but this is my first time with a mobile device I could hack.
Whenever I do research on the topic I find multiple threads with multiple ways to root. The whole directions/concept just isn't crystal clear with me yet, despite how much I've read. And, there's always posts at the end of each thread by users with unanswered issues/problems.
I guess, I'm just taking the slow cautious route, enjoying stock android eclair for a while. I do have the itch, but no apps or issues with my phone have pushed me beyond curiosity and into the experimental, so to speak.
What is the top main reason you have for rooting your vibrant?
Edit: to point out, I know I could've "hacked" my previous phones, but not the way you can with an Android phone, you know what I mean...
trunkstar1 said:
I've gone from a few different Nokias, to a Motorola Razor, to a Blackberry Pearl and now finally to a Samsung Vibrant. I'm pretty good with computers and software so I know I could get rooting/recovery/flashing down, but this is my first time with a mobile device I could hack.
Whenever I do research on the topic I find multiple threads with multiple ways to root. The whole directions/concept just isn't crystal clear with me yet, despite how much I've read. And, there's always posts at the end of each thread by users with unanswered issues/problems.
I guess, I'm just taking the slow cautious route, enjoying stock android eclair for a while. I do have the itch, but no apps or issues with my phone have pushed me beyond curiosity and into the experimental, so to speak.
What is the top main reason you have for rooting your vibrant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Allows access to applications that require root access (e.g. Titanium Backup, SetCPU, AdFree (not suggested since it helps developers), metamorph, etc)
- When you root, you have the ability to flash a custom recovery that allows custom ROMs. This allows nandroid backups, restores, and more.
- Remove bloatware that comes with the phone (this one DEFINITELY)
- Screenshots
See, I get confused. All I've read about recovery was people talking about "booting into recovery. The only thing I thought you flashed were the custom ROMs. And, I thought you only needed the backups and restores so you could get back to an unrooted state in case you needed warrantee work, or messed up your phone somehow.
What are the major bloatware items on the stock t-mobile vibrant?
trunkstar1 said:
See, I get confused. All I've read about recovery was people talking about "booting into recovery. The only thing I thought you flashed were the custom ROMs. And, I thought you only needed the backups and restores so you could get back to an unrooted state in case you needed warrantee work, or messed up your phone somehow.
What are the major bloatware items on the stock t-mobile vibrant?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Account & Settings on the App Drawer
Gogo
Amazon Kindle
TeleNav
T-Mobile Voicemail
MobiTV
Memo
AudioPostcard
(and many more)
... oh yeah and with root (and installed clockwork recovery) you can apply the Captivate camera which its interface is easier to apply different scenes.
And no.. you can restore non-root with Odin and nandroid backup (JAC's thread has a unrooted backup online). But yeah you do backups before you apply hacks to your phone incase anything happens
drhonk said:
Battery usage with percentage would be really nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get the app called Battery Status Pro. That gives you what you want.
zephiK said:
Account & Settings on the App Drawer
Gogo
Amazon Kindle
TeleNav
T-Mobile Voicemail
MobiTV
Memo
AudioPostcard
(and many more)
... oh yeah and with root (and installed clockwork recovery) you can apply the Captivate camera which its interface is easier to apply different scenes.
And no.. you can restore non-root with Odin and nandroid backup (JAC's thread has a unrooted backup online). But yeah you do backups before you apply hacks to your phone incase anything happens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trying to figure out how to remove bloatware was THE reason I found xda and rooted. I had no idea what I was doing but it is ULTRA easy. Download update zip-boot to recovery-apply-enjoy. That got me discovering all the other awesome things I can do.
You will always see people who have problems with anything in the threads. This is why you make backups. Once you have those you can do a lot more with a lot more confidence knowing that if you make a mistake you can correct it - mostly. And you can unroot if you have to.
drhonk said:
Battery usage with percentage would be really nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Love having it.
Come on guys lets talk about stuff you can do for non rooters please. I did root my phone but I took it to far and bricked it. I'm not doing it again and I know that xda forums lean more to rooting then not. I thought a thread that talked about non rooted phones was a great idea but its been taken over. So I'm bringing it back.
There are a lot of good lockscreen apps to look at for changing your lockscreen. I've used some of them just haven settled on one yet. So no need to root just have fun with it the way it is.
spacecasespiff said:
Come on guys lets talk about stuff you can do for non rooters please. I did root my phone but I took it to far and bricked it. I'm not doing it again and I know that xda forums lean more to rooting then not. I thought a thread that talked about non rooted phones was a great idea but its been taken over. So I'm bringing it back.
There are a lot of good lockscreen apps to look at for changing your lockscreen. I've used some of them just haven settled on one yet. So no need to root just have fun with it the way it is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx for staying on topic... no offense to others... where do i find different lock screens?

Cyanogen 6 on HTC Dream - Things to avoid?

Hey guys,
Just modded my HTC Dream with CM6, and it seems pretty cool.
I read somewhere that you should partition the SD card? Something about ext2 to ext3? Can anyone comment on that?
Also, read that you need to be careful installing themes because it could brick the phone? Does that mean full themes, not just wallpapers?
Anything else I should be cautious of?
Thank you in advance
damien8 said:
Hey guys,
Just modded my HTC Dream with CM6, and it seems pretty cool.
I read somewhere that you should partition the SD card? Something about ext2 to ext3? Can anyone comment on that?
Also, read that you need to be careful installing themes because it could brick the phone? Does that mean full themes, not just wallpapers?
Anything else I should be cautious of?
Thank you in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ext2 is optimal for this application. ext3 will just wear out your card faster. You don't necessarily need an ext partition on the card though -- only if you want to install applications to the sdcard without using that horrible froyo2sd nonsense that google added.
Themes won't brick the phone unless they overwrite things that they most definitely have NO REASON to be overwriting. Having said that, EVERY theme is horribly ugly compared to how it looks without messing with it. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!
lbcoder said:
ext2 is optimal for this application. ext3 will just wear out your card faster. You don't necessarily need an ext partition on the card though -- only if you want to install applications to the sdcard without using that horrible froyo2sd nonsense that google added.
Themes won't brick the phone unless they overwrite things that they most definitely have NO REASON to be overwriting. Having said that, EVERY theme is horribly ugly compared to how it looks without messing with it. JUST LEAVE IT ALONE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
I'm having a problem with Google Navigation. Seems that when I turn it on, it just freezes at the "searching for GPS" screen.
I also have a problem with Goggles (downloaded it from Market). It starts up, goes through the tutorial, and then when I advance to start it, it just hangs.
Any ideas?
Thanks again
damien8 said:
Thanks for the reply!
I'm having a problem with Google Navigation. Seems that when I turn it on, it just freezes at the "searching for GPS" screen.
I also have a problem with Goggles (downloaded it from Market). It starts up, goes through the tutorial, and then when I advance to start it, it just hangs.
Any ideas?
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't forget that you're playing with CM. Not exactly a stable setup.
lbcoder said:
Don't forget that you're playing with CM. Not exactly a stable setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anyone have Navigation running smoothly on a G1/Dream?
"Cyanogen 6 on HTC Dream - Things to avoid?"
Cyanogen 6 on HTC Dream
jubeh said:
"Cyanogen 6 on HTC Dream - Things to avoid?"
Cyanogen 6 on HTC Dream
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was about to say 'turning it on', but I like yours too.
May I ask, why this is your opinion? I use CM6 on my Dream.
jdb78 said:
May I ask, why this is your opinion? I use CM6 on my Dream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because it is a memory hog, unstable, and slow. They're trying to please everyone with ever nonsense request, and it really has bloated into a monster. The tmobile magic 32b froyo image (as converted for DREAM) is an excellent 2.2 build, extremely fast and stable. Just tweak to suit.
Hi,
I'm sorry I am brand new to all of this, just yesterday I rooted my g1 (first time) and installed CM6. I like it but it is running a bit slow and I am having a few issues with 3g.
If CM6 isnt all that great, could you link me to a good rom/setup please (preferably with installation instructions)? I was trying to find what is good at this point but for 2 hours now can not figure out which rom to get at this date. Is zx donut v3.0 a good candidate? Its been popping up a lot
p.s. I am getting a g2 in 2 weeks and passing this phone to a friend, wanna give him the best setup possible,
Thanks for your time
Edit -just installed Super F 1.0 from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=799693, seems to be a lot faster than CM6, op might wanna give it a shot It is definitely not as good looking as CM, also few of CM features that were nice are missing, but it seems to run much better so far!
But if you guys can suggest something better (doesn't have to be froyo) I'd appreciate it
I appreciate your answer. Well, to be honest I am not 100% satisfied with how CM6 runs on my G1/dream. I thought I configured it wrong. I agree with the poster iokke, I'd like to know which setup still runs smooth on the dream. I need a usable and reliable phone. Sure. the features of CM6 are really nice but what price to pay for it?
to the op:
try this rom, it was updatied in October of this year, just installed it, but so far is running fine on my phone, and its froyo + has themes (you can find them from the installation page link)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=745478
A cool thing about these ROM (given that I am a noob) - my g1 seems to be running on the H network now without me having to do anything
Another mod worth looking at, that I have not tried so far, also updated last month is the Sparksmod 1.4, you can find it here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=753893
Not sure which one of the two is faster, though I read somewhere that the Sparksmod is the faster one. This is also froyo, but havent tried this one yet
iokke said:
to the op:
try this rom, it was updatied in October of this year, just installed it, but so far is running fine on my phone, and its froyo + has themes (you can find them from the installation page link)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=745478
A cool thing about these ROM (given that I am a noob) - my g1 seems to be running on the H network now without me having to do anything
Another mod worth looking at, that I have not tried so far, also updated last month is the Sparksmod 1.4, you can find it here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=753893
Not sure which one of the two is faster, though I read somewhere that the Sparksmod is the faster one. This is also froyo, but havent tried this one yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The H icon is a cosmetic tweak, that was put into CM6 or 6.1 onwards, your phone has been accessing the same speeds before, it just wasn't doing the icon change when it went to the higher speeds.
I have always had trouble and lagginess with 2.2 on my G1, even after a full system wipe, so I'm rockin 5.0.8 at the moment, and it flies. I just miss custom LED notifications, though I have yet to try the official TMO 2.2.
If you make nandroid backups from recovery, you should have no fear if you want to mess around with different roms or flashing themes .
Thanks, time to go read nandroid backup for noobs))
One question, with Danger SPL installed for Froyo ROMs, can I go back to donut ROMs and simply flash them, or should I remove it somehow??
iokke said:
Thanks, time to go read nandroid backup for noobs))
One question, with Danger SPL installed for Froyo ROMs, can I go back to donut ROMs and simply flash them, or should I remove it somehow??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure you won't have to change the SPL anymore except for very special roms. Just make sure you do a full wipe from recovery after a backup, for new roms to ensure that there aren't any lingering problems.
I have been really enjoying EZTerrys new kernel with biffmod. fast. seems to be stable. LOTS of features (Overclock added =]). i was restarting my phone 3 times a day on CM6 and now once in the morning is ok for the whole day. also, when i used super F, the camera didnt work.
timekeeper said:
I'm pretty sure you won't have to change the SPL anymore except for very special roms. Just make sure you do a full wipe from recovery after a backup, for new roms to ensure that there aren't any lingering problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ty, I'm flashing Froyo 2.2.1 for T-Mobile G1 " Froyo for Trout right now to see how it goes, but I will also try the EZ Terry

Cm6 pros and cons?

I'm new, my evo is rooted tho but now I wanna install a rom. Isn't Cm6 probably the best? I want one that's not much different just smoother.. can someone give me some pros and cons and also a link to maybe a tutorial of how to download and install roms.
Does it delete anything to install a rom?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
There are a lot of opinions about this subject. There are some real pro's to CM6. The tricky thing for most people to understand is that Cyanogenmod is built from the ground up. So when you say you want something that isn't too different, this is going to probably be more unique than you were expecting.
Some great things about CM6 are hidden all throughout the settings, menus, and functions. For example, CM6 is alot cleaner. There aren't any processes that run in the background that you never installed. Whenever you use a stock rom, HTC and Sprint have a number of pre-installed items running. The result is that it is faster.
One huge advantage for me is that CM6 fixes the bluetooth in the phone. Which means that you can connect a Wiimote. This isn't possible with anything that is a variation of the stock rom. Which means only CM6 or other AOSP roms will be capable of supporting the Wiimote on the Evo.
The Cyanogen team has put more focus into things like the way the audio is processed. They use DSP managers to fine tune your audio.
There are some unique settings you can use as well. For example, by holding the back button, you kill whatever app is in the foreground. This eliminates the need for task killers, and lets you truly close an app when you want to.
The biggest pro for most people is that it is substantially faster. This makes games, and other resource heavy apps run smoother. If you use something like PSX4DROID (a playstation emulator), I would recommend this rom because you can use the Wii Controller, and the games will run smoother.
Overall, it's an engineering marvel, because it's built completely by open source developers. These are guys that all have day jobs and do this as a hobby, and in many ways, they do a better job than Google and HTC who have armies of full time developers. That's why they get so much support. Is because it's truly astounding what they do with their resources.
So this might be the blind leading the blind, but I'm a noob as well when it comes to ROM flashing stuff.. From what little you have mentioned CM6 isn't what you want. CM6 is very good but it is not SenseUI, by default it does not have swype, it does not do 4g, hdmi is not there and I'm sure there are other things... That being said, from what I have read, CM is very good for what it is...
If you want to stay relatively stock but with some tweaks, you likely want to look at Fresh or Myn.. do a search in the XDA evo-->android dev forum (actually usually the main thread for those 2 are on page 1 or 2)..
I have settled on Fresh because it uses the latest Sprint rom as its basis so you get most of the new stuff out of the box ie. swype.
Myn has a beta out there using the new rom, but I don't know where it is to download and I am not a good beta tester so I will just wait..
From a process perspective, I downloaded Rom manager from the Marketplace, flashed the latest Clockwork recovery and used the rom manager to download fresh and let it install it for me.. Be sure to check mark the clean everything checkbox in rom manager when it asks..
Hope that helps...
jc8081 said:
I'm new, my evo is rooted tho but now I wanna install a rom. Isn't Cm6 probably the best? I want one that's not much different just smoother.. can someone give me some pros and cons and also a link to maybe a tutorial of how to download and install roms.
Does it delete anything to install a rom?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I'm gonna go with Cm6 just bc it seems like they have plenty of features. But what do u mean not hdmi? Like not even pictures and videos?
Also can someone give me a link to how to install them.. Thanks
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
bradleyw801 already did a good job of the Pros, so I'll list the Cons of CM6 (there aren't many):
1. It's the hardest of the ROMs to flash. Reads laughable but to someone who is really new to this whole thing, it's true. Most ROMs you can just flash and tryout. CM6 you need to flash twice: once for CM itself and once for the Google Apps (it's pretty useless without the gapps). ROM Manager makes this pretty painless with a simple checkbox, so follow above advice, but still be aware you need GAPPS.
2. No 4G Support. Yet. That's the keyword, as there are a few devs on this very forum who are runningCM with 4G .... it's just in alpha stages.
3. No HDMI Support. Yet. Again keyword ... but less so. HDMI out is one of those things you hear about every so often but nothing ever surfaces from it. It's like Duke Nukem Forever.
4. For all the Sense bashing that some will do, HTC had some very nice widgets that most people miss when they go to CM. Most notable is the big clock widget. Now there are market apps that emulate it, but the only ones that do a good job of it cost money (beautiful widgets and fancy widgets pro). Be ready to look for apps to replace what came shipped with your EVO if there are some things you like and would rather not be without.
Hope that helps.
Ok now Cm6 doesn't sound great. I actually use my hdmi, are there any roms easy to flash.. i just want one that makes my phone smoother and also so unneeded apps don't run in the background?
Bc mine now is getting slow like when I open my messeges and are going from person to person it takes forever. Thanks again
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
jc8081 said:
I'm new, my evo is rooted tho but now I wanna install a rom. Isn't Cm6 probably the best? I want one that's not much different just smoother.. can someone give me some pros and cons and also a link to maybe a tutorial of how to download and install roms.
Does it delete anything to install a rom?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, now that you are rooted it would be a perfect time to get used to making backups and flashing.
You could try making a nand bacckup and flashing CM6(.1.2) and seeing how well it suits you. Like any (or most) ROMs there are themes and you can mess around with different things to make it more to your liking. CM6 is as stock Android as you can get. I don't necessarily dislike Sense, and some of the Sense widgets are really cool (and are for the most part replaceable) but in the end I like the feeling of just plain Android.
The lack of 4G and HDMI out is more of a personal user thing. I haven't missed my 4G and I've been using CM6 for my Evo for almost the whole damn time, since it was first released that is. HDMI never really interested me before, but full UI out is something else entirely. Before it was just hype to me.
CyanogenMod just feels right on the Evo. Best way to decide is to take the plunge and maybe set it up for a day. Restoring a backup is super simple. Take the necessary steps to flash successfully and check it out.
And as for things being deleted off the SD card; not sure if you mean everything or specific things. Things like SMS, call logs etc are not backed up but YOU can back them up in various manners. Some SMS backup apps or what have you which I've never tried. Call log I assume as well. Email and things like that, which are tied to your Google Account are backed up by "The Cloud" or whatever you want to say, and same goes for contacts if you've obviously synced them with your google account. Like, contacts under phone can be synced with google account that way the phone contacts aren't deleted, unless I have that last part wrong.
You can wipe the SD card completely, but that doesn't really happen when you wipe data, cache and dalvik. Just the important stuff so the ROM takes. Check it!
edit: didn't hit submit right away, late post as it seems your not really feeling it. you can remove bloat apps that you don't see fit in ROMs, things that someone might have not removed themselves (even then removed apps are usually available at your discretion) but not all apps can be removed. There are lists about that have "safe to remove apps" and the like.
try it for yourself, if it doesn't do what you need it to, flash another ROM. pretty much any AOSP based ROM has issues with wimax and HDMI but there are many strong ROM's to run, you will probably change it up from time to time and the hardest thing you will find is trying not to flash
You really should try out roms for yourself instead of listening to others. Some people like some things and others like others. I've run CM on 2 phones now (MyTouch Slide and G2) and it's been extremely stable, fast and just fantastic. If it had wimax and hdmi working i'd have it right now (I like watching hulu on my big screen while I eat ).
If you want something that has everything working, myn's warm twopointtwo rom works if you have the older Evo hardware (pre-0004). It's very nice and still runs sense or mikfroyo, which also has sense, but it supports the new evos.
If you want vanilla android and can wait for the wimax and hdmi, get CM, there's just no alternatives. If you can't wait, go to the dev section and look for the threads that start with [rom] and see if any of them suit you better.
Fwiw...I'm a total noob to the android scene. I'm fairly tech savvy, good in general with pc's, hacking tivo's, etc..nonetheless I was very hesitant to root and flash my evo. But, I took three plunge last night, first rooting, then performing a nand backup. I then uninstalled all the sprint apps successfully. I was fairly happy at this point.but I have been experiencing random reboots and sense crashes prior to rooting. So I took the plunge and flashed cm6.1 and gapps last night.
I have to say I wish I had to done this months ago, I love the look, feel,and performance of cm / stock android. I struggled with battery life before flashing, but there is a significant improvement in batt life since ive flashed. I also installed swype beta,as I had received an invite just prior to sprint including swype. Im bummed about the lack of 4g, but 4g is hit and miss in the south bay so I cant complain too much. Oh ya, wifi tether is an added bonus.
I say go for it. ;-)
Well the biggest con is that you can't use 4g or hdmi, which defeats the purpose of buying the evo and paying $10 fee for 4g. Not to mention the fact that stock android looks like a 3rd rate Linux distro from early 2000s.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
so me running cm6 defeats the purpose of me owning my phone????
I dont live in a 4g area......4g is only really advantage when tethering to a laptop
Ok guys thanks for everything but i really need a link so i can figure out how to backup and flash and rom...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
jc8081 said:
Ok guys thanks for everything but i really need a link so i can figure out how to backup and flash and rom...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. First sticky at the top of the forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881747
The stickies are pretty comprehensive for the EVO. Pretty much anything you'll want to know will be there.
As for CM6. It's super fast. I love it. I don't mind being without 4G (at least when I'm not testing ) and HDMI (I use Twonky Media Server to stream pics and vids to my Xbox over wifi).
Both of these features are coming soon so if you decide to go with another ROM, just keep following CM for updates on these features. When they are done I don't see why you wouldn't use CM.
As for alternative roms... I know Myns is very popular.
Also, I'll note, you can always flash CM6 and play with it for a bit and then wipe and flash any other rom.
tl;dr - Read the sticky, try myns and follow CM progress.
You might want to take a look at MIUI. It's well designed (unlike Sense), is pretty fast (faster than Sense), and has a ton of extra features (like Sense). While it doesn't have WiMax right now the CM guys are close to getting it working; and since both are based on AOSP, it will be relatively easy to port to MIUI. I prefer CM but if I didn't have a iPhone (since MIUI tends to feel like a copy of it) I'd probably use MIUI.
If you can live without 4g then go for it. The battery life is great. I flashed a sense rom today and with in an hour I was flashing back to cm6.
Sent from CM6 using XDA App
Ok thanks now one last question I think... when I do nandroid backup does it save my apps? Bc i was watching a video it said u have to nandroid backup and apps with titanium I think...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
bottom line: try a few ROMs, each for a day, and stick with what you like. no substitute for trying it out yourself.
fine print: i'm a vintage user. I was running android on my Vogue before there was an android phone, when GPS would always place you in san fransisco (someone will know what that's all about - thanks dzo). anyways, having a rooted phone is about many things, but one of them is the ability to flash and try what you want.
if you've got a deal breaker, like 4g or HDMI out, sure that limits you now, but as posted before keep reading and trying new things as they come out. if you're lucky, you may yet become a flash-aholic.
i'm a sense guy; not for the launcher (off and on i'm running adw, lp, and sense home, depends on the month), but for the sense apps. I love the sense messaging app, that's the program I use most on my phone. I ran vanilla for a long time on my vogue, and I tried out CM6 for a day. it's just not me. and I never use 4G or HDMI. you won't know what fits you until you try, though.
to each their own. use what you like.
I use to be a die hard CM fan but now Im using MIUI. Both have a lot of nice features.
Titanium Backup will allow you to backup apps selectively and then reinstall them later. (you can do many other things as well) This is very useful, especially for apps that you can not easily obtain. (ie. not available in the app store) An example is any game from GameLoft or a beta that you may have. (like Swype before it was deployed) So after you switch to CM6 or whichever ROM you can then load these apps on to the new ROM.

First steps with new Vega?

I am about to get a Vega (now £200 in the UK). Can anyone tell me what I should do after I unbox it?
Is it really that bad out of the box?
Are there customisations you can do with the stock ROM or is burning a new ROM really essential?
Thanks in advance.
in one word "YES" , it is really that bad out of the box.
A full rom is not required to get the basics out of your vega. You can try my rom add-on (available in the development section) which just adds the basics like market etc. It is very easy to install. Then ditch the awful launcher by installing launcher pro or alike. Then button savior for me is a must, by adding the missing home button as a on screen button.
Adding things like kernels is great if you need the extra features, such as usb switching.
There are a few choices of full rom, the most popular at the moment appears to be from corvus, who is doing great work on are vegas.
Hopefully honeycomb will be with us soon, when this happens a rom flash will be a must
Edit: I notice you have purchased the £200 vega that has v1.08 firmware, i would recommend updating to v1.09. It adds flash as well as full screen notifications and also includes updated graphic drivers. Which improve the "artifact" problem
bobbyelliott said:
I am about to get a Vega (now £200 in the UK). Can anyone tell me what I should do after I unbox it?
Is it really that bad out of the box?
Are there customisations you can do with the stock ROM or is burning a new ROM really essential?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with ganjaman, ive just spent the last few weeks trying things with my vega.
I would suggest reading the modaco and xda forums thoroughly Before trying to flash anything. Learn from the devs. Rooting, and nandroid backups is a good place to start.
Good luck!
honestly its bad out the box.
But custom roms are great on it and brings it to life
i think the modoco rom is the best atm although cm7 is on the ways and looking very promising
+1 , yep bad out of the box.
I think the first thing most people would do is to load this on. From there you have the Market and if you want to do more then you also can root and run up Rom Manager.
Also good if you know how to use nvflash just in case.
I've had my Vega for a week now, so I thought I would answer my own questions.
bobbyelliott said:
Can anyone tell me what I should do after I unbox it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing. Have a play. You can use it for surfing, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Don't begin by doing anything drastic liking burning a new ROM. At least not right away. And using the supplied device, at least for a while, will let you know what you are leaving behind if you do decide to upgrade.
Is it really that bad out of the box?
No. It's fine out of the box. That's why Advent sells it this way. You can do most things anyone would want to do, without installing anything extra.
Are there customisations you can do with the stock ROM or is burning a new ROM really essential?
Yes, you can do a few simple things to improve the supplied device. You can install Android apps on the device -- if you can get a hold on the APK file (essentially, the program file). The device comes with a file manager so it's simply a case of find the APK (Google is your friend), downloading it, and running the file using the file manager. The app will then install. You can do this without installing anything extra to the device.
The next stage in upgrading the device is to install the full Android Market, which you can do without upgrading the ROM. That will give you full access to all of the Android apps. The supplied device with Market added is a pretty attractive package if you are reluctant to go further.
The best upgrade is to replace the original ("stock") ROM with a new ("custom") ROM. This will give you many extra features (including the full Market experience) and is very worthwhile. But you don't have to do it.
The final upgrade is to burn a custom ROM and customise the device like crazy using a launcher. These are available on the Market and can transform the whole look of the device. I replaced my stock ROM with the Modaco custom ROM and installed Launcher Pro -- and my Vega looks fantastic.
I agree with original poster, it works quite fine out of the box, and works even better if it has pov firmware, as it has a smaller statusbar and 1.10 seems abit faster and smoother.
But then ofc we all get tired of stock firmwares and start modding
hello all.
Yup couldnt agree more with above posts.
Well...... I do think it is a bit poo oob, but is useable. Its just not very slick or fun oob.
Once you add a launcher of choice it starts to get more fun.
Rgds
L
Edit: oob stands forr out of the box.
Ps i like the mirror symetry of "poo oob". Not planned, but pleases me.

Just Purchased G2 need advice/tips

I'm new to the whole smartphone/android market. I just received a G2 and wanted to know how to fully take advantage of all the features. What do you guys recommend, what apps should I download, updates, etc.
Thanks
Take a look around, you'll find everything around here. One thing is don't feel pressured to root your phone. Especially with the ota update to gingerbread on it's way.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Nospin said:
Take a look around, you'll find everything around here. One thing is don't feel pressured to root your phone. Especially with the ota update to gingerbread on it's way.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will do what is the benefit of rooting a phone. Do you get apps for free similar to jailbreaking?
Alright so here we go!
For root you want This Guide with Gefree/Visionary Read it several times, get root.
Install Rom Manager, Flash Clockwork Mod with this.
Good launchers to try are: Launcher Pro, ADW.
Good Apps are: GPS Status, Quadrant Free, Set Cpu (paid), Juice Defender, Adgree, Juice Plotter, SeePu, Shootme (for screengrabs), Wifi Analyser (to see strength of various wifi networks), Barcode Scanner (for QR Codes among others), Speetest, and lastly AdFree. You also should consider getting the Busybox Installer and Titanium Backup so you can back your applications up when you inevitably....
...Install a custom rom. There are a ton of roms to choose from. All of them have various merits and downsides. Personally for the beginner I always suggest CM 6.1.1 to get familiar with the idea of custom roms as it is super stable and not a huge departure from stock Froyo. A good rule of thumb when flashing roms is to (after making a nandroid backup in clockwork mod, accessed by pwr+vol down) always do a full wipe of phone data and cache. So many rom installs are messed up by not fully wiping your phone prior. I always run two full wipes and two cache wipes.
Depending on how you like your interface, you can select a ton of different roms through Rom Manager or downloading them right out of our android dev section. As with all things, always do your research. Read the damn thread to find out any bugs. The devs here are not infallible and frankly, some of them do a darn shoddy job in throwing together whatever the hell it is they want to call a rom over the weekend while absolutely trashed on Milwaukee's Beast.
Prospective roms are:
Virtuous 2.1: A clean SenseUI rom that is very predictable in battery life and sense experience.
Virtuous G-Free: A stripped down Gingerbread rom built by the same gentleman as Virtuous.
Virtuous 3.0 Sense: A sense 3.0 port that hasn't been updated in a while. Who knows if it is any good.
Cyanogen Mod 6: A nice retooling of froyo 2.2.x, this rom is incredibly stable and has very good battery life with preshoots kernel.
Cyanogen Mod 7: This is a retooling of Gingerbread 2.3.x, not as stable in my experience, however I know this will get better. Okay battery life, 7.0.3 is not as **** as 7.0. Wait till the next major update of 7.1 drops before flashing this rom.
I cannot speak for any of the other roms out here. I only say that you should always do your research and make sure to do nandroid backups. If you brick your phone, that really sucks cause the g2 kicks all sorts of ass
Edit; ROOT ACCESS MEANS ADMIN ACCESS. ROOT DRIVE MEANS THE BASE DIRECTORY OF YOUR SD CARD. DON'T **** IT UP OKAY.
Pump Fake said:
Will do what is the benefit of rooting a phone. Do you get apps for free similar to jailbreaking?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the biggest features is overclocking. TAKE YOUR TIME reading though. My Desire Z is on the way but I've spent the past two weeks scoping out ROMs, learning how to root and use ADB just so I can do all of that as soon as I get the phone. I would definitely root though, and as soon as the official gingerbread ROM comes, someone on XDA will make a rooted version of it. So you will essentially have stock gingerbread with the ability to overclock.
slapshot30 said:
One of the biggest features is overclocking. TAKE YOUR TIME reading though. My Desire Z is on the way but I've spent the past two weeks scoping out ROMs, learning how to root and use ADB just so I can do all of that as soon as I get the phone. I would definitely root though, and as soon as the official gingerbread ROM comes, someone on XDA will make a rooted version of it. So you will essentially have stock gingerbread with the ability to overclock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are totally a good example for others
I believe you will be successfull in rooting your coming DZ
Grtz
slapshot30 said:
One of the biggest features is overclocking. TAKE YOUR TIME reading though. My Desire Z is on the way but I've spent the past two weeks scoping out ROMs, learning how to root and use ADB just so I can do all of that as soon as I get the phone. I would definitely root though, and as soon as the official gingerbread ROM comes, someone on XDA will make a rooted version of it. So you will essentially have stock gingerbread with the ability to overclock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Btw their already is a rooted version of the final gingerbread rom. Just thought i'd throw that out there.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
IMO The best benefits to having a rooted device are
1) root-only apps like setcpu (but don't use this if the ROM/kernel has built-in cpu management), titanium backup (best backup app ever, hands down), themeing, etc
2) remove bloatware apps
3) custom ROM. think of it as a modified OS. they usually run faster, have little to no bloat, in most cases have better battery life, and have added functionality (cyanogenmod, especially)
without root, the best thing you can do is find great apps like home replacements aka launchers such as ADWLauncher (free version of the superior ADW Launcher EX), LauncherPro, etc
if you're new to Android you may not know that you can browse apps on your computer here https://market.android.com/ and whenever you click "install" it will automatically start downloading and installing on your phone!
a root method was mentioned previously, but I will have to recommend a different one considered to be the safest and most up to date by most.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wik...sion#Rooting_the_Vision_.28G2.2FDZ.29_and_DHD
the whole wiki is a very good read. if you do root, read it thoroughly (multiple times if necessary) and learn how to join #g2root on IRC to get real-time chat support with other xda members
So rooting helps me have a device that has much better performance. Sounds great to me, I'll look into it.
Is there anyway to get free apps etc? Don't ever want to pay haha.
Also what other tips do you guys have to take advantage of a smartphone?
Word of advice: the xda forums heavily frown upon those who promote or even mention pirated apps. These forums are powered by developers who put in their time and effort for average-joe users like us to use, free of charge! Donations are encouraged when possible. If you spent hundreds of hours writing an app and working out the bugs, I don't think you'd like it if someone downloaded your paid app for free. I didn't mean for this to sound like a lecture but just think about it, and if you're still interested you'll have to look elsewhere, as distributing pirated apps is against the xda forum rules.
Also if you're new to smartphones, you probably realized with added functionality such as facebook, twitter, gmail, and syncing of EVERYTHING possible, your battery life not as good as before you had a smartphone. In general keep account syncing/internet usage below unnecessary levels to save on battery life, among other things
silverwind said:
You are totally a good example for others
I believe you will be successfull in rooting your coming DZ
Grtz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I regularly try to do that with new phones so I don't have to ask a bunch of dumb questions or brick my phone.
And to xsteven77x (my multi-quote isn't behaving at the moment), I was not aware that a final GB rooted ROM was out... I thought they were only test ones. Would you mind posting a link to that?
EDIT: Is this the ROM you're talking about? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1074852
It was leaked so how are they sure it's the final one?
If your going to root your phone and put a rom on it, HTCCLAY super cm7 v1.9 is my favorite. its smooth, lots of customization, and already has the set cpu thing built into it and had a good adjustable lockscreen. not to mention u can just keep putting new themes form theme chooser on it when u get bored instead of flashing a whole new rom. one prob with it though. it has trouble connecting sd card to computer so if and when u want to remove it you are going to have to restore to a previous back up of another rom or stock and then reapply the new rom. best of luck.
ethanj93 said:
If your going to root your phone and put a rom on it, HTCCLAY super cm7 v1.9 is my favorite. its smooth, lots of customization, and already has the set cpu thing built into it and had a good adjustable lockscreen. not to mention u can just keep putting new themes form theme chooser on it when u get bored instead of flashing a whole new rom. one prob with it though. it has trouble connecting sd card to computer so if and when u want to remove it you are going to have to restore to a previous back up of another rom or stock and then reapply the new rom. best of luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Highly recommend meXdroid V4.1 rom. Fast, eye candy galore, and constant developer support and updating.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
astriaos said:
Edit; ROOT ACCESS MEANS ADMIN ACCESS. ROOT DRIVE MEANS THE BASE DIRECTORY OF YOUR SD CARD. DON'T **** IT UP OKAY.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This made me LMAO!
I like mexdroid rom, its combined with CM7 and it has a lot of customizations in it.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I am recommending to watch Virtuous Unity if you want to have HTC Sense 3.0. It's still being updated and fixed up from all the bugs, but I think the rom will be really good after the devs work the kinks out.

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