Cyanogen mod for dummies - Epic 4G General

I did my homework, and have come up mostly empty. Read what I could find on the CM site; wikipedia; blogs; newsgroups; and a lot more. Probably at least 2 hours trying to get a comparative handle on CM vs. stock release derived ROMs.
After all that, I'm only a tiny bit closer to understanding what I gain, and what I give up, going to CM.
If there if a good, detailed articulation of this somewhere, please help us CM noobs with a pointer; Otherwise, I'd like to start a thread to capture as much detailed information about comparing CM to stock-based ROMs so people can make informed choices.
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http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=What_is_CyanogenMod

Thanks, that's a start, but in truth it's information like that that prompted my starting this thread.
That's generic information. Only moderately helpful in judging specifically for the Epic whether I should go CM, or with another custom ROM.
For example, info like this: CM does not include the accelerated Samsung video player, and doesn't handle many video formats and codings well in comparison. So, if playing h264 coded video in mkv containers is important to you, CM will be a challenge, where Bonsai, ACS, Midnight, etc. will be a much simpler choice to meet your needs.
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Think about it like this. If you buy a PC from a big company (HP, Dell, etc) it comes with a fully functional install of software. Windows + drivers + all other crap they decide you should have. That is equivalent to the Samsung ROM that comes stock on Epic.
What if you build your own PC from components? You will install Windows, then you will dig up the drivers you need separately, and then load your own applications.
Android AOSP in this comparison is the "base" install of Windows. Nothing else added in.
The drivers and other changes required to make the base Android work with your hardware is CyanogenMod.
So basically, Samsung based roms will have all the functioning drivers and everything else in them. Dev's tear them apart and remove/change what they don't want, but don't have to worry much about hardware cause the drivers are straight from Samsung.
AOSP based roms (CyanogenMod) will be utterly broken and have no hardware support at first. Developers have to write real lines of code into the software to make it support the Epic or any other phone. The are built from the ground up. That is why it is so amazing what Team CM7 has already got working in so little time!

Again, thanks for the sincere attempts to answer this qualitatively. However, that's not the issue. See my example above.
What you describe above with the custom PC example, while true, isn't informative enough for most people to make an informed decision.
Knowing that CM is free of carrier bloatware doesn't help me understand in any way that the video player with CM had some important limitations when compared to the optimized video player Samsung includes. For some people, this may be a critical issue in making a decision.
It is those sort of specific differences that I thought would be helpful to enumerate and capture. Of course anyone can simply install the ROM and discover for themselves... Judging by my own struggle to find enough information to make an informed choice myself, I thought others might benefit from nailing this stuff down.
So far, it looks like I may have been mistaken?
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dwallersv said:
Again, thanks for the sincere attempts to answer this qualitatively. However, that's not the issue. See my example above.
What you describe above with the custom PC example, while true, isn't informative enough for most people to make an informed decision.
Knowing that CM is free of carrier bloatware doesn't help me understand in any way that the video player with CM had some important limitations when compared to the optimized video player Samsung includes. For some people, this may be a critical issue in making a decision.
It is those sort of specific differences that I thought would be helpful to enumerate and capture. Of course anyone can simply install the ROM and discover for themselves... Judging by my own struggle to find enough information to make an informed choice myself, I thought others might benefit from nailing this stuff down.
So far, it looks like I may have been mistaken?
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, you're looking for a more hand held description of what CM7 doesn't have?
....

Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

I can give you the best piece of advice....
This is a development site, not a front end rom publishing site..
If there's not already documentation, test the differences yourself, and report the findings for the next gentleman who comes along with your same questions...
Then before too long you're not a "noob" anymore..
But to answer your question, cyanogen is a more bare bones android experience.. it is built off of the AOSP (ANDROID OPEN SOURCE PROJECT).. It is stripped of any carrier or manufacturer additions (like HTC Sense or Touchwiz).. and is usually a cleaner and less buggy experience... Then the cyanogen team customizes and polishes features... (like menu infused theming instead of flashable zips..)
If you're too scared of bricking during experimental build testing, etc, this isn't the place for you...
Sent from my Samsung-SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

Will Cm7 on the epic have no CIQ?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

Sorry for the double post, the xda app submitted when open the physical keyboard. I too have been wondering what the big deal is with cm.. I can't find any concrete info that tells me what is so great about it. I'm on acs now and love it.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Overstew said:
Will Cm7 on the epic have no CIQ?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
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Click to collapse
It will not have CIQ. That is from Sprint, and this will have no traces of sprint whatsoever.

CM is completely customizable, it comes with all kinds of tweaks to make the phone a whole lot smoother, it gets updated constantly, and since its based on AOSP you can really do what ever you want with it. Whereas a stock samsung ROM you have to be careful what you do cause so many things rely on frame work and what not. The CM team is absolutely amazing the wrote code completely from scratch for $g and full HDMI mirroring to work on the evo. Also the size of the rom, CM is around 80 mb where most stock roms are 200, so you will have that much more space on the phone.

To set the record straight, I am hardly a "noob" in the sense that some here seem to think. I'm building kernels for my own use, and am working on a rewrite of the keyboard driver to more completely fix the problem so skillfully determined and patched by mkasick.
What I'm "noob" at is understanding in detail what I gain, and give up, by installing CM over the other custom ROMs based on stock releases. I have the broad strokes -- I need more specifics to decide if it's worth the hassle to give it a try.
We now have two new pieces of valuable information not obvious in any of the general info out there: Compromised video support (negative), no CIQ (positive). So, a little progress.
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i doubt anyone actually knows what you're asking....
Cyanogenmod is just pure android no bloatware from sprint/sammy
the way android was meant to be.

Pretty simple: If it is software that is added by a carrier or a manufacture (Sprint ID, touchWhiz, Samsungs Video Codecs) It will not be there. What it does have:
CM UI Tweaks, CM Hardware Tweaks, CM Performance enhancement options (adjustable heapsize) Default install location, Screen On Animation, Surface Dithering, Locking the Homescreen App in memory (so it doesn't rebuild it self when you press home), locking the messaging app in memory, DSP Audio Manager for Custom EQ setups over BT, Speaker, and head phones, Lock screen gestures, Lock screen music controls....
This is all of the top of my head.

Kcarpenter said:
Pretty simple: If it is software that is added by a carrier or a manufacture (Sprint ID, touchWhiz, Samsungs Video Codecs) It will not be there. What it does have:
CM UI Tweaks, CM Hardware Tweaks, CM Performance enhancement options (adjustable heapsize) Default install location, Screen On Animation, Surface Dithering, Locking the Homescreen App in memory (so it doesn't rebuild it self when you press home), locking the messaging app in memory, DSP Audio Manager for Custom EQ setups over BT, Speaker, and head phones, Lock screen gestures, Lock screen music controls....
This is all of the top of my head.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O O Don't forget the BJ's Feature
i even dumped my GF

There's a lot of misinformed posting going on in here.
First of all, CyanogenMod is NOT AOSP. It is, however, more AOSP than Samsung's or HTC's stock ROMs. It is based on AOSP and built from the ground-up, but AOSP it is not.
AOSP is the bones on which everything you see on Android is built. Some phones have true, pure AOSP builds, but we do not. The CyanogenMod project, once completely, will allow a build of AOSP to run on the Epic since they share all the same drivers, but, once again, that doesn't make CyanogenMod completely AOSP, as people so willingly say.
Now, what IS CyanogenMod?
The goal is quite simple: It aims to achieve a single user-experience across multiple platforms through the use of open-source software and alternatives. One thing you can expect from the base CyanogenMod experience is that if you are running CyanogenMod7-RC2 on your MyTouch 3G Slide, you can talk to you friend who is using CyanogenMod7-RC2 on his HTC Evo 4G and be able to completely understand everything each other's phone can provide (sans hardware differences, such as CPU speeds and front-facing camera).
It is also meant to open new doors for developers to completely customize their user experience. Every last part of the CyanogenMod experience is open source. That's how new features are almost constantly being added.
Another goal is to keep every phone up-to-date with the newest version of Android as it is rolled out. Providing a basic starting ground for every phone means that patching the Android system to the latest version is considerably easier. That's why, several times, I've mentioned that the work done by noobnl on CyanogenMod6 has helped us getting where we are with CyanogenMod7. While we are not using it verbatim, the work points us in the right direction and shows us how to easily fix what is broken.
People are asking questions like "Will program X be left in" or "Does this add X". The answers are a lot more complicated than just yes or no. The fact of the matter is that, for the most part, NOTHING from the stock Samsung software is included. Apps may resemble what was in your stock experience, but that's only because Samsung based their own software after their AOSP counterparts. With that said, none of Sprint's bloatware is on CyanogenMod. I'm not even sure the most of them would even work. Things like Nascar, Sprint TV, and the like just are not there because the system is not built around them, plain and simple.
Because of this lack of bloat, you are gaining much in the way of speed, performance, and usability. Carrier IQ isn't there to bog your phone down. Useless DRM services aren't running in the background, eating your battery. The Sprint Apps aren't taking up valuable space in your phone's memory. It's clean.
Another thing CyanogenMod will provide to the community is a basis to provide some real meaty ROMs. Right now, for the most part, the ROMs are reskins and rehashes of other ROMs, save two or three. Fight as you might, but that's the truth. CyanogenMod is completely different and will allow developers more control over what they are doing. A lot of cool features can be made, such as autoupdaters and random system tweaks, and they can all be built in. For example, if you look at CyanogenMod now, you'll notice that ADW is the default launcher, and its settings are integrated into the phone's settings instead of being a standalone.
And the beauty of it all is that everything can be made to work how you please. For those worried about the video codec problem, it's a problem that can be solved simply by making those codecs work on CyanogenMod, which shouldn't involve too much trickery.
I hope this answers your question.

I concur. You are really thinking too far into things. There are very few limitations that cm7 will bring. For all of these, there are other apps that rectify it.
Sent from my Samsung-SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Thanks Devin for a great response. Why is it we needed development to come give a nice answer... and the rest of the users just wanted to be know it all jerks?

skywalkr2 said:
Thanks Devin for a great response.
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agreed, thanks
Why is it we needed development to come give a nice answer... and the rest of the users just wanted to be know it all jerks?
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Click to collapse
aww man, don't do that.. it doesn't really help anything, it just invites people to get all butt hurt about your being butt hurt about whatever the ****.. Just let it go.
My only question about CM is the obvious one.. "Is it done yet? (for my phone obviously)"

Related

[DEV DISCUSSION / EXPLANATION] Cyanogenmod Dev relationship?

Is there a reason why the dev community cannot get behind cyanogenmod and still get donated to? Is there some kind of politics involved that will not allow this relationship? I just think I would like to see the effort into one project that is solid, without all the themes and "personal" touches you see with everything else.
In a word it doesnt seem like much progress is being made, except for some screenshots from the dude and an alpha build from eugene. If Eugene, Som, Codeworkxs thedudesandroid, and the rest of the vibrant devs worked on a gingerbread based cyanogenmod, it would benefit everyone.
Move me, flame me, just dont one line answer me.
Yours to change and modify:
https://github.com/CyanogenMod
Ideologies differ. Work ethics differ. I think a move like this would be destined to fail.
Have you personally experienced both Macnut and Nero? Both ROMS are outstanding. I think the more fragmented the ROMS are, the more ideas, experiments, and innovation will occur. I think to push devs to a single common platform would be both stifling and detrimental to the android modding community as a whole.
Besides, all the devs have the same problem... Drivers. Until we start seeing Gingerbread leaks, all devs would have the same stumbling block anyway, whether they are working as one, or separately.
i'm fairly certain all CM ROMs have been halted and work has been pushed to CM7.0 Gingerbread based. With the Nexus S (NS) being the same thing with a few minor difference to all the other SGS phones and the NS source being openly available for people, we should see a true Gingerbread CM ROM for all the SGS phones once they figure out the necessary changes to make our variants work. This time it should be easier, thanks to all the Devs who came before and figured out Samsung's ass-backwards way of doing things.
Time and patience will reward with the greatest Android ROM the world has ever seen!
angryPirate12 said:
i'm fairly certain all CM ROMs have been halted and work has been pushed to CM7.0 Gingerbread based. With the Nexus S (NS) being the same thing with a few minor difference to all the other SGS phones and the NS source being openly available for people, we should see a true Gingerbread CM ROM for all the SGS phones once they figure out the necessary changes to make our variants work. This time it should be easier, thanks to all the Devs who came before and figured out Samsung's ass-backwards way of doing things.
Time and patience will reward with the greatest Android ROM the world has ever seen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This makes me moist.
d33dvb said:
Is there a reason why the dev community cannot get behind cyanogenmod and still get donated to? Is there some kind of politics involved that will not allow this relationship? I just think I would like to see the effort into one project that is solid, without all the themes and "personal" touches you see with everything else.
In a word it doesnt seem like much progress is being made, except for some screenshots from the dude and an alpha build from eugene. If Eugene, Som, Codeworkxs thedudesandroid, and the rest of the vibrant devs worked on a gingerbread based cyanogenmod, it would benefit everyone.
Move me, flame me, just dont one line answer me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my question for you, is why does it have to be cyanogenmod? Youre asking all devs to collaborate to come up with one big super-ROM, yet it will still only be under the name of one developer, Cyanogen?? This doesnt make much sense.
So basically what youre asking is, since you PERSONALLY would prefer to run cyanogenmod on your phone, you want all other Vibrant devs to concede their own projects to assist your personal favorite developer with his project??
Why doesnt CM help with a new Team Whiskey ROM?? If your answer is because CM is more popular and has more development-power in the Android world, then you have answered your own question in regards to the "politics" that may be behind it.
I feel a lot of people (not necessarily the OP) just seek the "cyanogenmod" title to their ROM, without even really knowing what it is. They just hear the name thrown around all over the place and want to feel like they are in the loop; which is just mindless, in my opinion.
Its great to have several devs, with several different projects. It gives the average user (non-dev) options, and different things to choose from and try.
If you went to a car show, and every car had the same exact engine in it, what would be interesting in that??
what a communist suggestion
I, personally, love that there are many diff ROM's to choose from. I love having that variety. I prefer <tw> ROM's, just because they theme it pretty much how I would theme a ROM (and they scream), If I was even remotely capable of Dev'ing. Eugene makes an awsome ROM too, But not to my personal taste. On my G1 I always used cm ROM's, but the way they work at this point that's not possible for a Vibrant. So I guess what I'm saying is, I'm glad they're not all concentrating on one ROM because we would still be waiting... stuck with RFS !
I just want that Cyanogen bluetooth stack on a regular (sans Touchwiz) Galaxy S rom with TV out. The Bluetoouth stack is the only reason why I am using Cyanogen outside of the speedy OS.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
I get what you mean but I have to say that I love flashing different devs roms & kernels, I would hate to be slave to one idea...I could have gone iOs for that.....get it iOs 4! I kill myself sometimes...
vibrant
GingerR2JL4
TopShelf10 said:
my question for you, is why does it have to be cyanogenmod? Youre asking all devs to collaborate to come up with one big super-ROM, yet it will still only be under the name of one developer, Cyanogen?? This doesnt make much sense.
So basically what youre asking is, since you PERSONALLY would prefer to run cyanogenmod on your phone, you want all other Vibrant devs to concede their own projects to assist your personal favorite developer with his project??
Why doesnt CM help with a new Team Whiskey ROM?? If your answer is because CM is more popular and has more development-power in the Android world, then you have answered your own question in regards to the "politics" that may be behind it.
I feel a lot of people (not necessarily the OP) just seek the "cyanogenmod" title to their ROM, without even really knowing what it is. They just hear the name thrown around all over the place and want to feel like they are in the loop; which is just mindless, in my opinion.
Its great to have several devs, with several different projects. It gives the average user (non-dev) options, and different things to choose from and try.
If you went to a car show, and every car had the same exact engine in it, what would be interesting in that??
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Click to collapse
Agreed. It seems to be the "you want what you can't have" theory. It's going to be funny when there is finally a CM ROM and all these same ppl that wanted it are going to wonder why CM is so plain looking and isn't themed up. It's an endless cycle. CM offers support to multiple devices, which gets their name out there. But I can promise you if you've ran ROMs such as Nero + voodoo, even the best running CM isn't going to "blow it away" in performance, maybe some fun features, but that'll about do it.
I'm satisfied with TWs stuff. All I'm hoping for is that we can get drivers written to do our own ASOP roms, so we can one day have 2.3 and beyond.
im curious about this as well and being that i have no clue, i feel completely authorized to put in my .02 that i thought the primary reason we dont have cm for the galaxy was due to lack of aosp/drivers...
LOL, you sad bunch of folks think I have never flashed a rom on the vibrant? Sure I have, but they are all roms based off of samsuck files, with a theme pushed on top. This requires some skill and understanding, but it does not make you a "ROM D3V"
I am not in any way trying to push everyone to cyanogenmod, I am trying to get the "real devs" to work on things like GPS drivers and such as a whole, to benefit everyone, you think the tricks we learn as a group you cannot then use as an individual? You cannot say I am communist (lmao) because I want the devs to work together, I suppose that what people say about XDA is true, the users who are flaming me make it unbearable to have a real conversation. I mean just look there are several "FANBOY" posts already, and we are on post 13. No wonder the real devs ficking hate XDA. The sole reason I personally like cyan is because of the testing that it goes through, to make sure embarrassing bugs dont happen often. He has developed a rom for my G1, then both my Mytouch's and just miss running it on my vibrant, thats all. My G1 is sitting here running CM 6.1.0 and my phone still sits here on Ginger Clone, the best there is right now.
FYI when there was lack of drivers on the Dream/Magic someone re-wrote them, mmkay?
It has always seemed that the devs share fairly well. While they don't work together on one project, they share what is needed and form teams of likeminded people to push out better and better products. If you want to see what happens when you get everyone together and make them all focus on one big new release look at samsung itself. These small teams can operate with greater freedom to build and release mods and roms as they see fit. Xda is about sharing info and improving our machines. Would we really want to have gingerbread today without all the options and flavors that different dev teams put together. If you say yes, that's fine, but I like the variety and am happy to wait for what's next.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Moved of: Samsung Vibrant > Vibrant Android Development
To: Samsung Vibrant > Vibrant General
CM is not really comparable to the XDA devs' ROMs. CM is a complete ground-up build from AOSP. Nero, Macnut, etc are not; they are mods of existing unofficial Samsung ROMs. (Not to imply that Eugene/Sombionix et al's work is anything less than quality).
mindaika said:
CM is not really comparable to the XDA devs' ROMs. CM is a complete ground-up build from AOSP. Nero, Macnut, etc are not; they are mods of existing unofficial Samsung ROMs. (Not to imply that Eugene/Sombionix et al's work is anything less than quality).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's the thing. The skill set involved in getting AOSP (and the rest of CM) building properly is a different skill set than modifying a Samsung released ROM.
The approaches are almost entirely opposite - whereas most ROMs here take what the vendor provides and replace the junky bits with stuff that works better, the AOSP-based ROMs such as CM start from a bare bones google source repository that never had any of that junk to begin with.
Both approaches have their merits. As should be obvious by now, the former results in much more rapid progress since you can start right away with a working build from Samsung. The latter approach can take substantially longer, since you don't have a working base to start from (especially with a device like the SGS, which has hardware very different from most CM-supported devices).
Eugene had an AOSP 2.1 rom pretty well built. Needed some kinks worked out, but there didn't seem to be a lot of interest because all everyone wanted was froyo. I'm sure we're probably see at least a couple of AOSP efforts if/when froyo officially drops.
angryPirate12 said:
i'm fairly certain all CM ROMs have been halted and work has been pushed to CM7.0 Gingerbread based. With the Nexus S (NS) being the same thing with a few minor difference to all the other SGS phones and the NS source being openly available for people, we should see a true Gingerbread CM ROM for all the SGS phones once they figure out the necessary changes to make our variants work. This time it should be easier, thanks to all the Devs who came before and figured out Samsung's ass-backwards way of doing things.
Time and patience will reward with the greatest Android ROM the world has ever seen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, codeworkx and the CMSGS team have stopped worked on 6.1 and (along with Supercurio and others) are working on an AOSP Gingerbread port for SGS.
It makes sense--no point in continuing to try to build a 2.2 without source when the 2.3 source is already out.

Whats up with the roms lately?

I just wanted to get a feel/consensus on peoples opinion of the third party rom scene for the EVO. I started my XDA days back with a tilt, and have been loyal to HTC since then.
The EVO is simply the best phone out there at the moment, IMO. But the roms seem to be very lacking in actual substance and it's a bit disappointing.
Almost every rom I've looked at here has been so customized and themed they are really just eyesores. It was normal on all my other devices to have some of the roms that were being produced be like this, but not all. I've been really impressed in the past with HTC roms. Dutty is one of my favorites.
The only 2 current exceptions I've found are CM and Fresh, and since some of us refuse to use sense, it really only leaves one choice.
CM is awesome, and the work that goes into it is really really amazing. There isn't a bunch of customization to the UI, it's left up to you what you want to do for how your phone looks. It's a rock solid foundation to build upon, and it would be awesome to see more roms in that form.
Thoughts? Am I missing something?
This is the wrong section, the General section would be the appropriate section for this.
this should be in general, but i agree it seems that lots of roms out there are just customizations of existing roms, a color change here and there. There really isnt anything major to differentiate between sense roms, except for 3 or 4 big ones, and then there is CM rom, and the roms based of CM seem like just themed version of CM, but who knows i mean im not a developer, maybe theres only so much one can do as far as development.
easedrop said:
--
The EVO is simply the best phone out there at the moment, IMO. But the roms seem to be very lacking in actual substance and it's a bit disappointing.
--
Thoughts? Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better get started developing.
What else do you want the ROM's out there to do?:
OC: Check
Undervolt: Check
AOSP Builds: Check
Open Source 4G: Check
De-odex: Check
Wide Variety of Themes: Check
Open Source FM Radio: Check
Wireless Tether: Check
Wired Tether: Check
Gingerbread: Check
AND THE LIST GOES ON...
What I'm trying to say is, unless your speaking specifically about HDMI, there's really not a lot left to be desired that can't be had from these phones until Honeycomb hits.
I mean, CM even supports SIP accounts natively...among the millions of other small details that are so amazing.
Even DLNA can be had through a simple app...what's left for you to want so badly that your phone cannot do already?
My point is, is that most devs are not going start over from scratch just for the heck of it, when something so close to optimum potential has already been reached.
Sent from my 4G-Toting, Lightning Smoking, Gingerfied, Cyanogenmodded EVO: Please stand back!
Itotally disagree. I mean, some, yeah, you're right, but look at the mods done to the more popular roms. Not just theming but tweaks, custome apps, etc.
What more do you want form a ROM?
And while, true, some people are married to CM, some are more into Senseui, some Miui.
Everyone has different tastes, and from what I se eon here, there's something for just about everyone.
Thread moved to General.
As per your questions, devs make roms based on their personal taste and, in many cases, general feedback from the users. There are many plain, stock rooted roms out there, and many tutorials in case you want to make your own as well. Also, you can easily theme any rom to your liking. I hope this answers your concern.
i think the ROM's on the evo are pretty strong. My criteria is, do the majority if not all ROM's improve upon stock? Yes. Do the majority if not all the dev's support their ROM's and upgrade in a timely manner? Yes Do the majority if not all the dev's have themes/mods available for their ROMS? Yes. Are there more than one style of ROM's to choose? YES 1. Sense 2. AOSP - MIUI 3. AOSP - CM 4. AOSP - Liquid metal
easedrop said:
I just wanted to get a feel/consensus on peoples opinion of the third party rom scene for the EVO. I started my XDA days back with a tilt, and have been loyal to HTC since then.
The EVO is simply the best phone out there at the moment, IMO. But the roms seem to be very lacking in actual substance and it's a bit disappointing.
Almost every rom I've looked at here has been so customized and themed they are really just eyesores. It was normal on all my other devices to have some of the roms that were being produced be like this, but not all. I've been really impressed in the past with HTC roms. Dutty is one of my favorites.
The only 2 current exceptions I've found are CM and Fresh, and since some of us refuse to use sense, it really only leaves one choice.
CM is awesome, and the work that goes into it is really really amazing. There isn't a bunch of customization to the UI, it's left up to you what you want to do for how your phone looks. It's a rock solid foundation to build upon, and it would be awesome to see more roms in that form.
Thoughts? Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are way more. Click my signature and you'll see
my EVO is way cooler than yours
Except your link is broken...
easedrop said:
Am I missing something?
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Click to collapse
Yes. MIUI.
the OP ... is expectiong way too much....
you do relize for most.. this is a good little hobby..
so is done around free time...
you want more... you do it! I dont have the skills to even try.
I do appreciate the ones that can... and do.
there are a lot of phones out in the market. and not all phones even have a dev community.. and if they do, it aint that big.
so there are different levels of dev support from phone to phone.
EVO, is way up there in the level of quality devs and community support.
Fixed my sig, forgot i changed the link. But there are a Sh*t ton of choices, my count is at 144 thus far
_MetalHead_ said:
Yes. MIUI.
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+1... this.
I've had 4 Android phones:
Evo
G2
MyTouch 3g Slide
Moto Cliq
This forum has more roms, kernels, mods, themes, etc than all 3 of my prior phones combined. Every time I hit the dev section I'm a kid in the candy store. There's fully functioning roms that work with everything and a few that I'm excited to see get better, like MIUI getting 4g.
There's very few phones out there with this much dev support, my friend has an LG vortex. Go find the LG vortex section of the forums. They don't exist.
My point, you have to do some digging but there's something here for everyone. If there isn't, make it! We could always use another dev to try to topple the big dogs.

CYANOGEN MOD, reinventing the wheel?

Hi, at the risk of starting a massive flame war, please dont, I'm just after information...
Being that the S2 stock ROM is already pretty good and we already have a number of decent ROM alternatives I am wonder what else CYANOGEN is going to bring to the party.
I have read all the spiel so I am not looking for the usual answers, what advantages exactly does it have, will it have, say over COGNITION when COGNITION Is fully working with video, games etc etc and has decent battery life. Doesn't have the CM7 messaging but I prefer K9 stock anyway.
I am also surprised that people are already using CM7 looking at the amount of DEV that still needs done.
I tried a CYANOGEN port on my old HD2 and I was left thinking what all the fuss was about, i'm probably missing something huge here, or CYANOGEN is really for advanced users or something.
Again, please keep this thread clean and calm
Please just go through the threads and read. It's all there. I won't rewrite the book. In short though, think a year from now. Cognition is based on stuff samsung released. What happens when samsung moves on? Cm7 will still be pushing the latest goodies.
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I'm not going to lie I never understood the hype of cyanogen rom. I have also tried with an hd2 and wasn't blew away and didn't see anything special. I think cyanogen mod is for people looking for aosp.
I have much respect for that team though because as far as I know there roms are built from ground up. Unlike most custom roms sgs2 have are really just themed stock roms with a couple tweaks.
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you should probably stop wasting space here and go to cyanogen's site and read what it is about. if it doesnt interest you after that you dont have to think about it ever again. no need for threads like this, it just makes you look bad because you obviously have not spent any time researching and educating yourself before asking this question.
Isn't Android reinventing the wheel? iPhone was here first, and Android is just duplicating iPhone functionality. Google should shut down the Android project immediately.
da.trute said:
i'm probably missing something huge here, or CYANOGEN is really for advanced users or something.
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Click to collapse
Bingo!!! Some of us don't want to use crapware installed by the manufacturer who is really not a software expert, just a hardware expert, and want to come as close to the stock Android experience as possible. For me personally, things like hold volume button to skip to next song, switch between percentage battery and analog battery anytime you want, a very advanced OS theming engine which doesn't require you to flash anything to change the theme, always being on the bleeding edge of new Android releases/bugfixes etc. is the icing on top of the cake.
However, it's really about the excitement of checking the commit logs of the nightlies everyday to see what's new.
Yeah I never understood what the hype was all about either, don't get me wrong its a great aosp Rom and I give the devs a world of credit, but it feels like a number of things are just incomplete.
It has a few features that aren't found on most roms and runs quick as Hell, but if your looking for an in depth user friendly experience I would not say that this is the best for that as it lacks a lot of simple things you might be used to if your coming from a sense or some other kind of based rom
All I can really say is back yourself up and give it a try for a day or two and if you don't like it then just go back.
CM has only just come out, and is far from stable, and only really should be used if you are willing to help debug or want to live on the bleeding edge
We want CM for when samsung have abandoned us.
Its always good to have options!
Each rom,whether its a "themed" stock rom, or a ground up one like CM7 offers something different.
The obvious advantage has already been mentioned - once SGS2 goes EOL for Samsung, CM7 will continue to support newer versions of Android till as long as the (very) capable phone hardware can handle it.
There are improvements... for some... e.g. the native Samsung bluetooth stack doesn't work with Wiimotes... for instance... i believe CM7 and know MIUI does...
Its really a case of... pick and choose... no1 charges for these... try...as many... if you like one... say thanks to the Rom maker... and possibly a small donation!!!... and stick with it...
Thanks everyone, thats pretty much what I thought, nothing special compared to a good feature packed cooked ROM but very useful in the future when sammy stop updating, I just thought I was missing something huge the way people get excited about it.
Will stick with COG for now until CM7 is looking fairly complete and then give it s roll.
yeah its all about when samsung abandons the device. in addition, it also is about running a fully open source ROM on your phone. once the cyan rom gets stable, each night it will be updated with a change log, so gives you the ability to constantly be seeing the fixes to the software actually running on your phone. something you dont like? commit to the code, and it may get merged into the repo. its about having total control over the device you are using, seeing every little feature, the code for it, how it works, and ability to modify it if you want.
of course it also has some good features too. but the above is what i think the point of cyan is.

[Q] Why do we need devs? [Discussion]

Hi, don't know if this should be here or in a development thread.
My question is, and I know they are very important to this community etc
Why do we need devs?
What I mean is why do the original developers of the software, such as Google, leave it at such a bad state.
When XDA dev's get hold of it, their's no limit to what it can do.
E.g. Network mods, speaker mods, speed mods, theme's, custom drivers battery mods, heat mods, the list could go on.
Why don't the develops make it as good as it could be before they release it to us?
Some simple tweaks such as the networking ones to improve browsing/download speeds, why don't they just do it in the first place? Rather than limiting their users and therefor creating the need for so many underground developers.
Don't take this in the wrong way devs, I appreciate your work, just want to hear your opinions on why you think original devs leave it at such a state, where it could be deemed unfinished or totally lacking.
The oem thinks what is best for the device while other developer may have other opinions.
Eg, Google may think a kernel running at 1.3ghz is better than 1.6 ghz which Dev may think like wise. Also, the Google wanted promote cloud tech, and hence does not allow otg but Dev can unlock this feature.
Dev are there to do things not permit by company
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
sinple said:
The oem thinks what is best for the device while other developer may have other opinions.
Eg, Google may think a kernel running at 1.3ghz is better than 1.6 ghz which Dev may think like wise. Also, the Google wanted promote cloud tech, and hence does not allow otg but Dev can unlock this feature.
Dev are there to do things not permit by company
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
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Hey
Thanks for the reply, and I want this to be more of a discussion than answers
I don't understand why companies do it though.
And OTG is allowed for non-rooted devices. Just some of its features arent, if you get that. Like a mouse and keyboard works un-rooted, by a HDD doesnt.
I'm just curious as to why some of the devs here, such as Faux and Xmoo, havent got jobs at Google so they can teach them a thing or to. They know what the consumer actually wants, and pay attention to the needs of the tech enthusiast.
There is an diference between normal state and improved state. Its better. 1.3ghz processor runing normal and cooler than a 1.6ghz that could get warm and gives some trouble.
Im just glad that its not a locked device giving ours beloved devs the chance to improve it.
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maztahbr said:
There is an diference between normal state and improved state. Its better. 1.3ghz processor runing normal and cooler than a 1.6ghz that could get warm and gives some trouble.
Im just glad that its not a locked device giving ours beloved devs the chance to improve it.
Sent from my LG-P500 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
I see your point
Basically "Better Safe than Sorry" right?
Exactly!
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How do you not see a need for developers?
Sent From My Toro+ via White Tapatalk
It's because people have preferences. And some people just like to tinker with their stuff.
The basic argumentative of yours seemed to be "if it's good enough, then we only need one". But, see , there is nothing in the world that's "best" enough to outsweep everything else. It's always nice to have options
I wouldn't say the stock rom and kernel is bad or "not enough" so the devs have to step out. I think google guys do a great job on stock rom. It's just nice for us users to have some other choices to play with.
In some sense it's kind of like buying flours. We wouldn't say,"well, if this brand of flours is good enough, we only need one brand in the world. Why so many brands out there?" Because different brands might grow in different places, use different breeds of wheats, have different moistures, use different ways to grind them, therefore different flavors. You simpy can't say anything would be that good that one is enough.
There is no limitation in improvement and imagination, and I think that's what devs here are doing.
The devs do amazing work, if only XDA was a tech company.
I know I won't be popular for saying this but I have tried a lot of different roms on a lot of different devices and in my experience it is best to stick with the stock rom, since custom roms inevitably have flaws which only present themselves at the most inopportune moments.
There's a reason why stock roms ship in the condition they're in; it's because all the variables are tried and tested and because a shed load of time has gone in to developing the software to work perfectly with the hardware. Dev's seem to have a knack of improving the software in some conditions at the expense of breaking it in others.
As an example, I once loaded a very popular custom rom onto a handset because everyone was raving about how good it was. Several days later I was at a wedding and took my handset out to snap some photos, only to realise that the camera didn't work in a certain configuration with this rom. The bug wasn't documented and the result was that I couldn't take any photos.
All too often this sort of thing happens; you'll read threads about the latest and greatest rom and how fast it is etc etc, only to then come across a comment about someone whose wifi keeps disconnecting, or someone whose battery life has halved and so on.
It's a bit like switching to Ubuntu from Windows, Ubuntu is fine if you like tinkering but if you want to get **** done, stick with Windows.
Happy to eat my words if someone recommends a fully working rom which is a genuine improvement over the stock rom.
Development can go on forever. My HTC inspire is two years old, and development is still going forward thanks to great devs (randomblame). Big companies just build for the masses. Devs tweak for us geeks that are always looking for more.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda app-developers app
Switchbitch said:
I know I won't be popular for saying this but I have tried a lot of different roms on a lot of different devices and in my experience it is best to stick with the stock rom, since custom roms inevitably have flaws which only present themselves at the most inopportune moments.
There's a reason why stock roms ship in the condition they're in; it's because all the variables are tried and tested and because a shed load of time has gone in to developing the software to work perfectly with the hardware. Dev's seem to have a knack of improving the software in some conditions at the expense of breaking it in others.
As an example, I once loaded a very popular custom rom onto a handset because everyone was raving about how good it was. Several days later I was at a wedding and took my handset out to snap some photos, only to realise that the camera didn't work in a certain configuration with this rom. The bug wasn't documented and the result was that I couldn't take any photos.
All too often this sort of thing happens; you'll read threads about the latest and greatest rom and how fast it is etc etc, only to then come across a comment about someone whose wifi keeps disconnecting, or someone whose battery life has halved and so on.
It's a bit like switching to Ubuntu from Windows, Ubuntu is fine if you like tinkering but if you want to get **** done, stick with Windows.
Happy to eat my words if someone recommends a fully working rom which is a genuine improvement over the stock rom.
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Click to collapse
CM7 for the G2 is LOADS better than the stock HTC rom.
Android is a platform of options, our developers help give you more options. They allow you complete control over the hardware YOU purchased, keep you updated on the most recent version of Android, and let you tweak to your heart's desire. Microsoft and Apple lock you in, it's their way or the highway. But Android and it's developers give you the ability to say "I don't like this, and I'm going to change it".
Switchbitch said:
I know I won't be popular for saying this but I have tried a lot of different roms on a lot of different devices and in my experience it is best to stick with the stock rom, since custom roms inevitably have flaws which only present themselves at the most inopportune moments.
There's a reason why stock roms ship in the condition they're in; it's because all the variables are tried and tested and because a shed load of time has gone in to developing the software to work perfectly with the hardware. Dev's seem to have a knack of improving the software in some conditions at the expense of breaking it in others.
As an example, I once loaded a very popular custom rom onto a handset because everyone was raving about how good it was. Several days later I was at a wedding and took my handset out to snap some photos, only to realise that the camera didn't work in a certain configuration with this rom. The bug wasn't documented and the result was that I couldn't take any photos.
All too often this sort of thing happens; you'll read threads about the latest and greatest rom and how fast it is etc etc, only to then come across a comment about someone whose wifi keeps disconnecting, or someone whose battery life has halved and so on.
It's a bit like switching to Ubuntu from Windows, Ubuntu is fine if you like tinkering but if you want to get **** done, stick with Windows.
Happy to eat my words if someone recommends a fully working rom which is a genuine improvement over the stock rom.
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Click to collapse
On non nexus devices I would agree. All of the aosp ROMs on my fascinate and d2g had serious issues that really couldn't be overlooked and made the phone unusable on a daily basis.
On the other hand, ROMs on my Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 are a huge improvement over stock. CM is always a solid choice.
I haz no sig
I can't believe no one has explicitly mentioned this...Google and other OEMs have a responsibility towards their shareholders and the market, whereas "devs" (like on xda) have no such responsibility; this makes a huge difference in process and result. As an example, theres a hack for the n7 to get the sony bravia engine, which is kinda nice, but there is no way that sony is going to let google do that legally is there? OEMs have to do things proper and legal.
The biggest difference though, is one already alluded to in this thread previous (imo), testing. Now CM actually does go through a LOT of testing and so on, but there is a sense in which Google's (or other OEMs) hands are tied due to deadlines, whilst CM has no such thing. While it is perfectly understandable for CM to go "here is CM10, btw its beta, but have at it" to the whole world after months of testing, I'm sure if Google did that people would be pissed, because Google releases to general market, they have strict deadlines based on internal product cycles and market variables and shareholder crap , but most of all people EXPECT market products to be rock solid, whereas its okay for something like CM to be broken sometimes. The reason n7 runs at 1.3 in stock and not 1.6 like some other ROM is likely because the company that made the processor probably told google something like "based on our testing 1.3 is the safest speed", people OC all the time, even desktops etc, but there is a "this is what it was MEANT to do according to the dudes who made it" thing.
But, at the end of the day there is no such thing as 'best' which is likely the reason we have SO MANY ROMs and not just the one, doing different things.
The devs are here because people like their devices to do different things and think they can make them better, myself I love to tweak things and so do the devs. Myself I just like to run CM10 on my N7, at least until its stable then I may try out the other ROMs. Also without the devs I wouldn't be able to run my CPU at 500 MHz over what its sold at and same thing with the GPU.
Determining when the development is "done" is subjective. And companies can only support their product in a limited time. Therefore, we need developers to continue where they left.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

[Q] COMPLETELY Bugless ROM?

Hi, simple question really, and shouldn't be too hard to answer for all you flashaholics out there !
All I want, is a completely bugless custom ROM, not bothered about much else. For me customisation etc comes last, bugs is my main priority.
As I always think I've found a good ROM, read into it and see an array of issues ranging from Faulty Wifi to Gyro's not working etc.
Thanks in advanced !
All software has bugs. Doesn't matter who makes it. It's not just features that get added with incremental OS updates. Contains more bugfixes than features in most situations.
goofball2k said:
All software has bugs. Doesn't matter who makes it. It's not just features that get added with incremental OS updates. Contains more bugfixes than features in most situations.
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Click to collapse
I don't think this is generally true, obviously software has glitches, that aren't necessarily bugs. I'm talking bug's that effect the devices performance and overall scope of technology.
Hense I stated stuff such as Data connections not working, Gyro's being broken, SOD's and what not.
I want a nice, smooth bugless ROM, can't be too much to ask?
Most bug's from the devs here come from trying to add to much (IMO) whereas I just want a clean, simple and bugless ROM to use as my daily driver.
For now, I think I'll stick with Stock unless I get some recommendations !
Xda devs push the bounds of these android builds beyond where they were meant to go. That entails adding bits and pieces of code that may add some bugs to the software while delivering unique abilities to the OS. Its a tradeoff so yes, I think asking for a bug less ROM that isn't stock is to much to ask. I think asking for anything is asking to much in fact. These devs do this in their free time and to complain and or lament about their efforts not being good enough is exactly the opposite of what XDA is founded upon. If you want something that "just works" then buy an iPad or go back to stock jellybean. This is a development website, if that fundamental point is going over your head then you need to find your kicks elsewhere.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
johnrippa said:
Xda devs push the bounds of these android builds beyond where they were meant to go. That entails adding bits and pieces of code that may add some bugs to the software while delivering unique abilities to the OS. Its a tradeoff so yes, I think asking for a bug less ROM that isn't stock is to much to ask. I think asking for anything is asking to much in fact. These devs do this in their free time and to complain and or lament about their efforts not being good enough is exactly the opposite of what XDA is founded upon. If you want something that "just works" then buy an iPad or go back to stock jellybean. This is a development website, if that fundamental point is going over your head then you need to find your kicks elsewhere.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
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Click to collapse
You've totally mislaid the point, I'm not complaining about the current ROM's out their as yes, like you said they push the boundaries which could cause bug's.
Asking for a bugless customer ROM isn't to much to ask for at all mate, and you clearly don't check enough of this forum, as for example on the HOX their are a couple of custom ROM's, like the Stock with no bug's but speed and performance enhancements.
I think you need to read and digest what I have already written, as I think you'll find you've taken this right out of context.
Who are you my Dad?
Wilks3y said:
Hi, simple question really, and shouldn't be too hard to answer for all you flashaholics out there !
All I want, is a completely bugless custom ROM, not bothered about much else. For me customisation etc comes last, bugs is my main priority.
As I always think I've found a good ROM, read into it and see an array of issues ranging from Faulty Wifi to Gyro's not working etc.
Thanks in advanced !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your primary concern is having the fewest amount of bugs (yes there are always bugs in software, some more obvious than others) then stick with stock Android on your Nexus 7. This is not a slam against any developers or distros, it is just the simple reality that comes from the fact that Google pays people to work on Android, and other developers work on their roms in their personal time. In the end, it's all personal choice and what works for me may not be what's best for you.
comminus said:
If your primary concern is having the fewest amount of bugs (yes there are always bugs in software, some more obvious than others) then stick with stock Android on your Nexus 7. This is not a slam against any developers or distros, it is just the simple reality that comes from the fact that Google pays people to work on Android, and other developers work on their roms in their personal time. In the end, it's all personal choice and what works for me may not be what's best for you.
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Click to collapse
Im in the same boat with you, I think the dev's here are brilliant, and really should be appreciated for their work. I am not mocking/having a go or anything else along those lines.
MaXimus ROM for HOX is better than stock, with no bug's and great performance boost etc.
All I wanted to know was, does one exist for the Nexus, sheesh kebab !
I am using eclipse build 3 and nitro provides a nice combination of customization and stability. Nitro is known to provide a very stable rom always easy to make a back up and try a new rom. You can always find the latest for eclipse on eclipserom.com
Hope this helps I was a flashaholic until I started using eclipse. Nitro also provides his own kernel and has been running great for me
Care to link me mate?
And thanks for a USEFUL reply.
obviously ur definition of "bugs" is different from the majority of people here..
i have yet to run into a "bugless" rom myself.. if u think any rom is "bugless", its probably that u have not used it thoroughly enough..
the only way to get an answer to ur question is to try out all those custom ROMs urself, and select the one with the least, or according to ur definition, no "bugs"..
another useless answer.. i know.. just like the question itself..
http://eclipserom.com/vforum/showth...ouper-Build-3-Welcome-to-the-Dark!!-(10-27-12)
Just make sure to make a nano back up before flashing that way if you do not like you can always go back. Happy flashing
---------- Post added at 06:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:55 PM ----------
I have not ran bug less beast ROM on my n7 but it was very stable also on my gnex. Just a clean stock feel with some small changes. I like eclipse because of the stability and customization. But if eclipse is not for you try another that's the great thing about having a nexus don't like it just restore your stock back up.
Wilks3y said:
Im in the same boat with you, I think the dev's here are brilliant, and really should be appreciated for their work. I am not mocking/having a go or anything else along those lines.
MaXimus ROM for HOX is better than stock, with no bug's and great performance boost etc.
All I wanted to know was, does one exist for the Nexus, sheesh kebab !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Stock. 'nuff said.
Rootbrain
Bugless pete. Clue is in te name.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Currently using....
Eclipse and Rasbeanjelly without all the issues some seem to encounter on a routine basis. There are just way to many variables for me just not to flash and monitor how my tablet performs. Of all the ROMs I've tried I find I rarely encounter the amount or severity of issues being discussed. Maybe I'm just not what many here would consider a power user, but my use of my laptop and netbook have decreased dramatically! :laugh:

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