Related
I'm sure you can tell by my post count i'm fairly new to this G1/Android craze.
Actually, I don't even have one, yet. But my wife wants to move from nokia to G1.
I currently have an iPhone, and, after jailbreaking, is an excellent phone.
But it has it's problems. For example, no Linux support (at least not officially, and not good enough).
And why is Linux important? My wife has a Linux laptop (work laptop).
Anyway. I have read and have seen there is a thread telling not to ask for "best ROM", so i read some more, and there are a lot of links, but i can not seem to find one that can help me.
I went to the Androidspin database, and for G1 alone, there are 120 ROMs!!!!!
So, what are the ROMS that more closely fit this "requirements"?:
1) Stability. My wife is not very technical, so i want this to be smooth.
2) Speed. I love visuals, but i rather have a responsive phone.
3) Usability. The most feature rich gadget is useless if i have to take a course in physics to use it.
4) Internet. Browsing, MS Messenger, etc.
5) Applications. Access to the Android market is very much welcome.
6) Google. Synchronization with google apps in general, gmail, docs, etc, is very much welcome.
7) Skype. This would be a very "nice to have".
Lets just finish by saying that my wife would be using it unlocked on Argentina, not T-Mobile, so i think no 3G, but only wi-fi, because of bands compatibility.
So, which 5-10 ROMs should i try?
Thanks, for any help.
well if you want stable rom. you gotta go with cyanogen. his latest stable is 4.2.15.1. but you hav to have the phone rooted.
SuperD is the fastest and most responsive, and in my experience, is also more stable than Cyanogen.
Thanks. I know i have to root them, yes.
What about OpenEclair?
If you want a stable 2.1 ROM, cyanogen's 5.0.7-test1 is fast and responsive. I've only used it for a few days, but stability seems good.
I have been rooting and hacking since the phone first came out in Oct 2008. I love everything android, Cyanogen, google, HTC, modding etc etc. I know I am going to take a lot of crap for this from my fellow hackers, flashers, and modders, but your first requirement:
1) Stability. My wife is not very technical, so i want this to be smooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
made me think of only one option for you (and her)....stay with stock roms that are officially supported and receive OTA updates.
I know that you would probably be doing all of the modding of her phone since she is not technical but you will not always be with her and altered ROMs can act up despite the best efforts of all the great developers that contribute to Android. Stay with stock and I have a feeling you will thank me later.
~DM
It depends on what you are doing. You need a “recovery image” which, as I get it, is just like a back up of your O.S. You have your choice of many here and elsewhere.
I think if you go over to the unlockr.com it’s pretty well spelled out. Figure out where you’re at and where you want to be, and proceed accordingly.
(It’s all here to but a little confusing to me)
Regards, PK
Thanks for responses.
In your experience, what are the most common crazy things a ROM does, when not the stock one, besides maybe hunging?
I would go with Cyanogen's last "stable" release. Judging from my fiance's response to my phone, I think she would be happier with it rooted to just have a speed boost available. The stock G1 is incredibly slow compared to a Cyanogen build mainly because it runs below the processor's capability until you root it and change the setting. Also, there is very little onboard memory and Apps2SD is a life saver for the G1. Basically it allows you to save your applications on the SD card but then your phones relies on the speed of the SD card. Even then, the G1 has a lot of hang ups that an impatient person may have issues with.
I think another android phone may be better for you if it is in your price range. The G1 has really turned in to a gadget to tinker with due to its lackluster hardware. I love my G1 because it is the ultimate gadget that I can recreate on a monthly basis but my fiance HATES it for that same reason.
Judging from Cyanogen's latest experimental build I may have to eat my words. It runs incredibly smooth but still has some bugs to work out.
Cyanogen seems to have some of the more stable roms but i'd definitely search the forums a little more
Super D...
cyanogen use to do a half boot sounds weird but it would go to the animated bootscreen. load. and then go right back into the app i was running . i think it may have something to do with my phone itself
but
most feature full= cyanogen
fastest most stabel= super d
i switch between the two often enough to recommend both
I would then be trying both, SuperD and Cyanogen.
Thanks.
They’re all a little screwy and it varies from phone to phone. I just swapped from super D to Cyanogen 5.07. Neither works my camera (Cyanogen admits to not havening zoom features). (In my case, I probably have a hardware prob.).
Read the associated threads to see what you can live with.
PK
I the G1 gets Android 2.1 or 2.2, i would probably leave it like that for my wife.
The problem is that it is at 1.6 only.
cyanogen 5 is running 2.1 although its still in it's experimental stage (give it a week or so).
but seriously just get amon ra's recovery running and teach her to flash roms....... it's quite an addiction (as long as she can follow instructions she will be fine)
how about "TheOfficial Donut"
it's in here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=538456
It's fast, very stable and feels genuine
I recommend flashing the addons
According to the ROMs thread, the best one is SuperFast 1.3.3 RHJ.
All is 5 (excellent)
I have tried many different roms but SuperFast 1.3.3 RHJ is my daily use rom. I have not had any issue with it. It looks awesome. Has the new anderwebs launcher. The only issue that you might run into is that it uses ramhack which might slow down gaming.
Definitely recommend it. It gets 3.6 avg in linpack!
I want to try SuperFast 1.3.3 RHJ now, and probably later on, SuperD and Cyanogen.
I have so far downgraded the G1, and was able to activate it without a data plan.
Now, i have not installed anything.
I was going to install the recovery image, and was wondering if i should install the Cyanogen one, or the Death one (or something scary like that).
Also, i don't know if i have to upgrade other parts of the phone first, like the RADIO, etc.
This is how it is today:
PVT 32B
HBOOT-0.95.0000
CPLD-4
RADIO-1.22.12.29
Model Number T-Mobile G1
Firmware 1.0
Baseband 62.33.20.08H_1.22.12.29
Kernel 2.6.26-01843-gfea26b0
Build kila-user 1.0 TC4-RC29 115247
Comments?
EDIT: so far, with the stock firmware, my wife is pretty happy (but i want SuperFast at least )
Hey guys, I have been using smart phones for a while and usually get around great without rooting. I had the HTC Dream back in the day and couldnt use it without rooting, lol. I am upgrading from the G1 which has met the end of the road for me. What are the benefits of rooting? With the Vibrant which I will finally have on Tuesday, is it necessary? And if it is HIGHLY recommended, how do I go about rooting it?
i would say root it cause its really easy takes not even 5 minutes seriously lol but i would also root it cause there is lots of bloatware on this thing so many apps that arent needed
I am not generally a rooter but this one seemed so easy (and it is) that I did it.
I didn't root the phone to dig into the files, I did it just so I could install stuff that I couldn't otherwise install. It bugged me to see a cool app and then read "YOU MUST HAVE ROOT ACCESS". That's not a problem anymore.
You certainly don't lose anything by rooting so I would say go for it.
Any other disadvantages/advantages
really there are no disadvantages accept maybe warranty but i think theres a way to unroot so no probs but once everything starts picking up there will be way more advantages than disadvantages
Besides the fact of removing awful apps (Bloatware), you can use your phone to tether. Also you can use an app called SetCPU to overclock your processor to actaully use your 1GHZ processor which speeds your phone up, along with a ton of other root apps. Youll be able to flash custom ROMS, flash themes, etc. Not sure if there is a volume hack for the vibrant yet, but that has been a reason for past rooted phones as well.
I highly recommend it...
AdFree Android removes nearly all ads from websites and apps
reasons to root
1. Use apps that require root access (such as Titanium Backup and Drocap2)
2. Remove preloaded bloatware (who needs TeleNav when Google Maps Navigation is totally free?)
3. Full access to filesystem (useful for developers and general tinkerers)
reasons not to root
1. Always involves some risk (however small) of irreversibly damaging your device
2. Could void warranty or official support
3. Makes it easier for you to accidentally mess up your system.
I only rooted my mytouch and g1 phones so i can get apps2sd, wi-tethering, and overclockcpu.
however, since the upcoming froyo update will allow most of that, i chose not to root for the time being. the phone is very fast and stable for my current needs and has an ample amount of internal memory. the only other reason to root for me would be to flash roms/themes because of my dislike for Samsung's TouchWiz.
it depends on what you ultimately want to get out of your phone.
ryan562 said:
I only rooted my mytouch and g1 phones so i can get apps2sd, wi-tethering, and overclockcpu.
however, since the upcoming froyo update will allow most of that, i chose not to root for the time being. the phone is very fast and stable for my current needs and has an ample amount of internal memory. the only other reason to root for me would be to flash roms/themes because of my dislike for Samsung's TouchWiz.
it depends on what you ultimately want to get out of your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me i had the g1 loved to root however i switched to unlocked iphone and now im back with the vibrant , the vibrant does everything i want now and the ease of the rooting might have me root if froyo is delayed by Tmobile or something.
Understood, also from reading I dont think there is a way to unroot the phone at all is it? And another ? since you all are being so helpful, is there already an app to at least see what speed your processor is running at. i know that task managers arent really needed, but some of them showed ur cpu speed as well as the load on it. is that something that anyone had an interest in and found. thanks for all of you all's help
Hmm, still debating on rooting. Waiting for my Froyo update. Plus I want to port my Harley-Davidson theme I made for my G1 to Vibrant. Hopefully they don't use those CRAMS files on Vibrant, cause that is when I had to stop themeing my G1. CRAMS was too difficult to mess with. Is the signing file method gonna be the same as G1, or is there a different testsign file? Plus I hope to see my stock file, plus a thinned down, less bloatware file, and themeing templates. So many factors to consider.
I say ROOT! I've never rooted a phone till this one. I just couldn't stand all the bloatware that was in this phone. They just had to be removed. Now all I'm waiting for are some sick ass ROMs I've seen done for other devices to hit this one. I'm sure I'll need help doing so, but this community has been fantastic when help is needed.
Plus side for me is that I also have a 3 week old New still in the box Nexus One as a backup phone in case I screw this one up.
I rooted mine because people kept saying you could tether, but none of the tethering apps actually WORK. They install fine, and Wireless-Tethering says it's working, but the access point never shows up. And Wired-Tethering says the kernel isn't compatible.
So I'd like to hear from any rooted users who actually got them working AND successfully tethered a laptop with it.
talltexan said:
Same for me i had the g1 loved to root however i switched to unlocked iphone and now im back with the vibrant , the vibrant does everything i want now and the ease of the rooting might have me root if froyo is delayed by Tmobile or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if there's any delay on the froyo update, i'd blame it on samsung
I was hoping not to have to root the phone so soon - especially until I could reset it back and a recover like Amon's is available, but after a glorious couple of days of honeymoon, the lags are just killing the experience for me. And I don't think I have a choice now, but to root. I'll try a general reset and see if it works. I have another Vibrant that seems to be only slightly laggy. But I have to return that one and keep the problematic one :-(
Even moving icons on the desktop now takes almost 2 second. Linpack still clocks at 8.5. No problem at all playing a video - just OS operations. The camera froze for 5 minutes and I finally had to just restart the phone. Restarting the phone is not painful on this device though. Very fast.
At this time so early in Vibrant development.. it honestly doesn't really make much of a difference if you root early or root later. Just enjoy the phone for what it is as of right now until the modding community becomes settled in. Just be aware if there are any incoming OTAs if you are unrooted to make sure that the OTA didn't do anything that would change the rooting process.
- Recovery (ability to flash custom ROMs) is in the making
- Custom ROM developers -- in the makes soon
So here's the question. Should I go ahead and invest on a Vibrant (but work for it will begin when I get the Slide done) cont... about 7 hours ago via HTC Peep
If I keep getting the donations I am now, I can get the laptop along with the Vibrant, just considering the Vibrant first ...cont about 7 hours ago via HTC Peep -WesGarner
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would personally go ahead and root it to unlock some essential applications and it takes <1 minute to do and its pretty simple. But there isn't any rush to root it now or later.. not at least CyanogenMod6 (Android 2.2) gets released for this beastly phone to have JIT.
nm found it
N8QDogg said:
Understood, also from reading I dont think there is a way to unroot the phone at all is it? And another ? since you all are being so helpful, is there already an app to at least see what speed your processor is running at. i know that task managers arent really needed, but some of them showed ur cpu speed as well as the load on it. is that something that anyone had an interest in and found. thanks for all of you all's help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the root method given so far, I think the only thing you have to do to unroot it is to remove Superuser Permissions. That's the only thing that the root procedure added to the phone.
I'm rooting my phone when I get it, just because to me (at least) it is a part of the true android experience. I'm just geek enough to like to play with my equipment! Hurry up T-Mobile!!!
Hi people,
I am a noob as far as Android goes, but I am pretty good at PC stuff. I run a 3D CAD department and I've been the "unofficial" tech guy at every job I've had in the last 10 years.
That being said, I just got the HTC Hero from Sprint last weekend, Android 2.1, update 1. I have always wanted to play with Linux but have never really had the time. So, this is my first encounter with Android or Linux.
So ..... , as much as I'd love to root the phone, I'm afraid to brick it. Is there any way to get rid of all the bloatware without rooting my phone? Also, what are the chances of bricking the phone? I've read a couple "how to root" articles on the net and it doesn't seem like it would be that hard, but I LOVE this phone so far (other than battery life) and I honestly can't afford to go buy a new one at full price if I end up killing my phone.
Another question; I've seen a few people in other posts who have the HTC Hero and say they're running 2.2. How is this done? Is this something else that I would need to root the phone to accomplish?
Also, I just ordered an 8GB microSD card. My laptop has a card slot, so I'm figuring I can put the new card in the slot, connect my phone via USB, and copy everything on the phone to the new 8GB card, then just swapping the cards.
Am I correct thinking this should be as simple as it sounds, or is there more involved?
I appreciate you taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to reading/posting here on a regular basis.
Thanks,
Eric Mortenson
Hey, welcome to XDA!
It is VERY HARD to brick this phone, so don't worry....about the only way we've seen that is by flashing a GSM radio to it, so just don't do that and you'll be fine trying anything else.
There are a couple rooting methods here, and there won't be any problems at all as long as you follow the instructions. It's not as daunting as it may first seem. You do have to root to get rid of bloatware, it can't be done without rooting. I recommend this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=694572 although there are 'one-click' and 'universal' methods out there too.
The ones running Android 2.2 are doing it through a custom ROM called Cyanogenmod. Check out the Development section to find it. It doesn't have the HTC Sense UI though, so it will look and feel different than your stock 2.1. But lots of people here are using it and loving it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=755795
And yes, you should just be able to swap out the SD cards with no problems.
chromiumleaf
Thanks for the quick and helpful reply. It is greatly appreciated.
I think I am going to try to root my phone. Pre-installed "bloatware" on PCs is one of my biggest pet peeves. So, the biggest reason I have right now for rooting my phone is to get rid of the stuff I don't want/need/use.
I will probably leave the 2.1 on the phone because I love the phone so far and if as you say, it will look and feel different. Maybe I'll keep digging through the site and change my mind later. Thanks for the "heads up".
Please do me one favor, and I hate to sound ignorant (I did say earlier I was new at this), but what does "flashing a GSM radio to it" mean, and is it something I could do my mistake?
Sorry, tried doing a search so I wouldn't have to bother you but I'm just not sure.
Thanks again.
Eric
Eric_1966_FXE said:
...what does "flashing a GSM radio to it" mean, and is it something I could do my mistake?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To "flash" some code means to burn it into your phone's read-only memory. A number of things can be flashed to your phone's memory, including the radio operating code, high-level operating system code, and "kernel" (system "core") code.
What the poster meant by "flashing a GSM radio" is "downloading the code that operates the phone's radio". Our Sprint Hero phones have what is called CDMA radio hardware, while European Hero phones have GSM radio hardware. The two different radios are not compatible with each other's operating code. So if you ever download ("flash") the wrong radio code (GSM code) into your CDMA phone, that will render your radio inoperative, which will effectively brick your phone.
With that in mind, just read carefully any information relating to any system code you're considering flashing to your phone, and make SURE it's for a CDMA phone, and you'll be fine.
I loved sense and was all against even trying an aosp rom( vanilla/ stock android), but once I flashed CM6 and found beautiful widgets and launcher pro plus and dialer one I haven't looked back. The speed of my phone and the overall appearance is far better than Sense UI. Rooting the 2.1 is far easier than it was when I got mine. You had to download and type in a whole bunch of crap, now its as easy as installing an app and running it.
Thanks
Thank you to all three of you for your quick (and more importantly useful) answers.
You guys are awesome.
Go for it
I have 4 Hero's here at my home on a family plan,and mine is the only one running CM6-RC1 and they are all jealous. Every one that has a Hero at work or a different Android running 2.1 that has seen mine including a few Evo users loves the way mine looks and how fast it is. I thought in the beginning I wouldn't want to loose Sense and feared I would brick my phone as well,but these guys here are great and are a very supportive Hero community and walked me through the process. It is a lot easier now with the universal 1 click method than before,so that was what I did. The nice thing is if you do everything correctly,you can revert right back to you stock phone if you ever have to take it in for service.
Taking your time and researching all of this pretty good before deciding what to do is a good thing,but I can honestly say, there is so much more you can do once you unlock your phone than just downloading apps and bloat ware...you can actually make it work and do what you want it to do.
The chiefs here at XDA are working hard to bring us stable working Roms for everyday use,and I tip my hat to all of them and I certainly am loving how my Hero is now compared to what it was when it was stock.The RC-1 build I am running is awesome and (knock wood) haven't crashed 1x with it where I needed to do anything nor have I had any shutdowns or unexpected forced closed programs that were installed correctly.
So I say... Don't be afraid and just go for it.. you can still have it similar to what it is now,or you can see what aosp is all about like many here have and try it.That's the beauty of Rooting...YOU have the choice of what is on your phone..not someone else.
Good Luck
Mac
Thanks Mac
And Thank you to all who responded.
Like I said in my intro, I am a tech geek when it comes to PCs but this is my first venture into this kind of forum.
You have all been extremely helpful and have made me feel welcome.
I only hope that I can return the favor at some point to others on XDA.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.
Thanks again,
Eric
I tried to read the sticky notes and guides about "How to root a phone" or "How to install new ROM"...
But I could not find answer to some real basic questions like:
What are the differences between CM6.1, FR007 and R012? What are their andvantages and disadvantages compaired to each other?
Are there any regional or other limitations? (Expl: I can not use R012 in Europe)
What is the difference between rooting, liberating and unlocking a phone?
If my phone is provider independent do I have to root, liberate or unlock if I want to update the ROM? Do I need to do all of them or just some?
Most likely these are pretty obvious for most of you so please dont shoot me...
Thanks for the answers in advance...
CMage said:
I tried to read the sticky notes and guides about "How to root a phone" or "How to install new ROM"...
But I could not find answer to some real basic questions like:
What are the differences between CM6.1, FR007 and R012? What are their andvantages and disadvantages compaired to each other?
Are there any regional or other limitations? (Expl: I can not use R012 in Europe)
What is the difference between rooting, liberating and unlocking a phone?
If my phone is provider independent do I have to root, liberate or unlock if I want to update the ROM? Do I need to do all of them or just some?
Most likely these are pretty obvious for most of you so please dont shoot me...
Thanks for the answers in advance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Questions like these need to be asked in the General section. These are not Development related questions.
Yeah, but all of the threads related to his questions are in this forum, so I can see why he'd post them here.
To be honest, I'll be interested in the replies as well. I chose to go with CM6.1 because everyone said it was the most customizeable of the ROMs and that was what interested me. However, my battery life seems to be about half of what it was on the stock ROM and I'm not sure what's causing that. For instance, I charged my phone before I left for work last night, it was 100%, six hours later when I pulled it out for the first time, it was 79%. That seems like way too much drain for a sleeping device.
So I'm definitely open to switching to one of the other ROMs if there's good info supplied in this thread.
Actually... The difference between cm6 and liberated is the sense UI. Rooting your phone means unlocking it to be able to do things you couldn't do with a stock rom. Which means you can flash another rom to it after Rooting.
Liberating is not the correct term. The FR00x Roms are code named LIBERATED.
I can't understand the problem in differentiating these things... The forums have been very informative. I rooted and flashed my Liberty/Aria twice the second day I had it. To each his own though...
tomtommy306 said:
Actually... The difference between cm6 and liberated is the sense UI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While this is arguably the most visible difference between CM6 and the Liberated ROMs, it isn't the only difference. CM6 offers significantly (at least IMHO) more features and customization capability than the Liberated ROMs, at the cost of what some feel is a nicer look, and some HTC proprietary features.
I have run quite a few iterations of the 2.1 Liberated ROMs, quite a few of the various CM6 ROMs (nightlies etc.), and one of the early Liberated 2.2 ROMs for a couple days. Personally after switching to CM6, the lack of custom options in the HTC based ROMs is no longer acceptable for me (thus my very short stay on Liberated 2.2). However, I like tinkering with my device, so CM6 fits my wants more than the Liberated series. Others certainly may not find the same thing.
As far as battery life goes, from my experience the ROM is less of a factor than usage patterns, to include location/cell signal strength issues. I have a fairly inconsistent usage pattern, due to varying demands on my time at my job. Sometimes I have lots of time to play with my phone, other times it sits in my pocket untouched all day, or somewhere in between these extremes. I also work in varying locations, some with better service than others. To try to monitor signal strength more accurately I run my signal strength indicator in db rather than bars (an option in CM6). Maybe it is because of my strange usage patterns, but I haven't seen any significant difference in battery life between any of the ROMs I have used. A couple of examples of my experience below:
1) work location 1, signal strength -65 to -80 db typical, 3g radio on all day, about 5% per hour battery drain with minimal browsing/no phone calls/minimal messaging.
2) work location 2, signal strength -70 to -90 typical, same usage as above with 3g radio on gets me about 10% drain per hour. switch to 2g only radio, back to 5% per hour or so. No clue why there is such a difference in battery drain with fairly minimal difference in signal strength (unless maybe it's reading strength of 2g svc, and 3g is coming from a weaker more distant location??)
3) recently attended a meeting in a concrete building - entered building at 8 am with 87% battery remaining, 2g only radio on. signal strength in building -105 to -110 db (basically no signal). break from meeting at 10 am - battery now at 51%. Checked battery usage stats - cell standby used 70 something % (can't remember exact number, but way high). Sent message to my wife to call me on my work cell phone (dumb vzw phone with battery that lasts all week) and put Aria in airplane mode. battery drain from 10am to leaving meeting at 5pm was a total of 3% (48% battery left when leaving)
While I didn't really give Liberated 2.2 a chance to really stabilize, I have run Liberated 2.1 and CM6 both long enough that I feel the battery performance on each are comparable.
Sorry for so much info in a thread not really aimed at battery life specifically....
DD
Explained, hopefully
CMage said:
I tried to read the sticky notes and guides about "How to root a phone" or "How to install new ROM"...
But I could not find answer to some real basic questions like:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with all you've said, it is confusing and one needs to read a lot to understand it all. While that is time consuming, it's not a bad thing because by reading lots, we learn a lot. Answers to your questions below following the word ANSWER.
What are the differences between CM6.1, FR007 and R012? What are their andvantages and disadvantages compaired to each other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANSWER: CM is simply someones verison of a new ROM, could have different kernel, features, included tools, etc. I don't use it but believe it's based on the Android 2.2 Operating System. FR007 is the latest version of the "Liberated" ROM (Liberated simply means it was liberated-freed from the constraints of AT&T, i.e., rooted to allow mods), but has Android version 2.2 as its Operating System. R012 is another modified verison of the basic ARIA ROM, but is based on Android version 2.1 Operating System. Both of the last two were built by ATTN1.
Are there any regional or other limitations? (Expl: I can not use R012 in Europe).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANSWER: You can use them in Europe; no radio code changes, no h/w changes are made.
What is the difference between rooting, liberating and unlocking a phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANSWER: Rooting is simply "fixing" the phone so you can modify the Operating System and add new non-Market applications. AT&T releases the phone to not allow changes to be made...they don't want the hassle of people calling their tech support group. Doesn't mean we can't do it, hence this FORUM.
Liberating is not really an activity you can do; it's simply the name ATTN1 decided to call his version of his new ROM...he "liberated" it from the constraints of AT&T. Unlocking is something you need to do if a phone is locked, which some carriers do. I didn't have to do it with the ARIA, perhaps the Clockwork mod does that; I simply don't know. On one of my older HTC Microsoft based Smartphones I had to unlock it to modify the ROM.
If my phone is provider independent do I have to root, liberate or unlock if I want to update the ROM? Do I need to do all of them or just some?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANSWER: to update the ROM you need to ROOT it. Read the Sticky for ROOTING, use the one that describes building a CD ROM that runs UNIX on your PC and does the whole ROOT thing for you. Very simple to build the CD and ROOT your phone. Just follow the directions.
Nice of "cease" to take the time to give a good detailed answer!
I will just add a couple of things...
If your phone is carrier locked and you want to use it on a different carrier you will have to unlock it. This is not done by any software change, it has to be done by an unlocking service or the original carrier.
If you want to make any changes to your phone you pretty much have to root it. This will give you the choice of either adding a different ROM or making other changes. If you are like me and want to keep the stock ROM for whatever reason, you can get rid of the AT&T bloatware, install non-market apps and other stuff by various methods found throughout this forum. Installing a new ROM is an easy method to achieve these same things, but I like to figure stuff out for myself first (I just got my Aria a few days ago).
Cheers.
Cease, thanks a lot for the detailed answer. I really appreciate...
CMage said:
Cease, thanks a lot for the detailed answer. I really appreciate...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're very welcome; glad I could help.
Why unlock
ckuke4 said:
Nice of "cease" to take the time to give a good detailed answer!
I will just add a couple of things...
If your phone is carrier locked and you want to use it on a different carrier you will have to unlock it. This is not done by any software change, it has to be done by an unlocking service or the original carrier.
If you want to make any changes to your phone you pretty much have to root it. This will give you the choice of either adding a different ROM or making other changes. If you are like me and want to keep the stock ROM for whatever reason, you can get rid of the AT&T bloatware, install non-market apps and other stuff by various methods found throughout this forum. Installing a new ROM is an easy method to achieve these same things, but I like to figure stuff out for myself first (I just got my Aria a few days ago).
Cheers.
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Thank you for this; I didn't know why unlocking was ever needed. But this now makes sense given my first HTC Windows Mobile phone was purchased from a UK company (not AT&T) necessitating me to UNLOCK first before I could use it on AT&T with my AT&T SIM card.
One of the main differences is that HTC Sync is available only on Liberated yet not on CM. I like CM better yet because of that I am with Liberated F006
If you need sync with MS Outlook - Liberated is the only choice.
cease said:
ANSWER: Rooting is simply "fixing" the phone so you can modify the Operating System and add new non-Market applications. AT&T releases the phone to not allow changes to be made...they don't want the hassle of people calling their tech support group. Doesn't mean we can't do it, hence this FORUM.
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Thanks for the good info.. My wife and I really like our Arias and are actually pretty happy with the stock setup. As I understand it, if I just root the phone, I'll still have my regular stock-looking setup but, I'll be able to get rid of AT&T's built-in apps and install whatever other apps I want, correct? (I've already sideloaded a few things, but it would be nice to just be able to install what I want..)
ShinerDraft said:
Thanks for the good info.. My wife and I really like our Arias and are actually pretty happy with the stock setup. As I understand it, if I just root the phone, I'll still have my regular stock-looking setup but, I'll be able to get rid of AT&T's built-in apps and install whatever other apps I want, correct? (I've already sideloaded a few things, but it would be nice to just be able to install what I want..)
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Rooting a standard setup does not automatically give you the ability to load third party apps as AT&T has removed that option in Settings altogether. You will still have to sideload third party apps. Also rooting will allow you to remove AT&T built-in apps, just be sure you read and understand the process and procedures thoroughly.
Ok, but the three ROM's mentioned in this thread will allow me to do those things? That's not a problem, I'm just trying to get up to speed on the terminology and steps required.. I don't want to do or change too much too quickly..
cease said:
ANSWER: CM is simply someones verison of a new ROM, could have different kernel, features, included tools, etc. I don't use it but believe it's based on the Android 2.2 Operating System. FR007 is the latest version of the "Liberated" ROM (Liberated simply means it was liberated-freed from the constraints of AT&T, i.e., rooted to allow mods), but has Android version 2.2 as its Operating System. R012 is another modified verison of the basic ARIA ROM, but is based on Android version 2.1 Operating System. Both of the last two were built by ATTN1.
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So of the three ROM's in the thread title, it seems like R012 would be the closest to our current, stock setup; FR008 (update to FR007) would be be similar, but add stuff from Android 2.2; CM would be even more different since it doesn't use the Sense interface.. Right?
I don't mind experimenting with ROMs that are different than stock, but I don't want to make any drastic changes to the wife's phone. (Marital tech support can be a pain..)
ShinerDraft said:
So of the three ROM's in the thread title, it seems like R012 would be the closest to our current, stock setup; FR008 (update to FR007) would be be similar, but add stuff from Android 2.2; CM would be even more different since it doesn't use the Sense interface.. Right?
I don't mind experimenting with ROMs that are different than stock, but I don't want to make any drastic changes to the wife's phone. (Marital tech support can be a pain..)
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That sums up the three main ROMs pretty well, I'd say. If you look in the Aria Superthread you will see an organized list of the modifications you can make and step-by-step instructions for each modification.
The key thing to remember about playing with the different ROMs is that before you start installing anything, you need to make a nandroid back-up. This is a feature in ClockworkMod Recovery that is installed when you root the Aria. The beautiful thing about a nandroid back-up is that later, at any point and for any reason, you can always return your Aria back to the exact state it was in when you made that back-up. In other words, you can go right back to the basic Android 2.1 with HTC Sense that came on your Aria when you first bought it. Knowing that made it much easier for me, personally, to go ahead and start playing with my Aria. I'm very glad that I did!
Thanks for the great info! This place is pretty high-level, so basics like this are very much appreciated by folks who need to play catch-up..
911jason said:
However, my battery life seems to be about half of what it was on the stock ROM and I'm not sure what's causing that. For instance, I charged my phone before I left for work last night, it was 100%, six hours later when I pulled it out for the first time, it was 79%. That seems like way too much drain for a sleeping device.
So I'm definitely open to switching to one of the other ROMs if there's good info supplied in this thread.
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What do you get on FR008? Battery life is always one of my main concerns. I know R012 has great battery life.
I haven't personally used FR008. I did install it on two different co-worker's Arias, but my use of it in those cases was too short to evaluate the battery usage.
911jason said:
I haven't personally used FR008. I did install it on two different co-worker's Arias, but my use of it in those cases was too short to evaluate the battery usage.
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Ah I see. I'm just so lazy ;p
I'm new to rooting and I'm a middle-aged lady, so go easy
Having said that, I'm quite proud that I followed these instructions for rooting, and it worked first time and I got the magical S=off and bootloader version 0.86.0000.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=995549
I guess that was just step one. I have two key questions:
1. Even before I consider installing another ROM, I thought once I was rooted I could uninstall the TMO bloatware. However, when I go to manage apps, it's the same situation as pre-root where the uninstall option is disabled. Am I missing something (some steps).
2. What is the easiest (least techie way) to install a ROM. Is it ROM Manager from the marketplace? I don't mind the more rigorous techie approach if required but I'd just as soon keep this easy as I'm probably going to try some different ROMs until I settle on one I like.
3. Finally, thoughts on the best gingerbread ROM. Important things to me are battery life, push email, and your standard business applications. I'm not a gamer at all so could care less about overclocking.
I'm loving my Nexus S with 2.3.4 now (just manually updated) but would like to get comparable functionality on a 4G phone instead of a 3G phone.
THANKS IN ADVANCE for any tips.
You can use Titanium Backup, but make a backup of you're rom before you start removing, so I would just freeze the app in TB and go from there, also Installing any Rom its better to do it in recovery then it is to use Rom Manager, you will need Rom Manager to flash the recovery but other then that, most people use recovery to install Roms, I am not sure about the Rom, I use 2.2.1 still but theres alot of info on Roms here, just do a search or go here myTouch 4G Android Development
Also, you should seriously consider flashing the engineering bootloader...makes life much easier in the case of a soft brick...
EDIT: Just saw the last part of the question...I am on RoyalGinger and get amazing battery life...no need to overclock because it is fast and smooth right out the gate. Battery life cannot be judged within the first couple days of running the ROM...make sure to calibrate your battery.
thanks for the responses, this is going to be exciting. Like I said, not messing with my Nexus S, but wanted to try different ROMs on the mytouch 4G.
Re: >>>Also, you should seriously consider flashing the engineering bootloader...makes life much easier in the case of a soft brick...<<<
please can you point me to the xda link with instructions to do this.
Re: using Recovery mode to install ROMs, please can you also send me that xda link. Is it similar to running manual updates on the Nexus S? I do that in recovery mode. I copy the zip to the root of the sdcard and run install from recovery mode.
My husband thinks I'm crazy, but jokes that my "mobile tinkering" is cheaper than if I were interested in jewelry ;-)
fionalindberg said:
I'm new to rooting and I'm a middle-aged lady, so go easy
Having said that, I'm quite proud that I followed these instructions for rooting, and it worked first time and I got the magical S=off and bootloader version 0.86.0000.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=995549
I guess that was just step one. I have two key questions:
1. Even before I consider installing another ROM, I thought once I was rooted I could uninstall the TMO bloatware. However, when I go to manage apps, it's the same situation as pre-root where the uninstall option is disabled. Am I missing something (some steps).
2. What is the easiest (least techie way) to install a ROM. Is it ROM Manager from the marketplace? I don't mind the more rigorous techie approach if required but I'd just as soon keep this easy as I'm probably going to try some different ROMs until I settle on one I like.
3. Finally, thoughts on the best gingerbread ROM. Important things to me are battery life, push email, and your standard business applications. I'm not a gamer at all so could care less about overclocking.
I'm loving my Nexus S with 2.3.4 now (just manually updated) but would like to get comparable functionality on a 4G phone instead of a 3G phone.
THANKS IN ADVANCE for any tips.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. you can only freeze apps on the stock rom you cant uninstall them even if your rooted. you'd have to download a bloatware removed MT4G rom there are a few floating around. (basically the stock rom with a the bloat removed and zip-aligned.
2. Rom manager is an ok way of installing roms but your best is to use rom manager to boot into recovery and install the roms from there. luckily its pretty easy from CWM 3.0.2.4.
3. it seems like for your case the 2.3.3 sense roms would work the best since they are more business oriented. though there arent any right now that are running super stable. though there was a leak today of thw 2.6.35 kernel which should bring about new stuff for all the GB sense roms soon. otherwise CM7 works really well.
A few follow-on questions. I want to understand where I'm at before I proceed with installing ROMs.
So, I've been running numerous speed-tests post-root. Wow, horrible. Averaging 2 mbps down, about 1 mbps up. I admit its been a few months since I used the MT4G since I got the Nexus S, but I'm routinely getting 3-5 mbps down and 1-1.5 mbps up on the NS and that's only a 3G phone. However, I do know 2.3.3 and 2.3.4 both patched the radio so maybe that is partly why it's better than the MT4G
Any chance anything in the root process could have impacted the radio? It's actually been on Edge a few times this afternoon too.
Conversely, any ROMs that patch the radio and improve speeds?
on the MT4g the radio hasnt really been touched at all by the forums. i only noticed today that we had a choice between 3 different radios. those havent been tested so we dont know what the pluses and negatives are yet. though i can tell you that your speed will vary. where i am i get about 4 mbps on a normal basis though maybe a bit less depending on signal. i also want to ask what speed tester your using. if your using speedtest.net then i suggest you try something else cause you might want a secondary source to test from.
Installed RoyalGinger 1.06. Loving it so far. Will see how it goes at the office without charging it during the day. I installed it about 8 hours ago and batt life seems much better than native espresso from TMO. I even streamed music from Amazon cloud player for about an hour and batt barely budged. Still a bit concerned about the radios but I'll retest speeds from the office where I usually get better speeds. I did get a few download speeds of 4mbps but upload still worse than Nexus S. Not even getting 1 mbps upload!