Database Users

Stock or custom?

I am getting tired of waiting for the stock 3.1 rom now so I am starting to think about using one of the custom roms.
Have there been any performance and function comparisons between the stock rom and the custom roms?
Or do you have any good arguments either way?

The two most popular appear to be Virtuous Picasso and Virtuous Galaxy. I have been using the 1.08 version of the former for sometime and have had no issues. I thether, have gps, bluetooth, WiFi all w/out issue. If your rooted, get wild and flash them both; see which you Luke better.

I like virtuous galaxy for the the touchwiz, but there were too many broken things. Exchange didn't work, couldn't access files on my external sd card (although apps like google music seemed to be able to) and my usb keyboard didn't work. Virtuous galaxy seems to work without any issues.

I've tried them all so far, and they all have pro's and con's. They also all have bugs, which is only to be expected.
Currently, I'm running stock and, to be honest, kinda prefer it. Though I *have* rooted and added a few tweaks...

willyampz said:
I like virtuous galaxy for the the touchwiz, but there were too many broken things. Exchange didn't work, couldn't access files on my external sd card (although apps like google music seemed to be able to) and my usb keyboard didn't work. Virtuous galaxy seems to work without any issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You started off saying virtuous galaxy had too many broken things, then went on to say virtuous galaxy seems to work without issues? Maybe it's too early and I'm reading it wrong in my barely awake state, but could you clarify please? Lol

vanisleguy1976 said:
You started off saying virtuous galaxy had too many broken things, then went on to say virtuous galaxy seems to work without issues? Maybe it's too early and I'm reading it wrong in my barely awake state, but could you clarify please? Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't mean to speak for willy but I think what he was saying is that at first, Virtuous Galaxy was nice but had too many broken features but after the release this past weekend, most of the bugs are fixed.
I am using Primee which is the Asus Transformer ROM with some of the Acer items left intact. I have tried Virtuous Galaxy and UI is beautiful but I was getting a barely perceptible lag opening and closing the app drawer even after OC to 1500 and it was bugging me. I think the problem could have been one of the Samsung widgets.
I normally recommend loading a custom rom if you feel comfortable. I rooted my HTC Magic back in the early days of Android and have never looked back.

wahlis said:
I am getting tired of waiting for the stock 3.1 rom now so I am starting to think about using one of the custom roms.
Have there been any performance and function comparisons between the stock rom and the custom roms?
Or do you have any good arguments either way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should go for 3.1 stock (official acer update), works like butter and fixes problems that custom roms still have (like cell stanby) unless they are based on 3.1 stock (I'm still waiting )
Update to 3.1 stock Acer Official Update
No wipe needed or acer recovery/cwm, you don't lose your data, but it's highly recommended to backup and use recovery/cwm, through again not necesary.
Here is a change log (what's new/changed) to see if it's worth, if you do update please share with me in that thread what's new and changed so we can inform, share and encourage pleople to update to 3.1, plus if you do it now you get new OTA Acer_ A500_4.010.30_COM_GEN1 (I sound like a salesman ) who knows for how long they will keep the update

Justray said:
You should go for 3.1 stock (official acer update), works like butter and fixes problems that custom roms still have (like cell stanby) unless they are based on 3.1 stock (I'm still waiting )
Update to 3.1 stock Acer Official Update
No wipe needed or acer recovery/cwm, you don't lose your data, but it's highly recommended to backup and use recovery/cwm, through again not necesary.
Here is a change log (what's new/changed) to see if it's worth, if you do update please share with me in that thread what's new and changed so we can inform, share and encourage pleople to update to 3.1, plus if you do it now you get new OTA Acer_ A500_4.010.30_COM_GEN1 (I sound like a salesman ) who knows for how long they will keep the update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My question is,after read almost all pages of the threads about this;does this go for all devices?I have a emea_gen3..sorry if i'm being a Noob now.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll wait a while longer for the stock now. It doesn't sound like the custom roms are the kind of miracle upgrades I got to my Hero and Desire phones yet.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

booze78 said:
My question is,after read almost all pages of the threads about this;does this go for all devices?I have a emea_gen3..sorry if i'm being a Noob now.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it works, I went from EMEA_GEN3 to COM_GEN1, everything works fine, updated from .22 to .30 from OTA.
wahlis said:
Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll wait a while longer for the stock now. It doesn't sound like the custom roms are the kind of miracle upgrades I got to my Hero and Desire phones yet.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the update posted IS official, Acer one, right now those with that version are getting OTA .30 update, so as far as I know that's stock unless you mean out-of-the-box as stock.

i meant to say virtuous picasso seems to work without issues and tried to edit it after.

Justray said:
Yes it works, I went from EMEA_GEN3 to COM_GEN1, everything works fine, updated from .22 to .30 from OTA.
Actually the update posted IS official, Acer one, right now those with that version are getting OTA .30 update, so as far as I know that's stock unless you mean out-of-the-box as stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yessss,it worked.Lost root only..
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

booze78 said:
Yessss,it worked.Lost root only..
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and you can re-root
Please post here anything new you find, new issues, fixed issues, software and experience related please

Just don't forget to back up!

@Justray, you say : "Yes it works, I went from EMEA_GEN3 to COM_GEN1, everything works fine, updated from .22 to .30 from OTA."
How do you procede to go from EMEA_GEN3 to COM_GEN1?
My machine is COM_GEN1 so I'm happy. My sister who got hers in Denmark is EMEA_GEN3 and is still stuck with firmware 1.x (Android 3.0.1)... Is there a step-by-step instructions for going to COM_GEN1 for her machine?
I suspect I can then download the latest firmware manually from : code.google.com/p/acer-a500/downloads/list or use OTA like my machine?
Thanks,
Gilles.

ggravier said:
@Justray, you say : "Yes it works, I went from EMEA_GEN3 to COM_GEN1, everything works fine, updated from .22 to .30 from OTA."
How do you procede to go from EMEA_GEN3 to COM_GEN1?
My machine is COM_GEN1 so I'm happy. My sister who got hers in Denmark is EMEA_GEN3 and is still stuck with firmware 1.x (Android 3.0.1)... Is there a step-by-step instructions for going to COM_GEN1 for her machine?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too went from EMEA_GEN3 to COM_GEN1. Here is the basic low-down as to how I went about it:
* Install Acer Recovery from Market and use it to install clockworkmod.
* Download the COM_GEN1 ROM from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1176632 thread.
* Use Acer ROM Decrypter to decrypt the .zip file and extract the update.zip from there.
* Rename the update.zip to something like e.g. AcerROMcomgen1.zip and copy it on your SD card. It's important that it is on the SD, not internal storage.
* Turn off your tablet, then turn it on while keeping the volume button pressed down until you see white text appear on the tablet screen's top-left corner.
* Use clockwordmod to first make a full backup for just-in-case. I really mean it: do a full backup. You never know if you might need it later!
* Then format cache, format data/factory reset, then install zip from SD.
* Reboot.
As for navigating in clockwordmod: you use the volume button to go up or down in menus, and power button to select the menu item.

[Q] Desperately need help!!!

I have the Acer Iconia A500 tablet... a while ago, I rooted it and I am now running a rom... here are my current settings
Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_ GEN1
version 3.1
Kernel Version: 2.6.36.4 HoneyVillian-1.0+
for some reason this morning it wanted me to update my system but the update failed... when I rooted I deleted 3 of the stupid games that came with it. I am still able to boot into recovery the manual way but the tablet is not allowing me to use acer recovery app and busybox will not work either. its like I seemed to have lost root rights for some reason?
what I want to do get my tablet back to stock and exept the current update to 3.2. at this point I really don't care about re-rooting it. I just want to be able to get the update.... CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS.

ssethv said:
I have the Acer Iconia A500 tablet... a while ago, I rooted it and I am now running a rom... here are my current settings
Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_ GEN1
version 3.1
Kernel Version: 2.6.36.4 HoneyVillian-1.0+
for some reason this morning it wanted me to update my system but the update failed... when I rooted I deleted 3 of the stupid games that came with it. I am still able to boot into recovery the manual way but the tablet is not allowing me to use acer recovery app and busybox will not work either. its like I seemed to have lost root rights for some reason?
what I want to do get my tablet back to stock and exept the current update to 3.2. at this point I really don't care about re-rooting it. I just want to be able to get the update.... CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alright dude let me get this straight you have recovery access which is but do you want your rom to be a 3.2 rom or a 3.1 rom in my opinion if you want just a full on stock rom 3.2 w/ su access and root "http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1265847" ive used it before and it works great.
if you want a 3.2 full stock no su nothing and this also means you cant reroot you can try this one
"http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1277277"
my guess is use your decision making wisely dude give it a shot but it on your own terms

thank you... I will try the first link and see how that works... I just don't understand why I cant finish the update... I get the honeycomb bee with a red triangle above it

ssethv said:
thank you... I will try the first link and see how that works... I just don't understand why I cant finish the update... I get the honeycomb bee with a red triangle above it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the reason you get this issue is because the tablet is rooted and the original recovery partition is no longer there its custom , and most custom roms always have updates coming out when they notice something has updated on a rom they made. but its because you dont the original android recovery image to update with.
best of luck

crashpsycho said:
the reason you get this issue is because the tablet is rooted and the original recovery partition is no longer there its custom , and most custom roms always have updates coming out when they notice something has updated on a rom they made. but its because you dont the original android recovery image to update with.
best of luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom HV kernel as well. I'm seeing this happen a lot with ppl running stock ROMs and custom kernels.
While it's common sense to most, apparently some just don't get it.
BTW, this thread should be in Q & A, not in development.

Custom ROM -> ICS

Just wondering, if I were to flash to a custom rom, such as Thor... then a few months later ICS comes out for our tablets, what would the upgrade process entail?
I'm hesitant to try a custom rom, because when ICS finally comes I don't want there to be extra steps in order to get the update.
Anyone know how difficult/easy this is going to be? Will it involve having to flash back to stock first, then OTA to ICS?
TIA!

davanw said:
Just wondering, if I were to flash to a custom rom, such as Thor... then a few months later ICS comes out for our tablets, what would the upgrade process entail?
I'm hesitant to try a custom rom, because when ICS finally comes I don't want there to be extra steps in order to get the update.
Anyone know how difficult/easy this is going to be? Will it involve having to flash back to stock first, then OTA to ICS?
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not trying to be rude but honestly, if youre afraid of a few extra steps than rooting and android is not for you. I suggest an apple product.
But to answer your question, when official ICS comes out OTA Im sure devs will create custom roms that you can just flash. I mean we already have ICS ports in the works.
Why would you want crappy OTA ICS when you could have a faster, custom rom ICS .

jon-.- said:
Not trying to be rude but honestly, if youre afraid of a few extra steps than rooting and android is not for you. I suggest an apple product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't assume. I already have ICS running on my Galaxy S; I'm sure I've flashed and reflashed android devices just as much as anyone else here. It's not about being afraid. It's about convenience for a device I've come to rely on day-to-day.
Thanks for the post, anyways. But I'd still like to hear what the process would be to go from a custom rom to the offical OTA ICS.

davanw said:
Don't assume. I already have ICS running on my Galaxy S; I'm sure I've flashed and reflashed android devices just as much as anyone else here. It's not about being afraid. It's about convenience for a device I've come to rely on day-to-day.
Thanks for the post, anyways. But I'd still like to hear what the process would be to go from a custom rom to the offical OTA ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what Ive read (search function), you can update from a custom rom but you will lose root.

davanw said:
Don't assume. I already have ICS running on my Galaxy S; I'm sure I've flashed and reflashed android devices just as much as anyone else here. It's not about being afraid. It's about convenience for a device I've come to rely on day-to-day.
Thanks for the post, anyways. But I'd still like to hear what the process would be to go from a custom rom to the offical OTA ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u rely on this day to day, u do NOT want to flash an ICS rom yet. Not even close for day to day use.Stick with what u have and just be patient.

christianpeso said:
If u rely on this day to day, u do NOT want to flash an ICS rom yet. Not even close for day to day use.Stick with what u have and just be patient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree wait for the kinks to be worked out.

If you rely on this device pretty heavily, and you still want to get ICS when it comes out, I would just recommend flashing a custom ROM now that is known to be pretty stable. like you suggested, Thor's ROM seems to be a great one. It definitely improves the speed of the tablet and I have yet to come across any bugs that would inhibit my everyday use. Then, once developers have worked out a ROM for a relatively stable version of ICS, you shouldn't have any trouble switching to that and not worrying about the OTA updates.

davanw said:
Don't assume. I already have ICS running on my Galaxy S; I'm sure I've flashed and reflashed android devices just as much as anyone else here. It's not about being afraid. It's about convenience for a device I've come to rely on day-to-day.
Thanks for the post, anyways. But I'd still like to hear what the process would be to go from a custom rom to the offical OTA ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you're familiar with all that, then you already know how to flash an OEM ROM and would know you already knew how to do it.

can be a bit of a pain going back to stock ota updates. Depends on availability of your devices localized stock rom.( or being able to backup stock rom first). Took me about 5 days to find the right files and steps to get ota working again. Didnt help that i am a total newbie, the iconia is my first android device never flashed anything before except a pc bios. Do your research first and make sure you can go back instead of getting stuck. Here is a link to get you started http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1155664 another thing when you go back to stock you also go to the back of the line in the update queue as well. I was on 3.2.1 went back to 3.1 got ota updates up to 3.2 but have not recieved 3.2.1 update again yet cheers.

blucmal said:
another thing when you go back to stock you also go to the back of the line in the update queue as well. I was on 3.2.1 went back to 3.1 got ota updates up to 3.2 but have not recieved 3.2.1 update again yet cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now THAT is very interesting. Thanks!

[Q] Extremely Frustrated - stuck at 3.2

Hello all,
I purchased my Acer Iconia A500 several months ago - living in Toronto, Canada. I registered my device but was stuck at 3.0.1 for almost a month. Finally, I received an OTA and my A500 was upgraded to 3.2. I waited and waited - now almost two months, and have still not received the update to 3.2.1. Now that ICS is rolling out, I am not being offered the upgrade because my device seems to be stuck at 3.2.
Acer has been no help - still waiting to hear from their "second level" support. So my question is - does anybody have an easy way for me to get this [email protected]##$%%^^&&*& device upgraded safely to 3.2.1 so I can get my ICS update? I've read thread after thread but none of them seem to give any clear instructions for what I should do.
Advice / help would be greatly appreciated

To receive the ICS update, you must have the Iconia Tab Updater installed from the Google Play store.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...lt#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5GRC51cGRhdGVyIl0.
make sure you have this installed and up to date.

Same problem almost although I'm rooted 3.2.1 and no update shows been trying many times. Have the update enhancement even tried uninstalling and downloading it again. Do I unroot and how been asking everywhere and still no answer. I want the ics update!
Sent from my A500 using xda premium

rascalsblade said:
Same problem almost although I'm rooted 3.2.1 and no update shows been trying many times. Have the update enhancement even tried uninstalling and downloading it again. Do I unroot and how been asking everywhere and still no answer. I want the ics update!
Sent from my A500 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1624908

Hello - I installed the Iconia Tab Updater a very long time ago. Even uninstalled /reinstalled several times to be sure it was working properly. Any other ideas?

To sRDennyCrane:
I saw that thread and didn't think it would work. Decided to try and success!!! I now have ICS in 15 minutes
Thanks so much for directing me back to the thread - happy to FINALLY have my A500 updated.

[Q] Gen2 Rom on uk Tablet ?

I Can only find a gen2 rom of 3.2.1 that is rooted but i am in the uk would this effect the device reciveing OTA updates the rom has installed and is working but still says my device is uptodate would this be becouse the rom is different to the device thanks

crazymanc said:
I Can only find a gen2 rom of 3.2.1 that is rooted but i am in the uk would this effect the device reciveing OTA updates the rom has installed and is working but still says my device is uptodate would this be becouse the rom is different to the device thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u were the only one in the UK that hadn't recd the ota, then perhaps....but I don't believe this is the case, is it?
Don't go undoing all the good work u have done in getting back to stock, b/c u getting a little impatient
Being rooted may be a factor and also cwm if u have it. System apps that have been deleted or modified can too.
So can the actual rom depends which one it is.
Now that you're back on HC u could go all the way back to 3.0.1 then OTA up to 3.2.1 - this is what I did, at least I knew the rom was capable of OTA'ing.
I had trouble with the 3.2 OTA , it would fail on install. I used ARI (Acer recovery installer) to put stock recovery back and then unrooted with iconia root.
I then factory resetted in settings and voila, OTA 'ed to 3.2.1. When ICS came thru on Tuesday, it was all good
I know u think u can't do without some apps and games but I was surprised how much I didn't - I have a superbly sweet running stock ICS, unlocked,
rooted and twrp recovery . I do miss the Acer ring from flexreaper, just for bling sake, but other than that I'm a pig in s**t, happyaz

Cheers for that iam going to install 3.0.1 then OTA to ics hopefully iam back on honeycomb bootloader now as i was on ics bootloader as i installed flex rf1 but had battery drain issues and wifi dropping what is your batt like with the OTA ics ? have you had any issues thanks Do you have any links for a working 3.0.1 rom download tried all these from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878 but the 3.0.1 links are all down thanks

heck, tht ws kwik m8!!!!
Battery life is pretty good considering my tabs been getting a bit of a hammering but not noticed anything drastic in that area....
Browser is ALOT snappier expecially the forum pages, sometimes status bar would go all the way to nearly the end and stop, and then id have to wait, wait and wait. This one is just opened in a few secs!!!
Wifi and google apps are fine, no f/c or random disconnects
As i said i dont have half the apps an crap i used to have but boot time is minimal
its just great not to feel bogged down and getting frustrated cos i'm bloody impatient (peering over shoulder to make sure partner isnt lurking, lol)
so yeh m8 no complaints at all from this camper!!!! Good luck m8 and for me it was worth the w8......
oh that acer enhancement app - u need it - it actually updated bout an hour or so b4 the ota - so if u get that notification, u wont be far away.....

Cheers for clearing that up was reluctant to install The OTA ics becouse all the leaked or custom ones where draining the battery way to quick anyway going to install 3.0.1 and see if it OTA updats to ICS might be the best way for me to go as stock 3.2 was not updating will post back thanks again pal

and hope you got that CPUID backed up and in a safe place, i know u do now - just a reminder is all

dibb_nz said:
and hope you got that CPUID backed up and in a safe place, i know u do now - just a reminder is all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes all saved and secure lol reverted back to 3.0.1 then checked for update gave me a 25mb update rebooted checked again now downloading ICS so all good upto now hopfully have no wifi or battery problems with it being a stock OTA update cheers for that idea of going back to 3.0.1 would never of though was allways trying from 3.2 but was a no go do not no why cheers for your help and suggestion thanks

Ooops got that wrong it said version 4.0.??? sumert when it was updating i think that was the build number not android version its updated me back to 3.2 and still getting device is upto date cannot think why my device is not getting updated starting to really pi%% me of now lol

Bumma, just when things were looking good, but ain't that half the fun of android
I have heard before of updates stopping at 3.2 and not going further, ya myt wanna do a search while ya w8n.
Are u clean, clean...??? Well not u yrself ....ya system????
U still on 3.1 or did u get 3.2 loaded??
I wouldn't do anything drastic just yet,
Maybe start a UK OTA anyone??? Thread, like I did for us kiwis
Ya don't feel so alone then m8
Some one posted we weren't getting it till the 17th, so I went back to ICS , a day l8r it came down the pipe!!!! Man, it took me 24hrs to get back...had real probs with the EUU I used, so hang in there m8, let us know how u get on

Yes i am clean lol did data wipe (factory reset) Wipe cache partition Wipe Dalvik Cache" and batt statts at 100% charge prior to installing 3.0.1 then just manual updates then it stoped at 3.2 started a thread asking if anybody had the Stock OTA uk ics rom couple days ago but not had one reply lol looks like iam just going to hang in there if it is not till the 17th did not no about that hopefully it will get hear sooner.

crazymanc said:
Yes i am clean lol did data wipe (factory reset) Wipe cache partition Wipe Dalvik Cache" and batt statts at 100% charge prior to installing 3.0.1 then just manual updates then it stoped at 3.2 started a thread asking if anybody had the Stock OTA uk ics rom couple days ago but not had one reply lol looks like iam just going to hang in there if it is not till the 17th did not no about that hopefully it will get hear sooner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the 17th was posted on Acer nz website, for us an the ozzies,
the other thing is m8 that after all the waiting and drama of d/g'ing twice, the ota build we got, was exact same as the first release every one else got....well nearly everyone else
So could a just saved me alotta time an effort if I'd just flashed the pre-rooted official Acer one that civato posted......., now that really pmo, lol

Oright 17th for you guys still waiting for a reply of acer regardin what has happend to the uk release still no reply i tried civato rom but wasent good for my tab thats the rom i had battery drain issues with just hope they relese it soon still no update from 3.2 its like its just stopped you would think it would at least update to the 3.2.1 ota but still a no show