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Doesn't look like much dev work on this phone and what I have found seems to be mostly for sprint...is there much difference between the versions for sprint and virgin mobile?
Looking into a cheaper plan, but would like to keep a smartphone so VM looks perfect, but reviews I have seen look pretty sad for this phone.
I want to say I wouldn't really recommend this phone. It certainly doesn't live up to its expectations and specifications. I've ranted pretty hard about this phone, but after rooting and many, many tries of installing and reinstalling ROMs I've finally got it settled down and it's not that bad.
To answer your question, and I'm assuming you're talking about rooting difference, there's a pretty big difference. You must find a VM ROM. Although they are the same phone, a Sprint ROM will not work on a VM phone. However, most devs at sdx-developers make dual versions so you're mostly ok. Other than that the only difference is Sprint adds its bloatware and VM adds its bloatware.
vm phone
I just moved to virgin mobile from tmobile. as far as cost and functionalitly the intercept on virgin mobile is on par with my g1 (which i loved rooted with cm6). I am now running ubundroid for virgin mobile , works great with no problems.
cant beat virgin mobiles price .
I may consider getting this device.
Sent from my Ideos S7 using XDA App
Actually, there have been people who have accidentally flashed the sprint df27 tar to their virgin mobile phone and have been fine. You can even get the sprint froyo update running on a vm phone, but it'll break missed call notifications and mms.
Joeseph Mother said:
Actually, there have been people who have accidentally flashed the sprint df27 tar to their virgin mobile phone and have been fine. You can even get the sprint froyo update running on a vm phone, but it'll break missed call notifications and mms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, I'd figure it wouldn't boot. Interesting, though.
So, those of you that have been able to root the VM Intercept; Is it worth it? I am looking to be able to apply Frodo (2.2) to my phone and have everything still function. I want to be able to make my phone install apps to SD instead of internal memory. I want to be able to make my phone faster.
Will this be possible with rooting and installing a new ROM? Can I revert back to the default ROM?
grabbed this phone. Best buy has it for $179. With a $25 a month unlimited data and text messaging plus 300 minutes, it's a no-brainer. Hell, it's cheaper than a cheapo data /text plan alone on verizon.
So what's the consensus on this phone?
Can it be flashed from Sprint to Virgin Mobile? I'm looking to pick one up to use really soon and can't find any VM ones cheap.
If this phone is able to be flashed, what are the chances of other non VM phones being able to be used on the VM network? From my searching so far it's been a definitive no on that. Is there really no hope?
Virgin will not allow non Virgin branded devices on thier network. Flashing a Sprint phone will not work. Sorry
Sent from my OC'd Virgintercept using Tapatalk
Thanks for the definitive reply. How do you like it so far? Phone and service. Are you satisfied or do you still feel like a better phone would improve the experience?
Virgin Mobile is very awesome for sure. I used them a lot during the past.
Sent from my SGH-T849 using XDA App
I switched over from Sprint to cut what I deemed unnecessary costs since we have an 8 month old and a new car payment now.
Saving the $60 bucks a month that I am definitely helps out.
With Sprint, I had the htc Hero and the 450 minute/unlimited data & text plan.
I can honestly say that the Samsung Intercept, at least IMO, is a MUCH better phone than the Hero. A much better processor and I love the slide out keyboard.
With my Hero, I had problems running some apps, mainly Angry Birds... It was nearly unplayable with that phone.
However, on the Intercept it runs like a charm.
I thought I would kind of regret my switch, but I actually couldn't be more happier. I still have all the benefits of having an Android phone + unlimited text and data for 1/3rd of the price that I was paying Sprint.
Another thing I love is that the only tax you pay on your bill is sales tax.
Ive been using the VM intercept since it came out and really like the service, for the price it can't be beat. Im still running stock, but with temp root via z4root and barnacle wifi this phone is fantastic. It works perfectly with my g-tablet running TnT Lite 2.4.0.
Now if they would just hurry up and release the VM froyo update....
Well... Coming from the Hero development threads, I have a strong background on Android in general and the way it works with different providers.
I'll give you all a heads up on the difference.
It's in the apns-conf file and voicemail-conf file that is tucked inside the etc folder.
apns-conf: Carrier specific settings.
voicemail-conf: voicemail settings (sometimes not needed either way).
if you just push the right apns-conf and voicemail-conf files to the phone if your on the wrong carrier and reboot, everything should be right unless your on a rom that uses visual voice mail when your carrier doesn't support it. I never did figure out what the exact differences between those are.
You can even double up on settings between those files (i.e. add both carrier's settings) to make the rom dynamic. I will be doing some rooting/devving for some friends who have this phone pretty soon, and if I decide to bust out a custom rom for you guys I'll keep you posted.
Played a few good hour on it:
the CPU is faster 800mhz than 5xx than G1, I switch from my froyo yoshi G1 to Intercept, samething Facny widget Launcher Pro Calander is all I need.
First 10hr using experience was ok....just OK not great, is like 5 or 6 out of 10.
But, I will stay at this machine instead LG optimus V.
PRO:
1) monthly price: $25 unbeatable, in fact this is cornerstone that just set for other carrier, since VM/Boost/Sprint are all sprint, they will eventually helping bring other carrier price down. Best service I ever have is VERIZON, NEVER drop call, worst was AT&T+cingular.
2)Intercept have great hardware, but not good resolution, is like glass screen (like BB stome but harder and clear)which is great+ for dirty finger like me, glass resist oil better, only down side is low resolution and color contrast is not as good as other phone.
3)the fast CPU but low memory, what this combo tell you? OVERCLOCK THIS MFKER LIKE NEVER BEFORE! is base on 800mhz, I think going 900mhz is not as hard as LG optimus going from 600 to 1000, I have not test out LG yet but as soon as I send in my broken intercept (it will ;P) and claim the LG to test out, then we can see what is going on from there.
1GHZ low end phone....I can hear the laugh from my feet
CON:
1)phone selection sux, since VM prevent flash or you want to do those hassle and live with not complete phone go ahead, as I suffer from my tether enable G1 with T-mobile Sidekick prepaid and BT the hell out of it, but when talk is with 15c a minute, OUCH!
2)the resolution resolution resolutionnnnnnn!
I think is comparable with Gameboy color (no kidding, I think Intercept resolution was the worst I see, glad it have ok screen size but I can live with it)
3)SOFTWARE SUX! 2.1 was not the problem, is that samsung always have weak software, like I said, HTC was pretty good on software engineering, in fact most of their apps are well engineered, but samsung......no, that is why is just hard to flash it on intercept, and sometime we risk too high to flash those device since samsung are the one that can brick like no others, at least in my case.
4)Funky and Kinky hardware QC, quality check check check, we used to have those KING OF THE XXX SERIAL, there will be one lazy QC personal on samsung just few quarter before suicide/fired and it will cause such unstable quality when they on the market, check moment for example, how is those crazy things happen? and sometime their quality are so unstable that cause people piss off samsung phone forever.
overall, I still give this phone a go, because I have not get a FC on 10hr play.
I give it 6.7 out of 10, and give my G1 100 out of 10, it was indeed a beast.
BTW I notice something on intercept, it can play a lot video/game SMOOTHER than some high end phone did, I was watching FULL EPISODE of cowboy bepop and Ghost In The Shell, OMG THE QUALITY WAS LIKE HD but in smaller screen.
My G1 can't even do that.
danielinirving said:
So, those of you that have been able to root the VM Intercept; Is it worth it? I am looking to be able to apply Frodo (2.2) to my phone and have everything still function. I want to be able to make my phone install apps to SD instead of internal memory. I want to be able to make my phone faster.
Will this be possible with rooting and installing a new ROM? Can I revert back to the default ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.2 is coming to VM Intercept in about a month, that'll make a lot of apps run faster, it'll make root easier, you'll be able to tether easier, and you should be able to move apps to SD then.
Other than these two:
Overclocking
Loading modded roms
I mean let's all be honest, even if you undervolt and remain stable, any overclocking that will allow noticable performance, will have just as much noticable effect on the battery. And these are mobile devices. Battery should be considered top priority, not speed.
And what's the deal with wanting to load all these custom roms? Are they significantly better than stock, Adeo, or gingerblur? What do we need to load a fully custom rom for? Are they lightning fast and extend battery life by 100%? I guess I just don't get it. Deodexing and visual mods can be done without an unlocked bootloader.
Basically what im trying to say is. What is everyone *****ing about?
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App
As far as I know, there is no way to unlock the Atrix's bootloader. It is encrypted. You may check the xda's frontpage, there is news several weeks ago regards to the Moto's bootloader.
mccoy007 said:
As far as I know, there is no way to unlock the Atrix's bootloader. It is encrypted. You may check the xda's frontpage, there is news several weeks ago regards to the Moto's bootloader.
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Click to collapse
I think you missed the purpose of the thread. He is not asking HOW to do it, only WHY you would need to, other then overclocking or loading ROMs.
Honestly, it does make a big difference. Battery life can be very substantially increased in many of these roms. They both over and under clock processors to maximize the life. It's possible to get gingerbread on the inspire right now through custom roms because the boot loader isnt locked. It's possible to completely remove sense, whereas we have to live with motoblur. There really are a lot of reasons. Honestly, look at what Xda is all about, it's android development. Just take a look at the atrix dev forum vs the inspire one. Phones with a strong development community tend to live far longer because they can upgrade the os long after the company stops trying. The original g1 was only officially upgraded to 1.6 (I believe) but Xda has a few 2.2 roms that actually run pretty solid.
Tl:dr the list goes on and on of reasons that you want an accessible boot loader.
Ability to load a custom recovery menu. Nandroid.
it's simple dude. people do it because they can.
Besides the fact you would get work and support from the awesome devs here another good reason would be most phones have their shortcomings.Most of the time this can be fixed in the software.The awesome devs here are able to in most cases get it sorted out within a week or 2 whereas if the phone manufacturer or carrier is gonna do something about it your gonna wait 6 months to get an update. A prime example of this was the rediculously low external and earpiece speaker volume on the inspire.On max volume it was just too low. Now the rom chefs can cook up custom roms with 20% volume increase.
The 2 reasons you want to exclude are the main points. It's like saying "other than drowning; what's the point of learning to swim".
i want android 2.3.3 , can i ? no! i have to wait to an official update from motorola.. why ?!
i want htc sence in motorola , can i ? no !
we love to play and change things.. uman nature
seh6183 said:
Other than these two:
Overclocking
Loading modded roms
I mean let's all be honest, even if you undervolt and remain stable, any overclocking that will allow noticable performance, will have just as much noticable effect on the battery. And these are mobile devices. Battery should be considered top priority, not speed.
And what's the deal with wanting to load all these custom roms? Are they significantly better than stock, Adeo, or gingerblur? What do we need to load a fully custom rom for? Are they lightning fast and extend battery life by 100%? I guess I just don't get it. Deodexing and visual mods can be done without an unlocked bootloader.
Basically what im trying to say is. What is everyone *****ing about?
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your first question says "ignoring custom ROMs..." and your second question says "What about custom Roms..." so I'll address the second question.
ROMs. Gingerbread. AOSP. Stock Android. Kernels.
Another consideration in favor of ROMs is the continuation of support by the dev community even after the manufacturer has EOL'ed a product. You still see the Dream (G1) getting roms with new features even though the phone has been effectively dead for a while now.
It is always in the phone manufacturer's and the carrier's best interests to kill off support to get you to buy the newest, latest device.
daveop said:
Just take a look at the atrix dev forum vs the inspire one. Phones with a strong development community tend to live far longer because they can upgrade the os long after the company stops trying.
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Click to collapse
I love my atrix.. but I visited the Inspire 4G dev forums... and.. yeah I got a little bit jealous. lol
I hope the few devs we have don't end up leaving and can crack this bootloader!!!!
s1mpd1ddy said:
I love my atrix.. but I visited the Inspire 4G dev forums... and.. yeah I got a little bit jealous. lol
I hope the few devs we have don't end up leaving and can crack this bootloader!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know what you mean. That's one thing I like/liked about my FUZE: there was a pretty active dev community, at least until the HD2 came out.
I'm planning on getting an Atrix on Monday and this is making me think about getting an Inspire instead. I guess I'll get the Atrix and if it blows I can take it back, get an inspire, and pocket $100.
Wow is this seriously a question?
Nandroid backups, AOSP ROMs like Cyanogen where you get updates every NIGHT if you wish from the source Android build so it'll always be the latest version - no waiting for Motocrap. Battery life is usually way better, TONS of tweaks (being able to tweak my color balance of the screen, gamma levels, haptic feedback behavior, autobrightness levels and thresholds, lockscreen and messaging gestures, etc). That's all before even mentioning performance increases like overclocking, deodexing for themes, ext4 modifications for faster I/O. There's just way too many things to list but if you've never experienced a phone that has custom ROMs (especially Cyanogen) then I can see why you don't miss anything, but if you have, like me, you'll probably never want to settle for an Android phone that doesn't allow custom ROMs.
custom roms is reason enough...like dinan said if you ever used them you would understand. pretty much all the problems that people are having with the atrix could be solved if our devs had access to the bootloader.
I do see the importance of having continued support after moto leaves the phone behind. And it would be nice to have a dev make a rom to fix the coloring on the Atrix screen. Also I didn't realize that updates to custom roms come so often and that they had that much support.
I am starting to see now.
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App
mccoy007 said:
As far as I know, there is no way to unlock the Atrix's bootloader. It is encrypted. You may check the xda's frontpage, there is news several weeks ago regards to the Moto's bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Luckily, there are a few other people working on the bootloader (I hope), as it is signed, not encrypted; there is a difference.
My phone before the Atrix was the TytnII, and the only reason I was able to keep it as long as I did was because of custom ROMS. If they are able to increase the performance of this phone the way they increased the performance of my 300Mhz/128MB RAM TytnII, then I will be giddy as a school-girl.
Do I need an unlocked bootloader? No, I absolutely love my phone the way it is right now, as this is my first Android, so I don't know what else is possible.
Battery life?
I am running a test of a custom kernel for my captivate. I turned off everything and wanted to see how long it would last.
No wifi or data (no sim card installed) it ran idle for 11 days.
Custom Kernel with no wifi or data its going to last about 50 days. (based on current estimate as im still testing it)
Just an FYI, there are devices with locked bootloaders that have custom ROMs. This includes the X10, which has a Gingerbread ROM. The issue is getting a newer Android build to work with a stock kernel. Unlocking the bootloader is key to building custom kernels but there are methods for getting custom ROMs without a custom kernel.
Developer support.
/thread
-Sent from my Galaxy Tab
Athailias said:
Battery life?
I am running a test of a custom kernel for my captivate. I turned off everything and wanted to see how long it would last.
No wifi or data (no sim card installed) it ran idle for 11 days.
Custom Kernel with no wifi or data its going to last about 50 days. (based on current estimate as im still testing it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this isn't exactly a real world situation. Who's to say that you're not running the cpu at 1mhz with the screen powered off 24/7. wouldn't you prefer to test under load and real use?
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App
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!
Hello all,
Since i can´t post in Developer´s page (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1316632) I hope someone can help me out here. The ROM is btw gorgeous (made me thinking of getting one real HTC Sensation).
My HD2 has latest EU radio, MAGLR 1.3 and CWR 210, as required and provided by that ROM developer for his ROM.
I went through the setup process, everything went fine, except for 2 issues, when installation finished. I soon noticed that besides only having around 70mb free out of 410 (which makes it really slow) which I admit is surely due to my inexperience in this (and I´m sure that if I install A2SD properly, this won´t be an issue anymore) the real problem for me is that now the download speeds have gone down from usually at least 150BKps to tops, 55KBps, whereas, strangely enough I´d say, the upload speeds are far higher than the downloads, at least 3x as much. I have tried everything, from trying each and every of HD2´s available radios, to reinstalling WM6.5, both 1.60 and 3.14, and different Android ROMs (tried reverting to Hyperdroid GBX v12, awesome ROM. Strange also, the fact that all wording of "GSM" or "3G" or "HSDPA" have been replaced in both ROMs for something like WCDMA, which even with Hyperdroid, never happened.
Anyways, my SIM card is new (got a new one few days ago). I also tried my new SIM card in another cell phone (Galaxy Sii) and it reached around 7.1 mbps (which is 1/3 of my current mobile internet plan subscription) which is ok.
I did read a lot last few days about this issue but seems never get answered.
Anyone else having this issue?
I hope someone can help.
Cheers!
Sounds like you are not in the US but out of curiosity does your provider throttle your data after a you reach your cap? Other than that only suggestion would be to make sure your APN is correct or maybe call to make sure if they haven't updated recently.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using XDA App
the ram thing is normal for a sense 3/3.5 rom, most ive seen is about 100meg free as sense takes alot of ram
Hello everyone! I've been a Defy user for about 2 years, it's got the best reception of any android device in it's price range, and frankly gets better reception than my Samsung Note!
I'm on t-mobile and I don't use data much just wifi.
Anyway, I have stock Moto Defy Mb825 with Android 2.2.1, and the RED lens.
What I am looking for is probably a stock ROM, I want to know how do I get from here to the newest, most stable rom available?
What rom(s) do you recommend?
I want to be up and running fairly easily without too much hacking to get the job done.
BTW, I live on the edge of town, where my Samsung only gets Edge! But my Defy will work on 3g mode and gets 3 solid bars out on the edge of town! So I am running on the 1700 mhz I believe. In the current status, it says I am connected via: UMTS. Whatever ROM I upgrade to needs to allow me to use that exclusively so I can get a good strong signal, not because I use data.
Since you are with defy since 2 years and I guess you are too used to with gingerbread....
And stable on gb is Ms2ginger, cm7, cm7.2
Use those Roms...
If not rooted first get rooted by Farma Root....search that app on xda...
HIT THANKS IF I HELPED YOU
sent from xda app on defy plus