Database Users

[Discussion] Stock or Custom ROMs

Well with all the hype going on about custom (and sometimes stock) firmwares. I thought I would start a discussion and Perhaps a poll to see if you are using stock or custom ROMs.
As for my 2 cents: Samsung makes great hardware (at least to my experience) but sinks it down to sleep with the fishies with poor software support including bad very bad software suites (like Kies or Media studio the latter which installed a nasty rootkit on my laptop believe it or not for DRM), prematurely axing support to its newly launched devices (I remember hacking my samsung MP3 with korean firmware as I was really angry at samsung for axing the device 2 months after its release whats up with that ).
So what about you: Do u use custom ROMs or stick to late to almost never released stock ROMs?

Stock rom.
It does what I want. Internet-games-programs. It is fast and good.
I do not see a reason to go with a custom rom.

I use modaco. because its sooooo fast.

Overcome. Hands down the best rom/kernel IMHO.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App

okay ... dumb question ... i've just ordered a Tab from T-Mobile, should have it Monday or Tuesday, so ... just what is a custom ROM/Kernal going to do for me?
Thanks,
pat----

Im sticking with stock atm...
As posted above, it does what i want.

Im on Overcome 1.3, undervolted, not overclocked
what it does for you is it removes bloatware, includes fixes to known bugs that samsung has not addressed with a proper firmware update, allows for overclocking and undervolting if you're into that, formats the file system to EXT4 making IO faster, installs a full backup and restore facility from recovery, and provides better battery life*
quadrant score from original firmware: 1000-1200
quadrant score from Overcome 1.3 no overclock: 1690
so yeah, custom IS better than stock until samsung gets all these tweaks into their official ROMs.
(*I don't know how it does that, but it does )

It should be said that in reality the split isn't just between stock and custom, but stock, "unreleased', and custom.
Most of the custom ROMs you can find here are based on Samsung's own unreleased test/dev builds (e.g. MoDaCo is based on JMI, Overcome is based on JMK). Even in their "raw" form, these unreleased ROMs are far better than those that actually ship on the device (BEWARE LOCKED BOOTLOADERS IF YOU ARE THINKING OF FLASHING ONE!!!).
If you take say Rotohammers build, it is stock JMI (JMK now?), without the locked bootloaders and pre-rooted. MoDaCo and Overcome go quite a bit further as they have completely rebuilt kernels and are tweaked for speed. Then you have Technomancers Gingerbread ROM, which is completely custom and based on CM7 rather than an existing Samsung build.
In my opinion, staying on a shipping Tab ROM means you are not getting as much out of your device as you could. Even the Samsung unreleased dev builds are way better than the shipping ROMs, so I don't know why Samsung haven't actually formally released them.
Regards,
Dave

I user overcome 1.4.4
Its much faster than the stock rom and seems to use less battery power in my particular use case.

Custom, as indicated in my signature. I have a T-Mobile Tab and in stock form, it was extremely slow. It sucked.

chicken roms is better ever

For those who say stock is fine i say you have no idea what you are missing. Try both, then make a decision. Custom all the way baby!
T-Mobile tab running latest Overcome

As a bell mobility tab user, i used the stock one (jj3) i think for about a month.
After that i decided to go with roto jme then jmg and after that went to modaco.
Was on modaco for about the last 3 months and i have decided to flash overcome.
There is a significant speed difference between modaco and overcome. I noticed lag in angry birds seasons with modaco but with overcome, barely any.
I am happy with flashing a custom Rom and would never go back to stock.
If only i could get a copy of the stock Rom just in case of any issues.
Hope that helps.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App

The hardware is superb but it's let down badly by Samsung in not keeping it up to date with firmwares.
Using Custom roms solves this and provides an all round quality tablet so, yeah, custom roms for me.

I use a stock rom for now, but once my download for Overcome is done, I'll switch to it.

pendevous said:
I use a stock rom for now, but once my download for Overcome is done, I'll switch to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the guides before flashing.

I had stock. It was excellent, good multi-language support, excellent hardware support.
Tried MoDaCo. Lost most of language support. Hardware support only for the basic stuff.
Replaced with Overcome. Language support even sketchier. Battery performance awful. Hardware support still only basic stuff.
Tried going back to stock. I could not find the stock firmware that was originally available on the device. All «stock» firmwares in the wild had the same issues as the MoDaCo and Overcome. I was shocked and seriously puzzled!
Went to the repair shop and asked them to flash the device with the original.
- Two days later I was told, that they need some special cable to flash the device, and it's going to take a week to get it from Korea(!).
- One week later I was told, that the device needed motherboard replacement.
- One more week later I got the device.
Now my device has Excellent language support, but still fails to report Neighbouring GSM Cells.
Eventually I installed a Winblows in a VM (Bleh!) to try Kies.
To my greatest surprise after eventually connecting Kies says that my device is 'Not Upgradeable'.
So my adventure with custom firmwares is MOST unfortunate.
My ¢2: new users should NOT replace firmware unless they BADLY need something that SUPPOSEDLY a custom firmware would give.

Lachezarian said:
I had stock. It was excellent, good multi-language support, excellent hardware support.
Tried MoDaCo. Lost most of language support. Hardware support only for the basic stuff.
Replaced with Overcome. Language support even sketchier. Battery performance awful. Hardware support still only basic stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please elaborate more what do you mean by "hardware support", what would be the difference between "basic stuff" and "excellent"?
AFAIK, the custom ROMS are based on stock ROM, thus I can't understand there will be any difference over hardware support level.

With custom ROMs you are more free!

DarkPal said:
Read the guides before flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did. I ended up installing Rotohammer's instead, though. It works fine.

[Q] Why should I put a Custom Rom on the A500?

Hi All,
I am a new A500 owner and a long time Viewsonic G Tablet owner; I know why I put a Custom Rom on the G Tablet (Stock Rom Sucked and VS dropped support). However after playing with my new A500 for the last week I really can see no reason so far to put a custom rom on this tablet.
The stock rom rooted and a few extras added/fixed like...
GPS Fix
NTFS Mount
Rooted
CWM Added
have really made this a very stable and very effective rom. I have been reading through the forum and I see a significant number of custom roms out there. I am sure they are there for a reason however for the life of me I can not determine why I would want to install any of them. I do also understand that I am coming late to the game on this tablet as I am sure these were probably developed to fix deficiencies in the stock rom when the tablet was first released.
So can someone explain to me why I would want to switch to a custom rom today given the stability and fixes available for the stock rom?
This is not meant to be a dig on any individual, group or any dev of these roms; I know these folks do an outstanding job and I appreciate every single one of them. However for someone new to this tablet it would be great to know what makes the custom roms better than what I already have with the stock/fixed rom I am running. I am currently running;
Android Version: 3.1
Kernel Version: 2.6.36.3
Build Number: Acer_A500_4.010.11_COM_GEN2
This is a sincere question and I would appreciate not getting flamed or bashed for asking. This is in the Q&A section so I am hoping this is the right place to get the answers I am seeking.
" The only way to learn is to ask... so I am asking "

To me I think everyone installs custom roms for all diffrent reasons. Each rom has its own benefits and restrictions. I have tried a few and always go back to stock.
Good luck and flash with great Caution

erica_renee said:
To me I think everyone installs custom roms for all diffrent reasons. Each rom has its own benefits and restrictions. I have tried a few and always go back to stock.
Good luck and flash with great Caution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Erica Renee,
Thank you for the quick reply... I was just not sure if there was a relevant issue that would persuade me to move from my stock rom to a custom one. I very much appreciate your response!!!
Rick

I'm coming from a Viewsonic Gtablet, and with the gtablet a custom rom was a must, here with the iconia I don't see any advantage to use a custom rom, Android 3.1 has everything I wanted. I only rooted it for ad-hoc support, but barely I use the ad-hoc, is only for emergencies, besides that, even rooting is not really necessary. Android OS backups all application settings, so each time I uninstall and reinstall an application, my former settings are there.
Just enjoy your Iconia

Frankly, I haven't felt the need to flash a custom ROM to the A500. I did root it to be able to use certain apps.
I have tried a variety of ROMs and kernels on my HTC EVO 4G, but that's because stock Froyo and even stock Gingerbread is boring. I think stock Honeycomb looks and performs great. It makes me really look forward to Icecream Sandwich.
I did add ADWLauncher to my A500, so maybe that's another reason why I haven't felt the need to flash a custom ROM.

i find myself in the same boat...
Running stock 3.1, rooted, cwm running - quite happy.
If you want to take it a step further, install Richardtrip's custom kernal and SetCPU and you will be amazed.

entropy.of.avarice said:
Running stock 3.1, rooted, cwm running - quite happy.
If you want to take it a step further, install Richardtrip's custom kernal and SetCPU and you will be amazed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi entropy.of.avarice,
Thank you for the feedback, it is truly appreciated! I would not mind installing the new kernel as long as I knew for sure it would not break all that works well on my tablet right now.

Still on stock since I got mine - though I have since rooted - I'm not really making any use of it, only for file permissions and dropping boot animations onto the folder directly rather than through ADB.
I shopped around some of the ROM's floating around here and other that a few of the Touchwiz UI functions from Galaxy, [I don't even think it's supported or still available right now] there's nothing out there that would add to my experience in any appreciable way to risk going through all that [and back again] when I want to.
Stock is stable, runs smooth and fast and is supported if something ****s up and that is all I need - my life doesn't live and breath by the tablet so it's perfect for what I need it to be and what I need it to do.

I am using self-cooked official honeycomb 3.2 ROM (rooted, ad-hoc fix, etc)
with self-compiled 3.2 kernel, OC and apply different kind of fixes & patches.
Installing custom ROM & kernel is the act of tailor making your own OS.
It is why android is so attractive and additive.

Whay a non-stock ROM?
There are about as many answers to this as there are ROMs.
I have CWM / Recovery / Taboonay 2.0 w/ richardtrip's OC-able kernel (oc'd to 15000) and the tablet is Super Snappy! It has ad hoc support for tethering to my phone via WiFi, no random wake ups, Netflix with no broken cameras, Good GPS lock (after a bit of futzing...)
I was originally just gonna put 3.2 on there to experiment with and flash back after playing with it, but I got REALLY lucky. Did a FULL CWM backup and just flashed the ROM & Kernel over my existing ROM without wiping and...it just worked without me having to redo everything. So I just kept going..
I'd say at this point on the tablet no one REALLY needs 3.2, but a few of the modded kernels out there fix a number of sore spots that I wish ACER would just take care of...
I love our DEVS!
So...Up to you! But I currently LOVE taboonay 2.0 and the RT kernel...No issues at all for me...
(p.s. I still have two preceding backups of a couple of states of working 3.1 on my SD card that are 3 weeks apart that function wonderfully Just In Case! so, yeah..nothing really to lose by playing and testing...)

Why a non-stock ROM?
There are about as many answers to this as there are ROMs.
I have CWM / Recovery / Taboonay 2.0 w/ richardtrip's OC-able kernel (oc'd to 15000) and the tablet is Super Snappy! It has ad hoc support for tethering to my phone via WiFi, no random wake ups, Netflix with no broken cameras, Good GPS lock (after a bit of futzing...)
I was originally just gonna put 3.2 on there to experiment with and flash back after playing with it, but I got REALLY lucky. Did a FULL CWM backup and just flashed the ROM & Kernel over my existing ROM without wiping and...it just worked without me having to redo everything. So I just kept going..
I'd say at this point on the tablet no one REALLY needs 3.2, but a few of the modded kernels out there fix a number of sore spots that I wish ACER would just take care of...
I love our DEVS!
So...Up to you! But I currently LOVE taboonay 2.0 and the RT kernel...No issues at all for me...
(p.s. I still have two preceding backups of a couple of states of working 3.1 on my SD card that are 3 weeks apart that function wonderfully Just In Case! so, yeah..nothing really to lose by playing and testing...)

I rooted to gain performance. Taboonay and Richards kernel have given me a huge performance increase, no more lag.
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

Don't change unless you don't have a life and you want to spend all your hours figuring out what is wrong, have tried them all and stock is less head ake.

Suggestions required for simple and stable ROM for I9500

Hello everyone
I have a I9500 with Exynos processor running android 5.0.1, Baseband- I9500DDUHOA1, Build number- XXUHOF3.
I was generally happy with My phone but all hell broke lose after last update. Battery life doesnt last more than 2-3 hours. GPS doesnt lock at all. The phone hangs too much. Wifi signal is poor.
I can factory reset the phone (Since I didnt do it since several OTA updates) but I am wondering even that might not solve the problem and I should flash some good and stable ROM.
My issue is I Dont Know which one is a good and stable ROM. There are so many options and I feel very lost. Therefore I would be thankful if anyone can guide Me to which ROM should I install. My goal is simple- a fast working stable phone. Nothing fancy required.
I have flashed ROMS on My earlier phone Galaxy S (I9000) so I am not a novice and can do it if instructions are provided in the thread.
Thanks in advance.

Fast shouldn't be an issue, since practically any custom rom is faster than touchwiz.
I don't know much about the I9500 roms since I, myself, haven an I9505. But there is a rom called ressurection remix which seems to be available for both devices. I'm running it now and its fast and stable so far.

I'm using slimkat ASOP rom and it's nice and stable

Thanks for the replies. How is the default Cynagonmod? Any good?

Cm 12.1
Default Cm is maintained by Alberto with someone else .
If you want best cm experience use his own Gearcm 11,12,12.1 builds .
They are currently at a more advanced level of development than his own official Cm builds .
All are good . Look it up in original android i9500 forum .

Try gearcm 12.1 optimized by alberto96. It is rock stable,performance is also good. U can find it in i9500 original android development. Enjoy
And also for TW based rom halcyon rom is very much popular, u can find it in i9500 android development.

Thanks a lot for replies. Would it be possible to point Me to a link for downloading and installing this. I guess I should try with Gear CM 12.1?
Hows the gps and battery life on that?

goyal.sanchit said:
Thanks a lot for replies. Would it be possible to point Me to a link for downloading and installing this. I guess I should try with Gear CM 12.1?
Hows the gps and battery life on that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look here on xda we expect you to find it yourself. There is an entire section dedicated to custom roms.

ROM Advice

Hi All,
I have had my Galaxy S 4 (I9505) for a while now but it is still running android 4.3.
I was hoping to update it to 5.0.1 but when I plugged it into my PC, Kies said 'This device is unsupported'
I want to flash a new rom onto it (I have done this in the past with a samsung tablet)
I was just wanting some feedback as to what is regarded as a good rom for it these days. Should I go a standard stock rom from sammobile or are there custom roms out there that perform better?
Thanks for any help and advice.
Daniel

Custom roms give you more performance. Stock roms tend to lag here and there, from what I saw in rom reviews.
If you want a minimalist rom, go for CM12 or Slim roms. They have very few features.
If you want lots of features, go for AICP or Resurrection Remix. These two combine the most popular features from other roms (I personally use Resurrection Remix).
And there are the GPE roms. I don't know how GPE 5.1 is, but on 5.0 the rom was rock solid and everything worked.
I can't say anythinv about stock touchwiz because, since I changed I never went back

Spoorman88 said:
Hi All,
I have had my Galaxy S 4 (I9505) for a while now but it is still running android 4.3.
I was hoping to update it to 5.0.1 but when I plugged it into my PC, Kies said 'This device is unsupported'
I want to flash a new rom onto it (I have done this in the past with a samsung tablet)
I was just wanting some feedback as to what is regarded as a good rom for it these days. Should I go a standard stock rom from sammobile or are there custom roms out there that perform better?
Thanks for any help and advice.
Daniel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a custom S6 Touchwiz ROM for your phone model - you'll be pleasantly surprised by the new look, feel and performance. I know I am!
I tried CM but not such a big fan... Experiment a bit until you find what you were ALWAYS looking for!

You try to consider CM 12.1 or GPE Roms. The major disadvantage is the camera quality and some multitasking features on TW, but it's hella fast and smooth.
Sent from my GT-I9505G

Roms
I would recommend Cyanogenmod but sometimes it comes with some problems. Check out first which is the stable version for s4.
Also, I would recommend the WickedRom which is great and great performance. And the WanamLite Rom is amazing if you would like to tune your mobile , for example gpu or cpu in higher frequencies or even set custom gestures and etc.( but remember to be careful with those why you might break your phone

Spoorman88 said:
I was hoping to update it to 5.0.1 but when I plugged it into my PC, Kies said 'This device is unsupported'
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's like you have already a custom rom, or a rooted & modified stock rom !.
Spoorman88 said:
I was just wanting some feedback as to what is regarded as a good rom for it these days. Should I go a standard stock rom from sammobile or are there custom roms out there that perform better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go for Resurrection Remix like said: GDReaper, or may be BlissPOP ( with terrible battery drain for me).

I tried just the straight CM 12 rom and it was okay, but once I put on the one of the Optimized CM 12.1 roms I got better battery life and faster performance, but also lost a few features, got a few bugs, but so far so good. It really depends what you want.
If you are willing to have a few crashes, bugs you can put on the newest rom builds, but if you want stable, then going for the older well established ones may be a better option.

skoey said:
I tried just the straight CM 12 rom and it was okay, but once I put on the one of the Optimized CM 12.1 roms I got better battery life and faster performance, but also lost a few features, got a few bugs, but so far so good. It really depends what you want.
If you are willing to have a few crashes, bugs you can put on the newest rom builds, but if you want stable, then going for the older well established ones may be a better option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to correct you here buddy It's almost always better to pick the latest CM build. Because it's a work in progress, every new build has a lot fixes.
I'm curious though to what bugs you are referring to. I used it pretty long and I found it almost to be bugfree. Besides the obvious difficulty's with bluetooth.

Lennyz1988 said:
I have to correct you here buddy It's almost always better to pick the latest CM build. Because it's a work in progress, every new build has a lot fixes.
I'm curious though to what bugs you are referring to. I used it pretty long and I found it almost to be bugfree. Besides the obvious difficulty's with bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Lenny, the official CM builds I have never had an issue with (except nightlies of course) however when we get into the custom ROM world such as Slimroms, modified CM builds etc I do tend to hit a few bugs, such as crashes of apps, however often those builds then become stable.
Hope that makes more sense?

The only good advice is to just use stock roms. It's stable, no bugs, no issues. The only thing that pisses you off is the laggggggg!

Is Dirty Unicorns Dead? Suggestions for other clean-style roms?

Trying out a Sprint S4 (non T version), but not thrilled with the performance of the stock 4.4 ROM. Figured maybe 5+ would be an improvement, but wanted to go with something built for speed and efficiency (ie. not full of bloat) rather than let it update itself.
From what I've read, most people seemed to recommend Dirty Unicorns as a fairly clean and speedy ROM. I'm not looking for heavy modifications and skins or anything like that. Those kinds of things turn me off.
But, it seems that Dirty Unicorns is no longer supported on the S4, the links in the official thread are broken and the DU website doesn't list the S4 as a supported device... oddly, none of the Galaxy phones are listed as supported devices. Were we dropped? What happened? Is it still out there somewhere? Is there any other similar ROM that folks recommend?
I've got TWRP ready to go!

Dishe said:
Trying out a Sprint S4 (non T version), but not thrilled with the performance of the stock 4.4 ROM. Figured maybe 5+ would be an improvement, but wanted to go with something built for speed and efficiency (ie. not full of bloat) rather than let it update itself.
From what I've read, most people seemed to recommend Dirty Unicorns as a fairly clean and speedy ROM. I'm not looking for heavy modifications and skins or anything like that. Those kinds of things turn me off.
But, it seems that Dirty Unicorns is no longer supported on the S4, the links in the official thread are broken and the DU website doesn't list the S4 as a supported device... oddly, none of the Galaxy phones are listed as supported devices. Were we dropped? What happened? Is it still out there somewhere? Is there any other similar ROM that folks recommend?
I've got TWRP ready to go!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BlissPop is a great 5.1.1 ROM, CM13 is also a good 6.0.1 option. If TW is your thing, WickedX is your best 5.0.1 choice.
Sent from my SCH-R220

mattzeller said:
BlissPop is a great 5.1.1 ROM, CM13 is also a good 6.0.1 option. If TW is your thing, WickedX is your best 5.0.1 choice.
Sent from my SCH-R220
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't particularly care for TW or not, I just want to make sure everything works as well as possible (sometimes AOSP roms need to be coaxed into working more than ones based on stock). Also things like Samsung's pedometer (S Health) have replaced my fitbit, and I'm hoping whatever ROM I install will still work with it.
Meanwhile, I can't believe I forgot about CM! I should have thought of that first. Those are always solid once they are officially supported by CM! But I wonder- is CM12 better on this hardware than CM13? In my experience over the years, I've often found that ROMs based on versions officially supported by the device worked better than ones that were pushing newer versions. At least CM12 is based on Lollipop, which IS available for this phone officially. But then again, this is CM we're talking about. If 13 works well, I have no qualms using it. Any advice on that one way or the other?

Dishe said:
I don't particularly care for TW or not, I just want to make sure everything works as well as possible (sometimes AOSP roms need to be coaxed into working more than ones based on stock). Also things like Samsung's pedometer (S Health) have replaced my fitbit, and I'm hoping whatever ROM I install will still work with it.
Meanwhile, I can't believe I forgot about CM! I should have thought of that first. Those are always solid once they are officially supported by CM! But I wonder- is CM12 better on this hardware than CM13? In my experience over the years, I've often found that ROMs based on versions officially supported by the device worked better than ones that were pushing newer versions. At least CM12 is based on Lollipop, which IS available for this phone officially. But then again, this is CM we're talking about. If 13 works well, I have no qualms using it. Any advice on that one way or the other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any real problems on stock CM 13(officially supported device), I run SynergyOS which is cm based so I can undervolt and underclock. You can get S Health on CM ROMs if you go that route.
Sent from my SCH-R220