Database Users

[Q] Beginner questions about custom roms

Hi all,
I'm very new in the Android world, so please reply as if i'm a complete bastard
I've got a Galaxy Apollo (i5800), without simlock, running Android 2.1 from Samsung (original rom).
Now I read many thing about roms, jpm, jpf, jpg, jpw, jpz, jpb, etcetera etcetera. Now I really don't know what these terms mean.
The only thing I know, is that I would like to try a good custom rom, with easy installation. Do you guys know about a very user/beginner friendly rom?
And also, do I have to root my phone before I'm able to install a custom rom?
Sorry for my bad english and poor knowledge.
Thanks in advance for your reply

Mercedes- said:
Hi all,
I'm very new in the Android world, so please reply as if i'm a complete bastard
I've got a Galaxy Apollo (i5800), without simlock, running Android 2.1 from Samsung (original rom).
Now I read many thing about roms, jpm, jpf, jpg, jpw, jpz, jpb, etcetera etcetera. Now I really don't know what these terms mean.
The only thing I know, is that I would like to try a good custom rom, with easy installation. Do you guys know about a very user/beginner friendly rom?
And also, do I have to root my phone before I'm able to install a custom rom?
Sorry for my bad english and poor knowledge.
Thanks in advance for your reply
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, welcome to the android world!
jpm, jpm, etc are firmware builds of android 2.2 (froyo)
All custom roms have easy installation (with odin).
You dont have to root your phone before installing a rom!
Kyrillos

Check out the Flashing Guide and Videos on Youtube. ..try InDroid Rom or Kyrillo or Lestat Rom..all are good...
Sent from my GT-I5800 using XDA App

What do you guys think about this rom? youtube.com/watch?v=NY1cySzOh0U
This rom is based on XXJPM.
Will it work on my i5800, currently firmware version: PDA:JG6 / PHONE:JG3 / CSC:JH2 (BSE), language: Dutch?
Will it be buggy, laggy? Will Samsung Kies still be able to detect my phone after flashing this rom?
And, when I don't like this rom, how easy will it be to get the stock firmware on it?
Last, but not least: is this rom going to drain the battery life of my phone?
Many thanks for the replies

Mercedes- said:
What do you guys think about this rom? youtube.com/watch?v=NY1cySzOh0U
This rom is based on XXJPM.
Will it work on my i5800, currently firmware version: PDA:JG6 / PHONE:JG3 / CSC:JH2 (BSE), language: Dutch?
Will it be buggy, laggy? Will Samsung Kies still be able to detect my phone after flashing this rom?
And, when I don't like this rom, how easy will it be to get the stock firmware on it?
Last, but not least: is this rom going to drain the battery life of my phone?
Many thanks for the replies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=986831
You can't update with kies if you have a custom rom. you have to flash back

Thanks for the replies! I'm currently running Indroid 3.0, and it's working perfect!
It was very easy to install the custom rom, which I didn't expect.

Mercedes- said:
Thanks for the replies! I'm currently running Indroid 3.0, and it's working perfect!
It was very easy to install the custom rom, which I didn't expect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hy, i have also a question:
- If i flash with a custom rom/kernel can i then install official rom from Kies? Or it's irreversible?

Kies only works with official roms as far as I know...
If you flash a custom rom with odin, kies doesn't recognize the phone (and you can not install official rom from kies).
You can however flash an official rom with odin (rom from samfirmware).
- With the official rom kies also works again.

Thanks, i will be watting for the official rom for the 5801 and then i will install custom rom depending on the users feedback.

Need some more info.

I see on this site about flashing new roms, the 3.1 android and others and the Kernel.
Is their 2 different rom chips one for the kernel and one for the OS..?
When I flash a custom rom does that change the Kernel or do they have to be flashed seperate.
Is there certain custom roms that have both..?
When getting a custom rom do I need to get a new Kernel..
Do the custom roms have both, Little fuzzy here..?
Thanks for the info.

shaun298 said:
I see on this site about flashing new roms, the 3.1 android and others and the Kernel.
Is their 2 different rom chips one for the kernel and one for the OS..?
When I flash a custom rom does that change the Kernel or do they have to be flashed seperate.
Is there certain custom roms that have both..?
When getting a custom rom do I need to get a new Kernel..
Do the custom roms have both, Little fuzzy here..?
Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kernel and Rom are 2 separate flash...
most custom rom dev already takes care of the kernel for you with their custom roms ( kernel built in ... 1 flash takes care of both )...
but if you're interested in flashing a custom kernel... just make sure about its compatibility with various roms.
read thoroughly in custom rom & kernel's threads 1st post... they usually let you know what's the requirements are...etc

Thanks so much, that clears my mind and makes things much easier.

Plea for One Last Missing Kernel

Hi Everyone first post since owning my i9000 since it came out and have followed xda since then. I would like to thank all the devs for everything they have done for this phone as the amount of improvements we have seen.. have been nothing short of brilliant... many thanks.
I am currently running aokp and it's excellent and also have cwm backups of other Roms on the phone. These are all Mtd Roms.
I have looked all over xda and it seems to me that we could convert the many good gingerbread roms to run in the new MTD partiton without reverting back to odin and wiping the phone only to have to do it all over again if we want try the many good custom and stock gingerbread Roms.
The flexability we would all gain from being able to flash other Roms without reverting back to odin would be great for everybody ... but there isn't a kernel to do this unfortunately.. I know I've looked back to the begining of all of the threads and can't find one ... or make one.
I have researched how these roms could be converted to run in the MTD partition and have a good idea how to pack them to run, I am not a rom chef or a dev so it would be just a re-pack. But the rom chefs would do this themselves if we had a touchwiz-MTD kernel made for this task.
I will not show how you go about re-packing a rom to run cause everyone would
try it without the necessary kernel and probably mess up their phone .. so best not.
Could we have one last missing -link kernel just to square the circle and run a stock samsung gingerbread rom in the MTD Partition... we would the be able to keep these as cwm backups and switch to any rom we like.
One last plea for the end of life galaxy S . . Great Phone

[Q] New Defy owner, somewhat lost!

I recently bought a UK Moto Defy (MB525, red lens) from Orange on PAYG. I want to remove the simlock and flash an ICS ROM on the phone, but am very confused as to what I should be doing. I tried to follow the all-in-one beginners guide, but I didn't understand parts of it. From what I understood, if I flash certain ROM versions, I will never be able to flash ROMs of a lower android version, unless if is a 'fixed' SBF - is this correct? And if that's the case, I first need to make a Nandroid backup of my current stock ROM so the new ROM that I want to flash can use the CG31 and CG39 files?
Attached is an image showing the info on my current (stock) ROM.

You have Froyo (2.2), do NOT flash a full SBF. With what you have now you can use almost all the ROMs here.
Trimis de pe Defy CM9

vap_66 said:
You have Froyo (2.2), do NOT flash a full SBF. With what you have now you can use almost all the ROMs here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, but which kernel version should I choose if I want to install ICS (and also which ICS ROM, Defy or Defy+)?

Since you have a Bayer module (red lens) you can use both kernels. The Defy ROMs are compatible only with the Froyo kernel. The Defy+ ROMs are compatible only with the Gingerbread kernel. Also, that seems to be the recommended kernel (GB) by the other guys (they reported better battery life, better performance in 3D, etc). Not sure here, but you need a battery fix. Better ask around before.
Trimis de pe Defy CM9

So I can safely install a Defy+ GB kernel and ROM on my Defy SB525 (and retain the ability to go back to an earlier ROM version)? If so, does that mean that these CM7 and CM9 ROMs are 'fixed' SBFs?

Anyone...?

You're confusing ROM and SBF. CM7 and CM9 aren't SBFs at all, they're just custom ROMs. The only way you'll lose downgradability is if you flash a higher version full SBF, but you don't need to worry about SBFs if all you want to do is install custom ROMs—you just need to root your phone. However, I don't recommend installing an ICS-based ROM for Defy, as they're experimental and lack things like hardware acceleration.

cm7 and cm9 are not fixed sbf but zip files...
and you will retain downgradibility unless you flash a full sbf through rsd ....
See Youtube channel onestopdefy..
It will help you install cm7 and cm9

Thanks guys! As for ROMs, are there any in particular that you can recommend? Ideally, i'd like to try ICS, but anything that makes full use of the Defy's hardware (i.e. 720p video recording) with good battery life would be good.

If you want something that makes full use of the hardware, the ICS builds aren't the way to go, but you could always try CM9 and revert to another ROM if you don't like it.
I'd recommend you start with CM7.1—it's basically the "standard" custom ROM, because it's the latest most stable and well-supported. If you like it and when you feel like taking the next step, see this thread. You don't typically have to wipe your data to switch between CM ROMs, so it's painless.

CM doesn't have 720p recording... If you want to have 720p I would recommend some modded stock moto rom, like MS2Ginger.
Sent from my MB525 using XDA

Thanks everyone for the help so far, it has really helped to clarify everything.
One last question: Is MS2Ginger an SBF ROM? And if so, if I flash it, will it affect my ability to flash to other ROMs like CM7/CM9?

Every custom rom is a. zip file you can flash from CWM! so basically you can jump from one custom rom to another by going into CWM, make a wipe data/cache and wipe dalwik cache, and install rom as .zip! (you don't even need to wipe data if you want just updating a cm nightly with a newer one.)
You can only lose your downgradeability, if you flash an official sbf from moto with a higher be number !
Sent from my MB526 using XDA

Today I flashed MS2Ginger 3.0 but am having a problem. I need to remove the SIM lock using the softunlock method detailed in the Defy General forum.
My stock defy had the correct baseband version (EPU93_U_00.59.01), but after installing MS2Ginger, the baseband got changed to EPU93_U_00.61 - I ran the Baseband_change(EPU93_U_00.59.01).zip in recovery, which said that the baseband had been changed successfully. I then ran GB_Defy_softunlock_v1.3(EPU_U_00.59.01).zip, which reported that the simlock had been removed. Finally, as per the instructions in the softlock thread, I rebooted once with the standard SIM card, shut down the phone, installed my new SIM card, but still get the sim unlock prompt on startup.
Does anybody know how I can change the baseband version back to the default one in MS2Ginger? I tried posting in the MS2Ginger thread but it requires me to have >10 posts to reply...

Anyone? I just need to know how to change the baseband in MS2Ginger...

[Q] Two questions about 5.0 ROMs

Hi,
I'm currently on stock 5.0 ROM (Simple ROM) but I prefer pure Android UI. I've got two questions:
Is there any fully-working and stable 5.0 ROM?
I'm on KK bootloader and TWRP 2.8.5.1 w/ Bump. Do I have to do anything if I want to flash non-LG 5.0 ROM?

No, you just have to find a Rom and install it through TWRP by factory reseting and installing zip + Gapps.
There are many different roms for the G2, if you like stock android UI with some little improvements, you have the well-known CM12.
If you prefer having a fast and smooth phone you might want to look forward on liquidsmooth.
If you're an addict of options and customization then the BlissPop rom is for you.
And if people likes the LG's stock interface they have simple rom (who can be coupled to GravityBox in order to be enhanced... ).
All those roms are still in devellopement, but honestly they have really good performance and the updates are now just some little things/bug fixes.
You first should look on Gravity Box + xposed who just realeased a LP version, might work on simple rom and add many things.
If you still don't like the improved stock experience you have all those other roms who have their specificies.
I'm currently running BlissPop and have to say that it's really well-made, but D802 has some problems with some builds causing bootloops, so not the perfect one indeed.
Just watch other threads and fine something that you'll like, feel free to ask questions...

So you say I don't have to flash JB bootloader, right? Just flash ROM using BUMPed TWRP and that's it?

wojtal said:
So you say I don't have to flash JB bootloader, right? Just flash ROM using BUMPed TWRP and that's it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, no, NO! With some ROMs you NEED the JB bootloader, unless stated otherwise!
I made the same mistake and ended up with vertical black lines on the screen due to overheating upon hanging boot. So, even thought the ROM says it includes a bump-ed kernel, I would be really careful with KK bootloaders.

errikosd said:
No, no, NO! With some ROMs you NEED the JB bootloader, unless stated otherwise!
I made the same mistake and ended up with vertical black lines on the screen due to overheating upon hanging boot. So, even thought the ROM says it includes a bump-ed kernel, I would be really careful with KK bootloaders.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually for this simple/Grola ROM you need to be on bumped recovery and KK boot loader BEFORE flashing the ROM. You can flash back and forth between cloudy 2.2 and simple ROM, but aosp Roms in general require jb bootloader