When the G1 came out it was the only Android powered device so modding it worked for everybody. And it was just one brand, HTC, so this forum was a one stop destination for modding our phone.
However, things have changed, now there are multiple phone with incompatible hardware from different manufacturers. Now a custom rom made for the G1, won't work on a DROID for example and vise versa. This complicates things quite a bit.
Right now Cyanogen mods are the best thing for our G1 and maybe the best thing for Android as a whole. I'm used to the build in tether capability and apps to SD and compcace and the other perks of a modded rom. But if I wanted to upgrade my phone, I would lose it all.
There are no Cyanogen mod for anything other than G1 and myTouch phones as far as I know and if I were to upgrade to DROID, I would lose root, lose tether, lose apps to SD, lose everything about my phone that makes it my phone.
Everything I wrote may not be facts, I don't really know what goes on at other forums, but I know that we don't have roms build to run on the DROID and we don't have them built to run on the HERO hardware, it's all for G1 and myTouch, and it seems to me that if I don't ha.ve on of those phones, I lose everything.
I do understand that this forum is for HTC devices which DROID and a few other's are not which is why I don't see homebrew for them. Is there a another website similar to this that supports all Android hardware?
These are thoughts that have been running through my head lately. If I am totally wrong here, please let me know.
I would say check out websites such as androidcommunity.com, androidandme.com, phandroid.com. The developers might not be on there but you can probably find links to where there are custom roms for the phones.
And you are right about different phones having different development oppurtunities. I thought about this today and realized that the next android phone I get not only has to be what I want but also be a popular phone that will attract developers such as cyan, maxisma, jac, manup and everyone else. My best guess and hope is that it will be a snapdragon android handset, hopefully for T-Mobile USA.
What we'll end up having to do is pick our phones based on it's community support and what kind of home brew is available for it.
The reason I love the G1 is the fact that it's rooted and has a large community. This phone is the best on the market, all things considered, because the rooted OS allows so much.
If and when the Droid is rooted, when a GSM version is released, and when it has T-Mo's 3G bands, I will move to it. But all those may not happen for another year or more. If you haven't played with a Droid yet, do so. Incredible speed and the best screen I have ever seen on a phone. Till then, G1 all the way.
The man is right, we have a problem on the dev side.
I think though, once 2.0 gets standard, we'll only need root for a few things like tethering and setting the CPU clock. Really cyanogen's only advantage is optimization, but once 2.0 and snapdragon rolls around, who cares? We'll always want to tinker, but it won't eclipse getting the phone you want.
The big problems right now are that the market isn't getting what it needs. Nothing compares to the HTC widgets, yet instead of cloning them on the market, we try and run a ROM that doesn't even work on our phones! We still don't have BT in Hero and it may just never happen.
2.0 will be what we need as a base, but the market needs our help now.
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
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Thanks but this thread is not about who has the best rom.
The point is, when you get a new Android phone, your rom of choice won't be available for it. So what do you do?
alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
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I think we all get it already, YOU are dwang's biggest fan
But, to stay on topic. My G1 is the first HTC device I've ever owned and I've only discovered XDA since I've had it, and I think that because of the community involvement here and the custom roms that have come out, I will definitely lean towards another HTC phone when I look for my next upgrade, and it will definately be an android phone.
Also another thing to look at is the availability of the phones that are out to actual dev's. Unless people are donating phones, I doubt everyone can just run out and pick up all the latest devices, and network restrictions/preferences that come along with them.
I think the easiest solution is as follows:
1. Find the dev you like best.
2. Find the phone you like best.
3. Buy phone you like best.
4. Buy/Create a donate link to get said dev the same phone.
Assuming said dev doesnt turn around and craigslist the phone you bought him/her, you have (hopefully) ensured said dev will migrate and develop on your favorite hardware.
Not the best solution but probably the most reliable.
alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
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Seriously dude, are you going to diss me in every thread? What do you even contribute to this community? I've not received any patches or even logs of the "problems" you claim.
cyanogen said:
Seriously dude, are you going to diss me in every thread? What do you even contribute to this community? I've not received any patches or even logs of the "problems" you claim.
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For real.
Alec, you're like the little annoying brother that no one wants to be around.
Grow up, let your balls drop, and enjoy your phone, your life, and whatever rom you want.
But, you don't have to go around dissing well-respected devs.
The Droid hasn't been out long enough for a community to gather around it. Many of the Android big names are waiting to get GSM versions before tinkering.
Also, remember that the HTC Dream was in circulation well before it launched last year. The Android development phone is identical to the Dream, with the only difference being some swish art on the back cover. The hardware and software were free-flowing long before it landed in our hands. In contrast, the Droid was a much more secretive launch; we've only just got Eclair source code, and the SDK was kept under wraps by a non-disclosure agreement (probably to conceal the nuclear bomb that is Google Maps Navigation).
I find the cracking of the Droid to be inevitable. The poor thing is going to be broken just as much as our Dreams were. Just give it time.
As for ROMs being available over a span of phones, I'm not sure that's even a good idea. Android variants like XROM, cyanogenmod, The Dude's ROM, yadda yadda... they're all about maximising the capabilities of the Dream. Not the Droid, the Dream. Adding in features that the hardware can support, changing CPU frequencies, Apps2SD, all that jazz. Droid ROMs will be built around adding in core features, like Apps2SD, and whatever else the Droid has tucked away. Likewise, speed optimisations may not be portable between phones, as what gives the Dream a boost may hinder the Droid.
For me, features of a ROM are not the best part of homebrew Android builds. The best part is being able to upgrade your phone outside of the carrier's say-so. If T-mobile have no plans to push Eclair to Dreams, I will install it myself. I am not tied down by the say-so of a room full of suits three thousand miles away. If T-mobile don't include an app that I like, such as the IM app or the Amazon MP3 store (which T-mobile UK don't), I can get ROMs with them myself. If a carrier would rather I didn't tether without paying for my bandwidth twice, I can do it anyway, so long as I'm not an idiot.
You may have guessed that I have a very dim view of cell carriers.
With root, we are free to do as we like. This is the real killer feature of homebrew, and the Droid will benefit from it too.
Anyway...
dwang said:
I want to acknowledge cyanogen, daproy, cyrowski, loccy, and alla for their contributions to the android community.
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Click to collapse
It seems dwang himself has a much higher opinion of the man than a certain other someone.
AthlonBoy said:
The Droid hasn't been out long enough for a community to gather around it. Many of the Android big names are waiting to get GSM versions before tinkering.
Also, remember that the HTC Dream was in circulation well before it launched last year. The Android development phone is identical to the Dream, with the only difference being some swish art on the back cover. The hardware and software were free-flowing long before it landed in our hands. In contrast, the Droid was a much more secretive launch; we've only just got Eclair source code, and the SDK was kept under wraps by a non-disclosure agreement (probably to conceal the nuclear bomb that is Google Maps Navigation).
I find the cracking of the Droid to be inevitable. The poor thing is going to be broken just as much as our Dreams were. Just give it time.
As for ROMs being available over a span of phones, I'm not sure that's even a good idea. Android variants like XROM, cyanogenmod, The Dude's ROM, yadda yadda... they're all about maximising the capabilities of the Dream. Not the Droid, the Dream. Adding in features that the hardware can support, changing CPU frequencies, Apps2SD, all that jazz. Droid ROMs will be built around adding in core features, like Apps2SD, and whatever else the Droid has tucked away. Likewise, speed optimisations may not be portable between phones, as what gives the Dream a boost may hinder the Droid.
For me, features of a ROM are not the best part of homebrew Android builds. The best part is being able to upgrade your phone outside of the carrier's say-so. If T-mobile have no plans to push Eclair to Dreams, I will install it myself. I am not tied down by the say-so of a room full of suits three thousand miles away. If T-mobile don't include an app that I like, such as the IM app or the Amazon MP3 store (which T-mobile UK don't), I can get ROMs with them myself. If a carrier would rather I didn't tether without paying for my bandwidth twice, I can do it anyway, so long as I'm not an idiot.
You may have guessed that I have a very dim view of cell carriers.
With root, we are free to do as we like. This is the real killer feature of homebrew, and the Droid will benefit from it too.
Anyway...
It seems dwang himself has a much higher opinion of the man than a certain other someone.
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You seem to have almost got my point but not quite. Of coarse DOID doesn't need Cyanogen MOD specifically. But would you buy an Android phone if there weren't a mod that lets it do the things that we are used to and have only become available by modding? Apps to SD, tethering, themeing?
Sure DROID might get all these things though a custom rom but we won't see it on this website. The problem is that things will get too spread out and hard to find with all these new hardware options.
What would be nice is a rom that works on nearly every Android device that just adds root access to the phone and some basic universal packages like A2SD and tethering etc. That way you can buy any Android device you want and still have these basic privileges.
Do you think something like that would be possible?
Pinesal said:
You seem to have almost got my point but not quite. Of coarse DOID doesn't need Cyanogen MOD specifically. But would you buy an Android phone if there weren't a mod that lets it do the things that we are used to and have only become available by modding? Apps to SD, tethering, themeing?
Sure DROID might get all these things though a custom rom but we won't see it on this website. The problem is that things will get too spread out and hard to find with all these new hardware options.
What would be nice is a rom that works on nearly every Android device that just adds root access to the phone and some basic universal packages like A2SD and tethering etc. That way you can buy any Android device you want and still have these basic privileges.
Do you think something like that would be possible?
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Click to collapse
Beats me, man. I'm not a developer. But I think it's unlikely.
For the DROID (and other/future android phones) is Apps2SD really necessary? The only reason why we need it on our phones is because of the pathetic amount of internal space the G1 has, the same goes for Swap Partitions etc.
As long as people buy the phone there is always going to be someone who is smart enough to work on rooting it IMO. And even without root what do you really lose? The only things I think I would really miss are Wireless Tether and Bluetooth File Transfer (Which I THINK is in 2.0 anyway).
I'm not buying a new phone until it's rooted and Cyanogen has it too.
My biggest requirement for any android phone..and any cell phone in general is the keyboard. I bought the G1 because of the keyboard and lucked out with the high number of developers available for it. I didn't find this place for several months during the time when the grandfather of the G1 mod program was still active =) JF!. I enjoyed all the modding and updating because I personally feel that the phone is, well mine. And I should be able to do what ever I want with it. I had picked up the V3C Razer because it could play MP3's. I get it home and then discover that the Verizon Nazi's completely locked down that feature so you where forced to use their service at an additional cost. Of course the motorola dev/repair/store software allowed us to get in a enable the various features that Verizon required to be locked. I also love the Aps2sd. No matter what phone you have, the internal memory will never be enough. And with the Cliq supporting 32gig sd cards, a full keyboard, and NOT verizon was enough for me. I'm patient and confident it will be rooted eventually. If not, I still have my G1 and I still do Cyanogen updates and play around with it. And when my contract is up with Tmob(renewed for the Cliq), I'll see who has the next most popular rooted phone with a keyboard and switch over. I just really hate people telling me how to use a device I own. Its like going to McDonalds and having them dictate what condiments to put on my BigMac and Fries, and then telling me I can only eat it a certain way and which hand to use. If Cyanogen was down with the Cliq, or interested in it. I may be willing to ship him my phone to see what he can come up with.
As far as a universal O/S for all phones, isn't that just the core Android software with specific drivers provided by each manufacturer and custom UI? There should be a way to make 1 O/S for all android phones, then have update packs with the drivers and UI enhancements and add-ons for each android phone released? Not sure of the SPL locks though. Thats a bit beyond me. But i wouldn't think it would be to hard to run Cyanogen on the Cliq or droid provided the correct drivers and such where bundled with it. Kind of like slipstreaming a service pack into a bootleg Windows OS . Each phone eventually has to release the source code which contains the drivers for that phone. Thats how we get the Cliq's OS onto the G1, should work the other way around too. Sounds easy, but Cyanogen's Rom should run on my Cliq, provided the drivers are slipstreamed into it for the Cliq...right? Only problem is root.. :/ hehehe
and there he flames again...alec.baldwin, no one has the problems you have with cyanogen's latest. actually, lets delve into this...what exactly are your "problems" with 4.2.5? PLEASE, answer this question so cyanogen can dutifully fix the "problems" you are having.
You might check out some of the Q/A threads to first learn how to properly flash cyanogen's ROM. It is slightly different than Dwang's because Cyanogen uses the legal method. In fact, check out www.cyanogenmod.com and you might find a ton of useful info on getting cm to work on your phone.
Best of Luck,
njuncos
P.S. Cyanogen, mad props on once again reaching over a million thread views on your latest. Now you own 3 of the top 4 most viewed threads of all time in Dream Android Development!
Alright lets get the record straight. Has anyone tried the kernal patch that puts your mem on a partition on the sd card. Supposidly this boosts performance out of this world. Please post here if you have tried this.
Secondly, we need to attract some developers. I'm willing to donate if anyone wants to code for us. We got a great user base and a really good product. Im conviced the captivate is by far one of the better phones from the galaxy s lineup. If any one knows some developers, introduce them tot his godly beast and let them know there are people out here willing to pay for good quality fixes and roms.
I was thinkin about asking for help from the guys running international s. We could post and ask in the xda area and also modaco and androidforums which have big communities as well.
Any other ideas on how to attract developers? Post here.
systoxity said:
Alright lets get the record straight. Has anyone tried the kernal patch that puts your mem on a partition on the sd card. Supposidly this boosts performance out of this world. Please post here if you have tried this.
Secondly, we need to attract some developers. I'm willing to donate if anyone wants to code for us. We got a great user base and a really good product. Im conviced the captivate is by far one of the better phones from the galaxy s lineup. If any one knows some developers, introduce them tot his godly beast and let them know there are people out here willing to pay for good quality fixes and roms.
I was thinkin about asking for help from the guys running international s. We could post and ask in the xda area and also modaco and androidforums which have big communities as well.
Any other ideas on how to attract developers? Post here.
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Click to collapse
I'm down to donate as well and do anything I can to add to the cause. I really hope this phone takes off cause it is great. I think we have a good chance that a lot of the N1 devs might just come over to this phone and if not they should be getting the Vibrant and I doubt that it will be much trouble to port over to Captivate.
Err why is it better lol? all the samsung galaxy S phones are exacly the same internaly...none its better than the other, the only difrence is the lack of flash/camera and keyboard from the other variants.
rafyvitto said:
Err why is it better lol? all the samsung galaxy S phones are exacly the same internaly...none its better than the other, the only difrence is the lack of flash/camera and keyboard from the other variants.
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Image, Image, Image. If the galaxy lineup were real life siblings, the captivate would be the only one going to the prom. It also sports fewer gps issues than the vibrant and galaxy s. Ive also seen way less people complain about lag in these forums than the ones for the vibrant and galaxy s (and we have more viewers here than on the vibrant page).
When devs see this device they should be seeing potential.
systoxity said:
Image, Image, Image. If the galaxy lineup were real life siblings, the captivate would be the only one going to the prom. It also sports fewer gps issues than the vibrant and galaxy s. Ive also seen way less people complain about lag in these forums than the ones for the vibrant and galaxy s (and we have more viewers here than on the vibrant page).
When devs see this device they should be seeing potential.
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Click to collapse
All of these so called "issues' are software based, its samsung ****ty touchwiz UI that lags like ****ing hell, not the device hardware, and yes i do agree that the captivate is the sexiest of them all.
Im pretty sure it would be painless to port over Vibrant or Galaxy S fixes to the Captivate. Internally they are the same except for a few minor differences like rafyvitto said which wouldn't be that hard to fix. I'm brushing up on my Java skills and learning about the internals of Android right now. Ive been a iPhone person for a while. Hopefully soon I can be of some help and get hacking on Captivate. From what I've seen and read we have a good phone to develop for because its easily rooted and has an unlocked bootloader. I've also heard that the drivers for the Galaxy S lineup are encrypted, but I haven't seen any confirmation of that. What we need is a dump of the current ROM and also we need a better recovery system like Amon_RA's recovery. The source for his recovery system is on GitHub so we could try and port it over to the Galaxy S lineup.
shouldnt samsung be releasing source for drivers any day now? I thought the word around town was that they were being open with the community on this jazz.
systoxity said:
shouldnt samsung be releasing source for drivers any day now? I thought the word around town was that they were being open with the community on this jazz.
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They have already released the source code for the Galaxy S here. They don't have to release the source for the drivers because they are proprietary, but from what ive read the binaries for the drivers are in that download so all someone would have to do in link them in. I just don't know if the drivers are encrypted meaning that it has to be an official samsung ROM for them to work. Hopefully not because that would make cooking new ROMs a hell of alot easier.
we should ask the modaco guys for help and info. I dont think we can use the source or drivers from the galaxy s international. I think someone tried doing stuff that way and bricked.
i could be wrong tho
Would also be willing to donate to the cause. The only reason I didn't buy an iPhone 4 is the developers for this phone.
@wesgarner is on the CyanogenMod team / TeamDouche and has ordered a Vibrant.
We might be able to encourage him to port the latest CyanogenMod build once he has the Vibrant's build completed.
He purchased a Vibrant and I think a laptop to do the work. I've already sent him an email about being a beta tester for the Captivate.
Just remember the devs have a life outside of working on phones! Don't ask for timelines - whether you donate or not!
Wes is working on a port for the slide and then he'll be working on the Vibrant.
While the hardware is similar - the software isn't exactly the same. I was messing around with the MMS.apk today and tried to replace my corrupted one with the one from the Vibrant - did NOT work.
Also, the device is capable of having a REAL FMRadio. The Euro versions have an FMradio.apk. I pushed it to the Captivate - but, the Captivate will need the drivers (to build into a kernal) for the FMRadio to work. But, this is entirely possible.
So, yes the hardware is basically the same or similar - it won't necessarily easy. If any of you remember, LOL - this will be akin to porting the N1 build over to the Desire - I think.
The first thing to go should be that awful samsung UI lol. I think the challenge will be porting ROMs for all these different Galaxy S models. I saw this coming when I read the device would make it to all four major carriers in the US plus.
thanks shane, i also heard another dev recently purchased a captivate, do you know anything about this? i'd like to support his endeavors.
Yea I read over in the Vibrant forums that a dev just got a captivate and is working on a recovery. They also have wes working on the Vibrant so hopefully they get cookin on some ROMs. It won't be that much of a hassle to port them over to the captivate. I would advise not fooling around too much with your phone because someone has already messed up his/her phone. They will either have to take it into ATT store and replace it or wait for a dump of the original ROM to come out.
I have tired the MoDaCo rom and it does (kinda - not brick) work with the SGH-I897 (captivate model), I was able to use it to remove the ATT crapware and nearly everything seems to be working. Phone reports its self as Model Number: GT-I9000 in the about phone tab.
One very IMPORTANT problem - I am having difficulty making outgoing phone calls.
Things that I can confirm work:
Bluetooth file transfer
3g data
GSM phone calls (incoming calls work)
Camera
Audible app, pandora ect.
SMS outgoing and incoming messages
Pretty much everything I have tested on the phone except making outgoing phone calls (important as it is a phone after all). So DON'T use this ROM yet, and if you do make a backup.
Hope this helps.
Hey all, new Tab 4 7.0 owner here. I've only ever owned HTC EVO devices, which have a wide selection of custom everything to choose from, so empty Android/Original Development sections are a new concept for me.
From what I read, development hasn't started because we don't have a stable recovery environment yet, but assuming we get that down, what would be the main hinderances (device-specifc issues) of getting AOSP on this tablet? What can we non-developers do to help?
Thanks for all your answers!
Lacedaemon said:
Hey all, new Tab 4 7.0 owner here. I've only ever owned HTC EVO devices, which have a wide selection of custom everything to choose from, so empty Android/Original Development sections are a new concept for me.
From what I read, development hasn't started because we don't have a stable recovery environment yet, but assuming we get that down, what would be the main hinderances (device-specifc issues) of getting AOSP on this tablet? What can we non-developers do to help?
Thanks for all your answers!
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Click to collapse
As far as I know, we have a bit of lack of support fro Devs. We do have great Devs however some (if not most) of them don't actually own the device so they are trying to work from other devices including the Tab 3 series. Another thing is lack of tools and information from Samsung. Even though they do provide Devs with tools and info, they are a bit secretive when it comes to development of the actual OS. So that's that. What you can do is to offer to test new methods but you must accept the risks which involves Hard Bricking of the the tab. Other than that just be patient and privide any information you can give
Sent from my SM-T230NU using XDA Free mobile app
As a contributor that works with the Tab 3 7in version, I can tell you that the Marvel cpu/board set that Samsung used on our (and your) 7in wifi versions is the main problem.
We have managed to get a version of CM 11 working, but some essentials such as wifi, bluetooth, and hardware composer are not easy with Marvel. We still have a lot of work to do and very little time to spend trying.
And the previous answer is also correct, you need more devs for the Tab 4.
Sent from my SCH-I605