Database Users

General Noob Root and ROM update Questions

So I am new to the whole Root and ROM Android arena. And I came up with a few questions that hopefully you guys can help me with.
1. I read people saying they lost their ROOT after an update from 4.1 to 4.2 or 4.2.1 to 4.2.2? How did this happen for them?
Do you have to Un-root and flash to stock before updating to a different build (Such as 4.1 to 4.2 or 4.2.1 to 4.2.2)?
2. Right now I am using a custom ROM on Android Version 4.2.2.... if a new Custom ROM with a new android version released (Let's say 4.2.3) can I flash from one Rom to the other with just wiping Cache/Factory wipe and Dalvik Cahce or is there something else I would need to do because of the Android version update?
Sorry those two questions above are very similar but I wanted to ask them both ways.
3. If I were to get bored of the Custom ROM I am currently on. Are there any Best Practices "rules" I should know about when switching from one custom ROM to another?
4. Last if I am on a custom ROM with a nightly build..... is it more common to update to every nightly build that releases? Or is it more common people to only pick and choose choice nightly build versions. And if people do update to every new Nightly build.... can you update too much and destroy your device?
Sorry guys I know these seem like very basic questions..... and Yes I did search the forums. However while I found some very basic answers nothing went into great depth in explanation. All the answers seemed to be very vague.

does anyone have some suggestions on where to find these answers?

1. If you are on stock, rooted, and you update versions of the OS, you are essentially UPDATING the /system partition. That is how you lose 'root' when upgrading. If you modify any system files while rooted, you have to either revert to stock or change those modified files back to the original before running the update.
2. Just run FACTORY RESET in your custom recovery and flash the new custom rom. No need to wipe any caches (/cache is wiped during a factory reset anyway). It doesnt matter what version to what version. Sometimes new versions might require new bootloaders, but you will be bombarded with that information here if that becomes the case.
3. See number 2. Its the same thing. backup your apps with Titanium Backup, do a Factory Reset in custom recovery and flash new rom....done.
4. doesnt matter. you can update as much or as little as you like. some people prefer stability over new shiny, but then others are just crack-flashers....and will literally flash ANYTHING posted to see what happens

Pirateghost said:
1. If you are on stock, rooted, and you update versions of the OS, you are essentially UPDATING the /system partition. That is how you lose 'root' when upgrading. If you modify any system files while rooted, you have to either revert to stock or change those modified files back to the original before running the update.
2. Just run FACTORY RESET in your custom recovery and flash the new custom rom. No need to wipe any caches (/cache is wiped during a factory reset anyway). It doesnt matter what version to what version. Sometimes new versions might require new bootloaders, but you will be bombarded with that information here if that becomes the case.
3. See number 2. Its the same thing. backup your apps with Titanium Backup, do a Factory Reset in custom recovery and flash new rom....done.
4. doesnt matter. you can update as much or as little as you like. some people prefer stability over new shiny, but then others are just crack-flashers....and will literally flash ANYTHING posted to see what happens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I really appreciate the response. :good: You'd be surprised how many "Tiny Parts" of answers you get from searching. Very rarely the whole answer you need.
I am glade to hear that Question 2 only requires you to just factory rest. From the misinformation gathered on other forums... I was starting to think you had to flash back to stock before updating to another Custom ROM Build.

@20mmrain
You've probably looked at a number of posts by confused newbs. For better or worse, this site is nothing like a moderated wiki, so you find treasure mixed in with trash.
Rooters fall into four broad classes:
(a) Those that "root & modify" stock ROMs
(b) Those that abandon stock and use custom ROMs and kernels
For each of the above cases, there are diligent and careful users who make full (nandroid) backups... and lazy idiots who do not. It is almost always the lazy idiots you observe coming in here in a panic, independent of whether they are in class (a) or (b).
Beyond that, newbs taking approach (a) seem to perpetually labor under the false impression that their modified versions of a stock ROM should be able to be upgraded by the OTA process - when in fact that there is absolutely no reason to believe that. The OTAs carefully check hundreds of different files before they perform any changes; if even a single one of them has been altered, the OTA aborts without making any changes.
It is *possible* that if none of those hundreds of files are changed that an OTA will succeed on a "nearly stock" ROM. When this happens though, it is quite typical that:
- the "su" binary (part of a root kit) in either /system/bin or /system/xbin gets its' setuid permissions reset by a recursive permission-setting command in the OTA
- the custom recovery can possibly be overwritten by the new stock recovery.
Folks tend to refer to either of the above as "losing root". True in principle, but they are trivially fixed up - if the user actually understands how Android rooting works. (With fastboot, you simply reflash the custom recovery, boot into that and reflash the same root kit originally used).
It's too bad that folks who put together rooting guides seem to neglect putting an emphasis on making backups. They give you both security and freedom.
Bottom line: whatever you choose to do, make nandroid backups. You don't need to keep them all on the tablet - but for convenience reasons, you should have at least one known good ROM as a backup available to be restored.
good luck

Wow that is a really in-depth explanation and that is exactly what was looking for! Since I have been working in the IT world for years I will say with pride that I am an individual who believes in safety first and always back up any important project I am working on! So I am happy to hear I made the right decision there.
I guess a great deal of my questions also stem from working in a windows based world for so long ....that I am still learning Linux/android.
Right now I do keep a nandroid backup on my nexus 7 but only one. How backups do you have? And do you just keep the rest on a thumb drive?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

20mmrain said:
Right now I do keep a nandroid backup on my nexus 7 but only one. How backups do you have? And do you just keep the rest on a thumb drive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment I have 6 on the tablet - all generated in the last 60 days. Two in the last two days (one a rooted stock/jdq39, another a cm10.1 nightly). Plus recent TiBu market app & data backups. 32 GB model, so I have plenty of room.
That doesn't reflect any particular strategy or goal. I hook it up to a PC every once in a while and at that time either copy off any backups worth saving or delete them. Most of the those I have on the PC will eventually be deleted as well without ever being used. You could use a USB key if you want to. Really you only need to keep one on the tablet - mostly as a convenience in case you wedge your daily driver ROM with some random mod: you can restore a working ROM right from your tablet rather than having to find a USB key or return to your PC to get the tablet booting again.
There is one type of ROM backup that I think is very useful to keep a permanent copy of - a pure stock ROM. The reason for that is that any radio images (tilapia) or bootloader upgrades that are *sometimes* delivered by OTA can be trivially installed by:
- make a backup of the current ROM
- restore a pure stock ROM backup (including the stock recovery! ***)
- take the OTA
- ***soft-boot a custom recovery and make a backup of the NEW stock ROM (including its' recovery!)
- hard-flash the custom recovery to the tablet
- restore the backup from the first step above.
Doing things this way is the safest possible way to install either a bootloader or a radio image. Not only that, but for folks that prefer to mod stock ROMs, it gives them a backup archive of /system to recover arbitrary (stock) files from.
*** soft-booting a recovery is the most convenient way to capture a stock recovery as part of a nandroid backup. I.E.
Code:
fastboot boot recoveryimagefile.img
If you hard-flash a custom recovery before you make a nandroid backup of a stock ROM, you lose the opportunity to get a copy of the stock recovery along with the rest of the stock ROM.
good luck

from android 2.2 to 4.x guide

I never did any software changes to my phone, because of this whole warranty talking, but today my warranty is over, so this finally the time for some upgrade . Currently I have B138 ROM and I want something with android 4.0+ for google hangouts, and much more apps that are based on API level 14. So my first question: is CM11 stable enough for every day use? I don't have second phone, and I have to be on line most of the time.
Assuming that it is, I did prepare a little todo list:
Install stock rom through dload (Second question: will B518 be good enough, becouse if anything goes wrong I will still have pink screen; Third question: Should I wipe data and/or cache? It would be wiped anyway, or not?)
Root the phone using [U8800] [How To] Root, Install ClockworkMod + Remove Bundled Apps from Official 2.3.5 (link to SuperOneClick inside this thread is dead, but I found it elsewhere)
I'm rooted so I can backup my IMEI thanks to [Helpful][Tutorial][Caution] IMEI backup & Flash your IMEI
I still have stock recovery, [RECOVERY] ClockworkMod Recovery [v6.0.4.6]
If answer for second question will be “You should use latest official, B528”, I will have to get my PINK screen back (in this tut Blefish recommended 5.5.0.4 recovery, 6.0.4.6 installs on top of it, so I will rather stay with 5.5.0.4)
If CM11 is stable enough partitioning is required: [PARTITION] BlePart [v2.x].
[ROM][07.09.2014] Unofficial Cyanogenmod 11.0 [4.4.4]. This ROM is rooted out-of-the-box, isn't it?
[GAPPS][4.4.x] OFFICIAL Up-to-Date PA-GOOGLE APPS (All ROM's). And here it goes a little messy. A lot of different packages, replacement of stock apps, Titanium Backup required (?), I don't know how to install, update, remove them...
Anyway, see guys how much have you done for anyone who has u8800, it's everything right here and only thanks to you I was able to make above list .
Is everything in right order? Is there anything important that I didn't found and read before posting this?
EDIT: If anyone will need this in the future:
Second step didn't worked, SuperOneClick freezed in "Step 7", I found [URL="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=23565074]this[/URL] tutorial and it rooted my phone (I had to use included adb drivers).
CWM 5.5.0.4 wasn't able to install CM11, with error "E:Error in /sdcard/cm-11-... .zip (Status 7) Installation aborted", with CWM 6.0.4.6 I had no problems.
/system partition from BlePart allows only for micro PA-gapps

It's good decision to Flash Custom ROMs as there is no good original FW for this good phone. It's a "Do It Yourself" phone! :fingers-crossed:
But there are more than one CM11 versions like there are more than one CM10 versions, etc. You should better read their forum pages and then decive yourself which one to use...
ROMs which need re-partitioning is one step further than classic Custom ROMs. For this case you should better try firstly some ROMs which don't need partition. For e.g. Aurora will be a perfect option for that.
You can get Aurora v5 Update 20 and 21 (which I have used very long time) from its topic:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1492957
Then you can do partitioning. I personnally suggest Forumber's partition file.
After partitioning you can try Aurora SP+ Update 2 which I am currently using. You can get from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2295318
Next step is Blefish currently developping ROM. After trying Aurora SP+ you can go one step further and flash Blefish. You can even participate to the topic with the issues you may face in this still developping ROM. Get it here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=49579659

Thanks for reply, I'm using CM two days from now and I'm amazed what this phone is capable of To be honest I didn't choose Aurora ROM because of 800 pages topic to read . I wasn't shure from where start reading, so I read the whole topic about 4.4.4. And I didn't even thought about leaving stock partition schema. In 2.2 I had problems with lack of space for applications.
But you advise in just one answer to try 3 different ROMs. And I belive many people do so - they change ROMs weekly, monthly to find the best one for their needs. My question is: how to restore everything, everytime when new soft is flashed? Google can restore phonebook. Titanium Backup SMS, and apps. But app data? Saved games? Saved progress in books? And we talking here about jumping between two kernels (.32 and .35), and many API levels. How do you do it?

Want to restore my phone to factory but afraid of bricking given circumstances

Android Version: 4.4.2
Rom: XXUGNG2-SHOstock-i-v8.1
Bootloader: I337UCUAMDL
Recovery: TWRP 2.5.0.2
I've been installing Custom ROMs for a while on this phone and the previous phones I've had (Nexus One, Galaxy Skyrocket.) My S4 hasn't had issues installing them until more developers adopted Aurora Installers and now any ROMs that use them won't work. My phone goes into a boot loop and I need to restore my previous Nandroid backup. I thought that my TWRP might be the cause, but it looks like nowadays the only way to update TWRP is through the GOO Manager. Unfortunately for whatever reason that doesn't work properly and I can't figure out how to get it in any other way. So for a while I had this older ROM installed but now that we're well into Lollipop I decided to try another ROM (GOLDENEYE|XXUHOD7 LOLLiPOP TW|5.1.15), but again it had Aurora and failed, and this time it looks like it messed up my bootloader because now I have the unlock icon whenever I turn on my phone (I don't care much about that because my phone is well outside of warranty at this point, but I'd prefer it be removed)
So I was considering just using ODIN to revert all the way back and starting from scratch, but it looks like my phone will be bricked. So basically I'm at a standstill because I obviously don't want to brick my phone, but at the same time I'm not satisfied with my current ROM since it's quite long in the tooth and isn't even Lollipop based. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
TIA

One thing you might try here, and another here.

dvandam said:
Android Version: 4.4.2
Rom: XXUGNG2-SHOstock-i-v8.1
Bootloader: I337UCUAMDL
Recovery: TWRP 2.5.0.2
I've been installing Custom ROMs for a while on this phone and the previous phones I've had (Nexus One, Galaxy Skyrocket.) My S4 hasn't had issues installing them until more developers adopted Aurora Installers and now any ROMs that use them won't work. My phone goes into a boot loop and I need to restore my previous Nandroid backup. I thought that my TWRP might be the cause, but it looks like nowadays the only way to update TWRP is through the GOO Manager. Unfortunately for whatever reason that doesn't work properly and I can't figure out how to get it in any other way. So for a while I had this older ROM installed but now that we're well into Lollipop I decided to try another ROM (GOLDENEYE|XXUHOD7 LOLLiPOP TW|5.1.15), but again it had Aurora and failed, and this time it looks like it messed up my bootloader because now I have the unlock icon whenever I turn on my phone (I don't care much about that because my phone is well outside of warranty at this point, but I'd prefer it be removed)
So I was considering just using ODIN to revert all the way back and starting from scratch, but it looks like my phone will be bricked. So basically I'm at a standstill because I obviously don't want to brick my phone, but at the same time I'm not satisfied with my current ROM since it's quite long in the tooth and isn't even Lollipop based. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are flashable zips of TWRP floating around to update and the TWRP thread in our section says to use the TWRP Manager app on the Play Store. As far as using ODIN, you won't be bricked. The unlock icon shows up when it detects the system files aren't stock/root is in place. Your bootloader should still be in tact, and if you can still boot into recovery that confirms it. Either way, you just need to use a different method to update TWRP and you should be fine.

Well I feel like a f-ing nimrod..
I failed to mention in my description that when I first tried to install, not only did I get the Unlock icon, but I got the "Software not authorized by AT&T..." error message that prevented me from doing anything. However, I thought this was related to my phone being carrier locked. I found out later that my phone was unlocked a while ago so that wasn't it. Had I looked more closely at the error I would have seen that it was a Kernel error. Turns out I had to install a LOKI'd Kernel. Not exactly sure why, but that was the only one that worked. Now the new ROM is installed and I'm restoring my apps now.
If nothing else, I got my TWRP updated finally, so I like to think this wasn't all for naught. Thanks for the insight anyways. This was easier than doing an ODIN back and forth.

This is because you're on the MDL bootloader. You need to search the forums for your phone in regard to the MDL bootloader and loki'd ROMs. When you see the "software not authorized. .." message, it just means you need to flash a loki'd kernel for your device. Search for Jeeboo's Recovery and Kernel and you should be right a rain. Good luck.
Edit: I was half awake when I tried to answer your question, and somehow missed that you had discovered the loki'd kernel already. The reason for this is because the MDL bootloader is susceptible to the loki exploit, which for all intents and purposes is the equivalent of unlocking the bootloader. I've been using Jeeboo's recovery for a year or so and never had an issue with any ROM I tried. The kernel cones in handy for those that need a loki'd kernel. There's a ton of easy to find info in the forums to help you get a better understanding of the MDL and how loki applies to it.

How to upgrade from 6.0.1 to 7.1.2?

Hello guys,
I'm a complete novice on rooting or flashing cellphones, I'm just a regular user of a Moto X Play XT1563 (bought in Colombia / South America) that wants to upgrade to Nougat 7.1.2.
I want the 7.1.2 just for a regular usage: apps, internet, bluetooth, NFC, camera, GPS, phone calling and of course a good battery performance.
I want to kindly ask for your guidance in all steps required for the backup and upgrade, so if you can please guide me about the whole process I will appreciate it a lot.
Thanks

jramirezdev said:
Hello guys,
I'm a complete novice on rooting or flashing cellphones, I'm just a regular user of a Moto X Play XT1563 (bought in Colombia / South America) that wants to upgrade to Nougat 7.1.2.
I want the 7.1.2 just for a regular usage: apps, internet, bluetooth, NFC, camera, GPS, phone calling and of course a good battery performance.
I want to kindly ask for your guidance in all steps required for the backup and upgrade, so if you can please guide me about the whole process I will appreciate it a lot.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello!
In short, the process for our phone would be...
0. Backup data.
1. Unlock bootloader. This will void your warranty. Unlocking bootloader allows you to use fastboot mode to flash custom images to your phone from a computer.
2. Flash TWRP Recovery. This is done in fastboot mode. Once you have TWRP, you can flash on to or modify the system partition (and other partitions) of your phone on the go.
3. Format the /system partition to get rid of the existing ROM (stock in your case) and then flash whatever ROM you want. This is done using TWRP.
4. There's no fourth step.
Its pretty straightforward, detailed guides to each of the steps are available in this forum. You should use the Index Thread pinned on the General forum to get the links to the required guides at one place. Use the search if you encounter trouble. Then there's the forum to ask.

DragonClawsAreSharp said:
Hello!
In short, the process for our phone would be...
0. Backup data.
1. Unlock bootloader. This will void your warranty. Unlocking bootloader allows you to use fastboot mode to flash custom images to your phone from a computer.
2. Flash TWRP Recovery. This is done in fastboot mode. Once you have TWRP, you can flash on to or modify the system partition (and other partitions) of your phone on the go.
3. Format the /system partition to get rid of the existing ROM (stock in your case) and then flash whatever ROM you want. This is done using TWRP.
4. There's no fourth step.
Its pretty straightforward, detailed guides to each of the steps are available in this forum. You should use the Index Thread pinned on the General forum to get the links to the required guides at one place. Use the search if you encounter trouble. Then there's the forum to ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your response,
I bought my cellphone two years ago so It already went out of warranty so no issues with that step, I already found the guide to "Unlock bootloader" but before I start with it I would like to ask if after that the phone will be unuseful? I mean, after unlocking the bootloader can I start the phone and continue using it? It's my only cell phone so I want to be aware if I will stay long time uncommunicated.
My second question is about the new ROM I will flash, I've no idea about what "versions" exists or where I can download them... so is there some kind of "most stable" version using Nougat 7.1.2? or some "ROM Reliable supplier"?
Thanks

jramirezdev said:
Thanks for your response,
I bought my cellphone two years ago so It already went out of warranty so no issues with that step, I already found the guide to "Unlock bootloader" but before I start with it I would like to ask if after that the phone will be unuseful? I mean, after unlocking the bootloader can I start the phone and continue using it? It's my only cell phone so I want to be aware if I will stay long time uncommunicated.
My second question is about the new ROM I will flash, I've no idea about what "versions" exists or where I can download them... so is there some kind of "most stable" version using Nougat 7.1.2? or some "ROM Reliable supplier"?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlocking bootloader will wipe all your data (it will trigger Factory Reset on your phone). Other than that, your phone will be 100% usable.
Roms are available in Android Development and Original Android Development sections of this forum. Just check the threads that include [ROM] in their title. You have to decide for yourself which rom suits you the best - read its description and what users say in comments.

jramirezdev said:
Thanks for your response,
I bought my cellphone two years ago so It already went out of warranty so no issues with that step, I already found the guide to "Unlock bootloader" but before I start with it I would like to ask if after that the phone will be unuseful? I mean, after unlocking the bootloader can I start the phone and continue using it? It's my only cell phone so I want to be aware if I will stay long time uncommunicated.
My second question is about the new ROM I will flash, I've no idea about what "versions" exists or where I can download them... so is there some kind of "most stable" version using Nougat 7.1.2? or some "ROM Reliable supplier"?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As said, after unlocking bootloader the device will be wiped- You will have to reenter your Google account and reinstall applications etc. Not a big deal.
Custom ROMs sometimes take a few iterations until some bugs here and there are ironed out. Sometimes it happens, in others one may end up switching to a complete fresh ROM. In such instances, you will usually have to make a "clean install" (i.e. a factory reset) and then reenter the Google account and reinstall everything again... It sounds irritating, but nowadays it's pretty much straight forward, and if you don't have hundreds of apps it usually is finalized in 10-15 minutes and is semi automatic.
Updating to a newer version of the same ROM sometimes can be "dirty flashed" (i.e. without wiping all your data) so in a couple of minutes you are set up and ready to go. More convenient, but if something isn't working right and you complain in the thread, certain chances are you will be politely asked to make a clean install first amd some users may flame or grill you alive for dirty flashing and complaining at that :laugh:
Most custom ROMs are usually based on either AOSP or Lineage OS (aka LOS) with some custom modifications. The first post in a ROM thread usually mentions all the rich features (or lack of), how to install (pretty much the same: make a backup in twrp, wipe data/system/cache/dalvik, flash ROM zip file, flash Google gapps zip, flash some additional optional zips such as supersu/magisk/whatever for root etc). Then some download links, faq etc.
It's good practice to read the first post (aka OP), then at least the last page to get a feel of the ROM (e.g. see what others are praising or complaining about this or that), then search for specific stuff that may concern you. For example, some ROMs had this cellular data bug that it got disconnected and required restart. You may decide this os crucial for you and choose another ROM, others may use the device for other things and couldn care less about cellular data bug...
Enjoy, it always feels good tp flash a new ROM, a new version . F!ck LeMoto for delaying the update for so long- You may have been waiting for update to Nougat as early as last year's November or October. Well, on custom ROMs it's here for many months!
On the other hand, they usually say stock ROM is more stable, and in many cases it is also true...
Now you know more or les what you're dealing with: free choice vs. waiting forever.

jaibar said:
As said, after unlocking bootloader the device will be wiped- You will have to reenter your Google account and reinstall applications etc. Not a big deal.
Custom ROMs sometimes take a few iterations until some bugs here and there are ironed out. Sometimes it happens, in others one may end up switching to a complete fresh ROM. In such instances, you will usually have to make a "clean install" (i.e. a factory reset) and then reenter the Google account and reinstall everything again... It sounds irritating, but nowadays it's pretty much straight forward, and if you don't have hundreds of apps it usually is finalized in 10-15 minutes and is semi automatic.
Updating to a newer version of the same ROM sometimes can be "dirty flashed" (i.e. without wiping all your data) so in a couple of minutes you are set up and ready to go. More convenient, but if something isn't working right and you complain in the thread, certain chances are you will be politely asked to make a clean install first amd some users may flame or grill you alive for dirty flashing and complaining at that :laugh:
Most custom ROMs are usually based on either AOSP or Lineage OS (aka LOS) with some custom modifications. The first post in a ROM thread usually mentions all the rich features (or lack of), how to install (pretty much the same: make a backup in twrp, wipe data/system/cache/dalvik, flash ROM zip file, flash Google gapps zip, flash some additional optional zips such as supersu/magisk/whatever for root etc). Then some download links, faq etc.
It's good practice to read the first post (aka OP), then at least the last page to get a feel of the ROM (e.g. see what others are praising or complaining about this or that), then search for specific stuff that may concern you. For example, some ROMs had this cellular data bug that it got disconnected and required restart. You may decide this os crucial for you and choose another ROM, others may use the device for other things and couldn care less about cellular data bug...
Enjoy, it always feels good tp flash a new ROM, a new version . F!ck LeMoto for delaying the update for so long- You may have been waiting for update to Nougat as early as last year's November or October. Well, on custom ROMs it's here for many months!
On the other hand, they usually say stock ROM is more stable, and in many cases it is also true...
Now you know more or les what you're dealing with: free choice vs. waiting forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your thoughts,
After reading here and there I finally was able to flash AOSP Extendend v4.4 on my cellphone, it seems to be working fine.
As I said I was not looking something specific I was just annoyed of waiting so long for the official update (it seems it will never happen) and wants to be in touch with Android Nougat, maybe now I will use my piggy bank to save for a Pixel phone
Thanks guys for your guidance

jramirezdev said:
After reading here and there I finally was able to flash AOSP Extendend v4.4 on my cellphone, it seems to be working fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
How it is working? Did you found any bugs? eg. problem with battery, with mobile data, lte, camera?

How to install a ROM from stock? What's the most reliable ROM?

I just got an Xperia X Compact and haven't modified it yet. It has Build number 34.3.A.0.228 . I wanted to get a clean android system (ideally with root) and figured that flashing a ROM like OmniRom or ParanoidAndroid would be the best way to go. I was trying to figure out how to flash a ROM onto the X Compact. I saw this guide, but it appears to be about obtaining root on the stock ROM, including something about modifying the kernel... but it also tells me things about unlocking the bootloader, which many of these ROMs say they need.
What exactly do I need to do to get something like OmniRom or PA on my otherwise unmodified device? Do I just follow the instructions in that guide up to the point where I unlock the bootloader, then switch to the ROM instructions? Do I need TWRP? And what's all this about backing up and restoring DRM keys?
And all that said, what's the most reliable ROM out there for the Xperia X Compact? It seems to be PA, they have it on their official devices list, but I could be wrong.

The first thing you need to do is to backup your DRM key, because if you don't, it will be lost forever. For this you need to downgrade etc., so it will take some time, but if you follow the guide, you should be done in a couple hours. If you lose the key, you might be excluded from using services that utilize DRM, as well as enhanced algorithms by Sony (known is the camera app).
After you have your DRM backup, you can go back to business as usual with flashing ROMs etc. However note that for using the DRM key, you need a patched kernel. While the DRM key can be put back on the phone, it will now reside on a different location that the kernel needs to be aware of.
You can patch your own / ROM-provided kernel as to the guide but there is also pre-patched kernels floating around. You don't need to do this for testing ROMs as long as you don't need DRM functionality or use Sony's camera app (which provides better image quality with the key present!).
You will need TWRP sooner or later for the usual ROM flashing tasks, while flashing the patched kernel can be conveniently done with fastboot. However you do not have to install TWRP, instead you can boot it from PC via fastboot whenever you need it.
The most reliable ROM right now is stock rom, however you can heavily modify it and strip stuff using Magisk etc.
While the phone is officially supported by Paranoid Android, people reported crucial hardware features to be missing and random phone reboots. Have a look at the corresponding thread if these issues have been solved yet.

Thanks for the help! I looked it up and the random phone reboots in PA have been solved. But for the other things... now I'm trying to figure out how to downgrade to back up the DRM keys. What kinds of "services" other than the high quality camera need the keys? Like Google Apps? or more obscure things?
Also is the flashtool.net FlashTool necessary to get a ROM onto the device? I'm kind of sketched out about letting a closed-source program tweak my phone firmware tbh.

You can get an older firmware via XperiFirm. It is a nice tool actually. Make sure you download the version specified and not just any old version to make the TA extraction work.
There are several ways to flash .ftf (official firmware) files, but the only two that I am aware of are the official Sony tool and FlashTool. Btw. in FlashTool you need to repackage (bundle) the FTF for flashing.
Services that need the DRM key include Google's SafetyNet, AFAIK.