Unofficial builds - Nexus 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Why are so many people bringing out unofficial builds of current roms?
There is nothing wrong with this but the original makers are normally available and IMO better. If you want to make a rom instead of jumping on someone's work why not make your own from scratch?
I my self take roms and add to them, cherry picking the best things of others for my own use but I'd never put them up as my own work.
There are even unofficial nightlys for goodness sake!
Am I the only one who thinks this? Id love to know......
Sent using reversed alien technology...

howard bamber said:
Why are so many people bringing out unofficial builds of current roms?
There is nothing wrong with this but the original makers are normally available and IMO better. If you want to make a rom instead of jumping on someone's work why not make your own from scratch?
I my self take roms and add to them, cherry picking the best things of others for my own use but I'd never put them up as my own work.
There are even unofficial nightlys for goodness sake!
Am I the only one who thinks this? Id love to know......
Sent using reversed alien technology...
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Click to collapse
What would you say about the original, (custom rom builder if I understand correctly) who use the original maker of the base, in this case Google? You have to start somewhere. Sometimes a rom might not do everything you want it to, so you tweak it. Some people want to share their creation.
A lot of Apple fans wish that had/have the freedom to do this.
Sent with my Nexus® 10 minus 3

I do it my self. I don't put them up. There is nothing wrong with taking the Google base and rebuilding. What I'm on about some one has a hit rom, Next there are tons of unofficial ones with the same name. That's all
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Unofficial because the original team was late in delivering the kitkat update. Take liquidsmooth for example. You can find there are unofficial nightly of this rom because liquid team doesn't update it frequently. So my friend @rwaempires and @mnajem took their time compiling it. Recently, liquid team has started to maintain official updates for this device but they also gave permission for rwaempires to continue compile nightly build for faster updates. That all there is to it imo.
Edit: Anyway, don't you think that they just want to give back something to the community? Isn't that what we do here? Learn and then contribute back. Nothing wrong there and it is a good thing. If you have your builds, maybe you could share them and see what people think of it.

howard bamber said:
I do it my self. I don't put them up. There is nothing wrong with taking the Google base and rebuilding. What I'm on about some one has a hit rom, Next there are tons of unofficial ones with the same name. That's all
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
not even a sin unless the original dev pissed with your uploads
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Related

AOSP Alpha for Fascinate

So, I see Twitter is all buzzing about the developers putting AOSP on the Fascinate and I was hoping to see some discussion about it here but surprisingly....nothing.
Actually I have to admit, I was hoping to lurk around to learn some more about what this means for us. As a new Android owner, I believe this gives us the stock android experience that devices like the N1 and NS have but I'm not entirely sure.
So I'm just coming out and asking, is this the reason why so many people are excited? To get rid of Samsung's TW layer on top of Android or does this mean something more? Secondly, does this offer us a pathway to Froyo or Gingerbread or are we still dependent on Samsung releasing their version first?
Aosp is android open source project. Yes it is vanilla android. The reason there is no discussion on here about it is that it is not totally functional yet, from last I heard, 2 days ago. If you want to see the progress of this, you can go into irc and ask about it. Aosp is usually more streamlined because there is no custom skin over it, sense, tw, blur which usually slow the phone down. It offers more customization, you can look at other aosp roms on different phones to see what kind of customization it offers. And lastly, no it does not pave the way for froyo or gingerbread. The source has to be released from Google which it has been, (I think) but samsungs source is corrupted which really hinders our devs from really doing much and makes it much more difficult. The RIL, the thing that allows us to call, text, ect also is also a problem. I hope this clarifies some things for you and I am still learning things everyday and if I have anything wrong, please feel free to correct me.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Skyeclad said:
So I'm just coming out and asking, is this the reason why so many people are excited? To get rid of Samsung's TW layer on top of Android or does this mean something more? Secondly, does this offer us a pathway to Froyo or Gingerbread or are we still dependent on Samsung releasing their version first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The alpha build was just "released" here today or last night. It's still buggy, but functional enough for basic use. It will make it somewhat easier to get AOSP Froyo/Gingerbread working, but it will still be difficult to get either on our phones without Samsung releasing either of them first to lay the initial groundwork for them.
Jt has made his own RIL for the aosp build, so I think this does help with froyo a bit.
iofthestorm said:
Jt has made his own RIL for the aosp build, so I think this does help with froyo a bit.
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Click to collapse
Thanks guys. I had read the he was making his own RIL, which seemed like you would only do if you wanted to make yourself independent from Samsung in the future.
This is my first Android and I REALLY like it compared to my previous smartphone, the BB Storm 1. However, like the Storm, Samsung's inability to produce a timely Froyo build feels like Deja Vu all over again.
I've played with TW, Sense and Stock Android and maybe it's just me but honestly, they are all pretty similar. I know that some here will vehemently disagree but all of them just let me do what I need to do, run apps, write e-mails and make calls. Truthfully, it seems absurd for these manufacturers to even write these silly custom UI's at all but they seem to think that this provides some sort of value added differentiation.
The only 2 things that bother me about my phone, the occasional freezes where the hardware buttons are lit but don't respond and then all of a sudden all the touches that I made that didn't do anything at first, start to fire off rapidly. Secondly, not being able to upgrade to apps that are coming out that require Froyo.
Full disclosure, I would have said GPS performance but that was fixed here with DJ05 and JT's 12/12 Non-Voodoo Kernel.
Well, I think the only thing that scared me away from running the AOSP rom was the list of bugs that seemed to indicate that inbound phone calls don't always work and lack of BT. While I know I can try it out and return, I hate having to restore all those apps and data settings with Titanium, not to mention the potential for a late night in IRC in case things go south!!
I was really excited to see this and loaded it up as soon as I could. It looked great, I would have kept it on regardless of the bugs, but for some reason my home button stopped working and sms functionality was sporadic at best.
I can't wait to try it again when it is finished.
Gotta say, major props to JT, birdman and others. Only reason for me wanting froyo now that i have DJ05 is HID support, which most likely won't come until CM comes around, so i'll wait on installing this, especially since they don't need bug report yet. But its nice to see progress on the playing field, especially when its progress that the community has taken into their own hands.
Thanks for all the hard work.
^this. Cant wait until its fully stable/all features working properly. JT is truly awesome at his craft!
I'm running it right now as we speak pretty stable for me, my new daily driver
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
Also running this. Really awesome! Can't believe how hard you guys work on this phone. Keep it up
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
working okay for me. keep up the good work
Working good for me as well.
Noticed there is no task manager as well as the backup to reload contacts. Guess it's manual input of those again....not so bad since it is the 20th time doing it. Just a nice waste of time.
Glad you posted this thread. It clears up some questions I had too. I've been in computing since 1980 and it seems like the more time passes, the more unfriendly people are about sharing tech knowledge. Android has been one of the most difficult pieces of tech for me to find solid CONCRETE answers about. You have to piece things together from hundreds of websites and hope the consensus is accurate and not a stream of cut and paste work. Especially with android purporting to be open, you'd think there'd be a lot more energy to encourage more folks to develop for it, but it almost seems exactly the opposite.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Anyone else having problems with their ringtones with this? Mine aren't playing at all. I just hear a short tweet sound at the beginning then silence
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
bwheelies,
Does importing them from SD card work?
Google contact sync works fine (even fixes the duplicate contact bug that touchwiz has). I think he was referring to backup assistant (which is of course missing from this rom )
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Does anyone else get an instant FC on the Facebook for Android app? I was looking forward to using the app's built-in and far-superior to TouchWiz Facebook contact sync. Thing is, it just won't open after a fresh install. The only way I can get the app to open is if I restore a TB backup of Facebook taken from DJ05... which automatically keeps the built-in contact sync disabled.
bwheelies, as far as contacts go, it its probably worth your effort to put them into your google contacts now that you are entering them anyway... Just click Contacts in gmail (on your computer)and go to town, you will thank me later. Well, maybe not, but it its a handy time saver for synching contacts in the future
Swyped w/ XDA App. When in doubt, mumble.
+1 for contacts synced with google lol
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jspidah said:
bwheelies,
Does importing them from SD card work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is what I did. Now to sync with Google.
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What is a good ROM for daily use?

I don't have the phone, it's a friends with no tech knowledge so any recommendations would be great. Currently she is running ICS Passion with internet connection issues. So any good daily use ROMs would be great.
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In3rDm0RetHeNu said:
I don't have the phone, it's a friends with no tech knowledge so any recommendations would be great. Currently she is running ICS Passion with internet connection issues. So any good daily use ROMs would be great.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
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I would recommend any of the Froyo roms that fishman0919 or Ryder are releasing. They are solid as they come and the GPS works perfectly which can be an issue on the later roms. I'm currently using the Bi-Winning Redux v1 without any problems overclocked to 1.3ghz and everything is buttery smooth and stable.
Yea, I would definitely go with a froyo ROM by fish or ryder man. They are rock solid
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
Since you are using an ICS ROM, maybe you can try CM9 nightly, which is stable enough for daily use, even for people with no dev experience.
---------- Post added at 05:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------
Download CM9 nightly here:
get.cm/?device=vibrantmtd&type=nightly
oasisfeng said:
Since you are using an ICS ROM, maybe you can try CM9 nightly, which is stable enough for daily use, even for people with no dev experience.
---------- Post added at 05:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------
Download CM9 nightly here:
get.cm/?device=vibrantmtd&type=nightly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know man I wouldn't use a nightly if I was looking for stability, the whole point of nightly builds is that they are not stable and stuff gets fixed/broken on a daily basis. If you're really set on ICS go with ICZen, but even that isn't as stable as the froyo roms.
Since your friend is already on an ICS Rom, why not keep it at ICS? ICS is stable. Things that may not work: 911 calling, and GPS
Go ahead and read this and flash it: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/21742-romimm76i-iczen-185-fistful-of-zen-7-12-12-deficient-development/
x80 better than Passion.
You guys say these ICS roms are better than Passion buy I don't even see them on the development section. I'm mainly talking about x10 and ICZen. What's so good about them that make it better than Passion, because I'm using Passion right now and I don't have any problems but I am looking to switch over to active Rooms.
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Shiv4m said:
You guys say these ICS roms are better than Passion buy I don't even see them on the development section. I'm mainly talking about x10 and ICZen. What's so good about them that make it better than Passion, because I'm using Passion right now and I don't have any problems but I am looking to switch over to active Rooms.
Sent from my GT-I900 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Although I've definitely heard of ICZen, which been my daily driver for months, I'm not too sure I know what rom you are referring to when you say "x10". I've never heard of it nor have I ever used it, thus I can't comment on that rom. However I can comment on ICZen and why it surpasses Passion and its... crumby (I believe that's an appropriate term to use) developers. Yes, Passion was pretty much the first highly popular ICS rom available for the Vibrant. I do give them props for that, however, I'm not sure if you've noticed but Passion is over four months old, development for it has been dropped, and its based on android 4.0.3. In contrast ICZen was last updated two weeks ago, is based on 4.0.4, and comes out of the box running the awesome subZero kernel. Unlike Passion, ICZen is based on AOKP, meaning it has all the bells and whistles that are also found in AOKP. This includes the theme engine, which gives you the ability to theme your phone with the click of a button. You can find a lot of nice themes for the theme engine both here and here. ICZen also sports Rom Control, which gives you more control over your device. The neat tweaks Rom Control offers ranges from being able to change the transparency of the status bar, to changing the battery icon, and even as far as to control the CPU. ICZen also receives support from two intelligent down-to-Earth developers, an awesome themer, and a whole community of people who know what the heck they're talking about. In conclusion, Passion may not have "problems", but don't torture your device with such an outdated rom made by developers many regard as... crumby... and instead get on board with some of the newer roms available! There's ICZen, AOKP, CM9, etc.
Thanks for the reply and I do agree with what you said. Passion is a great ROM but the devs do not give and have left xda. I'm definitely going to move to ICZ today.
Sent from my GT-I900 using xda app-developers app
the latest 4.2 slim rom works perfectly for me. I flashed subzero's build No 80 kernel on top and haven't had any problems yet what so ever. Getting 3 days on idle + GPS works even after deep sleep.
Shiv4m said:
Thanks for the reply and I do agree with what you said. Passion is a great ROM but the devs do not give and have left xda. I'm definitely going to move to ICZ today.
Sent from my GT-I900 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear you're coming over to the Zen side.
I agree with the earlier posters with the fishman froyo ROMs, as I am still not sure about the stability of ICS roms. For daily use, I would like to have 911 and stable GPS.
I am quoting you not to single you out but to call reference to the same old addage of GPS/911.
You know, it really depends on what you want out of your phone. I mean, you need to ask yourself what do you want your phone to do. Do you want it to be a media hub? Do you want it to be a DLNA device? Do you use it to navigate through sh!tty traffic on your morning commute? These are all valid questions that YOU have to ask yourself.
Now down to brass tax. I agree with N00B's assessment of Passion and ICZen. Passion was all the rage when it first came out because we were lucky enough to get an "official" Froyo build, let alone a couple Kangs of Gingerbread. At that point the Vibrant was dead in the water. Then Neobuddy came out with Passion and all the incremental builds. Yes it was awesome to have an ICS ROM running and working on a device that the manufacturer said could not do it. Fast forward and Team Passion (TP from here on out) put out Euphoria (AOKP based) and was basically caught stealing ROM Control and renaming it Euphoria Control. Amends were made and development went on simultaneously with Passion. That had to leave a bad taste in their mouth because shortly after, TP started putting all their ROMs and work on their own site and not too much more on XDA (hence why many believed that Passion development stopped). BUT, they have put out a new ROM called Chimera which can be found on their website with instructions to flash.
Passion was great-at the time. Now that Google pushed out 4.0.4, there was a large amount of code cleanup that came with the tiny incremental numbered build. This was actually very important for the OS as a whole and now there are several ROMs that are based off the 4.0.4 build (AOKP, CM9, SLIM,...). But Passion is still on the 4.0.3 build. See where N00B was going with this in his post before?
I'm not saying that ICZen will be your best ROM you have ever run and you won't need to flash anything ever again. What I am saying is that if you are going to pick an ICS, at least pick one that is up-to-date, whether it be ICZen, Slim, AOKP/m6 or whatever.
inq8us said:
For daily use, I would like to have 911 and stable GPS.
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I am quoting you not to single you out but to call reference to the same old adage of GPS/911.
Ahh, GPS. Well GPS is an issue and when the ICS ROMs were being pushed out, it was a hot-button problem for every one of them. Some work with this kernel and some work with that kernel. VIBRANT's GPS SUCKS. Get over it and move on. I say that with the utmost sincerity, meaning if you need to rely on GPS for work or something that is not trivial, get a Garmin or TomTom and use that. This is a phone and not a navigation tool (that is a side item).
911 is an issue and always will be. It just doesn't work right on anything higher than a 2.2 ROM and if it does, then it is sketchy at best. Take your chances and I am not supporting or damning it one way or the other. It is always better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it. Here is my thoughts on Vibrant 911. When I was a kid, I was taught that if something bad happened and you were in a group, you were supposed to point to someone, make eye contact and say, "You, Call 911!". Now if you are in a car wreck or under the docks doing something swarthy, then you have bigger problems that your Vibrant's ability to dial 911. I am not joking and am not implying anything other than if I was ever in trouble and a ROM wouldn't let me dial 911, I sure as sh!t would be on the nearest person to get them to dial it.
Sorry for the long post but here it is.
tl;dr -> Figure out what you want your phone to do and then go from there.
Woodrube, I do agree with you, with respect to what you do want out of your phone. When I interpreted from the OP about using the phone daily, I interpreted it as their primary or possibly the only phone. I could be wrong in assuming this, but that is how I am using my Vibrant. When it is my primary phone, I do want GPS, and definitely 911 to be available. I see that a lot of people here actually use their Vibrant as their 2nd or 3rd phone, therefore, they are loading ICS ROMS and may not care as much about these services.
With GPS, I can see limited use with that. Especially given that google has location services via data. However, I have significantly improved lock once I moved to Bionic, where stock was not getting a lock for over 5 minutes. In a lot of the ICS discussions, I see that GPS either no longer works, or is unstable. That is why I didn't think ICS would be a good daily ROM, but I could be wrong.
As for 911, I understand what you mean, but it is a critical service that I would like to be able to depend on daily. 911 is for an emergency, and unpredictable. It is in these unpredictable times that I do want to have something reliable to depend on, and not depend on someone else who may or may not be there.
GPS is fixable if you mostly use GPS in the car via bluetooth external GPS receiver. You only need phone radio and bluetooth on - everything else off. This not only saves battery for your phone but improve lock and accuracy on gps. I got around 6-10ft accuracy and locked within 1s (the moment I turn it on).
4.0.4
inq8us said:
I agree with the earlier posters with the fishman froyo ROMs, as I am still not sure about the stability of ICS roms. For daily use, I would like to have 911 and stable GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try chimera v2.2..this is a killer ROM - A blend of AOKP, CM9 and CNA.
here is the link...http://www.team-passion.com/index.php/roms/galaxy-vibrant/19-chimera-v1-1
For froyo:try fisherman
For GB: try cm7
For ICS: try either iczen (look in rootzwiki) or Chimera 2.2
For jellybean: Try hellybean
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda app-developers app
Im in the same boat as the OP. Am currently on ICS Passion and it is becoming painful to live with it anymore. So much lag. To make a call, just to get to the dialer can take me easily 5 plus seconds. When getting a call, the first 30 seconds are just 'Can you hear me now??'. Im just sick of it at the moment and like the OP am looking for something stable for a daily use. It has to be quick, no lags. Dont care about 911 but would be good if it was working and def want GPS working. I am thinking going Slim ICS but not sure yet. Good advice from earlier posts so I will look into a few of those as well
iKoolkid said:
For froyo:try fisherman
For GB: try cm7
For ICS: try either iczen (look in rootzwiki) or Chimera 2.2
For jellybean: Try hellybean
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried to flash hellybean today but couldn't get the radio working. Wifi worked fine but that doesn't help me to make calls. Hard to get any feedback when I'm still trying to get my 10 posts. Back to CM7 aka "battery killer" for now...
Chimera_v2.2_Vibrant by far is the best and stable and fast rom i run into.....

What are benefits of CyanogenMod?

I am new to Android (been an iPhone user for years), and am loving the Nexus 4 so far. I'm rooted the phone and installed a custom kernel (franco), and I've been thinking of possibly putting a custom ROM on my device. I see a lot of people using CyanogenMod but I don't see much info on what the benefits of this mod are.
I checked out http://www.cyanogenmod.org/ but it looks like there's only a few addons that are in there (theme support, dsp equalizer). Are there other benefits of this that I'm missing?
Check out the features of the ROM. Their website isn't very informative because it isn't updated to date with what's in the ROM nowadays.
When switching to another Rom I recommend using titanium back up to back up your apps so you can restore them afterwards and keep your settings.
Some highlight features,
- battery percentage
- notification tiles are more beneficial rather than shortcuts it actually toggles them on and off
- navigation bar changes. Customizable to your liking
- quiet hours
- wake phone using volume rocker
- lock screen tweaks. Add shortcuts, show battery percentage.
Etc etc. I recommend downloading the unofficial version of cm named jellybro found in android development as it contains commits not in the official build just yet.
Just download it you won't be dosappointed. Plus in older phones, cm is faster than stock and most of the times their manufacturer hasn't updated their stock Rom to Android 4.2 where cm has. That's why it's popular because of its maintenance of the project
Note: you need to flash gapps with cm. It contains Google apps. Can't be packaged with roms, is illegal.
Flash Franco kernel as well as cm
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
zephiK said:
Check out the features of the ROM. Their website isn't very informative because it isn't updated to date with what's in the ROM nowadays.
When switching to another Rom I recommend using titanium back up to back up your apps so you can restore them afterwards and keep your settings.
Some highlight features,
- battery percentage
- notification tiles are more beneficial rather than shortcuts it actually toggles them on and off
- navigation bar changes. Customizable to your liking
- quiet hours
- wake phone using volume rocker
- lock screen tweaks. Add shortcuts, show battery percentage.
Etc etc. I recommend downloading the unofficial version of cm named jellybro found in android development as it contains commits not in the official build just yet.
Just download it you won't be dosappointed. Plus in older phones, cm is faster than stock and most of the times their manufacturer hasn't updated their stock Rom to Android 4.2 where cm has. That's why it's popular because of its maintenance of the project
Note: you need to flash gapps with cm. It contains Google apps. Can't be packaged with roms, is illegal.
Flash Franco kernel as well as cm
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome thanks for the information, I really appreciate it!!!
dmorand said:
Awesome thanks for the information, I really appreciate it!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anytime! Enjoy. If you have any questions or whatever, don't be afraid to reply back in this thread or pm me. Try and figure it out on your own first though, if all else fails I'm here.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
zephiK said:
Anytime! Enjoy. If you have any questions or whatever, don't be afraid to reply back in this thread or pm me. Try and figure it out on your own first though, if all else fails I'm here.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where can I find the Jellybro? I assume it's more risky going with this rom seeing how those commits aren't in the nightly build version? The normal nightly build has an updater in it to pull down the most recent build right? Does Jellybro have the same?
Thanks again for your help, some people on here haven't been quite as kind
dmorand said:
Where can I find the Jellybro? I assume it's more risky going with this rom seeing how those commits aren't in the nightly build version? The normal nightly build has an updater in it to pull down the most recent build right? Does Jellybro have the same?
Thanks again for your help, some people on here haven't been quite as kind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never mind sorry about that, I found the thread in the forum, I was in the Original Development forum which is why I couldn't find it.
dmorand said:
Where can I find the Jellybro? I assume it's more risky going with this rom seeing how those commits aren't in the nightly build version? The normal nightly build has an updater in it to pull down the most recent build right? Does Jellybro have the same?
Thanks again for your help, some people on here haven't been quite as kind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people assume that it's more risky. But it really isn't, it's a very stable Rom and is pretty much what it is. It's cm + early commits aka cherry picks. These early commits are not yet approved or merged by cm but they are pending.
Jellybro does not have it. It updates every day or every couple of day, when I used my galaxy Nexus it updated everyday. It all depends on who compiles it and when he does. You have to check for it using goo manager (not sure if still supported) or by the website. I just do it from the site and follow the guy on twitter and it's posted when it's up.
The kangers don't put random early commits either, they assure its working before it's uploaded. Not saying it's 100% perfect but I'd say it's perfect all the time. Never have any problems using it for a year and more.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
zephiK said:
Most people assume that it's more risky. But it really isn't, it's a very stable Rom and is pretty much what it is. It's cm + early commits aka cherry picks. These early commits are not yet approved or merged by cm but they are pending.
Jellybro does not have it. It updates every day or every couple of day, when I used my galaxy Nexus it updated everyday. It all depends on who compiles it and when he does. You have to check for it using goo manager (not sure if still supported) or by the website. I just do it from the site and follow the guy on twitter and it's posted when it's up.
The kangers don't put random early commits either, they assure its working before it's uploaded. Not saying it's 100% perfect but I'd say it's perfect all the time. Never have any problems using it for a year and more.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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Thanks that explains it. I'm going to download it and check it out. Thanks!
dmorand said:
Thanks that explains it. I'm going to download it and check it out. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enjoy
I would really recommend Cyanogenmod with faux's kernel. I would also use system tuner or faux's app to tweak the kernel settings. I've tried a lot of ROMs/kernels and this is by far the best set up for me
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Why a custom ROM instead of debloated Stock?

I've had my RAZR M since March and love it. So much more powerful than my Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. I'm not new to flashing ROMs or overclocking, having begun my Android experience with the LG Ally and Eclair.
In my previous experience, there was a huge need for customizing the phone because the stock version as provided by Verizon was less than stable and/or slower than desirable. But this RAZR M seems awesome once you get rid of the bloat. I haven't had any issues with lag, connectivity, apps, etc. It's really a decent phone for my purposes.
I have already unlocked the boot loader and rooted it, backed it up, blown it away, customized stock, used Matt's utility to restore it, used rsdlite, etc. I've even scared the crap out of myself with a few soft bricks. Now I want to do more.
When I look at the threads for the various ROMs, I've noticed they are all pretty similar and they all tend to break something. Since most seem to be a derivative of JB, I see little reason to be tempted by them. Just a different roll of the same thing.
Obviously, I'm overlooking something here, some reason other than "because I can" that makes using a custom ROM version of generic JB better than stock JB. How is 4.2.2 different than 4.1.2 for instance? If custom is less stable or has some unresolved feature issues, how is it still better than stock? Is over clocking necessary (as it was with the Ally and the Play), or even noticeable? I would really appreciate some useful and honest feedback here. No wisecracks, please. This is a serious inquiry.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
netizenmt said:
I've had my RAZR M since March and love it. So much more powerful than my Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. I'm not new to flashing ROMs or overclocking, having begun my Android experience with the LG Ally and Eclair.
In my previous experience, there was a huge need for customizing the phone because the stock version as provided by Verizon was less than stable and/or slower than desirable. But this RAZR M seems awesome once you get rid of the bloat. I haven't had any issues with lag, connectivity, apps, etc. It's really a decent phone for my purposes.
I have already unlocked the boot loader and rooted it, backed it up, blown it away, customized stock, used Matt's utility to restore it, used rsdlite, etc. I've even scared the crap out of myself with a few soft bricks. Now I want to do more.
When I look at the threads for the various ROMs, I've noticed they are all pretty similar and they all tend to break something. Since most seem to be a derivative of JB, I see little reason to be tempted by them. Just a different roll of the same thing.
Obviously, I'm overlooking something here, some reason other than "because I can" that makes using a custom ROM version of generic JB better than stock JB. How is 4.2.2 different than 4.1.2 for instance? If custom is less stable or has some unresolved feature issues, how is it still better than stock? Is over clocking necessary (as it was with the Ally and the Play), or even noticeable? I would really appreciate some useful and honest feedback here. No wisecracks, please. This is a serious inquiry.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I just wanted something new and different than stock. I got my M when it first came out and didn't flash any roms until this past month. The big differences that I have noticed running a 4.2.2 based rom are that the camera seems to respond quicker, and when I set defaults they stick through reboot.
The problem with the defaults was one of my biggest gripes with the stock rom. Every time that I would reboot my phone, the defaults would clear and that drove me crazy.
Now as far as problems that I have noticed on the 4.2.2 roms, the only one that I really have is with recording video. It does not seem to want to pick up audio correctly and you can barely hear anything on playback. Also the front facing camera doesn't work for recording videos.
On the plus side of custom roms is that you do get more options to get the ui to look and feel how you want it to. And no, you don't have to over clock on this phone.
The best thing that I could say is flash carbon or pacman rom and play with it for a day or two and see how you like it.
netizenmt said:
I've had my RAZR M since March and love it. So much more powerful than my Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. I'm not new to flashing ROMs or overclocking, having begun my Android experience with the LG Ally and Eclair.
In my previous experience, there was a huge need for customizing the phone because the stock version as provided by Verizon was less than stable and/or slower than desirable. But this RAZR M seems awesome once you get rid of the bloat. I haven't had any issues with lag, connectivity, apps, etc. It's really a decent phone for my purposes.
I have already unlocked the boot loader and rooted it, backed it up, blown it away, customized stock, used Matt's utility to restore it, used rsdlite, etc. I've even scared the crap out of myself with a few soft bricks. Now I want to do more.
When I look at the threads for the various ROMs, I've noticed they are all pretty similar and they all tend to break something. Since most seem to be a derivative of JB, I see little reason to be tempted by them. Just a different roll of the same thing.
Obviously, I'm overlooking something here, some reason other than "because I can" that makes using a custom ROM version of generic JB better than stock JB. How is 4.2.2 different than 4.1.2 for instance? If custom is less stable or has some unresolved feature issues, how is it still better than stock? Is over clocking necessary (as it was with the Ally and the Play), or even noticeable? I would really appreciate some useful and honest feedback here. No wisecracks, please. This is a serious inquiry.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on the surface, you are correct. however, there are some custom ROMs that give us JB 4.2.2 before it is officially released to us. here's a link to the new features: http://www.android.com/about/jelly-bean/
so, in addition to the new features, some custom ROMs offer various mods/tweaks. some claim to give better battery performance, others block ads, others reduce lag (although, that is mostly kernel related). so, just as calbrs stated, give one of them a try for a few days (make a nandroid of your current setup first though), and see how you like it.
problem for me though, as much I as should be on 4.1.2, I really enjoy being on the latest/greatest build, as I get to experience more features. and so long as my battery performance doesn't suffer too much, I'll stick on 4.2.2 for now.
Well, I've tried both Carbon and PAC and then settled on PAC. Quite honestly, I don't see a whole lot of actual performance difference. It IS cool to be running a custom ROM though. PIE is a pain as it always seems to pop up when I don't want it but has that What's That factor if you want to wow someone. And I do like having a custom lockscreen. Otherwise.... I guess I don't get it.
But then again, maybe I'm just old! Lol!
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
netizenmt said:
Well, I've tried both Carbon and PAC and then settled on PAC. Quite honestly, I don't see a whole lot of actual performance difference. It IS cool to be running a custom ROM though. PIE is a pain as it always seems to pop up when I don't want it but has that What's That factor if you want to wow someone. And I do like having a custom lockscreen. Otherwise.... I guess I don't get it.
But then again, maybe I'm just old! Lol!
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in terms of 4.2.2 over 4.1.2, correct - it's mostly aesthetics. but the performance is hardly noticeable since the M is already fairly quick.
some custom 4.1.2 ROMs, however, do offer better battery life (in part due to debloating, others have tweaks).
but if the performance difference is negligible to you, then why not stick to 4.2.2?
also, did you try the unofficial AOKP?
finally, some of these custom ROMs also have the latest kernels, which can help in terms of keeping your data connection.
netizenmt said:
Well, I've tried both Carbon and PAC and then settled on PAC. Quite honestly, I don't see a whole lot of actual performance difference. It IS cool to be running a custom ROM though. PIE is a pain as it always seems to pop up when I don't want it but has that What's That factor if you want to wow someone. And I do like having a custom lockscreen. Otherwise.... I guess I don't get it.
But then again, maybe I'm just old! Lol!
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd suggest you try Dhacker29's PA or CM. IMO much snappier than PAC.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
http://translate.googleusercontent....t=1160&usg=ALkJrhjsa98LEgZfFOrbXLlYjfVHcUzQeA
I agree most roms are not as good as stock. The #2 on that poll is here on xda.
Leraeniesh said:
I'd suggest you try Dhacker29's PA or CM. IMO much snappier than PAC.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM says its camcorder is broken, so I had not tried it. I can't seem to find PA but I'll look some more.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
netizenmt said:
CM says its camcorder is broken, so I had not tried it. I can't seem to find PA but I'll look some more.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP hasn't been updated in ages. Everything in VM and PA works fine (NFC is a little sketchy)
You can find builds at http://androidhosting.org/Devs/Dhacker29
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Because we can
Sent from my Droid Razr M using xda app-developers app
PantherVT said:
Because we can
Sent from my Droid Razr M using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There... someone finally said it. Probably didn't even read the OP, didja?
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
netizenmt said:
There... someone finally said it. Probably didn't even read the OP, didja?
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course I read the original post that's why I worded it as I did. Poor attempt at humor or should have thrown in an emoticon to make that clear.
Sent from my Droid Razr M using xda app-developers app
PantherVT said:
Of course I read the original post that's why I worded it as I did. Poor attempt at humor or should have thrown in an emoticon to make that clear.
Sent from my Droid Razr M using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I was being funny back. Sometimes humor just doesn't come across in texts. It's all good, man!!
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Well, after a week of ROM testing, here is what the results have been so far:
Carbon comes out on top in a very close battle with Slimbean. What made the difference? Support. Slimbean is actually the better of the 2 ROMs in so many areas, but no updates since May 2013 means important tweaks and a functional camcorder are missing. Carbon is kept current, so if something is fixed in the Base version, it won't be long until we see it in Carbon.
I also worked with PAC, Paranoid, AOKP and CM 10.1. Each had its merits but were eliminated for various reasons. I did not look at any ROM that was not a 4.2.2 version.
I must confess, if Slimbean is ever updated to the latest 4.2.2 version, I will be taking another look.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
netizenmt said:
Well, after a week of ROM testing, here is what the results have been so far:
Carbon comes out on top in a very close battle with Slimbean. What made the difference? Support. Slimbean is actually the better of the 2 ROMs in so many areas, but no updates since May 2013 means important tweaks and a functional camcorder are missing. Carbon is kept current, so if something is fixed in the Base version, it won't be long until we see it in Carbon.
I also worked with PAC, Paranoid, AOKP and CM 10.1. Each had its merits but were eliminated for various reasons. I did not look at any ROM that was not a 4.2.2 version.
I must confess, if Slimbean is ever updated to the latest 4.2.2 version, I will be taking another look.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so what was your reason for eliminating AOKP? this has been the best for me so far. although, I did not give carbon a fighting chance, as on first boot it was extremely laggy. but i'm re-considering....
If you have the time I would love a rom by rom review of what you did and didn't like. I'm in the market for a 4.2.2 rom and don't know where to start. I'm really looking to just settle on one and not have to try out a bunch.
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app
To be perfectly candid, I really can't say there was anything "wrong" with it. It just didn't catch my attention in the same manner that Slimbean and Carbon did.
Today I realized I did not try Eclipse because I erroneously thought it was a 4.1 or 4.0 version ROM. I'll be giving it a go later tonight.
Quite honestly, I think it all comes down to personal preference more than performance. Depending on what apps you use, they all are pretty similar. What runs better is really more about your own hardware, how you use it, your selection of apps and your expectations as to how the phone ought to perform.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
netizenmt said:
To be perfectly candid, I really can't say there was anything "wrong" with it. It just didn't catch my attention in the same manner that Slimbean and Carbon did.
Today I realized I did not try Eclipse because I erroneously thought it was a 4.1 or 4.0 version ROM. I'll be giving it a go later tonight.
Quite honestly, I think it all comes down to personal preference more than performance. Depending on what apps you use, they all are pretty similar. What runs better is really more about your own hardware, how you use it, your selection of apps and your expectations as to how the phone ought to perform.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed.
Eclipse has both 4.1.2 and 4.2.2 available.
---------- Post added at 01:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 PM ----------
Jersey846 said:
If you have the time I would love a rom by rom review of what you did and didn't like. I'm in the market for a 4.2.2 rom and don't know where to start. I'm really looking to just settle on one and not have to try out a bunch.
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give my experience, but to each their own:
PACMan:
most customizable, very stable, worst on battery life, dev is pretty good at posting updates (he only posts when there is a significant update)
AOKP:
very customizable, fairly stable, best battery life, dev is very responsive, interactive, and post updates daily
Carbon:
very customizable, most stable, dev is very responsive, interactive, and post updates daily;
CM10.1:
(stock, basically): haven't tried it
Slimbean:
very customizable, dev is non-existent; however, I gave this a go for about an hour as well, but dismissed it due to lack of customization when compared to PACMan
Orion:
very customizable, very stable, dev is very responsive, interactive, and post updates routinely; however, I gave this a go for about a day, but did not like the blackout themes/sounds/etc. but that was awhile ago, so I certainly owe this ROM another chance
Eclipse:
haven't tried it
Axoim
haven't tried it
JellyBeer
haven't tried it
This is perfect! Before reading this I was leaning to AOKP or Cyanogen. I like how customizable AOKP is and I like the updates and stability from Cyanogen. (from what I've read) I want a rom that is stable stable stable as I wouldn't consider myself a power user. Thanks for posting this!
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app
See what I mean though. He dismissed Slimbean because it was not as customizable as PACman. I dismissed PACman as being too complicated, too customizable!
Hate to tell you this, Jersey846, but you probably will need to try a few yourself before you know what's right for you.
BTW, thus far Eclipse is proving to be very stable. I haven't had any noticeable lag, signal seems stable and comparable to what I normally see in my area. Looking good so far!
Orion, eh... Have to check that out...
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium

AOSP Rom

Was able to get a ROM built and running based on LRX21V straight from source. Just trying to get a feel on how many people would want to run AOSP. There are some bugs present such as video recording causing the camera to stop working. I think there are binaries missing that Google didn't include in the binaries that are available. Same problem happened on the Nexus 5. Didn't test it much as I just purely wanted to see if it booted.
Also there is a lack of gapps available so I won't be rushing to get anything out. Let me know what y'all think and I'll try to tackle this to get some other options out for us.
Here is the test build for those that want to have a look. This is just a test build so bugs are to be expected. Video recording does not work. Haven't tested it completely as I need a fully working device this weekend. This is for those that have free time to just nit pick and find all bugs in this. Please report back after you are done and let me know what else you may have found that is broken or not working right.
Stock Google kernel (so if you flashed the kernel image to remove encryption your phone WILL be encrypted again)
Built off 5.0.0_r7 from AOSP
Flash ROM, flash gapps and flash SU that is linked below. This will allow root access on the stock kernel.
You can also optionally flash the custom boot image after flashing the ROM, gapps and SU by rebooting to bootloader and fastboot flash boot the custom encryption kernel. That is optional. Be sure to go back in to recovery after flashing the kernel to reflash the SU to make sure it was not overwritten.
Download Rom:AFH Mirror
Download Gapps for Lollipop:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=56810851#post56810851
Download latest SU: http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/2014-09-02-supersu-v2-05-t2868133
I'm tuned in!
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
The development section is kind of depressing me right now (no offense to devs) so bring it!
the.emilio said:
Was able to get a ROM built and running based on LRX21V straight from source. Just trying to get a feel on how many people would want to run AOSP. There are some bugs present such as video recording causing the camera to stop working. I think there are binaries missing that Google didn't include in the binaries that are available. Same problem happened on the Nexus 5. Didn't test it much as I just purely wanted to see if it booted.
Also there is a lack of gapps available so I won't be rushing to get anything out. Let me know what y'all think and I'll try to tackle this to get some other options out for us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any gapps should work. It can be downloaded from the nexus 5 section
---------- Post added at 09:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 AM ----------
Its only been a couple days. And the phone is really scarce. Give it time
estallings15 said:
The development section is kind of depressing me right now (no offense to devs) so bring it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is pretty offensive. It is a new device and isn't in the developers hand so releasing work without testing their work leads to quality problems.
I don't see you doing any development work and developers don't owe anyone anything as they do all this work as a hobby pretty much.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
zephiK said:
That is pretty offensive. It is a new device and isn't in the developers hand so releasing work without testing their work leads to quality problems.
I don't see you doing any development work and developers don't owe anyone anything as they do all this work as a hobby pretty much.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the reasons behind it, which was the point of the "no offense." I wasn't whining. I was trying to help motivate and encourage OP. He, as well as others, are working on making things happen and I'm excited for it and waiting eagerly for the kernel source to drop.
You took what I said the wrong way, so step off of your soap box, zephiK.
Edit: That reminds me. If any devs need testers, PM me. I'll be happy to help the community out.
Smallsmx3 said:
Any gapps should work. It can be downloaded from the nexus 5 section
---------- Post added at 09:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 AM ----------
Its only been a couple days. And the phone is really scarce. Give it time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. I know this. Just came from the N5 I guess what I meant is that there isn't a complete package yet. There's a minimal yes that does work. But I prefer the full. Just lazy and hate downloading apps or pushing apps lol
the.emilio said:
Lol. I know this. Just came from the N5 I guess what I meant is that there isn't a complete package yet. There's a minimal yes that does work. But I prefer the full. Just lazy and hate downloading apps or pushing apps lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha! That's funny. does r 7 have any significant commits over our revision
Smallsmx3 said:
Ha! That's funny. does r 7 have any significant commits over our revision
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Minor bug fixes for the particular device it was made for but that's it. I did notice on the N5 that there was a significant "miscellaneous" battery drain on r7. Might roll back to r3 if its present since r3 is the one for us (its also the same build for the N5).
zephiK said:
That is pretty offensive. It is a new device and isn't in the developers hand so releasing work without testing their work leads to quality problems.
I don't see you doing any development work and developers don't owe anyone anything as they do all this work as a hobby pretty much.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are working on something [emoji6]
the.emilio said:
No. Minor bug fixes for the particular device it was made for but that's it. I did notice on the N5 that there was a significant "miscellaneous" battery drain on r7. Might roll back to r3 if its present since r3 is the one for us (its also the same build for the N5).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Miscellaneous bug again? I wonder if they broke the same thing they already fixed, or if this is something else that is just falling into miscellaneous as well.
Thanks for the work on this!
In for the long haul! Tired of the plethora of gapps on this phone. Somehow I managed to break photos once by removing some google app... Weird.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
I uploaded the ROM for testing purposes. Please re-read the OP for more info. :good:
the.emilio said:
I uploaded the ROM for testing purposes. Please re-read the OP for more info. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet, thanks.
What the Christ is this new file layout?! System.new.dat o.0
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Rauch said:
Sweet, thanks.
What the Christ is this new file layout?! System.new.dat o.0
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's lollipop for ya..
the.emilio said:
That's lollipop for ya..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I wanted to attempt to pre-root and make some changes... Ugh.
Simply installing the SuperSU apk is enough for root, correct? I don't have to re-run CF... Especially since I'm not near a PC
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Rauch said:
As I wanted to attempt to pre-root and make some changes... Ugh.
Simply installing the SuperSU apk is enough for root, correct? I don't have to re-run CF... Especially since I'm not near a PC
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes just use the one I linked to. Be sure to flash it in the same session so you don't lose the custom recovery.
Rauch said:
As I wanted to attempt to pre-root and make some changes... Ugh.
Simply installing the SuperSU apk is enough for root, correct? I don't have to re-run CF... Especially since I'm not near a PC
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember its just a test so I recommend waiting until you have access to a PC. Just in case lol
Well, I bit the bullet. Only lost a few downloads.... But anyway.
Sound quality seems.... Different? Also network says its connected to LTE, but its beyond slow. Not sure why exactly.
I'm on the correct APN.
Closing apps, I hear a slight buzz/tap three tomes when hitting the home button.
Sent from my AOSP on Shamu using Tapatalk
carloscibrian4 said:
Did anyone's storage decreased afterwards? My nexus says that there is only 23gb of storage despite being a 64 gb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a 32gb and that's what I have.... I didn't check before.... Anyone have any idea what storage should be out of the box?
Rauch said:
Well, I bit the bullet. Only lost a few downloads.... But anyway.
Sound quality seems.... Different? Also network says its connected to LTE, but its beyond slow. Not sure why exactly.
I'm on the correct APN.
Closing apps, I hear a slight buzz/tap three tomes when hitting the home button.
Sent from my AOSP on Shamu using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was getting weird audio sounds at first... I don't know if it was the update when I got home that fixed it but it's been non existent since the first couple of hours I had the phone

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