Database Users

Several questions about the phone!

I've had the phone for 2 months now and I think it's an awesome phone. Couple of questions I have.
What is the difference between this and HTC Desire with Sense? What is sense? Does it suck that we don't have it?
I want to reset the phone to OEM factory state then OC this phone. Where do I begin? How do I do it?
What's all this talk about ROM's and all CW7 and stuff?
I don't wanna try anything that will potentially brick my phone but I do have experience with rooting phones and linux based commands. I had a Nokia N900 and did heaps of stuff with that phone so this shouldn't be that much of a problem.
Thanks for answering any questions of mine!

monkey hung said:
I've had the phone for 2 months now and I think it's an awesome phone. Couple of questions I have.
What is the difference between this and HTC Desire with Sense? What is sense? Does it suck that we don't have it?
I want to reset the phone to OEM factory state then OC this phone. Where do I begin? How do I do it?
What's all this talk about ROM's and all CW7 and stuff?
I don't wanna try anything that will potentially brick my phone but I do have experience with rooting phones and linux based commands. I had a Nokia N900 and did heaps of stuff with that phone so this shouldn't be that much of a problem.
Thanks for answering any questions of mine!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sense is skin that HTC put over stock android. It gives you a lots of cool features and eyecandy. If you get your phone rooted you can flash the virtuous rom which is a custom sense rom.
CM7 is widely regarded as the as the best custom rom, it doesn't offer the eye candy or the features of sense. But is stock android with some awesome tweaks and is fast and smooth and has loads of customization options
Have a look here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916431 for walk throughs about how to root your phone, flash custom ROMs, OC you phone and loads of other cool stuff. If you have experience using linux based comands you will have no problems modifying your phone.
Bit of advice as your new to the forums, read then read again. And make sure general questions are posted in Q&A section. People get un happy when non development questions get posted in the dev section.
Welcome to the forums.
Sent from my awesome DZ

oh whoops! Sorry about posting it here. I didn't know! Thank you for all that information you have been very helpful

monkey hung said:
oh whoops! Sorry about posting it here. I didn't know! Thank you for all that information you have been very helpful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry wasn't clear. This question was fine posted here. I was just giving a warning about posting in the dev section
Sent from my awesome DZ

monkey hung said:
I've had the phone for 2 months now and I think it's an awesome phone. Couple of questions I have.
What is the difference between this and HTC Desire with Sense? What is sense? Does it suck that we don't have it?
I want to reset the phone to OEM factory state then OC this phone. Where do I begin? How do I do it?
What's all this talk about ROM's and all CW7 and stuff?
I don't wanna try anything that will potentially brick my phone but I do have experience with rooting phones and linux based commands. I had a Nokia N900 and did heaps of stuff with that phone so this shouldn't be that much of a problem.
Thanks for answering any questions of mine!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rooting with gfree/rage is very easy and as long as you don't fubar the adb commands, you won't have trouble. I even screwed up the first time I did it (overlooked a typo) and ended up fine.
after you've rooted, you can certainly use the factory ROM and overclock, but be careful with which kernel you use.. they don't all work on the stock ROM. I would recommend baconbits as it's from the very trustworthy cyanogenmod team and has been used by many a DZ/G2 owner. I did stock rom/baconbits for a while before the gingerbread roms started rolling out... when an official gingerbread rom rolls out for our phones, that's what I'll be going back to (depending on how awesome Gingervillain 2.0 is )
sense is way overloaded, but that's just my opinion. check out some screenshots/videos of the different available roms to get a feeling for what they might be like before you install them on your phone.

Where can I find these screen shots and videos? Is there a certain list on this site? Or do I have to manually search it via Google and Youtube? I don't know the names of all the mods....haha

there is no better friend than google. Depending on what kind of person you are.. if you genuinely care about why stuff works.. how it works... then you must read the entire Vision Wiki from top to bottom...its got great stuff in it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision If you dont care about why or how things work just go for broke and root it and pop a rom on and play with it. Whatever floats your boat.
just look through the stickies empirical http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=801206
do not do anything to your phone without making sure you have fully read the wiki...just dont rush into anything, enjoy your time enjoy each detail because the joy is in learning why things are the way they are.
Sense and CM and Vanilla...... ford...chevy...dodge... pepsi or coke... macintosh or windows... pizza burgers or fluffernutters... whatever floats your boat. no ifs and or buts about it, land of the free and rooted

Wow, he's a virgin. Lol. Welcome to the club bro. Unlockr.com has many easy videos n directions too.
G2 with meXdroid GingerMex Habanero

I have a Desire Z, and therefore started with Sense and was on the stock ROM for about 2 months. Having switched to CM7, I have to say I don't miss much about Sense. Sense has some nice widgets, but nothing that can't be done with market apps, for the most part. The only thing I miss is the Sense camera. It has a really nice look and layout, and focuses on any point on the screen by touching it. Sense is a resource hog, and my phone seems faster and smoother without it.
ROMs are the operating system software for the phone. Custom ROMs are ones that are tweaked by users here, who are awesome enough to do all the hard work and share it with us. Custom ROMs add functionality, sometimes improve performance, and often strip out a lot of the "bloatware" that your carrier likes to put on the phone. CM7 is a custom ROM, and one of the more popular ones. Its based on stock Android (CM6 is Froyo and CM7 is Gingerbread) and packed with lots of extra features.
If you are comfortable with rooting, you are really most of the way to flashing a custom ROM. After you root, download ROM Manager from the Market. You can use ROM Manager to backup your current ROM, download many of the popular custom ROMs, and install them, just with a few clicks.
Why do you want to return to factory condition? You can OC without doing that. You just root and flash a new kernal, then install SetCPU or similar.
Somebody already posted the "Stickies" guides. Start reading, all you need to know is there.

Custom ROMs - questions

Hello again. I have been flirting with the idea of flashing a custom ROM, but never could bring myself to do it, mostly because, up until now, I didn't have a mainstream phone (Milestone X with nTelos). Now that I have a Nexus 4, I know that it's completely feasible. But, I have several questions before I do. Most of them are about comparisons, but some are about topics that I just don't understand. I know that probably every question has been answered on here somewhere, but the problem with finding the answers lies in sifting through hundreds of pages of threads and topics, where people are talking about a hundred different things. It's quite the overwhelming task to even know where to start. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask those questions here.
1. What are the 3-4 major, stable custom ROMs available for the N4?
2. What are the benefits, or highlights of each ROM when compared to the others?
3. As long as I have a current Nandroid backup, I really have nothing to fear, correct? I could always go back?
4. What are the really technical things I see people talking about (radios, baseband versions, I think), and do those apply to flashing a custom ROM? Will I have to know anything about them?
5. Will any app downloaded from the Play store work on any custom ROM? The two I'm most concerned with are GV and Messaging + GV.
6. Will my phone operate just as it does now, or will I have to input a lot of settings to get it to work with my carrier?
What I'm really looking for in a custom ROM isn't completely the ability to customize every last detail and setting. Rather, I'm mostly interested in something that just 'pops'.. something that looks and feels awesome compared to a stock ROM. Beauty, speed, responsiveness and most of all, battery life, are what I'm after.
Speaking of responsiveness, I've learned that this community is A+ when it comes to assisting those of us that seek more Android knowledge, so, allow me to say 'thanks' ahead of time!
Btw, obviously, I'm running stock 4.2.2, am unlocked and rooted, and have TWRP recovery.
Regards.

wvcadle said:
Hello again. I have been flirting with the idea of flashing a custom ROM, but never could bring myself to do it, mostly because, up until now, I didn't have a mainstream phone (Milestone X with nTelos). Now that I have a Nexus 4, I know that it's completely feasible. But, I have several questions before I do. Most of them are about comparisons, but some are about topics that I just don't understand. I know that probably every question has been answered on here somewhere, but the problem with finding the answers lies in sifting through hundreds of pages of threads and topics, where people are talking about a hundred different things. It's quite the overwhelming task to even know where to start. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask those questions here.
1. What are the 3-4 major, stable custom ROMs available for the N4?
2. What are the benefits, or highlights of each ROM when compared to the others?
3. As long as I have a current Nandroid backup, I really have nothing to fear, correct? I could always go back?
4. What are the really technical things I see people talking about (radios, baseband versions, I think), and do those apply to flashing a custom ROM? Will I have to know anything about them?
5. Will any app downloaded from the Play store work on any custom ROM? The two I'm most concerned with are GV and Messaging + GV.
6. Will my phone operate just as it does now, or will I have to input a lot of settings to get it to work with my carrier?
What I'm really looking for in a custom ROM isn't completely the ability to customize every last detail and setting. Rather, I'm mostly interested in something that just 'pops'.. something that looks and feels awesome compared to a stock ROM. Beauty, speed, responsiveness and most of all, battery life, are what I'm after.
Speaking of responsiveness, I've learned that this community is A+ when it comes to assisting those of us that seek more Android knowledge, so, allow me to say 'thanks' ahead of time!
Btw, obviously, I'm running stock 4.2.2, am unlocked and rooted, and have TWRP recovery.
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. No
2. No
3. Lots to fear. Can go back though.
4. Search, read, & learn a bit before you start flashing. You need to know EVERYTHING about everything ahead of flashing.
5. Apps are OS version / phone / country dependent.
6. Yes
You have a bit of searching but l o a d s of reading ahead of you.
Good luck!

Vangelis13 said:
1. No
2. No
3. Lots to fear. Can go back though.
4. Search, read, & learn a bit before you start flashing. You need to know EVERYTHING about everything ahead of flashing.
5. Apps are OS version / phone / country dependent.
6. Yes
You have a bit of searching but l o a d s of reading ahead of you.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I'm not understanding your answers to numbers 1 and 2. Are you saying you can't answer those questions, or that you won't.
As for the rest, thanks, really. But although I generally always appreciate brevity, it doesn't really help me here. I have done a lot of reading on the topic, but the problem is that everyone that's talking about this custom ROM or that one already knows quite a bit, and is discussing some quite technical (like flashing this radio or that one). Another main problem I have is that I'm not sure which ROM I'd like to flash. If I could narrow it down by features, pros and cons, then I could narrow my attention to that particular ROM, and save myself a lot of trouble.

wvcadle said:
1. What are the 3-4 major, stable custom ROMs available for the N4?
2. What are the benefits, or highlights of each ROM when compared to the others?
3. As long as I have a current Nandroid backup, I really have nothing to fear, correct? I could always go back?
4. What are the really technical things I see people talking about (radios, baseband versions, I think), and do those apply to flashing a custom ROM? Will I have to know anything about them?
5. Will any app downloaded from the Play store work on any custom ROM? The two I'm most concerned with are GV and Messaging + GV.
6. Will my phone operate just as it does now, or will I have to input a lot of settings to get it to work with my carrier?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Google have yet to release their Binaries to AOSP so many of the AOSP based ROMs are still unstable / nightly
2. This CNET article is a good starting point (here)
3. Maybe ADB backup is better to backup your app APKs and data, and an ADB sdcard pull is better to backup your sdcard. Nandroid is good if your restoring a ROM back to an earlier snapshot, but can become messy going from, say, CM10.1 back to stock
4. search and read, read, read
thats all I got. Good luck.

wvcadle said:
I guess I'm not understanding your answers to numbers 1 and 2. Are you saying you can't answer those questions, or that you won't.
As for the rest, thanks, really. But although I generally always appreciate brevity, it doesn't really help me here. I have done a lot of reading on the topic, but the problem is that everyone that's talking about this custom ROM or that one already knows quite a bit, and is discussing some quite technical (like flashing this radio or that one). Another main problem I have is that I'm not sure which ROM I'd like to flash. If I could narrow it down by features, pros and cons, then I could narrow my attention to that particular ROM, and save myself a lot of trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only you can answer them.
Start with a simple rom, with few modifications so you don't get overwhelmed.
____________________________
I was reading for a week before I rooted and flashed a rom on my n1, can guarantee you many if not most in here started like that.
You want to have it all answered in a thread & spooned to you?
I'm sorry to say but you're starting wrong.

Vangelis13 said:
Only you can answer them.
Start with a simple rom, with few modifications so you don't get overwhelmed.
____________________________
I was reading for a week before I rooted and flashed a rom on my n1, can guarantee you many if not most in here started like that.
You want to have it all answered in a thread & spooned to you?
I'm sorry to say but you're starting wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me, I'm not asking for anything to be spooned to me. I mean, if I could at least get some help in figuring out which ROM I'd like to flash, that would be appreciated. I could certainly do the leg work if I could just get help deciding on which ROM. I stated in my OP the type of things I'd like to have in a custom ROM. Didn't what I posted put one or two in your head? If so, may I ask which ones? Even with your opening sentence of this reply, you said to start with a simple rom. Any examples?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2009561
At least he has an op that explains a fair bit.

Roastgoat said:
1. Google have yet to release their Binaries to AOSP so many of the AOSP based ROMs are still unstable / nightly
2. This CNET article is a good starting point (here)
3. Maybe ADB backup is better to backup your app APKs and data, and an ADB sdcard pull is better to backup your sdcard. Nandroid is good if your restoring a ROM back to an earlier snapshot, but can become messy going from, say, CM10.1 back to stock
4. search and read, read, read
thats all I got. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are more stable than you think, i wouldnt call some of the better ones unstable or nightlies. i've been running aokp for a few months now and it's very stable no major bugs over stock rom for me.
wvcadle - It's hard to say what the best roms are since that's mostly personal taste but some of the more popular roms are ParanoidAndroid, AOKP, Xylon and slimbean. There is a questions section that has lots of threads comparing roms.

neotekz said:
They are more stable than you think, i wouldnt call some of the better ones unstable or nightlies. i've been running aokp for a few months now and it's very stable no major bugs over stock rom for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried PA and CM10.1, both of which I liked but some minor issues have me back to stock and waiting for stable releases. I think personally I would go CM10.1 once stable.

Test several ROMs, then decide which one better fits your expectations. Nobody can tell which is the best.
I have tested 3 or 4, then I went back to stock and just added some tweeks to it. But hey, that's me!

JanusDC said:
Test several ROMs, then decide which one better fits your expectations. Nobody can tell which is the best.
I have tested 3 or 4, then I went back to stock and just added some tweeks to it. But hey, that's me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I'm going to try Modaco's ROM first. Do you know what Kernel it uses? Is it the stock kernel? I'd like to flash Franco's kernel, as I hear it has improved battery life.

wvcadle said:
I think I'm going to try Modaco's ROM first. Do you know what Kernel it uses? Is it the stock kernel? I'd like to flash Franco's kernel, as I hear it has improved battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't jump into kernel flashing so fast. I'd try a couple of ROMs first.

irishman103 said:
I wouldn't jump into kernel flashing so fast. I'd try a couple of ROMs first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I just flashed my first Custom ROM. I'm pretty stoked! Even though it's one of the simpler ROMs, it's still pretty cool. Hopefully I don't get hooked!
So, is flashing a custom kernel more dangerous than ROMs? I heard Franco has an app he created to flash his kernels.

I wouldn't say its dangerous. There's just more things to tweak and mess with. Voltages, gamma, CPU speed, etc. I'd just get comfortable with flashing ROMs and finding what you want first. And yes, flashing is an addiction. You will now flash hundreds of times only to find you want to flash a hundred more.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

irishman103 said:
I wouldn't say its dangerous. There's just more things to tweak and mess with. Voltages, gamma, CPU speed, etc. I'd just get comfortable with flashing ROMs and finding what you want first. And yes, flashing is an addiction. You will now flash hundreds of times only to find you want to flash a hundred more.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will the other ROMs not work right out of the box, or would I need to tweak all of those settings to get them to work?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

All the ROMs will work out the box. Developers will not turn over incomplete ROMs to the end users. Like now I'm using Paranoid Android...works beautifully, but there are tons of settings built in to mess with. Other ROMs don't have some of its features and vise versa. With kernels, I use the stock kernel with it. I've flashed other kernels but in MY opinion, I like the stock one. So read up on some ROMs, back up and flash some to see what you will like
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

TBH it will take you some time to learn everything. All the questions you need answered will come in time with you learning Android. Its best to learn by LOTS of reading but you also need some trial and error. You will learn what Roms work best for you and which dont. You will see that you dont always need a custom kernel, and perhaps your screen only needs to 2 more clicks of saturation to have 2.2 gamma while others need to tweak across the board. Once again you gain that knowledge over time. You will get in trouble from time to time, not have help and possibly brick badly, but you learn to fix and work it out, and THAT is really where you learn lots. When you hit a roadblock READ and you will have your answer and in the process gain the knowledge you need.
Good luck and enjoy the hobby!

irishman103 said:
All the ROMs will work out the box. Developers will not turn over incomplete ROMs to the end users. Like now I'm using Paranoid Android...works beautifully, but there are tons of settings built in to mess with. Other ROMs don't have some of its features and vise versa. With kernels, I use the stock kernel with it. I've flashed other kernels but in MY opinion, I like the stock one. So read up on some ROMs, back up and flash some to see what you will like
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've been a great help. Really. And I appreciate it. I just realized there was a 'Thanks' button on this forum, so you've got my first one.
One last question, and I'll leave you be... promise (I think!): The three things I'm most concerned with in a ROM deal with power consumption, speed, and, yes, beauty. I can safely say I will never try to overclock my phone, or change any really deep settings. Do those three items bring any specific ROM or two to mind that you can point me in the direction towards?
Thanks again!

wvcadle said:
You've been a great help. Really. And I appreciate it. I just realized there was a 'Thanks' button on this forum, so you've got my first one.
One last question, and I'll leave you be... promise (I think!): The three things I'm most concerned with in a ROM deal with power consumption, speed, and, yes, beauty. I can safely say I will never try to overclock my phone, or change any really deep settings. Do those three items bring any specific ROM or two to mind that you can point me in the direction towards?
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem. Glad I could help.
And your last question is the ultimate question...lol. It's all about how you use your phone. One ROM might be more efficient for you than it would be for me. You might watch a lot of videos and don't have good reception. That could drain your battery. I'd go with ROMs that have a good thread. Read and read about the ROM before you flash it. Read the first pages and the last. I personally like Paranoid Android and AOKP ROMs. Look in the original development section and read up on Liquid Smooth, AOKP, and Paranoid Android. They are really great out the box and no overclocking or "deep settings" needed. If you have any questions about the two I like I'll be more than happy to answer any questions. Just PM or email me.

Ok, MoDaCo on my N4 and PA 3.0 on my N7!
Yes, flashing custom roms is becoming a hobby!

[Q] new to At&t, porting phone #, rooting help

Hi everyone,
Time to retire my EVO 4G and ditch Sprint. New S4 coming today. If it has MDL, I plan on rooting it. My question is this:
Since I'm porting my phone number from Sprint, can I leave the SIM card out and root it before it has been provisioned, or do I have to insert the SIM card and wait until I have At&t service before rooting?
Thanks. Looking forward to flashing a custom ROM...but I sure am gonna miss my OG EVO!

The phone does not have to be provisioned so leave the card out and turn off wifi. Then not only root, but also freeze/delete the three files used to update our put a custom recovery and rom on. The three files are something like at&t software update, FWupdate, and localFOTA. They're apk's

when the device arrives, before opening it, look on the packaging and locate the firmware version. it will be with the IMEI number, etc. if its MF3, i'd take it to at&t for an exchange (you have 14 days). then i probably would have the clerk search the inventory until they found one that had MDL on the S4 box. haha. the red S4's werent terribly popular so there might be a few MDL versions of them left.
when you get home, do as jd1639 said and freeze those apks if you're not going to flash a different ROM entirely. cheers

xBeerdroiDx said:
when the device arrives, before opening it, look on the packaging and locate the firmware version. it will be with the IMEI number, etc. if its MF3, i'd take it to at&t for an exchange (you have 14 days). then i probably would have the clerk search the inventory until they found one that had MDL on the S4 box. haha. the red S4's werent terribly popular so there might be a few MDL versions of them left.
when you get home, do as jd1639 said and freeze those apks if you're not going to flash a different ROM entirely. cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"If you want to avoid the update, you should root your phone and freeze the following three apps using titanium backup or some similar app.
1. AT&T Software update Vxx_x_xxxx_x_x
2. FWUpgrade x.x.x
3. LocalFOTA vx_xxxx_x_x"

Got my phone... I'm ready to root
Got home from work today to find my shiny new 16gb black s4 waiting for me. Ordered it from amazon.com for $149 with activation. I must say that I am impressed at the speed of delivery...ordered it Thursday night at 6PM and got it today (Saturday) at 11:30AM. It's MDL, so I am charging up the battery and downloading casual. Once I get root, I will kill the OTA and then provision the phone. After that, any suggestions on a stable ROM with everything working? Coming from Sprint and HTC, I have a lot of learning to do although I have experience with rooting and flashing on the Epic.
Thanks all!

pipefitter said:
Got home from work today to find my shiny new 16gb black s4 waiting for me. Ordered it from amazon.com for $149 with activation. I must say that I am impressed at the speed of delivery...ordered it Thursday night at 6PM and got it today (Saturday) at 11:30AM. It's MDL, so I am charging up the battery and downloading casual. Once I get root, I will kill the OTA and then provision the phone. After that, any suggestions on a stable ROM with everything working? Coming from Sprint and HTC, I have a lot of learning to do although I have experience with rooting and flashing on the Epic.
Thanks all!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best thing to do is go to the development and original development sections and read through the OP's of each ROM to see which has the features you want. They are all good so you will need to decide for yourself what is good for you. Good luck.

scott14719 said:
The best thing to do is go to the development and original development sections and read through the OP's of each ROM to see which has the features you want. They are all good so you will need to decide for yourself what is good for you. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
C'mon now. I've been on xda for 4 years and I have read that very same answer dozens of times. I'm coming from the HTC Evo 4G. I've flashed dozens of ROMs and I can tell you which ones I prefer. But I'm new to the S4 and I don't even know everything it can do. I guess I will settle on root & recovery for now, disable OTA, debloat what I find I can do without, and then get to know the device before I decide on a custom ROM.
I would, however, appreciate your (and anyone else's) honest opinion on specific ROMs based on speed, battery life, aesthetic appeal, etc.
Thanks again.

pipefitter said:
C'mon now. I've been on xda for 4 years and I have read that very same answer dozens of times. I'm coming from the HTC Evo 4G. I've flashed dozens of ROMs and I can tell you which ones I prefer. But I'm new to the S4 and I don't even know everything it can do. I guess I will settle on root & recovery for now, disable OTA, debloat what I find I can do without, and then get to know the device before I decide on a custom ROM.
I would, however, appreciate your (and anyone else's) honest opinion on specific ROMs based on speed, battery life, aesthetic appeal, etc.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's all fine, but you seem to be missing the fact that what I like, you may not. I can not tell you which ROMs you will like and what is fast and stable for me isn't for others. It's ALL opinion. You can tell me which of the other dozens of ROMs you have flashed you might like, but you can not tell me which ones I might like and I can not tell you which ones you will like.
Because you are new to this particular phone and forum, you will find that "best" or "favorite" threads are not allowed for the very reasons I listed above. You might not like the answer, but if you want to know what ROMs works best for you, you will have to try them (or at least read about them) for yourself.

scott14719 said:
That's all fine, but you seem to be missing the fact that what I like, you may not. I can not tell you which ROMs you will like and what is fast and stable for me isn't for others. It's ALL opinion. You can tell me which of the other dozens of ROMs you have flashed you might like, but you can not tell me which ones I might like and I can not tell you which ones you will like.
Because you are new to this particular phone and forum, you will find that "best" or "favorite" threads are not allowed for the very reasons I listed above. You might not like the answer, but if you want to know what ROMs works best for you, you will have to try them (or at least read about them) for yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that. However, I didn't ask for what you think I would like, but rather what YOU like based on your experience with the S4.
Belive me, I have read the entire development section and many pages deep into each individual ROM. Been reading them for weeks. Since I am unfamiliar with the device, I have nothing to compare to the custom ROMS. Everyone appreciates a little guidance when they are new to anything. It seems that it would be more of a waste of the forums time if I had flashed every ROM and then asked what everyone thought of each particular ROM, trying to justify my choice.
But as I stated previously, I will be happy for now to have r & r...which gives me complete control over my device.
Thanks again for your time!

pipefitter said:
I understand that. However, I didn't ask for what you think I would like, but rather what YOU like based on your experience with the S4.
Belive me, I have read the entire development section and many pages deep into each individual ROM. Been reading them for weeks. Since I am unfamiliar with the device, I have nothing to compare to the custom ROMS. Everyone appreciates a little guidance when they are new to anything. It seems that it would be more of a waste of the forums time if I had flashed every ROM and then asked what everyone thought of each particular ROM, trying to justify my choice.
But as I stated previously, I will be happy for now to have r & r...which gives me complete control over my device.
Thanks again for your time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you haven't seen this post, it might help you a little in separating available ROMs into categories such as Stock or Source based...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2312444
Source based tend to not have extra features such as gestures or other Samsung sourced features. Good luck

Straight Talk Galaxy S Showcase

Being a relative newcomer to the Android and Smart Phone world, I wanted to comment on my experiences with my first step into this community.
The phone that I have is a Samsung Galaxy SCH-S950C that I purchased from Straight Talk about a year ago. While it is not necessarily common knowledge... this phone is identical to the Samsung Galaxy Fascinate SCH-I500. This particular model was made specifically for Straight Talk and is a CDMA phone running on the Verizon Towers.
For all practical purposes, when it comes to modifying this phone, you can simply treat it as a Verizon Fascinate and simply follow any existing guide for flashing custom ROM's. The only real difference is that if you ever wanted to go back to Stock for whatever reason.... there is an additional Stock Image for Straight Talk which I can point you towards if anyone needs it.
Since getting this phone, I have tried pretty much every modification you can think of because.... well to put it simply... playing with these things and testing their limits is a lot of fun
I have become "Flash Happy" and change ROM's on this phone every couple of days. Thanks to the Developers on this Forum.. I have had a nearly constant supply of new and interesting ROM's to play with. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. Some are more stable than others. A few are good for daily drivers and a few are a little too unstable for anything but experimentation with special features.
I have experienced every issue you can think of.... I have had my phone stuck in Boot Loops, been unable to flash anything due to Status 7 Errors, I have had the battery overheat, the Radio stop working, lockups, random reboots, and even pretty much bricked the phone.
Thanks to all the great people on this Forum.... I have always been able to find a way to recover from any issue and get my phone back to stock and start all over again.
So THANK YOU to all the members of this Forum and to all of the Developers that are still producing great work for this phone... such as HHP_211, Unjustified Dev, BBrad, Bdogg718, Notta, DerTeufel1980 and of course jt1134, you have provided me with an unending supply of fun things to do with this phone. And I thank you for all that you guys do for this community.

So which ROM do you find most enjoyable/stable ?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda app-developers app

icemanwbs said:
So which ROM do you find most enjoyable/stable ?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Most enjoyable..... I'd have to go with Domination simply because it has all the bells and whistles.... ton's of features to play with
Most Stable...... HellyBean. Never had any issues at all with it and it has quite a few bells and whistles as well.... I tend to keep going back to it as my daily driver because I keep running into glitches with all the others I've tried out...

Do you have any suggestions on where I can start to find a proper mod for this phone? I find the stock rom extremely unreliable.....crashing programs etc pretty often....and i am pretty new to fooling with them, but have a basic grasp of what i'm gonna be doing.

Well.... this forum is the place to start.... take a look through all of the ROMs listed in here and play around with a few of them. They all have their strengths. What works for one person may not work for another.... it all depends on what you like.
4.3 ROMs are a lot of fun to play with since they are the newest version of Android... however Data is really flaky on 4.3 so far. It is an issue that is being worked on so soon I think it will be stable... but it isn't really suitable for a daily driver quite yet unless 3G data is not important to you.
A lot of people say that 4.2.2 ROMs are too much for this phone to handle and are slow and buggy... however my experience tells me that they work just fine. I am a personal fan of HellyBean.... I have never had an issue with it... everything works the way that it should.... and at least for me... it runs very fast. But my best suggestion is to try a few out for yourself and pick the one you like.

CGSemperParatus said:
A lot of people say that 4.2.2 ROMs are too much for this phone to handle and are slow and buggy... however my experience tells me that they work just fine. I am a personal fan of HellyBean.... I have never had an issue with it... everything works the way that it should.... and at least for me... it runs very fast. But my best suggestion is to try a few out for yourself and pick the one you like.
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I agree. I actually went back and tried Gummy ICS (had a bad experience with that after trying to change the boot animation. wouldn't boot up at one point at all). Since I have a VZW fascinate, i tried the EH03 Verizon build and oh god it's awful. eh03 is like ten times better than the eclair and froyo builds, but it's still really bad due to bloatware and Touchwiz. so i tried CM7 and wifi was actually really finicky. i was using glitch kernel but it was still strange. ICS and JB could hold a connection, even EH03 could, but not CM7 for some reason.
I have since moved to Hellybean and haven't looked back.
---------- Post added at 03:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:57 PM ----------
also, out of curiosity, what version of Android is stock on the Straight Talk Showcase?

skepticmisfit said:
[/COLOR]also, out of curiosity, what version of Android is stock on the Straight Talk Showcase?
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The Showcase came with Gingerbread 2.3.4.... In order to go back to stock... I actually Odin the Verizon EH03 package and then Odin a Straight Talk Image over that. Basically the same as the Verizon Fascinate Image but with some of the Bloatware removed and changes the Boot Animation to Straight Talk logo instead of Verizon.

Most Vanilla / Cleanest ROM?

Sorry if this has been asked before.
My phone was recently stolen so I have been using my S4 for over a month now however Samsung's OVER bloated 5.0.1 junk battery munching ROM is horrid and unbearable, its like trying to run Windows Vista!
I do not know anything about customs ROMs, and this will be my first attempt and I'm just looking for a ROM that WORKS without any drama. As Vanilla as humanly possible. Not interested in customizing anything, what ever Google offered stock I will be more then happy.
However I am LOST with all the ROMs listed. Some mention Xposed others mention kernals and its all very confusing and to be honest I just don't care. Can anyone who has tried these just tell me which to go for? I would really appreciate this.
Thanks!

5AL said:
Sorry if this has been asked before.
My phone was recently stolen so I have been using my S4 for over a month now however Samsung's OVER bloated 5.0.1 junk battery munching ROM is horrid and unbearable, its like trying to run Windows Vista!
I do not know anything about customs ROMs, and this will be my first attempt and I'm just looking for a ROM that WORKS without any drama. As Vanilla as humanly possible. Not interested in customizing anything, what ever Google offered stock I will be more then happy.
However I am LOST with all the ROMs listed. Some mention Xposed others mention kernals and its all very confusing and to be honest I just don't care. Can anyone who has tried these just tell me which to go for? I would really appreciate this.
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
just try the super wizcyan if you want something clean and smooth but samsung based

5AL said:
Sorry if this has been asked before.
My phone was recently stolen so I have been using my S4 for over a month now however Samsung's OVER bloated 5.0.1 junk battery munching ROM is horrid and unbearable, its like trying to run Windows Vista!
I do not know anything about customs ROMs, and this will be my first attempt and I'm just looking for a ROM that WORKS without any drama. As Vanilla as humanly possible. Not interested in customizing anything, what ever Google offered stock I will be more then happy.
However I am LOST with all the ROMs listed. Some mention Xposed others mention kernals and its all very confusing and to be honest I just don't care. Can anyone who has tried these just tell me which to go for? I would really appreciate this.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, since you know nothing about custom ROMs, I'm going to advise you to read. And what I mean by that is do research on what it takes to install a custom ROM properly and how to set it up so it can benefit you. Decide which ROM looks good to you, determine if you can install it on your model then take the necessary steps to do so. Otherwise, if you're not up for that then stay where you are or you will absolutely earn a new paperweight.

agraceful said:
Honestly, since you know nothing about custom ROMs, I'm going to advise you to read. And what I mean by that is do research on what it takes to install a custom ROM properly and how to set it up so it can benefit you. Decide which ROM looks good to you, determine if you can install it on your model then take the necessary steps to do so. Otherwise, if you're not up for that then stay where you are or you will absolutely earn a new paperweight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I've seen enough YT videos to understand the concept/principle, but I'm just trying to find the most simplest ROM there is. As I use my phone for work also so I can't have it stop working every 2 seconds.
I've used a friends Pixel phone which runs base android essentially. Which ROM here is the equivalent of that?
Thanks!

5AL said:
Well I've seen enough YT videos to understand the concept/principle, but I'm just trying to find the most simplest ROM there is. As I use my phone for work also so I can't have it stop working every 2 seconds.
I've used a friends Pixel phone which runs base android essentially. Which ROM here is the equivalent of that?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YouTube videos for custom ROMs is beyond moronic. It's not about how it looks, it's about what must go on your phone in order to get to that point of installation. You're looking for a ROM that is pure aosp. I have no idea what version of the s4 you're on but this: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...dcteam-android-source-project-nrd90m-t3453084 is pure aosp, based on Android 7.1.2. It worked flawless when I ran it.

Thanks, found this one on YT and it seems fairly straight forward to install, starts from 5:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oeq_c-18aI
Unless I'm missing something here?
Thanks again