Database Users

[Q] Rom suggestions? bluetooth / USB host / etc

So, I've been playing with my Evo for the last month or two, and i've finally come to the conclusion that there are enough things that I'd have *occasional* use cases for that I can't do with the stock firmware. So, I'm thinking about rooting my phone and trying another rom.
I found the list of roms in the wiki, but as someone else pointed out, it doesn't really go into what makes the different roms different. and the pages for the individual roms don't always have the info I'm looking for.
The suggestion that was made to that user was CyanogenMod. If nobody comes up with a better suggestion, that's probably where I'll start.
So, here's what I'm looking for, in a roughly prioritized order:
1) A non-lobotomized bluetooth stack. Specifically, in addition to the profiles included in the stock rom, I'm looking for SPP and HID (for keyboards and real gamepads)
2) I know the USB controller is OTG capable. It would be really nice to be able to use it as a host port. Things I could reasonably see myself wanting to connect: HID devices, storage, and USB->serial cables.
3) Unlocked wifi tethering and wireless access point. It's not something I see a regular use case for, especially since I have a standalone USB cellmodem, but there have been times where it would have been nice. And it's bad enough that Sprint's milking me for an extra $10/month for the privilege of having a 4G capable phone. I'm not about to spend an extra $30 to pay them to unlock it for me.
4) 4G/WiMAX. Not that Sprint has any 4G towers up around me yet. *grumble* one of the store reps I talked to a while back said they'd been told by Sprint that *hopefully* we'll have some towers by the end of the year. But not to quote them on that.
5) HDMI out. This is one of those things I'd rarely use, but it'd be nice. The current firmware only supports HDMI for certain apps (slideshows, movies on the SD card, youtube) and that's okay. It'd be nice to just send all video to the HDMI port instead of (or in addition to) the LCD, but I'd be happy with what I've already got.
I know Cyanogen doesn't (yet) support 4G and HDMI and it doesn't have the Sense UI (which I'm not sure why I should care about) but if it's a good fit for the other three points, that might be a fair deal.
So, what do you all think? Is CyanogenMod a reasonable fit for me? Can you suggest anything that might fit better?
Thanks.

Personally I keep a known good nandroid backup of the stock firmware with all my applications and settings intact and a known good copy of Cyanogenmod with my stuff.
I can't bring myself to keep using the stock Evo firmware due to the bugs in the media layer (audio files restarting from the beginning whenever I pause them and leave the audio player application for an extent of time is a huge problem when most of the media you listen to are long format podcasts, oh and Last.fm can't play a song all the way through without jumping to the next one). On the other hand I do have decent 4G coverage here in the Twin Cities area which I can't utilize while using Cyanogenmod.
You may want to look into doing the same. When you need 4G or HDMI out you can load up a nandroid backup of the stock firmware and otherwise use something like Cyanogenmod. That way you have access to all the capabilities of the phone (although admittedly not in a convenient way).

[REQ] implement USB Host APIs in KI/KJ firmware

Hello everyone,
I have nothing even close to development knowledge, so I have no idea if and how this can be done. Seeing what you guys cook together here though, I am quite sure that what I request should be possible.
As most of you will know, Samsung has removed the USB Host APIs from it's newer firmwares. No one kows why, but a lot of SGS2 owners, including me, dearly miss that feature. (I need it for chainfires DSLR controller)
I love to flash the newest firmwares, am eager to see whats new, and want the improvements they bring. So what I'm asking for, is for someone to "extract" that usb host-functionality from older firmwares and put it in a (cwm flashable ?) package that enables the funktionality for any firmware.
Since our hardware supports it natively it should only be question of software/kernel, right? Would love to see this happening... would hate to flash back to an old firmware.
Any help welcome! Would buy people bringing a solution a beer! cheers

works fine for me on KI3...? I use the usb host function often to transfer photos to a usb for work..

rbimdxe said:
works fine for me on KI3...? I use the usb host function often to transfer photos to a usb for work..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really know how it works, but there seem to be different functioanlities. The new firmwares still are usb host enabled, which means you can still connect thumb drives, etc.. though as chainfire states here: http://www.chainfire.eu/articles/103/_SGS2_KI_Samsung_removes_USB_host_support_patches_bootloaders/ 3rd party aplications have been blocked from making use of this functionality.

no one?
...well I guess if it could be easily done chainfire would already be on it. please let me know if anything comes up!

there is a thread concerning this in the epic 4G forums. seems like they don't get usb otg at all, which is why that problem generates some more interest over there. chainfire himself contributes to their discussion. for everybody interested, let's follow what's going on over there. if they find a solution i'm sure we can apply it to the gs2.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1265221

N4 USB OTG again

Has somebody tried just reverting the changes of the fateful commit and just trying to figure out it it works - even partially - then?
The "mako does no 5V" change simply removes /system/etc/permissions/android.hardware.usb.host.xml (see the commit). So, in theory, just pushing the file into /system/etc/permissions on a rooted device should revert that change by itself... and allow us to test the hardware for OTG compatibility.
Since I'm not currently rooted, I haven't done this already, but would someone go ahead and just try? If it doesn't power devices, it might work with a USB hub at least. But trying something unfancy like a USB keyboard first would certainly prove whether it works at all.

It's been tried, and all pushing that xml does is say OTG works. It doesn't actually make it work

jacklebott said:
It's been tried, and all pushing that xml does is say OTG works. It doesn't actually make it work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair enough! I thought that it actually enabled the system to try USB host mode, since I figured that baseband Android just has USB host crammed into its software innards anyway and just needs to be aware to start doing it.
Well, obviously not. Sad panda.

MOJO from WOOT landed today - woot!

Brand new, unopened box with all the accessories.
Got Kodi w/repos installed, and it works great. I had a Tronsmart RK3368 and it had nothing but problems with Kodi video streams dropping out (oddly the audio didn't), but the MOJO is solid, no drops at all.
Good deal for $65 ($35 less then the Tronsmart turd which is going back).
Now what next to do with the MOJO? I basically just want to do video streaming from Kodi and play some games, leave it alone, or ?
Thanks!

Received my Woot order also. Turned on USB Debug, set to install from unknown sources. Haven't rooted it yet. So far I have installed ES File Explorer, Plex, Kodi from Play store and sideloaded Contour 2 (Cox cable streaming). All work perfectly streaming over my 5G wifi connection. I haven't attached local storage to check it yet.
Started FTP server and connected with WinSCP from PC to transfer apps/data. ES File Explorer connection to other Android devices for sending/receiving apps, data, etc. So far everything has worked without any problems.
I run Plex Server for my home media and have Nexus Player, WMC on Windows 10 with Hauppauge DCR 2650 w/cablecard, RPI 2 running OpenElec on my TVs. So far, MOJO seems to match or exceed capabilities of the other devices. Since I can run the Cox Contour apk on the MOJO and the Nexus Player(s) I can eliminate the need for cable boxes, saving $15/month. I record with WMC, but only playback on the same device due to protected content restriction. I'll probably take the RPI 2 out of the equation, since they can't stream my cable feed. They make good toys for other projects.
No gaming yet, but that's not really what I'm interested in. Media streaming is the main purpose and it fulfills the requirements. UI could be better. I kind of like Android TV, but there are limitations which require workarounds that make it kludgy when dealing with non Android TV apps.

We mainly picked this up for a streamer, but I'd like to get some games going so I guess the best thing to do is root it and install Remix OS 2.0, looks a bit involved, but doable.

bsevern said:
We mainly picked this up for a streamer, but I'd like to get some games going so I guess the best thing to do is root it and install Remix OS 2.0, looks a bit involved, but doable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting is easy. You can use the towelroot way, or the USB way.
I prefer the USB way, because you can make mistakes and it wont cause any headaches The MOJO is nearly impossible to brick because it has a fastboot. All you have to do is download the files in the right locations, and enter the commands correctly. If you have any questions or run into any issues, feel free to ask for help.

TwistyTravster said:
Rooting is easy. You can use the towelroot way, or the USB way.
I prefer the USB way, because you can make mistakes and it wont cause any headaches The MOJO is nearly impossible to brick because it has a fastboot. All you have to do is download the files in the right locations, and enter the commands correctly. If you have any questions or run into any issues, feel free to ask for help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be very surprised if KingoRoot didn't work on the stock JB ROM, also. But it's hard to beat the security of flashing SuperSU. And on any Droid, ASAP USE TWRP TO DO A COMPLETE "NANDROID" BACKUP. You don't even have to install the custom recovery; just fastboot boot to it and do a backup. From then on you have some very good insurance and all it cost you was an hour or two. You will have to boot into TWRP to flash SuperSU anyway.

Kingroot 4.8 was what I used to root and it was very simple to do. Used Flashify to install the TWRP recovery and in recovery I wiped the Stock, installed the RemoxOS and SuperSu beta 2.67.

PC Connectivity got a bad review

I am looking at buying the Axon 7 but after reading the review referenced below I'm uncertain about USB connectivity to any PC. I don't want to be constantly fiddling with driver installs etc just to do basic connectivity things like transferring photos, music, etc.
The review is here:
www dot pcworld dot idg dot com dot au / review / zte / axon-7 / 613397
Here's what the review said:
Another annoyance is transferring files to a computer. Rather than plugging it in and it working, drivers need to be installed and even that failed in the first few attempts. It’s minor, but was something else to add to a list of irritations.
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I use a mixture of linux and Windows OSs. Can anyone please tell me if the Axon 7 can be connected to a PC without the need for ZTE specific/custom drivers first being installed?
(sorry about the link to the review - this is my first post so I'm not allowed to post the full link).

I've had some issues when enabling debugging. If I needed debugging I would have to turn it on and off till it worked. For general connectivity for charging and data transfer I've had no issues. I haven't had to install any 3rd party drivers. I use my phone with OS X, Linux and Windows with no problems on any of these operating systems.

For normal operations, no 3rd party drivers are needed for the MTP protocol (which is why this protocol is used btw.)
Transferring files / media should be as simple as plugging in your phone and letting your computer figure the rest out automatically.
My phone works perfectly on my Windows machine and my Macbook (via Googles MTP program).

Thanks for the feedback. I bought the Axon 7 and love it. Great phone and no connectivity issues whatsoever.
Not sure yet if I should mod it. It's not pure android (like my nexus is) but it doesn't seem so bloated either.
Any suggested ROMs to try if I do mod it?

yzenezy said:
Thanks for the feedback. I bought the Axon 7 and love it. Great phone and no connectivity issues whatsoever.
Not sure yet if I should mod it. It's not pure android (like my nexus is) but it doesn't seem so bloated either.
Any suggested ROMs to try if I do mod it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad Boyz is stock-based. They also have an AROMA installer so you can control what apps you want to debloat.
If you're a tweak freak like me though, you'll thoroughly enjoy ResurrectionRemix. Very stable, and great battery life. Flash AX7 Kernel and Viper4Android and you're good to go.

iNaruX said:
For normal operations, no 3rd party drivers are needed for the MTP protocol (which is why this protocol is used btw.)
Transferring files / media should be as simple as plugging in your phone and letting your computer figure the rest out automatically.
My phone works perfectly on my Windows machine and my Macbook (via Googles MTP program).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is basically what I was about to say. I have no issues at home, at work (3 different PC's), or on my laptop and have never installed any 3rd party drivers. All Windows 10 machines, except one Windows 7 machine.

yzenezy said:
Thanks for the feedback. I bought the Axon 7 and love it. Great phone and no connectivity issues whatsoever.
Not sure yet if I should mod it. It's not pure android (like my nexus is) but it doesn't seem so bloated either.
Any suggested ROMs to try if I do mod it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd wait for DrakenFX to release his ZAD Mix 7.1.1 ROM.... It should be any day now. It's a stock, de-bloated ROM so there are no audio issues. Any of the LOS or other custom ROMs, not based on stock, all have audio issues.
For a closer "Nexus" experience/look, I'd recommend a different launcher?? Like the Google Pixel launcher or Nova Prime (I've attached a pic of mine using Nova Prime). All my long-press shortcut actions work on Nova too (also attached).
I am rooted, so I've changed my font.