Database Users

[GT-I9505] Need TW-based ROM decision help

Hi there,
I have some serious problems here. I used a Galaxy S2 for two years now and since "day one" I got my phones rooted and flashed custom roms. You could say I am some kind of a flashoholic - need to have the best, newest, fastest all the time. For one month now I have got a new Galaxy S4. Sounded like a good decision as I'm using it most of the time for internet and taking photos.
But till today, I am unsatisfied. My Galaxy S2 went from "Checkrom Revolution" to "Omega" and then all the updates from "Cyanogen 9" to 10.1-RC3 (not sure if the versions are correct, just call it the latest 4.2.2 version). For a month now I'm flashing myself through the whole forum, but none of the roms seem to work as flawless as my Cyanogen was on my S2. Some problmes I discovered (I wont mention which problem occured on which ROM as I simply can't remember):
- unstable WLAN
- bad signal for 3G/H+/4G
- bad signal for phone (S2 had 3 of 4 bars while the S4 only gets 1 to 2 of 4 bars at my home)
- bad battery lifetime (for example: newly flashed "Phoenix Rom" gave me 2 or 3 full days of standby (WLAN on all the time), while "Echoe Rom v9" seems to drain it like hell (loosing 30% within 3 hours ?!?)
- crashing initialization setup (at the beginning, where you setup WiFi, Google and device name and stuff)
- no Samsung Cam (well, its not a bug, but I love the features like slow-motion videos and the image burst mode to select the best one afterwards. So when I realized that only TW roms have the samsung cam, I only tried those roms)
- Samsung Cam freezes in 9 of 10 cases when I try to catch a slow-motion video.
- and my newest addition: flashed a new rom yesterday, flashed the newest modem with odin afterwards (I9505XXUEMK9), then flashed the WiFi-Fixed-Version, and since then, I have no sound at all. All volume levels are maxed but I get no single beep from it
I'm sick of it. I just want a modem which gives best signal quality and a ROM with a flawless working Samsung Cam. Do you have any ideas?
Going to flash some rooted stock-rom with an older modem now and try to get my sound back...

Modem is dependable from your location. You hava to test it out.
My favourite Roms for battery life and everything working fine are:
Echoerom newest Builds
Google Edition 4.2.2 and 4.3 by Jamal.
I also testes lots of Roms, but many got lags or other problems which i didn't have in the Roms i told you
Gesendet von meinem GT-I9505G mit Tapatalk

OmegaRom is awesome! Wlan/Hsdpa/et cetera all working perfect, plus the integrated xposed installer app makes it really comfortable. plus, my antutu benchmarks compared to stock mh5 rom went up by 2000 points
Sent from my GT-I9505 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Well... to late...
Found out (after the flash) that this stock fw got this knox bullsh!t in it.... damn. As long as I can't downgrade the bootloader (oder flash roms + root without setting 0x1) I guess I will have to stay on stock samsung roms... -.-"

sebsnake said:
Well... to late...
Found out (after the flash) that this stock fw got this knox bullsh!t in it.... damn. As long as I can't downgrade the bootloader (oder flash roms + root without setting 0x1) I guess I will have to stay on stock samsung roms... -.-"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the same boat as you, but I really couldn't take the stock TW lag anymore. So I decided to root and flash a custom rom knowing the it would set 0x1..besides, there probably isn't going to be a fix for knox anytime soon.

A difficult decision.
sebsnake said:
Hi there,
I have some serious problems here. I used a Galaxy S2 for two years now and since "day one" I got my phones rooted and flashed custom roms. You could say I am some kind of a flashoholic - need to have the best, newest, fastest all the time. For one month now I have got a new Galaxy S4. Sounded like a good decision as I'm using it most of the time for internet and taking photos.
But till today, I am unsatisfied. My Galaxy S2 went from "Checkrom Revolution" to "Omega" and then all the updates from "Cyanogen 9" to 10.1-RC3 (not sure if the versions are correct, just call it the latest 4.2.2 version). For a month now I'm flashing myself through the whole forum, but none of the roms seem to work as flawless as my Cyanogen was on my S2. Some problmes I discovered (I wont mention which problem occured on which ROM as I simply can't remember):
- unstable WLAN
- bad signal for 3G/H+/4G
- bad signal for phone (S2 had 3 of 4 bars while the S4 only gets 1 to 2 of 4 bars at my home)
- bad battery lifetime (for example: newly flashed "Phoenix Rom" gave me 2 or 3 full days of standby (WLAN on all the time), while "Echoe Rom v9" seems to drain it like hell (loosing 30% within 3 hours ?!?)
- crashing initialization setup (at the beginning, where you setup WiFi, Google and device name and stuff)
- no Samsung Cam (well, its not a bug, but I love the features like slow-motion videos and the image burst mode to select the best one afterwards. So when I realized that only TW roms have the samsung cam, I only tried those roms)
- Samsung Cam freezes in 9 of 10 cases when I try to catch a slow-motion video.
- and my newest addition: flashed a new rom yesterday, flashed the newest modem with odin afterwards (I9505XXUEMK9), then flashed the WiFi-Fixed-Version, and since then, I have no sound at all. All volume levels are maxed but I get no single beep from it
I'm sick of it. I just want a modem which gives best signal quality and a ROM with a flawless working Samsung Cam. Do you have any ideas?
Going to flash some rooted stock-rom with an older modem now and try to get my sound back...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash back to original rom - Maybe you can try Xposed framework and do all the custom stuff you get on other roms. -
You should try all roms , but my experience each rom has one strong point and one weak point.

Originally Posted by sebsnake View Post
Well... to late...
Found out (after the flash) that this stock fw got this knox bullsh!t in it.... damn. As long as I can't downgrade the bootloader (oder flash roms + root without setting 0x1) I guess I will have to stay on stock samsung roms... -.-"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the same boat as you, but I really couldn't take the stock TW lag anymore. So I decided to root and flash a custom rom knowing the it would set 0x1..besides, there probably isn't going to be a fix for knox anytime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After I found out that this knox 0x1 is just doing the same thing as Sonys "go to this page to get a code to unlock the bootloader" - by which I mean, it tells the developer that you played with their software; and what I have done on several phones by now - I come to the conclusion, that knox 0x1 won't really bother me.
You are so right. This default rom is really... well... bad. It feels slow and I miss my root Well, loading some roms now.
As the cam is most important for me (and for the roms I tested it works best / most stable on Samsung Stock), I will flash one rom after another, try the slow-mo-cam, and if it won't work, I flash the next one.

[Q] I need some orientation through this subforum and G2 in general

Hello.
After being 2 years with a Galaxy Nexus, I have bought a LG G2 D802 32GB.
Well, I've managed to hard brick the device with only 2 days of use but got it back through warranty. But ever since I've been somewhat scared and doubtful of what I can and cannot do with this device.
I installed stock Lollipop via LG PC Suite (5.0.2 v30b), got it rooted and then installed TWRP via autorec. But I want to be able to flash rom and kernel among other things like I did with my good old Nexus and never got any major problem.
As of now, the performance on stock LG Lollipop is good, but everything is so bloated and I can't live with only 24 GB of storage. I also heard that there is a camera mod that allows the G2 to take slow-motion video and 4K photos so I would like to try that out.
Well, I've been searching here but everything is so confusing that I decided to only step into things when I understand everything about them and there's no risk of bricking the phone again. The Galaxy Nexus subforum is easier to get the hang of because there is only 3 versions of the phone (GSM and CDMA sprint and verizon). This one has like 7 and I kinda lose sight of what I need to check on.
TL,DR: Please check my questions below. (I put the important text bold)
http://prntscr.com/73hrp9 --> Those 3 sections... what's the main difference between them? Where should I look for roms for my device? What happens to the phone if I accidentally flash v30a stock or some custom rom for another version of the phone? Will it brick or bootloop or just some things such as network connection won't work?
I have a spigen slim armor case but the aluminium back is pretty damaged. Does anyone know if they still support the G2 in terms of acessories? I would want to replace the aluminium part of the case and maybe buy some screen protection. I know I can ask this and look for this in the acessories part but I found many topics with too much spreaded info and nothing convincing enough. What do you recommend for screen protection? iloome doesn't support the G2, I've seen the Glass-M and Ultimate Shield... Is there more options?
What can led to a brick in my device? How can I avoid it? Please don't tell me to not flash any custom rom and just stick with the stock. I want to try out new things, I just need to know where and what should I look.
I don't get the recoveries here! I have TWRP installed, but for what I've read there are more than 1 version of TWRP. They vary from the way I install it and they can be lost if I flash some kinds of roms. This doesn't happen with the Galaxy Nexus, TWRP is TWRP and CWM is CWM and stock recovery is stock recovery. What really happens in the G2 and what kind of recovery should I have to always have a anti brick backup plan?
What about the camera mod? Can I use it with stock lollipop? Can I use it with another custom roms? Do camera quality decrease with custom roms as they don't have lg software to process the images?
Well, I know the policy here at XDA is for searching and doing things ourselves as this is a developer forum and not a support forum. But as I learned what I should and should not do with my previous phone, I'm hoping to have a similar experience with this one without having to experience any more bricks and problems. That's why I'm asking before I do crap just because I didn't notice the small letters at the end of the post, or the comment #252652 of the thread of a user warning that the thing I'm doing will result in a bad experience. I'm just having some precautions and asking things directed to more experienced users who have the phone longer than me and can answer easily.

root and rom recommendations

Hello dear forum!
After my nexus 5 broke, I decided to buy the cheapest phone in a similar spec range, and ended up with a used galaxy s4 (i9505). But I really wanted to keep the stock android experience as good as it gets, so my questions are simple: How do I root and install a custom recovery (if needed), and what would be the best rom (if possible with easy updates)?
Also on a side note, is it normal for the screen, when the brightness is set to minimum, to look really weird (i.e. text fades) when scrolling?

Use Odin to root and install a custom recovery. Since you want to change roms you just need to install the recovery. Go to the TWRP site and get the recovery for I9505 and follow the Odin install instrunctions on the site. I recommend using Odin 3.09, since it always worked for me.
Since you want a stock android experience you might try the Marshmallow AOSP rom by the JDCTeam.

[Q] Is it worth 330$ to switch from Oneplus One to Axon7?

Hello,
I can buy Axon7 on Aliexpress for around 330USD. Currently I'm using OPO and it is running just fine. I've got a few questions to you guys:
1. Are custom ROMs stable ( no bugs, battery drains, camera and sound is working like on stock )?
2. How far is Stock ROM from AOSP (recents, QS, settings) ?
3. Would you switch if you had OPO ?
4. Are there any news of update to Android O being planned ?
Thanks for the replies!

If you want front facing speakers, yes. If you like the huge amount of roms available for bacon, stay with that. I was on the opo and if it was not for the speakers on the a7 I would switch back.

There are still enough roms available, just not like for op5. Roms are stable

FunkyRasta said:
Hello,
I can buy Axon7 on Aliexpress for around 330USD. Currently I'm using OPO and it is running just fine. I've got a few questions to you guys:
1. Are custom ROMs stable ( no bugs, battery drains, camera and sound is working like on stock )?
2. How far is Stock ROM from AOSP (recents, QS, settings) ?
3. Would you switch if you had OPO ?
4. Are there any news of update to Android O being planned ?
Thanks for the replies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most ROMs are somewhat stable, but all of them have a couple of bugs like mic broken until you turn on and off the loudspeaker (you can fix that with macrodroid). And the stock ROM works better than the custom ROMs no doubt. But I found out that (if you care more about MP3 music than FLAC lossless) V4A is better on custom ROMs than stock. and you can get more than 7 hours SOT on custom ROMs if done right (normally people get 5 on the stock ROM)
The stock ROM is totally different than AOSP. The stock launcher has no dock just like Apple stuff but it also comes with an alternative with dock. The icons are crappy though. If you install Lawnchair from XDA you get a launcher better than Pixel and stock icons for almost all of the apps. Recents is just like AOSP but with a Clear all button and a lock to avoid you closing the app by swiping or via the button. pretty handy!
Now, I had something weird happen to me: When I got my Moto G 2 I used the stock ROM for like 3 days and switched to customs. I never even thought about going back to stock for all the poor phone's life (like 1.5 years). now with this one, I try a couple of ROMs for a month or two, get bored and return to stock. Always happens. Many people say the same, that they started liking the stock ROM even though it strays from AOSP a lot. But it has its fair share of good things, like auto power-on some minutes before your alarm goes off, scheduled on and off, a Dolby Atmos QS tile... It's not bad because it doesn't look like AOSP. not at all.
Besides, MiFavor 5.0 was released for the Chinese and it looks very good!
The phone has hardware keys but the Chinese version hasn't, hence the on screen keys on the screenshot.
Update to O: No news yet, though if it comes, expect the first 2 or 3 builds to be riddled with bugs. ZTE's devs barely know how to use a keyboard. Up to B04 Nougat they broke the Play store then fixed it, broke exFAT for SD cards, then fixed it... People made petitions (basically spamming "We want Android O" on a petition thread on the German forums) but nobody said anything close to a confirmation.
Would I switch from a OnePlus One? 2K AMOLED screen, SD820, speakers better than Samsung's $800 phones come with, QC3.0, for 330 dollars? definitely
The screenshots I attached are from the Chinese MiFavor 5.0 because that's what I'm using right now. You can install it via TWRP if you want.
one thing though: If you can get an A2017U (US version) instead of an A2017 (Chinese Aliexpress version) you're gonna thank me. The U version has so much more development than the G or Chinese... Even people say that sound is better on it. It costs 330 dollars on the US too.
This phone is easy to brick, be REALLY careful and read everything twice before doing stuff or you can end up with a DFU brick which is the most hardcore brick of them all.

Choose an username... said:
Most ROMs are somewhat stable, but all of them have a couple of bugs like mic broken until you turn on and off the loudspeaker (you can fix that with macrodroid). And the stock ROM works better than the custom ROMs no doubt. But I found out that (if you care more about MP3 music than FLAC lossless) V4A is better on custom ROMs than stock. and you can get more than 7 hours SOT on custom ROMs if done right (normally people get 5 on the stock ROM)
The stock ROM is totally different than AOSP. The stock launcher has no dock just like Apple stuff but it also comes with an alternative with dock. The icons are crappy though. If you install Lawnchair from XDA you get a launcher better than Pixel and stock icons for almost all of the apps. Recents is just like AOSP but with a Clear all button and a lock to avoid you closing the app by swiping or via the button. pretty handy!
Now, I had something weird happen to me: When I got my Moto G 2 I used the stock ROM for like 3 days and switched to customs. I never even thought about going back to stock for all the poor phone's life (like 1.5 years). now with this one, I try a couple of ROMs for a month or two, get bored and return to stock. Always happens. Many people say the same, that they started liking the stock ROM even though it strays from AOSP a lot. But it has its fair share of good things, like auto power-on some minutes before your alarm goes off, scheduled on and off, a Dolby Atmos QS tile... It's not bad because it doesn't look like AOSP. not at all.
Besides, MiFavor 5.0 was released for the Chinese and it looks very good!
The phone has hardware keys but the Chinese version hasn't, hence the on screen keys on the screenshot.
Update to O: No news yet, though if it comes, expect the first 2 or 3 builds to be riddled with bugs. ZTE's devs barely know how to use a keyboard. Up to B04 Nougat they broke the Play store then fixed it, broke exFAT for SD cards, then fixed it... People made petitions (basically spamming "We want Android O" on a petition thread on the German forums) but nobody said anything close to a confirmation.
Would I switch from a OnePlus One? 2K AMOLED screen, SD820, speakers better than Samsung's $800 phones come with, QC3.0, for 330 dollars? definitely
The screenshots I attached are from the Chinese MiFavor 5.0 because that's what I'm using right now. You can install it via TWRP if you want.
one thing though: If you can get an A2017U (US version) instead of an A2017 (Chinese Aliexpress version) you're gonna thank me. The U version has so much more development than the G or Chinese... Even people say that sound is better on it. It costs 330 dollars on the US too.
This phone is easy to brick, be REALLY careful and read everything twice before doing stuff or you can end up with a DFU brick which is the most hardcore brick of them all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, that's why I love XDA, thank you for this very helpful reply !
So on official LOS for example microphone during call doesn't work until I toggle loudspeaker ? That's is... Weird . So even if you are running custom ROMs you are coming back to stock because of bugs and features :/
I noticed on videos that launcher and icons sucks. Can I just install nova launcher on stock and use it without any problem ?
About Chinese and American versions. The ROMs doesn't work on all version, the a2017, U and G ? I did some reading and I know there are different bootstacks and stuff but I though the custom ROMs are compatible with all regions.
Is this brick recoverable ? Is there a flashtool that will always rescue me ?
Thanks again !

Yes you can flash nova launcher. It is an app! There is a flashtool for flashing and recovering from soft/hard bricks. The phone just rocks...

FunkyRasta said:
Wow, that's why I love XDA, thank you for this very helpful reply !
So on official LOS for example microphone during call doesn't work until I toggle loudspeaker ? That's is... Weird . So even if you are running custom ROMs you are coming back to stock because of bugs and features :/
I noticed on videos that launcher and icons sucks. Can I just install nova launcher on stock and use it without any problem ?
About Chinese and American versions. The ROMs doesn't work on all version, the a2017, U and G ? I did some reading and I know there are different bootstacks and stuff but I though the custom ROMs are compatible with all regions.
Is this brick recoverable ? Is there a flashtool that will always rescue me ?
Thanks again !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's more complicated than that.
First of all: The modes on this phone are (were):
-EDL (Looks like it's completely off, it's not. You can flash special folder packages with MiFlash when you are in this mode)
-Bootloader mode (Fastboot. On A2017G and U they got rid of it. You can get it back by flashing a zip through TWRP, but if you update the stock ROM officially you'll lose it and will have to flash it again)
-Recovery. You can use axon7toolkit to unlock and install this. One-click tool like the one on Nexus 6 thread.
After you flash the Universal bootloader (for custom ROMs), your TWRP will get overwritten with an older one. Just keep a 3.1.1-0 img file and flash it in this crappy TWRP with Install -> Install image
-FTM. Seems that you get ADB when you are in this mode. Handy when you brick it horribly (no recovery) and can't access EDL. You just issue adb reboot edl and you should get to edl.
And last: DFU mode. Be REALLY careful with EVERYTHING, for example if you flash a system zip and TWRP says that you have no system installed, restore a backup, DON'T reboot! I had a DFU brick once and the two ways to recover from a DFU brick (No EDL, no fastboot, no recovery, very rarely FTM) are to discharge the phone completely and try to get into FTM, or take the phone apart and do the 4th category brick repair manual. I did the latter
But as of now no brick is unrecoverable. With A2017G's and U's you get a pretty overkill warranty, and you can return it claiming that it stopped working all of a sudden for example.
About the launcher: yeah, you can install whatever you like. I use Lawnchair.
And the ROM's work on all 3 phones, but it's the kernels that don't. Kernels work on the G and U on custom ROMs, but there is only one kernel that works for the U on stock, and none for the G. On the G the camera breaks on stock when you use a custom kernel. That's why I recommend you to get a U even if it's a little bit more expensive.
Is there a tool that will always save you from a brick? well there are many, but they will help you like 90% of the time. axon7tool is used to flash stuff to recovery or boot from EDL (you can flash TWRP for ex.), axon7toolkit can do some basic fastboot stuff, and MiFlash is the most useful, cause you can flash a full system directly from EDL and leave your phone in a functional state.So if, say, your digitizer breaks and you are on a custom ROM (and have an A2017G or A2017U, which have warranty) you can simply flash a working system and send it to fix.
If ZTE finds out that the phone has been tampered with (unlocked, opened, etc) they will charge you $80 but they'll fix it. If the phone doesn't even boot and it's a G they'll change it free of charge because of European laws
one more thing: you'll hate the quick settings thingy on stock. Try MiFavor 5.0 if you decide to stay stock, it's a Chinese ROM but with a bunch of work it can get pretty nice. I sent you a couple of screenies there

RUNNERX said:
If you want front facing speakers, yes. If you like the huge amount of roms available for bacon, stay with that. I was on the opo and if it was not for the speakers on the a7 I would switch back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go for it because the newer LTE modems are so much better than any of the SD820 especially how poor both the Axon 7 and OP3 signals are compared to the SD821 and SD835. It is night and day in terms of connectivity. Performance wise it's also worth it.

You don't need to flash Nova launcher, I am with the Stock rom and use Nova as it. Just install it and use it as default launcher.
Envoyé de mon ZTE A2017G en utilisant Tapatalk

Got an old 910T I want to repurpose. Any starting advice?

Hey so Im new to samsung phones, but i got my hands on an old galaxy note 4 910T model that I want to repurpose. I come from oneplus phones, and I have no intention of using samsung's touchwiz OS.
based on the research i've done, if I try to install a non TW rom, the S-PEN's feature won't work. is this correct? Does that mean it can't function as a normal stylus as well? or that it won't have the fancy other stuff?
if the stylus works just for normal touching, then that is fine with me.
I'm looking into possibly using lineageos 16.0.
Any advices / tips or tricks you guys got for me?
also, is there any like discord for you guys so i can instantly ask questions / get help live instead of the forums which is a bit slower?

Your assumption about the Spen is accurate; the stylus will work as a normal pointer and touch device but the fancy stuff baked into the Samsung TouchWiz ROMs won't be there (when you pull the pen out on TW ROMs a menu shows up).
I would highly recommend you start with Havoc-OS ROM Pie which right now is my favorite for this phone (I have the same version) because everything works great out of the box.
Install the proper TWRP (trlte) via Odin, boot into 'Recovery' and you should be able to install your custom ROM in no time.
Let me know if you have any other specific questions.

terminator911 said:
Your assumption about the Spen is accurate; the stylus will work as a normal pointer and touch device but the fancy stuff baked into the Samsung TouchWiz ROMs won't be there (when you pull the pen out on TW ROMs a menu shows up).
I would highly recommend you start with Havoc-OS ROM Pie which right now is my favorite for this phone (I have the same version) because everything works great out of the box.
Install the proper TWRP (trlte) via Odin, boot into 'Recovery' and you should be able to install your custom ROM in no time.
Let me know if you have any other specific questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
makes sense. so if i were to run a non-TW rom, the s-pen would still be able to press stuff? how come it doesn't work on like a oneplus phone? or does it use different glass or something

onepluslover69 said:
makes sense. so if i were to run a non-TW rom, the s-pen would still be able to press stuff? how come it doesn't work on like a oneplus phone? or does it use different glass or something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it works just fine to select and press on the phone screen. It's probably because the OS is specific to the Note 4 and is configured to recognize its own SPen.