Related
I think it is important that all people testing this rom have the best radio suited to it.
This would eliminate some of the connection issues people are clogging the forum with. Several reported user issues have been due to them using old RADIO versions that don't work well with WM6.
We need to bug fix the ROM, connection problems are more likely to be RADIO related than ROM related.
Kyphur has asked me to start a poll asking:
SHOULD THE BEST WORKING RADIO BE BUNDLED WITH THE NEXT XDA LIVE RELEASE? v0.30
What do you think?
Dumb question, but is there any "easy" way to downgrade the radio if the device needs to be sent in for warranty?
I still say no, thw whole point behind cooking ROMs is customisation, the only thing Kyphur will have to concentrate on is the OS making it better than if he had to work on radio aswell, also what happens to use people who have a new version of the radio (1.35.00.11 for example) do we have to downgrade?!
Any radio problems can be narrowed down to just the individual radio versions and not blamed on Kyphur aswell!?
I say we mix and match our OS/ExtROM/Radio etc... as we like and let Kyphur get on with developing this (already brilliant) ROM.
I think people should install the Radio ROM they prefer, not be forced into an update if it's not necessary.
Now, if we could just crack that ExtROM...
mrvanx said:
I still say no, thw whole point behind cooking ROMs is customisation, the only thing Kyphur will have to concentrate on is the OS making it better than if he had to work on radio aswell, also what happens to use people who have a new version of the radio (1.35.00.11 for example) do we have to downgrade?!
Any radio problems can be narrowed down to just the individual radio versions and not blamed on Kyphur aswell!?
I say we mix and match our OS/ExtROM/Radio etc... as we like and let Kyphur get on with developing this (already brilliant) ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair points!
How about just a RADIO recommendation from Kyphur then? You're right, lets not add extra workload, just make a suggestion as to which radio instead?
Users can then make their own minds up as you suggest.
Squuiid said:
Fair points!
How about just a RADIO recommendation from Kyphur then? You're right, lets not add extra workload, just make a suggestion as to which radio instead?
Users can then make their own minds up as you suggest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A radio recommendation would be a good idea, like at the moment I gather from numerous posts radio 1.27 and hihger would be the preferred to use.
(P.s: sorry I read my last post, looked kinda forcefull)
(not a noob but not an expert :s)
what is the best radio to use tho? hehe
if i go to the wiki page download the 1.35.00.11 Download note: GPS Enabled!
run it
(same installer as for the rom)
and i go for it?
will it change anything to the current config?
thx a Lot
Kartboy said:
(not a noob but not an expert :s)
what is the best radio to use tho? hehe
if i go to the wiki page download the 1.35.00.11 Download note: GPS Enabled!
run it
(same installer as for the rom)
and i go for it?
will it change anything to the current config?
thx a Lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Test a few and find which one works best for you... It's amazing how little people are willing to experiment.
(I guess I was asking a lot of questions regarding ROM building, but that's something that could seriously screw a phone if you're not careful and I can't afford another Hermes right now!)
mrvanx said:
A radio recommendation would be a good idea, like at the moment I gather from numerous posts radio 1.27 and hihger would be the preferred to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Just recommend a min version and leave the ROM with OS only.
I can think of 2 more reasons for not bundling the radio, further to what has been said above:
1) you avoid making the upgrade process process longer and
2)if people have a preference for a particular radio (different than what is bundled), they would need to reflash their radio every time they upgrade the ROM from 0.3 to 0.4 and to 0.5, ...,etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
richy240 said:
Test a few and find which one works best for you... It's amazing how little people are willing to experiment.
(I guess I was asking a lot of questions regarding ROM building, but that's something that could seriously screw a phone if you're not careful and I can't afford another Hermes right now!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why experiment when u got all this knowledge grouped in a forum,
not knowing if u might brick ur phone or not
IMHO radio should not be included with xda-live distribution. If flash fails while flashing OS or splash screens, nothing happens to the device, but if flash fails when flashing radio device is more dificult to unbrick.
I think the user should choose which radio he wants to have, and we do provide ways of upgrading only the radio.
An emphatic NO - don't include a radio.
1. One of the original ideas of this rom was to provide a stable OS with as few add-ons as possible.
2. This WIKI and forum encourages and helps us to learn about our phones, make informed judgements and customise to suit ourselves. OS, software, use, location etc are all user specific. What works for you doesn't work always for me.
3. There is already a suggestion of US and Rest of World roms to fix localised problems (PTT vs video). Does Kyphur then have to release these versions with & without his (our) chosen radio? Do each of these 4 roms also have to be released with & without Adobe? (now 8 roms)... etc, etc...
4. I travel all over the world with my job and I notice a good radio in UK doesn't work so well in China, Brazil, US etc. Which radio should I vote for? Or should we release the above rom versions with every available radio?
5. If we get Kyphur and the development team to embed a radio what's our next collective request?
6. Having everything done for me takes the fun out of having a Hermes - If I want to just wait for someone to solve my problem I might as well wait for Vodafone or HTC to release an update.
7. We already see loads of questions/complaints/comments about the few apps which are embedded in WMXL so the dev. team are now acting as tech support instead of developing more stuff for us to play with. If they get bored with this role they may stop - then who do we turn to for the next release of WMXL?
So, instead of including a radio I would prefer to see a WIKI which tells us how better to analyse the radio we have and maybe to compare the available radios for reception, data, country of use etc.
If Kyphur doesn't mind all the extra work and can release all the different versions then fine, but I'd rather let him work on a stable OS first.
Only my ideas, I'm sure others will disagree
Adding a Raido will add to the argument as to which is best? There are plenty of installs to do yourself. If you got the balls to do a ROM upgrade then download and install the Radio RUU of your choice before or after as you like.
I agree
Squuiid said:
Fair points!
How about just a RADIO recommendation from Kyphur then? You're right, lets not add extra workload, just make a suggestion as to which radio instead?
Users can then make their own minds up as you suggest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, a list would be better, obviously if you are looking at GPS (here here)
you would need a different radio.
kudos to the gurus!
Because different Radio Roms work better in different regions of the world and even with different OS Roms.
That is a lesson learned the hard way from Wizard & AKU 3.x. Ironically T-Mobile NL 2.19 Radio never missed a call with AKU 3.x or WM6 but Cingular's 2.25 Radio was a dog in the Chicago area!
Personally, I would stay away from any of the Trinity GPS enabled Radio Roms (end in .x1) because they just add yet another element into the mix and the goal of this project is stable WM6 not GPS..
Kartboy said:
Why experiment when u got all this knowledge grouped in a forum,
not knowing if u might brick ur phone or not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That will be BIG NO for me to include radio. As said in previous posts, there are various radios out there and depending on where you are will get different results. Recommending which radio worked well for you at your location with x version of ROM is the best thing in my mine.
I am currently using 1.27 and it seems to work well for me and I won't change until I see a reason to do so (e.g. feature, service, etc...). So I definitely would not want to be force into another radio (although I can just extract the OS and flash with TTY).
Kartboy said:
Why experiment when u got all this knowledge grouped in a forum,
not knowing if u might brick ur phone or not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We will not post a Radio ROM that is untested; at least I hope no XDA member would. So unless you screw it up it wont brick your device.
a wiki page is a better idea
I think that a sub page of the wiki special for the radio rom is the best solution...
Everybody can add their experience with any version of the radio rom...
A fool proof installer sounds a very very good idea for me!!
Is it possible to return to your original radio rom (or dump it) Radio rom 1.13??
Why dont you have the option for 0.3 with and without the radio rom. Before I put 0.1 on my hermes, I had 1.34 for my radio rom. I am going to attempt to get gps working soon, so before I upgarded to 0.1, I flashed my radio.
I think a lot of people that are holding out for a later version of WXML may be in the same problem that I had, that is, not having the latest radio rom.
Radios? We don't need no stinking radios! Sorry I couldn't resist...
Seriously, pof and the rest are right. Radio selection is highly variable based on location and carrier. Let the end user decide. Having said that, knowing the radios and locations/carriers that the ROM was tested in could be useful information.
Ninja1
i need help with rom cooking. i have flashed my phone more times than i can count and i have used kitchens and and i have downloaded many rom tools to my computer. i have attempted making a few rom and when i flash them the dont boot past the windows screen. really i am asking for someone to take me under their wing and help me in the ROM cooking process. i know i am not ready for the major league entirely custom stuff but basics. like fetting to know what the some of the stuff in sys. folders are and such. i am not a complete newb but i am not experienced in programming so any help would be very much apprecieated.i have lots of patience with this stuff i am just uneducated with it.i am a well known member senior member at ppcgeeks. i just though i would post here also because i know there are some cooking legends here such as DCD. anyone with some experience your time will be much apprecieted.
Cooking roms
There is an excellent rom already out there for this phone. Unlocks the GPS features and has some of the best freeware utilities already installed. Then just install the other apps you need afterwards. If you dont keep flashing your phone it wont be so much work to put all of your apps back on afterwards....
Not to say that flashing and cooking isnt fun.. I mean I flashed my HTC Wizard about 40 different times in one night even.... Til I found that perfect ROM for it. But the GPS Vogue rom that is out there pretty good. It has almost everything most people need in it already. With most of the newest versions of stuff. (albeit a FEW things were out dated).
Not to discourage or flame you from learning how to cook.
thedove said:
There is an excellent rom already out there for this phone. Unlocks the GPS features and has some of the best freeware utilities already installed. Then just install the other apps you need afterwards. If you dont keep flashing your phone it wont be so much work to put all of your apps back on afterwards....
Not to say that flashing and cooking isnt fun.. I mean I flashed my HTC Wizard about 40 different times in one night even.... Til I found that perfect ROM for it. But the GPS Vogue rom that is out there pretty good. It has almost everything most people need in it already. With most of the newest versions of stuff. (albeit a FEW things were out dated).
Not to discourage or flame you from learning how to cook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use the official ppckitchen over at ppcgeeks to add my own stuff to this ROM i just want to learn how to start doing this stuff so that i can get a better understanding of things and maybe eventually be one of the gurus around here and other places. i normally dont take things as flaming just tryng to be helpful as you see my status here but at ppcgeeks.com it is a different story. i love my vogue and i want to better my understanding of it.i am also trying to learn how to write programs in C++ that is also very difficult being that i am almost 16 and have no official training in any of this. thanks for the heads up but i have had that technology on my phone for months.
Hi Guys,
I have an Unlocked T-Mobile G2 Touch - AKA - HERO !!!
I have installed new firmware / roms on Nokia phones numerous times but Android is new to me - however i wont go back to Nokia as the Hero is great...
CAN SOMEONE ON HERE POST AN IDIOTS GUIDE MAYBE WITH VIDEO ON HOW TO DEBRAND / INSTALL ORIGINAL HTC HERO ROM
I have tried and failed reading numerous posts and there are plenty of newcomers here that are after the same.....
Please, Please help us newbies to ANDROID out...
Thanks
Checkout this link:
http://android.modaco.com/content/h...and-your-orange-t-mo-etc-device-via-nandroid/
Explain
packetlss said:
Checkout this link:
http://android.modaco.com/content/h...and-your-orange-t-mo-etc-device-via-nandroid/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi - Thanks for that but i got lost on the keep original name etc..... - I think i must be an idiot !!! HELP - someone put a step by step guide up please...
I'd second this request.
Looking through posts on modaco and here it's not obvious what you have to do and why you are doing it.
What is nandroid and recovery image etc ?
cheers
And if it could be Mac and Windows information, not all of us are Windows based here
joemax said:
And if it could be Mac and Windows information, not all of us are Windows based here
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly!!!
A lot of us are Linux users too!!!
No offense, but please get more into adb and all the tools needed for reflashing.
Making things idiot proof is useless in my opinion. If you have no idea how to use adb, why upgrade anyway? Chances are you won't understand most custom upgrades/tweaks anyway..
All releases by HTC will be idiot proof, no doubt about it, but installing a custom rom takes skill, knowledge and patience.
In general, an idiot posseses none of the above.
Second, there are no custom roms available for the Hero.
If you want to install custom roms in the future, take some time to understand things. Spoonfeeding this info won't learn you anything.
Sykow said:
No offense, but please get more into adb and all the tools needed for reflashing.
Making things idiot proof is useless in my opinion. If you have no idea how to use adb, why upgrade anyway? Chances are you won't understand most custom upgrades/tweaks anyway..
All releases by HTC will be idiot proof, no doubt about it, but installing a custom rom takes skill, knowledge and patience.
In general, an idiot posseses none of the above.
Second, there are no custom roms available for the Hero.
If you want to install custom roms in the future, take some time to understand things. Spoonfeeding this info won't learn you anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Sykow, I understand your point but it wasn't helpful. It's comments like these that can deter a newbie from asking questions. A person must ask questions to learn.
No doubt some of the skills needed to load custom firmware or even stock HTC firmware to de-brand your Hero are needed in order for many of us here to upgrade to the rumoured minor update and major update coming soon.
Having a handset from the telco on contract and then having to wait for weeks or even forever to get a bug fixed / performance enhanced firmware update from HTC is not something I want to have to suffer.
As soon as HTC release updated firmware, I will want to know how to load it via my Mac running OS X (preferred) or booted into my Windows partition (not preferred).
All without drama and with little risk of toasting my Hero.
Its not too much to ask surely
joemax said:
No doubt some of the skills needed to load custom firmware or even stock HTC firmware to de-brand your Hero are needed in order for many of us here to upgrade to the rumoured minor update and major update coming soon.
Having a handset from the telco on contract and then having to wait for weeks or even forever to get a bug fixed / performance enhanced firmware update from HTC is not something I want to have to suffer.
As soon as HTC release updated firmware, I will want to know how to load it via my Mac running OS X (preferred) or booted into my Windows partition (not preferred).
All without drama and with little risk of toasting my Hero.
Its not too much to ask surely
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I can tell, it is pretty straight forward, just like the first time you flash a phone, a bit never racking, and a bit foreign. A co-worker of mine has assured me it is as easy as a WinMo phone.
Nice to be easy as a WiMo phone... but I've had Nokia for years.
Easy to de-brand.
Use Nemesis.
Change Product Code to one like a generic EU code.
Go back to Nokia Software Update.
Download new manufacturer direct firmware... Orange as far as I know, never approved new firmware while I used an N95, N82, N85.
Android de-branding seems to involve a complex trip to a command line editor, a download of firmware that you don't really know where it came from and a large dose of prayer and crossed fingers and toes...
I guess I will wait until someone posts how to load the upcoming updated firmware from HTC so I will end up with a more reliable, stable and faster performing handset... like the one I thought I'd signed up for.
joemax said:
Nice to be easy as a WiMo phone... but I've had Nokia for years.
Easy to de-brand.
Use Nemesis.
Change Product Code to one like a generic EU code.
Go back to Nokia Software Update.
Download new manufacturer direct firmware... Orange as far as I know, never approved new firmware while I used an N95, N82, N85.
Android de-branding seems to involve a complex trip to a command line editor, a download of firmware that you don't really know where it came from and a large dose of prayer and crossed fingers and toes...
I guess I will wait until someone posts how to load the upcoming updated firmware from HTC so I will end up with a more reliable, stable and faster performing handset... like the one I thought I'd signed up for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am getting my Hero sometime mid-september... I will post up a walk through when I get some personal experience.
Sweet
That sounds like a plan...
Sykow said:
No offense, but please get more into adb and all the tools needed for reflashing.
Making things idiot proof is useless in my opinion. If you have no idea how to use adb, why upgrade anyway? Chances are you won't understand most custom upgrades/tweaks anyway..
All releases by HTC will be idiot proof, no doubt about it, but installing a custom rom takes skill, knowledge and patience.
In general, an idiot posseses none of the above.
Second, there are no custom roms available for the Hero.
If you want to install custom roms in the future, take some time to understand things. Spoonfeeding this info won't learn you anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A touch patronising.
I Flash Roms all the time on my Blackstone, and manage to use the custom upgrades/tweeks....
Android is a new OS, and has a new set of terms and abreviations etc, As the OP says, there seems to be little out there to explain things
When there are pages and pages of wikis for the Hero/Android then yes, I can understand being frustrated about noobie questions, but until there IS threads/stickies/Wikis out there then I'm afraid there will be questions put forward like this.
Correct. But those things need time. How long has the Hero been out now? Couple of weeks? C'mon..
And a person doesn't learn by asking questions. At least, not here. There are TONS of threads around. All the things you need are in there. It's just a matter of looking, taking the time to actually learn and read. If you still don't get it after the proper research, ask questions. Give the exact problem so we can tailor the reponse to it.
I flashed my old Wizard so many times.. Then I got on to the iPhone 2G, making it work in The Netherlands. I took the time to read all the reports, stickies and the necessary info to make it work. With some motivation and some common sense every person can do this.
I'm completely new to Android and I managed to root, update and tweak my Hero within 1 hour.
I just have a problem with these guys coming here, "demanding" a guide for idiots, making no effort at all to understand the complexity of it all.
This device hasn't even been out for a month! Chill out! When the stuff is ready, it will come.
Hmmmmm
Sykow said:
Correct. But those things need time. How long has the Hero been out now? Couple of weeks? C'mon..
And a person doesn't learn by asking questions. At least, not here. There are TONS of threads around. All the things you need are in there. It's just a matter of looking, taking the time to actually learn and read. If you still don't get it after the proper research, ask questions. Give the exact problem so we can tailor the reponse to it.
I flashed my old Wizard so many times.. Then I got on to the iPhone 2G, making it work in The Netherlands. I took the time to read all the reports, stickies and the necessary info to make it work. With some motivation and some common sense every person can do this.
I'm completely new to Android and I managed to root, update and tweak my Hero within 1 hour.
I just have a problem with these guys coming here, "demanding" a guide for idiots, making no effort at all to understand the complexity of it all.
This device hasn't even been out for a month! Chill out! When the stuff is ready, it will come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sykow - thanks for your comments, please dont call us "demanding idiots !" Like you I and many others are new to Android and yes its a huge learning curve, I have rooted my HERO and Tweaked it but merely wanted advice on some of the explanation given as i did not think it was that clear !!!
I have programmed, tweaked and installed numerous roms on blackberry and nokia previously and wanted advice on Android - you were not born with the knowledge you had to learn it....
Anyway after a polite request at least someone was polite enough to assist and it is sorted - bring on the cooked roms.
I have to agree with Sykow here to a degree. Rooting, flashing and backing up isn't for the weak of heart, and one wrong move could mean that the same newbie comes back to this forum crying about a bricked phone and bad instructions, and that would just distract people from the real point of this sub-forum, i.e. actual ROM hacking, stuff like what Haykuro is doing in the background.
Here's a starting point that worked for me:
Rooting the Hero: http://theunlockr.com/2009/08/08/how-to-gain-root-access-on-your-htc-hero/
After that, if you're looking at replacing built-in apps and cooking your own ROMs, you're better off looking in the Dream Android Development sub-forum where it all started. If you're having problems looking for technical pointers in those sub-forums and instead finding that most questions are about how-do-i root/flash/etc, you'll start to understand where Sykow is coming from
Me, I don't think you're an idiot. I just think it'd help to spend your time with the Android SDK as well as searching the other Android Dev sub-forums in XDA for what you're looking for. If you're confident enough after that to come up with a How-To of your own for the benefit of newbies, feel free to go ahead, but from what I have seen from time to time, it can be a thankless job when newbies fail to follow the instructions to a T, brick their devices then come back crying or *****ing, and expect someone to fix it for them.
I found the HTC Dream wiki section on rooting/hacking etc quite informative:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Dream_overview_and_useful_information
I managed to work out how to make a backup last night, using files from Paulatmodoco's rooting guide:
http://android.modaco.com/content/htc-hero-hero-modaco-com/291397/12-08-1-4-modaco-hero-patch-a2sd-root-busybox-much-more/
Simply follow his instructions up to stage 5. Then you will be in the recovery image menu and you can select to make a nandroid backup.
If I have some time later, I'll write up a dummys guide to making a nandroid backup, which is one of the most important steps I reckon And rooting using paul's system is then very, very easy. as is flashing a new ROM.
I must also agree with Sykow. I only recently got my Hero and had no knowledge of rooting. I'm sure a step by step guide would be lovely but actually it is possible and it pays to read up about it yourself.
I knew the Android SDK was needed, so I downloaded and installed that as per Android website, read about what adb and fastboot did. The files and commands were easy to source from here. About and hours reading and a complete Android noob was rooted and away. I do feel that some folk maybe can't be bothered with the reading part, but think - if something goes wrong in the process, you aren't going to know why or how to fix it.
My sentiments exactly.
Hello everybody,
I'm about to finally flash my TP2 to the official 6.5 ROM (after going to the trouble of downloading it 3 days before release lol), and before I do that I wanted to have a copy of the current stock ROM, just in case I want/need to go back at any point (yeah, I'm anal about covering my bases on stuff like that).
But...I can't seem to find a copy of the same ROM I have on here now...there's other US Tmo 6.1 ROM's, but none match all the radio/build numbers I have (1.20.531.4/3.45.25.14), and I'd really like to have an exact match to what's on my phone now. Is it available anywhere?
If it's not yet, I'd be happy to hard-reset mine and then export it for everyone to have access to...if someone can point me to an instruction set for that
Bump-bump-ba-bump
this would be great to have for me also... i have the same radio/build number as you... so hopefully someone will be able to chime in and help.
I am going to be flashing to 6.5 custom rom in a little bit, but a backup would be great!
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=BackupExistingRom <<< idk maybe this will help?
vim0314 said:
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=BackupExistingRom <<< idk maybe this will help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering the exact same thing...it says it's specific to the Magician (older HTC model, winmo 5.0), but it might work on 6.1...can anybody else here confirm that it does/doesn't? I'm a little concerned about just trying it blind, not sure if there's any potential to screw up the current ROM by using it on the wrong hardware.
In fact, if I can just find a (known safe) guide to doing the same thing on the TP2/6.1, I'll be happy to hard-reset my unit back to factory, and then export that ROM for whoever else wants to have a copy on hand.
sirphunkee said:
In fact, if I can just find a (known safe) guide to doing the same thing on the TP2/6.1, I'll be happy to hard-reset my unit back to factory, and then export that ROM for whoever else wants to have a copy on hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wish i knew away it could be done... i am flashing roms right now as we speak, hopefully somehow we can figure out away to make a back up of the ROM. well too late for me now since i already flashed over the 6.1
cdguider posted a dumped rom somewhere here...can't remember what thread, but he dumped his and I believe it was the same one that you need. As for the radio, I believe there is one on the board, possibly stickied...
try to find cdguider's posts and you may track down the rom.
Sorry I can't help more.
akashastrega said:
Sorry I can't help more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't sweat it, and thanks for that info! You still get +2 FEISTY bonus for the effort
I'll try tracking it down that way, will post findings here.
akashastrega said:
cdguider posted a dumped rom somewhere here...can't remember what thread, but he dumped his and I believe it was the same one that you need. As for the radio, I believe there is one on the board, possibly stickied...
try to find cdguider's posts and you may track down the rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, sure enough, that's the one! I found it right off the bat, all the version numbers match so this is the one I/we have been looking for, the thread is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=550975
NOTE- for anyone else planning on keeping this as the "just in case" for when you flash up to the new 6.5, this 6.1 ROM does NOT include the radio (for calls/data, not FM music lol), but there's a link for that in the thread above.
YAY
Glad it worked out.
I had downloaded it, but it was on my other computer when I had responded earlier, so I couldn't up it and make a link.
I have had the 6.5 for a few days and the jury is still out, so I may well be flashing back to the 6.1 myself.
PS--thanks for the bonus points, I may be Feisty and Fabulous, but even a Feisty Woman likes bonus points for the effort!!
Firstly I want to stress that I am not making any accusations or (as far as I know) experienced anything like this, it's just a thought I had.
So my question is what's to stop an unscrupulous cook from adding something to a ROM that would steal account passwords? Sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm not a cook.
Thanks.
Very little, I guess.
I doubt anyone else goes to these lengths, but I always check the entire list of apps and their permissions (in Android) on install of a ROM.
But that's not foolproof, and takes ages, so often I do a diff of the file system to see if any dodgy apks are there.
Droidwall in whitelist mode will help against a malicious app, but a kernel based exploit would get through all of this
So personally I stick with modaco Rom, and tek kernel, as Paul & tek are trusted and have a good track record and history here and on modaco forums. So I guess just stick to major trusted chefs or wait for official. And be wary of new ROMs and chefs, not that we should distrust them, but just be wary till they build up a good reputation.
Thanks for your reply- you mentioned some things I had not considered doing.
I am currently using the Modaco 3.0 ROM and have been using it since 2.6 and have had no issues with it, I suppose the ultimate way forward would be to cook your own ROM but I'm from WinMo and wouldn't know where to start not to mention finding the time to learn all this stuff.
RetroFlux said:
Thanks for your reply- you mentioned some things I had not considered doing.
I am currently using the Modaco 3.0 ROM and have been using it since 2.6 and have had no issues with it, I suppose the ultimate way forward would be to cook your own ROM but I'm from WinMo and wouldn't know where to start not to mention finding the time to learn all this stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're in luck, we are in the same boat.. I made an easy kitchen for new Android cooks:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=633246
Regarding security, yeah I would go by reputation... but the best thing would be to cook your own ROM once you know what you want in a ROM, after trying out custom ROMs made by others.
Sweet! I'll check it out, thanks.
Yeah. Cooking your own seems the best bet.
One idea I did have. How about a thread where a trusted user or admin puts in the MD5/CRC hashes of the stock apk files, and makes an MD5 file. Then, users could check any suspect apps to see what (if anything) isn't stock. ie. a non-stock SMS app might be a bit suspect etc.
Although this would have a load of false positives for anyone who just edited a picture or icon within an apk.
Similarly, a catalogue of boot.img MD5 sums (the part that contains the kernel ramdisk) would allow users to check their boot.img looks legit before flashing.
The biggest issue here though is how to make sure that it's kept up to date, and that it's verified in some way so a malicious user couldn't add their own MD5 for their malicious app/kernel to the list, thus giving it trust.
Maybe better just learning to cook a rom... It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Just stay away from SPL and Radio until you know what to do.
Yeah I thought about getting cooks to hash their stuff but I don't think there would be much take up and like you say the false positives would be an issue.
anon2122 said:
Very little, I guess.
I doubt anyone else goes to these lengths, but I always check the entire list of apps and their permissions (in Android) on install of a ROM.
But that's not foolproof, and takes ages, so often I do a diff of the file system to see if any dodgy apks are there.
Droidwall in whitelist mode will help against a malicious app, but a kernel based exploit would get through all of this
So personally I stick with modaco Rom, and tek kernel, as Paul & tek are trusted and have a good track record and history here and on modaco forums. So I guess just stick to major trusted chefs or wait for official. And be wary of new ROMs and chefs, not that we should distrust them, but just be wary till they build up a good reputation.
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You might come in for a surprise if you think checking apks is safe.
A simple keylogger (there's one which will compile and work for android - DON'T PM me about the name, I won't tell you) added to initrc, zipped log file of key catches and a simple ftp of the file once every 6h will do just fine.
For additional privacy concerns, you can always catch the entire screen (but that'll slow the system too much), or even zip and ftp the /data/data ...
Possibilities exist.
For the real adventurous, you might always add the code/function to one of the programs which are compiled while aosp'ing, for example, busybox, dropbear, whatver... Share that in a rom, and there you go.
Checking apk perms, scripts or whaever won't do you any good in this case.
This is why you try new roms from "amateur" chefs at your own risk. Believe me, bricking is the least of your concerns when trying new roms from unknown "devs"
I think this just further renforces the 'cook your own ROM' route. Don't worry I won't PM you about it as I'm not looking to steal people's passwords just looking to try and protect myself, I'm getting paranoid now and thinking about going back to a stock ROM :O