Develop Bugs

Why should I root my phone?

Is there a reason for me to root? Everyone is talking greek to me I am a complete noob when it comes to this. I have tethered my phone with no problems, I'm not really interested in overclocking. So is there any reason at all I would want to go through the headache of trying to figure all this stuff out and root my phone?

One of the major reasons I root is so I can use custom roms, edited versions of the stock os, that are modified to include different features and improve the speed of the device, others love rooting for the ability to customize anything you want to.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

None
While all those are valid, none of those exist; and even the current Root is not NAND write enabled.
After seeing all the problems in rooting combined with threads regarding phones REALLY acting up after, I would say ... don't root unless and until you see a custom ROM you like.
Personally, anything Rooting would get me, FroYo will get me too; and while a faster custom FroYo would get my attention; Verizon WILL release Froyo in 2010 at some point. I'll be waiting.

jdmba said:
Personally, anything Rooting would get me, FroYo will get me too; and while a faster custom FroYo would get my attention; Verizon WILL release Froyo in 2010 at some point. I'll be waiting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just don't hold your breath! On the WinMo side, at least, they're a few quarters behind the OS update schedule, mainly thanks to HTC's Sense(less)UI. Since we have a layer of HTC stuff on top of Android, you can expect to wait just as long for 2.2.

aaronjb said:
Just don't hold your breath! On the WinMo side, at least, they're a few quarters behind the OS update schedule, mainly thanks to HTC's Sense(less)UI. Since we have a layer of HTC stuff on top of Android, you can expect to wait just as long for 2.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd bet we'll have a FroYo port waaay before VZ pushes it out over the air. I think (!) HTC's Software Quality Assurance is more thorough (and slower than) Google's Quality Assurance, or at least Google would rather push an update out with fewer features whereas HTC will wait for all features to work. AFAIK, VZ has very little to add or subtract to the mix -- how long does it take to recompile against a new framework and kernel?

superflysmith said:
Is there a reason for me to root? Everyone is talking greek to me I am a complete noob when it comes to this. I have tethered my phone with no problems, I'm not really interested in overclocking. So is there any reason at all I would want to go through the headache of trying to figure all this stuff out and root my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have to ask, then you truly shouldn't be rooting your phone.

seanmcd72 said:
If you have to ask, then you truly shouldn't be rooting your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't been trying. Just trying to see if it's even worth trying to figure out. At this point I see nothing that would make me want to anyhow.

seanmcd72 said:
If you have to ask, then you truly shouldn't be rooting your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shoot first, call Verizon Warrant Department is my motto
Why, indeed! What else is there to do but constantly trying to break your phone with new mods?

rynosaur said:
Shoot first, call Verizon Warrant Department is my motto
Why, indeed! What else is there to do but constantly trying to break your phone with new mods?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I miss messing with stuff... i came from a G1 were i was running a different rom every 3 days it seemed like.. i was constantly messing with things with it just for ****s and giggles
I do feel really locked down with the incredible in knowing that i cant really mess with anything, the only thing ive been able to change is the boot screen and put the nexus animation on that instead of the stupid verizon symbol.
Too be honest though nothings even wrong with my phone whatsoever... the OS is perfectly fine and does everything i want it too, i cant really complain about anything with the software on it now... its just that want to customize thats driving my desire to root.. moreso then any actual need as everything works fine

The WiFi tether and lamppu was good enough for me now until we get custom roms

An even better title for this thread would be
"Why is this in 'Development' and not in 'General'?"

kentoe said:
The WiFi tether and lamppu was good enough for me now until we get custom roms
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Click to collapse
I'm with you there, those dual LED's are serious.

KB Smoka said:
I'm with you there, those dual LED's are serious.
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Click to collapse
Omfg I know, right? I flashed them in my eyes accidentally and I was like holy crap, blinded me for about a minute.

m1k3- said:
An even better title for this thread would be
"Why is this in 'Development' and not in 'General'?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be a great title, you're right!!!

I got a froyo port going!
jdmba said:
While all those are valid, none of those exist; and even the current Root is not NAND write enabled.
After seeing all the problems in rooting combined with threads regarding phones REALLY acting up after, I would say ... don't root unless and until you see a custom ROM you like.
Personally, anything Rooting would get me, FroYo will get me too; and while a faster custom FroYo would get my attention; Verizon WILL release Froyo in 2010 at some point. I'll be waiting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have released a froyo port method over at the "anyone want froyo" thread on the 8th page. I hope it helps anyone!

Joe92T said:
Too be honest though nothings even wrong with my phone whatsoever... the OS is perfectly fine and does everything i want it too, i cant really complain about anything with the software on it now... its just that want to customize thats driving my desire to root.. moreso then any actual need as everything works fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. There is not much that comes to mind with regard to things I'd like to improve with the DI. For example, the phone has more app storage than I could ever use, so there is no need for A2SD. And the processing speed is satisfying, so gaining OC'd kernel isn't a big priority. However, I simply miss being able to **** around with and compare various ROM's and mods, even if they are unneccessary on this device.

I have no real reason to root just yet, well then again I'm totally new to android, so I'm not exactly sure what rooting entails. All I want is stock 2.2 froyo, the day that is ported over to our phone is the day I will be rooted.
Can't wait..

kentoe said:
The WiFi tether and lamppu was good enough for me now until we get custom roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree, the wifi tether is what made me root now rather than later.

HELP..Will my 16gb card work?
if i go buy a 2gb card to root my phone can i use my 16gb when im done rooting or am i stuck with the 2gb?

langebart13 said:
if i go buy a 2gb card to root my phone can i use my 16gb when im done rooting or am i stuck with the 2gb?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely....just need the POS 2GB to get ADB going.

I've only been and gone and rooted it!

Phew that was nerve wrecking
But successful
Thanks to the wonderful guides here and supporting posts by the community, it was pretty painless. Now its just a matter of finding which ROM I'd like to stick with for the time being. I just couldn't wait any longer to play with Froyo, and I like the roughness of the N1 version but for now I've gone back to the Mocado Sense ROM until all the issues have really been ironed out with the custom Froyo ROMs. I have both images on the SD and it takes about 2 mins from boot to switch now, I'm impressed that I can back up and recover so easily.
I'm soo impressed actually, you guys are fantastic.
I guess really this is just an ass licking thread in the end

that would be ass kissing. Ass licking is not quite the compliment.

Nice one. It's a great feeling when you root successfully first time isn't it
You get a great sense of satisfaction.
If you like 2.1 roms over froyo at the minute, you should try one of pays roms in the dev section. They are a few pages down now as he hasn't kept the thread updated because he had to send his phone to HTC for repair (not rom related) lol.
His roms are very good, and a lot of people including me really like them. I'm on a froyo rom now though because I can't stop changing. lol.

al89nut said:
that would be ass kissing. Ass licking is not quite the compliment.
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Click to collapse
Yes you're right I stand corrected, lets move on
@socktug, okay I'll look at those.. I do like the inclusion of Wavesecure in the Modaco ROM but now its rooted I'm sure I'll look around before I settle. No point getting too cosy cos in a month or two an official sense Froyo will come and I'll have to flash that anyway.
(edit) I mean a custom version of the Sense Froyo of course

al89nut said:
that would be ass kissing. Ass licking is not quite the compliment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to each his own
seriously though, we are indeed fortunate to have such a talented and generous membership at XDA. things will get even better once Desire is sold in the US and more even people get on board.

I think ass licking would leave more of a bitter taste in your mouth and i imagine the texture would be something similar to Nutella.
+1 for the idea of ass kissing as opposed to ass licking (and no, i am not gay if that is what you were thinking!)
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

This thread is in danger of falling into brokeback mountain territory

Welcome to the rooted world
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

socktug said:
This thread is in danger of falling into brokeback mountain territory
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Click to collapse
ROFL... indeed

MasDroid said:
ROFL... indeed
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Click to collapse
You mean ROLF!
oursoul said:
Yes you're right I stand corrected, lets move on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yet you still haven't edited your first post At least we know what your preference is

Actually i did mean ROFL (rolling on floor laughing)...
Just a coincidence that Socktug is called Rolf!
Now that is what i call funny!
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Wow pretty much same here! I rooted for the first time yesterday, but didn't go over as straight forward as I would've hoped. First I tried the Linux method which didn't work - apparently I need a goldcard even though my phone's unlocked and unbranded. Then it took forever to get the ADB interface to recognize the phone - major problems with Win7 x64 at first. Finally got that right though (after several hours). From then on it was quite smooth.
I installed PaY's BraveSoul ROM and quite love it
I want to try out FroYo, but there's one thing stopping me. It's kind of a small thing, but maybe one of you can shed some light? Here goes:
So, I like Sense. Quite a bit. But I'm willing to go to vanilla Android if there is a way to keep my contact information built up properly. i.e. right now, my contacts are merged with Facebook/Sense which gives birthdays, profile pictures, email addresses etc. all under one unified contact - will I lose that if I go to FroYo? Is there a way to make all those details static so they can be carried forward to a non-Sense ROM?
Hope this isn't extremely off-topic!

Yeah, you do sacrifice a lot of useful functionality moving away from Sense to a froyo rom, including the way it mingles all of your contacts together. It's a personal preference really but I prefer the mail app, HTC browser and photos app in Sense to Android 2.2, the mail app is actually far superior as you can use contacts from any of your accounts and the corporate address book when you cmopose a new message.
Not wanting to start rom wars here but I think Pays roms are the best - they include a lot of nice features like automatic ad blocking, I've tried pretty much everything on this board and I always end up going back.
As for rooting, it is necessary when HTC have given us such a pathetic amount of phone storage, I ran out after a week and only had about 20 apps installed. Rooting was necessary so that I could install apps to the sd card and use my phone without having to constantly do housekeeping in my market downloads.

Hey carrige, I just rooted 2 days ago, and I can say that I am seeing a lot of difference in speed and quality, compared to the stock ROM. Yeah I too miss the HTC contacts widget, since it used to sync every contact detail together, and liked a lot how the images on facebook were ported to my phone contacts. However I found something similiar to that, it only ports the photos though, and not the info.
As regards to ROMS, I only tried DeFrost and Mondaco's and I can tell you they are pretty amazing!
carrige said:
Wow pretty much same here! I rooted for the first time yesterday, but didn't go over as straight forward as I would've hoped. First I tried the Linux method which didn't work - apparently I need a goldcard even though my phone's unlocked and unbranded. Then it took forever to get the ADB interface to recognize the phone - major problems with Win7 x64 at first. Finally got that right though (after several hours). From then on it was quite smooth.
I installed PaY's BraveSoul ROM and quite love it
I want to try out FroYo, but there's one thing stopping me. It's kind of a small thing, but maybe one of you can shed some light? Here goes:
So, I like Sense. Quite a bit. But I'm willing to go to vanilla Android if there is a way to keep my contact information built up properly. i.e. right now, my contacts are merged with Facebook/Sense which gives birthdays, profile pictures, email addresses etc. all under one unified contact - will I lose that if I go to FroYo? Is there a way to make all those details static so they can be carried forward to a non-Sense ROM?
Hope this isn't extremely off-topic!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Well, I'm still on the fence. My phone runs very smooth, does almost everything I need, the only reason to root would be aps2sd but I think I can wait for the official Froyo+Sense update that should come any day now [sarcasm].
Of course, I haven't tried any of the custom ROMs, so, what am I missing? What would be the 3 most amazing things that you could say about the current rom you're using?

carrige said:
Hope this isn't extremely off-topic!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at all, I dont do off topic.
3 things:
1- The ability to perform a FULL backup to SD that can be reinstated in about 2-3 mins on a good day.
2- Being able to do small customisations like using the rotary lockscreen or the circular battery icon (which trust me is effing kool!).
3- I've had a go on Froyo (gone back to 2.1 for the time being for stability) and in 6 months I'm sure I'll get a go on Gingerbread.
4- A2SD+ means I will never run out of space, not only this I can further customise the ROM with ADB and remove **** I really dont need like 'stocks', 'peep' & 'Friendstream' (I ****ing hate twitter with a passion).
5- You can stick 5 up your arse.
Since rooting my phone has felt complete (even tho I've flashed it about 100 times in the past 23 hours), stable.. more unique, solid, cool, better.
I remember when I had my PSP and I butchered my only battery to make a pandora and got the m33 custom firmware on it. This is the same thing.
It makes the boundries clearer about who the device belongs to.. I'll give you a clue... it's MINE.
"Those who dare Rodney, Those who dare...!"

oursoul said:
1- The ability to perform a FULL backup to SD that can be reinstated in about 2-3 mins on a good day.
2- Being able to do small customisations like using the rotary lockscreen or the circular battery icon (which trust me is effing kool!).
3- I've had a go on Froyo (gone back to 2.1 for the time being for stability) and in 6 months I'm sure I'll get a go on Gingerbread.
4- A2SD+ means I will never run out of space, not only this I can further customise the ROM with ADB and remove **** I really dont need like 'stocks', 'peep' & 'Friendstream' (I ****ing hate twitter with a passion).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm ... so let me summarize:
[BACKGROUD: I had a G1 and flashed it countless times, I know how the game goes]
1. why would you need that on a rock solid device? Backups areonly needed if you feel unsecure, if you flash it over and over again, so you can go back if something goes wrong.
2. OK, I get it, but this one is soooo small, it's not worth counting. Not worth the risk (don't tell me it's risk free because it NEVER is)
3. so you don't even get the benefits of Froyo but you (maybe) lose Sense. I for one love Sense.
4. OK, that is ONE. (I already stated thiswould bea reason).
So, bottom line, you are saying CUSTOMIZATION. Hmmm, not worth the risk IMHO.
P.S. I'm not trying to play smart, I'm doing this for the sake of arguments / counterarguments.
P.P.S. If you feel we are going off-topic here please say and I will start a new thread.

There's no such things as offtopic on an oursoul thread okay.
1- True say, cos obviously if you've rooted you're gonna try some crazy **** sometimes, its just good to know that with the Recovery patched you will never completely **** it up. And the backup just means that when you've made that perfect setup you can freeze it in case you have to replace your handset or unroot for any reason. Means you can Test a new ROM and if you dont like you can recover in minutes to your happyROM.
2- Come on mate, its ****ing cool.. I hate the Sense lockscreen, its bollocks.. I like the rotary one personally .. round and round hehe. This point was more than that, its about pure customisation.
4- Yeah you mentioned that but I added the fact that you can also delete **** you dont need, very good imo.
3- I said test Froyo, I'm not interested in keeping it cos I love sense too.. I might have kept Froyo if the N1 camera app wasn't so shoddy. I already miss my c905 camera quality. I love how on the MoDaCo rom you can move the homescreens about in 'helicopter' view
PS dont worry about it bruv, you're safe with me..
It really isn't that hard to root as long as you follow the instructions on the top of the Dev page here.
I had to have my goldcard in to root, but it was easy.. then applying the UnrEVOked Recovery patch was just the icing on the cake.
Point I wanna make now, is my phone is now better than yours pascanu

oursoul said:
4- Yeah you mentioned that but I added the fact that you can also delete **** you dont need, very good imo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Missed that one, very true, I agree with you, I hate a lot of those apps too.
oursoul said:
It really isn't that hard to root as long as you follow the instructions on the top of the Dev page here.
I had to have my goldcard in to root, but it was easy.. then applying the UnrEVOked Recovery patch was just the icing on the cake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, yeah, I know. Still, I don't feel like going through the "pain" if my phone performs SO well. The G1 was a completely different story, it needed to be rooted to make it a true Android phone. When I got my Desire I was (and still am!) blown away by the speed and all those things it could do right out of the box. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old, but at some point I'm wondering if I'm actually using the phone or just trying to make it do things.
oursoul said:
Point I wanna make now, is my phone is now better than yours pascanu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh NO, it's not! Mine is better for a lot of reasons! Want one? BECAUSE IT'S SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO ME.
BACK ON TOPIC (beware, I changed the topic now):
You still haven't convinced me. Anybody else would like to take a shot here?!
P.S. I'm surprised Market Enabler didn't show up as a reason to root. Maybe you are all Brits or whatever but for a lot of us Market only offers free stuff. But I decided it's not a reason to root since I can find everything I need on the "dark side". Sorry developers, I know it's not your fault but it's not mine either. If Google enables payed apps for Romania I will start buying again. Until then I'm a pirate!

I've got to admit, as someone that constantly flashed roms to my HTC Magic, I was very happy on the stock desire rom aside from the running out of storage issue. HTC did a good job. If the phone had enough storage I would still be running the stock rom now. I don't see any real reason to root other than the lack of phone storage. Froyo roms still don't work properly anyway - for me they ALL have an echo on the line. I would stay with stock if you are happy, don't crumble under the peer pressure!!

Incredible-S roms on Dinc2?

Now that we have S-off (thanks alpharev donations def on the way) and we are working at getting a recovery wouldnt it be possible to port incredible-s roms, since they are almost the exact same phone? Different radios and a few other things? Im not a dev, just wondering if anyone is considering that. Since there are a ton of roms out already for the Inc-S.

Incredible S has official support of CM (no release yet that I'm aware of, haven't checked in a couple days). I don't see why this can't be extended to the I2.

nimdae said:
Incredible S has official support of CM (no release yet that I'm aware of, haven't checked in a couple days). I don't see why this can't be extended to the I2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I miss CM7. I had a G2 that I rooted (painstaking root process by hand and terminal emulator) and that was such a great stable rom. I tried a few others MIUI, Mexidroid... ect. All in all CM7 was the best. I would be so happy if they support it. Although I do have to say, im really starting to get used to Sense. Its a really nice interface. If I had to have one, ide take this of stupid motoblur or touchwiz anyday.

I stopped using Sense in lieu of LauncherPro some time ago as that was the environment I was use to while using CM7. Can't wait to get back to CM7 so the bloat is gone and I get the unleash the full potential of my I2.

I would love to see MIUI, I had it on my original INC and I love it. Weekly updates and it seems like they just keep improving it. Very fast and stable. Long way from where it started.

I recently sold my inc and now I'm stuck with a palm pre plus. I was going to hold out for the droid 3 or bionic but if the inc 2 gets cm support I will have a hard time not buying one.

nfcrockett said:
I recently sold my inc and now I'm stuck with a palm pre plus. I was going to hold out for the droid 3 or bionic but if the inc 2 gets cm support I will have a hard time not buying one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We already have a couple CM devs expressing interest.

nfcrockett said:
I recently sold my inc and now I'm stuck with a palm pre plus. I was going to hold out for the droid 3 or bionic but if the inc 2 gets cm support I will have a hard time not buying one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wtf a Palm Pre Plus?!?!?! id rather have a blackberry lol.
na all jokes aside..come back to the Incredible side of the device world, you will not be let down.

haha I'm glad someone feels me, I lucked out and have been using my buddy's inc but he ended up selling it so as I type I'm activating the pre *sad face*

xgunther said:
We already have a couple CM devs expressing interest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes me happy in my pants.

To answer the OP's question. Yes. Incredible S --> Incredible 2 ports will be disgustingly easy.
As a matter of fact, we should be able to make a universal 'patcher' that you can flash after any incredible S rom to make it 100% dinc2 compatible. No porting necessary.
1- Flash Incredible S rom
2- Flash patcher script
3- Done city

deficitism said:
To answer the OP's question. Yes. Incredible S --> Incredible 2 ports will be disgustingly easy.
As a matter of fact, we should be able to make a universal 'patcher' that you can flash after any incredible S rom to make it 100% dinc2 compatible. No porting necessary.
1- Flash Incredible S rom
2- Flash patcher script
3- Done city
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that would be Incredible (no pun intented)

It's possible it could be that simple. However, I suspect we will need a different kernel and different driver set. I believe our radio hardware is slightly different (I could be wrong on this), as well as filesystem layout.
Of course, we can't know this for sure until the work actually starts. I suspect it'll be easy to port over, but not THAT easy, unfortunately. Considering AlphaRev is using only a slightly modified hboot from the IS for the I2, it very well could be that easy

nimdae said:
It's possible it could be that simple. However, I suspect we will need a different kernel and different driver set. I believe our radio hardware is slightly different (I could be wrong on this), as well as filesystem layout.
Of course, we can't know this for sure until the work actually starts. I suspect it'll be easy to port over, but not THAT easy, unfortunately. Considering AlphaRev is using only a slightly modified hboot from the IS for the I2, it very well could be that easy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would imagine your right. the radios are gonna be different on account of the incS being GSM and the inc2 being CDMA. hopefully it is easy though, and hopefully it comes soon.

deficitism said:
To answer the OP's question. Yes. Incredible S --> Incredible 2 ports will be disgustingly easy.
As a matter of fact, we should be able to make a universal 'patcher' that you can flash after any incredible S rom to make it 100% dinc2 compatible. No porting necessary.
1- Flash Incredible S rom
2- Flash patcher script
3- Done city
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree on how easy that will be, you will need a different RIL (and associated files, including phone.apk and settings.apk most likely) along with a different kernel.

jcase said:
I disagree on how easy that will be, you will need a different RIL (and associated files, including phone.apk and settings.apk most likely) along with a different kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything you mentioned can be done with just a few lines in a patcher. I've done it before. It's not rocket science. And when its done, it can be universally applied to all roms between the two devices. Even a tiny bit of logic to determine source vs sense. (otherwise resulting in two patchers)

deficitism said:
Everything you mentioned can be done with just a few lines in a patcher. I've done it before. It's not rocket science. And when its done, it can be universally applied to all roms between the two devices. Even a tiny bit of logic to determine source vs sense. (otherwise resulting in two patchers)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would be very interested in seeing this done in a few lines. I am fully aware of the possibility of doing it, I just don't see it happening easily and in a few lines.
I'm not arguing or bashing, I would just like to see it. Please link me to your previous incarnation of such a patcher

jcase said:
I would be very interested in seeing this done in a few lines. I am fully aware of the possibility of doing it, I just don't see it happening easily and in a few lines.
I'm not arguing or bashing, I would just like to see it. Please link me to your previous incarnation of such a patcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are getting bashy. And you are clearly trying to belittle my statements by requesting direct links to my work, in order to disprove something you know damn well is possible. We have been doing between the desire/evo/inc/n1/etc for a long time now. Even kiddie kitchens have a button to 'port' a rom.
Regardless of how many 'lines' a script would be, flashing would be dead simple by the end user. And yes, creating it should be very easy on my end.

My d**k is bigger than yours!
Sent from my ADR6350 using XDA App

deficitism said:
You are getting bashy. And you are clearly trying to belittle my statements by requesting direct links to my work, in order to disprove something you know damn well is possible. We have been doing between the desire/evo/inc/n1/etc for a long time now. Even kiddie kitchens have a button to 'port' a rom.
Regardless of how many 'lines' a script would be, flashing would be dead simple by the end user. And yes, creating it should be very easy on my end.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol ok dude whatever, I made it clear I simply wanted to see it. I'm not a ./autohack dev, so I am unfamiliar with what those kinds of devs are doing, hence me asking to see. Nothing more or less than simple curiosity.
You getting all defensive/pissed over such a simple request, is pretty darn funny. Will have to screen shot this one.

Upgrading my Epic 4G

Hi guys,
I currently own a Samsung Epic 4G (D700) running Android 2.3.6. I have been having some issues with it (crashing, freezing, and rebooting randomly), and I have been doing some Android app development lately, and have decided that I need an upgrade. Before buying a whole new phone, however (a bit out of my price range), I wanted to see what my options were for this phone. Is it possible to upgrade it to a newer version of Android? Besides the crashing, I have discovered a few other issues. For example, I learned that this device does not support Bluetooth HID profiles, which some of my dev projects require. What would you guys suggest?
Just a warning, I'm a bit of a n00b at phone mods, so I may have to ask a lot of questions...
Thanks,
Matt

DerStrom8 said:
Hi guys,
I currently own a Samsung Epic 4G (D700) running Android 2.3.6. I have been having some issues with it (crashing, freezing, and rebooting randomly), and I have been doing some Android app development lately, and have decided that I need an upgrade. Before buying a whole new phone, however (a bit out of my price range), I wanted to see what my options were for this phone. Is it possible to upgrade it to a newer version of Android? Besides the crashing, I have discovered a few other issues. For example, I learned that this device does not support Bluetooth HID profiles, which some of my dev projects require. What would you guys suggest?
Just a warning, I'm a bit of a n00b at phone mods, so I may have to ask a lot of questions...
Thanks,
Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. This is definitely doable. I long ago upgraded my Epic 4G to CyanogenMod, where it is still a fully supported phone even after all this time. I think the version of CyanogenMod where I left it was probably JellyBean (was that 4.2)? At that point the Epic 4G Touches made it into my price range and I moved on to that, but in actuality, that newer phone had LESS support from CyanogenMod than the Epic 4G did for a long time. The one thing to be aware of when you upgrade though is that you are going to lose 4G (in these older phones, Sprint used WiMAX for 4G). Google took WiMAX out of their source code, so it's gone for good at this point. My Epic 4G Touch also suffered the same fate, though honestly, I'm by a WiFi AP so much of the time that I don't even notice/care.
If you want to go the upgrade route, go to CyanogenMod's website and click the "download" link at the top. Ignore anything about their new installer because you have to be at least an S3 to be supported. Under the download link, you'll see a list of devices on the left hand side. Unfortunately, they aren't named very intuitively, but the one you want is the "epicmtd". That one corresponds to the Epic 4G. I'd grab the latest nightly, not any of the stable branches. The reason is that CyanogenMod changed their release naming, and they no longer issues "stable" branches. They just have nightlies and monthlies, and the goal is that while they might not be guaranteed to be bug free, they should be pretty close.
For instructions on what to do with that download, go back to the CyanogenMod homepage and click on "Wiki" at the top. Then click on "Devices". Then click on "vendor" and put a checkmark in the box next to "Samsung" in the dropdown list. A big list of devices will show up. Click the Samsung Epic 4G. Links to Installation instructions can be found there. Hopefully they are pretty up to date and things go well for you. But just be prepared for the fact that it IS possible to mess the phone up to the point that it is difficult or impossible to recover it. So if you have no money at all for a new phone if you totally destroy yours, you may want to reconsider upgrading.
Good luck!

AlgebraicMirror said:
Yes. This is definitely doable. I long ago upgraded my Epic 4G to CyanogenMod, where it is still a fully supported phone even after all this time. I think the version of CyanogenMod where I left it was probably JellyBean (was that 4.2)? At that point the Epic 4G Touches made it into my price range and I moved on to that, but in actuality, that newer phone had LESS support from CyanogenMod than the Epic 4G did for a long time. The one thing to be aware of when you upgrade though is that you are going to lose 4G (in these older phones, Sprint used WiMAX for 4G). Google took WiMAX out of their source code, so it's gone for good at this point. My Epic 4G Touch also suffered the same fate, though honestly, I'm by a WiFi AP so much of the time that I don't even notice/care.
If you want to go the upgrade route, go to CyanogenMod's website and click the "download" link at the top. Ignore anything about their new installer because you have to be at least an S3 to be supported. Under the download link, you'll see a list of devices on the left hand side. Unfortunately, they aren't named very intuitively, but the one you want is the "epicmtd". That one corresponds to the Epic 4G. I'd grab the latest nightly, not any of the stable branches. The reason is that CyanogenMod changed their release naming, and they no longer issues "stable" branches. They just have nightlies and monthlies, and the goal is that while they might not be guaranteed to be bug free, they should be pretty close.
For instructions on what to do with that download, go back to the CyanogenMod homepage and click on "Wiki" at the top. Then click on "Devices". Then click on "vendor" and put a checkmark in the box next to "Samsung" in the dropdown list. A big list of devices will show up. Click the Samsung Epic 4G. Links to Installation instructions can be found there. Hopefully they are pretty up to date and things go well for you. But just be prepared for the fact that it IS possible to mess the phone up to the point that it is difficult or impossible to recover it. So if you have no money at all for a new phone if you totally destroy yours, you may want to reconsider upgrading.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@AlgebraicMirror, A HUGE thank you goes out to you! This was one of the most comprehensive sets of directions I've seen. I had no idea the device-specific instructions page even existed! I have installed CyanogenMod on my device and am in the process of setting it up now. I'll let you know if I need a hand with anything else. Thanks once again!
Regards,
Matt

DerStrom8 said:
@AlgebraicMirror, A HUGE thank you goes out to you! This was one of the most comprehensive sets of directions I've seen. I had no idea the device-specific instructions page even existed! I have installed CyanogenMod on my device and am in the process of setting it up now. I'll let you know if I need a hand with anything else. Thanks once again!
Regards,
Matt
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Click to collapse
Awesome! Good luck and I hope it all works out well for you! One other thought I just had (and I wish I would have thought of this before) is that the limited amount of RAM on the Epic 4G *might* be a problem for you with the very latest versions of KitKat. I'm not sure if that will be the case, but it's possible. In that case I'd recommend trying to grab an older version of CM that is still in the 4.X series. Maybe CyanogenMod 9, which I think I ran for quite a while on that phone with good success.
I personally think you'll be fine, since my current Epic 4G Touch has 794 MB, and I typically have a little over 400 free. But, when opening up a lot of apps that number can fall to as low as 100 MB free. So I think you should be able to support the base OS, but depending on how big the apps are that you are writing, or how many you want to have open, you may start to feel pretty constrained by RAM space.
Again, good luck and let us know how it goes!

AlgebraicMirror said:
Awesome! Good luck and I hope it all works out well for you! One other thought I just had (and I wish I would have thought of this before) is that the limited amount of RAM on the Epic 4G *might* be a problem for you with the very latest versions of KitKat. I'm not sure if that will be the case, but it's possible. In that case I'd recommend trying to grab an older version of CM that is still in the 4.X series. Maybe CyanogenMod 9, which I think I ran for quite a while on that phone with good success.
I personally think you'll be fine, since my current Epic 4G Touch has 794 MB, and I typically have a little over 400 free. But, when opening up a lot of apps that number can fall to as low as 100 MB free. So I think you should be able to support the base OS, but depending on how big the apps are that you are writing, or how many you want to have open, you may start to feel pretty constrained by RAM space.
Again, good luck and let us know how it goes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was expecting RAM to be an issue. I was actually planning on it. I bought a new phone anyway so it really doesn't matter too much. I have had a couple of issues with certain apps crashing during use. I think I only have 512MB of RAM on this thing.
Anyway, thanks once again. It's great being able to write apps for a newer version of Android!
Cheers,
Matt

Brand new with HTC

Well i recently recieved an upgrade with my provider and I opted for the M9. This is because for the last 4 years ive had samsung and although I havent a bad word to say for them, I just fancied a change. So here I am.
Quite a difference in the way you can obtain certain things like unlocking, rooting etc. To be honest, though it was a bit worrying at first, I soon managed to get things done and It sort of makes you feel like you're more involved with your phone. Rather than just letting a .zip do all the work or a full firmware file through odin do the business.
Ive only had it 2 days and managed to root, unlock and s-off, Flashed a new firmware and rom and very happy with it. I have noticed despite the camera being a higher pixel count it isnt quite as sharp as the samsung camera, still good though. The front camera is definately better.
Having only had it 2 days though i cant really comment on performance etc etc. I need it longer but i'm relatively happy with how its going.
I do have a couple of concerns. 1 being the temperature it reaches when flashing etc.My samsung used to feel very warm but obviously its more noticable with the HTC due to it being all metal and I guess thats good as it sucks all the heat into the shell and away from the cpu's.
Anyway, this was just to say hi, and that I hope to continue to enjoy my htc experience, its definately come on a lot since my last HTC many years ago (Wildfire S).
Any tips / tricks / must haves that I should know about?
Thanks and HI! =)

tomorio said:
Well i recently recieved an upgrade with my provider and I opted for the M9. This is because for the last 4 years ive had samsung and although I havent a bad word to say for them, I just fancied a change. So here I am.
Quite a difference in the way you can obtain certain things like unlocking, rooting etc. To be honest, though it was a bit worrying at first, I soon managed to get things done and It sort of makes you feel like you're more involved with your phone. Rather than just letting a .zip do all the work or a full firmware file through odin do the business.
Ive only had it 2 days and managed to root, unlock and s-off, Flashed a new firmware and rom and very happy with it. I have noticed despite the camera being a higher pixel count it isnt quite as sharp as the samsung camera, still good though. The front camera is definately better.
Having only had it 2 days though i cant really comment on performance etc etc. I need it longer but i'm relatively happy with how its going.
I do have a couple of concerns. 1 being the temperature it reaches when flashing etc.My samsung used to feel very warm but obviously its more noticable with the HTC due to it being all metal and I guess thats good as it sucks all the heat into the shell and away from the cpu's.
Anyway, this was just to say hi, and that I hope to continue to enjoy my htc experience, its definately come on a lot since my last HTC many years ago (Wildfire S).
Any tips / tricks / must haves that I should know about?
Thanks and HI! =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. Welcome. I hope you enjoy your M9 experience.
Yeah, they heat up a little bit when flashing, but I think you're assumption on the metal body is correct.
I think the camera is not awesome in lower light situations. outside, it's fantastic. There's a thread on the camera in this forum you should check out, but some people who have used both the S6 and M9 say that the S6 is better in low light situations, but the M9 is better outside. You can probably get some tips in that that thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/general/pictures-m9-t3044267). A lot of people like shooting in manual mode with this phone and can produce some pretty nice results.

jollywhitefoot said:
Hello. Welcome. I hope you enjoy your M9 experience.
Yeah, they heat up a little bit when flashing, but I think you're assumption on the metal body is correct.
I think the camera is not awesome in lower light situations. outside, it's fantastic. There's a thread on the camera in this forum you should check out, but some people who have used both the S6 and M9 say that the S6 is better in low light situations, but the M9 is better outside. You can probably get some tips in that that thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/general/pictures-m9-t3044267). A lot of people like shooting in manual mode with this phone and can produce some pretty nice results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent thank you. I'll take a look and see if I can get any tips for improving my pictures. When I was in store chosing my next phone they did mention that it isn't the best in low light, probably due to the smaller aperture but I use take most of my pictures outside or in decent lighting anyway so I suppose it's not an issue as such. I'll definately have a look at that thread though and see if using manual mode will help me out more.
Thanks.
edit - I do have a quick question about firmwares. I have just flashed the 1.40.401.x but also noticed their are some 2.xx.xx something. Which are newer and why the huge difference? lol sorry to ask what is probably a very nooby question.

tomorio said:
Excellent thank you. I'll take a look and see if I can get any tips for improving my pictures. When I was in store chosing my next phone they did mention that it isn't the best in low light, probably due to the smaller aperture but I use take most of my pictures outside or in decent lighting anyway so I suppose it's not an issue as such. I'll definately have a look at that thread though and see if using manual mode will help me out more.
Thanks.
edit - I do have a quick question about firmwares. I have just flashed the 1.40.401.x but also noticed their are some 2.xx.xx something. Which are newer and why the huge difference? lol sorry to ask what is probably a very nooby question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find it takes pretty decent still life photos in low light, but not great snapshots of people/pets (things that move). I think on auto, the camera isn't aggressive enough in bumping ISO, so it has to use too slow a shutter speed to completely stop movement.
I think 1.40 was kind of a temporary release to quickly address some issues in 1.32 (camera and CPU management mostly)...I don't think it was ever officially released in the US. But 1.40 has issue of it's own, mainly that charging the phone can be extremely slow at times. I don't know how HTC comes up with firmware numbering, but I would guess that part of the big number jump has to do with the fact that 1.xx firmware was for Android 5.0.2 while the 2.7 firmware runs on Android 5.1. I flashed the 2.7 firmware last night and the 1.40 base rom that I use works fine with it so far...I can't say with certainty that your ROM will work with it though. FYI, I'm on InsertCoin.

jollywhitefoot said:
I find it takes pretty decent still life photos in low light, but not great snapshots of people/pets (things that move). I think on auto, the camera isn't aggressive enough in bumping ISO, so it has to use too slow a shutter speed to completely stop movement.
I think 1.40 was kind of a temporary release to quickly address some issues in 1.32 (camera and CPU management mostly)...I don't think it was ever officially released in the US. But 1.40 has issue of it's own, mainly that charging the phone can be extremely slow at times. I don't know how HTC comes up with firmware numbering, but I would guess that part of the big number jump has to do with the fact that 1.xx firmware was for Android 5.0.2 while the 2.7 firmware runs on Android 5.1. I flashed the 2.7 firmware last night and the 1.40 base rom that I use works fine with it so far...I can't say with certainty that your ROM will work with it though. FYI, I'm on InsertCoin.
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Click to collapse
Ah I see. I just noticed that most of the roms out at the moment recommend using the 1.40 firmware which is why I flashed that one. I'm currently using Viper which seems good so far, only had it a day. As I was new to everything I thought it best to stick with what is suggested as unlike with my Galaxy s4 the flashing of firmwares and roms seems quite specific. I had noticed it is quite a slow charge process, but I tend to charge overnight if I can and make the phone last the full day so it's not that much of a downer, unless i've had a lot of usage and need a "quick boost" >< then its not so great lol

tomorio said:
Ah I see. I just noticed that most of the roms out at the moment recommend using the 1.40 firmware which is why I flashed that one. I'm currently using Viper which seems good so far, only had it a day. As I was new to everything I thought it best to stick with what is suggested as unlike with my Galaxy s4 the flashing of firmwares and roms seems quite specific. I had noticed it is quite a slow charge process, but I tend to charge overnight if I can and make the phone last the full day so it's not that much of a downer, unless i've had a lot of usage and need a "quick boost" >< then its not so great lol
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Click to collapse
Many people have reported that rebooting temporarily fixes the slow charge issue.
MaximusHD is the only rom that uses the new firmware currently. I bet others will be updating soon. The Viper guys have been chatting about Viper 3.0 being released soon and I assume it will be 5.1 based.

Thats good. I'll keep checking any updates and see what happens.
I can't wait for a few more roms to be up and about. I'm used to the countless available for the S4 and forget that device is 2 years old now so there was plenty of time to get things going. I shall just have to be patient.
Thanks for all the help mate.

tomorio said:
Thats good. I'll keep checking any updates and see what happens.
I can't wait for a few more roms to be up and about. I'm used to the countless available for the S4 and forget that device is 2 years old now so there was plenty of time to get things going. I shall just have to be patient.
Thanks for all the help mate.
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Click to collapse
Not a problem. Enjoy the device.

Not to hijack your thread tomorio, but how did you decide on which phone? I have the Galaxy S5 now, but I'm torn between HTC M8, M9, or LG G4. Pros and cons to all. My biggest thing is ease of root as I have a couple of frequent use apps that require it. Thanks in advance for any tips on how you decided!
~Vol

Vol4Ever said:
Not to hijack your thread tomorio, but how did you decide on which phone? I have the Galaxy S5 now, but I'm torn between HTC M8, M9, or LG G4. Pros and cons to all. My biggest thing is ease of root as I have a couple of frequent use apps that require it. Thanks in advance for any tips on how you decided!
~Vol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hijack away my friend.
I too was torn but between the S6, LG G4 and htc m9. I was leaning away from the S6 as I really fancied a change, however I think it will always have more options available to it (for custom roms etc) due to the larger fan base and it is much simpler to get to grips with for rooting etc.
the G4 my Partner already has and something about it when I used it I just didn't enjoy, and its nowhere near as pretty as the M9 lol. Try one out if you can just to see for yourself. Unfortunately I have no more experience of it than having a little play of her phone so unsure on the rooting processes etc but imagine it to be similar to the Samsung way.
The HTC M9 was a tough choice. Especially when I looked at how rooting etc is done (this is one of the first things i check with phones flash-a-holic you see lol). Anyway, once i'd read over all the advice given in this forum, the how to's etc and got a small amount of knowledge of the process of rooting using fastboot etc i pushed myself to make the choice. As far as user friendly goes, I think for simpler flashing the Sammy will always win again, as it's processes are far simpler (flashing via odin etc and all the files being ready to flash straight off the bat). However if you're keen for a change then I would recommend the M9. I've only had it a few days really but already i'm glad I did.
Just be sure to look through all the ways of rooting so that you get a better understanding of how its done. I think once the initial unlocking bootloader, rooting and flashing custom recovery is done it;s pretty simple after that. I've got to grips with it already.
One of the main benefits I found with the sammy phones was I was never worried about bricking because there were many different ways to get it back up and running. I dont know how that fares with the M9 but as long as you follow the instructions step by step and have backups available you should be ok.
Sorry for the wall of text, if you need anything else let me know.
Hope that helps.
- edit- also i may have touched on it in a previous post, but i think as far as customizing your phone goes and making it your own, I feel that HTC as a company are much more in tune with "our world" of people who like to change the stock features and put their own touch on things.

Walls of text don't bother me. I'd rather have too much information than not enough. It's going to be the M9 if we can work out the AT&T issues I mentioned in my other thread. I went to the store last night expecting a simple transaction like the bazillion other phone upgrades I've done over the years. Walked out steaming, to say the least. The worst part was the lady helping me majorly projected a "couldn't care less" attitude that is a major pet peeve of mine!