[Q] Difference between Desire Z and G2? - G2 and Desire Z Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have done some rummaging around these forums and, correct me if I am mistaken, found that they are the same thing, except they are running different "Roms" or "kernels" ( I don't know the right terminology)
If that is true, and if the hardware is exactly identical, does that mean I can go to the Desire Z part of the XDA forums and download and install anything from there, including ROMS?
And if that is the case, why make two separate forum groups for practically the same phone?

convolution said:
I have done some rummaging around these forums and, correct me if I am mistaken, found that they are the same thing, except they are running different "Roms" or "kernels" ( I don't know the right terminology)
If that is true, and if the hardware is exactly identical, does that mean I can go to the Desire Z part of the XDA forums and download and install anything from there, including ROMS?
And if that is the case, why make two separate forum groups for practically the same phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would believe they are the same but I think the Desire Z has the 4GB internal. That us G2 owners were promised

If you did a search several threads like this already exists.
But to answer your question they are basically the same phone.
Before root and s-off they run on different setup's
G2 - runs on Vanilla android and as a result has a smaller /system partition as vanilla is smalelr
Z - runs on htc sense, this takes a lot of apk's and as a result the phone has a larger /system partition.
They both have slightly different key layouts on the hardkeys
after s-off they are theoretically the exact same device as all differences can be changed.
Custom roms will work on both and kernels will work on both etc etc

convolution said:
And if that is the case, why make two separate forum groups for practically the same phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question. Apparently the mods are looking into it. Basically the main differences are ROM differences, not hardware. So just like with any different device you can get ROM incompatiblity issues. But that's no reason to keep the forums separate though, other devices don't have separate forums for separate ROMs.
creepinm3 said:
I would believe they are the same but I think the Desire Z has the 4GB internal. That us G2 owners were promised
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. The DZ and G2 have exactly the same memory. 4 GB in theory but setup from the factory to present 2 GB to the rest of the hardware. Just advertised somewhat misleadingly by T-Mobile.

Another major difference is the UMTS band support. The G2 only supports 1700/2100. The Desire Z only supports 900/2100. The Desire Z NAM (or Bell version) only supports 850/1900.
Though I guess this shouldn't affect the use of custom ROMs (though as stated earlier, the differing partition sizes might).

ianmcquinn said:
Another major difference is the UMTS band support. The G2 only supports 1700/2100. The Desire Z only supports 900/2100. The Desire Z NAM (or Bell version) only supports 850/1900.
Though I guess this shouldn't affect the use of custom ROMs (though as stated earlier, the differing partition sizes might).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but after s-off you can amend the partition sizes anyway if you have to

Can flashing a new ROM edit the partition table for you? (Though a computer engineer by trade, I'm a recent changeover from the world of WinMo phones and am still learning Android-specific stuff.)
If not, I'd imagine users who are not so carefeul simply flashing ROMs without knowing if it'll fit in their system partition (like a G2 user trying to flash a stock Sense from the Desire Z or something like that). Though as you said, easily avoidable with a little research.

ianmcquinn said:
Can flashing a new ROM edit the partition table for you? (Though a computer engineer by trade, I'm a recent changeover from the world of WinMo phones and am still learning Android-specific stuff.)
If not, I'd imagine users who are not so carefeul simply flashing ROMs without knowing if it'll fit in their system partition (like a G2 user trying to flash a stock Sense from the Desire Z or something like that). Though as you said, easily avoidable with a little research.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well stock sense ruu's won't flash and won't fit on a g2
however I believe currently all custom sense roms do fit on the g2's partition table anyway.
But yes you can build a rom that will change the partition table, although no one has for the G2 yet.

only difference i see is stock android vs sense android. I think this is an advantage as most people like switching between the two from time to time.

Related

Anyone interested in helping port Sense to the MI-One?

Howdy All!
You probably don't know, but I am (or was until recently) the dev over at MIUI_Au. About a month ago, MIUI shipped out engineering samples of their MI-One device. All the 'third party' translation effort leaders (except, sadly, our own XJ), including me, received a unit (as well as another 500 lucky Chinese users who had to 'win' one).
So I am in possession of an MI-One, which comes with MIUI as standard (obviously).
The world of Android (and indeed XDA as a whole) wouldn't be what it is unless people had ambition.
MIUI will release the M1 eventually, and it will be priced at around half that of the Evo3D ($350 USD).
What follows seems only logical, then.
I know nothing about porting, by the way. So...the main question: Is anyone game enough to help (or rather me help anyone) with getting a head start on a port?
Cheers,
Josh.
Hi Josh,
At first I thought that Sense can be ported to the Galaxy S for example and coming from a Windows mobile device world to Android this didn't seem impossible. Unfortunately some DEVs tried it but No BT, WiFi etc. It is really hard to port Sense to non-HTC devices because of hardware compatibility issue and the lack of drivers. Hell, it's hard to port from Desire HD to Desire.... That's why at that time I bought the Desire and not the Galaxy S. Sense makes Android complete and after trying AOSP or MIUI, I always found myself returning to sense (720p recording + fully functional). Even if it's slower then other ROMS.
bedobela said:
Hi Josh,
At first I thought that Sense can be ported to the Galaxy S for example and coming from a Windows mobile device world to Android this didn't seem impossible. Unfortunately some DEVs tried it but No BT, WiFi etc. It is really hard to port Sense to non-HTC devices because of hardware compatibility issue and the lack of drivers. Hell, it's hard to port from Desire HD to Desire.... That's why at that time I bought the Desire and not the Galaxy S. Sense makes Android complete and after trying AOSP or MIUI, I always found myself returning to sense (720p recording + fully functional). Even if it's slower then other ROMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's funny to see how different are we all, and "vive la difference". Few days ago I tried again Sense (3.0 and 3.5), and guess what? I came back without any doubt to XJ MIUI ! That ROM really rocks.
Good luck.
bedobela said:
Hi Josh,
At first I thought that Sense can be ported to the Galaxy S for example and coming from a Windows mobile device world to Android this didn't seem impossible. Unfortunately some DEVs tried it but No BT, WiFi etc. It is really hard to port Sense to non-HTC devices because of hardware compatibility issue and the lack of drivers. Hell, it's hard to port from Desire HD to Desire.... That's why at that time I bought the Desire and not the Galaxy S. Sense makes Android complete and after trying AOSP or MIUI, I always found myself returning to sense (720p recording + fully functional). Even if it's slower then other ROMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, even if porting is possible drivers are a great issue. Maybe its an option to port just the rosie.apk and the framework? (just an idea, my knowledge on this subject is very limit too...)
rafaelegomezb said:
It's funny to see how different are we all, and "vive la difference". Few days ago I tried again Sense (3.0 and 3.5), and guess what? I came back without any doubt to XJ MIUI ! That ROM really rocks.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to continue the off topic but I can't use anything other than AOSP.
bedobela said:
Hi Josh,
At first I thought that Sense can be ported to the Galaxy S for example and coming from a Windows mobile device world to Android this didn't seem impossible. Unfortunately some DEVs tried it but No BT, WiFi etc. It is really hard to port Sense to non-HTC devices because of hardware compatibility issue and the lack of drivers. Hell, it's hard to port from Desire HD to Desire.... That's why at that time I bought the Desire and not the Galaxy S. Sense makes Android complete and after trying AOSP or MIUI, I always found myself returning to sense (720p recording + fully functional). Even if it's slower then other ROMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the major differences in this situation is that the MI-One is built with same SOC as the Evo3D/Sensation - the MSM8660. All bluetooth, wifi, gps, GPU-related, CPU-related and mmc and storage related drivers would likely be the same (or at least very similar).
It isn't like porting it to a device which has a completely different set of components.
Josh.
rootSU said:
Sorry to continue the off topic but I can't use anything other than AOSP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So am i. After a while sense starts to show its flaws. Sense is a good experience, but stock is the pure android experience ! And with launcher pro and sense clock (the sense clock is the best thing i've seen!) i've built a better experience than sense itself. This days there're widgets and launcher skins to everything. You have to face it, sense is all about the homescreen
Yekxmerr said:
You have to face it, sense is all about the homescreen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, not really. Acctually, I really don't like some of the new widgets. The clock, for example - I much prefer the old one which flipped faster.
But also, Sense ROMs are about proper facebook contact synching, synching with outlook and tethering that works well. All of this works out of the box, and all of it is done in style.
Anyway, it is a little off topic.
Kindly respond to the original question if you are interested, developers.
Hi,
well if MI-One same as EVO 3D/Sensation (partition layout/hw/chipset version) then there is no problem, same as HD2 and Desire...both are too different devices (windows/android) but now we have fully working android for both devices even Nexus One *AOSP* also have almost fully working Sense ROM...maybe this is wrong section for answer try Sensation/EVO 3D dev section...
Mi-One would be awesome with a sense rom imo.
coolexe said:
Hi,
well if MI-One same as EVO 3D/Sensation (partition layout/hw/chipset version) then there is no problem, same as HD2 and Desire...both are too different devices (windows/android) but now we have fully working android for both devices even Nexus One *AOSP* also have almost fully working Sense ROM...maybe this is wrong section for answer try Sensation/EVO 3D dev section...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fair Dibs.
You are probably right - I only posted in the Desire section out of habit. I just updated the index and went from their. Well, that, and I know that there are some very skilled developers here.
You did raise an interesting point though: While the hardware is quite similar, the partition scheme is much more complicated (with two system partitions).
Josh
2? Why?
10char
Anyway, it can be done. But without owning the device, it's impossible to test out ideas. Partition layouts are the simple part. Nothing some smart symlinking can't correct.
TouchPal-d from my Desire running Supernova Extreme Rom - 450 apps and counting. .
Questions or Problems Should Not Be Posted in the Development Forum
Please Post in the Correct Forums and Read THIS
Moving to General
MI-ONE thread
Can we vote somewhere for a xiaomi MI-ONE section on xdadev? Otherwise it's really hard to start the development on it..
heidewitzgar said:
Can we vote somewhere for a xiaomi MI-ONE section on xdadev? Otherwise it's really hard to start the development on it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am from UK were would be best to buy one of these phones from?

Why some apps doesn't work on WFS?

Hi,
Can someone explain me why some apps (e.g. Songpop) doesn't work on WFS although they work on other HVGA devices (like optimus one)?
And if there's something to do about it..
Thanks!
Android has a very vast ecosystem which includes a plethora of different devices with different specs or small changes within similar specs......this makes app development a little hard and since the developer does not have all the phones in the world......some phones remain untested
It might be possible that due to some internal or coding reasons, some apps do not work on our WFS
This can be resolved either by contacting the respective developer and wait for a bug fix or try using it on different roms
Some apps require full floating point support, which is something you would get with armv7. Sometimes its about the resolution or dpi. Our phone is very underpowered, and it wasn't exactly bleeding edge on release. It was cheaper for HTC to release a budget phone with last gen tech.

Rough hack to convert Optimus G to Nexus 4 (NEWS and Early results)

Hope this excites people!
So far it's early, and it can only do 8 GB and no LTE from what's seen. With the hardware being similar it seems like a easier conversion that most.
It's almost a truism to say that the Nexus 4 is near impossible to buy, at least for those who don't want to pay a carrier premium. G33k3r, Rohan32 and others at XDA-Developers may just save us from camping at the Google Play storefront through a new software hack. Their work converts an LG Optimus G's firmware to that of an 8GB Nexus 4 by swapping every LG-customized software element with a Nexus 4 parallel. The nearly identical hardware makes for a very close rendition, at least if you discount the unavoidable design differences. If anything, the work is almost too faithful: the current hack turns off LTE, caps the internal storage at 8GB and even requires using Nexus 4 firmware for future upgrades. It's possible to revert to LG's code if there's jitters, but it goes without saying that the overall procedure carries more than the usual share of risk when even familiar ROM flashers are warned to be careful. Anyone who throws caution (and the price of an Optimus G) to the wind can find their stock Android experience at the source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Source Engadget
PLEASE DONT DO IT!!! YOU will perma BRICK!! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36735476&postcount=149
THis is obviously a hack, and will definitely be improved if completely true for release and also tweaked. So yes, ofc it's been known you cannot do a direct flash of the hack, I suggest ppl wait for a new release or more confirmation.
Thanks
mackdaddy187 said:
PLEASE DONT DO IT!!! YOU will perma BRICK!! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=36735476&postcount=149
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
would not advise
My question is more why would one want to transfrom his/her E971/E973 into a nexus 4 when you can run nexus 4 rom natively* ? This give you less functionnality than having the stock rom installed and it's pretty stupid to accept 8GB storage when you can have 32.
*Roms must be flashed with by-name in updater script and not with partition number. The kernel must be modified to change a few that were changed for nexus 4. User experience may vary. Please be cautious if you plan on flashing nexus 4 roms, overwriting rpm partition (mmcblk0p7) with something else will end in a perma brick. I can't be held responsible for any damage.
chadouming said:
My question is more why would one want to transfrom his/her E971/E973 into a nexus 4 when you can run nexus 4 rom natively* ? This give you less functionnality than having the stock rom installed and it's pretty stupid to accept 8GB storage when you can have 32.
*Roms must be flashed with by-name in updater script and not with partition number. The kernel must be modified to change a few that were changed for nexus 4. User experience may vary. Please be cautious if you plan on flashing nexus 4 roms, overwriting rpm partition (mmcblk0p7) with something else will end in a perma brick. I can't be held responsible for any damage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty sure it is only for the E970 (the LS970s can do it too, but it hasn't been released for it).
Right now the E970s can't flash anything but their own kernels and haven't been able to get any non LG based ROMS completely functional yet.
I believe it is too much to lose/too risky, but others just want the ROMs.
this is super exciting. a working radio, camera, and storage would be super

Soon to be g3 owner

I have a few questions. I'm coming from the att note 3, im not new to the custom rom world at all. This will be my first lg phone. Anything I should know about the flashing process with this phone? Are roms universal? Are there any GPS issues?
From the end-user perspective, there is nothing really unique about flashing ROMs. Just load up into TWRP and do the traditional wipe/flash/reboot routine.
The ROMs for different models are not universal. If you have a D855, stick with the ROMs marked as D855 compatible.
GPS seems to be pretty stable in the custom ROMs (or at least the KitKat ones, no idea about Lollipop). They make take a little longer to get a lock than stock, but it works.
Also, one more note, if you have any device except the D851 (T-Mobile variant): be patient with the devs. Though the device has been out for several months, development for it really only just started. The bootloader "unlock" exploit just got released a few weeks ago, so not many custom ROMs are around yet. If you have a D851, this doesn't apply. It is bootloader unlocked from the factory.
fire219 said:
From the end-user perspective, there is nothing really unique about flashing ROMs. Just load up into TWRP and do the traditional wipe/flash/reboot routine.
The ROMs for different models are not universal. If you have a D855, stick with the ROMs marked as D855 compatible.
GPS seems to be pretty stable in the custom ROMs (or at least the KitKat ones, no idea about Lollipop). They make take a little longer to get a lock than stock, but it works.
Also, one more note, if you have any device except the D851 (T-Mobile variant): be patient with the devs. Though the device has been out for several months, development for it really only just started. The bootloader "unlock" exploit just got released a few weeks ago, so not many custom ROMs are around yet. If you have a D851, this doesn't apply. It is bootloader unlocked from the factory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. So as of right now the tmo variant has the most support since the bootloader was originally unlocked? Also if you've used a device with TouchWiz how is lg's skin compared to TouchWiz on Samsung phones? Are there any annoyances that you have with this phone?
ac3theone said:
I see. So as of right now the tmo variant has the most support since the bootloader was originally unlocked? Also if you've used a device with TouchWiz how is lg's skin compared to TouchWiz on Samsung phones? Are there any annoyances that you have with this phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LG's skin is much closer to stock Android than TouchWiz, and therefore much cleaner. It also seems to be much less bloated. I still prefer the stock look over either, but that's a personal preference thing.
My only real complaint with the phone is that LG added some serious oversharpening in the low level firmware (where ROMs can't touch). It gives everything this strange halo around it, but it's only noticeable most of the time on text. Many people say that the sharpening isn't there at all, which leads me to think that not all models have it (or maybe you just need good near field vision ).

Oreo Go. Is it time for me to retrieve my desire bravo from the bottom of the drawer?

Not expecting to. But would like to be able to make it useful again.
Not a Dev so can only hope some of you brainy people may be thinking along the same lines.
Thanks for taking the time to read further.
Bump up. I'm also interested about android go version for my old desire phone. Not dev, I only (somehow) know how to install new roms for phones
I think that we won't get Oreo Go for the Bravo ever. I have a couple of reasons to think this:
-Devs are interested in much newer phones. Very few of them still hold a Desire to test the O Go on.
-Oreo roms take ALOT of space, some of them even more than 10GB. Half of this is still 5GB which is way too much for our beloved Desire. I don't think that it can be shrunk below 1Gb by any means. (1GB would still need to be installed on SD card)
-Oreo roms may not be compatible with some parts of the hardware. Just think of the KitKat roms and the Desire's camera. I couldn't make ANY KitKat rom claiming to be free of bugs work perfectly with the camera hardware. Making photos was the most I could do with it, videos were impossible or unusable.
-We have nice and customised Android 2.3.x roms which work flawlessly. I still use my Bravo as my daily phone.
Otherwise, if someone will be able to cook an Oreo Go for our Desire Bravo, I will be more than pleased to alpha/beta test it!

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