So yeah, I have a crapload of questions.
I recently asked about rooting and keeping HTC Sense. In retrospect, I don't think I'll need Sense, I just tried out AppLauncher, and I have to say, I think I'm sold on it. I'm just wondering what exactly HTC Sense has? Is there anything it has that I'll really miss? So far the only thing I can think of is the HTC Sense website for a lost phone, backing up data, and the weather widget/FriendStream...though adding Facebook to HTC sense shows all my contacts in the Phone button which is a huge piss off, but meh.
So that being said, I think I'm about ready to give rooting a shot, but now I've been confused with even more things. And the more I read the more I get confused. Especially where I have to downgrade the firmware, I'm wondering if it's still okay to do this, since the guy at Bell told me if I didn't do / get certain updates I'd have to send my phone back to HTC for repair.
There's stock Android, Cyanogen, and it seems like a million other ROMs. Which is the best to use? If I want total customizability, but also good functionality?
Finally, I'm using a Bell-branded Desire Z on the the Bell network. So Whatever I do will need to work okay with it.
As I've said, I'm totally new to this, and I'm scared to hell of bricking my phone since I just signed a contract and don't to shell out $500 bucks for a new one.
There's just so much info on this forum and it's a bit overwhelming/confusing, not that a lot of info is a bad thing, I'm just lost lol.
EDIT: If anything I wrote seems too rambling or doesn't make much sense please specify that and I'll clarify it.
cant help you root your phone but just follow the instructions that the person who writes the threads say. It's not that easy to brick your phone unless you just completely dont follow directions.
1. Downgrade is perfectly fine, it's to allow you to use a certain method to root your phone.
2. Try out different roms to see what you like, it's like asking whats your favorite video game, how can you really choose, some will agree some wont. I personally like the Miui roms which is the iphonelike and android UI mashup. the apps built in are nice on the eyes, the physics of the phones movement is very smooth, it can oc to 1.5ghz, and you can just download a launcher to replace the original if you dont like it.
3. ask the dev's on the thread if your not sure. i have no idea about bell, but it would seem that it shouldnt have any affect on rooting your phone, just maybe the radio but that is different then rooting or flashing roms.
P.S. you might miss the small things from Sense like, it looks nice, turns on fast, widgets, the dialer to search contact, incoming calls doesnt disrupt navigation, and it's original live wallpaper lol.
So are you saying that I can't search by contact in the default phone app? That kind of sucks.
I guess more of what I'm asking is just based on people's experiences what the best route to go is. I know there are different tastes, I'm more concerned about reliability, so I'm sure people could help with a ROM choice with that criteria.
So downgrading firmware won't affect phone performance? And can it still be reverted to stock in case the phone needs warranty repair? Just trying to cover all my bases.
And thanks, I'll ask around in the deg thread.
Bloodlvst said:
So are you saying that I can't search by contact in the default phone app? That kind of sucks.
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There are usually apps available that provide Sense functionality to non-Sense ROMs. In regards to the above, you can try DialerOne.
To help you with the ROMs think of them in terms of how different Linux OS's are setup (if you know a bit about this).
You have the base OS's such as Cyanogen. Now some one doesn't like the look of that so they change the Frameworkres.apk to give it defferent colors, transparencies, icons and so on. Now they want a few extra apps to be included in the install so they add them to the /system/app directory or add a /data directory. Repackage it and now they have a custom OS called WINNING ROM (or whatever). These are easy to do and can be completed in a matter of minutes since there aren't any big alterations in the base coding of the OS. This is why you see a lot of ROMs that look like Cyanogens and the developer usually (and should be) states what version of some one elses ROM it's based off of.
Then you have ROMs that tweak certain parameters for speed or add other functionalities to a ROM such as a custom kernel, audio/video codecs, a2ext, compcache/linux swap, and others. Plus a complete custom UI (launcher), port parts of other ROMs such as Sense to work on their ROM, and toms of other things. These take days, weeks, or even months and usually have release cycles and updates. Cyanogen, Virtuous, Enomther, Villain, and a few others make up these ROMs.
Hope that helps with your ROM quest. It can be a bit overwhelming but remember to ask, ask, ask, and then ask some more and also read, at least the OP (original post) and a few pages past that. Some people may get upset and flame you for it but most will be glad to help in any way.
If you flash a non-Sense ROM, you will miss the HTC camera app. Its far and away better than the stock Android one, and I haven't found any Market camera apps that measure up, either. Also, the camera button on the Sense builds seems much more responsive than on CM7.
Also, I'm not sure about this, but the Sense ROMs seem to have better or more hardware codecs for playing a wider array of video formats. Lots of the videos I've tried on CM7 and CM6 are only playable using software decoding (on a variety of players, but RockPlayer is my favorite) and end up super laggy (very low frame rate) and audio way out of sync. On stock Sense and Virtuous, those videos play fine, hardware decoding, silky smooth, and audio in sync.
There are some aesthetic stuff, like HTC does some pretty significant theme changes for Sense, and you will lose customizations like the HTC Skins. And you will lose the HTC widgets (like the clocks) and apps (stocks, weather). But as mentioned, there are lots of Market apps that pretty well simulate many of the Sense apps and widgets, or are very suitable replacements.
Thanks for the detailed replies guys.
KCRic, thanks for list of known ROMs that's basically what I wanted to know, and your Linux flavour comparison helped too
Redpoint, I'm not sure how often I'd ever use the camera anyway...when I get home I'll have to find some screens of the default camera. That being said, I see your ROM is Virtuous. Is that a Sense-like ROM in case I agree with you on the ca?era app?
Thanks!
Bloodlvst said:
Redpoint, I'm not sure how often I'd ever use the camera anyway...when I get home I'll have to find some screens of the default camera. That being said, I see your ROM is Virtuous. Is that a Sense-like ROM in case I agree with you on the ca?era app?
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Wow, you don't use the camera? I use it all the time, for those "spur of the moment" snapshots, or to quickly take a pic that I can MMS to a friend or family.
Yes, Virtuous is mostly stock Sense, but with some optimizations and with some extra features added. Its also based on the 1.85 ROM, one of the more recent stock Sense versions.
Guides, links for just about everything you can ever think of is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916431
BTW, be sure to click the "Thanks" button if you found responses to be helpful!
ROM LIST
Sense ROMS
Gingerbread - Android 2.3
Shokouhi 2.0
Desire S G2 Port Sense2.1
Probably others.
Froyo - Android 2.2
Virtuous
Stock ROMS
Gingerbread - Android 2.3
CyanogenMod 7
Stock Gingerbread 1.7
iceandfire 1.7
Pyromod 1.2
GingerVillian 1.5
meXdroidMod
Froyo - Android 2.2
CyanogenMod 6
Others of unimportance now.
The Other ROMS
Gingerbread - Android 2.3
MIUI (The 2.3 one)
Froyo - Android 2.2
MIUI (The 2.2 one)
LiquidVillian (Or whatever it was called.)
I probably just wasted 10 minutes of my life doing this, but meh, it was something to do.
Now to kill myself since I had to listen to Nickelback through it. Damn 4Music.
I would hardly call CM7 (and ROMs based on it) "Stock".
Although "Non-Sense" is not a very good sounding name for that category, also.
redpoint73 said:
I would hardly call CM7 (and ROMs based on it) "Stock".
Although "Non-Sense" is not a very good sounding name for that category, also.
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AOSP Based.
There should be 2 categories. CM Based and AOSP.
But I don't think there are any AOSP ROMs. Which I hate, cos when people say they've built a stock ROM, but it's based on CyanogenMod.
redpoint73 said:
Wow, you don't use the camera? I use it all the time, for those "spur of the moment" snapshots, or to quickly take a pic that I can MMS to a friend or family.
Yes, Virtuous is mostly stock Sense, but with some optimizations and with some extra features added. Its also based on the 1.85 ROM, one of the more recent stock Sense versions.
Guides, links for just about everything you can ever think of is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916431
BTW, be sure to click the "Thanks" button if you found responses to be helpful!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I'm guessing no one has cooked up a weird ROM that is like Cyanogen with the Sense camera app lol.
Anywho, I really only have a couple of questions now.
Would you recommend Gingerbread or Froyo? I'm guessing Gingerbread probably runs better / is better than Froyo, but it's hard to say.
Also, how easy is it to restore my phone to factory condition if I need to?
And finally, I read the wiki, it says to make sure I have the windows USB drivers installed...do I just throw those in my windows drivers folder?
EDIT: Wanted to add, the instructiosn for recovering to stock doesn't include the version. So any help there is appreciated.
Or you know, if any of you would be so kind to PM me / add me to IM if you've done this on a Bell phone in Canada that would be awesome too
The drivers go in your Android SDK folder, where ever adb resides. At least on XP and Vista that's the case - I'm not sure if the adb issue was ever resolved in Windows 7. You could always use VM linux or dual boot linux if you like, it's much easier imo. Wubi works too I think.
When it comes to Froyo vs. Gingerbread it's literally like a linux in the sense that one is completely stable and well known by this point (Froyo) an the other is bleeding edge, not stable at times, some things are just not compatible unless you port them, and peoples knowledge base on it isn't as thorough.
I've never returned this phone to stock, which I assume you mean s-on and no superuser permissions. So I have no idea how difficult it is, though I do know you need to make sure you 100% know what you're doing before attempting it - especially if you have s-off. It's a pandoras box if you mess it up.
Ah okay, I'll definitely stick with Froyo for now then. I've always stayed 1 version behidn with Fedora lol.
I did get the drivers working, made my gold card, about to downgrade my firmware.
Are the instructions the same for 1.84.666.2 ?
Edit: Successfully rooted. Now time to find a new ROM. thanks again for all the help. Quesiton though, I have no HSDPA icon anymore...do I need a new "radio" or something?
No, it will do that and some ROMs don't have either the 'H' or the 3G' icon - just depends on the developer. You can still flash a different radio - anyone listed in the G2 radio sticky will work, flash a few and see what works best for you.
There's also a radio version/.ril file issue being debated so you might check that thread too and flash the zip provided just to be safe. I think it's in the G2 questions forum but I can't remember.
Back story: I am coming over from the Epic. Don't want to talk about it, but as you may well know, the Epic is rather easy to use considering there are like 4 roms.
Current situation: Been reading this board for the past two weeks. There are so many roms and threads that my head is spinning. I figured out how to root. I rooted using unrevoked. I then created a backup in clockwork. All I have done at this point is used Titanium to remove(freeze) all the stuff I don't want. So far the phone is working superb. The GPS is fantastic, the apps are giving me no lag or problems, and everything just works. I have actually grown to like the Sense UI. I like the widgets and such.
Now, like most people on this forum, even though everything is working correctly, I get antsy and am completely against the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I have been reading about how CyanogenMod improves the Camera and Video. As the Evo is my main camera, it would be nice to have it up to its capabilities. However, I would prefer to stay on the sense UI. I would also prefer to stay on froyo for now. Oh, and battery life wouldn't hurt, even though I get pretty good battery life on stock.
Is this possible, or am I dreaming?
Lastly, I am kind of confused about WiMax, Radio version, and rom version. I am currently on rom version 3.70.651.1, radio version 2.15.00.11.19, and I am unsure of wimax version. When I go through the roms in dev section, it doesn't seem to mention anything about this. Does this mean that pretty much every rom that is not gingerbread is at my disposal?
And the real lastly, on the epic, Rom Manager does not work. You must flash roms from clockwork every time. Does it actually work on the Evo? Can I just switch back and forth from rom to rom through the rom manager?
TIA
swany
swanysto said:
Back story: I am coming over from the Epic. Don't want to talk about it, but as you may well know, the Epic is rather easy to use considering there are like 4 roms.
Current situation: Been reading this board for the past two weeks. There are so many roms and threads that my head is spinning. I figured out how to root. I rooted using unrevoked. I then created a backup in clockwork. All I have done at this point is used Titanium to remove(freeze) all the stuff I don't want. So far the phone is working superb. The GPS is fantastic, the apps are giving me no lag or problems, and everything just works. I have actually grown to like the Sense UI. I like the widgets and such.
Now, like most people on this forum, even though everything is working correctly, I get antsy and am completely against the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I have been reading about how CyanogenMod improves the Camera and Video. As the Evo is my main camera, it would be nice to have it up to its capabilities. However, I would prefer to stay on the sense UI. I would also prefer to stay on froyo for now. Oh, and battery life wouldn't hurt, even though I get pretty good battery life on stock.
Is this possible, or am I dreaming?
Lastly, I am kind of confused about WiMax, Radio version, and rom version. I am currently on rom version 3.70.651.1, radio version 2.15.00.11.19, and I am unsure of wimax version. When I go through the roms in dev section, it doesn't seem to mention anything about this. Does this mean that pretty much every rom that is not gingerbread is at my disposal?
And the real lastly, on the epic, Rom Manager does not work. You must flash roms from clockwork every time. Does it actually work on the Evo? Can I just switch back and forth from rom to rom through the rom manager?
TIA
swany
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Get amon 2.3 you can do proper wipes so you won't have issues flashing roms. You already have latest radio and wi max stick to the latest roms mik froyo is sense based so is myn just don't download old roms from the bottom of the dev wiki there built and use old radios and wi max .
You can use gingerbread roms with out screwing with your radios such as CM 7 and so on .
This one looks like everything I want except the better camera stuff. Will it work with my setup, and it doesn't mention that it removes Swype(which I must have).
Manila Carbon Fiber 2.2
swanysto said:
This one looks like everything I want except the better camera stuff. Will it work with my setup, and it doesn't mention that it removes Swype(which I must have).
Manila Carbon Fiber 2.2
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Click to collapse
It will work fine and yes camera is good one stock cam use amon 2.3 to wipe before flashing and flash away.
Hi I like AOSP roms, I came from ChevyNo1 on the OG Droid. The Evo has Sense by default, and its alright, but I just prefer the pulldown menu from AOSP. With that being said, what is the closest rom to ChevyNo1's or UltimateDroid? I know there is UD for the Evo, but it hasn't been updated for a long time, and I love the options that it has.
I am using EvoDeck right now, would like to change to Sense so I can change my PRLs and use my MSL without always flashing and reflashing.
Prefer:
Battery life to be good. I get about a full day's on mines even off data... so I think there could be improvement. Biggest issue. Not sure if Sense makes it alot worst but I doubt it.
I'm a light user. Mostly use it to call surprisingly, occasionally use it to browse, text a fair bit too.
I've heard that MikG's Roms are Sense based and give very good battery life. You can find a list of Evo Roms on this website: Android Candy: HTC Evo 4G You will also see which Roms have been updated recently and screenshots of the Rom that's listed. Hope this helps.
I have been running CM7 for a while and I am fairly happy with it. I seem to like the basic function over what I have see on other people's phones with either ICS or JB. So I want to ask what advantages or better functions would make me want to upgrade? Maybe better device support? I do notice that my wifi drops off a lot but I also have friend's with the SIII stock and they have the same issue.
heebs_heebs said:
I have been running CM7 for a while and I am fairly happy with it. I seem to like the basic function over what I have see on other people's phones with either ICS or JB. So I want to ask what advantages or better functions would make me want to upgrade? Maybe better device support? I do notice that my wifi drops off a lot but I also have friend's with the SIII stock and they have the same issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ICS
>BETTER APP SUPPORT
>Face unlock
>Easier Folder management
>Better widget/app drawer
>Pinch-to-zoom functionality in the calendar
>Integrated screenshot capture
>Better voice integration and continuous, real-time speech to text dictation
>Better Contacts app
>Chrome syncing
>Built-in photo editor
>ANDROID BEAM!
>others....plus these are stock features. A custom rom will further improve things.
JB
>EVEN BETTER APP SUPPORT!!!
>BUTTERY SMOOTHNESS
>GOOGLE Now
>Expandable notifications
>Photosphere
>Gesture keyboard
>Lock screen widgets
These are just the main bullet points IMO there is no reason to stick with an old outdated OS. I used CM7 until ICS came out officially for our device. CM7 is based off GB which first came out in 2010! If you're wary of custom roms at least update officially and enjoy the most of android.
If your into flashing roms there are many stable ones running Google Now on ICS 4.0.4 if you are just looking for updated google apps. JB isn't officially out for out phones yet so the devs have done a good job of porting roms so we can use JB if you want to. I would check the threads on JB roms and decide which is best for you.
Thanks for help
Thanks for the insight. I am still on the fence but it is not like I can't revert after playing a bit, isn't that was a nand backup is for?
heebs_heebs said:
Thanks for the insight. I am still on the fence but it is not like I can't revert after playing a bit, isn't that was a nand backup is for?
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yeah. just make a backup and play around. If you are on cm7 i recommend upgrading to cm10.1, it only gets better.