Related
I had a few questions that I can't pull up much information on. There looks to be a ton of updates we now have the option of putting on our EVO, what are the differences.
Kernel
--- Alright, I know this one but for anyone who doesn't. This is the heart of the phone. It is what allows software to talk to hardware.
--- Why do some of the kernel changes break the camera/accelerometer? Are these drivers built into the kernel instead of modules? Can they not be rebuilt with different kernels?
NAND
--- What is the NAND and why are we unlocking it?
--- NAND is a type of flash, no? Are all they system files (i.e. the /system folder) on their own chip inside the evo? How can rooting and remounting the system r/w not control the /system folder?
--- While I'm at it, does rooting just me remounting everything but the /system folder as r/w. So a non rooted phone is read only except for the SD card and where ever apps from the market are installed?
Recovery
--- It seems like there are a couple recovery systems out there... clockwork and another. Did the EVO not come with its own recovery system. What have these modded versions added?
ROMS
--- What are these really doing if they are not messing with the /system folder. Are they just a bundle of different programs? Change the rom and you change the programs that are installed? What is the difference between a ROM and a DEV-ROM
RADIO
--- What is the deal with the new radio. Is it updated drivers for the baseband? This kind of gets into my kernel question about how the drivers are handled within the kernel. How can this work across multiple kernels, but we cant get the camera working?
I know this is a lot, but if anyone could fill in some of the holes for me I would appreciate it.
Thanks
bump...
Any thoughts? You don't have to answer them all.
I am NO expert, but can help a bit....
Kernel
--- Alright, I know this one but for anyone who doesn't. This is the heart of the phone. It is what allows software to talk to hardware.
--- Why do some of the kernel changes break the camera/accelerometer? Are these drivers built into the kernel instead of modules? Can they not be rebuilt with different kernels?
From my understanding, the kernles that break the camera, are kernels that are ports of kernels from other phones. So, the drivers for the camera are not the same as for the other phones camera.
Recovery
--- It seems like there are a couple recovery systems out there... clockwork and another. Did the EVO not come with its own recovery system. What have these modded versions added?
My understanding is that the phone's original recovery, is locked to only flash Sprint's Official ROM's. So the custom recovery will allow to flash custom ROM's
ROMS
--- What are these really doing if they are not messing with the /system folder. Are they just a bundle of different programs? Change the rom and you change the programs that are installed? What is the difference between a ROM and a DEV-ROM
Aside from changing apps, ROM's can do different things like optimizing the apps so that they run smoother, move data from one place to another to run more efficiently and allow for a number of customizations that would not be available with only the stock ROM rooted. A ROM is understanded as a usable, stable ROM. A DEV-ROM is one that is not stable, were it has things that still dont work and need to keep improving.
Hope it helps!
Perfect thanks.
The ROM/DEV-ROM thing was really bugging me, and the recovery explanation makes sense.
amw2320 said:
I had a few questions that I can't pull up much information on. There looks to be a ton of updates we now have the option of putting on our EVO, what are the differences.
Kernel
--- Alright, I know this one but for anyone who doesn't. This is the heart of the phone. It is what allows software to talk to hardware.
--- Why do some of the kernel changes break the camera/accelerometer? Are these drivers built into the kernel instead of modules? Can they not be rebuilt with different kernels?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So with *.NIX kernels such as linux, unix, and the android kernel there are modules that make up the kernel itself. Any *.NIX kernel is going to be modular and this makes it more efficient and robust. In the case of specific items not working between different kernels, it most likely means the kernel was compiled with specific modules that have specific scripts and drivers in it. This method speeds up the kernel because it takes out stuff not needed. But means it limits the devices the kernel can run on.
In the case of Android ROMs not being able to fully interface with hardware, it likely means the kernel is missing something as another commentator already suggested.
NAND
--- What is the NAND and why are we unlocking it?
--- NAND is a type of flash, no? Are all they system files (i.e. the /system folder) on their own chip inside the evo? How can rooting and remounting the system r/w not control the /system folder?
--- While I'm at it, does rooting just me remounting everything but the /system folder as r/w. So a non rooted phone is read only except for the SD card and where ever apps from the market are installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are unlocking NAND and rooting phones to get access to file systems that are locked down by phone manufactures/cell providers. Doing so unleashes the full potential of the device.
If you rooted your phone and you do not have full access to the file system, you only did part 1 of the root process. There are 2 parts because one unlocks NAND and the other unlocks the file system completely with the phone booted. Step 1 just unlocks filesystem for NAND which means you have to be booted into NAND for full access to file system. I think I have that right.
Recovery
--- It seems like there are a couple recovery systems out there... clockwork and another. Did the EVO not come with its own recovery system. What have these modded versions added?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clockwork and the others are just replacing NAND with their own system, if I am correct. I recommend doing this if you are rooted because you get better features and a constantly updated system, where as NAND is only updated when Sprint and HTC have an update with a NAND update in it (which isn't often). The way I recommend updating this is using ROM Manager once you are rooted. It is very safe and easy.
ROMS
--- What are these really doing if they are not messing with the /system folder. Are they just a bundle of different programs? Change the rom and you change the programs that are installed? What is the difference between a ROM and a DEV-ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you see ROM, think GUI for the OS, collection of apps and scripts. The ROM what you are going to interact with and use. I highly recommend flashing a custom ROM once rooted because you will have less problems and they are way more efficient than stock. Developers take time and care to test and tweak their ROMs so that they not only perform good, but give us the features we want. Find one you like and install. Make sure you do a NAND backup though once you get everything installed the way you like. Also do a titanium backup (app from marketplace) too.
RADIO
--- What is the deal with the new radio. Is it updated drivers for the baseband? This kind of gets into my kernel question about how the drivers are handled within the kernel. How can this work across multiple kernels, but we cant get the camera working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is recommended not to mess with the radio unless a ROM you want requires it. I flashed it without any trouble at all and things seem fine on my phone. Some people recommend flashing it because they think it makes the cell radios in the phone perform more efficiently and such. This is all I can say on the radio as I'm no expert.
I see most of the questions have been answered above...I'll attempt as well and perhaps it will help clarify (or just give a different way of looking at it).
amw2320 said:
I had a few questions that I can't pull up much information on. There looks to be a ton of updates we now have the option of putting on our EVO, what are the differences.
Kernel
--- Alright, I know this one but for anyone who doesn't. This is the heart of the phone. It is what allows software to talk to hardware.
--- Why do some of the kernel changes break the camera/accelerometer? Are these drivers built into the kernel instead of modules? Can they not be rebuilt with different kernels?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the kernel is the heart of any OS (Windows has one, Linux has one, etc). The kernel is where everything eventually goes to do anything.
The reason the new kernels do not have camera functionality is because, while we have generic source code, we do not have the drivers/modules for that source code. HTC does some modifications within the source that are proprietary and so we have to attempt to try and reverse engineer it. About the time we do, they release the source code (I have suspicions of conspiracy, but that may just be me) and that's when the kernel's really roll out with some fun stuff.
New kernels will be the source of the most new features...overclocking, efficiency improvements, etc.
NAND
--- What is the NAND and why are we unlocking it?
--- NAND is a type of flash, no? Are all they system files (i.e. the /system folder) on their own chip inside the evo? How can rooting and remounting the system r/w not control the /system folder?
--- While I'm at it, does rooting just me remounting everything but the /system folder as r/w. So a non rooted phone is read only except for the SD card and where ever apps from the market are installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is one of the areas I'm most weak in for understanding but I'll still take a stab.
NAND is a type of flash and, to my knowledge, it's own seperate chip. It is usually locked to prevent modifications that could break your phone or prevent it from updating properly...I *think* it's used during boot so the lock would translate straight through to your OS and prevent changes if put in a locked state (think similar to how some SD cards have a "lock" switch on the side to make it read only, except a software version of it).
Recovery
--- It seems like there are a couple recovery systems out there... clockwork and another. Did the EVO not come with its own recovery system. What have these modded versions added?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Clockwork and AmonRA's recoveries are replacements that add functionality over the stock recovery. The stock recovery is only meant to be used by the manufacturer to perform certain tasks (like updating, resetting, etc...but no user functions like backup/restores.). Both Clockwork and AmonRA's recoveries add the ability to take a complete image of your phone (so that you can always restore any software changes no matter how severe), reformat and partition your sd card (to add/remote a cache partition or a partition for Apps2SD), reset battery stats, and a host of other things I'm sure I haven't even touched on. Also, I believe they add the functionality to flash unsigned updates done by the community (not just restricting us to HTC's updates).
ROMS
--- What are these really doing if they are not messing with the /system folder. Are they just a bundle of different programs? Change the rom and you change the programs that are installed? What is the difference between a ROM and a DEV-ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the ROMs you see now require NAND unlocks so that they can mess with the apps in /system. Some ROMs are just a certain package of apps or a set of themes. Others add functionality or make certain things easier to implement. Yet others are tweaked to attempt to change other aspects of the OS to improve performance of battery life through tweaks to when the system performs certain tasks.
Ultimately, each ROM is different and the changelogs *should* tell you what all they've done over the stock (or if they're based on another ROM, you can open that page to see the tweaks they are tweaking, etc). (Sometimes it can get pretty big on the tweaks on another rom's tweaks on another rom's tweaks...check the CDMA hero forums for some combination roms ).
ROMs vs Dev-ROMs - Dev-ROM's are usually a work in progress...they are testing new features and often will be on the bleeding edge (emphasis on bleeding). These will sometimes (even likely) break something while they try and improve or add new functionality in another aspect. You should only flash these if you want to help test and if you have an idea of what's going on so you can help troubleshoot.
Normal ROMs are usually more stable (usually) and will have milder modifications (though once a DEV-ROM has successfully gotten a new feature stable, most other ROMs will incorporate those changes...it's kindof a lifecycle).
RADIO
--- What is the deal with the new radio. Is it updated drivers for the baseband? This kind of gets into my kernel question about how the drivers are handled within the kernel. How can this work across multiple kernels, but we cant get the camera working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Radio images are a bit more like firmware updates to the radio chip. These often help to improve reception or connectivity or fix instabilities or other problems. Not everyone experiences the issues that it attempts to fix and doing a flash on your own does have certain risks. The odds of a problem arising for you isn't high, but the effect is potentially severe if a problem does occur. The main thing to remember is to ensure you have enough battery for the changes to occur (firmware updates in general recommend this on all devices, be it laptop BIOS updates or phone radio updates...I recommend using the wall charger and not unplugging it until 5 minutes after the update has completed), and ensure that you don't try and do anything else on the phone while the update is occuring.
I know this is a lot, but if anyone could fill in some of the holes for me I would appreciate it.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully the info given by me and my fellow ex-newbies will help with your desire to learn! There's a lot of cool stuff about our phones and I love that we can get a bit into the guts of the thing (unlike some phones*)
*I can't help but throw a little jab at Apple every so often.
This is great information and helps me to push myself even further towards ROM development.
I enjoy my Evo and this website is amazing
Great thread and information, I was looking for something similar. I'm totally new to Android and want to start the whole rooting process.
I don't mean to hijack the thread or anything, but some terms are thrown around and I don't have a 100% understanding of what they really mean....could someone please define them?
Recovery?
Flashing?
Thanks codemonk and webs, that was awesome.
Onepanda, i'll give your question a shot.
Flashing is really just putting files on you phone. Generally it refers to replacing the andriod system files. You can flash a kernel, a ROM, drivers, or just an update to one of those.
Recovery is a mode you can put your phone into from boot. This is where you flash the files from. You cant just replace system files while they are running, so you boot into recovery mode and flash them from there.
Recovery mode also has a few other features allowing you to reset settings (cache) and make backups.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE WIKI
I have decided to open a Questions and Answers thread on this section of the forum. This is a good way to keep the number of new threads with questions down to a minimum, which will make new threads essentially for people that are contributing to the Samsung Epic 4G. This includes, but is not limited to, people that are providing the following:
- Roms & Kitchens
- Programs & Apps
- Fixes & Tweaks
- Skins & Themes
- Tips & Tricks
I would like to request the help from other members to keep the thread in order and in check. This will have the added side effect of creating an ever self updating knowledge base that will far extend the content of the Wiki. This will in turn save us from having to answer the same question a billion times...
Please refer to the Wiki first before asking any questions though! It can be located here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Samsung_Galaxy_S/SPH-D700
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE WIKI
Any idea when the OTA push for2.2 will start?
jg187211 said:
Any idea when the OTA push for2.2 will start?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, we don't have anyone in the community who has inside access to that information. Some of our members are affiliated with Sprint, and so have slightly more reliable rumors, but even their sources have thus far been wrong if they quoted a specific date...
So I hope you understand that I'm not being a jerk when I say, we won't know until it actually happens (and this will probably always be the case)
That being said, this most recent leak (DK28) seems stable so far IMO, so it could potentially become our official update
ok im a total noob to all this stuff. i followed the guide to update my epic to 2.2. the problem is, that the camera, gallery, and a couple other apps dont work. Can someone help me? Should i go back to 2.1, if so, how do i do that?
EDIT: Angry rant removed, thanks to the mods for a quick response (and to the member who's post was removed: no hard feelings, I hope you understand)
Just remember to read before posting, to make sure your post will be relevant and not redundant
jayzn210 said:
ok im a total noob to all this stuff. i followed the guide to update my epic to 2.2. the problem is, that the camera, gallery, and a couple other apps dont work. Can someone help me? Should i go back to 2.1, if so, how do i do that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whenever flashing a ROM using either recovery, it's always a good idea to wipe the phone (as in factory reset - I'm not referring to wiping the cache or the dalvik cache, although both steps are also usually recommended)
If you used the odin method described in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=861213
then you might have flashed the wrong tar - DK05 and DK17 both had the camera problem, make sure you have the DK28 file.
If you have the right tar, then you could have an incomplete download... I doubt that though, when that happened to me, my phone wouldn't boot at all. But you might want to redownload the tar just to be sure (double check the filesize after it finishes and before you flash, if it seems too small then it messed up again)
That's the best general advice I can offer, but if you'd like to provide more details about the method you used (especially a link to the guide you used, if it isn't the one I provided), someone here might be able to identify where you're going wrong
i followed the instructions from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=861213. i didnt use odin, i just used the .zip method. it took me a lot of tries cause i kept getting errors. the second mirror link worked for me, but like i said, my camera, gps, gallery and some other apps dont work.
oh and everytime i try to flash again, i get the error.
It sounds like you're either starting from the wrong rom or not wiping the phone before flashing the zip. All of the zip updates I have seen require you to start from DI18 stock (root an clockwork seem to be okay in my experience, all other mods must be removed) - if you have installed any custom roms, your best bet is to follow the odin method using the stock DI18 tar - so you may as well just skip the zip methodand odin to the stock DK28 tar
And you absolutely must wipe the phone (again, factory reset - I suspect many people are just wiping the cache and/or the dalvik cache).
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Odin flashing
I've got a quick question. I'm looking to move to a build using the DK28 information release and it requires that I update the pit and modem files on my phone using Odin. Do I need to flash a 2.2 rom right away or am I safe to boot into my current rom first?
KaiXXV said:
I've got a quick question. I'm looking to move to a build using the DK28 information release and it requires that I update the pit and modem files on my phone using Odin. Do I need to flash a 2.2 rom right away or am I safe to boot into my current rom first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you doing the strictly odin method (full froyo in a tar file)? Or an update.zip?
The odin method *should* include the modem and everything (and you use the updated pit in the same process) - you'll have to read the particular thread that you got the download link from, but I haven't noticed any odin tar files that required the modem separately
For the update.zip method, I don't know if it matters whether you flash the modem before or after applying the zip through recovery - I don't think either one overwrites the other, but that's a part of the process I can only guess about. But regardless of when you odin flash the modem, that's when you'll use the new pit file (the same as the odin-only method above).
As far as I know, the primary difference is that the update.zip doesn't inherently overwrite user data (but you'll probably have broken programs that FC all the time, which means a wipe is necessary, making this somewhat null). I prefer the odin method because it is a fresh flash of the entire system (I usually let it repartition as well - no one else has posted about that feature so I have no idea if it's a fluke that it hasn't given me problems)
Hope that helps
which is the best
so i have updated to dk28 froyo 2.2 i like battery life and performance can anyone offer info on which is the best rom for me or just some insight on which rom is the best overall
How do I stop running applications from starting every time I restart my phone?? I have the start up auditor but for some reason everytime I restart my phone the apps I have disabled keep restarting themselves and I have to go into the running programs and disable them manually. WTH?? Doesnt programs constantly running in the background kill the battery life?? How do I disable apps from starting?
youngpro83 said:
How do I stop running applications from starting every time I restart my phone?? I have the start up auditor but for some reason everytime I restart my phone the apps I have disabled keep restarting themselves and I have to go into the running programs and disable them manually. WTH?? Doesnt programs constantly running in the background kill the battery life?? How do I disable apps from starting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How I understand it, especially with Froyo, you shouldn't have to kill programs in the background, if said 'background' process or service is working normal or efficiently. I still kill the DRM process when I reboot my phone, and not sure if it's still causing drain issues.
Also (someone else confirm this), I believe that constantly 'killing' certain background processes actually uses MORE battery, since it has to constantly restart itself. I've had a much more stable device *not* using auto killers, and just sniping one here and there that I know to cause drain.
Some reading material on GC, tho, in regards to memory management
Ignore me!
devo52 said:
so i have updated to dk28 froyo 2.2 i like battery life and performance can anyone offer info on which is the best rom for me or just some insight on which rom is the best overall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of it is personal preference - this early in the game, the primary differences between the roms are going to be mostly cosmetic. So for now, the best advice I can offer is to try each of them and decide which theme you like. Regardless of how you upgraded, you had to use odin, so you have succeeded at the most difficult step of the process - and odin can bring your phone back to life if something goes wrong, so it's an invaluable skill to have.
In the meantime, keep watching the threads (quietly, unless you have a question that hasn't been asked already - we're working on cleaning up the forum to make it easier for everyone to find answers... but I digress...)
It's too early to be sure of any of the fixes out there - we have at least three separate fixes for the GPS issues; some people find success with one, others with another, and a lucky few don't need the fixes at all... so in summary, we can't say which is better or worse just yet, stay tuned and decide whether you want to experiment on the bleeding edge, or wait for these things to be stable and thoroughly tested.
And if you have any doubts, just stick with the stock DK28 for now
tl;dr, questions in BOLD.
Okay, after spending the entire night scouring the internet/this forum and starting from absolutely zero-knowledge about the Android OS, I managed to update my Epic to 2.2, and root the phone. Now, I'm kinda stuck as far as customization goes. I see all these cool skins and battery life mods and stuff, but they don't exactly offer any steps as to how to install them. Since I don't exactly know what file-types do what, I'm kinda shooting blindly at trying to update/install something "custom" onto the phone. So, my question(s) is/are:
What does the ROM do?
What does the ROOT do?
I know the root basically "unlocks" your phone, but that's all I know. The process of customizing the phone still remains a mystery. (that's the problem with following step-by-step instructions, rather than actually knowing what you're doing.)
I also don't understand the purpose of flashing a phone. Flashing, in my experience is to update something, like say a BIOS. But that sets the system back to square 1 as far as all settings go, in this particular example.
If I flash, with say Odin, after having updated to DK28 and "rooting," won't this make all the "customization" that I've done prior basically 'null' because I've just flashed the phone into a blank-state?
Sorry if these are questions easily answered by searching, but I just spent my entire sleep-cycle trying to find the answers to these questions, and managed to only get so far. I look forward to the answers On another note, I am now EXTREEEEMELY pleased with my phone. Before this evening, I was just the regular, old run-of-the-mill enduser. I liked the cool built-in customizations and all the apps and what not, but never dreamed of being able to customize my phone to THIS EXTENT. So, now it's something I'm very interested in doing..it makes my phone truly mine.
zdavidi said:
What does the ROM do?
What does the ROOT do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you see the link to the Wiki in the original post of this thread? That's where I started when I first got here, it helped me understand the basics.
zdavidi said:
If I flash, with say Odin, after having updated to DK28 and "rooting," won't this make all the "customization" that I've done prior basically 'null' because I've just flashed the phone into a blank-state?.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what you flashed with Odin. If you only flash a modem file, then your customizations and apps are untouched. If you flash an entire ROM in "tarball" form then not only does it re-write the modem but it also overwrites all user data. Think of the latter as resetting the phone to stock and works even if you cannot boot up.
When can we expect a custom Kernel with netfilters for wifi tethering?
n00b question.
If an SDK version is released (say, like, Gingerbread today), does that mean chefs could take it and cook up a ROM for ANY phone (say, like, the Epic)? Or do they need something else to do that?
Remove Touchwiz Launcher (consequences?)
Hey-- I'm using Quantum 2.0.0 ROM, and I never use the touchwiz launcher. Does anyone know if it's safe to just remove the apk? (TouchWiz30Launcher.apk) or is there other functionality tied to it?
I use LauncherPro, fyi.
Please forgive my ignorance... I've searched the forums, looked at the wiki...
I use titanium backup and am now running the DK27 froyo build by noobnl. My question... How do I restore my e-mail accounts to the phone everytime without having to re-type them in? I've been flashing a rom every other day on average since I got the phone and it's getting REALLY old.
Ok so I have a HTC ONE M8, it says it has Android 6 and Sense 7 and I am in UK.
I have unlocked the bootloader, installed TWRP 3.2.3-0 (and backed up) and Rooted with SuperSU 2.82
So all I need is a rom...
I have been looking for hours trying to decide which rom to try but I am at a loss.
My needs are simple...
1. The newest version of android I can get (just to annoy my dad)
2. I must be able to blacklist calls and texts (without needing an app)
3. No bloatware, I don't want my phone doing anything unless I want it to.
4. Things like blinkfeed are totally not wanted.
5. I am not even sure what sense is, I am pretty sure I don't use it
That will do it, thank you for looking. Suggestions?
alphalvr said:
Ok so I have a HTC ONE M8, it says it has Android 6 and Sense 7 and I am in UK.
I have unlocked the bootloader, installed TWRP 3.2.3-0 (and backed up) and Rooted with SuperSU 2.82
So all I need is a rom...
I have been looking for hours trying to decide which rom to try but I am at a loss.
My needs are simple...
1. The newest version of android I can get (just to annoy my dad)
2. I must be able to blacklist calls and texts (without needing an app)
3. No bloatware, I don't want my phone doing anything unless I want it to.
4. Things like blinkfeed are totally not wanted.
5. I am not even sure what sense is, I am pretty sure I don't use it
That will do it, thank you for looking. Suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, you need to know there is no "golden rom" that will make everyone happy. You have to try them out yourself and see which one you like the most.
Anyway, to answer your questions:
1. Lineageos 16 currently is the only rom with android pie. However it's very early release, so minor and major bugs are to be expected. I'd recommend you lineageos 15.1 instead - oreo isn't that old and the rom is very stable.
2. It's possible on lineageos 15.1 and roms based on it, should also be possible on 16. Not sure about sense roms.
3. Almost all of the custom roms don't have bloatware. Also you can get root and delete apps you don't need.
4. Blinkfeed is only in stock roms. You can disable or uninstall it.
5. You're using it 100% of the time. Sense is the name of android skin on htc devices. It includes changes in look, feel and some functionality compared to stock android. You should know there are sense based roms - they are based on the stock rom, retaining sense functionality and look and custom, pure android roms - those have only minor changes in them and feel and look like stock android.
Great answers in the previous reply. Just wanted to add:
What qualifies as "bloatware" is completely subjective. The goal of the makers of these built-in apps (whether it be a manufacturer, carrier, or even Google themselves) is to provide useful apps. But that doesn't always work out, and certainly not always for everyone. However, what qualifies as "bloat" to one user, is a useful or even necessary app for another. So you say "no bloat" doesn't mean too much; without you being specific about what you want/need and what you don't. Therefore, there are various approaches/answers:
- If you refer to HTC specific apps, these won't be present in any of the more current ROMs. By definition, HTC stopped supporting this device with OS updates at Marshmallow. Anything after that, will be non-HTC and therefore AOSP or "pure Android" based.
- The AOSP based custom ROMs will often allow (even require) you to flash Google apps (gapps) separately from the ROM. This also allows you to choose which gapps package to install, and therefore tailor to your own needs. From minimal installation to get Android to work; to full suite of Google apps (many of which, a lot of users will consider bloat).
- Any pre-installed apps can be disabled or removed with root. Although you should take caution, as removing some bloat apps may break other phone functions. Unless you research and know the specific app is safe to remove, better to disable or "freeze" it with a root app like Titanium Backup. Then test the phone for a while, to see if there are any resulting bugs or issues.
Thanks, I have never really got into the whole Android and Iphone thing. My best ever phone was a Nokia N-gage and I only stopped using it recently due to my eyes not being what they once were.
My last phone was a LG nexus4 and I have only switched it up to the M8 as i saw it in a friends house with a broken screen.
I can already see it is a tad more responsive and to be honest the stock rom is probably fine for what I do (nothing + odd game) but where is the fun in that
Going to download lineage 15.1, sounds like a good start.
one last thing my M8 is 16GB of which 6GB was used, then I backed it up and that sucked up another 4GB so what happens exaclt when i install a rom does the original 6GB become free again? i have installe roms before back in the early days but my memory like my eyes aint what it once was
OK so i just jumped in and followed the 15.1 instructions (i think) Installed the rom, the suggested superuser thing and that went ok, but when installing the gapps (nano) it failed with lack of space. Doing something wrong??
The rom is starting with pink balls so I am almost there......and it is working. I went back and tried to flash gapps nano again and it actually says there is insufficient space on the system partition.
Resized it, then it seems to have worked. thanks guys i love it so far.
alphalvr said:
one last thing my M8 is 16GB of which 6GB was used, then I backed it up and that sucked up another 4GB so what happens exaclt when i install a rom does the original 6GB become free again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No storage is going to free itself up, from flashing a custom ROM. You will have to free it up yourself. You can delete the LOS ROM zip, once it has been installed. Although, I like to keep copies of custom ROMs on my computer for a while, just in case I need it again in the future.
If you have an SD card installed to the device, you can have your TWRP backup on the SD card, which will free up a lot of space. As you've seen, the TWRP backups take up a ton of storage! Having a backup on the device (either SD or internal storage) is "best practice" in my opinion; so it is handy in case you need to restore that backup.
You'll never get all 16 GB of storage. A significant amount is taken by the system (OS) and other uses. I think something like 12 GB of user-accessible storage is all you will ever see on a 16-GB device. And this starts to be eaten up the moment you start installing apps and using the device.
You guys have been a great help, I ordered a 2nd m8 off ebay and a genuine HTC dot matrix case although I now realise the dot thing is part of sense which I no longer have. whoops
I didn't realise at the time because everything seems to work but when i was installing I kept seeing a red line of text. iirc it was something about unable to access dalvik partition? I only realised it shouldn't have been saying that when I watched a youtube video of installing a rom that wasn't plagued by this line.
I need to do it again to try and figure what was going on.
So I recently found an old Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch lying around and I thought I would play around with it a little bit.
Little did I know it was gonna be a complete hell
So in all of the confusion of simply not being able to flash whatever the heck I wanted (since the kernel and recovery are apparently both within one monolithic binary), I have now run into a different issue.
So, on this phone so far, I have somehow managed to crash, break, and soft brick my way into successfully installing CyanogenMod 11 (4.4.4 KitKat), CWM 6.0.5.1(I think yeah totally), and the pico loadout for 4.4.4 gapps. I reeeaaally enjoy taking these phones that manufacturers destroy with preloaded launchers, bloat, etc. and fixing them up nice to look like they just rolled off the Google showroom with a fresh installs of all stock gapps, and silky smooth android. But here's where my issue comes in. I spent the good part of today just looking for a full gapps package with all stock gapps that would work on this thing. I sifted through unsafe websites, dead links, and throughout (what i think is) most of this forum to find something that would work, but couldn't. Thought it was issues with not being able to install PA packages onto Cyanogenmod. But that wasn't my issue. (the recovery kicked out error after error each time I tried. So it was an issue for sure. I realize that. Just not the issue I want to solve here and now) So then, I decided to simply run another factory reset, do another fresh install of the OS, and cave in, and use the nano app package. This package was the only one to give me some kind of response. It essentially said that my /system/ partition was too small to accept all of the apps on it. And then it dawned on me. The internal storage on this phone is separated into 2 partitions. 16gb. 1.97gb for system use, and the rest for downloaded apps, media, etc.etc. . I want to know if there is a process - for this phone specifically - to merge those two partitions together so that I can get a stock looking gapps install on this guy. I don't plan on using this phone for anything in particular. Just doing this for fun.
Anyone got any answers? I've seen similar situations floating around here and other places with other devices. And it's doable(????????), but all of the methods shown are for those specific devices, and I would rather not try and replicate them here if somehow something is critically different.
Thanks for any response at all. Seriously. If it's just to tell me I'm a big stupid and this won't and can't work, I will still appreciate it.
What is the most recent and stable ROM for the Gio GT-S5660M ?
Importantly it would be to have a ROM that is new enough to work with modern apps, which often require at least android 4 or 5. Also, I would prefer to avoid GApps and go with F-Droid and Aurora Store, and the latter seems to require android 5+.
I have a couple of these lying around and thought they might make good WiFi IP phones with a SIP client. With a modern ROM and a new replacement battery (remember those?!) they could have new life.
Is this workable? This phone is so cute and compact that I really don't want to get rid of it if it can be used for something.
It has an armv6 cpu wich is no longer supported on android the last supported version was kitkat 4.4.4, this is the latest rom available for the device: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rom-cyanogenmod-11-final-05-08-2015.3066771/
It can still be used to listen to fm radio etc, although it no longer has browser support, so it won't work on all sites. I have one too and think it is a very nice tiny phone but I am affraid you are going to have to buy a newer phone for daily usage.
@J.V.B. Thank you for your reply!
Does that rom work well? There is some conflicting feedback in the thread. Which is the correct rom (msm vs msm7x27)?
How can the rom be flashed from the stock non-rooted state? There aren't instructions in that thread, though there is a post saying to use this CWM recovery (requires root?): https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-11-wip-alpha-1.2582642/page-27#post-54754255
Good point, the browsers all seem to require android 5+.
Currently on stock (android 2.3.4) I am using CSipSimple and that's working reasonably well. A newer rom might give a bit more flexibility in settings (eg. I can't figure out how to enable wifi on boot and autostart CSipSimple on 2.3.4), and maybe just maybe a few apps through F-Droid.
Both versions work they are just different kernels, I forgot what the advantages over each other were, I think the 7x27 version was more buggy but I am not sure, I recommend checking out both.
That cwm is indeed the only correct version, newer or older ones can't install this rom. I think to install the cwm you just have to boot to recovery (home button + power button and keep the home button pressed in.) and apply update from sd card and select that cwm(wrong: see edit). After this you boot to recovery again and now you factory reset and flash the rom. You also need to flash the camera patch after you flash the rom, otherwise you won't be able to record using the camera. I am not responsible for anything that happens, custom roms are always a risk. Hope it works for you
edit: You need to be rooted and on android version 2.3.3 or higher to install cwm: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...mwares-mods-tips-tricks.1397120/post-20397988
I also recommend using link2sd:
https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/bulent-akpinar/link2sd/ .
For instructions, follow this guide but scroll all the way down to the for cwm only users method: https://awanstuff.wordpress.com/201...ink2sd-in-any-android-phone-with-screenshots/
Link2sd will fully transfer apps to sd card instead of only the package. I changed the settings to make sure auto link is on and install location is set to sd. You can also transfer already installed apps to the sd and a lot more.
After this maybe post about how well the gio is running for documentation.
Some extra tips: the built in root is handy and if you enable developer options in the rom you will also get a performance menu in settings where you can make it run faster.
Thanks, I plan to try installing CWM and the CM11 rom soon. From searching it looks like "MSM7x27" refers to the Snapdragon S1 processor version:
List of Qualcomm Snapdragon systems on chips - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The Gio has a MSM7227 https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_gio_s5660-3741.php so maybe the MXM7x27 version is the correct one? I don't know if the plain "MSM" version rom is referring to a specific or generic designation.
Thanks for the tip about link2sd. It's nice to have that option since the very limited storage on this phone is maybe the biggest weakness. I'll see if I need it, since I don't plan to install many apps at all, rather I want to maximize battery life.
I got 1500 mAh batteries from Polarcell and in airplane mode with wifi and just CSipSimple running on the stock rom it lasts over 7 days in "standby". Let's see a modern phone do that!
I think this is the msm7x27: https://github.com/androidarmv6/android_kernel_samsung_msm
and this is the msm: https://github.com/HerroYou/android_kernel_samsung_msm/commits/cm-11.0
The msm just adds overclocking but might be more unstable and it also breaks the backlights. I don't know which is the best one. I recommend if the msm7x27 doesn't work well enough to try the msm and see if that gives you better results.
Also just so you know I have not found any gapps that work yet.
Also when you before you reset your device and flash the rom. Right after the cwm install I recommend fully backing up your device to an sd card so you can just go back any time you want.
I tested csipsimple and it works. If you want better battery life, the power menu that gets enabled after you unlock dev mode might allow you to downclock the cpu to get even more battery.
HerroYou has a mxm7x27 repo too: https://github.com/HerroYou/android_kernel_samsung_msm7x27
It would have been so helpful for them to leave a couple of notes about the difference. It seems like these terms might be common enough in the dev circles that they didn't think it needed explanation.
About gapps, I wasn't interested anyway, so I'll take its lack as a "feature". Not sure if microg is feasible. In any case, side-loading and F-Droid are ok for me on this device.
And yes, a backup after installing CWM but before the rom installation is essential. No intention to skip that.
oh I see the msm2x27 kernel is based on linux kernel 2.6.37 and the msm kernel is based on linux kernel 3.0
I have been reading up on things and see that most threads say you must be rooted and above version 2.3.3 to flash the cwm recovery: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...mwares-mods-tips-tricks.1397120/post-20397988
I am sorry I forgot about it. It really has been a long time since I installed it
Nice catch. In that case it is tempting to try msm with the more recent kernel 3.0.
Is there no way to flash CWM without root?
If not, is this post on rooting still valid? https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...wares-mods-tips-tricks.1397120/#post-20397899
It is to root the stock rom so it should still work since the stock rom hasn't been updated in forever. I would also recommend reading the rest of the beginning of that thread to make sure you didn't miss anything because while mostly outdated, the things like rooting the stock rom and installing cwm is still the same.
I would also just to be sure use the cwm version in the thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...mwares-mods-tips-tricks.1397120/post-20397988 and then update it to the new version.
I started downloading the resources needed for this project, but the link (actually the whole hosting site) is dead for the root gb updated.zip hmm...
There are a few other files for rooting uploaded by random forum members:
Big thread For New Users (Rooting , Flashing,Firmwares,Mods,Tips, Tricks)
This thread is collection of all available data/tutorials about samsung galaxy gio,so it may save time for you guys. -------------------------------------------- For Simpilfication each post will contain single tutorial, Main post will only used...
forum.xda-developers.com
Big thread For New Users (Rooting , Flashing,Firmwares,Mods,Tips, Tricks)
This thread is collection of all available data/tutorials about samsung galaxy gio,so it may save time for you guys. -------------------------------------------- For Simpilfication each post will contain single tutorial, Main post will only used...
forum.xda-developers.com
A bit scary, but not sure there's another choice. It would be ideal if the recovery and rom could be flashed without root.
I found a rooting tutorial with a download on this post: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...kernels-recoveries-scripts-tutorials.1623393/
It is under the tutorials section.
Again I am not sure if you have to root to be able to install cwm but I wouldn't take any risks.
Also before you install anything is there anything you want me to confirm whether it's working or not on this rom?
I got youtube to work through newpipe and mx player although you have to download the videos because at low resolutions newpipe loses audio when sending to external video player.
Thanks, that's a nice resource thread. In the second page of the rooting thread someone has a modified version of the file for Bell S5660M variant, which is what I have, so I suppose I'll use that. I would prefer to go with CWM and CM11 without rooting, since I don't need or want root, but as you say it could be risky...
Oh, it would be great if you could verify on CM11 if 1) wifi can start automatically on (re)boot (eg. if it was on when powering off or rebooting, 2) if programs like CSipSimple can be autostarted on boot. That's all I really need right now to make it useful as an wifi IP phone.
I don't know how I would go about autostarting apps on boot. Is there a setting or a test for that? The wifi stays enabled after reboot.