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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.
I have my first android phone, an HTC Desire and I am very happy with it.
But the only thing that is annoying is the low memory notification when I installed a few apps. So I search the internet found that I can "root" my phone and install a custom rom and have the possibility to use apps2sd.
Now I am a bit scared to root my phone because its just new and I dont want to brick it and I dont know if I void warranty when its rooted.
My desire came with the 2.2 froyo update it has HBOOT 0.93 on it so I don't know if this possible? I think I have the SLCD version because there's nothing of AMOLED write on the box of my phone.
So then I found a patch that can do apps2sd without root but only for 2.2 froyo so I did that and I think it worked well, only if I connect with the pc and use to set the sd card to put files on it,
put it out the pc and some widgets don't work anymore that are installed or moved to the sd card? Is this also with a rooted rom or something like that? What can I do more if I root?
Do I need to install a custom rom or root and stay on the standard 2.2 froyo rom (with I am very happy with) and then install apps2sd or something like that?
Do I notice improved performance with a custom rom? Do I lost all my settings and data when I root or install a custom rom?
Oh and if I install a custom rom will it work in my country (Belgium) because I heard about a radio version or something?
Sorry if I ask to much or all the questions are noob but I am totally new to all this and I want to know more about it.
Thanks in advance
There are two A2SD version.
The one, which is integrated in Froyo and which you currently uses, allows you to manually move parts of apps to the SD card, thus freeing up some precious internal memory. However, you shouldn't move widgets or apps which run as a service in the background, else they don't work properly any longer, just as you noticed yourself. Still, with this method you should be able to significantly extent the possible amount of installable apps.
It's also possible that you have an odd app installed which just collects a lot of trash and stroes this on the internal memory as 'data'. With the app 'DiskUsage' you can see how much each app needs and, if necessary and possible clear the data of a specific app.
The other A2SD version is only available if you root your phone and install a custom ROM with A2SD+. This method also requires an EXT3 partition on your SD-Card, next to your normal FAT32 partition. After that all the apps (including widgets), the complete apps, get automatically installed on the EXT3 partition on your SD-Card, only the 'data' which gets produced by the apps over the time, gets stored on the internal phone memory. You don't have to move some apps around, they just get installed on the EXT3 partition, which is 512MB big or larger.
There are two groups of custom ROMs:
#1: It is based on the HTC modified Android source code of, often called Sense ROMs, which you use at the moment. Developers took it, added some features like A2SD+, root, removed some bloatware, tweaked the kernel, ... So it's identical to your currently installed ROM just a bit faster, lighter and has some more features and customizable possibilities.
#2: It's is based on the original Android source code, often called AOSP ROM. (CyanogenMod is one of the most famous ones, DeFroST is based on CM) Those lack all the Sense features (Sense widgets, HTC Sync, comfortable copy paste, ...) but are much lighter, often have much more additional features and the latest tweaks.
Rooting and installing such a custom ROM means you'll have to start from the beginning on. So you'll lose everything. That's why you should backup your contacts, ... to restore them later, if possible.
Best is to install all apps manually again, and do the configuration from scratch. Later, you can easily flash updates of the specific custom roms on top of that.
You can flash two parts. The ROM and the radio. If you flash a custom ROM the radio stays untouched. However, some radios give you better battery life, signal strength, ..., also in Belgium, just take a look at the specific threads about the radios to find the best for you. But it's not necessary to flash the radio. The ROMs will work with your default radio, too.
UpSpin said:
There are two A2SD version.
The one, which is integrated in Froyo and which you currently uses, allows you to manually move parts of apps to the SD card, thus freeing up some precious internal memory. However, you shouldn't move widgets or apps which run as a service in the background, else they don't work properly any longer, just as you noticed yourself. Still, with this method you should be able to significantly extent the possible amount of installable apps.
It's also possible that you have an odd app installed which just collects a lot of trash and stroes this on the internal memory as 'data'. With the app 'DiskUsage' you can see how much each app needs and, if necessary and possible clear the data of a specific app.
The other A2SD version is only available if you root your phone and install a custom ROM with A2SD+. This method also requires an EXT3 partition on your SD-Card, next to your normal FAT32 partition. After that all the apps (including widgets), the complete apps, get automatically installed on the EXT3 partition on your SD-Card, only the 'data' which gets produced by the apps over the time, gets stored on the internal phone memory. You don't have to move some apps around, they just get installed on the EXT3 partition, which is 512MB big or larger.
There are two groups of custom ROMs:
#1: It is based on the HTC modified Android source code of, often called Sense ROMs, which you use at the moment. Developers took it, added some features like A2SD+, root, removed some bloatware, tweaked the kernel, ... So it's identical to your currently installed ROM just a bit faster, lighter and has some more features and customizable possibilities.
#2: It's is based on the original Android source code, often called AOSP ROM. (CyanogenMod is one of the most famous ones, DeFroST is based on CM) Those lack all the Sense features (Sense widgets, HTC Sync, comfortable copy paste, ...) but are much lighter, often have much more additional features and the latest tweaks.
Rooting and installing such a custom ROM means you'll have to start from the beginning on. So you'll lose everything. That's why you should backup your contacts, ... to restore them later, if possible.
Best is to install all apps manually again, and do the configuration from scratch. Later, you can easily flash updates of the specific custom roms on top of that.
You can flash two parts. The ROM and the radio. If you flash a custom ROM the radio stays untouched. However, some radios give you better battery life, signal strength, ..., also in Belgium, just take a look at the specific threads about the radios to find the best for you. But it's not necessary to flash the radio. The ROMs will work with your default radio, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer and time to explain this! So if I got it right I need to install a custom rom to enable the apps2sd feature. I heard about unrevoked that can root my desire (also if i bought it with 2.2 froyo already on it, no need to downgrade)? but the unrevoked install also an other recovery? Do I void warranty if I install another recovery? It sounds a bit dangerous?
Are there roms that improved performance while recording in 720p? no framedrops etc? or its just the camera from the device is not that good for recoding in HD? Is it worth it to root and install a custom rom?
Thanks in advance
If you root your device you will void your warranty but there are ways of unrooting.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
an Android device has different sections you can flash, like the rom, radio, recovery, ...
If you use unrevoked it will automatically flash a new recovery, necessary to perform backups, partition the SD card, ...
Yes, you'll void the warranty, but you can flash a HTC original image to unroot, install the default radio and rom, in short, set it back to the defaults.
How well the camera works depends on the rom you use. Take a look at the specific rom, like LeeDroid, and check how well the camera works.
Is it worth? For some yes, for others no.
Because you get limited by the internal memory, it is worth for you to use a custom ROM with a2sd+.
Thanks for all advice! Now its up to me if I should root or not. I am thinking about it. Thanks to all who spend time to reply all my questions!
IMPORTANT: Stable to me means little to no bugs after months of use, not hours or days. This is not a thread for experimentation
Hi there,
I'm currently using mildwild 4.3 on my original HTC desire.
The intention to begin with was to get a ROM that would be as stable as possible and would cause me as little fuss as possible and basically I could continue using with the desire until the desire itself gave up with battery, too many falls, a cracked screen etc, none of which has happened yet so is still going strong.
This phone is for business use and I don't enjoy having to change ROMS like a lot of users on the site would, I just want something that works and will give me the least amount of hassle.
The phone does restart itself on occasion but this has happened with other ROMS I've used too.
I'm not too pushed about having the latest and greatest apps and gadgets which may be offered in the latest android versions. I'm happy with what 4.3 offers, anything extra would be a bonus.
Now the issue with 4.3 again is the internal space. Right now if I go to apps > manage > all, I see I have 129MB used and 19MB free, I've been using LinksSD as an extra APP on 4.3 and have moved all I can to the SD card, so I can't free any more space. Unfortunately if I'm giving it heavy use and get a lot of emails etc, the USED/FREE ratio changes and if free gets to about 15MB, then I get the space warning and synching to the phone stops and I can't get important business information which I sync with the calendar etc.
I've managed to keep it steady around the 19mb mark but what prompted this message was the release of a new app I want which takes up 30mb as opposed to the current one on the phone taking up 10mb, I'm afraid this will use up my precious few MB and will give me the synching issues again.
So what I was wondering is, does Mildwild 5.5 (or greater) handle the internal space in a different way that as long as I have decent sized SD card, I should never have space issues with the internal memory? This is important also as both my friend and my father are having internal space issues with their original desire and if I find a solution would like to help them too.
If you could please advise on the most stable version of Mildwild for the HTC Desire and if there is one that handles the internal space differently to 4.3 and would therefore never give me internal space issues as long as I have a decent SD card inserted. 4.3 isn't the answer it seems, but hopefully there is an alternative?
Stability is of prime importance, given the phone is used and is crucial for my business and may be put on my father and friends phone too, I need to make sure I don't have to touch any phone due to bugs etc, hopefully ever! I'd also like everything to simply "work", video recording, bluetooth etc.
Any feedback, direct links to suggested ROMS etc would be greatly appreciated! I'd prefer to not stray away from Mildwild as before installing 4.3 I did a lot of research and I'd rather stick to what I know.
I would stay with oxygen, but you should update to the latest version.
abaaaabbbb63 said:
I would stay with oxygen, but you should update to the latest version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, so 4.3 is oxygen and 5.5 isn't? What's the latest oxygen do you know and does it address the space issue? What are the main reasons you suggest sticking with oxygen? Stability?
cormie said:
Thanks for the reply, so 4.3 is oxygen and 5.5 isn't? What's the latest oxygen do you know and does it address the space issue? What are the main reasons you suggest sticking with oxygen? Stability?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
5.5 is an old CM7 based Mildwild.
4.3 is an old Oxygen based Mildwild.
Newer oxygen here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1353861
I would choose oxygen because it is the most stable custom android rom I know.
And if you would like more space, either change hboot, or check the sd-card partition guide in my sig.
I concur with MW's Oxygen-based ROMs as the most stable and reliable choice for your phone. However, instead of the most recent version (called MW-4.9 JG), I'd recommend version MW-4.4.
Why? Because up until that version, the ROM base that MildWild used was Oxygen w/ roalex tweaks, and from MW-4.5 onwards he went back to pure Oxygen. I find the roalex tweaks to be a very nice extra touch to the ROM, they make it feel like a more polished, finished piece of work.
Bottom line is, it's the best ROM I ever had on my phone, and after using it for months I've yet to encounter problems with it.
Thanks a lot for the continued support folks.
Ok, so given that oxegen is the most stable, I'd like to stay with that. Would there therefore be much difference between the 4.3 I'm currently using and 4.4 and then of course, 4.9? I do like polished tweaks, but if there's more stability in 4.9 I'd rather that.
So I guess it's either stick with 4.3, update to 4.4 or update to 4.9
Now, if I update, will either 4.4 or 4.9 provide a better way to manage the internal space issue?
I'm not very technical when it comes to these things, in fact, I had to pay someone to do a teamviewer session with me to guide me through doing the ROM etc in the first place so if I can avoid another ROM install, I'd prefer that.
Will changing the hboot (haven't a clue how to do that ) or following the guide in your sig coincide with 4.3, 4.4 or 4.9 do you think and if so, will completing the guide step by step mean no more space issues as long as I've free space on my SD card?
cormie said:
Thanks a lot for the continued support folks.
Ok, so given that oxegen is the most stable, I'd like to stay with that. Would there therefore be much difference between the 4.3 I'm currently using and 4.4 and then of course, 4.9? I do like polished tweaks, but if there's more stability in 4.9 I'd rather that.
So I guess it's either stick with 4.3, update to 4.4 or update to 4.9
Now, if I update, will either 4.4 or 4.9 provide a better way to manage the internal space issue?
I'm not very technical when it comes to these things, in fact, I had to pay someone to do a teamviewer session with me to guide me through doing the ROM etc in the first place so if I can avoid another ROM install, I'd prefer that.
Will changing the hboot (haven't a clue how to do that ) or following the guide in your sig coincide with 4.3, 4.4 or 4.9 do you think and if so, will completing the guide step by step mean no more space issues as long as I've free space on my SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm also on V4.3, not upgraded because of reasons ZeGuitarist has stated, i would suggest trying to stick with it if you like the rom itself. the space issue is separate to the rom, and is because of two reasons:
- you're still on stock hboot. changing hboot allows repartitioning of internal space to use it more efficiently: currently on stock hboot your system size is 250MB, but the rom's system is only ~140MB, so you waste 110MB. this can be converted to extra data space by changing hboot to cm7r2. it's system is only 145MB, and you waste only say 5MB, and you get bigger 287MB data partition.
- you're using link2sd which you don't need to, the rom can use the ext partition by default.
what i would suggest
- backup all user apps (titanium), contacts (to google) and sms if you need to.
- nandroid backup so you have a safe point to return to
- s-off (use revolutionary, search for guides)
- change hboot to cm7r2, would recommend using fastboot (again search for guides)
- full wipe, reinstall rom
- enable applications on sd-ext by default here, do not use link2sd anymore
- restore apps
it assumes you have partitioned your sd card correctly using gparted or 4ext recovery, follow abaaaabbbb63's guide. you can check your space using apps like 'diskusage'.
this setup can have a lot more space for apps, you shouldn't have to manage your space issues on most roms as long as you know where and how things are stored before asking about "low memory"
eddiehk6 said:
i'm also on V4.3, not upgraded because of reasons ZeGuitarist has stated, i would suggest trying to stick with it if you like the rom itself. the space issue is separate to the rom, and is because of two reasons:
- you're still on stock hboot. changing hboot allows repartitioning of internal space to use it more efficiently: currently on stock hboot your system size is 250MB, but the rom's system is only ~140MB, so you waste 110MB. this can be converted to extra data space by changing hboot to cm7r2. it's system is only 145MB, and you waste only say 5MB, and you get bigger 287MB data partition.
- you're using link2sd which you don't need to, the rom can use the ext partition by default.
what i would suggest
- backup all user apps (titanium), contacts (to google) and sms if you need to.
- nandroid backup so you have a safe point to return to
- s-off (use revolutionary, search for guides)
- change hboot to cm7r2, would recommend using fastboot (again search for guides)
- full wipe, reinstall rom
- enable applications on sd-ext by default here, do not use link2sd anymore
- restore apps
it assumes you have partitioned your sd card correctly using gparted or 4ext recovery, follow abaaaabbbb63's guide. you can check your space using apps like 'diskusage'.
this setup can have a lot more space for apps, you shouldn't have to manage your space issues on most roms as long as you know where and how things are stored before asking about "low memory"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
Thanks a lot for that info, it looks like it's going to be a bit too complicated for me to do myself. I need the least amount of downtime on my phone as possible, but I've an android expert I can call on who can do these things over teamviewer so I'll see what he thinks and if he can do it.
So you're saying if I do the above, I can continue using 4.3 (or 4.4 I guess I may as well update to while I'm at it?) and should have a lot more recognised space to do for internal apps and the likes and then that's the most efficient way I can possibly make the most of the Desire?
I don't play games and I don't bother with any apps I don't have true long term use for, so hopefully if it's done right, that will be it!
cormie said:
Hey,
Thanks a lot for that info, it looks like it's going to be a bit too complicated for me to do myself. I need the least amount of downtime on my phone as possible, but I've an android expert I can call on who can do these things over teamviewer so I'll see what he thinks and if he can do it.
So you're saying if I do the above, I can continue using 4.3 (or 4.4 I guess I may as well update to while I'm at it?) and should have a lot more recognised space to do for internal apps and the likes and then that's the most efficient way I can possibly make the most of the Desire?
I don't play games and I don't bother with any apps I don't have true long term use for, so hopefully if it's done right, that will be it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's not that bad. there are guides for everything, most of us here have achieved everything by ourselves with no prior experience and without being android experts...
personally, i would recommend doing it yourself, that way you learn a bit too. much easier to work out for yourself if things go wrong. i would say that if you learnt how to do it in the first place, you'd understand the space issues a lot more.
but yes, this method just results in the same rom (or slightly upgraded one, think 4.4 had the same sd-ext settings, not sure), but with more efficient space layout for apps.
you could install 'diskusage' right now before you do anything, that will help the understanding of where your low space comes from. you'll see loads of free wasted space on /system
eddiehk6 said:
it's not that bad. there are guides for everything, most of us here have achieved everything by ourselves with no prior experience and without being android experts...
personally, i would recommend doing it yourself, that way you learn a bit too. much easier to work out for yourself if things go wrong. i would say that if you learnt how to do it in the first place, you'd understand the space issues a lot more.
but yes, this method just results in the same rom (or slightly upgraded one, think 4.4 had the same sd-ext settings, not sure), but with more efficient space layout for apps.
you could install 'diskusage' right now before you do anything, that will help the understanding of where your low space comes from. you'll see loads of free wasted space on /system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for the feedback. Given the problems I've seen this guy face before when things don't go smoothly, I think I'd rather have him at hand. I'm pretty much watching what he does and doing the phone end of things so learn as I go along anyway. I popped him a link to your post #7 above when I saw it so I'll see what he says. I'm probably going to do 3 phones at once too as my friend and father are having space issues aswell so be well worth having an expert on hand!
Actually, any chance of a link to the correct 4.4 I should be going for?
I'll drop a link later, and add some more links to my personal recommended tweaks (like island3r's modded kernel so you can use smartassV2 governor, etc.). I'll update this post.
ZEDIT: Here's the links:
- MildWild-V 4.4: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1zu8dquw2echwhd/MildWild_V-4.4.zip
- Latest Thalamus kernel modded by island3r: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=31096646&highlight=smartassv2#post31096646
- AGPS patch: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ggtgzme8bqscbq3/agps.patch.google.build.alt.v3.1.zip
- Stock bootanimation (don't flash this, manually put it in /data/local on your device's internal memory): https://www.dropbox.com/s/j3tek2gq9678lzk/bootanimation.zip
You're welcome.
Hit thanks pretty please?
Thanks a lot for that. I don't want to complicate things too much as I think I'll be doing this to 4 phones at the one time, my own, my friends, my fathers and a back up desire I have for business. What would the tweaks do exactly?
I heard back from my android expert anyway and he said the following:
To the best of my memory (And my chat records!), your phone is on the stock HBOOT with the standard partitioning. If you'd like to go all the way and repartition the phone and set up a stable ROM w/ Apps2SD and all the bells and whistles, it can definitely be done but everything will be brought back to a clean slate on all three phones (Including the contents of the SD Card) so they'll all need to be backed up.
Ideally, what we could do is...
Change the HBOOT to Cm7 R2 or Oxygen R2 (Which is a bit more lean and splits it 100MB system and 332MB data)
Flash the latest stable Cm7 or Oxygen based ROM depending on what you prefer
With clean and empty SD cards, we'll partition it for 1-2GB apps2SD and set up the ROM to use that space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I guess I should stick to Oxygen for both the Hboot and the Rom? So Mildwild 4.4 and what about the Hboot? EDIT: Just saw that eddiehk6 suggested Cm7 R2, Which would be best in my situation I wonder?
Consdering I'm having space issues in the current set up, so applications > manage > all shows 129mb used, 20mb free, how much can I expect that to change by? It wouldn't be worth all the hassle on 4 phones if it's only going to make it an extra 50mb or so, will it completely change the way the space is handled and I should have no more space issues with moderate use until the phone packs in itself?
Post updated.
I'd recommend cm7r2 HBOOT. You can expect plenty of space for user apps, if you follow these steps:
- Flash the ROM (and, optionally, the mods I posted).
- Go into system settings > applications > development > check "sd-ext" and reboot. The ROM will mount and recognise your sd-ext partition from now on.
- Go back into system settings > applications > preferred install location. Select sd-ext and reboot.
- After reboot, you can reinstall all your apps. With the above settings, apps will be installed on sd-ext by default. You can change this for any separate app at any point should you wish, though (for example, I like to keep widget I'm using on internal memory). This is one of the advantages of roalex's Oxygen mod over standard Oxygen, btw.
If you need any more help, give me a shout. Cheers!
Thanks a lot for that and for all the links above too!! Very much appreciated, I'm not too tech as I said but I'll point the other guy to your posts and we'll hopefully get all the phones sorted to make the most of them and they'll be stable as possible until they compose
ZeGuitarist said:
Post updated.
I'd recommend cm7r2 HBOOT. You can expect plenty of space for user apps, if you follow these steps:
- Flash the ROM (and, optionally, the mods I posted).
- Go into system settings > applications > development > check "sd-ext" and reboot. The ROM will mount and recognise your sd-ext partition from now on.
- Go back into system settings > applications > preferred install location. Select sd-ext and reboot.
- After reboot, you can reinstall all your apps. With the above settings, apps will be installed on sd-ext by default. You can change this for any separate app at any point should you wish, though (for example, I like to keep widget I'm using on internal memory). This is one of the advantages of roalex's Oxygen mod over standard Oxygen, btw.
If you need any more help, give me a shout. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ZeGuitarist, is there anyway to port JB transition animations to MW4.4 Oxy? framework-res.apk ll do ?
Thanks
karthikus said:
Hi ZeGuitarist, is there anyway to port JB transition animations to MW4.4 Oxy? framework-res.apk ll do ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't simply use a JB framework-res.apk on a GB rom. Best you can do is manually replace the icons and stuff
karthikus reminded me of one thing actually, in the current bluetooth settings on mildwild 4.3, it's not possible to rename bluetooth devices but apparently in ICS and JB it is, is it possible to get this functionality while doing the updates without risking stability I wonder?
It doesn't exactly solve my problem I posted about here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83280543 but it may help..
abaaaabbbb63 said:
You can't simply use a JB framework-res.apk on a GB rom. Best you can do is manually replace the icons and stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about replacing framework-res apk from latest MW Oxygen (which has JB animations) to the old version. Will it work coz they both have different base ?
I was telling my friend that I'd be able to help his memory issue and he said he found something that would give 2gb of internal memory, as opposed to the 332 or so I'd get from doing the methods above. It's described here: http://www.andreagrandi.it/2011/08/...emory-to-2gb-using-cyanogenmod-7-and-data2sd/
Does anyone know if this is indeed possible?
I have never rooted my phone, and now I want to root and flash a new ROM.
But I am looking for a very stable ROM which i can use for many months without having to update it. So which ROMs could i prefer?
If I don't like it can I return to the stack ROM? Do i have to back it up first to be able to that?
If i download a ROM like CM for example; in each update would i loose all the apps and personal informations, or would installing updates of CM ROMs be similar to stock updates which do not effect the apps and personal informations?
I would appreciate all the suggestions.
Thanks.
There are many ROMs and every one has different opportunity for USERs, such as performance or daily use, so it is hard to suggest one. But the very stable ones are CM9/10 and those ROMs based on them. You can use one of them. And for your 2nd q, it is possible to go back to your stock. Backup is not necessary but hardly recommended. And for 3rd q, if you choose one of ROMs titled ''EOL'' you won't need to upgrade it, but when you prefer Alpha or Beta ROMs, upgrading won't delete any apps or data as long as you don't any ''Wipe Data or Format''
Jok3rxL said:
There are many ROMs and every one has different opportunity for USERs, such as performance or daily use, so it is hard to suggest one. But the very stable ones are CM9/10 and those ROMs based on them. You can use one of them. And for your 2nd q, it is possible to go back to your stock. Backup is not necessary but hardly recommended. And for 3rd q, if you choose one of ROMs titled ''EOL'' you won't need to upgrade it, but when you prefer Alpha or Beta ROMs, upgrading won't delete any apps or data as long as you don't any ''Wipe Data or Format''
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
So if I don't wipe data can i switch between all the ROMs without loosing the apps or having to reinstall them once again?
Nope, it is just for upgrading current ROM such as from CM10.1 Beta 1 to CM10.1 Beta 2. But if you change ROM you need wipe data and other things because apps and data of previous ROM generally make some problems like FC App etc. when restored.
So you can just upgrade your ROM to upper version by doing only Wipe Cache and Dalvik Cache but while changing ROM you have to do full wipe (inc. Data, dalvik etc.) and this ofcourse delete all of Apps. However you can use some apps (Appsaver for example) for backing-up apk files of your apps so you wont need any connection to re-install them. It backs up apk files of apps you choose then you only install them via any file manager.
Zhoene said:
I have never rooted my phone, and now I want to root and flash a new ROM.
But I am looking for a very stable ROM which i can use for many months without having to update it. So which ROMs could i prefer?
If I don't like it can I return to the stack ROM? Do i have to back it up first to be able to that?
If i download a ROM like CM for example; in each update would i loose all the apps and personal informations, or would installing updates of CM ROMs be similar to stock updates which do not effect the apps and personal informations?
I would appreciate all the suggestions.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, i believed that there's no "very stable ROM" even with stock. Which ROM? it depends on your daily use, which you prefer battery life, performance, etc. You can always go back to stock ROM if you want just be sure you know how to do it. You can make a back-up of your entire stock ROM or just important files in external sd card like you messages and contacts. It depends actually on you on how you will do the ROM update but it is recommended to do clean installation to avoid problems.
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.