Develop Bugs

[Q] Do I understand different kinds of ROMs?

I think I'm getting all this stuff straight, but sometimes it seems like the more I read the more confused I get.
I know I could just try it out and see, but before I spend 2 hours getting dirty looks from my gf because I have my face buried in the phone, I would like to know I'm on the right track.
ROMs found in the "Original Android Developement" forum:
CM9/10 - these are experimental nightly builds, probably have bugs and probably not the best choice for a daily ROM
ROMs that say they are based on CM9/10/AOKP/MIUI/AOSP - these are more stable ROMs with parts cherry-picked from CM9/10/AOKP sources and are more likely to be suitable for daily use
I can use themes that say "a custom ROM like CyanogenMOD needed" (quote taken from the description of "Arctic Green" on the play store, I think this ROM will be refreshing, like a cool breeze on my balls) and they will have a theme chooser in settings
I need to flash GApps (If I want them)
I can still run another launcher, like Go or APEX
EDIT ADDITION: I still use stock radio/modem/firmware/AIO zips
ROMs found in the "Android Developement" forum:
With TW or without, Odexed or Deodexed these are basically modified stock (samsung based?) ROMs with no copyright issues which is why there is no need for a seperate GApps zip
I can (usually) only use themes and mods specifically made for the ROM I'm using (I understand that sometimes there are exceptions, lika a blazer theme might work on FreeGS3 and vice-cersa)
I can't use themes or mods that say "a custom ROM like CyanogenMOD needed"
Do I understand the differences? Any additions/clarifications are definately appreciated.

jmdatcs said:
I think I'm getting all this stuff straight, but sometimes it seems like the more I read the more confused I get.
I know I could just try it out and see, but before I spend 2 hours getting dirty looks from my gf because I have my face buried in the phone, I would like to know I'm on the right track.
ROMs found in the "Original Android Developement" forum:
CM9/10 - these are experimental nightly builds, probably have bugs and probably not the best choice for a daily ROM
ROMs that say they are based on CM9/10/AOKP/MIUI/AOSP - these are more stable ROMs with parts cherry-picked from CM9/10/AOKP sources and are more likely to be suitable for daily use
I can use themes that say "a custom ROM like CyanogenMOD needed" (quote taken from the description of "Arctic Green" on the play store, I think this ROM will be refreshing, like a cool breeze on my balls) and they will have a theme chooser in settings
I need to flash GApps (If I want them)
I can still run another launcher, like Go or APEX
EDIT ADDITION: I still use stock radio/modem/firmware/AIO zips
ROMs found in the "Android Developement" forum:
With TW or without, Odexed or Deodexed these are basically modified stock (samsung based?) ROMs with no copyright issues which is why there is no need for a seperate GApps zip
I can (usually) only use themes and mods specifically made for the ROM I'm using (I understand that sometimes there are exceptions, lika a blazer theme might work on FreeGS3 and vice-cersa)
I can't use themes or mods that say "a custom ROM like CyanogenMOD needed"
Do I understand the differences? Any additions/clarifications are definately appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM9 and 10 are currently in nightly stage, but that's not permanent. There will be a final, stable version of CM10 when all the bugs are squashed. As for whether they'll be good for your daily ROM, it depends on your needs. Most things in CM10 work fine as it is, but some things may be broken. Whether the broken stuff actually affects you depends on what you need your phone to do.
ROMs based on CM10 are usually not any less buggy. In fact, they will include any CM10 bugs plus whatever creeps in via the additional code, so they will most likely be more buggy than CM10.
Yes, you should be able to use the Play Store themes in Theme Chooser. Yes, you need to flash Gapps. Yes, you can use whichever launcher you like. Yes, you use the stock radio (not sure what you mean by all-in-one zips).
The ROMs in the normal development section are based on the stock OEM ROM or they are ports from other phones/ROMs. They usually don't require Gapps, not because of copyright issues, but because they are based on the stock ROM. The themes may be compatible across Touchwiz ROMs based on the same firmware, but check the theme's thread first. CM and other AOSP themes/mods are NOT compatible with Touchwiz ROMs.
I hope this clears up some things.

EndlessDissent said:
I hope this clears up some things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does, thank you.
I will be changing the OP to reflect your response and any additional info posted here later tonight so, hopefully, this will be a useful thread for other noobs.

[Q] CM rom with stock features?

There are several features the CM (or AOKP) based roms have that I would like to have (like navbar addition and customization), but I'd also like to keep many of the stock apps/features like stylus support, airview, and multi-window. I haven't been able to find this. Is anyone out there working on it or have I missed it? Might there be a zip to add much of the stock features to a CM or AOKP rom?

Poke_N_PDA said:
There are several features the CM (or AOKP) based roms have that I would like to have (like navbar addition and customization), but I'd also like to keep many of the stock apps/features like stylus support, airview, and multi-window. I haven't been able to find this. Is anyone out there working on it or have I missed it? Might there be a zip to add much of the stock features to a CM or AOKP rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't exist and 99.9% sure it never will. There are S pen apps that work on CM/AOKP like Sketchbook and Papyrus.

micahman said:
Doesn't exist and 99.9% sure it never will. There are S pen apps that work on CM/AOKP like Sketchbook and Papyrus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about a zip for installing those apps on a ROM of choice?

Poke_N_PDA said:
What about a zip for installing those apps on a ROM of choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean? A zip of the apps I mentioned or a zip of the Samsung apps that need the Touchwiz framework to run?

[Q] GS3 return to sense ui

I have a AT&T GS3 and am running cyanogenmod 10 stable version but it is set with a pure android os, and i liked all the features that the samsung nature ui offered. Would it be possible to put back the nature ui??

Vman4 said:
I have a AT&T GS3 and am running cyanogenmod 10 stable version but it is set with a pure android os, and i liked all the features that the samsung nature ui offered. Would it be possible to put back the nature ui??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. You either have to choose between AOSP or TW. TW being the original.

Vman4 said:
I have a AT&T GS3 and am running cyanogenmod 10 stable version but it is set with a pure android os, and i liked all the features that the samsung nature ui offered. Would it be possible to put back the nature ui??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you want to return your phone to factory touchwiz style and settings, i've attached a link. these are the stock firmwares for each carrier. download the correct one and there ya go. i've also attached a link with directions for using odin to flash if this is what you're wanting to do. read over this and understand what you're doing before proceeding. cheers
stock firmware (touchwiz): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1968625&highlight=stock+firmware
odin software and samsung drivers: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1671969

personally i'd prefer AOSP roms better than touchwiz
there are only a few things i really love from TW like the S Notes...
but again if you want TW, just download stock rom and flash it with odin
alternatively you can actually download TW theme for your CM/AOKP rom too(if you want to stick with CM/AOKP/AOSP roms while want the TW looks and feel)

I dont really want all of the bloatware by just flashing a stock one. Im a noob to this, could i flash a different kernal??

Vman4 said:
I dont really want all of the bloatware by just flashing a stock one. Im a noob to this, could i flash a different kernal??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I mentioned, you can't have TW on a AOSP ROM. But you can flash a custom TW ROM if you really want those features. You'll find them in the Dev section (not the original).
There are also debloated stock firmware on here but after getting a taste of custom ROM, I believe you'll want to stick with them

Vman4 said:
I dont really want all of the bloatware by just flashing a stock one. Im a noob to this, could i flash a different kernal??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are several solid roms in the android development section are debloated versions of stock touchwiz. all the garbage has been removed and some cool features have been added in. i've heard the cs rom and graviton are good. read up on these and make sure you understand how our phones work in general. i wouldnt start playing around with roms, kernels, etc until you know more. wouldnt want to see your phone bricked.

How do I know the difference between TW and AOSP?

I know what they stand for but I'm looking to apply a tweak from TK and everywhere I read "TW will not work with AOSP and vice versa" so how do I know if I have a TW rom or an AOSP rom? I'm on LiquidSmooth which I believe to be AOSP, but how do I know for sure? Also what is the difference between a factory/data reset and wiping the system entirely? Because in TWRP there is an option to Wipe Data and an option to Wipe System, and I always choose to Wipe data before I flash anything but when I click "System" it says "This will wipe your ROM" which sounds safer before flashing a new ROM to me, but then again with just wiping data I've never had a problem with flashing a ROM.

sevenpioverthree said:
I know what they stand for but I'm looking to apply a tweak from TK and everywhere I read "TW will not work with AOSP and vice versa" so how do I know if I have a TW rom or an AOSP rom? I'm on LiquidSmooth which I believe to be AOSP, but how do I know for sure? Also what is the difference between a factory/data reset and wiping the system entirely? Because in TWRP there is an option to Wipe Data and an option to Wipe System, and I always choose to Wipe data before I flash anything but when I click "System" it says "This will wipe your ROM" which sounds safer before flashing a new ROM to me, but then again with just wiping data I've never had a problem with flashing a ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try typing in those questions in Google or the search here on XDA I bet you find an answer real fast. Also if you don't know the difference bewtween AOSP and TW I would suggest not doing any tweaking or your next post might be, I BRICKED MY PHONE HELP.

TW or Touchwiz is a proprietary layer that Samsung places on top of the android operating system; it requires it's own set of framework which enables it to give u that fancy user experience. When u first bought your Samsung phone i.e. galaxy s3, u will notice that it comes preloaded with TW. On the other hand, AOSP is basically the pure android experience, if u ever seen or played with nexus phone, then u will notice the difference in layout and graphics. AOSP has it's own set of framework thus making it incompatible with TW. Although some devs have been able to port certain apps from one system to another. That's why u have to be really careful when flashing kernels, make sure they're compatible with the ROM u are CURRENTLY running on ur phone.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

GiantJay said:
Try typing in those questions in Google or the search here on XDA I bet you find an answer real fast. Also if you don't know the difference bewtween AOSP and TW I would suggest not doing any tweaking or your next post might be, I BRICKED MY PHONE HELP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried doing a search but nothing seemed to answer my question. Also I've been doing some tweaking here and there for educational purposes, nothing major just followed some UV tables and governor values. I have yet to use one of the TK tweaks due to my lack of understanding of the difference between TW and AOSP. Thanks for the concern but I'm really cautious with this stuff, my first time rooting/flashing was 100% success because I did my research
tino_b said:
TW or Touchwiz is a proprietary layer that Samsung places on top of the android operating system; it requires it's own set of framework which enables it to give u that fancy user experience. When u first bought your Samsung phone i.e. galaxy s3, u will notice that it comes preloaded with TW. On the other hand, AOSP is basically the pure android experience, if u ever seen or played with nexus phone, then u will notice the difference in layout and graphics. AOSP has it's own set of framework thus making it incompatible with TW. Although some devs have been able to port certain apps from one system to another. That's why u have to be really careful when flashing kernels, make sure they're compatible with the ROM u are CURRENTLY running on ur phone.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So essentially, most custom ROMs are AOSP unless otherwise stated? And then these TW kernels are usually targetted towards people with rooted phones on the stock ROM correct?

sevenpioverthree said:
I tried doing a search but nothing seemed to answer my question. Also I've been doing some tweaking here and there for educational purposes, nothing major just followed some UV tables and governor values. I have yet to use one of the TK tweaks due to my lack of understanding of the difference between TW and AOSP. Thanks for the concern but I'm really cautious with this stuff, my first time rooting/flashing was 100% success because I did my research
So essentially, most custom ROMs are AOSP unless otherwise stated? And then these TW kernels are usually targetted towards people with rooted phones on the stock ROM correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. There are plenty of touchwiz custom roms, actually probably more than aosp roms. The easiest way to tell if you have touchwiz would be to look at your system apps. If you have touchwiz home or a bunch of apps with sec in the name for example sec_phone.apk or sec settings.apk you're on a touchwiz rom. And yes you really do need to do a whole lot more research if you can't figure out which kind of rom you're on or you will end up doing something to your phone you won't like, most likely turning it into a really nice looking doorstop
☆SoA: Son's of Android™☆
I like to break stuff!

I know its pretty difficult when the dev doesnt explicitly say whether its a tw or aosp build. i tried to compile a list of common roms and make a wiki out of them. the wiki is sortable so it should be able to help you out. from there you can flash individual roms and see the differences yourself
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2189817

Hamspiced said:
I know its pretty difficult when the dev doesnt explicitly say whether its a tw or aosp build. i tried to compile a list of common roms and make a wiki out of them. the wiki is sortable so it should be able to help you out. from there you can flash individual roms and see the differences yourself
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2189817
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Hamspiced,
I've been trying to link people to your Wiki. Would you prefer if I linked to your thread or directly to the Wiki?

topherk said:
Hey Hamspiced,
I've been trying to link people to your Wiki. Would you prefer if I linked to your thread or directly to the Wiki?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Id prefer the thread. the more foot traffic it gets, the more likely it is to be stickied/devs update it.
I dont have the time to stay up to date on new roms/kernels all the time and id like it to stay rather relevant. it isnt locked so people can ask quesitons if need be on it.

Hamspiced said:
Id prefer the thread. the more foot traffic it gets, the more likely it is to be stickied/devs update it.
I dont have the time to stay up to date on new roms/kernels all the time and id like it to stay rather relevant. it isnt locked so people can ask quesitons if need be on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I bookmarked the thread in my "commonly linked XDA" folder. Hope your wiki takes off, it's really something we've needed.

All you have to do is look at the size of the rom, TW roms are usually bigger than 400 meg, while aosp roms are in the 100-200 meg range. If your zip is big then it is TW, if not then its AOSP

Hamspiced said:
I know its pretty difficult when the dev doesnt explicitly say whether its a tw or aosp build. i tried to compile a list of common roms and make a wiki out of them. the wiki is sortable so it should be able to help you out. from there you can flash individual roms and see the differences yourself
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2189817
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also have Rom lists, broken down to tw and aosp in my FAQ, I keep it up to date always as I am always on xda, lol... along with that I also have kernels, broken down between tw and aosp, most common mods, and all the modems and prls in there also....
SPRINT GS3 FAQ

"official" Lollipop/Marshmallow on i9195

good morning.
I'd like to know if there's any way to get an official (I mean directly from Google) Lollipop/Marshmallow rom and flash it on an i9195 and, if yes, what's the procedure to do that.
I don't mean custom roms that we can all find even here but just basic ones.
maybe I'm asking something strange/obvious, I bag your pardon but I'm not so expert...
thanx

frac82 said:
good morning.
I'd like to know if there's any way to get an official (I mean directly from Google) Lollipop/Marshmallow rom and flash it on an i9195 and, if yes, what's the procedure to do that.
I don't mean custom roms that we can all find even here but just basic ones.
maybe I'm asking something strange/obvious, I bag your pardon but I'm not so expert...
thanx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Basically you have the "official" touchwiz rom for your region/carrier/device(developed by Samsung and the carrier) and you have custom roms.
Only Nexus devices have vanilla AOSP roms that are more or less stock android. It is possible to have stock AOSP on this device but it is a LOT of work for a developer to get it to work properly. This is why most roms are based on CM because of the existing development and code base

noppy22 said:
No. Basically you have the "official" touchwiz rom for your region/carrier/device(developed by Samsung and the carrier) and you have custom roms.
Only Nexus devices have vanilla AOSP roms that are more or less stock android. It is possible to have stock AOSP on this device but it is a LOT of work for a developer to get it to work properly. This is why most roms are based on CM because of the existing development and code base
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you very much.
may I ask, due to my lack of experience, what do AOSP & CM mean?

frac82 said:
thank you very much.
may I ask, due to my lack of experience, what do AOSP & CM mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AOSP is Android Open Source Project
http://m.androidcentral.com/android-z-what-aosp
&
CM is Cyanogenmod
Sent from my Galaxy S4 Mini using XDA Labs

I see there are 2 roms for S4 Mini on the Cyanogenmod website, one is the serrano3gxx and the other is the serranoltexx: what do they mean? how should I find out which to choose?

frac82 said:
I see there are 2 roms for S4 Mini on the Cyanogenmod website, one is the serrano3gxx and the other is the serranoltexx: what do they mean? how should I find out which to choose?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3gxx is i9190. Ltexx is i9195
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA-Developers mobile app

I keep asking down here because I don't want to overload the forum, even though this new question of mine could be in another post: as I flash a new rom I guess I'm getting a "bulk" android, so does anybody know if there's a "good" (i.e. reliable and working!) tool/app/mod/wth that can bring TouchWiz back on the device?
I feel very comfortable with Samsung's TouchWiz and wouldn't like to lose it...
thanx again

frac82 said:
I keep asking down here because I don't want to overload the forum, even though this new question of mine could be in another post: as I flash a new rom I guess I'm getting a "bulk" android, so does anybody know if there's a "good" (i.e. reliable and working!) tool/app/mod/wth that can bring TouchWiz back on the device?
I feel very comfortable with Samsung's TouchWiz and wouldn't like to lose it...
thanx again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish more XDA users would think before they overload or post off-topic in threads.
When you flash a custom rom, you are entirely overwriting the /system partition. This is where the touchwiz rom also needs to reside. To flash a stock touchwiz rom you need a tool called Odin(for windows; Heimdall is similar but works on Linux). You can get Odin from a lot of different places, I found one in here, there are a few versions but this one works well in my experience.
You can search for youtube tutorials or tutorials on XDA for how to use Odin. Search for "stock rom i9195" or "Odin tutorial" or something....
All you need then is the touchwiz rom in .tar.md5 format which you can get from a number of sites including sammobile.com and samsung-updates.com. You will get a .zip file which when unzipped gives you the .tar.md5 file. Be aware that most of these sites require a premium membership for fast downloads. You can still download at slow sppeds but it is really slow. Just choose the latest rom for your region

sorry, maybe I didn't understand well: can I put touchwiz back on a CM custom rom or not?

frac82 said:
sorry, maybe I didn't understand well: can I put touchwiz back on a CM custom rom or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, Touchwiz needs Samsung proprietary files etc to work.
Edit; but you may be able to get a similar feel by applying a "touchwiz" theme, but it's not real touchwiz
Sent from my Galaxy S4 Mini using XDA Labs

frac82 said:
sorry, maybe I didn't understand well: can I put touchwiz back on a CM custom rom or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's either one or the other. When you flash a custom rom it completely wipes the /system partition(either manually or automatically within the installer script). Normally you need to wipe your data as well because of incompatibilities.
So, you don't "put touchwiz on" the custom rom or vice versa. You replace the whole operating system. Hope that makes it clearer

:crying:
what do you think about these things I found on Google Play?
CM13/12.x Galaxy S7
CM13/12.X GalaxyUI Themes
CM12.x/CM13 Galaxy S6
TouchWiz for CM13
TouchWiz Style CM12 Theme
Touchwhiz Apex/Nova Theme

noppy22 said:
3gxx is i9190. Ltexx is i9195
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now on LineageOS there's also a serranodsdd: is it for dual sim...?!?