Wipe -> Flash -> Test... Wipe -> Flash -> Test ... The Neverending Story!!! - Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Wipe -> Flash -> Test... Wipe -> Flash -> Test ... The Neverending Story!!!
I took some time to return back to pure stock Android to see what I was missing from the great custom roms. From the minute your first boot completes, two things happen: You feel comforted as you know that everything works as expected. You feel the stability and safety as your phone probably won't play any weird tricks to you. But as you go through your settings, pulling down your notification panel or pressing the power menu (and probably a million other things!) you see that all the extra things you were used to are not there. Confusion is the next thing to occur as you may indeed like the polished look and safe playing - ahhh, the original firmware on your device -, but you would definately like your phone to do more things.
Most of us, like to make the most of our devices. So we try custom roms, kernels, radios, themes...the list is endless...to find the golden rule in order for our phone to look and perform the best possible. Developers come up with new and innovative ideas most of the time and testers try their mods in order to provide feedback for things to get better. This is a nice thing and I guess this is called evolution or progress, name it what you like. It's an addictive process for both ends, especially for devs as the joy of making something work the way they pictured it to be, is the most rewarding thing in the world and for the end user the joy of helping devs out and by having the latest and the greatest is a reason to make their day.
But let's get focused on the end user. Wiping and flashing...wiping and flashing...it's a vicious circle man! Everybody's searching for the holy grail, the ultimate rom for their device. But guess what...YOU'LL NEVER GONNA GET IT! Why? Concerning custom roms and as the updates are very frequent, even if you have flashed a version with the minimum bugs possible, the next one will probably have an annoying or critical bug. So either you wait for an update or you start searching for a rom similar to the one you use in order to avoid a certain issue. So as you guess, this is a neverending road trip! And the truth is that after a year or two flashing a million of things on your phone, your device gets old and you probably thinking of upgrading to a newer model. Which of course you need to try it's true potentials, so you will start testing things again... What you realise is you as the end user, you never trully enjoy your phone as it has become a "lab rat", constantly under testing.
So what's the "cure" for you? You can spend some time flashing all different kinds of roms and kernels. When it comes to roms, look for the features that you think suits your needs the most and will be used on a daily basis more or less. I know that a million other features might seem cool to you but if you are not gonna use them they are useless to you. The truth is that we are living in a world were more is better but you need to focus on what is really useful to you. Do not forget that the more the features on a rom, probably the more the possibility of issues to occur or the more the battery consumption. So look for something that is not extremely overloaded with all mods available outhere. Look more for stabiltiy and a little less for performance.
To end this...by doing the above, you already provided feedback on devs the time you were trying things, so you helped them improve their work, and by settling down to a specific rom, you will start enjoying your phone and you'll have a device that suits your daily needs. In the end, even if you still haven't got that, you will need to settle down on something. Otherwise you are doomed to play a role in the "Neverending Story" movie!!!

I got my GN on Oct 16th, played with it on stock ROM for a couple of weeks, then 4.1.2 came out so decided to root it and install Paranoid Android 2.54 on Nov 8th...
Running/loving it since.
No theme, just tablet mode.
Of course I've also customized things more to my likings:
Flash player
4.2 swipe keyboard
S4 gallery/camera
Nova launcher
Pie pro
Easy eyes
Llama
Lag fix

For me it's just Flash -> Test -> Flash -> Test, haven't done any wiping since the last few months and I can run a multitude of different ROMs (MIUI excluded) fine. If there are something that FCs constantly, I just clear its data.
I only test out different ROMs when I'm in the mood. When it's just the usual daily routine I use CM 10.1 nightlies since, in my opinion, they are one of the more reliable ROMs. CyanDelta also makes the whole process a lot easier. If I'm going somewhere without internet access for more than a few days, I slap CM 10.1.2 on my GNex and it's ready to go.
Running CM hasn't caused me any issues so far (like not being able to make a call, or GPS suddenly fails to work). I prefer the constant flashing rather than staying on the same firmware for weeks.

True. Personally I've settled with stock Google image since 4.1.1 came out and I use my spare time elsewhere then OCD'ing over "omg new nightly". Using the phone can be more fun.

Just wanted to say, thanks for getting The Neverending Story theme song in my head. lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FM-ZkTTLMA

Related

Why Root

I have one question....
Why root a phone? I had my phone rooted and honestly it was a complete waste of time. NONE of the Roms I downloaded ever worked properly, the apps never worked, and it was nothing but trouble for me. My phone always "force close" my apps too. No offense to the developers I just didn't see a benefit.
Am I wrong?
With root you can
1. Run custom ROMs to make your phone your own
2. Remove bloat
3. Tether for free .99
4. Install custom kernels & voltages to increase your batter life or speed up your phone
That's just a few I can think of off the top. Don't think that magic will happen just because you root your phone...your phone can be rooted and still behave exactly how it did prior to root.
Root makes it possible to customize your phone to your liking. You can change the look and feel of just about everything. Root is also great for making battery life better or making your phone snappier by installing custom kernels and root only aps. I agree with you that a lot of roms are buggy and can be a pain, but some people like the trouble shooting aspect of figuring something out and making it work. I my self usually stick to the stock or mostly stock roms, and then remove, change, add features that i want. Without root your stuck with what htc and verizon gives you. Its all about freedom and choice and the ability to make your phone look how you want, and do the things you want it to do.
I am relatively new to rooting (this past summer), but what it gave me was a vastly superior phone to what I used to use. I have flashed about 5 ROMS - two Cyanogen Mod and three Sense based ROMS - out of the 5, I only had big problems with one. The other 4 made my phone faster, smoother, and gave me access to some apps (Titanium Backup, Font Changer) that have allowed me to customize my phone to my liking. It's made me change when I was hoping to get a new phone (now I don't care that much - yet) and I literally feel like I've had new phones every time I flash another ROM.
Doing it successfully also required that I read A LOT about phones, hardware, software, etc. - geeky stuff - that I didn't know. (I'm still learning a lot.)
So, maybe you're just not that into your phone and the geeky stuff?
epescina said:
I had my phone rooted and honestly it was a complete waste of time. NONE of the Roms I downloaded ever worked properly, the apps never worked, and it was nothing but trouble for me. My phone always "force close" my apps too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like your phone is afflicted with the common PEBKAC bug.
Given that, I think you are making the right decision by not rooting in the future.
For those genuinely wondering about the benefits of root, you can check the various stickies throughout this forum or the hundreds of articles that have been written about it. Alternatively, you could do a market search for "root only" to see all the unique apps. Or you could read about what custom roms offer. Or custom kernels. Or a host of other things.
If you don't know why you want to root, you probably shouldn't be rooting.
byrong said:
It sounds like your phone is afflicted with the common PEBKAC bug.
Given that, I think you are making the right decision by not rooting in the future.
For those genuinely wondering about the benefits of root, you can check the various stickies throughout this forum or the hundreds of articles that have been written about it. Alternatively, you could do a market search for "root only" to see all the unique apps. Or you could read about what custom roms offer. Or custom kernels. Or a host of other things.
If you don't know why you want to root, you probably shouldn't be rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PEBKAC bug? I'm assuming thats stands for something smart lol.
Edit: Haha nevermind i figured it out.
ummm, cuz its awesome...i feel like i escaped from alcatraz
Thanks for all of the great post guys! They were all very informative!
I guess it's true, I must educate myself more about rooting. I always assumed my phone would work better, allow me to use custom roms (that actually worked), and apps that were root only.
I jailbroke my ipod and other devices and they were easy to do and use and not to mention stable. I guess I was expecting the same outcome here.
Why wouldn't you root your phone? All it does is give you full access to your own device. If you don't follow directions and/or load a buggy rom it has nothing to do with rooting.
If you're having that kind of trouble with ROMs, you're doing something wrong (unless you're using AOSP, then you're ALWAYS going to have issues.) I simply won't use a ROM that isn't stable. I probably won't stick with one long even if it is stable and patched together like some Frankenstein chocked full of scripts and patches to make it work. Reliability is the top priority for me. There used to be devs on this device that valued that more than they seem to now, with a few exceptions. Most of them, from using them, are buggy, unstable projects that probably shouldn't have ever been released as anything but experimental betas. Some of them, like WildStang's, are VERY reliable. Just gotta do your research. This is a totally different world than Apple, and a LOT more powerful.
loonatik78 said:
If you're having that kind of trouble with ROMs, you're doing something wrong (unless you're using AOSP, then you're ALWAYS going to have issues.) I simply won't use a ROM that isn't stable. I probably won't stick with one long even if it is stable and patched together like some Frankenstein chocked full of scripts and patches to make it work. Reliability is the top priority for me. There used to be devs on this device that valued that more than they seem to now, with a few exceptions. Most of them, from using them, are buggy, unstable projects that probably shouldn't have ever been released as anything but experimental betas. Some of them, like WildStang's, are VERY reliable. Just gotta do your research. This is a totally different world than Apple, and a LOT more powerful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say that I have had zero issues with cm7 and most aosp ROMs out for this phone. sounds like you're doing something wrong.
cm7 gives you so many opportunities for customization and runs so flawlessly I will not be running sense again. Galaxy nexus here I come barring some glaring issue with it, i'm done with HTC for awhile.
Sounds to me like the OP hasn't properly wiped all data before flashing his roms.
br125 said:
I have to say that I have had zero issues with cm7 and most aosp ROMs out for this phone. sounds like you're doing something wrong.
cm7 gives you so many opportunities for customization and runs so flawlessly I will not be running sense again. Galaxy nexus here I come barring some glaring issue with it, i'm done with HTC for awhile.
Sounds to me like the OP hasn't properly wiped all data before flashing his roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've flashed at about a dozen different versions of CM on that phone. Of those 3 or so didn't even boot. Of the ones that did, they had some kind of issue that couldn't be remedied like quirky screen brightness, reboots and FC's right off the bat. Of the couple of versions that made it past the first day, only one lasted more than a couple weeks before getting REALLY weird. A friend with an identical phone had a very similar experience. What's more, CM hasn't proven to be any more reliable on the EVOs I've flashed it on. In fact, about half the versions don't even boot. I've been doing this long enough to know I'm not doing it wrong. CM just sucks if reliability is a required trait.
loonatik78 said:
I've flashed at about a dozen different versions of CM on that phone. Of those 3 or so didn't even boot. Of the ones that did, they had some kind of issue that couldn't be remedied like quirky screen brightness, reboots and FC's right off the bat. Of the couple of versions that made it past the first day, only one lasted more than a couple weeks before getting REALLY weird. A friend with an identical phone had a very similar experience. What's more, CM hasn't proven to be any more reliable on the EVOs I've flashed it on. In fact, about half the versions don't even boot. I've been doing this long enough to know I'm not doing it wrong. CM just sucks if reliability is a required trait.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that is the furthest from the truth of anything I've ever read. Go to the cm thread and write that. I've been on cm for a looong time without any FC's, reboots, or anything quirky. Stop spewing false opinions as fact, you're not helping anything.
Also, how could such an unreliable, buggy ROM be the most popular over a plethora of devices? Think about it.
Sounds like that nasty PEBKAC bug. I'm on CM 7.1 and it's been heaven. Almost everything works BETTER than stock.
For example, my car (Cruze 2011) can't utilize my phones contacts over Bluetooth on my stock sense rom. If I allow the car access to my phonebook, my Bluetooth will drop in and out and not work properly. So I have to tap "don't allow" and even though I checkmark the "remember my decision" box, it comes up every time I get in my car unless I grant it access. Annoying? Lets just say I'm thankful for the cyanogen team. Works absolutely flawless.
I adore the new lockscreen in 7.1. It's like a reverse sense 3.0 style where instead of dragging the apps to the ring, you drag the ring to the app. I still overall prefer the sense 3.0 lockscreen, but to get that I have to sacrifice a lot of stability. There are lists upon lists of features that make CM7 the rom to be on.
The one thing I will concede about CM7 is the auto brightness is a bit wonky. There are auto brightness tweaks you can mess with but something like that should work out of the box, so to speak. Another could-be annoyance is the heavy emphasis on customization, since CM comes pretty bare. CM9, however, will be feature rich per ICS.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
screenshot
For one thing, you can't even take a screen shot without rooting. If you want a stable phone that is mostly stock, you can root, install ShootMe, and call it a day. Of course, it looks like they're finally fixing that fatal flaw with ICS (which this phone will never see from HTC).
loonatik78 said:
If you're having that kind of trouble with ROMs, you're doing something wrong (unless you're using AOSP, then you're ALWAYS going to have issues.) I simply won't use a ROM that isn't stable. I probably won't stick with one long even if it is stable and patched together like some Frankenstein chocked full of scripts and patches to make it work. Reliability is the top priority for me. There used to be devs on this device that valued that more than they seem to now, with a few exceptions. Most of them, from using them, are buggy, unstable projects that probably shouldn't have ever been released as anything but experimental betas. Some of them, like WildStang's, are VERY reliable. Just gotta do your research. This is a totally different world than Apple, and a LOT more powerful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, you seem to be the first to admit that most ROMS are unstable and buggy which is what really turned me away from most roms! I researched over and over and couldn't find stable roms, they all claim they are stable but that was never the case.
br125 said:
I have to say that I have had zero issues with cm7 and most aosp ROMs out for this phone. sounds like you're doing something wrong.
cm7 gives you so many opportunities for customization and runs so flawlessly I will not be running sense again. Galaxy nexus here I come barring some glaring issue with it, i'm done with HTC for awhile.
Sounds to me like the OP hasn't properly wiped all data before flashing his roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what is the proper way to wipe all data before flashing? I thought all you had to do was select the two flash boxes and run it!
epescina said:
So what is the proper way to wipe all data before flashing? I thought all you had to do was select the two flash boxes and run it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's your problem, you're using ROM Manager to flash/install ROMs. You need to boot your phone into ClockworkMod Recovery and install it from there. Once in CWM Recovery, do:
1. Go into Recovery
2. Clear data: Wipe user data/factory reset
Mounts and Storage - format /system, format /boot, format /data, format /cache
Advanced - Wipe Dalvik, Wipe Battery Stats
3. Select Install zip file from SD Card, browse to the ROM zip file, select it with touch pad to install
epescina said:
So what is the proper way to wipe all data before flashing? I thought all you had to do was select the two flash boxes and run it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't use Rom manager. Boot into recovery and factory reset/wipe all user data, then flash the Rom. It also doesn't hurt to wipe dalvik cache and format the system if you are still having issues.
If you post in the thread of the Rom you're trying to flash, the users may have some more 'rom specific' instructions.
Sorry for getting off topic before, but I can't stand someone spreading false information about a very good Rom that may cause someone like you to not try it, when in all reality you may enjoy it, as very many droid incredible users do.
Edit: Try what he said above me too. That is almost an overkill amount of wiping, but it can almost guarantee that you won't have issues with the flash.
br125 said:
Don't use Rom manager. Boot into recovery and factory reset/wipe all user data, then flash the Rom. It also doesn't hurt to wipe dalvik cache and format the system if you are still having issues.
If you post in the thread of the Rom you're trying to flash, the users may have some more 'rom specific' instructions.
Sorry for getting off topic before, but I can't stand someone spreading false information about a very good Rom that may cause someone like you to not try it, when in all reality you may enjoy it, as very many droid incredible users do.
Edit: Try what he said above me too. That is almost an overkill amount of wiping, but it can almost guarantee that you won't have issues with the flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is true, probably overkill, but doesn't take long at all to do, and haven't had any issues yet installing any ROM. Battery Stats is an optional wipe.

[REQ] JB Nav Bar to Soft Key Area [Toro]

I have been looking for a couple of weeks, but I can't find anything that is just this. I don't know much about development, so I wouldn't know how to take what someone else has done and modify it to how I want.
Basically, I am wanting a Paranoid Android soft key area. I want to get rid of the nav bar up top and move my clock, battery, signal, wifi, etc. to the bottom with the soft keys. That is the only change I really want to make.
I know that this is one of the premier features of Paranoid Android, but it is my understanding that PA for JB is based on CM10 and still has a lot of bugs to flesh out, especially on the CDMA/Toro version. Also, I do not know enough to figure out the tablet mode, hybrid mode, and regular mode stuff, especially since some of it is done in ADB (again, my understanding of it, I could be wrong).
Is it possible to do only what I described without flashing to PA for JB? I feel like some of the modifications I have seen posted in this forum come close to this, but the ones I remember off the top of my head move only the clock to the bottom.
Thanks to anyone who can help.
May I ask, why you dont want to flash PA? what bugs are keeping you from flashing?
I am currently running it and there are no real bugs, that irritate me (I dont use bluetooth^^)
And since a new build will be coming very soon even the toro devices should be fine aswell.
Nordpolcamper said:
May I ask, why you dont want to flash PA? what bugs are keeping you from flashing?
I am currently running it and there are no real bugs, that irritate me (I dont use bluetooth^^)
And since a new build will be coming very soon even the toro devices should be fine aswell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will definitely flash PA in the future, I would just prefer to wait until all the bugs are kicked.
First, I need to be able to be reached on my phone all day and by email (which I check 95% of on my phone) at all times. Apparently there is a problem with gmail on PA right now, as well as other smaller bugs. While I can't name any specifically that I remember, I do know the developer himself is calling it very alpha. While I love the developer-made ROMs, I also need stability, at least until the summer is over and I'm back in school.
Second, it is my understanding (I love that saying, obviously) that you have to do a full wipe each time you flash a new version of any CM-based ROM. Because I hate having to re-download and re-log into all of my apps (especially ones that need credit card numbers), I usually stay on stable ROMs that allow me to dirty flash when newer versions are released. I know there are ways around this, but I don't know enough to get around it at the moment nor do I have time to learn how to do it until school starts back up.
TexPP said:
I will definitely flash PA in the future, I would just prefer to wait until all the bugs are kicked.
First, I need to be able to be reached on my phone all day and by email (which I check 95% of on my phone) at all times. Apparently there is a problem with gmail on PA right now, as well as other smaller bugs. While I can't name any specifically that I remember, I do know the developer himself is calling it very alpha. While I love the developer-made ROMs, I also need stability, at least until the summer is over and I'm back in school.
Second, it is my understanding (I love that saying, obviously) that you have to do a full wipe each time you flash a new version of any CM-based ROM. Because I hate having to re-download and re-log into all of my apps (especially ones that need credit card numbers), I usually stay on stable ROMs that allow me to dirty flash when newer versions are released. I know there are ways around this, but I don't know enough to get around it at the moment nor do I have time to learn how to do it until school starts back up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well that gmail issue is a myth^^ you can simply change the dpi to phone and everything works flawless
Furthermore moles said, that form 1.7 onwards you wont need a factory reset anymore^^
Nordpolcamper said:
well that gmail issue is a myth^^ you can simply change the dpi to phone and everything works flawless
Furthermore moles said, that form 1.7 onwards you wont need a factory reset anymore^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. I just sent you a PM regarding some of what I said, but I sent it before seeing this reply. I may try to jump on PA tonight if it is working better.

[Q] Rootbox 4.2.1 2/12/13 Release Issues/Help

I cannot post in the development section, so here is my issues with the latest release 2/12/13.
Voice search crashes...maybe related to the newest GApps? Though I used the most recent release with the 1/24/13 release and voice search worked great. But I use it with this release, I get a white screen, then usually back to home screen...but intermittently my phone will restart itself.
Next issue is still the camera...it's mostly okay, but sometimes still freezes/crashes. Though it's stability has improved so far...though I'm not quite 24hrs in.
Then there is scrabble...it crashed the hell outta my phone, like to the point I had to hold the power button for about 30 seconds because the phone hardlocked and the graphics went blocky (never had that happen on the last release, even tried reinstalling)...the gf and I play back and forth, and I actually re-installed this release after not only wiping the caches like I did the first time, but wiped all data as well.
The Android Keyboard still crashes...but I am used to a different keyboard now anyways so not too big of a deal..would be nice to not have to install something else to do that job though. But fwir it seems to be a rom wide situation.
My last issue isn't necessarily related to this ROM...but to SDSwap_4.2.1. How do you install it? I try installing the zip through Team Win Install and it fails every time. I see no instructions for that version, but I did find a thread from July that has some instructions using a file manager that I may try. I have a 16gb sd card I would like to use for apps and what-not. Can I get any pointers? I am continuing my search but I would like some experienced help as well please.
Aside from that it seems to operate a little faster, but also seems to consume batteries a little faster, but I have the Hyperion 3500mAh batteries so not a huge deal. I like it, but I think I am going to go back to the last release as it seems far less buggy in my experience. Thanks to those behind these roms, I haven't tried anything else aside from Rootbox. I am looking forward to future releases and enjoying this phone for a long time.
Kursah said:
I cannot post in the development section, so here is my issues with the latest release 2/12/13.
Voice search crashes...maybe related to the newest GApps? Though I used the most recent release with the 1/24/13 release and voice search worked great. But I use it with this release, I get a white screen, then usually back to home screen...but intermittently my phone will restart itself.
Next issue is still the camera...it's mostly okay, but sometimes still freezes/crashes. Though it's stability has improved so far...though I'm not quite 24hrs in.
Then there is scrabble...it crashed the hell outta my phone, like to the point I had to hold the power button for about 30 seconds because the phone hardlocked and the graphics went blocky (never had that happen on the last release, even tried reinstalling)...the gf and I play back and forth, and I actually re-installed this release after not only wiping the caches like I did the first time, but wiped all data as well.
The Android Keyboard still crashes...but I am used to a different keyboard now anyways so not too big of a deal..would be nice to not have to install something else to do that job though. But fwir it seems to be a rom wide situation.
My last issue isn't necessarily related to this ROM...but to SDSwap_4.2.1. How do you install it? I try installing the zip through Team Win Install and it fails every time. I see no instructions for that version, but I did find a thread from July that has some instructions using a file manager that I may try. I have a 16gb sd card I would like to use for apps and what-not. Can I get any pointers? I am continuing my search but I would like some experienced help as well please.
Aside from that it seems to operate a little faster, but also seems to consume batteries a little faster, but I have the Hyperion 3500mAh batteries so not a huge deal. I like it, but I think I am going to go back to the last release as it seems far less buggy in my experience. Thanks to those behind these roms, I haven't tried anything else aside from Rootbox. I am looking forward to future releases and enjoying this phone for a long time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need to use my gapps ...1/20/2013 ... battery issues come from kernel .... use the swapsd zip in the aosp patches section ...
:good:
Well I flashed your gApps, now things are working much much better! Also used teh SwapSD zip from the AOSP section and that worked like a charm as well. Mind if I ask what the one on your Rootbox page is for then? Any way to add a note to that page to not use that one or a link to the one on the AOSP Mods page?
Thanks again for your hard work on Rootbox...it is so nice and smooth and now much more stable. I appreciate your efforts and will be donating when my next paycheck comes around. Cheers!
EDIT: Also I forgot to add, a problem that I have had since I started using Rootbox...the damn phone vibrating when you use the touchscreen keyboard of any kind. Turning this feature off in settings does not change a thing...I have tried different versions of rootbox and gapps between two Glides to no avail. More of an annoyance than anything. Not worth giving up Rootbox for though!

Turn the S4 into an Oppo Find 7

I wanted to let everyone know for the past day or so ive been testing out the Color OS 2.0 for the I9505, here are some of those results, screenshots, and how to install for yourself.
So, the reason im bringing this up to get started is that for the past year or so i was unable to install this rom on my S4 i assume from not having the correct version of TWRP required for the install (AND the install will fail a few times for random reasons if SU is not installed (rom or not)...I found this out after a full wipe and it not letting me install the rom until i rebooted back into TWRP and told it to root my phone because it found no root access.
So the initial install went like this
Wipe...
Install...
fail halfway...
wipe...
install...
fail haflway...
reboot to recovery from recovery...
tell twrp to root....​back in recovery....
wipe...
install...
success...
Now the rom does include its own gapps package so there isnt a need for that, It also includes its own kernel that because of how heavily modified Color OS is from stock cannot be changed (unless you can find one that will work, the AOSP Ktoonz kernel didnt work and that was the only test i really attempted as i had to re-install the rom (wouldn't boot)
So, once the rom is installed it asks you to pick a language and looks a lot like regular AOSP (dark) but as soon as you do it prompts for wifi and settings FC's, then you move on to accounts and accounts FC's
So to get through this just skip ALL setup processes and type in your name with the built in keyboard (it has to be changed back to full qwerty or your gonna come up wth some weird things)
Then you can go into settings and apply your accounts and things like that to get your contacts and everything back per the usual.
Now onto my impressions of the rom so far...
This is the fastest rom i have ever put on my phone and yes it does come at a cost but from what i could see it is the most overall fluid rom especially when it comes to animations.
It has a lot of cool features i am still learning to use (gesture panel pull up from bottom, lets you draw a shape to preform action and set your own custom...looks cool as hell) and none of them even when enabled slow the device down.
The cost however is battery life...you WANT to have an extra battery or a fast charger on hand because this thing loves to suck power. Im alright with it currently with how fast the thing moves i am going to use it as my daily driver but i went from 50 to 2 in about an hour and a half with screen on. Screen on time isnt that awesome on this phone but standby seems to be pretty good.
Its a nice break from AOSP and Touchwiz, thats all that needs to be said really. Its much faster than either AOSP or Touchwiz even with custom kernels you can take that from me being a crack flasher, ive gone through every kernel made for the device, learnt about them, customized them, and then moved on to test another kernel.
This rom has ceased development but will currently be remaining my daily driver until i can find something else unique, i would say give it a shot guys and see how much you like it
For my install i needed TWRP 2.7.1.0
It will fail, do some troubleshooting to find out why (such as change to RM -rf formatting in settings in twrp) and after you wipe reboot to recovery and let TWRP do the root thing even though there is no rom (i dont know why this mattered at all -_-;;;; but it did) do another wipe when you get it and you should be able to install the rom and it will boot. (THERE ARE NO SIGNAL BARS TO INDICATE SIGNAL STRENGTH when you get in) and once you are finally in make sure you run to your APN settings under Mobile network and then go down to the T-mobile LTE APN and modify it, remove the password and the server info thats in there (for some reason) and change the APN protocol to IPv4/IPV6 and the roaming protocol and then save it so you have good data speeds and such (just to make it set up the same as a standard T-mobile rom)
in this rom ive noticed you CANNOT have wifi on and send MMS so to send pictures ensure you are off of wifi.
There is also a problem being noted in the comments on the rom page with Whatsapp...i dont use it >.> i know what it is but whatever it doesnt bug me at all.
Alright SO TO CLEARLY LIST THE STEPS
1. Wipe phone
2. Attempt to install rom
3. (IF FAILS on install) wipe phone
4. (IF FAILS on install) reboot from recovery to recovery
5. (IF FAILS on install) tell it to root
6. repeat steps 1 and 2.
7. when successful, boot into rom
8. select english and FC your way to the end of setup
9. enter your name or a random name into phone owner
10. setup your account in settings (or just open play store and it will prompt you)
11. Match your APN to T-mobiles standard (Settings>mobilenetworks>APn> T-mobile Us LTe)
--------Remove Password, Server, Change APN protocol to IPv4/IPv6, same with roaming, save and use that apn-------------------
You will not be able to send MMS with WIFI on. (you can if its off)
You WILL have to change keyboards (the one that comes with the rom is absolute ****, use enter to keep what you type english...)
There is a FIX for Whatsapp inside of the roms official forums ( i dont use it though )
ALSO unsure if USB file transfer is working right >.> sure there is a fix for that but it doesnt but me either. (i use wifi file transfer anyways >.>)
YOU CANNOT INSTALL A CUSTOM KERNEL (unless your willing to find one that works)
So far i havnt found any problems for my use, this is one of, if not the, fastest and smoothest roms ive ever used so i am attempting to show others the awesome
link to rom forum below (MAKE SURE YOU DOWNLOAD THE NEWEST ONE, old one borked and buggy)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2748022
NEWEST VERSION (Taken from OP) http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23487008491964142
Just for those of you who didnt know this was out there, or were like me and gave up trying to install it at first.
SCREENSHOTS (CLICK FOR FULL RESOLUTION) (TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM PHONE) (VIA OPPO 3 FINGER SWIPE UP (customizable to change to anything i believe))
Now to get dual tap to wake download an app called Knokr <- from the playstore (its part of the Oppo screen so this is the only way to emulate)
igotlostintampa said:
I wanted to let everyone know for the past day or so ive been testing out the Color OS 2.0 for the I9505, here are some of those results, screenshots, and how to install for yourself.
So, the reason im bringing this up to get started is that for the past year or so i was unable to install this rom on my S4 i assume from not having the correct version of TWRP required for the install (AND the install will fail a few times for random reasons if SU is not installed (rom or not)...I found this out after a full wipe and it not letting me install the rom until i rebooted back into TWRP and told it to root my phone because it found no root access.
or were like me and gave up trying to install it at first.
SCREENSHOTS (CLICK FOR FULL RESOLUTION) (TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM PHONE) (VIA OPPO 3 FINGER SWIPE UP (customizable to change to anything i believe))
Now to get dual tap to wake download an app called Knokr <- from the playstore (its part of the Oppo screen so this is the only way to emulate)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
o.o was i the only one excited feels bad being the only crack flasher here.
Is it stable? If yes, will like to give it a try
dunhillpanda said:
Is it stable? If yes, will like to give it a try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I really like it once its got a new keyboard. Havnt had a force close or random reboot. The thing is so much smoother than any other rom ive tried its crazy. And after about a day the battery drain has gone away. I honestly am thunkibg about keepimg the thing if it keeps going this well as a perm backup.
The onky issues ive seen i listed in the OP but they arent problems for me really
Looks interesting. Props on the info, I'll look into this soon
Sent from my SGH-M919 using XDA Free mobile app
All Functional
IT seems everything i use the phone for is functional on this rom. I have seen no issues at all with everything that i regularly do and with some added functionality from the android general section (acid audio (i prefer it >.>)) I dont see any reason to change off the rom o.o it has some of the best touch response i have seen on a rom (less lag on inital jerk from finger than touchwiz/aosp) the only thing its missing is the over the top customizations some roms have that will be kinda stock in android L o.o so i think im going to wait for either an L rom or color os 2.5 > 3
>.> <.<
unless another rom peaks my interest before then but im so tired of AOSP and Touchwiz xD and that seems to be the majority of this forum o.o like ive googled a lot of other roms... >.> MIUI and XUI both exist for this phone as does Color OS and many hybrid Touchwiz/AOSP roms exist over in international, as well as many roms that just never make it to our forum because they are being undercut by the popular roms for our device and immediately jump to the end of the forum..some of which are more stable than some of our most popular roms >.<
Sorry i ranted, just overal kind of curious what the Samsung user Obsession is with Touchwiz and AOSP when better than both exist for the devices we use >.> i mean i get liking the style of a rom but im not used to entering a forum here where other roms dont exist o.o i wonder what roms the nexus devices get.
Ooh! This looks fascinating! Im pretty new here but ive lurked forever and I have been looking for a new rom to try. It looks like we value the same things in a rom and the bugs wont be a problem for me either (almost never ever turn on wifi for instance) so im excited to try a rom that youve decided will be your DD.
Ill let ya know how it worked.
Oh man. This ROM is cool...
My phone played nice with it upon install for whatever reason. On my first wipe it took. Most of the setup crashed like you said, for some reason the google log in part didn't crash. After changing the APN settings everything seems to be working great. It really is fast and responsive ( there is a scroll slide effect kinda like iOS that makes lists feel slick)
My small qualm is that it shows that you have no service at all times. Even the weather app says "no service" in it so having that on the home screen and in the status bar is bothersome.
My large qualm is battery. This ROM is freaking gorgeous, I seriously want a phone beefy enough to run like this for a long time, I can't stress how pretty this is for anyone who hasn't tried Oppo's stuff. But I'm getting roughly what OP did on battery though, it feels like only a bit over 1/3 the longetivity of most other Roms I've tried... Reminds me of my old iPhone 4 after 3 years of use. So that really bites. But hell if it isn't pretty.
Another user said the battery problems go away after the ROM settles so imma give that a bit and if it does... I couldn't possibly change it. The weather effects on the home screen are addicting and I love how the rain/snow will fall on icons and splash or accumulate. It feels like a ROM in step with the future.
---------- Post added at 11:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:44 AM ----------
Scrawlerism said:
Oh man. This ROM is cool...
My phone played nice with it upon install for whatever reason. On my first wipe it took. Most of the setup crashed like you said, for some reason the google log in part didn't crash. After changing the APN settings everything seems to be working great. It really is fast and responsive ( there is a scroll slide effect kinda like iOS that makes lists feel slick)
My small qualm is that it shows that you have no service at all times. Even the weather app says "no service" in it so having that on the home screen and in the status bar is bothersome.
My large qualm is battery. This ROM is freaking gorgeous, I seriously want a phone beefy enough to run like this for a long time, I can't stress how pretty this is for anyone who hasn't tried Oppo's stuff. But I'm getting roughly what OP did on battery though, it feels like only a bit over 1/3 the longetivity of most other Roms I've tried... Reminds me of my old iPhone 4 after 3 years of use. So that really bites. But hell if it isn't pretty.
Another user said the battery problems go away after the ROM settles so imma give that a bit and if it does... I couldn't possibly change it. The weather effects on the home screen are addicting and I love how the rain/snow will fall on icons and splash or accumulate. It feels like a ROM in step with the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh shoot I forgot to mention, sorry to spam this thread! Some apps return "package file invalid" and you flat out can't install those apps. This was fixed for me by wiping the caches in recovery but I've read this doesn't always work. In the end I personally got every app I wanted installed so idk if that will be a problem but yeah.
My issues with battery life so far have greatly dimmed, I am unsure if it was just the rom getting used to itself or the kernel setting itself up...but my battery issues have gone down greatly.
THOUGH I will mention that it is still worse than AOSP and Touchwiz, just not by nearly as much as previously thought. (EDIT: THE BATTERY LIFE, I actually don't think ill give this rom up
Also I did also have the problem with "Package File Invalid" and I also wiped the caches to get everything to install properly, but I also found that a full storage wipe of the phone (copy everything important off first) prevents that issue with most roms, I may try it with this one if I decide to ever uninstall it in the first place. The rom is kind of amazing...
Normally I would be experiencing some kind of stability issue with an app or something by now or maybe a keyboard...but not with this rom, not at all. It is still running as amazing as when I first turned it on.
OH I have to mention I guess that I did turn on some power saving settings so that may have been what effected the battery life so dramatically. In honesty I think now it lasts me quite a while...I may actually think I get better battery life in the last 15-20% than AOSP or Touchwiz, touchwiz being the only one with a decent power saver setting (with ROM)
but yeah I love this rom and wish there were more like it for our device....I know miui is available and I might look back into it for more of a full themeing effect, but I love the gesture panel and im gonna try to port it over to the miui rom >.> and see if it will load. Seems to be an app that's built into the phone but im unsure how deep rooted it is.
MIUI+ColorOS = Amazing combo.
Thanks though guys for looking into this! glad to see some other crack flashers around.
This rom does seem to be taking kind of a large leap, but at least its forward.
igotlostintampa said:
My issues with battery life so far have greatly dimmed, I am unsure if it was just the rom getting used to itself or the kernel setting itself up...but my battery issues have gone down greatly.
THOUGH I will mention that it is still worse than AOSP and Touchwiz, just not by nearly as much as previously thought. (EDIT: THE BATTERY LIFE, I actually don't think ill give this rom up
Also I did also have the problem with "Package File Invalid" and I also wiped the caches to get everything to install properly, but I also found that a full storage wipe of the phone (copy everything important off first) prevents that issue with most roms, I may try it with this one if I decide to ever uninstall it in the first place. The rom is kind of amazing...
Normally I would be experiencing some kind of stability issue with an app or something by now or maybe a keyboard...but not with this rom, not at all. It is still running as amazing as when I first turned it on.
OH I have to mention I guess that I did turn on some power saving settings so that may have been what effected the battery life so dramatically. In honesty I think now it lasts me quite a while...I may actually think I get better battery life in the last 15-20% than AOSP or Touchwiz, touchwiz being the only one with a decent power saver setting (with ROM)
but yeah I love this rom and wish there were more like it for our device....I know miui is available and I might look back into it for more of a full themeing effect, but I love the gesture panel and im gonna try to port it over to the miui rom >.> and see if it will load. Seems to be an app that's built into the phone but im unsure how deep rooted it is.
MIUI+ColorOS = Amazing combo.
Thanks though guys for looking into this! glad to see some other crack flashers around.
This rom does seem to be taking kind of a large leap, but at least its forward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly the battery did get better after a couple days. Aosp has probably spoiled me. I really really liked this ROM.
Edit: and I know what you mean by "forward thinking" this ROM feels like the future.
And yes, definitely a crack flasher here. Even now that I have a ROM that I always fall back on I'm still flashing at least a few times a week, and trying new Roms on weekends. >.<
Will try this soon
this is a really nice rom for the s4 , i didn't have to reflash at all, one wipe flashed the rom, it was succesful and booted right up on the first try. Thanks for this, i tried the newest 9/6 debloated version from the link in the OP but it seemed to be a lil glitchy, the one in OP works fine. Thanks again

Looking for info. Solid Rom suggestions only.

Got me a Z5p E6853 over a year ago.
Stock rom is ok, a bit laggy but runs well enough. over time it gets stale and I looked around for Custom roms.
Tried a few, mainly the AOSP roms on this Forum and the Z5 fourm. found some bug or another that didn't sit well with me. custom stock roms causes a display failure on my device for some reason at random times, sometimes more than once a day, others will run for weeks without a problem. happens at the oddest times too so no way to pin down the cause. (plus all the devs from those roms have moved on so little point in requesting help for them)
So my main question is. other than going back to full stock. (with the possibility of xposed in the future) - What are the current best roms for function and Camera.
Stock roms take advantange of the DRM keys saved on your device. AOSP roms don't from what I can understand. is there a Lineage or AOSP type rom that has a better camera than stock?
what have the users here experienced to be their best combination of rom, with long term stability / Camera quality being top priority.
I don't normally ask Questions here, I usually lurk and help people with problems with flashing and such. but my current experiece with the Z5p has been a bit poor. and I would like to use this phone to its full potential. I just don't see that yet with whats currently available. I may have missed an old rom, or some patch fix that someone mentioned somewhere, but i've been reading the threads for the past few months looking for something that stands out.
I feel like I've bought into a dud of a phone. and my only real option is to just go back to normal stock and pass the phone onto a relative and buy a better phone.
Hey there. I used to have an HTC One M9 (I now have the Z5 Premium (E6853))and the best decision I've ever made with that phone is to keep the stock rom, but root it (preferably with magisk). For me this had the best stability with all the perks of rooting it as you could still flash kernels, and use the millions of root apps that boost your phone and clean out bloatware. Maybe just do some exploring into apps that'll completely change the behaviour of your phone, rather than the OS. What I have found in my rom flashing addict days is that the ROMs themselves really only change a couple of things and device performance is never one of them. If you're looking for massive customisation options a custom rom can help, but you should also check out Substratum. I hope it all goes well!
P.S. - I find Lineage OS is probably the most stable custom rom out there but who knows every custom rom can be a real hit and/or miss.
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