Develop Bugs

An experiment...

So we've got root access. Awesome. Everyone has been looking forward to installing apps to their SD card as well as other neat tricks.
Well, I haven't.
I hate to be the buzz killer but there is a fundamental flaw with the way apps are installed and uninstalled that means even moving them to a spacious SD card is not solving the problem.
Before I go rooting the phone and hacking as a way to eliminate some of the more annoying problems with Android, we need to first distinguish between bugs, technical limitations and poor implementation. Not allowing installs to the SD card out of the box is a technical limitation...Apps2sd creates a Linux partition on your SD but it's not ideal.
But that's neither here nor there. I'm not here to discuss the reletive merits of rooting or using apps2sd. What I want is the underlying code to work properly before I go hacking. It doesn't matter if we only have 100mb of space or 2GB for apps. If I install a 2mb app and them remove it I want the WHOLE 2mb back.
This morning news of the pre release alpha of Fennec (mobile Firefox) was announced. I attempted to install it but there was only 25mb of space on my phone. Apparently this is a BIG install and needed about 39mb. Anyway long story short, it didn't work. No matter how much space I cleared (up to 40.89mb at one point) it still told me I didn't have enough space.
So now I have a phone with 40mb of space and I had to clear out some unused apps to get there...I also cleared out my IM app, Nimbuzz, which I DO use. So I figure I'd install it again...but I'm thinking, it was big! Over 4mb installed. I figure I'll look for a smaller lighter app. I try Meego. Nice, small, but no Skype chat. So I uninstall and try Fring. Nice, has Skype...but no Facebook. The only one with the features I want is Nimbuzz. So I uninstall Fring. Two apps installed. Two apps removed. I look at my space. 35mb.
5mb has seemingly vanished into nothing!!! Meego was only about 500kb. Fring about 1.5mb. Where did all that space go?!?
I reset and there's no difference.
So to my experiment. I needed to verify the space suck bug.
Reset phone. I'm starting with 39.89mb.
Install Robo Defence Free. It's advertised as 1.25mb.
Reset phone. 38.02mb. I've used up 1.87mb with that install. According to App Manager Robo Defence is using up 1.41mb.
Uninstall Robo Defence. 38.18mb. Restart. final = 39.42mb.
In just one app install and removal, I've lost 0.47mb
Why? What has used that space?
Despite having 40mb of space this morning when attempting to install Fennec, I have since removed Nimbuzz, Shopper, Robo Defence, Poker, Layar, and Google Translate and I've not gotten back up to 40mb.
Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?

Yeah this is a major worry.
I hope someone can get to the bottom of it...

Try going to settings - applications - manage applications then hit menu and choose sort by size. This should show you the biggest space hog. My guess is that the browser and/or market caches are getting big as you're browsing for these apps. You can press on market and there will be a button to clear the cache, same for internet.
Hope this helps

Nope, that didn't even dent it. This is a real bother.

Have you tried to delete the cache and the data of the application before uninstalling it ?
Under settings/applications/manage applications when you choose an app you can see the size of the application but also the size of the data and the size of the cache. Maybe uninstalling an app don't remove at least the data and/or cache...

Guy's, honestly... You are looking far to deep into this and the word "control freak" comes to mind..
Enjoy your phone and dont quibble over 0.47MB when you have 32gb to play with. A massive thanks to Paul for getting us this root in the first place, we now have options to do anything we want with the phone.
Worry if your phone cannot be used, yes
But worring over small, irrelivant problems will just lower your enjoyment of this beast! Take a chill pill and enjoy that wee can now install apps on the sd card and are not limited to space
Cheers Paul))))
JD

JupiterDroid said:
dont quibble over 0.47MB when you have 32gb to play with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about those of us who don't plan to root? I think the OP's point here was that this is an issue and rooting isn't really a solution for a lot of people.

Why would you not root? I dont see why you would not open your phone up to obvious advantages and extra app's, especially when these apps have the potential to extend battery life and volume levels, two of which we know with the Desire are pretty dire.
JD

Perfect volume and 2 days battery here mate
I'd only root for A2SD, but might see if Google sort it themselves first as I don't use a lot of apps anyway - it's just a phone after all

JupiterDroid said:
Guy's, honestly... You are looking far to deep into this and the word "control freak" comes to mind..
Enjoy your phone and dont quibble over 0.47MB when you have 32gb to play with. A massive thanks to Paul for getting us this root in the first place, we now have options to do anything we want with the phone.
Worry if your phone cannot be used, yes
But worring over small, irrelivant problems will just lower your enjoyment of this beast! Take a chill pill and enjoy that wee can now install apps on the sd card and are not limited to space
Cheers Paul))))
JD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First installing to SD slows down your apps noticeably. It's not ideal. It's the best solution we have RIGHT NOW, but don't mistake that for being a good thing.
I'm not quibbling over 0.45mb. If you reread I LOST 5mb! That's enough space for a few apps, no?
My point being that up until now this clear bug (losing data that doesn't seem to be associated with an app so is therefore not counted in it's cache and is not cleared) has been ignored by throwing SD space at it. That's foolish.

Well i get just over 1.5 days battery life and volume is not too bad for me, but i would like the music volume to be louder Also the main thin gthe root would mean for me is that i could get the Nexus rom on to my Desire and hopefully get a quick update to Froyo Because lets face it, how long are we going to wait for HTC to update sense???
JD

Don't like stock Android - I'm happy with Sense!
But enough thread hijacking!!

So you will be happy to wait 6 months for HTC to update Sense to intergrate with Froyo? (based on past updates, eg.. Hero, which is still on 1.6)?? I can understand your point, but sense for me is just a waste of screen space
The only reason i bought the desire was because of the slightly more RAM and actual buttons instead of touchscreen buttons Sense isnt a real big must for me
JD

Well, yeah! The Desire as it is does exactly what I want it to out the box. I had to cook my own ROM for my HD2 to get it working as I want but this just works!!
I prefer the eye candy of Sense, stock Android is boring and I hate using garish themes...if I feel the need to root it I will but as it is I have no need to

Very true mate Well i hope they have a frozen youghut ready for you apon release
JD

Guys, take it somewhere else eh.

Aitese said:
So we've got root access. Awesome. Everyone has been looking forward to installing apps to their SD card as well as other neat tricks.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here. I've two Desire, installed exactly the same apps and had a difference of 12 mb afterwards. I tried to delete every cache a.s.o, still a difference of 5 mb.. reboot .. nothing changed. Next day -> reboot again -> 2 mb difference? No clue what's exactly going on with the rom.
@sense: I bought the desire cause i thought it can't be worse than the nexus one cause if i don't like sense, just install launcher2 and deactivate it. What i did not know: HTC just removed some stock android applications and integrated their crappy apps, and in addition they implement some features i want to REMOVE, i do not want to see them anymore (f.e. flickr.. why flickr? this is android/google, i want a picasa button!, tweet, stocks a.s.o... no uninstall option).
I need root to get rid of the things i don´t like.

I did say sorry for it - he's the one coming back at me!!
I'll leave it now mate, my 2p though, I personally don't care about the memory - if it gets to a point when I do I'll hard reset and start again. Probably just needs the Android equivalent of a defrag!!

Have done two hard resets (not for this reason) and my memory was lower after each - something to do with the re-installing of the apps I surmise?

al89nut said:
Have done two hard resets (not for this reason) and my memory was lower after each - something to do with the re-installing of the apps I surmise?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's strange. After a hard reset it should have exactly the same memory each time. After all, that's the whole point of a hard reset.
And I must say that the issue raised by OP is very worrying. Installing and then uninstalling applications should give you back the exact same memory as you had before. I can accept residual files on the SD card, but the precious space on the internal flash should definately be fully reclaimed after an uninstall.
If not, there is a fundamental flaw somewhere. If anyone can shed more light on this issue, please do so!

EVO questions (Noob here)

Noob alert, I'm new here, and I'm new to smart phones, I had the HTC Touch Diamond but it was defective to the point where the only thing I could do on it was browse the web and make phone calls...
I'm not that advanced when it comes to this phone since I just picked it up 2 days ago...
Question 1
I've searched around and saw there was ways to put apps on the SD card, and I'm sure just like a computer you can't run the apps off the SD card (unless you can?)
Well my issue with that is I've tried Astro but I'm dumb and can't figure it out.
Question 2
What's the reason and advantages of "rooting" my phone?
Question 3
Battery life... Battery goes dead in the matter of hours, I took it off the charger and within 10-20 minutes it was down to 89% battery life.
I've installed an app killer to save on processing, and save battery.
Set it to CDMA

Krimlin said:
Noob alert, I'm new here, and I'm new to smart phones, I had the HTC Touch Diamond but it was defective to the point where the only thing I could do on it was browse the web and make phone calls...
I'm not that advanced when it comes to this phone since I just picked it up 2 days ago...
Question 1
I've searched around and saw there was ways to put apps on the SD card, and I'm sure just like a computer you can't run the apps off the SD card (unless you can?)
Well my issue with that is I've tried Astro but I'm dumb and can't figure it out.
Question 2
What's the reason and advantages of "rooting" my phone?
Question 3
Battery life... Battery goes dead in the matter of hours, I took it off the charger and within 10-20 minutes it was down to 89% battery life.
I've installed an app killer to save on processing, and save battery.
Set it to CDMA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer 1: as far as i know the only rom using apps 2 sd at the moment is Flipz, ive tried one or two others, but they werent using it and im not sure if you can just add it on top. So you CAN install apps and have them run off the SD card.
Answer 2: Reason, because you can. Advantage, many! There are a lot of GREAT developers on this forum who strive to make this phone what it should have been out of the box. Problems like battery issues, software glitches, addons, features, they do it all.
example:
Free wireless tether that sprint wants to charge you an additional 30 a month for. (its a big draw)
oh yeah and custom roms.
Answer 3: there are MANY threads on battery saving tips and the custom roms that are adding their own battery saving features.
there are a lot of threads that cover your questions, so just look around and READ EVERYTHING.
good luck.

Krimlin said:
Question 2
What's the reason and advantages of "rooting" my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am only three weeks into this phone, but this is what I gather....rooting your phone allows you to install apps that are not in the market. Some of these apps help you make your phone run better.
- Controlling the CPU - this is an option on an app (forget the name) where you can set the CPU speeds for when your screen is off or many other situations. the responses to that app seem to increase battery life hugely. this is my leading reason for why I 'might' root.
- Cleaning up bloatware - i HATE HATE HATE bloatware and had it off my winmo phone in about three weeks it took to learn how to flash. now i need to learn how to root so i can get rid of the dumb sprint tm'd stuff
- Adding better bits to your OS - (i think this is root and not nand) but you can find better bits for your phone, like a different keyboard or better radio or things like that would work for you better than stock. this way you can do the little tweaks you want.
Lastly you can put new ROMs on your phone. Lots of em already for this phone. So far the Evo seems to have camera issues on the roms...not sure yet which roms have it figured and which are still working on it. But you can try out different roms and see if you like em.
(Hopefully if I got any of that wrong...the experienced ones will correct...but that is what this noob has gathered so far.)

sablesurfer said:
rooting your phone allows you to install apps that are not in the market. Some of these apps help you make your phone run better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not true. You don't have to have your phone rooted to install apps that are not in the market. By default, this option is disabled. To get apps into your Android phone you just have to go into the settings and enable the ability to install apps not in the market. Simple and already in original ROMs.
Now, there are some apps that take advantage of ROOT and have some special feature, but you can still install them on your phone if you do not have ROOT, but you will not be able to use the app's special feature.
As with all apps, some make your phone run better and some make it worse. Caveat emptor.

So again I'm new to this, where do I go to get these cool apps and such, and anyone have any tips and tricks for rooting, some of this stuff is above my head.
I'm sorry guys, I'm a moderator for a car forum so I understand having a noob show up asking alot of dumb questions that should be common knowledge in your circles LOL.

lol,
There is a program called simpleroot over in the dev forum that makes rooting a snap, and I think there are even some video tutorials
...And almost all the apps you would want are on the market

figure out what version you have, menu->settings->about phone->software information->build number
and then go to the read about rooting that version in the developer section

Ok so I read through the rooting instructions made by toast, seems easy enough.
But I also saw that it wipes your phone, meaning?
Am I going to have to re enter all my contacts, download all my apps again, and change all my setting back to the way I like it?
Also after rooting my phone, I won't have to like re activate it to make calls right, and after rooting it when I turn the phone on again for use what will I find? Is it going to look like it did when I first pulled it out of the box?
There's alot of things I don't understand about rooting and if someone would point me in the right direction that would be awesome, I've tried looking but keep coming across discussion threads, and instructions, no real explaination of what it does to my phone and what I can use it for.

Yes it will wipe everything pretty much. You should sync your contacts with google though so you dont have to worry about reloading those. After you are rooted you can use one of those 'root apps' called Titanium Backup and that will let you backup and restore everything.
You will not need to reactivate your phone. After you flash it will basically look like it did when it first came out of the box. Until you flash a custom rom, then some things may be a bit different (maybe custom themes, removed apk's, things like that.

Awesome, thanks for the info. I appreciate the hospitality guys!

Rooting and the OTA
nenn said:
figure out what version you have, menu->settings->about phone->software information->build number
and then go to the read about rooting that version in the developer section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I swapped my 1st EVO in a panic after running the 1st June 29 update. I now have a 0003 with .6 and would like to jump into the world of root. My qusetion is at this point should I do the OTA and then root or just root with the 1st toast method 1 and 2?
Also my laptop set up for dual boot so I can use either Ubuntu or win7. One over the other for diving in?
Thanks for any help.

Dano3 said:
I swapped my 1st EVO in a panic after running the 1st June 29 update. I now have a 0003 with .6 and would like to jump into the world of root. My qusetion is at this point should I do the OTA and then root or just root with the 1st toast method 1 and 2?
Also my laptop set up for dual boot so I can use either Ubuntu or win7. One over the other for diving in?
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to do your root as close to the lowest version you have, but it seems that people have gotten root even after the latest OTA update.
I don't think it matters in what OS you want to work in to root or mod your phone, but it tends to be a bit easier under Ubuntu. It was a pain in the ass to get the EVO recognized under Windows. The easy 1 click root is made to work under windows. I find that creating a kitchen (aka setup to make custom ROMs with apps/features added or removed) is easier in Linux. And doing development and building the OS from source is waaay easier under Ubuntu. I'm doing development, so it's a lot easier under Ubuntu.
Summary, somethings are easier in Windows and others easier in Ubuntu.

Check out this thread for a helpful battery tip:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=721156
Make sure you go into settings > wireless networks > mobile data settings and turn off always on mobile data.
This one of the most popular roms that focuses on battery saving:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=700649
MAKE SURE YOU SEARCH THE THREAD BEFORE ASKING QUESTIONS B/C SOMEONE WILL EAT YOUR FACE FOR ASKING A QUESTION THATS BEEN ASKED A MILLION TIMES

Antebios said:
This is not true. You don't have to have your phone rooted to install apps that are not in the market. By default, this option is disabled. To get apps into your Android phone you just have to go into the settings and enable the ability to install apps not in the market. Simple and already in original ROMs.
Now, there are some apps that take advantage of ROOT and have some special feature, but you can still install them on your phone if you do not have ROOT, but you will not be able to use the app's special feature.
As with all apps, some make your phone run better and some make it worse. Caveat emptor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AH, well then. That would be why I threw my thoughts out there...for correction if needed. But the SetCPU thing needs root right? And that is the one I think I definitely want.

Thanks JJ you've been a savior!

You guys here have been awesome and very informative on the irc. I'll still need some guidance but you guys have helped a lot and didn't give me hell for being a noob.
Thanks again!

Quick question..

I'm new 2 the rooting and the Android itself.. I got the 2.2 on my EVO like most ppl have via update, I'm kinda skeptical of rooting it still.. I guess my question is, is it worth rooting it and what changes on the device itself?
Any information would and will be extremely appreciated..
Thanx in advance...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Good day to you.
First off. welcome. second, as its your FIRST post I hope you wont get flamed too hard because there are many many threads that cover the pros/cons of rooting.
I suggest next time you have a question, take a minute to use the search function (and post in the right forum! questions go in Q&A).
A few quick pros of rooting.
Free wireless tether (sharing your phones internet connection with a laptop or other wifi enabled device)
The ability to flash custom ROMs, these are the operating systems of the phone, they're all built off of (for the most part) stock htc/sprint images, but there are plenty and many options, find one that suits your needs and try it out.
Custom kernels, they are the set of drivers and the "brain" of your phone, want it overclocked? get a custom kernel, want it undervolted (Save battery) get a custom kernel. many options to choose from
Custom Boot screens.
Root only applications, titanium backup (backs up stuff, i dont use it so i cant elaborate), shootme (screenshot program) and others im sure.
Hope this clears up some stuff, welcome, use the search (really im just trying to help ya here) and have fun!

Round of applause for nenn. While I agree with your first few sentences, there aren't many "nice guys" on this site and especially on the Evo boards. People tend to forget that this phone is relatively new and has attracted many new people to the world of Android (like myself) who know nothing about anything.
OP: A few things you can do with root that nenn did not mention:
1) You can read/write from your SD card.
2) You can remove all the garbage that your phone came loaded with from Sprint and HTC (like Sprint Nascar and Peep).
3) With Titanium back-up, it allows you to transfer all user apps to the SD card keeping your phones internal memory clean, you can back up and restore all apps and system data, and you can use it to uninstall apps you don't want as mentioned in point #2.
4) Custom kernels also remove the 30 fps cap on our phones (I get 52 fps average with my set up).
5) You can use other root-only programs like ROM Manager which lets you flash files onto your phone easily via a custom recovery. Also, you can back up several ROM's and switch from one to the other, or go back to a previous working ROM if you flash something on your phone that doesn't sit well with it.
If everything that we have mentioned means nothing to you, then just enjoy your phone as it is. It is a great device and you can get plenty of use out if without rooting it.

*bow* thanks for the kind words rudegraw, its not a day from hell at work so im in a chipper mood for the most part, yesterday, i woulda ripped this yougin to shreads so i posted very little, lol.
rugedraw said:
1) You can read/write from your SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eh? what do you mean? thats worded very oddly.

Thanx to the both of ya.. I do luv the phone the way it is and specially since yesterday I turned on the 4G and it actually came on, you can pretty much assume my excitement lol.. But I'll read up on the pros/cons of rooting before I make any decision as to root my Evo..
Thanx again..
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

nenn said:
*bow* thanks for the kind words rudegraw, its not a day from hell at work so im in a chipper mood for the most part, yesterday, i woulda ripped this yougin to shreads so i posted very little, lol.
eh? what do you mean? thats worded very oddly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd rather not get into details about this on the thread. I worded it this way on purpose. PM me and I'd be more than happy to explain what I meant.

Rooting 2.2
I am rooting for the first time and I'm stuck now. I am in the section where you enter the commands into the cmd command box.
I just entered the ./rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin
and it says that it not found but when I entered it earlier it worke just fine, can anyone help me plz

rugedraw said:
Round of applause for nenn. While I agree with your first few sentences, there aren't many "nice guys" on this site and especially on the Evo boards. People tend to forget that this phone is relatively new and has attracted many new people to the world of Android (like myself) who know nothing about anything.
OP: A few things you can do with root that nenn did not mention:
1) You can read/write from your SD card.
2) You can remove all the garbage that your phone came loaded with from Sprint and HTC (like Sprint Nascar and Peep).
3) With Titanium back-up, it allows you to transfer all user apps to the SD card keeping your phones internal memory clean, you can back up and restore all apps and system data, and you can use it to uninstall apps you don't want as mentioned in point #2.
4) Custom kernels also remove the 30 fps cap on our phones (I get 52 fps average with my set up).
5) You can use other root-only programs like ROM Manager which lets you flash files onto your phone easily via a custom recovery. Also, you can back up several ROM's and switch from one to the other, or go back to a previous working ROM if you flash something on your phone that doesn't sit well with it.
If everything that we have mentioned means nothing to you, then just enjoy your phone as it is. It is a great device and you can get plenty of use out if without rooting it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recording at 720p, is it any better with 52 fps?

[Q] What can I do (and how) with my new PLAY?

I have just bought the PLAY (R800i, 2.3.4) from O2 in the UK after having a Sony Ericsson W995 for over 2 years. I've recently discovered this site and the possibilities for customisation seem endless!
I'm a blank slate when it comes to doing this sort of thing, especially when it comes to mobile devices (I never did get the courage to put Custom Firmware on my PSP.) But I have a shortlist of what I'd like to be able to do to my new phone :
-Increase Battery life
-Decrease booting up time from power off
-Get rid of some bloatware and free up phone memory
-Get 2 or 3 emulators with a fair few games on there
-GB: Pokemon
-PS1: Crash Bandicoots, Spyros, Final Fantasys
-N64: Mario Kart, Super Mario
-Be able to hold and use most of this stuff on my 32GB SD card
It may not seem like an awful lot, as I don't really want to risk bricking a rather expensive and mint condition phone. I know this can all be achieved, what I don't know is how, or more specifically: in which order.
So if there's anyone out there kind enough to help a noob I'd be very grateful to hear your advice Also if you think there's anything important or what you consider a must-have, I'm open to suggestions!

Hi!
I can give it a try and try to get you some easy tip how to go further with what you wanna do, here is some advices on apps:
-Increase Battery life
To do this, first root your device (Try search in the Xperia Play Development thread on how to get root.)
After you have rooted it, then you can use those apps for example:
No-frills CPU Control (changes the frequency of the cellphone, to the one you prefer, set it at a real low value to get longer batterylife, increase frequency manually when you wanna play for less lag )
And another app is:
Autokiller (Requires root as well, and you can find other apps who can help with improving batterylife as well.)
-Get rid of some bloatware and free up phone memory
Root your phone and get an app called "Root explorer", and then someone else can tell you the exact search-way to the path where you can delete the bloatware, and which bloatware are safe to remove and which you must have saved and such since I don't remember the path and the things around it.
And you can read more about what Root is in the link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1076720
And you can search for Xperia Play-compatible Emulators here on XDA in some Xperia Play-section as well cause it's not hard to find
Sorry for not being to too much help, but I hope I gave you some help on the way

razerblader said:
Hi!
I can give it a try and try to get you some easy tip how to go further with what you wanna do, here is some advices on apps:
-Increase Battery life
To do this, first root your device (Try search in the Xperia Play Development thread on how to get root.)
After you have rooted it, then you can use those apps for example:
No-frills CPU Control (changes the frequency of the cellphone, to the one you prefer, set it at a real low value to get longer batterylife, increase frequency manually when you wanna play for less lag )
And another app is:
Autokiller (Requires root as well, and you can find other apps who can help with improving batterylife as well.)
-Get rid of some bloatware and free up phone memory
Root your phone and get an app called "Root explorer", and then someone else can tell you the exact search-way to the path where you can delete the bloatware, and which bloatware are safe to remove and which you must have saved and such since I don't remember the path and the things around it.
And you can read more about what Root is in the link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1076720
And you can search for Xperia Play-compatible Emulators here on XDA in some Xperia Play-section as well cause it's not hard to find
Sorry for not being to too much help, but I hope I gave you some help on the way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, thanks for the reply
Aha I see, so Rooting is a necessity to be able to do anything? That's number 1 then
Then after that I'll check out the apps you mentioned and have a look for those emulators. One thing I noticed was that apparently it doesn't let you store much on the SD card itself, and the phone memory gets taken up quite quickly. I'm mainly thinking about the games that I've heard store a large chunk of their data on the phone and can't immediately be moved to the SD manually?

Rock-Shayde said:
Hi, thanks for the reply
Aha I see, so Rooting is a necessity to be able to do anything? That's number 1 then
Then after that I'll check out the apps you mentioned and have a look for those emulators. One thing I noticed was that apparently it doesn't let you store much on the SD card itself, and the phone memory gets taken up quite quickly. I'm mainly thinking about the games that I've heard store a large chunk of their data on the phone and can't immediately be moved to the SD manually?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root is the first thing you want. You can move every app when you have root with titanium backup. Your phone is all shiny and new, but in 2 months you wanna tweak it how you want. I suggest you get clockworkmod so you can make full backups in case something goes wrong. After that install the supercharger script and by the time you get bored, ICS is coming out.
Sent from my Xperia Play

[Q] Iso image backup, is nandroid only option?

Hey guys I have two questions.
1. I would like to do a backup of my phone the same way I would do an image of my PC drive using an image software like Norton ghost or Acronis true image. Is this possible on android? I've been reading about Nandroid backup and I think this does what I want but the only way to do this with Nandroid is to root and install a new recovery correct? Am I not able to hook my phone up using the usb cable and use an app on the PC to clone the internal SD and create an image of it? I want to create an image of my phone with all its settings, contacts, txts, etc so i can have something to go back to if needed. I would like to do this before I root if possible.
2. On the Samsung Captivate section we have a wiki that has all the info you need to learn how to do certain things, mods, root, etc, etc. I found something similar for our Gnote2 here started by Mjwhirly http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1987541 but I could not find a section of removing bloatware. I saw the link that was created by mrRobinson and he mentions using De-Bloater app that will do it for you with oneclick but is there a list of all the safe to remove apps that I can go through so I can decided which apps I want to keep and which I want to remove?
thanks in advance

Yeah you got it right - a nandroid is what you want. I'm a big time user of ghost - it's the same thing and works great. Root and install the TWRP recovery. Then first of all make a nandroid of your old system. If you want to go back to it all you'll have to do is unroot, change the recovery back, and use triangle away to reset the flash counter and you'll be where you are now - bone stock. You can't make a nandroid image backup until you root and change the recovery though.
On the second question I'd just recommend you install a rom. I use Cleanrom. It is already debloated for you (though you have still some choices), as well as optimized in ways that will amaze you (does 2+ days on battery sound good?). If you look at the various roms available, you'll see more people are using Cleanrom than any other - that should tell you something! Jedi is also great. Many of the AOSP type roms seem to have some minor issues, but the devs are trying to do a much harder thing than just debloat and optimize a rom that was originally released for your device. Whichever one you decide to try, best thing to do is just read the whole rom thread in advance if you have time. You'll read all the dumb questions that others have already asked as well as learn all the ins and outs of the whole process. If you want to then try a different rom, make a nandroid and you can always come back to your previous working system. Hope this helps and have fun!

hey thanks a lot Dumbo53
I guess i'll just have to go ahead and root and do a nandroid backup. I have actually owned a captivate since it first came out which was my first android phone and i have never installed a custom rom. I always did everything manually like debloat and stuff. Security wise how safe are these roms, I see a lot of people just running around and flashing any rom that gets posted. What I'm trying to get at is do we know what's inside of these roms or do we just rely on the honor system and assume that they're safe, like can I trust these roms if I do my banking on them, which i am scared to do ever since I saw a message from the keyboard app on my captivate prompt about capturing my keystrokes or something, basically like a key logger, so I never did try to log onto any sites involving my banking or work email etc. but now that I have my note2 I want to be able to do all that stuff, like emails, banking, accessing my site for maintenance etc etc just for the instant access part of it instead of booting up my laptop or desktop... But I guess I can say the same thing about the stock rom too.

Your banking info is much more likely to be stolen off of a corporate website that got hacked. Whenever you use a credit card to buy something from a company or store, your number passes through some unknown employee's hands and gets stored in another database. Since millions of these numbers are stored together under sometimes weak security, these sites make much more tempting targets than your phone for thieves. The numbers are then sold off in blocks of thousands on the internet. Does that worry you enough to stop using a credit card?
However it is true that there could be a risk in installing a rom, or indeed any software on your phone. If it were discovered that a dev was putting malware in their mods or roms, I'm sure it would create quite a stir! I've never heard of this happening, though I have heard of shady stuff being done with mobile apps that you buy. All I can suggest you do is just read a lot more so that it is easier to distinguish between real threats and imaginary ones, and to learn how to protect yourself. In any case financial institutions have to protect their customers from a lot of these types of fraud, or they'd have trouble staying in business.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

Sounds good. I'm just getting the chance to root and install TWRP been super busy with work so I haven't had the chance to do it. Now installing a recovery does not wipe data right? also on a different note I use both the play store and amazon app store. I have purchased a bunch of apps from amazon and most of them worked but there are a few that say my phone is not compatible. Like the need for speed games and asphalt games will not install from amazon. I haven't tried the same apps from play store but maybe I should. Oh one big one is autodesks sketchbook pro. I don't even see that option on the play store when searching using my phone but its there when i search on the pc. I purchased sketchbook mobile and that works but i needed the features that pro has so i purchased that through amazon again thinking that it would work. I thought this phone was basically a tablet, shouldn't these tablet apps work on our phones?