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I have been a long time Cell phone modder, and I have just gotten my first Android Phone, the HTC Evo 4G.
I have been reading androidforums.com and these forums for about a week now trying to get my head wrapped around things, but I still have some lingering questions.
I feel I have a good grip on how to get my phone rooted/nand unlocked, but its the what to do after that, which bothers me.
What I would like to accomplish:
More customized look and feel
Better battery life (without disabling half the features of the damn phone)
Free Wifi Hotspot
Removal of the pre-packaged crapware
Froyo
What I would not like to lose in the process:
Any of the phones functionality, including GPS/4G/Camera/Video/Bluetooth/etc.
Nice features that Sense has, such as Facebook contact syncing
Reliability or usability of the phone in general
As I have gotten older, my desire to mod has become less and less, and I get more tempted to just leave the phone alone and wait for OTA updates to come out, but when I just tried to do the wifi hotspot and learned I would have to pay an additional $30 on top of the $10 "premium data access" I made the decision to root. That being said, I don't want my phone to be something I am flashing every day. I want it to be as stable as possible so that I can get it all set up how I want without having to worry about re-flashing and losing all my data week after week to keep up with bugfixes and such.
What I don't understand is the differences between all the roms. The opinion at large seems to be that CM6 is the way to go, but it seems a lot of stuff is broken in CM6 atm, like 4G among other things.
Since this is my first android phone, I am already getting used to the Sense UI, but I have seen some other peoples home screens that just look amazing.
I guess what I am looking for is some advice, or a bit of a rundown (since I cant find all of this information in one place) about what is the best course of action to get from point A(stock phone) to point B(customized rooted phone which is "stable") over a path of least resistance.
Thanks in advance!
[also making this same post on androidforums.com]
You can accomplish everything you mentioned except froyo. If you do not want to lose any functionality then flashing a froyo rom is out of the question right now because they all have small issues. CM6 is a froyo rom.
The difference between roms is some are based on 2.2 (froyo) and others are based on 2.1 (stock for evo). Then they also differ in terms of what comes pre-installed, some remove all bloatware even sense and others do not, and then there are some in between. Any rom based on 2.1 will likely have everything working. I can tell you from experience that Damage Control and Backed Snack worked very well on my phone. The best thing to do is just try them out. Once your phone is rooted it is very easy to switch between roms.
Lastly the easiest way to achieve root is using simple root program which can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=720565 (that link is assuming you have latest OTA update, if not search for simple root and you will find the one pre update)
try dc 3.2.3 very stable release(has all the features working; 4g, camera, ect) and has good battery life(don't need to disable half of your phones features), it also allows for a lot of customization(DCupdater allows you to download themes and flash them straight from your phone), and you can pick and choose what bloatware to remove using DConfig, a froyo release is suppose to come out sometime this weekend.
Another option for you is to root and then flash the latest rooted "stock" rom. then flash the latest radio and wimax. then you can use a file manager to remove bloatware. I use "root explorer" from the market. be careful what you remove as removing some things can cause problems. I am currently running this on one of my evo's with no problems everything works and battery life will get me through a day. if you need more info as removing the bloatware feel free to pm me and ill help with what i can. I'm sure using the stock rom will be sufficient for you. On the phone i have running i have all features enabled and am pushing my pop3 accounts through gmail, 4g wifitether, all works just fine.
Hey guys I've had my Dinc for a while and I love it but the one thing I can't stand is the battery life. I listen to FM radio and a ton of podcasts at work all day and rarely get home with over 30% on a good day, not to mention the numerous phone calls and internet browsing. I've looked into rooting and am admittedly scared to do so, not because I am incapable I just hate to have anything that is less than perfectly stable.
After looking into all of the benefits of rooting, none of them mean much of anything to me, to be honest. The only thing that is causing me to want to root is an improved battery performance. My question is, do you think that it is worth rooting simply for an improved battery life alone? Is it really that significant? Also, I read early on in my Dinc days that there were ways of avoiding the whole "turn phone off to charge completely to 100% thing" by rooting, is that true as well? Thanks!
You can run a custom kernel with SBC to charge to "real" 100%. Many custom kernels will get you significantly better battery life than stock; you also may want to look into using undervolts and underclocks. Personally, I use MIUI latest with the included kernel, and it lasts me for about 2 days of medium use on my Seidio 1750 extended battery. Not that big of a difference in battery size from stock, but the battery life using the MIUI kernel with it is much better than the stock kernel on the same battery. Also, you will get a lot of new features no matter which ROM you try, and some it will become hard to live without. At the moment, I'd recommend CyanogenMod7 Stable Release for you, as it has working FM Radio and many excellent kernels, as well as the performance increases that Android 2.3 Gingerbread brings. I recommend in the way of kernels Tiamat or Chad's incredikernel. Both are much better than even the stock kernel from CM7 on battery life. Every device reacts a bit differently to kernels, so find one best for you. However, then there are the different types of ROMs. There are 3 basic types of ROMs in regards to kernels: Sense, GingerSense, and AOSP. Sense is what you have now most likely; it's a ROM with HTC's Sense interface running on top of Android 2.2 Froyo. There are many options for Sense kernels, and I highly recommend ziggy471's beta kernels and HeyItsLou's #8, #9, and #4. All have worked out well for me in the past. THe second, GingerSense, has no custom kernels out because HTC hasn't released the source code for it yet. When HTC releases it, there will be a flood of GingerSense kernels, and GingerSense ROMs are currently some of the most feature-packed. The third category, AOSP, has many different ROMs in it. It ranges from bone-stock Android 2.3 of OMGB to the custom Gingerbread of the aforementioned CM7 and OMFGB to the iPhone-yness of MIUI to the.... different experience that the Acer LiquidMetal ports offer. There are many kernels available for AOSP, and I recommend those I mentioned above. Also, the stock AOSP kernels are generally quite good. I find AOSP to be easiest on battery; as always, YMMV. In answer to your main question, yes. It really is that significant. We are always glad to add another member to the DInc XDA community. Find what works best for you, and have fun!
EDIT: wow, I just looked at this post, it's really long
thekidkid32 said:
Hey guys I've had my Dinc for a while and I love it but the one thing I can't stand is the battery life. I listen to FM radio and a ton of podcasts at work all day and rarely get home with over 30% on a good day, not to mention the numerous phone calls and internet browsing. I've looked into rooting and am admittedly scared to do so, not because I am incapable I just hate to have anything that is less than perfectly stable.
After looking into all of the benefits of rooting, none of them mean much of anything to me, to be honest. The only thing that is causing me to want to root is an improved battery performance. My question is, do you think that it is worth rooting simply for an improved battery life alone? Is it really that significant? Also, I read early on in my Dinc days that there were ways of avoiding the whole "turn phone off to charge completely to 100% thing" by rooting, is that true as well? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, I think you misunderstand rooting.
All rooting your phone will do will change the boot-loader to S-OFF, which will give you the option of flashing .zip files to your phone. It will also, however, give you complete control of your device. (Overclocking, TIbackup, Removing bloatware, etc.)
The ROM that came with your phone will still be there though. This will not change the stability of your device in any way. Just make sure to follow directions EXACTLY.
If you wanted improved battery life, you will have to go into the custom recovery accessible from the boot-loader, which will allow you to flash a new ROM.
So to answer your question, just rooting your phone will not necessarily improve your phones battery life, actually more likely not. You would have to flash custom ROMs. But to be honest, a lot of them are wayy more stable then stock INC. My buddy has one, and always texts me cause it messes up.
Anyways, good day
You can also root the phone and use custom kernels on the stock rom. Don't necessarily need to be running a different rom to increase battery life.
Awesome thanks a lot for your help guys! I have a couple of other noob questions before I go for it,
First off, would it be too much to ask to have everything setup and working well in the next two nights? I'm going to be going on vacation and only have tonight and tomorrow to get it all set. I jailbroke an ipod once and I remember having a problem and having to plug it into a computer and it was fixed no prob, but I won't have that option now. Would I be wise to wait until after vacation or should everything go smoothly as long I follow directions?
Also, I've looked all around, and I don't see how you guys go about backing everything up before you root. I see apps to backup a rooted phone before flashing a new ROM or something, but not beforehand. I want all of my apps and settings on my newly rooted phone quickly and easily. Possible? Thanks again!
thekidkid32 said:
Awesome thanks a lot for your help guys! I have a couple of other noob questions before I go for it,
First off, would it be too much to ask to have everything setup and working well in the next two nights? I'm going to be going on vacation and only have tonight and tomorrow to get it all set. I jailbroke an ipod once and I remember having a problem and having to plug it into a computer and it was fixed no prob, but I won't have that option now. Would I be wise to wait until after vacation or should everything go smoothly as long I follow directions?
Also, I've looked all around, and I don't see how you guys go about backing everything up before you root. I see apps to backup a rooted phone before flashing a new ROM or something, but not beforehand. I want all of my apps and settings on my newly rooted phone quickly and easily. Possible? Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well when you root it doesnt reset everything you still have all your apps etc...what we do is backup everything after the root process is finished go into recovery and do a nandroid backup of you stock setup just in case and everyhting should go smoothly following directions
On Another Note: as long as youre rooting might as well try out my rom Kingdom Rewind 3D if you have any more questions on rooting just ask
cvbcbcmv said:
Here is what I recommend you do. Root by following a video on youtube from applepwns. (it's not me, but that's what I followed and it's very good) make sure you watch his newer video, he has 2, his newer one is better. Rooting will not delete any data. Then, I would download rom manager and buy rom manager pro, and download and install skyraider sense 4.2, a rom very identical to stock, so it will be easy to use, and very stable. Rom manager will do it all for you, just select both wiping options. Also, backup your rom (rom manager asks this after the rom has been downloaded) it will make it so that at any time you can restore back to what you have exactly how it is with apps and everything how it was how you left it. I would also recommend installing incredikernel, you can get the sense version from incredikernel.com. You flash that in recovery. (update your recovery in rom manager, turn off your phone, hold down power button and volume down and when your in hboot scroll down to recovery and go into it, then go to chose zip from sd card, and install it, then reboot. put the incredikernel on the root of your sd card, and don't unzip it, keep the zip zipped) and as for backing up apps, it's very possible. Buy an app called titanium backup pro (you need the free version downloaded as well) and hit menu, batch, backup all apps and data, and hit run (there are also youtube videos on this, just search) and it will put the backups on your SD card (don't backup system data) then after you install the new rom, install the app again, and hit batch, restore apps and data. If you have your google account synced with your phone then your contacts are on it and will automatically be put back on. This can be done in 2 days, it can be done in a few hours. PM me for any questions, I'm happy to help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 thing to add to that, I use MyBackup Root instead of Titanium because MyBackup Root is basically the full MyBackup Pro for free, and it can not only back up apps+data, but also photos, contacts, SMS/MMS, bookmarks, music playlists, etc. and you don't have to pay for it to get automated restores (with Titanium free you have to manually install each application once the restore starts.)
I was in a similar situation when trying to decide whether or not to root my DInc. My primary motivation was to remove the bloat, which did help a bit with battery life merely because there were fewer apps for Sense to load up in the background.
I then started trying different Sense kernels because I couldn't find much information out there about which ones were better than others. I felt strongly enough about this I started a thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1107423
I was able to squeeze a few more hours out of my phone using my top rated kernel, with results declining slowly in the lower ranks.
I say: GO FOR IT!
Once you get started, you may find yourself pushing farther into the guts of Android to get your phone working the way you want it to. But even stopping at rooting just to change kernels will get you what you are looking for. Adding a Seidio 1750 mAh battery could help add up to another few hours.
Good luck and keep us posted.
PGleo86 said:
1 thing to add to that, I use MyBackup Root instead of Titanium because MyBackup Root is basically the full MyBackup Pro for free, and it can not only back up apps+data, but also photos, contacts, SMS/MMS, bookmarks, music playlists, etc. and you don't have to pay for it to get automated restores (with Titanium free you have to manually install each application once the restore starts.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks right, you can use MyBackup Root for APK+Data+Market Link + 0-click batch RESTORE for Free. It also allows you to schedule and have as many backups as you would like locally, for free.
liteon163 said:
I was in a similar situation when trying to decide whether or not to root my DInc. My primary motivation was to remove the bloat, which did help a bit with battery life merely because there were fewer apps for Sense to load up in the background.
I then started trying different Sense kernels because I couldn't find much information out there about which ones were better than others. I felt strongly enough about this I started a thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1107423
I was able to squeeze a few more hours out of my phone using my top rated kernel, with results declining slowly in the lower ranks.
I say: GO FOR IT!
Once you get started, you may find yourself pushing farther into the guts of Android to get your phone working the way you want it to. But even stopping at rooting just to change kernels will get you what you are looking for. Adding a Seidio 1750 mAh battery could help add up to another few hours.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm keeping up with that thread, it's pretty good
You should definitely take a look, OP.
Hey guys, this had been posted in other forums, but I wanted some specific answers from play users.
I've been wanting to root my play for a while in order to freeze apps/control the cpu for improved battery life, and now that there is that great guide from typikal, it finally seems do able.
My question its, beyond freezing/deleting bloatware, what do you guys do with your rooted phones? What features do some of the more popular roms offer? I really like stock android, would that be a mistake to root and just run a vanilla 2.3.3 rom?
Thanks for all the responses and information, I think I'm getting a handle on this android stuff finally.
My only reason for Rooting was because the memory sucks and I needed to move my games to the SD card. I don’t pirate and I don't just install anything do to the high malware rates.
I only do it so I can get rid of all the useless pre-installed crap that comes on the phone
I hate having stuff I don't use
And so I can use quick reboot apps
Thanks for the replies. What can you guys tell me about the more popular roms, like Cyanogen? What extra features would this rom bring to the table that I would presumably want?
And, is it even possible to flash to a stock 2.3.3 rom on the R800x?
I haven't tried the ROMs yet. I'm waiting for them to be more complete.
Rooting means to have complete control about how your OS works (note: OS, not device). It is something that we as users should demand to have toggled/toggleable by default, at least if we have bought the phone without carrier subsidies. After all, we have root access over the personal computers we buy, and we buy them without subsidies either. Smartphones are personal computers with phone capabilities, so they should not be any different in that aspect.
Extra features usually allowed by rooting, plus customised ROMs are moving all apps to SD, overclocking, wifi tethering, system-wide backups (that is, to safely back up all your phone's data) and so on. Note that you need to unlock your bootloaders as well, for custom ROMs to be installed.
Note that you don't need root to pirate anything.
I agree with logseman that we should have full access without worrying about warranties.
But on the other have there are a lot of noobs that will screw everything up. lol
Although screwing things up is how we learn in the first place.
Edit: Something as simple as taking a screen shot or disabling the auto brightness should not require root access. (Root access is basically the Administrator account in Linux.)
We screw up our PC's in a daily basis and noone will close the software. The reason why people have no control over their device is that the one giving the subsidy (the carrier) is the real end customer of the phone.
Hey guys I am a serious beginner to the android world. I just upgraded to the Nexus from a Blackberry. I am looking to root and add a rom to get the best performance from my phone. I have looked at a lot of threads and websites but because of my newness to this world, some of the instructions are not clear to me. I have a Mac and just want some step by step instructions that I can understand so I won't do anything wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
mrmajor247 said:
Hey guys I am a serious beginner to the android world. I just upgraded to the Nexus from a Blackberry. I am looking to root and add a rom to get the best performance from my phone. I have looked at a lot of threads and websites but because of my newness to this world, some of the instructions are not clear to me. I have a Mac and just want some step by step instructions that I can understand so I won't do anything wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will offer my opinion and you can do with it what you will.
First off I have no information about how, specifically, you root with a Mac.
Secondly, my advice is think hard about why you want root. I started rooting back with my HTC EVO and it was pretty cool - until the problems started. When I say problems, I should probably say bugs. I tried several roms and most were pretty good but all had their shortcomings, random reboots, force closes, etc. I finally ended up with Cyanogenmod (arguably the best rom out there) but even then I had problems. No autofocus in in video, no HDMI out and something else I can't put my finger on now - but really annoyed me.
In short, rooting is kind of a give and take between fun stuff and more bugs - IF you are using custom roms which most everyone does. The factory roms are written by the guys who make the phones and the custom roms are written by guys who are reverse-engineering the hardware/software so expect some problems. (Cyanogenmod even had a list of things that didn't work on their webpage). The Nexus is stock AOSP so the roms may be better but there is still the issue of custom kernels, radios, etc. If you don't get it JUST RIGHT you can have compatibility and stability problems.
My Nexus is still stock and is waiting for the official 4.0.4 OTA (over the air) update. It runs much more stable than my EVO with Cyanogenmod (or any other rom). If you want the best performance and don't NEED any of the functionality of root I'd personally just keep it stock. I've thought about rooting again, but ultimately I don't really need it. My friend switched from iOS to Android and rooted but kept having reboot issues on a couple roms and ultimately restored to stock and was fine. Same story with another friend who is currently (read: STILL) using a gen1 Droid.
Don't get me wrong, rooting is great - if you will really use it. But I wouldn't root just for the hell of it unless you don't mind the hassles.
YMMV
Good luck!
chjade84 said:
I will offer my opinion and you can do with it what you will.
First off I have no information about how, specifically, you root with a Mac.
Secondly, my advice is think hard about why you want root. I started rooting back with my HTC EVO and it was pretty cool - until the problems started. When I say problems, I should probably say bugs. I tried several roms and most were pretty good but all had their shortcomings, random reboots, force closes, etc. I finally ended up with Cyanogenmod (arguably the best rom out there) but even then I had problems. No autofocus in in video, no HDMI out and something else I can't put my finger on now - but really annoyed me.
In short, rooting is kind of a give and take between fun stuff and more bugs - IF you are using custom roms which most everyone does. The factory roms are written by the guys who make the phones and the custom roms are written by guys who are reverse-engineering the hardware/software so expect some problems. (Cyanogenmod even had a list of things that didn't work on their webpage). The Nexus is stock AOSP so the roms may be better but there is still the issue of custom kernels, radios, etc. If you don't get it JUST RIGHT you can have compatibility and stability problems.
My Nexus is still stock and is waiting for the official 4.0.4 OTA (over the air) update. It runs much more stable than my EVO with Cyanogenmod (or any other rom). If you want the best performance and don't NEED any of the functionality of root I'd personally just keep it stock. I've thought about rooting again, but ultimately I don't really need it. My friend switched from iOS to Android and rooted but kept having reboot issues on a couple roms and ultimately restored to stock and was fine. Same story with another friend who is currently (read: STILL) using a gen1 Droid.
Don't get me wrong, rooting is great - if you will really use it. But I wouldn't root just for the hell of it unless you don't mind the hassles.
YMMV
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good info but... There are other reasons to root a device other than just running custom ROMS such as the ability to use Titanium Backup (for backing up your apps / device), AD Free (for getting rid of ad's in free apps) along with other great apps that you can only use when your device is rooted.
I am running a custom ROM and you are correct, I have / had some bugs with it so in this case for a NOOB the OP may be best to stay stock for the time being but there are other reasons to root.
OP - All I can say is READ, READ, READ and the READ SOMEMORE... Good luck and welcome to ANDROID!!!
As a fellow noob/semi noob I can highly recommend using youtube instead of text guides if available. There are a surprising amount of video guides that are alot easier to follow..
For me the posibility to do full and partial backups of my phone is the main reason i rooted.
yiannisthegreek said:
This is good info but... There are other reasons to root a device other than just running custom ROMS such as the ability to use Titanium Backup (for backing up your apps / device), AD Free (for getting rid of ad's in free apps) along with other great apps that you can only use when your device is rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. He mentioned rooting for performance so I assumed he meant he wanted to use a custom rom/kernel/radio. I rooted mostly for roms (HTC Sense, sigh) and tethering but titanium backup was awesome (although less useful if you don't switch roms every week lol). Adfree was alright but I don't notice much of a difference. Overclocking was fun, too - but except for benchmark scores I didn't notice much of a difference either.
If I root again it will be stock ASOP and only for tethering --- but only if I can find a 100% stock rom with just the carrier-tethering-tracker file removed.
Klippetop said:
As a fellow noob/semi noob I can highly recommend using youtube instead of text guides if available. There are a surprising amount of video guides that are alot easier to follow..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1!
Youtube videos are much nicer than written guides. Just watch and follow along step-by-step seeing how everything is supposed to go.
I actually made a how to video for the nexus s 4g on a Mac. And did it the same way on my galaxy nexus. Only thing u would have to do different is make sure u type in the right clockwormod recovery image but here's the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m3ypr4J5Gc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
You couldn't really pick an easier phone to root, I would do a lot of reading before having at it though. I was able to find a guide fairly quickly by doing a google search. I would link it but apparently I'm still a noob myself.
root causes random reboots?
LOL
I found this method to be the easiest, at least for me.
I was in the same situation a couple weeks ago, didn't know a thing about rooting but now I'm flashing custom roms and testing kernels
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1352413
good luck and have fun
Firstly, just use the device. Get used to Android before trying everything else. For all you know it might do exactly what you want it to without rooting.
If, after a week or 2 of using it, you want to explore rooting then read the rooting guides available online or in the Dev forum. Then give some ROMs a try! Better to find out for yourself which work for you than asking for a recommendation as what works for one user might be **** for another.
Also, learn how to use adb and fastboot as they'll come in handy in future (not enough people have any idea what to do). Try and do things manually as opposed to using one-click tools so you have the confidence to know what you're doing
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.
bump