Develop Bugs

ROM, Splash or Radio - What's the difference?

Hi,
I'm still running the OEM WM6.1 which came with my TP2. I'm interested in installing an updated version (custom?), but is a bit confused at this stage. What's the difference between a ROM, Splash and Radio? Also, my TP2 has an IMEI number, does that mean it is a GSM device and not a CDMA device?
I'm really worried about bricking it...
Thanks in advance!

Also, what is Sense, Manilla, etc.?

RTFM :~D
When someone mentions their rom, they usually mean their operating system...for instance, a cooked rom, would be a modified WinMo 6.x
A radio rom (not to be confuzzled with an FM radio) is what picks up your telephone signals.
A splash is the opening screen when you first boot your device...on mine it would be T-mo then WinMo...this can be modified, as there are usually 3 initial screens, my first screen is custom made by me (there is a great tutorial on doing that), the second is an animated gif which currently is T-mo and I will eventually change, the third is WinMo which I will also eventually change once I find images I like enough. Most cooks use either their own splash or just generic ones from HTC/WinMo. The splash is just a matter of personal taste...some people don't care if it is their carrier branding/HTC/WinMo, others want it very personal. Changing the splash usually won't have any effect on your rom other than cosmetic...you do not see the splash unless you are booting the device.
I would very strongly urge you to read every and all stickies/wiki's posted in the Rhodium section of xda. Once you have read every post in each of the above mentioned stickies/wiki's, read them again...if you don't want a brick, then educating yourself is the best way. Believe it or not, many if not all of your questions can be answered with a little reading and some searching. There is in fact an excellent tutorial to read before flashing to a new rom...

Thank you!
So a Radio ROM flash is not really a good idea if there is nothing wrong? I'm getting signal problems, could it be the Radio ROM?
I'm reading as much as possible, I really do not want to get it wrong.

If you have to ask these questions then I'd advise you to leave the whole subject well alone. The chances of you getting in a mess are much increased by your basic lack of understanding and unless you're having SERIOUS problems with your phone as it is I don't think it's wise for you to get involved.
Analogy time :
Almost all of my computers at home run Linux and I wouldn't have it any other way. But there's no way I'd advise my mum to even think about it at the moment because she still doesn't like land lines with buttons.
If you are having SERIOUS problems with reception then first of all I'd try and see whether a different phone on the same network has problems too. It could well be the network coverage where you are. If it doesn't then read the ROM section CAREFULLY. All the information you need is there and there should be no need to ask questions if you fully understand what is written. If you don't the don't !
Also I would advise that this is posted in the wrong section and should be in the ROM section

dik23 said:
If you have to ask these questions then I'd advise you to leave the whole subject well alone. The chances of you getting in a mess are much increased by your basic lack of understanding and unless you're having SERIOUS problems with your phone as it is I don't think it's wise for you to get involved.
Analogy time :
I almost all of my computers at home run Linux and I wouldn't have it any other way. But there's no way I'd advise my mum to even think about it at the moment because she still doesn't like land lines with buttons.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, I get what you are saying...but, I'm a quick learner and asked the questions because I'm researching it, so know everything before I try.

Check here for all you need to know.

What the...

I would suggest that the Desire forum be combined with the Nexus One and called Bravo. They are the same device with a couple small variations. Other devices (Universal comes to mind) had hardware variants but were not broken out into 2 sub forums.
-Mc

It's a different phone though, it has Sense UI and more Ram.
It's like the G1 and HTC Magic being the same apart from the Magic having no keyboard... they still have different forums.

Sense UI is a software front end (and ALL variants have different software). And the Universal also has different versions, some with double the RAM of others. It is the same device, same platform, same hardware. Since you can install the Nexus One ROM on the Desire with NO porting, it's the same device. They also have identical hardware specs with the exception of a little more RAM to accommodate Sense and the optical joystick.
The Magic and G1 were completely different in the sense that one had a keyboard and one did not. If the Desire had a physical keyboard, I'd agree with you.
This will do nothing but segment development and resources.

But it is different hardware, considering the 64mb more ram and the missing second mic and the hard buttons instead of soft touch buttons and the optical mouse.
And the porting, i think there was some kind of changes, or why else is there already alpha version 7 when not cause of the bugs?
Is this enough different hardware to give it its own forum?
Also i´m quite sure, that rooting might be kind of harder than on the nexus, or does anybody know something about it yet?

so should the developer versions of Google phones get their own forum? HTC has slightly changed devices throughout it's history but we've never given them their own subforum.
e.g.
The HTC Kaiser has a front facing camera. AT&T's does not. Did the Tilt get it's own forum?
The original Universal had 64MB of RAM. The updated T-Mobile version has 128. Did it get it's own forum?
The HTC 620, 621, and 622 had differences, one didn't have WiFi, the others did.
The HTC Wizard is different enough between some versions that if you flash a ROM from one on to the other, it will kill it.
Some devices have Sense, some do not. Should they get their own forums? And what happens if the ones that didn't suddenly get SenseUI in an update. Do they lose their own forums?
Look, I don't own XDA and those that do can certainly do what they want. But I've gone through the FCC documents and looked at the ROMimages between the two. They are the same device with differences exactly like the examples I used above (and there are many more). Segmenting the two only hampers development efforts.
-Mc

McHale said:
The HTC 620, 621, and 622 had differences, one didn't have WiFi, the others did.
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Click to collapse
Not only that, but the S640. Telus only device, different chasis then those, CDMA, but some people were saying it should be lumped in with the other 6XX line.

I don't know about you but the HTC Sapphire Forums is littered between 32A and 32B ROMs.

Taknarosh said:
I don't know about you but the HTC Sapphire Forums is littered between 32A and 32B ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed... N1/Desire should be kept seperate!
Especially since they probaly do not share hboots and radios... So keeping the forums seperate minimizes risks of people flashing wrong stuff (as was seen on 32A/B quite often)

Epedemic said:
Agreed... N1/Desire should be kept seperate!
Especially since they probaly do not share hboots and radios... So keeping the forums seperate minimizes risks of people flashing wrong stuff (as was seen on 32A/B quite often)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They DO share hboots and radios. They are the same phone. That's my point. Next, we'll start new sub forums for different case colors or carriers or logos or...

If they share radio/hboot they can flash the same ROMs without porting? If that is so, they should have the same section in my opinion.

The partition layouts are different on the devices. So no...you cant just take a rom from one and have it work straight away.
People have managed to get Desire Roms running on the n1, but they had to move system data to the data partition to do so.
The Desire is also unlikley to be rootable via unlocking the bootloader. If we put both devices in one section it would just confuse the nooblets.

SGTDavePwnage said:
If we put both devices in one section it would just confuse the nooblets.
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Click to collapse
Man if we used THAT as a compass around here, we'd be better off closing the site entirely. You can confuse them no matter what you do. Again, look at the Universal threads. Different RAM sizes but both versions lived happily ever after in the same forum. This site was NEVER intended for newbs. It shouldn't. If it did, most of us would leave.
How much do you guys wanna bet that many ROM's will be made in Nexus1 and Desire flavors. How many LITE ROMS have you seen on XDA? A lite ROM will work on either device without ANY porting or special mods. Why not have them in the same thread/forum?

I think if their roms are cross compatible, why not have the development sections mergered? They could have separate sections but once some1 clicks on development for N1 or Desire they are lead to the same page.

yes this could be the best as i see it. there are differences, radio buttons etc,,, there might be other differences for general question etc. but if the two of them have the same structure for roms then maedhros suggested the best, why not having them into one development section!

if any1 can proove for me that they share the exact same spl, radio and partition layout then im on it! as it could be the last extra rams that have been used for the /system partition else i think it is like mixing up da hero and sapphire as they are close, but biggest difference is software based

I agree that If the 2 are proved to be identical in development terms upon the desires release, then the forums could be merged, with perhaps a couple of stickies at the top explaining what you need to do to root the phone before you can use the roms. However this should not be done until this proven conclusively on a released phone.

IF roms that can be used on both devices using the same unlocking techniques become a reality, i will take this suggestion up with administration.
(But that won't be soon)

McHale said:
Man if we used THAT as a compass around here, we'd be better off closing the site entirely. You can confuse them no matter what you do. Again, look at the Universal threads. Different RAM sizes but both versions lived happily ever after in the same forum. This site was NEVER intended for newbs. It shouldn't. If it did, most of us would leave.
How much do you guys wanna bet that many ROM's will be made in Nexus1 and Desire flavors. How many LITE ROMS have you seen on XDA? A lite ROM will work on either device without ANY porting or special mods. Why not have them in the same thread/forum?
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Click to collapse
This is an absolute appalling comment. Condescending and unhelpful. Everyone has to start at some point and a vast silent majority of people visit the site to learn and root... Unless one can prove that you cannot harm one of the devices by using a ROM for the other, the threads should be separated, even if it cost a few duplicates...

globiboulga said:
This is an absolute appalling comment. Condescending and unhelpful. Everyone has to start at some point and a vast silent majority of people visit the site to learn and root... Unless one can prove that you cannot harm one of the devices by using a ROM for the other, the threads should be separated, even if it cost a few duplicates...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You either took it wrong or are being a troll. XDA is a developers and hackers forum. We are all newbs at some point but this forum isn't designed for the newb. It's designed for the hacker/developer. I'm not ripping on newbs for being newbs. Hell, I'm a newb again as I just got my AT&T Nexus One yesterday - my first Android phone. But I'm reading and searching and won't have a reason to ask a question for quite some time. All of the information is already here on XDA. Newbs are welcome but we expect them to SEARCH and READ before asking a lot of questions. Some do, some don't. But if we dumbed down the forum, it would ruin it. There'd be so much crap to wade through and so many duplicate threads it'd be too time consuming to do so. THAT was my point.
Maybe we should have separate Desire forums for the silver version and a separate forum for the charcoal version. That should help, right? Because newbs who don't read are going to ask over and over if the ROM being discussed will work on their particular color of Desire. And that won't make anything confusing, right? Some ROMS posted in one forum and some posted in the other (just like the Desire vs. Nexus One). People will continually ask if the ROM will work on their device because it was in a different forum.
And FYI, you can harm the device just as easy using the correct ROM on the same device, or by running a simple command, or... If they read everything before they start, they will have no problems. If they don't read, well, we can't hold their hands.
This forum is catered to experienced hackers. We will help newbs through every part of every process, but this is still a forum for experienced hackers. If you don't like that, find a place that spoon feeds or does things for you. And if this place ever turns into a forum that spoon feeds and everyone asks to do things for them, most of us will surely leave. Then who will help them?

the question is why not?
Why is it important to you to keep them in one section? are you thinking about server space utilizing ?
I mean what is the harm of making them in separate sections (what is the harm to you)?

Radio flashing -- why is it so risky (i.e. bricking) ?

Hi Everyone,
As an individual that has recently migrated from the Hero forums where radio flashes are recommended on a willy nilly basis to "solve" common problems (such as GPS or wifi issues), I have to ask, why is the attitude on the opposite side of the spectrum here? I'm open to technical explanations or anything else that may be relevant.
On the Hero side of things, I noticed that most bricks were products of user error. Considering that HTC released both a GSM and CDMA version of the device (and naming them exactly the same), many unsuspecting users would brick by flashing a CDMA radio on a GSM Hero. In other cases, impatient users would pull the battery during the flashing process -- all while unaware of the consequences.
So, I'd like to hear different opinions on this seemingly contentious issue (as I do see users recommending radio flashes in light of the warnings from developers to not touch the radio at all).
Thank you.

Anybody recommending flashing radios on a "willy nilly basis" are flippin' retards. Doesn't matter if your phone is a 32A (Hero/Magic), 32B (Dream/Magic), or a Vision.
The risks are as follows;
1) An incorrect or incomplete flash WILL render the hardware "bricked".
2) A radio that is incompatible with the hardware or the SPL *WILL* render the hardware "bricked".
Go into the DREAM forums and count just how many people bricked their phones due to something really stupid, like incompatibility with the SPL.... there is always a chance that a new radio will be incompatible with an old SPL. Especially since there are FOUR DIFFERENT SPLs available for Vision.... US/International shipping SPLs, US/International ENGINEERING SPLs. Note that the ENGINEERING SPLs carry older version numbers than the SHIPPING SPLs, so new radios will NOT be made to have compatibility with engineering SPLs in mind.

Is there someone out there that can help clarify the proper way to determine the correct radio for each Desire Z that is out there? This would be the biggest help to all. Education of the proper procedure and the correct radios to use would be more of an asset than having everone scare each other with tales of the bricked phone! If we had an accurate listing for each phone with the MD5 of the files involved there would not be nearly as many bricked phones. I have no doubts the Mods would sticky it for us also.
This is a site that we all come to to learn and I am sure we all enjoy experimenting with our phones and want to do it as safely as possible.
I currently use an Inspire 4g and it took me 7 radios before I found the one that worked to my satisfaction with the rom I am using in the area of the world that I live in. I found it, now I leave it alone.
Why am I putting my .02 in you may ask? I am waiting for a desire Z that I bought on ebay to arrive so I can experiment with it as a spare phone. I just sold 2 Captivates that were spares to get the DZ. I would love to have an accurate source of information that I can further my own education.
I do not have the knowledge to do this or I would but I am sure there are some people that are a lot more intellegent than I that can.
Sorry to be so long winded but I wanted to make sure I did not come across sounding pushy. Just a thought to help all concerned.

SNadler said:
Is there someone out there that can help clarify the proper way to determine the correct radio for each Desire Z that is out there? This would be the biggest help to all. Education of the proper procedure and the correct radios to use would be more of an asset than having everone scare each other with tales of the bricked phone! If we had an accurate listing for each phone with the MD5 of the files involved there would not be nearly as many bricked phones. I have no doubts the Mods would sticky it for us also.
This is a site that we all come to to learn and I am sure we all enjoy experimenting with our phones and want to do it as safely as possible.
I currently use an Inspire 4g and it took me 7 radios before I found the one that worked to my satisfaction with the rom I am using in the area of the world that I live in. I found it, now I leave it alone.
Why am I putting my .02 in you may ask? I am waiting for a desire Z that I bought on ebay to arrive so I can experiment with it as a spare phone. I just sold 2 Captivates that were spares to get the DZ. I would love to have an accurate source of information that I can further my own education.
I do not have the knowledge to do this or I would but I am sure there are some people that are a lot more intellegent than I that can.
Sorry to be so long winded but I wanted to make sure I did not come across sounding pushy. Just a thought to help all concerned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every phone sold in regular mobile phone shops on this earth is provided with the correct radio for the region where it is sold. As in a closed box with EMEI numbers and all the stuff on it. If you live in the outback of Australia and buy (through Ebay) a phone originated for Estonia then you could be in for a surprise.

HLeenders said:
Every phone sold in regular mobile phone shops on this earth is provided with the correct radio for the region where it is sold. As in a closed box with EMEI numbers and all the stuff on it. If you live in the outback of Australia and buy (through Ebay) a phone originated for Estonia then you could be in for a surprise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly my point.
There are a lot of people that for one reason or another WILL change their radio. Why not make it so all that do are educated on the proper way to do it and have a correct listing of the proper radio for each device with the coresponding MD5 to minimize the issues? Is this not part of what xda is all about? IMHO it will help all concerned.

SNadler said:
That is exactly my point.
There are a lot of people that for one reason or another WILL change their radio. Why not make it so all that do are educated on the proper way to do it and have a correct listing of the proper radio for each device with the coresponding MD5 to minimize the issues? Is this not part of what xda is all about? IMHO it will help all concerned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is here!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=970809

Stock vs Custom - what's the best for you?

What a great question! I'm so glad you asked!
I recently gave in and got my bootloader unlocked on my Verizon R800x, just so I could see what all the hoopla was about. After a few days of analysis, I've already been able to draw some conclusions that I hope new seekers will find useful.
There are several things to know when making a decision like this one.
1. What model of Xperia Play am I rocking? Not all Xperia Plays are created equal. There is the data connection to consider. If you are in most of the world outside of the US, you probably have a carrier that uses GSM for data. So does AT&T and Sprint in the US. Because it is so common, there are lots of Custom ROMS and kernels, unlocking the bootloader is easy, and many people are experienced in supporting GSM. But you're a Verizon Wireless customer? - sorry, you use a CDMA connection, which means your choices are much more limited, unlocking the bootloader is more of a challenge, and people tend to laugh at you!
2. Do I want to use the phone primarily for gaming with that sweet gamepad and not-so-sweet touchpads? Do I really depend on my phone to be 100% useable at all times? Better stick with ROMs and kernels based off of stock. No need to even know what a bootloader is!
3. Or, screw the games, I wanna be big, bad and bold, on the bleeding edge of technology! Well then, plan on furthering your techie education! You're going to be learning all kinds of fun and interesting terms, like soft brick, hard brick, adb, fastboot, flashing , RAM, ROM, push, root and boot - after awhile it all starts sounding like a naughty little party is going on in your phone! Hey, Baby! I got yer bootloader right here, know wut I'm sayin?
How about some do's and don'ts?
DON'T post a question on how to root, unlock the bootloader, install coolappofthemoment.apk or what does any of these terms mean without doing a little research on your own first. Chances are, someone else asked it at least once, probably a million times, and the only responses you're likely to get are "GEEZE, READ THE BLOODY FORUMS, YA N00B!!!"
DO use Google, search the forums, and actually READ the threads that seem relevant to your question. Yes, you will read a more than a few posts like "Does this work yet?", "I don't like the color of...", "MemberX is a troll!", but interspersed in there is quite a bit of information that you may benefit from and often you will find your answer much more quickly than posting a question and waiting for a valid response.
DON'T be afraid of rooting your phone but...
DO be aware that your warranty may (will) be affected by modifying your phone.
DON'T remove anything preinstalled by the service provider until you...
DO a Nandroid Backup first. (There's a term you will want to explore further. Hint: Look into CWM Custom Recovery.)
DON'Tuninstall system apps right away. Instead freeze them (OOOH another term you might want to learn. Hint: Titanium Backup among other apps.) Once you are comfortable with restoring your Nandroid Backup, you understand what the app does, and you experience no issues freezing it, then you can remove it if you want to free up some internal storage space.
DO pay attention to who the developers are for different projects, as well as frequent posters with actual useful contributions. You can tell who they are by the phrase "The Following 9 million Users Say Thank You to UltraDev For This Useful Post:" These are the people you want to make your bestest friends.
WOW !! Who knew there was so much to learn !!! Can't I just skip all that and charge blindly ahead??? I have one word for you. BRICK !!! OK, I have another word for you:
DON'T!!!
After trying the few kernels and Custom ROMs available to me (Yes, I am a lucky Verizon customer), I decided that, for me, it's fun to be able to juggle razors (Get It? Be on the BLEEDING EDGE???), but since some of the things I like to do with my phone are not yet working with the latest and greatest, I'm better off sticking with a customized stock configuration. The great thing is, I can always try the newer stuff and then go back to the "safe" setup.
Oh yeah! I almost forgot! There is one more DO for you, and it's extremely important!
DO click that Thanks button when someone posts a project or information that you find useful. We all want to know our efforts are appreciated, right? RIGHT?????? <<Taps his foot and looks pointedly at the Thanks button>>

Your post reminded me of Excel, of Excel Saga's fame. For that you carved a little nostalgia hole in my rocky heart.

That's going to be very useful, and you had me laughing for 10 mins with the bootloader thing
Sent from my Xperia Play using Tapatalk

How to choose a ROM?

Hello,
I'm currently running CM 13.1 on my rooted HTC One M8. Given that CM is now superseded by LineageOS (which however seems still in beta) I should upgrade it. I want to keep this phone going as long as I can - I've no wish to buy a new phone - and one way of keeping it perpetually "young", so to speak, is to ensure a good OS. (I had the battery and charging port/headphone jack replaced a few months ago, for about 1/6 the cost of the new phone.) I'm just wondering if there's a list, preferably with annotation (good/bad points about each), of current ROMS for this device. I need my phone to provide a solid experience, and I don't know that I want to spend days hunting through forums trying to find out what's out there, and what works best. I imagine that somebody, somewhere, must provide such a list?
Oh, my phone is the international version; it's not tied to any carrier, and as I say it's rooted. I used adb under Linux to move ROMS and open_gapps between my computer and the phone.
Thanks,
-A.

amca1960 said:
Hello,
I'm currently running CM 13.1 on my rooted HTC One M8. Given that CM is now superseded by LineageOS (which however seems still in beta) I should upgrade it. I want to keep this phone going as long as I can - I've no wish to buy a new phone - and one way of keeping it perpetually "young", so to speak, is to ensure a good OS. (I had the battery and charging port/headphone jack replaced a few months ago, for about 1/6 the cost of the new phone.) I'm just wondering if there's a list, preferably with annotation (good/bad points about each), of current ROMS for this device. I need my phone to provide a solid experience, and I don't know that I want to spend days hunting through forums trying to find out what's out there, and what works best. I imagine that somebody, somewhere, must provide such a list?
Oh, my phone is the international version; it's not tied to any carrier, and as I say it's rooted. I used adb under Linux to move ROMS and open_gapps between my computer and the phone.
Thanks,
-A.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read this thread, it might help you decide.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/general/discussion-android-7-nougat-t3505252

amca1960 said:
Hello,
I'm currently running CM 13.1 on my rooted HTC One M8. Given that CM is now superseded by LineageOS (which however seems still in beta) I should upgrade it. I want to keep this phone going as long as I can - I've no wish to buy a new phone - and one way of keeping it perpetually "young", so to speak, is to ensure a good OS. (I had the battery and charging port/headphone jack replaced a few months ago, for about 1/6 the cost of the new phone.) I'm just wondering if there's a list, preferably with annotation (good/bad points about each), of current ROMS for this device. I need my phone to provide a solid experience, and I don't know that I want to spend days hunting through forums trying to find out what's out there, and what works best. I imagine that somebody, somewhere, must provide such a list?
Oh, my phone is the international version; it's not tied to any carrier, and as I say it's rooted. I used adb under Linux to move ROMS and open_gapps between my computer and the phone.
Thanks,
-A.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really depends on how YOU use your ROM. What is important to you? Lineage is probably going to suit you well, or Mokee which is notoriously smooth. I like resolution remix which has heaps of customisations. Without xposed nougat may not be for you. Nougat still does not have agps enabled nor is NFC working correctly. Those may be enough for you to stay with 6.0. If so, I recommend mokee.

amca1960 said:
I'm just wondering if there's a list, preferably with annotation (good/bad points about each), of current ROMS for this device. I need my phone to provide a solid experience, and I don't know that I want to spend days hunting through forums trying to find out what's out there, and what works best. I imagine that somebody, somewhere, must provide such a list?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A list with good/bad points would be completely subjective. As another mentioned, what works for you depends a lot on personal preference, how you use your phone, and other personal variables.
There is already a "best ROM" discussion thread, if you just scroll down in this forum section and look. The list on the top post of that thread is not very up-to-date. But the ongoing posts/discussions in that thread may be useful to you.
But I'm personally not a big fan of such threads. Just because someone else likes a ROM, has little bearing on whether you will or not; due to the factors already mentioned. ROM comparison threads tend to turn into a popularity contest, and that is not a good thing in many ways. I can think of a number of times on different devices, where some really good ROMs (even some of my favorites) were not the most popular, or very widely discussed.
It certainly doesn't take days to look through the ROMs. Once you've narrowed down a couple basic requirements or preferences (Marshmallow or Nougat; AOSP or otherwise - from your top post, it sounds like you like ASOP ROMs) there really are not a huge number of currently supported ROMs that fit that description. From there, read the top post of the ROM threads to see if the features meet your needs and preferences. Once you have it narrowed down to a couple ROMs, also read through at least the most recent few pages of posts of each ROM thread, to see if there are any current known issues, bugs, etc. (I recommend this as a must before flashing any ROM). From there, just flash a ROM, see if you like it. If not, try another one. Also, make a TWRP backup of your current setup, before flashing any ROMs. That way you can easily revert if you don't like the new ROM, or run into issues.
Really this doesn't take all that much time. An hour or so, and you can pick a ROM or two, and already have it flashed, and be trying it. All possibly in less time than asking others for advice, and waiting for responses. And you've made your own decision, instead of letting strangers (which may not even have the same opinion about ROMs) make the decision for you.