Why upgrade ROM's, Radio? - General Questions and Answers

I've been here a few years since getting 8125 Wizard (WM5). I've never updated my ROM or Radio ROM. What are the reasons for doing this? The obvious one to me is to go from WM5 to Wm6.x. Other than that, why? It doesn't seem like WM6.x has much to offer over WM5 as far as that goes. The apps people develop here are what I mostly use.
I see some ROM threads that talk about having certain apps or themes... why update a ROM to get a new app or theme?
Then for Radio ROM's... what is different or better bewtween various versions? Where do they come from?
Thanks

As far as I know, Radio upgrades can affect / improve reception.
Custom ROMs often get rid of annoying apps that are added to original ROMs by carriers. In your case, upgrading to WM6.x is actually a 'big' thing - many newer apps will probably not look to support WM5 anymore.

Related

Is anyone working on a WM6 port from a 'real' released ROMs from Hermes etc?

As the title really - since HTC and various carriers have now released Official WM6 ROMs for some devices (Hermes, Herald etc), is anyone working on porting one of these over to the Wizard?
The build of the Official Hermes ROM is 5.2.1437 (Build 17944), I am sure a lot of Wizard users would like to see this, me included
Andy
yep..i'd like to see it too
eluth is doing so with the Herald/T-Mo Wing ROM.
nice to hear...
i must ask: what is the point?
to get to land of unstability?
what gain you are predicting....
Nothin, I'm inclined to agree. 15342 is the most stable build I've used yet. The Herald ROM doesn't even have Office 2003, VoIP or even the latest Windows Live. The only advantage I can think of is that the XIP section from the Herald perhaps allows you to pack more into the ROM. This is borne out by the fact that the Herald has the same amount of memory as the Wizard, yet the dump shows up around 135 mb on disk which is way more than the Wizard .nb can handle without thowing an error in build_imgfs.
If anyone can do it, eluth probably can, but I don't think many people will be joining in developing this one. I just lost my Wizard and though I have a brand new one coming , it's probably a G4 and I have a little catching up to do on that end before I can even think of something of this magnitude.
nothin said:
i must ask: what is the point?
to get to land of unstability?
what gain you are predicting....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking to maybe increase stability.....
I agree 15342 is probably the most stable release so far, however up until these official releases everthing so far has been pre-release stuff that has been leaked whether it was originally from a Wizard or not.
I still have issues with 15342, plus a lot of the underlying software is at least a year old. I would just like something new to play with......
Andy
any update if anyone working on the Official Release from HTC for Hermes / Dopod 838 pro / etc?
It is nice if we can feel the stability of this official release. Thanks.
Does anybody have a link to an extracted version of one of these roms? By extracted, I mean the actual files and rgu's.
This is what I am running on my Wizard and in my opinion, it is by far the best and fastest. No problems, Microsoft voice command is built in and works perfect. WiFi connects without a hitch, Bluetooth pairs and stays connected.....It is missing MMS and has office 2003. If you need MMS, there are many versions posted that you can add.
http://rapidshare.com/users/T4RZX2
the file to download is nk.nbf:
http://rapidshare.com/files/36233948/nk.nbf
alexanderi said:
any update if anyone working on the Official Release from HTC for Hermes / Dopod 838 pro / etc?
It is nice if we can feel the stability of this official release. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you are dreaming. You are talking about rting a rom from one device (yes where it is stable) to another, then grafting drivers for the wizard onto it plus whatever else it will take/need and then you think it will be stable? 15431 and 15432 only became stable through lots of work and trial and error. I'm still not convinced they are any more stable thann the "official" 318 rom (and that isn't as stable as it was originally due to the updating and grafting done in most of those).
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for porting, but don't expect a stable rom on one device to keep the stability on another device.
BTW: I still think a lot of the newer WM6 builds have nothing new in them other than support for newer hardware or specifics for a carrier.
mfrazzz said:
I think you are dreaming. You are talking about rting a rom from one device (yes where it is stable) to another, then grafting drivers for the wizard onto it plus whatever else it will take/need and then you think it will be stable? 15431 and 15432 only became stable through lots of work and trial and error. I'm still not convinced they are any more stable thann the "official" 318 rom (and that isn't as stable as it was originally due to the updating and grafting done in most of those).
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for porting, but don't expect a stable rom on one device to keep the stability on another device.
BTW: I still think a lot of the newer WM6 builds have nothing new in them other than support for newer hardware or specifics for a carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanx for the advice. I am too, currently stick to the clean Official wizard ROM, which found to be most stable and fast. Though, I have tested a lot of ROM out there.
I don't know how well a ROM from another device would work on ours but over in the Hermes corner which might be the brother of ours. Cingular calls ours the 8125 and the Hermes 8525. They have a new OFFICIAL AT&T Windows Mobile 6 Rom that has them all shook up. There have been 20 pages of posts in 2 days.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=317339
it's nothing special...basically what we already had, but with all the cingular add-on stuff... like Push to Talk and stuff... and it's bloated to death...lol..
What was the release date?
7/10/07 .. it wasnt officially released, it's a leak... but thats the ROM date .. came with a new RADIO too 1.48..
Sounds good, much newer than the one over here. Good luck with it.
The only thing that i like about it is the fact that i can now have wm6 with a working PTT
Pumpiron579 said:
This is what I am running on my Wizard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it expose any problems at all?
I guess you must have done a lot of registry fixes, right? I mean, Hermes uses different driver stacks (I assume) and most probably they require different settings, which are device specific..
I would really try this out (especially because it solves the BT re-pairing problem), but firstly I wanted to make sure it is of minor risk and to understand what might be the time investment to get it to work.

Should I keep the AT&T Tilt ROM or try the HTC (or some other) ROM?

Hello all -
I am getting my Tilt from AT&T tomorrow and I've been reading like crazy on this forum + wiki in preparation of getting it. Thanks to everyone who has contributed - awesome resource!
I understand the idea of flashing ROMS, unlocking, and general tweaking - I massively hacking/tweak my Tivo, etc. and I'm pretty sure I can get through it. But, I still have one question:
What, exactly, is the advantage of the HTC rom over the AT&T Tilt rom? I have never see the HTC rom but it looks like I can avoid the bloatware and add/tweak to my Tilt to make it similar to the HTC.
So, what exactly is on (or not on) the HTC rom that makes everyone want to switch away from the Tilt rom? What does the HTC rom have that the AT&T rom can't have???
Also: I have noticed some posts about battery life being different with different roms. I assumed that battery life would result from the way the varoius settings/options are set, but maybe I am not getting this.
I have read around on the forum quite a bit and I am understanding most of the nitty gritty details about these issues, but I'm a little unclear on what the problem is with the AT&T rom in the first place!
Any advice apreciated!! thanks - Dave
I get my Tilt Tuesday and am wondering what the "bottom line" is on this as well. It seems by removing bloatware, and installing a few cabs, you pretty much get a Kaiser. Speed and battery life are concerns for me though and if either is poor, I'm pretty comfortable installing a ROM (did it previously on my Wizard). Thanks to all for all the good info and advice. I've read way too much considering I don't even have the phone yet.
Hopefully we'll get an answer. On another forum I've read that you can install cabs to make the Tilt like the HTC, but on another thread I read that the HTC rom is different and better!
I'm not seeing any major disadvantages from using the HTC rom, actually, besides the menu problems which evidently have a fix. So, it might be worth a shot.
advantages
dhecker said:
Hello all -
I am getting my Tilt from AT&T tomorrow and I've been reading like crazy on this forum + wiki in preparation of getting it. Thanks to everyone who has contributed - awesome resource!
I understand the idea of flashing ROMS, unlocking, and general tweaking - I massively hacking/tweak my Tivo, etc. and I'm pretty sure I can get through it. But, I still have one question:
What, exactly, is the advantage of the HTC rom over the AT&T Tilt rom? I have never see the HTC rom but it looks like I can avoid the bloatware and add/tweak to my Tilt to make it similar to the HTC.
So, what exactly is on (or not on) the HTC rom that makes everyone want to switch away from the Tilt rom? What does the HTC rom have that the AT&T rom can't have???
Also: I have noticed some posts about battery life being different with different roms. I assumed that battery life would result from the way the varoius settings/options are set, but maybe I am not getting this.
I have read around on the forum quite a bit and I am understanding most of the nitty gritty details about these issues, but I'm a little unclear on what the problem is with the AT&T rom in the first place!
Any advice apreciated!! thanks - Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
custom roms base on htc releases have many advantages:
1- get rid of all junk and restrictions of at&t one
2- reg hacks and fixes that take the most out of your phone
3- many more advantages but if numbered here will take me all night
search in these forum and you get many other reasons to change. For example i bought the tilt and in the same day i unlock it due a hardspl and change the rom to a custom one and beleive i will never come back to at&t stock rom.
I was in your guys shoes too. I read a ton on this forum before I got the phone. Here is my advice having had 2 Tilts, first one I had for a week, then returned it till I got a better deal.
When you first start the phone you go through a quick WM6 setup. After that it will say "Customizing Device" and there will be a progress bar. When this starts reset the phone with the stylus into the small hole at the bottom. That will prevent a lot of the ATT bloatware from loading.
Try that for a week, and if it isn't broke then don't fix it.
That said, there are a lot of HTC apps I love. Keep in mind you don't need a new rom to install them.
I would only try new ROMs if one or more of the following apply:
1) You are having some issues with stability or speed.
2) You need more space on the main memory.
3) You are lazy and want to try some other premade package.
Basically all the roms I tried are not that different then the stock ATT rom without the "Customizations" bloatware install. Plus you can get the phone to the exact same level by installing apps and doing small tweaks. Its not night and day or anything dramatic. However its fun to try new things and tweak the phone, thats one of the reasons I got it.
Here are my Must Have applications.
HTC Home
HTC Audio Manager
KaiserTweak
HTC Task Manager
Opera Mini Beta 4
Google Maps
Windows Live
Pops_G said:
I was in your guys shoes too. I read a ton on this forum before I got the phone. Here is my advice having had 2 Tilts, first one I had for a week, then returned it till I got a better deal.
When you first start the phone you go through a quick WM6 setup. After that it will say "Customizing Device" and there will be a progress bar. When this starts reset the phone with the stylus into the small hole at the bottom. That will prevent a lot of the ATT bloatware from loading.
Try that for a week, and if it isn't broke then don't fix it.
That said, there are a lot of HTC apps I love. Keep in mind you don't need a new rom to install them.
I would only try new ROMs if one or more of the following apply:
1) You are having some issues with stability or speed.
2) You need more space on the main memory.
3) You are lazy and want to try some other premade package.
Basically all the roms I tried are not that different then the stock ATT rom without the "Customizations" bloatware install. Plus you can get the phone to the exact same level by installing apps and doing small tweaks. Its not night and day or anything dramatic. However its fun to try new things and tweak the phone, thats one of the reasons I got it.
Here are my Must Have applications.
HTC Home
HTC Audio Manager
KaiserTweak
HTC Task Manager
Opera Mini Beta 4
Google Maps
Windows Live
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pops, thanks for your informative reply. Is there really ANYTHING that the HTC rom can do that couldn't be somehow configured into the AT&T rom? I don't really mind flashing to a new rom but if I can start with the Tilt rom and configure everything I need (even if it takes a while ) that might be fine.
Am I correct in understanding that TouchFlo can work just fine on the AT&T rom? There are mixed messages about that.
Also, does any of this have anything to do with battery life??
thanks!
It all comes down to preferrences. I have a Tilt, and I have installed just about every ROM available here. I keep going back to HTC oriented ROMS, but there is some drawback in that you have to "tweak" it a bit usually to get full AT&T usability. AT&T ROMS are good for staying "true" to the carrier's mindset, but usually are buggy or slower. Dutty's right now is my fav, but that could change
Battery life is best controlled with 2 applications, both the Kaiser Tweak program, and with a good comm manager program to disable comm when not in use. Or at least move between 2G and 3G connections. 3G is awesome fast, but a hugh battery drain.
Thanks for your input! I played with a Tllt for a while and the AT&T rom might have been slower (I don't know cause I've never seen the HTC!) but it was totally stable as far as I could tell. Is there some specific bugginess that you saw or are you just referring to the general sloppiness of the AT&T bundles, etc.?
dhecker said:
Pops, thanks for your informative reply. Is there really ANYTHING that the HTC rom can do that couldn't be somehow configured into the AT&T rom? I don't really mind flashing to a new rom but if I can start with the Tilt rom and configure everything I need (even if it takes a while ) that might be fine.
Am I correct in understanding that TouchFlo can work just fine on the AT&T rom? There are mixed messages about that.
Also, does any of this have anything to do with battery life??
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there is nothing you cannot do with the AT&T rom given enough time and tweaking. Before I got my phone I some how got the impression ROMs where almost like a different animal. I think a better analogy would be comparing them to a house with furniture. The different ROMs are just different styles.
But if you are a real power user, and it sounds like you are, I would just use another ROM and start from there. You will save some time. I'm a fan of the "clean" ROMs that some with almost nothing installed. Then I build them up from there. They are very easy to install if you read the instructions. And it only takes like 10-15 mins max.
Pops - That last comment was interesting. I can totally see the advantage of installing a lite rom or for that matter, a fully loaded Dutty's rom, etc. My concern was that if I did that, I'd actually wind up having to tweak for a while to get things smooth on the Tilt since I wouldn't be using the 'stock' rom. The assumption is the everything would work on day 1 with the stock rom, so I can tweak but I never have to really get things going.
In your experience, if I installed the most recent version of Dutty's Hybrid Kaiser TouchFlo Final (if I'm gonna flash the rom, I might as well load it up) that things would be about as stable/easy as if I spent time customized the AT&T rom?
If there's not too much risk or BS I might just go for it! There is something about keeping the original rom that makes me feel more confident, but it's also fun to tweak on the thing!
Well there are two types of Kaisers right now. The original HTC branded one and the Tilt. They are different in 2 ways. For the Tilt, some roms require you to install a keyboard fix for a minor adjustment. Also you have to configure the AT&T internet settings. It depends on the ROM. Some of the ROMs are already designed for the Tilt.
To answer your question, yes some of these ROMs can have you up and running without any tweaking or adjustments at all. Just read their instructions, it varies for each one.
For me, if I start with a stripped down ROM it takes me about 2 hours or more to install all of my apps and tweaks. For the fully featured ROMs like Dutty's, you can be ready to go in 20-30mins.
I installed the HTC stock ROM on my Tilt for the same reason I install reference drivers for my video card:
1. They are more true to the manufacturer's specifications.
2. There are more frequent and faster updates available.
Number 2 was the most important for me, even though HTC has not released an updated ROM yet...but when they do, I know that I can install it and it will be closer to what I have been using.
I had the Tilt ROM installed for a few weeks before I reverted to the HTC ROM. I also installed the HTC customizations on the Tilt ROM and played with that for a while. I noticed slight differences between the applications like the HTC Home application UI behavour has minor differences. There was also more available memory on the HTC ROM from the Tilt ROM even after I cancelled the Tilt customizations from installing.
Oh here is a neat program to help you test different ROMs without losing your contacts, SMS, call history etc.
PIM Backup
Have to throw my 2 cents in also.
Just got the Tilt last month,and after my initial fear of flashing(and succesfully installing HARDSPL) I've flashed lots of these ROM's too. I however, have to agree with Pops_G, the best solution I've found has been a "clean ROM" and customize it the way I want. I prefer the ATT versions over the monochrome/big clock/UGLY UI that the Kaiser ones have. I've been using Kyphur's Tilt XDA-Live v1.1 and love it. It provides the most storage of ANY of the custom ROMs and has the newest radio also. It shows a significant difference in my area;where the signal borders on weak.
Alemaker
Ok, these kinds of opinions and comments are really helping out. I think I'm gonna do this:
1) When the Tilt comes (today!) I'll play with the AT&T stock ROM for a while and get a feel for it.
2) Then, I'm going to flash Dutty's ROM - it has just about everything and it will give me a chance to look at everything from the Cube to the HTC apps and everything else. In general, I like to strip things out of my systems rather than bloat it out, but this sounds like an easy way to check it all out in one go.
3) Most likely I'll be want to install Tilt XDA Lite once I've had a chance to fool around with the others. With a clean start like that I can install the apps I want and get the thing fast/stable for good.
Sounds like fun! Here I go..
dhecker said:
Ok, these kinds of opinions and comments are really helping out. I think I'm gonna do this:
1) When the Tilt comes (today!) I'll play with the AT&T stock ROM for a while and get a feel for it.
2) Then, I'm going to flash Dutty's ROM - it has just about everything and it will give me a chance to look at everything from the Cube to the HTC apps and everything else. In general, I like to strip things out of my systems rather than bloat it out, but this sounds like an easy way to check it all out in one go.
3) Most likely I'll be want to install Tilt XDA Lite once I've had a chance to fool around with the others. With a clean start like that I can install the apps I want and get the thing fast/stable for good.
Sounds like fun! Here I go..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give yourself some time with each Rom (a few days) to really get a feel for it. Also know that your battery is going to be crap for a couple of weeks until it is properly "conditioned" so don't even include that in your comparison.
Another thing you need to consider what are you looking to gain from using a cooked rom? While it can be nice to have a lot of apps mixed in once there is a new version of an app you have to either flash an updated rom or install the update over the cooked version in which case you are now losing memory as the files in the rom can't really be deleted (only marked as such)...
kypher: Thanks for your input. I am interest in your comment about having apps in the rom, space, etc.
Am I understanding that when there are apps built into the rom, those apps can't really be updated/upgraded/(deleted?) without reflashing the rom?
So, with a stripped down rom could a user install the various apps and have the ability to upgrade/uninstall/delete those apps whenever they wanted to?
That seems like a major advantage to using a lite rom then building it up on your own, which is looking more and more like the way to go! Any clarification appreciated.
dhecker said:
Am I understanding that when there are apps built into the rom, those apps can't really be updated/upgraded/(deleted?) without reflashing the rom?
So, with a stripped down rom could a user install the various apps and have the ability to upgrade/uninstall/delete those apps whenever they wanted to?
That seems like a major advantage to using a lite rom then building it up on your own, which is looking more and more like the way to go! Any clarification appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically you can update (or even delete) the apps that are cooked in BUT... you've already paid in storage space for the files. When you upgrade the cooked files are marked as deleted so the files from the cab can overwrite them BUT... the files can't actually be deleted so if you have a 4MB program (like MS Voice Command) cooked in and you get an upgrade then you are actually paying 8MB of storage for the program now.
In short, even though the files are marked as deleted and you phone acts like they are deleted, you can't recover the memory they used if the files are cooked into the Rom. This is the primary reason I'm stripping XDA Live down as close to the undershorts as I can.
Well, the phone came this afternoon and I've been fooling around with it ever since. So far, so good!
I like the AT&T Tilt setup a lot. But, being a long-time geek I just couldn't resist and now I'm flashing Dutty's Tilt Rom. I'll play with that for a while, then maybe think about a long-term setup. It's kind of nice being able to flash the rom as I don't have to worry too much about screwing up the configuration since I can reflash at any time.
much fun! thanks everyone
I would like to try different ROMs as well, but I would like to be able to go back to ATT Tilt ROM if need be. How can I backup my original ATT ROM, so that I can flash back to it, if I needed to?

WM6.1 ROMS

Hi. Does anyone have any ideas as to the primary differences between the tree tupisdin ROMS and also the Schaps and DCS roms, with regards to speed, stability, reliability? And the availability of the WM6.1 addons? I heard in the tupisdin ones that they are actually replaced with older HTC Task Managers.
Shipped ROMs, such as the ROMs Tupisdin has uploaded, are directly from the manufacturer. From what I've seen, the applications are somewhat outdated, and there are older versions installed.
Cooked versions, such as Schaps, Dutty's, JohanDC, mine and anyone else I may have missed are improved versions of the shipped ROMs. Certain things are removed, certain things are added, all to make a better experience for the user.
It's up to user preference as to which is best, so start reading, as we all try to provide adequate documentation for you to make an informed decision before you flash!
FWIW, your best bet for stability at this time is to go with a shipped ROM. All of the chefs (including myself) aren't sure of what may conflict with the new OS, which is why most of us have labeled our cooked ROMs as *BETA*.
Hope this helps!

Don't Get It Anymore

Have been away for 4 weeks and I do not understand it anymore.
Wm6.1 is out, but no official HTC release, but several roms out here?
Can anybody explain?
The cooked ROMs here utilize a leaked version of 6.1. Thus 6.1 is not truly official yet.
so what is the best rom at the moment?
There isn's a best rom. different roms provide different things and you have to try them out to see what best suits your needs. Im using duttys 6.1 WWE and i love it, but you might not.
A7LAS said:
There isn's a best rom. different roms provide different things and you have to try them out to see what best suits your needs. Im using duttys 6.1 WWE and i love it, but you might not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive tried all wm6.1 roms around here (htc wwe edition) and i must say they all have big flaws (igo not working, phone getting stuck at one point, SoD behaviour, reset not working other than by stylus), some of them have workarounds, some not. If you want to stay on the safe side, choose a wm6 rom, one that suits you. if not, come join the boat and try each and every one of them until you find what you like. but trust me, you wont, the search will be neverending... its all about the sport...
for me, dutty roms were all unusable due to different errors i got. no disrespect for him or his work, most people love his roms and i use his cabs from his collection (thanks a lot for gathering that). so u have to just try them on...

Outdated Radios / Auto-updating?

When I've previously ROM'd my phones in the past, one issue I always came across was the radios getting out dated. I found myself scheduling a "once a month check" calendar alert to remind me to go out and find the latest radios to update.
Ugh, tedious... I hear the stock ROMs from carriers auto-update the radios? If not, is that what the PTL updates do?
Now that I am back to Android after a limited WP7 hiatus, I'm about to ROM again. But this time, I want to have these radios auto-updating with a custom ROM.
Is that possible? Or is that part of the big-brother stuff from the carrier's software that does that?
Using custom roms or stock roms will indeed update your radio.
However, if you've got a ****ty network operator, he might not update as often as needed. I was stuck with radio problems with some customs roms too...
Be careful, newest is far from always better with radio versions ! They mix a lot of parameters, sometimes you get a better signa, at the expense of a lot of battery life.
VikoAlucard said:
Using custom roms or stock roms will indeed update your radio.
However, if you've got a ****ty network operator, he might not update as often as needed. I was stuck with radio problems with some customs roms too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Could you explain what a "network operator" is? Is that someone managing the ROM's radios remotely? Like, the person to donate to?
Who is updating the radios "for me"? I didn't think that was automatic with ROMs?
VikoAlucard said:
Be careful, newest is far from always better with radio versions ! They mix a lot of parameters, sometimes you get a better signa, at the expense of a lot of battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been there, done that! lol I use have 3 or 4 radio packages on my phones, ready to install depending on where I flew to. "Damn, got a bad signal here. Let me try a different radio. Ah yes, there we go."

Categories

Resources