Database Info

[Q] Best "Everyday Work" Rom

My employer just purchased an AT&T Captivate and loves it. He has already loaded it with apps and I flashed the overclock kernal (1.2) to it to make it a little bit snappier. He uses his phone and Galaxy Tablet for work and is interested in trying out a rom because he isn't too happy about the interface. I have the Droid X and that is the entire reason that he wanted a Droid phone. Anyway, he is addicted now and I am not too sure about the Captivate and don't want to make a mistake for obvious reasons, but would like to "hook him up" with a good rom. Any suggestions? I would like to put it on using Clockwork Mod, he just purchased it 2 days ago off of the market and I would like for him to see that he can actually use it. Oh, the phone is at 2.1, rooted with z4root and the 1.2 kernal.
He also has a friend that claims to have a Captivate overclocked to a stable 1.4? I have done A LOT of reading and short of trying something out on the phone, I am as ready as I can be! I have made a nandroid backup of the phone!
Thanks for any expert help out there!

You will come to find out that these threads get locked all the time because what might be good for one phone is not for another. Unfortunately I could suggest say Cognition because it works great on my phone, but his phone might not be stable. Same if I said to use Doc's rom. It really depends on if he wants to stay on a Captivate rom vs. an I9000 rom. Each has pros and cons and the best way to chose is read about each rom available and just test.

flashman2002 said:
You will come to find out that these threads get locked all the time because what might be good for one phone is not for another. Unfortunately I could suggest say Cognition because it works great on my phone, but his phone might not be stable. Same if I said to use Doc's rom. It really depends on if he wants to stay on a Captivate rom vs. an I9000 rom. Each has pros and cons and the best way to chose is read about each rom available and just test.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With my old Captivate I always had issues when trying to use i9000 ROMs (batch 1007). So I always stayed with Captivate based ROMs.

CB650 Wolf said:
With my old Captivate I always had issues when trying to use i9000 ROMs (batch 1007). So I always stayed with Captivate based ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that was kind of what I was getting at with my explanation. Thanks for stating that because I personally have not had any issues, but I know people do with certain Rom's. That is why these which is best threads really are not good for knowing what is best on each phone.

Thanks for the replies! I will try it out tomorrow. Do you know if there is a custom kernal that is overclocked past 1.2?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

HHF2 said:
Thanks for the replies! I will try it out tomorrow. Do you know if there is a custom kernal that is overclocked past 1.2?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seitron has a kernel that people have run to 1.4 and I assume it is stable.

in my experience the stock rom is best if you want minimal bugs
not very glamorous or fast, however

HHF2 said:
Thanks for the replies! I will try it out tomorrow. Do you know if there is a custom kernal that is overclocked past 1.2?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Setirons kernel goes up to 1.6 actually but there are not many captivates out there that can handle even the 1.4. Mine is only able to run 1.3 stable. Trial and error. Also you have to remember the captivates battery life is not the greatest stock so add an oc'ed kernel and battery is gonna drain faster.
Sent from my SuperDuper!Captivate | PHOENIX RELOADED PART DEUCE | FireBird Kernel

If you want a rom that is stable fast and awesome do tayutamas light rom its old but stable and fast im in the works of helping create a newawsomely amazing rom and it will rock when we release it but seriously tayutamas light rom rocks so just flash the tl3 modem and it will rock like anything else out there just throttle u should no
Sent from my GT-I9010 using XDA App

Are these roms flashed with clockwork as zip files or using something else?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Flashed through clockwork
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

matthewpapa said:
in my experience the stock rom is best if you want minimal bugs
not very glamorous or fast, however
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's laughable at best.
Sent from my Captivate.

Thanks to you all, I am downloading a rom now! Hopefully I will not be back in a few with a brick lol.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

MikeyMike01 said:
That's laughable at best.
Sent from my Captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you will find quite a few people who agree with me here. Every custom rom I have tried has bugs that stock doesn't have. And I hate that the answer to that is to flash the new version of the rom every week. Stuff like media volume, battery life and these so called GPS "fixes"
Stock + root + lagfix - bloatware = best combination for reliability and full functionality IMO
I will continue to try custom roms, maybe this will change in the future

What do you do to fix the lag?

HHF2 said:
What do you do to fix the lag?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What Rom did you download? It depends on if it has a Voodoo lag fix, which you would have heard the voice or if it is a lag fix you need to enable. Go into Recovery and see if there are any additional menus like CWM and Lagfix or something like that.

on my 1007 batch captivate i find non oc'ed i9000 roms work the best

matthewpapa said:
I think you will find quite a few people who agree with me here. Every custom rom I have tried has bugs that stock doesn't have. And I hate that the answer to that is to flash the new version of the rom every week. Stuff like media volume, battery life and these so called GPS "fixes"
Stock + root + lagfix - bloatware = best combination for reliability and full functionality IMO
I will continue to try custom roms, maybe this will change in the future
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree with you. Until we get a 2.2 rom based off a CAPTIVATE NON-BETA 2.2 Build, I am sticking with 2.1. Maybe a ROM based off Armani would work OK, but so far all the ROMs based off i9000 or Captivate 2.2 betas leave me wanting.
I use one for a while and find some little irritations that i just can't stand -so i go back to 2.1.
I know the Devs are trying, but we need 2.2 source for captivate to really have some rock solid roms. Samsung still says it is on its way, so I will still patiently wait - i have other toys to play with too.

Thanks to all. After bricking it twice, once requiring one click odin I finally got it. Funny thing is the rom didn't get me, it was the theme posted right under, it was a sic apple! Anyway thanks to the great people who take the time to write the tutorials and take their time to help a complete stranger. I can only continue to learn so that I can repay the favor by helping others. Thanks again!!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

DG's new rom? Speculation & rumor abound!

I've been doing a metric ton of reading before I flash my first rom. I was all set to flash P10.1 when I read a few posts by DG that led me to believe that Cog3 might be right around the corner.
Now I've read a further few posts by DG that state that Cognition is dead, because (his reasoning) Cog was always a pure-Captivate rom, & the latest rom he's working on isn't purely Captivate-based. Another few of his posts & accompanying posts by other users in those threads have led me to believe that whatever he's got cooking will be based on the "official" Rogers FroYo release. Maybe it's mostly based from that stock rom but has other add-ons from the i9000 line (i.e. to make it not pure-Captivate)?
After all my reading, I think that flashing a Captivate-based rom would be the way to go, if only for the fact that it would include the ability to utilize the sound processor (afaik, there aren't i9000-based roms that can do this, correct?).
Anyway, I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs since Monday waiting to see what DG's got in the oven & figured I'd start a thread to see what you all thought. This will be my first flash, & I don't plan to do a ton of switching around, so I want to get it "right" the first time.
tl;dr What's next from DG??

Just know that once you flash a rom, it wont be your last. DG roms are very good, along with Phoenix & Serendipity(my favorite).
I've flashed a handful of DG roms & I personally always find myself flashing back to one of Mikeys roms, he really knows his stuff.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

t-readyroc said:
I've been doing a metric ton of reading before I flash my first rom. I was all set to flash P10.1 when I read a few posts by DG that led me to believe that Cog3 might be right around the corner.
Now I've read a further few posts by DG that state that Cognition is dead, because (his reasoning) Cog was always a pure-Captivate rom, & the latest rom he's working on isn't purely Captivate-based. Another few of his posts & accompanying posts by other users in those threads have led me to believe that whatever he's got cooking will be based on the "official" Rogers FroYo release. Maybe it's mostly based from that stock rom but has other add-ons from the i9000 line (i.e. to make it not pure-Captivate)?
After all my reading, I think that flashing a Captivate-based rom would be the way to go, if only for the fact that it would include the ability to utilize the sound processor (afaik, there aren't i9000-based roms that can do this, correct?).
Anyway, I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs since Monday waiting to see what DG's got in the oven & figured I'd start a thread to see what you all thought. This will be my first flash, & I don't plan to do a ton of switching around, so I want to get it "right" the first time.
tl;dr What's next from DG??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what we all said before we popped the cherry!LOL

Well last I thought DesignGears was working on the Gingerbread ROM for Galaxy S Phone ported from the Nexus S. And Supercurio was working with the Cyanogen Team on the project as well so maybe they're all in kahootz now. They haven't posted an update on it in awhile so maybe it's coming along good.
But it would be nice to get ahold of that Rogers Froyo, at a good stable point. At least then we'd have everything built for our Captivates specifically.

Delgoth said:
But it would be nice to get ahold of that Rogers Froyo, at a good stable point. At least then we'd have everything built for our Captivates specifically.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, & I believe that this is what's happening now. The Rogers Froyo that was just officially released via Kies is what I think DG's working with.
Am I totally off-base w/the Captivate/i9000/sound processor bit?
& yeah, I know what you all mean about constantly switching around, but I really only flashed a handful of times w/my old HTC. Guess I'm lazy

I started off as a noob, and basically still am. My first flash was cog 2.8 I believe. Now its something different every other day. You can't stop yourself one you've started.
Its an addiction for sure. Best of luck flashing once and that's it. I hope that works better for you than it did for me.
I'm so addicted that I got my wife a captivate also so I can try things on hers to see the differences from what I'm running.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

I'm digging the work being done on the armani rom.
From a phone

As the poster above stated, many devs are working on an Armani JL1 rom right now. I am unsure what DG is doing/planning though. Just putting it out there.

Just like t-readyroc I've been holding off on my first flash. I don't think I can wait for official froyo any longer. I just keep thinking that once I flash a newer, more stable, rom will be released. So I don't know if I should wait or just take the plunge.
I'm still reading around on the most stable release. Any one have recommendations on a rom that is stable and easy to install.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

My choices before hearing that DG's latest release is imminent were Phoenix 3.0 & Perception 10.1. Now I'm also reading that Phoenix 3.5 is imminent. Bah!

Great, thanks t-readyroc for making my decision even harder. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

t-readyroc said:
I've been doing a metric ton of reading before I flash my first rom. I was all set to flash P10.1 when I read a few posts by DG that led me to believe that Cog3 might be right around the corner.
Now I've read a further few posts by DG that state that Cognition is dead, because (his reasoning) Cog was always a pure-Captivate rom, & the latest rom he's working on isn't purely Captivate-based. Another few of his posts & accompanying posts by other users in those threads have led me to believe that whatever he's got cooking will be based on the "official" Rogers FroYo release. Maybe it's mostly based from that stock rom but has other add-ons from the i9000 line (i.e. to make it not pure-Captivate)?
After all my reading, I think that flashing a Captivate-based rom would be the way to go, if only for the fact that it would include the ability to utilize the sound processor (afaik, there aren't i9000-based roms that can do this, correct?).
Anyway, I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs since Monday waiting to see what DG's got in the oven & figured I'd start a thread to see what you all thought. This will be my first flash, & I don't plan to do a ton of switching around, so I want to get it "right" the first time.
tl;dr What's next from DG??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed my first rom the other day (Serendipity 2.0) from stock, and the difference has been NIGHT & DAY! It blows my mind that Samsung can put out somthing THAT crappy compared to what their device is capable of.
Then yesterday I flashed a new modem and kernel. I'm hooked.

What's the benefits of a new modem and kernel?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

t-readyroc said:
This will be my first flash, & I don't plan to do a ton of switching around, so I want to get it "right" the first time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, right...
come back in a couple of months and read your own post, you will lol

JohnnyDanger said:
Just like t-readyroc I've been holding off on my first flash. I don't think I can wait for official froyo any longer. I just keep thinking that once I flash a newer, more stable, rom will be released. So I don't know if I should wait or just take the plunge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you keep waiting for what's around the corner, you will never get anywhere. stop torturing yourself and flash something. if you don't like a rom, you can always go back to stock and try something else

For what its worth I think it would be great to have Supercurio's audio tweaks integrated into the FireBird Kernel. Truly an enhancement.

sublimaze said:
if you keep waiting for what's around the corner, you will never get anywhere. stop torturing yourself and flash something. if you don't like a rom, you can always go back to stock and try something else
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, for me, it's going to be the constant app/music/data restores every time that'll prevent me from being a flash-whore...
Anyway, to get back OT, one of the reasons I was really interested in P10.1 was the fact that the launcher works in landscape mode. Are there others that do the same?
& again back OT: Captivate/i9000 roms & the use (or lack thereof) of the Captivate's hardware audio processor - are there any kernels that work with i9000 roms that make use of it? Or are all i9000 roms stuck doing the processing in software?

t-readyroc said:
See, for me, it's going to be the constant app/music/data restores every time that'll prevent me from being a flash-whore...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
purchase titanium backup pro
it takes about 20 minutes from start to finish to flash a new rom for the complete process.

I said the same thing, "gonna find my fav rom and stick with it" That was a few years and phones ago and still flashing like crazy lol

But see, flashing whole new roms for the most part is almost a waste of time. Because usually why do you flash a new rom?
From the looks of a lot of ROM threads, going from release to release all the changes a lot of times are the installed system apps, and the themes to go with them. Yes, occasionaly there is a bigger release that warrants a new kernel or something of that nature.
To me, as an end user, ROM's could all use the same base rom (which they don't) and most people wouldn't know the difference. So find a ROM that doesn't force close on you, and flash the themes and apps you want into your ROM.
Personally I went from Flashing every ROM out there, and then just sticking to one that works, is deodexed so I can do whatever I want to it, and won't cause me to throw my phone in the trash.

[Q] ROM for Captivate.

First, my phone info as reported by Settings/About Phone:
Model: Samsung-SGH-I897
Firmware: 2.1-update1
Baseband: I897UCJH7
Kernel: 2.6.29 [email protected] #2
Build Number: ECLAIR.UCJH7
I have visited the ROM section and I probably dont need to tell you that it is just a little bit confusing (for me anyway)as to which ROM to use.
I would like to flash a new ROM to bring me up to FroYo and I "think" I want to use the Andromeda ROM. I have a couple of questions though.
First, (for the Devs) should I go ahead and flash to FroYo or wait for am Android 3.0 ROM (assuming one is forthcoming)?
Second, is the difference between the "themed" and "un-themed" ROM just cosmetic? Do they both function the same?

There are a few "how to" threads on flashing. They are very detailed and take you step by step. I'd suggest you read or watch the videos.
The questions about Andromeda are well covered in the thread. You just need to read through it. Flashing now or waiting is purely up to you. There's not a GB ROM that's stable enough to run day to day. There's only one that I know of and they are still working a lot of problems out of it.

Thank you.

TayzGpa said:
Second, is the difference between the "themed" and "un-themed" ROM just cosmetic? Do they both function the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, just prettier (in some cases that is).

I'm really looking for a ROM that is as close to "stock" Froyo as possible that will work well with my U.S. phone. I understand Cognition is built on the just released Rogers build, but should I use a Canadian build on my U.S. phone?

I'm using Cognition and find it really nice. No Canadian phrases coming out of it.

If you are going to flash your first rom make sure you read through the forums and figure your what you need to do. Everything that you need are in them. I just flashed my first rom this weekend. Forums are very helpful!!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897. Using Cognition, Firebird, and JL2 modem.

TayzGpa said:
I'm really looking for a ROM that is as close to "stock" Froyo as possible that will work well with my U.S. phone. I understand Cognition is built on the just released Rogers build, but should I use a Canadian build on my U.S. phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in Canada and use an American captivate using the cognition ROM and it works just fine.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897

Serendipity 5.x is by far the best Captivate ROM out there, in my opinion. Fast, clean, stable, bloat-free, and tastefully themed.

I just flashed the un-themed version of Andromeda, needless to say I was and am still very pleased with it. It was my first time flashing a ROM and went very smoothly, I guess I just got sick of AT&T jerking around.
I might make a quick video comparing Andromeda 1.0 on the captivate to a stock captivate (my bro's). That is if there is any interest in one.
Btw does any one know when the over clocked kernels will be released, I'm pretty anxious to try them out.

How do you like Andromeda? I started with cognition, then used phoenix for a while and liked both of them. I switched to serendipity last week and it has been rock solid to be honest, but I am always wanting to tinker with this thing. I flashed the KNP1 modem today to see if I get the better data speeds people are reporting and am hoping to gain a little battery life.

I guess everybody has thier own favorite ROM. I am kind of leaning toward either Cognition or Phoenix but cant decide which one. I want as close to "stock" 2.2 (or 2.3) as possible and it looks like Cognition might be the way to go. I have read through the Cognition Wiki and cant determine which flavor of Android (2.2/2.3) Cognition 3.04 is based on (unless I missed it). Anyone know?

TayzGpa said:
I have read through the Cognition Wiki and cant determine which flavor of Android (2.2/2.3) Cognition 3.04 is based on (unless I missed it). Anyone know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.2
10char

There are some videos on you tube that walk you trough the flashing process that I found to be really helpful for my first flash. I also had a written walk thru up from this site. I had no problems with my first using these 2 restorers. Good luck. And andromeda looks very cool. There are also rom reviews on you tube that show you what the rom does. Good luck
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

jferg5 said:
There are some videos on you tube that walk you trough the flashing process that I found to be really helpful for my first flash. I also had a written walk thru up from this site. I had no problems with my first using these 2 restorers. Good luck. And andromeda looks very cool. There are also rom reviews on you tube that show you what the rom does. Good luck
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=877652

If you haven't already please read through the guide in my sig.

ademarne said:
If you haven't already please read through the guide in my sig.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read through the guide "Guide for choosing the right rom for YOU" that you link to in your sig; and i see nothing about choosing the right ROM For me.
The title suggests that there is a guide to choosing a ROM - maybe a matrix of features, or a questions list to help someone decide. Instead the closest thing i find is one sentence "Go to the Android Development Section and read through different [ROM] threads to see what features will work best for you. I have also found it useful to read through the last couple of pages to see what other users think about the current version of the rom"
Did i miss something? Where is the guide to choosing the right ROM for me?

alphadog00 said:
I read through the guide "Guide for choosing the right rom for YOU" that you link to in your sig; and i see nothing about choosing the right ROM For me.
The title suggests that there is a guide to choosing a ROM - maybe a matrix of features, or a questions list to help someone decide. Instead the closest thing i find is one sentence "Go to the Android Development Section and read through different [ROM] threads to see what features will work best for you. I have also found it useful to read through the last couple of pages to see what other users think about the current version of the rom"
Did i miss something? Where is the guide to choosing the right ROM for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Something like "answer these 20 questions and here's the ROM that most matches what you want" would be great. I am still trying to figure it out.
What I am looking for is, if AT&T (or Samsung for that matter) were to finally release FroYo, here is what it would most likely look like and how it would probably perform. I'm still thinking Cognition is the closest since it was based on the Canadian FroYo release but *MAN* can it be confusing.

alphadog00 said:
I read through the guide "Guide for choosing the right rom for YOU" that you link to in your sig; and i see nothing about choosing the right ROM For me.
The title suggests that there is a guide to choosing a ROM - maybe a matrix of features, or a questions list to help someone decide. Instead the closest thing i find is one sentence "Go to the Android Development Section and read through different [ROM] threads to see what features will work best for you. I have also found it useful to read through the last couple of pages to see what other users think about the current version of the rom"
Did i miss something? Where is the guide to choosing the right ROM for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The point of that is so that you figure out what is best for you, not that I am telling you what to do. I am simply trying to GUIDE new users on how to go about making informed decisions on which ROM they choose. Too many people rely solely on what others say instead of trying things for themselves, which is why I created that post encouraging people to discover new things.
If you have questions about a certain rom, post in the ROM thread in the dev section. If you don't have 10 posts yet and still have questions, then post in the Q&A section, not captivate general.
What I don't think new users understand is that almost every person has a different preference about what ROM, kernel and modem combo work best. Me personally, I love di11igafs ROMs, but many other people prefer different things. Its pretty much like asking a group of random people, "what is the best car on the market and what options would get with said car?" Almost everyones answer will vary slightly.

TayzGpa said:
I agree. Something like "answer these 20 questions and here's the ROM that most matches what you want" would be great. I am still trying to figure it out.
What I am looking for is, if AT&T (or Samsung for that matter) were to finally release FroYo, here is what it would most likely look like and how it would probably perform. I'm still thinking Cognition is the closest since it was based on the Canadian FroYo release but *MAN* can it be confusing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like you, I recently started trying to figure this out after getting an AT&T Captivate and I agree about the need for a better listing for features (or lack of) for each ROM. A good matrix to compare would be nice, but I fear there are so many people working on these things and it all moves so fast, it would be a full-time job just to keep it up. Reading through all this stuff is quite overwhelming. However, I honestly think it's not bad once you figure out the basics and understand the ropes. By the time you get the things to load on your phone, with Clockworkmod Recovery, Odin and some other tools, life is pretty simple--the devs have done all the hard work, you're just flashing the stuff and figuring out what you like best.
Here is what I can tell you that may help and like I said, I'm pretty new at this, so someone *please* correct me if I'm wrong. I would not want to mislead anyone:
1. Cognition is an "Americanized" version of the Rogers 2.2 Captivate release. If you want 2.2.1 you have to use another custom ROM. Everything with Cognition appears to be well done, stable and smooth. I spent a couple hours trying to get wireless tether to work only to figure out MobileAP is built in and works
2. Look up the videos on YouTube by MobileTechVideos. They are very good and well produced, plus he looks at all the different ROMs. There is a 3-part video on loading Cognition on a captivate. I used it to load 3.04 on mine in almost real time right with the video. The only thing I would caution you on is if you use Titanium Backup to restore apps, be careful about "select all" like he says you can do in the video. I'm not sure if I had backed up system data and accidentally restored it or what--didn't go back that far to check, but after I did my restore I thought everything was fine and I could not make outgoing calls the next day. I reloaded from scratch following the videos again and this time use TB to restore one app+data at a time and was very picky about what I did and it worked wonderfully.
3. Once I got everything working I started to get curious about kernels. Once you have your ROM loaded, you can flash a new kernel (has to be same version as the ROM) and you can get enhancements with speed and other things by doing so. However, I loaded Firebird and did not notice in the thread that Bluetooth doesn't work yet, so I'm trying to figure out if I can go back or if I have to start over. Not a big deal to start over since I know what I'm doing now, just want to push the limits a little cause that's how I roll For some reason after Firebird I also seen duplicate photos on my SD card, even though there were only singles. It's like thumbnails were duplicated or something. I moved the pics off to my PC and it left blank thumbnails behind. I deleted them from the gallery and put the pics back and everything cleared up. I've seen stranger things--no biggie.
4. Battery life was fairly bad at this point, dropping 10-15% or more per hour. My phone came with the JH7 modem (last digits of your Baseband version in Settings -- About Phone). Cognition 3.04 comes with JL1 and many others were reporting great battery life with JL2 so I flashed it and everything seems to be much better so far. I haven't reset the battery stats and such, but I will at some point. Looks like a lengthy process that may or may not help.
5. I see a lot of "do I have to flash to stock first" questions posted and from what I understand, it's best practice to follow the instructions and don't ask why--just do it. Learn how to backup and restore apps+data (not system data) using TB and it's no big deal.
6. I read a lot about different builds of the Captivate--lots of posts about 1006, 1007, 1008's so I was concerned about the issues discussed. I'm guessing these were the early releases. I got mine at the end of January and it's a 1012. Look under your battery right under the serial number.
I suppose once I have this part of it working well and figured out, I will probably start looking into themes and digging deeper. It's pretty addictive so once you start, you just keep wanting more and more and making it better and better. Thanks to all the devs out there. I plan on making a few donations soon, especially to Designgears since his stuff is mostly what I've worked with so far.
My advice is to take a day or two and read *A LOT*. The old carpenters saying is "Measure twice and cut once" and that is pretty much how I look at this stuff. After you figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together, you lose the fear.
Hope this helps and if I would appreciate it if someone more advanced can confirm my statements or correct me.

rooted and unlocked my 2.1 android, now what?

What ROM should I get to increase the phones overall performance and responsiveness? I just want something that is very stable and something that will improve my phone in a good way.

Every single rom is gonna be a million times better than stock eclair...for your first time I would stick with a froyo rom as those are easier to flash. Just pick one

oh man.. where to start. Honestly it varies so much from user to user. Your best bet is to hop on some of the threads and read some of the comments.. first few pages and the last few.. try to get an idea of how well the ROM is working for users and battery life. There are a plethora of 2.2.1 ROMs with excellent battery life. The gingerbread ROMs are coming around to having decent to good battery life. But again, it all varies from user to user.
Good 2.2 or 2.2.1 ROMs
Serendipity, Paragon, Phoenix, Ultimate and theres more of coarse, these were among my top choices.
A lot of the gingerbread ROMs can be found in the first page of development.
But please use the search function. There has been multiple threads started with the same question.. about the same topic.

Once you go serendepity, you can't go back. but seriously I tried a lot of roms and serendipity is BY FAR the best!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I tried serendipity and its a great rom but I like a side scrolling app drawer as opposed to the cube effect. I use apex 5.3 (froyo 2.2.1) not to be confused with apex 6.x( gingerbread) because its simply works. The five dock bottom is great and battery life is amazing. And the jk4 modem actually gets me much better reception than the stock kb1. but if you like the stock feel cognition is the way to go
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

I flashed Serendipity 6.4. So far the first thing that I noticed is that the apps are organized scrolling down, not side to side which is the one thing that I do not liked very much. everything else seems to be very good.
Toad858, which version and where did you the 5.3?
also what kernel do I need?

matase said:
I flashed Serendipity 6.4. So far the first thing that I noticed is that the apps are organized scrolling down, not side to side which is the one thing that I do not liked very much. everything else seems to be very good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you'd like to use your original TouchWiz side-scrolling app drawer, give Cognition a try instead. Cognition is best-known as the 2.2 ROM that tries to stay as close as possible to the original, with a ton of under-the-hood features and fixes (like lagfix), minus the bloatware.
(I can't stand TouchWiz, but still love Cog's stability, so I use Launcher Pro (with its vertical app drawer) instead)

cognition rom is my favorite rom when it comes to stability. and its smooth as ever now.

I think I will stick to serendipity. Now I am trying to figure out what modems do and if I need one to be able to use a kernel? I was looking at Onix Kernel and it says "Since based on i9000 sources, use an i9000 modem". I am not sure what a modem is first of all.

matase said:
I think I will stick to serendipity. Now I am trying to figure out what modems do and if I need one to be able to use a kernel? I was looking at Onix Kernel and it says "Since based on i9000 sources, use an i9000 modem". I am not sure what a modem is first of all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its your radio..what gives the phone reception.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

matase said:
I think I will stick to serendipity. Now I am trying to figure out what modems do and if I need one to be able to use a kernel? I was looking at Onix Kernel and it says "Since based on i9000 sources, use an i9000 modem". I am not sure what a modem is first of all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
technically, as long as everything works for you as of right now - you're done. You can sit back and enjoy the rom. If you feel ambitious, you can try a different kernel. I dont know what serendipity uses but I found the Onix kernel to be one of the smoothest froyo kernel, available. Thats, of course, my opinion though.

would it be possible to get other keyboards on my phone now? like android or samsung keyboard?

matase said:
would it be possible to get other keyboards on my phone now? like android or samsung keyboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You didnt need to root for that, go to Market and download away

Serendipity 6.4, Speedmod K13E-500MHz, I9000UGKC1.
You're set. It's 100% stable and works brilliantly. GB is still a bit flaky.

Aus_Azn said:
Serendipity 6.4, Speedmod K13E-500MHz, I9000UGKC1.
You're set. It's 100% stable and works brilliantly. GB is still a bit flaky.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why do I need I9000UGKC1?

matase said:
why do I need I9000UGKC1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what's packaged in the rom. You don't NEED that modem specifically or need to change ... Unless you're cell signal sucks then check out the modem sticky at the top of the dev section. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=876391 You do need an I9000 modem because the kernel in serendipity is based off I9000 sources.

What you NEED to do is stop right now. Enjoy your phone and READ everything you can. Once you feel comfortable with flashing and knowing how to get yourself out of bad situations, flash away. No one can tell you which rom is best for you. You're more than welcome to narrow your choice to a few, then try them out or try them all. The key is knowing how to do it and the things that can happen.

You may also benefit from THIS new thread

Apex 5.3, as most other roms do, comes with a great kernel and modem so you dont have to worry about it. I cant link the thread right now but you can search for it under development
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Thank you to the developers of MR3

I wanted to thank the developers of MR3 in this thread. Liquid, Jester, etc.
I'm a long time lurker of this forum since I got my Thunderbolt. I'm VERY VERY appreciative of the developers for creating a very functional ICS rom for the Thunderbolt. Shame on HTC and Verizon for sandbagging so long with what should be a very simple upgrade for them. I was running Thundershed for awhile but grew tired of the Gingerbread look and feel of Android. My friends all mostly have newer phones with ICS, and I couldn't believe that it was supposed to be out in August and it's now mid-October and it's still not out.
To my surprise, I log on to here and see that an ICS ROM had been released.
My only issues with this ROM are random restarts and the white screen error in Facebook/Gmail/etc. I don't really use the video camera much in general; could you use an aftermarket app, or is it broken period?
Otherwise, I absolutely LOVE this and will never go back to Verizon's bloated software. Even when an OTA is released with ICS I won't go back. My phone is running much faster and much better than with Sense and Gingerbread. With data off I had a 10% decrease in battery in 7 hours; with data on and normal use I'll get maybe 5 hours out of a charge on this ROM. About normal for this phone and it's absolutely terrible battery life with the stock battery.
I have it overclocked to 1.5ghz running interactiveX as my governor. It runs beautifully, other than those two minor issues I pointed out above. I haven't experienced any data drops or anything out of the sort like that.

vashts80 said:
I wanted to thank the developers of MR3 in this thread. Liquid, Jester, etc.
I'm a long time lurker of this forum since I got my Thunderbolt. I'm VERY VERY appreciative of the developers for creating a very functional ICS rom for the Thunderbolt. Shame on HTC and Verizon for sandbagging so long with what should be a very simple upgrade for them. I was running Thundershed for awhile but grew tired of the Gingerbread look and feel of Android. My friends all mostly have newer phones with ICS, and I couldn't believe that it was supposed to be out in August and it's now mid-October and it's still not out.
To my surprise, I log on to here and see that an ICS ROM had been released.
My only issues with this ROM are random restarts and the white screen error in Facebook/Gmail/etc. I don't really use the video camera much in general; could you use an aftermarket app, or is it broken period?
Otherwise, I absolutely LOVE this and will never go back to Verizon's bloated software. Even when an OTA is released with ICS I won't go back. My phone is running much faster and much better than with Sense and Gingerbread. With data off I had a 10% decrease in battery in 7 hours; with data on and normal use I'll get maybe 5 hours out of a charge on this ROM. About normal for this phone and it's absolutely terrible battery life with the stock battery.
I have it overclocked to 1.5ghz running interactiveX as my governor. It runs beautifully, other than those two minor issues I pointed out above. I haven't experienced any data drops or anything out of the sort like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this thread.
A major thanks goes out to all of you who develop, in any way, for the Thunderbolt community. This even includes testers.
To answer your questions...
The video and front camera are broken even with an aftermarket app and will remain broken, most likely, until Verizon releases the OTA. From the OTA, our awesome developers will then be able to fix camera issues and many other issues that will make their ROM's 100% stable.
Also, if you get random reboots, you may want to flash to a different radio.
If you are currently running the OTA radios from the 2.11.605.19 software and still get these reboots, try flashing the combo radio and hopefully the reboots will vanish or, at least, happen less often.
If you go to your settings, about phone, software information, more, and look at the baseband version...
If the numbers you see are:
1.49.00.0406w_1, 0.01.79.0331w_1
Then you are on the OTA 2.11.605.19 radios, which is my recommendation for the radios to use with this ROM. If these are the radio numbers you see, try the combo radio. If the numbers you see under your phones baseband version is not:
1.49.00.0406w_1, 0.01.79.0331w_1
Then it may be:
1.48.00.0930w_3, 0.01.78.0916w_3
If it is:
1.48.00.0930w_3, 0.01.78.0916w_3
Try flashing the 2.11.605.19 OTA radios found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1605557
If you have the 2.11.605.19 radios, though, try flashing the combo radio found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1864157
If you aren't sure how to flash a radio, here's a video tutorial for you to follow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu-KLjHGGhc&sns=em
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium

Definitely want to ditto this thread. Thanks for continuing to support the Thunderbolt. I was on the verge of retiring the Thunderbolt. ICS has brought new the Tbolt new life though!

thanks for the links. I'm going to try upgrading tonight and see if that helps. I notice you flash the radio in hboot. If I do a nandroid backup, does it also backup the radio (so I can restore it)? Or if I **** up, will it be permanently bricked?

Ditto to all that has been said. Thank You to all who made this happen, including HTC and Verizon. Their inaction drove me to decide to root and find alternatives. I've been incredibly pleased with MR3.
Thanks all!
Sent from the Great Beyond using XDA App

vashts80 said:
thanks for the links. I'm going to try upgrading tonight and see if that helps. I notice you flash the radio in hboot. If I do a nandroid backup, does it also backup the radio (so I can restore it)? Or if I **** up, will it be permanently bricked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you backup that ROM after flashing the radio, it will back up the ROM. Hboot is a whole different thing than the recovery. That radio is downloaded to the phone and will automatically run on any ROM after its downloaded, even if you start from scratch. But flashing any of those two radios will not brick you on any ROM. Worst case being you won't have signal or data until you flash different radios again.
Say if you upgraded to the newer radios, and then you flash a ROM based on an older software version, you won't brick. In fact, you may not ever experience any issues. Maybe just signal changes or random signal drops.
But no, it won't brick you. It's almost impossible to brick a Thunderbolt.
I recommend after flashing the new radios, immediately go and either change the name from PG05IMG to something custom, move into a different folder that's off of the root of the SD card, or just delete it once flashed.
This is for in a such case where you need to get back into recovery from hboot, it won't prompt you to install the radio again. Because if you had to get into recovery from hboot, it wouldn't allow you to since it runs a check for the PG05IMG files first... and with that being said... I was always told to never flash the same radio twice without changing to a new one first.
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium

i dont' see why these ROMs get so much acclaim... when i tried LiquidSmooth it wouldn't stay connected to the Internet. tried to toggle wifi and 3G/4G. nothing works and i have to reboot the phone every time i want to use the Internet.
Liquid MR3: the setup crashed and now the ROM won't even come all the way up...
unless my phone's broken or something (going to Verizon tomorrow to reflash and check it), i say they're both absolute garbage. i've had much better luck with ROMs on other phones.

moonlightcheese said:
i dont' see why these ROMs get so much acclaim... when i tried LiquidSmooth it wouldn't stay connected to the Internet. tried to toggle wifi and 3G/4G. nothing works and i have to reboot the phone every time i want to use the Internet.
Liquid MR3: the setup crashed and now the ROM won't even come all the way up...
unless my phone's broken or something (going to Verizon tomorrow to reflash and check it), i say they're both absolute garbage. i've had much better luck with ROMs on other phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try a different radio and redownload? The first shot isnt always the right one....

trter10 said:
Did you try a different radio and redownload? The first shot isnt always the right one....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whelp... as you can see from my post number, i'm not exactly the most well-versed member around. idk what that means. any reading you can point me to or explanation?

moonlightcheese said:
whelp... as you can see from my post number, i'm not exactly the most well-versed member around. idk what that means. any reading you can point me to or explanation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back up 9 posts and you'll see a link to a video tutorial on how to flash a different radio. You'll even see 2 links to 2 different radios to flash and try.
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium

RBarnett09 said:
Back up 9 posts and you'll see a link to a video tutorial on how to flash a different radio. You'll even see 2 links to 2 different radios to flash and try.
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i reflashed Liquid this morning and it didn't crash this time, connected fine via wifi and setup completed properly.
all of my radio issues were on the old version (not sure if there's a difference in radios or whatnot), but if it acts up again i will try your recommendations. thanks a lot.
---------- Post added at 11:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:52 AM ----------
moonlightcheese said:
well i reflashed Liquid this morning and it didn't crash this time, connected fine via wifi and setup completed properly.
all of my radio issues were on the old version (not sure if there's a difference in radios or whatnot), but if it acts up again i will try your recommendations. thanks a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah i see what happened now.
the first time i flashed it, i cleared /data after the flash before i brought the OS up, but you've included the launcher as a user app and not a system app. was this intentional? a user could easily screw up by uninstalling the launcher and have no way to interact with the OS. shouldn't there be a default launcher embedded in the system programs?
i'm an Android dev, but my understanding of system development is limited, but if i'm not mistaken, any Android ROM should come with a default launcher that is not uninstallable and has no icon as a backup launcher just in case.

He did install it that way so if the user wants to install their own launcher and remove the default. Its simple to make the new one a system app. All that has to be done is move the apk to /system and it is uninstallable.
Sent from my Thunderbolt using Tapatalk 2