[VIDEO] Weekly ROM Review - Captivate General

Hey guys,
I recently got a Captivate (well, 1 month ago) and 2 phones ago I had a HTC Tilt and I was definitely a flashaholic then ROM-wise.
With my Captivate, even now, I probably change ROMs every other day. I like trying different things out and hate just having one ROM at all time.
But I know when I first started out, I had no idea which ROM to pick..
ERGO
I am thinking of doing Video Reviews of ROMs. Initially once a week and then if people show support probably more often than that. I will try my best to be neutral and unbiased, as I honestly have no preference for ROMs either, I just flash new stuff and try different things out.
I'll be highlighting the following for each ROM I flash & review:
-Battery Life
-GPS accuracy & speed
[those 2 are probably my most important personally]
-CPU & GPU Speed (LinPack, Quadrant, etc)
-Internet Up/Down Speed (SpeedTest)
-Unique features
-Major issues / crashes / major bugs / etc
I will try my best to be as subjective as possible as I do not want to discourage people from developing ROMs but instead the opposite.
Please let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions, etc.
If I feel like I have the approval of the XDA community I will start a YouTube channel ASAP!
Thanks
skadamat

just go right ahead

Good Idea! Wrong Forum! Even though you are reviewing roms it should still be in general. Great Idea though.

tytdfn said:
Good Idea! Wrong Forum! Even though you are reviewing roms it should still be in general. Great Idea though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 ( post in a useless thread)

OP, you should have tried out for the XDA-TV.. they need people who want to do video reviews and etc.

Was kinda hoping to already find a video in here

I personally think this is a great idea. I would watch.

Do that please!!! Nice idea!!!

go for it! I would definitely watch.

Yep do it now!!!! I was ready to watch some videos as well. I'd like to see some of these ROMs in action so I can decide for myself. I don't have time to keep switching ROMs every day myself

skadamat said:
Hey guys,
I recently got a Captivate (well, 1 month ago) and 2 phones ago I had a HTC Tilt and I was definitely a flashaholic then ROM-wise.
With my Captivate, even now, I probably change ROMs every other day. I like trying different things out and hate just having one ROM at all time.
But I know when I first started out, I had no idea which ROM to pick..
ERGO
I am thinking of doing Video Reviews of ROMs. Initially once a week and then if people show support probably more often than that. I will try my best to be neutral and unbiased, as I honestly have no preference for ROMs either, I just flash new stuff and try different things out.
I'll be highlighting the following for each ROM I flash & review:
-Battery Life
-GPS accuracy & speed
[those 2 are probably my most important personally]
-CPU & GPU Speed (LinPack, Quadrant, etc)
-Internet Up/Down Speed (SpeedTest)
-Unique features
-Major issues / crashes / major bugs / etc
I will try my best to be as subjective as possible as I do not want to discourage people from developing ROMs but instead the opposite.
Please let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions, etc.
If I feel like I have the approval of the XDA community I will start a YouTube channel ASAP!
Thanks
skadamat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Besides major features, i would like to know what is different from Factory ROm:
Installed apps, versions of Email client, Exchange Sync, Touchwiz features like Puzzle Lock, etc.

Do it!!!! , It will be very usefull !!!

Looking forward to seeing this one take off.

I'd watch it

I am just getting ready to flash my 1st ROM to my Captivate and I would LOVE to see Video Reviews.
Thanks

Related

CyanogenMod7 Review (as I see it)

I have been using this build for quite a while now and decided to write a review of the ROM. Please keep in mind I am not a developer !!! I am simply writing this from a user standpoint and cannot nor will not support your problems. This is a review based on my opinions and usage of the ROM.
Pros:
I do like the UI. It is fairly stable and I haven't had much trouble out of it for the most part. The combination of ADW Launcher and the Cyanogen settings are great. The speed of the ROM is pretty good for a ported ROM based on GingerBread. I can't complain much about that. General things that I like are the advanced menus for customizing the dock and theme settings. The themed settings change icons for contacts, mail, messaging, phone, browser,calendar, and videos ( I may have missed some). The cyanogen settings cover an array of things that you can poke at but in my opinion should be included with stock builds as well. Overall if you were wanting to use this on a daily basis I think you would be ok to go ahead and install this ROM... NOTE: Don't hold me responsible if you brick your phone trying. It isn't one of the easiest roms I've
ever installed. The sleep policy has been fixed so that the phone doesn't reboot on unlock...which on my first flash hadn't been fixed and really really turned me off from this ROM.
Cons: I have yet to figure out why this is (again not a dev) but your microSD card will not mount when connected to the pc. I'm sure they are working on this but I haven't downloaded an update or nightly (which is current at the time of this post btw) that has fixed it. I do have some random picky things that I can't get an answer to, and good luck if you do...feel free to send them to me also. Some of my .mp3 ringtones will not work period. Different ones of even larger file size work... I'm not sure how that works out. Text messaging (native) doesn't work for incoming or outgoing... But I will say that I was having issues with that before so I can't blame that on this ROM. There are a few apps that won't work with this build easy uninstaller is one, I just get a fc. Battery is another issue that may be addressed with future releases. I don't run GPS (so don't ask if it's accurate) but keep wifi on all the time. I get probably about 8 hours with wifi on all the time. Not the best but definitely not the worst. You also cannot charge the phone while it is off... really not sure why, and the extended power menu doesn't work. And for the most part is an in depth install procedure... Back to stock with odin, flash two kernals, then a couple of files... Pretty lengthy and you have to be precise or else it bricks. Here it is if your interested... Thanks to MobileTechVideos for the instructions and video.
How to install CyanogenMod7
Other than that I have had virtually no problems (that I consider major) with this ROM and do like it and will probably continue to use it. If you have any general questions please feel free to ask. Again, again... I am not a dev so questions of that nature should be posted here: CyanogenMod7
I tried it and liked what works but it is still alpha quality and so i will wait for a few weeks until i give it another shot.
surfed.tk said:
I tried it and liked what works but it is still alpha quality and so i will wait for a few weeks until i give it another shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, it is definitely still a beta build and as noted by Cyanogen... hasn't been put into the stable build section of their forums. I do look forward to a stable build. Perhaps the Dev's can address some of the weird issues that I mentioned above.
i also was not able to send multi media mms never would go through i tried for 20 mins to receive and send ,
this rom is great but here is why it sucks, i watch the cyanogen nightlies for the galaxy s phones, and with the types of updates im seeing on the cappy versus lets say the vibrant , there is no ****ing hope and this rom is dead.
the last update fixed an install file wtf. so at this rate cyanogen will be rc in o id say next year. ill have a new phone by then. my money is on miui
NightFalcon27 said:
I agree, it is definitely still a beta build and as noted by Cyanogen... hasn't been put into the stable build section of their forums. I do look forward to a stable build. Perhaps the Dev's can address some of the weird issues that I mentioned above.
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Click to collapse
Well you completely forgot to mention that, currently it cannot handle lots of video format, most importantly mkv and even if you find something like Rock Player, there's a lot of lag in it. You cannot charge the phone while its off (because it'll turn on as soon as you plug the charger in). Also, you might encounter a totally new problem which you may not have an idea about. If captivate is your spare phone then play with it else stay away for a while until a RC is released.
This is just my opinion from 3 days of experience on CM7.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
It was a total flop for me :/
It ran well when I first installed it, but started running "funny" (random crashing) after I installed gapps, then totally started crapping out after the 3/16 update.
I ended up ditching it for a 2.2 rom, mostly because I didn't feel I was gaining anything substantive and losing things I regularly use, like a feature rich camera app and divx playback support.
Been running for 3 days. 0 problems.
I've ran into a few bugs. External SD, booting when usb plugged in. Only charging to 95% (apparently a feature not a bug). At one point my signal shot down to searching, then it recovered and grabbed a signal. Not sure what caused that, but it was random.
I also cannot get it to mount to my PC. Kind of annoying, but if I need to transfer anything I just use dropbox.
I like it, and I think I'll keep with it. Even though it isn't 100%, I love gingerbread, and it's working for me.
krips2003 said:
Well you completely forgot to mention that, currently it cannot handle lots of video format, most importantly mkv and even if you find something like Rock Player, there's a lot of lag in it. You cannot charge the phone while its off (because it'll turn on as soon as you plug the charger in). Also, you might encounter a totally new problem which you may not have an idea about. If captivate is your spare phone then play with it else stay away for a while until a RC is released.
This is just my opinion from 3 days of experience on CM7.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I did forget that you cannot charge the phone while off and now that you mention it the extended power menu doesn't work either. It is fairly aggravating that Cyanogen updates the vibrant with "real" fixes other than this fixing little things but... All in all, it is still usable, just not stable or reliable.
Every time I try and warn someone that CM7 is not yet ready for primetime I get bashed for it, yet there seem to be plenty of people echoing my comments. Like I said in another thread, the people that are saying CM7 is stable and works great are either not using their device to its full potential or are willing to live without certain features. There is really no compelling reason to live with a ROM that has this many bugs or deficiencies when you consider how many really good ROMs there are available for our Cappys that have few, if any, issues. Yeah, they may not have Gingerbready theming or cutesy animations, but they just work. Andromeda 1.2 is one that comes to mind.
I am on it from I think last friday...Not a single problem...atleast how i use it...of course except battery life...which I am trying to solve...
Rock player worked well for me...I watched couple of movies when I was on road....never lagged just stopped couple of times....
great GPS...instant locks...i am amazed...But I also tried MIUI...and it is very very fast...and something different which I never experienced before...I think people should give it a try...ofcourse it has bugs too as it based on CM7...but they fixed camera bug and little stuff.....
Miami_Son said:
Every time I try and warn someone that CM7 is not yet ready for primetime I get bashed for it, yet there seem to be plenty of people echoing my comments. Like I said in another thread, the people that are saying CM7 is stable and works great are either not using their device to its full potential or are willing to live without certain features. There is really no compelling reason to live with a ROM that has this many bugs or deficiencies when you consider how many really good ROMs there are available for our Cappys that have few, if any, issues. Yeah, they may not have Gingerbready theming or cutesy animations, but they just work. Andromeda 1.2 is one that comes to mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am by no means saying that it is ready for the masses... The only one that I would suggest without a second thought to someone who isn't willing to deal with at least some problems is Cognition Series by DesignGears. To my knowledge (and opinion) this is the absolute best rom for the captivate. IF ... Cyanogen gets to the point of a Cognition rom in function and use, then I might suggest it for the masses but not until then.
Miami_Son said:
Every time I try and warn someone that CM7 is not yet ready for primetime I get bashed for it, yet there seem to be plenty of people echoing my comments. Like I said in another thread, the people that are saying CM7 is stable and works great are either not using their device to its full potential or are willing to live without certain features. There is really no compelling reason to live with a ROM that has this many bugs or deficiencies when you consider how many really good ROMs there are available for our Cappys that have few, if any, issues. Yeah, they may not have Gingerbready theming or cutesy animations, but they just work. Andromeda 1.2 is one that comes to mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right in regard to it not being ready for most users (many are already praising the miui 2.3.3 also which is even less stable.....not saying it isn't promising). I think it breaks into 2 camps.
1. If you are a power user that wants all aspects of your device to function as intended...not for you. More specifically, If you use an external SD especially if your moving files to and from mounted to a PC....this is not the rom for you (this is my biggest gripe at this point). If you do lots of video in different formats...not for you as you will face compatibility issues. If you have to ask how your flash back to stock....this is probably not for you. If you value battery life as a top priority...not yet for you. Most of the other deficiencies or shortcomings had adequate work arounds but you until the major issues are resolved you will quickly find yourself flashing back to Phoenix, Firefly, Serendipity, Andromeda, etc.)
2. If you don't use and external SD and/or do much media vid/music then i can see why many view this as "stable" for their purposes. The UI, menus, and animations are smooth/fast and i never really had any issues with force closes while using it. Maybe its better linguistically to say its incomplete rather than refer to is as unstable and sorry if it offends the early adopters but if you are using it as your daily driver its pretty obvious you are using an inferior rom @ this point.
NightFalcon27 said:
I am by no means saying that it is ready for the masses... The only one that I would suggest without a second thought to someone who isn't willing to deal with at least some problems is Cognition Series by DesignGears. To my knowledge (and opinion) this is the absolute best rom for the captivate. IF ... Cyanogen gets to the point of a Cognition rom in function and use, then I might suggest it for the masses but not until then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would easily put a handful of roms on par with cognition:
Firefly, Supernova, Phoenix, Serendipity, Andromeda.
bames said:
Your right in regard to it not being ready for most users (many are already praising the miui 2.3.3 also which is even less stable.....not saying it isn't promising). I think it breaks into 2 camps.
1. If you are a power user that wants all aspects of your device to function as intended...not for you. More specifically, If you use an external SD especially if your moving files to and from mounted to a PC....this is not the rom for you (this is my biggest gripe at this point). If you do lots of video in different formats...not for you as you will face compatibility issues. If you have to ask how your flash back to stock....this is probably not for you. If you value battery life as a top priority...not yet for you. Most of the other deficiencies or shortcomings had adequate work arounds but you until the major issues are resolved you will quickly find yourself flashing back to Phoenix, Firefly, Serendipity, Andromeda, etc.)
2. If you don't use and external SD and/or do much media vid/music then i can see why many view this as "stable" for their purposes. The UI, menus, and animations are smooth/fast and i never really had any issues with force closes while using it. Maybe its better linguistically to say its incomplete rather than refer to is as unstable and sorry if it offends the early adopters but if you are using it as your daily driver its pretty obvious you are using an inferior rom @ this point.
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Click to collapse
Excellent post.
Glad to see users sharing their experience on CM7. This is always good foe the community. I hope to see new users to read this thread prior to making any decision whether to flash CM7 2.3.3 or not.
On another note, I'm sure once Samsung do final release of Gingerbread 2.3.3 for i9000 series (last I heard that an early beta was released), we cappyites will see stable release.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Regarding the phone turning on when charging, I believe it's a gingerbread "feature". It's been said that it is working as intended. Also, the iphone does the same thing so I don't really see it as an issue. It's probably google seeing behavior they like and implementing it.
You can not mount the external sd but you can transfer to your internal then on the phone transfer to external, so I am not certain it Is fair to say you can not use your external sd. Video is an issue, and battery is as well.
At this point in time it is a trade off, there are several things cm7 can't do well or can not do at all. there are also several things it does much better than any 2.2 rom or are not available on 2.2 roms.
Its all preference and priorities. Kinda like any best rom discussion.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
Miami_Son said:
Every time I try and warn someone that CM7 is not yet ready for primetime I get bashed for it, yet there seem to be plenty of people echoing my comments. Like I said in another thread, the people that are saying CM7 is stable and works great are either not using their device to its full potential or are willing to live without certain features. There is really no compelling reason to live with a ROM that has this many bugs or deficiencies when you consider how many really good ROMs there are available for our Cappys that have few, if any, issues. Yeah, they may not have Gingerbready theming or cutesy animations, but they just work. Andromeda 1.2 is one that comes to mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Largely it its because you have never used it, and have only tried one rom. That and you are compelled to jump on any thread that mentions it as if it is a personal mission. It its not as if you do not make some valid points, but it is not hard to see why it may rub some the wrong way after a while.
This is not an attempt to start something, but your comments make it seem like there is no warrant to people who go back at you.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
mcord11758 said:
Largely it its because you have never used it, and have only tried one rom. That and you are compelled to jump on any thread that mentions it as if it is a personal mission. It its not as if you do not make some valid points, but it is not hard to see why it may rub some the wrong way after a while.
This is not an attempt to start something, but your comments make it seem like there is no warrant to people who go back at you.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
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Click to collapse
Agreed... I was not trying to start a thread to bash any rom. However I do know that there are some hard feelings that are out based on certain features that work or don't and peoples impressions about the ROM itself. I also know that there is quite a bit of loyalty to certain ROM creators that no matter what they aren't going to be going to a new ROM simply because they are loyal to that dev... which is fine! I simply wanted to create an avenue for people who have used the ROM to pass along information and opinions on the ROM to people who are thinking about switching to it. People are entitled to their opinions and I am all for that... Just don't bash any of the devs or their work, it is not easy putting this stuff together and I for one am happy that I have a place I can go to that allows me to get away from stock. I hope that all will realize that
mcord11758 said:
Largely it its because you have never used it, and have only tried one rom. That and you are compelled to jump on any thread that mentions it as if it is a personal mission. It its not as if you do not make some valid points, but it is not hard to see why it may rub some the wrong way after a while.
This is not an attempt to start something, but your comments make it seem like there is no warrant to people who go back at you.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
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Click to collapse
Miami_Son said:
Excellent post.
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The terminology might be better as incomplete instead of unstable. great post.

Which ROM?

Hi Everyone,
I am seeking recommendations on custom ROMs for the captivate. I kknow it wouldn't be fair to compare specially after the hard work so many developers are putting in for *free*. This is for a phone I have been playing around with. It currently is on Continuum 5.1 which I love, but it is getting laggy. I need to give it to my kid sister and reliability and speed are of concern to her.
If Continuum is a recommendation, I'd stay put
I was wondering which is the best ROM according to your experience.
Parameters:
- Speed
- Usability
- Gingerbread ideally (or froyo if that's faster)
- Themes (because its gonna be for a girl who will want new clothes for the phone everyday!)
- Keyboard availability should be good. She is used to a qwerty phone which she feels easy, and touch screens are new to her
(edit: and anyway I could remove the globe button on swype which was irritating and cuts short the keyboard width http://twitpic.com/4suqes)
Moderators, you can categorise anywhere if you please, or shut it down if there is a discussion already on on a similar subject of comparison/reviews because I couldn't find it.
thanks!
iMohak said:
Hi Everyone,
I am seeking recommendations on custom ROMs for the captivate. I kknow it wouldn't be fair to compare specially after the hard work so many developers are putting in for *free*. This is for a phone I have been playing around with. It currently is on Continuum 5.1 which I love, but it is getting laggy. I need to give it to my kid sister and reliability and speed are of concern to her.
If Continuum is a recommendation, I'd stay put
I was wondering which is the best ROM according to your experience.
Parameters:
- Speed
- Usability
- Gingerbread ideally (or froyo if that's faster)
- Themes (because its gonna be for a girl who will want new clothes for the phone everyday!)
- Keyboard availability should be good. She is used to a qwerty phone which she feels easy, and touch screens are new to her
(edit: and anyway I could remove the globe button on swype which was irritating and cuts short the keyboard width http://twitpic.com/4suqes)
Moderators, you can categorise anywhere if you please, or shut it down if there is a discussion already on on a similar subject of comparison/reviews because I couldn't find it.
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you really want a GB based rom then I would say . But if you don't care for GB and are fine with Froyo then Cognition 4.3.2 is amazing. Great battery life (about 30hrs with moderate usage, wifi on all the time and apps like current weather, weather forecast, pulse news, facebook, gmail, calender, score mobile, tweetdeck, espn and cnn constantly using the wifi) and its not laggy. I know the quadrant scores don't mean much but my cappy gave me a score of over 1600.
Cheers.
These threads are always subjective. You have to try different rom, kernel and modem packages to see what works best for her phone. Not all Captivates are equal.
cappysw10 said:
These threads are always subjective. You have to try different rom, kernel and modem packages to see what works best for her phone. Not all Captivates are equal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. You have to read about them and decide what you like best. Some people may really like one particular rom and then you get to it and are like this sucks, I hate it. Go try some out and don't forget to read up on bootloaders if you decide to go the GB way.
GR12
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
subpresion 3.2
So far I am pleased with GR 12. Granted, I don't probably use my phone for a lot of intense applications etc. like others, but I haven't had any issues with the ROM. Of course, I don't burden my phone with a lot of apps and I think by doing so I get good results with the ROM. My battery life has been great ( I'm sitting at 73% right now after 29 hours, 23 minutes). Like I said, that's a few calls, checking email and occasional music listening.
Like others have said, it is subjective. I always leave everything pretty much as MikeyMike developed it and I love it.
5.. 4.. 3...
There is no best rom. Just best for you. Please search before you open a new thread, as you will see they all get closed due to becoming a flame fest. With that said. Thread closed

All of these ICS ROMS have the same problems....

CONSIDER THIS THREAD CLOSED
Let me first be clear: I think it's awesome that a phone like the MyTouch 4g was released at a 2.2 phone and has ended up being upgraded to 4.0.4. Let me also take the time to thank the developers involved in this effort. It's hard work and sometimes it sucks to be a dev, and I thank you.
That being said, there are something like 10 ICS ROMS in the development section right now with any combination of
Sense 4
Stock ICS
MIUI
Themed variations
and what do they all have in common? The camera doesn't work properly, the bluetooth is sketchy, and the whole thing is a little crashy in the soft-reboot sense of the word.
My question is this: Why are we releasing so many variations of the same problem when the first one didn't work correctly anyway?
Especially ...Awesome... . I think it's awesome that you want to release like 5 different ICS ROMS, but what does one bring to the table that the other one doesn't? If I'm totally off base here, let me know, but this is what I see from a ROM flasher prospective.
Anyway, end rant and I'm sorry if I offended anybody.
jbdubbs said:
Let me first be clear: I think it's awesome that a phone like the MyTouch 4g was released at a 2.2 phone and has ended up being upgraded to 4.0.4. Let me also take the time to thank the developers involved in this effort. It's hard work and sometimes it sucks to be a dev, and I thank you.
That being said, there are something like 10 ICS ROMS in the development section right now with any combination of
Sense 4
Stock ICS
MIUI
Themed variations
and what do they all have in common? The camera doesn't work properly, the bluetooth is sketchy, and the whole thing is a little crashy in the soft-reboot sense of the word.
My question is this: Why are we releasing so many variations of the same problem when the first one didn't work correctly anyway?
Especially ...Awesome... . I think it's awesome that you want to release like 5 different ICS ROMS, but what does one bring to the table that the other one doesn't? If I'm totally off base here, let me know, but this is what I see from a ROM flasher prospective.
Anyway, end rant and I'm sorry if I offended anybody.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I realized this too, but hey, they can do whatever they want.
I mean I know why they aren't completely functional and stable, but I'm confused as to why we've became so obsessed with ICS that we have 50 different ICS ROMs and pretty much all of them are the same just with different settings or whatever. That's why I've been on GB sense for like the past week or two.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2
Things in common
As stated-many roms share problems. As a lover of mt4g anything that keeps my phone alive is progress. Sure ics has camera and some other isssues,but as we all should know and have all been told"this is a work in progress". Many folks = many efforts= different outcomes. Not all ics have reboots,not all have "the camera problem" most do but work arounds exist is some cases. We can always go back to gb. Remember when some gb had camera problems? In time all gets worked out. Besides no arm twisting is done to make us use a rom,it's a matter of personal choice. Am content to wait till camera fix is out but will continue to use ics. Thanks to all the fellas who work for free and express their individuality with the work produced. "drive on"
I2IEAILiiTY said:
That's why I've been on GB sense for like the past week or two.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. This is me too.
--sent from my glacier.
trofmoc said:
Not all ics have reboots,not all have "the camera problem" most do but work arounds exist is some cases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, every ICS ROM in the development forum has the camera problem. The "camera problem" being the total lack of video capture unless you use a third party program and capture in VGA resolution at less than 10 fps. As far as I'm concerned, that means the video camera doesn't work, and there isn't a ROM that's worked around this.
Also, so far I've used at least five different ICS ROMS and all of them seem to have soft reboot problems of some sort. Some worse than others, but its there. Usually having to do with the browser or programs that use the stock browser.
Since a camera don't mean anything to me...I am using sense 4 hybrid, which is suprisingly very stable, minus the camera of course. But my wife on the other hand, has to have a camera, so I put sense 3.5 on hers, which is basically perfect in functionality.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
I literally just flashed that Sense 4 Hybrid, and it about blew my ear off with the music on the boot screen.........
lack of a kernel prevents certain hardware from working correctly
however, i do agree that there are WAY too many SIMILAR roms (and some from the same dev, too). itd be nice to try to put all your resources on one AOSP, one AOKP/CM9, and one ICS-Sense.. teamwork! community! linux!
to each thier own, i guess. lets appreciate all the ROMs.. because if we didnt have any devs still working here wed be a lot more annoyed
On the bright side, as fixes are found/created the existing ROMs can be patched and you'll have more functioning ROMs to choose from. Also, these guys went from ports to compiling and then they started modding framework-res.apk's and SystemUI.apk's for theming. Essentially, if they hadn't done all this work their knowledge would not have progressed like it has. Now they will be able to use those skills to continue to benefit the whole community if they choose.
Wow total lack of respect from a NOBODY! Don't worry ill have all my threads closed and good luck with this phone stay on stock for all I care name 1 single thing u have contributed to this community besides u whinning and complaining about everything good luck to this community and the rest of the devs that are still here... This is the last you guys will have heard from me... GOOD LUCK! !
Sent from my ROOTIE TOOTIE FRESH 'N FRUITY GLACIER
Way to go fellas...say goodbye to Awesome. Anyway, do yo guys read the ICS OPs? Here is a nice quote that explains stuff. Bit seriously. Be thankful for ICS....posts like these make us feel unappreciated.
saranhai said:
FAQ - THE BIG PICTURE​
What is ICS?
ICS is Ice Cream Sandwich - Google's latest version of Android.
- Some of the very latest phones on the market already have it installed. e.g HTC One series
- Some slightly older phones will eventually be 'upgraded' to ICS e.g Desire HD, but this may be a number of months away, and promised 'upgrades' have sometimes never been delivered at all.
- If / when it does arrive for Desire HD it may not happen for everybody at the same time, sometimes it's carrier by carrier, and finally 'retail' (non carrier branded) handsets that get the upgrade last!
- If / when it does arrive, it will be overlayed with HTC's Sense (some like it, some don't)
- In the meantime, folks are working on getting ICS on your Desire HD BEFORE it's officially released for the phone, with and without Sense (giving you a choice)
So why don't some features work?
Well, the ICS being used on Desire HD is 'taken' from officially released ICS phones like the HTC One range, or 'leaked' ROMS from similar phones.
However, those phones have slightly different hardware and features than the Desire HD - so they aren't exactly the same. This means that parts of the software have to be 'ported' to work on the Desire HD.
OK, so why is porting so difficult?
The Android O/S is 'open source' meaning that anybody can see the actual source code for themselves, and see how it all works. They can modify it and adapt it to suit their needs (good).
Phone manufacturers USE Android in their phones, but they don't have to make all their own 'extra' software open source too. They like to protect their software by keeping it secret (not so good). There are many reasons why they do this, both good and bad, but it makes porting difficult.
When developers don't have access to the source code for parts of a phone, they have to write their own!... this means they have to have highly detailed knowledge of the phone, its hardware and other software components. Sometimes they can try things by trial and error, sometimes they have knowledge from a similar phone, and sometimes they just don't know.
This is the most common issue for 'ported' ROMS. Things like Power Management, Camera, WiFi, GPS etc are the things that make one manufacturer's phone stand out from another, and therefore end up 'secret'.
This does not mean that they will never work, it only means that they take longer to get working.
Who does the porting?
The actual porting is done by surprisingly few people:
- Some guys who know 'inside secrets'
- Some guys who are just great developers but who don't have the secrets
- Some guys who can develop but need a little guidance
- Some of them are 'great guys' helping the community (and keeping their own skills up to date)
- Some of them have other motives (good and bad)
- Some of them form teams to work on different ports
Why don't all the developers work together?
Developers are people - they have all the same issues as everybody else:
- Some like working alone
- Some feel that other developers standards aren't high enough
- Some are trying to fix a specific problem that THEY want fixed
- Some teams have different goals (one team might be aiming for a port that can work on 5 different phones, whilst another team are focused on a single phone. One team may want a totally 'clean' ROM and another want a ROM with lots of customisation options built in)
- Sometimes, people just don't get along with each other
I thought the ROM makers did all this work?
You'd be wrong.
The ROM developers use the ported code to make their ROMs. Sometimes they can choose different components from the various development teams to build a ROM.
Imagine a motor car:
1) The 'developers' make the engine, wheels, steering, chassis etc
2) The ROM Makers build their car choosing the components they need for their ROM
3) The 'Modders' add custom paint colours, fancy headlights, custom interior etc
The 'developers' are not smarter than the ROM makers, and the ROM makers are not smarter than the modders. They just have different roles (and some people do all three roles!)
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Sent from my Sense 4.0 Glacier using XDA Premium.
...Awesome... said:
Wow total lack of respect from a NOBODY! Don't worry ill have all my threads closed and good luck with this phone stay on stock for all I care name 1 single thing u have contributed to this community besides u whinning and complaining about everything good luck to this community and the rest of the devs that are still here... This is the last you guys will have heard from me... GOOD LUCK! !
Sent from my ROOTIE TOOTIE FRESH 'N FRUITY GLACIER
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Though I respect and agree with you I really hope you're kidding because if your not I'm probably gonna cry. How am I supposed to sh*t rainbows now!?
I have half a mind to hurl insults at the OP(Way Off Base) as if I were in a drunken rage. Not only did he offend but he called out a Dev which is uncalled for. You can say sorry for offending someone all you want but your sorrys, and you for a matter of fact haven't done sh*t for our device. I don't believe you have the right to rant seeing as how you have contributed nothing and possibly just cost the MT4G one of its best devs. I hope we still have developers that are not fed up with us.
...Awesome... said:
Wow total lack of respect from a NOBODY! Don't worry ill have all my threads closed and good luck with this phone stay on stock for all I care name 1 single thing u have contributed to this community besides u whinning and complaining about everything good luck to this community and the rest of the devs that are still here... This is the last you guys will have heard from me... GOOD LUCK! !
Sent from my ROOTIE TOOTIE FRESH 'N FRUITY GLACIER
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Well, damn....
Please mind the collective ego of the Dev's here. It bruises pretty easily. I tried to make the point earlier that all that work is very useful because it hones their skills, but I guess it was already too late. I sincerely hope we haven't lost another one.
Don't forget that, basically the best ICS kernel we have came from a mod that ...Awesome... did on the Tiamat kernel
Also http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1641147
estallings15 said:
Well, damn....
Please mind the collective ego of the Dev's here. It bruises pretty easily. I tried to make the point earlier that all that work is very useful because it hones their skills, but I guess it was already too late. I sincerely hope we haven't lost another one.
Don't forget that, basically the best ICS kernel we have came from a mod that ...Awesome... did on the Tiamat kernel
Also http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1641147
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The point I'm trying to make is non of you guys know what goes on behind the scenes you just have people like the OP to complain about any little thing... For example who here's noticed elginsk8r had his own cyanogen kernel on his cm9 Rom?? Who here knows that THEindian is working on the vkernel? Who here knows blackwing and I are trying to compile a kernel for the camcorder to work? Who here noticed if u flash elginsk8r kernel u get semi working camcorder don't say we aren't working together on fixes if u guys knew all and every little thing we all are doing and don't come out publicly and say it doesn't mean we aren't working together because WE ARE because it benefits all of us not just 1 person
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2
...Awesome... said:
The point I'm trying to make is non of you guys know what goes on behind the scenes you just have people like the OP to complain about any little thing... For example who here's noticed elginsk8r had his own cyanogen kernel on his cm9 Rom?? Who here knows that THEindian is working on the vkernel? Who here knows blackwing and I are trying to compile a kernel for the camcorder to work? Who here noticed if u flash elginsk8r kernel u get semi working camcorder don't say we aren't working together on fixes if u guys knew all and every little thing we all are doing and don't come out publicly and say it doesn't mean we aren't working together because WE ARE because it benefits all of us not just 1 person
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2
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Amen. Honestly people. Patience...
my 2¢
I personally didn't think the OP was disrespectful. I think a number of devs are probably feeling similar frustrations even if from a different perspective.
I do think it is up to each user to decide to try new ROMs. If they don't work for you, then its a non-starter - go back to what works for you without complaint.
I also think it is important to remember that there are many different types of users - always. I am a software developer and I hit the same thing in my work. Some people are just looking for a solid ROM - and lack much understanding of the underlying complexity. That they're here at all places them way beyond the average smartphone buyer.
Others are Android jockies - here every day (even every minute) with a lot of their life revolving around ROM dev/swapping. It's probably important to them how they're perceived in this community.
Constructive criticism will and can be received differently by everyone within that spectrum.
Personally, I think it's great to have lots of options - it will end up serving everyone. At the level of experience I have (little!), I have gotten confused when the ROM thread titles are cute and don't indicate what they are - or their lineage. When I dig in and read the threads, there's definitely good ICS options there.
HMMMMM
I DON'T PAY BUT I USE, I DON'T FIX,BUT I COMPLAIN - IF IT DON'T WORK I'M READY FOR A QUICK FIX. TOO MANY CHOICES[somethings wrong]. NOT ENOUGH CHOICES[someone's lazy]. go to any other android forum and see how many folks are interested in mt4g. HARDLY ANY. PLEASE BE GLAD FOR WHAT WE HAVE.
I for one would like to say that I feel almost ashamed, that I use these roms, and I don't say thank you enough. Let me be honest, because at my age, its hard to fall asleep at night, having told a lie. I'm struggling right now, keeping my power on, & feeding my family. I'm laid off and looking for work, and while I would love to donate to these devs for their work, I simply don't have the money. But as soon as I do, I will gladly. I'm not looking for pity, just being honest. But a big thanks to all devs, porters, mods, anyone that devotes time here, because that's something I do know, time is a precious thing that shouldn't be taken for granted..
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
I don't think the OP was being disrespectful or intended to.
I see where he's coming from b/c there are a lot of ICS ROMs with common issues. Like we don't need three different AOKP ROMs for example, and if anything, it's gotta be hard on ...Awesome... to track progress for the fact he has several ICS builds and different threads, at least that's what I think, which is why I agree with the OP when he calls ...Awesome... out like that b/c all of his ROMs are basically the same, just w/ different "flavors" so it seems. If it was me, I'd put out just one ROM and give you guys no choice at all. If you really want all the silly things like themes and stuff, then do it yourself.
The vanilla ROM, is perfect. AOKP is fine. CM9, great. But ****ting Rainbows and Rootie Tootie (which is bloated to the max IMO) are unnecessary, esp. since it doesn't fix any of the core problems such as RR and SoD's and etc. and that only adds more threads to keep up with and distracts you from the things that really do matter. Yea it's cool and neat that you can get a ton of extra add ons into the ROM, but don't put all your work into just trying to make those silly settings and stuff work.
And another thing, ICS is a neat little project for our device, but if you want all that other **** and keep acting like you absolutely need to have ICS fully functional on this old outdated phone, then either A) go back to GB and be content w/ that until ICS is out of BETA or B) get a new damn phone, like everyone else has been doing. We're obsessed w/ ICS when we have perfectly, fully functional GB ROMs that devs have worked hard on too, like sckboy for example. He's still putting out GB ROMs and I bet some of you guys aren't aware of this at all b/c the ICS threads stay at the top of the forums pretty much.
jjbadd385 said:
I for one would like to say that I feel almost ashamed, that I use these roms, and I don't say thank you enough. Let me be honest, because at my age, its hard to fall asleep at night, having told a lie. I'm struggling right now, keeping my power on, & feeding my family. I'm laid off and looking for work, and while I would love to donate to these devs for their work, I simply don't have the money. But as soon as I do, I will gladly. I'm not looking for pity, just being honest. But a big thanks to all devs, porters, mods, anyone that devotes time here, because that's something I do know, time is a precious thing that shouldn't be taken for granted..
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Thanks man and like I've said before nobody here is doing it for money/donations specially me I do it for people to have a variety and its a hobby for me that I love doing...
I have a
Sense rom for all u sense freaks
AOSP & a AOKP rom for u ics fans
Cm9 rom
Variety!!! if it bothered the OP so much that theirs variety don't flash non of my ROMS thank you again and ill say it again as long as in my count 1 person is still using ANY of my roms ill keep updating them ENOUGH with this thread and the OP. Till he contributes 1 thing to this community he should be allowed to complain!!! As far as ANY other person in this community instead of complaining about a feature offer a suggestion the best one ive hear came yesterday when someone said they needed wifi calling for daily use sure they reported the same problem AGAIN but atleast he made a suggestion on how to fix it or try to fix it...
Sent from my ROOTIE TOOTIE FRESH 'N FRUITY GLACIER

[Q] Will a new ROM be all I ever dreamed of....?

Hi all! I'm a noob to the site and a noob to smartphone modifications, so please forgive me for my questions and concerns. I've used forums for years on many topics and found the knowledge base to be incredible, so I hope you guys will help me out, too.
So, while my Skyrocket has generally worked very well for the past 2+ years, I have always felt it's not living up to its potential. I've read numerous threads on many forums to see what my fellow Rocketeers were doing. I think I've come to the conclusion that flashing a new ROM is the way to go, but I am a bit wary since I've never done this nor know anyone who has. My thinking goes along the same lines as my experience with computers... If you buy a Dell, HP, etc., you get the garbage that the manufacturer bundles in along with Windows. If you wipe the HD and install your own clean copy of Windows, you can usually get better performance without all that other stuff. Hence, the idea for a new ROM for the phone.
A few things have me wondering, though... There seem to be more ROMs available than flavors of Linux! I know choice will end up being a personal thing. My goal is really simple... I just want a clean OS that is stable, efficient, and runs the basic functions I am accustomed to. So, I am not looking to experiment or push the envelope. I want a phone that doesn't crash at the worst possible time, and one that can actually make phone calls! I assume that I will still be able to use the Google Play store to download apps (after installing the plugin thingy). My phone is from AT&T and is unlocked. Will it say unlocked after flashing a new ROM? Will Visual Voicemail still work? I occasionally use FoxFi to create a mobile hotspot. Will I still be able to use it? Or do other ROMs already have this feature unlocked (or bypassed)? I use apps on my phone mostly for email (Yahho/Gmail), calendar, FB, Instagram, YouTube, taking photos/video, viewing forums, and the like, besides making phone calls. In other words, what should I expect from a new ROM? How will things be different? I'm really trying to gauge if this is a worthwhile endeavor for me.
Sorry for the long post. I appreciate your opinions and experience.
It's always worthwhile.
The Skyrocket, to me, was always a case of OEM software that limited its potential. If you really sit down and tweak it, custom ROM, new governor, overclock, it's a beast of a phone that can still keep pace today. You'll have to balance performance with battery life--overclocking and switching to a more aggressive governor doesn't do you any favors there, and some ROMs are better about battery life than others. It's a great phone with a lot of life left, though, much more so than the vanilla S2 because the Rocket has LTE capability.
To hit your other questions, any app that is available on the Play Store will work. If a ROM needs a second gapps flash to get the Play Store (along with everything else Google ships) back, that will be made available and is a very easy install. I've never unlocked a phone, but I don't believe that a new ROM would lose that. Wait for someone else to reply, but I'd be shocked if it did. As far as what you want, there's a ROM to suit any desires. Most ROMs are pretty basic and look and feel like you'd expect a Skyrocket to. Some are designed to feel a little more like iOS, some are designed to be stripped-down (and faster as a result), and some are based on stock firmware and very closely replicate the original experience. It's up to you to read through the dev forum for the Rocket and pick the experience that's best for you.
As far as how difficult it is, spend a couple hours reading about flashing, how it works and why it works. Once you have that basic understanding of it and can follow a few simple instructions that are pretty universal across ROMs, you're set.
Well, I'm giving this a try tonight. Fingers crossed!
One piece of advice: when you pick a new rom from "Android development" read the WHOLE thread associated with that rom, with special attention the the first couple of pages. Make sure you understand the process and any potential pitfalls.
First rom I tried I spent probably six hours reading. It was worth it.
Success!!! I now have the latest CandyKat running! It ended up being not too bad at all. Now I need to figure out how things are different from the AT&T Jelly Bean this replaces.
Thanks for the advice and thanks to everyone who contributes to the site,
I have Kandykat. It seems to be a good solid rom. The Google Now launcher is buggy though. I changed to Nova launcher. Other than that it's been fine.
Thanks for the tips, Chris. I've been using Launcher3. What's the difference between these launchers? Everything seems to be running fine on my rocket now. Any tips on increasing battery life? Any tips on some nice customization?
Google Now launcher seems to have the annoying habit of forgetting the screen setup (app positioning) during reboot. Launcher 3 also exhibited the same problem. Launchers are a matter of taste, but Nova launcher seems solid and looks right to me. YMMV. It's easy to try a few.

Lollipop, KK, Ics, JB, TW, AOSP, CM, Recommendations, & Opinions for a dying Device

Lollipop, KK, Ics, JB, TW, AOSP, CM, Recommendations, & Opinions for a dying Device
Well I haven't seen a general lollipop thread so I wanted to start one. The Pub seems like a nice place but since there's so much talk on there about everything in general, info could become hard to find. I do like the pub and read it every so often.
That said. I may or may not update the op with links posted. But most know where to find things if they look hard enough.
What I've found so far are AICP, Liquid, Mastamoon's CM, and a Slimpop build. I've tried AICP and Liquid. Thus far I've not been impressed with Lollipop, to each their own though. It looks okay, seems to run great, (I didn't do any benches, rather relying on the seat of the pants feel), I realize our device is getting at the age where not a lot of further development may happen. But it's still one of the few newer phones that you don't have to jump though hoops to install a rom.
What I'm asking if anything, is what have you tried, and why do you like or dislike it. Again, I know it's early especially for the d2vzw, but builds are out and are fairly stable, on AICP I never had a single reboot that I can recall. I'm going to try the latest Liquid tonight. I don't understand the new DD layers or whatever it is. I think it's a new way of theming possibly used by slim and maybe now liquid since I think they're using slim as a base now according to their thread in original development.
I'm backing up my favorite KK build now. Don't know if I want to try slim first or liquid. Both have builds dated 02-07 and 02-08 respectively.
If you dislike it I assume you're still running KK, or JB. In this case, I'd like to know if you're running a custom TW JB rom such as alliance or Moar or Wicked or anything else. And why. I am in an area where signal is ****. And although I'd imagine TW should get better signal, I'm not seeing a huge difference here. Maybe if I could get 3-5 DB/m better I'd stay on TW JB, but I'd have to make some measurments first. Signal on Lollipop seemed better but it can't be because I'd assume they're using the exact same RIL as on KK. Again, if I'm wrong on any of this please fill me in.
If there is another thread to follow that has already addressed all this let me know. I'm loving lollipop but can't find one namely AICP my current favorite that's releases regularly besides Masta and liquid, that have camera and video working if you have lollipop installed with these things working please share. I've tried freezing camera, then installing OPEN CAMERA, VIVAvideo, CM Camera FIX w/ the added apk for resetting the camera drive without a reboot to no avail. And I can't seem to make VIVA default to 640*480, maybe it does it on it's own but I've looked though all the settings I can find and can't seem to figure it out for the life of me. I've read damn near every thread and q&a thread to no avail.. I didn't read Masta's in it's entirety because it's so dang big. But I did browse the last ten-twenty pages or so. Once you stop keeping up for a few day's you're just lost... Which is what I wanted to make this thread to try to shed light on things without beating anyone up, and without downing any dev's they all make these things possible.
SO PLEASE if you don't mind let me know what rom has worked for you, with camera and video working and what you did to get it going.. WITHOUT STEPPING ON ANYONE"S TOES if at all possible. Thanks and have a great day/night/evening/morning.
Ain't getting a bite. Oh well. I saw a post about the slim ROM like a day later. Haven't ran it but that post has detailed data on what works and what doesn't in the op. I did try the newest liquid from 02-08 I think and it ran fine. I couldn't find how to change which settings though. A lot of features were there some weren't. Tried AICP same deal except I found the quick settings modifier in this one.
Both ran very well but I did use dkp's excellent kernel. Tierservative governor and clocked at 216-1728. Using his voltages.
I did try sending a text with liquid and I don't know if it went or not. I had read receipts checked but didn't get one. Someone else had this same issue in the liquid thread.
I'm back on KitKat but will n be testing new builds as I find them. Please give the developers some love and support or if you can donate. These guys work on this for fun and experience and some are in college. I've never known many wealthy college students. I was thrilled to have a case of naddy light or ughhhh beast ice.
griz.droidx said:
Ain't getting a bite. Oh well. I saw a post about the slim ROM like a day later. Haven't ran it but that post has detailed data on what works and what doesn't in the op. I did try the newest liquid from 02-08 I think and it ran fine. I couldn't find how to change which settings though. A lot of features were there some weren't. Tried AICP same deal except I found the quick settings modifier in this one.
Both ran very well but I did use dkp's excellent kernel. Tierservative governor and clocked at 216-1728. Using his voltages.
I did try sending a text with liquid and I don't know if it went or not. I had read receipts checked but didn't get one. Someone else had this same issue in the liquid thread.
I'm back on KitKat but will n be testing new builds as I find them. Please give the developers some love and support or if you can donate. These guys work on this for fun and experience and some are in college. I've never known many wealthy college students. I was thrilled to have a case of naddy light or ughhhh beast ice.
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I ran LS and mastas LP roms and loved em both on my S3 (I still have it even though I upgraded) and while I was impressed with the rom itself in both cases the battery life for me at least was horrendous. I've since learned a lot about wake locks and having too many apps can be a bad thing. I'm running slimkat on the S3 currently but I think I might just try out another LP rom seeming how it's only a wifi device now
Sent from my Nexus 5
Thanks. I think my battery may just be getting old but I do have a few wake locks. If your using the s3 as WiFi device then use airplane mode to help battery. Turn it on then turn on WiFi. That should help your battery life a lot. At least on my dx2 it does.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
This was supposed to be an edit sorry.
Thanks. I think my battery may just be getting old but I do have a few wake locks. If your using the s3 as WiFi device then use airplane mode to help battery. Turn it on then turn on WiFi. That should help your battery life a lot. At least on my dx2 it does.
Out of curiosity what did you upgrade to? I'd love a nexus six but I'm not sure they'll work with CDMA networks or a new moto. Since my old motos DX and x2 are bullet proof. Built like tanks. But I need to get something that'll let me scratch the flashing itch.
griz.droidx said:
This was supposed to be an edit sorry.
Thanks. I think my battery may just be getting old but I do have a few wake locks. If your using the s3 as WiFi device then use airplane mode to help battery. Turn it on then turn on WiFi. That should help your battery life a lot. At least on my dx2 it does.
Out of curiosity what did you upgrade to? I'd love a nexus six but I'm not sure they'll work with CDMA networks or a new moto. Since my old motos DX and x2 are bullet proof. Built like tanks. But I need to get something that'll let me scratch the flashing itch.
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I upgraded to a Nexus 5, I'm on straight talk so I can get any phone i want. And yea I run the S3 with wifi and airplane mode on, I do the same with my tablet
Sent from my Nexus 5
---------- Post added at 04:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 PM ----------
griz.droidx said:
This was supposed to be an edit sorry.
Thanks. I think my battery may just be getting old but I do have a few wake locks. If your using the s3 as WiFi device then use airplane mode to help battery. Turn it on then turn on WiFi. That should help your battery life a lot. At least on my dx2 it does.
Out of curiosity what did you upgrade to? I'd love a nexus six but I'm not sure they'll work with CDMA networks or a new moto. Since my old motos DX and x2 are bullet proof. Built like tanks. But I need to get something that'll let me scratch the flashing itch.
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The nexus 6 will work with CDMA carriers, it's the first Nexus (other than the Galaxy nexus) to work with CDMA carriers
Sent from my Nexus 5
Dam I want my
I want my nexusss sixxx.
From the old dire straits mark knoplfer I want my mtveeee. When it was an actual music channel.
Showing my age again. Going to test some more and try to keep updating this thread but it's been hectic lately.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
griz.droidx said:
Dam I want my
I want my nexusss sixxx.
From the old dire straits mark knoplfer I want my mtveeee. When it was an actual music channel.
Showing my age again. Going to test some more and try to keep updating this thread but it's been hectic lately.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Its a solid phone, the price really turned me away from it though
Sent from my Nexus 5
ShapesBlue said:
Its a solid phone, the price really turned me away from it though
Sent from my Nexus 5
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Yeah I really can't afford one, but unlocked devices from major carriers seem to be few and far between. I mean without jumping though every hurtle out there to try to root and rom and device is getting harder and harder these days..
On the lollipop note, I really want to run it and have received advice from various forums on how to get the camera and video to work using A better camera, which i haven't tried, to open camera which i did try, and vivavideo which i just couldn't get to work for me at all. I might try another tonight maybe liquid maybe CM, I'd try Slim which was once my absolute favorite, until I used nameless. It had the features I wanted with none of the bloat I didn't.
I've been trying every aicp that I can get my hands on but have yet to get the camera or video to function.. Of course lots of people are useing Mastamoons CM and he probably has the biggest following of all the rom's out there at the moment. Maybe I should give that a whirl just to see how things fare with using the camera and video. But I can't imagine that other dev's haven't picked up on his tips, tricks, and cherry picks to include in their own roms to make them work just as well, but then again, maybe they're going their own route.
My question to everyone is which rom are you running lollipop that is, that have both camera and video working... Any kind of camera and video. I'm not too worried about resolution at the moment as far as video is concerned as I understand it, VIVAvideo only works at 640-480, but I can't for the life of me find a setting in there to get it to work.
I've found an app on the app store called cm camera fix or similar that is supposed to get things going without a reboot using another apk called camera reboot or simlar, but didn't have much luck with either.. Again, this is using AICP which I love. If anyone can suggest a rom and I've read through all threads except for the massive mastamoon thread, please do so. and please share your experiences
your not so on the spot op
griz
People seem to forget our builds are still alpha builds. Its unfortunate, but the truth. Doesn't seem like we will get any unofficial love until the camera API problem is hacked & working. My favorite devs aren't building for our phone yet because of all the camera issues. Hopefully these issues will be resolved before I get my new phone. Looks like I'll be making the switch back to HTC
sjpritch25 said:
People seem to forget our builds are still alpha builds. Its unfortunate, but the truth. Doesn't seem like we will get any unofficial love until the camera API problem is hacked & working. My favorite devs aren't building for our phone yet because of all the camera issues. Hopefully these issues will be resolved before I get my new phone. Looks like I'll be making the switch back to HTC
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Sadly there aren't many devs left for the VZW S3 either. A lot of them have moved on. Now that mine is only a wifi device I might just run a LP rom on it. It runs pretty well on my N5, I've yet to have a random reboot which is great
Sent from my Nexus 5
Thanks guys, yeah dev's are getting few and far between and many don't use the device and rely on users for feedback and logcat's and debugging information.
Here's something I posted in AICP and thought I'd post here as well.
Just an FYI. Using suggestions from here and other threads, I've been able to successfully take both photos and video. I used A better Camera as suggested by Pyrite123 so thanks for that suggestion. I first uninstalled the stock camera using ROM Toolbox, I'm sure Titanium would do the same or just removing the apk. Anyway, after doing this and installing A Better Camera (Which is quite nice I must say), and VivaVideo I was able to both take pics and record video. I do not care for VivaVideo, but ABC wouldn't take video... Been thinking about trying LG Camera, this used to work with all else failed back on the DX when dev's were trying to get the camera working on a particular build. LG Camera includes LG camcorder.
On another note, having used DKP, BMS, and KT kernels for sometime now I was afraid those may be inferfering with getting the camera working. Not the case. I've used DKP which should probably be updated to something newer since it's from around the middle of Jan. I like it because of the stock undervolting and many governor options. I usually underclock using the stock voltages to 216-280 and sometimes up to 1728 down to 1350 on the high end. depending on what I feel I need.
Another thing, I noticed my KitKat Rom wasn't locking GPS so I re-installed a stock based rom to get a lock as has been suggested a zillion times over a zillion builds and roms.. Getting a lock in Alliance Rom 23, then immediately installing AICP fixed gps locking.. I got 6 sats locked inside my home tonight with a metal roof, and a huge metal shed outside. I'm certain I could get 10 or more standing still outside.
Just wanted to update and say thanks to not only the AICP dev, but all dev's who are and have been working on lollipop for this device.
Shapesblue mentioned on his GN5, I too have never had a single reboot. Which is one reason I've been so hell been on getting the camera and video working somehow someway.. It may not be working correctly, but it's working.
Looking at masta's thread, it looks like his next build will have the camera fixed. I guess we will wait and see.
Thanks sjpritch25, I saw that. Something about PA having it working but not having anything in Gerrit or something and them possibly just including a third party camera.
My camera works most of the time. I'd say 80-95% of the time.. Yesterday I installed the latest AICP just because it was there, did the camera freeze, and Sometimes Open Camera and A Better Camera would work and sometimes not. usually using the Camera reset apk linked in the CM Camera Fix app in the Play store fixes it in a jiffy so that I can take photos again. I think I even used the front facing camera on one app, don't remember which one. And since another user suggested trying Camera Zoom FX I did that and it worked as well as the others.. All in all the pic's turned out fine with flash, and although one user mentioned that using flash screwed up their Torch Tile in Quick Settings, I experience no such issue.
I had a crazy issue where hangouts would crash and burn horribly upon launch. After installing the latest release, I didn't restore my version from TiBu instead installing it from the play store, and all was right again in the universe.. Again, I'm using the DKP kernel from 01-10 or so what seems like ages ago, but it works and as I've mentioned I like the stock voltages, governors and being able to underclock on the low end, and overclock on the highend if necessary.
Just wanted to report in.
Question, and I should read the BMS thread for this and the G+ community, but Ed has released a couple kernels and I think they're for lollipop, I can't confirm this because nothing in the name of the file says anything about it, but it does say 34, so perhaps KK uses the same version. I just checked and those kernels will probably work, looking in about phone in LP, I see that it's still a 3.4 kernel so I'd say, but I'm just guessing here, that the BMS kernels will work at least the ones release after the date he mentioned including CM12 stuff. Maybe they'll work with both KK and LP. And I'm almost 100% certain this is the case but YMMV. Don't come looking for me if it doesn't.. I'll try one whenever I decide to try another build. I'm itching to try Slim, always loved slim I have, And I reckon RRO Layers are supposed to work theoretically according to the OP. But even though I've read up on that next gen method of theming, I'm still in the dark and need to just dive in I suppose and get my feets wet. I know "feets"
I was on aicp, but flashed mastas build to test the camera. I wonder if PA had video working too? Open camera works great with the latest build. Still no video
I WANT YOUR VOTE!! Opinions Wanted! Not spam... LOL
No I'm not running for public office. I value everyones opinion so please if you have a few minutes read on.
sjpritch25 said:
I was on aicp, but flashed mastas build to test the camera. I wonder if PA had video working too? Open camera works great with the latest build. Still no video
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Latest Build of what? PA?
As one might have noticed I've changed the thread title. I know a there are a ton of resources about how to do this or that, and listings on what's available for Big Red's S3. Which I will probably own for the forseeable future. I have been unemployed for over a year now, Have had prospects on a few good well paying jobs, but they didn't pan out (One Network Admin Position, I should have landed easily, but didn't have the pull of the board like the other person, but I digress)
The S3 thanks to the hard work of a lot of developers and the community has had a great and exciting life. Hopefully people will continue deving for it well into the future like the DX, or the S2 etc.
My S3 runs great on most any rom I install be it TW, AOSP based, JB, KK, and now pretty dang good one Lollipop. The only problem for me with lollipop is that the moga universal driver doesn't work with L-Pop. This has been noted in the thread, but I don't know if any more work will be done to fix it. So I'll probably go back to TW or KK or JB.
I went from AICP which I have to admit is progressing nicely with their L-pop build. But since the moga universal driver doesn't work I'm going to use something else. And I've got that itch to flash something new again. All the KK's I've ran have been pretty dang good, SlimKat, Carbon, Liquid, Omni, and others but I've always stuck with nameless for whatever reason. Well, one reason is the adjustable timeout to kill apps via back button. Kinda like MIUI used to have.
My question is, for those of you who've flashed a lot of toms and can remember the details because it's all about the details. is what rom did you like the best and why.
Also aside from the massive drawback of not being able to install AOSP roms, is there any benefit to being on the TW 4.4.2 or 4.4.4? I can't remember which one they releaased. Some of the TW roms, Alliance, Moar, and Wicked are great roms and have a nice selection of theme's available. They run pretty good and are running JB.
The JB/KK, mostly KK, roms I've ran run absolutely awesome, I'm currently working on eliminating the play services wakelock without loosing much or any functionality, some say you can use the privacy manager (a big plus for Slim, Nameless, and Other users) to block the app staying awake. I haven't tried to use DS battery saver, Greenify, or many of the other zillion "Install me and I'll magically double or triple battery life using a method called "Using the Force!" At least that's what most ammount to or killing off apps blah blah blah.
Some users I've noticed are Die-hard TW fans and some Die-hard AOSP fans. I strongly lean toward the latter. I like being able to theme my rom I sil love MrDSL's Mixer series and DustinB's Cobalt series. With the new Lpop Roms this isn't possible. I have used the theme manager with CM12 themes in lpop but they're all flat and I don't care for that I do like aesthetics, but to each their own. Maybe the new flat method of lpop makes for better battery life?? It certainly makes for a duller looking rom. I do like the all black ones with white text however. Even they get old compared to the themes for CM7-11.
And TW roms are almost, and I stress almost as themeable as the the older CM varients. So many combinations of this or that and the Ultimate Icon Them or UIT is pretty slick IMHO. The themes for Wicked are almost as Wicked as the ROM itself.
If you made it this far, or just skipped the middle, congradulations you win.... well an opportunity to help myself and others answer a timeless question... Not the chicken or the Egg question.. Not Are we Alone in the Universe, Not is there a God and is he a nice guy, But rather you can help myself and others by giving reasons as to why you prefer one rom over the rest.
Please be detailed or as detailed as possible. Most who are in these forums know the jargon or should, and if not it's past time to learn.
Oh I've posted extensively about the 03-15 ish to 03-25 ish AICP if anyone wants to hear how things are going with that rom. It has quite a lot of the old features many of us miss and now includes the option to adjust the delay in killing apps too a'la Nameless and MIUI (I know the older MIUI did this on my X, DX that is)
So go on kick off your shoes, put your feet up, and write a post about why your running what. I've asked this in the past but opinions change sometimes quicker than it took me to write this short story as one guy used to tell me. Oggie I think it was..
Before I run, I wanted to wish Mastamoon all the best in his future Nexus 6 endeavors. That's probably my favorite phone at the moment, since I used to want a note anyway. SO thanks Masta for all those builds, cherrypicks, news, and releases you whipped up for us over here in Big Red Country, (NO not China, but rather VZW China's more Capitalist today anyway), I've left Verizon for an MVNO called Selectel because of their 15 dollar a month plan using big red's towers, but they don't offer data roaming. Here it's either Big Red or a Regional Carrier (which is probably more expensive than Big Red).
To read my massive off topic thanks to mastamoon press teh magical button.
Since I got way off topic, Here is is: THANKS MASTAMOON for all the work you've done the past few years working for free or next to free I hope someone bought you a beer or beverage of your choice. I can't afford a KitKat right now.. ha ha bad joke.. But thanks man, THANK YOU and thanks again to everyone who's worked on building and maintaining ROMS for this aging device. I for one appreciate it to no end. I used to be a distro hopper, I still am (remember the Mitch Hedberg [RIP] Joke?), I'm still a distro hopper but using Android Distro's for my phones. One an aging DX2, A DX with a screwy, Screen, and my baby the S3. Thanks to the community too, because without their feedback, bugs and stuff may never get solved, and many people wouldn't get the help they need, and just give up with their phone soft-bricked.
So one more for the road Thanks to the Dev's, Thanks to the maintainers, and Thanks to the community. Many don't thank the community enough but I can remember back in my DX says which I was a bit younger but still eager to learn all I could about Android and Customizing the DX. Without the community, I wouldn't have had the guides that get stickied, I wouldn't have got out of my softbrick situatiiiions, my re-activation woes which by the way, with the help of RazorLoves, I was able to re-activate at home which I was told by Big Red that I needed to drive 45min to one hour away to activate because the only towers in my home location and surrounding area belonged to Appalachian Wireless, a more expensive than big red regional companuy, Razor gave me the codes to get into the stock dialer to program the phone. Just one example out of many where the community has been very vey helpful. Kinda like the Dev's are the Doctors in the operating room, the Anesthesiolgist and nurses are maintainers and builders, with the other nurses and guest docs being the community. Probably a terrible analogy. But really. thanks to everyone involved on there. Just wish they got thanked more often and users didn't haggle them about stuff like "when will this be fixed" or "how much longer on the new build" "Rom X dries my dishes while yours only washes and scrubs them", "Rom X is better then Yours" Crap like that gets on my nerves. I'm sure my massive posts and continuous thank yous get on some peoples last nerve, But I'm trying to work on the massive short story length postings. I could care less about what people think of the latter, because the least I can do is thank someone for their hard work.
Back to the rest of the story. Let me know and others for that matter, why you've settled on TW and if yor're on TW, which build and why. If you're on another custom AOSP rom, again, why? What makes it better than any others., and if you're on the new KK locked down one why unless it was an acccident. Because I've even considered takeing that route but I doubt it's that much better than TW4.3 plus there would be no way to go back to lollipop or KK built from CM or AOSP.
I already know most people will say try them out and see for yourself. That's just it. I've tried 95% of the TW stuff, and almost all of the aosp/cm based roms. From Slim which was my DD for a long long time. Slim and I had a serious relationship but we broke it off because after JB she quit doing a few things she used to be able to do very well and I needed them only for my own pleasure. I know not funny, but true.
Just looking for others opinions, whethers its about battery life, signal (I live in a rural area with little signal if any), performance, looks, stability (of the OS not apps), if the Camera/Camcorder works well, so on and so forth.
Thanks for reading something that contained little to no information Also, if you use Xposed, which modules do you use and why?
Thanks in advance, I'll be checking in every day or two until I get my new work schedule.
Your Friend and fellow S3 owner
Griz.
I was wondering what's good for roms anymore I haven't had ran custom since my og s3 since I had it was running ose rom doesn't seem like they are around anymore need to downgrade from nc1 to ml1 thanks
any lp roms yet if any are dd?
nikkifm said:
I was wondering what's good for roms anymore I haven't had ran custom since my og s3 since I had it was running ose rom doesn't seem like they are around anymore need to downgrade from nc1 to ml1 thanks
any lp roms yet if any are dd?
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I've found a lot of LP roms on the S3 are battery hogs. I'm still running slimkat on my S3 which I only use for games and a mp3 player now
Sent from my N5
ShapesBlue said:
I've found a lot of LP roms on the S3 are battery hogs. I'm still running slimkat on my S3 which I only use for games and a mp3 player now
Sent from my N5
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would you say slimkat dd? and does it need new ne1 baseband for it kinda wished my old rom dev was still around that I ran was getting day worth of charge on one battery
nikkifm said:
would you say slimkat dd? and does it need new ne1 baseband for it kinda wished my old rom dev was still around that I ran was getting day worth of charge on one battery
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I'd definitely say slimkat is a dd. I did have to update to the NE1 modem
Sent from my N5

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