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I am a jailbroken iPhone convert. I am loving this phone so far and have heeded the warnings to not mess with the phone too much. My question is, when is it safe to use the roms that are available? Is there that big of a difference in performance? I jailbroke my iPhone to get features Apple wouldn't allow our have. what do I gain with custom roms? Thanks for all that has been done so far and look forward to what its to come.
I don't know of there is a time period to use them but most custom roms freshen up your desktop icons as well most of them improve battery life and add the ability to overclock.
You can gain quite a few features with Custom Roms. Such as overclocking, custom ui's, much better performance (snappier). I highly recommend flashing a custom ROM. Currently CM9 and CM7 are a work in progress and should be released sooner than later, (CM7 is currently in it's testing stage). Also to do all of this you have to root your device. A guide can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1327741&highlight=how+to+root Keep in mind many features can be gained once rooted, but as you probably know the warranty is voided.
Thanks for the help so far. The only question still remaining for me is; at what point are these roms considered stable enough for someone new to start using. I have read the warnings and really don't want to have to reinstall everything over and over again because of instability issues. thanks
ed20910 said:
Thanks for the help so far. The only question still remaining for me is; at what point are these roms considered stable enough for someone new to start using. I have read the warnings and really don't want to have to reinstall everything over and over again because of instability issues. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really all depends on what you are after.
I will say that even the stock ROM on the Atrix 2 is not that stable, and there are a TON of bugs in it.
All the ROMs that are here are in a beta format and are not even at a 1.0 revision yet. If you are not technical at all, and don't really like playing with your device a lot, and flashing ROMs, to try and get a feature that the stock ROM is missing, then I totally advise against flashing anything. These "ROMS are completely safe and stable enough", but both lfaber06 and are I always trying to "improve" on them, no matter what revision that the ROM is at, as well as requests for new features. That really is why it may seem that people are flashing all the time, not really because of instability.
Since he and I are really the only two devs in here right now, there is not going to be a lot of choice in ROMs and since this phone is still fairly new, everything is still "new" and in beta/alpha. Since you are coming from the iphone, and flashing ROMs is not really something that you do, I say you wait until you find something you really want that is not available in the stock ROM, and has been put into one the ROMs available here, then try flashing that. Until then just hang tight for a while. There are plenty of hacks that can be done to the stock ROM, to fix things, and make that better at this time. Also take some time to learn a little about android and flashing and how it all works, not intimately, or on a very technical level, but that might save your "you know what", if you have an issue during a flash or while running an unfamiliar ROM.
Thank you VERY much. That was the answer I was looking for. I am technical savy, just haven't done much with android so far. I am one that likes to tinker and get the most out of any of my electronics.
Overall, I am happy with my phone. Use it mostly for e-mail, websurfing, various apps. Don't need to play around with settings, etc. It just works.
I am interested in possibly rooting, but frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on tweaks, loading ROMS, etc. I just want to use my phone.
If I root without loading a new rom, what are some of the advantages?
I know that I can remove some bloatware, but unless it significantly increases battery life, then it doesn't really matter to me. Will removing bloatware do anything significant to battery life?
I am already SIM unlocked (I called AT&T, and they gave me the code to unlock).
Any other advantages?
I have rooted my wife's NOOK with CM7, and while I like it, there are issues like the Sleep of Death (SOD), occasional lag, etc., that I really don't want to deal with on my phone. I need it to work without any glitches, or constant fiddling.
My guess is I should probably stay unrooted, but wanted to see if anyone can educate me whether there are any benefits in my situation.
Thanks!
f308gt4 said:
Overall, I am happy with my phone. Use it mostly for e-mail, websurfing, various apps. Don't need to play around with settings, etc. It just works.
I am interested in possibly rooting, but frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on tweaks, loading ROMS, etc. I just want to use my phone.
If I root without loading a new rom, what are some of the advantages?
I know that I can remove some bloatware, but unless it significantly increases battery life, then it doesn't really matter to me. Will removing bloatware do anything significant to battery life?
I am already SIM unlocked (I called AT&T, and they gave me the code to unlock).
Any other advantages?
I have rooted my wife's NOOK with CM7, and while I like it, there are issues like the Sleep of Death (SOD), occasional lag, etc., that I really don't want to deal with on my phone. I need it to work without any glitches, or constant fiddling.
My guess is I should probably stay unrooted, but wanted to see if anyone can educate me whether there are any benefits in my situation.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's start with the basics, please search before posting. The advantages of rooting and disadvantages are well documented in numerous threads. It sounds like to me your phone is what you want/need it to be so why change it? If you are explicitly telling me you don't want to spend time flashing ROMs and tweaking the Inspire then I'm telling you its in your best interest not root.
Simply put, every custom ROM on here has its issues. No ROM is perfect, certain things work while others don't and its on you to figure out what you can or cannot live with. The only way to do that is by testing ROMs which brings me back to your statement that you don't want to spend time flashing ROMs and all that stuff..if you don't want to spend time doing this, rooting is not your journey.
Battery life is subjective, overall yes, most rooters see an increase in battery life, how much is subjective. I get 28 hours on one charge while others get 6. The difference? The user and what they do with the phone. My opinion for you is that don't root, you sound content with everything the inspire is.
Devil's advocate though, your inspire could be soo much more.
if you dont know what you want root for, then you dont need to root
if you want simple, do not root. It is not an easier path to walk on. It has its bumps and glitches. Sometimes you have a bad flash or download and have to redo it, or youll forget to back up something and now your sms messages are gone. If you arent ready to dig deeper into the phone and learn and also make it do more than stay as it is, no shame in that. Hes right, if you arent SURE you need to root than you shouldnt because the gains wont be noticed. I think most of us have had an almost brick experience at some point in time, be mentally prepared lol
once i had my phone run good all night, once i got to work it just died. was a bad flash and it didnt show its ugly head till the next day so i had to wait till i got home to fix it properly. lol gave me twitches not having my phone lol
f308gt4 said:
I am interested in possibly rooting, but frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on tweaks, loading ROMS, etc. I just want to use my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree with the posts made here already that suggest rooting may not be for you, there are a couple significant advantages which you may want to consider.
Probably the first biggest advantage from my point of view is to remove the 'spyware' (Carrier IQ) present on most factory ROMs. That's HUGE for me. I have enough government intrusion into my life, I don't need any more. Another element is that - at least on my ROM (Virtuous Unity or Affinity) that they have done an excellent job of blocking ad intrusions.
There are also some applications which require root access, though most of them are system utilities (like Titanium Backup) which you wouldn't be using if you don't intend to experiment with different ROMs.
If I'm not mistaken, there's a path to go back to the OEM (factory) ROM, however you will need to be cautious with how you back up and restore the data you need. However it's something to consider if you felt like you wanted to kick the tires while still being able to go back to stock.
As with anything else in life, there are pros and cons. At this point most ROMs are fairly stable for the Inspire, so you probably won't be at a disadvantage, but if the one thing you need on the one ROM you like is the one thing that doesn't work and it's the one thing you can't live without, then don't do it. Read the documentation for each ROM and you'll know what to do.
I rooted my wife's Inspire so that I could get rid of unwanted AT&T and HTC apps and get rid of Carrier IQ.
The result has been better battery life and no prompts/notifications for updates to apps that were installed as system apps but that I have removed. I believe that the phone runs smoother without the stuff that was running in the background.
She really does not see any difference (except the battery life) in her everyday use.
marvin02 said:
I rooted my wife's Inspire so that I could get rid of unwanted AT&T and HTC apps and get rid of Carrier IQ.
The result has been better battery life and no prompts/notifications for updates to apps that were installed as system apps but that I have removed. I believe that the phone runs smoother without the stuff that was running in the background.
She really does not see any difference (except the battery life) in her everyday use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you install a different ROM, or just keep the stock (except for the rooted part) and delete the bloatware? How much of a difference did it make in the battery life?
Thanks!
Pirateghost said:
if you dont know what you want root for, then you dont need to root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed here. Rooting requires learning more in depth capabilities about your phone. If you are content with the status quo, why complicate?
f308gt4 said:
Did you install a different ROM, or just keep the stock (except for the rooted part) and delete the bloatware? How much of a difference did it make in the battery life?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No change in ROM. Battery usually has better than 50% at night when she goes to bed. She unplugs at 5 AM and usually it's back on the charger around 10 PM. Before it was at about 30% most nights.
I also believe that it uses less background data.
Root that ***** n throw a couple ROMs on there to play with. Ever since I've roted my phone a while ago I can't stop playing with new ROMs as they cone out.
Forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought that thisbphone never had carrier iq
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
Well, I went against the good advice offered here and rooted.
I used the Ace Hack Kit, with Ubuntu, which worked perfectly as expected.
I have not installed any ROM's, as I think I will just try to remove any bloatware, etc to see if the phone battery life increases.
Any suggestions as to what to remove (I am trying a search as we speak)?
Thanks!
f308gt4 said:
Well, I went against the good advice offered here and rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally, I'd suggest removing anything that's carrier-specific. Those apps tend to be better for them than they are for you. To do so, I'd recommend a couple utilities that will help you in your experimentation.
1) Titanium Backup. Good for removing bloatware, when you decide what it is you don't need or want.
2) ROM Manager / Clockwork. Great for downloading ROMs and managing backups from the Android interface.
Part of what might be draining your batter is Carrier IQ, but that's not something easily dug out. You'd do better to just install a ROM that's had it expertly removed. I'd suggest either Virtuous Unity or Virtuous Affinity.
The Inspire was not released w/CIQ.
Tx Redneck said:
The Inspire was not released w/CIQ.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
Sigh. All was well with my phone, and I had taken the case off to clean it. I was in the back yard with the phone, and boom, I dropped it on the patio. Landed face down and screen cracked.
I guess I'll be looking for a new phone now.
Thanks for all of your help!
f308gt4 said:
Overall, I am happy with my phone. Use it mostly for e-mail, websurfing, various apps. Don't need to play around with settings, etc. It just works.
I am interested in possibly rooting, but frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on tweaks, loading ROMS, etc. I just want to use my phone.
If I root without loading a new rom, what are some of the advantages?
I know that I can remove some bloatware, but unless it significantly increases battery life, then it doesn't really matter to me. Will removing bloatware do anything significant to battery life?
I am already SIM unlocked (I called AT&T, and they gave me the code to unlock).
Any other advantages?
I have rooted my wife's NOOK with CM7, and while I like it, there are issues like the Sleep of Death (SOD), occasional lag, etc., that I really don't want to deal with on my phone. I need it to work without any glitches, or constant fiddling.
My guess is I should probably stay unrooted, but wanted to see if anyone can educate me whether there are any benefits in my situation.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Removing bloat is advantageous to battery life, but the best feature IMO is AdFree Android. It , which removes ALL ads, in the browser or in the apps. It makes browsing and apps faster and cleaner.
f308gt4 said:
Sigh. All was well with my phone, and I had taken the case off to clean it. I was in the back yard with the phone, and boom, I dropped it on the patio. Landed face down and screen cracked.
I guess I'll be looking for a new phone now.
Thanks for all of your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just go on craigs list and find a local repair shop. the same thign happened to me, $100 and she's brand new again
IHTFP12 said:
Removing bloat is advantageous to battery life, but the best feature IMO is AdFree Android. It , which removes ALL ads, in the browser or in the apps. It makes browsing and apps faster and cleaner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the best feature is the fact you get full control of the device you purchased, anything else is secondary.
Root if for no other reason than to install CWM and keep up to date nandroid backups of your oem rom. It's always nice to have a quick solution in case something bad ever happens.
Plus, a lot of cool apps require root access.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Hi guys sorry for the several topics in my subject line but there are several questions that I have.
So I just signed up because I'm a bit confused and I'm quite new to the scene. I actually posted this on another forum which I'm already a member of, but I felt it would be better posting here since this is obviously more specialised.
After reading the rules, I've realised that it's quite hard to do a search for existing topics with my questions. I've already tried to do individual searches on each topic though, with varying success.
I've just rooted my Nexus S (i9023, AUS version) for the first time simply because I wanted to be able to use DroidWall (to only allow certain apps to use data).
1) If I manually update to ICS, will I lose root?
2) Does installing a custom ROM cause you to lose all your data? - I've done some searching on this and it seems to depend. Some do and some don't. I don't quite get it though.
3) Kernels - seem to control battery life and how the operating system runs. This slightly confuses me because it makes me think, what affects battery life more: the kernel or the ROM?
4) Most people like to overclock their phones in the interest of power. Would it be reasonable to underclock it in the interest of battery life? Sometimes I don't think I really need 1GHz.
5) It seems like the OTA for ICS for i9023 has not been released yet but has been for i9020?
I'm trying to find the best 2.3.6 Custom ROM from here but none of these are 2.3.6 based! All of them are 2.3.4 or older. I'm hesitant upgrading to ICS for three reasons:
1) Hasn't been released OTA officially
2) Worried of app compatibility
3) Worried of shorter battery life
For these reasons, I'm looking for a 2.3.6 based custom ROM otherwise I'd be happy to look at ICS custom ROMs.
None of the ICS ROMs seem to have any distinctive features about them, especially after watching the video reviews. It's all pretty much "it's a great ROM that doesn't lag when browsing the web and it's fast". Nothing really distinguishes one from another.
Sorry for the mildly long post, but I'd rather ask as many questions as I can at a time rather than making a couple of threads for each. Hope I can get some help =)
Thanks in advance!
I bought 9023 in hk. Upgraded to ics by ota.
If you want, you may do it manually. Flash the rom by yourself. Ota is no longer available. Check it out at nexusshack.com
I don't have battery problem. But don't know why.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
xdaillum said:
Hi guys sorry for the several topics in my subject line but there are several questions that I have.
So I just signed up because I'm a bit confused and I'm quite new to the scene. I actually posted this on another forum which I'm already a member of, but I felt it would be better posting here since this is obviously more specialised.
After reading the rules, I've realised that it's quite hard to do a search for existing topics with my questions. I've already tried to do individual searches on each topic though, with varying success.
I've just rooted my Nexus S (i9023, AUS version) for the first time simply because I wanted to be able to use DroidWall (to only allow certain apps to use data).
1) If I manually update to ICS, will I lose root?
If it is the update you probably will (not 100% sure), if it is the full OTA you certainly will. But it is not a major issue either way, and i would actually recommend backing up with TB (AND a Nandroid), wiping everything and then installing the Full OTA ROM and just root again, then restore your backup.
2) Does installing a custom ROM cause you to lose all your data? - I've done some searching on this and it seems to depend. Some do and some don't. I don't quite get it though.
They will generally lose any system data, apps, modifications, etc. Titanium Backup will copy over most of it anyway, particularly apps and their settings/data. Keep in mind that you should always have a CWM backup (Nandroid) ready in case something goes wrong.
3) Kernels - seem to control battery life and how the operating system runs. This slightly confuses me because it makes me think, what affects battery life more: the kernel or the ROM?
Both. ROMs can do more or different functions which can cause battery drain. Kernels allow you to change your own settings (most of the time) to actually balance performance and drain. I would say at the moment with ICS, the kernel and the settings you give it is the biggest contributor.
4) Most people like to overclock their phones in the interest of power. Would it be reasonable to underclock it in the interest of battery life? Sometimes I don't think I really need 1GHz.
That is correct. Many people can get the same speed with a lower voltage, lowering battery drain. Others also use something called "LiveOC" and increase the clocks by 10% (or more), changing the bus speed and giving similar speeds to 1000mhz at only 880mhz, again saving power. Just remember every CPU batch has different variations - some can undervolt and overclock like crazy, whereas some struggle with a 5% increase.
5) It seems like the OTA for ICS for i9023 has not been released yet but has been for i9020?
The i9023 and i9020T has been released. The i9020A has not, and the same with the Nexus S 4G (D720 i believe). It sometimes doesnt show up though. Either try a manual command which i can't remember in the dialpad or just update manually (manually is best ).
I'm trying to find the best 2.3.6 Custom ROM from here but none of these are 2.3.6 based! All of them are 2.3.4 or older. I'm hesitant upgrading to ICS for three reasons:
1) Hasn't been released OTA officially
2) Worried of app compatibility
3) Worried of shorter battery life
For these reasons, I'm looking for a 2.3.6 based custom ROM otherwise I'd be happy to look at ICS custom ROMs.
None of the ICS ROMs seem to have any distinctive features about them, especially after watching the video reviews. It's all pretty much "it's a great ROM that doesn't lag when browsing the web and it's fast". Nothing really distinguishes one from another.
Sorry for the mildly long post, but I'd rather ask as many questions as I can at a time rather than making a couple of threads for each. Hope I can get some help =)
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lots of words, i'm getting a little confused up there. Anyway, if you are rooted (and i assume your bootloader is unlocked), there is nothing to worry about as long as you backup. I personally love ICS and have no issue with it, as do many others. A minority of people however tend to have some problems, whether its battery or force closes. My experience so far has been that a proper wipe fixes most of these anyway.
ICS is still new. Once Cyanogenmod 9 is officially released i'm sure we'll see much more variety than the same look and feel, as alot is based off their code. And also, practically no phones have ICS yet. I've not found app compatibility a problem though, i think the main gripe is viber (which should work soon).
I hope this can help you, just let us know if there is anything else you're after. Also, there is a TON of information around the site (and Nexus S forums in particular). A good amount of reading and going through a couple of pages of some of these threads can go a long way. That is why you came here after all, isn't it?
I got the OTA for ICS back around 20th Dec 2011, but I chose not to update it because I was going to be away from a computer for a few days and had no backup phone. When I wanted to update it a few days later, the update had disappeared from my phone so I looked it up online. Apparently the OTA disappeared for Nexus S's due to some bugs or incompatibility issues. I've never seen the update come up on my phone since. Even when I go to Settings->About phone->System update, it says "your system is up to date". So I've always been under the impression that ICS for Nexus S (at least for my variant, i9023) has never been re-released to us OTA.
Harbb, thanks for your answers. The only one I'm not so sure about is the underclocking one. It seems a little beyond me in terms of technicality. I am definitely interested in doing it though. Would you be able to tell me if adjusting clock speed requires an app?
I am rooted and bootloader is unlocked (I thought you could only root if bootloader was unlocked?).
So does that mean all these custom ROMs around at the moment are mostly based around Cyanogenmod, which is why they're very similar? As I was saying, I was looking at getting a custom ROM installed and noticed most of them are ICS custom ROMs, and the video reviews all say "this ROM is fast and does not lag when web browsing. It's a great ROM and it's fast and smooth."
The custom ROMs just don't seem to be "promoted" too well because I can't see what makes one better than the other, or what features of one custom ROM are intended to be the standout ones.
I notice you (Harbb) are using Stock ICS 4.0.3 (according to your sig) - so you are not using a custom ROM? Am I able to install a custom ICS ROM without first installing ICS? I am still running 2.3.6 at this point.
Viber does not work at the moment? That's not too bad. I can live with that.
I've done quite a bit of reading so far. It has certainly helped, but still a long way to go, but thanks for giving me a great start!
I will start backing up my apps using TB and CWM (Nandroid)!
xdaillum said:
I will start backing up my apps using TB and CWM (Nandroid)!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best line i've read in days
I have tried several custom ROMs once they started surfacing but i didn't feel like they gave me anything special enough to switch to right now and Stock is setup and running very nicely. Stock ICS colours are fine and other apps now can provide Notifications Widgets. I havn't noticed any particular differences in speed either.
Brainmasters ICS tweaks, custom kernel and Flavours of ICS runs beautifully. The OTA varies with where it shows up. To force a check, type this in dialer: *#*#checkin#*#* [AKA, *#*#2432546#*#* ]
If you are rooted it won't work anyway. Just update manually. There is no need to currently on ICS to flash custom ICS ROMs. I would advise that when going from GB to ICS though (and often between some custom ROMs) that you go into CWM and do a factory/data wipe and format /system. After backing up of course.
At the moment most are not based on CM9, however several do use bits and pieces of code (ie. notification power widgets) from it. Not sure why most ROM descriptions are the same
First thing i'd consider is getting a custom kernel, and then the NSTools app (market). Lots of stuff to mess around with and full control of the CPU (governors, IO, overclocking, undervolting, etc).
Harbb said:
Best line i've read in days
I have tried several custom ROMs once they started surfacing but i didn't feel like they gave me anything special enough to switch to right now and Stock is setup and running very nicely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agree with u. for 4.0.3, stock is my favorite, sad to say that.
for 4.0.4, while stock for NS not available, IMM26 ROM ported from NS4G seems good, if you like the stock rom feel.
Hmm I bricked my phone.
I've done the Nandroid and Titanium Backup and have it sitting on my computer ready once I recover this damn thing. Following the backups, I attempted to manually update to ICS with the zip file on this page: http://www.androidcentral.com/how-manually-update-your-gsm-nexus-s-ice-cream-sandwich
Now I'm following these two threads to try and recover the phone:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1397393
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1396056
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20382688&postcount=16
Hopefully I will get this back up and working. I'm still confused as to why it got bricked though. Updated via clockworkmod "update from sdcard" and then rebooted system. After that, it just bricked. Can't get any lights to come up on the device whatsoever. Plugging it in to computer, wall charger, pressing all the buttons, taking the battery out and putting it back in.
Odd. Best of luck getting it working, i'm sure the resurrector will work for you so don't stress too much. That's the right file so i'll probably just put the issue on a bad flash or bad download (wise to hash check before flashing). At this point i'd say it's wise when you get it working again, just flash the Full OTA file, and do a wipe of /data, /cache, /system and /boot beforehand.
Sad to hear about your troubles buddy.
So it looks like everything worked out for me. I managed to restore my phone with the help of the threads above. I have to admit though, the guides given on this forum aren't too "complete" - there's always a step or two missing from the guide that the reader has to figure out themselves. And not all the files are provided in the topics either! I'm also kind of concerned why it seems so many people ended up bricking their phone like that. Quite concerning.
In the end, I managed to reflash the stock ICS ROM for i9023 Nexus S which I found in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1445635
So I scrapped the one that I downloaded initially from Android Central. The difference in size was surprisingly roughly 30MB (160MB instead of the 130MB Android Central one).
I'm just using stock ICS, but rooted. Downloaded a few apps which require root, but haven't tried adding any mods or kernels. I might look into that later. But it seems like with 4.0.4 coming out, there might be some interesting new additions!
Thanks for all your help!!
Did you flash this ics from stock recovery?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Congratulations on resurrecting it! Are you guys saying that there is a risk of bricking a phone, while installing official update? I did a manual update, 3 weeks ago, unrooted, and ICS has been nothing but amazing for me.
I have a question. In case, I ever brick my I9023 (hope not).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20382688&postcount=16
This post states that I must be running Ubuntu on my PC. Does that mean I can't use Windows? And if I must use Linux, can I just do it with Wubi, or with Online Server?
hi guys, as tittle newby! dont know much about custom roms and what the phone is capable off doing! im running a htc one s on o2, great phone have had some reception issues apart from that i would like to learn more about what these phones are capable off doing and what would be the advantage off a custom rom!? thanks in advance
Welcome and have some fun.. Lots of great information in these threads.
hellopips said:
hi guys, as tittle newby! dont know much about custom roms and what the phone is capable off doing! im running a htc one s on o2, great phone have had some reception issues apart from that i would like to learn more about what these phones are capable off doing and what would be the advantage off a custom rom!? thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, welcome to the forums, there's lots to find here
Firstly, seeing as you're new to Android, it can be a bit overwhelming at times to get the most out of your phone. Start small, basic functions, then dive into the Google Play store for awesome apps to make your phone better (even without custom ROMs). To to find what the phone is capable of, just spend some time fiddling around with all the features, try every setting and the like to see what it does!
Here's a general rule: If you're happy with the way your phone is behaving now and the thought of flashing customs ROMs scares you, stock is good
However, being on the bleeding edge can have advantages:
--Installing custom ROMs can give you features that are not yet available via official channels
--Custom ROMs give an even greater amount of control ability on your phone and give you the ability to do things like changing the boot screen on your phone, and many many others.
--They allow you to run things that weren't designed to run on your phone or allow you to overclock your processor for maximum speed (at your own risk of course)
--Often they allow you to remove bloatware and useless apps that you couldn't remove before.
The list is endless. If you want a custom ROM though, you'll need to ROOT. Thats what XDA is all about
If you're keen, there's great info on everything One S related on the Wiki:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/HTC_One_S
nice one:good: now i have a new Q lol what is rooting :silly:
i like the phone its quick and smooth and dare i say seems better than the s3 my opinion,
my only let down is the signal others on other phones same network are getting better reception than me is there anything i can do to improve signal strength, sorry for overload off q's.
No problem Rooting is when you run an exploit on your device that gives you "root" access to the Android file system to do administrative tasks, install apps without the Store, tweak your phone and more. Here's a good explanantion from Wikipedia:
Rooting is often performed with the goal of overcoming limitations that carriers and hardware manufacturers put on some devices, resulting in the ability to alter or replace system applications and settings, run specialized apps that require administrator-level permissions, or perform other operations that are otherwise inaccessible to a normal Android user
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Haha the CPU indeed is better in day-to-day tasks then the Exynos in the GS3 (except of course gaming) the benchmarks show that uh yeah I've experienced that too, some people say try toggling Settings>Mobile Network>Network Mode>GSM only/WCDMA only but the GSM only restricts data speeds to EGDE.
Is this the problem? : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1616350&highlight=mobile+network+signal+issue
ive not tried turning phone on and off, i just find when i go rc racing every 1 has good 3g or H so there able to use browser, weres if im lucky i mite get E or G ill try the settings you sent us and see what happens
signal
cheers for the heads up, i tried it but didnt do much to improve! oh well. im now looking into rooting and custom roms, as from what ive read it can help speed up the phones performance but im not very clue up on the best way to do it or what rom to use is a numpty guide available step by step on how and what to use. cheers
hellopips said:
cheers for the heads up, i tried it but didnt do much to improve! oh well. im now looking into rooting and custom roms, as from what ive read it can help speed up the phones performance but im not very clue up on the best way to do it or what rom to use is a numpty guide available step by step on how and what to use. cheers
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I recommend thoroughly reading on it first, and knowing what to do if something goes wrong etc. Also, rooting may void your warranty, just to inform you beforehand.
usaff22 said:
I recommend thoroughly reading on it first, and knowing what to do if something goes wrong etc. Also, rooting may void your warranty, just to inform you beforehand.
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cheers buddy been reading up on it just cant find a good step by step easy to follow tutorial for beginners.
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.