Database Info

custom ROM?

I'm currently looking for a new Android phone, bouncing between Samsung SGS2 and the Atrix2.
Having a few questions about the A2.
1. After searching/reading, it looks like the A2 can be rooted for full access. So what is the advantage of unlock the bootloader? What is it good for?
2. Can we install a custom ROM on the A2, for example, a CM7 ROM (I don't even know that CM7 team actually has the ROM for this device or not, but they seem to have one for SGS2)?
Thanks all

Answers to your questions:
1. The advantage of unlocking the bootloader is that you gain the ability to flash ROM images and update.zip's (which can include many different mods). It does this by giving you the ability to load a custom recovery which is used to flash ROM's and updates, backup and restore your entire file system, clear the file system, and tons of other functionality depending on the custom recovery available for the phone.
2. Right now the A2 does not have an unlocked bootloader and there have been no ROM's made for it yet. If flashing is priority one, you might want to go with an SGSII since it has everything you need NOW. If you are patient, you can go with the A2 and wait for the blessings to come.

Clear!
Big thank for your quick reply lilhaiti.
So, up to now, after rooting, can we install different launcher (if not wanting the default GUI by Motorola, is it called Blur or something?)

votinh said:
Clear!
Big thank for your quick reply lilhaiti.
So, up to now, after rooting, can we install different launcher (if not wanting the default GUI by Motorola, is it called Blur or something?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can install different launchers without rooting.....go to the market and install one....

I'm a big fan of Go Launcher EX. That stock Moto launcher is not very impressive.

Pirateghost said:
you can install different launchers without rooting.....go to the market and install one....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know, thanks ghost.
Just need a clarification, I am a B&N NC owner, by default B&N stock ROM has limited the apps and that's the reason why we root it to gain full access on the Android Market. Is the same theory applied for the A2?
Other meaning, what will I miss if I don't root the A2?

votinh said:
Good to know, thanks ghost.
Just need a clarification, I am a B&N NC owner, by default B&N stock ROM has limited the apps and that's the reason why we root it to gain full access on the Android Market. Is the same theory applied for the A2?
Other meaning, what will I miss if I don't root the A2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The NC isn't even in the same class of devices. You have access to most of the market on a phone. If you have to ask what the benefit is of rooting, then you don't need it. Most all the bloatware is user uninstallable out of the box.
Sent from my MB865

Oh, so why do need to root? What's the benefit of it if we can fully access to Android Market for apps and bloatwares can be uninstalled right out the box?
Thanks again.

Did they change something with the bootloader? On the backflip, noone ever touched the bootloader. it's always been locked/fastboot disabled. Yet it has several roms and recoveries?

cheetablaze said:
I'm a big fan of Go Launcher EX. That stock Moto launcher is not very impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, just what I was looking for

votinh said:
Oh, so why do need to root? What's the benefit of it if we can fully access to Android Market for apps and bloatwares can be uninstalled right out the box?
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
root gives us access to the /system and to functions and features that are previously hidden from stock usage.
like i said, if you have to ask, WHY we would want/need root, then you dont need it. nothing mean, just that so many people go off thinking they have to root like its going to open up a magical door and make the phone self-aware. its just giving you access to stuff you normally dont have access to. this is good for people that know what they are doing, and bad for people that have no clue what root means.
koriflame said:
Did they change something with the bootloader? On the backflip, noone ever touched the bootloader. it's always been locked/fastboot disabled. Yet it has several roms and recoveries?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
while this may be true, we dont have any recoveries available yet. there are ways around a bootloader, but we have not gotten to that point yet. the phone is too new, and not enough dev support yet. i am working on a rom, and can make it a pseudo-rom like we had on the OG Atrix, but we need a way to get back to stock in case of a mishap first....

Thanks again, ghost.
I've been ripping my NC apart but I tend not to mess around with the phone.

Actually PG, not everyone is aware of the pennies and apps that open up with a root. I am sure almost everyone can benefit from more apps

cheetablaze said:
I'm a big fan of Go Launcher EX. That stock Moto launcher is not very impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunatly Go Launcher has a problem with notifications of Gmail (which I knew when I loaded it). That's not an issue I don't use Gmail
However I do use my alarms and it appears it stops almost all, if not all, notifications. I love the menus and how it works but I'm doing a factory reset. If we had not used a second alarm this morning my wife might have beat me to death with the Atrix 2 this morning.
I still have not rooted the phone so no titanium backup, it's downloading time

I have never seen go launcher remove notifications. Sounds like you got something else going on.
Sent from my MB865

I don't have those issues with go launcher.
Sent from my MB865

Pirateghost said:
I have never seen go launcher remove notifications. Sounds like you got something else going on.
Sent from my MB865
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmnnnn.........
I reset the phone, loaded all the apps I wanted to keep and then put Go Launcher EX back on. Problem solved
I'm thinking that during my slew of loading and trying out apps, like a kid in a candy store, I loaded a data manager that allowed me to set kills on apps. I believe in my zeal I set the alarm to be shut down 2 min after the phone gets sleepy.
Thanks again guys, I really like go launcher and now have go manager too

[Q] missing apps after switching from Captivate to Skyrocket

I upgraded from the Captivate to the Skyrocket last week. I went to re-install my apps from the market, but it only showed about 3 of the free apps I had and all of 6 of the apps I paid for.
Any idea how I can get all of the apps I previously downloaded to show up in "my apps" as available for install? Or do I have to go through and re-install all of these 1 by 1?

Sometimes the market can be goofy like that.. you can wIt about 24 hours to see if they pop up. Or try and push menu settings applications manage applications... find market and clear the data then check. Or yes go find them one by one

silver03wrx said:
Sometimes the market can be goofy like that.. you can wIt about 24 hours to see if they pop up. Or try and push menu settings applications manage applications... find market and clear the data then check. Or yes go find them one by one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tried both of those, but no luck. cleared the data multiple times, too.

Your gona have to find them each then. But hey if your rooted use titanium back up for future refrence

The market will limit your access to apps that will run on the version of Android you're using if the developer has specified it in the market listing.
What apps are you missing? I moved from a Captivate to a Skyrocket a well and I'm loving the speed upgrade.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

Sometimes your hardware/processor and the app are not compatible.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA App

benebrady said:
The market will limit your access to apps that will run on the version of Android you're using if the developer has specified it in the market listing.
What apps are you missing? I moved from a Captivate to a Skyrocket a well and I'm loving the speed upgrade.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had about 160 apps or so D) prior to the switch. I have so far manually restored about 80 that I use all the time.
The Skyrocket has 2.3.5 on it right now, and I'm fairly positive that all the apps previously on my cappy supported Gingerbread.
also, I did use Titantium backup to backup all apps on the cappy as well as nandroid it. But I can't transfer them over to this phone I don't think... maybe?
The market "Should" have shown me everything that I had previously downloaded/installed (except for the APKs that I sideloaded.). It's annoying, but oh well. maybe this will force me to weed out some unwanted apps...
And yeah, the speed/performance difference between the cappy is HUGE. Also, I'm getting close to 24 hrs of moderate use on the SR, which dominates the cappy's 10-12hrs I was getting.

I'm loving the new SR over my old Captivate too. And the battery life is amazingly so much better as is the GPS!
However, when I go to check for software update I get that there is no update and I'm still on 2.3.5 on ATT. Not sure why it thinks I'm on the current version with all the talk about 2.3.6 up here...

aspexil said:
I'm loving the new SR over my old Captivate too. And the battery life is amazingly so much better as is the GPS!
However, when I go to check for software update I get that there is no update and I'm still on 2.3.5 on ATT. Not sure why it thinks I'm on the current version with all the talk about 2.3.6 up here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same. Didn't see the update available for OTA.
Try kies.

you absolutely can transfer Titanium Backups over to the new phone. i do it all the time among all my devices. the only thing you have to remember is that you cant restore ALL apps, just restore MISSING apps+data

Pirateghost said:
you absolutely can transfer Titanium Backups over to the new phone. i do it all the time among all my devices. the only thing you have to remember is that you cant restore ALL apps, just restore MISSING apps+data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
awesome. I have done this between similar versions using Titanium backup, just wasn't sure about going between 2.2-2.3 versions.
Haven't rooted yet, so guess I'll need to do that tonight to get 'er going.
I'm annoyed that the market didn't just take care of this for me. I believe it worked the last time I flashed, my captivate, but it has been awhile.

aeon 1.4sl

ok i have this rom on my phone and i think its pretty good, there are a cuople little issues that get me ,like sometimes my screen wont come on at all. its only happened twice though and i take battery out and it fixes it. and sometimes it wont send a picture text at all until a reboot. and lately i will be in a place where i know i have at&t service and i will get the no service icon, just outta the blue then it comes back in service. but dont get me wrong i am still happy. my question is are there any more roms out there that you guys consider as stable, wi-fi,bluetooth and gps working that is. if so could ya tell me so i can try some. thanks.

cain308 said:
ok i have this rom on my phone and i think its pretty good, there are a cuople little issues that get me ,like sometimes my screen wont come on at all. its only happened twice though and i take battery out and it fixes it. and sometimes it wont send a picture text at all until a reboot. and lately i will be in a place where i know i have at&t service and i will get the no service icon, just outta the blue then it comes back in service. but dont get me wrong i am still happy. my question is are there any more roms out there that you guys consider as stable, wi-fi,bluetooth and gps working that is. if so could ya tell me so i can try some. thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
....it is a listing of all the stable ROMs...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1610374

thanks i will have a look, one question though. can i with titanium backup or some other way back up my phone exactly as it is now in case i dont like the new rom. i am talking like getting everything the way it is now without reinstalling all the individual apps and everything. like a picture of the phone now and if i dont like new rom come back to it like it is. i know that sounds confusing and i am sorry.

cain308 said:
thanks i will have a look, one question though. can i with titanium backup or some other way back up my phone exactly as it is now in case i dont like the new rom. i am talking like getting everything the way it is now without reinstalling all the individual apps and everything. like a picture of the phone now and if i dont like new rom come back to it like it is. i know that sounds confusing and i am sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into CWM and under backups and restore, backup your current ROM from there.
Everything from text messages to every app you've downloaded will be backed up.
If you end up not liking the new ROM, go to CWM and choose backup and restore and restore from there.
Sent from my Saurom'd Infuse

cain308 said:
thanks i will have a look, one question though. can i with titanium backup or some other way back up my phone exactly as it is now in case i dont like the new rom. i am talking like getting everything the way it is now without reinstalling all the individual apps and everything. like a picture of the phone now and if i dont like new rom come back to it like it is. i know that sounds confusing and i am sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use zen toolkit....works great.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1702026
Trolling via Tapatalk 2, on my GNote...

Reverting back to ICS?

Hey.
I'm on Orange in the UK and recently got promteped to download the new Jellybean software. I'm not a rooted user and don't really want to go down that root.
The new firmware has made my device laggy, the home and back buttons now have a slight lag when I press them and the keyboard is absolutely shocking when I type. I'm on whatsapp pretty much all day and its now making me have loads of mistakes when I type which I didn't before.
I've installed the keyboard app that everyone highly rates, Swiftkey I think it's called but it's still laggy.
I've deleted the keyboard data and restarted the phones loads of times and it's still there.
Basically I just want to go back to how it was before, is there a way I can without having to delete all apps and start my phone again or without having the phone rooted?
Cheers for any helpful replies.
Dan.

dann2707 said:
Hey.
I'm on Orange in the UK and recently got promteped to download the new Jellybean software. I'm not a rooted user and don't really want to go down that root.
The new firmware has made my device laggy, the home and back buttons now have a slight lag when I press them and the keyboard is absolutely shocking when I type. I'm on whatsapp pretty much all day and its now making me have loads of mistakes when I type which I didn't before.
I've installed the keyboard app that everyone highly rates, Swiftkey I think it's called but it's still laggy.
I've deleted the keyboard data and restarted the phones loads of times and it's still there.
Basically I just want to go back to how it was before, is there a way I can without having to delete all apps and start my phone again or without having the phone rooted?
Cheers for any helpful replies.
Dan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you used ota update to jelly bean, I'm afraid the only way to get to ICS is to get rooted.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

Does OTA stand for over the air? If so, then yes I did it over wifi when the notification popped up the other day.
I ended up bricking my Samsung Galaxy S last tiem I tried rooting and i'm not really in a situation where I'd like to try it again. Pretty heavily reliant on my phone lately.

dann2707 said:
Does OTA stand for over the air? If so, then yes I did it over wifi when the notification popped up the other day.
I ended up bricking my Samsung Galaxy S last tiem I tried rooting and i'm not really in a situation where I'd like to try it again. Pretty heavily reliant on my phone lately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems strange that your phone would be laggy from an actual OTA update. Swiftkey is a great keyboard and is my preferred one actually.
As far as your problem. You might be able to factory reset your phone via the bootloader. However, it may reset to the latest update and not actual factory version. I'm not sure. This would delete your apps and all that though.

joviansky said:
It seems strange that your phone would be laggy from an actual OTA update. Swiftkey is a great keyboard and is my preferred one actually.
As far as your problem. You might be able to factory reset your phone via the bootloader. However, it may reset to the latest update and not actual factory version. I'm not sure. This would delete your apps and all that though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's phone is not rooted, so he's phones bootloader is locked.
Just maybe give a JB a few days. I think that is really good. Or it is not worse then ICS IMO.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app

I have just checked my internal data and I am right on the limit, I've noticed before that has caused lots of lag.
Currently transferring 2.5gb of photos back to my computer to free up some space and see if makes any difference :good:
Will get back to you. Thanks.

Nope. Made no difference. Looks like i'll just have to suffer!

Yes the only other solution for you involves rooting. It is possible to go back to ICS by rooting your phone, going through a bootloader downgrade, hexediting a particular partition, then running an older compatible RUU... Its all possible, but requires some time to understand and do. And definately requires a few wipes of phone data in the mean time (which can be backed up through titanium and custom recoveries).

Thanks for a detailed reply.
Really frustrating as it's supposed to make things better but in turn has pretty much ruined my previously quite enjoyable experience with the phone! Nice one HTC haha.
This might sound stupid, i'm not really in the know, but if I rang Orange / HTC, would they be able to supply me the older update over the air?

AKToronto said:
Yes the only other solution for you involves rooting. It is possible to go back to ICS by rooting your phone, going through a bootloader downgrade, hexediting a particular partition, then running an older compatible RUU... Its all possible, but requires some time to understand and do. And definately requires a few wipes of phone data in the mean time (which can be backed up through titanium and custom recoveries).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only need to do that if you want to downgrade hboot. All you have to do is root and flash a rom, I have JB radio and hboot and run ICS Trickdroid 8.1.0.

Yes I was talking about a full downgrade including older firmware. Shadow is correct that you can still run ICS ROMs on JB firmware. That still requires you to root your phone,etc. But it's not that hard to just flash an ICS Rom and corresponding kernel if jb is not your cup of tea. I too have some firmware from JB, such as radio and wifi but am on viper 1.2.1 now. But a full rollback as I explained can be done, but is more technical.
But its all about rooting your phone! Do it anyways! Its fun! The world without a warranty can be scary at first, but also liberating.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

How to block 4.4.3 OTA on rooted N5?

I followed the method to apply this update to my device when it first came out. I ran it for a few days and HATED it. So I restored back to 4.4.2 from my nandroid and all was well, except for the nag that wouldn't go away. I dealt with it for as long as I could before I had to get rid of it. I followed instructions on deleting the update file and renaming something else and then installed Autorun Manager from Play Store and made sure that com.google.android.gsf.update.SystemUpdateService$Receiver was un-checked (which strangely it already was). I rebooted my phone, and the nag was gone so I thought I was in the clear.
Well this AM I take my phone off the pad, and the battery is at 60% which is quite odd for a phone that's been charging for 9 hours, and I see that my data limit setting has been tripped! This thing used like 2 gigs of data in the background under Google Services OVERNIGHT!!! This is ridiculous! This is Android, for crying out loud... I shouldn't be forced to use an update that I didn't like! Or have to install a custom ROM for that matter, which I used to do on my phones (I loved cyanogenmod) but with GravityBox I've been able to do everything I needed to do with the stock ROM. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, however suggesting that I disable background data for Google Services will be unacceptable considering it will break a bunch of other stuff. There's got to be a way around this. Thanks in advance!!!

IrocD said:
I followed the method to apply this update to my device when it first came out. I ran it for a few days and HATED it. So I restored back to 4.4.2 from my nandroid and all was well, except for the nag that wouldn't go away. I dealt with it for as long as I could before I had to get rid of it. I followed instructions on deleting the update file and renaming something else and then installed Autorun Manager from Play Store and made sure that com.google.android.gsf.update.SystemUpdateService$Receiver was un-checked (which strangely it already was). I rebooted my phone, and the nag was gone so I thought I was in the clear.
Well this AM I take my phone off the pad, and the battery is at 60% which is quite odd for a phone that's been charging for 9 hours, and I see that my data limit setting has been tripped! This thing used like 2 gigs of data in the background under Google Services OVERNIGHT!!! This is ridiculous! This is Android, for crying out loud... I shouldn't be forced to use an update that I didn't like! Or have to install a custom ROM for that matter, which I used to do on my phones (I loved cyanogenmod) but with GravityBox I've been able to do everything I needed to do with the stock ROM. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, however suggesting that I disable background data for Google Services will be unacceptable considering it will break a bunch of other stuff. There's got to be a way around this. Thanks in advance!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of curiosity what did you hate about 4.4.3? From a UI/UX standpoint, not much changed.

jamel_tza said:
Out of curiosity what did you hate about 4.4.3? From a UI/UX standpoint, not much changed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IDK if it was app incompatibilities, but I had TERRIBLE battery life and constant reboots. My device rebooted at least twice an hour. It was basically unusable. I'm no stranger to these devices and messing around with them, so I'm pretty sure it's not something I did. Normally I like to have the latest and greatest, and visually I did like the little changes. But I couldn't live with it, and I don't feel that Google should be able to nag me to upgrade and then obliterate my data allotment when I take steps to override it. Am I wrong?

IrocD said:
IDK if it was app incompatibilities, but I had TERRIBLE battery life and constant reboots. My device rebooted at least twice an hour. It was basically unusable. I'm no stranger to these devices and messing around with them, so I'm pretty sure it's not something I did. Normally I like to have the latest and greatest, and visually I did like the little changes. But I couldn't live with it, and I don't feel that Google should be able to nag me to upgrade and then obliterate my data allotment when I take steps to override it. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow that's pretty unusual... As someone who's rooted I understand how much of a pain in the ass OTAs can be, since you liked some of the changes the update brought I think you should give it another shot, though - this time by heading over to the Android Development section, finding a flashable zip of Stock ROM doing a clean install. Don't forget to make a nandroid backup though!

jamel_tza said:
Wow that's pretty unusual... As someone who's rooted I understand how much of a pain in the ass OTAs can be, since you liked some of the changes the update brought I think you should give it another shot, though - this time by heading over to the Android Development section, finding a flashable zip of Stock ROM doing a clean install. Don't forget to make a nandroid backup though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe a good idea... when I did my upgrade, I don't think anyone had made a flashable zip of 4.4.3 yet. I guess I could give it a shot!

IrocD said:
Maybe a good idea... when I did my upgrade, I don't think anyone had made a flashable zip of 4.4.3 yet. I guess I could give it a shot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give it a shot, there are tons of zips now, just a matter of choice. Plus if anything goes wrong, you have a backup.
btw - I'm giving you this advice because I was in a similar position when the update rolled out. I didn't want to update right away because of possible bugs. After a week if nags I flashed a zip someone put together and things have been fine since.
Either way, let me know how it goes!

Another way would be to download the 4.4.3 factory images and flash system, radio, boot. The random reboots will surely stop. I've not yet seen any app which is compatible with 4.4.2 and isn't with .3
PS: While changing android versions, I always prefer to clean install.

jamel_tza said:
Give it a shot, there are tons of zips now, just a matter of choice. Plus if anything goes wrong, you have a backup.
btw - I'm giving you this advice because I was in a similar position when the update rolled out. I didn't want to update right away because of possible bugs. After a week if nags I flashed a zip someone put together and things have been fine since.
Either way, let me know how it goes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welp, I just clean-flashed the de-odexed 4.4.3 and everything is okay, so far. My device was nearly dead <20% by the time I was done flashing, so I'm gonna let it spend some time on the pad and then see if I have any issues. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

IrocD said:
Welp, I just clean-flashed the de-odexed 4.4.3 and everything is okay, so far. My device was nearly dead <20% by the time I was done flashing, so I'm gonna let it spend some time on the pad and then see if I have any issues. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 'em crossed tight! I hope everything works out. If you encounter any problems don't hesitate to report back here.
JT