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[Q] Differences between roms ?

Hi all !
Browsing the Android Development forum I could find those roms :
MoDaCo Custom ROM, Bionix NS and GingerS SMALL
As I understand, all three :
- are based on GRH78
- have su / root
- have an unsecure bootloader to enable adb remount
- have the new market
- have busybox
- have various kernel and system optimisations
So, I would like to know :
* What are the diference between them ? (not which one is the best, which is a very different and troll-making question).
* What are the advantages of each of them ?
* Why are they better than the OTA rom (considering that su / root and the new market are installed) ?
Thank you very much !

I know this isnt going to answer your question, but it really is all preference

modaco ROMs are all about being very close to stock ROMs, but with some nice refinements and extras that you need like super user etc.
i dont know those other 3 unfortunately...

MoDaCo is all about maintaining a stock look and feel with just some of his own "optimization scripts" ran on the system. I believe he also deodexes so you can apply themes. He's big on stability as well.
I've only used Bionix on my friend's T-Mo Vibrant, so not sure about on the NS, but it seems more geared towards tweaking out every last bit of performance, and changes the look and feel. It's been a great ROM on my friend's Vibrant.
I've never heard of the third one you linked until you linked it.
I've not yet felt the need to move from stock on my NS. There's a few tweaks I'd like to see (like battery percentage in the status bar), but unlike previous phones, this one just feels great right out of the box.
I'll probably go for Cyanogen v7 once it's stable. Best of the Best on most devices.
But like slowz3r says, it's really just preference. Try them all if you really feel compelled and see which fits your tastes the best.
edit: but warning, being a ROM flasher can be addicting once you start.

distortedloop said:
edit: but warning, being a ROM flasher can be addicting once you start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also being NAND memory, and without TRIM support on Android, you're theoretically hurting that partition's read/write performance each time you flash a ROM. That said, I've flashed the living daylights out of my Nexus One, and it never felt any slower. From what I've read about SSDs on standard PCs, it isn't too horrible.

distortedloop said:
but warning, being a ROM flasher can be addicting once you start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a HTC Hero before my NS, I'm already a flasher addict. It's too late for me
To summerize and help me choose, I did this chart. It is probably incomplete and relies only on the rom description by their author. If they have a feature and did not mention it, it will be absent on this chart. Sorry folks, if you don't advertise it, we can't know it's here...
As soon as Cyanogen Mod 7 is stable, I'll go on it (CM is such an amazing work). Meanwhile, I think MoDaCo will be fine for me.

timelzayus said:
I had a HTC Hero before my NS, I'm already a flasher addict. It's too late for me
To summerize and help me choose, I did this chart. It is probably incomplete and relies only on the rom description by their author. If they have a feature and did not mention it, it will be absent on this chart. Sorry folks, if you don't advertise it, we can't know it's here...
As soon as Cyanogen Mod 7 is stable, I'll go on it (CM is such an amazing work). Meanwhile, I think MoDaCo will be fine for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where did you find that chart?

slowz3r said:
where did you find that chart?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He made it.
You should consider CM7 Alpha3 as well. Its very stable and comes with a few extra goodies that the other ROMs don't have.
For example, the notification bar widgets, various tweaks in CM settings, rendering effect etc.

sonnysekhon said:
He made it.
You should consider CM7 Alpha3 as well. Its very stable and comes with a few extra goodies that the other ROMs don't have.
For example, the notification bar widgets, various tweaks in CM settings, rendering effect etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess i didnt see that
may i suggest you keep updating that chart, im sure people will find it useful

A lot of people are awaiting CM7 Stable.. but honestly, the nightlies are stable and I haven't experienced any problems with them. Torch isn't working, but there are alternatives on the market.
Try it out, just perform a nandroid backup before flashing.. don't like it? Nandroid restore and you're back to where you were before you flashed.

zephiK said:
A lot of people are awaiting CM7 Stable.. but honestly, the nightlies are stable and I haven't experienced any problems with them. Torch isn't working, but there are alternatives on the market.
Try it out, just perform a nandroid backup before flashing.. don't like it? Nandroid restore and you're back to where you were before you flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try a preview or rc version, maybe even beta, but I'm just not interested in anything that's still labeled alpha, personally, though not arguing that it's not stable.

slowz3r said:
Guess i didnt see that
may i suggest you keep updating that chart, im sure people will find it useful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may suggest But I won't. Sorry, I have a job, a girlfriend and a lot of opensource project... But if someone wants to keep it up to date, I can transmit the ods file.
zephiK said:
A lot of people are awaiting CM7 Stable.. but honestly, the nightlies are stable and I haven't experienced any problems with them. Torch isn't working, but there are alternatives on the market.
Try it out, just perform a nandroid backup before flashing.. don't like it? Nandroid restore and you're back to where you were before you flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I have trouble understanding it's completely stable with the "alpha" postfix. Some hardware, some features, I don't know, something must be unstable for it to be marked alpha...

timelzayus said:
You may suggest But I won't. Sorry, I have a job, a girlfriend and a lot of opensource project... But if someone wants to keep it up to date, I can transmit the ods file.
Well I have trouble understanding it's completely stable with the "alpha" postfix. Some hardware, some features, I don't know, something must be unstable for it to be marked alpha...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its labeled alpha because some of the CM specific goodies are not yet included (battery %, UI customizaion, phone/mms lockscreen sliders and other tweaks etc).
But otherwise its stable and everything pertaining to stock GB works fine.
CM7 RC1 cannot be << CM6.1.1 Stable .

I was just looking at the latest MoDaCo r6 and it actually looks interesting to me now. Maybe the flash-a-holic in me is resurfacing. LOL.

What is the deal with CM7?

TB is my very first android, and i have come a long way, but maybe not long enough
as i can not for the life of me understand why everyone nut over the rom dubbed as cm7?
why???
I have been on almost single rom on the TB, and countless updates on each of them..
what is so special about CM7? do you prefer running linux?? why not run windows 3.1 on your quad core computers?
is it nostalgic?? or does it simply remind you of your ex girlfriend that you loved?
I know the dev team for the CM7 works very hard but so does every other dev.
So is it because cyanogen mod are simply better developers, and with their code other devs could build their rom with their findings..
i need to know, in order to get to the promise land

I guess some people hate anything other than stock android. But tbh I can't stand stock android. It is so boring and not polished.sense is so nice. But cyanogenmod is really fast and responsive. And battery life is a factor
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

i'm sure a full fledged cm7 has good battery life.
not the current one. everything else seems to have better battery life

Its not bloated with extra crap. I love sense but to me CM7 always seems to be the fastest rom I run on my TB. It started out really popular with the TB because it was the only way for people to get gingerbread on their TB. It has grown so much and is finally, in my opinion nearly perfect. Its been a great trip and people have stayed with it till now and it has been well worth the wait. Stock android(for the most part) is a nice breath of fresh air.

droidisftw said:
I guess some people hate anything other than stock android. But tbh I can't stand stock android. It is so boring and not polished.sense is so nice. But cyanogenmod is really fast and responsive. And battery life is a factor
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not really stock android. It's close, but there's many improvements that work well with the system. OMFGB is much more vanilla than CM7. It's also 100% opensource (unlike sense roms and aosp roms like miui) which is useful if you care about more than the rom because you like to hack around on the source and don't trust certain roms like miui (no offense, but I am not using a rom made by chinese with no source given, just too creepy for me as far as how much control you are giving them aside from the fact they give back nothing to the community).
For the OP's information, there's plenty of information out there (including articles on wired and many screen casts on youtube) about CM7, besides their own site/wiki/forums/irc channel

there is much about cm7 that you don't know.
start here for a very small list of features... http://www.cyanogenmod.com/about/features
but this list barely scratches the surface. none of my favorite features are even listed here, and the cyanogen settings menu has literally hundreds (thousands?) of additional modifications you can make to your device.
i flashed cm7 for the first time about a month ago, and i won't ever be able to run sense again. i've been converted

phooky said:
there is much about cm7 that you don't know about.
start here for a very small list of features... http://www.cyanogenmod.com/about/features
but this list barely scratches the surface. none of my favorite features are even listed here, and the cyanogen settings menu has literally hundreds of additional modifications you can make to your device.
i flashed cm7 for the first time about a month ago, and i won't ever be able to run sense again. i've been converted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah tons of features you only wish other roms had most of the time. I love the media track skip via the volume buttons with the screen off (similar to what blackberry does). Makes it way easier to switch songs or repeat one when you are running.

Its cause we want android without all the battery hogging and performance issues associated with crap like motoblur, sense, touchwiz etc. Plus cm7 has so much more features than being basically a asop rom. Its provides a lot of customization with your phone, which is what andrioid is all about.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

Everything just works on CM7. I can use wimotes for my emulators.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App

I like the simplicity of stock-ish Android and all the tweaks and customizations CM offers. Sense is nice and all but way too heavy for my enjoyment.

I've only used CM7 on my nook color and was very impressed by its responsiveness and options. I heard of using Android OS's with overlapping UI but I figured this would only hamper on the overall user experience. I'm def open to different versions of Android for tablets. Any suggestions?

Hello my name is _________, and I'm addicted to CM7..............
Another cool factor is that it's available for so many different phones. I had CM7 on my EVO with Sprint. When I got my Thunderbolt I immediately rooted it and flashed CM7. There is a CM7 build for every major carrier in the U.S., So as long as you chose a supported phone your not stuck with some crappy user interface or an older version of Android. The main reason I chose the Thunderbolt over other Verizon 4G phones was that there was a CM7 ROM for it, but then again I'm an addict.

ddgarcia05 said:
Everything just works on CM7. I can use wimotes for my emulators.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really? Then why are there all these threads about what is broken on cm7?

to prove my point of cm7 not being all that great on the thunderbolt, from page 1 of the thunderbolt general forums right now:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1185757
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1185459
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1163043

Some of my favorite features:
- skip tracks w/vol keys
- swipe notification bar to adjust brightness
- lockscreen gestures
- custom long press home/menu/search options
- long press back to kill current app
- hundreds of themes easily switched via Theme Chooser
- incoming calls in background when screen on
- permission management
- any app to sd
- built in performance and overclocking settings
...just to name a few. The real question is why do so many people have such a deep hatred of CM7? If you don't like the ROM you don't like it. Why make such a big stink out of it? If others want to like it then let them be
^ Shift Faced

i remember putting CM on the first phone i rooted, the MyTouch 3G... and it was the only one i ever used on that phone. This time around, i've experimented and tried out just about every single ROM for the TB. This time i would say that Synergy is my fav only because i managed to get better battery life with it then CM7(and its overclocked).
that plus, i know its ridiculous but i prefer for the green light to come on when the battery is at 100%, not 90%(yes i know that's just how AOSP ROMs are). im just use to going "oh green light, time to unplug".

jesusice said:
Some of my favorite features:
- skip tracks w/vol keys
- swipe notification bar to adjust brightness
- lockscreen gestures
- custom long press home/menu/search options
- long press back to kill current app
- hundreds of themes easily switched via Theme Chooser
- incoming calls in background when screen on
- permission management
- any app to sd
- built in performance and overclocking settings
...just to name a few. The real question is why do so many people have such a deep hatred of CM7? If you don't like the ROM you don't like it. Why make such a big stink out of it? If others want to like it then let them be
^ Shift Faced
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
who says we hate cm7? I just said it wasn't the best thunderbolt ROM. It's quite buggy as far as cm7 builds go.
I guess my point is that if this is your first time using cm7, would you be defending it as much.

nrfitchett4 said:
who says we hate cm7? I just said it wasn't the best thunderbolt ROM. It's quite buggy as far as cm7 builds go.
I guess my point is that if this is your first time using cm7, would you be defending it as much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said, if you like it you like it. If you don't you don't. Starting threads calling out a particular ROM seems a little haterish.
^ Shift Faced

jesusice said:
Like I said, if you like it you like it. If you don't you don't. Starting threads calling out a particular ROM seems a little haterish.
^ Shift Faced
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he was just looking for pros and cons of the ROM more than calling it out.
Thread is not titled
"CM7 Sucks!"

I rarely use CM, but I think it is a really good ROM, with a good team behind it. Also, basically anyone who is into rooting/romming/modding their Android phone owes something to the CM team, in one way or another. I personally don't like it because, and this is hard to explain, it is almost too good. Lol. It feels like a stock, out-of-box software. I know there are tons of settings, and it runs great often times, but it just lacks the pizazz that I'm looking for. Not like overly flashy drag your phone down kinda stuff, but just a little something extra.
That being said, I, again, really appreciate the rom. I am currently using it on my Thunderbolt until we get some ROMs based off of the OTA if it ever comes, and have also used it on my D1 and Incredible.

[Q] MIUI type look on CM7?

I finally convinced my fiancee to sell her ****ty, 3rd hand, iPhone 4 and get a Nexus S.
Yay, the geek in me rejoiced as I could root, OC, and flash ROMs again. (I stopped on my Desire when I found CM7). We first tried MIUI and she loved the look of it, but it felt rather unstable (lots of freezes and sudden reboots) so I installed the latest CM7 nightly. While this seems a lot more stable and is also faster, my fiance dislikes the fact that much if not all of the interface is black. We tried several themes and launchers but a lot of black still remains, so I would like to be able to make all menus, all pages (especially the settings page) everything be not black. White would be gorgeous for her...
I did search and we tried a lot of themes and launchers but none of theme did a complete "re-skin" of the interface.
Your suggestions please?

Try a different kernel on miui.

Any one in particular you recommend? I tried Franco, netarchy and the default MIUI kernel.
Still this is is not what I asked. We already decided CM7 was the faster and more stable of the two?

The way the menus are displayed on MIUI is only found on MIUI. That's one of the things that differentiate it so much from the other custom ROMs. I must say that the days I tested MIUI, stability and speed wasn't the reason why I ditched it. It ran really stable and fast, too. I tested Brainmaster's, god knows with which kernel
On CM7 you get Theme Chooser. This is the only way you can easily change the look of your phone.
I did a quick search for you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1189723
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1302004
If you want to get your hands really dirty, you could always make your own theme, or atleast change some things you really want to see changed.
Greetz

Thanks man, you rock!
Could you point me in the right direction if I were to try making a theme? What do I need? I looked at UOT kitchen but it doesn't seem to be able to do what I'm after.

You're welcome
XDA has an Android Theming section (http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=527), in it, there's a sticky with a lot of information about getting started:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916814
Read through that section though, it has a pletorea of information about theming, many people ask good questions that can be relevant to what you want to accomplish.
It's challenging, but if you have some knowledge of how Android works and some basic computer skills, you can surely get somewhere after a few days of hard work
Greetz

Try different kernels on miui. I use fracos

i have been running on BrainMaster's MIUI for moths now, everything is good , well , except battery life , but it happens to all MIUI , pretty UI requires more battery life , fair enough.
i would suggest you to try BrainMaster's MIUI + franco kernel

zgomot said:
I finally convinced my fiancee to sell her ****ty, 3rd hand, iPhone 4 and get a Nexus S.
Yay, the geek in me rejoiced as I could root, OC, and flash ROMs again. (I stopped on my Desire when I found CM7). We first tried MIUI and she loved the look of it, but it felt rather unstable (lots of freezes and sudden reboots) so I installed the latest CM7 nightly. While this seems a lot more stable and is also faster, my fiance dislikes the fact that much if not all of the interface is black. We tried several themes and launchers but a lot of black still remains, so I would like to be able to make all menus, all pages (especially the settings page) everything be not black. White would be gorgeous for her...
I did search and we tried a lot of themes and launchers but none of theme did a complete "re-skin" of the interface.
Your suggestions please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I seem to recall (from when I used CM7) that if you install GO EX as your Launcher, you do have a specific full theme called MIUI.

^
I'm pretty sure the Settings page will still be black, just like what @frutelaken mentioned earlier.

suksit said:
^
I'm pretty sure the Settings page will still be black, just like what @frutelaken mentioned earlier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be - as I mentioned I just seem to recall as it is a long time ago - but honestly, for some reason I believe it was white indeed when the MIUI GO theme was applied via GO EX Launcher. Best to do (since it doesnt really involve much nor flashing or anything), download GO Launcher and browse for said theme and try...

zgomot said:
Any one in particular you recommend? I tried Franco, netarchy and the default MIUI kernel.
Still this is is not what I asked. We already decided CM7 was the faster and more stable of the two?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I can not. I personally can't stand miui so never mixed and matched the various kernels and roms.

For a CM7 rom, I recommend MarkVis's modded version which can be found in the development section. For a kernel, I recommend Peter Alfonso's kernel which can be found on his website.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

What's the difference between all these ICS ROMs/ports?

I know. I can read. I have read OPs and most posts. I want to know what makes each ROM/port different. Each of them have almost same features and looks. I'm asking comparing CM9 vs Stock vs AOKP vs Slim vs Beam vs etc and cMIUI vs MIUI. I'm not complaining, just want people to share what make them choose one ROM over the other because all are smooth and fast and awesome and so on the same generic descriptions... Let's be honest, most of the has mainly same features, like to mod battery icon, clock, toggles, drawer, theme, lockscreen, some apps here and not there, different bootanimation, etc... you know what I mean. So what is it then? Please, elaborate some answers.
To me, there is a noticeable difference between all mentioned and RemICS and so with AOKPCB but mostly because of the theme/looks and some apps and few features.
I would like to read something else than just "X ROM is fast and smoother" and yes I know everyone is different so they get different experience with their ROM of choice, but what makes you choose a ROM over the other. That's the thing
No trolling allowed and it's not my intention to offend anyone. I appreciate all projects and stuff here, I'm not complaining. Just curious.

U can go to other forum like i9000 and nexus S and ask this question there, too ...they r just for your own choice lol, just flash one u like
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

chris31jct said:
I know. I can read. I have read OPs and most posts. I want to know what makes each ROM/port different. Each of them have almost same features and looks. I'm asking comparing CM9 vs Stock vs AOKP vs Slim vs Beam vs etc and cMIUI vs MIUI. I'm not complaining, just want people to share what make them choose one ROM over the other because all are smooth and fast and awesome and so on the same generic descriptions... Let's be honest, most of the has mainly same features, like to mod battery icon, clock, toggles, drawer, theme, lockscreen, some apps here and not there, different bootanimation, etc... you know what I mean. So what is it then? Please, elaborate some answers.
To me, there is a noticeable difference between all mentioned and RemICS and so with AOKPCB but mostly because of the theme/looks and some apps and few features.
I would like to read something else than just "X ROM is fast and smoother" and yes I know everyone is different so they get different experience with their ROM of choice, but what makes you choose a ROM over the other. That's the thing
No trolling allowed and it's not my intention to offend anyone. I appreciate all projects and stuff here, I'm not complaining. Just curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They basically all come from the same base as far as Android OS goes, and as far as comparing no one can tell you what to choose. I know you are not asking for someone to choose for you, but that kinda is where the question leads. Compare them for yourself. See what you like. They all have their own flavor, mods, tweaks. Some are closer to stock, others are heavily modded. That's your answer in a nutshell. No one is gonna sit down and draw you up a chart of features for each rom.

@dao
I can ask there but that's not my phone and that doesn't answer my question. It's obvious they are there for choice, how to choose then? Why? That's what I would like to read. BTW, thanks for updating RemICS.
@greg
I have used them all. That's why I'm asking.

chris31jct said:
@dao
I can ask there but that's not my phone and that doesn't answer my question. It's obvious they are there for choice, how to choose then? Why? That's what I would like to read. BTW, thanks for updating RemICS.
@greg
I have used them all. That's why I'm asking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just have to choose what you like and what works for you. It's that simple. Until Aries is released and we have an updated kernel, they are all about the same, but Aries will fix some issues. Like those blasted capacitive back lights timing out.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

What made you choose miui for your phone? Did you try different ROMs before?

@HKSpeed
Oh, I haven't updated that... I'm on CM9 at the moment. My ROMs of choice are Team Acid's. I have been using their work since Froyo so I'm biased. I was on AOKP but battery was a big issue for me, it drained very fast, so I went on CM9 to see how it works since most other ROMs are based on it. Thought it should be more simple, less tweaked. I have tried all, except Linaro and Provision. I like them all but somehow I can't notice difference between them except but a few little things here and there.
I was on MIUI because Dao kept updating it and fast. It was more advanced than other ports/ROMs, then I went on AOKPBC just to see and the theme was too heavy, awesome but not what I was looking for.
I'm not saying I will stay on CM forever, might go on a flashing rampage sometime soon. I know these are WIP that depend on kernel so until then I shall keep experimenting.

I know the others have said pretty much the same thing I am saying, but it comes down to a matter of choice. The ICS roms are all CM9 base if I am not mistaken, so you are dealing with mostly the same issues and bugs on each, so it really comes down to a point of which theme you want and which apps/bloat you want. It becomes a real pain to have to debloat/rebloat a rom and I only ever do so if the theme and layout is custom and really nice but fun to use. If it's basically a stock rom and doesn't have typical apps/bloat/mods/tweaks that I am used to using, I hit the thanks button for the hard work that helps future devs have an easier time and keep looking for a rom that has everything I want. Right now, I am going to be selling my phone soon so I can get a SGS III at least, or maybe wait to see if the rumors are true and T-Mob gets the One X+. I'm drooling over that OC'd Tegra 3 ::fingers-crossed: But, that doesn't mean I won't be trying out different roms at the moment. I love the ICS roms but hate that I can't use calling over wifi. I know there are other options, but they are a bit of trouble with linking google voice among other things, so ICS isn't really for me yet even though it is beautiful. There's my choice...what's yours?

Ive tried to not post but it bothers me when people cant understand a simple question.
Chris31jct is NOT asking for you to convince him. He is asking why did YOU choose a specific rom.
He is also asking for a reason other than the generic responses given 90% of the time.
I started out on aokp then when slimics was released I used it for a while. I wanted to try aokp to see why it was so popular. I like aokp the customization options its a nice rom. I wanted to try slimics just because it doesnt have all the extra apk that aokp and cm9 have that I never use.
Most of the time I will test a rom just to see what the hype is.

3 things decide your choice of a ROM:
Stability
Customization
Battery consumption
In terms of Stability, Usually the higher the customization and options of a ROM, the more conflicts it has( not a rule).
Battery should be the same on all since they use same code and kernel.
Graphic Customization: AOKP is the Best
Settings and options: CM9 is the best
Stability + Battery: I personally prefer SlimRom or Stock cuz it has the most required customization and its very slim( about 80 mb) so probably lighter on your phone.

I wasn't trying to convince him. I know he'll choose whatever rom he wants and that's not for me to decide and/or judge. I was merely stating why most of us choose the roms we choose which is what I interpreted the question to be. The reasons I gave are the reasons I choose the roms I choose. I don't mean to speak for everyone, but that would be the most basic reason to choose a rom other than just to try out what is out there but we ultimately stick with certain roms due to what's included in the rom as well as the stability of it, although as stated before by more than just me, the ICS roms have the same bugs and therefor the same stability issues. Again, not trying to step on anyone's toes, I don't claim to speak for everyone, but I answered the question as I interpreted it.
Also, as to specific roms, I'd be here all day if I chose to speak on that because I started using custom roms on my old G1 and I've tried out probably over 100 roms for various phones over the last few years. For that matter, I could go way back to the days of the Motorola Razor and a few other phones out around the same time, but I was speaking more about android roms. As far as the roms is concerned I don't care if it's miui, ICS, AOKP, etc. If it has the features I'm looking for and is stable, then I use it until something comes around I like better.

I went with AOKP because
It had full source code and I could modify it as I wanted
I liked the layout of toggles
AOKP ROM Control had features I wanted
I could long-press Back to kill a process
It has "quiet hours"
It has decent control of background data use
I knew where the kernel came from and it has full source code
I knew where all binaries came from and it has full source code
I know the last two of these are an absolute requirement under GPL, but many ROM "authors" fail to provide this information.
AOKP has some "crap" that I freeze to improve performance, but I haven't run out of on-phone storage yet.
CyanogenMod 9, for me, wasn't quite as "usable" as AOKP, the way I use my phone.
MIUI is too "Technicolor" and gimmicky for me. Most of what it has (other than a decent File Explorer, when it doesn't crash) I consider "bloat."
SLIM seemed like a good candidate, but without easy access to full source and the ability to build as I desired, it wasn't on my short list. I tried Lightning or whatever its "default" launcher is, but it had a couple things that just didn't allow me to set up my phone the way I wanted (paging is "wonky" to the way I have come to think of a launcher).
Kernel -- Well, Hefe Kernel pretty clearly added what I wanted; better battery life without significant impact in responsiveness. I'm glad others find what works for me helping them out too.
The Zip-n-Go ROMs don't, in general, excite me. I'm not a big theme guy and I can add/remove what I want pretty easily myself.

@krazymonkeys
I understand your point. I also try everything and then stick to one ROM.
@eollie
Thanks bro.
@jeff
That's the best example of kind of answer I was looking for. Thanks!

I'm on Erik's MIUI 2.8.10.
I tried it because I like the UI: I like the notification bar and full screen toggles, I like the kill app back button feature, the task manager combined task killer home button and all the sys apps. It is super fast, lighweight and easy to use. It is stable and gives instant GPS lock.
Only problem is the battery consumption, but it's kernel related I believe.
sent from me

@itzik2sh
I tried MIUI but it is too bright. Don't get me wrong. I like it a lot. But since we don't have Automatic Brightness, then it was a pain. Anyway, it's a great ROM and I think battery didn't drain more than it does on other ROMs. What I love most about MIUI is the phone and text's apps.

Rom search, head hurts

So I've spent over half a day looking at all the custom rom options and now my head hurts.
Wayyyyy too many options. I even tried one (lunareclipse) out which is working great but not quite what I'm looking for.
All I need is a SIMPLE, STABLE and CLEAN rom devoid of pretty much everything but the necessary functions.
No google stuff, no battery gizmos, no fancy themes... just a completely cleaned out, stable rom.
I almost went for CM7 but I couldn't confirm its viability with an Atrix 2.
Anyone who can point me in the right direction will be owed a thousand thanks and over 900000000000 internets. :good:

You wanna stick with ics and below ?
Try the jb ROMs like PA 3.15, CM10.1. They are wayy better than ICS. They have some bugs though. ( look at their respective threads for more info)
And if you're sticking with ICS, try numa or scv7.
And btw, more details about your phone would be better like the region, Android version etc ( As some of the ROMs aren't made for ATT phones)
NOTE : YOU HAVE TO BE ON ICS FIRST TO TRY ANY OF THE ICS OR JB ROMs

Lifehacker7 said:
You wanna stick with ics and below ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I prefer 2.3.6 simply because I don't have ics and I'm not sure I want to add one more step unless there are huge gains in performance and stability to be had.
And I'm in NZ so it's obviously a non AT&T phone. And I've checked for ota updates, but the phone doesn't show any so I'm not sure how to go about upgrading to ics even if I wanted to.

nobrixkthxbai said:
I prefer 2.3.6 simply because I don't have ics and I'm not sure I want to add one more step unless there are huge gains in performance and stability to be had.
And I'm in NZ so it's obviously a non AT&T phone. And I've checked for ota updates, but the phone doesn't show any so I'm not sure how to go about upgrading to ics even if I wanted to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't spend much of time with GB, so I don't remember how it used to be. 4.2 is much better than ICS in my experience.
You get cool features like quick settings, expandable notifications and stuff.
See if any of the files from this thread suits your device region. Don't flash any other files other than the right one.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1934874

Trust me, ICS+ is a huge leap. looks WAY nicer, and runs smoother. Stock ICS is pretty clean compared to stock GB, but CM10.1 is probably the simplest of the custom roms. It keeps the stock android look, and adds a few nice little features. Feels pretty much like stock JB though, and trust me, JB is completely worth it. Project butter took the last step for a solid OS that ICS nearly brought.
CM10.1 is quite stable as long as you are not plagued with the black screen bug, which you will know right away. Other than that, the stock battery stats don't work (use Gsam, its really clean and simple), but it runs great otherwise.
I am not a fan of PA and I doubt you would be, as it has a ton of settings and features that you may not need.
PACman combines CM PA and AOKP, so it is full of features, but can be pretty clean.
AOKP is not out for us yet, but when I have time I am trying to get it working, as it is my favorite. Basically it is CM10.1 with a few great features added.
EDIT: just remembered, CM7 was never released for our phone, as it was too hard to get working at the time, so that is not an option, though in the days of GB it was great.

nobrixkthxbai said:
I prefer 2.3.6 simply because I don't have ics and I'm not sure I want to add one more step unless there are huge gains in performance and stability to be had.
And I'm in NZ so it's obviously a non AT&T phone. And I've checked for ota updates, but the phone doesn't show any so I'm not sure how to go about upgrading to ics even if I wanted to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, on my NZ Telecom A2 I have observed the following:
Stock 2.3.6: great stability, a little laggy, good battery
NZ Telecom ICS: great stability, ok performance (better than 2.3.6), good battery
JB leak: great stability, good performance, good battery, no device encryption
cm 10.1: : medium stability (occacional camera and sound hiccups that require restarts), great performance, good battery
these are the roms I have tested so far. If I could live w/o encryption, I'd go for the JB leak.

lkrasner said:
I am not a fan of PA and I doubt you would be, as it has a ton of settings and features that you may not need.
PACman combines CM PA and AOKP, so it is full of features, but can be pretty clean.
AOKP is not out for us yet, but when I have time I am trying to get it working, as it is my favorite. Basically it is CM10.1 with a few great features added.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PA actually has a lot less features and settings when compared to CM.. And it is a lot closer to "stock" AOSP jellybean than CM is.
PA's main and signature feature is the per-app size and color settings (and the PIE controls - until CM recently decided to merge those into their source code).
I am not getting defensive, but c'mon.. He won't be a fan of it because you are not a fan? Sounds like you never tried it yourself, so best let people form their own impressions.
Also, if you looked at the AOKP manifest, it is not basically CM10.1. It is AOKP - using a lot from Google's AOSP sources, and mostly just the hardware from CyanogenMod and a few other things.
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app

lkrasner said:
CM10.1 is quite stable as long as you are not plagued with the black screen bug, which you will know right away. Other than that, the stock battery stats don't work (use Gsam, its really clean and simple), but it runs great otherwise.
I am not a fan of PA and I doubt you would be, as it has a ton of settings and features that you may not need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
alteredlikeness said:
PA actually has a lot less features and settings when compared to CM.. And it is a lot closer to "stock" AOSP jellybean than CM is.
PA's main and signature feature is the per-app size and color settings (and the PIE controls - until CM recently decided to merge those into their source code).
He won't be a fan of it because you are not a fan? Sounds like you never tried it yourself, so best let people form their own impressions.
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol CM10.1 vs PA(just kidding)...
Sent from my MB865 using xda premium

deveshmanish said:
Lol CM10.1 vs PA(just kidding)...
Sent from my MB865 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry.. it seems like that, ey? That wasn't my intention.. There are plenty of ROMs to go around and plenty more on the way!
And.. "To each their own"

alteredlikeness said:
Sorry.. it seems like that, ey? That wasn't my intention.. There are plenty of ROMs to go around and plenty more on the way!
And.. "To each their own"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P.A user from its start build till now..double tumbs up to alteredlikeness
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app

alteredlikeness said:
PA actually has a lot less features and settings when compared to CM.. And it is a lot closer to "stock" AOSP jellybean than CM is.
PA's main and signature feature is the per-app size and color settings (and the PIE controls - until CM recently decided to merge those into their source code).
I am not getting defensive, but c'mon.. He won't be a fan of it because you are not a fan? Sounds like you never tried it yourself, so best let people form their own impressions.
Also, if you looked at the AOKP manifest, it is not basically CM10.1. It is AOKP - using a lot from Google's AOSP sources, and mostly just the hardware from CyanogenMod and a few other things.
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I understand, but I really feel that CM is generally more straight forward and solid, I tried out PA for a change the other day, and while I understand the concept, it is just not really my thing, and judging by the description in the OP he seems to like things pretty plain. Maybe code wise it is closer to stock, but I have always felt that CM felt very clean and professional compared to many other ROMs. Not that they are bad, I have just liked the feel of CM better.
I admit to having some bias in my writing, but I feel that I and the OP have very similar tastes in what we are looking for.
Not trying to smash it or anything, I respect your work, and that of the developers of the ROM itself, but I just think it would not be best based on the given description.
I understand that AOKP is more AOSP, but I was trying to simplify here. In general, I feel that in the versions I have used it is very similar to CM, with a few more features, though it may not be directly from CM source.
Sorry to have disagreed with you, and of course everyone is welcome to their own opinions, I was just trying to give mine.

Sorry.. I was a little grumpy this morning
It's all good.
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
EDIT: And, I agree, CM is the king of after-market firmware. And for good reason - it's good quality.. It helps that they have been around so long, and have enlisted an army of coders/programmers and average joe's contributing to the source by the minute.. But, yea, basically all of the other major custom ROMs use a lot of CM code.. Heck, I'm sure even Google merges CM changes back into AOSP at times.

alteredlikeness said:
Sorry.. I was a little grumpy this morning
It's all good.
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
EDIT: And, I agree, CM is the king of after-market firmware. And for good reason - it's good quality.. It helps that they have been around so long, and have enlisted an army of coders/programmers and average joe's contributing to the source by the minute.. But, yea, basically all of the other major custom ROMs use a lot of CM code.. Heck, I'm sure even Google merges CM changes back into AOSP at times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, so true, whether they take direct code or not, thy have taken features multiple times!