The Noobs Guide to Installing a Custom Rom - HTC Desire S
This Guide assumes that you have S-off and are rooted. It gives the most basic instructions for a first time flasher, it'll also take you through a Nandroid back up using ClockworkMod v4.0.0.4.
Select a rom.
Choose from here or, click the LBC link in my sigi and download the excellent rom and put it in the root of your SD card.
Turn your phone off and just this once pull and refit the battery, just to be sure your not going to run into any problems getting into Hboot from a power on state.
Press and hold the volume down button and press the power/on button. Your now turning your phone on and entering Hboot (bootloader). You'll soon get a white screen with skateboarding types at the bottom. (Oh dear! Notice the one on the far right looks as if he is about to fall off his skateboard! This isn't important).
Wait for the green writing to flash on the screen and go away, any errors that you notice are completely NORMAL!
Press the volume down button once more to highlight RECOVERY.
Press the power button to select.
Your phone will Vibrate (or at least mine does), and after loading you'll get a black screen with purple writing.
Congratulations are in order! You've reached RECOVERY. At this point it might be useful to go outside and bark at the moon if the excitement overcomes you. It did me.
Better? Right lets get to work. This is the business end of flashing and what can't be done here can't be done at all. Well, OK actually there is Android Flasher, Fastboot Commander and lets not forget your Command Line Editor but we'll gloss over those until you've earn't your stripes.
Using the Vol button navigate to BACK UP AND RESTORE and Select using the Power button.
Select BACK UP.
Your now backing up your existing rom and creating your first Nandroid back up. Your Nandroid back up lives on your SD card and can be moved to another file for safe keeping, renamed, corrupted or deleted. If you value your information, keep it safe.
Once finished, you'll get the message "Backup complete!" All we've done to this point is back up the rom that you've been using, at this point you could hit the power button and continue using your old rom, or wipe your phone and falsh a fresh one.
Its important to remember here that if you are going to wipe your phone, your actually deleting HTC's stock rom off the phone and a factory reset will not undo this. After you have wiped, the only way to get your phone back to a factory condition is to flash (load) a stock rom back on, (RUU). You MUST wipe your phone before installing a new rom, there is no way around this.
Wiping and flashing a fresh rom is far more exciting than HTC's offering and that's why you S-offed and rooted anyway isn't it?! Here's how we do that.
Using the Vol button, highlight WIPE DATA/FACTORY RESET.
Once done, highlight WIPE CACHE PARTITION.
Normally this is enough for a normal reflash but if your recovering from a problem or an issue and want a really really good clean up, perform these optional steps:
Select MOUNTS AND STORAGE
Using your vol and power button:
format /cache
format /data
format /system
Select +++++Go Back+++++
Select Advanced
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Reboot Recovery. This step is quite important and your phone will as it says reboot, so don't worry, just let it do its thing.
Wipe Data/Factory Reset once more.
There that's all the wiping done. It's worth noting now that at this stage your phone now has no operating software installed on it! A little scary isn't it? Apart from a bootloader and a radio there's very little else on your pride and joy right now!!! YOU WIPED IT! OK, enough, lets get your new rom installed.
Select install zip from SD card.
choose zip from SD card.
Select your rom
In about 4 to 5 minutes the phone will tell you its done. (DO NOT INTERUPT THIS PROCESS), make sure you have at least 75% battery before you begin!
Are we done?
Now is the time to flash any non optional extras that your rom may need. For instance CyanogenMOD does not come with the Market or Google Apps in Update so flash them now. Refer to your rom developers page for further information on this.
Any kernels, keyboards or mods from the kitchen also get flashed here. These are a little more advanced so lets not go there right now.
Reboot system.
This is your roms intital install and always takes a while to complete. However if your waiting mor than 10 minutes at this stage consult your specific rom developers page.
Press the thanks button.
Done.
this is a very very great guide for the newbies! Thanks man
I have a question for ya... what's nandroid backup? does it backup my stock ROM as well? so if I want back my old stock rom, I just flash back the backup? Need more understanding. Thanks.!
nodeffect said:
this is a very very great guide for the newbies! Thanks man
I have a question for ya... what's nandroid backup? does it backup my stock ROM as well? so if I want back my old stock rom, I just flash back the backup? Need more understanding. Thanks.!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A Nandroid back up is the back up you make while in RECOVERY mode. It is an almost complete image of the phone, system, data, and caches are saved. It is important to note that when you wipe you are WIPING HTC's ROM FROM THE PHONE! After a wipe a factory reset will not take your phone back to the state where it left the shop. You'll need an RUU for that.
I appreciate the feed back.
Thanks for the step by step guide, I flashed the Virtuous Unity ROM and it is working perfectly.
Exactly what I've been looking for, thanks
Impressive guide
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App
InfernalByte said:
make sure you have at least 30% battery before you begin!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good guide man. But you really, really want to have the phone plugged in and charged. Pref at least 75% battery if on battery power alone. Just for those unforseens ...
Peace
Great guide, thanks very much. I have a question about radios when installing a custom rom.
I see that some of the custom roms do not have a radio. How do I know which radio to use to go with that rom? Many rom threads don't seem to specify. Do I leave my stock one, or do I need a different one?
Also, if I do decide to install a custom kernal at a later time, does that mean re-installing the custom rom again first?
Thanks very much for any help for a noob to android!
ems328i said:
Great guide, thanks very much. I have a question about radios when installing a custom rom.
I see that some of the custom roms do not have a radio. How do I know which radio to use to go with that rom? Many rom threads don't seem to specify. Do I leave my stock one, or do I need a different one?
Also, if I do decide to install a custom kernal at a later time, does that mean re-installing the custom rom again first?
Thanks very much for any help for a noob to android!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't flash a radio unless you really need to, its not necessary, if your phone works perfectly well with the radio you have my advice is; leave well alone and use the stock radio.
Any add ons such as kernels can be flashed any time after a rom flash and there is no no to reflash a rom just for a fresh kernel etc. Just go back into recovery and flash the exta's, don't wipe.
What I would advise though is when installing any new rom is not to flash any extras until the rom has been running as a stand alone for about 30 minutes. Any, shall we say "toys," Themes and a lot of Kitchen baked stuff should be flashed after the rom has run alone a while and settled, this makes it far easier to understand any issues your fresh rom may have as its easier to identify what's causing it.
This is a bit of a minefield though because some roms need add ons for the first flash, such as CyanogenMod needs the Market and Gmail. Stuff like A2SD scripts also need to be flashed prior to the first boot or they wont work. Your rom Developer should be specific about these.
InfernalByte said:
Don't flash a radio unless you really need to, its not necessary, if your phone works perfectly well with the radio you have my advice is; leave well alone and use the stock radio.
Any add ons such as kernels can be flashed any time after a rom flash and there is no no to reflash a rom just for a fresh kernel etc. Just go back into recovery and flash the exta's, don't wipe.
What I would advise though is when installing any new rom is not to flash any extras until the rom has been running as a stand alone for about 30 minutes. Any, shall we say "toys," Themes and a lot of Kitchen baked stuff should be flashed after the rom has run alone a while and settled, this makes it far easier to understand any issues your fresh rom may have as its easier to identify what's causing it.
This is a bit of a minefield though because some roms need add ons for the first flash, such as CyanogenMod needs the Market and Gmail. Stuff like A2SD scripts also need to be flashed prior to the first boot or they wont work. Your rom Developer should be specific about these.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Superb, thanks very much that's good info! I've just now got S-off with AlphaRevX, and I'm now running the SAGA LBC Mod, just need to learn my way around the new features! Is it possible to now remove some apps like Facebook from this rom?
ems328i said:
Is it possible to now remove some apps like Facebook from this rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Titanium Back Up to freeze the apps before deleting. That way if I get too naughty and freeze something that's needed it can be restored.
InfernalByte said:
I use Titanium Back Up to freeze the apps before deleting. That way if I get too naughty and freeze something that's needed it can be restored.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great tip, thanks again, much appreciated!
How to backup the personal data and apps at one ROM in order to restore them at new ROM? Thank you for the answer in advance.
Thanks for the guide.
Many thanks
Thank you for this great guide! I am a total noob and I flashed the LBC mod according to your guide. I already got root, as I had done this by other guide. I would like to add some advice for other noobs out there like me. The only setback I got, was that after installing new ROM, it froze, and the problem seems to be my Google account, which wants to sync all apps at once right after you have typed in your password and checked the "sync with my account" checkbox. the best would be to somehow uninstall all your apps from old rom after backing them up with Titanium. The problem was, that while trying to download all the apps again, it froze so hard, that it still showed me the charging LED, and the screen was unresponsive even after I had pulled the charger over 15mins ago. Even the power button did nothing. So I went back to recovery, trying to do the whole wiping/formatting drill with Dalvik Cache and i received errors in the recovery, even while navigating between menus that mounting recovery failed. I got very desperate and taught it would be best to just take a break. It was good idea. when I came back the phone had cooled down and I received no more errors while wiping/formatting/installing. I then just forbid the google account to back up my data online and that did the trick. No more freezes and LBC mod looks, feels and behaves just perfect. I got a whole new PDA now, with whole new capabilities. And also, many of the ROM-s does not include the Sim ToolKit, the STK. This is quite neccesary for people in Estonia and soon for most people in the world, as its neccesary for Mobile-ID. Most of us vote for president for instance by digitally signing our vote with mobile-ID which is an even greater extenson of ID-card. And as a businessman I need to give at least couple of signatures each day. I would be quite unhappy, when I would need to drive 200km to another city just to sign a document, or messing with my ID-card, card reader and stupid drivers, to sign something manually or even worse, use a pen to sign something haha So its a very vital component of all phones that use SIM-card and it soon going to be a must have in most countries in the world. So every Estonian here, if you are in need, get the neccesary STK (download the version for android 2.3.4, the 2.3.3 version won't work for LBC 0.5.3) from the Estonian Hinnavaatlus forum here: http://foorum.hinnavaatlus.ee/viewtopic.php?p=6564414#6564414
Again, thanks for the guide, its a dream come true.
Your Welcome.
ems328i said:
Superb, thanks very much that's good info! I've just now got S-off with AlphaRevX, and I'm now running the SAGA LBC Mod, just need to learn my way around the new features! Is it possible to now remove some apps like Facebook from this rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup you can delete facebook etc, if you want to just clean it up, but your not going to make any extra room, unless you learn how to install apk apps into your system partition, rather than market apps into your data partition..
nodeffect said:
this is a very very great guide for the newbies! Thanks man
I have a question for ya... what's nandroid backup? does it backup my stock ROM as well? so if I want back my old stock rom, I just flash back the backup? Need more understanding. Thanks.!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think this question was answered clearly enough Can you restore your phone back exactly the way it was before with the nandroid back up you made? If not what is the point of the back up?
Also, it it best to do a nandroid back up the way you described or would it be just as good to let the ROM manager App do it for you?
pumpernickel77 said:
I dont think this question was answered clearly enough Can you restore your phone back exactly the way it was before with the nandroid back up you made? If not what is the point of the back up?
Also, it it best to do a nandroid back up the way you described or would it be just as good to let the ROM manager App do it for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid Backup (to be honest - a tiny piece of Googling would give you the answer to this) but, in answer to your question, yes, a Nandroid backup takes the phone state back to effectively when the backup was was taken....I use it often when testing ROMS and then returning to my daily use ROM.
The only thing that isn't backed up by the backup and therefore isn't restored is your Radio so if you change version you need to flash the older version (which I'm sure that you'll be advised not to!) to return to the same state you were in.
ROM Manager nandroid and manual recovery nandroid are the same, it's just a matter of choice and personal preference. Some people like command line other like GUI. However, using recovery based backup it means that you'll hopefully have a slightly greater understaing of what is actually happening and the options that are avialiable to you, which means should there ever come a time when only recovery is accessible - you won't [email protected] your pants!
good
simple and easy thanks dude
Related
Lagging from sleep mode
Well i one click rooted and one click lag fixed but it didnt seem to change the phone when i press the power button to come out of sleep mode. It still takes a second or two. Also when i am done with a phone call it takes a bit for the screen to light up again. Should the fix have fixed this or am i doing something else wrong. Thanks in advance. Im new to android and loving it. Not very tech advanced either so try to keep it in simple terms.
polo1000rr said: Well i one click rooted and one click lag fixed but it didnt seem to change the phone when i press the power button to come out of sleep mode. It still takes a second or two. Also when i am done with a phone call it takes a bit for the screen to light up again. Should the fix have fixed this or am i doing something else wrong. Thanks in advance. Im new to android and loving it. Not very tech advanced either so try to keep it in simple terms. Click to expand... Click to collapse If you are using SetCPU or any Task Killer it has been recommended by most all developers here not to use them because this will cause lag issues with this phone. You may want to check out this thread this ROM is super fast and no lag happenning here. Also, read the entire thread so that you know any issues associated with it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=786532 It is a nice Rom packaged with Atimn's Voodoo Kernel and it is easy for noobs to install. Now that you are rooted get Titanium Backup (donated version0 to back up apps and data, it is one of the best apps money can buy. Also, get ROM Manager (donated version) another tool you won't be able to live without. Both are available on the market.
Ok this looks pretty good. i may have a dumb question though. Do i need to uninstall the fix and root i have? Thanks
Are you using Ryanza's one click? Just remove the lagix, you can keep root, no problem with that. Backup with Titanium before you flash and be sure to get ROM Manager you will need it to flash this. After you install ROM Manager flash ClockworkMod Recovery, don't be scared it will reboot your phone into recovery and flash an image of your phone as it is now, think of it as a restore point like Windows system restore, it's basically the same thing. This process will then give you the ClockworkMod Recovery screen when you boot into recovery and reinstall packages, it is a green menu, stock is yellow menu, in the green recovery menu you will have an option for Nandroid, that is what you will hear people talking about when they say run a Nandoid backup. It is a great thing because if you eff up your phone you can always revert back to a setup that was working. Before flashing the Cognition ROM read the entire thread, everything you need to know is in there. If you need any help you can pm me.
Ok great! Thanks a milion!! Ill try it and see what happens
Good Luck and enjoy your phone.
Help with Dexter's Froyo in Singapore
Hey Guys! I have a XT720 as well, but I'm really not confident in flashing a rom through dexter's froyo, as well as installing dexter's froyo myself. Does anyone here who has already done it live in Singapore? Would love to meet up to learn!
why wont you follow the video tutorial from reverendkjr pretty clear on it.i only follow his instruction on the video when i try to installing khal's rom for the first time
I do get where you are coming from but I really can't get the video and it really scares me to try this haha. I'm rooted and stuff but the rom and dexter froyo seems like a big step for me... hoping someone can guide me in real life to be sure.
the phone have bootloader locked, your phone will not bricked if you do something wrong when updating the rom AFAIK the problem that may happen as far as i know such as stuck on M logo, and boot loop but with reflashing it will be ok again. just watch the video and courage yourself lol hope you make it
Doodalicious said: I do get where you are coming from but I really can't get the video and it really scares me to try this haha. I'm rooted and stuff but the rom and dexter froyo seems like a big step for me... hoping someone can guide me in real life to be sure. Click to expand... Click to collapse If you're already rooted, try this to just install OpenRecovery and create a backup of your system. Download dexter's zip and get the OpenRecovery.apk from there. Then make sure your battery is fully charged, turn on USB debugging, unplug the USB cable (sd card must be writable from the phone) and install OpenRecovery.apk. Then run "System Recovery"--that's what OpenRecovery.apk is called) and push the button to install open recovery, let it finish and then reboot your phone. Press and hold the volume key before the M logo pops up--you should get into the openrecovery menu. If that works, you're 90% of the way there. Then in OpenRecovery use nandroid > backup and backup your "boot", "system" and "data" partitions (the backup all does not work on XT720). Then use "wipe all data" to reset your phone. Reboot all your stuff is gone. Reboot into OpenRecovery again. Use nandroid > restore to restore the backup you just made. Reboot. Your stuff is back. The thing to remember about this phone is that being plugged in to the wall isn't enough for flashing--the battery will drain even while plugged in while inside recovery so always make sure you have a full charge before you start flashing. Installing Dexter's or khalpower's ROMs is then just a matter of copying a different nandroid backup onto your sdcard and restoring it (and wiping all data).
I had the same fear want to install the new rom, but following the steps in the tutorial video, no problem, everything will be fine. As stated Mioze7Ae, first make a copy nandroid, and then install the rom dexter and last patches. Good luck
Im using khals V4 rom now on starhub. Everything is awesome except battery life even with underclocking. still trying to figure out whats wrong with battery.. the steps to install khals's rom is quite clear. btw khal's rom is modified from dexter's.
Thanks a lot for the replies, really pushed me to get this done on my own! Now my XT720 is running khalpower's rom v4 as well! It wasn't that tough and it was a good experience haha! ^ I find my phone's battery life is performing better though surprisingly o.o but I do have data off and network on 2g on most cases so maybe the change isn't such a big difference! Having the partition to have apps on sd card is really wonderful! Happy XT720 User!
:/ im used khalpower's rom raw without much installing and settings but still getting only 4.5 hours every 10% of batt gonna try dexters one with mioze's update now
Doodalicious said: Hey Guys! I have a XT720 as well, but I'm really not confident in flashing a rom through dexter's froyo, as well as installing dexter's froyo myself. Does anyone here who has already done it live in Singapore? Would love to meet up to learn! Click to expand... Click to collapse lol i saw this post too late or i could have helped you with it...
im sure he can manage thru reveren youtube tutorial..its pretty clear later he may wanna try miui too..heheh good luck
I'd just like to ask, can you back up ALL ur info using nandroid backup on milestone xt720? And if u restore the backup restores to the saved backup's rom right?
make sure you backup the first 5 options.
androidlover123 said: I'd just like to ask, can you back up ALL ur info using nandroid backup on milestone xt720? And if u restore the backup restores to the saved backup's rom right? Click to expand... Click to collapse khankuan said: make sure you backup the first 5 options. Click to expand... Click to collapse I think all you really need to back up is system & data. ( & maybe sdext)
Just flashed my first Rom :)
Hey guys, I just flashed my first rom and I wanted to let everyone know especially the dev but since I can't post yet in the dev section I made a thread so hopefully he will be able to read it I flashed miui pimpmaneaton's custom rom and so far i love the looks of it!!, thanks for the rom pimp!
Congrats, soon enough you'll be flashing like two or three a day.
sshede said: Congrats, soon enough you'll be flashing like two or three a day. Click to expand... Click to collapse lol I have read that a few times already, looks like you guys are all right!!!
I just flashed mine for the first time a couple days ago as well. And i know just enough to be dangerous. I'm still not sure about the backup process and what each one does. What does Nandroid Backup do? When should it be done? And when can it be skipped? What does Titanium Backup do? When should it be done? And when can it be skipped? For instance, there's a minor update to the ARHD 3.6.9 -> 3.6.10. When i flash this, i assume i should make a Nandroid backup. What about Titanium? What will happen to all my installed apps? Will they be wiped out? If i install a different ROM all together and don't like it, can i just pull out the Nandroid backup and go back to where i was with the old ROM and all apps still installed? Also what does Super Wipe do? Does it delete my apps/app data?
wicketr said: I just flashed mine for the first time a couple days ago as well. And i know just enough to be dangerous. I'm still not sure about the backup process and what each one does. What does Nandroid Backup do? When should it be done? And when can it be skipped? What does Titanium Backup do? When should it be done? And when can it be skipped? For instance, there's a minor update to the ARHD 3.6.9 -> 3.6.10. When i flash this, i assume i should make a Nandroid backup. What about Titanium? What will happen to all my installed apps? Will they be wiped out? If i install a different ROM all together and don't like it, can i just pull out the Nandroid backup and go back to where i was with the old ROM and all apps still installed? Also what does Super Wipe do? Does it delete my apps/app data? Click to expand... Click to collapse Well I wish I could help you but I am not sure if I have all the right answers to your questions, like I said I just flashed my first rom last night and i have not restored anything yet. Now I understand that a nandroid backup should be done before you flash a new rom if you want to restore that same rom at a later time, for example I did a nadroid backup of my stock rom but if I flash another rom I wont do a nandroid of this miui rom. I did a titanium back of a few saved games but I have not restored anything yet. Regarding ARHD rom I can't really tell you anything, maybe someone will help you faster if you post in their rom thread. SuperWipe from what I have read wipes all your data, cache, dalvik with just one click instead of going one by one but in the end it will make the same effect if you wipe data, cache, dalvik one by one. Lets wait if someone chimes in and correct me so we both can learn more
A nandroid backup is a bit for bit copy of your current Android set up. It'll back up your rom, applications, application data like text messages, playlists, bookmarks. Everything. If you ever want to go back to it, just restore the backup and you'll be up and running in 3 to 5 minutes. Titanium backup lets you back up individual applications to be restored at a later time. For example, if I download Opera Mobile and set up all my speed dial bookmarks, I'll perform a titanium back up of the application so that if I change roms at a later time, I can restore the back up of Opera Mobile and not have to re-set anything up. Hope this clears the air. Neither of which have to be done, mind you, but they are incredibly convenient.
A nandroid backup should be done always before flashing a new rom. even if your updating a rom you should still do a nandroid backup just in case something goes wrong. Sometimes devs forget something in updates and it could mess up your set up so always backup for safe keeping.
Thank you both for clarifying it for us
I have recently rooted and s off but may I ask what is a kernel ? I want to install a stock ics Rom (I think its pixel or something like that ) and they talk about kernels a lot . Can I just flash it like normal ? Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using xda premium
ihearthapple96 said: I have recently rooted and s off but may I ask what is a kernel ? I want to install a stock ics Rom (I think its pixel or something like that ) and they talk about kernels a lot . Can I just flash it like normal ? Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio Z715e using xda premium Click to expand... Click to collapse You can read here what a kernel is: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=20768687 In the rom's thread should be the install notes on how to flash that to your phone, basically it is wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, wipe dalvik and then flash rom.
Congratulations all who flashed their first Rom soon u all people will flashing new Rom every day. That's all possible due to great talented devs of XDA. Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Well I guess you guys are all right, I just flashed my second rom today lol and I think that I will stay with this one for a while , for those wondering I flashed senseay rom
Congratz on your first rom flash
An actual functioning Rom without Errors. Flashed Android 4.0.1 ICS w/ Android Revolution HD 5.02 yesterday..... It 's still not a brick!
n0ferz said: Well I guess you guys are all right, I just flashed my second rom today lol and I think that I will stay with this one for a while , for those wondering I flashed senseay rom Click to expand... Click to collapse You may notice diminishing battery life with rom flashes. If this is the case, download Battery Calibration from the market. Charge your phone up to 100% and fire this application up. It'll likely ask for root access upon being started (but it might not). Once you're at 100%, click the giant Battery Calibration button. It may ask for root access a second time, just grant it access and it'll wipe the battery stats file. Then, fully discharge the phone (or atleast within 2 to 5%) and charge it back up to 100%. You should notice an immediate improvement in battery life.
Concrats! Now your grown up! I did my first rom yesterday... Now i feel like a big girl... I was scared ass hell that i would ****ed this up... but it works! So i`m proud!
sshede said: You may notice diminishing battery life with rom flashes. If this is the case, download Battery Calibration from the market. Charge your phone up to 100% and fire this application up. It'll likely ask for root access upon being started (but it might not). Once you're at 100%, click the giant Battery Calibration button. It may ask for root access a second time, just grant it access and it'll wipe the battery stats file. Then, fully discharge the phone (or atleast within 2 to 5%) and charge it back up to 100%. You should notice an immediate improvement in battery life. Click to expand... Click to collapse Hey thanks for the tip, I will try this today and I hope to get an improvement in my battery life!! swesjes said: Concrats! Now your grown up! I did my first rom yesterday... Now i feel like a big girl... I was scared ass hell that i would ****ed this up... but it works! So i`m proud! Click to expand... Click to collapse gratz to you as well
Lol. Nice to see so much excitement.Your Sennys are not virgins anymore. Soon enough they'll become whores, just like many others
sshede said: Congrats, soon enough you'll be flashing like two or three a day. Click to expand... Click to collapse And there will be alot of bricking in procces.lol.just joking. Sent from my HTC EVO 3D X515m using xda premium
Once you flashed, you will keep on flashing
[Q] Best Nexus S GSM Rom.
Hi, I'm new to the forum, so please excuse any stupidity on my behalf. I have a Australian, vodafone GSM Nexus S, currently running 4.0.3. I am currently feeling stock android to be very limited, and want to move a custom rom, but I have never done any rooting/modding before. So just a couple of questions. 1) How do you root and install a custom rom? Does anybody have any video (I prefer video as I am less prone to making mistakes) tutorials for rooting and installing a custom rom for Nexus S GSM ICS 4.0.3? 2) What is the best rom, kernal etc, as I want to get my phone as smooth as ios or pretty dam close to it. Also I like changing customizing home screens, etc and would also like on screen buttons. Also I would like it to be very very stable. 3) Would it be possible to reverse all this in case my nexus screws up as the sides of my nexus are kinda creaky, and though this doesn't really effect my usability, I might end up rma'ing my phone in the future, so I would like to be able to reverse all this so it doesn't void my warranty. 4) Is there any point is overclocking and undervolting a phone. My PC is overclocked, but I have a huge fan, so overclocking would mean more heat + more battery use, and on the other hand you are lowering the voltage. Wouldn't this be very unstable? This is my first post, so I apologize for anything I did wrong, and I did try searching, but all the roms look very good, there are some very talented devs here, and I say thanks for the help in advance. Cheers, Continuum EDIT: INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO UNLOCK BOOTLOADER + INSTALL CLOCKWORK RECOVERY TOUCH 1. Download the CyberGR-MOD|NS.NGN ICS v8 HYBRID http://clockworkmod.com/rommanager/d...le Nexus S Why Cyber, seems fast, stable, and is not a beta. 2. Download and install the windows drivers for my phone (I'm on windows 7) http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/N...ussrootICS.zip 3. Follow these until step 7 http://nexusshacks.com/nexus-s-root/...r-gingerbread/ n.b: don't worry about the cd \nexussrootthing. Just go to that folder, shift + right click, and click start command prompt instead. 4. Download clockwork recovery touch (Link: http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/N...overytouch.zip ) and follow these instructions: http://nexusshacks.com/nexus-s-hacks...or-nexus-s-4g/ 5. Go into clockwork recovery (while still plugged into pc) and perform a nandroid back up and click the following after: data/factory reset under mount and boot format /boot format /system Next mount usb, and copy CyberGR-MOD|NS.NGN ICS v8 HYBRID over to sdcard, and unmount USB. 6. Plug out cable, and flash rom by going into clockwork recovery and clicking install zip from sdcard, to flash rom 7. Reboot phone and enjoy
1. NexusSHacks.com has a video tutorial on how to unlock your bootloader and Root the phone. Rooting won't be necessary to go to a custom ROM, but unlocking the bootloader is highly recommended for doing so. You will lose all personal data (including from internal SD card) once you unlock. 2. Best ROM and Kernel are the ones that fit your needs. Try a few of them, you'll find a sweet spot somewhere. The Nexus S has some of the (if not THE) best ROMs and kernels of any android, in quality, features, speed and stability. 3. All reversible from a software side. Hardware issues are covered for 1 year under warranty even if you've rooted it, technically. You can lock the bootloader and flash a stock ROM very easily. 4. Overclocking can give a significant performance increase at the cost of battery life and possibly stability. Undervolting uses very slightly less power, but generally not significant enough to notice, especially with the instability risk (rebooting will use far more power than undervolting will save you). Some chips are made more perfect than others, so some can handle high OC and extreme UV, some gag at the thought of 25mV less. Also, remember to do a backup via recovery (NANDROID backup) when you want to try something new and when you are happy and stable with a ROM/Kernel/Settings combo. This can save lots of wasted time
Hi Harbb, thanks for the reply. 1. Sorry new to xda so couldn't link url, but I think I got it thanks, and I found one for unrooting. But how do you install a custom rom without rooting? 2. Well I was looking into roms, and codename looks good but does not come with Gapps. CM9 also looks good, but still in beta, I think I'll wait for the final release of CM9. Got any specific ones you like? Also what is the point in changing kernel? 3. Since there is a vodafone flag under your name I presume you work for voda aus? So do I have to flash it back to stock to rma it, or can I just give it in, rooted + custom rom, and expect them to replace it for me granted the phone is still <1yr, and if it is not, I guess it costs a bit to fix it. 4. But wouldn't overclocking cause your phone to overheat. Sometimes my stock nexus is sunning really hot, and other times the screen is not responsive, and I presume overclocking will just add to that. I see undervolting as a benefit, but you could just configure your phone to go into aeroplane mode/turn of 3g/etc using timerifficor tasker if battery is an issue. Thanks for the help, but whats a NANDROID backup. Also, isn't there another one called titanium or something? Cheers, continuum
Nandroid is a backup you make in ClockworkMod Recovery. Titanium Backup is a backup of all your apps (+ data).
1. Once you have an unlocked bootloader, you are given permission to use "fastboot" to flash a custom recovery. The custom recovery has, practically, full access to the rest of the system (which is essentially what root/su is). From the new custom recovery you can flash the .zip file which is the ROM, or kernel, or backup all of your files that you couldn't even access before, or format several partitions to your liking. Rooting is just copying over the su command so you can have access to the entire system, which you can't have without it. 2. CodeName Android has a seperate gapps .zip file, it's linked in the thread somewhere. Just wipe (a full wipe includes data/factory reset, format /system and format /boot, i recommend doing this between different ROMs), flash the ROM .zip first, then gapps.zip second, then reboot into your new ROM. I really liked stock. Recently i moved to Slim ICS. It's all about preference, features, etc. All of the devs here are great and there is no harm in trying out a handful of ROMs, say for about 2 days each. See which one you feel at home with. Same with kernels. Pick a handful with the features you want and try them for a couple of days. 3. No, I don't work for Vodafone. That just says which carrier I'm with. With regard to warranty, put it this way. Unless you get some serious hardware failure or storage failure, you will be able to put the phone back into the locked and stock state. If the phone just up and dies one day, feel free to send it in as-is and they should sort it out for you as it is a hardware problem. This -could- be due to overclocking, and they can argue it, but i can't recall anyone having issues like that so nothing to stress about, just don't abuse your phone. Otherwise, you can usually be able to bring it back to a locked state and in this case i would do that just in case. You can find the warranty policy here. It's quite broad, but so long as it's a manufacturing problem it is clearly covered. 4. Possibly, yes. As i said before, different CPUs are better in general than others due to variances in manufacturing. Lowering voltage may lower temperatures too, so if it is stable this could be an upside to UVing. It's all about being stable though, if your phone can't handle 1200mhz, don't OC it. If it is and you are happy with the battery life and possible lessened lifetime of the phone while stable, go right ahead. Generally no harm in trying, just go up (or down) incrementally. I'll note that while not in use, the phone should be in "Deep Sleep", which completely shuts off nearly all components of the phone aside from the radio (for cellular reception). Undervolting or Overclocking has no effect whatsoever here.
Icecoldmeat said: Nandroid is a backup you make in ClockworkMod Recovery. Titanium Backup is a backup of all your apps (+ data). Click to expand... Click to collapse Cheers, so basically its like a windows recovery image. But for the nexus s 19203 (I think, its the slcd one), nexus hacks is saying to use TWRP. Can you still do nandroid backup with that? Harbb said: 1. Once you have an unlocked bootloader, you are given permission to use "fastboot" to flash a custom recovery. The custom recovery has, practically, full access to the rest of the system (which is essentially what root/su is). From the new custom recovery you can flash the .zip file which is the ROM, or kernel, or backup all of your files that you couldn't even access before, or format several partitions to your liking. Rooting is just copying over the su command so you can have access to the entire system, which you can't have without it. Click to expand... Click to collapse So for a beginner, your suggesting it would be easier to unlock the bootloader, and load a custom rom with root already incuded, such as CM9, right? Harbb said: 2. CodeName Android has a seperate gapps .zip file, it's linked in the thread somewhere. Just wipe (a full wipe includes data/factory reset, format /system and format /boot, i recommend doing this between different ROMs), flash the ROM .zip first, then gapps.zip second, then reboot into your new ROM. I really liked stock. Recently i moved to Slim ICS. It's all about preference, features, etc. All of the devs here are great and there is no harm in trying out a handful of ROMs, say for about 2 days each. See which one you feel at home with. Same with kernels. Pick a handful with the features you want and try them for a couple of days. Click to expand... Click to collapse So essentially: 1. Find a rom, and the drivers for my device, store these on my pc 2. Wipe phone (I presume by going into settings and pressing factory reset? and then wiping everything) 3. Turn off phone 4. Follow the nexusshacks to fastboot oem unlock and TWRP recovery 5. Nandroid backup?? 6. Flash the rom 7. Flash Gapps 8. Reboot, disconnect from pc, and then let everything initialize. 9. Enjoy Harbb said: 3. No, I don't work for Vodafone. That just says which carrier I'm with. With regard to warranty, put it this way. Unless you get some serious hardware failure or storage failure, you will be able to put the phone back into the locked and stock state. If the phone just up and dies one day, feel free to send it in as-is and they should sort it out for you as it is a hardware problem. This -could- be due to overclocking, and they can argue it, but i can't recall anyone having issues like that so nothing to stress about, just don't abuse your phone. Otherwise, you can usually be able to bring it back to a locked state and in this case i would do that just in case. You can find the warranty policy. It's quite broad, but so long as it's a manufacturing problem it is clearly covered. Click to expand... Click to collapse Ahh, my bad, new to this forum, and though you were a voda rep So I guess as long as your not extreme overvolting, you'll be fine. Harbb said: 4. Possibly, yes. As i said before, different CPUs are better in general than others due to variances in manufacturing. Lowering voltage may lower temperatures too, so if it is stable this could be an upside to UVing. It's all about being stable though, if your phone can't handle 1200mhz, don't OC it. If it is and you are happy with the battery life and possible lessened lifetime of the phone while stable, go right ahead. Generally no harm in trying, just go up (or down) incrementally. I'll note that while not in use, the phone should be in "Deep Sleep", which completely shuts off nearly all components of the phone aside from the radio (for cellular reception). Undervolting or Overclocking has no effect whatsoever here. Click to expand... Click to collapse I'll try mucking about eventually, but am a bit scared about heat build up. Also, any word on when the full CM9 will come out?
I believe the initial estimation was around march, and by how early CM9 ROMs are going i tend to believe them. Likely more toward the end, though, before a stable is released. A NANDROID backup basically copies: /system, /boot, /data, /cache, the recovery, kernel and .android_secure (on the sdcard). Pretty much everything android on your phone is backed up and you can go back to that exact state anytime you want by restoring, or restore each one individually. I personally recommend the ClockWorkMod, TWRP isn't in development anymore and CWM now has a touch version too, though i still prefer the non-touch myself. Just make sure to get the latest version from here. You can feel when the phone gets hot as long as you don't have a full cover, and some apps can tell you what the battery temperature is too. Stick to what is comfortable for you. Don't be worried though, you can always just clock it back to stock speeds and volts.
Harbb said: I personally recommend the ClockWorkMod, TWRP isn't in development anymore and CWM now has a touch version too, though i still prefer the non-touch myself. Just make sure to get the latest version from here[/URL]. Click to expand... Click to collapse Ok, so this is what I am going to do: 1. Download the CyberGR-MOD|NS.NGN ICS v8 HYBRID, from the link you gave me, I presume this works for i9023 2. Download and install the windows drivers for my phone 3. Root my phone, with TWRP, according to that method shown by nexusshacks 4. Then install clockwork recovery touch using fastboot flash recovery ,also shown by nexus s hacks 5. Preform a nandroid back up ?? not sure how to do this 6. Flash rom ?? not sure how to do this either 7. Reboot phone and enjoy I am presuming Gapps in included with the rom. Please correct anything wrong, and also, how do I get onscreen buttons? The code name rom looks like it comes with them.
!!! I recommend you to use the latest CyanogenMod Nightlie (it's already smooth and stable enough) and some great custom kernel: AirKernel of Matrix kernel
novic_dev said: I recommend you to use the latest CyanogenMod Nightlie (it's already smooth and stable enough) and some great custom kernel: AirKernel of Matrix kernel Click to expand... Click to collapse Cool, but would I have to do the whole process all over again, once the final CM9 comes out, and does it update automatically, or must you update manually?
No need for twrp, you can flash cwm straight away. Before unlocking remember to backup all your data that you can (you will lose save games and app settings). Make sure to do the wipes I told you about or your phone may not boot or be very unstable. Copy the from .zip to sdcard and while in recovery choose to install a .zip and choose which one. It's quite simple, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Backing up is done by clicking backup of course. There is a thread in development dedicated to onscreen buttons, that might be of use. I haven't tried it before.
Harbb said: No need for twrp, you can flash cwm straight away. Before unlocking remember to backup all your data that you can (you will lose save games and app settings). Make sure to do the wipes I told you about or your phone may not boot or be very unstable. Copy the from .zip to sdcard and while in recovery choose to install a .zip and choose which one. It's quite simple, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Backing up is done by clicking backup of course. Click to expand... Click to collapse Well I don't have much data on there, so I'm just going to copy a couple of photo's, and then factory reset, but I thought to flash cwm you have to have root first? My nexus is just pure, stock. Harbb said: There is a thread in development dedicated to onscreen buttons, that might be of use. I haven't tried it before. Click to expand... Click to collapse Thanks, but I can't post there yet. http://[www].androidegis.com/how-to/now-root-your-nexus-s-in-one-click-root-method/ Is this any good?
Unsure if that one still works for ICS, possibly not. There are other methods to root 4.0.3 though without unlocking the bootloader, but it often makes it much harder to do some things. Since we don't get scalded for unlocking the bootloader (and it can be undone, AND it's easy), it is the best and preferred way by most accounts. It saves alot of hassle and we are free to use fastboot if anything goes awry. Much better than needing to do that rooting procedure again, then flashing recovery within android, etc. Since you have nothing on your phone, definitely just unlock the bootloader. Nothing like freedom Unlocking the bootloader allows you to use fastboot, as i said. fastboot allows you to flash a custom recovery (and boot with a custom kernel, and some other less-used things). TWRP and CWM are both custom recoveries, so as long as you can use fastboot (via "fastboot flash recovery recovery.img") you can replace recovery.img with twrp.img, cwm.img and so on. Same process, different file. I'll give you another hint since you'll probably run into this eventually: Stock recovery has an android and exclamation (!) mark as a splash screen. You have to press a volume key and power button to go through that splash screen. The main time you'll see this is if you flash an official Stock ROM. There is a script that reinstalls the stock recovery on boot in Stock ROMs. To get rid of it, you'll need to rename the file /system/etc/install-recovery.sh to something else (like install-recovery.sh.bak), or just delete it. You need su to do this, of course.
Harbb, is it "OK" before reverting to a previous NANDROID backup in CWM recovery to do format system/boot/data/cache/dalvik and factory defaults ? or not or harmful ? What is the word on that ?
Alright, thanks guys, I will try this soon.
mahanddeem said: Harbb, is it "OK" before reverting to a previous NANDROID backup in CWM recovery to do format system/boot/data/cache/dalvik and factory defaults ? or not or harmful ? What is the word on that ? Click to expand... Click to collapse No need to, it is done automatically before restoring. Essentially it doesn't make a difference either way. continuum51 said: Alright, thanks guys, I will try this soon. Click to expand... Click to collapse You're welcome, it'll all make alot more sense once you're doing it.
Ok guy, about to do it now. These are the steps I'm taking, 1. Download the CyberGR-MOD|NS.NGN ICS v8 HYBRID http://clockworkmod.com/rommanager/...CyberGR-MOD|NS-NGN.&deviceName=Google Nexus S Why Cyber, seems fast, stable, and is not a beta. Only question is how are updates going to work? 2. Download and install the windows drivers for my phone (I'm on windows 7) http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/NexusS/rooting/nexussrootICS.zip 3. Follow these until step 7 http://nexusshacks.com/nexus-s-root/how-to-root-nexus-s-or-nexus-s-4g-on-ics-or-gingerbread/ 4. Then install clockwork recovery touch (Link: http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/NexusS/cwm/nexussrecoverytouch.zip) and follow these instructions: http://nexusshacks.com/nexus-s-hack...orkmod-touch-on-rooted-nexus-s-or-nexus-s-4g/ 5. Preform a nandroid back up, I'm guessing this is a part of clockwork recovery, and click the following after: data/factory reset format /boot format /system From advanced, click reboot recovery, and wipe data/factory reset & cache again. Next, storage select, format /system /data /cache /boot & format /sdcard, mount usb, and copy CyberGR-MOD|NS.NGN ICS v8 HYBRID over to sdcard. 6. Plug out cable, and lash rom by going into clockwork recovery and clicking install zip from sdcard, top flash rom 7. Reboot phone and enjoy Before I go ahead, if something screws up, and the phone completely dies (software side), is there a way to force it back to stock? And are these steps correct?
continuum51 said: Ok guy, about to do it now. These are the steps I'm taking, 1. Download the CyberGR-MOD|NS.NGN ICS v8 HYBRID http://clockworkmod.com/rommanager/...CyberGR-MOD|NS-NGN.&deviceName=Google Nexus S Why Cyber, seems fast, stable, and is not a beta. Only question is how are updates going to work? 2. Download and install the windows drivers for my phone (I'm on windows 7) http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/NexusS/rooting/nexussrootICS.zip 3. Follow these until step 7 http://nexusshacks.com/nexus-s-root/how-to-root-nexus-s-or-nexus-s-4g-on-ics-or-gingerbread/ 4. Then install clockwork recovery touch (Link: http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/NexusS/cwm/nexussrecoverytouch.zip) and follow these instructions: http://nexusshacks.com/nexus-s-hack...orkmod-touch-on-rooted-nexus-s-or-nexus-s-4g/ 5. Preform a nandroid back up, I'm guessing this is a part of clockwork recovery, and click the following after: wipe data/factory reset wipe/cache partition And download the following Dalvik-wiper.zip, and wipe Cache. ?? for this, do I put it on phone sd card? From advanced, click reboot recovery, and wipe data/factory reset & cache again. Next, storage select, format /system /data /cache /boot & format /sdcard, mount usb, and copy CyberGR-MOD|NS.NGN ICS v8 HYBRID over to sdcard. 6. Plug out cable, and lash rom by going into clockwork recovery and clicking install zip from sdcard, top flash rom 7. Reboot phone and enjoy Before I go ahead, if something screws up, and the phone completely dies (software side), is there a way to force it back to stock? And are these steps correct? Click to expand... Click to collapse Data/factory reset also formats /cache. For a full wipe: data/factory reset, format /boot, format /system. No need to worry about any wiping .zips. No reason to do it twice either, but if you really want peace of mind do as you wish. This is ALL you need to do for wiping. They are correct, but also somewhat redundant. Follow my wiping directions and you will be perfectly fine. If you ever want to flash a new kernel, you only need to wipe dalvik cache prior to flashing it.
Thanks mate. I've edited step 5, and am doing it now.
As i said too, no need to do the wiping again as you have at the bottom of step 5. Also note that data/factory reset formats /data, /cache and .android_secure (on sdcard), so doing the separate formats is essentially the same as doing the data/factory reset. There is a sticky at the top of the general section with all of the stock OTA ROMs (Full and Update ones). Just wipe and flash one of the Full ROMs and you'll be back to stock in no time.
[Q] htc inspire 4g rom flash issue
hi, im new to rooting and rom flashing. i used the aahk to root my inspire and all went well. i then used existz ics rom and my phone is just a flashing animation and does not turn off or boot up. its been this way for about an hour. just wondering if i did something wrong or if there is an estimated time. thanks for any help or info. -Benny
Yes you did something wrong. Pull the battery and boot back into recovery. Then do a full wipe and reflash.
thanks marsdta said: Yes you did something wrong. Pull the battery and boot back into recovery. Then do a full wipe and reflash. Click to expand... Click to collapse thanks so much mars, realized that i forgot to wipe dalik, reflashed Inspiremod and ics, runs beautifully, thanks again!! -Benny
Hey welcome to XDA so just so info about what your asking that I made a reply for someone else so give this a read and see what you think.. Getting Started or Flashing A Rom: Once you root your phone (this is not in any order really) you should get ROM Manager aka Clock Work Mod. Once you get that, open the CWM and the first top half you will see flash clockworkmod recovery make sure your on wifi I would at least for the updates. You will see a dialog box click desire hd. This will allow you to make back ups of your settings that you made when you flash a rom its always a good idea to make your backups its a life save!! So, once you made your back up and this is what I do.. I plug in my phone to the pc switch to disk mode which will let you see whats on your sd card. Since you flash the CWM and recovery you will see on your sd card a folder called clockworkmod open then backups folder you will see you back that you made, drag and drop that backup file that you made to your fold that you made on pc to save it for later. And thats pretty much how I save my backups of roms etc.. Now if you need to load that back up just plug phone in disk mode cwm fold>backup drag and drop back up that you need. And boot into recovery mode and select back up and restore and select restore and the file boot and your good.. I would download which Rom I would like to use. Save it to pc to a folder that I have made that I store all my roms, backups,radios & rils, kernels..etc.. just to keep myself organized. Once you get your rom just drag and drop it to the ROOT of the sd card do NOT add it in any folder thats on the sd card. Once you have it on the card just boot into recovery flash your rom.. Other then that its easy to flash the rom.. And when you get all your settings set up make a back up and when done save it to the pc and delete it from the sd card if you dont want to keep on the card I do that.. When it comes to battery life it depends on what the rom.. But I like to use killers http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...ht=killersolth scripts for the kernels.. For me I always flash a different kernel upon flashing a new rom. For me having the kernel and killers script is the best combo for me to have for performance and battery life.. now since I have inspire I use the uv lites scripts. For the most part flashing radios & Rils you would never really need to do that so I wouldnt recommend it for now maybe later but read about it its good to know what it does.. Other sides which I for got to add.. When you flash a new rom its always good to wipe user data.,cache, delvik it makes it for a good clean install with other roms.. Also the desire HD thread which the inspire can use the roms from that thread to. Well I hope this helps you in any way.. if you need help PM me best of luck Now it goes for the same setup of making up a backup with 4ext.