[Q] What to do with HTC Desire HD? - General Questions and Answers

Hey
Im kind of behind with Smartphones because I had a Samsung D500 for several years, it was only a few months ago I upgraded and got myself a HTC Desire HD on Contract. Ive been using it completly standard, with all the official software etc..
Im beginning to get quite bored of it now though and I still have like 1 and a half years left on my contract.
All I seem to do with the phone is... standard SMS texting, phone calls, facebook, twitter and check a couple of websites every now and then.
I have read around and hear things about "ROMS" and "ROOTS", but dont really know what that means.
Im just wondering, if you had this phone.. What would you do with it exactly?
Something to make it look/feel like a new phone maybe..... I duno
Just want some opinions, recommendations really
Thanks

Custom ROMs
A stock ROM is the version of the phone's operating system that comes with your phone when you buy it.
A custom ROM is a fully standalone version of the OS, including the kernel (which makes everything run), apps, services, etc - everything you need to operate the device, except it's customized by someone in some way.
So what does the "customized" part mean? Since Android is open source, developers are free to take stock ROMs, modify them, strip them of garbage, optimize them, add things, and pretty much do whatever their imagination and skills allow.
Custom ROMs are oftentimes faster, more efficient, and use less memory because:
- the developer ripped out useless garbage, such as carrier installed apps or
- the developer optimized the kernel. For example, an undervolted kernel can provide a much better battery life than the stock one.
You can upgrade to a version of the OS that has not yet been released for your device, or never will be. This is possible in 2 situations:
- A leaked version of the new ROM showed up online, and the developer got on it like the fat kid chasing an ice cream truck.
- A ROM from another phone was ported by the developer to work on yours. For example, G1 and MyTouch 3G users may never see Android 2.1 officially released on their phones, but Cyanogen, one of the most respected Android developers, was able to create a custom ROM running 2.1 for those devices.
ROOTING:
Getting root or rooting your phone is the process of modifying the operating system that shipped with your device to grant you complete control over it.
This means you can overcome limitations that the carriers and manufacturers put on your phone, extend system functionality, and even upgrade it to a custom flavor of Android.
The name root comes from the Linux operating system world, where the most privileged user on the system (otherwise known as Administrator on Windows) is called root.
You have access to alter any system files, use themes, change boot images, delete annoying stock apps, such as Sprint's NFL Mobile live and Nascar Sprint Cup Mobile, and other various native applications that might drive you crazy (Footprints, Voice Dialer, etc).
On most rooted Android devices, you can back up your entire system to an SD card, much in the same way you can image a hard drive. This is great if you’d like to try a new ROM, as you can back up your phone, wipe it completely, flash the new ROM, and if you don’t like it, just restore from your backup to get your device back to exactly how it was before you wiped it.
The easiest way to do this at the moment is by using ROM Manager.
ROM Manager allows you to easily flash a custom recovery image which is what you will need in order to backup and restore your phone. The recovery image is a special program that can be booted into outside of the phone's main operating system, sort of like an OS recovery console on a PC. By default, the recovery image on most Android phones only gives you a few options, mainly related to wiping the phone. Custom recovery images expand upon these options and usually include scripts that can do things like backup and restore your system, fix file permissions, or allow you to flash custom ROMs that the normal recovery image would otherwise reject.
Normally, flashing a custom recovery image requires some command line work, either on your PC, or on a terminal emulator directly on the phone, but Koush's ROM Manager should automatically flash his custom recovery image (known as ClockworkMod Recovery) for you, provided you're on one of the supported phones and that it is already rooted.
Using ROM Manager is pretty simple. Download and install the application from the market, fire it up, and you’ll be prompted to allow the application superuser permissions - make sure you approve it.
The first thing you’ll need to do is flash the ClockworkMod recovery image that I mentioned earlier, which can be done right in the app (it’s the first option). ROM Manager should automatically find the latest version of the right image for your phone, download, and install it - the whole process is seamless.
After that is done, you can simply use the ‘Manage and Restore Backups’, and ‘Backup current ROM’ options to, well, backup your current ROM or restore from an existing backup.
Rooting Guide for Desire HD
Desire HD ROMs

If you're bored with the look and feel of the phone then by all means customize it. Custom ROMs etc can help with that, or even just trying another Launcher like ADW EX. Make it a project to do something creative and artsy and then post your work here. Rooting will allow greater scope of what you can accomplish, like changing the system Fonts, for example.
Really though, if you're not interested in that kinda thing, i'd suggest just doing more of what the phones are designed for in the first place, which is running applications. Perhaps you might edit your OP to request a list of entertaining apps so that people can throw out suggestions?
A few time killers that i enjoy:
IMDb (For watching trailers and reading about movies)
Cracked Lite (Funny and informative articles)
Amazon Kindle (Reading books on the go)
Wimp.com (Fantastic collection of videos. Think of it as youtube's greatest hits)

Heya thanks for that reply
Well I am interested in a custom ROM, it sounds cool. Especially if it removes crap I dont need to save my battery life etc
Id like to try a new ROM, I had a go last night and installed ROM Manager but it said something about it couldnt find superuser and told me to google it lol, so I went to sleep
Now I am awake I am willing to give it a bash and would like to do it
Dont think Id be much use trying to do my own though,would rather use someone elses if Im allowed too? A very fast/power efficient/nicelooking/stable one etc.. Any you recommend?
Just doing that successfully would be a big enough project for myself as its my first time Heh

Before I go ahead and break my phone, are these instructions the correct ones for me?
Shall I do what this says to setup superuser?
pocketnow.com/android/how-to-root-your-htc-desire-hd

Sorry I just noticed you have a big massive link with a guide for rooting my phone lol
I am going to do that now then thanks

As for ROMS, for my phone, is:
[ROM] MIUI 1.9.16 v.1: Freshly Squeezed Edition™ 16/09/11
The main custom ROM for me?
Would you recommend that one, from that link you posted, that one seems to be the only main one I can see

Need abit of help, got visionary on my phone. Ticked box r/w after boot or whatever and then when I click on Temproot now, it says rooting device etc.... but then it just goes to a black screen and stays a black screen.
Is this normal or is something going wrong?
- Apparently the latest firmware doesnt allow Visionary to work. I need to downgrade to an earlier firmware? How do I do that lol
Or should I just give up and stop now?

You have to downgrade to Froyo 1.3.2 first. Follow this guide.
Here's a guide for rooting, ENG and Radio S-OFF, Flashing radio and ROM

Flashing a radio?
Um this sounds abit to risky actually for my first time.
So from what I understand is, I could successfully flash my chosen custom ROM but the radio signal for phone calls/SMS texting and stuff.... could not work ?
I dont think I want to take that risk now Ive read that

dont flash any radios the one you have will work fine also have a look around in the dev forums.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=765

Im quite happy with what Ive done, someone mentioned to do it earlier on in this topic and its basically all I wanted, just a fresh look
I changed the HTC Skin to Slate, and then used the GO Launcher and using a green + black theme, done abit of customizing. Before all this I did a hard reset on the phone too, and using JuiceDefender. I like it, happy with it, feels fresh

Thanks for all the help and advice though I do appreciate

Related

rooting and kernals and general point

so i've bought myself a samsung galaxy s2, or i-9100, supposedly the best phone on the market, but ive only used nokia keypad phones before, and I'm pretty sure i'm not using my new phone to its full potential.
some questions, what is rooting? i get the idea it lets me do whatever i want?
if I root my phone, does that wipe my Operating System (gingerbread 2.3.3?) and all settings and installed things? Does it also wipe user data like texts or photos?
what's a kernel, or kernel version, kernel source code etc...?
I want to get rid of some of the samsung branding software, because i can't see an option to install them. but some features like swype i like, can i "selectively" debrand the phone?
The general point of what I want is I want my new phone to work like my computer, uninstall programs i don't want and install ones i do want. (i've only ever used Windows) But i don't seem to understand almost everything on this forum
Rooting your phone allows you to change roms, boot up themes and will let you remove most apps and allow you to get some you can't have with out root axx, but most roms already remove the carrier bloat ware. It will remove all your apps etc though and txt. Think of it like reinstalling your os on your pc, rooting your phone will make you admin on your phone instead of a normal user.
You can also underclock your phones cpu to save some battery life if you want when it's rooted.
You can just move your photos to your pc/sdcard...
Point is though, rooting your phone is worth it give yourself some time getting use to it maybe read up on it on here there are tons of great tuts to show you and explain things to you.
Like @zookeeper525 said, rooting gives you full access to your phone. The process does not erase data or settings. You can root on a stock ROM, then flash a rooted custom ROM. There are a lot of good ROMs out there, and you can usually get great performance and improved battery life from a custom ROM. Every device is different, so your experience may vary.
A kernal is the core of the Android operating system. Custom ROMs come with a kernal that has usually been tuned for their specific ROM, but there are also custom kernals available that have even more features (overclocking, underclocking, undervolting, etc.).
With any of this, you stand to gain lots of control over your phone, but can also brick it if you're not careful. My advice is read, read, read, then read again before you proceed.
Good luck!

Suggestions for wonderful experts helping us noobies

Yes, I definitely mean “wonderful” and “experts.” It is astonishing how much time, effort, and expertise the people who write the ROMs, etc., do for others, just to help us enjoy our cellphones. So, it is with no disrespect that I offer these comments on the instructions the experts give to us noobies to help us try to make our phones work better when they post “complete” instructions about how go to about this.
#1 – Odin.
There’s lots of advice to get Odin, but there are lots of Odin versions out there. Usually (generally in the computer world) what works when there’s a recommendation to get a program is to find the latest version. Even if a forum posting has a link to get a program, we figure that was the latest version available when the post was made and it still makes sense to get the currently latest version. That doesn’t work here. The latest Odin version I found was Odin 4.28. 4.28 totally fails to recognize my Samsung Droid Charge. But, if I use the ones referenced in the postings here (e.g. Odin3 v1.85) it recognizes my phone immediately. I understand the feeling that if we’re noobies we should just follow the directions exactly as written, but a little footnote about how this is different than everything else with computers would help.
I’m sure it isn’t true, but Odin seems to come from a mystical cloud location without any existence in our 3 dimensional universe. So, there seems to be no home website to explain that the latest version shouldn’t necessarily be used by everybody. And, there seems to be nobody on the forum who takes credit for upgrading Odin. Very mysterious.
Also – there’s at least three ways I’ve seen adamantly expressed as the proper way to connect a phone to Odin. #1 – simply attach the phone to the computer in the usual “download” mode, and Odin will find it.
#2 – Take out the phone battery for 5 seconds, replace it, then boot into recovery mode by holding down the up-volume, power, and home keys until “Samsung” flashes twice.
#3 – Take out the battery and don’t return it. Plug the phone into the computer, booting into recovery mode like #2.
As far as I can tell, #2 and #3 were needed for prior versions of Odin. Still, we noobies do Google this process, and it’s scary getting these conflicting directions about how to proceed. So, since you are obviously trying to make things less scary and confusing for us, you could mention this too.
Part of the problem is that there are various “Here’s how to replace your stock ROM with a better one” postings. Maybe each of them works perfectly, and there are many paths to enlightenment. Still, it’s worrisome for a noobie to try to figure out which of these paths to bet our phone on. (Of course, it’s also difficult for people trying to actually achieve spiritual enlightenment to decide on a path, so maybe this confusion is just an inevitable part of human experience.)
(cont. below)
#2 – CWM – Clock Work Mod.
I’m still confused about the need and timing of this one. Some sources say it’s entirely optional, just allowing other cool stuff done later. Others seem to say it’s important to install (flash through Odin) this before installing the new ROM. And, then there seem to be some ROMs that Odin can flash that do it all at the same time. And, then, there’s the issue of what order things are to be done in. If we just use Odin to flash a new Gingerbread ROM, can we, or should we, use Odin to flash in CWM?
As a noobie, I’m inclined to the “the less I mess with, the less chance I have of screwing everything up.” So, I think I’d like to skip the CWM while installing my new ROM, and wait to use CWM until I find some additional cool feature I can’t add without it.
#3 – ROM’s.
Where’s Consumer Reports when we need them? There are apparently various ROM’s we could use to improve our phones (e.g. Samsung Droid Charge). They are listed with somewhat cryptic explanations. Those explanations are probably perfectly explanatory for experts, but as a Noobie I don’t get a clear sense of direction from reading them. For example, Android 2.2 ROM’s (Froyo) are still listed, along with 2.3 (Gingerbread). Why would anybody want 2.2 if 2.3 is available? I assume there’s some reason I should be considering, but have no idea what it is. Among the 2.3’s, there’s also the “bloated” vs. “debloated” versions. Many of the unremovable (until rooted) stock apps seem to be both useless and resource drainers. But, I don’t know if I’m ready to give up all of them. And, the “debloated” versions are written by programmers, not people who want to devote their lives to writing up detailed commentaries about what is, and is not, debloated and why. Is there any reason not to just keep all the stock apps, and freeze or uninstall them with Titanium Backup later, as I identify the ones I do not want?
I feel anxious when I read somebody’s post about their newly released ROM, with lots of compliments, then comments that some feature now isn’t working. It’s hard enough to get answers about how to deal with the stock ROM.
I’m also confused about the difference between the “kernal” and the “ROM”. My impression is that “kernal” is which version of Android we use. “ROM” is broader, including extra’s like CDM and CDW, and Voodoo, etc. Or, not?
Part of the problem, obviously, is that the ROM writers have to do a different version for every [email protected]#$%^&*! phone that is made. Apparently even with the Samsung Galaxy family, there are enough differences that the ROM’s are customized for each one. (My prior phone was a Vibrant.) I am grateful that we have choices, and that these ROM’s are available, at all, but it would help to get a little more commentary (i.e. recommendations) about which ones are best for those of us just wanting a better ROM.
#4 – Voodoo. This is like the other issues. It seems like a great thing, to make the file system more efficient and do things like improve the sound system. But, it’s also confusing about when/if to install it in relation to the general ROM update.
So, maybe one of the wonderful experts will clarify these things here, or tweak their general instructions, for the benefit of noobies. Regardless, I again express my appreciation for all they’ve done for us.
There's a whole lot of "it depends" in this.
#1 - Odin may be up to 4.28, but Odin3 is newer than Odin. That's pretty self explanatory on its own.
#2 - You need CWM. Period. But, if you are flashing a full Odin ROM, it already comes with it, so you won't have to go into it unless you want to flash a theme or a new kernel. If you are installing a CWM ROM image, you need to flash CWM first.
#3 - Froyo (2.2) is still the only offical release for this phone. Gingerbread (2.3) is coming, but it's still in beta, and not officially released. The only GB releases we have are leaked and are not official final builds, therefore, they are not guaranteed to be of the quality or stability of Froyo, and, more importantly for us, there is no source available for the GB releases yet, so we don't have a lot of the cool tweaks available. So, it really does depend on what you are after.
#4 - All the current ROMs pretty much support it out of the box. If you are going with a stock ROM instead, you need a Voodoo enabled kernel to activate it. If you're ever in doubt of whether you have it and if it's enabled, install Voodoo Control and look at the lagfix section of the app.
I built a web page that has compiled all of the software you need to root, kernel update, ROM, and recover your Droid Charge with direct links to all of the software in one place.
http://www.toms-world.org/android
Plus it comes with very detailed instructions on how to do any one the activities mentioned above.
For those experts who do know how to do all of this, I'd like to see some collaboration and opinions on my directions. I'm only one person so I can't think of everything that could be added as far as a tutorial.
My idea is that a lot of us that know how to do this stuff should start a place where people can find the information they need for the Droid Charge all in one place without having to go from thread to thread, page to page, etc. Having it all in one place would benefit the Droid Charge community greatly.
Thanks for the replies.
Also, answering my own questions,
Not only is CWM necessary, but the remove battery 1st instructions, at:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14692818&postcount=1
are correct. The other instructions I found that didn't include this stop didn't work -- Odin just sat there.
Also, at about page 11 of that xda thread, it says (correctly) that after ODIN says it's done, it's OK to unplug your phone, despite the large, brightly colored screen that says "Downloading... Do not turn off Target!!!"
Also, the kernal is different than the OS. So, first we find and install a rooted kernal (I guess this is like the most fundamental part of the phone's operating system), then pick a ROM (i.e. version of Android) to install.
Yes, now that you pointed it out, I agree it should have been obvious that ODIN3 is a later family version of ODIN, so no matter how high the version of ODIN we find, it's not going to be up the ODIN3 level. ...sigh
In the case of loading GummyCharged, you don't need to pick a kernel. The GummyCharged package contains an already rooted kernel (iMoseyOn's Lean Droid Charge Kernel) so basically if you load GummyCharged you have a kernel flashed along side it.
The only time you have to flash a new kernel is if you want to run a different kernel than the one contained in your ROM. Or if you want to update the kernel to a newer version of the kernel.
The kernel is the heart and soul of an operating system. It does all of the work in coordinating memory and process allocation. Think of it as a traffic cop.
trparky said:
In the case of loading GummyCharged, you don't need to pick a kernel...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Your description of the kernel is much better than mine.
Another bit of noobie confusion:
The GummyCharged thread at
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1163123
says to install through CWM, after rooting. So, I already installed a new kernal, so I could have root.
As I understand better, now, I hope -- even with GummyCharged -- I had two choices, as there are two GummyCharged versions available. One is the two-step process (new kernal, then new OS). The other is to do both at the same time, through ODIN, which would have been easier.
I did install a new kernal, through CDW, seeing that path more clearly.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1104634
Just a note that when my phone rebooted, Titanium Backup said I did not have root privileges. On a hunch, I just rebooted again, and that solved the problem. TB is happy, and so am I.
Then install a new OS through CWM.
Another thread that might have some useful information for you can be found here -> http://rootzwiki.com/showthread.php?4643-HOW-TO-quot-Clean-quot-install-GummyCharged-FE-2.0. Theres a lot there (maybe too much?) but if nothing else there are a number of useful links. I hope it helps!
Off topic: trparky I tried to send you a pm yesterday but my computer was acting up - not sure if you got it or not.
Thanks for all the help. Everything seems to be fine. This is just sort of a summary & wind-up post of another noobie's experience and successful quest for cellphone happiness.
First, there seem to be three ways to do scary things to the e-guts of my cellphone.
#1 -- Odin3 (a.k.a. Odin, but Odin3 v.x is the one that works for Samsung/Verizon Droid Charge [SDC]). Odin3 runs on the computer, with the cellphone properly tethered to the computer, and can insert stuff, like CWM. So, mostly the first step is to use Odin3 to insert CWM (superseding the stock recovery program). From some post it seemed it's possible to skip this step and do everything from Odin3, but that post also said that approach wasn't for noobies, even though it seemed easier to me. Odin3 is an elegant program, but you have to find somebody's Betty Crocker instructions for how to use it.
#2 -- Use the ordinary SDC file tethering to put .zip files onto the SDCard, because CWM uses those to install things like kernels and OS's (versions of Android). Sometimes the kernel and OS come bundled. Sometimes not. I ended up flashing a kernel first, then an OS with a bundled kernel, and everything seems fine.
#3 -- there's some other program, starting with an "H" that can also work like Odin, I think, but I ended up anxious enough figuring out #1 and #2, so didn't want to learn a whole other approach that might, or might not, somehow have been better, so I ignored this approach.
After I had my new root kernel, I used Titanium backup to freeze the bloatware. At that point I sort of chickened/burned out because there were too many choices of which version of Android to flash. I decided I didn't really need any of them, since my phone would be efficient enough without the bloatware running to give me everything I needed. What originally got me to start flashing my Android phone was when I would (repeatedly) receive calls on my old Samsung Vibrant, but the phone was so busy doing some [email protected]#$%^&*! thing that it wouldn't let me answer the call. With a more advanced phone (my new SDC), and frozen bloatware, I was confident I wouldn't have that problem, so just stopped there ... ... ... until I was horrified to receive another call which my SDC told me about but was too busy doing some [email protected]#$%^&*! thing that it wouldn't let me answer the call. OMG, it's happening again! At that point the choice of which version of Android to use because less important, because I was sure that nobody's custom Android would let that happen. So, I went with the GummyCharged Froyo [GummyChargedFE_2.0.zip]. At this point, I'd worked with CWM enough that it was all easy. Downloaded the file, copied it to my SDCard, booted to recovery, erased files & Dalvik cache, flashed the GummyCharged, and restarted. Lovely.
One nice aspect I'd not anticipated was that somebody has thoughtfully improved the process, so immediately my phone started re-downloading and installing the apps I had before. It's kind of a hassle to have to re-do all that manually, so special chops/thanks to the GummyCharged team for that feature. My phone works fine. I've tried, and happily failed, to make it too busy to let me answer a call.
What's left? I have to make donations to the Gummycharged people, whose software I now use, and the person who tweaked CWM that I use. It feels like I should make a donation to the Odin3 trolls, but haven't seem a request for that, nor have any who they are or how to do that.
I'll also be keeping my eye on the developing Gingerbread kernels, occasionally, until it looks like those are so mature that there's no reason to not confidently install & flash (through Odin or CWM, both of which I not feel fairly comfortable with) the upgrade.
On the off chance that anybody's still reading this, I do have one last question:
Can I delete the GummyCharged .zip file from my SDCard. I remember, back when I flashed my Vibrant, that I later deleted a seemingly useless .zip file called "update.zip", and that caused a problem. File isn't huge, so except for my mild OCD, no big problem in just leaving it there.
Thanks, again, to the wonderful experts who've helped me and so many others through this.
angelsix said:
...
#3 -- there's some other program, starting with an "H" that can also work like Odin, I think, but I ended up anxious enough figuring out #1 and #2, so didn't want to learn a whole other approach that might, or might not, somehow have been better, so I ignored this approach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the program is called Heimdall - this is more often associated with Mac users, as ODIN is a Windows program.
angelsix said:
...
One nice aspect I'd not anticipated was that somebody has thoughtfully improved the process, so immediately my phone started re-downloading and installing the apps I had before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not positive, but I believe this to be more of a Google thing. Whatever apps you've downloaded from the market are linked to the google account used on the phone, so once you sign back in on your phone post-flash, those apps (whatever ended up being stored as downloaded-by-you by google at least) start getting pushed to your phone.
angelsix said:
...
On the off chance that anybody's still reading this, I do have one last question:
Can I delete the GummyCharged .zip file from my SDCard. I remember, back when I flashed my Vibrant, that I later deleted a seemingly useless .zip file called "update.zip", and that caused a problem. File isn't huge, so except for my mild OCD, no big problem in just leaving it there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can delete the file, but this is essentially the installer file - if you ever have need to re-install it later on, you will need that (or a more up-to-date one if such a thing exists) file again. I tend to be an electronic pack rat myself, but you can delete the file from your SD card without any immediate adverse effects. If I remember right, the "update.zip" of old was associated with some earlier variants of CWM - without it you would not be able to get to the "custom" recovery (i.e. CWM) to flash things. Seems like such things are no longer necessary anymore, at least not with the recent versions.
dwitherell said:
I'm not positive, but I believe this to be more of a Google thing. Whatever apps you've downloaded from the market are linked to the google account used on the phone, so once you sign back in on your phone post-flash, those apps (whatever ended up being stored as downloaded-by-you by google at least) start getting pushed to your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct, and it's something that I strongly dislike, as I have installed plenty of things from the Market that I have since uninstalled and no desire to restore. If you skip account setup when you are first setting up the phone, and then manually go into Settings->Accounts & Sync, it will skip this, which is yet another reason to like aftermarket roms, as the stock roms will not allow you to get to the launcher until you set up a Google Account.

[Q] Is it true that custom ROM's are always less stable than stock ROM's ?

If it's true, why is that? Is it because stock ROM developers are better?
Not being a troll. Honest question.
I'm just curious. I use galaxy Ace, and I would very much like to use a custom ROM to get rid of all the samsung junk apps. But if it's unstable, it may not be worth it.
No. Well made custom roms are usually more stable and faster than stock roms, especially for devices which have unoptimized stock roms, such as the SGS.
You can remove apps from the stock rom by rooting it - Its not necessary to flash a custom one.
Hi 314! Really, I didn't know that. How do I do it safely?
My personal experience is that custom ROMs have been every bit as stable as stock ROMs. I'm quite often running alphas and dailies and impressed with their stability. Of course, doing that, you're bound to run into some gotcha's from time to time but that's part of the fun of dailies, discovering the changes and surprises. I'm on Deck's alpha1 ICS ROM and it's been sweet, but alpha2 hasn't worked for me (wigetsoid seems broken). Shurg. So I restored alpha1, wait for alpha3, and try and get my post count up to give Deck some feedback in his thread.
Thanks mhwarfield. What are dailies? and what is OPS?
"You can remove apps from the stock rom by rooting it - Its not necessary to flash a custom one."
Well i heard this before in some youtube video but exactly not sure how and with which software may be (root manager). Please somebody with experience in this matter give us a full guide how to remove junk apps after rooting. Thanks in advance
rayhan0701 said:
"You can remove apps from the stock rom by rooting it - Its not necessary to flash a custom one."
Well i heard this before in some youtube video but exactly not sure how and with which software may be (root manager). Please somebody with experience in this matter give us a full guide how to remove junk apps after rooting. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do that easy with "Titanium Backup" from the Market after you Rooted your Device. I think you dont need "Titanium Back Pro" to Remove Junk Apps.
rayhan0701 said:
"You can remove apps from the stock rom by rooting it - Its not necessary to flash a custom one."
Well i heard this before in some youtube video but exactly not sure how and with which software may be (root manager). Please somebody with experience in this matter give us a full guide how to remove junk apps after rooting. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's really really not difficult.
Android stores all user apps in "/data/app"
all stock apps are stored in "/system/app" (this includes every system app, even the keyboard, camera and the gallery are in here)
this is the place where the junk apps should be ( i never had a bloated phone, but i guess they are in here, because we need root to manipulate files here)
now use a file explorer with root function (i use root explorer, and i definitely recommend it) and browse to this folder.
search the junkApp.apk and delete it.
you're done
EDIT: oh and yes, you can do it with titanium backup too, but i don't know if you need the pro version for it
Once you get custom ROMs out of Alpha/Beta/RC, they're better than stock, in my opinion. "Custom" means they can be designed for extra speed, power, leanness, beauty, or any combination of the above.
I don't mind helping out with betas and contributing to developers. Usually, by the time it gets to beta, most stuff is buttoned up nice and tight--plus I don't demand much from my phone.
Sounds like you got it covered with root and Titanium Backup. But do not fear the custom ROM.
It really depends. Some developers are EXTREMELY aggressive and throw a ton of crap into their kernel/ROM without much testing so they can "get ahead" - but often this leads to instability.
Others carefully fix issues one by one, with the exception of initially doing "standard" mods (like extended power menu on Android).
Some ROMs will often see releases coming out multiple times a week, often with lots of changes and reverting back and forth, and ALWAYS rebasing on the latest and greatest stock base, even before it's proven. This approach can sometimes pay off, but the risk of screwing up is high. Most such ROMs turn out to be crap.
Other ROMs take the most stable known base available, and fix whatever remaining known issues exist, and make a few standard tweaks. These are the ROMs that you still see people using more than three months after the last update. An example of this is VillainROM over in I9100-land. I only know of two issues with it - one has a one-time-after-install workaround, and the other is specific to trying to run that ROM on a device it wasn't designed for (I777).

[Q] Main reason to install custom ROM's on WP7

Hi,
I have been a WP user for a very long time (A journey which started with HTC Artemis)
I had started using the custom ROM's provided by some amazing chef's over here compared to what MS was dishing out.
I am not having the WP7 from the first day it had launched (Started with the mozart and now on lumia 800)
I have not yet tried to root the mobile or install a custom ROM in this as for the first time I am loving what MS has given.
Since there are quite a lot of people here who are using custom ROM and also rooting their devices I was wondering what I am missing.
If you have rooted your device or installed a custom ROM please let me know the advantages of rooting and/or installing a custom ROM.
I had searched the threads and could not find an answer anywhere so if this was posted somewhere before apologies.
This has definitely been asked (and answered) before, but the short version is that custom ROMs give deeper access to the system (ability to replace system files, which are locked in ROM, and ability to completely bypass the security system, for example). They also can include the best firmware features from multiple different OEMs. Current "rooting" ability gives less complete access than a custom ROM (for example, native EXEs aren't supported yet, although that's being worked on and should be available soon), but also maintains the OS's ability to receive official updates. Stock ROMs are also less likely to have bugs than custom ROMs, though they typically also offer fewer features.
Of course, part of it comes down to the model of phone you have. LGs can be rooted, but don't get custom ROMs. Lumia 710s (and a very lucky few Lumia 800s) can get custom ROMs, but we havent' been able to root their stock ROMs.
I had checked a few threads but did not find the complete list of benifits in one central place hence this thread.
I am giving below the benefits of rooting based on my little knowledge. It would be great if some one would be able to add to this very small list.
Pro's of rooting
1) Can install the best firmware for your phone regardless of your carrier and your location.
2) Can side load apps which are not approved by MS and not in the marketplace
3) SMS tones
4) Using the phone as mass storage (Not sure about this one)
5) Change the available fonts and metro theme colors
A very small list from me so it would be really great if someone could expand and also correct if the above list is wrong.
I just really dont know if I should custom rom mine. I have so many sms and mms, couple of my games are finished, and final fantasy is still halfway through. Carbon isnt in the marketplace anymore but I still have it. Also messages in whatsapp viber and kik, risking all those for full unlock and homebrew apps that I need but lived without since I bought a titan. If it were possible to export messages, and game progress, and import them back, then I'd definitely custom rom mine, else I'll just have to get a lumia 920 and then do a custom rom.
Ability to send all files through bluetooth to other phones is also great, you should really consider jailbreaking.
NeuroXT said:
I just really dont know if I should custom rom mine. I have so many sms and mms, couple of my games are finished, and final fantasy is still halfway through. Carbon isnt in the marketplace anymore but I still have it. Also messages in whatsapp viber and kik, risking all those for full unlock and homebrew apps that I need but lived without since I bought a titan. If it were possible to export messages, and game progress, and import them back, then I'd definitely custom rom mine, else I'll just have to get a lumia 920 and then do a custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's defenetly worth trying out the 7.8 rom, with the windows phone 8 startsceen!! (link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1908624)
I'm sure you won't regret this one!!! (Microsoft is said to release this February 2013!)
And after you have the Nokia apps (Maps, Music, Drive, City Lens & Counters) you won't let the custom rom's go!!!
(Use this HSPL guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=32097753&postcount=14)
For the backing up part: USE CABSENDER! (http://xboxmod.sylvester20007.com/TOOLS/WP7-Update-Cab-Sender.rar) (as Admin)
Thanks sianto I really appreciate it, but I've read some posts around that backing up via cabsender and after installing a custom rom, you won't be able to use that backup anymore as the ID changes per rom install. Is this true? Is it not like in android where you perform a full nand backup and restore anytime?
NeuroXT said:
Thanks sianto I really appreciate it, but I've read some posts around that backing up via cabsender and after installing a custom rom, you won't be able to use that backup anymore as the ID changes per rom install. Is this true? Is it not like in android where you perform a full nand backup and restore anytime?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, it is unstable sometimes! But you just need to copy the folder xxxxx - xxxxx - xxxxx - xxxxx - xxxxx
x: is something random
from an temp folder called Windows Phone Update C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Phone Update
to an safe location, and (after flashing) place it back (with still an extra copy on a safe location) and just use R.
It "should" work!

Empty ROM

Hello everyone,
Im here for a long time now, enjoy my different android cellphone with different ROMs you proposed.
But now I wish one thing : a empty ROM with nothing in it for my Z3.
Is it existing and/or valuable? Indeed I want it to put a modded Store and add everything I want with nothing else.
Well I think Im not the only one in this quest and and maybe It's already discuss elsewhere.
Well thanks for all of your work its really amazing what you can do in here.
What do you mean by an "empty ROM" ?
You can always take a rom .zip and modify it the way you think it suits you best,
but I don't think many users here want to have a bootable rom with nothing in it.
Please specify what you mean by empty.
Do you mean no system at all, no apps, no bloat, no extra features besides AOSP?
he basically means no apps/widgets at all, just the rom itself
The rom itself functions because of the system apps or am I missing something?
But like I said he could use every rom zip and modify it, which would be in fact the same
as getting an "empty" one, where he had to add many apps for basic things like phone, settings etc.
Richy99 said:
he basically means no apps/widgets at all, just the rom itself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes That's what i am talking about.
I have just seen in android development ROMs with lot of apps.
I install ROM til the SGS and now I own a Z3.
Between I took a break with Android for iPhone.
Well I am again in android stuff and there are changes.
I mean when I installed ROM back in the days I had to flash the kernel, etc.
Now there's only a zip to flash in Recovery with all already configured.
How can I configure more? Choose what i want in the ROM.
Obviously I need Phone app (didn't know that's an app in fact) but for the rest, I can use for example Retrica for APN, Box for email etc. I don't advertise it's just examples.
Well are the cyanogen ROM nightlies what I am looking for?
I want to personalize all.
Thanks for the interest.
Well I understand the need to configure it yourself, but theres definitely no such rom. I for myself never saw something like that on xda. But like I said if you don't want the pre-installed apps you can open the rom zip and delete those you don't want and replace them with the ones you got.
But beware: like I already said there's a whole lot of apps for basic phone features which may not appear as an app with an actual interface on your device but rather work in the background. Deleting such could end in a brick in the worst case.
CyanogenMod has all the standard apps pre-installed like every other major custom rom out there.
It's designed to be flashed and used right away.

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