Non-destructive ROM update on EVO - Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]

I have the original EVO. I have it rooted for wireless tethering. It works great. The problems is, Onlive has a kick butt new app that only works with Gingerbread (Android 2.3) and I, for obvious reasons, haven't installed any firmware updates from Sprint so I am still on 2.2. I've never cared before because it's always done what I wanted. I have 2 questions.
1) Can I install a new rom without it being destructive? Meaning it can upgrade. Such as a newer HTC update without wiping out my data.
2) What version should I get? The proper combination of stability and features (backward compatibility should be good I assume). I know there are some kick butt non-HTC roms that greatly improve battery and performance. Those are fine if they are non-destructive or, if HTC upgrade is destructive, then who cares right? (Except I do love HTCs voicemail app)
Thank you in advance everyone.

mleejr said:
I have the original EVO. I have it rooted for wireless tethering. It works great. The problems is, Onlive has a kick butt new app that only works with Gingerbread (Android 2.3) and I, for obvious reasons, haven't installed any firmware updates from Sprint so I am still on 2.2. I've never cared before because it's always done what I wanted. I have 2 questions.
1) Can I install a new rom without it being destructive? Meaning it can upgrade. Such as a newer HTC update without wiping out my data.
2) What version should I get? The proper combination of stability and features (backward compatibility should be good I assume). I know there are some kick butt non-HTC roms that greatly improve battery and performance. Those are fine if they are non-destructive or, if HTC upgrade is destructive, then who cares right? (Except I do love HTCs voicemail app)
Thank you in advance everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you flash a custom rom you lose OTA updates.

Related

Which Hero/G2 custom ROM do you use and why?

Hello All!
Like many others I am getting a bit pissed off with the time it is taking HTC to release the 2.1 update for the Hero/G2. (Now June???)
While waiting I have notice a number of hacked or custom ROMs and have been watching with great interest. It would seem the best way to keep your Tech up to date is to use the community ROMs.
I’m in the process of getting a Goldcard and downgrading……
So, the question now is:
Which Hero/G2 custom ROM do you use and why?
I would like AndNav2 or Google Maps Navigator to work.
Your thoughts please
Ta Eddie
I rooted this weekend for the same reason. I use the Fresh 2.0d ROM. I like it because it is based on the leaked Sprint 2.1 ROM, but all the bloatware is stripped out to make it run a lot faster. I also chose it because it is fairly active and there are a lot of little modular updates you can do to change some of the stuff like the vanilla lock screen fix and the OpenGL ES problem that makes live wallpapers not work.
i too am thinking about using a new rom due to the extreme amount of time in between updates. When spring releases the official 2.1, will it be easy to switch back, or will i really not even feel the need to do that?
IMO I think you will be happier with the ROMs than the official Sprint release. You have more control over the phone with a faster ROM, not to mention WiFi tether. I regret bit making the move earlier.
tried villain5.2 and 5.4. both are better than the stock, by better I mean faster. but am in love with slide villain. so smooth. the best ever.
Sent from my HTC Hero using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

[Q] New Sidekick/Android user with Root/Roms questions ;-)

Hello everyone.
Recently ordered a Samsung Sidekick 4G and reading on the forums
I noticed people saying that this device lags a lot, has random FCs, etc. and
that they way of getting "rid" of this was by rooting and installing
custom roms. As you might have figured by my low post count, I'm
a newbie with regards to Android phones or Android in general. So
I have a couple of questions.
I know where to look if I want to take the chance and do this
by following this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1275116
(thank God and moderators for stickies!-- making life easier )
But I would like to know:
1) What are the advantages of having Sidekick custom roms (apart
from the usual root access and what not). Is the stock Rom that bad?
Does it have lots of bloat slowing the phone?
2) Has anyone tried the different Roms out there and can I have
an assessment of what they do/offer? (i.e. which one you think
is the best with regards to battery life, bundle of sw, etc for
a newb). Basically their strenghts and weaknesses as I wouldn't want
to lose something important such as network services (i.e. 3G, WiFi, etc.)
And yes, I know that I can try them for myself, but I haven't
even received the phone and I'm scared sh!+less of rooting
don't want to think about repeating the process of the link
above to keep trying different Roms... so I will rely on your
experiences.
3) Since I wont be receiving OTA updates with or without a custom
Rom (I don't have t-mobile, it's an unlocked phone...), do
custom Roms already have stuff from OTA updates??
4) If Android 2.3 update is released for the Sidekick, will it
be available as a "custom" rom? Is that how it works for people
that don't get OTA updates?
5) If I decide to stick with stock Rom, could I still "root"
the phone and play with overclocking and all that jazz?
Finally,
6) What's the meaning of life?!?!?
Hope you can help me with these questions if you can.
And if you don't want to help me... then ... I'll be sad...
for a couple of minutes! ;-)
BTW I also ordered an LG Optimus Quantum just to also try the Windows
OS and compare between both, Android and Windows experiences
(I come from Symbian... Nokia FTW!!! ;-))
Thanks!
to question 4 it will be incorporated to the customs roms no doubt
to question 2 i have used gingerclone v2, lighting rom v2 , touchmiuiwiz, and glorious i like glorious the most so far and dislike lighting v2 the most gingerclone and touchmiui is the same rom different themes
to question 5 you can still root it and overclock it
to question 1 you get d can get better battery life, less bloatware, better signal,
to question 3 on the ota we used kg2 which was an ota as a mix with kd1
that was harsh xtreme .
saying i disliked the rom the most when basically i used 3 roms? thats not being harsh
IMO any rom developed by ayoteddy is worth checking out. Also always be sure to fully read each rom thread's first post; everything you need to know should be there.
And personally I wouldn't flash any rom or attempt to root until you're comfortable using adb commands (I've soft bricked a couple of phones myself and that's no fun at all).
There's a bunch of good youtube tutorials outlining everything from rooting to flashing custom roms. Good luck with everything and welcome to the sk4g family!
Sent from my SGH-T839 using XDA App
It was not harsh. lol. it's his opinion.
I have used gcv2 and glorius i loved the first but the later is def. Better, u can root without a custom rom. And dont fret about flashing a rom, this is my first phone that iv flashed, rooted etc. And yes after a week or so the stock launcher started lagging. Although i only got fc's on zeam
Sent from my SGH-T839 using xda premium
Thanks for the responses so far!
And I'll definitely stick with the stock settings but if I begin to experience bugs or lags, I'll definitely look into this! Now I have to check why the heck I'm only getting EDGE!! WTF?!! lol
Thanks.
go to wireless ettings and swtich from gsm to gs/wcda mode
I FAILED!!! :-(
I think I'm going to have to resell this phone on eBay...
I just noticed WHY it wont connect in 3G... T-Mobile phones seem to be "configured" to use the 1700 band but my service provider does 3G like AT&T and I think they use 1900...
Oh well... back to my second option... the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro...
Thanks guys!
gelocks said:
But I would like to know:
1) What are the advantages of having Sidekick custom roms (apart
from the usual root access and what not). Is the stock Rom that bad?
Does it have lots of bloat slowing the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with a custom ROM battery usage decreases in some cases and it also allows for more customization of your phone. Like in some ROMs you can change your transition effects, dock settings, and menu settings. It allows you to pick how you want your phone to look. For most people that got the OTA update their phone got really bad with freezes and force closes, you'd have to reboot your phone every day. In the end if you don't like a ROM you can always switch back.
2) Has anyone tried the different Roms out there and can I have
an assessment of what they do/offer? (i.e. which one you think
is the best with regards to battery life, bundle of sw, etc for
a newb). Basically their strenghts and weaknesses as I wouldn't want
to lose something important such as network services (i.e. 3G, WiFi, etc.)
And yes, I know that I can try them for myself, but I haven't
even received the phone and I'm scared sh!+less of rooting
don't want to think about repeating the process of the link
above to keep trying different Roms... so I will rely on your
experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried a few and at the moment i'm using glorious overdose by ayoteddy and sduvick. This ROM is very smooth and very nice but doesn't allow for as much customization as touchMUI or GingerClone. TouchMui allows you to customize the behaviors of your phone like menu, transitions, etc. through launcherpro which comes with the ROM, BUT it wants you to buy launcherPro when you try to do certain functions. Now i'm a newby too, barely rooted and flashed my phone a few weeks ago, as well as somebody that works with me. I've also experienced alot less forceclose issues with glorious overdose.
3) Since I wont be receiving OTA updates with or without a custom
Rom (I don't have t-mobile, it's an unlocked phone...), do
custom Roms already have stuff from OTA updates??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There aren't really that many OTA updates but from what i've seen the devs here get stuff before it's actually released, such as KJ2, which we havent officially recieved yet. The one OTA update that happened actually made the phone run like crap, excuse my language.
4) If Android 2.3 update is released for the Sidekick, will it
be available as a "custom" rom? Is that how it works for people
that don't get OTA updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somebody will probably post a version of it on the forums and devs will most likely use it as soon as they get their hands on it, IF there's still deving going on for this phone at that time.
5) If I decide to stick with stock Rom, could I still "root"
the phone and play with overclocking and all that jazz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can, I did that before i actually flashed my phone. root is a different thing than flashing a custom ROM to your phone.
Finally,
6) What's the meaning of life?!?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
according to wikipedia, The meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general.
6 the purpose of life is to find the answer to that question yourself...

[Q] Why did you install a custom ROM on your phone?

I'm curious to know why people actually spend the time on their phones and risk bricking and voiding the warranty on their phone to install the latest stable or beta ROM for their device. Is it because the stock ROM doesn't let you do your daily tasks? Or is it slow? Or is it buggy in some way?
For example, I have a HTC Desire. The reason why I installed custom roms was that I bought it second-hand with Oxygen (gingerbread 2.3.4) already pre-installed. It had some bugs as it was a beta version, but overall it was pretty good.
I then found Cyanogenmod 7.1, where I was able to get around the major issue of apps filling the tiny internal memory using scripts to put entire apps on the SD card. I was stoked, and it ran really well with no major issues. It felt like a new phone.
However, I just got my dad a HTC Desire HD, and it has the stock Sense 3.0 on there (Gingerbread 2.3.5). I was going to install Cyanogenmod, but now I'm wondering if it's truly worth the effort for a basic user.
So why do YOU install a custom ROM?
I install custom ROM's, Radios, Kernals, etc for one simple reason......
every Android phone that I have ever had the pleasure of tinkering with, works better when rooted and ROMmed. It truly gives you the customization that makes you feel like the phone belongs to and was built for YOU!!!
I have ics on all my phones
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Simply to remove all the bloatware and removing sense. I love the pure android ICS experience. Also my phone flys faster without sense
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA
johnnyb15613 said:
I install custom ROM's, Radios, Kernals, etc for one simple reason......
every Android phone that I have ever had the pleasure of tinkering with, works better when rooted and ROMmed. It truly gives you the customization that makes you feel like the phone belongs to and was built for YOU!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you know for sure? I'm the same, I just flash it without thinking, like I did with my new Samsung Galaxy S2 just a few days ago (ICS, woo!). I was just about the flash this HTC Desire HD and I thought hey... who knows, maybe stock ROMs are pretty good? Or are they generally rubbish?
Well, my D1 ran stock for two months before it got pimped, so I gave it a very thorough chance! My wifes Eris ran stock for four months until she was ready to throw it off a wall, so it got its fair chance too! Then she moved to a D2G, which ran exceptionally well out of the box, I was kind of upset that she didnt like her experience. It did however, run a lot smoother once root and Liberty was added! And now for our GNex's........I ran stock ICS for two weeks and I must truly say, this device doesn't need root or anything else to kick ass, it just does! However, the developer support is just too incredible, and when you add ICSourcery to a GNex, you'll know why it must be rooted and running that ROM!!!
To get rid of crap I didn't need.
$1 gets you a reply
well i have a GN, so bricking or wrecking it is low on the list, its so easy to root, unlock, flash. I love stock ICS, but I do like the extra features I get with CM9.
AOKP on my transformer prime? Dem features.
Sent from my tf9001 with XDA XD.
The main reason I rooted my phone and through a rom in there is to get the portable wifi for my tablet.
Reason: to learn more about Android phones, and to get rid of bloatware.
make my defy better than 2.1
make my defy fast and have the new software as moto wont do this for us!
still no full hwa but still better than stuck with 2.1
oh and get rid of 2.1 motoblur.... it was crap. the new one rocks but i cant put it on the defy.
BUT if i had an htc or just a sgs2 ics or other ultra super powered phone i would just root change launcher and stay stock!(unless cm9 it waay better like it is now)
in short i want minimalistic beautifull smooth android experience! most importantly fast!(iphone is smooth,not always, but sloooow)
defy running ics latest cm9
because roms are a whole world, it's not just performance or bugs, is the option to change to customize toggles, positions, color, overclock and every little part of you phone...
for example, the resurrection remix or any AOKP let you put calendar events on lockscreen, show wheather in a special panel in the statusbar, hide your battery icon and put a line to measure it, you can even put a navigation bar like nexus
... it's not just cool and waaaaaaay better than stock rom, it is although handy
To get rid of the bloat-ware on the stock firmware!
There is tons of reason to update to a custom ROM. The big deal for me was getting rid of the bloat, also having more features with CM7.
So I could have stock aosp OR sense 3.5. I like both, especially on the thunderbolt (similar to the HD) nothing seems to slow these phones down.
Sent from my ADR6400L
There are many reasons. For example, the phone looks, feels and works like i want.
And one more reason is, that the original software is not so perfect as the most users want.
Overflowing options. Change everything down to the boot image.And speed,and BATTERY TWEAKS!!!!
Sent from my $99 phone using Gingerbread 2.3.7 cause it's root
The reason why i'm using a custom rom is the phones OS feel more smooth and stable and all the bloatware from HTC,Samsung etc. were removed so the performance is much better
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Moving to Q&A

[Q] Why not to use 2.3.5

Hello,
currently i'm experimenting with custom roms, and i started thinking about stock 2.3.5 with sense 3.0.
Are there any NO NO reasons why not to use it ? (Such as vulnerability etc).
I have feeling that battery on 2.3.5 was amazing, camera was better than on ics etc..
No, none whatsoever
"It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating."
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
I had overall better feeling of my phone while using 2.3.5.
It's 50/50 because there are also improvements such as GPS reception, better gmail app etc.
I have the same feeling as you, but the curiosity to experiment new things, makes wanna try another roms leading to always the same conclusion.
Despite all the hard work and improvements in other roms, 2.3.5 is the stable, fast and the only rom that can give confidence for a daily use, but thats my opinion of course
The only thing that i've felt is better in new custom roms is the wifi recepcion, and even in that, it's not a very major big improvement, the wifi in this phone was never very good.
Unfortunatelly there are some apps (such as Chrome) that won't work with 2.3.5. I need chrome, because it's only browser in which i can open AIS (academic information system).
Other browsers fail.
Was thinking about buying new HTC one. But this "support" that HTC cancelled after 2.3.5 for our devices tells me NO NO, don't buy HTC again.
So by now i'm sticking with ICS :/
Again, i agree with you. I love this phone but always get the feeling that HTC don't really care about costumers.
Before HTC i was a very huge fan of the 'Finland guys', devices never failed on me (but doesn't mean they're perfect of course) and now i know for sure what phone i'll buy next and it's not going to be an android (again, nothing against android itself, it's an amazing OS) but i'm not an fan of Samsung and HTC have disapointed me.
In my opinion they don't explore the full capacity of they're devices, and when they forget the devices, they are forgeting the people that have bought it.
remusator said:
But this "support" that HTC cancelled after 2.3.5 for our devices tells me NO NO, don't buy HTC again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me the main reason to install the custom ROM was the stock ROM: I have neither Facebook nor Twitter accounts, so having to scroll half the screen to skip the "social" fields of the contact info to finally reach the actual contact data was an overkill for me. At the same time, I could use HTCDev to change ROM with zero chance of bricking the phone. Sure, HTC could care more about their customers, but we have already got IMHO more then others.
Sent from my Desire S using xda app-developers app
What did you install ?
Btw, you can remove system (read un-unistallable) apps such as facebook, twitter via Titanium Backup. But you need root.
Despite i'm defending 2.3.5 i am also on ics, ICE DS v8.0 Rom.
remusator said:
What did you install ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM 7.2, then beta CM9 and finally CM10.1. I really like CM.
remusator said:
Btw, you can remove system (read un-unistallable) apps such as facebook, twitter via Titanium Backup. But you need root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know. Still, I needed newer Google Talk.
And FWIW HTCDev-Unlock still is wonderful way to root your device without doing some stuff you either don't fully understand or feel not very comfortable with. That is: I stick with HTC just because of HTCDev. I don't really mean that this is the reason for everybody to switch to HTC devices, but this POV is pretty much reasonable IMHO.
CM 10.1 - you mean flinny's builds ?
remusator said:
CM 10.1 - you mean flinny's builds ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. Though it may change soon, as I have an uncommon problem with them.

Does this phone just hate custom ROMs?

I don't see many options here. Mostly stock roms in this forum topic. I had a ton of problems with boot loops and such and just couldn't get anything to work. OTAs still force a bootloop sequence unless I zero out: "/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/misc". I just disabled the notification for them and everything is fine now, but I was wondering if there was any point to using anything other than the stock ROM.
I kept root and just removed TMO bloatware. The 4.4.2 stock ROM seems pretty damn fast, but I have nothing to compare it too. I'm basically just trying to decide if it's even worth it to attempt another ROM install. Are there any real advantages to any of the other ROMs out there over stock? I'm looking for stability above all else, then speed. Features I don't really care about.
klokwyze said:
I don't see many options here. Mostly stock roms in this forum topic. I had a ton of problems with boot loops and such and just couldn't get anything to work. OTAs still force a bootloop sequence unless I zero out: "/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/misc". I just disabled the notification for them and everything is fine now, but I was wondering if there was any point to using anything other than the stock ROM.
I kept root and just removed TMO bloatware. The 4.4.2 stock ROM seems pretty damn fast, but I have nothing to compare it too. I'm basically just trying to decide if it's even worth it to attempt another ROM install. Are there any real advantages to any of the other ROMs out there over stock? I'm looking for stability above all else, then speed. Features I don't really care about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock or at least stock based with dorimanx kernel is about as good as it gets for tmo...most of our developers have moved on to newer devices...and non tmo roms don't have Wi-Fi calling
jamesd1085 said:
Stock or at least stock based with dorimanx kernel is about as good as it gets for tmo...most of our developers have moved on to newer devices...and non tmo roms don't have Wi-Fi calling
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah wifi calling is irrelevant to me, but frankly this stock ROM is amazing compared to the performance of my Relay 4G.... H/W keyboard android phones RIP.
Cheers
I have the Intl version which sports more custom roms but they are all the same more or less.... im on stock KK too even though i was a die hard software updater (had 5.1.1 on previous Nexus 4).
Have to agree with you this phone hates modding and is really feeble, it will get bricked quite easy unlike the Nexus 4 which can take a lot of abuse
Try the new cloudy rom. It's a port from LG G4 with various elements.
why dont you guys check in the G2 Android Development. most roms cover all variants there.
For me CynaogenMod's Privacy Guard feature is a must-have on any Android phone. But right now I'm finding that the official CM12 nightlies seems to screw up the modem settings for my local carrier here in Canda (Wind), so I lose access to the service. Constructive suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Categories

Resources