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Hi All,
I know how deep these forums can go and the latest and greatest always changes as time progresses.
I currently have the Samsung Vibrant running TW - Bionix 1.3.1 because it is by far the best for that particular phone.
I am getting a Nexus S tonight and want to immediately root and flash the best ROM.
I know it can be a subjective topic, but what would you say has the greatest support, most frequent updates, and the best performance for the Nexus S?
How are the OTA updates from Google? Are they still pushing them out with high frequency? Are there any issues that I should be aware of? I remember at launch there was a restarting issue.
Thanks!
Go with CM7 if you want constant updates (nightlies). You won't go wrong with CM7
If you like themed rom, you can try Axura. It's animations are very nice. But it has since stopped because developer is changing phone.
Otherwise you can try SuperAOSP, which is my current ROM. It is also my favourite ROM. It's very fast, constantly updated, and has a few interesting themes to play around with. It has CM options and it's own "SupSetup" which provides even more options to customize your phone with. It comes with a custom kernel also made by the same developer to be fully compatible with the ROM.
Hope you get the ROM you like
I'm personally using CM7 as my daily driver.
CM7 Build #32 + Netarchy 1.3.0-CFS
MIUI is pretty good too.
.. basically any ROM with Netarchy 1.3.0-CFS... you really can't go wrong with it amazing battery life. 60% on 14 hours.
Thanks guys. I know I need to read through all the dev posts, but I spent weeks on the Vibrant forums to get started, and want to hit the ground running with the Nexus.
Appreciate the help!
I think i'm going to go down the CM route. I always wanted to try on the vibrant, but was never officially supported.
sj_martin said:
I think i'm going to go down the CM route. I always wanted to try on the vibrant, but was never officially supported.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always read up on all of the available ROMs on the thread on my signature. I'm about to go update it to get things completely up-to-date but most of it is. I just have to add SuperAOSP and update the status of Axura which is that it is no longer going to be updated.
I haven't seen or heard about when the OTA ICS updates will resume. Maybe I'm not looking in just the right places, but all of my searches (web & xda) don't have any new information.
Has anybody heard about when the updates will resume? I have the i9020a, but I guess I'm asking more generally.
Sent from my Nexus S (i9020a) using xda premium
What makes you think ICS OTA was stopped ?
I went back to GB for a day 3 weeks ago and the notifiaction to update to ICS keeps coming and annoying me ... One of the causes I revert back to ICS was the annoying update notification...
PS:My phone is I9020T BTW
Just haven't received any notification to update, and all the news I could find said it had been paused a few weeks ago but there was nothing new or recent saying that the pause was done with. At least that I could find.
That's because you have i9020T.
Google haven't release ICS update for I9020A yet.
kerry_xu_cs said:
That's because you have i9020T.
Google haven't release ICS update for I9020A yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's the case, I feel better about the lack of an update. So then it's a waiting game at this point.
Thanks.
i'm on i9023 and even i havent got it.. there hasnt been any news since they stopped the ota.. even am wondering if we'll ever see a official update..
i heard some rumor that Google has stop OTA temporarily due some bug ???
I heard it was because of battery issues. True or not don't know, but im guessing there's probably more to it than that. Been waiting along time for it tho.
Nexus s 4g completely stock. 2-5 fC's a day. Lets get this show on the road.
Well...
didmywillybiteya said:
I heard it was because of battery issues. True or not don't know, but im guessing there's probably more to it than that. Been waiting along time for it tho.
Nexus s 4g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been continuing to look around online to see what I could find, and I've stumbled across a seemingly useful thread on the Google Mobile Help Forum. I haven't made 8-10 posts on XDA yet, so I cannot provide an outside link here. I'm sure I could PM it to anybody who asks.
To sum up what I've found, it looks like they're still collecting data about the issues that users are having with the ICS update on the Nexus S. A Google employee provided links on where to report specific issues, which would include the battery issue that you had mentioned.
However, it still doesn't quell any concern about when they're going to have those issues corrected, or how much progress they have made so far.
Why wait ?
Don't wait for the OTA, root your phone and install any one of the amazing choice of developer ICS ROM's to your phone
I chose the ICS version by Peter Alfonso http://download.peteralfonso.com/crespo/rom
(in tandem with Eugene's Speedy Kernel) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1401455
and it's brilliant !
Haven't had one FC in three weeks of use and battery life is astounding
Go for it, it's easy to install and if you don't like you can simply revert back to your current ROM (so long as you used ROM Manager and made a backup of course)
Root is the way to go.
ICS is having battery problems. Go with a custom as mentioned above. I went with the [ROM][25-01-12][AOSP][4.0.3] Codename Android 1.2.0|Fully Open Source and its amazing!
Sent from:
Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3
I9023a
AOSP Codename Android 1.2.0
Or just compile it yourself. The code is there.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
Best ICS ROM
I have been using Crossbones after testing out another well known rom. Crossbones seems to have the magic. The developer is very concerned with stability and only adds features if it works well. No random crashes and few bugs. But he rightly labels his current build a beta which I respect. Others are labeling their betas, stable builds. If you are looking for a good rom with lots of potential check this one out. Oh and BTW great battery life.
Thank you all for your suggestions.
I used to flash ROMs on my Captivate, and kept my Nexus S as a Google OTA phone. Though, considering this whole ICS mess, I'm considering going the way of the custom ROM on this device too.
I might give it another week or two, and see if anything happens by the start of February.
anonchalantsigh said:
Thank you all for your suggestions.
I used to flash ROMs on my Captivate, and kept my Nexus S as a Google OTA phone. Though, considering this whole ICS mess, I'm considering going the way of the custom ROM on this device too.
I might give it another week or two, and see if anything happens by the start of February.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have a linux machine compile it yourself, or pick one of many custom ROM's out in the development section or get mine from my signature, the lightest ICS Rom out there. No battery issues for me, lasts 2 days on medium usage.
Hmm i saw that Google stopped the update on some regions including mine -_- to gather feedback ...
Good ICS ROM
Checkout this ROM, it comes with the kernel in that integrated package.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1425344
Don't wait for the OTA update, just flash this awesome ROM and chose the KERNEL that fit your needs !!!
Google it's way behind on ICS
my setup at the moment
CODENAME ANDROID 1.2 | Matrix v15 cfs
I have rooted and tried a couple ice roms but found them not much better. It was at the end of November tho, went back to stock hoping for the ota. I do know that there are some awesome builds out but I don't wanna wipe again just yet but I'm getting close.
I keep getting the update notification on my nexus S, I'm trying to figure out if this ICS upgrade that my phone keeps telling me about is the same with bugs etc or a fixed one...anyone know?
Hi all
I've picked up a Xoom in the UK. I quite like the tablet but it has a few niggling issues. I'd like to know if these are fixed in ICS (I do not want to unlock the bootloader etc. to update in case I wish to return it). Is rooting and unlocking the bootloader reversible?
I've read ICS is notably faster and avoids the "keyboard lag" particularly evident on XDA, but would appreciate some comments on the following:
Screen Brightness: Auto sucks, it's always too low. Is this improved in ICS?
Browser: The browser doesn't fully load a page. Only the first portion is rendered, scrolling down the page means the next part is rendered. Scroll back up and the earlier part you've already seen is NOT in memory and is re-rendered. Most annoying!
Any comments appreciated.
ICS is most definitely an improvement over stock,in terms of speed and stability. Quite amazing, given that the ICS builds we have now are alpha engineering builds.
To your specific questions,I never really had a problem with autobrightness or with browser rendering... but I've been off stock so long I just may not remember the browser issues. I also converted pretty early on to Dolphin HD browser due to a few stock browser quirks, and am now playing with Boat Browser, which seems a bit lighter than Dolphin and which I like a lot so far.
At any rate, I'd suggest you read through the ICS thread of your choice thoroughly and if you like what you see, give it a try... you can always go back to stock and relock if you decide Xoom is not for you... but I can tell you it is a whole new,and much improved, device on ICS. I'm running Team EOS's version for 4g.
If you decide to giving it a try, the Universal Root thread is a must read.
Unlocking the boot loader and rooting the XOOM on 3.2 Honeycomb is absolutely reversible, I have done it myself several times with no problems
I followed this YouTube tutorial for both
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Dw1PNnmHE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSH14xI5c8s&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Good luck, since it is reversible there is not much risk involved in rooting and unlocking your bootloader and Motorola website provides the stock system images to return your device to stock and re-lock your boot loader in just a few simple commands.....I suggest reading up allot before attempting, there are some great tutorials to familiarize yourself with ADB and the commands and such.
I rooted back on 3.2 and flashed the Team EOS ICS build and I have to say it runs amazing and I have not regretted it for a second.
Sent from my Xoom using xda premium
Thanks guys - much appreciated.
I'm interested in the Team EOS build - I'll have a good read up! I'm not alien to the root and unlock process though - looks similar to my Sensation.
Cheers!
James
Stock HC is a disappointment, EOS is in a word awesome. I use the wingray variation and overclock stable at 1.6 Ghz. I ditched stock over 6 months ago and never looked back. The same folks that bring EOS ICS brought us Tiamat HC which is what I started on after unlocking. Motorola should outsource to these guys.
Can't agree more. Stock 3.2 sucked. Slow UI, default launcher was clunky - it made the Xoom a disappointment.
ICS EOS Wingray (wi-fi), is awesome. Even the nightly builds are usually stable . Sometimes not but most of the time yes. I'm running nightly 54 and rock solid. The only bugs I've encountered are: 1) camera flash over exposes picture, 2) wi-fi off when sleep does not work.
Battery life is good as long as its not over-clocked. Over-clocked, expect it to eat the battery quicker and for most things you do - OC is not needed.
Try it out.
yes yes oh god yes.
I've just moved up to the stock rooted ICS from Tiamat HC and whilst the visuals are fairly similar, it's definitely smooooooother Well worth the move. I've also never found overclocking to be a necessity on the Xoom.
Hi guys sorry for the several topics in my subject line but there are several questions that I have.
So I just signed up because I'm a bit confused and I'm quite new to the scene. I actually posted this on another forum which I'm already a member of, but I felt it would be better posting here since this is obviously more specialised.
After reading the rules, I've realised that it's quite hard to do a search for existing topics with my questions. I've already tried to do individual searches on each topic though, with varying success.
I've just rooted my Nexus S (i9023, AUS version) for the first time simply because I wanted to be able to use DroidWall (to only allow certain apps to use data).
1) If I manually update to ICS, will I lose root?
2) Does installing a custom ROM cause you to lose all your data? - I've done some searching on this and it seems to depend. Some do and some don't. I don't quite get it though.
3) Kernels - seem to control battery life and how the operating system runs. This slightly confuses me because it makes me think, what affects battery life more: the kernel or the ROM?
4) Most people like to overclock their phones in the interest of power. Would it be reasonable to underclock it in the interest of battery life? Sometimes I don't think I really need 1GHz.
5) It seems like the OTA for ICS for i9023 has not been released yet but has been for i9020?
I'm trying to find the best 2.3.6 Custom ROM from here but none of these are 2.3.6 based! All of them are 2.3.4 or older. I'm hesitant upgrading to ICS for three reasons:
1) Hasn't been released OTA officially
2) Worried of app compatibility
3) Worried of shorter battery life
For these reasons, I'm looking for a 2.3.6 based custom ROM otherwise I'd be happy to look at ICS custom ROMs.
None of the ICS ROMs seem to have any distinctive features about them, especially after watching the video reviews. It's all pretty much "it's a great ROM that doesn't lag when browsing the web and it's fast". Nothing really distinguishes one from another.
Sorry for the mildly long post, but I'd rather ask as many questions as I can at a time rather than making a couple of threads for each. Hope I can get some help =)
Thanks in advance!
I bought 9023 in hk. Upgraded to ics by ota.
If you want, you may do it manually. Flash the rom by yourself. Ota is no longer available. Check it out at nexusshack.com
I don't have battery problem. But don't know why.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
xdaillum said:
Hi guys sorry for the several topics in my subject line but there are several questions that I have.
So I just signed up because I'm a bit confused and I'm quite new to the scene. I actually posted this on another forum which I'm already a member of, but I felt it would be better posting here since this is obviously more specialised.
After reading the rules, I've realised that it's quite hard to do a search for existing topics with my questions. I've already tried to do individual searches on each topic though, with varying success.
I've just rooted my Nexus S (i9023, AUS version) for the first time simply because I wanted to be able to use DroidWall (to only allow certain apps to use data).
1) If I manually update to ICS, will I lose root?
If it is the update you probably will (not 100% sure), if it is the full OTA you certainly will. But it is not a major issue either way, and i would actually recommend backing up with TB (AND a Nandroid), wiping everything and then installing the Full OTA ROM and just root again, then restore your backup.
2) Does installing a custom ROM cause you to lose all your data? - I've done some searching on this and it seems to depend. Some do and some don't. I don't quite get it though.
They will generally lose any system data, apps, modifications, etc. Titanium Backup will copy over most of it anyway, particularly apps and their settings/data. Keep in mind that you should always have a CWM backup (Nandroid) ready in case something goes wrong.
3) Kernels - seem to control battery life and how the operating system runs. This slightly confuses me because it makes me think, what affects battery life more: the kernel or the ROM?
Both. ROMs can do more or different functions which can cause battery drain. Kernels allow you to change your own settings (most of the time) to actually balance performance and drain. I would say at the moment with ICS, the kernel and the settings you give it is the biggest contributor.
4) Most people like to overclock their phones in the interest of power. Would it be reasonable to underclock it in the interest of battery life? Sometimes I don't think I really need 1GHz.
That is correct. Many people can get the same speed with a lower voltage, lowering battery drain. Others also use something called "LiveOC" and increase the clocks by 10% (or more), changing the bus speed and giving similar speeds to 1000mhz at only 880mhz, again saving power. Just remember every CPU batch has different variations - some can undervolt and overclock like crazy, whereas some struggle with a 5% increase.
5) It seems like the OTA for ICS for i9023 has not been released yet but has been for i9020?
The i9023 and i9020T has been released. The i9020A has not, and the same with the Nexus S 4G (D720 i believe). It sometimes doesnt show up though. Either try a manual command which i can't remember in the dialpad or just update manually (manually is best ).
I'm trying to find the best 2.3.6 Custom ROM from here but none of these are 2.3.6 based! All of them are 2.3.4 or older. I'm hesitant upgrading to ICS for three reasons:
1) Hasn't been released OTA officially
2) Worried of app compatibility
3) Worried of shorter battery life
For these reasons, I'm looking for a 2.3.6 based custom ROM otherwise I'd be happy to look at ICS custom ROMs.
None of the ICS ROMs seem to have any distinctive features about them, especially after watching the video reviews. It's all pretty much "it's a great ROM that doesn't lag when browsing the web and it's fast". Nothing really distinguishes one from another.
Sorry for the mildly long post, but I'd rather ask as many questions as I can at a time rather than making a couple of threads for each. Hope I can get some help =)
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lots of words, i'm getting a little confused up there. Anyway, if you are rooted (and i assume your bootloader is unlocked), there is nothing to worry about as long as you backup. I personally love ICS and have no issue with it, as do many others. A minority of people however tend to have some problems, whether its battery or force closes. My experience so far has been that a proper wipe fixes most of these anyway.
ICS is still new. Once Cyanogenmod 9 is officially released i'm sure we'll see much more variety than the same look and feel, as alot is based off their code. And also, practically no phones have ICS yet. I've not found app compatibility a problem though, i think the main gripe is viber (which should work soon).
I hope this can help you, just let us know if there is anything else you're after. Also, there is a TON of information around the site (and Nexus S forums in particular). A good amount of reading and going through a couple of pages of some of these threads can go a long way. That is why you came here after all, isn't it?
I got the OTA for ICS back around 20th Dec 2011, but I chose not to update it because I was going to be away from a computer for a few days and had no backup phone. When I wanted to update it a few days later, the update had disappeared from my phone so I looked it up online. Apparently the OTA disappeared for Nexus S's due to some bugs or incompatibility issues. I've never seen the update come up on my phone since. Even when I go to Settings->About phone->System update, it says "your system is up to date". So I've always been under the impression that ICS for Nexus S (at least for my variant, i9023) has never been re-released to us OTA.
Harbb, thanks for your answers. The only one I'm not so sure about is the underclocking one. It seems a little beyond me in terms of technicality. I am definitely interested in doing it though. Would you be able to tell me if adjusting clock speed requires an app?
I am rooted and bootloader is unlocked (I thought you could only root if bootloader was unlocked?).
So does that mean all these custom ROMs around at the moment are mostly based around Cyanogenmod, which is why they're very similar? As I was saying, I was looking at getting a custom ROM installed and noticed most of them are ICS custom ROMs, and the video reviews all say "this ROM is fast and does not lag when web browsing. It's a great ROM and it's fast and smooth."
The custom ROMs just don't seem to be "promoted" too well because I can't see what makes one better than the other, or what features of one custom ROM are intended to be the standout ones.
I notice you (Harbb) are using Stock ICS 4.0.3 (according to your sig) - so you are not using a custom ROM? Am I able to install a custom ICS ROM without first installing ICS? I am still running 2.3.6 at this point.
Viber does not work at the moment? That's not too bad. I can live with that.
I've done quite a bit of reading so far. It has certainly helped, but still a long way to go, but thanks for giving me a great start!
I will start backing up my apps using TB and CWM (Nandroid)!
xdaillum said:
I will start backing up my apps using TB and CWM (Nandroid)!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best line i've read in days
I have tried several custom ROMs once they started surfacing but i didn't feel like they gave me anything special enough to switch to right now and Stock is setup and running very nicely. Stock ICS colours are fine and other apps now can provide Notifications Widgets. I havn't noticed any particular differences in speed either.
Brainmasters ICS tweaks, custom kernel and Flavours of ICS runs beautifully. The OTA varies with where it shows up. To force a check, type this in dialer: *#*#checkin#*#* [AKA, *#*#2432546#*#* ]
If you are rooted it won't work anyway. Just update manually. There is no need to currently on ICS to flash custom ICS ROMs. I would advise that when going from GB to ICS though (and often between some custom ROMs) that you go into CWM and do a factory/data wipe and format /system. After backing up of course.
At the moment most are not based on CM9, however several do use bits and pieces of code (ie. notification power widgets) from it. Not sure why most ROM descriptions are the same
First thing i'd consider is getting a custom kernel, and then the NSTools app (market). Lots of stuff to mess around with and full control of the CPU (governors, IO, overclocking, undervolting, etc).
Harbb said:
Best line i've read in days
I have tried several custom ROMs once they started surfacing but i didn't feel like they gave me anything special enough to switch to right now and Stock is setup and running very nicely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agree with u. for 4.0.3, stock is my favorite, sad to say that.
for 4.0.4, while stock for NS not available, IMM26 ROM ported from NS4G seems good, if you like the stock rom feel.
Hmm I bricked my phone.
I've done the Nandroid and Titanium Backup and have it sitting on my computer ready once I recover this damn thing. Following the backups, I attempted to manually update to ICS with the zip file on this page: http://www.androidcentral.com/how-manually-update-your-gsm-nexus-s-ice-cream-sandwich
Now I'm following these two threads to try and recover the phone:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1397393
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1396056
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20382688&postcount=16
Hopefully I will get this back up and working. I'm still confused as to why it got bricked though. Updated via clockworkmod "update from sdcard" and then rebooted system. After that, it just bricked. Can't get any lights to come up on the device whatsoever. Plugging it in to computer, wall charger, pressing all the buttons, taking the battery out and putting it back in.
Odd. Best of luck getting it working, i'm sure the resurrector will work for you so don't stress too much. That's the right file so i'll probably just put the issue on a bad flash or bad download (wise to hash check before flashing). At this point i'd say it's wise when you get it working again, just flash the Full OTA file, and do a wipe of /data, /cache, /system and /boot beforehand.
Sad to hear about your troubles buddy.
So it looks like everything worked out for me. I managed to restore my phone with the help of the threads above. I have to admit though, the guides given on this forum aren't too "complete" - there's always a step or two missing from the guide that the reader has to figure out themselves. And not all the files are provided in the topics either! I'm also kind of concerned why it seems so many people ended up bricking their phone like that. Quite concerning.
In the end, I managed to reflash the stock ICS ROM for i9023 Nexus S which I found in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1445635
So I scrapped the one that I downloaded initially from Android Central. The difference in size was surprisingly roughly 30MB (160MB instead of the 130MB Android Central one).
I'm just using stock ICS, but rooted. Downloaded a few apps which require root, but haven't tried adding any mods or kernels. I might look into that later. But it seems like with 4.0.4 coming out, there might be some interesting new additions!
Thanks for all your help!!
Did you flash this ics from stock recovery?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Congratulations on resurrecting it! Are you guys saying that there is a risk of bricking a phone, while installing official update? I did a manual update, 3 weeks ago, unrooted, and ICS has been nothing but amazing for me.
I have a question. In case, I ever brick my I9023 (hope not).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20382688&postcount=16
This post states that I must be running Ubuntu on my PC. Does that mean I can't use Windows? And if I must use Linux, can I just do it with Wubi, or with Online Server?
Was wondering should I just wait for OTA JB update or just flash custom EOS JB rom.Just restored my Xoom to factory about a month ago.I know how to flash/restore/recover from brick but just wanted some opinions on this.
Try it and see yourself. You might love JB so much, you won't want to wait for OTA.
Besides, EOS will give more features and performance enhancements.
my opinion
Use JB from team Eos is a GREAT experience...
You will love with its smoothness and responsiveness.
Now I use build #93, and its blazing fast. I love it.
I started use it since #84, #88 and #92.
I love this ROM, but now I think about going back to stock ICS, why?
1st, I notice that battery life still greater on ICS, even working on the same 3g network all the time. (I rarely use WiFi)
2nd, I found that on #93 'auto' brightness didn't work correctly, the screen won't decrease its brightness on darker surrounding.
3rd, I can't use Google voice translator, it won't recognize my voice.
That's why I wanna go back to ICS. Maybe my reason didn't bother you, but that's matter for me.
So, if you can ignore a little problem that you might find on JB, I can say that you should try it now, you will amaze for its smoothness.
But now, I will wait for a moment and go back to ICS.
It such a great great great experience with JB, an Amazing work by Team EOS:good:....
ota JB will have JB kernel and new binary file ( dirver ?) for camera etc , anc can upgrade radio baseband
EOS JB have ICS kernel , ICS (some HC ) binary file ... but have some tweak like over/down clock , color change of clock ....
no waiting
I didn't have to wait. I'm not rooted or invited to the soak test. On a whim I deleted the cache from the framework app and then checked for updates.
The OTA downloaded and I'm on 4.1.1 now. Your mileage may vary...
one more for EOS
I would consider EOS especially since returning to stock is relatively simple. My options for the update were limited - Canadian Eh
Also I've been using the ICS from EOS since I got my tablet -- May 3 rec'd the tablet and on May 5 I installed ICS using the nightlies from EOS, never looked back and have had few issues, none serious.
EOS roms and the Xoom- makes that 3 year old tablet perform like some of the newer wonder tabs and for way less money.
However you go, I am sure you will like JB android... it seems to be somewhat smoother and troublefree.