Related
This is NOT, and I repeat NOT a guide for rooting. It is a warning. Helpful advice if you will. It is here to deter you from making your life as well as those here who help others a nightmare. We are here to help those who want to help themselves. As mentioned in another thread, this forum is here to HELP people. This advice is here to help as helping also includes prevention. The advice below is for the sole purpose of preventing those who don't know what they're doing from bricking their devices prematurely.
If you don't like my advice or my opinion; that is your given right. Remember the forum rules and keep it impersonal, clean and respectful.
I am here to help people and if that includes encouraging members to learn first before they do harm to their device then so be it. If I can prevent even one person from ruining their phone before they learn how to use it then I accomplished something.
Note: Whosdaman; please feel free to move this to whatever section you feel this better fits in. I took a shot putting it here.
Disclaimer/Advice/Humble Opinion:
My advice (without trying to hurt anyone's feelings too much) is DON'T ROOT. I would suggest you familiarize yourself with everything (Linux, ADB, XDA, Google) before diving in head first.
Despite popular belief, having root does NOT in fact make you cooler.
Way too many new users are trying to root because they think it's cool or heard it's cool. Well; it's not cool to be a n00b and attempt root. You need to learn your device first.
If you don't know how to perform a Nandroid backup, or restore a previous ROM backup, flash updates, install custom ROM's, boot into Safe mode, Mount R/W, run shell commands or Terminal Emulator etc, then you should NOT root. You should browse the forums here, read, read and re-read everything until you know it well. Google search related topics. Exhaust all available avenues, then ask questions. After you've executed all of these options you might consider rooting and starting to tinker with your device.
If you don't even know what some of the things are that were mentioned, then you should absolutely NOT root your phone. You will likely brick or screw up your phone and then be right back here asking for help in a new thread most definitely created by you out of haste or costing [insert phone manufacturer/carrier here] money by sending your phone back and asking for a replacement simply because you had no idea what you were doing. JMHO
#include <std_disclaimer.h>
/*
* Rooting voids your warranty.
*/
Again, this is not here to offend anyone's sensitivity or hurt your feelings. Many have argued that bricking and recovery is the way they learn. That's fine [for them]. I highly doubt those same people started running before walking, or walking before crawling. But the majority of people need to learn first. Preventing someone from ruining their device is MY best advice.
I didn't know android had a safe mode.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
bubonik said:
I didn't know android had a safe mode.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.) Power Off>remove battery>WAIT for at least two minutes.
2.) Power On Phone while Holding MENU key until you get to the lock screen>At the bottom left corner of the display in transparent text will be the words "Safe Mode"
When in safe mode, Android does not load any third-party apps, and you can uninstall the application that gave you trouble from Settings > Applications > Manage applications.
To exit Safe Mode:
1.) Power off phone again>remove battery>wait two minutes
2.) Do a normal power on ...
So after reading this I still couldn't figure out how to get this root stuff you were talking about. I don't know what this "search" or "google" is. But if this makes me cool then I'm all about it- maybe I could get a girlfriend finally.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
WHY?
The advice, while a successful deterrent, is not very useful. If people are here on this website, chances are they are here to learn something new about how to improve or customize their phones. We were all noobs at one point in time an I know that I benfited greatly from all the guides and reference threads here. Why not post some links to some helpful threads and say "Read these BEFORE you try anything," not "Don't try it at all and if you want to do it, find your own way to." Just a thought.
t-mo123 said:
If people are here on this website, chances are they are here to learn something new about how to improve or customize their phones.
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Click to collapse
And that is exactly my advice. LEARN FIRST. Browse through the threads and see how many are beginners who jumped too soon and are now asking for help. It's ridiculous. If you don't like my advice move on and troll another thread. Many here agree with what I've suggested. Take it or leave it.
In my experience, the ones who have a problem with this are the ones who are guilty of it. People who want to be 'cool' and root without learning then clutter the forums begging for help.
Honestly I think you're making a sweeping generalization assuming that anyone who roots their phone without reading everything there is to read first is just trying to be "cool".
Granted, there are a lot of folks out there that could stand to take a lesson or two in common sense, but I don't think it does anyone any good to tell all the "n00bs" to essentially eff off until they've done more research than I think most people on this forum who've successfully rooted would normally do.
There are numerous disclaimers that tell people to stay away from rooting unless they either know what they're doing or are willing to take a risk, and there are numerous people who learn by doing rather than reading.
In fact I would venture a guess that, were people to subscribe to your suggestion, this forum and indeed the entire Android dev ecosphere would suffer greatly, because many devs learn by tweaking and fixing... usually something that they themselves broke!
I don't ask that you change your opinion. Simply that you ask yourself what you really hope to accomplish with this post. It would seem to me that the people you hope to deter would just be insulted and ignore it.
As a previous poster had mentioned, it would be more convincing if you provided resource links to help educate those you are trying to reach.
Also, before you sling that "troll" moniker my way as you did a previous poster, you might do well to remember that just as you have the right to post your opinion, others have the right to disagree.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
well sir, maybe some of us noobs got tired of not being able to use any apps over wifi on our blackberry without data a blackberry plan and bought an android phone so we can have more freedom.
maybe some of us noobs are diving into rooting so we can use setpcu and squeeze more than the stock 2 hour heavy use we get from a stock MT4G
maybe some of us want to learn more about the system but we ask so many questions because we dont know where to get VISIONary plus since its no longer in the market place.
i dunno about other noobs but a thread with links to what to read to learn more is way more beneficial to me than this one telling me to stay out the circle of android trust.
perhaps you are the one who thinks being rooted is "cool"?(no disrespect meant)
some of us do really want to learn and we appreciate every help and every answer we get to our questions from you veterans.
so please have a little patience and/or noob tolerance. someday we'll learn and stop asking the same question that had been answered a doze times already
A simple Google search turned up 302,000 for Visionary. Maybe if you stopped and thought before you posted you might have better results.
Again, this thread wasn't meant to hurt anyone's sensitive feelings [as it seems it has]. It was meant to deter new members/rookies from diving into something before they learned it. Obviously with the new breed of youngsters these days that just isn't the case. Common sense seems to have taken a back door to rushed gratification. Intelligent strategy is how many of us learned, not jumping in and screwing things up.
By jumping in and messing things up, you not only make things harder on yourselves but waste our time helping with things that have been answered a thousand times and a simple search would have taught you that.
As with anything in life, you need to 'learn' before you do something. Cognitive retention is key to mastering anything.
Your logic of diving in without thought or regard for yourself or others that will end up helping you is almost insulting. You will find that many of the longtime users/devs/veterans here enjoy helping people who take precautions and want to help themselves. But almost none of them/us really care to help those who jump blindly.
JMHO. Take it however you like. And you don't need to take it from me; just try and get help in here when you do something dumb and see how much help you get from senior members.
CBConsultation said:
A simple Google search turned up 302,000 for Visionary. Maybe if you stopped and thought before you posted you might have better results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what you did there, but I just did a simple google search for Visionary and got "About 9,880,000 results (0.11 seconds)"
Maybe your google fu is weak or something..
On another note back on topic, I couldn't disagree more with your OP.. As a newb I think diving right in is the best thing to do to learn.. I Can read a wiki for hours about a phone, but that doesn't give you the same experience of 10 minutes hands on does..
My biggest suggestion to a newb to this **** is dont start with a high end device.. Buy a HTC Wizard or Excalibur off craigslist & play with & tweak them 1st.. Then maybe a g1 or something.. That way if you do **** up & brick your device your not toast..
IMHO there is no better way to learn something then to do it.. But also when you have problems, don't think your unique & that nobody has ever posted your question before, Search for it 1st & then only post asking for help if you cant find it..
bastage said:
.. But also when you have problems, don't think your unique & that nobody has ever posted your question before, Search for it 1st & then only post asking for help if you cant find it..
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Click to collapse
And search further then the first page.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
I think I'll leave it in here, maybe even sticky it later
CB, while I can understand your frustration I believe your attitude could be seen as elitist.
I think that perhaps what we should be doing is trying to come up with a root cause solution that might work instead of telling people not to try something like rooting. As another poster implied, it's not that people shouldn't be rooting, but that they shouldn't be asking questions for which there are already answers.
This seems like the problem you're trying to address, not the problem of someone rooting their phone or not.
So let's put aside the discussion of how one learns and who has the right to root and focus on the issue of "inappropriate" posts.
Does that sound like a reasonable alternative?
Hopefully whatever comes out of this discussion could be used to improve the forum experience for everyone.
I should mention that I'm not really sure this thread should be in the dev section of the forum... Seems more like general discussion since the OP is more of an ideological opinion piece at this point.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
OP, does your soapbox come with a salad? Someone likes to hear himself talk...sheesh.
Swyped on my rooted MyTouch4G
viper3ez said:
well sir, maybe some of us noobs got tired of not being able to use any apps over wifi on our blackberry without data a blackberry plan and bought an android phone so we can have more freedom.
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Click to collapse
As much as I HATE blackberries, I have to correct you. You do NOT need a data feature to use web over wifi on a Blackberry. How the hell would that make sense, seriously? But yes keep in mind, I am still not a BB fan lol, hate those pieces of crap.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
yo
so im not cool?
teamsilence said:
so im not cool?
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Click to collapse
You're still cool in my book.
teamsilence said:
so im not cool?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your the bee's knees! Lol
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
teamsilence said:
so im not cool?
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Click to collapse
Your so cool your like an iced glacier.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
CBConsultation said:
A simple Google search turned up 302,000 for Visionary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good lord, does anyone here actually have the time to go through 302.000 pages? Maybe I am the only one who has kids and a wife, but I know I don't have time to take a freaking computer programing course to teach myself how to use freaking cmnd lines. The crap I have seen on different forums that walk people through different rooting procedures on different phones acts as though everyone know WTF they are doing and/or has the time to spend hours a day learning. Guess what? Not everyone does. I spend hours a day teaching people the basics of how to use their phones and I have to give directions my grandmother could follow, is it to much to ask for detailed instruction that someone who has a very basic understanding of how to use these phones could follow? I don't think so. If you "seniors" could realize that you aren't cooler because you know what you are doing, and did the responsible thing and shared your knowledge without *****ing, moaning, and complaining about n00bs, you could help more n00bs become 'seniors' themselves and have more people out there able to help others.
Droid Incredible Dev Community and Users,
First off, I know this is in the wrong section. But this is the section where I've been such a jerk, so I feel that I should post this here.
Second, I just wanted to apologize the community in general, Nils and Incubus in particular, for the possessiveness of my work.
Android was really important to me; I took everything so seriously. But now that I'm taking a little break and slowing things down, I see that Android shouldn't be so important to me. Why NOT let someone else use my files?
Sure, XDA forums has rules governing the usage of another's work, but I took the words literally. I didn't think about the spirit that lay behind those rules, the spirit of an open community that shared everything.
This is all a bit mish-mash, as I just fried my brain writing my English paper, but I hope my point is clear enough: I'm sorry.
In the interest of sharing (and not getting banned / warned) I've decided to attach a semi-ported DInc HtcMusic that reads EMMC. The left button FCs, and after checking the logcat I don't understand why (There's some error about "cannot open X resource," but in the smali, that resource is never called...). This is a port to the many DZ ROMs, and should work, as long as no deep deep framework mods were done.
Enjoy, and I apologize again,
-g
Besides posting in the wrong section, please describe what else you are sorry about.
Awesome
I figure i will reply to this.
I appoligize for not taking the correct steps in using your jars. I probably would have been upset myself.
Let me just say that you have done an excellent job here and I hope to work with you in the future for the sake of the community.
Peace,
Incubus
Great minds think alike. Good stuff.
You may just be a junior in high-school, but you're proving yourself as a mature adult.
No apology necessary.
We just had a difference of opinion on what the forum rules are. I took a more liberal view of the rule:
Stealing=Bad
Sharing=Good
Now posting your efforts on this are good. I will give it a shot and see if anything jumps out at me.
Thanks
Well, I concur that for a fact it is seeing the EMMC since a couple of songs I use for testing are on the internal and do show and play.
I see the error you see but can't track it in the app code either. My guess is that somewhere else it is setting up a call to file manager or something like that and the expected info or link is not there when you press the list function.
Looks pretty good liking the emmc hack in Uber z a bit better though, honestly
Sent from my Uber Incredible
I get the sense that a lot of the folks here like to rely on making people REEEEALLY hit the forums and read stuff (read: patience test) as a means of throttling just how quickly a new person comes into the forums and then proceeds to attempt device customization, and for better or worse, I get that---and for the most part, agree. Maybe I'm even just seeing things, but even so. *shrug*
I've been VERY hesitant to go doing stuff to my phone with all the "REED MOAR" warnings out there, since it's my lifeline phone; we haven't had a land line for several years now. But even for me, there's still plenty of stuff I just don't know, and I don't know that I want to sift through every single post on the forums just to find a little broader knowledge base, especially with the forums having the overload issues I've been seeing lately.
I like to be an informed buyer. I HATE impulse buying something because "this guy I know said it was cool". I want to know the EXACT nature of what I'm getting before I go for it---even if it's being provided to me for free (which XDA has in spades, which is SPECTACULAR. I LOVE that you guys pour your time into that for everyone else).
But I always get the feeling that I've missed most of the conversation when people throw around some of the acronyms still; like everyone just sorta already knows what it all means, and I'm the only one on the outside. XD ((Note: I'd like to call attention to bdemartino's [GUIDE] Newbie's Step-by-Step: From Stock USCC Mesmerize -> Custom Rom/Kernel as a specific exception to this rule; he answered a few of the questions I was going to post in this thread in his EC10 guide))
So here's where I'm going with this.
Could we set up, specifically in the Samsung Mesmerize general forum (and maybe the other forums as well, though that's a tall order, I see there are TONS of phone models supported at XDA!), a more advanced glossary? Like, if you don't know what a ROM or Flashing is, or Froyo vs. Eclair, you definitely *do* need more reading before jumping in (so they say), but I'm talking more specifics.
TL;DR: I'd love to see a stickied glossary thread I can come to that's updated regularly enough to keep up with the new terms, ROMs, etc. that come out, so the new(er) people, or those who aren't hanging out in the IRC channel (if that's where all this explaining is going on, LOL) can come to find out just what's out there for them to try.
Some specific terms I don't know, or formerly didn't know but managed to discover with some digging, that would make a great starter to the Glossary:
Pick-n-Pack
CWM Recovery
No-Clock
Puzzle Lock
5-lock
AOSP
Superclean
Please note I'm not after just a response that just list-answers what all of those are (though that would definitely be appreciated); as I say, I already know maybe half of them. I'm after a few sentences, a couple paragraphs, that define the specific nature of those terms so someone just coming into the Android thing like me can go to one place and read them over. Nothing with instructions, just definitions, lists of what's included if it's a ROM, etc.
Is that something we could do? Is it a bad idea in that it arms the over-anxious, not-yet-prepared new Android user with a dangerous level of information?
I think is is a great idea as a newbee myself I had and still have to dig through post after post all the time to try and figure out how to do things. It should be relatively easy to set up one thread that can be a go to for all of us.
Sent from my Mesmerize using XDA App
Agree that would be helpful
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
I concur and would be willing to write up a starter if someone would be willing to update and maintain it as I'm short on time these days
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
Im constantly digging through posts myself especially when it comes to modding that ive never done before and its always a bummer cause its takes me 2 hours to find exactly what I was looking for only for it to be a 5 minute post that explains it all. +1
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk
I'm seeing in other threads that people are wanting this there too. So.....
I think I'm gonna take on my own request, especially if I've got the backing of Bdemartino. I mean I've learned a good amount of terms so far, but I know I've got a LOT to learn. Still, one consolidated post would be great---and then people could just reply to the thread with requests or suggestions for stuff to be added to the first post.
Bdem, I'll get with you over PM in a moment here, and either over PM or IRC or something, whichever we work out, we can out our heads together sometime this week and I can collect what all you have, and on the slim chance I have something else I want to add myself (Laughable!) I'll do so. XD
ChromWolf said:
I'm seeing in other threads that people are wanting this there too. So.....
I think I'm gonna take on my own request, especially if I've got the backing of Bdemartino. I mean I've learned a good amount of terms so far, but I know I've got a LOT to learn. Still, one consolidated post would be great---and then people could just reply to the thread with requests or suggestions for stuff to be added to the first post.
Bdem, I'll get with you over PM in a moment here, and either over PM or IRC or something, whichever we work out, we can out our heads together sometime this week and I can collect what all you have, and on the slim chance I have something else I want to add myself (Laughable!) I'll do so. XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds great , It'll be very beneficial to the community!
I agree that would be a great tool to have. I spent many a sleepless night when I got my mesmerize, searching for roms, mods, kernels...would have been easier had I known what they actually were beforehand
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
I'm going to post to you what I thought was a major discovery for me at the time when I found all these terms confusing myself and got a bit of clarity. The terms I just learnt this past week:
Odin
Deodexed
AOSP
TwLauncher
blue/red/orange recovery
.tar
nandroid
BLN
Hopefully you can get some clarity from other members as to what exactly these terms are as I know kind of what they are, I can't really place them with words as well as other members could.
I will try to contribute as much to this thread as I can because this is exactly what I needed when I first came here but i didn't have the time to research it all.
Wow... some great feedback, and already some pledges of help! Maybe I'd better start the actual thread... XD
I've already got a prelim post in the works. @alaindesjardins, DEFINITELY post definitions of the terms you've listed below. I plan to basically merge any and all points of information about a term together. Anyone who contributes will get credited, and it just makes for that much stronger and more accurate of a glossary. There are actually one or two terms in your list I don't actually know yet!
......In thinking about it, here's my plan: I'll collect what alaindesjardins and bdemartino get me, mix my own stuff in, and merge it all together to form the original Glossary post, and mark it as under construction till I get it all cleaned up and polished. Once it's more or less "complete" at that point, I'll pull the under construction notice, and just let terms get added to it as we go. Official glossary post once I've gotten the contributions I'm after.
Thanks guys!
In an attempt to not step on the lawn, I am going to try and make my first post useful to other noobs, regardless of my own ability level.
I see that others have made a "my first phone" thread in other sections using search, and I did not notice one in this forum yet. I don't know if this post will make it past muster or not, or if it will be the same as other kinds of posts, but the way I see it, it would be rad if I came to xda/htc/attonex and found a post identical to this one, that had started a couple months ago. Alas, time travel isn't available.
My problem is that I am literally experiencing this phone as my first smartphone ever, and I am too ignorant to even know what a good question is. So I find myself with a quandary. On the one hand, I am tech savvy enough to know that my phone is capable of more than at&t/htc wants to let on, and I know that there is this sea of people that know a lot about this stuff. On the other hand, I don't even know what phones can really do, why I would want it to do those things, or how to go about learning the smart and safe way to do those things without fear of "bricking" my new toy.
It's really daunting to look at this forum for a noob. I need some good info on android as well as good info on my phone, and just browsing the forum for the last few days has led me to more questions and more complex questions before I have the basics, and I feel like that's going to get me in trouble here.
If people could do the following in response to this post: point me in the right direction for informative posts/websites/forums/etc on android, specifically basic OS functionality & rooting basics for people who do not understand/use linux; point me to informative beginner oriented (not just reviews or w/e, but basics) posts/websites/forums/etc on the at&t1x, specifically anything that is not on the htc site or the at&t site, which is basically my understanding level right now; if i ask stupid questions about your thought-out posts in here and i totally miss your point, please be patient with me; point me to apps and app stores, I have only used the play store - I know there is more out there, but freaked out about viruses and stuff.
I know I'm asking for a lot of hand-holding, but I promise that after the movie we can make out if you want. I'm not stupid, but I am certainly ignorant about androids. HALP.
YouTube is you friend, there are some great walkthroughs on there. Along with read,read,read. Welcome to XDA, ENJOY your time here, you are off to a very advanced start, great phone choice along with grea first post...the force is strong with this one:thumbup:
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
@MichaelHaley
You wouldn't happen to be from Buffalo New York would you?
Sent from my Rooted Hox
What I did when I started was just look at posts and any word or anything at all that I didn't understand i just Googled it. I learned alot like that.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
http://droidlessons.com/
E.Cadro said:
@MichaelHaley
You wouldn't happen to be from Buffalo New York would you?
Sent from my Rooted Hox
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. California.
bradleyG said:
What I did when I started was just look at posts and any word or anything at all that I didn't understand i just Googled it. I learned alot like that.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
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I don't have a problem with understanding words, but thanks.
filthyfnj24 said:
droidlessons - link which i can not post yet
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This is the kind of stuff I'm looking for, I figure people here would know which ones like this are quality vs. time wasters. This level and slightly above is about where I'm at. Thanks a lot.
MichaelHaley said:
Nope. California.
I don't have a problem with understanding words, but thanks.
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Click to collapse
I don't think he meant basic words. But stuff like adb shell. Asop. Root. S off. S on. Just to name a few. If you don't know this basic words, your time here will be a pain.
Sent from my HTC One XL using XDA
tae_254 said:
I don't think he meant basic words. But stuff like adb shell. Asop. Root. S off. S on. Just to name a few. If you don't know this basic words, your time here will be a pain.
Sent from my HTC One XL using XDA
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Lists of useful words and terms are awesome! Thanks! Please add!
MichaelHaley said:
Lists of useful words and terms are awesome! Thanks! Please add!
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Click to collapse
You're still missing bradleyG's original point. If there are esoteric terms you don't understand, just Google them. This will help you out:
http://bit.ly/KSfCM7
Boom. That was easy.
Seriously, Google is your friend, as is the XDA search. You're not going to think of a question that hasn't already been answered at length on XDA. Maybe not for the One X, specifically, since the device is so new. But for general Android stuff, just doing a general search using the XDA function, of Googling will probably get you an answer within a few minutes. For that matter, just spend some time browsing through the General, and Q&A forums, and reading the threads that look of interest to you. In no time at all, you'll have some decent working knowledge. The learning curve may look intimidating from where you are. But don't worry, its really not that bad. Seriously, just a few hours of reading on XDA will probably put above the knowledge level of the majority of smartphone owners.
If you are truly stumped after searching and reading on your own, post a question in Q&A. But do your due diligence first. Simple reason for this is that the forum would become useless if it was clogged up by every single question that beginners think up.
And welcome to the club. The One X is a helluva first smartphone.
redpoint73 said:
You're still missing bradleyG's original point. If there are esoteric terms you don't understand, just Google them. This will help you out:
http://bit.ly/KSfCM7
Boom. That was easy.
Seriously, Google is your friend, as is the XDA search. You're not going to think of a question that hasn't already been answered at length on XDA. Maybe not for the One X, specifically, since the device is so new. But for general Android stuff, just doing a general search using the XDA function, of Googling will probably get you an answer within a few minutes. For that matter, just spend some time browsing through the General, and Q&A forums, and reading the threads that look of interest to you. In no time at all, you'll have some decent working knowledge. The learning curve may look intimidating from where you are. But don't worry, its really not that bad. Seriously, just a few hours of reading on XDA will probably put above the knowledge level of the majority of smartphone owners.
If you are truly stumped after searching and reading on your own, post a question in Q&A. But do your due diligence first. Simple reason for this is that the forum would become useless if it was clogged up by every single question that beginners think up.
And welcome to the club. The One X is a helluva first smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ai ai ai. Thanks for the help dude, but my whole point is that I don't even know enough to know what kinds of questions I should be having. Once I get started, I can use forum searches and google well, so for specific questions I will need very little help. I'm just not coming up with any questions.
Picture me sitting there, staring at the phone, hoping it will do something, looking puzzled when it doesn't, and then start posting links.
I see what you're saying. What you are asking for is really too broad a topic to write a guide or anything like that. As a start, just try looking through the threads in the various forums. Development subforum has mods (modifications) and stuff along those lines. The Themes and Apps subforum will give you some ideas on some cool apps and widgets. You'll quickly get a good idea of what possibilities are out there. And trust me, plenty of specific questions will pop up in your mind soon enough.
Since you are brand new to the smartphone world, apps is a good place to start. Just Google around for best Android apps and see what interests you. Even the Play Store has some issues with malware and other malicious software. But these are usually less popular apps, made by shady software developers. If you read up on best apps at reputable websites like PCMag, Gizmodi, CNET, you shouldn't go wrong. The more popular, tried and true apps tend to be very safe. Lots of the best functionality of smartphones is through apps, so this is a good place to start.
My advice would be to use the device for a while, and see what it can do running stock before you think about rooting and other mods. Unless you are looking at specific mods (removing bloatware or adding back some of the things that AT&T removed like FM radio and flashlight) you probably shouldn't be considering root just yet.
Android Central is a good website with lots of information that you should find interesting if this is your first android device. They have put together a really good android dictionary which is found here: http://www.androidcentral.com/dictionary
They also run an android a to z series on their blog which has a ton of info and goes a little more in depth than just giving definitions.
Enjoy your phone, for a first smart phone you picked a serious winner! There are a few quarks (which are all outlined pretty well in this forum) but for the most part this phone is great.
bradleyG said:
What I did when I started was just look at posts and any word or anything at all that I didn't understand i just Googled it. I learned alot like that.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
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Cant beat this advice. Read everything, assume your questions has already been asked. The more you read, the more questions you'll have and then the more reading you'll want to do to find the answers. This website is really a PHENOMENAL resource, but I find myself constantly googling terms/comments/procedures that I dont understand. I'm quite technologically inclined but relatively new to the android world and have only been using XDA for a couple months. However, I find myself mostly only posting on very topical threads. For the hardcore technical research and development, I prefer to sit back and just read about the amazing work that the developers are doing. Welcome!
I'll second what everyone else said. I was where you were a few months ago. Though I came from four years on iOS, I was an Android noob. I've been reading and browsing xda and other sites just trying to get my bearings. It's very intimidating at first, but you've just got to start somewhere. Start reading, trying to get the general gist of things before worrying about the exact terminology. Bit by bit things will start sounding familiar, and you'll have some context to start framing your searches. Really, they're not kidding about 99.99% of noob questions being already answered somewhere; you've just got to know the right way to ask.
Just be patient and don't give up. Three weeks into my One X ownership, I'm rooted and gradually getting some confidence in modding my phone. (I was an experienced iOS jailbreaker, but life is different over here in a lot of ways.)
redpoint73 said:
You're still missing bradleyG's original point. If there are esoteric terms you don't understand, just Google them. This will help you out:
http://bit.ly/KSfCM7
Boom. That was easy.
Seriously, Google is your friend, as is the XDA search. You're not going to think of a question that hasn't already been answered at length on XDA. Maybe not for the One X, specifically, since the device is so new. But for general Android stuff, just doing a general search using the XDA function, of Googling will probably get you an answer within a few minutes. For that matter, just spend some time browsing through the General, and Q&A forums, and reading the threads that look of interest to you. In no time at all, you'll have some decent working knowledge. The learning curve may look intimidating from where you are. But don't worry, its really not that bad. Seriously, just a few hours of reading on XDA will probably put above the knowledge level of the majority of smartphone owners.
If you are truly stumped after searching and reading on your own, post a question in Q&A. But do your due diligence first. Simple reason for this is that the forum would become useless if it was clogged up by every single question that beginners think up.
And welcome to the club. The One X is a helluva first smartphone.
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This is exactly what I meant. There is no all powerful guide that will teach you everything you need to know. It takes time to learn all these things and only diligence will prove to give you what you need. I remember when I first got my g1 I didn't know anything. I started looking for mods/hacks I could do to it and stumbled upon xda. Then I found out about rooting so I looked up stuff about rooting like what are the benefits of it, the risks, and tutorials. Then one thing leads to another rooting leads to ROMs and kernels, kernels lead to overclocking, etc. You'll soon be an expert and have advice to give other people. The more you read, the better. But you will never get to a point where there is nothing new to be learned, you will eventually make a habit of looking up different things after you do it for so long. Just stick with it and you will get the hang of it.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
redpoint73 said:
I see what you're saying. What you are asking for is really too broad a topic to write a guide or anything like that. As a start, just try looking through the threads in the various forums. Development subforum has mods (modifications) and stuff along those lines. The Themes and Apps subforum will give you some ideas on some cool apps and widgets. You'll quickly get a good idea of what possibilities are out there. And trust me, plenty of specific questions will pop up in your mind soon enough.
Since you are brand new to the smartphone world, apps is a good place to start. Just Google around for best Android apps and see what interests you. Even the Play Store has some issues with malware and other malicious software. But these are usually less popular apps, made by shady software developers. If you read up on best apps at reputable websites like PCMag, Gizmodi, CNET, you shouldn't go wrong. The more popular, tried and true apps tend to be very safe. Lots of the best functionality of smartphones is through apps, so this is a good place to start.
My advice would be to use the device for a while, and see what it can do running stock before you think about rooting and other mods. Unless you are looking at specific mods (removing bloatware or adding back some of the things that AT&T removed like FM radio and flashlight) you probably shouldn't be considering root just yet.
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Click to collapse
Yes thank you for that, I know that apps are about my speed right now but my sights are set UP!! Hehe. I really was trying to figure out about the flashlight and FM radio already, but couldn't find a setting in the phone. Is that a root thing? I also hate bloat ware, even if i can disable it, i know MOG Radio & AT&T IdiotWare is there, just taking up space, and it bugs the hell out of me! I also want to do things like check out vanilla android so I can know what sense is, but i understand that requires a bootloader? Which I am reading about.. but that seems like some pretty advanced stuff.. I'll get there hopefully.
bmolloy said:
Android Central is a good website with lots of information that you should find interesting if this is your first android device. They have put together a really good android dictionary which is found here: http://www.androidcentral.com/dictionary
They also run an android a to z series on their blog which has a ton of info and goes a little more in depth than just giving definitions.
Enjoy your phone, for a first smart phone you picked a serious winner! There are a few quarks (which are all outlined pretty well in this forum) but for the most part this phone is great.
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Click to collapse
Yes thank you very much, this is exactly the kind of specific stuff I'm looking for, not that general advice isn't great too!
bradleyG said:
This is exactly what I meant. There is no all powerful guide that will teach you everything you need to know. It takes time to learn all these things and only diligence will prove to give you what you need. I remember when I first got my g1 I didn't know anything. I started looking for mods/hacks I could do to it and stumbled upon xda. Then I found out about rooting so I looked up stuff about rooting like what are the benefits of it, the risks, and tutorials. Then one thing leads to another rooting leads to ROMs and kernels, kernels lead to overclocking, etc. You'll soon be an expert and have advice to give other people. The more you read, the better. But you will never get to a point where there is nothing new to be learned, you will eventually make a habit of looking up different things after you do it for so long. Just stick with it and you will get the hang of it.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
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Click to collapse
I think I may have come off more adversarial to you than I meant to.. I wasn't trying to minimize what you said.. Of course research is essential, and I plan to not bug you guys with stupid questions as much as possible.. I'm just trying to build a repository of reference for complete noobtards like me here in this thread so it's all in one place. When I have specific questions about terms and things I will of course employ due diligence before I bring that stuff to the community, but like I said, I'm not even there yet..
OK so I have a question that I tried to search for and came up with nil. Every so often, when I run this or that program, or sometimes on start up, some of my icons do one of two things: 1.) they lose the text under the icon, 2.) they lose the text under the icon and the icon turns into the generic android icon.
Wutdo?
MichaelHaley said:
OK so I have a question that I tried to search for and came up with nil. Every so often, when I run this or that program, or sometimes on start up, some of my icons do one of two things: 1.) they lose the text under the icon, 2.) they lose the text under the icon and the icon turns into the generic android icon.
Wutdo?
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Click to collapse
Restart/ force close the launcher. Or get a new launcher like go or nova.
Cryosx said:
Restart/ force close the launcher. Or get a new launcher like go or nova.
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I feel like a complete tard, but after searching and finding nothing, I can't figure out how to do what you're saying.
Cryosx said:
Restart/ force close the launcher. Or get a new launcher like go or nova.
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Click to collapse
Is that just like the proper way to say restart the phone?
Hi I'm kinda new into the development side of android coding, but I know about flashing and the other goodies. I would like to create a team to help me and our android community a revolutionary ROM for our device and then release to other developers to port to other devices. I know that I'm probably going to get ridiculed for posting this hear but I have a few cool ideas that I would like to share that I think would make the Android experience on our phone way cooler.
Here are some of the features that I want to add into the ROM that I want help developing that don't exist and that may already exist:
Add widgets and apps into the pull down menu bar and implement that to when the device is locked. Its kinda like the same idea as in 4.2 but I think can be made more better and efficient.
Various build.prop tweaks for better performance.
Removing the bloatware apps from the ROM for more system space and better battery life.
Automatically drop 4g into 3g after a certain amount of time when phone is not being heavily used for better battery life.
Add a widget to switch between 4g and 3g into the notification bar.
Implement the auto arrangement of apps and widgets on the home screen into ICS like jelly bean has if we build off a stock ICS base.
Implement the 4.2 camera app
Implement the 4.2 gallery app
Implement the 4.2 keyboard app
Implement the 4.2 Gmail app
Implement Google Now
Implement a fully working Google wallet app
Add options to switch betwewn a scrolling/non scrolling wallpaper.
Add options to switch between a 5x5/5x4/4x4 launcher.
Add an option when listening to music to go into airplane mode to save battery life.
Add various audio tweaks for enhanced audio.
Increase the auto sync delay over network connection for better battery life.
Implement a CPU/GPU app to overclock for better performance and underclock for better battery life.
Add better and customizable auto brightness settings.
Allow for custom boot images.
Add 4 way Reboot menu.
Add a brightness slider.
Implement an unlocked bootloader.
Implement holding the back button to kill an app.
Possibly implement the Sony Bravia Engine.
Implement nexus 4 notification sounds.
And possibly implement multiview for apps.
I know that some of these things already exists and I think some of the things that don't exist in our current ROMs can be created with some creative coding.
I think that if this project gets up and running we could build this off of a stock VZW JB ROM or we could build this off of a stock ICS ROM .
Let me know what you guys think about this maybe insane idea level of modification to a ROM and hopefully we can get something started.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
This belongs in General section.
CleanROM Lite Edition, Pimp My Rom. There's most of what you requested lol
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Just run away. I suspect this NEVER happening.
Mod delete this
iSheep... iSheep... Meowww that's Apple
Dear OP,
Perhaps my response will be more enlightening that some of the others.
First things first. It is understandable to ask for help developing a rom. We all had to start somewhere. We all made mistakes and we all had breakthroughs and anyone who denies this is lying.
Second. Just as we started out from nothing and grown into the devs we are, we had to start by learning on our own. Might I suggest getting a zip of a stock rom and messing with it. Add this, Remove that. Mess up, and restart. Then once you have that, perhaps look at compiling source based roms such as Cyanogenmod. Not only will this get you more comfortable with coding, but rather get you used to spending hours infront of a monitor.
Third, Move from CM to aosp. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but with aosp, you are force to be more creative. Learn how to cherry pick and how to run diffs and such.
Fourth, start something. Anything to show you are making an effort rather than asking for others to code it and hope you get the credit.
This by no means is meant to discourage you, but you will go further and enjoy your creation more if YOU physically stick your hands in the code and mess with it.
Have a great day
atc3030
Considering you never dev'd before maybe try taking baby steps instead of listing every feature under the sun that you want in a Rom plus feature that don't really exist yet.
That does not sound like someone wanting to learn how to dev but more like finding someone to make a Rom for them. We all have the talent to list every feature under the sun we would like to see. That does not qualify someone for dev training. lol
This needs to be deleted
Via my Google Galaxy S3 running magic beans
What a supportive community
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
sumredhed567 said:
What a supportive community
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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i know right
sumredhed567 said:
What a supportive community
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
To be fair, had this been posted in general (the correct section) he would have gotten much more help. However people come here looking for ROMs and lately are seeing all these question or incorrect posts.
I hope he does develop something, the more devs the better!
I also think lt would be best if he had something to show before asking for help because basically he is requesting some one build a ROM for him right now.
Sent from my SGS3 running Eclipse 2.1
hockeyplayr said:
i know right
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No kidding. I was gonna put some stuff up after finals......makes me second guess that whole idea......apparently you're either Elite or complete **** and ridiculed....
TechSavvy2 said:
No kidding. I was gonna put some stuff up after finals......makes me second guess that whole idea......apparently you're either Elite or complete **** and ridiculed....
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Click to collapse
I think you're missing the point. He asked for help on a ROM he was thinking about making and posted it in the wrong section on top of that. The biggest problem is posting on the wrong forum though By all means release a ROM and purple will appreciate it.
However, release something then ask for help on some features you want to add and other devs will probably help.
Sent from my SGS3 running Eclipse 2.1
This is this guys second wrong forum post. He has not learned anything..... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=31735978#post31735978
sumredhed567 said:
What a supportive community
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Everyone is supportive here helping this guy not set himself up for failure.
Also, if one does not know the difference between a development thread and a general or q&a thread after already making the mistake once then they have a lot to learn before developing anything...
[email protected] said:
Everyone is supportive here helping this guy not set himself up for failure.
Also, if one does not know the difference between a development thread and a general or q&a thread after already making the mistake once then they have a lot to learn before developing anything...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's by no means a developer this is a guy not asking, but essentially demanding people make him a ROM.
The XDA police are in full effect...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Ok here's where I, usually the quiet guy, am going to get flamed I'm sure. I do understand site rules, and the need for organization. BUT, that said, why does everyone have to be totally anal about it all the time here? The "General" and "Q&A" sections here are TOO General. Everything root-related, not root-related,app-related, plan-related,..etc..etc...etc..etc....(you get my point) ALL gets thrown into the same section. This REALLY degrades from questions or statements getting the attention they NEED half the time. Who wants to sift through 5 pages before they find a question they can answer? Not most people. And to put it frankly, the general attitude around here really bites.
In the OP's defense, the Development section(again another generalized,cluttered section), is EXACTLY where I would want to post a question such as this. It just makes SENSE for it to be here. Would I? No. Why? Because I will get a cyber-smack in the nose for doing it, and breaking the iron-clad-follow-the-rules-or-else rule. In fact, I have posted threads in the Q&A and general sections for various devices here at XDA, and guess what? Only one of said threads got me any answers, and NONE got the attention of the people that needed to see them.
Time to rethink our attitudes, guys. The sense of "community" here is lacking..big time. Take some time to venture into other android websites, and search out XDA on them. You'll see TONS of gripes, and TONS of users that will not come here because of the "Snobiness".. to mention only one of the things that is said.
It's a terrible shame to see such a HUGE resource as this site is be filled with the attitude it is, and have such a bad name externally
Flame me, and you just prove my point.
Mods, if I have violated too many rules, please send me a PM, but also please provide me with a name I can contact high-up so I can also talk to them. My apologies, but I'm just fed up with it, but at the same time this is THE place to be for most of my android needs.
Just food for thought.. carry on people and enjoy your day/night.
@Atari... don't want to quote your long post but the development section is the easiest one to figure out especially if you read the guidelines. If you didn't develop something it doesn't go here. How much simpler can it be?
A question about development is not development. Imagine if it was. The actual ROM downloads would end up being on the 2nd and 3rd pages and lost in people just posting questions.
[email protected] said:
@Atari... don't want to quote your long post but the development section is the easiest one to figure out especially if you read the guidelines. If you didn't develop something it doesn't go here. How much simpler can it be?
A question about development is not development. Imagine if it was. The actual ROM downloads would end up being on the 2nd and 3rd pages and lost in people just posting questions.
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Click to collapse
Point taken. At least there could be a development Q&A though. His question would most likely have fallen to page 2 or three of the current Q&A section in no time, as many of the questions do.