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[Q] How to choose a ROM?

This is what I call a "high class problem". With so many ROMs to choose from, how does a noob like me decide. Aside from stability, we all probably have different wants and needs.
Can anyone who's checked out the majority of the available ROMs give the rest of us a rundown on the pros and cons of each ROM?
For myself, I'm looking for:
1. Basic
2. Reversible
3. No known issues with wifi, sms, battery drain, ciq, marketplace, etc.
Which one should I pic?

Budge72 said:
This is what I call a "high class problem". With so many ROMs to choose from, how does a noob like me decide. Aside from stability, we all probably have different wants and needs.
Can anyone who's checked out the majority of the available ROMs give the rest of us a rundown on the pros and cons of each ROM?
For myself, I'm looking for:
1. Basic
2. Reversible
3. No known issues with wifi, sms, battery drain, ciq, marketplace, etc.
Which one should I pic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
basically, you need to try them out and see for yourself.
the problem is, there will be another one up soon for you to try out

Like u said. To each his own. None of the roms here have major issues that I have flashed. All work and run well only issue is if there using da G's kernel which has Sod issues. Other than that flash away bruh.
Only u can prevent forest fires.....so choose well bruh. LOL
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

the2rrell said:
Like u said. To each his own. None of the roms here have major issues that I have flashed. All work and run well only issue is if there using da G's kernel which has Sod issues. Other than that flash away bruh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ones don't use Da G's kernel? I've read about something called a "stock-ish" kernel.

Budge72 said:
Which ones don't use Da G's kernel? I've read about something called a "stock-ish" kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can change kernels easier than changing roms. even if a rom has his kernel, you can flash whatever kernel you like in place of it....

Pirateghost said:
you can change kernels easier than changing roms. even if a rom has his kernel, you can flash whatever kernel you like in place of it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than doing a complete Nandroid backup, is there anyway to just backup your current kernel prior to flashing a new kernel? SGS KERNEL FLASHER doesn't work on the Skyrocket, and i'd like to backup my stock kernel in case I need to reflash it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA App

Pirateghost said:
you can change kernels easier than changing roms. even if a rom has his kernel, you can flash whatever kernel you like in place of it....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey Pirateghost didn't you say you got one rom in beta that you are working on????? If yes when is beta coming out?

appdroid said:
hey Pirateghost didn't you say you got one rom in beta that you are working on????? If yes when is beta coming out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its close. if i have time this weekend you will see something drop. i have a few more tweaks i want to do before i consider it ready. internally, im already up to beta8, lol. i hope to have beta10 release as an RC1 for everyone.

From what I seen so far I seen no reason to try them though somebody has to or they never get fully debugged.
Some of the ROMs are AT&T only ..... sorry got SGH-I727R
Some of them do have Rogers ROMs but I read of Sleep of Death and losing LTE connection..... sorry too buggy and I NEED LTE or I would of got the Galaxy Nexus.
Finally what I really want is ICS and NOT ICS themed ROMs
None of them are for me but I check everyday when a ICS ROM comes out I will try it.
Finally I recommend you NEVER try Roms if you are not sure that you can restore.
I have backuped my ROMs, Apps and Data, APNs I am 95% certain I can recover from anything.
For that other 5% I have Odin and the orginal Rogers ROM

Just to agree with everyone else, you've got to try them out. There's no harm in it as long as you've done your nandroid back up, you're pretty safe when it comes to reverting back to your previous ROM and settings.
Reading the features and change logs for each of them helps alot... but it still doesn't give you a full grasp of what it has to offer until you flash and test it.

Beginner Mac User

Hi All,
Just recently got the Skyrocket (well, Rogers version) and just had a few questions as I'm looking into rooting the device, mainly so that I can under clock and conserve battery life in general without compromising the device experience too much.
I have a few questions I was hoping the community could assist with
1) Is there a post that kind of gives a summary of basic terms? (i.e. flashing, ROMs, rooting etc)
2) Any step-by-step walkthroughs for flashing my device using a Mac? Recommended ROM version I should use?
3) Are the AT&T and Rogers variants the same?
Thanks!

Everything you need to know is here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1383464

Thanks! Anything even more basic? i.e. what is a ROM?

nutsngum said:
Thanks! Anything even more basic? i.e. what is a ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I had questions exactly like that as soon as I made an XDA account. I got my phone rooted, froze a couple of apps but thats about it. Don't know how to do any cool **** like flash my rom for all the different themes etc.

nutsngum said:
Thanks! Anything even more basic? i.e. what is a ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROM (Read Only Memory) is a software that is stored in your phones internal memory. People also use the term ROM as for flashing an updated version of the firmware for their phone. There are other custom ROM that are available that are made from ROM developers here on XDA. These custom ROM has extra features such as WIFI tethering, theme options, speed optimizations, etc.
Then there are Kernels.. which I will leave for you to do some reading. LOL.

Above&Beyond™ said:
ROM (Read Only Memory) is a software that is stored in your phones internal memory. People also use the term ROM as for flashing an updated version of the firmware for their phone. There are other custom ROM that are available that are made from ROM developers here on XDA. These custom ROM has extra features such as WIFI tethering, theme options, speed optimizations, etc.
Then there are Kernels.. which I will leave for you to do some reading. LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So rooting allows you to install a custom ROM?
...so kernels?

ROMs and kernals are a bit different. Kernals (or atleast the only ones I know of) are more used for performance tweaks, such as overclocking. But first you need to root your phone, then install a CWM recovery and you're all set!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

Gfrt94yn said:
ROMs and kernals are a bit different. Kernals (or atleast the only ones I know of) are more used for performance tweaks, such as overclocking. But first you need to root your phone, then install a CWM recovery and you're all set!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's a CWM recovery?

I think that this thread will answer most (if not all) of your questions.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1427268

Hey just wanna let u guys know i have mac too.

[Q] Newcomer to all of this (Nexus S 2.3.4 to 4.1.1 issue)

Howdy all - I've just gotten a Nexus S to replace my old Xperia Play that was having many issues. I'm still a bit of a noob to the whole rooting/rom scene, and a lot of it is a bit over my head (which is frustrating for me as I'm good with technology in general).
Currently, I'm running Android 2.3.4, my build number is GTJ61, baseband version I9020AUCKE1 (don't know what all of that is important to know, but there it is).
I've tried most of the "simple" things I've found to try to force the phone to update, including the whole killing the google service, clearing the cache, etc, and the Sim Card removal trick. No dice, which is frustrating to me as I hear that the 4.1.1 update is very nice.
I'm in the middle of searching through the forums to see what I can find on this issue, but Comcast is being utterly craptastic right now and my web is simply crawling along. If anyone could give me a push in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it - I just want a nice, clean interface with good battery life and as little slowdown as possible. I know very little about flashing new roms and such but it seems like that might be my only option at this point.
I do play a few basic games (Robo Defense, Star Trader) and I use my phone heavily for texting and nutritional information (My Fitness Pal and a few other apps). Nothing too heavy, but again, i dont' know what all information is important for this
I appreciate any and all help or advice provided!
-Brian
EDIT - one thing thats had me a bit confused is the i9020a thing - does the UCKE1 at the end of mine mean I have a different version, or is all i9020a the same?
EDIT 2 - Okay, net is working a little better - found this linked from the here:
http://tech-tips-solution.blogspot.com/2012/04/samsung-nexus-s-i9020a-update-to-ics.html
Giving this a shot, hoping for the best! Still need to figure out how to go from 4.0.4 to 4.1.1

You should go in about phone settings and check for updates. On Wi-Fi. And it should ask you to updgrade. Strange thing that it didnt. There are few tutorials in general section, also in q&a you can find something usefull.
I would recommend flashing custom recovery with fastboot, than flash new bootloader in recovery and than you can put any 4.1.2 rom with no problems. also you could flash new radio if you want.
Sent from SpeedMachine i9100

alen1901 said:
You should go in about phone settings and check for updates. On Wi-Fi. And it should ask you to updgrade. Strange thing that it didnt. There are few tutorials in general section, also in q&a you can find something usefull.
I would recommend flashing custom recovery with fastboot, than flash new bootloader in recovery and than you can put any 4.1.2 rom with no problems. also you could flash new radio if you want.
Sent from SpeedMachine i9100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, kept telling me my phone was up to date (I blame AT&T myself). I've been reading through the tutorials - I have a LOT to learn heh...

Unlock it, flash custom recovery and flash Jelly Bean.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

dEris said:
Unlock it, flash custom recovery and flash Jelly Bean.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this, sadly google does not have an update program you can install on your computer like samsung or sony have, so you can't really just plug in and update, What you can do is flash a stock 4.1.1 update to it, using the os images they release, please consult the forum guides on how to do this.
Also, I don't think your carrier will update the phone simply because they suck at these things and most likely an OTA to jb was never released.
Alternatively, just flash a custom ROM after you root, but for first timers I'd say just root and then flash a stock image.
Hope this helps.

I would also suggest flashing a custom ROM. It can be a little daunting the first time, but there are many step by step guides in here to help you along the way. Choose one of the more stable ROMs as they will have have most of the bugs all ironed out. Once you go the custom rom path, you will love it.
Just a warning, flashing is very addictive
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app

I found myself in the exact same situation a year or so ago when i got my nexus s. My best advice to you would be to follow the guides on the sticky threads and go with the incremental updates, just so you get the hang of all the rooting and flashing first.
2.3.4 > 2.3.6 > 4.0.4 > 4.1.1 > 4.1.2
Since you say you generally don't have issues with technology, just read 2-3 general rooting/flashing threads first and then do everything by hand. It helps.
Also, share your experience here, it might help someone else in the future
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app

The only thing i didn't like about flashing a custom recovery is you'd be tempted to flash ROMs and/or kernels from time to time.
We got great developers here so you cannot be satisfied with what you currently have

Hm... any recommendations for custom roms that you guys have used and found particularly good? Like I said, speed and a decent looking interface are my two main concerns

Kittamaru said:
Hm... any recommendations for custom roms that you guys have used and found particularly good? Like I said, speed and a decent looking interface are my two main concerns
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, one of the most popular is cyanogenmod. Which version 10 is built on 4.1.2. It's, for me, disgustingly fast, stable, lock up free and has great additions to the codebase. In fact, it's looking like I'll keep this rom for the longest I have ever done. You can also use slimbean, which I used for a time and really liked.

Kittamaru said:
Hm... any recommendations for custom roms that you guys have used and found particularly good? Like I said, speed and a decent looking interface are my two main concerns
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also recommend CM 10.0 (stable) is good rom to start. It is stable, fast and pretty decent battery life. I have been using it for weeks without any issues.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda app-developers app

Kittamaru said:
Hm... any recommendations for custom roms that you guys have used and found particularly good? Like I said, speed and a decent looking interface are my two main concerns
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate check out Slim ROM website - this link leads directly to the Slim Android 4.1.2 for our phone (called Crespo). In addition to this file you'll need to poke around the Slim site to also download GAPPS and the AIO (all in one) file. This ROM is fast, feature packed and absolutely bug-free. Your battery will thank you
http://www.slimroms.net/index.php/downloads/all/viewdownload/139-crespo/841-slim-ns-3-1-0-official

Worth to change from stock rom to custom one ?

Hey guys.
What's the gain of using a custom rom over the stock one (Assuming rooted stock rom) ?
I'm kinda lost in all the roms available , so I was wondering if it was really worth it
Cheers

CrazyKoala said:
Hey guys.
What's the gain of using a custom rom over the stock one (Assuming rooted stock rom) ?
I'm kinda lost in all the roms available , so I was wondering if it was really worth it
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends to be honest I myself go with certain roms till I find things that make be mad then I go back to stock for a bit till I find another one so that would be my suggestion
Sent from my SM-N900W8 using XDA Free mobile app

CrazyKoala said:
Hey guys.
What's the gain of using a custom rom over the stock one (Assuming rooted stock rom) ?
I'm kinda lost in all the roms available , so I was wondering if it was really worth it
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life (if coupled with custom kernel)
Modifications -- some brilliant mods available -- Battery Icons, Themes, Menu settings etc
Cause you can :good:
-------
Using a custom Kernel with Stock Rooted and a few Xposed modules can be the same as a custom ROM most of the time though.. So give that a try first.

I have a lot better speed and battery life using Hyperdrive ROM with Beastmode Kernel. All the Touchwiz stuff (pen, etc.) still works, so yeah. Custom ROM > Samsung Bloatware.
I get between 11-14 hours with REALLY heavy use and full screen brightness and overclocked.

CrazyKoala said:
Hey guys.
What's the gain of using a custom rom over the stock one (Assuming rooted stock rom) ?
I'm kinda lost in all the roms available , so I was wondering if it was really worth it
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been trying custom ROM's and Kernels for many years..... I'm yet to find one that's worth the hassle.
Just disable the stock apps/bloatware you don't use and you'll get better { performance/battery life } than any custom ROM.
The only reason to use a custom ROM (IMO) would be for additional (required) functionality like additional fie system support etc.
I have personally had absolutely no good reason for the use of a custom Rom in years !.

I also don't feel like using custom rom over stock, I did many experiments with note one but with note 3 I would stay with stock rom.
Bloat wares are not bothering me, battery life is also decent so in my opinion leaving some extra utilities stock is better

Depends on which custom rom you choose. Some rom are good, nice and stable but others don't.
Sometimes I use custom rom because I wanna remove useless apps installed by carriers. If you find it not a issue, keep the stock one.

So if your phone is rooted then u don't really need custom rom isn't it well correct me if I'm wrong as I'm new to that android thing lol
Sent from my SM-N9005

Aspl2000 said:
So if your phone is rooted then u don't really need custom rom isn't it well correct me if I'm wrong as I'm new to that android thing lol
Sent from my SM-N9005
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a matter of "need" Hyperdrive has given me better battery life (even after freezing all the bloat) and has a lot of customization. You can do most of it through Xposed, but all the really valuable things are in it already. I never found one I thought was worth it until hyperdrive.
Try one of the ROMs that look interesting, if you like it keep using it. If not, that's what nandroid backups are for.

Aspl2000 said:
So if your phone is rooted then u don't really need custom rom isn't it well correct me if I'm wrong as I'm new to that android thing lol
Sent from my SM-N9005
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u know how to tweaks it urself, do modification to what u need, no custom rom is needed once u r rooted. Basically, once u r rooted u can do all system changes, IF u know how to.
But, assuming u r new, based on ur post, just grab any custom tom u like nd try.
Sent from somewhere under the sky, at the corner of this rounded earth.

ROM Recommendation

Hi,
My brother has some issues with his phone (Moto G 2013, not dual SIM, not 4G) in the last time. The phone is quite unstable, so I recommended him to flash custom recovery, and eventually custom ROM.
The question is which one? This is not ROM vs ROM thread. I do not wont to compare ROMs. Just aks people for they personal experience. If anyone could recommend a stable (his/her personal opinion.) ROM, or comment lolipop, should I got for Kit Kat ROM or Loli (He still hasn't received the OTA update to Lolipop.).
I have tried to research a bit and find out for my self what would be the best option for him, but the task is not so simple, and pretty time consuming. Strange how everything, from rooting to flashing seem so complicated when one looks at the forum, when one actually only has to unlock the bootloader, fastboot flash recovery, and flash the ROM of personal choice (Here I need a bit help : )).
I hope the question is ok, if not... sorry in advance.

the stock lollipop optimized version by lost101 + XT1032_Retail_BR_502_Optimized_v1.1a + greenify + xposed + gB is brilliant running smooth , battery life is great :good:

skinnyj said:
the stock lollipop optimized version by lost101 + XT1032_Retail_BR_502_Optimized_v1.1a + greenify + xposed + gB is brilliant running smooth , battery life is great :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is +gB? All general functionality like camera, sensors, GPS work normal, and stable?
Bit unrelated question about lollipop, is there a way to expand the notification card, like message or Google now card in notification bar? When I try to do that on my phone I only get the part with tiles (configuration shortcuts.)...
Thank you for your answer!

!crazy said:
What is +gB? All general functionality like camera, sensors, GPS work normal, and stable?
Bit unrelated question about lollipop, is there a way to expand the notification card, like message or Google now card in notification bar? When I try to do that on my phone I only get the part with tiles (configuration shortcuts.)...
Thank you for your answer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+gB meant - Gravitybox (this is killa app my personal favourite )
yes everything works bro, yes its stable (its stock)
link - http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/development/rom-stock-motorola-lollipop-rom-t3017510
expanded notifications it is
, yeah you can find so many tweaks on xposed -

skinnyj said:
+gB meant - Gravitybox (this is killa app my personal favourite )
yes everything works bro, yes its stable (its stock)
link - http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-g/development/rom-stock-motorola-lollipop-rom-t3017510
expanded notifications it is
, yeah you can find so many tweaks on xposed -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really didn't expect to find so many xposed modules in so good shape so fast! And you mean they all work, even gravity box!
Regarding stability, I have found many people complain even about official OTA updates. My brother also has serious stability issues with offices stock original, not rooted ROM on his Moto G, so stock doesn't always has to mean stability. People often root and start using custom ROMs because issues with stock.
But that's another story ☺. Thank you very much for your recommendation and very useful input. You have saved me a lot of hours of reading mostly useless stuff. I will definitely make make him flash what you recommended ☺. He was a bit afraid first when he found our he is losing his warranty when he applies for a device number, for unlocking the bootloader, but I remind him that his warranty is anyway not valid any more, and now we are about to proceed with unlocking, flashing TWRP, and this Lolipop ROM you recommended.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk

!crazy said:
I really didn't expect to find so many xposed modules in so good shape so fast! And you mean they all work, even gravity box!
Regarding stability, I have found many people complain even about official OTA updates. My brother also has serious stability issues with offices stock original, not rooted ROM on his Moto G, so stock doesn't always has to mean stability. People often root and start using custom ROMs because issues with stock.
But that's another story . Thank you very much for your recommendation and very useful input. You have saved me a lot of hours of reading mostly useless stuff. I will definitely make make him flash what you recommended . He was a bit afraid first when he found our he is losing his warranty when he applies for a device number, for unlocking the bootloader, but I remind him that his warranty is anyway not valid any more, and now we are about to proceed with unlocking, flashing TWRP, and this Lolipop ROM you recommended.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hahahaha, I've been flashing Roms and kernels to see which would suit me best, and I found this amazing stock ROM with amazing battery life.
Cheers

If you want half-bleeding edge ROMs than Dirty Unicorns is quite good with a big load a custom tweaks HOWEVER, I found resource management (RAM mostly) on Dirty Unicorns was . . . less than satisfactory and battery life was average-not great. If you want an up-to-date and almost-as-many-tweaks-as-dirty-unicorns then Exodus is the way to go Rock solid, fluid and quite compatible with custom kernels.
Oh, and about kernels. I cannot recommend ZERO Byte kernel enough. Great battery life, even with slight overclock (meaning better performance) and supports underclock (battery save 2 extreme!)

If him want a stock like and rock stable try AOSP+OMS.