Alright, it seems that a lot of people have started trying out all of the themes that are popping up here. And why not eh there's a lot of great looking themes flying around (once I've finished constantly messing up my phone with dodgy modifications I might even settle on one myself )
Problem as I see it is, the same questions are getting asked over and over again. And the same solutions are being presented. I know there's the 'How To' sticky for using chewitts installer, but the installation issues are getting posted everywhere: all through each theme thread, in the sticky and even in new threads (I have to admit, I've only seen one, but I don't really want to see a trend starting).
My suggestion is to make this the one-stop shop for all installation and restoration issues. I'll use the next few posts for the different kinds of issues (phone won't boot, market doesn't work etc) and their known solutions.
As the thread progresses with new issues I'll update.
Please note: I do not want to do this on my own
I will need (and I expect) the help of all of you out there that are creating these things that mess up our phones But, seriously, it would be nice if you guys subscribe and help out when you have the time.
This is really just an effort to clean up the forum here a bit, and make life easier for people trying to get information out of the theme threads, and, last but not least, to help the themers (is that a word??) avoid posting the same answers to the same questions over and over again.
I will look at the poll again after the weekend. If the aye's have it, then I will ask for it to be stickied and fill in some gaps. If not then this thread will self-destruct... well... you know... I'll ask a mod to delete it...
Reserved: Phone won't boot
Reserved: software issues
Reserved: other
Bump
10chars
First of all, great idea
As for me the problems i mostly met was:
- Market issue not installing Apk's after applying themes, to solve it you have to clear cache and uninstall updates from the "manage applications" menu.
- The other issue was the phone not booting and stuck on SE logo, and had to do a reflash, i remember seeing somewhere that you can flash only on file using flash tools and it will make your phone boot and keep your data but i actually don't remember where i read it
- Other issues at start of my theme"ing" life was chmod, installing adb and setting environment in windows settings but thats easy now - at least for me -
i will try to add more later
mezo9090 said:
First of all, great idea
As for me the problems i mostly met was:
- Market issue not installing Apk's after applying themes, to solve it you have to clear cache and uninstall updates from the "manage applications" menu.
- The other issue was the phone not booting and stuck on SE logo, and had to do a reflash, i remember seeing somewhere that you can flash only on file using flash tools and it will make your phone boot and keep your data but i actually don't remember where i read it
- Other issues at start of my theme"ing" life was chmod, installing adb and setting environment in windows settings but thats easy now - at least for me -
i will try to add more later
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Market issue - uninstall market update. Not related to theming.
Phone boot problems - improper installation of framework-res.apk.
chmod - if you have the improper permisions (shell root) you wont be able to push framework-res.apk to your phone, that's why they have you check your permissions. If they aren't proper the installer tells you how to remedy that.
Protip: backup your apk's after you've flashed your phone the last time and set them all up. In theory all your setting should be saved as well. The backup and restore program should be useful as well if you have to reflash.
***I voted no for us needing this thread because all the theme installation questions are easily answered in the theme's thread itself if the person properly reads the post. Also, if people are having doubts they shouldn't be theming their phones without properly figuring out what they have to do, let alone rooting it.***
crecsky said:
***I voted no for us needing this thread because all the theme installation questions are easily answered in the theme's thread itself if the person properly reads the post. Also, if people are having doubts they shouldn't be theming their phones without properly figuring out what they have to do, let alone rooting it.***
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theoreticaly you're absolutely right, that's why it took until now to open this thread. Practically, however, things look a bit different... I think another two or three threads popped up yesterday... And how many times have you read about "the market issue" on one (or all) of the theme threads?
crecsky said:
Market issue - uninstall market update. Not related to theming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely correct. The Market has been having issues since 1.6, and it's not just on the X10 either. Do we need the thread, not really, as most themes popping up use Chewitts installer and there is a sticky for that already or the issue has already been addressed in the themes thread.
However, you could change the thread to a common X10 issues thread which could be moved to general or rewrite THIS thread as you seem to be covering issues that are more general than theme related anyway.
yeah, fair enough. I just saw all the issues coming up in all the theme threads and how you guys were having to repeat yourselves again and again. I don't really want to get into any other issues other than theme related stuff.
Like I said, I agree that the market issue has nothing do do with themes, but just count up the number of users that posted in the res mods thread because of it.
Anyway, as I was primarily going to put this together to make yours and chewitts life easier (as you two bare the brunt of this), I'll ask the mods to delete it.
I might just write a little bit on recovery and send it to zm4.
_calum_ said:
I don't really want to get into any other issues other than theme related stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TBH, I'd rather you focus on your your reference thread, as that will be of more benefit.
XperiaX10iUser said:
TBH, I'd rather you focus on your your reference thread, as that will be of more benefit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hint taken I'm back on the case right now
Thread closed as per OP's request.
Yes, I definitely mean “wonderful” and “experts.” It is astonishing how much time, effort, and expertise the people who write the ROMs, etc., do for others, just to help us enjoy our cellphones. So, it is with no disrespect that I offer these comments on the instructions the experts give to us noobies to help us try to make our phones work better when they post “complete” instructions about how go to about this.
#1 – Odin.
There’s lots of advice to get Odin, but there are lots of Odin versions out there. Usually (generally in the computer world) what works when there’s a recommendation to get a program is to find the latest version. Even if a forum posting has a link to get a program, we figure that was the latest version available when the post was made and it still makes sense to get the currently latest version. That doesn’t work here. The latest Odin version I found was Odin 4.28. 4.28 totally fails to recognize my Samsung Droid Charge. But, if I use the ones referenced in the postings here (e.g. Odin3 v1.85) it recognizes my phone immediately. I understand the feeling that if we’re noobies we should just follow the directions exactly as written, but a little footnote about how this is different than everything else with computers would help.
I’m sure it isn’t true, but Odin seems to come from a mystical cloud location without any existence in our 3 dimensional universe. So, there seems to be no home website to explain that the latest version shouldn’t necessarily be used by everybody. And, there seems to be nobody on the forum who takes credit for upgrading Odin. Very mysterious.
Also – there’s at least three ways I’ve seen adamantly expressed as the proper way to connect a phone to Odin. #1 – simply attach the phone to the computer in the usual “download” mode, and Odin will find it.
#2 – Take out the phone battery for 5 seconds, replace it, then boot into recovery mode by holding down the up-volume, power, and home keys until “Samsung” flashes twice.
#3 – Take out the battery and don’t return it. Plug the phone into the computer, booting into recovery mode like #2.
As far as I can tell, #2 and #3 were needed for prior versions of Odin. Still, we noobies do Google this process, and it’s scary getting these conflicting directions about how to proceed. So, since you are obviously trying to make things less scary and confusing for us, you could mention this too.
Part of the problem is that there are various “Here’s how to replace your stock ROM with a better one” postings. Maybe each of them works perfectly, and there are many paths to enlightenment. Still, it’s worrisome for a noobie to try to figure out which of these paths to bet our phone on. (Of course, it’s also difficult for people trying to actually achieve spiritual enlightenment to decide on a path, so maybe this confusion is just an inevitable part of human experience.)
(cont. below)
#2 – CWM – Clock Work Mod.
I’m still confused about the need and timing of this one. Some sources say it’s entirely optional, just allowing other cool stuff done later. Others seem to say it’s important to install (flash through Odin) this before installing the new ROM. And, then there seem to be some ROMs that Odin can flash that do it all at the same time. And, then, there’s the issue of what order things are to be done in. If we just use Odin to flash a new Gingerbread ROM, can we, or should we, use Odin to flash in CWM?
As a noobie, I’m inclined to the “the less I mess with, the less chance I have of screwing everything up.” So, I think I’d like to skip the CWM while installing my new ROM, and wait to use CWM until I find some additional cool feature I can’t add without it.
#3 – ROM’s.
Where’s Consumer Reports when we need them? There are apparently various ROM’s we could use to improve our phones (e.g. Samsung Droid Charge). They are listed with somewhat cryptic explanations. Those explanations are probably perfectly explanatory for experts, but as a Noobie I don’t get a clear sense of direction from reading them. For example, Android 2.2 ROM’s (Froyo) are still listed, along with 2.3 (Gingerbread). Why would anybody want 2.2 if 2.3 is available? I assume there’s some reason I should be considering, but have no idea what it is. Among the 2.3’s, there’s also the “bloated” vs. “debloated” versions. Many of the unremovable (until rooted) stock apps seem to be both useless and resource drainers. But, I don’t know if I’m ready to give up all of them. And, the “debloated” versions are written by programmers, not people who want to devote their lives to writing up detailed commentaries about what is, and is not, debloated and why. Is there any reason not to just keep all the stock apps, and freeze or uninstall them with Titanium Backup later, as I identify the ones I do not want?
I feel anxious when I read somebody’s post about their newly released ROM, with lots of compliments, then comments that some feature now isn’t working. It’s hard enough to get answers about how to deal with the stock ROM.
I’m also confused about the difference between the “kernal” and the “ROM”. My impression is that “kernal” is which version of Android we use. “ROM” is broader, including extra’s like CDM and CDW, and Voodoo, etc. Or, not?
Part of the problem, obviously, is that the ROM writers have to do a different version for every [email protected]#$%^&*! phone that is made. Apparently even with the Samsung Galaxy family, there are enough differences that the ROM’s are customized for each one. (My prior phone was a Vibrant.) I am grateful that we have choices, and that these ROM’s are available, at all, but it would help to get a little more commentary (i.e. recommendations) about which ones are best for those of us just wanting a better ROM.
#4 – Voodoo. This is like the other issues. It seems like a great thing, to make the file system more efficient and do things like improve the sound system. But, it’s also confusing about when/if to install it in relation to the general ROM update.
So, maybe one of the wonderful experts will clarify these things here, or tweak their general instructions, for the benefit of noobies. Regardless, I again express my appreciation for all they’ve done for us.
There's a whole lot of "it depends" in this.
#1 - Odin may be up to 4.28, but Odin3 is newer than Odin. That's pretty self explanatory on its own.
#2 - You need CWM. Period. But, if you are flashing a full Odin ROM, it already comes with it, so you won't have to go into it unless you want to flash a theme or a new kernel. If you are installing a CWM ROM image, you need to flash CWM first.
#3 - Froyo (2.2) is still the only offical release for this phone. Gingerbread (2.3) is coming, but it's still in beta, and not officially released. The only GB releases we have are leaked and are not official final builds, therefore, they are not guaranteed to be of the quality or stability of Froyo, and, more importantly for us, there is no source available for the GB releases yet, so we don't have a lot of the cool tweaks available. So, it really does depend on what you are after.
#4 - All the current ROMs pretty much support it out of the box. If you are going with a stock ROM instead, you need a Voodoo enabled kernel to activate it. If you're ever in doubt of whether you have it and if it's enabled, install Voodoo Control and look at the lagfix section of the app.
I built a web page that has compiled all of the software you need to root, kernel update, ROM, and recover your Droid Charge with direct links to all of the software in one place.
http://www.toms-world.org/android
Plus it comes with very detailed instructions on how to do any one the activities mentioned above.
For those experts who do know how to do all of this, I'd like to see some collaboration and opinions on my directions. I'm only one person so I can't think of everything that could be added as far as a tutorial.
My idea is that a lot of us that know how to do this stuff should start a place where people can find the information they need for the Droid Charge all in one place without having to go from thread to thread, page to page, etc. Having it all in one place would benefit the Droid Charge community greatly.
Thanks for the replies.
Also, answering my own questions,
Not only is CWM necessary, but the remove battery 1st instructions, at:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14692818&postcount=1
are correct. The other instructions I found that didn't include this stop didn't work -- Odin just sat there.
Also, at about page 11 of that xda thread, it says (correctly) that after ODIN says it's done, it's OK to unplug your phone, despite the large, brightly colored screen that says "Downloading... Do not turn off Target!!!"
Also, the kernal is different than the OS. So, first we find and install a rooted kernal (I guess this is like the most fundamental part of the phone's operating system), then pick a ROM (i.e. version of Android) to install.
Yes, now that you pointed it out, I agree it should have been obvious that ODIN3 is a later family version of ODIN, so no matter how high the version of ODIN we find, it's not going to be up the ODIN3 level. ...sigh
In the case of loading GummyCharged, you don't need to pick a kernel. The GummyCharged package contains an already rooted kernel (iMoseyOn's Lean Droid Charge Kernel) so basically if you load GummyCharged you have a kernel flashed along side it.
The only time you have to flash a new kernel is if you want to run a different kernel than the one contained in your ROM. Or if you want to update the kernel to a newer version of the kernel.
The kernel is the heart and soul of an operating system. It does all of the work in coordinating memory and process allocation. Think of it as a traffic cop.
trparky said:
In the case of loading GummyCharged, you don't need to pick a kernel...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Your description of the kernel is much better than mine.
Another bit of noobie confusion:
The GummyCharged thread at
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1163123
says to install through CWM, after rooting. So, I already installed a new kernal, so I could have root.
As I understand better, now, I hope -- even with GummyCharged -- I had two choices, as there are two GummyCharged versions available. One is the two-step process (new kernal, then new OS). The other is to do both at the same time, through ODIN, which would have been easier.
I did install a new kernal, through CDW, seeing that path more clearly.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1104634
Just a note that when my phone rebooted, Titanium Backup said I did not have root privileges. On a hunch, I just rebooted again, and that solved the problem. TB is happy, and so am I.
Then install a new OS through CWM.
Another thread that might have some useful information for you can be found here -> http://rootzwiki.com/showthread.php?4643-HOW-TO-quot-Clean-quot-install-GummyCharged-FE-2.0. Theres a lot there (maybe too much?) but if nothing else there are a number of useful links. I hope it helps!
Off topic: trparky I tried to send you a pm yesterday but my computer was acting up - not sure if you got it or not.
Thanks for all the help. Everything seems to be fine. This is just sort of a summary & wind-up post of another noobie's experience and successful quest for cellphone happiness.
First, there seem to be three ways to do scary things to the e-guts of my cellphone.
#1 -- Odin3 (a.k.a. Odin, but Odin3 v.x is the one that works for Samsung/Verizon Droid Charge [SDC]). Odin3 runs on the computer, with the cellphone properly tethered to the computer, and can insert stuff, like CWM. So, mostly the first step is to use Odin3 to insert CWM (superseding the stock recovery program). From some post it seemed it's possible to skip this step and do everything from Odin3, but that post also said that approach wasn't for noobies, even though it seemed easier to me. Odin3 is an elegant program, but you have to find somebody's Betty Crocker instructions for how to use it.
#2 -- Use the ordinary SDC file tethering to put .zip files onto the SDCard, because CWM uses those to install things like kernels and OS's (versions of Android). Sometimes the kernel and OS come bundled. Sometimes not. I ended up flashing a kernel first, then an OS with a bundled kernel, and everything seems fine.
#3 -- there's some other program, starting with an "H" that can also work like Odin, I think, but I ended up anxious enough figuring out #1 and #2, so didn't want to learn a whole other approach that might, or might not, somehow have been better, so I ignored this approach.
After I had my new root kernel, I used Titanium backup to freeze the bloatware. At that point I sort of chickened/burned out because there were too many choices of which version of Android to flash. I decided I didn't really need any of them, since my phone would be efficient enough without the bloatware running to give me everything I needed. What originally got me to start flashing my Android phone was when I would (repeatedly) receive calls on my old Samsung Vibrant, but the phone was so busy doing some [email protected]#$%^&*! thing that it wouldn't let me answer the call. With a more advanced phone (my new SDC), and frozen bloatware, I was confident I wouldn't have that problem, so just stopped there ... ... ... until I was horrified to receive another call which my SDC told me about but was too busy doing some [email protected]#$%^&*! thing that it wouldn't let me answer the call. OMG, it's happening again! At that point the choice of which version of Android to use because less important, because I was sure that nobody's custom Android would let that happen. So, I went with the GummyCharged Froyo [GummyChargedFE_2.0.zip]. At this point, I'd worked with CWM enough that it was all easy. Downloaded the file, copied it to my SDCard, booted to recovery, erased files & Dalvik cache, flashed the GummyCharged, and restarted. Lovely.
One nice aspect I'd not anticipated was that somebody has thoughtfully improved the process, so immediately my phone started re-downloading and installing the apps I had before. It's kind of a hassle to have to re-do all that manually, so special chops/thanks to the GummyCharged team for that feature. My phone works fine. I've tried, and happily failed, to make it too busy to let me answer a call.
What's left? I have to make donations to the Gummycharged people, whose software I now use, and the person who tweaked CWM that I use. It feels like I should make a donation to the Odin3 trolls, but haven't seem a request for that, nor have any who they are or how to do that.
I'll also be keeping my eye on the developing Gingerbread kernels, occasionally, until it looks like those are so mature that there's no reason to not confidently install & flash (through Odin or CWM, both of which I not feel fairly comfortable with) the upgrade.
On the off chance that anybody's still reading this, I do have one last question:
Can I delete the GummyCharged .zip file from my SDCard. I remember, back when I flashed my Vibrant, that I later deleted a seemingly useless .zip file called "update.zip", and that caused a problem. File isn't huge, so except for my mild OCD, no big problem in just leaving it there.
Thanks, again, to the wonderful experts who've helped me and so many others through this.
angelsix said:
...
#3 -- there's some other program, starting with an "H" that can also work like Odin, I think, but I ended up anxious enough figuring out #1 and #2, so didn't want to learn a whole other approach that might, or might not, somehow have been better, so I ignored this approach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the program is called Heimdall - this is more often associated with Mac users, as ODIN is a Windows program.
angelsix said:
...
One nice aspect I'd not anticipated was that somebody has thoughtfully improved the process, so immediately my phone started re-downloading and installing the apps I had before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not positive, but I believe this to be more of a Google thing. Whatever apps you've downloaded from the market are linked to the google account used on the phone, so once you sign back in on your phone post-flash, those apps (whatever ended up being stored as downloaded-by-you by google at least) start getting pushed to your phone.
angelsix said:
...
On the off chance that anybody's still reading this, I do have one last question:
Can I delete the GummyCharged .zip file from my SDCard. I remember, back when I flashed my Vibrant, that I later deleted a seemingly useless .zip file called "update.zip", and that caused a problem. File isn't huge, so except for my mild OCD, no big problem in just leaving it there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can delete the file, but this is essentially the installer file - if you ever have need to re-install it later on, you will need that (or a more up-to-date one if such a thing exists) file again. I tend to be an electronic pack rat myself, but you can delete the file from your SD card without any immediate adverse effects. If I remember right, the "update.zip" of old was associated with some earlier variants of CWM - without it you would not be able to get to the "custom" recovery (i.e. CWM) to flash things. Seems like such things are no longer necessary anymore, at least not with the recent versions.
dwitherell said:
I'm not positive, but I believe this to be more of a Google thing. Whatever apps you've downloaded from the market are linked to the google account used on the phone, so once you sign back in on your phone post-flash, those apps (whatever ended up being stored as downloaded-by-you by google at least) start getting pushed to your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct, and it's something that I strongly dislike, as I have installed plenty of things from the Market that I have since uninstalled and no desire to restore. If you skip account setup when you are first setting up the phone, and then manually go into Settings->Accounts & Sync, it will skip this, which is yet another reason to like aftermarket roms, as the stock roms will not allow you to get to the launcher until you set up a Google Account.
OK, I didn't realize how crappy web browsing is with out Adblock! I can't live like this! I'm so tempted to bootloader unlock and root. But my concern is losing camera features. Can someone really outline EXACTLY what I will lose if I bootloader unlock and how different the camera is as well.
I actually don't take a lot of photos with my camera anyway, but I really want a list of things that change to help me make the right decision. I haven't even installed all my apps yet because we all know what happens when you BL unlock. Actually now that I think about it...I didn't install my apps because I can't restore using Titanium Backup because I have to be rooted. How anyone lived without root, adblock/adaway, and Titanium backup is beyond me. But I'm also a chronic phone swapper. It's a nasty addiction. My favorite phone thus far has been the M8 though. Definitely covered all the bases all it was missing was 3GB of ram and wireless charging. I didn't even mind Sense which I thought I would immediately get rid of and convert it to a GPe edition.
Anyway anyone with UL BL that can tell me exactly what changed I would appreciate it.
I don't know myself, but you might want to ask in the Q&A section instead.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3/general/bootloader-unlock-t2888735 - This thread contains a fair amount of information relating to what is lost, and what isn't lost.
Something worth considering and not listed nearly as often as a possible result of unlocking without trim area / DRM backup (to restore later) ~ upcoming sony apps / not yet released apps that will rely on the keys to run. (hypothetically, a video version of track I'd is released and needs the keys not to fc)
Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk
Thanks all. I figured this has been answered but couldn't find a comprehensive list
Still.open to any other feedback that thread didn't go into a lot.of detail.
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