Since Im a complete newbie I wanted to ask a few questions before doing anything stupid.
1. I noticed people are already posting new ROMs and kernels. Do I need them? I mean, I like the stock and everything but there are a few things I can't do. Why do YOU root and change ROMs?
2. I found a lot of kernels, and I understood that it can improve my performance and battery life. I would very much like to improve my battery life. The thing is, I don't know how. I do know that people are UVing and OCing their CPU, etc but what can a noob do who is not only a noob but also just bought a phone that the rooting thing is new to it. So no everything is fully developed, optimized and ready to go in a few clicks. Do I still need to wait a couple more weeks to change my kernel? I always read kernel threads and their changelogs but it is like jibarish to me. I can't even decide which one to pick.
3. I would really like to change my icons in the quick settings panel. Am I able to do that? How?
4. I tried setting Hebrew as my default language but that just moves the whole interface left. Because in Hebrew we write right to left. It wasn't like this when I had my GS3. I used a few CM Roms on my s3 and they were fine until the update to 4.3. Then it did the same thing on the S3 but I didn't know it would be like this on the N5. Is it something that can be fixed? Can I email Google or call them about this?
5. Is there anyone who is willing to recommend personally some ROMs, mods, apps or any modifications at all?
Thank you in advance!
Bei60 said:
Since Im a complete newbie I wanted to ask a few questions before doing anything stupid.
1. I noticed people are already posting new ROMs and kernels. Do I need them? I mean, I like the stock and everything but there are a few things I can't do. Why do YOU root and change ROMs?
2. I found a lot of kernels, and I understood that it can improve my performance and battery life. I would very much like to improve my battery life. The thing is, I don't know how. I do know that people are UVing and OCing their CPU, etc but what can a noob do who is not only a noob but also just bought a phone that the rooting thing is new to it. So no everything is fully developed, optimized and ready to go in a few clicks. Do I still need to wait a couple more weeks to change my kernel? I always read kernel threads and their changelogs but it is like jibarish to me. I can't even decide which one to pick.
3. I would really like to change my icons in the quick settings panel. Am I able to do that? How?
4. I tried setting Hebrew as my default language but that just moves the whole interface left. Because in Hebrew we write right to left. It wasn't like this when I had my GS3. I used a few CM Roms on my s3 and they were fine until the update to 4.3. Then it did the same thing on the S3 but I didn't know it would be like this on the N5. Is it something that can be fixed? Can I email Google or call them about this?
5. Is there anyone who is willing to recommend personally some ROMs, mods, apps or any modifications at all?
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 & 2 - I recommend reading the FAQ first, stickied at the top of this Q&A Section. This should give you a good starting knowledge
3 - would need an AOSP based ROM with this feature (CM / AOKP perhaps?)
4 - sorry, can't help
5 - No. This is against what XDA stands for. Read "No best rom threads" sticky in this forum.
1. All your answers can be found here for why you should root. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2510966 or http://lifehacker.com/top-10-reasons-to-root-your-android-phone-1079161983
2. Franco Kernel is very friendly to use and once rooted everything can be done from his paid google play app. check it out
3. Once rooted and with customer rom installed like cyanogenmod or paranoid android the themes you download from the google play store will sometimes change the settings icons too
4. i believe cyanogen mod roms have a good hebrew compatibility
5. Just start off very simply. use the cyanogenmod installer from the playstore and wait for the nexus 5 to become compatible. wait for the device to get into more peoples hands and youll see an influx of great roms and mods
good luck and welcome to the nexus community.
rootSU said:
1 & 2 - I recommend reading the FAQ first, stickied at the top of this Q&A Section. This should give you a good starting knowledge
3 - would need an AOSP based ROM with this feature (CM / AOKP perhaps?)
4 - sorry, can't help
5 - No. This is against what XDA stands for. Read "No best rom threads" sticky in this forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bigballa said:
1. All your answers can be found here for why you should root. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2510966 or http://lifehacker.com/top-10-reasons-to-root-your-android-phone-1079161983
2. Franco Kernel is very friendly to use and once rooted everything can be done from his paid google play app. check it out
3. Once rooted and with customer rom installed like cyanogenmod or paranoid android the themes you download from the google play store will sometimes change the settings icons too
4. i believe cyanogen mod roms have a good hebrew compatibility
5. Just start off very simply. use the cyanogenmod installer from the playstore and wait for the nexus 5 to become compatible. wait for the device to get into more peoples hands and youll see an influx of great roms and mods
good luck and welcome to the nexus community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your comments.
Kinda hard to decide wether to flash a different ROM or not. Hell, I haven't even rooted my device because I got it 7 hours ago
I'll be rooting it for sure, but I guess I'll wait a bit till CM or PA will come out. What did you guys install?
Bei60 said:
Thank you for your comments.
Kinda hard to decide wether to flash a different ROM or not. Hell, I haven't even rooted my device because I got it 7 hours ago
I'll be rooting it for sure, but I guess I'll wait a bit till CM or PA will come out. What did you guys install?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still rocking stock. Waiting for PA to release
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Bei60 said:
Thank you for your comments.
Kinda hard to decide wether to flash a different ROM or not. Hell, I haven't even rooted my device because I got it 7 hours ago
I'll be rooting it for sure, but I guess I'll wait a bit till CM or PA will come out. What did you guys install?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My choice was to stay with Stock ROM. I am new to Nexus devices so I wanted to see the subtleties between stock and AOSP.
That said, De-odexed roms are easier to modifiy so I flashed one of those
rootSU said:
My choice was to stay with Stock ROM. I am new to Nexus devices so I wanted to see the subtleties between stock and AOSP.
That said, De-odexed roms are easier to modifiy so I flashed one of those
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are they easier to modify? I mean, how does it come to use? Can you give me an example?
Also, I see you wrote your ROM, kernel and UVing settings in your signature. How is your battery life?
Bei60 said:
Since Im a complete newbie I wanted to ask a few questions before doing anything stupid.
4. I tried setting Hebrew as my default language but that just moves the whole interface left. Because in Hebrew we write right to left. It wasn't like this when I had my GS3. I used a few CM Roms on my s3 and they were fine until the update to 4.3. Then it did the same thing on the S3 but I didn't know it would be like this on the N5. Is it something that can be fixed? Can I email Google or call them about this?
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to settings > About > tap build version 10 times to enable developer options.
Go in to developer options and you can change the screen alignment.
I second the FAQ at the top of this forum. Incredibly helpful and informative for anyone new to rooting. That should have everything you need, but I guess if I were to add anything to what the above guys (or girls) said, it would be to root FIRST before playing around with your N5 too much. Not sure if it's really obvious or not yet, but the rooting process will result in wiping your device, so it's generally recommended to get that out of the way.
That being said, once you're rooted, I can't recommend Titanium Backup enough for making sure all your stuff is available after any future ROM changes.
Lastly, welcome to the Nexus family =) Glad to have ya
abtekk said:
Go to settings > About > tap build version 10 times to enable developer options.
Go in to developer options and you can change the screen alignment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it didn't work
it works when my system is in English but not when its in Hebrew.. It still shows left to right and I need right to left
b.spec said:
I second the FAQ at the top of this forum. Incredibly helpful and informative for anyone new to rooting. That should have everything you need, but I guess if I were to add anything to what the above guys (or girls) said, it would be to root FIRST before playing around with your N5 too much. Not sure if it's really obvious or not yet, but the rooting process will result in wiping your device, so it's generally recommended to get that out of the way.
That being said, once you're rooted, I can't recommend Titanium Backup enough for making sure all your stuff is available after any future ROM changes.
Lastly, welcome to the Nexus family =) Glad to have ya
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank! yea I watched a couple of videos and tutorials about rooting. I'll use Chainfire's tool that unlocks the BL + roots the device.
I'll stick to stock in the meanwhile, I'll just install Franco Kernel.
Bei60 said:
How are they easier to modify? I mean, how does it come to use? Can you give me an example?
Also, I see you wrote your ROM, kernel and UVing settings in your signature. How is your battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its just easier. Every system app has an .odex file too that requires extra modification by a themer / developer. Deodexed systems don't need that
-----------------------
Sent via tapatalk.
I do NOT reply to support queries over PM. Please keep support queries to the Q&A section, so that others may benefit
Related
OK so I've been waiting patiently for my Nexus One and it's finally here. So far I've rooted (uber easy) and installed RA-nexus-v1.5.3 and then installed Modaco's custom rom.
Here's my question?
How do I install the Cyanogenmod on my nexus one? Do I need "makin' bacon" ?
I tried installing the latest stable version 4.2.13 but it didn't work because it's not for Nexus One, right?
I'm 100% virgin when it comes to using a smartphone....I've always used the cheapest most basic pos I could find but my last one just broke and I couldn't resist this phone since I'm a heavy GV user. Please forgive the ignorance and thanks in advance
Your obviously a virgin to forums and how to use them as well. The search button is your friend..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=613812
For limiting issues on your side......
I've rooted (uber easy) and installed RA-nexus-v1.5.3 and then installed Modaco's custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either install Cyans add-on or leave Modaco's
I wasn't sure if I needed it or not? Total n00b until about an hour ago but I'm sure with snappy remarks and quick retorts I'll learn real quick
Thanks!
NexVision said:
Your obviously a virgin to forums and how to use them as well. The search button is your friend..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
elvezisdead said:
I wasn't sure if I needed it or not? Total n00b until about an hour ago but I'm sure with snappy remarks and quick retorts I'll learn real quick
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you are a noob to all this so the first thing you need to do before you ever flash anything is read up on how everything works. There is no cyanogen rom for the nexus one yet. Before you flash anything always do a backup beforehand. Roms are not interchangeable so don't ever try and flash a rom that's for another device. Read the informative thread in the development section, all the information you need is there so read read and read again, that's the best advice I can give you. Also before posting make sure you are posting in the correct section, this should have been posted in the development section not here.
Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to customizing my android phone. Have only had a Galaxy SII before, which I flashed to CyanogenMod.
Now I might be interested in flashing my new One S, particularly due to better battery life but also for enhanced possibilities.
I can of course read the guides on how to root & flash (although it seems a lot more complicated than on my Galaxy SII).
What I'm more worried about is, how do I flash back to stock, if that should be necessary later on? Is it very complicated?
Now, I actually like Sense 4.0, HTC keyboard and some other HTC things, so I would like to flash a ROM with Sense. I've looked through the forum and concluded, that either Noble or Trickdroid might be suitable for me. I know that it's not polite to shoot down the one or other ROM, but could some of you tell me the differences between the two? I can't really point them out myself.
Thank you very much!
Best regards
Casper
cawith said:
Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to customizing my android phone. Have only had a Galaxy SII before, which I flashed to CyanogenMod.
Now I might be interested in flashing my new One S, particularly due to better battery life but also for enhanced possibilities.
I can of course read the guides on how to root & flash (although it seems a lot more complicated than on my Galaxy SII).
What I'm more worried about is, how do I flash back to stock, if that should be necessary later on? Is it very complicated?
Now, I actually like Sense 4.0, HTC keyboard and some other HTC things, so I would like to flash a ROM with Sense. I've looked through the forum and concluded, that either Noble or Trickdroid might be suitable for me. I know that it's not polite to shoot down the one or other ROM, but could some of you tell me the differences between the two? I can't really point them out myself.
Thank you very much!
Best regards
Casper
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can read, you would know the differences between the 2 roms, and you would also know that THIS IS DEVELOPMENT SECTION, NOT Q&A !!
Wrong Section.
Sorry, how to move?
azzledazzle said:
If you can read, you would know the differences between the 2 roms, and you would also know that THIS IS DEVELOPMENT SECTION, NOT Q&A !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Harsh.
But yes, it is the wrong section. A mod will probably move this post soon enough.
That said, I just read them over. They look to be mostly the same. Stock with a few tweaks here and there. Noble looked the better of the two to me.
Both have some very vague language though
Fully optimized and tweaked
RAM optimizations
Speed optimizations
Excellent battery life!
Better CPU Performance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always just take a backup and flash each one and give them a day or two test run.
Moved To Q&A
Please post questions in the Q&A section
azzledazzle said:
If you can read, you would know the differences between the 2 roms, and you would also know that THIS IS DEVELOPMENT SECTION, NOT Q&A !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bwahahahahahahaha !
ViViDboarder said:
Harsh.
But yes, it is the wrong section. A mod will probably move this post soon enough.
That said, I just read them over. They look to be mostly the same. Stock with a few tweaks here and there. Noble looked the better of the two to me.
Both have some very vague language though
You can always just take a backup and flash each one and give them a day or two test run.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much!
Do you know how to flash stock rom and un-root, if it'll be necessary?
Hi, sorry if this thread is short, but i have two question blowing my mind.
1: Why don't whe have a 4.0.4 Cyanogenmod Rom?
2: And can we have a stock 4.1.2 rom? I mean, with motoblur, not cyanogenmod or that kinda variants
I know that motorola isn't collaborating with its upgrades. But, there is any chance?
First of all the boot loader is locked that means no custom kernel that means no proper CM builds, still there is an unofficial CM ROM in the development section take a look at it. And don't forget the funda "search before you post"..
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
tchsvy said:
First of all the boot loader is locked that means no custom kernel that means no proper CM builds, still there is an unofficial CM ROM in the development section take a look at it. And don't forget the funda "search before you post"..
Sent from my MB865 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't get me at all. I know that there's 3 roms of 4.1.2 CM.
And this was my comment about that, but no ones answers me:
I know that is hard, and i really really really apreciate the work that they're doing.
But, we have 3 roms of cyanogenmod, and the 3 roms have the same bugs.
I repeat. I know, they can't spend the whole free-time that you have working in the creation of the rom. But, why don't you team up and make a unique functional rom.
Or, am i missing something, and for the moment we can't have a functional rom because of motorola or whatever?
I repeat again, sorry if i'm bothering someone, but i ask this from my ignorance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brianmoyano said:
You don't get me at all. I know that there's 3 roms of 4.1.2 CM.
And this was my comment about that, but no ones answers me:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brianmoyano said:
I know that is hard, and i really really really apreciate the work that they're doing.
But, we have 3 roms of cyanogenmod, and the 3 roms have the same bugs.
I repeat. I know, they can't spend the whole free-time that you have working in the creation of the rom. But, why don't you team up and make a unique functional rom.
Or, am i missing something, and for the moment we can't have a functional rom because of motorola or whatever?
I repeat again, sorry if i'm bothering someone, but i ask this from my ignorance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then learn how to build your own freaking ROM, and why even start a NEW thread with this junk, it all fits in the CM Q&A thread.
These types of threads are not cool to your dev team. We all work very hard to bring the stuff that we do, to you guys, for free.
If you do not like the bugs in the CM based roms that we have then do not use them and stick to stock and stop basically complaining about it, or do some reading and learn about the process and see why we have these issues, we have all posted about it so many times now it is not even funny.
I saw your post before and chose to ignore it, but now that you have posted a new thread like this, I just had to reply.
--EDIT--
And to answer the questions you put in the first post here:
1) because the source for CM10 with 4.0.4 is not out anymore
2) because motorola will not release a 4.1 or 4.2 stock ROM and kernel, so we can not port that, even our 4.1 and 4.2 CM based roms are still really 4.0.4 because we still have the 4.0.4 version of the kernel underneath.
Again all this has been spelled out too many times now and some reading and searching could have gotten your answers.
jimbridgman said:
Then learn how to build your own freaking ROM, and why even start a NEW thread with this junk, it all fits in the CM Q&A thread.
These types of threads are not cool to your dev team. We all work very hard to bring the stuff that we do, to you guys, for free.
If you do not like the bugs in the CM based roms that we have then do not use them and stick to stock and stop basically complaining about it, or do some reading and learn about the process and see why we have these issues, we have all posted about it so many times now it is not even funny.
I saw your post before and chose to ignore it, but now that you have posted a new thread like this, I just had to reply.
--EDIT--
And to answer the questions you put in the first post here:
1) because the source for CM10 with 4.0.4 is not out anymore
2) because motorola will not release a 4.1 or 4.2 stock ROM and kernel, so we can not port that, even our 4.1 and 4.2 CM based roms are still really 4.0.4 because we still have the 4.0.4 version of the kernel underneath.
Again all this has been spelled out too many times now and some reading and searching could have gotten your answers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already said this, but, i do not want you to get mad.
If you can't response a single question without freaking out, then, don't answer.
I just gave an opinion, like i said, from my ignorance.
brianmoyano said:
I already said this, but, i do not want you to get mad.
If you can't response a single question without freaking out, then, don't answer.
I just gave an opinion, like i said, from my ignorance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not mad BTW, I am just tired of people not doing their own research. You are more than welcome to do some reading on compiling Cyanogenmod, so that you understand what we are up against. Also try searching for compiling cyanogenmod on locked bootloaders.
We (all the A2 devs), have answered these same questions so many times now, it is not even funny. It seems that as of late people have gotten more and more lazy in here, and we just keep hashing the same crap over and over again.
You say it is from your own ignorance, but you do not have to be ignorant, just use the search function or do some reading on your own and find what you need. And I do not want to hear excuses or complaints about the search function, I use it all the time, all you have to do is play with the wording until you find what you want. Also note other devs did not answer your original query either, for probably the same reason, not to put words in their mouth's either.
brianmoyano said:
But, why don't you team up and make a unique functional rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also I hate to tell you but most of your devs do "team up" and we work together on our IRC chat room to do dev work, but again reading around the forms would have also told you that as well, as we talk about it quite often.
brianmoyano said:
You don't get me at all. I know that there's 3 roms of 4.1.2 CM.
And this was my comment about that, but no ones answers me:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think only PA is 4.1.2 so far.. the others are 4.1.1, I think
And Jim's right, I also saw your post in the PA thread and started to reply, but discarded it because I felt I was sounding too mean.. let me try again:
I can say from my personal experience and (relatively low) skill level - it's a mess trying to get all the pieces in place to compile a working ROM from source code for our phone - specifically, the vendor and device files..
I know at least a few A2 devs are working to straighten things out for Edison directly - and a few others working on other Motos with similar hardware and locked bootloaders, which benefits us all.
It's probably safe to say that our phone is in the early stages of true ROM development (as opposed to derivative pseudo-roms and ports) - there is still a lot of work to be done to get something truly stable.
Again, please be patient, or learn and contribute... don't stir the pot.
Sent from my paranoid phone's mind
Hi All:
This is my first time here, I've been looking for a Rom for my S3 which can make it more similar to S4 with all its featuers.
I flashed many Rom and most of them has the 4.2.2 update but it has the nexus touch which I didnt like on my S3.
Any recommendations for a good Rom which is stable and have no issues..
Thanks in advance
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
KhaldounCG said:
Hi All:
This is my first time here, I've been looking for a Rom for my S3 which can make it more similar to S4 with all its featuers.
I flashed many Rom and most of them has the 4.2.2 update but it has the nexus touch which I didnt like on my S3.
Any recommendations for a good Rom which is stable and have no issues..
Thanks in advance
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only answer I can give you is: Take a look in the developers forum. If you see something you like, try it. Maybe go for a rom with a stock (Samsung/TouchWiz) look, since that's what you're used to from the stock ROM. Actually, I'd start off by rooting your phone(you've already done that, since you've flashed a lot of ROMs), and remove all the bloatware you never use from stock ROM. Maybe replace a few of the stock apps with better alternatives. This makes the phone faster, and frees up memory.
You can also freeze apps, if you're not comfortable with removing them from the stock ROM. This thread discusses which apps are safe to freeze/remove. The OP links to this document showing a spreadsheet of apps that are safe/not safe to freeze/remove.
If you're not familiar with the term "freezing apps", you should do a forum search(or just Google) Titanium Backup. It's a feature LOADED (you guessed it...) backup-app, which allows you to freeze apps if you don't want to uninstall them completely. In short, it "disables" the app, removing it from the drawer, but keeping it installed. You can easily unfreeze the apps if you need them to work for you again.
Hope this helped you on you way. The world of custom ROMs is huge, so you're guaranteed to find somehing you like.
Regards,
Kombian
KhaldounCG said:
Hi All:
This is my first time here, I've been looking for a Rom for my S3 which can make it more similar to S4 with all its featuers.
I flashed many Rom and most of them has the 4.2.2 update but it has the nexus touch which I didnt like on my S3.
Any recommendations for a good Rom which is stable and have no issues..
Thanks in advance
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im sure that a dev will port the s4 touchwiz rom to the s3 soon. Just be patient.
4.2.2 for s3 (S4 original framework) doubts
Kombian said:
The only answer I can give you is: Take a look in the developers forum. If you see something you like, try it. Maybe go for a rom with a stock (Samsung/TouchWiz) look, since that's what you're used to from the stock ROM. Actually, I'd start off by rooting your phone(you've already done that, since you've flashed a lot of ROMs), and remove all the bloatware you never use from stock ROM. Maybe replace a few of the stock apps with better alternatives. This makes the phone faster, and frees up memory.
You can also freeze apps, if you're not comfortable with removing them from the stock ROM. This thread discusses which apps are safe to freeze/remove. The OP links to this document showing a spreadsheet of apps that are safe/not safe to freeze/remove.
If you're not familiar with the term "freezing apps", you should do a forum search(or just Google) Titanium Backup. It's a feature LOADED (you guessed it...) backup-app, which allows you to freeze apps if you don't want to uninstall them completely. In short, it "disables" the app, removing it from the drawer, but keeping it installed. You can easily unfreeze the apps if you need them to work for you again.
Hope this helped you on you way. The world of custom ROMs is huge, so you're guaranteed to find somehing you like.
Regards,
Kombian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for all the information that you've shared with me, I am still not familiar with many things in rooting which I might need your help with that.
The first thing, what you guys mean by Stock Rom? does it mean the original android framework that was not modified yet?
2nd: how to remove all the bloatware? and what do you mean by bloatware?
3rd: is it bad for the handset to be flashed again and again with many different ROMs? I always follow the steps which the developers mention in flashing any new ROM, so is there any right ways to do that without damaging my phone?
for now these are all the doubts that I have about rooting, but I might come up with many points in the future,
I hope you guys can help me in getting more knowledge about it, and thanks a lot for your precious time that you are giving me
Thanks again
KhaldounCG said:
Thanks a lot for all the information that you've shared with me, I am still not familiar with many things in rooting which I might need your help with that.
for now these are all the doubts that I have about rooting, but I might come up with many points in the future,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For all doubts you have now and may have in the future, please follow the first rule of XDA:
"Search before asking"
And may I suggest you read through many of the fine guides and tutorials here on this forum. Look up the stickies in the section for ur device too.
"To err is human, to forgive is divine"
Sent from my SGS II
Hey guys converter from iPhone over here. Last time I rooted it was fairly straightforward and was able to get going quickly. This newer stuff is a little new to me.
I rooted my sprint s5 using towel root. Now what? I see roms like omega but none really say anything about the sprint model.
What should i do next to install a boottloader then a rom?
Thanks
kwwood said:
Hey guys converter from iPhone over here. Last time I rooted it was fairly straightforward and was able to get going quickly. This newer stuff is a little new to me.
I rooted my sprint s5 using towel root. Now what? I see roms like omega but none really say anything about the sprint model.
What should i do next to install a boottloader then a rom?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming you are a new XDA user. Welcome to the forum and be sure to read over the forum rules. They might save you some headache in the future. For example, this post should of been in the Q&A section but no biggie. A mod will move it if need be.
Anyways, about your question, this is the Sprint specific forum so all the roms here should be compatible with the Sprint S5 (900P). Some of the roms will be based off of Touchwiz (these will keep almost 100% of stock functionality while adding some extras) and AOSP roms (custom based on CM, MIUI, etc.) The first post of each rom thread will give you a good idea of what the rom has included, instructions to flash, what works and doesn't, and so on.
If you just rooted get a custom recovery on there and do a backup of the system and EFS first thing. As for bootloader, that is preference and may depend on what rom you flash but I would think you will be fine with what version you have now.
This is also a good thread to take a look at: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=52456762&postcount=1