Related
Note: I'm hoping this is the correct place for this thread, hopefully others with this same phone would benefit from it, as this sub-forum seems barren of any guides on what I am looking for
After Christmas, I decided to get my first smart phone, the D2G. I ordered it through Newegg and had it linked to a family account on Verizon.
So what I currently have now is Android 2.2, System Version 2.4.330.A956.Verizon.en.us, and tons of Verizon branded bloat.
My goal is that I would like to install a vanilla version of gingerbread. Being my first smartphone, and my first time on these forums, I'm greatly lacking in knowledge of these phones and how to get from where I am at to where I want to be. What I do have, however, is an understanding of operating system architecture, UNIX experience and good technical knowledge of PCs. I understand what rooting means, what apps are, what a bootstrap does, however I know nothing of how to get or use these things on this phone, nor any idea where to look for this information. Because this phone is on contract (and thus only paid $150 for it), I'm hoping to minimize the risk of bricking it, or otherwise costing me more money.
What I am looking for: any information/guides/links that will help me to get me from Android 2.2 to a vanilla version of gingerbread on the D2G. From what I have gathered from other threads is that I need to root it (by installing z4root I read), boot in recovery mode, then install ROMs. None of those things I know how to do right now. I suppose helping me learn how to do those would be a great start.
tl;dr I need a layman's guide to get gingerbread on D2G
Thanks in advance for any help
To begin you won't be able to get Gingerbread until Motorola releases an update. The Droid 2 (and D2 Global) have a locked bootloader which means the kernel can't be changed except by Motorola. Without a kernel upgrade Gingerbread will remain out of reach.
You can, however, grab some things that have been backported from Gingerbread like the keyboard and theme. As time goes by more and more external things from Gingerbread will become available for non-GB users, but certain things that rely on the GB kernel will be elusive.
Now as for FroYo, there currently isn't a completely working AOSP (Android Open Source Project) ROM yet. Fission and GummyJAR strip away as much Blur as possible and work towards AOSP. Unleashed, Ultimate Droid, and Tanzanite are all AOSP ROMs in development but are lacking full functionality at the moment. Basically you've got to pick your poison: AOSP-like that works or AOSP that's not quite done.
Given that you have a D2 Global I'd personally hold off on changing ROMs at the moment. The D2G SBF (System Boot File) hasn't been leaked yet so if anything were to go wrong while changing ROMs your phone would be bricked until the SBF is released. A SBF allows you to revert your phone back to its out-of-the-box state should anything go wrong; your phone can be in a boot loop but you can turn it on in a way that will allow you to get things back to square one at least. Without the SBF you're really taking a gamble.
Alright, so I take it I just got too new of a phone then ~_~
thanks
Don't be too upset that your phone is too new yet...
Just be very careful with what you try for now.
It is just over a year since I got my first Droid and while there were plenty of hacks and roms for that back then, few were really STABLE. It didn't take long before not only were stable roms available, they were far better and included features that were not supposed to be on the phone.
Including overclocking it to twice the stock speed.
The D2G is in a similar place right now but the whole "eFuse" thing makes hacking a lot trickier. Its much easier to brick a D2/DX than an original Droid.
BUt progress is being made and there is little doubt in my mind that all the devs out there will make this phone what it should be just like they did with the Droid.
Gingerbread will get to us eventually, but for now Fission rom has already improved my D2G 100% over stock.
rogerdugans said:
Gingerbread will get to us eventually, but for now Fission rom has already improved my D2G 100% over stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interested in Fission, but as I have previously stated, I'm quite clueless for the time being
Is this something that is safe?
Kenshin- said:
Interested in Fission, but as I have previously stated, I'm quite clueless for the time being
Is this something that is safe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want 100% safe- leave your phone exactly as you received it.
Seriously.
There is risk in doing this stuff, even when we are simply taking advantage of the very risky work done by devs to figure out HOW to modify our phones.
Generally speaking, the longer you wait the less risky it is, but the fact is that there is never ZERO danger to it. Even if all the mods and hacks you use are time tested and there has not been a single bug found by anyone- flashing a rom can go wrong and leave a device bricked.
Even flashing a manufacturer provided BIOS on a computer has risk.
All of that said, if you want to minimize risk, wait just a little while for the bugs to be worked out more thoroughly.
I just saw that there is now an SBF for the D2G last night- that helps provide a buffer for accidents (disaster recovery!) but I don't know how well tested it is. We should know fairly soon- quite a few folks with bricked phones have been waiting for it!
I would say that right now the D2G has risk in the "moderate" range- new phone, not that much dev time, etc.
The only other phone I have personal experience with is the original Droid- risk on that is "minimal." Hard to kill those things.
All that said, I have accepted the risk and did so before the sbf was out. I have had no problems at all so far.
IF you choose to do so, I highly recommend following instructions exactly and making sure you know what you are doing and why.
I don't mean to talk you or anyone else out of improving their smart phone, but I do believe that realistic risk assessment is a wise thing to do before starting.
I used the SBF to flash my phone 2 days ago, with no issues.
rogerdugans said:
Generally speaking, the longer you wait the less risky it is, but the fact is that there is never ZERO danger to it.
...
All of that said, if you want to minimize risk, wait just a little while for the bugs to be worked out more thoroughly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a D2 and I got it pretty new a few months ago it was my first Android phone but I watched the forums and learned as things became available how to do it all. I watched as the device everyone thought wasn't even going to get root access got it, then the ROMs came; it wasn't easy and they aren't like the ROMs that came for previous devices because of the locks Moto put on the phone. But, we were happy with it and I've been pleasantly surprised at what the devs have come up with and have been running custom ROMs so long I don't remember what stock was even like. I just know it wasn't as cool as the custom stuff I'm running.
So hang in there and read all you can about your device or similar devices (D2, DX, DPro) so that when something comes along that you want to try you know what to do to make it work and what to do if it doesn't go as planned.
i have got a samsung omnia7 and was thinking about using the sammy rainbow custom rom, what are the pro's and cons doing this?
atm i have interop unlocked it but as i am still under warranty was curious of the effects.
advice would be grateful
It varies heavily ROM to ROM. However, there are a few common things.
Advantages:
More device control. With the policy system disabled, you can modify almost anything.
More homebrew apps, and more powerful ones (things like bazaar).
Native homebrew apps and ported WinMo apps.
Install XAPs directly (such as from IE), instead of using a PC.
If you find a bug, you can directly talk to the devs about fixing it (or possibly fix it yourself).
You may get updates before your carrier would provide them normally.
Disadvantages:
Higher risk of bugs since the ROMs get a lot less testing than official ones.
Updates may come later because you have to wait for a custom packaging of the update.
Not all custom ROMs are updatable; you might need to replace it with a new version which means you'll lose all your data.
Turning off the policy system increases your risk of malware if you arent' careful what you install.
Custom ROMs may have malware built in (not saying any of them do, but it's a risk).
Currently, I'd suggest waiting a little while to see where the Samsung ROM scene goes, what bugs are found and how quickly they're fixed, what features are available and how useful they are. However, it's pretty much always possible to go back to a stock ROM (unless you somehow really badly mess up your phone) so if you want to experiment or be an early adopter, go ahead. Otherwise, I think it'll be pretty clear what ROMs are good and where the custom ROM scene is going (support- and feature-wise) within a month or so.
so i would be safer to wait and see what the dev of the roms is going to do in the case of bugs.
thanks
That's my take. Note that I'm a dev working very hard on hacks that works with stock ROMs though - somebody who spends their time developing custom ROMs may well give completley different advice. There are certainly lots of advantages to going with custom ROMs, even at this relatively early point (it helps that a lot of the experience from HTC custom WP7 ROMs carries over to Samsung ROMs as well).
it seems as though the custom roms for omnia 7 are coming on leaps and bounds, what with MIRO's ROM http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1499102
there seems to be very little on the way of bugs with his atm so i think i will give that one a shot. i know i am new at this but if you don't ask then you never find out things right
thanks for your advice and input....much appreciated
So i'm well aware that the 4.3 ota has screwed over a lot of us galaxy sIII verizon users. I used to happily install custom roms over CWM Recovery. Trust me, I know this has been asked time and again but there is a twist to my post so bare with me if you are one of those people with the fame of suggesting a feeble search when searching for a post with a similar topic in this case (as in related to this particular topic) usually just causes more confusion with an assortment of vague answers from the same people who suggested the search. Anyway, I am another dummy who installed 4.3 ota after running into some problems that led me eventually to reflash stock and to my dismay I accidentally used the 4.3 rom. It goes without saying what kind of problems I had to deal with after that, especially trying to deal with the ugly touchwiz interface.
SO MY QUESTION. Is there any progress from any devs that would suggest a fix in the near future? I am highly doubtful of this, and am pretty much considering dumping this phone altogether. But if someone can at least humor me, or suggest an alternative phone on the verizon network that is worth the but, and doesn't bring with it the problems that I have now, that would be great, I'm all ears.
I know current solutions consist of safestrapping (touchwiz based only roms as far i've read), or just rooting and installing mods to ease the situation. I've also read about other possible exploits like lokis which as far I know went nowhere.
carlofabyss said:
So i'm well aware that the 4.3 ota has screwed over a lot of us galaxy sIII verizon users. I used to happily install custom roms over CWM Recovery. Trust me, I know this has been asked time and again but there is a twist to my post so bare with me if you are one of those people with the fame of suggesting a feeble search when searching for a post with a similar topic in this case (as in related to this particular topic) usually just causes more confusion with an assortment of vague answers from the same people who suggested the search. Anyway, I am another dummy who installed 4.3 ota after running into some problems that led me eventually to reflash stock and to my dismay I accidentally used the 4.3 rom. It goes without saying what kind of problems I had to deal with after that, especially trying to deal with the ugly touchwiz interface.
SO MY QUESTION. Is there any progress from any devs that would suggest a fix in the near future? I am highly doubtful of this, and am pretty much considering dumping this phone altogether. But if someone can at least humor me, or suggest an alternative phone on the verizon network that is worth the but, and doesn't bring with it the problems that I have now, that would be great, I'm all ears.
I know current solutions consist of safestrapping (touchwiz based only roms as far i've read), or just rooting and installing mods to ease the situation. I've also read about other possible exploits like lokis which as far I know went nowhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No known progress, could be some progress behind the scenes. Remember, if someone does find an exploit for the s5 the s3 will likely have the same vulnerability. Nobody is going to tell anybody they're working on it.
Only phones I know of that can be unlocked are the HTC m7 and m8. I think all other phones are locked, but maybe the LG phones can be unlocked.
carlofabyss said:
So i'm well aware that the 4.3 ota has screwed over a lot of us galaxy sIII verizon users. I used to happily install custom roms over CWM Recovery. Trust me, I know this has been asked time and again but there is a twist to my post so bare with me if you are one of those people with the fame of suggesting a feeble search when searching for a post with a similar topic in this case (as in related to this particular topic) usually just causes more confusion with an assortment of vague answers from the same people who suggested the search. Anyway, I am another dummy who installed 4.3 ota after running into some problems that led me eventually to reflash stock and to my dismay I accidentally used the 4.3 rom. It goes without saying what kind of problems I had to deal with after that, especially trying to deal with the ugly touchwiz interface.
SO MY QUESTION. Is there any progress from any devs that would suggest a fix in the near future? I am highly doubtful of this, and am pretty much considering dumping this phone altogether. But if someone can at least humor me, or suggest an alternative phone on the verizon network that is worth the but, and doesn't bring with it the problems that I have now, that would be great, I'm all ears.
I know current solutions consist of safestrapping (touchwiz based only roms as far i've read), or just rooting and installing mods to ease the situation. I've also read about other possible exploits like lokis which as far I know went nowhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most Motorola Droids are unlock able now! I had a Motorola RAZR m before this phone, and when the new kitkat update rolled out, the old bootloader came back in, allowing you to root with towelroot and unlock your bootloader with the motopocalypse app! Check them out. Droid RAZR m is pretty cheap. Definitely worth it if you like customizations.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Free mobile app
"Should I RUU?" I'm not asking for myself, per se -- I'm asking for myself, and others, who may be thinking about it, or perhaps those unaware that they can, and the benefits (and costs, if any) of doing so.
A RUU, as I understand it (generally a noun) is a dump of an HTC phone's operating system. Used as a verb, to RUU is to flash a RUU. Flashing a RUU typically erases the phone's system (ROM), data (user apps, and ROM settings, accounts, messages, call log, etc), cache... and internal memory. But, not the external SD, if one is installed. It then flashes the stock ROM, but it also does things like fix partitions, whether it needs to be done or not, so it can fix some low-level problems if they exist.
That is my understanding; I'm not stating the above as fact. I'm relatively new to HTC; the One M8 is my first HTC phone, and I've only had it since June. However, I try to read more than I post, and I try to read about things I do to/with my phone at least 2-4 times, just to get it right. I follow several ROM threads, including those I don't use, and I read every post, because there's just so many hidden gems of information that could be relevant later. We have some really smart people, but it's hard to know who knows what, so absorbing all that information like I do... It might not be 100% accurate. Wisdom is my goal though, not being right and definitely not **** measuring, so if I'm wrong, let me know. I'll appreciate it. That said...
When I got my phone, it came with 4.4.2 KitKat, same as all M8's, I believe. I tried a couple AOSP and GPE ROMs and found them not to my liking, so I stuck with CleanROM through 4.4.2, then 4.4.3, and lastly 4.4.4 where the ROM still is currently. In November I switched to GPE, and my phone has gone through numerous firmware updates, and now I'm on the current 5.0.1 firmware from Verizon, dual booting (MultiROM) Digitalhigh's GPE and Neo's Adrenaline, a Sense 6 ROM.
I'm not unhappy with my setup. I run GPE during the week, because I absolutely love stock Android 5. During the weekend I run Adrenaline for its better battery life. While I prefer stock Android, Sense 6 is in a good place now, especially with custom ROMs. And of course Sense 7 starting to come available. Oh, and I also boot into Sense to fix GPS issues in GPE. Seems every reboot is a chance to lose GPS. Fortunately the fix takes five minutes tops.
I don't think a RUU will fix the GPS issue. That runs deeper. Again, I'm not asking as a diagnostic question for myself. I'm asking, in general, should one who has updated through the firmware and ROM versions, RUU to the newest, and then set everything back up? Is there an advantage to doing so?
dragontology said:
"Should I RUU?" I'm not asking for myself, per se -- I'm asking for myself, and others, who may be thinking about it, or perhaps those unaware that they can, and the benefits (and costs, if any) of doing so.
A RUU, as I understand it (generally a noun) is a dump of an HTC phone's operating system. Used as a verb, to RUU is to flash a RUU. Flashing a RUU typically erases the phone's system (ROM), data (user apps, and ROM settings, accounts, messages, call log, etc), cache... and internal memory. But, not the external SD, if one is installed. It then flashes the stock ROM, but it also does things like fix partitions, whether it needs to be done or not, so it can fix some low-level problems if they exist.
That is my understanding; I'm not stating the above as fact. I'm relatively new to HTC; the One M8 is my first HTC phone, and I've only had it since June. However, I try to read more than I post, and I try to read about things I do to/with my phone at least 2-4 times, just to get it right. I follow several ROM threads, including those I don't use, and I read every post, because there's just so many hidden gems of information that could be relevant later. We have some really smart people, but it's hard to know who knows what, so absorbing all that information like I do... It might not be 100% accurate. Wisdom is my goal though, not being right and definitely not **** measuring, so if I'm wrong, let me know. I'll appreciate it. That said...
When I got my phone, it came with 4.4.2 KitKat, same as all M8's, I believe. I tried a couple AOSP and GPE ROMs and found them not to my liking, so I stuck with CleanROM through 4.4.2, then 4.4.3, and lastly 4.4.4 where the ROM still is currently. In November I switched to GPE, and my phone has gone through numerous firmware updates, and now I'm on the current 5.0.1 firmware from Verizon, dual booting (MultiROM) Digitalhigh's GPE and Neo's Adrenaline, a Sense 6 ROM.
I'm not unhappy with my setup. I run GPE during the week, because I absolutely love stock Android 5. During the weekend I run Adrenaline for its better battery life. While I prefer stock Android, Sense 6 is in a good place now, especially with custom ROMs. And of course Sense 7 starting to come available. Oh, and I also boot into Sense to fix GPS issues in GPE. Seems every reboot is a chance to lose GPS. Fortunately the fix takes five minutes tops.
I don't think a RUU will fix the GPS issue. That runs deeper. Again, I'm not asking as a diagnostic question for myself. I'm asking, in general, should one who has updated through the firmware and ROM versions, RUU to the newest, and then set everything back up? Is there an advantage to doing so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rom Update Utility
Okay, so that's what RUU stands for... But there is no definitive "yes" or "no" answer to this question?
Figures I go and say there are a lot of smart people here and nobody knows the answer or has an opinion on this, even the people who make the RUU utilities and firmware available.
Either I'm the smartest guy on this board and nobody's guess is better than mine... or I'm not and I asked a stupid question... but I have no way of knowing. Well, those, or nobody who knows uses the Q&A forum because they themselves have no questions to ask... and thus, the Q&A forum is not the place to ask questions, since those with the answers do not frequent it.
dragontology said:
Okay, so that's what RUU stands for... But there is no definitive "yes" or "no" answer to this question?
Figures I go and say there are a lot of smart people here and nobody knows the answer or has an opinion on this, even the people who make the RUU utilities and firmware available.
Either I'm the smartest guy on this board and nobody's guess is better than mine... or I'm not and I asked a stupid question... but I have no way of knowing. Well, those, or nobody who knows uses the Q&A forum because they themselves have no questions to ask... and thus, the Q&A forum is not the place to ask questions, since those with the answers do not frequent it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It really depends on your situation. An RUU is sometimes the only way to fix a misbehaving device as it gets you back to stock, however it wipes your device. It's really the safety net for those that like flashing ROMs and modifying their phone.
If you're really just looking to upgrade and you haven't modified any system files then just taking OTA is the way to go as it leaves your data alone. Of course if something happens during the update and you wind up in a bootloop then you can RUU
Are you s-off?
Edit now that the first part is out of the way, Please scroll down to the bottom for another question, Just trying to keep everything orgainized if possible. Hope This doesn't go in q & a.
Hey fellows, I just bought a s5 and can return it within two days for a full refund. Cost me 140 plus tax, used in great condition no scratches at all on the screen, and got a nice case with it. Was going to order an LG G3 since I'd been doing a bunch of research on it, but came around this and figured I'd give it a whirl. I did a little research on xda while in the store before buying it.
Now that I've been home and reading and reading and reading, I've got it rooted using the lollipop root thread which requires you to use odin. No biggie there but the LP safestrap wouldn't install. And after root I can't install apps from the play store anymore. Error 494 or something like that sorry I'm not more specific.
Right now it has the latest and greatest OTA B1B? I can't remember all four off hand. Some thread I've read have suggested that it is possible to install safestrap and then install rom's but I'm unclear if I have to downgrade though odin flash a different kernel or what. I'm kinda afraid to do too much too it without making a backup because I'd need to get it back to stock before I return it if I do.
I guess my questions are, will I be able to install alliance rom? I don't believe so since it's on a different base. Will I be able to do anything to it other than root? It's not a bad device by all means, but If development is dying, and it's locked down so tight I couldn't squeeze a hair in there, I see no reason to keep it. Again, i've been cramming all evening on all threads, and some say it's possible to get safestrap for lp on there with root, to install TW roms. I know I'll never be able to get AOSP stuff on there regardless.
I could probably get by with just root and debloating. But The alliance rom has some nice themeing options that I'd like.
If you guys were me and please be honest, would you keep it and try to get it to work, or just return it for a refund? I had an s3 but never took any OTA's so I could install roms until my eyes turned blue even though development was slowing on it when mine broke down..
Also do you guys have any idea why the play store isn't working anymore? I'm tempted to factory reset now probably losing root in the process, just to try to get my play store working again.
Any and all thoughts will be appreciated. Again I've studied almost all the faq type all in one general help threads and I've never dealt with safe strap before but at this point I can't even install that. The apk installs but clicking install with root access does nothing.
thanks for any input provided.
griz
Well Looks like I've got safestrap installed with the bok3 kernel although the device came with the BPB1 kernel / firmware. So does this mean that I can only install roms now that are lollipop with bok3 as their kernel? And would you still return the device to order a G3 which has better specs and more ongoing development?
Depends. Download "eMMC Brickbug Check" from the play store and post a screenshot of it.
Honestly, having played a lot with various ROMS on this phones, I can say that my fav is the current stock MM. Fast, great performance and battery life, and hopefully, we will get root eventually. In the mean time, Iam not really missing it.
Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk
Thanks for the input the emmc check said the brick bug wasn't present. I've got to have root so mm is not an option. I need root for things like tibu and to set enforce =0 for selinux to use my old game pad which isn't 100% necessary but nice when I want to use it. This stock rom seems to drink battery life. Do you think I could install alliance or another debloaTed rom?
griz.droidx said:
Thanks for the input the emmc check said the brick bug wasn't present. I've got to have root so mm is not an option. I need root for things like tibu and to set enforce =0 for selinux to use my old game pad which isn't 100% necessary but nice when I want to use it. This stock rom seems to drink battery life. Do you think I could install alliance or another debloaTed rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
B1B is not a build, so you should check that. All lollipop builds can be rooted, and in certain situations marshmallow can be downgraded. Especially if you can unlock the bootloader. You should really check the development thread before you just give up on the device.
Please I don't wish to start a war, just a informative Pro and Con.
Nandr0idC0nsumer thanks for the tip on that App, I ran it iniitally but didn't do the entire scan. I'm doing that as I type this. (It finished and read test passed 132s 14.7GB 114.5MB/s Under emmc chip it reads:
Type MAG2GC
Date 05/98
CID a very long string.
FwRev:00x0
Brick Bug NO. Same Chip
I was hoping this would test to see if I could make it a dev edition but I'll read more on that later.
Now, Even though this isn't the device I initially wanted, I found it in mint condition and with it and the case (Bulky but I weed eat, mow, and stuff, a Lunatik Tatik Extreme that I've read good reviews on every though it's bulky but it's red so I don't have to see the gold, and from what I've read protects well and looks Heavy Duty) and transfer of my Selectel service only paid around 160 after tax. I ended up with a gold colored model, with stock lollipop,
The baseband now says BOK3 but had something Newer BPB1 the first night I got it, I read and read and then read some more as I'm new to safestrap but not to Sammy having had an S3, nor to flashing as I've also owned a DX and DX2(bought used mainly for the sdcard at the time for 20 bucks and to use as a wifi remote)
My questions are as follows. One person above musiclover7 said he's perfectly satisfied with MM non-rooted, I assume an OTA maybe?
I rooted using the odin lollipop method, then installed Alliance Rom to start with as it seemed compatible, and I like the customization ability. I prefer AOSP for just this reason and this was why I was leary about getting this device, the locked bootloader. I've read a little about a lot of rom's available, Although Alliance is highly customizable in the looks dept, and I used the extreme Debloat scropt/zip when flashing all those options are a bit much and it can take time to get the look just right especially with the Black glass mod/zip which I remember from Alliance for the S3, on the old S3 I only ran TW occasionally, mailnly running SLIM, then Nameless, then AICP at the very end. because I'm a sucker for the T-mo theme engine. Aesthetics are very important to me.
One question is with the note roms's and S6/7 ported roms why do I need S-pen when I don't have a note? Why do I need the edge stuff built in when the device isn't an edge? What can that do? I know I have a lot more reading to do but I just want to get a general concensus on what people are running and why, if you are only on TW roms? I haven't seen any themes available in the theme section and I can't stand all the white in settings and such on a stock rom. Nor can I stand the Sammy/VZW bloat. I'm looking at Phoenix which is based on a phone rom with edge support? Am I missing something here? And with the note rom's why would I need the S-pen which I may not have to install if it's aroma based or just freeze/delete it after installation. I have xposed installed because I prefer the net stats app to any other net stat's app out there. I know Wanam is available and gravity for stock roms. I also recall using a module that let me use T-Mo themes on rom's, but I believe the roms I used that on was an AOSP based rom that didn't have T-MO or Layers Implemented yet, like slim around the KK/LP era if memory serves me and it may not.
SO What roms are you using and why? Again, I know people hate threads like this I have no intention of starting a war of roms. It'd be better if I did have the unlocked BL edition or could make it so but I've not got that far yet. Please do not hate on other peoples work. We're all in this together, and most work borrows from others work anyway. And what I've loved about Andy from the DX days is that one size doesn't fit all. We had Bur based roms, CM7 (with most all stock features added eventually), and WizardOO's awesome MIUI builds. And WIz's awesome preboot menu that let one choose a governor and overclock and such without the need for an app. That was an awesome tool back in the day. I'll never forget Wizard00's work on that nor the work done by the main CM7 dev, and those two did help one another figure things out like getting HDMI working.
Anyway, sorry for the rants, and so many questions, I know it'll be impossible to answer all, but I'll edit the Title and Tags to hopefully help other users in the future.
Thanks for reading my TLDR post. Those who know me know I tend to go into way too much detail, and sometimes not the details needed.
Thanks again, I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say.
griz
griz.droidx said:
Nandr0idC0nsumer thanks for the tip on that App, I ran it iniitally but didn't do the entire scan. I'm doing that as I type this. (It finished and read test passed 132s 14.7GB 114.5MB/s Under emmc chip it reads:
Type MAG2GC
Date 05/98
CID a very long string.
FwRev:00x0
Brick Bug NO. Same Chip
I was hoping this would test to see if I could make it a dev edition but I'll read more on that later.
Now, Even though this isn't the device I initially wanted, I found it in mint condition and with it and the case (Bulky but I weed eat, mow, and stuff, a Lunatik Tatik Extreme that I've read good reviews on every though it's bulky but it's red so I don't have to see the gold, and from what I've read protects well and looks Heavy Duty) and transfer of my Selectel service only paid around 160 after tax. I ended up with a gold colored model, with stock lollipop,
The baseband now says BOK3 but had something Newer BPB1 the first night I got it, I read and read and then read some more as I'm new to safestrap but not to Sammy having had an S3, nor to flashing as I've also owned a DX and DX2(bought used mainly for the sdcard at the time for 20 bucks and to use as a wifi remote)
My questions are as follows. One person above musiclover7 said he's perfectly satisfied with MM non-rooted, I assume an OTA maybe?
I rooted using the odin lollipop method, then installed Alliance Rom to start with as it seemed compatible, and I like the customization ability. I prefer AOSP for just this reason and this was why I was leary about getting this device, the locked bootloader. I've read a little about a lot of rom's available, Although Alliance is highly customizable in the looks dept, and I used the extreme Debloat scropt/zip when flashing all those options are a bit much and it can take time to get the look just right especially with the Black glass mod/zip which I remember from Alliance for the S3, on the old S3 I only ran TW occasionally, mailnly running SLIM, then Nameless, then AICP at the very end. because I'm a sucker for the T-mo theme engine. Aesthetics are very important to me.
One question is with the note roms's and S6/7 ported roms why do I need S-pen when I don't have a note? Why do I need the edge stuff built in when the device isn't an edge? What can that do? I know I have a lot more reading to do but I just want to get a general concensus on what people are running and why, if you are only on TW roms? I haven't seen any themes available in the theme section and I can't stand all the white in settings and such on a stock rom. Nor can I stand the Sammy/VZW bloat. I'm looking at Phoenix which is based on a phone rom with edge support? Am I missing something here? And with the note rom's why would I need the S-pen which I may not have to install if it's aroma based or just freeze/delete it after installation. I have xposed installed because I prefer the net stats app to any other net stat's app out there. I know Wanam is available and gravity for stock roms. I also recall using a module that let me use T-Mo themes on rom's, but I believe the roms I used that on was an AOSP based rom that didn't have T-MO or Layers Implemented yet, like slim around the KK/LP era if memory serves me and it may not.
SO What roms are you using and why? Again, I know people hate threads like this I have no intention of starting a war of roms. It'd be better if I did have the unlocked BL edition or could make it so but I've not got that far yet. Please do not hate on other peoples work. We're all in this together, and most work borrows from others work anyway. And what I've loved about Andy from the DX days is that one size doesn't fit all. We had Bur based roms, CM7 (with most all stock features added eventually), and WizardOO's awesome MIUI builds. And WIz's awesome preboot menu that let one choose a governor and overclock and such without the need for an app. That was an awesome tool back in the day. I'll never forget Wizard00's work on that nor the work done by the main CM7 dev, and those two did help one another figure things out like getting HDMI working.
Anyway, sorry for the rants, and so many questions, I know it'll be impossible to answer all, but I'll edit the Title and Tags to hopefully help other users in the future.
Thanks for reading my TLDR post. Those who know me know I tend to go into way too much detail, and sometimes not the details needed.
Thanks again, I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say.
griz
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Will read the whole thing tomarrow, but what's the first 2 numbers of your CID?
Nandr0idC0nsumer said:
Will read the whole thing tomarrow, but what's the first 2 numbers of your CID?
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I agree with Nandr0idC0nsumer. You didn't specify what the eMMC Brickbug check read. I'm showing the first 2 numbers needed but if you've read majority of these forums, you'd know what it means...lol
it'd mean I'd hit the jack pot but I figured that'd be mighty sliim.. LOL... But I'm going to give it another whirl. I haven't read everything, but most of the faq's and all-in-one threads. Then the root for lollipop thread along with safestrap, because I was completely new to safestrap, but I could have been wasting my time with safestrap, I certainly hope the hell that I am that would be so awesome, the best news for me since...... I can't remember when the last time I was so lucky.
I can't be this lucky.. Got some reading to do... I should've listened.........
I should have followed through with the posts from you guys but I honestly didn't think I'd be that luck.y... Didn't think I'd have that kind of karma... In the Morning Ladies and Gentlemen and dudes named ben. Thanks guys for hitting me in the mouth...
HOLY bat crap bat man.. Does this mean what I think it does.. I hope so.. I think I've got a new thread to read..
This is for users with 15' Sasmung eMMC's not users with 11 Toshiba eMMC's. You can check this by reading the file
/sys/block/mmcblk0/device/cid
Just the first 2 15xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or 11xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx(my number of x's are random, just read the first 2)
We still are unsure if changing the CID causes app store, verification, activation, provision, or other issues, everything you do is at your own risk!
REACTIVATION LOCK MUST BE TURNED OFF. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED
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I figured that would be few and far between, I hope I can magically transform my phone into a dev model.... I'm assuming that'd be as good as having my old S3 without taking that bad OTA... OMG.. I'm hoping this is good news. I'm off to read the post.. I gotta work in the morning but now... Wow..... It's like a natural high if it means what I think it does. I hoonestly figured that would be like finding a needle in a haystack and my luck is never that good.. But I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch...
Ohh attached below is the screenshot...
I'm not one for emoji's but...
Just hope I dont screw something up trying to make a dev edition out of my device... ....
I blocked out the last number as in the example above, I don't know why that's important but since the other poster did, I figure I'd better too. Monkey see Monkey doo.
PS Sorry for the mess.. as Han would say.. yeah.. I'm that old..
@griz.droidx Flash stock PB1, then root it, then unlock the bootloader! You have, by chance and luck alone, bought an S5 with the ability to unlock it
Yes you can flash Cyanogenmod. Yes you can flash MM and root it. Basically do whatever you feel like
Question is stock PB1 a stock MM build? I'll do some reading to find out, but I have a nandroid of my BPB8 lollipop rom that's already rooted From reading the unlocking thread, and maybe I missed something I just install the APK and bam I'm unlocked. I'm guessing that once I'm unlocked, and rooted, I need to find myself a TWRP for the device. I thought I could just un-install safe strap from Alliance, Unlock and then flash a recovery.
I figured I was lucky in getting one that can be unlocked or made into a dev edition. I'm never that lucky. But on the unlucky, it appears that I have to now flash roms from the unified thread. And from what I've been able to pick up in an hour or so last night and a little at work today, I'd be best to flash only rom's for Verizon specifically. I don't know exactly to to make the others work with a Verizon MVNO but I'm certain that the VZW one's will because on the S3 I could flash any VZW rom and my MVNO (Selectel) worked. I'm hoping to find a build of AICP since that's what I was using with my S3 before it bit the dust. But flashing fever usually hits and I'm sure I'll try others.
Still doesn't look like there's much development going on for the unlocked builds. But at least I can cruise around on AOSP if I want. But the Extreme Debloat of alliance has been doing pretty good already even without my usually tweaking using autostarts and AFWALL, I do miss the privacy manager most of all from AOSP. I just think that is easier to use than the AP OPS version that's included in Alliance.
Is your phone unlocked? if so What rom are you running, and which ones have you ttied?
Lastly, I want to thank everyone for all their assistance in this thread so far. And for those of you who aren't unlocked, I'd still be interested in knowing which TW rom's you're using and stuff like that. I like aesthetics, and don't like the stock TW look of white everywhere, and I've read that with OLED or OMLED or whatever theyre called, the more black there is the easier it is on the battery. Probably doesn't make a huge difference but every little bit helps.
You can run ROM's from the Android Development thread and Unified thread
The question is unless they're for vzw on particular will they work with my my mvno. I hope so. . But I don't think they will without. Changing apns. Or may not have the proper frequencies enabled for vzw
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Oh, that i wouldn't know. Maybe someone will come across this and have an answer for you
griz.droidx said:
The question is unless they're for vzw on particular will they work with my my mvno. I hope so. . But I don't think they will without. Changing apns. Or may not have the proper frequencies enabled for vzw
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
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Flash PB1 from SamMobile (PB1 is stock 5.0 Lollipop rom) and then root, unlock, and flash TWRP.
To simplify, tell me the ROM you want to flash and I'll tell you if it's compatible if you'd like.
EDIT: Yes roms have to be Verizon-compatible. And no changing apns will not help
Thanks for offering to check. . I've found that aicp. Resurrection remix. CM and Phoenix have versions for vzw. . Thanks for offering to check for me. . Thanks for simplifying the unlock and add aosp roms instructions. . I've read and re-read them. . A couple things I'm worried about ate what hardware features may no longer work like the fingerprint reader at least in the one kernel I found. Even unlocked and thrilled as I am I want to make sure as much of it works as possible with aosp. And I don't want to take a performance hit but doubt that'll happen. . Even when the numbers have said I did take a hit in the past three seat of the pants feel said otherwise. . Thanks again to you and everyone else who have replied. . Im still wondering which tw roms people prefer. . Alliance with extreme debloat has did better than I expected. .
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You'll have to make your best judgement. Users install the ROM's and use them as a DD to suit their likings and what they like for a ROM. You'll just have to read the OP of the said ROM and see for yourself....Good luck and HAPPY ROM'n
Hey fellows I am tickled pink that I accidentally ended up with a dev edition. Even though there's not a whole lot of AOSP out there for the VZW version of the s5, I do like me some AOSP. Always have the AOSP ROM bug hit me back with my DX. Having said all that, I was pretty satisfied with the Alliance Rom, and I'd imagine other TW roms have much to offer. I chose Alliance because I'd ran it on the S3 a few times especially when I needed to compare TW to AOSP. I did not upgrade using the method above but I appreciate all the replies from "Nandr0idC0nsumer" very much. I once thought about installing a MM pre rooted firmware first actually. If I could find just the modem and anything else like that which may help the performance and usability of my MM CM based RR rom, I might consider it. And it shouldn't be as difficult now with the unlocked BL. Although safestrap worked nicely for what it's meant to do.
After reading here and elsewhere about unlocking and installing AOSP, I decided to just run the apk which is option one in the how to unlock post, ran the app it installs, checked in recovery to see that it said developer, then using flashify I installed a TWRP image that I downloaded from somewhere. I think TWRP was just for klte though and not kltevzw specifically, but don't quote me on that. Lastly, I booted straight into twrp using the hardware buttons on a reboot to install the AOSP based rom and GAPPS. Easy Peasy. I'm looking for a kernel now, but since I feel that the fingerprint scanner works much better for me in AOSP, I don't want to get a kernel and mess that up even though I could always back it up first. or just re-install the rom.
Hopefully someone will come across this thread and find it useful. If anyone feels like it I'd still like to hear about those different TW roms, and why we'd want to use one for the note? or need one with the S-pen app? Can the S5 work as well as the note for writing on the screen using the S-Pen stuff?
Thanks again, and have a great weekend. Anyone who has any questions for me feel free to PM me. If I don't reply immediately don't think I'm putting you off I sometimes , many times, forget to check or don't notice that I have new images to read. Although help is better from the forum since you can many more opinions, and that's what it's for anyway.