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Modem/ROM rant

Man, I'm so frustrated.
On other forums some people have mistakenly thought I'm against flashing custom ROMs. I'm not. I'd flash a custom ROM in a heartbeat. In fact, the reason I hang out here is I'm watching for "That ROM". I'm just not comfortable with the state of things on the Captivate. Here's the deal... it seems every single ROM is a compromise. I'm not talking about differences in themes, or what apps are included, etc... I'm talking basic functionality. Sometimes it's little things, sometimes it's big things... but always, you need to give stuff up. And I'll get the response, "yeah well stock is buggy too, so what's your point?". You know... sometimes the little things count. The details add to the experience. Maybe we want all the little things to actually work. Maybe you don't care about bluetooth, but I do. Etc.
Bluetooth. Haptic feedback. Battery life. Cell reception. GPS. Stability. Performance. Voice quality/Audience support. Pick the 3 you don't care about and are willing to give up.
Frustrating.
And a lot of it seems to come down to these "modem" files. Dozens floating about... everyone has their favorite like they have a favorite color. And they themselves come with compromises... use one, and A B and C work but X Y and Z don't. Use another, and it's the other way around... or maybe there's D E and F now. What works for one person doesn't work for another... and yet these are the same model phones. Oh, but wait... now it's passe to say "every phone is different". Like they are? They're the same hardware. But now we just accept for some reason that every Captivate is some random assembly of different chips and so using a ROM is an assumed matter of modem-roulette and deciding what features you want and what ones you're willing to sacrifice.
Why is this "ok"?
It's important to mention at this point that this is absolutely nothing against the hard-working developers here. I don't doubt for a moment that they are doing their absolute best with what they have available to them. It's not that, it's the culture... the community... the mindset. Are we being hypocrites? I mean, if we're just accepting now that every Captivate is unique hardware and no one ROM/modem will work ideal on all of them, why do we hold Samsung to a higher-standard like they themselves could ever produce an official and universal 2.2 firmware for the Captivate where everything actually works for everyone?
Something's not right here. I don't doubt that people get different results with different files... but these are different environments, and the testing not done consistently or scientifically. I don't think it's appropriate to act like the differences come from varying hardware when it's far more-likely that it's differences in other more-random things. Some people are in a primarily 1900 MHz area, some primarily in an 850MHz area. GPS is also environment-specific and someone with a modem that offers below-average GPS performance might report that the GPS is "amazing" simply because they're in an ideal spot. The hardware is the least likely aspect to vary. Surely there must be a solution... a better answer... a potential for a modem that actually works amazing for everyone. Where all bands are supported, GPS works amazing, Audience chip is supported, etc etc.
I just felt the need to vent. I'm not sure what the solution here is... I just feel we've gotten to casual just "accepting" a situation as something it's not, and shouldn't be. One shouldn't have to play modem-lotto just to get basic decent performance from their ROM, or decide what basic features they're willing to sacrifice. I know this is a huge discouragement for me, and why I'm still on stock. I want to flash so badly... but every ROM thread I read through I eventually hit at least one (if not several) deal-breakers, and the casual acceptance of them is just frustrating.
Anyone feel the same way? Thoughts?

I think your over analyizing.....im a flash junkie and I've flashed everything on the forums....I don't use my phone for business so almost every rom I use has everything I need functional...haptic feedback is not a reason for me not to use a rom but camera is.....along with flashing roms I mix matched different kernels and modems.....its all preference.....with the modem situation I just flash one and test it out until I have an issue then move onto the next...I thought jk4 was the best for me until I decided to try jk3. I've noticed I get reception in areas where I didn't with jk4....so ill test this one out for awhile....you can't sit and read until u read that u found the best......u just have to test it out for yourself...it sucks but that's what u get. I feel things wont get better for us until we get our official froyo release by att. Well have our noise cancellation chip working as well as a modem built for att usa. I had better cell service with captivate roms n modems then I do with i9000 ones but the i9000 roms are leagues ahead of any captivate ones
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Did you try Serendipity? It seems to do quite well on every item in your list.

I have not flashed for mostly the same reasons as you. It seems that every combination has different things that work and things that do not work. I want every function of my phone to work properly. That includes hardware noise cancellation and proper bluetooth support, which seem to be a major issue on i9000 ROMs/kernels/modems. My biggest issue with Captivate ROMs/kernels/modems is the apparent lack of support for bluetooth voice dialing. Now it is a fair argument that bluetooth voice dialing does not work on the AT&T 2.1 ROM, but it is not a supported feature of 2.1. It is a supported features of 2.2, so why shouldn't I (we) expect it to work? If a feature that is supposed to work in 2.2 does not work, that doesn't give me the best feeling about flashing the ROM.
I came over from the Windows Mobile side and I flashed custom ROMs on my Fuze without thinking twice, but there were never core or standard features of the phone or OS missing in the ROMs I flashed. I had bluetooth + voice dialing, good battery life, good cell reception, good working GPS, extremely good stability, great performance (for the hardware), and good voice quality with working noise cancellation in all the ROMs I ran.
I think that overall the devs here are doing a good job, and I think things will improve after the release of 2.2 sources for the captivate, but it seems that right now, there is a compromise involved in any of the custom ROMs.
I can accept the fact that the current ROMs don't meet my expectations, but when people say, "just start flashing" to people like myself who have higher expectations, it gets a little old. The attitude that only people willing to accept these compromises should be reading/contributing to the xda-developers forum is also annoying. I think it is great that there are people working on custom ROMs and there are people willing to run them with the compromises they have to make, but that does not mean that everyone should just be willing to make those compromises and if they are not willing they should not post.
I have made very few posts in the Captivate forum, I guess it could be said that I have been lurking and reading up on each new custom ROM as it comes out, waiting for one that seems to meet my expectations. I have not been vocal, or complained about the fact that we need to make compromises. But others that ask questions about whether certain things work, seem to get flamed and told to just accept the way things currently are, or they are completely ignored. If the devs don't want to answer questions such as, "does bluetooth voice dialing work," or "how is bluetooth voice quality in this ROM," then they should put this type of information directly in the first couple of posts. The newest Cognition ROM thread has this type of information and I greatly appreciate that DG included it. For most ROMs you can't find out if certain items work properly without reading the first 10-20 pages of posts.
Maybe the main issue for people like me (with higher expectations from my phone) is that good information about what works and what does not work often does not float to the top of the ROM dev threads. I started using xdandroid on my Fuze as my first introduction to Android and each phone that it ran on had a thread and on the first page was a listing of each major functional piece (sound, camera, bluetooth, etc) and whether or not it was working yet. Each developer can do as they choose, but if the status of functional items and known bugs was listed in the first page, it would save on questions and some of the less than helpful responses that the questions cause.

People also have to remember that only a leaked/unfinished Captivate 2.2 ROM has been made available as a base for some ROMs so there's no other choice for a complete Froyo ROM without resorting to i9000 ROMs. Expecting things to work from a unfinished leak is a bit different from having high standards.
GPS is also broken for some people whether they're on a stock ROM or not to begin with, devs can't magically make it work for everyone.
Cell reception is not 100% determined by a ROM, if I flash the "most amazing bestestst rom ever" and live in a remote forest with lead leaves, reception might just suck a little because it mainly depends on location.
No phone is the same believe it or not, maybe unless it's an iPhone. If you want something that works as it should perfectly, you probably shouldn't be flashing ROMs, because they are essentially in infinite beta until a dev doesn't want to work on it anymore. Either stick to the stock ROM, get an Aria or some other unlocked phone, or even an iPhone since that's probably most stable thing out there right now.
The ROM threads grow dozens of pages every hour, and posts will always get overlooked whether they are important or not. It still amazes me that people get confused when they start seeing an H instead of 3G. This is a development community and has several thousands and thousands of users at any given time. It is busy.

tysj said:
People also have to remember that only a leaked/unfinished Captivate 2.2 ROM has been made available as a base for some ROMs so there's no other choice for a complete Froyo ROM without resorting to i9000 ROMs. Expecting things to work from a unfinished leak is a bit different from having high standards.
GPS is also broken for some people whether they're on a stock ROM or not to begin with, devs can't magically make it work for everyone.
Cell reception is not 100% determined by a ROM, if I flash the "most amazing bestestst rom ever" and live in a remote forest with lead leaves, reception might just suck a little because it mainly depends on location.
No phone is the same believe it or not, maybe unless it's an iPhone. If you want something that works as it should perfectly, you probably shouldn't be flashing ROMs, because they are essentially in infinite beta until a dev doesn't want to work on it anymore. Either stick to the stock ROM, get an Aria or some other unlocked phone, or even an iPhone since that's probably most stable thing out there right now.
The ROM threads grow dozens of pages every hour, and posts will always get overlooked whether they are important or not. It still amazes me that people get confused when they start seeing an H instead of 3G. This is a development community and has several thousands and thousands of users at any given time. It is busy.
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For the American SGS phones, I was not trying to suggest that the developers can "fix" the GPS (though it is worth noting that Da_G has made some good progress http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=881941).
I don't completely disagree with many of your points, which is why I am still running the stock ROM. If I had two phones, I would be willing to beta test unfinished software and ROMs, but since I only have 1 phone that I expect to work (or more accurately, my company who pays for it expects it to work) I have not flashed any of the current firmwares that are available.
I think cell reception has a lot more to do with the Radio/Modem than the ROM. If you have a working modem and that modem functions with the ROM, then it should give you the same reception. I think one of the main points the OP was making was that there is no apparent consistency, and some modems work with some ROMs, and not with others. It does not even seem to be accurate to say that any i9000 modem will work with any i9000 ROM, as some combinations cause poor voice quality or other issues.
I do disagree with your statement that "no phone is the same." Any Captivate in the same batch/build should have identical hardware and should function identically (assuming Samsung has good quality controls in place). There is the potential for slight differences between batches, but I can't believe that any of those differences is significant enough to cause software running on the phones to behave differently. If that is the case, there is no way that Samsung can release a working Froyo build, or even a working Eclair build that would function as intended on every captivate. If Samsung was unable to produce identical products consistently, they would be out of business because none of their products would function as intended consistently.
As far as "expecting things to work from a unfinished leak is a bit different from having high standards," I don't think it is unreasonable for better visibility to what works and what does not work in the first page of a ROM thread. I am not saying that I expect everything to work 100% on all ROMs, especially without 2.2 sources, and I am not saying I expect the devs to be able to test every possible things, but I don't think it is unreasonable to hope that as bugs or problems or ROM/Kernel/Modem combinations that do not work are discovered, that information could be made more accessible without reading 100 pages of a ROM thread.
Hopefully most of this is just growing pains as Android is evolving and as we wait for 2.2 sources for the Captivate. For Windows Mobile, much of the OS and functionality of the OS was pretty much set between ROMs. The biggest differences were in the frameworks (Sense vs. Non-Sense, etc) and theming of the ROMs. That is why I have said in the past that if we could get a solid, working AOSP ROM with all drivers, etc for the SGS, it would give a good base for additional ROM development.

[Q] How do you guys like your blaze? Worth the move from Vibrant?

Hi
I am a bit bored from my vibrant - especially when it comes to speed (despite running MIUI rom, which is quite snappy compared to stock).
How's the blaze? Worth the hassle? Speed demon? Or just ok?

Here's my take. Kinda drunka and all.
I came from the original Mt3g. 528mhz. Always cyanogenmod though.
Super fast phone. Fast network. The benchmarks that I run place the Blaze way at the top, though I don't know much about that stuff.
Once the ICS update happens if it does, or if an ICS rom happens I'll be thrilled. The phone has plenty of horsepower for me at least.

Being that i upgraded from a Motorola Defy that was even overclocked and still sucked....yea this phone is pretty damn nice. Super fast and no issues with mine. I'm waiting to root and do V6 and all that until ICS comes out so I don't have to go back to stock and all those other things for the real update to work, even with the bloat it does not slow this phone down.

i also came from a vibrant, cm9 and all.
its not that much quicker IMO
if i didnt get this phone for completely free, and had to use my upgrade for it, i would not have gotten it.
i wish the dev community for this phone was stronger but its all good.

Trev420 said:
i also came from a vibrant, cm9 and all.
its not that much quicker IMO
if i didnt get this phone for completely free, and had to use my upgrade for it, i would not have gotten it.
i wish the dev community for this phone was stronger but its all good.
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Click to collapse
there is only two ways that is gunna happen, either people step forward and start making things work, or you reach out to devs

The vibrant is out dated and can't come close to touching the blaze/mini s2
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA

I am also coming from the Vibrant to this, due to my Vibrant not charging anymore. i had an upgrade and will be getting this in the mail by friday. Im also looking to root and flash a custom rom, since i have heard battery life is terrible. If anyone has any advice, please message me.

I kinda regret buying it. I didn't really research the community involvement on the phone, or even really the phone at all. I usually do, but in my situation my previous phone (nexus one) died suddenly, and unexpectedly. I pretty much had to get a phone that day, and I initially balked at the idea of getting a phone that was much larger than what I had.
But, I also wasn't really feeling like dishing out $400+ up front for a phone, so the Blaze was naturally a good option for me, especially since I do prefer GSM phones (cdma networks don't work too well in a lot of buildings I am commonly in) and I was getting fed up with AT&T's slow data speeds.
So it was pretty much between this or an S2, and at the time, the phone was just too large.
Now that I've had the phone for a week or so, running the same OS as my previous phone (one I had for 2 years) while it's true this phone is much faster, I find myself kinda wishing I would have been able to have more of a "wow omg" feeling after owning it.
In short, I'm starting a cash fund just to keep handy for whenever the new nexus line of phone is released. I really preferred stock android before, and I would definitely still prefer it now.
I'd like to see tmobile push out ICS for the phone pretty soon, but seriously, they loaded this thing with so many junk apps, sometimes 2 or 3 apps that do the same freaking thing that android already does, so I'm thinking it's going to be 2 years before they actually push ICS to this phone.
I have removed a lot of the apps with titanium backup pro, but it makes NO SENSE TO ME AT ALL why a carrier would put so much crap on the phone. For crying out loud if I use the stock launcher that doesn't have the ability to hide apps you don't want to see, it took a good 2 minutes just to freaking find what you wanted!

I like being able to flash roms and customize my phone and im worried there isnt going to be much developer interest in this. The S2 was also too large for my liking, and I chose this last minute after my vibrant stopped charging.
What I dont understand is, why are people who dont even have this phone making roms for it? So far theres only 2 and neither of them work. Go figure....

itsLYNDZ said:
What I dont understand is, why are people who dont even have this phone making roms for it? So far theres only 2 and neither of them work. Go figure....
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I'm guessing because it seems like the number of users with this phone is rather small. There's lots of reasons for it. It's a new model, didn't it come out in March?
It's also available only on Tmobile, and reviewers do nothing but dump the phone in the lower tier bracket because there's nothing "special" about it. They are always like, "meh, it's not tablet sized, so who cares!"
Even the model number is confusing as all get out, not even Tmobile themselves can consistently distinguish between it and the other Samsung phones.

Good phone just as fast as the Galaxy S2 T989 just a smaller screen size otherwize specs are almost exactly the same except for the camera is a little better in the Galaxy S2.

i just picked up the galaxy s blaze as well from my friend. i have a quick question though. Does anyone else have a slight issue with the power button being a bit loose when pressed in towards the button?

I kinda wish I had the Blaze along with my S II. If I did, i would be using the Blaze almost all the time because it does the same thing that the S II does, but in a smaller design. LOL. You guys should be proud because some of the S II owners use the Blaze's modem. I use it. It's so much faster and better. I give the Blaze some Love.

So odd and random but i noticed today on T Mobile that the Vibrant is now listed as a phone to buy in the phones/upgrade section again lol and since I got my Blaze and have no discount they still think they are gonna get someone to pay 379 for that outdated POS..must have found some stashed in their inventory haha

Seriously, why is our phone so neglected?

Honestly, the A2 has great performance, it is not top of the line, but it is certainly pretty high end. It has a decent feel overall, but still know one knows about it. Why is this?!!? I'm not even talking strictly from a development standpoint, as it is just so unheard of. everyone knows about the whole droid line and such, but our great phone is completely neglected. There is no way i'm the only one that is bothered by this, especially because there is so much potential in our phone. I know the locked bootloader, makes things difficult, but a way around that is near, so do y'all think development will take off once we get it bypassed or unlocked? Thanks for listening to my rant and feel free to give your own opinion

Motorola or Att did not push this phone like they did with the original Atrix. Most people are going with samsung (sgs2 or the note). That is why we do not have very many devs. Samsung phone are much easier to work with. I know because i have one. If no one else decides to get this phone that's fine with me. I like the phone as is. Im also happy with the few devs we have. Their work is greatly appreciated.
Sent from my MB865 using xda premium

Once cm9 or a form of ics gets calling and texting going then things will start to kick off. Right now with our limited amount of knowledgeable devs some have lost interest and are just sitting by waiting for Motorola to release ics.
Sent from my I9300 using XDA

you aren't the only one. It pisses me off. I always have service on this phone, for the most part it's fast and smooth, and the ROM support is becoming awesome. Yet still people don't know the name of my phone , they just know it's "big"

tsdeaton said:
Once cm9 or a form of ics gets calling and texting going then things will start to kick off. Right now with our limited amount of knowledgeable devs some have lost interest and are just sitting by waiting for Motorola to release ics.
Sent from my I9300 using XDA
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Actually, one of the orignal devs for this phone (been on it since it came out) has not lost interest but is working on kexec for our phone which is BY FAR more important than ICS... The possibilities are endless once we have a bootloader bypass.
Motorola did not advertise or really let ANYONE know that the phone was being released. For example, when I walked into the AT&T store with a $100 and a contract renewal, I just browsed/tried all of the phones they had in stock, and happend to like the feature set/performance of the Atrix 2 the best. The funny part is that I had NO idea that the phone actually came out the day before and was just put on display. Luckily the phone is great and the community to go along with it is even greater.

Honestly I'm on Supercharged right now, clocked around 1.25 GHz, and I can go higher, but my battery life sucks. I don't really care about the attention. We're getting ICS, and I'm hoping I don't have a good enough excuse to go back to stock until ICS is out. Then I'm going back to stock for sure. The speed is great, the lagginess and bloat on the stock rom just sucked, but so does my battery life now. It doesn't really take a whole lot to trim down a stock rom, I'm sure someone will do it for ICS if I don't myself.

Douchewithaphone said:
Honestly I'm on Supercharged right now, clocked around 1.25 GHz, and I can go higher, but my battery life sucks. I don't really care about the attention. We're getting ICS, and I'm hoping I don't have a good enough excuse to go back to stock until ICS is out. Then I'm going back to stock for sure. The speed is great, the lagginess and bloat on the stock rom just sucked, but so does my battery life now. It doesn't really take a whole lot to trim down a stock rom, I'm sure someone will do it for ICS if I don't myself.
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Freezing apps does wonders for performance + battery life. I use Titanium Backup for this. All the "junk apps" that Motorola/AT&T installed (that I don't use) get frozen.
The End.

Some of our roms are great, but there are only 4 or 5 or something, it would be nice to see some of the big ones like cm7. hopefully an unlocked BL and ICS will spark some serious development. I think the biggest problem is the lack of serious developers. Who do we really have? Jimbridgman, lfabor06, and Rdavisct are the only ones I can really think of off the top of my head. We all play a role, but only the true genius' like them do a lot of good towards roms and things

To buy an Atrix 2, I had to special order it from Amazon. The local places didn't sell it because it didn't work with LTE in the area, and were mainly pushing iStuff.
Motorola needs to wake up and start tooting their own horn. The Atrix 2 has been an excellent phone, both in the reception department (better voice and call quality than my HTC and iPhone), CPU department, and in general usage.
Plus, there is an untapped market for these types of phones -- business people who just need a basic laptop where all their data is stored securely at one place, either on the phone with the on device encryption (or SD encryption), or using a Citrix receiver.

farshad525hou said:
Actually, one of the orignal devs for this phone (been on it since it came out) has not lost interest but is working on kexec for our phone which is BY FAR more important than ICS... The possibilities are endless once we have a bootloader bypass.
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Click to collapse
This really is the truth of the matter. Until we can load custom kernels on the A2, the devs are kinda limited on what they can modify. ICS with a locked bootloader is not much better than GB with a locked bootloader.
My wife has a Samsung Galaxy and the A2 is better in almost every area; reception, interface, speaker...

[Q] Current State of Rom's & Going Forward

I wrote out a whole post but realized it was mostly rambling so I figured I would condense it, although its still pretty rambling:
It seems like our phone (Maxx HD) just missed the developer bandwagon and that roms aren't really going anywhere and never actually will. Everything seems like a quick port and I have had very little success with most of them. The only stable one I have found has been Nexesque, although its basically stock with a few tweaks and add-ons.
I have been running XenonHD for the past 2ish weeks, 3 maybe with horrible battery life and a heat problem. I was running with all of the regular performance tweeks, a very dark blue (almost black) solid background, low brightness and a black theme so I have no idea what could have caused it. I would run out of full battery by 12 or 1 half of the time with an incredibly hot phone, and the other half of the time I could make it to 6 or 7 but no later. I have reflashed and am almost positive I followed the steps correctly.
I'm not asking what the best rom is, but I'm asking if there is a rom that people are actually happy with out there (preferably 4.2) or if there are any real hopes for a tangible one to come out in the near future. It seems like we're kind of screwed as the user when compared to other phones development, and while I have nothing to offer outside of small donations I would just like to know if my predictions are accurate. Is everybody waiting for something that will never come out?

VCavs said:
I wrote out a whole post but realized it was mostly rambling so I figured I would condense it, although its still pretty rambling:
It seems like our phone (Maxx HD) just missed the developer bandwagon and that roms aren't really going anywhere and never actually will. Everything seems like a quick port and I have had very little success with most of them. The only stable one I have found has been Nexesque, although its basically stock with a few tweaks and add-ons.
I have been running XenonHD for the past 2ish weeks, 3 maybe with horrible battery life and a heat problem. I was running with all of the regular performance tweeks, a very dark blue (almost black) solid background, low brightness and a black theme so I have no idea what could have caused it. I would run out of full battery by 12 or 1 half of the time with an incredibly hot phone, and the other half of the time I could make it to 6 or 7 but no later. I have reflashed and am almost positive I followed the steps correctly.
I'm not asking what the best rom is, but I'm asking if there is a rom that people are actually happy with out there (preferably 4.2) or if there are any real hopes for a tangible one to come out in the near future. It seems like we're kind of screwed as the user when compared to other phones development, and while I have nothing to offer outside of small donations I would just like to know if my predictions are accurate. Is everybody waiting for something that will never come out?
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To be honest I think you need to step back and put everything in prospective.hash dh etc are working on a from scratch kernel that will fix the nagging problems the 4.2.2 roms have had. This kernel is a work in progress, but I think it will be finished to a point acceptable to most people soonish. That being said, besides the annoying gps flash from stock issue and no camcorder I'm not sure there are any major bugs with the 4.2.2 roms. There have been a lot of ports because there are a lot of good roms out there for other devices that people wanted to bring over. We were "screwed" when we bought the phone as this phone had a locked bootloader(with no apparent unlock) and there were never a ton of devs to begin on moto due to the same bootloader issue. That being said, I think a lot of devs have rallied around the hd since the unlock and things will only get better after hash gets the kernel up to speed. I agree nexesque is awesome (it's what I'm running right now in fact) but there are already a lot of choices on each of the 4 most popular forums.
Tl/dr patience lol
sent from my xt926 RAZR maxx hd

I really like this device atm I am using stock Rogers Fw . I have tried many of the 4.2 I prefer to hang back and let it get better the phone itself is a nice piece
My2c
Sent from my XT925 using xda premium

I imagine that we will probably also get get an android update at some point (though very unclear what and when). Maybe this will renew developer interest in the device?
I the meantime I hope the kernel development will play out well.
Personally, even if I love personalization and community development, I actually think the stock rom (xt925 Vodafone) is quite good. Good battery life and better ui than much of the competition.
Sent from my XT925 using xda app-developers app

Lollipop, KK, Ics, JB, TW, AOSP, CM, Recommendations, & Opinions for a dying Device

Lollipop, KK, Ics, JB, TW, AOSP, CM, Recommendations, & Opinions for a dying Device
Well I haven't seen a general lollipop thread so I wanted to start one. The Pub seems like a nice place but since there's so much talk on there about everything in general, info could become hard to find. I do like the pub and read it every so often.
That said. I may or may not update the op with links posted. But most know where to find things if they look hard enough.
What I've found so far are AICP, Liquid, Mastamoon's CM, and a Slimpop build. I've tried AICP and Liquid. Thus far I've not been impressed with Lollipop, to each their own though. It looks okay, seems to run great, (I didn't do any benches, rather relying on the seat of the pants feel), I realize our device is getting at the age where not a lot of further development may happen. But it's still one of the few newer phones that you don't have to jump though hoops to install a rom.
What I'm asking if anything, is what have you tried, and why do you like or dislike it. Again, I know it's early especially for the d2vzw, but builds are out and are fairly stable, on AICP I never had a single reboot that I can recall. I'm going to try the latest Liquid tonight. I don't understand the new DD layers or whatever it is. I think it's a new way of theming possibly used by slim and maybe now liquid since I think they're using slim as a base now according to their thread in original development.
I'm backing up my favorite KK build now. Don't know if I want to try slim first or liquid. Both have builds dated 02-07 and 02-08 respectively.
If you dislike it I assume you're still running KK, or JB. In this case, I'd like to know if you're running a custom TW JB rom such as alliance or Moar or Wicked or anything else. And why. I am in an area where signal is ****. And although I'd imagine TW should get better signal, I'm not seeing a huge difference here. Maybe if I could get 3-5 DB/m better I'd stay on TW JB, but I'd have to make some measurments first. Signal on Lollipop seemed better but it can't be because I'd assume they're using the exact same RIL as on KK. Again, if I'm wrong on any of this please fill me in.
If there is another thread to follow that has already addressed all this let me know. I'm loving lollipop but can't find one namely AICP my current favorite that's releases regularly besides Masta and liquid, that have camera and video working if you have lollipop installed with these things working please share. I've tried freezing camera, then installing OPEN CAMERA, VIVAvideo, CM Camera FIX w/ the added apk for resetting the camera drive without a reboot to no avail. And I can't seem to make VIVA default to 640*480, maybe it does it on it's own but I've looked though all the settings I can find and can't seem to figure it out for the life of me. I've read damn near every thread and q&a thread to no avail.. I didn't read Masta's in it's entirety because it's so dang big. But I did browse the last ten-twenty pages or so. Once you stop keeping up for a few day's you're just lost... Which is what I wanted to make this thread to try to shed light on things without beating anyone up, and without downing any dev's they all make these things possible.
SO PLEASE if you don't mind let me know what rom has worked for you, with camera and video working and what you did to get it going.. WITHOUT STEPPING ON ANYONE"S TOES if at all possible. Thanks and have a great day/night/evening/morning.

Ain't getting a bite. Oh well. I saw a post about the slim ROM like a day later. Haven't ran it but that post has detailed data on what works and what doesn't in the op. I did try the newest liquid from 02-08 I think and it ran fine. I couldn't find how to change which settings though. A lot of features were there some weren't. Tried AICP same deal except I found the quick settings modifier in this one.
Both ran very well but I did use dkp's excellent kernel. Tierservative governor and clocked at 216-1728. Using his voltages.
I did try sending a text with liquid and I don't know if it went or not. I had read receipts checked but didn't get one. Someone else had this same issue in the liquid thread.
I'm back on KitKat but will n be testing new builds as I find them. Please give the developers some love and support or if you can donate. These guys work on this for fun and experience and some are in college. I've never known many wealthy college students. I was thrilled to have a case of naddy light or ughhhh beast ice.

griz.droidx said:
Ain't getting a bite. Oh well. I saw a post about the slim ROM like a day later. Haven't ran it but that post has detailed data on what works and what doesn't in the op. I did try the newest liquid from 02-08 I think and it ran fine. I couldn't find how to change which settings though. A lot of features were there some weren't. Tried AICP same deal except I found the quick settings modifier in this one.
Both ran very well but I did use dkp's excellent kernel. Tierservative governor and clocked at 216-1728. Using his voltages.
I did try sending a text with liquid and I don't know if it went or not. I had read receipts checked but didn't get one. Someone else had this same issue in the liquid thread.
I'm back on KitKat but will n be testing new builds as I find them. Please give the developers some love and support or if you can donate. These guys work on this for fun and experience and some are in college. I've never known many wealthy college students. I was thrilled to have a case of naddy light or ughhhh beast ice.
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I ran LS and mastas LP roms and loved em both on my S3 (I still have it even though I upgraded) and while I was impressed with the rom itself in both cases the battery life for me at least was horrendous. I've since learned a lot about wake locks and having too many apps can be a bad thing. I'm running slimkat on the S3 currently but I think I might just try out another LP rom seeming how it's only a wifi device now
Sent from my Nexus 5

Thanks. I think my battery may just be getting old but I do have a few wake locks. If your using the s3 as WiFi device then use airplane mode to help battery. Turn it on then turn on WiFi. That should help your battery life a lot. At least on my dx2 it does.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

This was supposed to be an edit sorry.
Thanks. I think my battery may just be getting old but I do have a few wake locks. If your using the s3 as WiFi device then use airplane mode to help battery. Turn it on then turn on WiFi. That should help your battery life a lot. At least on my dx2 it does.
Out of curiosity what did you upgrade to? I'd love a nexus six but I'm not sure they'll work with CDMA networks or a new moto. Since my old motos DX and x2 are bullet proof. Built like tanks. But I need to get something that'll let me scratch the flashing itch.

griz.droidx said:
This was supposed to be an edit sorry.
Thanks. I think my battery may just be getting old but I do have a few wake locks. If your using the s3 as WiFi device then use airplane mode to help battery. Turn it on then turn on WiFi. That should help your battery life a lot. At least on my dx2 it does.
Out of curiosity what did you upgrade to? I'd love a nexus six but I'm not sure they'll work with CDMA networks or a new moto. Since my old motos DX and x2 are bullet proof. Built like tanks. But I need to get something that'll let me scratch the flashing itch.
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I upgraded to a Nexus 5, I'm on straight talk so I can get any phone i want. And yea I run the S3 with wifi and airplane mode on, I do the same with my tablet
Sent from my Nexus 5
---------- Post added at 04:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:37 PM ----------
griz.droidx said:
This was supposed to be an edit sorry.
Thanks. I think my battery may just be getting old but I do have a few wake locks. If your using the s3 as WiFi device then use airplane mode to help battery. Turn it on then turn on WiFi. That should help your battery life a lot. At least on my dx2 it does.
Out of curiosity what did you upgrade to? I'd love a nexus six but I'm not sure they'll work with CDMA networks or a new moto. Since my old motos DX and x2 are bullet proof. Built like tanks. But I need to get something that'll let me scratch the flashing itch.
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The nexus 6 will work with CDMA carriers, it's the first Nexus (other than the Galaxy nexus) to work with CDMA carriers
Sent from my Nexus 5

Dam I want my
I want my nexusss sixxx.
From the old dire straits mark knoplfer I want my mtveeee. When it was an actual music channel.
Showing my age again. Going to test some more and try to keep updating this thread but it's been hectic lately.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

griz.droidx said:
Dam I want my
I want my nexusss sixxx.
From the old dire straits mark knoplfer I want my mtveeee. When it was an actual music channel.
Showing my age again. Going to test some more and try to keep updating this thread but it's been hectic lately.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
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Its a solid phone, the price really turned me away from it though
Sent from my Nexus 5

ShapesBlue said:
Its a solid phone, the price really turned me away from it though
Sent from my Nexus 5
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Yeah I really can't afford one, but unlocked devices from major carriers seem to be few and far between. I mean without jumping though every hurtle out there to try to root and rom and device is getting harder and harder these days..
On the lollipop note, I really want to run it and have received advice from various forums on how to get the camera and video to work using A better camera, which i haven't tried, to open camera which i did try, and vivavideo which i just couldn't get to work for me at all. I might try another tonight maybe liquid maybe CM, I'd try Slim which was once my absolute favorite, until I used nameless. It had the features I wanted with none of the bloat I didn't.
I've been trying every aicp that I can get my hands on but have yet to get the camera or video to function.. Of course lots of people are useing Mastamoons CM and he probably has the biggest following of all the rom's out there at the moment. Maybe I should give that a whirl just to see how things fare with using the camera and video. But I can't imagine that other dev's haven't picked up on his tips, tricks, and cherry picks to include in their own roms to make them work just as well, but then again, maybe they're going their own route.
My question to everyone is which rom are you running lollipop that is, that have both camera and video working... Any kind of camera and video. I'm not too worried about resolution at the moment as far as video is concerned as I understand it, VIVAvideo only works at 640-480, but I can't for the life of me find a setting in there to get it to work.
I've found an app on the app store called cm camera fix or similar that is supposed to get things going without a reboot using another apk called camera reboot or simlar, but didn't have much luck with either.. Again, this is using AICP which I love. If anyone can suggest a rom and I've read through all threads except for the massive mastamoon thread, please do so. and please share your experiences
your not so on the spot op
griz

People seem to forget our builds are still alpha builds. Its unfortunate, but the truth. Doesn't seem like we will get any unofficial love until the camera API problem is hacked & working. My favorite devs aren't building for our phone yet because of all the camera issues. Hopefully these issues will be resolved before I get my new phone. Looks like I'll be making the switch back to HTC

sjpritch25 said:
People seem to forget our builds are still alpha builds. Its unfortunate, but the truth. Doesn't seem like we will get any unofficial love until the camera API problem is hacked & working. My favorite devs aren't building for our phone yet because of all the camera issues. Hopefully these issues will be resolved before I get my new phone. Looks like I'll be making the switch back to HTC
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Sadly there aren't many devs left for the VZW S3 either. A lot of them have moved on. Now that mine is only a wifi device I might just run a LP rom on it. It runs pretty well on my N5, I've yet to have a random reboot which is great
Sent from my Nexus 5

Thanks guys, yeah dev's are getting few and far between and many don't use the device and rely on users for feedback and logcat's and debugging information.
Here's something I posted in AICP and thought I'd post here as well.
Just an FYI. Using suggestions from here and other threads, I've been able to successfully take both photos and video. I used A better Camera as suggested by Pyrite123 so thanks for that suggestion. I first uninstalled the stock camera using ROM Toolbox, I'm sure Titanium would do the same or just removing the apk. Anyway, after doing this and installing A Better Camera (Which is quite nice I must say), and VivaVideo I was able to both take pics and record video. I do not care for VivaVideo, but ABC wouldn't take video... Been thinking about trying LG Camera, this used to work with all else failed back on the DX when dev's were trying to get the camera working on a particular build. LG Camera includes LG camcorder.
On another note, having used DKP, BMS, and KT kernels for sometime now I was afraid those may be inferfering with getting the camera working. Not the case. I've used DKP which should probably be updated to something newer since it's from around the middle of Jan. I like it because of the stock undervolting and many governor options. I usually underclock using the stock voltages to 216-280 and sometimes up to 1728 down to 1350 on the high end. depending on what I feel I need.
Another thing, I noticed my KitKat Rom wasn't locking GPS so I re-installed a stock based rom to get a lock as has been suggested a zillion times over a zillion builds and roms.. Getting a lock in Alliance Rom 23, then immediately installing AICP fixed gps locking.. I got 6 sats locked inside my home tonight with a metal roof, and a huge metal shed outside. I'm certain I could get 10 or more standing still outside.
Just wanted to update and say thanks to not only the AICP dev, but all dev's who are and have been working on lollipop for this device.
Shapesblue mentioned on his GN5, I too have never had a single reboot. Which is one reason I've been so hell been on getting the camera and video working somehow someway.. It may not be working correctly, but it's working.

Looking at masta's thread, it looks like his next build will have the camera fixed. I guess we will wait and see.

Thanks sjpritch25, I saw that. Something about PA having it working but not having anything in Gerrit or something and them possibly just including a third party camera.
My camera works most of the time. I'd say 80-95% of the time.. Yesterday I installed the latest AICP just because it was there, did the camera freeze, and Sometimes Open Camera and A Better Camera would work and sometimes not. usually using the Camera reset apk linked in the CM Camera Fix app in the Play store fixes it in a jiffy so that I can take photos again. I think I even used the front facing camera on one app, don't remember which one. And since another user suggested trying Camera Zoom FX I did that and it worked as well as the others.. All in all the pic's turned out fine with flash, and although one user mentioned that using flash screwed up their Torch Tile in Quick Settings, I experience no such issue.
I had a crazy issue where hangouts would crash and burn horribly upon launch. After installing the latest release, I didn't restore my version from TiBu instead installing it from the play store, and all was right again in the universe.. Again, I'm using the DKP kernel from 01-10 or so what seems like ages ago, but it works and as I've mentioned I like the stock voltages, governors and being able to underclock on the low end, and overclock on the highend if necessary.
Just wanted to report in.
Question, and I should read the BMS thread for this and the G+ community, but Ed has released a couple kernels and I think they're for lollipop, I can't confirm this because nothing in the name of the file says anything about it, but it does say 34, so perhaps KK uses the same version. I just checked and those kernels will probably work, looking in about phone in LP, I see that it's still a 3.4 kernel so I'd say, but I'm just guessing here, that the BMS kernels will work at least the ones release after the date he mentioned including CM12 stuff. Maybe they'll work with both KK and LP. And I'm almost 100% certain this is the case but YMMV. Don't come looking for me if it doesn't.. I'll try one whenever I decide to try another build. I'm itching to try Slim, always loved slim I have, And I reckon RRO Layers are supposed to work theoretically according to the OP. But even though I've read up on that next gen method of theming, I'm still in the dark and need to just dive in I suppose and get my feets wet. I know "feets"

I was on aicp, but flashed mastas build to test the camera. I wonder if PA had video working too? Open camera works great with the latest build. Still no video

I WANT YOUR VOTE!! Opinions Wanted! Not spam... LOL
No I'm not running for public office. I value everyones opinion so please if you have a few minutes read on.
sjpritch25 said:
I was on aicp, but flashed mastas build to test the camera. I wonder if PA had video working too? Open camera works great with the latest build. Still no video
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Latest Build of what? PA?
As one might have noticed I've changed the thread title. I know a there are a ton of resources about how to do this or that, and listings on what's available for Big Red's S3. Which I will probably own for the forseeable future. I have been unemployed for over a year now, Have had prospects on a few good well paying jobs, but they didn't pan out (One Network Admin Position, I should have landed easily, but didn't have the pull of the board like the other person, but I digress)
The S3 thanks to the hard work of a lot of developers and the community has had a great and exciting life. Hopefully people will continue deving for it well into the future like the DX, or the S2 etc.
My S3 runs great on most any rom I install be it TW, AOSP based, JB, KK, and now pretty dang good one Lollipop. The only problem for me with lollipop is that the moga universal driver doesn't work with L-Pop. This has been noted in the thread, but I don't know if any more work will be done to fix it. So I'll probably go back to TW or KK or JB.
I went from AICP which I have to admit is progressing nicely with their L-pop build. But since the moga universal driver doesn't work I'm going to use something else. And I've got that itch to flash something new again. All the KK's I've ran have been pretty dang good, SlimKat, Carbon, Liquid, Omni, and others but I've always stuck with nameless for whatever reason. Well, one reason is the adjustable timeout to kill apps via back button. Kinda like MIUI used to have.
My question is, for those of you who've flashed a lot of toms and can remember the details because it's all about the details. is what rom did you like the best and why.
Also aside from the massive drawback of not being able to install AOSP roms, is there any benefit to being on the TW 4.4.2 or 4.4.4? I can't remember which one they releaased. Some of the TW roms, Alliance, Moar, and Wicked are great roms and have a nice selection of theme's available. They run pretty good and are running JB.
The JB/KK, mostly KK, roms I've ran run absolutely awesome, I'm currently working on eliminating the play services wakelock without loosing much or any functionality, some say you can use the privacy manager (a big plus for Slim, Nameless, and Other users) to block the app staying awake. I haven't tried to use DS battery saver, Greenify, or many of the other zillion "Install me and I'll magically double or triple battery life using a method called "Using the Force!" At least that's what most ammount to or killing off apps blah blah blah.
Some users I've noticed are Die-hard TW fans and some Die-hard AOSP fans. I strongly lean toward the latter. I like being able to theme my rom I sil love MrDSL's Mixer series and DustinB's Cobalt series. With the new Lpop Roms this isn't possible. I have used the theme manager with CM12 themes in lpop but they're all flat and I don't care for that I do like aesthetics, but to each their own. Maybe the new flat method of lpop makes for better battery life?? It certainly makes for a duller looking rom. I do like the all black ones with white text however. Even they get old compared to the themes for CM7-11.
And TW roms are almost, and I stress almost as themeable as the the older CM varients. So many combinations of this or that and the Ultimate Icon Them or UIT is pretty slick IMHO. The themes for Wicked are almost as Wicked as the ROM itself.
If you made it this far, or just skipped the middle, congradulations you win.... well an opportunity to help myself and others answer a timeless question... Not the chicken or the Egg question.. Not Are we Alone in the Universe, Not is there a God and is he a nice guy, But rather you can help myself and others by giving reasons as to why you prefer one rom over the rest.
Please be detailed or as detailed as possible. Most who are in these forums know the jargon or should, and if not it's past time to learn.
Oh I've posted extensively about the 03-15 ish to 03-25 ish AICP if anyone wants to hear how things are going with that rom. It has quite a lot of the old features many of us miss and now includes the option to adjust the delay in killing apps too a'la Nameless and MIUI (I know the older MIUI did this on my X, DX that is)
So go on kick off your shoes, put your feet up, and write a post about why your running what. I've asked this in the past but opinions change sometimes quicker than it took me to write this short story as one guy used to tell me. Oggie I think it was..
Before I run, I wanted to wish Mastamoon all the best in his future Nexus 6 endeavors. That's probably my favorite phone at the moment, since I used to want a note anyway. SO thanks Masta for all those builds, cherrypicks, news, and releases you whipped up for us over here in Big Red Country, (NO not China, but rather VZW China's more Capitalist today anyway), I've left Verizon for an MVNO called Selectel because of their 15 dollar a month plan using big red's towers, but they don't offer data roaming. Here it's either Big Red or a Regional Carrier (which is probably more expensive than Big Red).
To read my massive off topic thanks to mastamoon press teh magical button.
Since I got way off topic, Here is is: THANKS MASTAMOON for all the work you've done the past few years working for free or next to free I hope someone bought you a beer or beverage of your choice. I can't afford a KitKat right now.. ha ha bad joke.. But thanks man, THANK YOU and thanks again to everyone who's worked on building and maintaining ROMS for this aging device. I for one appreciate it to no end. I used to be a distro hopper, I still am (remember the Mitch Hedberg [RIP] Joke?), I'm still a distro hopper but using Android Distro's for my phones. One an aging DX2, A DX with a screwy, Screen, and my baby the S3. Thanks to the community too, because without their feedback, bugs and stuff may never get solved, and many people wouldn't get the help they need, and just give up with their phone soft-bricked.
So one more for the road Thanks to the Dev's, Thanks to the maintainers, and Thanks to the community. Many don't thank the community enough but I can remember back in my DX says which I was a bit younger but still eager to learn all I could about Android and Customizing the DX. Without the community, I wouldn't have had the guides that get stickied, I wouldn't have got out of my softbrick situatiiiions, my re-activation woes which by the way, with the help of RazorLoves, I was able to re-activate at home which I was told by Big Red that I needed to drive 45min to one hour away to activate because the only towers in my home location and surrounding area belonged to Appalachian Wireless, a more expensive than big red regional companuy, Razor gave me the codes to get into the stock dialer to program the phone. Just one example out of many where the community has been very vey helpful. Kinda like the Dev's are the Doctors in the operating room, the Anesthesiolgist and nurses are maintainers and builders, with the other nurses and guest docs being the community. Probably a terrible analogy. But really. thanks to everyone involved on there. Just wish they got thanked more often and users didn't haggle them about stuff like "when will this be fixed" or "how much longer on the new build" "Rom X dries my dishes while yours only washes and scrubs them", "Rom X is better then Yours" Crap like that gets on my nerves. I'm sure my massive posts and continuous thank yous get on some peoples last nerve, But I'm trying to work on the massive short story length postings. I could care less about what people think of the latter, because the least I can do is thank someone for their hard work.
Back to the rest of the story. Let me know and others for that matter, why you've settled on TW and if yor're on TW, which build and why. If you're on another custom AOSP rom, again, why? What makes it better than any others., and if you're on the new KK locked down one why unless it was an acccident. Because I've even considered takeing that route but I doubt it's that much better than TW4.3 plus there would be no way to go back to lollipop or KK built from CM or AOSP.
I already know most people will say try them out and see for yourself. That's just it. I've tried 95% of the TW stuff, and almost all of the aosp/cm based roms. From Slim which was my DD for a long long time. Slim and I had a serious relationship but we broke it off because after JB she quit doing a few things she used to be able to do very well and I needed them only for my own pleasure. I know not funny, but true.
Just looking for others opinions, whethers its about battery life, signal (I live in a rural area with little signal if any), performance, looks, stability (of the OS not apps), if the Camera/Camcorder works well, so on and so forth.
Thanks for reading something that contained little to no information Also, if you use Xposed, which modules do you use and why?
Thanks in advance, I'll be checking in every day or two until I get my new work schedule.
Your Friend and fellow S3 owner
Griz.

I was wondering what's good for roms anymore I haven't had ran custom since my og s3 since I had it was running ose rom doesn't seem like they are around anymore need to downgrade from nc1 to ml1 thanks
any lp roms yet if any are dd?

nikkifm said:
I was wondering what's good for roms anymore I haven't had ran custom since my og s3 since I had it was running ose rom doesn't seem like they are around anymore need to downgrade from nc1 to ml1 thanks
any lp roms yet if any are dd?
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I've found a lot of LP roms on the S3 are battery hogs. I'm still running slimkat on my S3 which I only use for games and a mp3 player now
Sent from my N5

ShapesBlue said:
I've found a lot of LP roms on the S3 are battery hogs. I'm still running slimkat on my S3 which I only use for games and a mp3 player now
Sent from my N5
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would you say slimkat dd? and does it need new ne1 baseband for it kinda wished my old rom dev was still around that I ran was getting day worth of charge on one battery

nikkifm said:
would you say slimkat dd? and does it need new ne1 baseband for it kinda wished my old rom dev was still around that I ran was getting day worth of charge on one battery
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I'd definitely say slimkat is a dd. I did have to update to the NE1 modem
Sent from my N5