hi very noobish question but im confused to what a rom is? I have rooted my s2 with a custom kernel and have read about roms but have no clue what they are.
A ROM in this case is basically the Operating System files. It contains all the files required for your phone to boot into a flavor of Android. ROMs come in many variations such as vendor specific ROMs like Samsung's TouchWiz or ROMs that are compiled from the Android Open Source Project using the source code such as CyanogenMod or MIUI.
Furthermore, ROMs built or cooked by the devs contain many tweaks and optimizations that are not found on the Stock Firmware/ROM and are, in most but not all cases, better.
Hope that helped
Basically a ROM is an Android system image file, which contains the operating system and some applications.
The STOCK Roms are created by the device's producers, like Samsung or Lg, modifing the original Android ROM (I think it's called Vanilla) to give personalizations to their devices.
Then ther are the COOKED Roms that are created from Android users in order to change and quite always to improve the experience on a device, like Cyanogen or MIUI.
Read this:http://androidforums.com/precedent-all-things-root/461024-root-terms-defined-rom-shell-s-etc.html
dw9999 said:
hi very noobish question but im confused to what a rom is? I have rooted my s2 with a custom kernel and have read about roms but have no clue what they are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A ROM is:
http://bit.ly/xLMVUT
Literally it stands for Read Only Memory, in this case referring to the phone's internal memory where your firmware/apps are stored. When people say they're flashing a new ROM, it means they are flashing a new version of the firmware onto their phone - the two terms are interchangeable.
A custom ROM (firmware released for the phone by anyone except for Huawei) might have performance tweaks, new features such as overclocking and so on. I believe the most popular custom rom for your phone is Cyanogen 6 or 7, which are both vanilla android firmware.
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Click to collapse
Google is always your friend. (No offence at all. Just needed to fill 10 character requirement).
Related
Hey guys !
I've been around here for many years but have allways been using Windows Mobile phones. I've had a Hero for about a year and i must say that i am very pleased with it. It works so damn good ! I've been flashing roms on windows mobile phones and even created roms my self.
However this Android / Linux world is so new to me that i have no idea what i need to do in order to simply flash a rom on my Hero!
What i get is that i need to root my device. There are some few guides for this in the wiki but i still do not know if my Hero is a Virgin og a Telus. How can i see this?
Also i see a lot of Linux based talk and commands (i presume) that i do not understand anything of. Do we have any desciption of the most common used commands and such stuff so new people like me can get a better understanding of what you guys are actually talking about?
When i learn all this i will edit the wiki with the information. And as i am new it is easier for me to fill in what is missing if you understand
.. And yes i have searched!
Da9L said:
Hey guys !
I've been around here for many years but have allways been using Windows Mobile phones. I've had a Hero for about a year and i must say that i am very pleased with it. It works so damn good ! I've been flashing roms on windows mobile phones and even created roms my self.
However this Android / Linux world is so new to me that i have no idea what i need to do in order to simply flash a rom on my Hero!
What i get is that i need to root my device. There are some few guides for this in the wiki but i still do not know if my Hero is a Virgin og a Telus. How can i see this?
Also i see a lot of Linux based talk and commands (i presume) that i do not understand anything of. Do we have any desciption of the most common used commands and such stuff so new people like me can get a better understanding of what you guys are actually talking about?
When i learn all this i will edit the wiki with the information. And as i am new it is easier for me to fill in what is missing if you understand
.. And yes i have searched!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theunlockr.com is an excellent source of information on rooting/flashing your Hero.
nprussell said:
Theunlockr.com is an excellent source of information on rooting/flashing your Hero.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seconded.
And when you're unlocked, check out Villain and Vanillain ROM's (check out previous post), definitely two of the best
if you want to know if your phone is rooted download and install "Super user" and run it,you will then know if your phone is rooted or not.
I,like you,was a WM user and found android to be more complicated,but in fact it´s not...once you root your phone and install Amon-RA recovery ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4549551&postcount=1 ) its much easier and simple to do things.
theres a sticky in this sub-forum with wiki-guides,read it!
Branwen said:
Seconded.
And when you're unlocked, check out Villain and Vanillain ROM's (check out previous post), definitely two of the best
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True used a lot those roms.
Waiting patiently for a Vanillain rom based in eris dump.
Right now im still using AychTeeSee's just to be able to use the Buuf Theme
I'm in the exact same situation as Da9L . Could you please let me know if flashing a new ROM will also change the Firmware version?
Currently my firmware is 1.5. I've seen on a friend's G1 the voice search widget and I'm dying to get that on my device. From what I've been told, i need to get a newer firmware, but I've got no idea on how to do this.
Any help would be appreciated ^_^
Some questions:
So the short line of the process of flashing a custom rom is when using unbranded htc hero:
1. Downgrade my software to 1.76, as iam using the newest
2. Root the device acording to _this_ guide
3. Perform a backup
4. Flash the custom rom as i flash a stock rom?
Is that it? It leads me to some more questions
What is this "recovery image" and is there any reason to flash a new one?
And why is there any reason to change this at all ?
How do i get danish xt9 for sms?
And please i have a feeling that i am getting this wrong.. Can you please explain to me the procedure of doing all this ?
Is there any benefit by flashing a rom?
I mean the stock rom actually runs pretty good and is stable. A custom rom is likely to be a little more unstable than a stock rom, but often give you more speed and newer features. This is when we are talking Windows Mobile, but is it the same here? What are the pros and cons by flashing a custom rom over the stock rom?
Da9L said:
Is there any benefit by flashing a rom?
I mean the stock rom actually runs pretty good and is stable. A custom rom is likely to be a little more unstable than a stock rom, but often give you more speed and newer features. This is when we are talking Windows Mobile, but is it the same here? What are the pros and cons by flashing a custom rom over the stock rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It varies depending on the ROM tbh. It's a bit like the high-tech version of 'how long's a piece of string'?
Really, you're likely to get improved performance, root permissions, user interface tweaks, different versions of applications that are better than the default ones, maybe a custom kernel (if it's a 1.5 release you're looking at).
The custom kernels can have better performance due to optimisations in them. Not sure how much of this is like winmo (never had a winmo phone, all I know is that you are able to install alternative ROMs on them), but with android the core OS is open source, so you get more performance boosts under the hood.
Anyone able to add to that?
anon2122 said:
It varies depending on the ROM tbh. It's a bit like the high-tech version of 'how long's a piece of string'?
Really, you're likely to get improved performance, root permissions, user interface tweaks, different versions of applications that are better than the default ones, maybe a custom kernel (if it's a 1.5 release you're looking at).
The custom kernels can have better performance due to optimisations in them. Not sure how much of this is like winmo (never had a winmo phone, all I know is that you are able to install alternative ROMs on them), but with android the core OS is open source, so you get more performance boosts under the hood.
Anyone able to add to that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds great. However, since this is so new to me i do not know what new tweaks and apps i will be able to use and get if you follow me? When i have flashed a new custom rom, propably android 2.1, i do not know what new things it has and therefore where and how to use these new functions. And does the real advantage in a custom rom also get to a normal user or is the advantages more directed at the developers or?
What exactly is a custom modem? I am new to the Droid world. I know how to flash custom ROMs and i understand what they are but what does a custom modem do? Or even a custom kernel for that matter? I see them floating around for the GS2 and wanted to be sure of what they do.
The modem handles voice and data communications, and interfaces with wifi. The various modems that are available are from the official and unofficial releases (leaks) that have been put out by samsung for this phone. Samsung does not release source code for modems, so there are not custom modems.
The kernel is the portion of the phone operating system that sits between the user interface (ROM) and the hardware. Samsung does release source code for the kernel, since Android is open source, and therefore our great developers here at xda modify the kernel to make them better.
I very much appreciate the answer that gave me pretty much what i was looking for. Thanks
I keep on hearing about Stock ROM, Custom ROM and Official ROM's. What is the difference? Why there are so many ROM's for the same phone?
Nitinbhai
nitinbhai said:
I keep on hearing about Stock ROM, Custom ROM and Official ROM's. What is the difference? Why there are so many ROM's for the same phone?
Nitinbhai
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Click to collapse
its all about the variety and customization. different people have different taste.
stock/official == released by samsung via kies or updates.
custom === modded stock roms with different themes/tweaks/apps
CM roms are based on offical android, the type you find on Google Android handest, and are optimised for performance with a shed load of features.
Samsung roms are based on stock, often with bloatware removed and optimised for performance, like packing new kernels, deodexing, zipaligning, busybox not to mention root. They will also have additional functionality over stock samsung in the form of mods.
Try them out, you'll notice the biggest difference with Cyanogenmod roms compared to stock samsung based roms.
Wouldn't be surprised if this thread is closed, but hope that helps nonetheless
DO NOT POST A "What's the best ROM/Kernel/Theme?" THREAD!
Point to note both custom roms and root void warranty and would need removing before returning to a service centre if needs be .
jje
nitinbhai said:
I keep on hearing about Stock ROM, Custom ROM and Official ROM's. What is the difference? Why there are so many ROM's for the same phone?
Nitinbhai
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know you are rooted when spend more time flashing roms than using your phone.
You know you are on a custom rom when you spend more time on XDA asking variouse questions than spending time with your family
You know you are on a shipped stock rom of your phone when you eat on time sleep on time keep tablets away...
Just joking
Hi everyone,
I would like to know what is rom and kernal? and how to do that? and root is what means?? can someone explain to me? I wan try to do these for my s2 i9100G cause my phone keep freeze and need to restart
13579tsy said:
Hi everyone,
I would like to know what is rom and kernal? and how to do that? and root is what means?? can someone explain to me? I wan try to do these for my s2 i9100G cause my phone keep freeze and need to restart
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROM is the android operating system of the phone. It's of two types. Stock ROM (official one supplied with the phone) and Custom ROM(Customized and modded ROMs).
Kernel is the bridge between this ROM and the hardware of the phone. The proper working of all the hardware features depends on the kernel.
Root means giving development level access to ROM inorder to make customization(which is not available in stock ROMs.
There are lots of custom ROMs are available for your device based on CyanogenMod(an open source after market firmware community), AOSP(Android open source project), etc.
Just check your device thread to know how to install acustom ROM to your device.
Hope i helped you..
jabrif said:
ROM is the android operating system of the phone. It's of two types. Stock ROM (official one supplied with the phone) and Custom ROM(Customized and modded ROMs).
Kernel is the bridge between this ROM and the hardware of the phone. The proper working of all the hardware features depends on the kernel.
Root means giving development level access to ROM inorder to make customization(which is not available in stock ROMs.
There are lots of custom ROMs are available for your device based on CyanogenMod(an open source after market firmware community), AOSP(Android open source project), etc.
Just check your device thread to know how to install acustom ROM to your device.
Hope i helped you..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any suggestion for me to root my i9100G??
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1550
13579tsy said:
any suggestion for me toexplanations9100G??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look in to your device thread. There will be any explanations about the rooting method. List of ROMs are also available there. So have a look at it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1550
Happy rooting..
Hi,
I'm sure that's a dumb question, but I had to ask it.
I have a Gen8 tablet, and would like three things:
Backup the whole ROM in order to put it back later on
Use that ROM in order to build another one for the same device
Use that ROM (look&feel, apps and so on) to build another one for another device
I've seen that some firmwares (with root) are available for this tablet, and would like to understand how they were built.
Did the developers start from aosp + archos "modified" kernel, or did they start from the existing ROM (aos files from Archos)? Or even a mix of all that?
I installed the SDE yesterday, and have yet to make a complete backup.
Thanks.
Its hard to say where to start after asking these questions. You should read a lot before doing it. Roms based on Cyanogenmod like Buzcuit's one are easy to backup. If you base a new rom on the existing one you will get the bugs of the main rom (Bizcuit's for example) and the bugs of the new rom.
Thanks for your reply.
I don't know if I'll try a new ROM for such an old device, but do you know how these ROMs were made?
I've seen there how to build a new kernel for the tablet, but not a complete system (I often build android-x86, but never tried aosp).
This is rooted stock firmware. Its made by Archos. You should read a bit more about it. I am not a developer and I have pretty basic knowledge and I havent tried myself. Biz and the others can help you much more then me. But ya, u have to read pretty much to start.
Ok, thanks.