[Q] CM7 or CM9 - Motorola Photon 4G

I recently moved from an Evo to the Photon. I've used CM7 basically since it came out for the Evo and an very used to the interface and miss the simplicity of it... well, I think I miss the simplicity of it.
Since it has been about a month now I'm kind of itching for the hacking and tinkering that comes with custom ROMs instead of just stock. I'm curious, from those who have moved from Blur to CM7 or CM9 - is it worth it? I know CM9 is alpha and still missing features, which I'm fine with, I just need a little convincing that it's worth it. After 4 Evos I could root, install CWM and a ROM with my eyes closed, so any amount of effort on my Photon seems daunting again.

Once you get past the unlocking part, the rest is a cake walk. I'd recommend starting with CM7 just to get your feet wet again. CM9 is a great ROM (in my opinion) only lacking a camera. But you're going to be hard pressed to find too many people recommending against ROMing. Cm7 and CM9 are both quicker, seem to have better battery, and way less bloat.
Sent from my CWM OC'd CM7 Electrify.

Thanks. And with the Photon to get back to CM I need to unlock the bootloader right? Looks like the Pudding instructions are a one-stop shop for bootloader unlock, then root and getting CWM on. Once CWM is on I'm back into familiar territory.

I've had the pleasure of running both CM7 and CM9 alpha19 - personally, I really like the look and feel of CM9, and joker has done a fantastic job with it, but for my daily driver, I'm on CM7, and it has definitely not disappointed. You should try out both and have fun playing around, but right now CM7 is at a more polished state.
Best,
K

Unlocking break 4g as of now though... so be careful.

All the links for unlocking are broken. We need a new thread with new working links. I would start over from stock and tweak to CM7 till CM9 comes out. Which thread has the better CM7?

o1e63 said:
Unlocking break 4g as of now though... so be careful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have 4G where I live... probably never will since Sprint is transitioning to LTE.
Just curious - does unlocking permanently break 4g or will 4g work if you recover back to stock?

jeggen said:
I don't have 4G where I live... probably never will since Sprint is transitioning to LTE.
Just curious - does unlocking permanently break 4g or will 4g work if you recover back to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will recover to stock. Problem is the links provided are broken and I have no patience to look for hopeful working ones.

jeggen said:
I don't have 4G where I live... probably never will since Sprint is transitioning to LTE.
Just curious - does unlocking permanently break 4g or will 4g work if you recover back to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will not permanently break it. You just need to flash back to stock or locked ROM such as skinnyROM and you'll be fine.

Cm9
I would have to say to wait until cm9 has a better battery life and more stable but till then just use cm 7.2

OP,
I was in the same boat with the EVO on CM7. this is what id do and am doing...
Flash CM7 and configure it the way you want it. coming from the EVO, youll be blown away by the HP that the Photon has on CM7. be careful and wear a bib bc youll drool some. ha ha After youve enjoyed the CM7, id backup and then flash CM9 and help out with the testing. The more people we have catching issues and sharing tips, the better the project will be.
It only take that few minutes to restore the CM7 image and your back to a solid daily w camera. if you can live wo a camera for now (i personally dont need a phone as a camera) then hangout with CM9 crowd.
Either way, youll LOVE CM on the Photon over the EVO. Welcome to the Photon club!

This thread is making me want to root my Photon
I, too had an EVO that I rooted & loved CM7 on it. This thread is making me want to root the photon now. I know that I will for sure if the Photon doesn't get any ICS love!

You can oc cm7 with jokers kernels but that depends on your hardware. I was able to get 1.4, others could go 1.3. Even if you decide on jokers skinny rom, that has a custom kernel too.
Edit: I just read that you can of cm9. is that true?
Sent from my MB855

So my question still, Which thread is the CM7 I should use?

So it sounds like really no compelling reason to stay on stock rom except being lazy. Fair interpretation?
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App

jeggen said:
So it sounds like really no compelling reason to stay on stock rom except being lazy. Fair interpretation?
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. The difference between bloated stock and light CM7 is night and day.

ZeroManArmy said:
So my question still, Which thread is the CM7 I should use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cm7.2 Kang rom 1-22
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium

This might be a silly question, but even with a locked bootloader, why can't we just use the stock bootloader as a bootstrap to launch a stripped-down ROM whose only purpose in life is to act like GRUB/HaRET and boot into our own kernel, then continue booting into our "real" ROM (which depends upon and actually uses the second kernel)? I have to admit that my kernel-level Linux knowledge is pretty minimal, but I was under the impression that on a Linux system, root is God and can do pretty much anything... so why not force a custom runlevel to shut down the stock kernel, then launch and fork into a different one after the fact?
Assuming this is possible, wouldn't it also solve the hard part of our 4G problem, by allowing the radio modem to be initialized with the hidden cert by the stock kernel, then pull the rug out from under it and replace the kernel with our own once it's done its job at startup?

For me there is no compelling reason to choose CM7 versus stock. CM9 would be the way to go if it had camera support.
Hopefully the upcoming Atrix soak test will give the devs the drivers they need to push CM9 to beta.
---------- Post added at 03:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------
jeggen said:
So it sounds like really no compelling reason to stay on stock rom except being lazy. Fair interpretation?
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No - those of us who stay stock are not lazy, and there is absolutely no reason to descend into name-calling here.
I stay stock because I'm satisfied with my Photon stock - I will move to custom once ICS camera drivers are available.

Same here, CM7 on EVO was great.
Now that I have CM9 on my HP Touchpad, I am waiting for a stable build for CM9 for the Photon.

Related

Need Help with Father's Evo 3D

Hello All,
I'm home for the holidays, and my Dad asked me to mess with his Evo 3D. I myself have an Epic 4G & am comfortable messing with Android devices.
What I need is some advice on a ROM I can flash to his phone and leave town and not have to worry about. I see him a couple times a year, so I can always mess with it then, but I'd rather not rely on that to help him out.
If anyone could point me in the right direction, that would be swell. I noticed there isn't an official "stable" CM7 ROM released at this time. (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Latest_Version#HTC_Evo_3D)
Any advice would be great.
Up to this point, we've tried hard resetting the beast, but it's still acting very funny/buggy.
It's running GB 2.3.4, and I'm not sure if it's software or hardware, but it locks up, goes through fits of phantom clicks, and a few other oddities. Need to try loading a custom ROM to see if those issues disappear.
Thanks for your help!
I would personally go with the Miui ROM for the 3D, I used it on my NS4G and worked amazing. Currently on my 3D I'm running Warm TwoPointThree with no bugs but, I'm a flashaholic and am looking at Miui now or an ICS ROM. With Miui, the updates which come out every Sunday (I think) are easy to do and have complete on screen directions on how to complete
I actually wouldn't suggest MIUI in this case as it doesn't have 4g or any 3d capabilities. Not to mention it does get quirky.
If he doesn't mind a themed rom I would go with Myns warm 2.3 but be sure to grab the rc1 and not a nightly.
If he wants a more stock look I'd go with Fresh...that may be better long term.
I'm Batman..
Fresh rom! Stable and no issues. I have the same thing with my wife. I flash daily and she wants the thing to just work lol.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Helton566 said:
Fresh rom! Stable and no issues. I have the same thing with my wife. I flash daily and she wants the thing to just work lol.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea considering the situation ...I'd go with Fresh as well. He doesn't dev much ..he just releases a solid bug free rom and disappears until it's time to clean up an official HTC update.
Prolly the best bet for your dads phone
I'm Batman..
So, I've been doing some reading. And it looks like this is a little bit more involved than the dev on the Epic. That is fine if it were for my personal phone, but perhaps not for my father's.
HBoot, SOff, Fastboot, etc.
It is my understanding that achieving S-Off will void warranty. I mean, sometimes "rooting" will void warranty, but I've heard mixed reports.
Anyways, is there a quick ROM I can load just to see if it's a software vs hardware issue. I'm beginning to think it may be a digitizer problem.
If your not looking to root load a new rom on it, your best bet would be to take it to Sprint and have them look at it.
Warm fan myself. Everything just plain works in it.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
You want to flash a Rom and leave town hoping its stable? I say root the phone and leave it as is.
My Blog: knowledgexswag.tumblr.com
Twitter: @knowledge561
knowledge561 said:
You want to flash a Rom and leave town hoping its stable? I say root the phone and leave it as is.
My Blog: knowledgexswag.tumblr.com
Twitter: @knowledge561
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Best bet to be bug free. HTC stock kernel is solid as a rock.
If the phone is not yet rooted the 2.3.4 version achieving S-off is not possible at this time.
Looks like just taking it in will be the best bet. He has Sprint's TEP, or whatever it's called (I use squaretrade myself).
If the phone is mucked up, shouldn't he be able to walk out with a new phone? He said he's gone in before and they made him send it back to the vendor with previous phones. It was my understanding that if you paid for insurance through Sprint, they ignored the vendor warranty b/c you are paying for a separate on through them...maybe he was just getting the runaround.
Thanks for your help thusfar. Who knows, maybe I'll end up with an Evo 3D sometime in the future. You guys have been great (and very prompt =] )
I would go with CleanRom. It's stock based and pretty much just the bloatware removed.
First, make sure u r not using cwm recovery. It gives me phantom touches on every rom. I always like older veraions of infected rom myself. All cm and aosp roms are buggy for someone who didnt install them.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
I agree with others, just root it and leave the rom stock. This way ur father would be able to install apps for rooted devices.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Do you guys not read? He has not rooted the phone, thus not able to flash any ROM. Take it back to Spring, if he has TEP they will either repair the phone or replace it
z50king said:
Do you guys not read? He has not rooted the phone, thus not able to flash any ROM. Take it back to Spring, if he has TEP they will either repair the phone or replace it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe, yes, I'm just going to have him go the repair root. Walking him through rooting & whatnot with his Evo 3D is not yet as easy as it is with a phone like the Epic.
Root it and put warm ROM on it. Most stable I've tried so far.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
I would root it, flash cleanrom2.9.5, then flash a stock kernal, and he would be good to go, as stated above stock kernal is solid, and cleanrom has never givin me issues that I haven't caused myself from messing with stuff.
And as far as rooting goes the mixed review you hear come from the various ways you use to acheieve root based on which bootloader he currently has on the device. Some EVO 3d do have some random bugs, rather it be hardware or software, still a beast of a phone tho
Shot from my sharp shooter in 3d
cleanrom2.9.5

Ics

Hi I'm prepping my phone for a non tech person to purchase. Need help determining the best/ most stable Ics rom
Any help is appreciated
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Honestly, I wouldn't give a rooted phone to a non tech person. They won't know what to do if problems arise, and they could take an update or do something that could permanently brick the phone.
i just want an ICS rom that doesn't randomly reboot on me
I agree with sitlet. Put a stock rom on it, sell it, call it good. If they want ICS let them flash it. Its better to sell an up-to-date stable phone than something that hasn't even been released yet.
"We're coming from a pure power source."
thesabri said:
Hi I'm prepping my phone for a non tech person to purchase. Need help determining the best/ most stable Ics rom
Any help is appreciated
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to still install a custom Rom, I recommend either MeanRom or Viperrom (for CDMA). Remember though that although these work well, they are based on a non Sprint leak, so there could be issues for a non tech person.
Sent from my PG86100
As of Today, Sprint has announced that the official ICS build will be out in June/July.
http://www.goodandevo.net/2012/05/htc-posts-faq-about-ics-update-for-current-htc-evo-devices.html
Personally, I would give them a FULLY functional, stable ROM. The ICS leak roms have a lot of issues right now. Major functionality is being made to work (wifi, timestamps in sms, etc.). I prefer a very stable, functional MeanRom 2.17 OTA base until we see some custom roms/kernels on the ICS Sprint OTA release.
You dont want to give them a ICS rom that has issues bc they wont be able to update and flash new version of the ROM. Have you looked at the changelog for some ICS roms? Check out ICS MeanRom for example. It has a lot of major fixes applied in the last few releases. IMO, ICS is not ready for prime time and especially not for a newb who cant properly troubleshoot and flash new roms.
thesabri said:
Hi I'm prepping my phone for a non tech person to purchase. Need help determining the best/ most stable Ics rom
Any help is appreciated
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would help to know if you are talking CDMA or GSM?
Personally i use king cobra GSM and it's rock solid.
I gave my mum my old desire HD which is rooted and oc'd to 1.5ghz, it's never crashed, but then again, if it did i could always pop over and flash the rom again for her.
If the phone is going out of your hands and into someone you'll never see again, then i'd leave it in a state where it can be s-off'd and re rooted but isn't.
If it's someone you know then just leave it with a custom and show them how to reflash it if a problem occurs.
I'm sure they're not that much of a technophobe to read clear instructions.
Run superwipe.
Flash rom
Reboot
Sign into google
Use phone.
Not too hard
I'd love to know what's on ICS that it warrants having an unreleased, unstable build?
Just leave a stock GB-ish rom on there and I guarantee they will have a better experience for it. And if you give them stock, once the update is ready, they'll get it, and it will be the one that is supposed to be released and actually stable.
Or you could give them some piece of junk now, that's running dual-core for some reason, killing the battery. And then having things like contacts pictures not show up, reboots, and other issues. Just run GB Stock.

To root or not to root??

I'm on the fence here guys and need some either reassurance or confirmation of my fears/concerns.
Let me start by saying i'm borderline pissed off that I pay for a Sprint contract and yet VM is getting ICS possibly far before Sprints EVO 3d...This is a large driving force behind wanting to root.
So anyways here are my concerns..
-It's a VM build...does this cause adverse affects?? Lower priority?? ETC??
-I Roam most of the time and use a custom PRL. Is this possible with the ICS ROMS??
-I want EVERYTHING to work still...I do not want to comprimise things not working for ICS. I'm not including app incompatibility here...more or less saying everything working that would work if we had an official ICS release.
Additional questions..not really concerns..
-Is there any roms currently with Sense 4.0 that are fully functional as This would be nice considering we'll never see it officially.
-Can I get better performance??
Lastly, If I do decide to root where do I start...I see tutorials but they say from hboot such and such etc..however I have no idea what I have on my phone to know what tutorial to use...I just got it 2 months ago, and i've fully OTA updated it. I came from an optimus v to sprint evo 3d...I had my optimus rooted and had custom roms on it.
I say Root, but I always root my phones.
You need to find out what hboot you are on, take back cover off, remove battery, put battery back in, cover back on, then hold power and down volume rocker. You will get to a white screen and it will tell you which hboot you have. Since you say you have OTA updated, you are likely on 1.5.
You should go through the downgrade process to get you on 1.4 which will allow full s-off and be the simplest route for flashing firmware/ROM's.
I have been using the VM ICS leaks since they came out and the Dev's did their
thing on them and I haven't had anything not work. I am using MeanROM ICS and Mike keeps it updated pretty regularly.
Whatever you do, do not install the VM firmware file you may see posted. It is unnecessary and will likely cause issues.
There are no ROM's that have fully working Sense 4.0 + ICS + all other items(3D Wimax).
swilllx2p said:
-I want EVERYTHING to work still...I do not want to comprimise things not working for ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want EVERYTHING to work, do NOT go with an ICS rom at this time.
They are still working on all the bugs. Camera issues. 3D issues.
3D is important to me. That's why I bought this phone. Some videos won't play in 3D, some 3D games won't work in ICS and 3D you tube videos will not work in ICS. (at least that is the last I read).
I'm staying with GB for now until I'm sure all the bugs are worked out and everything works. It may never happen.
I feel the same way. I don't want to compromise anything for ICS.
zcink said:
If you want EVERYTHING to work, do NOT go with an ICS rom at this time.
They are still working on all the bugs. Camera issues. 3D issues.
3D is important to me. That's why I bought this phone. Some videos won't play in 3D, some 3D games won't work in ICS and 3D you tube videos will not work in ICS. (at least that is the last I read).
I'm staying with GB for now until I'm sure all the bugs are worked out and everything works. It may never happen.
I feel the same way. I don't want to compromise anything for ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do recommend you root. The custom roms beat the snot out of the stock.
As long as you use a Sense based ics Rom, everything works. I take 3d pics and video and just watched a 3d YouTube video just to check.
While they are not yet as refined as the Gb roms, everything works.
Sent from my PG86100
Two biggest benefits of rooting regardless of the phone:
1) Full system backups in recovery.
2) The ability to remove all carrier crapware.
Now, there are several other benefits, such as upgrading to more updated ROMs that will eventually not be available for this phone (it will never officially receive Android 5.0 or Sense 4.0).
As for fully functional, I'm running the Booster Shot port with Sense 3.6. Silky smooth and fully functional, including 3D.
If you choose to root, fully read and understand the process so you don't brick your phone. Get your HBOOT versions (mentioned in a previous post in this thread) and root accordingly.
Definitely boost in performance even if you don't go with ICS. I compared my rooted 3d with my roomates 3d and my 3d runs so much faster it seems like it isn't even the same phone.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
I would recommend root, since you have a lot of options to choose different ROMs.
No Sense 4.0 ROM is working correctly. There are issues with 3d and with call drops, what is more important I think Anyway, most ROMs using Sense 3.6 run ok.
I also have the benefit of having daily contact with my rooted evo vs my girlfriends not rooted evo... Mine phone is way faster at everything.... Even before I went to meanrom ics....
The difference is night vs day...
If you really want to see the performance of your phone, the way it should be most definetly Root it.
I haven't done it myself but I'm 100% positive google will find you a list of benefits from obtaining root...
And btw even tho its a little weird and in beta my favorite thing about ics is google chrome... It's just an awesome phone browser, just what stands out in my mind atm.. ask me tomorrow and ill prolly say something different.
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2
If your on the fence, don't do it. If your going to commit to modding your phone, you have to know 100% what you're up against. For most, that's bricking your phone in a certain way so you can downgrade it. Than getting the hboot down through a tool in a LINUX distro. Than going through ruu than using revolutionary. And lastly flashing a recovery. It's not difficult
As long as you know what you are up against.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
My two cents:
Root it.
Backup your stock system, flash an ICS rom. If you don't like it, simply restore back to the original setting. You can still add tweaks and goodies not available to the non-rooted.
The beauty of being rooted is it's yours, totally yours, too make how you want it.
Root, root, root!
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2
another vote for root.
zcink said:
If you want EVERYTHING to work, do NOT go with an ICS rom at this time.
They are still working on all the bugs. Camera issues. 3D issues.
3D is important to me. That's why I bought this phone. Some videos won't play in 3D, some 3D games won't work in ICS and 3D you tube videos will not work in ICS. (at least that is the last I read).
I'm staying with GB for now until I'm sure all the bugs are worked out and everything works. It may never happen.
I feel the same way. I don't want to compromise anything for ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you talking about? 3D works fully and smoothly (Even better than Gingerbread)
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
exactly...every sense based rom is fully functional with 3d also...this is a one way street to root....root...backup your rom...flash...any chance you don't like you can always return to your previous state...unrooted...since there are no drawbacks except the fact that you have to setup all over again at a new rom, can't see a reason not to....with these guys here after all it's child play to root and to reverse it so no worries...
Jimlarck said:
What are you talking about? 3D works fully and smoothly (Even better than Gingerbread)
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you are correct on Sprint roms, however that's not what I'm reading on GSM roms. I'm constantly reading and paying attention to the bugs people complain about.
When I'm confident that everything works, I will definitely flash a ICS rom.
to add:
OP's original question to root or not to root. That is the question.
I say YES! Root by all means. Because he is on Sprint CDMA network. Lots of good roms there. By all means root and enjoy the phone.
Absolutely!
zcink said:
I think you are correct on Sprint roms, however that's not what I'm reading on GSM roms. I'm constantly reading and paying attention to the bugs people complain about.
When I'm confident that everything works, I will definitely flash a ICS rom.
to add:
OP's original question to root or not to root. That is the question.
I say YES! Root by all means. Because he is on Sprint CDMA network. Lots of good roms there. By all means root and enjoy the phone.
Absolutely!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm only on sprint roms.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
Thanks for all the replies, I'm still debating this though mainly because i'm wondering if there would be benifit to waiting till the official spring ics comes and then letting devs release some roms based on that one instead of the virgin mobile one.
I'm thinking then we could flash the sprint firmware and possibly that updated firmware would be a plus, to performance.
Also...I see that I would likely have to downgrade to Hboot 1.4. Is there a performance/feature hit in doing so?
I guess its not really a question of if I do it anymore but when...before or after official sprint ics OTA.
swilllx2p said:
Also...I see that I would likely have to downgrade to Hboot 1.4. Is there a performance/feature hit in doing so?
I guess its not really a question of if I do it anymore but when...before or after official sprint ics OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No performance hit as far as I can tell. With the custom roms, my performance has vastly improved.
Sent from my PG86100
Ok, so I just checked and I'm on hboot 1.5. Fully stock, fully updated as stated. Can someone point me to the threads and steps I need to take to do this?
Edit: I'm only asking for verification on steps/threads to use as I do not want to mess up and use an outdated tutorial or something and f up my phone. I just want to take every precaution to ensure I do not end up with a brick, and I follow the exact steps Needed for my situation. Not trying to make anyone angry that I'm asking for something I could search for...I just trust you guys to point me to where i need to be more than i do myself searching the correct tutorial for my situation.
Also when on the optimus v i used clockwork mod recovery...I'm assuming this isn't the recovery to use for this phone? And also this five minute wait to edit my post is frustrationg >< lol.
All you need to do is go into the development threads and read. I'm 59 years old for Christ sake, and figured out how to root my phone by reading the first few "stickied" posts. Took all of 15 minutes to get hboot 1.5 removed and hboot 1.4 with s-off installed.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Well yeah, Not to flame you but the amount of time you've been thinking about doing it and getting advise if you should or not, I would think you'd be doing some reading on how to do it.
If you get stuck, there's plenty of people to help you out.
Just make sure you know enough first so you are confident in doing it.

[Q] New to Photon

I was due for an upgrade a few months back and never owned a smart phone but was able to get this phone free 2 weeks ago so obviously took it. Was hoping to get a few of you photon lovers to guide me in the best direction to get the best perfomance out of it. I have gotten the phone rooted and that is as far as I went. Due to so many mixed messages as to what are the best setups I was just wondering if a few of you that have had long time success with a particular setup could give me some steps. Thank you very much for any help.
bigblue4life said:
I was due for an upgrade a few months back and never owned a smart phone but was able to get this phone free 2 weeks ago so obviously took it. Was hoping to get a few of you photon lovers to guide me in the best direction to get the best perfomance out of it. I have gotten the phone rooted and that is as far as I went. Due to so many mixed messages as to what are the best setups I was just wondering if a few of you that have had long time success with a particular setup could give me some steps. Thank you very much for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess my personal input is
1 -- if you are in an area where you can get 4G speed, then stop and just enjoy it
2 -- use it awhile and if it does what you want to do, then stop and just enjoy it.
3 -- remember that ICS is coming soon. if you are willing to use an alpha ROM without 4G, and there is also something you Must have, then consider a custom ROM. And then enjoy it!
willysp said:
I guess my personal input is
1 -- if you are in an area where you can get 4G speed, then stop and just enjoy it
2 -- use it awhile and if it does what you want to do, then stop and just enjoy it.
3 -- remember that ICS is coming soon. if you are willing to use an alpha ROM without 4G, and there is also something you Must have, then consider a custom ROM. And then enjoy it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1-- 4G isn't a big deal to me since it is in limited areas around here and my 3G isn't horrible.
2-- I am enjoying messing with it, just figured if I can give it a performance boost I would.
3-- As far as ICS goes, I have it on my asus tablet and love it but been getting mixed messages on when that will be available for us if at all. If we do get it, I'm assuming any changes I make can be reversed ( correct me if I'm wrong ). Also thanks for your reply.
i love the photon but it will never be 4gbunlocked so that sucks. i run gummy rom installed with kitchen sink. i have zero problems with anything. ive ran every rom on here. kitchen sink gummy is best. be careful about installing bravia through kitchen sink i could never get it to boot so i left it out. beats audio is cool though, as is the bigger ics keyboard.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Seatttlereign said:
i love the photon but it will never be 4gbunlocked so that sucks. i run gummy rom installed with kitchen sink. i have zero problems with anything. ive ran every rom on here. kitchen sink gummy is best. be careful about installing bravia through kitchen sink i could never get it to boot so i left it out. beats audio is cool though, as is the bigger ics keyboard.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would really appreciate if you could give me a run down on how to get this on my stock photon, also did you happen to oc you cpu? I have read alot of the threads on different roms but it becomes a little confusing for first time, also knowing how to revert back would be good too. Thanks alot.
bigblue4life said:
1-- 4G isn't a big deal to me since it is in limited areas around here and my 3G isn't horrible.
2-- I am enjoying messing with it, just figured if I can give it a performance boost I would.
3-- As far as ICS goes, I have it on my asus tablet and love it but been getting mixed messages on when that will be available for us if at all. If we do get it, I'm assuming any changes I make can be reversed ( correct me if I'm wrong ). Also thanks for your reply.
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If 4g is of no concern to you then i would definitely suggest that you unlock. The little tweaks and such you can make to stock rom just doesnt even compare to what throwing a custom on it would do for ya. The reason i would suggest doing that as soon as you can is because the latest updates will permanently lock your bootloader, this also includes the ics update that is soon to come. It cant be reversed at this time unfortunately. Do yourself a favor and dont get locked down to a rom that you will never be able to get rid of.
Sent from my CM9ed MoPho!
willysp said:
I guess my personal input is
1 -- if you are in an area where you can get 4G speed, then stop and just enjoy it
2 -- use it awhile and if it does what you want to do, then stop and just enjoy it.
3 -- remember that ICS is coming soon. if you are willing to use an alpha ROM without 4G, and there is also something you Must have, then consider a custom ROM. And then enjoy it!
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you and your 4g addiction. 4g is overrated.
unlock that phone and get some ICS on it! you will surely enjoy. even some of the GB custom roms. all of it's quite fun! :silly:
Acvice said:
If 4g is of no concern to you then i would definitely suggest that you unlock. The little tweaks and such you can make to stock rom just doesnt even compare to what throwing a custom on it would do for ya. The reason i would suggest doing that as soon as you can is because the latest updates will permanently lock your bootloader, this also includes the ics update that is soon to come. It cant be reversed at this time unfortunately. Do yourself a favor and dont get locked down to a rom that you will never be able to get rid of.
Sent from my CM9ed MoPho!
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That to me was well said thank you. That being said,unlocking is the first thing I am to do correct? Then I will be able to explore different roms and such correct? If this is the first step then I'm off to learn how to unlock this thing.
Here's a great reference: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1393519
Ok so I managed to get this thing unlocked and would now like to know the best roms....thanks everyone.
bigblue4life said:
Ok so I managed to get this thing unlocked and would now like to know the best roms....thanks everyone.
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Cybiks pure CM7 if you want everything to work flawlessly. Cm9 if you can stand a couple bugs and want bleeding edge ics. If you choose cm9 be sure to read the cm9 fixes thread for proper installation procedure.
Sent from my CM9ed MoPho!
Has anyone had good success with Kitchen Sink and Gummy rom other than the guy earlier in the thread?
na7q said:
you and your 4g addiction. 4g is overrated.
unlock that phone and get some ICS on it! you will surely enjoy. even some of the GB custom roms. all of it's quite fun! :silly:
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In http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28393959#post28393959
I said
4G is Much faster, but I travel a lot and rarely am able to keep a 4G connection for more than 30 seconds or a minute or so. And more like 1G in my house, but I use 6M WiFi so OK. So, 4G for me is worthless.
Addiction? LOL!
Peace !
I have tried CM9 and Gummy from Kitchen Sink and for both roms can not get past the boot screen.
Ignore this. Didnt mean to double post, i is drunk.
Yep, success with both. Tell me your entire installation procedure for each and ill try to point you in the right direction. Its probably just a simple mistake. Also, the versions from kitchen sink are not the latest versions. Installing a rom the good old fashioned way is less convenient but less prone to error.
Sent from my CM9ed MoPho!
bigblue4life said:
I have tried CM9 and Gummy from Kitchen Sink and for both roms can not get past the boot screen.
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I don't think kitchen sink has been updated lately. there are more recent threads for each rom. this will help with cm9 questions http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=22915493
Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2
Which version of cm9 are most people using? I grabbed the latest from Jokers site and seems good except I have no phone service lol.
Two different versions of cm9 and neither have a mobile network. I am using jokers recovery v3 to flash. not sure what I am doing wrong and damn the rom runs soo smooth, any help is appreciated. I am putting the roms on my sd card booting into recovery, doing a data wipe and cache then installing the zip from my sd. It boots into the rom fine although it does say something about an error once booted but the only problem I see is no mobile network.
Go to cm9 fixes thread, grab cm9 version 3.1. Wipe system/dalv/data/cache, install 3.1, boot, reboot to recovery, wipe cache and dalvik, install latest cm9, install gapps, reboot.
Sent from my CM9ed MoPho!

Should I get Motorola Photon 4G?

I know some of you will say, "Why not get Galaxy S3?" or Why not get cheaper LG Viper 4G LTE?" The reason is I cant. I cant upgrade to 2012 smartphone without losing my old data plan. If i do that, I will be forced to get new data plan which is $54.99. Im on Sprint Relay Data only for $39.99( Im hard of hearing btw) RIght now, I have Samsung Epic 4G. Pretty old I know and it tend to die fast even with new Galaxy SII battery. I am a techie guy that know how to root and install custom roms. Right now, Im thinking abt getting Motorola Photon 4G since it can be hack to run on tmobile/At&t when I planning to leave Sprint in the future. Is Motorola Photon is a good phone??? (In term of hardware)
I have it and I think its a great phone hardware speaking
Sent from my MB855 using xda app-developers app
I have another question. Can I just unlock bootloader, flash different rom, then relock bootloader to get 4G back. Can I do it?
silverhawknike said:
I have another question. Can I just unlock bootloader, flash different rom, then relock bootloader to get 4G back. Can I do it?
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Click to collapse
Nope. It's not the rom that's the problem, its having that rom use a non stock kernel. To keep 4g, you would have to use a psuedorom that doesnt mess with the kernel. The only one still in development is MOF's 2.3.5ish rom.
But yes, the Photon is an amazing phone. Without a doubt the best I've ever had. And ICS is supposed to officially drop soon so that means our Jelly Bean and ICS roms will be working flawlessly. The only risk you run in ordering a Photon is that it might already have 2.3.5 on it. If this is the case, you wont be able to unlock thus unable to install any custom roms. If you do choose to get it, order it from ebay or something and make sure to ask the seller to verify it still has 2.3.4 on it by going into About Phone.
alright thanks for clarification
Great choice for you as you can have a very good phone at a affordable price. I am on Cm10 on my photon it's fantastic can give any 2012 phone a value for money competition
Sent from my mopho cm10 jellybean using xda app-developers app
Found MotoPho with Android 2.3.4 on ebay for $160. Perfect! Will be buying on Tues night
Is CM10 is stable now (like very useful for daily driving)?
silverhawknike said:
Found MotoPho with Android 2.3.4 on ebay for $160. Perfect! Will be buying on Tues night
Is CM10 is stable now (like very useful for daily driving)?
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What a steal
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Cm10 is very stable. It has been my daily driver for past two days absolutely no issues except minor niggles already mentioned(white screen in camera but still takes beautiful pictures, camcorder not working etc)
jellybean popping on Cm10
silverhawknike said:
Found MotoPho with Android 2.3.4 on ebay for $160. Perfect! Will be buying on Tues night
Is CM10 is stable now (like very useful for daily driving)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering it was released last week it's stable as hell. Obviously it'll take a bit to work out the kinks. Sending/receiving mms messages is messed up for some people, camera is a bit laggy, camcorder doesnt work, noticeable twitching in general due to the lack of 2d libs, overheats slightly, and some are reporting iffy battery life. But the exact same problems exist on our CM9 and that has been out for many months. Basically, it's about as stable as its gonna get without the proper pieces we need from Motorola. Considering they said the Atrix's official ICS build is coming in Q3 and our Photon is nearly the exact same phone, I would say we'll have the pieces we need by the end of August or mid September. Guess we will see. Congrats on getting such a good price!
Need help finding ROM with Vanilla launcher
Just brought Motorola Photon 4G on ebay and it will come on Sat or Mon! I also told him not to update it haha.
Meanwhile, i want a stable vanilla rom and this rom is close as vanilla rom. Can I flash that rom ? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1224896 Or any roms that have vanilla launcher. Not a big fan of ADW launcher btw.
Yeah you should be able to flash that, but it is kind of outdated. If you want to use cm7 you don't have to use adw launcher. Just download a different one.
Sent from my MB855 using xda app-developers app
Hmm, i can do that. What abt CM9 for MotoPho?
silverhawknike said:
Hmm, i can do that. What abt CM9 for MotoPho?
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Click to collapse
Alien is quite dated. No one has worked on that since last year. Technically, CyanogenMod is vanilla android with extra customization options. Blows AOSP out of the water and is clean as a whistle. CM7.2(gingerbread), CM9(ICS), CM10(JB) -- take your pick! Id start out with 7.2 as everything works flawlessly. Once you are familiar with everything and are willing to deal with a few bugs but still stable builds, try CM9 or 10.

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