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?
Click to expand...
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)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
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.
Related
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.
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.
Hello everyone. I am new to android. I came from a Nexus that I had for a week. Before that, I was an iPhone owner since the beginning. Loving my EVO LTE so far, except for the fact that my data doesn't work outside wi-fi. I'm hoping it's because I am in an LTE city... hoping it's maintenance.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the Pure ICS on the Nexus. Is there anyway I can get that on my EVO. The dialer and everything? I'm rooted on MeanRom.
Thank you from a noob!
I'm not rooted, but I installed rocketdial pro and they have a theme that looks like the nexus. I disabled the caller ID function, tho because it only worked part of the time.
Sent from my EVO LTE using xda premium
codexv said:
Hello everyone. I am new to android. I came from a Nexus that I had for a week. Before that, I was an iPhone owner since the beginning. Loving my EVO LTE so far, except for the fact that my data doesn't work outside wi-fi. I'm hoping it's because I am in an LTE city... hoping it's maintenance.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the Pure ICS on the Nexus. Is there anyway I can get that on my EVO. The dialer and everything? I'm rooted on MeanRom.
Thank you from a noob!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CyanagenMod maybe? I don't know how far along they are with development though. I'm a Sense guy
The CM forum is here -> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1683384
CM9 isn't 100% stock Android, but the UI is nearly the same. The unofficial CM9 port is working well enough to be a daily driver: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1683384
If you're totally new to this, you'll need to S-OFF/HTC unlock (I recommend S-OFF) your phone, install a recovery (go with TWRP), and then wipe your phone and flash the CM9 ROM.
aliwho said:
CM9 isn't 100% stock Android, but the UI is nearly the same. The unofficial CM9 port is working well enough to be a daily driver: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1683384
If you're totally new to this, you'll need to S-OFF/HTC unlock (I recommend S-OFF) your phone, install a recovery (go with TWRP), and then wipe your phone and flash the CM9 ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I'll give this a try
When the TB first came out it felt very snappy, very smooth and fairly quick. Rooted it and after some time it just seems to have no hope and I dont know why. I have flashed almost every Rom out there and it seems to work fine for a little bit and then within a week it is back to its VERY laggy performance. When the S3 came out, I got that and my wife wanted my TB. She is getting tired of me playing around with the phone and trying to get a performance fix and just wants a new phone. Should I try to unroot it and run it stock for her? Otherwise she may look at the moto razr M or the inc 4g. (not a phone I would have, but its not up to me)
The phone slowing down may be certain apps impacting performance, so you may want to look into that. Also if you haven't already I would ditch sense based roms and give AOSP a try.
1Android said:
When the TB first came out it felt very snappy, very smooth and fairly quick. Rooted it and after some time it just seems to have no hope and I dont know why. I have flashed almost every Rom out there and it seems to work fine for a little bit and then within a week it is back to its VERY laggy performance. When the S3 came out, I got that and my wife wanted my TB. She is getting tired of me playing around with the phone and trying to get a performance fix and just wants a new phone. Should I try to unroot it and run it stock for her? Otherwise she may look at the moto razr M or the inc 4g. (not a phone I would have, but its not up to me)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The aosp ICS is snappy but a few things don't work. I haven't tried there sense version but heard good things.
The Gnex is a free upgrade btw
Sent from my ThunderBolt using xda app-developers app
In my opinion, sense based roms are slower & have more lag than than others. It is pretty much up to you, or your wife, to let you know what she wants. I was really looking forward to trying out the newest AOSP 4.0.4 ICS by twistedumbrella. Have you tried this yet? I haven't been able to get past the "bootloop" but it seems that some are & some aren't. I believe you'd love the rom if it works on your TB.
Keep in mind all aosp liquid/twisted builds the video recording does not work. Knowing most women camera and camcorder is a must lol.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Dark Jedi said:
Keep in mind all aosp liquid/twisted builds the video recording does not work. Knowing most women camera and camcorder is a must lol.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is some good advice for the OP. I recall running a deodexed 2.7 or something a while back that would probably work well for the OP. It is sense based but it was very stable and everything works.
1Android said:
Otherwise she may look at the moto razr M or the inc 4g. (not a phone I would have, but its not up to me)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If she's looking for something that is smoother with less lag then stock definitely won't bring her that. If you're able, I'd look into getting a newer phone. The Thunderbolt is at its end of life.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
I was just at my folks' house for the holiday weekend and realized that my dad has been using my old Sprint Evo 3D. My job took my to Shanghai last summer for ten months, so I picked up a GNex and left my Evo in a box at my parents' house when I left the country. I was surprised to see my dad using it, and I noticed it's running a very old version of cyanogenmod. I'm sure that thing is pretty buggy in terms of software compatibility by now, so I want to get him on something a little more current and stable.
He is not tech savvy at all, so simpler is better. I've been exclusively on Nexus devices for over a year now, so I'm pretty out of the loop in terms of what is happening with Sense and the rom options available for this phone. Should I just return him to stock and make sure he has all the OTA updates? Or is there another option that anyone can recommend? Ideally, whatever I put on there should require as little maintenance/upkeep as possible. Thanks for your suggestions.
ejchis said:
I was just at my folks' house for the holiday weekend and realized that my dad has been using my old Sprint Evo 3D. My job took my to Shanghai last summer for ten months, so I picked up a GNex and left my Evo in a box at my parents' house when I left the country. I was surprised to see my dad using it, and I noticed it's running a very old version of cyanogenmod. I'm sure that thing is pretty buggy in terms of software compatibility by now, so I want to get him on something a little more current and stable.
He is not tech savvy at all, so simpler is better. I've been exclusively on Nexus devices for over a year now, so I'm pretty out of the loop in terms of what is happening with Sense and the rom options available for this phone. Should I just return him to stock and make sure he has all the OTA updates? Or is there another option that anyone can recommend? Ideally, whatever I put on there should require as little maintenance/upkeep as possible. Thanks for your suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
It only depends on what your dad is going to prefer.
I think is now ok with cyanogenmod look so you can give a try to Johnylist roms where almost everything is working on last android version, but needs to be often updated
If you are looking for a stable rom with everything that works, including 3d then for me, best sense roms are actually yoda's or coolexe's ones.
I think a sense 3.6 based rom is the better choice for your dad.
naissou said:
Hi,
It only depends on what your dad is going to prefer.
I think is now ok with cyanogenmod look so you can give a try to Johnylist roms where almost everything is working on last android version, but needs to be often updated
If you are looking for a stable rom with everything that works, including 3d then for me, best sense roms are actually yoda's or coolexe's ones.
I think a sense 3.6 based rom is the better choice for your dad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback. I'll read through some of these threads and see what looks best for him. Do Johnylist roms have integrated OTA updates, or would the updates need to be downloaded and flashed in recovery?
ejchis said:
Thanks for the feedback. I'll read through some of these threads and see what looks best for him. Do Johnylist roms have integrated OTA updates, or would the updates need to be downloaded and flashed in recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as i can say ( and remember lol) they have to be flashed in recovery, but you can dirty flash.
Cool ICS
+1 for Cool ICS Rom
Sent from my HTC EVO 3D X515m using xda app-developers app
I'm running Dirty Unicorns with 4.2.2 and haven't had a single issue. That being said, if someone who isn't tech savvy is taking over my phone, I'm putting it to a stock (rooted obviously) rom. Remove any stock apps that aren't necessary and go with it. It's going to be the most stable and trustworthy. Even the best ROMs like CM and such have the occasional hiccup that could render the device useless in the hands of someone without the know how to get it going again.