[Q] Maybe android isn't for me?

[Q] Maybe android isn't for me? - HTC EVO 3D

This will likely be a long post, so I'll start off with short summary:
After years of being excited about the android OS, I've now grown very tired of it and can't find a good solution to solve the issues.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and provide feedback and insight.
Background
I've been a web developer for ~15 years, even worked on a very popular android tablet before it was released. I currently have the title of "SDE" but I also deal with a lot of UI/UX work. I'm pretty tech savvy, love control, love to hack (eg my main machines are hackintoshes). I bought an EVO 3D shortly after it came out as it was dual core and had the most RAM. A friend is an android enthusiast and it sure seemed like android, while lacking polish, offered the flexibility and community for me to be able to have the level of polish I want.
Problems
Over the past year+ I haven't had much spare time. While other phones on other carriers are easy to root and mod, the EVO 3D on Sprint has been a PITA. My recent attempt at a custom PRL was a great example of how this "open" phone was more difficult to work with than a "locked" iPhone. There's been no easy way to root this phone and turn s-off. Yeah, I know there's two methods but both of them require more time than I have right now at any given time. And the bigger issue for me is that they're much bigger kludges than I think an "open" OS should be.
I waited for the ICS OTA update and am disappointed. While it solved some issues, it created more. And I feel like I've got both arms tied behind my back since almost any fix requires root. I hate reading that some of the fixes are in jelly bean, yet there's no easy way for me to upgrade.
Specific issues
- Llama doesn't work in ICS. I <3 Llama
- Battery usage is often horrible - yesterday I checked my email a couple times and the battery lasted all of 6 hours. I tried killing all tasks, but those who say that's useless since froyo are right. This issue keeps happening... it's like the CPU gets stuck at 100% for some reason.
- Network sucks. I don't understand why I can get 10Mb down and 2Mb up with speedtest.net, but the responsiveness of any app that uses the internet is sluggish. Even with my own tests on my own web servers, it' still sluggish. And latency is fairly low... seems like there might be a lot of packet loss for some reason.
- Camera sucks. The camera on my wife's EVO 4G works better but still sucks. All I've found here are threads confirming how much it sucks.
- App specific issues:
-- I have my sync settings set not to link contacts with LinkedIn, but it still frequently asks me anyway.
-- Contacts are duplicating: I had them all on my phone, and all synced via my gmail account. Then the other day it decides they're all different and duplicates my contacts.
- It unlocks itself. Sometimes I pull my phone out of my pocket and the phone is unlocked, even though I had a PIN set. I can use it for a minute or two, then suddenly I get greeted with a lock screen (or sometimes just half a lock screen.)
- I don't like having to set a lock screen in order to change the wifi password. Seems really odd to me. It wasn't like that in gingerbread.
I also have a hard time finding information. Seems like half of what I find doesn't apply to the EVO 3D, though may work for many other phones (even other HTC phones) and the bulk of the rest no longer works because of some other issue (or is just outdated.)
Anyway, I could go on, but I think you get the idea. If I had time, I'd see what I could to do contribute to a ROM project, but that just doesn't seem like it's in the cards right now. Am I just not a good fit for android? Is the bigger issue this phone? Would I actually be able to solve the above issues if I did go ahead and root it fully... perhaps with the wire method?
Thanks

Well I understand where you're coming from. Honestly, its personal preference. From my experience, once I went s-off and fully rooted it, it was so much better. A lot of the custom roms here are fantastic and blow stock out of the water. You can do so much more with root, and easily fix all of the problems that you have. Every. Single. One. It's all about just trying it, and if you don't like it, you can easily just try something new, that's the glory of it
Sent from my PG86100 using xda app-developers app

Thanks for the reassurance. I went ahead and tried the wire trick here http://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-3d-h...c-evo-3d-using-wire-trick-juopunutbear-s-off/
Unfortunately, when I run ControlBear it tells me "device has no root!!"
I used the HTC method to unlock it. I'll keep digging... but this is part of what frustrates me about android.

blame the phone manufacturers and the carriers, not android... none of your problems actually seem like android ones

snokarver said:
Thanks for the reassurance. I went ahead and tried the wire trick here http://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-3d-h...c-evo-3d-using-wire-trick-juopunutbear-s-off/
Unfortunately, when I run ControlBear it tells me "device has no root!!"
I used the HTC method to unlock it. I'll keep digging... but this is part of what frustrates me about android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at mpgrimm2's guide thread. That has a lot of good information.
ramjet73

snokarver said:
Thanks for the reassurance. I went ahead and tried the wire trick here http://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-3d-h...c-evo-3d-using-wire-trick-juopunutbear-s-off/
Unfortunately, when I run ControlBear it tells me "device has no root!!"
I used the HTC method to unlock it. I'll keep digging... but this is part of what frustrates me about android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After you htcdev unlock, you need to flash a stock rom with root, I would try my rom, common sense v1.5 (stock) its in the link in my siggy, I did it on that and it worked just fine. Or you can flash a stock rooted rom that Virus posted up, its somewhere in the dev forum, once that's flashed you're good to go
Sent from my PG86100 using xda app-developers app

Thanks. What's the easiest way to do a full backup of my existing ROM so I can easily restore if I want to? Seems like every method I've found requires root.

Under all the glitz, Android runs on a Linux kernel.
Linux is very secure in that only the "root" account can make changes to vital system processes.
So yes, gaining root access is vital to making changes to your android device.
IMO, it is too easy to gain root in Android. It should be harder so all these noobs won't be on here f'ing up their phones.
sudo passwd root

I use *nix all day long. Was just running commands to modify permissions, using sudo, for git. Even in OS X gaining root access is fairly easy. But what you're telling me is, the only way to backup my ROM is to wipe it first with a ROM that is rooted? (In other words, no way to backup my ROM.)

snokarver said:
Thanks. What's the easiest way to do a full backup of my existing ROM so I can easily restore if I want to? Seems like every method I've found requires root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you find the Su binaries, you can flash it via recovery via fastboot, right over the stock rom that you're running RIGHT NOW. I would google it, I don't have one off hand that I can attach for you.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda app-developers app

I found the su binaries, but haven't had any luck getting them installed. Every walkthrough I've found doesn't work. Tried to put a recovery on it, but that also won't go. One method requires root. The instructions for another said three button method but that doesn't seem to work on this phone...

You have to unlock the bootloader before trying to install recovery.
There are a bunch of guides. www.google.com
sudo passwd root

*sigh*
I have done the official HTC unlock. I know there's a ton of guides out there, and I'm usually pretty good at using google, but I have yet to find one that works. 90% of them are incomplete, outdated, assume you're already fully rooted or have a custom ROM. The majority of the time I find people posting the same problems I'm running into, without any answers. I've tried no less than four different methods (found via google) today to install recovery, but none of them have worked.

snokarver said:
*sigh*
I have done the official HTC unlock. I know there's a ton of guides out there, and I'm usually pretty good at using google, but I have yet to find one that works. 90% of them are incomplete, outdated, assume you're already fully rooted or have a custom ROM. The majority of the time I find people posting the same problems I'm running into, without any answers. I've tried no less than four different methods (found via google) today to install recovery, but none of them have worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried mpgrimm2's guide for flashing recovery and superuser? It's part of a larger thread that covers rooting, S-OFF, bootloaders and other stuff for the Evo 3D and I know he works hard at keeping it up-to-date.
I suggested that earlier in this thread, and if you can't find the answers you are looking for there I'd be surprised.
ramjet73

Thanks for the insistance on that thread. I tried CWM using that guide and it didn't work (wouldn't ever boot into CWM even though everything appeared to install ok). I tried 4ext using a 4ext guide and it didn't work. I tried 4ext using the same guide as you linked to which references CWM, and it did work.
BusyBox is saying it may not be rooted, but RootChecker says it is. At least now I think I'm far enough along to make a backup of the stock ROM. Thanks much

Launching BusyBox some more it seems to work fine. So far I've:
- Make a backup of the stock ROM
- Deleted the crapware
- Backed up my apps with TB
- Used SetCPU to lower the clockspeed when idle. Now I'm under 100ma when idle. Pre ICS I had a hard time getting under 300ma.
Thanks a bunch. Things are really looking up.

Related

[Q] To root or not to root - that is the question!

ok, here i am... in the android world, after many years of winmo - and i must say wow, i was missing a lot! i just bought a thunderbolt as a replacement for my htc touch pro2 (which was running stock, only after i broke my old one and didnt take the time to re do it again)
what i could do on my tp2 was run hotspot app PROVIDED by HTC (not sure why or how that slipped through big red's net) but it was free, no tethering/hotspot fee needed.
i like my TB (but not the bloatware) and am currently refusing all updates till i make my mind up on rooting. right now - kernel 2.6.32.21.gb05544a dated march 1, 2011 and the software number is 1.13.605.7. my guess is that since i bought it from amazonwireless, big red hasnt updated it, and it sat on the shelf at amazon for a bit. either way, the hotspot app still works for free.
my questions:
1. if i continue to refuse, can i assume that one day i will wake up updated or find my phone automatically updating without my permission?
2. if i root (before this big scary update happens) will my phone automatically go back to a stock rom, only with superuser access where i can remove bloatware manually and install a wifi hotspot app, or will i have to flash to a rom?
i am familiar with flashing windows mobile phones, flashed my past 2 devices to the newest software (had my tp2 before 6.5 was released for that phone, so flashed to 6 before big red officially released it). but it didnt need constant 'attention' once it was flashed. i used to fool around with sat boxes that did need constant attention and monitoring and waiting for charlies next emp, then scrambling to reflash. that was a pain.
3. will my rooted TB need constant attention or will i be able to tootle around without a care, only flashing when someone releases a rom that i might want to try out or some big release <gingerbread> is ready for rooted phones?
thanks for your time!
PS: I have read that people cant use netflix app on TB - i downloaded it, and it works fine for me. i am stuck in 3g land until next winter, but i would think that 4g would rock... just FYI in case anyone cares.

good questions. i'd like to see these answered too

fxb141 said:
ok, here i am... in the android world, after many years of winmo - and i must say wow, i was missing a lot! i just bought a thunderbolt as a replacement for my htc touch pro2 (which was running stock, only after i broke my old one and didnt take the time to re do it again)
what i could do on my tp2 was run hotspot app PROVIDED by HTC (not sure why or how that slipped through big red's net) but it was free, no tethering/hotspot fee needed.
i like my TB (but not the bloatware) and am currently refusing all updates till i make my mind up on rooting. right now - kernel 2.6.32.21.gb05544a dated march 1, 2011 and the software number is 1.13.605.7. my guess is that since i bought it from amazonwireless, big red hasnt updated it, and it sat on the shelf at amazon for a bit. either way, the hotspot app still works for free.
my questions:
1. if i continue to refuse, can i assume that one day i will wake up updated or find my phone automatically updating without my permission?
2. if i root (before this big scary update happens) will my phone automatically go back to a stock rom, only with superuser access where i can remove bloatware manually and install a wifi hotspot app, or will i have to flash to a rom?
i am familiar with flashing windows mobile phones, flashed my past 2 devices to the newest software (had my tp2 before 6.5 was released for that phone, so flashed to 6 before big red officially released it). but it didnt need constant 'attention' once it was flashed. i used to fool around with sat boxes that did need constant attention and monitoring and waiting for charlies next emp, then scrambling to reflash. that was a pain.
3. will my rooted TB need constant attention or will i be able to tootle around without a care, only flashing when someone releases a rom that i might want to try out or some big release <gingerbread> is ready for rooted phones?
thanks for your time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the world of Android! We hope you enjoy your stay ^__^. While I don't have a TBolt myself, I think any user opinion is good. Phone's auto updating is rare, like extremely rare, but I have seen it on some of the lesser model phones. I don't think you need to worry about it though. The free hotspot app however may be noticed and tagged as a tether as big red gets their chubby fingers around the few apps they are missing.
To root or not to root, that is the question.....or is it! The answer is up to you. If your comfortable with it than root it! All rooting will do is give you superuser ability, and the ability to flash custom roms/kernels/mods. If you want to keep the stock rom, than all you need to do is flash and nothing more. Rooting your phone doesn't auto flash some random rom. Roms are typically not built with an auto updater, so you only need to reflash a rom if you want to change roms or update to the newest version. I would say I flash at least an image a day on my Dinc. Once your rooted, regardless of the rom, I would suggest downloading some backup software (Titanium Backup or it's like for TBolt) and of course a tethering app, whether you want wired or wireless is up to you. Once you root, you lose your connection to big red's update servers and so you never have to worry about an update that returns you to stock like you do with i<anything's>.
Happy flashing!

fxb141 said:
ok, here i am... in the android world, after many years of winmo - and i must say wow, i was missing a lot! i just bought a thunderbolt as a replacement for my htc touch pro2 (which was running stock, only after i broke my old one and didnt take the time to re do it again)
what i could do on my tp2 was run hotspot app PROVIDED by HTC (not sure why or how that slipped through big red's net) but it was free, no tethering/hotspot fee needed.
i like my TB (but not the bloatware) and am currently refusing all updates till i make my mind up on rooting. right now - kernel 2.6.32.21.gb05544a dated march 1, 2011 and the software number is 1.13.605.7. my guess is that since i bought it from amazonwireless, big red hasnt updated it, and it sat on the shelf at amazon for a bit. either way, the hotspot app still works for free.
my questions:
1. if i continue to refuse, can i assume that one day i will wake up updated or find my phone automatically updating without my permission?
2. if i root (before this big scary update happens) will my phone automatically go back to a stock rom, only with superuser access where i can remove bloatware manually and install a wifi hotspot app, or will i have to flash to a rom?
i am familiar with flashing windows mobile phones, flashed my past 2 devices to the newest software (had my tp2 before 6.5 was released for that phone, so flashed to 6 before big red officially released it). but it didnt need constant 'attention' once it was flashed. i used to fool around with sat boxes that did need constant attention and monitoring and waiting for charlies next emp, then scrambling to reflash. that was a pain.
3. will my rooted TB need constant attention or will i be able to tootle around without a care, only flashing when someone releases a rom that i might want to try out or some big release <gingerbread> is ready for rooted phones?
thanks for your time!
PS: I have read that people cant use netflix app on TB - i downloaded it, and it works fine for me. i am stuck in 3g land until next winter, but i would think that 4g would rock... just FYI in case anyone cares.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tbolt just got netflix last week for stock users.
Even if you are not going to flash a custom ROM right now, I would root.
Reason being that rooting requires you to flash old firmware so your phone gets wiped. Better to do it now, then that way you can use apps like Titanium backup.

fxb141 said:
ok, here i am... in the android world, after many years of winmo - and i must say wow, i was missing a lot! i just bought a thunderbolt as a replacement for my htc touch pro2 (which was running stock, only after i broke my old one and didnt take the time to re do it again)
what i could do on my tp2 was run hotspot app PROVIDED by HTC (not sure why or how that slipped through big red's net) but it was free, no tethering/hotspot fee needed.
i like my TB (but not the bloatware) and am currently refusing all updates till i make my mind up on rooting. right now - kernel 2.6.32.21.gb05544a dated march 1, 2011 and the software number is 1.13.605.7. my guess is that since i bought it from amazonwireless, big red hasnt updated it, and it sat on the shelf at amazon for a bit. either way, the hotspot app still works for free.
my questions:
1. if i continue to refuse, can i assume that one day i will wake up updated or find my phone automatically updating without my permission?
2. if i root (before this big scary update happens) will my phone automatically go back to a stock rom, only with superuser access where i can remove bloatware manually and install a wifi hotspot app, or will i have to flash to a rom?
i am familiar with flashing windows mobile phones, flashed my past 2 devices to the newest software (had my tp2 before 6.5 was released for that phone, so flashed to 6 before big red officially released it). but it didnt need constant 'attention' once it was flashed. i used to fool around with sat boxes that did need constant attention and monitoring and waiting for charlies next emp, then scrambling to reflash. that was a pain.
3. will my rooted TB need constant attention or will i be able to tootle around without a care, only flashing when someone releases a rom that i might want to try out or some big release <gingerbread> is ready for rooted phones?
thanks for your time!
PS: I have read that people cant use netflix app on TB - i downloaded it, and it works fine for me. i am stuck in 3g land until next winter, but i would think that 4g would rock... just FYI in case anyone cares.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but there are OTA's that can't be rooted.
What rooting your phone will do is install a new stock ROM which means it will wipe your whole phone. From there you can flash up to anything you want. Don't do rooting the lazy way. Use the ADB process and do it right. If you have a problem along the way, you'll be very glad you did it that way because you'd end up getting into ADB to fix any problem anyhow. Plus, jcase and other at andirc.net are very helpful.

If you root you will end up with whatever ROM is used during the root process. If you go to the development threads and to the stickied rooting instructions it will show you what RUU is used for the rooting process.
If you havent updated your phone you might even find that the ROM you get after rooting might be a newer version of the one you are using. If you want to stick with that ROM you can and just debloat it yourself or find another debloated ROM out there.
Once rooted you can use it similar to how you used your stock phone with no extra maintenance steps needed. If you start flashing nightlies or alpha/beta ROMs then you will start needing to monitor your phone for behavioral problems more.
There are no OTA's that cant be rooted. When an OTA comes out and you are rooted you should wait on flashing it as you would loose root if you did but in just a few days the dev's will create a rooted version to flash. Those OTA's will then be started to be used as the base for new ROMs.

Root! Root! Root!
As far as requiring tinkering as has been mentioned just rooting alone won't change a whole lot for your regular experience. The fun comes in trying out new ROMs. Some of the ROMs out there are very stable and once installed shouldn't need a whole lot of tinkering either (unless you get the FLASH habit that so many seem to develop and decide to flash a new one every day *wink*).

I rooted and installed Thundersense 1.5 onto mine, it's pretty nice. While I am running into some problems with bluetooth audio, having root capability means I can actually tinker with the phone's settings to try to fix issues instead of waiting forever for Verizon/HTC to push out another update that may or may not resolve whatever issue I have.

Not rooting is like driving around in a sports car with a parachute tied to the back.

Just do it.

When you root following Jcases method in the dev section you end up with a bone stock 1.13.605.7 with root. You might still get prompted for updates if you stay on the stock build but DO NOT ACCEPT if rooted. It will just cause problems and you might lose root or worse. I havent heard of Thunderbolts updating themselves but I have heard of Evos, I belive, that did. (according to users posts) So you never know but I belive something to do with Clockwork Mod Recovery(A custom recovery for android that you install after rooting.) will cause the update to fail anyway. As I understand it right now all OTAs can be rooted BUT the Gingerbread update will apparently close all known exploits to get root when it is released. There will always be rooted versions of the stock OTAs posted in the dev section you can flash if you want the newest updates and to be rooted. Of course there are lots of custom ROMs for the Thunderbolt to try out that are fast and stable. So I say root. It takes some reading and learning if you are new to it but its will worth it.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt

rooted and reloaded software
Thanks all for your advice! I successfully rooted my TB and it only took a few minutes to reload my apps and get it into working order. netflix is jumpy now, but could be the connection - going to mess with that some. not a big loss anyway - more of a 'wow, thats cool' than useful.
appbrain and HTC Sync with outlook contacts worked great for quick 'restore'
another question though - i am trying to remove the bloat and things like vcast and vznav will not let me uninstall. what is the best way to do this? i know i am rooted - barnicle works and has superuser access.
also, any good cooked sense roms that someone can recommend? not looking for one that constantly needs attention, just some cool things like cpu under/over clocking ability, and if SOMEONE would get a ford sync app that i could use voice command to text over sync - that would rock too!

Synergy ROM is my ROM of choice. It's based on the newest GB leak for the Tbolt, and has Sense 2.1 with Sense 3.0 features, so I find it less laggy than full on Sense 3.0 ROMs, and Ziggy's kernel (included in the ROM) works great with no SetCPU needed. It's worth a try. You can find a link to the download in my sig.
Happy flashing!

that's awesome. i was think this very thing. I'm sold, I'm rooting.

orkillakilla said:
Synergy ROM is my ROM of choice. It's based on the newest GB leak for the Tbolt, and has Sense 2.1 with Sense 3.0 features, so I find it less laggy than full on Sense 3.0 ROMs, and Ziggy's kernel (included in the ROM) works great with no SetCPU needed. It's worth a try. You can find a link to the download in my sig.
Happy flashing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I would probably try this ROM - Is there anything i would need to change on my stock everything, no updates, no frills TB - like, will i have to update the radio before flashing?

I must say, i love the synergy rom! it seems fast and really rocks! I did have to update my stock base version radio MR1 to MR2.5 so i had service. flashing went great. many kudos to each and every post i read with regard to rooting, flashing, radios and roms!!! yes, i am a lurker, but thanks all around!

fxb141 said:
I must say, i love the synergy rom! it seems fast and really rocks! I did have to update my stock base version radio MR1 to MR2.5 so i had service. flashing went great. many kudos to each and every post i read with regard to rooting, flashing, radios and roms!!! yes, i am a lurker, but thanks all around!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad everything worked out and that you are enjoying Synergy. Don't be afraid to try other ROMs though. I've flashed almost every rom out there and decided to keep synergy.
Sent from my HTC GingerBolt powered by the lastest Synergy ROM

Too many horror stories for me to root just yet. However I get multiple update demands from verizon every day which is driving me crazy, and today was the first time it actually tried to update itself without permission. I just happened to open my phone at work and saw it trying to download the update on its own. There was no way to cancel it either, I had to reboot the phone immediately to make it stop. It has yet to reappear, but we'll see what happens.

Rooting isn't worth it. Most of the ROM's out now are just plain awful (some people have no taste).

What are these horror stories you speak of?? I haven't heard of one person brick their phone rooting and that's the only horror story I can think of involving rooting. It's actually a pretty easy process if you just read up on what you are doing first.
As for the claim all the ROMs suck...well everyone if entitled to their opinion but there are Froyo sense and de-sensed ROMs, Gingerbread sense and de-sensed ROMs, and AOSP ROMs. You can have sense 2.1, 3.0, or no sense. Lots of themes to choose from if you want them. I don't see how that list is any different from any other HTC phone. That is not even including the fact that a lot of them greatly improve performance and batery life.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt

Saying Hi, ROM Recommendations & Other Noob Questions

Kind of long, but genuine, trying not to get too much bashed here...
Preface/Experience: A year ago or so I experimented with the Samsung Nexus S line of phones from all the major carriers, rooted them, flashed some ROMs, etc, and all my knowledge was learned from here (thanks!), but that was a while ago. I ended up not keeping any of them due to issues at the time with them (GPS locking, single core, 3G, etc) and decided to wait for some newer technology. I recently picked up an HTC Sensation to finally replace my old Blackberry after I had some issues with it the other day. As soon as I took it out of the box, my girlfriend was all mad because the entire time she has had her Thunderbolt she has complained about the SMS application not having separate "bubbles" for the chat windows, and of course Sense 3.0 does this (yes, she has tried handcent and such but doesnt like it). She also fell in love with the Sense 3.0 lock screens I have, home screen scroll, etc. I decided this would be a good first task for me to get back into the Android game...
I spent the first day or so searching about what the hell S-On/S-Off were, how to root these, etc. I successfully have S-Off, root, etc on both our phones via the revolutionary application, clockwork recovery is installed, as well as titanium backup. I have also successfully flashed a synergyROM onto her phone with Sense 3.0 and she has been enjoying it for the most part.
Now, onto the questions...
First, as nice as this ROM is, its a little too modified for her liking. Is there a ROM that would suit her desires better? She is looking for basically stock looking, bloatware removed if possible, with Sense 3.0 messaging and lock screens at a minimum. Nothing too major really, just UI tweaks.
Second, am I correct that after flashing a ROM you need to reinstall titanium backup each time so you can restore your apps and data? Is there a Zip file I can store on the SD card to install TiBu so I dont have to sign in and get it from the market each time?
Third, am I also correct that the main purpose of clockwork recovery is to backup the ROM, and the main purpose of TiBu is for the apps and their data? Meaning, to get the stock ROM back on this phone, I use clockwork to flash the backup I made, then use TiBu to flash the backup I made with that? I know this seems simple, but I just want to be clear Im thinking about this correctly.
Fourth, does it make a difference if I boot into clockwork recovery to flash a ROM versus doing it through ROM manager?
Oh, and fifth. WTH is a radio file/ROM/whatever you want to call it and how do you know which one you have? We are having an issue with her 4G not working on this new ROM I flashed, I assume its an error on my behalf, possibly the radio file? I'm not too clear on what those are just yet (I know, I should know before I started, but oh well)... I will be searching again through the 5 mile long thread over at the site where I found the ROM about 4G connectivity, but so far I haven't seen any issues posted by other people which is why I think I might have missed a step or something.
Any insight to any of these questions is appreciated, and I thank you all in advance!

02CWRX said:
Kind of long, but genuine, trying not to get too much bashed here...
Preface/Experience: A year ago or so I experimented with the Samsung Nexus S line of phones from all the major carriers, rooted them, flashed some ROMs, etc, and all my knowledge was learned from here (thanks!), but that was a while ago. I ended up not keeping any of them due to issues at the time with them (GPS locking, single core, 3G, etc) and decided to wait for some newer technology. I recently picked up an HTC Sensation to finally replace my old Blackberry after I had some issues with it the other day. As soon as I took it out of the box, my girlfriend was all mad because the entire time she has had her Thunderbolt she has complained about the SMS application not having separate "bubbles" for the chat windows, and of course Sense 3.0 does this (yes, she has tried handcent and such but doesnt like it). She also fell in love with the Sense 3.0 lock screens I have, home screen scroll, etc. I decided this would be a good first task for me to get back into the Android game...
I spent the first day or so searching about what the hell S-On/S-Off were, how to root these, etc. I successfully have S-Off, root, etc on both our phones via the revolutionary application, clockwork recovery is installed, as well as titanium backup. I have also successfully flashed a synergyROM onto her phone with Sense 3.0 and she has been enjoying it for the most part.
Now, onto the questions...
First, as nice as this ROM is, its a little too modified for her liking. Is there a ROM that would suit her desires better? She is looking for basically stock looking, bloatware removed if possible, with Sense 3.0 messaging and lock screens at a minimum. Nothing too major really, just UI tweaks.
Second, am I correct that after flashing a ROM you need to reinstall titanium backup each time so you can restore your apps and data? Is there a Zip file I can store on the SD card to install TiBu so I dont have to sign in and get it from the market each time?
Third, am I also correct that the main purpose of clockwork recovery is to backup the ROM, and the main purpose of TiBu is for the apps and their data? Meaning, to get the stock ROM back on this phone, I use clockwork to flash the backup I made, then use TiBu to flash the backup I made with that? I know this seems simple, but I just want to be clear Im thinking about this correctly.
Fourth, does it make a difference if I boot into clockwork recovery to flash a ROM versus doing it through ROM manager?
Oh, and fifth. WTH is a radio file/ROM/whatever you want to call it and how do you know which one you have? We are having an issue with her 4G not working on this new ROM I flashed, I assume its an error on my behalf, possibly the radio file? I'm not too clear on what those are just yet (I know, I should know before I started, but oh well)... I will be searching again through the 5 mile long thread over at the site where I found the ROM about 4G connectivity, but so far I haven't seen any issues posted by other people which is why I think I might have missed a step or something.
Any insight to any of these questions is appreciated, and I thank you all in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok... Got to a real keyboard so I'll toss some answered out there and try to put some structure to the not so structured wealth of information...
One: Synergy is probably the most tweaked up ROM out there. If you're looking for something that's simply bullet-proof reliable, I highly recommend BAMF Forever. Chingy also has some good ROMs in the Gingeritis line. BAMF can be found at teambamf.com and Chingy's ROMs are at themilkmik.com.
If those prove too modified, there's a few debloated ROMs based off the latest OTA patched up to fix the problems with the OTA version.
Two: You wouldn't be looking for a .zip for Titanium Backup. You'd be looking for an .apk file. Not sure where to find that though. Not may devs pack a backup app with their ROM because tastes vary and TiBu isn't the only app that does what it does.
Three: You pretty much have the idea regarding Clockwork backups (a.k.a., nandroid backups). I will direct you to my Q&A thread linked in my sig regarding TiBu. Basically, doing a batch backup is all good, but doing a batch restore is an excellent way to render your ROM useless. Devs use different apps and versions and frameworks and the system data often doesn't work well one ROM to another.
Four: Regarding CWR and Rom Manager, pretty much every dev recommends against using Rom Manager for flashing their ROM. There seems to be issues for whatever reason and it's just proven unreliable over time. A custom recovery is the only good way to flash a ROM and perform the various utility functions a custom recovery affords. You have your choice between CWR, Amon Ra, and TeamWin.
Five: Let me break this down into the 6 basic kinds of flashable files. First, and most common is a ROM. This is the OS, kernel, and UI along with whatever apps the dev has added They are usually 250MB to 310MB .zip files.
Second would be a kernel. ROMs are packed with kernel, but custom kernels exist that may be better for your purposes.
Third, would be radios. Radios can be individual radio firmwares, or a pair of them for CDMA and LTE all in one .zip file. A pair will be roughly 24-25MB, a single radio roughly half that. I explain more about radios in my thread.
Forth would be custom recoveries. These you rarely need to flash, perhaps never, so long as the version you're using supports the ROM's that are out there, and just about every version out there for the Tbolt does.
Fifth would be bootloaders. This is something you pretty much NEVER need to flash unless you've got a pretty good reason to mess with it. Bad radio and bootloader flashes will brick your device.
Sixth would be an RUU. An RUU is a full firmware package for your device. New bootloader, stock recovery, stock kernel, stock ROM, and radios.
There are also mods and patches that you can flash as well. Those are done in the same way as ROMs and kernels. The firmware hierarchy would look something like [bootloader>radio>recovery>ROM] with the bootloader being about as basic as it gets. Once you get used to how all this fits together it will make a lot of sense.
Hope this helps. If you have further questions feel free to hit me up on gtalk, pm me here, or post in this thread or my Q&A thread. I'll get back with you ASAP.

Thanks for the reply, I added you to gtalk also. I kind of feel like a horses ass because Im not sure how I missed that Q&A link; I presume its because I was doing nothing but searching the forums and didn't see the stickies somehow - d'oh. Kind of embarrassing to read that right after doing exactly what it says not to do (ask for ROM suggestions, ask a question about the radios which is laid out as well).
I was looking at the BAMF ROMs just last night actually, looks like I will check those out. I chose the Synergy simply based off the 3 screen shots I saw with the Sense 3.0 (which was my goal). That ROM is pretty cool, but as I said, its a bit much for my (her) needs at this point. Since I got it swapped around and such, it seems Im on the right track none the less.
Ahh, apk, duh. Also the logic as to why its not included makes perfect sense, I hadnt thought of it like that since I just saw those two (clockwork and TiBu) as the "common standard" and went with them even though Im sure plenty of people use others. I just thought I read in one of the how-tos that "setting up accounts" could be skipped simply by loading a TiBu, but since you cant do that without having it and you have to setup the market account to get it, it seemed bassackwards to me I suppose. Oh well. I've made do just fine so far by loading it through the market both times I've needed to.
I assume by "custom recovery" you mean the recovery console using custom software such as CWR which has replaced the factory console. I used CWR to flash it the first time and then when I messed it up with the TiBu restore (which you also covered in your Q&A I read last night after I figured it out and fixed it), I re-flashed it via ROM manager and had no issues that way either - hence the question originally. I will stick to doing it through CWR.
The order of things makes some sense to me now and the light is starting to shine through. I still didn't see much about the radio in the ROM thread, so I'm still curious why we are only looking at 3G. I also (oddly?) didnt see a recommended radio to go with the ROM, but it was late and I was tired. I will look into this again.
Is there a good source for a nice clean stock RUU for her phone just in case we need to go back to stock to warranty it? It has a loose charging plug currently that we may want to have addressed. Alternatively, is there a better way to get it back to "out of the box stock" than flashing an RUU?
Thanks again!

02CWRX said:
Thanks for the reply, I added you to gtalk also. I kind of feel like a horses ass because Im not sure how I missed that Q&A link; I presume its because I was doing nothing but searching the forums and didn't see the stickies somehow - d'oh. Kind of embarrassing to read that right after doing exactly what it says not to do (ask for ROM suggestions, ask a question about the radios which is laid out as well).
I was looking at the BAMF ROMs just last night actually, looks like I will check those out. I chose the Synergy simply based off the 3 screen shots I saw with the Sense 3.0 (which was my goal). That ROM is pretty cool, but as I said, its a bit much for my (her) needs at this point. Since I got it swapped around and such, it seems Im on the right track none the less.
Ahh, apk, duh. Also the logic as to why its not included makes perfect sense, I hadnt thought of it like that since I just saw those two (clockwork and TiBu) as the "common standard" and went with them even though Im sure plenty of people use others. I just thought I read in one of the how-tos that "setting up accounts" could be skipped simply by loading a TiBu, but since you cant do that without having it and you have to setup the market account to get it, it seemed bassackwards to me I suppose. Oh well. I've made do just fine so far by loading it through the market both times I've needed to.
I assume by "custom recovery" you mean the recovery console using custom software such as CWR which has replaced the factory console. I used CWR to flash it the first time and then when I messed it up with the TiBu restore (which you also covered in your Q&A I read last night after I figured it out and fixed it), I re-flashed it via ROM manager and had no issues that way either - hence the question originally. I will stick to doing it through CWR.
The order of things makes some sense to me now and the light is starting to shine through. I still didn't see much about the radio in the ROM thread, so I'm still curious why we are only looking at 3G. I also (oddly?) didnt see a recommended radio to go with the ROM, but it was late and I was tired. I will look into this again.
Is there a good source for a nice clean stock RUU for her phone just in case we need to go back to stock to warranty it? It has a loose charging plug currently that we may want to have addressed. Alternatively, is there a better way to get it back to "out of the box stock" than flashing an RUU?
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the RUU for 2.11.605.3 is floating around here somewhere. If it's not here, it's on Rootzwiki. The problem with flashing an RUU to return to stock is that if you rooted via Revolutionary it's not going to work. The bootloader Revolutionary is patched to prevent overwriting. You'll need to find a guide for unrooting after a Revolutionary root, but I think I have one in my thread. If you rooted via ADB, then flashing an RUU should do the trick.
Not really sure why LTE isn't working. LTE and CDMA data are handled on the same chip with the same radio so if one doesn't work, the other shouldn't work either. My best suggestion is try a different radio. I'd suggest the 2.10 radio or one of the 2.11 radios. People have generally been having pretty good luck with those. You might try going into the radio settings and forcing it to use LTE Only. If it can't find an LTE signal it'll revert back to 1x. For reference, any radio from an RUU 1.70 or later will work just fine with all the Gingerbread ROMs currently out there.
Hit me up if you've got any more questions.

Turns out it was in fact user error. There is a toggle built into the ROM to exclude LTE service if you wish *facepalm*
I had looked in a radio menu before after the first flash knowing of such toggles, but it was already selected correctly. It got reflashed after the TiBu mishap, still no 4G, and we called it a night. Today I found where someone mentioned a toggle and where it was, so I texted her to look following those directions. Sure enough she found it and she was able to change it to have 4G. I'm curious which menu I looked in initially and which menu she found the toggle in now. In any case, it seems its all working and that's what matters.

02CWRX said:
Turns out it was in fact user error. There is a toggle built into the ROM to exclude LTE service if you wish *facepalm*
I had looked in a radio menu before after the first flash knowing of such toggles, but it was already selected correctly. It got reflashed after the TiBu mishap, still no 4G, and we called it a night. Today I found where someone mentioned a toggle and where it was, so I texted her to look following those directions. Sure enough she found it and she was able to change it to have 4G. I'm curious which menu I looked in initially and which menu she found the toggle in now. In any case, it seems its all working and that's what matters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's two of them, I know. Don't know why we need two that basically do the same thing, but we do! Glad you got it working. I use an app called LTE On/Off for flipping back and forth. Sometimes you need that because it'll stick on 3G when you know you're in an LTE area and it helps to kinda force it.

[Q] After root questions

Dear community,
I've rooted my TFP using the guide from xda. To be honest, I didn't mean to, I read the guide and got carried away with it . Finally the root is good now. As a windows guy and with slight understanding of linux I'm pretty new to android.
My question is, now that my tablet is rooted, how can I take advantage of it? What are the recommended apps? Any known tweaks?
Please enlighten me

Search 'root' on android market.
Titanium Backup is useful, Ghost Commander or EZ file, there are also apps to remote control your tablet, you can use new launchers - trebuchet launcher or nova launcher on rooted devices.
You can also delete system files, so be careful.

The biggest bonus to rooting is being able to flash different roms like many of us do with our android smartphones. Flashing roms is currently not an option on the Prime but should or could be available in the future. Right now I don't think there's a whole lot to do with a rooted Prime.

While I haven't rooted my Prime yet, I'm only in day 6 and waiting until the "send it back" period elapses I rooted my moto Atrix2 almost immediately. I installed Titanium Backup as well as System Tuner, and a couple other root only apps. The primary reason for rooting the Atrix2 was to freeze Carrier ID as I don't care for ATT snooping on me with without so much as a by your leave. In any case I'll probably root the Prime just to get more control over what the device is doing when it's in standby. For instance I am hoping to be able to use Tasker to shut off the wifi after 5 or 10 minutes in standby in order to save battery power and turn it back on,when I wake up the tablet. Maybe find a way to create different, more detailed power profiles for different activities. I've done a lot of this on the Atrix2 and seen some significant increases in battery life because of it.
Q

coogrrr94 said:
The biggest bonus to rooting is being able to flash different roms like many of us do with our android smartphones. Flashing roms is currently not an option on the Prime but should or could be available in the future. Right now I don't think there's a whole lot to do with a rooted Prime.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incorrect, Rooting has nothing to do with flashing ROMs. Unlocking the bootloader on the other hand, has everything to do with flashing ROMs.

Swiftks said:
Incorrect, Rooting has nothing to do with flashing ROMs. Unlocking the bootloader on the other hand, has everything to do with flashing ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
right. i don't think that any ROM can improve the already very good existing one from ASUS.

I haven't rooted my TFP, but I'm seriously considering doing so. The main reason is that most of (good) adbockers require root access. Loading all this rubbish adds, many of them being large flash animations, slows down browsing experience significantly. I want to get rid of them and the only way I know is by rooting Android.

For me about the biggest thing is "AdAway" or any other app for updating host file.
Never see one single ad on your device again. Less anoyance, faster loading times in browser, less data consumption ...

Neter67 said:
right. i don't think that any ROM can improve the already very good existing one from ASUS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've never used CM7 then... soon to be CM9.
Sent from my CM7 Atrix 4G

Root, custom roms. Questions from an Android noob.

I feels good to be on a phone platform that isn't stagnant. After owning an LG S-Class phone and a Bada phone, having Android feels like Christmas has come early. However I am left majorly confused as to my options on various things.
I have tried to read and understand the benefits of rooting my phone. I've only found one negative in that Google Play movies won't work. Other than that it seems like a great thing to do. However after reading and trying to understand everything, I was left more confused than ever before. So far I've found 4 different methods to root a phone. Which method does one go for? Then there's the super user access, busybox, yellow triangle, again it's confusing.
I would like to root my phone to achieve the following:
- Be able to shutoff various services and things to get better battery life.
- Get access to all of the cool rooted apps out there, like the ones from Chainfire etc.
- Play some of the Tegra games.
- And I'm sure other things I havn't yet discovered or am aware of.
I would like to also know what are the options for being able to install copied paid apps etc. On the iPhone it was easy once you jailbroke a phone, but on Android I'm again confused on this part. I know there is an option to be able to install apps from an untrusted source, but it seems there has to be more to this than that.
Then the thing that confuses me the most is the huge amount of custom roms. Then you have kernels thrown in as well. I've gone into information overload trying to get up to speed with everything and this part seems too large a scope to get my head around it so quickly. I don't have any problem with my stock ICS really, but then I don't know what I'm missing on the custom side of things.
I'm sure I sound like a complete noob. That's ok, I am when it comes to Android. For my previous phones I was flashing custom roms, and doing all kinds of things. Maybe it's not all as confusing as I think, but right now I'm having a hard time getting a good picture on things when it comes to my new Galaxy S2 phone.
I would greatly appreciate someone being able to help me with some of these questions rather than telling me to gtfo or use the search function. I've tried, but now after overloading on stuff, I've taken a step back. I've been trying to find a website, page or post that might answer my questions in a way that I can get my head around it all. In the end I choose an Android phone because of the customizations, and for the community that is doing great things. I'd like to join the party :good:

Superuser access, busybox, and yellow triangle are not root methods. Superuser is what you get when you root the phone, and it allows root apps to get superuser access to do certain root things, if you grant the app those permissions. Busybox is some sort of utility (I don't know much about it, actually. Shrugs) that you can only get on Android once its rooted. Required for titanium backup and some other root programs. I think it was originally on linux. The yellow triangle is a Samsung only thing, basically it counts how many times you have flashed custom firmware and kernels onto your phone. The app triangle away resets the counter so you can claim a warranty if the phone breaks without the triangle giving you away. You can choose your root method, some are one click and others are the traditional method.
Installing the .apk of a paid app? That's a no-no. To answer your question, you can install a non market app without root and there isn't really another side of that. (Maybe you're talking about license verification?)
Custom ROMs are firmware (you know that, since you said you've done it before. The advantages are usually a later version of Android that your manufacturer stopped on, a stock non skinned Android experience (your S2 has touchwiz), and tweaks/other features to make it faster/cooler. For example, ParanoidAndroid allows you to switch between tablet and phone modes easily, and the entire cyanogenmod series has a built in theme engine as well as many options in the CM settings.
Custom kernels (or just kernels) manage the CPU and GPU. Different kernels allow overclock/underclock better battery saver and performance settings, and simply CPU management.
Sent from my LG-C800 using xda premium

gagdude said:
Superuser access, busybox, and yellow triangle are not root methods. Superuser is what you get when you root the phone, and it allows root apps to get superuser access to do certain root things, if you grant the app those permissions. Busybox is some sort of utility (I don't know much about it, actually. Shrugs) that you can only get on Android once its rooted. Required for titanium backup and some other root programs. I think it was originally on linux. The yellow triangle is a Samsung only thing, basically it counts how many times you have flashed custom firmware and kernels onto your phone. The app triangle away resets the counter so you can claim a warranty if the phone breaks without the triangle giving you away. You can choose your root method, some are one click and others are the traditional method.
Installing the .apk of a paid app? That's a no-no. To answer your question, you can install a non market app without root and there isn't really another side of that. (Maybe you're talking about license verification?)
Custom ROMs are firmware (you know that, since you said you've done it before. The advantages are usually a later version of Android that your manufacturer stopped on, a stock non skinned Android experience (your S2 has touchwiz), and tweaks/other features to make it faster/cooler. For example, ParanoidAndroid allows you to switch between tablet and phone modes easily, and the entire cyanogenmod series has a built in theme engine as well as many options in the CM settings.
Custom kernels (or just kernels) manage the CPU and GPU. Different kernels allow overclock/underclock better battery saver and performance settings, and simply CPU management.
Sent from my LG-C800 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply gagdude.
The custom roms thing is indeed confusing lol. You have files for modems, kernels, and it goes on. How does one even know if they need a new modem file I wonder. I imagine people probably flash their phones on a daily basis. What to speak of choosing a new kernel.
At any rate, being that this is my first android phone, and my second Samsung one, I'm quite happy with the Touchwiz interface as it's familiar.
I understand more now what a kernel does, unless I'm mixing in some things I've seen that look like a completely different UI. I might look at that at some point, but for now my stock ICS 4.0.3 on the S2 seems quite ok. So really it's now just choosing a method of rooting it.
As for installing the .apk of a paid app, yes that was what I was referring to. It was possible on jailbroken iphones installing .ipas, but I don't know if it is on Android. When you say a no-no, are you referring to it can't be done, or that it can, but it's a topic that cannot be discussed here?

KrazyKong said:
Thanks for the reply gagdude.
The custom roms thing is indeed confusing lol. You have files for modems, kernels, and it goes on. How does one even know if they need a new modem file I wonder. I imagine people probably flash their phones on a daily basis. What to speak of choosing a new kernel.
At any rate, being that this is my first android phone, and my second Samsung one, I'm quite happy with the Touchwiz interface as it's familiar.
I understand more now what a kernel does, unless I'm mixing in some things I've seen that look like a completely different UI. I might look at that at some point, but for now my stock ICS 4.0.3 on the S2 seems quite ok. So really it's now just choosing a method of rooting it.
As for installing the .apk of a paid app, yes that was what I was referring to. It was possible on jailbroken iphones installing .ipas, but I don't know if it is on Android. When you say a no-no, are you referring to it can't be done, or that it can, but it's a topic that cannot be discussed here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No prob.
Some people do flash quite often, yes, but I don't believe they completely change everything. Usually they flash a different ROM because hey - ROMs are the fun part. Each one is unique and its fun to play around.
Touchwiz is a pretty nice interface IMO but its personal opinion, some people hate it. Either way, your choice on that. I do believe some skins are big resource and RAM hogs, especially Sense (despite it looking very nice) and the old Motoblur. That's when flashing a vanilla Android ROM really helps.
The S2 should be getting a JB upgrade in the next few months, so if you plan on staying stock and taking the OTA, make sure to only freeze bloatware (not uninstall) and do NOT install a custom recovery. Rooting these days are pretty easy, its just that some old timers dislike one click root methods because you don't know what you're getting into and you don't fully understand what you're doing to your phone. Little secret: I've only rooted with one click root methods
Yes just like a jailbroken iPhone you can install the .apk however it is available without root.
When I say no - no I mean we can't discuss it on xda. It's against the rules
Sent from my DROID2 using xda premium

gagdude said:
No prob.
Some people do flash quite often, yes, but I don't believe they completely change everything. Usually they flash a different ROM because hey - ROMs are the fun part. Each one is unique and its fun to play around.
Touchwiz is a pretty nice interface IMO but its personal opinion, some people hate it. Either way, your choice on that. I do believe some skins are big resource and RAM hogs, especially Sense (despite it looking very nice) and the old Motoblur. That's when flashing a vanilla Android ROM really helps.
The S2 should be getting a JB upgrade in the next few months, so if you plan on staying stock and taking the OTA, make sure to only freeze bloatware (not uninstall) and do NOT install a custom recovery. Rooting these days are pretty easy, its just that some old timers dislike one click root methods because you don't know what you're getting into and you don't fully understand what you're doing to your phone. Little secret: I've only rooted with one click root methods
Yes just like a jailbroken iPhone you can install the .apk however it is available without root.
When I say no - no I mean we can't discuss it on xda. It's against the rules
Sent from my DROID2 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I was aware the S2 would be, or should be getting JB in the next few months. I'm more than happy to wait for that. I have found one program that enables you to one click root the phone, but it's a bit misleading as you have to first flash a file using ODIN, thus it's not one click on that sense. What is the program you use for rooting may I ask?
Maybe I got lucky but my phone is unbranded and only contains 2 apps. Both can be uninstalled. As for freezing the bloatware, I'll have to read up more on what services and things I can freeze safely.

SuperOneClick is by far the most popular one click root solutions. It doesn't support all devices, however. If it doesn't work on your S2, that method you found (flash a file via ODIN first and I'm assuming the next step is a one click root?) seems pretty simple. As long as you don't mind doing a few extra steps, there are many methods for the SGS2 because of its popularity. Make sure the instructions to root are for your specific model, becaused there are many variants of it.
The reason why I said not to uninstall bloatware and only freeze is because when you update, you have to have all the apps the phone came with (if its uninstallable stock, then it should be fine), unroot, then update for it to work correctly. Having a custom recovery like Clockworkmod also causes problems when updating. You'll have to stick with the stock recovery.
Sent from my LG-C800 using xda premium

[Q] First time rooting. Rid me of my apprehension!

Hey guys,
So as the title suggests, this will be my first time rooting any phone. I attempted to root my HTC Inspire 4G, nearly bricked it, and kinda gave up on the whole thing.
Now, with my HTC One loaded with unecessary AT&T apps and other stupid bloatware, I find myself in the same position. I know there are many guides for rooting the One, but are there any that are particularly newbie-friendly? Also, I understand that after rooting, OTA updates are impossible. My question is...is 4.2.2 available currently? What about 4.3? And most importantly, how easy/difficult is it to install an update?
Thanks guys. This whole thing has me moderately excited, and equally freaked out (really really like this phone and DON'T want to brick it).

doubleojerbo said:
Hey guys,
So as the title suggests, this will be my first time rooting any phone. I attempted to root my HTC Inspire 4G, nearly bricked it, and kinda gave up on the whole thing.
Now, with my HTC One loaded with unecessary AT&T apps and other stupid bloatware, I find myself in the same position. I know there are many guides for rooting the One, but are there any that are particularly newbie-friendly? Also, I understand that after rooting, OTA updates are impossible. My question is...is 4.2.2 available currently? What about 4.3? And most importantly, how easy/difficult is it to install an update?
Thanks guys. This whole thing has me moderately excited, and equally freaked out (really really like this phone and DON'T want to brick it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have never rooted, an HTC device is probably a little intimidating compared to other manufacturers.
Now, if you just get a guide and follow it to a t, you'll be fine.
You can always get thr phone back to a stock state if you want an ota update, buy if you are running a custom rom, that dev will typically update that particular rom with the ota update.
Hope that helps
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

if i can help....
i am new to android (iphone convert)...HTC ONE is my first droid device.
i had an iphone 5, Jailbroke it, was lovin life but needed a bigger screen.
HTC One, AT&T, 4.1.2 android
anyhow, i myself was in the same boat as you last week.
my main gripe with the stock HTC one is the fact that you cannot "wake up" the phone any other way
except for the power button. so annoying- it was driving me crazy.
also i have unlimited ATT data plan, and so my wifi tether was dead, and wanted to mod for that as well.
anyhow, i was on the fence regarding rooting my phone, but then i
finally ran into the BULLETPROOF kernel thread here at XDA, and i had to have it.
as i began to research my quest to brick my phone, i ran into this guy on youtube: qbking77
he has some great videos on youtube that will give you the exact instructions and directions on
what you will need to do to root your HTC phone.
His English is easy to understand, he has a support webpage/blog with links to everything you need, very very good and easy tutorial, probably what convinced me to do it.
so here are the steps that he gives:
#1. UNLOCK BOOTLOADER HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU7vi388dMk&feature=youtu.be
#2. ROOT INSTRUCTIONS HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRkAHw_GmIs
BAM!...you are done rooting.
He uses TWRP (custom recovery), and TWRP has been an easy interface for me, no gripes.
so, anyhow, after you have gone through those steps, if I can suggest a couple other things I ran into.
one of the main reasons I was wanting to root my phone, was to install the bulletproof kernel.
this kernel allows for you to “swipe to unlock” your HTC phone.
it’s super cool, and that was the first thing I wanted to install.
I went ahead and installed it, happy as can be…
everything seemed cool, but after a day or so, went to open my camera,
and what do you know, black camera death screen, NO CAMERA!
I was like WTH, ???
jumped back in the forums (guess I should have researched a little further)
and I am not sure why, or what the deal is, but there is a glitch with the kernel and 4.1.2 android version. some people were fine but there are a lot like me and had the camera error.
so long story longer,
I ended up trying to re-install every single bulletproof rom version that was available,
still no luck.
finally i PM'd another user on these forums, he said he installed the ANDROID REVOLUTION HD (4.2.2 ROM)
i went ahead and installed, then I installed the bulletproof kernel m7-3.4 (for 4.2.2)
and what do you know, 100% just fine, absolutely sweet.
only other thing I’ve done was install the ULTIMATE RIT_ARHD_12.1 (HD icon them package)
and man, my phone has a whole new life, and I am absolutely loving it.
anyhow, hope that helps,
those qbking77 vids are the best thing to use in my opinion,
(oh and qbking77 has a vid to install "free wifi hotspot for the HTC ONE"....took all but 5 minutes and that was the icing on the cake!)
good luck!
AJ

Welcome
I am not big into posting on XDA because I typically found my answers either here or on YouTube. As 9aj9 stated, look up qbking77 on youtube and follow his videos. They are very straight forward. On top of what 9aj9 stated, I also S-OFF and SuperCID. The following videos explain what S-OFF and SuperCID mean and how you get them.
S-OFF - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4BWxtjaamM
SuperCID - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvcYRNMq3YQ
I am personally running Stock Rooted Google Edition (link below), but I have flashed several things. It is all personal preference once you get rooted. Wish you the best of luck!
Stock Rooted GE- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2360608

id like to throw my post in here if I could. I bought a factory unlocked One from htc.com and thought I was going to get updates from htc. They recently told me I still had to wait for updates from my carrier (att). with this bit of news Ive decided I want to put a stock google 4.2 on my one. Are these instructions posted above good for me to use? sense is something I can do without, has someone made a rom with 4.2 with sense as well?

downhillrider said:
id like to throw my post in here if I could. I bought a factory unlocked One from htc.com and thought I was going to get updates from htc. They recently told me I still had to wait for updates from my carrier (att). with this bit of news Ive decided I want to put a stock google 4.2 on my one. Are these instructions posted above good for me to use? sense is something I can do without, has someone made a rom with 4.2 with sense as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the ViperOne rom, it's 4.2.2 and Sense 5....

Best advice is take a step back and give it a few days. You will absorb everything there is in time. And if you **** up it Can be fixed ^_^
Sent From My AT&T Salaxy S4 via XTC Private App

9aj9 posted the very videos I used to unlock my bootloader and root mine, thats exactly what I would have posted,,
And if you want a good rom to run that 4.2.2 use this one with Sense 5 as well
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2183023
its close to stock with little tweaks here and there and its ALL I have been using. The Dev Mike1986 updates it rather often!
Plus if you are alittle worried at the moment, I would recommend keeping it simple and not worrying about SuperCID and S-off...while I to am both of these things, it isnt really necessary

You don't need to be rooted to wake your device with something beside the power button.
I use 'Power On Volume' and my volume button wakes my device. I use a different app that allows me to lock my HTC One with a touchscreen button.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

Awesome!
I picked up the HTC One a few days ago from AT&T (coming from iOS). Like 9aj9, some things were finicky like not being able to wake the phone other than the power button, I can see the gripes with the volume button placement and are easily triggered. I got a slim case to give me space away from the volume rocker.
Anyway, I was going to flash to the Home2Wake kernel, but the bulletproof kernel sound even better! However, seems it's most stable if Android Revolution HD ROM in installed (is that the right word?).
So, I have one question before I proceed - can I revert the HTC One to stock 4.1.2 after flashing to Revolution ROM? I'm asking because I am still within the return window and would like the option of getting it back to stock if I wanted to return it.

Im pretty certain u can revert, when u go through qbking77's vids, i believe he has a vid in reverting back to stock.
But one main thing is u have to run a full backup once u have TWRP installed....
aj
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

I was wondering about firmware. I just got my ATT One and I saw a lot of users are flashing the newest firmware.
Is this necessary and if so, what order do we do it in? Flash the firmware after Root?

bustedukulele said:
I was wondering about firmware. I just got my ATT One and I saw a lot of users are flashing the newest firmware.
Is this necessary and if so, what order do we do it in? Flash the firmware after Root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not needed. The firmware that comes with the phone works on 4.2 roms also (the old If it isnt broken dont fix it comes to mind here ). Some of us just like to have the latest greatest everything so I did the firmware update as well, but like I said, its not necessary.
Also, when installing a 4.2 rom keep in mind that the file system will be different as 4.2 has support for multiple users.

Maybe I caught you before you went ahead and rooted, but it was honestly a piece of cake. I pretty much followed what 9aj9 wrote (thread 3). If you follow qbking77's videos, you can't go wrong. I used a W7 machine, even thought I usually use a Mac, but qbking77 used a W7, so I was able to do each step exactly. I did download the most recent SuperSU (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1538053) instead of the older version form the site.
Anyway take your time, make sure you have a few hours. Also, realize you will lose everything when you unlock the boot loader. I backed up most things with Helium, but you have to re-install all the apps, Helium just backs up the data.

Better Mobile App

welcome