[Q] Help with choosing a DNA ROM (KitKat?) - HTC Droid DNA

I'm needing help/looking for recommendations for a new DNA ROM. I usually have the worst luck in choosing ROMs so I thought to ask the community which one(s) that are available at this time that you use and would recommend.
A month or two ago I switched from a 4.2.2 rom to Blackout's "HTC One *STOCK* ROM Port | 4.19.401.8 | 4.4.2 | HTC Sense 5.5" ROM. Although I loved the new features and their work (very much at that, thank you all!).. but with the ROM itself I found the battery life to be pretty bad, especially compared to my previous 4.2.2 ROM and Blackout's also doesn't always connect well to some WiFi hotspots. My old 4.2.2 rom was really great on battery, was fast, stable and connected well to all WiFi connections.
Basically I'm yearning for a newer DNA ROM, maybe KitKat, doesn't have to be though...
My absolute must haves are below:
Very Stable - If it's not stable all the time I'd rather pass for a different ROM. It has to almost never crash with normal usage for it to be a daily for me.
Great Battery Life - A ROM with great battery life. Since the DNA as it is has bad battery life to begin with a battery efficient ROM would be a must.
Fast - I'd like it to be fast in transitions and loading software as best as possible - I'll trade in many cases newer features for speed almost any day.
No Bugs For Common Tasks - WiFi, Bluetooth, Speaker, etc - it all should work as expected and flawlessly.
Nice to haves list, but not necessary, are below:
Latest Android/KitKat - Would be nice to have KitKat, 4.4 but doesn't have to be.
Latest Sense/5.5 - I don't use Sense a whole lot but wouldn't mind the latest.
Improved Camera - again would be nice but not needed.
So basically... any recommendations for a new DNA ROM(s) would be _greatly_ appreciated. I can spend days trying out ROMs with little to show for it and would love to hear your thoughts/recommendations. Even if it's not the latest, if it's a solid, stable fast and super reliable ROM with great battery life please share I'd love to hear it.
Thanks!!

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Try ViperDNA. Current version is 3.1.0 (4.4 KK based off the Sense 5.5 from HTC One). It is as stable as it gets for KK, all KK roms have VOIP issues, so if you need that, stick to 4.2.2 which ViperDNA 2.5.2 is based off of (recent DNA OTA).
Why choose Viper for a Rom? It has a boat load of desense options. (AOSP launcher, AOSP lock screen, etc) Viper roms also have some really nice themes also.
Viper ROMs also get pretty decent battery life.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app

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I suggest you to install this rom:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2626050
It is very stable, fast and it has a great battery life. The viperdna has a lot of theme and much more but it isn't absolutely fast.

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TY for ViperDNA Rec
Uzephi said:
Try ViperDNA. Current version is 3.1.0 (4.4 KK based off the Sense 5.5 from HTC One). It is as stable as it gets for KK, all KK roms have VOIP issues, so if you need that, stick to 4.2.2 which ViperDNA 2.5.2 is based off of (recent DNA OTA).
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Click to collapse
poal98 said:
It is very stable, fast and it has a great battery life. The viperdna has a lot of theme and much more but it isn't absolutely fast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.....
Thank you so much for the recs...

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Bujjet said:
.....
Thank you so much for the recs...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

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Uzephi said:
Try ViperDNA. Current version is 3.1.0 (4.4 KK based off the Sense 5.5 from HTC One). It is as stable as it gets for KK, all KK roms have VOIP issues, so if you need that, stick to 4.2.2 which ViperDNA 2.5.2 is based off of (recent DNA OTA).
Why choose Viper for a Rom? It has a boat load of desense options. (AOSP launcher, AOSP lock screen, etc) Viper roms also have some really nice themes also.
Viper ROMs also get pretty decent battery life.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree viper rom is by far the most customizable rom when it comes to sense roms and it is very stable. I'm still running 3.0.1 but 3.1.0 is out. There have been some bugs in that version that are being worked on. So I'm waiting until it's fixed. Rom is as stable as it gets though. Highly recommend it when it comes to sense roms.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

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Jaggar345 said:
I agree viper rom is by far the most customizable rom when it comes to sense roms and it is very stable. .
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Click to collapse
Jaggar345 said:
...Highly recommend it when it comes to sense roms.
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Click to collapse
Again, thank you - definitely flashing ViperDNA ROM now then. Will report back for others interested in how this goes..

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Jaggar345 said:
I agree viper rom is by far the most customizable rom when it comes to sense roms and it is very stable. I'm still running 3.0.1 but 3.1.0 is out. There have been some bugs in that version that are being worked on. So I'm waiting until it's fixed. Rom is as stable as it gets though. Highly recommend it when it comes to sense roms.
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Click to collapse
Great, thanks for the info. Just to clarify: you're running 3.0.1 which is viperDNA_3.0.0_release_candidate.zip released Feb 15, 2014 () plus the VIPERdna_ota_3.0.0_3.0.1.zip from Feb 24, correct? It's Android 4.4 and it doesn't have the SMS bugs people are dealing with in ViperDNA 3.1.1?
I'm also looking for a stable, no-glitch ROM, preferably 4.4. I think I'll try ViperDNA 3.0.1 based on your recommendation. Thanks! =)
For others reading this thread: I had trouble finding 3.0.1, but eventually found it under "previous releases" in the thread "(3.19.14) Team Venom Presents ViperDNA v3.1.1" here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2648446 Download link is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/devdb/project/?id=2910#downloads

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redadz said:
I'm also looking for a stable, no-glitch ROM, preferably 4.4. I think I'll try ViperDNA 3.0.1 based on your recommendation. Thanks! =)
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I downloaded 3.1.0 and the OTA 3.1.1 zip update. I formatted my phone with TWRP, "adb push"ed the two zip files to my phone. Installed 3.1.0 then after that I installed the 3.1.1 OTA update.
It's really interesting you mentioned the SMS issue... I've noticed that when I send SMS messages it will repeat them on my phone (but I'm told the recipients only get one of them). If this is the SMS issue you're referring to then I can confirm with 3.1.0 w/ 3.1.1 OTA zip that I'm getting that.
The other issue I have is some Google processes will unexpectedly stop running... for example if I'm using Google Search or Google Now sometimes it'll unexpectedly quit and crash.
Thank you for linking and explaining how to get 3.0.1... I think I'll go ahead and flash that instead.

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Uzephi said:
Try ViperDNA. Current version is 3.1.0 (4.4 KK based off the Sense 5.5 from HTC One). It is as stable as it gets for KK, all KK roms have VOIP issues, so if you need that, stick to 4.2.2 which ViperDNA 2.5.2 is based off of (recent DNA OTA).
Why choose Viper for a Rom? It has a boat load of desense options. (AOSP launcher, AOSP lock screen, etc) Viper roms also have some really nice themes also.
Viper ROMs also get pretty decent battery life.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why viper? the interface is very different from sense, is there sense inside viper?

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ViperDNA 3.0.1
Bujjet said:
It's really interesting you mentioned the SMS issue... I've noticed that when I send SMS messages it will repeat them on my phone (but I'm told the recipients only get one of them). If this is the SMS issue you're referring to then I can confirm with 3.1.0 w/ 3.1.1 OTA zip that I'm getting that.
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Click to collapse
I think so; that sounds like what people were describing in the ViperDNA thread. I haven't tried 3.1.0 or later yet, because of the reports of double SMS. As of yesterday there's a ViperDNA 3.5.0. Although the release notes don't say anything about fixing the double SMS, I'm going to watch the discussion for a few days and see whether it gets brought up or not.
Bujjet said:
Thank you for linking and explaining how to get 3.0.1... I think I'll go ahead and flash that instead.
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Click to collapse
So I've now been running 3.0.1 for a day or two and I'm mostly very happy with it. The one caveat is a bug with the camera: if you turn the screen off (or the screen times out) while the camera is open, the screen won't turn back on. I saw a posting saying that a workaround is to plug into power before pressing any buttons, but I found a better workaround: switch to the AOSP lock screen (instead of the default Sense lock screen) and the camera bug goes away. I do miss the quick-launch buttons from the Sense lock screen but my phone is responsive enough with this ROM that I'm OK with that for now. To switch lock screens, go into the Viper Tweaks application, then go to Lock Screen section, and there's a toggle to switch to the AOSP lock screen; you then have to reboot the phone for the change to take effect.

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ViperDNA 3.5 isbelieve out
An update -
Viper 3.5 has been released - it supposedly fixes the multiple text message bug (one that I was receiving)... And others are reporting a bug with Bluetooth headsets - in that when music/video/media etc work really well but is jumbled when making phone calls. (*NOTE - I'm not sure on this next part...) I believe I read that the Bluetooth phone issue is rleated to 4.4.2 KitKat , and that it won't be fixed until HTC releases source for the DNA and 4.4.2.
One "big bug" I had with 3.5 was related to GSM ... there is a big issue with APNs, SIMs and ViperDNA 3.5. This is just an FYI based on my flashing experience.
I'm going to try 3.0.1 like others here and see how that goes - I am hoping all I get (if any!) is the camera issue mentinoed above.

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Bujjet said:
An update -
Viper 3.5 has been released - it supposedly fixes the multiple text message bug (one that I was receiving)... And others are reporting a bug with Bluetooth headsets - in that when music/video/media etc work really well but is jumbled when making phone calls. (*NOTE - I'm not sure on this next part...) I believe I read that the Bluetooth phone issue is rleated to 4.4.2 KitKat , and that it won't be fixed until HTC releases source for the DNA and 4.4.2.
One "big bug" I had with 3.5 was related to GSM ... there is a big issue with APNs, SIMs and ViperDNA 3.5. This is just an FYI based on my flashing experience.
I'm going to try 3.0.1 like others here and see how that goes - I am hoping all I get (if any!) is the camera issue mentinoed above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3.5.0 apparently fixes double texts (i modded and used a different mms.apk)....that is according to beta team and other users as i personally block messaging on my account and use google voice and hangouts for texting as i dont want to pay for a messaging plan
gsm was a mistake on my part and i got aggressive in trying to make it a more pure gsm build for those users....but if you select "verizon" install instead of gsm in aroma you can still manually set your apns and network mode.....just loose out on the specific gsm quicksettings and have some verizon apps installed
there should be no difference in bluetooth from 3.0.0 up to 3.5.0, its all the same files, phone calls work the same regardless of version for me....but everyones devices are different and we are talking about a rom port
the camera issue/bug with screen off was resolved as of 3.1.0 as well

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TerminatorJ said:
why viper? the interface is very different from sense, is there sense inside viper?
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Click to collapse
Yes, Viper is a sense-based ROM. That means it has all the sense libraries and applications. The default lock screen is the sense lock screen, the default launcher is the sense launcher, and the sense mail app, widgets, calendar, etc. are all there too. Other ROMs which are based on Cyanogenmod or AOSP cannot run sense applications because they lack the libraries (and maybe other stuff? kernel support?) needed to run sense.

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redadz said:
Yes, Viper is a sense-based ROM. That means it has all the sense libraries and applications. The default lock screen is the sense lock screen, the default launcher is the sense launcher, and the sense mail app, widgets, calendar, etc. are all there too. Other ROMs which are based on Cyanogenmod or AOSP cannot run sense applications because they lack the libraries (and maybe other stuff? kernel support?) needed to run sense.
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Click to collapse
sorry mate, i kinda stuck in my hboot flashing, could you help me out on this.
i already unlock and rooted my droid dna, and install clockmod recovery, but nowaday most rom are on twrp, so i used fastboot method to replace my clockmod with twrp, and then i proceed to flash my hboot, but i encounter this error,
H:\fastboot flash zip PL83IMG_3.06_hboot.zip
sending 'zip' (558 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.203s]
writing 'zip'...
FAILED (remote: 92 supercid! please flush image again immediately)
finished. total time: 0.265s
so what is wrong with my supercid?? thanks.

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TerminatorJ said:
sorry mate, i kinda stuck in my hboot flashing, could you help me out on this.
i already unlock and rooted my droid dna, and install clockmod recovery, but nowaday most rom are on twrp, so i used fastboot method to replace my clockmod with twrp, and then i proceed to flash my hboot, but i encounter this error,
H:\fastboot flash zip PL83IMG_3.06_hboot.zip
sending 'zip' (558 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.203s]
writing 'zip'...
FAILED (remote: 92 supercid! please flush image again immediately)
finished. total time: 0.265s
so what is wrong with my supercid?? thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I haven't seen that one before. But I'm a bit of a noob; maybe someone else can help? If a forum search doesn't turn up anything useful, you might get more attention by starting a new thread.

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Thank you!
nitsuj17 said:
gsm was a mistake on my part and i got aggressive in trying to make it a more pure gsm build for those users....but if you select "verizon" install instead of gsm in aroma you can still manually set your apns and network mode.....just loose out on the specific gsm quicksettings and have some verizon apps installed
there should be no difference in bluetooth from 3.0.0 up to 3.5.0, its all the same files, phone calls work the same regardless of version for me....but everyones devices are different and we are talking about a rom port
the camera issue/bug with screen off was resolved as of 3.1.0 as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for replying in this thread Nitsuj17. Glad to know all of this.. I think I will flash 3.5 now in Verizon mode. 3.0.x has been working well for me too (except I have gotten the lock screen bug a few times, once for sure with camera). Love your ROMs and your work.

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redadz said:
Sorry, I haven't seen that one before. But I'm a bit of a noob; maybe someone else can help? If a forum search doesn't turn up anything useful, you might get more attention by starting a new thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worry, and thanks for your reply. It is due to s off wasnt done. I already flash my rom. All is good now

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nitsuj17 said:
3.5.0 apparently fixes double texts (i modded and used a different mms.apk)....that is according to beta team and other users as i personally block messaging on my account and use google voice and hangouts for texting as i dont want to pay for a messaging plan
gsm was a mistake on my part and i got aggressive in trying to make it a more pure gsm build for those users....but if you select "verizon" install instead of gsm in aroma you can still manually set your apns and network mode.....just loose out on the specific gsm quicksettings and have some verizon apps installed
there should be no difference in bluetooth from 3.0.0 up to 3.5.0, its all the same files, phone calls work the same regardless of version for me....but everyones devices are different and we are talking about a rom port
the camera issue/bug with screen off was resolved as of 3.1.0 as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, thanks! Sounds like 3.5 is a winner. I'll update when I get a chance. Very much appreciate all your hard work on this ROM; I'm quite happy with it.
One thing I haven't been able to figure out yet is where to configure the launch shortcuts for the AOSP lockscreen. The ability to configure shortcuts goes away when I toggle from the sense lockscreen to AOSP, but the AOSP lockscreen has 8 slots around the circle for apps to launch, they're just mostly empty. Perhaps that's fixed in 3.5 too?

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The best way to find the best DNA KitKat Rom would be to download and be a flashaholic. That's what I have done here so far and honestly I'm stuck between santod040 and nitsuj17 Rom.! They both give me the performance I'm looking for and I never have issues with either of there roms. And when I do I see others metioning the same thing and within a day or two it's usually fixed by them. But that's my point of view. Only you can choose the Rom you like.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app