[Q] How to select correct ROM - HTC Amaze 4G

hi everyone !
I'm a noob here, at XDA
I'm in a trouble, please help me to get out of this =(
but before posting my real problem (may be I will resolve it my self after getting the answer), I want to know:
how can I select the correct ROM for my HTC Amaze 4G ?
actually my phone has no firmware right now, I wipe / format all, accidentally without any backup.
now I have no idea about ROM. There are many:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/HTC_Amaze_4G/ROMs

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[email protected] said:
hi everyone !
I'm a noob here, at XDA
I'm in a trouble, please help me to get out of this =(
but before posting my real problem (may be I will resolve it my self after getting the answer), I want to know:
how can I select the correct ROM for my HTC Amaze 4G ?
actually my phone has no firmware right now, I wipe / format all, accidentally without any backup.
now I have no idea about ROM. There are many:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/HTC_Amaze_4G/ROMs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Wiki article is a good place to start, however, it isn't up to date. Select any of the stock ICS based ROMs if you want full functionality as these are the only ROMs where everything works correctly. There are many ICS ROMs both themed and stock Sense available. If you can live without WiFi tethering and some Bluetooth functionality there are several JB based AOSP based ROMs that are otherwise stable and work well. So far all of the KitKat builds have camera exposure issues in addition to the same problems as the JB ROMs. They are more in flux and under heavy development.
It's against the rules of the board to recommend a specific ROM, so you'll have to try for yourself to see what fits your needs and tastes.
However before proceeding you should look over the various threads that are pinned to the top of the different forums. There you will find tons of useful information that will save you trouble later. Remember that if you're coming from any ROM before ICS that you need to first flash a stock ICS factory image so you can install the proper radio baseband otherwise it won't work. None of the after-market ROMs have radios in them. Once an ICS ROM has been flashed you can install other ROMs since all of the later ones use ICS radio basebands.
Edit: One more thing that will help guide you in making your decision. Look at the Dev threads for the ROMs that you're interested in. Usually somewhere in the first or second post the author of the ROM will list the known bugs and issues associated with their ROM, and in the case of ROMs undergoing heavy development they will also list what they know is working well.
Good luck and welcome to the board

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Odysseus1962 said:
The Wiki article is a good place to start, however, it isn't up to date. Select any of the stock ICS based ROMs if you want full functionality as these are the only ROMs where everything works correctly. There are many ICS ROMs both themed and stock Sense available. If you can live without WiFi tethering and some Bluetooth functionality there are several JB based AOSP based ROMs that are otherwise stable and work well. So far all of the KitKat builds have camera exposure issues in addition to the same problems as the JB ROMs. They are more in flux and under heavy development.
It's against the rules of the board to recommend a specific ROM, so you'll have to try for yourself to see what fits your needs and tastes.
However before proceeding you should look over the various threads that are pinned to the top of the different forums. There you will find tons of useful information that will save you trouble later. Remember that if you're coming from any ROM before ICS that you need to first flash a stock ICS factory image so you can install the proper radio baseband otherwise it won't work. None of the after-market ROMs have radios in them. Once an ICS ROM has been flashed you can install other ROMs since all of the later ones use ICS radio basebands.
Good luck and welcome to the board.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank You very much
here is the abstract of what I understand:
I can select any of the stock ICS based ROMs
I'm coming from a ROM before ICS (it was GB) so I need to first flash a stock ICS factory image
Then I will be able to install the proper radio baseband
Once ICS ROM has been flashed I can install other ROMs
Now the new questions are popping up (respectively)
there are many vendors before selecting an ICS stock ROM (Mobilicity, Telus, T-Mobile etc.)
is it safe to select any of them ? (without knowing your phone's vendor)
what is 'stock ICS factory image' ? Can you please mention a link to download it or a guide to flash
what is 'proper' radio baseband ? (mine was 1.13.550L.13DC_30.69b.550L.101D)
How can I change / update to a proper baseband ? Can you please mention a link here too, (if necessary)
Thank You in Advance

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[email protected] said:
Thank You very much
here is the abstract of what I understand:
I can select any of the stock ICS based ROMs
I'm coming from a ROM before ICS (it was GB) so I need to first flash a stock ICS factory image
Then I will be able to install the proper radio baseband
Once ICS ROM has been flashed I can install other ROMs
Now the new questions are popping up (respectively)
there are many vendors before selecting an ICS stock ROM (Mobilicity, Telus, T-Mobile etc.)
is it safe to select any of them ? (without knowing your phone's vendor)
what is 'stock ICS factory image' ? Can you please mention a link to download it or a guide to flash
what is 'proper' radio baseband ? (mine was 1.13.550L.13DC_30.69b.550L.101D)
How can I change / update to a proper baseband ? Can you please mention a link here too, (if necessary)
Thank You in Advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you're coming from Gingerbread I assume you have an Asian or unbranded Amaze. You need to follow the directions for those models. It requires you to attain s-off prior to flashing an ICS ROM. There are posts explaining the hack you need to do to get s-off. Once s-off you next need to superCID. Once both s-off and superCID have been attained you can flash an ICS ROM. You need to go through this procedure because the stock ROMs have carrier identification codes (CID) which prevent ROMs from one carrier running on another carrier's device. These hacks get around it.
At this point most folks flash the T-Mobile ICS ROM since it's fairly recent and the basis for most of the ICS modified ROMs. Once you've got an ICS radio installed you can then flash any ROM you'd like.
Again read through the pinned threads and familiarize yourself with the procedure. Failure to follow the directions correctly can result in a bricked phone. Then your next post will be in the Amaze unbricking project thread asking for desperate help.
I'm s-on. I didn't need s-off since I'm a T-Mobile customer and already had ICS before I started flashing ROMs. So I'm not going to be much help with the s-off procedure. Like I said, read through the appropriate threads and familiarize yourself on the procedure so you can move forward. For now, until you get s-off it's best to flash back to whatever stock ROM you had because there isn't much you can do until you get s-off and I'm sure you still want to have use of your handset.
I hope this helps.
Good luck

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I followed this method, yesterday and got my phone back (as it was before)
aj_2423 said:
If you have already made the mistake of unlocking and trying to flash an ICS rom while still on GB, you can do the following to get back to GB and have a working device.
ATTENTION - Before continuing past this point, You must first have 4ext installed as your recovery if the device is S-Off.(you can use hasoons AIO toolkit to do this.) Once you have 4ext flashed, boot into recovery and in the settings Enable Smartflash
1) Download this ruby_unsigned_021812_031444.zip GB rom
2) Next, Place the the downloaded file on your sd card.
3) Now Boot into 4ext recovery (battery pull, then start phone while holding down the power+VolumeDown buttons simultaneously).
4) Once in recovery, go to the Wipe/Format section and select "Format all partitions except SDcard"
5) Finally, after formating completes, verify that you have SmartFlash enabled & then flash the Rom you just downloaded from above..
Once this is complete, you should once again have a working device.
Please use this thread for any related questions/comments you may have so we can try and keep the forums a little more organized and clean. THANK YOU
*********************&*******************
Hopefully this will help reduce the duplicate threads
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

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[email protected] said:
I followed this method, yesterday and got my phone back (as it was before)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like @Odysseus1962 has things under control here, but I'll still add my two cents, if he doesn't mind
I read through this post and I must say, I'm glad that you got your phone working again, even though it's only GB still.
Having said that I could safely assume that you have rooted your phone and installed 4ext recovery, and I'm hoping that you've performed S-OFF and SuperCID your device.
If you have done that, then I highly recommend you to the T-Mobile stock RUU before you even attempt any custom roms. Personally, I enjoyed the T-Mobile stock experience (well, I debloated it myself using Titanium Backup, removing a lot of the useless T-Mobile stuff ie; T-mobile voicemail, assist, 411 etc)
I actually used that rom for a while. Battery life was nice, the rom itself was really well done, as expected.
But this is all up to you, many of the custom roms here have so much more features than the T-Mobile, with a much smoother experience too.
But like Odysseus said, there are some flaws with the roms. Some have WiFi tether issues, bluetooth, in call volume and codec issues.
It's really a personal decision where you can settle after experiencing the roms first hand. Everybody uses their device differently, so you'll have to test the roms to find which one suits your needs and standards.

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Darin_Ram said:
Looks like @Odysseus1962 has things under control here, but I'll still add my two cents, if he doesn't mind
I read through this post and I must say, I'm glad that you got your phone working again, even though it's only GB still.
Having said that I could safely assume that you have rooted your phone and installed 4ext recovery, and I'm hoping that you've performed S-OFF and SuperCID your device.
If you have done that, then I highly recommend you to the T-Mobile stock RUU before you even attempt any custom roms. Personally, I enjoyed the T-Mobile stock experience (well, I debloated it myself using Titanium Backup, removing a lot of the useless T-Mobile stuff ie; T-mobile voicemail, assist, 411 etc)
I actually used that rom for a while. Battery life was nice, the rom itself was really well done, as expected.
But this is all up to you, many of the custom roms here have so much more features than the T-Mobile, with a much smoother experience too.
But like Odysseus said, there are some flaws with the roms. Some have WiFi tether issues, bluetooth, in call volume and codec issues.
It's really a personal decision where you can settle after experiencing the roms first hand. Everybody uses their device differently, so you'll have to test the roms to find which one suits your needs and standards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank You @Odysseus1962 and @Darin_Ram
1. I followed @aj_2423
Thread : [GUIDE][GBtoICS]FOR INTERNATIONAL/ASIAN VERSION/UNBRANDED Amaze Owners-Read1st
2. 2nd Post of this Thread helped me to get back my phone in working state.
3. but as you know, this was not my aim. I had done this just to make sure that my phone is alive
4. to upgrade from GB to ICS, I carefully read and followed the 1st Post of same thread and last night I was successful to do so
Now I have perfectly working HTC Amaze 4G with ICS :victory:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Just to share my experience :
i - the 'Wire Trick' was the most annoying thing, I tried several times to do it accurate.
ii - Step 3 of this process was to 'Unlock bootloader', I had done that. But after S-OFF, during the next steps, I noticed that bootloader is LOCKED again. I don't know if it's normal. Anyhow it didn't cause any problem for me.
Happy Ending :highfive:

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[email protected] said:
Thank You @Odysseus1962 and @Darin_Ram
1. I followed @aj_2423
Thread : [GUIDE][GBtoICS]FOR INTERNATIONAL/ASIAN VERSION/UNBRANDED Amaze Owners-Read1st
2. 2nd Post of this Thread helped me to get back my phone in working state.
3. but as you know, this was not my aim. I had done this just to make sure that my phone is alive
4. to upgrade from GB to ICS, I carefully read and followed the 1st Post of same thread and last night I was successful to do so
Now I have perfectly working HTC Amaze 4G with ICS :victory:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Just to share my experience :
i - the 'Wire Trick' was the most annoying thing, I tried several times to do it accurate.
ii - Step 3 of this process was to 'Unlock bootloader', I had done that. But after S-OFF, during the next steps, I noticed that bootloader is LOCKED again. I don't know if it's normal. Anyhow it didn't cause any problem for me.
Happy Ending :highfive:
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Click to collapse
Lol Glad to hear that your phone is up and running with ICS :highfive:
About your concerns.. I'm surprise the wire trick gave you some trouble. I don't know about anybody else but I'm assuming it was sort of easy since I got it on my second try.
And yes, the bootloader re-locks itself after you flash the ICS T-Mobile RUU. That's why you're supposed to keep the code saved in a notepad file on your computer