So, I've had my SGS2 for a few weeks now and have decided that I would like to flash a different ROM.
I have nothing against the Samsung stock ROM, but I am looking for something that removes all the 'samsung-ness' from the phone, i.e bloatware etc., plus my carrier (O2), amongst other things, has decided to include a bootscreen & sound that annoys me profusely! In the first few hours of owning the phone, I already installed Go Launcher Ex, as I wasn't a massive fan of the iPhone look to some parts of TouchWiz.
After doing quite a bit of reading around, I set sight on installing CM7. However, further research seems to suggest that features such as the camera and FM radio aren't quite fully developed, so I've been slightly put off.
So, in a nutshell, I'm looking for the following:
- Remove Samsung branding and bloatware
- A more android look and feel
- More tweakable
- Main features of the phone still function
- Fast and stable
- Receives plenty of development
Based on the above, could someone suggest a ROM that would be good for me? Villain maybe?
Thanks in advance
checkrom revolution
Theres are several Samsung based roms, that come with the Samsung apps removed. There are also Rom kitchens, where you can easily build your own rom.
For a minimal Sam based rom with an AOSP look you can try Gingermod. Or minimal TW roms like Exynos or Wanam lite.
If you want AOSP based, keep an eye on CM and Oxygen Rom (not posted on xda).
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Dude,
From my experience, I can give you this advice :
Try CheckROM RevolutionHD V1.0 + Latest SpeedMod kernel = best ROM ever, Best freedom ever, best battery and No issues !
Really amazing combo
Brilliant, thanks for the replies. Regarding kernels, is there a particular ROM+Kernel combination I should use when I select a ROM, or does it not really matter?
Chris_J said:
So, I've had my SGS2 for a few weeks now and have decided that I would like to flash a different ROM.
I have nothing against the Samsung stock ROM, but I am looking for something that removes all the 'samsung-ness' from the phone, i.e bloatware etc., plus my carrier (O2), amongst other things, has decided to include a bootscreen & sound that annoys me profusely! In the first few hours of owning the phone, I already installed Go Launcher Ex, as I wasn't a massive fan of the iPhone look to some parts of TouchWiz.
After doing quite a bit of reading around, I set sight on installing CM7. However, further research seems to suggest that features such as the camera and FM radio aren't quite fully developed, so I've been slightly put off.
So, in a nutshell, I'm looking for the following:
- Remove Samsung branding and bloatware
- A more android look and feel
- More tweakable
- Main features of the phone still function
- Fast and stable
- Receives plenty of development
Based on the above, could someone suggest a ROM that would be good for me? Villain maybe?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM7 ticks all your boxes, camera app works, I don't use radio so not sure on that. Camera may be slightly lower quality than stock if you don't mind that, for me not that much of a biggie as most my shots are done on a normal camera anyway.
If you want to stick with a TW rom than check out gingermod, best of AOSP mixed with Samsungs TouchWiz interface so you don't lose any of the stock functions like camera and such.
I'm not a huge fan of TouchWiz (not to mention the bloatware) so would like to see what my options are. I'm looking for something stable & plain as a nexus. Always heard good things about CM, but their only i605 version is 4.2.2 and has known BT & GPS issues? Looks like beans is my best option. Anyone have any other suggestions?
Why do some of the google apps have to be added separately. Can you not use the play store w/ custom roms?
Any benefit to using ODIN w/o unlocking? Or is unlocking required since VRALL4? Looks like there is enough documentation now to reset the custom rom counter, lock, & unroot in case something goes wrong & have to use the warranty. Thanks.
nevafuse said:
I'm not a huge fan of TouchWiz (not to mention the bloatware) so would like to see what my options are. I'm looking for something stable & plain as a nexus. Always heard good things about CM, but their only i605 version is 4.2.2 and has known BT & GPS issues? Looks like beans is my best option. Anyone have any other suggestions?
Why do some of the google apps have to be added separately. Can you not use the play store w/ custom roms?
Any benefit to using ODIN w/o unlocking? Or is unlocking required since VRALL4? Looks like there is enough documentation now to reset the custom rom counter, lock, & unroot in case something goes wrong & have to use the warranty. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beans rom is still TW just themed to not look like it. CM is your best bet for nexus like feel. If it makes you feel better even the nexus 4 with a stock build from google has BT problems.
BennyJr said:
Beans rom is still TW just themed to not look like it. CM is your best bet for nexus like feel. If it makes you feel better even the nexus 4 with a stock build from google has BT problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ya? I didn't realize that. Any reason CM went straight to 4.2.2 instead of getting a more stable 4.1.1 release out for the i605?
nevafuse said:
I'm not a huge fan of TouchWiz (not to mention the bloatware) so would like to see what my options are. I'm looking for something stable & plain as a nexus. Always heard good things about CM, but their only i605 version is 4.2.2 and has known BT & GPS issues? Looks like beans is my best option. Anyone have any other suggestions?
Why do some of the google apps have to be added separately. Can you not use the play store w/ custom roms?
Any benefit to using ODIN w/o unlocking? Or is unlocking required since VRALL4? Looks like there is enough documentation now to reset the custom rom counter, lock, & unroot in case something goes wrong & have to use the warranty. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the bloat, most of the ROMs get rid of that (even the TW based ones) so that will be a non-issue, and if you use a custom launcher most of the TW signs are gone, with the exception of the cool ones (multi app, s-pen, smart stay). With CM-based ROMs, which I have used on other devices, you flash GAPPS separately, with Beans you choose which GAPPS you want during the install using Aroma. Once you are installed, the play store will work fine (but it won't be there on CM-based roms to start). I use bluetooth and like some of those TW features, so CM ROMs are a no go for now for me...been on Beans since January and have been very pleased with it.
You will definitely need to unlock first though using Adam Outler's method (CASUAL + ODIN) and there are easy ways back to stock if you ever have to do a warranty swap.
Go with Beans FTW! :good:
As another 4.2.2 option, I'd try CarbonROM. Fast, stable and smooth. My DD. Very few issues at this point.
Beans is awesome if you want to stay with a TW-based ROM.
Sent from my CarbonROM'd i605
Im on cm10.1 daily for a lil over a week and i think its fine no probs for me gmd for my s pen uses and google wallet working...i got no complaints
secularist said:
As another 4.2.2 option, I'd try CarbonROM. Fast, stable and smooth. My DD. Very few issues at this point.
Beans is awesome if you want to stay with a TW-based ROM.
Sent from my CarbonROM'd i605
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for carbon. Love it
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
Vanilla Rootbox is my favorite non-Touchwiz ROM, lots of options and god battery life for a 4.2.2 ROM.
So I am selling my HTC One m8 and going back to my LG Optimus G until I get a new one. Some of my apps require 4.3 and above so stock rom is out. I need a stable Rom to use as my daily driver. After reading most of what is out there right now it seems they all have their quirks. This phone is getting old and it seems to be losing support. I am just looking for opinions.
If you truly need rock stable ROMs, don't flash custom stuff - go stock. That said, my experience with beanstalk and liquid smooth on 4.4 has been very good, completely daily driveable for me. LS on 5.0 has also been fine, assuming you can live without xposed. Just switched to candy 5.0 today, and so far so good.
Calls, texts, GPS, camera and data all work. There are occasional little glitches, but if you can't live with those don't flash custom ROMs.
I can't go stock, it is only 4.1. I need 4.3 or above. I will look the others you suggested, thanks.
So I have been using beanstalk for about 12 hours. In that time the phone had shut down 4 times, has had some weird alert issues and has been laggy and Unresponsive. This must be my bad luck. I will try liquid smooth next.
This started as a PM to a member that seemed like it might be at least a little useful to others as well, so I'm putting it in a thread. The question asked was (heavily paraphrased): What works/what doesn't on AOSP vs. Stock? My answer can't possibly cover every positive/negative out there, so a thread might help those on the fence or just considering giving it a whirl. What I can do is help people that haven't flashed AOSP to take note of the quirks in actually getting one installed.
First, some tips on flashing an AOSP ROM to the VS985 G3.
I always wipe everything, including internal storage, but especially so when jumping between stock & AOSP. Then I install all software from my SD card. That's a personal preference, but I almost never have problems and attribute that to thorough wiping.
This is pretty basic, but if you've only flashed stock, you need to know that AOSP requires you to flash both the ROM itself and gapps. I'm using the TK Gapps Full package, for what that's worth.
Specific to our phone, if you value the QuickRemote app, you can get it for flashing and use on AOSP ROMs. See this thread.
You will probably want a better camera than the Google camera included with AOSP. To that end, I use the flashable MotoX camera port and accompanying gallery. See this thread for that camera. There are other cameras and I'm happy to post what people use in here if you supply links.
Lastly, some ROMs do a baseband check. Since 24B is somewhat new, chances are decent you'll be trying to flash an AOSP ROM that dislikes your modem, so you'll need to flash the 23C modem before you flash the ROM; otherwise it may thrown an error and refuse to install the ROM. After installing you can then flash back to 24B modem (which gets better signal for me). Here are the modems:
23C modem - https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=95916177934553732
24B modem - https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24052804347773137
Everybody does things differently, but my process for installing is....
Install Process
0) Back up your photos/files. Back up your apps with Titanium Backup & move them to your SD card.
1) Wipe everything, including internal storage.
2) Install the ROM.
3) (optional) Install the Kernel of your choice. **
4) Install gapps.
5) Install camera (and gallery if you want).
6) Install QuickRemote.
7) Wipe cache/dalvic for good measure.
8) Boot up, log in, get everything set up.
9) (optional) Go back into TWRP and install the 24B Modem.
**It's usually worth it to check out the stock kernel first, then if you want to try others you can do so later on. IF it's later, personally, I always wipe cache/dalvic after flashing a kernel. I'm putting the step in there because if I already know the kernel and like it, or if I'm upgrading the ROM, I'll go ahead and install with the ROM.
Thoughts/Experience Comments
The only real thing I miss vs. stock is the camera. That said, there are good options out there, including the previously mentioned MotoX. Image quality seems to be near, if not quite all the way to, stock. It doesn't seem to want to save photos to SD though, so keep that in mind when you want to flash a different ROM - you'll need to get your photos off internal storage.
If you use a different camera and want to supply a link/links, please do so and I'll be happy to add them to the OP!
Aside from the camera, there has always been talk of slightly decreased signal. I have not found that to be the case; in fact, WiFi seems stronger. I do not use bluetooth at all, but have seen in the past that bluetooth has been an issue, depending on the ROM. You'll just need to read through ROM threads and find out whether that's an issue for you. I have zero functionality problems with anything.
Battery life is definitely better for me on AOSP. SkyDragon is superb for a stock ROM, but stock stuff on top of AOSP does cost some battery, even though SkyDragon does a superb job of minimizing that.
Truth be told, I prefer the AOSP interface to LG's. The main reason I usually stick with stock/go back to stock is the camera. The moto camera is close enough that I might stay with AOSP for a while, at least until LG updates stock again, then my crack-flash-addiction may take over.
FWIW, I am very happily using Orion ROM right now, along with the Nebula kernel and TK Gapps.
Please feel free to share your input on AOSP experience. Mine is not all-encompassing, and surely people have problems that I haven't run into. Also share your cameras - I'm always on the lookout for good options there too.
The only thing that keeps me coming back to stock (which I really don't care for) is that I feel like receiving SMS and MMS is delayed by a minute or more on AOSP.
I've been back and forth. And like you, I simply cannot do without Xcam. I've had some problems with the Moto cam freezing up. Xcam gives me top notch quality. And speaker quality on stock is much better with Dolby mod. Battery life is much better on AOSP. But I I find LG stock to be overall much more stable.
I agree with the OP's opinion about stock vs. ASOP. I was on CM 12.1 for a couple of weeks and I really enjoyed the fast boot times, better battery life and patched Stagefright security hole. I had some issues customizing the onscreen buttons where it wouldn't stick, depending on which daily you ran that week.
But I really missed the camera: stock is much better than any of the suggested substitutes, IMHO.
Amusingly, I'm back on stock again. My little affair with AOSP was, as it seems to ever be, relatively short lived. I really enjoy the interface, but things are just more smooth on SkyDragon. No amount of optimization can seem to overcome the proprietary driver capability on stock. I love AOSP, but can't seem to stick with it for very long. Oh, and the camera. Stock (again, proprietary driver issue) is just plain better.
On the plus side, I'm getting the same signal strength now on Stock and AOSP with the 24B modem. That disparity seems to be a thing of the past. I'm not completely done with AOSP and have a nandroid backup of both of them that I bounce between now, because why not? Orion is a heck of a ROM and but for the camera and very minor GUI lag on occasion, it's close to as good as stock.
The stock LG rom is really laggy for me, especially pulling down the notification shade. My two year old Moto X is much smoother then this LG. Battery life sucks on the X though.
PiousInquisitor said:
The stock LG rom is really laggy for me, especially pulling down the notification shade. My two year old Moto X is much smoother then this LG. Battery life sucks on the X though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even on a custom ROM? Try SkyDragon 5.0 w/ SkyDragon Kernel 4.2. Do NOT install Xposed via the Aroma installer though. It's an older version and removes LG weather/circle case which used to be required for Xposed to function. You're much better off installing the new version of Xposed after the ROM if you want to use that.
I get no such lag on SkyDragon. On absolute stock from LG I did get some, but not with HolyAngel's great ROM & kernel. :good:
hokiealumnus said:
Even on a custom ROM? Try SkyDragon 5.0 w/ SkyDragon Kernel 4.2. Do NOT install Xposed via the Aroma installer though. It's an older version and removes LG weather/circle case which used to be required for Xposed to function. You're much better off installing the new version of Xposed after the ROM if you want to use that.
I get no such lag on SkyDragon. On absolute stock from LG I did get some, but not with HolyAngel's great ROM & kernel. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the direct links. I was just digging through the last few pages looking for the 5.0 build. Ive been running Jasmine 8 and enjoying it but having some lag, same as stock. I ran the SD rom a while ago when it was on KK and didnt like it as much as Jas. Ill give it a try now. Switching roms on the G3 aint no thing right now as it isnt my primary device anymore. The SIM card slot died (used a sim adapter that ruined the pins) so im waiting to find someone with serious soldering skills to replace it.
Hey guys I am looking for a ROM for my girlfriend. What would you guys say is the best way to go for a blend of battery/speed/stability.
Stability is VERY important.. but if you guys say AOSP ROM I would loved for her to give that a shot.
Can any android phone run aosp? Or are there limitations on the hardware? I believe the Samsung device I have runs with CAF (based on the cm repos it uses) and I am not sure if its possible to run straight Google code or even if the kernel needs changes.
Sent from my SCH-R890 using XDA Free mobile app
musicfreak190 said:
Hey guys I am looking for a ROM for my girlfriend. What would you guys say is the best way to go for a blend of battery/speed/stability.
Stability is VERY important.. but if you guys say AOSP ROM I would loved for her to give that a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go with the previously linked SkyDragon ROM and Kernel. Orion (AOSP) is very stable, but even so, stock is always best when stability is a #1 priority. Battery might be slightly better on AOSP, but nothing to call home about.
jason972000 said:
Can any android phone run aosp? Or are there limitations on the hardware? I believe the Samsung device I have runs with CAF (based on the cm repos it uses) and I am not sure if its possible to run straight Google code or even if the kernel needs changes.
Sent from my SCH-R890 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory, yes....but it is device dependent It requires a developer to put an AOSP ROM together for the specific device. It also requires a custom recovery (i.e. TWRP) to be able to flash the ROM.
For anyone following along with my minor flash-addiction saga, Orion just released a new update today, which of course I'm going to try.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=62503509&postcount=77
Edit - I really do hate it, but this just isn't as smooth as stock. Even tried messing with a different kernel without success. When even gmail isn't as smooth scrolling as it should be, that's a problem for me. Back to SkyDragon.
hokiealumnus said:
For anyone following along with my minor flash-addiction saga, Orion just released a new update today, which of course I'm going to try.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=62503509&postcount=77
Edit - I really do hate it, but this just isn't as smooth as stock. Even tried messing with a different kernel without success. When even gmail isn't as smooth scrolling as it should be, that's a problem for me. Back to SkyDragon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am about to flash the new Orion to replace CM12.1. I have never liked "stock" android roms that come with phones. AOSP and CM have always been so much better/smoother for me. they occasionally have stability issues but nothing that is ever too difficult to fix. The other main issue I have with stock is customizability. I have the ZeroLemon 9000mAH battery and stock based roms just dont work well with it. They seem to think it is a normal battery and will stay at 1-3% battery for hours which causes the camera to not open and other "power-saving" features to turn on...
Now to a question, hokiealumnus, have you had any issues flashing Orion? I haven't tried the newest version yet but when I tried to flash the older versions in TWRP (latest) it would give me an binary-updater issue. I see in your thread you recommend flashing the 23C modem before flashing a ROM because it could cause issues, I didn't know about that so I will try it tonight when I get home but was wondering if you knew if Orion was one of the ROMs with that issue?
r3xx3r said:
I am about to flash the new Orion to replace CM12.1. I have never liked "stock" android roms that come with phones. AOSP and CM have always been so much better/smoother for me. they occasionally have stability issues but nothing that is ever too difficult to fix. The other main issue I have with stock is customizability. I have the ZeroLemon 9000mAH battery and stock based roms just dont work well with it. They seem to think it is a normal battery and will stay at 1-3% battery for hours which causes the camera to not open and other "power-saving" features to turn on...
Now to a question, hokiealumnus, have you had any issues flashing Orion? I haven't tried the newest version yet but when I tried to flash the older versions in TWRP (latest) it would give me an binary-updater issue. I see in your thread you recommend flashing the 23C modem before flashing a ROM because it could cause issues, I didn't know about that so I will try it tonight when I get home but was wondering if you knew if Orion was one of the ROMs with that issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always been intrigued by the ZeroLemon battery, but it was just too large for me to take the plunge.
Anyway, yes, you are correct on why it is giving you a binary-updater error. It's checking the baseband version and when it doesn't see the 23C modem, it throws the error. If you flash the 23C modem you'll get the ROM installed no problem. You can later re-install the 24B modem without issue, which performs better for me than 23C does.
Orion isn't the only AOSP ROM to have that problem either, I had it on BrokenROM when I tried that one as well.
hokiealumnus said:
I've always been intrigued by the ZeroLemon battery, but it was just too large for me to take the plunge.
Anyway, yes, you are correct on why it is giving you a binary-updater error. It's checking the baseband version and when it doesn't see the 23C modem, it throws the error. If you flash the 23C modem you'll get the ROM installed no problem. You can later re-install the 24B modem without issue, which performs better for me than 23C does.
Orion isn't the only AOSP ROM to have that problem either, I had it on BrokenROM when I tried that one as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any idea why roms care what modem the phone has?
I really enjoy the ZeroLemon, it is f-ing huge on the G3, and quite a bit more expensive than older phones. I had it for the Galaxy S4 and it was about half the price. But I really enjoy it, I charge my phone every night anyway (old habit), but it is really nice to not have to and I am a pretty heavy user so battery is really important to me. I won't buy a phone if I can't get a big battery like this and put in at least a 32GB microsd card. The best (and kinda worst) part about the zerolemons are the rugged case. It offers really great protection from drops, though it is not easy to take off
r3xx3r said:
any idea why roms care what modem the phone has?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's attempting to ensure a) the phone the ROM is being installed on is the right phone and b) there isn't a KK modem (12B) on the phone, which does not work at all with Lollipop. (Likewise, Lollipop modems do NOT work with the KK builds.)
hokiealumnus said:
I think it's attempting to ensure a) the phone the ROM is being installed on is the right phone and b) there isn't a KK modem (12B) on the phone, which does not work at all with Lollipop. (Likewise, Lollipop modems do NOT work with the KK builds.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that makes sense. so I just installed the latest Orion ROM and ran into a bad issue. have you had an issue with the Cellular Networks setting not enabling? I try to enable it in the Settings and it just turns itself off and I can only get 1X if that, I normally have LTE, i tried 23C and 24B modems and cleaned flashed twice. any suggestions?
r3xx3r said:
that makes sense. so I just installed the latest Orion ROM and ran into a bad issue. have you had an issue with the Cellular Networks setting not enabling? I try to enable it in the Settings and it just turns itself off and I can only get 1X if that, I normally have LTE, i tried 23C and 24B modems and cleaned flashed twice. any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to say I haven't had that issue, no. It takes more time on boot to acquire cell signal vs stock, but once it does it seems just as strong and 4G as stock.
If you haven't already, when clean flashing, do so by wiping internal storage too (and installing from SD Card). I find doing that when switching between stock and AOSP to be reliable. I mean, I regularly do that anyway, but especially when making that switch.
hokiealumnus said:
Sorry to say I haven't had that issue, no. It takes more time on boot to acquire cell signal vs stock, but once it does it seems just as strong and 4G as stock.
If you haven't already, when clean flashing, do so by wiping internal storage too (and installing from SD Card). I find doing that when switching between stock and AOSP to be reliable. I mean, I regularly do that anyway, but especially when making that switch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was part of what I did initially. I always wipe system, cache, dalvik, data, and internal storage when switching ROMS
r3xx3r said:
that makes sense. so I just installed the latest Orion ROM and ran into a bad issue. have you had an issue with the Cellular Networks setting not enabling? I try to enable it in the Settings and it just turns itself off and I can only get 1X if that, I normally have LTE, i tried 23C and 24B modems and cleaned flashed twice. any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently switched from Jasmine 8.0 to Paranoidandroid. I liked the AOSP Rom for the most part but I had quite a few data network issues. My data kept dropping out and I either had to reboot or enable airplane mode and disable it. A couple of times it set airplane mode to on by itself. I did a clean flash but didn't help. Stock had been the most solid for me as pure basic functionality.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Hi all,
I'm just wondering if there are any suggestions for a lean, fast, simple ROM for the GT-P7510 Wifi? I've currently installed the Omni 5.1.1-20150925-p4wifi-HOMEMADE and it's alright, but it lags a bit here and there.
I mainly just want toread ePubs and PDFs on the tablet, so I don't need much. I did try installing tons of media stuff (Netflix, Plex, Spotify) to see how it would go and they're all a bit too cumbersome for this old tablet, at least with this lollipop rom, so I'm uninstalling most of that stuff now, it's not important.
So, what are people's favorite lean, speedy ROMs for the GT-P7510 wifi?
big bump to also do something useful with my wife's old GT-P7510
I am using this one forever already... It is Jellybean, but I have never had an issue. Development stopped on this, but I use the nightly from 10/19/2014....It works so well, I never felt the urge to even try anything else. (And I used to flash and test ROMs for a few different developers!)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2716016
I did try many custom rom but then i revert back to stock ics rom with rooted, deodexed, xposed and L-Speed mod.
I removed all the bloat apps from original rom and now my tab is fast, clean, good for everyday usage.
thanks, will give that last namelewss 4.4.4 build a go, then revert back to your nightly if any issues Sherri. Appreciate the input everyone. I don't like junking perfectly good hardware ust cos it's a few years old... too much technojunk in the world!