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hi guys,
i've just ordered a htc hero on orange and i have 7 days to try it. I will receive it on tuesday, so whilst i'm waiting i have many questions that i would like help with. My computer knowledge is good, but with mobiles i'm almost useless, so apologies if i end up asking questions which may sound pretty straightforward to many of you.
1. The hero will come with orange firmware, but i assume its a lot slower than custom firmwares, so what is the latest and the best known firmware at the moment and what is the procedure on installing it?
2. Since I have 7 days to test out the phone, i want to try it with the latest firmware, but i'm nervous and i want to play it safe and need to protect the original orange firmware, so what is involved in making a FULL BACKUP of the orange firmware and if i decide i want to put the orange firmware back onto the htc, how do i do this?
3. Is there any risk involved in the above procedures where i could mess up the phone and not be able to fix it again?
4. Lastly, if I replaced the phone with the current latest firmware and at a later date Android 2.0 came out, will i be able to upgrade to the latest operating system without problems?
Many thanks again
newbiefone said:
hi guys,
i've just ordered a htc hero on orange and i have 7 days to try it. I will receive it on tuesday, so whilst i'm waiting i have many questions that i would like help with. My computer knowledge is good, but with mobiles i'm almost useless, so apologies if i end up asking questions which may sound pretty straightforward to many of you.
1. The hero will come with orange firmware, but i assume its a lot slower than custom firmwares, so what is the latest and the best known firmware at the moment and what is the procedure on installing it?
2. Since I have 7 days to test out the phone, i want to try it with the latest firmware, but i'm nervous and i want to play it safe and need to protect the original orange firmware, so what is involved in making a FULL BACKUP of the orange firmware and if i decide i want to put the orange firmware back onto the htc, how do i do this?
3. Is there any risk involved in the above procedures where i could mess up the phone and not be able to fix it again?
4. Lastly, if I replaced the phone with the current latest firmware and at a later date Android 2.0 came out, will i be able to upgrade to the latest operating system without problems?
Many thanks again
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Click to collapse
1) why would you assume this? Orange dont put anything on there that slows the phone down, only an app for extra orange settings, which i believe takes you to a webpage...
2) read up on this, we cannot type it out every time. look for nandroid. But if you are trying it use the official update method from the orange site.,
3) same question, if you follow instructions you will be fine.,
4) It has been said by HTC that 2.0 will come to the Hero.... again this is plastered all over the forums and I do believe that your a lazy ass for not looking this up yourself.
Barry - it seems that rather than helping your simply having a go at me for asking questions. It might be a straight forward procedure for you, but I clearly stated that i'm a noob when it comes to the understanding of mobile phones. If you don't want to help then simply ignore my thread, rather than throwing insulting comments mate.
1. As for telling me that orange doesn't slowdown the phone, well many forum users tell a different story as they said there is a huge difference in speed between modaco firmware and orange's own version.
2. Nandroid is one of many and people have also mentioned sprite and mybackup which confuses us noobs as to which one is best and simplest one to use.
3. The 3rd question is not the same as no.2 because i'm trying to ask if there is any risk of totally bricking the phone, which might not affect you, but it means that i end up stuck on a 24mth contract with a bricked handset.
4. It seems your simply increasing your post count as you didn't read my question properly....I never asked if HTC 2.0 will come to hero....i asked that if i update to a custom firmware now, will i still be okay in updating to android 2.0 or could i run into problems because i have a different firmware.
Hi Mate,
There's a lot of useful info around these forums though i hate the 'High and mighty' approach a lot of people have around here, i dont know if they get a kick out of it or just generally like being unhelpful and worship the search god.
From my experience the search on this site is almost completely useless as you have to know exactly what it is you're searching for in the first place - and the point is that Noobs dont know what their looking for!
As for help with your questions i'll try my best! I have the Hero on Orange also - just had it for over a month.
1. The Orange Firmware doesn't have the bloat you'd expect - it's pretty much the same as the official HTC firmware bar the Orange boot logo. The reason Modaco is so fast is that it has tweaks and such to make it faster.
2. It's possible to do this - however you'll need to install a Custom Boot Image. I made a quick guide for someone else here :- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=4868874#post4868874
The custom image will allow you to do a Nandroid backup of the currently installed ROM and it can also be restored - however the Orange Rom can also be downloaded from the orange website too and installed if needed using the RUU that coms with it.
3. There's always a risk when flashing firmwares and such. If the instructions are followed then generally you should be ok but theres always the small chance of something unexpected happening.
4. If i understand the question correctly - then yes you are able to install the latest official firmware when it's released. Though i hear that the latest official firmwares have been harder to 'Root' - maybe someone else could clarify.
Anyway i hope these answer your questions - and i'm 99% sure you'll be sticking with the Hero - from my first Month with it, i find it's the best phone i've ever had. Yes i've even owned 'one of them iThingys'.
Just for info I'm running Amon Ra's recover Image 1.2.3, the Modaco 2.8 rom with the Teknologist 1.8 kernel.
Cheers
Paul
thank u so much paul. Mate thats all i was asking for and thank goodness someone like u is here to help us noobs on the forum..ur an asset to this forum..keep up the good work.
I've just received the hero around 5 mins ago and i'm gonna play about with it to see if there even is the need to update the rom and will let u know how i get on.
I'm worried of scratching my touch screen, so my question is that can i get hold of a cover or something that can protect it?
Cheers mate...much appreciate it
No worries mate - glad to help people, shame most people round here find it such a chore.
I've been using my Hero for just over a month and havn't protected it with anything. I always take care to slip it into an empty pocket.
From what others are saying the screen is made of gass and quite resistant to scratches - obviously scraping car keys down it isn't the best idea but i'm sure itll be ok if you take a bit of care with it.
I also hear the response of the screen is lowered if a protector is added. Take a look on the Hero Accessories forum, there may be a thread on there about covers / cases and such.
Cheers
Paul
my problem is that i have 2 mobiles in one pocket and that sometimes means i end up putting my house keys in the same pocket too. The reason i have to have a phone in my trouser pocket is because i'm deaf in both ears and unless the phone is ultra loud, i can't hear it, so the only alert is when the phone vibrates in my pocket.
People recommend either the flexishield or the invisibleshield, don't know wot to go for, lol.
Also the htc unlock button should only be the one on the most right, yet if i press home button, that too unlocks it..is there any way of disabling this or altering the button combination?
To be fair, most trousers / jeans have 4 pockets. If you want to scratch all of your stuff, put both phones and your keys in one pocket. If you want to keep them nice, use some of your 3 spare pockets. At the end of the day, it's a £400 phone - treat it as such and it will reward you by staying nice and shiny.
true, but its not just keys that can do the damage mate...i'm a cable installer and my work involves crouching, bending, lying down and the worry is that the trousers stretch and crack or damage the screen, so some case or screen protector would be nice to have.
Some people say that the touch sense doesn't respond well, but i tried to use the touch with its original screen protecter sticker which comes with it when orange sends it and it works fine.
newbiefone said:
true, but its not just keys that can do the damage mate...i'm a cable installer and my work involves crouching, bending, lying down and the worry is that the trousers stretch and crack or damage the screen, so some case or screen protector would be nice to have.
Some people say that the touch sense doesn't respond well, but i tried to use the touch with its original screen protecter sticker which comes with it when orange sends it and it works fine.
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Well it sounds like you'd need a case to keep it protected in your situations. I'm sure there's loads of options available. Either that or just leave it out of harms way
How are you finding the Hero now you've had it for a few days now?
@newbiephone Belt mounted case is what is needed.
hi paul mate,
i think the screen protection is the last of my worries
i have the following issues which i don't know how to address:-
1. Low reception - after reading up, i switched off 3g and this increased the reception, but only slightly.
2. contacts / people list - I have exported 350+ contacts from nokia e75 into a CSV file. Then i imported it into google mail and now i synced the HTC with google and this allowed me to download the contacts list. However the contact's numbers are all classed as additional "notes" rather than numbers. I hope i don't have to manually type in 350 contacts!
3. Is there a more simple dialpad that you can recommend? I hate the htc one.
Hi Newbiefone
Can I just say something here that will satisfy all your worries!!!
You wont be wanting to return the Hero after 7 days because it is a quality phone....
Before long you`ll be installing roms, themes, apps galore.
Plus we`ve all got Android 2.0 to look forward to too....
lol, thanks for the positive comments mate, but these are not worries mate, but problems that need diagnosing and solving. I'm sure one these are solved, my htc will stay with me hopefully forever! ROFLOL!
Oops sorry newbie my post was in relation to your first post!
Only just seen your last post..
I sync my contacts with outlook. Can you not import them into there with your csv files and then sync your hero with outlook?
I have seen may posts about problems with contacts and syncing.
To be honest ive not had one problem with it the way i do it..
If you have any more questions just give us a shout. Had my hero since the day it was launched on Orange.
Ah Newbie just been thinking there is a dialpad out there that ive seen. Just cant think of the name lol...
Christ maybe i should think before i type!
A question for one of your questions. Have you tried the latest radio firmware?
Mine and my girlfriends Hero signal are both poor but we do live an airaid shelter!!
Johnny boy your a STAR!!! If you were a girl, i'd kiss u, lol!!
I exported from nokia pc suite straight to outlook and then used HTC SYNC Manager to synchronise calender and contact its done it perfectly!! Thank u so much!
Right what do u mean by the radio firmware? I currently have the latest orange firmware and was adviced not to mess around with that firmware by someone on the forums as i'm still in my 7 days exchange warranty with orange.
Now how about that dialpad name?
LOL oh i`m glad it worked. I dont know why people have so many problems sorting out their contacts on here. Ive seen many a story about syncing problems. I just think this way is so easy i dont know why everyone doesnt do it this way. Ah well never mind at least ive helped someone.
Mmm best leave radio firmware then till you decide to keep it.
Dial pad now thats a tricky one i had a quick look and couldnt find it.
I`m happy with the stock one so i didnt pay much attention to it. Maybe i should have lol!
newbiefone said:
Johnny boy your a STAR!!! If you were a girl, i'd kiss u, lol!!
I exported from nokia pc suite straight to outlook and then used HTC SYNC Manager to synchronise calender and contact its done it perfectly!! Thank u so much!
Right what do u mean by the radio firmware? I currently have the latest orange firmware and was adviced not to mess around with that firmware by someone on the forums as i'm still in my 7 days exchange warranty with orange.
Now how about that dialpad name?
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Click to collapse
the reason many people have problems mate is because many import/export the more difficult way via CSV, then google then HTC and if the CSV is messed, then it won't work, but outlook seems to import data perfectly.
If you can't help with a dialpad program, how about like a contacts grid? The Favourites one takes up too much space and only can add a verticle list...if i'm gonna use the whole screen, then i might as well have at least 9 contacts or more at the same time, rather than 3 at a time.
Well, it's lunch time so I thought I would take a minute to update everyone on my thread "I F'ed Up!' thread in Q&A. The Photon is back to purely stock, no root, no unlock, notta. I got most of my app's back (I will explain that later!).
Several months ago, I rooted and unlocked the Photon. Over that time, I have had several issues, off and on, that required reboots, battery removal, freezing, ect. that required me to come here for advice and help. After watching several of QBKINGS videos, I decided to go with CW7 and see what all the hype was about.
Things went terribley wrong!!!! (Thanks to all that helped me fix it, you will hear from me soon!) After 1.5 days without a phone, and knowing every which way exactly HOW to fix it, I was sitting down last night and give this one more go. Looking around, I noticed (as I did the first time?), some of the links don't work, some of the videos I had no clue WHAT page I was actually looking at, just said scroll down (Nice videos, I just did not get it?), some were re-directed to other sites. I work in IT, been doing it since 1983. I'm all for Development and embrace progress. Then it hit me? "Why do you want to root, unlock, flash anyway?" Really?
I started planning on this phone 2 months before it came out. It was, and still is, the best "Business" phone on the market just like it is. I use my phone for too much sh*t as it is (too long to list) and 30 minutes without it, expecially job wise, is a riks I cannot take again. So I choose to leave it stock and get back to the basics (Planning on getting a Samsung Galaxy Note anyway)
As I was putting all my app's back, a few things I noticed that may be of help to some of you. #1 and the biggest of all, some of the apps were no longer support on my phone, which likely caused most of my issues anyway. Putting my Apps back, 85% of that sh*t I used ONCE and forgot I had it. I got it because someone else thought it was cool for THEIR needs.
#2. (and I know I will hear an earfull on this), The phone is perfect just the way it is, functionally wise? You want your phone to look different, get another wallpaper! You want unlocked bootloader, Motorola never promised us one! Everyone wants ICS, They never promised you that either, we purchased it that way. We complain about the camera, 8MP is, more or less, Studio quality unless your a Pro and want to blow it up! If so, get a Digital SLR (hell, I was happy with my 3MP HTC Fuze!)I love the 2 threads where Sprint cancelled their contract over Data, then they admitted downloading Torrants. READ THE CONTRACT!!! 4G? I have used it twice in the 1.5 years its been out, 3G loads my web pages OK, every now and then YouTube sputters, so what, so does my laptop!
Personally, Photon is running better than it has in months! So, I'm going to leave it how it is, and better understand and work the functions it already has! He**, even my BT's are working better with Pandora not dropping and me able to answer calls. The only other money I'm spending (and I really don't need it!) is the SanDisk Mobile Ultra 64Gb Micro SDHC I!
I will still be here with jokes and to get knowledge, but not touching "Neo" until a month after Note comes out, then I will pack him up for good!
dsims7_2000 said:
Well, it's lunch time so I thought I would take a minute to update everyone on my thread "I F'ed Up!' thread in Q&A. The Photon is back to purely stock, no root, no unlock, notta. I got most of my app's back (I will explain that later!).
Several months ago, I rooted and unlocked the Photon. Over that time, I have had several issues, off and on, that required reboots, battery removal, freezing, ect. that required me to come here for advice and help. After watching several of QBKINGS videos, I decided to go with CW7 and see what all the hype was about.
Things went terribley wrong!!!! (Thanks to all that helped me fix it, you will hear from me soon!) After 1.5 days without a phone, and knowing every which way exactly HOW to fix it, I was sitting down last night and give this one more go. Looking around, I noticed (as I did the first time?), some of the links don't work, some of the videos I had no clue WHAT page I was actually looking at, just said scroll down (Nice videos, I just did not get it?), some were re-directed to other sites. I work in IT, been doing it since 1983. I'm all for Development and embrace progress. Then it hit me? "Why do you want to root, unlock, flash anyway?" Really?
I started planning on this phone 2 months before it came out. It was, and still is, the best "Business" phone on the market just like it is. I use my phone for too much sh*t as it is (too long to list) and 30 minutes without it, expecially job wise, is a riks I cannot take again. So I choose to leave it stock and get back to the basics (Planning on getting a Samsung Galaxy Note anyway)
As I was putting all my app's back, a few things I noticed that may be of help to some of you. #1 and the biggest of all, some of the apps were no longer support on my phone, which likely caused most of my issues anyway. Putting my Apps back, 85% of that sh*t I used ONCE and forgot I had it. I got it because someone else thought it was cool for THEIR needs.
#2. (and I know I will hear an earfull on this), The phone is perfect just the way it is, functionally wise? You want your phone to look different, get another wallpaper! You want unlocked bootloader, Motorola never promised us one! Everyone wants ICS, They never promised you that either, we purchased it that way. We complain about the camera, 8MP is, more or less, Studio quality unless your a Pro and want to blow it up! If so, get a Digital SLR (hell, I was happy with my 3MP HTC Fuze!)I love the 2 threads where Sprint cancelled their contract over Data, then they admitted downloading Torrants. READ THE CONTRACT!!! 4G? I have used it twice in the 1.5 years its been out, 3G loads my web pages OK, every now and then YouTube sputters, so what, so does my laptop!
Personally, Photon is running better than it has in months! So, I'm going to leave it how it is, and better understand and work the functions it already has! He**, even my BT's are working better with Pandora not dropping and me able to answer calls. The only other money I'm spending (and I really don't need it!) is the SanDisk Mobile Ultra 64Gb Micro SDHC I!
I will still be here with jokes and to get knowledge, but not touching "Neo" until a month after Note comes out, then I will pack him up for good!
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Click to collapse
Congrats?
My phone works great with 7.2 put it on the day i got it the next day i was skeptical and went back to stock was there for 2/3 of the day and went back to rocco then 7.2 after last update really havent had any problems except for zumocast for some reason.
grdead25 said:
My phone works great with 7.2 put it on the day i got it the next day i was skeptical and went back to stock was there for 2/3 of the day and went back to rocco then 7.2 after last update really havent had any problems except for zumocast for some reason.
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Funny you mention ZumoCast, FIRST thing I went for when I got back. It was offline, went on computer, logged off/on, back to Photon, Online! All my music, movies, documents...........Nice! The only thing bad about ZumoCast, at this time, it only supports music playlist in iTunes (odd to me?) BUT...........Google Music, with its 20,000 limit, does support Playlist! Checked this AM and I had moved 12,000 of the 14,500 I requested. I have well over 130Gb of music and did not want to press my limit, so I picked my fav's and will shuffel them as time goes!.
dsims7_2000 said:
The only other money I'm spending (and I really don't need it!) is the SanDisk Mobile Ultra 64Gb Micro SDHC I!
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Click to collapse
Don't know what your buying SD card for, assuming a cell phone.. But the Photon(and most others i think) wont support anything over a 32gig. Just a FYI. Glad you got your phone up and running again!
I came from the Evo and the Photon is by far a superior phone. My Photon is rooted, themed, and backed up using bootstrap. I've removed some of the Motorola junk and I experience no force closes or random reboots. I also don't have alot of useless apps running in the background either.
What you do with, and to your phone is directly related to how it works.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
w0lf215 said:
Don't know what your buying SD card for, assuming a cell phone.. But the Photon(and most others i think) wont support anything over a 32gig. Just a FYI. Glad you got your phone up and running again!
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I had my doubts also but link has pictures. You have to format to slower FAT32 (Or NTFS) which is 7Mb compared to exFAT claimed 30.........Check out second link, post #12!
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Mobil...UTF8&coliid=ILKNEJIM6E46D&colid=3EHUWCW36Z6IQ
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1473010&highlight=64gb&page=2
dsims7_2000 said:
I had my doubts also but link has pictures. You have to format to slower FAT32 (Or NTFS) which is 7Mb compared to exFAT claimed 30.........Check out second link, post #12!
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Mobil...UTF8&coliid=ILKNEJIM6E46D&colid=3EHUWCW36Z6IQ
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1473010&highlight=64gb&page=2
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Well i stand corrected, learn new things everyday lol cool find!
w0lf215 said:
Well i stand corrected, learn new things everyday lol cool find!
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Click to collapse
You? Do you know how much reading I did only to come back here to get shot down? (Several times at that?)Trust me, I got a lesson!
So I have been on the Sprint Note 3 forum since I saw the phone for the first time and realized that I wanted it. I plan on getting it next Friday if you guys can give me enough info to justify my decision.
I have read multiple design issues with this phone including:
Crackling Speaker
Camera Plastic falling off when removing battery cover
Bad WiFi speeds
Bad signal overall
And many other issues I'm sure you guys are aware of
Many of these are a turn off at first, but I have been very lucky with my devices in the past and have had many that were perfect when many people were having problems.
If anyone can give me an answer to these and give me a reason to not get the N3 that would be awesome!
Anyone who can assure me that I won't have these problems with the N3 would be awesome!
Also to someone who knows how to root, flash a rom, and other small things, what exactly is KNOX because it sounds like it will kill the rooting or flashing process.
Any help with any of these concerns would be awesome! Thanks for your help guys.
dakota123456789 said:
So I have been on the Sprint Note 3 forum since I saw the phone for the first time and realized that I wanted it. I plan on getting it next Friday if you guys can give me enough info to justify my decision.
I have read multiple design issues with this phone including:
Crackling Speaker
Camera Plastic falling off when removing battery cover
Bad WiFi speeds
Bad signal overall
And many other issues I'm sure you guys are aware of
Many of these are a turn off at first, but I have been very lucky with my devices in the past and have had many that were perfect when many people were having problems.
If anyone can give me an answer to these and give me a reason to not get the N3 that would be awesome!
Anyone who can assure me that I won't have these problems with the N3 would be awesome!
Also to someone who knows how to root, flash a rom, and other small things, what exactly is KNOX because it sounds like it will kill the rooting or flashing process.
Any help with any of these concerns would be awesome! Thanks for your help guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Smart decision to do research before buying the SM-N900P. Most of those issues you listed are most likely hardware defects that you can be diagnosed before getting to invested in the phone and returned right away to the retailer, in fact you could inspect all the features before you even walk out of the outlet, I didn't finalize my purchase till I had spent a half hour inspecting the device.
There are a couple of root methods, CF-AutoRoot and Root de la Vega. CF-AutoRoot is what most people have used, though it triggers the KNOX binary counter to 0x1. Root de la Vega roots the device without triggering KNOX but I don't believe people have had success upgrading the MI5 or custom ROMs with that method so they're stuck with MI3 (which isn't a big deal).
KNOX isn't really anything to worry about, its just a security system.
The files can be removed from a deodexed ROM if necessary, the binary counter can be reset through downgrading to Official MI3 Firmware.
What is KNOX? (wiki)
What is KNOX? (Official)
I have had the note 3 for a few days now. At my company we have over 600 Note 2s. It was time for me to upgrade my personal phone so I chose the N3. It wasn't until after I had already ordered the phone that I read about all of the issues that you listed. That scared me a bit but I knew I had 14 days to change my mind.
Anyway, the N3 that I have exhibits none of the issues that I read about or that you mentioned above. Ithas performed flawlessly so far. And is better than my company provided Note 2.
I probably won't root my phone for another 30 days or so but the phone does so much stock, I'm not in a big rush. Besides, I still have my old HTC EVO 3D (wifi only now) which is rooted so I can still tinker if I get the urge.
I haven't had any of the problems people have been talking about so I'm not sure if I'm lucky or what. I did order mine from the sprint site though, I didn't get it from a retail location. I haven't had any of the cracklings in the speaker or wifi issues specifically. I'm waiting on root for many of the reasons others have stated but the device at least for me has been excellent.
I just picked one of these up yesterday, the LG Tribute, the Sprint version which is model LS660P (same hardware with the Virgin Mobile version). It's a Snapdragon 400 SoC quad core powered smartphone - it's basically a mix of features between a 1st gen Moto G LTE (the SoC) and the Moto E (removable battery and microSD slot) - it's a CDMA/LTE device only so it's more akin to the Sprint/Boost/Cricket versions of the Moto G I suppose - it does have a SIM card slot but since there's no GSM radio I suppose that's a dead end. It has Sprint LTE support for LTE bands 25, 26, and 41 - it's Spark-enabled as well.
So far in using it I've been extremely pleased with the performance overall considering it's $39.99 right now at many retailers like Fry's and Best Buy (retail is $79.99).
The biggest downside is the 800x480 display resolution but honestly I could care less these days. I just owned an LG G2 and loved it but I had to sell it to cover some bills, and when I saw the Tribute specs and that low price I figured it couldn't hurt to mess around with it a bit.
But in terms of getting it up and running, the first time I powered it up I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this on the Apps screen:
Just that, and nothing else - this thing has zero Sprint bloatware on it, absolutely nothing, and nothing from LG either. Yes it just has 4GB of internal storage leaving about 1.45GB for the user but it's got the microSD slot for storage. I've done all the requisite Google stock apps updates and installed all the apps I've purchased and the free ones I regularly use and I still have 435MB left so I'm good to go. Put my 32GB microSD card in it with 6GB of Opus-encoded audio files, a couple of movies and TV shows, and so far it's been fantastic.
Current battery is showing 37% left from a 100% charge, 12 hours and 3 minutes on, 5 hours and 14 minutes of screen on time so far (and still going because I'm watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier on it and there's 1 hour and 45 mins left in the movie), Wi-Fi has been on the entire time (it's in Airplane mode, however), screen brightness using MX Player is set at 12 (of 15), volume at 15. I use Google Hangouts with Google Voice to make "phone calls" using Wi-Fi so it's in Airplane mode most of the time when I'm at home.
I expect to hit the 7 hours of SOT and this is the first full charge on the device so, consider me a very happy camper.
I know requests have been put into place for Stumproot support so a root could be possible on this device, and I know that LG has posted the 4.4.2 ROM and kernel source code (I grabbed that last night). So here's my question:
Is there anyone out there that might be interested in attempting to develop any recovery for this (assuming we get root at some point), and then perhaps developing some custom ROM for it - seems like it should be a relatively easy thing considering a) we have the full ROM and kernel source even though it's just 4.4.2 at the moment (I would guess LG has no intentions of boosting this to 5.0 so that'll most likely never happen) and b) it's so close to the architecture of the CMDA/LTE version of the Moto G LTE that some kind of port might be possible towards Lollipop if and when that happens...?
Long sentence, sorry about that, I get wordy at times.
But I just figured I'd ask if there's any interest at all. Yes, it's weak on the resolution, yes, it's not a powerhouse device, yes, it's fairly cheap but it's functional and could be an awesome little smartphone with a little "help" thrown its way like a potential for a custom kernel as well to get the quad core and the governor a bit more under control.
I fully suspect this device is easily capable of 7 hours of SOT with such "upgrades" if anyone is interested. I lack the technical know-how and skills to get buried in ROM development much less kernels, so I figured I would toss the question out considering it shares so much common with the Moto G LTE variant + the Moto E's microSD slot potential.
Just curious... any responses are welcome and appreciated, thanks.
Update:
It's even better than I'd hoped...
Almost 8 hours of screen on time - that was a full movie (2 hours 15 minutes long and I let it play the entire thing, first frame to final), 4 TV shows (about 42-45 minutes long each), music playback for almost 1 hour, a few Wi-Fi phone calls using Google Hangouts/Voice, and some web surfing using the stock browser.
$40... absolutely amazing.
I'm just concerned about the amount of CPU time the Android OS shows there - it apparently used as much battery as the screen being on for 7 hours and 38 minutes did so there's something amiss hiding inside. Will be using Wakelock Detector to see if I can detect anything I can disable on the next go considering this was the first full 100% charge and battery test. Just for the record, the Keep Awake time listed on the Android OS battery usage page is 11 hours so it's not idle, there's something going on in there that's using the battery, now I just have to find out what it is. The CPU total time was 4 hours 17 minutes for Android OS.
I'm pretty satisfied, now I wonder what this thing could really be capable of in terms of battery life with a proper custom kernel and ROM. I wonder...
I've been waiting for something to pop up for this phone. I've had it for 2 weeks now. Its great. I agree the battery life is awesome on this thing.
I have the VM version and would be willing to test if someone came up with something.
sigh
Coming from an iPhone so I'm totally new to the android platform but the storage in this thing is severely lacking. I got a micro sd for it, but barely can even get any apps to download due to lack of space. I'm assuming something like this would be helped by a root. It's driving me bananas and making me yearn for my Apple days
Tribute
I also just switched to a Tribute, with KitKat. Was incredibly pissed off to find that Android had crippled the external SD's role. I mean, WTF guys? So now I am on a mission. Every day I scour the interwebs looking for hope that someone has figured out a root exploit for this. I would even settle for being able to flash a custom ROM like Cyanogen. Just so long as I can get PodKicker to save 'casts to the friggin SD card. Is that too much to ask? Anyway, nothing i have attempted so far has worked at all.
Oh, and you got lucky with the no bloatware thing. I got mine through Boost Mobile, and they clotted this damned thing chock full of B.S. To the point that OUT OF THE BOX I couldn't install apps from Playstore without uninstalling previous updates to all the big Google apps. And without Root, I can't get rid of this BoostZone ****e.
I have my doubts as to whether or not this device will get any support here at all at this point (yes I know it's just been a day or so since I made this thread). I didn't even know about the LG L90 till earlier today and when I checked out the specs I realized that it's a better device overall than the Tribute, of course the price reflects the differences as well (larger higher resolution screen, just qHD 960x540 but still it's larger at 4.7" also), with NFC support (I actually make use of that myself), the removable battery/microSD slot, and it's got support here with its own subforum now with a lot of activity (well, a lot for it I suppose) and it even has an IR port for QuickRemote too which is pretty awesome: my Wife is deaf so anytime we go someplace like a Doctor's office or hospital with TVs on, if the captions aren't enabled I turn 'em on with the smartphone. Used to do that with my Galaxy S4 Active in the past, nice to see LG and some other companies are hopping on the "remote control" bandwagon now too.
There's root available and also a bootloader unlock apparently, source code is out and there's work being done so... I wish I had known that before yesterday basically. Fry's, where I got this Tribute, won't do a return on it because I opened the box (and obviously I've done more since I got it too) so that's a wash I suppose. It's still a damned fine little device for $40.
The L90 is "on sale" through T-Mobile's website for $100 with a coupon code right now, I would have grabbed that if I had known about it and the development in progress. Guess I'll have to keep my eyes out next time, might find one used on craigslist soon so we'll see what happens.
I'll keep the Tribute, of course, and keep hoping for a root at some point. I did ask in the Stumproot thread for someone to take a look at it and see what might be possible so, let's keep our fingers crossed.
As for the bloat, I had someone at HowardForums tell me if I activate the phone with Sprint (which I haven't done) that'll install all the Sprint bloatware so, fat chance of that happening I guess. I'll keep it as is and hope for the best.
Anyone working on this? I tried stump, and there are a ton of requests, but no one has said a word about it.
Thanks!
Still hoping but no progress has been reported. It's common knowledge these days that root on newer devices is going to continue to get more and more difficult with the potential that someday we're just not going to be able to do it on most anything. The low price of this one and lack of the high end specs makes most devs (at least in my opinion) not even give a crap about it so, if someone does and we benefit from it, that's awesome.
If nothing happens, it wasn't a complete waste, it's a fine little device with decent processing power and damned great battery life as noted so, $40 was nothing I guess.
Still looking
Still looking for root to the LG Tribute and nothing works. Has anyone heard anything new about it???
Just bumping this to revive interest.
sweetbsting said:
Coming from an iPhone so I'm totally new to the android platform but the storage in this thing is severely lacking. I got a micro sd for it, but barely can even get any apps to download due to lack of space. I'm assuming something like this would be helped by a root. It's driving me bananas and making me yearn for my Apple days
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You so realize you bought a low to mid range prepaid phone right?
I realize that but there has been quite a bit of interest in the model on the internets so unless you have something helpful to add, kindly ignore my post. Thanks.
aburn95 said:
You so realize you bought a low to mid range prepaid phone right?
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Click to collapse
You do understand that your comment takes away from the actual thread content, right?
Here is more information about the phone for anyone interested in development:
LG LS660 (LG Tribute) Virgin Mobile.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-LS660-Virgin-Mobile-tribute
Should I buy this phone and wait for a root?
Or are there other similar price and spec phones that are easier to root?
Do some phones never get rooted?
-snip-
br0adband said:
There's root available and also a bootloader unlock apparently, source code is out and there's work being done so... I wish I had known that before yesterday basically. Fry's, where I got this Tribute, won't do a return on it because I opened the box (and obviously I've done more since I got it too) so that's a wash I suppose. It's still a damned fine little device for $40.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you inform us where you found root & bootloader unlock? I've been on Android for years, but am relatively new to the root/mod side of things.
LiquidRabbit said:
Where did you download this? I am pretty curious.
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I don't own the LG Tribute any longer but the source code was at LG's open source repository for the LS660P (the Sprint variant, but it should be identical to the others I would guess):
https://www.lg.com/global/support/opensource/opensourceList?types=NAME&search=ls660p
emarkp said:
Can you inform us where you found root & bootloader unlock? I've been on Android for years, but am relatively new to the root/mod side of things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I can't even remember now, I saw some post at one of the other forums (AndroidPolice maybe) that said someone had discovered a working bootloader unlock, I could be wrong in that but honestly I can't recall the specifics at the momemt. As stated, I no longer own a Tribute (nothing at the moment, my sig always reflects what I own at any given time, for the record).
Good luck... it's really a fantastic smartphone for the $40 I paid for it (and Fry's still sells it for that price). I wish there was a GSM model 'cause I'd be all over it in a second flat; can't do much of anything with the CDMA model in terms of getting service here in my area. I won't deal with Sprint for service, and Boost/Virgin Mobile/etc don't have plans that come anywhere near what the $30/month T-Mobile plan does so...
For $35 a month, you get unlimited everything on Virgin Mobile...
For $20, you get 300 minutes and unlimited everything. I stuck with the $20 plan at unlimited everything as I was grandfathered in many, many years ago.
Possible root method?
Hello! I have been using android for a while and just got this phone (LG Tribute, Virgin Mobile). I was researching rooting this, and I found this: youtube.com/watch?v=ZBdrVa_bo5o
It seems to be advertising legit software, etc, but I wonder if this successfully roots the Tribute. On their website (androidphonetransfer_DOTCOM) ,they have a free trial for the software.
I'd like to try it, but I'm not sure if it would mess up my device or not (I'm new to rooting). anyone want to give this a try?
It does not work.
I am also interested. I was looking for a android phone with at least 4.5 inch screen to act as a dedicated gps navigator. LG Tribute fit the bill perfectly. Quad core processor is fast, would be nice to get rid of Sprint activation and clean the device up with a root.
I'm surprised there is not more interest in this phone. The sale price of $40 happens pretty regularly, which IMO is a great deal for this phone.
So far I love it. One of the first things I did was download Google Now launcher, as I was coming from a Nexus 6 and had the Nexus 5 before that, and the Nexus 4 before that. So yeah, I was really used to stock(ish) Android. I can deal with most of the software changes I'm dealt with, it's no big deal to change the way I used to do things. Sometimes I think purist Android users can be over the top, but that's like anything else in life.
It's fast as hell once I turned off animations like I always do. WIFI reception seems average, and so does the network. I love the thinness of it. (remember I came from a Nexus 6 which is wide as %$#@) It feels like it was made for my hand.
I'm obviously not going in order here, but even the unboxing experience was very nice. Very neatly packaged in a slick white box that screamed quality. And they included all of the necessary accessories to have a nice first impression. They included a USB-C to Micro USB converter for those that need it, a plastic screen protector, a clear case, a quick charge wall unit, and an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain. Nice. Sometimes it's the little things that really matter, and you can tell a company actually cares about its customers. Anker is one of the best when it comes to customer relations. Keep that in mind when buying cables or chargers.
After watching some of the Youtube reviews of this phone, (after I bought it) I was a little worried if I had made a mistake. After getting it and using it for a while, all of those concerns are negated. It's just fine, and a hell of a deal (I got it for $329 from Newegg). Even me being a long time Rommer and rooter, I don't feel the need to Rom. (that may change) Google Launcher works great, so I'm happy.
There's a bunch of tweaks I have to do yet, but so far it's been nice. I have no issues whatsoever. It's just a good solid phone for what you pay. $329 is actually a good price at this point. And even cheaper if you don't mind gently used. Thumbs up on this phone.
Thank you for your review. In particular I did not realize that in the box there is "an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain" until reading your review! . I would miss this practical tool, thinking that it was an useless piece of rubber.
dnlilas said:
Thank you for your review. In particular I did not realize that in the box there is "an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain" until reading your review! . I would miss this practical tool, thinking that it was an useless piece of rubber.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was trying to be semi-sarcastic.
I had much the same experience with mine, loving it at first, and also coming from a Nexus 6. I'm planning on selling mine now though as I've been unable to unlock the bootloader to get root and custom recovery. The stock software isn't bad compared to some, but compared to the freedom you have with the Nexus 6, being stuck on stock unrooted kinda sucks.
It's been kind of a pain trying to sell it again not at a significant loss though, so I'm thinking about trying to give it another go and unlock the bootloader. I was running into the problem of not being able to mount the SD Card in recovery to flash the B20 firmare.
It really is a great phone hardware wise. I absolutely love the bright, vibrant screen and the speakers are great. Plus I like the look of the phone overall. If I could just get the software I wanted on it I could live happily ever after, lol.
wolfen69 said:
So far I love it. One of the first things I did was download Google Now launcher, as I was coming from a Nexus 6 and had the Nexus 5 before that, and the Nexus 4 before that. So yeah, I was really used to stock(ish) Android. I can deal with most of the software changes I'm dealt with, it's no big deal to change the way I used to do things. Sometimes I think purist Android users can be over the top, but that's like anything else in life.
It's fast as hell once I turned off animations like I always do. WIFI reception seems average, and so does the network. I love the thinness of it. (remember I came from a Nexus 6 which is wide as %$#@) It feels like it was made for my hand.
I'm obviously not going in order here, but even the unboxing experience was very nice. Very neatly packaged in a slick white box that screamed quality. And they included all of the necessary accessories to have a nice first impression. They included a USB-C to Micro USB converter for those that need it, a plastic screen protector, a clear case, a quick charge wall unit, and an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain. Nice. Sometimes it's the little things that really matter, and you can tell a company actually cares about its customers. Anker is one of the best when it comes to customer relations. Keep that in mind when buying cables or chargers.
After watching some of the Youtube reviews of this phone, (after I bought it) I was a little worried if I had made a mistake. After getting it and using it for a while, all of those concerns are negated. It's just fine, and a hell of a deal (I got it for $329 from Newegg). Even me being a long time Rommer and rooter, I don't feel the need to Rom. (that may change) Google Launcher works great, so I'm happy.
There's a bunch of tweaks I have to do yet, but so far it's been nice. I have no issues whatsoever. It's just a good solid phone for what you pay. $329 is actually a good price at this point. And even cheaper if you don't mind gently used. Thumbs up on this phone.
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Click to collapse
Good to go on the write up here. I went with a used one via Swappa, waiting for it to come in and I checked around with some XDA knowledge before hand. And they said it was a good device. I look forward to getting, although these days I dont have much time in "mod'ing / flashing" but I also had a N6P, which sold that via Swappa.
Thanks again for your thoughts here. :good:
Prozart said:
I was running into the problem of not being able to mount the SD Card in recovery to flash the B20 firmare.
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Click to collapse
Sorry for totally off-topic, but I have no idea what you mean with flashing the B20 firmware. If it's the same process as the A2017G just using axon7tool (axon7toolkit might do it too, and probably easier) works. After you have TWRP you can spam the SD card option under Mount and it'll mount itself eventually. Or use the USB cable via MTP on TWRP. but again, what B20 firmware?
I don't know if I'll be able to help you, I just read most guides for the A2017G. Try axon7toolkit since it supposedly works for all 3 versions and can unlock your BL.
And the review, I honestly don't know what kind of mind control ZTE uses on the stock ROM, but I'm constantly going back to it after trying other ROMs. It works nicely if you don't count the things they break on every update, but hey, it gives a little of thrill to the whole situation (Will they fix Google Play? Will they even bother to fix exFAT? What about mobile data?)
What about the SIM tool? It is pretty awesome xd
Exfat is fixed in the new update b04 now u can use SD card upto 256gb.