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ok, here i am... in the android world, after many years of winmo - and i must say wow, i was missing a lot! i just bought a thunderbolt as a replacement for my htc touch pro2 (which was running stock, only after i broke my old one and didnt take the time to re do it again)
what i could do on my tp2 was run hotspot app PROVIDED by HTC (not sure why or how that slipped through big red's net) but it was free, no tethering/hotspot fee needed.
i like my TB (but not the bloatware) and am currently refusing all updates till i make my mind up on rooting. right now - kernel 2.6.32.21.gb05544a dated march 1, 2011 and the software number is 1.13.605.7. my guess is that since i bought it from amazonwireless, big red hasnt updated it, and it sat on the shelf at amazon for a bit. either way, the hotspot app still works for free.
my questions:
1. if i continue to refuse, can i assume that one day i will wake up updated or find my phone automatically updating without my permission?
2. if i root (before this big scary update happens) will my phone automatically go back to a stock rom, only with superuser access where i can remove bloatware manually and install a wifi hotspot app, or will i have to flash to a rom?
i am familiar with flashing windows mobile phones, flashed my past 2 devices to the newest software (had my tp2 before 6.5 was released for that phone, so flashed to 6 before big red officially released it). but it didnt need constant 'attention' once it was flashed. i used to fool around with sat boxes that did need constant attention and monitoring and waiting for charlies next emp, then scrambling to reflash. that was a pain.
3. will my rooted TB need constant attention or will i be able to tootle around without a care, only flashing when someone releases a rom that i might want to try out or some big release <gingerbread> is ready for rooted phones?
thanks for your time!
PS: I have read that people cant use netflix app on TB - i downloaded it, and it works fine for me. i am stuck in 3g land until next winter, but i would think that 4g would rock... just FYI in case anyone cares.
good questions. i'd like to see these answered too
fxb141 said:
ok, here i am... in the android world, after many years of winmo - and i must say wow, i was missing a lot! i just bought a thunderbolt as a replacement for my htc touch pro2 (which was running stock, only after i broke my old one and didnt take the time to re do it again)
what i could do on my tp2 was run hotspot app PROVIDED by HTC (not sure why or how that slipped through big red's net) but it was free, no tethering/hotspot fee needed.
i like my TB (but not the bloatware) and am currently refusing all updates till i make my mind up on rooting. right now - kernel 2.6.32.21.gb05544a dated march 1, 2011 and the software number is 1.13.605.7. my guess is that since i bought it from amazonwireless, big red hasnt updated it, and it sat on the shelf at amazon for a bit. either way, the hotspot app still works for free.
my questions:
1. if i continue to refuse, can i assume that one day i will wake up updated or find my phone automatically updating without my permission?
2. if i root (before this big scary update happens) will my phone automatically go back to a stock rom, only with superuser access where i can remove bloatware manually and install a wifi hotspot app, or will i have to flash to a rom?
i am familiar with flashing windows mobile phones, flashed my past 2 devices to the newest software (had my tp2 before 6.5 was released for that phone, so flashed to 6 before big red officially released it). but it didnt need constant 'attention' once it was flashed. i used to fool around with sat boxes that did need constant attention and monitoring and waiting for charlies next emp, then scrambling to reflash. that was a pain.
3. will my rooted TB need constant attention or will i be able to tootle around without a care, only flashing when someone releases a rom that i might want to try out or some big release <gingerbread> is ready for rooted phones?
thanks for your time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the world of Android! We hope you enjoy your stay ^__^. While I don't have a TBolt myself, I think any user opinion is good. Phone's auto updating is rare, like extremely rare, but I have seen it on some of the lesser model phones. I don't think you need to worry about it though. The free hotspot app however may be noticed and tagged as a tether as big red gets their chubby fingers around the few apps they are missing.
To root or not to root, that is the question.....or is it! The answer is up to you. If your comfortable with it than root it! All rooting will do is give you superuser ability, and the ability to flash custom roms/kernels/mods. If you want to keep the stock rom, than all you need to do is flash and nothing more. Rooting your phone doesn't auto flash some random rom. Roms are typically not built with an auto updater, so you only need to reflash a rom if you want to change roms or update to the newest version. I would say I flash at least an image a day on my Dinc. Once your rooted, regardless of the rom, I would suggest downloading some backup software (Titanium Backup or it's like for TBolt) and of course a tethering app, whether you want wired or wireless is up to you. Once you root, you lose your connection to big red's update servers and so you never have to worry about an update that returns you to stock like you do with i<anything's>.
Happy flashing!
fxb141 said:
ok, here i am... in the android world, after many years of winmo - and i must say wow, i was missing a lot! i just bought a thunderbolt as a replacement for my htc touch pro2 (which was running stock, only after i broke my old one and didnt take the time to re do it again)
what i could do on my tp2 was run hotspot app PROVIDED by HTC (not sure why or how that slipped through big red's net) but it was free, no tethering/hotspot fee needed.
i like my TB (but not the bloatware) and am currently refusing all updates till i make my mind up on rooting. right now - kernel 2.6.32.21.gb05544a dated march 1, 2011 and the software number is 1.13.605.7. my guess is that since i bought it from amazonwireless, big red hasnt updated it, and it sat on the shelf at amazon for a bit. either way, the hotspot app still works for free.
my questions:
1. if i continue to refuse, can i assume that one day i will wake up updated or find my phone automatically updating without my permission?
2. if i root (before this big scary update happens) will my phone automatically go back to a stock rom, only with superuser access where i can remove bloatware manually and install a wifi hotspot app, or will i have to flash to a rom?
i am familiar with flashing windows mobile phones, flashed my past 2 devices to the newest software (had my tp2 before 6.5 was released for that phone, so flashed to 6 before big red officially released it). but it didnt need constant 'attention' once it was flashed. i used to fool around with sat boxes that did need constant attention and monitoring and waiting for charlies next emp, then scrambling to reflash. that was a pain.
3. will my rooted TB need constant attention or will i be able to tootle around without a care, only flashing when someone releases a rom that i might want to try out or some big release <gingerbread> is ready for rooted phones?
thanks for your time!
PS: I have read that people cant use netflix app on TB - i downloaded it, and it works fine for me. i am stuck in 3g land until next winter, but i would think that 4g would rock... just FYI in case anyone cares.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tbolt just got netflix last week for stock users.
Even if you are not going to flash a custom ROM right now, I would root.
Reason being that rooting requires you to flash old firmware so your phone gets wiped. Better to do it now, then that way you can use apps like Titanium backup.
fxb141 said:
ok, here i am... in the android world, after many years of winmo - and i must say wow, i was missing a lot! i just bought a thunderbolt as a replacement for my htc touch pro2 (which was running stock, only after i broke my old one and didnt take the time to re do it again)
what i could do on my tp2 was run hotspot app PROVIDED by HTC (not sure why or how that slipped through big red's net) but it was free, no tethering/hotspot fee needed.
i like my TB (but not the bloatware) and am currently refusing all updates till i make my mind up on rooting. right now - kernel 2.6.32.21.gb05544a dated march 1, 2011 and the software number is 1.13.605.7. my guess is that since i bought it from amazonwireless, big red hasnt updated it, and it sat on the shelf at amazon for a bit. either way, the hotspot app still works for free.
my questions:
1. if i continue to refuse, can i assume that one day i will wake up updated or find my phone automatically updating without my permission?
2. if i root (before this big scary update happens) will my phone automatically go back to a stock rom, only with superuser access where i can remove bloatware manually and install a wifi hotspot app, or will i have to flash to a rom?
i am familiar with flashing windows mobile phones, flashed my past 2 devices to the newest software (had my tp2 before 6.5 was released for that phone, so flashed to 6 before big red officially released it). but it didnt need constant 'attention' once it was flashed. i used to fool around with sat boxes that did need constant attention and monitoring and waiting for charlies next emp, then scrambling to reflash. that was a pain.
3. will my rooted TB need constant attention or will i be able to tootle around without a care, only flashing when someone releases a rom that i might want to try out or some big release <gingerbread> is ready for rooted phones?
thanks for your time!
PS: I have read that people cant use netflix app on TB - i downloaded it, and it works fine for me. i am stuck in 3g land until next winter, but i would think that 4g would rock... just FYI in case anyone cares.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but there are OTA's that can't be rooted.
What rooting your phone will do is install a new stock ROM which means it will wipe your whole phone. From there you can flash up to anything you want. Don't do rooting the lazy way. Use the ADB process and do it right. If you have a problem along the way, you'll be very glad you did it that way because you'd end up getting into ADB to fix any problem anyhow. Plus, jcase and other at andirc.net are very helpful.
If you root you will end up with whatever ROM is used during the root process. If you go to the development threads and to the stickied rooting instructions it will show you what RUU is used for the rooting process.
If you havent updated your phone you might even find that the ROM you get after rooting might be a newer version of the one you are using. If you want to stick with that ROM you can and just debloat it yourself or find another debloated ROM out there.
Once rooted you can use it similar to how you used your stock phone with no extra maintenance steps needed. If you start flashing nightlies or alpha/beta ROMs then you will start needing to monitor your phone for behavioral problems more.
There are no OTA's that cant be rooted. When an OTA comes out and you are rooted you should wait on flashing it as you would loose root if you did but in just a few days the dev's will create a rooted version to flash. Those OTA's will then be started to be used as the base for new ROMs.
Root! Root! Root!
As far as requiring tinkering as has been mentioned just rooting alone won't change a whole lot for your regular experience. The fun comes in trying out new ROMs. Some of the ROMs out there are very stable and once installed shouldn't need a whole lot of tinkering either (unless you get the FLASH habit that so many seem to develop and decide to flash a new one every day *wink*).
I rooted and installed Thundersense 1.5 onto mine, it's pretty nice. While I am running into some problems with bluetooth audio, having root capability means I can actually tinker with the phone's settings to try to fix issues instead of waiting forever for Verizon/HTC to push out another update that may or may not resolve whatever issue I have.
Not rooting is like driving around in a sports car with a parachute tied to the back.
Just do it.
When you root following Jcases method in the dev section you end up with a bone stock 1.13.605.7 with root. You might still get prompted for updates if you stay on the stock build but DO NOT ACCEPT if rooted. It will just cause problems and you might lose root or worse. I havent heard of Thunderbolts updating themselves but I have heard of Evos, I belive, that did. (according to users posts) So you never know but I belive something to do with Clockwork Mod Recovery(A custom recovery for android that you install after rooting.) will cause the update to fail anyway. As I understand it right now all OTAs can be rooted BUT the Gingerbread update will apparently close all known exploits to get root when it is released. There will always be rooted versions of the stock OTAs posted in the dev section you can flash if you want the newest updates and to be rooted. Of course there are lots of custom ROMs for the Thunderbolt to try out that are fast and stable. So I say root. It takes some reading and learning if you are new to it but its will worth it.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt
rooted and reloaded software
Thanks all for your advice! I successfully rooted my TB and it only took a few minutes to reload my apps and get it into working order. netflix is jumpy now, but could be the connection - going to mess with that some. not a big loss anyway - more of a 'wow, thats cool' than useful.
appbrain and HTC Sync with outlook contacts worked great for quick 'restore'
another question though - i am trying to remove the bloat and things like vcast and vznav will not let me uninstall. what is the best way to do this? i know i am rooted - barnicle works and has superuser access.
also, any good cooked sense roms that someone can recommend? not looking for one that constantly needs attention, just some cool things like cpu under/over clocking ability, and if SOMEONE would get a ford sync app that i could use voice command to text over sync - that would rock too!
Synergy ROM is my ROM of choice. It's based on the newest GB leak for the Tbolt, and has Sense 2.1 with Sense 3.0 features, so I find it less laggy than full on Sense 3.0 ROMs, and Ziggy's kernel (included in the ROM) works great with no SetCPU needed. It's worth a try. You can find a link to the download in my sig.
Happy flashing!
that's awesome. i was think this very thing. I'm sold, I'm rooting.
orkillakilla said:
Synergy ROM is my ROM of choice. It's based on the newest GB leak for the Tbolt, and has Sense 2.1 with Sense 3.0 features, so I find it less laggy than full on Sense 3.0 ROMs, and Ziggy's kernel (included in the ROM) works great with no SetCPU needed. It's worth a try. You can find a link to the download in my sig.
Happy flashing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I would probably try this ROM - Is there anything i would need to change on my stock everything, no updates, no frills TB - like, will i have to update the radio before flashing?
I must say, i love the synergy rom! it seems fast and really rocks! I did have to update my stock base version radio MR1 to MR2.5 so i had service. flashing went great. many kudos to each and every post i read with regard to rooting, flashing, radios and roms!!! yes, i am a lurker, but thanks all around!
fxb141 said:
I must say, i love the synergy rom! it seems fast and really rocks! I did have to update my stock base version radio MR1 to MR2.5 so i had service. flashing went great. many kudos to each and every post i read with regard to rooting, flashing, radios and roms!!! yes, i am a lurker, but thanks all around!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad everything worked out and that you are enjoying Synergy. Don't be afraid to try other ROMs though. I've flashed almost every rom out there and decided to keep synergy.
Sent from my HTC GingerBolt powered by the lastest Synergy ROM
Too many horror stories for me to root just yet. However I get multiple update demands from verizon every day which is driving me crazy, and today was the first time it actually tried to update itself without permission. I just happened to open my phone at work and saw it trying to download the update on its own. There was no way to cancel it either, I had to reboot the phone immediately to make it stop. It has yet to reappear, but we'll see what happens.
Rooting isn't worth it. Most of the ROM's out now are just plain awful (some people have no taste).
What are these horror stories you speak of?? I haven't heard of one person brick their phone rooting and that's the only horror story I can think of involving rooting. It's actually a pretty easy process if you just read up on what you are doing first.
As for the claim all the ROMs suck...well everyone if entitled to their opinion but there are Froyo sense and de-sensed ROMs, Gingerbread sense and de-sensed ROMs, and AOSP ROMs. You can have sense 2.1, 3.0, or no sense. Lots of themes to choose from if you want them. I don't see how that list is any different from any other HTC phone. That is not even including the fact that a lot of them greatly improve performance and batery life.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt
Hi all,
So, I took the leap of rooting my HOX+ (international) about 2 months ago, and the ROM of choice was CM.
I loved it! Love everything about it. At the time, the "stable" channel hadn't been opened, so I was using the version in nightly - it's been moved to stable now - 10.1.
Since I was attached to the stable repo, Goo Manager notified me when 10.2 moved into nightly. After a couple of days of having it stick in my status bar, nagging for an update, I just clicked and let it do its thing.
Unfortunately, this broke my phone . I got an error something along the lines of "the process com.android.phone has stopped". When I tapped "okay" the notification would re-appear after <1 second. I've since found out via Google this is something to do with my kernel (why the auto-update didn't update the kernel too is beyond me =s ) - but at the time, I just wanted a functioning phone with minimal fuss, and thought it'd be best moving myself to stable anyway. This is what I did.
That was Tuesday of this week. Between then and now, the "signal"/reception on the phone (I use Vodafone, so coverage isn't spectacular anyway) has been awful - calls randomly dropping, and it just being unreliable and generally a pain. This is despite it being the supposedly "stable" channel, and the version being the same as the one I installed from nightly (previously). Maturing seemed to make the ROM more buggy, not less!
In the interests of having a working phone, I decided to leave CM. Atm, I'm going to try out an AOKP build - though officially unofficial, I'm hoping that minimalistic => less things to break. We'll see how it goes.
I've run various Google searches and the HOX+ finally seems to be getting (after nearly a year) a good developer community - with Lloir at the forefront of it, and Maxwen's blade kernel. Could anyone recommend a flexible, good looking, regularly updated ROM? I'm not a Sense fan (not long before rooting, Sense 5 came out, and it was "the straw that broke the camel's back" so to speak), but otherwise...I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. GPL would be good, and I'm a fan of minimalism (having as little clutter in the way of unused apps as possible). An active and engaged developer/dev community is a must - I don't want to install software that will become obsolete within a week, and have no prospect of a new release. Other than that, I'm more or less happy to try everything/anything!
Cheers,
AA.
PS - I should probably mention, although I'm in no way a dev, I am quite comfortable with tech, and don't mind spending a bit of time researching things to get stuff working. I'm a dedicated GNU/Linux user, and after a fair bit of distro-hopping I've come full circle to landing on Xubuntu. My view of my phone is basically a more awkward, more delicate version of my PC - the concept of "bricking" a computer is a joke, and I think until this possibility is 100% eliminated on phones, the developer community is always going to be slightly held back. I think the models used for developing Linux OSes could/should be applied to the ROM development process, too - as brilliant as the community is atm, it does have the "exclusive hacker culture" feel to it still.
The kernel didn't update because the device is s-on, also the call dropping bug, is you're problem no one else mentioned it. Just do research on the small amount of ROMs we got.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Lloir said:
The kernel didn't update because the device is s-on, also the call dropping bug, is you're problem no one else mentioned it. Just do research on the small amount of ROMs we got.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
How come you can be so sure of the cause? The 'symptom' must be relatively common, I suppose a bit like the technological equivalent of a headache and nausea.
The device is S-ON, you're right. I've read a little but I've not found anything specific to the UK about potential risks. You've got the same phone as me, and you're in the UK too, would you recommend going S-OFF? Does it cause problems with your carrier (I read somewhere that the manufacturer wasn't so bothered, but the carrier was - as it allowed the user to change certain things to do with the way the phone received carrier signal)?
Last bit on ROMs - I've read/seen quite a lot, but the information just isn't out there (unless you personally badger the devs, perhaps). The most official most ROMs get is a thread here. Compare that to (for instance) a Linux distro - you can more or less guarantee that if a distro is linked to on Distrowatch, it'll have it's own site, you can read up about source, included packages, what distinguishing features that OS has, what DE/package manager, etc. There's virtually no equivalent for phones - the best I've seen is xda's ROM listings under the device...if you're lucky one or two of the bigger ones (e.g. CM) will have it's own site. So, in lieu of that, I'm wanting to get a feel of what other users are doing, and what they'd recommend
ArminasAnarchy said:
Hi,
How come you can be so sure of the cause? The 'symptom' must be relatively common, I suppose a bit like the technological equivalent of a headache and nausea.
The device is S-ON, you're right. I've read a little but I've not found anything specific to the UK about potential risks. You've got the same phone as me, and you're in the UK too, would you recommend going S-OFF? Does it cause problems with your carrier (I read somewhere that the manufacturer wasn't so bothered, but the carrier was - as it allowed the user to change certain things to do with the way the phone received carrier signal)?
Last bit on ROMs - I've read/seen quite a lot, but the information just isn't out there (unless you personally badger the devs, perhaps). The most official most ROMs get is a thread here. Compare that to (for instance) a Linux distro - you can more or less guarantee that if a distro is linked to on Distrowatch, it'll have it's own site, you can read up about source, included packages, what distinguishing features that OS has, what DE/package manager, etc. There's virtually no equivalent for phones - the best I've seen is xda's ROM listings under the device...if you're lucky one or two of the bigger ones (e.g. CM) will have it's own site. So, in lieu of that, I'm wanting to get a feel of what other users are doing, and what they'd recommend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you cannot S-OFF the X+ currently, so i'm not going into that. Also you stated you flashed from CM10.1 > 10.2, which i assume was a dirty flash (no full wipe etc)
it's like installing the Arch + xubuntu on the same hard drive, which is bound to cause issues. So a full wipe was needed, as you should know "nightlies" are well nightlies, UNSTABLE
the closest we have to distrowatch are the rom reviews and so on. there's my PureAosp, AOSP+ both based on 4.3
CM as well you know what that is.
AOKP no longer supported but stable.
as "best rom" and so on are fround upon, due to the flame and chest beating and so on. which mean's you won't get a good answer tbh, and i'am quite impartial when it comes to rom's as i won't recommend anyone's rom's nor my own.
Lloir said:
you cannot S-OFF the X+ currently, so i'm not going into that. Also you stated you flashed from CM10.1 > 10.2, which i assume was a dirty flash (no full wipe etc)
it's like installing the Arch + xubuntu on the same hard drive, which is bound to cause issues. So a full wipe was needed, as you should know "nightlies" are well nightlies, UNSTABLE
the closest we have to distrowatch are the rom reviews and so on. there's my PureAosp, AOSP+ both based on 4.3
CM as well you know what that is.
AOKP no longer supported but stable.
as "best rom" and so on are fround upon, due to the flame and chest beating and so on. which mean's you won't get a good answer tbh, and i'am quite impartial when it comes to rom's as i won't recommend anyone's rom's nor my own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First thing first, cheers for this man! It's good to be able to have a "conversation" with a dev - although Linux distros have got more infrastructure in place, there is a lack of 1:1 as a result (of having so many devs, etc).
It wasn't a dirty flash at all - every time I've written a new ROM I've wiped everything (or at least, ticked all the boxes in TWRP), then after reformatted - you can see the output of the 'make ext4fs' in front of your eyes. So unless it's that there's some partition which is write-protected (I assume the kernel is - since every time I've had to flash a new kernel - regardless of the wiping in TWRP, the phone just boot-loops without the kernel being flashed)...it's been clean.
I flashed 10.1 BEFORE it was in stable - so my phone was still pointing at the nightly repo (I guess?). GooManager pestered me into updating, and when I did, I ran into issues (presumably, the auto-update isn't intelligent enough to write a new kernel, and/or its in this write-protected partition which can't be accessed from the OS?)
It'd been a while since I'd put 10.1 on, and thought it'd be worth checking to see if it was in stable yet (it was). Did full wipe - as above - and then hit that annoying bug with call dropping. So I'd gone from being working on nightly to broken on stable. Time for a new ROM, methinks...looked around, and decide to post here.
As things stand I'm using AOKP (just because it was another popular ROM I knew, not really for any other reason). It's doing my head in though - either I'm being thick, or there's no option to edit settings in ANY app. I'm missing some of the gloss CM has too, things like it coming with a File Manager installed (why the hell would you not have one?!). From what you say, flashing 10.1 might be worth trying again...I'll go through from ground 0 and hopefully it won't break this time.
I get the thing with not wanting to advertise...so instead can I ask what you yourself use on your HOX+? Do you use it as a main phone, or is it just something you use for developing?
ArminasAnarchy said:
(presumably, the auto-update isn't intelligent enough to write a new kernel, and/or its in this write-protected partition which can't be accessed from the OS?)
I get the thing with not wanting to advertise...so instead can I ask what you yourself use on your HOX+? Do you use it as a main phone, or is it just something you use for developing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are right on point 1, it's in the write protected partition, and 2nd point, i tend to use my own rom's....i'am in the mindset, if i don't use my own rom's why should other people?
Lloir said:
you are right on point 1, it's in the write protected partition, and 2nd point, i tend to use my own rom's....i'am in the mindset, if i don't use my own rom's why should other people?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, I see the logic!
Okay: so we've narrowed it down to a kernel issue. With my AOKP flash, what I did (blade wasn't for the right Android version I think) was extracted the .img file from the ROM.zip and flashed that.
With CM 10,1 (i.e. stable channel) - in your opinion would it be better to do the same, or use the blade kernel?
ArminasAnarchy said:
Haha, I see the logic!
Okay: so we've narrowed it down to a kernel issue. With my AOKP flash, what I did (blade wasn't for the right Android version I think) was extracted the .img file from the ROM.zip and flashed that.
With CM 10,1 (i.e. stable channel) - in your opinion would it be better to do the same, or use the blade kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ALL my rom's are extract kernel from zip, i'am not sure what max did with his AOKP.....but 100% all mine you pull from zip and flash that
you can try the CM10.2 btw M1 not long ago released....just an idea..
Lloir said:
ALL my rom's are extract kernel from zip, i'am not sure what max did with his AOKP.....but 100% all mine you pull from zip and flash that
you can try the CM10.2 btw M1 not long ago released....just an idea..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Re-installed 10.1 (stable) again. Same issue, even though I've only had it running for 24 hours, it's dropped the call and didn't seem able to get 3G data (it was stuck at "E" for some reason, which makes doing anything impossible) despite being in the middle of the city and not near anything obvious that should block it like a huge block of flats etc.
I installed 10.2, we'll see how it goes.
Just a dumb question, but what makes an OTA update different from a ROM? More specifically, why can OTAs flash fine while retaining user data while installing a ROM generally requires data to be wiped?
Thanks
It's never required, but is recommended. It can cause issues with a new ROM and it's also been known to sometimes cause issues with ota updates as well. Some people would have to wipe data after doing an update to fix strange issues.
I know in the past when coming from a 4.0 ROM and going to 4.1 or higher almost always needed data wipes. Some data gets associated with an older os and when that data is copied to a newer one, that app may not be compatible with the newer os version, causing issues.
prshosting.org
I've only got my S4 four days ago, but I've been ROMing before then for years. Things are a LOT tighter here in S4 land, as you can read all over. ROMing started in the old non-locked down phone days, and is still heavy on Nexus devices. Nexus devices are the ones that are first out the door with a new Android OS. The 'Nexus 5' by LG is out now to introduce KitKat (4.4). As soon as the new Android OS is released on Google's Open Source servers, ROM devs grab it and adapt it to a zillion other phones. Up until last Friday I had a custom ROM 4.4 KitKat on my Galaxy Nexus (got it from VZW on day1 Dec 2011) using full CWM recovery mode to swap ROMS in and out any time.
Answer to your question... an OTA OS is what they want you to have, with all the Samsung/VZW add-ons, a nice safe for them package. A custom ROM you load can be anything else, super clean AOSP Android, or heavily modified with all sorts of cool add-ons various developers have created. Since these S4's are so locked down, devs are really restricted in what they can do to a ROM, and it a real headache to get them loaded after that.
My phone came with MI1 and I rooted it an hour after getting home with it last weekend. I played with Safestrap, but decided there wasn't anything worth ROMing out there for an S4 compared to what I knew on my old open phone. I took the MK7 load 2 days ago, still rooted thanks to the write-ups here. The Samsung/VZW 4.3 is actually pretty nice in my opinion (once you 'Turn OFF' some things or 'Freeze' them with Titanium Backup). I don't plan on any ROMS for the S4. I'm actually relieved with that. ROMing becomes an addiction. My dog is happier with the new phone too, as we get to go on more walks with my new found non-ROMing time.
I have owned more android phones than any non dev has a right to lol, and never before have I run stock this long
Thing is any other phone I have owned there has always been at least one rom that sticks out to me, but there just isn't with this phone. It's not that I do not think any are great, I just have not seen anything that jumps out to me.
So anyhow I was hoping maybe I might be able to get some people to share some of their favorite features, or things that are missing that do not work etc from roms currently available for hte Verizon LG G3.
Thanks in advance!
Morkai Almandragon said:
I have owned more android phones than any non dev has a right to lol, and never before have I run stock this long
Thing is any other phone I have owned there has always been at least one rom that sticks out to me, but there just isn't with this phone. It's not that I do not think any are great, I just have not seen anything that jumps out to me.
So anyhow I was hoping maybe I might be able to get some people to share some of their favorite features, or things that are missing that do not work etc from roms currently available for hte Verizon LG G3.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the feeling, to an extent. I'm still very much AOSP-inclined, but as far as "stock" roms go, you could definitely get a lot worse than LG's (cough, touchwiz, cough ). Anyway, At this point I've bounced back and forth between 4.4.4 roms and 5.0(.1) ones, as I can't find exactly what I want. On one hand, I like the bleeding edge of 5.0, but on the other, stability is real nice haha...which LG's stock offers, for the most part. I wish that there was just one "rock-solid" 4.4.4 rom out there, but every one I've tried has noticeable issues to some extent. They're often not severe, but they're enough to ideally want a little better. Back on my S3 I ran slimkat, and outside of battery life (which might have just been largely my old battery), it was easily my favorite and most stable daily driver. I'm currently running the latest build of the unofficial slimkat, but I think that the timing of when this device got unlocked, and all the hype about lollipop, etc. it seems like a rock-solid stable 4.4.4 may not exist for a while, if ever. Thing is, 4.4.4 to me really has a lot of benefits still over 5.0. It's not quite as speedy, but being able to run xposed, etc. are big plus'es imho. Just my 2c
I find myself in the same position. I really like xposed therefore I am rooted and running stock with xposed installed. Haven't tried any roms and will probably wait until there is a stable 5.0 rom.
I'm in the same boat, this is my first LG phone and I actually think the stock rom is pretty nice after I rooted, removed the bloat, and installed exposed, I usually run a rom for a few weeks until I get bored with it and look for something new, usually flash back and forth from aosp to stock, but I may keep it the way it is for a while, like the op said, I dont really see anything that jumps out to me and says "FLASH ME" either, I like lollipop but none of the roms had anything much to offer and I missed tweaking with exposed. the most important things to me are being able to root and tweak things and a rom that runs smooth and stable, stock has done this so far.
HI everyone,
I received a new LG G3 today. It was a great price with all the new phones out and I now have stock QI. SWEET! I'm coming from a VZN note 2 w horrible touchwiz/ some ROMS tried. Ultimately I dont want to flash roms unless LG sucks, I'd prefer to unlock and root to allow for special applications, I'll get to why at the bottom. I'm seeking your opinion and thoughts in regards to:
1.) Should I unlock/root in 4.2.2 prior to the OTA update and stay with 4.4.2? I was not too happy with Kit Kat and it seems that as you get closer to lollipop I had less customization and was annoyed more often with the loss of features within apps and bland styles.; do you agree? I have only seen lollipop from google researching and it looks similar to Kit Kat, just so, so.... Currently in 4.2.2 I can use Google wallet, my chromecast with any movie and music, etc; I don't think I would be gaining any feature except full screen casting, but I have a computer and Chromecast dedicated to my TV. The new notification styles don't impress me either. I had other notification options with CM11 (lock screen/etc) and was not that thrilled with it to upgrade. Normal pictures are fine with me and I'm not trying to win any film contests. No reason to beam stuff, and I like the full month view with digicalendar widget on one home screen (hated google's new calendar views).... Do you regret upgrading? I'm hoping and praying LG has a solid ROM that doesn't drive me crazing crashing with glitches.
lastly any suggestions - Do I need to root now or do anything else to prevent being locked out after the upgrade if I do do it, as is the case of Samsung? I was so glad I locked out OTA updates that screwed a bunch of people out of unlocking their bootloaders for long periods of time.
THANKS FOR YOUR ADVICE AND TIME EVERYONE! I really do appreciate it and I'm excited to start learning about the G3 and having a lot of fun.
My thoughts/background on staying stock w root and unlocked at this point vs Flashing ROMS if you were wondering:
Pardon the poor grammar/ ranting- Basically I need a solid daily driver and after being a little disappointed with CM11 and KitKat in general due to it's bland looks, camera, messaging, etc (e.g. You have to have a face for every contact including yourself to differentiate well between the text messages back and forth, or have handscent with a more "bubble like experience", but is a [email protected] to attach certain things. All in all I tried out gummy rom, CM11 and liquid smooth and was not too thrilled with the glitches or missing stuff that they had for the stable releases I ended up trying for a daily driver. It was fun flashing and testing stuff out though. I switched to a custom ROM mainly bc my note 2 would not allow for easy access to contacts while messaging in landscape (If you typed out a contact's entire name it would only show numbers in the auto select region just above the keyboard and so you would have to scroll down to select a contact in a thin box, this is not okay when your wife is trying to text on your appradio 3 while you are driving. Touch wiz sucked for stability (atleast CM11 never crashed on me!) and touchwiz had so many other glitches and issues that annoyed me; I had to root and add another app just to get a notification bar wifi toggle, WTF! VZN. In ROMS there were mIssing shortcuts in apps to attach things like contacts and do certain daily driver stuff that annoyed me about each ROM, but CM11 was the best for me out of the 4 total I experienced. Custom ROMS did a bad job at working with ARU unchained for my appradio3, but I didn't sped a lot of time on each ROM getting it to work (CM11 was the easiest).
I too came from a Note II and didn't take any OTA's and instead updated with Bean's stock images.
Root your G3 now and update to the latest via: http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-lg-g3/general/reference-stock-img-files-t2966958
If you did take the latest OTA, you can roll back and update to the latest so not too bad being on LG.
stewbuntu said:
HI everyone,
I received a new LG G3 today. It was a great price with all the new phones out and I now have stock QI. SWEET! I'm coming from a VZN note 2 w horrible touchwiz/ some ROMS tried. Ultimately I dont want to flash roms unless LG sucks, I'd prefer to unlock and root to allow for special applications, I'll get to why at the bottom. I'm seeking your opinion and thoughts in regards to:
1.) Should I unlock/root in 4.2.2 prior to the OTA update and stay with 4.2.2? I was not too happy with Kit Kat and it seems that as you get closer to lollipop I had less customization and was annoyed more often with the loss of features within apps and bland styles.; do you agree? I have only seen lollipop from google researching and it looks similar to Kit Kat, just so, so.... Currently in 4.2.2 I can use Google wallet, my chromecast with any movie and music, etc; I don't think I would be gaining any feature except full screen casting, but I have a computer and Chromecast dedicated to my TV. The new notification styles don't impress me either. I had other notification options with CM11 (lock screen/etc) and was not that thrilled with it to upgrade. Normal pictures are fine with me and I'm not trying to win any film contests. No reason to beam stuff, and I like the full month view with digicalendar widget on one home screen (hated google's new calendar views).... Do you regret upgrading? I'm hoping and praying LG has a solid ROM that doesn't drive me crazing crashing with glitches.
lastly any suggestions - Do I need to root now or do anything else to prevent being locked out after the upgrade if I do do it, as is the case of Samsung? I was so glad I locked out OTA updates that screwed a bunch of people out of unlocking their bootloaders for long periods of time.
THANKS FOR YOUR ADVICE AND TIME EVERYONE! I really do appreciate it and I'm excited to start learning about the G3 and having a lot of fun.
My thoughts/background on staying stock w root and unlocked at this point vs Flashing ROMS if you were wondering:
Pardon the poor grammar/ ranting- Basically I need a solid daily driver and after being a little disappointed with CM11 and KitKat in general due to it's bland looks, camera, messaging, etc (e.g. You have to have a face for every contact including yourself to differentiate well between the text messages back and forth, or have handscent with a more "bubble like experience", but is a [email protected] to attach certain things. All in all I tried out gummy rom, CM11 and liquid smooth and was not too thrilled with the glitches or missing stuff that they had for the stable releases I ended up trying for a daily driver. It was fun flashing and testing stuff out though. I switched to a custom ROM mainly bc my note 2 would not allow for easy access to contacts while messaging in landscape (If you typed out a contact's entire name it would only show numbers in the auto select region just above the keyboard and so you would have to scroll down to select a contact in a thin box, this is not okay when your wife is trying to text on your appradio 3 while you are driving. Touch wiz sucked for stability (atleast CM11 never crashed on me!) and touchwiz had so many other glitches and issues that annoyed me; I had to root and add another app just to get a notification bar wifi toggle, WTF! VZN. In ROMS there were mIssing shortcuts in apps to attach things like contacts and do certain daily driver stuff that annoyed me about each ROM, but CM11 was the best for me out of the 4 total I experienced. Custom ROMS did a bad job at working with ARU unchained for my appradio3, but I didn't sped a lot of time on each ROM getting it to work (CM11 was the easiest).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, I'm assuming when you say 4.2.2, you mean 4.4.2 As far as LG's stock rom, I'd say that as far as OEM's go, LG's on the better end certainly, however that's not to say the stock rom didn't leave bits to be desired, but imho it was a whole heck of a lot better than barfwiz Me personally, I greatly prefer AOSP as opposed to carrier skinned Android, however you do pay a slightly higher premium in a few more glitches/oddities, but you gain a lot of fluidity/speed and a much better looking system imho, but that's personal preference. As far as rooting/upgrading/downgrading, I'm one to always recommend root solely because then YOU can choose when and how to update YOUR device. 10B is currently the only rootable FW, but if you just got it today then you're likely on firmware version 11C or 12B. Both of these can currently be downgraded using the kdz (and possibly tot) methods, as LG and/or VZW haven't yet implemented anything quite as ridiculous as that yet, but I would never put it past VZW to do this at some point. This is all what I personally would recommend doing, and then consider flashing a stock-based rom (such as skydragon or jasmine) Just my 2c
ohlin5 said:
First off, I'm assuming when you say 4.2.2, you mean 4.4.2 As far as LG's stock rom, I'd say that as far as OEM's go, LG's on the better end certainly, however that's not to say the stock rom didn't leave bits to be desired, but imho it was a whole heck of a lot better than barfwiz Me personally, I greatly prefer AOSP as opposed to carrier skinned Android, however you do pay a slightly higher premium in a few more glitches/oddities, but you gain a lot of fluidity/speed and a much better looking system imho, but that's personal preference. As far as rooting/upgrading/downgrading, I'm one to always recommend root solely because then YOU can choose when and how to update YOUR device. 10B is currently the only rootable FW, but if you just got it today then you're likely on firmware version 11C or 12B. Both of these can currently be downgraded using the kdz (and possibly tot) methods, as LG and/or VZW haven't yet implemented anything quite as ridiculous as that yet, but I would never put it past VZW to do this at some point. This is all what I personally would recommend doing, and then consider flashing a stock-based rom (such as skydragon or jasmine) Just my 2c
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Click to collapse
My bad 4.4.2 and I do see 10B build # KVT49L.VS98510B model # has 10b too
Thanks guys, good info and stuff to research
Colchiro said:
I too came from a Note II and didn't take any OTA's and instead updated with Bean's stock images.
Root your G3 now and update to the latest via: http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-lg-g3/general/reference-stock-img-files-t2966958
If you did take the latest OTA, you can roll back and update to the latest so not too bad being on LG.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I knew I didn't want Samsung/[email protected] so I spent a while looking at other options and the G3 seemed great with Micro SD and replaceable battery. I can't understand what companies are thinking with no SD slot and not being able to swap batteries when they go bad, or on the fly (although I do 12 hr shifts). Ever since my Motorolla Atrix 3G I have missed glitch free daily drivers My fingers are crossed
So do you guys like Lollipop based ASOPs?
stewbuntu said:
So do you guys like Lollipop based ASOPs?
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Click to collapse
Locked bootloaders is why I switched to LG. I'm not alone.
I haven't tried any custom roms. I don't like to lose some of the features I like, like knock and stock camera, so haven't messed with custom roms for a couple years. Debloated stock G3 works fine for me....
Oops. Post to wrong thread - deleted