Related
When the G1 came out it was the only Android powered device so modding it worked for everybody. And it was just one brand, HTC, so this forum was a one stop destination for modding our phone.
However, things have changed, now there are multiple phone with incompatible hardware from different manufacturers. Now a custom rom made for the G1, won't work on a DROID for example and vise versa. This complicates things quite a bit.
Right now Cyanogen mods are the best thing for our G1 and maybe the best thing for Android as a whole. I'm used to the build in tether capability and apps to SD and compcace and the other perks of a modded rom. But if I wanted to upgrade my phone, I would lose it all.
There are no Cyanogen mod for anything other than G1 and myTouch phones as far as I know and if I were to upgrade to DROID, I would lose root, lose tether, lose apps to SD, lose everything about my phone that makes it my phone.
Everything I wrote may not be facts, I don't really know what goes on at other forums, but I know that we don't have roms build to run on the DROID and we don't have them built to run on the HERO hardware, it's all for G1 and myTouch, and it seems to me that if I don't ha.ve on of those phones, I lose everything.
I do understand that this forum is for HTC devices which DROID and a few other's are not which is why I don't see homebrew for them. Is there a another website similar to this that supports all Android hardware?
These are thoughts that have been running through my head lately. If I am totally wrong here, please let me know.
I would say check out websites such as androidcommunity.com, androidandme.com, phandroid.com. The developers might not be on there but you can probably find links to where there are custom roms for the phones.
And you are right about different phones having different development oppurtunities. I thought about this today and realized that the next android phone I get not only has to be what I want but also be a popular phone that will attract developers such as cyan, maxisma, jac, manup and everyone else. My best guess and hope is that it will be a snapdragon android handset, hopefully for T-Mobile USA.
What we'll end up having to do is pick our phones based on it's community support and what kind of home brew is available for it.
The reason I love the G1 is the fact that it's rooted and has a large community. This phone is the best on the market, all things considered, because the rooted OS allows so much.
If and when the Droid is rooted, when a GSM version is released, and when it has T-Mo's 3G bands, I will move to it. But all those may not happen for another year or more. If you haven't played with a Droid yet, do so. Incredible speed and the best screen I have ever seen on a phone. Till then, G1 all the way.
The man is right, we have a problem on the dev side.
I think though, once 2.0 gets standard, we'll only need root for a few things like tethering and setting the CPU clock. Really cyanogen's only advantage is optimization, but once 2.0 and snapdragon rolls around, who cares? We'll always want to tinker, but it won't eclipse getting the phone you want.
The big problems right now are that the market isn't getting what it needs. Nothing compares to the HTC widgets, yet instead of cloning them on the market, we try and run a ROM that doesn't even work on our phones! We still don't have BT in Hero and it may just never happen.
2.0 will be what we need as a base, but the market needs our help now.
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but this thread is not about who has the best rom.
The point is, when you get a new Android phone, your rom of choice won't be available for it. So what do you do?
alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we all get it already, YOU are dwang's biggest fan
But, to stay on topic. My G1 is the first HTC device I've ever owned and I've only discovered XDA since I've had it, and I think that because of the community involvement here and the custom roms that have come out, I will definitely lean towards another HTC phone when I look for my next upgrade, and it will definately be an android phone.
Also another thing to look at is the availability of the phones that are out to actual dev's. Unless people are donating phones, I doubt everyone can just run out and pick up all the latest devices, and network restrictions/preferences that come along with them.
I think the easiest solution is as follows:
1. Find the dev you like best.
2. Find the phone you like best.
3. Buy phone you like best.
4. Buy/Create a donate link to get said dev the same phone.
Assuming said dev doesnt turn around and craigslist the phone you bought him/her, you have (hopefully) ensured said dev will migrate and develop on your favorite hardware.
Not the best solution but probably the most reliable.
alec.baldwin said:
I'd contest the cyanogen are the best rom's.. maybe for someoen who wants to flash an upgrade every 3 days.. but for the majority of users.. Dwang is the way to go. Lengthy discussion about this, is over here..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously dude, are you going to diss me in every thread? What do you even contribute to this community? I've not received any patches or even logs of the "problems" you claim.
cyanogen said:
Seriously dude, are you going to diss me in every thread? What do you even contribute to this community? I've not received any patches or even logs of the "problems" you claim.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For real.
Alec, you're like the little annoying brother that no one wants to be around.
Grow up, let your balls drop, and enjoy your phone, your life, and whatever rom you want.
But, you don't have to go around dissing well-respected devs.
The Droid hasn't been out long enough for a community to gather around it. Many of the Android big names are waiting to get GSM versions before tinkering.
Also, remember that the HTC Dream was in circulation well before it launched last year. The Android development phone is identical to the Dream, with the only difference being some swish art on the back cover. The hardware and software were free-flowing long before it landed in our hands. In contrast, the Droid was a much more secretive launch; we've only just got Eclair source code, and the SDK was kept under wraps by a non-disclosure agreement (probably to conceal the nuclear bomb that is Google Maps Navigation).
I find the cracking of the Droid to be inevitable. The poor thing is going to be broken just as much as our Dreams were. Just give it time.
As for ROMs being available over a span of phones, I'm not sure that's even a good idea. Android variants like XROM, cyanogenmod, The Dude's ROM, yadda yadda... they're all about maximising the capabilities of the Dream. Not the Droid, the Dream. Adding in features that the hardware can support, changing CPU frequencies, Apps2SD, all that jazz. Droid ROMs will be built around adding in core features, like Apps2SD, and whatever else the Droid has tucked away. Likewise, speed optimisations may not be portable between phones, as what gives the Dream a boost may hinder the Droid.
For me, features of a ROM are not the best part of homebrew Android builds. The best part is being able to upgrade your phone outside of the carrier's say-so. If T-mobile have no plans to push Eclair to Dreams, I will install it myself. I am not tied down by the say-so of a room full of suits three thousand miles away. If T-mobile don't include an app that I like, such as the IM app or the Amazon MP3 store (which T-mobile UK don't), I can get ROMs with them myself. If a carrier would rather I didn't tether without paying for my bandwidth twice, I can do it anyway, so long as I'm not an idiot.
You may have guessed that I have a very dim view of cell carriers.
With root, we are free to do as we like. This is the real killer feature of homebrew, and the Droid will benefit from it too.
Anyway...
dwang said:
I want to acknowledge cyanogen, daproy, cyrowski, loccy, and alla for their contributions to the android community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems dwang himself has a much higher opinion of the man than a certain other someone.
AthlonBoy said:
The Droid hasn't been out long enough for a community to gather around it. Many of the Android big names are waiting to get GSM versions before tinkering.
Also, remember that the HTC Dream was in circulation well before it launched last year. The Android development phone is identical to the Dream, with the only difference being some swish art on the back cover. The hardware and software were free-flowing long before it landed in our hands. In contrast, the Droid was a much more secretive launch; we've only just got Eclair source code, and the SDK was kept under wraps by a non-disclosure agreement (probably to conceal the nuclear bomb that is Google Maps Navigation).
I find the cracking of the Droid to be inevitable. The poor thing is going to be broken just as much as our Dreams were. Just give it time.
As for ROMs being available over a span of phones, I'm not sure that's even a good idea. Android variants like XROM, cyanogenmod, The Dude's ROM, yadda yadda... they're all about maximising the capabilities of the Dream. Not the Droid, the Dream. Adding in features that the hardware can support, changing CPU frequencies, Apps2SD, all that jazz. Droid ROMs will be built around adding in core features, like Apps2SD, and whatever else the Droid has tucked away. Likewise, speed optimisations may not be portable between phones, as what gives the Dream a boost may hinder the Droid.
For me, features of a ROM are not the best part of homebrew Android builds. The best part is being able to upgrade your phone outside of the carrier's say-so. If T-mobile have no plans to push Eclair to Dreams, I will install it myself. I am not tied down by the say-so of a room full of suits three thousand miles away. If T-mobile don't include an app that I like, such as the IM app or the Amazon MP3 store (which T-mobile UK don't), I can get ROMs with them myself. If a carrier would rather I didn't tether without paying for my bandwidth twice, I can do it anyway, so long as I'm not an idiot.
You may have guessed that I have a very dim view of cell carriers.
With root, we are free to do as we like. This is the real killer feature of homebrew, and the Droid will benefit from it too.
Anyway...
It seems dwang himself has a much higher opinion of the man than a certain other someone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem to have almost got my point but not quite. Of coarse DOID doesn't need Cyanogen MOD specifically. But would you buy an Android phone if there weren't a mod that lets it do the things that we are used to and have only become available by modding? Apps to SD, tethering, themeing?
Sure DROID might get all these things though a custom rom but we won't see it on this website. The problem is that things will get too spread out and hard to find with all these new hardware options.
What would be nice is a rom that works on nearly every Android device that just adds root access to the phone and some basic universal packages like A2SD and tethering etc. That way you can buy any Android device you want and still have these basic privileges.
Do you think something like that would be possible?
Pinesal said:
You seem to have almost got my point but not quite. Of coarse DOID doesn't need Cyanogen MOD specifically. But would you buy an Android phone if there weren't a mod that lets it do the things that we are used to and have only become available by modding? Apps to SD, tethering, themeing?
Sure DROID might get all these things though a custom rom but we won't see it on this website. The problem is that things will get too spread out and hard to find with all these new hardware options.
What would be nice is a rom that works on nearly every Android device that just adds root access to the phone and some basic universal packages like A2SD and tethering etc. That way you can buy any Android device you want and still have these basic privileges.
Do you think something like that would be possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beats me, man. I'm not a developer. But I think it's unlikely.
For the DROID (and other/future android phones) is Apps2SD really necessary? The only reason why we need it on our phones is because of the pathetic amount of internal space the G1 has, the same goes for Swap Partitions etc.
As long as people buy the phone there is always going to be someone who is smart enough to work on rooting it IMO. And even without root what do you really lose? The only things I think I would really miss are Wireless Tether and Bluetooth File Transfer (Which I THINK is in 2.0 anyway).
I'm not buying a new phone until it's rooted and Cyanogen has it too.
My biggest requirement for any android phone..and any cell phone in general is the keyboard. I bought the G1 because of the keyboard and lucked out with the high number of developers available for it. I didn't find this place for several months during the time when the grandfather of the G1 mod program was still active =) JF!. I enjoyed all the modding and updating because I personally feel that the phone is, well mine. And I should be able to do what ever I want with it. I had picked up the V3C Razer because it could play MP3's. I get it home and then discover that the Verizon Nazi's completely locked down that feature so you where forced to use their service at an additional cost. Of course the motorola dev/repair/store software allowed us to get in a enable the various features that Verizon required to be locked. I also love the Aps2sd. No matter what phone you have, the internal memory will never be enough. And with the Cliq supporting 32gig sd cards, a full keyboard, and NOT verizon was enough for me. I'm patient and confident it will be rooted eventually. If not, I still have my G1 and I still do Cyanogen updates and play around with it. And when my contract is up with Tmob(renewed for the Cliq), I'll see who has the next most popular rooted phone with a keyboard and switch over. I just really hate people telling me how to use a device I own. Its like going to McDonalds and having them dictate what condiments to put on my BigMac and Fries, and then telling me I can only eat it a certain way and which hand to use. If Cyanogen was down with the Cliq, or interested in it. I may be willing to ship him my phone to see what he can come up with.
As far as a universal O/S for all phones, isn't that just the core Android software with specific drivers provided by each manufacturer and custom UI? There should be a way to make 1 O/S for all android phones, then have update packs with the drivers and UI enhancements and add-ons for each android phone released? Not sure of the SPL locks though. Thats a bit beyond me. But i wouldn't think it would be to hard to run Cyanogen on the Cliq or droid provided the correct drivers and such where bundled with it. Kind of like slipstreaming a service pack into a bootleg Windows OS . Each phone eventually has to release the source code which contains the drivers for that phone. Thats how we get the Cliq's OS onto the G1, should work the other way around too. Sounds easy, but Cyanogen's Rom should run on my Cliq, provided the drivers are slipstreamed into it for the Cliq...right? Only problem is root.. :/ hehehe
and there he flames again...alec.baldwin, no one has the problems you have with cyanogen's latest. actually, lets delve into this...what exactly are your "problems" with 4.2.5? PLEASE, answer this question so cyanogen can dutifully fix the "problems" you are having.
You might check out some of the Q/A threads to first learn how to properly flash cyanogen's ROM. It is slightly different than Dwang's because Cyanogen uses the legal method. In fact, check out www.cyanogenmod.com and you might find a ton of useful info on getting cm to work on your phone.
Best of Luck,
njuncos
P.S. Cyanogen, mad props on once again reaching over a million thread views on your latest. Now you own 3 of the top 4 most viewed threads of all time in Dream Android Development!
Hello all,
i like XDA Forums for its master brains and respect it for all the support.
i used windows mobile and android on different HTC devices and enjoyed all the interesting things in it with the help of XDA.
now i wanted to try motorola milestone and got it and it was a sheer disappointment.
Motorola milestone users are ignored very badly by motorola without updating the buggy phone and not even caring to reply users queries. its even deleting all the users posts in developer forums. it locked down the bootloader with digital signatures when the same device in US "Droid" has got all the cakes with open bootloader and custom roms and device updates for issues. recently it has announced 2.1 for droid where milestone still didn't even get 2.0.1
i see ano place to report this and motorola wantedly deleting all such posts in their support forums. as this is common android section, thought i can post it here and see if any master brains can help us.
check here where a continent itself is complaining against motorola and there is no single reply or action for this
Thanks for understanding
its bound to happen really, the Droid is Motorola's gem now and it will be the one shown off and given what it needs ahead of other devices.
Same with HTC and there devices, there flagship one's get the bug fixes and new updates while lesser models dont.
I'm sure the Milestone will eventually get what it needs.
What do you mean by locked down boot loader?
as far as i understand the bootloader in milestone is little different than in droid. the milestone bootloader uses digital signatures everywhere to check for the software authentication which makes it impossible to put custom ROMs as we do with all other android phones.
even motorola is very slow in updating the issues with milestone. i don't understand why they are doing this but its like completely locked down and totally ignored fir the price everyone payed.
hello admins / moderators / master brains / everyone,
is it possible to check the Motorola milestone bootloader for bypassing the digital signature check so that we can install custom roms on it as its done on Droid.
please take this as a kind request as i lost hope on motorola releasing the open bootloader on milestone and they r very slow in releasing updates for this device and also ignorant in resolving most bugs.
i see that you are supporting non HTC devices like samsung, toshiba and Acer. so a little hope that its posible to look into this
please everyone
i am not a big techie to understand internals of the possibilities but you can see how many people want this on here http://www.facebook.com/motorolaeurope
Thanks to all for reading this
Motorola Milestone and Droid feature the same Hardware (while Droid is CDMA and Milestone GSM) but they did not get the same software build.
Droid = with Google (Maps Navigation etc.)
Milestone = Motorola Android (Multitouch, Motonav etc.)
Thanks to TI, M-Shield is available on both devices. With M-Shield it is possible to control booting and flashing.
While the Droid does accept every signature, the Milestone is locked to (probably) one.
So there we are.
Kernel without signature will not boot (blocked by Bootloader).
Flashing another modified Bootloader is not possible without signature.
Barnd83 said:
Motorola Milestone and Droid feature the same Hardware (while Droid is CDMA and Milestone GSM) but they did not get the same software build.
Droid = with Google (Maps Navigation etc.)
Milestone = Motorola Android (Multitouch, Motonav etc.)
Thanks to TI, M-Shield is available on both devices. With M-Shield it is possible to control booting and flashing.
While the Droid does accept every signature, the Milestone is locked to (probably) one.
So there we are.
Kernel without signature will not boot (blocked by Bootloader).
Flashing another modified Bootloader is not possible without signature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
all this has already been figured out. what they want to know now is how to un-fudge it so that they have the same abilities as dream and other android users. I have been reading EVERYTHING i can find on the matter, as i REALLY want a milestone. id just get a droid, but i HATE verizon and am staying on t-mobile no matter what phone i hafta use. so im stuck on g1 till the milestone gets figured out. what i have been thinking is that the signature is a key, so there must be a keyhole, right? if we could find and disassemble the "keyhole", could we not then reverse engineer a key?
All this locked/unlocked nonsense is making me want a milestone even more, just so i can help figure this out and give motorola a big "F-U" for what they are doing. because thats basically what they've done, they've told all their customers to go F*&$ themselves. well, just the ones outside of the US.
Honestly i dont see how motorola made it this far with a slogan like, "Go F*&$ Yourself", but whatever. thats why i HATE verizon, because they dont give two ****s about their customers, as long as they get paid. and thats what motorola is doing here...they dont CARE what milestone users want, as long as they keep selling milestones, and controlling EVERY ASPECT of them.
doesnt sound like an OPEN SOURCE attitude, to me...
-BMFC
Milestone 2.0.1 had been released before you wrote that post actually (it was released on feb 4th).
if you didn't get the update OTA yet you can even get it through their website
I assume you're in Germany so try here hxxp://direct.motorola.com/GER/SoftwareUpdateSummary.asp?country=DEU&language=GER&web_page_name=SUPPORT&strCarrierId=&strPhone=MILESTONE
chowdarygm said:
where milestone still didn't even get 2.0.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now the hope is gone and i decided to sell my device. its such a dumb company which doesn't care about end users.
HTC is far better in these things without putting hard restrictions.
You must have missed the hooplah that surounded the era of phones HTC put out around the Tilt. Crap video drivers etc....
HTC is just like Motorola. They go where the money is, although I say Motorola went a little overboard with the signed bootloader, it still runs rings around the Hero and most other aandroid devices short of Desire/ Nexus One.....
So I may jump ship from the N1 to the Vibrant. On the N1, in less than ten minutes I can run a nandroid backup, flash a new kernel, new radio and a new rom. In another 3-4 minutes, I can switch back. I've literally switched kernels >3 times/day before. How much different will things be on the Vibrant? Is it harder to do these things? Is there as much risk?
Thanks
right now no one knows, there is no custom kernels, custom recovery, custom roms, etc
There are custom roms and you can easily root the device...but it will obviously take some time to reach N1's customization...
I've had my G1(I know, not the N1) since day 1, and I've been flashing roms since day one. The only reason I flashed roms was because I felt the G1 was lacking in a lot of things. Now that I have the Vibrant, I feel like there's no need to flash a different rom. It's already pretty fast, and I actually like the touchwiz UI. The UI doesnt completely take over the Android interface, it's more like adding extra little features.
ultra spikey said:
I've had my G1(I know, not the N1) since day 1, and I've been flashing roms since day one. The only reason I flashed roms was because I felt the G1 was lacking in a lot of things. Now that I have the Vibrant, I feel like there's no need to flash a different rom. It's already pretty fast, and I actually like the touchwiz UI. The UI doesnt completely take over the Android interface, it's more like adding extra little features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, plus the Black/Blue color scheme is far better looking to me over stock Android. TouchWiz is not like Sense or previous generations of the skin and that's a good thing.
Ill second that. I am really enjoying my touch wiz interface and I didn't think I would. That being said I miss my app drawer that slid up from the bottom.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I don't know much about flashing to different ROMs yet, but I can give you an overview of the TouchWiz experience from my viewpoint.
Coming from an iPhone, I really like TouchWiz 3.0. And believe me when I tell you: that was their goal with the UI. It screams Apple, in layout and function. But of course, it ultimately feels a bit like an imitation in some areas. I feel like they rushed TouchWiz 3.0 out of the door.
The Clocks and Alarms app is much better than the iPhone's, which is something I was not at all expecting. It's really quite nice. The calendar app is about on par, in terms of layout. The upper hand is that this syncs OTA with Google's cloud services. The music player is very 'iPod-like', but is ultimately a rush job (embedded album art does not work very often and so forth).
All things considered, it's a really nice UI for Android.
That said, there are some really basic functions which did not make the transition from stock Android. For example: you cannot fully edit contacts in the 'Contacts' app. You cannot delete them, you cannot add custom ringtones. Coming from the iPhone, where I had meticulously completed the profiles of every contact with an obscene amount of info and custom ringtones, this is annoying.
There are a few 'little things' like that, which really matter to me. And this has kind of soured the experience for me, making me second-guess my decision. To be honest, I'm still sort of on the fence over this of the N1 as my iPhone replacement.
The grey area for me is in Android 3.0's release. Google has stated that they're going to overhaul the UI. The idea is that they want to make it more user-friendly, to make the use of custom skins less prevalent. Well, I'm all for this. Trouble is: will these handset manufacturers adopt it, considering their vested interests in their custom experiences?
Samsung's UI is definitely my favorite out of Sense, MotoBlur and the lot. But I'd be lying if I said that I didn't wish for a Nexus One for the security of owning the only unlocked stock device.
Hope that helps...
Give it some time and stock Android will be on the Vibrant. Thats the great thing about Android and Xda.
Yeah, I really love the idea of xda and the amount of support that all of these devices receive from the community. Of course, the trouble is: if you root for a custom rom - even if it's stock Android - the N1 is the only solution for getting OTA updates regularly. With stock Android on the Galaxy S, you're going to have to re-flash every time the ROM is updated. Not the end of the world, but definitely irritating.
Running a JB/Unlocked iPhone, I'm used to dealing with work-arounds, and waiting for hacks. That's the price I paid for using a non-carrier phone. I couldn't accept the automatic updates from Apple, and this became a mild annoyance (reinstalling everything and so forth). But when you decide to 'play nice' and own a carrier-specific phone, you kind of want the experience of timely OTA, non-hacking-related updates that simply update your device, without first wiping it clean.
Know what I mean?
I'm still not sure if I'm going to keep my Galaxy S, or buy an N1 while there's still time (the 'rumors'? of the N1's touchscreen issues are really all that held me back). But either way, I hope that all devices have some way to experience the latest and greatest from Google.
The touchscreen is bad on that phone especially when it comes to multitouch. I'm sure you've already seen the videos comparing the two touchpads and the Vibrant's touchscreen is SO accurate... multitouch included.
Jon C said:
Yeah, I really love the idea of xda and the amount of support that all of these devices receive from the community. Of course, the trouble is: if you root for a custom rom - even if it's stock Android - the N1 is the only solution for getting OTA updates regularly. With stock Android on the Galaxy S, you're going to have to re-flash every time the ROM is updated. Not the end of the world, but definitely irritating.
Running a JB/Unlocked iPhone, I'm used to dealing with work-arounds, and waiting for hacks. That's the price I paid for using a non-carrier phone. I couldn't accept the automatic updates from Apple, and this became a mild annoyance (reinstalling everything and so forth). But when you decide to 'play nice' and own a carrier-specific phone, you kind of want the experience of timely OTA, non-hacking-related updates that simply update your device, without first wiping it clean.
Know what I mean?
I'm still not sure if I'm going to keep my Galaxy S, or buy an N1 while there's still time (the 'rumors'? of the N1's touchscreen issues are really all that held me back). But either way, I hope that all devices have some way to experience the latest and greatest from Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While its a little early to be 100% yet but Android hacking is a lot different than iphone hacking. The iphone is a closed system and you have to wait till its broken open to update. Android is already open when its released. As for OTAs if Cyanogen supports the Vibrant then there is an app to download and install new updates. Typically if you stay with the same developer, like Cyanogen, then you don't have to wipe when there are updates.
After froyo 2.2 all my touch screen problems was gone.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
So untrue after froyo 2.2 those problems was fix the nexus one is a awsome phone.and I believe the same for the vibrant.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Can you do me the world's biggest favor?
Would you make some YouTube videos, showing the multitouch tests of your N1? I so, so, so, would love to own one, but I have zero tolerance for faulty hardware. I've been researching this stuff since the N1 launch, and it's the only thing holding me back from purchasing that device.
'Multitouch Vis Test' is probably the easiest way, but if you can think of others to test with, that would be great.
Jon C said:
The music player is very 'iPod-like', but is ultimately a rush job (embedded album art does not work very often and so forth).
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't used my iPod Nano 4th Gen in some time, I find that the N1 is handling my music needs just fine. But if I had a nickel for every time album art was hosed on my iPod Nano I would not have a mortgage anymore...
hah2110 said:
So I may jump ship from the N1 to the Vibrant. On the N1, in less than ten minutes I can run a nandroid backup, flash a new kernel, new radio and a new rom. In another 3-4 minutes, I can switch back. I've literally switched kernels >3 times/day before. How much different will things be on the Vibrant? Is it harder to do these things? Is there as much risk?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First you must know that the process is completely different. For right now most roms are installed through the Odin process. This process completely wipes all of the information on the phone (including apps and settings) and then installs the new rom. So you will have to backup your apps and settings every time you change roms (Titanium backup would work but it's not always fool proof). Second all roms are going to be based off of Samsung code. That means no Sense roms, no stock roms (well you can get the stock launcher but your dialer and notification bar will always be touchwized), and no froyo until Samsung releases there own version. This has been true so far with all previous Samsung phones and looking at the development with the I9000 it seems to hold true for the Galaxy S. All this does put you at less risk of bricking your phone but it does mean you also have less chance of serious customization. Also with limited source code for the I9000 (there are some drivers that are not source code but actually compiled) it's very difficult to just plop roms on from other sources.
psychoace said:
First you must know that the process is completely different. For right now most roms are installed through the Odin process. This process completely wipes all of the information on the phone (including apps and settings) and then installs the new rom. So you will have to backup your apps and settings every time you change roms (Titanium backup would work but it's not always fool proof). Second all roms are going to be based off of Samsung code. That means no Sense roms, no stock roms (well you can get the stock launcher but your dialer and notification bar will always be touchwized), and no froyo until Samsung releases there own version. This has been true so far with all previous Samsung phones and looking at the development with the I9000 it seems to hold true for the Galaxy S. All this does put you at less risk of bricking your phone but it does mean you also have less chance of serious customization. Also with limited source code for the I9000 (there are some drivers that are not source code but actually compiled) it's very difficult to just plop roms on from other sources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why can't CM do his thing?
cm is trying to port cyanogen to the vibrant. in fact ive read that the vibrant and the droid x are his 2 top priorities so it will come soon enough. and once he gets it done we will probibly see a bunch of roms based of cyanogen
blazewit said:
cm is trying to port cyanogen to the vibrant. in fact ive read that the vibrant and the droid x are his 2 top priorities so it will come soon enough. and once he gets it done we will probibly see a bunch of roms based of cyanogen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have yet to see any information confirming any of that. First on his twitter he only seems to be working on the Evo right now. Second I doubt he would work on the Droid x until it's rooted (which most likely will be never). Last I have seen only a small pattern of talk about someone in conversation with Cyanogen about allowing a Galaxy branch of the CM code for use with the Galaxy S. Problem is this doesn't solve the issue of not having source code for a few drivers. This does not even attack the issue of getting the rom onto the phone. So don't hold your breath for any of that.
yea your right it was just one site claiming that cm is working on the vibrant,from what i can tell gothdroid and a bunch of other g1/dream devs are working right now for custom recovery and porting cm6 and froyo asop
Just ordered my DX on Ebay to replace my slowly deteriorating, yet faithful, Droid Incredible.
I am trying my best to read through the threads here, but there is a lot to take in (though development does seem to lag considerably behind the Inc). My plan is to stay stock for a few days to see what it is like, and then I will root and have fun. I have used at least 30 ROMS across five different devices, so flashing and rooting is not new to me.
If anyone is willing to distill some information for me, it would be much appreciated. Here are my questions...
1) Are there any reasons not to root the DX? What I mean is, are there any known pitfalls such as hardware failure that are known to be linked to rooting with the DX. I know of the implied dangers with regard to bricking.
2) Are there any others who have come from the Incredible? I have run every ROM available for that phone, and I think MIUI and SkyRaider were my favorites. I liked the Sense 3.0 stuff, but it was fairly unstable (not to mention the DX doesn't have Sense anyway). Any recommendations here for ROMs that are similar in flavor?
3)WHAT IS SO BAD ABOUT BLUR?? I put this in caps because there seems to be a lot of hate on this motoblur skin for android, and many people adamantly demand ROMs to be de-blurred. What's so bad about it? How does it compare to Sense? I guess from what I've seen on video comparisons it doesn't seem all that bad.
Anything else I should know about this device before I get started on it? Anything I should definitely do or NOT do as far as modding is concerned?
Thanks!
Epicardium said:
Just ordered my DX on Ebay to replace my slowly deteriorating, yet faithful, Droid Incredible.
I am trying my best to read through the threads here, but there is a lot to take in (though development does seem to lag considerably behind the Inc). My plan is to stay stock for a few days to see what it is like, and then I will root and have fun. I have used at least 30 ROMS across five different devices, so flashing and rooting is not new to me.
If anyone is willing to distill some information for me, it would be much appreciated. Here are my questions...
1) Are there any reasons not to root the DX? What I mean is, are there any known pitfalls such as hardware failure that are known to be linked to rooting with the DX. I know of the implied dangers with regard to bricking.
2) Are there any others who have come from the Incredible? I have run every ROM available for that phone, and I think MIUI and SkyRaider were my favorites. I liked the Sense 3.0 stuff, but it was fairly unstable (not to mention the DX doesn't have Sense anyway). Any recommendations here for ROMs that are similar in flavor?
3)WHAT IS SO BAD ABOUT BLUR?? I put this in caps because there seems to be a lot of hate on this motoblur skin for android, and many people adamantly demand ROMs to be de-blurred. What's so bad about it? How does it compare to Sense? I guess from what I've seen on video comparisons it doesn't seem all that bad.
Anything else I should know about this device before I get started on it? Anything I should definitely do or NOT do as far as modding is concerned?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to the Droid X community!
In your experiences here you will learn that the Incredible and the Droid X have many differences.
To answer your queries:
1. There are no hardware pitfalls when rooting a Droid X, and our device is virtually brick proof.
2. My personal favorite rom for the Droid X is MIUI, but there are many popular roms. DarkslideX is a stock based rom that is absolute in speed and battery life (giving over fifteen hours).
3. Sense is better than blur in nearly every aspect. Blur slows the phone down incredibly, you won't experience the full capability of your Droid X using blur.
Some things you should know:
1. What a sbf file is. It is what makes this device virtually unbrickable, it will return you to pure stock with only several clicks. Also, SBFing to Froyo is required when flashing roms such as MIUI and CyanogenMod.
2. Don't ever use Droid X Bootstrap. When flashing from Froyo to any Gingerbread rom you must use Droid 2 Bootstrapper or you will have to reSBF your phone.
I'll report back if I think of anything else, good luck! =D
(I'll try to post links to important things later, also)
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
infazzdar said:
Welcome to the Droid X community!
In your experiences here you will learn that the Incredible and the Droid X have many differences.
To answer your queries:
1. There are no hardware pitfalls when rooting a Droid X, and our device is virtually brick proof.
2. My personal favorite rom for the Droid X is MIUI, but there are many popular roms. DarkslideX is a stock based rom that is absolute in speed and battery life (giving over fifteen hours).
3. Sense is better than blur in nearly every aspect. Blur slows the phone down incredibly, you won't experience the full capability of your Droid X using blur.
Some things you should know:
1. What a sbf file is. It is what makes this device virtually unbrickable, it will return you to pure stock with only several clicks. Also, SBFing to Froyo is required when flashing roms such as MIUI and CyanogenMod.
2. Don't ever use Droid X Bootstrap. When flashing from Froyo to any Gingerbread rom you must use Droid 2 Bootstrapper or you will have to reSBF your phone.
I'll report back if I think of anything else, good luck! =D
(I'll try to post links to important things later, also)
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fantastic! This is the kind of information I am fishing for. Thanks a million. I am mashing the 'Thanks' button.....
Also, do you have any real problems with MIUI on the DX? Any annoyances (like haptic not working, etc)?
Epicardium said:
Fantastic! This is the kind of information I am fishing for. Thanks a million. I am mashing the 'Thanks' button.....
Also, do you have any real problems with MIUI on the DX? Any annoyances (like haptic not working, etc)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I don't have issues whatsoever. All I can say is to try it out =D
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Now have an X2 also. Which to keep??
Through an odd set of circumstances, I have now acquired an X2 in addition to an original X. Love the screen on the X2, and the CPu & GPU, but seems like the X might still be the better choice given that it is further along the development cycle. Seems the X2 may never get there because I can't tell that very many great devs are working on it. Could be wrong though. Any thoughts on which phone I should keep?? Have to sell one of them in the next couple of weeks to recoup some costs.
I have a chance to get a Droid X in "mint" condition today for about $75 and I'm considering it, but I wanted to ask a few basic questions that I wanted to just consolidate into one post instead of dropping questions all over the place in various threads. I did spend a few hours doing thread research and reading here and HowardForums and the Rootzwiki (and Cyanogenmod as well) so here goes:
- I'm assuming the bootloader is still locked on the Droid X as I see/saw threads with people doing a petition (like that's gonna change anything), so what exactly does that mean for the Droid X overall - I see some custom ROMs available so I'm confused: I thought having a locked bootloader meant you couldn't have custom ROMs or, are they all running from the microSD card?
- for anyone that bought a Droid X and used the stock ROM(s) from Verizon, does using a custom ROM (if you do so) help the battery life at all, and to what degree (and how bad/good is/was the stock ROM battery life anyway?)?
- I saw mention of ICS in several instances, and also along with some ROMs but, there doesn't seem to be a full fledged ICS ROM available (or is Liberty just such a thing?) so, are the chances high that ICS will never be fully fleshed out for the Droid X? I think I saw mention that there's "some" ROM now with ICS features but isn't the full fledged build, and that the camera doesn't work at all... just hoping for clarification on this. If it's an issue of "at some point we'll have ICS working proper, completely" then I suppose it's worth taking a chance now.
- Last question: would people think that $75 for a Droid X in near "mint" condition (seller's comment, haven't actually held it in my hand yet), a memory card (unknown size but most likely the stock 2GB card), and the charger/USB card is a somewhat decent deal? I've gone through several HD2's over the years and run all sorts of OSes on it, and while it arguably is the best damned enthusiast phone ever created, I am currently on the lookout for something different - can't afford a brand new dual core monster phone (I really want that Samsung Galaxy Note but it'll probably never happen).
While the Droid X is getting older, it seems like it's still a somewhat useful device overall so I'm really leaning towards getting this.
Any advice, info, or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Edit: the X came with a 16gb [not 2]card, btw...so make sure to ask for that if you can.
br0adband said:
I have a chance to get a Droid X in "mint" condition today for about $75 and I'm considering it, but I wanted to ask a few basic questions that I wanted to just consolidate into one post instead of dropping questions all over the place in various threads. I did spend a few hours doing thread research and reading here and HowardForums and the Rootzwiki (and Cyanogenmod as well) so here goes:
- I'm assuming the bootloader is still locked on the Droid X as I see/saw threads with people doing a petition (like that's gonna change anything), so what exactly does that mean for the Droid X overall - I see some custom ROMs available so I'm confused: I thought having a locked bootloader meant you couldn't have custom ROMs or, are they all running from the microSD card?
- for anyone that bought a Droid X and used the stock ROM(s) from Verizon, does using a custom ROM (if you do so) help the battery life at all, and to what degree (and how bad/good is/was the stock ROM battery life anyway?)?
- I saw mention of ICS in several instances, and also along with some ROMs but, there doesn't seem to be a full fledged ICS ROM available (or is Liberty just such a thing?) so, are the chances high that ICS will never be fully fleshed out for the Droid X? I think I saw mention that there's "some" ROM now with ICS features but isn't the full fledged build, and that the camera doesn't work at all... just hoping for clarification on this. If it's an issue of "at some point we'll have ICS working proper, completely" then I suppose it's worth taking a chance now.
- Last question: would people think that $75 for a Droid X in near "mint" condition (seller's comment, haven't actually held it in my hand yet), a memory card (unknown size but most likely the stock 2GB card), and the charger/USB card is a somewhat decent deal? I've gone through several HD2's over the years and run all sorts of OSes on it, and while it arguably is the best damned enthusiast phone ever created, I am currently on the lookout for something different - can't afford a brand new dual core monster phone (I really want that Samsung Galaxy Note but it'll probably never happen).
While the Droid X is getting older, it seems like it's still a somewhat useful device overall so I'm really leaning towards getting this.
Any advice, info, or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A locked bootloader means no custom kernels...
But with the 2nd-init this means next to nothing that is negative for us.
We can run CM7, MIUI, and ICS.
These are 2nd-init roms that don't use any of Motorola's framework.
EncounterICS is definitely a daily driver rom...if you don't mind missing out on your camera.
This is the stock ICS experience.
Cm7 is fantastic.
Everything works.
Miui is fantastic.
Everything works.
Liberty and the other roms are 1st-init...meaning they use blur framework...and varying amounts of blur features...depending on the rom.
Battery?
On 2nd-init...we're at about stock levels.
1st-init may get slightly better than stock.
The X gets pretty darn decent battery life anyway...I wouldn't worry about it.
Our ICS ports might not have a working camera for quite some time...
But I'm sure they'll get there.
Is it a good buy?
I'd say yes.
The X has these features missing from the current top-tier phones...
4G
NFC
Front facing camera
Dual core.
We can even spoof the market into letting us download dual core games...
And overclock and use Chainfire3D to run said games.
It's a surprisingly nice phone...
If we had an unlocked bootloader...we'd have a fully functional ICS already.
But that's something for the devs to work on...and it really has no effect on us aside from a longer wait.
Check my sig for DX specific rom/root/tuts if you end up getting it.
Sorry for jumping all over the place...writing this on my phone!
Came with 16GB originally, really? Damn that would be nice, but I won't find out till later today when I meet to get my hands on it. That would be awesome if it was one of the original ones but, I don't want to get my hopes up for it. Hell, Fry's carries 16GB microSD cards under $20 most every day now so it's not like it'll be a lot of money to get one.
No worries about the jumping all over the place - I've been online since 1977 (seriously, at a whopping 50 baud!) so I can keep up with disjointed thoughts and whatever.
As for the "missing features" on top tier phones, none of those are relevant to me at all, as weird as that might sound. I'm in Las Vegas and we're fairly blanketed here for 4G coverage but, I think that kind of speed (when it works) for cell/smart phones is still just a gimmick but that's just me.
So a solid CM7 ROM might be the best for me to get started I suppose. The owner texted me earlier to set the meeting time (another few hours) and confirmed she did reset the phone to factory condition which iirc means it's at the Android screen which means it's waiting to be activated - can you or anyone else confirm that the old 4-corner trick will bypass that activation so I can get into it and verify everything works? I probably won't bother with the actual activation anytime soon unless I find some good local pricing here in my area, but being able to demo the phone and make sure everything works is an absolute must.
And thanks for the response, the info was very helpful.
I'd agree with ya there.
We've yet to get 4G in my area...but even connecting to WiFi loading web pages takes about the same time...not like I'm downloading 3gig torrents on my phone.
But yes, 4-corners works.
Edit: Do an esn check too.
I think there are online tools to do so.
Or possibly calling Verizon if need be.
Calling ##program will bring I believe...or check behind the battery.
(I'm actually on a loaner right now...getting my phone repaired through Best Buy...so I can't verify this.)
So I got the Droid X, it's in great condition but certainly not "mint" (people always say that and I don't think most know what mint actually implies - it should practically untouched by human hands).
Anyway, that CheckESNFree.com site says this one is clean and ready for activation so that's a plus, if that site is dependable of course. Always have to worry that someone would be creating a database of ESNs/ESIDs/IMEIs for some dastardly and nefarious purposes!!!
It's definitely a LOT snappier than my HD2 (listed in my sig) but it's also a slightly better internal architecture than the HD2 was, of course. Everything seems to function fine, not sure where to start so I'll much with it for the evening and see what gives. Came with a very tiny HTC 5V USB adapter, the original Motorola USB cable, and a separate USB charger as well.
Oh, and it does have the 16GB microSD card in it too.
I'm the admin/founder/owner of CheckESNFree.com
I can assure you that we do NOT log/store/record ESNs in any way shape or form.
We process roughly 14,000 ESNs per day, and we have a huge following of supporters, including places such as ReCellular, Gazelle, and FastLaneWireless.