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New G1: My Wife's Phone: ROM Options?

I'm sure you can tell by my post count i'm fairly new to this G1/Android craze.
Actually, I don't even have one, yet. But my wife wants to move from nokia to G1.
I currently have an iPhone, and, after jailbreaking, is an excellent phone.
But it has it's problems. For example, no Linux support (at least not officially, and not good enough).
And why is Linux important? My wife has a Linux laptop (work laptop).
Anyway. I have read and have seen there is a thread telling not to ask for "best ROM", so i read some more, and there are a lot of links, but i can not seem to find one that can help me.
I went to the Androidspin database, and for G1 alone, there are 120 ROMs!!!!!
So, what are the ROMS that more closely fit this "requirements"?:
1) Stability. My wife is not very technical, so i want this to be smooth.
2) Speed. I love visuals, but i rather have a responsive phone.
3) Usability. The most feature rich gadget is useless if i have to take a course in physics to use it.
4) Internet. Browsing, MS Messenger, etc.
5) Applications. Access to the Android market is very much welcome.
6) Google. Synchronization with google apps in general, gmail, docs, etc, is very much welcome.
7) Skype. This would be a very "nice to have".
Lets just finish by saying that my wife would be using it unlocked on Argentina, not T-Mobile, so i think no 3G, but only wi-fi, because of bands compatibility.
So, which 5-10 ROMs should i try?
Thanks, for any help.

well if you want stable rom. you gotta go with cyanogen. his latest stable is 4.2.15.1. but you hav to have the phone rooted.

SuperD is the fastest and most responsive, and in my experience, is also more stable than Cyanogen.

Thanks. I know i have to root them, yes.
What about OpenEclair?

If you want a stable 2.1 ROM, cyanogen's 5.0.7-test1 is fast and responsive. I've only used it for a few days, but stability seems good.

I have been rooting and hacking since the phone first came out in Oct 2008. I love everything android, Cyanogen, google, HTC, modding etc etc. I know I am going to take a lot of crap for this from my fellow hackers, flashers, and modders, but your first requirement:
1) Stability. My wife is not very technical, so i want this to be smooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
made me think of only one option for you (and her)....stay with stock roms that are officially supported and receive OTA updates.
I know that you would probably be doing all of the modding of her phone since she is not technical but you will not always be with her and altered ROMs can act up despite the best efforts of all the great developers that contribute to Android. Stay with stock and I have a feeling you will thank me later.
~DM

It depends on what you are doing. You need a “recovery image” which, as I get it, is just like a back up of your O.S. You have your choice of many here and elsewhere.
I think if you go over to the unlockr.com it’s pretty well spelled out. Figure out where you’re at and where you want to be, and proceed accordingly.
(It’s all here to but a little confusing to me)
Regards, PK

Thanks for responses.
In your experience, what are the most common crazy things a ROM does, when not the stock one, besides maybe hunging?

I would go with Cyanogen's last "stable" release. Judging from my fiance's response to my phone, I think she would be happier with it rooted to just have a speed boost available. The stock G1 is incredibly slow compared to a Cyanogen build mainly because it runs below the processor's capability until you root it and change the setting. Also, there is very little onboard memory and Apps2SD is a life saver for the G1. Basically it allows you to save your applications on the SD card but then your phones relies on the speed of the SD card. Even then, the G1 has a lot of hang ups that an impatient person may have issues with.
I think another android phone may be better for you if it is in your price range. The G1 has really turned in to a gadget to tinker with due to its lackluster hardware. I love my G1 because it is the ultimate gadget that I can recreate on a monthly basis but my fiance HATES it for that same reason.
Judging from Cyanogen's latest experimental build I may have to eat my words. It runs incredibly smooth but still has some bugs to work out.

Cyanogen seems to have some of the more stable roms but i'd definitely search the forums a little more

Super D...

cyanogen use to do a half boot sounds weird but it would go to the animated bootscreen. load. and then go right back into the app i was running . i think it may have something to do with my phone itself
but
most feature full= cyanogen
fastest most stabel= super d
i switch between the two often enough to recommend both

I would then be trying both, SuperD and Cyanogen.
Thanks.

They’re all a little screwy and it varies from phone to phone. I just swapped from super D to Cyanogen 5.07. Neither works my camera (Cyanogen admits to not havening zoom features). (In my case, I probably have a hardware prob.).
Read the associated threads to see what you can live with.
PK

I the G1 gets Android 2.1 or 2.2, i would probably leave it like that for my wife.
The problem is that it is at 1.6 only.

cyanogen 5 is running 2.1 although its still in it's experimental stage (give it a week or so).
but seriously just get amon ra's recovery running and teach her to flash roms....... it's quite an addiction (as long as she can follow instructions she will be fine)

how about "TheOfficial Donut"
it's in here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=538456
It's fast, very stable and feels genuine
I recommend flashing the addons

According to the ROMs thread, the best one is SuperFast 1.3.3 RHJ.
All is 5 (excellent)

I have tried many different roms but SuperFast 1.3.3 RHJ is my daily use rom. I have not had any issue with it. It looks awesome. Has the new anderwebs launcher. The only issue that you might run into is that it uses ramhack which might slow down gaming.
Definitely recommend it. It gets 3.6 avg in linpack!

I want to try SuperFast 1.3.3 RHJ now, and probably later on, SuperD and Cyanogen.
I have so far downgraded the G1, and was able to activate it without a data plan.
Now, i have not installed anything.
I was going to install the recovery image, and was wondering if i should install the Cyanogen one, or the Death one (or something scary like that).
Also, i don't know if i have to upgrade other parts of the phone first, like the RADIO, etc.
This is how it is today:
PVT 32B
HBOOT-0.95.0000
CPLD-4
RADIO-1.22.12.29
Model Number T-Mobile G1
Firmware 1.0
Baseband 62.33.20.08H_1.22.12.29
Kernel 2.6.26-01843-gfea26b0
Build kila-user 1.0 TC4-RC29 115247
Comments?
EDIT: so far, with the stock firmware, my wife is pretty happy (but i want SuperFast at least )

Root or No Root

Hey guys, I have been using smart phones for a while and usually get around great without rooting. I had the HTC Dream back in the day and couldnt use it without rooting, lol. I am upgrading from the G1 which has met the end of the road for me. What are the benefits of rooting? With the Vibrant which I will finally have on Tuesday, is it necessary? And if it is HIGHLY recommended, how do I go about rooting it?

i would say root it cause its really easy takes not even 5 minutes seriously lol but i would also root it cause there is lots of bloatware on this thing so many apps that arent needed

I am not generally a rooter but this one seemed so easy (and it is) that I did it.
I didn't root the phone to dig into the files, I did it just so I could install stuff that I couldn't otherwise install. It bugged me to see a cool app and then read "YOU MUST HAVE ROOT ACCESS". That's not a problem anymore.
You certainly don't lose anything by rooting so I would say go for it.

Any other disadvantages/advantages

really there are no disadvantages accept maybe warranty but i think theres a way to unroot so no probs but once everything starts picking up there will be way more advantages than disadvantages

Besides the fact of removing awful apps (Bloatware), you can use your phone to tether. Also you can use an app called SetCPU to overclock your processor to actaully use your 1GHZ processor which speeds your phone up, along with a ton of other root apps. Youll be able to flash custom ROMS, flash themes, etc. Not sure if there is a volume hack for the vibrant yet, but that has been a reason for past rooted phones as well.
I highly recommend it...

AdFree Android removes nearly all ads from websites and apps

reasons to root
1. Use apps that require root access (such as Titanium Backup and Drocap2)
2. Remove preloaded bloatware (who needs TeleNav when Google Maps Navigation is totally free?)
3. Full access to filesystem (useful for developers and general tinkerers)
reasons not to root
1. Always involves some risk (however small) of irreversibly damaging your device
2. Could void warranty or official support
3. Makes it easier for you to accidentally mess up your system.

I only rooted my mytouch and g1 phones so i can get apps2sd, wi-tethering, and overclockcpu.
however, since the upcoming froyo update will allow most of that, i chose not to root for the time being. the phone is very fast and stable for my current needs and has an ample amount of internal memory. the only other reason to root for me would be to flash roms/themes because of my dislike for Samsung's TouchWiz.
it depends on what you ultimately want to get out of your phone.

ryan562 said:
I only rooted my mytouch and g1 phones so i can get apps2sd, wi-tethering, and overclockcpu.
however, since the upcoming froyo update will allow most of that, i chose not to root for the time being. the phone is very fast and stable for my current needs and has an ample amount of internal memory. the only other reason to root for me would be to flash roms/themes because of my dislike for Samsung's TouchWiz.
it depends on what you ultimately want to get out of your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for me i had the g1 loved to root however i switched to unlocked iphone and now im back with the vibrant , the vibrant does everything i want now and the ease of the rooting might have me root if froyo is delayed by Tmobile or something.

Understood, also from reading I dont think there is a way to unroot the phone at all is it? And another ? since you all are being so helpful, is there already an app to at least see what speed your processor is running at. i know that task managers arent really needed, but some of them showed ur cpu speed as well as the load on it. is that something that anyone had an interest in and found. thanks for all of you all's help

Hmm, still debating on rooting. Waiting for my Froyo update. Plus I want to port my Harley-Davidson theme I made for my G1 to Vibrant. Hopefully they don't use those CRAMS files on Vibrant, cause that is when I had to stop themeing my G1. CRAMS was too difficult to mess with. Is the signing file method gonna be the same as G1, or is there a different testsign file? Plus I hope to see my stock file, plus a thinned down, less bloatware file, and themeing templates. So many factors to consider.

I say ROOT! I've never rooted a phone till this one. I just couldn't stand all the bloatware that was in this phone. They just had to be removed. Now all I'm waiting for are some sick ass ROMs I've seen done for other devices to hit this one. I'm sure I'll need help doing so, but this community has been fantastic when help is needed.
Plus side for me is that I also have a 3 week old New still in the box Nexus One as a backup phone in case I screw this one up.

I rooted mine because people kept saying you could tether, but none of the tethering apps actually WORK. They install fine, and Wireless-Tethering says it's working, but the access point never shows up. And Wired-Tethering says the kernel isn't compatible.
So I'd like to hear from any rooted users who actually got them working AND successfully tethered a laptop with it.

talltexan said:
Same for me i had the g1 loved to root however i switched to unlocked iphone and now im back with the vibrant , the vibrant does everything i want now and the ease of the rooting might have me root if froyo is delayed by Tmobile or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if there's any delay on the froyo update, i'd blame it on samsung

I was hoping not to have to root the phone so soon - especially until I could reset it back and a recover like Amon's is available, but after a glorious couple of days of honeymoon, the lags are just killing the experience for me. And I don't think I have a choice now, but to root. I'll try a general reset and see if it works. I have another Vibrant that seems to be only slightly laggy. But I have to return that one and keep the problematic one :-(
Even moving icons on the desktop now takes almost 2 second. Linpack still clocks at 8.5. No problem at all playing a video - just OS operations. The camera froze for 5 minutes and I finally had to just restart the phone. Restarting the phone is not painful on this device though. Very fast.

At this time so early in Vibrant development.. it honestly doesn't really make much of a difference if you root early or root later. Just enjoy the phone for what it is as of right now until the modding community becomes settled in. Just be aware if there are any incoming OTAs if you are unrooted to make sure that the OTA didn't do anything that would change the rooting process.
- Recovery (ability to flash custom ROMs) is in the making
- Custom ROM developers -- in the makes soon
So here's the question. Should I go ahead and invest on a Vibrant (but work for it will begin when I get the Slide done) cont... about 7 hours ago via HTC Peep
If I keep getting the donations I am now, I can get the laptop along with the Vibrant, just considering the Vibrant first ...cont about 7 hours ago via HTC Peep -WesGarner
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would personally go ahead and root it to unlock some essential applications and it takes <1 minute to do and its pretty simple. But there isn't any rush to root it now or later.. not at least CyanogenMod6 (Android 2.2) gets released for this beastly phone to have JIT.

nm found it

N8QDogg said:
Understood, also from reading I dont think there is a way to unroot the phone at all is it? And another ? since you all are being so helpful, is there already an app to at least see what speed your processor is running at. i know that task managers arent really needed, but some of them showed ur cpu speed as well as the load on it. is that something that anyone had an interest in and found. thanks for all of you all's help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the root method given so far, I think the only thing you have to do to unroot it is to remove Superuser Permissions. That's the only thing that the root procedure added to the phone.

I'm rooting my phone when I get it, just because to me (at least) it is a part of the true android experience. I'm just geek enough to like to play with my equipment! Hurry up T-Mobile!!!

[Q] Xda n00b needs advice aka save a phone from brick thread

Ok...been an android user from jump street. Rocked a stock g1 for the longest, never rooted. Got a mytouch3g the moment it hit tmobile, loved it and never rooted. Now I have a vibrant even though I want a g2...so i'm going to make the most of it while I got it. I want to start rooting with this phone so I can do it without questions on the g2 when I get it. So I have a few questions before I continue...
1. How do get the 2.2 froyo update without waiting for the ota or the kies manual update? I see lots of vibrant users with it already and im jealous...
2. Ive installed ryanZA's OCLF already & that seems to help with the proprietary lag issues...but it's not perfect. The voodoo kernel flash option within the app has tempted me many times but all I see are complaints of bricking because of it. That concerns me...has there been a single successful voodoo kernel flash within the oclf?
3. Which rooted rom works the best and is easiest for newbs like me to start with? I want to oc this thing so I get its full potential...so zippy file ext formats that dont hose my sd are desired. I take a lot of photos for art projects & download zip files of music from rapidshare, hotfile, etc. while browsing web and texting. Lag has been an issue thus far while multi-tasking so I would like to minimize that as much as possible.
4. Any other useful tips & tricks for the vibrant are appreciated. My interweb traffic is mostly relegated to my phone since pc access is too few & far between. I know pc access is required for most modding/rooting/flashing exercises it's just when I do have access it isnt for more than an hr or so. I dont have the time to fuss over running odin to restore my quasi bricked vibby because I need the phone for work. I need the easiest and most stable methods possible so I can squeeze in a flash on my lunchbreak.
So...i know thats a lot, but if some power users or android pros can steer me in the right direction I would be extremely grateful. I would troll the faq's but like I said this is quicker for me...dont have the time or battery life to scroll through thread after thread without a guarantee that my questions will be answered.
ty,
-g-
Tmo vibrant/JI6 eclair/ryanza oclf w/root/2300+ quadrant score

1. There is no official 2.2 for the Vibrant. But there is a leak "JK2" in the development section available for Odin, or CWM.
2. If you flash Voodoo, make sure to disable it before flashing again!
3. There are lots of "good" roms, but it comes down to what you like. Also, overclocking is in the Kernels & not the ROMs themselves. Most overclocking goes up to 1.2Ghz on the vibrant.
4. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=732458 < Full of Tips & Tricks.
Glad you want to jump in, but you need to read around first..

Master comments are well stated. You really want to read all the stickys (at the top) and then also look online at some of the you tube video there enough for you to get the "feel" for playing with the phone...etc. I personally don't you the lag fixes much anymore as the new 2.2 roms are plenty fast and this keep flashing new roms simpler going forward.
I would recommend if you are really going to get into it, to flash back to the T959 original stock rom in Odin, then root the phone (I used the one click version) and then start going from there. I did this for 2 reasons:
1. I start with stock and clear all the old flashing remnants.
2. Then all subsequent flashes I do are over 2.2 roms instead of over mod 2.1 roms/then 2.2roms/ then the latest roms.
By doing this I have only had to use Odin once and then Clockwork-Mod from there.
You will enjoy the new leaked 2.2 Froyo roms.. Good GPS, great battery life, fast no lag response on the phone and generally makes the phone more fun to use. Ignore the scores they do not paint a realistic picture and really only good for bragging rights. Go with how the phone performs
Welcome and enjoy

[Q] CM6.1 vs FR007 vs R012? rooted, liberated, unlocked?

I tried to read the sticky notes and guides about "How to root a phone" or "How to install new ROM"...
But I could not find answer to some real basic questions like:
What are the differences between CM6.1, FR007 and R012? What are their andvantages and disadvantages compaired to each other?
Are there any regional or other limitations? (Expl: I can not use R012 in Europe)
What is the difference between rooting, liberating and unlocking a phone?
If my phone is provider independent do I have to root, liberate or unlock if I want to update the ROM? Do I need to do all of them or just some?
Most likely these are pretty obvious for most of you so please dont shoot me...
Thanks for the answers in advance...

CMage said:
I tried to read the sticky notes and guides about "How to root a phone" or "How to install new ROM"...
But I could not find answer to some real basic questions like:
What are the differences between CM6.1, FR007 and R012? What are their andvantages and disadvantages compaired to each other?
Are there any regional or other limitations? (Expl: I can not use R012 in Europe)
What is the difference between rooting, liberating and unlocking a phone?
If my phone is provider independent do I have to root, liberate or unlock if I want to update the ROM? Do I need to do all of them or just some?
Most likely these are pretty obvious for most of you so please dont shoot me...
Thanks for the answers in advance...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Questions like these need to be asked in the General section. These are not Development related questions.

Yeah, but all of the threads related to his questions are in this forum, so I can see why he'd post them here.
To be honest, I'll be interested in the replies as well. I chose to go with CM6.1 because everyone said it was the most customizeable of the ROMs and that was what interested me. However, my battery life seems to be about half of what it was on the stock ROM and I'm not sure what's causing that. For instance, I charged my phone before I left for work last night, it was 100%, six hours later when I pulled it out for the first time, it was 79%. That seems like way too much drain for a sleeping device.
So I'm definitely open to switching to one of the other ROMs if there's good info supplied in this thread.

Actually... The difference between cm6 and liberated is the sense UI. Rooting your phone means unlocking it to be able to do things you couldn't do with a stock rom. Which means you can flash another rom to it after Rooting.
Liberating is not the correct term. The FR00x Roms are code named LIBERATED.
I can't understand the problem in differentiating these things... The forums have been very informative. I rooted and flashed my Liberty/Aria twice the second day I had it. To each his own though...

tomtommy306 said:
Actually... The difference between cm6 and liberated is the sense UI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While this is arguably the most visible difference between CM6 and the Liberated ROMs, it isn't the only difference. CM6 offers significantly (at least IMHO) more features and customization capability than the Liberated ROMs, at the cost of what some feel is a nicer look, and some HTC proprietary features.
I have run quite a few iterations of the 2.1 Liberated ROMs, quite a few of the various CM6 ROMs (nightlies etc.), and one of the early Liberated 2.2 ROMs for a couple days. Personally after switching to CM6, the lack of custom options in the HTC based ROMs is no longer acceptable for me (thus my very short stay on Liberated 2.2). However, I like tinkering with my device, so CM6 fits my wants more than the Liberated series. Others certainly may not find the same thing.
As far as battery life goes, from my experience the ROM is less of a factor than usage patterns, to include location/cell signal strength issues. I have a fairly inconsistent usage pattern, due to varying demands on my time at my job. Sometimes I have lots of time to play with my phone, other times it sits in my pocket untouched all day, or somewhere in between these extremes. I also work in varying locations, some with better service than others. To try to monitor signal strength more accurately I run my signal strength indicator in db rather than bars (an option in CM6). Maybe it is because of my strange usage patterns, but I haven't seen any significant difference in battery life between any of the ROMs I have used. A couple of examples of my experience below:
1) work location 1, signal strength -65 to -80 db typical, 3g radio on all day, about 5% per hour battery drain with minimal browsing/no phone calls/minimal messaging.
2) work location 2, signal strength -70 to -90 typical, same usage as above with 3g radio on gets me about 10% drain per hour. switch to 2g only radio, back to 5% per hour or so. No clue why there is such a difference in battery drain with fairly minimal difference in signal strength (unless maybe it's reading strength of 2g svc, and 3g is coming from a weaker more distant location??)
3) recently attended a meeting in a concrete building - entered building at 8 am with 87% battery remaining, 2g only radio on. signal strength in building -105 to -110 db (basically no signal). break from meeting at 10 am - battery now at 51%. Checked battery usage stats - cell standby used 70 something % (can't remember exact number, but way high). Sent message to my wife to call me on my work cell phone (dumb vzw phone with battery that lasts all week) and put Aria in airplane mode. battery drain from 10am to leaving meeting at 5pm was a total of 3% (48% battery left when leaving)
While I didn't really give Liberated 2.2 a chance to really stabilize, I have run Liberated 2.1 and CM6 both long enough that I feel the battery performance on each are comparable.
Sorry for so much info in a thread not really aimed at battery life specifically....
DD

Explained, hopefully
CMage said:
I tried to read the sticky notes and guides about "How to root a phone" or "How to install new ROM"...
But I could not find answer to some real basic questions like:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with all you've said, it is confusing and one needs to read a lot to understand it all. While that is time consuming, it's not a bad thing because by reading lots, we learn a lot. Answers to your questions below following the word ANSWER.
What are the differences between CM6.1, FR007 and R012? What are their andvantages and disadvantages compaired to each other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANSWER: CM is simply someones verison of a new ROM, could have different kernel, features, included tools, etc. I don't use it but believe it's based on the Android 2.2 Operating System. FR007 is the latest version of the "Liberated" ROM (Liberated simply means it was liberated-freed from the constraints of AT&T, i.e., rooted to allow mods), but has Android version 2.2 as its Operating System. R012 is another modified verison of the basic ARIA ROM, but is based on Android version 2.1 Operating System. Both of the last two were built by ATTN1.
Are there any regional or other limitations? (Expl: I can not use R012 in Europe).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANSWER: You can use them in Europe; no radio code changes, no h/w changes are made.
What is the difference between rooting, liberating and unlocking a phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANSWER: Rooting is simply "fixing" the phone so you can modify the Operating System and add new non-Market applications. AT&T releases the phone to not allow changes to be made...they don't want the hassle of people calling their tech support group. Doesn't mean we can't do it, hence this FORUM.
Liberating is not really an activity you can do; it's simply the name ATTN1 decided to call his version of his new ROM...he "liberated" it from the constraints of AT&T. Unlocking is something you need to do if a phone is locked, which some carriers do. I didn't have to do it with the ARIA, perhaps the Clockwork mod does that; I simply don't know. On one of my older HTC Microsoft based Smartphones I had to unlock it to modify the ROM.
If my phone is provider independent do I have to root, liberate or unlock if I want to update the ROM? Do I need to do all of them or just some?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ANSWER: to update the ROM you need to ROOT it. Read the Sticky for ROOTING, use the one that describes building a CD ROM that runs UNIX on your PC and does the whole ROOT thing for you. Very simple to build the CD and ROOT your phone. Just follow the directions.

Nice of "cease" to take the time to give a good detailed answer!
I will just add a couple of things...
If your phone is carrier locked and you want to use it on a different carrier you will have to unlock it. This is not done by any software change, it has to be done by an unlocking service or the original carrier.
If you want to make any changes to your phone you pretty much have to root it. This will give you the choice of either adding a different ROM or making other changes. If you are like me and want to keep the stock ROM for whatever reason, you can get rid of the AT&T bloatware, install non-market apps and other stuff by various methods found throughout this forum. Installing a new ROM is an easy method to achieve these same things, but I like to figure stuff out for myself first (I just got my Aria a few days ago).
Cheers.

Cease, thanks a lot for the detailed answer. I really appreciate...

CMage said:
Cease, thanks a lot for the detailed answer. I really appreciate...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're very welcome; glad I could help.

Why unlock
ckuke4 said:
Nice of "cease" to take the time to give a good detailed answer!
I will just add a couple of things...
If your phone is carrier locked and you want to use it on a different carrier you will have to unlock it. This is not done by any software change, it has to be done by an unlocking service or the original carrier.
If you want to make any changes to your phone you pretty much have to root it. This will give you the choice of either adding a different ROM or making other changes. If you are like me and want to keep the stock ROM for whatever reason, you can get rid of the AT&T bloatware, install non-market apps and other stuff by various methods found throughout this forum. Installing a new ROM is an easy method to achieve these same things, but I like to figure stuff out for myself first (I just got my Aria a few days ago).
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this; I didn't know why unlocking was ever needed. But this now makes sense given my first HTC Windows Mobile phone was purchased from a UK company (not AT&T) necessitating me to UNLOCK first before I could use it on AT&T with my AT&T SIM card.

One of the main differences is that HTC Sync is available only on Liberated yet not on CM. I like CM better yet because of that I am with Liberated F006
If you need sync with MS Outlook - Liberated is the only choice.

cease said:
ANSWER: Rooting is simply "fixing" the phone so you can modify the Operating System and add new non-Market applications. AT&T releases the phone to not allow changes to be made...they don't want the hassle of people calling their tech support group. Doesn't mean we can't do it, hence this FORUM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the good info.. My wife and I really like our Arias and are actually pretty happy with the stock setup. As I understand it, if I just root the phone, I'll still have my regular stock-looking setup but, I'll be able to get rid of AT&T's built-in apps and install whatever other apps I want, correct? (I've already sideloaded a few things, but it would be nice to just be able to install what I want..)

ShinerDraft said:
Thanks for the good info.. My wife and I really like our Arias and are actually pretty happy with the stock setup. As I understand it, if I just root the phone, I'll still have my regular stock-looking setup but, I'll be able to get rid of AT&T's built-in apps and install whatever other apps I want, correct? (I've already sideloaded a few things, but it would be nice to just be able to install what I want..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting a standard setup does not automatically give you the ability to load third party apps as AT&T has removed that option in Settings altogether. You will still have to sideload third party apps. Also rooting will allow you to remove AT&T built-in apps, just be sure you read and understand the process and procedures thoroughly.

Ok, but the three ROM's mentioned in this thread will allow me to do those things? That's not a problem, I'm just trying to get up to speed on the terminology and steps required.. I don't want to do or change too much too quickly..
cease said:
ANSWER: CM is simply someones verison of a new ROM, could have different kernel, features, included tools, etc. I don't use it but believe it's based on the Android 2.2 Operating System. FR007 is the latest version of the "Liberated" ROM (Liberated simply means it was liberated-freed from the constraints of AT&T, i.e., rooted to allow mods), but has Android version 2.2 as its Operating System. R012 is another modified verison of the basic ARIA ROM, but is based on Android version 2.1 Operating System. Both of the last two were built by ATTN1.
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So of the three ROM's in the thread title, it seems like R012 would be the closest to our current, stock setup; FR008 (update to FR007) would be be similar, but add stuff from Android 2.2; CM would be even more different since it doesn't use the Sense interface.. Right?
I don't mind experimenting with ROMs that are different than stock, but I don't want to make any drastic changes to the wife's phone. (Marital tech support can be a pain..)

ShinerDraft said:
So of the three ROM's in the thread title, it seems like R012 would be the closest to our current, stock setup; FR008 (update to FR007) would be be similar, but add stuff from Android 2.2; CM would be even more different since it doesn't use the Sense interface.. Right?
I don't mind experimenting with ROMs that are different than stock, but I don't want to make any drastic changes to the wife's phone. (Marital tech support can be a pain..)
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That sums up the three main ROMs pretty well, I'd say. If you look in the Aria Superthread you will see an organized list of the modifications you can make and step-by-step instructions for each modification.
The key thing to remember about playing with the different ROMs is that before you start installing anything, you need to make a nandroid back-up. This is a feature in ClockworkMod Recovery that is installed when you root the Aria. The beautiful thing about a nandroid back-up is that later, at any point and for any reason, you can always return your Aria back to the exact state it was in when you made that back-up. In other words, you can go right back to the basic Android 2.1 with HTC Sense that came on your Aria when you first bought it. Knowing that made it much easier for me, personally, to go ahead and start playing with my Aria. I'm very glad that I did!

Thanks for the great info! This place is pretty high-level, so basics like this are very much appreciated by folks who need to play catch-up..

911jason said:
However, my battery life seems to be about half of what it was on the stock ROM and I'm not sure what's causing that. For instance, I charged my phone before I left for work last night, it was 100%, six hours later when I pulled it out for the first time, it was 79%. That seems like way too much drain for a sleeping device.
So I'm definitely open to switching to one of the other ROMs if there's good info supplied in this thread.
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What do you get on FR008? Battery life is always one of my main concerns. I know R012 has great battery life.

I haven't personally used FR008. I did install it on two different co-worker's Arias, but my use of it in those cases was too short to evaluate the battery usage.

911jason said:
I haven't personally used FR008. I did install it on two different co-worker's Arias, but my use of it in those cases was too short to evaluate the battery usage.
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Ah I see. I'm just so lazy ;p

Girlfriend has a mytouch 3g - any way to speed this thing up?

Her phone is unbelievably slow out of the box, though it is about a year old. I'm wondering is it worth me learning how to root her phone and install a custom ROM or would the overall speed increase be negligible? I have experience installing ROMs and such on my OG Droid but it's been several months since I've messed with it.
I guess I can boil this down to 3 simple questions;
a) is it worth it to root and install ROMs on a mytouch 3g (is there a noticeable speed increase)
b) is it pretty simple to do
c) if the answer to a and b is yes, can someone point me in the right direction?
Thanks in advance for any help!

@velocity92c
I have the MT3G 32B, I've had the phone for almost 2 years. Right after T-Mobile pushed the Android 2.2 update the phone was worthless. I did a factory reset on it which did actually make it run like it did when I first got it, however after re-installing all my apps the phone was crap again.
So I looked into rooting..
I can honestly say that the CyanogenMod 6.0 makes the phone run smoothly and fast enough to where I can enjoy using the device. I've tried upgrading it with other ROMS to 2.3.4 OS but I don't think the hardware in the phone was ever intended to run it that environment. Therefore:
a) is it worth it to root and install ROMs on a mytouch 3g (is there a noticeable speed increase) Yes, however it depends on the ROM, I've tried several different ones over the past few months.. CyanogenMod 6.0 is the most stable I've found
b) is it pretty simple to do
Depends on your knowledge of computers imo... there are several sites with guides, my personal favorite is Theunlockr .com That site has several different methods for rooting.
c) if the answer to a and b is yes, can someone point me in the right direction?
look @ b