[Q] Is the Galaxy S future-proof enough to trade my Moto Milestone with? - Galaxy S I9000 General

[or, is there any budget device which is more future-proof?]
So, I recently sold my ZTE Blade to buy a (used) Motorola Milestone and payed something like 50 euros more than the price I sold the Blade for.
I got, though, quite disappointed by the phone's performance. RAM was full even when no real-world applications were running. The phone lagged and I thought this was an issue with the default ROM, so I flashed an aftermarket ROM. I still stood no chance. Performance was horrible and when I found that the bootloader is locked down I was even more disappointed. It seemed like a waste of money to me.
The bootloader being locked down is a bad thing. It also means that the phone can't have any future. At all. Also, all the drivers are closed source and can't really be applied to custom ROMs. It means it won't have any version above 2.3.7 too.
So, no ICS for me. I was really expecting it. What really dragged me down afterwards was that everyone said the phone is OLD. OLD? Can you believe it? I had just bought it and it was old? I think this is the worst buy I've ever made.
After all now, I'm quickly looking to replace my Milestone with a future-proof phone. When I say future-proof I really mean it. So, in my head future-proof means:
- ability to run Android 4 and even Android 5 when it gets released
- unlocked bootloader
- available kernels; last version of Linux would be appreciated
- good enough CPU and GPU
- much available RAM
After looking at the forums all I can say is that Galaxy S has the following:
- unlocked bootloader
- available Linux 3.0 kernel
- running Android 4
- 1GHz CPU
- no more Samsung support (no stock ICS)
And that's all I really know. I'd be genuinely interested on what you believe about the future of the phone and if it will be worth buying.
--
gtklocker

No phone at all is future proof.
No one can tell you if any current phone will run, android 5. No one even knows what that is yet, or what power would be required to run it.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using Tapatalk

greeced said:
No phone at all is future proof.
No one can tell you if any current phone will run, android 5. No one even knows what that is yet, or what power would be required to run it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right.
You understand here, though, that I'm not serious about Android 5, I'm just asking if it has the potential to run any newer software that what we might consider now.
--
gtklocker

Anything that's out now SHOULD run, but without an official or leaked ics rom from Samsung, you're just hoping ported ics roms are ported correctly.
But at this point, without official drivers for ics for the i9000, it's hard to give a concrete answer. At least, until the Nexus S rom is officially available and given the i9000 love from developers. Seeing as it's the closest thing to the sgs.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using Tapatalk

Related

The state of Android homebrew.

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!

Motorola Cliq Android 2.1 Update? Help!

Hi to everyone on this forum,
I'm here to ask for help!
I'm a Motorola Cliq owner, it's called Dext here in UK. Basically Orange reduced this phone in UK and it's selling like hot cakes and I'm sure it sells decent around the globe. It’s a mid-range phone with physical qwerty keyboard.
It uses the Android 1.5 version! Even though it's only 8 months old Motorola are refusing to confirm the Android 2.1 Eclair update. Here is the official Motorola forum where there are many complaints from us customers wanting the 2.1 update. Read on after the first couple of pages to see the complaints: [turns out I can't post links because I'm new, you can go to Motorola support pages and click on Motorola Cliq to see]
I'd like to know if you can help us out since you're such a kind community! Can you help us root this phone and put the Android 2.1 or even the 2.2 update to it when the Manufacturer (Motorola) and network carriers (Orange) are letting us down? Much appreciated. Mani.
Edit: Motorola have locked the official support thread because of the complaints about it! You can still view the thread though.
Hi, there is no release date for 2.1 on Dext (this means Cliq outside US), on the other hand there is release date for 2.1 on Cliq, that is Q2 2010 (from what I recall).
So far for US Cliq there's a 1.4.8 radio release and I think in UK there is only 1.3.20, so latest releases are not compatible, however you can root your phone with a compatible version and look for a custom ROM (like Handler's that include flash!!).
Take a look at this forum, it's for CLIQ/Dext and there is a lot of info.
http://www.modmymoto.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=399
Thanks cortinag but that Website is pointless for getting a newer version of Android, it only seems to have firmwares from other countries...
Can anyone please tell me the difficulties of porting the Android 2.2 Froyo to the Motorola Cliq/Dext? I'd like to know this since it uses quite a popular CPU and has a good amount of ROM and RAM. This should mean porting is made easier right?
You can see the spec below:
Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 MHz processor
1 GB storage, 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM
There is no theoretical problem getting 2.1 on the dext. However, you'd probably have more luck getting 1.6 running as there's more of a chance backporting the 1.5 drivers for the phone's hardware (cpu is just one component); at least you'd get 2X as many apps available in andro store. A good starting point would be one of the CM roms. The phones are relatively easy to root, instructions @ unlocker. Only unusual feature is with motoblur hooking quite deep into the system, tbh, I'd love a blur free rom for the dext/cliq. Blur is just memory hogging garbage imho. Our biggest problem is that until one of the Devs purchases a dext/cliq (unlikely now as it is pretty much obsolete and you can get a much better phone for the money) there's no one to develop the ROM.
The small business I manage IT for has 2 WinMo, 6 iPhones and 5 androids, one of them a Dext. The obsolete os on it has been a pita for me ever since our marketer came back from UK with one. Moto doesn't look like they are going to upgrade it, none of the blur phones look likely to; they just push the dates back and back, stonewalling on the forums. Our employee has chosen to switch to an iPhone. Sweet, makes my life easier; another person turned off Android by Motorola's arse-hattery.
consolation said:
There is no theoretical problem getting 2.1 on the dext. However, you'd probably have more luck getting 1.6 running as there's more of a chance backporting the 1.5 drivers for the phone's hardware (cpu is just one component); at least you'd get 2X as many apps available in andro store. A good starting point would be one of the CM roms. The phones are relatively easy to root, instructions @ unlocker. Only unusual feature is with motoblur hooking quite deep into the system, tbh, I'd love a blur free rom for the dext/cliq. Blur is just memory hogging garbage imho. Our biggest problem is that until one of the Devs purchases a dext/cliq (unlikely now as it is pretty much obsolete and you can get a much better phone for the money) there's no one to develop the ROM.
The small business I manage IT for has 2 WinMo, 6 iPhones and 5 androids, one of them a Dext. The obsolete os on it has been a pita for me ever since our marketer came back from UK with one. Moto doesn't look like they are going to upgrade it, none of the blur phones look likely to; they just push the dates back and back, stonewalling on the forums. Our employee has chosen to switch to an iPhone. Sweet, makes my life easier; another person turned off Android by Motorola's arse-hattery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Perfect and well-informed answer/advice. Although not pertinent to me, I must say thank you for taking the time out to help people who are new to this or just learning.
There is one tool called Scout by gsmserver.com I have used it in the USA and flashed my cliq to the 2.1 works flawless and with more features notebly free FM Radio, activating your cliq with out the carrier internet service - awesome

Huawei Ideos

Am I the only one excited by this phone? Looks pretty cool, and should be pretty nifty as a secondary device as well as for casual users.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/03/huawei-ideos-hands-on/
$100-200 off-contract price, capacitive screen, all the features of a "real" Android phone... all it needs now is a subforum here on XDA and a port of Cyanogenmod
What do you guys think?
+1, Xda section for that phone would be awesome.
Coz its damn cheap, http://www.techit.in/huawei-ideos-the-cheapest-android-froyo-device-will-hit-india-soon/
+1
I can hardly wait to see it in Europe.
It's a pity that there are no further information yet about possible providers, exact prices etc.
i'm also waiting for dev to make it rooted! hope xda would support it. it will be a cheap & fun toys to play with
This is the first phone that comes closest to bringing android to the power users who couldn't afford much more then the likes of e63 and e71 who come from countries where you buy the phone on full price..This has just been launched in my country and has been talked about a lot...the only thing stopping me to buy this phone right now is the community support I pray that xda developers understands the potential this phone holds and launch a community forum so I can be rest assured that I can find help.
Last time I frequented this forum was when I owned a pda2k and I held onto my pda2k not because it was so lovely but because I knew all my answers could be had at this forum.
I pray for the same enthusiasm this time around, please let me become a power user once again.
I have the Google / Huawei Ideos phone and loving Android. Would be great if we could get a howto about rooting this phone!
I just got this phone this weekend and upgraded from my (rooted, CM6.1-RC1) G1 that was giving me various kinds of grief and I gotta say, I'm not looking back. This thing is really responsive, has all the bells and whistles of 2.2 and is a really capable little device. My only problem has been the fact that some apps don't show up in the market because the device falls into the low-density small screen category of the market, and apps built against 1.5 or without a supports-screen in the manifest. I've been able to sideload apps that haven't worked without ill effect. I'd love to see root on this, just in case T-Mo decides to OTA remove the Froyo tethering love.
So the speed compares favorably to the G1 with Froyo?
Unless my G1 was acting really funky (which I can't discount, because it was being slow and crashy in recent weeks, even with a fairly fresh install of CM6.1) it's been much more responsive than my G1 was.
EDIT: I'm a fairly hardcore android user, though I don't use any really graphics or super cpu heavy apps, but it's ran everything that I used to have trouble with on my G1 without issue, for instance I couldn't leave an audio app running in the BG, it would end up either dying to getting killed off my the android system.
UPDATE! SuperOneClick works to root the stock ROM on this phone! Just need to add the appropriate string to the ADB Driver.
tstackhouse said:
UPDATE! SuperOneClick works to root the stock ROM on this phone! Just need to add the appropriate string to the ADB Driver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being a complete noob, but loving the Ideos - what was the appropriate string you added?
I got huawei ideos with android froyo 2.1 from a friend. Is It possible to flash windows mobile rom in this device? If yes where can i get that rom? I do know how to flash windows mobile roms in htc pocket pcs, but not sure about huawei ideos whether it will support windows mobile os or not, and hows this device different from pocket pcs.
SRR.MD said:
I got huawei ideos with android froyo 2.1 from a friend. Is It possible to flash windows mobile rom in this device? If yes where can i get that rom? I do know how to flash windows mobile roms in htc pocket pcs, but not sure about huawei ideos whether it will support windows mobile os or not, and hows this device different from pocket pcs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one will ever develop a custom Windows Mobile ROM for this device. This may only happen if Huawei will launch a Windows Mobile device based on the same (or on a very similar) platform, and that's highly unlikely.
Plus one for this lovely affordable one!
+1
thanks
+1
I like it.
good news for Indian users.......
spice is launching them in india
MI 300 & MI 410
I got the Ideos yesterday for 99 €. It's incredible how good it is with froyo, I'm astonished!
+1
thanks
+1 please.
I think this phone have much and much potential.
+1! Just 99 euro in Italy!

[Q] Kernel update/modification

I finally decided to ask a question that's been bugging me for a few days now, with all android development going around in a very impressive pace.
Now I am completly new to kernel concept so don't me too harsh if I said something wrong.
The question: Isn't there really a way to modify/update our kernel since we have locked bootloader?
As far as I understood, most of us are running ICS UI on top of GB kernel (even some on top of Froyo kernel) but this does not give us the advantage of running ICS on it full force and take full advantage of your harware.
I know Endless7 had a method to downgrade kernel, and I thought may be there can be a similar way to upgrade it.
With JB just around the corner, that would be a great improvement IMHO for our device.
Megalith27 said:
I finally decided to ask a question that's been bugging me for a few days now, with all android development going around in a very impressive pace.
Now I am completly new to kernel concept so don't me too harsh if I said something wrong.
The question: Isn't there really a way to modify/update our kernel since we have locked bootloader?
As far as I understood, most of us are running ICS UI on top of GB kernel (even some on top of Froyo kernel) but this does not give us the advantage of running ICS on it full force and take full advantage of your harware.
I know Endless7 had a method to downgrade kernel, and I thought may be there can be a similar way to upgrade it.
With JB just around the corner, that would be a great improvement IMHO for our device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm no expert but I think this has to be done by motorola, since the kernel is the one responsible for the hardware management, and given the bootloader is locked we can't put custom kernels in our phone
Caesarivs said:
I'm no expert but I think this has to be done by motorola, since the kernel is the one responsible for the hardware management, and given the bootloader is locked we can't put custom kernels in our phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I do realize that and as Moto stated clearly that MS2 will not see official ICS there is not hope to get it from Moto.
But I thought maybe it can be ported from other device, or some modules, which share same CPU.
I am pretty sure our devs have looked into this but since we even got HWA working lol anything is possible these days.
There is a new bootloader hijacker called kexec which allows loading custom kernels. Hashcode is doing it for the Droid 3, and if I'm not wrong, it's designed specially for Motorola Phones with locked bootloaders. But you have to implement new drivers for video and such, so it's a lot of work.
Sent from my XT860 using xda app-developers app
elleypo Ière
Megalith27 said:
Thanks for the reply. I do realize that and as Moto stated clearly that MS2 will not see official ICS there is not hope to get it from Moto.
But I thought maybe it can be ported from other device, or some modules, which share same CPU.
I am pretty sure our devs have looked into this but since we even got HWA working lol anything is possible these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that it's not *only* a "same cpu" problem, it's the whole hardware solution.... camera, sound, gpu, and so on.
It's one of the reasons the dev on MS2 is so "slow", with the locked bootloader, non support from Motorola, the multiple versions (Droid2/Droid2 Global, MS2 EU/CH/NA and so on), getting the hardware to work (specially with newer android like ICS/JB is/was a pain, and most of the work was done "porting" those from the Defy/Atrix and so on who have, somewhat, partially the same hardware and can be adapted.
On top of that, changing the kernel as already said would mean to find a security flaw/hole in the bootloader that could be exploited for that.
(the downgrade solution was patched/fixed with the latest european, and now Latin America bootloader/kernel upgrades if i remember well, hence why most europeans who upgraded to the latest OTA don't really have a working CM7, since it requires to flash fixed sbf and other things to make it work (a patched recovery partition i think)).
But really, having the dev (forgot his name, danthingyabak ) getting full HW acceleration, and a working ICS port and pretty much everything working now, while LA and China starts getting remotely the same versions, we might see more develeoppement coming, since it's no longer "region specific" devs. Maybe even one day Droid 2/Droid 2 Global and MS will share the same developpements, who knows (or, maybe by Miracle, now that Google owns Motorola, maybe one day we will see unlocked bootloaders for all phone yeah i'm dreaming ).
What about us now?!
http://androidcommunity.com/motorola-finally-unlocking-bootloaders-for-real-this-time-20120726/
I hope it's true!
PS. But if it's not about us again, we hope that this method will work even be
xenusr said:
I hope it's true!
PS. But if it's not about us again, we hope that this method will work even be
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that thing was just a false alarm...or early celebration...
Sent from my MotoA953
Looks like we're finally getting there
http://androidcommunity.com/motorol...live-finally-can-unlock-bootloaders-20120817/

[Q] What Happened to this phone?

Let's be honest to ourselves here guys, out beloved Moto X Style was officially released in September which means this phone has now been out for at least 3 months and while all the effort that has since been put in this devices by key developers and people from day 1 up till now is very much appreciated and will continue to be appreciated, the development of this device compared to most flagships has been slow motion.
I am just trying to understand what the hell went wrong with this phone that made it end up with such super slow motion development, as when I originally bought the device I was thinking this phone would be at least in the top 20 most active phones on XDA development wise.
It had so much going for it, easy root, easy unlockable bootloader, a pretty much almost complete stock version of android, kernel sources released and motorolas good track record of updating their flagship phones in a timely manner and good hardware to accompany the great bloatware free stock software and a cheap price compared to some other flagships from other companies such as Samsung and Sony
With all this in mind I thought developers would flock to this device and we would have a massive development forum with loads of options between custom roms, mods, themes and other tweaks etc
But this is far from the case and I know the Nexus 6P being released probably had something to do with it, Still this should have been at least in top 20
At first I thought when Android 6.0 MM will be released development will increase then we needed the kernel sources as that was apparently not enough, then we had kernel sources but apart from 1 or 2 roms showing up being in alpha stages nothings changed too much.
This is such a disappointment to say the least.
If only I could understand why this is happening maybe something could be done to fix this or increase the development of this phone, I dont know maybe get some developers from the nexus 6p forums on here some how ...
Any ideas why this has happened and if anything can be done to increase development?
IS THERE ANY WAY WE AS A COMMUNITY CAN GET MORE DEVELOPERS TO WORK ON THIS DEVICE?
djsynth said:
If only I could understand why this is happening maybe something could be done to fix this or increase the development of this phone, I dont know maybe get some developers from the nexus 6p forums on here some how ...
Any ideas why this has happened and if anything can be done to increase development?
IS THERE ANY WAY WE AS A COMMUNITY CAN GET MORE DEVELOPERS TO WORK ON THIS DEVICE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's due to a combination of factors, such as :
1) The popularity of the phone/ manufacturer. These figures show Lenovo/Motorloa in 5th place for sales, having a 3.7% market share in Q3 2015
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
3) With phones getting more expensive, more people are put off from unlocking their bootloader due to warranty issues
4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
5) Some apps, for example ones for mobile banking or subscrition TV & Video, will not work with a rooted phone.
In the past I've had various phones from various manufacturers, and I'd say if you get your kicks from installing custom ROMs, then buy a Nexus.
When i had the one plus one there were so many roms that was a brain storm... I prefer some and reliable roms than a plethora where you get confused!!!
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO you hit the nail on the head. I love this phone. I had the MXPE 2014 as well, was not a fan. Also owned the original, Loved it.
This MXPE has been great in imo, the lack of development has not been disappointing to me. The stock rom is really pretty good, there are minor tweaks that can be done but most can do these on their own.
I used to be a flash-aholic, but like @GretaLewd has stated...custom roms tend to break things. I'm more in favor of kernel development. But how many different kernels can you have? One way or another they'll be the same.
I also own a Nexus 6P, but my MXPE is my go to device.
I see users complaining about this phone constantly, I really don't think it matters what phone you put in the hands of those users...they would still find fault and complain.
Motorola and Lenovo did good by this device, I just hope they keep up with incrementals for a while.
Isn't the 64bit cpu reason because it takes more work to get cm/aosp roms?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Good thread. Would love to hear more thoughts
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Ordered the device today. Hope slow development doesn't disappoint me on this device, as others have stated...
I have been using this device for 2 months now. I am happy with it an didn't face a single issue. I can do a little bit tweaking myself using Xposed.
So far the slow development doesn't bother me.
Only buy a device for what it can do out of the box, not what you hope it will be able to do with additional modding and development... Nothing else is guaranteed!
As it stands I'm very happy with my rooted stock Style, not need for custom roms.
chrisund123 said:
Only buy a device for what it can do out of the box, not what you hope it will be able to do with additional modding and development... Nothing else is guaranteed!
As it stands I'm very happy with my rooted stock Style, not need for custom roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good way to approach Android phones I suppose but I believe
it's still nice to buy a phone that's great out of the box and good development wise, usually flagships tend to have good development and then the mid range and low end phones tend to get smaller developments but I guess there's an exception to everything.
patt2k said:
Isn't the 64bit cpu reason because it takes more work to get cm/aosp roms?
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that's the reason since 64 Bit has been the standard since Lollipop and pretty much all the flagships have a 64bit cpu since the beggining of 2015 but that doesn't stop other development forums from flourishing.
GretaLewd said:
I think it's due to a combination of factors, such as :
1) The popularity of the phone/ manufacturer. These figures show Lenovo/Motorloa in 5th place for sales, having a 3.7% market share in Q3 2015
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
3) With phones getting more expensive, more people are put off from unlocking their bootloader due to warranty issues
4) I'm no longer convinced about the benefits of custom ROMs - seems a lot of the time they break more things than they fix. Maybe a lot of other people now think the same.
5) Some apps, for example ones for mobile banking or subscrition TV & Video, will not work with a rooted phone.
In the past I've had various phones from various manufacturers, and I'd say if you get your kicks from installing custom ROMs, then buy a Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your break down on your thoughts of the subject and I must admit you've mention some very valid points here especially Point 1,2 and 5 but I think out of all of these its Point 1 and 2 that are the most significant, I suppose Motorola have a really small market share explains the lack of adoption between developers when comparing to some of the more prominent manufacturers such as samsung.
and The Android Stock OS has improved significantly within the past couple of years adding some new features that previously people had to root their phones to acomplish such as full app permission controls and backing up app data which google does for you now.
You need to follow development before buying a device these days. i.e. always wait at least 1-2 months. If you follow the development forums you would get an idea if developers are interested in said device or not. I for one, bought it right after I found out that AICP (CM12) rom was being developed. I was interested in running CM13 instead of other AOSP variations. And before I got the device the first (almost daily driver) builds were already uploaded.
Once cm is solid quite a few roms will pop up. Won't be long now.
Official MM has only been out for our phone for a little over a month. give it some time it may pick up. either way it's still an awesome phone out the box... and as stated above, once CM13 is stable im sure we'll see some of the other custom ROMs that are based off it.
GretaLewd said:
2) The OS (Android) has improved a lot over recent years, to the extent where a lot of people (like me) are happy to stay with stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a great point, but I'd like to add that this is especially applicable to our MXPE. We're really close to stock as it is, so there's little motivation to go ROM to debloat like there is on Samsung, LG, and similar phones. On the flip side, we have a lot of really neat features (active display, approach, accelerator gestures, voice controls) that we would lose if we went ROM.
For me, these two points combine, leaving me with little motivation to ROM my phone, especially since I can could get most of the advantages of CyanogenMod with something like GravityBox, which will allow me to keep the Motorola features (I'm currently unrooted because of the warranty, but I'll be rooted in the future for sure) . Of course, these are my own personal opinions, but I suspect that they reflect at least some of the mindset of this community.
I agree with others, that custom roms are often more trouble than they're worth. The only reason to use them these days is if your device isn't going to be updated to the latest version of Android.
Ever since moto introduced 99% stock android + moto display, roms have been entirely unnecessary for me. I used to rom my phones to gain greater flexibility + customizability. Now that I have stock android + Xposed, I doubt I will ever flash another custom rom again.
I'm still waiting for custom super roms that will make this device best in the market. Why can we have a rom with 1080p display, tweak kernel with better control for heating issue for overall battery life and speed?
Sent from my XT1575 using XDA Free mobile app
The biggest issue is that developers don't support devices they don't own. With the launch of the nexus 6 (not the 6p) most developers got it and had no need to update to a y newer devices.
Also to the comment that all flag ships are 64 bit this is not the case. If you look the most popular devices as far as developers are concerned are non 64 bit.
Also as android matures you will see less and less roms. As it will be come harder. There are very few real development teams. Most are just kitchen sink roms. A base with tons of cherry picks and a new name. Nothing even worth looking at twice. But more developers are closing up the source of their projects because of these types of roms.
To be honest most users have no point in flashing roms. Only those that like the development side of it will continue to mod roms and flash things.

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