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I'm an intermediate (Windows) PC user and slightly more technically inclined than most of my friends and family. I bought the Dream because of it's tight integration with GMail and the promise of untold useful apps. I have some awesome apps such as 4 Timers, My Tracks, Wireless Tether, which are useful in my everyday life, and they were all free (although I donate to developers when i think its justified).
My Dream is a vastly better phone in many ways than my last (Nokia N85) and at first I enjoyed flashing new roms and the ability to change my phone in different ways.
I'm currently running Cyanogen 4.0.2 which is a great rom, but to get the most out of it and actually have a sweet running phone it seems almost required to keep up with the changes on the Dream Dev forum, read hundreds of posts, learn how to install scripts and tweek settings, add ext partitions on your sdcard for swap files, know what compcache is, etc etc.
I realise that the devs are doing everything they can to give us the best performance from our phones, and i am very grateful and applaud it. I just wish it was a little easier to keep my phone being the best it can be.
What I am really getting at is that the Dream has its obvious hardware limitations (lack of RAM and rubbish battery life being the most obvious) and I'm kind of getting to the point where I want a new phone that doesn't require so much work.
None of the recent Android phones that I have heard about offer a full 5 row qwerty keyboard. That's what i want, along with perhaps a flash on the camera and a battery that lasts a couple of days with moderate use.
I will not jump ship and go elsewhere, as I love Android, but i think a manufacturer would clean up if they released a phone with the above specs and perhaps 512mb RAM - I know i would buy it in a second, and at any price within reason.
Anyone else feel this way?
setspeed said:
I'm an intermediate (Windows) PC user and slightly more technically inclined than most of my friends and family. I bought the Dream because of it's tight integration with GMail and the promise of untold useful apps. I have some awesome apps such as 4 Timers, My Tracks, Wireless Tether, which are useful in my everyday life, and they were all free (although I donate to developers when i think its justified).
My Dream is a vastly better phone in many ways than my last (Nokia N85) and at first I enjoyed flashing new roms and the ability to change my phone in different ways.
I'm currently running Cyanogen 4.0.2 which is a great rom, but to get the most out of it and actually have a sweet running phone it seems almost required to keep up with the changes on the Dream Dev forum, read hundreds of posts, learn how to install scripts and tweek settings, add ext partitions on your sdcard for swap files, know what compcache is, etc etc.
I realise that the devs are doing everything they can to give us the best performance from our phones, and i am very grateful and applaud it. I just wish it was a little easier to keep my phone being the best it can be.
What I am really getting at is that the Dream has its obvious hardware limitations (lack of RAM and rubbish battery life being the most obvious) and I'm kind of getting to the point where I want a new phone that doesn't require so much work.
None of the recent Android phones that I have heard about offer a full 5 row qwerty keyboard. That's what i want, along with perhaps a flash on the camera and a battery that lasts a couple of days with moderate use.
I will not jump ship and go elsewhere, as I love Android, but i think a manufacturer would clean up if they released a phone with the above specs and perhaps 512mb RAM - I know i would buy it in a second, and at any price within reason.
Anyone else feel this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always just load a rom that is stable and one you like and leave it. Your not forced to always update. If you always want the newest and greatest then you have to update, we all knew that when we started doing this.
The unfortunate thing is that ALL roms i've tried have problems with them - things that dont work, bugs introduced when things are changed. And the devs fix some of the probs in the next release, but then new bugs become apparent.
I know this is the nature of development, and I understand this is only way devs can work to push things forward. But it means living with bugs or upgrading the rom to the next version.
I've not found a rom that has the stabililty/simplicity i really want to just use the phone, and not have to mess around with it all the time, or get annoyed because it wont keep programs like the browser running when you change to do something else, or put up with not being able to rely on the phone for its core function of making and receiving calls and lagging left right & centre.
I think that Android's true requirements are beyond the Dream's hardware - and much as devs try, they will never get past that fact, they will just find progressively better workarounds which "sort of" do the job.
If I were you I would go with an older build instead of a newer one that still has bugs. I'm still on Cyanogens 3.9.5 and have no problems with it at all, no bugs or nothing and happy with it. There is also old dude's builds that I use to be on a long time ago that was stable with no bugs also. But of course since those are older builds it might be hard to find, but if your wanting to take a step back and go to something stable and no bugs let me know I still got all roms on my pc at home.
I am running cyan 4.02 and have no problems whatsoever from it, you really don't have to stay on top off it at all times since you are more technical than most as you say, you can turn around and read the first post and the change log and have a good idea of what is going on. You might have a problem with the costant devolpment but I find it great that people are taking the time to get the android platform better than it was in the beginning, don't be suprised if people from google are on here taking ideas and hard work to make the general source better. The better android gets will only get better with more devolpment, remember the magic and hero just came out still basiclly running the same base as we are. Oh and some of us just got into new contracts and just got their phones and don't want to run out and buy a new phone just cause it has better specs, I want my phone to live up to it's upmost performance possibe by these work arounds so that the next android phone that I get will be 100 times better and more efficent on that hardware
supremeteam:
I think you're right - I've just restored my cyanogen 3.6.5 backup and I forgot how decent it is, using swapper it does respond quite well. To be fair, the only reason i upgraded past 3.6.5 was because I was always having a problem with the HTC_IME - it would never stay on "phone keypad" rather than "qwerty", and it also interfered with my physical keyboard by turning on the "enable prediction for qwerty keyboard" option. Other than that I never had any problems with it. This problem is a BIG annoyance though...
Oh - and the fact that the phone rings (silently) about 3 times before anything is shown on the screen or a ringtone is heard. Forgot about that one...
Also, I'd just like to add that I am in no way bashing cyanogen - i have found his roms to be the best/fastest/most stable out all i have tried, hence why i am using them. I have used a few other roms that were just a joke, with force closes all over the place, and much more serious bugs/errors than i have mentioned here.
Overall, for me, i think cyanogen is the best dev out there, consistently pushing the boundaries of performance, and regularly updating his rom. That much is obvious from the popularity of his roms' threads.
update withdraw
I agree with you that cyanogen is a great devolper but so are jac and drizzy and those other guys that are putting a ton of work into hero, maybe soon we will have a good working rosie but in the mean time I could rant how those are buggy and lag a lot, but even with a cupcake rom you have to break a few eggs to make an olmet and that are the bugs that we are gonna have to live with, truthfully I am addicted like a drug addict to all the constant update from cyan to see what is next to come, just the fact the I have been on 4.02 for a couple days is making me go through update withdraw, I flash a hero rom just for the hell of it just to see the progress, it was on my phone for maybe a whole 10 minutes before I booted my nandroid backup of 4.02
gridlock32404 said:
I am running cyan 4.02 and have no problems whatsoever from it, you really don't have to stay on top off it at all times since you are more technical than most as you say, you can turn around and read the first post and the change log and have a good idea of what is going on. You might have a problem with the costant devolpment but I find it great that people are taking the time to get the android platform better than it was in the beginning, don't be suprised if people from google are on here taking ideas and hard work to make the general source better. The better android gets will only get better with more devolpment, remember the magic and hero just came out still basiclly running the same base as we are. Oh and some of us just got into new contracts and just got their phones and don't want to run out and buy a new phone just cause it has better specs, I want my phone to live up to it's upmost performance possibe by these work arounds so that the next android phone that I get will be 100 times better and more efficent on that hardware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do appreciate what you're saying - that i want to have my cake and eat it! I suppose that's true in some respects. I can honestly say that my Dream is the best phone I've ever had, and the efforts the devs make to push the envelope are just amazing! Their knowledge and skills are something special - and to do it all for the love of it (and of course the respect of the community!) is definitely to be applauded.
I do also hope that google devs do read these forums, and incorporate the work into the official roms! I think they should pay the devs on xda, as they clearly do a lot of work that google ought to have done!
I hope that google does donate to these devs because they have done an amazing job with what they have to work with, I just wish I understood programming better and had the patience for it, I think my phone is better than my computer now, wait anything is better the my computer right now since I burned out my power supply. By far this is the best phone I have ever owned and now I am a android lifer because of the devs. When I first got my phone, it was worthless to me before I rooted it, good thing I found xda back when I had my wing so I knew right where to go and by the end of the first day I had it, it was already rooted
If google pays the devs or give them jobs then we will have to wait long time for our update and cool stuff, they need to just donate lots of money to them so they keep hooking us up first at xda and not the general masses all at once, I don't think they could handle the general awesomeness
setspeed said:
I'm an intermediate (Windows) PC user and slightly more technically inclined than most of my friends and family. I bought the Dream because of it's tight integration with GMail and the promise of untold useful apps. I have some awesome apps such as 4 Timers, My Tracks, Wireless Tether, which are useful in my everyday life, and they were all free (although I donate to developers when i think its justified).
My Dream is a vastly better phone in many ways than my last (Nokia N85) and at first I enjoyed flashing new roms and the ability to change my phone in different ways.
I'm currently running Cyanogen 4.0.2 which is a great rom, but to get the most out of it and actually have a sweet running phone it seems almost required to keep up with the changes on the Dream Dev forum, read hundreds of posts, learn how to install scripts and tweek settings, add ext partitions on your sdcard for swap files, know what compcache is, etc etc.
I realise that the devs are doing everything they can to give us the best performance from our phones, and i am very grateful and applaud it. I just wish it was a little easier to keep my phone being the best it can be.
What I am really getting at is that the Dream has its obvious hardware limitations (lack of RAM and rubbish battery life being the most obvious) and I'm kind of getting to the point where I want a new phone that doesn't require so much work.
None of the recent Android phones that I have heard about offer a full 5 row qwerty keyboard. That's what i want, along with perhaps a flash on the camera and a battery that lasts a couple of days with moderate use.
I will not jump ship and go elsewhere, as I love Android, but i think a manufacturer would clean up if they released a phone with the above specs and perhaps 512mb RAM - I know i would buy it in a second, and at any price within reason.
Anyone else feel this way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its like you read my mind
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!
Hi people,
I am a noob as far as Android goes, but I am pretty good at PC stuff. I run a 3D CAD department and I've been the "unofficial" tech guy at every job I've had in the last 10 years.
That being said, I just got the HTC Hero from Sprint last weekend, Android 2.1, update 1. I have always wanted to play with Linux but have never really had the time. So, this is my first encounter with Android or Linux.
So ..... , as much as I'd love to root the phone, I'm afraid to brick it. Is there any way to get rid of all the bloatware without rooting my phone? Also, what are the chances of bricking the phone? I've read a couple "how to root" articles on the net and it doesn't seem like it would be that hard, but I LOVE this phone so far (other than battery life) and I honestly can't afford to go buy a new one at full price if I end up killing my phone.
Another question; I've seen a few people in other posts who have the HTC Hero and say they're running 2.2. How is this done? Is this something else that I would need to root the phone to accomplish?
Also, I just ordered an 8GB microSD card. My laptop has a card slot, so I'm figuring I can put the new card in the slot, connect my phone via USB, and copy everything on the phone to the new 8GB card, then just swapping the cards.
Am I correct thinking this should be as simple as it sounds, or is there more involved?
I appreciate you taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to reading/posting here on a regular basis.
Thanks,
Eric Mortenson
Hey, welcome to XDA!
It is VERY HARD to brick this phone, so don't worry....about the only way we've seen that is by flashing a GSM radio to it, so just don't do that and you'll be fine trying anything else.
There are a couple rooting methods here, and there won't be any problems at all as long as you follow the instructions. It's not as daunting as it may first seem. You do have to root to get rid of bloatware, it can't be done without rooting. I recommend this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=694572 although there are 'one-click' and 'universal' methods out there too.
The ones running Android 2.2 are doing it through a custom ROM called Cyanogenmod. Check out the Development section to find it. It doesn't have the HTC Sense UI though, so it will look and feel different than your stock 2.1. But lots of people here are using it and loving it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=755795
And yes, you should just be able to swap out the SD cards with no problems.
chromiumleaf
Thanks for the quick and helpful reply. It is greatly appreciated.
I think I am going to try to root my phone. Pre-installed "bloatware" on PCs is one of my biggest pet peeves. So, the biggest reason I have right now for rooting my phone is to get rid of the stuff I don't want/need/use.
I will probably leave the 2.1 on the phone because I love the phone so far and if as you say, it will look and feel different. Maybe I'll keep digging through the site and change my mind later. Thanks for the "heads up".
Please do me one favor, and I hate to sound ignorant (I did say earlier I was new at this), but what does "flashing a GSM radio to it" mean, and is it something I could do my mistake?
Sorry, tried doing a search so I wouldn't have to bother you but I'm just not sure.
Thanks again.
Eric
Eric_1966_FXE said:
...what does "flashing a GSM radio to it" mean, and is it something I could do my mistake?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To "flash" some code means to burn it into your phone's read-only memory. A number of things can be flashed to your phone's memory, including the radio operating code, high-level operating system code, and "kernel" (system "core") code.
What the poster meant by "flashing a GSM radio" is "downloading the code that operates the phone's radio". Our Sprint Hero phones have what is called CDMA radio hardware, while European Hero phones have GSM radio hardware. The two different radios are not compatible with each other's operating code. So if you ever download ("flash") the wrong radio code (GSM code) into your CDMA phone, that will render your radio inoperative, which will effectively brick your phone.
With that in mind, just read carefully any information relating to any system code you're considering flashing to your phone, and make SURE it's for a CDMA phone, and you'll be fine.
I loved sense and was all against even trying an aosp rom( vanilla/ stock android), but once I flashed CM6 and found beautiful widgets and launcher pro plus and dialer one I haven't looked back. The speed of my phone and the overall appearance is far better than Sense UI. Rooting the 2.1 is far easier than it was when I got mine. You had to download and type in a whole bunch of crap, now its as easy as installing an app and running it.
Thanks
Thank you to all three of you for your quick (and more importantly useful) answers.
You guys are awesome.
Go for it
I have 4 Hero's here at my home on a family plan,and mine is the only one running CM6-RC1 and they are all jealous. Every one that has a Hero at work or a different Android running 2.1 that has seen mine including a few Evo users loves the way mine looks and how fast it is. I thought in the beginning I wouldn't want to loose Sense and feared I would brick my phone as well,but these guys here are great and are a very supportive Hero community and walked me through the process. It is a lot easier now with the universal 1 click method than before,so that was what I did. The nice thing is if you do everything correctly,you can revert right back to you stock phone if you ever have to take it in for service.
Taking your time and researching all of this pretty good before deciding what to do is a good thing,but I can honestly say, there is so much more you can do once you unlock your phone than just downloading apps and bloat ware...you can actually make it work and do what you want it to do.
The chiefs here at XDA are working hard to bring us stable working Roms for everyday use,and I tip my hat to all of them and I certainly am loving how my Hero is now compared to what it was when it was stock.The RC-1 build I am running is awesome and (knock wood) haven't crashed 1x with it where I needed to do anything nor have I had any shutdowns or unexpected forced closed programs that were installed correctly.
So I say... Don't be afraid and just go for it.. you can still have it similar to what it is now,or you can see what aosp is all about like many here have and try it.That's the beauty of Rooting...YOU have the choice of what is on your phone..not someone else.
Good Luck
Mac
Thanks Mac
And Thank you to all who responded.
Like I said in my intro, I am a tech geek when it comes to PCs but this is my first venture into this kind of forum.
You have all been extremely helpful and have made me feel welcome.
I only hope that I can return the favor at some point to others on XDA.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.
Thanks again,
Eric
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I did search and found nothing:
I had an Inc. before, and traded to the X for the screen, and physical buttons which I like.
However, as we all know the X blows in comparison to the Inc. in terms of development; so I have to ask since I'm trying to decide what to do:
1) Is the kernel responsible for preventing us from things like notification toggles, notification recent apps, etc... ?
2) When Gingerbread/Ice Cream comes out, are we pretty much at moto's will w/o being able to modify the kernel?
3) What are the chances of seeing CM6 on the X specifically? I'd love to see it, but am no longer hopeful I guess
4) I saw that ccvp (or something like that) was able to hijack moto's init. Is this pretty much dead, or is there still work for it?
I don't really care that birdman stopped dev work on the X (he was responsible for a lot, i know) but will tear if more devs switch to other phones.
Any Ideas?
Again, sorry if all this was already covered.
P.S. I have programming, and Java experience so I WAS thinking to start trying to do some sort of cracking on this myself, but too afraid to brick my only phone
dreamersipaq said:
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I did search and found nothing:
I had an Inc. before, and traded to the X for the screen, and physical buttons which I like.
However, as we all know the X blows in comparison to the Inc. in terms of development; so I have to ask since I'm trying to decide what to do:
1) Is the kernel responsible for preventing us from things like notification toggles, notification recent apps, etc... ?
2) When Gingerbread/Ice Cream comes out, are we pretty much at moto's will w/o being able to modify the kernel?
3) What are the chances of seeing CM6 on the X specifically? I'd love to see it, but am no longer hopeful I guess
4) I saw that ccvp (or something like that) was able to hijack moto's init. Is this pretty much dead, or is there still work for it?
I don't really care that birdman stopped dev work on the X (he was responsible for a lot, i know) but will tear if more devs switch to other phones.
Any Ideas?
Again, sorry if all this was already covered.
P.S. I have programming, and Java experience so I WAS thinking to start trying to do some sort of cracking on this myself, but too afraid to brick my only phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The inability to boot a custom kernel is the one and only roadblock to full custom ROMs like Cyanogenmod. And while I would never say 'never', I would not count on a hack showing up soon. Just go check in on the Milestone people (same bootloader)
Having said that, I would encourage you to go look at what's being done in the dev subforum. Roms like Tranquility, Apex, Zapx and the early Rubix roms are very solid, but removing much of the blur stuff.
Most recently, Fission & Rubix 1.0 are building just about the entire base from AOSP, using almost none of the motorola blur overhead.
Also, hacks have been recently released to overclock the processor.
All in All,there are certainly some limitations imposed by the kernel situation, but there is also still quite a bit happening.
I'd also like to add that it is virtually impossible to truly brick the DX now since the official OTA 2.2 SBF has been leaked.
The only thing we don't have on the DX is custom kernels. However, with all we do have at our disposal, I don't really care at all. I can fully theme, overclock, use all the root apps, etc...
I don't know whether or not the DX will get Gingerbread. It certainly is a possibility. However, I will be upgrading to the newer device designed for Gingerbread. When I say this, I mean a phone that's display can do 1024 by 720 resolution. Also, many of the top-end upcoming phones are going to have autostereoscopic 3D displays. Did I mention that many Gingerbread phones will have dual-core CPUs and GPUs with graphics which rival the PS3 and xBox 360? Well, they will
Remember, Verizon is going to probably do the same thing they did with the DX. They will let people get the 2-year account renewal price for the best upcoming phone even if you just renewed your 2-year contract this year. If someone renewed their contract with the DX and got it for $199, they will be able to do the same thing in December/January with the top-end Gingerbread phone most likely for $199 too
Hi. So i've been thinking about buying and HTC HD2 for a while, and finally decided that i will buy one.
I'm looking on Amazon at the moment and after looking at the reviews, the only problem seems to be that they are shipping T-Mobile USA versions of the phone instead of International. Which i'm completely fine with since i live in the USA and T-Mobile USA is my carrier.
The price is $299.99. I"m wondering if this device is worth that price considering that it came out like 1-2 years ago.
Would this be a good purchase? or would it be better to just look around more on ebay or something like that.
Thanks for the help .
i love this phone. i live and breathe it (for good or bad) but paying 300 bucks just might be worth it. i mean it is great. but you are paying for a WM phone to put wm7 or android (assuming you don't want WM). seems like you could get a lot of phone for that kind of cash. now the fun factor is worth it, but i see a lot of android native phones and happy people. personally, i would look around, check out native devices and the tweaks available here and go from there. now, it isn't a bad choice for a phone, but it ain't no spring chicken.
I already have an Android device. I was gonna get the HD2 back when i upgrade in November. I don't know why i didn't lol.
I figured $300 might be worth it. I've never used a Windows Mobile device before. I know it isn't exactly an amazing operating system. But if i don't like it i could stick Android or Windows Phone 7 on it. Which is another reason I kinda want to get this because I was thinking my next device would be a Windows Phone 7 device anyway. And it's not like i'm wasting an upgrade with T-Mobile anyway so I could still upgrade to a newer device later down the road.
I might just do it. According to Amazon i can return cell phones within the first 30 days of purchase. So i could probably just get a refund if I have problems with it or something.
I bought one for 380 about 3 or 4 months ago, and I definitely thought it was worth it.
There's so much you can do with this phone. Take off wm6.5 and put android on there. And at least 6 different really good versions of android. And it's so easy to switch from one android rom to another.
And after you've found the one you really like, then you can customize the hell out of it.
I'm a student in graduate school and this phone is the primary way I study. I installed studydroid, and this is 90% of what I do to study for an exam. If I had known how helpful this phone would be in my day to day activities, I would have bought it a year early for twice as much.
It has a calender, note taking, syncing contacts with google, very decent camera, mp3 player, and you can make the phone look very pretty.
If my HD2 broke right now, I would probably buy another for 300 usd immediately.
zackdroid said:
Hi. So i've been thinking about buying and HTC HD2 for a while, and finally decided that i will buy one.
I'm looking on Amazon at the moment and after looking at the reviews, the only problem seems to be that they are shipping T-Mobile USA versions of the phone instead of International. Which i'm completely fine with since i live in the USA and T-Mobile USA is my carrier.
The price is $299.99. I"m wondering if this device is worth that price considering that it came out like 1-2 years ago.
Would this be a good purchase? or would it be better to just look around more on ebay or something like that.
Thanks for the help .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to be really Honest..once you start using Windows Mobile after using Android there is a 99% chance you wont like it. Its just lack of support thats all. I however still use WM cos it fulfills my basic needs.
1) SMS
2) Internet(Opera Mini)
3) Watching Movies
4) Making Calls
5) Battery Life (its amazing...I have 3G off and use automatic brightness and at the end of the day after nominal use my battery meter is around 70%)
So I am sure you will feel like putting Android/WP7 on it but since you already have an android phone you would go for Wp7
if thats the case
i would advice you to rather go buy the HD7 cos no matter how much of tweaking they do to the WP7 on HD2 it wont be as good as native Wp7 on HD7 ( is what I feel...battery issues...driver issues...magldr issues)
so yeah...go for a HD7..its an amazing phone...sleek and better display than HD2 (more colors) !! and i think an Android port will be soon there for the HD7 tooo !!!
Thanks everyone for the input. I just ordered it, it will be here friday .
Zackdroid,
Congratulations on your purchase! Just my 2 cents: while it's fashionable around these parts to knock the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS and for (well-meaning) people to advise you: "just take that off and install Android", let me just say that:
If we're talking about stock WinMo + stock Sense as the phone comes out of the box, then yes-- it's crappy. Considering that Microsoft is very good at building things with potential, but ultimately releasing them half-assed and half-brained, it's no wonder. But thanks to the incredibly smart, dedicated, creative, and inventive folks here on XDA, you can skin, stabilize, and mod WinMo into an entirely different beast (or install a custom ROM that does it for you). I started off like most people, whining about Windows on the HD2 and wanting to do something about it. However, unlike many others, I had to keep WinMo because I have need for several apps that have no Android equivalent (including a few that I wrote myself). So for me it started as necessity. But now, I'll say to anyone who'll listen, that a custom WinMo6.5 running the new Cookie's Home Tab Suite (with Editor, GUI, and Loco) is an entirely different experience. It's like the OS that Microsoft should have built, but didn't. In reality, it's not really even a mod but a bona fide re-write of the operating system (and it certainly blows the newer Windows Phone 7 out of the water). Truthfully, I love WinMo + CHT so much that when I'm in Android I can sometimes feel guilty that I'm not using CHT (and btw, I LOVE Android). So before you dismiss WinMo out of hand, give that some thought.
I cant say I really understand a lot of the advice here like "when you get your phone wipe Windows and install Android". This is NOT because of my previous statement defending WinMo, but rather because:
if its strictly Android you're after, there are newer (and cheaper) phones that have Android already installed, or that you can root and install your own custom flavor, but most importantly...
one of the most beautiful things about the HD2 is its unique status as a powerful, versatile, multi-OS phone. This thing is just not meant to run one OS!
NOTHING beats somebody asking me,
"Hey, what kind of phone is that?"
It's an HD2, I say.
"Oh, what is that, Android?"
Well...yes...I run Android. And a custom version of Windows Mobile. Oh, and Ubuntu as well. Yep. 'Matter of fact, if I wanted to I could run MeeGo, Win 95, and a few others I can't think of.
And then I can watch their jaw drop. I have had hardcore geeks practically foaming at the mouth in envy after I give them a quick multi-boot custom ROM demo and tally off all the relentless hacking I've done to this phone. It's awesome.
The bottom line is most of us here installed other stuff on our phone because we weren't satisfied with the stock phone, and could do something about it, because of the people and tools present here on XDA. But we already owned an HD2. I'm not sure I would go out and buy an HD2 if I was just going to turn it into a run of the mill phone like all the rest... get me?
RDionysus said:
Zackdroid,
Congratulations on your purchase! Just my 2 cents: while it's fashionable around these parts to knock the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS and for (well-meaning) people to advise you: "just take that off and install Android", let me just say that:
If we're talking about stock WinMo + stock Sense as the phone comes out of the box, then yes-- it's crappy. Considering that Microsoft is very good at building things with potential, but ultimately releasing them half-assed and half-brained, it's no wonder. But thanks to the incredibly smart, dedicated, creative, and inventive folks here on XDA, you can skin, stabilize, and mod WinMo into an entirely different beast (or install a custom ROM that does it for you). I started off like most people, whining about Windows on the HD2 and wanting to do something about it. However, unlike many others, I had to keep WinMo because I have need for several apps that have no Android equivalent (including a few that I wrote myself). So for me it started as necessity. But now, I'll say to anyone who'll listen, that a custom WinMo6.5 running the new Cookie's Home Tab Suite (with Editor, GUI, and Loco) is an entirely different experience. It's like the OS that Microsoft should have built, but didn't. In reality, it's not really even a mod but a bona fide re-write of the operating system (and it certainly blows the newer Windows Phone 7 out of the water). Truthfully, I love WinMo + CHT so much that when I'm in Android I can sometimes feel guilty that I'm not using CHT (and btw, I LOVE Android). So before you dismiss WinMo out of hand, give that some thought.
I cant say I really understand a lot of the advice here like "when you get your phone wipe Windows and install Android". This is NOT because of my previous statement defending WinMo, but rather because:
if its strictly Android you're after, there are newer (and cheaper) phones that have Android already installed, or that you can root and install your own custom flavor, but most importantly...
one of the most beautiful things about the HD2 is its unique status as a powerful, versatile, multi-OS phone. This thing is just not meant to run one OS!
NOTHING beats somebody asking me,
"Hey, what kind of phone is that?"
It's an HD2, I say.
"Oh, what is that, Android?"
Well...yes...I run Android. And a custom version of Windows Mobile. Oh, and Ubuntu as well. Yep. 'Matter of fact, if I wanted to I could run MeeGo, Win 95, and a few others I can't think of.
And then I can watch their jaw drop. I have had hardcore geeks practically foaming at the mouth in envy after I give them a quick multi-boot custom ROM demo and tally off all the relentless hacking I've done to this phone. It's awesome.
The bottom line is most of us here installed other stuff on our phone because we weren't satisfied with the stock phone, and could do something about it, because of the people and tools present here on XDA. But we already owned an HD2. I'm not sure I would go out and buy an HD2 if I was just going to turn it into a run of the mill phone like all the rest... get me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much the main reason I wanted to buy this phone is because of all of the OS's. I've heard people say that Windows Mobile is a horrible OS but honestly it doesn't look as bad as people say. I'm deffinantly not just buying this just to put Android on it considering I already have a rooted Android phone lol. I've always wanted to mess around and use Windows Mobile. And it's a device that could probably last me a while. I really can't wait until it gets here . lol.
EDIT: I also forgot to put on here that I think some of the Windows Mobile ROMs are pretty cool and nice looking.
I had my share of WM devices over the years and find HD2 simply amazing. When presented with a choice, I went for HD2 due to various OS ports available and options/customisations presented. In fact, I am in the process of parting with every other phone in my collection, bar HTC Universal, but I am keeping that one for sentimental reasons.
So yeah, i'd part with $300 if I had to replace mine. I am looking for a main board to stick into another HD2 I have, just so that I can have 1 set up and operational for daily use and another for flashing and playing around. Anyone wants to part with their broken, yet still alive HD2 - give me a PM.
As a matter of fact, I might have to shell out for a new HD2 myself. After a year and a half my phone has developed some reception/antenna problems, which if I cant figure out how to resolve it (like, by cracking open the phone and seeing if there's something "obvious" I can fix) I will have to retire the phone.
At that point, it will be tempting to grab something from the new crop of sweet Android-only phones, but I know for sure I'd be jonesin' for some multi-platform action and my HD2.
I'm starting to look now; I just hope I can find one for the right price.
RDionysus said:
As a matter of fact, I might have to shell out for a new HD2 myself. After a year and a half my phone has developed some reception/antenna problems, which if I cant figure out how to resolve it (like, by cracking open the phone and seeing if there's something "obvious" I can fix) I will have to retire the phone.
At that point, it will be tempting to grab something from the new crop of sweet Android-only phones, but I know for sure I'd be jonesin' for some multi-platform action and my HD2.
I'm starting to look now; I just hope I can find one for the right price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks :/. When I was looking around ebay i saw some for cheap prices. I figured i should play it safe by buying off of amazon though so that's what i did. I paid $299US for it.
Meanwhile, if you are looking at newer Android devices, and you're on T-Mobile USA, and don't mind keyboards, I would wait untill the myTouch 4G Slide is released. And HTC is supposed to be unlocking the bootloader on the Sensation 4G so that's another choice .
enigma1nz said:
I had my share of WM devices over the years and find HD2 simply amazing. When presented with a choice, I went for HD2 due to various OS ports available and options/customisations presented. In fact, I am in the process of parting with every other phone in my collection, bar HTC Universal, but I am keeping that one for sentimental reasons.
So yeah, i'd part with $300 if I had to replace mine. I am looking for a main board to stick into another HD2 I have, just so that I can have 1 set up and operational for daily use and another for flashing and playing around. Anyone wants to part with their broken, yet still alive HD2 - give me a PM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I went for the HD2. My other choice was gonna be the Touch Pro2 since it was cheaper and you can put Android on it. But i think the extra money will be worth it.
zackdroid said:
That sucks :/. When I was looking around ebay i saw some for cheap prices. I figured i should play it safe by buying off of amazon though so that's what i did. I paid $299US for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, there's a lot of phones on Ebay, but many are of questionable quality. You'll pay more on Amazon, but I'm assuming you got a warranty, so that's piece of mind.
Meanwhile, if you are looking at newer Android devices, and you're on T-Mobile USA, and don't mind keyboards, I would wait untill the myTouch 4G Slide is released. And HTC is supposed to be unlocking the bootloader on the Sensation 4G so that's another choice .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I hadn't given any thought to the myTouch. And obviously the Sensation is the new "it" phone, but honestly, apart from the excitement factor, it's served me well not to jump on the latest stuff, preferring to let the real early-adopters see what kinds of flaws and bugs are present and whether they can be fixed. I've avoided quite a few lemons this way (although you can't always avoid them all ) There are some grumblings RE the Sensation which I'm keeping my eye on: possible "deathgrip" flaw (which may turn out to be a red herring), wide swings in reception-quality on the TMOUS network (which the HD2 also suffered from!), so we'll see....
In the meantime, a few of my friends are taking any opportunity to rave (which can get a bit annoying) about their T-Mo G2X's, so that's a prospect if I go the non-HD2 route....
RDionysus said:
Yeah, there's a lot of phones on Ebay, but many are of questionable quality. You'll pay more on Amazon, but I'm assuming you got a warranty, so that's piece of mind.
Thanks, I hadn't given any thought to the myTouch. And obviously the Sensation is the new "it" phone, but honestly, apart from the excitement factor, it's served me well not to jump on the latest stuff, preferring to let the real early-adopters see what kinds of flaws and bugs are present and whether they can be fixed. I've avoided quite a few lemons this way (although you can't always avoid them all ) There are some grumblings RE the Sensation which I'm keeping my eye on: possible "deathgrip" flaw (which may turn out to be a red herring), wide swings in reception-quality on the TMOUS network (which the HD2 also suffered from!), so we'll see....
In the meantime, a few of my friends are taking any opportunity to rave (which can get a bit annoying) about their T-Mo G2X's, so that's a prospect if I go the non-HD2 route....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you sir, are a fountain of wisdom
Thanks DPMAce, I have my moments
But really, any wisdom comes from listening to and learning from all the folks around here who are smarter than me
RDionysus said:
Yeah, there's a lot of phones on Ebay, but many are of questionable quality. You'll pay more on Amazon, but I'm assuming you got a warranty, so that's piece of mind.
Thanks, I hadn't given any thought to the myTouch. And obviously the Sensation is the new "it" phone, but honestly, apart from the excitement factor, it's served me well not to jump on the latest stuff, preferring to let the real early-adopters see what kinds of flaws and bugs are present and whether they can be fixed. I've avoided quite a few lemons this way (although you can't always avoid them all ) There are some grumblings RE the Sensation which I'm keeping my eye on: possible "deathgrip" flaw (which may turn out to be a red herring), wide swings in reception-quality on the TMOUS network (which the HD2 also suffered from!), so we'll see....
In the meantime, a few of my friends are taking any opportunity to rave (which can get a bit annoying) about their T-Mo G2X's, so that's a prospect if I go the non-HD2 route....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. It's not always the best to jump in to new devices. I'm trying to force my self to wait to get the Galaxy S2 whenever it gets launched in the US. lol. I got really lucky getting the myTouch 4G almost right after it launched. A lot of devices were shipped with bad screens and bad emmc chips. The G2X looks nice although i've heard it has rebooting problems and stuff like that. But considering it's currently out of stock on T-Mobile's website, they're probably working on fixing it.
UPDATE
UPDATE: It came in the mail today . Everything seems to be fine. It's the T-Mobile USA version. The only odd thing was that it came in a myTouch 4G box...lol. But I got the device and that's all that really matters.
zackdroid said:
UPDATE: It came in the mail today . Everything seems to be fine. It's the T-Mobile USA version. The only odd thing was that it came in a myTouch 4G box...lol. But I got the device and that's all that really matters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol that's funny.
First thing is flash HSPL2.08 and get Android/WP7 on that bad boy!!!
orangekid said:
lol that's funny.
First thing is flash HSPL2.08 and get Android/WP7 on that bad boy!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna do some reading first. I want to try the Android on SD Card thing first. It only came with a 512MB SD Card though and my other SD card is being used for my other phone. So i'll have to go out and buy one.
zackdroid said:
I'm gonna do some reading first. I want to try the Android on SD Card thing first. It only came with a 512MB SD Card though and my other SD card is being used for my other phone. So i'll have to go out and buy one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty weak.
This is hands down the best ROM you can use on your SD card.
once you get your card just download the ROM, extract it, move it to your SD card (the Android subfolder).
then you just click CLRCD and then Haret and you're running Android!
http://www.multiupload.com/M92WB5L9V3