What you want from a ROM ? - Desire HD Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey guys i just curious about what people want from a rom.Devs welcome
in my opinion : im good with 3.0 sense without bloatware i want cyanogen high brightness flashlight (i couldnt find any sense roms got this why? ) and an rom addon to overclock and to change governor(like an app or under settings )
that's my thoughts about a dream rom
i think its very important to participate cuz devs can understand what people want from a rom
Thank you !
And im using virtous unity 2.39

The answers to this post will be as different as what people think the best ROM actually is. The best answer is variety. We need some of each.

For me:
Simple but pleasing transitions. (I like 3D cube in MIUI)
All important apps accessible with as few button clicks as possible.
A decent keyboard. (I'll be reviewing my favorite soon) (I did like the HTC one when I used Sense.)
I'm happy with stock speed.
I'm happy with Camera/video camera app. (MIUI)
Easy to change theme for when I fancy a change.
It must include a file manager.
I prefer not to have Sense. I enjoyed it but prefer not to have it at the moment.
As few as possible included apps. (We can install them separately if necessary.)
As soon as you show it to a female - she gives you her number.

A nice and classic boot animation. No fancy stuff.
I enjoy Sense, both 3.0 and 3.5 so any will do. Classic themes.
Classic sounds. I actually like stock very much, but with tweaks and oc.
Both ARHD and Runny1.4 fullfill this, except Runny's boot screen. Although awesome, it's not what i'm looking for.

A Rom for me must be uncluttered, stable, quick, and customisable. ARHD springs to mind lol.
Sent from your DHD using sneaky powers

It really is not gonna matter to be honest. As stated above you will get a different answer from everyone. Also I hate to tell you this but these rims are not built for the user. They are built for the Dev and then he decides to share. For far too long people have forgoten what is done here on XDA. This is not a place to come and get a cool 100%working Rom. These roms will always have beta tags as they are all hacked software to see if the Dev can get it to work and then they share for others to learn. This is not a place to make your phone cool. This is a place where you get a Rom you like and then dig in to help fix any problems that come up. And no that doesn't mean by posting "this doesn't work" it means by digging in and finding the bug with all the tools XDA gives you. With the entry of android I think a lot of people have forgotten why we are here and what this site is about.
Thread closed

Related

[Q] Which ROM?!?! Totally unable to choose...

Hi all,
I'm a newbie of the Androids world. (and also in HTCs one).
I'm coming from the world of Nokia hacking and modding and here, with all the mods changed, I feel a bit (just not to say totally) lost.
I bought this week a new HTC Desire, I feel very happy and proud of my choice, the AMOLED screen is something superlative.
But, coming to my problem:
I discovered that to join the wifi hotspot in my university i need to set the proxy and other stuff which i can do only with root privilege and other apps, so I decided that is just arrived the time to f**k up the guarantee and install a rom one time for all, at the beginning so i must not reinstall many apps, settings and other stuffs.
I'm searching for a ROM which is the most possible similar to the original Sense FroYo that is now installed on the phone. But at the moment for me I think it's to hard to be able to recognize the differences between two ROMs, so...
Which is better for me to choose in the huge list of post #1 of the "Desire Index - Everything is here" thread?
Obviously it must have the root capabilities, ap2sd and..? (i'm totally ignorant in which are the starter-important mod)
thx for you help and sorry for my poor english..
Piemo said:
Hi all,
I'm a newbie of the Androids world. (and also in HTCs one).
I'm coming from the world of Nokia hacking and modding and here, with all the mods changed, I feel a bit (just not to say totally) lost.
I bought this week a new HTC Desire, I feel very happy and proud of my choice, the AMOLED screen is something superlative.
But, coming to my problem:
I discovered that to join the wifi hotspot in my university i need to set the proxy and other stuff which i can do only with root privilege and other apps, so I decided that is just arrived the time to f**k up the guarantee and install a rom one time for all, at the beginning so i must not reinstall many apps, settings and other stuffs.
I'm searching for a ROM which is the most possible similar to the original Sense FroYo that is now installed on the phone. But at the moment for me I think it's to hard to be able to recognize the differences between two ROMs, so...
Which is better for me to choose in the huge list of post #1 of the "Desire Index - Everything is here" thread?
Obviously it must have the root capabilities, ap2sd and..? (i'm totally ignorant in which are the starter-important mod)
thx for you help and sorry for my poor english..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LeeDroid! But I'm biased, been using it a couple of months and it rocks, full Sense ROM, A2SD+ (need an ext partition on your SD card for this), themeable, overclockable if you want. I've tried other but nothing has persuaded me to switch.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=773997
this one is all stock but for the root access, but if you root, why just go for the same as you got?
Invest a few bucks in titanium backup or mybackup pro and rom manager and try some of the top roms like AuraxTSense, LeeDroid, both with Sense as you know it, or Miui and OpenDesire which run alternative launchers.
There is never just flash one rom and be happy once you have set yor foot in here
By far the greatest of all is LeeDorid.Lots of good features and a lot of updates !
Modaco Custom ROM
Should be as good as Leedroid or even better in my opinion ;-)
zambara said:
By far the greatest of all is LeeDorid.Lots of good features and a lot of updates !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MIUI 10.0.29 is honest to god stunning, its fast, overclockable, excellent batterylife and the whole UI is a nice overhaul. Its clean and everything has been designed for use, the system menu has been re-organized for the better making it easier and clearer to get to all options. They have also done things like add settings to the notification panel, added kintetic scrolling (so things bounce) FM radio re-skinned all major apps. The lockscreen has also been changed to a custom lockscreen which has quick access to phone and messaging, barring that i'd suggest trying DeFrost, he does good builds of CyanogenMod, or Cyanogen Mod 6.1 rc1. Not a huge fan of CM6, its seems as slow as sense roms on my phone. OD and DeFrost dont seem to suffer this issue however.
Mr favourite non-Miui rom is OpenDesire, theyr quick and dont come with bloatware r crap pre-installed, but Adam_g has been absent lately.
For 'sense' builds try leeDroid (imo bloated with tonnes of crap), Modaco Custom Rom (www.desire.modaco.com) or Alex-V sense rom. Theres also AuraxTSense but its hideous. Imo for a good sense rom try a modaco rom with a sense kernel such as vorkKernel, or 'HAVS 2.6.32 for Sense Roms V5' by richardtrip
Jedipottsy said:
MIUI 10.0.29 is honest to god stunning, its fast, overclockable, excellent batterylife and the whole UI is a nice overhaul. Its clean and everything has been designed for use, the system menu has been re-organized for the better making it easier and clearer to get to all options. They have also done things like add settings to the notification panel, added kintetic scrolling (so things bounce) FM radio re-skinned all major apps. The lockscreen has also been changed to a custom lockscreen which has quick access to phone and messaging, barring that i'd suggest trying DeFrost, he does good builds of CyanogenMod, or Cyanogen Mod 6.1 rc1. Not a huge fan of CM6, its seems as slow as sense roms on my phone. OD and DeFrost dont seem to suffer this issue however.
Mr favourite non-Miui rom is OpenDesire, theyr quick and dont come with bloatware r crap pre-installed, but Adam_g has been absent lately.
For 'sense' builds try leeDroid (imo bloated with tonnes of crap), Modaco Custom Rom (www.desire.modaco.com) or Alex-V sense rom. Theres also AuraxTSense but its hideous. Imo for a good sense rom try a modaco rom with a sense kernel such as vorkKernel, or 'HAVS 2.6.32 for Sense Roms V5' by richardtrip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CyanogenMOD is one of the fastest ROM and the one with the most fixes and updates! Dont say bad things about CyanogenMOD RomĀ“s !! Without him this Community would be nothing!
Sense or AOSP? Minimalist or Feature-Packed? Depends on your personal needs...
You could start with a rooted stock, after a week try Leedroid/RCmixHD/MIUI and next week CM6.
Or you just get DSIXDA's Kitchen, learn some ADB and Shell Stuff and make your own ROM.
Go for cyanogen to get the best android experience...
This post might fit better in the Desire Q and A and not the Development section mate
this is not a post for the development section, in future please reasd the forum rules before posting
I've tried Leedroid (SENSE) and DeFrost (NON-SENSE).
Both are really good but after some experience I've decided to stick with non sense ROMs. They are by far faster but that eventually comes at the price of some higher battery drain.
DeFrost FTW !
You must be thinking, i'll find the best and most popular one and i wont be flashing again in the next few months/weeks. You're wrong. You come here, you'll be flashing all roms as the clocks ticking.
I have tried all except MIUI and Defrost so far. and am sticking on OpenDesire for the longest AOSP rom and Modaco R8 for the sense ROM.
But my personal choice;
CyanogenMod : Be it Nightly, stable or RC, i love it to the core! Best AOSP rom ever. I tried them all and they are super fast! The reason i didnt use it currently because i waited for the stable 6.1. Hehe~~ Love the nightlies before RC1 got released though.
OpenDesire : The dev(AdamG) used to have minor updates almost everyday but now, very2 long time before an update, meaning it is at the most stable version now. and it is true cuz i didnt believe it at first( I used to use the older versions and it still have some bugs) but now it is the best for me. Best after CM(cant deny CM, they are the master here).
LeeDroid : Well i've tried all Sense roms already, and this seems the most stable and fast(though i found out it become slower over time, my fault for installing so many apps maybe). I used to love NeXTSense by Neo, but when it got changed to AuraxtSense, i jumped to Lee.
I'm sorry for posting in the wrong section, but i wasn't sure where to post in the different areas.
Well, you named different roms, but which are the differences (explained to a nearly-noob)?
I'm searching for something with the same interface of the normale roms, but purified from all the (in)utilities. In fact a clean and fast rom, in which THEN i decide what i like to install and personalize...
If I can make a representation, a roms with no apps which are not native (facebook, twitter, opera and all the others), but with only the things that you nedd as a basis for all the rest.
Lol the op will still have a hard time deciding. XD
The best way for you to choose which Rom to use is to download and test each one individually. Hope you get ORD btw
sent from the dark side
I'd like to test them all, but at the moment i'm under exams and for next 5 weeks don't have enough time to test anything.
so I was searching for a direct suggestion explaining what will change and what will not change..
If you want a rooted rom similar to your current one, why don't you just use unrevoked to root your current rom?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
MIUI! or Defrost!
If you want speed, then go for Cyanogenmod 6.1, DeFroST or OpenDesire. If you want a nice UI, too, you have to put a theme on it or use a Rom like RCMixHD, AuraxTSense or smth. like that.
a-ehm...are there ROMs that haven't been named yet? LOL
Piemo said:
I'd like to test them all, but at the moment i'm under exams and for next 5 weeks don't have enough time to test anything.
so I was searching for a direct suggestion explaining what will change and what will not change..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
easy, test it while you go. thats what i did.
Here's my timeline(some are examples);
I'm meeting my girlfriend tomorrow, lets bring LeeDroid! and yeah i did it, i manage to test all features and stability while I'm in the bus travelling from my place to her(took 8 hours in the bus). i screwed up while playing around though, the phone didnt boot so i had to restore nandroid of my modaco R8 back...haha~~
This weekend is examination time(yeah seriously no joke), so last week i flashed OpenDesire. Now i'm still using it. done exploring it in a day though, and keeping it longer than i imagined since i love it.
Presentation week, damn it this week was very busy and i tried Cyanogenmod Nightly 149. Love it. but no themes for it so i flashes CM 6.0.2...but aah too many gallery crash for me so i'm back to OpenDesire.
Well those are my moments, you'll be done exploring in 2 days at max for a rom though. Be sure to test all primary function first before you begin to like them. I did all in a day only. shouldnt be too hard.

[Q] What would you like the Chefs to make??

As a developer myself, just no in the tech field, I find it helpful to know what other want so that I can produce the best. I'm sure that most of you do this because it's something that YOU personally want and or like. I deeply appreciate the work that has gone into such wonderful ROM's and I can't wait to see more.
As for me, I've tried out RR, CM, SR, Frank, Jager, ASOP, and a few other odds and ends.
It seems to me there should be a blend. A blend between Sense and well....nonsense.
Currently, I'm on the Ultimate ASOP. This ROM has been amazing because of the ability to customize. Like every ROM, there are quirks or just small things that bother me, but it's SOOOO close to greatness, IMHO. I like a lot about a lot of ROMS but if they're lacking Sense then I miss that. If they have Sense, I miss the customizing of the Non Sense. My question is, can the two be made to be CommonSense?
What I'm talking about is a ROM that combines a little bit of the HTC Sense side with the applications and setting and customization of the Non HTC Sense ROMs. For instance, the email application in the Driod root IMHO opinion is much better then the Sense one. You can easily check multiple emails and the default background is back. What if you could have Sense, but change the lock screen to something different and be able to add different themes easily? There are several instances where the two could be combined to make CommonSense. And, if you have some ideas please share!
I guess i'm just looking for ideas from others that I can take a pitch to a Chef along with a few $$$ to make a ROM that'll do just that. Is there anyone else that thinks the same or I am the only one riding the HellaNoSense boat?
check out IncDoes AOSP. but you should have posted in q/a or general for future reference
This incredible forums is in desperate need for vanailla Roms AND ASOP kernels
DESPERATE NEED
VANILLA ROMS ARE THE BEST performing and give the most memory
we have great phones and we havent taken full advantage imo from what i have seen so far
i prefer a sense based rom with virtually every sense component gutted aside from dialer and contacts (and other key vital stuff). most users use launcher pro, yet most devs seem to focus their [sense] work around modified rosie. Which doesnt seem to make a ton of sense to me. im sure the launcher pro dev would allow the use of his work cooked into roms with his permission right?
SLOflatlander said:
i prefer a sense based rom with virtually every sense component gutted aside from dialer and contacts (and other key vital stuff). most users use launcher pro, yet most devs seem to focus their [sense] work around modified rosie. Which doesnt seem to make a ton of sense to me. im sure the launcher pro dev would allow the use of his work cooked into roms with his permission right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually no. LP isnt open source. thats also whay CM uses ADW rather than LP
How about a JD froyo MASH-UP! That wud b hot! You know, cause a phone that won't boot gets the best battery life
Edit: I LOVED SR vanilla, but it's a little long in the tooth... at least for now. I still have issues with AOSP stability. But I haven't flashed anything new in a month so maybe I'm full of it.
DS36 said:
This incredible forums is in desperate need for vanailla Roms AND ASOP kernels
DESPERATE NEED
VANILLA ROMS ARE THE BEST performing and give the most memory
we have great phones and we havent taken full advantage imo from what i have seen so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeap. This.
Minimalism.
Bare bones, minimal special effects, no clutter.
Basically a tiling WM or Openbox layout with basic text menus or no menus with touch commands.
Hopefully I'll be able to get into cooking whenever I get my machine in order. I've been wanting to actually contribute to some coding/hacking projects but I've never found anything of interest that would motivate me... until now :3
BigTSetter said:
... For instance, the email application in the Driod root IMHO opinion is much better then the Sense one. You can easily check multiple emails and the default background is back......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI: the new Sense lets you multi select in the mail widget...Desire HD/Z
I love sense but need a landscape homescreen! I wish rosie could do this because adw and LP drive me nuts! Currently ruining SR. 3.3.3 but will make the switch when I find something that suits my needs...the reason...I frequently use a car dock and I'm on the road for at least2 hours a day
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
All I would like is someone to modify the bluetooth stack to support bluetooth keyboards (I have an old iGo keyboard).
I'm still hoping for a webOS port even though that's probably not gonna happen ever
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
lexdad86 said:
I'm still hoping for a webOS port even though that's probably not gonna happen ever
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Want. I just wish android took more looks from webOS. It is so beautiful!
The look & feel of the new Sense UI (The Desire Z ROM specifically), the fastest and most optimized speed possible, working camera w/ 720p video (only thing wrong with Desire Z ROM, imo), lots of free memory, clear of all the bloatware apps, aaaaaaaaaaaaand.... Ability to quickly change theme settings (transparency, selection colors, etc).
Oh, and great dev support.
ToyTank said:
How about a JD froyo MASH-UP! That wud b hot! You know, cause a phone that won't boot gets the best battery life
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bahahaha!!
DS36 said:
This incredible forums is in desperate need for vanailla Roms AND ASOP kernels
DESPERATE NEED
VANILLA ROMS ARE THE BEST performing and give the most memory
we have great phones and we havent taken full advantage imo from what i have seen so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/lithiummod/89559-lithium-mod-returns-more-devices.html
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
My perfect rom would be:
Sense based Vanilla rom
htc keyboard
htc camera
htc gallery
htc contacts
either HTC facebook or contacts syncable with market facebook.
emmc working properly
adw built in
customizations avalable in cyanogen's latest rom
power widget built in to notification pull down.
figure out how to change the answer/silence to tabs
reboot option in power menu
6 signal bars
htc battery icon with %
keep the colored sense settings menu icons.
tab or rotary music controls (hidden when not in use)
thats all i can think of.
Having tried just about every ROM out there (and a couple of them a number of times) I think the problem I run into is there are little things here and there that I like about each.
All of our tastes are different, thus we like different things. Some people like the circle battery mod, some people like the rotary lock screen, etc etc...
What would be really cool is if there were a way to easily choose the specific mods you wanted... kinda like picking out options on a new car.
Ultimately, I think the answer is a dev that is willing to build you a custom ROM to your exact specifications. Of course, this would come with a price tag, but hey, it's exactly what you wanted (and it would be worth it IMO... any takers LOL).
In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to get what it is that I want and experiment. It's been fun, frustrating at times, and I still don't have everything I like, but at least we have lots of options to choose from, and I'm learning something new in the process
Is it not possible to build a Rom with a bunch of on off switches that allow you to select sense or no sense , or give you the option for circle battery vs stock ....
IMO.... this would be the ULTIMATE Rom .....
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
@ The OP: Maybe you should initiate a poll.

Questions about ROMs

Hello, I am a complete newbie. I have only had my phone for about a week and a half, almost 2 weeks. Once the unrevoked team released the new fix to root my phone I wanted to check out a few things first.
I wanted to check out the ROMs that are available, maybe get some suggestions and etc. I guess my thing is, I like the way the normal stock is however I want to get rid of some bloatware apps that I have no use for at all. Here are some questions that I am running through:
What ROM is the closest to the stock version 2.2 but allows more customizations and is free of any bugs?
What are your recommendations to ROMs for a noobie?
Would I be able to design my own themes when using a ROM?
I think that is all I can think of for right now. But if you have some insight on something I should know, please let me know I would highly appreciate it.
I answer these with
1. Virtuous
2. Virtuous
3. You can but its not overly simple.
Virtuous is the stock rom but with fixes to give better life and it has the never needed stock apps removed with options to delete more preinstalled apps easily through virtuous buddy which is an app it comes with for easy customization of some things.
Shorte85 said:
Hello, I am a complete newbie. I have only had my phone for about a week and a half, almost 2 weeks. Once the unrevoked team released the new fix to root my phone I wanted to check out a few things first.
I wanted to check out the ROMs that are available, maybe get some suggestions and etc. I guess my thing is, I like the way the normal stock is however I want to get rid of some bloatware apps that I have no use for at all. Here are some questions that I am running through:
What ROM is the closest to the stock version 2.2 but allows more customizations and is free of any bugs?
What are your recommendations to ROMs for a noobie?
Would I be able to design my own themes when using a ROM?
I think that is all I can think of for right now. But if you have some insight on something I should know, please let me know I would highly appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shorte85 said:
Hello, I am a complete newbie. I have only had my phone for about a week and a half, almost 2 weeks. Once the unrevoked team released the new fix to root my phone I wanted to check out a few things first.
I wanted to check out the ROMs that are available, maybe get some suggestions and etc. I guess my thing is, I like the way the normal stock is however I want to get rid of some bloatware apps that I have no use for at all. Here are some questions that I am running through:
What ROM is the closest to the stock version 2.2 but allows more customizations and is free of any bugs?
What are your recommendations to ROMs for a noobie?
Would I be able to design my own themes when using a ROM?
I think that is all I can think of for right now. But if you have some insight on something I should know, please let me know I would highly appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Virtuous is very good, and very close to stock (maybe a little too close). This is all opinion of course, the best thing you can do is try them for yourself. I recommend Skyraider Sense, it has a few added features and is super stable. I was one of the beta testers on this ROM and even in the pre-release stages it was very stable. It's fast, smooth and can be customized quite a bit. Also check out Chad's kernels, I have links for my setup in my signature if you want to check them out. The most important thing is to have fun and find something you enjoy. Happy tweaking
Everything come down to personal taste. Uncommon Sense has been bug free, I second Virtuous and would add Redemption to your list.
You should read each ROM's thread to see what people are saying about it. I realize that some of the Threads may have a few hundred pages of posts to read through, but it is well worth the time.
As you read through the threads, you will get a feeling for the developer, how they respond to queries as well as the members that are using the ROM.
I have been using ROMS created by Hey Its Lou (Redemption and Redemptive) exclusively now for about 6 weeks. He alsways seems to be releasing revisions as soon as he gets his hands on newly leaked code (as do some others).
As far as theming goes... It really depends on your ability to find the right tools and programs.

[Q] A Crapload Of Questions

So yeah, I have a crapload of questions.
I recently asked about rooting and keeping HTC Sense. In retrospect, I don't think I'll need Sense, I just tried out AppLauncher, and I have to say, I think I'm sold on it. I'm just wondering what exactly HTC Sense has? Is there anything it has that I'll really miss? So far the only thing I can think of is the HTC Sense website for a lost phone, backing up data, and the weather widget/FriendStream...though adding Facebook to HTC sense shows all my contacts in the Phone button which is a huge piss off, but meh.
So that being said, I think I'm about ready to give rooting a shot, but now I've been confused with even more things. And the more I read the more I get confused. Especially where I have to downgrade the firmware, I'm wondering if it's still okay to do this, since the guy at Bell told me if I didn't do / get certain updates I'd have to send my phone back to HTC for repair.
There's stock Android, Cyanogen, and it seems like a million other ROMs. Which is the best to use? If I want total customizability, but also good functionality?
Finally, I'm using a Bell-branded Desire Z on the the Bell network. So Whatever I do will need to work okay with it.
As I've said, I'm totally new to this, and I'm scared to hell of bricking my phone since I just signed a contract and don't to shell out $500 bucks for a new one.
There's just so much info on this forum and it's a bit overwhelming/confusing, not that a lot of info is a bad thing, I'm just lost lol.
EDIT: If anything I wrote seems too rambling or doesn't make much sense please specify that and I'll clarify it.
cant help you root your phone but just follow the instructions that the person who writes the threads say. It's not that easy to brick your phone unless you just completely dont follow directions.
1. Downgrade is perfectly fine, it's to allow you to use a certain method to root your phone.
2. Try out different roms to see what you like, it's like asking whats your favorite video game, how can you really choose, some will agree some wont. I personally like the Miui roms which is the iphonelike and android UI mashup. the apps built in are nice on the eyes, the physics of the phones movement is very smooth, it can oc to 1.5ghz, and you can just download a launcher to replace the original if you dont like it.
3. ask the dev's on the thread if your not sure. i have no idea about bell, but it would seem that it shouldnt have any affect on rooting your phone, just maybe the radio but that is different then rooting or flashing roms.
P.S. you might miss the small things from Sense like, it looks nice, turns on fast, widgets, the dialer to search contact, incoming calls doesnt disrupt navigation, and it's original live wallpaper lol.
So are you saying that I can't search by contact in the default phone app? That kind of sucks.
I guess more of what I'm asking is just based on people's experiences what the best route to go is. I know there are different tastes, I'm more concerned about reliability, so I'm sure people could help with a ROM choice with that criteria.
So downgrading firmware won't affect phone performance? And can it still be reverted to stock in case the phone needs warranty repair? Just trying to cover all my bases.
And thanks, I'll ask around in the deg thread.
Bloodlvst said:
So are you saying that I can't search by contact in the default phone app? That kind of sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are usually apps available that provide Sense functionality to non-Sense ROMs. In regards to the above, you can try DialerOne.
To help you with the ROMs think of them in terms of how different Linux OS's are setup (if you know a bit about this).
You have the base OS's such as Cyanogen. Now some one doesn't like the look of that so they change the Frameworkres.apk to give it defferent colors, transparencies, icons and so on. Now they want a few extra apps to be included in the install so they add them to the /system/app directory or add a /data directory. Repackage it and now they have a custom OS called WINNING ROM (or whatever). These are easy to do and can be completed in a matter of minutes since there aren't any big alterations in the base coding of the OS. This is why you see a lot of ROMs that look like Cyanogens and the developer usually (and should be) states what version of some one elses ROM it's based off of.
Then you have ROMs that tweak certain parameters for speed or add other functionalities to a ROM such as a custom kernel, audio/video codecs, a2ext, compcache/linux swap, and others. Plus a complete custom UI (launcher), port parts of other ROMs such as Sense to work on their ROM, and toms of other things. These take days, weeks, or even months and usually have release cycles and updates. Cyanogen, Virtuous, Enomther, Villain, and a few others make up these ROMs.
Hope that helps with your ROM quest. It can be a bit overwhelming but remember to ask, ask, ask, and then ask some more and also read, at least the OP (original post) and a few pages past that. Some people may get upset and flame you for it but most will be glad to help in any way.
If you flash a non-Sense ROM, you will miss the HTC camera app. Its far and away better than the stock Android one, and I haven't found any Market camera apps that measure up, either. Also, the camera button on the Sense builds seems much more responsive than on CM7.
Also, I'm not sure about this, but the Sense ROMs seem to have better or more hardware codecs for playing a wider array of video formats. Lots of the videos I've tried on CM7 and CM6 are only playable using software decoding (on a variety of players, but RockPlayer is my favorite) and end up super laggy (very low frame rate) and audio way out of sync. On stock Sense and Virtuous, those videos play fine, hardware decoding, silky smooth, and audio in sync.
There are some aesthetic stuff, like HTC does some pretty significant theme changes for Sense, and you will lose customizations like the HTC Skins. And you will lose the HTC widgets (like the clocks) and apps (stocks, weather). But as mentioned, there are lots of Market apps that pretty well simulate many of the Sense apps and widgets, or are very suitable replacements.
Thanks for the detailed replies guys.
KCRic, thanks for list of known ROMs that's basically what I wanted to know, and your Linux flavour comparison helped too
Redpoint, I'm not sure how often I'd ever use the camera anyway...when I get home I'll have to find some screens of the default camera. That being said, I see your ROM is Virtuous. Is that a Sense-like ROM in case I agree with you on the ca?era app?
Thanks!
Bloodlvst said:
Redpoint, I'm not sure how often I'd ever use the camera anyway...when I get home I'll have to find some screens of the default camera. That being said, I see your ROM is Virtuous. Is that a Sense-like ROM in case I agree with you on the ca?era app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, you don't use the camera? I use it all the time, for those "spur of the moment" snapshots, or to quickly take a pic that I can MMS to a friend or family.
Yes, Virtuous is mostly stock Sense, but with some optimizations and with some extra features added. Its also based on the 1.85 ROM, one of the more recent stock Sense versions.
Guides, links for just about everything you can ever think of is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916431
BTW, be sure to click the "Thanks" button if you found responses to be helpful!
ROM LIST
Sense ROMS
Gingerbread - Android 2.3
Shokouhi 2.0
Desire S G2 Port Sense2.1
Probably others.
Froyo - Android 2.2
Virtuous
Stock ROMS
Gingerbread - Android 2.3
CyanogenMod 7
Stock Gingerbread 1.7
iceandfire 1.7
Pyromod 1.2
GingerVillian 1.5
meXdroidMod
Froyo - Android 2.2
CyanogenMod 6
Others of unimportance now.
The Other ROMS
Gingerbread - Android 2.3
MIUI (The 2.3 one)
Froyo - Android 2.2
MIUI (The 2.2 one)
LiquidVillian (Or whatever it was called.)
I probably just wasted 10 minutes of my life doing this, but meh, it was something to do.
Now to kill myself since I had to listen to Nickelback through it. Damn 4Music.
I would hardly call CM7 (and ROMs based on it) "Stock".
Although "Non-Sense" is not a very good sounding name for that category, also.
redpoint73 said:
I would hardly call CM7 (and ROMs based on it) "Stock".
Although "Non-Sense" is not a very good sounding name for that category, also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AOSP Based.
There should be 2 categories. CM Based and AOSP.
But I don't think there are any AOSP ROMs. Which I hate, cos when people say they've built a stock ROM, but it's based on CyanogenMod.
redpoint73 said:
Wow, you don't use the camera? I use it all the time, for those "spur of the moment" snapshots, or to quickly take a pic that I can MMS to a friend or family.
Yes, Virtuous is mostly stock Sense, but with some optimizations and with some extra features added. Its also based on the 1.85 ROM, one of the more recent stock Sense versions.
Guides, links for just about everything you can ever think of is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916431
BTW, be sure to click the "Thanks" button if you found responses to be helpful!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I'm guessing no one has cooked up a weird ROM that is like Cyanogen with the Sense camera app lol.
Anywho, I really only have a couple of questions now.
Would you recommend Gingerbread or Froyo? I'm guessing Gingerbread probably runs better / is better than Froyo, but it's hard to say.
Also, how easy is it to restore my phone to factory condition if I need to?
And finally, I read the wiki, it says to make sure I have the windows USB drivers installed...do I just throw those in my windows drivers folder?
EDIT: Wanted to add, the instructiosn for recovering to stock doesn't include the version. So any help there is appreciated.
Or you know, if any of you would be so kind to PM me / add me to IM if you've done this on a Bell phone in Canada that would be awesome too
The drivers go in your Android SDK folder, where ever adb resides. At least on XP and Vista that's the case - I'm not sure if the adb issue was ever resolved in Windows 7. You could always use VM linux or dual boot linux if you like, it's much easier imo. Wubi works too I think.
When it comes to Froyo vs. Gingerbread it's literally like a linux in the sense that one is completely stable and well known by this point (Froyo) an the other is bleeding edge, not stable at times, some things are just not compatible unless you port them, and peoples knowledge base on it isn't as thorough.
I've never returned this phone to stock, which I assume you mean s-on and no superuser permissions. So I have no idea how difficult it is, though I do know you need to make sure you 100% know what you're doing before attempting it - especially if you have s-off. It's a pandoras box if you mess it up.
Ah okay, I'll definitely stick with Froyo for now then. I've always stayed 1 version behidn with Fedora lol.
I did get the drivers working, made my gold card, about to downgrade my firmware.
Are the instructions the same for 1.84.666.2 ?
Edit: Successfully rooted. Now time to find a new ROM. thanks again for all the help. Quesiton though, I have no HSDPA icon anymore...do I need a new "radio" or something?
No, it will do that and some ROMs don't have either the 'H' or the 3G' icon - just depends on the developer. You can still flash a different radio - anyone listed in the G2 radio sticky will work, flash a few and see what works best for you.
There's also a radio version/.ril file issue being debated so you might check that thread too and flash the zip provided just to be safe. I think it's in the G2 questions forum but I can't remember.

Question about Tweaks & EQS

Sorry if I've got this wrong and misunderstood things but now that Jan is preventing other devs from using his Tweaks and Extended Quick Settings does this mean that none of the other roms from now on will have these features?
I know some have their own tweaks app similar to Jan's but they are missing the EQS. Is this because Jan won't allow anyone to use it or is it because new roms are based on the new software version and the EQS isn't compatable yet?
Thanks.
No that is (thankfully) not the case. Please check out the CoreDroid ROM thread. Read Sergio's original post. Tweaks (CoreDroid Suite Tools) coming to anyone who wants them!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1601408
Thanks, that's good to hear. Just had a look at the Coredroid thread, never flashed it before as the theme isn't really my cup of tea, but lovely to see Sergio sharing his amazing work for all to use. Much more Android spirited
Thanks, and keep an eye on it. There are more things being considered on the theme front that may be more your thing.
Sounds interesting, I'll keep watching...thanks.
Just noticed though, no quicksettings/EQS Someone said it may be in the next version but it's a huge amount of work for Sergio.
I hope it can be implemented onto other roms as I can't live without it lol, and much as I like the Charmeleon rom I don't want to feel I can't leave it because the feature I need is exclusive to that rom.
I really think it's sad that Jan isn't sharing anymore I appreciate he's done a lot of work but so have a lot of people on other things such as kernels, theming, etc. Perhaps he could make his work into a paid app or something so people can install it on any rom.
Sorry I should have made myself clearer. It is coming in the build we are currently testing (v3.6) and after that, it should be available for everyone to use. No one is going to have to part with money for it!
We had to take it out of 3.5 and Sergio has written his own from scratch. Like you said, a shame, but that's what we had to do.
We are all testing like crazy to get this latest build up for everyone to enjoy. Can't give you an ETA unfortunately because as much as we are all itching to get this new ROM out there, we want to make sure we don't miss anything in our hurry.
Don't forget to check out the CoreDroid Themes and Mods thread in the Themes and Apps section. Plenty of mods there if you don't like the default CD look, plus we always leave the stock HTC Skins in the ROM. All the screen shots you see are from the CoreDroid skins.
We have some very talented and helpful themers on the team. If there is something you would like, perhaps see if they can make it for you.
Thank you for explaining, really looking forward to the new version with the EQS. Your hard work and that of your team is very much appreciated.
I'll definitely try out the new Coredroid rom, after digging a bit deeper into the thread I found some really nicely themed calculators, status bar mods and other apps that look amazing.
Thank you very much for explaining everything Will definitely try out the new rom and send a beer or two your way!

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