Smartphone Rooting and ROMs

[smilodon]

I'm not sure if anyone other than Gandy and I are following this thread but I've now tried several ROMS

So far I've found

BeHero (Android 2.1) ROM worked quite well but Sky Maps, weather widget, MMS and GPS were all flakey or didn't work. Plus several of the new 2.1 features are missing.

Legendary 1.3.5 (Android 2.1) ROM. Very good with no issues other than dreadful battery life and several random FC's. The battery drained from 3/4 to dead overnight. Marketplace does not work fully.

Villain 3.4 (Adroid 2.1) ROM Very stable but no longer being supported by the developer. He's moved on to Villain 4.0

Villain 4.0 (Android 2.1) Has almost all the 2.1 new features and works well with apps. However the battery drains fast and the new gallery feature is very buggy. Several other apps seem to randomly crash.

MoDaCo Custom ROM (Adroid 1.5) Although this is a 1.5 ROm it's absolutely excellent and worth routing your phone just to get hold of. As it's based on the official Hero ROM it's rock solid, everything works, it's faster than the stock ROm and has a number of serious tweaks and additions. This is the ROM I'm using.

So that's my take on rooting and flashing

[Bob]

I'm not sure if anyone other than Gandy and I are following this thread but I've now tried several ROMS

I for one am keeping an close eye on this, allthough silently for now. I'm still a bit more patient and will give the official 2.1 update some time, but please don't stop sharing your experiences. At some point I'll definitely try a custom rom myself, and then I'll definitely come here to bother you all with lots of questions

[sulky_uk]

all i can say is...I feel sorry for all the people, including me, that went for the n97......oh how we dream of an os upgrade:sad:

[smilodon]

I watched a video (lost the link) from the big Google Expo thing this year showing a Q&A with the main Android development team. They seemed to be arguing strongly for all Android phones to come with a build in bootloader. Then users could choose whether to stick with the factory ROM or to try more exotic versions. Sadly I cannot see that ever happening.

At the moment what I'm seeing with the MoDaCo ROM is very fast speeds, everything zips along far faster than on the stock ROM. It's now iPhone like in the way it works. As I understand it the ROM works the CPU harder and therefore reduces the battery life. It's seems obvious that HTC would need to release a phone with a good battery performance as it's a major buying factor for most average users. The MoDaCo ROM gives up a little in the battery department to make the phone run faster.

Also the MoDaCo ROM has a revised Teknologist kernel which plays a significant part in making the Hero a speedy beast. So now I've finally got the phone I imagined from seeing those first promo videos.

Some other nice features include the ability to back up 'everything' to the SD card. And I mean everything! As included in the ROM is Titanium Backup Because you have root privileges on your phone, when you back up your apps you back up everything including all the data and the market links. So no more update and search the market for your favourite apps. Although AppBrain helps with that problem as well if you loose all your market links.

So after three days of testing and using I would seriously recommend people try a custom ROM. The 2.1 ROMs are only for the brave but IMHO the MoCaDo ROM is a significant improvement on the stock ROM. As is often the case a geek genius in his bedroom can write better code than a team of professional Devs who have to live with marketeers and accountants breathing down their necks all day.

Go for it!

[TeaLeaf]

You can root my phone at the LAN if 2.1 is not out by then!

[Gandalf]

Well, I'm on the same as Smilo now, battery was being caned by the 2.1 rom!

The only thing I've been unable to get working is MMS messaging, but apparently it's a Vodafone/HTC problem specific to the Hero.

[smilodon]

Okey Dokey a few more updates about my rooting and flashing experiences :eyebrow:

Now that I have root access, and can give root to other applications at will, lots of new options become available.

Apps2SD. This application which comes as standard with the MoDaCo 3.2.1 ROM allows you to install applications plus a swap file onto your SD card. Normal Android phones are restricted to only allow apps to be stored on the ROM. In Hero's case (and most other Android phones) that's 500 Mb. This space is shared with the Android OS, the Sense UI and stock apps etc. So typically you're limited to about 140-150 Mb of space for your own stuff. SD cards will only store photos, music, videos etc. 150 Mb is still a lot of space but if you have lots of apps (I have about 100) plus you have installed some of the more meaty games then you can soon start to choke your system. So I've activated App2Sd and now have masses of space.

Wifi tethering. Hopefully most people know that the Hero has built in tethering, which would allow you to use your phone as a modem for connecting a laptop or net-book to the Interweb. This isn't actually that common and many smart phones don't allow this. For example the iPhone has to be jail-broken (rooted) in order to get a non approved tethering app onto it. So for Hero users there's no need to get robbed by greedy mobile providers who want to bleed you dry for a 3G dongle on top of your existing mobile data plan.
Rooted phones can go one step further and can be set up as a moderately powerful Wifi Access point. Properly secured you can connect your laptop without having to mess about with cables etc. Great for coffee shops and hotels and no more buying wifi access from BT Cloud at at their criminal prices Check your mobile contract though :eyebrow:

Cache cleaner. An app that periodically clears out your various cache files speeding up the phone and generally keeping it clutter free.


Themes and fonts. Rooted phones can install new themes, fonts and custom boot screens. There are masses to choose from and it's almost like having a new phone when you install your own personal look and feel

CPU managers. Not sure how useful this actually is but I can now over-clock and under-clock my CPU.

Add Blocker. Blocks adverts in the default browser and some add supported apps buy updating the hosts file with many well known add services. Much like the AdBlock Plus addon we all use in Firefox. Not quite as thorough as AdBlock but helps speed up web page a lot on a 3G connection.

Autostart. Lets you decide which apps can auto start when the phone boots. Amazing what sort of crap tries to load into memory on start-up. I've not used this much as I seem to be for ever blocking important core apps that muck the phone up. Something for the future when I can spend more time working out what is and is not an important process.

Next I'll discuss how I have turned my phone into a fully featured laser gun and set the camera so it photographs through women's clothes.

Ps. I'm not actually that knocked out about blocking adverts in apps. We should support android developers and advertising revenue is probably quite important to them. That being said I always buy the paid for app where available. If not almost all devs have a donate button, so I use that and block their adverts with a clear conscience.

[delanvital]

CPU managers. Not sure how useful this actually is but I can now over-clock and under-clock my CPU.

I am not sure what apps you have used, but AFAIK overclocking is not possible on these CPUs? When people talk of overclocking, it is just a case of keeping the CPU at 528MHz, where it usually runs at 300-something per default and rarely peaks to 528MHz.

Following the discussion of how much more demanding a multitasking phone is power-wise, I can imagine HTC having set up the Qualcomm CPU in the Hero for conservative use.

Better control of clocking is not that bad though.  I use SetCPU, IMHO the best app, to set different clock timings than what the phone came with. This has to do with the fact that per default the phone

- does not clock down enough (I can get away with 160MHz in stand-by without crashes, and not 245MHz as the phone would per default), and often enough, when put into sleep (which needs to be set up in the phone btw)
- does not run at constant full speed when I have the screen on and use it.

This way I have gained a bit more battery life and I feel the phone is a bit more responsive. I have also noticed a difference in long-time video playback using this app.

[smilodon]

Point taken on overclocking. I also have setCPU but as yet haven't really looked into it. Thanks for the info though I'll have a tinker with it later.

[smilodon]

Could you post the exact settings you used mate? I've been tweaking stuff a bit and am not sure I'm running at the best settings for speed and battery performance.

Thanks

[delanvital]

Could you post the exact settings you used mate? I've been tweaking stuff a bit and am not sure I'm running at the best settings for speed and battery performance.

Thanks

You have probably done this, but to be sure: When installing, be sure to allow root access. After that, select the setting that includes the Hero. Add the widget to the desktop.

I prefer to use profiles. I have enabled them all. I have charging at 528/122, sleep at 122/122, power < 100% 528/528, failsafe at 160/160.

This way, the phone will throttle as needed, when I use the phone while it charges, it will sleep as low as possible (19MHz freezes for me, from time to time), power < 100 % means when phone is on and this I have at 528/528 for maximum performance and failsafe at a low 160/160, which is still stable for me, to keep temp down, should it run hot. Has never happened though...

This guide helped me, otherwise ask

[smilodon]

Thanks. It's not far off what I had. Only I didn't dare take the CPU so low. Used your settings and it seems fine though