Root cyanogen 7 ROCKS!

[KlaymenDK]

Hiya.
I just upgraded my rooted-with-clockworkmod-but-otherwise-stock HTC Desire to CM7 -- that is Cyanogen Mod version 7 RC 1 -- and man, does it ever ROCK!

My old install was quite okay, except that I constantly got force close errors for "com.htc.bgp" which didn't seem to do anything anyway, and I never used any of the HTC apps, except for Sense itself obiously.

Now, the phone (re)boots in 1/5th the time, scrolling through lists is incredibly smooth, and the built-in apps and options are just, well, sensible (imagine that! ) ! The notification bar has a configurable list of quick toggles, and the Battery control panel has a much improved graph, although I don't know if that's Cyanogen or "just" Android 2.3. With this graph, the only reason to still run JuicePlotter is to have an explicit time readout for the battery (ie. "38:20 hours remaining").

The only thing I miss, really, is the feature from the HTC dialer where punching in numbers simultaneously searched for matches among Contacts (typing in "867" could be the beginning of "867-5309", but it would also list the contact for TORsten and other T9 matches). That, and my Last.fm client seems to no longer be able to connect; although this may be caused by improved filtering on Last's servers (which is a damn shame, seeing as how I'm a paying customer; I guess I won't be renewing that subscription).

Installation took a few tries to get right; at first I tried to use ROM Manager to do it all for me in one easy step, but that always resulted in the boot process hanging at the "green-on-white htc screen". What did work was to download the zip files manually, and use the recovery menu from clockworkmod to manually install the files individually, with a generous helping of clean restarts and factory resets.

 

[InfernalByte]

 

[SUroot]

The graph is 2.3

 

[sookster54]

Yup I'm liking CM7 RC1, been using CM6 for the past half year and CM7 is noticeably faster and I like the S2E a2sd app for it- quicker to deal with than Darktremor's a2sd mod.

 

[JimmiG]

Tried it, but didn't like it. Too many little glitches like the slow USB transfer speed, occasional "force close" errors (not constantly, but enough to be annoying), WiFi battery drain issue, issues with the partition sizes or whatever making installing Google Maps and other large applications a hassle...
Plus, too many Sense-features that I've taken for granted like the big clock on the home screen, the calendar app (much better than stock android or anything else I've found in the market), contacts list, keyboard (I type about twice as fast with the Sense keyboard as I do with the smaller, low-contrast one that comes with Cyanogen).

Then tried 6.1.1 and found it a little better but still kind of glitchy and amateurish (everything is a mish mash of different UI styles), still more force close messages than I've ever seen with stock, still some missing features (where do you turn off background mobile data?).

So while I appreciate the work that people put into these custom ROMs, for me, the plain old HTC ROM works best. With stock, it feels like a phone. With mods, it feels like a computer that runs Linux and is occasionally able to make phone calls if everything is set up just right and you're lucky.

 

[UKseagull]

I've tried a pre RC1 version of 7 and it was OK, not as useful as Sense and it's included widgets though. I tried to flash the RC1 the other day, but despite wiping, resetting etc etc I couldn't get passed the boot loops.

 

[SUroot]

Tried it, but didn't like it. Too many little glitches like the slow USB transfer speed, occasional "force close" errors

did you wipe before install?

WiFi battery drain issue

Did you set wifi sleep policy to never?

issues with the partition sizes or whatever making installing Google Maps and other large applications a hassle...

Did you change your partition table though? If not, its nothing to do with partitions. If so, then that would be user error

Plus, too many Sense-features that I've taken for granted like the big clock on the home screen, the calendar app (much better than stock android or anything else I've found in the market), contacts list, keyboard (I type about twice as fast with the Sense keyboard as I do with the smaller, low-contrast one that comes with Cyanogen).

How is the calendar app better than stock? Loads of clocks available and so is the HTC sense keyboard (I too cannot use any other keyboard as well)

Then tried 6.1.1 and found it a little better but still kind of glitchy and amateurish (everything is a mish mash of different UI styles)

Its 1 UI style. Android. Unlike HTC sense which has android menu interface with sense UI for homescreens.

So while I appreciate the work that people put into these custom ROMs, for me, the plain old HTC ROM works best.

Fair enough, thats your opinion.

With mods, it feels like a computer that runs Linux and is occasionally able to make phone calls if everything is set up just right and you're lucky.

It is a computer that runs linux! Of course you need to know how to set it up. Unlike with HTC distro's, everything isn't turned on out-of-the-box. Luck has nothing to do with it.

I appreciate that many people dont want to have to go through every menu and setting when they first get a phone (I do however), but once you have, CM based roms run much quicker and more efficiently than any HTC rom.

Anything missing from Sense is easily replacable via the market, although occaisionally, you will have to pay for it.

I appreciate with these custom roms (which are based on standard / vanilla android) take a bit more setting up that a HTC sense rom, but it can be worth it in the end.

How long did you try it for can I ask?

 

[JimmiG]

did you wipe before install?

Yes, twice even. Every partition plus the SD card.

The slow transfer speed is a known issue which seems to affect many phones running the latest version of the kernel. Lots of results will come up if you Google it.

Did you change your partition table though? If not, its nothing to do with partitions. If so, then that would be user error

CM7 RC1 - Google Maps problem - CyanogenMod Forum - Page 2
It's not user error if lots of people are having the exact same issue, when following the instructions currently provided in the Wiki to the letter.

Did you set wifi sleep policy to never?

Yes, but I don't want to have it set to "Never" and I didn't have to with the stock ROM. I don't need WiFi to be turned on when the phone is in my pocket and not being used.

How is the calendar app better than stock? Loads of clocks available and so is the HTC sense keyboard (I too cannot use any other keyboard as well)

The Sense calendar comes with a very nice full-screen widget that allows you to quickly get an overview of the month and even select another month without even opening the calendar app. The Android default widget is small and ugly. There might be better alternatives in the market, but I already have one that works well.

Its 1 UI style. Android. Unlike HTC sense which has android menu interface with sense UI for homescreens.

Not really. The launcher is not Andriod, and the "CyanogenMod" menu is a bit of a mess since it duplicate much of the functionality from the regular settings menu, but with more/different options. For example, with CM7, you can tweak brightness levels for the display, but you turn on the actual auto-brightness feature from the regular Display menu. With CM6, you can't customize the brightness levels out of the box. The display will always be too dark unless you point the phone straight at the sun.

It is a computer that runs linux! Of course you need to know how to set it up. Unlike with HTC distro's, everything isn't turned on out-of-the-box.

I already have a computer that runs Linux, one that runs Windows7 and one that runs Windows Server 2008. When I pick up my phone, it's because I want to quickly see what appointments I have, who has called, or maybe send a message. The more that's turned on and configured out of the box, the quicker I can start using the phone as intended.

 

[SUroot]

You didn't answer my question about partitions but I'm assuming you have one. Which? Not the pointless cm 7 one? If so, part disappointment to alpharev for making it, part user error for not knowing you can't download apps that are bigger than the cache partition.

 

[rgoldm2]

Hi,

Im having the same problem as detailed above. Apps like google maps, skype, etc wont download. They appear and disappear. I feel like this partition cache being too small is the issue but i have no idea how to change that....anyone out there want to illustrate out the steps for me? I would thoroughly appreciate that!

 

[InfernalByte]

Hi,

Im having the same problem as detailed above. Apps like google maps, skype, etc wont download. They appear and disappear. I feel like this partition cache being too small is the issue but i have no idea how to change that....anyone out there want to illustrate out the steps for me? I would thoroughly appreciate that!

What exactly is the problem? Also give us your specific system specs.

 

[Usta]

rgoldm2 probably refers to the small 5MB /cache partition recommended by CM7 ROMs.
I don't like that either, that's why I stick to the original size (40MB).

About downloads, probably things get fixed if you clear Market app cache.

 

[Tommex]

GO Contacts and GO Dialer not only look better than the stock apps, but the dialer also has the "866 will also search for TOM" whatsit as well.

 

[InfernalByte]

rgoldm2 probably refers to the small 5MB /cache partition recommended by CM7 ROMs.
I don't like that either, that's why I stick to the original size (40MB).

About downloads, probably things get fixed if you clear Market app cache.

The small cache is down to the Alpharev Cyan7 Table, the rgold haseney said that he has flashed that so I'm assuming that the rgold has the stock HTC cache. 90Mb?

 

[ilovefarts]

rgoldm2 probably refers to the small 5MB /cache partition recommended by CM7 ROMs.
I don't like that either, that's why I stick to the original size (40MB).

About downloads, probably things get fixed if you clear Market app cache.

I'm reading everywhere trying to find a simple solution to the problem on installing google maps after flashing cm7 to my phone. My only worry is having to go through the whole install process all over again. It took forever to backup and restore my apps I have on my phone. I'm a noob at all this stuff and I really appreciate the help and advice coming from everyone, but my question is, if I boot into recovery and wipe the data and cache and so forth will I have to reinstall all of my apps I backedup with titanium? And will I have to flash cm7 all over again? I know, simple question slightly dumb, but I really am hesitating on doing this and feel a slight inconvenience by downloading the apk and installing the maps through the computer everytime there is an update would be worth the hassle. Then again, what I've learned through the help and forums is patience. Sorry for the long post and again, thanks to everyone for everything.

 

[SUroot]

download the scripts.zip from the root toolbox thread (in the sticky thread here) using the password from the end of the thread. delete the other 2 scripts in the zip except 06mountdl (in system/etc/inid of the zip) and flash it via recovery. This will bind cache/downloads to data/local/downloads.

 

[ilovefarts]

download the scripts.zip from the root toolbox thread (in the sticky thread here) using the password from the end of the thread. delete the other 2 scripts in the zip except 06mountdl (in system/etc/inid of the zip) and flash it via recovery. This will bind cache/downloads to data/local/downloads.

You say "erase script" and then flash remaining script in recovery. Does that mean unzip and erase and then with the remainder script zip and load? Just curious. Thanks ahead of time!

 

[SUroot]

not erase. delete.

DO NOT UNZIP. Just OPEN THE ZIP and delete the other 2 scripts in system/etc/init.d then CLOSE THE ZIP with the X.

If you unzip you will break it.

 

[ilovefarts]

not erase. delete.

DO NOT UNZIP. Just OPEN THE ZIP and delete the other 2 scripts in system/etc/init.d then CLOSE THE ZIP with the X.

If you unzip you will break it.

Thank you, I'm sorry for the dumb questions! I appreciate the help!

 

[SUroot]

no probs