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Root Should I upgrade Amon Ra 2.0.1 to latest version prior to flashing my 1st ROM? (used revolutionary)

S

salxtai

Lurker
This is my first post - I've been searching for about 30 min can't find this Q, but sincere apologies if it has been and I've missed it.
I also got sick of asking these sorts of occasional Qs in Xda and not getting any responses... posting this Q here in case I can get a simple answer so I can start flashing ROMs.

I have a stock 2.2 HTC desire that is now S-OFF and rooted after following the revolutionary method ([Guide]S-OFF and ROOT HTC Desire with Revolutionary - Windows (published 4th November 2011)I installed Amon Ra 2.0.1, as per the instructions, and did a backup (although my screen doesn't show the [x] options that are described - just a simple backup option, which backed up my android_secure and other .IMGs).
However, I've started looking for instructions to make sure I can restore my phone in case something goes wrong (planning to flash Cyanogenmod 7 + google apps via Amon Ra, as per Cyanogenmod website's instructions...), and I can't seem to find any instructions for 2.0.1 on how to restore successfully, as there seems to be difficulty restoring images with Amon Ra.

... Should I upgrade Amon Ra now (to newest version?), and do a new backup before using Amon Ra to flash Cyanogenmod 7 ROM?


- from this post ( First time rooting, CM7 page says I need latest radio, but it won't flash) It appears I don't need the radio as I'm using 2.2, which is great because the cyanogenmod's website links are broken...


Kudos!
 
Hi salxtai, and welcome to AF :)

There's no need to upgrade Amon Ra 2.0.1. To restore it should just be a matter of entering recovery and selecting restore, which should be in the same menu as backup (I've never used Amon Ra, so can't be more specific). Many people here used Amon Ra for the long time, so I know it works - what problems do you think there are?

If you are on 2.2 already your radio is compatible, and as you say you do not need to update it. TBH I'd leave radio updates unless you have a problem, and if you need to you can use fastboot to do it (if you change your hboot to give yourself more space you must use fastboot, because if your cache partition is less than 30MB in size flashing radio via recovery will fail, and a bad radio flash can kill the phone).
 
Hadron said:
Hi salxtai, and welcome to AF :)

There's no need to upgrade Amon Ra 2.0.1. To restore it should just be a matter of entering recovery and selecting restore, which should be in the same menu as backup (I've never used Amon Ra, so can't be more specific). Many people here used Amon Ra for the long time, so I know it works - what problems do you think there are?
Click to expand...

Hey Hadron - cheers :)

In response to your question, I was referring to this forum post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1621020
, which I know is for the HTC Rezound so maybe it isn't relevant, but reading that someone was having trouble restoring scared me a bit.

(if you change your hboot to give yourself more space you must use fastboot, because if your cache partition is less than 30MB in size flashing radio via recovery will fail, and a bad radio flash can kill the phone).
Click to expand...

This reads like chinese to me - I don't think I'm changing my HBOOT (least not knowingly) by installing the cyanogenmod ROM, but in any case thanks heaps for the heads up - this is exactly the type of thing that is helpful to know (and not often easily available when you're wanting to know as much as possible before setting out).

Can I just ask, while on the subject of recovery images - could I do a "restore" now on my stock to make sure it works before going ahead and installing the cyanogen ROM?
Anything I should expect / be aware of?

...Or maybe I should just bite the bullet, stop being a chicken, and flash cyanogen!

(have installed titanium backup and have a backup of all system data and user apps - I read somewhere that I shouldn't save data setting for apps when switching ROMs as it can mess up the new ROM, but I couldn't figure out how to only backup the apps themselves without their data)
 
You can't accidentally change hboot, and a ROM flash cannot change it. Read the root memory faq (in the Desire All Things Root Guide sticky post here) for an explanation.

As you say, the Rezound is a different phone. I'd not worry.

You can try a restore now if you want.

It's restoring system settings to a new ROM that's a problem, and it's easy to just restore user apps & data from Ti. Do remember that with CM (unlike most other ROMs) you have to install Google apps separately (it catches a lot of people out).
 
You can't accidentally change hboot, and a ROM flash cannot change it. Read the root memory faq (in the Desire All Things Root Guide sticky post here) for an explanation.
Click to expand...

I had read the FAQ (pretty sure I read at least 80% of all google-able FAQs / guides for rooting before even contemplating it, so I did think you can't accidentally change it, but when you mentioned it I started having second thoughts that maybe somewhere along the way I had failed to read that fine print and I could affect my HBOOT. Glad to know I retained something of all that reading!

I went ahead and flashed CM 7.2 including the gapps, and getting used to the new layout of the phone.

I have noticed my GPS doesn't work (which I knew was a possibility thanks to all the pre-reading I did), but this has apparently been resolved in https://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/issues/detail?id=5437 (which links to comment #148 in this forum https://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/issues/detail?id=4876), so will have to flash that zip and hope it sorts it out

Realising this modding business is never-ending - there's always a chance something won't work in any custom ROM, which is a tad annoying.

Cheers for taking the time to reply multiple times, Hadron - Kindly appreciated! :)

(feel free to suggest any other ROMs I should add to my list to try, haha)
​
 
salxtai said:


I have noticed my GPS doesn't work (which I knew was a possibility thanks to all the pre-reading I did), but this has apparently been resolved in https://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/issues/detail?id=5437 (which links to comment #148 in this forum https://code.google.com/p/cyanogenmod/issues/detail?id=4876), so will have to flash that zip and hope it sorts it out


​
Click to expand...

Do you see a gps icon in your notification bar? ie is it trying to get a fix? If so download gps test from google play & run it. It will tell you more about satelites available etc. Under settings it also has the option to update AGPS (mobile data Assisted GPS postion fix) which might get you a quicker location fix.

Realising this modding business is never-ending - there's always a chance something won't work in any custom ROM, which is a tad annoying.

Cheers for taking the time to reply multiple times, Hadron - Kindly appreciated! :)

(feel free to suggest any other ROMs I should add to my list to try, haha)
Click to expand...

Oxygen is what I would describe as a finished fully functional ROM. GPS certainly worked well for me on a number of the Oxygen based ROMs I've used. If your GPS problems persist take a full backup of your current ROM from recovery & flash another ROM. Restoring a backed up ROM is very easy.
 
nicka3200 said:
Do you see a gps icon in your notification bar? ie is it trying to get a fix? If so download gps test from google play & run it. It will tell you more about satelites available etc. Under settings it also has the option to update AGPS (mobile data Assisted GPS postion fix) which might get you a quicker location fix.
Click to expand...

No, at the moment I don't have a GPS icon turning on at all, and I confirmed it wasn't working by attempting to get directions in Google Maps. Got the "unable to locate GPS service" error after a few minutes - it used to lock on within 30 seconds before flashing this ROM, with the GPS icon coming up in the status bar as soon as you launched a GPS-dependent app.
Will the solution I found for this earlier be suitable in this case?


Incidentally, WIFI appears to have issues as well, which was previously working well. Appears to have good signal however isn't always receiving internet access (and its not my wireless network as my laptop has no issues). It did connect properly for a few minutes, but once it went into sleep mode it stopped working, and now disabling and re-enabling doesn't fix it either.
-- This is more of an annoyance for me as I usually switch to my WIFI network at home to have faster internet on my phone. Guess its back to googling for solutions again.


Oxygen is what I would describe as a finished fully functional ROM. GPS certainly worked well for me on a number of the Oxygen based ROMs I've used. If your GPS problems persist take a full backup of your current ROM from recovery & flash another ROM. Restoring a backed up ROM is very easy.
Click to expand...

Did WIFI work well for you on this as well? I might need to look at this instead.

I'm guessing I can skip backing up this CM 7 ROM and if I need to revert, can just go straight back to my stock ROM recovery image that I made before CM7? Since CM7 isn't fully functional for me atm anyways so I don't really want to return to it over my stock ROM.
 
Yes Wifi was flawless on Oxygen. The only issue I had was occasionally my screen wouldn't turn on & a battery pull was the only way to sort it.

I'm currently using Lynx 3.2 which is a modded version of an earlier Oxygen ROM. I've replaced the Launcher with Holo Launcher & updated all the system apps to the latest versions.

What specifically do you want from a ROM? There is a thread about AOSP ROMs here:
http://androidforums.com/desire-all-things-root/494383-aosp-rom.html
 
nicka3200 said:
Yes Wifi was flawless on Oxygen. The only issue I had was occasionally my screen wouldn't turn on & a battery pull was the only way to sort it.

I'm currently using Lynx 3.2 which is a modded version of an earlier Oxygen ROM. I've replaced the Launcher with Holo Launcher & updated all the system apps to the latest versions.

What specifically do you want from a ROM? There is a thread about AOSP ROMs here:
http://androidforums.com/desire-all-things-root/494383-aosp-rom.html
Click to expand...


Being the HTC Desire, I wanted something that gave me more space by both limiting the bloatware as well as providing more MB.
Also something that gives a better battery life would be great, provided I can still use GPS and WIFI without glitches.

I actually was considering MildWild ROM, but the thought of having to figure out how partition my SD card did my poor little newbie brain in... I read about Gparted but don't like the idea of booting from a CD. Found an alternate method but couldn't find any information on what I had to do with my files that were on the SD - whether to remove them and add them to one of the new portions, or leave them there, etc.
I did like the look of MildWild though, especially the battery life.

Incidentally, the GPS does work (or least in the 1 min test I did this morning in the car before work), so I'm guessing the signal strength is weaker and now can't receive GPS when next to a window like it could before. will see if the GPS test app sheds any clues.
 
As you're S-OFF you could consider the CM7r2 hboot. Flashing hboots is a little riskier than partitioning sd cards however the result is much better IMHO.

The experts recommend ADB commands but I use Fastboot Commander as a UI for Fastboot. In any case read http://androidforums.com/desire-all-things-root/220627-faq-apps2sd-updated-17-02-11-a.html before proceeding.

Oxygen GPS is as good as any I've tried. Perhaps Mildwild based on Oxygen will give you what you're looking for. Cyanogen Mod is a bit of a battery drain from what I've read. I haven't tried it myself but the MIUI ROM I tried had a Cyanogen kernel & the battery was terrible.
 
nicka3200 said:
Oxygen GPS is as good as any I've tried. Perhaps Mildwild based on Oxygen will give you what you're looking for. Cyanogen Mod is a bit of a battery drain from what I've read. I haven't tried it myself but the MIUI ROM I tried had a Cyanogen kernel & the battery was terrible.
Click to expand...

I'm considering flashing MildWild, but I'm having trouble finding out if I need to partition the SD Card - XDA search function is conveniently non-functioning for me which makes it complicated. I have submitted a bug report but have heard nothing back.

Could anyone please confirm if I need to partition (and in what format), and any other issues?
I'm assuming its a normal full wipe with the exception of the SD card itself, when in recovery.

Addit. Considering Oxygen ZM 1.2 as well.
Can I just confirm that I need to partition the SD into a FAT32 section (?what size?), and an EXT 3 or Ext 4 (recommended to be 1GB so 1024mb?). SD card is 4GB.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1743584
- also, where do I move my ebooks / music / photos to once formatted? since the card has to be formatted to partition
 
I think Mildwild does require an ext partition. I couldn't get it to boot on my phone but don't have an sd partition so I assume that is why. OxyZM doesn't require one but does support apps2sd.

I haven't used gparted for a long time because I don't like ext partitions personally. You are too dependent on your sd IMHO. However many do use them very happily. There is a guide to setting up Gparted here & another for how to use it here which was quite straight forward as I recall.

Your card right now will be all FAT32. Copy it all including hidden files to your PC then copy it all back to the FAT32 partition after Gparted (it will be the only part windows can see as an external drive). FAT32 should be the first partition with EXT3 or EXT4 after, both as primary partitions with swap=0.

Anything more specific & you'll have to ask Hadron.
 
Lol, well my desire has jack-all internal memory, so I'm dependent on the SD to cart my books around with me... Unless you mean people being too dependent on the SD with regards to ROMs.

Thanks for the SD partitioning info, though, that's the sort of thing I was wanting to know. Will probably use the VM method for Gparted if I need to venture that way in the future.

Think i will flash Oxygen tomorrow night, cyanogen is pretty but no better on the battery aspect.
 
Yeah I meant your ROM becomes dependent on your sd. Of course you won't be able to change sd card afterwards because you'll be taking out the partition. Also with a partition you'll clearly be loosing some sd storage space.

The other option is custom hboot, but make sure you know what you're doing here as getting it wrong can brick your phone. It is however my preferred choice.
 
in a further development, I flashed Oxygen v.2.3.2 tonight, from the source website.

GPS works fine, but my WIFI isn't working at all - it "connects" to my home network but doesn't have any actual internet access.
- My laptop is able to connect and use the internet successfully, so I think its phone-specific.

Its running WPA/WPA2 encryption (I changed it from WEP a long time ago when a buggy tablet wouldn't sync and switched in case that was the problem), but I don't believe the encryption would be an issue.

Have you heard anything about WIFI issues with oxygen in your ROM travels? I'm googling away as we speak but haven't had much luck so far.
 
I've never had any problems with WiFi on oxygen. Have you tried connecting to another WiFi source? This might eliminate your home set up.
 
Haven't had a chance to so far as there is no WIFI at work and haven't been at any open sites, but will try it when I get a chance tomorrow.

I'd be incredibly surprised though, to be honest, since it was working before with the stock ROM and no settings have changed, although it only worked on one instance with Cyanogen, so there might be some odd underlying thing that's not being cleared by wipes in between flashes.
 
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