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Root Booting into recovery mode

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dmullens

Newbie
I used the ace hack kit to root my inspire. I think it put a custom recovery on, but I'm not sure. How would I find out for sure? Do I just boot into it? Will it cause problems if I try booting into it and it isn't there?

Also can I use Rom Manager to check?

Thanks.
 
I'm pretty sure ROM manager will tell you if you have ClockworkMod installed. Just go to the install Recovery option and see what it says. Or you can just try to boot into Recovery. First make sure Fast Boot is disabled Settings>Power and uncheck Fast Boot. Then power off your phone. Hold the Volume-down button while you press the power button. Keep holding Vol-down until the HBOOT screen appears. Wait a moment as it scans your sd card for a PD98IMG.zip. You shouldn't have one there. It'll then bring up options for Fastboot, Recovery, and some other things I can't remember right now. Use volume button to highlight Recovery and hit power. If you have a custom Recovery it'll boot into it. If you don't, it may throw up some screen with an exclamation point or something. Doesn't cause any problems trying to boot into it if nothing is there. You just may need to pull the battery to get out of that and shut down. Can't remember.
 
Thanks!

I followed your directions and it booted into ClockworkMod Recover v5.0.2.7

At the bottom it has in large letters Advanced Ace Hack Kit. I thought it had installed it on there. I rooted by using Linux so I was following all the ADB commands.

Anyway, now for the question I was really wanting to get to:

It seems like ROM Manger is the way to go to flashing new roms. I see that ROM Manger will flash ClockworkMod. Is that something I can do since I already have a version of ClockworkMod installed?

I'm trying to figure out how all these things work together. Since I already have ClockworkMod installed, would ROM Manger just flash a different (perhaps newer version) over it? Or is that something I even need to do?

I haven't really looked too much at the ROMs available that I might want to flash. Revolution looks interesting though...although my phone seems to be working find and I keep wondering why I have this desire to put a new ROM on. :)

I still want to read through the guide on ROM Manger that is on AddictiveTips.com.

Thanks for all your help!
 
It's been a while since I've used ROM Manager/CWM, so I'm not exactly sure what the lastest version of CWM would install nor which version the hack kit installed. There shouldn't be any issues of flashing a different version from ROM Manager, replacing the one you currently have.

Basically ROM Manager is an app that works as an interface for Recovery from within the ROM. While you can initiate all the things you need to do to flash a ROM through ROM Manager, it'll then reboot into Recovery to run the processes. Personally I prefer to do it all from within Recovery. Don't ask me why, I just never flashed through ROM Manager. Also, while you can download certain ROMs through ROM Manager, I've read that that doesn't get updated as quickly as the dev threads on xda. Probably best to download from there, transfer the zip to your sd card and flash it.

As for the ROM themselves, basically there are two categories, those with HTC Sense and those without. The custom ROMs will have all the ATT bloatware removed and other tweaks and enhancements. I started a thread a few months ago when I was where you are now. Search for a thread about choosing a custom ROM and read what others have to say.

After I rooted my phone, the first ROM I flashed really didn't work well. And i ran into some issues restoring my backup of the stock ROM. So it kinda freaked me out a bit so once i got back up to stock I ran that for over a month before I was ready to try again. If stock is running fine, take your time and read what others have to say about the different ROMs and then just pick one and try it out. Make sure you back up your current ROM in Recovery so if you don't like what you flashed you can always just go back to stock.

Have fun experimenting with it and finding what works for you. Don't worry too much about bricking the phone at this point. If you follow the basic instructions, it's unlikely you'll do something that will totally screw everything up. Just don't try to run the hack kit again now that you're already rooted. If for any reason you think you should, post here or on xda and explain the issue you are having and wait for a response. Too may people have been trying to run the hack kit on a phone that's already S-OFF and running into problems. If you run into problems, for example your phone gets stuck in a boot loop and won't load the ROM, know that as long as you can get into HBOOT, there are ways to recover the phone.
 
Thanks for the advice. I need to look closer at htc sense to see all the features. I see version 3 is out. I'm on 2.1 I believe.

So what rom did you end up on and why? I was going to flash one tomorrow since it is my day off, but now I think I might wait. Who knows? Maybe I'll be bored looking for something to do. It doesn't seem like inspire owners have too many issues with putting on new roms.
 
I've been running Android Revolution HD for a couple of months now. Here's what I wrote after I first flashed it.

sharksfan7 said:
After running Absolution for a couple of weeks, I was missing some of the Sense stuff so I flashed Android Revolution. I like it a lot. I got back the things I like with Sense, plus the 3.0 lockscreen and CRT animations. It may not be as snappy as Absolution but it's not so slow that it's frustrating. It's the same as I had gotten used to with stock. Battery life has been excellent; on par with what I was getting with Absolution. I've been able to find mods to change pretty much everything I want (5-bar signal, H+ icon, transparent notification background, wake w/ volume-key). And the best of all, it's the first ROM I've tried so far that consistently gives me mobile network speeds that are FASTER than what I was getting with the stock ROM. I was getting around 650-700kB/s w/ stock. CoreDroid dropped to 350kB/s. Absolution was around 475-550kB/s. With ARHD I'm getting around 900kB/s! Yeah that's no where near the LTE speeds, but LTE isn't available in my area. I'm thinking that's about as good as it's going to get for me.

So as of right now I'm really happy with my ARHD setup. Probably gonna stick with it for a while.
Click to expand...

Flashing the ROMs is really easy. Just make sure to read the original posts by the developer and follow whatever instructions given. For the most part, the steps are the same: make nandroid, format data/factory reset, wipe cache, wipe dalvik cache, install zip from sd card. But some ROMs may require additional steps.

After you try out a few, you'll get a better feel for what you're looking for, and if the ROM offers it. Also, you'll be able to get it set up faster with all your apps and home screen widgets and such.
 
I was leaning toward the Revolution rom too. I'll have to check out the lockscreen info. I use Widget Locker, because I like to have information on my lock screen. Also I would like the screen to come on letting me know of SMS or Email I receive. Right now I'm using POPs to do this. Not bad...don't like the animation, but the screen does turn on and let me get a sense of whether I need to deal with something or not. That way, I don't always have to turn the phone on ;)

I've looked through quite few guides on flashing and it does look pretty straight forward..yet, I know there can be problems. Seems like for the most part there isn't. I just want to know what those problems can be...so I can kind of have a plan on what to do.

So far I've noticed a couple:

Flashing a bad zip file
Getting into a bootloop (or something like that).

I'm not that concerned about problems coming from following directions...just the stuff that happens even when you do follow the directions.
 
Yeah, most of the time if you run into issues with the ROM, especially right after you've flashed it, reflashing it is a good place to start. You also want to make sure you verify the md5 checksum of the zip before you flash. There are several utilities you can download to do that. The checksum should be posted with the download link.

Be careful restoring stuff with TiBackup. If you restore system apps and/or data you can run into issues. Only restore user apps & data and it's best to restore one app at a time, at least until you know for sure which apps will restore w/o problems.

Also, right after you flash and sign into your google acct, don't be freaked out if it seems to be lagging. A lot of stuff is automatically being synced to your phone (contacts, calendar, some apps will be pushed from the market and installed). Give it time to settle then you can start with your own set up routine.

As for bootloops, a lot of things can cause that and can be hard to troubleshoot. Some ROMs come overclocked a bit and sometimes the hardware can't deal. I know ARHD has a script you can flash to remove the OC.
 
I thought I was ready to try a ROM, but I started looking through the Revolution forum and saw issues like "tinny sound" etc. Right now I don't have any complaints with my phone. Part of that is because I've only had it for a week. Before that I had an LG Thrive...this is a huge improvement in speed, memory, screen size, etc.

So far the only thing I can think that I would want different is the battery life...although I might be able to use JuiceDefender to help with that somewhat.

I also saw that you wrote something about flashing mods. I'm assuming that is to change some of the modules of the ROM. I also assume you flash that basically the same way you do a ROM...but without wiping everything.

You have been extremely helpful. I've been reading the forums and quite a few articles on Addictivetips.com. I think I know more about the Android setup that I did using my Thrive. Having a background in Linux has been helpful because quite a bit of the terminology is similar. I'm just not familiar with the phone side of things.
 
dmullens said:
I thought I was ready to try a ROM, but I started looking through the Revolution forum and saw issues like "tinny sound" etc. Right now I don't have any complaints with my phone. Part of that is because I've only had it for a week. Before that I had an LG Thrive...this is a huge improvement in speed, memory, screen size, etc.

So far the only thing I can think that I would want different is the battery life...although I might be able to use JuiceDefender to help with that somewhat.

I also saw that you wrote something about flashing mods. I'm assuming that is to change some of the modules of the ROM. I also assume you flash that basically the same way you do a ROM...but without wiping everything.

You have been extremely helpful. I've been reading the forums and quite a few articles on Addictivetips.com. I think I know more about the Android setup that I did using my Thrive. Having a background in Linux has been helpful because quite a bit of the terminology is similar. I'm just not familiar with the phone side of things.
Click to expand...

Yeah, flashing mods is done the same as a ROM. They usually come in a zip package and you just go into Recovery and flash zip from sd card. Mods are just a way to customize your phone to make it your own or add functionality that isn't in the ROM, such as the Advanced Power Menu or expanded Quick Settings menu. I flashed a mod to change the Notification window to a black background instead of white. Things like that.

Every ROM will have some issues. Not all will show up on every phone. Not everyone who flashes ARHD has the tinny audio. I never experienced that. And make sure you read the more recent posts in the threads. Obviously the earlier ones will be for previous versions and those issues may have been resolved in updated versions.

I got my Inspire last August. It is my first experience with Andriod. Everything I've shared I've learned from reading the forums here, on xda and searching the web for answers to questions I had. There's a ton of information available if you're willing to take the time to search and read, which it sounds like you have been. Others tend to just jump in without doing the research and then expect others to hold their hand when they screw something up, even though the answer to their problem is already here. So I applaud your look before you leap mentality. Keep reading and continue to post specific questions if you have 'em. Eventually, you'll just take the leap and flash a ROM and tinker around with it. Then you'll realize all that you can do and continually be searching for new things to try.
 
I'm still torn on whether to flash a new rom or not. In some respects I feel like I'm still getting use to the stock rom. However, I see that Revolution rom has Sense 3.0.

Since you are running that rom, do you think Sense 3.0 is worth flashing a new rom and the setup that would be involved?
 
I can't say if it's worth it or not. It really depends on how you use the phone and how much customization you want to do. I don't use a lot of the Sense stock apps (Messenger, Browser, Gallery). I don't use the camera enough to notice much of a difference but I do like it better than the one that came with Absolution when I tried that. I don't even use the Sense home screens. I use GO Launcher. So for me, how I set up the UI is pretty much the same as it was with stock.

I originally wanted a Sense 3 ROM b/c I wanted the lock ring lock screen which I like better than the Sense 2 slide bar. But you said you use widget locker so that may not matter to you. Then I started finding other mods that I liked. I was able to add the CRT animation that comes with GB but removed from Sense. I got the ability to take screenshots natively. I found a mod that allows me to wake my phone using the volume keys (which can be used on any Sense ROM). One that gave me a black background for my notification drawer instead of white. I got the Advanced Power Menu. ARHD (as well as most custom ROMs) comes with a simple controller for overclocking the processor.

As for performance, I wouldn't say it's noticeably faster than stock if I don't oc it. But battery life has definitely been better. My mobile network speeds are faster than they were with stock or any other ROM I tried. I haven't come across any big issues that I haven't been able to find a fix for or work around.

A few months ago I was exactly where you are now. Wondering if I really needed to root and flash a custom ROM. I was happy with what I had b/c that was all I had ever used. But once I finally took the plunge, I got even more interested in finding out what else I can do with it. But I had my phone for two months before I rooted. Another month after that before I flashed a custom ROM. I wanted to learn everything before I tried anything. And eventually I got to a point where I just needed to do it in order to understand it.

Since you're fine with how the stock ROM is working for you, maybe you should continue using that for a bit so you know what Sense has to offer. Then instead of going to another Sense ROM, try out one of the non-Sense based ROMs. Cyanogen is pretty much the standard for that. Absolution is also a really good one. Personally, there are some things in Sense that I really like, that's why I settled on ARHD after trying out Absolution. But you may discover you prefer a more pure Android experience. And if after trying out different ROMs you decide the stock ROM works best for you, you can always just restore your backup. But then at least you'll have a clearer picture of what you want out of your phone.
 
sharksfan7 said:
Since you're fine with how the stock ROM is working for you, maybe you should continue using that for a bit so you know what Sense has to offer. Then instead of going to another Sense ROM, try out one of the non-Sense based ROMs. Cyanogen is pretty much the standard for that. Absolution is also a really good one. Personally, there are some things in Sense that I really like, that's why I settled on ARHD after trying out Absolution. But you may discover you prefer a more pure Android experience. And if after trying out different ROMs you decide the stock ROM works best for you, you can always just restore your backup. But then at least you'll have a clearer picture of what you want out of your phone.
Click to expand...

Yesterday I was looking forward to putting a custom ROM on, but then I realized that my tendency is to take something that works fairly well...mess with it until I break it...and then spend most of a day getting it back. ;)

I've only had this phone for a week. Rooting it was a nobrainer for me because I really _need_ droidwall to manage my mobile data usage. Like you said, I use Widget Locker, so the lock screen is customized to where I like it. I am using Go Launcher as well.

I took a look at some of the YouTube videos of Sense 3.5 and I realized that most of the functionality I could get with other tools on stock. Of course that leaves the oc and battery life, but the phone is fast enough for me at this point, and I can probably extend the battery using JuiceDefender.

My last phone was a LG Thrive. It was underpowered and didn't have much memory. I had to do quite a bit to get that thing to work the way I wanted it to. It took me about 7 months to finally root it...then I used droidwall and Link2SD so I could add more programs than the 100 mg program space allowed.

So...going from that phone...to this one has been amazing. So for now I think I'll just try to be happy with downloading Go Launcher themes, widgets, etc. and hold of on flashing a custom ROM until there is a reason I really need it.

The only reason I see for a custom ROM now would be the oc and battery life (and HTC Widgets).

Thanks for all the advice and all. Knowing me...I'll keep reading through the forums, keeping track of the ROMS and one snowy day...decide to flash ;)
 
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