thehybridkiwi
Newbie
Is there is a way of installing custom ROM's without ClockworkMod?
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[International / GSM] Installing custom ROM's without ClockworkMod
- Thread starter thehybridkiwi
- Start date
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- Tags
- galaxy nexus
TheOozyman
Member
Im not sure, but installing CWM on a Gnex is pretty simple and painless, plus theres plenty of toolkits out there that do all the work for you 
Yes and no.
I say that because you need (or should really, really want) your phone to be in some quiescent state for most recovery-related operations.
So, booting into a custom recovery when you don't have filesystems that are mounted and being modified while you are trying to do stuff is a highly desirable state. Custom recoveries are really very small versions of Android with a highly-limited command and functionality palette.
So, you still need something other than Android to boot into, and that is typically a custom recovery.
You can interact with a custom recovery that does not involve using the menu, but that requires the use of the adb utility (and still means that are really using the custom recovery that's installed).
Here's an interesting thread I was involved in from a while back that involved flashing a ROM without using the trackball on the HTC Droid Eris (the typical navigation means for that device at the time):
http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/163423-flashing-rom-trackball-not-working.html
(all credit to erisuser1 for his unveiling this to all of us).
Subsequent to this thread, I actually created a version of Amon_RA's custom recovery for the Eris that did not require the use of the trackball (I altered it to use the front hardware buttons on the phone for navigating the menus).
Anyway, at the end of the day, even the custom recovery is implementing commands under the hood that actually does the flashing, wiping, etc. You're just using the UI that the custom recovery provides because its much easier than manually invoking the commands from an adb command.
For full details about what these commands are, see the source code for ClockworkMod custom recovery:
https://github.com/CyanogenMod/android_bootable_recovery
Cheers!
thehybridkiwi
Newbie
I'm only asking because I'm interested in transparent methods (knowing what's going on) rather than relying on black box packages.
From what I understand, custom recoveries like ClockworkMod are simply feature-enhanced versions of the basic recovery.
All the tutorials I've found for installing custom ROM's seem to require ClockworkMod (dump the zip into the root directory and run the tool). Is there a way to install, say AOKP, manually instead?
On a side note, I just found out right now that booting into stock recovery doesn't work when rooted. Apparently, you need ClockworkMod as your recovery. :\
From what I understand, custom recoveries like ClockworkMod are simply feature-enhanced versions of the basic recovery.
All the tutorials I've found for installing custom ROM's seem to require ClockworkMod (dump the zip into the root directory and run the tool). Is there a way to install, say AOKP, manually instead?
On a side note, I just found out right now that booting into stock recovery doesn't work when rooted. Apparently, you need ClockworkMod as your recovery. :\
Yeah, just have a look at the CWM recovery source to decipher what's actually going on under the hood.
Remember, you've still got to have a quiescent system when you would want to install a custom ROM--that's the job of a custom recovery. A big side-benefit of the custom recovery is the UI that simplifies the tasks and reduces errors from you not having to know or remember the exact command syntax that actually goes on behind the scenes.
You can boot into stock recovery when rooted--its just that you'll end-up with the Android lying on his back with the triangle on his chest (I believe that's the image that's displayed). There's not much that a stock recovery will provide you--hence the custom recovery.
Cheers!