Root My MTDEV CM9 experience/questions

[GKNByNW]

After a year with my trusty Optimus V (my first Android phone) I gave in and purchased the MT about 2 1/2 weeks ago. For those that like the $199.99 price on virginmobileusa.com but don't want to wait for one to be shipped out, do like I did and go to Best Buy. Most places won't price match unless it's in a printed ad, but the clerk actually looked up the price on Virgin's website and gave me the $80 discount on the spot I went back the next day and grabbed a 32GB Class 10 Sandisk MicroSD for $30 on sale (most likely not at that price anymore).

Anyway, after running Quattrimus CM9 ICS on my OV, I pretty much had to have ICS on the MT as well. I did my research on rooting/custom recovery/custom ROM for the MT, so naturally I had my phone customized within an hour of getting it home from the store LOL Based on the reviews at the time, MTDEV seemed like THE way to go - AND IT IS!!!

As we all know there is no working camera yet, but I see it is being worked on and I'm a fairly patient person The GPS on this is horrible, but I've been reading reviews on the Triumph for the last year that have all said the same thing, so I am not laying the blame on the ROM itself. My phone locks on to the GPS satellites quickly enough, but it is inaccurate to the point of being unusable for Navigation. I've never been able to get Maps to lock down closer than "Accurate to 30 meters" and most of the time it shows that I am several blocks away ("Accurate to 2000 meters") from where I actually am! And if I move the phone more than a few inches, I can watch the pointer on the map go all over the place.

The GPS complaint aside (again, I'm not blaming this ROM but the MT itself) I have to say that this ROM (running 20120913) is incredibly stable. I have not had a single issue with force closes or my phone locking up, and not once had I had to pull the battery. Just to satisfy my curiosity I will be playing around with MTDEV CM7 later this evening, but as my daily driver ROM I will be sticking with CM9 20120913, at least until the camera gets up and running.

When flashing on the OV, the typical method is:

1. Wipe cache
2. Wipe dalvik
3. Format Boot, System, Data, Cache
4. Flash new ZIP

The recommended method for the MT includes the "Wipe data/factory reset" step, which looks like it combines a few steps into one. Here is how I've been doing the wipes during my experimentation:

(CWM Recovery v5.0.2.6, by the way)
1. Wipe data/factory reset
2. Wipe cache partition
3. Wipe Dalvik Cache
4. Format System, Data, and Cache (no format boot option in this Recovery)
5. Flash whichever ZIP

Perhaps doing things like this is a bit overkill, but so far it seems to be working for me considering that I haven't had any issues thus far. Hopefully somebody who is having issues can try this method and report back...?

Can anyone tell me how this ROM handles installing apps to the ext partition? With my Optimus, CWM would create an ext3 partition that ICS would recognize and automatically use for apps. I don't have very many apps, but this feature was great because of the OV's rather limited internal memory. With my MT, I used the Recovery to create a 4GB and a 256MB (if I remember correctly) swap space. As far as I can tell, either I have done something wrong (most likely LOL) or this ROM does not make use of the ext3 partition. If I browse to the CWM backup folder in my file manager program, it shows that the sd-ext.ext3.tar of all my backups has a size of 2.00K. What did I do wrong here?

Aside from the wiping procedure and the ext question, I have to say this ROM is great! A big thanks to all the developers and testers who invest their time and effort into bringing quality ROMs to those of us who don't have a clue how to do these things

 

[nyioo7]

Triumph has 1.1 GB of internal memory. It rarely runs out. If it does for some reason, I doubt it would, you can use app2sd. I believe it is built in to CM9. I forgot. I am back to CM7 at the moment.

 

[dsmryder]

After a year with my trusty Optimus V (my first Android phone) I gave in and purchased the MT about 2 1/2 weeks ago. For those that like the $199.99 price on virginmobileusa.com but don't want to wait for one to be shipped out, do like I did and go to Best Buy. Most places won't price match unless it's in a printed ad, but the clerk actually looked up the price on Virgin's website and gave me the $80 discount on the spot I went back the next day and grabbed a 32GB Class 10 Sandisk MicroSD for $30 on sale (most likely not at that price anymore).

Anyway, after running Quattrimus CM9 ICS on my OV, I pretty much had to have ICS on the MT as well. I did my research on rooting/custom recovery/custom ROM for the MT, so naturally I had my phone customized within an hour of getting it home from the store LOL Based on the reviews at the time, MTDEV seemed like THE way to go - AND IT IS!!!

As we all know there is no working camera yet, but I see it is being worked on and I'm a fairly patient person The GPS on this is horrible, but I've been reading reviews on the Triumph for the last year that have all said the same thing, so I am not laying the blame on the ROM itself. My phone locks on to the GPS satellites quickly enough, but it is inaccurate to the point of being unusable for Navigation. I've never been able to get Maps to lock down closer than "Accurate to 30 meters" and most of the time it shows that I am several blocks away ("Accurate to 2000 meters") from where I actually am! And if I move the phone more than a few inches, I can watch the pointer on the map go all over the place.

The GPS complaint aside (again, I'm not blaming this ROM but the MT itself) I have to say that this ROM (running 20120913) is incredibly stable. I have not had a single issue with force closes or my phone locking up, and not once had I had to pull the battery. Just to satisfy my curiosity I will be playing around with MTDEV CM7 later this evening, but as my daily driver ROM I will be sticking with CM9 20120913, at least until the camera gets up and running.

When flashing on the OV, the typical method is:

1. Wipe cache
2. Wipe dalvik
3. Format Boot, System, Data, Cache
4. Flash new ZIP

The recommended method for the MT includes the "Wipe data/factory reset" step, which looks like it combines a few steps into one. Here is how I've been doing the wipes during my experimentation:

(CWM Recovery v5.0.2.6, by the way)
1. Wipe data/factory reset
2. Wipe cache partition
3. Wipe Dalvik Cache
4. Format System, Data, and Cache (no format boot option in this Recovery)
5. Flash whichever ZIP

Perhaps doing things like this is a bit overkill, but so far it seems to be working for me considering that I haven't had any issues thus far. Hopefully somebody who is having issues can try this method and report back...?

Can anyone tell me how this ROM handles installing apps to the ext partition? With my Optimus, CWM would create an ext3 partition that ICS would recognize and automatically use for apps. I don't have very many apps, but this feature was great because of the OV's rather limited internal memory. With my MT, I used the Recovery to create a 4GB and a 256MB (if I remember correctly) swap space. As far as I can tell, either I have done something wrong (most likely LOL) or this ROM does not make use of the ext3 partition. If I browse to the CWM backup folder in my file manager program, it shows that the sd-ext.ext3.tar of all my backups has a size of 2.00K. What did I do wrong here?

Aside from the wiping procedure and the ext question, I have to say this ROM is great! A big thanks to all the developers and testers who invest their time and effort into bringing quality ROMs to those of us who don't have a clue how to do these things

I'm trying to figure out exactly what your are saying. You seem to be talking about the built-in sd-ext partition. We haven't started using that yet. Like nyioo7 said, the phone has about 1.1GB of user space for apps. We have looked at different option for expanding the space up using some unused partitions that are used under the stock ROM. But that is about 50MB if I remember correctly. I think in my limited research that we would have to impement the use of an sd-ext partition for the ROM to use it. You could look into the system setting to see if the option is in there like it's in CM7 to load apps to sd-ext. I might be able to do it this weekend and look around. It will give me something to test.

 

[GKNByNW]

nyioo7 is right, I was talking about the built-in capability of ICS to utilize the ext partition. Quattrimus seemed to have this option enabled by default if it detected an ext3 partition on the SD card. I was of the (mis-)understanding that this was an automatic thing, but apparently it is not.

So dsmryder, what you are saying is that this is NOT implemented in the MTDEV CM9 rom but you believe it IS for CM7? The MT should have plenty of internal memory for my needs, but satisfy my curiosity if you will. On CM7 (not CM9) where would I go to enable this feature so that I can play around with it? Sorry, but it's been so long since I've ran anything but ICS that I can't remember where anything is LOL

Thanks for your patience with my n00b questions and thanks in advance for a reply.

 

[thangfish]

In Cm7 :
Settings-> applications-> manage applications
Pick one and click Move To SD Card.
Alternatively, download app 2 SD from market. Helps of you're moving a bunch of stuff.
Don't move stuff that has widgets that you use.

Also, under Cyanogen mod settings-> Applications - there are a couple of options to set where apps should be installed by default. You should leave that on automatic.

 

[GKNByNW]

In Cm7 :
Settings-> applications-> manage applications
Pick one and click Move To SD Card.
Alternatively, download app 2 SD from market. Helps of you're moving a bunch of stuff.
Don't move stuff that has widgets that you use.

Also, under Cyanogen mod settings-> Applications - there are a couple of options to set where apps should be installed by default. You should leave that on automatic.

Yes, I know how to move one-by-one to the SD card, and I'm also familiar with app2SD, link2SD, etc. The issue was getting that option set so that it does it automatically. I finally stumbled across the Cyanogenmod Settings->Applications on CM7. I kept trying to find it in the menus for Applications and Storage. I'm restoring my latest CM9 backup right now and when that's complete I will go in and see if I can find that option in the Cyanogenmod Settings menu on CM9 as it is on CM7.

 

[GKNByNW]

You seem to be talking about the built-in sd-ext partition. We haven't started using that yet.

Wait, nevermind... I forgot dsmryder already said that isn't implemented on CM9 yet.

Sorry, it's early and I'm only on my first drink LMAO

 

[piper_]

as a professional driver (18 - 22 wheeler) with over 2 million miles accident free, I find the GPS awesome, takes me right to the driveway.

 

[Inc0gnit0]

The GPS on this is horrible, but I've been reading reviews on the Triumph for the last year that have all said the same thing, so I am not laying the blame on the ROM itself. My phone locks on to the GPS satellites quickly enough, but it is inaccurate to the point of being unusable for Navigation. I've never been able to get Maps to lock down closer than "Accurate to 30 meters" and most of the time it shows that I am several blocks away ("Accurate to 2000 meters") from where I actually am! And if I move the phone more than a few inches, I can watch the pointer on the map go all over the place.

I hate to tell you but it is the ROM's fault. The only ROM's on the MT that have decent GPS are the Sharp and U9000 ROM's (Froyo). Not only do they lock in seconds, they are way more accurate than stock, CM7, or CM9 ROM's. Even when CM7 and CM9 finally lock their accuracy doesn't come anywhere near Sharp / U9000. I'm hoping that MTDEV are able to somehow get the GPS to perform as well on CM9 as it does on those ROM's, but the dev's are definitely aware

 

[bob-st]

as a professional driver (18 - 22 wheeler) with over 2 million miles accident free, I find the GPS awesome, takes me right to the driveway.

I agree with the accuracy of the GPS. I am on cm7 and while it takes its time to lock... once the GPS locks it is solid after that. I use the golf "free caddie" app and know for sure that the GPS is correct to within a couple of feet.

 

[bob-st]

I hate to tell you but it is the ROM's fault. The only ROM's on the MT that have decent GPS are the Sharp and U9000 ROM's (Froyo). Not only do they lock in seconds, they are way more accurate than stock, CM7, or CM9 ROM's. Even when CM7 and CM9 finally lock their accuracy doesn't come anywhere near Sharp / U9000. I'm hoping that MTDEV are able to somehow get the GPS to perform as well on CM9 as it does on those ROM's, but the dev's are definitely aware

I haven't used the Sharp or U9000 GPS but I stick to my accuracy statement about CM7 (at least on my phone). I have read other people's comments regarding poor accuracy and also the inability for the GPS to stay locked. I wonder if there is something else going on to cause flaky GPS on some phones and not on others.

 

[Inc0gnit0]

I haven't used the Sharp or U9000 GPS but I stick to my accuracy statement about CM7 (at least on my phone). I have read other people's comments regarding poor accuracy and also the inability for the GPS to stay locked. I wonder if there is something else going on to cause flaky GPS on some phones and not on others.

I had an Optimus V before getting the Triumph and the GPS on the OV was fantastic. When I switched to the Triumph the GPS was ridiculously terrible, when you could get it to lock at all (on stock ROM). I wasn't too worried since I had researched before I bought the phone and it was claimed that TickerGuy and Whyzor (before they quit the MT scene) had improved the GPS in their ROMS. That was partially true, locks were better than with stock but still terrible when compared to just about any other phone. I switched to CM7 & CM9 and used to get so frustrated with how bad the GPS accuracy was (sometimes it is off by 30 to 200 feet). Switched to Sharp and it locks within seconds and is within feet of your location. I exercise (running, hiking, biking) and use an app to track my GPS and there is a huge difference in the quality of the GPS between the Sharp & U9000 ROMs and all the other ROMs. I even tried the recent updates to CM7 when Chairshot improved GPS but it was still nowhere near as good as Sharp / U9000.

If you're using Google Maps to judge the accuracy of the GPS I have a feeling that the app uses an algorithm to lock your position onto the nearest street so it makes the GPS data look better than it is. Try loading up Endomondo, MapMyHike, Runtastic, or Sports Tracker and go for a long walk (or drive) with lots of turns and see how accurate it is.

I would agree with you and say it's a phone thing except that GPS works fine under Sharp & U9000. I think it comes down to how people are using GPS and that changes their perception on how well it works or doesn't work. I have a co-worker that has a phone with crappy GPS and he used Endomondo to track a walk around our work complex and it had him going through buildings and all kinds of other crazy stuff and he was amazed at how good it worked - and it was terrible. But he was just happy that it would get within 300 feet of his location....