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Root Questions about my Sprint EVO 4G - Rooting

H

hunter62

Lurker
Hello,

I am brand new to the forum but I have been reading the posts the last several days. I have a 3 year old EVO that I have been using since it came out. It has been a good phone, but I really need more out of it at this point. I have NEVER rooted a phone, and honestly I had to google most of the terminology used (flashing, ROM, kernel, etc).

Here are my main problems currently, and I think rooting might be the best way to fix them (but maybe not).

1.) Internet Speed - It used to be half way decent, but the last year it has just been crazy slow. For the last couple of months, I have been getting around 20-50 kbps download, <10 kbps upload, and 800+ ping. Yes, thats Kbps. I use the speed net app. Sprint did a full wipe about 6 months ago, didnt fix the problem. They told me to buy a new phone. My wife has the iPhone 5 on Sprint and she is getting over 1MBPS download consistently side by side. I am guessing some bloatware app that sprint installed is causing an issue? Just to go to google.com it takes me 5+ minutes. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

2.) Space on the phone. Ever since I purchased it, I have been out of space. I would love to be able to put most apps on the SD card. I know I can move some, but many of the larger ones would not move. I am at the bare minimum just so the gmail app will sync.

I do not really need any cool new look or feel, I just want more space and better internet speed :) So I am not sure the best way to go about that.

I am running Android 2.3.5, not sure what else you might need to point me in the right direction. Also, do they still have the HTC Sync tool available? I have the old version on my work computer where I sync up my outlook calendar, but I tried to download it at home last week and could not find it. The new version did not work with this phone.

Thanks!
 
hunter62 said:
Hello,

I am brand new to the forum but I have been reading the posts the last several days. I have a 3 year old EVO that I have been using since it came out. It has been a good phone, but I really need more out of it at this point. I have NEVER rooted a phone, and honestly I had to google most of the terminology used (flashing, ROM, kernel, etc).

Here are my main problems currently, and I think rooting might be the best way to fix them (but maybe not).

1.) Internet Speed - It used to be half way decent, but the last year it has just been crazy slow. For the last couple of months, I have been getting around 20-50 kbps download, <10 kbps upload, and 800+ ping. Yes, thats Kbps. I use the speed net app. Sprint did a full wipe about 6 months ago, didnt fix the problem. They told me to buy a new phone. My wife has the iPhone 5 on Sprint and she is getting over 1MBPS download consistently side by side. I am guessing some bloatware app that sprint installed is causing an issue? Just to go to google.com it takes me 5+ minutes. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

2.) Space on the phone. Ever since I purchased it, I have been out of space. I would love to be able to put most apps on the SD card. I know I can move some, but many of the larger ones would not move. I am at the bare minimum just so the gmail app will sync.

I do not really need any cool new look or feel, I just want more space and better internet speed :) So I am not sure the best way to go about that.

I am running Android 2.3.5, not sure what else you might need to point me in the right direction. Also, do they still have the HTC Sync tool available? I have the old version on my work computer where I sync up my outlook calendar, but I tried to download it at home last week and could not find it. The new version did not work with this phone.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

1. no sure about internet speeds. that will be determined by where you are at and how strong is your signal....no rom or kernel will help with that.

2. if you root the phone, you can partition the sd card and move your apps there if you like. i recommend that you get a higher class card for better performance. a class 6 or class 10 is what i would recommend.

all of this is answered in the http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all...-rooting-gingerbread-2-3-5-dummies-guide.html

keep the questions coming if you have them.
 
Thanks for the help. What ROM would you recommend that is nice and stable? Also, does anyone mess with the PRL to get better Internet speeds? I would say it is the phone only because sitting next to my wife with the same service, she is getting 1-1.5 Mbs while I a getting 20 Kbps.

For the recovery, is Amon Ra the preferred choice? I see a couple of options, figured everyone did this years ago and know what is best :)

Also, is 8Gb the max for the SD card? Or can I get a larger one?

Thanks!
 
hunter62 said:
Thanks for the help. What ROM would you recommend that is nice and stable? Also, does anyone mess with the PRL to get better Internet speeds? I would say it is the phone only because sitting next to my wife with the same service, she is getting 1-1.5 Mbs while I a getting 20 Kbps.

For the recovery, is Amon Ra the preferred choice? I see a couple of options, figured everyone did this years ago and know what is best :)

Also, is 8Gb the max for the SD card? Or can I get a larger one?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

well mikg 3.11 is the king of sense IMO. if you like aosp then deck's reloaded is the best. for ics there is strike....not sure on jb roms though.

you can find them here:http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/618281-list-utilities-apps-roms-kernels-og-evo.html ....checkout the staff picks for suggestions.

and yes there is a prl hack onto verizon's towers but you have to be careful as you can easily get the boot by doing it.

and as far as recovery goes.....for me i love amon ra, but smelkus is also good as well.

edit: here is some reading for you about the prl hacks:
[6/16]*techknowfile's* - Hack the HTC EVO - 3G w/o Sprint EVDO coverage!

FULL 3G PRLs - Oh YEA!

and read this about getting the boot from sprint via the prl hack:
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/337563-here-goes-nothing-trying-get-vzw.html

edit#2: also here is a thread about downgrading your prl if you ever want to go back:
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/343722-prl-downgrade-instructions.html
 
Thanks for all the help!

I am rooted and have mikg running. It actually looks like when I got done with the ROM, I no longer have all those Sprint apps (games, nascar, nfl, etc.).

I flashed superwipe, partitioned my new class 10 SD card, and loaded amon ra, and the ROM.

So whats next? What else do I need to do to get this thing into shape? any tweaks I need to do in mikg?

If I want to move apps to the SD card, do I just do it the normal way of clicking the move to sd button? I noticed it doesn't let me move some apps to the sd card (facebook and you tube for instance). Are there some things better left on the phone?

If I want to delete some apps (like stock) should I just uninstall from the app page? Or do I need to do it from recovery? If from recovery, is there a step by step process so I dont delete the wrong thing?

Thanks again! Loving the "new" phone.
 
hunter62 said:
Thanks for all the help!

I am rooted and have mikg running. It actually looks like when I got done with the ROM, I no longer have all those Sprint apps (games, nascar, nfl, etc.).

I flashed superwipe, partitioned my new class 10 SD card, and loaded amon ra, and the ROM.

So whats next? What else do I need to do to get this thing into shape? any tweaks I need to do in mikg?

If I want to move apps to the SD card, do I just do it the normal way of clicking the move to sd button? I noticed it doesn't let me move some apps to the sd card (facebook and you tube for instance). Are there some things better left on the phone?

If I want to delete some apps (like stock) should I just uninstall from the app page? Or do I need to do it from recovery? If from recovery, is there a step by step process so I dont delete the wrong thing?

Thanks again! Loving the "new" phone.
Click to expand...

well the next step would be getting a kernel installed. a custom kernel could potentially help with performance and battery life.

here read this:http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/389360-kernels-dummies.html

and first thing i would do before deleting anything is to make a nandroid backup just in case you delete something you are not supposed to. and you can do it by either just uninstalling or by using a file manager. the best for one for that would be root explorer(it is not free, but well worth the money IMO) or es file manager (it is free, but i like root explorer better).

and lastly there are some speed and memory tweaks that you can do, but for me the difference for very small at least for me it was.
here are some:
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[V6BD63457]Hey,Hey,Baby,SuperCharge Your Way,Watch Your Launcher Rip, Lags Keep Away!

[SCRIPT] The Best RAM Optimization
 
Thanks! I think the kernel might be the next thing I have a go at, my battery life has drastically dropped since I rooted. I was running Juice Defender but it seemed to cause more issues then it was worth, but it did give me about 2 days of battery life. I have hardly been on my phone today and it is down to 30%.

I do have one question. I was playing around and learning the new device and I came across a screen lock sound in the mikg tweks section under extras. You can pick default HTC, iPhone, Nexus, or remove sound. Well, I picked iPhone and then when I locked my screen it just plays my ringtone VERY loudly. I switched to Nexus, back to HTC, and all just play the ringtone. Now I can't seem to get it back to the shutter sound. I uploaded a new file over the LOCK ogg and while it plays correctly from the ogg file in the media folder, it does not translate to the device when I actually lock it. Still plays the loud ringer noise several times. Is there something else I can try? Not the end of the world since I can turn off screen lock noise, just would be nice to figure it out :)
 
hunter62 said:
Thanks! I think the kernel might be the next thing I have a go at, my battery life has drastically dropped since I rooted. I was running Juice Defender but it seemed to cause more issues then it was worth, but it did give me about 2 days of battery life. I have hardly been on my phone today and it is down to 30%.

I do have one question. I was playing around and learning the new device and I came across a screen lock sound in the mikg tweks section under extras. You can pick default HTC, iPhone, Nexus, or remove sound. Well, I picked iPhone and then when I locked my screen it just plays my ringtone VERY loudly. I switched to Nexus, back to HTC, and all just play the ringtone. Now I can't seem to get it back to the shutter sound. I uploaded a new file over the LOCK ogg and while it plays correctly from the ogg file in the media folder, it does not translate to the device when I actually lock it. Still plays the loud ringer noise several times. Is there something else I can try? Not the end of the world since I can turn off screen lock noise, just would be nice to figure it out :)
Click to expand...

sorry never really messed around with the sound. if you can't get it back....you can wipe dalvik cache and cache and re-flash the rom. this will not wipe data so you do not have to redo anything. it will restore the rom back to its original state.
 
Any good ideas on extending the battery life? I was using juice defender and was able to get about 1.5 days, but I think it might have been causing some issues. I saw the 3 page thread. But it was lots of try this, then someone saying that didn't work. Figured something has been proven to work my now. With hardly any use, I am getting about 10 hours at the moment.

Either a good app, or something I need to change in settings?
 
ok well kernels is what really gives you the best performance and battery life than anything else. read my earlier post with the kernels guide.

you might also want to look into aosp roms as well. they are smaller and for me runs smoother then sense. sense is pretty big and can take up some resources(except for maybe mikg).

my combo of deck's reloaded and the mason kernel... i was able to get at least 30 hrs of battery life easily.

and i hate juice defender and other tasker type apps. never used it...never needed it.
 
Agree w/OCN, uninstall Juice Defender. I was a heavy user of JD before I rooted my EVO. After rooting and flashing ROMs and custom kernels, I didn't need JD.
 
Is there a kernel you can recommend for the sense? I am really liking the mike at the moment :). I a, getting better battery now that I turned off auto sync with my mail, forgot it would default to being back on. I get 200+ emails a day and it would just try and sync for an hour since my Internet speeds are so slow.

Also, since I rooted my Internet just says 1X where it used to always say 3G. Now my Internet speed is the same slow speed it was before I rooted, but it makes me wonder if something is wrong. Would there be something that is wrong with the phone that I never actually get 3G? Would help explain why I get bad Internet speeds. And I am in a great coverage area, wife has speeds 10x mine while she is on 3G with sprint sitting right next to me.

Any ideas?
 
hunter62 said:
Is there a kernel you can recommend for the sense? I am really liking the mike at the moment :). I a, getting better battery now that I turned off auto sync with my mail, forgot it would default to being back on. I get 200+ emails a day and it would just try and sync for an hour since my Internet speeds are so slow.

Also, since I rooted my Internet just says 1X where it used to always say 3G. Now my Internet speed is the same slow speed it was before I rooted, but it makes me wonder if something is wrong. Would there be something that is wrong with the phone that I never actually get 3G? Would help explain why I get bad Internet speeds. And I am in a great coverage area, wife has speeds 10x mine while she is on 3G with sprint sitting right next to me.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Kernels will react differently with different devices.
In other words, if 2 folks have the same device/same rom/same kernel, it's possible they could have 2 different results with that kernel.

So, I would suggest you try a couple different kernels. With each kernel, just be sure to give it about 3 or 4 days running before you pass judgement about it:) It needs time to "settle in".

As far as your signal indicator displaying "1x". With custom roms, they display the true signal strength vs. the stock/unrooted/carrier laden "roms" that display 3g, when it is actually not.

In my opinion, it's more of a mind-set. Folks see the icon "3g" and think, "Nice!", when it's not totally true.
What you see is normal after root/custom rom flash. :)
 
Figured I would keep posting in is thread :)

I am having some Bluetooth issues since I put MiKg and wasn't sure if anyone had any suggestions. I have a sena Bluetooth for my motorcycle, it had been working with my Evo for a couple of years without an issue. Since I flashed the new rom, I have had some problems with it just connecting to media, not phone. I checked the options to make sure both phone and media are checked. Once it stops working for the phone, I have to forget and reconnect. It then works for 3-4 uses. Sometimes the phone audio is not as clear as it used to be.

Was not sure if is was a simple fix, or if. Should reflash the rom and see if that works. Thanks!
 
if wiping both dalvik cache and cache does not work then you can try and wipe dalvik cache and cache again and then re-flash the rom and see if that helps.
 
hunter62 said:
Thanks!

What exactly does wiping both caches clean out? Just trying to learn. :) thanks!
Click to expand...

cache is used mainly as temp files. dalvik cache is slightly different. it is a virtual machine that builds and optimizes anything that has an .apk....basically your apps. when you wipe dalvik cache....it will always take longer to boot up as it will need to build itself back up before the phone can run. i believe that it will turn the .apks into dalvik dex files and it dumps those into the cache partition upon first boot after wiping.

sometimes it can get corrupted and wiping dalvik cache and cache will help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalvik_(software)
 
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