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Root [ROM RELEASE] 2.2-based Byron 4.0.1

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darkxsun

Guest
Byron 4 is the first publicly-released major version of Byron (currently 4.0.10).

Don't let the high version number fool you, this is beta stuff.

This is built upon the 2.2.1 release from LG (i.e., ZVD) and thus requires that you've gotten the froyo radio flashed by following the steps here: http://androidforums.com/ally-all-things-root/263285-guide-froyo-2-2-1-root-users.html

I've been making Byron for my own use for a while, and I believe it is stable and ready for release.

While other ROMs abandon LG's intentions with the Ally of a social smartphone, Byron stays true to the notion of Android as a social platform. However, it corrects ways LG was misguided.

Rather than hacked together, buggy social apps, Byron includes the official apps from the Android Market for Twitter and Facebook. The LG launcher is also excluded, as are many other add-ons (e.g., excessive widgets, car home, cityid, amazon apps).

In addition to including social apps by default, Byron also contains other Google Experience apps such as Barcode Reader, Google Reader, Google Books, and Google Translate. Dolphin Browser Mini is included in addition to the Android Browser.

One of the main focuses of Byron ROMs is responsiveness. This is not achieved through overclocking or kernel hacks but instead by maximizing free memory. This is done in other ROMs via apps2sd and other tricks, but in Byron this is done through a Google-approved mechanism known as odexing. While most ROMs brag about being "deodexed" (for different reasons), Byron is fully odexed (including apps that are *not* odexed in stock LG ROMs). This means your system apps need not store anything in the dalvik-cache, which frees up space on the /data partition.

The downside to an odexed ROM (and the reason other ROMs are deodexed) is that it is impossible to theme the interface in many of the ways the root community generally uses (such as flashing update.zip files that replace system frameworks).

included:
o dolphin browser mini
o facebook
o twitter
o google books
o google maps with street view
o google reader
o google translate
o barcode reader

not included:
o lg social stuff
o amazon apps
o backup assistant
o car home
o city id
o default widgets
o live wallpapers (ability to install and select them remains)
o theme selector
o lg home
o skype
o visual voicemail
o my verizon
o voice dial / search

instructions:
o make a backup
o flash this zip
(no need to wipe anything, the update script should do it for you... though it won't hurt to do it manually as well)

dev stuff:
o the default shell in Byron is the BusyBox shell. The original Android shell remains as sh0.
o install-busybox is a script to "install" busybox (create all the necessary links to busybox tools)
o sysmount and sysunmount mount your /system partition writable and read-only, respectively. Remember to sysmount before you install-busybox.

Report back with anything useful to me so I can improve this ROM: apps you'd like to see added, apps you never use and wish weren't there (or, if you went so far, ones you removed), and anything not working as you'd expect.

Thanks for trying Byron.

DOWNLOAD (4.0.1):
at mAndroid
OR
at MediaFire

UPDATES:
Byron 4.0.2: Updates to Gmail, YouTube, and Google Search
Byron 4.0.3: Update to Facebook
Byron 4.0.4: Update to Google Maps (5.1, includes checking in to locations in Latitude)
Byron 4.0.6: Updates to Google Books and Twitter (2.0)
Byron 4.0.8: Updates to Dolphin and Google Reader
Byron 4.0.10: Updates to Dolphin, Gmail, Market, and Twitter
If you updated any of these apps via Market, you can still use this update and reclaim the space the updates took (this will convert them back to system apps).
Do not wipe anything, just flash over Byron.
Download

donate (posted by request---i am not asking for donations)
Thanks to jmartino5920, Qwerty1, and JeremySS for donations.
 
I keep getting a size mismatch when downloading your file. The download reports that it will be 97.6 meg, however my download stops at 43.8 and will not install. Maybe a corrupted file on the server?
 
How would one go about going back to 2.2.1 with root after flashing this ROM without just restoring a nandroid? I havn't flashed this yet, I was just curious.
 
ccsoccer03 said:
I keep getting a size mismatch when downloading your file. The download reports that it will be 97.6 meg, however my download stops at 43.8 and will not install. Maybe a corrupted file on the server?
Click to expand...

Downloaded just now and it worked fine. Empty your browser's cache and try again.

jrock204657 said:
How would one go about going back to 2.2.1 with root after flashing this ROM without just restoring a nandroid?
Click to expand...

I don't know why you would. You should have a nandroid. If you don't, you'll have to flash something else, or go the LGMU route again. There is no published flashable zip yet that contains the ZVD system, though it wouldn't be a terrible thing to think about making... I'll look into it.
 
Ok, I flashed it.. and obviously no "speed differences" though there is far more memory as the bloat ware is gone. It runs very smoothly with Launcher Pro Premium, and ADW-ex both very smooth. All we need now from the devs is the OC Kernel and some theme etc. and we'll be set.

Over all thanks for making the bloat ware free rom for everyone else, so they don't have to do it themselves.
 
Indifferent22 said:
obviously no "speed differences" though there is far more memory as the bloat ware is gone.
Click to expand...

Most of the memory increase is actually due to the ROM being fully odexed, not just removing apps.

Glad it's working for you.
 
I can say this would be a rom I may try tomorrow when I get my replacement Ally. I liked 2.2.1 but I went a bit delete happy with the system apps :-X Mostly what I want is included in your ROM. I can hardly wait for an OC kernel... then we'll really see what our phones can do on Froyo.
 
Viper05 said:
I can say this would be a rom I may try tomorrow when I get my replacement Ally. I liked 2.2.1 but I went a bit delete happy with the system apps :-X
Click to expand...

Deleting too many system apps is not a reason to get a replacement, but that's a discussion for another place I suppose.

I hope Byron suits your needs.
 
darkxsun said:
Deleting too many system apps is not a reason to get a replacement, but that's a discussion for another place I suppose.

I hope Byron suits your needs.
Click to expand...

Long story made short: I ended up bricking the phone trying to flash back to Velocity, I used LGNPST to bring it back from being bricked but my MEID ended up being wiped from the phone. So that is why it was replaced, th process of getting that number back on and working properly was too complicated for me. :p

EDIT:

Cool to see you made a bare version :)
 
Just out of curiousity, why is the system folder now called byron? And if I wanted to push an app to the system folder in the future, do I still push it to /system/app or /byron/app?
 
flyinjoe13 said:
Just out of curiousity, why is the system folder now called byron? And if I wanted to push an app to the system folder in the future, do I still push it to /system/app or /byron/app?
Click to expand...

The /system directory is still called /system. The internals of this package call it byron based on the structure of my build directories but it applies the same regardless.
 
Gotcha. I'm loving the bare bones version because you got rid of all of the junk I hate. Plus, you know after the time we spent together how much I love odexd ROMs for the space they save. Thanks for taking the time to make this.
 
I've added an update package that will update Gmail, YouTube, and Google Search. These update the system apps and remove the old version.

If you haven't installed these updates in Market, flash this package and you will gain the updates.

If you have installed these updates in Market, you can still flash. This will override your version in /data, and the Android system will remove the user-installed versions. The advantage to this is reclaiming the space in /data (since user updates to system apps are stored in /data, and user apps are always deodexed).

Do not wipe /data when installing this (unless, of course, you want to lose your data). These were designed to work without disturbing your current system.
 
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