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Root ROM - which one should I get?

Your guide helped a great deal except it wouldn't root and kept saying the firmware was too new so I ended up having to wipe the entire phone clean anyway, so no backup of my data except a SD card copy (the other backups required root). Then it was all pretty easy and took me half an hour to put eMiui on there.

A few questions/remarks though:

- bluetooth is *not* completely supported the way it is by other ROMs and I need to aparantly flash the Kernel which worries me a bit even if I use the file linked - I may need some help with that

- I used the cache part of a2sd but I wonder now: will apps now still be stored partially on my internal memory? Or will I be able to install as many apps now as i wish? This was another reason why I wanted the ROM

- say I want to return to the stock HTC Desire rom, is this possible? Before, I was tied to Vodaphone although there was no hint of any Vodaphone specific stuff but the updates had different firmware versions and if I decide to go back (to try Gingerbread when it's released for example), I would like to just get the standard HTC Desire firmware

- Are there other important limits or vital changes I should know about compared to the stock firmware?

- it seems Miui forces you to have an icon of every program on your desktop - I guess you have to use folders to hide the ones you don't want but is there really no way to remove the icons?

Thanks for all the help by the way :)
 
Red_Avatar said:
I thought Gold Cards were no longer needed with Clockworks? Doesn't Clockworks let you restore your data regardless or is Gold Card another layer of safety?
Click to expand...
the latter, a gold card will allow you to flash any RUU regardless of branding if in the event you want to return to a stock rom (you cannot downgrade from original rom though without using a downgrade util due to bootloader)

if you used cache2sd then the rom will now seemlessly move the apps to the ext partition on your sdcard
your phone will just see them installed on internal memory and the memory wont go down as fast. if you use "quick system info" it will give you better detail of whats being used. do not move programs to sdcard in app manager

- it seems Miui forces you to have an icon of every program on your desktop - I guess you have to use folders to hide the ones you don't want but is there really no way to remove the icons?

when i was on miui i put all the apps in one folder called applications and then dragged the folder to the launch bar to mimic an app draw. it loads quick but scrolling is a little laggy but it serves purpose as the rom itself is nice and doing that imo makes it clean
be aware that if you have 2 apps with the same name (angry birds and angry bird seasons) in the same folder then it will cause a force close while scrolling
20101223_194923.jpg
 
Rastaman-FB said:
the latter, a gold card will allow you to flash any RUU regardless of branding if in the event you want to return to a stock rom (you cannot downgrade from original rom though without using a downgrade util due to bootloader)

if you used cache2sd then the rom will now seemlessly move the apps to the ext partition on your sdcard
your phone will just see them installed on internal memory and the memory wont go down as fast. if you use "quick system info" it will give you better detail of whats being used. do not move programs to sdcard in app manager

- it seems Miui forces you to have an icon of every program on your desktop - I guess you have to use folders to hide the ones you don't want but is there really no way to remove the icons?

when i was on miui i put all the apps in one folder called applications and then dragged the folder to the launch bar to mimic an app draw. it loads quick but scrolling is a little laggy but it serves purpose as the rom itself is nice and doing that imo makes it clean
be aware that if you have 2 apps with the same name (angry birds and angry bird seasons) in the same folder then it will cause a force close while scrolling
Click to expand...

Is it too late to make a Gold Card now then? I got a few 2GB cards to spare.

Also, I'm surprised they'd make a system where every icon has to be on the desktop. It also means you can't have icons in several folders too, right? Say I make two folders with overlapping means like "basic apps" and "text editors" - I might place a basic text editor in both. I can't find a way to do this unless I use a third party app.
 
Red_Avatar...

did you use terminal to type the following on boot to enable a2sd? (remove ")

Open the Terminal emulator application
type "su" (then click allow"
type "a2sd cachesd" to move dalvik cache to your SD card
phone should now reboot..

Assuming you did / do this ^^, you have a2sd. This doesn't allow you to install unlimited apps, but now only the apps cache is stored on the phone. So you can now store loads :)

---------------------------

With regards to an app icons, like I said, download launcher pro from the market. Then it is just like sense with apps in the menu. When you click home for the first time it is installed, a box will pop up and tap on launcher pro.

Finally, eMiui doesn't limit anything. Remember it has everything stock does + more.

Don't forget the thanks button ;)
 
Red_Avatar said:
Is it too late to make a Gold Card now then? I got a few 2GB cards to spare.

Also, I'm surprised they'd make a system where every icon has to be on the desktop. It also means you can't have icons in several folders too, right? Say I make two folders with overlapping means like "basic apps" and "text editors" - I might place a basic text editor in both. I can't find a way to do this unless I use a third party app.
Click to expand...
they based the home idea on iphone
tbh i dont see the problem with only having something in one location.
ie i had a tools folder for my tools and that was on the home screen where as all my normal apps were in my app drawer.
this is what makes roms different, different ways to do things etc
also think of this, you couldnt mount a folder to a dock before, but now you can and you can mount about 6 items in the cock before it gets hissy with you.
is there any harm in installing a 3rd party folder system? i happen to like simifolder


you can make a gold card as long as you have a bootable rom
its only too late if your phone can no longer get in to the rom so the sooner you do it the better
 
Rastaman-FB said:
they based the home idea on iphone
Click to expand...
And it's a bad idea which should have stayed there to be honest. The more freedom, the better and iOS lags faaaar behind in terms of freedom compared to Android and HTC Sense so I don't honestly get why they'd take a step back and limit what you can do. I noticed a lot of MIUI themes want to mimic the (frankly) cold and dull look of iOS so I guess many take it to try and make their Android look like an iPhone?

Rastaman-FB said:
tbh i dont see the problem with only having something in one location.
ie i had a tools folder for my tools and that was on the home screen where as all my normal apps were in my app drawer.
Click to expand...
Well there is a problem if an app belongs to several "groups" so you have to remember which group you put it in. It's not a HUGE problem but it's a needless one. It's also a problem if you want to shift a lot of icons around since I can't "add" them to the bar at the top while shifting screens so ideally I'd want to just delete them and add them in the right place (which is faster than shifting an icon across 5 screens - unless there's a way to shift an icon across several screens at once that I don't know of?)

Rastaman-FB said:
also think of this, you couldnt mount a folder to a dock before, but now you can and you can mount about 6 items in the cock before it gets hissy with you.
Click to expand...
Well that's good - I didn't say all the changes were bad - but this is an example of a step in the right direction. Doesn't mean forcing icons to be on your homepage is a step back though, it is.

In the end, I don't consider it a matter of "taste" regarding which is better - one (HTC Sense) lets you do both, the other (iOS) lets you only do it one way so HTC Sense wins. I can only hope there will be an option to change it in a patch.

As is, I'll just lump everything I have one one folder and then use my folder app to make folders & shortcuts to apps. It will work like that.

Rastaman-FB said:
you can make a gold card as long as you have a bootable rom
its only too late if your phone can no longer get in to the rom so the sooner you do it the better
Click to expand...
My brother has an identical phone (he bought it after seeing how great mine was). Am I wrong in assuming I can still make a gold card using his phone if mine "breaks"? Or is it phone specific?
 
williamj1 said:
Red_Avatar...

did you use terminal to type the following on boot to enable a2sd? (remove ")

Open the Terminal emulator application
type "su" (then click allow"
type "a2sd cachesd" to move dalvik cache to your SD card
phone should now reboot..

Assuming you did / do this ^^, you have a2sd. This doesn't allow you to install unlimited apps, but now only the apps cache is stored on the phone. So you can now store loads :)

---------------------------

With regards to an app icons, like I said, download launcher pro from the market. Then it is just like sense with apps in the menu. When you click home for the first time it is installed, a box will pop up and tap on launcher pro.

Finally, eMiui doesn't limit anything. Remember it has everything stock does + more.

Don't forget the thanks button ;)
Click to expand...
I did the a2sd thing - but I think my phone already did that pre-root and it still quickly filled up due to cache with just 25 or so apps installed so I'm a bit disappointed because I believed most ROMS let you store cache as well. 512MB is next to nothing for cache, especially if half that is already used.
 
williamj1 said:
For the third time, if you want apps to be in a menu like sense and stock android... just download launcher pro! It isn't a ROM, it's a launcher. Just install it and you will see.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.fede.launcher
Click to expand...
Not want to sound ungrateful but I know what it is - I used it yesterday. But it replaces the MIUI HUD so you then lose the advantages of MIUI which makes it a bit pointless to use. I could just as well go with another ROM then. I just want to keep the phone nice and clean without having to install a ton of apps just to get it to do what it should do. In that sense, the app I use (FolderOrganizer) is a lot handier in my situation.
 
Red_Avatar said:
I did the a2sd thing - but I think my phone already did that pre-root and it still quickly filled up due to cache with just 25 or so apps installed so I'm a bit disappointed because I believed most ROMS let you store cache as well. 512MB is next to nothing for cache, especially if half that is already used.
Click to expand...

No. It may have done it pre-root, but you have to do it again everytime you load a new custom rom. Also don't single out eMiui, it runs a2sd the same as every other custom rom. You would have just as much storage with a2sd on a custom sense or custom stock. How much do you have left, and have you created an external partition? I have 94 apps installed on the same miui version as you, and I have 62.11mb free internal memory, so that doesn't sound like it's worked!

Did you try launcher pro?
 
Red_Avatar said:
I did the a2sd thing - but I think my phone already did that pre-root and it still quickly filled up due to cache with just 25 or so apps installed so I'm a bit disappointed because I believed most ROMS let you store cache as well. 512MB is next to nothing for cache, especially if half that is already used.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you are talking about here.

Apps2sd+ (a2sd) is only after root and is completely different to anything you did prior to rooting.

App cache is ALWAYS on the /data partition ("internal storage") but apps2sd+ moves dalvik too.

So dalvik cache moves to SD-Ext.

I have used 273MB of my SD-EXT partition, 65MB of internal memory and thats 91 apps.

512 is a lot of space, but you can eventually recreate the EXT partion to 1GB and change the partition layout of your phone.

So my stats actually read:

CAP201102031821.jpg


Of course I managed to get back so much /data because my sense-less rom is small so I dont need much space for /system
 
Okay, follow up:

- Using App Organizer, I can circumvent most of the problems with App icons.

- I had a MASSIVE battery drain (40% over 8 hours when idle - this was when it was next to my bed not being used). I did two things:
(a) I turned off the option for searching for open networks
(b) I fully charged my phone and reset battery data

Now it's been 8 hours and only 15% with mild usage (about an hour of usage).

It wasn't that hard to do in the end, except for the rooting because of some unknown reason. If you want to root, you better do it right after you get your phone it seems or you run the risk of some app preventing you from doing it.
 
Red_Avatar said:
Okay, follow up:

- Using App Organizer, I can circumvent most of the problems with App icons.

- I had a MASSIVE battery drain (40% over 8 hours when idle - this was when it was next to my bed not being used). I did two things:
(a) I turned off the option for searching for open networks
(b) I fully charged my phone and reset battery data

Now it's been 8 hours and only 15% with mild usage (about an hour of usage).

It wasn't that hard to do in the end, except for the rooting because of some unknown reason. If you want to root, you better do it right after you get your phone it seems or you run the risk of some app preventing you from doing it.
Click to expand...

Not at all. It makes no difference when you root. Apps cannot prevent you from rooting.

Is it 15% left, or 15% lost. If its only got 15% remaining after 1 hours actual usage you have a serious memory leak. I manage (same rom, same phone) a full days moderate use (couple calls, texts, internet browsing throughout the day) and then about 2 hours video on top at night before it dies (9am - 12pm)

And are you deliberately ignoring my launcher pro suggestion? If you want apps to be in a menu like in sense and stock, that will do it. Think of it like an app! :P
 
williamj1 said:
Not at all. It makes no difference when you root. Apps cannot prevent you from rooting.
Click to expand...
Actually that appears to not be true. I double checked and my firmware was fine to be flashed - on several forums, people who had the exact same problem, said it was due to a certain app being installed and uninstalling it fixed the problem so obviously it does make a difference - uninstall an app, won't make firmware change number, would it?

williamj1 said:
Is it 15% left, or 15% lost. If its only got 15% remaining after 1 hours actual usage you have a serious memory leak. I manage (same rom, same phone) a full days moderate use (couple calls, texts, internet browsing throughout the day) and then about 2 hours video on top at night before it dies (9am - 12pm)
Click to expand...
15% drain - that's more than acceptable.

williamj1 said:
And are you deliberately ignoring my launcher pro suggestion? If you want apps to be in a menu like in sense and stock, that will do it. Think of it like an app! :P
Click to expand...
I already replied to you that LP kills many of the advantages of having MIUI. Themes no longer work(LP has its own "themes" but nowhere near as potent), it replaces many of the improvements MIUI offers and each time you boot your phone, you need to choose between LP or regular phone, etc. It's not what I need.
 
Red_Avatar said:
Actually that appears to not be true. I double checked and my firmware was fine to be flashed - on several forums, people who had the exact same problem, said it was due to a certain app being installed and uninstalling it fixed the problem so obviously it does make a difference - uninstall an app, won't make firmware change number, would it?
Click to expand...

Correct, it would not. But I cannot think of any apps which would prevent it from rooting? Do you mean s-on / s-off?

Red_Avatar said:
15% drain - that's more than acceptable.
Click to expand...

Yeh, I thought you meant 15% left over (as in an 85% drain).

Red_Avatar said:
I already replied to you that LP kills many of the advantages of having MIUI. Themes no longer work(LP has its own "themes" but nowhere near as potent), it replaces many of the improvements MIUI offers and each time you boot your phone, you need to choose between LP or regular phone, etc. It's not what I need.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't. Miui themes can change framework, sms, wallpapers, icons, lockscreen wallpapers, boot animation, boot sound and fonts. Launcher pro doesn't prevent any of these from being changed. You don't need to select it every time if you change it to use launcher pro as the default launcher. And how often do you reboot your phone? I certainly value an app drawer which I use throughout the day (if that's what you like as I do) more than having to press one button on reboot. What other "improvements Miui offers" does it restrict?
 
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