Root [ROOT] Ultimate DROID3 Root/ROM Thread

[doogald]

Ahh, I see. I thought it was pretty much only needed to make the root process work with the run.bat script that uses those adb.exe commands.

I guess I should be asking what is the negative side of having USB debugging enabled. Does it slow down USB file transfers between computer and phone? One of these days, I'll transfer a large file with both USB debugging enabled and disabled and see if there's a difference in speed.

Turning on USB debugging basically starts a service (or daemon, which is pronounced like the word "demon") on your phone that allows the adb client on your computer to communicate with the phone's adb daemon.

The most critical negative side is that anybody who steals your phone will be able to use adb to access all of the files on your phone, including those internal databases and data stores that are usually hidden. If you are super-paranoid, and have a lock-screen pattern or PIN, with USB debugging disabled, they will not be able to access your internal storage partitions, where your app's data is stored (/data, which is not exposed when you connect a phone to your PC - that exposes /sdcard and /sdcard-ext as drive letters).

Ok, that said - your phone has Safestrap on it, and somebody who did a little studying and knew what they were doing would be able, I think, to mount your internal partitions anyway. (Though I am not 100% sure about that...)

Performance should not be affected.

Let me know, by the way, if you notice worse battery results. I'll tell you why when you report back. (Give it a few days, of course...)

 

[beowulf7]

Please correct me if I'm missing something here. The outline procedure to put in a custom ROM on one's Droid 3 would consist of the following.
1.) Root the phone and verify it has Superuser app.
2.) Install Safestrap on it (currently ver. 3.05).
3.) Configure Safestrap to have at least a custom ROM partition.
4.) Install Titanium Backup (Pro) and backup apps and data.
5.) Copy the custom ROM's .zip file onto the phone (int-SD or ext-SD).
6.) Boot phone and in Safestrap, load new ROM on custom ROM1 partition and make it active.
7.) Tell Safestrap to reboot the phone.
8.) Go through the initial setup and once online with the phone, re-install Titanium Backup (Pro).
9.) Recover apps and data that were previously backed up.

Do the custom ROMs require re-rooting the phone or are they configured to automatically have root access?

Turning on USB debugging basically starts a service (or daemon, which is pronounced like the word "demon") on your phone that allows the adb client on your computer to communicate with the phone's adb daemon.

The most critical negative side is that anybody who steals your phone will be able to use adb to access all of the files on your phone, including those internal databases and data stores that are usually hidden. If you are super-paranoid, and have a lock-screen pattern or PIN, with USB debugging disabled, they will not be able to access your internal storage partitions, where your app's data is stored (/data, which is not exposed when you connect a phone to your PC - that exposes /sdcard and /sdcard-ext as drive letters).

Ok, that said - your phone has Safestrap on it, and somebody who did a little studying and knew what they were doing would be able, I think, to mount your internal partitions anyway. (Though I am not 100% sure about that...)

Performance should not be affected.

Let me know, by the way, if you notice worse battery results. I'll tell you why when you report back. (Give it a few days, of course...)

So it's pretty much security wise that puts my phone more at risk with debugging enabled. But someone can easily enable that setting since it doesn't require a PIN to modify, unlike security settings.

I recently upgraded my battery from the stock BF5X to BF6X (1800 mA-hr.), so I'm still relearning how long my phone lasts with typical usage. But I'll keep that in mind about what you said about the custom ROM.

 

[doogald]

I reordered something things, plus added comments:

Please correct me if I'm missing something here. The outline procedure to put in a custom ROM on one's Droid 3 would consist of the following.
1.) Root the phone and verify it has Superuser app.
4.) Install Titanium Backup (Pro) and backup apps and data.
x. ) Change Titanium's settings to back up to the external SD card - by default, it backs up to internal. You'll want the space for ROM slots.
5.) Copy the custom ROM's .zip file onto the phone (int-SD or ext-SD).
x.) Make sure that you have at least 3 GB free in internal storage
2.) Install Safestrap on it (currently ver. 3.05).

Just to clarify:

- install the safestrap application on a previously rooted phone
- start the Safestrap app on the phone
- press the "Install Recovery" button

When you restart the phone after that, it should start the Safestrap bootstrap for 10 seconds (allowing you to press the menu button to start recovery, press the search button to start the phone normally, or just wait 10 seconds to start the phone normally.)

6.) Boot phone and in Safestrap, load new ROM on custom ROM1 partition and make it active.
3.) Configure Safestrap to have at least a custom ROM partition.

Clarify:

- In Safestrap, tap to the Boot options button
- Tap a ROM slot. This will prompt you to create the slot if it is not already created. It will ask for the size of the /data partition - 2 GB if you can spare the space - and tap the button on the bottom to create the slot. Make sure that the slot is highlighted on blue to make sure that it is active
- Go back to the main menu of Safestrap
- Unless this is the first time that a ROM slot has been used, tap to the Wipe button, then the Factory Reset button (there is a slider control on the bottom to confirm that you want to wipe), then go back to the main menu
- Tap the install button. Navigate to the location of the ROM zip file, and then use the slider control to flash the zip to the ROM slot

7.) Tell Safestrap to reboot the phone.
8.) Go through the initial setup and once online with the phone, re-install Titanium Backup (Pro).
9.) Recover apps and data that were previously backed up.

Yes.

Do the custom ROMs require re-rooting the phone or are they configured to automatically have root access?

The ROM is pre-rooted.

So it's pretty much security wise that puts my phone more at risk with debugging enabled. But someone can easily enable that setting since it doesn't require a PIN to modify, unlike security settings.

If you have a PIN, password, or pattern lock, nobody will be able to start your phone and activate USB debugging - including you. However, from Safestrap, conceivably they could do a Safestrap backup (Safestrap includes a backup facility, a Nandroid that you may have read about, which is much like Ghosting a Windows PC), flash a ROM over a different slot, set that slot up, activate USB debugging, restart Safestrap and restore the /data partition from a Safestrap backup. (Or they could notice that you have Titanium Backups on your phone and use that app to restore your data - unless you use Titanium's encryption [menu->preferences->enable encryption].)

In other words, the person who found your phone will need to be awfully clever. More than likely they will just want to factory reset and resell the phone, rather than go to the trouble to steal any data. Also, they will not be able to get Google account passwords, etc., unless you have them stored in the clear on the SD card, in an app that isn't protected with a password, etc.

With USB debugging on, somebody could grab everything off the phone onto a computer using ADB. Honestly, I think most people will not bother.

 

[beowulf7]

^ Thanks for the reordering and the clarification of what I wrote. I see that Titanium Backup just released ver. 6.0.2, so I'll give that a shot to backup my apps. Then the plan is to get the custom ROM on my phone this weekend. I also downloaded the latest Swype APK, ver. 2., from swype.com. So, in theory, I could use the lightweight version of the ROM that you like that doesn't have Swype and then install this Swype APK. Or I guess I could do both ROMs and see which one I like better.

 

[beowulf7]

Here's a quick update on my ROM experience from over the weekend. After I backed up my data and apps w/ Titanium Backup Pro, I took the plunge and tried my first new ROM. (In SafeStrap, I allocated 2 GB for two ROM slots, as doogald advised.) I first tried the one that has 2.3.6. It took just as long to boot up. Swype had FC issues. I wasn't feeling it. So I rebooted and tried MiniMoto in ROM Slot 2. That booted up in just 30 sec. or so after the SafeStrap window. Fast!! Finally, I replaced ROM Slot 1 with the new Steel Droid that I mentioned in the other ROM thread. That's pretty decent. But I think I'll go with MiniMoto. I installed the newest Swype (beta) app and it works just like stock did. I re-installed Titanium Backup Pro and am now recovering apps and data one at a time, basically the stuff I find important.

Oh yeah, since the MiniMoto version doesn't have Verizon Backup Assistant, I realized I needed to get a physical file of my contact list. I did so from Verizon's website and then imported it to my phone from the external SD card. It worked fine. I also backed up my SMS/MMS from the stock ROM and recovered on my new ROM, and that also works fine. It does take quite a bit of work and I'd prefer not to do ROM switches very often, ideally, never again. doogald, thanks again for he heads up and sharing your experience on rooting, SafeStrapping, Titanium Backup, and the list of ROMs.

 

[doogald]

Thanks for the reporting back. I've been going back and forth between Minimoto and stock, running stock over the last couple of weeks, but I think I may switch back to Minimoto for good. I've had some weird slowdowns, etc., that are fixed only with a restart. These things don't seem to happen with Minimoto.

(The only think about Minimoto is that I don't really like the WiFi and signal strength indicators. They look ugly to me. It's weird to be bothered by something so small, though...)

Oh yeah, since the MiniMoto version doesn't have Verizon Backup Assistant, I realized I needed to get a physical file of my contact list. I did so from Verizon's website and then imported it to my phone from the external SD card. It worked fine.

I'm going to suggest, if you haven't already done so, that you import the contacts to Google contacts instead, and depend on Google for contact sync rather than Verizon going forward. I just prefer knowing that my contacts are easy to get in Android, no matter which device that I use, and just as easy to keep in sync with my iPad (or to an iPhone, if that's the way that I decide to go on my next upgrade. I doubt that I will, but...)

Of course, my main email has been gmail for years now, going back to before I had Android, so perhaps I'm biased.

 

[themib]

I found Verizon's backup assistant, in istore, installed it on my mom's iPhone 5, and restored her contacts

Edit: or app store, whatever its called

 

[beowulf7]

Thanks for the reporting back. I've been going back and forth between Minimoto and stock, running stock over the last couple of weeks, but I think I may switch back to Minimoto for good. I've had some weird slowdowns, etc., that are fixed only with a restart. These things don't seem to happen with Minimoto.

(The only think about Minimoto is that I don't really like the WiFi and signal strength indicators. They look ugly to me. It's weird to be bothered by something so small, though...)

I've been using the Minimoto ROM since Monday and have restored about half my apps and data (my more important ones), individually. It definitely is faster and my available memory is well above 100 MB, whereas on stock ROM, it'd be less than 50 MB and make my phone crawl. However, I've noticed a couple oddities. On Mon. and Tues., my phone crashed hard while in the middle of texting. I couldn't get the screen to turn back on. The only way I could resuscitate it was by taking off the case (PITA), the back cover (PITA), and removing the battery, the putting it back together to reboot the phone. Then it was fine.

Then today, I noticed that in the dock (the bottom row), the 1st 2 icons referring to making a phone call and contacts disappeared! I only have the right 2 icons (referring to the list of apps and text messages). (Also, I changed it from the default 5 to 4 so that the columns line up.) Is that a launcher issue? I rebooted my phone but my 1st 2 icons of the dock row are still missing and I'm concerned on how I could access my contact list and make a phone call with those icons missing.

I'm going to suggest, if you haven't already done so, that you import the contacts to Google contacts instead, and depend on Google for contact sync rather than Verizon going forward. I just prefer knowing that my contacts are easy to get in Android, no matter which device that I use, and just as easy to keep in sync with my iPad (or to an iPhone, if that's the way that I decide to go on my next upgrade. I doubt that I will, but...)

Of course, my main email has been gmail for years now, going back to before I had Android, so perhaps I'm biased.

I don't use gmail. Well, technically, I created an account when I got this Android phone in Summer 2011, but that's all I used it for and I created an account that I only use for Google Play. Therefore, i don't even know how to backup my contacts, etc. to Google since I don't use it, other than as required to use my phone.

 

[themib]

likely contacts are already synced with google, unless you have disabled that
go to Contacts.Google.com and sign in, and see if your contacts are all there
also can backup
using verizon's Backup Assistant
and backup contacts on sd card, open contacts app/menu/import/export select export to storage/ok

some links here Backing up contacts

 

[doogald]

I've been using the Minimoto ROM since Monday and have restored about half my apps and data (my more important ones), individually. It definitely is faster and my available memory is well above 100 MB, whereas on stock ROM, it'd be less than 50 MB and make my phone crawl. However, I've noticed a couple oddities. On Mon. and Tues., my phone crashed hard while in the middle of texting. I couldn't get the screen to turn back on. The only way I could resuscitate it was by taking off the case (PITA), the back cover (PITA), and removing the battery, the putting it back together to reboot the phone. Then it was fine.

Hmmm, so far that has not happened to me. Obviously the messaging app in the latest Minimoto is not stock. If that occurs again, you may want to thing about a third party messaging app, such as Handcent, GO SMS, or Chomp. I'm personally not a big fan of any of those. In fact, I actually kind of like the Moto messaging app myself.

Then today, I noticed that in the dock (the bottom row), the 1st 2 icons referring to making a phone call and contacts disappeared! I only have the right 2 icons (referring to the list of apps and text messages). (Also, I changed it from the default 5 to 4 so that the columns line up.) Is that a launcher issue? I rebooted my phone but my 1st 2 icons of the dock row are still missing and I'm concerned on how I could access my contact list and make a phone call with those icons missing.

I am not a fan of Holo launcher myself. One thing I don't like? I prefer my launcher not to rotate when I rotate the phone *unless* I open the keyboard - and then I want the launcher to switch to landscape, but then only. Holo does not provide that option - it's either automatic rotation, portrait only, or landscape only. Unfortunately, hardware keyboard Android phones are becoming more and more rare, so it's likely that Holo will not change.

GO Launcher EX (which is free in the market) can do that, as well as ADW and ADE EX (which is the one that I use myself, though I recently tried GO Launcher for a few days, and it was just fine.)

Anyway, to answer your question, you can recreate those icons on the dock, if they are truly missing. Before doing what I am about to suggest, try swiping to the right with your finger on the dock. The Holo launcher supports multiple docks, just as there are multiple home screens, and you may have just swiped there accidentally.

If that isn't it, try this: Long-press on an empty area of one of your home screens. From the "Add to home screen" popup, choose "Shortcuts". From there, choose "Dialer". From here, you have a choice - Recent calls list, Favorites or Dialer, which will open that particular option when you tap the icon that's created. (In other words, "Recent calls list" shows a list of your recent calls; "Favorites" shows the Favorites contacts screen; "Dialer" brings you directly to the phone dialpad.) Choose the one that you prefer.

That will create an icon for the dialer on your homescreen. Now, just tap and hold on that icon and drag it to the leftmost position on the dock.

(One other thing: the app drawer has an icon for the dialer, and the contacts app is actually the same application - you can access the dialer from the contacts app as well.)

For the messaging app, long-press home. Choose "Shortcuts" again. This time choose "Apps". It takes a few seconds to do the next step; you will think that nothing is happening, because you just see the home screen, but wait it out. When the pop up shows up, scroll down to and tap on "Messaging". That will put the icon on the home screen, and you can drag that to the dock.

 

[beowulf7]

Hmmm, so far that has not happened to me. Obviously the messaging app in the latest Minimoto is not stock. If that occurs again, you may want to thing about a third party messaging app, such as Handcent, GO SMS, or Chomp. I'm personally not a big fan of any of those. In fact, I actually kind of like the Moto messaging app myself.



I am not a fan of Holo launcher myself. One thing I don't like? I prefer my launcher not to rotate when I rotate the phone *unless* I open the keyboard - and then I want the launcher to switch to landscape, but then only. Holo does not provide that option - it's either automatic rotation, portrait only, or landscape only. Unfortunately, hardware keyboard Android phones are becoming more and more rare, so it's likely that Holo will not change.

GO Launcher EX (which is free in the market) can do that, as well as ADW and ADE EX (which is the one that I use myself, though I recently tried GO Launcher for a few days, and it was just fine.)

Anyway, to answer your question, you can recreate those icons on the dock, if they are truly missing. Before doing what I am about to suggest, try swiping to the right with your finger on the dock. The Holo launcher supports multiple docks, just as there are multiple home screens, and you may have just swiped there accidentally.

If that isn't it, try this: Long-press on an empty area of one of your home screens. From the "Add to home screen" popup, choose "Shortcuts". From there, choose "Dialer". From here, you have a choice - Recent calls list, Favorites or Dialer, which will open that particular option when you tap the icon that's created. (In other words, "Recent calls list" shows a list of your recent calls; "Favorites" shows the Favorites contacts screen; "Dialer" brings you directly to the phone dialpad.) Choose the one that you prefer.

That will create an icon for the dialer on your homescreen. Now, just tap and hold on that icon and drag it to the leftmost position on the dock.

(One other thing: the app drawer has an icon for the dialer, and the contacts app is actually the same application - you can access the dialer from the contacts app as well.)

For the messaging app, long-press home. Choose "Shortcuts" again. This time choose "Apps". It takes a few seconds to do the next step; you will think that nothing is happening, because you just see the home screen, but wait it out. When the pop up shows up, scroll down to and tap on "Messaging". That will put the icon on the home screen, and you can drag that to the dock.

Yes, I noticed that rotating the phone makes the launcher also auto-rotate the screen, which can get a little annoying. The stock didn't do that. But so far, I can live with it.

Thanks again for your help - that did the trick. I didn't know it was as simple as drag and drop to the missing icons of the dock. I'm not sure why the dialer and contacts disappeared. In any case, I brought them back as you said and reordered them the way I wanted it. And now I've locked my screen, not that I think I did anything odd. Also, I changed that dock setting so that I can't swipe to other screens. I only have that 1 dock with 4 icons. I can't imagine if someone maxed it out, I think 7 icons and 3 dock screens!

In a prior conversation, you asked me about battery life. I can't really determine that now b/c I'm still using my phone in ways I didn't before, such as restoring apps, playing with the dock, etc. But eventually, I'll use my phone like I was before. Also, I somewhat recently got a bigger battery (1800 vs. the stock 1500), so that will skew my observations a bit.

I know in the past (stock ROM and stock battery), it'd go from 100% to 90% battery in 35 min. if I was just Web browsing and texting, typically something I'd do in the morning on weekends when I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock. I can keep an eye out the next time I sleep in and see how long it takes until my phone hits 90%. Also, it's a little odd that the battery never reaches 100% with the Minimoto version, it maxes out at 99%. Just an observation.

Do you still change ROMs a bit or are you pretty much set with Minimoto? If a Gingerbread or Jelly Bean version of it ever comes out and it's stable, I may look into it. But I don't think want to go through the time I spent to re-create my phone like how I had it when it was stock (sans the bloatware, of course). Oh, I did have to add 1 piece of bloat that Minimoto took out: My Verizon. It's a handy way to track my data and minutes usage. I found it easily on Google Play.

 

[doogald]

I know in the past (stock ROM and stock battery), it'd go from 100% to 90% battery in 35 min. if I was just Web browsing and texting, typically something I'd do in the morning on weekends when I don't have to wake up to an alarm clock. I can keep an eye out the next time I sleep in and see how long it takes until my phone hits 90%. Also, it's a little odd that the battery never reaches 100% with the Minimoto version, it maxes out at 99%. Just an observation.

It may be the 1% battery modification, so it estimates the battery charge level and rounds charge down to the nearest 1%.

Do you still change ROMs a bit or are you pretty much set with Minimoto? If a Gingerbread or Jelly Bean version of it ever comes out and it's stable, I may look into it. But I don't think want to go through the time I spent to re-create my phone like how I had it when it was stock (sans the bloatware, of course). Oh, I did have to add 1 piece of bloat that Minimoto took out: My Verizon. It's a handy way to track my data and minutes usage. I found it easily on Google Play.

I first rooted an Android phone in May 2010, and have been trying out various custom ROMs since then; though I switch ROMs far less frequently with the Droid 3 than I did with my first phone, I've become quite accustomed to setting up an Android phone from scratch pretty quickly with Titanium Backup (I have schedules that back up at least new or updated apps every night, plus my WiFi settings so that those are always up to date) and know my way around the settings app. I also use an app called Llama to do some profile changes based on time - at 11 pm every night, it automatically turns my phone to silent, turns off autosync (which basically stops GMail delivery while I sleep), and makes a few other changes. Then at 6:30 am it turns sound back on, changes my default ringtone to my standard tone, changes my default notification tone to my standard, and turns autosync back on. The great thing about this is that after restoring Llama from Titanium it takes only one touch to get these settings - ringtones especially - exactly the way that I want them.

Anyway, at this point I am using Minimoto unless I see a spontaneous reboot, as you reported. If something like that happens, I will switch to that 2.3.6 ROM and stay there until there is an updated Minimoto.

One thing to note is that thingonaspring from xda-developers.com, the developer of Minimoto, hints that he is working on a big update to Minimoto that switches to that 2.3.6 ROM as a base, rather than the Verizon 2.3.4 base that he used so far.

Anyway, I have those two ROM slots defined in Safestrap, and it doesn't take long to switch back and forth; just a quick batch restore of updates user apps from Titanium and I am back up to date after switching ROM slots. That said, I go at least a week on a ROM - unless I have problems!

One thing that I noticed about the 2.3.6 ROM is that when you compose a SMS message that grows larger than 160 characters, that ROM's messaging app automatically changes the message to an MMS message. I'm not sure that I like that, though I'm going to have to test by sending a large message to my wife's phone to see what happens. I have a tendency to compose large messages every once in a while....

At this point, I doubt that we will see a feature-complete ICS or JB ROM, with full camera support, and no weird bugs, before I reach my next phone upgrade, which could be as early as July (though I think I will wait to see what devices are announced in the early fall.) Honestly, I'm fine with Gingerbread with this phone.

 

[beowulf7]

It may be the 1% battery modification, so it estimates the battery charge level and rounds charge down to the nearest 1%.

Either that or the developer only left room in the upper right hand area for 2 digits, so maybe the full battery life is spread out over 99% instead of 100%, which for the most part wouldn't be noticeable.

I first rooted an Android phone in May 2010, and have been trying out various custom ROMs since then; though I switch ROMs far less frequently with the Droid 3 than I did with my first phone, I've become quite accustomed to setting up an Android phone from scratch pretty quickly with Titanium Backup (I have schedules that back up at least new or updated apps every night, plus my WiFi settings so that those are always up to date) and know my way around the settings app. I also use an app called Llama to do some profile changes based on time - at 11 pm every night, it automatically turns my phone to silent, turns off autosync (which basically stops GMail delivery while I sleep), and makes a few other changes. Then at 6:30 am it turns sound back on, changes my default ringtone to my standard tone, changes my default notification tone to my standard, and turns autosync back on. The great thing about this is that after restoring Llama from Titanium it takes only one touch to get these settings - ringtones especially - exactly the way that I want them.

Anyway, at this point I am using Minimoto unless I see a spontaneous reboot, as you reported. If something like that happens, I will switch to that 2.3.6 ROM and stay there until there is an updated Minimoto.

One thing to note is that thingonaspring from xda-developers.com, the developer of Minimoto, hints that he is working on a big update to Minimoto that switches to that 2.3.6 ROM as a base, rather than the Verizon 2.3.4 base that he used so far.

Anyway, I have those two ROM slots defined in Safestrap, and it doesn't take long to switch back and forth; just a quick batch restore of updates user apps from Titanium and I am back up to date after switching ROM slots. That said, I go at least a week on a ROM - unless I have problems!

One thing that I noticed about the 2.3.6 ROM is that when you compose a SMS message that grows larger than 160 characters, that ROM's messaging app automatically changes the message to an MMS message. I'm not sure that I like that, though I'm going to have to test by sending a large message to my wife's phone to see what happens. I have a tendency to compose large messages every once in a while....

At this point, I doubt that we will see a feature-complete ICS or JB ROM, with full camera support, and no weird bugs, before I reach my next phone upgrade, which could be as early as July (though I think I will wait to see what devices are announced in the early fall.) Honestly, I'm fine with Gingerbread with this phone.

Wow, you've been rooting for a long time. You remind me of a friend who has T-Mobile and has been rooting phones since he had the original Android G1.

You mentioned sounds. I was able to change my ringtone to what I had before. But for notification messages, it only has the 1 default bells ringtone. How can I change that to something else? I'm guessing to use a 3rd party app. like Llama that you mentioned?

Is there any reason to upgrade from 2.3.4 to 2.3.6? I wonder why the developer is doing that. Does it bring stability fixes? I know there wouldn't be any feature enhancement unless he went to ICS or JB. About texts, when I had the stock ROM, I noticed that if I went past 160 characters, it changed from SMS to MMS. To other VZW recipients, it'd show up as 1 text. But to non-VZW recipients, it'd cut off the message in 160 character chunks. I didn't know that was a 2.3.4 vs. 2.3.6 behavior.

 

[doogald]

You mentioned sounds. I was able to change my ringtone to what I had before. But for notification messages, it only has the 1 default bells ringtone. How can I change that to something else? I'm guessing to use a 3rd party app. like Llama that you mentioned?

I have some sound files. If you copy any ringtones into a folder called /ringtones on either the internal storage or SD card, and notification ringtones into a folder called /notifications, they will be available to the ringtone picker. (They can be in any folder called /ringtones and /notifications - so those two folders could be subfolders of a folder called /sounds or /media or anything.)

I know that you downloaded that 2.3.6 ROM. If you extract the zip file, you will see a folder called \system\media\audio where there are ringtone and notifications folders with sound files of format .ogg. Copy the ones that you want to those folders on your SD card and you will see the sounds in Minimoto as well.

(I wouldn't copy all of them, or you will se double when you run the 2.3.6 ROM, if you do ever decide to switch back.)

Is there any reason to upgrade from 2.3.4 to 2.3.6? I wonder why the developer is doing that. Does it bring stability fixes?

I'm not sure of the differences. Wikipedia has a list of the changes; you can see them here: Android version history - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's a little muddy, though, as OEMs like Motorola customized Android beyond stock, so the differences may not match that list. The battery life thing would be good though!

About texts, when I had the stock ROM, I noticed that if I went past 160 characters, it changed from SMS to MMS. To other VZW recipients, it'd show up as 1 text. But to non-VZW recipients, it'd cut off the message in 160 character chunks. I didn't know that was a 2.3.4 vs. 2.3.6 behavior.

I don't think it's that. The Droid 3 was made for Verizon, and all Verizon Android phones have that same behavior. The 2.3.6 version was an international version of the Milestone 3 (though also sold to some small carriers in the US, apparently), and the messaging app was probably coded just a bit differently. Thanks for telling me how those texts showed up, though.

 

[beowulf7]

I have some sound files. If you copy any ringtones into a folder called /ringtones on either the internal storage or SD card, and notification ringtones into a folder called /notifications, they will be available to the ringtone picker. (They can be in any folder called /ringtones and /notifications - so those two folders could be subfolders of a folder called /sounds or /media or anything.)

I know that you downloaded that 2.3.6 ROM. If you extract the zip file, you will see a folder called \system\media\audio where there are ringtone and notifications folders with sound files of format .ogg. Copy the ones that you want to those folders on your SD card and you will see the sounds in Minimoto as well.

(I wouldn't copy all of them, or you will se double when you run the 2.3.6 ROM, if you do ever decide to switch back.)

Thanks, I did create a ringtones directory shortly after I got this phone back in Summer 2011 and I see my ringtones show up. But it's the notification sounds that only has bells as the only option, such as when I receive a text message. I haven't been able to figure out how to have other notification sounds.

I'm not sure of the differences. Wikipedia has a list of the changes; you can see them here: Android version history - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's a little muddy, though, as OEMs like Motorola customized Android beyond stock, so the differences may not match that list. The battery life thing would be good though!

Hmm, it says: "Android 2.3.3–2.3.7 Gingerbread (API level 10)", so I get the feeling there really isn't much of a difference between 2.3.4 (stock) and 2.3.6. Maybe a bug fix here or there.

I don't think it's that. The Droid 3 was made for Verizon, and all Verizon Android phones have that same behavior. The 2.3.6 version was an international version of the Milestone 3 (though also sold to some small carriers in the US, apparently), and the messaging app was probably coded just a bit differently. Thanks for telling me how those texts showed up, though.

I'll go on a little tangent here and just give some feedback of the Minimoto ROM now that I've been using it for about a week and a half. It definitely is much faster and snappier than the stock ROM. Whereas before, I had 40-50 MB of available RAM after a day of use, I'm now around about 200 MB of free RAM. Perhaps that's why my battery life is noticeably better as well, not to mention I have the bigger battery I previously mentioned.

OK, now the downsides. The text messaging is worse:
- Keyboard has a smiley face where the return key should be
- Group text messages are no longer grouped. Whenever I receive a group text reply, it now shows it in the individual's thread.
- With the stock ROM, I can take a picture and send it as an MMS text. Now, when I take a picture, if I want to send it, I have to go through my gallery of pics and then choose that pic. It's much less efficient that way.
- With the stock ROM, if a text message didn't go through for some reason, there was a menu option (long press that unsent message) to resend it. There's no longer a resend option. I have to forward the message, which requires putting in the contact's name.
- I don't have group contacts anymore. Does Minimoto no longer support it? I have to put in all of the people's names to send a group text or pull up an archive of an older group text that I transferred over via Titanium Backup and then send a group message that way.

Stability is a little worse since 3 times, my phone froze and wouldn't respond. All 3 times it happened while I was texting, so perhaps it's related to that. The only way I was able to resolve it was to remove the case, remove the cover, and remove the battery. Then put it all back together to reboot the phone.

Basically, the Minimoto ROM is very nice as in lightweight and snappy. I also appreciate the native screenshot capture support (however, that's a little buggy). I installed missing apps that I needed, like Swype (via swype.com) and restored most of my apps and data that I backed up via Titanium Backup. But text messaging is much worse than the stock version for the aforementioned reasons.

 

[doogald]

First, I ended up trying to send MMS on the 2.3.6 ROM and they never delivered. The phone would continue to try but they never delivered. That ROM just isn't for me.

Thanks, I did create a ringtones directory shortly after I got this phone back in Summer 2011 and I see my ringtones show up. But it's the notification sounds that only has bells as the only option, such as when I receive a text message. I haven't been able to figure out how to have other notification sounds.

Ringtones go in a folder called "Ringtones". Notifications can go into any folder called "Notifications". (This is just an example, but on my phone's SD card, I have a folder called "media". Inside that is one called "audio". Inside that are two; one called "Ringtones" and one called "Notifications". That setup works fine for me - I "borrowed" the default notification tone from my Droid Eris and now use it as my default notification on the D3, as I grew quite accustomed to it after two years of use. I hope I never hear that ridiculous "Droid" croak again.)

OK, now the downsides. The text messaging is worse:
- Keyboard has a smiley face where the return key should be
- Group text messages are no longer grouped. Whenever I receive a group text reply, it now shows it in the individual's thread.
- With the stock ROM, I can take a picture and send it as an MMS text. Now, when I take a picture, if I want to send it, I have to go through my gallery of pics and then choose that pic. It's much less efficient that way.
- With the stock ROM, if a text message didn't go through for some reason, there was a menu option (long press that unsent message) to resend it. There's no longer a resend option. I have to forward the message, which requires putting in the contact's name.
- I don't have group contacts anymore. Does Minimoto no longer support it? I have to put in all of the people's names to send a group text or pull up an archive of an older group text that I transferred over via Titanium Backup and then send a group message that way.

Stability is a little worse since 3 times, my phone froze and wouldn't respond. All 3 times it happened while I was texting, so perhaps it's related to that. The only way I was able to resolve it was to remove the case, remove the cover, and remove the battery. Then put it all back together to reboot the phone.

Basically, the Minimoto ROM is very nice as in lightweight and snappy. I also appreciate the native screenshot capture support (however, that's a little buggy). I installed missing apps that I needed, like Swype (via swype.com) and restored most of my apps and data that I backed up via Titanium Backup. But text messaging is much worse than the stock version for the aforementioned reasons.

Keyboard: I use Swiftkey myself. The just added a Swype-like feature called Flow to their keyboard the other day. Anyway, Swiftkey allows you to long-press the smiley key to get an enter. Though, of course, I must say that I use the hardware keyboard 99.9% of the time when I text, so I always have an enter key.

You may want to try the older version of Minimoto, version 1.5, which still had the stock Blur MMS/Messaging app. I have it on my Dropbox still: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqi1p0ckh6mo0s1/minimoto_v1.51.zip

Now, there are some issues/things that you should know:

- it uses the ADW launcher, not Holo. You can either use ADW (which is a good launcher; I use it still on Minimoto), or get Holo from the Play Store, which I believe is free

- it comes with the stock Moto keyboard, if I remember right

- no reboot or screenshot in the power menu. There are apps that can do this, though.

- I think that the toggle icons in the notification pulldown are gray on darker gray - kind of hard to read. Hardly a deal-breaker, though

- the setup that you run through on setting up first time is a bit wonky. It works, though.

- you will need to wipe data and reinstall everything from scratch, I'm afraid

Of course, you could create a second ROM slot in Safestrap and install it there and then be able to switch back to 1.7 if you end up preferring it.

By the way, I agree with you on the messaging app. I actually prefer stock Moto.

One other idea: try installing one of the replacement messaging apps - Chomp, Handcent, or Go SMS Pro - and see if they have the features that work for you.

 

[doogald]

You may want to try the older version of Minimoto, version 1.5, which still had the stock Blur MMS/Messaging app. I have it on my Dropbox still: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqi1p0ckh6mo0s1/minimoto_v1.51.zip....

Before you try this, actually, I have an idea for the old MMS in Minimoto 1.7. I'll test it tomorrow and let you know if it works, etc....

 

[beowulf7]

Before you try this, actually, I have an idea for the old MMS in Minimoto 1.7. I'll test it tomorrow and let you know if it works, etc....

Rather than downgrade to Minimoto 1.7, I'll take you up on your idea. I may try another messaging app, but how would I export and import my current MMS and SMS messages to the new app? Would it pick it up automatically? As you know, I have Titanium Backup Pro, but not sure if the data can be exchanged between 2 different apps. Thanks.

 

[beowulf7]

...

Ringtones go in a folder called "Ringtones". Notifications can go into any folder called "Notifications". (This is just an example, but on my phone's SD card, I have a folder called "media". Inside that is one called "audio". Inside that are two; one called "Ringtones" and one called "Notifications". That setup works fine for me - I "borrowed" the default notification tone from my Droid Eris and now use it as my default notification on the D3, as I grew quite accustomed to it after two years of use. I hope I never hear that ridiculous "Droid" croak again.)
...

Ahh, that was it! I didn't have a folder called "Notifications". I created as per your suggestion and moved a few of my notification (short ringtones) over to that folder. Now my Minimoto ROM sees it and I changed the default Bells notification sound to something else - what I previously had. Thanks!

Ringtones were working fine since I already had that "Ringtones" folder. Interestingly, on the stock ROM, there seemed to be a bug where every once in a while, the ringtone would change randomly to a default ringtone. It was getting annoying having to change it back. So far, it hasn't happened (yet?) on the Minimoto ROM. I'll now also keep an eye (or ear) out on the Notifications ringtone.

 

[doogald]

Rather than downgrade to Minimoto 1.7, I'll take you up on your idea. I may try another messaging app, but how would I export and import my current MMS and SMS messages to the new app? Would it pick it up automatically? As you know, I have Titanium Backup Pro, but not sure if the data can be exchanged between 2 different apps. Thanks.

The apps use the same messaging database, so all of your messages will be there already - no backup or restore is required. Really all that you need to do is turn off notifications in the messaging app that comes with Minimoto so you don't get double notifications.

What I am working on is to copy the files associated with Blur messaging that you need from Minimoto 1.5 to the phone so the Blur text messaging app works. So far I think I have it working; I just want to do a little more testing to make sure that it's stable.

 

[doogald]

What I am working on is to copy the files associated with Blur messaging that you need from Minimoto 1.5 to the phone so the Blur text messaging app works. So far I think I have it working; I just want to do a little more testing to make sure that it's stable.

Ok, I've been running this for the last day with no problems. Blur text and MMS messaging works. Group texting seems to work (let me know if it does or does not for you.) If you still want stock Droid 3 text/MMS messaging, read on.

Copy the file (blursms_minimoto.zip blurmms.zip) to internal storage or external SD card. If you are running Safestrap - I believe that you are - restart the phone in Safestrap. I *strongly* suggest that you run a backup of your current system from Safestrap at this point - it will allow you to quickly return to where you are now with a restore.

Do not wipe data/factory reset. Simply go to the install menu and choose the blursms.zip file. It should be a fast flash. Restart the phone after successful flash. (If you really want to, you can go into the Wipe menu and Wipe Dalvik cache to get rid of any cache files associated with the stock texting app Mms.apk that is part of Minimoto 1.7. I did not do this myself, and the phone is running fine.)

The boot-up process may take slightly longer than usual; so long as you see the boot animation, you should be all set.

What this does:

- restores some java framework files in /system/framework
- restores the necessary text messaging Blur apps in /system/app
- removes the stock Android texting app /system/app/Mms.apk

(First admission: it's possible that this restores more files than are necessary for the Blur text messaging app. However, it doesn't cause any problems, in the case that I restored too much.)

All of your existing messages will be preserved. (I'm not sure if any existing group messages will be grouped together, though; it's possible that they will not.)

Let me know how it works out if you install it. As I said, if it causes problems for you, or you want the Minimoto 1.7 messaging app back, just go back into Safestrap and restore the backup that you made prior to installing the zip file. (On the off chance that there is a problem with the backup, you *should* be able to go into Safestrap, install the Minimoto 1.7 zip without wiping data, and restart the phone, and things will be back to stock Minimoto with all of your data and apps intact.)

For anybody who cares about these things, the file size is 1,853,512 bytes and the MD5 is c8f4367a043fe6d0f63cb688eda92a0b.

 

[griff0057]

Can any link me to a root guide for droid 3 the 1 click root in this guide seems to be broken

 

[themib]

just use motofail
and watch this video How to root the Droid 3,

 

[beowulf7]

The apps use the same messaging database, so all of your messages will be there already - no backup or restore is required. Really all that you need to do is turn off notifications in the messaging app that comes with Minimoto so you don't get double notifications.

What I am working on is to copy the files associated with Blur messaging that you need from Minimoto 1.5 to the phone so the Blur text messaging app works. So far I think I have it working; I just want to do a little more testing to make sure that it's stable.

Sorry for the delay, but thanks for the stock messaging file. I'm going to try it out shortly.

 

[beowulf7]

Ok, I've been running this for the last day with no problems. Blur text and MMS messaging works. Group texting seems to work (let me know if it does or does not for you.) If you still want stock Droid 3 text/MMS messaging, read on.

Copy the file (blursms_minimoto.zip) to internal storage or external SD card. If you are running Safestrap - I believe that you are - restart the phone in Safestrap. I *strongly* suggest that you run a backup of your current system from Safestrap at this point - it will allow you to quickly return to where you are now with a restore.

Do not wipe data/factory reset. Simply go to the install menu and choose the blursms_minimoto.zip file. It should be a fast flash. Restart the phone after successful flash. (If you really want to, you can go into the Wipe menu and Wipe Dalvik cache to get rid of any cache files associated with the stock texting app Mms.apk that is part of Minimoto 1.7. I did not do this myself, and the phone is running fine.)

The boot-up process may take slightly longer than usual; so long as you see the boot animation, you should be all set.

What this does:

- restores some java framework files in /system/framework
- restores the necessary text messaging Blur apps in /system/app
- removes the stock Android texting app /system/app/Mms.apk

(First admission: it's possible that this restores more files than are necessary for the Blur text messaging app. However, it doesn't cause any problems, in the case that I restored too much.)

All of your existing messages will be preserved. (I'm not sure if any existing group messages will be grouped together, though; it's possible that they will not.)

Let me know how it works out if you install it. As I said, if it causes problems for you, or you want the Minimoto 1.7 messaging app back, just go back into Safestrap and restore the backup that you made prior to installing the zip file. (On the off chance that there is a problem with the backup, you *should* be able to go into Safestrap, install the Minimoto 1.7 zip without wiping data, and restart the phone, and things will be back to stock Minimoto with all of your data and apps intact.)

For anybody who cares about these things, the file size is 1,865,004 bytes and the MD5 is f329ed2350c3662e17550d8311159ef2.

doogald, would I backup my current ROM the same way I backed up the stock ROM and copy it to the stock ROM location? That is, get rid of my stock ROM and put my Minimoto ROM backed up in the stock ROM? Thanks again for your help.

So far, my Minimoto ROM hasn't crashed on me since the last time I reported, which I think was about a week ago. It did randomly reboot one night and I know that b/c the download link icons that exist until I open the downloaded file disappeared, which is what happens when the phone is rebooted.

The only other bug I've noticed is that when the battery gets less than 15%, it decrements weirdly, like 15% to 11% to 3% and then dead. Basically, when the battery indicator is red (15% or less), I take that as running on fumes and it can go any minute.