Root thinking about installing CM7. have concerns

[Expl0sive]

I have a rooted HTC EVO 4G that I absolutely love. I updated it to the new 2.3.3 rooted ROM and have noticed some good things about it (better battery life and native support for apps to SD to name a few). With that said, I was toying with the idea of flashing CM7.0.3 on it for a more OEM feel to it. I was reading around these forums and xda developers and just had some concerns about it.

1. I read about a lot of issues with GPS and 4G. I use my GPS a lot and so far, the stock ROM has been great with it (I would have gotten lost so many times during my vacation in Hawaii if it were not for Google Maps). I've seen like three different fixes for it with varying levels of success. I know some of the Nightly builds fix it but I prefer stable builds. It seems like the Nightlies would fix one issue but then a different one would pop up.

2. Issues with GMail syncing. GMail is very important for both my personal and work life...

3. Random odd issues like the home/menu/back/search buttons not illuminating.

Again, the current stock ROM is working great for me but I wanted to see if I can get it to be even faster, smoother, and with a better battery life. I currently use Go Launcher EX if that helps. Thank you in advance for any comments, advice, and insight.

 

[ocnbrze]

I have a rooted HTC EVO 4G that I absolutely love. I updated it to the new 2.3.3 rooted ROM and have noticed some good things about it (better battery life and native support for apps to SD to name a few). With that said, I was toying with the idea of flashing CM7.0.3 on it for a more OEM feel to it. I was reading around these forums and xda developers and just had some concerns about it.

1. I read about a lot of issues with GPS and 4G. I use my GPS a lot and so far, the stock ROM has been great with it (I would have gotten lost so many times during my vacation in Hawaii if it were not for Google Maps). I've seen like three different fixes for it with varying levels of success. I know some of the Nightly builds fix it but I prefer stable builds. It seems like the Nightlies would fix one issue but then a different one would pop up.

2. Issues with GMail syncing. GMail is very important for both my personal and work life...

3. Random odd issues like the home/menu/back/search buttons not illuminating.

Again, the current stock ROM is working great for me but I wanted to see if I can get it to be even faster, smoother, and with a better battery life. I currently use Go Launcher EX if that helps. Thank you in advance for any comments, advice, and insight.

just so you know there is cm7.1 out now. i have tried it and i did not notice much difference between the two. but i had to switch back to check out the new sense roms that are continously coming out. however, i had the best battery life on the cm7/tiamat rom/kernel combo.

1. i used this gps fix and never had any issues:CM7 GPS fix

2.never had issues with gmail not synching

3.for me everything illuminated with no issues.

it is a great rom. make a nandroid backup and check it out. also try the tiamat kernel. like i said BEST BATTERY LIFE I EVER HAD!!!!. i went on average 18-35 hrs off charge with moderate usage.

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

CM7 is a great ROM I have never had any of the issues you are talking about except the GPS which I'm pretty sure is fixed in all builds now. If I were you I would go ahead and try CM7.1 I have been using it and have no problems. Also I have had the best battery with CM7/tiamat as well. Just flash it and if you have issues come ask, I'm sure we will be able to help.

 

[Expl0sive]

Well, I bit the bullet and flashed CM7.1 yesterday along with Tiamat's kernel. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. Everything did work out pretty well. The GPS is giving me problems and I tried the CM Nightly 39 GPS driver here but it did not work during my test drive to work this morning. I will try ocnbrze's fix and test it on the way to work tomorrow.

You guys have a good guide for the ADW Launcher and/or lockscreen settings? I'm trying to tweak the timings to my liking but somehow the times aren't matching up... I purchased WidgetLocker shortly after I purchased my EVO in February. Do you guys think I should that instead?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[youdoofus]

Well, I bit the bullet and flashed CM7.1 yesterday along with Tiamat's kernel. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. Everything did work out pretty well. The GPS is giving me problems and I tried the CM Nightly 39 GPS driver here but it did not work during my test drive to work this morning. I will try ocnbrze's fix and test it on the way to work tomorrow.

You guys have a good guide for the ADW Launcher and/or lockscreen settings? I'm trying to tweak the timings to my liking but somehow the times aren't matching up... I purchased WidgetLocker shortly after I purchased my EVO in February. Do you guys think I should that instead?

Thanks for all your help.

Id try launcher pro. Its more customizable and just looks better imo. theres a paid app you can get for some pretty wicked custom icons too, i think its like $4 or something. really allows for some cool "themeing" if you will

 

[evomattnc]

Id try launcher pro. Its more customizable and just looks better imo. theres a paid app you can get for some pretty wicked custom icons too, i think its like $4 or something. really allows for some cool "themeing" if you will

LOL how did I know doofus would drop in here!

 

[Expl0sive]

Id try launcher pro. Its more customizable and just looks better imo. theres a paid app you can get for some pretty wicked custom icons too, i think its like $4 or something. really allows for some cool "themeing" if you will

I actually used Launcher Pro for the last few months during my rooted with the stock HTC Sense ROM. It's definitely nice and customizable but I wanted to try its rival ADW Launcher which CM7 gave me a chance to. Is the paid app you are talking about Beautiful Widgets? i had it and am still using it.

So today's test drive with ocnbrze's GPS fix ended in failure. GPS would not lock but I would get sporadic updates of myself on the freeway probably due to the mobile data. Another odd thing was that my battery was draining waaay fast. After 10 hours of minimal usage during work, my battery was at 24%! I'm not sure what was keeping the battery running but Google Maps was using 30% of it.

I just flashed the Qualcomm driver found here and will test it on tomorrow's drive to work. So far it locks onto me in my apartment and battery usage seems normal. Any other advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

I would second Launcher Pro, how does widget locker run, I have been thinking of buying it but never have because I read reviews where it didn't run well. I heard that it sometimes showed the stock lockscreen and drained the battery.

 

[Expl0sive]

I definitely haven't regretted buying WidgetLocker. I do recall it rarely showing the stock lockscreen possibly due to lag or I unlocked it during a sync or something. It was rare. Please keep in mind that I was running a rooted stock HTC Sense ROM with apps frozen via Titanium; not a barebones ROM like CM7. As for draining the battery, I really don't know. I will say that with a rooted stock 2.3 ROM and WidgetLocker, I had MY best battery life.

With that said, I managed to fix my GPS issue. I just used ocnbrze's method but added a small part to it which I read from another thread: I updated the PRL and my profile before flashing back to CM7/Tiamat. Now, my only issue is the battery life. I don't seem to be getting these phenomenal battery lives that some of you are getting...

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

Which Tiamat kernel did you install? Also are you using setcpu? If so how do you have it set up?

 

[geewhiz]

Tiamat 4.0.4 cfs sbc rocks battery life. I have results like Ocnbrnz stated above. But I am still on 7.0.3 and the old radios. I've seen some say the newer radios were draining battery faster. All relative ofcourse, I haven't updated things in awhile.

 

[Stubby1]

I had used cm7.1 and taimet kernel 4.04 havs and sbc, and this worked well and battery life was very good but the 3G signal was poor at best and I fell that this effected the battery life. I had used set CPU with two conditions
1. Sleep-- set CPU to 245
2. Charging --- set CPU to 245

I set these conditions on both min and max. With these settings I was hitting battery times of close to 20 hours.
As the other guys have said the cm7 set up is pretty awesome. I will go back but I am enjoying the new sense revolution.

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

Try out Tiamat 3.3.7, it has been said by a lot of people to give much better battery life than any of the 4.0.x kernels and I agree.