Root Got Root, CWM Recovery.. but..

[Diversebydesign]

Hey all,

Well after coming from BB about a week and a half ago, I could not be any happier with what Android can do. So, of course the geek in me went right to the rooting discussions and started reading. And reading, and reading and reading. Although much of what I found was rather cryptic. I did find enough solid info to get the job done safely.

So here I am.. rooted (Thanks to KC) and also flashed to CWM Recovery. So.. my question now is what is the current situation with the roms that are available for the Strat? From what I can tell the Ek1 is not as stable or reliable as it should be and that is probably the best of the available bunch at the moment.

Am I interpreting that right? Is that the case right now with the ROMS for the Strat? Or is it possible that I am missing something?

One more quick ? - I flashed the recovery and after doing so I made a backup of my phone using Titanium. Am I correct in assuming that after doing so the next logical step IS the custom ROM? Right now I am running the stock Kernel as I just rooted and flashed the recovery. So until I find a suitable ROM I just sit where I am at.... right?

Thanks in advance for the answers. It will go a long way to ease my mind just knowing that I did things right. I mean, I know what I am doing with this stuff and understand what is going on... but I am coming from a completely different platform. So there is a bit that I need to learn still. Thanks again!

DBD

 

[SolidOrange]

Hey all,

Well after coming from BB about a week and a half ago, I could not be any happier with what Android can do. So, of course the geek in me went right to the rooting discussions and started reading. And reading, and reading and reading. Although much of what I found was rather cryptic. I did find enough solid info to get the job done safely.

So here I am.. rooted (Thanks to KC) and also flashed to CWM Recovery. So.. my question now is what is the current situation with the roms that are available for the Strat? From what I can tell the Ek1 is not as stable or reliable as it should be and that is probably the best of the available bunch at the moment.

Am I interpreting that right? Is that the case right now with the ROMS for the Strat? Or is it possible that I am missing something?

One more quick ? - I flashed the recovery and after doing so I made a backup of my phone using Titanium. Am I correct in assuming that after doing so the next logical step IS the custom ROM? Right now I am running the stock Kernel as I just rooted and flashed the recovery. So until I find a suitable ROM I just sit where I am at.... right?

Thanks in advance for the answers. It will go a long way to ease my mind just knowing that I did things right. I mean, I know what I am doing with this stuff and understand what is going on... but I am coming from a completely different platform. So there is a bit that I need to learn still. Thanks again!

DBD

EK1 is not truly a "custom" rom since it is just a deodexed/zipaligned version of the stock build, but it is the only rom currently available as far as i know. hopefully a developer will jump on board and come out with a build of their own, or at least get the RIL which is needed to run AOSP roms like CyanogenMod soon.

as for your next step, i would suggest creating a full nandroid backup through recovery if you have not already. titanium will cover app data, but a clockwork backup is a full snapshot of your current system. this includes the recovery, system, data, and cache partitions as well as the current kernel.

other than that, strat owners are just going to have to play the waiting game.

P.S. - welcome to the forums! i made the switch from blackberry in april of 2010 and haven't looked back. if there is anything you miss from your BB days, there is probably an app to cover it on android.

 

[p_025]

What is the advantage of a "deodexed" ROM, and wtf does "zipalign" mean?

 

[SolidOrange]

What is the advantage of a "deodexed" ROM, and wtf does "zipalign" mean?

What Is Odex And Deodex In Android [Complete Guide]

What Is Zipalign In Android And How To Make Apps Zipaligned

 

[Diversebydesign]

EK1 is not truly a "custom" rom since it is just a deodexed/zipaligned version of the stock build, but it is the only rom currently available as far as i know. hopefully a developer will jump on board and come out with a build of their own, or at least get the RIL which is needed to run AOSP roms like CyanogenMod soon.

Thanks a bunch man, I appreciate the info. It does seem however that a deodexed and zipaligned version would offer some benefits still. I mean, at least the zipalign (from what I understand) wouldseem to speed things up considerably through normal use... am I right?

as for your next step, i would suggest creating a full nandroid backup through recovery if you have not already. titanium will cover app data, but a clockwork backup is a full snapshot of your current system. this includes the recovery, system, data, and cache partitions as well as the current kernel.

Yea.. I ran Titanium already and for some reason the stuff that I read prior to using that tool made me think that it would create the nandroid backup just from using the app itself. I did not realize I would have to do that from "recovery". But I guess I know that now. I did flash the CWM recovery last night so I suppose all that is left to do is boot into recovery and then create the nandroid backup?

I must say, like I mentioned earlier, I have been dealing with computers for a very long time and am by no means a noob. But much of what I have been reading about rooting and the like has been pretty confusing. I mean when you have to ready 2-3 different faq's about one single topic you know something is difficult. And fact is, it shouldn't be. Much of this is relatively straightforward. But for some reason many of the walkthroughs are sometimes anything but.

other than that, strat owners are just going to have to play the waiting game.

Yea.. I hear ya. That is sort of what I have been seeing in a couple forums. It seems that there are a couple ROMS out there, but nobody has really stepped up and said, "YES! This is the one! Every one flash this ROM!"

P.S. - welcome to the forums! i made the switch from blackberry in april of 2010 and haven't looked back. if there is anything you miss from your BB days, there is probably an app to cover it on android.

I am finding that to be true. Many of the things that I stopped doing on my BB because it just got to be too difficult and frustrating (browsing the net for example) I can finally do again. Not only that, but it all seems pretty effortless too. I could not be happier and as such will be putting all of my efforts into helping this community however I can - once I get fully up to speed that is.

Thanks for the help SolidOrange. I appreciate you stepping up and lending a brother a hand.

 

[SolidOrange]

Thanks a bunch man, I appreciate the info. It does seem however that a deodexed and zipaligned version would offer some benefits still. I mean, at least the zipalign (from what I understand) wouldseem to speed things up considerably through normal use... am I right?

definitely some advantages offered by deodexing and zipaligning, but i hope you guys get something truly custom soon. i have always been spoiled by the dev support on my devices. the droid1 had more roms than i could count, thunderbolt had plenty as well. even though my GNex is less than a month old, we already have 8-10 developers releasing their own builds.

Yea.. I ran Titanium already and for some reason the stuff that I read prior to using that tool made me think that it would create the nandroid backup just from using the app itself. I did not realize I would have to do that from "recovery". But I guess I know that now. I did flash the CWM recovery last night so I suppose all that is left to do is boot into recovery and then create the nandroid backup?

yep, just reboot into recovery, select "backup/restore" and let CWM do its thing.

I must say, like I mentioned earlier, I have been dealing with computers for a very long time and am by no means a noob. But much of what I have been reading about rooting and the like has been pretty confusing. I mean when you have to ready 2-3 different faq's about one single topic you know something is difficult. And fact is, it shouldn't be. Much of this is relatively straightforward. But for some reason many of the walkthroughs are sometimes anything but.

instructions will vary greatly from site to site, as some assume you have been rooting since the day you were born, and some assume you have absolutely no prior knowledge of android. luckily, there are lots of members here willing to help make sense of what's out there.

Yea.. I hear ya. That is sort of what I have been seeing in a couple forums. It seems that there are a couple ROMS out there, but nobody has really stepped up and said, "YES! This is the one! Every one flash this ROM!"

I am finding that to be true. Many of the things that I stopped doing on my BB because it just got to be too difficult and frustrating (browsing the net for example) I can finally do again. Not only that, but it all seems pretty effortless too. I could not be happier and as such will be putting all of my efforts into helping this community however I can - once I get fully up to speed that is.

Thanks for the help SolidOrange. I appreciate you stepping up and lending a brother a hand.

no problem man! glad you're enjoying the switch. don't be afraid to ask if you have any more questions. we were all new to android once!

 

[Diversebydesign]

OK. Got the backup handled. Thanks for the help. It was simple.

So my next inclination is to wipe the device and either reinstall the OS or try one of the customs that are out (the deodexed/zipaligned). I always like to start with a clean OS after doing something like this. I am sure that if I look hard enough I can find a solid list of "bloatware" that is safe to delete.

Do you have any suggestions for this? Like I said, I'm sure I can find what I need but it doesn't hurt to hear from someone who has been there before.

 

[SolidOrange]

OK. Got the backup handled. Thanks for the help. It was simple.

So my next inclination is to wipe the device and either reinstall the OS or try one of the customs that are out (the deodexed/zipaligned). I always like to start with a clean OS after doing something like this. I am sure that if I look hard enough I can find a solid list of "bloatware" that is safe to delete.

Do you have any suggestions for this? Like I said, I'm sure I can find what I need but it doesn't hurt to hear from someone who has been there before.

i don't have a strat so i couldn't tell you, but luckily a list has already been made here:

http://androidforums.com/stratosphere-all-things-root/450797-list-safe-remove-bloat.html

can't believe how many unnecessary apps are on there!

 

[Diversebydesign]

Thanks for the link Solid, but I already saw that list and if you ask me, it seems a bit weak. The only post with a list to speak of in the thread is basically a list of well, let's just say the guy seemed to make a list of all the apps they didn't like.

Sure, things like CityID and the like are garbage. But I don't think I want to go deleting the clocks, and some of the other items just yet. Being new to the Droid world I may wanna keep a few of these.

I do appreciate the list though, don't get me wrong. It brings up a question that is sorta related to deleting things like this...

I was wondering how if I have the native email client and sms client, then I go and say download the Handcent app or another email client from the Market... is it best to delete the native apps?

I was wondering about that because otherwise I guess there would be dual apps sending notifications to me about a text for example. So if I delete the native client to alleviate this problem is that ok? I was a bit worried about doing so because I was not sure if there was something within the native app that the OS might have needed to handle the emails or something like that. Am I making sense? What do you think?

 

[SolidOrange]

Thanks for the link Solid, but I already saw that list and if you ask me, it seems a bit weak. The only post with a list to speak of in the thread is basically a list of well, let's just say the guy seemed to make a list of all the apps they didn't like.

Sure, things like CityID and the like are garbage. But I don't think I want to go deleting the clocks, and some of the other items just yet. Being new to the Droid world I may wanna keep a few of these.

I do appreciate the list though, don't get me wrong. It brings up a question that is sorta related to deleting things like this...

I was wondering how if I have the native email client and sms client, then I go and say download the Handcent app or another email client from the Market... is it best to delete the native apps?

I was wondering about that because otherwise I guess there would be dual apps sending notifications to me about a text for example. So if I delete the native client to alleviate this problem is that ok? I was a bit worried about doing so because I was not sure if there was something within the native app that the OS might have needed to handle the emails or something like that. Am I making sense? What do you think?

since i only use gmail, i always delete the e-mail app, it has never caused any issues. as far as SMS apps, i use handcent, but do not uninstall the native app. to disable dual notifications, open the stock messaging app, hit menu -> settings, then disable auto-retrieve and notifications.

 

[Diversebydesign]

Once again, thanks for the advice and answers to my questions. I'll see what else i can come up with for ya.

 

[DC1333]

hey guys ok so my girl just got one of this things so im making a clean system dump and then ill build a stock more tweaked version of this rom and we can have a party started. already posted on SDX bout doing this cause im rarely anywhere else maybe on XDA but my home is SDX so once I post it up people can link over to it. first release will just be for speed that later more things will come.

http://forum.sdx-developers.com/#c48

 

[p_025]

XDA are douche bags. I don't think they even have a forum for the Stratosphere right now. Their loss, I foresee a lot of great development opportunities for this phone, all that has to get done first is reverse engineering the RIL. Never even heard of SDX.

 

[Scur]

XDA are douche bags. I don't think they even have a forum for the Stratosphere right now. Their loss, I foresee a lot of great development opportunities for this phone, all that has to get done first is reverse engineering the RIL. Never even heard of SDX.

Granted, xda-developers has a habit of letting bashing happen sometimes, but there are a lot of good people over there too. Not to mention it's a developer's forum first and user's second, so most of them are doing work for nothing more than donations.
I do wish they had a Strat forum, but it's low on the voter's list (if you saw that thread) and probably isn't going to start one until more people get the Strat and vote for it.
I've heard of SDX but hadn't visited. Since he's starting some Strat deving I registered. I'll keep up links to progress in the guides.

 

[dwitherell]

I would hesitate to say I am any sort of developer, but I put something together and posted it on RootzWiki. It's a custom rom I call tweakstock, and you can check it out here!

 

[Diversebydesign]

Looks like you put a good deal of work into that. Good job, and thanks (speaking for the Strat community).

I might try it at some point, but right now I am ok on what I am running and I hesitate to flash anything atm. If it aint broke...

 

[dwitherell]

Looks like you put a good deal of work into that. Good job, and thanks (speaking for the Strat community).

I might try it at some point, but right now I am ok on what I am running and I hesitate to flash anything atm. If it aint broke...

No worries - hope folks like it. Very much still learning, so any and all feedback (if and when you decide to try it out) is welcome!

 

[Scur]

I would hesitate to say I am any sort of developer, but I put something together and posted it on RootzWiki. It's a custom rom I call tweakstock, and you can check it out here!

Added the link to your ROM in the All Things Root Guide.

So have you found any issues so far?

 

[dwitherell]

Added the link to your ROM in the All Things Root Guide.

So have you found any issues so far?

None yet, outside of some minor oddities involving the scrollable quickpanel toggles. There were 4 I was aware of, and 1 was fixed prior to posting. They are very minor, and I'll post a fix once they are all fixed (plus maybe an update with some extra tweaks).

 

[Diversebydesign]

OK.. I know the thread has gotten a little bit of age behind it and sort of started to take another direction. I am hoping to bring it back around however for a quick second. I have a couple questions that I hope you guys can answer, if not the original guys who were helping (Scur, SolidOrange) then anyone who would be kind enough to jump in. Here is what I need.

I was going to restore one of the nandroid backups that I had made when I started rooting the device originally (back on 1-15-12). However, when I copied it back to the sd card and put the phone into recovery mode to start the restore process, I got an md5 checksum error and it would not proceed any further. Am I stuck without the ability to restore that original backup now?

Also.. I was hoping to find some information as to what the android file system is and what files are responsible for what, etc.. something to give me a better idea of what I am dealing with on a deeper level. I know I can "google" for this but I was hoping that you guys maybe had something that you could point me to as something that YOU guys trust and rely on yourselves. You guys have not lead me astray yet and I would like to continue that relationship

Thanks in advance!