Root Best ICS ROM for Rezound?

[obscuro]

Yes, I am still using newts despite the OTA. The latest version of newts, 3.2.1, is based on the same software build as the OTA.

OTA - Sense 3.6, no bravia, xloud or tweaks pre-installed
newts one xxx - Sense 4, camera from HTC One X, bravia and xloud, tweaks

So if I were you, I'd root your phone and install newts using the instructions I posted earlier in this thread. EXCEPT, you DO NOT have to install the "Old Firmware Patch" this time, if you already have updated to the OTA.

Hopefully, newts one xxx will continue to release updates, there are a couple of minor bugs left with the camera, data upload/download arrows, etc. But like I said, I've been using it for a few weeks with no problems--you may want to put Apex or Nova launcher on it, Sense 4 launcher is a little backwards, IMO.

Just FYI, if you are unlocked and unrooted, and have the stock GB ROM and stock recovery installed, you can get the ICS OTA from Verizon OK.

But don't try to install the RUU (basically, the OTA update program downloaded via your computer instead of on your phone), unless you are re-locked and unrooted, or it won't work.

EDIT: BTW, here are some professional-looking boot-up and shutdown animations for newts one xxx. They feature the HTC animation we're used to, plus the Beats Audio graphic. You just flash them in the flash zip menu of a custom recovery.

 

[NEXTLOVER]

Yes, I am still using newts despite the OTA. The latest version of newts, 3.2.1, is based on the same software build as the OTA.

OTA - Sense 3.6, no bravia, xloud or tweaks pre-installed
newts one xxx - Sense 4, camera from HTC One X, bravia and xloud, tweaks

So if I were you, I'd root your phone and install newts using the instructions I posted earlier in this thread. EXCEPT, you DO NOT have to install the "Old Firmware Patch" this time, if you already have updated to the OTA.

Hopefully, newts one xxx will continue to release updates, there are a couple of minor bugs left with the camera, data upload/download arrows, etc. But like I said, I've been using it for a few weeks with no problems--you may want to put Apex or Nova launcher on it, Sense 4 launcher is a little backwards, IMO.

Just FYI, if you are unlocked and unrooted, and have the stock GB ROM and stock recovery installed, you can get the ICS OTA from Verizon OK.

But don't try to install the RUU (basically, the OTA update program downloaded via your computer instead of on your phone), unless you are re-locked and unrooted, or it won't work.

EDIT: BTW, here are some professional-looking boot-up and shutdown animations for newts one xxx. They feature the HTC animation we're used to, plus the Beats Audio graphic. You just flash them in the flash zip menu of a custom recovery.

Thanks obscuro.

I ended up going back to complete stock, installing the update (nearly took an hour for me!), tried to play around with it, then promptly installed Newts One xXx LOL. The ICS OTA is really not much different fr. well, stock GB.

I just don't like Sense, period I've tried Apex, but haven't Nova. I'm a "theming" type of gal, and I just find a lot more themes for Apex than Nova in Google Play. I might have to try both though, because Apex is a straight up resource hog and buggy. All for looks, I guess

Have you tried the Camera that goes along with Newt's theme? Last time I checked on it, sum ppl were having FC problems, but that was back in June.

Thanks for the link; I might as well flash one to match how pretty my rezound is lol.

 

[obscuro]

The camera that comes pre-installed with newts is pretty solid. It's basically the camera app from HTC one x, except that it can't take pics during video or on-the-fly burst mode by holding down shutter. Sometimes the app fcs, hasn't been an issue for me.

There is a HQ camera mod floating around that I would avoid. I tried flashing the gb version and had to restore a backup. It's basically just turning up the default jpeg compression level for pics and default resolution for vids. You can do same thing by editing a file called media_profiles.xml, its in One of the system folders.

In case you are wondering, xloud is enabled by default in newts. You enable bravia thru the one xxx tweaks app in your app drawer.

Nova and apex are both based off the stock ics launcher, no big diff feature-wise, I chose nova because I had heard it was lighter. I did notice that apex has more themes, but for me, battery life is #1 priority.

You may want to check out my my wallpapers on the main HTC rezound forum here. It has 250+ hd wallpapers that came with various premium smartphones.

 

[obscuro]

Currently running ViperRez Sense 4 ROM. It offers the installation option of de-sensing if you want, or running all kinds of themes on it (even one to make Sense look like stock ICS).

NeoMax (senseless, themed light blue like stock ICS) looks pretty beastly, too. I like the Sense unlock ring/dialer, so for now I am sticking with ViperRez.

Initial impressions on ViperRez are that it is more polished than Newts one xxx. It has an aroma-based installer (basically, nice GUI installer). Tweaks app doesn't have any crashes, there are lot more "wizards" to get you up and running the way you want. It is basically the HTC One X software for Rezound, done right. Beats, custom EQ profiles, sony bravia and xloud mods work out of the box (well, you have to check two checkmarks for the last two.)

Will try out the camera app and see how it compares to the nice one that newts has.

 

[scotty85]

that is one of my issues with newtoroot and chingy. seems like both of them get a rom running,then move on to new projects,and never carry it out to give a polished,smooth experiecne.

 

[obscuro]

ViperRez does have the 3G/4G data arrows working. Alas, HDMI-out to tv is currently not working, but I don't personally use that. My TV supports it, but I just haven't bought the cable to connect them.

Scotty, check out this xda thread when you have some spare time: [THEME/MOD][v1.3] One X AOSP ICS Mod [for Team Venom/ARHD/Sense 4.0][26.07.2012]

EDIT: ^^^^ This doesn't seem to work with ViperRez on the Rezound, it has a check for HTC One X hardware and doesn't install like it's supposed to. Oh well, I am pretty happy with Sense theme and there's some nice skins ViperRez comes with.

It themes sense 4 to look like AOSP, and you can combine it with ROM Cleaner to further de-sense your ROM. When I saw it, thought about you since I know you are into AOSP. One of the things I DON'T like about Sense 4 launcher, when compared to apex/nova is that it has non-standard quirks like the three-dot menu on-screen.

If HTC makes an HD, quad-core phone with software buttons (maybe the 5" phablet they are planning for fall?) and jellybean, I will die and go to heaven. The HTC One X+, if it is still Tegra 3 when it comes to the States, would also be sweet.

 

[scotty85]

If HTC makes an HD, quad-core phone with software buttons (maybe the 5" phablet they are planning for fall?) and jellybean, I will die and go to heaven. The HTC One X+, if it is still Tegra 3 when it comes to the States, would also be sweet.

im with you there. i could defiantely hadle a phone with a 5" screen. ive actually been looking for a gsm flyer to use as a phone on my t mobile line

i just hope if/when it happens someone is smart enuff to soff it. its hard for me to be satisfied with htcdev. i couldnt have rolled my phone back to GB 800 times working on this update thing without s-off! im also pretty partial to my custom splash screen

 

[obscuro]

It's funny you say that you have rolled back to GB a bunch. I was thinking of "taking one for the team" yesterday and going back to test your manual ICS OTA update, but had already wasted a few hours on getting to ICS in the first place, so I thought better of it.

But just out of curiosity, can you roll back to GB while S-ON? I was just thinking you could run the GB full RUU again from ICS, since it wipes *everything*, but I remember what you said about people running the leak RUUs not being able to go back unless they were S-OFF.

Just curious for my own knowledge. I will probably go S-OFF *someday*, probably when my Rezound is my 2nd phone and I am using the HTC 2013 phone LOL

BTW, I am digging ViperRez. It is noticably faster on "my" benchmark, which is loading Titanium Backup. With 300+ app elements, TiBU took 5-6 seconds to load on Gingerbread, 2-3 seconds on newts and about a second on ViperRez. Part of the boost is from ICS, but ViperRez really seems well tweaked, as they say on their changelog.

ViperRez also gives noticably louder speaker sound out-of-the-box. I do have xloud turned on, so I'm not sure if it's a combination of that and the EQs built into the ROM, but I haven't fooled with any sound settings. I know it is definitely louder than newts one xxx because I use multiple alarms on my phone and play podcasts over the speaker on my way to/from work.

Browsing with Internet, Chrome and Boat Browser all seem definitely faster on true ICS, even a small speedup between newts one xxx and viperrez IMO.

Still waiting to put the viperrez camera through its paces, newts one xxx did a pretty good job of porting the EVO LTE camera (complete with shutter sounds), but there was some minor force-close issues.

 

[scotty85]

nope,no rolling back firmware. thats why i continually preach not to flash leaks on s-on devices. the phones are doing multiple complex checks now,gone are the days where we can trick them into a donwgrade with a simple main version change. the radio,bootloader,and who knows what all else are involved they gave us the ability to unlock boot,system,and recovery,but locked down every thing else tighter than a drum.

due to these complex checks,we also cannot use a simple patched hboot(like the inc 2 or thunderbolt). in order to be s-off,the rezound had to have a radio s-off. luckily jp bear found an exploit for the s3 processor

if you think you want to be s-off,id encourage you to do it sooner than later. since we have a processor exploit,its not likely to be patched,but you never know when current methods may cease to work. s-off actually puts you in a better state for warranty,since its easy to turn s-on,and it puts your lock status flag back to "locked"

i flashed viperrez this morning. so far i like it-its fast,smooth,still a bit of lag like all the sense 4 ports but nothing i cant live with. i had to reboot to make data work,then i had to relflash superSU to make it work. it seems to be not quite as easy on my battery as business or newt,but i may possibly have somethin set funny. ill give it a couple days

ill also go on record as saying i hate aroma installer i very much wish it was NOT the newest dev fad.

 

[obscuro]

if you think you want to be s-off,id encourage you to do it sooner than later. since we have a processor exploit,its not likely to be patched,but you never know when current methods may cease to work. s-off actually puts you in a better state for warranty,since its easy to turn s-on,and it puts your lock status flag back to "locked"

Thanks for the S-OFF info. I will read into it more and see if the wire trick is for me. Is there much risk of frying the processor? I have fried a couple of pc cpus by not being grounded correctly.

i flashed viperrez this morning. so far i like it-its fast,smooth,still a bit of lag like all the sense 4 ports but nothing i cant live with. i had to reboot to make data work,then i had to relflash superSU to make it work. it seems to be not quite as easy on my battery as business or newt,but i may possibly have somethin set funny. ill give it a couple days

ill also go on record as saying i hate aroma installer i very much wish it was NOT the newest dev fad.

As far as Sense 4 lag is concerned, I always disable the cube animation, don't need it. There is also a tweak (found in both newts and viperrez) that lets you flatten the 3D effects in sense apps/widgets. You need to look at Viper Tweaks app-->Advanced tab. It has options to clear cache and dalvik-cache, and disable logging (it says it will improve battery, I dunno.)

I am using juice defender ultimate to control brightness, data and CPU speeds. (I'm actually underclocking at 1.3 ghz, LOL). I wish I could get my hands on a Incredible 2, cheaply. I considered it when I got my Rezound, but ultimately picked the rezound for 4G and the camera. The inc2 was lighter to hold and prob. has better battery life due to a lower dpi screen. I wouldn't mind using that as a secondary phone. :smokingsomb:

 

[TheAtheistReverend]

...I wish I could get my hands on a Incredible 2, cheaply. I considered it when I got my Rezound, but ultimately picked the rezound for 4G and the camera. The inc2 was lighter to hold and prob. has better battery life due to a lower dpi screen. I wouldn't mind using that as a secondary phone. :smokingsomb:

I have been on the DInc2 for over a year and I love it. I just bought a Rez for the 4g and slightly larger screen, but I'm thinking about selling it because I'm not very happy with the flashing experience so far and I still LOVE my DInc2. Some amazing roms with amazing battery life. It's the new Eris for me (the little engine that could). It will have to be one heck of a phone to get me to "really" upgrade, but I'm going to keep trying with the Rez for a while. I have hope.

Have you checked Swappa.com for a DInc2?

 

[obscuro]

What roms have you tried for rezound? I'm using viperrez, it basically turns the rezound into the HTC one x...my advice to you is to think about what you want from your phone before selling...if you like playing music and video, the rezounds beats audio and super-sharp screen are awesome. It also takes amazing photos, only the HTC one x, iphone and galaxy s III take better.

Minuses include somewhat poor battery life (part of this is android, part is the high-res screen) and underpowered speaker audio. It's also not the lightest phone in the world, but not noticeably heavy in daily use.

I love my rezound, I'd still rather have it than an iPhone or droid razr.

I tried bidding on an inc2 on eBay today, but most are going over my current budget of $100. I will check that website and save up some more.

 

[scotty85]

keep eyeballs peeled on locak craiglists. if youre willing to drive an hour or so away from you,youll find one for your price range. just make sure you check it daily(or several times daily ) and jump on it when you do.

i gave $90 for my inc2 when they were still going for $150-$200. im starting to see them pretty regular now for $100-$125

i like mine alot as well. id actually use it alot more if it were easy. when i first got it i thot i could swap back and forth between it and my TB by moving the sim... but alas... not the case

the inc 2 is a wondefully simple,sexy,functional device that hasnt gotten nearly enuff credit IMO. its got pretty functional ICS and JB roms out,where then thunderbolt is not making any noticable progress for AOSP in either,and the rezound is just now catching on. inc2 is a fun phone to own

edit:
almost forgot,battery life seemed better today,but im having alot of lag and prollem with the keyboard. hopefully im not dead i was trying to text earlier and had to hit each key like 5 times,and then sometimes it would pick the key above it i almost threw it out the window and ran it over

 

[TheAtheistReverend]

What roms have you tried for rezound? I'm using viperrez, it basically turns the rezound into the HTC one x...my advice to you is to think about what you want from your phone before selling...if you like playing music and video, the rezounds beats audio and super-sharp screen are awesome. It also takes amazing photos, only the HTC one x, iphone and galaxy s III take better.

Minuses include somewhat poor battery life (part of this is android, part is the high-res screen) and underpowered speaker audio. It's also not the lightest phone in the world, but not noticeably heavy in daily use.

I love my rezound, I'd still rather have it than an iPhone or droid razr.

I tried bidding on an inc2 on eBay today, but most are going over my current budget of $100. I will check that website and save up some more.

I have tried Nils Business Sense 4.0, OTA-ICS Plus 1.1, Newts XxX, and CleanROM. I haven't stuck with any for long because I was losing data, Burning up and hotbooting and bootlooping. Scotty has me on the right track though I think. I'm coming in for another pass. We'll see if I can do some damage

My poor DInc2 is sitting up on the shelf next to my Eris looking forlorn.

I'd be using her right now, but DANG that screen is pretty on the Rez! And wowzer, 4G is FAST!

whew!

 

[thornev]

It also takes amazing photos, only the HTC one x, iphone and galaxy s III take better.

I don't get it. My Rez takes HORRIBLE pictures, extremely grainy. Why does everyone else say it's so great?

The stock camera was eh, so I tried the high-res replacement floating around and it's no improvement. Am I doing something wrong? There are settings and I've played around with them but nothing helps.

 

[obscuro]

Well I will grant you they are grainy when viewed up close. But the color range and focus are good, and low-light ability is superior when you compare it to *most* android phones.

If you are rooted, you might try installing the Sony bravia mod (comes with some roms). It applies some sharpening and other filters on-the-fly to both picture capture and display. YMMV, but I have been taking better pics since installing it. Sorry.don't have a link for the flashback zip atm, if u search xda-developers you will find it.

Attaching one of my recent pictures of a lionfish. Downsized and compressed for web.

 

[NEXTLOVER]

What roms have you tried for rezound? I'm using viperrez, it basically turns the rezound into the HTC one x...my advice to you is to think about what you want from your phone before selling...if you like playing music and video, the rezounds beats audio and super-sharp screen are awesome. It also takes amazing photos, only the HTC one x, iphone and galaxy s III take better.

Minuses include somewhat poor battery life (part of this is android, part is the high-res screen) and underpowered speaker audio. It's also not the lightest phone in the world, but not noticeably heavy in daily use.

I love my rezound, I'd still rather have it than an iPhone or droid razr.

I tried bidding on an inc2 on eBay today, but most are going over my current budget of $100. I will check that website and save up some more.

So I finally tried another ROM and on ViperRez (as long as I have an equalizer/xloud/SOMETHING music app) and... IDK man, the battery life seems kinda worse than Newt's Did you update to the OTA, and if you did, did you do an FDR?

I might have to go that route and just... reinstall everything again, including ViperRez ROM. There goes my Thurs. Nite Clubbin plans

& BIG thank you for the wallpapers. Tried to create sum, they all ended up ugly lol.

 

[Mr. Boom]

This might be a silly question, but when i searched for Newts 3.2.1 i only find an 11.9mb update. Is that flashed after the main file is flashed?

 

[obscuro]

This might be a silly question, but when i searched for Newts 3.2.1 i only find an 11.9mb update. Is that flashed after the main file is flashed?

Yes. There is a newts 3.1.2 file that you flash first, that's the full Rom. (U don't need the 3.0 file.) Then flash the 3.2.1 update, and if necessary, the old firmware patch if you are still on gingerbread. If you are on ics, and using fastboot boot [custom recovery] to flash the files, then you are good to go!

 

[Mr. Boom]

Yes. There is a newts 3.1.2 file that you flash first, that's the full Rom. (U don't need the 3.0 file.) Then flash the 3.2.1 update, and if necessary, the old firmware patch if you are still on gingerbread. If you are on ics, and using fastboot boot [custom recovery] to flash the files, then you are good to go!

I am S-off with amon ra permanently installed. Normal install for S-off devices?

 

[obscuro]

So I finally tried another ROM and on ViperRez (as long as I have an equalizer/xloud/SOMETHING music app) and... IDK man, the battery life seems kinda worse than Newt's Did you update to the OTA, and if you did, did you do an FDR?

I might have to go that route and just... reinstall everything again, including ViperRez ROM. There goes my Thurs. Nite Clubbin plans

& BIG thank you for the wallpapers. Tried to create sum, they all ended up ugly lol.

I don't know what fdr is, but yes I took the OTA, in part thanks to Scotty's manual OTA flashing tutorial. I did that, including flashing GB ruu, to get a fresh start so that I could get ICS firmware. Like you, I could care less about running the official vz ICS Rom.

Viperrez does seem to be using more battery, but it's a more polished Rom so I don't mind. The camera hasn't been buggy for me at all, u can read my other impressions on the thread.

Nextlover, I was hoping u would see I moved on to viperrez because it's superior to newts and will prob get updated more. There are all kinds of ways to theme sense with viperrez, which I know u said u liked customizing and such. Viper accepts adw-compatible icon packs, just fyi. Although I know u said u were using apex.

You're welcome on the wallpapers! Check the general rezound forum over next couple days, I'm about to post links to my collection of alarms/notification sounds/ui sounds/ ringtones from HTC hub, galaxy nexus, galaxy s III, LG spectrum and even the good old droid incredible 2

 

[obscuro]

I am S-off with amon ra permanently installed. Normal install for S-off devices?

Yes, it will work. I just assumed you were S-on. But are you on gingerbread still or did u upgrade to ICS firmware?

 

[Mr. Boom]

ICS thru the OTA. Just did the S-off and permanent recovery tonight. Man i miss the ease of the Dinc!

 

[obscuro]

ICS thru the OTA. Just did the S-off and permanent recovery tonight. Man i miss the ease of the Dinc!

How hard did u find the s-off process? I read a horror story elsewhere on this forum about a dude frying his phone because he did the wire trick wrong. (Scotty if u read this, I read all your responses on that thread, but it still scares me a little. )

 

[Mr. Boom]

How hard did u find the s-off process? I read a horror story elsewhere on this forum about a dude frying his phone because he did the wire trick wrong. (Scotty if u read this, I read all your responses on that thread, but it still scares me a little. )

It was actually quite easy if you read and follow the instructions. I only had two issues that were easily resolved.

1. When doing the wire trick i tried to use a piece of insulated paper clip. Didn't work. Went and found a piece of 20ga wire and ba da boom! Worked.

2. When rebooting after finding all the beer, i had to hit the button to reboot the phone(in recovery). It was sticking there until i hit reboot. Then it finished successfully.