Root Apps2SD and Custom ROM Queries

[MarDoubleT]

Hi all,

I'm looking at taking the leap into the custom ROM world with my Hero on Orange (I've rooted, backed up nand and Titanium and even played with ShootMe in preparation...) and before I go any further, I have a couple of questions.

I'm a little worried about Apps2SD. Is it necessary for all custom ROMs (I've seen a disclaimer for KaguDroid 1.3 that it needs a partition on the SD, but nowhere else)? If not necessary, what are the pros and cons to it?

I was also hoping for some advice on ROM choice. I would love to play around with a 2.something ROM, but I really need voicemail notification to be working. To be honest, the other commonly mentioned issues, MMS, texts over 160 chars being separated, Wi-Fi/GPS dropping, would also irk me. From my reading I've gathered the MoDaCo 3.2 is probably the most stable while giving me a bit less lag (not to mention some no-doubt valuable ROM-flashing experience). Would there be any movement from that?

Any help/advice, even links to relevant threads that I've missed on my searching would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

MarDoubleT

 

[Xyro]

It's not necessary to have apps2sd at all. If you never set up your sd card for it then apps will continue to work like normal. Obviously the big benefit is the increase in the number of apps you can install, but they could potentially run more slowly if your SD card is slow. I have a class 6 card and can't say I can tell the difference.

If you want everything absolutely stable, go for modaco 3.2. It's only android 1.5 but it's a pretty much perfect ROM. If you want to try out 2.1 the main contenders are Villain 5.5 and SenseHero 2.2, although they are buggy in comparison to Modaco.

Villain also do a SlideVillain ROM. Although it's not actually firmware for the Hero (it's ported from the MyTouch Slide), it is miles better than the other two I mentioned. That's because those two are based on Sprint Hero firmwares, and porting it to European phones isn't simple. I think for that same reason the SMS splitting bug shouldn't affect it, in theory.

 

[MarDoubleT]

Thanks, I've been playing around with flashing the MoDaCo today. It's all been pretty painless apart from the Titanium backup seemingly not backing up my market apps off the stock ROM. I then started reinstalling one-by-one from the Market, got halfway, rebooted my phone, and now I can't see any of the other previously installed apps... I've done a nandroid backup and a reflash to see if that would do anything but it hasn't. Any suggestions?

Double.

 

[Xyro]

You mean it wouldn't restore any of the market links? I had trouble with that, but as soon as I downloaded a new app and the list was refreshed they all reappeared...

 

[MarDoubleT]

Yeah, that's what I meant. In the end I did a recovery back to my stock ROM, listed all my apps and went through searching for all of them. As per usual though with the android market, some of my existing apps don't want to be found at the moment.

 

[_MarkC]

Is it possible that the apps you cannot find were written for Android 1.6 or upwards?

 

[MarDoubleT]

Is it possible that the apps you cannot find were written for Android 1.6 or upwards?

Not really, given that I was coming from the stock 1.5 ROM and they were working fine there.

 

[stoney73]

Not really, given that I was coming from the stock 1.5 ROM and they were working fine there.

erm, if the apps you you are looking for worked in 1.5, its no guarantee they will work in 1.6 upwards.

 

[MarDoubleT]

erm, if the apps you you are looking for worked in 1.5, its no guarantee they will work in 1.6 upwards.

I think we're getting some crossed wires here. I've gone from the Stock HTC 1.5 ROM, to the MoDaCo 3.2 ROM, which is still an android 1.5 based ROM.

One of the apps in question was LogMeIn Ignition Beta, so it's entirely possible that they've removed it since before sending out the finished version.

 

[stoney73]

ignore lol

 

[stoney73]

just had a look for your specified app, LogMeIn Ignition Beta', market isnt bringing up anything for it, though I'm on 2.1

but upon searching in google, https://secure.logmein.com/welcome/android/ It would appear the beta is closed.

but here is the apk download:http://www.mediafire.com/?nrmmetgnmyj

 

[MarDoubleT]

Excellent, thanks!

A bit more on-topic, I've mainly plumped for the MoDaCo 3.2 over any of the 2.1 offerings, purely because it's more stable, and I need the phone to function all the time. Also, it is FAST!

I've also had a play with SenseHERO 2.2 and SlideVillain so far. SenseHERO was nice, quite slick and fast, though the whole android system went bezerk after I tried to flash on the optional 'friend stream' add-on. SlideVillain for me was very slow, a bit counterintuitive, and wouldn't pick up mobile internet at all. Back to MCR it was, but I'm not so bothered, it's fast, I can have it set up how I want it, and it's got some cool extra features over stock...

...Obviously with a few solid Nandroid backups it'd be rude to leave it at that and not give the above ROMs a second or third try!

 

[messyhead]

I've got a 2GB SD card at the mo, but I'm not using A2SD. I'm now getting a warning that my phone storage is low, so I'm thinking now would be a good time to try A2SD. I'll probably get a Class 4 or 6 card soon, but in the meantime if I use the card I have, can I then move the apps easily to a nea card when I get one?

 

[Xyro]

I've got a 2GB SD card at the mo, but I'm not using A2SD. I'm now getting a warning that my phone storage is low, so I'm thinking now would be a good time to try A2SD. I'll probably get a Class 4 or 6 card soon, but in the meantime if I use the card I have, can I then move the apps easily to a nea card when I get one?

I think that making a Nand + Ext backup with your old card in and then restoring it with the new partitioned card in would work.