Root Want to upgrade my radio - do I need to back up 1st?

[cable_guy]

Hi all, as above really, do I need to backup my current radio before I install a new one? I have a ROM manager full backup (I think that is a nandroid backup?) of the phone already - Will that have the radio in it?


thanks.

 

[InfernalByte]

Back it up first. You really need the one in the clockwork Mod menu if you have it. A nandroid takes a snapshot of your entire phone.

Flashing radio's is a lot more risky than flashing a rom. Why do you want to change?

 

[Hadron]

Many threads in XDA say that nandroid does not back up the radio. I've not tested this myself - I've flashed a few radios in my time, but am not so casual about it that I'd do it just to find out whether nandroid restore would undo it!

Having said that, I'd always take a nandroid before flashing anything. But if a radio flash goes badly wrong you may not be able to use it - a corrupted radio can completely brick the phone. As long as you are sensible and don't interrupt it once it's started you should be OK, but as CH says you should know what you are doing and why you are doing it, because this is one of the riskier things you can do.

 

[cable_guy]

reason I'm thinking about flashing a new radio is because my battery life is awful. I have even tried underclocking when the screen is off, which I am beginning to think may have had a slight improvement on battery life but still feel I could make it better. Plus apparantly my radio is quite old? 4.06.00.02_2

 

[Rastaman-FB]

you cannot backup radios via nandroid
nandroid does not backup radio or contents of sdcard
radio is not part of the nand.


what are you on a custom rom? that is a very old radio like its a 2.1 radio
did you upgrade to froyo via RUU before rooting and flashing custom roms
im pretty sure the debranded froyo release came with 5.09.x.x

 

[InfernalByte]

reason I'm thinking about flashing a new radio is because my battery life is awful. I have even tried underclocking when the screen is off, which I am beginning to think may have had a slight improvement on battery life but still feel I could make it better. Plus apparantly my radio is quite old? 4.06.00.02_2

When I flashed my .27 radio I had a big improvement in data speed but noticed no difference in power consumption.

 

[InfernalByte]

you cannot backup radios via nandroid
nandroid does not backup radio or contents of sdcard
radio is not part of the nand.

Got that

 

[Rastaman-FB]

lol i just re read that; im tempted to re word it as i look annoyed.
Im trying hatstand, ill get there one day

 

[cable_guy]

you cannot backup radios via nandroid
nandroid does not backup radio or contents of sdcard
radio is not part of the nand.


what are you on a custom rom? that is a very old radio like its a 2.1 radio
did you upgrade to froyo via RUU before rooting and flashing custom roms
im pretty sure the debranded froyo release came with 5.09.x.x

Thanks for that, not sure how I would go about backing up the radio then really...

I am on LeeDroid 2.2f which is still the first i've tried since rooting, and I went straight from T-Mobile UK's stock 2.1 to LeeDroid so havn't had my radio updated I believe. If it won't help with power consumption problems and is very risky as highlighted here I'm tempted to leave it but battery life is really getting me down with this phone

 

[FelixofMars]

I didn't even backup my data when I flashed my ROM (was a modified version on the HTC Froyo ROM) The only thing I did was backup the old Orange ROM with Nandroid

 

[InfernalByte]

Thanks for that, not sure how I would go about backing up the radio then really...

You don't really need to back your radio up though, its just a file like any other and is probably widely available as a download, if you do decide to flash a new one just make sure you have one that works with your rom, some have compatability issues and the camera stops working, etc.

 

[cable_guy]

fair enough, can't decide whether to go for it or not. The common consensus seems to be that upgrading the radio probably won't help the battery life anyway

 

[Rastaman-FB]

Thanks for that, not sure how I would go about backing up the radio then really...

I am on LeeDroid 2.2f which is still the first i've tried since rooting, and I went straight from T-Mobile UK's stock 2.1 to LeeDroid so havn't had my radio updated I believe. If it won't help with power consumption problems and is very risky as highlighted here I'm tempted to leave it but battery life is really getting me down with this phone

you need to be on a 2.2 radio for a 2.2 rom, the ril and everything else is different, im surprised its fully functional!
things like wifi and 720p recording usually break

its quite likely youll get better battery from flashing a froyo radio.

backing up a radio would be pointless, if it fails your device is a brick but you really do need to upgrade that
for safety measure do the following
download the radio https://www.dropbox.com/s/bqvy9v61pcvpluf/Radios
any of those will do but you can go for the latest.
download winmd5
run the md5 checker against the file and get the hash
then click on the md5 link for radio here LeeDrOiD ROMs: [ #ROMs ]
open the file in notepad and copy past the hash into the verify

this ensures the download is not corrupt so it minimises chance of failure

 

[InfernalByte]

lol i just re read that; im tempted to re word it as i look annoyed.
Im trying hatstand, ill get there one day

 

[Hadron]

I've never seen much impact of radio on battery life, but I've never used a 2.1 radio with 2.2 (and suspect that few of us have). Personally I would be inclined to try a newer radio in these circumstances.

You can download these files from XDA (look for "radios" in the thread Desire Index - Everything Desire is here! [UPDATED: 11/12] [ReflexTSense HD, DezireZ] - xda-developers). If in doubt, look at LeeDroid's site - I know he has a list of radios and download links, and presumably any which are known to be problematic with the ROM aren't included.

If you go ahead, make sure the phone is well charged, back is on. The radio flash is very quick - the install happens during the first boot, and that does take a few minutes. Just leave it alone and let it finish without interruption. And give it a few days before drawing any rapid conclusions on battery life - don't flash another after just a few hours, because many people report that these things do need a little time to settle down.

Edit: ah, Rasta's done it while I was typing - sorry for any duplication.

 

[cable_guy]

you need to be on a 2.2 radio for a 2.2 rom, the ril and everything else is different, im surprised its fully functional!
things like wifi and 720p recording usually break

its quite likely youll get better battery from flashing a froyo radio.

backing up a radio would be pointless, if it fails your device is a brick but you really do need to upgrade that
for safety measure do the following
download the radio https://www.dropbox.com/s/bqvy9v61pcvpluf/Radios
any of those will do but you can go for the latest.
download winmd5
run the md5 checker against the file and get the hash
then click on the md5 link for radio here LeeDrOiD ROMs: [ #ROMs ]
open the file in notepad and copy past the hash into the verify

this ensures the download is not corrupt so it minimises chance of failure

Thanks, I better upgrade it. I thought I should.

I've also just been reading around the battery life threads on here, my biggest consumer is Cell Standby. I think this is due to poor signal but I live in the middle of a city so don't really understand this. I am living in hope that maybe a new radio will improve the reception and therefore reduce Cell Standby. thanks for your help

 

[Rastaman-FB]

I've never seen much impact of radio on battery life, but I've never used a 2.1 radio with 2.2 (and suspect that few of us have). Personally I would be inclined to try a newer radio in these circumstances.

You can download these files from XDA (look for "radios" in the thread Desire Index - Everything Desire is here! [UPDATED: 11/12] [ReflexTSense HD, DezireZ] - xda-developers). If in doubt, look at LeeDroid's site - I know he has a list of radios and download links, and presumably any which are known to be problematic with the ROM aren't included.

If you go ahead, make sure the phone is well charged, back is on. The radio flash is very quick - the install happens during the first boot, and that does take a few minutes. Just leave it alone and let it finish without interruption. And give it a few days before drawing any rapid conclusions on battery life - don't flash another after just a few hours, because many people report that these things do need a little time to settle down.

Edit: ah, Rasta's done it while I was typing - sorry for any duplication.

actually you make a good point

when flashing it is quick but with clockwork it pauses for a few seconds longer and looks like its hung before it says complete
under no circumstances panic and pull the battery, you will brick it

 

[matttye]

If battery life is your main concern, have you tried a kernel that supports undervolting?

I use coutts99's kernel @ 875mv. Try the 925mv version before you try 875 though, then if the 925 version is stable, try 875.

I've also got setcpu which runs at 256mhz with the screen off (powersave governor), and between 256mhz and 998mhz with the screen on (smartass governor). The kernel I mentioned above allows you to underclock to 128mhz but I found it too slow.

Battery life is great.. I took my phone off charge at 3pm (7 hours ago) and my battery is at 70%. Display has been on for 48 minutes, a lot of which has been internet usage.