Just rooted, do I need a ROM now?

[sxelsharif]

Hey guys,

I'm new to this site, and I just got my hero. I came from a palm pre and I had "rooted" it as well...but the hero is a little different. I have a few questions:

I've rooted my phone, now do I NEED to put a ROM on it? Or can I just leave it as it is for now, until I find out what ROM I want.

Secondly, I keep reading that in order to add a ROM you need to mount your SD card...does this mean I need to plug my phone into my computer and set it at "disk drive" or do i need to do it in the cmd prompt...or do both ways work.

How exactly would I restore my phone from my nandroid back up? I've made one (at least, i followed the steps on the xda guide to make one) and now I'm not sure what exactly I would have to do in order to actually utilize it. Would I do a hard restart or whatever and would it just come up from there?

Finally, what ROM do you guys recommend? I read about the Fresh ROMS, I really would like to have sprint navigation, but i guess those don't include it? is this true.

Also, if you guys have any other advice that you might think is helpful, i would highly appreciate it! My phone is at android 2.1 btw.

Thanks!

 

[Shady Pete]

1. You can leave your phone rooted and do not have to install a rom, but do not download the over the air update. It will patch your root.

2. The phone mounts your sd card automatically when you put it in.

3. You restore your phone from nandroid the same way you flash a custom rom. You have to boot your phone in recovery mode by holding volume down when you power it on. Select recovery, you are then given the option to flash from sd card. Select the nandroid/rom you want and wait.

4. You can redownload the stock apps you like to the custom rom. Most custom roms cut out the sprint apps. Google navigation works well also. I used Fresh Toast so that I can overclock my cpu, it works pretty well. Fresh is also good.

 

[Joehunni]

I have flashed every Rom and update for Rom straight from my hero, no need to even use a computer if you are already rooted.

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

 

[sxelsharif]

if i've rooted my phone using the method that was described at:

[GUIDE] How to Root Sprint 2.1 Release for CDMA Hero - xda-developers

where it says "disable OTA updates" do i have to do anything else in order to make sure the OTA doesn't download onto my phone? How do I know if i installed that part correctly, i think i did, but he says "After doing this, the OTA updates WILL still download, BUT they will not pass signature checks to flash because of the code you just entered." so i just want to make sure that i'm good to go...

 

[Joehunni]

Even if it didn't work you'd ne prompted to download it, it wouldn't just automatically do it so no worries.

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

 

[mplsnst]

I've rooted my phone, now do I NEED to put a ROM on it? [...] Finally, what ROM do you guys recommend? I read about the Fresh ROMS, I really would like to have sprint navigation, but i guess those don't include it? is this true.

You don't have to install a new ROM, you can just take advantage of your root access to delete bloatware, activate tethering, etc. and leave things otherwise the same. However, even if you're happy with the standard setup, I'd still recommend installing this one:
[ROM] Sprint 2.27.651.6 STOCK Deoxed w/A2SD Update 3 |6/22/2010| - xda-developers

This ROM is basically just a rooted version of the latest Sprint update (ie. the next version after the one you rooted from), which seriously reduced the much complained-about lag in the dialer and people app. It includes all the stock Sprint and HTC apps and widgets, allowing you to keep the ones you like and delete the ones you don't (it also comes with Wifi Tether preinstalled, which is of course very handy). Since it's otherwise entirely stock, it also allows you to apply PRL updates right from your phone, no need for the complicated workarounds the more customized ROMs require.

 

[sxelsharif]

how do you flash a rom from your hero??

 

[Joehunni]

Just download the zip file for a Rom, move it from downloads folder to the root of the SD card, the highest directory, and when you boot into recovery, hold home key while holding red power key to boot up, then choose factory data and cache wipe. After that pick install zip from SD card, just scroll down and select the rom zip and select it. Be patient as the first boot takes about 5 minutes usually.

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

 

[ronbien]

These instructions are for Fresh 1.1 but work with any ROM.
They are basicalloy the same as Joe suggested.
Remember to do a Nandroid Backup before flashing any ROM.
The wiping deletes all your data. Make sure all your contacts, calendar and e-mails are backed up as well.

Good Luck!
_________________________

Installing Fresh 1.1

How to use it:
0. Create a nandroid backup!

1. Copy this rom (do not unzip) to the root of your sdcard using one of the various methods.

I found it easy to simply mount my SD card and then drag the file into the root directory. Also, if you are wondering what is the "root directory" of your SD card, it is the main, top level directory. For example, on a computer the root folder of the C: directory is C:\

2. Go to the recovery program by either typing "reboot recovery" from an adb shell or by powering off the phone and holding Home while you power it on.

3. Wipe data and wipe Delvik

4. Scroll down to "Flash zip from SD Card" and select the zipped rom. Press the home button to confirm you want to write it.

5. After it finishes (takes several minutes) click "Reboot system now".


If all goes well, and it should, you should now be running Fresh 1.1.
After your phone reboots and you know everything is good, one big question is always, can I remove the Fresh zip file I put on my phone to clear up some room. The answer to that is yes.