Root Choosing a ROM

[muab]

I did read the sticky on posting here and I THINK this is okay to post here...if not, mods, I am sure I will relocated.

I am trying to select my first ROM and my priorities are:

1. Stability/bug free

2. Long battery life

3. Wifi tethering


I would like to have speed at least equal with my stock Froyo.

I am looking at these three ROMs currently

BB 0.4

Chevy's 4.7

UD 7

Any help in making a determination?


Thank you!

 

[drudometkin]

Try the new Cyanogenmod 6. Just came out last night and is sweet.

 

[breadnatty08]

This shouldn't be in this sub-forum, only for theme and ROM releases. Also, really, just try them all. It's easy enough to backup and switch quickly. Give each ROM a couple days to "settle in" before making big judgements about them. You'll also have to play with kernels in regards to battery life and speed. I'm a big fan of CM6 because of the options, but others like other ROMs more for their reasons. I'm really curious about whether or not Pete will continue supporting the D1 since he hasn't released a ROM in a long time (though he has speculated and "leaked" future features of 0.5 so it's not a complete wash).

 

[muab]

I am running BB 0.4 now and it is working very well. So far I am very impressed. I really do not wish to fool around with a ton of ROMs and kernels. I just want everything to work well.

I appreciate the tips from everyone.

 

[twistedlim]

Glad it is working out for you. Make sure you have downloaded setcpu and do some searches on how to use it. It is a great battery saver when used properly. If you change to a slayher kernel try the "interactive" govener for you main setting and your profiles. I have found it to be faster and smoother than "ondemand" with other kernels. It is really no big deal to play around with kernels. Just make sure you have a backup or two. I made the mistake of doing a complete backup evertime I changed kernels and before I knew it I had filled my sd card and got into a bind. The kernels are easy to change and play around with and a good way to get the phone running at the perfect level of speed vs battery life for your particular usage.

 

[Psychokitty]

I think in these instances, where someone is looking for a non-flashy, high performance functional ROM, the best question would be "Which ROM should I avoid?", because I think very few if any have been proved to be poor. LOL

-There is also an ongoing ROM evaluation sticky that many members have put great effort into. Try to feed that effort by voting in the ROM polls they have set up.
Glad you're up & running! I put my 2 cents in on another of your threads with regards to SetCPU settings and battery longevity.

 

[Psychokitty]

Glad it is working out for you. Make sure you have downloaded setcpu and do some searches on how to use it. It is a great battery saver when used properly. If you change to a slayher kernel try the "interactive" govener for you main setting and your profiles. I have found it to be faster and smoother than "ondemand" with other kernels. It is really no big deal to play around with kernels. Just make sure you have a backup or two. I made the mistake of doing a complete backup evertime I changed kernels and before I knew it I had filled my sd card and got into a bind. The kernels are easy to change and play around with and a good way to get the phone running at the perfect level of speed vs battery life for your particular usage.

I say do a backup whenever you can, and just be sure to go into Manage Backups in ROM Manager and delete the older ones. It really blows if you play with your phone a lot and have to revert back to a backup you did a week ago. You may be surprised at how much info you add in a week; numbers, notes, bookmarks, game scores, apps, app updates, configuration changes, etc. It all adds up to a great big, "Oh crap!", and giant vortex of time-suck just to get back to where you were. Hours vs tem minutes max to do a current restore & delete the oldest one.
My opinion.

 

[myko14]

I say do a backup whenever you can, and just be sure to go into Manage Backups in ROM Manager and delete the older ones. It really blows if you play with your phone a lot and have to revert back to a backup you did a week ago.

I find myself wanting to try every ROM out there. I have a question regarding ROM Manager, nandroid, Titanium, MyBackup, AppBrain, etc.
My question: What is the easiest way to flip back and forth between a ROM/kernel combo to another ROM/kernel? For example, I liked Sapphire 1.0 with their kernel but had to try the new CM6. I am using a jdlfg kernel with it. I am having problems losing call logs and duplication of contactsbetween ROM changes.
If I figure out how to apply the nandroid backup correctly shouldn't it restore me to that ROM/kernel in one step with my contacts, settings, SMS from time of the backup? How do I then incorporate data changes from the past few days?

 

[muab]

I say do a backup whenever you can, and just be sure to go into Manage Backups in ROM Manager and delete the older ones. It really blows if you play with your phone a lot and have to revert back to a backup you did a week ago. You may be surprised at how much info you add in a week; numbers, notes, bookmarks, game scores, apps, app updates, configuration changes, etc. It all adds up to a great big, "Oh crap!", and giant vortex of time-suck just to get back to where you were. Hours vs tem minutes max to do a current restore & delete the oldest one.
My opinion.

Psychokitty, Which sort of back up are you speaking of? Nandroid backup from RM?
Or mybackup Pro backup? etc?

 

[Clinetyme]

I just got the Bug 0.4....I lost alot of service after rooting and using a stock rom
...after getting the Bug I got all my service back and some...I went to get the newest band...turns out 0.4 already has it...not to mention its clocked to 800megs by default.....so far I'm really happy w/ 0.4.

 

[emdmao]

CM6 is always the most stable for me, but often get's mixed reviews regarding battery life. I don't know what extra features you are interested in, but CM can't be beat in that area. Though, UD and Chevy's ROM's are full of features also.

 

[muab]

CM6 is always the most stable for me, but often get's mixed reviews regarding battery life. I don't know what extra features you are interested in, but CM can't be beat in that area. Though, UD and Chevy's ROM's are full of features also.

It does sound like CM is feature-packed and I read some excellent reviews on it. A high number of people reported less battery life and that was a deal-killer for me.
I can understand how other people might like that trade-off however and that is the beauty of this stuff (god, I am getting all emotional thinking about it)...the level of customization certainly allows the Droid to "be all things to all people" if you will.

My thing is reliable and longer battery life I guess.

Thanks for your insights.


Cheers

 

[Psychokitty]

In ROM Manager, hit "Back up Current ROM", and it'll save it, named as the date by default (-you should change it to what you can recognize if it's a different ROM and you're experimenting with a new one...), in your nandroid folder under nandroid/restore.
When you need to revert to a backed up image of your phone as it was on that date, go into ClockworkMod Recovery or SP Recovery, select nandroid, restore, and choose from the list of back-up images you've created.

So, know first that some kernels and ROMs don't mix well, and some kernels don't like leaving when you try installing a new one. Wierd things can happen.
So, install a ROM, configure it, get your phone all set just the way you like it, with your apps all set and updated. Make a back up of it. That's one you're not going to want to delete for a while, so name it something special. It's virgin; -no new OC kernel.
Now you can install an OCing kernel as an update.zip. Make a back up of that, too. want to try a different kernel? Try installing it. If it goes well, then good. But if you get boot-loops, at least you've got the virgin ROM you can try that kernel with. See if you get the boot loops with that.

Anyhow, that's been my experience, and how I proceed, as safely as I can. It seems like a pain in the a$$, but it's a lot worse when you've lost all your apps and texts and other data and have to start all over from scratch. WAYYY more time is wasted getting to your happy ROM place.

 

[Psychokitty]

I find myself wanting to try every ROM out there. I have a question regarding ROM Manager, nandroid, Titanium, MyBackup, AppBrain, etc.
My question: What is the easiest way to flip back and forth between a ROM/kernel combo to another ROM/kernel? For example, I liked Sapphire 1.0 with their kernel but had to try the new CM6. I am using a jdlfg kernel with it. I am having problems losing call logs and duplication of contactsbetween ROM changes.
If I figure out how to apply the nandroid backup correctly shouldn't it restore me to that ROM/kernel in one step with my contacts, settings, SMS from time of the backup? How do I then incorporate data changes from the past few days?

Someone with more experience/knowledge than I will have to help you with the specifics, but in ClockworkMod Recovery you can go into nandroid/Advanced Restore. You come to the list of your backed up images from which you choose your restore ROM. Then you have the following menu:

Restore boot
Restore system
Restore data
Restore cache
Restore sd-ext

I have never played with any of these, but I imagine that these tools can help you place data from one restored ROM into your current one.
If you figure that out, by all means put up a new post. It may well be outlined in great detail on an old thread here.