Root Is it really that much faster?

[offanairplane]

Hi!
I got a hand-me-down Eris from my bro-in-law last week. This is my first smartphone, and I have been wanting one for a long time. I am very impressed with this phone's capabilities, and I have a blast using the various apps.

However, the more I use it the more I notice the laggyness. I have downloaded a Task Killer, and I routinely kill everything that isn't normally running. For example if I play a game or run Pandora for a while, I will always kill those when I'm done, but I don't kill the clock or weather apps, or stuff like that because they will just start right up again anyway.

But in spite of my app-killing, the phone is still quite laggy. I only have about 4 or 5 non-stock apps on the phone, so I know my memory isn't even near full, so that's not it.

I have read quite a bit about rooting and romming, and heard some big claims about performance, but I am still hesitant. My contract isn't up until July 2012, so I need this phone to hold up at least that long for me. At that point, I will most definitely be getting the newest and snazziest Droid available on Verizon. But until then, I would love it if I could really dramatically improve my phone's speed and overall performance.

Do any of the Roms available really make a huge difference?
Are there any negative side-effects aside from voiding my warranty (which is already expired)? Are there very stable roms available that I can be sure will not cause any problems. Will those Roms offer the performance improvement I am looking for?


Sorry for the long-winded post, but I really want to know more about this before taking the plunge and hacking my phone.


Thanks!

 

[scotty85]

its hard for me to comment on the roms vs stock,as i dint really play with my stock phone before i rooted it. i bought it used with the intention to root it from the beginning

rooting will give you access to things that the stock rom will not. it will let you under or overclock,or wifi tether. it will let you delete some preinstalled apps that you do not use.

the biggest benefits,IMO,are to be able to to use newer operating systems. the eris stopped reciving support and updates at 2.1. there are very good 2.2 roms avaible,and recently 2.3 is even becoming an option.

check out these threads:

http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/258262-what-do-2-2-roms-get-you.html

http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/273310-cm7.html

if you are not stuck on a htc "sense" based rom,id encourage you to check out the 2.2 roms first,then when youre comforable play with cm7

some links to 2.2 roms here:
http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/220905-best-2-2-rom.html

id personally reccomend any of them-ive tried them all they were all stable and good enuff for daily use,and ended up using CELB the longest,since it is pure cm6 without alot of developer tweeks added in.

alot of folks love htc sense. nothing wrong with it,but sense roms can use more battery with the constant updating thats done with its various widgets,and also possibly get laggy after time.

best advice is to just play with them and see what works for you. make sure you read alot,ask questions and become comfortable with the process,and youre very,very unlikely to damage your phone to the point of being unusable,so it should easily last you till your next update,assuming the hardware holds out. unfortunately these phones are notorious for issues with the cute little trackball,so use care when plugging and unplugging your charger,and try and keep it out of dusty,dirty environments. part of the process of installing roms is backing up the one you are currently using,so try out a bunch. you can always go right back to your favorites

 

[mhrebin]

rooting your phone will unlock it and let you install custom ROMs and also overclock the processor. I am currently running the Pure Vanilla AOSP 2.1 and its awesome. Super stable, very minimal and its overclock to 710 so its night and day over a stock eris. The best part (to me) about root is you can download Root Explorer and remove the stuff you don't want off a rom and that helps even further. I have tried several other roms and I ALWAYS come back to this because its pure android and I don't need all the bells and whistles most roms offer today. Just want a quick phone that isn't all junked up.

I recommend this highly, very stable, fast and best of all it is pure vanilla android.

[ROM] [GPL] [10-11-10] Vanilla 2.0.4 [Pure AOSP 2.1, OC, A2SD, CFS, Cache2Cache] FAST - xda-developers

 

[doogald]

The speed differences are not dramatically different with custom ROMs, but the stock Eris is plagued with terrible delays when your phone call log grows, to the point where it starts to take a long time for the phone to respond to an incoming calls (to show you who is calling and give you touch-screen controls to answer them), to show the dialer, and, when you SMS/MMS message store grows large, it takes forever to work with those at all.

Rooting the phone and installing a custom ROM will not turn the phone into an Incredible, or a Droid. However, in my experience, it will, indeed, solve those problems. The ROMs run the phone faster than a stock Eris, so things do feel faster; those dialer and messaging lags do not appear; I get better battery life, because, though the phone runs faster when you use it, it also runs slower than stock when the phone is idle and not doing anything (which, for most of us, is most of the time), and it draws a smaller amount of current from the battery.

It's true that (technically) installing a custom ROM will void the carrier and manufacturer warranty, but that is not an issue for you. Also, it is fairly easy these days to return the phone to stock, without root privileges and the custom recovery that you need to install custom ROMs, making it easy to look as if the phone was never rooted.

If you are going to do this, I have two recommendations:

1. Use the procedure very expertly documented by Erisuser1 in the thread http://androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/127861-universal-eris-root-dummies.html (not because anybody things you are a "dummy", but because the procedures are so well documented and easy to follow.)

2. When it comes time to choose a ROM to install, start with the one called xtrSENSE4.6.5: [ROM][GPL][11/5/2010] xtrSENSE4.6.5 [cache2cache,apps2sd,oc,jit]-HTC Sense - xda-developers. The Universal Root thread's fourth post will walk you through the steps that you need to take to install this ROM. xtrSENSE looks and feels like stock Eris, without those lag issues. It is a fantastic first root ROM for people to try, in my opinion.

And, as I said, if you are not pleased with the way the phone works with xtrSENSE, you can always go back to stock using a ROM called Flashback21 (also by Erisuser1, by the way): [ROM][10/20/2010]FlashBack21 v1 -Return to Factory Stock - UPDATED - xda-developers

Good luck and continue asking questions if you have them.

 

[Praetorian]

Yes, it is that much faster. Its night and day. Its the difference between throwing the Eris against a brick wall and actually enjoying the phone. Root. Root now!

 

[offanairplane]

Thanks for the fast and helpful responses!

A couple more questions.

If HTC Sense was not on my phone, how would it look/operate differently.
I need to know this so I can decide if I need a Rom with Sense or if I wouldn't even miss Sense if it were gone.


Also, are you saying that the phone's laggyness when making and recieving calls is due to the call log length? Then if I cleared my call log every once in a while would that help?

Also, I've noticed when opening my text messages up, even for numbers that I have a contact and even a picture for, it will just show the phone number. And I am like "huh?" But then the name and picture will appear. I'm like man that is slow.

The Roms will fix that too?



This is what I am looking for. Please suggest a Rom that fits it.

1. I would love to be able to delete any stock app on the phone that I will never use.

2. Aside from push email, and maybe the weather app, I really don't want my phone updating a ton of stuff continuously, like facebook or whatever else in the background.

3. I don't particularly care if I have the newest OS version, as long as the one I have does what I want. So if Eclair gets the job done and there's nothing in Froyo or GB that I really would utilize, then I have no problem staying with Eclair.

4. I will probably never use wireless (or wired) tethering.

5. I really need the camera to work and work well. I have a 2 year old girl and an 8 month old boy, and I take a ton of pictures and videos. I had heard that on some Roms the camera was buggy.

6. I want to be able to download any apps available for my OS version and expect them to work properly. Or if they don't work properly I don't want it to be because of my Rom, rather just because it's a buggy app, and would be buggy even on a stock Eris.

7. I want to be able to back up everything (especially paid for apps) so that if anything happens I can restore everything. SMS message and such are not a huge deal, or my call log. I don't care if I lose those. But all my apps and stuff I want to be able to backup.


I can definitely see how removing all the clutter and such would improve speed and performance even without overclocking. But combined with overclocking, I can definitely see why it would make a big difference.


Thanks again for all the help!

 

[knitpurlgurl]

I found that the difference btwn stock and using the right custom ROM is entirely noticeable. People will tell you that a lot of custom ROMs aren't stable. And while I would have to agree with that to an extent, I HAVE to say that I've found the custom ROMs to be more stable than the stock Eris after it's 2.1 update. I just flashed GingerShedBread v1.2 to my phone last night and absolutely love it!

One thing I will say, is there tends to be a bit of a difference at times regarding how they work on different Erises. You really have to flash and try them out. Everyone uses their smartphone differently, so depending on what's important to you, you may find that you like one ROM over another. I was running FroShedYo for the longest time and LOVED it! So, just play around. Read the forum posts about what people found to be the pros and cons of each ROM.

Good luck!

 

[stanlalee]

All that multi app running causing the phone to lag down is an eris 2.1 phenomenon IMO that mostly goes away with froyo and gingerbread memory management. I cant remember how fast 2.1 was but with froyo/gingerbread and autokiller (not task or app killers) there is none of that running apps slowing the phone down business. Some roms are faster than others (CM 6.1 based froyo roms IMO: nonsensikal, floyo tazz...all the gingerbreads are fast..faster than the fast 2.2 IMO though everything may not work on all of them yet). It must be fast enough, after playing extensively with unrooted stock evo (a while ago) and facinate (very recently and frequently) both on 2.1 elair they further convinced me NOT to upgade

Speed is probably 10% of what makes rooting turn the phone from a throw away to cant let it go. its the customizing and thingsit could do it couldn't do before that make it hard to put down.

 

[doogald]

If HTC Sense was not on my phone, how would it look/operate differently.
I need to know this so I can decide if I need a Rom with Sense or if I wouldn't even miss Sense if it were gone.

You can see now, if you wish. Install either a replacement launcher, like LauncherPro or ADW, or you can even install an app called Home Switcher and use that to change the default home app from Sense to the default Android home. Things really aren't that different; default home has only 3 screens (though LauncherPro or ADW can have as many as 7, or 9, I can't recall which - and you can choose the number that you want yourself.) The key differences? None of the HTC widgets - the large clock/weather thing, the toggle widgets, etc. - will work unless you use Sense.

When you are done checking it out, you can either use Home Switcher to switch the default back to Sense, or, if you uninstall the new home app, the next time that you press Home it will ask you to select which home app that you want and allow you optionally to make it the default.

The non-Sense ROMs sometimes use a different dialer, messaging, calendar and browser apps - but the differences are slight. The dialer/contacts app is probably the biggest difference, but it's not that hard to figure out how to use.

Perhaps the best thing is to do something like watch a video review (perhaps here at Phandroid) for a phone like the Nexus One - that should give you a good idea how a ROM without sense works.

Also, are you saying that the phone's laggyness when making and recieving calls is due to the call log length? Then if I cleared my call log every once in a while would that help?

It will help, but I am not 100% convinced it is the only cause. I used to clear my log every few days myself. You can try to see if it helps you.

Also, I've noticed when opening my text messages up, even for numbers that I have a contact and even a picture for, it will just show the phone number. And I am like "huh?" But then the name and picture will appear. I'm like man that is slow.

The Roms will fix that too?

In my experience, yes.

This is what I am looking for. Please suggest a Rom that fits it.

1. I would love to be able to delete any stock app on the phone that I will never use.

All of them will allow this, with some caveats - there are some stock apps that cannot be removed. You cannot remove talk, or messaging, for example. You can easily remove Peep, Footprints, Amazon MP3 Store, however. xtrSENSE doesn't even have Amazon MP3 Store, by the way.

2. Aside from push email, and maybe the weather app, I really don't want my phone updating a ton of stuff continuously, like facebook or whatever else in the background.

Well, you can do that now. Just don't install those apps, and disconnect the Facebook sync in settings->accounts & sync. The apps that you see running in the background will not update in the background unless you have set them up to do so.

3. I don't particularly care if I have the newest OS version, as long as the one I have does what I want. So if Eclair gets the job done and there's nothing in Froyo or GB that I really would utilize, then I have no problem staying with Eclair.

I agree with this. Use what works, not what is new and shiny, just because it is new and shiny. There are very, very few differences between 2.1 and 2.3. It's mostly a lot of chrome. The biggest difference is that Froyo and later have a better gmail client, and the Google Voice Actions is much better in Froyo and later.

5. I really need the camera to work and work well. I have a 2 year old girl and an 8 month old boy, and I take a ton of pictures and videos. I had heard that on some Roms the camera was buggy.

Recent Froyo ROMs are better with the camera, but I think that xtrSENSE/xtrROM/xtrRCMix/Tainted Tenzo/Plain Jane - i.e., the 2.1 ROMs closest to stock - have the best cameras.

That said, the Eris is really a crappy camera. I have taken very few decent photos with it, and low light/indoor photos in particular are awful. That said, I guess that they are better than no camera.

6. I want to be able to download any apps available for my OS version and expect them to work properly. Or if they don't work properly I don't want it to be because of my Rom, rather just because it's a buggy app, and would be buggy even on a stock Eris.

You should have no worries about this. I haven't had any app not work because I was rooted.

7. I want to be able to back up everything (especially paid for apps) so that if anything happens I can restore everything. SMS message and such are not a huge deal, or my call log. I don't care if I lose those. But all my apps and stuff I want to be able to backup.

I think that the best two apps for this are MyBackup Pro and Titanium Backup (the paid version). I strongly prefer Titanium for this, as it can batch backup apps, do them on a schedule (i.e., while the phone is on a charger and you are sleeping), encrypt the backups strongly if you wish, batch restore on a freshly wiped phone. Just be careful to restore only the apps that are not colored green or red (i.e., system apps) if you switch to a different ROM. I use Titanium for this purpose myself.

 

[Bob Cat]

The question is why would you not want to root. Before rooting my phone I did alot of reading until I felt ready to do it then when I did I started asking questions and their is some great people in here ready to answer them for you. I didn't know squat about rooting and now I'm flashing roms like a pro just don't know near what they do. So give it a try what you got to lose.
Oh yea and if a plumber can do it anybody can.

 

[offanairplane]

The question is why would you not want to root. Before rooting my phone I did alot of reading until I felt ready to do it then when I did I started asking questions and their is some great people in here ready to answer them for you. I didn't know squat about rooting and now I'm flashing roms like a pro just don't know near what they do. So give it a try what you got to lose.
Oh yea and if a plumber can do it anybody can.

We'll see if an electrician can do it. lol

 

[offanairplane]

So the little "dashboard" at the bottom of the center home screen appears to be gone on the Nexus-1. (I watched the CNet video)
Maybe less screens like you said already, but that's no biggie. Right now I have garbage on two screens cause I don't need them. Also I could definitely condense down to 3 if I had to.


You said the weather and big clock widgets would be gone. But you could probably download widgets that do the same thing right?

 

[offanairplane]

How does it work with paid-for apps?
Currently I only have one app that wasn't free. So if I redo my phone, how do I get it back?


I have read the Rooting for dummies. And I know there is a step in there that it backups something in the Amon Ra recovery, but what is it that it backs up?

 

[doogald]

You said the weather and big clock widgets would be gone. But you could probably download widgets that do the same thing right?

Yes, there are several that duplicate the functionality. Beautiful Widgets is a popular choice; many ROMs come with a Google widget called "News and weather" that is pretty nice. Many of the widgets that replicate the Sense clock do not have the weather animations, but those always bugged me anyway.

How does it work with paid-for apps?
Currently I only have one app that wasn't free. So if I redo my phone, how do I get it back?

They will be in the market. Always will (assuming, of course, that you login with the same Google account.)

In fact, the first time that you enter the market, all of your apps, free and paid, should be there. Just don't leave the market, because the free ones eventually disappear if you do not reinstall them at that first step.

I have read the Rooting for dummies. And I know there is a step in there that it backups something in the Amon Ra recovery, but what is it that it backs up?

It backs up everything on your phone (with the exception of your SD card) so it can be exactly restored later on. If you make a Nandroid of your phone, then try out a ROM that you do not like, when you Nandroid restore, your phone will be exactly as it was at the time that you made the Nandroid backup - all of your apps, all of your data, all of your home screens, etc.

 

[offanairplane]

In fact, the first time that you enter the market, all of your apps, free and paid, should be there. Just don't leave the market, because the free ones eventually disappear if you do not reinstall them at that first step.

I'm not 100% clear on this statment.
Are you saying that my apps are stored on Google (at least the ones that I bought from the google app store) and I can wipe my phone, flash my phone, or even get a new phone, and just log into my google account and it will restore them all, bought and free alike?

If that is the case then there is no need to back anything up for me.

 

[metlcat]

I'm not 100% clear on this statment.
Are you saying that my apps are stored on Google (at least the ones that I bought from the google app store) and I can wipe my phone, flash my phone, or even get a new phone, and just log into my google account and it will restore them all, bought and free alike?

If that is the case then there is no need to back anything up for me.

All of the paid apps you have will be there to restore. I can't remember how my phone did after I rooted, but sometimes not all of the free apps have restored when I've flashed a new ROM. Also, the way I mainly use backups is to restore app data so I don't have to mess with all my settings after I flash new ROM for all of my apps. It also saves what level I'm on in Angry Birds (so important).

 

[mjb34500]

I recently rooted my phone and went to KaosFroyo earlier this week. Honestly, it's like my phone is a brand new phone. I always loved the compact size of the Eris and the controls of it - it fits nicely in my pocket, doesn't dial out on its own or just randomly turn on, and always seemed to have good reception. That said, I was upset when they didn't roll out Froyo in the first place - I think it has all kinds of great new features that the old stock 2.1 didn't have. I was late to this rooting party, but I am so so pleased with it. I'm up for a new phone upgrade and could even get the new Iphone if I wanted, but I'm so pleased with my 'new' Eris I'm going to ride it till it just dies. As long as I can keep up with the new ROMS, I intend to just use it till it dies.

 

[doogald]

I'm not 100% clear on this statment.
Are you saying that my apps are stored on Google (at least the ones that I bought from the google app store) and I can wipe my phone, flash my phone, or even get a new phone, and just log into my google account and it will restore them all, bought and free alike?

If that is the case then there is no need to back anything up for me.

Every time that I have wiped data, the first visit to the market, menu->My Apps shows all of my apps, free and paid. Some people report otherwise, but I never have.

Another option is to go to install appbrain from the market, log in with your Google account, and synchronize. You should be able to then use appbrain to reinstall apps after a wipe.

I still think it's smart to have apps backups, just in case.

 

[offanairplane]

All of the paid apps you have will be there to restore. I can't remember how my phone did after I rooted, but sometimes not all of the free apps have restored when I've flashed a new ROM. Also, the way I mainly use backups is to restore app data so I don't have to mess with all my settings after I flash new ROM for all of my apps. It also saves what level I'm on in Angry Birds (so important).

Cool deal.

I know that probably a lot of you said this originally and changed your mind later, but I am really not going to be into changing roms on a whim.
I want something faster, smoother, more reliable with less clutter, and once I find that, I am not going to be changing it.

From what I read, xtrRom_5.0 is what I'm looking for. It doesn't have Sense, but that's not a biggie for me, and if it speeds the phone up not having it, I'll make the sacrifice.

I am about to attempt to flash it here in a few minutes. I'm backing up my SD card right now. I don't know if I really needed to do that, but I'm doing it anyway. I have pictures that are irreplaceable on there, not to mention about 2,500 mp3's. So I'm backing it up just in case. As soon as it's done, I'm going to root and flash.

Wish me luck!

 

[offanairplane]

I recently rooted my phone and went to KaosFroyo earlier this week. Honestly, it's like my phone is a brand new phone. I always loved the compact size of the Eris and the controls of it - it fits nicely in my pocket, doesn't dial out on its own or just randomly turn on, and always seemed to have good reception. That said, I was upset when they didn't roll out Froyo in the first place - I think it has all kinds of great new features that the old stock 2.1 didn't have. I was late to this rooting party, but I am so so pleased with it. I'm up for a new phone upgrade and could even get the new Iphone if I wanted, but I'm so pleased with my 'new' Eris I'm going to ride it till it just dies. As long as I can keep up with the new ROMS, I intend to just use it till it dies.

I agree about the Eris.
I really wanted this phone when it first came out, but didn't have the $.
Now that I have it, I hate that it's mostly outdated. But hopefully once I flash it, it won't be outdated anymore. I could care less if it's last year's model or whatever, I just hate how laggy it is. Hopefully the new rom will fix that and I'll be 100% satisfied with it.

My boss has a droid-X, and I would just never want a phone that large.

 

[offanairplane]

Every time that I have wiped data, the first visit to the market, menu->My Apps shows all of my apps, free and paid. Some people report otherwise, but I never have.

Another option is to go to install appbrain from the market, log in with your Google account, and synchronize. You should be able to then use appbrain to reinstall apps after a wipe.

I still think it's smart to have apps backups, just in case.

Awesome!
I only have one app that wasn't free, and it was only $7, so it's not the end of the world if I lose all my apps. Just a minor inconvenience. Like I said if I were going to be Rom-swapping all the time, I'd want to nail down a good backup plan, but in my case, if I am as satisfied with xtrRom_5.0 as I think I'm going to be, I doubt I'll ever flash it again.

 

[doogald]

Cool deal.

I know that probably a lot of you said this originally and changed your mind later, but I am really not going to be into changing roms on a whim.
I want something faster, smoother, more reliable with less clutter, and once I find that, I am not going to be changing it.

From what I read, xtrRom_5.0 is what I'm looking for. It doesn't have Sense, but that's not a biggie for me, and if it speeds the phone up not having it, I'll make the sacrifice.

I am about to attempt to flash it here in a few minutes. I'm backing up my SD card right now. I don't know if I really needed to do that, but I'm doing it anyway. I have pictures that are irreplaceable on there, not to mention about 2,500 mp3's. So I'm backing it up just in case. As soon as it's done, I'm going to root and flash.

Wish me luck!

Ok, good luck, feel free to keep asking questions. I'm in and out this evening, but there are others who I am sure will pipe up with answers.

xtrROM is an excellent choice, by the way. I'm actually thinking about flashing this in a few days myself, to see if 5.0 does anything to improve battery life for me. I find that the Froyo (and now Gingerbread) ROMs give me the same performance with better battery life. That said, there are issues; the camera is not as good (though I haven't tried GB yet), navigation seems to have a problem holding the GPS signal, and some people have problems with calls seeming to drop and then reconnect.

But, that's later down the line for you - flash xtrROM and enjoy! Promise yourself that you'll try it for at least a few days before you think about moving on to something else.

 

[offanairplane]

Ok, good luck, feel free to keep asking questions. I'm in and out this evening, but there are others who I am sure will pipe up with answers.

xtrROM is an excellent choice, by the way. I'm actually thinking about flashing this in a few days myself, to see if 5.0 does anything to improve battery life for me. I find that the Froyo (and now Gingerbread) ROMs give me the same performance with better battery life. That said, there are issues; the camera is not as good (though I haven't tried GB yet), navigation seems to have a problem holding the GPS signal, and some people have problems with calls seeming to drop and then reconnect.

But, that's later down the line for you - flash xtrROM and enjoy! Promise yourself that you'll try it for at least a few days before you think about moving on to something else.

Oh, I will definitely give it at least a week or so.
I really am not that comfortable with hacking my phone, so I don't want to flash anymore than I have to.

I have read the notes on xtrROM and making changes sounds very complicated, using GScript and whatnot. I don't want to tweak it that much. The way I see it the developer knows a lot more about the best way to do those settings than I do, so I'll leave it as is.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the new battery tweaks turned off by default in 5.0? That's what it looked like to me as I read the notes. Maybe I misunderstood though.

 

[offanairplane]

Using the Root for Dummies method, I think it says something about having at least a certain percentage of battery life remaining before attempting the second half of the process.

Is there any reason you can't just do all of this with the charger plugged in, even if your battery isn't charged to that percentage?

 

[Bob Cat]

Never say never my man. Once you see how easy it is to flash you'll want to do more. It's like lays potato chips you can't stop at just one.