• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Root MIUI vs MikG first ROM questions?

shantytownbrown

Android Enthusiast
Jul 25, 2010
305
37
Connecticut
So after much browsing, I think i am down to deciding between these two as my first ROM...one Sense based and one AOSP...

hoping to get some guidance here....(please dumb down any discussions as i am not too tech saavy...)

I asked this in another thread i started that i myself hijacked so wanted to move the conversation to a new thread...

remember this is my fisrt ROM...

1. if i go with MIUI-(wary of the lack of 4g-no biggie in my area)
a. which version
b. what kernels should i bring along
c. any other tweaks i should do before/after flashing?

2. if i go with MiKg
same questions


I really am shooting for better/best battery life, the ability to do something i am not allowed to talk about here anymore, and to unbloat my phone...

thanks in advance
 
I would go with mikg 3.0 with the anthrax kernel or the the stock kernel. Always had pretty good luck with stock. I would also partition my sd card prior to flashing if I was you

+1 to that. You really can't go wrong with it. Makes me wonder why I waited 4 months after rooting and flashing a bunch before I tried Mik.

For Kernels with it I would also try the Freedom line. Start with Stock, Less, More, then aggressive.

They each undervolt to a different extent with Stock being stock and aggressive being -175mv. The most extreme.
 
Upvote 0
I agree. I would go with MikG 3.0 as well. It is very stable. It includes Sense 2.1(with 3.0 elements) that was not slated to get to our phones at all. The additional tweaks that are now included make it very customizable. There are a number of great themes out there for it to change the coloration and look of your phone.

Kernels work differently on each phone. What works for mine might not work so well on your's. The difference in the kernels as far as stock, less, more, and aggressive is the amount they "undervolt" the cpu. It saves battery by restricting the amount of voltage the cpu has to use. You have to try different ones to find the one that works with your phone and gives you the best battery life.

I have been using the stock kernel on Mik roms since version 2.4 and get pretty good battery life(lasts me all day unless my son decides he wants to play angry birds for a couple hours :) ).
 
Upvote 0
MikG 3.0 because it's incredibly stable. (I've never had a random reboot) Has a lot of extras that Sprint and HTC would never send us.

For the Kernels Freedom has 4 in his line. You always want the Universal ones.

Stock = Based off of the HTC stock Kernel.
Less = Undervolted by -75mv
More = Undervolted by -125mv
Aggressive = Undervolted by -175mv

Some phones work well with undervolting and some don't. That is why I would start with the stock one first and run it for a couple of days before changing it. So it can settle.

With the Chop Suey or Golden Monkey Kernel I don't know the specifics on their undervolting characteristics if they have any.

You can look for the Developer threads on XDA for each of them to gain a better understanding of what they each do.


I've never used MIUI so I can't say one way or the other on using it. I know you don't get 4G with it though.


Naters
 
Upvote 0
I've used both, and though i do love MIUI, i still think MikG's 3.0 runs smoother over time. Though I've had a random reboot or 2 on MikG's 3.0, I can't say that was/wasn't due to resource intensive actions i was doing on the phone at the time. You can't go wrong with either, both are very well built ROMs and highly suggest you try them both (just to see what a beefed up Sense ROM and a non-Sense ROM is like).

MIUI
I used tiamat 3.3.7 with SBC, awesome battery life
Flash the GPS Drivers fix for AOSP ROM's to get your GPS to work correctly
I used version 1.8 or 8.1 or something? Not sure, they release versions almost daily i believe.

MikG
The stock kernel was nice, but i switched to Freedom More
No other tweaks necessary, there's several to choose from in his settings. Themes are available if you prefer as stated above
 
Upvote 0
Go with MikG. It i still the standard for speed and reliability that other ROMS get compared to.

As for kernels, I would start with the aggressive freedom and work your way up. The reason I say start with aggressive is because it has the most undervolting, and with the most undervolting should come the best battery life.

So flash that, and if your phone has random bootloops or is sluggish you switch to more freedom, which will give your phone a little more juice.

Each phone handles undervolting differently. Mine has no problems with Aggressive, while my fathers can only handle more.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NaterTots
Upvote 0
two things:

1. i dont have 4 g in my home area, but do in my work area, its not that important to me...

unless..the fact that 4G eats my battery goes away with the underclocking..then i may consider it, but 4 g is overall not even that strong where i am in southern connecticut..only comes to play if i visit NYC...(which is not that often)...

2. if i do try one, and want to switch to try the other, is it easy enough to switch, and can you point me to the process??? in "dummy talk" please!!

thanks

shanty
 
Upvote 0
two things:

1. i dont have 4 g in my home area, but do in my work area, its not that important to me...

unless..the fact that 4G eats my battery goes away with the underclocking..then i may consider it, but 4 g is overall not even that strong where i am in southern connecticut..only comes to play if i visit NYC...(which is not that often)...

2. if i do try one, and want to switch to try the other, is it easy enough to switch, and can you point me to the process??? in "dummy talk" please!!

thanks

shanty

You can switch back and forth however many times you want. Thats the beauty of being rooted.

Instructions on flashing can be found in the rooting for dummies guide

http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all...ooting-dummies-guide-gingerbread-edition.html
good point so here is what you do to flash a rom:
1.first you need the vr superwipe: ZZZVR_SUPERWIPE.zip. download it and put it on your card. (optional)*
2.download the rom of your choice and transfer it to your card.
3.go into recovery
4.make a nandroid backup
5.select wipe from the main menu and wipe dalvik cache, cache, and data
6.select install (or flash depending on which recovery you have) zip from sdcard
7.find the superwipe file and flash it.(optional)
8.find your rom and flash it.
9.reboot.

first boot will take a bit longer then normal, so be patient.

*the vr superwipe is an optional step, but i would recommend that you use it. it wipes system, cache, and boot. it wipes those three times. then it wipes the temp files and does that three times. i would not only use this tool to wipe. it should be done in addition to wiping data, dalvik cache and cache. one last thing about superwipe, this will only work with those that have support for amend scripting. only clockwork mod 2.6, amon ra 2.3, and trwp will work. so if you have clockwrok mod 3 and higher you might want to switch recoveries.


to flash a kernel
1.download the kernel and place it on your card.
2.make a nandroid backup
3.wipe dalvik cache and cache. there is no need to wipe data or to flash the superwipe when flashing kernels.
4.select "install zip" and find and select your kernel
5.reboot

now you have a new kernel. and to get the most of your new kernel look into getting SetCPU for Root Users, this app will allow you to over and underclcok your phone and it will allow you to set your cpu governors which sets how fast the cpu speed gets scaled up or down to the desired settings. some governors also has a screen off profile which can also help save battery life. for more on setcpu read this guide: SetCPU Guide
 
Upvote 0
I am surprised I don't see more people talk about or recommend the Synergy RC2 ROM.

I have been running this since last summer and never had any issues at all. Just last week I flashed the Chop Suey kernel, reset battery stats and my battery life doubled and my phone runs very very smooth.

With the development of Synergy essentially stopped and with aamikam's MikG 3.0 still being developed, more individuals recommend using MikG. With the added tweaks in MikG, that's something Synergy does not have. More ways to customize the phone within the rom;)
 
Upvote 0
I've used both, and though i do love MIUI, i still think MikG's 3.0 runs smoother over time. Though I've had a random reboot or 2 on MikG's 3.0, I can't say that was/wasn't due to resource intensive actions i was doing on the phone at the time. You can't go wrong with either, both are very well built ROMs and highly suggest you try them both (just to see what a beefed up Sense ROM and a non-Sense ROM is like).

MIUI
I used tiamat 3.3.7 with SBC, awesome battery life
Flash the GPS Drivers fix for AOSP ROM's to get your GPS to work correctly
I used version 1.8 or 8.1 or something? Not sure, they release versions almost daily i believe.

MikG
The stock kernel was nice, but i switched to Freedom More
No other tweaks necessary, there's several to choose from in his settings. Themes are available if you prefer as stated above

re:MIUI

define: "SBC" (edit: never mind i found it in "kernels for dummies --thats me!!)

where to get: "GPS Driver fix for AOSP ROM's"

thanks again everyone

really need a sticky for a "glossary" of terms for us non techies..;)
 
Upvote 0
With the development of Synergy essentially stopped and with aamikam's MikG 3.0 still being developed, more individuals recommend using MikG. With the added tweaks in MikG, that's something Synergy does not have. More ways to customize the phone within the rom;)

I guess I don't flash ROM's often enough ;-)

Maybe I should give MikG a try. Always seems so much work getting everything setup again after flashing :(
 
Upvote 0
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones