Root I think I'm gonna take the plunge

[falcon7204]

I have a Samsung Captivate I897 running Gingerbread 2.3.5 (I897UCKF1), and a couple of weeks ago I rooted it using geeve420's excellent step-by-step guide (and installed CWM at the same time). Since then it's been working well but there have been a couple of instances where I've had to pull the battery to clear a lock-up (and once where it spontaneously rebooted, which I thought was only an unrooted GB issue), so I'm seriously considering installing another ROM.

I've looked at the ones that are out there, and I settled on either CyanogenMod 7 or Andromeda 2.0. Both are based on GB 2.3, and both have features that intrigue me. I'm wondering, though, what kind of heartache I'm letting myself in for if these mods don't work or cause more problems.

Has anyone else installed a new ROM on their Cappy and, if so, how did it work out? Did you have any issues with the new ROM, and which one did you use? Did you have any hardware issues before or after the new ROM, and if your phone was still (presumably) under warranty, did you have to go back to stock and unroot before you took it in for warranty exchange?

I'd love to hear some of your experiences. And I want to make sure I do this right. TIA for your help and feedback.

 

[AmishFury]

i installed CM7 and it worked out great...

quadrant scores improved (say what you will about benchmark apps they still have a place when comparing roms)

official 2.2 overall 1262
cpu: 1416
mem: 1625
i/o: 702
2d: 718
3d: 1848

official 2.3 overall 1221
cpu: 1403
mem: 1833
i/o: 852
2d: 333
3d: 1685

CM7 overall 1547
cpu: 1440
mem: 1864
i/o: 2080
2d: 413
3d: 1936

outside of the benchmark in general the phone is a bit more responsive and on top of that launcher pro redraws which were common on official just haven't happened for me in CM7

then there is the fact that official has a gimped modem and all the bloatware

all that said never forget ALWAYS DO A BACKUP BEFORE FLASHING ANY ROM

 

[falcon7204]

OK, so here's my next question:

Since I'm running stock GB 2.3 (albeit rooted), do I need to unroot before I flash a new ROM, or can I go ahead and flash the new ROM over the stock GB? I have backups of all my apps, pictures, and music (and my contacts and mail messages sync with Gmail), so doing a data wipe wouldn't be an issue (although it would take some time to do all this).

So, flash over rooted GB, or revert to stock (and do I revert to stock GB or Froyo) and flash?

 

[falcon7204]

And along those lines...

Does the kernel make a difference? I run Ubuntu on my laptop (alongside Windows Vista) and every once in a while I update the Linux kernel when it calls for one. But it's the linux-generic kernel, nothing specific.

Does the same thing apply to any of the mods that are out there? Is one kernel better than another, or do they all operate on the same basic one?

 

[malibu_rapper]

I switched to Slim ICS, had performance issues with GB. Now the phone runs like a speed demon and stable as heck.

To switch over, I flashed KI2 with CWM, you can get it here. Easy to do with recovery mode.

Then I flashed CM9 teamhacksung, which you can find here.

From there, you can flash Slim ICS from here.

I did something wrong I remember and ended up with a boot loop but I just flashed CM9 again and it fixed itself. It's really quite easy overall.

It's like having a brand new phone again. Everything is so zippy and smooth on ICS.

 

[falcon7204]

Not sure I'm ready for ICS yet. I've heard a lot of good and bad about it. Even though there seem to be issues with stock Gingerbread, I think I'd prefer to stick with a GB-based ROM just because I'm more familiar with GB. Not that that makes much sense - I'm still a newbie at this (although I dual-boot Win Vista and Ubuntu on my laptop).

Another question I'd like to know is this: I'm running the Corn kernel (70A) with CWM on stock KK4. Can I flash Andromeda 3.0 or CM7 over stock KK4 without messing with the kernel or the bootloaders? I want to make this as simple as possible. I know I need to wipe the data and then do a factory reset, then wipe the Dalvik cache prior to flashing, but is that all I need to do? I already have a MyBackup (root) set and a CWM backup, so I think I'm pretty set there, and besides I can always go back to the Market and redownload from My Apps. My contacts are backed up to GMail, and all my music and ringtones are backed up on my PC. Email is set to never delete from server, so I have copies of everything back to, like, 2007, and all my photos and downloads are on my PC and my Dropbox. So, I think I'm set, but I want to make sure I'm ready before I pull the trigger.

TIA for any advice!

 

[El Niche]

I ran Sparko when I was in GB (it has an ICS theme). it was very good (along with CornKernel 7A. It is a good GB rom for me based off KK4, just search it in XDA.
When you go to CWM and clear data/wipe it will not erase your music or pictures from SD card (it will erase your apps tho).

I was pretty much in the same boat as you, then I decided to flash ICS. believe me it is quite an improvement. for me it improved the stability and speed of the phone. Def try some other GB roms, but in the future, I do recommend some stable ICS roms (running slim ics myself). good luck and let us know if you need any other help!

 

[falcon7204]

So there's been a lot of helpful advice, but the one thing I'm not hearing is...

Can I flash a GB-based ROM over stock GB (KK4) without having to (a) flash back to stock Froyo (KB2), and/or (b) flashing a new kernel and GB bootloaders?

Many, if not all, of the instructions I've read on the subject deal with phones already running some flavor of Eclair or Froyo. Either nobody's tried flashing a ROM over stock GB (which I find unlikely) or the instructions haven't been updated in a while.

And the things I'm hearing about Odin One-Click not playing nice with GB are not encouraging.

So, is there anyone who's done what I want to do?

 

[El Niche]

So there's been a lot of helpful advice, but the one thing I'm not hearing is...

Can I flash a GB-based ROM over stock GB (KK4) without having to (a) flash back to stock Froyo (KB2), and/or (b) flashing a new kernel and GB bootloaders?

Many, if not all, of the instructions I've read on the subject deal with phones already running some flavor of Eclair or Froyo. Either nobody's tried flashing a ROM over stock GB (which I find unlikely) or the instructions haven't been updated in a while.

And the things I'm hearing about Odin One-Click not playing nice with GB are not encouraging.

So, is there anyone who's done what I want to do?

Yes, you can flash a GB Rom over stock GB, you will not have to flash back to froyo. The good thing is if you have GB you already have its bootloaders which makes bricking the device less likely (as most custom roms if not all come without bootloaders). I flashed around 4 GB roms from GB itself and there is no problem. I also used the Oneclick Odin multiple times without any problem, they worked perfect for me.
Let me know if you need any other help

 

[falcon7204]

Perfect! That's what I needed to hear. Thanks!

 

[El Niche]

cool, good luck and let me know if it works out.

 

[RazorvoirHOGS]

So there's been a lot of helpful advice, but the one thing I'm not hearing is...

Can I flash a GB-based ROM over stock GB (KK4) without having to (a) flash back to stock Froyo (KB2), and/or (b) flashing a new kernel and GB bootloaders?

Many, if not all, of the instructions I've read on the subject deal with phones already running some flavor of Eclair or Froyo. Either nobody's tried flashing a ROM over stock GB (which I find unlikely) or the instructions haven't been updated in a while.

And the things I'm hearing about Odin One-Click not playing nice with GB are not encouraging.

So, is there anyone who's done what I want to do?

I believe that is exactly what I did. I'm completely new to messing around with rooting. I followed the great guide (CWM plus root) listed in this forum, just as it appears you did, then just moved on to the guide "Flashing CyanogenMod" on CyanogenMod's wiki page. I used the "Method via Recovery" instructions.

I'm pretty ignorant to how much of this stuff works, so I relied solely on these guides and bits and pieces of info that I could actually understand in these threads.

One big reason I did this was because I wanted the ICS look, which I obtained from a nice launcher theme from Google Play. I was able to get this with CM7. Then of course the customization options are great. I've enjoyed messing around with those to get the look and feel that I want.

As far as performance, I believe mine is running better. CM7 has been very responsive and speedy. The only major issue I have had--and resolved quickly--occurred today when I installed the Androidlost anti-theft app. I'm not sure if this was due to the app, but essentially everything on my phone including the Google processes started force closing and going crazy. I'm not sure what that was about, but I uninstalled and all is well now.

I flashed CM7 several weeks ago and haven't experienced any random reboots and outside of today, almost zero force close issues. I was very apprehensive about rooting or doing any of this, but doing so, along with flashing CM7, has been very beneficial in regard to performance and customization

 

[falcon7204]

Well, I finally decided to flash a new ROM, so I tried Andromeda 3.0 first. wiped the data, did a factory reset, wiped the Dalvik cache, then tried to flash the ROM. But I got a scripting error of some sort and the process aborted. Same thing happened with Andromeda 2. So then I downloaded CM7 and flashed it. That seemed to work, but Gmail and Google Play crashed, so I flashed stock Froyo KB2 (rooted). It seems to be much more stable than GB. I may see if I can find a Froyo-based ROM to try, but I may just leave it alone. Has anyone else had that experience?

 

[falcon7204]

On the other hand, I may just stick with Froyo, because after looking on the intertubes I realized that flashing a ROM with Froyo is a lot (and I mean a LOT) harder than flashing a ROM using GB.

Just putting ClockworkMod on Froyo seems to take an act of Congress, at least that's what I've been reading on the web. Does anyone have a foolproof way of (1) flashing CWM on Froyo, akin to geeve's excellent tutorial on doing the same thing with GB, and (2) a solid, stable ROM that I can use to upgrade from Froyo? (And don't say use Kies Mini to go to GB again - that was the cause of my problems in the first place.)

Anyone? I really want a stable, fun experience with my phone, but I'm willing to sit on stock if I can't. (Note: I'm rooted also.)

 

[malibu_rapper]

Just putting ClockworkMod on Froyo seems to take an act of Congress, at least that's what I've been reading on the web. Does anyone have a foolproof way of (1) flashing CWM on Froyo, akin to geeve's excellent tutorial on doing the same thing with GB, and (2) a solid, stable ROM that I can use to upgrade from Froyo? (And don't say use Kies Mini to go to GB again - that was the cause of my problems in the first place.)

Anyone? I really want a stable, fun experience with my phone, but I'm willing to sit on stock if I can't. (Note: I'm rooted also.)

My original post on this thread already shows one way. Here's a whole collection with some one clicks. If you're going to go through the trouble of flashing you might as well look into something current. GB with CWM is easy using the link I sent you. But ICS is really super stable and fast if you use Slim.

 

[falcon7204]

I'm going to try flashing the GB KH3 firmware (with CWM) using Heimdall. If that works (and I see no reason why it shouldn't - I flashed back to Froyo using Heimdall) then I may see about flashing another ROM. I really like the Heimdall experience - frankly it's faster than using Odin, and more foolproof (and boy, do I need foolproof). I don't like the fact that CM7 doesn't seem to like GMail or Google Play, but perhaps I made a mistake somewhere down the line. If I can find a CM7 ROM that can be flashed through Heimdall, I may try it. Or perhaps Serendipity or Andromeda (if I can figure out the scripting issue - maybe it was a CWM thing).

If at first you don't succeed...get a bigger hammer.

 

[malibu_rapper]

I'm going to try flashing the GB KH3 firmware (with CWM) using Heimdall. If that works (and I see no reason why it shouldn't - I flashed back to Froyo using Heimdall) then I may see about flashing another ROM. I really like the Heimdall experience - frankly it's faster than using Odin, and more foolproof (and boy, do I need foolproof). I don't like the fact that CM7 doesn't seem to like GMail or Google Play, but perhaps I made a mistake somewhere down the line. If I can find a CM7 ROM that can be flashed through Heimdall, I may try it. Or perhaps Serendipity or Andromeda (if I can figure out the scripting issue - maybe it was a CWM thing).

If at first you don't succeed...get a bigger hammer.

I prefer the oneclick vs Heimdall, oneclick doesn't get much easier. My experience with Serendipity was mixed, it ran good for a few weeks but it wasn't all that stable. There is a battery drain issue with no fix, many people have this problem.

 

[falcon7204]

So, here's what I did. I flashed the KH3 firmware and experienced the same GB issues as before. So I decided to do CM7. Flashed a new kernel first, and thought I'd soft-bricked the phone, but luckily hadn't. Installed CM7 from recovery and boot looped, so I flashed it again, and this time it worked. Downloaded and flashed Google apps so the Market and Gmail would work, and I've been using it ever since.

Pros: no crashes (yet), more responsive, no bloatware, and I get the little "H" icon that tells me I'm on HSPDA+. Cons: hardware acceleration doesn't work in MX Player, no timer or stopwatch (seriously?), seems to get laggy pretty quickly after having been on for a while (like now), and no Swype keyboard (I had to register for the beta to get it back, and it's not the same as on Froyo or GB). So far, the jury's still out on CM7. I'm sure I'll find other things to like and dislike about it, but I guess from here anything else I have to say about CM7 will have to go in another post.

Oh, yeah, another con: CM7 uses the ADW launcher, which is slow as molasses and hasn't been updated in a while. So I installed the GO Launcher and it seems to be much faster.