Hero 2.1 Upgrade Question

[barnacles]

Hey guys,
Quick question that I've seen a few people mention but I wanted to bring it up specifically.
As we all know, 2.1 is somewhere right around the corner. I have been using my Hero for about 2 weeks now and I love everything about it. There is one thing that can be frustrating from time to time though, and thats the lag. On occasion the phone will hang which can be quite frustrating. When I want to text someone, for example, it takes a while to even pull up their name in the phone book waiting for the contacts to load, waiting for the search to load, and waiting for the contacts to load after I click them. So my question is this. I've noticed many people who have modded their roms have said that with 2.0 running on the hero its a lot smoother and less laggy. When the official 2.1 is released for the Hero on sprint, does anyone have speculation on how it will run. I'd love to keep this phone, but hearing people say that 2.1 will slow this phone down even more is starting to scare me. Based on these responses I might be switching to the moment before my 30 days simply to take advantage of that processor. What do you guys think?

 

[Twice]

I doubt that anyone here can give you a answer on the actual 2.1 release from Sprint. I can tell you that I put DamageControls ROM on my phone this morning and it feels like a totally different phone. It's amazing.

 

[pwabbit]

I am running 2.1 on my Hero. It is the leaked version from the Verizon HTC Eris. The 2.1 functions so much better than 1.5 which is stock on the Hero. Unless Sprint puts some awful bloat-ware in the ROM, the 2.1 update should be great.

 

[barnacles]

thank you. I understand no one knows for sure, because it obviously hasn't been released. but some responses from those of you already running it in some forms mixed with opinions is what I was looking for. glad to hear you like the eris 2.1

 

[scottmbolt]

2.1 will most likely perform much better on the Hero, because it is a CDMA native OS. Also, I can't see Sprint releasing a firmware upgrade that will slow the phone down. That would be preposterous. Everything I have read (since that really is the best we can get at this point, aside from the opinion of people who has updated to the leaked Verizon Eris ROM) says it should reduce lag, add features, and improve battery life.

On the subject of switching to the Moment... I think that would be a big mistake. The Hero is a better phone.

 

[barnacles]

2.1 will most likely perform much better on the Hero, because it is a CDMA native OS. Also, I can't see Sprint releasing a firmware upgrade that will slow the phone down. That would be preposterous. Everything I have read (since that really is the best we can get at this point, aside from the opinion of people who has updated to the leaked Verizon Eris ROM) says it should reduce lag, add features, and improve battery life.

On the subject of switching to the Moment... I think that would be a big mistake. The Hero is a better phone.

Yeah, I mean I agree. I like everything on the hero. I don't want a physical keyboard, and I definitely don't want a bigger phone just for something I don't want and will never use. The only reason I would consider switching would be for the sole reason of performance.

 

[acp]

...

 

[dan330]

hi.. welcome... the hero is best phone I have ever used...

1. Root and install a 1.5 based custom ROM.. you will love the new speed and customizable options to you. This will address your lag issues. Both Fresh and Modaco have very easy options for you.

2. I have just upgraded to the DamageControl v1 (2.1 leaked) ROM... It is amazing. But it requires you to do a little tweaking at the beginning to get everything you want to work. If you are a little technical, you can get it done.

3. Do not go for the Moment.. Only thing it has over Hero is the keyboard. The hardware specs are higher, but does not out perform the Hero, because we have great support from the dev community.

well that is my .02 on the matter.

 

[Droid_Darken]

I think it's safe to say that if you just got the Hero, it may be worth waiting for the 2.1 update as opposed to rooting your phone. It hopefully will be only a few weeks and you can see if the lag issue is resolved. If not then you can root away....but why go through the hassle for nothing

My hero hero is only a week old and I have none of the lagging you mention

 

[tatonka_Hero]

I think it's safe to say that if you just got the Hero, it may be worth waiting for the 2.1 update as opposed to rooting your phone. It hopefully will be only a few weeks and you can see if the lag issue is resolved. If not then you can root away....but why go through the hassle for nothing

My hero hero is only a week old and I have none of the lagging you mention

Actually, if you're even remotely interested in rooting and putting custom ROM's on your phone, I suggest doing it BEFORE the 2.1 update, and using a custom 2.1 ROM. If you're rooted, do NOT update to the official version until we know it can be rooted. It's entirely possible that the 2.1 update will cause people to lose the ability to root.

So I suggest rooting now if you're willing (this goes for everyone), and playing with custom ROM's, or even waiting until someone releases a custom 2.1 ROM based off the official update...just in case the 2.1 update does indeed kill the ability to root (no ides if it will or not, but it's possible)

 

[DBolanos]

im an idiot n dont get all that rooting thing, but i wanna do it cuz it looks better. so if i root it right now i can still update to 2.1 when it comes out?
some guy offered 30.00 bucks to root it cuz i dont wanna **** it up..

 

[barnacles]

I use my camera frequently so wouldnt be interested in the 2.x root at the moment. But how bout the 1.5 is everything functioning in that root? I would rather have a custom rom anyway if its not too difficult. I used custom os's on my blackberry and i feel they are key for removing unwanted bloat software and such. For the poster that doesnt experience lag, thats awesome. When I typed this response my keyboard can't even keep up haha

 

[astrobill]

My Hero has been VERY laggy at times. I did two things that seemed to help a little...

1. I turned off location services when the lag was VERY bad. I read on here someplace that there may have been an issue with too many apps using location services and slowing down the phone. Not sure if it's still an issue in Android or if it affects all phones, but I tried turning location services off anyway.

2. I cleared out my SD card .Mail folder using the Astro file manager. For some reason, the Mail app had somehow filled up nearly all the memory on the card. I had only about 7 MB free out of 2 GB, even though I didn't have many large e-mails or attachments and was only keeping 14 days of e-mail. There were a ton of "tokens" and other odd files. So I deleted the mail accounts from the .Mail app, cleared all caches in the Settings, and then cleared out the SD card .Mail folder using Astro file manager. Then I setup my Mail accounts again.

These two things seemed to make a difference somehow. It's still sometimes laggy though. I had to turn location services back on (obviously) to use a lot of the power of the smart phone....like Google maps, weather, etc.

I watch the SD card memory using one of the monitor apps now...waiting to see if the SD card fills up again and if the phone gets slow when it does.

- Astro

 

[tatonka_Hero]

im an idiot n dont get all that rooting thing, but i wanna do it cuz it looks better. so if i root it right now i can still update to 2.1 when it comes out?
some guy offered 30.00 bucks to root it cuz i dont wanna **** it up..

yes, you could update when 2.1 comes out. You'd have to RUU back to stock to update to the official one, but then you might lose root for good. You're better off rooting now, and when the official 2.1 does come out, waiting a bit for the custom 2.1's based on the official build to start rolling out. There will probably be a LOT of them within the first few hours

 

[Xandria]

I cleared out my SD card .Mail folder using the Astro file manager. For some reason, the Mail app had somehow filled up nearly all the memory on the card. I had only about 7 MB free out of 2 GB, even though I didn't have many large e-mails or attachments and was only keeping 14 days of e-mail. There were a ton of "tokens" and other odd files. So I deleted the mail accounts from the .Mail app, cleared all caches in the Settings, and then cleared out the SD card .Mail folder using Astro file manager. Then I setup my Mail accounts again.

Is clearing out the SD card something that most people do on a regular basis? And exactly how would you go about it?

My Hero is very laggy. But I just put up with it (although very annoying!!) because I like the phone so much. If 2.1 fixes the lags, I will be a VERY happy camper!!

 

[Xandria]

yes, you could update when 2.1 comes out. You'd have to RUU back to stock to update to the official one, but then you might lose root for good. You're better off rooting now, and when the official 2.1 does come out, waiting a bit for the custom 2.1's based on the official build to start rolling out. There will probably be a LOT of them within the first few hours

When you all root, and then use custom ROMs, do you pay for the ROMs? I am wary of rooting just because I am afraid to screw up my new phone! But it is tempting, especially when I read all the cool things you can do!

 

[tatonka_Hero]

When you all root, and then use custom ROMs, do you pay for the ROMs? I am wary of rooting just because I am afraid to screw up my new phone! But it is tempting, especially when I read all the cool things you can do!

everything's free, that's the whole point. Most of the devs have a donate option, and many of them deserve a donation (in my opinion), but it's entirely up to you whether to donate to them or not.

 

[barnacles]

So you guys don't think the difference in clock speeds of these processors will make a big difference in the launch of 2.1? It would be nice if the firmware was released within the next 2 weeks before my 30 days is up, but I doubt it :/ I've read places that the processing speeds are not that much different, but I have also read there is a big difference. It's hard to tell. I will have this phone for probably a year maybe 2, I just want to make sure it will make it that long (hardware wise) without me pulling my hair out

 

[tatonka_Hero]

I use my camera frequently so wouldnt be interested in the 2.x root at the moment. But how bout the 1.5 is everything functioning in that root? I would rather have a custom rom anyway if its not too difficult. I used custom os's on my blackberry and i feel they are key for removing unwanted bloat software and such. For the poster that doesnt experience lag, thats awesome. When I typed this response my keyboard can't even keep up haha

Actually, the current 2.1 ROM's for the Hero have working camera and camcorder. Basically the only thing that doesn't work is visual voice mail.

As for your last post about processor speeds (I'm a bit lost, I'm assuming you mean between the moment and hero). I don't know if there's going to be a major difference between the speed of operation of the two. The Moment users think their faster processor is going to make all the difference, and it very well might, only time will tell. However, judging by the speed of the custom 2.1 ROM's that are out now, that speed difference won't be noticeable. The ROM's that are out now aren't even for Sprint (they're from Verizon and the Eris), and yet there's literally no lag in the operation of them. When ROM's based on the official Sprint 2.1 update come out, it'll be blazing fast and shouldn't have any bugs. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if even the stock 2.1 is extremely fast (but I'm still sticking with custom ROM's).

The thing that really worries me about the moment is the lack of support from Samsung. Even a lot of the moment users will tell you that the support from samsung has been pretty bad at providing timely maintenance releases.

In the end, since you're going to have the phone for quite some time, you might as well root and really start having fun with this phone. You'll never look back if you root and put a ROM on (and then another, and another, and another lol), it's so much damn fun

 

[barnacles]

Do you have a link to the download of that 2.1 that you're using? And can rooting brick your device? I have installed custom roms on my blackberry before this phone, so am a bit familiar but I'm not sure if it's different.

Also, from the few things I've read, before you root your phone you're supposed to downgrade to an earlier android firmware right? Once I do that, and install my rom, will I be able to log in with my google account and revive all my contacts and such?

 

[tatonka_Hero]

Do you have a link to the download of that 2.1 that you're using? And can rooting brick your device? I have installed custom roms on my blackberry before this phone, so am a bit familiar but I'm not sure if it's different.

Also, from the few things I've read, before you root your phone you're supposed to downgrade to an earlier android firmware right? Once I do that, and install my rom, will I be able to log in with my google account and revive all my contacts and such?

Here's the rooting guide (I suggest doing the manual version and actually entering the code): http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-sprint-hero/38911-guide-root-rom-faq-tutorial.html

That guide is EXTREMELY informative, and should help you out quite a bit.

Here's the link to the ROM I'm using: [ROM] DamageControl v1.0 - Sense 2.1 w/video rec - LIGHTNING FAST! - 100% complete! - xda-developers
Read the first post, and it tells you how to fix any of the problems that this ROM might have.

It's EXTREMELY hard to brick your device while rooting (I'm not sure anyone's managed to do it yet). Just about anything you can screw up can be fixed with the RUU program that's available.

However, flashing radio updates CAN easily brick your phone. There's an update out on the XDA forums, but I personally don't think it makes a very big difference, and isn't worth the risk (to me).

 

[barnacles]

Alright I'm be looking at the links you gave me after work here. I will not be looking into that radio update, however, especially if you said it makes minimal difference. I'm trying to improve my phone, not brick it thanks a lot for all your help. I'll update how it goes!

 

[tatonka_Hero]

Alright I'm be looking at the links you gave me after work here. I will not be looking into that radio update, however, especially if you said it makes minimal difference. I'm trying to improve my phone, not brick it thanks a lot for all your help. I'll update how it goes!

Good luck! I think you'll enjoy the hell out of everything you can do when you're rooted

 

[doneve141]

I'm rooted and ran Fresh 1.1 for several months. It ran faster and had better battery life with no lag than the ruu for Sprint. I have Damages 2.1 rom on now and it is still very fast. As said earlier everything but the visual voice mail works. The options are more abundant and I actually think it may be faster. Battery life may not be as good but I'm still tweeking and holding out to see for sure.

 

[Xandria]

everything's free, that's the whole point. Most of the devs have a donate option, and many of them deserve a donation (in my opinion), but it's entirely up to you whether to donate to them or not.

OK, good to know. My main reason for not rooting is this: if something goes wrong, I am not techy enough to fix it. I know just enough to keep the phone running stock. And I can trouble shoot with help. But I am getting the idea that rooting is for users with more advanced knowledge, yes?