Root I Think It's Time To Start Loading Roms...

[StevenJDM]

Okay so this will be my first post on this forum.

Well I rooted my inspire a couple days ago and I love how fast the speeds increased after I overclocked it as the speeds were pretty horrible before I did it. I'm using the stock rom and I'm also using Go Launcher EX, which I was using before I rooted it as well.

I would like to get off the launchers now that I'm rooted and start loading other roms but I'm not very knowledgeable on getting started with it. I've downloaded ROM Manager so I could get started with loading other roms but I knew I had to do some research on it instead of jumping into it like that.

After some research, I found that ROM Manager wouldn't be the best thing for me to start flashing or loading other roms with, as alot of people don't recommend it. Now, everyone is saying it's better to use ClockWorkMod but doesn't ROM Manager work with CWM? AS you can see I'm pretty confused with the way this works and I would appreciate some assistance on how to easily or safely load different roms without all the confusion.

I'm also using Titanium Backup Pro so I guess I'm set to start loading different roms...

Thanks in advance.

 

[sharksfan7]

ClockworkMod is a Recovery utility that works outside of the ROM. It allows you to run installation, recovery, restoration & maintenance operations that you can't do from within the ROM. ROM Manager is basically an application used from within the ROM that allows you to set up these operations. When it executes the operations, the phone reboots into CWM Recovery and the operations are run from there.

You can also download a few different ROMs from ROM Manager but my understanding is they are not always the most recent updates available. It's been a while since I've used it though, so that may not necessarily be the case still. But I would recommend going straight to xda and finding the ROM you want.

I also recommend reading this article that explains what ClockworkMod does and how to use it. It should clear up a lot of the confusion you have.

What Is ClockworkMod Recovery And How To Use It On Android [Complete Guide]

 

[StevenJDM]

ClockworkMod is a Recovery utility that works outside of the ROM. It allows you to run installation, recovery, restoration & maintenance operations that you can't do from within the ROM. ROM Manager is basically an application used from within the ROM that allows you to set up these operations. When it executes the operations, the phone reboots into CWM Recovery and the operations are from there.

You can also download a few different ROMs from ROM Manager but my understanding is they are not always the most recent updates available. It's been a while since I've used it though, so that may not necessarily be the case still. But I would recommend going straight to xda and finding the ROM you want.

I also recommend reading this article that explains what ClockworkMod does and how to use it. It should clear up a lot of the confusion you have.

What Is ClockworkMod Recovery And How To Use It On Android [Complete Guide]

Thanks for the detailed response. That helped alot.

So ROM Manager is safe to use on the inspire? I've seen people complain about it, is it only because it's not supported for their devices?

 

[sharksfan7]

Thanks for the detailed response. That helped alot.

So ROM Manager is safe to use on the inspire? I've seen people complain about it, is it only because it's not supported for their devices?

Like I mentioned, it's been a while since I used ROM Manager so I don't know what kind of changes have been made with it, so I can't say for sure that it's "safe". The Inspire was supported in the past, so I can't see why it wouldn't be now. And I don't know what would make it unsafe other than the user not knowing what he's doing. Personally, when I'm flashing a new ROM, I just prefer to do it manually through Recovery than using an app like ROM Manager.

I would also recommend taking a look at 4EXT Recovery. It's an alternative to ClockworkMod Recovery. And the 4EXT Recovery Control app is its equivalent to ROM Manager. When I started using 4EXT last year, it offered functionality that CWM/ROM Manager didn't. The biggest thing was its ability to verify the md5 checksum of my ROM backup from within the Recovery Control app. If I need to restore a backup, I can make sure that it's good before wiping the phone. A couple of times when using CWM/ROM Manager, I went to restore a backup only to have CWM tell me the md5 didn't match and it couldn't proceed. This is after it had already wiped the current ROM from the phone. So I was stuck doing a fresh install of the ROM. Very frustrating and a bit of a freak out moment especially since I was still just learning about rooting and flashing ROMs...Recent versions of CWM/ROM Manager may offer that functionality now, but I haven't bothered to check. 4EXT works great so I see no need to switch back.

 

[gnosisjunky]

I still use Rom Manager almost daily. I have never had a problem with it whatsoever. Thankfully the development for the inspire is very very good and it is easy to flash roms and other tasty tidbits i find. It all comes down to personal preference really.

 

[StevenJDM]

A couple of times when using CWM/ROM Manager, I went to restore a backup only to have CWM tell me the md5 didn't match and it couldn't proceed. This is after it had already wiped the current ROM from the phone. So I was stuck doing a fresh install of the ROM. Very frustrating and a bit of a freak out moment especially since I was still just learning about rooting and flashing ROMs...Recent versions of CWM/ROM Manager may offer that functionality now, but I haven't bothered to check. 4EXT works great so I see no need to switch back.

That's exactly what happened to me and I started panicking. Would I still be able to use the backup of my stock ROM (the one that couldn't proceed because of md5 issues) that I made before I flashed it?

 

[sharksfan7]

That's exactly what happened to me and I started panicking. Would I still be able to use the backup of my stock ROM (the one that couldn't proceed because of md5 issues) that I made before I flashed it?

Don't know the answer to that. Doesn't hurt to try it though. Once you get a working ROM, load 4EXT and the Recovery Control app. Use Recovery Control to check the md5sum. If it verifies it, you could be able to restore. If not, well, you're just where you are right now. No additional harm done.