Root Comparing ROMS?

[gogogut]

Over the holidays, I finally rooted, s-off, and downgraded my hboot in order to breathe new life into my Evo V. I immediately started installing and playing with different ROMs.
I tried AngryBean, Negalite Blurom, Dirty Unicorn, Evervolv, and PacMan.
I moved on from most of them as they had some major issue that I couldn't ignore (e.g., robotic sound on phone, no Google Now, flickering Maps).
If not for some of those issues, I think I liked the look and feel of Dirty Unicorn the most. But PacMan has been my daily driver for a couple of weeks now. There is some flickering in Maps, but otherwise, it seems to be humming along.
I have also considered trying unSENSEable, CM 10.2, and even CM 11 (Kit Kat), but thought I would post this thread to see what other people think are the pros/cons of different ROMS. I have been reading through threads dedicated to each ROM, but thought a conversation comparing and contrasting would be interesting and informative. This would also bring to the surface the major issues that some find as non-negotiables for their phones.
So I would love to hear what more experienced people think of the different ROMS and what suggestions they might have for further exploration.
Hope all is well.
RJ

 

[dermo529]

I've run all kinds of ROMs on this phone and with confidence, I can say Negalite-Blurom is my favorite in terms of stability and performance. The battery life is a little weak on that rom though. There was another rom that would kill one of the CPU cores when the screen was off, that one had the best battery life, but shaky stability at times. The rom I'm currently using is the jb rom (4.3.1) which you can find here. The only problems I've experienced with hood pope are the camera doesn't like to flip between front and back.. It'll freeze. It'll eventually recover (after about a half hour or so), or you can reboot the phone, then the camera app will work fine on whichever you flipped to. This can create a problem, for example if you try using Hangouts and your camera isn't set to the front camera, Hangouts will crash. If someone could present a fix for that and 4G/wiimax, this would literally be the perfect rom.

 

[LakersDroid]

Have you tried Mobster Rom HD or Unlocked Potential HD?

They're very good stock-base ROMs, fast, stable, and works great!

 

[Chicoman]

If you've ran through a lot of the Jelly Bean ROMs and modified stock ROMs sometimes its a breath of fresh air to flash a ROM based on Sense 4+. Most are going to have some minor issues, (no 4G or 3D camera) but still usable until you're ready to switch up again. I'd try: Wild Card on this site or one that requires a bit of work but is worth it to track down is Chubbz (may not be around much anymore but try Android File Host - Team Nocturnal). If you do a search on this forum a previous poster even posted a modified framerwork-res.apk to use with Chubbz to get MMS working on Virgin Mobile. Sorry don't have time to post links to exact site but not too difficult to find.

Otherwise there's a newer Sense 4 listed on XDA that's decent with just a weird Wifi problem. Other than that, flash 'em all I say!!!

Also, which PacMan ROM did you use? May have found it but there's a PacMan 4.3.1 ROM but have to go to the Devs Google+ site to download it that's worth a look.

 

[gogogut]

Thanks for the advice.
I have been testing ROMS mainly from the XDA Evo 3D CDMA site (EVO 3D CDMA Android Development - xda-developers).
Specifically, the PacMan ROM was [ROM] - P.A.C.MAN v. 23.0.0 [OFFICIAL] June 11, 2013 - xda-developers
The file is shooter_PAC_JB_4.2.2-v23.0.0_20130611-122030.zip
I have my eye on the YAS4 ROM for the Sense 4.1 experience.
I look for recent updates since so much stuff is no longer supported. I don't know much about kernels, gapps, and other stuff, so have stuck to basic ROM downloads. If you have suggestions or teachings on kernels, etc., I would love to learn.
Thanks,
RJ

 

[dermo529]

I actually tried out Wild for the Night and so far I love it. I flashed the rom, GAPPS, WiMAX log cleaner, Bootloop fix, GPS Fix, and VVM Fix all found in the 2nd post. I also downloaded the Google Maps 6 apk to fix the flickering issue and it's a great daily driver. I wanna try Angry Bean since its based off that ROM next. I'm looking for a daily driver and so far this hits the mark.

 

[gogogut]

@dermo529 Can you tell me how/where you got the maps.apk? IF that is the fix to the flickering, I am all over it. What is the best version number?

 

[dermo529]

Hey I can upload it for you if you can give me a good file hosting service. I have the apk. Its version 6.14.1.

EDIT: Here ya go!

http://www.datafilehost.com/d/748d321e

 

[gogogut]

Awesome! I just flash this in recovery just like other zip files? And then my Maps app won't flicker? Can't wait!
Thanks so much,
RJ

 

[dermo529]

I'd uninstall the Maps app you currently have and just install this using any kind of file browser capable of opening zip files. ES File Explorer works. I'm not sure if you could directly flash this from recovery.

 

[gogogut]

Thanks for the directions. Thankfully, I haven't done this yet. Maybe tonight.

 

[gogogut]

Doesn't seem to be working for me. I try to install the apk and I get all the way to the Cancel or Install buttons. But it does not recognize my pushing Install, even when I flip to landscape mode. Everything else works, including Cancel, but I cannot click the final Install. So for now, I have no Maps.
Any recommendations?

 

[dermo529]

This is the most bizarre thing I've heard. Make sure you have Unknown Sources checked (though the file shouldn't even open if that's the case). Reboot your phone and try again.