Root [International] "Stock-like" Android (JB+) ROM for unlocked i9300

[SUroot]

They're not always buggy but its a lot if effort for devs to get them working and can take time.

Custom touchwiz benefits:
*Deodexed - easier to theme and modify
*Themable
*Tweaked for performance
*Extra features missed by samsung
*Fully touchwiz compatible base - easier for devs to port note 2 functions for example...

Just a few...

 

[andy9l]

So I might be better off with something like your setup, a stable TW ROM and a JB theme?

 

[SUroot]

That would be my suggestion because all the drivers and libraries are present and correct so everything works.

You can always delete apps you wont use

 

[CDPlant]

Have you any AOSP recommendations?

Paranoid android, Slim Bean and AOKP have all worked ok, they seemed to be jammed full of features and some of them are pretty good.

 

[andy9l]

Thanks guys. Is there a decent TW ROM without any of the Samsung sh, erhmm, stuff, on it?

If not, I'll give one of those 3 mentioned above ago. If so, I might give a custom TW a go with JB Domination - looks promising.

 

[SUroot]

Wanam lite has a lot of bloat removed. The features are predominantly "core" though. It depends what you want to lose

 

[andy9l]

Anything with the word Samsung, or "S" in it. Literally anything.

Does JB Domination change the looks of TW Home to something like AOSP (or Nova)?

 

[SUroot]

Dunno. Don't think so. I don't use it

 

[SUroot]

Have you thought about buying a nexus?

 

[andy9l]

Have you thought about buying a nexus?

Yep, but I've only recently bought the S3. I like the device as a piece of hardware, just a shame about TouchWiz. Android as it's supposed to be is absolutely fine, it's unnecessary for software amateurs like Samsung to meddle.

I'm keeping the S3, at least until the next iPhone release to see if Apple buck up their ideas. If it's no good again, I'll likely stick to Nexus devices.

 

[andy9l]

Dunno. Don't think so. I don't use it

Oh, I grabbed the link from your sig!

 

[rowlers]

I'd reckon CodecROM would suit. Sammy base, so sammy features are all present, but it looks like AOSP, with some ASOP apps included.
I'm loving it atm

 

[andy9l]

Paranoid android, Slim Bean and AOKP have all worked ok, they seemed to be jammed full of features and some of them are pretty good.

What's the deal with Paranoid Android? It's a "hybrid ROM". What exactly does it change to make the phone like a tablet? Seems fairly stable, just unsure of the tablet part.

 

[CDPlant]

What's the deal with Paranoid Android? It's a "hybrid ROM". What exactly does it change to make the phone like a tablet? Seems fairly stable, just unsure of the tablet part.

It's a normal rom but it has a 'tablet mode' where you can make apps look like their tablet counterpart, I.e having the main part of the app on the screen but with the options down the side, YouTube has a different layout, moving the notification bar to the bottom etc. I can't really explain it very well but have a look at some screen shots and you'll see what I mean

 

[andy9l]

It's a normal rom but it has a 'tablet mode' where you can make apps look like their tablet counterpart, I.e having the main part of the app on the screen but with the options down the side, YouTube has a different layout, moving the notification bar to the bottom etc. I can't really explain it very well but have a look at some screen shots and you'll see what I mean

Just managed to find a video of it - very strange! Is it possible to turn this "tablet mode" off? I may try it either way, looks quite neat.

 

[SUroot]

it's unnecessary for software amateurs like Samsung to meddle.

Couldn't disagree more. The S3 is the best selling android device, in large because of the software. Sure there are bugs (same as any oem or Google themselves) but they are pioneering technology. There's nothing amateurish about it. This is the forefront of mobile technology.

My s3 is 1,000,000 times better with touchwiz on it. I'm not exaggerating. One million! I love aosp. Its fast and light. But that's because its basic. Really basic.

If samsung are so amateur, I'm amazed people on every device forum of xda are trying to port their applications.

I think you should sell your s3. It's not the device for you.

 

[andy9l]

Couldn't disagree more. The S3 is the best selling android device, in large because of the software. Sure there are bugs (same as any oem or Google themselves) but they are pioneering technology. There's nothing amateurish about it. This is the forefront of mobile technology.

My s3 is 1,000,000 times better with touchwiz on it. I'm not exaggerating. One million! I love aosp. Its fast and light. But that's because its basic. Really basic.

If samsung are so amateur, I'm amazed people on every device forum of xda are trying to port their applications.

I think you should sell your s3. It's not the device for you.

We will have to agree to disagree then. You have fair points, but it's not enough to sway me from the idea of AOSP. Remember - I haven't given AOSP a fair chance yet, so I may agree with you after trying it.

It's things like Samsung backup, when there's Google. S-Voice, when there's Google Now. It's exactly like being a Windows computer. It's been bloated before day 1 of ownership. For friends who buy PCs, they'll ask me to reformat to Windows 7 as Microsoft intended. They don't need HP Health Checker, no-one does. No-one needs S-Voice, when Google Now does exactly the same, and more in some respects.

I don't agree that the S3 is not the device for me. As a device, I love it, but I am not a huge fan of the software bundled on it. The cameras, screen, speed, touch-sensitivity and simplicity of the physical handset are brilliant. I've not once looked back at moving from an iPhone in a hardware respect, only software.

I want to give AOSP a chance - I'm just asking for advice from more knowledgeable people like yourself as to which would be suitable for me to try. I can make my final decision between AOSP and TW after a week or so.

Edit: If you really don't think AOSP is suitable, I'd at least like to apply a fairly complete AOSP theme to a de-bloated TW ROM to give the AOSP look. I, along with a huge number of others, find the TW UI very childish - beyond TW Home.

 

[SUroot]

Sorry, what I mean is that you dislike the samsung software so much that you want AOSP but the only devices that have up-to-date AND stable releases are nexus.

There's a lot to say for AOSP. I developed roms for the HTC desire that were AOSP for the same reason you want AOSP on your s3.

I'm just being realistic in that its so much hard work to release a fully functional AOSP rom for a non-nexus, that sometimes its not worth it.

Edit > I too HATE the entire Touchwiz UI. I replace the launcher with Go Launcher (Apex and Nov a are supposed to be good for AOSP look though)...

I use the JB Domination theme.

Here are some shots of my setup.

I LOVE the AOSP Look and always try to emulate it.

 

[andy9l]

Sorry, what I mean is that you dislike the samsung software so much that you want AOSP but the only devices that have up-to-date AND stable releases are nexus.

There's a lot to say for AOSP. I developed roms for the HTC desire that were AOSP for the sane reason you want AOSP on your s3.

I'm just being realistic in that its so much hard work to release a fully functional AOSP rom for a non-nexus, that sometimes its not worth it.

Sure, I understand. I'm just fairly new to this and after 3 days, I'm still struggling to see the best solution for what I want to try.

CM 10.1 seems to be progressing well - but it has Wi-Fi and camera problems. I understand (well, I sympathise) how difficult it is to get AOSP to run perfectly on a non-Nexus device. It looks like they're getting reasonably close though on the i9300 - I've been watching several videos and trawling through forums.

I may give CM 10.1 a try (keeping it updated with the nightlies) - as you say, I can always revert to stock, unrooted.

So, before I seriously get into this a final run through of a few steps:

1. Root with CF-Root and Odin (check drivers, etc. on PC) using guide posted in this forum. That will put CWM on my phone and give root access.
2. I now want to backup my EFS and make a Nandroid, correct? Can I do this with the installed CWM from CF-Root?
3. Backup my /efs/ folder, any way I can do this manually? From Windows Explorer or something like that. I can pop it on the extSD if needs be.
4. The rest is documented elsewhere for flashing ROMs etc., and I've seen how to do it

So many tutorials and guides completely skip over any backups, and yourself and Shotgun have noted how important it is. It's an obvious 'to-do'!

Edit: Just seen your screenshots - that does look fantastic. Wanamlite with JB Domination? I've written those down. Does it get rid of the hideous TW lockscreen?

Edit 2: I have read your backup guide - but creating tasks etc. seems a bit OTT for what I need!

 

[SUroot]

Sure, I understand. I'm just fairly new to this and after 3 days, I'm still struggling to see the best solution for what I want to try.

CM 10.1 seems to be progressing well - but it has Wi-Fi and camera problems. I understand (well, I sympathise) how difficult it is to get AOSP to run perfectly on a non-Nexus device. It looks like they're getting reasonably close though on the i9300 - I've been watching several videos and trawling through forums.

I may give CM 10.1 a try (keeping it updated with the nightlies) - as you say, I can always revert to stock, unrooted.

You definitely owe it to yourself to try

If anyone is going to fix the bugs, Cyanogen will! I have the utmost respect for them as a dev team. They are the premier development team on many devices. Much of what happens in the AOSP development community now harks back to work done by Cyanogen. ANY developer who does not credit Cyanogen in their ROM threads either doesn't understand the pedigree or is in denial. Cyanogen are such a force that I feel crediting them should be obligatory.

So, before I seriously get into this a final run through of a few steps:

1. Root with CF-Root and Odin (check drivers, etc. on PC) using guide posted in this forum. That will put CWM on my phone and give root access.
2. I now want to backup my EFS and make a Nandroid, correct? Can I do this with the installed CWM from CF-Root?
3. Backup my /efs/ folder, any way I can do this manually? From Windows Explorer or something like that. I can pop it on the extSD if needs be.
4. The rest is documented elsewhere for flashing ROMs etc., and I've seen how to do it

So many tutorials and guides completely skip over any backups, and yourself and Shotgun have noted how important it is. It's an obvious 'to-do'!

1. Yep

2. Nandroid can be done on the "default" CWM that comes with CF-root. It doesn't backup EFS by default. There are custom recoveries that can do this but lets get into that later.

3. Have a look at shotguns post in my thread here: http://androidforums.com/internatio...t/669118-info-my-backup-restore-routines.html - he has a free application that can do EFS, so just use that.

Just seen your screenshots - that does look fantastic. Wanamlite with JB Domination? I've written those down. Does it get rid of the hideous TW lockscreen?

Yep Wanam and JB Domination
There are some mods that give the AOSP lockscreen in the JB Domination thread. The thread isn't well organised right now so if you do go down that route, let me know and I'll sort you out with everything you need.

Personally, I'm using WidgetLocker though. I bought this a couple of years ago and have loved it ever since....

https://play.google.com/store/apps/...locker&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd

There are free ones too such as Go Locker, but I haven't tried them.

Anyway, please do keep us posted on your progress and keep asking questions!

 

[andy9l]

You definitely owe it to yourself to try

Ha! Well that's one way to look at it

If anyone is going to fix the bugs, Cyanogen will! I have the utmost respect for them as a dev team. They are the premier development team on many devices. Much of what happens in the AOSP development community now harks back to work done by Cyanogen. ANY developer who does not credit Cyanogen in their ROM threads either doesn't understand the pedigree or is in denial. Cyanogen are such a force that I feel crediting them should be obligatory.

The nightly builds are literally coming on a nightly basis which is impressive for any software development team. I watched a video by one guy who was positive about 10.1, but of course mentioned the crashes and bugs - he then posted another video about 1 week later with the latest nightly and even he was surprised at how far it had come.

2. Nandroid can be done on the "default" CWM that comes with CF-root. It doesn't backup EFS by default. There are custom recoveries that can do this but lets get into that later.

Ok, and once I've finished the CF-Root flash via Odin, how do I enter CWM recovery to do this? Is it the volume down + home + power? Or do I open a CWM app?

3. Have a look at shotguns post in my thread here: http://androidforums.com/internatio...t/669118-info-my-backup-restore-routines.html - he has a free application that can do EFS, so just use that.

So no way to just grab it using Windows Explorer after rooting? Not a problem, just a preference!

Yep Wanam and JB Domination
There are some mods that give the AOSP lockscreen in the JB Domination thread. The thread isn't well organised right now so if you do go down that route, let me know and I'll sort you out with everything you need.

It's one of the key features I want on my S3. I currently use Holo Locker which is similar to WidgetLocker. I also bought WidgetLocker a couple of months ago. Both of them are slightly glitchy since they aren't actually Lockscreens, they're just apps that run instead of the lockscreen, as I'm sure you'll know. I know the original lockscreen is technically an app too, but it's not directly replaced by these WidgetLocker or Holo Locker, I don't think. The screen flashes back to black occasionally, and sometimes the original lockscreen shows for a second or two. Minor annoyances, but it just feels like a workaround the whole time.

Anyway, please do keep us posted on your progress and keep asking questions!

I will! I'll probably create a guide too for complete newbies like me, to help someone go from absolutely no knowledge of rooting/flashing to being able to safely root and flash a custom ROM. I'm a relatively techie guy (may surprise you), being a web developer (and Android apps, funnily enough), but the nature of forums and Android fragmentation makes finding correct information quite difficult.

 

[SUroot]

The nightly builds are literally coming on a nightly basis which is impressive for any software development team. I watched a video by one guy who was positive about 10.1, but of course mentioned the crashes and bugs - he then posted another video about 1 week later with the latest nightly and even he was surprised at how far it had come.

So how it works normally is you have all the source code hosted on a server. You edit the code then run commands to compile that code into an android ROM within a zip. On a Nightly basis, Cyanogen's Server automatically compiles that source code for them. Some days there may be no changes between the builds as they had a day off, but the server will still automatically compile it. That's rare though. But they just need to make a couple of code changes and that can have a massive impact in comparability.

With build machines as powerful as I imagine Cyanogen have, a compile (or "make" as its called) probably takes no time. My old laptop took 2-3 hours to make the tiniest build of Gingerbread. I assume my current laptop would build in about 45 minutes. I assume CM's will build in 10 minutes perhaps.

Ok, and once I've finished the CF-Root flash via Odin, how do I enter CWM recovery to do this? Is it the volume down + home + power? Or do I open a CWM app?

Yep, turn off, hold volume UP + Home and then press power. Vol Down is Download mode. I recommend not using apps to boot into recovery.

Once you have a custom ROM, you'll probably have an option to boot into recovery from the power menu in android.

So no way to just grab it using Windows Explorer after rooting? Not a problem, just a preference!

No because /efs is at the root of the device. Just like /system and /data are at the root level of the file system. Windows can only see /mnt/sdcard and /mnt/extSdCard

If you're familiar with command line, with adb shell (which you can access the device by using the android SDK) you can possibly get to the /efs directory but its a lot of effort for not much.

It's one of the key features I want on my S3. I currently use Holo Locker which is similar to WidgetLocker. I also bought WidgetLocker a couple of months ago. Both of them are slightly glitchy since they aren't actually Lockscreens, they're just apps that run instead of the lockscreen, as I'm sure you'll know. I know the original lockscreen is technically an app too, but it's not directly replaced by these WidgetLocker or Holo Locker, I don't think. The screen flashes back to black occasionally, and sometimes the original lockscreen shows for a second or two. Minor annoyances, but it just feels like a workaround the whole time.

I never have this issue of the stock lockscreen popping up with Widget locker. You just have to turn it off in the android settings > lockscreen settings.

I actually use pattern lock when not on my home wifi so I set "Secured with Pattern" but de-select "With swipe lock" option. If not using pattern, you'd set lockscreen to "none". But yes if you leave it on, it will pop up occasionally.

You will also need to widgetlocker settings > Advanced > home helper and set this up as without this, pressing home will bypass widget locker to your home screen.

In regards to the AOSP mod on Samsung based roms, I can't comment as I haven't used it.

I will! I'll probably create a guide too for complete newbies like me, to help someone go from absolutely no knowledge of rooting/flashing to being able to safely root and flash a custom ROM. I'm a relatively techie guy (may surprise you), being a web developer (and Android apps, funnily enough), but the nature of forums and Android fragmentation makes finding correct information quite difficult.

I think the more you know forums the easier it gets. It certainly doesn't help with having different hardware iterations.

 

[andy9l]

So how it works normally is you have all the source code hosted on a server. You edit the code then run commands to compile that code into an android ROM within a zip. On a Nightly basis, Cyanogen's Server automatically compiles that source code for them. Some days there may be no changes between the builds as they had a day off, but the server will still automatically compile it. That's rare though. But they just need to make a couple of code changes and that can have a massive impact in comparability.

With build machines as powerful as I imagine Cyanogen have, a compile (or "make" as its called) probably takes no time. My old laptop took 2-3 hours to make the tiniest build of Gingerbread. I assume my current laptop would build in about 45 minutes. I assume CM's will build in 10 minutes perhaps.

Wow, that's really interesting (no sarcasm). Thanks for the explanation! It's quite an impressive setup then.

Yep, turn off, hold volume UP + Home and then press power. Vol Down is Download mode. I recommend not using apps to boot into recovery.

Once you have a custom ROM, you'll probably have an option to boot into recovery from the power menu in android.

Ok, if I just remember DOWN = DOWNload I should be fine

No because /efs is at the root of the device. Just like /system and /data are at the root level of the file system. Windows can only see /mnt/sdcard and /mnt/extSdCard

Yep completely makes sense, I had overlooked that.

I actually use pattern lock when not on my home wifi so I set "Secured with Pattern" but de-select "With swipe lock" option. If not using pattern, you'd set lockscreen to "none". But yes if you leave it on, it will pop up occasionally.

I can't believe I hadn't found this out yet! I've been fiddling with settings for months! Well, that's pretty cool - another temptation removed from custom ROMs though!

You will also need to widgetlocker settings > Advanced > home helper and set this up as without this, pressing home will bypass widget locker to your home screen.

Managed to work that one out, fortunately! Although WidgetLocker won't stay as my default launcher for some reason, since 4.1.1.

I think the more you know forums the easier it gets. It certainly doesn't help with having different hardware iterations.

I think the longer you visit the same ones, the easier it is. I'm a heavy user of forums of various subjects, but technical ones such as XDA development section require some background knowledge before diving in. The longer you stay, the more you understand about which are new releases, which are old, who the good devs are, etc..

Edit: Another example of this would be the iPhone jailbreaks. Suddenly jumping into a forum and working out which method is current for your device and iOS version can be a difficult task for people. But since I'd been around for a while, I understood where each one was at.



Anyway, I think it's time to at least get rooted. I think I might go for a TW ROM with JB Domination as per your recommendation. Finally get rid of the TW UI. I'll have a quick browse through the TW ROMs, but do you know of any that have the absolute minimum on them? A "light" ROM if you will. I don't need any of the Samsung apps, or any TW widgets etc.. I don't mind them being there, since I can delete them I assume, but it would be a nice starting point for me.

After trying TW + JB Domination, if I'm still not keen with TW-based ROMs, I will give CM 10.1 a shot when I'm a little more comfortable with what I'm doing.

 

[SUroot]

I would recommend going for Wanam LITE, in my signature.

I recommend when going through the installer on wanam, select the "23 toggles" stock toggles option. JB Dom doesnt support this but its much better than samsung toggles and there is a mod to theme the toggles so thats fine.*

This is the Specific JB DOM file you need: JB DOM 1.5

This is the Mod you need for 23 toggles theme (also can change battery icon): Krytens toggle / battery mod

This Mod gives you AOSP lock screen and CRT off animation. Also select extended power menu as it removes the one that comes with wanam if you leave it unselected: Krytens AOSP / CRT / Power mod

Also I recommend the black pop ups mod which gives pure black pop ups. Nicer than the default grey imho black mode


Flash the ROM first and boot into it to check its working. Then flash the theme and all the mods without rebooting inbetween...

*The 23 toggles mod installs an app called "Toggle settings" so you can choose which toggles you want in the notification area and in what order. 23 toggles to choose from.

 

[andy9l]

Thanks for all that...just booted up Windows.

Very quickly, do you know of the safest place to grab the latest Odin? I've got CF-Root but Odin is proving hard to find - again, a Google + forum problem!

Edit: Nevermind, found an XDA download for 3.07. Seems legit...