Many Questions, Very Little Answers

[Gn0m3]

First of all, Although it's rare, I have no idea what I am doing. Very new to the modification process. Not new to android, sold them since the G1, and owned many.

Question 1(two parter): Is there a ROM based on HTC Sense - FroYo or Gingerbread that will work on a Sprint Hero?

• If yes where do I find them?
• If not am I wasting time even messing with different ROMs.

Question 2: If I use a Custom ROM (Sense Based) Do I loose access to HTC Widgets and HTC Sync? My experimentation using ASOP made it seem like I would no longer be able to use these things. And I never got around to trying Titanium Backup with these.(Yes I am using it now, just want answers before redo anything else.)

Question 3: Fresh=No More???

Question 4: I really love my Sense GUI, but want to modify things like Icons, Notification Bar, And Menus. All Superficial, however I am a graphic designer and I really want this stuff custom. How?

Thanks in advance, and please forgive my ignorance.

 

[MahaloCat]

Aloha -
1 - YES - there is one FroYo Sense being built - Not entirely stable at this point.
There are two 2.1 Roms that are very good - NFX and Liquid Sense.
[ROM][NEW 11/30/2010] LiquidSense 2.1.1 Beta|PngOpt|ZipAlgn|Odex|No Bloat - xda-developers
[ROM] NFX-Sprint.STOCK.2.32.651.2.ODEX.A2SD Updated:11/23/2010 - xda-developers


2- No you should be able to use all HTC SENSE Widgets....

3 - Don't beleive fresh is being supported. He has moved on to the 2.2 Sense team.

4 - - use Launcher Pro - you can modify With that.

 

[LBPHeretic]

You only lose access to HTC services and widgets if you are not using an HTC Sense ROM. There are plenty of free apps on the Android Market than can take over for those services and widgets though.

I would give the CyanogenMod 6.1 or AOSP Android 2.2 ROMs a whirl and see if you would like a stock experience. As MahaloCat said, you can always customize the experience with LauncherPro.

 

[Gn0m3]

It seems I will end up Having to leave behind my HTC Sense.

I would give the CyanogenMod 6.1 or AOSP Android 2.2 ROMs a whirl and see if you would like a stock experience. As MahaloCat said, you can always customize the experience with LauncherPro.

I went from a standard Android to HTC because of HTC Sense. Most of all the clock and weather widget. (Sounds stupid, I know)

I have no real need for FroYo other than live papers and I have no desire to use those. And I already de-Bloted my system, So there is no need to get something else.

Now Launcher Pro:

I do loose access to my HTC stuff by using it. Busted down to a Standard Android system. Sad, but true. Launcher Pro Plus might be a remedy for that. Not ready to commit to it yet.

I found Desktop Visualizer, it will let me make Icon changes. I had hoped there was a way to do so in the shell, but this does the trick. I did the same thing in Launcher Pro, but this seems like a cumbersome way to go. There might be some logic to doing that, I just don't know what it is.

One last question about Launcher Pro.
Are there any Tutorials out there to let me in on the full power of this program?
I see custom Lock Screens, Notification Bars, and Docks. All seem to be done with Launcher Pro, I just can't seem to figure it out. It might seem like I am being picky, but u should seem my Mac and my PC. custom boot screens, icons, and tool bars.

 

[Scrubb]

I love launcher pro! The paid version is well worth the 4 bucks. Especially if you are a fan of Sense. The widgets are very similar, I actually prefer them. and also being a graphic artist myself, I love the customiz-ability. I have photoshopped my own icons and dock bars. Coming from a fellow Sense fan, once I tried LP, I haven't even thought about Sense. And in my honest opinion, CyanogenMod 6.1 with Launcher Pro is the only way to go!

 

[DonB]

Take some screen shots and post them so he can see, best way to show IMO, pictures speak a 1000 words

I love launcher pro! The paid version is well worth the 4 bucks. Especially if you are a fan of Sense. The widgets are very similar, I actually prefer them. and also being a graphic artist myself, I love the customiz-ability. I have photoshopped my own icons and dock bars. Coming from a fellow Sense fan, once I tried LP, I haven't even thought about Sense. And in my honest opinion, CyanogenMod 6.1 with Launcher Pro is the only way to go!

 

[Scrubb]

Here are my screens. Nothing too fancy, Im somewhat of a minimalist when it comes to home screens. Not to mention I dont bother with all the facebook and twitter crap.

 

[Scrubb]

Here are my dock bar and custom icons. From Left to right...
Messaging...Email...App Drawer...Google Voice...Contacts

Bookmarks:
Android Forums...Lowkick.com...Google...Ultimate-Guitar.com...YouTube

 

[DonB]

Looks good bro, would of been nice to put your screen shots Vertical and not horizontal, lol, but looks nice and clean, I myself keep one screen , the more screen the more crap you accumulate

Here are my dock bar and custom icons. From Left to right...
Messaging...Email...App Drawer...Google Voice...Contacts

Bookmarks:
Android Forums...Lowkick.com...Google...Ultimate-Guitar.com...YouTube

 

[Scrubb]

Yeah...not really sure what happened there? I like to keep my screens clean, I don't like clutter, just the stuff I use daily...clock, calendar, task killer, speed dial, etc...

 

[Gn0m3]

Thanks Guys.

If I have de-bloted my Sense stock Rom, why move over to CyanogenMod 6.1? Just Curious. Is there a benefit that I don't know about.

Scrubb, OMG - Grunge that is so like 1999. (JK)
Nice desktop though a little cluttered for my tastes, but it does flow nice.

DonB, I too only have one screen. I figured out a way to stuff all my stuff together, using AppsOrganizer and Desktop Visualizer.

Launcher Pro Plus seems to be a must have. I really want to be able to re-size my widgets, and i would like to rid myself of that pop-up for it when I accidentally try to re-size a widget.

For now I have someone else's icons, still need to change my icons over to pngs, and for the moment I am PhotoShop-less.(Just did a format and haven't reinstalled it yet) But figured I should show off what I ended up with. Thanks everyone for the Help.

BTW: The background is one I made forever ago, when i first got the Hero. Can't wait till June, Upgrade Time.

 

[andygu3]

Moving over to CM6, aospMod or sense/froyo roms will give you 2.2/froyo. If you like customizations, go with CM6. It has ADW as the launcher. aospMod has a stock launcher, so LauncherPro is a good alternative. Going with a 2.2 rom will give you access to 2.2 only applications

 

[Scrubb]

Yeah just call me old school. I'm just a grungy metal head \m/ but yes it flows great, very fast. IMO cyanogen seems to run faster on mine than Sense did. I do dig your setup though. looks good.

Here's a dumb question...where do I find that word clock and charge status??

 

[Gn0m3]

The clock is Minimalistic Text and BattStatt. I found both in the the "Show your desktop" Thread in Android Theme section.

They seem very Popular, and I do love text. Minimalistic Text actually has Weather, Battery, and Calender.

Does CM6 come with the market already installed, ASOP didn't and it was a PITA to fix after the fact. Somehow I missed that note, but sure enough there it was in the notes. Would have been fast to just redo the whole Rom.

 

[andygu3]

The clock is Minimalistic Text and BattStatt. I found both in the the "Show your desktop" Thread in Android Theme section.

They seem very Popular, and I do love text. Minimalistic Text actually has Weather, Battery, and Calender.

Does CM6 come with the market already installed, ASOP didn't and it was a PITA to fix after the fact. Somehow I missed that note, but sure enough there it was in the notes. Would have been fast to just redo the whole Rom.

No, all AOSP roms will need to have the gapps zip file flashed after flashing the rom. Look at the 'setting up CM6/aosp' for useful information

 

[Scrubb]

Yeah I did the same thing when I tried ASOP. I missed the "fine print" lol didnt have any other roms on my sd and had to plug into my pc to get back to CM6.1

But yeah CM6.1 has the Market and File Manager so its a lot easier to get up and running. But you do still have to install GAPPS.

And I really like the fact that you can make the status bar/pull down bar whatever color you want.

3 thumbs up for customiz-ability...i really like that word lol

 

[Scrubb]

The clock is Minimalistic Text and BattStatt. I found both in the the "Show your desktop" Thread in Android Theme section.

They seem very Popular, and I do love text. Minimalistic Text actually has Weather, Battery, and Calender.

Sweet! Thanks....to quote McD's...."I'm Looovin' It!!"

 

[Gn0m3]

So like I mentioned, I reinstalled my OS on my PC. OOOOppps! Forgot install Android-SDK. So when I went to push CM6 over started getting an error - adb not a valid command. So i went to put Android-SDK back on and it can't seem to find JAVA. (And Yes, I installed JAVA)

Should I bother trying to fix this, I don't intend on programming. Just changing my ROM. And I don't really need to push the files, I can just run them from the SD Card, Correct?

 

[andygu3]

So like I mentioned, I reinstalled my OS on my PC. OOOOppps! Forgot install Android-SDK. So when I went to push CM6 over started getting an error - adb not a valid command. So i went to put Android-SDK back on and it can't seem to find JAVA. (And Yes, I installed JAVA)

Should I bother trying to fix this, I don't intend on programming. Just changing my ROM. And I don't really need to push the files, I can just run them from the SD Card, Correct?

I download all roms to my phone directly, no troubles here.

 

[DonB]

Same here and much more practical IMO

I download all roms to my phone directly, no troubles here.

 

[andygu3]

Just remember what file the zip is in when you get to recovery