Root Rom Help - I have rooted and one click lag fix - undo?

[chadbobb]

About 2 months ago I rooted and installed the 1-click lag fix from the market. I also downloaded rom manger.

Just now I opened rom manger and used it to install clockwork mod.

What is a rom? If I install a rom am I modifying the kernel? What is the difference between installing a new rom, and installing a kernal. We flash both of them?

If so I assume that I need to undo the lag fix and get my regular file system back - is this an accurate assumption?

Any help would be awesome and much appreciated.


Side note:
I have tried to search about this information, but nobody has a single detailed explanation of what each these mean. I have a hard time finding something that explains the differences between a rom, and a kernel (if there is any). Back when I was trying to learn what rooting was I couldn't even figure out what that meant for the longest time. If I can figure this out I will try to piece together a guide for the noobs like me - something that isn't 200+ pages, but still has the basic info so you at least know what to search for.

 

[sremick]

Don't get ahead of yourself. If you don't even know what a ROM is, you're far from the point where you should be worrying about installing one.

Technical definitions aside, a "ROM" is used to refer to a whole new system for the phone. Some are based upon a modified stock Captivate Android 2.1 system, while more-adventurous ones will take an Android 2.2 "Froyo" system from another phone and hack it up to more or less mostly work (with some issues) on a Captivate.

This is a high-risk activity. Of course, you've already voided your warranty with the stuff you've done already. But playing with ROMs can render your phone unusable if something goes wrong. And none of the ROMs are "perfect" despite the fanboys who will suggest otherwise.

A "ROM" is a complete OS, while a "kernel" is a core part of the OS. Think "car" and "engine". Some people just swap out different kernels, while others do entire ROMs. Others still custom mix-and-match, taking on a whole new set of risks and gotchas.

If you're at this stage already and not already thick into ROMs, I'd wait... an official Android 2.2 "Froyo" release for the Captivate is imminent, at which point you might find yourself either content with the official ROM (far less-risky), or otherwise wanting to use one of the new generation of ROMs based upon the official code.

 

[chadbobb]

Ok I was thinking that a rom is about what you said. I am totally amazed at how scattered this kind of information is. Every now and then you get something that is good information, but it is totally and completely worthless because whoever wrote it decided to tell me about the whole universe, instead of the required info.

So I am assuming that in a way I have already modified the kernel by installing a lag fix (by changing out the file system).

Would installing one of the cognition roms for 2.1 be a fairly safe thing to do? I am assuming that the next step of installing one of the froyo cognition roms is an even bigger step that I can worry about later.

 

[sremick]

Not all lag fixes require a modified kernel. There are numerous different "lagfixes" that work in radically different ways. Some work better than others. Some are more risky than others. Some involve much more hacking up of your phone than others. Many trade reliability/stability for speed. All have some risk and "gotchas".

I can't advocate the use of hacked up ROMs given what I've seen, so I can't help you there. It's playing with fire and asking for trouble, and best left to the people who just don't care if something goes wrong and their phone stops working... perhaps forever.

 

[chadbobb]

I went ahead and installed one of the cognition roms. - I should have prepared more

I started by using Rom Manager to backup my current stock eclair build.
Removed the ex2 partition for the OCLF
Then I installed the rom from a .zip file - the phone rebooted and did a bunch of stuff.
Then I realised I hadn't backed up anything

So I tried to use the backup to revert back - but of course it didn't work. I am assuming because I backed it up before removing the lag fix. Upon booting after reverting back, the screen just stayed black after booting.

So, I just spent that past 6 hours copying the backup over to my desktop. Then reading about the .img files, which aren't like .img files you would use on a computer - so I wasn't able to just mount them as a drive and extract data from them. I had to go into the command prompt with a file I found on the internet that would extract .img files for me.

So now I finally got all of the data back - but it's organized in a way that i don't understand, as I don't know enough about android.

luckily I know a little about sql databases and come to find out, my phone numbers (contacts list) was stored in a sqllite database - but I don't know how to extract it.

There doesn't seem to be an easy way to access the root dir from windows. Kinda ridiculous imo, but oh well. I was eventually able to overwrite the contacts2.db file that was on the phone with my old contacts2.db. after a reboot my contacts were back. In the morning ill try to do the same with my sms and mms messages, but those can be lost if need be.

anyways - I learned my lesson. haha

at least I know how to recover some of the lost data now.

oh and I will have to figure out how to get my phone back to stock... as I don't really want cognition on here only.

Anyone have a zip file of the stock captivate OS?

 

[C.C.W.]

Odin one click back to stock, master clear and then flash Axura RC2. You will not be disappointed. It tells you EVERYTHING you need to know including resolution of your current status.

[ROM][FROYO]▽▲ AXURA Captivate Edition ▼△[RC 2.1][12/8/10] WE'RE BACK! - xda-developers

 

[sremick]

Anyone have a zip file of the stock captivate OS?

See the Captivate FAQ:

Resetting/Restoring - CapFAQ

 

[chadbobb]

actually so far I am not really having to many issues. I might not end up putting the stock version back on. I might just wait until the official release of froyo is out (if ever)

So far i have been able to get back my contacts by going through the sql database on the phone (that I had to extract manually from the .img files I had backed up prior to removing my lag fix).

Then I had to go through them one by one determining which database is which until I had recovered my contacts and sms messages.

I got laucherpro installed again the this cognition rom and I had backed it up before.

Just a few more aps to install and I think i will just leave it.

So far I have noticed that the phone is snappier than with the stock OS from samsung (even with the lag fix). From what I can tell this has the voodoo lag fix included and installed.

My quadrants scores are about 500-700 points lower than they were with the OCLF by that ryan guy, BUT overall the phone feels faster.

 

[sremick]

My quadrants scores are about 500-700 points lower than they were with the OCLF by that ryan guy, BUT overall the phone feels faster.

Quadrant scores are pretty meaningless, especially with the way that various lagfixes (like the method used in OCLF) artificially skews them.