Root xtrSENSE vs GSB!

[DavidG6]

Hey everyone!
So I've been an avid flasher of GSB since 1.6. I thoroughly enjoy GSB! However, I think I'm too the point I want a more stable ROM that doesn't have an update every other day and I hear xtrSENSE is that - I also heard it's a bit more stock based (yet still customizable, yes?) but has all the features of overclocking, etc.
For those of you who have run both, what are your thoughts?
Also if I decided to flash from GSB to xtrSENSE is it just the same basic process - Reboot, Nand backup, davlik wipe, flash ROM? Or would I have factory reset or flash anything else?

Thanks everyone! Just saw GSB 2.2 is out, might flash that just for the time being!

 

[Bob Cat]

Hey everyone!
So I've been an avid flasher of GSB since 1.6. I thoroughly enjoy GSB! However, I think I'm too the point I want a more stable ROM that doesn't have an update every other day and I hear xtrSENSE is that - I also heard it's a bit more stock based (yet still customizable, yes?) but has all the features of overclocking, etc.
For those of you who have run both, what are your thoughts?
Also if I decided to flash from GSB to xtrSENSE is it just the same basic process - Reboot, Nand backup, davlik wipe, flash ROM? Or would I have factory reset or flash anything else?

Thanks everyone! Just saw GSB 2.2 is out, might flash that just for the time being!

I'm all bout me some GSB.

 

[doogald]

Hey everyone!
So I've been an avid flasher of GSB since 1.6. I thoroughly enjoy GSB! However, I think I'm too the point I want a more stable ROM that doesn't have an update every other day and I hear xtrSENSE is that - I also heard it's a bit more stock based (yet still customizable, yes?) but has all the features of overclocking, etc.

For those of you who have run both, what are your thoughts?

xtrSENSE is very close to stock, except that it is overclocked, and it has cache2cache set up by default, giving a lot more user space for apps and data. xtrSENSE is de-odexed, meaning that the pieces of the framework that are normally pre-compiled are broken up, so that it can be customized with an app like metamorph (though I have to say that I really don't know too much about that at all; I am generally happy with stock.)

My own experience with xtrSENSE is that it burns battery a bit faster than GSB does, but that may just be me.

It's very stable, though I do know that HTC-based Android has some bugs that always plague me. The biggest pain in the butt is that calendar event alarms will fire but give no way to dismiss them - they seem to automatically snooze - so the darned things go off every five minutes, inevitably meaning that I hear the stupid things as I drive to my appointment. I've even had instances where these notifications fire off after the appointment - not good at all. You're experience may be different from mine. Of course, it will be missing those features that require Froyo, so the new Google Voice Actions (part of Google search) will not be the same, there is no Chrome2Phone, there is no Gmail client that support the priority inbox and the ability to notify for every message. (Note: Google Voice Actions is different from Google Voice; Google Voice works just fine with xtrSENSE.)

Some of the pros compared with GSB: Of course, cache2cache is great. The ROM is extremely compatible with the Eris, so everything (besides what I mentioned above) works. (This is getting to be less of an issue with GSB as it matures, however.) WiFi in particular will lock on and connect to my access points right away - I sometimes have to push GSB (and other Cyanogen ROMs) to connect well.

If you Nandroid backup what you have now, you can always come back to GSB as it is now. Give xtrSENSE a try - it's definitely worth a try at least.

Also if I decided to flash from GSB to xtrSENSE is it just the same basic process - Reboot, Nand backup, davlik wipe, flash ROM? Or would I have factory reset or flash anything else?

You do have to wipe data/factory reset. So, Nandroid backup what you have now, wipe data/factory reset, wipe Dalvik cache, flash xtrSENSE, reboot. Do not flash the Google apps, like you do with GSB - they are already installed in xtrSENSE.

 

[dirtyriffs]

I was running GSB for serveral weeks. I had several little issues w/ certain things but over all it was ok. I flashed xtrSense a couple weeks ago. I'm sticking w/ it. The battry lasts me the entire day till I go to bed. All the little issues w/ GSB are gone. Personally for me there are no advantages w/GSB over xtrSENSE. Unless you just want bragging rights that its the newest OS.

 

[SirEagle]

For me GSB runs much smoother and faster. I have no bugs with GSB and didn't have any with xtrsense either. Had more lag with ctrsense though. Run both OD'd at 710, cache2cache.

 

[paleodust]

I spent a lot of time with xtrSENSE and loved it but feel like you're going backwards if you're going there from GSB.

Also, cache2cache is available for GSB as well.

 

[stanlalee]

CM just offer was more features/tweakin/settings I dont care to live without and at this point (GSB 2.2) there is no speed advantage to justify me living without it (short of a phone upgrade). However if you like HTC sense the choice is obvious (I dont because the dock is ******ed and I dont use any sense widgets).

 

[doogald]

Also, cache2cache is available for GSB as well.

True, but it is a separate flash, and some people have problems with it. You don't have problems with it when you run xtrSENSE or xtrROM.

I'm trying out xtrROM one last time after having spontaneous reboots with GSB two days in a row. Funny, I restored from February 15th and started getting the OTA notification. We'll see how things go. The one thing I'll miss from GSB/CELB is the new gmail client; I do use Google Voice Actions every once in a while, but can get by without them. We'll just have to see how the calendar notifications go...

 

[stanlalee]

I restored from February 15th and started getting the OTA notification. ...

How do you stop getting the notification on XTRrom without installing the update? it was annoying me with XTR. I'd check no thanks and 10 minutes later its back asking again.

 

[doogald]

How do you stop getting the notification on XTRrom without installing the update? it was annoying me with XTR. I'd check no thanks and 10 minutes later its back asking again.

Accept the update. It will fail on the install, as it cannot run from anything but the stock recovery, and will not prompt you again.

 

[mjb34500]

I spent a lot of time with xtrSENSE and loved it but feel like you're going backwards if you're going there from GSB.

Also, cache2cache is available for GSB as well.

I've really enjoyed GSB. I can honeslty say tho that I've had the best running phone simply using V1.7. Every 'upgrade' I've had just gives me one headache or another, 1.7 seems for whatever reason to run really well.

I'm set up like:
flashed cache2cache
running the .29 radio
2.6.29 kernel
Smartass governor
245 min CPU
710 max CPU
using JIT
locking home in memory
24m VM heap
18% compcache RAM usage

I dunno about others, but I know this is working lights-out for me.

 

[paleodust]

I've really enjoyed GSB. I can honeslty say tho that I've had the best running phone simply using V1.7. Every 'upgrade' I've had just gives me one headache or another, 1.7 seems for whatever reason to run really well.

I'm set up like:
flashed cache2cache
running the .29 radio
2.6.29 kernel
Smartass governor
245 min CPU
710 max CPU
using JIT
locking home in memory
24m VM heap
18% compcache RAM usage

I dunno about others, but I know this is working lights-out for me.

I have the same settings except for 16m VM heap, which runs more responsively.

 

[mdeblaz]

xtrSense is the most stable ROM for the Eris. I used it for my everyday ROM since last July?? Though, I'm biased since I never did try GSB... there was no need to flash anything else.

 

[TheAtheistReverend]

I have been trying to like GSB. There are so many coo features involved, and it really is pretty.
But...
XTRrom has been the fail-safe bugg-less home-base for me. It is the smoothest running and most stable ROM I have used since I rooted almost a year ago. The only thing I "dislike" about it is the battery life. It isn't any worse than stock or most others, but I did have great luck in the CELBFroyo ROM with two days without having to plug it in and now I'm spoiled so I keep trying the GSB and CELBFroyo when they update. But EVERY time I get it set up and make a NAND for coming back to (just for fun) I revert to my favorite ROM: XTRrom 5.0!

No disrespect to anyone here is meant. Just expressing my fav.
(I think each phone has a favorite ROM of it's own, some ROMs just play better with some phones. Who knows why...)

 

[Jdiulus]

XTR Sense is by far my daily runner as well. I had GSB for a while but just not digging it. One Rom that I did like but had some issues with losing calls was TenzosXTR RCMix. I really liked the look and feel of that ROM except I was losing calls all the time. Dont know why. As soon as I flashed to something else the problem was gone.

 

[svh105]

I too have been messing around with GSB lately but have come to the same conclusion, XTR simply runs smoother than the GSB roms on and Eris. put aside quatrant scores, android 2.1 etc. Screens scroll smoother, apps load and close faster, the entire phone is more responsive. The phone feels like its not being dragged down by a "heavy" operation system.

I agree GSB and CM7 offer some pretty nice tweaks. Everything on the phone/rom works with few bugs. I think alot of people fall into the trap of having the latest and greatest (ie phone envy). But at the end of the day, I use my phone as a phone, not a fashion accessory.

So I pose a question, is XTR pound for pound the #1 ROM for the Eris? Including functionality, speed, user experience and support.

Discuss and decide.

 

[doogald]

I too have been messing around with GSB lately but have come to the same conclusion, XTR simply runs smoother than the GSB roms on and Eris. put aside quatrant scores, android 2.1 etc. Screens scroll smoother, apps load and close faster, the entire phone is more responsive. The phone feels like its not being dragged down by a "heavy" operation system.

I agree GSB and CM7 offer some pretty nice tweaks. Everything on the phone/rom works with few bugs. I think alot of people fall into the trap of having the latest and greatest (ie phone envy). But at the end of the day, I use my phone as a phone, not a fashion accessory.

So I pose a question, is XTR pound for pound the #1 ROM for the Eris? Including functionality, speed, user experience and support.

Discuss and decide.

I think we've discussed it already, but what I have found with xtrROM and xtrSENSE is that, as time goes by and the phone has been used with the ROM longer and longer, response tends to decrease - touch events like swipe scrolling lag, or get mis-interpreted as taps rather than scrolls - more so than with Froyo or GB ROMs on the Eris. That's been my experience. Generally a phone restart solves this, but it can be a pain in the neck when you notice this when you are trying to do something quickly and a restart is not something that you can wait on.

I love xtrROM and xtrSENSE, but it's no doubt that my phone feels more responsive and performs more consistently with GSB. As for "fashion accessory", I far, far prefer the look of stock Froyo to GSB, and when I think of eye candy, the HTC Sense customizations come to mind first.

There are some things that the xtr ROMs do better - WiFi is much, much better - and there are some things that the Froyo and GB ROMs do better, especially with better battery life (as they are more efficient) and the gmail client is so much better. They are both great in their own way, and it's great that we have such a choice, rather than having to live with the shortcomings of stock.

 

[notaguru]

These comments are all important, and they are all incomplete. That's because they do not (and maybe cannot) discuss the effect of various apps, preferences, usage modes, etc. Over the decades - and I've been computing since the vacuum-tube 50s - I've learned that a system is comprised of hardware, firmware or OS (the ROM, in this case), software suite, and - the user. Any glitch, speed issue, power (battery) problem, instability, etc. should be addressed from the system viewpoint - not just based on one segment. Our phones are so phenomenally complex that it's amazing that they work at all - and that's particularly so when you consider how configurable they are, rooted or not. All the reasonably competent hobbyist ROMs work fine, but I recently installed GSB 94.55 (or whatever was current that day) and found it to be excellent. XT, various Froyos, etc. would probably work similarly on my fairly simple phone, meeting my rather undemanding needs. The key is PROBABLY - the specific configuration, app list, and personal preferences will make a difference. It's work to try everything new, so I suggest that you either make it a hobby or when you encounter a setup that meets your needs, stop hunting. Someone even older than me (and there aren't that many) said it best If it ain't broke, don't fix it

 

[Bob Cat]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

I probably have said that same thing.

 

[paleodust]

Well, if it weren't broken, we wouldn't all be trying to fix it.

 

[notaguru]

Until 20 years ago, I drove a 1965 Mustang GT fastback that I had fully restored. It had a perfect 289, noiseless running gear, and was cosmetically indistinguishable from a new one. It was not broken, but nevertheless I worked on it constantly. And now I'm thinking about the ROM in this phone... and wondering, like so many here, if the grass is greener.

 

[slikrider20]

Just switched to xtraROM after coming from GSB. Won't be going back. Much, much faster.

 

[DavidG6]

So after serious thought, I have officially flashed over to xtrSENSE! Just a couple questions for you xtrSENSE veterans out there -

1. Can I auto-delete my text messages? One of my biggest pet peeves with the Eris (stock) was no auto-delete in threads. Is there a G-Script I can run or something?
2. What settings have run through G-Script that have peaked the performances (VM Heap size, JIT on/off, CPU Max and Min settings)?
3. Also, because this is like stock, back in the day when my phone was unrooted the HTC Sense FB/FB app eventually used A LOT of space, because of the sync with contacts and such. What method has everyone used to alleviate it?
4. Last but not least - with the GScript to put apps2sd, does it put every app to SD, or can I have control of what goes to SD? Or if they all go over to SD (I had problems with GSB and this) will future apps that I download just go right to SD or do I have to run the GScript again?

Sorry for all the questions! Just want the most out of xtrSENSE because besides GSB I have been told it is the best ROM to use!


Thanks everyone!

 

[bberryhill0]

The paid version of Delete Old Messages will auto delete. I think it has cleaner in the name.

 

[MagnumForce]

I have had XTRSense since at least last June and love it, recently I thought I would try GSB to see what the praise was all about, I was not impressed. The phone ran way worse, all kinds of force closes, it was a lot slower, and had no advantages over XTRSense.

I tried GSB for about 2 weeks and gladly went back to XTRSense. On XTRSense the eris runs flawless.