New HTC EVO 4G LTE User. Rooted Phone Yesterday, but Have Some Questions

[rudyh246]

Hi there. I just got my HTC EVO 4G LTE yesterday and rooted it as soon as I got home using this tutorial:
How to Root the HTC EVO 4G LTE - Latest - YouTube

It went smoothly, but, since I'm so new to the smart phone world (this is my first smart phone, at long last), I'm still a little unsure about some things, and figured this would be a knowledgeable place to ask questions.

The first thing on my mind is that I go into my Task Manager a lot to check on what things are running in the background so I'm not wasting battery life or memory. Usually whenever I check, there are a handful of things running that I haven't opened, like "Car" and "HTC Sense" and "GMail" and "Facebook", or just other general things that I haven't opened, or have previously closed. Is there a reason this is happening, and what's a good way to solve it?

Another thing is, is there a general consensus on the "best" custom kernel/ROM to try out? I don't think the root method I did from the tutorial video actually modded the kernel or ROM except for giving me root privileges, though I could be wrong about that. I checked out ViperROM Senseless and freEVO LTE, but wasn't sure which one would be better. I'm just wanting to kind of trim down on bloat on the phone. I don't exactly know what HTC Sense does, but I hear a lot of people complaining about it; perhaps someone could tell me exactly what it is.

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

 

[bar1203]

Welcome! I also have the evo 4G lte... Usually Gmail, Facebook and a few other apps run in the background because they are set to sync every so often. As far as roms go, I'm using meanbean, but tyied viper and a few others. I'd say try a few of them and see what you like best. Htc sense is all the extra software they threw on top of vanilla android. Like the clock widget, and other apps used to make android prettier. If you don't like sense, id say try cm 10. Good luck!

 

[rudyh246]

Thanks for the reply. Hm, I guess I'd probably prefer manually syncing those kinds of things, so I can probably get rid of HTC Sense and be fine. Since I rooted the phone, can I just remove the HTC stuff without trying a custom ROM? I'd like to see if I can get the setup I'm currently using to the point where I wouldn't want or need a custom ROM instead.

Also, when I rooted my phone, I think I ran "CWM-SuperSU-v0.99". Does that rooting method change anything aside from giving me root access? Like, does it add any features on its own (aside from the SuperSU App)?

Edit: Also, I don't seem to be able to access all of the memory of the phone. When I'm in the App Manager, it tells me there's only about 2GB of internal memory; isn't it supposed to be 16GB? When I plug it in via the TWRP USB Mount, I can access about 10GB, but still not 16GB. Any idea what that's about?

 

[RickMG]

Just wanting to know, did your phone have Jelly Bean or was it from the phone just came out in May? Thanks.

 

[rudyh246]

I think it was Jelly Bean. I asked the guy when I was buying it what it had, and I think he said 4.0.3. I'm not entirely sure how to check what version of Android I'm running yet.

Edit: I found it in Software Information; it says Android Version 4.0.4. HTC Sense Version 4.1. Software Version 2.13.651.1 710RD.

 

[crxssi]

I think it was Jelly Bean. I asked the guy when I was buying it what it had, and I think he said 4.0.3. I'm not entirely sure how to check what version of Android I'm running yet.

Edit: I found it in Software Information; it says Android Version 4.0.4. HTC Sense Version 4.1. Software Version 2.13.651.1 710RD.

That is Ice Cream Sandwitch. Had you updated it first to Jellybean, then tried to root, you would have failed. As for ROMS- since you have never used a smartphone and possibly never Android, wouldn't it make sense to try the stock HTC Jellybean first? Otherwise, you have no idea if you will even like it or what you are comparing against.

As for tasks- Android pre-loads apps in RAM, in anticipation of them being run. Sometimes it is due to a service, other times it is just a performance strategy. They are dropped if memory is needed for something else. There is nothing to "solve" in that regard.

 

[rudyh246]

Hm, I thought this phone was supposed to come with Jelly Bean. I tried looking for updates in the system info, but it said there were no updates. Not sure why that is.

Why would rooting the phone have failed if I'd had Jelly Bean? Does that mean if I try to update to Jelly Bean, the rooted phone will have issues? Or is it fine since it's already rooted?

Edit: Another issue I'm having is with Google Voice Commands. I'll hit the microphone icon and say something like, "Send text to Jonathan. Where are you?" It will pop up a window that says "Send text to: *blank*. Message: to Jonathan where are you?"

It doesn't seem to parse the name I'm saying as the name I want it to send the text to, even though I worded it the same way the demonstrator did in the tutorial video. Am I missing something here?

 

[kronosqq]

Jelly Bean just doesn't have a root method yet since that's something that has to be redone for every phone and every major update (the method, not root access if you already have it). To flash ROMs you also need to get s-off and install a custom recovery, you can find out how to do both over at xda, easy stuff. After that though I'd recommend using MeanBean which is the update of MeanROM for jelly bean. Flashing that will take you directly to jelly bean while mainaining root, and it's a great ROM. It's sense based but strips out some of the bloat and improves performance in pretty awesome ways.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[rudyh246]

Jelly Bean just doesn't have a root method yet since that's something that has to be redone for every phone and every major update (the method, not root access if you already have it). To flash ROMs you also need to get s-off and install a custom recovery, you can find out how to do both over at xda, easy stuff. After that though I'd recommend using MeanBean which is the update of MeanROM for jelly bean. Flashing that will take you directly to jelly bean while mainaining root, and it's a great ROM. It's sense based but strips out some of the bloat and improves performance in pretty awesome ways.

Thanks a ton for the info.

So I'm safe to update my phone to Jelly Bean if I wish, since I already have root access?

I don't think I have S-Off, but I have custom recovery (TWRP 2.3.1.0) which is how I rooted my phone.

I'll look into MeanBean. I've been looking for a ROM that is effectively the same as the default OS, but has bloat removed and performance increases. So far I haven't found one that really only makes those changes (cause I'm not too interested in all the other mod stuff that most ROMs seem to have).

Another question:
When I plug in my HTC to my laptop as a USB device, I only get like, 981MB of space. What's up with that? If I mount it from TWRP via USB Mount, I can access about 10GB, but isn't it supposed to be a 16GB device? Is the OS and apps really taking up 6GB of space, or am I missing something about how to access all the available space on the phone? Really bugging me here, cause I can't fit all my music onto it cause I have 10GB of music, which I was hoping would fit on a 16GB device.

 

[crxssi]

So I'm safe to update my phone to Jelly Bean if I wish, since I already have root access?

Yes, but you will lose root access if you do not use rootkeeper or some other method to retain root across the update.

I'll look into MeanBean. I've been looking for a ROM that is effectively the same as the default OS, but has bloat removed and performance increases. So far I haven't found one that really only makes those changes (cause I'm not too interested in all the other mod stuff that most ROMs seem to have).

I will ask you again: "As for ROMS- since you have never used a smartphone and possibly never Android, wouldn't it make sense to try the stock HTC Jellybean first? Otherwise, you have no idea if you will even like it or what you are comparing against."

 

[ffejjj]

I think it was Jelly Bean. I asked the guy when I was buying it what it had, and I think he said 4.0.3. I'm not entirely sure how to check what version of Android I'm running yet.

Edit: I found it in Software Information; it says Android Version 4.0.4. HTC Sense Version 4.1. Software Version 2.13.651.1 710RD.

Is this true? You're on 2.13 and this worked for you? I've been waiting on 2.13 for a workable version of root.

 

[rudyh246]

I will ask you again: "As for ROMS- since you have never used a smartphone and possibly never Android, wouldn't it make sense to try the stock HTC Jellybean first? Otherwise, you have no idea if you will even like it or what you are comparing against."

I can't imagine Jelly Bean being *terribly* different from ICS, unless it's a complete overhaul of the OS. Is it?
I'm looking into custom ROMs cause I'd like to be able to get longer battery life and better performance, which I hear custom ROMs are great for. Aren't they?

Is this true? You're on 2.13 and this worked for you? I've been waiting on 2.13 for a workable version of root.

Worked fine for me; I had no issues in the root process I linked in my original post.

 

[crxssi]

I can't imagine Jelly Bean being *terribly* different from ICS, unless it's a complete overhaul of the OS. Is it?

Depends on your definitions. There are some big changes from ICS. Major performance increases. Major new features. Tons of tweaking.

I'm looking into custom ROMs cause I'd like to be able to get longer battery life and better performance, which I hear custom ROMs are great for. Aren't they?

Not necessarily, no. They offer more control and customization... neither of which a typical new Android user will need. And you will have no good basis for comparison until you try the stock JB ROM first.

 

[ffejjj]

Great news for me then. Thanks Rudy.

I would also agree with crxssi, run stock for a spell so you can give it a fair comparison. This will also give you an idea what specifically you're looking for in a custom ROM

 

[kronosqq]

To give an opinion from the other side of the fence there's no reason to stick with stock when you can use MeanBean instead. There are also very real battery and performance tweaks that it integrates. It's not just a matter of offering the ability to tweak, it's creating a better stock expirience regardless of who's using the device.
Anyway yeah, you should be fine to flash to any jelly bean Rom from where you are now, and come to think of it there are s-on versions for some of them to. If you do decide to go the stock route then there's a stock but rooted jelly bean Rom you can flash to that will basically act as your update while keeping root.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[nikiva101]

My first evo was rooted, and I add the SU app, wifi tether and other rooted apps, but the phone touchscreen stopped working, so I get another, just rooted it this past weekend, tried to download the same apps, they dont seem to work, anyone know why? the root was successful and I was able to flash jb rom.

 

[ffejjj]

Are you s on rooted or s off.

I was s on and downloaded an app called font changer. Bricked my phone. So not all root apps will work with s on root

 

[sr2012]

Are you s on rooted or s off.

I was s on and downloaded an app called font changer. Bricked my phone. So not all root apps will work with s on root

That bricking is because of some other things (permissions not correct and font metadata mismatches).

Sent from my HTC One X using Android Central Forums

 

[nikiva101]

Are you s on rooted or s off.

I was s on and downloaded an app called font changer. Bricked my phone. So not all root apps will work with s on root

Im s-off

 

[rudyh246]

I'm looking at CM10 Nighties for the HTC EVO 4G LTE; anyone have any experience with this ROM? Reviews seem good.
And will I need to back up my contacts/app data/etc before I put a new ROM on my phone? I figure I do, but I wanted to be sure.

Edit: Also, I'm wanting to update my phone from ICS 4.0.4 to the latest version of Jelly Bean (I'm pretty sure it was supposed to come with Jelly Bean; at least that's what it said on the web site). Is OTA RootKeeper the best app for maintaining root privileges across the update?