[Husker Z]

Okay, I rooted yesterday and everything went super smooth, thankfully. I mainly wanted it to be able to use the mobile hotspot, which works great now, after downloading Wifi Tether.

My next question is, what else can I do to make the phone operate more smoothly? I would like to delete some of the bloatware crap and I think I've managed to get rid of Blockbuster and Nova, but what else should be eliminated without screwing things up?

This is the first phone I've rooted and I'm a little hesitant to jack things up.

[mgianni19]

Install the latest Cyanogenmod Rom - CM7 RC1. It's still a work in progress, but everything is working and it's SUPER fast. You can download and install it via Rom Manager(from the Market)

If you want to remove all of that bloatware, download Titanium Backup from the market. This is a great app to get used to.

[Husker Z]

I thought about putting in a custom ROM, but wasn't sure about how to go about it. I downloaded MyBackup Pro yesterday before I rooted and it seemed super easy to use. Does Titanium Backup have different (better) features?

[mgianni19]

I thought about putting in a custom ROM, but wasn't sure about how to go about it. I downloaded MyBackup Pro yesterday before I rooted and it seemed super easy to use. Does Titanium Backup have different (better) features?

I am not sure about MyBackup Pro, but with Titanium, you can install all of your apps back once you load a custom ROM.

The easiest way to go about flashing a custom ROM is by reading the forums, and then using ROM Manager. CM7 is amazing, battery life is amazing and it's so fast.

[Klubhead]

I thought about putting in a custom ROM, but wasn't sure about how to go about it. I downloaded MyBackup Pro yesterday before I rooted and it seemed super easy to use. Does Titanium Backup have different (better) features?

i use Titanium Backup for backing up apps and MyBackup Pro for everything else (bookmarks, sms, call history, etc.)

i don't backup contacts since they already backup through the google account, when u log in they restore..

but a suggestion now that you're rooted, try out some custom ROMS.. if you like Sense, i say definitely try Myn's Warm TwoPointTwo.. it's phenominal, everything works, smooth and quick.. plus you get all the perks of Sense..
Myn's ROM:
Before flashing any ROM, be sure to read the first few posts in the ROMs thread so u fully understand the flashing directions and also what may not work in given ROM

when flashing a new ROM, be sure to create a "nandroid" backup before you do anything, then continue with your wipes and flashing

here's a little howTo if you're iffy on flashing ROMS:

good luck man, and welcome to the darkside

[Husker Z]

Very good info guys, thanks! I am a first timer on this and my biggest fear I guess I bricking this thing. From what I can tell, the CM7 is pretty bad a**, but I'll lose 4G and the HDMI, which is actually okay, 4G kills my battery and I don't even have a micro HDMI cord yet, so needless to say I've never used it.

I'll get the Titanium Backup for sure, it sounds like everyone likes it. All my contacts and stuff are all on my outlook/gmail, so that should be okay.

So, basically a new ROM will totally wipe my phone and then I'll just have to "recover" everything from my backup file created by Titanium or MyBackup Pro, correct?

[Klubhead]

Correct after a few roms you'll have restoring your apps/info down to a science lol

nandroid Is most important tho be sure to make one in recovery before anything.. If anything goes wrong with a new flash u can always restore back to your latest nandroid

[Husker Z]

One question before I dive in. How do I restore all my stuff from my backup program when it will be deleted with everything else?

**Nevermind, figured it out**

[mattchew86]

I thought about putting in a custom ROM, but wasn't sure about how to go about it. I downloaded MyBackup Pro yesterday before I rooted and it seemed super easy to use. Does Titanium Backup have different (better) features?

TB is ok, but if I want all my apps back and things like that, I sync my apps up with AppBrain. Keeps it in the cloud, so no worries.

Also, there's a backup feature in Astro File Manager, which will make a folder and backup all of your apk files on your SD card.

I'm personally not a big fan of TB, but just suggesting other options.

EDIT: @Klubhead, thanks for the Myn's link. Been looking for that.

[Husker Z]

TB is ok, but if I want all my apps back and things like that, I sync my apps up with AppBrain. Keeps it in the cloud, so no worries.

Also, there's a backup feature in Astro File Manager, which will make a folder and backup all of your apk files on your SD card.

I'm personally not a big fan of TB, but just suggesting other options.

EDIT: @Klubhead, thanks for the Myn's link. Been looking for that.

Thanks, I forgot about appbrain, I could use that as well. Well, I'm all backed up and have done a nandroid backup as well and I'm downloading the Myn's 2.2 now, wish me luck!!!

[Husker Z]

I wasn't sure what "add ons" to get, so I selected quite a few, I think all of them, HA!

[mattchew86]

Let me know what you think. I just found out today how to flash ROMs (yeah, I know) and I'm on the lookout for some good ones, and I heard Myn's is awesome.

[cloak.n.dagger]

Myn's is a great Sense ROM, for sure. However, there are a lot of ROMs out there and I'm sure you're going to want to try out a few while you are in ROM flashing mode. To start, hit the XDA EVO Development thread...



Read up on the different ROMS and Kernels and figure out which ones you want to use. The OP in each ROM/Kernel thread will have detailed instructions on how to flash the ROM/Kernel. Make sure you read the OP and 1-2 posts after to ensure you know what you are getting into. Some ROMs don't have everything working (4G, camera, HDMI, etc...) so you will want to understand that before flashing. The basic flashing procedure is...

1. Donwload ROM/Kerneal .zip file to SD card.
2. Reboot into recovery.
3. Nandroid backup the current ROM image.
4. Wipe Data/cache/dalvik (there is another .zip file you can run that will do this step for you).
5. Flash the ROM/Kernal zip (some ROMs will have other zip files that you need to flash after flashing the main zip file, the OP will have all the details on this).
6. Reboot into your new ROM.

It's pretty much that easy! The cool thing about loading up new ROMs is once you get them running just how you want them you can do a nandroid backup. After you have a few different nandroid backups, you can nandroid recover between ROMs! So, you might have a CM7 backup, a Myn's backup and a VaelPak backup. You can run the recover for each backup and get right back to where you left off, everything is still there. This makes all my iPhone friends really jealous!! Most importantly, have fun! There are a lot of cool things you can do (like connect a Wii remote in the MIUI ROM!) once you are rooted you just have to poke around the forums. Flashing Kernels will provide other benefits (or possibly create new issues) like improved battery life, CPU overclocking, Wimax in 2.3 ROMS, etc...

[mattchew86]

Myn's is a great Sense ROM, for sure. However, there are a lot of ROMs out there and I'm sure you're going to want to try out a few while you are in ROM flashing mode. To start, hit the XDA EVO Development thread...



Read up on the different ROMS and Kernels and figure out which ones you want to use. The OP in each ROM/Kernel thread will have detailed instructions on how to flash the ROM/Kernel. Make sure you read the OP and 1-2 posts after to ensure you know what you are getting into. Some ROMs don't have everything working (4G, camera, HDMI, etc...) so you will want to understand that before flashing. The basic flashing procedure is...

1. Donwload ROM/Kerneal .zip file to SD card.
2. Reboot into recovery.
3. Nandroid backup the current ROM image.
4. Wipe Data/cache/dalvik (there is another .zip file you can run that will do this step for you).
5. Flash the ROM/Kernal zip (some ROMs will have other zip files that you need to flash after flashing the main zip file, the OP will have all the details on this).
6. Reboot into your new ROM.

It's pretty much that easy! The cool thing about loading up new ROMs is once you get them running just how you want them you can do a nandroid backup. After you have a few different nandroid backups, you can nandroid recover between ROMs! So, you might have a CM7 backup, a Myn's backup and a VaelPak backup. You can run the recover for each backup and get right back to where you left off, everything is still there. This makes all my iPhone friends really jealous!! Most importantly, have fun! There are a lot of cool things you can do (like connect a Wii remote in the MIUI ROM!) once you are rooted you just have to poke around the forums. Flashing Kernels will provide other benefits (or possibly create new issues) like improved battery life, CPU overclocking, Wimax in 2.3 ROMS, etc...

Thanks Yeah, I was working today, and one of my co-workers came up to me with his Fascinate. I pulled out my Evo, and we started talking about specs, apps. I told him I just rooted, and he shows me his phone and is like "Check this out". Within 20 minutes he flashed 2 or 3 custom ROMs! And after trying to search on here, and other places like XDA, it made so much more sense seeing it in front of my face. It was so............simple!

The only thing that worries me is flashing Kernels, Radios, since I hardly know how to flash ROMs, but the way you put it makes it sound so easy.

Thanks for the link BTW. I will have to visit there more often

[cloak.n.dagger]

Another thing I should point out is that ROM Manager requires the use of ClockWork Recovery. Lots of people have issues with ClockWOrk Recovery not performing the wipe process correctly. If you don't do a full wipe before loading a new ROM you will have issues. There is another recovery option out there called Amon_RA. The link to the XDA EVO Development thread should provide multiple threads on the topic that you can read up on. There are also lots of people that use ClockWork Recovery without having issues, so it seems to be hit or miss. I personally use Amon_RA and don't have any issues loading ROMS but had lots of issues when I used ROM manager and the ClockWork Recovery. That was just my experience, I'm not speaking for anyone else. ROM Manager makes the process easy, but once you understand the manual process, there really isnt any benefit but convenience.

[mattchew86]

Another thing I should point out is that ROM Manager requires the use of ClockWork Recovery. Lots of people have issues with ClockWOrk Recovery not performing the wipe process correctly. If you don't do a full wipe before loading a new ROM you will have issues. There is another recovery option out there called Amon_RA. The link to the XDA EVO Development thread should provide multiple threads on the topic that you can read up on. There are also lots of people that use ClockWork Recovery without having issues, so it seems to be hit or miss. I personally use Amon_RA and don't have any issues loading ROMS but had lots of issues when I used ROM manager and the ClockWork Recovery. That was just my experience, I'm not speaking for anyone else. ROM Manager makes the process easy, but once you understand the manual process, there really isnt any benefit but convenience.

Ok. I have the free version of RM,(I don't even know why), and I used Unrevoked to root, so I have CR, as does my friend, and I have had no issues. To be safe, I usually wipe my data, cache, and Dalvik Caches 2 or 3 times just to be safe. I'll check out Amon_RA though. What's the main differences between the 2?

[cloak.n.dagger]

Thanks Yeah, I was working today, and one of my co-workers came up to me with his Fascinate. I pulled out my Evo, and we started talking about specs, apps. I told him I just rooted, and he shows me his phone and is like "Check this out". Within 20 minutes he flashed 2 or 3 custom ROMs! And after trying to search on here, and other places like XDA, it made so much more sense seeing it in front of my face. It was so............simple!

The only thing that worries me is flashing Kernels, Radios, since I hardly know how to flash ROMs, but the way you put it makes it sound so easy.

Thanks for the link BTW. I will have to visit there more often

Sure thing! The only real difference between flashing different .zip files is that ROMs require a data wipe along with cache and dalvik wipes. With Kernels you shouldn't need to wipe data, just cache and dlavik prior to flashing. Radios don't require a wipe at all, as far as I can remeber but it's been a while. The main thing is the read the OP in the ROM/Kernel/Radio thread. It will tell you exactly what you need to do.

[mattchew86]

Cool. I've heard some sweet things about MIUI, so that's #2 on my list

1 last thing: since I already have backups of my stock Rom, and my stock rooted Rom, should I do a nandroid backup for either of these before flashing, or not bother right now?

[jeffreytz]

Just go into the market and re-download Titanium Backup and/or My Backup, then you can run them and install all your stuff back from the SD card.

[Husker Z]

Well, I got it all back up and running and my first impression is HOLY SH*T it's fast, wow!

I'll continue to play with it and figure things out as I go. One thing I would like to know is where did my NASCAR app go? I'm one of the VERY few that actually use that occasionally. I'm really glad a lot of the other bloat-ware is gone, but I was hoping to keep that one. Not a big deal, just wondering.

[cloak.n.dagger]

Cool. I've heard some sweet things about MIUI, so that's #2 on my list

1 last thing: since I already have backups of my stock Rom, and my stock rooted Rom, should I do a nandroid backup for either of these before flashing, or not bother right now?

Yes, make sure to back up the current ROM image you are on now. If things so south on you and you restore your stock ROM you will lose your root access and have to rerun the entire root process again (not to bad with unrevoked but a pain in the a$$ when you do it the long way).

[Klubhead]

Well, I got it all back up and running and my first impression is HOLY SH*T it's fast, wow!

I'll continue to play with it and figure things out as I go. One thing I would like to know is where did my NASCAR app go? I'm one of the VERY few that actually use that occasionally. I'm really glad a lot of the other bloat-ware is gone, but I was hoping to keep that one. Not a big deal, just wondering.

what rom did you go with?

[cloak.n.dagger]

Well, I got it all back up and running and my first impression is HOLY SH*T it's fast, wow!

I'll continue to play with it and figure things out as I go. One thing I would like to know is where did my NASCAR app go? I'm one of the VERY few that actually use that occasionally. I'm really glad a lot of the other bloat-ware is gone, but I was hoping to keep that one. Not a big deal, just wondering.

Yeah, most custom ROMs remove all the Sprint apps. If you search the XDA EVO Development thread for "Sprint APKs" you should find a few threads that have download links for the dirrfert Spint apps. You should be able to reinstall the NASCAR app via the apk.

[jeffreytz]

Dumb question I'm sure, but just to be safe: all nandroid backups are essentially the "same" in the sense that if I create a nandroid backup with Clockworkmod and later switch to RA Recovery I can still restore the backup created under Clockworkmod, correct?

Thanks

[Husker Z]

what rom did you go with?

I went with Myn's Warm TwoPointTwo So far so good, I really like it. So much smoother than before and so FAST!