[Hitch_Itch]

So Im new to all this root/rom thing. everthing went great with unrevoked root, nandroid backup, titanium pro install/backup

So today i was looking in my rom manger program, download rom section, I went into virtuous and dl'd/installed the 3.1.0 rom, that was a little scary because it sat at the droid eye splash screen for a rather long time, then said loading for a long time as well. well everything seems to be working just fine.

My big question here is now that I have this custom rom, nothing seems any different then before other then a few apps, dsp mgr, quick boot and virt buddy.

Since im new to this im not sure what the difference is, everything looks the same as before. are most/all of the changes under the hood so to speak, things I dont really see, but there there improving something?

If I want to try another rom can I just dl it from my rom mgr and install it? or do I need to perform a specific task so I dont brick the dinc?

I kinda thought lots of stuff would look different with lots of new options
thanks for any input, links or rom suggestions, I do like sense.

Ken

[anicholas7]

I am no expert like some here and I'm sure those with more knowledge will add there thoughts but I also have the Virtuous Rom 3.1 installed. The nice thing about being rooted is the ability to customize your phone. That means being able to delete what is know as bloatware, the stuff Verizon adds to your phone that you don't want and takes up valuable space. There are also great apps you can now download like Titanium backup and Rom Manager. You will also be able to download other Roms that have a different UI other than sense. this is where you will probably notice most changes. I prefer the sense UI so thats why I stayed with this particular Rom. Then there are the Kernels that you will be able to test out. Some work better than others. All these things are designed to improve your experience with your phone. Better battery life is one of my biggest concerns and I am know trying Chads kernel to see if it helps.
The only way to really learn more about these things is to read these forums and try new things. Don't be scared, just go slow and have fun.

[douger]

So Im new to all this root/rom thing. everthing went great with unrevoked root, nandroid backup, titanium pro install/backup

So today i was looking in my rom manger program, download rom section, I went into virtuous and dl'd/installed the 3.1.0 rom, that was a little scary because it sat at the droid eye splash screen for a rather long time, then said loading for a long time as well. well everything seems to be working just fine.

My big question here is now that I have this custom rom, nothing seems any different then before other then a few apps, dsp mgr, quick boot and virt buddy.

Since im new to this im not sure what the difference is, everything looks the same as before. are most/all of the changes under the hood so to speak, things I dont really see, but there there improving something?

If I want to try another rom can I just dl it from my rom mgr and install it? or do I need to perform a specific task so I dont brick the dinc?

I kinda thought lots of stuff would look different with lots of new options
thanks for any input, links or rom suggestions, I do like sense.

Ken

Different ROM chefs go for different looks and feels in their ROMs. Virtuous is one of the chefs that sees the value in the stock, out of the box ROM and has proceeded to build on its premise. No...his ROM doesn't look all that much different than the stock one does. The power of his ROM is what he's baked under the hood. His ROM runs a bit smoother...has a bit more functionality...and the battery lasts a bit longer. His was one of the first ROMs for the Incredible and as such is one of the more fully developed ROMs out there.

If you're looking for increased functionality, Skyraider's ROMs are the ones to look at. You can customize his six ways to Sunday, and if there's something you want, he'll do his damnedest to make it happen. I've used both Skyraider and Virtuous ROMs (Sense versions) and have donated to both developers.

Other ROMs are built mostly for speed. There are folks out there that are simply obsessed with Quadrant and Linpack scores...to the point that their phones are so overclocked, they become next to useless. Ah...to each their own.

The ROM I use? It's in my signature. I tried Myn's ROM when I became bored with Virtuous, Skyraider and IncDoes ROMs. I've been on this one longer than I've been on any of the others. I simply like the feel of it, and other than a couple of very random forced closes, I have had no problem with this ROM at all.

Sometimes, the developers break stuff when they're fixing other stuff. It's understandable since none of them do this for a living and they have a rather limited and uncontrolled beta program. I found this to be true with Skyraider's ROMs, since he pushes the envelop to keep his followers happy.

Now...to your other questions. Yeah...you can download all of the other ROMs that are out there using your ROM Manager. I might clarify that some developers don't like ROM Manager for downloading and won't list theirs on the program. One reason is that sometimes a ROM will get mangled being downloaded at 3G. I download my ROMs to my PC, then copy them to the SD card so that I can flash them.

If you think you're going to be jumping into the game, download Titanium backup from the Market, then cough up the coin to get the unlocked version. It makes restoring your apps and settings so much easier. One hint: when restoring with Titanium, especially if you've drastically changed your ROM, be judicious in restoring the app data. Don't just click on "restore all" and grab an sandwich. Unless you've got a lot of programs that would take hours to manually restore their settings, it's best to do it manually. What happens is that sometimes the data built on one ROM is incompatible with the framework of the new ROM. Presto! Forced closes and other ugly issues.

On the same vein, whether the developer says to do it or not, it's always good practice to wipe before you install a new ROM. Some chefs don't give you a choice...wiping is part of the installation. It's just like Windows...most people know that if they need to reinstall their system, it's best to start from a freshly formatted disk. There aren't any bad artifacts or cooties left to cause problems. Oh...make sure you wipe everything. That includes the dalvik cache and the battery stats.

And, most importantly, backup...backup...backup. I do a nandroid backup just before I flash a new ROM, and I'll do one right after I think I've got everything the way I want it on the new one. If I find I don't like a ROM, it's a simple matter of restoring the backup from the previous ROM. A nandroid backup is just like a system image on your PC...it will restore everything to just the way it was before your started.

Oh...and bricking your phone? I've read that on the Android system, about the only real way to do that is to bork a radio installation...I know some people have caused serious problems by freaking out on how long a new ROM takes to boot and pulling their battery at the most inopportune time in the process. Radio updates are rare here in the wild and I won't touch one unless I find very compelling reason to do so.

This may get me in trouble here, but is an invaluable resource if you're gonna play with your phone. Almost all of the ROMs that are available are on their developer's forum, along with the opportunity to communicate with the developer himself.

A word of caution about XDA...the people are great there, but there are some with a fetish about forum decorum. Don't start a thread that asks a question in the developer's forum, for example.

Take some time, read through the threads...some are thousands of replies old. You'll see a pattern of the issues that have come up with a ROM and how they've been resolved, if at all.

Good luck to ya.

[jdkoreclipse]

I am an expert of sorts, so i can be off assistance here.

Virtuous is based off of the stock rom with subtle enhancements for various performance, ui, and battery life optimizations. So, basicallt it is all under the hood stuff. There are some sense roms that do provide some more theme customizations, and some even have toolbox apps for further customizations (like redemptive revolution, the nameless, incrom, skyraider)...my rom also provides optimizations, a toolbox app of sorts, and a theme, too

If you have any more questions, please feel free to pm me

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

[Hitch_Itch]

Thanks for all your input here, If you dont mind I have some more questions.

where can I find instruction on how to flash back to my original rom if I want or need to?

What is the difference between the free rom mgr and the paid, I looked at both and didnt really notice a diff? Im using the free rom mgr now. If I upgrade to the paid ver will I lose my existing backup? I do have the paid ver of titanium.

any recommendations on a tether app w/ good instructions?
I have tried barnacle tether and wireless tether. I cant seem to get either to work, my laptop will connect to my phone but it has no internet access and my phone doesnt show anything being connected to it. Its probably just something im doing wrong.
even tho I have searched many forums I have found very little in the way of step by step directions on how to do something, like tether, how to use rom mgr etc.

Is there any apps you guys would recommended besides rom mgr and titanium for a rooted phone?
I am a very advanced user when it comes to a windows pc, I build my own and can fix anything hardware/software related. This android system has me scratching my head, thinking wow I feel like a dumb *** here.
thanks for your patience with me.
If you have any links to things that would help me not be such a dumb *** feel free to post um. I'll gladly read up so I can stop bugging you guys.
again thanks for the input
Ken

[jdkoreclipse]

unless you make a nandroid backup of your rom before flashing a new one, all actions flashing roms are final.

Sorry i cant assist you with the apps part, i use 5 apps from the market (astro, quadrant, signapktic,tapatalk,xda), and none of them require root, but i do reccommend Gscript lite.

[Hitch_Itch]

unless you make a nandroid backup of your rom before flashing a new one, all actions flashing roms are final.

Sorry i cant assist you with the apps part, i use 5 apps from the market (astro, quadrant, signapktic,tapatalk,xda), and none of them require root, but i do reccommend Gscript lite.

Thanks I'll check out your site.
I did do a nandroid backup but I was wondering how and where do I do the backup. Its nice to know ahead of time just encase I need to do it.

Thanks
Ken

[318sugarhill]

Thanks I'll check out your site.
I did do a nandroid backup but I was wondering how and where do I do the backup. Its nice to know ahead of time just encase I need to do it.

Thanks
Ken

Ok, since you have ROM manager, if you want to go back to your backup all you have to do is click manage and restore backups in Rom manager. First I would backup the one you got. That option is also in ROM manager. When restoring, or installing new, wipe all data. The hardest part of it all is learning. The doing is actually very easy. 2 months ago I was clueless too. Now I'm giving advice.

[douger]

Thanks for all your input here, If you dont mind I have some more questions.

where can I find instruction on how to flash back to my original rom if I want or need to?

What is the difference between the free rom mgr and the paid, I looked at both and didnt really notice a diff? Im using the free rom mgr now. If I upgrade to the paid ver will I lose my existing backup? I do have the paid ver of titanium.

any recommendations on a tether app w/ good instructions?
I have tried barnacle tether and wireless tether. I cant seem to get either to work, my laptop will connect to my phone but it has no internet access and my phone doesnt show anything being connected to it. Its probably just something im doing wrong.
even tho I have searched many forums I have found very little in the way of step by step directions on how to do something, like tether, how to use rom mgr etc.

Is there any apps you guys would recommended besides rom mgr and titanium for a rooted phone?
I am a very advanced user when it comes to a windows pc, I build my own and can fix anything hardware/software related. This android system has me scratching my head, thinking wow I feel like a dumb *** here.
thanks for your patience with me.
If you have any links to things that would help me not be such a dumb *** feel free to post um. I'll gladly read up so I can stop bugging you guys.
again thanks for the input
Ken

The paid version of ROM Manager helps Mr Koush, the developer, make new and more exciting stuff. I've been using the paid version for so long I don't remember why I paid for it...besides for Koush's efforts in the Android community, that is.

ROM Manager's version of backup is nandroid. You can either do it through ROM Manager or through the recovery menu. They're stored on your SD card under clockworkmod\backup. If you're going to keep a bunch of backups on your SD card...I only carry two, the one I made before my current ROM and the one I made after I flashed it...you'll want to rename them so you'll know which is which. You can either rename them using Astro or Root Manager, either of which can be found free on the market. You can rename them in ROM Manager under "manage and restore backups," too.

It won't take your phone back to May...that was Eclair...but it's supposed to be 100% stock.

I haven't been on a Virtuous ROM in awhile, but doesn't that come with a tethering program already? Like the stock one that came from Verizon? Go to the XDA website. Slog through the thread on his ROM. There's a HTC programming stunt you'll need to do so that Verizon doesn't ask for more money for you to tether...they do charge for that.

Again...go to the XDA website I gave you the link for. You'll spend days reading. I'm sure the answers to many of your questions will be found there.

[Hitch_Itch]

Ok, since you have ROM manager, if you want to go back to your backup all you have to do is click manage and restore backups in Rom manager. First I would backup the one you got. That option is also in ROM manager. When restoring, or installing new, wipe all data. The hardest part of it all is learning. The doing is actually very easy. 2 months ago I was clueless too. Now I'm giving advice.

I didnt do a wipe, didnt say I needed to, it seems to be working ok, hope thats not an issue

thanks for the input

[Hitch_Itch]

The paid version of ROM Manager helps Mr Koush, the developer, make new and more exciting stuff. I've been using the paid version for so long I don't remember why I paid for it...besides for Koush's efforts in the Android community, that is.

ROM Manager's version of backup is nandroid. You can either do it through ROM Manager or through the recovery menu. They're stored on your SD card under clockworkmod\backup. If you're going to keep a bunch of backups on your SD card...I only carry two, the one I made before my current ROM and the one I made after I flashed it...you'll want to rename them so you'll know which is which. You can either rename them using Astro or Root Manager, either of which can be found free on the market. You can rename them in ROM Manager under "manage and restore backups," too.

It won't take your phone back to May...that was Eclair...but it's supposed to be 100% stock.

I haven't been on a Virtuous ROM in awhile, but doesn't that come with a tethering program already? Like the stock one that came from Verizon? Go to the XDA website. Slog through the thread on his ROM. There's a HTC programming stunt you'll need to do so that Verizon doesn't ask for more money for you to tether...they do charge for that.

Again...go to the XDA website I gave you the link for. You'll spend days reading. I'm sure the answers to many of your questions will be found there.

thanks for the input and link, Im gonna have t get use to xda and do some reading
thanks
Ken

[dgalanter]

I didn't wipe before I put on the same ROM, and I've had no problems.

I am using the THEME suggested for the ROM and it makes it quite nice and it won't quite look stock. I really like it.

[Vudumedic]

I believe the November update closed the dialer loophole for free wi-fi tether. I could be mistaken though. Once you are rooted can you not just go to the Google code and download wi-fi tether app and run it with out it being detected by VZW?

[PvilleComp]

Virtuous 3.1.0 has the Google Wi-Fi Teather built in. No need to disable the VZW hotspot app - it's already gone.

If you are having problems getting a connection with the Wi-Fi teather I would try looking at the Wi-Fi Teather settings. Or you may have Ad Hock networks disabled in your laptop Wi-Fi settings.

Hope this helps.