[MrSmith317]

I remember almost crapping my pants a few times messing around with my OG Droid. Even when CleanTool came out for the Rezound, I remember screwing something up and nervously trying to turn my phone on but the screen remained black for what felt like an eternity.
Like you, I also stay away from ROMs until the more experienced and daring take up the tasks.

Why is everyone waiting for me to do stuff first? lol. Seriously though since that first plunge with the OG Droid I haven't feared anything. You just weigh risk against reward and then go for it. However I will say that attention to detail helps. It's not like I write guides and help people by doing these things all over again. I think this is why suggest that people do things the hard way first. If you don't know that you can adb push or fastboot flash, then how can you trust a "all-in-one" to do it for you?

[buckifvr]

Yeah first couple of times it's pretty scary. I think for me it was not understanding all the terminology... But it's really not that difficult. Just a little learning curve.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

[davey11]

Why is everyone waiting for me to do stuff first? lol.

Because you are the GURU of this phone. I remember way back when MrS had this hack thread going on for an external antenna on the fascinate. You sir are an innovator.

To the op: Hell yea its scary, but once you do a couple flashes, you WILL wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

[rootbrain]

I am really afraid of doing this too. If I had a real live "geek" with me to do it for the first time, I would probably pull the trigger. But to do it on my own with a set of instructions ... can't quite get the courage!

If you're single, Colorado geek might help. Be in Vegas in June, then down to Tuscon. Dinner and flash? LOL, phone kind.

...er, guess I'll leave that to you, don't want any options left out.

[MrSmith317]

Because you are the GURU of this phone. I remember way back when MrS had this hack thread going on for an external antenna on the fascinate. You sir are an innovator.

To the op: Hell yea its scary, but once you do a couple flashes, you WILL wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Ha, I remember those days. I was sick of no reception on that crappy phone.

[piizzadude]

i soft bricked my Fascinate within 2 hours of getting it. My wife was PISSED. First smartphone and I turned it into a paperweight, or so I thought at the time.

I panicked like a little school girl all the way to Best Buy to return it "because something got messed up"

I brought the new one home and didn't even think about rooting or anything for a month. Took the time to read all the stickies and how to solve the issues. Then I realized I panicked for nothing and that the Fascinate is damn near indestructible (about the only thing it had going for it at the time).

Ever since my first success, I have been a flash a holic. It was killing me to not jump right in and flash this one, but the terms and procedures are a bit different between Sammy and HTC.

I didnt make my goal of waiting for the official ICS to ROM, but I got farther than I thought I would.


Skatergirl, have someone do it with you via teamviewer or something similar...

[mtbhk44]

if you havent soft bricked your phone, you either follow instructions too well or do not flash enough

Exactly. You HAVE to break your phone, in order to really understand what to do. Following instructions is great, but at some point, something is going to go wrong and you are going to have to figure out how to fix it.

I've broken this phone at least a dozen times and before S-OFF, it was a pretty scary prospect thinking I couldn't right a wrong. But now with S-OFF I have NO FEAR of doing anything awful to this device. That being said, I'm not so stupid as to think I can't brick this thing, but certainly having the ability to RUU back to stock and start over is crucial.

Anyway, the point is, I agree - if you are hacking, you are going to soft brick at some point. Don't freak out - just learn what you did wrong and how you can fix it. Then next time you soft brick, it will just be an annoyance!

[MrSmith317]

I've broken this phone at least a dozen times and before S-OFF, it was a pretty scary prospect thinking I couldn't right a wrong. But now with S-OFF I have NO FEAR of doing anything awful to this device. That being said, I'm not so stupid as to think I can't brick this thing, but certainly having the ability to RUU back to stock and start over is crucial.

That's kind of backward. With S-On your phone was pretty unbrickable. Now with S-Off you actually could brick it.

[piizzadude]

That's kind of backward. With S-On your phone was pretty unbrickable. Now with S-Off you actually could brick it.

That is what i thought too when I was reading the post. S-on was your safety net. Made things harder to flash, but that was its job.

No s-on, no net

[mtbhk44]

That is what i thought too when I was reading the post. S-on was your safety net. Made things harder to flash, but that was its job.

No s-on, no net

Well, yeah, technically that's true - but my big issue when I started ROMing on this phone was making sure I stayed on the GB firmware - updating the firmware to ICS you were stuck on ICS. Now I can come and go as I please...and I do. S-On made things a lot more difficult...at least in my opinion. Everyone's got their own.

[rootbrain]

Exactly. You HAVE to break your phone, in order to really understand what to do. Following instructions is great, but at some point, something is going to go wrong and you are going to have to figure out how to fix it.

I've broken this phone at least a dozen times and before S-OFF, it was a pretty scary prospect thinking I couldn't right a wrong. But now with S-OFF I have NO FEAR of doing anything awful to this device. That being said, I'm not so stupid as to think I can't brick this thing, but certainly having the ability to RUU back to stock and start over is crucial.

Anyway, the point is, I agree - if you are hacking, you are going to soft brick at some point. Don't freak out - just learn what you did wrong and how you can fix it. Then next time you soft brick, it will just be an annoyance!

When I first started (Rezound is first android for me), I was EXPECTING to brick it, even looked forward to it (before I activated it, of course). Everything went so damn smooth, got it rooted and custom ROM'd in an hour or so. Now it's activated and configured the way I like it so won't even be trying ICS. Who wants to start over now? Not me. Will wait for the next android phone I get. Got Scotts GBE 1.7 and rockin' it.

[Wanda]

When I first started (Rezound is first android for me), I was EXPECTING to brick it, even looked forward to it (before I activated it, of course). Everything went so damn smooth, got it rooted and custom ROM'd in an hour or so. Now it's activated and configured the way I like it so won't even be trying ICS. Who wants to start over now? Not me. Will wait for the next android phone I get. Got Scotts GBE 1.7 and rockin' it.

With a screen name like "rootbrain" I would have expected you to be a serial flasher lol! Of course with a screen name like "wanda" most people would think I was chick sooooo...

[leozdad]

Okay, so i did this on saturday, today is wednesday, and i must say i was scared poopless to do it but hell it was relatively painless. (knock wood) Its just a pain to reset up and download everything, but i got a chance to clean out my app drawer and find some new thngs.

The only issues i have are what i consider minor, and at this point i attribute them to apps that don't quite play nice with ICS. For the most part the phone still runs great. I havent been able to check the battery life for a normal day of use because i have been constantly SCREWING WITH MY NEW PHONE since saturday!!!!

Sooooo...... about this rooting and flashing you folks speak of.......

i see Serial Flashers Anon in my future. Thanks EVERYONE!

[Wanda]

Okay, so i did this on saturday, today is wednesday, and i must say i was scared poopless to do it but hell it was relatively painless. (knock wood) Its just a pain to reset up and download everything, but i got a chance to clean out my app drawer and find some new thngs.

The only issues i have are what i consider minor, and at this point i attribute them to apps that don't quite play nice with ICS. For the most part the phone still runs great. I havent been able to check the battery life for a normal day of use because i have been constantly SCREWING WITH MY NEW PHONE since saturday!!!!

Sooooo...... about this rooting and flashing you folks speak of.......

i see Serial Flashers Anon in my future. Thanks EVERYONE!

Let me be the first to welcome you to the world of possibilities that are custom ROMs.

Check out Mr. Smith's excellent guide to rooting and such.

After you've rooted MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP!!! Please don't skip that step, it will one day save you're a$$ if a ROM install goes bad or you mod the phone in some way that really jacks it up.

Once you root you can install Titanium Backup (free app and there is paid version as well with more bells and whitstles but I find the free version to be plenty for what I do with it). After you've installed Titanium, you can then make backup's of all your apps and system apps though I wouldn't restore system apps, only user apps. That way when you flash a new ROM and have to go through the set up all you have to do is redownload Titanium from the Play Store, then let it do a batch restore of your user apps + data and all your apps are restored. It only takes a few minutes versus an hour or more of redownloading plus you get to keep your data in the apps.

This is how us serial flashers keep from going stark raving mad every time we change ROMs

[leozdad]

how often do most folks change ROMs? and why change ROMs of you found a good one

[MrSmith317]

how often do most folks change ROMs? and why change ROMs of you found a good one

Easy answer: To try new stuff.

Hard answer: Because....

[Wanda]

how often do most folks change ROMs? and why change ROMs of you found a good one

Easy answer: To try new stuff.

Hard answer: Because....

How often depends on you. I switch up every two weeks or so from one ROM to a completely different one, or sooner if there's one out there I really want to try. I think my personal record was being on a ROM for about 6 hours on my Incredible...it was a Warm Z ROM and I kept getting random reboots and since I was traveling and needed my phone I had no choice but to restore my Nandroid.

I also am a big believer in clean flashes...that is, when a dev has an update to their ROM I do a clean install of that ROM rather than "flash over" or "dirty flash". I've found dirty flashing can generate more problems than it's worth.

Why do we do it? Exactly what Mr. Smith said...because we can. Besides it's fun

Remember, if you try a ROM and it doesn't work for you or you just liked another ROM better you can always restore your Nandroid and it will restore that ROM back exactly as you left it when you made the Nandroid.

[MrSmith317]

One last point is that the constant flashing of ROMs really makes you evaluate what you can and can't live with/without on your phone. Having to setup 900 apps or restart 30 games is a pain. Trust me, if you go at flashing for a while, apps start to become extra weight.

[leozdad]

How often depends on you. I switch up every two weeks or so from one ROM to a completely different one, or sooner if there's one out there I really want to try. I think my personal record was being on a ROM for about 6 hours on my Incredible...it was a Warm Z ROM and I kept getting random reboots and since I was traveling and needed my phone I had no choice but to restore my Nandroid.

I also am a big believer in clean flashes...that is, when a dev has an update to their ROM I do a clean install of that ROM rather than "flash over" or "dirty flash". I've found dirty flashing can generate more problems than it's worth.

Why do we do it? Exactly what Mr. Smith said...because we can. Besides it's fun

Remember, if you try a ROM and it doesn't work for you or you just liked another ROM better you can always restore your Nandroid and it will restore that ROM back exactly as you left it when you made the Nandroid.

Well i have been downloading the specified files in MrSmith's guide to rooting so i can get things started, so it looks like i just might try this root thing........ after i just got my phone settled in again.............man, i hate you guys, lovingly of course

[mtbhk44]

One last point is that the constant flashing of ROMs really makes you evaluate what you can and can't live with/without on your phone. Having to setup 900 apps or restart 30 games is a pain. Trust me, if you go at flashing for a while, apps start to become extra weight.

Totally agree with this. I've pared down my apps only to what is 100% necessary and as it turns out, it's not all that much!

[humpagardengnome]

how often do most folks change ROMs? and why change ROMs of you found a good one

Peer pressure, fickleness and the endless search for happiness.

[MrSmith317]

Peer pressure, fickleness and the endless search for happiness.

Come on man...try the new team PKMN ROM...it'll make you feel good. I can quit whenever I want. I don't have a problem.

[piizzadude]

Peer pressure, fickleness and the endless search for happiness.

THIS

mostly the endless happiness part.

I change ROMs a lot because the grass is always greener and you never know until you try. I do have a habit though of ending up back where I started (Flash TM PKman, love it, wait a month, flash Rezrom, keep it for a week, flash back to PKMAN, ooooh something new?, flash it, hate it, go back to PKMAN, wash, rinse, repeat.

I did this endlessly with my fascinate, as much as possible with my Charge (not as many ROMs) and now with the ReZzie.

I cannot see me ever not doing it.

If things stagnate, then I start flashing mods for fun, that and themes.

[humpagardengnome]

Come on man...try the new team PKMN ROM...it'll make you feel good. I can quit whenever I want. I don't have a problem.

See there's the peer pressure. LOL. Funny you said that I'd seen talk of it and finally checked out the collabo last night on TeamBamf.net. Looks really slick, I may partake in some Pikachu infused madness this weekend.

[piizzadude]

it is good stuff been running it for a few versions now. I paired that up with the real icons theme and love the way it looks.

I have to actually finish setting up my phone since the last flash