Am I expecting too much?

[recDNA]

Ok, so I get I want it to match...but what if it doesn't? Does the developer always tell you the md5 to match it to? I know. Sound stupid but I have no idea what md5 IS.

 

[dchawk81]

OP, I think you should stay stock.

 

[fatboy97]

Ok, so I get I want it to match...but what if it doesn't? Does the developer always tell you the md5 to match it to? I know. Sound stupid but I have no idea what md5 IS.

MD5 Check Sum code will tell you if you got the correct file without any part of it being corrupt. If it does not match I would NEVER trust or load that file. And yes, the programmer should tell you what the MD5 code is... because he/she is the one compiling the code file.

 

[recDNA]

So you download the file. Run some app tht checks the md5 before you flash it. If t doesn't match delete it and try to download again?

 

[fatboy97]

So you download the file. Run some app tht checks the md5 before you flash it. If t doesn't match delete it and try to download again?

I would... it could be corrupt... and I have seen corrupt ROM files... there are a few that will do the job, but on my PC I use winMd5Sum (it's free).

 

[recDNA]

Oh I see...must check on pc....not in root of sdcard?

 

[fatboy97]

Oh I see...must check on pc....not in root of sdcard?

No reason it can not be on the root of your SD card... you do know how to plug it into to your PC and change your SD card into a Disk drive don't you??? There might be an app to check MD5 Sum Code, but since I usually download most ROM using my PC I use the winMd5Sum program on my PC.

 

[recDNA]

Because 4g is so fast I figured I would.download directly to phone.

Although of course I know how I never connect them physically. I use an app that lets me connect to any computer on my home network through wifi. It makes my root an ftp site.

 

[acmorris]

Oh I see...must check on pc....not in root of sdcard?

recDNA if you download to your phone you can use an app called hashdroid from the market to hash the md5 sum. As someone had stated about the md5 in the past, think of it like a security fingerprint file for the Rom download.

Also I see where you are coming from about issues with developer's roms. If a Rom has made by a developer has to many bugs for your liking there are basic Roms like Jcase use to make called PlainJane Rom that comes stock with root and all of HTC'S bugs that come with their development.

The incomplete Roms usually comes from a port they work on and try to develop that Rom as far as they can and sometimes run into more issues/hassles then it is worth, from here they can go no futher. Then they must resort to other ways of trying to make their Rom self sufficient to achieve their goal.

 

[Adrynalyne]

I don't use MD5s for error checking. I use MD5s to make sure I uploaded the right version of the file

 

[recDNA]

That's another good reason. Its nice to understand...and nice ofnyou to respond to such a newbie question. Thanks for all the work you do for us on these roms!

Please don't misconstrue my intent as critical of all the hours you put into this for our community.

 

[Adrynalyne]

I didn't take it that way. No worries

 

[dually]

After you move a file into it's finally location for flashing, (/sdcard for instance), you can verify the md5 hash either with astro file manager or the md5 sum checker app https://market.android.com/details?id=jp.md5checker&feature=search_result

I just flashed SHIFTAO5P_HACK3D_V2.5.1, and can't find any bugs, but you need to flash a radio for that, and you need to have a gps lock right before/as you are rebooting into recovery.

You're first indication of the advantage of aosp is the size of the download. The biggest aosp zip file I ever downloaded was 104gb (including gapps), while the smallest Sense rom I ever downloaded was 250 gb.

Flashing a rom is like getting a whole new phone. Droidtheory updates alot so you never have to live with any particular bugs for too long.

 

[recDNA]

There's a nice new bug in stock ota gb. They charge if you try to watch red zone in nfl mobile live.

 

[bunkerchunk]

There's a nice new bug in stock ota gb. They charge if you try to watch red zone in nfl mobile live.

That's funny. I'm running Bamf Forever 1.07 and just tuned into the Jets/Ravens game...

 

[recDNA]

Cool! I didn't think you could get nfl live because you can't get my verizon.

 

[acmorris]

Cool! I didn't think you could get nfl live because you can't get my verizon.

rec are you saying you can't use myverizon, didn't want to misunderstand you from jump.

 

[bunkerchunk]

Cool! I didn't think you could get nfl live because you can't get my verizon.

I have myverizon and that works too... Not sure what you mean.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Cool! I didn't think you could get nfl live because you can't get my verizon.

There was an issue with MyVerizon some versions back...they've since been fixed. Both MyVerizon and NFL mobile work just fine on BF 1.0.7

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

...

If a bug free rom is truly impossible to achieve there is something fundamentally wrong with the hardware or the operating system or both.

The only bug I remember in my og droid was its lack of voice dialing capability. Since it is a function I never use the droid seemed bug free to me.....but of course i like LTE speed.

Not necessarily -- it would be quite easy to make a bug-free ROM if you allowed only a very specific hardware configuration and prevented the installation of all 3rd party apps. Without doing that though, no dev team could ever test for every single use and configuration of a device, it's absolutely impossible.

I sometimes read "md5" doesn't match. What does it mean and where would I look?

While some other folks have "answered" your question here, at least as far as what you need to know in order to install ROMs, but just in case you're interested...

MD5 is a cryptopgraphic hashing algorithm. It takes a string of data, and converts it into a 16 byte hash, usually represented by a 32 digit hexadecimal number. It's not used very much for encryption anymore, as it is prone to collisions, but it can be useful for checking data integrity.

When creating or uploading a file, and MD5 of the file can be generated and published so that people who download the file can be assured that the file we downloaded wasn't corrupted during the transfer process, and has the exact same composition as the file did when it was originally uploaded to the server. Granted, because MD5 is collision prone, it is possible to create 2 different files that have the exact same MD5 hash (that's what a collision is)...and a malicious person could possibly take advantage of that fact, but most cases changing even a single byte of a file will cause a very different MD5 to be generated, making it very clear that there is something wrong with the file.

So, Adrynalyne uploads a file to the file shares and posts the MD5 of the file. You download it. You check the MD5 hash, it's the same. You know you're good to go (at least ~99.99% sure, anyway). If the hash is different, either the file was corrupted when Adrynalyne uploaded it, or you got a bad download. Since installing a corrupted file could brick your phone, it's always best to check.

There are many apps for Windows and Android that can be used to generate MD5 hashes for files...it's even built into the "Details" summary for files using Astro File Explorer.