Best HTC Hero CDMA ROM?

[steve19137]

I've been reading about the various 2.2 ROMs for the CDMA Hero, and I want to know what your guys' experiences are with certain 2.2 ROMs. I am looking at the Cyanogen 6 ROM in particular just because its Cyanogen, and I know that there is a lot of support and development going into it. I've also heard of a fusion ROM and a froyd ROM. I don't remember which one, but I know that there is an issue with the camera previews. Is it very debilitating? What other camera apps do you use to get around this issue? Are there other roms that you've had good expierences with? Thanks in advance.

 

[flipfone]

The Cyanogenmod ROM is the one with the camera preview issues. Just download Camera Magic from the Market and youll be all set. I ran that ROM (different version of it, test4, rc0,cat, & dog) i have NOT run the latest version but the ones i ran were all good. Some people had GPS issues in the beginning but thats been worked out and theres a battery mod that works great. This is the only froyo rom that i have run on my hero so far. There is another one in the works that i cant wait to see. It will be posted as soon as its ready. For now however check out the 2nd post here Cyanogenmod 6.0.0 for CDMA Hero Testing - CyanogenMod Forum Anything else i can help you with feel free to ask.

 

[steve19137]

wait, let me get this straight. you are the otisfeelgood username in that other post? and those links are what exactly? also, GAPPS is google apps right? there separate because of that one incident right?

 

[user7618]

Camera Magic preview isn't working on the current CM6 build. I think someone said that cameraFX or something like that works. No GPS issues anymore. The only "major" issues are lack of camera preview and video camera does not work. The newest build is called an_update_for_the_n00bz. I've been running it as my daily for about a week now, and it's pretty good.

 

[flipfone]

wait, let me get this straight. you are the otisfeelgood username in that other post? and those links are what exactly? also, GAPPS is google apps right? there separate because of that one incident right?

no thats not me. im flipfone, google me. the links are cdma froyo for your sprint hero and google apps. why they are seperate? dont know, dont know about an incident. just know to flash em.

 

[steve19137]

ok. thanks for the info. i think that they are seperate because there was a time when google had (forcibly) asked cyanogen to stop make roms because it contained googles closed source in them. it turns out, all he had to do was create bare bones roms w/ and extra GAPPS update.zips for those with wanted the google apps. i think they are also known as "google ****s".

anyway, user7618, do you think that its stable enough for a day to day rom? do you experience any lag? thats the main complaint in all the reviews of (stock) heroes. and, do you use swype? im interested in getting that...

EDIT: woah, it covered the expletive automatically! i didn't know that would happen...

 

[Fazulka]

ok. thanks for the info. i think that they are seperate because there was a time when google had (forcibly) asked cyanogen to stop make roms because it contained googles closed source in them. it turns out, all he had to do was create bare bones roms w/ and extra GAPPS update.zips for those with wanted the google apps. i think they are also known as "google ****s".

anyway, user7618, do you think that its stable enough for a day to day rom? do you experience any lag? thats the main complaint in all the reviews of (stock) heroes. and, do you use swype? im interested in getting that...

EDIT: woah, it covered the expletive automatically! i didn't know that would happen...

I have tried it and it is stable and pretty fast. I had lag trying to open the new google app that displays pictures. There is not dialer lag at all in 2.2, as im most 2.1 / 1.5 roms.

 

[user7618]

anyway, user7618, do you think that its stable enough for a day to day rom? do you experience any lag? thats the main complaint in all the reviews of (stock) heroes. and, do you use swype? im interested in getting that...

Yes, I do. I run it as my daily driver for the time being. As far as lag goes, I never really had much issue with it, there is a kernal fix on the page and it seemed to knock out what little lag I did have. Some people report issues with wifi, I can't comment on that, as I don't use it very often. Also, I would smash my phone in frustration without swype. I love it so much, and I'm glad it works with CM6.

 

[The Mac]

Iced Honey Bun is the Best!!

 

[steve19137]

Yes, I do. I run it as my daily driver for the time being. As far as lag goes, I never really had much issue with it, there is a kernal fix on the page and it seemed to knock out what little lag I did have. Some people report issues with wifi, I can't comment on that, as I don't use it very often. Also, I would smash my phone in frustration without swype. I love it so much, and I'm glad it works with CM6.

oh thats great news. i would do the same w/o swype lol. can you direct me to a guide/apk that you used for the hero? the ones ive found dont really work.

 

[user7618]

This here is the most current build, released 8/6. If you want the google apps, you'll need to download and flash that, too. For whatever reason, CM doesn't come with it. Meh, no big deal. I'm still getting a feel for this current build, it seems to be a little bit harder on the battery, but that may just be facebook update shenanigans.

 

[Fazulka]

oh thats great news. i would do the same w/o swype lol. can you direct me to a guide/apk that you used for the hero? the ones ive found dont really work.

Is it the APK for swype that you are looking for? Go to the official site and sign up for the beta program. Here. It says closed but I think they are admitting people pretty quickly for android. One you join the beta program the employees will help you if you have any problems (they respond in minutes to e-mail IME), and they say you will never be without swype again.

 

[user7618]

Oops! Yeah, I guess it was the Swype .apk he was after.

 

[mranderson41]

I'm sorry if this has been asked before but after doing a quick search I didn't find anything. I'm obviously new so please bear with me. If I decide to root and flash a custom ROM (say CM6 for example) is there a way to get some of the sprint apps back (I assume I lose them with I flash)? For example I use the Sprint Football app and the Visual Voicemail app. Also, if I go to CM6 I assume that means I lose the ability to link my contacts with their Facebook accounts because IIRC that is a sense feature.

TIA.

 

[srkmagnus]

You can get the visual voicemail and navigation here: [APP] Sprint Visual Voicemail For Cyanogen - xda-developers

I'm not sure if you can install the other Sprint apps without first modifying the app for use with Cyanogen. That'll be a question for someone else to answer (sorry).

Yes, syncing Facebook with your contacts is a feature specific to HTC Sense. You'll lose that feature if you install Cyanogenmod (or any AOSP based ROM for that matter).

 

[mranderson41]

what exactly does AOSP mean? I've also read in this thread about iced honey bun based on the sense UI. It doesn't look like that ROM is a 2.2 ROM or am I reading something wrong?

 

[BigRick10]

AOSP means Android Open Source Project. You can install the Sprint Apps. Just need to get the apks.

 

[mranderson41]

Thanks for all the help guys.

Will some of these newer apps (for example Angry Birds) that don't seem to run very well, if at all on stock 2.1 for Hero, run better on CM6?

Also, I've been doing some reading over on the CM forum and see that they push out nightly updates for the version of CM that they're currently working on. My question is, when you flash these nightly updates does that wipe out everything on your phone?

Oh, and I also remember another question I was going to ask now. Since I've got the updated 2.1 from Sprint/HTC I'll have to revert back to an older version in order to root. I understand that this will wipe my phone. When I go to wipe the phone, what is the best way to re-install all of my apps. I was thinking that since I have an account with appbrain I could just re-install the appbrain app and have the phone with a new ROM sync with appbrain. Or is this sort of thing covered with a nandroid backup?

Also, does using a ROM like CM6 allow for full flash support? And on the subject of the nightly builds I assume these are nightly builds of version 6.1. Is there a change log posted somewhere that shows what is in each build?

 

[srkmagnus]

Will some of these newer apps (for example Angry Birds) that don't seem to run very well, if at all on stock 2.1 for Hero, run better on CM6?

I've tried it on CM6 and notice lag, especially when there are many elements on the screen. I think it's more of a hardware issue than it is ROM, just my opinion though.

Also, I've been doing some reading over on the CM forum and see that they push out nightly updates for the version of CM that they're currently working on. My question is, when you flash these nightly updates does that wipe out everything on your phone?

The only time you will lose all your data is when you manually wipe the phone. Most ROMs don't require it if you upgrade to a newer version of the same ROM that is installed. But, if you have a 2.1 ROM installed and want to intall a 2.2 ROM, a wipe will be required because the system files are built differently. If you don't wipe then you will loop at the boot screen. To save your apps, you might want to do the Appbrain thing you posted or download Titanium Backup (paid version).

Nandroid creates a backup of the entire system in it's current state. You can't pick and choose certain parts to restore.

 

[The Mac]

I play angry birds on iced honey bun (the .7 beta) and the 768 stable uncappedkernal and it works great...