Questions about xperia miro custom rom (and more)

[Moony22]

Hello, I have quite a few questions about custom roms, for the xperia miro. I will list my questions:

1. I have a rooted stock xperia miro with android ice cream sandwich, and my phone is very slow, with very little space. I am considering a custom rom, which do you think would be best for me? I have looked into Gimlo and cyanogenmod, which do you think is best?

2. What is the chance of me bricking my phone? How can I avoid this?

3. Which android version does cyanogenmod and gimlo use for xperia miro?

4. Do custom roms take up more space than stock?

5. Are there any disadvantages of installing a custom rom?

6. Will the CWM from here work?

7. How do I know if my device has an unlocked bootloader?

I would very much appreciate answers to these questions, especially the first and second.

Thanks,
Moony22

 

[Golfdriver97]

Hello, I have quite a few questions about custom roms, for the xperia miro. I will list my questions:

1. I have a rooted stock xperia miro with android ice cream sandwich, and my phone is very slow, with very little space. I am considering a custom rom, which do you think would be best for me? I have looked into Gimlo and cyanogenmod, which do you think is best?

2. What is the chance of me bricking my phone? How can I avoid this?

3. Which android version does cyanogenmod and gimlo use for xperia miro?

4. Do custom roms take up more space than stock?

5. Are there any disadvantages of installing a custom rom?

6. Will the CWM from here work?

7. How do I know if my device has an unlocked bootloader?

I would very much appreciate answers to these questions, especially the first and second.

Thanks,
Moony22

Welcome to the forums!
I don't have an Xperia, but most of the questions you asked are pretty universal for flashing ROMs.

1. Of the two I would choose Cyanogen.

2. As long as you download files and follow procedures for your specific device, then you should be fine. To avoid this would be to flash a custom recovery like Clockwork mod or TWRP, and create a backup of your current ROM called a Nandroid. Here is some more info on custom recoveries: http://forums.androidcentral.com/ge...recoveries-versus-stock-there-difference.html

3. Unknown. You shoudl check out both websites and look up supported devices.

4. Depends. Sometimes more sometimes less.

5. Bricking a device, voiding OS warranties, spending time downloading, installing, only to find out within a few moments you hate it.

6. Here is where not having a Sony isn't helpful: I am not sure.

7. If you have to ask, it's locked. If you are stock it's locked.

Counter points:
1. As always with being new to flashing ROMs always wipe cache and factory reset in recovery after you flash a ROM but before a reboot. Resets suck because of lost data, but they can ease future headaches.

2. Read, read, and above all else; READ! Read all instructions. Take notes on both flashing and rooting instructions.
2b. Any questions, by all means, stop whatever it is you are doing and ask. If you are unsure of anything, do not begin and ask. It is much better to wait a few days for an answer than to spend a sleepless night fixing a mistake.

3. Before rooting and flashing, see if you can reboot into recovery, and wipe cache. Wiping cache can often help with many issues. When a phone updates, the cache is typically not cleared. The old data interferes with the new update (Which is a new ROM, just stock, and your carrier is doing it for you), and can cause issues, like lag.

Hope that helped.

 

[Moony22]

Thanks for the quick reply, this was really useful!

Just a few of questions about your answers.
1. I understand cyanogenmod seems to have a larger community and might be more stable, but it seems the one for the Miro/Tipo is unofficial (xda thread, website). The instructions are also much longer and quite unclear, and this also requires an unlocked bootloader. It also installs a custom kernel. This seems like a lengthy process which I could make many mistakes in, although I'm not really sure. I don't even understand some of the instructions on their website/thread. What would be your reason for saying cyanogenmod?

2. I'm forced to flash CWM anyway, as Xperia Miro does not have a recovery mode. (This isn't really a question)

5. Can I undo bricking a device somehow? And also, can I install another custom rom/stock rom while I have a custom rom?

Thanks for replying, it has helped me greatly!

 

[Golfdriver97]

Thanks for the quick reply, this was really useful!

Just a few of questions about your answers.
1. I understand cyanogenmod seems to have a larger community and might be more stable, but it seems the one for the Miro/Tipo is unofficial (xda thread, website). The instructions are also much longer and quite unclear, and this also requires an unlocked bootloader. It also installs a custom kernel. This seems like a lengthy process which I could make many mistakes in, although I'm not really sure. I don't even understand some of the instructions on their website/thread. What would be your reason for saying cyanogenmod?

2. I'm forced to flash CWM anyway, as Xperia Miro does not have a recovery mode. (This isn't really a question)

5. Can I undo bricking a device somehow? And also, can I install another custom rom/stock rom while I have a custom rom?

Thanks for replying, it has helped me greatly!

Glad that helped some.

1. Actually, I think cyanogen is overrated. But they are also very stable. The last thing you want in a custom ROM is something like the phone app not quite working or something else to keep causing the phone to not work as it should. You can also look at AOKP.

2. CWM is a good recovery. I like it better than TWRP.

3. Bricks typically happen when someone does something stupid. ROM guidelines are always flash your exact model number, exact carrier, and if you are in the US, never an international. When you read of someone flashing a ROM and getting a brick, they probably flashed something they weren't supposed to.
3b. Once you are rooted, flashing ROMs are done fairly the same way, through recovery. You can flash any custom ROM over anything, nothing is stopping you. Everytime you flash something new, factory reset, and wipe cache.

Sent from a SlimROM S3.

 

[Moony22]

Glad that helped some.

1. Actually, I think cyanogen is overrated. But they are also very stable. The last thing you want in a custom ROM is something like the phone app not quite working or something else to keep causing the phone to not work as it should. You can also look at AOKP.

2. CWM is a good recovery. I like it better than TWRP.

3. Bricks typically happen when someone does something stupid. ROM guidelines are always flash your exact model number, exact carrier, and if you are in the US, never an international. When you read of someone flashing a ROM and getting a brick, they probably flashed something they weren't supposed to.
3b. Once you are rooted, flashing ROMs are done fairly the same way, through recovery. You can flash any custom ROM over anything, nothing is stopping you. Everytime you flash something new, factory reset, and wipe cache.

Sent from a SlimROM S3.

Thanks for your reply. I really do think I will go with Gimlo, as I have PMed a couple of people that have it, and they told me that it had only one bug, which was the status bar force closing when an app tries to use GPS. This isn't really bad though, I can deal with it.

But I have quite an important question.

I looked at what I should backup. I found out that I should backup the /EFS folder, and so I looked for it, using root file explorer, and nope, it was not there. I tried a few tools, and they did not work.

I then dialed *#06#, and it gave me an IMEI number. This looked to be working fine. I have been using the phone for ages, and not noticed any major network issues.

So now I am wondering, I don't have a /EFS folder, but everything seems to be working fine and I apparently have an IMEI number. So, what do I do?

Do I just install a custom rom and hope that everything will be working after? I can't backup something that doesn't exist.

Thanks,
Moony22

 

[Golfdriver97]

Thanks for your reply. I really do think I will go with Gimlo, as I have PMed a couple of people that have it, and they told me that it had only one bug, which was the status bar force closing when an app tries to use GPS. This isn't really bad though, I can deal with it.

But I have quite an important question.

I looked at what I should backup. I found out that I should backup the /EFS folder, and so I looked for it, using root file explorer, and nope, it was not there. I tried a few tools, and they did not work.

I then dialed *#06#, and it gave me an IMEI number. This looked to be working fine. I have been using the phone for ages, and not noticed any major network issues.

So now I am wondering, I don't have a /EFS folder, but everything seems to be working fine and I apparently have an IMEI number. So, what do I do?

Do I just install a custom rom and hope that everything will be working after? I can't backup something that doesn't exist.

Thanks,
Moony22

Flash clockworkmod, and do a backup before flashing a ROM. That should be enough.

Sent from a SlimROM S3.