Rom, Kernal and GC questions

[Thors Gal]

Hi,
I am still researching my purchase and I have not found a good site that reviews the different kernals and Roms out there. The sites with the downloads don't seem to describe them very well. :'( So, I was hoping for suggestions/votes for the top 3 of each to research. Since, I don't have a smart phone yet it will be hard for me to know what I would like yet. My needs for a smart phone are for email/PDA funtions and I am sure I will customize my phone as much as I can. I like clean interfaces and easy to read fonts. The only review I found was about MIUI that said it very customizable like windows. That is a good review but I don't want to take the first one I see.

Also, how can you tell if you gold card is a good one. I have read posts that talk about having to make a few before they worked. Is there a brand and size of microsd card that I should get for my gold card?

Also, what can you do to get your phone replaced under warrenty if you brick it?

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

 

[mudknot2005]

Hi,
I am still researching my purchase and I have not found a good site that reviews the different kernals and Roms out there. The sites with the downloads don't seem to describe them very well. :'( So, I was hoping for suggestions/votes for the top 3 of each to research. Since, I don't have a smart phone yet it will be hard for me to know what I would like yet. My needs for a smart phone are for email/PDA funtions and I am sure I will customize my phone as much as I can. I like clean interfaces and easy to read fonts. The only review I found was about MIUI that said it very customizable like windows. That is a good review but I don't want to take the first one I see.

Also, how can you tell if you gold card is a good one. I have read posts that talk about having to make a few before they worked. Is there a brand and size of microsd card that I should get for my gold card?

Also, what can you do to get your phone replaced under warrenty if you brick it?

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

Ill try to answer your question.

It is hard to do a review on a rom/kernel. They are considered betas so they are always in a constant state of change, with new things being added and removed constantly.

Which rom you flash is entirely up to you. Though you must make sure that, what ever kernel you flash is from the same base for instance, you have desire hd roms that are from the 1.84 base and you have roms that are built off of the inspire base 1.80. Some may disagree, but the general standard is you shouldn't cross bases. This is to help avoid unnecessary conflicts. So I would advise staying away from flashing something along the lines of d.i.l.l.i.g.a.f. rom and a leedroid kernel.

The only way to see what rom is best for you is to flash it and see if you like it, then flash another one if you don't like the previous. Every one has their own opinions of every rom.

Though I will advise if your going to root to not put a whole lot on the phone until you decide which rom you wish to keep, this is so you don't loose a whole lot of data while flashing.

To see if you have a good gold card (the easiest way) is create the gold card, then try to use it as an external usb, if the computer asks you to format the card then you need to redo the process. Keep in mind it may take 10 tries to get a good gold card, so don't get discouraged.

The best sd card to use for a gold are PNY class 4 8 gig and up or Kingston class 4 8 gig and up. These cards typically have better success rates.

To date no one has completely bricked their phone, but the phone is fairly easy to return to stock, so turning it in for warranty shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Thors Gal]

Thanks, that helped me understand a lot. Good advice about the data till I pick one. So, from what you said it sounds like changing ROMs is no big deal. I thought it was like a computer OS and would take more time to change.

One more clairfcation question, themes are customization done to ROMs, right?? So, are their conficts with them and the rom if roms are constantly updated?

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

 

[mudknot2005]

Thanks, that helped me understand a lot. Good advice about the data till I pick one. So, from what you said it sounds like changing ROMs is no big deal. I thought it was like a computer OS and would take more time to change.

One more clairfcation question, themes are customization done to ROMs, right?? So, are their conficts with them and the rom if roms are constantly updated?

Thanks,
Thor's Gal

changing roms takes about 10-20 mins for me with backing up the current rom (everything included) then flashing the rom.

Themes are modifications to apks. For instance to make a transparent launcher you have to edit the rosie.apk (for sense roms). When you update a rom via patch, you will need to reflash the theme. Keep in mind that themes are also base specific just like kernels.

 

[Thors Gal]

Thank you. That really helps me understand it.

 

[BrianTufo]

Everyone here is great but for a lot of ROM/Kernel/Theme questions you really should hit up XDA-Developers HTC Inspire 4G Forums. All ROMs/Kernels are located in the Android Development section.

Just DON'T post a new thread asking a question in the Development section. Only post questions about ROMs in their respective threads and read prior or you will get some harsh replies lol.

 

[Thors Gal]

Hi,
Thanks. I am glad I got the basics here first.

Thor's Gal