Rooting/Custom ROM - clarification

[Jeremy W]

Hi, all,

I hope this is the right place for this posting. If not, I'm sure I'll be told

I updated my Galaxy Note GT-N7000 (locked to EE - Orange when I bought it - in the UK) from Android 4.0.4 to 4.1.2 via Kies last week. The update is so awful (terrible battery life and really slow to load basic functions like messaging and contacts) that it has finally tipped me into going for a custom ROM. I haven't done this before, and there is so much information out there that I would just like to make sure I have the right ideas before embarking on the process - I don't want my much-loved Note bricking!

So, my understanding is that there are four steps in the process:

a. Back up data
b. Back up apps and stock ROM
c. Root the phone
d. Install custom ROM

Question 1: Is that right? Question 2: Have I missed anything or added things that are unnecessary? Q3: Have I got the list in the right order?

Next, when it comes to backing up the ROM, there seem to be many programs/apps out there to do the job.

Q4: What are the recommendations for programs to do this based on the criteria of it must be a) intuitive to use, b) reliable, c) put a completely original ROM back if needed, and d) is completely removable itself so that, in the event of it needing to go to be fixed, no-one could tell that I have played with it?

I'm thinking of putting the latest Cyanogenmod ROM on it, because it seems mature, well-documented, and stable.

Q5: Are my thoughts on this accurate? Q6: Are there any ROMs that work better on the GT-N7000 than Cyanogenmod?

Lastly, Q7: What have I forgotten, or what else do I need to know?

Thank you for your time. I know you are all probably getting fed up with answering the same basic questions over and over again, but it is a nerve-wracking thing to do brain surgery on one of the best gadgets I've ever bought!

 

[VDub2174]

Here's my answer (in the quote).......

Hi, all,

I hope this is the right place for this posting. If not, I'm sure I'll be told

I updated my Galaxy Note GT-N7000 (locked to EE - Orange when I bought it - in the UK) from Android 4.0.4 to 4.1.2 via Kies last week. The update is so awful (terrible battery life and really slow to load basic functions like messaging and contacts) that it has finally tipped me into going for a custom ROM. I haven't done this before, and there is so much information out there that I would just like to make sure I have the right ideas before embarking on the process - I don't want my much-loved Note bricking!

So, my understanding is that there are four steps in the process:

a. Back up data
b. Back up apps and stock ROM
c. Root the phone
d. Install custom ROM

Question 1: Is that right?
Pretty much. You want to back everything up on your computer before rooting because once you root, it will clear everything.

Question 2: Have I missed anything or added things that are unnecessary?
Looks good to me.

Q3: Have I got the list in the right order?
I believe the Stock ROM gets backed up during the root process.

Next, when it comes to backing up the ROM, there seem to be many programs/apps out there to do the job.

Q4: What are the recommendations for programs to do this based on the criteria of it must be a) intuitive to use, b) reliable, c) put a completely original ROM back if needed, and d) is completely removable itself so that, in the event of it needing to go to be fixed, no-one could tell that I have played with it?
I personally use Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP). It's very easy to use and I've never had any issues with it.

I'm thinking of putting the latest Cyanogenmod ROM on it, because it seems mature, well-documented, and stable.

Q5: Are my thoughts on this accurate? Q6: Are there any ROMs that work better on the GT-N7000 than Cyanogenmod?
Final CM builds are pretty solid. You may find that a lot of other ROMs are based off of CM but add extra tweaks.

Lastly, Q7: What have I forgotten, or what else do I need to know?
Make sure to read, read, read, and read more!! I even took as far as watching YouTube videos so I knew what to expect. If something goes wrong, don't panic. Retrace your steps or ask questions here.

Thank you for your time. I know you are all probably getting fed up with answering the same basic questions over and over again, but it is a nerve-wracking thing to do brain surgery on one of the best gadgets I've ever bought!

 

[Rukbat]

a. Back up data
b. Back up apps and stock ROM

Back up your apps and data. The easiest way to do this is with Titanium Backup, but you'll have to root first.

c. Root the phone

Already done for the previous step.

c) put a completely original ROM back if needed

If you mean the ROM you had before the update, that can't be done, since you didn't back it up before the update. If you mean the updated ROM , ClockworkMod Recovery will back up the ROM and the apps (basically a full backup of the phone), but you'll have to install CWM first. (Then use the backup function. Then copy the backup file to your computer.)

Copying backups from the phone to the computer is essential - when you start flashing ROMS, what's in the phone or on the SD card gets wiped.

d) is completely removable itself so that, in the event of it needing to go to be fixed, no-one could tell that I have played with it?

That's problematical. Consider flashing a new recovery to be non-reversible. You can always restore the ROM and apps (and data) you have now, though, if you back them up first. (It's called a nandroid backup, since you're backing up the NAND memory in an Android.)

I'm thinking of putting the latest Cyanogenmod ROM on it, because it seems mature, well-documented, and stable.

It's a good ROM. Make sure you use the one for your phone. Flashing a ROM for another model phone can leave you with a handful of useless electronic parts.

If you find that Cyanogen is at least usable for you, you can try flashing other ROMS - as long as there are no reports of their bricking phones. You can always flash the ROM you prefer if you flash one that's not so good.

BTW, a) you don't have to root to flash a ROM, and b) almost any ROM you flash will be rooted.

 

[Golfdriver97]

My two cents...the above posts have confirmed and added to all your steps well.
If you want options to ROMs look at either Slim, AOKP, possibly even ParanoidAndroid.
I like Slim much better them CM.

Sent from a Slim 4.3 S3

 

[Jeremy W]

Thank you, all, for your time and advice. Watching YouTube how-tos is something I hadn't thought of in particular, but it makes a lot of sense.

Titanium Backup looks good - I'd read some good opinions of it previously, but it was where some of my confusion crept in. I couldn't work out where the rooting bit came in after reading eight or nine different threads!

I hadn't seen anything about Slim before - I'll have look. ParanoidAndroid looks quite good too, but I have read a couple more unhappy reviews of it than I have of CM. I'll have another look.

Hopefully, the next time I post here it will be to say I have a new ROM on the phone

 

[Golfdriver97]

Thank you, all, for your time and advice. Watching YouTube how-tos is something I hadn't thought of in particular, but it makes a lot of sense.

Titanium Backup looks good - I'd read some good opinions of it previously, but it was where some of my confusion crept in. I couldn't work out where the rooting bit came in after reading eight or nine different threads!

I hadn't seen anything about Slim before - I'll have look. ParanoidAndroid looks quite good too, but I have read a couple more unhappy reviews of it than I have of CM. I'll have another look.

Hopefully, the next time I post here it will be to say I have a new ROM on the phone

Here is Slim's site: Home
As for what you have read about Paranoid, what were the concerns? How old were those concerns?
I like Slim because there are some more custom options than in CM. For example, the notification shade: My personal opinion is I think the shade should only be one page. The Quick Toggles make it 2 pages. Slim allows me to have toggles at the top of the shade, similar to stock Samsung. CM (at least the last version, I am not sure about the newest) allowed me to have those toggles, but I could not get rid of the Quick Toggles.

Could you clarify your questions about Titanium?

 

[Jeremy W]

Hi, All!

Well, it worked! I have CM10.1.3 on my Note. I'll come back to that in a moment.

The route I took to get there, after lots of reading and watching videos, was to install PhilZ CWM6 ClockworkMod, then download the .zips of CM10.1.03 and Gapps to my laptop. I transferred the .zips to the external SD-card on the phone using good old-fashioned usb, and then installed them using the ClockworkMod interface. When I rebooted, I think I got into an infinite bootloop (it certainly felt like it whilst waiting!), so I went back into ClockworkMod and wiped the ROM before reinstalling. This worked fine.

As suggested, CM might not be the ROM for me. Two things are particularly annoying: a) I can't find a way (easily) to display battery usage in the notification bar. It shouldn't be hard to find the control to do it!; and b) the Trebuchet launcher isn't exactly intuituve to use. I may be exceptionally dim, but I could not work out how to put widgets on the homescreen! I have gone back to Nova Launcher instead.

On the positive side, it is certainly quick and responsive. Now I have my favourite apps for controlling things (Sound Profile, for instance), it works well. One thing that did surprise me was that my ebooks had been saved, despite the fact that the reader app I use (Aldiko) doesn't allow any choice to store to the external SD-card, so I thought I might have lost them when I did the wipe.

Slim asked what I'd read about about ParanoidAndroid that put me off. The biggest thing was a battery-drain bug (admittedly, I now note, reported back in February this year), but that scared me. In addition, there were little things like the digital clock getting itself in a mess. I think the review that had most influence said that PA isn't a ROM for a beginner ... which I thought meant me, but perhaps not!

My tasks for later today are to find replacements for the Samsung apps I used most - controls for the S-Pen, and S-Memo - and see if I can find a way to put the battery-meter on the notification bar. Or maybe just go back to the stock Samsung 4.0.4 that I was very happy with - now I've found out how easy it is to change ROMs, the world is my oyster!

 

[Golfdriver97]

Hi, All!

Well, it worked! I have CM10.1.3 on my Note. I'll come back to that in a moment.

The route I took to get there, after lots of reading and watching videos, was to install PhilZ CWM6 ClockworkMod, then download the .zips of CM10.1.03 and Gapps to my laptop. I transferred the .zips to the external SD-card on the phone using good old-fashioned usb, and then installed them using the ClockworkMod interface. When I rebooted, I think I got into an infinite bootloop (it certainly felt like it whilst waiting!), so I went back into ClockworkMod and wiped the ROM before reinstalling. This worked fine.

As suggested, CM might not be the ROM for me. Two things are particularly annoying: a) I can't find a way (easily) to display battery usage in the notification bar. It shouldn't be hard to find the control to do it!; and b) the Trebuchet launcher isn't exactly intuituve to use. I may be exceptionally dim, but I could not work out how to put widgets on the homescreen! I have gone back to Nova Launcher instead.

On the positive side, it is certainly quick and responsive. Now I have my favourite apps for controlling things (Sound Profile, for instance), it works well. One thing that did surprise me was that my ebooks had been saved, despite the fact that the reader app I use (Aldiko) doesn't allow any choice to store to the external SD-card, so I thought I might have lost them when I did the wipe.

Slim asked what I'd read about about ParanoidAndroid that put me off. The biggest thing was a battery-drain bug (admittedly, I now note, reported back in February this year), but that scared me. In addition, there were little things like the digital clock getting itself in a mess. I think the review that had most influence said that PA isn't a ROM for a beginner ... which I thought meant me, but perhaps not!

My tasks for later today are to find replacements for the Samsung apps I used most - controls for the S-Pen, and S-Memo - and see if I can find a way to put the battery-meter on the notification bar. Or maybe just go back to the stock Samsung 4.0.4 that I was very happy with - now I've found out how easy it is to change ROMs, the world is my oyster!

Congratulations!
Battery: Settings>Interface>Status bar>battery icon style.

I agree Trebuchet isn't the greatest of launchers.

Not sure about S Pen, but Google Keep is a great note app.

Sent from a 4.3 Slim S3 using the AC forums app

 

[Jeremy W]

Hah, a problem! I backed up my data using Kies, but Kies won't recognise the phone now! It seems the problem is that the CSC is probably wrong. I've tried following the instructions at DroidViews | How to Change CSC Code in Samsung Galaxy Devices, but none of the options work:
- *#272*[IMEI No] # then send gives me "USSD code running" then "Connection problem or invalid MMI code"
- Installing busybox then CSC-Changer (which is how I interpret "Make sure you install the BusyBox first and CSC Changer requires it pre-installed to work.") just gives me a warning that it will wipe all data, then nothing happens at all.
- CSCSelect a) without root access goes to the dialler and puts up *#272*1449# and then gives the same "USSD code running" then "Connection problem or invalid MMI code" error as above; b) with the "Try with ROOT mode" box ticked, it first asks for superuser access, then, when granted, does nothing at all - no list of codes to change or anything.

OK - I've learned not to use Kies to back things up if I'm going to play in future, but, for now, does anyone have any ideas how to set the CSC, and/or get the backed up data onto the phone?

Thanks!

 

[Jeremy W]

Congratulations!
Battery: Settings>Interface>Status bar>battery icon style.

There isn't an "Interface" control in settings ...

 

[Jeremy W]

Ignore that - I had some sort of font-blindness:-*

Battery now showing in notification bar!

 

[VDub2174]

My tasks for later today are to find replacements for the Samsung apps I used most - controls for the S-Pen, and S-Memo - and see if I can find a way to put the battery-meter on the notification bar. Or maybe just go back to the stock Samsung 4.0.4 that I was very happy with - now I've found out how easy it is to change ROMs, the world is my oyster!

Try Note Buddy and CM S-Pen add on.

Sent from my AT&T Galaxy Note 2 on top of a BeanStalk

 

[Jeremy W]

Thanks, VDub. Unfortunately, CM S-Pen addon doesn't work with the original Note (N7000).

For making notes, I went with Papyrus for now.

Overall, I'm happy with the phone now, but I still can't get to change the CSC and download my backed-up data. Frustrating.