Rightttt, so custom ROMs
what are they
well ROMs are basically Read-Only-Memory s
and they're like basically whatever basic stuff your system runs on
So like for android, it's the part of the phone which you directly interact with, the home screen, settings, etc.etc.
However, I've noticed something (unconfirmed but likely)
Why do phones with Stock ROM (factory default, extra apps installed does not affect this) usually die in about 1-2 years, but phones with custom ROMs can last >3 years even though the hardware is stressed more?
And isn't it weird the manufacturers attributed it to motherboard failure even though there's not much stress on it?
So, if your phone is still under warranty (despite what they say about rooting voiding warranty, it's bullshit. save yourself 300 dollars in the shop by saying it's not rooted), and it's nearing 1 year old or for extended warranty, nearing the end of the warranty period, i suggest you get a custom ROM.
For simplicity's sake i shall use the Sony Ericsson X8 (or Sony), which has a HUGE developer support base.
Now if you have clockwordmod installed and rooted your phone, you are ready. If you haven't, read my other tutorials (or at least guides, otherwise Google is your best friend, followed by XDA)
I would suggest you stick to more well-known developers and better ROMs like the default cyanogenmod ----> http://www.cyanogenmod.org/ (note for x8, w8 users you need a cyanogenmod port, and abbreviations for cyanogenmod is CM, i suggest you start with CM7). For x8 or w8 users, you can also use this absolutely awesome ROM GingerDX ----> https://code.google.com/p/gingerdx/ and ------->http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1188486
non x8/w8 users the install instructions are usually rather similar too as with the GDX one but PLEASE READ ALL WARNINGS AND INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY OR YOU COULD END UP WITH A HARDBRICK.
Saturday 2 March 2013
Sunday 3 February 2013
Overclock and Overvolt
You know how when you buy a computer, and it says like intel atom (i have to use this shitty CPU so that it still relates) 1.66GHZ? that's the clock speed, the 1.66gHz part.
so what does overclocking do?
Well for starters, some games only work on ARM v7 speeds (800MHZ and above) like temple run. So if you're using an ARM v6 phone, there's a few things you can do. You can suck it up and find a shittier version of temple run to play, you can decide not to play anything and use your phone for calling your girlfriend only, you can be a rich spoilt brat and decide to go crying to your mum to buy a new and better phone, or you can overclock your phone to play temple run.
note though, overclocking burns more battery.
So overclocking is basically making the processor run at a higher than normal speed. So with an ARM v6 device you can now overclock it to ARM v7 speeds.
There are 3 problems with this though
a) it overheats, a fucking lot. Study your physics and you should know it will overheat.
b) it sucks a lot of battery. The battery level will drop a lot (and by a lot i mean it can go from 100 to 0 in like about 2 hours, that's what happened with a 40 percent overclock on my X8 to play contract killer)
c) it sometimes requires TOO much battery power
that's where overvolting comes in
Overvolting is making the battery output more than the manufacturer stated amount. The reason why this is physically possible is because industrial standards usually means that a 3.75 v battery should be able to output 4.5v. You do overvolting because you can, you want to, and your processor needs it.
Overvolting burns even more battery btw, so you really have to be careful not to really go crazy on your battery.
The trick to making it stable is to slowly raise the clock speed until it becomes unstable (your phone will auto reboot), then pushing the voltage up a little, then increasing clock speed again, then voltage, etc.
There usually will be a point where your battery cannot output anymore and forcing it past that line will result in either a) auto-reboot, or b) if you still continuously force it there, the ions in the battery will expand so much it'll explode and you'll spend the next 6 months in hospital for third-degree burns (i'm serious, some guy in china did that and it went boom on him, the acid corroded his skin)
Yep that's about it, if you want more info just head over to the guys at xda. until then, keep on hacking (playing with code :D)
so what does overclocking do?
Well for starters, some games only work on ARM v7 speeds (800MHZ and above) like temple run. So if you're using an ARM v6 phone, there's a few things you can do. You can suck it up and find a shittier version of temple run to play, you can decide not to play anything and use your phone for calling your girlfriend only, you can be a rich spoilt brat and decide to go crying to your mum to buy a new and better phone, or you can overclock your phone to play temple run.
note though, overclocking burns more battery.
So overclocking is basically making the processor run at a higher than normal speed. So with an ARM v6 device you can now overclock it to ARM v7 speeds.
There are 3 problems with this though
a) it overheats, a fucking lot. Study your physics and you should know it will overheat.
b) it sucks a lot of battery. The battery level will drop a lot (and by a lot i mean it can go from 100 to 0 in like about 2 hours, that's what happened with a 40 percent overclock on my X8 to play contract killer)
c) it sometimes requires TOO much battery power
that's where overvolting comes in
Overvolting is making the battery output more than the manufacturer stated amount. The reason why this is physically possible is because industrial standards usually means that a 3.75 v battery should be able to output 4.5v. You do overvolting because you can, you want to, and your processor needs it.
Overvolting burns even more battery btw, so you really have to be careful not to really go crazy on your battery.
The trick to making it stable is to slowly raise the clock speed until it becomes unstable (your phone will auto reboot), then pushing the voltage up a little, then increasing clock speed again, then voltage, etc.
There usually will be a point where your battery cannot output anymore and forcing it past that line will result in either a) auto-reboot, or b) if you still continuously force it there, the ions in the battery will expand so much it'll explode and you'll spend the next 6 months in hospital for third-degree burns (i'm serious, some guy in china did that and it went boom on him, the acid corroded his skin)
Yep that's about it, if you want more info just head over to the guys at xda. until then, keep on hacking (playing with code :D)
ROOTING :D:D:D (not for sony / sony ericsson phones)
so rooting. what does rooting do?
Well I'll use the normal linux way of saying it first
Normally, the developers, to protect the computer/phone from idiots cocking up the whole computer
but if you aren't an idiot, what you'll do on the linux command line is
sudo (etc.)
sudo is basically like an upgrade of permission
so it's like being the master of everything
now, on phones, since it's EASIER to cock up phones than computers
you usually require some root.zip to be installed through clockworkmod
the root.zip is sometimes provided by the company itself on the developers page of their website.
If it isn't there, head over to forum.xda-developers.com and find your phone. There's usually a rooting guide there.
but what exactly does rooting do?
Rooting gives you elevated permissions for your phone, so you can now change the NAND, overclock, overvolt, odex/deodex (for making themes), zipalign, custom kernel, etc.etc.
basically with rooting you can do almost everything with your phone (provided your hardware doesn't fail)
Rooting usually is best used for low-end or mid-end android phones (ARM v6 or v7, max at 1.2GHZ, max Qualcomm Adreno Libs 205 (GPU), 512MB RAM).
so that you can improve it
It's not really necessary for the really light user who only uses it to text his parents and call his girlfriend throughout the night.
But if you're like have a mid-end android phone (like me, Galaxy Mini II) and want to play those super graphics intensive games like shadowgun, dead trigger, modern combat 4 zero hour etc., rooting usually lets you do that (through overclocking, more on that on the next post). There's also a bunch of handy apps out there on the google play store that requires rooting (like chainfire 3D, SetCPU, blade buddy)
and even if you don't really use your phone a lot, I usually suggest rooting it so that when your phone DOES cock up like 1 year later, you know you can fix it. (I still wonder why most non-rooted android phones on Stock ROM usually die at 1 year mark, is it some business trick?)
But i had better warn you beforehand, if you are an idiot and you try to root your phone, this is one of the few things that could happen
soft-brick your phone (bootloop, usually solved through re-flashing rom)
hard-brick your phone (won't turn on, won't charge, just won't fucking respond. You can do 3 things now, get a JTAG RIFF box and fix it, repair your phone/buy a new one, or use it as a weapon for throwing)
remove your phone's kernel (bootloop too, I have no idea how this can happen but it did to my father :P)
For sony / sony ericsson phones. There is a tool out there called superoneclick which supposedly promises to root all phones and tablets. I seriously doubt it works for all phones and tablets, but I DO KNOW it works for the X8, W8, X10, X10 mini, X10 pro, Arc, Arc S, and the Samsung captivate. All the other phones I'm not sure, they claim it works but until someone experiments, I don't know.
Well I'll use the normal linux way of saying it first
Normally, the developers, to protect the computer/phone from idiots cocking up the whole computer
but if you aren't an idiot, what you'll do on the linux command line is
sudo (etc.)
sudo is basically like an upgrade of permission
so it's like being the master of everything
now, on phones, since it's EASIER to cock up phones than computers
you usually require some root.zip to be installed through clockworkmod
the root.zip is sometimes provided by the company itself on the developers page of their website.
If it isn't there, head over to forum.xda-developers.com and find your phone. There's usually a rooting guide there.
but what exactly does rooting do?
Rooting gives you elevated permissions for your phone, so you can now change the NAND, overclock, overvolt, odex/deodex (for making themes), zipalign, custom kernel, etc.etc.
basically with rooting you can do almost everything with your phone (provided your hardware doesn't fail)
Rooting usually is best used for low-end or mid-end android phones (ARM v6 or v7, max at 1.2GHZ, max Qualcomm Adreno Libs 205 (GPU), 512MB RAM).
so that you can improve it
It's not really necessary for the really light user who only uses it to text his parents and call his girlfriend throughout the night.
But if you're like have a mid-end android phone (like me, Galaxy Mini II) and want to play those super graphics intensive games like shadowgun, dead trigger, modern combat 4 zero hour etc., rooting usually lets you do that (through overclocking, more on that on the next post). There's also a bunch of handy apps out there on the google play store that requires rooting (like chainfire 3D, SetCPU, blade buddy)
and even if you don't really use your phone a lot, I usually suggest rooting it so that when your phone DOES cock up like 1 year later, you know you can fix it. (I still wonder why most non-rooted android phones on Stock ROM usually die at 1 year mark, is it some business trick?)
But i had better warn you beforehand, if you are an idiot and you try to root your phone, this is one of the few things that could happen
soft-brick your phone (bootloop, usually solved through re-flashing rom)
hard-brick your phone (won't turn on, won't charge, just won't fucking respond. You can do 3 things now, get a JTAG RIFF box and fix it, repair your phone/buy a new one, or use it as a weapon for throwing)
remove your phone's kernel (bootloop too, I have no idea how this can happen but it did to my father :P)
For sony / sony ericsson phones. There is a tool out there called superoneclick which supposedly promises to root all phones and tablets. I seriously doubt it works for all phones and tablets, but I DO KNOW it works for the X8, W8, X10, X10 mini, X10 pro, Arc, Arc S, and the Samsung captivate. All the other phones I'm not sure, they claim it works but until someone experiments, I don't know.
Saturday 2 February 2013
Clockworkmod 5.0.2.x
Hi so anyway my name is Randy and I mod android OS phones.
So today I'll be talking about one of the most crucial tools that most android (if not all) have
And best of all, it doesn't require rooting (for the scared people who dare not root)
Although if you use it it's probably to install some root.zip
So anyways, clockworkmod is a boothack that allows you to change the NAND of your phone (the /system partition)
And it's damn useful because it's fast, it's simple (relatively), it does quite a lot of things
so what are the things you can do with it anyways
Well........
install zips (whatever the developer gives you, like Overclocking, Overvolt, custom kernels/ROMs etc)
backup/restore your /system, and your /data
factory reset (note: this isn't actually like a reset to however you got your phone, it just wipes the /data partition)
partition sd-ext (ext2,3,4) honestly i don't know what this does because a) I've only two android phones, the X8 and the Galaxy Mini II, both of which doesn't have any kernel that actually utilises it well. Actually the X8 does, but you need to unlock the bootloader (more on that in some other post next time) and I don't have two jump-pins.
wipe dalvik-cache
we shall see how this is used in the next post!
Which shall be rooting, which you usually (except for pre-rooted AOSP phones) need to do if you want to do anything useful with your phone other than texting your girlfriend and playing temple run 2.
So today I'll be talking about one of the most crucial tools that most android (if not all) have
And best of all, it doesn't require rooting (for the scared people who dare not root)
Although if you use it it's probably to install some root.zip
So anyways, clockworkmod is a boothack that allows you to change the NAND of your phone (the /system partition)
And it's damn useful because it's fast, it's simple (relatively), it does quite a lot of things
so what are the things you can do with it anyways
Well........
install zips (whatever the developer gives you, like Overclocking, Overvolt, custom kernels/ROMs etc)
backup/restore your /system, and your /data
factory reset (note: this isn't actually like a reset to however you got your phone, it just wipes the /data partition)
partition sd-ext (ext2,3,4) honestly i don't know what this does because a) I've only two android phones, the X8 and the Galaxy Mini II, both of which doesn't have any kernel that actually utilises it well. Actually the X8 does, but you need to unlock the bootloader (more on that in some other post next time) and I don't have two jump-pins.
wipe dalvik-cache
we shall see how this is used in the next post!
Which shall be rooting, which you usually (except for pre-rooted AOSP phones) need to do if you want to do anything useful with your phone other than texting your girlfriend and playing temple run 2.
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Introduction to Linux distros - Using Virtual Machines (VM) in virtual box in windows.
Hi guys! Now, this will be the fourth tutorial in the Linux distros field. Now, some of you might want to install the distro itself into the Hard Drive (HD for short), however, some of you might not want to risk losing windows and going through the harrowing process of reinstalling it should that happen. Virtual machines (VM) are solutions to your problems. It can also be used to test out an OS before installing it to your hard drive. So, let's get started.
What you need:
1) Oracle VM virtual box. (Click here to download)
2) Your distro's iso file
Steps:
1)Click on the virtual box installer and go through the steps to install Virtual box. I'll call it VB for short.
2)After installation, open up virtual box. Make sure that you have the iso file somewhere in the account you are using.
3)Click on new and a window should pop up.
4)Click 'Next'
5)Type a name for your os, it can be anything, it is for you to remember for e.g Linux Mint 11 'Katya'. Then choose other linux in the dropdown menu, if your os is not listed. Then click next
6) Drag the slider to the middle of the bar. This will be the RAM assigned to your guest os, the more the better, but whatever you do, NEVER assign all the memory to your guest os. Click next.
7) Continue clicking next until you reach the end.
8)Now, you should be done and you will be brought back to the VM management screen.
9)Click on start at the top of the VM management window.
10) After waiting for a while, a new window should pop up asking you to specify the cd location. Click on image file, browse and then find your iso file. then click ok and wait for your distro to boot!
What you need:
1) Oracle VM virtual box. (Click here to download)
2) Your distro's iso file
Steps:
1)Click on the virtual box installer and go through the steps to install Virtual box. I'll call it VB for short.
2)After installation, open up virtual box. Make sure that you have the iso file somewhere in the account you are using.
3)Click on new and a window should pop up.
4)Click 'Next'
5)Type a name for your os, it can be anything, it is for you to remember for e.g Linux Mint 11 'Katya'. Then choose other linux in the dropdown menu, if your os is not listed. Then click next
6) Drag the slider to the middle of the bar. This will be the RAM assigned to your guest os, the more the better, but whatever you do, NEVER assign all the memory to your guest os. Click next.
7) Continue clicking next until you reach the end.
8)Now, you should be done and you will be brought back to the VM management screen.
9)Click on start at the top of the VM management window.
10) After waiting for a while, a new window should pop up asking you to specify the cd location. Click on image file, browse and then find your iso file. then click ok and wait for your distro to boot!
Wednesday 7 September 2011
Introduction to Creating your own custom made OS (only for ubuntu based OSes).
Lots of people want their custom made OS. Here's how to make one based on ubuntu (or Linux Mint) :
First, you need to get the Linux Mint/Ubuntu OS. After installing it, edit your OS (editing the menu won't help - add themes at /usr/share/themes, icons at /usr/share/icons and so on...). Will be posting how to do so...
Now, you can do the major part. Get remastersys, and go through the menu. Select dist and you can make your own distrubution now!
First, you need to get the Linux Mint/Ubuntu OS. After installing it, edit your OS (editing the menu won't help - add themes at /usr/share/themes, icons at /usr/share/icons and so on...). Will be posting how to do so...
Now, you can do the major part. Get remastersys, and go through the menu. Select dist and you can make your own distrubution now!
Monday 5 September 2011
Introduction to Linux - How to boot up and use your distro
Hi everyone! Today will be the 3rd part of the Linux tutorial. This tutorial are for those who have already downloaded and installed their distro's iso file to their thumbdrive. So, let's get started....
1)If your computer is on, turn it off.
2) While the com is off, stick your pendrive/ thumbdrive/USB key (Whatever you call your USB pendrive) into the USB port on your com.
3) Boot it up...and get your hands ready on the keyboard.
4) Just before Windows (or whatever your OS is) boots up, you should see for a few seconds a screen with some keyboard shortcuts which also say something like "BIOS setup", "Setup", "Boot device", something like that. Press the keyboard shortcut that will bring you into the setup menu. Then, enter the BIOS or boot menu. In it you should see the name of your USB device. Put it as your top priority boot device, followed by your hard drive. Finally, save changes and exit.
5) If you have done this correctly, the com should reboot and you will end up at the Linux distro's menu, where you can select whether to boot from the hard drive or your thumbdrive. If I'm not wrong, it is usually the first option.
6) Navigate to the option you want to choose and press enter. For those who want to try out Linux Mint 11 'Katya', it IS the first option. For those not trying out Mint, I don't use them, so I won't help you. OK, OK, I'm just lazy. Shoot me.
7) As to how to use the OS, I guess that anyone with a couple of brain cells can figure it out. If you're talking about the advanced options, I won't blame you, just comment and I'll help you, but if you're gonna ask me where the start button is, then.....yeah.
1)If your computer is on, turn it off.
2) While the com is off, stick your pendrive/ thumbdrive/USB key (Whatever you call your USB pendrive) into the USB port on your com.
3) Boot it up...and get your hands ready on the keyboard.
4) Just before Windows (or whatever your OS is) boots up, you should see for a few seconds a screen with some keyboard shortcuts which also say something like "BIOS setup", "Setup", "Boot device", something like that. Press the keyboard shortcut that will bring you into the setup menu. Then, enter the BIOS or boot menu. In it you should see the name of your USB device. Put it as your top priority boot device, followed by your hard drive. Finally, save changes and exit.
5) If you have done this correctly, the com should reboot and you will end up at the Linux distro's menu, where you can select whether to boot from the hard drive or your thumbdrive. If I'm not wrong, it is usually the first option.
6) Navigate to the option you want to choose and press enter. For those who want to try out Linux Mint 11 'Katya', it IS the first option. For those not trying out Mint, I don't use them, so I won't help you. OK, OK, I'm just lazy. Shoot me.
7) As to how to use the OS, I guess that anyone with a couple of brain cells can figure it out. If you're talking about the advanced options, I won't blame you, just comment and I'll help you, but if you're gonna ask me where the start button is, then.....yeah.
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