To Sense or not to Sense?

[Guest Christian Engen]

So I've decided to root my lovely HTC Desire, mostly because I need A2SD+ and MOAR APPZ! I'm pretty sure I can follow all these how-to's and get it done. I just need a little help choosing which ROM to use. I've shopped around and looked at Shadowsense, Cyanogen, Oxygen, and a few others. I'm pretty sure I'll be cooking one in a kitchen here, but I can't decide if I want WITH SENSE or NO SENSE.

I absolutely have to have A2SD+ because this thing has the most anemic app storage I've ever seen.

I need it stable enough to use as my day-to-day phone, and I hear MoDaCo is the place to go for that.

I would like it to be Gingerbread, but that's a tall order. Can I have just the awesome shutoff animation from 2.3?

I would like the rolling swipe things to select times and dates in the calendar and clock apps.

And I would like to use Sense widgets in ADW-EX Launcher, which I normally can't use outside the Sense launcher. Maybe with root?

[Guest Asselberghs]

So I've decided to root my lovely HTC Desire, mostly because I need A2SD+ and MOAR APPZ! I'm pretty sure I can follow all these how-to's and get it done. I just need a little help choosing which ROM to use. I've shopped around and looked at Shadowsense, Cyanogen, Oxygen, and a few others. I'm pretty sure I'll be cooking one in a kitchen here, but I can't decide if I want WITH SENSE or NO SENSE.

I absolutely have to have A2SD+ because this thing has the most anemic app storage I've ever seen.

I need it stable enough to use as my day-to-day phone, and I hear MoDaCo is the place to go for that.

I would like it to be Gingerbread, but that's a tall order. Can I have just the awesome shutoff animation from 2.3?

I would like the rolling swipe things to select times and dates in the calendar and clock apps.

And I would like to use Sense widgets in ADW-EX Launcher, which I normally can't use outside the Sense launcher. Maybe with root?

Don´t know about your special requests in the end m8.

My advice if you don´t know what you want go for MCR r9 I believe it is with Sense. Do a bit of tweaking to be able switch between Sense and stock look (clear the default sense/launcher option)

MCR is Android 2.2 Froyo, once you´ve got this one, hop over at xda-developers.com and just browse both places for gingerbread roms and try different stuff out.

I am using ReflexTSenseHD for now, from Neophyte over at XDA. Not at all because I tired of Pauls MCR rom, it´s awsome, and I still have a backup of both his Sense and his No Sense rom:D but because I got a maybe crazy notion that I wanted a transparent notification page like on Cyanogenmod but I coulden´t live with a couple of things on Cyanogenmod for instance it seemed to lack Apps2SD+.

Kind Regards

Asselberghs

[Guest ShirazS]

CyanogenMod's new Gingerbread nightlies are out, you could try that or even Oxygen. LauncherPro has widgets that are similar to the Sense Friendstream and Calendar widgets so you could give that a try as well.

IMO AOSP Roms are snappier than Sense ones and look better but Sense Roms get a little more out of the hardware available and slightly better battery life in my experience.

Lastly, not sure if you're even thinking of S-Off but if you do, you can install the N1 partition table which has around 70MB more for apps but is only compatible with AOSP Roms.

Edited January 17, 2011 by ShirazS

[Guest bpivk]

One thing that I don't get in AOSP roms is the wifi drivers. I've used different kernels and AOSP builds (Cyanogen, Defrost,...) and all of them give me below average network speeds. Installing stuff from the market is a real pain in the arse because I can only install/update one thing at a time that's why I keep using Sense.

So also do some comparisons so that you'll know the ups and downs of the roms you'll flash.

[Guest buttonsandzips]

I ditched Sense a long time back to run Cyanogen and now I am running Oxygen (Android 2.3). I have never looked back, the only thing I missed from Sense was the dialer but Dialer One from the market solves this.

[Guest BashyUK]

Having tried both, I have to say that although AOSP performance is amazing, Sense for me is just 'right'. v polished and just works so well, once you have that with A2SD+ or one of the other many variants, data2sd etc, I'd say you're sorted esp for installing apps.

However, you must try it yourself to see what suits you, I'd recommend Defrost as I have used that myself and Alex-V, again using it myself. The only non-sense ROM I am willing to try at some point in the future (well at least from what I can see at the moment) is MIUI. In terms of 'noise', Oxygen and Cyanogen are the main AOSP ones over on XDA.

As for HD, I am staying away from that having tried it (Alex-V HD), our standard Desires just don't run it the way it needs to, it starts off fine but eventually lag sets in.The diffs between hd and standard are not worth it, again that's only my opinion. If you have time to mess, then there's lots that can be done to improve performance using diff partition tables, swap, diff scripts etc but I don't have that time myself plus my Desire is my only phone.

Some further info you may find useful, I found TweetDeck completely nullifies the need for FriendStream, whether in Sense or AOSP and if you need a good calendar, I'd recommend Pure Grid Calendar but only in AOSP, otherwise the Sense calendar for me is the benchmark. These 2 things for me were what held me back from trying AOSP but like I said, I'm back to Sense now anyway.

Anyway, let us know what your experience is.

Edited January 17, 2011 by BashyUK

[Guest le_lutin]

I've tried a few ROMs in my time - MCR, baadnewz HD, AOSP, but the one I am currently on and the one I prefer is MIUI. It's just so fast. If you want your phone to be snappy, this is the one I would go for.

[Guest xTc is loVe]

I've tried a few ROMs in my time - MCR, baadnewz HD, AOSP, but the one I am currently on and the one I prefer is MIUI. It's just so fast. If you want your phone to be snappy, this is the one I would go for.

If your Phone should be stable for all day use u should use Modaco r9/r10 or leedroi or Oxygen. These are the msot Stable ROM´s out there.

In your choice between Sense and plan Android is your own choice.

I got back to Sense after Month´s of using CyanogenMOD ! Sense is better for everyday use.

If u like to have a very very good UI and a Stable Phone u should test the senseDHD rom from Baddnwz! V1 .8 is very speedy and stable! ANd its has a great look!

[Guest BashyUK]

If your Phone should be stable for all day use u should use Modaco r9/r10 or leedroi or Oxygen. These are the msot Stable ROM´s out there.

In your choice between Sense and plan Android is your own choice.

I got back to Sense after Month´s of using CyanogenMOD ! Sense is better for everyday use.

If u like to have a very very good UI and a Stable Phone u should test the senseDHD rom from Baddnwz! V1 .8 is very speedy and stable! ANd its has a great look!

Bit of a bold statement to say that 'only' those ROMS are stable! There's many stable ones, I'm guessing the above are just the ones you've tried :-)

[Guest Christian Engen]

Ooh lots of response. ;)

I don't really want to try a bunch of different ROMs. I just want to do this once, and have a phone with plenty of app space; thus this thread. :) I've thought long and hard, and decided to cook my own r9 with Sense, and opt out of the stuff I never use, like Teeter. That way I get to use ADW-EX launcher (Apple can keep their 4x4 screens), A2SD+, and those rolly swipy date/time selectors. And since I'm rooting anyway, I'll start looking into things like setCPU.

Thanks for the input. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Christian Engen

[Guest BashyUK]

Ooh lots of response. ;)

I don't really want to try a bunch of different ROMs. I just want to do this once, and have a phone with plenty of app space; thus this thread. :) I've thought long and hard, and decided to cook my own r9 with Sense, and opt out of the stuff I never use, like Teeter. That way I get to use ADW-EX launcher (Apple can keep their 4x4 screens), A2SD+, and those rolly swipy date/time selectors. And since I'm rooting anyway, I'll start looking into things like setCPU.

Thanks for the input. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Lol, do this once?! Never. You'll get the flash bug mark my words!!!

Hmm, sensible choice for the 1st time. Then you'll find you can install roms and delete what you don't want anyway via file managers or even Terminal Emulator...then you'll find S-OFF and adb and fastboot...and then threads for ROMS that sound too good to not try and then threads on different ways of increasing storage and performance and then custom bootscreens and splashscreens and themes...and then and then and then...welcome to the world of customisation :-)

[Guest Christian Engen]

Thing is, when it comes to this stuff I fall into the "complete newb" category. I don't know any programming languages except BBcode, and a little html. I can barely do anything in a command line, and oh how I wish I knew how to modify a PC bootloader. I installed Ubuntu once, but all I did with it was try to make it work like Windows. I consider myself an advanced user; I'm pretty Ace at Excel, and if something has a GUI I can usually figure it out.

Edited January 17, 2011 by Christian Engen

[Guest bpivk]

I'm pretty Ace at Excel

You can never be ace at Excel. Too many complicated formulas and whatnot. ;)

Back OT. You see now why you'll flash a lot. Everyone prefers his own flavor of rom/chefs so you won't get a one size fits all answer.

You'll have to try a few roms and get a feel for them and you'll soon find your preferred rom.

I liked stock Sense but I fell in love with Sense HD which is almost but not completely the same so I tend to stick with it.

I tried AOSP (non Sense) roms but marketplace was really slow on every rom so I've abandoned them altogether.

As you can see there is a lot of trial and error and as BashyUK said you'll do some flashes before you stick with one rom. Just treat it like you're buying some clothes. You try some and then decide which ones you like.

Edited January 17, 2011 by bpivk

[Guest xTc is loVe]

Bit of a bold statement to say that 'only' those ROMS are stable! There's many stable ones, I'm guessing the above are just the ones you've tried :-)

I tried ALL Rom´s ;-)

None of the DHD Rom´s are stable (only this from baadnwz)

All Stock ROM based ROM´s are stable but u should only use Leedroid or Modaco... i think u know why ;-)

Defrost/Opendesire etc are out of date and the best Gingerbread and Stock Android ROM is Oxygen!

The Most CyanogenMOD based rom´s are not really stable (I tried many Nightlies, too)

I tested ALL ROM´s and the most are not stable enough or out of date or they only take stuff from the called ROM´s!

So why i should tell him from bad ROM´s or from ROM´s that are out of date!

MIUI is a ROM that he can use, too but its even not stable enough and not bugfree enough for real everyday use! And i used all ROM´s for over a Week! I think i know what i say =)

Oxygen

Miui

Leedroid

Modaco

or baadnwz

All other Rom´s are not good enough for a every day user! We talk about a every day user and not Flash maniacs like me or like you ;-)

[Guest Christian Engen]

Lol, do this once?! Never. You'll get the flash bug mark my words!!!

Damn youuu!!! I managed to get myself into a bootloop, now recovering to mcr r9 and my newfound confidence is making me look at the cyanogenmod nightlies so I can try Gingerbread. This will never end! *whine*

[Guest Christian Engen]

This has been a little more complicated than I thought it would be. I found out I needed the Android SDK, and in turn the Java SDK (32-bit, not 64), three different drivers for my PC, and the guide here said something about bootloader versions that I couldn't find on my phone. In the end I used Unrevoked.

I'm now rooted with Clockworkmod andROM Manager. I couldn't get any of the MoDaCo ROMs to work. THey all stuck me in bootloops. Cyanogen worked when I downloaded it from within ROM Manager, but it didn't have a market app. Shadowsense works, which is a blessing in itself. :) I still need to figure out A2SD+ and then I can get cracking with Widgetlocker and ADW-EX ;)

[Guest Asselberghs]

This has been a little more complicated than I thought it would be. I found out I needed the Android SDK, and in turn the Java SDK (32-bit, not 64), three different drivers for my PC, and the guide here said something about bootloader versions that I couldn't find on my phone. In the end I used Unrevoked.

I'm now rooted with Clockworkmod andROM Manager. I couldn't get any of the MoDaCo ROMs to work. THey all stuck me in bootloops. Cyanogen worked when I downloaded it from within ROM Manager, but it didn't have a market app. Shadowsense works, which is a blessing in itself. :) I still need to figure out A2SD+ and then I can get cracking with Widgetlocker and ADW-EX ;)

Did you remember to wipe the device from clockworkmod before installing MCR?

[Guest BashyUK]

I tried ALL Rom´s ;-)

None of the DHD Rom´s are stable (only this from baadnwz)

All Stock ROM based ROM´s are stable but u should only use Leedroid or Modaco... i think u know why ;-)

Defrost/Opendesire etc are out of date and the best Gingerbread and Stock Android ROM is Oxygen!

The Most CyanogenMOD based rom´s are not really stable (I tried many Nightlies, too)

I tested ALL ROM´s and the most are not stable enough or out of date or they only take stuff from the called ROM´s!

So why i should tell him from bad ROM´s or from ROM´s that are out of date!

MIUI is a ROM that he can use, too but its even not stable enough and not bugfree enough for real everyday use! And i used all ROM´s for over a Week! I think i know what i say =)

Oxygen

Miui

Leedroid

Modaco

or baadnwz

All other Rom´s are not good enough for a every day user! We talk about a every day user and not Flash maniacs like me or like you ;-)

Objection! ;)

You must add Alex-V 2.1 to that list in that case.

Anyway, I see the OP has gone on his own track :) Enjoy the ride. OP I would recommend you read up on XDA the 'Complete guide to rooting etc...' and also have a look at the 'Alex-V Wiki' in my sig which has info that is useful regardless of ROM.

Edited January 18, 2011 by BashyUK

[Guest Christian Engen]

Uh. No? I'll back up my Shadowsense and look into it.

[Guest bpivk]

You have to do a full wipe when flashing a new rom otherwise you'll experience crashes and bootloops.

Cyanogen rom has all the gmail apps separated from the rom. You can find them in the wiki. I suggest that you use a2sd+. There's nothing too it. Just partition your SD card with another partition (EXT3) just after the FAT32 partition.

[Guest Christian Engen]

Clockworkmod has lots of options for wiping this and that. I'm not sure which to use...

Anyway, I'm now running Oxygen 2.0 with Gingerbread and Zeam. ;) It's fast as shrapnel and I LOVE IT! I could stick with this for a long time.

The only thing left to figre out is A2SD+. As I understand it, all I have to do is create the partition, and Android will use it automatically?

[Guest Asselberghs]

Clockworkmod has lots of options for wiping this and that. I'm not sure which to use...

Anyway, I'm now running Oxygen 2.0 with Gingerbread and Zeam. ;) It's fast as shrapnel and I LOVE IT! I could stick with this for a long time.

The only thing left to figre out is A2SD+. As I understand it, all I have to do is create the partition, and Android will use it automatically?

Just wipe data/factory reset

and then wipe cache before you install the MCR or any other rom for that matter.

It´s a good practice to do to experience as few problems as possible.

If the rom has A2SD+, the creator would say so if it´s available, then you´d just need about a 1 gig ext3 partition in the begining of your SD card for apps and let the rest be FAT32 for normal SD card stuff like music and what have you. Same goes if it´s just A2SD.

Edit: yea once you do that, the rest is automated the rom will figure it out, as long as it´s A2SD or A2SD+.

If it´s native Froyo A2SD you manually control which apps goes to internal memory and which goes to SD but IIRC most people say that Native Froyo A2SD isen´t as good as A2SD and A2SD+ is.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Asselberghs

[Guest bpivk]

then you´d just need about a 1 gig ext3 partition in the begining of your SD card for apps and let the rest be FAT32 for normal SD card stuff like music and what have you.

Actually it FAT32 and then EXT.

[Guest lucier]

Hmm, sensible choice for the 1st time. Then you'll find you can install roms and delete what you don't want anyway via file managers or even Terminal Emulator...

Hey!

Did you mean that you can customize an Oxygen or Paul's one (for example) ROM: remove or add soft after cooking? It's so cool...

[Guest RevoWution]

I absolutely have to have A2SD+ because this thing has the most anemic app storage I've ever seen.

I need it stable enough to use as my day-to-day phone, and I hear MoDaCo is the place to go for that.

Even with Apps2SD+, the Desire is still pretty anaemic lol. I was running MCR v9 w/ Apps2SD+ for about 2 months, then I started getting the dreaded <15mb "low internal memory" notification last week, so I wiped and flashed LeeDroid. I've been monitoring my internal memory every day, and it's trickled down from 110mb free 2 days ago to 93.70mb now.

Stability-wise, MCR is pretty good IMO, although I did get the occasional "HTC Sense has stopped working" error message every few days. Have yet to see that message with the LeeDroid I've been running though.

In terms of customisability though, MCR wins. No contest there ;)