Absolute Noob. My first questions

[Guest monographix]

Dear good fellow geek people of the modaco community

At last after a long wait (and falling victim to an ebay fraud seller in the meantime - any possible advice on action to possibly get my money back is welcomed ) i just got on my hads my first ever smartphone - a ZTE skate (Monte Carlo)

My first bunch of questions :

1. What are the steps / actions to ensure i get the best performance / speed / responsiveness from it ?

. a. Use some specific partitioning / internal memory rearrengement scheme ? (which one is prefered, compatibility, reliability wise ? Where do i get the related instructions and downloads ? )

. b. Is overclocking advisable? offers any felt performance improvements ? severe effects on battery life maybe ? Heat issues ? Stability issues ?

. c. Best performance practice is to install anything else that doesn't come with the rom , on the SD card? How do i control where something (apps?) is installed ?

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2. Protecting Battery life tips / practices ?

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3. What are the best ROMS and what are briefly each ones advantages / disadvantages

. a. Should i go for atomic if priority is performance & battery life ?

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4. Are android apps installable to any version of Android ?

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5. My monte carlo came with atomic installed. how i tell which version is it ?

. a. Do i have to follow some sort of "format" / reinstall OS from beginning in order to update ?

. Is it possible to keep all customizations settings and personal content (contacts, messages, apps etc) through updating a Rom (eg atomic in this case) version ?

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6. With atomic (or any 3d party rom) can i get & use themes such as this ? http://gallery.mobil...29003/?ref=3518

Various info :

- I got a 16 GB SD (class 6) card . Q: do i need to format it to some specific file system ? Fat 32 or something else android uses ? (how)

Edited March 1, 2012 by monographix

[Guest hugobosslives]

if you payed through paypal contact them/ebay and explain your fraud.

yer overlclock is fine. push it until it locks up and reboots. stop if battery gets hot.

mine is always ate high 900s.

try to let the battery completely discharge every so often.

just try a few roms, its personal preferences

yes apps are mostly fine. some apps require ics (but very few) it will say on download page

to tell the rom version go to settings, about phone

if you upgrade to the same rom (i.e just a newer version, you can flash over the top without wiping). if you change rom wipe data in clockwork

yes that theme is fine

just pop the sdcard in. it should work fine.

edit: i wrote that pretty quick so if anything doesn't make sense sorry

Edited March 1, 2012 by hugobosslives

[Guest monographix]

6. i can use that theme even in atomic R8 ? I just need to install the "GoLocker" thing first ?

[Guest razzmataz1478]

6. i can use that theme even in atomic R8 ? I just need to install the "GoLocker" thing first ?

Yes just press physical menu button when on homescreen slide across then go locker. This where you can see downloaded themes :)

WOW! That metro theme you found. :o Me gusta mucha

Edited March 1, 2012 by razzmataz1478

[Guest TrollFaceEngaged]

6. i can use that theme even in atomic R8 ? I just need to install the "GoLocker" thing first ?

Be aware, though, Go Locker can drain your battery...

[Guest monographix]

So what i should do basicaly is

1. Use a TPT (proper for the ROM i intend to install, in this case Atomic R8) to maximize system performance (more free internal memory space means more available "ram" to the system ?

2. Install Link2SD so everything else apart the ROM installs on the SD ?

3. Install the ROM

Do i need to wipe somewhere in this procedure?

What's the correct order of steps?

[Guest monographix]

i managed my first edit step : Updated the Clockworkmod to 5.5.0.4 from 4.0.1.4 . Haven't connected to internet yet, as my router is wifiless and i still need my sim in my old phone (and i haven't bought 3G web time for it yet) It's a pain to add apps and work with the phone offline ... i see many apps dont exist as downloadable apk files

- which file / system browser / manager would you recomend ? the phone came with some "astrozip" & "bluetooth" apps installed ( i dont know if those are coming with atomic), which i used to navigate in the phone files (sd card, system etc)

- is link2SD the solution / way to unload the system from the space used by apps and transfer them to the SD card and keep every new installation been installed in the card ? Do i need to partition the card in order to do that ? (how?)

Edited March 2, 2012 by monographix

[Guest monographix]

so this theme needed GoLauncher EX and then Go Locker. i have no clue still what GoLauncher and Go Locker are and how they are connected and how the theme is connected with them too :P anyways, using the physical menu is not taking me to that theme (which btw was an apk thats how i got "installed") I can see the thumb of that theme only by clicking on the golocker icon in the apps icons grid. i select the theme, apply but nothing changes. The appearace of the phone GUI changes only by selecting GoLauncher EX (or GoLocker) when pressing the physical home , these are the only GUI changes that take place. everything else remains the same as with the stock atomic GUI. If i am lucky sometimes when the phone locks itself after inactivity i see a metro locked screen, but when i unlock the phone i am back to the Go (or stock atomic) GUI :( .. was that all ? all that metro UI and Go fuzz is about just a lock screen ?

[Guest razzmataz1478]

so this theme needed GoLauncher EX and then Go Locker. i have no clue still what GoLauncher and Go Locker are and how they are connected and how the theme is connected with them too :P anyways, using the physical menu is not taking me to that theme (which btw was an apk thats how i got "installed") I can see the thumb of that theme only by clicking on the golocker icon in the apps icons grid. i select the theme, apply but nothing changes. The appearace of the phone GUI changes only by selecting GoLauncher EX (or GoLocker) when pressing the physical home , these are the only GUI changes that take place. everything else remains the same as with the stock atomic GUI. If i am lucky sometimes when the phone locks itself after inactivity i see a metro locked screen, but when i unlock the phone i am back to the Go (or stock atomic) GUI :( .. was that all ? all that metro UI and Go fuzz is about just a lock screen ?

It's just a lock screen. You need a go ex theme to change the gui

[Guest monographix]

- Is ICS too much for Skate resources wise ? Is gingerbread faster and lighter to Skate than ICS ? Or ics is faster than gingerbread on Skate ?

- ICS Vs gingerbread which one is better to battery life ?

[Guest monographix]

Yes just press physical menu button when on homescreen slide across then go locker. This where you can see downloaded themes :)

WOW! That metro theme you found. :o Me gusta mucha

i wish there was a whole UI that was like that .....

[Guest razzmataz1478]

i wish there was a whole UI that was like that .....

If you want a decent UI...I recommend the ics go ex theme

Edited March 3, 2012 by razzmataz1478

[Guest monographix]

- how can i tell which partition layout my phone has ?

- can i download the v2a TPT to PC -> sdcard and have TPT Helper applying it ? (is there a download link for V2a ?)

- which partition layout is advisable for Atomic R8 ?

Edited March 3, 2012 by monographix

[Guest razzmataz1478]

- how can i tell which partition layout my phone has ?

- can i download the v2a TPT to PC -> sdcard and have TPT Helper applying it ? (is there a download link for V2a ?)<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">

If you haven't messed with tpt's before you should be on 230mb system partition I think.

Download TPT helper and that will do it for you I think. Just remember that everything wipes!

[Guest monographix]

Thanks. I haven't messed with the system storage partitioning myself. The phone came though rooted with CWM 4 & atomic 2.5 installed.

- Is there some felt / worth benefit from modifying the partitions layout to something like "V2a" , "V2", 150mb system compared to stock layout ?

- i haven't customized, set-up the phone yet, is there really anything i am going to lose from wiping it, since i am installing Atomic R8 after TPTing ?

[Guest monographix]

- can there be more than one apps running at the same time ? is there something like the windows alt-tab way to switch to other running apps or the "desktop" without having to close (" <-' ") the current app to go to lets say settings or to some other app that you want open or already started running ?

- is there a way to animate the rotation from vertical to horizontal orientation ? (currently its just changing from one to another in a snap, would be nice to see the screen rotating, i think its like that in apples?)

[Guest razzmataz1478]

- can there be more than one apps running at the same time ? is there something like the windows alt-tab way to switch to other running apps or the "desktop" without having to close (" <-' ") the current app to go to lets say settings or to some other app that you want open or already started running ?

- is there a way to animate the rotation from vertical to horizontal orientation ? (currently its just changing from one to another in a snap, would be nice to see the screen rotating, i think its like that in apples?)

Hold down the home button to see recent apps. ICS has a more advanced feature of this

Atomic has ics rotation animations I if you use adw launcher I think

[Guest monographix]

Thanks :)

- so (even in ICS) there cant be more than one applications running at the same time (windowed OS style) ? (and therefore to be able to switch between open applications / windows). You have to always "close" the current application to run another one ?

- besides personal taste / preferences, what are objectively the main differences - advantages / disadvantages between the main most popular ROMs ? ( eg Atomic, CM7, CM9 )

For example I got the impression that the Atomic is the fastest / cleanest / most lightweight on the system while also provides full functionality of all Skates features (with CM9 e.g. you currently don't have camera?) , while also now has normal if not better battery life than stock androids or CM7 / CM9? Am i correct ?

- if i want my skate overall UI and apps to look like this http://www.t3.com/reviews/zte-skate-review the only way is to install some stock Skate image ?

Edited March 4, 2012 by monographix

[Guest monographix]

- is the apps drawer an ICS UI only feature? can it be in CM7 too ?

[Guest razzmataz1478]

Thanks :)

- so (even in ICS) there cant be more than one applications running at the same time (windowed OS style) ? (and therefore to be able to switch between open applications / windows). You have to always "close" the current application to run another one ?

- besides personal taste / preferences, what are objectively the main differences - advantages / disadvantages between the main most popular ROMs ? ( eg Atomic, CM7, CM9 )

For example I got the impression that the Atomic is the fastest / cleanest / most lightweight on the system while also provides full functionality of all Skates features (with CM9 e.g. you currently don't have camera?) , while also now has normal if not better battery life than stock androids or CM7 / CM9? Am i correct ?

- if i want my skate overall UI and apps to look like this http://www.t3.com/reviews/zte-skate-review the only way is to install some stock Skate image ?

Android allows multitasking but not as windowed applications

Usually when you click the back button to leave an app it doesn't close, but runs in the background.

If I'm honest Atomic is better for gaming, but Ice Armour has a smoother UI. CM9 is still in the works really, although I'd reccomend trying it for ICS. And in the next release of cm9 the camera will be fixed, albeit without camcorder functionality.

And to your last question I think there's a thread about this but no one seems to know what the launcher is.

[Guest monographix]

Thank you again :)

about the stock theme i mention, you mean that possibly this isn't the stock theme Skates come with ? used only for promotion ?

[Guest monographix]

Can i install this with clockworkmod? Its a three files local stock Skate rom , boot.img, recovery.img, system.img

[Guest razzmataz1478]

Can i install this with clockworkmod? Its a three files local stock Skate rom , boot.img, recovery.img, system.img

Yes using restore, but you'd have to create a nandroid.md5 and then format boot, system, data, cache in mounts and storage, and exclude the recovery.img because that'll wipe clockworkmod

Or use adb.

Edited March 7, 2012 by razzmataz1478

[Guest monographix]

Thanks :)

I am not sure i have figured out yet all that terminology LOL Will the adb process wipe clockworkmod ? If i understand correctly, since stock roms have more possibilities of bricking the phone, it is a safety measure to keep clockworkmod even when flashing a stock rom ?

[Guest razzmataz1478]

Thanks :)

I am not sure i have figured out yet all that terminology LOL Will the adb process wipe clockworkmod ? If i understand correctly, since stock roms have more possibilities of bricking the phone, it is a safety measure to keep clockworkmod even when flashing a stock rom ?

This should give you more information about adb and fast boot... Here

And yes keep clockworkmod unless you're sending the phone for repair.

Edit: Always forget the / in bbcode...

Edited March 9, 2012 by razzmataz1478