Best thing to do...

[Guest LessThanSte]

Righto, i took the plunge and got myself a Diamond the other day. I like it, a lot. There are, however, a few things that are slightly annoying.

Firstly the interface seems to be a little sluggish at times, particularly when selecting between tabs. Also, more annoyingly, the screen goes blank during a call after a couple of seconds, meaning you have to hit one of the buttons to then select anything during a call (for example on an automated phone system (dial 1 for...etc).

Ive been reading around this forum and theres all sorts of ROM's and things being mentioned, but i wondered if anyone has any suggestions about which would be the best for me to go for. Principally i dont want to invalidate the warranty, will updating a ROM or anything have any effect on that?

And does anyone know a way to keep the screen ON during calls?

[Guest jimbouk]

Technically, flashing a new rom does potentially invalidate the warranty/insurance cover.

BUT I dont think there has been one case of a repair/replacement being refused because of it.

I have a two month old Diamond and put up with the slight sluggishness for six weeks, but have recently flashed it with Dutty's latest rom and it is so much better.

Re the screen blanking, there are tweaking programs and reg edits that can change that behaviour.

[Guest Neil5459]

Which verison of the Diamond did you buy? Was it on an Operator contract?

If you look in Settings/System/Device Info, which ROM version is it running?

It is generally accepted that the newer (1.93) ROMs are much better than the original ROMs, but unless you have a genuine HTC sourced Diamond it can be difficult to obtain the official update. Orange are still sending out their Diamonds without any customisations, so loading a newer ROM is unlikely to invalidate the warranty.

The Diamond ROMs available from XDA-Developers all seem to include a fairly close to stock version as well as Lite versions. The favourites are currently the TLR, and Dutty versions. I'm using Dutty V1.1 though it is currently up to 1.7; my version is working fine, so I don't really wan't to update till the latest version has received a clean bill of health! The general opinion is that these 'cooked' ROMs are faster in operation than the offical HTC 1.93 ROM.

The Radio ROM can also be updated easily- most stock versions come with Radio .03, but .05 and .07 are much better in terms of battery drain and GPS performance.

The phone blanking issue is another story- despite regsitry changes and ROM modifications, a significant number still have the blanking 'feature' which it seems can't (yet!) be circumvented.

[Guest LessThanSte]

Its with Orange, on the Dolphin 35 contract. Incidently though, ive been browsing the user manual which makes reference to loads of Orange Download sections, Music and such like, but these dont appear to be in existence on the phone itself. Infact, the only thing that makes reference to it being Orange based is the sticker on the back and something called Orange Plus in the programs menu!

Anyway, the details:

ROM Version 1.37.405.1 WWE

Rom Date 06/12/08

Radio Version 1.00.25.03

Protocol Version 52.26a.25.09H

About the blanking, since posting that message ive had a browse around the forum (set a new record for number of open tabs too!) and found some things that i will try. How do i get at the registry though?

And some other little things. Ive changed the wallpaper but how to i change the clock on the Home screen from the big white bank clock style clock to a standard digital clock?

[Guest Monkhouse]

When on the homescreen, 'sweep' up with your finger and the big clock will change to a smaller one. 'Sweep' down, it will change back again.

You can also customise the clock appearance (and the rest of the touch-flo interface appearance) using the Manila customisation program available from XDA devs - but think about this later, get your ROM flashed and sorted out first.

[Guest LessThanSte]

Thanks Monkhouse :D

So before i go ahead and change this ROM, just need to check this. Is TF3D a particular ROM, and if i put a new ROM on will the style of the whole thing be different, or is a purely behind the scenes type update?

(oh, btw, does Dutty's ROM have the nice sweeping animation when selecting tabs?)

[Guest jimbouk]

TF3D is Touch Flo 3D - and is thus the animated front end. It is also known as Manila.

All Diamond roms have it - even the cooked ones. Some of the roms have it as an uninstallable option.

Make sue you read the sticky thread over at XDA about upgrading and that you flash hard spl first.

[Guest LessThanSte]

OK. A couple more questions that it doesnt seem to mention anywhere. All the programs that are on the Diamond now, google maps and office and such like, will they still be there from a new ROM or will i have to go and find them from somewhere else afterwards?

with regard to the radios, i saw something that said that none of the radios are signed and thus wont work with the signed Hard SPL. Is this true?

[Guest SSR]

OK. A couple more questions that it doesnt seem to mention anywhere. All the programs that are on the Diamond now, google maps and office and such like, will they still be there from a new ROM or will i have to go and find them from somewhere else afterwards?

Often for ROMs e.g. Dutty's, it will list what applications are present and what can be installed as an option. Worth checking the readmes for the ROMs themselves, although I think for the most part they do have these applications.