Not convinced about the benefits of rooting

[Guest audio2u]

Hi all,

I have an unbranded Desire, which I rooted using Paul's riskfree method (my HBoot was 0.80, and shipped software was 1.21.xxx).

That part was ok, although it took me some trial and error to get there.

I then grabbed Paul's/Koush's fake-flash, which made flashing any zip from my sd card a breeze. Thanks guys.

And that's where the disillusionment began.

I have tried 1 prebake from another dev (Villain), 1 prebake from Modaco, and tried 3 different custom bakes of my own from Modaco, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has given me issues.

Have I done something wrong?

Specifically, I continue to get "com.htc.bgp has stopped working blah blah blah" errors and I have to force close it. OK, it doesn't actually seem to affect the performance of the phone in any noticable way, but I'd rather it wasn't happening at all.

I also don't see ANY improvement in battery life under FroYo (one of my main reasons for rooting in the first place).

And since rooting, no ROM I have installed has allowed me to choose "Charge only/HTC Sync/Disk drive/Wifi tethering" from the notifications bar. I'm not sure if that was a part of Sense (which I have left off the 3 custom bakes I've done), although I suspect that you'd need those options anyway. The down side of not having this option is that I can't do anything with the phone that requires access to the sd card while the phone is charging via USB (can't listen to music/podcasts, can't run apps which store data on the sd card, etc etc), because the moment I plug it into a pc (doesn't matter what OS, I've tried on both xp and Win7), it automatically connects it as a removable drive to Windows. I can tell windows to remove the media (via the USB icon in the system tray), and windows actually does as it's been told (there's a first for everything!) and releases it. However, the phone does not recognise this and will not go into "preparing sd card" mode until I unplug the usb cable.

Sorry if I sound like a whiny prick, but the whole experience has not been as gratifying as I had hoped.

But seeing other posts from people who absolutely love their rooted freedom makes me wonder if just one little microcosm of the process didn't go entirely to plan, and hence why I'm having these issues.

Does anyone have any advice to offer?

Here are the current software settings on my phone as it stands with my current custom bake:

Android version

2.2

Baseband version

32.42.00.32U_5.09.00.08

Kernel version

2.6.32.15-g1fc-4045

htc-kernel@and18-2 #1

Build number

2.06.832.1 CL207528 test-keys

Software number

MoDaCo Custom ROM r6 for the HTC Desire

Broswe version

Webkit 3.1

With regards battery performance, I paid for, and downloaded, SetCPU, but apparently the kernel I have is not supported.

So, I guess I'll have to wait for the SetCPU dev to write for that kernel before I get any value out of that purchase. :)

If you've read this far, thanks!

And if you have any advice which will make the experience a little more enjoyable for me, double thanks!

Yes, I know.... HTC have FINALLY rolled out the official FroYo upgrade and I COULD just do a factory reset and go back to a non-rooted phone, but I like the IDEA of the freedom root provides... just yet to see it in reality.

[Guest Asselberghs]

Hi m8:)

I am running this Costum rom by Paul the Android 2.2 MoDaCo costum r5 http://android.modaco.com/content/htc-desi...th-sense-frf91/

It seems super stable, I think I´ve had one crash of an app in the entire lifetime of my phone, which will say ever since the first day of release of the Desire phone.

And I am not even sure it was on this rom, even if it were I just restarted the app no problem.

I´ve been running this rom for I think it is two weeks, no problems, everything seems to be working fine, I am not sure if there is increased battery life, but there is no decrease either.

And I have no problems with selecting weather the connection to the computer when I plug it in, should be charging, disc drive, or USB teethering from the notification bar.

Must be mentioned I haven´t tried USB nor WiFi Teethering haven´t needed it yet.

As for the benefits of rooting, I rooted for two reasons, faster access to newer Android versions through the MoDaCo roms, but originally my only purpose was to enable paid apps in android market through market enabler, as I am in a country where paid apps is not an option by default.

Remember that the r6 rom is in "under development" stage at least last I checked.

Perhaps you want to downgrade to the more stable r5? Haven´t tried r6 so I can´t compare, I just know I am awaiting the Costum MoDaCo rom based on the official Android 2.2 Froyo for Desire released last weekend i believe by HTC.

[Guest Sgaduuw]

I had the "com.htc.bgp has stopped working" error myself after I baked a custom ROM myself.

It was caused by disabling the Sync part of Sense. Enabling sync should also allow you to choose "Charge only/HTC Sync/Disk drive"

*snip*

Specifically, I continue to get "com.htc.bgp has stopped working blah blah blah" errors and I have to force close it. OK, it doesn't actually seem to affect the performance of the phone in any noticable way, but I'd rather it wasn't happening at all.

I also don't see ANY improvement in battery life under FroYo (one of my main reasons for rooting in the first place).

And since rooting, no ROM I have installed has allowed me to choose "Charge only/HTC Sync/Disk drive/Wifi tethering" from the notifications bar. I'm not sure if that was a part of Sense (which I have left off the 3 custom bakes I've done), although I suspect that you'd need those options anyway.

*snip*

[Guest spammyspam]

Have you tried wiping after flashing a custom ROM? Although others say you don't need to, I've had to every time - even when moving sideways between ROMS on the same version.

[Guest DragosP]

Have you tried wiping after flashing a custom ROM?

Before?

[Guest spammyspam]

Well no, after. I mean... I only know that I have issues after I've flashed, so that's when I wipe.

Should I then reflash? Would that be different somehow?

[Guest bhu73]

But seeing other posts from people who absolutely love their rooted freedom makes me wonder if just one little microcosm of the process didn't go entirely to plan, and hence why I'm having these issues.

Does anyone have any advice to offer?

Definitely sounds to me as is something went awry for you. I run the r6 and have no such issues.

As to battery life, I found no major difference, but generically, when I have had problems with battery life, a naughty application has been to blame. "adb logcat" is your friend here.

I would try

making sure usb debugging is enabled.

Do a new bake, pay close attention to the options you select, write them down so if you have problems you can report them back.

backup..both nandroid and your sd-card. (if you chose a2sd+ you do have an ext3 partition right?)

reformat your sd-card.

full wipe

dalvik wipe

reflash.

[Guest audio2u]

Perhaps you want to downgrade to the more stable r5?

Actually, one of those previous custom bakes WAS an r5 version.

And yes, I was aware of the whole "r5=stable, r6=wip" argument, which was what led me to think that maybe some part of the process just hadn't worked right.

Forgive the noob question, but is the kernel part of the bake, or is that somehow separate?

I only ask because the SetCPU dev told me to look for other kernels (in order to use SetCPU) as mine is not yet supported.

I had the "com.htc.bgp has stopped working" error myself after I baked a custom ROM myself.

It was caused by disabling the Sync part of Sense. Enabling sync should also allow you to choose "Charge only/HTC Sync/Disk drive"

Thanks for that. I'll try another bake and leave sense/sync in.

Before?

Yeah, I kinda figured that that was what he meant. :)

Thanks for the replies, guys.

[Guest audio2u]

I would try

making sure usb debugging is enabled.

Yep, did that.

Do a new bake, pay close attention to the options you select, write them down so if you have problems you can report them back.

Good idea. I like the way you think! :) I should have done that last time.

if you chose a2sd+ you do have an ext3 partition right?

Didn't choose a2sd+ on my current build. I chose the original a2sd, 'cause I wasn't sure of the difference. Having said that, I haven't been able to move apps to the sd card anyway, but that was low on my list of priorities. I was waiting to get all the other issues sorted before I started chasing that one down.

reformat your sd-card.

OK.... seems severe. I'm not against doing it, but can you tell me why I need to?

full wipe

...as in factory reset?

dalvik wipe

Sorry.... how do I do that again?

reflash.

That bit, I can handle!

Thanks for the tips.

[Guest audio2u]

And now I see Paul has released his latest repacks featuring the newly released official FroYo code.

Maybe I should just wait for the kitchen....

[Guest Asselberghs]

And now I see Paul has released his latest repacks featuring the newly released official FroYo code.

Maybe I should just wait for the kitchen....

That´s what I am doing m8:) would recommend that if you have patience for it.

[Guest crisdo98]

yeah sit and chill mate.. should be today sometime :) . In the meantime reboot into recovery mode and just check the options. You'll see there is a option to 'Wipe data/factory reset' . If you haven't been doing this then this is most definitely the root of your issues.

Also there is an option to 'wipe cache partition' .. this is also recommended.

Thirdly, and not important as you don't currently have EXT partition, is the option to partition your card (Partitions menu). You can choose the size of your EXT, and FAT32 partitions.

Oh and what ever you do, do not unroot and flash the OTA update as it will update your HBOOT and make it unrootable (for now).

[Guest scotch whisky]

I have had none of the problems reported EXCEPT when I have tried to bake or use any ROM without "Sense".

With "Sense" I have found all recent ROMs by Paul 100% stable. Without "Sense" I have found them to be about 95% stable at best.

I've now quite got used to "Sense" and no longer bake without it. It's not a bad launcher and some of the HTC widgets that depend on it are IMHO quite good.

[Guest audio2u]

That´s what I am doing m8:) would recommend that if you have patience for it.

Yep, I'm patient enough to wait.

Also there is an option to 'wipe cache partition' .. this is also recommended.

Is that the 'Dalvik cache wipe' I keep reading about, or something different?

Thirdly, and not important as you don't currently have EXT partition, is the option to partition your card (Partitions menu). You can choose the size of your EXT, and FAT32 partitions.

Right, and if I understand it correctly, A2SD+ is better than A2SD, but requires an EXT3 partition where the original A2SD only requires a separate FAT32 partition. Have I got that right?

Oh and what ever you do, do not unroot and flash the OTA update as it will update your HBOOT and make it unrootable (for now).

Yep, I knew about that. But thanks for the heads up!

[Guest audio2u]

I have had none of the problems reported EXCEPT when I have tried to bake or use any ROM without "Sense".

With "Sense" I have found all recent ROMs by Paul 100% stable. Without "Sense" I have found them to be about 95% stable at best.

I've now quite got used to "Sense" and no longer bake without it. It's not a bad launcher and some of the HTC widgets that depend on it are IMHO quite good.

Ahhh, interesting!

Thanks.

[Guest audio2u]

Guys, thank you so much for your input on this.

One more question.... I had to use a hex editor to turn my sd card into a goldcard in order to root my phone.

Am I correct in thinking that reformatting my sd card now will remove that, but also, that that is no longer an issue now that I have root (ie it doesn't matter if I lose my goldcard status)?

[Guest Raptor36]

The down side of not having this option is that I can't do anything with the phone that requires access to the sd card while the phone is charging via USB (can't listen to music/podcasts, can't run apps which store data on the sd card, etc etc), because the moment I plug it into a pc (doesn't matter what OS, I've tried on both xp and Win7), it automatically connects it as a removable drive to Windows. I can tell windows to remove the media (via the USB icon in the system tray), and windows actually does as it's been told (there's a first for everything!) and releases it. However, the phone does not recognise this and will not go into "preparing sd card" mode until I unplug the usb cable.

Try download an app called "dual mount SD." Its very useful because it allowed both the phone and computer to access the sd card at the same time :)

[Guest audio2u]

Try download an app called "dual mount SD." Its very useful because it allowed both the phone and computer to access the sd card at the same time :)

Thanks for that Raptor36.

For now, I'll sit tight 'til Paul opens the new kitchen.

If I'm still experiencing issues after that, I'll give this a go.

[Guest Elbereth]

SetCPU 2.0.2 now works with the stock HTC Kernel of Froyo. You just have to press Menu on the first tab, then Perflock Disabler, when it is done, just re-detect the frequencies (Menu again Device Selection > Auto-Detect) and voila.

When the sources of the kernel are available it will be easier (then we can use a kernel with the perflock disabled that will work directly in SetCPU).

Edited August 4, 2010 by Elbereth

[Guest Surfinette]

I'm pretty noob myself, but a very happy ROOTED user of my HTC desire.

Why, root? Here are 8 good reasons:

8 good reasons for root Pls go to the devs respective web sites for more explanations, latest versions etc...

And even if you want to stick to basic noob usage of your phone, at least 3 apps listed here requiring root are must-have IMHO:

TitaniumBack up, Shoot me and JuiceDefender. Well the first two, may not be absolute must-have, but JuiceDefender is definetely for anyone caring about meaningfully extending battery life (the paid version is a must)...

Besides, I've tested many rooted ROM here or on XDA and did not get many bugs or FCs as you mentionned, but I generally do a full wipe with Rom Manager (an app requiring root :D ) before install. Exemple of stable and non buggy Roms here include Paul's Modaco roms (great one!) or OClock's roms...

Keep trying, you'll eventually find the rom that fit your needs.

Thanks to all the great devs out there :)

Rgds

Surfinette

[Guest charlie_boy]

Just a quick point. Go into menu > settings > connect to PC and make sure you have "ask me" selected.

[Guest audio2u]

Just a quick point. Go into menu > settings > connect to PC and make sure you have "ask me" selected.

Yeah, it is checked, and strangely, the 'default connection type' is charge only!

Yet, as previously stated, EVERY time I plug in a USB cable, it appears as a removable drive in windows.

Go figure!

[Guest jayz_style]

Yeah, it is checked, and strangely, the 'default connection type' is charge only!

Yet, as previously stated, EVERY time I plug in a USB cable, it appears as a removable drive in windows.

Go figure!

One of biggest reasons I rooted my phone was coz phone memory very low and u could at best install 20-30 apps max but after rooting I have over 80 apps installed and still got about 59 mb phone memory that includes some large apps like Navigon.

As far as your USB connection problem the reason for that is I donno why but it only works if you uncheck the option Ask Me and you should be see option in your notification bar to choose if u want charge, mass storage, HTC sync and USB tethering.

Also, default connection type means if u uncheck the option Ask Me then it will connect in charge only mode when u connect to PC.

Hope this helps!!!

[Guest audio2u]

Hope this helps!!!

Not really! :)

And not because I didn't understand... I know how it's MEANT to work. Just, for some reason, it's not working like that on my phone right now.

Weird as.

But thanks for trying!

[Guest jayz_style]

Not really! :)

And not because I didn't understand... I know how it's MEANT to work. Just, for some reason, it's not working like that on my phone right now.

Weird as.

But thanks for trying!

Wot Rom u using and you tried both ways first uncheck the option Ask Me and also check that option.

Another thing u can try as well, goto settings Applications->Manage Applications and select All tab and look for PC synchronization and clear data and clear defaults.

Also, when you baked your ROM did you select HTC Sync coz one of the Rom i download frm another forum didn't have HTC Sync so I never use to get prompt in the notfication bar.