Because I'd be really upset if I ended up with a pretty hunk of nonfunctioning metal
July 25, 2010 2:11 PM Subscribe
New Nexus One with Froyo/2.2 -- to CyanogenMod or not to CyanogenMod?
So I'm the proud owner of maybe the last Nexus One to be sold to the general public, and by-and-large I'm happy with it as is. It's running 2.2/FroYo, updated over the air when I plugged it in. I've been tossing around the idea of rooting it and running CyanogenMod, but I'm nervous. It's the most expensive computing device I own and I don't want to brick it. So, Android lovin' Mefites, I got some questions:
The instructions here mention installing a custom recovery image, but don't talk much about what a custom recovery image does. If I install this Amon_Ra recovery, could I then conceivably use the new recovery image and leave the stock FroYo in place? Let's say I go through the whole instruction piece and install CyanogenMod - could I use the recovery image to go back to the stock Froyo, or to switch between them somehow?
The wiki instructions mention flashing the radio, but other people say that if you're running the latest build (as I am, FRF91) then you don't need to flash the radio. Correct? Also, what is the "radio" in this case? Is it an FM receiver, the Wifi, the GPS, the 3G/AWS itself? "Radio" is pretty vague.
And lastly, is there any reason I shouldn't install CyanogenMod? I originally got interested in it for root purposes, but apparently Nexus Ones (including mine) with stock Froyo suffer from flaky/underpowered WiFi, and the latest builds of CM fix that, whereas who knows when Google will get around to fixing the issue. If I install CM6, can I still use the Market and all the other Google apps? Is there software that works on the stock Android that won't work at all on CM?
Thanks, Mefites!
So I'm the proud owner of maybe the last Nexus One to be sold to the general public, and by-and-large I'm happy with it as is. It's running 2.2/FroYo, updated over the air when I plugged it in. I've been tossing around the idea of rooting it and running CyanogenMod, but I'm nervous. It's the most expensive computing device I own and I don't want to brick it. So, Android lovin' Mefites, I got some questions:
The instructions here mention installing a custom recovery image, but don't talk much about what a custom recovery image does. If I install this Amon_Ra recovery, could I then conceivably use the new recovery image and leave the stock FroYo in place? Let's say I go through the whole instruction piece and install CyanogenMod - could I use the recovery image to go back to the stock Froyo, or to switch between them somehow?
The wiki instructions mention flashing the radio, but other people say that if you're running the latest build (as I am, FRF91) then you don't need to flash the radio. Correct? Also, what is the "radio" in this case? Is it an FM receiver, the Wifi, the GPS, the 3G/AWS itself? "Radio" is pretty vague.
And lastly, is there any reason I shouldn't install CyanogenMod? I originally got interested in it for root purposes, but apparently Nexus Ones (including mine) with stock Froyo suffer from flaky/underpowered WiFi, and the latest builds of CM fix that, whereas who knows when Google will get around to fixing the issue. If I install CM6, can I still use the Market and all the other Google apps? Is there software that works on the stock Android that won't work at all on CM?
Thanks, Mefites!
One thing I'm curious with this is if there is a way to bring the phone back to factory install to the point where if you needed HTC to replace it, would they notice you had rooted your phone?
posted by Elminster24 at 3:34 PM on July 25, 2010
posted by Elminster24 at 3:34 PM on July 25, 2010
Best answer: Up to you if you want to run any given ROM image, I can't really offer any insight as it really depends on how you use your phone.
A 'radio' is vague because it's really any RF device in that phone - Bluetooth, 3G, WiFi, GPS, all of it could be considered radio. Typically, if someone is speaking of a specific subsystem, they say the "bluetooth radio", etc. In your case, I'm sure they're speaking of the 3G/AWS/etc radio - The chipset for it has it's own firmware.
Normally, in the process of installing a ROM, you'll install a custom failsafe/bootloader ROM that will let you back up your current ROM. Otherwise, you can always just use the Google/provider ROM tool to flash back to stock factory. It's almost impossible to get a phone into a state that it won't take the original factory ROM from the official tools for it.
posted by Rendus at 3:36 PM on July 25, 2010
A 'radio' is vague because it's really any RF device in that phone - Bluetooth, 3G, WiFi, GPS, all of it could be considered radio. Typically, if someone is speaking of a specific subsystem, they say the "bluetooth radio", etc. In your case, I'm sure they're speaking of the 3G/AWS/etc radio - The chipset for it has it's own firmware.
Normally, in the process of installing a ROM, you'll install a custom failsafe/bootloader ROM that will let you back up your current ROM. Otherwise, you can always just use the Google/provider ROM tool to flash back to stock factory. It's almost impossible to get a phone into a state that it won't take the original factory ROM from the official tools for it.
posted by Rendus at 3:36 PM on July 25, 2010
Oh. Missed the part about the recovery image somehow:
Yeah, the recovery image will allow you to make and restore backups. You can't run two ROMs and switch between them (conveniently, anyway - you can always backup your stock Froyo, restore the Cynogen, and vice versa if you really want to switch0.
posted by Rendus at 3:38 PM on July 25, 2010
Yeah, the recovery image will allow you to make and restore backups. You can't run two ROMs and switch between them (conveniently, anyway - you can always backup your stock Froyo, restore the Cynogen, and vice versa if you really want to switch0.
posted by Rendus at 3:38 PM on July 25, 2010
Best answer: If I install CM6, can I still use the Market and all the other Google apps?
Yes. For CyanogenMod, they're installed separately, but that's all detailed in the installation instructions. (This is b/c of the C&D a while back.)
Is there software that works on the stock Android that won't work at all on CM?
None that I know of, for what that's worth.
posted by inigo2 at 4:06 PM on July 25, 2010
Yes. For CyanogenMod, they're installed separately, but that's all detailed in the installation instructions. (This is b/c of the C&D a while back.)
Is there software that works on the stock Android that won't work at all on CM?
None that I know of, for what that's worth.
posted by inigo2 at 4:06 PM on July 25, 2010
Whats your motivation to install CyanogenMod? You already have Froyo, which to me is probably hte most compelling reason to upgrade (like I just did to my HTC Magic).
If you have a really compelling reason to upgrade, then go for it. Otherwise I'd hold off till Google release a new version of Android that has some super performance benefits/apps etc.
posted by Admira at 7:25 PM on July 25, 2010
If you have a really compelling reason to upgrade, then go for it. Otherwise I'd hold off till Google release a new version of Android that has some super performance benefits/apps etc.
posted by Admira at 7:25 PM on July 25, 2010
Best answer: Ahhh and now I see the bottom of your post. I take it all back.
I installed it on my phone, mainly to get 2.2 and the performance benefits that brings. I was worried by all the issues reported in the forums but took a backup and went for it and, so far, don't regret it.
The CM6 build is release candidate though, so it could have issues.
I know when I rooted by phone initially I was terrified that I would brick it. What reassured me was seeing some youtube videos of people going through the process step by step, on my model of phone with my exact firmware. You might want to check some out, heres a link to one I found.
posted by Admira at 7:31 PM on July 25, 2010
I installed it on my phone, mainly to get 2.2 and the performance benefits that brings. I was worried by all the issues reported in the forums but took a backup and went for it and, so far, don't regret it.
The CM6 build is release candidate though, so it could have issues.
I know when I rooted by phone initially I was terrified that I would brick it. What reassured me was seeing some youtube videos of people going through the process step by step, on my model of phone with my exact firmware. You might want to check some out, heres a link to one I found.
posted by Admira at 7:31 PM on July 25, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! I ended up unlocking the bootloader (easy), rooting the machine (easy once I found the instructions) installing Amon_Ra's recovery image (not so easy: missing steps, invalid images (with valid md5 sums even)) and I'll probably be waiting for the final version of CM6 to do any messing with that. But now I have a phone I can back up!
posted by the dief at 1:05 PM on July 26, 2010
posted by the dief at 1:05 PM on July 26, 2010
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posted by the dief at 2:17 PM on July 25, 2010