Installing custom rom question

[Harsky]

Just a warning, I'm entirely new to the world of rooting and custom roms and when I first got my HTC Sensation, installing custom roms was never my highest priority. Now, since I'm nearing the end of my contract, I'm willing to give it a try. The reason I'm thinking about it now is because everything takes forever to load on my phone. I'm guessing the problem is that HTC installing their own software isn't helping so I'd like to install a clean "vanilla" version of Android Jelly Bean.

Will I even notice a speed difference if an untampered custom rom is installed or is it a case of the hardware not being so good in this time and age?

 

[lufere7]

Not an expert either, but I'm sure you'll notice the difference, most companies just fill the phone with bloatware that you never use and that just slows down the phone. I say it by personal experience, a week ago my xperia u was feeling sluggish so I decided to finally remove the bloat that came with the phone and it runs much better now. It will also help that you'll probably start from a scratch, meaning that you will remove many apps that you don't use anymore which will also help.

 

[Tekken179]

You should try using XDA forum for more professional help and step by step guides suited for your phone specifically and many other phones.

Rooting is pretty much gaining administrative rights, allowing you to get into the system files, which allows you to replace or delete them etc. (good for deleting bloatware)

Custom ROMS - These come in many different kinds the most common two you will probably hear about is CyanogenMod and MIUI, you will have to check XDA to see what kind of ROMs your phone supports.

Custom ROM's add plenty of features, remove bloatware, try to improve speed and stability, but if you are looking for larger battery life or faster performance out of your phone you should check out custom Kernels for your phone, again you will have to goto XDA to find out more about kernels and what they can do for you.

All of the above, messing about with the phone can permanently brick the phone, mess the phone up, void your warranty, it can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing.

 

[trigger_ftu]

there are two good roms to use. paranoid and Cyanogenmod. root gives you root access, so full hardware and software control there are alot of advantages, and some disadvantages if you don't know what you are doing. the first thing you want to look into is rooting and recovery. with recovery alot of people select clockwork mod and other suggest TWRP. personally both are very good. one thing you need to remember is when you go to install a different rom or different flavor of android os, is back up EVERYTHING. make a backup save it because one fatal flaw and you can loose everything but as long as you have a recovery to restore your os you should be fine.

also something to note when it comes to HTC devices make sure the you have S-off (it is a bootloader locking configuration).

performance wise look up kernals that will fit your needs. there are some for undervolting so you gain more battery life and some with overclock for more power, and others with both so you can have that extra kick.

go to XDA and research research research. never believe how many people have turned their handys into $300-$600 paper weights just by not reading the instructions or understanding what they want or what they are doing.

 

[Zorua]

Absolutely, it will help. As far as I remember, the HTC Sensation is very similar to the HD2, hardware wise that is. That's a great thing because the HD2 is a legendary device, and it runs the latest version of Android even though it's 3 years old now.

Anyway, to answer your question, a custom rom will speed your system up depending on what you use. If you use an AOSP (Android Open Source Project, or simply vanilla android) based rom it should become faster because HTC Sense is very, very heavy on the device's dated hardware and the cache build up over time could have been responsible for the slow down.

If you aren't looking to customize it too much, Cyanogenmod would be the way to go. It is probably the most popular AOSP custom rom distribution, so you just can't go wrong with that. If you'd like to have complete control over your device, for example statusbar transparency, you should get Paranoid Android. However, I would not recommend it just yet because you are a beginner.

It goes without saying but you'll have to of course, back up everything. The internal sd card will likely get formatted so that should take first priority. Also, your apps and contacts should be synced to your Google account, so they'll automatically start downloading once you install the custom rom and connect it to the internet. That shouldn't be a problem. You'll also need to get a custom recovery in order to flash cyanogenmod.

Oh also, rooting is basically getting read/write access to the file system. If you're planning to install mods/edit stuff etc., you'll need to be rooted.

Here are a few resources you can refer to. They'll help you get started.

Beginner's guide to getting started (rooting, flashing custom recoveries, roms etc.): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=696189
Cyanogenmod 10.1 for the HTC Desire: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2070704

Read through the first few posts by the OP in both threads to understand what they're about exactly. These are basic guidelines that should help you, but if you need further assistance, feel free to ask!

EDIT: Just realized I replied to a 4 month month old thread, sigh. Hope all of that helps someone.

 

[Harsky]

Absolutely, it will help. As far as I remember, the HTC Sensation is very similar to the HD2, hardware wise that is. That's a great thing because the HD2 is a legendary device, and it runs the latest version of Android even though it's 3 years old now.

Anyway, to answer your question, a custom rom will speed your system up depending on what you use. If you use an AOSP (Android Open Source Project, or simply vanilla android) based rom it should become faster because HTC Sense is very, very heavy on the device's dated hardware and the cache build up over time could have been responsible for the slow down.

If you aren't looking to customize it too much, Cyanogenmod would be the way to go. It is probably the most popular AOSP custom rom distribution, so you just can't go wrong with that. If you'd like to have complete control over your device, for example statusbar transparency, you should get Paranoid Android. However, I would not recommend it just yet because you are a beginner.

It goes without saying but you'll have to of course, back up everything. The internal sd card will likely get formatted so that should take first priority. Also, your apps and contacts should be synced to your Google account, so they'll automatically start downloading once you install the custom rom and connect it to the internet. That shouldn't be a problem. You'll also need to get a custom recovery in order to flash cyanogenmod.

Oh also, rooting is basically getting read/write access to the file system. If you're planning to install mods/edit stuff etc., you'll need to be rooted.

Here are a few resources you can refer to. They'll help you get started.

Beginner's guide to getting started (rooting, flashing custom recoveries, roms etc.): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=696189
Cyanogenmod 10.1 for the HTC Desire: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2070704

Read through the first few posts by the OP in both threads to understand what they're about exactly. These are basic guidelines that should help you, but if you need further assistance, feel free to ask!

EDIT: Just realized I replied to a 4 month month old thread, sigh. Hope all of that helps someone.

Haha, and I only just realised someone replied to this thread. I actually sold the phone to a friend of mine after wiping everything clean so I never did get the custom rom working in the end. Thankfully she only needed it for basic browsing and texting but HTC really hasn't made installing a custom rom any easy which is why I ended up getting an Xperia Z in the end which should hopefully be more easier to install custom roms with once it reaches the end of it's life.

 

[Zorua]

Haha, and I only just realised someone replied to this thread. I actually sold the phone to a friend of mine after wiping everything clean so I never did get the custom rom working in the end. Thankfully she only needed it for basic browsing and texting but HTC really hasn't made installing a custom rom any easy which is why I ended up getting an Xperia Z in the end which should hopefully be more easier to install custom roms with once it reaches the end of it's life.

Awesome, I have an Xperia Z too. Switched from an HTC HD2. I've tried quite a few custom roms but nothing even comes close to stock 4.2.2. Sony have done a fantastic job at it.