Installing CyanogenMod Build : Rock Your Ace! Part 4

Now that you have taken backups of all the things that you would like, there is no stopping you from installing the cyanogenMod build. Here we go-

• You have strictly followed all the steps of Part 2 of this series.

• Vo-1cm-7-20120725FULLROM.zip – Latest version by VO-1 (Source)
• Superuser-3.1.3.zip

1. Boot into ClockworkMod Recovery v5 by holding power+home key during boot.
2. Wipe Cache and Dalvik cache from the recovery.
3. Now copy the ‘Vo-1cm-7-20120725FULLROM.zip’ downloaded above in root of sd card. Also copy the ‘Superuser-3.1.3.zip’ to your sd card.
4. In recovery, select ‘Install zip from sd card‘ and then select ‘Vo-1cm-7-20120725FULLROM.zip’ you copied to your sd card.
5. Select install and allow the process to complete.

And you’re done! CyanoenMod v7.2 has been installed to your Ace.
Just one more thing before you start, we need to install the SuperUser app.

1. Reboot into recovery.
2. Select ‘Install zip from sd card-> Toggle script asserts’
3. Now select the ‘Superuser-3.1.3.zip’ you copied to your sd card in step 3 above. Select install.

That’s it. The build we have mentioned already contains all Google Apps preinstalled. So no need to flash the Gapps separately.

Now you just need to restore the backups you made in part 3 of the tutorial series (not the nandroid backup, nandroid backup will give you your old ROM back). So you can keep using your contacts, calendar, memo, SMS , call log etc.

We will be back with the last part of this tutorial series in which we tell you how to make this CM build your own!

Previous: 3. Taking Backups
Next: 5. Customize

Taking Backups: Rock Your Ace! Part 3

Now your phone is eligible for the CyanogenMod build to flash. But not so fast! What about all the precious data you have on your phone- contacts, calendar, messages (SMS), applications, notes, music etc. What if the flash fails (it won’t!)? What if you don’t like the CyanogenMod build? (you will 😉 )

So this part will deal with-

• Creating a failsafe –  A Nandroid backup of your ROM
• Taking backups of contacts, calendar etc.

Nandroid Backups

Nandroid backups are nothing but a fancy name for ‘taking a backup of everything in NAND flash’. This is a great way to take a backup of your ROM’s before doing any changes to your phone and if it all goes bad, you can use ClockWorkMod to do a NANDROID restore and get your phone back to the time you did the backup. Both the backup and restore are handled by ClockWorkMod Recovery.

To keep this post arranged and simple to read we have created a separate tutorial specifying the process. Here is the link- (Remember this is an optional step.)
>> Take Nandroid Backup of the Current ROM

Kies Backup Options:

If you are on Stock Rom, you can backup your Contacts, Calendar and Memos to your PC. But be aware that you can’t restore these back to you CyanogenMod ROM. Once you have installed any custom ROM to your phone, Kies won’t detect your phone. Though you can view your contacts on PC, but no such luck with calendar and memo. So goodbye Samsung Kies. RIP. Read our Kies rant here.

Google Backup

Your calendar and contacts can easily be back up on google account. Simply sync your contacts and calendar by going to Settings-> Accounts & Sync

Photos, Music And Videos

Simply copy your media files from sd card to some folder of your PC.

SMS, MMS, Call Log, Browser Bookmarks

There are many apps on the Android Market that cover this domain. We will mention a free app named Mybackup. Just install and give it a go. You can backup anything mentioned above with this app as well. Here is a video from the app’s page giving a demo-

So, next step- CyanogenMod. Here we come…

Previous: 2. Getting Ready
Next: 4. Installing CyanogenMod

How To Take And Restore Nandroid Backups?

Nandroid Backups

Nandroid backups are nothing but a fancy name for ‘taking a backup of everything in NAND flash’. This is a great way to take a backup of your ROM’s before doing any changes to your phone and if it all goes bad, you can use ClockWorkMod to do a NANDROID restore and get your phone back to the time you did the backup. Both the backup and restore are handled by ClockWorkMod Recovery.

Some applications are also there which make backups but they only backup system and user applications with data, cache. This advanced root backup method takes a snapshot of your internal memory and its system partitions.

As a rule of the thumb, it is highly recommend to perform a Nandroid backup, before making any customizations to the ROM.

• Have the charging of phone to satisfactory level. More than half will do.
• Check that your SD card or external memory has sufficient space. If there’s 1-2GB free spaces then you are in the green to move  ahead.

How to make Nandroid backup?

• Reboot into the recovery by holding home key apart from power key during boot.
• After booting into the clockworkMod recovery, navigate to the “Backup and Restore“.
• Now select the “Backup”. This by default creates a Nandroid backup.
• The process will start and will take a few minutes to complete.

And you’re done. Your backup will be stored in “sd/clockworkmod” directory with the Timestamp as filename. You can leave it on the sd card or move it your computer.

How to restore Nandroid backup.

There’s two restore option, normal restore and advanced restore. Normal restore option restore boot, system, data, cache, SD-ext, files. The advanced option lets you select which item should restore. You can select either option according to your need.

If you moved your previous backup files to any other storage devices, such as a computer, copy them into your phone’s SD card “clockworkmod” folder.

• Reboot into the recovery.
• Navigate to “backup and restore”
• Select “Restore”.
• Now select “Restore or Advanced” depending upon your needs.
• If you have several backed up files, now select which file should use.
• Normal restore select “Yes – Restore”
• Advanced restore select which item should restore. Next select “Yes – Restore XXXX”.
• Wait while the process completes. You can track the progress at the bottom of the screen.

And you’re done!

FAQ:
Q. What things are left out in a nandroid backup? Are kernels included?
A. Yes.

Q. Can I restore a nandroid backup of Froyo while on Gingerbread?
A. NO. You will have to flash a froyo build first.

Q. Can I restore a nandroid backup of CyanogenMod 7 while on CyanogenMod 9 (Android 4.0) ?
A. Yes. This is beacuse CM9 for the Ace still uses the old 2.6 linux kernel (same as the GB kernel) because linux kernel 3.x of ICS is difficult to port to our device! Same goes for CyanogenMod 10.

Q. Can I restore a Nandroid backup of GB 2.3.3 (say) while on GB 2.3.7 or any other 2.3.x? If yes, what if I am on different kernel than the backup kernel, can i still do it?
A. Yes. Since kernels are included, yes.

Q. Suppose I am on 2.3.x based custom rom (say MIUI) and I restore a 2.3.x based CyanogenMod Nandroid backup, will I get my whole CM back or all my apps/settings of CM on MIUI?
A. You will get the whole of CyanogenMod back.

 

Getting Ready : Rock Your Ace! Part 2

With a lot of customizations possible in Android, users feel confused whether they should do something or not and sometimes following some instruction where something was assumed leads to Bricked devices. Not in this guide!

So now lets prepare your device to be applicable for a CyanogenMod upgrade.

Warning: All steps are mandatory. Do not skip steps.

First step:
The very first step requires is to move to a Gingerbread that is Android 2.3.x build. It might be a Stock Rom or Custom Rom, doesn’t matter. A lot of Indian users and other users across the world who have the latest Stock Rom should be already on Android 2.3.x. You can check the version by simply going to Settings -> About Phone. If you are already on 2.3.x, skip ahead to the second step.

What if you are not? Flash a firmware using ODIN. Here is the tutorial in detail (Note: Although the tutorial say upgrade, you can both upgrade/downgrade firmware using this method)-
How to flash firmware using ODIN? (Please note that you want to take a look at part 3 – Taking Backups before flashing to a new firmware)

Second Step:
Root Privileges are required for further actions to take place. We have already covered rooting in details. If you are not rooted, follow the tutorial below otherwise move to step 3.
How to Root ?  (simply follow the section for Gingerbread)

Third Step:
Now we need a way to install the build of CyanogenMod on to your device. For that we need a custom recovery. That’s where ClockworkMod Recovery v5 comes into the picture. But for v5 we need to install v4 first. We have covered the topics in detail in the following articles-
Install ClockworkMod Recovery v4

Now that you have installed CWM v5, go ahead with the installation of v5 using the following article-
Install ClockworkMod Recovery v5

FAQ:
Q. Can I use CWM v4 instead of v5 for upgrading to CyanodenMod. I am feeling lazy.
A. NO.

That’s it, no more fiddling with the phone is necessary. In the next part we will show how to take backups easily so that you can easily move to the new firmware with your precious data intact!

Prev: 1. Introduction
Next: 3. Taking Backups

Rock Your Ace! – Tutorial Series

As promised here we are with our much awaited tutorial series Rock Your Ace!

This tutorials series will help you move from any stock ROM be it Froyo/GB or Custom ROM to the most popular and most stable CyanogenMod build. We will keep it as Noob-friendly as possible and will try to answer as many questions as possible.

Why should I upgrade to CyanogenMod?

CyanogenMod is an open-source feature rich alternative to your stock ROM. The main advantage of using it or the features you will get are-

• Powerful DSP Equalizer
• Lockscreen Gestures
• Phone Goggles – Filter calls and SMS
• Themes support
• Incognito Browsing support
• Open VPN
• ‘Swipe to remove‘ notifications
• Custom Bootanimation (you can create one yourself and use it)
• CRT screen off animation
• App2sd support (you will need to partition your sdcard & install Link2sd)
• All updated Google apps with least phone memory usage
• Riddance to Bloatware
• Customizable Toggles (Gps, wifi, bluetooth, screen brightness, screen timeout, torch etc.)
• Powerful Music App
  • Gestures Support
  • Change Songs with Volume Rocker while phone is locked without waking up the screen (by long pressing the volume rocker)

Sold? No. Here is an official CyanogenMod 7.2 build in action:

What CyanogenMod build are we using?
We are using the latest CyanogenMod build by VO-1 as updated on 25th July.

So moving forward this will be a long tutorial, to keep it simple we will break it into parts. Depending on you build and whatever things you have done with phone (like rooting, CWM recovery), you can join us with that step.

Here is the currently planned structure (which might change slightly)

1. Introduction
2. Getting Ready
   • Moving to a GB build
   • Rooting
   • Installing ClockworkMod Recovery V4
   • Installing ClockworkMod Recovery V5
3. Taking Backups
   • Nandroid Backup
   • Kies Backup Options
   • Google Backup
   • Photos, Music And Videos
   • SMS, MMS, Call Log, Browser Bookmarks
4. Installing latest Cyanogenmod
   • wipe cache/dalvik cache
   • Install CyanogenMod zip through recovery
   • Install Gapps
   • Install SU app
5. Customize
   • Install Link2sd
   • Get rid of unwanted apps
   • Change your bootscreen
   • Install Themes
   • Change your font

You can use either use the above structure to navigate to any page or use the link below to move to the next page. The links will be added as soon as the posts are made.

Next: 2. Getting Ready

How to Manually Deodex Any Rom on Samsung Galaxy Ace?

We have been encountering a lot of users asking us how to deodex their particular firmware. Manually deodexing a firmware takes a lot of time with modification of each app available on users system. Luckily there are tools available in the market which simplify the process a lot. If you are having a similar problem, follow this tutorial.

Requirements:

• You must be rooted.
• ADB

Download -> xUltimate

1. Unzip xUltimate v2.2. Launch “Main.exe”.
2. Now xUltimate should recognize the phone and make a connection. You will now see a list of options.
3. Run option 1. After option 1 is done, run option 2.6. This may take a while, so be patient.
4. Now run option 3
5. After you have run option 3, you MUST navigate to the xUltimate folder and find “origi_frame” folder, and delete “guava.odex“. This file interferes with deodexing process.
   Note: If there is no guava.odex, then simply continue to next step !
6. Now run option 4, and wait.
7. Exit xUltimate, and put the phone in USB mass storage then copy “done_frame”, and “done_app” to the root of the sdcard then put the phone in PC mode.
8. Open a command prompt, and do the following:

adb shell
su
stop
mount -o rw,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system
busybox cp /sdcard/done_app/* /system/app/
busybox cp /sdcard/done_frame/* /system/framework/
rm /system/app/*.odex
rm /system/framework/*.odex
mount -o ro,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system
reboot

After the boot, reboot again in CWM and Wipe Dalvik Cache, reboot and ENJOY !!!

Notice : First boot will take a little bit longer than normal

Credits :
Rainabba, Mike919, toxman, teenfaces, Xeudoxus !

[via xda]

Related Articles:
>> What are the differences between Odexed & Deodexed firmware
>> How to Deodex Firmware on Samsung Galaxy Ace DDKQ6

Swipe to Remove Notification+Crt On+14 Toggles+Extended Power Menu [Mod] [DDKQ8]

• Crt Off Screen Animation ( No need to check ‘All Animations’ ) [No On Screen Animation]
• Swipe to Remove Notification (Swipe a notification Left or Right to Remove it, CyanogenMod style)
• Lidroid’s 14 Status Bar Toggles
• Extended Power Menus (Reboot+Recovery+Download Mode)

Here

1. Copy the Mod to ‘/sdcard‘
2. Reboot in ClockworkMod Recovery 4 or 5
3. Select ‘Install Zip From Sdcard‘
4. Select the
5. Reboot and you’re done.

Note: You Must be on Deodexed (& hence Rooted) DDKQ8 firmware for this mod to work.

Here’s Some Screenshots

Credits:
pratyush.creed
He further credits-
Lidroid for the toggles Source
Hansip87 For the Swipe to Remove Notification Source
RomanBB for Status bar Mods

[via xda]

Improve GPS & Sensor on CM 7.x on Samsung Galaxy Ace [Lagloose’s Patch]

Almost all the roms coming for Samsung Galaxy Ace are based on Cyanogenmod builds. One thing which irritates users on the roms based on CM is the slow GPS.
Lagloose on xda decided to something about it. In his own words:

The PFGPS Tweaks by PFittech didn’t really work for me. So i took a look at the GPS functions of Stock Samsung ROM to see what i can do. CM7 and Samsung use different ways to provide GPS funtions. While CM7 ‘directly’ accesses the hardware, Samsung does it via a running daemon (/system/bin/gpsd’). Obviously this works much better than GPS functions provided by CM7. So i decided to try the Samsung GPS functions in CM7 which worked very well out of the box. I always have a GPS-Fix now in less than a minute. This required a complete replacement of HW libs provided by CM7. This worked without any problems. All Sensors (at least for me) are working. More than that, i personally have the feeling that everything is a little bit smoother and faster. But that maybe a ‘Placebo’…

• It completely replaces the libs in /system/lib/hw with libs from Samsung STOCK ROM
• It installs ‘gpsd’ in /system/bin
• It installs a stock gps.conf in /etc
• It wipes your /data/gps directory to remove old xtra.bin files

http://www.4shared.com/zip/G6mCEPDh/cm7X_gpspatch.html

• No need to wipe anything. Just flash via CWM 5.0.2.6

Note: PFGPS doesn’t work with this patch So if you’ve already flashed PFIttech’s PFGPS tweaks, they will be uninstalled by my patch.

So what do you say, problem solved? Or no problem at all? Do let us know in the comments below!

[via xda]

Slaid, our knight in shining armour!

Members of various forums rejoiced recently as Slaid480 is taking over as device maintainer for the Samsung Galaxy Ace.

As we featured recently, we questioned whether official builds for Galaxy Ace were worth it. We were quick to judge, however it seems that official Cyanogenmod has been brought back from the grave.
Slaid480 is well-known in the Galaxy Ace community from creating various scripts and sharing them at xda. His most recent project, called SlaidyBoost, was even featured in xda’s news portal.

At the moment, Slaid is only releasing his builds on his xda thread, however when he gets access to CyanogenMod’s buildbot, nightlies should be pouring out.
We wish him all the best, and thank him for taking such a big role in the Ace community.

Was Official Cyanogenmod Worth The Wait? [Opinion]

As you may know, after a lot of speculation, Samsung Galaxy Ace users’ highly anticipated Official release of CyanogenMod 7 is now making its way. The community was so excited that a user even made an autoscript that checked for nightly every five minutes. In march, we got a nightly and a release candidate.

A week later, do we still think it’s the best? Many forum users are annoyed that they flashed the official build, as it isn’t as good as some KANG builds out there on the internet. Why? Here are 3 reasons;

• It isn’t recent!
  The nightly build was compiled a while back, as the BuildBot machine wasn’t running at full capacity
• There aren’t many changes!
  The RC build contained very few changes, and the changes implemented were very minor bug fixes
• The maintainer sold his phone!
  Kolja, the project maintainer for cooper recently announced on his Google+ account that he sold his Galaxy Ace

All in all, most people don’t really think it was really worth the wait and it’s properly better for you stick stick to those KANG builds, such as FrozenAceTeam’s build. Other active development teams, such as GalaxyICS are doing a great job with Ice Cream Sandwich for various low-end Samsung devices.

Did you give the official build a try, let us know what you think!