Hey guys, finally decided to blog after coming back after a long, long, long break, just couldn't be bothered after awhile because of so many distractions but anyways this isn't my EIR (Effective Internet Research) blog anymore, but my own personal talking space. I will be posting just about anything under the sun that I think is interesting enough to mention about (and of course you can grab a cup of coffee or tea while enjoying my blog), of course there won't be any ranting or personal insults done here because this isn't a ranting corner. Alright let's begin.

“Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.”


Quoted taken from http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/don-t_fear_failure_so_much_that_you_refuse_to_try/11408.html on the 18th January, 2011


That was what made me take the leap.


After months of usage, the Samsung Galaxy S has proven too much of a powerful hardware worn down by its sluggish hardware configuration. This was what I found:


Samsung Galaxy S uses a severely outdated method of partitioning the internal SD card, also known as the RFS (Remote File System). As of this date, RFS was introduced in the 80s and shouldn't be used anymore. The RFS operates under a 'ultra-high' secure mode, which hinders performance and over time slows down the phone.


In a nutshell, RFS SUCKS.


I'm quite surprised a electronics giant can actually make this kind of mistake. If I'm not wrong, all Samsung Android phones are programmed in this way. (Epic fail) anyone who leaves their SGS in a stock rom and firmware is doomed to failure. That's when I decided to take action. 


After surfing XDAdevelopers' site for hours, (8-9 hours to be exact) I finally compiled all the instructions and files i needed to do a make over. I thought after upgrading to Froyo (Android 2.2) the lag will go away, I was wrong. The steps are complicated, and it actually takes awhile to understand.


Things I used:
New Android 2.2.1 firmware (EURO version) 
The reason why I used this firmware because XDA developers do not develop mods for Asian firmwares, and modifying a phone that has a firmware that isn't supported will ultimately result in a brick (AKA Dead phone).


CFroot (ChainFire's Root)
After Android 2.1, Android has decided to 'ban' their users from loading unsigned updates via recovery mode. This also known as the 3E recovery mode. CFroot helps me get rid of the 3E by converting it to 2E (Eclair 2.1 version) to run updates in recovery mode. Besides this mod also installs superuser access and root for me. (superuser or root, is when you get complete access to your phone without restrictions. This is useful when you are running apps that require root such as CaptureMe!, SGS tools, ROM manager, Memory Optimiser and etc which I will explain later.


Clockworkmod Recovery
Clockwordmod is an alternate recovery menu for your phone that you otherwise won't see in most phones. This is used when you want to run custom ROMS. What is a ROM you ask? Well, here it is:

A stock ROM is the version of the phone’s operating system that comes with your phone when you buy it.

A custom ROM is a fully standalone version of the OS, including the kernel (which makes everything run), apps, services, etc – everything you need to operate the device, except it’s customized by someone in some way.

So what does the "customized" part mean? Since Android is open source, developers are free to take stock ROMs, modify them, strip them of garbage, optimize them, add things, and pretty much do whatever their imagination and skills allow.

Info taken from http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/05/01/custom-roms-for-android-explained-and-why-you-want-them/ on 18th January, 2011

Original Recovery Mode (Bottom). ClockworkMod Recovery (Far Bottom)

The Rom Itself

For this I used Darky's 8.0 Gingerbread Edition ROM. Recorded at a Quadrant (benchmark test) score of 1300+ (SGS 2.1 is clocked at 900, 2.2 at 1000+), It's not the fastest but practical for everyday use as compared to a 2700+ score only for gaming. 

What I did, used Odin (a software for flashing, or loading new firmwares) and flashed a new firmware for my phone (yay no more stock firmware). The first time I did this I shivered. Yep, you saw right I was trembling because I was afraid my phone might brick. But after 2 long minutes, the unlock screen came out and whoop-ass! Android 2.2.1! Then use CFroot to convert the firmware's recovery mode then flash the clockworkMod recovery in recovery mode, then finally load the rom. 

This WAS what my phone looked like:

And now:

Besides the beautiful new layout and visuals, this ROM is absolutely a beast. Super faster performance, what can I say, WOW. This ROM is packed with 3 new lock screens, a ton of new fonts (hell, you don't even need to reboot for the changes to be applied). And a lot of new features. This voids my warranty but who gives a shit? This is the shit! 

Also on the side note, I made a new discovery. Task killers are actually bad for your android phone! In theory, task killers prematurely end running applications and in return it only frees up physical RAM. Processes and Apps are 2 different things. Apps can stay in the background and don't take up RAM and can be launched quickly when needed to. Besides by ending tasks prematurely, sometimes the apps will just restart itself again, ultimately using even more CPU resources and draining battery. I found out another software, Autokiller Memory Optimiser instead. It's a basically a app that kills tasks the way android does it. (Android only kills tasks based on the frequency of usage, when extremely low on memory) This app allows you to set the minimum amount of Ram available before your phone starts to eliminated unused apps, rather than prematurely ending it like how a Task Killer does. 

That's it for my geek section! Watch out for the next post, where I will talk about my band's new project! :)