rooted! now time to...

[bbalcrazy92]

hey guys. i just joined these forums and rooted my htc incredible. i looked around on other posts and found some useful information. but i'm not really that familiar with certain aspects. I rooted the phone using unrevoked and i also did the unrevoked forever thing. i'm not really sure what that does -_- well the phone is rooted successfully and i heard you can put certain commands in terminal to make the battery last longer, download cool apps like wifi tether, and change the scenery of your phone. i'm really curious as to how to do these things. for the apps do i just drag them in the folder of the sd card? and if anyone knows any cool terminal commands what are they? i also see people talking about different roms and i'm not really sure what they're used for =X
forgive me for my noobness =[
but thanks ahead of time =D

[DoomedGhost]

Did you run unrevoked 3, or both unrevoked and unrevoked forever seperately? Ah well, doesn't really matter too much (I think), just that unrevoked 3 should do all the work of forever without any additional work.

Roms are basically your OS in a sense. The difference between an Incredible and a Droid 2 for example is in the ROM. A lot of people have done stuff to make custom ROMs, so there's a lot of variety out there.

As for the kernals people talk about, that's more or less the part of code that acts as the traffic cop between all of the software on the phone and the hardware like battery, CPU, etc. For the most part there are Undervolted, which make use of more battery life; Overclocked, which is the same as on a computer and makes for less battery life but a zipping phone; and there's some that are undervolted and able to overclock. Most ROMs come with a kernel, and for the most part of what I've seen it sometimes takes a bit of trial and error to find out what kernels will work with what ROMs.

How 2 - ADB, Rooting(reflash), Unrooting, Nandroid, Remove/Install App, roms, kernels - xda-developers
The link above is one of the more all inclusive how to lists I've found around.

[ROM] SkyRaider Sense 4.0 [UPDATED: 04/22/11] - xda-developers
^A good ROM that I found recently is Skyraider 4.0. It's got some pretty decent out of the box costumization that you're looking for, and it's also got wireless tether right off the bat, so that meets that need for you.

As for installing apps, go into Settings>Applications and check Unknown sources. Then use Astro or another file manager to open the .apk for what you want on your SD card. From there you just approve what you need and it'll start installing.

Anyways, I hope that helps some, and sorry it was a bit of a novel but I wanted to try and answer what I could.

[bbalcrazy92]

hey thanks for everything dude, but for overclocking and stuff like that.. so as from what i can pick up (im probably wrong lol) but if i overclock a phone, it will use less battery and it will run a lot faster? and as for the roms theres no way i can install one without wiping all my data?
thanks!
edit- i also see that i need android adb. this is needed for installing roms and stuff right? and adb shell isn't needed.. but if i do have that, what other benefits can i get from it? also my phone is already rooted but i see something about the nandroid backup. how can i tell if i already have that? did the unrevoked come with it? that way when i try my new roms i can just save hte backup and revcover it back

[theDmanVR6]

Hey man, i just recently went thru all of this myself about a week ago so im no expert by any means but i have been reading a lot on different forums and can offer some advice if you want to take it.

but if i overclock a phone, it will use less battery and it will run a lot faster?

From what i have been reading across multiple forums, there really is no stable kernel out there that will overclock AND give longer battery life. Typically you can only have one or the other. But be careful when messing with kernels. Usually the kernel that comes with the ROM is going to be the one to stick with.

and as for the roms theres no way i can install one without wiping all my data?

All ROM developers will tell you to wipe all data before installing their ROM. Its the best way to ensure there will be minimal issues when flashing to a new ROM.

also my phone is already rooted but i see something about the nandroid backup. how can i tell if i already have that? did the unrevoked come with it? that way when i try my new roms i can just save hte backup and revcover it back

Hopefully after you rooted your phone, whatever instructions you were following, had you perform a Nandroid backup right after you rooted it. This link is the best one i found for rooting your phone. and if you look in step 3 it tells you how to perform and Nandroid backup. How to root stock 2.2 using unrEVOked 3.32

Any question feel free to ask, and if i can think of anything else i will put it here as well. Also if you are looking for a good solid ROM DoomedGhost suggested a really good one with SkyRaider.

[BOYJ]

I used the Incredikernel along with viperboy, juice defender ultimate and set governor to smartass and i've noticed a significant increase in battery life.

Droid Incredible CM 7.0.3
Incredikernel 2.6.37.6