need help updating my OS on an original Droid

[mtpeke]

Hi, I am totally a Newby here on this site but am so excited to have found it. I am a middle aged mom who is above average for her age group on tech things but honestly I need help for this as I do not want to blow up my phone.

An IT co-worker and I got the Droid when it first came out (I think Nov 2009). He rooted my phone and added wireless tethering to my phone. I was one happy camper! Fast forward to now, I no longer work there and I am stuck with an old operating system which has become very buggy. It has a slow re-write time, and when the new OS downloaded, it fails to update giving me an error and I have to rebook. It also causes my screen to lock on a regular basis where I have toyank the battery. I will give you all the specs I know and maybe you can tell me what to uninstall and what to re-install to get my droid up to speed.

Phone: Origional Droid
Android Version: 2.2
Baseband Version: C_01.3e.03P
Kernal Version: 2.6.32.9-g103d848

(I hope those are the specs you need)

My IT friend down loaded:
Bugless Beast Tool Kit (which gives me an error that it has stopped working)
BusyBox installer
EasyRoot
Wireless Tether

The tethering still works great and I really need it for when we travel. So if someone could help me figure out how to upgrade my OS and still be able to tether I sure would appreciate it! I have an unlimited data plan so it is a shame to not use it.

MANY THANKS!!

 

[jcardona1]

If you think you can handle doing these things on your own, check out this thread. I followed these steps and my original Droid is running like it was in 2009. It honestly feels like a brand new phone. I flashed it back to completely stock, then re-rooted and installed a new ROM. It's a little time consuming starting from scratch, but this little phone is a screamer now! Definitely worth looking into

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/bu...-etc-think-your-og-droid-hw-failing-read.html

 

[rck76]

Welcome to the forums Android 2.2 is the latest and last upgrade for the OG. The only way to get above that is to root your phone and flash a custom rom.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[mtpeke]

I did not know 2.2 was as far as it would go. Why would it give me the little suit case icon where it wants to upload a new OS and then when it does, it gets about 1/2 way through the update and freezes.

 

[rck76]

Oops, sorry 2.2.2, if you didn't get the update, you can always try a factory reset and then check for updates. If that doesn't work you can try force updating it through sbf using rsd lite.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[mtpeke]

If I do a factory resent, what happens to all my aps? Do I have to reset everything up for all of my email accounts etc? I have quite a few emails (5) I thought about resetting it but was afraid I would have to download everything again. I have moved a lot of stuff to the SD card so would at least those aps still be there and would they re-install themselves?

 

[mtpeke]

If you think you can handle doing these things on your own, check out this thread. I followed these steps and my original Droid is running like it was in 2009. It honestly feels like a brand new phone. I flashed it back to completely stock, then re-rooted and installed a new ROM. It's a little time consuming starting from scratch, but this little phone is a screamer now! Definitely worth looking into

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/bu...-etc-think-your-og-droid-hw-failing-read.html

After reading it I think it is beyond me. I could follow some of it but not all of it so it isnt worth trying.

 

[rck76]

Is your phone currently rooted or was it just rooted when your IT coworker helped you out?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

After reading it I think it is beyond me. I could follow some of it but not all of it so it isnt worth trying.

Here's an excellent writeup by another DF contributor:

By REMilk on DF:

I am responding to the fact that you reported that your OG Droid is running slow.

Before either doing a "factory reset" (which I consider a last ditch effort as it also deletes all non-factory apps) or "Rooting your phone" (which has many benefits, but adds some potential dangers and bricking the phone is not one of the dangers), I suggest that you take the time and do the following:

1. Power down, then power back up. This has the affect of clearing some temporary caches and processing threads, which when filled, can slow you down.

2. Is there a task killer running in the background? If so, stop/kill it immediately! Set it so it does not start. I, as opposed to many others, will say that you should keep it; however run it as a 'task' when you need it to kill a runaway app. End it when done. Android seems to do a pretty good job at memory management.

3. Widgets cause a drain on the performance. Evaluate the 'active' type of widgets you have on your home screen. Ask your self, do I really need to have widgets for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social sites actively updating. Maybe just having the app version as opposed to the widget version will work well for you. Do you really need an independent "Battery Monitor"? Do I really need continual, instantaneous updates to news, and sports, or can I start the app version to get this information? How many weather apps are running in the background, 1 or 2? Without realizing it, you may have one included with a widget, such as "Beautiful Widgets" or "Fancy Widgets" plus also Weatherbug or other weather app.

4. Shut off services that you are not using at the time. One example is Bluetooth. If you have bluetooth running, and you are not connected, it is using processing cycles to monitor the potential pairing of a bluetooth device. Turn it off, unless you are using it.

5. Consider using a Home Screen/Launcher replacement. There are many available. I use "Go Launcher EX" as this works best for me but may not be best for you. I have also used "Zeam", though not as feature-rich as others, seems to be, in my opinion, faster than many Home Screen/Launchers. You see there seems to be a direct correlation between 'speed' and 'features'. I have tried many Home Screen/Launcher replacements and each and everyone has both features that I like and prefer and may not have features I want. Try all of them and see which one suits you best.


I strongly recommend the use of the Zeam Launcher. It is a great home replacement app. I use it on my Bionic and my wife uses it her original Droid and neither of us have any lag or redraw issues. BTW, you can download from the Market an app, Home Switcher, that makes it totally painless to switch between home screen apps. That really make it easy to evaluate different ones.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[mtpeke]

I still have all the aps that my IT friend loaded on my phone. I assume they are working and that it is still rooted as I have done nothing to them and the wireless tether is still working. The next time the phone tried\s to auto update I will write down the error code. It was something like FRO and a number but I am going from memory. I am afraid to take the phone to verizon tech support as I do not want to get in trouble with them and loose my unlimited data for life. Thats why I am hoping you can help. If the directions are fairly simple (erase this ap and down load that ap) I think I can do it. The first set of instructions were a bit more than I feel I could do...or that I have confidence I could do. I guess worse case, I upgrade my phone...just trying to make this one last a little longer as Christmas for my little on is around the corner...

 

[mtpeke]

1. Power down, then power back up. This has the affect of clearing some temporary caches and processing threads, which when filled, can slow you down.

I have done this numerous times, wont help with software upgrade but does get phone out of the locked and nothing works place

2. Is there a task killer running in the background? If so, stop/kill it immediately! Set it so it does not start. I, as opposed to many others, will say that you should keep it; however run it as a 'task' when you need it to kill a runaway app. End it when done. Android seems to do a pretty good job at memory management.

I do not know what a task killer is and do not think I have downloaded one. I could ck if I knew what it was called

3. Widgets cause a drain on the performance. Evaluate the 'active' type of widgets you have on your home screen. Ask your self, do I really need to have widgets for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social sites actively updating. Maybe just having the app version as opposed to the widget version will work well for you. Do you really need an independent "Battery Monitor"? Do I really need continual, instantaneous updates to news, and sports, or can I start the app version to get this information? How many weather apps are running in the background, 1 or 2? Without realizing it, you may have one included with a widget, such as "Beautiful Widgets" or "Fancy Widgets" plus also Weatherbug or other weather app.

I do have the aps for FB, Twitter and LI but do not have them constantly running. It drained my phone too fast so I guess I do not have these widgets.

4. Shut off services that you are not using at the time. One example is Bluetooth. If you have bluetooth running, and you are not connected, it is using processing cycles to monitor the potential pairing of a bluetooth device. Turn it off, unless you are using it.

Now I do shut off Bluetooth and wifi if not currently using, again to save my battery

5. Consider using a Home Screen/Launcher replacement. There are many available. I use "Go Launcher EX" as this works best for me but may not be best for you. I have also used "Zeam", though not as feature-rich as others, seems to be, in my opinion, faster than many Home Screen/Launchers. You see there seems to be a direct correlation between 'speed' and 'features'. I have tried many Home Screen/Launcher replacements and each and everyone has both features that I like and prefer and may not have features I want. Try all of them and see which one suits you best.

I do not know what a home screen launcher is???

 

[rck76]

Ok, I'm thinking the reason your update is not pushing through is in fact because you are rooted. You can always get titanium backup from the market to back up your apps. Text messages can be backed up with the sms backup and restore app. Contacts are backed up through your google account. Also there are apps to backup your phone log

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

I do not know what a task killer is and do not think I have downloaded one. I could ck if I knew what it was called


I do not know what a home screen launcher is???

Just look through you apps and you will be able to spot one if installed. I think all of them have either "Task" or "Killer" in the names. One exception is Juice Defender. If you find anything like those, just uninstall them. Though it sounds like you do not have one installed.

A Launcher is simply the app that displays your screens. It is the app that allows you to place apps, widgets, etc. on the screen and then scroll to other screens. The problem with them is that some of them seem to have issues with lagging or redrawing slowly. A high percentage of the time when someone complains their phone is running slowly or sluggishly, it is actually the home screen app/launcher redrawing slowly. I used an original droid until the Bionic came out, my wife has the Droid now, and after using the home screen app Launcher Pro for a very long time, it started lagging. I switched to the Zeam Launcher and the redraws disappeared. On my new Bionic I am now using the Zeam launcher too. One of the really good things about this launcher is that it is much less of a resource hog than most launcher, including the stock one. If you download a new launcher, the first time you open it from the app drawer a box will popup asking you which launcher you want to use as default. Just select Zeam and then put your icons on the screens the way you want them and all will appear as stock, but should operate more smoothly. There are many other launchers you can try (Launcher Pro, ADW, Go Launcher, QQ Launcher, etc.). As I said earlier, if you want to try different ones, just download Home Switcher and it will let you select from a list of your installed launchers.

Good luck and do not hesitate to continue asking questions.

 

[CJM]

I am stuck with an old operating system which has become very buggy. It has a slow re-write time, and when the new OS downloaded, it fails to update giving me an error and I have to rebook. It also causes my screen to lock on a regular basis where I have toyank the battery. I will give you all the specs I know and maybe you can tell me what to uninstall and what to re-install to get my droid up to speed.

Phone: Origional Droid
Android Version: 2.2
Baseband Version: C_01.3e.03P
Kernal Version: 2.6.32.9-g103d848

(I hope those are the specs you need)

My IT friend down loaded:
Bugless Beast Tool Kit (which gives me an error that it has stopped working)
BusyBox installer
EasyRoot
Wireless Tether

So if someone could help me figure out how to upgrade my OS and still be able to tether I sure would appreciate it!

MANY THANKS!!

What type of recovery is on the phone, do you know? It would help us suggest how to upgrade it.

To get it running smooth, I would start by wiping the dalvick cache. Or trying a cache cleaner for rooted phones https://market.android.com/details?id=org.lsartory.cachecleaner.ng&feature=search_result

 

[guidot]

IMHO, unless you are 100% attached to the wireless tether, the best thing for you to do is apply a VZW update.zip OTA via recovery. This is easier than most of the alternatives. This will get you to stock, unrooted without all of those 'root' apps that aren't working.

Sent from my XT862, while on the move.