Steel Droid on Droid 3

[AMDfan]

I'm new to ROMing, and have been trying some OS's on my Droid 3 and ran across Steel Droid (Android ICS 4.0.4) and at first, I tried 5.6, which is the newest version and I expected some issues, but the camera wouldn't work one day and the dialer(s) wouldn't the next. Very unpredictable. I cleared it, tried 5.5 and so far the only things that DON'T work are the Activation calling (*228 on Verizon) where I get black screen and am forced to use my keyboard to navigate the menus and Google Maps.

The problem I'm having issues right now is that Google Maps only shows a black background where the maps should be, with "Google" and north/south compass. Voice navigation plays fine, all the controls work, just no maps. I went back and made sure I downloaded the ICS GApps, and I got the one for 4.0.3-4.0.4, so they are correct. I even uninstalled and re-installed them from the Play Store, and no change. Anyone know of a fix for this? I can always boot back over on Gingerbread for Navigation, but I'd love to use it on ICS if I can, since this OS is far better performing and less likely to lock down.

I'm asking like this, because my Weatherbug app uses Google Maps for its Radar and it works perfectly, leading me to believe that it's an issue with the Maps app itself.

 

[trs1]

I'm having the same problem with Maps. Anyone have any ideas what's up?

 

[uzairsyedahmed]

Hey man.

I am planning to root my droid 3 to get rid of bloatware and increased performance. My current system is 5.7.906.XT862.Verizon.en.US . How is the ICS 5.5? Is it still in beta or has a few bugs?

Also, could you please give me some step by step information on what you did and how. I have read a few "instructions" on the internet but they all seem to be not consistent and I dont understand what part is "doing what". Thanks alot. I appreciate it!

 

[AMDfan]

From what I've learned, all roms have plenty of bugs. ICS 5.5 ended up being the most stable for my Droid 3; it performs a lot faster, everything's smoother.. games play better, I can browse the internet without a large page causing my browser to dump on me.

Down side to 5.5 is that 1) Google Maps doesn't work; UI is there but maps are all black. 2) Voice function will suddenly decide it don't wanna work on some days. I've tried multiple dialer apps, but they all revert to the default and you can dial and receive calls when this happens, but you can't hear the other person, nor they you. This would be great for a tablet, but a phone that randomly decides it's not a phone isn't worth much IMO.
The big difference between 5.5 and 5.6 on a Droid 3 is that 5.6 has 5.5's bugs plus limited camera support - no video (and sometimes no still photos)

Forget trying Jelly Bean, it's too slow on a Droid 3, due to its 512MB RAM size.

What I ended up doing was using my stock rom Gingerbread and use Titanium Backup to freeze everything I didn't need, experimenting with what causes problems and what don't. Gingerbread has very little performance management, but is more stable on Droid 3.

For a little help with performance, try an app called "Advanced Mobile Care" by Iobit. It's a more comprehensive utility that cleans everything up nicely.

 

[uzairsyedahmed]

It sure is faster and the same thing as with Google maps is happening. However, my keyboard doesnt seem to work and neither is Gmail working. Has anyone figured out how to make Google maps work. I think it has to do with the newer version of Google maps getting installed. There seems to be no Camera function installed either. I have rooted my droid 3, I can try cleaning up the stock ROM and see if it helps!