tips and tricks to avoid fc's with chevys 4.1 rom

I have been running SS4.x (now 4.1) for a week now, overall awesome, but it's been a bit of a roller coaster ride, to the point where I went back to a 2.1 backup at one time, but here are my observations (your mileage may vary):

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  Whenever I install something from the Market, or uninstall, etc., the phone suddenly starts working very hard and usually goes through several freezes and reboots before it stabilizes and starts running cool and responsive again. I may be off, but my theory at this point is that it has something to do with backing up applications and settings to Google's servers that bogs the phone down. I have unchecked that option (in settings->privacy) and we'll see how it goes.

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  My particular phone seems to be far more stable running the MV kernels. i also noticed that flash video playback is much smoother that way, although battery usage seems higher (not that I have done any actual measurements) and the phone runs hotter. On the plus side, there is such a vast improvement in performance with Froyo, that I haven't seen the need to overclock much (I have SetCPU at 700Mhz). I may try to go back to an LV kernel at some point since I doubt I'll be watching much flash video.

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  Flash at this point is little more than a cute but mostly useless toy. Yes, I have been able to browse Flash sites and even play Hulu videos on and off, but it is usually pretty rough, and bogs down the browser to the point where it's almost useless. I'm not uninstalling Flash, but I will wait until they come up with something more usable, or there are more sites optimized for mobile Flash.

Problem applications I had:

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  Pandora: it was not on the phone after installing SS4.1, yet kept showing in the Market as downloading, but it would just hang and eventually crash/reboot. I eventually found this install in update.zip form posted on another thread and installed that (it was v1.2). After that, the Market eventually recognized it as installed and notified me of an update, which installed correctly, and I have not had any more problems with it since (other than the audio quality seems to have gone way down with the 1.3 release)

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  Google Maps: after I installed SS 4.0, Market kept trying (and failing) to update. On my second attempt (with SS4.1 this time), after I made sure I wiped cache TWICE before install (wipe cache, wipe data, wipe cache again) I had no more problems with Maps.

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  Nitrodesk Touchdown: LED lights notifications were not working properly with Froyo. I installed a Beta release from the Nitrodesk website, and had no more issues with it. I'm not going to point the finger at Nitrodesk though. What we are running here is an unreleased OS, so it would be unreasonable to expect them to support it and have it all working perfectly at this point, and in any case, the beta I downloaded seems to have fixed the issues.

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  Wireless tether: for some reason, I have not been able to make it work. Wired USB tether works fine though, so it's relatively minor for me. Still would love to get it going.

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  Terminal emulator (in the Dev tools) / Launcher Pro 0.6: whenever I run the TE, Launcher Pro loses the tray icons, but it's an easy fix - just restart LP.

That's really it. I have gone through a lot of trial and error, like most people. I would say that Froyo is definitely not ready for prime time (that is, for the average consumer), so no surprise that it has not been released by Verizon. In its current state, their call center would get flooded in a hurry with calls from people trying to upgrade and experiencing all sorts of problems. For those of us with the guts (and casual recklessness ) to go through this process and finally get our phones working smoothly, there is really no going back. I love that the BT headset button now works properly, the general smoothness of the whole thing.

 

Don't get me wrong, most of the trouble I had was actually getting the ROM going on my phone. In fact, now that I got it stable, it is working better than what I was using before (2.1 UD 9.x). I haven't seen an FC in a few days, and it's smooth as silk, even without overclocking (I have setCPU at 550 and everything is extremely smooth).

Add one more to the list: the KittenFace Aquarium live wallpaper. Love that one, but for some reason it seemed to make my phone sluggish after a while. It may be a 2.2 problem, or something that was there already in 2.1, just didn't notice it before because 2.1 wasn't all that smooth for me. I uninstalled it and went back to a plain wallpaper and the phone immediately became smooth and responsive again.

There are a number of reasons to go to 2.2. GMail was working so poorly in 2.1 that I ended up replacing it with K-9 mail because I was not getting my Gmail delivered sometimes. I am back to using the native GMail client. Delivery is instantaneous now with push email. I am not using a lot of the apps you mention. I use the native SMS client, but to tell you the truth I don't do too much of that, mostly email. Never had a problem with SMS anyways. Maps and navigation are working fine. So's Astro, Amazon MP3 and SetCPU.

Only obvious recommendation (which I'm sure you are already doing) is to make sure you do a full nandroid backup of a configuration you are happy with (or at least you can live with) before flashing, that way there is always something you can go back to in a hurry to have everything working again. Once you do that, I think there is relatively low risk. Worst case, you can get back to a working phone in 5 minutes or so.

 

Im at the point now where im almost ready to give up on Froyo until things smooth out. i completely understand everything froyo right now is experimental. however i have had way to may close calls with flashing and reflashing roms. with clockwork not working and being locked out of my SPrecovery. having to pulls my battery 15 times to get a normal boot. then when i get there i just hope and pray all stays well!! this isnt about anyones ROM specifically just with Froyo in general.

The initial install of SS4.1 i did ran beautiful all day yesterday. and this morning after un-docking im just plagued with FC's... Helix constantly FC on me and tonight i had a reboot and freeze on motorola logo i couldnt get into SPrecovery, i couldnt get the phone to boot, i ended up pulling the battery over and over and over and FINALLY getting back into the phone hAHAH.

This was a fresh install of SS4.1 i didnt have any apps installed or downloaded that didnt already come with the ROM because ive been switching roms so much trying to find a stable Froyo build but they all seem to have their own issues. AGAIN i understand its all experimental and i love what everyone is doing with their roms.. SS4.1 by far is the best looking of the Froyos ive installed. but i think for all the stability issues and the sake of my sanity and my phone im gonna go back to using a 2.1 ROM.

Ive done almost everything you have as well and i really want froyo to work for me but at this time im afraid it may just be to soon for me.

This doesnt really offer you any help.. just wanted you to know you werent the only only with random reboots and FC's, good luck!

 

Thanks for the tips Maseren.

I didn't intend for it to be harsh and in no way was I trying to attack Chevy's rom I hope my previous post didn't come of as so

As far as 4.1 goes for some reason anything froyo based, ultimate Droid, bugless beast, even the stock untouched 2.2 doesn't wanna work with my Droid.. some people have no problems others like me get a few my Droid is also about a month old so maybe its something with the newer droids?

When I get home ill try 4.1 again with your tips. The first install I followed all the directions didn't add a custom kernel ( I usually install P3 kernels) 4.1 did sync and install some Apps at first boot so maybe ill look into what those are and do process of elimination.

Thanks for the suggestions I'm glad for now you've been able to your phone stable on a 2.2 build!


Ill keep you updated

 

I haven't haed a single fc with this rom. I used to get them on the other Froyo roms I ran. I'm running the 1.25Ghz kernel at 1.1. This is the sweetest Froyo rom to date in my opinion.

 

I can't remember the last time I've had a force close since I switched over to Launcher Pro...the smoothest, snappiest home replacement out there IMO. SS is one of the most, if not the most stable ROM out there and I've tried all of them. I used ADW launcher for all the customization options, but the lag was getting ridiculous. LP has been a great find! I'd try it out guys!