[Q] Current effective root method? Also most slim/effecient ROMs? Stability of 4.3/4?

[psyhcopig]

1. What is the current root method? I know there's the D4 Utility but I'm not sure it's been updated for a good long while. Don't knock a good thing I suppose. I feel I've still seen Razrblade roaming around out there as well. What is the best root method at the moment, as I've seen there are different builds of BusyBox and Superuser these days. The last time I loaded root with the D4 System Utility I had a handful of things go wrong, nothing major but very decent annoyances, the Permissions for some Apps working right, but with others night (Or ones I've used before without the rooting problems). Just trying to find the most compatible/up to date one.

2. I'm confident the answer will be a resounding Cyanogen, but hear me out - What are the best current ROMs which involve energy efficiency, RAM/CPU Optimization? I'm a simple guy, I love tinkering but I don't keep any one thing installed for long. My normal day involves texting, browsing a web page or two, and playing a silly game called Dragons World, which eats battery like a mofo. I would just like the ability of longevity through the day, as it stand right now if I open Dragons World 4 times in a 2 hour period that's over 30% of my battery gone.I'm sure it's just the App, but I do adore it so.

3. On the same topic, What's the best modified Stock out there? Meaning deodexed, debloated or slim (Or all of the above), reducing the garbage usage of unused processes, or setting most of them to On Call only instead of running whenever they feel like it (I glare at you MotoGarbage). Just something nice, clean and effective.

4. Now the fun stuff, personal ROM right now? Most customizable? I love to have a side-loaded ROM which supports the latest features, alternative Lock screens, a new built in home screen (Not just a downloadable launcher from the Playstore thrown on top), a powerhouse of features, and interesting new items. the AVATAR ROM seems pretty nifty, however I've never used it's line, and I hear a lot of people run Eclipse however the latest edition I could find was for 4.1.2 ...

5. Leading me to the next question: So how about that 4.4/4.3? Is it even worth flashing at the moment? Is 4.3 stable and 4.4 highly questionable? Is there a major gain? I'm still running 4.1.2 stock after a fresh wipe from horrid slowness.

6. Last but not least, let's pull it all together: Safestrap or BMM? It feels like BMM has made a huge comeback, I see it's name everywhere these days, but I've been more or less born and raised on SS, ya know as with the D2 the only option was CWR and nothing else. I've seen a pros and cons, I consider myself an advanced user (As I've fiddled enough to wipe my own stock system even with SS...) so the mechanics don't scare me, more so the reliability of the programming itself. I hear it allows 2 system partitions thanks to the Webtop mount? That's pretty amazing, and has me willing and ready to try it unless proven otherwise of how SS is superior, since I know it just updated to 3.65.

Am I right in saying the top contenders for ROMs are still Cynanogen, Eclipse, Avatar and XXSlim?

It's been a while since I've been delving into this realm. Let me know what you can, I'll continue googling in the meantime.

 

[droidbound]

1. What is the current root method? I know there's the D4 Utility but I'm not sure it's been updated for a good long while. Don't knock a good thing I suppose. I feel I've still seen Razrblade roaming around out there as well. What is the best root method at the moment, as I've seen there are different builds of BusyBox and Superuser these days. The last time I loaded root with the D4 System Utility I had a handful of things go wrong, nothing major but very decent annoyances, the Permissions for some Apps working right, but with others night (Or ones I've used before without the rooting problems). Just trying to find the most compatible/up to date one.

2. I'm confident the answer will be a resounding Cyanogen, but hear me out - What are the best current ROMs which involve energy efficiency, RAM/CPU Optimization? I'm a simple guy, I love tinkering but I don't keep any one thing installed for long. My normal day involves texting, browsing a web page or two, and playing a silly game called Dragons World, which eats battery like a mofo. I would just like the ability of longevity through the day, as it stand right now if I open Dragons World 4 times in a 2 hour period that's over 30% of my battery gone.I'm sure it's just the App, but I do adore it so.

3. On the same topic, What's the best modified Stock out there? Meaning deodexed, debloated or slim (Or all of the above), reducing the garbage usage of unused processes, or setting most of them to On Call only instead of running whenever they feel like it (I glare at you MotoGarbage). Just something nice, clean and effective.

4. Now the fun stuff, personal ROM right now? Most customizable? I love to have a side-loaded ROM which supports the latest features, alternative Lock screens, a new built in home screen (Not just a downloadable launcher from the Playstore thrown on top), a powerhouse of features, and interesting new items. the AVATAR ROM seems pretty nifty, however I've never used it's line, and I hear a lot of people run Eclipse however the latest edition I could find was for 4.1.2 ...

5. Leading me to the next question: So how about that 4.4/4.3? Is it even worth flashing at the moment? Is 4.3 stable and 4.4 highly questionable? Is there a major gain? I'm still running 4.1.2 stock after a fresh wipe from horrid slowness.

6. Last but not least, let's pull it all together: Safestrap or BMM? It feels like BMM has made a huge comeback, I see it's name everywhere these days, but I've been more or less born and raised on SS, ya know as with the D2 the only option was CWR and nothing else. I've seen a pros and cons, I consider myself an advanced user (As I've fiddled enough to wipe my own stock system even with SS...) so the mechanics don't scare me, more so the reliability of the programming itself. I hear it allows 2 system partitions thanks to the Webtop mount? That's pretty amazing, and has me willing and ready to try it unless proven otherwise of how SS is superior, since I know it just updated to 3.65.

Am I right in saying the top contenders for ROMs are still Cynanogen, Eclipse, Avatar and XXSlim?

It's been a while since I've been delving into this realm. Let me know what you can, I'll continue googling in the meantime.

I just updated to the latest firmware, 98.72.189.XT894 and since I somehow misplaced my latest "rooted but otherwise complete stock including all the bloatware" backup, I had to reflash the last firmware since the OTA did not want to install. I rooted fine with razrblade after that.So I would still consider that to be the best rooting utility around...
Can't say much about custom roms - I have pretty much given up on them. Tried CM, tried Avatar, but they all have some crucial bug or other that's a deal breaker for me. Like none of them works with docks for the D4.
All I care about is the ability to use the D4 to create a hotspot for my tablets and battery life. On the latter none of the custom roms were any better than rooted stock. So that's where I stay: Rooted stock, bloat removed, most VZ apps and services frozen or removed - and I gotta say: The latest update made the phone quite a bit snappier..

 

[Syko]

I just updated to the latest firmware, 98.72.189.XT894 and since I somehow misplaced my latest "rooted but otherwise complete stock including all the bloatware" backup, I had to reflash the last firmware since the OTA did not want to install. I rooted fine with razrblade after that.So I would still consider that to be the best rooting utility around...
Can't say much about custom roms - I have pretty much given up on them. Tried CM, tried Avatar, but they all have some crucial bug or other that's a deal breaker for me. Like none of them works with docks for the D4.
All I care about is the ability to use the D4 to create a hotspot for my tablets and battery life. On the latter none of the custom roms were any better than rooted stock. So that's where I stay: Rooted stock, bloat removed, most VZ apps and services frozen or removed - and I gotta say: The latest update made the phone quite a bit snappier..

I have to say your post pretty much mirrors my thoughts exactly. My only exception is I still use my DROID4 as a daily driver. I dropped about a dozen times over the last month (Long story involving recently installed extended battery), the last drop demolished the screen. So, not willing to upgrade to anything else just yet, I opted to purchase another DROID4 on ebay. So far so good. I've pretty much used xposed framework to get many of the advantages you would get from a ROM anyways so I'm good to go until the DROID5 (doubtful) or something else that makes it worth my while to switch (Project ARA maybe?) comes out.