Review of Custom ROMs

 

Custom ROMS but has inbuilt Google/Gapps

1)      AOSIP

2)      Project Sakura

3)      EvolutionX

4)      Derpfest

5)      Radeon

6)      ShapeShift

7)      AEX AOSP Extended

Website not reachable

1)      MSM Extended

2)      Cherish OS

3)      Legion

4)      XmorZ

5)      AIM ROM

6)      Superior OS

7)      ColtOS

8)      Project 404

Custom ROM	Issues
AOSPA	Ltd official version. Trying unofficial version is risky
Arrow	Too much discontinued ROMS
GearMagic	Not compatible with TWRP.
HAVOC OS	Website not reachable
ZenX OS	Website not reachable
CesiumOS	Project Discontinued
Oxygen OS	Can’t trust being one plus.
Reloaded OS	Very few devices supported
Mallu OS	Come on
Halogen	Website not user friendly.
Ancient	Does not liked the taste

Ungoogled Custom ROMS tried by me

1)      Resurrection Remix (Trying to move away from it and it messed up my boot files resulting in bootloop)

Good	Bad
Very deep customization options	No contact option available at website
Permits dirty flashing i.e Even after installing it kept even my existing Whatsapp, firefox and all other apps intact	They locked my Bootloader.
	At website: The download images of Custom Rom are not searchable with phone specific models.
	No Mirco G integration and preinstalled maps.
	No online Account to save contact and calender.

 

 

2)      CrDroid.net (Used for one month)

Good	Bad
Very deep customization options	Slow startup/bootup.
Permits dirty flashing i.e Even after installing it kept even my existing Whatsapp, firefox and all other apps intact	No Mirco G integration and preinstalled maps.
Better privacy control over apps as the apps can be issued permission to use only when in use and not all the time.	Mistyping errors. Typingpad is slow to respond.
Vast variety and recently launched models available for flashing custom roms	The default button menu is not ON and has to be searched and set.
Website is very use friendly and easy to navigate.	No online Account to save contact and calender.
Very frequent updates	Annoying Message at home screen of Cr Droid for start up

 

3)      E Foundation (Used for 5 months)

Good	Bad
Micro G integration and pre installed maps	It picked my secondary mike as main mike
E mail server for saving contacts and calendar	Slow updates
	The Phone models available for flashing are very Limited and more than 15 months old.

 

 

 

 

 

Rooting your phone and Flashing Firmware

Just a small crisp article for Newbies in Mobile Exploration

1) Unlocking your bootloader is not rooting.

2) Installing TWRP is neither rooting nor installs custom ROM.

3) Custom ROM can be installed on unrooted phone provided bootloader is unlocked.

4) For rooting of phone the best method is Magisk (zip file). Magisk Manager (APK) is different from installing

1. First of all, download the Magisk and place it in your phone’s storage. 
2. Now you have to boot your device into a custom recovery like the TWRP Recovery.
3. Click on Install button and then select the Magisk.zip file that you had already transferred to your device storage in Step 1.
4. After you had selected the .zip file now Swipe to Confirm Flash on the bottom side of your mobile screen to start the flashing process.
5. Once Magisk is flashed, you’ll get Reboot System option, select it.
6. After the device reboots, install Magisk Manager Apk file.
7. Open the Magisk Manager app and check your device’s root status. That’s All.

Flashing Firmware

1. Press the Volume Up and Power button simultaneously to enter TWRP recovery
2. (Optional): If you’re using a custom ROM, go to ‘Wipe’ -> ‘Advanced Wipe’ and wipe the ‘Cache’, ‘Dalvik/ART Cache’, ‘Data’ and ‘System’ partitions.
3. Cache (not dalvik cache) is primarily used for recovery. It’s used to store the recovery log and for storing OTA (Over The Air) updates. You probably don’t need to wipe cache, and cache is already wiped as part of a factory reset. Dalvik cache is stored in the data partition, so if you do a factory reset, you’ve also wiped dalvik cache. Dalvik /ART Cache choosing this will not wipe your apps or data. System choosing this will wipe system apps, your apps, data and the OS. Data choosing this will wipe data not apps
4. When you reboot, Dalvik cache and Cache are re-created
5. Once you are done, go back and tap on the ‘Install’ button
6. Browse the internal storage and select the Recovery ROM zip file.
7. To confirm, swipe the button on the screen to start installing the firmware on your Xiaomi device
8. Once it is finished, press the ‘Reboot System’ button

Flashing Custom ROM on your Mobile

In my case the mobile was Redmi Note 7 Pro

3 Three permission

a)       USB Debugging

b)      Install Via USB

c)       USB debugging security settings

Uncheck Verify apps over USB

Stage 1 Unlock the Bootloader

Please note the unlocking the bootloader will automatically wipe all your data so back up at this stage only.

 

https://thebroodle.com/android/how-to-check-your-bootloader-is-locked-or-unlocked/

https://www.getdroidtips.com/unlock-bootloader-redmi-note-7-pro/

https://en.miui.com/unlock/

 

   In case you have android one you can bootinto fastboot mode and type on screen

 

fastboot flashing unlock

   Unlock will take atleast 7 days.

2)      The list of devices in MI account (in your mobile) does not show the current device in which you are logged in.

3)      If MI unlock status shows

“Don’t disconnect from the Network------ to unlock your device”

Then it means you have successfully added your account.

4)      To check whether your device is recognized in ADB type adb devices

5)      To check whether your device is recognized in fastboot, log into fastboot mode and type fastboot devices.

6)      In my Case the data cable was faulty. It showed the device in adb device command but not in fastboot device command. As soon as I changed the data cable the same was detected in no time.

Stage 2 Install Device specific recovery ROM of TWRP

https://www.technobuzz.net/install-cwm-twrp-recovery-android/

Open the ADB folder (C:/ADB) on your desktop and open a command prompt window here.

adb devices Make sure your device is listed.

In case unauthorized is displayed against your device then simply disconnect and reconnect the cable. Against your device id it must read "device". 

Next, type in: adb reboot bootloader

Wait for the phone to reboot in bootloader mode 

Once in Fastboot mode, to check whether your device is being read by computer you can check by typing Fastboot devices

https://www.androidexplained.com/fix-cannot-load-twrp/

(Drag and drop the twrp.img file into the Command Prompt instead of typing out the filename)

Once the phone in fastboot mode, type the following command to flash the recovery:-

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

Entering into recovery mode

1. Turn off your mobile.
2. Press and hold Volume Up + Power keys together until you see a Mi logo.

Typing

ADB reboot recovery

By default you boot into MI recovery mode.

1) Boot into fastboot
2) fastboot flash recovery twrp.img (You can also drag and drop the file location into the window).
3) fastboot reboot (immediately after device reboot, in black screen, hold VOL+ button)
4) TWRP logo will appears

If you boot directly into the phone the flashed twrp image will be overwritten and you have to restart the process.
If you have booted into phone then you can use some software so as to restart the phone in recovery (TWRP) mode.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-7-pro/development/unofficial-twrp-3-3-1-proper-t3933531

DO NOT try to run 'fastboot boot recovery.img', it won't work. 

 

Stage 3 Installing Custom ROM

Now to install Custom ROM there are 2 methods

1)      Saving the custom ROM in Mobile memory

https://www.technobuzz.net/guide-install-custom-rom-android-smartphone/

Once your phone in TWRP main menu Select Wipe > Advanced wipe and Select Dalvik Cache, System, Data and Cache then swipe to wipe. NOTE:- Don’t Select the Internal option, otherwise you will delete the Custom ROM file and Gapps File. 

2)      Flashing through USB cable connected to ADB screen.

https://doc.e.foundation/devices/capricorn/install

(Remember if giving link of img or zip file from laptop then the folder name should not have any spaces.)

Flash Fcrypt If you're Decrypted

DON'T FLASH FCRYPT DISABLER IF WANT OTA UPDATES

Errors

1)      1) This package requires firmware from miui 9.5.14 or newer

The firm ware package can be reloaded by way of following

Iin TWRP > Advanced> ADB Sideload

In ADB window at PC type adb sideload (Drag and drop file location)

In my Case weekly 9.5.16 China Firmware zip file did the trick

https://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-7-pro/development/firmware-xiaomi-redmi-note-7-pro-t3925870

https://www.getdroidtips.com/guide-flash-miui-rom-xiaomi-devices/

2)  Failed Remote recovery. No such partition.

fastboot getvar current-slot
this will return your <letter>

then do
fastboot flash boot_<letter> <filename>.img

Underscore is important in above command.

3) error data / user_de operation not permitted

Keep phone in fastboot mode and type this

fastboot erase userdata

4) Unable to mount data

Format Data