Droid Hype

My latest gaming addiction has been the NBA Jam release on Android. It was recently on sale for 99 cents so I couldn’t resist. The updated graphics and zany gameplay makes it just as fun as the original.

There are just two quirks that I really wish this game didn’t have. The first small annoyance is that it always checks for updates on start. So if you are not connected to a cell tower or on wifi, it pretty much stops.

The second more serious issue is the inability for it to function at anything but the default 48dpi navigation bar icon sizes on the Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean OS releases. So if you have a custom rom and you plan to make or flash edits that shrink or modify the size of the navbar, NBA Jam will crash back to your homescreen or give you an ambiguous 5002 error code.

As always, make a nandroid before you do any kind of editing. You may never know what app your mods will break until it’s too late.

If you tend to crackflash often, then you probably use Titanium Backup and you’d want to know the easiest way to back up your SMS/MMS as well as your call log. These items are not retained when you go from rom to rom nor are they backed up when doing a user data backup in Titanium Backup. Here’s how you can do it on a set schedule so you never forget.

1. Open app drawer
2. Open Titanium Backup
3. Press the menu radio button
4. Select “Filters”
5. At the bottom press the “Create label” button
6. Name your label whatever you want
7. Press the “Add/Remove elements” button
8. Check the “[SMS/MMS/APN] Dialer Storage x.x” checkbox (version x.x numbers may vary)
9. Check the “[CONTACTS/CALLS] Contacts Storage x.x” checkbox (version x.x numbers may vary)
10. Press the “OK” button
11. Press the “Save” button
12. Press the back radio button
13. Select the “Schedules” tab
14. Press the “Add new schedule” button located at the bottom
15. On the schedule that just appeared press the “Edit” button
16. On the top combo box select the arrow to pull down the menu. Select the “Backup all system data” option
17. On the next combo box that says “No filtering”, click the arrow to pull down a menu. You should see your label you created. Select your label.
18. Select the time you want your backup to take place
19. Select the days you want your backup to take place
20. Press the “Save” button
21. Check the “Enabled” check box to enable your schedule
22. Now Titanium Backup will automatically backup your messages at the specified time and day or days.

When you are ready to restore on your new rom, just search for Dialer Storage and Contacts Storage and restore the data only. Perform a reboot and you should have everything back. Just be careful when going from major OS version updates (ex: Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich). You may encounter some weirdness, so be prepared to restore a nandroid or reflash if something doesn’t take right.

[via XDA]

Although the Nexus S has been available on the market now for over a year, it’s actually a bit confusing for first time users to unlock and root the device. Give it a try, do a search and try and find the right adb and fastboot drivers for Windows 7 64-bit. I’m willing to bet it’s not as easy as everyone claims it to be. For some reason, fastboot drivers give 64-bit users a world of trouble in terms of acquiring and installing.

Since I went back to using my Nexus S on T-Mobile, I decided to post a quick how-to on getting this done.

Download the following zips before beginning:

  Android ADB and Fastboot tools (13.2 MiB, 80 hits)
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  Nexus S 9020T Drivers and Touch Recovery (15.1 MiB, 14 hits)
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Since I have the I-9020T model for T-Mobile, this guide will support only that version. This most likely will not work for the I-9023 LCD version or the D720 (Sprint 4g version), however, it should work for the I-9020A (ATT version).

Let’s begin…

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I’m sure you’ve come to wonder what all these kernel governors are and what their differences to your performance and battery can be. Here is an excellent thread describing some of the more popular ones. My current running combo is the SIO scheduler with Intellidemand on Speedy-7 on my Nexus S.

Here’s a quick tip on how to look up a saved wifi password on your Android handset. Let’s say you need to flash a new rom but you don’t have a password written down for a wifi access point you frequently use. Use any file explorer on your Android handset and navigate to the /data/wifi directory and view the bcm_supp.conf file. This is just a basic text file that contains all your wifi access points and passwords that you’ve used previously.

Make a backup of it or simply write down the password you need, enjoy!

If you are using cloud storage currently, you are probably familiar with box.net. Similar to dropbox and other services, it allows you to store your data within the “cloud”. You can register for a free account and receive 5GB of storage, all for free. This is a great way to get your feet wet if you are new to this.

However, there are some of us who use these services to store everything under the sun and that 5GB doesn’t cut it unless you upgrade for a fee. There’s a small promotion going on right now for users of LG phones on Android. If you register or log in with one, you get upgrade to 50GB of storage. Yup, 50 whopping gigs.

To do this, find a user with a LG phone and log in with your account on the box.net app. You’ll be automatically upgraded to 50GB.

Or try this if you are on a rooted phone.

1. Make a backup of your /system/build.prop file.
2. Open your /system/build.prop file as a text file and edit (use root explorer or equivalent) the following lines to show this:

ro.product.manufacturer=LGE
ro.product.model=VS910 4G

Save the file and reboot. After that, log into your account on the box.net app and you’ll be upgraded. Once you are done, restore the backed up build.prop file and reboot to change back.

Better hurry, this promo ends on 12/31/2011.

[via XDA]

There’s pretty much zero options at the moment if you are looking for an extended battery for your T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy SII (SGS2 T989). You can of course grab a cheapie fake 3500mAh battery on ebay, but are you really getting 3500mAh? Is that battery safe to use? And of course, does it come with NFC within the battery?

The last question may be important to some since Google Wallet and other apps are bringing out NFC options. The stock SGS2 battery carries 1850mAh of power, which in most instances is a decent amount and should last you all day. Of course, usage patterns will affect the hours of battery time so if you see anyone mentioning they are getting days on on charge, take it with a grain of salt.

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While we all wait for some Jug love (custom rom) on the new KL1 base for the T-Mobile Galaxy SII, I whipped up these mods to hold myself over. You’ll need Whitehawkx’s 2011-12-14 Stock KL1 deodexed/rooted rom for these to work. I have no idea if this will work on anything else, feel free to try, just make backups please.

Instructions:

1) Flash via CWM (root required)
2) Enable some or all animations under display settings if you want CRT

Volume wake – http://www.multiupload.com/EOG35CESLJ
Volume wake removal – http://www.multiupload.com/LWBUG08DEM
CRT Animation – http://www.multiupload.com/CEFHNXG0V7
CRT Animation / Batt % – http://www.multiupload.com/TMU3JDK0J9

For some HTC Evo 3d users with HBOOT version at 1.5, flashing custom kernels is pretty much impossible with your standard recovery install. Due to updating the HBOOT to 1.5, you are forced to use HTC”s bootloader unlock method which opens up custom rom installs, but locks down the any boot partition modification. In layman’s terms, this prohibits all kernel installs.

However, there is a way to get around this. The below steps will assume you have ADB and Fastboot tools installed and ready to go. If you do not, please download it at the bottom of this post. This also assumes you know a little on how to use ADB and can follow basic command line directions.

I used the below method to flash Android Revolution successfully on a CDMA Evo 3d with HBOOT 1.5 — rom and kernel.

Note: this should be fairly painless, but problems always have a chance of occuring. You are on your own if you brick your device.

1. Set up ADB/Fastboot tools and make sure the command adb devices shows your device. If this is your first time, grab and install the fastboot drivers from here.
2. Ensure your Evo 3d is on HBOOT 1.5 (volume down + power from a powered off phone) and has been unlocked via HTC’s unlock method.
3. Time to flash your desired recovery. I prefer TWRP, which can be downloaded below. Place this recovery.img within the directory that ADB and fastboot tools reside in.
4. Boot your phone into the bootloader (volume down + power).
5. Select fastboot.
6. Connect your USB and issue the command fastboot flash recovery recovery.img. This will flash the TWRP recovery onto your phone. Do not reboot or exit out of the fastboot screen.
7. We will now fastboot into the recovery instead of using the two finger salute. HTC will give write permissions thru the recovery to write to the boot partition via fastboot. Issue the command fastboot boot recovery.img. This will boot your Evo 3D into the TWRP recovery.
8. With your favorite rom or kernel on your sdcard, you can now successfully flash them thru TWRP.

  Android ADB and Fastboot tools (13.2 MiB, 80 hits)
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  TWRP Recovery for CDMA Evo 3D (4.9 MiB, 39 hits)
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One of my favorite roms on the Sensation 4G is Bulletproof 1.4, based on Sense 3.0. It has the right mix of tweaks and mods to make it smooth and quick in the heavily populated world of S4G roms. However, one thing that was missing from the rom is the ability to wake the phone via the volume buttons. The version based on Sense 3.5 has it, but not on this Sense 3.0 version. So like any rom junkie, I ended up messing around with the android.policy.jar file and manage to smali/baksmali edit the file needed to make this happen.

For your enjoyment, download the zip below (log in first) and flash it via your recovery. Cache wipe isn’t necessary but it won’t hurt.

There is no guarantee that this will work with any other rom. It’s also highly suggested that you back up your /system/framework/android.policy.jar file or just run a nandroid on your existing rom. This was done entirely on a stock BP 1.4 environment and has been tested on this rom specifically.

  Volume Wake for Bulletproof 1.4 Rom (284.9 KiB, 3 hits)
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PS: If you have another rom you’d like this mod done on, I can run the edit for you. Just let me know what rom and what Sense version etc.