[Milestone XT720 General] sohrab.naushad:
Hey guys,

Dont get me wrong, im pretty much a noob myself :) Nowadays alot of developement is going on with the new ROMS, till they are finished I needed a stable ROM and I have to admit nothing is better than good old stock 2.1, but to get it in useable condition you do have to do some tinkering. This guide is aimed at people who have just rooted their phones and want to know what they can do, or for people who want new ideas if they are going back to stock 2.1. Its just a collection of things I do, when I flash stock 2.1.

Please be aware, that although these instructions are accurate to my knowledge, sometimes there are problems, so do not try this if you dont feel comfortable with any of the instructions.

1. Which SBF?

The stock cincinnati bell 2.1 is the most current and the most updated version of all the SBF's. Unless you are uprading to a new ROM which require another type of base SBF this is the way to go for 2.1. It makes no regional differences that I know off, you may have to put in your APN settings. Reasons for using this SBF is, first its the most updated, most stable and reportedly has best camera quality of all the SBF's, plus it is set to 720 MHZ by default. The SBF code is:

STR_U2_04.1E.1_SIGNED_USASHLSTAB14P2XAPCNCBW039.0R_NACBW_P011_A006_HWp3_1FF.sbf

2. How to Root?

Once you have flashed your SBF, using either RSD lite in windows or sbf_flash in linux, the easiest way to root is using the universal androot app. Install the app on your phone, open the app and click the root button. A little heads up here, you need to be connected to either wifi or the data network before you use the app because to root the phone the app uses an exploit which requires wifi to be toggled. If it isnt on, it will not work. With the wifi on, press root and you're done. The newest stable UniversalAndroot can be found at this link.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32033772/UniversalAndroot_1.6.1.apk

3. What can I do after rooting?

First of all you can install Open Recovery + Androidiani Recovery. What these are, are custom recoveries with which you can make nandroid backups, wipe reset your phone and cache and apply neat tweaks to make your phone work better on 2.1. To install open recovery download the openrecovery.apk from the following link.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32033772/OpenRecovery.apk

Install the openrecovery app. And reboot your phone once. After the reboot, connect your phone to the PC and create a folder called nandroid and inside that creat a folder called openrecovery. And place it into the root of the SD card.

nandroid>>openrecovery

Disconnect your phone from the PC. Now open the openrecovery app. And press install recovery. A superuser request will appear. Allow it and open recovery will install on your phone and create the neccessary folders on your SD card. Now connect your phone to the PC its time to install androidiani recovery. Download the Androidiani recovery here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32033772/OpenRecovery-3_3.zip

Unzip the file. You will see one folder and one update file. Copy the folder and paste it into the root of your SD card. You will notice that the computer will prompt you because there is already an open recovery folder in your SD card. Allow the computer to replace, the old folder with the new one that you are pasting. Then copy the update.zip and just place it in the root of your SD card. You are all set and have installed openrecovery.

What can I do with Androidiani?

Turn off your phone. Now press the volume up button and keep it pressed, while pressing the power on button. The phone will boot into androidiani recovery. Use the volume keys to navigate up and down in the menu and use the camera button to select an option. You will see numerous options in androidiani. The first thing to do is go in the Eclair Modding menu.

I usually do the following things.

1) Install memhack: This moves your /cache folder and allow for lots of apps to be installed so your 173 mb app space will not limit you, which is usually why people want to move to froyo in the first place.

2) Install JITV7

3) Eclair Kernel Modification: This installs busy box and increases functionality.

4) Zipalign Apps. This allows less ram to be consumed when you use apps. I usually zipallign system wide.

Reboot your phone normally, after mods are complete.

4. System app removal?

Useless system apps can safely be removed to make space for more apps. I install titanium backup from the market and use it to uninstall apps. Here is the list of apps I usually remove safely.

1. Gestures.apk (Motorola sign gestures, useless app never used it)

2. Corporate Calender

3. Corporate Directory

4. Quickoffice Trial

5. Kickback

6. Soundback

7. TalkBack

8. MotoAccuweather.

5,6,7 are accesibility apps which can easily be redownloaded from the market. Accuweather isnt accurate and I have the stock AOSP geniewidget which is so much more sexier. Ill give the links to those.

GenieWeather & News 2.1: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32033772/GenieWidget2.apk

Another app I install is the desk clock which is missing in 2.1:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32033772/DeskClock.apk.

Okay once system apps are removed. What rooted apps can you use. There are many. Ill just state what I use when I newly Flash.

1) Root explorer, very good for navigation etc.

2) Market Enabler, i use it to install google+ and other apps not avaible in my country.

3) Battery Calibration, everytime you flash a new ROM its good reset your battery Stats.

5. Finally

You can just use your phone as usual. If your phone number format is different because of the US SBF, just choose a different language in keyboard and locale. Itll fix your dialer format.

I choose to not overclock. With wifi on 24/7 and autosync. A few odd phone calls, sms's, 1 hour of GPS when I walk, some gaming, and 2 hours of music. I get an average of 1.5-2 days battery life with this setup. My SD card is formatted completely to FAT32. After installing all my apps, and games. I have 102 MB remaining internal memory.

Hope this has been useful to anyone. Please feel free to make additions.