[Hero CDMA Android Development] SirThumpaLot:
Ever since my laptop crashed with Vista, which also happened to bork my recovery, I've been running Linux (Ubuntu 10.10) on it. Since I was now running Linux natively on my laptop, I decided to try to cook a ROM just to do it. With that said, I'd like to introduce to you my very first attempt at cooking with Android... Ginger_FauxICS (v.Alpha3.1).

This ROM was built using kushdeck's gingerbread-hero-deck 1.3 as a base. The only thing I added was a Juwell's RAM optimization script which I had modified ever so slightly, ACS's ICSLauncher, and Pins Music Mod. From the Ice Cream Sandwich system dump, I also added the ICS bootanimation, font, and some icons. I also swapped out some pngs in the framework-res.

For that all around ICS look, you can also flash DameonAndMeagan's ICS Ring Lock Mod which you can grab from here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1312431

This was originaly a ROM that I baked for a friend of mine since my Hero is no longer activated. When I flashed it on my friend's phone, everything worked and it seems to be running pretty snappy.

Please note that I am in no way a developer of any kind. I'm just a dood that likes to tinker with electronics. All I did was piece together different elements created by the hardworking devs of our awesome community. All the credit goes to them.

Some features:

ICS themed CM7.1 (Launcher, Fonts, Icons, etc.)

Ram Optimization

Deodexed

Apps2Ext

and more...

Also here's a video of an older version of this ROM in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CKXEMERyNM

Big-Ups to the following people for providing what essentially is this ROM...

Kushdeck - for creating the ROM which this ROM is based off of

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1092332

Cyanogenmod - For providing the base from which Kushdeck's Hero-Deck Rom is based off of.

URL:http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1297533

Kernel Source: https://github.com/CyanogenMod/cm-kernel

IntelSoftApps & Team Syndicate - For providing the ICSLauncher app

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1309690

3xeno - For the extracted ICS font from the sdk dump

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1309690

AChep - For his Ice Cream Sandwich CM7 theme which I had integrated into v.Beta2

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1313722a

l0st.prophet - for the extracted ICS icons from the sdk dump.

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1309913

Juwe11 - for his Ram Optimization script

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1111145

whitegaia - for his awesome newbie tutorial on Smooth ROM cooking

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1303311

Taine0 - For his Pins Music Mod

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1164334

tommytomatoe - for the tools I used to create this ROM aka Android Utility

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1167623

The following people that created the tools included in Android Utility...

Brut.all - apktool.jar and sound advice

JesusFreke - baksmali.jar and smali.jar

Stericson/JF - testsign.jar

Google - AOSP

Igor Pavlov - 7zip

Ardfry Imaging, LLC. - pngout

Glenn Randers-Pehrson - pngcrush

Andrea Mazzoleni - advpng

Cosmin Truta - optipng

Emmanuel Dupuy - JD-GUI

and huge thanks to dsixda - for his infamous Android Kitchen

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=633246

Also can't forget about the good people of XDA where I've been proudly lurking for knowledge since 2009 and of course Google and the Android Team for providing us with open source goodness!

**Please note that this tutorial is for educational purposes only. If for any reason your happen to turn your phone into an expensive paperweight by following this tutorial, it is your fault and your fault alone. I cannot, and will not, be held responsible for any misfortunes caused by you following this tutorial. You have been warned**

Requirements:

- Fully rooted (s-off) Sprint HTC Hero CDMA

- Clockworkmod Recovery 4.xxxx and above

- For Apps2ext (Optional):

Class 4 SDHC at the very least

512Mb ext 4 partition

96 MB swap

Changelog:

11/06/2011

- Added more of an ICS look by adding elements from AChep's CM7 Ice Cream Sandwich theme. The theme's official xda thread can be found here:

URL: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1313722a

11/02/2011 (Beta1.2)

- Added updated ICSLauncher v1.3.0.2

- Added Updated Market v3.3.11

10/31/2011 (Beta1)

- Updated version of ICSLauncher and other little things...

10/25/2011 (Alpha3.1)

- Initial Release

Installation Instructions:

- Download ROM from here:

http://sirthumpalot.blogspot.com/2011/10/rom-overview-drews-gingerfauxics.html

- Place ROM on the root of your sdcard

- Put phone into recovery

- Navigate to "Backup and Restore" and backup your current setup first (Optional but I always backup just in case"

- Once fully backed up, wipe data, cache, and dalvik cache twice. I wipe twice just because I'm OCD like that.

- Go to "Format and Mount" and format boot, cache, data, and system. (If you're curently running and ext4 partition on your sdcard already, you may also want to format the sdext as well)

- From there, flash the ROM (gapps with vvm already baked into the ROM)

- You're done.

**User TIPS**

Per InsaneHien

- ROM can be flashed using Darchstar's Amon RA recovery if you resign the zip using PPCGeeks Android APK & Zip Signer program

- Enabling 16-bit transparency in advanced settings speeds up homescreen scrolling

**Known Issues**

Per gidkid - "When you tap the soft home button on the launcher while on the main homescreen, when you return from the helicoptor view, the soft buttons and the app drawer button are gone. They return with a quick reboot of the launcher, or after some time using other apps..."

Solution: Another solution other than restarting the launcher is also simply pressing the back button. That worked for me anyway.

Also per gidkid - "...while scrolling the app drawer, there are some hangups..."

Solution: I'm not sure how to fix this as of yet as it may be an issue caused by how the launcher app reacts to our phone's device limitations. I'll see if I can work something out.

If you dig this ROM and would like to donate to this project, please donate to the Devs listed above instead (Their donation links should be listed in their corresponding URLs). They work hard to enhance the user experience we get from our devices and for that we owe them a debt of gratitude.

If you wish, you can also feel free to donate to the OccupyWallStreet Movement (http://occupywallst.org). Just like many others in this country, I've been struggling to find work and have lost my house to foreclosure. I believe the political and economic foundation of our great country no longer works for the people as it was originally intended, thus, we must work towards changing the overall state of affairs. We must hold onto what makes this country great. Work towards, once again, having a government of the people, for the people, by the people. We are the 99%. Thanks for reading.