[Wildfire Android Development] gerope:
This guide is work in progress and will be constantly updated with future comments and insights.​

1. Preface

This guide is intended to provide a comprehensive documentation how to install and configure Android 4.0.4 using an unmodified CyanogenMod 9 (CM9) ROM basis on the HTC Wildfire Buzz device. The settings and configurations proposed in this guide focus on stability and battery life and are dedicated to the average user who simply wants to have Android Icecream Sandwich without any changes or modifications once it is set up. Therefore this guide is based on the plain CM9 rather than a custom ROM which uses CM9 as a layer underneath to avoid having a discontinued ROM with additional bugs. At this stage I am assuming that your device is rooted, equipped with Clockwork Mod (preferably cwm 4) and that you know how to flash a ROM.

This guide proceeds as follows. First Android 4.0.4 is going to be installed based on CM9. The reason to choose plain CM9 instead of any custom ROM, is the likelihood to have new unknown bugs with a custom ROM and the possibility that a custom ROM may not be further developed anymore. CM9 on the other hand does not have any major bugs. At this point I assume you know how to install a ROM. If this should not be the case, please study this thread. After the installation of CM9 additional applications will be installed that will then replace some of the in-build applications. Then the in-build applications that are no longer needed will be disabled to increase performance. Finally, I propose recommended settings for CM9 that will increase stability and improve battery life.

2. Required downloads

In order to complete the installation successfully you are advised to download the following files:

2013.01.01_cm-9_UNOFFICIAL-BUZZ_light.zip

CrossBreeder_5.21.13.zip and CrossBreeder_Uninstall.zip

Slim_ICS_gapps_without_chrome_sync.zip

bravo-boot-v1.5.3-CustomMTD.zip and bravo-recovery-v1.5.3-CustomMTD.zip

3. Procedure

3.1 Preparing partitions

Create a file called mtdpartmap.txt with the following single line and place it in the root directory of your sd card.

150 25

This will reduce the size of your future /system partition to leave more space for installed applications on the /data partition.

3.2 Wiping the device

Now reboot into recovery and backup your existing ROM in case of any failures. Wipe your device completely by choosing the options wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache partition, advanced > wipe dalvik cache, WIPE ALL (Dangerous)

3.3 Flashing recovery

Next flash bravo-recovery-v1.5.3-CustomMTD.zip and reboot into recovery. The option can be found under advanced > Reboot Recovery.

3.4 Installing the ROM

Now we are ready to install the actual ROM. For that install 2013.01.01_cm-9_UNOFFICIAL-BUZZ_light.zip. This ROM is the same as the unmodified ErwinP build but with unnecessary applications removed to reduce the size. version Afterwards install Slim_ICS_gapps_without_chrome_sync.zip which will provide the essentials of required Google Services. Next choose CrossBreeder_5.21.13.zip which will significantly improve the performance of your ROM. Finally install bravo-boot-v1.5.3-CustomMTD.zip to apply your partition settings from above. Now you are ready to boot into your new ROM. Congratulations!

4. FAQ

4.1 I do not have an Email or Calendar app

The light ROM which you just installed does not ship any Email or Calendar app as these two are outdated. Instead install Gmail and Google Calendar from the Play Store.

4.2 I always get the message insufficient storage available when installing or updating apps

You could change the size of your partitions by modifying mtdpartmap.txt. However, it may not be sufficient. I suggest you to install Link2SD and move big apps such as WhatsApp to your sd card.

5. Questions

Yet this guide may not cover all important things which are relevant in the setup process or leaves open questions unsolved. If this is the case for a particular problem you are facing, do not hesitate to leave a comment in this thread.

6. Remaining bugs

The panoramic view of the camera is not working with any camera application available.

It seems that the slide lock screen cannot be disabled. Thus, even if you have changed Settings -> Lock screen -> Screen Security -> Screen lock to pattern for example, you will still have to unlock the slide before you can enter the pattern. Yet I did not find a solution although some custom ROMs that are based on CM9 do not have this unwanted "feature".

Settings -> Battery shows Battery usage data not available. Some custom ROMs fixed this bug. Should be merged into the ErwinP branch.

Settings -> Data usage only shows a blue box instead of a graph. Nonetheless the mobile data limit feature should work.

With the default keyboard Voice To Text cannot be used since there is no shortcut on the keyboard for it. Furthermore, sometimes numbers are not inserted when the letter buttons are pressed and held.

The lock screen needs to be resized in cases it has to display the emergency call notice. This is shifting the lock symbol too much down to the bottom of the device screen.

Search app sometimes seems to be unresponsive and closes itself.

7. Older revisions of this guide

Installation of apps

So, at this stage you have already installed CM9 and subsequently Google Apps. Both are installed by booting into your recovery manager and selecting 'Install ZIP from SD card". Thus you need to copy the downloaded files onto your SD card. Before doing anything else I recommend you to do a Nandroid backup in your CWM recovery software. If anything should go wrong, you can return to this default state. As for the applications I recommend you to install the following:

Apex Launcher if you want to use folders in the dock. Otherwise install Zeam Launcher which is a very lightweight alternative.

Camera ICS

exDialer with the suitable exDialer Black ICS Theme. Use this application if you experience your default dialer to be slow, such as if the dialer or contacts app show black screens for 5 seconds.

Music Folder Player Free. Use this application if you are looking for a simple folder music player that supports a variety of formats.

Opera Mini

QuickPic

RAM Manager Free

Smart Voice Recorder

Solid Explorer

SwiftKey 3 Free

VoiceSearch

Disable unnecessary apps

Once the programs above are installed, we can then disable in-build applications that do not work properly, have bugs or are not as efficient as their alternatives. To disable applications, go to System -> Apps -> swipe to All and disable the following apps if you do not need them by clicking on an entry and selecting disable:

Android keyboard - replaced by Swiftkey 3 keyboard since Android keyboard tends to lag a lot and does not work with voice to text feature.

Apollo - keep it if you want an extensive music player. Otherwise use Music Folder Player Free and disable Apollo.

Browser - replaced by Opera Mini which offers smoother and faster browsing.

Camera - replaced by CameraICS which reduces a few bugs. If you are using slide shortcuts, then remember to link the camera shortcut to the CameraICS application.

CyanogenMod Wallpapers - you will achieve the best performance by not using a wallpaper at all. Hence, you can deactivate the wallpaper package.

Email - can be disabled if you use an alternative app such as Gmail

Exchange Services - belongs to Email and therefore not needed either

Gallery - replaced by QuickPic since Gallery has a lot of bugs.

Google Bookmarks Sync - not needed since Chrome browser cannot be installed on the HTC Wildfire.

Google Search - a lot of users encounter stability problems. If you solely use the browser search bar, then disable it.

Movie Studio - keep it if you use your slow device for movies

News & Weather - may be replaced by national news and weather app

OTA Updater - works not flawlessly. Install updates manually via recovery mode

Pico TTS - not needed if you use Google TTS instead

ROM Manager - not needed. Better flash Zip archives from recovery mode

Setup Wizard - only needed once after a fresh installation of CM9

Sound Recorder - since it does not appear in the application drawer it cannot be used and can be disabled. Please use the alternative Smart Voice Recorder instead.

Voice Dailer - keep it if you want to use it

In addition, there are some applications that cannot be disabled by the method described above. For these applications you need to open Solid Explorer file manager and go to /system/app. Here you will find a list of all in-build applications. Click on the following ones and either delete or move them onto your SD card in case you want to have them back later:

DSPManager - if you do not need any special equalizer settings you are safe to disable it.

LiveWallpapersPicker - as explained above, you will gain the best performance when not using any wallpaper. Hence, live wallpapers can be disabled alike.

Trebuchet - this is the default launcher which is very slow compared to Apex launcher that we had installed before.

System and application configuration

Now with our system being complete we can turn our focus on the confrontational part. There are three components you need to take care of in order to gain the most of your device.

1. CM9

Open the system settings and set the following options:

Sound -> Untick Vibrate and ring

Sound -> Untick Vibrate on touch

Display -> Brightness -> Tick automatic brightness

Display -> Untick Screen-off animation

Developer options -> Window animation scale -> Animation off

Developer options -> Transition animation scale -> Animation off

Performance -> Processor -> CPU governor -> SMARTASSV2

Performance -> Processor -> Minimum CPU frequency -> 176 MHz

Performance -> Processor -> Maximum CPU frequency -> 729 MHz

Performance -> Memory management -> zRam -> disabled

Performance -> Memory management -> Tick Allow purging of assets

Performance -> Tick 16bit transparency

Performance -> Surface improvements -> Disable dithering

Finally, if you want to use your trackball to wake up your device, open the app Terminal and type:

su

trackballwake

2. RAM Manager Free

Open the app RAM Manager Free and select the option Balance for the active profile.

3. Apex launcher

For the last part, we want to configure the launcher which is one of the most important applications to influence performance and battery life. Here I offer you my Apex settings which works fairly well. Unzip the archive to your SD card -> Android -> data -> apexlauncher. Then go to Apex launcher -> Backup & restore -> Restore Apex settings. It should then restore the settings based on what you just extracted to SD card -> Android -> data -> apexlauncher -> apex_settings.bak.

Tips, tricks and troubleshooting

If you need an internet connection only to synchronise your mail and calendar and do a little bit of browsing, then 2G instead of 3G should be enough. This will safe battery.

Have you flashed the latest radio Radio_13.55.55.24H_3.35.20.10? You can find this information in System -> About phone. If not, follow again this thread.

In case you want to increase the quality of your GPS signal, you can use this patch which can be installed through the CWM recovery software.

If you encounter connectivity problems with your 2G or 3G connection, then go to Settings -> More... -> Mobile networks -> Access point names -> and be sure to have only one saved in there with the correct connection settings. Otherwise your device may try to switch from one APN to another one, causing the connectivity aborts.

If you are using the Yahoo weather app on the lock screen and encounter the problem saying "No data - Tap to refresh", then switch your device into airplane mode and back and see whether it works.

If you are encountering problems related to Google Play Store being closed randomly or other problems, then you might have not flashed Google Apps. To do so, download the ZIP archive and copy it onto your SD card, boot into recovery mode and choose the point "Install ZIP from SD Card".