[LG Optimus 2x] michiel1995:
I was helping a new O2x user, and wrote a big story about Android, and all about that.

I thought it would be good to share it with everyone, so also the new users will have a simple guide what everything means.

If you miss something, just reply or PM me :good:

There is Android. Android has a variety of different skins on it (TouchWiz for Samsung, Sense for HTC etc.)

The Android without skin is on the Nexus devices, made by Google itself (in combination with LG, Samsung, HTC..)

This android without skin is build for a lot of devices, under the name of Cyanogenmod (CM)

It's not simply ported to those devices, but also a bunch of customize options have been added.

Well, Android comes in different versions too. It has the name of a dessert, ascending from A to Z.

Android became the most popular when version 2.3 came out, under the name Gingerbread (GB)

After that, there came Ice cream sandwich (4.0) (ICS) and Jelly bean (4.1 and 4.2) (JB)

The CM names of the roms is just ascending numbers:

2.3 - CM7

4.0 - CM9

4.1 - CM10

4.2 - CM10.1 (this because both 4.1 and 4.2 are named jelly bean)

4.3 - CM10.2

About Roms. A rom is some sort of pack containing Android software, with a built-in skin with it (MIUI, CM, PA..)

These roms are in .zip format and can be flashed with CWM (clockworkmod recovery)

To install CWM, you need to have your device rooted, for almost every device there is a manual how to root and install CWM.

There are off course some risks regarding rooting and flashing roms.

First, your warranty is void (as long as it is rooted) so if you revert back to stock rom, you'll have your warranty back.

Second, Custom roms may not be always stable. some are only in alpa, pre-alpha or hackfest status, which means they're not always good as daily driver.

The reason you should start flashing roms:

First, it can blow a new life into your device. if you are bored by the standard LG, Samsung, HTC etc. skin, just flash a rom!

Second, it may really speed up your device. skins like touchwiz slow down devices pretty much.

Third, It is very fun, i enjoy flashing a new rom on my phone every once in a while.

Well, I'll just give a little manual to flash roms, with explenations where necessary:

You're about to flash a rom. Make sure your device is rooted, and has CWM (or other recovery) installed.

Make a backup of your apps/data with Titanium backup (I can really recommend Go backup, same functions, much easier)

reboot into recovery, and just to be sure, make a cwm backup. this will make a snapshot of entire rom, with data, settings etc. included!

now, Full wipe/factory reset your device using the option in cwm. this will avoid bootloops or other problems.

sometimes it may also be usefull to format /system partition.

now you'll just install zip from sdcard. select the right rom, and flash it!

Not only will roms be flashed, often there is a kernel with it.

Here some explanations of some terms:

A baseband - The baseband is the firmware for your hardware

A RIL - The RIL is the driver for the ROM to communicate with the baseband.

A Kernel - The kernel is basically the piece of software that communicates between all hardware and all software/applications on device.

Bootloader - The bootloader is the LG logo you get to see, just after booting device. On old bootloader/partition layout it will be a white LG logo,

on new bootloader/partition layout it will be a pink LG logo.

Make sure to have the right bootloader for the rom you want to install. You can switch bootloader with the awesome AIO-toolkit.

The best rom(?)

There is no such thing as the best rom. for every user it is different. some want just the most stable rom, while other just want the newest of the newest functions.

If you want me something to add, or something is wrong explained, please let me know.

I found a very very nice infographic, explaining all kinds of stuff about the android OS/Device, have a look!

(credits to it's original maker)