[Streak 5 Android Development] Strephon Alkhalikoi:
System: Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) - Discontinued May 2, 2014

About:

This is a fork of the DSC ROM, which is based on the Olleh KT 407 ROM. Its genesis came about as a result of a request by lordofazeroth (here) asking to delete all unnecessary apps from /system/app in the next release. My answer was matter of fact: to do it himself rather than asking _n0p_ to do it. This was because I had already created a private version of DSC for my needs and felt that if people really wanted apps out they should take them out themselves.

However, thinking back on it, lordofazeroth's request wasn't wholly out of line. While getting rid of some apps, e.g. HTML Viewer, made no sense, one thing that did make sense was removing the Google apps from /system/app. This was in keeping with Google's direction regarding the apps. Starting around the time Gingerbread was released, Google began to remove most of the Google apps from new versions of Android and making them available for download via the Play Store. Looking in an ICS Google apps package for AOSP ROMs, the only Google apps remaining in the package that could also be downloaded from the Play Store are Google Talk (now known as Hangouts) Google Search, and Voice Search. I fully expect that future Google Apps packages for AOSP ROMs would only contain the Play Store, Google Services Framework, the minor apps that aren't on the Play Store (Google Gallery, News & Weather), and support files.

While getting rid of the apps from /system/app made sense, a lot of people still associate a complete Android experience with having the apps and didn't want to lose them. Fortunately, the DSC ROM has a solution in the form of a firstboot.zip whose contents are extracted and installed while the system boots the first time. It was a simple matter to move the Google apps currently in /system/app to the firstboot.zip and have them installed when the ROM is installed. This makes the end user expecting the Google apps preinstalled happy because the apps are present. And if an end user doesn't wish a particular app to be installed, e.g. Maps, they can completely uninstall it and not be left with the original version in the ROM.

So, based on this idea, I put together my own version of the DSC ROM with this shift in design and am releasing it to the public. Since the ROM is essentially DSC with a few minor changes, it should function as well as DSC does. It's hoped that if _n0p_ releases a new version of DSC that this design change can be folded back into DSC.

Differences between DSC and the Traveller DSC fork:

DSC 2.3's updates are included in the ROM, thus no need to apply patches after installing the ROM.

The DSC 2.3 kernel was replaced with the swap-enabled version of the same kernel (as of version 2.3.4).

SuperSU replaces SimpleSU. SimpleSU's binary isn't recognized as valid by certain apps, e.g. Busybox Free.

The Traveller ICS Theme and the Stargate boot animation are now the default. wway's Gingertrue theme and Ace32's boot animation are available as a flashable theme zip.

Zeam has been replaced with HoloLauncher.

The CM7 File Manager app has been added to /system/app.

Gmail, Hangouts, Maps, Quick Search, Voice Search, and YouTube are all in dsc_firstboot.zip instead of being embedded in the /system directory.

All Google apps, including the Play Store, were updated to their latest available versions.

Google Play Services and Google Street View are new to the ROM. If after uninstalling Google Play Services the app reappears in your app drawer, then Google has pushed the app back to the device. Please do not complain on the forums about this, as it is expected behavior and not a fault of the ROM or device.

Antutu CPU Master Free, WiFi Reassociate, Superdim, System Panel, and ClockSync were all removed from the ROM. In using DSC I have never encountered a problem that required any of these apps, and I replaced Antutu with the XDA version of SetCPU. All should be available through the Play Store if desired or needed, except for the XDA version of SetCPU.

Ghost Commander was removed because the CM7 File Manager app was included in /system/app. Ghost Commander should still be available through the Play Store.

The Streak FM Radio app was replaced by the March 11th version of Spirit FM Free. The limitations of the Streak FM Radio app are well known (no volume control). The Spirit FM Free app is apparently limited to either Blended Audio or Mono sound - it's not clear which - but at least the volume can be controlled. The March 11th version of Spirit FM Free is also the last version that supports the Dell Streak.

ZRAM Status was added to monitor ZRAM usage in the ROM (as of version 2.3.5).

Bugs:

Google Maps may cause excessive battery drain. Freeze Maps or uninstall it if this issue is encountered.

Arabic and Hebrew text in Aroma may appear backwards due to lack of right to left support.

Touchscreen support in Aroma is erratic. Scrolling using the touchscreen does not function, and it may require a few taps to get selections to properly register. As an alternative, the volume controls and the camera button can be used to navigate and select items. This is likely a hardware issue and not fixable in Aroma.

Tips:

Disable notifications in SuperSU for a clean look and to speed up the boot process.

SuperSU will receive updates from the Play Store. To save storage space convert the update to a system app.

Undervolting the CPU using the DSC CPU Voltage Configuration app is highly recommended to maximize battery life.

HoloLauncher has the ability to hide apps in the app drawer. If you know you're never going to use a particular system app, e.g. the email client, hide it instead of deleting it from the ROM.

Customize dsc_firstboot.zip to meet your needs. For example, if you use Google Earth, rename the APK file to com.google.earth.apk and add it to dsc_firstboot.zip.

Google Car Home was left in /system/app because if uninstalled it cannot be downloaded from the Play Store.

The original release of the Hangouts 2.0 app (from Android 4.4) had a bug which allowed it to work on Gingerbread. If wishing to use Hangouts in place of the stock Messaging app, set the app to not be automatically updated in the Play Store or you will lose SMS capability when the app updates.

Changelog:

2.4.6:

UPDATE: Hunderteins has released another SSL Ciphers update, this time around to boost speed and security of HTTPS connections by implementing new encryption and authentication algorithms.

UPDATED APPS: Google Play Services, Hangouts and YouTube.

Older Revisions:

2.4.5:

UPDATE: OpenSSL firmware updated to fix the Heartbleed bug.

UPDATED APPS: Google Play, Google Play Services, Hangouts, Maps, SuperSU, and YouTube.

2.4.4

UPDATE: HoloLauncher updated to 2.11. Now has a color theming option similar to what is available in KitKat.

BUG FIX: Hebrew language in Aroma now displays.

BUG FIX: Grammar fixes for some screen text in Aroma.

Because 2.4.4 is being released so soon after 2.4.3, I'm leaving 2.4.3's updates visible as well as providing a patch for current users to install rather than downloading the entire ROM and installing it again.

2.4.4 Update.zip - 819.16 KB

2.4.3

NEW: PDroid for Arabic users now available.

UPDATES: SuperSU, Flash Player, YouTube, Hangouts, Google Play Services, and AFWall+. The release of Flash Player included here is the final release from Adobe. There will be no further bug fixes or updates.

UPDATE: Aroma Installer updated to 2.70RC2. This update restores touch support to the installer, which was missing in 2.51 as well as allowing the user to quit the installer at any point prior to installing Traveller DSC or its features.

BUG FIX: Fixed the issue with Arabic support not properly installing. For Arabic support to work the base ROM (and any added features) must be installed prior to installing Arabic support. This means you will have to run Aroma twice to enable Arabic support. The first time will be to install the ROM. After installing the ROM and letting everything in dsc_firstboot.zip install, reboot into the recovery and run Aroma the second time. Select the Arabic menu choice and install those options on top of Traveller DSC.

After selecting Arabic in the Language & Keyboard options in Settings, the very first time the power button is used to shut down the Streak the device will hot reboot and attempt to cycle through the boot animation. It will fail and then hot reboot a second time. This second time the device should boot to the launcher.

2.4.2

UPDATE: Play Store updated to 4.5.10.

UPDATE: Clock font changed to the version used in Android 4.4, resolving an issue with a portion of the clock being cut off when the pattern lock is used.

UPDATE: Common fonts used in both Android 2.3.3 and 4.4 were updated to the Android 4.4 versions.

2.4.1

BUG FIX: Replaced the tabbed browser with the original stock browser to resolve a force close issue with Voice Search. Clearly the tabbed browser wasn't quite ready for prime time. :(

2.4.0

NEW: Installation is done via the Aroma Installer. There is no touch support for the Streak, so the volume controls and the power button must be used to navigate. As a result of this change, all the various modifications available have been rolled into the zip file, meaning there will be no separate downloads needed for this version of Traveller DSC. The increase in size of the zip file also means that MediaFire cannot be used. Dev-Host will be used instead.

NEW: A new version of the zRAM app was compiled from its sources, with a black background and with memory readouts expressed in MB rather than bytes. It is now also a system app.

NEW: The stock browser is now a version of Lightning Browser compiled from source, with a custom dark theme to fit the rest of the ROM.

UPDATED APPS: AFWall+, Google Play Services, HoloLauncher, SuperSU, and YouTube.

UPDATE: Roboto Condensed is now the default font, for that Android 4.4 look.

UPDATE: Arabic patch users can now fully benefit from the SSL Cipher improvements due to a fix in framework.jar.

BUG FIX: In QuickPanel, the Auto-brightness indicator can now be clearly distinguished from the maximum brightness indicator.

BUG FIX: The "System Updates" option in Settings > About phone now links to this thread instead of the DSC thread.

BUG FIX: The "Build Version" option finally had a version bump, to 2.4.

NOTE: Gingertrue users will not have the new browser installed. While the browser is available for download here, it may not install. Gingertrue users wishing to use the tabbed browser will need to convert it to a system app using an app like Apps2ROM. The other option would be to install a copy of Lightning Browser.

NOTE: The browser may force close after exiting. The cause is unknown at this time, but may also affect Lightning Browser, since the former was compiled from the source of the latter.

2.3.10

SuperSU reverted to 1.65. See explanation here.

Fixed bugs caused by developer error when adding ciphers patch.

Default wallpaper was changed.

Changelog for versions prior to 2.3.10 was removed.

Links:

Flashing Instructions

407 ROM [Dev-Host Links Removed]

Mega

ROM Download

DSC "Flash Me Before Installing" Pack