[G2 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DavidRedstone:
Musings on Pardus 7.7 and CyanogenMod 11

Hi everyone,

I've been using custom roms on rooted phones (iPhone 3G, Galaxy S1, S2, and now LG G2) for a few years, most recently Pardus 7.5-6-7 on an LG G2 D802. I've used CM10 and 11, and OmniRom extensively in the past, but never tried them on my G2, mainly because of the camera and some poor reviews. Yesterday I did a full factory reset and wipe and took the plunge into CM11. The results may interest you, so I felt it worth posting...

First up -- Pardus is great, and I thank the devs and forum helpers. You are wonderful, and I wish I had your talents. My G2 has been great on Pardus Rom, and the only thing I never got to work was WiFi hotspot tethering. Unfortunately I really need it from time to time. To be specific, it does connect, but my laptops can't get internet access through the connection.

So...

Pardus 7.7

Pros:

Almost everything -- fast, stable, good battery life (especially with Alucard!) WiFi works, Bluetooth works, Camera works, etc.

Cons:

WiFi hotspot never worked for me.

LTE requires a Build.prop edit after flashing.

On 7.7 my GPS took a few minutes to lock in Google Maps. In previous Pardus versions, it was fine.

No option to use ART instead of Dalvik

I find some of the LG interface annoying, like the way settings screen from from swipe down menu is not the same

as settings from an app icon in the launcher. One is tabbed and one is a single scrollable screen.

Also I have turned off most of the LG specific stuff because I don't feel it adds anything.

CyanogenMod 11

So far, everything is also fast, stable, etc. I had one random reboot shortly after flashing, but not since. WiFi hotspot actually works - yeah!

Pros:

Everything works. Really. WiFi, Bluetooth, good battery life, even WiFi hotspot works.

GPS lock is quick.

I didn't even have to edit Build.prop to get LTE!

Dalvik works, ART is available, and it works.

I prefer the AOSP/CM look over the LG interface, but that's just me.

(Btw, for home - I always end up using Apex Launcher on every rom. Here I'm talking about all the system interface elements.)

Cons:

The default camera is not as good as the LG camera. CameraZoom seems to work well.

Nothing else - so far.

Notes:

-- I haven't tried installing the LG camera apk, because I've read it can cause issues on non-stock-based roms.

-- With CM11, I haven't needed to use (or even read up if they can be used) Dorimanx kernel, Xposed, stweaks, etc. Maybe I will (I did before with Pardus), but at this stage everything already works for me.

-- CM lets me double tap to wake and double tap the status bar to sleep, but to do it on Apex's homescreen, I got a simple free app called 'screen off', and set Apex double tap and swipe up gestures to launch 'screen off'. Does the trick.

-- I haven't tried other roms like PA, AOKP, Cloudy, etc., so I can't comment on them.

All up, both Pardus 7.7 and CM11 roms are fast, stable, and very usable. If I had to pick a winner, I would pick CM11, because of not having to edit Build.prop, WiFi hotspot, ART, and because I prefer the look of pure Android (or close enough to it) instead LGs mods (I felt the same way in the past with Samsung devices). I think I'll stick with CM11 for a while, and see how it goes. I have a backup of my Pardus setup on USB OTG, in any case. The jury is out on the camera under CM11, which is also important to me. I'll have to play around as I get the opportunity.

I'm so glad we have roms to make our phones better, and the people who make it happen! If this post helps anyone -- great. If you don't like it - sorry. Please move on. I'm just reporting what I've found.

All the best,

Dave