yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[HD2 General] HasC:
Hi I would think the best advice would be that if you are happy with your ROM and you are not having any issues with it. Stick to it, this way you will have the peace of mind that your warranty is still in tact and you will not have to revert to reflashing to original stock without any risks.

Flashing on the other hand is fun and I feel the ROM cooks do a fantastic job of tweaking them so they work most efficiently. The chefs also remove programs that are not used that often which gives us more memory to install programs that we will actually use and the chefs also update to the newest builds for software which is dorment in the stock roms e.g. google maps,opera etc. If you update these on stock roms, it takes away valuable space due to the programs installed twice (you cannot usually replace the stock ROM versions and overwrite them with newer builds).

Naturally you will get issues cropping up with things going wrong and this is mainly due to the fact that the chefs use the newest builds before they are released officially so you can have a feel of new things that are put into them. I personally like to stick to one or two chefs and follow their progress, this way you will generally be ok as you will be aware of any minor problems and their fixes. If you flash many different ROMs with different chefs, you may encounter different problems with each of their ROMs and feel that ROM flashing seems to cause more problems than solutions.

I hope this clarifies some of your queries.
[HD2 General] Sentinel196:
I considered it, but I thought a vote makes it a little too black and white. I'd rather a more in depth discussion on the pros/cons :)
[HD2 General] staalduinen74:
Adiction!!

There's nothing wrong with stock ROM's what a little tweaking can't solve.

and there wil always be problems and things that don't suite you in a cooked ROM.

Bud if you would try it once it wil become an adiction to find the newest and/or the fastest that suite your needs the best.:D

if you follow the guide's the change of bricking your phone are slim bud there is always the posebilety:(

I think it's one of the best things of my HTC and no risk no luck.

(bud don't listen to me because i'm an addict)
[HD2 General] Halle:
Well it took a while before I flashed a cooked rom into my phone. I use Artemis roms, and those are the only one I have tried yet - and I really do not think I will ever try another since most of them have silly and ugly mods baked in...:D. I like the newer 6.5.5 with bigger soft buttons and the "start" down on the left. But the most important thing is speed - with artemis, everything the phone can do, the phone does it faster running Artemis than Stock rom. Often _much_ faster. Starting Opera 10 for example takes roughly 2 secs with Artemis, 5-6secs with stock...
[HD2 General] antaed:
I started to flash custom ROMS because I got sick and tired waiting for HTC to solve my problem with data connection. I tried all sorts of official and unofficial tweaks and patches without success so I decided to take the risk with the flashing adventure.

After flashing a few ROMS from different chefs I eventually found THE ONE that solved my frustrating problem out of the box. Not only that but I was also very impressed by the performance and by the chef himself - always there, always wanting to improve, always fair and balanced. So I settled for it and it's the only ROM I flash to my phone.

I would also like to add that I prefer the close to stock philosopy because I want to do the customization myself. Even so, in my opinion custom ROMS have the following advantages compared to stock:

- you have many options to chose from

- they prove to be faster and more stable

- you have LIVE support from the chef and the other users

- you get updates much, much faster and more frequently (even if beta builds)

- you get all sorts of goodies cooked in the ROM (tweaks, apps, etc.)

- with the ROM I use you also get an app built by the chef himself to tweak the ROM to your likings

- it's rather fun to do it :)

just my 2 cents
[HD2 General] toff74:
I'm the same as the above poster. I got sick of waiting for my mobile operator to update the ROM (O2). I had SMS problems, data connection problems, freezong problems, the list goes on.

Then i turned into a frantic flasher..up to 5 times a day, looking for the latest and greatest. I was forever setting my phone up and it was taking over my life! I even tried cooking my own with pretty decent success.

I'm now more settled and gone for a ROM thats closer to stock with a few tweaks. It does what i want and pretty quickly too. Its a million miles away from the original phone i got back in early December, but that a good thing.
[HD2 General] samsamuel:
on a functional level much of the surface features that cooked roms offer could in theory be done with cabs and tweaks, but some things can only be cooked in.

also, cooking in a fix or tweak means it is there from the start, so when you hard reset it the system isn't needing to be patched, so the fix is more stable.(generaly)

on another level many of the chefs really do know a thing or two about building roms and can make them smaller faster and more stable than the stock releases.
[HD2 General] gdayhtc:
I personally never flashed a device...I have to admit that with CHT1.7.1 things been running smoothy and perfectly. The idea of removing some applications on standard ROM sounds really great like footprint,shares,music sense...which i dont use.

As Sentinel196 says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" , i guess i come from the same school in that sense.

by the way with all the cutomization available for CHT i find it really hard if people do not like their htc hd2
[HD2 General] SMS92:
I do believe the HD2 is a very good compromise between 'works out of the box' and 'can tweak 'til the cows come home'. It's a modders dream but at the same time probably the only WinMobile device that I thought to myself "I might actually stick with a stock rom, it works"

Curiousity got the better of me... WITHIN HOURS... :rolleyes: of getting the device. First off I noticed I was locked to Vodafone's stock rom (it was obviously a Vodafone customer selling on a new handset), I couldn't get the latest rom from HTC so HSPL'd it and flashed to stock 1.66. Good stuff, it was working fine for me.

Then I got curious again some days later and tried 6.5.5. I definitely prefered 6.5 to 6.5.5 and believe it feels much more 'balanced' on a device of this nature (giant screen, few hardware buttons) so decided I wanted to go back to 6.5 after some days of use. I remembered the stock rom did have a lot of 'junk' attached to it, despite operating blazing fast. I found CleanEX on here and from the description it sounded like a good compromise - the stock rom but with junk removed, more 'under the hood' tweaks added and all underlying software updated. Fantastic. I've been flashing to it 'til now and can't see me going anywhere else for the time being.

So yeah, the HD2 out of the box (for the most part, I realise some people have experienced bugs) is a decent device. However, coming here turns it into an AMAZING device capable of just about anything. Having the choice is fantastic. When people ask me about me about my HD2 Vs. the iPhone I can't help but be honest and state 'the iPhone just works', if you want the HD2 to fulfill its full potential you'll need to 'dedicate time to it and be one with your inner geek.'

For people stuck with locked down operator roms, the rom section on XDA is invaluable as it would seem o2 UK (my operator) have ONLY JUST upgraded their rom from the version people were using in Nov '09. Sorry, but that is ridiculous and no customer should have to wait that long for a device like this to have its bugs ironed out when people 'breaking the rules' can have it right off the bat with a bit of a learning curve. Just another reason why operator branded bull**** is a waste of everyone's time -- like movies being released in the US months/years before the UK in the 90s & til mid '00, it took file-sharing to fix that!

I also strongly believe if people are willing to come here and read the 'basic' threads & take a little time out, support here is absolutely second to none. Better than an RMA to HTC, better than your operators forums, just fantastic. This does however support the idea that the HD2 is somewhat another device kept alive by XDA-developers... which I'm sure will become more apparent in the future after WinPhone7 is released.

tl;dr - The HD2 is a HTC phone which, once again, benefits more than anything from the development, tweaks, mods, hacks, customizations and support given here.
[HD2 General] Sentinel196:
Some excellent posts so far. Thanks everyone!! Looking forward to some more insight.

I'm certainly becoming more and more tempted to HSPL and flash a cooked ROM just to satisfy my inner nerd and curiosity!
[HD2 General] bobbyball:
Until a few weeks ago I was a stock ROM user. To be honest the stock rom was ok but just didnt seem very stable to me with resets a normal part of life. Having looked through the various ROM threads I decided to stick with a fairly stock cooked rom and chose Artemis.

After the first few days it was very apparent that this was the way forward. Artemis transformed my HD2 into what I believe the device should have been, stable and a joy to use.

I think before you can decide on a cooked ROM you need to decide on what you want a cooked ROM for. Is it for stability (in my case) or for added features such as extra tabs, preinstalled cabs etc.

I cant fault Artemis v11, is as stock as you can get with a cooked ROM and is fast, stable and very user friendly but I expect that others will have critism over this ROM against another, like I say there are many great chefs out there and its down to personal choice which is the best.
[HD2 General] bzdemes:
I love cooked ROMs. This is my first Win Mo device and I have to say when I first got it I was pretty disappointed(December last year). Was pretty damn buggy and slow! O2 UK didn't seem in any hurry to release any of the improved ROMs(not sure if they have even released an update now). I did the various tweaks that people have listed to improve the phone and was pretty pleased with the result. When HSPL came out I figured I would give a cooked ROM ago as if me a n00b doing a few tweaks could make my phone better imagine what pros could do! Flashed Duttys HG series and was blown away! Have been flashing them ever since (tried a few others but always come back to Duttys). It feels nice to have all the latest software bundled up and tweaked for me! Just about to flash from HG v2.5 (COM5) to HG v2.6 (COM5). Will be maybe the 20th time I have flashed my phone :P Gets better each time :D
[HD2 General] jewishmafia:
Always cooked. Stock roms are always lacking something... cooked, especially with kitchens allow you to play around and have fun.

Now, regarding the future of cooked roms? that much is very very doubtful. I doubt we'll see many WinMo cooked roms after 2010.
[HD2 General] hector_huerta:
I first had the default ROM 1.43 and everything was allmost OK with little glitches here and there (first of all the battery didn't last long) then I had the official 1.48 update wich I promptly applied and everything worked the same with little things improved (still terrible battery life) then after a couple of months of constants soft resets or taking out the battery for a reset I decided to try Miri's ROMS wich are great (I always prefered the close to stock) but still with battery problems until I learned I can upgrade the radio only without damaging the ROM wich I did and somewhat improved, but just a little, then I tried Dutty's wich are great roms (still close to stock and more stable at least the COM2 version) finally I decided a couple of days ago to give a try to EnergyROM which have additional software and I whent the GTX route, and I really love it, speccially since the battery is lasting me longer with the same radio update as my previous rom and with the lovelly GTX theme but some things like CHT seems to work better cooked in that installed separatedly, in my opinion I think you will have a lot of benefits using a custom ROM, but first use the original rom a couple of months to evaluate if your unit is functional (try everything: FM radio, GPS, light sensor, etc.) and then when you get to know your device try the custom rom of your choice and prepare to be amazed, once you go custom....

Good luck!
[HD2 General] gdem3685:
Maybe i am talking about the wrong thing here but i will say it. In the HD2 there is very little (if not nothing at all) noticeable difference between stock and custom Rom (except some registry modifications that you can do them with the stock rom as well). It is mainly in the addiction that cooking provides that you can see a difference. In the HTC Touch HD although the difference between stock and custom rom (mainly the Custom Roms that come from the HD2) is VERY VERY BIG. The last stock rom that HTC provide is 1 year old (7/4/2009) with 6.1 Windows, Black and White slider icons, Manila 1.XX etc. So in some cases i thing Custom Rom is more needed that the Stock Rom. But in the case of the ultra-fast HD2 i believe that the difference is much much smaller.
[HD2 General] ahirshfield:
Wow - a front pager!

Just thought I'd share in case you hadn't noticed; despite your concerns, you managed to make the 'front cover' of XDA-Devs!

http://www.xda-developers.com/​

Next - Time Magazine?!

Good post, well deserved. Enjoying the conversation and Mass-Debating(!).

Hirshy
[HD2 General] mlin:
One of the main reasons I prefer the custom ROMs is because of the 6.5.X builds, and before that it was because I wanted to try 6.5 before it was released. However, the first time I flashed WM 6.1 was all that was available. Like you, my stock ROM was running quite smoothly and I hesitated to change though I flashed pretty much out of curiosity. Now, with newer packages and WM builds being included in ROMs waaaay before your stock carrier upgrades, it's the best way to get all the newest toys.

Yes, there is a regedit to adjust the soft keys. Options are: as is, corners, one corner-one off-set. It should be noted that when they are in the corners, you lose the soft start-menu button and close ("X") button. Though, with hardware buttons this isn't too much of an issue.

If you navigate to HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Shell/BubbleTile- changing all values to "1" will put buttons in corner, all to "0" will be stock look and you can play around with the values to get an intermediate display.
[HD2 General] Barkleyfan:
I have a Droid these days, not a Leo, but the principle remains the same; chefs tailor roms to be fast, and take less space. They also bring higher functionality. OEM wm6 on my Kaiser sucked. It was slow, ugly, and bloated. And did I mention ugly? Chefs brought Touch-flo, Titanium, Flash, and Youtube. Also gave me aps2sd, and several other things I'm sure I'm forgetting right now. While many of these features could be added on to stock rom, it usually meant that code would piggy-back on top of native code, making for a slow, clunky experience. It varies from chef to chef, but my experience is that they always improve over stock, at least a little.
[HD2 General] ephestione:
There is one thing that a custom rom is able to give you, and a stock one will never be able to achieve no matter how much you try and tweak it: free internal space.

Most custom roms, even the most bloated ones, with loads of apps and tools you're not probably going to use (just like the bundled apps of stock ones) have the "useless" programs that come with the device already stripped out.

But the rom I use in particular, and some others, are very oriented to minimal-ness (is that even a word?)

Against the ~160MB of free internal space I got with a stock rom and with other custom roms, I now have 100MB more right after a flash, almost 260MB left to my needs. That's one good thing, enough to flash a custom rom in my opinion.

The only risk of bricking the device comes usually only from the superficiality of the flasher. There's plenty of clear info in these forums you just need to find the interest to read; if you don't, you're bound to be prone to errors (and then complain about how hd2 is so hard to use and open useless threads about how you switched (back) to an iphone :D)
[HD2 General] DarkOne951:
Yeah, saw this thread on the XDA Homepage also. I'm running on a Nexus One, and I can say the basis for flashing ROMs is still very much the same between devices. Mind you, I've never found Android ROMs to come bloated (unless your running Motoblur :P), but I've found them much faster. When I first bought my Nexus, I played with it for a few hours before I started wondering "Why does a phone with 512MB or RAM only have 125MB Available?", and instantly rooted it and flashed CyanogenMOD (Was a breeze for me, due to me having a G1 before my Nexus). BAM. My available RAM tripled, That is why I stick to custom ROMs. Custom ROM's seem to always be more up-to-date.
[HD2 General] deckoff:
for my HTC diamond - definately a custom ROМ :) 6.5.5 is a must for the small screen of the Diamond.

The only thing i will want from a HD2 ROМ is WinМoBo 6.5.5 and documents tab. that is why i am still waiting for a official ROМ from HTC containing these features. If something like this is not released in the next month or two, i will go for a custom ROМ with these features for my HD2, too.

in a few words - I am fan of custom ROМs close to the original HTC experience :)
[HD2 General] amw1972:
I currently own a TouchPro 2 (Rhodium CDMA Sprint.) I run a custom ROM, and have since the original Touch Pro (Raphael.) In fact, for the last 6 months of my Touch Pro days, I was cooking my own ROM with a kitchen provided by Calkulin (PPCGeeks.com Chef.)

Originally, I was flashing for memory issues. Out went the bloatware, and in came the "CLEAN" ROM. Eventually, I felt the need to have more control over my device...making it do things that my carrier didn't want it to do (tethering.) All this led to my start of cooking ROM's since only I know what I want in MY ROM. I was NOT able to find that "perfect" ROM for me. I'm still having trouble cooking up a perfect ROM for me.

I also wanted the bleeding edge. When 6.1 was the norm...I was out looking for those 6.5 ROMs. When 6.5.X started showing up...I remember having one of the first 6.5.X ROM's flashed on my phone. These days, I can't do without the 6.5.X softkeys on the bottom "taskbar."

All in all, I like having control over MY device. I like being able to do things with my device that it is ABLE to do. I like being able to do things that my carrier doesn't want me to do. Most of all, I flash/cook ROM's for me...because I can! :cool:
[HD2 General] justwonder:
I wish all cooked ROMs come with kitchen.
[HD2 General] maricate:
Its a freedom qustion...

I like the possibility to chage my os... in my pc, my phone, etc...

The rom must "to work" for me. The os must "to work" for me. Mold to me...

and not the inverse.

Technology must to serve the human.

My phone must to be likes me. My style, not the style of manufacturer...
[HD2 General] Phaedrus Nine:
I was very hesitant at first to flash a custom ROM onto my HD2. It was the first time I'd ever tried it, despite being on my 3rd WinMo handset. Of course with the HD2 being so expensive, was slightly nervous i'd end up with a brick. However i was getting so frustrated with 02 and their lack of updates I figured what the hell. So I flashed a Miri ROM, using the HardSPL video guides and was so impressed with the ease of it all. Flashed a few of Miris ROMs since, got to version 10 and stuck with it, it suits me great. The main factor to me was 6.5.X, I think it's a lot easier to use on a touchscreen device like the HD2. And a lot easier on the thumb getting to the start button. I wouldn't say I'm addicted, because it's been quite a few weeks since I've flashed a new ROM, I know Miri has had a few out since V10. Also, the thought of setting up everything again isn't appealing to me. All in all, I think cooked ROMs are great and they do improve functionality, for me at least. However I saw chefs were bringing out new builds everyday, with only tiny difference. And a lot of people flash so many times a week/day, I wonder how people can personalise their handsets if they're constantly flashing them? Spending all that time flashing and setting up, only to erase it the next day with a new build.
[HD2 General] altae:
I dont own a HD2 I use a Xperia X1 but I feel tempted to contribute to this discussion nonetheless. Im still on the latest stock rom (not carrier branded) and I highly doubt that this will change any time soon. Mostly because of the reason that has been mentioned here multiple times: "If it aint broken, dont fix it". Xperia users often flash custom roms because they want to run WM 6.5. But since there isnt really something that can be done with 6.5 that cant with 6.1 I will stay with the stock rom. I use my phone mostly for productivity purposes and I dont want to risk the reliability I got now for the fancy optics of a custom 6.5 rom.
[HD2 General] peperonikiller:
As a cook of my own device, i can say that i LOVE cooked roms. My Omnia came with 6.1... Very un-finger friendly, bogged down with unnecessary samsung apps and just didnt look good or have the functionality i knew it had the potential for. With my cooked 6.5 roms which are updated with each new SYS that comes out I can tweak it to how i (and my users) want. I've taken out all the unnecessary OEM apps, its finger friendly 6.5, and my Lite roms have plenty more space for programs rather than the stock 6.1 rom.

So we go from

to
[HD2 General] Edwin320:
I've spent tons of time tweaking my TMoUS HD2 but I haven't jumped into the ROM Flashing pool yet. I'm tempted, but the idea of bricking the thing is preventing me from jumping in.

I really dislike the bloatware on the phone, and I also run into the need to reset once every few days (while it's not a deal breaker for me, I would prefer not to have to) so I will probably go for it eventually. Plus, The idea of having CHT, Chainfire's driver and a few other things cooked in is appealing.
[HD2 General] smeddy:
I was a Flash Junkie on my HD1, always looking to improve on a phone where the difference between Stock and Flashed was a lot different (perhaps because of the age of the device by the time I joined in). I was even known to flash my old, dumb, Sony Ericsson phones!

With the HD2 I held off flashing for almost two months, mainly out of curiosity to see how long I could last with stock.

To be honest, I've only flashed a few times on the HD2, mainly because of the time you have to spend getting all your Cabs, syncs, etc. back into gear. And to be honest (probably because I kept trying the lesser-known/developed cooks), I've been left a little disappointed - most ROMs had enough bugs or quirks which were not compensated by a big difference in performance, tweaks, features, etc.

I'll probably flash again to one of the more established ROMs soon, and stick with it for awhile. And then hold off until a new killer feature (e.g. a new Manilla tab, an improvement in the Facebook tab, etc) arrives.

As it was, the stock ROM was reasonable to start with on the HD2. However the benefits of flashing will proably become stronger the older the device is.

Just a quick shout-out again though to all the cooks/mods on this forum. You keep us interested and in love with our phones :) Thank-you for all your work and dedication.