[Hero, G2 Touch Android Development] Hacre:
[ROM][GPL] 2010-08-13 FroydVillain 1.2.0 "The Ultimate Parting Gift" CAMERA BROKEN

CAMERA IS BROKEN. WE KNOW. I'M WORKING ON IT.

FroydVillain 1.2.0 "The Ultimate Parting Gift" INFO & Release Notes:

Well there I was, about 28 hours ago fooling around with my local Android source tree, taking a break from kernel development. Then a few interesting things, 16 builds and 14 hours later it turns out something that would make for a great...no...superbly fantastic FroydVillain 1.2 appeared.

So here we are. Which is better to be honest, TeamVillain now aren't stuck in the middle of a release and the wonderful Villain community aren't wondering when the hell the next version will come along.

Well folks, even if you're still wondering what's to come after 1.2, you'll have plenty of time to wonder about it because this baby, is going to take some beating.

First, the usual nonsense, please read it etc etc to make sure your phone doesn't blow up, kick the wife or run away with the dog:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Since this is likely to be my last post for a while save for just hanging out in the community, can I just stomp on this nonsense here. You don't need multiple reboots. Once you've installed everything you need, give the phone a kick to clear out garbage and set dalvik straight and you're done.

However for the nostalgic, do it anyway:

REMEMBER

Spoiler content hidden.

adb install won't work on this ROM, until you tick "Unknown Sources" in the Menu > Settings > Applications menu.

This appears to be a new security feature. Similarly, apps pushed to /data/app won't work either. You might not notice the issue, but the app does not get any of its permissions it should have, meaning that it is probably useless, and might FC constantly or whatever. So remember to tick the Unknown Sources box

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

When you install this ROM, DO NOT USE GOOGLE BACKUP OR RESTORE. It really slows the ROM down, like all Froyo ROMs, and it uses loads of battery even when you think you're not doing anything. So it's not cool. So turn it off in the setup wizard :)

Seriously. I cannot state this enough. Google Backup service right now is like sticking diesel fuel into a Ferrari. It's slow, eats CPU, eats memory, eats battery and uses your data connection whenever it damn well pleases. Poor show by Google, let them know they can and should do better by disabling this immediately. Or who knows what might happen to your pets and loved ones.

This ROM does NOT come with the optimal kernel installed. It comes with a safe one. You NEED to read the section "kernels" below for more information about these, and which to choose :) Then, once installed, open the app "CPUSpeed" and set up your CPU speeds. This ROM uses the interactive governor, which gives much better battery than other governors... So, set interactive as the main governor, then set your minimum and maximum. Then repeat this for sleep mode. If you have a 352MHz base kernel, set both the max and min sleep speeds to be 352 MHz

Yes, you have a plethora of kernels to choose from. Choose one that best matches the setcpu settings you used with those old dreary kernels. If you couldn't clock under 352MHz before because you possess a HTC Friday evening at the factory job, pick a kernel with a 352MHz base. Use your common sense for CPUSpeed/SetCPU sleep settings, clamp the top sleep speed under the top kernel speed.

So... What's changed since 1.1.9?

Well working camera is old news now so yeah, camera worked then, still works now, woohoo! (Thanks Cyanogen and co) EDIT: WOOPS! Famous last words!

ROM is significantly faster to boot than before (usable before radio signal is even established)

Oh yes. Oh yes oh yes. This is just the tip of the iceberg for the speed improvements in this ROM. All those other release notes you read about optimised this and experimental that, forget it. I guarantee you there is not a single other 2.2 based ROM for the Hero built the way this one was built. Sound big headed? Yep. But it is totally warranted. Use it and see for yourself. Even on the default 614MHz kernel, check out how quickly the setup wizard becomes responsive once it appears, unlike times of yore when it was time to go and have a wank and make a coffee when setup wizard appeared, for fear of a swamp of FC/Wait messages.

Updated google apps

Apparently Google tried to rain on my parade by releasing a new apps package today. So I included it. Thanks Google! (Also thanks to Perfinion for letting me be lazy and grab them from his server).

Trackbell LED better

I haven't got around to chatting with Lox about this yet, but I don't like how the proprietary liblights works with 2.2. It only lights up the battery light, it stays on and flickers when notifying instead of straight blinking and it does a weird thing when you boot up where if you disconnect USB after boot, it stays red until you reconnect again.

So I built some drivers that use the Jogball for notifications and the LED sticks to what the LED does best: *****ing when your battery is low.

We of course had various fixes along the way to 1.1.9 that are rolled into this. No weird ass menus that I forgot to trash because I was likely high on caffeine at some ungodly hour and not paying attention. The time machine bug in the kernel was fixed, video playback was fixed too.

Oh, someone please see if WMA/WMV works. The libraries are there, but I don't have any of those crappy files. While you're at it, see if Meridian picks up the xvid decoder I built. It probably won't, but it's worth a try.

Gallery3D is in a state of flux and will continue to be so/change frequently whenever the mood takes me to bash it in the face with some good old "WHY WON'T YOU WORK YOU STUPID SOFTWARE" treatment. I believe the included version rotates okish, but occasionally loses thumbnails. If you lose thumbnails then open a picture, hit the zoom control to fix the whacked out diagonal zoom effect it ends up with. Oh, I left some debug code in that effectively hits "Back" whenever you rotate. Too bad, deal with it until I get around to releasing another, it's no worse than the original crappy 2.2 Gallery anyway :D

Oh, Alankila gave CPUSpeed a good kick in the nuts and the included version works much much better than the one we inflicted upon you in 1.1.9. We're sorry about that, the beatings were administered soundly and Alankila offers up this latest version as an apology. It was that or his thumbs. We felt CPUSpeed.apk was more useful. I mean who needs more than two thumbs? A hitchhiking octopus I suppose, but I digress...

What else? Oh yeah. It's fast. Seriously fast. Give it some work to do and behold as it eats it up as if it thinks it's a Nexus or something. Don't believe me? I wouldn't either (all tests run on Interactive CPUFreq Governor). Did I mention it's fast? It's slick and responsive too. I am DARING every guy who can't resist flashing, benching and posting about ROMs to try this baby for a spin. Spin it with the default kernel too, before you pick your flavour.

The following screenshots were taken at either 729MHz or 691MHz:

B-b-but, 28.8fps in Neocore? That's terrible! Well, not with sound on at 691MHz it isn't. We did get a 29.2fps out of it, but then a guy appeared from the future and demanded I not post it as I was making the Nexus Two look bad. Good news though eh?

729MHz with sound off. I'm sure some kernel improvements can push that further, but still, not bad considering we weren't on the performance governor.

From 1.1.9

Blah blah you know what changed in 1.1.9, go read the 1.1.9 changelog if you're that interested.

So... How do I get it?

A full wipe is MANDATORY for this ROM, regardless of what you're upgrading from

First, install this file : http://www.villainrom.co.uk/releases/FroydVillain1.2.0/download.php

(75202005 bytes)

Then... pick a kernel, based on the speeds you want. Your hero must be capable of the speeds you select. A safe kernel is included, which isn't the fastest in the world, but should work for everyone.

Kernels:

19-614 MHz

19-652 MHz

19-691 MHz

19-729 MHz

19-748 MHz

19-768 MHz

352-614 MHz

352-652 MHz

352-691 MHz

352-729 MHz

352-748 MHz

352-768 MHz

MD5 Sums:

97c953410f547229751d30c199ac0588 nindroid-v1.2-19-614-test-signed.zip
421e82333a4eec63e9097c5baecef8c7 nindroid-v1.2-19-652-test-signed.zip
89828f333b9857b4522a88dd3a2137b4 nindroid-v1.2-19-691-test-signed.zip
1b8ac98fb48dadb89e41b4d921ada402 nindroid-v1.2-19-729-test-signed.zip
0003fd30eb6ca960c9877632eb4b0e6d nindroid-v1.2-19-748-test-signed.zip
954a19202806e08f951b69bdd472b009 nindroid-v1.2-19-768-test-signed.zip
2579db932324c3e0d381d1c51b7f0fc4 nindroid-v1.2-352-652-test-signed.zip
8560f34c321a75456e1def3c14fa61db nindroid-v1.2-352-691-test-signed.zip
6608b4a8fc0b04100039d637cfda7332 nindroid-v1.2-352-729-test-signed.zip
5a812107fcccd1d93de2f8ef966cf299 nindroid-v1.2-352-748-test-signed.zip
46f30ca9cfc57136321137ff3ace7e53 nindroid-v1.2-352-768-test-signed.zip
dca2be74cb09a636845c804011322026 nindroid-v1.2-default-test-signed.zip

Due to popular demand and because I'm such a nice, sweet and sugary guy, I caved and made you a 652MHz version. For the people wanting 710MHz, use the ROM first, then decide. I think you'll find you'd rather keep the battery power.

Naturally the sources for these kernels are available as per the GPL requirement either at my github repository (search for Ninpo) or in Lox's kernel-hero repo for Cyanogenmod (open source collaboration is a wonderful thing).

Credits:

Cyanogen for base (really does allow me to be lazy with device trees) and their Spareparts. Alankila for his work on CPUSpeed and DSPManager.

Me, of course, for being awesome and as a final ROM release for some time to leave my warm yet loving bosom, I have to say the combination of the kernel and this build is quite possibly my best work yet. Never let it be said I bow out on a low note and don't give the community who have fed my ego and spurred me on since May what they need, deserve and hunger: ME on their phones. ;)

As usual, disclaimers, don't come crying to me if your phone blows up. There is a chance that the erm...persuasive nature in which I made this build may cause you a hiccup or two. Don't whine. Let the Villain team know and they can work on it. I'll be on hand to assist them with getting bug fixes out and making sure they're in good stead to keep releasing good ROMs for the future, or at least good enough that you don't miss me -too- much. :D

I am of course kidding with the self big upping here (the ROM is damn cool though kids, check it out), Villain is a great team, they did just fine before I came along and they'll continue to serve their community well with me on the sidelines while I hack away at bits of kernel code like a hermit.

So, enjoy. I hope this gives you guys as much fun and pleasure using as it did for me when I saw it come alive. Just don't be scared if it starts calling you Dave.

Ninpo/Hacre out, I leave you with breaking news from some guy called Lenny:

Oops, wrong Lenny:

I'd listen to him guys, Lenny is deadly serious.

Ciao!

EDIT: AAHAHAHAHAH apparently I broke the camera. Looking into it now!

EDIT2: 652MHz kernel removed due to some build issues.