[HTC Inspire 4G] baronmax:
I am very very new to this whole android modding thing. I've used linux for many years, so I'm accustomed to command lines (I usually prefer them for most things) and not-so-friendly user interfaces (although linux has gotten much better in the recent years).

The reason I'm posting is because I have some uber noob questions that I didn't see answered elsewhere in the thread.

1) I recently used bubby323's simple root and S-Off method of rooting my phone, I followed the directions and everything worked perfectly. I have su permissions, clockworkmod, rom manager and the other stuff that came with that 1-click application. My question is... is my phone ready for the CoreDroid ROM? I mean do I need to do anything else to my phone in preparation?

2) I should have S-Off from the 1-click app mentioned above, but I keep seeing people refer to ENG S-Off for this particular ROM. Will my regular S-Off work or do I need to get the engineering s-off?

3) What about kernels? Does this come with an upgraded kernel or do I need to flash it after/before I flash the rom? Essentially what I want is a phone that allows me to over/underclock, FREE wi-fi tethering, increased speaker volume (man, that SUCKS on the inspire 4g that they allowed it to ship with such a junky speaker, or low volume sound), auto-brightness, ability to theme, and no ads. Is there anything which can give me all those things at once?

4) Functionality is paramount! I can't lose my GPS, ability to make/receive/hear callers, wi-fi, HSUPA+ (or whatever is fastest that AT&T is coming out with this month), adequate battery life and other basic smartphone functions. What will I lose by upgrading to CoreDroid 4G?

5) Can I use ROMManager to do the install? There's an option to download ROMs and it has the 3.1, 3.11 and 3.2 themed and non-themed CoreDroid ROMs listed. It would make things mighty easy if I could just let ROMManager do it for me. OR, should I do it the old fashioned way, like is listed in the first (or second) post of the thread where I download the .zip, move it to the phone and then use ROMmanager to install it?

6) I have been reading through the thread page by page and I still have quite a few to go, but are there any pitfalls I should watch out for that aren't covered in the thread? I will, of course, finish reading all 86 pages before I do the upgrade, just so I know all the possible outcomes. Information is power!

7) Why in the world aren't there people out there who do this kind of stuff for others? I mean like someone I could send my phone to and they could get all this stuff working properly for me? There are probably a lot of new Android users who would be willing to pay for such services rather than take the chance of bricking their phone. Even though I'm comfortable in modding computers, smartphones are a whole other beast...I was scared to death that I was gonna find a way to brick my phone while I was doing bubby's 1-click root/s-off. ;)

I would like to thank everyone here who puts their phones on the line and uses their own personal time to help others. Things like this, where folks are willing to help others just because they CAN, restores my faith in humanity little by little. I remember back in the early days of linux, a lot of people were rather snobbish when it came to helping others, as if their knowledge was too precious to share and I think this is one of the reasons it's taken linux so long to be adopted by a larger audience. It's a shame too because Windows doesn't hold a candle to Linux when it comes to stability, security and the ability to make it do whatever you need it to do.

I really wish I had the money to fund a place like this, to pay people to work on such things full time, because what the devs are doing here is nothing short of

amazing.

So thank you all so much!

Also, thanks in advance for any replies to this post and anyone who tries to help me make sense of all this. I appreciate it more than words can express. :)