Best Rom to update Nook Color???

[bobsilver]

Yes I am still reading the thread. Glad so many have found it useful.

I have been running UD 3.2.1. the past few days and was really happy with it. It has many great features that make it almost seem that it was built for a tablet. You Tube app doesnt work but most everything else does. I really liked a lot in this ROM. The install is simple so I would suggest everyone give it a whirl. My biggest issue was battery life. It was horrible. Like 4-5 hours tops. It may be a unique issue to me so dont take this as a definite fault in the rom.

I just restored my Froyo 668 which was I like a lot too. (want to see if my battery life goes back to normal) Only issue is the wifi which if you use Regpon wifi app keeps it alive with minimal battery hit. Based on my experiences to date my UD Gingerbread was best with Froyo 668 second. I really did not like the Phiremod beta 2 much. Dont know why so many like it though. For me had too many compromises.

Given the CM7 Nightly comment I may go that way next. Things I really like with Froyo 668 and UD is that I did not have to reformat my emmc. Could use the standard CWR for installs, backups and restores. Really easy. So much so that you can run a different rom on a whim! How great is that!

BTW I also own an ipad which I also like a lot. But the NC is more fun because it is more interesting with all these mods. Just a great toy which I can read books on too!

Bob Silver

 

[AnimaTechnica]

ditto here, i picked up another nook from craigslist and so now have 2 to play with - i set one with in phiremod 5.1 and the other with CM7 - i like CM7 for the fact that it continously improved, the upgrade process to a new nightly is very easy - takes less than 2 minutes - i do like to have the option to watch videos - so while not perfect, youtube and flash playback is usable, the bluetooth is awesome as well - i just ordered a bluetooth gps for $35 and will be testing that once it comes in

the phiremod - love the animated transitions so far - same comments on the annoyances, will be playing with it a bit more to get a better feel

so for now CM7 is it for me

CM7 nightlies
Mostly because it is the most advanced, full features and the closest thing to plain vanilla Android.
Bluetooth, built in oc kernal, video/DSP is almost there, and it is fast, really fast. Great battery life, I get 10+hrs depending on settings. I have also been running CM ROMs on my Aria since I rooted it last summer so I know my way around. I have CM7n on that as well.

The Nightly Update Bot is up and almost worry free so updates/notifications/downloads are largely automated at this point. It works for me anyway.

Plus it just keeps getting better.......

every night.

 

[faceman]

I am running CM7 with latest nightly myself, and have my wife on the stock B&N. I like to tinker and don't mind flashing, upgrading, and of course restoring when I break something. She likes to read, play games and not mess with things. So together we cover the simple to the extreme.

 

[bobsilver]

OK I just loaded up CM7 latest build. See how it goes. Obviously a lot like UD since they are based on the same. As a starting point I like UD much better but I am getting CM7 near that. Havnt come across anything terribly odd other then YouTube app not working and the lock screen isnt formated properly (the unlock widget).

How do you get the bluetooth working? I havnt spent any time looking this up yet. Has anyone gotten it to work with headphones??

Found this on BT. Havnt tried it yet but seems to work for others.

Rom Manager>Fix Permissions>Hard Reboot-In other words when the dialog window pops up and says"you should reboot your phone now" hold down the power button until the NC powers down, don't tap "reboot now". Then boot back up and try the BT straight away. Always works for me.

OK got BT working. You CANNOT use the 1.1ghz overclock kernel. Kills BT. Reflashed without kernel and BT works. Problem now is very limited range. But it works as it should with my BT stereo headphones. Now to increase the range!!

 

[arus]

Yes I am still reading the thread. Glad so many have found it useful.

I have been running UD 3.2.1. the past few days and was really happy with it. It has many great features that make it almost seem that it was built for a tablet. You Tube app doesnt work but most everything else does. I really liked a lot in this ROM. The install is simple so I would suggest everyone give it a whirl. My biggest issue was battery life. It was horrible. Like 4-5 hours tops. It may be a unique issue to me so dont take this as a definite fault in the rom.

I just restored my Froyo 668 which was I like a lot too. (want to see if my battery life goes back to normal) Only issue is the wifi which if you use Regpon wifi app keeps it alive with minimal battery hit. Based on my experiences to date my UD Gingerbread was best with Froyo 668 second. I really did not like the Phiremod beta 2 much. Dont know why so many like it though. For me had too many compromises.

Given the CM7 Nightly comment I may go that way next. Things I really like with Froyo 668 and UD is that I did not have to reformat my emmc. Could use the standard CWR for installs, backups and restores. Really easy. So much so that you can run a different rom on a whim! How great is that!

BTW I also own an ipad which I also like a lot. But the NC is more fun because it is more interesting with all these mods. Just a great toy which I can read books on too!

Bob Silver

ditto here, i picked up another nook from craigslist and so now have 2 to play with - i set one with in phiremod 5.1 and the other with CM7 - i like CM7 for the fact that it continously improved, the upgrade process to a new nightly is very easy - takes less than 2 minutes - i do like to have the option to watch videos - so while not perfect, youtube and flash playback is usable, the bluetooth is awesome as well - i just ordered a bluetooth gps for $35 and will be testing that once it comes in

the phiremod - love the animated transitions so far - same comments on the annoyances, will be playing with it a bit more to get a better feel

so for now CM7 is it for me

I am running CM7 with latest nightly myself, and have my wife on the stock B&N. I like to tinker and don't mind flashing, upgrading, and of course restoring when I break something. She likes to read, play games and not mess with things. So together we cover the simple to the extreme.

OK I just loaded up CM7 latest build. See how it goes. Obviously a lot like UD since they are based on the same. As a starting point I like UD much better but I am getting CM7 near that. Havnt come across anything terribly odd other then YouTube app not working and the lock screen isnt formated properly (the unlock widget).

How do you get the bluetooth working? I havnt spent any time looking this up yet. Has anyone gotten it to work with headphones??

Thanks for your comments!
It seems that everyone is moving toward CM biulds at the end... as far as have seen it seems that they will soon have a FULL RELEASE =)

I will give a try to Phiremod Beta 2 and Froyo First, before trying CM... thanks for all insights !!!

 

[oldweasel]

Thanks for the updates everyone - any word on how close CM 7 is to a full RC?

 

[AnimaTechnica]

primary directive from the CM team - do not ask for a ETA - it is done when it is done -

to me CM7 nightly 23 is almost there - all my other needs have been met

my short list needs:
sending and receiving text messages - using pinger/textfree
gps for location based apps like zagat nru, aloqa - using tethergps on my nook and droid phone
navigation - using google as well as copilot - also using tethergps - waiting for a bluetooth gps to arrive - picked one up for $35
watching videos - can do this with stock player and videos loaded into SD card, works ok (low but acceptable) frame rate with videos on youtube, livestream, vimeo - note the playback improved when using a stereo bluetooth headset
bluetooth - picked up a motorola S9 bluetooth headset - now i can listen to music and also videos magically play smoothly when using a bluetooth stereo hadset
reading - nook app installs -no issue
news aggregator - pulse works beautifully
forum reader - tapatalk and androidtablet apps work

Thanks for the updates everyone - any word on how close CM 7 is to a full RC?

 

[bobsilver]

I have now installed CM7 nightly and Phiremod V5.1. Installed CM7 yesterday and repaced it with Phiremod V5.1 today. First off I want everyone to know that it is no more difficult to install these ROMs than any others. I have been reading and reading on the forums and had feared using these. It is as simple as creating the properCWR sd card with the current CWR on it and coping the files to the cards and then flashing like you would any other. There are plenty of instructions on how to do this so I wont go into it now. But I wanted those who like me was somewhat fearful to know it is as easy as any other flashing you may have done.

So my findings. CM7 is very nice but bare. You have to build it up yourself by adding GAPPS and then configuring it to your taste. No biggie just more time. It has the same feel to it as I had from UD 3.2.1 which is built on this. So if you want a pure Gingerbread experience then I would so go for it. I had no issues with it other then the YouTube app. But flash works fine in the browser so you give up little.

Today I loaded up Phiremod V5.1. Same install process as CM7. In fact they sit on the same sd card. Phiremod is more complete so it feels more done then CM7. It also sets up nicely with some animations which are nice and loads with some key and useful apps. Install was the same as CM7 so no change but the set up instructions are more thorough on Phiremod so that was helpful.

Leveraging the power of Titanium Backup was/is incredibly useful. It basically backs up and saves your apps and settings. This allows you to flash a new ROM and have it completely set up with your apps in minutes. Very cool.

Both ROMs come with ADW which I hate. But I had backed up Launcher Pro with Titanium so after my restore my Launcher Pro was there are ready to go with all my apps loaded on the desktop. It does not restore widgets though.

So my experience with UD, CM7 and Phiremod 5.1 has all been very smooth and positive. I would not hesitate to suggest to folks to give them a try. The thing I need to find out was I had really high battery drain on UD (could be because I installed SetCPU which none of these ROMs like. Dont do it). So I cant comment on that yet since I only have them running for hours now days yet.

But my message is give them a try. They all work well and are in my opinion much better then that stock sw. Yes you give up the BN specific functions (but that is true with all except the AutoNootered roots) but that wasnt important to me. If you want an Android tablet this is the way to go.

On another note I did get Bluetooth working. It works as it should software wise. But the radio range is very poor. I got my headphones paired and all the functions work but the phones and the NC need to be inches apart. Really not useful. Have no idea if that will ever be better but I am impressed none the less the guys got it to work in the 1st place.

 

[oldweasel]

Thanks and understood, was just curious since they have RC2 out for the droid, didn't know if NC builds worked on the same RC base =D.

Bob, not sure if you play any games, but have you had any apps "lock up" on you after your MOD installs? For some reason on HC and CM7 my angry birds will freeze completely / FC after 10 - 20 seconds of gameplay, any similar experiences with the ROMs you've tried?

 

[bobsilver]

Anima, Your comment on.........bluetooth - picked up a motorola S9 bluetooth headset - now i can listen to music and also videos magically play smoothly when using a bluetooth stereo hadset

What range are you getting on Bluetooth??? My NC has a range of about 1ft to my headphones and if I turn my head it cuts out.

 

[bobsilver]

Bob, not sure if you play any games, but have you had any apps "lock up" on you after your MOD installs? For some reason on HC and CM7 my angry birds will freeze completely / FC after 10 - 20 seconds of gameplay, any similar experiences with the ROMs you've tried?

Havnt tried playing games yet. I just checked to see if they load full screen or not. With CM7, Phiremod UD some apps think it is a phone and only display a small screen. Mint is a good example. On Eclair or Froyo displays full screen. Gingerbread a small phone screen. That really annoys me. Probably the biggest dislike I have so far.

 

[oldweasel]

Bob, not sure if you play any games, but have you had any apps "lock up" on you after your MOD installs? For some reason on HC and CM7 my angry birds will freeze completely / FC after 10 - 20 seconds of gameplay, any similar experiences with the ROMs you've tried?

Havnt tried playing games yet. I just checked to see if they load full screen or not. With CM7, Phiremod UD some apps think it is a phone and only display a small screen. Mint is a good example. On Eclair or Froyo displays full screen. Gingerbread a small phone screen. That really annoys me. Probably the biggest dislike I have so far.

Can you link to the froyo build you used? Did it come with the market?

 

[AnimaTechnica]

i have used it as far as 2 feet away, haven't tested farther yet - no issues - now the only problem i had was it took a few tries to get them paired and connected - but that might be an issue with the headset-android combo as it had the same problem when i tried to connect it to my droid - but having said that, no issues whatsoever when connecting with my ipod touch

and correction it is a motorola S20HD headeset

Update: tested it some more - uninterrupted audio play up to 4 feet

Anima, Your comment on.........bluetooth - picked up a motorola S9 bluetooth headset - now i can listen to music and also videos magically play smoothly when using a bluetooth stereo hadset

What range are you getting on Bluetooth??? My NC has a range of about 1ft to my headphones and if I turn my head it cuts out.

 

[bobsilver]

i have used it as far as 2 feet away, haven't tested farther yet - no issues - now the only problem i had was it took a few tries to get them paired and connected - but that might be an issue with the headset-android combo as it had the same problem when i tried to connect it to my droid - but having said that, no issues whatsoever when connecting with my ipod touch

and correction it is a motorola S20HD headeset

Update: tested it some more - uninterrupted audio play up to 4 feet

Wow I am envious. I have 3 sets of BT heaphones. Tried Sony and Smasung with exactly the same results. About 1 foot range. Pairing was fine. Paired like it should. How is the audio quality with music? Mine sounds very poor. I know it's not the headsets since they sound great on my iphone.

Bob

 

[bobsilver]

Can you link to the froyo build you used? Did it come with the market?

I used the Froyo 6.6.8 build for emmc. There is a version for SD card as well. And since I had installed it there has been updates to fix some of the initial install issues I ran into.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=938200

But at this time I would say I am happiest with Phiremod 5.1. Gingerbread has both soft menu and back keys built in which solves many issues on the NC. Personally Id say start there. But the journey is the reward here.

bob