Cyanogenmod 7.2 - Android 2.3.7

Last weekend I upgraded the software on my phone to Android 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) via Cyanogenmod 7.2.0 RC1. Thanks to the developers over at XDA-developers.com who keep cranking out updates for my old HTC Eris. I didn't plan on doing any more upgrades but after dropping my phone and having some issues with the photo gallery I decided it needed a refresh and that was an opportunity to try a newer build.

Rooted and Flashed

I finally went for it and rooted my HTC Eris and Flashed a new ROM  / Updated OS onto it last night! It turned out to be easier than expected.  I just downloaded the 1-click root app and installed it on my phone. Then downloaded the ROM I was interested in / had been following for a while.  Then copied the zip file to my phone, powered it off and rebooted it while holding the up volume and power button at the same time.  This gives you a menu for making backups, wiping the internal storage, & flashing a new ROM from the SD card.  After making a backup I wiped the internal storage, and flashed the new Android 2.2.1 Tazz Froyo build to the phone.  Now I'm wishing I had done this sooner!  The phone runs faster, is more responsive, and I have all the new features in 2.2 that I didn't have in 2.1.  Mainly voice commands, vastly improved battery life, moving apps to the SD card form the limited internal memory, Tethering, and improved features in many apps that weren't available in 2.1.  Since my phone is out of warranty and wasn't going to get any new OS updates from Verizon, this was my only option to get the new features until my contract runs out.

Now I can wait for the end of my contract and not be missing out on the new OS features.  I see 2.3 Gingerbread is already out and developers are making new builds.  In a few months I might try the new version!

Thinking about rooting my HTC Eris and installing Android 2.2

Reading recent posts on a Facebook fan page for the HTC Droid Eris.  A few people have rooted their phones and installed Android 2.2.  They claim better performance because they can over clock the processor and better batter life?  Of course these two things seem to be mutually exclusive.  So, I'm waiting to read more on others experiences.  I'm not having any issues with my phone so I guess I'm not as motivated as some of these other people.

I'll bet if the few that are claiming slow performance reset their phones to the factory settings and selectively reinstall some of the apps they use their problems would go away.

Battery Drain of my Android 2.1 Phone

The other night I went to bed as usual and put my phone on silent mode and left it by my night stand.  Usually in the morning I just switch it back to normal mode and the battery level is only slightly lower than when I went to bed.  Not much battery drain when the phone is not in use other than stand by mode.  This particular morning I got up and the phone was dead.  I plugged it in and was able to turn it on only to find the batter was completely drained!  This was a bit disturbing.  Especially since I use task killer and never leave background tasks running. I continued to experiment during the day with charging to see what was going on.  I couldn't get it to charge more than 1/3 the way.  So, I went to the Verizon store at lunch and asked them about it.  Their response was, "Oh, with those phones you have to take out the battery, wait a moment then re-insert the battery to "re-register" the battery with the phone."  While this sounded like bogus hokus pokus, I decided to give it a try.  The after noon went much the same.  The phone still would not charge.  After work I went back and they decided to give me a new battery.  Well that didn't seem to make much difference.  So, I searched for similar issues and found nothing that really matched this problem.  Finally I decided it was a software "glitch" and recorded all the apps I had installed and my screen layouts then went for the "Hard reset" option.  This resets the phone to the factory settings.  Then I had to reactivate the phone but that was automated OTA (over the air).  So I was able to re-download my apps and put back all my screen icons.  Once I logged back in to Google all my contacts, email, calendar, etc. came right back.  This step of Settings, Privacy, Factory data reset fixed my problem. By the way, HTC's site says the Factory data reset is under Settings, Security.  I'm sure this refers to Android 1.5 that was originally on the phone.

Droid Software Update!

My Droid Eris from Verizon Wireless just received the System update notice! The phone is downloading it now 77.7MB large over the air. Definitely seems like the Android OS update to 2.something. Probably 2.1. It appeared right after I plugged it into the charger. I wonder if that was a trigger for the update notice? or was it because it just rolled over to midnight. ;-) Only 2-3 bars but the download went pretty quick ~5 minutes or so.

The update is ready to install. Pressing the Restart & install button now!


I'll post more after the update is successful.

Ok, Expect about 1 - 1 1/2 hours to finish the update and recreate your screen layouts.  I had to place all the application shortcuts back on the various screens.  Google Voice wouldn't run after the update finished and the phone booted up.  However after I shutdown and re-started the phone all was back to working.

It did remember my Google account login and was able to re-sync all my email, contacts, favorites, etc with no problems.  Adding my office Google apps account as an additional email account was simple.  I updated about 4 apps to match the new OS version.  Navigation looks good and will easily replace my Garmin GPS I had for the car.  I finally get to try out Google Goggles, and Google Buzz as a native app!

Some things I've seen people having trouble with...
Before you install the update, it says some things will be reset to the defaults.  What I experienced is just my screen layouts or "scenes" were reset.  All my Google login information was retained so all I had to do was go to settings, Accounts & Sync and click Sync now.  Then all my contacts saved in my Google account re-synced to the phone.  My facebook, flickr, & twitter accounts also re-synced..  The toughest part was putting the icons back where I had them on the various screens.  This gave me the opportunity to re-think which icons I needed and I put some new ones from the 2.1 update on instead.

I guess there is a way to backup the "scenes". I think I saw an app for that.

I had to go to Settings and Personalize to reset my Home wallpaper and Lock screen wallpaper but the image I used was saved on the SD card with all my other photos, videos, and files, so it was easy to reset.

PS Remember to go to the market and under menu select downloads and check which of the apps you had installed now have updates.  There should be several to bring the apps up to compatibility with the 2.1 update.