Guide on Flashing and Installing Android Custom ROMs

What is a Custom ROM :

A ROM is the system which whenever you purchase an android device comes with it preinstalled.

Custom ROMs comes from third parties , individual group of people or a person . It might be either a unique modified OS or a stock version made available before the original one released . Sometimes it is made available for a certain device that the vendor does no longer have updates.

Flashing a Custom ROM:

Flashing your device means removing the system image which is likely saying messing with a Flashing memory. It’s dangerous and if not done properly your device might end up bricking (dead). Bythaway it’s pretty easy and it adds lots of features and tweaks on your device. Custom Roms Improve Performance, Speed, adds ability to install apps that might not be supported on official firmware, over clocking, custom app permission, Camera Enhancement and lots of more features

Steps to Install a Custom ROM:

Every device has its own way of flashing a ROM and depending on the device it could range from easy to difficult . lets summaries on some of the common steps that every android should go on flashing to installing.

Steps Summarized :

1 . Root an Android

2 . Flashing Recovery

3 . Finding your Device ROM

4. Installing a Custom ROM

Tip: It’s a Good Practice and very recommended to back up your android files and data before flashing a Custom ROM. ROM manager and Titanium backup are good tools for making full back up

1. Rooting Android.

Rooting your device gives you permission to flash a custom image file via system recovery image and install a custom rom. You can check on our guide rooting your android

2. Flashing Recovery

A recovery console is a bootable program that allows you to factory reset or restore the original OS version. To Flash a Custom ROM the device needs a custom recovery image. ClockworkMod Recovery is among best recovery images available over the market. It allows one to flash, wipe, reset, install system apps, partition your SD card etc. It is only possible to flash a custom recovery after the device is rooted.

Procedures of Flashing a Custom recovery Image

· Go to Google Play and Download and install ROM Manager

· Open ROM manager and select Flash ClockworkMod recovery

3. Finding Your Device ROM

Before downloading a ROM you might need to ask yourself some questions.

What kind of ROM do you need for your device?

Which version of the ROM you have and on what version you prefer your device to jump to.?

Know ROMs developer and which among them runs well on your device.

These questions can help you understand what exactly your device is missing and which kind of ROM will run well on your device .CyanogenMod , MIUI and Paranoid are well good known custom roms developers..I would suggest one to go for CM {CyanogenMod}.For a good reason they are faster and easy to use and they come from gingerbread (2.3.7) to JellyBean (4.2.2).

CyanogenMod is an aftermarket firmware for a number of cell phones based on the open-source Android operating system. It offers features not found in the official Android based firmwares of vendors of these cell phones

Finding a Custom Rom for your device needs a bit research which makes it tough sometimes. Most ROMs doesn’t have official websites and they are usual posted on forums,blogs or individual websites which can be a bit difficult to locate. They are lots of ways you can use to search for an appropriate rom for your device.

Using Search Engines

Yahoo, Google etc. can help you find a custom rom for any device

You can just type ‘YOUR_PHONE_MODEL CUSTOM ROM ‘.

XDA Forum. a biggest android forum. there you will find Custom ROMS and learn a lot on flashing and installation of roms. go there and search for your device model.

Check on this list of custom roms at Unlocker for various devices..

Guidelines on choosing an appropriate ROM

· Make sure the ROM has been developed specific only for your device model

· Developer has claimed it working with no bugs/errors when installed

· Look and read for what people have posted about the ROM whether it’s in a forum or blog

· Be sure to download the latest and of cause the stable version if available

· If the ROM is working with few bugs mentioned normally by the developer. Be sure there are not harmless for you device and they have solutions for bugs mentioned

Tip : Samsung Galaxy S5830 is not the same as Samsung Galaxy S5830i. be sure to look for a ROM which has been developed exactly for your device model.

4. Flashing and Installing a ROM.

After you have downloaded a ROM for your device. Place it on your SD card. You can use either of this 2 methods

Restart your phone in recovery mode.

Restarting a phone into recovery mode is usually performed by using a combination of certain keys on your device { eg .pressing volume up, end call and power} which can be different depending on the phone model. Instruction on restarting a phone into recovery mode can be easily found either by Google them or at XDA forum on a thread about your device

Using ROM Manager

Using ROM Manager is much more easily. It gives you a clear UI and faster options to back up and Installing a ROM

Open ROM Manager navigate to

Back up Current ROM . Then do the back up

Then select Install ROM from SD card and choose the ROM you downloaded follow the onscreen instruction and after you are sit back and leave the rest to the engine . It will restart the phone into recovery mode and install the ROM you have selected. Installing usual takes 5-10 minutes. wait for the installation to finish and restart you phone .

Conclusion:

If you have successfully followed me from the begin. You will now have a clue on how you can flash and install an Android Custom ROM . However this is just a general guideline, other devices could take more steps than those I have mentioned here . I would suggest you to read more on android articles over the web. XDA forum is one stop solution for android devices so be sure to visit it .

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