To flash or not to flash...

[paul_o]

Hi All,

Before I get flamed - I have searched for some pointers!

Just taken delivery of a Vodafone V1615, having had a Hermes for a year and wondered how the ROMs I've seen on here compare to the stock operator ROM. I was happy to flash like a london pervert on the Hermes, but am slightly reluctant to frig this one too much if there is no discernable benefit.

Seen DuttyThroys comments on how difficult it is to cook ROMS so would welcome some solid guidance.

TIA

Paul

[rikgarner]

Hi Paul,
I pondered the same - for about 6 hours ;)

I decided to give it a shot, dumped the shipped ROM and rebuilt it as a backup in case it ever has to go back, and flashed to the HTC ROM. IMHO, the HTC ROM is more responsive than the one Orange ship, and I'm happy that its "How it was intended" when HTC designed the device. The UI is definitely nicer, and more in keeping with the colour scheme!

I decided not to flash the radio stack, just the OS, as I am hoping Orange customised the radio for best performance on their network, however if I start getting call dropouts or poor 3G performance, I will be flashing to the stock radio too.

If you feel happy about backing up the existing ROM so that you can go back to it, I say go for it :)

[rikgarner]

Almost forgot to mention...
If Voda are like Orange, your 1615 will be network locked. There are known issues with HTC stock ROM (I believe it to be only if you flash the radio stack, but don't quote me), whereby if the network lock is in place, you loose Phone functionality until its unlocked.

I suggest if you do go down this route and decide to flash, that you try another SIM beforehand so you can determine if it is network locked, and if so, pay Tupisdin a visit over at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=314547 for the relevant :)

[thickycat]

My UK v1615 wasn't SIM locked but that may have been luck of course... It's on a business account and Voda told me that it would be locked before it was sent (they sent four but I've only checked the one I had...) and they seemed surprised when I said my Orange card worked fine...