I humbly present to you the final chapter of the WildChild ROM trilogy.
WildChild 3 is here, and it's pretty cool, if I may say so myself.
Why is it cool?
Well, first of all, it's based on the native Sense 2.1 GUI and runs on Android "Gingerbread" 2.3.5. That means all the features of your phone are actually gonna work under this ROM (e.g. camera, proximity sensor, WiFi, etc.). I don't mean to slag CM7/CM9/ICS/JB, but when it comes to ROMs, I want one that fully exploits my phone, thank you very much.
That being said, this is very much a Sense-less ROM, so don't bother asking if your HTC Clock or <insert favourite Sense widget here> will work with WildChild 3. Chances are, it won't. Sense is stripped out in favour of speed and customization. I hope you find the trade-off as agreeable as I do. In typical WildChild fashion, this ROM is themed right down to the APK level and looks quite nice in both a black cocktail dress as well as ripped blue jeans. It blazes through benchmark tests; and is extremely stable - making WildChild 3 the perfect ROM for you and your loved ones. No animals were harmed (too badly) in the making of WildChild 3.
WildChild is dedicated to my two WildChilds: Joshua and Matteo.
- HTC Sense 2.1-based, with the Sense launcher+widgets removed.
- OS = Android "Gingerbread" 2.3.5.
- Based on latest European RUU - 2.26.401.3.
- Rooted, in case your mother asks.
- Latest BusyBox (v1.19.4)
- All APKs are ZipAligned. Your RAM says, "Thank you".
- Einstein Frat's "Dust v9.0" overclocked kernel.
(Please see the note about overclocked kernels in my FAQ Post #3, below.) - Adreno200 libs integrated.
- Lots of build.prop tweaks for speed and battery optimization.
- Removed A2SD (ROM is solely Link2SD now).
- Running the latest Nemus launcher (themed by me). This launcher has a task manager; the ability to organize your apps into folders; lock the layout of your home-screen icons; use any combination of [3|4|5] x [3|4|5] app drawer grid; and other wacky crap.)
- Some stock HTC APKs replaced with newer/more-efficient/prettier versions.
- Older, faster, Google Market (though you can easily flash the newer version).
- Old SMS text messaging (See above. Your precious screen space isn't wasted by those annoying text bubbles!).
- aCalendar replaces the stock HTC calendar. (supports repeating entries)
- All installed APK's are at the latest version (at the time this post was published).
- Wake the phone (from sleep mode) by using the volume rocker switch.
- WildChild 3.0 is fully modular and highly configurable. Just check the Add-On's section (Post #2, below) regularly.
- Stock keyboard & browser replaced (with TouchPal swype and Dolphin Mini, respectively).
- Rock Solid. Lots of stability improvements were made from WC2 to WC3. Hopefully, you will encounter NO force-closes and NO reboots when installing apps. I mean, you shouldn't have encountered those at all with WC2, but now even Chuck Norris can't break WC3.
Features unique to WildChild: - Beautifully and painstakingly themed, down to the app-level (hope ya like blue!)
- Modified SMS notification icon for task bar (the stock looked too much like the Email icon... not anymore!)
- Funky volume up/down indicator sounds.
- Font tweaks (the lockscreen clock is actually READABLE now).
- Almost 1MB of notification sounds (one can never have enough!)
- Better boot-up and boot-down animations than WildChild 2 (according to my wife, and she says she's never wrong... about anything.)
- Unique lockscreen created by Tigger31337: a ring of (Wild)fire against the setting moon.
- Well, I think this is unique to WildChild 3, 'cuz the actual read_ahead_kb buffer size is actually hard-coded to a value other than 128kB! (I haven't seen this done properly on ANY other ROM so far.) Lots of folks say to set it to 1 or 2 MB. I found 512kB worked nicely for our phone (and poorly at 1MB), but I'm all ears if you want this changed.
- Tested (and works flawlessly!) on Wildfire S GSM (Marvel a510e). Might work on CDMA; might not. Who the hell knows.
Just like his lazy, out-of-work brother, WildChild 2, WildChild 3 comes in 2 flavours: Odex and DeOdex.
I used to make a LITE and FULL version of WC2, but I'm not sure if I can deal with people asking me why Google accounts aren't synching with their LITE versions anymore, so I think I'll eliminate that hassle (or at least postpone it sufficiently).
For now, I'll stick with two flavours: Odex vs. DeOdex.
XDA Forums does a fantastic job of explaining the difference, so I won't do that here.
If in doubt (or extremely lazy and want to avoid reading) go for the Odex and enjoy the extra storage space.
- WC3 DeOdex ROM = 41.11 MB /data space available (easily more, once you start deleting apps) and 92 MB free on /system.
- WC3 Odex ROM = 88.11 MB /data space available and 67 MB free on /system.
WildChild 3 comes with the following applications already built-in:
- aCalendar
- Adobe Flash Player v11
- CalendarSnooze
- CPUSpy
- Dolphin Mini Browser
- DoodleDroid
- Flashlight
- GPSStatus
- Link2SD
- Nemus Launcher
- NoFrills CPU
- Notepad
- ROM Toolbox Lite
- Root Browser
- Scan (QR/Barcode)
- ScreenFilter
- Startup Manager
- SuperSU
- Terminal Emulator
- Titanium Backup Root
- TouchPal keyboard
- WiFi Analyzer (and libs)
- YouTube
PRE-INSTALLATION TASKS:
Before flashing WildChild 3.0, BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP.
There. I've said it three times, now. Any data you lose is, therefore, your own problem.
That being said, I've exhaustively tested the install of WildChild 3 under various test scenarios over the course of weeks -- haven't had a single glitch yet. You're in good hands.
Once you've got your stuff backed up, here's a tip to make your life easier. Assuming you are currently running a previous version of WildChild, hop into your Nemus launcher and take a BACKUP of your Homescreen setup. (Launcher Settings --> Other --> Backup & Restore). If you do this, you can then RESTORE your launcher settings after flashing WC3 and save time that could be better spent surfing for pornography.
INSTALLATION TASKS:
(You really should know these steps by now, but for tradition's sake...)
- Prepare and partition your SDCard. (Folks seem to enjoy a FAT32; a 1 or 2 GB ext4 (I use ext2); and a 512MB Linux Swap... in that order. And all partitions are Primary).
- Copy the WildChild ROM .zip file to your SDCard.
- Reboot into Recovery mode.
- Wipe data/factory reset. (Do this twice, especially if on CWM)
- Wipe Dalvik cache. (Twice, as above)
- "Install zip from SDCard".
- (You might have to toggle Signature Verification until it is Disabled)
- Read the ROM's splash screen and wait about 1 minute while it pollutes your phone.
- Reboot phone; wait another 2-3 mins while WC3 does its thang.
- When the lockscreen FiRE RiNG appears, yank it (uhmm, the ring, that is) and start using your phone!
- Enjoy! ...and throw a "Thanks" my way! ...a donation of buck or two for the WildChild Fund wouldn't hurt, either. (Please note: There is no such thing as the WildChild Fund. I will probably spend the cash on beer.)
So, you've bought into all the hype and finally threw WildChild 3 on your phone. Now what?
Well, for starters...
- If you took a Nemus backup prior to flashing WC 3.0, then now's a good time to restore it. It'll save you from recreating all your folders, shortcuts, and launcher preferences again.
- Launch SuperSU and update the binary (one-time task)
- Pick 'n Choose your apps! If there's something on this phone you don't like, it's easy to remove it. For USER apps, simply remove the app using your launcher. For SYSTEM apps, you can remove them using the built-in Link2SD app. If you're feeling especially adventurous, you may even try converting USER apps to SYSTEM apps (and vice versa), also by using Link2SD.
- Play with the Startup Manager. ROMs are not customized to YOUR personal usage habits, and WildChild is no exception. So spend a couple of minutes in the Startup Manager app and disable things you don't need from starting up automatically. (e.g. For me, it's ROM Toolbox, Titanium Backup, Market, Maps, and FM Radio.) This does not mean that you are deleting or disabling these apps... it just means you're preventing their receiver from launching automatically after bootup. In essence, you'll save RAM by disabling 'em.
- Move your apps with Link2SD! For the uninitiated, I highly recommend creating an extra partition on your SD card (say 1 or 2 GB) and then LINKING your large (or rarely used) apps over to the SD card. There are plenty of good articles written about this on XDA forums, so do yourself a favour and start using Link2SD regularly. (Although, I do not recommend using their "Auto Link" function, as this eats up about 10 MB RAM.)
Some tweaks to help with performance/battery-life: - OS Settings: Sounds: disable vibration feedback.
- OS Settings: Display: Disable Auto-rotate and then Disable All Animations (I disabled the CRT animation for WC3, anyway)
- OS Settings: Connect to PC: Disable "Ask me"
- OS Settings: Power: Disable Power Saver and Disable Fast Boot
- OS Settings: Language & Keyboard: (TouchPal) Disable Vibration on Type
- OS Settings: About Phone: Software Updates: Disable the Scheduled Check
- CPU Settings: Max = 768Mhz, Min = 122Mhz. Gov = Scary. You know I'm a fan of Scary. Nobody else even mentioned this governor for WFS until WildChild 2.0. Scary gives you a decent balance between performance and battery life (with priority on the latter). Set the scheduler to sio and you can't go wrong.
- Launcher Settings: Tweak these as you see fit. Most changes here are cosmetic, but some are performance-related. Take the time go go through each setting; you'll get more out of your phone.
p.s. You should know, Nemus laucher has a left/right-swipeable dock (the bottom "bar" where app shortcuts are held). That same dock is also up/down swipeable (for Lock settings). Just sayin'.
http://www.mediafire.com/?twt1uilj2co2qtm - WildChild 3.3 [De-Odex]
http://www.mediafire.com/?4kf2yb4r55ewg95 - WildChild 3.3 [Odex]
MD5 hashes:
WC33-DeOdex.zip :: c464e2daac752394d19244c5503fa6da
WC33-Odex.zip :: af4a938387d4662e5bd4180bba2d8b79
The Add-Ons got too big to share Post #1.
You can find them, sitting all smugly, in Post #2, below.
Also, be sure to check out the News & FAQ, regularly, over at Post #3.
Too much pressure to get this ROM uploaded... so screenshots have been neglected for now.
Check back soon. All I can offer is that, "it's pretty fuqn similar to WildChild 2.0, except a lot sexier". Enjoy.
[UPDATE]
KelvinWild has graciously supplied some in Post #19.
Thank you, sir.
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