[Guide][FAQ][UPDATED] Don't know about something? check this out first

To make Pico general section free of multiple reptitive questions i decided to make a FAQ thread

1). Can i root my phone?

Yes you can if you unlocked your bootloader
refer to this tutorial for reference

2a). What can i benefit from rooting my device?

For basic users, Root gives us a privilege to use apps that require root like titanium backup, rootexplorer and the likes. Root can also give you the ability to use CWM recovery and install custom roms

2b). Is there a downside to rooting?

yes, for one you may loose your warranty for unlocking your bootloader. you may also have a very slim chance (like 1%) in bricking your phone if you dont know what you are doing

3). What is ROM?

It's like Windows in android.without a rom your phone is good as brick.

4.). What is CWM and Custom ROM?

A custom rom is a modified form of the rom that was given to us by htc. a few examples of this are CM roms, AOKP roms,PA roms,PAC-roms, Sense-Based CWM is short for clockworkmod recovery it's a tool use to install custom roms, patches.

5). What is this CM/AOKP/PA/PAC/SENSE your talking about?

CM is short for CyanogenMod, CM gives its user vanilla android experience (which is only present in nexus devices) at the same time more options and customization available there are 4 versions so far CM6(not available for explorer)(froyo 2.2.x),CM7(Gingerbread 2.3.x),CM9(Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.x)and CM10(Jellybean 4.1- 4.2)

AOKP is short for Android Open Kang Project, AOKP brings user MORE goodies than CM gives and it also gives the user Vanilla android experience.

PA is Short for Paranoid Android, Also like CM but it gives you unique Tablet UI (phone will look like a tablet) for your device even though it's just a phone.

PAC is combined PA, AOKP, CM. It gives the combined features of the 3

Lastly, Sense based rom are roms that are based from stock rom (with htc ui) or some are ported from other device

6). How to install one of this rom

Look for the rom that you think you like in android development section and follow the instruction given by the developer

7). So which of them is the best?

Try them all and don't compare roms people have their own preferences. when you compare roms some devs may feel bad and leave this device for good.

part 2:

1). My Device has very little amount of memory space available,how to increase memory?

there are various scripts in the forum to increase internal memory i'll give you some
this one or this one

2). Is overclocking the device possible?

for CM7/9 there is a kernel that support overclocking but i dont think its possible yet for CM10

3). Is Offline Charging for custom roms possible? (charging on plug while phone is off)

for now i haven't seen a rom or kernel that supports it (not sure about stock rom)

4). What is S-off
S-OFF means that the NAND portion of the device is unlocked and can be written to. In other words more options will be available once s-off is attained

5). So is S-Off Possible for HTC explorer?

As of now not yet but some people are trying to work on it

6). so what is a kernel anyway?

it's the medium through which the hardware part of the phone "talks" to the software side of the phone basically,like a translator of some sort. without the kernel a rom would never run

7). where can i get those kernels?

it's built in inside the rom you downloaded but you can try other kernels which other devs made by flashing them through the recovery
8). are all kernels compatible to my rom??

the answer is no, because some kernel were made for ics and not for gb, same goes for Jb kernel to Gb or Jb kernel to ICS so basically they are not interchangeable but there maybe kernels that can be compatible to both ICS/Jb because both versions were a little similar

9). so what's the best kernel??

again, the answer is dont compare them, but it's better not to touch the kernel because the developer of the rom has made the kernel in harmony with the rom. changing kernel may cause the rom to give unusual errors or problems

PS: If i made a mistake in the thread please feel free to tell me
I'll update the the thread whenever there's a new questions
Suggestions are accepted

it was just an example i posted those 2 since they were the first one i saw when i was typing

xpmode said:

There was never a true overclock for Explorer.

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well if i'm not mistaken cranium kernel did have overclock

vimjam said:

nice thread +1

suggestion : you can add a bit info about kernels

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will do that

UPDATE

new information has been added

overclocking can fry your phone so its not recommeneded to be used

Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

shubhambhutani1 said:

Please suggest a way to install play store again... i installed and tried some custom roms... and made a backup of the stock rom using cwm recovery... but when i restored the stock rom...the playstore is missing.. please help..

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put phonesky.apk to system/app via root explorer

phonesky.apk can be downloaded in Themes/apps section check my index for easy find

Fas1h said:

Next can somebody PLEASE write out a thread outlining the benefits of an appropriate topic, or maybe a "A dummy's guide to composing a topic" maybe or "Do's and Dont's of topic composing".

Searching the forum can only prove to be beneficial IF the freaking threads have a TOPIC which gives an idea of the content!

Oh btw, this had nothing to do with either the OP or any post here just a general observation and the main reason of my cussing constantly while browsing these forums.

EDIT: I wanted to post it here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1970184 but sadly that topic is closed and this seemed like the next best place.

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will start doing this thanks for the suggestion