Best ROM for S4 Mini?

[Aztek92]

Hi, im using CM13, moved from stock rom kitkat 4.4 few months ago. After that time of using cm13 im kinda tired of how unstable it is, on the same time i dont want to go back to stock rom, which seemed to be fat and had a lot of issues as well (bugged front camera for example, sd card issues).
Actually everything worked 'fine' untill last snapshot, that ****ed everything up. Battery is super low (not lasting whole day, at night it drops for ~20%, used to 5% - i callibrated it), phone is randomly restarting and when that happens i cant turn it on, cuz it often stucks on lockscreen (in other word, i cant unlock phone after restart) and need to restart again and again and again (it takes sometimes 30min to make it work). And even before that update it didn't support NFC.

So, here i am, saying 'enough' and looking for best rom for Samsung S4 Mini. Hoping that it will be Android 6 that won't make any conflict with Xposed framework.

 

[IronRoo]

Hi, im using CM13, moved from stock rom kitkat 4.4 few months ago. After that time of using cm13 im kinda tired of how unstable it is, on the same time i dont want to go back to stock rom, which seemed to be fat and had a lot of issues as well (bugged front camera for example, sd card issues).
Actually everything worked 'fine' untill last snapshot, that ****ed everything up. Battery is super low (not lasting whole day, at night it drops for ~20%, used to 5% - i callibrated it), phone is randomly restarting and when that happens i cant turn it on, cuz it often stucks on lockscreen (in other word, i cant unlock phone after restart) and need to restart again and again and again (it takes sometimes 30min to make it work). And even before that update it didn't support NFC.

So, here i am, saying 'enough' and looking for best rom for Samsung S4 Mini. Hoping that it will be Android 6 that won't make any conflict with Xposed framework.

You must have had a bad install as I've not heard of anyone else with those sorts of issues. Though it could be an incompatible app or bad/old data etc Z you might want to ry fixing first eg wiping all app data or factory reset or fresh install (backup your files first )

Sent from my Galaxy S4 Mini using XDA Labs

 

[Aztek92]

@IronRoo
Ok, i will try.
1. What about NFC? Can it be something about bad install? Does it work for you?
2. That thing about battery - im not sure. I saw someone with same issue on reddit.
3. I flashed TWRP via Heimdall Suite, not Odin. Could it be an issue? Do i have to flash it again to maybe fix something? Or having TWRP there, working is enough? Do i have to update recovery to one that came with snapshot? https://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=serrano3gxx

 

[IronRoo]

@IronRoo
Ok, i will try.
1. What about NFC? Can it be something about bad install? Does it work for you?
2. That thing about battery - im not sure. I saw someone with same issue on reddit.
3. I flashed TWRP via Heimdall Suite, not Odin. Could it be an issue? Do i have to flash it again to maybe fix something? Or having TWRP there, working is enough? Do i have to update recovery to one that came with snapshot? https://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=serrano3gxx

1. I see from your link you have the 3g version of the mini, I didn't think that one supports NFC, only the LTE (I9195) has it I think. As NFC needs the right hardware you won't be able to get it. But I don't have the 3g version so I'm not 100% certain if it has support or not.

2. Ii don't think the battery is related to CM13 directly otherwise there would be lots of people with the issue. What is the exact date of the snapshot? There was one that had battery issue but they updated it a few days later is it definitely 20160820 and not the one from a few days before you are running?

Else: If there any app showing high battery usage that doesn't normally? Or is there a problem white a wakelock? You can install an app like Trepn that will show you apps with high cpu usage (even when they are showing in about the usual place in battery stats, my browser recently locked into some sort of loop and was using a high % of cpu occasionally)

3. Always possible but unlikely it's due to Heimdal flash. TWRP should do fine. More likely the wrong Gapps causing instability, you should be on Open Gapps 6 for CM13

Sent from my Galaxy S4 Mini using XDA Labs

 

[Aztek92]

@IronRoo
1. Yes, it was supported on stock rom, it's gone now. By the way, im not sure if i really have GT-I9190, since there are parts in my device with name of I9195, also it's called I9195 when booting (but i guess that's just recovery). Cyanogenmod doesn't allow mi to install I9195 (ltexx) roms, saying it's 3gxx device. Then again, when it comes to firmware, there is nothing for my country. Seems like I9190 is only for ~south america or something. No problem finding ROM for poland in I9195 tho.
2. I have 20160820 snapshot, updated from previous one - 20160816. That's where things went wrong. On 20160418 everything (besides NFC) was working fine. Since then battery turned into garbage. At the beggining i thought that it was about Pokemon Go, that has big need for battery. Nonetheless, when i stopped playing it turned out that battery is pretty low on that snapshot. I recallibrated it, but that doesn't help. I had an issue, when battery was droping about 40% in a minute or two. https://www.dropbox.com/s/6oc4yyd1f44pfe7/2016-09-01 14.03.36.png?dl=0
3. Should i check 'update recovery along with cm'? I don't know how it will work.
4. And i forgot - everytime i turn on the phone there is notification that system stopped working. Clicking OK or Wait solves the problem (ofc when its not stuck on lockscreen). That probably is leading me to format and install clean system from new snapshot i guess.
5. Btw. Do i need to format something beside Cache, Data and System for a clean install? Im asking, cuz at some point i tried to install stock rom, but it was stuck on booting, so i restore the backup of CM. This time i will probably wipe internal storage, since i installed a lot of apps, there is probably a lot of junk left.

Thx for helping btw c:

edit. I just installed SlimKat for GT-I9195, worked like a charm, NFC was working as well. Now i reinstalled CM13, clean install of 20160820 (3gxx)- we will see how it will work. Still NFC is not working and notifictation 'process system stopped working' is still there.

 

[IronRoo]

@IronRoo
1. Yes, it was supported on stock rom, it's gone now. By the way, im not sure if i really have GT-I9190, since there are parts in my device with name of I9195, also it's called I9195 when booting (but i guess that's just recovery). Cyanogenmod doesn't allow mi to install I9195 (ltexx) roms, saying it's 3gxx device. Then again, when it comes to firmware, there is nothing for my country. Seems like I9190 is only for ~south america or something. No problem finding ROM for poland in I9195 tho.
2. I have 20160820 snapshot, updated from previous one - 20160816. That's where things went wrong. On 20160418 everything (besides NFC) was working fine. Since then battery turned into garbage. At the beggining i thought that it was about Pokemon Go, that has big need for battery. Nonetheless, when i stopped playing it turned out that battery is pretty low on that snapshot. I recallibrated it, but that doesn't help. I had an issue, when battery was droping about 40% in a minute or two. https://www.dropbox.com/s/6oc4yyd1f44pfe7/2016-09-01 14.03.36.png?dl=0
3. Should i check 'update recovery along with cm'? I don't know how it will work.
4. And i forgot - everytime i turn on the phone there is notification that system stopped working. Clicking OK or Wait solves the problem (ofc when its not stuck on lockscreen). That probably is leading me to format and install clean system from new snapshot i guess.
5. Btw. Do i need to format something beside Cache, Data and System for a clean install? Im asking, cuz at some point i tried to install stock rom, but it was stuck on booting, so i restore the backup of CM. This time i will probably wipe internal storage, since i installed a lot of apps, there is probably a lot of junk left.

Thx for helping btw c:

edit. I just installed SlimKat for GT-I9195, worked like a charm, NFC was working as well. Now i reinstalled CM13, clean install of 20160820 (3gxx)- we will see how it will work. Still NFC is not working and notifictation 'process system stopped working' is still there.

edit: see arco's reply below,

The 3g CM ROM will not have the NFC code I guess

No do not check "update recovery" as you might lose your current recovery

gotta go get my son now!

Sent from my Galaxy S4 Mini using XDA Labs

 

[arco68]

@IronRoo
1. Yes, it was supported on stock rom, it's gone now. By the way, im not sure if i really have GT-I9190, since there are parts in my device with name of I9195, also it's called I9195 when booting (but i guess that's just recovery). Cyanogenmod doesn't allow mi to install I9195 (ltexx) roms, saying it's 3gxx device. Then again, when it comes to firmware, there is nothing for my country. Seems like I9190 is only for ~south america or something. No problem finding ROM for poland in I9195 tho.

Turn off your phone. Remove the back cover and then the battery. On the white sticker the model number is printed. If it says GT-I9195, then you have the wrong recovery installed, since you say it says it's a 3gxx device when installing ltexx roms.

 

[IronRoo]

Turn off your phone. Remove the back cover and then the battery. On the white sticker the model number is printed. If it says GT-I9195, then you have the wrong recovery installed, since you say it says it's a 3gxx device when installing ltexx roms.

Thanks Arco!

(I was trying to say toggle the "signature verification" option but that could lead to more problems if he has the wrong recovery!)

Sent from my Galaxy S4 Mini using XDA Labs

 

[Aztek92]

Yup, its GT-I9195, maybe that's from all the problems comes, wrong rom, wrong recovery. I feel kinda dumb, that i didn't check under battery before, sorry for that.
I have work to do today i guess.

 

[Aztek92]

@IronRoo @arco68
Ok, few days into right and stable CM13. It's working ultra nice
Battery is still an issue here (again dropped ~30% in a minute), but i guess at this point its hardware problem. Maybe i screwed it with my powerbank.

Btw. Im kinda supprised that system let me install wrong recovery... and the wrong recovery didn't let me install right rom

 

[thewild]

@IronRoo @arco68
Ok, few days into right and stable CM13. It's working ultra nice
Battery is still an issue here (again dropped ~30% in a minute), but i guess at this point its hardware problem. Maybe i screwed it with my powerbank.

Btw. Im kinda supprised that system let me install wrong recovery... and the wrong recovery didn't let me install right rom

Hi, sorry for bringing up this somehow old thread, but I have the exact same battery issue on my wife's serranoltexx.
I just installed CM13 on her phone, and after a reboot battery dropped from 40% to 5%. This happened twice, so no coincidence here.
Have you found where the problem came for ? Was your battery dead or have you found a fix ?

Also, I have seen your post about sview cover, very interesting. Will try it out tonight !

 

[Aztek92]

Hi, no worries
No, I didn't find an issue sadly - just like i said before, changing recovery and rom to correct version didn't help. I tried everything at this point, i recalibrated battery like 10 times to be sure, but it still likes to drop madly. For now im just trying to stay above 50%, but (don't take it wrong) im glad im not only one with issue Maybe someone who knows a thing or two about it will be interested in it.

Thanks about S-view. It's really more like noob-geeky-style solution, but it did work for me If you will have any problem, we will try to fix it

 

[thewild]

Hi, no worries
No, I didn't find an issue sadly - just like i said before, changing recovery and rom to correct version didn't help. I tried everything at this point, i recalibrated battery like 10 times to be sure, but it still likes to drop madly. For now im just trying to stay above 50%, but (don't take it wrong) im glad im not only one with issue Maybe someone who knows a thing or two about it will be interested in it.

Thanks about S-view. It's really more like noob-geeky-style solution, but it did work for me If you will have any problem, we will try to fix it

Thanks for your answer !
If changing ROM and calibrating did not help, then I guess it's a hardware problem. That was my first thought when I saw this drop yesterday and I already told my wife that we'll have to buy a new one. Cheers to Samsung for building phones with replaceable batteries !

Even a geeky workaround for the sview cover might suit her needs. I think she just wants to check the time and her notifications with the cover on, I don't think she even needs to answer calls (she said it never worked for her, a touchscreen sensitivity issue I believe).
If she doesn't like it, I still have the possibility to downgrade her to CM11. It seems that sview worked fine on this release. And I'm sure she won't mind kitkat as she's not as geeky as I can be

 

[kennyk09]

I've been using CM13 nightly (latest) for 4 days or so.

Pros:
Battery last much longer, you have many battery profiles which is nice.
External SD can be integrated as Internal (nice that some apps are automatically installed onto SD)

Cons:
Can't find tar file which is backup I made using CWM recovery rom. Looked everywhere!
Icons dissappear from home after every bootup
Can't move sys apps or preinstalled apps to ext sd card. Can't use Link2SD once you configure External SD as internal. Not so flexible.

Overall, big improvement I feel is the battery life which is good, the bad thing is that Internal storage space gets filled up easily, especially because I know the CWM backed up ROM is stored there yet I can't find it. Which sucks big time.

 

[arco68]

Overall, big improvement I feel is the battery life which is good, the bad thing is that Internal storage space gets filled up easily, especially because I know the CWM backed up ROM is stored there yet I can't find it. Which sucks big time.

Look in /data/media it should be there somewhere. Need root access though.

I recommend using TWRP instead of CWM.

 

[thewild]

I recommend using TWRP instead of CWM.

Yes, but TWRP can't flash CM11 if I'm not mistaken. Old ROM, I know, but it's the latest one with S-View Cover support.
Also yesterday, I tried to restore my stock ROM backup with TWRP but could not get it to work. Stuck on "starting apps" during boot. Wiping Dalvik and cache did not help.

 

[Aztek92]

@thewild

If changing ROM and calibrating did not help, then I guess it's a hardware problem.

Not nessessary. Please notice, that i moved from CM13 (i9590) to... CM13 (i9595). I had an issue with wrong recovery. I also didn't have any problem on stock rom. If you're still gonna change battery, tell me how it worked for you.

Btw. there is something called hall monitor https://github.com/durka/HallMonitor But still i have no idea how and if it (still) works.

 

[thewild]

Yes I tried halmonitor on CM13. It worked... kind of.
Basically, it allowed the power button to turn the screen on when the cover is closed. The problem is that CM13 lockscreen is not suitable for the view cover.
Then I saw your solution, which should also work with halmonitor as long as dashclock and the xposed module are supported on CM13.

As for the battery, well I'm not 100% sure.
Battery was bad before CM. I'm quite confident that I flashed the correct recovery (i9195), and the correct ROMs. But it's not my phone, so I'm not familiar with it. I'd say that my problem is hardware, and new batteries (official ones) can be found for 10€, so I'll give them a try and let you know.

 

[IronRoo]

Yes I tried halmonitor on CM13. It worked... kind of.
Basically, it allowed the power button to turn the screen on when the cover is closed. The problem is that CM13 lockscreen is not suitable for the view cover.
Then I saw your solution, which should also work with halmonitor as long as dashclock and the xposed module are supported on CM13.

As for the battery, well I'm not 100% sure.
Battery was bad before CM. I'm quite confident that I flashed the correct recovery (i9195), and the correct ROMs. But it's not my phone, so I'm not familiar with it. I'd say that my problem is hardware, and new batteries (official ones) can be found for 10â?¬, so I'll give them a try and let you know.

€10, they would have to be fake! (or used)

What is the screen on time (battery>screen) you are getting? I bet it's low & that is the reason for your sudden drops, with my old battery (original Samsung) I was lucky to get 3hrs and that had sudden drops, new battery gives me 6hrs SOT.

 

[thewild]

Can't tell you the sot because it's not my phone, but it sure is very low. And the battery drops from ~50% to 0% in seconds.
10€ seems to be the right price. They are 20€ on samsung's store, but 10€ is on Amazon, sold by Amazon. I never got fake / used items from them.
Anyway, it's worth a try. I can send it back for free if it's not OK.