[Q] Catastrophic problem averted... or no?

[mightydr]

Apologies for a long post.

But more importantly... "THANK YOU" to all the members of XDA-Developers!! (Too many individuals to list/remember separately)

OK, long story:
I have a 32 GB wifi Xoom. I upgraded from Tiamat kernel 1.4.1 to Tiamat Moray Rom 2.2.2 last week. In the kernel, I was experiencing sluggishness, FCs (launcher, market), and long (2 min. +) boot times. Moray fixed the sluggishness and the FCs, but boot time increased by 30 sec. (no big deal).

After about 6 days (yesterday), problems started mounting, and my device "eroded" (steadily crept toward what I saw as death.):
* The wallpaper had strange markings/moire
* Gmail FC'ed immediately
* None of my computers would recognize the Xoom file system (after having done so minutes prior on my work machine and that morning for my home machine).
So...
I attempted to reflash Moray-- things got worse, EVERYTHING FC'ed, wifi died.
I attempted to restore my nandroid (of Tiamat kernel before I originally flashed Moray)-- things hit rock bottom, it bootlooped.

This morning, I was about to give up. I had already placed a new Xoom in my Amazon.com shopping cart.

But, I tried again...
From you amazing contributors, I was about to find potential answers, and hope

One guy had the exact problem I did:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1240904

In other places, I learned about adb and fastboot and Motohelper PC drivers.

Now, I have just finished a nandroid of a "clean" Moray flash.

I'm ecstatic.

But, also worried. I have NO CLUE how/why the problems started.

If anyone who made it through reading all this has any idea to help me and others, or confident words that the problem(s) are gone for good, please pass them along. Basically, I would like to know if there are specific apps to avoid, filetypes to never save, actions to never perform, etc...

This ordeal has taught me that ANYTHING on xda-developers is potential gold.

Anyway, thanks again from a slightly-less-noob-ish Xoom user.

 

[dhemke17]

A lot of times, all the problems mentioned can be completely avoided by doing a clean install of any rom. I always do this even if the directions say it is unnecessary. by wiping all data, you are removing any incompatible or corrupted files from your device. For force closes with google apps, it can be caused by not having the proper signature from the maker itself. I have avoided this in all roms I have made by not resigning them and even removing them entirely, since they can be installed from the market.

As far as the long boot times, the incompatibility of apps and corruptions removed during the wipe process should have fixed this as well as the system isn't trying to start and piece together these apps.

I hope this gives you a little understanding as to your issues and why they happened...if you want a further explanation, please contact me. Also, I am glad to see your issues are fixed and you didn't purchase another xoom...

another tip...restore your apps only and not system data from titanium backup...a lot of times, the data is not compatible with the new system you put on your device.

 

[okantomi]

A lot of times, all the problems mentioned can be completely avoided by doing a clean install of any rom. I always do this even if the directions say it is unnecessary. by wiping all data, you are removing any incompatible or corrupted files from your device. For force closes with google apps, it can be caused by not having the proper signature from the maker itself. I have avoided this in all roms I have made by not resigning them and even removing them entirely, since they can be installed from the market.

As far as the long boot times, the incompatibility of apps and corruptions removed during the wipe process should have fixed this as well as the system isn't trying to start and piece together these apps.

I hope this gives you a little understanding as to your issues and why they happened...if you want a further explanation, please contact me. Also, I am glad to see your issues are fixed and you didn't purchase another xoom...

another tip...restore your apps only and not system data from titanium backup...a lot of times, the data is not compatible with the new system you put on your device.

Excellent advice!

 

[mightydr]

A lot of times, all the problems mentioned can be completely avoided by doing a clean install of any rom. I always do this even if the directions say it is unnecessary. by wiping all data, you are removing any incompatible or corrupted files from your device. For force closes with google apps, it can be caused by not having the proper signature from the maker itself. I have avoided this in all roms I have made by not resigning them and even removing them entirely, since they can be installed from the market.

As far as the long boot times, the incompatibility of apps and corruptions removed during the wipe process should have fixed this as well as the system isn't trying to start and piece together these apps.


another tip...restore your apps only and not system data from titanium backup...a lot of times, the data is not compatible with the new system you put on your device.

Thanks. Your words are spot on:

1) I fixed the problem by learning how to install/use fastboot to get rid of *everything*.

2) My force closes began immediately after boot of Google apps: Gmail, Market, Video, Browser, and something called "ancore" (I guess its the core android os).

3) Between my original flashing of Moray and the disaster, I had installed two potentially "improper" apps: the ICS Gmail that was circulated in a Tiamat Moray thread here, and tTorrent. Neither will be reinstalled on my "new" Xoom.

4) In my panic to reflash Moray and restore my nandroid, I may have mixed system data and made things worse.

I may leave my Xoom alone for awhile until I have more thoroughly researched xda-developers.

 

[okantomi]

Thanks. Your words are spot on:

1) I fixed the problem by learning how to install/use fastboot to get rid of *everything*.

2) My force closes began immediately after boot of Google apps: Gmail, Market, Video, Browser, and something called "ancore" (I guess its the core android os).

3) Between my original flashing of Moray and the disaster, I had installed two potentially "improper" apps: the ICS Gmail that was circulated in a Tiamat Moray thread here, and tTorrent. Neither will be reinstalled on my "new" Xoom.

4) In my panic to reflash Moray and restore my nandroid, I may have mixed system data and made things worse.

I may leave my Xoom alone for awhile until I have more thoroughly researched xda-developers.

There is a wealth of information here, almost all of it buried in the back pages. It's a guarantee that "someone" has had the exact same problem, and usually has been able to find a solution, and as you said, almost everyone wants to share.