[Q] ics-deck-inc vs Evervolv vs OMX?

[demarcmj]

I've been following OMX and ics-deck-inc and I'm wondering which people think is better.
EDIT: Since I posted this, the Evervolv ICS ROM (posted on Twitter only) has gained popularity. It was the first to bring partial camera support, and although ics-deck has since added it, it seems most new features show up in Evervolv first. OMX is also fading away into obscurity.

These are my impressions based on the comments...

• ics-deck-inc has been updated more recently (12/25), while development on OMX seems to be at a standstill (going on almost a month). I'm assuming the OMX standstill was related to the holidays though, since before that it was being updated very often.
  EDIT: ics-deck-inc is now up to Alpha 5 as of this edit, while OMX is still at a standstill. It seems from this post that there is only 1 person working on OMX
  
• OMX seems to be more further along, but maybe it's an illusion due to the fact that OMX has a much more detailed change log and explains the updates much more clearly (i.e. ics-deck-inc seems to be in "aplha1" still even through I know there have been a few updates)
  EDIT: ics-deck-inc and Evervolv have far surpassed OMX. Personally,I prefer Evervolv, but I go back and forth between it and ics-deck-inc.
  
• I see a lot of talk in the comments for ics-deck-inc about having to install Ext4 and Incredikernel, which adds more work for me and a higher chance of messing something up. I don't know about Ext4, but OMX already includes Incredikernel at least (although neither of them explain why I need Ext4 or Incredikernel).
  EDIT: ics-deck-inc, Evervolv, and OMX all include incredikernel.
  
• ics-deck-inc has a "Calendar fix" posted but I see a lot of commenters still having problems. Not sure whether or not this is a problem in OMX, but I haven't seen many people complaining about it (at least not lately).
  EDIT: It's actually a lot simpler than that calendar fix... you just need to do this and all is well. There's also a fix for exchange calendar sync issues posted a little later in this thread
  
• ics-deck-inc lists Wimax as something that's broken, but since when does the Incredible have Wimax anyway? Anyone know what the deal is with that?
  EDIT: It seems this is there because the developer makes ROMs for other devices as well. Inc uses can just ignore it

So most of the above comments are obsolete at this point, but you can still feel free to use this thread to discuss changes and such. There is a separate feedback thread somewhere, but (a) that's just for deck, and (b) this is more about discussion than feedback.

 

[sbboy]

I can just wait

 

[awesomeo3000]

I've been following OMX and ics-deck-inc and I'm wondering which people think is better.

These are my impressions based on the comments...

• ics-deck-inc has been updated more recently (12/25), while development on OMX seems to be at a standstill (going on almost a month). I'm assuming the OMX standstill was related to the holidays though, since before that it was being updated very often.
  
• OMX seems to be more further along, but maybe it's an illusion due to the fact that OMX has a much more detailed change log and explains the updates much more clearly (i.e. ics-deck-inc seems to be in "aplha1" still even through I know there have been a few updates)
  
• I see a lot of talk in the comments for ics-deck-inc about having to install Ext4 and Incredikernel, which adds more work for me and a higher chance of messing something up. I don't know about Ext4, but OMX already includes Incredikernel at least (although neither of them explain why I need Ext4 or Incredikernel).
  
• ics-deck-inc has a "Calendar fix" posted but I see a lot of commenters still having problems. Not sure whether or not this is a problem in OMX, but I haven't seen many people complaining about it (at least not lately).
  
• ics-deck-inc lists Wimax as something that's broken, but since when does the Incredible have Wimax anyway? Anyone know what the deal is with that?

Has anyone out there used both RECENTLY and have some thoughts?

Or does anyone who has only used one or the other want to agree or disagree with any of my impressions above?

I've only used OMX. I got hooked on it, but unfortunately just flashed back to CM7.1 today. In OMX, calendar does not sync with google. Wifi tethering works. Cam no work. Can't use phone as external storage when connect to computer. Also, the ring tones and volume controls are all messed up: phone never rang, just vibrates. When playing pandora, sound is very low, even at max setting. Headphones are not recognized. When I connected to bluetooth in the car, i could make a call and talk over the bluetooth, but pandora or other media would not play through bluetooth.

Unfortunately it sounds like OMX will not be getting another update any time soon. And CM9 is probably still another several months away for INC, if they release it at all. So....looks like i'm stuck with stupid CM7.1 (or maybe MIUI) until i get my tegra3 ice cream phone!

 

[ralph0015]

I have been running ics-deck-inc since yesterday morning and here are some things I can tell you:

-Well, first off ics-deck-inc got updated a couple of days ago with loads of fixes including the camera. There are still some strange issues with the camera, but hey, it works.

-As far as incredikernel, ics-deck-inc already has it in the ROM. Therefore you don't have to flash it. There is a new incredikernel from 1/2/2012, while the one in the ROM is from December. Flash the new one if you want, but you don't have to.

-My calendar has worked without issue since I installed it. I think the issue is that calendars from Exchange and such don't sync with it.

-I think the Wimax thing is for another phone and not the incredible.

-Bluetooth works great. Syncs up with my head unit in my truck just fine. Pandora over bluetooth works great as well. The only thing is I can't get the metadata to stream to my head unit.

Hope that helps.

 

[demarcmj]

Well, I'll put my own experiences in now that a couple people have replied...

A couple days after posing the question, CyanogenMod decided to stop working for me (as others have noted that it tends to do after a period of time) so I decided to give some of these ICS ROMs a try since I was going to have to reflash anyway

I started with the Evervolv 2.1.0 Preview3 build posted on twitter so far [twitter.com]) because it was the first one to have camera support, which was one of the things keeping me from making the jump in the first place. The Evervolv build worked great for me. There was the occasional force close, but that is to be expected.

Then ics-deck-inc was updated to Alpha 4 yesterday to include, among other things camera support. I decided to move to deck since many people had noted that it was a bit better all-around than Evervolv. And now that it had camera support, there was no reason not to switch.

A few notes:

• As awesomeo3000 pointed out, incredikernel is included. It's not the most up-to-date, but nobody has given any compelling reasons that you absolutely need the latest. (this was the case with Evervolv and OMX also)
• I haven't really noticed a significant difference in battery life over my other ROMs, but that is probably because I am pretty much always around a charger so I don't really notice.
• ics-deck comes with the Trebuchet (CM9) launcher, which is essentially stock ICS with some enhancements. It allows things like changing the # of homescreens, resizing any widget (stock only allows some), and other tweaks that are very useful but at the same time won't bother anyone who wants pure stock. Unfortunately, there seems to be two significant bugs in the app drawer in both the stock launcher and Trebuchet: (1) often times the next page of apps or widgets will show up in the background before you even attempt to switch pages, and (2) the launcher force closes very often when paging though the widgets. To alleviate that, I have switched to Nova Launcher which, like Trebuchet, is based on the stock ICS launcher but offers many helpful tweaks. I I still have had the occasional force close related to selecting widgets, but Nova also restores the long-press on the homescreen for widgets functionality, which can be used as another option if you experience force closes.
• There are some small bugs that I have noticed here and there (like this one), but nothing really major, other than the well-known issues like calendar syncing and usb-host (see below). I also haven't yet tested a lot of things, like bluetooth for one.
• My calendar syncing issues were solved by doing this: link. There was no need to replace the calender apps or anything like that. I can't speak for the Exchange Calendar syncing though. I can say that I was able to get an Exchange email account to work fine, but I don't use the calendar for that account.
• As many people in the forums note, the multi-mount widget in the Android Market can be used to get usb-host support. Hopefully something will be built into the ROM in the future, but for now this should work. Alternatively, you can try what I use, the Samba Filesharing app. It's not as fast as USB, but wireless has it's own convenience advantages.

These are just some things I have noticed. There are some great features in ics-deck that I haven't even listed, and also some minor bugs. Alpha 5 is out now, only one day after Alpha 4, and I am excited to give it a try. I have to say that at this point I think they could drop the "Alpha." I think it could at the very least be considered "Beta" but that is just my opinion.

The important thing is this, anyone who is still using CM7 or any other ROM because they are waiting for an ICS ROM that is reasonably stable to use as a daily driver, I think ics-deck-inc has reached that point.

 

[demarcmj]

Unfortunately it sounds like OMX will not be getting another update any time soon. And CM9 is probably still another several months away for INC, if they release it at all. So....looks like i'm stuck with stupid CM7.1 (or maybe MIUI) until i get my tegra3 ice cream phone!

You should definitely try ics-deck (see my post above)

 

[eldeladi]

Does MMS work? how partially working is the camera? can u at least take pictures and video

 

[TeeRom]

Evervolv has a build going as well, and they have 8 MP camera functional as well as USB mass storage. I'm going to try it now to see how it works.

 

[demarcmj]

Evervolv has a build going as well, and they have 8 MP camera functional as well as USB mass storage. I'm going to try it now to see how it works.

Yup, I mentioned Evervolv's ROMs. I can definitely say the 8MP camera is working (video and panorama modes still aren't). I haven't tested out USB storage yet but they swear it works.

Right now Evervolv is my favorite, but they seem to go back and forth (hence both in my signature). Best to keep an eye on both (I've given up on OMX, big time)

EDIT: I have now also added Evervolv to the title of the thread.

 

["Haus"]

I've tried both ICS deck and Evervolv, but neither display my exchange calendar in the calendar app, which is a showstopper for me. Unfortunate, as I likes me some sammich. Exchange syncs fine, and sync settings claims the calendar is up to date, but the calendar app says "no calendars" for the exchange account. Anyone had any luck with this or have a workaround that you like?

 

["Haus"]

Exchange calendar issue fixed in Evervolv by flashing the zip from from this tweet.

 

[apophis9283]

There is a fix for the exchange.apk with the evervolv ics rom peview 5. I have it posted in rootzwiki. i had someone try it out and they confirmed it did work. Just look for post by apophis9283 in rootzwiki

 

[tiny4579]

Actually no need to install ext4 on any of them. Its not required.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[ralph0015]

http://twitter.com/MongooseHelix

Here is a link to the next preview build from the evervolv guys.

 

[demarcmj]

http://twitter.com/MongooseHelix

Here is a link to the next preview build from the evervolv guys.

Thanks... here is the link to the actual twitter post: https://twitter.com/#!/MongooseHelix/status/160269895265828864

Direct Link to the ROM: http://t.co/btSyQQ0o (MD5 Sum e193f7bf9eb83233bff02aa40bb84fd0)
Direct Link to their new gapps: http://t.co/m3DOolG8
Direct Link to their exchange fix: http://t.co/IIALIskJ
(Note: they say not to flash the new gapps if you're using the exchange fix)


P.S. I updated the main thread to add Evervolv to the title... I didn't realize I could do that when I last updated it. (I also updated some of the text in there)

 

["Haus"]

Direct Link to their exchange fix: http://t.co/IIALIskJ
(Note: they say not to flash the new gapps if you're using the exchange fix)

Note that the exchange fix isn't needed for Preview 6 anymore, they apparently baked it in. Installed P6, latest gapps and ext4 mod from a full wipe and all is well.

 

[NYC Coyote]

Note that the exchange fix isn't needed for Preview 6 anymore, they apparently baked it in. Installed P6, latest gapps and ext4 mod from a full wipe and all is well.

Does this one have panoramic for the camera? its probably the only thing keeping me from using any ICS at the moment (I could care less about video.. I think I've taken 4 in since I had the phone.. and I got it day 1)

 

[apophis9283]

Not sure, i went back to cm7 atm only because certain apps fc with ics

 

[apophis9283]

I couldnt stay away from the ics goodiness. Went back to evervolv preview 6. Hope these devs get these market apps compatible with ics soon

 

[grunt9800]

I loved Evervolv p5 but it still felt unfinished to me. Didn't have any FCs but after running MIUI for so long, I was missing the customization options. I'll probably be back soon though...