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Does anyone know if Verizon ever pushed the Android 2.1 firmware update to this device?
I've been looking around and I can't see if it was pushed ota or not. My sister just got one that's coming on Wednesday, and I wanted to see. Thanks!
Yes, there is a 2.1 OTA that was pushed earlier this year. So, she's good to go there. But, to really get the most out of the device you should root it and put a new ROM on it. It sounds much more complicated than it really is (it's dead simple now). For a good ROM that is similar to what comes stock (but performs much faster) XTRSense is amazing. You can't really tell it from stock, but it's much more stable and quick.
There's also a ton of Froyo ROMS that work well, though they don't have Sense.
Check out the XDA forum for the Eris here: forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=554
There's also a ton of Froyo ROMS that work well, though they don't have Sense.
Check out the XDA forum for the Eris here: forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=554
If you are planning to root the phone just put xtrSense on there and leave it be. While the Froyo roms are great there are some quirks that may cause a non-power user to become frustrated with when they don't go properly. The major benefit of this phone right now with rooting is the people still developing for it are really into the phone so the product they're putting out is really solid. Tazz, Conap, Zach.xtr and Shed are doing great jobs.
Oh okay, but is the version of 2.1 that Verizon pushed ota not sufficient? She's primarily just going to use it for Facebook/Twitter/Calling and texting. I'm just talk about like general performance. Since it shipped with 1.5, I was worried it had issues on 2.1 and that's why people were recommending that I root it.
Oh wow...seriously? That is pretty critical. I mean she wont be downloading a ton of apps, but I thought all Android devices were programmed to write to their SD cards. I mean what else did Google expect them to write to..internal storage? A few of the Google Android handsets don't even come with internal storage, just an SD card. Hm, that may become a problem.. I'll look into rooting it if that gets in the way, but for now I'll just see if she has problems with it on Wednesday.
Well, by default she will have 150mb or so of internal storage to use for apps. This means she can get a good 20-30 apps, maybe more or less depending on size. Games tend to take up a ton. xtrSense has an option to allow apps2sd and cache2cache which free up space. The easiest option is a 2.2 ROM like KaosFroyo and Nonsensikal, which allow copying apps to SD card, but you'll lose the Sense UI and end up with stock Android (think Moto Droid, Nexus One, etc).
Unfortunately, Verizon and Google took down the OTA, so it is no longer available. There is a way to get it by flashing using a process called RUU, but I agree with others that rooting is probably best - the stock Eris build has some problems, including terrible lag when messaging and call logs get large, which do not appear in the rooted ROMs.
xtrSENSE is an excellent 2.1/eclair ROM, and is probably the most compatible with the device - it is built from the same HTC frameworks as stock, but those lag problems disappear. There are some really good Froyo ROMs available for the Eris, but if you want Sense, you'll have to deal with a build that is not yet complete (i.e., the camera doesn't work.)
I've used almost all of the Froyo ROMs, and my favorites are, in this order:
CELB
Nonsensikal
FroShedYo
Kaos
If you want to know more, the best place to look (and the best place to find these ROMs are at these forums:
forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=554
androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/
xtrSENSE is an excellent 2.1/eclair ROM, and is probably the most compatible with the device - it is built from the same HTC frameworks as stock, but those lag problems disappear. There are some really good Froyo ROMs available for the Eris, but if you want Sense, you'll have to deal with a build that is not yet complete (i.e., the camera doesn't work.)
I've used almost all of the Froyo ROMs, and my favorites are, in this order:
CELB
Nonsensikal
FroShedYo
Kaos
If you want to know more, the best place to look (and the best place to find these ROMs are at these forums:
forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=554
androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/
Yeah....this was the kind of reply I expected. So it looks like I'll have to root it for her or she'll have to use the shit job that HTC/Google thought it would be okay shipping with. Ugh, I had a feeling this would happen. Hopefully it's not to hard to root this thing.
It's really not that hard; there is an app that roots it with one click. There is also a more detailed rooting procedure, but it's worth reading through, because it will walk you through what you need to do to flash a new ROM.
See: androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/139178-univ... for the one-click app. (read it carefully - many people miss the step that asks you to reboot the phone and wonder why it will not boot into recovery to install a new ROM.)
See also: androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/127861-univ... for a different method. However, starting with the fourth post in that thread, it walks you through the basic procedure to flash a new ROM.
Good luck.
See: androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/139178-univ... for the one-click app. (read it carefully - many people miss the step that asks you to reboot the phone and wonder why it will not boot into recovery to install a new ROM.)
See also: androidforums.com/eris-all-things-root/127861-univ... for a different method. However, starting with the fourth post in that thread, it walks you through the basic procedure to flash a new ROM.
Good luck.
