This guest post was written by MildlyDisturbed.
If you've recently rooted your HTC EVO with Unrevoked's one-click utility, then you may not be too familiar with the other tools available to you since you probably just went ahead and installed ROM Manager (one of G&E's must-have root apps) and flashed ClockworkMod Recovery as per most rooting instructions. Then you sat down, heart racing, and were amazed that your phone still worked.
In case you don't know, a custom recovery is what you use to flash custom ROMs, kernels, boot animations, and various patches that come along. ClockworkMod is one of the most talked about custom recoveries, but it's not without its problems.
There have been some issues with Clockwork for a while that had the potential to make transitioning from custom ROM to custom ROM a pain for new users; greatest among these is it refusing to properly clear the Dalvik cache. While not always an issue, several replacement kernels and ROMs will fail to run properly on first boot when there're junk in the Dalvik cache. This can leave you with a phone that fails to function properly immediately after an upgrade or send you into an "oh crap what did I do what did I do what did I do how do I fix this why hasn't anyone responded to me in the thread in 5 minutes" panic.
Enter Amon Ra's custom recovery, the most popular Clockwork alternative and the one that many EVO users swear by. It's been around for a long time but has recently been updated to version 2.3. The recovery's creator, Amon_RA, describes it like this:
This is a custom recovery based on Cyanogen's recovery source with a lot of things added by me. The purpose of this recovery is to avoid using ADB by accessing all features directly from the menu.
It contains all the goodies of Clockworkmod (e.g., ability to make Nandroid backups, roll back to them if you accidentally screw up your phone, flash new ROMs and kernels) plus a working Dalvik cache cleaner.
There are several ways to get it on your EVO, so hit the link below to try the method that you're most comfortable with. If you don't like Amon Ra's newest recovery or if it doesn't function for you in a particular instance, then you can usually just reflash Clockworkmod via ROM Manager. Give it a try (if you haven't already) and let us know what you think about it in the comments.
This guest post was written by MildlyDisturbed.
One thing to consider; if I’m not mistaken, nandroids created with Clockworkmod will not be available from with Amon RA. If you flash Amon RA it would be wise to immediately create a nandroid for use with the new recovery.
I didn’t go to the xda link so please forgive if this is already mentioned there.
Good point Odell, with how easy it is to switch back and forth between recoveries I hadn’t even considered that. But if your first action after switching recoveries was to screw up the ROM that would be a major concern.
You’d have to flash a new ROM, install ROM Manager/CWM, then recover your old Nandroid backups.. doable but a waste of a perfectly good hour.
I haven’t tested this so I am not absolutely sure – but I think the only thing preventing you from seeing the backup in the other type of rom is the folder that it lives in. So, in a pinch you could connect your SD card to a computer and switch the backup into whatever folder it looks for to try to find a Nandroid… that should work but like I said I haven’t tried it explicitly, I just noticed it keeps the backups in different folders and surmised that is probably why you cannot see backups creates from the other recovery.
Has there been any concrete proof of these “issues” with Clockwork? I’ve used it from day 1 without any problems whatsoever. Whenever I see the “issues” mentioned, people just say “I’ve heard it doesn’t wipe Dalvik properly use Amon Ra.” I just feel like it one of those things people throw out in the forums just because. Like how some people used to say flash a stock ROM before switching to between custom ROMS, when it was totally unnecessary.
Does Amon Ra do OTA updating?
I tried this but Amon RA is still there. Too bad, Clockworkmod is much simpler.
Clockwork didnt erase my Dalvik. I opened my dalvik folder through root explorer and it is FULL of junk from months before I even rooted the phone until now. And ive “wiped” dalvik many times through clockwork.
Yup, I’ve had the Dalvik clearing issue. There’re workarounds but it just doesn’t seem to work on what I’m running (Sprint Lovers).
Netarchy’s first page has a report on it as well.
Not a huge issue, but can be annoying
nope, but you can update via ROM manager when they get around to it (they still have the previous version).
I rooted a couple weeks ago and messed around trying to get better audio recording for the camcorder. I eventually became stuck at the white screen and was never able to boot but was able to restore a nandroid, eventually.
I just checked my dalvik cache and WOW, clockwork never cleared it once.
I think I will check this out.
Eons ago, on my 1st flash after I became ROOT, I was also left with a stinky, unwiped dalvik using Clockwork. I was paranoid, so I had 2 nandroids at that time, one with Clockwork, one with Amon Ra. When I tried to restore my busted phone after the failed flash, newly installed Clockwork wouldn’t restore by Clockwork backup. Using ROM Manager, I was able to switch my recovery to Amon Ra (one of the few things I used ROM Manager for was switching recoveries). With Amon Ra, I recovered my nandroid, and successfully flashed my 1st ROM.
Please forgive Me as I am new to all of this flashing roms and
alternate recoveries, but is there any way to update PRLs and Update your profile on Sprint network on any other roms out there besides stock, I can’t seem to find it on any settings menu
no jeff, there is no way. flash back to a sense rom, update both and then reflash your AOSP rom. i know, it’s a mess.
I have been trying to root my phone for like 2 hours now and it just won’t. I can get to the root screen where it says “fastboot, recovery, reboot, usb root” or something like that for the last one. I press recovery, the white screen comes, the green phone with refresh sign then it goes to the phone with the error signal (a triangle with an explanation point.). Ive downloaded the amon recovery and put in the phone but it still isn’t responding. Same last page… no images it says and no rooting of phone. Please help. Email me or post here. TJs.emerald@gmail.com
How did you switch recoveries using rom manager?
open ROM manager
scroll to bottom
flash Alternate Recovery
At least that’s how it was the last time I used it