Viper4G is a custom ROM for the HTC EVO 4G LTE that seeks to let you configure every aspect of Sense in some form or another. From status bar icons, custom drop-down backgrounds, to quick tweaks for nearly everything, Viper4G probably has something for that.
I’ll point out first that stock unmodified Viper4G is not something I’m blown away with, but I don’t think it’s intended to be. Stock is just some cans of paint from which you’ll create your custom masterpiece, or in my case a nightmare looking phone with everything overly configured in a garish way, for example. I’m going to add a note here that mine looked garish due to what I did by being a colorblind man configuring every single configurable thing, and not due to the ROM.
Viper4G has been rebased to the 3.16.651.3 OTA and comes with a stock kernel; however, you’re invited to go out and flash a custom one, as the Viper OC daemon ViperControler runs in the background to handle any of your overclocking or undervolting needs. If you’re more comfortable with using something like System Tuner, you can use that as well, and it appears that the OC Daemon will work in conjunction with it.
There are two main programs you can use for customization in Viper4G – the Venom Hub and Venom Tweaks. The hub is sort of like a market for themes and misc software you can install (such as the high-quality YouTube mod), and the tweaks allow you to configure most features of Sense and install some of the themes you downloaded from the hub.
The ROM also contains the VenomOTA app somewhere buried within it, which allows your ROM to stay updated to the newest version without you having to check the development threads or learn about it here.
One of my absolute favorite mods that ViperROM has is three-finger gesture support. Using the HTC Medialink gestures, you can swipe up, down, left, or right and launch a custom action. For mine, I have three fingers up to open Google Voice, three down for Google Chrome.
There is also a really neat mod in there that allows you to hold the power button while the screen is off to turn the flashlight on – that is extremely useful for a quick draw flashlight, but unfortunately after about ten seconds your phone will power off. So use it sparingly.
There are literally millions of combinations of tweaks, color themes, and icons that you can combine to make the phone uniquely yours. The only Sense tweak I couldn’t locate (and I may have not looked hard enough) was the 4×5 Rosie Mod for an extra line of icons on each screen. You could probably write a small book on everything that the Venom Tweaks and Hub allow you to do with Sense. It’s a customizer’s dream ROM.
However, I thought I would share some of the issues I had with it while setting it up, which may or may not have anything to do with the ROM and some are probably just random coincidence.
After formatting all partitions, completing factory reset, and the finishing the ROM’s initial setup, I couldn’t access the Play Store. I had an error of RH-01, which is documented on the development page and requires you to go in and clear the data on Google Play Store and Google Play Services – not that big of a deal, but that came from a setup in the cleanest possible terms.
After that, I tried downloading a few of my apps on a 30mbit cable hooked to a 5Ghz wireless connection that was working perfectly about twenty minutes before. Speed tests and everything were abysmal. This is evidently due to the stock kernel and its interaction with my Netgear router at work. This cleared up when I flashed a different kernel. Your results may vary.
After that I got everything installed, I noticed I had a voicemail. It’s not terribly uncommon for my phone to not ring unless it’s bathed in the light of my Airave, since Sprint in Nashville is a hit or miss thing. I figured I would call from the office phone and check that everything was working. It wasn’t.
I was immediately greeted with my voicemail. This was bad, as the office phone should have been ringing also as it was scheduled to. No matter what I did, I could not make the phone ring by calling it; however, I could access Google Voice on my computer and make a phone call out using the cell phone as an incoming. So, something messed up with Google Voice. I’m not sure if that was Viper4G’s issue or not. I eventually had to uninstall, disassociate the Sprint account from Google Voice, reinstall a bit later, and everything was fine.
The Viper4G shipped BusyBox is also out of date, as Orange Backup hated it. That’s a small inconvenience, but I had to use the BusyBox updater to get up to speed.
If I’d been new at this, this ROM, or the random problems that were caused elsewhere, would have been a challenge. I’m not sure where to point blame, but it happened.
There are a couple of tweaks I can’t get to work, but others have; I’m not going into them other than to mention if something doesn’t work, check the development thread. It’s full of useful info.
This ROM is absurdly good if you put time into it. I think as a stock ROM, it’s OK in its presentation, but I would really prefer MeanBean, or just plain stock for that matter. If you’re not planning on customizing the hell out of the thing, it’s like putting the Tardis console into a Toyota Prius – there are lots of things you’d never use.
The best rom for the lte!!
I believe it’s the best for customization purposes that I’ve ever run across and great for power users. I don’t think for an average user it’s the best though… too many knobs and wobbly bits
meanbean!! 1#
Meanbean is the best stock I’ve run, Viper is the best modifiable.
This guy has really pissed me off. Allow me to dissect his wonderful “review”.
Moron instance #1:
No, it’s exactly where you’d find the default HTC updater, it’s not ‘buried’ anywhere, you stupid twit.
Moron instance #2:
This is not something we can change. That’s a hard-coded command that’s integrated below the Android level. It would be like blaming Windows for turning off instantly when you press and hold the power button for several seconds. Anyone with an intelligence level higher than that of a yak’s should know that.
Moron instance #3:
We extremely clearly said that we did our absolute level best to figure out why that was happening. It has nothing to do with a “clean setup”. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it does not.
Moron instance #4:
Really? Speed tests are the ROM’s fault? Yeah, no. It had nothing to do with the kernel and nothing to do with Netgear. But that’s cool, blame it on the ROM.
Moron instance #5:
Why oh why does he think that we had anything to do with this? Google Voice integration has shown time and time again that since everything goes on Google, you have to depend on Google to be as instant as a straight-cell setup. He never stated whether he had updated his PRL, his profile, whether he updated the radio/firmware, nothing.
Moron instance #6:
BusyBox is not something that needs to be “kept up to date”. If he wants to use a non-standard backup tool, that’s perfectly fine for him, we use a tried and trusted BusyBox for compatibility and stability reasons.
Final straw instance:
**** you, you piece of ****. Things you’d never use are not things that no one uses. If you are intimidated or confused by options and customization, Stock with Goodies is over that way –>.
Hey man, if I didn’t like the ROM I wouldn’t have written about it. Just sharing my experience and encouraging people to check out the thing and knowing what I faced,
I couldn’t find the OTA updater listed, other ROMs have a separate application, I assumed Viper would as well. I’ll take a moron point on this one.
I didn’t say the flashlight was a bug, just said it was something to look out for and it’s not listed as a warning. Seems a more logical thing would be to check for the thing being pressed for a couple of seconds and lock it on during screen off.
I’ve never seen the market bug with any other ROM and I’ve flashed going on 600 now. I’m not attacking the ROM, just mentioning people needed to look out for it and that it is listed.
I don’t think you have anything to do with Google Voice – just said this was my experience, yours may vary. I also never have had this with another ROM. No idea on this one.
Speed tests yes, with Viper stock I can’t use work’s wifi, with mean I can. Guessing a kernel.
BusyBox doesn’t need to be updated regularly no, but if you want to use many root tools the one you included is lacking a few things, and with applications like Orange Backup becoming something a root user really needs, not something only I would use, it would be useful.
I honestly didn’t write this to offend anyone, I’m sorry that it did.
I’ll point out that my comment on paragraph two was with how I set the thing up while customizing it, not with how it could be set up, but that’s the only thing i see that could be interpreted as against your ROM, everything else is what happened. I even end the piece with that the ROM is absurdly good if you put the time into it.
but really, I love the ROM. My experience with running the ROM was my experience – there’s even the line “However, I thought I would share some of the struggles I had with it while setting it up, which may or may not have anything to do with the ROM.” followed by the voice and wifi concerns. Neither of which I’ve had with any other 4G LTE ROM.
There are no warnings on the viper4g page, for example that the flashlight instructions turn off the phone. I learned this the first time I was looking for my keys. I understand it’s hard coded, I just mentioned it so accidental shutoff doesn’t happen to someone else.
You say the ROM updater is not buried and is in the same place that the HTC updater is – on stock that would be settings, system updates, software update would it not? Here you go to system updates and have Firmware, profile, and PRL. There is no Software update visible. So I therefor say it’s buried somewhere. It’s not where I would expect the HTC update to be.
I am going to edit the paragraph about making it garish ” or in my case a nightmare looking phone with everything overly configured in a garish way, for example” as I configured it that way on purpose to test every single tweakable bit of the incredible ROM configuration. and it was not garish *because* of Viper, that was entirely my fault.
All the rest though was my experience. And it was a markedly good one or I wouldn’t have bothered to write about it. I don’t write ROM picks about things I don’t like or people shouldn’t look at.
I try to write with problems and how they were overcome because not everyone is multi-year into rooting. Sometimes it may seem moronic, sorry about that, I don’t assume everyone’s going to know that the power button can’t be hooked to not power off the phone, nor assume that if I can’t find something it’s there where you mentioned and I still can’t find it.
seriously, read it over as I’m not attacking the ROM – this is just me wandering through the thing and using it, not complaining or saying the ROM is terrible. It wouldn’t be on G&E/Pocketables if it was terrible.
If I’ve written anything that’s flat out *wrong*, let me know, I’ll correct it. Those were my experiences, those were my observations.
Stock kernel that shipped didn’t play nice with my netgear, I don’t blame the ROM for that, just pointed it out.
And finally, the very last piece of this, mentally rephrase that last line to – you have a billion options, if you’re not going to use them you probably want to go for a more stock ROM.
Which is what you said in your saying “**** you you piece of ****” to me. You said the exact same thing I said.
I’m the real LiquidSolstice on XDA. I did not post that comment here. I didn’t ask for that to be posted here, nor am I interested in discussing with you.
That’s all.
But here’s a heads up, if you’re going to ‘review’ our ROM, at least do us the goddamn courtesy of mentioning our names. I don’t care for any of your rebuttals.
your “rom”?? OTA slapped with a tweaks app… slow clap. and last I check the devs who dev it aint ya.
This is a review, this is purely HIS OPINION! Sure it has influence, but the user can decide what to download and what not to. I’ve been reading G & E for about 4yrs now and I’ve never been so ashamed for a developer of a Rom. His job is to review and state what he see’s. So if something is borked he will say it. He is not saying that the rom is *@#$. Have you looked at other reviews he has done? He calls it like he see’s it. Maybe if you got your head on your shoulder you would see this. He does a REVIEW, he is not dissecting every damn detail and calling you out. It is a development Rom, there are gonna be bugs. Its apart of the development world and it pushes us to make better roms and to push our development further.
To be fair here, at *least* one of the people there is fake according to the other one of them… their IPs are different and each appeared to enter a fake email address.
So I wouldn’t cast aspersions on the developer based on this.
I appreciate all the articles and reviews on G&E. It has helped me understand and learn all the different roms, etc. Thank you.
Then I will apologize for the development rant. But I will say this. You guys at g&e are awesome for posting things like this, people that are new to the root world don’t know what to do. So thank you g&e.
Avid G & E reader….please keep the xda drama….@ xda so we don’t have to waste time browsing past thread fights. Thanks G&E
I’m the actual developer, and I say it’s all good.
But please, stop seeing my mother on the side.
Based on the XDA thread, the first person who posted as Liquid was evidently the developer, or at least the person posted the same thing in the xda thread.
Sorry for pissing you off Solstice, I’d suggest re-reading without thinking I’m attacking you or your tweaks. Everything I ran into was my experience wen I flashed Viper, and that line about putting a tardis console in a toyota prius was about if you’re not going to use the features you might want to look at a more stock ROM.
If anyone thinks I’m unfair in what I wrote, let me know, I’ll change it. This was supposed to be a positive review and it’s turned into a joke of people claiming to be the developer.
I can say any time a new Viper drops, I’m there. Mean ROMs are awesome too, but I always used them as my in-between ROMs waiting for a newer Viper. 3.0.1 and 3.1.0 both weren’t sleeping very well for whatever reason, mA idle draw was off the charts at like 80-100 on both. It was weird, that demon wouldn’t leave, even after trying a wipe/re-flash. Anyway, I flashed the ElementalX 2.5 kernel and now they sleep at 2-10 mA like they should.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ij7e12bn659sqls/2013-02-21%2009.01.18.png?m
Hummmm.. I like Stock With Goodies 3.41 by Flex360. I am glad he and his ROMs are back. Paul, try it out and do a review.