How To Speed Up Your G1 (HTC Dream)

So I was getting more pissed by the day that my G1 (HTC Dream for you Americans) got slower and slower every day, and I decided to do something about it!

Step 1: Using a custom ROM

I used to run Cyanogenmod for a long time, but because of the sluggishness, I decided to look for an alternative. After a lot of reading, I decided to use the KiNgxKxlicK ROM, the new 1.8 seems to be running really fast.

Let me point you in the right direction (don’t forget you need a rooted phone for this!):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=622170

You will need the danger SPL, found here:
http://sapphire-port-dream.googlecode.com/files/spl-signed.zip

Do not forget to read the guides mentioned at the KiNgxKxlicK page, if you want a optimal installation I would like to suggest to format your SD card with a 96mb SWAP partition. Also do not forget to do a full whipe (sorry but it is really necessary).

Step 2: Installing JIT

So with the KiNgxKxlicK ROM, I was pretty pleased with the speed improvements, but I wanted some more result.
So I read about this JIT stuff the other day, and decided to give it a go. I thought it was a hard thing to accomplish, but in fact it is a breeze to install this onto your G1:

- Check and repair your filesystem via Terminal or the Recovery Console in the next way:

#e2fsck -fcpDC0 /*/*/*0p2
#reboot recovery

If you do it in ANY other way it will NOT work!
- Download www.androidonroids.com/dusted-donuts (File has 3 scripts backup, install, restore, 2 folders, 1 libdvm.so)
- Extract zip to root of /sdcard or where ever you like (the zip has a folder containing the files named dusted-donuts)
- Open Terminal or go to Recovery Console
- Enter the following commands:

$su
#mount -o rw,remount auto /sdcard
#cd /sdcard/dusted-donuts
#sh backup
#sh install
#sync
#reboot

- Now JIT should be installed. You can check using the following code:

$su
#dalvikvm -h

If it says with_dalvik somewhere, you are good to go!

Step 3: Overclock (sort of)

Now my G1 was flying, but I wanted some more. I decided to download the free “Open Overclocker” application from the market. I did some more reading and discovered that the best setting for most people was to set the min/max both at 528Mhz. This way It will be faster overall, but you don’t really overclock it (the official max speed is 528Mhz). I also read a lot of reports of people who said that using this setting did not (or at least not noticeably) affect their battery life.

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Bye Bye, IE6

Yes, I am too dropping support for the outdated but still widely used IE6. It’s old (2001!), it has numerous compatibility issues, it is not safe and it is lacking all the features a modern browser needs. It doesn’t even have tabs. But why do people keep on using it??

The main reason is because most websites still support it. Also, a lot of internal company systems only work in IE6, and last but not least, people just don’t know that they are running an unsafe, outdated browser.

If we want to have a better internet, and give people a better experience, we as webdevelopers have to stop supporting IE6. But if you make it hard for yourself and waste your time in IE6 hacking, you’re doing the exact opposite. All the hacks that we use on our sites is the main reason IE6 still is a big player on the browser market.

In stead, give your users a message that they are using an old and unsafe browser, and give them directions in how to upgrade to a more modern browser.
This way, you are not completely ignoring IE6 users, and presenting them with a broken website. Don’t be scared that dropping IE6 support will make you lose all those precious users.

Do not make the mistake of only telling people to get Firefox, or another open-source alternative. The unknown will make your users go away, so be sure to mention IE8 as well (it’s kinda good anyway)!

So let’s all drop IE6 support, and make the web better

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The Best Working Music

For me, designing and coding cannot be done without music. Music is the motor behind my work, it keeps me happy and motivated.

But what sort of music is good to listen to? Too loud and screamy music will get you distracted, but too slow and mellow music will too. For me, the best compromise is the more mellow kind of drum and bass. It can be very relaxing to listen to, but it also has that extra punch, the always going beats. This way I get best of both worlds.

Some suggestions for you (p.s. I will update this list whenever i find something good that suits this post):

- DJ Shadow
- Kruder and Dorfmeister
- Secta Chameleon
- Aphrodite
- Paramore
- Propellerheads
- Slagsmalsklubben

Some after work music:

- Zee Avi
- Yann Tiersen

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