What does the death of CyanogenMod mean? Install CyanogenMod firmware using the CyanogenMod installer Impact on warranty

Hi all. Today is my last day of vacation, and I need to celebrate it somehow. The last one, after all. But I, cherishing my dream, solved the problem ingeniously - I connect to Trashbox! To please you with another article. And this time CyanogenMod. I ask all mortals to cut it!
The CyanogenMod company is known to every second geek, if not to every first one. And there is nothing to be surprised about here, because the CyanogenMod custom has many fans, and many useful features that are mixed together with good optimization, smooth operation and high operating time. Yes, something yummy! Not about that now, but about custom.

CyanogenMod is a custom firmware previously released by Cyanogen Team, and a little later renamed Cyanogen Inc. CyanogenMod has a number of features that distinguish it from firmware released by other firmware manufacturers. Among them: Android Holo, FLAC, a large list of APNs, compressed cache and more. As stated by Cyanogen Inc, custom firmware CyanogenMod was installed on more than 12 million devices as of June 2014. This once again proves that the firmware is extremely popular

It’s also worth noting about CyanogenMod that the company produces several versions:
1. Stable- the most final and stable firmware versions
2. Release Candidate- pre-release firmware version. Differences from Stable are not noticeable
3. Snapshot- “average firmware quality,” many say. But from my personal experience I can safely say that I haven’t noticed any errors after several months of use!
4. Milliestone- a firmware version that I do not recommend installing at all!
5. Nightly- “nighties.” Firmware version that is updated every day, updates arrive either in the morning or late at night
6. Experiments- as the name suggests, installation is not recommended

Story

Custom CyanogenMod originated, as a rule, in the depths of XDA Developers, that is, on the forum for developers. The first version of CyanogenMod was released on Android 2.2 Froyo. At that time, Google's brainchild was glitchy and drained battery power very quickly. And for this reason this firmware was created. Thanks to her, Android was free of lags, errors, glitches and all sorts of uselessness, which made the device almost impossible to work. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating to some extent, but still, the first version of Android was familiar to you. And after each new version of Android, the magnificent and incomparable CyanogenMod was released. Applause to the developers!

Steve Kondik

Android and CyanogenMod version

As I already mentioned, after each new version of Android, a new version of CyanogenMod was released.

CyanogenMod 6 - Android 2.2. This is the first CyanogenMod! It was released as a beta by Steve Kondik in 2010 on July 11th. And after a short time, the world saw the stable version. CyanogenMod 6 was available at that time on Nexus One, HTC Dream, Motorola Droid, Slide and several others.

CyanogenMod 7 - Android 2.3. The first beta version of the seventh cyan was released in 2011, on February 15. Thanks to her, CyanogenMod gained great popularity and strengthened its position. The latest version of CyanogenMod 7 is CyanogenMod 7.2, which is Android version 2.3.7

CyanogenMod 8 - ***. Google did not decide to publish the source code of Android 3.0, and accordingly people were left without CyanogenMod.
CyanogenMod 9 - Android 4.0. The Cyanogen team began working on their new firmware version immediately after publishing the Android 4.0.1 source code. The first beta version was released on June 26, 2012.

CyanogenMod 10 - Android 4.1. There is not much to say about this version; the stable version was released on November 13, 2012.

CyanogenMod 10.1-10.2 - Android 4.2.2-4.3. These versions of custom firmware were released immediately after the source code was published. Initially, it was planned that CyanogenMod, based on Android 4.2.2-4.3, would be called CyanogenMod 11. But Google did not make significant changes to this firmware version.

CyanogenMod 11 - Android 4.4. The development of CyanogenMod 11 was anticipated by many, everyone wanted to try KitKat. And immediately after Google published the source code, Cyanogen Inc got to work and released an equally attractive version of CyanogenMod.

CyanogenMod 12 - Android 5.0. Expected!

Installation

The first method of installing CyanogenMod (via custom recovery)

1. Download to the memory card: zip files - CyanogenMod and GApps
2. Go to Recovery
3. Make Format Data, Format System, Format Cache (Mounts and Storage)
4. Make Wipe Data/Factory, Wipe Cache, Wipe Davlik
5. Install CyanogenMod first using Install zip from sd card (or internal sdcard)
6. Install Gapps using Install zip from sd card (or internal sdcard)
7. After installation, reboot Recovery (Advanced power options - Reboot recovery)
8. Make Wipe Data/Factory, Wipe Cache, Wipe Davlik
9. Reboot System Now

Second installation method (via CM Installer)

So, the CyanogenMod team offers us a simple and convenient way to install their development on your device. To do this, follow our step-by-step instructions.

1. Enable USB debugging in your smartphone settings. Enable-USB-Debugging
2. Download from Google Play and install the special application CyanogenMod Installer (Android).
3. Download and install the application for Windows (Vista/7/8) - CyanogenMod Installer (Windows).
4. Launch the installed application on Android and follow the step-by-step instructions.
5. Connect your device to your computer using a USB cable.
6. Launch the application on your computer. It should detect the connected device.
7. The process of downloading the firmware itself and all the files necessary for its installation will begin. This will take a few minutes. Once the download is complete, you will see the Everything is ready message.
8. Click on the Install button and calmly wait for the installation to complete. During installation, your device will reboot. Do not interrupt the process or disconnect the device from the computer under any circumstances. Otherwise you will get a "brick" or something else that will not make you happy
9. After installation is complete, you will be notified by the appearance of the Installation Complete message on your computer.
10. That's all. We are happy with the new firmware.

Few people recommended this installation method to me; there were even those who asked me not to install via CM Installer. Without listening to them, I used the program and regretted it. The firmware was installed very crookedly, there were not many programs, it was also impossible to install them, the internal memory was not displayed - in general, I do not recommend it to anyone!

Fighting custom

Various device manufacturers have their own problems with installing CyanogenMod. For example, Samsung uses a custom counter that is easy to reset. But that's not so bad; in the latest versions of Android, Samsung has added KNOX (damn it). However, this is not a reason not to install CyanogenMod. Because of these problems, you lose your warranty, and nothing else bad happens.

The article is finished! Beaver everyone!

This material was written in the first half of 2011, so much of it may no longer be relevant. However, I consider it necessary to start with this material in order to be able to track the changes along the development path of these two mods.

At the time of writing, the overall experience of using CyanogenMod and MiUi was about 2 months, I decided to make a brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages.
I'll probably start with CyanogenMod because... MiUi is made on its basis, according to seniority, so to speak. Let me make a reservation right away: before experimenting with the phone’s firmware, I strongly recommend installing a third-party kernel and making a full backup of the original firmware. Fortunately, there are a lot of instructions on this topic on the Internet.

So the advantages of CyanogenMod:

1. The most important advantage is the total customization of everything. To understand what it is, you need to install it and try it yourself. You can customize almost everything, from the status of the bar to the display of the main menu. For this, CyanogenMod can be forgiven a lot.
2. Speed ​​of work. The device actually works faster in most tasks and tests.
3. Having root access provides some advantages. By the way, there are also disadvantages...
4. Availability of Russian language initially.
5. Constant updates and support from developers. It is also worth considering the huge community of users of this firmware.

And now about the sad thing. I’ll say right away that some of the problems may have already been solved, and some can be solved by certain gestures. Therefore, I write as it is, what I didn’t like ( I will cross out what was already corrected by the time this article was written).

Disadvantages of CyanogenMod:

1. Didn't connect to my WiFi (although it sees other routers). I changed the channel and it worked, although the stock firmware was no problem. By the way, there was channel 13, and support for up to 14 was announced a long time ago.
2. I couldn’t restore contacts correctly - everything was duplicated.
3. The pause/track switch button on the headset does not work.
4. Programs have disappeared from the market (this is how it should be, only what you bought remains)
5. There is no search by names in the dialer, there is also no Russian font on the dialing buttons and therefore a quick search by contacts
6. The front camera stretches the picture - it's tough.
7. Rear camera – the quality is no different from stock and the interface design of the camera is IMHO terrible.
8. When entering the camera, the backlight is set to maximum, then decreases, I don’t know if this is a feature...
9. The backlight is not really low (in an office, for example, in daylight you have to strain), although everything is very easy to set up.
10. I didn’t understand how to delete several contacts at once.
11. If the device is turned off and placed on charge, it turns on.
12. Rooted phones are a tasty morsel for various viruses. You can also do things with the root... but it depends on your hands)))
13. Rarely, but sometimes, he falls asleep and doesn’t want to wake up.
14. Video output does not work.

The bottom line is that installing CyanogenMod makes sense if:
— You’re a geek (I don’t want to offend anyone, I’m partly like that myself)
— You lack the settings that the manufacturer provides in the stock firmware
— Are you ready to put up with all the shortcomings of the modified firmware?
— You want to try it and form your own opinion :)

Finally, I would like to add that all of the above is my personal opinion. I myself use stock firmware and CyanogenMod, sometimes I install MiUi. The second part of the article will be devoted to MiUi.
P.S. For myself, I consider the optimal firmware to be stock firmware 2.2.1 + SpeedMod k13e kernel, this way I get stable operation of the firmware and all equipment, nandroid backup, lagfixes, root if desired, and very low battery consumption. The device on which the experiments are carried out is Samsung Galaxy S (i9000).

P.P.S. Despite the considerable number of problems, they are all quickly resolved. And often CyanogenMod is an excellent alternative to firmware from the manufacturer.

CyanogenMod is one of the most popular alternative firmware for devices running the Android operating system. The Cyanogen Team is responsible for its creation, which created firmware that is characterized by high performance and optimization of the processes of the device on which it is installed.

Benefits of CyanogenMod

"Cyanogen" is the best alternative for owners of outdated gadgets. That is, those gadgets that can no longer be updated to the current version of Android. Owners of such devices, when flashing their device, will be able to experience all the delights of the latest versions Android. And this is just one of the advantages of installation CyanogenMod to your smartphone or tablet.

"Cyanogen" helps not only improve the operation of the device, but also takes interaction with it to a higher level. This custom firmware, using shortcuts, allows you to display the applications that the user launches most often on the lock screen. In addition, the user can remove the on-screen buttons, thereby increasing the usable display area.

Another advantage of this firmware is Built-in Apollo audio player. If you are not satisfied with the standard player Android and alternative players from the Play Market, then Apollo player may be the best alternative to such an application. And if you don’t like the appearance, you can find many themes for this player in the official Google application catalog.

Except Apollo into the firmware CyanogenMod included very convenient equalizer. With it, you can set up music playback through headphones, external speakers or device speakers.

Standard shell "Cyanogen" is constantly being improved and updated. It has a nice appearance and a large number of functions. But its main task is the ability to customize the launcher for yourself. Which she does very well.

Standard CyanogenMod applications:

• Camera. Not the most functional standard application of this firmware. But this is not required. After all, in order to take a beautiful photo, just one button is enough.
• Contact list. A fairly convenient application that differs little from the standard Android “Contact List”. It also works flawlessly, smoothly flipping through the notebook.
• SMS client. Incoming SMS are sorted by contacts. There is a blacklist for incoming SMS from unwanted contacts.
• Audio client. The built-in Apollo player not only has simple controls, a stylish design and an adequate equalizer, but also supports almost all possible audio files.
• File manager. There is also a fairly convenient standard application with which you can access the contents of root folders.
• Calculator. The standard set of applications for this custom firmware includes a very modern calculator, which bypasses the standard Android solution in terms of functionality.

CyanogenMod settings options:

• Moving the clock to the center of the status bar
• Change how battery charge is displayed
• Easy to edit shortcut icons
• Improved theme manager compared to the standard one
• Saving battery power by limiting your smartphone's access to the network
• Restricting access to personal data for some applications
• You can lock the screen using a pattern
• Adjusting screen brightness by swiping on the status bar

By using CyanogenMod You can even change the frequency of the device's processor. And not only at the time of changing the settings, but also by setting the pattern of such changes for the future. There are several schemes for this change:

• Interactive. The processor frequency changes when the smartphone exits standby mode (the screen turns on)
• Ondemand. Ability to enable a more energy-efficient, but less productive processor mode
• Userspace. Allows the user to set the processor frequency for any program running as root
• Powersave. The processor runs at minimum frequency. This significantly saves battery power on the device.
• Performance. The processor runs at maximum frequency. Device performance increases, but so does energy consumption

INTERESTING: Try the test Antutu with standard processor frequency settings and when this frequency is increased. You can increase this figure to 25%-30% .

Installing CyanogenMod

Installing custom firmware CyanogenMo d varies slightly between devices. Since it is physically impossible to talk about each device in the format of this article, we will focus on the easiest way to install this software. It is suitable for devices of the line Nexus.

IMPORTANT: You cannot reflash other gadgets using these instructions. After all, the algorithm for this action for your device may be slightly different. In general, only the user is responsible for all actions with his gadget.

At least the team Cyanogen and made it easier to install its firmware on Android devices, this process must be carried out with the utmost care. One wrong action can lead to a serious error in your device, which can turn it into a brick.

There are two installation methods CyanogenMod to your smartphone. The first is to use the program Installer presented by the developer of this ROM. But this method has one, but rather significant, disadvantage. With this installation, the installer "Ciana" can “pick up” the latest, but not the most stable, firmware build for you. Therefore, it is better to install this software manually.

In order to install this firmware you need to perform three steps:

• get root rights
• unlock bootloader
• install custom recovery

We told you about how to get root rights. From this step we will begin the installation of “cyan”:

1. Download Framaroot 1.9.1, load it into the device memory and install it through the file manager
2. Now you need to launch this application and select "Install SuperSU"
3. The next step is to select any exploit available for your gadget.
4. After a window with a smiley face appears on the screen, you need to reboot the device

Setting up Superuser rights

That's it, root rights have been obtained. The Framaroot app can be uninstalled.

The second step in installation CyanogenMod is to unlock the bootloader. The easiest way to do this is with BootUnlooker. The application can be installed on your smartphone or tablet from the official Play Market application catalog.

Important point: BootUnlooker only works with Nexus series devices. If you have a smartphone or tablet of a different line, find and download an application on the Internet to unlock the bootloader for your device.

Now you need to flash the device with custom recovery. The easiest option is achieved as follows:

1. Download and install from Play Market GooManager application.
2. In the application menu we activate "Install OpenRecoveryScr..."
3. The program will ask for permission to do this. We agree
4. When a window appears on the screen with the name of the recovery file, you need to make sure that the name of the model of your device is included in the one offered by the program. This may be its international code. For example, i9300 for Galaxy S3.
5. We agree with the name and automatically go to the site where the required file is located. After downloading and installing it, the program will inform you that everything was done successfully.

Now we find the firmware for your device on the Download page. The firmware can have several versions:

• Stable- latest stable working version
• Release candidate- version in pre-release stage
• Snapshot- not fully “tested” version. There are minor bugs, but overall the firmware is stable and has several improvements compared to the Stable version
• Miliestone, Nightly And Experiments– various experimental versions that may have many bugs. You can install them only out of curiosity. Installing them is not advisable for your working device

When you find the firmware for your smartphone or tablet model, and also decide on its version, download the archive with it.

1. Upload the file (no need to unzip) into the memory of the device that needs to be flashed
2. Boot into recovery mode (hold down the power and volume down button while booting)
3. Activate the menu "Install" and find the place where you uploaded the firmware file. Click on it and confirm the installation

All you have to do is wait a little while for the firmware to install on your device and enjoy the new interface and functions. If the firmware fails, then most likely the smartphone will not boot. Don’t rush to take it to a service center or throw it away. Boot into recovery mode (power and volume down buttons) and activate Wipe mode.

IMPORTANT: After installing the firmware Cyanogenmod need to install Play Market and other Google services separately. Download the Gapps package from this link, upload it to your device and install it through recovery.

As you can see from this guide, installing custom firmware such as CyanogenMod, this is not a very difficult task. The main thing is to find the right version and recovery for your device.

"Cyanogen" is one of the most popular alternative firmware today. With its help, you can completely change the concept of ease of use of a smartphone or tablet. Thanks to it, you can change the standard settings of on-screen buttons, status bars, quick access bars, sound and LED notifications, as well as other interface elements.

Unfortunately, as of December 31, 2016, the developer stopped supporting the firmware. But the successor to this product was the firmware LineageOS. At the moment, the latest version of the product is Lineage OS 14.1 on the base Android 7.1.1 Nougat.

Video. TOP 5 features of Cyanogenmod for which I love and hate it

Users of official firmware Android devices are increasingly looking around in search of functional “mods” for the firmware of their devices. And some people are also looking at full-fledged, albeit stripped-down Linux distributions or even “Windowsphones.”

It would seem that Android as an operating system is confidently gaining momentum all over the world. However, due to strong segmentation and delays in firmware updates by phone manufacturers, many owners of devices based on this OS either have not yet received the latest firmware on their communicators, or will never receive them.

You don’t need to look far for examples - almost any communicator manufacturer has more than one model of its current product line in its “asset”! And if Google itself has begun obliging vendors to keep Android OS versions up-to-date for a certain time, then in most cases the owners of “last season” devices have no chance at all. Then, in all his glory and fully armed, Count T..., sorry, CyanogenMod, appears from the bushes. (Leave Pelevin aside! – Editor’s note. – Sorry, it came out... – Author’s note.)

CyanogenMod is the first mobile OS, which is essentially a combination of the experimental development branch of the community and the official source code tree of the Android OS.

The CyanogenMod project was a collaboration between developers and the XDA community. Being, in principle, firmware for communicators and tablets based on the Android operating system, it contains modules and software that are not included in official software builds from vendors of communicators and tablets. CyanogenMod is the first mobile OS, which is essentially a combination of the experimental development branch of the community and the official source code tree of the Android OS.

There is an opinion among mod users that CyanogenMod improves the performance and reliability of the operating system compared to official firmware releases from the device vendor (this statement, of course, is a reason for an excellent holivar). By the way, it was stated that as of October 31, 2011, the CyanogenMod firmware was installed on more than a million devices! Is this not a reason to look at the project more closely, especially in light of the fact that after some time every owner of an Android-based device will be forced to install this mod on their device, because the period of support for the device by manufacturers will end for owners of fairly modern mobile devices corporations will simply give up...

Despite all the nuances of using CyanogenMod on your device, I’m really looking forward to the joint efforts of XDA and the vendor’s programmers to “finish” the new “cyanogen”.

So, the currently developed branch of the project is CyanogenMod 7. Its development began with the release of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). On February 15, 2011, the first firmware versions for several supported devices already appeared. The fourth "beta" of the firmware was presented to the community on March 30, 2011, which strengthened CyanogenMod's position among other similar firmware (as many bug fixes were made). On April 11, 2011, the first stable build of CyanogenMod 7.0 based on Android 2.3.3 was released. The current build of “cyanogen” has version 7.1.0.2 and is based on Android 2.3.7 (which, you see, is extremely interesting for owners of a still fully functional “junk” based on Android 1.6-2.1).

• Program: Cyanogenmod 7
• Type: firmware
• Developer: Community xda-developers
• Distribution size: 94.35 MB
• Russification of the interface: yes
• Address: cyanogenmod.com

In its current form, build 7.1.0.2 supports 68 different device models (look for yours here - www.cyanogenmod.com/devices). For each of them, a step-by-step guide is available for replacing the stock firmware with CyanogenMod, and to simplify installation, a special ROM Manager application, included in the CyanogenMod kit, has been prepared. However, I remind Sony Ericsson fans that unlocking the bootloader is a prerequisite for installing the mod - keep this in mind! By the way, thanks to the “personal” interest of Samsung and Sony Ericsson (which provided the CyanogenMod project with information and equipment for work and testing), the developers were able to provide support for the entire current model range of these manufacturers.

After the introductory part of the story, let's get down to business and take a look at the list of goodies of CyanogenMod 7.1.0.2:
1. Support for the FLAC codec with the ability to use an equalizer.
2. Availability of programs such as BusyBox, rsync, htop, nano, PowerTOP, bash, etc. in the basic package. Linux users rejoice!
3. The presence of an access manager su, which allows you to allow or deny obtaining root rights for a specific application.
4. Access to an additional settings section with options for tuning performance, user interface, sound subsystem and input methods.
5. Availability of Spare Parts - a set of service functions for monitoring battery status, monitoring resource consumption, application power consumption, as well as for setting various interface parameters.
6. Support for OpenVPN and incognito mode in the standard browser!
7. The ADW.Launcher application is used as a standard system launcher. And although the “gift horse…” (further in the text), at least for me, it falls quite often. Of course, the last release dates back to 2010. Therefore, I immediately recommend purchasing and installing ADW.Launcher EX, it is both fresher and more stable - this immediately catches your eye.
8. Screen strokes are processed, which can be entered even in screen lock mode. You can configure the display of additional information on the lock screen, which is very convenient.
9. The standard system browser now supports private navigation mode (without saving surfing history and other data in the cache).
10. There is an Apps2SD function for transferring applications to an SD card and back to the main memory.
11. The Phone Goggles firewall has been integrated, allowing you to only allow specific applications to make calls and send SMS (the so-called “Drunk Mode”).
And this is just the little that immediately caught my eye when I first met CyanogenMod 7. When examining the firmware in more detail, inquisitive minds will have both something to be happy about and something to be upset about.

Therefore, let's start looking at the pros and cons - I'm sure this will be useful to many. Let's start with setting up the “cyanogen” itself. In the “Applications” menu item, you can both allow the movement of any programs to the memory card and select the default installation location for all new applications. Also here is the already mentioned “Drunk Mode” of the Phone Goggles firewall, which allows you to “filter” unnecessary communication between the device and the Network.

You can also, for example, force the device to check the status of its owner, asking him to solve mathematical problems before each call. So, one day, after two such tests, I spat, decided to admit that I was drunk, turned off this mode and at the same time the phone (cunning smiley). This is how modern technology disciplines us.

In the input settings, you can select the actions performed when using the “Menu” and “Search” buttons, the device’s reaction to pressing and releasing the touchscreen, and determine the behavior of the built-in player when the screen is off. There is complete freedom in the interface settings! Starting from the choice of reboot options, notification panel, status bar and LED notifications to animation effects and the general appearance of the scrollbar.

I would also like to separately touch on the contents of the “Performance” menu. We are honestly warned that these settings change system performance for the worse (no, well, we know that the main thing is to warn in advance so that they don’t point fingers at you later (smiley)). We agree, shaking our heads, and immediately go to the “CPU Settings” item. There are four modes waiting for us here: Interactive (default), Ondemand, Scary and Smartssv2. Below are the options for selecting the minimum and maximum processor frequencies. For me these are 122 and 1612 MHz (set by default). However, for those who will override these parameters, it is possible to apply their CPU settings the next time the device is booted.

In the “System” item of the “CyanogenMod Settings” menu, you can read the release notes installed on our device (as if we didn’t read them on the website before installing the assembly). It is also possible to allow notifications about new versions of CyanogenMod. I honestly registered on the update server, but although I know for sure that there is an update (and that it just doesn’t want to load on my device), I still haven’t received a notification about the availability of the firmware... Maybe it’s done for the future? Well, let's wait and see...

Also, earlier (in the sense before I switched to ADW.Launcher EX) in the main menu, immediately below the CyanogenMod settings, there was an item for managing launcher settings. However, after replacing it with the advanced version and uninstalling the old one, the convenient menu item disappears, and I still haven't figured out how to get it back. Well, no worries, I have time before the new build.

Those who like to change everything will certainly appreciate the option to customize the type of screen lock. A total of five types of locking are offered - from rings to the classic slider. In addition, you can play with the styles of the lock screen, the type of widgets placed on it, etc. Oh, I almost forgot! There is a separate settings block for tablets! Of course, Android 2.3.7 is not as well suited for tablets as 3.0.2, but, nevertheless, you can move the status bar to the bottom of the screen and not display the unlock screen...

Now, if the reader doesn’t mind, I’ll share my purely personal impressions of the firmware on a real device – my award-winning SE Arc. As for power consumption, for some reason in my case it did not become lower, but only increased - according to a subjective assessment, by 10-15 percent... And this despite the fact that my friend with an SE Mini, after installing CyanogenMod, had a device lifespan of one charging with the same style of phone use almost doubled!

My primary sin was that after flashing the device, the battery controller still does not know the exact charge values. I had to calibrate the battery manually (remove the battery for 5 minutes, and then, without turning on the device, charge it for 5-6 hours). This manipulation helped a little, however, it didn’t feel completely. But the “screen-proximity sensor” combination began to work better. The touchscreen's response to touch with the ear (smile) almost stopped, and I forgot about the problem that always worried me extremely about stock firmware.

Well, about the little things. In CyanogenMod, the call screen is organized in such a way that the pictures of subscribers from the “Google account” are right on topic! They do not deform and look neat and in place. In addition, if the call holding service is not activated, I can (albeit manually) disable the display of the corresponding virtual button. A small thing, but nice. I was also pleased with the presence of a terminal emulator. Many people won’t need it, but it will come in handy for me - I’ll manage my home server via SSH! Previously, you had to install a separate utility for this.

Summing up the results of studying CyanogenMod, I would like to note that the project turned out to be very necessary and relevant, and the CyanogenMod firmware was in demand. By bringing “fresh” versions of the operating system to our devices, which we had never even dreamed of before, CyanogenMod can soon completely conquer the niche of “out-of-warranty” communicators and tablets (“Nukovodam” with Nook Color – a low start!).

Samsung and SE are actively involved in the project, so let's hope that they will bring developments to it for porting and optimizing firmware for their devices, but will not purchase CyanogenMod for their own needs. Because if such a turn of events occurs, there will be no alternative to amateur fashions. However, let's not lose optimism and wish the project good luck and speedy completion of the firmware for SE Arc (smile)!

P.S. Despite all the nuances of using CyanogenMod on your device, I’m really looking forward to the joint efforts of XDA and the vendor’s programmers to “finish” the new “cyanogen”. Whether he will be 8th or 9th is completely uncritical for me. U.P.

Impressions and reflections
I've been thinking about switching to CyanogenMod for a long time. Being a “happy” owner of a Sony Ericsson Arc, I tried a lot - all versions of stock PCT firmware, most versions of “bourgeois” firmware and several custom mods. However, each version of the firmware fixed some bugs but introduced others.

Yes, and getting root rights again on each new firmware was not always trivial... Then removing garbage from pre-installed SE applications, freezing system programs that, in my opinion, are completely unnecessary in the system... In a word, a lot of time was spent on experiments, but to no avail there weren’t so many: the main problems with communication (loss of signal inside buildings) and the touchscreen (impossibility of unlocking the screen when there is an incoming call without using the communicator’s power button) gradually drove me crazy.

But I just never got around to CyanogenMod - of course, this mod requires an unlocked bootloader. And as soon as you unlock it, you immediately lose the warranty, which you really didn’t want. And, as soon as the opportunity to unlock the bootloader via test point arose, I made up my mind. “As a last resort, I’ll block it back,” I thought and took up a utility knife and a paper clip (those who are interested in the procedure can easily find the necessary information on the Internet; for the laziest, there are even video tutorials).

I won’t dwell on the process of updating to CyanogenMod in detail - you’ll go to the website for the firmware, and you’ll also find the rest of the information there. I'll go through the nuances. Firstly, version 7.1.0.2 could not boot on my device. I waited a long time, changed it several times - the result was the same. But 7.1.0.1 installed without problems, and that’s what I’ve stuck with for now.

To say that I was amazed by the abundance of settings is tantamount to silence! I'm still tuning something somewhere, constantly discovering new menu items. But it wasn’t just the opportunity to “dig from the heart” that appealed to me. Unlike the stock SE firmware, the “telephone” part of the CyanogenMod software is beyond praise. Not only did I no longer lose signal in the same places in the building where the factory firmware failed, it became more convenient to work with the communicator just like a telephone.

It's now possible to sort contacts by last name, and there's less hassle with SMS. And in general, CyanogenMod discovered Arc for me as a phone! And to be honest, I was already thinking about buying myself a Philips Xenium as a “dialer” (yes, Chinese, yes, it’s buggy, but the battery is 2000 mAh!)... However, there was a fly in the ointment: for example, Camera support is implemented anyhow, and FM radio is still in the process of integration.

There are nuances with Googlesoft - “Maps” and “Gallery” constantly crash for me when I try to upload a photo in “Places” and leave comments. In my opinion, they haven’t completely finished the screen driver, because there are problems with responsiveness, with pressing the bottom row of keyboard keys in landscape orientation, etc. Yes, sometimes you have to reboot manually, but the reboot time is minimal. But, despite all this, I can’t bring myself to tear down CyanogenMod and install the stock firmware. I look forward to updates!

It is common practice in the world to compare Android and iOS. The main difference is the attitude towards the openness of the system for the user. If iOS does not even allow you to view individual folders on the device, then in Android the file system is accessible to the user. However, only at first glance it seems that Android developers allow you to do whatever you want with their OS: many important and necessary functions remain unavailable. Therefore, CyanogenMod firmware has become popular among advanced users. For information on how to install, update and, if necessary, remove the firmware, read our article.

What is CyanogenMod?

СyanogenMod is an alternative Android firmware that expands the functionality of the operating system. The firmware has gained popularity: as of 2016, CyanogenMod is installed on 14 million devices.

It all started when a simple programmer, Steven Kondik, posted his development for the HTC Dream smartphone on xda-developers.com, the largest site with custom firmware for Android. He didn’t think long about the name and took his nickname - Cyanogen, adding Mod to it. Steven Kondik did not imagine that anyone would be interested in his development, but already in the first days users responded positively to the firmware. Then the programmer, in a creative impulse, began intensively refining CyanogenMod, posting several updates per day on xda-developers.com.

Then Steven Kondik posted CyanogenMod on Github, a collaborative development service. Then other programmers joined in improving the project, bringing their ideas and developments. Over time, it became clear that CyanogenMod had turned from an amateur firmware into an exceptional project. CyanogenMod's capabilities made the mobile device more functional than any other firmware.

Advantages

Why do users love CyanogenMod so much?

1. High performance. CyanogenMod, thanks to its optimization, significantly improves the performance of the device. Both menus and heavy games run on this firmware much faster and smoother than on the standard one. As an example, consider the Nexus 4, which on standard firmware produces 15–16 thousand Antutu Benchmark points. After installation, Cyanogen makes 21 thousand points. In addition, Cyanogen allows advanced users to change the processor operation scheme and control its frequency at their discretion. There are five modes: Interactive - standard frequency distribution, increases when the screen is turned on; Ondemand - less productive, more energy efficient; Userspace - allows you to configure everything yourself; Powersave - minimum processor frequency, maximum energy saving; Performance - maximum processor frequency, best performance, but high power consumption.
2. The only way to install a new version of Android for older devices. Few manufacturers support their devices even for 4-5 years, releasing Android firmware 5 and 6, so CyanogenMod is the only way to install Android Lollipop and Marshmallow on such devices. Cyanogen also allows you to get rid of the manufacturer’s pre-installed firmware, for example, Samsung’s TouchWiz.
3. Customizable appearance. CyanogenMod makes it possible to change the design of every detail of the interface to your liking. PlayMarket has thousands of custom theme options. The firmware also supports the original Android theme (Android Holo up to version 12 and Google Material Design in versions 12 and 13), unlike the official firmware of device manufacturers.
4. System openness. Standard Android firmware has various restrictions for users. CyanogenMod eliminates these restrictions, thanks to which it has a Free Lossless Audio Codec, a compressed cache, a large list of APNs, an OpenVPN client and a reboot menu. However, this advantage is only for knowledgeable and skilled people, because the device can be accidentally broken.

Firmware versions

The latest version of CyanogenMod is the thirteenth version, based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Each new version of CyanogenMod is developed to update Android. In addition, the developers support and constantly update all versions simultaneously, releasing new builds of the project. There are six types of CyanogenMod builds:

1. Experimental - experimental firmware versions for testing new ideas. These versions are extremely unstable, have an abundance of bugs and are needed only by developers for testing.
2. Nightly - daily updates, the result of a day's work by programmers. Like Experimental, they exist only for developers, so that enthusiasts can follow the development of the project and help it with new ideas and suggestions.
3. Millie stone is a raw version that collects all the innovations to test their interaction.
4. Snapshot is an already developed assembly suitable for use. Usually, not all bugs have been caught and not all errors have been fixed.
5. Release Candidaty (RC) is an almost finished firmware version. The developers check for errors, performance and stability one last time.
6. Stable is the final, stable version of CyanogenMod.

If you are a simple user who wants to install CyanogenMod, then you should choose a stable firmware version. This guarantees no errors and functionality. But for the sake of useful features that are not yet in the stable version, you can try the developer versions. But such firmware is almost impossible to use - there are too many errors.

How to install: step-by-step instructions

Please note: installing CyanogenMod will void your warranty! This applies not only to Cyanogen, but also to any other custom firmware. There are certain ways to hide traces of third-party firmware, but the methods are unreliable and do not always work. So unless you're willing to forfeit your warranty, don't take the risk.

The installation of CyanogenMod is non-standard and complicated for untrained users: it involves more than 10 steps. Updating the system isn't the most intuitive either. Of course, there is an easy way to install the firmware, but this is far from the best option. The latest version of CyanogenMod is automatically downloaded, which is not always stable, which may result in errors. But since not everyone will want to spend time on a more complex method, we will look at this option.

Easy installation

1. First, check if your device is supported. To do this, follow the link: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/CyanogenMod_Installer#Supported_Devices and view the list of supported devices.
2. In your smartphone settings, enable USB debugging (Accessibility -> For Developers -> USB Debugging).
3. Download the CyanogenModInstaller app on your smartphone from Google Play.
4. Download a special program for Windows (Vista/7/8) to your computer: http://beta.download.cyanogenmod.org/install.
5. Turn on the application on your smartphone and follow the instructions in the program.
6. Connect your device to your computer via USB.
7. Turn on the program on your computer.
8. The program itself will start downloading the files necessary for the firmware. When everything is downloaded, you will see the message “Everything is ready”.
9. Click on the “Install” button.
10. When the firmware installation is complete, the program will notify you with the message “Installation complete”.
11. Ready.

The hard way

1. First you need to get Root rights (remove restrictions imposed by Android developers). Let's do this using the Framaroot program. Download Framaroot 1.9.1 from the Internet, install it and run it. If your antivirus issues a warning, click Allow.
2. Now you need to unlock the Android bootloader. The best way to do this is the BootUnlocker program. You can download the application directly from Google Play. Launch the program and click the “Unlock” button. The bootloader will be unlocked.
3. You need to install Custom Recovery. Let's look at its installation using TWRP (Team Win Recovery Project) as an example.
   
4. Let's start installing CyanogenMod.
   
5. As soon as the installation is completed, reboot the system. If everything went well, an empty desktop will open. If not, the phone will not boot. In this case, you need to enter Recovery mode again, install the new firmware, but only enable full Wipe.
6. The last thing left is to install Google Play. To do this, download the Gapps package (http://opengapps.org), move them to the root folder and install them in the same way as the firmware itself, via Recovery.
7. Ready!

Video: how to install CyanogenMod firmware?

Is it possible to install CyanogenMod on an unsupported device?

The answer is clear: no. CyanogenMod Installer will simply write that your device is not supported. If you install it manually, there may be a lot of problems, even to the point where the phone or tablet stops working. If the device could run firmware, the developers would have added it to their list anyway.

How to update firmware

There are also two ways to update CyaongenMod.

Easy way

This method works for Cyanogen versions 10.0 and higher. Everything is extremely simple: open the settings, go to “About phone”, then “CyanogenMod update”. The device will automatically download the latest update and install it. During the process, the smartphone will reboot several times. All data will be saved.

Manual option

Please note: you should not update your device to more than one version of CyanogenMod at a time (for example, from CM version 10.0 to version 10.2). Unpredictable errors and incorrect firmware operation may appear. It is also not recommended to roll back the device to earlier versions of CM (for example, from 10.2 to 10.1). Sometimes it leads to an error with the smartphone endlessly rebooting. For any downgrade, you must first do a Wipe Data/Factory Reset.

It's almost always better to use the easy update method as you're less likely to do something wrong. However, if you have Cyanogen version below the tenth version, and also if you use third-party add-ons (add-ons), you will have to use a complex method, since the standard update does not allow you to immediately install add-ons to the firmware.

1. To get started, download the latest stable version (or whatever version you need) of CyanogenMod and the latest version of the Gapps package.
2. Turn on Recovery mode.
3. Install the firmware first, then the zip archive with Gapps, and then third-party addons. There is no need to Wape, so all data is retained during the update.
4. Ready.

When updating again, there is no need to reinstall Gapps, since the data is saved, but addons will have to be installed manually.

In addition, only with the complex option can you choose which update to install (which cannot be done with the simple installation method).

How to remove if necessary

If you decide to return everything as it was, you need to reinstall the firmware again, but this time replace CyanogenMod with the stock firmware from the manufacturer of your device. You can download such firmware from the manufacturer’s official website.

1. When you download the firmware, save the archive in the root directory of the device
2. Turn on Recovery mode (hold down the power button and volume up button while starting the device).
3. Check all the Wipe boxes. Please note that all data will be deleted.
4. Then install the downloaded archive with the official firmware.
5. Wait for the installation to complete.
6. Reboot your device.
7. Ready.

Sometimes returning to the device's native firmware erases all traces of the presence of CyanogenMod, in which case the warranty will not be nullified. However, you should not count on this, as it depends on luck and the carelessness of the support staff. The rules for providing warranty service prohibit changing the manufacturer's firmware.

CyanogenMod is an interesting firmware that has grown from an amateur craft to a serious and ambitious project, which has no analogue in the world. CM allows you to do things with the device that no official firmware allows. But only advanced and knowledgeable users should install it, since open systems are unsafe. In addition, the phone may malfunction and warranty service will not be available. However, if you lack the standard functions of a smartphone or tablet on stock Android firmware, if you are ready to learn and develop, and are ready to spend time and effort to overcome errors that arise, then you definitely need to flash your device with CyanogenMod. According to some users, CyanogenMod is the highest point in the development of mobile devices.