On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make a
note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings and
reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it is,
which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

XDA is a good place to start.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

--
Reentrant

On 26/11/2019 17:23, Reentrant wrote:
On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make a
note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings and
reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

XDA is a good place to start.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

I have a bank app. The installation instructions said app would not work
if the phone was rooted.

--
Michael Chare

On 26/11/2019 17:37, Michael Chare wrote:
On 26/11/2019 17:23, Reentrant wrote:
On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make
a note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings
and reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to
root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

XDA is a good place to start.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

I have a bank app. The installation instructions said app would not work
if the phone was rooted.


Magisk will hide rooted status from specified apps; the author always
seems to be one step ahead of Safetynet (the part of the OS that detects
root) but no guarantee that will continue for ever ...


--
Reentrant

On Tue, 26 Nov 2019 18:09:36 +0000, Reentrant
wrote:

On 26/11/2019 17:37, Michael Chare wrote:
On 26/11/2019 17:23, Reentrant wrote:
On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make
a note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings
and reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to
root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

XDA is a good place to start.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

I have a bank app. The installation instructions said app would not work
if the phone was rooted.


Magisk will hide rooted status from specified apps; the author always
seems to be one step ahead of Safetynet (the part of the OS that detects
root) but no guarantee that will continue for ever ...

Isn't the real question not how to do it and get away with it under
normal circumstances but whether, if your mobile banking goes itspu
and you lose all your dosh, your bank will still pay you compo?

Nick

On 26/11/2019 17:23, Reentrant wrote:
On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make a
note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings and
reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

XDA is a good place to start.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

Thanks. I had a look there but felt like I'd entered another reality.
I'm an ex-IT guy but I don't want to learn a new vernacular and spend
days or weeks fiddling; I just want the thing to work so I can get on
with the more important things in life.

On 27/11/2019 10:56, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Tue, 26 Nov 2019 17:37:10 +0000, Michael Chare wrote:

On 26/11/2019 17:23, Reentrant wrote:
On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make a
note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings and
reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

XDA is a good place to start. https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

I have a bank app. The installation instructions said app would not work
if the phone was rooted.

In which case, go back to them and get one that does work.

I don't think you need to root a phone to replace the OS, just unlock
the bootloader.

On Tue, 26 Nov 2019 19:14:24 +0000, wrote:

On 26/11/2019 17:23, Reentrant wrote:
On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make a
note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings and
reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

XDA is a good place to start.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

Thanks. I had a look there but felt like I'd entered another reality.
I'm an ex-IT guy but I don't want to learn a new vernacular and spend
days or weeks fiddling; I just want the thing to work so I can get on
with the more important things in life.

Ditto in that I'm an ex-IT guy and the Android and Linux guys
sometimes may as well be speaking Klingon and I wonder how they got to
that point.

Of course it's these same guys that write these systems which probably
explains a lot. I did root an old Android 4 phone which allowed me to
free up memory so I could actually run some apps that I wanted,
nothing spectacular. It was no big deal but if I'd lost the phone it
wouldn't have mattered that much.

But if you don't want to fiddle then you are stuck with standard fare
so just go back to factory settings. If you got your apps from
playstore I suspect they'll re-install anyway.


--
AnthonyL

Why do scientists need to BELIEVE in anything?

AnthonyL wrote:

wrote:

Reentrant wrote:

XDA is a good place to start.

I'm an ex-IT guy but I don't want to learn a new vernacular and spend
days or weeks fiddling; I just want the thing to work so I can get on
with the more important things in life.

Of course it's these same guys that write these systems which probably
explains a lot. I did root an old Android 4 phone which allowed me to
free up memory so I could actually run some apps that I wanted,
nothing spectacular.
Back in the days of android 2.x and to a lesser degree 4.x I did put 3rd
party firmware on my phones/tablets, to get round restrictions of under
1GB flash and 1GB ram, but I haven't bothered recently. I generally
give a big fat warning when pointing people towards XDA.

wrote:
On 26/11/2019 17:23, Reentrant wrote:
On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make a
note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings and
reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

Why do you want to root it?

You can root the existing Touchwiz (Android 6) install:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2oOvf5tOCY

but of itself it doesn't change very much, it just means you can run some
apps that require root. It also makes your phone more vulnerable if you
give root to apps you don't trust.

XDA is a good place to start.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

Thanks. I had a look there but felt like I'd entered another reality.
I'm an ex-IT guy but I don't want to learn a new vernacular and spend
days or weeks fiddling; I just want the thing to work so I can get on
with the more important things in life.

If you're into custom ROMs these work reasonably well on my Note 4:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...-16-0-t3900807
(I most recently tried the 2019-10-17 build - there are definitely better
and worse builds - read the end of the thread for what people recommend)
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...7-0-0-t3899186
(2019-04-24 build)

and this video gives the procedu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQoHApohbDk

(with a different ROM, but that's just flashing a different downloaded .zip file)

The main annoying bit is installing TWRP which you only do once, once that's
done it's fairly simple to flash a new ROM from an SD card.

Be aware that generally it's a good idea to wipe data before reflashing, so
you might have to reload apps etc. There are backup apps like
TitaniumBackup and Migrate to help with that.

It's probably better not to do it to your daily driver unless you have
another phone you can use if you mess up. Generally, a full wipe and
reinstall fixes most issues, but no good if you miss that urgent call while
doing so.

Theo

On 27/11/2019 21:27, Theo wrote:
wrote:
On 26/11/2019 17:23, Reentrant wrote:
On 26/11/2019 15:39, wrote:
I've had a Galaxy Note 4 for many years and am still happy with it,
except that something is making it run s l o o w l y. I plan to make a
note of everything I use and then nuke it back to factory settings and
reinstall the Apps I want, but this is also an opportunity to root it.
Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

Why do you want to root it?

You can root the existing Touchwiz (Android 6) install:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2oOvf5tOCY

but of itself it doesn't change very much, it just means you can run some
apps that require root. It also makes your phone more vulnerable if you
give root to apps you don't trust.

XDA is a good place to start.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/note-4

Thanks. I had a look there but felt like I'd entered another reality.
I'm an ex-IT guy but I don't want to learn a new vernacular and spend
days or weeks fiddling; I just want the thing to work so I can get on
with the more important things in life.

If you're into custom ROMs these work reasonably well on my Note 4:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...-16-0-t3900807
(I most recently tried the 2019-10-17 build - there are definitely better
and worse builds - read the end of the thread for what people recommend)
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...7-0-0-t3899186
(2019-04-24 build)

and this video gives the procedu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQoHApohbDk

(with a different ROM, but that's just flashing a different downloaded .zip file)

The main annoying bit is installing TWRP which you only do once, once that's
done it's fairly simple to flash a new ROM from an SD card.

Be aware that generally it's a good idea to wipe data before reflashing, so
you might have to reload apps etc. There are backup apps like
TitaniumBackup and Migrate to help with that.

It's probably better not to do it to your daily driver unless you have
another phone you can use if you mess up. Generally, a full wipe and
reinstall fixes most issues, but no good if you miss that urgent call while
doing so.

Theo

I'm considering whether it's worth the time/pain/risk of rooting because
I've read that it allows the bloat-ware to be removed and that some ROMs
are faster than the standard Samsung ROM - but I'm in the difficult
situation of not knowing what I don't know about the subject. The more I
delve, the more I'm tempted not to bother.

On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 00:08:27 +0000, wrote:

Rooting a phone is new to me so I have no idea how easy or
risky it
is, which ROM to use, and whether the benefits outweigh the
hassle.
All opinions and experiences gratefully received.

Why do you want to root it?

That is the question. For most people they have no requirment to have
a rooted phone. Changing or upgrading the ROM however can give
benefits like giving life back to an old phone/tablet.

I'm considering whether it's worth the time/pain/risk of rooting because
I've read that it allows the bloat-ware to be removed and that some ROMs
are faster than the standard Samsung ROM - but I'm in the difficult
situation of not knowing what I don't know about the subject. The more I
delve, the more I'm tempted not to bother.

It seems complex but it's not really. A lot of the apparent
complexity comes from the fact that the software tools and version(s)
of the firmware(s) required vary with the hardware you are trying to
upgrade.

Basically you use Odin on a PC to replace the phones bootloader with
TWRP (device specific) over a USB connection. Then boot into TWRP on
the phone to replace the ROM (device specific) from an SD card in the
phone.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
It seems complex but it's not really. A lot of the apparent
complexity comes from the fact that the software tools and version(s)
of the firmware(s) required vary with the hardware you are trying to
upgrade.

Basically you use Odin on a PC to replace the phones bootloader with
TWRP (device specific) over a USB connection. Then boot into TWRP on
the phone to replace the ROM (device specific) from an SD card in the
phone.

In summary, you need:

Odin, to flash the bootloader:
https://odindownload.com/
if you aren't on Windows there's also Heimdall:
https://glassechidna.com.au/heimdall/

A version of TWRP for your phone. I assume you have SM-N910F model (that's
the European Note 4, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU):
https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxynote4qualcomm.html

A ROM .zip file (see the XDA links I posted earlier).
It seems the ResurrectionRemix builds work slightly better - eg
RR-P-v7.0.2-20190920-trlte-Official.zip
from
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...7-0-0-t3899186

If you want the Google apps (Maps, Play Store, etc) you need Opengapps
https://opengapps.org/
Pick 'ARM', the version of Android you're using (9 probably), 'nano' - this
will install the Play Store, and you can then install whatever apps you
want when you've set up your Google account.

If you want root (you probably don't, to begin with), you need Magisk:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/app...mless-t3473445

The procedure is:
1. Install Odin on a Windows machine
2. Use Odin to flash TWRP (requires holding Power+Home+VolumeDown buttons at
power up to enter download mode, then connect to PC via a USB cable)
3. Put RR, Magisk and OpenGapps .zip files onto a micro SD card
4. Boot into TWRP (from off, hold Power+Home+VolumeUp)
5. Wipe system partition and cache via the touch menus
6. Install the ROM .zip then the Gapps and Magisk .zips via the touch menus
7. Reboot into your new OS (first boot may take a while)
8. Set up your 'new' phone

Like anything, it's a bit slower the first time but a lot quicker second
time around, especially since you don't need steps 1-2 again (although you
can use Odin to reinstall the Samsung firmware[1] if you don't like your custom
ROM). It's worth following a video on how to use Odin since the UI isn't
terribly obvious (it's an internal Samsung tool that's leaked onto the net).

Once you've done this, it's like having a new phone for about 15 mins work.

Theo

[1] download from samfirmware.com

On 29/11/2019 22:35, Theo wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:
It seems complex but it's not really. A lot of the apparent
complexity comes from the fact that the software tools and version(s)
of the firmware(s) required vary with the hardware you are trying to
upgrade.

Basically you use Odin on a PC to replace the phones bootloader with
TWRP (device specific) over a USB connection. Then boot into TWRP on
the phone to replace the ROM (device specific) from an SD card in the
phone.

In summary, you need:

Odin, to flash the bootloader:
https://odindownload.com/
if you aren't on Windows there's also Heimdall:
https://glassechidna.com.au/heimdall/

A version of TWRP for your phone. I assume you have SM-N910F model (that's
the European Note 4, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU):
https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxynote4qualcomm.html

A ROM .zip file (see the XDA links I posted earlier).
It seems the ResurrectionRemix builds work slightly better - eg
RR-P-v7.0.2-20190920-trlte-Official.zip
from
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...7-0-0-t3899186

If you want the Google apps (Maps, Play Store, etc) you need Opengapps
https://opengapps.org/
Pick 'ARM', the version of Android you're using (9 probably), 'nano' - this
will install the Play Store, and you can then install whatever apps you
want when you've set up your Google account.

If you want root (you probably don't, to begin with), you need Magisk:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/app...mless-t3473445

The procedure is:
1. Install Odin on a Windows machine
2. Use Odin to flash TWRP (requires holding Power+Home+VolumeDown buttons at
power up to enter download mode, then connect to PC via a USB cable)
3. Put RR, Magisk and OpenGapps .zip files onto a micro SD card
4. Boot into TWRP (from off, hold Power+Home+VolumeUp)
5. Wipe system partition and cache via the touch menus
6. Install the ROM .zip then the Gapps and Magisk .zips via the touch menus
7. Reboot into your new OS (first boot may take a while)
8. Set up your 'new' phone

Like anything, it's a bit slower the first time but a lot quicker second
time around, especially since you don't need steps 1-2 again (although you
can use Odin to reinstall the Samsung firmware[1] if you don't like your custom
ROM). It's worth following a video on how to use Odin since the UI isn't
terribly obvious (it's an internal Samsung tool that's leaked onto the net).

Once you've done this, it's like having a new phone for about 15 mins work.

Theo

[1] download from samfirmware.com


Thanks to all (esp. Theo and DaveL) for the info.
What I'm still lacking is an understanding of the benefits that would
offset the pain. If the newer Note phones had removable batteries I'd
probably treat myself but, apart from feeling a little slow, the N4 does
everything I need. How would it be "better" with a different ROM (I'd
misunderstood the process, thinking that Rooting was a necessary
precursor to changing the ROM code) and would everything still work?

On 30/11/2019 11:26, wrote:
On 29/11/2019 22:35, Theo wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:
It seems complex but it's not really. A lot of the apparent
complexity comes from the fact that the software tools and version(s)
of the firmware(s) required vary with the hardware you are trying to
upgrade.

Basically you use Odin on a PC to replace the phones bootloader with
TWRP (device specific) over a USB connection. Then boot into TWRP on
the phone to replace the ROM (device specific) from an SD card in the
phone.

In summary, you need:

Odin, to flash the bootloader:
https://odindownload.com/
if you aren't on Windows there's also Heimdall:
https://glassechidna.com.au/heimdall/

A version of TWRP for your phone.Â* I assume you have SM-N910F model
(that's
the European Note 4, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU):
https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxynote4qualcomm.html

A ROM .zip file (see the XDA links I posted earlier).
It seems the ResurrectionRemix builds work slightly better - eg
RR-P-v7.0.2-20190920-trlte-Official.zip
from
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...7-0-0-t3899186


If you want the Google apps (Maps, Play Store, etc) you need Opengapps
https://opengapps.org/
Pick 'ARM', the version of Android you're using (9 probably), 'nano' -
this
will install the Play Store, and you can then install whatever apps you
want when you've set up your Google account.

If you want root (you probably don't, to begin with), you need Magisk:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/app...mless-t3473445


The procedure is:
1. Install Odin on a Windows machine
2. Use Odin to flash TWRP (requires holding Power+Home+VolumeDown
buttons at
power up to enter download mode, then connect to PC via a USB cable)
3. Put RR, Magisk and OpenGapps .zip files onto a micro SD card
4. Boot into TWRP (from off, hold Power+Home+VolumeUp)
5. Wipe system partition and cache via the touch menus
6. Install the ROM .zip then the Gapps and Magisk .zips via the touch
menus
7. Reboot into your new OS (first boot may take a while)
8. Set up your 'new' phone

Like anything, it's a bit slower the first time but a lot quicker second
time around, especially since you don't need steps 1-2 again (although
you
can use Odin to reinstall the Samsung firmware[1] if you don't like
your custom
ROM).Â* It's worth following a video on how to use Odin since the UI isn't
terribly obvious (it's an internal Samsung tool that's leaked onto the
net).

Once you've done this, it's like having a new phone for about 15 mins
work.

Theo

[1] download from samfirmware.com


Thanks to all (esp. Theo and DaveL) for the info.
What I'm still lacking is an understanding of the benefits that would
offset the pain. If the newer Note phones had removable batteries I'd
probably treat myself but, apart from feeling a little slow, the N4 does
everything I need. How would it be "better" with a different ROM (I'd
misunderstood the process, thinking that Rooting was a necessary
precursor to changing the ROM code) and would everything still work?

If I were you I'd try going back to factory settings and see whether
that improves the speed. As others have said, with a bit of luck Google
Play Store will reinstall a lot of your stuff.

I rooted a Google Nexus some time ago and experimented with different
ROMs. It was interesting (I like techie things a bit) but I've not
bothered messing round with any of my devices since. It can be nice to
get rid of some bloatware, for instance, but there can be disadvantages
as well.

--
Oliver

On 30/11/2019 11:55, Oliver wrote:
On 30/11/2019 11:26, wrote:
On 29/11/2019 22:35, Theo wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:
It seems complex but it's not really. A lot of the apparent
complexity comes from the fact that the software tools and version(s)
of the firmware(s) required vary with the hardware you are trying to
upgrade.

Basically you use Odin on a PC to replace the phones bootloader with
TWRP (device specific) over a USB connection. Then boot into TWRP on
the phone to replace the ROM (device specific) from an SD card in the
phone.

In summary, you need:

Odin, to flash the bootloader:
https://odindownload.com/
if you aren't on Windows there's also Heimdall:
https://glassechidna.com.au/heimdall/

A version of TWRP for your phone.Â* I assume you have SM-N910F model
(that's
the European Note 4, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU):
https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxynote4qualcomm.html

A ROM .zip file (see the XDA links I posted earlier).
It seems the ResurrectionRemix builds work slightly better - eg
RR-P-v7.0.2-20190920-trlte-Official.zip
from
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...7-0-0-t3899186


If you want the Google apps (Maps, Play Store, etc) you need Opengapps
https://opengapps.org/
Pick 'ARM', the version of Android you're using (9 probably), 'nano'
- this
will install the Play Store, and you can then install whatever apps you
want when you've set up your Google account.

If you want root (you probably don't, to begin with), you need Magisk:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/app...mless-t3473445


The procedure is:
1. Install Odin on a Windows machine
2. Use Odin to flash TWRP (requires holding Power+Home+VolumeDown
buttons at
power up to enter download mode, then connect to PC via a USB cable)
3. Put RR, Magisk and OpenGapps .zip files onto a micro SD card
4. Boot into TWRP (from off, hold Power+Home+VolumeUp)
5. Wipe system partition and cache via the touch menus
6. Install the ROM .zip then the Gapps and Magisk .zips via the touch
menus
7. Reboot into your new OS (first boot may take a while)
8. Set up your 'new' phone

Like anything, it's a bit slower the first time but a lot quicker second
time around, especially since you don't need steps 1-2 again
(although you
can use Odin to reinstall the Samsung firmware[1] if you don't like
your custom
ROM).Â* It's worth following a video on how to use Odin since the UI
isn't
terribly obvious (it's an internal Samsung tool that's leaked onto
the net).

Once you've done this, it's like having a new phone for about 15 mins
work.

Theo

[1] download from samfirmware.com


Thanks to all (esp. Theo and DaveL) for the info.
What I'm still lacking is an understanding of the benefits that would
offset the pain. If the newer Note phones had removable batteries I'd
probably treat myself but, apart from feeling a little slow, the N4
does everything I need. How would it be "better" with a different ROM
(I'd misunderstood the process, thinking that Rooting was a necessary
precursor to changing the ROM code) and would everything still work?

If I were you I'd try going back to factory settings and see whether
that improves the speed. As others have said, with a bit of luck Google
Play Store will reinstall a lot of your stuff.

I rooted a Google Nexus some time ago and experimented with different
ROMs. It was interesting (I like techie things a bit) but I've not
bothered messing round with any of my devices since. It can be nice to
get rid of some bloatware, for instance, but there can be disadvantages
as well.

Getting rid of bloatware was one of the motivators, but this
https://beebom.com/remove-bloatware-android-no-root/ suggests there may
be easier ways.

On 30/11/2019 12:08, wrote:
On 30/11/2019 11:55, Oliver wrote:
On 30/11/2019 11:26, wrote:
On 29/11/2019 22:35, Theo wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:
It seems complex but it's not really. A lot of the apparent
complexity comes from the fact that the software tools and version(s)
of the firmware(s) required vary with the hardware you are trying to
upgrade.

Basically you use Odin on a PC to replace the phones bootloader with
TWRP (device specific) over a USB connection. Then boot into TWRP on
the phone to replace the ROM (device specific) from an SD card in the
phone.

In summary, you need:

Odin, to flash the bootloader:
https://odindownload.com/
if you aren't on Windows there's also Heimdall:
https://glassechidna.com.au/heimdall/

A version of TWRP for your phone.Â* I assume you have SM-N910F model
(that's
the European Note 4, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU):
https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxynote4qualcomm.html

A ROM .zip file (see the XDA links I posted earlier).
It seems the ResurrectionRemix builds work slightly better - eg
RR-P-v7.0.2-20190920-trlte-Official.zip
from
https://forum.xda-developers.com/not...7-0-0-t3899186


If you want the Google apps (Maps, Play Store, etc) you need Opengapps
https://opengapps.org/
Pick 'ARM', the version of Android you're using (9 probably), 'nano'
- this
will install the Play Store, and you can then install whatever apps you
want when you've set up your Google account.

If you want root (you probably don't, to begin with), you need Magisk:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/app...mless-t3473445


The procedure is:
1. Install Odin on a Windows machine
2. Use Odin to flash TWRP (requires holding Power+Home+VolumeDown
buttons at
power up to enter download mode, then connect to PC via a USB cable)
3. Put RR, Magisk and OpenGapps .zip files onto a micro SD card
4. Boot into TWRP (from off, hold Power+Home+VolumeUp)
5. Wipe system partition and cache via the touch menus
6. Install the ROM .zip then the Gapps and Magisk .zips via the
touch menus
7. Reboot into your new OS (first boot may take a while)
8. Set up your 'new' phone

Like anything, it's a bit slower the first time but a lot quicker
second
time around, especially since you don't need steps 1-2 again
(although you
can use Odin to reinstall the Samsung firmware[1] if you don't like
your custom
ROM).Â* It's worth following a video on how to use Odin since the UI
isn't
terribly obvious (it's an internal Samsung tool that's leaked onto
the net).

Once you've done this, it's like having a new phone for about 15
mins work.

Theo

[1] download from samfirmware.com


Thanks to all (esp. Theo and DaveL) for the info.
What I'm still lacking is an understanding of the benefits that would
offset the pain. If the newer Note phones had removable batteries I'd
probably treat myself but, apart from feeling a little slow, the N4
does everything I need. How would it be "better" with a different ROM
(I'd misunderstood the process, thinking that Rooting was a necessary
precursor to changing the ROM code) and would everything still work?

If I were you I'd try going back to factory settings and see whether
that improves the speed. As others have said, with a bit of luck
Google Play Store will reinstall a lot of your stuff.

I rooted a Google Nexus some time ago and experimented with different
ROMs. It was interesting (I like techie things a bit) but I've not
bothered messing round with any of my devices since. It can be nice to
get rid of some bloatware, for instance, but there can be
disadvantages as well.

Getting rid of bloatware was one of the motivators, but this
https://beebom.com/remove-bloatware-android-no-root/ suggests there may
be easier ways.

When phones came with limited internal memory and many apps wouldn't run
from external SD, uninstalling bloatware was almost essential to free up
internal memory for your own apps. This needed root.

But these days it's less of a problem; phones have much more RAM, and
apps run happily from external storage.
Bloatware is still ugly and intrusive but you can disable it via ADB
commands over USB (enable Developer mode in settings, then "USB
debugging" but you don't have to unlock the bootloader or root the OS).

After ADB disable, bloatware is still takes up storage but you don't see
it in the screen menus and it doesn't run in the background. You can
disable system apps via ADB that you can't disable in Settings.

--
Reentrant

wrote:
Thanks to all (esp. Theo and DaveL) for the info.
What I'm still lacking is an understanding of the benefits that would
offset the pain. If the newer Note phones had removable batteries I'd
probably treat myself but, apart from feeling a little slow, the N4 does
everything I need. How would it be "better" with a different ROM (I'd
misunderstood the process, thinking that Rooting was a necessary
precursor to changing the ROM code) and would everything still work?

It's a bit subjective, but to me the nice thing is it 'feels like' a new
phone. For one thing you get the most recent version of Android, with
various new features (although there's nothing super compelling to me,
things like night mode are handy, and some of the third party tweaks are
nice), for another you get more control over what things are installed.
Another thing is you get the most recent security updates, rather than stock
firmware which is often years old.

For me, it's being Google-free, via MicroG (reimplementation of Google Play
Services, so that many apps work), Yalp or Aurora Store (Play Store
replacement without a Google account), NetGuard (firewall to prevent apps
chatting to the internet without my permission, eg for spying or to fetch
ads) and XPrivacyLua [Pro] (feeds fake data to apps that want access to data
I don't want them to have). That's all rather complicated (and a bit fiddly
to set up), but an example of the kind of things you can do with a rooted
phone.

Like you, I'm less than keen on the newer Notes (and for a long time you
couldn't actually buy a newer Note anyway - Note 5 didn't come to Europe,
Note 6 didn't exist, Note 7 caught fire...), and even now they ain't cheap.
I have two Note 4s - I use one as a daily driver and reflash the other with
a new ROM, then when I'm happy swap things over.

Some things don't work as well - the Samsung camera app uses a special
backdoor to the camera that isn't on plain Android, so you have to use a
different app which isn't quite as good (I use OpenCamera). The stylus
works but things like S-Note, S-Command etc don't - but non-Samsung stylus
notetaking and drawing apps work fine.

What's nice is you can decouple the hardware from the software - you might
have a perfectly working phone, but want the feature from new software. On
something like Windows it's easy, just install the new version, but often
with phones the vendor gives up after a year or two so you never get a newer
version. With a custom ROM you can keep old phones going for a lot longer.

Theo