Tag Archives: android

I felt some stress as I was coming home from work yesterday.  For years, my favorite stress/anxiety reducer has been messing with the Linux boxes.  I swap out one distro for another, change desktops, tweak, try a new experiment, etc.  I have the Linux computers nearly perfect, and they give no trouble, so it’s time to leave them alone for now.

What to do if I want to mess with tech as a relaxer?  All that is left for getting a good hard tech f**k is the Android devices.  It’s a little unnerving because those things are expensive, and if you screw up or brick them, you’re off the air.  I have two older Nexus S that were replaced by Nexus 4’s, so they were good candidates for an OS (operating system) swap.

Swapping out the stock Android for the popular CyanogenMod was actually quite easy, and I didn’t even use the new automatic installer.  Just download a couple of files and issue several fairly easy commands.  The important thing was to carefully read through the instructions and take it slow and easy, step by step.

I learned how to change the default recovery to ClockworkMod, do backups and restores, change stock Android to CyanogenMod, and switch it back.  For some reason things like this make my stress melt away…after it’s all done.  While I’m learning it, I often spit, swear, and fly into rages.  Strange how that works.  It’s kind of a catharsis.

Screenie of CyanogenMod on a Nexus S.  I’ll consider it for the Nexus 4’s later.  At least I got it down now.