I need help with a mobile phone issue from techy people please!

[Toffeewhirl]

I don't really understand what I'm asking for as I don't know anything about mobiles and tech stuff, but am hoping someone will be able to help.

Ds1 (15) received a new android smartphone last week. We are tied into the contract for two years. In spite of being told not to fiddle with it and break it like he did last time DS managed to meddle enough to stop it working. He says he tried to install a custom rom (Cyanogen mod) to get rid of 'bloatware', which he claims slows the phone down. The new mod didn't work and neither did the phone. Fortunately, DH managed to restore the phone to its factory settings, but DS can't use it because it looks different now and he wants it back to how it was. Before you say he sounds like a spoilt brat (I know), he has ASD and OCD and this is all part of his obsessiveness. He's actually in a terrible state about it all.

So, he now has a phone that works, but the screen looks different from how it looked when he received it. He says he wants a 'back up of the default stock rom' .

The worst thing, for me, is that the phone is registered in my name, so I'm the one who has to ring up about it. Does anyone know if this is a reasonable request to ring up about? I barely understand what I'm asking for, to be honest.

He's been ill and sleeping for large chunks of the day recently, Trib, so he's not up to doing anything to his phone at the moment. And I have only recently upgraded my outdated phone to a Smartphone (with a different company), so I don't need another one.

Thanks for the explanation (and link) about rooting. If I understand correctly, DS1 got into this pickle because he must have wanted to delete the preloaded apps as they slowed down the apps he did want.

Once he's better, I'll see how he's getting on with his phone and if it's still getting to him, suggest the XDA site and ducky 's link.

I can see why one of his favourite subjects at school is the Cisco Entry-level Certificate, which seems to involve a lot of taking apart and putting back together of computer parts, as well as discussion of WANS and LANS .