fiendiish

Yes, this is my first post LOL. I been lurking for a couple of days. I'm a new Android LOVER! Upgraded from an iPhone 3G to the Aria (if that can even be called a phone =/) to my wonderous Captivate.

I wanna root it...but I'm scared. I've never done it before and I don't want to brick it. Also, I know it voids the warranty. Any tips or reassurances?

I downloaded the Pimp My Captivate guide...seems pretty easy...but nothing ever goes off that smoothly.

Are the benefits of rooting really worth it? Will I still get the push update to Froyo when it rolls out? What about the GPS problem that Samsung is supposed to push a fix for?

Chew

I'm in the same boat as you. I see the advantages to rooting, but it's the question of unrooting and the uncertainty of updates that has me concerned.

I've read elsewhere that rooted phones get an error when connecting to the ATT servers to check for updates. I get "no update available" on my unrooted phone.

"Root--unroot--update--REPEAT" just sounds like endless chances to brick my phone.

CrimsonPride

i guess i cant post links here, probably shouldve read the rules. but google xda developers and goto their website and the forums for the captivate. click Captivate Android Development and there will be a link to a one click root / unroot and thats what i used, very easy to remove the risk of bricking.

now most people leave the phone rooted but if you want to just do the lag fix you can probably unroot when you finish, that is the main reason i rooted but i have no reason to unroot it yet so i just leave it

as far as getting froyo and the gps fix im 99% sure you get it and dont see any reason you wouldnt. somebody else could probably answer for sure as its my first android also

xpeppyx

Hi Im new to the android phones and i had a couple questions about rooting to see if it is right for me or not.

What i am mainly trying to do is to get rid of the AT&T bloat ware. which i know i can do if i root my phone.


Now. My question is When i root my phone. is it going to change everything? as in will the samsung widgets and home screens look the same?

What does rooting actually do?

once i root my phone what apps are a must to get? like titanium backup ect..

Will i be able to update my phone to 2.2? or have to wait till samsung does the update for it? and if i use the samsung update feature will that unroot my phone?

will rooting my phone allow me to use sim cards from other carriers?

Sorry if some of the questions sound dumb i just trying to figure out if this really is for me or not.

CrimsonPride

A rooted phone looks exactly the same as an unrooted phone, you still have all the samsung widgets as long as you use touchwiz

rooting gives you super access to your phone, so you can change anything on the phone.

the only apps i have that require rooting are titanium backup, drocap2 for screen shots, market enabler, and busybox

rooting will let you install custom ROMs but i dont believe there are any out for 2.2, im probably going to stay away from doing this myself as im afraid i would mess something up. ill wait for the 2.2 ota update

rooting will not allow you to use sim cards from any other carries i do not believe. tmobile cards already work i believe but i dont think youre going to get much further than that

now all of that is correct i believe but there are lots of people that know lots more than i do about this stuff, just trying to help alittle

acp

I'm rooted now, but I have no idea what to do next lol

The funny thing is rooting is the easy part, try reading the sideloading thread it's a headache.

xpeppyx

what is an OTAA update?

acp

do you mean OTA update? that is an Over The Air update, which means Samsung/ATT released an update for your phone and you don't need to plug your phone into a computer to receive/install the update.

ok just finished sideloading wifi tether through the android central side loading app and I have my iPad, laptop and my wifes iphone connected to my androidtether signal, absolutely freaking awesome!

xpeppyx

ah ok.

Droopie28

i made the jump from a 3gs, its different, but I think I like it... so far i rooted just to take off the AT&T crap

kamots

I believe that if you have a rom flashed that allows updates, you should be ok and get ota's. It has been my experience though that most roms do not allow updates because it typically un roots the phone, but with the one click root method, over a xda forums, It should be really easy to re-root the phone I would think.

xpeppyx

ok i have another question. ive been ready that rooting the phone gets rid of lag. Is there a certain app you have to download to get rid of lag or is it just a bonus to rooting. I just rooted my phone "1st time doing it and it was super easy." and i'm not seeing any difference in speed.

mttfrog13

There's a fix you have to apply. A second process which looks like it is harder than rooting your phone was. I am thinking about rooting to do the lag fix, but the fix seems kind of too invasive for me.

Anyway, i too am in a "to root or not to root" dilemma. I am not worried about bricking the phone, but I need complete confidence that the phone can be returned to stock.

thindery

I think you may be talking about this, the stage 1 speed fix:

Stage 1 Speed Fix for Captivate (Vibrant, Galaxy S)

To do it, you have to be rooted. I just rooted yesterdy and plan to do this speed fix later today when I get around to it.

ronaldramsayii

Rooting definitely holds it's benefits. It allows you to customize and mod your phone in any which way you'd like. When Samsung released their Source Code for 2.1, they left it for developers to improve their builds. There's features that can be added, even removed in some cases, but u need root access in order to. Root basically gives you the opportunity to make the phone "yours", "you" or fit ur preferences.

Root allows you to overclock your kernel which is currently 1Ghz. Imagine getting 1.4Ghz, 1.5Ghz even, and still maintain a fair amount of battery life. The Galaxy S series phones are GREAT!! phones. If taken the time to, there's so much that can be done. Just imagine when it gets Froyo, and Apps2SD and so on.

I will definitely be developing for this phone, so those that have root access can enjoy the benefits of what Android and Google really provided us with. If you root, to unroot, from what I know, you can delete Superuser Access (Ninja) and busybox.

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Chew

I posted this link in the sticky. I saw this one-click root/unroot option over at the XDA forums

[PROGRAM] One Click Root / UnRoot for AT&T Captivate - xda-developers

ronaldramsayii

Not saying that this doesn't work, but sometimes these one-click root things can also open up a monitoring thing on your phone. Information that you may receive may be accessible by others, that's why I choose to root manually.

noc

I've had my captivate for less than a week, and I rooted it already. I thought I was going to hold out, but just looking at those AT&T apps annoyed me enough to consider returning the phone. The considerations are gone now, along with the apps. I have yet to sideload apps, but there is a way to sideload apps without rooting.

Is it worth it? Depends. I personally didn't find the phone to be laggy at all, as some users here complained about. After I applied the lag fix (without external SD card), I feel like there was a change. It might feel faster, but it could all be wishful thinking here. I noticed a smooth fade-in/out animation of my app page when I enter/exit it, and I'm not sure if I just overlooked it before.

If you highly value customization, go for it; however, you will have to spend some time learning about android (it's not a bad thing; getting to know your phone will help you get the best out of it).