Root MD5? What is it?

[AGAV13]

I am new to rooting and almost every post i read regarding a ROM or update says to check the MD5s and make sure that the id's match. What is a MD5? How do you find/look it up? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[scotty85]

the rom developer will typically list it in the first post of their rom thread,next to the download link. if not you may need to request that the developer add this information.

you can check the md5 of your download on your pc by downloading a file verifyer(do a google search,there are many),or you can check it on your phone by finding your .zip rom download with astro file manager and long pressing on it,or you can download an app from the market called "scary aliens android file verifier AFV". its a handy app and id highly recomend it. https://market.android.com/details?id=sa.afv&feature=search_result

the simple answer to "what is an md5" is that its a way to verify that your download is the same as the origianl file created by the developer,to be sure that it didnt change during the upload,or the download,or the transfer from pc to phone.

the md5 will be unique to the file(and thus always the same as long as the file doesnt change),so if even one little byte gets chopped off the md5 will change.

hope that helps

 

[gregnice37]

Glad someone asked and glad someone explained. Was always wondering myself what exactly it was and how to exactly look it up. Did the longpress in astro manager and it matched up for the newest radio.

Never actually asked because I've had no issues since downloading, but knowing how to actually check it now is great.

Thanks to the OP for asking and thanks for answering and giving me more knowledge in my learning quest.

 

[TwinCams]

This was a good read.

 

[scotty85]

Never actually asked because I've had no issues since downloading, but knowing how to actually check it now is great.

it is particularly important to check the md5 of radios,ruus,or anything you want to flash thru hboot. the S-OFF bootloader will not do any kind of safety checks,and will try to flash literally anything that you package up inside a PG05IMG file.

flashing a bad file in clocwork will usually only result in a bootloop or freeze,or some other kind of recoverable error. a bad hboot flash,however,is one way to turn your phone into an unuseable paperweight if youre not careful

we cant stress enuff the importance of checking any file that you intend to install thru hboot,or push thru adb in fastboot.

 

[ridobe]

it is particularly important to check the md5 of radios,ruus,or anything you want to flash thru hboot. the S-OFF bootloader will not do any kind of safety checks,and will try to flash literally anything that you package up inside a PG05IMG file.

flashing a bad file in clocwork will usually only result in a bootloop or freeze,or some other kind of recoverable error. a bad hboot flash,however,is one way to turn your phone into an unuseable paperweight if youre not careful

we cant stress enuff the importance of checking any file that you intend to install thru hboot,or push thru adb in fastboot.

VERY well said. Bravo.