Root Thinking about rooting / ROMming. A few quick questions.

[AzJazz]

So, I'm thinking about taking the plunge, and rooting my Droid and trying the Bugless ROM. It seems that the Bugless ROM has had enough play time to get bugless

I have a few n00bish questions:

1) Do I need to back up my entire phone via Nandroid before I do anything else? (Though, I think I need to root before I can even get Nandroid going).

2) What happens with all my installed apps when I go to a new ROM?

3) If I want to go back to my original 2.0.1 totally stock configuration, how does this get done?

I re-ROMed my WM6 phone a bazillion times, but I know the Linux world is a different game altogether.

Thanks!

 

[PhilosoRaptor]

Good Qs. I'm considering rooting mine just to OC it to at least 800 MHz. But I want the 2.1 OTA update ASAP without waiting on someone to release the download for it. Can someone please elaborate on these?

 

[NDES]

So, I'm thinking about taking the plunge, and rooting my Droid and trying the Bugless ROM. It seems that the Bugless ROM has had enough play time to get bugless

I have a few n00bish questions:

1) Do I need to back up my entire phone via Nandroid before I do anything else? (Though, I think I need to root before I can even get Nandroid going).

2) What happens with all my installed apps when I go to a new ROM?

3) If I want to go back to my original 2.0.1 totally stock configuration, how does this get done?

I re-ROMed my WM6 phone a bazillion times, but I know the Linux world is a different game altogether.

Thanks!

1.) You need to do a Nandroid back up as soon as you root your phone and before you start installing any custom roms, apps, ect.

2.) Your installed apps will all still be there after you install the custom rom of your choice (tested Sholes 1.2 and Pete's BuglessBeauty 0.8.3 ROMS)

3.) You should be able to find a stock 2.0.1 update.zip somewhere around the forums, if not then you can also replace the files inside your Nandroid folder with stock 2.0.1 backups easily found on the forums.

 

[shademar]

Good Qs. I'm considering rooting mine just to OC it to at least 800 MHz. But I want the 2.1 OTA update ASAP without waiting on someone to release the download for it. Can someone please elaborate on these?

The moment the OTA gets released, somebody will post it in a manually installable form. Meanwhile, it'll probably get rolled out in staggered phases over many days OTA like 2.01 did, and all the impatient people will download it and force it anyways. There's a good chance it'll break root access.

 

[PhilosoRaptor]

So when they release 2.1, no one that has a rooted phone will be able to keep the phone rooted after the 2.1 update (until someone figures out how to root 2.1 too)? Is there any .apk available that lets you do the "talk to text" feature that's in 2.1 too? I already know we can get the 2.1 gallery in 2.0.1.

Thanks!

 

[drgonzo]

Thank you for making this thread. I had the same exact questions.

I think I may be more confused about the ROM flashing procedure. I've read up on rooting and it seems pretty easy but I can't for the life of me find a simple guide that says 'now that you are rooted do x, y and z to put a new fancy rom on your phone'.

If someone could enlighten me to how this is done I would be very grateful.

 

[Humpa]

So when they release 2.1, no one that has a rooted phone will be able to keep the phone rooted after the 2.1 update (until someone figures out how to root 2.1 too)? Is there any .apk available that lets you do the "talk to text" feature that's in 2.1 too? I already know we can get the 2.1 gallery in 2.0.1.

Thanks!

The speech to text feature was pulled off the Nexus. Maybe someone on the inside knows more, but I've assumed that this keyboard is the native Android 2.1 keyboard, since when you install it on a stock/rooted 2.0.1, you then have 2 Android Keyboards listed in the Settings > language & keyboard options.

 

[Humpa]

Thank you for making this thread. I had the same exact questions.

I think I may be more confused about the ROM flashing procedure. I've read up on rooting and it seems pretty easy but I can't for the life of me find a simple guide that says 'now that you are rooted do x, y and z to put a new fancy rom on your phone'.

If someone could enlighten me to how this is done I would be very grateful.

Rooting the phone is simple, but for playing with rom's you are going to want nandroid.
I'm not sure what the best guide is (there is probably a good one here on androidforums) - I used the guide on sholes.info

 

[GirLuvsDroid]

Rooting the phone is simple, but for playing with rom's you are going to want nandroid.
I'm not sure what the best guide is (there is probably a good one here on androidforums) - I used the guide on sholes.info

I haven't used Sholes.info, but this site, which I used to root in about 3 minutes, is absolutely phenomenal: Obtaining Root - Root Your Droid

 

[Humpa]

I haven't used Sholes.info, but this site, which I used to root in about 3 minutes, is absolutely phenomenal: Obtaining Root - Root Your Droid

He's already rooted.

 

[drgonzo]

OK I ended up staying up til 5am last night figuring this stuff out.

I used the super easy rootyourdroid.info guide to root my droid. Someone posted the link above.

This is where I kinda got stuck because in order to install the nandroid backup all the tutorials I found required using the SDK to do android debug bridge. I have a Mac and all of the instructions I found were for a PC. I just could not figure out how to translate the commands I was finding there for the Mac Terminal.

But then I discovered the droid root tools in this thread:
http://androidforums.com/how-tips/3...tive-multitouch-browser-ported-milestone.html

Which basically allow you to just click a bunch of pretty buttons on your droid rather than connecting from your computer and pushing really weird unix commands to it. That worked like a charm.

From there I booted into recovery which was no longer stock but SirPsychoS's recovery. For those who haven't gotten this far yet this is where you access the nandroid people are talking about. I then made a Nandroid backup of my phone which was super easy. Rebooted.

From there I mounted my phone to my Mac, dropped a ROM into the root directory named update.zip (It was Petes Bugless Beauty). Rebooted into recovery and selected install, then selected SD Card update.zip. A few lines of text scrolled by and it said it was done, so I then rebooted.

OH NO... I BRICKED MY PHONE!... The rom included the new Nexus one boot animation and the phone would not get past it...

...good thing I made that nandroid back up.

Rebooted into recovery mode, and recovered from last nandroid backup. Rebooted and my phone was fine. Turns out some of my applications that I had updated before rebooting hadnt finished because my antivirus was scanning them. So I deleted the antivirus software, allowed all my apps to update and then tried again.

But while I was waiting I found Pete's bugless 800mhz OC ROM, So I dumped the original and tried this one out. Repeated the mountain steps above but for the new ROM... and... It worked!

I am now running a rooted droid overclocked to 800mhz, with Pete's Bugless Beauty ROM, the milestone multitouch browser and WiFi tethering. Hooray.

Sorry for such a long winded victory post but it had its purpose. Lots of people make it sound like if you hit a snag and get stuck while trying to root it means you shouldn't continue like its some sort of natural selection. I disagree. So long as you read the hell out of a bunch of different tutorials and know what it is you are doing to your phone and what the dangerous parts are I say go for it.

Another reason I got so wordy with this post is because all I ever really see are posts with people saying 'So I rooted... followed this tutorial... it was easy'. This wasn't the easiest thing in the world I've done but I got through it and hopefully this post can help someone of similar skill level get through it easier.

One last point! As soon as possible MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP. Had I not my phone might have been bricked, or it would have at least taken me alot longer to fix it.

 

[Humpa]

I am now running a rooted droid overclocked to 800mhz, with Pete's Bugless Beauty ROM, the milestone multitouch browser and WiFi tethering. Hooray.

Nice. I'll remember to point people to droid root tools.
Just curious, are you running Bugless Beauty (it was .83 but he just posted .84) or are you using Bugless Beast that includes wifi tetheriing and 800MHz OC? I'm using the lateast Beast (1/27/2010?) at the moment - finally got it all configured and am making a nandroid backup.

Aside from my curiosity, I have one thing to add. When going to a new rom you want to use a nandroid backup/restore file as opposed to an update.zip if at all possible. It is harder because you will have to redownload your apps and configure everything again, but it is the only way to be sure something didnt go quite right in the update.

 

[drgonzo]

Nice. I'll remember to point people to droid root tools.
Just curious, are you running Bugless Beauty (it was .83 but he just posted .84) or are you using Bugless Beast that includes wifi tetheriing and 800MHz OC? I'm using the lateast Beast (1/27/2010?) at the moment - finally got it all configured and am making a nandroid backup.

Aside from my curiosity, I have one thing to add. When going to a new rom you want to use a nandroid backup/restore file as opposed to an update.zip if at all possible. It is harder because you will have to redownload your apps and configure everything again, but it is the only way to be sure something didnt go quite right in the update.

Good catch. You're right I'm actually running Pete's Bugless Beast not Beauty.

Also I was kinda wondering about the difference between using the update.zip and a nandroid backup. If I use a custom backup does that mean I lose everything? (apps, SD data, contacts, email/text messages). Would there then be a way to selectively recover those things using nandroid?

 

[Humpa]

Good catch. You're right I'm actually running Pete's Bugless Beast not Beauty.

Also I was kinda wondering about the difference between using the update.zip and a nandroid backup. If I use a custom backup does that mean I lose everything? (apps, SD data, contacts, email/text messages). Would there then be a way to selectively recover those things using nandroid?

SD data isn't affected. Contacts are thru your gmail account, but I don't know about facebook contacts - I've never used that feature, but if they've synced with your gmail account too, then you'll be all set there too.
For email, obviously gmail is web based so nothing will be lost/changed. But your pop email accounts are different and that will depend on your email settings. If you have your email set to delete off the server, then you will not get them back. For email, imap is what you want to use instead of pop - this is true of any device. pop requires that you backup your email or risk losing it. imap is more like webmail, as the email is on the server and only on your device if you pull it down, and won't be deleted unless you actually permanently delete.

EDIT: actually, on the Android email client using pop, the email will remain on the email server. The only option is to delete off the server when you delete from your inbox - that is a good option to set since it is just junk and spam and unwanted stuff that you are deleting anyway. If you don't manually delete the email, then it will also remain on the email server (when using the Android email client)

 

[shademar]

So when they release 2.1, no one that has a rooted phone will be able to keep the phone rooted after the 2.1 update (until someone figures out how to root 2.1 too)? Is there any .apk available that lets you do the "talk to text" feature that's in 2.1 too? I already know we can get the 2.1 gallery in 2.0.1.

Thanks!

Once you root, you can block OTA updates (the latest version of sprecovery does this automatically, as do some of the roms.) Updating manually is extremely simple.

I'd guess that once the OTA is out, devs will be able to port a version of it over for rooted phones that keeps root access without figuring out a new root exploit, but I could be wrong about that if someone more knowledgeable wants to step in.

The 2.1 keyboard is built in to some roms already (bugless beast, which I'm using, has it for instance.) I'm really not sure if it's floating around as an apk somewhere though.

 

[Humpa]

The 2.1 keyboard is built in to some roms already (bugless beast, which I'm using, has it for instance.) I'm really not sure if it's floating around as an apk somewhere though.

All you need is a rooted Droid and a root file explorer like Root Explorer so you can stick the voice keyboard apk in the /system/apps folder:
HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - 2.1 Android Keyboard apk (with Voice to Text)

 

[nader2013]

Good catch. You're right I'm actually running Pete's Bugless Beast not Beauty.

Also I was kinda wondering about the difference between using the update.zip and a nandroid backup. If I use a custom backup does that mean I lose everything? (apps, SD data, contacts, email/text messages). Would there then be a way to selectively recover those things using nandroid?

I am confused as to what nandroid is and how you use it. Is it something you download to back up your rooted phone? And update.zip is just the ROM correct?

 

[shademar]

I am confused as to what nandroid is and how you use it. Is it something you download to back up your rooted phone? And update.zip is just the ROM correct?

After rooting you need to replace the stock recovery console (the screen you access if you reboot holding 'x') with a modified one, SPRecovery. After doing so, you'll have the option to create/load nandroid backups from the recovery screen.

There are guides on how to go about doing so scattered all about, but it's really important if you plan on doing pretty much anything to your rooted phone besides look at the little superuser ninja guy. I don't know if it's possible to install a rom (via update.zip) without it, but if it is...DON'T.

* I just got into an endless reboot doing who-knows-what wrong with an update.zip a few minutes ago. Happily, my nandroid backup made everything right again. *

 

[nader2013]

After rooting you need to replace the stock recovery console (the screen you access if you reboot holding 'x') with a modified one, SPRecovery. After doing so, you'll have the option to create/load nandroid backups from the recovery screen.

There are guides on how to go about doing so scattered all about, but it's really important if you plan on doing pretty much anything to your rooted phone besides look at the little superuser ninja guy. I don't know if it's possible to install a rom (via update.zip) without it, but if it is...DON'T.

* I just got into an endless reboot doing who-knows-what wrong with an update.zip a few minutes ago. Happily, my nandroid backup made everything right again. *

Thanks for clearing that up. And is there a nandroid... "walkthrough" ?
UPDATE: Found one on the same site people are using for rooting walkthrough.
http://rootyourdroid.info/?p=241 if anybody needs it..

 

[irish_iiii]

best walk-throughs I've seen for rooting and nandroid are at rootyourdroid.info.

 

[shademar]

Heh, looks like referring you to rootyourdroid is covered.

You can also download an app called droidroothelper or droidrootpro from the market that lets you flash sprecovery with no adb terminal, but it's not super-intuitive so make sure you have good instructions before using this.

 

[smacinskyjr]

Good catch. You're right I'm actually running Pete's Bugless Beast not Beauty.

Also I was kinda wondering about the difference between using the update.zip and a nandroid backup. If I use a custom backup does that mean I lose everything? (apps, SD data, contacts, email/text messages). Would there then be a way to selectively recover those things using nandroid?

im using my back up pro and it worked prety well at restoring my settings.

 

[xmr405o]

OK I ended up staying up til 5am last night figuring this stuff out.

I used the super easy rootyourdroid.info guide to root my droid. Someone posted the link above.

This is where I kinda got stuck because in order to install the nandroid backup all the tutorials I found required using the SDK to do android debug bridge. I have a Mac and all of the instructions I found were for a PC. I just could not figure out how to translate the commands I was finding there for the Mac Terminal.

But then I discovered the droid root tools in this thread:
http://androidforums.com/how-tips/3...tive-multitouch-browser-ported-milestone.html

Which basically allow you to just click a bunch of pretty buttons on your droid rather than connecting from your computer and pushing really weird unix commands to it. That worked like a charm.

From there I booted into recovery which was no longer stock but SirPsychoS's recovery. For those who haven't gotten this far yet this is where you access the nandroid people are talking about. I then made a Nandroid backup of my phone which was super easy. Rebooted.

From there I mounted my phone to my Mac, dropped a ROM into the root directory named update.zip (It was Petes Bugless Beauty). Rebooted into recovery and selected install, then selected SD Card update.zip. A few lines of text scrolled by and it said it was done, so I then rebooted.

OH NO... I BRICKED MY PHONE!... The rom included the new Nexus one boot animation and the phone would not get past it...

...good thing I made that nandroid back up.

Rebooted into recovery mode, and recovered from last nandroid backup. Rebooted and my phone was fine. Turns out some of my applications that I had updated before rebooting hadnt finished because my antivirus was scanning them. So I deleted the antivirus software, allowed all my apps to update and then tried again.

But while I was waiting I found Pete's bugless 800mhz OC ROM, So I dumped the original and tried this one out. Repeated the mountain steps above but for the new ROM... and... It worked!

I am now running a rooted droid overclocked to 800mhz, with Pete's Bugless Beauty ROM, the milestone multitouch browser and WiFi tethering. Hooray.

Sorry for such a long winded victory post but it had its purpose. Lots of people make it sound like if you hit a snag and get stuck while trying to root it means you shouldn't continue like its some sort of natural selection. I disagree. So long as you read the hell out of a bunch of different tutorials and know what it is you are doing to your phone and what the dangerous parts are I say go for it.

Another reason I got so wordy with this post is because all I ever really see are posts with people saying 'So I rooted... followed this tutorial... it was easy'. This wasn't the easiest thing in the world I've done but I got through it and hopefully this post can help someone of similar skill level get through it easier.

One last point! As soon as possible MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP. Had I not my phone might have been bricked, or it would have at least taken me alot longer to fix it.

Dude! I was doing the same thing last night and I was about to give up at 3am. I had problems getting DroidRootHelper to work. I couldn't update the security patch for some reason....anyways I don't know what I did but it ended up working and I was able to install the ROM I downloaded. But before that, I was so confused about adb SDK blah blah blah. haha. This is totally different from Windows mobile. In the end, I got a file manager, setcpu, 2.1 apps, and I'm a much happier droid owner. YAY!

 

[drgonzo]

Dude! I was doing the same thing last night and I was about to give up at 3am. I had problems getting DroidRootHelper to work. I couldn't update the security patch for some reason....anyways I don't know what I did but it ended up working and I was able to install the ROM I downloaded. But before that, I was so confused about adb SDK blah blah blah. haha. This is totally different from Windows mobile. In the end, I got a file manager, setcpu, 2.1 apps, and I'm a much happier droid owner. YAY!

Glad I'm not alone. The Droid Root Helper was working fine for me last night but now it is gone from my applications and I can't reinstall the apk. This sucks because the SPrecovery that I have installed is 99.1a and i need 99.2b to install the overclock kernel I want to play around with.

My inability to use the ADB in the SDK means that project is on hold.

 

[AzJazz]

OK - I'm rooted, SDK is installed, and I have adb and busybox installed.

For anyone interested, everything you need to know about step-by-step Droid rooting (and tons of other stuff) is available here: Root Your Droid

(Thanks, nader2013!)

Just to make sure everything is Hunky-Dorey, I installed Metamorph, which passed the system check ... and then I installed improved Battery Level Icons (See here). These are probably already included in one of the ROM updates, but I just wanted to test my Droid and ensure everything was cool.

I'll be loading the Beast later today!

Cheers!