Root Basic (idiot) question on rooting: Updates?

[crosspatch]

The more I use my phone, the more I want to root it. But I'm wondering about updates to Motorola software and to the firmware. I feel like an idiot asking, but what happens if I root and then a Motorola app and/or firmware update is released? Can I simply install the update? Or would I have to unroot, then update, or... Not install the update at all? Would I have to do a factory reset?

 

[KOLIO]

4268096[/URL]]The more I use my phone, the more I want to root it. But I'm wondering about updates to Motorola software and to the firmware. I feel like an idiot asking, but what happens if I root and then a Motorola app and/or firmware update is released? Can I simply install the update? Or would I have to unroot, then update, or... Not install the update at all? Would I have to do a factory reset?

To be honest,I'm not 100% sure,but,I'd say that staying stock is the only sure way you'd receive update notifications from MOTOROLA or SPRINT.

That's not to say that you couldn't un-root & restore to factory stock to receive future updates.

You may want to confer w/some of the PHOTON users who may have rooted back in the early release period of 2011 to get some user experiences w/software/firmware updates.

I myself got the PHOTON later on (OCT 2011) & all the software/firmware updates had already been pushed by then.

I've kept my phone stock & like you, are looking @ stepping it up to the next level.

 

[Lokifish]

With firmware/OS updates you are almost guaranteed to loose root. Eventually, somewhere down the line a root method is found until the next update. PRL updates do not affect root. You tend to not see just one or two manufacturer apps updated as they would rather release a full OS update instead.

Now as far as rooted vs unrooted, I look at it this way, it's is extremly rare that the stock software is tuned to provide the best performance. By performance I mean RAM usage, lag, storage space, etc..It's mostly about what gimmicks and bloat can be installed and still have a usable device as it's going to be obsolete in six months anyways.

With that now behind us, what are you looking to achieve by rooting? Free wifi tether, remove bloat, things of that nature or are you looking to install custom ROMs and tune for performance?

 

[crosspatch]

Thanks for the responses. My concern isn't (so much) about losing root, it's about being able to install firmware/OS updates that may be released, without having to start with a clean slate. If there's one thing I hate, it's starting clean and reconfiguring. I wanted to know if I'd have to unroot/wipe/whatever just to update. From the sounds of it, I could update, but I'd then be unrooted until an updated rooting method was available.

The main reasons I have an interest in rooting are to have more control over MY device. It annoys me that there are several garbage apps installed, which I know I will never use, which I cannot uninstall, and which are always running, even after a restart. I find this near maddening. (It's a personality thing.) I would like to be able to use some of the powerful, interesting "root only" apps available as well.

 

[Lokifish]

There's a lot of useless junk in the stock software. For example, what's the point of a clock or calendar widget if tapping on the widget doesn't open the related app. So you install another app or widget to make up for the stock one being mostly useless. You now have multiple app/widgets running to perform one simple function. All the bloat and duplicated apps is the exact reason I made the deblur-debloat script. It might not be perfect but I am still actively developing, mostly I'm waiting on app developers to get back with me on including their app.

 

[crosspatch]

Well I took the plunge... I successfully rooted my Photon using this guide (well, I looked at a few places).

 

[Lokifish]

Did my guide and files not work?

 

[crosspatch]

Did my guide and files not work?

No, it's not that at all. I had been looking at about a billion threads and sites on how to root, and I forgot to bookmark some of them. So when I decided not to use OCR, I had to find the "other" method again that I had read about (somewhere... I couldn't remember where)... And I just searched and went with what I found.

 

[dshaw6]

Will you please guide me to where I can easily unroot the phone? I have some warranty issues and can't quite get the files I think i need.

 

[KOLIO]

Will you please guide me to where I can easily unroot the phone? I have some warranty issues and can't quite get the files I think i need.

Check out qbking77's posts here in this section.
Or,just do a search for the subject on YOUTUBE.

 

[Lokifish]

Will you please guide me to where I can easily unroot the phone? I have some warranty issues and can't quite get the files I think i need.

In this section I have the "all things moto" thread that links to my site where you can find all the files you need as well as a guide on how to use them. It is often suggested to to folks to use qbking77's videos and my files as his links are sometimes dead.