Root [Merit] Complete ZTE Merit Guide: Root, Flash Recovery and Install New ROM (with links)

[kingmt]

The settings on straight talks site are wrong. They will get you going but you will have problems with them including no mms. Get the tweaker App & get on Wi-Fi it only takes a second to allow taker to fix it.

 

[X0dus]

The settings on straight talks site are wrong. They will get you going but you will have problems with them including no mms. Get the tweaker App & get on Wi-Fi it only takes a second to allow taker to fix it.

The settings in the linked guide are not the same as the ones on Straight Talk's website here: Support | Straight Talk Wife hasn't mentioned any issues w/ mms yet w/ the settings in the guide in my previous comment.

 

[kingmt]

I seen that after I posted. I haven't looked those over but tweaker is a nice App. I noticed everything working better after I used it & I thought I had everything set right.

The one.three ROM didn't play nice with my Merit. I went back to the stock ROM, used Anthony's kernel, & changed my launcher. I cleaned a lit of junk off it & reinstalled the things wanted. If you delete the email app it breaks the camera & music app that looks like a record breaks blue tooth.

 

[X0dus]

I seen that after I posted. I haven't looked those over but tweaker is a nice App. I noticed everything working better after I used it & I thought I had everything set right.

The one.three ROM didn't play nice with my Merit. I went back to the stock ROM, used Anthony's kernel, & changed my launcher. I cleaned a lit of junk off it & reinstalled the things wanted. If you delete the email app it breaks the camera & music app that looks like a record breaks blue tooth.

So that's why her camera FC! That's messed up that they designed the camera app to be dependent on something like the email app. smh I take it this site has a dedicated forum for the ROM and kernel you mentioned? Thx for this info, btw.

**EDIT** n/m I found the stock rooted ROM w/ CWM. Still digging for the kernel. BTW, her internal storage is a real headache. I'm prolly gonna have to find her a smaller footprint launcher than the default GoLauncher in one.three ROM.

 

[kingmt]

Here is the link to the kernel:
androidforums.com/avail-all-things-root/525527-kernel-kernel1-0-update-apr-7-11-33-released.html

The developer Anthony hasn't been active for 6 months. He is also the one that built the one.three ROM that has the kernel in it. Most of us use link2SD & ES Explore to free up space. The stock ROM its much slimmer then one.three. My guess its because it is odex & things like the camera App & email App use the same files. I have deleted most of the stock junk. Even the few things I wanted if I found them in the market I fled them then reinstalled them. updates take up more room then fresh installs. You can't integrate the update into the play store without breaking it ether. I like the Holo launcher. It is smaller then the stock one.

I liked one.there it was just to buggy on my phone. With the new kennel after it seated in I'm getting performance & I think the battery is lasting longer after the second battery drain. It is still breaking in because I'm still getting moor restarts then I'm used to. Do here a favor & get ride of that horrid boot.mp3

 

[valueforvalue]

Here is the link to the kernel:
androidforums.com/avail-all-things-root/525527-kernel-kernel1-0-update-apr-7-11-33-released.html

The developer Anthony hasn't been active for 6 months. He is also the one that built the one.three ROM that has the kernel in it. Most of us use link2SD & ES Explore to free up space. The stock ROM its much slimmer then one.three. My guess its because it is odex & things like the camera App & email App use the same files. I have deleted most of the stock junk. Even the few things I wanted if I found them in the market I fled them then reinstalled them. updates take up more room then fresh installs. You can't integrate the update into the play store without breaking it ether. I like the Holo launcher. It is smaller then the stock one.

I liked one.there it was just to buggy on my phone. With the new kennel after it seated in I'm getting performance & I think the battery is lasting longer after the second battery drain. It is still breaking in because I'm still getting moor restarts then I'm used to. Do here a favor & get ride of that horrid boot.mp3

I integrated the play store updates and it works fine? Never had a single crash.

 

[kingmt]

I've tired twice using link2SD. I broke it both times. I would like to know how. did it make it smaller?

 

[valueforvalue]

Use titanium backup pro to do it. It frees up space on your internal memory. And just moves it to the system.

 

[kingmt]

TB is to much of a pain for this one thing. Might be like that little mole that you don't like but don't want to do anything about. Thanks for answering tho.

 

[blade130x]

hello ive recently been thinking of rooting. i have a few questions

what is a good operating system? is the kernal the OS ?

how do you make a copy of the original OS

what is adb and adb tools?

 

[stayboogy]

hello ive recently been thinking of rooting. i have a few questions

what is a good operating system? is the kernal the OS ?

how do you make a copy of the original OS

what is adb and adb tools?

there aren't any good releases out as of yet in my opinion, but i'm working on it lol

and someone else is working on it too.

adb = android device bridge
i can give you a link to the adb and you put it into your (if on Windows XP) Documents and Settings/Your Username/ folder and you can just run "adb" from the command prompt without having to install the sdk

and you can make a copy of the original ROM by going here
http://androidforums.com/avail-all-...-clockworkmod-recovery-non-rooted-phones.html
and downloading the file and following the directions and you can have a custom recovery where you can backup your system before it is rooted--which it would be great if you did because i released this so that people like you could, and so that such a backup could be posted to the boards because we desperately need a backup of a non-rooted system, and this tool will let you do.

if you use it, please backup your system before root and copy to your pc and then zip it and upload it to a place where i can download it and post the link in the thread that i linked above.

if you do this though you will lose all your personal settings on your phone, so i suggest that you backup your contacts to your sdcard--which can be done easily from the contacts menu

also, you don't even have to use adb to root your phone after you install the custom recovery above. you can just download a completely unedited backup of the merit system that has only been rooted and nothing else from here http://androidforums.com/avail-all-...ight-talk-merit-rom-fresh-out-box-rooted.html
which i posted as well.

it's the easiest way to get root and you will have no problems that way and have no complicated commands to run from the adb. and you would be helping me (and the rest of us) by getting us a non-rooted backup of the merit system.

also, do you have the Net10 version or Straight Talk version??? the stuff above will work for either one of those.

 

[blade130x]

its the straight talk version. so just follow the instructions in the beginning of the thread?

wasnt there an ap in the market along time ago that rooted your phone lol what happened to that?

 

[Russ71]

The one click root methods quit working when Android progressed to 2.3.4.

 

[Russ71]

TB is to much of a pain for this one thing. Might be like that little mole that you don't like but don't want to do anything about. Thanks for answering tho.

King, TIBU has many uses that come in handy. Its a very useful app for app backups and manipulating data.

 

[stayboogy]

its the straight talk version. so just follow the instructions in the beginning of the thread?

wasnt there an ap in the market along time ago that rooted your phone lol what happened to that?

yes, just follow the directions and you'll have clockworkmod recovery on your non-rooted phone. as soon as it's installed it bring up the new recovery menu. from there choose "backup and restore" and then "backup" and your phone will start the backup process.

when you download the stock rooted backup from the second thread, you'll have to unrar it and then copy the folder that is named with a date and time stamp to your "clockworkmod/backup/" directory that is on your sdcard that was created when you made your backup.

then you'll reboot back into recovery and install the stock rooted backup and you'll be rooted.

this is the easiest and fool-proof way of getting root

but please make sure and post your non-rooted backup. another user used this method to root and didn't post their backup, which is one part of the whole reason i made it available...

 

[blade130x]

Word good look. Ill make sure to backup the unrooted os i can put it on dropbox or something for you to get and you can put it up for upload

Im getting alot of lag from when i type on the touch screen to when words appear on the text box on web pages. Very annoying anyone else have this?

 

[kingmt]

What key board are you using?

 

[valueforvalue]

I have the same problem on certain sites, like Facebook and yahoo answers. Other sites work flawlessly. I haven't decided yet what exactly the problem is with it. I don't think it is my keyboard because it is perfectly responsive when I type always, but it takes a second or two for the screen to be updated with what I type. So I figure it is a processor issue. I'm using SwiftKey 3 paid edition. It is the best keyboard avaliable in my opinion. The only thing that you must do is get a class 4 or above sd card because it stores its dictionary files on the sd card and it will lag trying to read them if you have a crappy sd card. It's prediction feature is outstanding, once you have used it a bit. Make sure you watch the usage videos so you don't miss out on a couple of its nicer features.

 

[nickdalzell]

i did all the steps listed and now my phone appears stuck at the 'Rethink Possible' logo. i'll wait and see but i am not sure adb will work to get me back into recovery now if it doesn't.

EDIT: phone locks up right at the ATT logo. it will not work with adb anymore and i cannot boot into recovery. ??? only difference is that this is a ZTE Merit from Net10, and i see nothing in the thread about this issue yet.

UPDATE: i got back into CWM by holding down power, up volume, and menu, and am restoring my backup. to caution everyone with a Net10 ZTE Merit, the one.three for some reason will soft-brick the phone. some how it is not compatible.

 

[blade130x]

Im using the stock the stock keyboard i wouldnt mind but the lag is rediculessly long my old ass G1 never did that i dont thnk its processer,
I do lots of forums and the lag is so bad that all the waiting adds up to batery time

 

[stayboogy]

Im using the stock the stock keyboard i wouldnt mind but the lag is rediculessly long my old ass G1 never did that i dont thnk its processer,
I do lots of forums and the lag is so bad that all the waiting adds up to batery time

mine lags sometimes, but that's when you need to clear cookies, cache, location data, etc from the browser and go again. also invest in autostarts and a real, working root task killer. these things have pretty much eliminated any trouble i had with keyboard lag

 

[kingmt]

I don't think one.three bricked phone. You must have gotten a bad download.

 

[nickdalzell]

It soft-bricked meaning it was recoverable once i got back into CWM. It just didn't play nice with my Merit. Instead I flashed a ROM that Stayboogy made.

 

[kingmt]

That is the stock ROM. I like it once some trimming & decorating was done.

 

[nickdalzell]

Stayboogy's was a out of box nothing added or removed stock ROM. the only change was it had been rooted (had to download the apk for superuser). One.three never booted past the splash screen so I was unable to see what it had. It's still on my SD card though. But not really liking the problems reported on the Merit