Root Confused for sure now.....

[livelyppop]

I got a stupid idea to try and do something with my Moment... I am a noobie with this rooting/rom stuff and terminology. And android... I am pretty tech savvy with computers and all but when it comes to smartphones I am left behind.

So, where do you begin? Is there a difference between root and a rom? I have tried to read these "simple" rooting instructions but they seem to be in a foreign language. Needs to be in simple terms.

My question is , is there anywhere that gives instructions in just simple everyday language and easy to follow. Does it matter what version your phone software is?

I'm just a hopeless case of confusion I guess...

 

[pastafarian]

First you need an alternate recovery, then a rooted rom/kernal. Follow these directions then go here and pick a rom.
1- http://androidforums.com/moment-all-things-root/163034-simple-root-instructions.html
2- Go here and select a rom i.e. radioactive 1.8.7, TiX 1.3, ect.
3- Download the rom to your computer and transfer to the root directory of your sd card via usb or download it directly to the root sd via your phones browser.
4- Boot into recovery . Power off phone (pull battery or use power off menu) then press volume down, answer and end keys simultaneously.
5- select apply zip file in recovery and you should see the zip file you placed on your sd card. select it and follow directions.
6- Reboot to system in reboot options when install is complete
7-enjoy.

 

[livelyppop]

First you need an alternate recovery, then a rooted rom/kernal. Follow these directions then go here and pick a rom.
1- http://androidforums.com/moment-all-things-root/163034-simple-root-instructions.html
2- Go here and select a rom i.e. radioactive 1.8.7, TiX 1.3, ect.
3- Download the rom to your computer and transfer to the root directory of your sd card via usb or download it directly to the root sd via your phones browser.
4- Boot into recovery . Power off phone (pull battery or use power off menu) then press volume down, answer and end keys simultaneously.
5- select apply zip file in recovery and you should see the zip file you placed on your sd card. select it and follow directions.
6- Reboot to system in reboot options when install is complete
7-enjoy.

Alternate recovery,what exactly does it do? It sounds so ominous. Do I need to back anything up? If I do something wrong will be phone be sent to Android Heaven? I'm starting to sweat bad. I got the radioactive 1.8.7. I believe once I get this done once I will enjoy it. It's just scary.
Thanks for your help. Any more advice is welcome.

 

[livelyppop]

I guess i did it right. I got the radioactive 1.8 on my phone. Can't really tell any difference yet. Any suggestions for others to try? Now all I have to do is just put the zip file in the root if I want to change isn't it. I don't have to go all through the other stuff.
Thanks for all your help.

 

[ovrrdrive]

I'm using ti-x 1.3 right now and I'm really liking it. Radioactive was slower than the other roms I had been using and it was a battery hog. As always ymmv...

Every time you flash a new rom it's best to flash the stock file with recovery first to put everything back to a neutral ground to flash from. Most of the dev's give flashing instructions beyond that too. It's best to read them and just do what they recommend because that's the way they tested it.

The roms just take away a lot of the bloat that's on the stock phone and make it snappier. There are also bits and pieces from other phones that get stuck in too that make it nicer. Unless you're benchmarking though they're all about the same speed wise - about 3 times faster than stock.

One thing I'd recommend you do is to save all of the files and roms you flash in a folder on your pc. After you get hady with it you're going to want to start customizing and tweaking the roms before you flash them and having everything handy makes it so much easier. I didn't think I'd do it either at first but now it's nothing to change the boot logo, add the apps I use the most and a few things I liked from other roms to the latest rom I flash. Some notable things I like are the htc music player from the Ultimate dream roms, the 3d gallery, tether, moto phone tools, the email program (a lot of them delete this but I like to use it), the Where app, and a few other things. Going into the rom before you flash gives you the chance to remove stuff you don't like that's in there too (like moxier mail for me).

There are also some great roms over at http://forums.androidmobilesupport.com/ .

You've just scratched the surface. Keep reading and keep trying stuff and you'll find out what you like and what you don't...

 

[livelyppop]

Thanks for the info ovrrdrive. I saved all the files I used but didn't save the stock file. Or is that the file I replaced in the updater. the m5 file or whatever. I saved that one. I saved the radioactive file and have dl a couple of other ones. Do i just move them into the root directory and go from there? I don't have to do the root and updater stuff again do I?
Thanks again.

 

[ovrrdrive]

If you open the rom file in 7zip, all of the apps arein the system/app folder. There are a few threads on SDX and others that list what all of the files are and if they're safe to remove. One thing I do before I flash any rom is open it up and look at the app folder and compare it to the last one I flashed to see what's there and not there. You'll figure out what's what pretty quickly.

 

[livelyppop]

Do I need to delete a rom in the recovery list if I'm not going to use it or if I am flashing another or do I just leave them on the list. I had the radioactive 1.8.7 and it was working fine. Then I added Candy to it and now my phone keeps wanting to reset. Can I just remove Candy or do I need to overwrite everything with radioactive again.
Remember I'm new to all this. So, I really appreciate the help.

 

[ovrrdrive]

I'd flash to stock with root and do the radioactive flash again to get rid of whats causing the problem.

It's best to use a seperate sd card to flash your roms then once setup you can switch back to your main sd card. This keeps stray files from affecting the flash. Erase everything on the card you use to flash with except for what you're flahing.

I thought it was an unnecessary step until I had a bad flash once. Now I do it everytime.

After a few flashes you'll be surprised how fast you can go through everything and restore it just the way you like it.

If it gets to be too big of a pain in the ass you can use one of the backup programs to automate it for you. You can also grab .apk's of the programs you use regularly and save them on your hard drive, and then add them to the rom using 7zip before you put it on the sd card and they'll install when the rom is flashed.

Before I flash any rom I always flash stock with 3.0.8 root first. Especially if I'm having a problem.

 

[livelyppop]

I'd flash to stock with root and do the radioactive flash again to get rid of whats causing the problem.

It's best to use a seperate sd card to flash your roms then once setup you can switch back to your main sd card. This keeps stray files from affecting the flash. Erase everything on the card you use to flash with except for what you're flahing.

I thought it was an unnecessary step until I had a bad flash once. Now I do it everytime.

After a few flashes you'll be surprised how fast you can go through everything and restore it just the way you like it.

If it gets to be too big of a pain in the ass you can use one of the backup programs to automate it for you. You can also grab .apk's of the programs you use regularly and save them on your hard drive, and then add them to the rom using 7zip before you put it on the sd card and they'll install when the rom is flashed.

Before I flash any rom I always flash stock with 3.0.8 root first. Especially if I'm having a problem.

You say you always flash stock with 3.0.8 root first... I'm not sure I understand that. Is just downloading like 2.1 Android from the Sprint site and flashing it back onto the phone or what?

 

[ovrrdrive]

In the radioactive thread when noob is giving directions to flash he says " ***MUST FLASH DE03.TAR AND RECOVERY FROM SPRINT UPDATER***
DE03 with Recovery: http://forum.sdx-developers.com/downloads/?sa=view;down=197 "

DE03 with recovery is what I was referring to as stock with root. It's basically the stock rom with the SDX recovery and root built into it. Flashing it puts the phone back to stock condition with root access already enabled.

 

[livelyppop]

Hey override, thanks for all your help. I went and did a stock on it then flashed the ti x with the jit... it all works great and is fast. I got both the jit and non jit version of that and tried them both. I like the jit. Don't really understand the difference but it seemed faster.
I believe I now have a pretty good understanding of what this is all about.
Thanks again.

 

[ovrrdrive]

I tried radioactive before I tried ti-x and I like ti-x a lot better. It seems like a great rom.

The jit stands for just in time and it has to deal with the way data is processed in the phone. You can do a search over at sdx and get all the info on it you like. At first it was a little unstable for some people and that's why most devs still offer a non jit version for people that need a rock solid phone but I've used it for months and haven't had any problems at all and it's good for a huge speed boost in the phone. EXT2 is another mod you'll see alot about and it's the same deal. It works great for some but not others, and there are a few things you have to be careful about with your phone to avoid some data corruption problems. I ran ext2 on 2 different roms and did everything I was supposed to do with them and both started getting buggy after about a week. Performance was smoking while it worked, but I didn't like the week long expiration date on it so I am not using it now. IMO it isn't ready for prime time just yet but it will be soon.

Good luck with the phone. It gets easier and easier each time you flash it.

 

[pastafarian]

I tried radioactive before I tried ti-x and I like ti-x a lot better. It seems like a great rom.

zROM seem's to be the current darling. Right now, I'm running tiX 1.3 with JIT, though I have my custom non JIT rom and backup waiting should the rebooting begin. So far, so good. I'm probably going to flash to zRom tonight or tomorrow just to check it out.

 

[livelyppop]

I had read some about zRom and that may be my next one. I don't guess there is anyway to get around loosing everything when you flash is there? It's a pain reloading everything. I guess just load the most important few then if you like the rom.... then install the rest.
I really like the tix though. It runs fast. I wonder if there will ever be anything like a full froyo for the Moment... or is that even possible, since Sprint says no to it. I sure appreciate all of ya'lls help with this.

 

[pastafarian]

Back ups can be a problem. Remember that after you flash and sign with your google account, the first time you visit the market all your apps will be in the download section. You can re download each pretty easily. If you close the market or even change screen orientation, they"ll be gone except for the paid apps. It takes me no more than 15 min to restore everything after a flash.

 

[ovrrdrive]

zROM seem's to be the current darling. Right now, I'm running tiX 1.3 with JIT, though I have my custom non JIT rom and backup waiting should the rebooting begin. So far, so good. I'm probably going to flash to zRom tonight or tomorrow just to check it out.

I looked zROM over after reading your post and it does look like the shiz. If ti-x wasn't running so perfectly right now I'd jump ship but I think I'll stick with this for a while now. I loaded ext3 last night and quad scores went from about 311 to 400-410. Everything seems really snappy and if ext3 lives up to it's rep it should stay this way. If it craps on me I'll give zrom a try.

 

[livelyppop]

I looked zROM over after reading your post and it does look like the shiz. If ti-x wasn't running so perfectly right now I'd jump ship but I think I'll stick with this for a while now. I loaded ext3 last night and quad scores went from about 311 to 400-410. Everything seems really snappy and if ext3 lives up to it's rep it should stay this way. If it craps on me I'll give zrom a try.

Where can you get the zRom? I went to the SDX site but the link there says it has been removed along with all the photos?

 

[ovrrdrive]

It appears to be there for me. Is this where you looked?

zRom 2.3 DI06 Based 9.2 MFLOPS 334 Quadrant and Custom System Animation Versions

 

[livelyppop]

Yeah I found em at another place. I flashed just the plain zrom yesterday afternoon and haven't had any problems with it. Oh other than a couple of the programs that were with it won't work. The Moment Flash... and something else. I don't even understand what they do anyway. The flash on the camera still works tho so it doesnt have anything to do with it I guess. But I really like it. It had a few really interesting apps. One thing I added to it was the Key Light app. I like it because i gives me a visual on incomings. My hearing isn't all that good anymore.

 

[ovrrdrive]

Moment flash is an app that uses the camera flash as a flashlight. Very handy and an app I can't do without.

The di06 update broke it but the author has an updated version of it in the market already. I suggest you check it out.