Oh I wholeheartedly agree with you. What I'm hoping to get is not only a rooted droid, but someone who's willing to teach me those things. On that note, what are the things I should be looking out for, trouble wise? Do the instructions for flashing ROMs cover those, or should I be pointed elsewhere. For whatever it's worth, I really want to learn this stuff the right way, I'm just not sure I can do that on my own.
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See, I figured you would have that attitude and I dig that (that willingness to learn will get you a lot further with many people on here
). Most people that don't know...don't wanna know. They are usually wanting someone to just do it for them and don't want to know how anything works. Thats fine if there is not any problems that come up. You can't take a rooted droid into Verizon telling them that this new kernel has forced them into a boot loop. Those people can barely fix issues with the stock software!
So they come here and have no idea what they have done to their phone...but want someone to fix it for them. It's hard to do from our point of view when were trying to help.
Big things to know are ADB (Android Debug Bridge) and thoroughly understanding how to use recovery systems like SPRecovery and Clockwork Recovery. Start there...and that knowledge will at least keep you out of trouble.
ADB is the interface part of Android SDK (Software Developers Kit) that you will use at times to send files from your PC to your Droid, install files, fix permissions, etc. ADB functionally is also built into SPRecovery so there are some specific commands that you can use for that recovery image to include formating data, system, cache, and boot partitions. Look around the forums...there are people with little, quirky problems EVERYWHERE. I feel that if more people property formatted their phone before switching between ROMs, there would be many fewer problems (you NEED to know what you are doing with this though...don't want to format the system format and then not have a ROM or backup to install right?). Bottom line, you may not need to learn everything about everything but you'll need to know enough for what you'll be doing. I'm a "romaholic" so I've kinda needed to learn more than most cause I've just ran into SO many issues with different ROMs to include test builds, and ROMs labeled "Do not flash - for experimental use only"...yeah, I just have to see what's going on there!
I have heard this several times: "Well, I can just mount my Droid and then drag and drop files to my SD Card. Then I can use Astro file explorer to install it. Why would I need to know ADB?"
Well for one, you can't install apps to the system partition using the above method. You may need to do that from time to time (want a themed Pandora widget...you probably need ADB to do that). Also, check out the link below. I started a thread because of a situation I encountered. Without ADB...I would have been screwed! I thought I would put it into a new thread and hopefully others would share similar stories. Overtime, I hope it will grow to help people new to the rooting understand what they need to know...but more importantly...why.
http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-droid/55843-read-before-you-root.html
I'm not an expert (to quote a guide on this forum, Fabulous..."I'm just an enthusiast") Like most people on here, I have learned what I needed to know. I may come across a problem in the future that requires additional knowledge that I don't have...that's when I rely on the really smart guys here at this forum...or maybe just another enthusiast that ran across the same problem and NOW, they know how to fix it. Information sharing with others here is THE BEST source of knowledge you can get. There are more threads than you can read...but there is a lot of really good information shared here everyday (and use the search function...I do). Want to learn about ADB? Sure you can go to a generic website with some info, but here...that info has been put to use in practical applications and then problems or alternative ways of doing things are shared as well.
Hope this helps give you a little more insight. I hope you get going smoothly and enjoy the benefits of the Droid the way I have. It's not just a phone for me...It's a really strong advancement in how technology can save us time, help us communicate with more people, and carry fewer devices to do it all. I used to carry a phone, laptop, GPS, portable DVD player on a business trip. I'm now down to a phone (okay...two phones) and a laptop (and I could get by without the laptop if I needed to). Rooting just helps make the device better, faster, and more customizable.
Whew...long post
. I feel the need to say something about being on the "shoulders of giants" or something "cosmic" like that...
(just kind of an inside joke, lol)
