Root for ICS?

zetroc · March 5th, 2012, 09:53 AM

I want people's opinion.

I have my XOOM 4G and I've been (im)patiently waiting for the ICS update, which disappointingly hasn't been released. Not sure why the hold up, if this is a Google Experience Device, shouldn't it have been available upon release? I digress...

So, my XOOM is as it was on day one. Unrooted, unlocked. Should I proceed to root it to install ICS? How stable are the ICS ROMs? Is there a ROM that delivers a near-stock experience? Thanks!

Paul1201 · March 5th, 2012, 04:39 PM

Just rooted yesterday for the sam reason. Here are some helpful links:

[Root] Universal Xoom Root - ANY XOOM ANY UPDATE - xda-developers

[Guide] Re-lock and Un-root **3G & 4G** Xoom - xda-developers

ROM - Downloads

Heres how I did it:

1. Root following the universal root link [I had to do a restore to stock since I got stuck in a boot loop for a while by not following the directions - go figure :-)]

2. After you log into your Google account go to the market and stop all the app updates. Download ROM Manager from the market and install the latest CWM Recovery.

3. Download Pete's most recent Bugless Beast and install from SD Card via ROM Manager.

4. Log into your Google account and reinstall all your apps. Remember to redownload ROM Manager.

5. Enjoy some Ice Cream Sandwich goodness!

I assume you have some experience with rooting etc. so these directions are brief. If you have any specific questions let me know.

zetroc · March 6th, 2012, 11:27 AM

How smooth is ICS? I like HC but it can be so buggy! I'm hoping ICS will fix that, and since Moto doesn't seem to have urgency in this matter...

Paul1201 · March 6th, 2012, 01:37 PM

Web pages are still slow loading but the typing lag seems much less. There a few UI changes that took a second to figure out. It's not quite the game changer it was made out to be on some of the websites when the WiFi update started rolling out but the buggy feel is much less. My Xoom does feel more responsive and I've had almost no problems yet. The only app that was causing me any issues was Verizon's Media Manager which you can't use rooted anyhow (DRM issue). Backing up my files before rooting was the biggest pain. Just copy the files you really want. I copied all the files from my internal SD card folder and that was painful (some files would not copy and the process took forever).To me it has been totally worth the time and effort. To be completely honest I've only been running this setup for about 36 hours and most of that time I was not using my Xoom. Also have not tried out the LTE/3G performance yet.

I do recommend Peter Alfonso's Bugless Beast ROM if you want a close to stock experience.