Root (hopefully) simple root question re: risks?

[PSUlion01]

I'm a newb here...getting my DX tomorrow or Tuesday and was hoping to root it mostly for the wifi tether. I really have no interest in removing system "bloatware" apps, and if I did, I'd probably just use Titanium Backup to "freeze" the apps as Fab had mentioned in one of his posts.

My question is how risky is rooting, or even just using the phone once rooted, if all I want to do is add a few root apps? Does rooting make the phone susceptible to messing things up through daily use (i.e. are any features/settings unlocked that I could inadvertently screw up)?

I'm not looking to do anything crazy, but just want to make sure I can do this and unroot (I've read the threads on this -- has it been fully confirmed/tested though?)

Lastly, I'm an all Mac household, but do have VMWare with XP running on my iMac. Should I attempt the root through there, just do it in Terminal on my Mac, or head over and use my dad's Vista laptop to use the 1-click root/unroot?

Thanks!

 

[meshdub]

From my experience, whenever you need superuser rights, you actually get a pop up on the screen, asking for the permission. So to answer your question, no, you won't mess anything up unknowingly unless it's one of the apps you gave superuser rights to.

If the only thing you wanna do is install a few apps and you know EXACTLY what they do, then you're fine. It's when you start removing apps/messing with system files is how you can get your phone bricked.

Also I would use 1-click root tool because then you can easily unroot it if needed (although supposedly we'll be able to upgrade to 2.2 while rooted. We'll just lose it upon the upgrade).

Also, do you have a link to the post saying it's safe to freeze apps? I just wanted to make sure the phone can be recovered with apps frozen since it changes files permission settings.

 

[PSUlion01]

From my experience, whenever you need superuser rights, you actually get a pop up on the screen, asking for the permission. So to answer your question, no, you won't mess anything up unknowingly unless it's one of the apps you gave superuser rights to.

If the only thing you wanna do is install a few apps and you know EXACTLY what they do, then you're fine. It's when you start removing apps/messing with system files is how you can get your phone bricked.

Like I said, I'm really just interested in Wifi Tether (for now at least). Maybe I'll want more later as I learn more, but now I just want to be able to tap into the internet connection with my laptop and so my wife can use her iPod touch when we're traveling on the road.

Also I would use 1-click root tool because then you can easily unroot it if needed (although supposedly we'll be able to upgrade to 2.2 while rooted. We'll just lose it upon the upgrade).

I need to look into this some more, as I have all Macs at home. Need to figure out if this will work through VMWare. I don't see why not, provided the X appears when connected via USB, right?

Also, do you have a link to the post saying it's safe to freeze apps? I just wanted to make sure the phone can be recovered with apps frozen since it changes files permission settings.

Here's the link
http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-droid-x/130116-how-root-your-droid-x-3.html#post1274896

It doesn't say much...maybe you can post something or PM Fab to see what he says. I'd be interested in hearing the details as well...

 

[meshdub]

I need to look into this some more, as I have all Macs at home. Need to figure out if this will work through VMWare. I don't see why not, provided the X appears when connected via USB, right?

Yeah, it seems it would either be able to get to shell and run the script there, or it wouldn't. I don't really see how it could get stuck in the middle. But then again, I haven't worked with VMWare long enough to be confident about this.

Here's the link
http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-droid-x/130116-how-root-your-droid-x-3.html#post1274896

It doesn't say much...maybe you can post something or PM Fab to see what he says. I'd be interested in hearing the details as well...

Awesome, thanks, that actually answers my question. Seems like you do have to unfreeze them in order to upgrade. I was just wondering if freezing is a fail proof method in the sense that as long as apk's are there, you can recover without unfreezing. I guess app permissions matter after all.