Root Why Root?

[Randy Navarro]

Apologies. . . I've learned about the concept of rooting only recently on this forum.

Why Root?
Is it only to tether to a laptop for free?
Does it void phone warranty?
Can a novice do it and not blow his phone up?

Root. . .uh. . . educate me. . . please.

I'd love to save $30/month as much as the next guy.

 

[EmoTonyB]

why root? to get access to make your phone do more than it is allowed to otherwise.

no its not JUST to use free tether, but that IS a beautiful feature.

does it void warrenty? technically i think it does... but not for long

can a novice do it? yes. i was a novice and rooted my phone. now i am still a novice with root acecss is all.

the best thing about root is access to cosmetically change and bend your phone to do whatever it is YOU want (and not the provider wants) on your phone.

 

[ercsliberty]

hi emotonys, can u recommand some apps that can be put only on rooted epic? thanks

 

[ragnarokx]

hi emotonys, can u recommand some apps that can be put only on rooted epic? thanks

titanium backup and wifi-tether are a couple of my favorites

 

[novox77]

hi emotonys, can u recommand some apps that can be put only on rooted epic? thanks

If you ever want to take a screenshot of your phone's screen, that requires root access. There are several apps on the market that do this.

If a rooted Epic is anything like a rooted Evo, people will find ways to optimize the kernel so that it is more efficient (read: better battery life) and other improvements here and there. Eventually with a custom recovery image, you will be able to flash custom ROMs that have support for skins and themes, and other goodies you won't ever find on stock ROMs. You can get ROMs without TouchWiz if you like.

You can remove unwanted system applications (the ones that come bundled with your phone but doesn't give you an option to uninstall).

You can turn your phone into a server, like a typical linux box, with the usual daemons running: sshd, httpd, ftpd, etc.

Rooting gives you control. It gives you options. It's not for everyone, but for me, it's what made me fall in love with my Android.

 

[EmoTonyB]

hi emotonys, can u recommand some apps that can be put only on rooted epic? thanks

not really... i have a moment, not an epic. only apps i have on my phone that require root just now are 'shootme' a screencap app, ES FileExplorer (with root folder access) m900 Wireless Tether (tehter app for Moment) QuickBoot (which allows you to restart your phone into recovery, bootloader or regular system reboot

SpareParts (i dunno if this is root or not) allows you to see what is runnig on your system and how much memory it is taking up etc.

 

[Othan1]

I have root because I like to get rid of wasted space taken up by Sprint's preinstalled stuff. I fought hard to get out of the trailer park and I'm not going to have ANYTHING on my phone that leaves even the slightest taste of trailer park in my mouth. I'm looking at YOU, Nascar.

 

[ragnarokx]

I fought hard to get out of the trailer park and I'm not going to have ANYTHING on my phone that leaves even the slightest taste of trailer park in my mouth. I'm looking at YOU, Nascar.

There's gotta be a Jeff Foxworthy joke in there somewhere..

 

[EpicLove]

If you ever want to take a screenshot of your phone's screen, that requires root access. There are several apps on the market that do this.

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/2395/snap20100929170141.png

I have an unrooted Epic with this app 'ShootMe' and it works just fine.

 

[gammon]

I'm still not convinced... so you can further customize your desktop and overclock your processor (with inherit risks). What can you do that is simply mindblowing? What does rooting your phone do that changes it's functionality dramatically?

Stuff that doesn't interest me
-screencaps of desktop
-tethering
-backup files

I have to be missing something that makes this so popular... IMPRESS ME.

 

[ragnarokx]

I'm still not convinced... so you can further customize your desktop and overclock your processor (with inherit risks). What can you do that is simply mindblowing? What does rooting your phone do that changes it's functionality dramatically?

Stuff that doesn't interest me
-screencaps of desktop
-tethering
-backup files

I have to be missing something that makes this so popular... IMPRESS ME.

If you don't like anything you're hearing, don't root the phone.

 

[Bomix]

I'm still not convinced... so you can further customize your desktop and overclock your processor (with inherit risks). What can you do that is simply mindblowing? What does rooting your phone do that changes it's functionality dramatically?

Stuff that doesn't interest me
-screencaps of desktop
-tethering
-backup files

I have to be missing something that makes this so popular... IMPRESS ME.

Don't root if you don't need to.. nobody is holding a gun to your head

 

[gammon]

Ha, I'm not torn up because everyone else is doing it. I'm just wanting to know if I'm missing something, because it sounds like it offers very little beyond what the phone already does despite the additional complexity. I'm not running some anti-root propaganda or something.

If someone told me I could run and install content from .exes then I would be on that in a second.

 

[ragnarokx]

Ha, I'm not torn up because everyone else is doing it. I'm just wanting to know if I'm missing something, because it sounds like it offers very little beyond what the phone already does despite the additional complexity. I'm not running some anti-root propaganda or something.

If someone told me I could run and install content from .exes then I would be on that in a second.

You deciding it offers very little is just your opinion, and you're welcome to it. To some people having 30% faster CPU speed, better battery life, ability to completely customize the GUI, wireless and wired tethering without an extra fee, removal of bloatware, controlling what apps open at startup, being able to use backup programs, etc. does make a big difference. You aren't "missing" anything - you have all the information, and you've made your decision. I'll enjoy root access and you can enjoy whatever is important to you in the Epic. No big deal.

 

[Bomix]

Ha, I'm not torn up because everyone else is doing it. I'm just wanting to know if I'm missing something, because it sounds like it offers very little beyond what the phone already does despite the additional complexity. I'm not running some anti-root propaganda or something.

If someone told me I could run and install content from .exes then I would be on that in a second.

Read up on Rooting yourself, nobody knows what you LIKE so we can't tell you what to do.

Basically you might come across something you like or want to do to your phone that requires Root. hence the need to root. Otherwise.. there are tons of people happy not having "root" there phone.

If your talking about installing applications (.exe) in windows, or .apks (android) you can do that WITHOUT root. just download any .apk and install through a program like AStro file manager.

 

[gammon]

You deciding it offers very little is just your opinion, and you're welcome to it. To some people having 30% faster CPU speed, better battery life, ability to completely customize the GUI, wireless and wired tethering without an extra fee, removal of bloatware, controlling what apps open at startup, being able to use backup programs, etc. does make a big difference. You aren't "missing" anything - you have all the information, and you've made your decision. I'll enjoy root access and you can enjoy whatever is important to you in the Epic. No big deal.

Not being a smart ass but you can't overclock AND have better batt. life. What can you do to achieve better battery life with the OC though?

 

[Aero1]

Not being a smart ass but you can't overclock AND have better batt. life.

On epic you sure can. I am getting both 30% faster speeds and 20% better battery life . The first update killed about 25% of battery life depending on usage habits due to installation of drm service which stays in near constant contact with the network. eh seond update returned about 5%, but a current Epic is nowhwere near the battery life of the Sept 1 Epic. Rooting allows you to remove this drm service in a much battery than ad hoc disabling it five or ten time per day.

Also I do not understand why you would not want faster tethering speeds or backup or removal of the Sprint and Samsung bloatware? On 2.1 memory is limited and the bloatware has an affect on your performance and ability to install and use applications.

It also allows you to deal with the buggy GPS on Epic more elegantly than constant cold start method.

 

[zetterwing]

You can also use SetCPU once rooted. This allows for profiles to be set to overclock AND underclock...for instance when your screen is off set the cpu to run at 200mHz. There are multiple scenarios to set profiles for which will increase battery efficiency. Bottom line is that if you're paying for a high end device you should be able to maximize its performance on every level. Root allows you to customize every option to your liking. The Epic is a great device out of the box but I prefer to have total control over what is on my device. Do you keep every crap piece of software you get on a new pc? I tend to try them out and remove what is not useful. Rooting allows you to do this on your Epic and since there is limited space available for apps it makes sense to me to remove Sprint's bloatware. Try it out and see if it's for you...you can always flash back to stock if you'd like.

 

[leftkidney]

can you install 2.2 with root?

 

[farcus]

can you install 2.2 with root?

No not yet.

 

[novox77]

It's also worth pointing out that the instant you are rooted, you probably won't notice ANY difference with your phone, other than the superuser icon in your app drawer.

Which leads a lot of people to start threads like "I've rooted. Now what?"

Rooting just opens up a ton of options. In addition to what's listed here, you can really go to extremes and install various daemons (servers) like sshd, httpd, vnc server, so that you can access your phone's system and data wirelessly (no more adb).

And if you really want to go to extremes, you can install ubuntu linux on your phone, which then allows you to run an alternate operating system with more conventional desktop-like software (firefox browser, openoffice, etc).

The most practical reason to root is to give you more power to control your battery usage. With a HAVS kernel and/or setCPU, you can really reduce battery life, both when the phone is idle and in use. The other popular reason (but not so practical) is to run a custom ROM that supports themes, so you can change the look of your UI with ease.

 

[PoundSand]

No not yet.

you actually can now...
[ROM] Froyo DJ29 leak, deodexed, zipaligned and pre-rooted - xda-developers

 

[EpicLove]

Please excuse me if this has already been addressed, but I couldn't find anything: how does one go about preserving paid apps between root/non-root? Can you just reinstall everything off the market or is it more complicated than that? Between the Lifehacker article and this thread, root access is starting to sound extremely attractive...

 

[Lunar]

I used AppBrain App Market to backup my apps before rooting my Evo. It was pretty simple. You'll need to sign into your Google account when prompted, then the rest is a breeze. When you're done, you can return your apps back to your device.

I'm a novice about this whole rooting, ROM, flashing, etc...I have been on this forum all day. I got my Evo two weeks ago and I extremely love it. Though I loved it before I even knew about all this tech stuff, now that I am actually reading and trying it out (and having it work), I am obsessed over this phone and its potentials. This whole thing intrigues me. As long as you follow the steps of these knowledgeable forum community friends, you'll do just fine.

On another note....I rooted my phone and downloaded the Wireless Tether app. Everything seems to be going well expect that my laptop cannot connect to my device. My device is listed on my laptop as a wireless network, however, when I try to connect it takes a long time then it times out. Does anyone know what I can do about this? Please help.