Root Should I root or not?

[blkshirt]

What benefits do I get from rooting a phone?
If something happens and I have to take it back to Sprint am I violating any EULA's?
If I do root, should I get a different ROM?

Again, I'm a total n00b at Android but understand computers and technology pretty well, I've just always left my phones stock, just the more I read though the more I think I'll be rooting a phone right away.

 

[ovrrdrive]

The only real reason to root is to run a different rom at this point. Not only will your phone work better and have less bloat, but it will perform better as well. Stock your phone will get just over 200 points in Quadrant standard while rooted phones (like mine) are getting over 500 now with the latest mods to the filesystem and JIT. After you do it you'll wonder why you waited so long. Trust me it's worth it.

As far as warranty is concerned, a quick flash with the official sprint update tool will erase all traces of what you did. If it's too far gone to check they won't know anyways.

 

[pastafarian]

1- Remove annoying worthless bloatware like Bejeweled trial.
2- Run alternate roms and/or kernels. This can greatly improve overall performance, but sometimes introduce instability.
3- Run software not available to non root users, the most desired of which is wireless tethering.
4- It's cool and anti establishment. Damn the man!

Though you're technically voiding your warranty, it's highly doubtful that you can physically harm the device in any way by rooting it. As mentioned, if you need to take the phone in, just flash it back to stock. If you can't flash it back to stock, it's probably so far gone as in bricked, that Sprint would never know. It's really easy to do and undo, so try it out and decide for yourself.

 

[dntesinfrno]

The Library of Congress recently backdoored the DCMA law to make rooting 100% legal (and therefore not in breach of warranty) as long as it is not for the purpose of breaking access permissions (to other cell networks) or using illegally obtained software. All the rom's and kernels and such are open source so as long as you aren't changing phone id's to use on other networks there isn't anything Sprint can do about it.

"The Library of Congress added the following passage to the DMCA, as a result of its research:

Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset. "

-Quoted from DailyTech - Library of Congress: Jailbreaking, Rooting Phones, Video Montages are Legal

Besides with the plethora of 'actual' problems with the Moment i think the small percentage of people who brick (completely) their phones attempting to root or otherwise modify code is the last of their worries.

 

[VertigoKid]

Can you remove bloatware from your phone w/o rooting it? If so how b/c I tried downloading several apps and it goes to uninstall but it will tell me the uninstall was unsuccessful.

 

[pastafarian]

Can you remove bloatware from your phone w/o rooting it? .

NO!


Pretty simple, huh?

 

[dntesinfrno]

NO!


Pretty simple, huh?

Sorry to nit pick again here pasta but yes in fact you can remove stock apps without root, it does however require using an adb shell which is about 1,000,000 times harder than just rooting the phone.

 

[pastafarian]

Sorry to nit pick again here pasta but yes in fact you can remove stock apps without root, it does however require using an adb shell which is about 1,000,000 times harder than just rooting the phone.

Well, if you're going to nitpick, the least you can do is post the directions or a link to them for the OP.


And please, nitpick without regrets!

 

[dntesinfrno]

Normally i would have but as i do not know how to do this myself i refrain from suggestion to avoid giving bad advice. If the OP or anyone else would like to know how to use adb shell im sure there are plenty of people in the community who can lend a better hand than I.

A quick search over at sdx revealed this wiki that should help you getting adb connected to the phone properly as well as a link to the list of commands. As far as the specifics to remove apps i can be of no help.

http://wiki.sdx-developers.com/index.php/ADB

 

[EmoTonyB]

with how simple the moment is to root, there is NO reason not to.


btw i used m900 tether for the first time the other day on my new macbook pro and i was SO impressed with how easy it was to connect and the speed i got on my browser. almost no lag... even tho the app said i was getting HORRIBLY slow up and down speeds

 

[rob_z11]

how is the battery life when you start tethering? I have successfully rooted, and so far pretty impressed with it. My son and I can't wait to try his iPad tethering off the mom's Samsung Moment.

I have EVO 4g, and still on the fence about rooting it. I know there is a long thread on the SDX Forum people are doing it, but just have not found the way to go back if I brick it. I am pretty comfortable in my technical ability that I can do it, but just holding out.

 

[dntesinfrno]

how is the battery life when you start tethering? I have successfully rooted, and so far pretty impressed with it. My son and I can't wait to try his iPad tethering off the mom's Samsung Moment.

I have EVO 4g, and still on the fence about rooting it. I know there is a long thread on the SDX Forum people are doing it, but just have not found the way to go back if I brick it. I am pretty comfortable in my technical ability that I can do it, but just holding out.

I have never tethered my moment for more than 15-20 minutes but the battery does get warm when doing so. That being said im sure that has an affect on battery life, if you were to tether for extended periods i would suggest plugging the phone into a power source. If you are using the m900 wifi tether app you should also make sure you set the app to underclock the cpu to 266mhz which should help battery life as well as help avoid the data lock issue.

 

[EmoTonyB]

how is the battery life when you start tethering?

i thetherd 2 hours and the battery bar didnt drop at all

Edit: yes, i did set it to underclock

 

[rob_z11]

i thetherd 2 hours and the battery bar didnt drop at all

Edit: yes, i did set it to underclock

Well, I am impressed. What are you running again on yours?

Good enough for small roadtrip to be used with iPad. Yes, I have set to underclock as well. But I am sure it will go down to half as soon you make the phone call

 

[EmoTonyB]

i am running Amstel 2.0 and the m900 tether app

 

[rob_z11]

I have never tethered my moment for more than 15-20 minutes but the battery does get warm when doing so. That being said im sure that has an affect on battery life, if you were to tether for extended periods i would suggest plugging the phone into a power source. If you are using the m900 wifi tether app you should also make sure you set the app to underclock the cpu to 266mhz which should help battery life as well as help avoid the data lock issue.

I wonder if you should remove the battery, and use the power source if you were going to have prolong use like driving for 4 to 6 hours somewhere.

 

[dntesinfrno]

That would definitely save the battery from unnecessary wear and tear.

 

[ovrrdrive]

Usually when I tether I plug the phone into the computer I'm tethering to. I forgot to do that once and then forgot I had the tether app running and a few hours later the battery on the phone was almost completely dead.

The sad thing is the laptop has a sprint aircard in it but it drops out and stops working from time to time and I don't always have time to restart the computer to pick it back up again...

After probably 4 hours of running tether battery was at 43c according to the tether app. I'm ok with that.