Root Help, I really want to root.

[stmartin84]

I really want to root, but I'm scared to be honest. I have ideas in my head of how rooting will unleash the beast, but also cause problems. With anything new, I enter with caution.

My main reasons to root is I want wireless tether option. Not sure why else I'd want to root. I like the stock look, but after looking as some of the rooted phones and their screens, etc. I want that.

I'm not a computer geek (sorry if that offended you), so I'm not sure where to start or what "rom" to use?

Help please!

 

[emdmao]

Take a look at the top two threads in the all things root subforum linked above. If you have any other specific questions after reading more about it, start the thread in the root subforum . Good luck, it's really easier than it appears to be. There are plenty of people here to help you through it.

edit: also, if tinkering and troubleshooting isn't really something you want to deal with, it's probably best to not root.

There's not much troubleshooting, some ROMs might not agree with your phone and bootloop. But you are able to backup your phone easily to restore to. Little things like that, mostly trial and error type of stuff to find what runs best on your phone. The tinkering gets addictive

 

[stmartin84]

thanks emdmao, I think I stumbled along a "one click" root process. That's what I'm talking about EASY. My question is once I'm rooted how then can I load the wireless tether feature and if I wanted to stop there do I need to tweak anything else or can it be left alone and EXACTLY the same to the eyes and functions as stock with the exception to the wireless tether option?

 

[emdmao]

thanks emdmao, I think I stumbled along a "one click" root process. That's what I'm talking about EASY. My question is once I'm rooted how then can I load the wireless tether feature and if I wanted to stop there do I need to tweak anything else or can it be left alone and EXACTLY the same to the eyes and functions as stock with the exception to the wireless tether option?

You can leave it alone, but I'm almost positive you'll keep getting the notification to download the OTA from verizon. If you just want the stock look, I'd recommend trying the ROM's bugless beast v5 or cyanogemod 6 (CM6). Both come unthemed. You'll get a boost in performance and functionality. I can't remember if either of those come with wireless tether, but if not, the app is called "wireless tether for root users" and is available in the market.

If you want to overclock at all, you'll need the app 'setcpu' or use the built-in cpu feature in bugless beast.

Please read through all the steps though and make sure you have a backup immediately after rooting and before you install anything else. The backup is called a 'nandroid' so you can restore to a point where your phone is working properly should anything you install cause any problems.

 

[stmartin84]

You can leave it alone, but I'm almost positive you'll keep getting the notification to download the OTA from verizon. If you just want the stock look, I'd recommend trying the ROM's bugless beast v5 or cyanogemod 6 (CM6). Both come unthemed. You'll get a boost in performance and functionality. I can't remember if either of those come with wireless tether, but if not, the app is called "wireless tether for root users" and is available in the market.

If you want to overclock at all, you'll need the app 'setcpu' or use the built-in cpu feature in bugless beast.

Please read through all the steps though and make sure you have a backup immediately after rooting and before you install anything else. The backup is called a 'nandroid' so you can restore to a point where your phone is working properly should anything you install cause any problems.

I really like the look of the themed droids. Expecialy under the "post your droid screens" and there is a theme of where someone put a hand and smoke rising up. That one looks nice. I guess after reading it I'm still kind of confused where to go for themes, apps, etc.

 

[corbinator]

I was the same as you (though I am a little computer geeky), scared to death to distroy a perfectly good phone. But I did and am SSSOOOOOOO glad I did. Personaly I wanted to get rid of the bloatwear, but after that I was absolutly blown away with what my phone could do after I broke the Verizon chains off. I agree with emdmao read the first two posts, lot of good info there. And yes, when you start the process you will chew your fingers to the bone (mine are just now healing), but when you are done you will (after bandaging bloodied fingers and cursing yourself for doing it cause it wasn't that bad) do backflips!! I have tried a few roms and they are nice (some come with the wireless tether, have no need for it so haven't looked into it), but I love my nice clean Vanillia Froyo.
Have fun with it and beware......... rom'ing is addicting!!! My wife has a rule that I can't play with my phone till after I get the dishes done, otherwise I'd be on it till next november non stop!!

and be sure to BUY rom manager, and get titanum backup after you root. They take a lot of steps out of the process and have saved my bacon more than a few times.

 

[emdmao]

I really like the look of the themed droids. Expecialy under the "post your droid screens" and there is a theme of where someone put a hand and smoke rising up. That one looks nice. I guess after reading it I'm still kind of confused where to go for themes, apps, etc.

Lol..that's my theme. Thanks . That's with the ROM Ultimate Droid 1.0.0 and just the theme it comes with (has built in menu settings to install the themed twitter and other apps to match) with launcher pro.

There's a subforum in the 'all things root' section for a large list of roms and themes to check out.

 

[stmartin84]

Lol..that's my theme. Thanks . That's with the ROM Ultimate Droid 1.0.0 and just the theme it comes with (has built in menu settings to install the themed twitter and other apps to match) with launcher pro.

There's a subforum in the 'all things root' section for a large list of roms and themes to check out.

Small world! I want your phone with wireless tether app. Walk me through it.

EDIT: I'm rooted, yeah! Downloaded wireless tether. Now on to find a theme.....

 

[emdmao]

Small world! I want your phone with wireless tether app. Walk me through it.

EDIT: I'm rooted, yeah! Downloaded wireless tether. Now on to find a theme.....

Make sure you have a backup! (can't stress this enough). If you look a few posts under my screen shots in the other thread I put links to the launcher pro icons and listed the widgets I have. Basically it's just the stock theme that ultimate droid 1.0.0 comes with. The themed twitter, pandora, power control, and news and weather widget are installed from the ROM in the ultimate droid menu in settings. Then I just found an hd black background on google (searched for 'hd black wallpapers'. That's really about it.

 

[stmartin84]

Make sure you have a backup! (can't stress this enough). If you look a few posts under my screen shots in the other thread I put links to the launcher pro icons and listed the widgets I have. Basically it's just the stock theme that ultimate droid 1.0.0 comes with. The themed twitter, pandora, power control, and news and weather widget are installed from the ROM in the ultimate droid menu in settings. Then I just found an hd black background on google (searched for 'hd black wallpapers'. That's really about it.

Well, I rooted, downloaded and paid for ROM Manager, downloaded Ultimate Android 1.0, it asked me "wipe and backup old rom" I selected yes, it rebooted and then got stuck on a white triangle with an explanation point and hung there for 5 minutes. I assumed something was wrong so I pulled the battery and it's back to normal, but rooted. Downloaded wireless tether and that works fine, but I do want some more speed and the bells and whistles of a ROM.

Help.

EDIT: it's working now.

 

[SolidOrange]

sounds like you got it man, congrats! i rooted a few days ago and initially said that i just wanted to run stock froyo with a root... a week later, i am running a themed custom ROM with a 1.1 gHz kernel, lol. once you've done it, it seems so easy that it makes you want to try every ROM out there.

 

[stmartin84]

OK all, first I want to thank you for helping me take the plunge. All the information on this forum helped me make this an easy process.

I do have a couple questions and possibly I can get my thoughts on paper enough where you guru's can help.

1. I downloaded and installed ROM Manager. I then made a back up. Then downloaded UD 1.0 Final.zip

2. OK, all my old apps are installed on my phone, but they are not listed under downloads in the market. Do I have to trick my phone and reinstall them again from the market?

3. Should I partition my SD Card and if so, what size?

I have tons of questions running through my mind, but can we start here?

Thanks!

EDIT: Found a link called "theultimatedroid-1.0.0-final-droid.zip" I installed that. Much better than the UD New Era, now how do I load "LunaTheme-UD-100.zip" as my theme?

 

[emdmao]

OK all, first I want to thank you for helping me take the plunge. All the information on this forum helped me make this an easy process.

I do have a couple questions and possibly I can get my thoughts on paper enough where you guru's can help.

1. I downloaded and installed ROM Manager. I then made a back up. Then downloaded Ultimate Droid New Era 1.0. Why you may ask, um, I don't know, just looked nice from the words. My first question is how do I know this is the ROM I want or is this one the best? I do understand that "best" is subjective by everyone's opinion. Is this one "clocked"? If not, how to I speed mine up a bit.

2. OK, all my old apps are installed on my phone, but they are not listed under downloads in the market. Do I have to trick my phone and reinstall them again from the market?

3. How do I get these other add ins like some of the other users have for this ROM, i.e. Pandora widget, menu bar, facebook, etc. that match the theme of the Ultimate Droid. Again, this is assuming I decide to keep Ultimate Droid New Era 1.0.

4. Should I partition my SD Card and if so, what size?

I have tons of questions running through my mind, but can we start here?

Thanks!

EDIT: Found a link called "theultimatedroid-1.0.0-final-droid.zip" I installed that. Much better than the UD New Era, now how do I load "LunaTheme-UD-100.zip" as my theme?

1. You answered yourself, new era is extremely old. Ultimate Droid does not list his ROMs in ROM Manager any longer. You found the right one though. To load the theme just load it like you did the ROM

2. Probably because it was an older ROM. They should automatically download. I would reload the backup where you had your apps installed and then install the ultimate droid 1.0.0 final.

3. The themed add on widgets are not in new era, you'll find them in settings>ultimate droid>ultimate droid extras>themed apps. Make sure they aren't set to auto update from the market, it'll take away the theme.

4. Don't partition your SD card. That is no longer needed. It was for before Froyo to move apps to your sd card. Cyanogen and co. had figured a way to build it into their ROM but you needed to partition a section of your sd card to move them to.

 

[stmartin84]

@emdmao,

Ok, I reloaded the backup original rom from rom manager. Worked great. I uninstalled some junk apps from the market that I no longer used. Rebooted phone and then went back to rom manager. I wanted to create a new backup before I reloaded the UD Rom, but it tries to reboot and then hangs at the recovery screen (white triangle with yellow or orange explanation point). When I say it hangs, after about 3 minutes I pulled the battery and rebooted it.

It's back to stock (except rooted) but I'd sure like to make a good full rom backup before I move to UD.

Also, is it worth it loading that slayher 1ghz interactive and what does that do?

Also, how do you get that layout like you have, text instead of icons, etc.?

EDIT: found this link http://www.droidforums.net/forum/koush/55511-rom-manager-will-not-backup-my-current-rom.html and it seemed to fix the backup issues, but my other questions are still outstanding.

 

[emdmao]

@emdmao,

Ok, I reloaded the backup original rom from rom manager. Worked great. I uninstalled some junk apps from the market that I no longer used. Rebooted phone and then went back to rom manager. I wanted to create a new backup before I reloaded the UD Rom, but it tries to reboot and then hangs at the recovery screen (white triangle with yellow or orange explanation point). When I say it hangs, after about 3 minutes I pulled the battery and rebooted it.

It's back to stock (except rooted) but I'd sure like to make a good full rom backup before I move to UD.

Also, is it worth it loading that slayher 1ghz interactive and what does that do?




Also, how do you get that layout like you have, text instead of icons, etc.?

EDIT: found this link Rom Manager will not backup my current ROM - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum and it seemed to fix the backup issues, but my other questions are still outstanding.

It sounds like you are still booting into the stock recovery. In ROM Manager, try flashing 'alternate recovery' then flash clockwork recovery again. When you do so, are you getting prompted to grant ROM Manager root access? If so, make sure you select for it to remember. Don't do anything further til you get the recovery working properly to backup.

Slayher's kernels just happen to run best on my phone. There are other to try, Chevy's, P3's, jdflg's. Some will work better or worse for you. Interactive is the governor setting for the cpu and the way it scales the processor speed when using the phone. It scales up and down based on the load you are putting on the phone. It's really fast and smooth though it uses more battery than some other settings.

 

[stmartin84]

It sounds like you are still booting into the stock recovery. In ROM Manager, try flashing 'alternate recovery' then flash clockwork recovery again. When you do so, are you getting prompted to grant ROM Manager root access? If so, make sure you select for it to remember. Don't do anything further til you get the recovery working properly to backup.

Slayher's kernels just happen to run best on my phone. There are other to try, Chevy's, P3's, jdflg's. Some will work better or worse for you. Interactive is the governor setting for the cpu and the way it scales the processor speed when using the phone. It scales up and down based on the load you are putting on the phone. It's really fast and smooth though it uses more battery than some other settings.

It seems to be working now. I just want to figure out how to get a layout like you have. I'm really fond of the way that looks. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, the min max setting under UD settings what should I set the minimum to or should I leave the governor set at "user demand"?

 

[emdmao]

In the post of screenshots I listed everything I use. I set it at 250 min 1ghz max. On deman setting is fine. Btw the kernel that ud comes with is slayhers 1ghz

 

[motoconvert]

I'm in the same boat as you...I really want to root to see what all the fuss is about, but am scared as heck!! I have Launcherpro plus and I've pretty much got customization down using that...but my phone seems to run slower now that I've been messing with that.

I want to get rid of all the extra crap that VZW puts on the phone...but again, I'm scared! Any advice for me?? Which rooting method did you use? I know like everyone says it's not as bad as you think...but I'm not computer literate either and don't understand ROM's, Kernals and all that other stuff. Thanks for your post though, thought I was the only one!

 

[stmartin84]

I'm in the same boat as you...I really want to root to see what all the fuss is about, but am scared as heck!! I have Launcherpro plus and I've pretty much got customization down using that...but my phone seems to run slower now that I've been messing with that.

I want to get rid of all the extra crap that VZW puts on the phone...but again, I'm scared! Any advice for me?? Which rooting method did you use? I know like everyone says it's not as bad as you think...but I'm not computer literate either and don't understand ROM's, Kernals and all that other stuff. Thanks for your post though, thought I was the only one!

Well as my post above state I rooted, love it. I used "soupornot" as one click rooting and then paid for ROM Manager. It was quite simple.

 

[SolidOrange]

I'm in the same boat as you...I really want to root to see what all the fuss is about, but am scared as heck!! I have Launcherpro plus and I've pretty much got customization down using that...but my phone seems to run slower now that I've been messing with that.

I want to get rid of all the extra crap that VZW puts on the phone...but again, I'm scared! Any advice for me?? Which rooting method did you use? I know like everyone says it's not as bad as you think...but I'm not computer literate either and don't understand ROM's, Kernals and all that other stuff. Thanks for your post though, thought I was the only one!

the information out there can be a bit overwhelming, so i will boil it down as much as possible.

1. Download SoupOrRoot 2.04 to your computer and follow the directions in that thread.
2. Download Titanium Backup and ROM Manager from the android market.
3. Update any apps that need it.
4. Use Titanium Backup to backup your apps (it will save all the info to your SD card)
5. Open ROM Manager on your phone and select "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery"
6. from ROM Manager, select "Backup Current ROM". (name it something like Froyo, Stock, etc. so you will be able to go back to it if needed).
7. reboot, then use ROM manager to select/download a new ROM from the "Download ROM" section. popular ones are CyanogenMod, BuglessBeast, LiquidFrozenYogurt, and UltimateDroid. many others are available in the forums, but those are tried and true.
8. turn your phone off and reboot into recovery (hold physical keyboard "x" + power button), navigate to the "nandroid" section using the D-pad, click "restore" and make sure your backup is there.
9. use DEL to get back to the main recovery menu and select "wipe data/factory reset" and "wipe cache partition", i run the wipes 2-3 times each but it is not absolutely necessary.
10. go back to the recovery home screen and select "install zip from SD card" and select the one you downloaded in ROM manager. your new ROM will begin installing.
11. once it has finished, reboot your phone and make sure everything is working properly.
12. use ROM manager to create another Backup, remember to use a name you will recognize. if you are not going to install a different kernel or theme, skip to step 16.


THE FOLLOWING STEPS ARE ONLY NECESSARY IF YOU WANT TO INSTALL THEMES AND/OR NEW KERNELS.

13. theming your new ROM is the next (optional) step. you will likely need to download the theme from this site, although ROM manager does have a few built in that you can choose from. MAKE SURE THE THEME YOU DOWNLOAD WORKS WITH THE ROM YOU ARE USING!! download the zip file to your SD card, and reboot into recovery and select "install zip from sdcard" just as you did with the ROM.
14. reboot, test, and create another backup with ROM manager. if you are not going to install a new kernel, skip to step 16.
15. installing a new kernel is the last (optional) step. there are a bunch available in ROM manager that you can download to your SD card and even more floating around the web, but keep in mind that all droids are different. some can run ultra low voltage 1.2 gHz kernels and some can't even run standard voltage 800mHz ones, so you will probably have to try a few and see what works for you. THIS IS WHY BACKUPS ARE IMPORTANT! once you have chosen one you would like to try, reboot into recovery, select "install zip from sdcard" and load the kernel.


16. if everything is working well, reload your icons and account settings, create one last backup and enjoy! if not, reboot into recovery, select "nandroid" then "restore", re-load the last working backup, and try again.

hope that helps... i am still technically new at this, but it really is alot easier than it looks!

 

[emdmao]

the information out there can be a bit overwhelming, so i will boil it down as much as possible.

1. Download SoupOrRoot 2.04 to your computer and follow the directions in that thread.
2. Download Titanium Backup and ROM Manager from the android market.
3. Update any apps that need it.
4. Use Titanium Backup to backup your apps (it will save all the info to your SD card)
5. Open ROM Manager on your phone and select "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery"
6. from ROM Manager, select "Backup Current ROM". (name it something like Froyo, Stock, etc. so you will be able to go back to it if needed).
7. reboot, then use ROM manager to select/download a new ROM from the "Download ROM" section. popular ones are CyanogenMod, BuglessBeast, LiquidFrozenYogurt, and UltimateDroid. many others are available in the forums, but those are tried and true.
8. turn your phone off and reboot into recovery (hold physical keyboard "x" + power button), navigate to the "nandroid" section using the D-pad, click "restore" and make sure your backup is there.
9. use DEL to get back to the main recovery menu and select "wipe data/factory reset" and "wipe cache partition", i run the wipes 2-3 times each but it is not absolutely necessary.
10. go back to the recovery home screen and select "install zip from SD card" and select the one you downloaded in ROM manager. your new ROM will begin installing.
11. once it has finished, reboot your phone and make sure everything is working properly.
12. use ROM manager to create another Backup, remember to use a name you will recognize. if you are not going to install a different kernel or theme, skip to step 16.


THE FOLLOWING STEPS ARE ONLY NECESSARY IF YOU WANT TO INSTALL THEMES AND/OR NEW KERNELS.

13. theming your new ROM is the next (optional) step. you will likely need to download the theme from this site, although ROM manager does have a few built in that you can choose from. MAKE SURE THE THEME YOU DOWNLOAD WORKS WITH THE ROM YOU ARE USING!! download the zip file to your SD card, and reboot into recovery and select "install zip from sdcard" just as you did with the ROM.
14. reboot, test, and create another backup with ROM manager. if you are not going to install a new kernel, skip to step 16.
15. installing a new kernel is the last (optional) step. there are a bunch available in ROM manager that you can download to your SD card and even more floating around the web, but keep in mind that all droids are different. some can run ultra low voltage 1.2 gHz kernels and some can't even run standard voltage 800mHz ones, so you will probably have to try a few and see what works for you. THIS IS WHY BACKUPS ARE IMPORTANT! once you have chosen one you would like to try, reboot into recovery, select "install zip from sdcard" and load the kernel.


16. if everything is working well, reload your icons and account settings, create one last backup and enjoy! if not, reboot into recovery, select "nandroid" then "restore", re-load the last working backup, and try again.

hope that helps... i am still technically new at this, but it really is alot easier than it looks!

Nice run down. The first time you try out kernels (if you want to overclock, which is optional) it would make it easier to download several kernels into a folder on your SD card that you want to try (varying developers, speeds and voltages). This way you can load one, if it bootloops, runs hot, freezes, etc. you can just reboot into recovery by holding x and powering the phone and just load the next kernel. It will override the previous one.

Once you have a kernel you know works well, keep that so you'll always be able to load that up if you ever try any new kernels in the future.

 

[stmartin84]

I am quite fond of the manup456 UI Style MOD theme, you know the one where it's all lined up and it's on the "post your droid screens here". Has anyone found a way to load this instead of taking the hours it would take to do it manually?

 

[SolidOrange]

Nice run down. The first time you try out kernels (if you want to overclock, which is optional) it would make it easier to download several kernels into a folder on your SD card that you want to try (varying developers, speeds and voltages). This way you can load one, if it bootloops, runs hot, freezes, etc. you can just reboot into recovery by holding x and powering the phone and just load the next kernel. It will override the previous one.

Once you have a kernel you know works well, keep that so you'll always be able to load that up if you ever try any new kernels in the future.

good call, luckily mine ran chevy's 1.1 ULV on the first shot, so i haven't had to deal with it yet. i will definitely add that to the list of to-do's.

 

[emdmao]

good call, luckily mine ran chevy's 1.1 ULV on the first shot, so i haven't had to deal with it yet. i will definitely add that to the list of to-do's.

It really is crazy how different your phone can react to kernels. I get significantly better battery life and lower temperatures with slayhers 1ghz kernel than I do with chevys ulv 800mhz. P3's run reallly hot for me, over 120 degrees easy with little use. JDFLG's work pretty well for me also.

 

[SolidOrange]

It really is crazy how different your phone can react to kernels. I get significantly better battery life and lower temperatures with slayhers 1ghz kernel than I do with chevys ulv 800mhz. P3's run reallly hot for me, over 120 degrees easy with little use. JDFLG's work pretty well for me also.

i am at about 20-22C idle and 40-42C running hard on chevy's 1.1 ULV with great performance, so i have been living by the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" motto. battery life has also been better than it was on the stock kernel, but my SetCPU profiles could have alot to do with that.