Root Noob questions for Rooting

[kuelexx]

I have searched and searched for these answers, but to no avail.


noob questions:
If I root my phone, will the same firmware still be on the phone? Or does it depend on which rom i use to root my phone?

Also, if i try to update my captivate while having a rooted phone, will it be unrooted agian?

What are the cons to rooting the captivate? Any?

And last question... if phone gets bricked (i delete all my security files, etc), can i unbrick it by transferring original files back to phone? Or could i just re-use the rom i used orignally?

I am mainly rooting my captivate in order to delete crapware, download 3rd party apps, etc.

 

[reinbeau]

I rooted today with the One Click Lag Fix root method, and installed Titanium Backup to freeze the bloatware, from what I've read deleting it can cause problems.

 

[Infinite-t]

I agree, Using the OCLF app in the market to root is probably the easiest way. I also would agree with using TiBu to freeze the crapware apposed to deleting it. You can also use Launcherpro to hide them in your app drawer so you dont even have to look at them anymore.

Nothing is 100% garantee safe when you start "hacking" your phone. However, out of all the "hacks" to do, rooting is probably the safest. If you use the OCLF method, unrooting is easy too. When the JH7 update rolled out, I was rooted. I was able to update while rooted and when I updated I kept root. But from what I hear, the Froyo update will unroot you. But OCLF and others now have root methods available for 2.2 already. I don't really know any risks of rooting other than voiding your warantee. But when I returned my second Captivate, I forgot to unroot it and they never even looked. They just took my SIM out and wiped it. One other risk I heard of was that Rooting gives an app superuser permission to your phone. I suppose a malicious app could gain superuser permision of your phone and do bad things with it..so be careful with what you download.

The risk of "permabricking" your phone is low. In fact, according to XDA developers the only reported permabrickings occured when a few people were updating via the official OTA JH7 update. If you are "soft bricked" meaning your phone will power on, even if it doesnt boot, you can recover it.

One of the best ways to do that is Odin 1click which will take you back to out of the box stock. It is rumored that someone reported problems recieving updates after using Odin recovery.. but I personally have never heard of that. I also tested this once when I was ROM swapping. I wiped back to stock and used the "search for updates" and I was able to succesfully update to JH7 via OTA.

Another really good method is using clockwork recovery. It can make backups of your current ROM as an update.zip. So if you get soft bricked, you can boot into recovery mode and install it.

Again, there is no 100% guaranteed safety when it comes to "hacking" your phone. Even rooting voids your warrenty. If you fully understand the risks and accept the remote possibilty of bricking, data loss, or the possibility of not being able to recieve OTA's (even though you can probably do it manually), stepping in to the dark side is a whole new world of customizing for Android. Always keep good back ups and have a good understanding of what you are doing before you do it. If you dont understand it, or what it does, then you probably shouldnt do it.

 

[Em_Tech]

Infinite-t, your explanation was good. But I have some questions about my trouble. I bought a i897 captivate 2 months ago from USA. I unlocked it. Hovewer, I cant use at&t applications. I also didnt like its navitagion because it didnt work without internet connection and its interface is not user friendly.

So I decided to root my phone. I have read many documents from xda and this site. There are many info that makes me confusing such as stock, jr7, bloat it, froyo, odin 1 click, cognition v2.1.2 etc.... I exactly dont know what they are used for.
I want to use all my phone's specialities and also have a nice navigation which doesnt need and internet connection. I download titanium backup and clockworldmod and I backup my phone with both of them.

Now Please advise me a way that I reach my aim easily and with least risk.

 

[Infinite-t]

Infinite-t, your explanation was good. But I have some questions about my trouble. I bought a i897 captivate 2 months ago from USA. I unlocked it. Hovewer, I cant use at&t applications. I also didnt like its navitagion because it didnt work without internet connection and its interface is not user friendly.

So I decided to root my phone. I have read many documents from xda and this site. There are many info that makes me confusing such as stock, jr7, bloat it, froyo, odin 1 click, cognition v2.1.2 etc.... I exactly dont know what they are used for.
I want to use all my phone's specialities and also have a nice navigation which doesnt need and internet connection. I download titanium backup and clockworldmod and I backup my phone with both of them.

Now Please advise me a way that I reach my aim easily and with least risk.

Well lets start from the top. Since you are saying that you purchased and unlocked a captivate from the US I am going to assume that you are not in the US and aren't using it on the US AT&T.

Both the att and Google navigation. Use your data connection for downloading map info since.the.maps are.not saved to internal memory. The only way around this would be find some app in the app store that includes a map pack that is saved to your phone memory so it doesn't use data to download map info.

Stock= as it was out of the box. No modifications.
Jh7= the first official update.for this phone pushed by Art.
Froyo= android 2.2 the next big software update for the android OS.
Odin 1click= a recovery program to restore your phone to factory via USB. Used when you r phone gets soft.bricked.
bloat: refers to the preinstalled att apps pre loaded on the phone.
Cognition is a custom ROM for the captivate. It replaces the stock OS and is basically bases on the stock OS but with many common modifications people do to their phones like the GPS tweeks, hiding and disabling the bloat, using a custom launcher, etc. I would not.recommend it to beginners.

I think you might not have access to ATTs apps if you aren't using the phone.on ATTs network.

So a few.things for a beginner to try:
Download launcherPro from the market. Its a very cool launcher that will replace the touchwiz launcher. It allows a lot more customization and is a lot quicker. It is also free. With it you can also use it to hide app icons in your app drawer for ones you don't use. Read the website for the app so you can learn how to use all the cool.features. I think you'll find you really. Like it.

 

[Em_Tech]

Thanks for your comprahensive answer. I will try them, but would it be better to root it? So I can get rid of all at&t based prgrams and its restrictions. If you say yes, What should I do to root it with a good firmware?

Do you have any map pack? I searched from the market, but there was nothing. So is there no way to connect gps without internet connection?

 

[Infinite-t]

Thanks for your comprahensive answer. I will try them, but would it be better to root it? So I can get rid of all at&t based prgrams and its restrictions. If you say yes, What should I do to root it with a good firmware?

Do you have any map pack? I searched from the market, but there was nothing. So is there no way to connect gps without internet connection?

Well, you need to know that rooting will technicaly void your warranty. So be sure you want to do of before you do it. You wont need root to run launcherpro. Just download it and set it up the way you want. You can even use it to hide the apps you don't want and cant delete so the don't show up in your app drawer.

Then you can use titanium backup to "freeze " those stock apps so they don't automatically restart themselves. That daily briefing app restarts itself like very minute after you kill it.

If you do decide to root. Using OCLF in the market is probably easiest. Just download it, open it. Tap the root option. Then you restart your phone into recovery mode. Select reinstall packets and reboot. And your done.

It is unadvised to.actually delete any of the stock apps. People have reported problems after doing so. But hiding them and freezing them is just fine.

I would imagine that it would be difficult finding a.navigation app that has its own map packs. I would imagine that would take up a fair bit of memory on your phone. But with the coming of android 2.2 it will allow apps to be saves to and launched from your SD card... which has.much more memory for such things.

 

[Em_Tech]

Thanks. I tried launcher pro it has nice walllpaper. But I havent hidden the at&t programs yet.

On the other hand I setup kies. It has found jh7 firmware. I will set it up. I hope it will make SGS better. I have read many documents. People are very pleased because of rooting. So may be next time I will try it. I have a backup. If I had a problem I will restore it. I think it will restore easily.

 

[Infinite-t]

Thanks. I tried launcher pro it has nice walllpaper. But I havent hidden the at&t programs yet.

On the other hand I setup kies. It has found jh7 firmware. I will set it up. I hope it will make SGS better. I have read many documents. People are very pleased because of rooting. So may be next time I will try it. I have a backup. If I had a problem I will restore it. I think it will restore easily.

JH7 added a few optimizations for speed increases, GPS tweeks, a new app, and a few other small things.

Launcherpro Is really cool. Spend some time playing around with it. You can change the shortcuts in your dock, add shortcuts to just about anything, tweek UI speeds and settings and it has some nice widgets too.

Rooting is a handy tool, it can really open up some options for sure.

The best way to figure out how to do stuff with your phone is read up on the instruction info for apps. read forums like this about what other have done and come up with, and mostly play around with the apps and come up with something you like.

 

[sremick]

If I root my phone, will the same firmware still be on the phone?

Yes.

Also, if i try to update my captivate while having a rooted phone, will it be unrooted agian?

Probably

What are the cons to rooting the captivate? Any?

Read the documents mentioned here:
Root - CapFAQ

And last question... if phone gets bricked (i delete all my security files, etc), can i unbrick it by transferring original files back to phone?[/quote]

Well, technically a "bricked" phone can't be recovered via any means... that's the definition of "brick". Basically people think they've "bricked" their phones because they stop booting... but then they often find a way to fix it so it was never really "bricked" in the first place.

Has anyone actually truly bricked their Captivate into an unrecoverable state? Yes. Has anyone "unbricked" their phone using Odin 1-click only to find it wasn't perfect and some things never work quite right again? Yes.

Hack at your own risk.

I am mainly rooting my captivate in order to delete crapware

Strongly advise against deleting. Once again, read the Captivate FAQ:
Uninstalling stock apps - CapFAQ

download 3rd party apps

This doesn't require root. Again, the Captivate FAQ is your friend:
Sideloading - CapFAQ

There are many info that makes me confusing such as stock, jr7, bloat it, froyo, odin 1 click, cognition v2.1.2 etc.... I exactly dont know what they are used for.

Stock: the way it came from the factory

JH7: Explained at the Captivate FAQ:
I897UCJH7 - CapFAQ

Froyo: Explained at the Captivate FAQ:
Froyo - CapFAQ

Since you're new, don't get in over your head. The rest are advanced topics, high-risk, and you'd do well to take your time learning before playing with them.

I want to use all my phone's specialities and also have a nice navigation which doesnt need and internet connection.

CoPilot Live USA for Android Launches for $4.99 | Android Phone Fans

I download titanium backup and clockworldmod and I backup my phone with both of them.

Be aware that with CWM/Nandroid you've installed a hacked non-stock bootloader to your phone.

Backup - CapFAQ

 

[Em_Tech]

Sremick,

Thanks for your detailed explanations. Especially I am frightened that "Be aware that with CWM/Nandroid you've installed a hacked non-stock bootloader to your phone". I will check what is written there.

 

[sremick]

Thanks for your detailed explanations. Especially I am frightened that "Be aware that with CWM/Nandroid you've installed a hacked non-stock bootloader to your phone". I will check what is written there.

Trying to be open. Too much hacking gets peddled and pushed on these forums without people being upfront, honest and open about what's being done to your phone beneath the hood or the "one click" and the reality and possible repercussions. A lot of these changes end up being one-way because no one then bothers to make a reverse-process that is as-easy.

Maybe you'll never have a problem using the CWM boot loader. But the fact remains that in poll after poll, people who have hacked their phones have a much-higher likelihood of issues, even if they can't be definitively traced to one hack or another. I personally don't like the way the stats work out, nor do I like hacks that aren't uninstallable/reversible.

 

[kuelexx]

Just so everyone knows, i have successfully rooted my phone and works so great. I flashed to 2.2 before rooting, then rooted. Works wonders, love the non-market apps.

 

[sremick]

Just so everyone knows, i have successfully rooted my phone and works so great. I flashed to 2.2 before rooting, then rooted. Works wonders, love the non-market apps.

You need neither root nor 2.2. to install non-market apps.

Sideloading - CapFAQ

 

[reinbeau]

You need neither root nor 2.2. to install non-market apps.

Sideloading - CapFAQ

Unfortunately both methods require those USB drivers that won't install for me - I can't sideload and it makes me angry.

ETA I checked out the Samsung link about sideloading, and their link to their own driver is dead. I just can't win.

 

[Infinite-t]

Have you tried keis mini yet?
http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/c...0737296/Kies_Mini_For_Captivate_10082_8_1.exe

 

[reinbeau]

I just installed Keis, should I have installed the mini version? Haven't used it yet, I'm running out of time tonight - maybe tomorrow morning.

 

[Infinite-t]

I dont know much about keis because I dont use it. I do know the "Keis" is not the US version and is for the internation Galaxy S. The Keis Mini is specifically made for the Captivate.