Root rooting questions nov 2010

[deadbroke]

i'm pretty new to this forum and the android operating system but i have been reading up about the epic a lot and these are a few questions i had maybe this thread can help out some other people as well.

so i ran the one click exploit to root my phone and downloaded the wireless tether app so i know i am rooted! still have a couple basic questions.

if i didn't download the superuser app and the wireless app i wouldn't know i had superuser access how would sprint if i took it in for a warranty claim?
is unrooting a phone really just removing a custom rom, returning the original os and kernal and deleting the superuser app and the other programs that require superuser?
if i deleted some of the bloat apps my phone came with like sprint zone and nascar and i unroot it do i get those apps back?
if you use an ota (over the air) update it automatically unroots your phone is this true?

something else i am wondering; odin, does this restore your firmware and kernel versions or does it unroot your phone? why would someone use odin instead of a one click unroot?

here is a link i found i ran the same root zip file but not sure if i want to test the unroot link yet One Click Root & Recovery for the Epic 4G! v2.4.0 Now has ClockworkMod! - xda-developers

thanks in advance for the help

 

[swanysto]

From reading around these forums, the root you did(and I did) does not actually deal with the rom. It basically just gives you root access to the OS.(kinda like running a program as admin in Windows 7 or sudo in Linux. Without that access you cannot delete files or access system files that may be needed to change and run certain things. I don't think it messes with the firmware or kernel unless you do that with another program.

Sprint would know without a doubt, they pride themselves on not giving away anything free even support service if a phone has been tampered with.

The only way they wouldn't know is if you unrooted, assuming you did not delete anything that comes stock on the phone. Which I think the only way you can get back is to download a stock rom... maybe someone with more knowledge can say whether that is right or wrong. I wondered if a factory reset would do it, but I doubt it if you uninstalled the program while rooted.

I would assume most people would just unroot if they needed to take their phones in, what I am unsure of, is whether they run a stock rom first to get the sprint software back. I use titanium to just freeze the stuff I don't want instead of removing it just in case, however I did remove asphalt, so I might need to find a way to get that back if I need to take my phone in.

 

[deadbroke]

i know rooting doesn't change the os or anything really just gives you permission to do changes to a lot of features of the phone but without downloading an app it seems like there is no way to tell i am rooted. as far as changing the os and deleting apps i am still pretty unclear with the rest of my questions. i'm not really using my phone all that much program wise because i don't want to change a lot of stuff until i can have a sure way to root and unroot without having some last second mishap.

 

[Kelmar]

Long and short of it all.... If you are taking your phone to Sprint for warranty work, it's best that you flash your phone back to stock using Odin.

Will Sprint care? It depends on the individual working on your phone.
Will Sprint check? See above
Can Spring check? Yes

 

[Bomix]

something else i am wondering; odin, does this restore your firmware and kernel versions or does it unroot your phone? why would someone use odin instead of a one click unroot?


thanks in advance for the help

Odin is used to Restore the phone back to stock in case you brick it. I did this couple weeks back, I was messing with a De-Odex file on a stock Epic (that's a no no.. and it didn't boot pass the Galaxy S screen. So I used Odin to restore the phone.

Yes, since it's back to stock it's unrooted.
One click root is just like you said.. just to root the phone..

 

[deadbroke]

so i see the recovery apps like clockwork and platinum recovery which one should i use and is only one compatible with the one click exploit root?

do i even need a recovery app what will it do for me if i flash back to stock with odin what would i lose?

 

[flyjbaker]

You really don't need those. The on click method version 2.4.0 installs clockworkmod on your phone. The only reason you may want something else is if there is another recovery method out there for the Epic(I honestly don't know because I come from the EVO). On the EVO we have another recovery method(amon RA or something like that). There are also older versions of clockwork that some may want...I honestly don't know why. Bottom line, if you used the latest version of the one click, it installs clockworkmod on your phone....which is actually pretty slick.