Root what is rooting

[chalky378]

hi everyone,
please do flame me for asking what im about to ask as im new to android and have searched but cant find the answer....
what is "rooting"?? and what would i gain by rooting my optimus gt540??
iv managed to upgrade to 2.1 via the lg update but i really want to remove some of the crap apps that they pre install and i never use!!!
iv jailbroke a fair few iphones but the android system confuses me a bit at the moment so any help would be really appreciated lol.
i got my phone from the carphone warehouse so its unlocked as far as i know...
also whats fastboot and if i dont upgrade to 2.2 can i still install fastboot(if needed)
is 2.2 worth updating to and have the bugs been removed yet.
im very gratefull for any help you can offer a new boy to android and im sorry about the typing/font in this post...god knows what iv done
thanks again
chalky

 

[kejlyCZ]

Welcome to the forums!
Basically, rooting meand breaking phone security to access the system and allow you to gain control over the phone. It start with removing unwanted apps in ROM (I had ton of useless apps on my phone, which I've removed), continues with apps which need to acces system functions or folders (like Titanium backup to make backup of phone or SetCPU to overclock the phone) and ends with ability to flash custom ROMs (if your phone can't be updated by official way).
Fastboot refers to procedure consisting of phone part and user part (run on PC) which suits to update the system over USB (ROM, SPL, splash screen), mainly it's used to flash recovery or custom splashscreen. As long as you follow the procedure, it's safe to use it. You don't need to install it, it can be used on every Android system (client part comes with Win SDK and can be downloaded for Linux also).
Unlocked for Telco means, that phone can be used in all networks (no SIM lock), but it's far away from rooted phone (useless stuff installed, no updates from producer).
Update to Froyo (Android 2.2) is worth only if you want to install apps to SD card. If you don't want to void the warranty, have space to install apps and don't need some 2.2 functions (some, like tethering are disabled by phone producer and you can eneable it just by flashing new ROM) you really don't need it.

 

[chalky378]

thanks for the heads up im very gratefull for all the info.
well ive managed to root my phone no probs at all and iv even got rid of the crap apps as well(didnt i do well lol)...
now onto 2.2..... whats the best rom to flash my phone with as installing the apps onto my sd card would be very handy as i dont have much space on the phone even after removing the crapware....
the only thing im worried about on the 2.2 flash is iv read that some things dont really work??
if thats the case would you recommend 2.2 just so i can install apps onto the sd card......
thanks again

 

[dudeman1996]

thanks for the heads up im very gratefull for all the info.
well ive managed to root my phone no probs at all and iv even got rid of the crap apps as well(didnt i do well lol)...
now onto 2.2..... whats the best rom to flash my phone with as installing the apps onto my sd card would be very handy as i dont have much space on the phone even after removing the crapware....
the only thing im worried about on the 2.2 flash is iv read that some things dont really work??
if thats the case would you recommend 2.2 just so i can install apps onto the sd card......
thanks again

I would definitely recommend 2.2 as its much more faster, stable and a better experience than 2.1. There are a few minor bugs (like some apps force close sometimes)but its definitely worth it. To get it, check out my post here http://androidforums.com/lg-optimus-gt540/251202-cyanogenmod-6-1-android-2-2-here-gt540.html

You'll also get loads more space for apps for 2 reasons: you get more internal memory because the crapware is not there anymore, saving a huge amount of space. And you have apps2sd so you get even more space for apps!

Also, fastboot does not come with every android system, but you can easily get 2.1 with fastboot in the thread link above.

Hope this helps!

 

[chalky378]

silly question dudeman

how do i install z4root.1.3.0.apk from my pc onto my phone???
my phones rooted now but i still cant figure out how to install stuff from my pc direct to my phone as the phone will only show up if i select mass storage device on the phone.....
thanks in advance for all your help

 

[dudeman1996]

silly question dudeman

how do i install z4root.1.3.0.apk from my pc onto my phone???
my phones rooted now but i still cant figure out how to install stuff from my pc direct to my phone as the phone will only show up if i select mass storage device on the phone.....
thanks in advance for all your help

z4root is an app to root your phone, but since your already rooted, you dont need to install z4root. But if you have other apps you wanna install to your phone that you have downloaded to your computer, there are 2 ways to do it:

1. Copy the app to your SD card and use a file manager app (root explorer, astro etc.) to install it

2. If you cannot get a file manager app then you use adb:
i. Turn on USB Debugging by going to Settings>Applications>Development>USB Debugging and connect your phone to your PC.
ii. Download this file to your computer, and extract it's contents to a folder on the C: drive called Android (you'll probably have to make this folder yourself). Copy the application you want to install to this folder as well
iii. Open cmd and type

cd C:\Android

then type

adb install C:\Android\<name of application file>.apk

The app should then be installed to your phone!

 

[xlomo]

If you root your phone do you lose your warranty ?

 

[dudeman1996]

If you root your phone do you lose your warranty ?

I think so, but you can very easily un root your phone anyway

 

[chalky378]

dudeman one last bit of help if possible.......
how do i overclock the cpu with setcpu????
i cant seem to work it out,no matter what i try it says 600 so any help you can give me i really need lol.
again thanks for all your help i wouldnt of got this far without your help

 

[dudeman1996]

dudeman one last bit of help if possible.......
how do i overclock the cpu with setcpu????
i cant seem to work it out,no matter what i try it says 600 so any help you can give me i really need lol.
again thanks for all your help i wouldnt of got this far without your help

To overclock the CPU, you need a custom kernel on the phone, which allows you to overclock the phone to up to 845MHz. But to do this, you need to install CyanogenMod to the phone, it's basically Android 2.2, but with a few nicer features. It's not completely finished with a few bugs, but its definitely good enough for day to day use. Here's the link.