Root Xooming down a bumpy road

[stevecrich]

Like many others I

 

[Martimus]

Welcome to the Android Forums!

Unfortunately the types of apps you indicated are specifically the ones that typically need root... and this goes well beyond Motorola and the Xoom. Backup apps need root to allow them to access the system partition of the phone to archive apps. Screen capture programs typically also require root access to work.

What you're going to find with Honeycomb is that there is not yet a lot of apps written to specifically work with Honeycomb. While much of th OS is similar to Eclair and Froyo and Gingerbread, Google added API's into the operating system for the benefit of tablet users.

 

[stevecrich]

Thanks, I guess the next question is should I root or would you root your own xoom? I wish these applications I'm looking for would work on the standard unrooted system. these applications are available on my Iphone without jailbreaking. I guess I would'nt mind chancing the root process but would I lose all my rooted applications if there is an upgrade to the current 3.0 operating system? I know this happens for sure on a jailbroken Iphone if it's upgraded to a newer firmware.

 

[Martimus]

Personally there is nothing that I presently need for my Xoom that requires root. As such I'm going to wait on rooting it till I have a specific need to do so...

 

[stevecrich]

Are there any disadvantages to rooting the xoom? If an installation of a root goes bad (brick) is there a way to recover it back to factory specs?

 

[stevecrich]

Do I understand right that the android market only saves your free and purchased apps but not anything else such as music, videos, pics and custom settings?

 

[stevecrich]

Does anybody recommend a good backup app or backup procedure for the xoom?

 

[3devious]

I am not sure if Titanium backup is a good solution for the Xoom but it is great for phones.

 

[p8ntballah21]

Does anybody recommend a good backup app or backup procedure for the xoom?

When I rooted my Xoom I just took any files that I didn't want deleted and backed them up on my laptop, then I moved them back over. I did this for my music and pictures. You cant use Titanium Backup until after you root, as it requires root access, but after you have root, its a good program to use to back up your settings and apps.

After your root the first thing you should do is install ROM Manager from the Market. This will install Clockwork Mod Recovery, which will back up everything stored internally on your Xoom. Its kind of like restore points on Windows. Say you create a backup, and if you flash a new Rom or Kernal and it doesn't play nice with your Xoom, you can flash back to the backup and it will be back as it was when you created the backup.

 

[p8ntballah21]

Do I understand right that the android market only saves your free and purchased apps but not anything else such as music, videos, pics and custom settings?

The market only saves the purchsed apps. Titanium back up will save purchased apps, free apps, and all the settings. Typcially music and vidoes are saved to your SD card, and the SD cards do not get wiped.

 

[stevecrich]

Thanks 3devious, Titanium backup was my first choise for a backup app based on the many positive reviews. The only problem is that again the Titanium app requires the 3.0 operating system to be rooted. It sure would be nice if the owners of any of the droid family devices could do a simple backup without the risk of a potential brick disaster.

 

[stevecrich]

I really have no problem taking the dive in to these unknown waters I just kind of like to know how deep it is so not to bump my head!

 

[stevecrich]

Thanks p8ntballah21, Sounds like rooting is the way to go. I read some of your other post comments “I didn't know why I didn't do it sooner” referring to your rooting your device. As far as the preliminary backing up of my personal files (music, photos & videos) do you just back up the SD folder which is seen when the xoom is connected to my PC? Also, I’m not sure why this folder is named SD when there is no support to the SD. You said that typically music and videos are saved to your SD card, and the SD cards do not get wiped. But I assume this will be the case when Motorola opens support on the Xoom? My last question is; does ROM manager the program I use for a system and personal file backup?

 

[p8ntballah21]

Thanks p8ntballah21, Sounds like rooting is the way to go. I read some of your other post comments