Root Why should I root?

[ss4luck]

So everyone is raving about rooting their Droids, but i cant seem to find an answer as to WHY it makes our phones so much better.

Can someone give me the specific WHY and not just "cuz it is", and then tell me which is the best way to do it and best ROM to run also?

 

[darrin2520]

So everyone is raving about rooting their Droids, but i cant seem to find an answer as to WHY it makes our phones so much better.

Can someone give me the specific WHY and not just "cuz it is", and then tell me which is the best way to do it and best ROM to run also?

I just said this in a different post, but I can only see 2 solid arguments for rooting at the current time.

1 - tethering. This is actually extremelly cool and will never be offered in any update without a fee.
2 - overclocking. Used properly this can give you better response times and save battery life.

I am a tinkerer and I am a linux geek, so I quite like rumaging around in the system with a term emulator, but I am not sure it is a reason to root your phone (and possibly void your warranty)

 

[Fadelight]

You shouldn't root.


Tethering doesn't require root... it only requires an app called pdanet. The requirement of root for this is a common misconception.

I know it will sound harsh, and it certainly is not meant to be, but my general rule on the subject is simple... If you need to ask why you should root, then you shouldn't. Two reasons. First, if you have to ask, then there is probably nothing you need your phone to do that can't already be done with it. Second, it means you haven't read enough about it to safely root/retain root without risk of screwing something up.

 

[dpeco33]

I am very new to this forum, and very new to the experience of the Droid and all the capabilities to android and the phones it runs on. I also see your point regarding rooting; However, if we are not to ask these questions, then how would one learn?
I am sure you were not born with the innate knowledge of rooting a phone or other device....You must have read and asked questions while you learned as well.
Maybe we have not read enough is also possible, however that is why the questions are being asked, and why they are reading these types of forums they asked the questions on.
Just my 2 cents because I am interested in it as well, and I see all the comments on the web etc as well.
That is all,
By the way, hello all.

 

[Jack Rude]

@fadelight
Are you with govco or something? Sorry but that is very condescending. That is a very inside the beltway response similar to you are too stupid to know what we are doing. I agree with dpeco33. Surely you are not inferring that if you don't already have the knowledge we should not learn it. The point of the question is what are the advantages of rooting the phone? If those are explained some may decide its not worth the trouble to learn, others may decide that it is.

 

[Fadelight]

@fadelight
Are you with govco or something? Sorry but that is very condescending. That is a very inside the beltway response similar to you are too stupid to know what we are doing. I agree with dpeco33. Surely you are not inferring that if you don't already have the knowledge we should not learn it. The point of the question is what are the advantages of rooting the phone? If those are explained some may decide its not worth the trouble to learn, others may decide that it is.

I don't even know what govco is. I am not advocating that if you don't know you shouldn't learn, so you need to ease up. Stop trying to read between the lines and simply take my post at face value. If you need to ask about root, then there is nothing you need your phone to do that you can't already do. It is that simple. Some day when you are sitting around and suddenly think... "Hey, I wish my phone could do this or that"... THEN you will have a reason to root.


Also, and I know this is borderline on my part as far as assuming, but I would assume that if you are a sponge for knowledge like I am, then you would be reading through everything on this forum. If that were the case, you would've come across one of the 50 other threads like this where people were listing their favorite apps that require root (and you can figure out which ones those are by searching for "root" in market), or the hundreds of things people have listed that they love doing with their phone now that it is rooted... such as Custom ROMs or overclocking. To say that one is simply eager to learn all there is to learn and then ask what you can do with root in a section that is quite aptly titled "all things root" is contradicting. Again, I mean absolutely no disrespect at all with this post, so try not to read into it... just take it for what it is.


FWIW - I rooted my phone because I wanted to make my own custom icons for the statusbar at the top, and I am currently overclocked at 1.3ghz and using the alldroid ROM.

 

[darrin2520]

I agree with what fadelight is saying in theory. It seems that some people are rooting just because everyone else is. If you are going to root, I do suggest researching it and yes I do think asking the question here is a good idea. Hopefully more people will post comments about reasons to root.

I have looked a pdanet before I rooted, but it has limitations. You have to have software on your computer, I don't believe there is a linux version and it is crippled (no secure sites) unless you pay for it. So like everything there are options, but I do run in Linux quite a bit so it really didn't work for me.

 

[Fadelight]

I have looked a pdanet before I rooted, but it has limitations. You have to have software on your computer, I don't believe there is a linux version and it is crippled (no secure sites) unless you pay for it. So like everything there are options, but I do run in Linux quite a bit so it really didn't work for me.

That was a good catch... I hadn't noticed before that there was no Linux version.

 

[milrtime83]

So everyone is raving about rooting their Droids, but i cant seem to find an answer as to WHY it makes our phones so much better.

Can someone give me the specific WHY and not just "cuz it is", and then tell me which is the best way to do it and best ROM to run also?

Rooting by itself doesn't make your phone any better. It is what you can do and install onto a rooted phone that you can't on an unrooted phone. Here is a thread that lists a bunch of things that you need root to be able to do: http://androidforums.com/all-things...ds-superior-than-stock-droids.html#post312506

I am very new to this forum, and very new to the experience of the Droid and all the capabilities to android and the phones it runs on. I also see your point regarding rooting; However, if we are not to ask these questions, then how would one learn?

There is a lot of information on these topics already posted that you can find by searching. Not just on this forum, other forums and the internet in general as well.

You shouldn't root.


Tethering doesn't require root... it only requires an app called pdanet. The requirement of root for this is a common misconception.

While that is correct, there are ways to tether without root. You do need root to turn your phone into a wifi access point which is one of the better/easier ways to do it.

 

[Fadelight]

Here are some quotes from other threads on the subject. (Normally I would post links to the threads, but I have been taking a lot of crap lately for doing that.) These quotes should give you an idea what you can do with root access or why you would want it. Some of them are asking about how to make things work that don't... which is the basis of my previous comment. If you can't think of one of these questions, then you don't need root. Anyway, I'm sure you will understand the comment after reading through some of this.

The first things I would do after rooting would be to overclock and grab bugless beauty (with 2.0.1 and 2.1 gallery/music app), which seems a popular rom around here. I'm holding off on my rooting shenanigans for the time being due to needing my phone and don't want to take risks at the moment. But I plan to root before month's end and that's what I plan to do when I'm rooted.

Also plan on grabbing the Nexus One multitouch browser and maps apps. There's a neat firewall app too called DroidWall or something that i'd love to put on. As well as an app to get the Soft keys to dim at night.

That should get you started I think

Just rooted last night....Here's what I'm hoping to be able to do soon.

I have a bluetooth parrot visor clip in my car. So far it works pretty well. But my one complaint is that the speaker inside it is only OK. It would be GREAT if the call audio while the phone is plugged into my car's AUX jack could be sent to my car's speakers instead of the bluetooth device, leaving the bluetooth device as a glorified microphone.

Right now, when a call comes in and I'm listening to music through my Droid the audio stops and the call audio is transferred to the parrot kit, as it should. So there is obviously some sort of programming that can be done....hopefully!

​

I get this question (via PM) almost every day. Here's my list.
What am I missing?


- Everyone has there own favorite apps, but I think there is ONE app that no DROID should be without. ASTRO File Manager! Not only is it a good utility for exploring your sdcard, but it also backs-up and restores your apps. Excellent! And don't rely on Google to do this for you. Many have been burned by this, don't let it happen to you.

- Root it! The pros WAY out-weigh the cons. (Is there a single con?) And I have yet to hear of one soul bricking their DROID doing it, so what are you waiting for?

- Install the SPRecovery console. It is thee way to do complete backups of your entire DROID. It also happens to be the method that most devs are using to install their ROMs.

- Nandroid backup. Take a snap shot of your DROID every time before doing anything major to it. That way, you can always revert back. Think of your nandroid backup as your safety net.

- ROM it! Lots of good ROMs out there. I highly recommend Pete's 0.8.4 "Bugless Beauty". It's the fastest ROM I've tested to date, and it is loaded with lots of 2.1 goodies.

- Install a Home-Replacement app. I personally like Sweeter Home Preview 2, but it's probably not for everybody. It comes with a learning curve, but it pays off BIG once you learn it. Others like Home++, GDE, Open Home, dxTop, Launcher +, and so on. They are all arguably better than the stock homescreen that 2.0.1 comes with. 2,1's "Launcher" isn't too bad. But I think it's very laggy for now. We'll see what it's really like when the official 2.1 release is out.


Well, that's it. Six steps to the perfect DROID.

So, to be honest, I am not sure what rooting is. So here is my questions...
1. What is rooting?
2. What does it do?
3. What are the pros?
4. What are the cons?
5. What is the best way/software/program to do it? (least glitches, problems, ect.)
6. Does it hamper updates from Verizon?
7. Does it mess with the wireless service?
8. Does it mess with app compatibility?
9. Anything else that I did not ask that I should know/would want to know?

Thank you very much for taking your time to answer these questions...I think it would help a lot of people who are wondering the same thing!
-Alex

1. rooting gives you root access to the phone which mean's you have full access to all of the files on the phone more or less.
2. it exploits code to give you supper user access
3. custom rom's, easy skinning, apk ports, overclocking, ect.
4. voided warranty ( can be un voided with unroot), you brick, you burn out your cpu on your phone.
5. Obtaining Root | Root Your Droid makes rooting extremely easy
6. i honestly don't know if the root turn's OTA off but its easy to turn off
7. not to my knowledge
8. the root won't
9. if you do this get nandroid and try to do normal back ups to prevent bricking with custom rom's Full System Backup Using Nandroid | Root Your Droid

I couldn't stand listening to you people talk about rooting anymore. So Bugless beauty is installing now


btw I found this guide to be the easiest:

Step 1) Root Obtaining Root | Root Your Droid

Step 2) Installing the recovery software to make a nandroid backup: Custom Recovery Image | Root Your Droid

Step 3) ROMs AllDroid - View forum - Pete


Optional overclocking:

Step 4) get setCPU from the market $0.99. Alternatively you could get get a ROM with the overclocking done for your but setCPU has nice profiles that some people claim they have had as good or better battery life with by managing their CPU profiles smartly.

step 5) Get Temp Monitor to keep an eye on your temps. Mine are running 20-35c roughly. My guess is anything over 40C is worrisome. AllDroid - View topic - [Updated] Temp Monitor (02.09.10)



Was damn near a walk in the park.

I decided to restore my original and go with the beast though, I wanna see the speed increases heh.


.

And finally, here was my first reason for rooting... Changing to custom Icons. I am sure you can tell the difference between my screen shot and the default non-rooted android look. It should give you an idea of what can be done.

Taken just a couple of minutes ago...

(FYI - The app drawer is still in the same spot, it is just completely transparent. )


And some of my previous...

 

[dpeco33]

@ Milrtime83.
I know there is a lot of info on the net and in this forum. That was my point.
This forum is where the OP decided to ask the question. He did some research and did see info but it was not answering the question he wanted so he took the shot and asked it here.

From what I can see regarding rooted phones, besides the tethering etc, is the speed and the ability to download apps that some may find useful and some may not know what the hell they do (that would be me LOL).

I just think that anyone could benefit from a rooted phone, and maybe once people realize what they are and how to do it, they may realize there are things that they could do to benefit from having one, but until they get the info and learn it, one will never know.

It appeared to be implied in Fadelights post ( and Fadelight I understand it was not meant with malice) is that unless you have knowlege or a need, then you should not root. That just makes no sense, beacuse until one learns, how would one know if there is indeed a benefit to it, for that individual?
That is all. Some times people want to know things, and there is so much info out there that it can become tiresome, confusing and maybe he just wanted to have a dialog with the brains over here so he could ask the questions he wanted and not hope some one else did, and got the answer he needed. T
hat is why you all are on this forum is it not...to share your passion and expertise about all this technology?

Thanks for your Time and again, this the my third post I believe and the 1st and only forum I actually belong to (tech wise anyway)
Peace all...

 

[dpeco33]

@ Fadelight, thanks, that is some cool stuff.

 

[Fadelight]

dpeco - I think you are jumping to conclusions a bit here. No one is saying not to search or ask questions... or to learn new things. The point was only that until you need your phone to do something it won't now (in my case, the status bar icons/layout), then you don't have a need to root your phone. "Because all the cool kids are doin' it" isn't a good reason to risk damage to an expensive device.

Tons of people are here every day asking the exact same question... "why should I root?" If you've poked your nose around a bit in all the other threads and still don't see a reason to root, then you don't really have a reason. You see what I am saying?

on the opposite end of the spectrum, you will also find tons of threads every day from people asking questions like "is it possible to tune FM radio with my droid?" "is it possible to have video out from the USB?" "I really love ___ ROM..." These people are asking about features that either can be used, or are being attempted, with Root access. If you are asking questions like this, then you have your answer to "why should I?"

For example... say you wake up one day and think to yourself "Man, that clock is really bright. How come Google had to make it so bright? How come the dimmer is completely useless." "Hey, wait a minute... 2.1 has a really nice clock... how can I get that one on my phone?" BAM... you have a reason to root.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are people that absolutely love their phone. It does everything they think it should... nothing is missing. They come on the forums, read through the OC/ROM/Root App threads... they don't care. They aren't interested. But... they see that tons of people are rooting their phones. Here comes a thread "Why should I root?" You shouldn't. If you have no need to be rooted, don't take the risk.


I am kind of running out of ways to try explaining my answer, so I hope that helps to clear it up. Sorry for the babbling. It is hard to convey some things on the internet, ya know?

 

[dpeco33]

@ Fadelight..
Gotcha. Understood (last post I mean)

Hey how about this.
I am interested in rooting because I want the 2.1 upgrades.

I note here that once you root there are two Diff ROMs(sholes, and BB) that all appear to be talking about (now don't kill me here, what exactly is ROM an acronym for) and once you root, how does one go about changing back and forth between them to find the best match for you?

So I am really interested in rooting, I want more speed, more funtionality and I am into trying or being able to configure the phone more

which ROM would you rec, and what app to begin the root?

 

[Fabolous]

The app is the Sholes SMUpdater, which will root, install SPRecovery, and all Sholes ROMs for you.

But if you want to do it manually, do the update.zip for root. Then immediately install SPRecovery, as it allows you to make nandroid (whole image) backups of your phone, as well as install ROMs (via update.zip, rom.tar, and nandroid images).

The Sholes app is $5 in the marketplace (donation), or you can get it directly at their website sholes.info (for free)

 

[Fadelight]

Fabulous has solid advice.

SPRecovery is critical. That is what will save your phone if something goes wrong with installing the rom.


BB and Sholes are actually only two of about 15+ ROMs people are using. I am using the Alldroid Community ROM, and I love it. I updated the Kernal to 1.3ghz from the 950mhz that came with it, and then I tweaked it so it looked the way I wanted. That is the beauty of Root, though. If you don't like something... change it.

ROM is an acronym for Read only memory. While you can remount your system as read/write, it is essentially read only. (That is what root access bypasses.) Hence calling it a ROM.


As for ROM recommendations, you will get a mixed bag of nuts on this one. A lot of people are using beauty/beast ROMs, but I personally don't like them. They are based on 2.0/2.0.1, and I much prefer the feel and layout of 2.1. For 2.1 roms, there are also several variants... Alldroid Community, Greek35T, etc... My advice is to read as much as you can on each of these ROMs. Weigh their weaknesses and strengths... when you have it narrowed down a bit more, start trying them out. It is actually very simple to swap ROMs once you have done it a couple of times. Try them until you find the one you like the best.

My vote, however, has to be for the Alldroid community ROM. I tried Greek35T and it was much slower than needed. I don't like any of the 2.0.1 roms.

 

[dpeco33]

Awesome to you both.
I will keep on reading. Great thing about getting the Droid, is the facinating information that I have learned since 11/6/09, that you can do with the smartphones, instead of the older phones.
They are really....just small computers

 

[dpeco33]

OK, how about this.
If I use the Sholes SMUpdater, which will root, install SPRecoverySholes SMUpdater, can I ever place other Roms on the phone or am I stuck with Sholes?
Thanks

 

[Fadelight]

OK, how about this.
If I use the Sholes SMUpdater, which will root, install SPRecoverySholes SMUpdater, can I ever place other Roms on the phone or am I stuck with Sholes?
Thanks

You can still use whatever ROM you want. The most common way to install ROMs is with Nandroid.

 

[Fabolous]

OK, how about this.
If I use the Sholes SMUpdater, which will root, install SPRecoverySholes SMUpdater, can I ever place other Roms on the phone or am I stuck with Sholes?
Thanks

Easily. It installs SPRecovery, which every ROM uses to flash.

Get into recovery by holding down the 'x' button while you power on.

Or, once you're rooted, and have Android Terminal Emulator, you can just type the following commands:

su
reboot recovery

 

[ss4luck]

wow lots of info to take in in one sitting.

I had done my research, i just had yet to see the COMPLETE answers i needed. they are definitely answered in these posts and i will try this undertaking tonight


thanks guys

 

[Fadelight]

wow lots of info to take in in one sitting.

I had done my research, i just had yet to see the COMPLETE answers i needed. they are definitely answered in these posts and i will try this undertaking tonight


thanks guys

Just as a heads up... I am currently working on a FAQ/ How-to. I am going to try to make it as comprehensive as I possibly can, so for obvious reasons it may take a day or two before it is posted. Hopefully, once it is posted, every single question you have will be answered.

 

[dpeco33]

Thanks Fadelight!