Rooting for dummies for ZTE Merrit?

[CDavis10]

O.K.. I have a brand new ZTE Merrit. I have never owned a smartphone before so I am a total noob here. before I got this phone I have never even used a cell phone for anything other than talk and text.

That being said, I have seen posts here about rooting and such.. but they look so complicated. I am afraid of permanently breaking my phone then voiding the warranty since " unlocking" does violate the StraightTalk warranty( ive read the T&C and its there) But Ive read in forums that you can unroot if you've backed up your phone (gets around the warranty cus there's no way to tell it had been rooted to begin with).. etc etc etc.. but every "how to" I see about it seems to assume that the reader has some working knowledge of how to use the phone.

Could someone give me a dummies version of how to back up my phone, root it in a way that I can UNDO it if I have to send it in to be serviced, and how to unroot it.

I want to be able to increase my phones internal storage, remove some of the built in aps that I NEVER use, and run as many as I can from my SD card.

 

[Motorhead1991]

Try Unlockroot

 

[CDavis10]

Will I be able to undo it later? back to its factory configurations if I need to? Im not worried about apps or contacts or e-mail or wireless settings.. those are easy to set. Im just worried bout messing up system files and not being able to UNDO it.

 

[Russ71]

CDavis, welcome. Almost anything can be restored, or repaired here. The phone is pretty forgiving. Just follow the steps religiously and make a nandroid as soon as you get root. Being unlocked means being able to switch to a different carrier by switching sim cards. You want rooted, to be able to do what you want to do.

 

[CDavis10]

Nandroid?
Im going to try that unlockroot that the previous poster recommended when I get home.

 

[Motorhead1991]

A "nandroid" refers to a set of backup images generated by an aftermarket recovery like Clockworkmod. In order to go full stock, you'll need the stock recovery image on hand as well. Unlockroot may not be able to unroot, but that is easily undone while you have root.

 

[CDavis10]

unlockroot is giving me problems anyway. its not even able to root it. "Failed to get shell root"

it appears that unlockroot doesnt support the ZTE merrit. so it doesn't work for me. I guess I have to try and figure out the confusing instructions on " The complete ZT merrit guide: root...."

I just cant figure out what ADB is ..
after searching the net I found out what ADB is.. and so now Im guessing that im supposed to do those steps from my computer connected TO my phone.. not from my phone..?

I think Im going to just give up on rooting unless I find a friend near me who can do it FOR me LOL

 

[hi5five]

http://androidforums.com/avail-all-things-root/566407-root-zte-z990g-merit-avail-variant.html

you will need to follow this page for rooting.

But here is a one click script based off the same how 2 as above without all the manual copy paste. It may not work because you ran the other root script. I would factory reset 1st then run the script to see.

[Q] How do I root the AT&T Avail (ZTE Z990)? - Page 2 - xda-developers

Name of the script is called Z990.rar middle of the page.

 

[Russ71]

The z990 and z990G have differences that may play a part in why the process Motorhead mentioned, didn't work for the Merit. It's like t-card method versus adb method. They just aren't similar enough.

 

[Motorhead1991]

In another thread someone had mentioned it. Is unknown sources and debug mode on?

 

[hi5five]

The z990 and z990G have differences that may play a part in why the process Motorhead mentioned, didn't work for the Merit. It's like t-card method versus adb method. They just aren't similar enough.

The manual way using adb process works fine I found the script after the fact but all the code looks to be the same.
It do open up the emode app to allow you to enable so i think the script will work. The Phone do need to be in debug mode the whole time.
I tried to use the script here was my problem I tried to root before so I need to factory reset to delete this part.
I did attempted previously

Set up the dirs, so shell owns them prior to logging. If shell does not own them then we can not control them. If the logs dir already exists, you may have to do a factory reset to remove them. They should not exist unless someone attempted this previously.

Code:
mkdir /data/local/logs mkdir /data/local/logs/kernel
I f factory reset and tried the script again it may work.

 

[CDavis10]

the Model I have is the Z990g
Android Version2.3.5
@Hi5five

I read that thread.. and It makes no sense to me, it mentions getting a shell with adb? what does that mean?
It gives code to type.. Where do I type it?
I got the z990.zip that you pointed me to... now.. what do I do with it? It has more than one thing in the zip file...
But it mentions need ADB on my phone first.. but I cant find anywhere telling me HOW to get ADB on my phone.. Every set of instructions I see about how to root etc.... always seems to assume that I know the technical jargon and know what they mean when they say things like adb.. and shells.. I cant tell what Im supposed to do on the phone itself versus what do do on my laptop.. I found the android SDK that suposedly had the tools in it.. but how to get the tools onto my phone I dont know. Even these one click scripts seem to assume that I have certain things on my phone that I cant figure out where to get..nor where to put them.. like this su file.. its aparently something required.. but I dunno WHERE it goes... same with this superuser file.. WHERE do I put it? its all still in the zip file so far.. do I put it on my phone? if so.. where.. and how.. do I put it in a certain directory on my laptop? where?

 

[hi5five]

the Model I have is the Z990g
Android Version2.3.5
@Hi5five

I read that thread.. and It makes no sense to me, it mentions getting a shell with adb? what does that mean?
It gives code to type.. Where do I type it?
I got the z990.zip that you pointed me to... now.. what do I do with it? It has more than one thing in the zip file...
But it mentions need ADB on my phone first.. but I cant find anywhere telling me HOW to get ADB on my phone.. Every set of instructions I see about how to root etc.... always seems to assume that I know the technical jargon and know what they mean when they say things like adb.. and shells.. I cant tell what Im supposed to do on the phone itself versus what do do on my laptop.. I found the android SDK that suposedly had the tools in it.. but how to get the tools onto my phone I dont know. Even these one click scripts seem to assume that I have certain things on my phone that I cant figure out where to get..nor where to put them.. like this su file.. its aparently something required.. but I dunno WHERE it goes... same with this superuser file.. WHERE do I put it? its all still in the zip file so far.. do I put it on my phone? if so.. where.. and how.. do I put it in a certain directory on my laptop? where?

The adb tool kit is what you will need to dl ed to your pc NOT to the phone

install the tool kit to your pc
click programs in the search box type cmd
the type adb
then type adb shell that will start the deamon server
cut and paste one line at a time from the how to.

when you get to this line

when you paste this line of code from the how 2 be sure to look at the phone screen you will need to enable the emode from the phone. If all goes well and you have root at the end go back and disable emode by using the dame command line.

am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.zte.emode/.

 

[CDavis10]

O.K.. so that would be how I do the manual root?
And that script does that for me?
When I tried the script it asked me to dial some number on my phone ( a code I assume) but my phone didn't like that.

 

[CDavis10]

When I run that script I get a popup that looks like the cmd window.. it has some instructions and one of the lines says:
after enabling USB DEBUGGING connect your pone to your PC and let it download and install all the drivers.

I have USB DEBUGGING enabled. I have my phone connected to my laptop.. What does it mean when it says to allow it to download drivers?
Is it talking about what automatically happens when I plug a usb anything into my pc for the first time? or is the phone suposed to do something?
from what Im getting is this is before I "press any key" to continue

 

[hi5five]

When I run that script I get a popup that looks like the cmd window.. it has some instructions and one of the lines says:
after enabling USB DEBUGGING connect your pone to your PC and let it download and install all the drivers.

I have USB DEBUGGING enabled. I have my phone connected to my laptop.. What does it mean when it says to allow it to download drivers?
Is it talking about what automatically happens when I plug a usb anything into my pc for the first time? or is the phone suposed to do something?
from what Im getting is this is before I "press any key" to continue

Yes debug gotta be on applications development check debug
If you have the drivers correct hit ok

 

[CDavis10]

It is on.

 

[CDavis10]

I get to a part in the script where it says :
"Dial*983*7668#
after dialing press any key to continue"

I dial that number... and my phone gives me: connection problem or invalid mmi code"

 

[hi5five]

I get to a part in the script where it says :
"Dial*983*7668#
after dialing press any key to continue"

I dial that number... and my phone gives me: connection problem or invalid mmi code"

Did you get the emode screen on your phone to enable?

if not you will need to root manual from the how 2

 

[CDavis10]

what is emode screen?

 

[hi5five]

it will popup on the phone. cant miss it

 

[CDavis10]

nope.. no emode screen for me...

 

[hi5five]

you will need to go the manual way the code is blocked script wont work

 

[CDavis10]

awww crud.
now.. once I get it rooted.. I need to make a backup of the ROM? correct? so that if I ever have to have my phone serviced I can restore it back to factory settings?

 

[hi5five]

once you get root install clockwork recovery then yes backup.