Root First time rooting

[pat_ai2009]

I jus dled weak sauce and super su and now I'm rooted.. Curious not sure what I can do now with my phone that I couldn't before? I've been reading alil so far about it all and I'm seeing I have to pay 25 for sunshine to have full control like custom roms n stuff.. Can any1 drop a few quick gems on me.. Appreciate it ~.~

 

[scary alien]

Howdy pat_ai2009 :wavey:!

Some light reading for ya:

http://androidforums.com/faqs/617220-youve-went-rooted-phone-now-what.html

http://androidforums.com/faqs/450904-rooting-best-practices.html

http://androidforums.com/faqs/443432-what-root-being-rooted-mean.html

http://androidforums.com/faqs/443075-root-terminology.html

http://androidforums.com/faqs/607141-guide-titaniumbackup-tutorial.html

http://androidforums.com/faqs/443072-adb-guide-updated-2013-05-21-a.html​

Cheers!

 

[pat_ai2009]

Thanks

 

[pat_ai2009]

One thing tho... I'm on 4.4.2 n didn't want to update yet.. Is there anything I should do before I update? Like make a nandroid backup or something.. Been reading around alittle bit and I thought I seen afew ppl w older sw versions and people were like root ur phone quick n do a something like a back up before you update to 4.4.3... Is 4.4.2 better or something Idk maybe I'm jus bugging n mis read afew posts

 

[scary alien]

One thing tho... I'm on 4.4.2 n didn't want to update yet.. Is there anything I should do before I update? Like make a nandroid backup or something.. Been reading around alittle bit and I thought I seen afew ppl w older sw versions and people were like root ur phone quick n do a something like a back up before you update to 4.4.3... Is 4.4.2 better or something Idk maybe I'm jus bugging n mis read afew posts

I think you'd need to give us more specifics about your device (and your thread might be more appropriate in your device-specific all-things-root forum) since any detailed advice might be best given by those that know your device best.

That being said, it's never a bad idea to have a Nandroid backup in your back pocket, safely tucked-away (saved off of your device) . You'd need a custom recovery to do that, though.

 

[pat_ai2009]

I'm on a HTC One m8.. Yeah I'm still reading your links.. Trying to figure out what I need to do to make a nandroid backup.. There's no specific app to do a nandroid right

 

[scary alien]

I'm on a HTC One m8.. Yeah I'm still reading your links.. Trying to figure out what I need to do to make a nandroid backup.. There's no specific app to do a nandroid right

Well, there's supposedly an on-line Nandroid backup app floating around somewhere, but you really want to take a snapshot backup of your device's files when they're in a quiesced state (i.e., not open or being changed).

To do that, you need to run the Nandroid backup from a custom recovery which is typically installed and replaces your stock recovery.

I'll get your thread moved over to the HTC One M8 all-things-root area for you in just a second--the good folks in there should be able to answer any of your device-specific root questions for you [I'll still be subscribed, of course ].

 

[pat_ai2009]

K thanks bud.. I'm gunna read up more about all this after work tomm.. And yeah I did read about that cloud app.. Be nice if I could save it to my computer or a SD card tho

 

[EarlyMon]

Check out our main root thread, it's pinned near the top of the thread list here.

Many of your questions on recovery may be answered in the first few posts.


Ask away - we were all first time rooters once!

Btw, which carrier are you on?

 

[pat_ai2009]

Ok thanks yeah I seen those links.. Still alil confusing at first but I'll get it soon.. Verizon

 

[Yatezy]

You can flash custom ROMs and kernels without S-Off. S-Off just allows more control over your phone.

Titanium Backup is probably one of biggest reasons to root your phone so look into that.

 

[EarlyMon]

Ok thanks yeah I seen those links.. Still alil confusing at first but I'll get it soon.. Verizon

With Verizon's hatred of rooting, you're not going to be able to use HTCdev.com to unlock your bootloader.

You will need to go with Sunshine.

Once done, install TWRP custom recovery.

Then you update your phone via TWRP for software and via fastboot on your pc for firmware.

 

[saltire]

And since you're Verizon once you've got s-off I'd recommend never reverting back to S-On. You'll hopefully never need it but if you run in to any problems down the line s-off is you're lifeline.

 

[pat_ai2009]

Ok.. Sunshine costs like 20$ right.. And what does s-on/off stand for

 

[EarlyMon]

Ok.. Sunshine costs like 20$ right.. And what does s-on/off stand for

Pretty sure it's $25.

So, of course you need to unlock your bootloader to get the ball rolling.

But the bootloader has two stages of security -

1. The lock.

2. Encryption - an encrypted signature is required to change certain low level aspects of the phone - read: firmware control. Encryption overrides the lock.

When encrypted signature security is on, that's s-on. When it's not, that's s-off.

You can do quite a bit with unlocked/s-on but really, s-off is the way to go.

And if you're on a crabby carrier that won't participate or let you participate in HTCdev.com like Verizon and sometimes AT&T (if I remember correctly) then your only option for ownership control of your phone is to just skip straight to s-off.

 

[pat_ai2009]

Makes alot of sense when you break it down like that I'm gunna buy sunshine in the next few days.. Unlock the Bootloader and then the next step I believe is get a custom rom so I can do a nandroid backup

 

[EarlyMon]

After the bootloader, install the TWRP custom recovery. Like the bootloader (called hboot on an HTC), recovery lives below the rom.

Use TWRP to make a nandroid backup of your stock setup right away.

Then use TWRP to install a custom rom.

There are a lot of great ones.

I like ViperOneM8, but with a nandroid backup behind you, you can try different ones easily and settle on what you like.