Root Thinking about rooting.. have some questions.

[VMX]

So I have been thinking about rooting my nexus one for a while now, but I am not sure about it would work. Sorry if these are noob questions btw, Im kinda new to this.

How much of a risk of messing up the phone is it? I would hate to do it and completely damage the phone. I am not worried about voiding warranty too much, it only lasts a year anyway and I can just get insurance thru t-mobile.

Will rooting free up more internal memory? Will I get moe internal memory? I dont have that many apps and its already kinda low. Can I remove pre loaded apps that I dont use that I cant remove now? Does it help battery life?

If I root, do I need to install a custom rom? I am thinking about doing it anyway, but do they go hand in hand or is it an option? Can I just root and just use the phone as I do now?

Will I still recieve updates?

Also, is overclocking apart of rooting or something seperate I would have to do?

 

[Kage_]

So I have been thinking about rooting my nexus one for a while now, but I am not sure about it would work. Sorry if these are noob questions btw, Im kinda new to this.

How much of a risk of messing up the phone is it? I would hate to do it and completely damage the phone. I am not worried about voiding warranty too much, it only lasts a year anyway and I can just get insurance thru t-mobile.

Will rooting free up more internal memory? Will I get moe internal memory? I dont have that many apps and its already kinda low. Can I remove pre loaded apps that I dont use that I cant remove now? Does it help battery life?

If I root, do I need to install a custom rom? I am thinking about doing it anyway, but do they go hand in hand or is it an option? Can I just root and just use the phone as I do now?

Will I still receive updates?

Also, is overclocking apart of rooting or something separate I would have to do?

Rooting alone will not free up any memory. Rooting is equivalent to SU (Super User) under Linux. It allows to you make changes to the OS that you would normally be unable to do.

Rooting doesn't do a thing except unlock the boot loader to allow loading of custom roms and make changes that are restricted normally. Once rooted you, the user, have the choice what you want to do to your phone. You can brick it really quick if you don't pay attention do what your doing, but as long as you follow the proper already laid out procedures for installing new roms you shouldn't have much of an issue.

If you root and leave the stock rom from Google, then yes you'll get OTA updates. Once you load a custom rom then no, you won't get any more OTA updates since the rom running is no longer the stock one. You can revert back to the stock at any time and then you'll get OTA updates again.

Overclocking is a function of the rom. I believe there are apps that can underclock by software, but not OC.

 

[jblazea50]

So I have been thinking about rooting my nexus one for a while now, but I am not sure about it would work. Sorry if these are noob questions btw, Im kinda new to this.

How much of a risk of messing up the phone is it? I would hate to do it and completely damage the phone. I am not worried about voiding warranty too much, it only lasts a year anyway and I can just get insurance thru t-mobile.

Will rooting free up more internal memory? Will I get moe internal memory? I dont have that many apps and its already kinda low. Can I remove pre loaded apps that I dont use that I cant remove now? Does it help battery life?

If I root, do I need to install a custom rom? I am thinking about doing it anyway, but do they go hand in hand or is it an option? Can I just root and just use the phone as I do now?

Will I still recieve updates?

Also, is overclocking apart of rooting or something seperate I would have to do?

Rooting (unlocking bootloader and installing custom rom) is very simple. There are great guides available on this site with videos from unlockr.com. They work great and it goes step by step, so you shouldn't have any issues. I used the CyanogenMod Wiki to unlock mine and didn't have any issues.

It's really hard to brick the phone with rooting. If you are messing with the radio, the chances of bricking is higher.

Yes, you will get more memory once you install a custom rom or kernel. The current kernel on stock N1 is .29, while custom roms are up to .33, which is capable of handling more memory, therefore it frees up about 200mb of memory. When I was on stock, my memory would be down to about 70mb (not using many apps either) and now it is almost always around 250-270mb.

Yes, you can root and keep the stock rom, but then what's the real benefit of rooting besides usage of few more apps.

No, you won't be able to get OTA updates via Google as once you install the custom recovery image, it makes it impossible for OTA updates. However, the developers of the custom rom usually incorporates these updates into their roms. For instance, the latest stable CyanogenMod rom pretty much includes most of the updates that are coming in Froyo. He's using kernel .33, trackball color changes, etc. The only thing missing is the flash.

As for battery issues, that is pretty much user dependent and you may need to flash/install undervolted kernel to get better battery life.

 

[VMX]

So you guys would recommend installing a custom rom? Which is best? If I don't install a custom rom and just root, can't I just remove some preinstalled apps like the mp3 store app and free up space that way? Also if I root can't I just install new apps on my sd card?

 

[jblazea50]

So you guys would recommend installing a custom rom? Which is best? If I don't install a custom rom and just root, can't I just remove some preinstalled apps like the mp3 store app and free up space that way? Also if I root can't I just install new apps on my sd card?

again, if you are going to root, might as well install a custom rom; cyanogenmod 5.0.6 is stable and has many features;

to save apps to sd card, you need to partition your sd card first; to partition, you need to have Amom-RA's recovery image, which has an option to partition sd; i have set my swap at 0 and partition size 512mb and upgraded to ext4 (you can use ext2, ext3);

to remove system apps that you don't want, you can install Titanium Backup (free from market) and when you 1st open the app, you need to click on problem and let it download the busybox; then restart the app and click on restore/backup; scroll to the app you want to remove, and tap the app and a pop-up screen will show up; select un-install from that screen to remove the desired apps

i would recommend installing custom rom rather than just rooting

 

[Buck Shot]

just do it, this was my 1st android phone, and i never did anything like this before. Cyan Roms ftw

 

[raf1919]

again, if you are going to root, might as well install a custom rom; cyanogenmod 5.0.6 is stable and has many features;

to save apps to sd card, you need to partition your sd card first; to partition, you need to have Amom-RA's recovery image, which has an option to partition sd; i have set my swap at 0 and partition size 512mb and upgraded to ext4 (you can use ext2, ext3);

to remove system apps that you don't want, you can install Titanium Backup (free from market) and when you 1st open the app, you need to click on problem and let it download the busybox; then restart the app and click on restore/backup; scroll to the app you want to remove, and tap the app and a pop-up screen will show up; select un-install from that screen to remove the desired apps

i would recommend installing custom rom rather than just rooting

having troubling downloading busybox... keeps saying my phone is not rooted?? i'm running newest cyan rom

 

[knight4led]

As basic as this sounds, is rooting the Nexus One the same as unlocking the bootloader?

I see some posts about how to install a custom rom that just mention doing the fastboot oem unlock, some with the superboot and some that say both. Just wanted a concrete answer.

 

[jblazea50]

having troubling downloading busybox... keeps saying my phone is not rooted?? i'm running newest cyan rom

is this when you open up Titanium backup and click on problem? remember, you need to have data enabled (either wifi or some sort of internet connection) so the app can download the file and install it

 

[jblazea50]

As basic as this sounds, is rooting the Nexus One the same as unlocking the bootloader?

I see some posts about how to install a custom rom that just mention doing the fastboot oem unlock, some with the superboot and some that say both. Just wanted a concrete answer.

they are different; unlocking the bootloader will allow you to be able to root and do other things; to root, you can either install superboot or install the Amon-RA custom recovery image (which includes superboot)

there are videos available and are very straightforward

 

[knight4led]

you can either install superboot or install the Amon-RA custom recovery image (which includes superboot)

Ah see, that was the piece I was missing. Didn't realize the the Amon-RA recovery image included root. Doesn't seem to say that anywhere. Just thought it was a way to back up or restore images.

 

[raf1919]

this is my first phone and first root. went through smoothly. Just read all the instructions a few times before you start and easier than it seems.

 

[jblazea50]

Ah see, that was the piece I was missing. Didn't realize the the Amon-RA recovery image included root. Doesn't seem to say that anywhere. Just thought it was a way to back up or restore images.

these are the directions i used to root mine and install cyanogen rom:

Full Update Guide - Nexus One Firmware to CyanogenMod - CyanogenMod Wiki

 

[ianr]

Is there any way to root an N1 without losing all your on-phone data? The reason I want to root my N1 is so I can back up my apps and data properly which currently doesn't seem to be possible without rooting (the various backup apps in the market miss out app data stored on the phone internal memory which is no use at all). However in order to do this I seem to have to go through procedures which include scrubbing the phone which I'm not willing to do.

Hopefully the full Froyo will be able to back up app data properly, which might negate the need for me to root, or will at least allow me to back up the data, root, then restore data, then I can start playing with rooted phones.