Root bootstrap recovery

I followed the root guide on this site to root a droid x and I'm curious, what exactly is the point of Bootstrap Recovery? Do I need to use it when flashing ROMs or Themes? Can I just flash ROMs with Rom Manager like the Dinc? I'm just curious as to what role the Bootstrap Recovery App plays in this whole thing.

 

Tried to install a rubix rom with rom manager and it rebooted super fast, obviously not installing anything. Opened rom manager and it said there had been some kind of failure. So went into bootstrap recovery and tried to install the rom that way. It took about two seconds and said it was done. Again obviously not right. Looked closely and realized it was a camera patch that I just installed not the rom. Ok so I look for the rom but its nowhere. so I figure ill just restore my backup and try again.well the restore takes two seconds! Seriously what the hell is going on?! Nothing is working right. Reboot the phone, set up google and everything and guess what, phones not rooted anymore. This is ridiculous. I've had problems with this phone before and had to sbf it a couple times. Should have got a dinc.

 

1st. This wasn't even me doing it, I just posted as if it was for ease of explaining. I'm posting for a friend. I own a Dinc and it's just so much simpler.

2nd. He only "flashed the wrong file" because rom manager didn't download the right one. It said downloading 1 of 3 (ROM, gapps, and camera patch) and we waited until Rom Manager brought up the option to backup, wipe data cache and install ROM, but when he did the phone just rebooted and gave him a failure message when he opened Rom Manager. So he went into recovery via bootstrap, and that's when he accidentally flashed the camera patch, because that was the only file there. No Rom, no gapps. He wasn't paying attention (he's kind of new to this) so he didn't notice it said camera patch until after it only took two seconds to flash. This doesn't explain his backup not working, doesn't explain the missing rubix zip file. This doesn't explain (as far as I can tell) his phone not being rooted anymore when he rebooted.

3rd. we didn't have to sbf. he rebooted his phone and had to start over (logging into google account, redownloading apps etc etc) but he still had a stock froyo ROM.

4th, you kind of are being an ass. I would appreciate some help, if you have any to offer, otherwise criticize someone else please.

I just wanted a more detailed explanation of bootstrap and if it's needed or not. The root directions instructed us to install it but not when/if it's needed. I was under the impression that ROM Manager wasn't enough to flash roms so koush made the bootstrap. now I'm being told most ROMs can be flashed with either, but some specific ROMs require one or the other?

this is the kind of confusion my friend could have avoided with a Dinc. with the Dinc, I see a rom, I d/l the Rom, I install the Rom. done. I've never had to worry about deodexing or which program to use to flash it, backups randomly not working, my phone unrooting itself etc etc.

 

i don't see how flashing a camera patch should mess his phone up. since that's all he did. He thought he was flashing a ROM, turns out it was a camera flash. ok big deal.

everything that happens after that is a mystery to me. why did his restore not work? in my experience, when I download a ROM that comes with goodies, rom manager does not ask me to install one of the goodies, it asks me to isntall the ROM, and it will isntall the goodies afterwards, so if the wrong file was flashed through ROM Manager, then it was ROM managers fault, because all he did was select the rom he wanted (rubix) waited for it to download, and when it was finished, selected wipe data/cache and download. the phone then rebooted right back to his OS, instead of rebooting into recovery and flashing the ROM.

I know when you flash a new rom you have to login again, but a ROM was never flashed, just a camera patch, and a failed attempt at a restore.

so basically what youre saying is, most ROMs I can isntall with either rom manager or bootstrap, but some roms require bootstrap? I'm assuming the ROMs that require bootstrap would include that in the instructions. is this correct? i was under the impression bootstrap played a more vital role in the downloading/installing of ROMs.

also this just came to my mind, that may or may not answer part of my question. when you wipe data and cache, that doesn't cause you to have to login to your google account, but if you do a factory reset in recovery, is that different from wiping data and cache? that may explain why he had to re login after the reboot. (still doesn't explain the restore not working, or the phone being unrooted)

it can be fun when you hit the heartstopping moments, as long as you can figure them out. otherwise it's just annoying. my friend is now completely turned off from custom ROMs and what-not because of how complex it is and how it never seems to work right for him. On top of that, he has to listen to myself and our other coworker (who has a droid 1) talk about all the things we are doing so easily and smoothly with our phones. I feel bad for the guy. none of us had any idea it would be so hard to hack the droid x, that's all I meant by "should have got a dinc". it's just so much easier.

both our phones will look like dinosaurs anyway compared to the new tegra 2 processor phones coming out very soon.

 

that makes sense. He's not likely to try anything I don' think but maybe I can talk him into it after awhile. It would help if someone was able to unlock the bootloader. I had previously assumed that bootstrap was the way around the locked bootloader problem but I see now that I was mistaken.