Root Newbie Questions

[cjcross22]

So like the title says I am a newbie to the droid phones and I have a few questions I would like to ask about them.

I got my droid sometime around Christmas and love it, until I found this site and now I want to really see what its potential is.

System version: 2.3.340
Android version: 2.2.1

^not sure if that is needed but oh well...

Here goes...

I have read up some about rooting (and looked at this a lot http://androidforums.com/droid-x-al...d-x-root-guide-updated-3-30-pm-1-24-11-a.html) and think I want to try it, but really do not want to brick my phone heh.

1) Is it terribly hard to do, do any of the one click apps still work?
2) What are the chances of me actually bricking my phone?
3) Do I have to worry about verizon catching me "rooting" my phone?
4) Do I need to be a computer wiz to actually benefit from rooting?
5) Do the pro's outweigh the con's? (seems like it to me, especially w/ the brick fix)

Sorry for all the questions, newb status here , I am sure more will follow. Should I go ahead and dive into this and find out what I have been missing?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer..

 

[Xeneize480]

1) Is it terribly hard to do, do any of the one click apps still work?
2) What are the chances of me actually bricking my phone?
3) Do I have to worry about verizon catching me "rooting" my phone?
4) Do I need to be a computer wiz to actually benefit from rooting?
5) Do the pro's outweigh the con's? (seems like it to me, especially w/ the brick fix)

Answers

1. Not really =) if you use Z4Root
2. None if you follow every step and we are here to help too
3. Never
4. Not that I know =)
5. I love my phone more now that when I first saw DX was coming out I am not going back to original moto system.

 

[darkcyber]

I just rooted my X about a week ago and I read and posted for about a week before I did it. I was very nervous as well. I had no clue what would happen, but this forum is the greatest!!! I asked tons of questions and got lots of help.

Rooting is very simple...really!

1. It is very simple. I used Z4Root, the one click deal and it could not have been any easier.
2. Very, very low. And probably zero if you follow the instructions, just like the other post said.
3. Nope
4. No. I rooted my phone and just left it on the stock Motorola ROM for a day. Then I installed Apex 1.3.1, that is the one everyone said was the best for newbies to try. Really nice ROM. But then I installed DarkSlide 4.2 and it is awesome...love it.
5. The ONLY con to rooting your phone is it voids your warranty and that is it. Of course, that can also be fixed by going back to stock with the sfb file. Benefits are many. Just a few, my battery life is 10 fold better. Performance is better, I love the looks of the DarkSlide ROM (theme).

If you are going to root make sure you purchase Droid X Bootstrap Recovery...make a full backup with it right after rooting. That gives you a good image if you ever need to go back. Next, purchase Titanium Pro (best money you will ever spend) and make your backups of your apps and data. Once you install a new ROM, you can easily restore you apps back without having to reinstall all of them. There are a lot of things you can do by rooting, just be careful and READ ALL instructions and follow those instructions and you will be fine.

Here is the thread I started before I rooted mine. It is some good reading for newbies as well, not anything that I posted, but all the good help and answers. http://androidforums.com/droid-x-all-things-root/258395-best-backup-use-before-rooting.html

 

[colchiro]

Read a lot before installing a rom or theme, o/w rooting by itself is safe. It lets you install potentially phone-saving apps or apps that are dangerous.

Make sure you know how to create a recovery backup and have a file backup plan, like Titanium, before you do anything major, like a rom or uninstalling bloat. It's not a bad idea to know how to sbf (and have the tools installed) if you're going to rom or theme.

 

[cjcross22]

Thanks for the responses!

I've been reading a little more today, I may pull the trigger sometime today since I have all day to play around with it.

- What is this "sbf" I keep reading?
- Also what is "o/w rooting"?
- Is there a free back up app? or do I need to purchase one to be absolutely sure I am safe?

I just want to be 100% sure I understand everything before I do it, and be sure I can revert back to stock if needed! Thanks again guys.

 

[VoidedSaint]

Thanks for the responses!

I've been reading a little more today, I may pull the trigger sometime today since I have all day to play around with it.

- What is this "sbf" I keep reading?
- Also what is "o/w rooting"?
- Is there a free back up app? or do I need to purchase one to be absolutely sure I am safe?

I just want to be 100% sure I understand everything before I do it, and be sure I can revert back to stock if needed! Thanks again guys.

1 - sbf is a way to revert back to stock once you have installed roms, there is a video, im currently at work and cannot get on youtube, im sure one of these guys will post the link for me ^_^ all good ppl here btw

2 - i have never heard of o/w rooting, but im sure its something common that i already know

3 - Titanium Backup Free and Paid version, check it out in the market, it backs up all your aps and can kill apps, freeze them, or uninstall them and of course back them up.

hope this helps

 

[Bankswood]

I think my man colchiro was just abbreviating the word "otherwise" when he used o/w.

 

[cjcross22]

lol yeah thats probably what he was meaning, makes since now!

I will try to find the sbf vid on youtube real quick, thanks!

 

[cjcross22]

Well I am now rooted and backed up!

I used the z4root method, then I purchased the Droid X Bootstrap Recovery, then I did the Titanium one as well. I also made a backup of my contacts as well.

Now I am just playing around with it, looking at ROMs!

 

[darkcyber]

Well I am now rooted and backed up!

I used the z4root method, then I purchased the Droid X Bootstrap Recovery, then I did the Titanium one as well. I also made a backup of my contacts as well.

Now I am just playing around with it, looking at ROMs!

Great! Now just have some fun checking everything out. I installed the Apex 1.3.1 on day two and really liked it. Then I moved over to DarkSlide 4.2 and that is where I am at. Love this ROM.

Titanium Pro is the best money you will every spend in an app...really. It makes it so easy to restore an app when you install a new ROM.

 

[cjcross22]

I might have to buy it, I just bought the overclock app too.

Also I am running liberty at the moment, so far so good.. looking around at some themes...

But so far, I love it!

 

[darkcyber]

I might have to buy it, I just bought the overclock app too.

Also I am running liberty at the moment, so far so good.. looking around at some themes...

But so far, I love it!

I tried Apex first then went to Darkslide and was about to try Liberty until I read the Liberty glicth thread and decided against it

 

[colchiro]

The only problem I had with Liberty was the Exchange email issue. I'm back to Apex after a long absence, but will try Liberty 1.5. IMO, it's not all about the rom, there has to be some good themes to go with them too. I have a recovery backup of every rom I tried so easy to reload and upgrade.

 

[darkcyber]

The only problem I had with Liberty was the Exchange email issue. I'm back to Apex after a long absence, but will try Liberty 1.5. IMO, it's not all about the rom, there has to be some good themes to go with them too. I have a recovery backup of every rom I tried so easy to reload and upgrade.

Yeah, I have made recovery backups of the two I have loaded. I may try Liberty 1.5, but seemed a lot of people were complaining with reboots while talking on their phones while running Liberty. That is what made me pass on it for now. Wife would not understand if my phone crashed and rebooted while talking to her...lol!

 

[colchiro]

Bear in mind you only hear the bad stories. I ran it for over a week with only the Exchange issue (needed 9 char strong password to unlock the phone), which was fixed and I expect will be included in the v.1.5.

 

[darkcyber]

That was going to be my next question, what would I gain if I switched to Liberty 1.0 versus running DarkSlide or Apex? I mean is it that much of a difference?

 

[colchiro]

When Blur is removed (like GummyJar, Liberty), you need to use new apps for email, camera, messaging, dialer, etc., and it's not uncommon to have a new rom with no contacts. For that reason I don't recommend it as a first rom.

IMO, you should always have a good backup plan (recovery and Titanium) before installing any rom, esp. a blurless rom.

All of these roms are debloated and faster than stock. Some are themed, most of them dark.

 

[cjcross22]

So far Liberty has done pretty good for me.. still need to play around with it some more.

Got a different theme up and running, also removed the status bar clock. Have not messed with custom icons/dock yet, still learning.

 

[darkcyber]

When Blur is removed (like GummyJar, Liberty), you need to use new apps for email, camera, messaging, dialer, etc., and it's not uncommon to have a new rom with no contacts. For that reason I don't recommend it as a first rom.

IMO, you should always have a good backup plan (recovery and Titanium) before installing any rom, esp. a blurless rom.

All of these roms are debloated and faster than stock. Some are themed, most of them dark.

Ouch, thanks for the heads up. I did not know that about a blurless ROM. I use Handcent for messaging, but what would you do for email, camera and dialer? Are there some that can easily be downloaded and installed?

 

[cjcross22]

Switched to Apex just to try out something else...

So far so good, much more "noob" friendly indeed.

 

[cjcross22]

What did I do wrong? Using Apex now, but when I reboot it still has Liberty start up stuff?

 

[darkcyber]

What did I do wrong? Using Apex now, but when I reboot it still has Liberty start up stuff?

Did you do the wipe and reset to factory before installing Apex?

Uninstall updates to Market and Google Voice Search if they're there under Settings->Applications->Manage Applications first.

-Place file on your sdcard. Bootstrap recovery and reboot recovery
-Navigate to mounts and storage. FORMAT data, and cache
-Return to previous menu and install .zip from sd card
-Choose ApeX and install!

 

[cjcross22]

Ahhh OK, I just formatted the data and cache, didn't do the wipe and reset to factory.

I guess I need to go back and do that, but then I will have to start from scratch with apex again since I cant just do restore (being as the boot up files would still be from liberty in my back-up file)?

 

[colchiro]

To remove the custom boot logo, see this: http://androidforums.com/droid-x-all-things-root/267635-puzzled.html#post2204750

I haven't tried it yet.

 

[colchiro]

Ouch, thanks for the heads up. I did not know that about a blurless ROM. I use Handcent for messaging, but what would you do for email, camera and dialer? Are there some that can easily be downloaded and installed?

You'll still have email, camera and dialer apps, but they will be generic apps like Google intended (aka AOSP), rather than the blur ones that the Motorola created so they will function similar, but not the same app.