Root questions...

[xbaysidex]

I have been thinking about rooting my EVO for some time now but its all so hard to understand. Ive done research and Ive read lots in the forums. I'm just a bit hesitant still. I don't understand the difference between a Rom or a kernel (feel free to explain though). I dig the tethering deal though. Can I root my phone for this purpose only and slowly ease my way into other stuff?

 

[9to5cynic]

Hello and welcome. You should root your phone if you think it's right for you. There is a lot of great information on this site, the rooting for dummies guide (both really, matlock and onc's) are great places to start. The new stickies have a lot of consolidated information.

Due to site policy changes, we cannot discuss the tethering (unless you pay for it). But there is still a lot of good reasons to root your phone, one major one being to remove bloat.

A Rom is basically a 'version' of the phone's OS. Like the set up, it has a launcher (like a desktop manager if you're familiar with linux) and apps and settings and tweaks.

A kernel is the layer between the Rom and phone. They allow special things called governors to be set which can allow you to under or overclock your cpu.

Which brings me to then next point, root only apps. SetCPU is a great one, also titanium backup is great.

 

[Rxpert83]

Honestly, the gingerbread for dummies guide we have here is as simple and straightforward as it gets. Read it, reread it, and give it a go.


There are huge advantages to rooting your phone, including custom ROMS, custom kernels, and all the new root only options that come with them.

 

[MizzouBrent]

Rooting is the best thing I ever did with my Evo. With that said, there is a reason you can't do certain things when you're not rooted...you can really bork your phone if you're not careful, but it's up to you what you want to do with it.

The process of rooting your phone by itself is not going to make your phone any different. After it's rooted (and your securities are switched off), your phone will actually boot just like it always has and won't be any different. You'll have access to root only apps that will allow you to do things that you couldn't before.

For me, I wanted to get rid of bloat because I was running out of system memory. Bye bye blockbuster, nova, peep and all the other stuff that I couldn't remove from my phone. I wasn't interested in flashing a custom ROM at all.

Flashing a rom is cool though, and IMHO a must for anyone who is rooted. There are lots to choose from and the Evo dev community is still about as active as any other phone out there, which is amazing considering it's nearly a 2 year old phone. As stated above, a ROM is basically your software. Think of it as having a PC at home. You can install any version of windows you choose. All the Evo ROMs are based on the Android OS of course, but there are different versions of the Android OS besides the version that HTC has decided to release to Evo users through over the air updates.

The kernel is the link between your system's hardware and software. The kernel is going to control your processor and the amount of voltage that it's going to use, among other things.

By all means, if you have questions after reading the dummies thread, ask away. Don't do anything to your phone that you aren't comfortable with. And this is a helpful bunch that is always quick to respond.