Root Step-by-step root guide?

[bigtex19]

Where might I be able to find a step-by-step root guide for the DC? I rooted my DX and it was pretty simple with Z4, but I don't know of a one click root program like that for the DC. I have grown pretty frustrated with the lagginess and just overall fairly poor performance with the phone and am now at wits end. BTW when I say step-by-step I am talking detailed steps here, super afraid of bricking this thing lol

 

[dave45]

this right here is a great guide. i used it and had no problem, for the most part

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1160580

 

[mdcowby]

one that's step by step as you can get this guy really helped me out..

http://www.toms-world.org/android/

Enjoy

 

[bigtex19]

sweet, thanks. i am going to root this thing as soon as i am able to tear myself off of xbox and gears 3 at night. on the up side though that does give me time to decide which rom i am going to run

 

[bigtex19]

wont lie....this looks a bit more intimidating than what it was on my droid x. gonna take a little time to psych myself up to do this lol

 

[mdcowby]

wont lie....this looks a bit more intimidating than what it was on my droid x. gonna take a little time to psych myself up to do this lol

You'll do fine just read read and read its like measure twice cut once,

 

[Cilraaz]

wont lie....this looks a bit more intimidating than what it was on my droid x. gonna take a little time to psych myself up to do this lol

It seems intimidating, but once you do it a few times, you'll be able to do it in your sleep. This phone is nearly impossible to brick. I've flashed corrupt files before. Instead of bricking, the phone just bootloops, which is as simple to fix as flashing a new odin file. So long as you don't corrupt the kernel (usually by unplugging or having a power outage during a kernel update, which is a window of about 5-10 seconds during an odin flash), pretty much anything is fixable. Even a corrupt kernel might be fixable, but, personally, I don't want to try to find out.

 

[bigtex19]

i actually think i am going to take off early from work today and give this a shot. i wanna try one of the gingerbread roms so i was thinking humble, any recommendations on a kernel though? also do you have to do the rom or the kernel first?

 

[thevaliantx]

I appreciate all the hard work you folks have put into putting together tutorials on how to get the Droid Charge rooted, but why can't someone with experience put together ONE tutorial from start-to-finish, so that folks can just get the phone rooted and with the 2.3 kernel? That way, folks can get this accomplished quickly and learn something along the way. If there truly is not a Step A-B-C way (complete with ONLY links to the necessary files) of going about this, then perhaps someone should be upfront about that.

 

[trparky]

My tutorial at http://www.toms-world.org/android is about as step-by-step as you can get complete with links to all of the files you need for the process all on one page.

 

[thevaliantx]

trparky, actually I was referring to your documentation in my post. Your website does have things broken down into sections, but I still have NO IDEA (in looking at your website) what the plan of attack is in taking a phone from its stock state to one that is rooted and having a new kernel, and all that. The fact that you list instructions on how to get the phone back to the stock ROM, before you list instructions on how to accomplish rooting / new kernel, is a bit alarming. I don't think the average user is going to look at your website and walk away with a phone that still isn't stock ROM.

 

[trparky]

I have separated the topics discussed on the page into different sections. I've tried to make it so that all of the information you need regarding the Droid Charge no matter what it is (how to root, how to ROM, how to restore, etc.) is all in one place.

The idea is that you don't have to hunt for the information anymore, it's all in one place.

Does this make it confusing? Information overload? I don't know. I'm just trying to give all of the information you need as an end-user of the phone no matter what the topic.

I have given the page tabs better descriptions though. "Root and Flash GummyCharged Instructions" for instance.

 

[thevaliantx]

For a beginner to this, which section would they need to follow first?

Would you care to create (yet another) ONE LONG LIST of steps that consolidates all the steps you've outlined in each of your sections? That's what I'm getting to.

I don't think the average person, who in my opinion would be new to this, is going to really know where to start with your website as it currently is.

I've been around IT for many, many years, and I admit that I'm even (still) confused after looking at the wonderful documentation you've put up.

You have obviously put a lot of work into this, I just feel that some of what you've written is ingrained with assumptions of the phone hacker newbie.

There are folks drooling over the potential 'official' release of the 2.3 kernel and just about all of them comment on how currently existing documentation related to the matter is confusing.

 

[trparky]

When you look at the tabs on top of my page there are different headers.

The most important one is "Root and Flash GummyCharged Instructions". That has to be the most important one and all instructions you need to do that from start to finish are on that tab.

The other tabs are for those of you who want to go a bit further.

 

[thevaliantx]

Is this whole process for Windows users only? If so, you might want to be explicit about that in your instructions. At a quick glance I am unable to find an ODIN file version that isn't '.exe'. I don't think that I want to try running WINE to do this sort of stuff.

 

[Cilraaz]

There isn't a much better step-by-step guide than the one linked from trparky's site (this one on XDA). It has literally every piece of information you need for flashing a Charge. If that walkthrough is too confusing for someone, then rooting/ROMing may not be for them. Otherwise, it really is as simple as downloading a few files, plugging in your phone, and pressing go.

Also, yes, the process is for Windows users only, as far as I know. I don't know of any Mac or linux tools to use for the flashing process.

 

[thevaliantx]

There isn't a much better step-by-step guide than the one linked from trparky's site (this one on XDA). It has literally every piece of information you need for flashing a Charge. If that walkthrough is too confusing for someone, then rooting/ROMing may not be for them. Otherwise, it really is as simple as downloading a few files, plugging in your phone, and pressing go.

Also, yes, the process is for Windows users only, as far as I know. I don't know of any Mac or linux tools to use for the flashing process.

Which is JUST PLAIN WEIRD. Android, after all, IS a 'Linux' operating system.

 

[dwitherell]

There is a Mac/Linux friendly program called Heimdall, but it seems not many in the Charge community use it (perhaps ODIN in Windows is just simpler? Not sure really). You can check out info on it here for more info on it. Also, there is another walk-through guide here that is currently built towards installing GC FE 2, but along the way are instructions on flashing in ODIN, flashing CWM, flashing back to stock, etc. It's a bit of a long read, but it has a wealth of information and (if nothing else) links that I feel many would find useful (in fact one of them is to trparky's site!). I hope it helps!

 

[thevaliantx]

Where exactly should ODIN be put? In the beginning of the tutorial, it says to put everything that is downloaded into a folder on the SD card. Yet, the tutorial states that, after turning the phone off (in which it would not be accessible by the computer), ODIN should be opened on the computer.

 

[dwitherell]

Where exactly should ODIN be put? In the beginning of the tutorial, it says to put everything that is downloaded into a folder on the SD card. Yet, the tutorial states that, after turning the phone off (in which it would not be accessible by the computer), ODIN should be opened on the computer.

ODIN goes on the PC, so anything you flash in ODIN (these are files that end in .tar or .tar.md5) should also be on your PC. Files you flash in CWM, which end in .zip, go on your SD card.

 

[thevaliantx]

thanks for the help, guys! gummy is running on the phone. the phone IS snappy now, but i would have to say that for the time being i am disappointed with the following:

* battery life is not very good, worse than stock state, I'm literally sitting here (though it takes awhile) watching the battery dissipate. I'm not even texting, calling, surfing the Internet or even actively running any applications.

* when i go to settings and enable showing the clock, the clock still doesn't show up in the status bar. i have to open up the clock application just to see the time.

* RAM usage is terrible (327mb total, 120mb free)

* phone tutorial (in settings) does nothing, clicking on BEGIN just takes me to the "about phone" section in the settings

 

[dwitherell]

NOTE: My responses below are assuming you installed the Froyo (FE) version of Gummy Charged -

thanks for the help, guys! gummy is running on the phone. the phone IS snappy now, but i would have to say that for the time being i am disappointed with the following:

* battery life is not very good, worse than stock state, I'm literally sitting here (though it takes awhile) watching the battery dissipate. I'm not even texting, calling, surfing the Internet or even actively running any applications.

You may want to try recalibrating your battery - check out this post for some pointers and (more importantly) useful links on this.

* when i go to settings and enable showing the clock, the clock still doesn't show up in the status bar. i have to open up the clock application just to see the time.

Some of the TSM mods require a reboot to show up - also, you need to change the font color to white (which will not take until a reboot - this is mentioned in the GC FE 2 OP). Check out the TSM Parts section of this post for some general TSM tips that I have come across.

* RAM usage is terrible (327mb total, 120mb free)

RAM works differently on our phones vs. PC - in my experience this is perfectly fine and is part of how the phone is designed to work. I may be wrong on that of course, but I've never had a ran-out-of-memory issue.

* phone tutorial (in settings) does nothing, clicking on BEGIN just takes me to the "about phone" section in the settings

Not sure on this one - it seems to work on mine though. You could always reflash the ROM, but only if the tutorial is worth it to you (or you notice other things misbehaving).

Hope this helps!

 

[zhengcl86]

question when we "drop/drag" the rom to sdcard should the file be extracted or keep in zip?

 

[dwitherell]

question when we "drop/drag" the rom to sdcard should the file be extracted or keep in zip?

Keep in zip.

 

[bigtex19]

any one have a link to a list of debloated roms? the link in one of those how tos doesnt work anymore