Root Update manually when rooted?

[9999V]

Let me preface this by saying I barely know anything about rooting and all of that, so I'm really going to need a pretty dumbed down explanation.
I bought my Evo off a friend of mine, tried to update to 3.70.651.1 a few times, getting the android with the exclamation point about a third of the way into it every time and I have to pull the battery. After doing some research it appears being rooted can cause this, and I found out this phone was rooted when he had it. The general consensus seemed to be that accepting OTA updates when rooted is a bad idea. I didn't see any ill effects after I restarted the phone after pulling the battery though.
I can't really unroot since my PC is down right now, and frankly I don't really understand half the instructions on how to do it. If accepting OTA updates is a bad idea when rooted, would trying to update it manually be an equally bad idea? Although as far as I can gather I can't manually update without a PC, correct?
I'd have run a search, but honestly I've been searching for 3 days now and I didn't understand half of the stuff that I was reading.

 

[Granite1]

You are correct. You cannot manually update with a rooted EVO. The process of rooting flashes a custom recovery image thus removing the means for the phone to accept an ota, or manual update.
The stock recoverys only function is to accept and install ota updates. You more than likely have a custom recovery, so I wouldn't try to update anymore.
Is the phone activated?

 

[9999V]

You are correct. You cannot manually update with a rooted EVO. The process of rooting flashes a custom recovery image thus removing the means for the phone to accept an ota, or manual update.
The stock recoverys only function is to accept and install ota updates. You more than likely have a custom recovery, so I wouldn't try to update anymore.
Is the phone activated?

It is, I've been using it for 4 months. Do I have any straightforward options to update, preferably without everything being wiped?

 

[ocnbrze]

It is, I've been using it for 4 months. Do I have any straightforward options to update, preferably without everything being wiped?

welcome to the forums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
here is a thread that was started that has instructions on how to update your rooted evo without accepting the ota:http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all...p-step-guide-installing-2-3-rooted-2-2-a.html. you do not need a computer to do this. you just need the file on the sd card. so you can try and download directly to your phone. if you do the file should be in your download folder on your card.

just to make sure do you have s-off? what hboot do you have? to check power off then press and hold power+vol down. what does the screen say?

 

[9999V]

Would just restoring my phone back to default settings be an easier way to unroot thr phone, or would it not unroot it? Honestly I have no use for this thing being rooted anyway and I don't know when ill be able to get my PC working again. Thanks for the input though, I will take a look at that once I get home.

 

[ocnbrze]

doing a factory reset will not unroot your phone. it will just erase all of your data and settings on your phone. unrooting requires that you do two things 1.flash the s-on tool and 2.install a stcok nonrooted rom and recovery. you can also download those files to your sd card.

 

[9999V]

I see. Do you have a link to a thread that explains those? Also, do you have to unroot based on the method that you used to root it? From what i gathered there were different ways of rooting and honestly I have no idea which one he used. A lot of the stuff I found on unrooting was pretty over my head or required a pc.

 

[ocnbrze]

I see. Do you have a link to a thread that explains those? Also, do you have to unroot based on the method that you used to root it? From what i gathered there were different ways of rooting and honestly I have no idea which one he used. A lot of the stuff I found on unrooting was pretty over my head or required a pc.

check out the http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/194918-rooting-dummies.html guide. in the after rooting section there is a section that talks about how to unroot. if you have any questions on the process please feel free to ask.

 

[9999V]

Sounds good, much appreciated!

 

[Xtremedays]

If I can make a suggestion(if I am not too late), why not leave it rooted and just flash the current rooted stock Rom and radios? That way if you decide at some point you want to take advantage of being rooted you can or you can leave it stock and never know the difference.

 

[9999V]

If I can make a suggestion(if I am not too late), why not leave it rooted and just flash the current rooted stock Rom and radios? That way if you decide at some point you want to take advantage of being rooted you can or you can leave it stock and never know the difference.

Nope, not too late,. I really haven't had a chance to tinker with it tonight. How would I go about doing that though? Will this wipe everything? I'm still in the process of figuring out a way to backup all my stuff which is a pain with my computer out of commission.

 

[ocnbrze]

Nope, not too late,. I really haven't had a chance to tinker with it tonight. How would I go about doing that though? Will this wipe everything? I'm still in the process of figuring out a way to backup all my stuff which is a pain with my computer out of commission.

so if you want to just update your phone read this thread:http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all...p-step-guide-installing-2-3-rooted-2-2-a.html. should help you with a step by step on how to update your phone. if you need any help, please feel free to ask.

 

[Granite1]

If you saved your contacts under your Google account, those will be loaded once you flash any Rom and link the phone.
If you search the market for Titanium Backup, there's a free version that will allow you to back up your apps and such.
Also if your interested in all of those texts being kept, try SMS Backup and restore. This app will keep all of messages backed up to your SD card, so once the new flash is complete you can restore all of your messages.

In all actuality you don't need to unroot the phone to update it. You can get a Rom that will "update" the phone waaaayyyy beyond what the official release from Sprint will ever be.
I rooted my piece and flashed dozens of roms, and I'm a construction worker. It's not that hard once you read the rooting for dummies guide and ask questions. We're here to help, if not me there's a dozen qualified folks here that will fight to help you!

 

[9to5cynic]

You can sync your contacts to google, as granite said, and well, he got all the basics. TB to back up data, and I personally use astro file manager to back up the .apk files of programs (lets you re-install them without downloading them from market).

 

[9999V]

I'm running Titanium to back up all my stuff now, and ran the other SMS one (thanks for that, I hadn't heard of it). I'm guessing these just back them up on the SD card. So if my phone does get wiped, will all my stuff be safe and sound on the card, or do I need to copy them from the card to the computer for safekeeping until I get my phone updated?

 

[ocnbrze]

Wiping will not wipe your sd card unless you select "wipe sd card" in recovery. Other then that you are good to go.

 

[9999V]

Thanks guys, you've all been really helpful. Another possibly dumb question, but if I use TitaniumBackup to backup system/user/application data and whatnot, do I need to do anything else? I keep reading about nandroid backup, is Titanium basically the same thing?

Also, I think I'm going to go ahead and unroot it. Honestly, I'm a pretty casual user so I think it'd be easier for me to keep my phone up to date this way.
Thanks again for the links, the step by step guide really helps.

 

[Granite1]

A nandroid is a complete backup image of the entire phone at that point in time. Titanium will not give you the level of backup that a nandroid will.
I wouldn't unroot it. Take a few days and read the rooting for dummies guide. Create a few more threads and ask questions, we'll help ya! The options are truly endless if you're rooted.
But if you're hell bent on unrooting we'll get you taken care of. Check out the unrooting section of the rooting for dummies sticky and read through that. There should be links for the files. Any questions just ask!

 

[9999V]

I finally got my PC back last week and just now got a chance to run through the unrooting process, which was a success. However, I'm having trouble using Titanium backup to restore everything. I downloaded it from the market and it says that it won't function because my phone isn't rooted. What am I missing?

 

[9999V]

I just looked, all my music/photos are still on there, but my apps aren't.

 

[9to5cynic]

You need to be rooted to use TB.

 

[9999V]

Ah. Oh well, I have all my photos and contacts so that was really all I was concerned about. All of my paid apps have been reinstalled too. Thanks again guys. I'm a lot happier with the phone after the update, huge improvement!