Root Want to Root, But Worried.

[Kevmueller]

The best advise I received after I rooted my phone the first time was "back-ups are your friend". I have not had to use them that often, but they are nice to have. Once you have rooted I would make a back-up of your system so you have a clean stock rooted version so if you ever need to go back you have it. Then before I change ROMs or Themes I create a new back-up just in case something goes wrong.

It is so nice to try new ROMs because there are some great developers out there. However if you find one that has a bug that you can not live with then you can go back to where you were before with nothing lost (well new texts and phone logs).

One other thing to remember is that while we each have a Droid X, each phone is like a snowflake it seems as no two phones handle changes the same way. I got luck and have a phone that has taken everything thrown at it. Apex is a great ROM (especially for new users) as it is VERY stable and well supported. Some people have had problems, but I have found Liberty a great ROM and had no issues (others have).

Just do what you all are doing ask questions if you are not 100% sure what to do, and make back-ups!

Also system version 2.3.34 is the newest so you are good to go on most of the ROMs that are out there, most will tell you what version you need to be on before you install.

 

[colchiro]

+1 (what they said)...

 

[fuzio1963]

OK than.....i have a quick question too.........i messed up my Dx yesterday, doing something in rubix rom....hell, i don't know what i did, but phone just rebooted and got stock on M logo. Tried many things, no luck. Then, i restarted into bootloader and tried (stupid me) sbf 2.2. Everything went well, but (wow) i got black screen with bunch of errors; A5,70,70,.......something told me; i am doing wrong ver. So I did it again with TBH 2.3.320 sbf. Bingo! Then, of course i rooted it again. Now, that quick question; whats the difference between 2.3.320, and 2.3.340? Do i update it somehow?? Or, should i, or do i have to?

 

[colchiro]

You should sbf with .340 or install this from recovery (follow the directions closely): http://androidforums.com/droid-x-all-things-root/254605-update-2-3-340-easily.html

Assuming you took the OTA update to .340, either one would be ok.

My understanding is there are differences in the radio, kernel and other settings, stuff not obvious to the user.

 

[RWil85]

giving this a go for the first time as well..

I have seen the steps starting with z4root onward outlined a hundred times - my question is..what do I need to do before I run z4root?

I have a copy of z4root, Ti Backup, bootstrap recovery, the Apex 1.3.1 Rom everyone else has got going, Root Explorer, etc. on my sd card so I can fire those up right away after getting through all of this..

other than that - anything I need to do?

 

[Steven58]

nope. do z4root. after you root, I'd do backups.

 

[gmenfan83]

giving this a go for the first time as well..

I have seen the steps starting with z4root onward outlined a hundred times - my question is..what do I need to do before I run z4root?

I have a copy of z4root, Ti Backup, bootstrap recovery, the Apex 1.3.1 Rom everyone else has got going, Root Explorer, etc. on my sd card so I can fire those up right away after getting through all of this..

other than that - anything I need to do?

nope ,,,run z4root,make a backup(nandroid through bootstrapper /rom manager (whichever you prefer)then start flashing roms

 

[RWil85]

nope. do z4root. after you root, I'd do backups.

thanks for the quick response..no clearing any data or caches first? I ran circles around blackberries and the RIM OS - being a noob all over again is frustrating, haha.

thanks!

 

[colchiro]

No reason to clear anything when you're just creating a backup.

We've got three (Verizon) Apple Fanboys at work now. Can't believe they wanted those small screens, inferior crap.

 

[RWil85]

One last question before i do this..

What is the advantage of running a rooted DX with a custom ROM over running stock with a launcher like ADW that can, seemingly, give some fresh appearance and functionality?

just trying to kill my curiosity and gain some insight on this stuff - thanks in advance!

 

[colchiro]

Custom roms remove Verizon bloat and are usually optimized for speed. It's much easier to install a rom than to mess with what apps to remove and which ones cause problems when removed. Many are pre-themed dark, but not all.

 

[BimmerM3]

Helped my friend root his HTC hero today after only rooting my X last night. Im still wary to try a ROM because I've seen that people Have problems with them. I might want to wait until i get a little more bored with the phone, in a few months, so that will give me something to do with it. On a side note i went in to my Verizon store tonight to pick up a new case and there were three people in the store and only one getting an iPhone! I figured the place would be packed, but apparently there weren't long lines anywhere.... Android wins.

 

[colchiro]

We have 3 new VZ Apple Fanboyz at work and 4 X's. Local TV said they opened at 7 and had 12 people waiting in line.

Bear in mind you hear about the horror stories, but you didn't hear about the 20 or so rom's I've installed w/o issue or the 120 that Steven installed. Just take your time, create a recovery (bootstrap) backup, and a Titanium backup and move slow. I've only had to SBF once to fix a boot loop and then restored my backup and was back in business. (You can never have enough backups.) The people that have trouble usually are newbies, they panic when they get a boot loop and flash with an old sbf file, then yell help me. I only know of two ruined phones and they both are a rom developers. There's a lot of brown pants tho, but we get those people fixed up as quick as possible. FWIW, you'll find a lot of helpful people here, much more knowledgeable than your average VZ store.

 

[RWil85]

We have 3 new VZ Apple Fanboyz at work and 4 X's. Local TV said they opened at 7 and had 12 people waiting in line.

Bear in mind you hear about the horror stories, but you didn't hear about the 20 or so rom's I've installed w/o issue or the 120 that Steven installed. Just take your time, create a recovery (bootstrap) backup, and a Titanium backup and move slow. I've only had to SBF once to fix a boot loop and then restored my backup and was back in business. (You can never have enough backups.) The people that have trouble usually are newbies, they panic when they get a boot loop and flash with an old sbf file, then yell help me. I only know of two ruined phones and they both are a rom developers. There's a lot of brown pants tho, but we get those people fixed up as quick as possible. FWIW, you'll find a lot of helpful people here, much more knowledgeable than your average VZ store.

that's awesome..thanks for your response earlier, also.

ps. i rooted using z4root, did a Ti backup of all my apps and system data, then clicked top button and bottom button in bootstrap - creating a nandroid backup now, will be installing apex 1.3.1 when this is done. I can see how rom switching can become addicting - it's nice to see things work haha

 

[colchiro]

Don't be afraid to ask for help.

 

[RWil85]

quick question.

I have apex 1.3.1 all loaded up..

i skipped the google login as I think im supposed to..

now, i should perform a Ti Restore of all my apps and system data? I thought i read something about not restoring any apps colored in red?

 

[droidfan1]

Since everyone here is a noob except a few, I just wanted to say I went through all of this on my original droid. God I miss it

 

[mulls0303]

Can't thank everyone here enough for the help. As of now I'm rooted with a bootsrap and a titanium backup and I'm window shopping ROMs.

 

[colchiro]

quick question.

I have apex 1.3.1 all loaded up..

i skipped the google login as I think im supposed to..

now, i should perform a Ti Restore of all my apps and system data? I thought i read something about not restoring any apps colored in red?

To my limited knowledge, you only skip the Google login if you intend to restore a recovery backup. You need to be logged into Google for Market to work.

After Market does it's thing and every app is installed, I open Titanium, choose "batch" and do a restore missing apps + data, then pick the ones I actually want, not all of them. I never restore system. Check out the green items. You'll find call and text logs there. I just let Google populate my contacts. I used to restore them, but had problems with dupes.

If somethings missing, I'll go back into Titanium for it.

 

[fuzio1963]

You should sbf with .340 or install this from recovery (follow the directions closely): http://androidforums.com/droid-x-all-things-root/254605-update-2-3-340-easily.html

Assuming you took the OTA update to .340, either one would be ok.

My understanding is there are differences in the radio, kernel and other settings, stuff not obvious to the user.

Yeah, thanks for quck reply.

Is there a .340 SBF file somewhere? I couldn't find it......the only one i found was .320
Where do i look for it? TY.

 

[RWil85]

To my limited knowledge, you only skip the Google login if you intend to restore a recovery backup. You need to be logged into Google for Market to work.

After Market does it's thing and every app is installed, I open Titanium, choose "batch" and do a restore missing apps + data, then pick the ones I actually want, not all of them. I never restore system. Check out the green items. You'll find call and text logs there. I just let Google populate my contacts. I used to restore them, but had problems with dupes.

If somethings missing, I'll go back into Titanium for it.

Ahhh, I see. Do you think I'll run into any problems if I restored my apps from my Ti Backup and not directly from the market??

I also didn't do a full restore..only a few of the green items w the data you mentioned and I also let google fill in my contacts..thanks again.

 

[colchiro]

Yeah, thanks for quck reply.

Is there a .340 SBF file somewhere? I couldn't find it......the only one i found was .320
Where do i look for it? TY.

I couldn't find one either, maybe Steven's got a link.

Ahhh, I see. Do you think I'll run into any problems if I restored my apps from my Ti Backup and not directly from the market??

I also didn't do a full restore..only a few of the green items w the data you mentioned and I also let google fill in my contacts..thanks again.

If your apps are current, google or backup shouldn't make a difference.

 

[colchiro]

Watch this link: Full 2.3.340 Official sbf

 

[TheKirch]

Honestly, I might want to stick with just various apps for a few days. Im definitely interested in putting custom roms on in theh future but its all a little overwhelming at this point. I do have one other question. You said overclocking was overrated? Does that mean you don't recommend it or it simply isn't very effective?

If you don't want to try a new Rom, there are different launchers such as ADW Launcher, Go Launch ect... They just change the look of the phone. This can be done without rooting.

 

[BimmerM3]

I've decided to install Apex 1.3.1. I have a backup from when i first rooted my phone. I just downloaded ROM manager and about to download titanium backup. I've also downloaded the zip file for apex, but I have no idea where to go from here. I saw an option to flash roms with ROM manager?