Database Users

The benefits of root?

I have a new Sprint HTC Hero and was wondering what I would benefit from rooting my new phone.

everything
pretty much anything you would like.
one of my favorite functions is WIFI tether for my laptop and iTouch.
another cool feature is the latest "Fresh" rom. which is currently 1.1
its much faster than the stock sprint rom. plus its pretty!
P.S. and if you ever want to go back to stock you can do that as well!

if nothing else
I rooted my phone for this one reason. I wanted to be able to do back ups of my entire system that way if anything happened, then I didnt have to spend hours redoing everything. eventually though I have become a flash addict. I run fresh 1.1 for my daily rom and I play with AOSP 1.6 and flipzmod and companys 2.1 beta at night. all 3 are great but fresh 1.1 is the most stable

wtphoto said:
I rooted my phone for this one reason. I wanted to be able to do back ups of my entire system that way if anything happened, then I didnt have to spend hours redoing everything. eventually though I have become a flash addict. I run fresh 1.1 for my daily rom and I play with AOSP 1.6 and flipzmod and companys 2.1 beta at night. all 3 are great but fresh 1.1 is the most stable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very well put, i forgot about mr nandroid!

Thanks for the info. I have just one more question. If I root my phone can I just update it to software version 2.1 when Sprint releases it in the very near future, or will I need to wait for some kind of release from this site?
Thanks.

you'll most likely need to update using a rom from this site. The good thing is, that there will be a release here of it within 24-48 hours.

obelisk79 said:
you'll most likely need to update using a rom from this site. The good thing is, that there will be a release here of it within 24-48 hours.
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Why is that? Why can't he flash to an official rom then update?

Well actually you can go ahead and get the 2.1 update from sprint when it's released, that will undo root though, and since no one has seen it re-obtaining root would take a while for someone to figure out again. That and the 2.1 will probably be available here in leaked form before sprint releases it anyway at least all my windows mobile phones saw leaks on XDA before the carrier. Root is good and should be worth it if you are the kind of guy that likes playing with their tech instead of just using it, otherwise you may be getting yourself into more than you're willing to put up with longterm.

If he flashes the official 2.1 rom when it is released, it is very likely that will invalidate current methods to root the cdma hero. Then you'll have to wait for a new root method to be found. It is also very possible/likely that upgrading to 2.1 via the official RUU once released will make it impossible to flash the 1.5 based RUU's to regain root.
So effectively he could update but would lose the capability to root the device and all of the resulting benefits it offers until a new root method is discovered.
Edit: thezero4 beat me to it, and is also very correct.

my bad wrong thread

Thanks for all of your input and information. It was very helpful and my phone is now rooted and running the fresh rom. Awesome.
I'm still new to this.
How do you backup your phone.
How would you put everything back to stock if needed.
Thanks so much for any help.

schultzy001 said:
Thanks for all of your input and information. It was very helpful and my phone is now rooted and running the fresh rom. Awesome.
I'm still new to this.
How do you backup your phone.
How would you put everything back to stock if needed.
Thanks so much for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to perform a nandroid backup there are 2 options. you can either use the fresh pre-kitchen and perform your backups and restores from you comp or you can boot into recovery and go to backup/restore and then go to nandroid backup (this is also how you would restore any of your back ups).
as far as returning to stock. If you didn't make a backup before you flashed fresh then you need to download the stock RUU file here.
BTW help support flipz and what he does for us, visit his site and click on the adds.

Restore from 2.1 to Root via Nandroid?

Okay xda, here's a hypothetical situation I'm considering:
I'm running damagecontrol 2.08.1, and I know the official 2.1 is out now. However, I hear mixed reviews. I'd much rather be running the official update, but at the same time not too sure I want to lose root. It'd be good to hop off the root train to avoid pains like this, but then I'll be impatient when Froyo comes around I suppose. Anyways, I was wondering if it were at all possible to:
1.) Backup via Nandroid my system running 2.08.1 rooted.
2.) Update to the official non-rooted 2.1
3.) Test it out, and if I don't like it, restore to my 2.08.1 rooted via Nandroid, and have root access again.
Can anyone confirm whether or not this would work? Also for those that updated, what are your thoughts on Root-vs-Non?

You figure out how to run a nandroid backup without root, after running the Sprint RUU, and you will make 27 people on this forum VERY Happy.
not me, I was smart and didn't load it...or at least i didn't "take one for the team"

colemorris said:
Okay xda, here's a hypothetical situation I'm considering:
I'm running damagecontrol 2.08.1, and I know the official 2.1 is out now. However, I hear mixed reviews. I'd much rather be running the official update, but at the same time not too sure I want to lose root. It'd be good to hop off the root train to avoid pains like this, but then I'll be impatient when Froyo comes around I suppose. Anyways, I was wondering if it were at all possible to:
1.) Backup via Nandroid my system running 2.08.1 rooted.
2.) Update to the official non-rooted 2.1
3.) Test it out, and if I don't like it, restore to my 2.08.1 rooted via Nandroid, and have root access again.
Can anyone confirm whether or not this would work? Also for those that updated, what are your thoughts on Root-vs-Non?[/QUOTE
This will not work, If you upgrade to 2.1 using official Ruu, You will lose root, and it will wipe the custom recovery image, so no more flashing anything, no more root, until someone finds the clink in the htc armour to regain root
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Click to collapse

I see, so that recovery menu isn't stock android recovery? Well then here's another question.
If you could get flash-rec on an unrooted phone through the ASTRO install method, could you flash a custom recovery image like 1.6.2, then do a nandroid restore from backup?
I probably sound like a mega-noob, just wanting to know why we can't do these things.

Nah, I "took one for the team" but am actually working on it. I DO have to say that the official 2.1 is DAMN fast though. Like, faster then pancacke 0.1 hehe
No but seriously, there is almost 0 lag, and the only thing that I have seen wrong is all of the apps in the app drawer
And no, the nandroid thing is NOT possible.

Hmm, thanks regaw for the answer. Is it fast enough to make waiting for a 2.1 rooted unnecessary right now? Cause damage hasn't logged in for ages, and I'm tired of all the force closes and errors I'm getting. I'm just not so sure it's worth upgrading when I may have to wait longer if I update to an unrooted. I mean, I have A2SD, DConfig, all those shenanigans that make the phone so much better. What's your take?

colemorris said:
Hmm, thanks regaw for the answer. Is it fast enough to make waiting for a 2.1 rooted unnecessary right now? Cause damage hasn't logged in for ages, and I'm tired of all the force closes and errors I'm getting. I'm just not so sure it's worth upgrading when I may have to wait longer if I update to an unrooted. I mean, I have A2SD, DConfig, all those shenanigans that make the phone so much better. What's your take?
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Click to collapse
Well, If you would like to do anything other than what Sprint/HTC wants you to do, I would recommend NOT upgrading, but waiting for something to come out. I know that Damageless is really busy, but I know that trevE is working on things too. They just need to finalize some stuff to get it out. While official 2.1 is fast, it doesn't have a whole bunch of things that us on custom ROMs take for granted. This is my first time on an official ROM since January, and, I do not want to keep it on for long, 1) just so I can begin developing again... and 2) so I can figure out the method of getting root back for everyone who ran the RUU.

regaw_leinad said:
Well, If you would like to do anything other than what Sprint/HTC wants you to do, I would recommend NOT upgrading, but waiting for something to come out. I know that Damageless is really busy, but I know that trevE is working on things too. They just need to finalize some stuff to get it out. While official 2.1 is fast, it doesn't have a whole bunch of things that us on custom ROMs take for granted. This is my first time on an official ROM since January, and, I do not want to keep it on for long, 1) just so I can begin developing again... and 2) so I can figure out the method of getting root back for everyone who ran the RUU.
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Click to collapse
Damn it Regaw I just realzied that you have more posts than me.
Any how, good luck on finding that root.
Here is this from Millworm, But it hink Eris devs proved it was fixed long ago.
http://www.milw0rm.com/exploits/9545
This one is also older, but not sure if anyone has tried it.
http://www.milw0rm.com/exploits/8678
Edit - Milw0rm must be dead.
and this, but it looks like only 2.6.30 Kernel maybe, and its just a Null Pointer exploit which is probably not suitable.
http://lwn.net/Articles/341773/
Also:
Possible way to change an MD5:
http://www.rapidleech.com/topic/2860-change-md5-hash/
Just some stuff I have looked at doing, but I am not willing to jump ship on a rooted phone.

you know I have been back and forth on whether or not to go with the official release and lose root, but during that process I loaded up Pure Hero rom which is based off the alysious (sp?) Rom but with Sense removed and man is it fast.
I have no need to lose root and this little phone is very speedy. And yes, I have tried Damage and Fresh (and a few variation based on those two) roms. Although they are decent roms, they just and turtles when compared to Pure Hero.
As far as Sense goes, I did like Sense, if you want it then do the alysious (again sp?) rom. Just that I think removing sense speeds it up, and honestly you can get all those functions through apps.

Rooting and updating to Froyo

Hi guys,
I have a question about updating to Froyo once it is available with a rooted phone. Will I have to unroot in order to take advatage of an OTA update or will I be able to upgrade along with the unrooted users?
Does the same thing apply to a phone that is flashed with a custom ROM and Kernal?
I've just rooted my phone and installed wifi tether which was the main reason for me to root.
The appeal extra battery life and the ability to over/underclock is the reason I want to flash a custom rom.
I ask this because although I've succeeded in rooting my Epic I can't seem to boot into the clockworkmod recovery screen and thus not been able to flash a custom rom or kernal. I have yet to try unrooting and starting over from scratch but with Froyo seemingly on the horizon, I don't want to go through all the hassle of trying to get a custom ROM only to have to undo it when Froyo arrives.
Thanks

This has been covered multiple times in this forum.
Devs will likely be coming out with ROMs based on Froyo very soon after the Froyo update.
But if you can't wait till then, you'll have to go back to stock everything (kernel+ROM) to get your phone updated via OTA.
Still not sure about root, but if our phones get de-rooted during the update, someone will also come up with a rooting method quickly.

tonysohn said:
Still not sure about root, but if our phones get de-rooted during the update, someone will also come up with a rooting method quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is yes, you will lose root as it will flash a new kernel that won't have the rooted initramfs. You will most likely need to re-root using a new method once 2.2 is available. I could be wrong though, nobody knows for sure yet.

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Loaner Legend

I just send my SGS in for repairs and got a HTC legend as a loaner...
I read through some of the threads but going to a new phone its hard to find how the process of putting roms are done on it...
Is it like this SGS where i can put a custom rom and when im about to send the phone back i can restore to stock? I'd like to try froyo but i'd also like to be able to go back to stock so they can take it back

Froyo is now available for Legend with an update, no need for root to try out Android 2.2.

SimDroid said:
Froyo is now available for Legend with an update, no need for root to try out Android 2.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firmware version 2.1-update1
Thats 2.1 isn't it? Software update "no updates available"
I just wanted to try some of the custom roms here to make things speedy and comfortable.. but i wanted to make sure i could undo it before sending it back.

Oh okay, I've got the update on my Legend though...
I have been trying out some custom Froyo roms, I then went back to stock 2.1 RUU when the phone needed a repair thru waranty, and then updated to the original 2.2 update. So it is possible to go back and unroot it, yes. But I'm not sure what the chances are that you won't be able to unroot. Look around in this forum, im sure there is alot of discussions about unrooting...

SimDroid said:
Oh okay, I've got the update on my Legend though...
I have been trying out some custom Froyo roms, I then went back to stock 2.1 RUU when the phone needed a repair thru waranty, and then updated to the original 2.2 update. So it is possible to go back and unroot it, yes. But I'm not sure what the chances are that you won't be able to unroot. Look around in this forum, im sure there is alot of discussions about unrooting...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a found a guide on unrooting...
I'm just confused on many steps -- I've come from SGS which is pretty easy to do everything on...
I need to downgrade, root, upgrade, mess about and if i want to send back. downgrade again, unroot then upgrade to 2.2?
My question is, all this is possible right? unrooting in the end gives you stock rom + no root...
So what I'm wondering, where do i find the stock rom? (this is a bell phone)
Once i find stock rom everything else should be findable from what i've read..
I just need to know how to hold my stock rom right now so when i upgrade i don't lose it and when i send it back i can restore it...
Will this work through CWR?

Stock ROMs for Legend can be found on the shipped-roms website. The stock one you need for Bell can be found here:
http://shipped-roms.com/shipped/Leg...37.35.09_7.08.35.05_release_130094_signed.exe

Stock gingerbread or rooted gingerbread?

Well, I'm kind of at a crossroads here. I'm running an unrooted 2.2, but since I deleted a few bloats I'm unable to go to Gingerbread over the air. On one hand I can re-add the apks back to my phone and go to the official 2.3.4 or I can root and use a 2.3.4 rom. My question is, which is the easiest to do and are there any drawbacks of having the rooted version of gingerbread? Meaning, does the OTA version have any additional features that I'll lose with the rooted one (updated radio, etc?). Thanks for the time and help everyone on here puts!

Most people here will lean towards telling you to root. There's no downside to rooting, only upsides. You can ALWAYS unroot and return to stock if you need to return the phone for warranty replacement.
I'd say just root. You can install a perfectly stock pre-rooted OTA build if you like the stock look-and-feel (its perfectly stock, just rooted), but at the same time you can always install other ROMs to try out as well.
And either way you get all the bonuses of root, such as ad-blockers, backup apps, etc..
As far as radios, you can flash any radio you'd like. I'd recommend just flashing the recommended T-mous 2.3 OTA radio, which is 26.08.04.30 I believe.
I personally installed this stock pre-rooted ROM and it works perfectly: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1211143
And here's the wiki to follow to gain root properly: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wik...sion#Rooting_the_Vision_.28G2.2FDZ.29_and_DHD

martonikaj said:
I personally installed this stock pre-rooted ROM and it works perfectly: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1211143
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Click to collapse
A newbie question here... I just rooted my stock Froyo 2.2 and have ROM Manager installed. Do I need to 'Wipe Data and Cache' when flashing this ROM? The guides I read said this should always be done, but that'd mean losing my apps, settings and other data if I'm not mistaken.
As far as radios, you can flash any radio you'd like. I'd recommend just flashing the recommended T-mous 2.3 OTA radio, which is 26.08.04.30 I believe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My current radio is 26.03.02.26 - is it required to flash the newer one you mentioned or can I leave the existing one alone when flashing the new ROM?
Thanks a lot, I still need to learn a lot about this stuff

xyz_969 said:
A newbie question here... I just rooted my stock Froyo 2.2 and have ROM Manager installed. Do I need to 'Wipe Data and Cache' when flashing this ROM? The guides I read said this should always be done, but that'd mean losing my apps, settings and other data if I'm not mistaken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you really need to wipe data/factory reset before flashing this ROM. You can use an app like 'Titanium Backup' to back up all of your apps+data to your SD card, then restore them to the new ROM. DO NOT backup/restore system data though.
Also, its always a great idea to do a nandroid (ROM manager) backup of your current ROM before wiping/flashing the new one
My current radio is 26.03.02.26 - is it required to flash the newer one you mentioned or can I leave the existing one alone when flashing the new ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not required, but its usually recommended to flash the radio intended for the ROM you're using. You can find a list of radios and the ROMs they're associated with in the dev section. I recommend installing them via the PC10IMG.zip in the bootloader.
Thanks a lot, I still need to learn a lot about this stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem.

Thanks again... everything went without a hitch.
I left the existing radio for the time being and the new ROM works fine so far.
The only pain was the reinstallation of all my apps, but Titanium took care of that. Just time-consuming

xyz_969 said:
Thanks again... everything went without a hitch.
I left the existing radio for the time being and the new ROM works fine so far.
The only pain was the reinstallation of all my apps, but Titanium took care of that. Just time-consuming
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you buy the full version you can restore them all at once
might work if you want to flash any other ROMs, which im pretty sure youre gonna start doing now that you know how to

xyz_969 said:
Thanks again... everything went without a hitch.
I left the existing radio for the time being and the new ROM works fine so far.
The only pain was the reinstallation of all my apps, but Titanium took care of that. Just time-consuming
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad it worked. If you ever want to flash ROMs with any decent frequency you'll wanna pay for the PRO version. Its totally worth it.

martonikaj said:
As far as radios, you can flash any radio you'd like. I'd recommend just flashing the recommended T-mous 2.3 OTA radio, which is 26.08.04.30 I believe.
I personally installed this stock pre-rooted ROM and it works perfectly: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1211143
And here's the wiki to follow to gain root properly: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wik...sion#Rooting_the_Vision_.28G2.2FDZ.29_and_DHD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2 weeks ago I had to send my phone in under warranty. They told me to back up my data as HTC would restore (Thank God I didnt listen to them). Anyways, I received my phone yesterday with a replaced main board. My phone wasn't previously rooted and I had already did the OTA etc so couldn't root. I notice they updated me to 2.3.3 stock. Before I do anything this time around I would like to root my phone before putting data back. Is it as simple as following these steps? Im on Bells network. Also where is it I find the radio version??

ChocBoyWonder said:
2 weeks ago I had to send my phone in under warranty. They told me to back up my data as HTC would restore (Thank God I didnt listen to them). Anyways, I received my phone yesterday with a replaced main board. My phone wasn't previously rooted and I had already did the OTA etc so couldn't root. I notice they updated me to 2.3.3 stock. Before I do anything this time around I would like to root my phone before putting data back. Is it as simple as following these steps? Im on Bells network. Also where is it I find the radio version??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yours will be a bit different. Since you're already on 2.3, you'll have to downgrade in order to root. There are some guides being created currently that you can follow. its been discussed in a few threads lately.

martonikaj said:
Yours will be a bit different. Since you're already on 2.3, you'll have to downgrade in order to root. There are some guides being created currently that you can follow. its been discussed in a few threads lately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So do I need to wait for them to be finished or do they exist? I thought I saw something but dont see it anymore.

ChocBoyWonder said:
So do I need to wait for them to be finished or do they exist? I thought I saw something but dont see it anymore.
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Click to collapse
These guides are finished, but I'm not sure how proven they are.