Database Users

Is it safe to update a rooted tablet?

Hi everyone
I'm a proud owner of a Galaxy Tablet. Recently I got a message in my settings that there is an update available. This is my first tablet so I'm not veru expérienced. My tablet is rooted. It crashed a couple of times but all in all seems to be working. My question is if it's safe to update. I read in the forums about phones being bricked and other problems with updating rooted phones and tablets. Is there anything I should do before installing the update to make sure it works?
Any advice is appriciated. Cheers.

In general, I would recommend against that.
At least you will lose root, or you may semi-brick your tablet.

Rather than update, I would suggest flashing to a stock Gingerbread ROM. It will be almost the same as an update, but you will still be rooted. Or you can go with a custom GB ROM like Overcome or BOCA. If you want to get the newest, I'd go with CM9/ICS. This gives you the brand new Ice Cream Sandwich. I'm enjoying it very much on my tab. I was hesitant because the theme engine is still not there, but someone suggested to me GO Launcher EX, and that thing works like a charm on CM9.

Was just reading about SuperSU that just came out and it can trick your device into thinking its unrooted, ie for updating stock firmware but bigz is right, there's a lot to be had with custom ROM's
Here's the link for SuperSU though
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1538053

Thank you very much people for your prompt replys. I only rooted my tablet to have an access to ad hoc wifis. I'm certainly enjoying Titanium Back Up and things like that. So I would like to stay rooted. Being inexperienced I sort of was more inclined to unroot it with a superoneclick then update it and then root it all over again.
Is it possible?
And I'm only trying to do it because I believe that the company's update is always the best. (Funny attitude for a rooted user, but I only understood it recently). Because normaly they do everything for you. So if I go with IT free spirited people then I will have a lot more questions.
* Are custom roms as stable and relyable as the official updates? Far be it from me to doubt the expertise of the guys who write them, I'm just really new to it.
* I understood from one of the posts that it might be even safer to flash a new ROM rather than do an official update. How does that work? I would like to understand before committing.
* And if I do a full back up with CWM (ROM included), does bricking bother me? I'm not very sure what bricking a tablet is.
I'll stop here with the questions not to be too heavey. My tablet: Samsung Galaxy P7310 8.9 WiFi only Honeycomb 3.1
Thanks in advance.!

Well, you are in wrong forum then.
This is for galaxy tab 7"
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA

Misled by the title
Thanks a lot. Do I have to do anything with the thread or just leave it? Might be usefull to sbd else.

i don't remember that Gtab7 got update function on the settings .. i may be mistaken but are you referring to the Gtab7 of Gtab7+ ? ?
Edit : i just noticed that you really mean the Gtab7+ my advice for you , sell it and get gtab7 instead i gave mine to my sister and got back my gtab7 , gtab7+ is suck as crap ...

k0sh said:
i don't remember that Gtab7 got update function on the settings .. i may be mistaken but are you referring to the Gtab7 of Gtab7+ ? ?
Edit : i just noticed that you really mean the Gtab7+ my advice for you , sell it and get gtab7 instead i gave mine to my sister and got back my gtab7 , gtab7+ is suck as crap ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what your means by gtab7+ is suck as crap ...?can you just explain,don't mind i am also a samsung galaxy tab 7" user.

There is no issue in un rooting your device and then upgrading it by keis and then rooting again and restoring your apps and data, Some apps may be incompatible with new version but you can check this in the market.
Just did this last week on my son's tab.
If you are running a custom rom then having a nandroid backup by cwm is advisable and if you don't like the upgrade then restore
If you run stock then you should upgrade via keis because you will get enhancements
Hope this helps. There are sticky guides on how to do this so would not worry as long v as you follow the instructions your fine.
Sent from my LT26i using XDA

recent ota update forced

is this happening to everyone? Wasn't going to install or even acknowledge that there was an update, because of the boot loader. But i plug it into a charger and 5 minutes later, it is like the phone is giving me the middle finger and accepting the update on it's own, without any question on if i want to or not.
My phone feels violated.
:thumbup:
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app

Same thing happened to me. O well not ready just yet to brick my s4 lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

tried everything i could to stop it, even removed battery as it started the update. was hoping for a brick, don't know why. lol, also not to worried about bricking mine, i am fairly confident in my ability to read, unless the thread is in some language other than english, but then again, now i got s translate!
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda app-developers app

You would of had to freeze the ota update apps before hand not to be forced to get it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

Could you please let me know which services to freez with TB on At&t S4 as to avoid forced updates, is it At&T Software Update V 42_1_1303_5_1?
Alos please excuse my noobiness, this is my first android and coming from apple jailbreaks, I of coarse was not happy with closed phone policy so i was researching root options (which i know very little about since its my first android platform). Anyways long story short I rooted using motochopper exploit and got superuser. My questions are:
1. Is motochopper a real root or just tricks the phone into thinking its root?
2. Read about a bootloader hack soon to be released...what exactly is that and what will it give us? also what would be the difference between the motochopper "root" i have on my S4 now and the bootloader hack to be released?
3. Got Ram Manager but was unable to create backup recovery since clockwork mod is not yet released for S4, is that true or is there other ways to use Rom manager?
4. And the last but not least, what should a noob user like myself do, or how can we avoid bricking our phones now that we rooted (with motochopper) or will use the boot-loader hack?
5. is Samsung.Cloud Data Relay 2.1.4 responsible in anyways for forced updates?
Please if you can answer any or all questions I would be so grateful, as im sure many other noobs like myself would be. Please don't think I don't research the subject, its just when you are new to something, you always want to be sure. I am sure logic is to be used and common sense also as to not mess with software service or delete stuff you don't know as to avoid bricking but is there something else to watch out for?
Thnks a million guys
Stokem

unlocking the bootloader will allow us to flash an alternate recovery such as clockwork or twrp and then flash a rom. best bet to avoid a brick is to read everything you can about what you want to do. make sure you read any instructions several times before doing anything to make sure you understand.
sent from my black at&t sgs4

p1gp3n said:
unlocking the bootloader will allow us to flash an alternate recovery such as clockwork or twrp and then flash a rom. best bet to avoid a brick is to read everything you can about what you want to do. make sure you read any instructions several times before doing anything to make sure you understand.
sent from my black at&t sgs4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you, will there be some custom roms developed for S4 once the bootloader is unlocked or is there some good once already?
also, i read that since AtT can force updates it might patch the bootloader unlock in the future, which processes do we have to freeze in order to avoid it on Att S4. I couldn't find any SDM processes as explained for other S4 carriers. Is it At&T Software Update V 42_1_1303_5_1, do you know by any chance?

I would imagine that roms will be developed & released, but can not say they definitely will.
sent from my black at&t sgs4

Once the bootloader is unlocked Roms will come fast and furious.
To avoid future updates freeze in TB:
AT&T software update
FWUpgrade
LocalFOTA

thank you for your replies. much appreciated

[Q] Should i root my Samsung galaxy S4?

Hi guys! I got my Samsung galaxy s4 first day of release and I really like it, I had an iPhone before and I jailbroke it because it made it so much better, but the question is, is rooting just as good as jailbreaking? Should I root my galaxy s4? It can sometimes be a bit laggy on the home screen and was wondering if a custom rom would fix it?

Michael1290 said:
Hi guys! I got my Samsung galaxy s4 first day of release and I really like it, I had an iPhone before and I jailbroke it because it made it so much better, but the question is, is rooting just as good as jailbreaking? Should I root my galaxy s4? It can sometimes be a bit laggy on the home screen and was wondering if a custom rom would fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to root it, its already good enough and if the small lag bothers you, have you tried other launchers such as Nova launcher? It's almost lag free.
But if you want the best experience from your S4 then yes root it, try CF auto root, but remember you lose warranty and anything can go wrong, so try to follow instructions properly and always backup your important data.

Jason2k13 said:
You don't need to root it, its already good enough and if the small lag bothers you, have you tried other launchers such as Nova launcher? It's almost lag free.
But if you want the best experience from your S4 then yes root it, try CF auto root, but remember you lose warranty and anything can go wrong, so try to follow instructions properly and always backup your important data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, I did try go launcher but just couldn't get used to it so I went back, but will give nova launcher a go. If I did root is it easy to un root it if I don't like it?

Michael1290 said:
Thanks for the reply, I did try go launcher but just couldn't get used to it so I went back, but will give nova launcher a go. If I did root is it easy to un root it if I don't like it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes its very easy to un-root, you can always flash a stock rom via Odin, and some custom rom have an option to unroot your phone.

Jason2k13 said:
Yes its very easy to un-root, you can always flash a stock rom via Odin, and some custom rom have an option to unroot your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about triangle away and resetting the binary counter back to zero? I think its not possible right now on i9500 variant.
Sent from my GT-I9500 using xda premium

yes right now its not possible for the i9500

Rooting all depends on your usage.
The benefits being custom roms, but again it all depends if you want to keep flashing and ensuring you always maximize the phone to its full potential.

norml said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
super nice and very good !
THX

If you don't know exact reason why you want to root your phone then rooting just for rooting makes no sense. Root access by itself won't make your device any better. Also try to remember that there are many guys here that blow their phones by messing with them.
I've rooted my old sgs2 after few months and used it that way. After some time the only thing I needed root for was the possibility to move apps data to sdcard.
My sgs4 is not rooted for now because I don't need it. Playing with mods or "removing bloatware" is total nonsense to me as I prefer stable device. Also flashing custom roms is nor for me. So widely spoken app Titanium Backup I've used maybe twice in a year, the same I can say about clockwork mod. Just have no time to mess and repair all the time because I need working device as it helps me a lot in my work as smartphone and assistant, not as subject to experiments.
Guy from that video nicely explained what is root for and all of this is definitely true (part about security can be controversial because rooting and installing su does not patch security hole and permission prompt appear only when root access is achieved by su not by security hole), but for me in everyday use it turned to be as useful as towel for a fish.
Android by itself is very good in terms of functionality and far from being restricted in a apple way. You cannot compare root to jailbreak because jb on iphone is needed to get some basic functions. Android has all of this out of the box.
Remember also that rooted phone looses OTA upgrade possibility.
Everything depends on how you use your phone - there is the answer to your question

I am the complete opposite. If I have a device running an os, whether it be a computer, smartphone or whatever, I want full control of the device and it's os as it should be. I want full axx, full power of it.
edit: forgot why I came here in the first place, to the OP, glad you liked the vid and also glad my post wasn't wasted space like the majority of posts I see on here all the time, take it easy.

Rooting all depends on your need while using s4

If you're asking yourself that question then no, you shouldn't root it.

New S4 new to ROMS and add ons

Hi I just got a new sprint Galaxy s4. I had a Samsung infuse 4g that I rooted and unlocked (which btw was hard to do for a newb way back then) but I never flashed a rom. To be honest I was afraid that I would destroy the phone. They are not cheap. I still have the infuse, so I guess I could practice flashing roms on that one but is it basically the same process? I just really really do not want to destroy my beautiful phone. Is it risky to flash ROMS or put other stuff in the phone? Thanks for the advice. This is an awesome site.

*Anything* you flash to your phone carries a risk (however minute) that it'll brick the device. The root method may be different, but for the most part ROM flashing is the same across any Android device.
IMPORTANT: Check your device model, since there are two variants of the Sprint S4 out there (SPH-L720 and SPH-L720T). The 720T doesn't work with all ROMs, and (last I checked) you lose the Spark connectivity, but 1x/3G/LTE will still work. I have one of the old models before Sprint started rolling out Spark, so I haven't really been keeping up with that part of it.

emeralds5668 said:
Hi I just got a new sprint Galaxy s4. I had a Samsung infuse 4g that I rooted and unlocked (which btw was hard to do for a newb way back then) but I never flashed a rom. To be honest I was afraid that I would destroy the phone. They are not cheap. I still have the infuse, so I guess I could practice flashing roms on that one but is it basically the same process? I just really really do not want to destroy my beautiful phone. Is it risky to flash ROMS or put other stuff in the phone? Thanks for the advice. This is an awesome site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
once you get the rooting done here is a great place to start looking for ROM's
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2303917

cyberweasal said:
once you get the rooting done here is a great place to start looking for ROM's
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2303917
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for replying. I posted a question on the rooting thread regarding the s4. I was wondering about rooting it with my
Android version. I believe it's the latest but was not sure. Do you know if it's relatively safe to try that or are there issues like boot loops? Maybe I should leave well enough alone because I doubt I could fix a brick. These are really nice phones...thanks for your help

emeralds5668 said:
thanks for replying. I posted a question on the rooting thread regarding the s4. I was wondering about rooting it with my
Android version. I believe it's the latest but was not sure. Do you know if it's relatively safe to try that or are there issues like boot loops? Maybe I should leave well enough alone because I doubt I could fix a brick. These are really nice phones...thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had no problems. that being said. make sure you also have a stock rom down loaded on the phone or on a pc to fall back on, that way if you do boot loop you can just flash that. also once rooted make a backup!
you can root without doing a new rom or even choose a rom thats mostly stock with minimal changes its up to you how deep you go.
first thing if first once you root if you have KNOX you WILL flag the knox warranty count by 1 and that is not reversible yet.
good luck

Disappointed

Got my new Note 4 on my doorstep. From a technical standpoint, the phone is nice. Pretty fast, nice screen. But I feel let down. I really hate the stock ROM. Running Nova helps. It makes it bearable. I really thought I would like the bigger screen. But the problem is everything is just enlarged. You don't actually have more screen real estate. I have had my GS4 running Cyanogen for quite a while now and I like it. On my new Note 4 I feel very disappointed. If there isn't a root in the next few days I may return it to the store and stick with my GS4.

There won't be a way to root for a long time or ever for that matter....sorry to burst your bubble. I would suggest doing your homework before buying a device for modding. The latest is no longer the greatest from that standpoint. That being said if you want root and do not care about future updates or warranty, the Developer Edition N4 will be out soon . the downfall is you must purchase it outright and there will not be much support for it. However it is unlocked and rootable.

I thought I could get used to it. After all TouchWiz has come a long way. Many people like it. The root for all the other carriers is out. And the talk is that once the stock recoveries are posted Chainfire will be able to get it part of CF-Auto-Root.

ericstephani said:
I thought I could get used to it. After all TouchWiz has come a long way. Many people like it. The root for all the other carriers is out. And the talk is that once the stock recoveries are posted Chainfire will be able to get it part of CF-Auto-Root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That "talk" is wrong. cf-root works by flashing a modded recovery and installing supersu via custom scripts made by chainfire for his own personal stuff. since you guys have a locked bootloader that means you wont be flashing any recovery/boot partitions.
plus factor in L's new security and if you guys dont get root before the ota rolls out you may never get it.

shabbypenguin said:
That "talk" is wrong. cf-root works by flashing a modded recovery and installing supersu via custom scripts made by chainfire for his own personal stuff. since you guys have a locked bootloader that means you wont be flashing any recovery/boot partitions.
plus factor in L's new security and if you guys dont get root before the ota rolls out you may never get it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn...guess I have no choice but to sell my note 4 and get the DevEd.

Anyone tried towelroot by @geohot ? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2783157 That's what's working for the VZW GS5

shabbypenguin said:
plus factor in L's new security and if you guys dont get root before the ota rolls out you may never get it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whats "L's" because the N4 is KK if that refers to Lollipop.
i cant tell you how many times i have had a phone that gets the dreaded "you wont see root for a long time if ever" and then within weeks (tops) we have root.
i would be willing to wager that before Dec and probably earlier there will be root for this N4

fletch33 said:
whats "L's" because the N4 is KK if that refers to Lollipop.
i cant tell you how many times i have had a phone that gets the dreaded "you wont see root for a long time if ever" and then within weeks (tops) we have root.
i would be willing to wager that before Dec and probably earlier there will be root for this N4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really hoping you're right...

fletch33 said:
whats "L's" because the N4 is KK if that refers to Lollipop.
i cant tell you how many times i have had a phone that gets the dreaded "you wont see root for a long time if ever" and then within weeks (tops) we have root.
i would be willing to wager that before Dec and probably earlier there will be root for this N4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didnt say you wouldnt ever get root, just that when it finally gets updated to L you can kiss all chances of getting root then goodbye. i imagine someone has an exploit they are waiting to drop and see if its patched in 5.0 whether or not it becomes public is entirely up to them at that point. as it stands that is your best shot at a 4.4 root.

i dont know what OP is talking about i have 100s of apps on this thing and still flying like butta!!!

pmterp said:
Anyone tried towelroot by @geohot ? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2783157 That's what's working for the VZW GS5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tell me how that goes!

Towel root will not work. The app itself says the note 4 isnt a capable device. Maybe geohot just has to include it, but i wouldnt get your hopes up

There well be a root method within the next week or so. The bootloader will never be unlocked on this phone. Hashtag was the safestrap guru. If someone picked up the reins from him, then we'll likely get a way to flash roms and recovery. Personally, all I want is root to take some of this crap off the phone. I'm done with flashing ROMs.

pmterp said:
Anyone tried towelroot by @geohot ? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2783157 That's what's working for the VZW GS5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it, no go. Luckily it tells you that the phone isn't supported instead of just screwing it up.

I'm going to take the 12 days I have left to pray for root if not I'm going to see what I can do with a Bluetooth stylus and a nexus 6. I'm upgrading from a note 2 running Aosp Roms. I had the phone for less then an hour before it was rooted and unlocked I ran beans Roms at first but my need to be on the newest version of Android and dislike of touchwiz I found aosp Roms with apps like GMD spen control great. Currently with the N4 I miss the custom gestures to open evernote and ime switch
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

alprazolam said:
There well be a root method within the next week or so. The bootloader will never be unlocked on this phone. Hashtag was the safestrap guru. If someone picked up the reins from him, then we'll likely get a way to flash roms and recovery. Personally, all I want is root to take some of this crap off the phone. I'm done with flashing ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like your optimism, but look at what happened to the S5 when it arrived. Took a lot more than the 2 week return window to achieve root. I'm still hedging between this phone and the Xperia, but seems like either way root will not be there quickly.

tsachi said:
I like your optimism, but look at what happened to the S5 when it arrived. Took a lot more than the 2 week return window to achieve root. I'm still hedging between this phone and the Xperia, but seems like either way root will not be there quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although the S5 root method doesn't work for the N4, it gives devs a head start.

Surprisingly, I am liking TouchWiz and so far haven't replaced the launcher yet. First time I am not running nova on a phone.

le0.br4zuc4 said:
Surprisingly, I am liking TouchWiz and so far haven't replaced the launcher yet. First time I am not running nova on a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, it's not terrible and not nearly as laggy as early phones were. I still use Apex so I can use icon and theme packs and make better use of screen size. All in all, if root never came, I'd be content enough to deal... it would be nice for Adaway, Titanium and Xposed though. I'll put my money down soon and see. I'm betting we get root sooner than later.

If root, or more importantly, flashing roms is that important to the OP, then why don't you go with t-mobile? Their Note 4 has an unlocked bootloader. Like another said, do your homework beforehand.