Hi all, I new here to the forum.
I understand my question might be INCREDIBLY redundant, but hopefully you guys won't take it to hard on me! I came from a GNex prior to purchasing my i9500 S4 this past week and I found no need to root my old gnex because I had no problems with it whatsoever. But of course, Samsung packs tons of bloatware which I would like to do away a few of them on the S4. My question is, can someone direct me or help me with what rooting is all about and how to do this properly? I understand rooting is to remove unnecessary amounts of bloatware off the phone and that could possibly increase performance/battery life on the phone, but I am incredibly unfamiliar with terms such as freezing, kernals, etc. I'm a super noob when it comes to the likes of this. I'd greatly appreciate anyone who could help out as I do not want to mess my phone up!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_rooting
wasn't so difficult, right?
Related
I know most people are gonna tell me I should root my phone, but just hear me out really quickly...
I just got my Samsung Vibrant and I truly love the phone. It's a huge upgrade from my G1 in pretty much every way I can think of. I had my G1 rooted since like the second week I had it. I started off with JesusFreke's ROMs and then made my way to Cyanogen's ROMs with a few others that I tried here and there. I tried a bunch of different themes and I used quite a few root apps. I know my way around the rooted Android scene (or at least the rooted G1 scene) pretty well, but I'm not entirely sure if I want to root my Vibrant and here's why:
I'm afraid of voiding my warranty.
There's not really anything that I want to do with the phone that it can't already do (for example, it has plenty of space for apps without the need for A2SD).
I don't want to risk losing things like my text messages over and over again from switching to different ROMs (this happened to me quite a bit with my G1).
My G1's battery and overall performance were much much worse than my friends' G1s which were not rooted. I don't want this happening with my Vibrant.
Some people will think that these reasons are either unimportant or nonexistent, but I disagree. Again, before people start saying "these are the risks of rooting, deal with it or leave," I want to stress that I'm not a newbie at this.
Anyway, the main reason that I DO want to root the phone, regardless of the fact that I told myself I wouldn't, is because of all this junkware that T-Mobile preinstalled the phone. I didn't know the phone came with this crap (like GoGo, TeleNav GPS, Slacker, etc.). We all know that you can't remove this stuff without rooting...I've counted 11 apps that I want to remove from the phone because they're effectively advertisements and I don't want them. So before I make a decision, I'd like to ask some questions...
Would you root the phone if you were ME?
Is it possible to root the Vibrant, remove the apps, and then unroot it, thus leaving the apps gone?
If not ^^, then is it possible to root the Vibrant and keep the stock ROM? I really don't want any custom ROMs...I just want to remove the junkware.
I'm sorry if similar questions have been asked before, but I feel like my specific needs and concerns probably aren't shared by most of the XDA community so I created my own post...
Thanks,
Gerard
actually I think what most are going to say is search the forum... There are several threads on the topic.
You don't have to add any roms if you're rooted. Yes you can remove the bloatware with root. Yes its easy to take your phone out of root, but with the bloatware missing its not hard to see that you have had root at one point.
I actually did root my phone just to remove the junkware....and then used titanium backup to remove what I didn't want....it took me 3 mins to root compared to the 15 mins it took for my nexus....i say its worth it....you can't even tell its rooted so I'm pretty sure the warehouse will never catch it if a exchange is ever needed.....you ll personally make up ur mind as soon as u see the cyanogen 2.2 rom come out hopefully that will be soon....I SAY GO FOR IT
Sent from my Samsung™ Vibrant using XDA App
I'm not bothering to root while I can still return the phone (1st 30 days) and not all the HW issues are know. Once a decent custom ROM is available I'll start looking into rooting, customer recovery, etc. The only thing I'm missing a bit from not being rooted is my Wifi tethering...
Thanks for the replies, guys (and/or girl(s) it looks like lol). I'm glad I wasn't destroyed by people telling me to search the forums...
I'll probably end up doing root sooner or later with very few modifications (if any). I'll wait it out a bit, though. My questions have been answered.
Thanks again!
Gerard
I know there are multiple threads about rooting but I am thoroughly confused even after researching on here and google. I will be exchanging my phone for a new Sprint Note 3 today and just want to know what is the best way or program to root my note 3 since I've seen stuff about "tripping knox" which would void the warranty. My main purpose for rooting is to to get Adfree and extend battery life by using SuperSU, Greenify, and Titanium backup. I won't be doing any heavy usage and messing with much of the hardware other than minor tweaks for better battery life. I'll likely also be using the stock ROM since flashing a new or custom ROM is way over my head and I believe it would be easier to unroot if needed. Since I'm not vastly knowledgeable with this stuff, the simpler the better. Please be patient with my questions as I'm a newbie.
snapper11 said:
I know there are multiple threads about rooting but I am thoroughly confused even after researching on here and google. I will be exchanging my phone for a new Sprint Note 3 today and just want to know what is the best way or program to root my note 3 since I've seen stuff about "tripping knox" which would void the warranty. My main purpose for rooting is to to get Adfree and extend battery life by using SuperSU, Greenify, and Titanium backup. I won't be doing any heavy usage and messing with much of the hardware other than minor tweaks for better battery life. I'll likely also be using the stock ROM since flashing a new or custom ROM is way over my head and I believe it would be easier to unroot if needed. Since I'm not vastly knowledgeable with this stuff, the simpler the better. Please be patient with my questions as I'm a newbie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You really need to start reading, and you should start from this place:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-3-sprint
Pay attention to threads about the new towelroot method, since that one might be the only one that does not trip knox on 4.4.2 (if you get a phone with a very old firmware you might also use Universal Root De La Vega, but I know of little details on the Sprint model, you really need to do your reading in the specific Sprint Note 3 forum!).
Please forgive me if I am in the wrong place. I am trying to figure out where I should post my questions. First off is does anyone know if Kit Kat will be coming to Metro PCS Hydro life any time soon. I have heard that Kyocera has already released an update to Metro. I had a kernel update not too long ago.
So is the the place to ask for android development on the Kyocera Hydro Life? If not, where? Also if there is no interest in developing for a $50-$30 water resistant and impact resistant phone with a quad core and 1.5 gb ram and a qHD screen and an 8gb rom space and expandable 32gb sd card and I have no clue as to why??? I understand this is no Nexus 6 but it is a cool budget phone and the stock software is rather poor. It works but really I would love just a stock kit kat or lolipop on this phone. A custom kernel and rom could really make this thing fly for the cost. I think as a dev it is really an engineering challenge to make a stock device with some strengths and limitations really show its potential. SO please some dev somewhere try to help unlock the bootloader and give us the freedom to really use our phone!
My second question as a total newb to android development is with all the tutorials and reading it is a lot of information so if I was to try and attempt to unlock the bootloader and develop a recovery in a very easy to understand way I would love some help. know there are guides but I have serious add issues and to try and sift through I will simply get lost. I have had so much help from the XDA community and reaped so many benefits I figure it is my time to try to give back but it would be really helpful for me to get a clue on where to begin and go from there! You can pm me or post here if that is o.k. and maybe others who may be interested could try too. At first I think a custom recovery and unlocking the bootloader would be as far as I would like to go so I do not get to ahead of myself.
So I thank you to anyone who can either help me learn what I need to get the bootloader unlocked and write a custom recovery or ideally a experienced Dev who could take up the cause. I am grateful for any help on this!! Thanks!
Robert
Also a Hydro Life Enthusiast!
Hello Robbbzilla,
Thank you for posting that question, I also have a Kyocera Hydro Life, which over not so much time went down in value and now is discontinued on the network I used (metropcs). Which in and of itself, baffles me because it is probably the Best budget friendly phone I have ever had. I enjoy this phone so much that instead of upgrading to the next best thing, I have bought 3 of these off of people on Craigslist instead. Well worth it in my book. Any how, I am on my 4th one now and it's not because they always break or freeze up, or become sluggish or for any other phone problem, its because this particular phone has been stolen 3 times from me, and lost once!
On this particular phone (which I am using now) I decided I'd try the whole root idea which worked fantastic, however, I am still looking for a custom ROM and Kernel.
So my question to you is, Did you ever figure this out? Or did Anyone help you out with finding one?
I know this post was from a little while ago but would REALLY Appreciate ANY insight you or anyone else may have.
Again, thank you for such a clear, and well articulated question!
Keona
Hey everybody!
This is my first post and I'm new to the "rooting" scene but I've been spending extensive amounts of time researching and studying the fine art of rooting recently. Everytime I meet someone with an Android phone, I immediately ask if I can root it for them! Unfortunately, MY phone is a Verizon Note 3 running OTA Lollipop 5.0... Needless to say, at this point, no one's had any success rooting this elaborate puzzle that Verizon has so kindly constructed...
Now forgive me if this is just a crackhead fantasy, but I had an idea that's crazy enough that it just might work (but I doubt it)... I have a rooted Galaxy Gear smartwatch and since I've been overindulged in the rooting culture (and occasionally high enough to think outside the box while munching on some Taco Bell), I started wondering if there would be any way that you could use a rooted smartwatch that connects to the "unrootable" device to somehow bypass the security measures that Verizon has in place to prevent doing so...
Am I delusional? Or is there a remote glimmer of hope exposed by this idea? I'm sure someone out there who knows a helluva lot more about this **** than I do can enlighten me as to why this is (likely) a nonsensical idea... right?
To everyone out there who've been imprisoned by Verizon in this unrootable beast, we will prevail! I have been to the mountain top! And I couldn't see much because it was really cloudy ☁... BUT, I THINK MAYBE I saw a root on the V-orizon!
I haven't been active (posting or lurking) since the S4 days, so I'm a little out of touch. I've been scouring the forum (this one and others) all night, and given the KNOX changes, locked boot-loader, non-removable battery, etc., made to the Galaxy S Series, I'm a little uncertain about the current state of affairs.
Long story short, I dropped my phone today and shattered the display. Phone still works and all, but it's hard to see anything. I, like everyone pretty much I guess, am eligible for a free upgrade. (I already paid for my current [broken] phone, so no issues there. I already called and asked.) April, or longer given the confirmed delay, is a long way off to wait for the S8 (though I probably will), but if I were to get my S7 tonight, here's my question:
If I'm not interested in new ROMs or anything and just want to root my phone so I can have full control (mainly just to delete bloat, but also to edit some various system cfg files... it's okay--I'm a professional ), is that still doable on the the S7 without much hassle?
~Zach~ said:
I haven't been active (posting or lurking) since the S4 days, so I'm a little out of touch. I've been scouring the forum (this one and others) all night, and given the KNOX changes, locked boot-loader, non-removable battery, etc., made to the Galaxy S Series, I'm a little uncertain about the current state of affairs.
Long story short, I dropped my phone today and shattered the display. Phone still works and all, but it's hard to see anything. I, like everyone pretty much I guess, am eligible for a free upgrade. (I already paid for my current [broken] phone, so no issues there. I already called and asked.) April, or longer given the confirmed delay, is a long way off to wait for the S8 (though I probably will), but if I were to get my S7 tonight, here's my question:
If I'm not interested in new ROMs or anything and just want to root my phone so I can have full control (mainly just to delete bloat, but also to edit some various system cfg files... it's okay--I'm a professional ), is that still doable on the the S7 without much hassle?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can root, but it's more difficult on Bootloader 4 to root and keeo activation. It's all luck of the draw on whether the phone you get will come with a firmware on a earlier firmware. If you're on the APH firmware or below I believe, you can downgrade to APE1 and root pretty easily while keeping activation. I'd personally recommend it only if you want to root and are fairly experienced. Glad the first device I rooted was an S3 and not this.
YMNDLZ said:
You can root, but it's more difficult on Bootloader 4 to root and keeo activation. It's all luck of the draw on whether the phone you get will come with a firmware on a earlier firmware. If you're on the APH firmware or below I believe, you can downgrade to APE1 and root pretty easily while keeping activation. I'd personally recommend it only if you want to root and are fairly experienced. Glad the first device I rooted was an S3 and not this.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I got my start on the S3, too. S4 was easy, too, thanks to all the hard work to some very proficient devs here, at least until that update Samsung pushed to tighten KNOX and whatnot.
Anyway, about the S7, I've seen a couple of guides here and there about rooting the S7, but more prevalent are the "OMG... I've lost all my services!" or "OMG! My phone deactivated!" follow-up replies, and then those followed up by "hacks" to maybe get things working again. All in all, though, there really isn't much internet chatter (messages, videos, guides, etc.) about rooting the S7 compared to the S3 and S4, hence why I get the feeling it's not really recommended until you are extremely determined.
~Zach~ said:
Yeah, I got my start on the S3, too. S4 was easy, too, thanks to all the hard work to some very proficient devs here, at least until that update Samsung pushed to tighten KNOX and whatnot.
Anyway, about the S7, I've seen a couple of guides here and there about rooting the S7, but more prevalent are the "OMG... I've lost all my services!" or "OMG! My phone deactivated!" follow-up replies, and then those followed up by "hacks" to maybe get things working again. All in all, though, there really isn't much internet chatter (messages, videos, guides, etc.) about rooting the S7 compared to the S3 and S4, hence why I get the feeling it's not really recommended until you are extremely determined.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're fairly experienced with android rooting, go ahead and try it. I'd recommend backing up your pit file before you try anything though. Rooting and getting activation back on bootloader 3 is quite easy, but with the new FW's it's slightly more difficult. An XDA user has rooted the latest U firmware from sprint and has everything working from voice to data to all else. I'd recommend PMing @vegoja for help with bootloader 4 rooting, but anything with bootloader 3 rooting I can help you with. Good Luck!
Hello fellow s7 users..... i was wondering if i could possible get some help on this hellish root process that ive been waiting to gain. I have successfully rooted my device via pc, odin and that other stuff. However, my root access failed to keep activation as quick as it was to gain root. I was in the middle of disabling all the unwanted bloat ware and out of no where, my phone kicked itself into a reboot and fell victim to a bootloop. I managed my way out of it and was able to boot all the way through only to find out that a majority of the stock apps would "suddenly stop" itself. Took me a min to sort out that dilemma but after doing so, i realized that i no longer had root access but my device was still rooted...?? Ive done the uninstall, reinstall and clear data steps but still haven't been able to successfully grant superuser permissions. So maybe, i missed a step or misunderstood a thread but i cant seem to work my way around this predicament....... could someone please help me??
I apologize if I'm not on the right thread to ask for help.... worth trying at least.
Thank you