Hey, before im starting to think about rooting my s4, i have some questions:
1: is it just as "easy"/hard to root and inject a custom rom as it where 2 years ago?
2: If the phone is rooted, is there a simple safe way to unroot the phone to be able to update the phone if some performance improvements are available?
3: If i want to load a custom ROM either the rom with a clean android or a cyanogen one, and later want to revert back to stock s4 rom like the stock i got now, is that easy to do?
4: If i end up bricking the phone, is there an easy way to un-brick it or "restore" it to it's original state like iphone and it's itunes restore function?
5: When my phone is rooted, can i take backup of the full samsung's touchwiz and android state in case something goes wrong and then restore the backup?
6: If i unroot the phone, can i still update the phone's touchwiz thingy?
7: If there is no way to take backup of my stock rom, can i then easily fetch the exact same rom i use now from a website to flash it back?
sorry for so many questions, but i need answers since my 2 previous rooting attempts on htc and lg phones failed and got bricked.
Related
I know if you root you lose your warrenty, but my question is will you still be able to get an insurance replacement? Or is that also void? If you still can get an insurance replacement I don't see a reason not to root. I know for the Fuze I would just have to reinstall the factory rom, does this work the same way on android?
Also if I root and flash a new rom onto my nexus one, will I lose all the apps i bought? I really don't want to have to buy them all again.
Moved as not Android Development.
No, the apps you buy are synced with your google account so when you sign back in then you can redownload them.
About insurance, just give it some water damage or something and claim that. Root status or not shouldn't void it.
First off, thank you for your reply.
So my purchased downloads should appear under the downloads tab in the market after I finish flashing a new rom?
Also, just to make sure I have this process down right (trying hard not to brick my phone so please forgive my noobness to andriod, I got so used to WM phones)
First I need to make sure i have all the proper USB drivers.
Next I have to root my phone found in the following link which will wipe my phone also? http://theunlockr.com/2010/01/02/how-to-root-the-nexus-one/
Then I can flash CM 5.0.2 following his first time flash instructions found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=623496
I assume this has the recent OTA update already built with in the rom.
Finally I can then install the black bar (reason for doing any of this) found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=617336
It says it just has the framework so I really don't know what to do yet, but I'm figuring after I go through this process it will make more sense by then?
I see on some places that it would be a good idea to use nandriod before I root, but when I read the nandroid description it says the phone has to be alreayd rooted. So I'm assuming this would be a waste of time for now?
Is there any way to back up my messages, bookmarks, etc. before I root? If I just have to kiss them good bye I'd understand, but just trying to make sure before I do it.
on most of the things you are correct, the black bar mod, you just flash in recovery after you flash the rom.
technically you can nandroid before you root, unlocking your bootloader and rooting are two separate things. After you unlock your bootloader and flash the recovery image to it, you are not technically rooted and can use the recovery image to make a nandroid of your unrooted phone.
there are a few backup apps in the market for various things. I know there are a few sms backup apps, but am not so sure about bookmarks.
you have the idea of what to do down though
Noob question... If i install clockwork recovery and do a nand backup, will i be able to restore my phone, no matter what i do to it (software-wise) or can i still brick it?
Im new to rooting and mods and im looking for a way out of trouble if i screw things up.
once you are done with the rooting process, and have clockwork installed as your recovery - it is very very difficult to brick your phone.
if you are dealing with the standard roms here - there is almost no way you can really screw up, to a point where you can't just go back to a functioning nandroid backup.
for further security - i copy my nandroids backups to PC, so if the sdcard ever gets toasted or corrupted - I will still have a good recovery image.
From what I hear you gotta do something really really stupid to brick your phone. If anything I think it's the rooting process that can brick your phone since there's no nandroid yet or if you don't do a proper procedure during a rom flash. Unrevoked makes it painless and easy. I suggest running Ubuntu then rooting because I had trouble with windows. Follow the guides and you're set =)
Edit: Here's the guide I used. Very easy and painless. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=741824
really the only way i can see you bricking the phone is if you screw up flashing the recovery/radio or boot image.
Ok so if the power goes out when im flashing my phone its lost right? Even if i have my nand backup. And what about the warranty? If i flash back to my original backup and unroot, will anyone be able to tell i've been messing with my phone?
I don't know that "unrooting" is as easy as just removing the superuser app, and flashing back a stock recovery image. The best way to unroot - is to flash an RUU stock image (which includes the stock recovery, and unrooted system image)
you can find the stock at&t RUU from shipped-roms.com under "liberty"
dexmix said:
I don't know that "unrooting" is as easy as just removing the superuser app, and flashing back a stock recovery image. The best way to unroot - is to flash an RUU stock image (which includes the stock recovery, and unrooted system image)
you can find the stock at&t RUU from shipped-roms.com under "liberty"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So dumbing this back down to superNoob level, you're saying that I could root my phone and then put it back the way it was later so that AT&T/HTC would be none the wiser?
911jason said:
So dumbing this back down to superNoob level, you're saying that I could root my phone and then put it back the way it was later so that AT&T/HTC would be none the wiser?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.... you can go back to the un-rooted state at any time.... it is quite easy... i have tested this... it took me about five minutes to un-root my phone with the HTC RUU ... everything was stock with all the dang bloat ware and no root .... i then re-rooted and put a nandroid back up on that i made just before un-rooting...
Hi all,
[I originally posted a question about this in the General Discussions forum, before I realized that there were dedicated forums for each phone model. So please forgive me for effectively double-posting]
Totally new to Android, only got my Desire Z last Friday. I'd like to root my phone and play around with custom ROMS, but I'm worried if I ever need to return the phone for warranty purposes, and for when I buy another phone and want to sell this one.
So my objective is to make sure I have a failsafe way to revert back to my current stock HTC ROM before I start messing around with rooting/custom roms.
As I understand it, the generic steps for rooting/s-off/custom rom are:
- Gain temproot
- Gain permroot + S-OFF
- Install custom bootloader and recovery image (ROM Manager/Clockworkmod)
- Install custom ROM
So if I want to revert back to the stock HTC ROM, I image I need to do the following:
- Restore HTC ROM
- Restore original recovery image and bootloader
- Remove permroot and set S-ON back
- Remove all traces of the method to gain root/S-OFF
Is that generally correct?
I'm currently thinking about using the following procedure, but there's a few gaps in there still. I'd appreciate it if people could verify my procedure and fill in the gaps...
Permroot+S-OFF the phone
Step 1. Back up phone data
Planning to use HandyBackup for that, just need contacts, SMS and call log...
Step 2. Flash older HTC firmware
There's no permroot/S-OFF hack for firmwares >=1.72 at the moment, so we have to first downgrade to 1.33.405.5 using the method described on http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=905261 (steps 1-12)
After I do this, make sure I never ever upgrade this phone to >=1.72 again!
Question: this guide tells me to make a goldcard first. As I understand it that's only required if you have a branded phone. My Desire Z is not branded as far as I know, so is it correct to say that I do not need a goldcard?
Step 3. permroot+S-OFF
Follow steps 13-19 from the link above.
Better get the original CID here as well? How?
Step 4. Create a backup of the existing bootloader and recovery image
Question: how can I do this?
dd if=/.... of=/....
dd if=/.... of=/....
Step 5.Install ROM Manager
Step 6. Install recovery image from inside ROM Manager
Step 7. Create a backup of the phone using ROM Manager
This will be a backup of the stock HTC rom, which is rooted+S-OFF. I will need this later in case I ever want to revert the phone back to factory defaults
Now how to revert back to factory defaults:
Step 8. Restore stock HTC ROM using ROM Manager
Restore using the backup I created in step 7 above.
Step 9. Restore original bootloader and recovery image
Question: how can i do this?
dd if=/... of=/....
dd if=/... of=/...
Step 9. S-ON and remove root
Question: "gfree -r -f"? This link here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Returning_to_Stock talks about using "gfree -r" to restore "partition 7", but I've not seen anywhere where this backup of partition 7 is actually created...
Step 10. Clean up after myself
remove psneuter, gfree, uninstall ROM Manager, Visionary, SuperUser
So, summarizing my questions:
- Do I need to make a goldcard/debrand my phone first?
- How can you make a backup of the existing bootloader/recovery image?
- How can I restore the original bootloader/recovery image?
Kind regards...
Just root your thing already. I'm not confirming anything or nothing in your very well put escape route...but worry about that later. Yes there's always going to be a way to unroot. Especially when we have the files nao.
Root via the wiki page to downgrade then use the rage/gfree method to temp then permroot.
You CAN (and should) backup your stock ROM, but there is no need to revert to it before unrooting. The method of unrooting restores a completely bone stock ROM anyways. The backup is just useful to keep around if you ever make a misstep installing a new ROM and need to revert back.
To unroot, follow the wiki to unroot lol.
As long as you keep a program like Titanium Backup up to date, you'll always have your apps and system data backed up too. This much extreme caution is not necessary as much as it pains me to put it that way. Just backup your apps and be smart when u install a new ROM and you'll be fine.
martonikaj said:
You CAN (and should) backup your stock ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, then how (and at which stage) do I back up my stock ROM? Before or after downgrading and rooting?
To unroot, follow the wiki to unroot lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the wiki only says:
In case of the original T-Mobile G2 the stock rom is called PC10IMG_Vision_TMOUS_1.19.531.1_Radio_12.21.60.09b_26.02.01.15_M2_release_149459_signed.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, guess what: I don't have a T-Mobile G2. I have an unbranded Desire Z. So which stock rom do I use in case I have to restore, and where do I get it from?
Sorry for being paranoid, but given the trouble my wife would give me in case I somehow ruined my phone (yes, I'll get into trouble even if it's my phone and not hers ), a bit of advance planning is worth it to me.
Hi,
a little background first and then my question, i'm not new to rooting phone and so on, and every device i had up till now was rooted almost in the second i got home after buying it. but rooting via tools others made , i'm not a developer and no expert on ADB or such. just used other ppl guides and methoods.
but, my new s7e international version with the exynos chip is one week old and not rooted yet. and i didn't find my stock Rom on sammobile website, so i was wondering should i root or not, decided to root, so i got all the files for rooting ready, but since i didn't find my original stock Rom on the web, yet, i was wondering how can i backup my original stock rom before rooting it so i have it just in case something goes wrong.
questions:
1. is there a way to backup the entire original stock Rom that cam with my device ?
2. if i flash TWRP via Odin, and only TWRP , without Chainfire's CF auto root . will i be able to backup my my original rom?
thanks for helpers
sol
You can always restore your phone with smart switch
MATRIKS said:
You can always restore your phone with smart switch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does smart switch do a full rom backup or just my app data?
Sent from my SM-G935F
Theres no way to backup your entire phone as stock (not that I know of), Once you root that thing you can never use smart switch (again not sure but with knowledge that everything Samsung updates/updating related will not work once youre rooted), but going back to stock is easy.
Once youre rooted and got TWRP installed, you can now backup your whole phone using the TWRP backup.
Stock Firmwares:
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/SM-G935F/
For now i leave it stock. Once i see my operator stock rom in sammobile list ill root it. Because for once i want to have my stock rom as a backup
Thanks anyways
Sent from my SM-G935F
Hi Guys
So I'd consider myself alright on rooting a phone by a guide,
Backing up the phone's ROM should be easy enough once you've got a custom kernel on there. I've installed enough kernels and roms to understand enough on my old S6, and sony before that.
But what happens if you want to back up the factory Kernel from your phone before rooting? Since you have to overwrite the kernel before getting root.
I know there is factory kernels out there for download, which work sweet, but having an international version of a phone, I've noticed that these kernels don't always work as they should.
Like for example back on my old samsung s6, I lost the ability to use Google play music, which forced me to use spotify a couple of years ago.
Is it even possible to back up a kernel pre-root for safety purposes? or should i see if samsung will provide that file?
Thanks Guys
henrybs14 said:
Hi Guys
Is it even possible to back up a kernel pre-root for safety purposes? or should i see if samsung will provide that file?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Step 1: unlock bootloader
Step 2: install custom recovery
Step 3: create system backup
Step 4: root/flash/whatever you want to do
Step 5: **** up phone in step 4
Step 6: restore backup from step 3
Step 7: refer to step 4
FYI, the kernel is part of the BOOT.img