Database Users

Root questions

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

[Q] Droid 2, Roms & activations

You guys must be tired of people asking the same over and over, and to be honest that is because information is so scattered newcomers often get confused.
But Anyways.
I've got myself a motorila Droid 2 a few days ago, poking around internet i found about rooting and roms and all that stuff, however I've got a question that's yet to be answered!
I'm currently residing in Mexico, my Droid 2 is unlocked and activated on a mexican carrier, however on the guides I've red so far it says that one of the requirements for installing custom ROM's one must wipe all data from the phone and return to factory settings, this means i will have to pay AGAIN to get it unlocked and activated?
As i said before, information is scattered, and is not always accuarate.
Somewhere on the net i also found a post that states customs ROM's come unlocked... whats with that?
And one last question.
What will happen if i only root my phone, no custom rom added? will this be harmful in any way? could i be able to overclock and get rid of the annoying verizon apps or do i forcefully need to install a custom ROM?
Thanks for all answers in advance.

Rooting itself would not harm your device, however rooting allows you to do pretty much anything on the device. So, in other words, rooting wont hurt it, however what it allows you to do CAN hurt it.
As far as the roms being unlocked, as far as I have read, all roms are unlocked. However I could be mistaken. But there is an easy way to find out for sure: give it a try. What I would do first root the device and install the Clockwork Recovery Mod and then boot into recovery and make a backup. This way you can restore the phone back exactly as it was when you backed it up (using the restore option), as if you never made any changes. Then I would go ahead and install whatever rom you wanted to try out, and see if everything works as intended. If you dont like it, or it doesnt allow you to access the network, etc then all you need to do is boot back to recovery and restore your backup and when it's done you'll phone will be back to it's old self.
Links:
Root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=782556 (This is the process I used)
Clockwork: http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-install-clockwork-recovery-to-your-android-phone/
Not sure how experienced you are - or aren't - so if you have any deeper questions about the process or need more detailed instructions just let me know.
EDIT: Oops, I completely skipped some of your questions. With just rooting you can uninstall SOME of the preloaded crap, however there is allot of the preloaded applications and such that you cant uninstall without crippling your phones functionality. My originally plan when I first rooted my device was just to remove the bloatware. However after I saw just how much there was I couldn't remove I decided to jump to a custom ROM. Just to give you an example, I have the Fission ROM installed on my device, and it's packaged filed were about 70ish mb, while the packaged files to restore it back to stock/factory was nearly 300mb. And yes, rooting alone would allow you to overclock your phone.

Some Basic (Newb) Odin/Recovery/Backup/Flash Questions

Forgive my relative lack of knowledge/confusion on this topic, I'm coming from a motorola product and like to be extra careful when dealing with expensive devices.
I picked up the 32gb ATT S4, so far I have snapped a few pictures, logged into my google account, sent some texts and calls, and that's it. I am updated to MDL with the recent OTA.
What I am wondering is, does Odin provide a way to return back to 100% stock as if the phone came just out of the box from the store, specifically with the firmwares in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2263533 ?
When messing with things like this I always like to know that I have a sure-fire way to go back to 100% stock and start over (provided I don't screw something up that prevents that). I am essentially wondering, will flashing that firmware via Odin take me back to out-of-the-box settings with the whole "life companion" lock screen, flipboard and samsung hub widges on the homescreens, etc etc? Will it eliminate any user data or installed app data, or is there an additional process that wipes that slate clean.
From my understanding, Odin is the last-resort way to save your phone back to stock normal (once cwm/twrp and unlocked bootloader and custom ROMS are available), and that it is just a different means of flashing than recovery and most custom ROM developers utilize the recovery install method. I just want to know that I can wipe it to a clean slate as if I never had any trace of using the phone yet (with the exception of unlocking the bootloader, if it comes to that).
Thanks

Norcalz71 said:
Forgive my relative lack of knowledge/confusion on this topic, I'm coming from a motorola product and like to be extra careful when dealing with expensive devices.
I picked up the 32gb ATT S4, so far I have snapped a few pictures, logged into my google account, sent some texts and calls, and that's it. I am updated to MDL with the recent OTA.
What I am wondering is, does Odin provide a way to return back to 100% stock as if the phone came just out of the box from the store, specifically with the firmwares in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2263533 ?
When messing with things like this I always like to know that I have a sure-fire way to go back to 100% stock and start over (provided I don't screw something up that prevents that). I am essentially wondering, will flashing that firmware via Odin take me back to out-of-the-box settings with the whole "life companion" lock screen, flipboard and samsung hub widges on the homescreens, etc etc? Will it eliminate any user data or installed app data, or is there an additional process that wipes that slate clean.
From my understanding, Odin is the last-resort way to save your phone back to stock normal (once cwm/twrp and unlocked bootloader and custom ROMS are available), and that it is just a different means of flashing than recovery and most custom ROM developers utilize the recovery install method. I just want to know that I can wipe it to a clean slate as if I never had any trace of using the phone yet (with the exception of unlocking the bootloader, if it comes to that).
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can return it to 100% stock

jetlitheone said:
Yes, you can return it to 100% stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I felt fairly confident that I was on the right track, but the XDA content can get pretty tossed up if you're not really on top of your game.
Does the same process fully restore the recovery to the stock recovery (overwriting CWM and/or TWRP) as well?

[Q] Terminology Explained

HI, I have an LG G2 that I want to root, mainly so that I can get rid of some of the stock apps that are running in the back ground and using system resources however before I even venture down the rooting road I need some of the basics explaining to me. I am computer literate in the windows environment so am quite happy to have a go at rooting my device however I would like to get a better understanding of the terminology etc first, I also have a number of rooting specific questions if anyone can answer them. Ok here goes:-
1) ROM - What is it, my understanding is that this is basically the operating system shipped with the phone and therefore it follows that a custom ROM is one made by a third party that can be installed on the phone instead of the standard one. Am I correct on this.
2) Recovery - I have no idea what this is but am guessing that it is some way of recovering the device / re-setting it to its default factory settings if the phone goes completely wrong, I would therefore guess that a custom recovery is a third party recovery that does different things to the one provided by the manufacturer. Again am I correct in this or not.
3) Is it possible to gain root access on the device and keep the standard ROM. As I said before I want root access so that I can control the default apps and get rid of the ones that I don't use or run in the background, at this stage I don't want to install a custom ROM until I have had a go at just rooting the device (I suspect this will change as I love tinkering)
4) I am aware of the issue around warranty being void if a device is rooted, is there anyway to restore the device so that it is un-rooted and the repair centre etc will never know that it has been rooted. I understand that this is something to do with a counter needing re-setting but have no idea how to do this.
5) What software do I need to root the device.
I appreciate I have a lot of questions, most on the very basic side of things but I would be very grateful any help offered.
Thanks
Ben

Monkeyhands said:
HI, I have an LG G2 that I want to root, mainly so that I can get rid of some of the stock apps that are running in the back ground and using system resources however before I even venture down the rooting road I need some of the basics explaining to me. I am computer literate in the windows environment so am quite happy to have a go at rooting my device however I would like to get a better understanding of the terminology etc first, I also have a number of rooting specific questions if anyone can answer them. Ok here goes:-
1) ROM - What is it, my understanding is that this is basically the operating system shipped with the phone and therefore it follows that a custom ROM is one made by a third party that can be installed on the phone instead of the standard one. Am I correct on this.
2) Recovery - I have no idea what this is but am guessing that it is some way of recovering the device / re-setting it to its default factory settings if the phone goes completely wrong, I would therefore guess that a custom recovery is a third party recovery that does different things to the one provided by the manufacturer. Again am I correct in this or not.
3) Is it possible to gain root access on the device and keep the standard ROM. As I said before I want root access so that I can control the default apps and get rid of the ones that I don't use or run in the background, at this stage I don't want to install a custom ROM until I have had a go at just rooting the device (I suspect this will change as I love tinkering)
4) I am aware of the issue around warranty being void if a device is rooted, is there anyway to restore the device so that it is un-rooted and the repair centre etc will never know that it has been rooted. I understand that this is something to do with a counter needing re-setting but have no idea how to do this.
5) What software do I need to root the device.
I appreciate I have a lot of questions, most on the very basic side of things but I would be very grateful any help offered.
Thanks
Ben
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 Yes it is the operating system, AOSP means its full on custom. While STOCK based roms are the basic OS the phone came with but with multiple tweaks to improve performance and the system in general but keeping features that are not released publicly and drivers. For example camera performance etc.
2 Yes. The manufacturer recovery only resets the RoM to factory default. Custom Recoveries let you Backup your entire System (except files) to exactly the way it was before so if you do something wrong you can go exactly to the way it was before down to apps installed and messages.
so Stock is a Restore partition. Custom needs you to backup system first unless you store a Rom on Memory or external to *flash*
Custom actually gives you more options to recover a broken phone than stock.
3. Yes you can. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45692679#post45692679
4. The samsung Galaxys had counters to check root and flashes etc i believe LG G2 Doesnt you can remove root and also flash back to complete STOCK firmware for returning to manufacters.
5. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45692679#post45692679 GL read into it

squee666 said:
1 Yes it is the operating system, AOSP means its full on custom. While STOCK based roms are the basic OS the phone came with but with multiple tweaks to improve performance and the system in general but keeping features that are not released publicly and drivers. For example camera performance etc.
2 Yes. The manufacturer recovery only resets the RoM to factory default. Custom Recoveries let you Backup your entire System (except files) to exactly the way it was before so if you do something wrong you can go exactly to the way it was before down to apps installed and messages.
so Stock is a Restore partition. Custom needs you to backup system first unless you store a Rom on Memory or external to *flash*
Custom actually gives you more options to recover a broken phone than stock.
3. Yes you can. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45692679#post45692679
4. The samsung Galaxys had counters to check root and flashes etc i believe LG G2 Doesnt you can remove root and also flash back to complete STOCK firmware for returning to manufacters.
5. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45692679#post45692679 GL read into it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI,
Thanks for the info, I have now rooted my phone and as anticipated now have a whole load of new questions. Firstly I installed an app Root Checker Basic by joeykrim, just to make sure the phone was rooted and the app reported back that it was not rooted despite the fact that esfileexplorer now has root access and I have been able to install SuperSU by Chainfire so whats going on, is my phone rooted, not rooted or partialy rooted (if that's possible). Also I am not exactly sure why I need to use the SuperSU app, it doesn't appear to have any options for uninstalling system apps or changing previously restricted settings etc which I was expecting once I got root access, the stock ROM hasn't given me access to this stuff either so the question is how do I now get access to it, from other apps I presume. One thing that I do need SuperSU for is to use it in combination with hidemyroot so that SKYGO will still work as this app will not work on rooted devices, if there is another way to get SKYGO to work on rooted apps then I will happily give it a go as it means I wont need SuperSU then.
Thanks
Ben

Be careful wich apps from system you want to uninstall, you can brick your device.

Do not remove anything from /system, ever. Use Settings->Disable on the apps that allow that, anything else you absolutely thing you need to disable use (as root) pm disable com.package.name.
Google it for more details.

(Lots of words) I want to understand why I lose root instead of just flashing to fix

Let me start by saying I never gave rooted phones much though. I knew of them but never even knew anyone that ever had one. I figured the Galaxy S8 (G950U) would be a good phone to start with:laugh: Since it was my first rooted phone I couldn't resist experimenting, a lot. So I would flash this flash that, whatever I thought had a very small chance of working i flashed, lol. I usually would end up having to fireing up Odin and flashing the most important files on my PC, Partcyborg's awesome work, which I can flash with my eyes closed basically by now :laugh: Some things I would flash would just cause me to lose root though. It's driving me nuts not to be able to get it back without Odin. I could use Odin+Partcyborg's rom and have it back in 15 minutes, but I'm tired of being feed I'm ready to hunt, lol.
The thing is, I still have TWRP Safestrap custom recovery that I can access. I flash Supersu, it appears to flash fine but changes nothing, not even an SU icon in the app drawer. I did make SupoerSU Pro a system app a while ago, was that a mistake? I see it in the Apps list in Settings but I can't do much there except disable it and enable it (no it's not disabled,lol)
How can I get root back using custom recovery only? What should I have checked in Safestrap when flashing SuperSU?, Cache, System, Modem, etc? If anyone would care to explain some of the reasons I lose root but not custom recovery it would really calm my curiosity . I'm sure it would help a lot of other noobs also.
Boot animations is another thing that I find very interesting. Trying to change it has been the cause of at least 10 factory resets
I go to /system/media/ and swap out Booitanimation.zip, change the permission then I either get no change or I have reflash with Odin. What is all the files labeled Battery _000 Battery _001 Battery_002 all the way to Battery_100? Does the resolution need to be exactly the same as stock?
Is my rooted S8 not as rooted as other rooted phone? Lol, does that sentence make sense? Because of its locked bootloader and lack of custom roms is why I ask. Am I an idiot for buying a S9+ (G965U) since I love having root? I was hoping someone "cough...Part...cough cough...cyborg would be on it. If not though, no big deal. I do still have the S8 and still use it a lot even though it has no service, lol. Amazing phones not so amazing bootloaders though:laugh:
Thanks for reading. If you only skimmed it, thank you also. I know it's very long, lol. I just found something called a Combination Rom. Since I still have Safestrap I'm gonna do what I usually do, flash it and ask questions later:laugh:

Gregbmil1 said:
Let me start by saying I never gave rooted phones much though. I knew of them but never even knew anyone that ever had one. I figured the Galaxy S8 (G950U) would be a good phone to start with:laugh: Since it was my first rooted phone I couldn't resist experimenting, a lot. So I would flash this flash that, whatever I thought had a very small chance of working i flashed, lol. I usually would end up having to fireing up Odin and flashing the most important files on my PC, Partcyborg's awesome work, which I can flash with my eyes closed basically by now :laugh: Some things I would flash would just cause me to lose root though. It's driving me nuts not to be able to get it back without Odin. I could use Odin+Partcyborg's rom and have it back in 15 minutes, but I'm tired of being feed I'm ready to hunt, lol.
The thing is, I still have TWRP Safestrap custom recovery that I can access. I flash Supersu, it appears to flash fine but changes nothing, not even an SU icon in the app drawer. I did make SupoerSU Pro a system app a while ago, was that a mistake? I see it in the Apps list in Settings but I can't do much there except disable it and enable it (no it's not disabled,lol)
How can I get root back using custom recovery only? What should I have checked in Safestrap when flashing SuperSU?, Cache, System, Modem, etc? If anyone would care to explain some of the reasons I lose root but not custom recovery it would really calm my curiosity . I'm sure it would help a lot of other noobs also.
Boot animations is another thing that I find very interesting. Trying to change it has been the cause of at least 10 factory resets
I go to /system/media/ and swap out Booitanimation.zip, change the permission then I either get no change or I have reflash with Odin. What is all the files labeled Battery _000 Battery _001 Battery_002 all the way to Battery_100? Does the resolution need to be exactly the same as stock?
Is my rooted S8 not as rooted as other rooted phone? Lol, does that sentence make sense? Because of its locked bootloader and lack of custom roms is why I ask. Am I an idiot for buying a S9+ (G965U) since I love having root? I was hoping someone "cough...Part...cough cough...cyborg would be on it. If not though, no big deal. I do still have the S8 and still use it a lot even though it has no service, lol. Amazing phones not so amazing bootloaders though:laugh:
Thanks for reading. If you only skimmed it, thank you also. I know it's very long, lol. I just found something called a Combination Rom. Since I still have Safe-strap I'm gonna do what I usually do, flash it and ask questions later:laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so the boot animations off top of my head are now located in something something and your carriers folder...The can be changed
Is it actually not rooted or is su just not responding
I have had it where the prompt never comes up and granting all just never works either normally a few reboots later it starts....
the custom rom thing is most def cause of locked boot-loader....
Up til boot-loader revision 2 is all we have root for and cannot be downgraded 3 and up....
I have myself tried flashing stock system img and then su and busy box from safe strap and up til now even this has been a no go...
Safe-strap is cool but basically No better than flashfire.IMO.
I am working with the possible bluetooth fix right now and have bricked and flashed 20 times over in the last 12 hours...

It actually is not rooted anymore after I flashed what claimed to be a boot animation for the G950U. If I open the SuperSU app it points me to a non-working site that has directions on "How to root". Plus all of the apps I have downloaded that require root all tell me I'm not rooted. Oddly enough though I was able to flash Xposed and had a green light once I opened it, (remember I still had SafeStrap recovery) it could only be accessed manually. I was shocked and yet even more confused, lol. I only tried out 2 modules before I reflashed Partcyborgs files again. Again, I was very confused as to why the modules actually worked but root only apps would start , only Xposed modules. I did only try 2 though AdBlocker Reborn and SpeedUp, both acted as if everything was normal . I wonder if it had something to do with making SuperSU a system app, which it no longer is since I reflashed with Odin.
Thanks for the info on the Bootanimation, but still I can't even delete the one I have now, for educational purposes only, Haha. It is a pretty freaking sweat bootanimtion Partcyborg included. I can't find it though T-Mobile (G950U) btw