Database Users

Why Root?

Hi, all.
I am completely new here, and have heard many users talking about how **update** only works on rooted devices. I would like to know what the advantages and disadvantages of rooting my phone would be, considering I have a phone with warranty and insurance from the supplier.
Thanks in advance to all users who can help.
Andy

Tethering, Custom ROMs with optimised performance, Take Screenshots of your phone... are the usual reponses you will get.
Personally, none of these are really important to me. The main reason I rooted is the fact that one day HTC will stop producing official updates for your phone (it seems 2.1 is the last for Hero users). But with root, you can soon flash on Android 2.2 (CyanogenMod 6).
If you dont want to void your warranty just yet... wait til you are desparate for 2.2

Thanks for the reply, but seen as it seems the only disadvantage is voiding the warranty, surely it is a good idea to root as I have insurance, which should cover all things covered in the warranty?
EDIT: Does rooting keep the sense UI?

Hey Andyt95.
As mobydeek has pointed out, there is definately a reason to root your Hero and rooting will only enhance your device. I'm not sure about this (somebody else will have to clarify for me)..But even if you was to root your device, you could, in essence, revalidate your warranty by flashing back to an older ROM (RUU) which in essence resets your entire phone back to how it was.
Anyway, before I confuse you - Rooting more or less means gaining full access to your phone..that's it pretty much, meaning that nothing else changes apart from the fact you can do more with it if you so desire.
Once your phone is 'rooted', you'll be able to 'flash' custom ROM's which will get the most out of your phone..including overclocking! (if you wish to, not compulsary).
Alot of the people from around these parts root their devices the same day they buy them. It's definately a plus thing and something that I definately recommend doing if you wish to see the better side to your Hero.
If at all you do wish to progress, there are plenty of people that will be more than happy to guide you along the way - including myself. Take a look around, see what you think and go from there.

To root or not to root?

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

[Q] Selling Evo...should I unroot?

I've an HTC Evo that's been rooted using unrevoked3 and flashed with Cyanogenmod 6.1.2. I'm planning on selling the phone but am curious what the general opinion is regarding doing so with a custom rom installed? Should I unroot and get back to factory default before selling or simply sell it as is?

i dont know...
but if I was John Doe... and wanted root, but was always scared to. I think it would be a Plus for a lot that it has ROOT and ROMed for better performance and battery life.
You should put in your ad...will put back to stock if you want.
put all the files for rooting, unrooting, ROMs, and mods that you have for the evo.. in to the sdcard...under 1 directory. do quick write up on how to instructions for all. links to the web instructions.

but if I was John Doe... and wanted root, but was always scared to. I think it would be a Plus for a lot that it has ROOT and ROMed for better performance and battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I could also see people that are worried about it, and just want a stock phone in case they have problems and need to go back to the sprint store.
I would tell people in the ad, that the phone can either come rooted or stock, that way to appeal to both groups of people.

Maybe you should ask the buyer if he or she wants the phone rooted or not

Thank you all for your quick responses. I believe my question has been answered. I think the proper thing to do would be to unroot and reset to factory defaults for warranty purposes and provide the option of rooting should the buyer desire to receive the phone in a rooted state.

I say rooted phones have more value, some people dont wanna go through the process themselves, but like the person above me said, you should ask. You also might get some people asking whats root....which is weird and funny from our perspective, but theres normal people out there that want evo's dont forget

Give the buyer options, but since it is already rooted leave it that way until the buyer decides. why go through unrooting it until you know how the buyer wants it.

Unroot it is the best option, you might like CM but the buyer probably won't. I've seen so many posts of people having problems going back to stock and getting boot looped or stuck on boot screen. If you sell them a rooted phone then they won't be able to go back to Sprint for help and they will be screwed. Which means they will give you negative feedback or force a refund from paypal because you sold them a broken phone. Trust me, in the long run they want a stock phone and let them take the risk of rooting or you will have a lot of headaches.

Be honest with the customer. Sell what you have done to the phone as high points. I sold my old hero for $50 more than the going rate on CL because I created value in the eyes of the consumer through marketing. I also solicited my services should they have an issue software wise with the phone or if they ever had to take it into sprint for repair.

Indicate in the ad that the phone gets much better battery life because of customizations, cpu tweaks, etc as compared to stock. However do offer the option of bringing it to a fully stock state if the buyer chooses. The point about bringing it back to sprint is not withstanding. Anyone with half a clue realizes buying through such channels is on as is basis.

The words "as is" shoots into my mind

Buying g2 - couple of questions

Hello there,
I recently bought sgs4, because it was cheap from my carrier, but unfortunately it was i9515 version - almost completely without community support and locked (knox, flashing anything unofficial trips it's flag and loses you warranty). It's not realistic to expect custom roms etc, so I'm considering selling it and buying this device.
It seemed great, when I compared specs, I also read few threads and those about recovering from hard brick were very promising. Also many roms are present, a way To Flash original firmware and repair under warranty etc. etc. But I stumbled upon a thread about screen and it was really disturbing.
How often do people experience problems with screen? (Phantom touches, "noisy"input, black lines)?
Also, are there any other problems, that I overlooked and missed? Like that roms are nonfuntional, gps/cell radio/wifi radio doesn't work always. Would you consider this phone worth buying and selling relatively "safe" (I mean working hardware) s4?
Thanks for your replies.

marmelada said:
Hello there,
I recently bought sgs4, because it was cheap from my carrier, but unfortunately it was i9515 version - almost completely without community support and locked (knox, flashing anything unofficial trips it's flag and loses you warranty). It's not realistic to expect custom roms etc, so I'm considering selling it and buying this device.
It seemed great, when I compared specs, I also read few threads and those about recovering from hard brick were very promising. Also many roms are present, a way To Flash original firmware and repair under warranty etc. etc. But I stumbled upon a thread about screen and it was really disturbing.
How often do people experience problems with screen? (Phantom touches, "noisy"input, black lines)?
Also, are there any other problems, that I overlooked and missed? Like that roms are nonfuntional, gps/cell radio/wifi radio doesn't work always. Would you consider this phone worth buying and selling relatively "safe" (I mean working hardware) s4?
Thanks for your replies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi!
So, for me, of course this phone is "safe": of course you can read trough forum that there is issues, sometimes, when you flash some ROMs or stuff like this.
But you have to know 1 thing; usage you made of your phone influences on his state: if you want to use it at daily phone, without custom ROM, in stock mode, is very safe.
If you want to flash custom ROM (click on the link in my signature, best ROM ever) but you respect installation rules, there is MINOR chances for you to have issue(s).
Even if it's the case, majority of time there is solution.
Do I answer to your question?

casual_kikoo said:
Hi!
So, for me, of course this phone is "safe": of course you can read trough forum that there is issues, sometimes, when you flash some ROMs or stuff like this.
But you have to know 1 thing; usage you made of your phone influences on his state: if you want to use it at daily phone, without custom ROM, in stock mode, is very safe.
If you want to flash custom ROM (click on the link in my signature, best ROM ever) but you respect installation rules, there is MINOR chances for you to have issue(s).
Even if it's the case, majority of time there is solution.
Do I answer to your question?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, thanks for your post, but it didn't really answer my concerns. I'm more worried about hardware defects, which seem to happen to this phone and I want to know how many devices are affected and what is the chance that I'll have to repair it under warranty.

I can say that the biggest problem WAS the screen getting yellow spot. I've never heard about phantom touches. However it is possible. So about the yellow spot it was happening on the old devices, then it was fixed. There are a lot of brick scenarios, but most of them are easly fixable. Anyway i think it's more brickable than samsung. (I consider them as the easiest devices for unbrick) Then it's the performance. It's faster in any way. And last my friend have exatcly the same phone and after a bit of use it gets realyyyyyyy hot. I mean compared to G2 it's awful. It's still a great phone even that G4 was just released. I hope i helped and you buy the phone.

When I first got this phone it was relatively safe. However, I lost my first G2 and I ended up with this Asurion replacement and it was okay too but now I'm experiencing Phantom touches I'm not sure from what it could be: butt pocket, wallet case, tight shirt pocket, actually hitting the Snooze part of the screen too much. You see my point anyone of those things could be the culprit. I love this phone and I would love to keep it but as of right now I can't rely on it to wake me up.

comk4ver said:
When I first got this phone it was relatively safe. However, I lost my first G2 and I ended up with this Asurion replacement and it was okay too but now I'm experiencing Phantom touches I'm not sure from what it could be: butt pocket, wallet case, tight shirt pocket, actually hitting the Snooze part of the screen too much. You see my point anyone of those things could be the culprit. I love this phone and I would love to keep it but as of right now I can't rely on it to wake me up.
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Click to collapse
When did you receive the replacement phone? All replacements do come with a 1 year limited warranty!

First 1+ phone, been a while since I've been in this community

Hello All,
This is my first 1+ phone in general, and first phone in a while I might need to root/bootloader unlock. Just wondering how everyone has been liking this phone, and the difficulty (at least just rooting) for unlocking/rooting this phone under T-Mobile. I might be done with flashing ROMs, but at least root would be nice again. After the S5 on Verizon I've basically been done with this, but did root my LG G5/v10/20 back when they came out. Coming from the LG G6 that I've been trying to wait until May to upgrade, but this ridiculous moisture sensor issue has forced me to upgrade since I can't even charge my phone.
Thanks in advance!

Welcome back friend and follow the guides to root. I have the international version and the experience has been pleasurable so far. People are willing to help and what not