Couple of rooting clarifications needed - Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I've had my S5 for two and a half years now without ever resetting or anything. My phone has become crazy slow lately and I'm looking to do a complete wipe on it and seeing as the warranty is no more, I figured I'd give rooting a go. I have some questions about that though:
1. Is factory resetting a phone like re-installing windows for example? Clear it of all junk and we're back to square one?
2. Is rooting the phone going to automatically factory reset it? If not, do I factory reset -> root or first root then reset?
3. Once rooted, I understand some apps like Android Pay may stop working, is that correct?
4. Is rooting invertible? If I decide I need some of the apps that no longer work, can I go back to normal state?
5. After a root I can install a different version of Android, right? Would that make it possible for me to get closer to native Android and be able to remove all the excessive irritating stuff added by Samsung?
Thanks for you help.

Sucubis said:
I've had my S5 for two and a half years now without ever resetting or anything. My phone has become crazy slow lately and I'm looking to do a complete wipe on it and seeing as the warranty is no more, I figured I'd give rooting a go. I have some questions about that though:
1. Is factory resetting a phone like re-installing windows for example? Clear it of all junk and we're back to square one?
2. Is rooting the phone going to automatically factory reset it? If not, do I factory reset -> root or first root then reset?
3. Once rooted, I understand some apps like Android Pay may stop working, is that correct?
4. Is rooting invertible? If I decide I need some of the apps that no longer work, can I go back to normal state?
5. After a root I can install a different version of Android, right? Would that make it possible for me to get closer to native Android and be able to remove all the excessive irritating stuff added by Samsung?
Thanks for you help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll answer your questions in order:
1. Yes
2. No root doesn't factory reset the phone, and you don't need to factory reset before rooting. if you need help rooting I'll help you
3. Yes that's correct
4. Yes you can unroot and go back to a regular unrooted s5
5. Yes, these are called custom ROMs. I can help you pick a custom rom if you'd like

Thanks for the answers. You say factory reset is not needed, but isn't installing a new rom gonna wipe what's currently present? If not, do you think it would be enough to speed things up or a reset would be in order?
I am somewhat busy the upcoming couple of days but I think I'd try to root next weekend or so, so I'd love the help with choosing a rom beforehand yes. Is there a list of the available ones and which one is stable, etc?

Sucubis said:
Thanks for the answers. You say factory reset is not needed, but isn't installing a new rom gonna wipe what's currently present? If not, do you think it would be enough to speed things up or a reset would be in order?
I am somewhat busy the upcoming couple of days but I think I'd try to root next weekend or so, so I'd love the help with choosing a rom beforehand yes. Is there a list of the available ones and which one is stable, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installing a suitable ROM will definitely speed up your phone, it always did for me. And yes, this will delete everything currently present on your device. So be sure to have backupped stuff you want to keep.

Related

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

Root Question

Okay so I just have a few questions about rooting my phone before I do it, since I saw the root here that works for the most recent OTA update.
1) If someone happens with my phone (either bricking it from rooting or something inconsequential) will they not replace my phone due to it being rooted?
2) If they won't replace it due to being rooted (if it wasn't bricking), is there an easy way to unroot the phone?
3) I can't tell from the instructions, but I'm pretty sure some others have said that it might require you to restore factory settings, does this one require that?
4) The thread says that it is now impossible to unlock the bootloader, does this also mean that you can't use a custom ROM? How exactly do you add a ROM?
Sorry for all the questions, I've never rooted an android device before, and I don't have the time or energy to go running around Google/forums trying to find these answers.
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: yes I know i've already asked 2 of these questions, but I'm a stupid poop who needs validation.
wholocked10 said:
Okay so I just have a few questions about rooting my phone before I do it, since I saw the root here that works for the most recent OTA update.
1) If someone happens with my phone (either bricking it from rooting or something inconsequential) will they not replace my phone due to it being rooted?
2) If they won't replace it due to being rooted (if it wasn't bricking), is there an easy way to unroot the phone?
3) I can't tell from the instructions, but I'm pretty sure some others have said that it might require you to restore factory settings, does this one require that?
4) The thread says that it is now impossible to unlock the bootloader, does this also mean that you can't use a custom ROM? How exactly do you add a ROM?
Sorry for all the questions, I've never rooted an android device before, and I don't have the time or energy to go running around Google/forums trying to find these answers.
Thanks in advance!
EDIT: yes I know i've already asked 2 of these questions, but I'm a stupid poop who needs validation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first, rooting your voids the warranty, so technically, they (either VZW or Motorola) are not obligated to replace it. that being said, you can always play dumb and say that you accepted some OTA install, and now the phone won't boot up. usually, VZW will try to restore the phone, and if not, they'll replace it - no worries.
2.) I believe there is an unroot method, but I have not explored this. try doing a search on this forum for "unroot razr m"
3.) restore factory settings could unroot - check the threads
4.) you can still install a custom ROM, but you'll need to install Safestrap first. however, the custom ROMs available for SS are out-dated, and I don't think that any devs will be providing any going forward. however, I would not be too discouraged by this, as the phone is very solid stock. so rooting is the key to remove the bloatware to help increase battery life, increase performance, and reduce excess data usage.
hope this helps.

[Q] Few rooting questions from a noob

Okay, I wasn't sure where would be the best place to port this, so excuse me if I'm in the wrong place:
So, I was thinking about rooting my phone (S4 Verizon) and flashing the Cyanogen Mod 11 on it. I was wondering a few things about it though before I decide to do it...
1. Is there any way that I can flash the ROM, and still have my phone the EXACT way it is now, except with CM11? When I watch installation videos on YouTube, it seems like it refreshes your phone to simply having the stock Google experience, which I don't want. I'm currently using Nova, which I love, and I just really want... A. TouchWiz off my phone B. The Notification center of CM11 and C. The status bar. So, if there was any way to flash the mod and keep everything the way it is, similar to how you jailbreak iOS, that'd be great.
2. Is there any way to UNROOT the phone, if I ever need to? I have insurance on my phone with my carrier, so if it ever suffers a cracked screen or the like, I can get a free replacement, and I'm sure if I were rooted that'd probably be voided.
3. I was planning on picking up a Gear 2 Neo tomorrow. If I'm rooted and running a custom ROM, will I still be able to use the Gear to its full extent (as in, not like a G2 connected to it) while running the custom ROM? Or will the Gear detect that the device no longer has TouchWiz/has been modified?
4. Also, if it isn't possible to load CM11 like you would jailbreak, and you always start with a clean boot, how would I go about reloading all my data/ contacts/photos/apps/Nova setup? How/what should I use to back everything up?
Thanks a ton in advance, I know, I'm a noob lol
1. Mostly , but there will be slightly difference maybe, depends how you look things. I don't really get your point B and C.
2. Unroot yes, but you must know there is something called KNOX, which will avoid your warranty, and by now this can NOT be undone.
Which means, unroot is easy, but if your carrier checks KNOX, you are so dead...
3. I think, gear support is part of TW framework, which means CM11 will be act like any other non-samsung connected to it.
4. I don't really understand it
If you mean the content in your internal/external sdcard, flash ROM will not delete them as long as you don't choose to (like option of format sdcard in recovery ) but you are on Verizon s4 , I don't really know about it, if it requires unlock bootloader, then you better back up sdcard first.
And yes, clean flash requires you to do apps backup and wipe data / cache / system before flash

[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.

How to fully unroot + recover device into factory default

I've rooted with King Root. Since I have got troubles with GPS and need to send phone for repair, I need to completely unroot with no trace that phone was rooted. Do you know hot to do it...? I've found that after unroot via King root RW is still mentioned while booting, so it's not clean unroot... Please explain if you can step by step.
Thank you very much.
Martin
Can you just do a factory reset from the recovery menu? Before I bought mine on Ebay I asked the seller about rooting and what if it bricks, he just said I can send it back within a month with no questions asked more or less.
Droid_Nut said:
Can you just do a factory reset from the recovery menu? Before I bought mine on Ebay I asked the seller about rooting and what if it bricks, he just said I can send it back within a month with no questions asked more or less.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't try yet, in the meantime rather asking. Now did Nandroid backup and trying to find out if I can flash it without root in COS recovery or need to root again, install Nadroid backup and restore vie this app.
Also in Nandroid backup is missing script for Lenovo ZUk Z1 and no chance to find it, so I will cross fingers that it will not cause additional problem during recovering from backup...
Droid_Nut said:
Can you just do a factory reset from the recovery menu? Before I bought mine on Ebay I asked the seller about rooting and what if it bricks, he just said I can send it back within a month with no questions asked more or less.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried factory reset and full wipe and still not updatable, OTA update ends with same log "system was RW mounted" so it seems it's irreversible if you root. Very bad news, so you can't then apply warranty.
Do you have anybody advice how to reset into facotry default without any trace device was rooted..?????
You could try this toolkit, but you will need stock rom. http://forum.xda-developers.com/zuk-z1/development/win-zuk-z1-toolkit-0-1-alpha-t3235964
So it seems, it's not possible to make safe root and unroot on ZUk Z1 device as far as I know. Maybe somehow very difficult. That's not great news indeed. It's my first phone ever not possible root / unroot safely. And it's giving me feeling that Z1 despite it's great device in terms of hardware is not good choice. Also quite surprised how far away from well tuned OS is current release. I can't understand, why just CM didn't develop OS with possible root right or didn't incorporate full device backup. Honestly I don't care so much and probably neither other users about root, if natively in OS is complete backup / recovery. And... If I can do root without possibility go back (reclaiming warranty or not functional OTA update), then it makes me think, if really Z1 via CM is good choice or not. Despite really nice HW and materials... Pitty
martin_cz said:
I've rooted with King Root. Since I have got troubles with GPS and need to send phone for repair, I need to completely unroot with no trace that phone was rooted. Do you know hot to do it...? I've found that after unroot via King root RW is still mentioned while booting, so it's not clean unroot... Please explain if you can step by step.
Thank you very much.
Martin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No you should have read how to do it before you touched the phone. XDA is not a spoon feeding centre. It's for people who want to help themselves. If you had done the reading and had an issue with getting a part of the process to work, yes, but to blindly rush in and want it sorted out because of your own +++++ I must sound like a #### but you learn then act. Everyone has 4 posts and a screwed up phone wanting help. Errr there is a link between the two.
1.Flash a clean COS image via Twrp
2.Flash a clean COS recovery via twrp or adb sideload
3.Lock the bootloader

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