Database Develop

how hard is it to brick your phone?

hey guys im fairly new to this forum and this is my first post, well let me get to the point, i got my G1 lets say 2 months ago and ive heard a lot about "rooting" and i thought id give it try, i was just nervous about one thing and that is "bricking" so i was just wondering how easily it is to brick my phone? if that happened oh man i dont know what i would do..thanks

If you read a lot and follow directions I think the chances are very slim. It seems like the main cause of a bricked phone is when someone tries to update to the danger SPL (the spl's you need to run a hero rom) before they update to the latest radio.

sakumaxp said:
hey guys im fairly new to this forum and this is my first post, well let me get to the point, i got my G1 lets say 2 months ago and ive heard a lot about "rooting" and i thought id give it try, i was just nervous about one thing and that is "bricking" so i was just wondering how easily it is to brick my phone? if that happened oh man i dont know what i would do..thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in no way shape or form an expert on any of this stuff but I have my phone running at a high level I believe. So the advice I can offer as a novice is read read read read read search search search search search and read read read read some more and if you can't find the answer ask but make sure in the right forum or u may get "flamed" lol some ppl will but for the most part ppl will point u in the rite direction. also stick 2 the basics when flashing don't get lazy and skip steps they are there for a reason good luck

If by brick you mean having the phone not even go to a recovery screen then it is very hard.
If by brick you mean having android not boot, then very easy.
There are step by step tutorials out for everything now so it is unlikely you will run into problems if you have a bit of sense.
I would first recommend trying to get the JF1.5 rom and then immediatly upgrading to cyogens 1.4 recovery rom. the ums_enable command has saved me numerous times. What it does is enable usb through the recovery terminal so you can load up some different files or another rom and try again.

And really if all you do is follow the directions and don't try to speed ahead thinking you know something everything should work out great

imbonez9 said:
And really if all you do is follow the directions and don't try to speed ahead thinking you know something everything should work out great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly!
When I first looked in to rooting I was also worried about bricking. Like others have said the main reason people brick is updating to haykuro's SPL without the cupcake radio (which is doubly stupid as they probably have a cupcake and should have had it already). After you have rooted and have installed the recovery image you can flash ROMs as much as you want, if your phone becomes unbootable because you messed with a file on your phone, you can just reflash. Btw, someone just posted a thread on how to brick their G1 because it seemed unbrickable

Does anyone know what the difference between the 2.22.19.26I and the 3.22.20.17 (came on my Rogers Dream) radio is? Will I brick my phone if flash haykuro's SPL with the 3.22.20.17 radio?

1 Click Rooting...

Ok I've done the 1 Click Root process. The problem is, I totally UNrooted my phone before I did the 1 click root. I tried to load a Hero rom I got off the www.theunlockr.com website but I had to update the SPL which bricked my phone. I did wipe first so thats not the problem. I don't know what went wrong when I bricked my phone. I am getting a new from t-mobile(I kinda told them the donut 1.6 update screwed my phone up).
Now I want to root again with the 1 click but do I need to go back to the original build RC29 build or whatever it was in order to root with the 1 click ? And when I flash to a new rom do I need to update the SPL again?

READ FIRST!! I dont know where so search. I dont feel like finding you all the guides warnings and post about it. There are many precautions to take while flashing hero and even if you follow all of them to the "T" you still have a big chance of bricking your phone so use the Search Bar

nickryan0612 said:
READ FIRST!! I dont know where so search. I dont feel like finding you all the guides warnings and post about it. There are many precautions to take while flashing hero and even if you follow all of them to the "T" you still have a big chance of bricking your phone so use the Search Bar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is I've flashed all sorts of rom's before, but I wanted to try the 1 click rooting process. I think what happened is I flashed the SPL before I flashed the updated radio. I was doing some research on the whole thing. I flashed the SPL first.

if you use the DREAIMG.nbh to go back to rc-29, it is really easier to use the telnet commands then it is to root with the one click imo, you can use one-click root, but you have to find the newer version of the recovery flasher, and if you use it and don't flash a custom rom, then the system will overwrite the custom recovery image with the stock one. if you use the telnet commands then you will overwrite the stock recovery image with a custom one, so the telnet commands are more stable
to update your spl, make sure you have a pvt board in bootloader (camera and power) and that your radio is 2.22.19.26I (make sure you have that radio, not just assume after you flash it) then you can get rid of all the user error in flashing the 1.33.2005 SPL.

xOneSainTx said:
The thing is I've flashed all sorts of rom's before, but I wanted to try the 1 click rooting process. I think what happened is I flashed the SPL before I flashed the updated radio. I was doing some research on the whole thing. I flashed the SPL first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you already rooted when you did the 1 click root? - if you were then that might have been were the mess up happened because once you do the one click root you have to flash a rom (probabably cyanogen would be best) to continue or you lose root.
Following that question if you were already rooted and had hard spl and new radio - the one click might have cause you to lose that.
You have to flash from hard spl to danger spl
Radio should be newest or second to newest
Also it is said to flash hero rom right after flashing spl. - Which means not turning off your phone or rebooting after flashing
- I saw a video were they were at the rainbow boot screen and they flashed the Danger Spl and then inserted a new sd card that had hero and flashed it without rebooting.
Read up more on this

is one click still ok ?
I've had my G1 for about a yr now. Watching the mods grow . Never had thought about rooting just because I didn't want to have to keep changing to keep up to date. Then the one click came out and it was time. Ordered my 8gig class6 sd and before I got it Google did this C&D to CY. I see people saying they are doing the 1 click method and the links they put on are before the C&D. Can it still work ? Also everyone who tries to give directions how to get root and roms are different. Even this thread has been changed or something was left out. Is there a true one click method ? I tried theUnlockr way 3 times and I still wound upwith a wiped phone. Please Help Me ...

nPHILLY said:
I've had my G1 for about a yr now. Watching the mods grow . Never had thought about rooting just because I didn't want to have to keep changing to keep up to date. Then the one click came out and it was time. Ordered my 8gig class6 sd and before I got it Google did this C&D to CY. I see people saying they are doing the 1 click method and the links they put on are before the C&D. Can it still work ? Also everyone who tries to give directions how to get root and roms are different. Even this thread has been changed or something was left out. Is there a true one click method ? I tried theUnlockr way 3 times and I still wound upwith a wiped phone. Please Help Me ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one click will not work in donut 1.6. it will be patched, there is a thorough guide in my sig. i also have links i can give you for cm 4.0.4 and 4.1.11.1 if you want them.

1-click root only works with CRC1 and lower. Personally, I prefer to downgrade to RC29 and manually root it. I've done it about 20 times that way and have never once had an issue. In fact, I did it last night and today that way and both phones are rooted with Hero ROMs and running perfectly.
My advice, find a good tutorial (there are plenty, particularly the stickies on XDA on the subject) and download all necessary files ahead of time so that you aren't stuck in the middle of rooting looking for a file. If you want to flash the update "Danger" SPL, there is a combination radio/spl so that bricking is less likely. Search XDA for it. Also, check if you have PVT board first (camera+power). If not, brick it you will (or more than likely will). If I had to guess the main reason for problems and bricks it is that people rush the process and skip steps because they started the process without reading the whole tutorial.

nickryan0612 said:
Were you already rooted when you did the 1 click root? - if you were then that might have been were the mess up happened because once you do the one click root you have to flash a rom (probabably cyanogen would be best) to continue or you lose root.
Following that question if you were already rooted and had hard spl and new radio - the one click might have cause you to lose that.
You have to flash from hard spl to danger spl
Radio should be newest or second to newest
Also it is said to flash hero rom right after flashing spl. - Which means not turning off your phone or rebooting after flashing
- I saw a video were they were at the rainbow boot screen and they flashed the Danger Spl and then inserted a new sd card that had hero and flashed it without rebooting.
Read up more on this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was rooted before I did the one click but I downgraded to RC29 with DREAIMG.nbh file. I did the 1 click process fine. I figured that what fxcked up my phone is that i flashed the custom SPL before I flashed the new radio first. I'm pretty sure thats what messed it up. I wanted to the Amon Ra's Recovery image and I didn't know how install that with out doing the 1 click root process.

ya if you flash spl before raidio that's what messed you up ! always radio first then spl . but you know that now .can you get in recovery at all ?

lucky 69 said:
ya if you flash spl before raidio that's what messed you up ! always radio first then spl . but you know that now .can you get in recovery at all ?
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Click to collapse
No I can't get passed the G1 boot screen. Its ok though T-Mo is sending me a "LIKE NEW" G1. I told them the donut update screwed my phone up. I can't believe I did the SPL first but its a mistake that could have cost me more then a 19.95 delivery fee that IS being waived by T-Mo.
But heres the question with 1 click root do I need to downgrade to RC29 or no?

xOneSainTx said:
No I can't get passed the G1 boot screen. Its ok though T-Mo is sending me a "LIKE NEW" G1. I told them the donut update screwed my phone up. I can't believe I did the SPL first but its a mistake that could have cost me more then a 19.95 delivery fee that IS being waived by T-Mo.
But heres the question with 1 click root do I need to downgrade to RC29 or no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no just be on stock cupcake and use the 1 click root. Then when you did that go into recovery and flash a rom that is not hero or requires danger spl

nickryan0612 said:
no just be on stock cupcake and use the 1 click root. Then when you did that go into recovery and flash a rom that is not hero or requires danger spl
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good. Before screwing things up I always had good success in flashing roms trying multiple roms in a day. My favorite is the xRom. I am curious to see if eventually there will be a Cliq rom.

Ordered a G1 and had a few questions

First off I want to say that I know my way around a WinMo flash,reflash, nand breaking and all that jazz pretty well. But Android...not so much.
I ordered a G1 off Ebay recently, it has been shipped, but in the mean time, I was wanting to research the rooting and flashing process..It looks very involved...Very involved..lol
I've read the guides and such but was curious about the rom/radio bricking issues. With WinMo theres alot of radios..How about Android(My phone is an unlocked T-Mobile)?? Are there still known issues?? I like this rom http://lb.vg/fVl3w
Are the guides for rooting on here currently up to date(I think they are, and they probably are)?? Do I have to root to flash a new rom on there(I think I do)??
Sorry for the n00bish questions, but I really don't wanna kill my phone.
Can all bricks be fixed via the user??
Thanks
Edit: What is the situation of Flash?? What is supported??Is Hulu supported??
2.1 and 2.2 Froyo..Whats the difference??

smurfgod said:
First off I want to say that I know my way around a WinMo flash,reflash, nand breaking and all that jazz pretty well. But Android...not so much.
I ordered a G1 off Ebay recently, it has been shipped, but in the mean time, I was wanting to research the rooting and flashing process..It looks very involved...Very involved..lol
I've read the guides and such but was curious about the rom/radio bricking issues. With WinMo theres alot of radios..How about Android(My phone is an unlocked T-Mobile)?? Are there still known issues?? I like this rom http://lb.vg/fVl3w
Are the guides for rooting on here currently up to date(I think they are, and they probably are)?? Do I have to root to flash a new rom on there(I think I do)??
Sorry for the n00bish questions, but I really don't wanna kill my phone.
Can all bricks be fixed via the user??
Thanks
Edit: What is the situation of Flash?? What is supported??Is Hulu supported??
2.1 and 2.2 Froyo..Whats the difference??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First root (did it yesterday for the first time, phone was rooted when I got it).
You need root for certain apps, for installing another spl, custom roms.
Root installs recovery (if I remember ok).
Upgrade spl from stock to 1.33.2003 (zip file in recovery). Now you can use fastboot (safer!).Reboot in fastboot and flash first another recovery, then another radio (2.x) radio (needed for spl 1.33.2005), reboot again, go to fastboot and flash the dangerspl 1.33.2005 (or use MTDpartitions, but I got problems with it). Then flash roms.(no need for the old hardspl).
Flash not supported(arm incompatible).
Bricks can only be fixed with an JTAG, so be carefull (always wait) ! ROMS can't brick your device, only the officials can (which contain spl and radio).
Read for flashing the spl's (if you have rogers(canada) it's different).

Idk what this user means by saying that flash isn't compatible with the arm processor.
But yes android 2.2 supports flash all the way to flash 10 but on the g1 I don't think it would be so good on 528mhz because flash is pretty bloated on system resources. But flash videos are fine hulu runs fine for me.

Woops sorry about the double post I refreshed page and it submitted info twice. I did not see a delete function.

Should I do any sort of formatting or partitioning on my SD card or just let the G1 do it??
I've got an 8gig SDHC Class 4 card also.
I've also been reading about J-Tagging the G1..Theres an adapter on here http://miniurl.com/49008 and it's 20USD for the adapter but I think I have to heek it up to an Omnia Repair box..Is that right?? This video http://miniurl.com/49009 shows em hooking one up to a white box..and the only white box on there site is for the Omnia Repair one and it's 229 Euro's(304USD).
Does the first reply have the correct steps for rooting my phone?? Is that for all versions. I'm not sure if mines a R29 or lower.
Sorry for all the questions.
Thanks
~SMurf

Rooting and installing new rom. Non-noob inside.

Okay, I've done my fair share of searching numerous forums. So, please don't flame for some noobish questions.
I owned a G1 before and had no problem re-flashing a new rom image every other day. Maybe it's the price tag on my N1 that has had me hesitating with rooting it.
Ok, here is my 'problem' I just got the new OTA update FRG83. I would like to know exactly how I would go about rooting and installing a new ROM on my N1.
Also, what ROM is the best out there for the N1, I used cyanogen on my G1 forever so I really trust his ROMS.
Basically I'm just really afraid of messing my phone up, although I'm sure it's just as easy as it was on my G1.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Read my sig. I'm sure you'll manage navigating a Wiki

Jack_R1 said:
Read my sig. I'm sure you'll manage navigating a Wiki
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right... I've read that.
Just making sure I'm following the correct steps.
First: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=792016
Second: Does bootloader have to be unlocked?
Third: Recovery Image
Fourth: Wipe/flash new rom
Anything I'm missing?

No need to unlock - the whole point is rooting w/o unlocking.
Flash the recovery using flash_image method.
Nothing else missing.

okay...
F:\ADB>adb push rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage
I get an error
There is no disk in the drive. Please insert a disk into the drive
\DevicHarddisk1\DR8

Anyone? I would realllllly like to root my device?

This thread seems to help with the rooting process. I am already rooted, so I cannot test it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=792016
As for a ROM to use, I use Enomther's official Nexus. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=614427 I have tried several different ROM's and this one is hands down the best. I have not used CM6 since RC1, so I cannot speak for how that is now. But Enomther's was way better than CM6 RC1 IMO.

I'm with stickerbob with being rooted and loved enomther's. Now I've moved to MIUI, and I don't believe I'll be looking back anytime soon. Love MIUI, once I flashed the English translation pack 3 that is =D it rocks IMO. If you wanna look into it after root...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=789566
N1 running psfreedom recovery and MIUI! sent via XDA app =D

Rooting the g1 with super one click

Can u root a g1 with super one click application on the computer?
Sent from my x10a flashed 2.1 Brazilian firmware with multitouch xda download Rooted

The G1 is so incredibly easy to root, it takes about 5 minutes. Using an application for it is just plain lazy haha.

aussiehairspray said:
The G1 is so incredibly easy to root, it takes about 5 minutes. Using an application for it is just plain lazy haha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I have the same question as the first user, but didn't understand your answer...

he's saying you can, but it's the lazy way... the g1 is so easy to root, plus if you root it the traditional way it gives you a little better of an understanding on how things work behind the OS
so if you want to try it, go ahead but im not 100% sure if it works...
Ooooor if you want to grow some fuzz on your balls than try following this guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1098899

I am glad I did my first root using the RC29 methods, where they left a shell connected to the keyboard, as it is good background for someone who likes to tweak their phone directly from the OS level, instead of having someone else write a script to do it all with "one-click". Cyanogen's Dream root how-to is fairly good also, just stop reading any of them after you get recovery flashed, as the info you'll find here is much more up to date, with newer SPL and radios which you will need for most of the recent ROM builds.
Read this thread too, on ensuring you have a good match of radio/SPL/recovery flashed so you don't get a brick. (i.e., SPL 1.33.2003 seems to be good with 1.x and 2.x radios, and 1.33.2005 for 2.x or 3.x radio)
That being said, by the time I got to rooting my third phone, I did build a goldcard to flash whatever I wanted, just to save some time, but I usually don't care to save anything from the phone, so a full wipe is OK for me.
If you think you are ready to start flashing things, start over and read all of it again. It may not be as expensive anymore to make a mistake and brick your Dream, but it would still be very sad to turn a working phone into a paperweight because of missing a step, or doing something in the wrong order.