I have had my Bionic for a while now and have been thinking about rooting it. I finally got the ICS update but have been using GO Launcher too much to even notice it. Anyway, like I said, I want to root my phone. I am current on all updates. For some reason it's running at a tenth of it's memory tho not much is running that I can see. This leads me to believe there's things running in the background that I can not see. I am reluctant to get rid of all my apps, but I also don't want anything that's eating all my resources either. I kinda want to start new but kinda don't. I guess I just don't like letting go of anything.
I know this is selfish of me, but I am hoping that this thread will stay clean of others chiming in asking about their issues. I just don't want the thread to lose focus since this is about what I hope to get from my phone.
Ok, so here are my questions or favors to ask:
Since my phone is fully updated, do I need to do some other updated steps for rooting my phone or is rooting always the same no matter the build or version?
When I go to root my phone, I back up everything first and then I get it back, right?
I read somewhere that it's possible to brick the phone. What precautions should I take to avoid that?
Can I get all the benefits of a rooted phone without a ROM?
Are ROMs really that awesome that I should get one, or three?
I am interested in a ROM after some posts and pages I read. I was attracted to CM at first but so is everyone else probably at first. Does CM even work on the Bionic? And if it does, does everything work like the camera and Bluetooth?
As I said earlier, I use GO Launcher. One of the things I really like about it is the folders I can make in the App Drawer. Now CM is based off of ADW Launcher, but no options to make folders in the app drawer? Is it possible in any way if I choose CM as my main ROM?
Is CM overrated? Liberty and Eclipse look nice too. I also read a little, very little, about AOKP. Any suggestions? I want to get rid of a lot of extra processes and bloatware but I don't want to lose some of the apps pre-installed like Google Maps and Navigation, etc. Unless there are other, much better replacements that anyone knows of.
I know most of this is personal preference but I am hoping to find a comprehensive way at figuring out what's best for me.
I had more questions but I will wait and ask more as the thread continues.
Oh, I don't really need answers in step by step unless I ask. A simple link would suffice unless it's not covered anywhere.
Thanks for reading this, I hope I am not frustrating anyone as I am sure similar posts have been made.
You're basically asking to have this entire forum summarized into one post...
Spend some time reading, then ask smaller, more concise questions.
Not trying to sound like a ****, but i could spend an hour answering all of that. Half of those questions could be answered with some reading of the ROM specific threads.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Ok, I know that SOME of the questions are answered somewhere else. The thing is that after I read one thread only to find it unsolved, I read others that are are 50 pages long going nowhere as well. I haven't seen anything about my phone being fully updated and I am not going any further until I know for sure from someone like a DEV that I can.
Some of these questions are yes/no questions, which wouldn't take long at all to answer, maybe even less time it takes to write a complaint about my post. I certainly don't expect one person to write for an hour on every topic I asked about. I thought it would be a collective effort.
I guess I will take this slowly.
Since my Droid Bionic is updated to the current versions, do I need to do this differently than others have used in the past to root this phone?
Where is the best method to do this?
Before I start, I have to backup everything, right? If so, what's the best way to go about backing up everything?
I read somewhere that there are 3 things you should do to make sure you avoid bricking. I have since lost it. Does anybody know a surefire way to do this.
Please be gentle.
CycoPuppet said:
Ok, I know that SOME of the questions are answered somewhere else. The thing is that after I read one thread only to find it unsolved, I read others that are are 50 pages long going nowhere as well. I haven't seen anything about my phone being fully updated and I am not going any further until I know for sure from someone like a DEV that I can.
Some of these questions are yes/no questions, which wouldn't take long at all to answer, maybe even less time it takes to write a complaint about my post. I certainly don't expect one person to write for an hour on every topic I asked about. I thought it would be a collective effort.
I guess I will take this slowly.
Since my Droid Bionic is updated to the current versions, do I need to do this differently than others have used in the past to root this phone?
Where is the best method to do this?
Before I start, I have to backup everything, right? If so, what's the best way to go about backing up everything?
I read somewhere that there are 3 things you should do to make sure you avoid bricking. I have since lost it. Does anybody know a surefire way to do this.
Please be gentle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st question . No, your phone is not special since it is updated what worked for others will work for you.
2nd follow this link and the instructions to the letter http://www.droidrzr.com/index.php/topic/4026-samurihls-house-of-bionic/
3rd . Since you are stock. I would suggest using Verizon's back up services. TiBu requires root. IMHO I wouldn't bother because Google automatically backs up contacts and most roms require you to do a full data wipe.
There is no magic formula to keep from bricking your phone. Just follow directions and if you can't tolerate the risk don't do it.
From my EVOLVED bionic
Obsidian_soul said:
1st question . No, your phone is not special since it is updated what worked for others will work for you.
2nd follow this link and the instructions to the letter Can not post links
3rd . Since you are stock. I would suggest using Verizon's back up services. TiBu requires root. IMHO I wouldn't bother because Google automatically backs up contacts and most roms require you to do a full data wipe.
There is no magic formula to keep from bricking your phone. Just follow directions and if you can't tolerate the risk don't do it.
From my EVOLVED bionic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That link no longer works
Also I found an article named "Learn How-To Root, Custom Recovery, Backup, And De-Bloat Your DROID BIONIC" while searching around for ROM ideas and such. Anyway, after reading this, it almost seems as if I don't need to do factory reset. Is this ok?
CycoPuppet said:
That link no longer works
Also I found an article named "Learn How-To Root, Custom Recovery, Backup, And De-Bloat Your DROID BIONIC" while searching around for ROM ideas and such. Anyway, after reading this, it almost seems as if I don't need to do factory reset. Is this ok?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just last week I started with a stock ICS Bionic and followed this guide to root: http://droidbionicroot.com/droid-bionic-root/how-to-root-ics-on-droid-bionic-and-motorola-android/
That went very well. I wanted to try out JB 4.2.2, so I installed SafeStrap and an official CM 10.1 nightly. The net result was that I had a very unstable phone until I did a factory reset . As of this writing, however, it's behaving extremely well. YMMV.
Ratamacue said:
Just last week I started with a stock ICS Bionic and followed this guide to root: Can not post links
That went very well. I wanted to try out JB 4.2.2, so I installed SafeStrap and an official CM 10.1 nightly. The net result was that I had a very unstable phone until I did a factory reset . As of this writing, however, it's behaving extremely well. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so you flashed the ROM, didn't work so well, then you did a factory reset. Doesn't a factory reset wipe the phone? If that's the case, doesn't it wipe out the ROM?
Oh one more thing. Following this link, does this wipe the data from my phone? Anything I should back up before doing this? Should I do any updates before flashing CM 10?
CycoPuppet said:
Ok, so you flashed the ROM, didn't work so well, then you did a factory reset. Doesn't a factory reset wipe the phone? If that's the case, doesn't it wipe out the ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, a factory data reset doesn't wipe the ROM, but it does require running the initial setup (as if you were setting up a brand new phone).
CycoPuppet said:
...one more thing. Following this link, does this wipe the data from my phone? Anything I should back up before doing this? Should I do any updates before flashing CM 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You definitely want to back up everything you're not willing to lose. I ran a backup the very first thing after installing SafeStrap, and it was a good thing because with all my messing around I managed to bork my stock ROM to the point that it wouldn't boot. Fortunately, all I had to do was restore it from a backup.
My phone on CM 10.1 had enough issues with freezing and crashing that I decided this morning to try a different ROM. So far, I've had really good results with Icarus HD (a custom ICS ROM). I really don't know if my experience with CM 10.1 was typical.
OK, so I want to root. Now does rooting wipe any data? Regarding Safestrap, I install that first before rooting?
Rooting doesn't wipe any data. Root first, then install SafeStrap.
Okay, I will be rooting and installing safestrap when I get home for work today. I will still have more questions I am sure. I do have a few before I actually start rooting or right after.
I know safestrap makes a backup/recovory, but is it full recovery only or can I recover portions, like say my Dolphin browser with the settings and bookmarks?
I read that when making a backup of stock ROM, use sdcard, I'm sure that means external but when flashing a ROM, will that wipe data from the external card?
When setting up slots for multi booting ROMs, gernally how much storage do they need?
If I have two different ROMs, does it act like user accounts in Windows, would I have to download the same app on each ROM or do both ROMs have access?
Can one ROM have stuff I don't want the other ROM to have visible?
CycoPuppet said:
I know safestrap makes a backup/recovory, but is it full recovery only or can I recover portions, like say my Dolphin browser with the settings and bookmarks?
I read that when making a backup of stock ROM, use sdcard, I'm sure that means external but when flashing a ROM, will that wipe data from the external card?
When setting up slots for multi booting ROMs, gernally how much storage do they need?
If I have two different ROMs, does it act like user accounts in Windows, would I have to download the same app on each ROM or do both ROMs have access?
Can one ROM have stuff I don't want the other ROM to have visible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. SafeStrap is full recovery only. Use Titanium Backup for backing up apps and data.
2. Flashing a ROM won't do anything to your external SD card.
3. When you set up ROM slots, you'll be asked how much room you'd like to allocate for data. The choices are 1, 2, or 3 GB. I started off allocating 3 GB to the stock ROM slot and was never able to load more than 3 separate ROMs before I ran out of room. I'd start with just using 1 GB for data.
4. Each ROM is an island. You have to download the apps separately (unless when you go through the initial setup you tell the system to restore apps and settings from the Google servers.)
Cool. I rooted and got safestrap but it's version 3.05 and not 3.11. Some ROM I was interested in said must have 3.11, which I am assuming that's the newest one so far. I did watch a tutorial about getting the current version, so no question there.
So the ROMs are separate islands and during flashing they can be in slots allocated up to 3GB. Does that mean that's the only amount of storage I can have when running that ROM? Say I like taking lots of photos and didn't save them to my external card, could I essentially run out of space or is the storage allocation just for the ROM itself and any updates it may have?
Sorry about these series of questions, just want to make sure I am doing it correctly in case I might make a mistake for future's sake.
The storage allocation is for the ROM, apps, and data that haven't been assigned to the external SD card. You can definitely run out of space if you load several ROMs and don't save any of your data to the external SD card.
Also, keep in mind that when VZW sends the OTA update to 4.1 next week, the only way to keep root is to root in ICS and use Voodoo OTA Rootkeeper to protect root before you take the OTA. If you flash the system image, you will lose root, and there is no known working root exploit for the Bionic JB release.
Lost Root
Hey, I used Voodoo before flashing the 4.1 update, but forgot to update the binary beforehand, and therefore lost root. Anyone have any luck yet with an exploit for the OTA?
And there's no working FXZ before this now, correct? This software is now the earliest version I can FXZ to?
auglove3rd said:
Hey, I used Voodoo before flashing the 4.1 update, but forgot to update the binary beforehand, and therefore lost root. Anyone have any luck yet with an exploit for the OTA?
And there's no working FXZ before this now, correct? This software is now the earliest version I can FXZ to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not root exploit yet for bionic JB. And if you try to FXZ back to an earlier version, you will brick your phone.
OK, so I rooted, got safestrap tho still not updated to 3.11, got TBU (free), got Voodoo. I had to race the clock today cuz it was updating android, or at least downloading the update. The root process I used gave me SuperSU and didn't tell me the version for the SU binaries. I searched around and all I could find was info on SuperUser in regards to backing up root. I uninstalled SuperSU, kinda. I just told it to use a different SU cuz when I used SuperUser and updated the binaries, SuperSU wanted to update them, then I opened SuperUser and the binaries reverted back. I was worried so I just told SuperSU to use a different SU. Was that ok? I didn't update to JB yet. Has there been luck with the Bionic using voodoo and keeping root after the JB update?
All this back and forth means I'm making a full image backup, then trying various ROMs. I've tried CM10.1, too many issues (no car dock, trouble installing lots of apps, no speakerphone). Next is... Whizzed Bean?
EDIT: Seems Speakerphone issue was fixed in the 0420 nightly. Will have to try it again.
AND I copied all the backups to my PC, so I can restore them at will (provided the phone still boots, that is... )
If I can't find a JB ROM I like I guess I can do HouseofBionic reflash (which did NOT cause me to lose data, as I upgraded to ICS that way) then allow the JB OTA to go through.
*sigh*... So much bull**** in these updates.
Hope someone sees my question above. I still haven't updated to JB yet. Once I do I will be flashing ROMs. I am interested in CM, Liquid Smooth, Icarus Hd and Wizzed Bean or Synergy (executioner ) Both WB and Synergy look indentical. What is the differences.
CycoPuppet said:
Hope someone sees my question above. I still haven't updated to JB yet. Once I do I will be flashing ROMs. I am interested in CM, Liquid Smooth, Icarus Hd and Wizzed Bean or Synergy (executioner ) Both WB and Synergy look indentical. What is the differences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WB is a fork of CNA (codename Android) 4.1 JB (which is itself based on AOSP)
while Synergy is a fork of the standard Moto ICS (.246).
Yes, they look identical because they both used the Samsung UI elements.
OK it's been a while and I have screwed up some stuff.
I have the att note 3 and I"m rooted running 4.3 build NB4. I had some stuff frozen and xposed things setup. Been running fine and really haven't messed with anything for 6-7 months. I'm selling the phone and told the person buying it I would leave it on 4.3 stock rooted.
So I just did a factory reset / wipe cache. Now when it boots up I get a samsung keyboard force close error and can't do anything until I change to something else. I figure there will be other issues also, I realize now I should have undone things, but it's to late.
So what do people recommend. My first thought was to somehow flash the NB4 files, but i don't have custom recovery.
So any suggestions, steps or files would be much appreciated.
Can you not just odin to reflash it back to stock 4.3?
Maybe but i cant locate the files to odin and im not that famaliar with how to use odin. Can some provide a liitle guidance.
cd23murray said:
OK it's been a while and I have screwed up some stuff.
I have the att note 3 and I"m rooted running 4.3 build NB4. I had some stuff frozen and xposed things setup. Been running fine and really haven't messed with anything for 6-7 months. I'm selling the phone and told the person buying it I would leave it on 4.3 stock rooted.
So I just did a factory reset / wipe cache. Now when it boots up I get a samsung keyboard force close error and can't do anything until I change to something else. I figure there will be other issues also, I realize now I should have undone things, but it's to late.
So what do people recommend. My first thought was to somehow flash the NB4 files, but i don't have custom recovery.
So any suggestions, steps or files would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you will find it NB4 build for odin. I was looking for firmware for some time and had no success. You need to get back to NI9 than find update NI9 to MJ5 and then MJ5 to NB4. So i will suggest find this updates so you can sideload after you get stock NI9. and i think you have all files you need to do this here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=51468226&postcount=10
I don't know if I'm missing some vital step but I've successfully bricked my phone consistently when manually updating my CM12.1 nightly.
I try to update to the latest nightly once a week, and for the past couple weeks it ends up bricking the device, causing me to go through unbricking procedure and return to stock, then root and all that other fun ****. That being said I have the whole unbricking down to a science, but that doesn't change the fact that it is getting more and more annoying each and every time I have to do this.
It's not that the ROM I'm flashing is bad, It works perfectly fine if I do a clean flash, but when it comes down to updating it completely ****s the phone. To make it worse, thanks to my phones locked bootloader my recovery method is using safestrap, which of course gets wiped when the phone fails the update, leaving me with fastboot as my lord and savior.
I simply don't understand the issue, I'm willing to adapt to doing a clean flash every time I have to update, but I'd at the very least like to know why the hell it does this, to me it makes little to no sense.
I'm using a stock kernel, and no weird init.d scripts that could cause it to boot funny.
On another note, slightly irrelevant, but if someone could tell me how (if possible at all) I could skip the foreplay of flashing back to stock and just flash a ROM through fastboot, it'd be greatly appreciated.
Are you using some kind of built-in update mechanism in CM 12.1 or just flashing the updates through safestrap? If it is the former, maybe it is messing with the safestrap files in some way, maybe even removing them; they do reside in the /system partition, after all. If you are running it on one of the numbered slots, maybe it is mounting the actual /system partition during some part of the update process and doing something it shouldn't on this phone.
Maybe you should create a rom slot and use it for cm. That way your phone won't be bricked...only that rom slot might get messed up if at all.
I guess safestrap is getting messed up and therefore you have to go back to stock. How are you flashing cm nightly? Are you using install option in safestrap or some other way?
So recently my phone was behaving unstable, took a look at XDA, Flashed a new rom, like any other person here.
SO then i figure out that i cannot log into any third party apps, (facebook, instagram) and figure it may just be a bug with the app itself.
Upon further invetigation, i figure out that this happens on, ANY ROM! Even STOCK rom. i ran a restore back to it's original Stock room, flashed, fixed persmissions, wiped calvik,cache, i tried everything!
Everything is closing, nothing works, phone is slow, laggy, hot and everything is ****ED.
Please help a fellow out, i used roms on all my samsungs, nexus 5, now 6. I'm an experience user. Never had this problem before.
saitek1911 said:
So recently my phone was behaving unstable, took a look at XDA, Flashed a new rom, like any other person here.
SO then i figure out that i cannot log into any third party apps, (facebook, instagram) and figure it may just be a bug with the app itself.
Upon further invetigation, i figure out that this happens on, ANY ROM! Even STOCK rom. i ran a restore back to it's original Stock room, flashed, fixed persmissions, wiped calvik,cache, i tried everything!
Everything is closing, nothing works, phone is slow, laggy, hot and everything is ****ED.
Please help a fellow out, i used roms on all my samsungs, nexus 5, now 6. I'm an experience user. Never had this problem before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try flashing the latest stock rom including userdata,img manualy in fastboot, start with fastboot erase system then flash system, userdata, boot, recovery, cache and that should fix iyour problems.
did you wipe your data before flashing a rom? if not, you should have. if you wiped your data before flashing a rom, thus would not happen.
simms22 said:
did you wipe your data before flashing a rom? if not, you should have. if you wiped your data before flashing a rom, thus would not happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ofcourse i do.
When coming from a other rom, then always clean flash.
When updates from the same rom, you can dirty flash.
saitek1911 said:
Ofcourse i do.
When coming from a other rom, then always clean flash.
When updates from the same rom, you can dirty flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when updating the same rom, you can USUALLY dirty flash, but not always. so, did you clean flash this time?
Do a factory reset, anyway.