I read the wiki but it only tells you "Why you should" root your phone. Obviously Google removed root from the latest firmware for a reason. If its for security reasons, how can you be "safe" with a rooted phone? Can you still download paid apps from the App store with a rooted phone? How well does the Apps on the SD card work? The main reason I would want to root my phone is for the SD card app feature. The G1 space sucks ass and its constantly telling me I am low on space.
When you root your phone, it automatically installs an app called "SuperUser" (assuming you're using one of JesusFreke's builds). SuperUser allows you to control which applications have root privileges.
Also, Google probably removed root because of stuff like the fact that it enables you to copy protected apps and the like... and even if they didn't know at the time, they probably knew that it would happen
Superuser protects your phone by allowing programs you give permission to that use root. I can still see paid apps in the Market (I haven't bought any yet, but I will). I didn't move my apps onto my SD card because Paragon Partition Manager froze during the partitioning and I had to reinstall Vista .
The only con is that you have to wait for JF's updates
I believe I also read here that rooting your phone voids your warrenty, so if you have a problem with it make sure you switch back to the official firmware before sending it in
androidmonkey said:
I read the wiki but it only tells you "Why you should" root your phone. Obviously Google removed root from the latest firmware for a reason. If its for security reasons, how can you be "safe" with a rooted phone? Can you still download paid apps from the App store with a rooted phone? How well does the Apps on the SD card work? The main reason I would want to root my phone is for the SD card app feature. The G1 space sucks ass and its constantly telling me I am low on space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try to answer your questions the best I can:
-I don't work for Google so be advised this IS pure speculation on my part. With that said, I think they removed root access for the masses to avoid the possibility of folks having their Android handsets compromised by malicious apps.
Though, having root doesn't necessarily mean this WILL happen to you.
So long as you have common sense, and know better to install apps from questionable sources, you'll be fine. Additionally, the JesusFreke firmwares have a "SuperUser Whitelist" app that will ask for escalated privileges whenever a process requires root.
This is provided as another layer of security.
So to say it again, do not allow apps/processes to run unless you KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY DO. Follow that and you won't have any problems.
-Market apps can be installed and used without issue. I have dozens apps installed (and yes, a few paid apps as well) and have had ZERO issues with them. Matter of fact, if you look through the market, you'll see several cool apps that require root (Task Manager, WiFi Tether, etc).
-Far as installing and running apps from the sdcard, I'll defer to someone else because I haven't done it myself. I prefer to wait until an easier, or official method becomes available. Though, I have moved the various caches (Web, Maps, Market, etc) to the sdcard without issue.
That helps to conserve space with the internal memory.
Hopefully that helps you.
Thanks for all the replies. So is it safe to say that if I only install apps from the Android Market I should be safe? Can programs on the Android Market be malicious? Hopefully Google is monitoring the applications for malicious code.
So, what is the "best" guide to use for rooting a RC33 phone?
programs on the market could possibly be malicious, read reviews, i found a game that said it needed the internet, gps, and some other stuff in order to work, but yet the app never used any of those features in the actual gameplay, thus i removed it and reported it as malicious because i frankly don't feel that it should need access to things it isn't gonna use. a general rule is that if a single person said it was malicious then don't install it, and never be the first to install an app. let someone else break their phone first
The only con for rooting your phone is that people who don't know any better usually end up bricking it. "oooh root yay! i don't know what it duz bat it sounds cool! oh no! i brcked it halp plz"
And you can still unbrick your phone pretty easily.
IzzeLing said:
The only con for rooting your phone is that people who don't know any better usually end up bricking it. "oooh root yay! i don't know what it duz bat it sounds cool! oh no! i brcked it halp plz"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, your quote can be used on a LOL Cat.
i wouldnt say that waiting for the updates is technically waiting, when you have a rooted phone...
at least for me, i must have been on the bottom of t-mobile's randomized IMEI list when it came to updates.. I used to see people all around me have updates for weeks before me. Coincidentally i was the first to have mine... but the updates are released right from the google site, plus the wait time for JF and others to work their magic.
cant complain with a rooted phone, if anyone is skeptical about it... you CAN reverse the process
the.snks said:
-Far as installing and running apps from the sdcard, I'll defer to someone else because I haven't done it myself. I prefer to wait until an easier, or official method becomes available. Though, I have moved the various caches (Web, Maps, Market, etc) to the sdcard without issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've moved my apps and caches to the sdcard and now I never have to worry about running low on space.
I followed one of the tutorials about moving the apps, but when paid apps came out, I had some problems. The solution was to move not only the "app" directory but also the "app-private" directory to the sdcard. Once I did that, everything was fine. I am able to install both free and paid apps with no problems. I'm very glad I did it -- no regrets.
I have an 8gb sdcard and I partitioned 1gb to apps and caches (ext2 format) and 7gb to data (fat32 format).
unknown.soul said:
Superuser protects your phone by allowing programs you give permission to that use root. I can still see paid apps in the Market (I haven't bought any yet, but I will). I didn't move my apps onto my SD card because Paragon Partition Manager froze during the partitioning and I had to reinstall Vista .
The only con is that you have to wait for JF's updates
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting may be safe to people like you all, but rooting is definitely the downside of android. Sd card blank and file recognition errors are the opposition to what android has made. I will not root my phone again because of the unexpected long term damage this has caused to my phone. I will tell my friends not to root their phone unless they want to turn their android to ruins. These kind of problems happen for absolutely no reason at all.
ri123 said:
Rooting may be safe to people like you all, but rooting is definitely the downside of android. Sd card blank and file recognition errors are the opposition to what android has made. I will not root my phone again because of the unexpected long term damage this has caused to my phone. I will tell my friends not to root their phone unless they want to turn their android to ruins. These kind of problems happen for absolutely no reason at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree with the statement "downside". Android is about open source and customization. The downside to root is that you need to spend a bit of extra time playing with your phone when it doesn't end up going the way you planned or there are bugs in a new Rom. Other than the extra time on the phone, I have not run into a downside. I have not looked back since I rooted.
Sent from my Kang Banged Dinc2
ri123 said:
Rooting may be safe to people like you all, but rooting is definitely the downside of android. Sd card blank and file recognition errors are the opposition to what android has made. I will not root my phone again because of the unexpected long term damage this has caused to my phone. I will tell my friends not to root their phone unless they want to turn their android to ruins. These kind of problems happen for absolutely no reason at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I 100% disagree with this statment. having a rooted phone in itself will not cause any errors. even the process of rooting won't brick a phone or cause problems (so long as you understand what you are doing). although there is the way out in right field chance of something going even if everything is done right (very hard to brick a phone if you truley know what you are doing and are sober at the time)
android has always been and (hopefully) always will be open source. the android code it self in pure aosp is in fact rooted. it is the carriers and cell phone makers and such that lock the bootloader and deny privalage. as any linux user knows it is easily possible to damage you phone/pc/etc if you don't know what you are doing, but having root privalage in itself causes no harm - only to the novice.
this stament of unexpected long term damaged caused by root is false, it was caused by someone not knowing what they were doing and shouldn't have root privalages in the first place.
*excuse my spelling errors as rooting a phone doesn't improve my gramar/spelling*
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
demkantor said:
I 100% disagree with this statment. having a rooted phone in itself will not cause any errors. even the process of rooting won't brick a phone or cause problems (so long as you understand what you are doing). although there is the way out in right field chance of something going even if everything is done right (very hard to brick a phone if you truley know what you are doing and are sober at the time)
android has always been and (hopefully) always will be open source. the android code it self in pure aosp is in fact rooted. it is the carriers and cell phone makers and such that lock the bootloader and deny privalage. as any linux user knows it is easily possible to damage you phone/pc/etc if you don't know what you are doing, but having root privalage in itself causes no harm - only to the novice.
this stament of unexpected long term damaged caused by root is false, it was caused by someone not knowing what they were doing and shouldn't have root privalages in the first place.
*excuse my spelling errors as rooting a phone doesn't improve my gramar/spelling*
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To prevent factory reset bricking I had to move to a different Rom. I knew what I was doing. I returned to stock Rom and factory reset, and every zip I downloaded from my computer could not be recognised properly by my phone.
I know that android is based on pure root, but who should I blame if something goes wrong with my phone? Every rooted phone becomes faulty, why should I pay extra just because I can't download anymore roms?
Think about the random percentage of people that have had their phones bricked just because of rooting problems. I am one of them.
Your statement "only to the novice" is something I disagree with.
I remember when I read a thread about someone's Samsung Vibrant getting hard bricked all of a sudden! Or when I read a Sony Ericsson touchscreen refusing to work after light debugging. These people will most likely be paying for their android phones.
In a way, I do not completely disagree with you. In a way I believe that Android should start believing in its roots.
For the moment, I do not know who to blame for the mess my phone is in. I didn't do things wrong on purpose. So maybe it is better not to root. Maybe it is more advisable to complain to the creator of your phone if there is not "enough", or if there is too much bloatware. Maybe Android should be fixing my HTC! I need to stop all this unnecessary refusal from happening on my android. This is why I find the essence of rooting initially bad. When there is no limits, something can go wrong.
Please may I let you know that my touchscreen is mostly unresponsive. I will be surprised if I have got all of my spelling correct! If I still had the advantage of the warranty, I would be sending my phone straight to HTC to get repaired.
Sent from an unusually unresponsive touchscreen on my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
ri123 said:
To prevent factory reset bricking I had to move to a different Rom. I knew what I was doing. I returned to stock Rom and factory reset, and every zip I downloaded from my computer could not be recognised properly by my phone.
I know that android is based on pure root, but who should I blame if something goes wrong with my phone? Every rooted phone becomes faulty, why should I pay extra just because I can't download anymore roms?
Think about the random percentage of people that have had their phones bricked just because of rooting problems. I am one of them.
I remember when I read a thread about someone's Samsung Vibrant getting hard bricked all of a sudden! Or when I read a Sony Ericsson touchscreen refusing to work after light debugging.
In a way, I do not completely disagree with you. In a way I believe that Android should start believing in its roots.
For the moment, I do not know who to blame for the mess my phone is in. I didn't do things wrong on purpose. So maybe it is better not to root. Maybe it is more advisable to complain to the creator of your phone if there is not "enough", or if there is too much bloatware. Maybe Android should be fixing my HTC! I need to stop all this unnecessary refusal from happening on my android. This is why I find the essence of rooting initially bad. When there is no limits, something can go wrong.
Sent from an unusually unresponsive touchscreen on my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not trying to sound rude here but the only blame is to ones self if YOU screw up your phone.
yes you can blame a phone company when the hardware fails from normal use, or your cell phone carrier for adding useless apps. or well blame android for creating an operating system that at its heart allows one to have full access to every part of it.
android doesn't write the radio, android doesn't write the bootloader, they are not firmware or hardware only os. they also are not responsible for a bad rom.
I will say again the act of rooting your phone in itself causes no damage, only when you do something wrong during this process is it possible to brick your phone, and as for the percentage of people who did brick there phone 99.99% of them messed up, that means their own fault.
.01% had a major power surge while phone was updating via fastboot and their computer only coppied a portion of the firmware to the phone and then the dog kicked over the phone knooking the battery out leaving no bootoader... or whatever, it is hard to do this wrong
and again having a rooted phone will intself not brake hardware, not damage firmware, will not cause a single issue
the missue of having root, or the improper method of obtaining root is the only problem, and people who don't know what they are doing (fully understand) well just shouldn't root, or should learn to except blame at the very least...
done with my ranting, good day...
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
demkantor said:
I'm not trying to sound rude here but the only blame is to ones self if YOU screw up your phone.
yes you can blame a phone company when the hardware fails from normal use, or your cell phone carrier for adding useless apps. or well blame android for creating an operating system that at its heart allows one to have full access to every part of it.
android doesn't write the radio, android doesn't write the bootloader, they are not firmware or hardware only os. they also are not responsible for a bad rom.
I will say again the act of rooting your phone in itself causes no damage, only when you do something wrong during this process is it possible to brick your phone, and as for the percentage of people who did brick there phone 99.99% of them messed up, that means their own fault.
.01% had a major power surge while phone was updating via fastboot and their computer only coppied a portion of the firmware to the phone and then the dog kicked over the phone knooking the battery out leaving no bootoader... or whatever, it is hard to do this wrong
and again having a rooted phone will intself not brake hardware, not damage firmware, will not cause a single issue
the missue of having root, or the improper method of obtaining root is the only problem, and people who don't know what they are doing (fully understand) well just shouldn't root, or should learn to except blame at the very least...
done with my ranting, good day...
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I have said,one of the problems with rooting is that people have to move off their Rom in case of factory reset bricking.
0.1% have got the limited service error or the bad zip file error with their phone practically in a trap.
Much more than 0.1% have the sdcard blank error
I understand root enough to install roms and unroot my phone.
I did not do this on purpose, I just installed stock Rom and factory reset and my phone did not work as it intended to.
This is why I shall, in the future, ACCEPT things and rant about my rooting experience to those people who would unconsciously root. More ranting is needed.
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
ri123 said:
As I have said,one of the problems with rooting is that people have to move off their Rom in case of factory reset bricking.
0.1% have got the limited service error or the bad zip file error with their phone practically in a trap.
Much more than 0.1% have the sdcard blank error
I understand root enough to install roms and unroot my phone.
I did not do this on purpose, I just installed stock Rom and factory reset and my phone did not work as it intended to.
This is why I shall, in the future, ACCEPT things and rant about my rooting experience to those people who would unconsciously root. More ranting is needed.
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
whenever you flash something to your phone expecially firmware you should check the md5sum, its a given and those 0.1% would not have a brick due to a curropt download if they did this so again not the fault of root
having root access WILL NOT cause your sd card slot to quit working, this just has no merrit, having root has just doesn't break hardware in itself, it just doesn't
depending on the phone and how you rooted and if you have an unlocked boot loader and loads of other question need to be figured out before you flash a stock rom, especially from bootloader (if the rom is packaged with a radio, hboot, recovery etc)
once you have true soff you can flash almost anything, including things that shouldn't be flashed. have a security flag is good for this exact purpose, to keep people from flashing what they shouldn't - yes this is how most people brick their phone, they don't fully understand.
and I'm not saying you stupid by I do agree it doesn't take a genius to flash a rom, but knowing the steps that someone has written down is diffrent then undertanding why it works
listen I know you said more ranting is neccessary, but it isn't, the fact is you figured out how to have fun with your phone by following some steps you read in a forum somewhere or watched a youtube video, that's great fun, I know I love it to.
but you didn't bother to figure out why it works or what to do/not to do, because you didn't you made a mistake, it happens, no one thinks less of you.
now you should learn from your mistake and learn to accept blame for making this make, no one told you to do what you did, and you didn't take the time to find out the repercutions of what you were about to do before you damaged your phone.
again root privalages in itself CAN'T harm your phone it just enables you to make a mistake as you have lost some security against it, just as owning a gun won't make you shoot someone but gives you the ability to do so (exuse my analogy as I know it is not apples to apples)
**** happens, get on with your life, no need to rant, no one thinks less of you, learn from mistakes, accept blame when you should... and as always exuse my speeling/grammar errors as root in it self won't make me smarter either
good night
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
demkantor said:
whenever you flash something to your phone expecially firmware you should check the md5sum, its a given and those 0.1% would not have a brick due to a curropt download if they did this so again not the fault of root
having root access WILL NOT cause your sd card slot to quit working, this just has no merrit, having root has just doesn't break hardware in itself, it just doesn't
depending on the phone and how you rooted and if you have an unlocked boot loader and loads of other question need to be figured out before you flash a stock rom, especially from bootloader (if the rom is packaged with a radio, hboot, recovery etc)
once you have true soff you can flash almost anything, including things that shouldn't be flashed. have a security flag is good for this exact purpose, to keep people from flashing what they shouldn't - yes this is how most people brick their phone, they don't fully understand.
and I'm not saying you stupid by I do agree it doesn't take a genius to flash a rom, but knowing the steps that someone has written down is diffrent then undertanding why it works
listen I know you said more ranting is neccessary, but it isn't, the fact is you figured out how to have fun with your phone by following some steps you read in a forum somewhere or watched a youtube video, that's great fun, I know I love it to.
but you didn't bother to figure out why it works or what to do/not to do, because you didn't you made a mistake, it happens, no one thinks less of you.
now you should learn from your mistake and learn to accept blame for making this make, no one told you to do what you did, and you didn't take the time to find out the repercutions of what you were about to do before you damaged your phone.
again root privalages in itself CAN'T harm your phone it just enables you to make a mistake as you have lost some security against it, just as owning a gun won't make you shoot someone but gives you the ability to do so (exuse my analogy as I know it is not apples to apples)
**** happens, get on with your life, no need to rant, no one thinks less of you, learn from mistakes, accept blame when you should... and as always exuse my speeling/grammar errors as root in it self won't make me smarter either
good night
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
I feel more people should know the repercussions and 'cons' of rooting so I thought of involving my situation as it could affect someone's choice of rooting.
What is a security flag? My phone is s on and yet it does not work.
Also, what is 'true soff'?
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
I was looking around here and found a few ways to "wipe" my phone clean and put on a different ROM. ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=439358 )
However would something (as the link above) be enough to remove previous text messages from the internal memory or other sensitive data so someone couldn't easily or at all recover any of my personal information.
(my phone numbers are stored on the SIM, so I don't think my phone book/contacts should be an issue, but I'm more concerned about text messages than anything else.
Besides "wiping" is there anything specific that you would recommend me doing to the phone to "prepare" it for someone else?
Just hard reset, and hang on to any external media (microsd card)... problem solved. Anything else is just a waste of time.
How would anything else be a waste of time? If someone could easily run a "recovery" software on my phone and recover everything I think it would be worth the time and effort.
Basically I don't want to end up in the situation like people have with selling their laptops on ebay (where someone has recovered the entire drive).
Simply put, if the peace of mind knowing that your sensitive data is 100% safe is worth more than the value of the phone, don't sell it
Aside from re-flashing the ROM, I'm not sure that much else can be done.
kommode said:
How would anything else be a waste of time? If someone could easily run a "recovery" software on my phone and recover everything I think it would be worth the time and effort.
Basically I don't want to end up in the situation like people have with selling their laptops on ebay (where someone has recovered the entire drive).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard reset or flashing a rom will wipe any info from your phone. I personally don't have that much "vital" information on my phone, since phones are very susceptible to get lost, broke or stolen
kommode said:
How would anything else be a waste of time? If someone could easily run a "recovery" software on my phone and recover everything I think it would be worth the time and effort.
Basically I don't want to end up in the situation like people have with selling their laptops on ebay (where someone has recovered the entire drive).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because... simply put... they can't recover the data once you hard reset. It's flash chips inside not a hard drive. Just don't be stupid and re-sync your phone afterwards and it's fine for sale. And like I said before, hang onto the extra memory cards, because the data on those CAN be recovered, and you don't want all those nude photos of yourself in Barbados getting put on the web now do you.
Hi all, I would like to say hello to begin with. I don't remember if I've posted here before or not. I have a question regarding my smartphone insurance if any of you would know anything about it. See, I rooted my phone long ago. I flashed and restored nandroid backups as I worked my way through my path of enlightenment (so to speak) in custom ROMs. Anywho, I am a proud owner of a Motorola Droid X (1st gen), and I recently flashed the Revnumbers unofficial CM7 build on my phone. Everything was great until my com.android.phone process force closed on me every time I tried to place a phone call and also force closed on me upon a fresh boot. I came to find out upon further research that it was due to a problem with the power control widget when switching from 2G/3G, and that running some SQLite commands in a terminal emulator would fix the problem by switching the preferred network value in a database file. I don't know what I did, but I made a nandroid backup after the problem occured, and the force close went away after I restored it. Now it's back, and I'm at my wit's end with this damn thing and I have decided I'm gonna pay the deductible on my insurance and get me a new X. I was wondering if the root status on my phone (as well as the com.android.phone FC) would eliminate my chances of getting a new phone. I know I could just run it over with my car, but I just can't bring myself to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
P.S. I found out that other X users were having the same problem, not just with CM7, but with all 2nd int ROMs.
I really don't mean to post this in the wrong section if I did. I have had enough of this pos DX and I'm definitely thinking about buying my friend's very lightly used Bionic for $120.
Not sure what the insurance policy is like that you have, but if you've done anything at all (custom ROM, custom Kernel, rooting etc.) then that normally means you're not covered. You'd need to go back to 100% stock to be on the safe side, which would probably also fix your problem.
If you've got the option of a Bionic for $120 then that's a tempting offer. I'm certainly no Motorola fan and would advise other, better phones, but $120 is a good price for that, assuming it's in good condition.
Archer said:
Not sure what the insurance policy is like that you have, but if you've done anything at all (custom ROM, custom Kernel, rooting etc.) then that normally means you're not covered. You'd need to go back to 100% stock to be on the safe side, which would probably also fix your problem.
If you've got the option of a Bionic for $120 then that's a tempting offer. I'm certainly no Motorola fan and would advise other, better phones, but $120 is a good price for that, assuming it's in good condition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I researched my problem when it occured, and a lot of threads on various forums such as Rootzwiki, and a device-specific forum were present with people having the exact same problem. They said it occured on all 2nd-int ROMs, and they took measures such as reflashing, wiping the data and factory resetting, even SBFing back to stock, still to no avail. It seems that once the preferred network mode value is altered, it stays that way regardless of reflashing or SBFing back to stock. I think I know what the actual problem is, but I don't know how to edit the database files myself. One of the threads on Rootzwiki said that the db file under something like android.providers.settings has a db value that is named as "preferred_network_mode" iirc, and that changing the value with an app called sqlite would fix it. I did not find such an app, and with the SQLeditor I tried out, I could not find the preferred_network_mode even searching that exact phrase, character for character. If I can fix this DX, I would love to continue on with it, but if it's too much trouble, I may just bite the bullet and pay the deductible to get a new phone. My mom thinks I shouldn't root or flash because it voids the warranty, but I didn't think that the insurance providers cared about software. I guess I'll just have to run it over with my car or something if I can't fix the problem. It's so bad that I can't even place or receive calls. That's the one thing for which I absolutely need to use my phone.