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Root Help answer a noobs root questions?

bigbabys

Android Enthusiast
First things first this might be a little long winded, but I don't want to leave anything out. So I apologize in advance!

I have some questions about rooting/custom roms and additionally I would just like a straightforward opinion on if it's something that would be worth doing for me. I'm frustrated by the delay of the Bionic, especially since the GB update on my X has made it quite frustrating to use. I am looking for something to help ease the pain of another month with my X. So first things first, my primary question is: Should I root?

I only want to root if I stand to gain something substantial out of it. By this I mean:

1. I would like to try a custom rom if one exists that is stable and fast. And I mean more stable than stock GB in it's current state. I don't want to go through the trouble of rooting if I will be in the same position I am in now or even worse. But I also don't want to sacrifice too much to get this stability.

2. I use WatchDog, Juicedefender, and RealHDMI, all 3 of which have features that require root access. But are these features worth it?

Which brings me to my next question, from the bit of reading I have been doing on this forum about rooting, it would seem that by accepting the OTA GB update I've made the process for rooting much harder? So (and correct me if I'm wrong) my process would go something like this:


1. SBF back to stock
2. Root the stock rom
3. Install a custom rom

And finally to wrap all this up, here are my primary concerns about rooting:

1. I love my battery life since GB came out, I don't know what they did but it worked. I fear that a stable ROM will likely be froyo and I don't want to lose my juice (It's one of the more important smart phone features I need, I hate having to ration my phone use due to poor battery life)

2. My music player needs to work, I use it as an mp3 player almost as much as a phone (in it's current form, GB has made it barely useable for this, so this isn't as much as a concern with rooting as it is a concern that rooting won't fix it, so why bother)

3. I don't want to brick my phone. I hear this is near impossible these days if you are not a moron, but sometimes I can be :p

4. The camera needs to work. I've seen talk about the latest roms not having functionality in the camera. I'm all for phone tinkering but I don't want to lose major functionality in my phone just so I can wifi-tether for free (I use PDA net anyway)

5. My apps will suddenly stop working. I have a good amount of apps on my phone that I have come to rely on. It would be upsetting if I went through the root proccess and then suddenly they stopped working.

I know I said I was done but I reminded myself of something with that last part. Is there a place I can look at screenshots and/or video of all these custom roms running? I would like to make a more educated decision on which one to run if I do root, and the looks of the phone are a big selling point for me. I hear MUI or whatever is similiar to iPhone for example. So I want nothing to do with it ;)

Anyway thank you in advance for taking your time to even read this long winded post. But I have been on the "should I root" fence ever since my OG Droid. But every delay on the bionic and every random reboot on my X pushes me closer and closer to finally doing it. I just want some re-assurance!
 
I would say root your phone.
You will not lose functionality by doing so and will gain the ability to do full backups of your current setup.
Go ahead and take the two part GB rooted file and install it. From there, you can try different ROMs, such as Darkslide2, which, in my opinion, is pretty much what you're looking for. Stable, reliable, fast and has full function.
If you don't lie what you flash, you can always try another ROM, or stay on rooted GB (or even go back to FroYo, for that matter).
Without rooting, this will be nearly impossible.
My $0.02, of course.
 
I would say root your phone.
You will not lose functionality by doing so and will gain the ability to do full backups of your current setup.
Go ahead and take the two part GB rooted file and install it. From there, you can try different ROMs, such as Darkslide2, which, in my opinion, is pretty much what you're looking for. Stable, reliable, fast and has full function.
If you don't lie what you flash, you can always try another ROM, or stay on rooted GB (or even go back to FroYo, for that matter).
Without rooting, this will be nearly impossible.
My $0.02, of course.

My curiosity got the better of me and I rooted without waiting for a response :D I tend to do stuff like that. Anyway, I'm basically just setting this Stock GB up the way I want it so I can back it up real quick and then start toying with other roms. So I have a new question. How to I back up basically an "image" of the phone state right now so that if I don't like a rom I try I can just put the phone right back in the exact state it's in now. Also, where can I find this darkslide rom?

Edit: I have titanium backup pro already, paid for it :)
 
My curiosity got the better of me and I rooted without waiting for a response :D I tend to do stuff like that. Anyway, I'm basically just setting this Stock GB up the way I want it so I can back it up real quick and then start toying with other roms. So I have a new question. How to I back up basically an "image" of the phone state right now so that if I don't like a rom I try I can just put the phone right back in the exact state it's in now. Also, where can I find this darkslide rom?

Edit: I have titanium backup pro already, paid for it :)

TiBu is good to back up your apps and their data. If you want a complete image backup you would do this by downloading Droid 2 bootstrap. Then hit the top button and grant it superuser permissions. Then hit ok. Then hit the bottom button. This will reboot the phone into the Custom "clockwork mod recovery." From here you use the up/down volume button to go up and down. The power button goes to the previous menu. And the camera button fully depressed makes your selection. Scroll to backup and restore then select backup. This process takes several minutes. Your phone will then go back to the CWM recovery main screen and you can click reboot to reboot normally. This backup is stored on your SD card at sdcard/clockworkmod/backups it will be a weird number with the date it was made. you can also do this with ROM manager. You still need to do the part with the droid 2 bootstrap though. But don't click the bottom button. Instead open ROM manager and scroll to backup current ROM. It will then prompt you to name it. It will reboot and do everything like a normal backup only the name will be what you named it.

And lastly, Darkslide. This is a ROM based on .340 (FROYO) so you will need to SBF back to .340 then root that then install darkslide V4.2 found here. Instruction on installing that can be found at that site.

And dont mock MIUI. It's my ROM of choice now. I've got it themed like I like it and it's freakin sweeeet.
 
Aggie, there is a Darkslide ROM based on GB. I was just on it and went back to CM7 due to peer pressure.
All the other information Aggie gave is spot-on, BTW.
DarkslideX can be downloaded here if you are interested.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SO3J3BJW
Root with Z4 root
Download and install Droid2 bootstrap
install the two-part GB rooted
install the ROM (GB) of your choice
 
I thought I remembered hearing about a GB DS but when I looked at Droidxforums all I saw was the .340 :O Thanks!
 
Aggie, there is a Darkslide ROM based on GB. I was just on it and went back to CM7 due to peer pressure.
All the other information Aggie gave is spot-on, BTW.
DarkslideX can be downloaded here if you are interested.
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service
Root with Z4 root
Download and install Droid2 bootstrap
install the two-part GB rooted
install the ROM (GB) of your choice

I hear the most about CM7, are all the bugs worked out of it? Is it more or less stable than Darkslide? What are the pros and cons to either?

And just confirm: If I am on the rooted 2 part GB right now, all I do is boot into recovery mode, clear the system cache, and then install the rom from the zip?
 
you can install DS from GB Root

you have to be on rooted froyo to install cm7/ssx/justice/omfgb/liquid 2.3/miui

pros to gb roms through moto files is the fact they are very stable, great battery life, and still use some blur function
cons to gb roms through moto files, its not true aosp, no matter how much bloat is removed there is just too much holding it back

pros to 2init gb roms its near aosp, fast, snappy, great features that you would not otherwise experience
cons to 2init gb roms they are all near stable but not truly stable roms just yet, battery life takes a fall, some features become unusable that you otherwise want to have
 
you can install DS from GB Root

you have to be on rooted froyo to install cm7/ssx/justice/omfgb/liquid 2.3/miui

pros to gb roms through moto files is the fact they are very stable, great battery life, and still use some blur function
cons to gb roms through moto files, its not true aosp, no matter how much bloat is removed there is just too much holding it back

pros to 2init gb roms its near aosp, fast, snappy, great features that you would not otherwise experience
cons to 2init gb roms they are all near stable but not truly stable roms just yet, battery life takes a fall, some features become unusable that you otherwise want to have

This was both very informative and very confusing. :p
GB rom through moto files just means you have to do the 2 part gb patch first I'm assuming, so the alternative (a 2init) would be any froyo rom?

What does AOSP stand for? and what do you mean there is too much holding it back? I used titanium backup to freeze most of the bloat, is that what you are referring to?
 
This was both very informative and very confusing. :p
GB rom through moto files just means you have to do the 2 part gb patch first I'm assuming, so the alternative (a 2init) would be any froyo rom?

What does AOSP stand for? and what do you mean there is too much holding it back? I used titanium backup to freeze most of the bloat, is that what you are referring to?


A Froyo Rom is a Froyo Rom, 2nd-init is something very different.

VS can explain further if he wants to.

AOSP - Android Open Source Project
 
the 2init process was exploited by an individual who i do not know, and cvpcs used that process from the milestone community to see if it would work on the DX, it did, which gave us actual gingerbread based roms, and not based off of motorola's build.

however the bootloader is still locked, so kernels are still out of the question, we are still on the froyo kernel, but an easier way to explain this is you are able to customize the UI of the dx with the 2init process where as if your going off of motorola's build your stuck with what you got.

if you notice with cm7/ssx/justice/miui/and now omfgb they all have the notification bar widgets, which is not something you can have off of motorolas built roms. miui is an entire revamped ui all together. which is why it looks much more different than the rest.

these roms are aosp, to an extent. aosp means its pure vanilla basically, its the stock form of the phone that it was meant to have, with no bloatware, no motoblur, touchwiz etc, etc.

the fact is the bootloader is still locked up, and until its unlocked i doubt you will see a truely aosp rom. but we are lucky that we have gotten the roms we have now.
 
the 2init process was exploited by an individual who i do not know, and cvpcs used that process from the milestone community to see if it would work on the DX, it did, which gave us actual gingerbread based roms, and not based off of motorola's build.

however the bootloader is still locked, so kernels are still out of the question, we are still on the froyo kernel, but an easier way to explain this is you are able to customize the UI of the dx with the 2init process where as if your going off of motorola's build your stuck with what you got.

if you notice with cm7/ssx/justice/miui/and now omfgb they all have the notification bar widgets, which is not something you can have off of motorolas built roms. miui is an entire revamped ui all together. which is why it looks much more different than the rest.

these roms are aosp, to an extent. aosp means its pure vanilla basically, its the stock form of the phone that it was meant to have, with no bloatware, no motoblur, touchwiz etc, etc.

the fact is the bootloader is still locked up, and until its unlocked i doubt you will see a truely aosp rom. but we are lucky that we have gotten the roms we have now.


Wow! Thanks that was a great explanation. So what advantages does Darkslide actually provide over the 2 Part GB Rom if it's not a 2 init. If it is going to look and behave exactly like Moto's GB I don't see the point.

Is CM7 the most stable 2init rom out currently?
 
about all the 2init roms out now are fairly stable with a few fixes to apply

Darkslide will remove some moto blur, you can look into the changelog to see what was added/removed. but it does offer a significant difference over stock gb,
 
about all the 2init roms out now are fairly stable with a few fixes to apply

Darkslide will remove some moto blur, you can look into the changelog to see what was added/removed. but it does offer a significant difference over stock gb,


Ok, last question I promise! :D

I downloaded the Darkslide X rom linked above and went to install it via rom manager and it rebooted into clockwork but then when I select install from sdcard and selected the .zip it gave me an error (can't validate package I think) and then said installation interupted. Any idea what that is about?


Edit: nevermind, looks like I just needed to use the droid 2 bootstrapper and forgo the rom manager part entirely.
 
I'm sure you'll like that Rom, most that used it seemed to like it.


So far I like the looks. I feel so l33t cause I did a titanium restore and I have a useable phone after a fresh rom install in under 5 minutes!! :D

This stuff is addicting. So far it just seems to look a little different, but I'm not noticing any major changes. Stability is key though :)

Edit: Oh and thank you again for everything :) I'm sure I'll be back because I'm the inquisitive type. I gotta know everything!!
 
So after a full day run with Darkslide I am very happy with it. It looks great, seems to be running stable and smooth. I still have 2 questions though.

I was looking over the ROM list in the sticky, and it seems there are a bunch of .596 roms listed. All of which in the instructions say they can be installed over .596 Rooted OTA (which is what I installed Darkslide over). Some examples being: Liberty, Apex, Hateraid

Can I install those too? Why is Darkslide not even on that list?

And my other question, Aggie was saying I could backup a rom image with ROM Manager. And While I did manage to backup my 2 part GB install with clockwork. When I try and do it with ROM Manager it reboots into clockwork but then nothing happens. So as a result I can't have a named backup. Any idea why this is happening?
 
Yes you can install those other Roms on your current setup, just follow those particular Rom's install instructions.

I guess jrzDroid hasn't updated that list in a while, that may be why DS is not there.

The Rom Manager issue I can't really help you with as I never use that app. I just use CWR for everything, backups, flashing, wiping, etc.
 
Yes you can install those other Roms on your current setup, just follow those particular Rom's install instructions.

I guess jrzDroid hasn't updated that list in a while, that may be why DS is not there.

The Rom Manager issue I can't really help you with as I never use that app. I just use CWR for everything, backups, flashing, wiping, etc.

I guess I'll just have to remember the date of the CW backup :p

So if I backup the image of my Darkslide ROM right now, then restore the OTA rooted img, I can install another rom on top of it without issue correct? And if I don't like that ROM I can restore the img of Darkslide I had and it's like I never did anything.

Or do I need to restore the Rooted GB before I restore the Darkslide (As in, I cannot restore the Darkslide ROM OVER another custom ROM)
 
I guess I'll just have to remember the date of the CW backup :p

So if I backup the image of my Darkslide ROM right now, then restore the OTA rooted img, I can install another rom on top of it without issue correct? And if I don't like that ROM I can restore the img of Darkslide I had and it's like I never did anything.

Or do I need to restore the Rooted GB before I restore the Darkslide (As in, I cannot restore the Darkslide ROM OVER another custom ROM)


You don't have to restore the OTA backup, just install over DS. I'm sure the instructions will tell you to wipe data, etc. for the new Rom you choose.
 
You don't have to restore the OTA backup, just install over DS. I'm sure the instructions will tell you to wipe data, etc. for the new Rom you choose.

Oh wow! That's even easier! So then if I don't like, say Liberty, can I boot into clockwork and just restore the Darkslide img and it will be like I never did anything at all?
 
Oh wow! That's even easier! So then if I don't like, say Liberty, can I boot into clockwork and just restore the Darkslide img and it will be like I never did anything at all?


As long as you stay on a .596 based Rom that should be fine.
 
there is only a few roms that are based on the .596 OTA

Apex RC2
Liberty v.9
Shuji
AOSP Liberty
Darkslide X
Rubix Blurry
and i think there is another but i cannot think of it right now
 
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