Root Am I the only noobie who's confused?

[valorian]

ok, so I'm trying to learn and understand the whole S-Off / root that is now available. This is my first Android phone so I really have no idead what I'm doing. I'm not one to try something like this without doing a lot of reading first. But, it seems like the more I read the more confused I get.

I know step one is to get S-Off, that part I understand but it's after that where I cannot seem to find what to do. Reading through the XDA forums is a nightmare. The forums are very vague and they make you jump all over the place when trying to find a How-To. They also love to use acronyms which makes understanding what you are reading difficult.

Can some let me know if I'm understanding the steps correctly.

1) Do the S-Off process.

2) Do the Clockworkmod steps from this page..[Info] After AlpharevX: install Clockworkmod, root & more - xda-developers

One question I have, are you doing all the steps from the link above while your phone is plugged into your computer or are these files being loaded onto your phone? Once I do the steps from the link, will I be able to remove the bloatware or is this done only by installing a custom ROM?

Thanks for help out an ignorant noobie.

 

[TUAN0R]

I cannot help you, but thank you for posting this. I have in the same situation and seeking answers to the exact same questions. Going through XDA forum is also a pain for me and I agree that it is very chaotic and may confuse more than clarify.

If someone could answer this in a noob-friendly-way, I would much appreciate it.

 

[planetgirth]

Im pretty new to the whole rooting scene too but i just rooted my Inc2 through linux last night. I'll try explaining/linking to the best of my abilities and maybe a more advanced owner can come along and be more in depth.

FOR S-OFF:
AlphaRev X - Make it your phone

and just follow the instructions at the bottom of that page. I s-off'ed the linux way which is even more complicated than windows so windows should be a breeze.

ONCE YOU HAVE S OFF, THEN YOU CAN INSTALL CLOCKWORK.

Im not sure about the windows version but for linux, when i was in the cmd prompt entering the scripts, i was given an option to automatically install clockwork with a (y/n) option. I entered lowercase y instead of uppercase Y and it didn't install for me. I don't know if that's the actual mistake i made or maybe i was just impatient and didn't wait long enough for it to install. But if you cant automatically install it then install it the manual way:
[GUIDE] Flash CWM Manually (for noobs) - xda-developers

Basically just follow the instructions again.
Heres a file i uploaded with (I think) everything you need to install CWM on your Inc2:
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

just place the folder into your C:\ directory so its gonna be "C:\android"

THESE NEXT STEPS ARE TO INSTALL CWM(MANUALLY) WHICH I JUST COPY AND PASTED FROM THE GUIDE ON XDA.


5. Boot into fastboot by powering the device off, then powering back on while holding the volume down button on the side. It should boot to a white screen, similar to what you saw when you first rooted it. Plug your phone into usb if you haven't already.

6. Open the Command Prompt. Type (without the quotes): "cd (the folder where adb is)" so, "cd C:\" in my case. Next: "fastboot flash recovery cwm-recovery-vivow.img" and when it is done, "fastboot reboot". And you should be done.


If you placed my android folder into your C: directory it would just look like this when you type it in: cd C:\android

then just type in the other 2 prompts and you should be good to go for rooting.

ROOTING TIME:

basically this is all you need to do:
[PATCH] Install Superuser, Busybox and Rooted Kernel (For Use After Obtaining S-OFF) - xda-developers

he added a download link for the file. For the zip file you just downloaded, just place it in the root of your phones sd card. Theres no need to extract the files or anything.

If CWM installed correctly for you then just go into the recovery mode (power down completely, wait a couple seconds, then hold power button+down volume: you should see "recovery" option after the menu boots up and that will take you to CWM menu) if you dont know how to navigate the menu its basically just volume up/down to go up/down and power button to select.

Once you're in the menu then go to "install zip from sd card" or something along those lines. Find the rmk zip and install it. You should be all set.

Feel free to ask questions/correct me since the whole rooting process was kinda confusing for me too. hopefully this guide leads you in the right direction.

 

[planetgirth]

Once I do the steps from the link, will I be able to remove the bloatware or is this done only by installing a custom ROM?

Thanks for help out an ignorant noobie.

You dont need to install a custom ROM to delete the bloatware. just install the titanium backup root app and you'll be able to uninstall the bloat. Though i must say, custom ROMs are very fun. CM7 is okay but i prefer the stock kernal that the Inc2 came with (the camera just looks weird, not as much adw options) it kinda feels like a downgrade for me... If you're on the edge about installing a custom rom then check this out this one:
★ ☆ ★| ROM | JULY 10 | KINgDoM REwInD 3D | A1 | 2.3.3 | SENSE 3.0 | ★ ☆ ★ - xda-developers

it comes with sense 3.0 and video shows what it can do. The current downloadable version is currently under construction i believe, since people couldnt flash it but a fix should be up soon.

 

[valorian]

Thanks for posting this. I'll read this over more tonight when I get more time. From all the posts from people saying "it's a piece of cake", this looks like an awful lot of things to do just to root your phone.

 

[Lagos]

Thanks for posting this. I'll read this over more tonight when I get more time. From all the posts from people saying "it's a piece of cake", this looks like an awful lot of things to do just to root your phone.

Its easier than it sounds.

Basically this is what you need to know:
1. S-off just unlocks the security on the stock boot loader.
2. You need to install a custom/recovery boot loader to allow you to flash the phone.
3. You need to flash either a patch to your stock kernel, or an already patched custom rom that allows root access to apps.

The first two are basically done with the alphaX utility. In the Linux version I used, it completed the s-off step and then asked me to flash a custom boot loader. You have to wait a few minutes for it to finish downloading and flashing.

Step 3 is the one that seems to confuse people. Your stock kernel needs to be patched or you need to install a custom kernel to allow apps to obtain root access. This can be done by flashing this patch:
[PATCH] Install Superuser, Busybox and Rooted Kernel (For Use After Obtaining S-OFF) - xda-developers
Or by installing a custom kernel. You download these and keep them zipped. and then place them in your SD card.

To flash a patch or kernel:
1. Turn off "fast boot" in power management.
2. Turn off the phone.
3. Hold down the volume down button, and press the power button. Keep holding volume down until you see the boot loader.
4. Select the recovery option.
5. Select the "flash from zip file" option and select the patch file or custom rom that you downloaded.

Its pretty easy.

 

[LaurAndroid]

Thank you for asking the question I was to chicken to ask lol. I used Alpharevx for Windows, got s-off & said "y" to clockwork, but when I tried to enter recovery my phone screen went black & then showed a red pic of a phone with a red triangle & an exclamation! i panicked, pulled the battery and haven't done anymore. These instructions are very helpful & I might continue my root journey after i recover from the panic attack LOL

 

[planetgirth]

Thank you for asking the question I was to chicken to ask lol. I used Alpharevx for Windows, got s-off & said "y" to clockwork, but when I tried to enter recovery my phone screen went black & then showed a red pic of a phone with a red triangle & an exclamation! i panicked, pulled the battery and haven't done anymore. These instructions are very helpful & I might continue my root journey after i recover from the panic attack LOL

yeah the same thing happened to me. you should've capital Y'ed it! haha jk thats just a theory. But just follow my guide on the manual install of CWM and that'll install it for you.

 

[Lagos]

Thank you for asking the question I was to chicken to ask lol. I used Alpharevx for Windows, got s-off & said "y" to clockwork, but when I tried to enter recovery my phone screen went black & then showed a red pic of a phone with a red triangle & an exclamation! i panicked, pulled the battery and haven't done anymore. These instructions are very helpful & I might continue my root journey after i recover from the panic attack LOL

I think what you are seeing is just the factory recovery. Nothing to panic about. Just means that you didn't correctly install the custom recovery during the s-off process. So you probably have to manually install recovery now.

 

[dinc2dinc]

htc drivers. how do i know that they have sucessfully installed?

I click install and it sends me to the vcast website

 

[dinc2dinc]

worked nvm

 

[planetgirth]

htc drivers. how do i know that they have sucessfully installed?

I click install and it sends me to the vcast website

you can go to the "uninstall/change a program" and type in htc. there should be the htc bmp usb driver and the htc driver installer. i think xda forums advises us to UNinstall htc sync which is what i did but keep the driver and installer.

 

[ganj_420]

I'm getting confused over all of this. I've uninstalled HTC sync and left the USB drivers and driver installer. When I go to the alpharev page and click on "HTC windows drivers" it takes me to multiupload site and I don't know which link to click to install the drivers they tell me to install? I thought the drivers were already installed through HTC sync? Then I try to run the utility and it always gets hung up on "waiting for device" I would really appreciate any help with this guys. Thank you

 

[thetomlin2]

I'm getting confused over all of this. I've uninstalled HTC sync and left the USB drivers and driver installer. When I go to the alpharev page and click on "HTC windows drivers" it takes me to multiupload site and I don't know which link to click to install the drivers they tell me to install? I thought the drivers were already installed through HTC sync? Then I try to run the utility and it always gets hung up on "waiting for device" I would really appreciate any help with this guys. Thank you

I recomend using Linux ... Way better than Windows

 

[AndyBones]

I recommend just typing in "android S-OFF" in google and just reading a little about it, how it voids your warranty, only some S-OFF phones are capable of returning to complete S-ON stock to get a refurbished replacement. Just a few things to consider.

from unrevoked.com: public:forever [RootWiki]
What is the difference between an ENG bootloader and unrevoked forever? Are there any disadvantages?
This is a permanent patch; unrevoked forever works below the radio level. Thus, even if an update removes the ENG bootloader, a device that has run forever will remain S-OFF. It is possible for HTC to produce an update to remove this, but a carrier that distributes such an update would also break legitimate test phones, reverting them back to “release” phones.

For Droid Incredible users, this is the only way to obtain S-OFF access. However, the EVO 4G's ENG bootloader allows certain extended fastboot commands to be used. Currently, unrevoked forever does not enable these extended commands; however, the ENG bootloader can be used in conjunction with unrevoked forever to have permanent S-OFF access as well as access to the extended commands. For HTC Incredible users, our intent is to eventually bring our own ENG patched HBOOT to the Incredible.

Hope this helps. you can never learn enough. once you have root, you will be themeing, once you have teeming you will want to create ROMs. it's an addiction. good luck!

 

[McLovlein13]

I'm getting confused over all of this. I've uninstalled HTC sync and left the USB drivers and driver installer. When I go to the alpharev page and click on "HTC windows drivers" it takes me to multiupload site and I don't know which link to click to install the drivers they tell me to install? I thought the drivers were already installed through HTC sync? Then I try to run the utility and it always gets hung up on "waiting for device" I would really appreciate any help with this guys. Thank you

exact same thing is happening to me, the directions on the page seem a little vague... i could use help and id rather do windows than ubuntu

EDIT: root works with windows... do it in this exact order.
plug in your phone charge only usb,
download the file
extract
run the .exe as an administrator
type in your code
let it do work.

i had to try like 6 times but it finally worked

 

[valorian]

I'm getting confused over all of this. I've uninstalled HTC sync and left the USB drivers and driver installer. When I go to the alpharev page and click on "HTC windows drivers" it takes me to multiupload site and I don't know which link to click to install the drivers they tell me to install? I thought the drivers were already installed through HTC sync? Then I try to run the utility and it always gets hung up on "waiting for device" I would really appreciate any help with this guys. Thank you

Once the Megaupload site loades look on the right side of the screen, you should see a count down starting (ingnore everything else on the screen). You have to wait I think 45 seconds as this box counts down then the screen should change. Click on regular download and then they should start downloading.

 

[ganj_420]

ROOTING TIME:

basically this is all you need to do:
[PATCH] Install Superuser, Busybox and Rooted Kernel (For Use After Obtaining S-OFF) - xda-developers

he added a download link for the file. For the zip file you just downloaded, just place it in the root of your phones sd card. Theres no need to extract the files or anything.

If CWM installed correctly for you then just go into the recovery mode (power down completely, wait a couple seconds, then hold power button+down volume: you should see "recovery" option after the menu boots up and that will take you to CWM menu) if you dont know how to navigate the menu its basically just volume up/down to go up/down and power button to select.

Once you're in the menu then go to "install zip from sd card" or something along those lines. Find the rmk zip and install it. You should be all set.

Feel free to ask questions/correct me since the whole rooting process was kinda confusing for me too. hopefully this guide leads you in the right direction.

Dumb question but how do I get the file on the root of my sd card? Do I have to have the SDK installed on my computer? I installed CWM on my phone through Alpharev so i didnt have to worry about that part lol

 

[AndyBones]

Dumb question but how do I get the file on the root of my sd card? Do I have to have the SDK installed on my computer? I installed CWM on my phone through Alpharev so i didnt have to worry about that part lol

the "root" of your sdcard is no file. when you connect your phone to the computer and connect to it it's just on the sd card in no file, thats what that means

 

[planetgirth]

Dumb question but how do I get the file on the root of my sd card? Do I have to have the SDK installed on my computer? I installed CWM on my phone through Alpharev so i didnt have to worry about that part lol

you should have the htc drivers installed on your pc. plug your phone into your pc with the usb cord and then pull down the status menu and do a media sync. the pc should detect the phone if you have the drivers installed. if its not installed then google "htc sync" and download from the website. after it installs, UNINSTALL htc SYNC, but KEEP the driver and installer.