Basic Question on ROOTing

[MisterEd]

When you root a phone or after it is rooted you load custom firmware does the phone go back to "factory" condition meaning all settings including activation through GMAIL need to be done or does it keep all programs, settings etc. ?

 

[tiredhiker]

I would guess yes. Its like Formating your PC hard disk and loadeding a better copy or Windows. Its not an upgrade.

 

[dmodert66]

I really can't speak except for the Droid. If you do a simple wipe, you usually don't have to redo things like entering your gmail info, etc. If you do a factory wipe, then it's like a new OS on your phone, so you have to start from scratch. Also, I think the installation method is relevant (on Droid, normally update.zip file or nandroid backup)...

 

[bluenova]

It depends on the ROM you are looking to install. Basically if you don't do a wipe the new ROM will be installed on top of what is already there and you won't lose any settings but this can cause issues as things will be left over from the old ROM that might not be compatible with the new ROM.

9 times out of 10 it's better to do a wipe and start with a fresh system. If you are moving from Android 1.5 to 2.1 you have to do this. If you are going from 1.5 to 1.5 it might not be necessary. You can always try without a wipe first and if you get force closes etc then do a wipe and start from scratch.

I don't know what dmodert66 is referring to with a 'simple wipe'. AFAIK there is only a factory wipe.

 

[MisterEd]

@bluenova

That's what I was afraid of. The problem I have (and why I am asking this question) is that I have an UNLOCKED T-Mobile Mytouch 3G which I am using on AT&T. If I do a factory reset (or a wipe) it would put me back to factory defaults which would change my APN back to T-Mobile which was how it was when I got it from the seller.

When I start it up it wants me to activate by "registering" my GMAIL account. Since I have no T-Mobile SIM and don't know anyone on T-Mobile there is no way for me to "activate" the phone because the AT&T SIM won't get me a web connection with the default T-Mobile APN to get to gmail.com.

I have Googled for days and tried EVERY "trick" to bypass the activation screen but nothing worked. My only option was to go to a T-Mobile store and beg the salesman to put his SIM in my phone so I could register it, then put in my AT&T SIM back in and everything was fine.

I don't want to go through that again. I had to go to 3 stores till I found someone kind enough to do it for me. If I install new roms I would have this problem every time.

 

[Rebelarms81]

Just to let you know, I am in the same boat. AT&T carrier and a mytouch 3g phone. I have changed roms several times with no problems. When the phone asks you for your Google account information during setup just press 'Menu' on the phone and then press 'APNs' on the screen. This will allow you to set up your APN list. Hope this helps

 

[Sachmojo]

You didn't try it over wifi? When i activated my milestone it was over my home wifi as i didn't yet have a data plan and i didn't want to pay through the nose.

 

[shotgunfool]

Can you not order a free payg sim, and just use wifi to set up your gmail and stuff then just swap to your at&t sim?