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Root Can I root Orange branded and KEEP bloatware ?

D

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Well, not all the bloatware :D I just need to keep "Orange Signal Boost" as I have no GSM signal at all indoors and need the UMA function to make calls at home.

Basically, I'm clueless. The only reason I want root access is so I can get Tasker to send button commands (so I can do stuff like dismiss alarms by shaking the phone etc). It would be nice to be able to remove the rubbish I'll never use, like Twitter, Facebook etc.

The phone is only 6 months old and I don't want to risk bricking it. Is it possible to root a branded phone and later be able to undo all the changes and put it back exactly as it was, should I ever need to send it back under warranty ?

I don't particularly want a new ROM - unless it's very pretty and I can guarantee that the UMA facility will still work.

I'm fairly techie (computer network engineer) but rooting phones and all the jargon that goes with it is completely alien to me. Most of the threads on here make me feel like my customers must do when I'm trying to explain what's going on with their routers :D

Is what I desire possible ? (NPI :)).
 
Yes, mostly.

Rooting the phone just gives you root access (i.e. superuser/administrator), nothing else. So as long as you don't change ROM that app will still be there, and should work (I've heard of one or two apps that check for root and won't run if there). So that bit is fine.

The bit you can't do is put it back "exactly" as before. This is because it's an Orange branded handset, and no Orange Froyo RUU (ROM Upgrade Utility) was ever leaked. You can unroot it and preserve warranty by using the official Android 2.3 upgrade, which you can find at shipped-ROMs (no longer on HTCdev.com). But while the warranty will be fine after running that, you will lose all Orange software in the process.

Removing system apps easily requires S-Off, though if you're willing to run "android debug bridge" (adb) over a usb connection while the phone is in recovery mode you can do it without. If you root using revolutionary you get that anyway, whereas if you use unrevoked to root you have to do it as a separate process if you want it.
 
Hi, thanks for the very informative reply - much appreciated. I believe my phone is actually gingerbread - was an Orange RUU ever leaked for that ?
 
Orange never released Gingerbread - the only official GB was the one I mentioned. What does the About Phone menu say the Android version is?
 
If that's a HTC Desire then it's already rooted and running a custom ROM (moreover one that lives partially in a partition of the SD card).

Edit: Just checked - Orange did roll out that combination for the Desire S, but that's a different phone. If you have one of those, you should visit Desire S - All Things Root - Android Forums for rooting information.

Desire HD got that too, but not certain whether it rolled out to Orange.
 
Not so I'm afraid. I bought the phone direct from Orange (UK) about six months ago. The day it arrived it told me there were updates available, so I just said yes to everything and its been like this since. It's not rooted and it has fully branded Orange ROM and accompanying bloatware.

If it helps, the 'About Phone' page also has these details:
Software Number: 2.13.61.3
Kernel Version: 2.6.35.10-g064c30e
HTC-kernel@and18-2#1
Fri Oct 7 11:28:22 CST 2011
 
OK, I've just checked your posting history, and see that you've also posted in the Desire S forum, so I guess that's what you have :)

Edit: Just googled that software version number, and it's Desire S software.

So my original answer, that rooting doesn't change the existing software, still stands. As for unrooting and returning to stock Orange firmware, you'll have to ask the people in Desire S All Things Root, as my answer there was specific to the Desire. I have had a peek through shipped-ROMs' index for the Desire S and don't see anything that looks like it (there's a French Orange RUU, but that's it), but there may be other sources for this handset, so best to ask the experts.
 
My apologies mate... I've posted in the wrong section !

Sorry for the confusion - and thanks for the help anyway !
 
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