Root Couple of Root and HBoot questions.

[Neutrino Sunset]

Hi. I'm planning to root my Desire because I would like more memory for apps and an updated OS. I've decided to start with the latest RSK rom, I'm comfortable with Sense and for my first custom rom experience I'd like to get the phone back to something familiar.

I've read pretty much everything here and at a few other sites so I think I have a fair idea of how to go about it, but there are a couple of things I'd appreciate some clarification of.

In the [FAQ]Rooting page it states that to flash a custom rom you already need to be rooted. I don't understand that. I'd have thought that if I have already used Revolutionary to set S-OFF and installed 4ext, then all I need to do is partition the SD card, copy the new rom zip to the sd card, boot into 4ext, wipe the system and install the rom. Why whould the current rom (that I'm going to wipe anyway) need to be already rooted to install a new custom one?

My second question is that the rom I want to install says I should have either Stock or cm7/r2 Hboot. When I used Revolutionary to S-OFF my HBoot version as reported by the boot loader screen changed from 0.93.1002 to 6.93.1002 (plus the pink Revolutionary banner). What does this signify? Is my HBoot still effectively Stock (but with a different version number) or something else, and if something else then what?

Thanks.

 

[Griff_LI]

You have to be root to get S-OFF so the first question is moot. You don't need S-OFF to install a ROM, though.

The HBoot requirement they're asking for is the partitioning, you can't have messed with this if you're not already rooted (and if you are rooted you'd have had to deliberately try to change it) so you should have stock HBoot anyway.

You'll still need root, though. I'd (re-) read the FAQ if I were you. And then read it again.

 

[Hadron]

First, you are correct that with Revolutionary you can install a custom recovery and then flash a custom ROM without rooting the current one. With previous methods you only got a custom recovery when you rooted, which is why the faq says what it does.

If you wish to keep your apps and data when changing ROMs, then Titanium Backup is the most popular solution, and that does require root. So that is one reason you might want to root before flashing ROMs.

Of course you do want to take a backup from recovery before flashing anything

As for hboot, it's the partition sizes that matter. The basic revolutionary one has stock partitions.

 

[Neutrino Sunset]

That answers my questions perfectly. Many thanks.