Root Droid X newbie w/ questions

[mstocks]

Hi all - thanks in advance for any pearls of wisdom you can share!

As of tomorrow, I'll be the proud owner of a Droid X as I kick my POS Crackberry Storm to the curb - can I get an Amen?

I'm with Verizon (I know, i know....but I go to a lot of places where they are the ONLY carrier with coverage....sigh.....) and use a MacBook Pro as my main compy. Do have a PC upstairs, if needed.

Ok - here come the questions:

1. I was told the X would ship on Android 2.2. Obviously, I want to root it (duh!). Married to a techie so not too scared about the process. What is the BEST way to root it and still fly under Verizon's radar?

2. When Verizon pushes Gingerbread, will that kill my root? Anything I need to worry about there?

3. What are some apps you CANNOT live without & why? Do they need a root phone to run?

4. Are there apps that will NOT run on a root phone?

5. When you tether with a rooted phone, does the data usage show up differently to Verizon than it would otherwise?

Again, thanks for your patience with me.....be gentle!

 

[pool_shark]

Answers below.

Hi all - thanks in advance for any pearls of wisdom you can share!

As of tomorrow, I'll be the proud owner of a Droid X as I kick my POS Crackberry Storm to the curb - can I get an Amen?

I'm with Verizon (I know, i know....but I go to a lot of places where they are the ONLY carrier with coverage....sigh.....) and use a MacBook Pro as my main compy. Do have a PC upstairs, if needed.

Ok - here come the questions:

1. I was told the X would ship on Android 2.2. Obviously, I want to root it (duh!). Married to a techie so not too scared about the process. What is the BEST way to root it and still fly under Verizon's radar?
z4root, there is no radar.

2. When Verizon pushes Gingerbread, will that kill my root? Anything I need to worry about there?
OTA updates remove root, just re-root afterward.

3. What are some apps you CANNOT live without & why? Do they need a root phone to run?
Launcher pro, documents to go, beautiful widgets, no lock, better keyboard, better terminal emulator pro (root), handcent.

4. Are there apps that will NOT run on a root phone?
No.

5. When you tether with a rooted phone, does the data usage show up differently to Verizon than it would otherwise?
I don't know.

Again, thanks for your patience with me.....be gentle!

 

[kurtle005]

Hi mstocks
Here are the answers
1. Universal androot is the best option for root on your phone.
2. I don't know, it shouldnt break anything.
3. Well you need games: angry birds is my favourite. Really most apps are handy.
4. Not that i know of, but some apps require a rooted phone.
5. It shouldn't.

 

[mstocks]

Thanks - does z4root allow me to unroot easily if needed?

 

[pool_shark]

Thanks - does z4root allow me to unroot easily if needed?

It has the option of unroot but I've never used it.

 

[mstocks]

Thanks for the info - any diff b/t z4root busybox & universal androot superuser?

 

[kurtle005]

Yes,
Unrevoked but its for htc only.
Also superoneclick but it must be rooted via a pc.

 

[Outsider(Avid HustlaZ)]

Hi all - thanks in advance for any pearls of wisdom you can share!

As of tomorrow, I'll be the proud owner of a Droid X as I kick my POS Crackberry Storm to the curb - can I get an Amen?

I'm with Verizon (I know, i know....but I go to a lot of places where they are the ONLY carrier with coverage....sigh.....) and use a MacBook Pro as my main compy. Do have a PC upstairs, if needed. (I think its better to do roms and themes thru a pc so it will come in handy)

Ok - here come the questions:

1. I was told the X would ship on Android 2.2. Obviously, I want to root it (duh!). Married to a techie so not too scared about the process. What is the BEST way to root it and still fly under Verizon's radar? (Theres no radar just if you do try to return the phone or try to blame moto for stuff going wrong with your phone they will not fix it because rooting is like a breach of contract..basically you void your warrenty only way around it is to revert to stock before turning it in)

2. When Verizon pushes Gingerbread, will that kill my root? Anything I need to worry about there? (Your in luck because yes the OTA's kill your root and gingerbread was actually made to kill root permanetly but we have great dev's like p3droid and teamblackhat that have come out with a gingerbread leak that has root built in it so youll be good)

3. What are some apps you CANNOT live without & why? Do they need a root phone to run? (Launcherpro, gosms, my backup root, beautifulwidgets, widgetsoid, droidx bootstrapper, tikltlk, astro file manager..those are just a few and all work with root)

4. Are there apps that will NOT run on a root phone? (All apps work with root its just some that require root)

5. When you tether with a rooted phone, does the data usage show up differently to Verizon than it would otherwise? (Well vzw is starting to crack down on that now so theres really no joy in tethering anymore but if u still want to risk it there is an app that you can find on the net not the market called PDAnet...its the best one out there.)

Again, thanks for your patience with me.....be gentle! (Have fun with your new piece of gold!)

 

[pool_shark]

I use busybox from the market. It most closely matches the commands and options from Unix.

 

[Outsider(Avid HustlaZ)]

Thanks - does z4root allow me to unroot easily if needed?

You get 2 options perminetly root or temporary root...you can unroot if you want but i would recommend to just revert to stock by doing a sbf to get rid of root

 

[Metfanant]

Hi all - thanks in advance for any pearls of wisdom you can share!

you're welcome in advance

As of tomorrow, I'll be the proud owner of a Droid X as I kick my POS Crackberry Storm to the curb - can I get an Amen?

I'm with Verizon (I know, i know....but I go to a lot of places where they are the ONLY carrier with coverage....sigh.....) and use a MacBook Pro as my main compy. Do have a PC upstairs, if needed.

we are all on Verizon too...its the only major carrier that has the X in the US...and MacBook Pro's rock...nothing wrong there...typing this response on one lol

1. I was told the X would ship on Android 2.2. Obviously, I want to root it (duh!). Married to a techie so not too scared about the process. What is the BEST way to root it and still fly under Verizon's radar?

the best way IMO to root Froyo is an app called z4root...to root Gingerbread you will use Gingerbreak....

as for flying under the radar...we have a particular group of devs (hackers lol) known as Team Black Hat...they have connections at Motorola...and according to them...there really is no way to fly under that radar...and Verizon knows every phone that is rooted...

is that true? can't be sure either way...but i can tell you if they DO know...they have done nothing about it...

2. When Verizon pushes Gingerbread, will that kill my root? Anything I need to worry about there?

Yes, it will break root...the only thing to worry about there is that you will lose the ability to use your root only apps until somebody figures out how to root Gingerbread...luckily there is Gingerbreak...which has worked on the the leaked versions of Gingerbread that we have right now....so it SHOULD work on the official as well...

3. What are some apps you CANNOT live without & why? Do they need a root phone to run?

LauncherPro Plus (or any other third party launcher app like GoLauncher, or ADW EX): Particularly on Froyo...these programs will absolutely TRANSFORM your phone...you will install them and be SHOCKED at how much smoother your phone can operate compared to stock...

Beautiful Widgets: IMO the best looking/fullest featured clock/weather widget out there

as for essential apps that require root:

-Titanium Backup: to backup all your apps for when you start flashing custom ROMS
-Droid X bootstrapper to allow you to flash custom ROMS/MODS
-An overclocking app (QuickClock or Droid Overclock)

4. Are there apps that will NOT run on a root phone?

never come across one...there are lots of apps that NEED root though

5. When you tether with a rooted phone, does the data usage show up differently to Verizon than it would otherwise?

Again, according to our sources in Team Black Hat...this is a big YES...they know who is tethering, and who does or does not pay for a tethering contract...

its been a big argument around here about how rooted tethering should be handled...there are lots of rumors going around that VZW is planning on cracking down on unauthorized tethering...i personally don't approve as it is a violation of your Terms of Service, and a theft of services...but you can do it at your own risk..

Again, thanks for your patience with me.....be gentle!

no problem...LOTS of friendly people around here...

just stay away from a guy named Steven

 

[Raryn]

1. I was told the X would ship on Android 2.2. Obviously, I want to root it (duh!). Married to a techie so not too scared about the process. What is the BEST way to root it and still fly under Verizon's radar?

1. Verizon could probably figure out who's rooted using any method if they really wanted to. No one has ever gotten in any sort of trouble for rooting though, so don't worry about it. Best way to root froyo is z4root.

2. When Verizon pushes Gingerbread, will that kill my root? Anything I need to worry about there?

2. Yes, it will kill your root if you take the OTA. There's a variety of ways you could make it so you don't automatically take the OTA (install a ROM, theme, deodex, simply delete bloat rather than freeze it, install gingerbread yourself). As for whether the official OTA gingerbread will be rootable, we assume it will be because the GB leaks we've had so far have been, but they could have easily patched that hole for the official version. Personally, I'd install Gingerbread myself and just sit on the leak until someone with the OTA confirms that it is rootable.

3. What are some apps you CANNOT live without & why? Do they need a root phone to run?

3. For a rooted phone, Titanium Backup Pro is a necessity. It lets you freeze bloatware (better option than deleting it) and it lets you make backups of everything for when you move between ROMs. Other root apps that are quite nice are Droid Overclock/Quickclock Advanced, both of which are options to overclock/undervolt your device, giving you better battery life.

Non-root apps, I can't live without NewsRob, which is my RSS reader. Angry birds is rather fun too.

4. Are there apps that will NOT run on a root phone?

4. No.

5. When you tether with a rooted phone, does the data usage show up differently to Verizon than it would otherwise?

I'll quote a post I put in a different thread (with minor modifications)

The only thing we can tell you about tethering are the facts:

Yes, tethering for free is against the TOS you signed when you got your phone.
Yes, Verizon is making it harder to get working tether.
Yes, if they really want to Verizon can probably figure out who is tethering and who isn't.
Yes, it still works on the latest gingerbread leaks even with the work that VZW has put in, if your settings are right and you're using the right APK.

No, not a single person has yet gotten any stop tethering or we'll charge you notices from Verizon.
No, not a single person has even had any warranty claims denied specifically because of a history of tethering.
No, there is almost no conceivable way they'll start charging people without giving them notice ahead of time to stop. That's what the other carriers did when they told people about the monitoring. ATT gave 2+ weeks notice.
No, Verizon will not send a bunch of men in black coats to your front door to force you to stop.

 

[cougar214]

Men in white coats showed up at my door.......

 

[sonofaresiii]

Hi all - thanks in advance for any pearls of wisdom you can share!

As of tomorrow, I'll be the proud owner of a Droid X as I kick my POS Crackberry Storm to the curb - can I get an Amen?

I'm with Verizon (I know, i know....but I go to a lot of places where they are the ONLY carrier with coverage....sigh.....) and use a MacBook Pro as my main compy. Do have a PC upstairs, if needed.

Ok - here come the questions:

1. I was told the X would ship on Android 2.2. Obviously, I want to root it (duh!). Married to a techie so not too scared about the process. What is the BEST way to root it and still fly under Verizon's radar?

2. When Verizon pushes Gingerbread, will that kill my root? Anything I need to worry about there?

3. What are some apps you CANNOT live without & why? Do they need a root phone to run?

4. Are there apps that will NOT run on a root phone?

5. When you tether with a rooted phone, does the data usage show up differently to Verizon than it would otherwise?

Again, thanks for your patience with me.....be gentle!

AMEN! I too went from a Storm to a droid x. Best decision ever.

I'm going to pretty much echo what everyone else has said, but here's my opinions:

1) z4root is what you want. Super easy. Then you can upgrade to gingerbread, and use gingerbreak... equally as easy. z4root has an easy unroot option, don't know about gingerbreak... but if you want to unroot you can always just flash back to froyo (pretty easy) and then z4root from there.
As someone else mentioned, if they DO know which phones are rooted they're not doing anything about it. But they won't cancel your plan anyhow, all that would happen is technically you've voided your warranty. But again, if you need to send your phone in, just flash to stock and they'll never know (on that note, even people who have sent their phones in rooted have said they haven't had a problem).

2) Yes, it will, but you can upgrade to GB beforehand (I and many others already have) and get root, without having to wait. If you want to make sure you DON'T get the OTA, just so you don't have to fiddle with rooting again, you can easily remove some bloatware (which you'd probably do anyway) and your phone won't accept the OTA.

3) Droid overclock-- needs root. Comixology (cuz i'm that kind of nerd)-- doesn't need root. Widgetlocker-- i'm pretty sure doesn't need root.
And I use Go Launcher Ex even though it's a bit of a battery drainer-- I think it's worth it. You'll also want some sort of battery widget, there's billions out there, I use circle battery widget, battery info, or minimalistic text (mostly a clock widget but has battery monitor) depending on my mood.

4) Nope.

5) If you're talking about tethering for free, yeah, they'll see the increased data and rumor has it that they're cracking down on it-- so don't try it. If you're talking about paying for the service and wondering if they'll be able to tell you have root when you tether-- I can't see any reason why they would, but again, even if they do know they don't seem to care.

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of Android.

 

[mstocks]

Thank you all! I'm sure I'll be back tomorrow with even more questions! So glad to have found such a fabulous community!