Root Getting ready to root - A few queries

[PaddyC]

Hi guys

The main reason for me wanting to root is to give me better phone memory because it is very restrictive (to me anyway).

I have done A LOT of reading of the How-To guides, the FAQ's as well as a few searches into Nandroid, SD Partitioning among others. So I have a fairly good understanding of what I am doing and how to basically do it. I've already downloaded and installed VMware Player, HTC Sync and downloaded the appropriate programs for my specific phone (Amon_Ra, UnRevoked 3.21 and the USB Drivers)...

But I really don't want to screw this up, hence the reason for me creating this thread.

First piece of assistance I need is some clarification on the most logical order to go about rooting my phone and partitioning the SD Card (I just got a 16Gb card).

The way I think I need to go is to Nandroid backup my phone (still need to read up properly on how to do this) before rooting with Unrevoked. From there I should probably download and use Titanium backup to take a snapshot of my phone. From there I'm thinking I can just go ahead and use Gparted to partition the SD Card and that's me??

I have other questions but rather than post a war and peace I'll post them as and when I hopefully get some help. One thing at a time....

 

[ZeroOne]

Hi guys

The main reason for me wanting to root is to give me better phone memory because it is very restrictive (to me anyway).

I have done A LOT of reading of the How-To guides, the FAQ's as well as a few searches into Nandroid, SD Partitioning among others. So I have a fairly good understanding of what I am doing and how to basically do it. I've already downloaded and installed VMware Player, HTC Sync and downloaded the appropriate programs for my specific phone (Amon_Ra, UnRevoked 3.21 and the USB Drivers)...

But I really don't want to screw this up, hence the reason for me creating this thread.

First piece of assistance I need is some clarification on the most logical order to go about rooting my phone and partitioning the SD Card (I just got a 16Gb card).

The way I think I need to go is to Nandroid backup my phone (still need to read up properly on how to do this) before rooting with Unrevoked. From there I should probably download and use Titanium backup to take a snapshot of my phone. From there I'm thinking I can just go ahead and use Gparted to partition the SD Card and that's me??

I have other questions but rather than post a war and peace I'll post them as and when I hopefully get some help. One thing at a time....

Astro file can backup a rom etc.. other apps can backup SMS, phone logs.
titanium backup needs root privilege before working its a root app unless rooted it'll not work. Same for any root apps.

 

[PaddyC]

I'll look into Sms backup thanks for the tip. I already have Astro on my phone so will look into how that works a bit more in-depth...

I know about the root apps thing, that's why I say in my top post I would root the phone before downloading and installing Titanium Backup....

 

[Hadron]

You can't nandroid before starting, because you need a custom recovery in order to make a nandroid, and that's only installed by unrevoked (or revolutionary).

If you are using unrevoked then the simplest order is:

1. Use unrevoked to root and install custom recovery
2. Install Titanium and take a backup of your apps and data. As noted, you should use other things for backing up contacts and SMS, since you cannot restore these from Ti to a different ROM.
3. Boot into recovery and take a backup from there (the nandroid)
4. Back up your SD card, then partition it. Make sure you copy everything, including hidden/system files and folders (those whose names start with a "."). Partitioning will wipe the card, which is why backing-up first is essential.
5. Install a ROM that supports A2SD using the ext partition.

The first step has to come first, and 5 must come last. The orders of the others are up to you. Remember that Ti and Nandroid backups are written to the card, so it's important to back these up before partitioning.

 

[PaddyC]

That's really great stuff Hadron many thanks. I wasn't sure of the need for a backup before rooting since all it really does is install an App.

Will post back once i'be plucked up the courage to root

 

[Hadron]

If you want to back up as much as possible without root, MyBackup can back up a lot of stuff. SMS Backup+ is good for automatically backing up messages and/or call logs to your GMail account.