Root Gingerbread trashed my phone. Is rooting the solution?

[mtb2k]

Ever since I've had Gingerbread on my Nexus One my default msg app crashes so much that Its almost unusable. It either crashes completely, or text doesn't show up when I type, the keyboard won't come up, etc.. Also, when I long press in my app list to add a shortcut to the homescreen (desktop) it doesn't work. Nothing happens..... Until I restart my phone. Then the shortcut appears. So every time I install a new app I have to drop a shortcut and restart my phone for it to show up.

I've done a factory reset, formatted the SD card using my phone, erased internal memory on the phone, etc.. Nothing worked. I have a thread here http://androidforums.com/android-applications/319424-gingerbread-trash.html#post2577861

I was simply told to root my phone... So evidently it is implied that rooting my phone will fix these problems. Is this the answer to my problems? What are the advantages and disadvantages to rooting? I don't even really know what rooting means. Most importantly though, will it solve my issues?

 

[Hook]

Ever since I've had Gingerbread on my Nexus One my default msg app crashes so much that Its almost unusable. It either crashes completely, or text doesn't show up when I type, the keyboard won't come up, etc.. Also, when I long press in my app list to add a shortcut to the homescreen (desktop) it doesn't work. Nothing happens..... Until I restart my phone. Then the shortcut appears. So every time I install a new app I have to drop a shortcut and restart my phone for it to show up.

I've done a factory reset, formatted the SD card using my phone, erased internal memory on the phone, etc.. Nothing worked. I have a thread here http://androidforums.com/android-applications/319424-gingerbread-trash.html#post2577861

I was simply told to root my phone... So evidently it is implied that rooting my phone will fix these problems. Is this the answer to my problems? What are the advantages and disadvantages to rooting? I don't even really know what rooting means. Most importantly though, will it solve my issues?

Actually, the full suggestion in that thread was to root your phone and install a different ROM. However, another suggestion was that you might have a hardware problem.

I don't know. I know I ran OTA Gingerbread for a week with no problems before I rooted and went to CyanogenMod 7, a custom version of Gingerbread. So, what is going on with you is not typical of Gingerbread. It could be that you got a bad image to install, don't know. Or it could be, as per the other suggestion, something fundamentally wrong with the phone.

Rooting by itself probably won't solve your problem, but to root Gingerbread, you have to unlock the boot loader which will wipe the phone. It will also void your warranty if you still have one.

Not sure what advice to give, but if you still have a warranty, I'd try that first.