Root rooting but keeping everything else original..

[gale65]

I want to root only to do a full backup so that when I get a new phone in the future I can transfer over. But I don't want to flash custom roms or anything. Can I root and then otherwise use and treat my phone as if I didn't root (aside from using titanium backup)?

 

[girolez]

Hi

If you just root (no new recovery or ROM) you will be able to use all the features of Helium and My Backup Pro etc. but you cant do Nandroid (full image) backups. Rooting just gives you access to all of the files/folders on your phone. (Like being a windows administrator or having root account in linux.

Not sure if rooting a nexus causes any other issues - I'm sure someone will chip in.

Roger

 

[Hook]

I want to root only to do a full backup so that when I get a new phone in the future I can transfer over. But I don't want to flash custom roms or anything. Can I root and then otherwise use and treat my phone as if I didn't root (aside from using titanium backup)?

Yes, you can do this just fine. Rooting will unlock the bootloader (which is what causes the factory reset) but then you can carry on with stock Android. I believe if you don't install a custom recovery, you will be able to take OTA updates although doing so will take away root and you will have to re-root.

I prefer also to install a custom recovery (TWRP is what I recommend) as creating a Nandroid backup (think of it as a complete hard drive image of your phone) that can be saved to your PC as well as on the phone and restored any time you are rooted is very valuable. However, it means flashing updates to Android when they come out (not hard to do).

 

[Mehta23]

Yep. You can root and just use the stock ROM as normal.

 

[akmsr]

cf-autoroot will keep you on stock rom, kernel, recovery. you can use titanium and other root apps to back up data and apps. but not a system back up like nandroid nor backing up EFS data. you need a custom recovery like twrp.
if you decide to use a custom recovery but want to stay stock rom and kernel, you can. just root it with ADB + Fastboot and save a kitten.

 

[gale65]

So if I root and get an OTA update I have to reroot? So I'd have to be sure to backup on a regular basis or back up before doing the update. I can't remember if the OTA updates were automatic or if I was able to wait to do them.

Is there an issue with my warranty if I root? I didn't think there was for these unlocked google devices but want to make sure.

If I'm going to do this I want to do it now before I put any more stuff on my phone.

 

[Rxpert83]

The only step during rooting that wipes the phone is unlocking the boot loader, and that only has to be done once.

Rooting technically voids the warranty, but all you have to do is unroot and relock the boot loader before sending it in. I didn't have any issues sending my first one back for a hardware issue.

 

[gale65]

super! thanks everyone, for all the advice!!

 

[gale65]

I'm doing it. right now. I feel like such a geek.

edit-that was fast. It looks like it did when I first got it. How do I know it worked-is there a test?

 

[GrenW]

There are root tester apps out there or alternatively try ones that need root such as Titanium backup. It's a great backup solution and well worth looking at

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=root checker&c=apps&hl=en

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup&hl=en

 

[Rxpert83]

Youll also have a new app in your app drawer. Either superuser or superSU

These apps control access to root permissions. When an app requests root, the superuser app will prompt you as to whether or not you want to allow it.

Generally speaking, if you don't know why an app wants root, do not allow it. You can always ask here and we'll let you know if anything suspicious is going on. Titanium backup will need root access in order to backup other applications data, so thats a normal use of root permissions.

 

[Brian706]

I didn't see that anyone said this already, but you can still make the full image (nandroid) backups with a custom recovery without installing a custom recovery permanently.

You can simply boot the recovery into memory fastboot boot recovery.img

This will boot you into recovery, you can make a backup, then reboot the phone. This allows you to use a custom recovery without overwriting the stock recovery.

You can do this "one time use" custom recovery any time you wish. It just temporarily boots it into the phone's memory.

 

[jj14x]

I want to root only to do a full backup so that when I get a new phone in the future I can transfer over.

If you decide to restore backup to different phone, please be careful to not copy over the EFS partition from the old phone to the new one.

 

[jj14x]

The only step during rooting that wipes the phone is unlocking the boot loader, and that only has to be done once.

Rooting technically voids the warranty, but all you have to do is unroot and relock the boot loader before sending it in. I didn't have any issues sending my first one back for a hardware issue.

and reset the tamper flag