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Root ROOTING For Dummies Guide.....the Gingerbread Edition

Chilly1034 said:
The one in the market is 2.0.7 but requires root (okay there) and a custom kernel (netfilter enabled- not sure if the one with 4.53 de-odexed from XDA Ninjawolf is such-did you have to flash a custom kernel to get it up and running?
Click to expand...

i'm on chop suey kernel and i can have wireless tethering ability. not sure if the stock kernel that comes with the 4.53 rom comes with it, but i doubt it.
 
I was wondering if it was possible to root/install amon-ra using this method without first wiping/returning to factory? I wanted to make a nandroid backup of my current setup first so that I can always return to it if I do not like the ROM I install.
 
fatstacks said:
I was wondering if it was possible to root/install amon-ra using this method without first wiping/returning to factory? I wanted to make a nandroid backup of my current setup first so that I can always return to it if I do not like the ROM I install.
Click to expand...

it is not necessary to do a factory reset when trying to root. it is just recommended that you do when try to use revolutionary to root your phone.

as far as amon ra 2.3, you do not need to wipe anything to get it to install.
 
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A question on nandroid backups after partitioning your SD card.

In the initial post the recommendation is:

"when doing a nandroid backup in amon ra, make sure to keep the first three checked then check wimax (you do not need to do this all the time.) just keep one nandroid backup with your wimax keys backed up on your computer. the rest of the time when doing nandroid backups, you can just backup the first three in amon ra."

After partioning the card however do you also need to check sd-ext when doing your nandroid backups? If you don't and you restore a nandroid won't the applications be gone since they sd-ext was potentially wiped (as recommended) when going to a different ROM? Of course you can restore them via TB, but I always thought a nandroid restore was intended to get you exactly back to where you were.
 
anleva said:
A question on nandroid backups after partitioning your SD card.

In the initial post the recommendation is:

"when doing a nandroid backup in amon ra, make sure to keep the first three checked then check wimax (you do not need to do this all the time.) just keep one nandroid backup with your wimax keys backed up on your computer. the rest of the time when doing nandroid backups, you can just backup the first three in amon ra."

After partioning the card however do you also need to check sd-ext when doing your nandroid backups? If you don't and you restore a nandroid won't the applications be gone since they sd-ext was potentially wiped (as recommended) when going to a different ROM? Of course you can restore them via TB, but I always thought a nandroid restore was intended to get you exactly back to where you were.
Click to expand...

you are correct. i probably should add that bit in to the partitioning section. you do need to backup sd ext as well.
 
ocnbrze said:
EVO GINGERBREAD HAS S-OFF

The exploit is called Revolutionary and it is packaged by the unrevoked and AlphaRevX teams. Here is the official page for the exploit: Revolutionary​

REVOLUTIONARY

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Please read this guide thoroughly before attempting this.
keep in mind that this is still a work in progress. also i'm not responsible for bricking your phone and ROOTING YOUR PHONE WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY.​

How to use this guide
hint: press the show button below.​

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Congrats now you know how to use this guide. now get your root on!:D​

Before Rooting​
things you will need to do:
  • first thing to do is read the Revolutionary S-OFF & Recovery tool wiki
  • download the htc drivers:HTCDriver3.0.0.007.exe and install it onto your computer.
  • *do a factory reset on your phone go into phone settings/ sd storage/factory data reset. you will also loose all of your contacts and other data like text messages. so make sure that you backup accordingly. App List Backup or SMS Backup & Restore are good apps to use. also make sure your phone's contacts are linked to google which backs up your contacts to the cloud. when you sync with google again your contacts will be back.(optional)
  • *reformat your sd card by backing up the content of your card to the computer and in your phone go to settings/sd storage/unmount sd card/erase sd card.(optional)
  • make sure your phone has usb debugging on. go to phone settings/applications/development/check usb debugging
  • download this and put this file, superuser su-2.3.6.3-efgh-signed.zip on the root(not in any folder) of your card via usb cable.
  • make sure that htc sync is uninstalled and also any anit-virus prgrams you have running on your computer is turned off.
  • and last but not least make sure that fastboot is unchecked. phone settings/applications/ uncheck fastboot.


*optional but recommended because you want to get the phone as clean as you can before rooting it. it is not necessary.​

On to Rooting your EVO!!!!!​
1.go here Revolutionaryand download the revoltionary file and extract it somewhere on your desktop.


2.connect your phone to the pc and select charge only.


3.run the executable revolutionary file.


4.it will detect your phone's specific serial number. use that to generate the beta key on the revolutionary website.


5.enter the beta key in the revolutionary dos window on your computer. people have been reporting that the key is invalid. if this happens, the icon on the upper left of the DOS command window is a drop-down button that will let you get to the edit option that allows you to copy/paste between DOS and a window. so just copy and paste the key in.


6.it should then run and do its thing.


7.when it finishes it will ask you if you want to download and install clockwork mod recovery, select yes.​



next we need to go and verify that you have s-off and if you have recovery


8.select bootloader by using the up and down vol. buttons and using the power button to make a selection.


9.on the hboot screen at the top it should say s-off, if it does then congrats!​



next we need to flash the superuser file (superuser su-2.3.6.3-efgh-signed.zip)


10.select recovery in bootloader.


11.select install .zip from sdcard.


12.find the superuser file and flash it.​



time to make a nandroid backup.


13.still in recovery go back to the main menu


14.select backup and restore.


15.select backup.


16.after it is done you can reboot.​



now a lot of people are reporting that revolutionary stops in the middle giving you s-off but with no recovery (you get a red triangle with an exclamation mark). reboot the phone (or pull the battery) and rerun revolutionary. it will ask you if you want to download clockwork mod. select yes and it should work the second time.​



CONGRATS YOU ARE NOW ROOTED!!!!!!​

For Those Who have Macs:

thanx EarlyMon!!!!​


Life After Root​
ok so you are rooted so now what?​



here are some apps that you can now use, now that you are rooted.





what about bloatware you ask? well some of the apps are safe to delete. you can go here to see the list:xda-developers - View Single Post - [WIP] /system/app APK's - Safe to remove list and functions now this list is from froyo so some apps are missing from the list. if you are going to delete apps i would use titanium backup and freeze the apps first.​



DO NOT USE ROM MANAGER it is very buggy and creates more issues then it is worth. i would do everything manually in recovery. also this is a good way to get to know your recovery. you never know when something happens and all you have is recovery. as long as you have a working recovery you can pretty much get out of any trouble.​

Switching Recoveries​
speaking of recovery i would really recommend that everyone switch to amon ra 2.3. it is a much better recovery then clockwork mod. you can get the recovery here:PC36IMG RA 2.3.zip


here are the instructions:


1.download the file.


2.rename the file by erasing the "_RA_2.3" part of the name so that it is only named PC36IMG. make sure not to add ".zip" to the name as windows hides extensions.


3.transfer the file to the root (that means not in any folder) of the sd card.


4.power off (you most likely need to uncheck fastboot. settings/apps/uncheck fastboot.) then press and hold power+vol down.


5.hboot should see the file and select yes to update.


6.select no to reboot because we want to go into recovery and make a nandroid backup.


7.select recovery.


8.select backup and restore and select backup


9. select the first three and wimax. the other partitions do not need to be backed up. always keep one nandroid backup with wimax keys backed up on your computer.


10.now you can reboot.


11.using a file manager of some sort or even through your computer via usb, you should rename or delete the PC36IMG file on your card. otherwise you will be asked to update every time you go to the hboot screen. you do not need that file any more.​



you can get older versions of clockwork mods and amon ra here:Free File Hosting Made Simple - MediaFire.


also there is a new recovery from teamwin :TeamWin Recovery Project (twrp) v1.0.3​

Nandroids​
what are nandroid backups and why are they important? well nandroid backups are a complete snapshot of the current state of your phone. it will save everything (contacts, apps and its data, emails and text messages, and any other mods or settings you have on your rom). think of nandroid backups as a safety net. if anything goes wrong or if you change your mind on a rom you do not like, you can always go back and restore a previous nandroid backup. just remember that anytime you make any changes to your phone always make a nandroid backup.​



also to save space keep only a few nandroids on your card. nandroids can be pretty big depending on the rom and what you are backing up. and you can rename your nandroid backups. just make sure not to have spaces or weird symbols in the name.​



when doing a nandroid backup in amon ra, make sure to keep the first three checked then check wimax (you do not need to do this all the time.) just keep one nandroid backup with your wimax keys backed up on your computer. the rest of the time when doing nandroid backups, you can just backup the first three in amon ra. also if you have your sd card partitioned (see the Partitioning and Moving Apps to the Card section for the how to's) you should select sd ext as well. this wiil also backup all your apps.​



clockwork mod will backup wimax automatically.​

Flashing​
this is all good, but how do i flash a rom or kernel?​



good point so here is what you do:


1.first you need the vr superwipe: ZZZVR_SUPERWIPE.zip. download it and put it on your card. (optional)


2.download the rom of your choice and transfer it to your card.


3.go into recovery


4.make a nandroid backup


5.wipe dalvik cache, cache, and data


6.select install (or flash depending on which recovery you have) zip from sdcard


7.find the superwipe file and flash it.(optional)


8.find your rom and flash it.


9.reboot.​



first boot will take a bit longer then normal, so be patient. now as far as kernels go the steps are the same except that all you need to do is only wipe dalvik cache and cache. there is no need to wipe data. also there is no need to flash the superwipe when flashing kernels.​

Roms, Kernels, Themes and More​
Roms​
​
​


ok so now you know how to flash a rom, so now where do i go to get them? there are a bunch of places that you can go to get your roms. there is a thread here in this forum ROMs and Kernels Download Page check it out. also check out the xda development forum:EVO 4G Android Development - xda-developers. make sure that you read the dev's op as it will tell you the download instructions as well as give you what is in the rom and some of its features. the main idea is to know what you are flashing before flashing the rom.​



there are two main types of roms that are out there. there is aosp (android open source project)roms then there is sense roms. sense roms are the roms that most people are familiar with. it has the familiar sense launcher that htc installs on all of their phones. while aosp is pure android. it has no sense launcher. depending on the rom it will use a launcher like adw or launcher pro.​



Kernels​


what are kernels? basically kernels communicates with and adjusts the voltage between the hardware(battery) and software(either sense or aosp) of your phone according to frequency. how much voltage a kernel decides to provide to and from your phone and at what frequency will depend on the type of kernels.​



all roms comes with its own custom(usually stock) kernel. they are like roms in that they come in two types. one is for sense roms and one is for aosp roms. they can't work on both. so like roms you need to checkout the changelog to see what is going on with kernels and what was updated. also gingerbread roms needs a kernel designed for gingerbread. the froyo kernels will not work on gingerbread.​



one last thing on kernels and that is that not all kernels will react the same way on every phone. what works for me may not work for you. the only true way to know is to make a nandroid backup and flash the kernel. give it a few days for it to settle in before deciding if the kernel works or not.​



you can get the kernels from the xda or the rom/kernel download page. you can read more on kernels in the KERNELS For Dummies​



Themes​


ok so i want to theme my phone. are there themes i can flash? yes there are a lot of themes out there that you can just flash from recovery. head on over to EVO 4G Themes and Apps...xda. and don't forget to read the op for installation instructions. just keep in mind that most of the themes are rom specific. when you flash a theme all you need to do is wipe dalvik cache and cache and flash the theme.​


Partitioning and Moving Apps to the Card​

the issue is that the evo has a small amount of ram on the phone. not sure what htc was thinking when designing the evo. but there is the apps2sd that can be sort of helpful. when you go to settings/applications/manage apps and then move the apps to the sd card, you are using apps2sd. it moves the apps to the sd card, but it only moves part of the app to the card. the other part is still left on the phone. that is why you can't use any widgets attached to the app when it is moved to the card.​



so what is taking up all of the ram then? well your phone, as it is, has the dalvik cache which the phone uses to load any executable files that it needs. and then there is cache where your temp files are stored. of course there is your apps. and finally there is the stock rom with sense 1.0. so you can see how fast your ram will disappear.​



the only way to get around this is to be rooted. the custom roms that are out now are much smaller and faster then the stock rom. plus you can partition your card and use a2sd which is different then apps2sd. a2sd moves the entire app to your card. the only thing left on your phone is a symbolic link that tells the phone where to find the app on your card. it saves a ton of ram by doing this. just to give you an idea i have 160 apps with still 250mb left!​



there are two types of a2sd scripts. one is cm a2sd and the other is darktremor a2sd. usually if a rom has a2sd cooked in, it usually has cm a2sd. when you flash your rom your apps when restored with titanium backup will automatically be move to the sd card. with darktremor a2sd, you would first need a rom to have support for it, and then you need to flash darktremor into the rom. once flashed then you can manually push the apps to the card by using terminal emulator to enter the commands.​



you will need a higher class card to do this, preferably a class 6 or higher. the higher class card is need especially if you use intensive apps like games and such. the reason is that since the apps are on the card the phone then needs to read and write on the card as the app runs. so if you have a slower card your apps will suffer.​



Partition Your Card​

it is recommended that you do this before trying to flash a rom.​



so here are the directions on how to do it:


1.copy your content of the card to a computer because partitioning will wipe the card's content.


2.go into recovery and select partition your sd card


3.enter 32 for swap, and 1024 or 2048 for ext2, and do the rest for FAT


4.select upgrade ext2 to ext3


5.go to the main menu and do a full wipe (min data, dalvik cache and cache)


6.flash the superwipe


7.flash the rom of your choice.


8.reboot​



from now on it is recommended you wipe dalvik cache, cache, data and sd ext.before flashing roms. MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO NOT SELECT WIPE SD CARD as it will do just that. your card will be erased. also make sure that when making a nandroid backup to select sd ext to be backed up as well.​


How to Install Darktremors​

1.download the file:Version 2.7.5.3 Beta 04​



2.transfer the file to the card.


3.no need to wipe so select install zip from card.


4.flash file


5.reboot


6.use terminal emulator (download it from the market if you do not have it already).


7.type in the command a2sd reinstall. this will move your apps to the ext 3 of the card.


8.type a2sd cachesd. this will move the dalvik cache to the ext3 on the card.​



if you want more commands for darktremor here is a list:Darktremor Apps2SD Command Line Help | Facebook


here is the original thread: [Script][A2SD]Darktremor 2.7.5.3 Beta 04 [Evo] (01/29/2011) - xda-developers​

Unrooting​
yay! i have s-off but what if i need to get my phone serviced? or i hate all this rooting business and i want to go back to my boring gingerbread phone. how do i get s-on?​



to get s-on


1.download this file:PC36IMG6.17.zip


2.rename the file by deleting the numbers so that it is only PC36IMG and do not add any zip to the name as windows hides extensions.


3.transfer the zip file to the root of the sd card.


4.power off (make sure that fastboot is turned off) then press and hold power+vol down.


5.hboot should scan for it. select yes to update.


6.reboot your phone​



next we need to get a stock rom and stock recovery


7.download this file:PC36IMG_SuperSonic_GB_Sprint_WWE_4.24.651.1_Rad..z ip


8.rename the file to PC36IMG. again make sure that you do not add a zip as windows hides extensions.


9.connect your phone via usb to the pc and transfer the file over to the root of the sd card.


10.power off then press and hold power+vol down.


11.hboot should see the file and will ask you to update, select yes.


12.verify that you have s-on by going to the hboot screen.​



if you have s-on then congrats you are now unrooted!​



you can also use this ruu:[ROM]RUU_SuperSonic_GB_Sprint_WWE_4.53.651.1_Radio_2.15 .00.0808_NV_2.15_releaseto get you the latest ota stock rom and stock recovery. just connect the phone via usb and run the exe file on your computer.​


OTA's (Over the Air)​

Ok so we just had an update a few months back called gingerbread. and as many of you guys know it closed the previous exploit so that rooting was not possible until now. so what do we do when the next ota (if there is another ota)is released? DO NOT ACCEPT THE OTA. it could really make a mess out of your phone. or it could even unroot your phone and then you will have to wait again for a rooting process as the ota will most likely close the previous exploit. this also goes for any rooted phone regardless if it is an evo or not.​



so how do we get updated then if we are rooted? well usually the devs will get a hold of the source code for the ota earlier then the actual release. so all we would have to do is flash a rom with the latest update ota and we are updated.​

Links and Guides:​

Click to expand...



Your links in UNrooting arent working reason i ask i am waiting for my replacment phone and need to unroot my phone here soon
 
ocnbrze said:
i'm on chop suey kernel and i can have wireless tethering ability. not sure if the stock kernel that comes with the 4.53 rom comes with it, but i doubt it.
Click to expand...


FYI I installed the wireless tether app (2.0.7) from the market and it seems to be working. I only had my work blackberry with me so I connected that using the WIFI from the EVO and it connected. I have not had the opportunity to try it with a laptop but I expect that it should work fine as well. I will report back if it does not. Thanks for the guidance on this. My phone now works with voice input and I can use its wireless internet connection hotspot if I need to. No reboots or crashes as of yet, which I was getting occasionally with the 4.24 build.
 
Thanks for the great how to

phone is now rooted

just want the wifi to work on the phone nothing else at this time oh and to get rid of the boatware

working on flashing - what's the current rom you guys are flashing

Thxs again
Steve
 
Stevebass4 said:
Thanks for the great how to

phone is now rooted

just want the wifi to work on the phone nothing else at this time oh and to get rid of the boatware

working on flashing - what's the current rom you guys are flashing

Thxs again
Steve
Click to expand...
welcome to the forums!!!!!!!!

glad you got your phone rooted. now get to some flashing!:D

i would start out with mikg2.5 rom. very stable and fast. you will find that anything that mik does will be just that, very fast and stable.
 
Sincerely want to thank everyone....... Following your guide made the process fairly painless.... This Newbie will be forever grateful......:D
 
My Evo 4g won't flash anything. It won't flash the SuperWipe because it says it needs CWM 3.0, I have ClockworkMod 5.0? (The newest one that rom manager installed). I tried several different ROMs and Kernels and everytime it was to no avail. The installation is always aborted.

HELP PLEASE!!!!!
 
pacislander007 said:
My Evo 4g won't flash anything. It won't flash the SuperWipe because it says it needs CWM 3.0, I have ClockworkMod 5.0? (The newest one that rom manager installed). I tried several different ROMs and Kernels and everytime it was to no avail. The installation is always aborted.

HELP PLEASE!!!!!
Click to expand...

go to the http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all...ooting-dummies-guide-gingerbread-edition.html and to the switching recovery section. it is because that clockwork mod does not support edify scripting. most flashable zips are in amend scripting. only amon ra 2.3, clockwork mod 2.6 and the new TRWP support both scripting. get amon ra and you will be good to go.

i will add that to the guide at some point.
 
pacislander007 said:
JK. I got Amon RA to flash. Now when I try to flash a rom, it still aborts saying there is no update found.
Click to expand...

Are you still trying to use Rom Manager? If so, Amon will not work with it. You will have to do everything manually.

If not, then what steps exactly are you doing to try and flash the rom?
 
Xtremedays said:
Are you still trying to use Rom Manager? If so, Amon will not work with it. You will have to do everything manually.

If not, then what steps exactly are you doing to try and flash the rom?
Click to expand...

I boot into Amon and select flash from SD. Find the .zip file and select flash. Then it aborts saying update script is not found.
 
Hi, so I rooted my EVO just fine but i lost it on labor day n got a new one. I'm doing exactly what I did before following the instructions but I seem to can't get pass the revolutionary part when i connect my phone. The screen stays at "waiting for device" someone please help, I'm about to lose it lol
 
So i have gotten s-off but when i reboot to load the .zip it does not show the file. I have checked many times that it is in the root folder. I have also redownloaded and replaced the file but still no luck.
 
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