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Root Should I root?

G

Girevik

Android Enthusiast
I've had my Captivate for about a month now. I seem to be in the minority but I really love it. I've read a lot on here about rooting the phone to get the new version of the OS and am trying to decide if I should go for it or not. As I said, I love my phone but don't know what I'm missing with the updates.

I don't use my GPS a lot, but I've never had an issue with it except once it wouldn't connect when I was in a bowling alley (and I've heard mixed reviews on what the upgrade does for GPS), and I understand that upgrading voids my warranty (which does kind of scare me...what if my screen goes bad, or something unrelated to the root, in 6 months).

Basically, I'm looking for the pros, cons, and risks of rooting. Especially considering that it looks like Samsung may actually be starting to roll out the upgrades to the Galaxy S's.
 
Girevik said:
That's kind of been my thinking, but maybe I just don't know what I'm missing. What if the grass IS greener?

I'll check out those links. Thanks.
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Oh, I have been rooted. And I have unrooted. Then I rooted again. And finally unrooted again.

I rooted to get access to rename the AT&T bloatware (not delete it, just rename it in case I ever need to have access to it later). So one day, I may root again.

But I don't do the custom ROMs - I've read too many horror stories, and I don't have the time, or inclination, to fiddle-f**k with my phone in that manner. And I don't do lag-fixes because I read the Cap-FAQ (plug).

Oh... and mostly because I'm lazy.
 
I was in your shoes a few days ago. I did some research and decided to root and flash Cognition 3.02. My fear was that I would brick my phone and then I'd be SOL. Pretty much, if you follow the steps they lay out for you at XDA, you will be fine. Just read,read, and read some more. I am still learning up on the whole process and what exactly rooting does to my phone. I love my phone rooted and I think you would to. Just read up on it and make your decision once your educated.
 
Flashed cognition 3.02 this week (first time i rooted or flashed since I got the phone months ago) and let me say, no official fw will go on my phone again.
 
For those who love it, what are the advantages? I have to admit, I would love voice dialing. Particularly with bluetooth.
 
Girevik said:
For those who love it, what are the advantages? I have to admit, I would love voice dialing. Particularly with bluetooth.
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Yeah, what are the advantages? I wonder the same. The few meager pros listed on capfaq can't be why so many people are doing it. And I realize that different roms come with different advantages. But, in general, what are some of the best advantages?
 
It is really up to you once you do it what the pros REALLY are. IMO, the ability to have complete control over my phone, getting rid of the att bloat ware, my phone being super fast and super smooth, being able to change the look of my phone. Those are some of the pros for me
 
Android26 said:
Yeah, what are the advantages? I wonder the same. The few meager pros listed on capfaq can't be why so many people are doing it. And I realize that different roms come with different advantages. But, in general, what are some of the best advantages?
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If your phone is more, than a device to make calls on to you, than custom Roms blow a stock Captivate away. I am not running the old "my phones better" but just for starters I have a fully functional Gps, I have flashplayer, on top of countless other tweaks, no lag, if yours don't have it yet it will. A completely customized UI, from dropdown menu to phone settings to customized launchers on every app, and not for nothing but when people see my phone the first thing they ask is "what the hell phone is that?" its pretty cool just to be able to make your device TRULY YOURS and get the perks to boot. If your not into that type of thing and you feel your phone is good enough that's cool too, to alot of us this is a hobby, and we don't care if we break our phones, we will get new phones and break them too. Phones are our skateboards, phones are our video games phones are our ------- (fill in your hobby):)
 
I guess its a case of not knowing what I don't know. To me, my phone seems smooth. I'd love to customize the look, but haven't researched how to do that so I haven't the faintest idea how to go about it...

Sounds to me like one of those things that you don't know you can't live without it until you've had it for a while.
 
Girevik said:
I guess its a case of not knowing what I don't know. To me, my phone seems smooth. I'd love to customize the look, but haven't researched how to do that so I haven't the faintest idea how to go about it...

Sounds to me like one of those things that you don't know you can't live without it until you've had it for a while.
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Take your time, read a lot, root and it will spiral out of control from there.;)
 
I rooted last night for the first time.....I'm sure I will spiral out of control from here! I did it mainly to remove the dang bloatware, but I don't know if I can stay away from tossing a custom ROM on there sometime soon...maybe today! ;-)
 
I just recently flashed my old and barely responsive Captivate to a new and snappy ROM. Stock android is like a well oiled machine compared to Samsung's horrifying creation.

The Captivate is said to be unbrickable so I had no worries going into it.
 
I've rooted, enabled sideloading, ODINed, flashed ROMs, master cleared and flashed again, done incremental upgrades, flashed kernels and installed system apps, all from knowledge gained on these forums. Go for it!

Youtube videos are great on the Captivate!
 
Girevik said:
That's my concern. I'm a cheap bastage, and if I brick my Captivate it's back to the old non-Android phone with the bad screen. :(
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I'm the same way man, yet I flashed mine in college so if I bricked my phone I would have no way to let the parents know. All you have to do is go over to XDA forums, find the thread with the ROM you want, and read over the first few posts about how to flash it. If you have any questions then you can post them in that specific thread and they will answer everything.
 
It's not like I'm a technophobe or anything....I'm comfortable upgrading computers and stuff. I guess I'm still just wondering what all the fuss is about. What will I get out of it. The two big things I'd like are voice dialing over bluetooth (which I understand is in the upgrade, at least to a degree), and an improved browser since the current one doesn't fully support a couple of the sites I use.
 
If you want Bluetooth voice dialing, I would recommend the Paragon RC3 ROM because Cognition does not support Bluetooth voice dialing. I flashed Cognition for the first time before I realized that it wouldn't work. With Paragon, it works great.

You can replace the browser without flashing or even rooting the phone. Have you tried Skyfire, Dolphin HD, or Opera?

Some of the things you will get out of flashing a ROM is Adobe Flash and AIR support, increased speed and better flow from the 2.2 upgrade and and lag fixes, dramatically decreased GPS satellite fix time, customizations made by the developer, wireless hotspot, etc.

To me, what flashing with a ROM got me was the phone I expected to get back in August when I bought my Captivate. There are a lot of people angry about Samsung's delays of Froyo, so some of us took Samsung out of the picture and are much happier for it.
 
Girevik said:
Ok, lets say I do root. Is there a way to get it back to stock if I want?
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Depends on your definition of "stock". The Odin "1-click" method will get you most of the way there, but it's not 100% perfect return to "stock". However, it might suffice for whatever your needs are at that moment.
 
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