Root Thinking of rooting but......

[QuickDraw]

I've read on the forum here about the program called Titanium Backup in regards to protecting yourself...etc...but I'm a little confused about this. I looked in the market for this program, and although I can find it, in the comments for the program itself, it says that it NEEDS root?????? If this program is supposed to be used to protect yourself in case of screwups during root but the program NEEDS root for it to work, how is this a help for anyone?


I am as much a NEWB to this rooting as anyone can be and am VERY leary about rooting. I was just about ready to take the plung and pay for the app and go into the backup "FIRST" then root scenario when I noticed that you had to have root already for the application to work. This has made me even more leary about rooting. Hopefully it is just a big misunderstanding on my part. Some clarification on this would be GREAT. Thanks.

 

[Jayo619]

Well Titanium Backup is a root only program... Yeah it sucks that when you first root you lose all of your settings and programs but the cool thing is once you can finally use titanium back up you will never have to worry about that again...

Once you have the phone set up how you like it you can make a back up and switch roms and still be able to keep all of your apps and data.

I've heard people talking good about using mybackup pro... It doesnt require root. here is the info about it from the appbrain site:

Backup (with schedule option) to our online secure servers, or SD card, your Applications, Contacts, Call log, Browser Bookmarks, SMS (text messages), MMS, Calendar, System Settings, Home Screens (including shortcut positions), Alarms, Dictionary, Music Playlists, and more...

 

[jdestef90]

Just do it man. It is well worth it. Follow all instructions to the T, do not flash any radios or spl's or kernels from a differnt make and model of phone, Make sure you back up your current rom before flashing a new one, and most of all ENJOY THE POWER!

 

[HoldenCaufield]

Yea, use mybackup pro. This will will save apps and some other stuff. Or, if apps are all you're worried about you can just sync with appbrain too.

 

[QuickDraw]

My Backup (not pro yet) seems to be working out pretty good. I must say, after doing just a simple ROOT, I DON'T LIKE IT VERY WELL. Too fricking much can go wrong + it's hard for me to read all of those teeny tiny letters/words. I'm not too sure it's for me. This time, I just wanted to see what it would be like to root, then see how east/hard it was to UNROOT, since you cannot get any upgrades from Sprint and/or HTC with root in place. Thanks for the assist.

 

[QuickDraw]

Just do it man. It is well worth it. Follow all instructions to the T, do not flash any radios or spl's or kernels from a differnt make and model of phone, Make sure you back up your current rom before flashing a new one, and most of all ENJOY THE POWER!

For me, doing this is a little too reckless .. "JUST DO IT" Scenario I mean. I mean, I read up on this rooting stuff until my eyeballs felt knumb , but still wasn't very comfortable with it, but that's me.

 

[ovrrdrive]

After you wipe your phone 10 or 15 times you'll find that you can go from nothing to fully set up in about 30 minutes on wifi. I've never messed with TB or any of the app backup programs. I remember being very concerned with app backup back in the old days of rooting my moment but now it just doesn't matter.

Give yourself some time to get used to everything and make sure you read up on every change you want to make before you make it and you'll be fine.

 

[QuickDraw]

My Backup (not pro yet) seems to be working out pretty good. I must say, after doing just a simple ROOT, I DON'T LIKE IT VERY WELL. Too fricking much can go wrong + it's hard for me to read all of those teeny tiny letters/words. I'm not too sure it's for me. This time, I just wanted to see what it would be like to root, then see how east/hard it was to UNROOT, since you cannot get any upgrades from Sprint and/or HTC with root in place. Thanks for the assist.

EDIT: Well, it didn't work out quite like I had thought/planned/heard. Even a simple ROOT was NOT as "cut and dry" as most people would have you believe. My Backup did back up some things, but it wasn't nearly as complete as I had thought (lost all settings, all apps had to be reinstalled...and on and on). The instructions for ROOTING/UNROOTING on the xda site (the page I was at anyway) was obscure/not complete/and in some cases just flat wrong...this could just be due to wording/understanding of wording...etc. But I was right there on the website at the time of unrooting following every single word/instruction and it was NOT jiving with what I was seeing on my phone. I specifically did a UNREVOKED 3 ROOT process, and when I went to UNROOT, I followed the specific instructions/downloads...etc. for unrooting unrevoked 3. On top of all that, the PC36IMG.zip file that they had for download was NOT the current software package available, so I ended up also having to do 3 software updates on the phone. Not a good 1rst time rooting experience for me at all.

 

[QuickDraw]

By the way, how does one REALLY know if an UNROOT is truely successful? If a person is able to receive pushed updates from HTC and/or Sprint, doesn't that pretty much mean I'm now UNROOTED?


Thanks

 

[wrapkgb]

By the way, how does one REALLY know if an UNROOT is truely successful? If a person is able to receive pushed updates from HTC and/or Sprint, doesn't that pretty much mean I'm now UNROOTED?


Thanks

If you want to be 100% sure then first make sure the phone has S-OFF. Once thats confirmed, download terminal emulator and type "su". If it returns with "$", you are unrooted, If it returns with "#", you are rooted.

 

[QuickDraw]

If you want to be 100% sure then first make sure the phone has S-OFF. Once thats confirmed, download terminal emulator and type "su". If it returns with "$", you are unrooted, If it returns with "#", you are rooted.

I get what looks like a "$", kinda hard to tell. Am I also supposed to get a msg saying "permission denied"? That SEEMS to me an idication that I'm good right (meaning UNROOTED)? Thanks for your assist.

 

[akazabam]

Wait, so you rooted, and now you're trying to unroot? Where exactly are you at, here?

 

[Jayo619]

Sorry that mybackup didnt work out very well :/
I can assure you that Titanium Backup will work out the way its supposed to... And dont give up on rooting. Once you get through the hard part, its all good from there

 

[akazabam]

I get what looks like a "$", kinda hard to tell. Am I also supposed to get a msg saying "permission denied"? That SEEMS to me an idication that I'm good right (meaning UNROOTED)? Thanks for your assist.

Turn the phone off, then turn the phone back on while pressing the volume down button. That will take you to hboot. Do you see s-on or s-off?

 

[An UrgeTo Dance]

I'm pretty sure Lookout will back your phone up and it is free, it will also scan your phone and any downloads for viruses. I don't know if it backs your settings up but I do know that it will backup pictures apps contacts and info on SD card.

 

[QuickDraw]

Wait, so you rooted, and now you're trying to unroot? Where exactly are you at, here?

Yea, just wanted to get my feet a little wet "so to speak". No full bore for me on my first try, that's just the way I work. By the way, when I boot into tbat mode you spoke of in your other post, I see it showing "OFF"... Funny thing about that though is that the whole time I was going through the rooting process, and after root, it was still showing "Off".

 

[akazabam]

Yea, just wanted to get my feet a little wet "so to speak". No full bore for me on my first try, that's just the way I work.

Regardless of my opinions as to a purpose for doing that, I can help you verify if you are unrooted. Follow the instructions I gave above to verify if you have s-off. Also, what hboot version do you now have? Having to accept a bunch of OTA updates means a) You originally had an older OTA before rooting and it's just prompting you to update or b) something went wrong with unrooting (probably an issue with getting s-on). The fact that you're getting permission denied when trying to get su from a terminal is a good thing, though (when you *don't* want root). Did the PC36IMG wipe out everything on your phone? It should have.

EDIT: While you're at it, when you're in hboot, try to go to recovery. If you still have a custom recovery (clockwork?), something definitely went wrong.

EDIT2: Also, what specific problems did you have with unrevoked that varied from the rooting guide? If you at least ended up with full root, you really could have left it that way.

 

[QuickDraw]

Sorry that mybackup didnt work out very well :/
I can assure you that Titanium Backup will work out the way its supposed to... And dont give up on rooting. Once you get through the hard part, its all good from there

Ehhh....no biggie. I won't give up, although it might be a little while before I do it again.

I just got my hands on a Samsung Galaxy Tab and would love to be able to get root accomplished and then tether the tab to the evo.


Any comments/suggestions on the easiest/quickest way I can accomplish this?

 

[Jayo619]

Ehhh....no biggie. I won't give up, although it might be a little while before I do it again.

I just got my hands on a Samsung Galaxy Tab and would love to be able to get root accomplished and then tether the tab to the evo.


Any comments/suggestions on the easiest/quickest way I can accomplish this?

I think if you take akazabam's helpful advice on fixing your root you can download a wireless tethering application from the market...

Or better yet, after you get root back install a great rom like Fresh or Myns warm twopointtwo which come with wireless tethering already installed. (Flashing a rom isnt as scary as it seems).

Regardless of what you do we are here to help

 

[QuickDraw]

akazabam: I initiated the update process and I am pretty sure I had so many of them to get BECAUSE of the IMG file being so old that I got on the xda site. Also, I'm pretty sure I covered this already, but yes, s = off and as I mentioned in another post, all through the rooting process and even after rooting, it still said s = off. The HBOOT version is 2.10.0001, is this an older version or is it up to date? In regards to booting into recovery, I had tried that before and it definately was different after the UNROOTING.


I can't even remember exactly what was wrong on the site, all I can really remember is that the instructions, and the results of those instructions as I was viewing them on my phone, were not all exactly as described, and it made me a little nervous.

 

[akazabam]

akazabam: I initiated the update process and I am pretty sure I had so many of them to get BECAUSE of the IMG file being so old that I got on the xda site. Also, I'm pretty sure I covered this already, but yes, s = off and as I mentioned in another post, all through the rooting process and even after rooting, it still said s = off. The HBOOT version is 2.10.0001, is this an older version or is it up to date? In regards to booting into recovery, I had tried that before and it definately was different after the UNROOTING.


I can't even remember exactly what was wrong on the site, all I can really remember is that the instructions, and the results of those instructions as I was viewing them on my phone, were not all exactly as described, and it made me a little nervous.

Ok, right now, you're in a bit of a weird state. To unroot you need to:

1) Flash the S-ON tool from unrevoked
2) Flash the appropriate PC36IMG from hboot for your hboot version.

This is covered very clearly in the rooting for dummies thread. Right now, you still have s-off (either you missed that step, or it didn't flash correctly; sometimes it takes more than one try) but the PC36IMG (wrong version?) wiped out recovery. If you'd flashed the wrong PC36IMG with s-on, it would have told you that it was the wrong version. It's not possible to flash a PC36IMG older than your hboot. You accepted OTAs (which worked only because you removed the custom recovery in flashing the PC36IMG), so I have no way of knowing what you had before.

Now, you can either:

1) Stay rooted, but get things back to normal by rerunning unrevoked (yes, you have s-off, but you have a new hboot and no recovery). There are other ways to go about it, but this is by far the easiest. Or...

2) Unroot correctly by following the steps in the rooting for dummies thread. Flash the s-on tool, first. Verify that you have s-on, then flash the correct PC36IMG file. Follow the instructions exactly.

 

[QuickDraw]

Ok, right now, you're in a bit of a weird state. To unroot you need to:

1) Flash the S-ON tool from unrevoked
2) Flash the appropriate PC36IMG from hboot for your hboot version.

This is covered very clearly in the rooting for dummies thread. Right now, you still have s-off (either you missed that step, or it didn't flash correctly; sometimes it takes more than one try) but the PC36IMG (wrong version?) wiped out recovery. If you'd flashed the wrong PC36IMG with s-on, it would have told you that it was the wrong version. It's not possible to flash a PC36IMG older than your hboot. You accepted OTAs (which worked only because you removed the custom recovery in flashing the PC36IMG), so I have no way of knowing what you had before.

Now, you can either:

1) Stay rooted, but get things back to normal by rerunning unrevoked (yes, you have s-off, but you have a new hboot and no recovery). There are other ways to go about it, but this is by far the easiest. Or...

2) Unroot correctly by following the steps in the rooting for dummies thread. Flash the s-on tool, first. Verify that you have s-on, then flash the correct PC36IMG file. Follow the instructions exactly.

Ok, I tried the #1 right above there .. ie .. Staying rooted, but get things back to normal...ran the reflash_package.exe file (UNREVOKED 3) and now it doesn't want to run. It keeps saying "waiting for device. Plug phone in now and enable USB debugging. Make sure HTC sync is *not* installed!"

I don't know how to enable USB debugging as I've never had to before, it just worked before. I also cannot find HTC SYNC on my device and I haven't installed it on my computer. Thanks for the assist.


EDIT: Found USB debugging and am proceeding with the reflash of UNREVOKED 3.

 

[akazabam]

Ok, I tried the #1 right above there .. ie .. Staying rooted, but get things back to normal...ran the reflash_package.exe file (UNREVOKED 3) and now it doesn't want to run. It keeps saying "waiting for device. Plug phone in now and enable USB debugging. Make sure HTC sync is *not* installed!"

I don't know how to enable USB debugging as I've never had to before, it just worked before. I also cannot find HTC SYNC on my device and I haven't installed it on my computer. Thanks for the assist.

Menu->Settings->Applications->Development->Check "USB debugging". I don't see any other reason why this should work. You might get some errors down the road (since you already have s-off).

 

[QuickDraw]

Menu->Settings->Applications->Development->Check "USB debugging". I don't see any other reason why this should work. You might get some errors down the road (since you already have s-off).

Did you mean you DON'T EXPECT it to work, or you DO EXPECT it to work? Is it supposed to be SHOULD or SHOULDN'T?


Ok, now according to the unrevoked package ran from my computer, the phone is officially ROOTED again. Is there any further steps needed to get back to "NORMAL"? I mean, I thought that I already had the proper HTC Boot version and all that, but you gave me the impression that I didn't. I'm not giving up, but this is exactly why I didn't feel right about doiing a ROOT in the first place, I'm just a clutz when it comes to this stuff. Thanks for your continued patience.

 

[QuickDraw]

I think if you take akazabam's helpful advice on fixing your root you can download a wireless tethering application from the market...

Or better yet, after you get root back install a great rom like Fresh or Myns warm twopointtwo which come with wireless tethering already installed. (Flashing a rom isnt as scary as it seems).

Regardless of what you do we are here to help

Yes thanks, I've decided to go back to root following akazabam's advice and coaching.