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Root TO ROOT or NOT TO ROOT??

xguy

xguy

Android Enthusiast
I've had a Htc Inc for 2 years and hated the reception or sound on it...even my wife hates it because it's just not clear! Other than that it's been good.

I was talking to a guy about it and said it was a software problem and it would be best to root it and that would also increase my battery life. Now I know nothing about him, just talked on the phone. He said he could root it for $20.

I am somewhat phone and computer challenged, so does this make sense to y'all?

Thanks in advance!:)
 
I seriously doubt a software problem. I would not root unless you have another very good reason to so, especially since you admit to not being particularly computer-savvy.

Linux user #266351. Android since v1.0
 
As Crashdamage said you are unlikely to improve the sound quality of your phone by rooting. However there are a number of things to gain by rooting which might include better battery life.

I suggest you go to the device list here Android Phones - Android Forums select your phone and visit the root sub forum. There should be a guide to rooting which will tell you what you can gain and how to go about it. If you are unsure ask questions in that forum.
 
I am very, very, very far from an expert, but I agree that this sounds more like a hardware problem - bad speaker?

I am not sure what phone you are talking about (what is an "Htc inc? The HTC Incredible, or HTC Droid Incredible? ) If there is a forum here for your phone, I would go there and ask if folks know if this is a known problem with the phone and if they think rooting would be of any help.

(Besides which, I would be quite leery of some guy I didn't know - and whose expertise I certainly have no way of judging - telling me he can fix the poor sounding reception problem for me by rooting my phone. Sounds to me as if he just wants to make some easy money!)

Just my penny's worth as a newbie!

Holly

Edit - looks as if nicka3200 beat me to it as far as suggesting that you check out the forum for your phone. :)
 
Thanks guys for the input. I kinda felt the same way but thought I'd ask anyway. ;)
 
I’ve had my teensy Optimus for two years as well. There’s been many times I almost rooted, but always ended up deciding that since I don’t really need to, it doesn’t pass the risk vs reward test. I’m computer savvy in a self-taught way and pretty confident I could do it, but that’s not enough.
 
I was hesitat for a long time until I finally decided to root. I think that it wasn't needed so much. Android in itself gives much freedom to its users and I lost my warranty.
 
As I understand it...

What of the pros and cons of of rooting
Click to expand...

Rooting gives your phone the same powers as the administrator level in something like Windows, XP in my case. You can add, manipulate or delete any file on your drive.

But with those powers come the risk of ruining, aka bricking, the guts of your phone. And there
 
Thanks, I have a little better understanding of it now and think I'll just leave it alone. Just my luck I would break something! ;)
 
I recently rooted my Note II, and I regret doing it because I did not know that rooting would not allow me to receive the recent 4.1.2 update. Further more, unrooting deleted all my stuff on my phone and again, I didn't know this would happen because rooting did not do anything to my files.

Bottom line: rooting will not change your reception b/c it's your phone's problem, not software. Unless you want to flash a custom ROM (I assume you can't since you're not computer savvy...) then don't even bother with rooting.

As for performance, yes you can increase performance by at least 10% but this will damage your battery and over heat your phone.

Also, $20?!! Dude, ever heard of YouTube? I rooted my Note 2 by watching youtube lol.
 
Fireflies said:
I recently rooted my Note II, and I regret doing it because I did not know that rooting would not allow me to receive the recent 4.1.2 update. Further more, unrooting deleted all my stuff on my phone and again, I didn't know this would happen because rooting did not do anything to my files.

Bottom line: rooting will not change your reception b/c it's your phone's problem, not software. Unless you want to flash a custom ROM (I assume you can't since you're not computer savvy...) then don't even bother with rooting.

As for performance, yes you can increase performance by at least 10% but this will damage your battery and over heat your phone.

Also, $20?!! Dude, ever heard of YouTube? I rooted my Note 2 by watching youtube lol.
Click to expand...

Yeah, after hearing your problems I'm leaving mine alone! lol. I googled "poor sound quality" on my phone and found no fixes. I did learn HTC knows about this problem. And yeah I've used You Tube for motorcycle repair and other things.
 
Fireflies said:
I recently rooted my Note II, and I regret doing it because I did not know that rooting would not allow me to receive the recent 4.1.2 update. Further more, unrooting deleted all my stuff on my phone and again, I didn't know this would happen because rooting did not do anything to my files.

Bottom line: rooting will not change your reception b/c it's your phone's problem, not software. Unless you want to flash a custom ROM (I assume you can't since you're not computer savvy...) then don't even bother with rooting.

As for performance, yes you can increase performance by at least 10% but this will damage your battery and over heat your phone.

Also, $20?!! Dude, ever heard of YouTube? I rooted my Note 2 by watching youtube lol.
Click to expand...

The great thing about root access is you can install whatever version of android you want, whenever you want to.

If an update just came out, then flash the ROM with the update included. Easy as pie :D
 
Moved from Android Applications section.

And I just wanted to re-inforce that if you (or a readerof this thread) does decide to root your device, it is always best to do it yourself. If you pay someone else to do it, you will always be coming back to them for help until they decide not to help anymore.
 
I will add that rooting allowed me to experiment with different radio software which I found DID improve my reception on my original Dinc. Used the newer radio for about six months until I upgraded.
 
Rooting isnt that hard now that htc allows you to unlock your bootloader. When i rooted my phone i had never had an android before and didnt know jack about linux. But with xda and google it was pretty easy.

People who have replied have left out a lot of benefits of rooting.
With root (and s-off) you can flash any hboot, radio, splash screen, rom, and mod you want. You can remove stock (bloatware) apps, and theme the os. You can install custom kernels, that allow you to over/under clock/volt your cpu. You can use different kernel governors and schedulers, which adjust how the cpu is scaled and power is consumed. With the gingertiny kernel you can enable usb fast charge and audioboost, which may be something that might make your calls a little easier to hear. You can change the bootanimation and remove the annoying "drooooid" sound. There are several root apps that can enhance your phone amd do things unrooted androids cant. You can flash the ext4 mod which fixes the low on space issue when to many apps are installed. You can backup (nandroid) your whole system incase something messes up, you can restore the entire phone apps, settings and all. There are probably several other reasons why rooting is the bomb. :)

As others said, i would not have someone root it for you, unless your right there watching and learning. Root is not a scarry thing, and most mistakes can be fixed with an ruu (stock image). It takes time and patience, but why not learn on an old phone thats nearing the end of its life, so that way you can more easily root your future androids.
 
xguy said:
Even though I'm a little late, that is very interesting. Wonder why and what can they do- arrest me? :D
Click to expand...
Unlocking is not the same as rooting. Unlocking allows you to use your phone on any carrier you want. Rooting is just giving you admin rights on your phone (100% legal).
 
xguy said:
Even though I'm a little late, that is very interesting. Wonder why and what can they do- arrest me? :D
Click to expand...

I believe this only applies to carrier unlocking, which is not the same as rooting. Carrier unlocking is only for gsm phones with sim cards. If you take your lets say verizon gsm phone and try to put an at&t sim card in it, it will not work as the phone is locked to a verizon sim. If you unlock it, then it will read any carriers sim card.
 
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