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[Verizon] Cons & Pros: Unlocking, Rooting, Installing ROM & Kernels

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DoctorEyeSight

Android Enthusiast
Hi All,

Verizon Wireless Gnexus owner.

Let's talk about the Pro's & Con's of having your phone Unlocked.

Pro's & con's of having your phone Rooted.

Pro's & con's of installing custom rom vs. the stock rom.

Pro's & con's of installing kernels.

Sorry, I'm a first time android user, but I would like to learn and understand that way I can get the best out of my cell phone :)

Please share your thoughts here.
 
DoctorEyeSight said:
Hi All,

Verizon Wireless Gnexus owner.

Let's talk about the Pro's & Con's of having your phone Unlocked.

Pro's & con's of having your phone Rooted.

Pro's & con's of installing custom rom vs. the stock rom.

Pro's & con's of installing kernels.

Sorry, I'm a first time android user, but I would like to learn and understand that way I can get the best out of my cell phone :)

Please share your thoughts here.
Click to expand...


Pros of rooting: Apps that require root. My biggest reason (initially before the days of my crack flash addiction :D ) was Titanium Backup. All my apps and data are always backed up and can be transferred anywhere. There are also some other neat things in TiBu. But that's only one example of a root app, the list is endless.

Cons of rooting: The only con I can think of is sometimes apps and SuperUser don't play nice. But it can easily not he a con if you go in to SU and deny the app SuperUser access. So no biggie :)

Pros of Unlocking: Personally this is the main reason I love Android. It's customisable thanks to unlocking. Through recovery, you can flash all sorts of stuff including custom ROMs, themes, kernels, and other mods. For example you can make your phone completely full screen (no softkeys) with a flashable mod. Also, NANDROIDS. That will make an entire image of how the phone is at the time of the backup. It is THE ultimate backup. Consider it a step up from TiBu :D

Cons of Unlocking: Screwing it up I guess is a downfall. Though you can always restore this phone back, so I wouldn't consider it an issue.

Pros of Custom ROMs: My FAVORITE part about Android. Custom ROMs allow you to make your phone function how YOU like, and look how YOU want it to look. No two Android phones must look the same. I guarantee my phone looks 100% different than yours and does many different things than yours though we're on the same phone. If we both had iPhones, our phones would be the same, just with different apps and wallpapers. Custom ROMs can add features to your phone that weren't there in the stock ROM. At the same time, you may only want one tweak, and keep the phone mostly stock looking. Specifically on GNex ROMs, many of them give you the OPTION to make it very close to stock or very different from stock. And that also depends on the ROM. I'm running AOKP which can allow me to do SO much more, perhaps more so than other ROMs, but some people may not want that, and they can install a different one with less features. Basically, it let's you make your phone how you want it to be.

Cons of Custom ROMs: Bugs, glitches, and instability. In all honesty though, I've tried almost every ROM out there, and some are slightly buggy and some have no bugs at all. It all depends on the developer and the community and the GNex has the best community and the best and most responsive developers ever. If there's a bug, they'll squash it quickly.

Pros of Custom Kernels: They can speed up your phone, improve battery life, and make your phone work either harder or less hard than it was designed to.

Cons of Custom Kernels: Kernels are probably the most dangerous thing to mess with. You can seriously mess up your phone by, for example, not giving it enough power to boot or overclocking it to a point where it's bad for the phone. However, have a nandroid backup and you should be fine. As long as you don't screw with it too much, it will produce satisfying and improved results with little issue.

I hope all of this helped :) any questions about anything I've said or any specific questions about certain things or specific ROMs or kernels just let me know :)


Oh, and welcome to Android and Android Forums! And to the Galaxy Nexus community!
 
IF in the future I would like to keep my phone unlocked and rooted, but just use the stock ICS ROM, how do I do that? I currently have the aokp rom, and it's okay compared to stock.

These are my main goals to accomplish:

1) Way more battery life

2) Maximum volume compared to the stock version

So, do I need a custom ROM to do this? Do I just need to have it rooted?

Please help, so I can finish this, and be happy with my phone :D
 
Having it unlocked lets you install the su app let you use root apps. Custom roms let's you customize your phone in a lot of ways,to the home screen looks the phones system settings, over clocking the CPU. Kernels tell the rom what to do speed, wifi, let the developers deal with that.
 
How to go back to stock (as well as the answers to your other questions, about which you are apparently posting multiple threads) is listed in the sticky topics at the top of the topics page. Try here.
 
Patriot123 said:
Pros of rooting: Apps that require root. My biggest reason (initially before the days of my crack flash addiction :D ) was Titanium Backup. All my apps and data are always backed up and can be transferred anywhere. There are also some other neat things in TiBu. But that's only one example of a root app, the list is endless.

Cons of rooting: The only con I can think of is sometimes apps and SuperUser don't play nice. But it can easily not he a con if you go in to SU and deny the app SuperUser access. So no biggie :)

Pros of Unlocking: Personally this is the main reason I love Android. It's customisable thanks to unlocking. Through recovery, you can flash all sorts of stuff including custom ROMs, themes, kernels, and other mods. For example you can make your phone completely full screen (no softkeys) with a flashable mod. Also, NANDROIDS. That will make an entire image of how the phone is at the time of the backup. It is THE ultimate backup. Consider it a step up from TiBu :D

Cons of Unlocking: Screwing it up I guess is a downfall. Though you can always restore this phone back, so I wouldn't consider it an issue.

Pros of Custom ROMs: My FAVORITE part about Android. Custom ROMs allow you to make your phone function how YOU like, and look how YOU want it to look. No two Android phones must look the same. I guarantee my phone looks 100% different than yours and does many different things than yours though we're on the same phone. If we both had iPhones, our phones would be the same, just with different apps and wallpapers. Custom ROMs can add features to your phone that weren't there in the stock ROM. At the same time, you may only want one tweak, and keep the phone mostly stock looking. Specifically on GNex ROMs, many of them give you the OPTION to make it very close to stock or very different from stock. And that also depends on the ROM. I'm running AOKP which can allow me to do SO much more, perhaps more so than other ROMs, but some people may not want that, and they can install a different one with less features. Basically, it let's you make your phone how you want it to be.

Cons of Custom ROMs: Bugs, glitches, and instability. In all honesty though, I've tried almost every ROM out there, and some are slightly buggy and some have no bugs at all. It all depends on the developer and the community and the GNex has the best community and the best and most responsive developers ever. If there's a bug, they'll squash it quickly.

Pros of Custom Kernels: They can speed up your phone, improve battery life, and make your phone work either harder or less hard than it was designed to.

Cons of Custom Kernels: Kernels are probably the most dangerous thing to mess with. You can seriously mess up your phone by, for example, not giving it enough power to boot or overclocking it to a point where it's bad for the phone. However, have a nandroid backup and you should be fine. As long as you don't screw with it too much, it will produce satisfying and improved results with little issue.

I hope all of this helped :) any questions about anything I've said or any specific questions about certain things or specific ROMs or kernels just let me know :)


Oh, and welcome to Android and Android Forums! And to the Galaxy Nexus community!
Click to expand...


Hi, Thank you very much for welcoming me :D

Okay, so this is my first android phone:

I loved the stock ice cream sandwich, I just made my wallpaper completely black and used it for a week, so now I have the following and it's way different:

Android version: 4.0.3 - I think a new one is out, how can I update it?

Kernel version: 3.0.8-g8e0f3bc

Mod version: aokp_toro_build-26

Here is basically what I want:

1) Better battery life - If I have to get a rom/kernel for this, please share.

2) Loudest volume speaker possible

3) Please if we can get my layout to have the same APP'S the stock version had, that would be so awesome.


Please share your suggestions. Appreciate it :)
 
DoctorEyeSight said:
Here is basically what I want:



3) FREE apps :D That's the main reason why I rooted it.
Click to expand...

Look, this is NOT what the rooting community is about. If you're going to pirate apps, go Google it and stop posting it all over the community forums. The majority of the Android community is NOT going to support that or help you - especially in the root community - we believe in supporting the developers who spend their time making our phones awesome for us.

Now look, you've posted half a dozen topics, you're not reading or at least not heeding most of the responses you've gotten, all you can talk about is pirating apps and how nothing is working despite probably 10 different people trying to help you. Maybe you'd be better off going back to an iphone if Android is too hard for you, and more specifically, if giving people enough respect to actually listen to them is too hard for you.
 
quiklives said:
Look, this is NOT what the rooting community is about. If you're going to pirate apps, go Google it and stop posting it all over the community forums. The majority of the Android community is NOT going to support that or help you - especially in the root community - we believe in supporting the developers who spend their time making our phones awesome for us.

Now look, you've posted half a dozen topics, you're not reading or at least not heeding most of the responses you've gotten, all you can talk about is pirating apps and how nothing is working despite probably 10 different people trying to help you. Maybe you'd be better off going back to an iphone if Android is too hard for you, and more specifically, if giving people enough respect to actually listen to them is too hard for you.
Click to expand...

Oh, I was not aware of that, but now I fully am, and no i will not go back to the iphone, I like to learn, so, how can I undo everything and get what I want to be done?
 
To get AOKP working correctly:

build 26

That is the link to the latest version of AOKP.
Scroll down to the downloads, download the toro version from mirror 1, then download the gapps all the way at the bottom of the list.
Put them both on your sdcard on your phone.
Boot into recovery.
Wipe data.
go to Install zip
Choose zip
Navigate to where you put the files on your sdcard, choose aokp-toro-b26 and install
go to install zip (again)
Choose zip
Navigate to the files, choose gapps-20120224m and install
**go back**
reboot phone
Sign into Google

The file names should look more or less like I typed them above, enough to recognize them, but probably aren't exact.



To go back to stock, follow this: http://androidforums.com/verizon-ga...oot-samsung-galaxy-nexus.html#return-to-stock
 
quiklives said:
To get AOKP working correctly:

build 26

That is the link to the latest version of AOKP.
Scroll down to the downloads, download the toro version from mirror 1, then download the gapps all the way at the bottom of the list.
Put them both on your sdcard on your phone.
Boot into recovery.
Wipe data.
go to Install zip
Choose zip
Navigate to where you put the files on your sdcard, choose aokp-toro-b26 and install
go to install zip (again)
Choose zip
Navigate to the files, choose gapps-20120224m and install
**go back**
reboot phone
Sign into Google

The file names should look more or less like I typed them above, enough to recognize them, but probably aren't exact.



To go back to stock, follow this: http://androidforums.com/verizon-ga...oot-samsung-galaxy-nexus.html#return-to-stock
Click to expand...



I will try this later, and then after this goes smooth, what is the best kernel I should downlad and if you can please explain how to install the kernel.
 
Also, I want the newest version of Android, I believe it came out a couple days ago.

So do I install the new rom properly first and then update with latest android version?
 
No, the latest Android version is a stock ROM and would overwrite any ROM you had installed.

My post above was either/or. Either follow the instructions to get a working version of AOKP, or follow the guide already posted to go back to stock.

Get your ROM settled first, and install a kernel afterwards. Every time you install a ROM, it overwrites your kernel, so kernels always have to be installed over top of whatever ROM you're on.

Most of the kernels I am aware of for this phone are made to run with Android version 4.0.3 ROMs, which most ROMs are. The latest version of Android that you're talking about is 4.0.4, and there is a thread here talking about it. It did not come out in the last couple of days, but it is the latest for this phone. If that is what you want, I don't *think* you can install a different kernel over it, but I suggest reading that entire thread for more information, and if none of it answers your questions, ask IN that thread about it.

If you change your mind and end up on a 4.0.3 ROM like AOKP, there are several kernels to choose from, but the most popular ones are franco's kernel and imoseyon's leankernel. Those are links to the threads here about those kernels. The first post in each should list versions and install instructions, but installing a kernel is quite easy. All you have to do is download it to your sdcard, boot into recovery, and install the zip. Many of us wipe cache and dalvik cache before we install it, but it's not necessary, it's just considered a "best practice."
 
quiklives said:
No, the latest Android version is a stock ROM and would overwrite any ROM you had installed.

My post above was either/or. Either follow the instructions to get a working version of AOKP, or follow the guide already posted to go back to stock.

Get your ROM settled first, and install a kernel afterwards. Every time you install a ROM, it overwrites your kernel, so kernels always have to be installed over top of whatever ROM you're on.

Most of the kernels I am aware of for this phone are made to run with Android version 4.0.3 ROMs, which most ROMs are. The latest version of Android that you're talking about is 4.0.4, and there is a thread here talking about it. It did not come out in the last couple of days, but it is the latest for this phone. If that is what you want, I don't *think* you can install a different kernel over it, but I suggest reading that entire thread for more information, and if none of it answers your questions, ask IN that thread about it.

If you change your mind and end up on a 4.0.3 ROM like AOKP, there are several kernels to choose from, but the most popular ones are franco's kernel and imoseyon's leankernel. Those are links to the threads here about those kernels. The first post in each should list versions and install instructions, but installing a kernel is quite easy. All you have to do is download it to your sdcard, boot into recovery, and install the zip. Many of us wipe cache and dalvik cache before we install it, but it's not necessary, it's just considered a "best practice."
Click to expand...


So in summary, if i were to get the android version 4.0.4, I will NOT be able to add codename android ROM or aokp ROM and leankernel because it does not support 4.0.4, correct?
 
Just a quick (and hopefully final) reminder that there will be no discussion of how to obtain paid apps for free with unless it is in the context of a developer or a company making their paid apps free via some kind of promotion.

Rooting your device does NOT give you the ability to obtain paid apps for free.

Many thanks to all who have helped point this out and continue to do so--the Staff, AF membership, and the app developers (of which I am one) very much appreciate your efforts regarding this. Thank you.

-SA
 
Get volume+ paid version free on the developers site. Like scary said, we don't support pirating apps. But volume+ is free from the developer so that's different. And to get an idea of battery life on the Franco and lean kernel go look in their threads
 
This indivudal has mentioned in MANY threads how he intends to use root to pirate apps. I personally will not be offering any advice to him.
 
hurricane630 said:
Get volume+ paid version free on the developers site. Like scary said, we don't support pirating apps. But volume+ is free from the developer so that's different. And to get an idea of battery life on the Franco and lean kernel go look in their threads
Click to expand...


I'm new here, and I apologize, I didn't know. I will be purchasing apps in the future and realistically i don't need apps anymore, I just need a better battery life and faster processor.
 
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