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[Verizon] Relatively new Nexus user looking to root and get Jellybean. I need a bit of help though...

B

brylow

Newbie
If someone could point me in the direction of a guide or anything that'd be great.
But I also have a few questions:

1. What's the best way to back up my phone? I hear that rooting deletes everything off of your phone and I have a couple apps that I obtained less than legally. What's the best way to back those up? I think I can do it on AirDroid but I'm not sure how well that'll work.

EDIT 2: How in the world do I back up this thing? I understand everything I need to know about rooting my phone and installing Jelly Bean. Yet I can't figure out how to back this stupid thing up and it's starting to piss me off. Am I just SOL? Is there no way to back up a phone with a locked bootloader? It certainly seems that way. I can't figure out how to back up my phone because you need root access to do that but if you root, you lose all of your data. Anyone have any advice?

2. Do most apps run well on this update? As in do most apps already on JB?

3. What's the safest way to get Jellybean? Is there specific place that I should get it from?

4. Would I have to switch to Verizon's version of JB when they finally release it? Or is there no real reason to?

Any other advice on this would be phenomenal! I'm loving this phone but I already feel a little held back without having Jellybean on it.

Thanks in advance for any help given!

EDIT: I'm using the Galaxy Nexus by the way.
 
If you go to the All Things Root - (Verizon) Galaxy Nexus sub-forum, you can get plenty of help there on how to root and what Jellybean build they recommend. The easiest way to root, however, is going to be using Wug's toolkit, which automates most of the steps for you.

It will be up to you if you want to load the Verizon update, when it comes available.
 
brylow said:
If someone could point me in the direction of a guide or anything that'd be great.
But I also have a few questions:

1. What's the best way to back up my phone? I hear that rooting deletes everything off of your phone and I have a couple apps that I obtained less than legally. What's the best way to back those up? I think I can do it on AirDroid but I'm not sure how well that'll work.

2. Do most apps run well on this update? As in do most apps already on JB?

3. What's the safest way to get Jellybean? Is there specific place that I should get it from?

4. Would I have to switch to Verizon's version of JB when they finally release it? Or is there no real reason to?

Any other advice on this would be phenomenal! I'm loving this phone but I already feel a little held back without having Jellybean on it.

Thanks in advance for any help given!
Click to expand...

Ok..so... #1, I have no idea about backing up apps. I used the Nexus Tool Kit (Thanks Wugs!) for my rooting, which does give options to back up and whatnot through that. I went with a complete wipe on mine, since I had gotten it pretty cluttered and figured a fresh start would be a good way to go. Though if you still have the .apk you loaded from saved somewhere, it might work?

#2 - So far, I haven't had any apps I've loaded not work. Since JB has already officially launched on some devices, I imagine most devs have already upgraded to support it.

#3 - Check the All Things Root stickies for more info. But like I said, I used Wug's Nexus Tool Kit and it was soooo simple, step-by-step. I had never rooted by any means until I did it two weeks ago. It was flawless.

#4 - No real reason to. The only reason I would've imagined would've been if for SOME reason, all the ROMs out now were still buggy and they ended up with a stable version. The odds of that are about a bazillion to none. We've already got very stable ROMs out, including the official JB one, so there's no reason to go to VZW's version with their own bloatware back in it.

Just read what you can, follow youtube videos if you think you want a visual, and then just give it a go! It's not as painful as you think it might be!
 
brylow said:
1. What's the best way to back up my phone? I hear that rooting deletes everything off of your phone and I have a couple apps that I obtained less than legally. What's the best way to back those up? I think I can do it on AirDroid but I'm not sure how well that'll work.

EDIT 2: How in the world do I back up this thing? I understand everything I need to know about rooting my phone and installing Jelly Bean. Yet I can't figure out how to back this stupid thing up and it's starting to piss me off. Am I just SOL? Is there no way to back up a phone with a locked bootloader? It certainly seems that way. I can't figure out how to back up my phone because you need root access to do that but if you root, you lose all of your data. Anyone have any advice?
Click to expand...

You can backup everything on your SD card either by copy/pasting them over to your PC/Laptop hard drive and keeping a copy there, or by using DropBox (or something similar).

For backing up your user apps, call logs, default browser bookmarks, messages (sms and mms), and wifi data access points by following my guide here: http://androidforums.com/internatio...oot/607141-guide-titaniumbackup-tutorial.html
 
1. What's the best way to back up my phone?

Moving it all to your PC. Movies, pics, music, vids, and sub-folders in the Android folder. It'll take time but it's a one-time deal. Rooting doesn't wipe the phone: unlocking it DOES. Once it's unlocked, though, you should never have to wipe the phone again.

EDIT 2: How in the world do I back up this thing?

Rooted users have this awesome tool called nandroid backup in custom recovery like ClockworkMod or TWRP (my favorite). Backing up a stock phone is tricky and limited. You can use SMS Backup or My Backup Pro to save SMS/MMS messages, but expect to lose user data, settings, call log etc.

2. Do most apps run well on this update? As in do most apps already on JB?

Yep. Every app I use has been updated to work with Jelly Bean.

3. What's the safest way to get Jellybean? Is there specific place that I should get it from?

Here in the "All Things Root" section you can find threads for various ROMS, ranging from the stock Bugless Beast and Jelly Belly to options galore with Codename Android and the amazing (IMO) JBSourcery.

4. Would I have to switch to Verizon's version of JB when they finally release it? Or is there no real reason to?

No. Remember that Verizon releases a version of the operating system that has been "dumbed down" to a great degree so regular users won't get confused by options they don't understand; and to work on THEIR stuff. AOSP Jelly Bean is far more powerful and versatile.

Any other advice on this would be phenomenal! I'm loving this phone but I already feel a little held back without having Jellybean on it.

It's gonna be a pulse-racer. You'll be very nervous and scared doing it... we ALL were at one time. But once it's done, you'll wonder why you waited so long to do it. Jump in, Jelly Bean is delicious! :D
 
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