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Root Worthwhile rooting a Nexus 10?

T

THRobinson

Newbie
Bought a Nexus 10 a month ago, first tablet and so far mostly happy with it.

Was looking at a few sites about rooting and wondered if worthwhile for a Nexus... Few reasons listed like getting updates as they come out, and removing custom skins, seem only to apply to non-nexus units.

I remember having a jail broken iPhone 3g and never saw any advantages, and once accidentally hit update for the iOS and spent hours unbricking it, and was a real pain to remove the jailbreak (was jail broken by the previous owner). Hence my hesitation.

What are the upsides for a basic user like me?

2 issues I've had with the nexus is when using an otg adapter, if I click on a PDF (for example) in an app like Nexus USB otg manager, it has to copy the file over to the download folder before opening.,.. And when connecting a USB gamepad I need an app like USB/be joycentre to get it to work. Would rooting help so I can run files directly off usb? Or plug stuff in without paying for apps to use them?
 
There's a quick mention of saving files to USB with an OTG cable... but, I can do that now without being rooted.

Otherwise, there's really no info in that thread apart from a link to how to root.
 
So, if rooted, if I use that app I should be able to open files direct from USB vs opening from USB while in the background the app copies the file to the download folder?

It says it'll automount but, didn't see anything about files opening directly... the description for Nexus USB OTG File Manager says it will open direct, but, it doesn't. Author even said it didn't when I contacted him because I paid for the app and found that it copies it locally before opening. The description is misleading but he never changed it.

How about the USB joystick question? any other advantages?
 
Rooting will allow you to use other apps that require root access to operate to it's full capability or even at all. It also gives you the gateway to installing modifications like Xposed Framework, or custom roms and kernels.
 
One thing that makes me really hesitate is, unrooting/updating...

I like how 4.4.2 is now, I don't need to change the look or anything like that, just a few features that I thought 'just worked' like using a USB stick on an OTG cable, I'm not sure why something that simple wouldn't just work without needing to do all this stuff. :)

Basically, once rooted... how hard is it to unroot? or install a newer version of Android when it comes out?

I had an iPhone 3G, jailbroken when I got it and for a long time there was no way to unjailbreak it because of modem firmware version issues and such... was a real pain. Jailbreak didn't really do me any favours, in fact it killed the gps and startup time for the iPhone took twice as long. Just wanting to avoid that headache.
 
THRobinson said:
One thing that makes me really hesitate is, unrooting/updating...

I like how 4.4.2 is now, I don't need to change the look or anything like that, just a few features that I thought 'just worked' like using a USB stick on an OTG cable, I'm not sure why something that simple wouldn't just work without needing to do all this stuff. :)

Basically, once rooted... how hard is it to unroot? or install a newer version of Android when it comes out?

I had an iPhone 3G, jailbroken when I got it and for a long time there was no way to unjailbreak it because of modem firmware version issues and such... was a real pain. Jailbreak didn't really do me any favours, in fact it killed the gps and startup time for the iPhone took twice as long. Just wanting to avoid that headache.
Click to expand...

It depends on how much you modify things after root. If all you do is root, while keeping the stock recovery, kernel, and framework, the updates will come automatically but will remove root. If you change anything mentioned above, updates will attempt to install and fail. At that point, the best option is to flash whatever was changed back to stock using the factory image provided on Google's Android Developer's website. Unrooting is just a matter of reflashing the System image from that factory image.

It is important to note that rooting will likely require unlocking your bootloader which will invoke a complete wipe of all data on the device.
 
That's good to hear... like I said that iPhone was a pain because of the whole firmware thing... just made a mess of things.

I just want to unlock some features, maybe get more (easy) use from the OTG option since I have no SD Card slot. I also hear there are some ad-removal options which I'd be interested in as well. Otherwise, I'm fine with how things are on the tablet.

If I do a backup, then root, will the restore work? for data... I don't have a lot on it yet, but, be nice to get my savegame data back.
 
THRobinson said:
That's good to hear... like I said that iPhone was a pain because of the whole firmware thing... just made a mess of things.

I just want to unlock some features, maybe get more (easy) use from the OTG option since I have no SD Card slot. I also hear there are some ad-removal options which I'd be interested in as well. Otherwise, I'm fine with how things are on the tablet.

If I do a backup, then root, will the restore work? for data... I don't have a lot on it yet, but, be nice to get my savegame data back.
Click to expand...

It depends on what type of backup you do. If you use the built in android back/restore option through adb, it should work just fine. 3rd party options like helium might work as well, though I can't confirm because I haven't used them.
 
Oh and also... any recommended methods/links for rooting?

Seen quite a few, but being inexperienced, I don't know which is the best/easiest. I even heard that for a Nexus 10 there was an automated app that does it for you.
 
If you have a Windows PC, Wugs Nexus toolkit will take a lot of the heavy lifting out of the way. Download and install it, configure the drivers, perform the backup, unlock the bootloader, and then root. It will automate or give you detailed instructions for each of those steps once installed.
 
There we go... seems unlocked/rooted...

Is it safe to change the USB Debugging mode? I saw an older thread where some people said turning it off disabled root.

On a side note... root went pretty well, got hung up in one spot where it wouldn't detect properly because of MTP... instructions said turn it on/off but didn't do anything until I turned it off and turned PTP on. Thing is, MTP worked fine before I deleted the drivers and installed the ones through WUG. Even now, MTP enabled doesn't allow my Nexus to appear in Explorer in Win7... the default Win7 installed drivers did.

Also, before rooting I did a full reset, when it came on and I setup my account it started downloading all my apps. Would have taken a long time, so, stopped and reset the device again, this time I said I had no Google account. Problem is, after rooted and working, I went to Google Play, and setup my account, and it didn't download anything except updates. Google backup/restore need a 'restore' button. Make things much easier... that or when I added my account, I hoped for a message asking to restore now.
 
Hmm, not really Average Joe end-user stuff though... that's what I was looking for mostly. Stuff the average person would use.

So far only found 1 advantage... which for me is a big one... being able to read directly off USB, where non-rooted apps that claim that ability, have to copy stuff over first.

I have a massive collection of pdfs, and it's nice to be able to buy a cheap $10 16GB USB stick and have it devoted to eBooks.

I think I can run apps direct off USB as well, I think I read that somewhere... which is good, for something like a GPS program. Canada is a BIG country, and for whatever reason we can't download maps by Province, so, something like NavFree after Canada is downloaded, takes up almost a full 1GB of space on a 16GB device. 2GB memory sticks are what now, $4?
 
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