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[Q] Rooting Inspire Question, Just got the phone.

Greets All,
I am sorry that I have to ask a few questions, only cause I really dont want to mess anything up, I got the phone about a week ago, and I have been reading alot of the different sections about rooting, and I see the different types of ways, and there is good replies and bad replies so I am a bit on the fence. I even got a CWR of this: att-inspire-rooted-signed.zip but I cant for the life of me find where I got it from. But let me ask the questions:
1) I want to keep the phone completely as is, I dont want to install another rom or anything right now, all I want to be able to do, is, remove the att software, and root the phone so that I can install the apk's I have on my sdcard. Do I have to go thru the whole hack kit or one click root and all that? Or is there a simple root and stay with the stock rom?
2) The file I mentioned: att-inspire-rooted-signed.zip I renamed it to update.zip, and then went into the bootloader, then recovery, obviously I got the phone with the red triangle thing, but hitting the up volume and the power button give me a CWR menu, and one of them is to install update from sdcard, but when I choose that zip it says about e:\cant open command folder blah, and then when I click update it says invalid operation. is that cause the phone isnt rooted?
3) If I have to root the phone, then which one will root it, but leabe everything intact if any? I dont want to change my radio, or the rom.
I am sorry if I am asking too much, but the rom has no sim at the moment and just playing with it everything works beautifully, even the gps works instantly because its properly using agps.
Thanks for the answers.

AngelDeath said:
Greets All,
I am sorry that I have to ask a few questions, only cause I really dont want to mess anything up, I got the phone about a week ago, and I have been reading alot of the different sections about rooting, and I see the different types of ways, and there is good replies and bad replies so I am a bit on the fence. I even got a CWR of this: att-inspire-rooted-signed.zip but I cant for the life of me find where I got it from. But let me ask the questions:
1) I want to keep the phone completely as is, I dont want to install another rom or anything right now, all I want to be able to do, is, remove the att software, and root the phone so that I can install the apk's I have on my sdcard. Do I have to go thru the whole hack kit or one click root and all that? Or is there a simple root and stay with the stock rom?
2) The file I mentioned: att-inspire-rooted-signed.zip I renamed it to update.zip, and then went into the bootloader, then recovery, obviously I got the phone with the red triangle thing, but hitting the up volume and the power button give me a CWR menu, and one of them is to install update from sdcard, but when I choose that zip it says about e:\cant open command folder blah, and then when I click update it says invalid operation. is that cause the phone isnt rooted?
3) If I have to root the phone, then which one will root it, but leabe everything intact if any? I dont want to change my radio, or the rom.
I am sorry if I am asking too much, but the rom has no sim at the moment and just playing with it everything works beautifully, even the gps works instantly because its properly using agps.
Thanks for the answers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to remove the ATT bloatware you will have to root. You don't have to root to sideload. Just download the sideload wonder machine found in the dev section. As for rooting id suggest using the hack kit. Ive rooted 4 phones with it. First use the simple gold card maker. Then download the hack kit and follow the instructions in the read me file. Att1 has made it pretty simple. Then flash cleardroid stock rooted rom. All the bloatware is already removed. Its really stable. Good luck.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

What about the simple one click program instead of the hack kit?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

trell959 said:
What about the simple one click program instead of the hack kit?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never used it myself so i cant give advice on it. That being said several thousand people have so im sure it will work fine.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

I'm glad you asked this question because I want to do the same thing I want to keep my phone stock and just root so I to can delete ATT crap and to edit my build.prop file because ATT pissed me off today telling me my speeds are slower than my friends 3gs because his has more storage space. Wtf. We ran speedtest app on both Phones to the same server and every single time his ran double or more on download speeds. ATT told me its the device doing it. IPhone fan boys is all I can say.
Anyway is there a easy way. I rooted my old aria with the unrevoked root. Super easy. Does the inspire have a easy way.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

slocav said:
I'm glad you asked this question because I want to do the same thing I want to keep my phone stock and just root so I to can delete ATT crap and to edit my build.prop file because ATT pissed me off today telling me my speeds are slower than my friends 3gs because his has more storage space. Wtf. We ran speedtest app on both Phones to the same server and every single time his ran double or more on download speeds. ATT told me its the device doing it. IPhone fan boys is all I can say.
Anyway is there a easy way. I rooted my old aria with the unrevoked root. Super easy. Does the inspire have a easy way.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No true one click. I find the hack kit to be the best for me.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

I used bubby's one click method. Very simple, and there is a youtube video of it as well. Watch the entire video first so you have an idea of whats going on then go through the video while rooting. (not, downplaying the hack kit, i have never tried it) And for what its worth i too wanted a stock rom and chose Two pump chumps rom (Its a stock inspire rom -bloatware and improved a bit) and lee droids kernel, which gives a slight sound boost and smooths things a bit more imho. Good luck.

So if I do the root do you have to flash a Rom to delete bloatware? If I have to do a ROM the one posted above will it have sound issues etc? Thanks a ton.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

should be receiving my Inspire tomorrow....coming from the captivate section, this is definitely a little different. I have a quick question though...
The hack kit is used to enable s-off, temp-root, flash a rom that allows use of an old exploit, then permaroot. Once permarooted and CWM recovery has been flashed, any rom from the dev section can be flashed which will keep the root.
My question is, this process only has to be done once, correct?? All future roms will be flashed via CWM recovery, and there won't be ANY need to return to the stock ATT Inspire, unrooted rom??
I ask because with the Galaxy S/Captivate/etc it is usually recommended to flash back to stock before flashing a different custom rom, which means you lose root. I usually didn't that, and never had a problem, but i'm just trying to get a grasp on how this process differs from the Captivate. I will be GLAD to have a phone that can simply be cleared and flashed via CWM for all rom purposes.

All i know is bubby's method, and with it, it gives you root but its just like when you bought it. Now i think you can use clockwork mod or something to manually delete the bloat from there, but for the trouble its easier to flash a new rom that has it already done for you, and get a few bonuses with it. The one i suggested has given me no problems and is a ton faster than it was stock, although your phone may be different.

My question is, this process only has to be done once, correct?? All future roms will be flashed via CWM recovery, and there won't be ANY need to return to the stock ATT Inspire, unrooted rom??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, the only need to go back is if you have to do a warranty return. Technically rooting voids the warranty, but if you undo it whos to know the difference

Bamatide2007 said:
yes, the only need to go back is if you have to do a warranty return. Technically rooting voids the warranty, but if you undo it whos to know the difference
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i actually meant to say "won't need to return to stock unless for warranty"...but yes i gotcha! thanks.
Like i said, although the Captivate seems more "open" or easier to root and such...in the end, this is going to be a MUCH better flashing technique compared to samsung phones. Everyone is always so worried about flashing to stock, doing this, doing that....

i guess i do have one last question....
it seems to be disputable at whether or not you need to do a factory reset/clear data within the CWM recovery during a new flash. When is it necessary and when can this be skipped?

Anytime your flashing a rom you need to do a full wipe, a benefit of CWM is it gives you the option when you start to flash anything to do one of 2 things A: being backup current rom, and B:full wipe.
So assuming you have a good backup already (if not do a backup before this step), just check the box for a full wipe and let it do the magic.
After getting the rom you want and you just want to flash a kernel, batterymod, etc then you only want to make a backup, you will not need to wipe at that point.

sounds good...thanks for all the help, Bamatide. Roll Tide!
I think i was just confused with the update process from within a rom, in which most dev's say it is ok to not wipe data in between updates. Flashing to a different rom requires the full wipe though everytime.
Just curious, but what happens if a full wipe is NOT done in between flashes? Is it just buggy or are there other problems?

The reason for a full wipe is because there could be conflicts between the two rom's where you could end up with just a bootloop and then you would need to do a wipe.
If you want there is a very simple way to do a full wipe, go to this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=996383 and download the zip, this makes it very simple to do. I keep it on my sd card because I like to change rom's and this makes it very easy.
As for rooting I have tried both programs and found that Bubby's was the easy way to go, with the hack kit you have to be able to use the command prompt on the computer and with Bubby's it does it for you. I am not a whiz with command prompt that is why I did not use the hack kit.
I hope this helps especially the one click wipe, it work's great.

So with buddy's do you have to make the gold card what ever that is lol. I didn't have to do anything like that on my old aria and was curious. Also can someone make a sticky that explains what s-off is and what radio s-off etc. I didn't have any of that on my aria and I would like to know what they mean.
And to the op I'm sorry to thread jack but it was the exact same question I had. Hope you don't mind I'm asking on top of yours.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

slocav said:
So with buddy's do you have to make the gold card what ever that is lol. I didn't have to do anything like that on my old aria and was curious. Also can someone make a sticky that explains what s-off is and what radio s-off etc. I didn't have any of that on my aria and I would like to know what they mean.
And to the op I'm sorry to thread jack but it was the exact same question I had. Hope you don't mind I'm asking on top of yours.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be sorry most of us would rather you search then start a new thread. As for which method to use, essentially they are the same except the "one click" does most of the dos commands for you. Both downgrade your rom and radio and use that as an exploit, to root and s-off the phone.
Now problems people run into, there still seems to be a problem with CWM and the one click. For this reason I will recommend the Hack Kit, its nothing against bubby but it is sad to see the same "cwm blank screen" thread resurrected everyday.
Essentially s-on is Security on meaning you cannot flash unsigned roms. Radio s-off essentially allows you to flash custom roms. To flash a stock rooted rom you will need s-off.
With both methods you will need a gold card.

S-off also does away with the Gold card, once you get S-off you can format the SD card be done with it.

mudknot2005 said:
Don't be sorry most of us would rather you search then start a new thread. As for which method to use, essentially they are the same except the "one click" does most of the dos commands for you. Both downgrade your rom and radio and use that as an exploit, to root and s-off the phone.
Now problems people run into, there still seems to be a problem with CWM and the one click. For this reason I will recommend the Hack Kit, its nothing against bubby but it is sad to see the same "cwm blank screen" thread resurrected everyday.
Essentially s-on is Security on meaning you cannot flash unsigned roms. Radio s-off essentially allows you to flash custom roms. To flash a stock rooted rom you will need s-off.
With both methods you will need a gold card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome thanks for the explanation.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

is it or is it not safe to root the TB?

i just for the TB today. i returned my X2 which was laggy and im happy with the TB. i see all kinds of posts bout how people are bricking there phones so i would like to ask all of you,
is it safe to root and install a custom rom? if so what is the safest way to do so?
Thanks so much...

Its all up to you if you feel comfortable rooting your phone or not, there will always be some inherent risk involved.
I have mine rooted and I have had no problems with it and thoroughly enjoy it.
Follow JCase's root method that's stickied in the development section if you choose to root.
A lot of the concern about bricking is from the leaked GB radio that some people are using so you could always stick with Froyo if you want to avoid that risk.

I rooted my Thunderbolt after I had it for a week. The first week being unrooted was terrible. The battery life was horrible, and I contemplated returning it for an iphone.
Then I rooted, which was easy as long as you follow the directions posted in the threads. Now I can easily get a full day of use with my stock battery... off the charger for 17+ hours with 4G, bluetooth and wifi always enabled, and GPS enabled sporadically.
I'd say read up on the root process. Then read up on different roms. I use Das BAMF 1.7, and Imoseyon's 2.6 lean kernel. If you determine that root isn't for you, there's easy ways to unroot.

It's not the rooting process that is bricking phones. Rooting is perfectly safe, as long as you follow the steps. The bricks have occurred after flashing the recent Gingerbread leak. If you stick with a Froyo-based rom, you will be fine.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

sublimaze said:
It's not the rooting process that is bricking phones. Rooting is perfectly safe, as long as you follow the steps. The bricks have occurred after flashing the recent Gingerbread leak. If you stick with a Froyo-based rom, you will be fine.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was also always my undertsanding, that all rooting does is give you permissions that would normally not be available. What you choose to do with those permissions once you have root is the risky part.

sublimaze said:
It's not the rooting process that is bricking phones. Rooting is perfectly safe, as long as you follow the steps. The bricks have occurred after flashing the recent Gingerbread leak. If you stick with a Froyo-based rom, you will be fine.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was one of the few that did brick and I had to send it off for 2 weeks before it was replaced.
The first thing I did when I got home with my new Thunderbolt was root it and flash a Froyo ROM.

@bp328i
But you were running the leaked GB for a few days prior to bricking, right?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

sublimaze said:
@bp328i
But you were running the leaked GB for a few days prior to bricking, right?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was running the leaked GB when my Thunderbolt bricked.
I meant to quote the OP just to let him/her know it IS safe to root.
I just got my new Thunderbolt a few days ago and the first thing I did with it was root it, and this was after my first one bricked.

As someone who bought a TB a week after it came out, screwed up my first root attempt, got it the second time after "unrooting" and has since loaded a ton of different ROMs, radios, and kernels, I can safely say you have nothing to worry about.
As long as you're following the instructions, that is. Can't account for human error, after all

All these bricked phones are being bricked by people who flashed the newest leaked gingerbread (gb) radio onto their devices in order to run the leaked gb rom. Even flashing the newest gb rom+radio didn't mean your device was going to be bricked to sure, it was just a few whos were bricked. If perfectly safe to root as long as you follow instruction and I don't see anything risky about installing apps with any permissions as long as you get the app is from a creditable market place.
The long way of rooting seems easy for me all I did was get adb running and copy pasted the commands on the command prompt.

Yep. Definitely safe as long as you follow the directions and stay away from the Gingerbread radios.
I rooted mine two weeks after I got it. Hubby finally caved and let me root his after seeing the differences.
Grab you an md5 checker and give it a shot!

thanks everyone for your help...i appreicate it.
i am rooting it now!
what radio should i stay away from as far as causing the reboots?

Rooting your thunderbolt will cause a mass alien invasion over the city of Los Angeles.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA App

What everyone else said there is some risk(minisule) if you stick with froyo you should be fine, if you end up with the reboot problem post rooting flash the radios to the old versions and your tb life will be much more sweet.

dvigue said:
thanks everyone for your help...i appreicate it.
i am rooting it now!
what radio should i stay away from as far as causing the reboots?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The gingerbread radio. Any froyo rom will be good to go.

rooted and flashed a new kernel with no issues thus far.yay.

Couple questions. First, which is the easiest and safest root method? Droid 2 rooting was a simple one-click affair. I see lots of methods around, including automated, one-click roots. Jcase's post ([ROOT] MR1/OTA PermRoot + Unlock Bootloader - Safer/Easier 5/12/2011) looks pretty complicated. Is this the one I should do?
Second, I am really tempted to flash a gingerbread rom (th3ory b1.7), and I've flashed several GB roms to my droid 2 before recently getting the TB. If I carefully follow the instructions in the threads, am I pretty safe, or is the GB radio thing still pretty risky?

timp123 said:
Couple questions. First, which is the easiest and safest root method? Droid 2 rooting was a simple one-click affair. I see lots of methods around, including automated, one-click roots. Jcase's post ([ROOT] MR1/OTA PermRoot + Unlock Bootloader - Safer/Easier 5/12/2011) looks pretty complicated. Is this the one I should do?
Second, I am really tempted to flash a gingerbread rom (th3ory b1.7), and I've flashed several GB roms to my droid 2 before recently getting the TB. If I carefully follow the instructions in the threads, am I pretty safe, or is the GB radio thing still pretty risky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. The easiest is the one-click method. However, if you are not familiar with adb, I highly recommend doing it the way described in jcase's thread. That way you get experience with adb. Anyone even considering rooting needs to know basic adb commands.
2. To my knowledge, there have been no bricks with the GB radio posted here. But remember there are no 100% guarantees when rooting/flashing your phone. Good luck

wish people would stop blaming the radio,my first bolt bricket on stock froyo after the first ota update,never had gingerbread on it. as far as rooting goes if you eant the phone to work to itd potential you need to root it and flash a custom rom that or wait tol vzw and htc decide to update it to gingerbread or even icecream for that matter
sent via my bamfed out tbolt

Noob alert - Help with customizing

Hello all,
I am fairly new to android, the Epic is my first android phone purchased on launch day. But I am very new to HTC and the EVO Shift. I just purchased one for my wife. I was wondering if someone could point me to some instructions, or just give me some, on how to best install clockwork and a rom. Her phone came with the latest update. Basically I would prefer to remain stock with just root and wireless tether. If anyone could help me accomplish this I would greatly appreciate it.

You are going to have to look at the temp root thread that is right here in this forum since she is on the newest update. You are kind of limited to what you can do unless a permanent root solution is found. Wireless tether should work. I think you may be able to remove or freeze the bloat using somethin like titanium but it will probably come back when you reboot. Can't use any custom roms yet either...

crawrj said:
Hello all,
I am fairly new to android, the Epic is my first android phone purchased on launch day. But I am very new to HTC and the EVO Shift. I just purchased one for my wife. I was wondering if someone could point me to some instructions, or just give me some, on how to best install clockwork and a rom. Her phone came with the latest update. Basically I would prefer to remain stock with just root and wireless tether. If anyone could help me accomplish this I would greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only root that has been gained on the evo shift GB update is temproot no perm root yet so on a simple reboot you lose root, there is no recovery and no custom roms while temp rooted, there are a couple threads dedicated to this stuff here already
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk

strapped365 said:
The only root that has been gained on the evo shift GB update is temproot no perm root yet so on a simple reboot you lose root, there is no recovery and no custom roms while temp rooted, there are a couple threads dedicated to this stuff here already
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I knew there was only temp root but I saw some roms that were gingerbread with root. So I didn't understand how that was. I thought maybe if you could get clockwork installed with temp root you could still flash a rom. So are the gingerbread roms only for people on froyo? Can you downgrade to froyo and upgrade to the gingerbread rom? Also what do you use to flash roms. With samsung you have odin. What do you use on htc? I see mention of ruu but have seen nothing on how to use it or where to get it. Sorry for so many questions and being really new to this side of the pond.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

crawrj said:
Yeah I knew there was only temp root but I saw some roms that were gingerbread with root. So I didn't understand how that was. I thought maybe if you could get clockwork installed with temp root you could still flash a rom. So are the gingerbread roms only for people on froyo? Can you downgrade to froyo and upgrade to the gingerbread rom? Also what do you use to flash roms. With samsung you have odin. What do you use on htc? I see mention of ruu but have seen nothing on how to use it or where to get it. Sorry for so many questions and being really new to this side of the pond.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing clockworkMod while temp rooted isn't going to work, as soon as your phone tries to reboot you lose root. So you can't access Clockwork, which is how/where you flash ROMs. Currently there is no way to revert back to froyo, the new bootloaders do not recognize the froyo RUU. Basically until a perm root solution is found, temp root is the best you can do.
The ROMs that you see are for user that rooted while running froyo and never took the "official" update from HTC.

Did you buy your phone brand new or used? Go to settings about phone, software information.
If you have Android 2.2 you can root your phone. Otherwise you are screwed until HTC unlocks the bootloader.

VICODAN said:
Did you buy your phone brand new or used? Go to settings about phone, software information.
If you have Android 2.2 you can root your phone. Otherwise you are screwed until HTC unlocks the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said brand new so that means it came with 2.3.3

OK I will wait patiently until perma root has been established. Thank you all for all of the information.

Rooting

I bought a DS a few days ago and found a few apps require rooting, I am running a complete stock rom (whatever that means) 2.3.3 and I have tried using SuperOneClick, but have always been stuck at Waiting For Device... as the program just freezes, can anyone help!!

if you need temporary root try Gingerbreak (link here). It have to give you root until rebooting

I want a permanent root, as I am re booting my ds nearon everyday, so the temp root is hopeless for me. Can anyone else help?

TotalMusic said:
I want a permanent root, as I am re booting my ds nearon everyday, so the temp root is hopeless for me. Can anyone else help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. It was not making sense otherwise...
Remember - once you decide to change your original software you are continuing on your own risk. All the procedures are done multiple times and verified by the community here, but there is always a chance to screw thing up. Going to this for a few apps that require rooting - your call
For permanent root you have to "unlock" your phone for custom software first. This can be done with the Revolutionary tool and will void your warranty (but is the only way to gain permanent root). You can veryify this on the SuperOneClick thread - look for Nandroid lock.
Then you have the following options:
if you want to keep your current ROM use SuperOneClick. This will give you full root and keep your apps and data intact
replace your "completely stock rom" with some of these or this one. Which one to pick is up to you. (the ROMs in the first thread are with Sense 2.1, the other is the latest Stock with Sense 3.0) They will give you permanent root and "completely stock ROM" experience
flash any custom rom (you can pick from here). This will give you permanent root as well and custom goodies
Happy flashing

One extra thing to mention is if you decide to permanent root your ds is definately get Rom manager and I would even spend a lil bit of money for the premium. It's perfect for making those essential backups of your Rom just incase something goes wrong with flashing a new rom or keyboard. Have fun.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App

If i wantes to s-on would i be able to turn it back on?
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium

TotalMusic said:
If i wantes to s-on would i be able to turn it back on?
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man there are a bunch of Sticky Index threads where everything is explained:
Example (all your questions are answered there):
[GUIDE] A Complete Tutorial for the Beginners and Others

Seriously, a quick search first wouldn't hurt wouldn't it?
And I'm pretty sure A LOT of the stickies on the forum WILL answer your question first hand.

[Q] Keeping root when updating Frodo to GBread

I am moving my question to a new thread here in the hope it will get more attention:
OK, Firstly, when do I need CWM?
Secondly, I have downgraded my Desire Z from Gingerbread to Frodo and obtained root, S-OFF, etc, using gfree. I know I can upgrade back to gingerbread and want to do this but only if I can do it without losing root. I've seen lots of posts saying gingerbread can't be rooted and one or two saying it can, and others that deal with the upgrade but simply don't say if root will be lost. I assume that if I just install the OTA update offered by HTC, that will undo everything I just did in downgrading and getting root. If I understand correctly, having root is mostly a property of the bootloader and its configuration, so is it possible to re-install gingerbread but without overwriting the bootloader so as to keep root? Is RUU relevant to what I am asking? I hope its OK to post this here, as my only other option seemed to be to start a new thread. Thanks, THANKS!

CWM stands for clockwork mod.It is a custom recovery that replaces the standard recovery,and has much more options than the original.The recovery is like between the bootloader and the actual OS.It allows you to install custom ROMs,partition your SD card,and lots of other stuff that can't be done within the OSor the bootloader.I don't know about your phone in particular,but most HTC'S have Gingerbreak,which allows you to root on Gingerbread,even if it is s-on(although needs an unlocked bootloader though).
Keep this thread updated.

CWM & Gingerbreak.
SunnyChrono6 said:
CWM stands for clockwork mod.It is a custom recovery that replaces the standard recovery,and has much more options than the original.The recovery is like between the bootloader and the actual OS.It allows you to install custom ROMs,partition your SD card,and lots of other stuff that can't be done within the OSor the bootloader.I don't know about your phone in particular,but most HTC'S have Gingerbreak,which allows you to root on Gingerbread,even if it is s-on(although needs an unlocked bootloader though).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I will read up on Gingerbreak and see if it can help with the GB upgrade. My bootloader is unlocked and I have S-OFF, but I only heard about Gingerbreak from you. Is it a tool produced by an xda-developer?
I assume CWM is only for the OS and bootloader and I would still use my Titanium backup for Apps, or can CWM do both? On a completely stock/standard HTC phone can I use CWM first [before doing anything else] to back up the stock HTC ROM that the phone came with? [That would be great if I can!] Is it the best tool for specifically this? Thanks again.

CWM takes a Nandroid backup to your SD card,which is the OS,kernel,apps,data on internal memory,etc.It's better than Titanium backup in this regard,because even if you mess up your phone you can just revert to this backup.It's the best app I know of for this.Only drawback is that it can't operate within the OS,but even then you can use ROM manager which you'll install anyway to boot into it.I think Gingerbreak is developed by a XDA developer,that's where I saw it when I was rooting my Wildfire S.

Keeping root when updating Frodo to GBread
SunnyChrono6 said:
CWM takes a Nandroid backup to your SD card,which is the OS,kernel,apps,data on internal memory,etc.It's better than Titanium backup in this regard,because even if you mess up your phone you can just revert to this backup.It's the best app I know of for this.Only drawback is that it can't operate within the OS,but even then you can use ROM manager which you'll install anyway to boot into it.I think Gingerbreak is developed by a XDA developer,that's where I saw it when I was rooting my Wildfire S.
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Thanks again, last night I took 3 hours to search xda-developer and read what I could about Gingerbreak. Here are my conclusions which may or may not be right:
Everything I read was to do with using Gingerbreak to root a phone that already has GB running on it. As I understand it, it works for some phones running gingerbread, but not all phones. I did not read anywhere that any one has used gingerbreak to root GB on an HTC Desire Z.
I would love to hear from anyone who has tried out gingerbreak on a Desire Z. I think someone more knowledgeable than me, who knows how to get themselves out of trouble if gingerbreak doesn't work should try this. For me I think its not wise at my present level of knowledge.
There are many places in xda-developer [some even with a 2012 date] which say that a Desire Z running GB cant be rooted without downgrading to Frodo. Some of these appear to be knowledgeable developers that would have surely considered the gingerbreak oprion. So I submitt that this strongly suggests that gingerbreak doest work in this case. However it would be great to have this confirmed - perhaps from someone who has tried it.
So I return to my original question:
I know I can upgrade my Desire Z back to gingerbread and want to do this but only if I can do it without losing root. I've seen lots of posts saying gingerbread can't be rooted [on a Desire Z and some other phones] and one or two saying it can, and others that deal with the upgrade but simply don't say if root will be lost. I assume that if I just install the OTA update offered by HTC, that will undo everything I just did in downgrading and getting root. If I understand correctly, having root is mostly a property of the bootloader and its configuration, so is it possible to re-install gingerbread but without overwriting the bootloader so as to keep root? Thanks.

1)Most phones running Android 2.3.3 work(my Wildfire S worked running 2.3.5)
2)I think if it doesn't work it will just say 'Exploit failed' or something of the sort,it's highly unlikely that it would mess the phone up,and even if it did,you could just restore the nandroid backup.
3)You haven't read about Gingerbreak on the Desire Z probably because most people don't stay with the stock ROM after they root it.
And even if Gingerbreak fails,you have a s-off bootloader.So there should be loads of other ways to root it,although they may be complicated.I'd say just try your luck,take a nandroid backup if you're scared,and try Gingerbreak.There's an 80+% chance that it will work,as the desire z runs 2.3.3 AFAIK.

A better idea would be to root, s-off, unlock bootloader at whatever (so in your situation froyo), then flash CWM, and finally flash a ROM. There's a 99% chance somebody made a working ICS ROM for the desire z which was a very popular phone
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gagdude said:
A better idea would be to root, s-off, unlock bootloader at whatever (so in your situation froyo), then flash CWM, and finally flash a ROM. There's a 99% chance somebody made a working ICS ROM for the desire z which was a very popular phone
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Good point,but I think he wants to upgrade to the stock GB.....otherwise why does he need to root it again,as there are MANY gingerbread custom ROMs,let alone ICS.If he wanted to do that,it would be easy for him as he already has s-off and root now all he would need is CWM and a good ROM.

Keeping root when updating Frodo to GBread or choosing a good rooted ROM
Thanks for all your replies. OK here is where I;m at: I have 2 phones, the Desire Z and the MT4G slide. They were both running stock GB unrooted when I got them. I have downgraded the Desire Z to Frodo to get root and S-OFF having read that was the only way to root it. But I would like something later than Frodo [or GB] as long as I can keep root and it is more functional. I have been searching xda for nearly 4 weeks to see if there are any ROMs with full functionality for these phones. A ROM based on ICS or JB would be great, but in every case that I look into I run into problems. Some have issues with camera or video not working, some with leds or the keyboard back light. One says the audio doesn't work. Other ROMs sound really good but they don't explicitly state they work for either of my phones. As all these things work with GB I don't want to go to ICS/JB if it means I'm loosing functionality. It is only for this reason that I asked about returning to GB for the Desire Z whilst keeping root. Root is essential to me as I have a lot of plans that involve running SSH, Telnet, VNC, etc. There seem to be some great ROMs out there for the MT4G but I am told that my MT4GS is completely different and they wont work on it.
Part of my problem is I don't always understand what I'm reading because of terminology. There are references for example to the Glacier or the Sensation, but I haven't yet worked out whether a MT4GS is the same as Glacier or if Glacier refers only to MT4G, in which case does MT4GS have another nickname? I searched the WIKI for HTC phones, but the MT4GS isn't even listed there.
I'm new to Mob phones and Android, but have been programming and a Linux user for a very long time, which has taught me to be cautious and research well before jumping in. Hence my posts for advice / help here. There's nothing better than finding someone who has done it before who can tell you how successful it was. Appreciate any light you can bring even to just one of these matters. Thanks.

HTC mytouch 4g is glacier. HTC mytouch 4g slide is the doubleshot.
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canopic said:
Thanks for all your replies. OK here is where I;m at: I have 2 phones, the Desire Z and the MT4G slide. They were both running stock GB unrooted when I got them. I have downgraded the Desire Z to Frodo to get root and S-OFF having read that was the only way to root it. But I would like something later than Frodo [or GB] as long as I can keep root and it is more functional. I have been searching xda for nearly 4 weeks to see if there are any ROMs with full functionality for these phones. A ROM based on ICS or JB would be great, but in every case that I look into I run into problems. Some have issues with camera or video not working, some with leds or the keyboard back light. One says the audio doesn't work. Other ROMs sound really good but they don't explicitly state they work for either of my phones. As all these things work with GB I don't want to go to ICS/JB if it means I'm loosing functionality. It is only for this reason that I asked about returning to GB for the Desire Z whilst keeping root. Root is essential to me as I have a lot of plans that involve running SSH, Telnet, VNC, etc. There seem to be some great ROMs out there for the MT4G but I am told that my MT4GS is completely different and they wont work on it.
Part of my problem is I don't always understand what I'm reading because of terminology. There are references for example to the Glacier or the Sensation, but I haven't yet worked out whether a MT4GS is the same as Glacier or if Glacier refers only to MT4G, in which case does MT4GS have another nickname? I searched the WIKI for HTC phones, but the MT4GS isn't even listed there.
I'm new to Mob phones and Android, but have been programming and a Linux user for a very long time, which has taught me to be cautious and research well before jumping in. Hence my posts for advice / help here. There's nothing better than finding someone who has done it before who can tell you how successful it was. Appreciate any light you can bring even to just one of these matters. Thanks.
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You're right,ICS and JB ROMs aren't too stable,although the cyanogen mod alpha 6 for the doubleshot seems kind of stable,look here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1644084
(Take a nandroid backup of gingerbread though,in case you come to a time where you can't take any risks with your phone)
EDIT : CM9 is listed as stable here in the cm download centre http://download.cyanogenmod.com/?device=&type=stable
And for the desire Z, there seem to be stable cm7 ROMs.Just take a nandroid backup of froyo,you can't go wrong with that.
(P.S.You probably saw these already,but just in case you didn't.)