So I have a Samsung Galaxy S 4g with Tmobile, and generally I'm happy with how it runs. Except that I cannot seem to root the thing (I have rooted probably 12-15 phones) and that means since I can't use awesome apps like Titanium Backup, every single day I have to hear about a new double twist update about 900 times.
I hate double twist, and i am sick of looking at it. So now, I am thinking of just putting a custom rom on. I have three questions among my research that I have not found a solid answer too:
1) I use Linux (Ubuntu) and the information I found on putting a custom rom to my phone with linux is sketchy at best, and I have zero idea if I even can.
2) Are there any users of this phone here that would suggest a particular rom? I ask because until my wife gets home from vacation in 3 weeks this phone is all I have and bricking it terrifies me.
3) Is there anyway, without root access, to back up Better Keyboard 8 and it's key? They got pulled from android market and I love this keyboard, if i loose it then i may rather put up with annoying double twist.
Related
Hey all.. Bought a Captivate while I was home for R&R ..got to play around with it while i was home to make sure I wanted a Android over the iPhone 4 as I was a previous iPhone 3G user.. well needless to say very happy with my choice.
I came back to the sandbox and using it as a mp3 player over my ipod and for the games etc as I can use it in flight mode with wifi ... i was reading up on how to root and flash etc and took the plunge.. i rooted and followed the guides to load the new Cognition 3.04 as that one looked great and supposed great for new users and what not... i had a couple issues after the flash i noticed but corrected.. not sure if it is common, but i did the backup with Titanium and copied to computer etc like instructed.. after i did the flash, i did the "restore missing apps + data" like it said as apparently the install all or something like that could cause issues.. well my contacts, sms, wifi data etc was missing.. i had a hard time finding out how to restore but I finally got it.. so that isnt much of an issue, just wondered if that is common??
The main concerns I have was that I am using the AT&T model Captivate and when I return home in a few weeks, I wanted to make sure that I would not have an issue using it on the AT&T network (like get issue with roaming or anything like that ) since it is now using the Rogers 2.2... Am I ok with this? Since I cant use the phone portion, i am not 100% sure that everything is working. It works great now with wifi and cant find any other issues so far.. so hoping I am good.
Also, with the new 3.04 i noticed it said the put the stock lock screen.. i kinda was liking the "swipe" unlock that my stock had that the original 3.0 had but wondered why they went back to the original bar one.. and is there a way to change that ?? or would it require me going to one of the older versions (which ever had it the .0 .1,2,or 3 etc)... any know? just a curious..nothing wrong with the stock, just like i said, kinda liked the swipe any direction one..
i am still researching around and looking up apps/themes, etc as I said I am new.. but one last question would be any suggested apps to add other than what comes with the stock cog 3.04?? i added a firewall type program ad my games etc.. but any other apps that peeps would consider "necessary" that cognition didn't load? i know this will all probably personal preference, but suggestions are always nice
Sorry for the long rant.. i just wanted to make sure that i was sent for when i re-deploy... Thanks all
Zug
I currently have a Thunderbolt that just recently became close to unusable to me. (The power button does not work without me jamming it into an edge of a table or wall...I heard this is a common problem). I talked to Verizon, I didn't have insurance since I've never needed it before, all my previous phones have worked so well, and they could not offer me any good options, I'd have to buy a new phone at sticker price.
So I thought to hit up eBay to see what I could get. Then I realized, there are no phones out there that really call out to me as of yet. So then I had an idea, why don't I just get a phone that is easy to root/customize/hack, but use it normally until I do find a phone that does stand out to me. That way, when I do get a NEW phone, I'll have a secondary to "play" around with.
I am a software developer and know a thing or two about OSs and ROMs but not a whole lot. I've hacked various things like 360/Wii games down to the binary level, not "Hi I edited a text file and gave me more $$$ in my game, I'm 733t". That being said, I'm not interested in using easy 1-click install programs to customize the phone. I actually want to understand how it all works. Basically, I just want a phone that acts as a playground that I can just play around with. Any idea's what phone would be best for what I seek? Sorry, I am restricted to a phone that works on the Verizon network, but if there is a phone outside of Verizon that stands out too, I wouldn't mind hearing about it, but I need a Verizon phone unfortunately.
Also, I'd rather have a phone that has a little kick too (hardware-wise)...no sense in hacking an Atari when you can hack an Xbox, if you catch my drift.
I have a fascinate, and it's pretty easily hackable and nearly impossible to brick. very glad I made the decision to get this phone.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
http://www.filecrop.com/Button-remapper-apk.html
That'll fix ur button problem
Sent from my HTC EVO 3d
Root: revolutionary
Recovery: Twrp cwm 4
ROM: Synergy 2.3.4 ( I want aosp)
The dual core shooter. Double the bad ass.
Nexus Prime, confirmed it's comming to verizon in november.
I am accustomed to using and working within the generic android environment. I generally like it. I am pretty much exclusively a Samsung guy but I just recently got my wife a G3. I have read all the things about how I can make my phone lightning quick without all the bloatware and I can be entitled to all the event driven programming that stock android allows me but I have to say, I 90% like what I get out of the box. Sure, there are little annoyances that come up but mostly what I want to gain is the 10%. I don't want to reinvent the wheel and put in a new launcher and then have to get accustomed to a whole new way of doing things. Or worse, my camera might not work as well etc.
I am mostly sold. I don't care about voided warranties. I am going to drop $800 on a Note 4 in the coming weeks when it finally rolls out and frankly I would like to really access the power of that processor and ram (whether it is 3 or 4 gigs - only Samsung knows right now). A big part of my buying the phone is the compatibility with the SPen. I am a business man so it would negate me buying it, to root it and then see the SPen go bye bye. In short, this phone is to be a simple tool for my business but I am afraid of what I am about to get.
Let me go back a bit. Last week, I bought my wife a G3. Another top of the line phone. I bought it and am considering the note 4 for the same reason, they can do split screens. I thought I might be able to do limitedly with the phone on the go what I do with my laptop, drag and drop from email to email, files. The note 4 is going to be a powerful phone but who knows if we are there yet. Regardless, from these forums and around the net, it seem the technology is there. So what is there to do? I like the bulk of Samsung's programming but it really angered me when I started toying with the LG G3 and I discovered that I could not open all apps in their duel mode. I mean what the H E double hockeysticks! How does LG know what I would find valuable to have open at once?
So, I am committed to the Note 4 because I know I will get top of the line. I am assuming that I am going to be restricted from using the phone like I want, like the LG and will be faced with: to root or not to root. What I am saying is, can I root the phone and still keep all the stuff I like? yes I know one of you nifty busy-bodies have not even gotten your hands on the phone yet to discover how to mess with it and get by knoks etc but do you feel my pain and understand my quandary?
It is not that I am afraid to root. I am adventurous at heart but I need to make money. I am a business man. I don't make money by the hour but by the opportunity. When I see something that can help me be productive, I try to implement it into my way of doing things. I like tinkering like you guys. I appreciate you but I only have limit time to do these things, otherwise they become distractions. So I don't have hours to figure out why my main camera is now only taking selfies on the face of the phone instead or why the SPen doesn't work. I want what I want but the move needs to make sense to me.
So the basic question is: if I go down this path (with any phone) can I root and still have touchwiz experience, for instance just so I can mess with the phone ever so slightly? A side question would be - am I going to find many disadvantages for the right of having full control of my phone such as having to update the phone or having bugs? I guess, the simple short question is: Do the challenges outweigh the benefits?
I have currently an old S2 that is working. I am using a galaxy LTE awaiting, the note 4. But, I assume I am going to get pretty angry when I find that an $800+ phone won't what a hack can make it do. I just don't want to lose everything else for the sake of one entitlement. So, I can practice seeing what it is like doing these things with my S2 or even my recent LTE. I just have not seen anyone bring this up. People go on about the romance of blanking out a phone for total freedom but they don't tell me much about how close the new launchers are going to be to what I am used to.
Thanks, community for all that you develop. You are cool. I only wish I had countless hours to mess around with this stuff but money has to be made. Believe me, I am looking for any excuse to have a "lightning fast" phone or to do some funky things like you guys do, but give me the war stories. Tell me if I have to decide to compromise. Recommend a launcher maybe. Yes I know the Note can't even be developed yet but it will someday. Anyway, thanks.
I'm not sure you understand exactly what root does. Root gives you "root" level access, aka Superuser, aka Administrator access. Think of Android like a computer in a public library. Lots of things (settings, certain programs, certain directories mainly) are locked down and inaccessible by people who don't have the password or an admin account, because they don't want people messing around with them. Android is the same way. Many (most?) people think of smartphones as just that - phones. They don't think of it as a computer, even though that's exactly what it is, in every aspect of the word. Without restrictions, it would be very, very easy for the average user to completely screw up their phone.
And that is why Android comes with these restrictions (which carriers exploit to install unremovable apps). Rooting your phone removes many of these restrictions, which is also why rooting typically voids your warranty. You might want to root to get rid of useless bloatware like NFL Mobile or Verizon Navigation or Samsung's browser because you only use Chrome. But it's just as easy to (accidentally or stupidly) delete a core Android program, and now your phone is stuck in a crash loop and you've got a $700 battery powered paper weight.
That said, root gives you Superuser access. And that's it. Root doesn't change anything, for better or worse.
It's what you do with that access that matters. Freezing/deleting bloatware that would otherwise be constantly running in the background can improve your phone's performance. You can install the Xposed framework to clear up your notification panel and status bar, add functionality to your buttons, and port features from other brands to work on yours. Tasker is a very powerful (and very confusing) app that you can use to make your phone do things automatically depending on where you are, when it is, etc. You can block ads within games and browsers. You can do back-ups of your apps and data and share them between devices, or when moving from and old phone to a new one. With root sometimes you can bypass restrictions imposed by the carrier because they want to milk you for more money (like wifi hotspot).
I'm also not certain you understand what a launcher is. The launcher is merely the interface. Homescreens, app drawer, dock, icons, etc. I honestly don't know what a 3rd party launcher like Nova, Apex, or Go does to S-Pen functionality on the Note series. But it's merely a different interface, which can be disabled or uninstalled without issue.
What you might be thinking of is the ROM itself. ROM is a bit of a misnomer (meaning Read Only Memory, like a CD_ROM or DVD-ROM), but in the Android world, the ROM is what we have taken to call the operating system. For example, a TouchWiz ROM is heavily modified, and very different than the ROM of a Nexus, which is 100% "stock" Android. Then you have custom ROMs like Cyanogenmod. Installing a different ROM on your Note 4 will absolutely kill your S-Pen functionality, unless it's based on the stock N4 ROM (for example, stock, but debloated, streamlined, and tweaked a bit) and retains those features that Samsung built into it.
With a launcher you can make one phone's homescreen and app drawer look like another's. But when you go into the settings, they'll look different, because that's the ROM, not the launcher you're looking at.
One thing to nota bene is that Samsung has become increasingly restrictive about root and unlocked bootloaders. An unlocked bootloader is required to flash a different ROM (although running different ROMs in Safestrap is usually still possible). Samsung flagships from AT&T and Verizon are notoriously restricted. Google "towelroot" to find out just how restrictive they're getting. Of the "big 4" US carriers, T-Mobile is undoubtedly the least restrictive. With AT&T and T-Mo you also have the option to buy an "unlocked" device, but you won't get the pay-over-time benefits of a subsidy or payment plan. "Unlocked" refers to carrier compatibility, not the bootloader (although carrier unlocked phones are typically easier to unlock the bootloader). But if you subsidize a phone from VZW or AT&T, particularly one from the Samsung Note or Galaxy S line, it's entirely possible that root might never be achieved, or might take a long time. We're talking about rooting a phone that isn't even out yet, and we have no idea what kind of "security" measures are in store.
Root is a powerful tool, but the most powerful tool for your phone other than root is knowledge. Read, read, read, read, ask some questions, and read and read. Find some "for dummies" guides and read those. Watch some youtube videos. The problem with XDA, if there is one, is that stuff like this doesn't have a learning "curve" so much as a learning "sheer cliff made of buttered ice". Lots of acronyms, jargon, technical terms, and other gibberish. Grab some coffee or Red Bull, and start learning.
Hi all
i Just got my one plus one last week
it was amazing , it was snappy , the screen is gorgeous , and the CM is plain great , albeit many apps did find unresponding oddly enough
i've had many phones in the past that are not so great x10 mini , x8 , galaxy ace, galaxy nexus
all of which are miles away when compared to the one plus
and since they are so freaking lag i decided to root them and gave them root and changed their bootloader
but from one phone to the other all of them seems to die out in about 9 months after i root them , and i don;'t know what i did wrong , most of them are dead because i fried the motherboard or something
still why would you root the one plus when it's already so fast ? i am considering rooting mine but i am really scared i might kill it
First, rooting doesn't make it faster or slower. Also, it doesn't broke the phone neither now or in 12 month time.
Second, you need root for some in depth access on your phone, or some programs like Titanium Backup may require root to work.
Third, the rule of the thumb say, if you don't need it, don't do it!
greenify, adblock, titanium more than enough reasons to root.
I go by the old saying "If you have to ask, you'll never know"
Generally anyone who's asked me if they should root their phone, or install 3rd party firmware, my answer is no. It has to be something you want to do and something you're willing to accept the risk doing. I'm a flashaholic. I flash a new rom every few days, or update existing ROM i have. I'm never content with the status quo on my phone and devices and always play. I accept the risk of running into a situation where I go to make a call, watch a movie, or open a email and my phone locking up due to running bleeding edge untested code. Mind you I can always recover from bootloader and know how so I know I won't permanently screw a phone, just until I can flash a older rom, or recover with a PC. If you have to ask, it means you're not sure about what you're getting into. If you fall into this situation I would refrain from asking others and instead read around in the 1,000's of posts in this OnePlus forum and decide for yourself.
Not that being said, root is simple. It's a more of a "Set it and forget it" type of deal, at least until a OTA update arrives. Custom roms is where the aforementioned comes into play mostly. If you want to start getting into the Flashing world with Android its the place to start. Myself I read and read after I got my Galaxy S4, first real Android phone, and went straight to CyanogenMod with it. Skipped rooting.
WoodburyMan said:
Generally anyone who's asked me if they should root their phone, or install 3rd party firmware, my answer is no. It has to be something you want to do and something you're willing to accept the risk doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He may not be aware of what can be accomplished with root access and find the profits interesting. He doesn't necessarily know if he wants to do if he doesn't know it exists/is possible.
I don't want to flame or anything, but since you've been around for almost 3 years, you should really know better.
Firstly, rooting does not fry your motherboard. Seriously, why would you think so?
The fact that your previous phones became slow after a short while is because you probably got them stuffed with bloatware and have not maintained your phone in a healthy way.
As to why you should root your phone,...
Well, most apps that help you maintain your phone and keep it as optimized as possible require root.
This kind of proves my previous point regarding the speed of your previous phones.
I would start reading some more and eventually you'll be able to answer your own question.
Good luck!
Well that's easy, if your not interested in using apps that need root access there's no use in rooting your device. It's nothing magic which will make your device fly or make a cup of coffee for you.
Why not?
Hi new to the forum.
I bought the Xcover 2 in order to get a smartphone capable of surviving in the construction site.
But I realised it could not hold too many apps.
It's screen is allready shattered but at least, thanks to xda, I rock rootetd it and I can now have some usefull apps with me at work.
This week I bought a brand new Leica Disto D510 laser distancemeter with bluetooth pairing to use on site with my ruged (!) smartphone but ... Oh Lord, it DOESN'T PAIR.
It uses Bluetooth Smart 4.0 which can only be used with Android 4.3 or higher!!!! BoloX. The Xcover 2 runs 4.1.2
So THE QUESTION:
1: Is there any way to go around this without upgrading? I don't want to push the poor device too far and since it was designed for 4.1.2 I would like ti leave it with that if possible.
2: If I have to upgrade.. how the heck do you do that? I ,ve spent more that three hours now trying to find the right ROM to flash and I can't!!!!
Thanks in advance to the lady or gentleman, kind enough to post an answer. He will save me the cost of a new phone.
Nagno said:
Hi new to the forum.
I bought the Xcover 2 in order to get a smartphone capable of surviving in the construction site.
But I realised it could not hold too many apps.
It's screen is allready shattered but at least, thanks to xda, I rock rootetd it and I can now have some usefull apps with me at work.
This week I bought a brand new Leica Disto D510 laser distancemeter with bluetooth pairing to use on site with my ruged (!) smartphone but ... Oh Lord, it DOESN'T PAIR.
It uses Bluetooth Smart 4.0 which can only be used with Android 4.3 or higher!!!! BoloX. The Xcover 2 runs 4.1.2
So THE QUESTION:
1: Is there any way to go around this without upgrading? I don't want to push the poor device too far and since it was designed for 4.1.2 I would like ti leave it with that if possible.
2: If I have to upgrade.. how the heck do you do that? I ,ve spent more that three hours now trying to find the right ROM to flash and I can't!!!!
Thanks in advance to the lady or gentleman, kind enough to post an answer. He will save me the cost of a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont believe there is any direct way around the bt issue.
your phone shipped with 4.1.2, seems odd that it never got any updates. did you go into settings near the bottom or in about phone, and check for updates?
there is at least one 4.4 rom for your phone that i found with a quick search, so there must be root and custom recovery some where, but its difficult for me to give accurate advice on how to proceed for a device i have no experience with.
ill just throw a couple google search links down here for you to look through if there are no software updates when you check.
if you decide to go the custom route, the first thing you want to do after installing twrp, and before installing a custom rom, is make a backup and save a copy to your pc for safe keeping. some times on these less popular devices it is hard to impossible to find the factory software, so you need a backup of it if anything goes wrong, or you dont like the rom.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Sam...=UTF-8#q=Samsung+GT+S7710+Xcover+2+custom+rom
https://www.google.com/search?q=Sam...ie=UTF-8#q=Samsung+GT+S7710+Xcover+2+recovery