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[Q] First Android, Some Thoughts/Concerns

So for a while now, while anticipating getting my hands on a Nexus S of my own, I've been lurking in the forums and reading up on various things. I know for sure that I will be flashing custom ROMS and rooting my device. However, as this is my first android ever, do you guys think I should flash roms on it right away or should I stick with stock android and learn the OS first.
I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to appreciate the tweaks/improvements that are found in various custom ROMS if I didn't have experience with vanilla android. I am interested in hearing your opinions.
One other thing I was very confused about was whether or not you could flash custom roms/kernels without actually unlocking the Bootloader. I have read and read and the answer seems to be yes, but from my understanding it only works if your not on 2.3.3? (Sorry if this question has been answered time and time again, but the amount of information on this forum has been mindblowing, and I get more and more confused as I read on.)

it depends on the phone really. for the bootloader lock but usually yes for any rom changes you need to install a custom recovery and that requires bootloader access

Personally, I find one day is enough to find out all about the stock ROM.
If the phone you get is already running 2.3.3, then I'm unsure whether you can simply flash an older bootloader and root/flash custom ROMs without unlocking. If you get a phone running < 2.3.3, then you are in luck. Currently I'm running CM7 with the bootloader still locked.

yeah you'll get the hang of using the stock rom in no time. The Nexus S is my first android phone and everything has been so easy...i've flashed roms, unlocked the bootloader, rooted, flashed kernels and recovered using the nandroid backups. All so so so easy.

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.

Making sure I understand all this rooting stuff

Hi, I am waiting for my HTC Sensation to arrive from eBay. New to android and have been reading about rooting. Just want to make sure I am getting this clear:
So, to root, I'll need to to the S-off thing with revolution, then clockwork recovery, then SU to actually root it right?
I am not sure whether I need to root it, but I am interested in unlocking it for SIM and I read there's a way to do it if the phone is rooted. Also, I probably don't need some of the T-mobile apps and want to delete it. However, do I have necessarily have to flash a custom ROM after I rooted it? Can I just use what came with the HTC?
However, if I do this, I guess I can't update through HTC/T-mobile anymore right? So I'll have to flash some ROM, but does it have some modify ROM, or can I use the ROM that's official from HTC?
Can someone please correct me if I misunderstood the process? And also, can I reverse all this if I decide I just want to use it the way it was shipped except simunlocked, and be able to update newer version of the OS from HTC.
Thanks

Sensation rooting
I was just like you about a month and half ago. im new to android aslo but i'll help you. first- your right about using the revolutionary method and installing clockwork and super user. as for unlocking it for a SIM you might need super cid check this out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192300
to remove some tmobile apps use titanium backup (it's in the market)
As for roms im using stock but it's rooted. but before you root please update to 2.3.4 because it really improve your phone but yes you would have to flash update roms after you root. but you can find the official one's here if you look for them as soon as they come out.

pretty much yes to your questions...even if you root you can stay with your stock rom and just use titanium backup to delete all the junk u dont want. Also, even if you cant get updates officially, devs here are nice enuf to post the newest stock roms for you to flash so dont worry. so i suggest you read these three threads to start off and have fun (just read directions very carefully)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192300
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1137311
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1232107
edit: ah, i guess someone else was replying too

darryll4sh0 said:
I was just like you about a month and half ago. im new to android aslo but i'll help you. first- your right about using the revolutionary method and installing clockwork and super user. as for unlocking it for a SIM you might need super cid check this out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192300
to remove some tmobile apps use titanium backup (it's in the market)
As for roms im using stock but it's rooted. but before you root please update to 2.3.4 because it really improve your phone but yes you would have to flash update roms after you root. but you can find the official one's here if you look for them as soon as they come out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply. So I can only remove some t-mobile apps if it's rooted right? I was thinking of updating to the newest version before considering rooting. I think I will be kinda in the same situation as you....so when you say stock rooted rom...it's basically the same ROM as what t-mobile has with SENSE etc...but can be apply to a rooted phone without losing root right?
Finally, since you're not using any custom ROM and stuff... do u find it worthwhile rooting? what other advantage have you notice if you're using the stock ROM?
Thanks again!

rooting sensation
My rom is the same one that comes when you first get the phone. the only expectation is that it's updated to 2.3.4 instead of 2.3.3 and that it's rooted. When you root imagine like it's a window's pc and instead of using the guest account where stuff is limited, your now able to use the administrator account which lets you do anything.
As for advantages, i wanted to improve it's speed and battery life. the update helps but you'll find out that tmobile has alot of apps running in the background which slows it down and uses more battery and they also included useless app or two of the same kind of app. Right now im looking at other roms because im kinda tired of sense but i wish i could keep it's widgets.

darryll4sh0 said:
My rom is the same one that comes when you first get the phone. the only expectation is that it's updated to 2.3.4 instead of 2.3.3 and that it's rooted. When you root imagine like it's a window's pc and instead of using the guest account where stuff is limited, your now able to use the administrator account which lets you do anything.
As for advantages, i wanted to improve it's speed and battery life. the update helps but you'll find out that tmobile has alot of apps running in the background which slows it down and uses more battery and they also included useless app or two of the same kind of app. Right now im looking at other roms because im kinda tired of sense but i wish i could keep it's widgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great. I think I'll just stick with the 2.3.4 firmware for now before considering flashing any custom ROMs etc.
So just so I am clear, I should update the unrooted phone to 2.3.4 when I get it. then I can perform the S-off, clockwork, superuser to get it rooted and just leave it as it is and use the existing ROM as it came with the phone. Until I need to update to a higher version, I will then flash a rooted version of whatever t-mobile came out with from here. Is that the deal?
Finally, what's superCID? Do I need that?
Thanks again.. you guys been a great help! I can't wait to play around with this when I get the phone this weekend

Rooting
Yep your correct....
As for super CID is something like a carrier unlock. This has something to do with updates i think. but by adding this you can flash any carrier's rom onto your phone. for example vodafone and orange are both 2 different europe phone companies and they both include different apps on their roms just like tmobile give there special apps. With super-CID you can put anyone of those carries rom on you phone regardless if it's a europe, usa, or asia sensation. but you don't need- i haven't put it on either.

[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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Sent from my MB508 using xda premium

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
Sent from my MB508 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Sent from my DROID2 using xda premium

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.)

Need a little guidance

Hey everyone. I was wondering if some here with a HTC One can point me in the right direction. I am looking to finally take the plunge and permanently root, flash a custom recovery, backup my stock, and install a new custom rom on my Verizon M8.
This is my first HTC device playing with, I have always had Motorola stuff and am pretty familiar with the process on those, but this HTC stuff is still a little blurry. S-on/off, CID, MID, RUUs????
I have been reading these forums for quite a bit and still a little unsure about what the steps would have to be. I am currently on the latest stock VZW temp rooted with the new weeksauce basically just to have tethering via a 3rd party app (Wifi tether router). I actually really, really like the stock Sense 6.0 UI and this phone is pretty much perfect all around.
What I want to do is, permanently root, install TWRP as that's what i've used on Moto and my Sammy Tab, backup my stock system so I can go back, and then install a custom ROM. Can TWRP on this do more than one ROM slot and run dual roms? What if everything gets jacked up and I have to go back to complete out of the box stock? How is that done with HTC? I think with Moto it was like an .FXZ file or something like that and you boot the phone into download mode and just flash that file from the computer and you're back to 100% stock. Same with Samsung using ODIN.
I'm also not sure what ROM I want to try, so I am open to suggestions there too. I would like to maybe try a pretty clean Lollipop ROM with good battery life and very stable. Would that be the GPE?
Thanks for reading and for any help.

baune7 said:
Hey everyone. I was wondering if some here with a HTC One can point me in the right direction. I am looking to finally take the plunge and permanently root, flash a custom recovery, backup my stock, and install a new custom rom on my Verizon M8.
This is my first HTC device playing with, I have always had Motorola stuff and am pretty familiar with the process on those, but this HTC stuff is still a little blurry. S-on/off, CID, MID, RUUs????
I have been reading these forums for quite a bit and still a little unsure about what the steps would have to be. I am currently on the latest stock VZW temp rooted with the new weeksauce basically just to have tethering via a 3rd party app (Wifi tether router). I actually really, really like the stock Sense 6.0 UI and this phone is pretty much perfect all around.
What I want to do is, permanently root, install TWRP as that's what i've used on Moto and my Sammy Tab, backup my stock system so I can go back, and then install a custom ROM. Can TWRP on this do more than one ROM slot and run dual roms? What if everything gets jacked up and I have to go back to complete out of the box stock? How is that done with HTC? I think with Moto it was like an .FXZ file or something like that and you boot the phone into download mode and just flash that file from the computer and you're back to 100% stock. Same with Samsung using ODIN.
I'm also not sure what ROM I want to try, so I am open to suggestions there too. I would like to maybe try a pretty clean Lollipop ROM with good battery life and very stable. Would that be the GPE?
Thanks for reading and for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First you need s-off/unlocked boot loader to perma root..also there is multi ROM support for this device. An if you want to return to pure stock cause something got messed up then you download the ruu an use fast boot via pc to flash your ruu.zip it will wipe your whole phone an return you to out of the box. if your looking for a sense Lollipop from. Santod has a nice ROM an you can also check out the ROM by andybones is also runs very nice an has themes an mod support. If you like GPE then there is one of those also for our device.

Thanks for the info. So in my reading up on doing this, is the "firewater" method of achieving S-off and root no longer working on this phone with 4.4.4? And also, as I understand it, the Sunshine method of achieving the two may or may not work on 4.4.4 either, kind of a 50/50 shot??? So I guess at this time it might just be worth it to wait until either the new sunshine is released or Verizon pushed the 5.0 update out and see what that is like.

baune7 said:
Thanks for the info. So in my reading up on doing this, is the "firewater" method of achieving S-off and root no longer working on this phone with 4.4.4? And also, as I understand it, the Sunshine method of achieving the two may or may not work on 4.4.4 either, kind of a 50/50 shot??? So I guess at this time it might just be worth it to wait until either the new sunshine is released or Verizon pushed the 5.0 update out and see what that is like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firewater is dead....sunshine might work you can download the app for free an run it to see if it will work with your device is free too. Then if you want to run sunshine that's when you pay the 25...so I would advice against taking anymore ota till you r able to s-off.