Database Info

Why root?

Being the xoom has sideload what other incentives are there to root? I have an atrix and thing of geting the xoom but w/o custom roms what does rooting do for you? And are there custom kernals if so what do those do thanx
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

I think the better question is Why not root?
Rooting brings backups, recovery, ownership of the system, customization, and the ability to run modified hulu flash

You don't HAVE to root.
My XOOM is running stock 3.1
I've unlocked my TouchPro2 which sometimes runs Android too, rooted my wife's CDMA Hero and her NOOK Color.
I'm not opposed to rooting my XOOM, I just don't have a NEED to right now.
Its fast enough for my games, google reader and XDA app, I don't need overclocking, and I prefer the longer battery life anyway.
32GB of storage is quite a bit, so I don't need the SD right now, don't have a SD card for it yet either.
All the other little bits of neat things here and there are cool, and would be fun to play with. I probably will root eventually, but isn't necessary right now.
Don't let all this talk of rooting make you think you HAVE to, you don't.
If there's something released that you just absolutely have to have, root then.
Rooting alone won't make unicorns appear or magical gnomes keep your house clean.
But should someone write an app for the gnomes to clean my house, you can guarantee my XOOM will be rooted lol

KYT said:
You don't HAVE to root.
My XOOM is running stock 3.1
I've unlocked my TouchPro2 which sometimes runs Android too, rooted my wife's CDMA Hero and her NOOK Color.
I'm not opposed to rooting my XOOM, I just don't have a NEED to right now.
Its fast enough for my games, google reader and XDA app, I don't need overclocking, and I prefer the longer battery life anyway.
32GB of storage is quite a bit, so I don't need the SD right now, don't have a SD card for it yet either.
All the other little bits of neat things here and there are cool, and would be fun to play with. I probably will root eventually, but isn't necessary right now.
Don't let all this talk of rooting make you think you HAVE to, you don't.
If there's something released that you just absolutely have to have, root then.
Rooting alone won't make unicorns appear or magical gnomes keep your house clean.
But should someone write an app for the gnomes to clean my house, you can guarantee my XOOM will be rooted lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also running stock 3.1. Rooting gives you the ability to do several things with your system because when you are "root" in a *nix environment you have control of everything. You can overwrite files, you can delete files, you can install whatever you want and you can also easily break stuff.
The last part is where users get into trouble.
My advice is always going to be to save rooting for the technically inclined. If you're technically inclined and feel like you can competantly run amuck in your system go for it man there's a ton of fun stuff you can do. If you're the slightest bit leary that you might get something wrong, or don't want to install development tools, etc... stay stock.

cwizardtx said:
I am also running stock 3.1. Rooting gives you the ability to do several things with your system because when you are "root" in a *nix environment you have control of everything. You can overwrite files, you can delete files, you can install whatever you want and you can also easily break stuff.
The last part is where users get into trouble.
My advice is always going to be to save rooting for the technically inclined. If you're technically inclined and feel like you can competantly run amuck in your system go for it man there's a ton of fun stuff you can do. If you're the slightest bit leary that you might get something wrong, or don't want to install development tools, etc... stay stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you manage to keep your nexus one stock? Lol
I for one have rooted every android device I owned I've never been a fan of stock either way its all up to you but my opinion is rooted >stock

bwcorvus said:
I think the better question is Why not root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because Google will be blocking movies (and I'll bet Netflix does, as well) on rooted devices. Which then leaves us stuck with how to do things like backup, customization, etc. without a rooted device...
eric

Personally... overclocking, underclocking, screenshot, adfree, Hulu, system backup, Titanium backup.

ericbergan said:
Because Google will be blocking movies (and I'll bet Netflix does, as well) on rooted devices. Which then leaves us stuck with how to do things like backup, customization, etc. without a rooted device...
eric
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Drm only hurts honest people...

Netflix currenty works on rooted devices. I can't see a logical reason why it would change either. But nothing the riaa does is really logical to me so who knows. But Netflix is streaming only so it is different than a 24hr rental service that you can actually download the file for offline viewing.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

PaulG1488 said:
How do you manage to keep your nexus one stock? Lol
I for one have rooted every android device I owned I've never been a fan of stock either way its all up to you but my opinion is rooted >stock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well actually I wouldn't mind rooting the Xoom or the Nexus one I just don't fiddle around with ROMs or kernels. Merely rooting the device all by itself is pretty safe and gets you a lot of things I guess.
I just had my Nexus repaired by HTC a couple weeks ago and they wiped it... even though I don't have all these fancy back up measures in place it took me all of 10 minutes to put the phone back the way it was.

ericbergan said:
Because Google will be blocking movies (and I'll bet Netflix does, as well) on rooted devices. Which then leaves us stuck with how to do things like backup, customization, etc. without a rooted device...
eric
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
doesn't bother me cos australia can't get movies anyway... i rooted to get more control (for system apps and stuff) and for otg stuff

because you can. root then unroot if you have to.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

Yes there are custom kernels. These add SD card support and real micro USB otg hosting, including the ability to read thumb drives and hard drives. That to me was enough to root. I don't want to pollute my Xoom's disk space with 10gb of music and another 10 with movies. Google music beta solved the music and hot swaping USB solved everything else.

[Q] Rooting Question!

Hey so I have read a lot of the threads on rooting but I think (hope) mine is a bit original for you. I am one of those skittish goody-two-shoes type people who have a bad record of breaking their electronics. My family is updating their tmobile plan in August and I am planning on getting a lg g2x. It seems like a great phone that'll be able to keep up with the advancements of Android for a while. However I have heard the battery life is really bad (as it is for most androids) and that there are all of these great methods I could use (setCPU, Battery Calibration, etc.) and I can get rid of ads on my apps (adfree) and even use ROMs and Themes!! This sounds great EXCEPT all of the above requires rooting. So my question is, if I install Battery Calibration, setCPU, adfree, etc, while rooted and then just unroot, will they all still work??? Also, in the case that this is possible, if I have any problems with my phone and have to send it in for service, as long as it's unrooted I don't have to delete any of the apps to put it back under warranty do I? And (yes there's more) can I continuously root/unroot as I please in order to change themes and ROMs and even updating the android system once my phone is out of date (though I hope I'm not obsolete within 2 yrs) and no longer gets updates from my phone company? I know superoneclick is supposed to be really easy but as I don't have the phone yet I was wondering how fast it actually is as well.
Thanks for all of your help!!

Hmm....lots of questions young one, well 1st of all by rooting it technically voids the warranty, and yes for the programs to work properly you will need to keep it rooted because some off them actually need root access to tweak the device.
Sent from my mind

scarlet_fire said:
Hey so I have read a lot of the threads on rooting but I think (hope) mine is a bit original for you. I am one of those skittish goody-two-shoes type people who have a bad record of breaking their electronics. My family is updating their tmobile plan in August and I am planning on getting a lg g2x. It seems like a great phone that'll be able to keep up with the advancements of Android for a while. However I have heard the battery life is really bad (as it is for most androids) and that there are all of these great methods I could use (setCPU, Battery Calibration, etc.) and I can get rid of ads on my apps (adfree) and even use ROMs and Themes!! This sounds great EXCEPT all of the above requires rooting. So my question is, if I install Battery Calibration, setCPU, adfree, etc, while rooted and then just unroot, will they all still work??? Also, in the case that this is possible, if I have any problems with my phone and have to send it in for service, as long as it's unrooted I don't have to delete any of the apps to put it back under warranty do I? And (yes there's more) can I continuously root/unroot as I please in order to change themes and ROMs and even updating the android system once my phone is out of date (though I hope I'm not obsolete within 2 yrs) and no longer gets updates from my phone company? I know superoneclick is supposed to be really easy but as I don't have the phone yet I was wondering how fast it actually is as well.
Thanks for all of your help!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. If you install the root required apps, root, then unroot, they will stop working. Once an app requires root and your phone is not rooted, even if it was before but it's not now, they will not work.
2. There are many one click root apps. e.g. z4root and universal androot.
3. You will have to unroot and remove the root required apps to put it back under warranty. I say this because if you leave them, then your provider will know that you must have rooted your phone to put them on it in the first place. (It would be like sending an Iphone for servicing to AT&T with Cydia installed. They will know that you jailbroke it.
4 Superoneclick does work fast. It may take up to five minutes (depends on your phone model), but remember what I said in #2. Good luck.

Question about b70 and rooting

today I purchased a transformer from micro center, serial b70kas203, build us_epad-8.4.4.11-20110711. I haven't been home yet to try rooting, but sounds like it most likely has sbk_v2. I would like to be able to root when available, but what I am wondering is if its ok to do any ota updates? Or will doing ota updates further prevent me from rooting?

It really depends on what Asus decides they want to do security-wise. I know with the Evo a lot of people took certain OTAs and ended up making their phone un-rootable. In my experience, it's best to let the OTA ride for a couple of days and check back here or other dev hotspots to see if anybody is having trouble with them. You can always wait a little while for an update, and it's safer to have somebody else who isn't as wise do the testing.

well how about asking this way, can I safely update mine which has 3.1 to most recent ota? I too have an evo and know about those crippling updates, and i'm wondering if its safe for me to hook my transformer up to wifi and accept updates to 3.2.

khayman18 said:
well how about asking this way, can I safely update mine which has 3.1 to most recent ota? I too have an evo and know about those crippling updates, and i'm wondering if its safe for me to hook my transformer up to wifi and accept updates to 3.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the latest updates to tf101 has no impact on whether you can root or not later on. If your tf has sbk1 then you can root, but if it has sbk2, then no go at the moment. So fire away, let the fota do its thing, then try to root afterwards when the updates are finished.

Thank you
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

custom ROM?

I'm currently looking for a new Android phone, bouncing between Samsung SGS2 and the Atrix2.
Having a few questions about the A2.
1. After searching/reading, it looks like the A2 can be rooted for full access. So what is the advantage of unlock the bootloader? What is it good for?
2. Can we install a custom ROM on the A2, for example, a CM7 ROM (I don't even know that CM7 team actually has the ROM for this device or not, but they seem to have one for SGS2)?
Thanks all

Answers to your questions:
1. The advantage of unlocking the bootloader is that you gain the ability to flash ROM images and update.zip's (which can include many different mods). It does this by giving you the ability to load a custom recovery which is used to flash ROM's and updates, backup and restore your entire file system, clear the file system, and tons of other functionality depending on the custom recovery available for the phone.
2. Right now the A2 does not have an unlocked bootloader and there have been no ROM's made for it yet. If flashing is priority one, you might want to go with an SGSII since it has everything you need NOW. If you are patient, you can go with the A2 and wait for the blessings to come.

Clear!
Big thank for your quick reply lilhaiti.
So, up to now, after rooting, can we install different launcher (if not wanting the default GUI by Motorola, is it called Blur or something?)

votinh said:
Clear!
Big thank for your quick reply lilhaiti.
So, up to now, after rooting, can we install different launcher (if not wanting the default GUI by Motorola, is it called Blur or something?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can install different launchers without rooting.....go to the market and install one....

I'm a big fan of Go Launcher EX. That stock Moto launcher is not very impressive.

Pirateghost said:
you can install different launchers without rooting.....go to the market and install one....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know, thanks ghost.
Just need a clarification, I am a B&N NC owner, by default B&N stock ROM has limited the apps and that's the reason why we root it to gain full access on the Android Market. Is the same theory applied for the A2?
Other meaning, what will I miss if I don't root the A2?

votinh said:
Good to know, thanks ghost.
Just need a clarification, I am a B&N NC owner, by default B&N stock ROM has limited the apps and that's the reason why we root it to gain full access on the Android Market. Is the same theory applied for the A2?
Other meaning, what will I miss if I don't root the A2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The NC isn't even in the same class of devices. You have access to most of the market on a phone. If you have to ask what the benefit is of rooting, then you don't need it. Most all the bloatware is user uninstallable out of the box.
Sent from my MB865

Oh, so why do need to root? What's the benefit of it if we can fully access to Android Market for apps and bloatwares can be uninstalled right out the box?
Thanks again.

Did they change something with the bootloader? On the backflip, noone ever touched the bootloader. it's always been locked/fastboot disabled. Yet it has several roms and recoveries?

cheetablaze said:
I'm a big fan of Go Launcher EX. That stock Moto launcher is not very impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, just what I was looking for

votinh said:
Oh, so why do need to root? What's the benefit of it if we can fully access to Android Market for apps and bloatwares can be uninstalled right out the box?
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
root gives us access to the /system and to functions and features that are previously hidden from stock usage.
like i said, if you have to ask, WHY we would want/need root, then you dont need it. nothing mean, just that so many people go off thinking they have to root like its going to open up a magical door and make the phone self-aware. its just giving you access to stuff you normally dont have access to. this is good for people that know what they are doing, and bad for people that have no clue what root means.
koriflame said:
Did they change something with the bootloader? On the backflip, noone ever touched the bootloader. it's always been locked/fastboot disabled. Yet it has several roms and recoveries?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
while this may be true, we dont have any recoveries available yet. there are ways around a bootloader, but we have not gotten to that point yet. the phone is too new, and not enough dev support yet. i am working on a rom, and can make it a pseudo-rom like we had on the OG Atrix, but we need a way to get back to stock in case of a mishap first....

Thanks again, ghost.
I've been ripping my NC apart but I tend not to mess around with the phone.

Actually PG, not everyone is aware of the pennies and apps that open up with a root. I am sure almost everyone can benefit from more apps

cheetablaze said:
I'm a big fan of Go Launcher EX. That stock Moto launcher is not very impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunatly Go Launcher has a problem with notifications of Gmail (which I knew when I loaded it). That's not an issue I don't use Gmail
However I do use my alarms and it appears it stops almost all, if not all, notifications. I love the menus and how it works but I'm doing a factory reset. If we had not used a second alarm this morning my wife might have beat me to death with the Atrix 2 this morning.
I still have not rooted the phone so no titanium backup, it's downloading time

I have never seen go launcher remove notifications. Sounds like you got something else going on.
Sent from my MB865

I don't have those issues with go launcher.
Sent from my MB865

Pirateghost said:
I have never seen go launcher remove notifications. Sounds like you got something else going on.
Sent from my MB865
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmnnnn.........
I reset the phone, loaded all the apps I wanted to keep and then put Go Launcher EX back on. Problem solved
I'm thinking that during my slew of loading and trying out apps, like a kid in a candy store, I loaded a data manager that allowed me to set kills on apps. I believe in my zeal I set the alarm to be shut down 2 min after the phone gets sleepy.
Thanks again guys, I really like go launcher and now have go manager too

[Q] Why root/unlock this device?

Hi everyone,
I just arrived here from the world of Nook Color where for 20 months I have been rooting and installing CM roms. For the Nook that was essential since out of the box it was not an Android tablet.
I have had the tf700 for only 4 days, and I am delighted with it. Upgraded it to JB and have no complaints. My question is - what is the rationale for rooting and unlocking my new toy? Are there some issues with stock that need addressing, or is it just to satisfy the innate hacker that lives in all of us?
I'll do it if there is a point to it, but I am pretty happy with everything I see right now...
Derek
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda premium

derekr said:
Hi everyone,
I just arrived here from the world of Nook Color where for 20 months I have been rooting and installing CM roms. For the Nook that was essential since out of the box it was not an Android tablet.
I have had the tf700 for only 4 days, and I am delighted with it. Upgraded it to JB and have no complaints. My question is - what is the rationale for rooting and unlocking my new toy? Are there some issues with stock that need addressing, or is it just to satisfy the innate hacker that lives in all of us?
I'll do it if there is a point to it, but I am pretty happy with everything I see right now...
Derek
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are happy, I think no reason to. I have mine rooted because I wanted to buy things from Japanese Market i.e. needed to use Market Enabler. Another benefit is Browser2ram. Though browser on JB is so much better, browser2ram can make even better. Having said this, the gain to me is not as noticeble as it was with ICS. So yes. not much reason to root unless you need to use root only application.
As far as unlocking, I think main reason is to use custom rom but I am personally satisfied with stock rom so have not unlocked personally.

My reasons:
1. Titanium Backup (ease of restore after factory reset)
2. Ad Away (Ads drain my battery)
3. Cerberus, device tracker (root users can make app a system app then remotely enable GPS)
4. Orbot, useful for encrypting traffic on unsecured wireless networks (Only with root can you enable "transparent proxy")
Just to name a few reasons. Not as many reasons as why I need root on my phone but ill edit if I remember more.

TeCKNeiC said:
My reasons:
1. Titanium Backup (ease of restore after factory reset)
2. Ad Away (Ads drain my battery)
3. Cerberus, device tracker (root users can make app a system app then remotely enable GPS)
4. Orbot, useful for encrypting traffic on unsecured wireless networks (Only with root can you enable "transparent proxy")
Just to name a few reasons. Not as many reasons as why I need root on my phone but ill edit if I remember more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Titanium Backup is a biggie for me. Couldn't do without it.
2. Total Commander needs root access to be able to manage the external memory cards. I use them for storing large files (movies, documentaries, etc.).
3. AdAway -- they not only waste bandwidth and battery, but they burn my retina away. (I'm so thankful for donation versions, so I can kick the ads out and support the dev in the meantime.)
4. BetterBatteryStats
Those are the few that are currently listed with SuperSU -- I do have browser2RAM installed, but to be honest I didn't notice any tangible improvement.

It's worth the root

Great post!
I'm happy with no root for now.
Lost it when the 4.1 update showed up.
I was running a few apps needing root, yet I don't really miss them...well except for b2ram.
Can't answer about unlocking...I don't want to do that until I buy another tablet.
I'll probably mess with rooting eventually when I get really bored or when quick and easy solution appears if ever.
For now like yourself the hacker in me is taking a break

Thats OK said:
For now like yourself the hacker in me is taking a break
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the saying goes something like "the bow cannot always stand bent." ; )

My reasoning was that my stock experience was real glitchy (launcher crashes, freezing, random reboots, stuttering from bloat running in the background)... wanted a streamlined ROM and the ability to use AutoStarts. And TB and Ad Away are never bad things to have, either.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

at this point, as stated above, is about the apps you want to use. I suggest rooting since it doesn't void warranty. There are plenty of good apps that make use of it. Unlocking, that does void warranty. I would wait till your satisfied with the build of your Infinity In addition, wait till there is that must have rom or kernal. Since you mentioned Cyanogenmod, it hasn't officially been released yet. There is some work being done, but as usual with early builds, not everything is working yet.

I rooted mine so I can set up a chroot environment running a real GNU/Linux distro in order to do things like connecting to my home networked filesystems over a VPN service that I pay for in addition to accessing that machine for development purposes while travelling away from home using software that I trust and know has a good reputation within a wider, respected community of developers (openvpn, openssh-client, vim, etc etc).
I unlocked mine so that I can experiement with building Yocto-based filesystems which I eventually plan to flash to my device, and also so I can contribute testing/development effort to Debian's armhf architecture. Also, I want to learn what free AND copyleft touchscreen input translation layers are available that allow one to emulate traditional mouse pointers when using applications not originally intended for touchscreen interfaces.
I am not particularly happy with Android or the contortions that its developers push themselves through to restrict what can be done with it "out-of-the-box"; though I do recognize it as a preferred alternative to other systems that disrespect user freedoms such as iOS and WE. I also understand that there are arguments to be made in favor of Android's disrespect of user freedoms such as the need to protect consumer devices that are difficult to fix after hard bricking.
So yeah, I guess it boils down to is, I want to use the software I prefer and am familiar with as well as satisfying my desire to learn and contribute to the free software community.

help help!!!
pls i just go my tf700 2 days ago. with building number IML74K.US_epad-9.4.5.26-20120720,. i want to root and need jelly bean on it, but i dont know how to go about it. also i have no memory card yet, pls someone enlighten me on the steps:crying:

I was also fine with mine stock but I needed root to connect to my university's wifi which has a proxy, theres an app called proxyfier that enables system-wide proxy access, but it needs root... As some others said, if there's no specific reason why you'd want to root/unlock... don't.

My opinion is, UNLOCKING your device is something you need to think about. It's void your warranty and if you don't plan on playing with custom rom then don't do it. However, rooting is a great benefit to your device and you always can un root if you like.

buhohitr said:
My opinion is, UNLOCKING your device is something you need to think about. It's void your warranty and if you don't plan on playing with custom rom then don't do it. However, rooting is a great benefit to your device and you always can un root if you like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Listen to this man - he knows what he is talking about. :fingers-crossed: