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[Q] absolutely new - where to start?

hi all,
I'm an absolute newcomer to android and smartphones. I bought a droid charge yesterday and I know I want to root it and install a leaner OS that gives me a lot of flexibility and less bloatware. However, I need to learn some basics before I blunder my way into this.
Looking around this forum, the jargon is all greek to me. Is there a good place to start for total noobs like me?
I'd like to learn:
* best and safest methods to root the phone
* what custom rom's are available
* how to ensure I can restore it to factory condition
If there is a FAQ somewhere that goes through the basics, pleas just point me to it.
Thx and apologies if this is redundant with other posts
sauhegan

I am in a similar position as you. Doing a lot of research before I root.
Check out this guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1122657
and also browse the development section and in particular,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1107797

no1kung1 said:
I am in a similar position as you. Doing a lot of research before I root.
Check out this guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1122657
and also browse the development section and in particular,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1107797
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I'll check that out. But I'm looking for something even more basic, if it exists. Like, what is Odin? What is the different between a Rom/Kernel and a Mod? What is a Theme? Are there any catalogues of the custom ROM's that give comparisons? As a professional software eng, I'll be able to get this done once I get the jargon, but I'm way behind the 8-ball here...
Thx

sauhegan said:
Thank you, I'll check that out. But I'm looking for something even more basic, if it exists. Like, what is Odin? What is the different between a Rom/Kernel and a Mod? What is a Theme? Are there any catalogues of the custom ROM's that give comparisons? As a professional software eng, I'll be able to get this done once I get the jargon, but I'm way behind the 8-ball here...
Thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google is a wonderful thing. When you've done at least a little research then ask questions
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App

danalo1979 said:
Google is a wonderful thing. When you've done at least a little research then ask questions
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was a somewhat polite "RTFM" message. Thanks.
I'm looking for a FAQ or a beginner's guide. Sitting there googleing dozens of terms is possible, but I'm looking for a beginner's resource. But I do appreciate you pointing out the obvious ;-)
S

sauhegan said:
That was a somewhat polite "RTFM" message. Thanks.
I'm looking for a FAQ or a beginner's guide. Sitting there googleing dozens of terms is possible, but I'm looking for a beginner's resource. But I do appreciate you pointing out the obvious ;-)
S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are a few resources on this site:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Acronyms
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ

sauhegan said:
I'd like to learn:
* best and safest methods to root the phone
* what custom rom's are available
* how to ensure I can restore it to factory condition
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a great guide in the Android Development section of the Charge Forums that'll shed a ton of light on your situation.
1. I find that the easiest way to root your phone is by flashing through Odin. It's basically a one-click root/flash kernel/rom. Even if Odin fails and your phone is soft-bricked you should be able to recover the phone by attempting to flash through Odin again. I've soft-bricked my Charge several times
2. Altered Beast was the first custom ROM available. Now you have GummyCharged, Eclipse, Humble and various GB molds. I think the main four ROMs available are Altered Beast, Gummy, Eclipse and Humble. I may be missing one but I'm usually on top of this crap
3. You should be able to restore it to factory condition by using Odin or Heimdall. I believe there is a Samsung utility that can be used as well. I wouldn't worry too much about restoring it back to stock

How to return to stock?

I bought a used transformer this past weekend and its already running prime overclocked to 1.6ghz. My question is how do I return to stock so I can install the icecream sandwich update when it become available? Every other android device I've owned has had a one click restore of some soft but I can't seem to.find anything here like that. If someone could please point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

i believe first everyone will tell you to search extensively about your topic and the answers are available.
i will however help ya out with the specifics of what your lookin for.(and just so you know the devs will probably get you ICS before asus does or very shortly thereafter, so you might want to consider your options once you do your research)
your going to wanna look up the differences in device serial number versions the pre b70 versions and the b70+ versions. look into the sbkv1 and sbkv2(secure boot key). its very likely yours is a pre b70 which for now is probably good. the later versions have a locked bootloader and the more powerful tool nvflash doesnt work currently.
i belive yours is older (but be sure!!!) and should be able to utilize the nvflash method of unrooting/unbricking. this is what you wanna reasearch....
im in the earning process myself and want to better the transformer community anyway i can and im a firm believer that knowledge is power...............but also comes with responsibility
if you have questions by all means ask but you really should spend some time researching your device and this community and exhaust your intelligence before calling on someone elses....i say this only because many more experienced members will really get on you for asking questions you can answer your self... youve gotten this far your on the right track.
beyond that i will glady help anyone i can and im learning as well so im hungry for the info i guess...
Anyone see what im saying as wromg or misguided plz let me know....

Yeah mine is the original purchased in may.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Hello,
I agree with the question. How can I return to the Stock ROM?
At the Moment i have the Revolution HD on mein TF.
I search, but i cant find the answer
thx for your help

Heck the easiest way I know of to flash to stock is nvflash a stock ROM. Just did that to send back my TF for an RMA, No trouble at all, Snag a stock ROM from Asus website (or here on XDA). Search nvflash and you'll be good to go, Very straightforward process, really.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium

Thanks for your answer.
I rootet my Pad with Brks_rootkit_v7.1.
I think this program was made a backup from original stock rom befor i rootet my pad. Is this correct?
Can i use Brks_rootkit_v7.1 to become to original stock?
thx
beagle5

Yep, if you have a backup from your stock made by brks rootkit 7.1 then you can put your tablet back to stock rom.
If you don't have a backup stock rom, then go to tabletroms.com and search in the forum for asus transformer nvflash unbricking tools, this is a tool from zerofeel. This solutions works really well and I use it to keep getting back to original stock rom, before I put a new rom and kernel on my tablet.
Good-luck with it and remember use it at your own risk.

But nvflash doesn't work with b70+, is there a guide to go back without nvflash? Besides that, i got the latest DE Firmware and i want to have a possibility to go back to stock before i root..just in case...is there any way?

I think the answer is here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=19339153&postcount=36
(did not try this)

A few noobie questions

Hey guys, Already got the SGS2 with SensatioN ROM 3 on it, so know Android a fair bit really. But for Christmas I got a Motorola Xoom and very happy with it really!
But a few questions, specific to the Xoom itself, rather than Android:
1) Is it as easy to root/put custom ROMs/mods, etc on?
2) Is there any benefits of rooting it?
3) Will it mess up any warranty/guarantee if I did root it?
4) If anyone has one and they've done any significant mods/roms to/on it, then please could you tell me if you would recommend them, and give me links etc?
Thanks for your help guys with every problem I've had so far!
Merry Christmas everybody, hope your day has been great!
Oli

Hi there, i've a SGS2 too.. so i could answer with my experience...
1)its different root a Cellphone and a tablet, but its easy, you need, adb commands on you pc, and the root image, and thats all, find the thread on dev sect.
Then when you are root, just download the rom (Tiamat), reboot on recovery mod, and install it. It's easy...
2) yeah, if you are not root you can't install romsm you get superuser access ( you manage all your device...
3) Yes you lose, but you can unroot it.
4) Motorola Xoom have an AWSOME rom, whos developers are the Team Tiamat... they make pefect the Xoom...
You get the Thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1254933
And the Team Rogue, make wonderful themes and kernels that give to the xoom a high perfomance with few lose battery....
i hope this help you, if you need some else tell me

blackgf said:
Hi there, i've a SGS2 too.. so i could answer with my experience...
1)its different root a Cellphone and a tablet, but its easy, you need, adb commands on you pc, and the root image, and thats all, find the thread on dev sect.
Then when you are root, just download the rom (Tiamat), reboot on recovery mod, and install it. It's easy...
2) yeah, if you are not root you can't install romsm you get superuser access ( you manage all your device...
3) Yes you lose, but you can unroot it.
4) Motorola Xoom have an AWSOME rom, whos developers are the Team Tiamat... they make pefect the Xoom...
You get the Thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1254933
And the Team Rogue, make wonderful themes and kernels that give to the xoom a high perfomance with few lose battery....
i hope this help you, if you need some else tell me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are interested in rooting and modding, you could take a look at this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1249798
Also, Android 4/Ice Cream Sandwich rom is in development right now; as a matter of fact, I am using it as a daily driver now...it's just missing a few bits, but it's already super fast, smooth and stable, over clocked to 1.6 ghz. So you're going to have fun.

Okay thanks for your help so far but im gonna need a bit more help than just "adb" because m only a 15 year old lad and I don't understand that?
Also what is missing from ICS, as I put it on my SGs2 and it had quite a few features missing/broken?

oli3107 said:
Okay thanks for your help so far but im gonna need a bit more help than just "adb" because m only a 15 year old lad and I don't understand that?
Also what is missing from ICS, as I put it on my SGs2 and it had quite a few features missing/broken?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I'll bet you will understand how to do this...just go slow and step by step. There really isn't any quicker way (but you can use the limited adb setup furnished by Mandebrot Benoit).
What's still missing from ICS for the Xoom? So far, only camera and microphone don't work. If you root, you might want to flash the latest Team Eos ICS nightly---look in the Development section for more info.

I ahve a mac too, could you give me relevant links/information towards rooting please?
Thanks

oli3107 said:
I ahve a mac too, could you give me relevant links/information towards rooting please?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I don't have one so I suggest you search on rooting or adb/fastboot with a mac. There have been threads/posts on the topic.

Ah man, I have no idea what to do to root it

My Xoom arrives tomorrow, is all of the info in this thread still up to date? If so, it looks like a good step by step Oli ...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1249798

OMG when i started with rooting, i never see the @okantomi Guide... Damm!
...
Yes that's all that your need for rooting

Help with root and rom

Ok guys so I hate this phone, I've never wanted to punt a phone up until now, It freezes, crashes, and is extremely annoying but I thought hey maybe if I root it and install a custom rom it make my experience with this phone much better since that's how it went with my G2. I know there are plenty of roms and root instructions out there I was wondering if could get some suggestions or recommendations.
So here is my question, rooting, I found this pretty neat one click roo for this phone, do you guys suggest it? Or is there a better way of doing it?
Second question, I've seen a rom for this phone called RAGE and that's it would you guys be able to suggest a great rom for this phone?
I've only ever rooted the G2 and used CM rom, so ima little new to the rootng world.
Thank you guys so much in advace!!
Sent from my SGH-T839 using xda app-developers app
Mod edit : not development ask in the relevant thread or general. Moved to general

[Q] HELP Lollipop using Nexus Root Toolkit

Hello people,
Is it ok to flash the lollipop factory image using Nexus root toolkit?
Thanks

mzatari said:
Hello people,
Is it ok to flash the lollipop factory image using Nexus root toolkit?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i have flashed it and root and also installed custom kernel with it everything works good!

mzatari said:
Hello people,
Is it ok to flash the lollipop factory image using Nexus root toolkit?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but it's a much better idea to learn how to do it manually. That way, you have a much better knowledge base.
When things inevitably go wrong, you will understand the process and know how to fix it.
Toolkits serve a purpose, but they breed laziness and you don't learn anything. You'll be back here posting "OMG, I brocked my phone, what do I do".
Read the stickies, learn what you're doing, then do it properly.

Please use the QUESTION and ANSWER section to ask QUESTIONS you want ANSWERED
Thread moved

Like others, I must advise against using toolkits. If something were to happen and your phone gets screwed up, you will have no idea how to fix it and surely XDA will see yet another "ZOMG such and such toolkit bricked my phone please helpppp!!!" thread. Doing stuff manually isn't nearly as difficult as it seems, and the knowledge you gain is indispensable. Try it, OP. You might surprise yourself with how easy it truly is.