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[Q] Nexus S: Root & more

Probably tons of questions like these, but I couldn't find the right answers, sorry.
1) What makes the Nexus S easier to root than other devices?
2) When you root, you can install custom roms. What else can you do with root acces?
3) Do you need root to overclock your device, and do you need a custom rom? I saw a video of the Nexus S overclocked to 1.3ghz, and it looked like a custom rom (boot screen was different).
4) Can you receive OTA-updates when rooted? And when having a custom rom installed? And when overclocked?
5) Do you need to root to install home screen replacements like Launcher Pro and ADW Launcher?
6) I saw that rooting 'wipes' all your data? What does that mean exactly?
Thanks in advance!

Androyed said:
Probably tons of questions like these, but I couldn't find the right answers, sorry.
1) What makes the Nexus S easier to root than other devices?
2) When you root, you can install custom roms. What else can you do with root acces?
3) Do you need root to overclock your device, and do you need a custom rom? I saw a video of the Nexus S overclocked to 1.3ghz, and it looked like a custom rom (boot screen was different).
4) Can you receive OTA-updates when rooted? And when having a custom rom installed? And when overclocked?
5) Do you need to root to install home screen replacements like Launcher Pro and ADW Launcher?
6) I saw that rooting 'wipes' all your data? What does that mean exactly?
Thanks in advance!
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Click to collapse
1. Other devices rooting is quite an extensive process on the NS its just fastboot oem unlock and then flash a recovery and then a rom. Google isnt trying to lock you out
2.you can do just about anything that isnt allowed in stock, i know thats vague but true
3. yes you need root, custom rom no, custom kernel yea
4.you can receive OTA on stock rooted roms but it will remove root and replace recovery with stock, most roms remove the OTA ability so you dont lose root
5. no
6. what whipes your data is fastboot oem unlock it does this for security purposes and it does what it means gets rid of everything on the "SD card" and "internel memory" you can just copy stuff off the SD portion but as far as everything else like app data game saves and what have you your pretty SOL

So if you've rooted your device, you have to un-root it when a OTA-update comes, and then when you root it again, it will wipe all your data again?
A normal android user like me, would he have a good reason to root his/her device, or is just installing a homescreen replacement enough excitement?
This custom kernel, does it install more than just a different bootscreen? I am going to buy a Nexus S because there isn't messed with Android, but I am interested in overclocking so that I will not get jealous at other dual-core devices. If a custom kernel changes the interface, it is a no-go for me.
Rooting, is it like jailbraking on the iPhone/iPod Touch? All my friends have jailbroken their iPod's and iPhone's, so that they can download most apps for free and install other cool stuff. Is there a way (with or without rooting) to download apps for free on your Android?
^ This question is probably going to stay unanswered. I can say that I'm just asking, and that I will not use it, but then I would lie. I could also say that I haven't got that much money, but then I would also be lying. I could say that I don't have a creditcard, which is true, but there are a lot of creditcard 'simulators'. And I'm probably saying this all to pretend that I'm a super intellegent guy, so that you would think: 'Oh, he doesn't deny he is going to use it, he is smart, I will answer the question', but I'm not intelligent. And I probably said that out of self-pity, in the hope someone will answer the question.

Androyed said:
So if you've rooted your device, you have to un-root it when a OTA-update comes, and then when you root it again, it will wipe all your data again?
A normal android user like me, would he have a good reason to root his/her device, or is just installing a homescreen replacement enough excitement?
This custom kernel, does it install more than just a different bootscreen? I am going to buy a Nexus S because there isn't messed with Android, but I am interested in overclocking so that I will not get jealous at other dual-core devices. If a custom kernel changes the interface, it is a no-go for me.
Rooting, is it like jailbraking on the iPhone/iPod Touch? All my friends have jailbroken their iPod's and iPhone's, so that they can download most apps for free and install other cool stuff. Is there a way (with or without rooting) to download apps for free on your Android?
^ This question is probably going to stay unanswered. I can say that I'm just asking, and that I will not use it, but then I would lie. I could also say that I haven't got that much money, but then I would also be lying. I could say that I don't have a creditcard, which is true, but there are a lot of creditcard 'simulators'. And I'm probably saying this all to pretend that I'm a super intellegent guy, so that you would think: 'Oh, he doesn't deny he is going to use it, he is smart, I will answer the question', but I'm not intelligent. And I probably said that out of self-pity, in the hope someone will answer the question.
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Just going to stop you right there, rooting is not about piracy, if you wanna pirate apps please do look somewhere else

slowz3r said:
Just going to stop you right there, rooting is not about piracy, if you wanna pirate apps please do look somewhere else
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Click to collapse
That's what I thought. Thanks for answering the other questions anyway!

slowz3r said:
Just going to stop you right there, rooting is not about piracy, if you wanna pirate apps please do look somewhere else
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Not that I condone piracy or anything but you can pirate apps without being rooted.... unless you're on AT&T.
I know this because certain applications who are being beta tested (e.g. Trillian Beta) was in .apk format... all you needed was Unknown Sources. Root isn't required to do that
just saying.

zephiK said:
Not that I condone piracy or anything but you can pirate apps without being rooted.... unless you're on AT&T.
I know this because certain applications who are being beta tested (e.g. Trillian Beta) was in .apk format... all you needed was Unknown Sources. Root isn't required to do that
just saying.
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Click to collapse
I can not use this information, but you and I know I will. So, thanks, I guess.

[Q] To Root or Not to Root??

Hi, I am not very tech saavy and so I am hoping that I can get some good advice from people who are more techy than me. I hear alot about rooting for android devices but I'm not too sure of exactly what rooting is other than I understand that there are certain capabilities that you can't do unless your phone or android device is rooted. In my case I have a Galaxy Tab, I would like to be able to have a back up feature but I keep on coming across the phrasing that the device must be rooted first. I looked up a couple of websites to find out exactly what rooting means and they mention the pros of rooting, but I am wondering what the cons are and if it is really necessary for me to root my device or is this something that is meant more for the "advanced" users who may be using their devices for more serious persuits vs. the casual user who just likes to play here and there...I really hope that what I am trying to say makes sense to all you out there! So in a nutshell, I guess what I'd really like is a breakdown of the pros and cons of rooting your device and when and when NOT to do it...Thank you all for your thoughts!

It's up to the user to decide whether there is a function they need, that they can only get through gaining root access to the phone. It could be that you want to alter the appearance of your phone beyond what is normally possible, or there are features included in a custom ROM that you would like to have.
You mentioned wanting the ability to backup your phone and there's no better way than to root and flash a custom recovery to achieve that. With that done you can image your phone state to your SD card so that it can be restored in it's entirety any time you wish. (Nandroid Backup).
There are also apps that can only work with a rooted device which can give you more advanced control over your device. One example is Rom Manager which is commonly used to flash custom recoveries and ROMS to your phone, and gives you an easy way to manage your Nandroid backups. Of course there are many others.
Thanks to the hard working devs on xda it's never been easier to do all these things. If you want to learn more i would suggest having a look at SuperOneClick and Rom Manager and reading the appropriate threads. Browse through guides and ask questions when you want to know more.
Hope that helps.
BTW, the only 'cons' to rooting and having a custom recovery is that you lose the ability to receive official over the air updates while your phone is in that state. Restore the Nandroid backup you made of your stock ROM though and you can re-gain that ability. I suppose the biggest 'con' of all is people not doing their research and ending up with a non-functioning device when something goes wrong. As always, RTFM!

What is root?

I think this thread needs to come about because of my pure hatred for people not understanding what root actually is. We have a nice clean forum and I would like to start a trend. I want people to know what ROOTING is and why when something 'doesnt work' its not because of 'root'
some of the complaints i have read across the boards:
I never had this problem before root
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said by people that are already running a custom rom. rooting had nothing to do with it
ever since I rooted, my data has been flaky
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rooting has no bearing on actual settings for data, apps, or configuration.
i rooted my phone, but i still cant do <insert random function here>
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you never installed the application to do that, or you never TOLD your phone to do that. some of this stuff requires a little bit of EFFORT to make it do what you want. rooting isnt some magical voodoo that takes care of itself.
i rooted my phone, but it still looks like the same OS/ROM
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rooting does NOT install a new OS for you. hell, installing a new OS doesnt even require ROOT on most phones. once you have an unlocked bootloader, you put a recovery on it, and do all your flashing through recovery. with a stock phone, unlocked bootloader, you can literally never even boot to the OS to flash a new rom on it.
i am having problems flashing this rom through CWM
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typical response from another user:
are you sure you are rooted? make sure you have debugging turned on
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ROOT has absolutely NOTHING to do with anything outside of the actual booted up OS. CWM happens before the OS loads, which means that debugging means F All as well.
what do i do, now that i rooted my phone?
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why did you root? rooting your phone should be done only because you have a PURPOSE for doing so. some application that you want to use that requires root, de-bloating, access to /system to poke around, etc. if you have to ask what to do after rooting, you never should have rooted.
This is a pretty good article covering many aspects of rooting
The first paragraph of that article sums it up pretty well:
Rooting your Android phone enables you to use the superuser, or root, permissions of the Linux-based operating system (OS). This gives you and apps that take advantage of the root permissions more control over the Android operating system and the device. Rooting can be entertaining for techies, but there are also plenty of practical benefits.
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Click to collapse
The article is mainly geared toward using SuperOneClick to root, but that method doesnt work on 2.3.5+ as of yet. There is a pretty good list of applications there though.
rooting only applies WITHIN the OS itself. rooting only affects the OS. rooting does NOT make the phone self-aware. rooting doesnt awaken some hidden demon that will make your phone do magical things. its simply a way to get access to the 'administrator' account of the OS and utilize things that are locked out by manufacturers/carriers.
Sorry for the rant, folks. I just have a few pet peeves and people talking about root like its the 'root' of all their problems is one of them. it proves they have no idea what they are doing on their expensive toys. hacking a phone isnt childs play and people that dont want to understand it, have no business here. if you dont understand what you are doing to your phone, READ, UNDERSTAND, COMPREHEND. if you dont want to do those things, then STOP. STAY STOCK and move along, nothing to see here.

I forgot to mention that the entire rooting process only adds 2 files (really only one is NEEDED, the other you can get from the market)
/system/bin/su is added
/system/app/Superuser.apk is added (can be downloaded in market)
thats the root. ONE binary and ONE apk. nothing magical there.
the exploit that is needed is simply to allow a 'temporary' root so that the /system may be mounted as read/write and those 2 apps can be added. the exploit is the magical part.....lol

Thanks for posting this, should be stickied. Good read for the noobs.
sent from my Motorola Atrix 2 via Tapatalk

[Q] [NOT ASKING FOR HOWTO] A query about CM and rooting.

Hello XDA.
For a while now I've been thinking about rooting and adding a custom ROM to my phone. It seems like fun and I'd like to get involved.
Recently (as in I have no idea) Cyanogenmod released a new update that doesn't require the user to root their phone in order to install CM. However rooting allows full administrative access which is something that I'd like to have. Does CM root in the process of installation or does CM by itself have enough capability and features so you don't require rooting at all? If not, do people still root their phones before installing CM?
For starters I'm running Android version 4.1.2, if that will help in anyway possible.

taetiem said:
Hello XDA.
For a while now I've been thinking about rooting and adding a custom ROM to my phone. It seems like fun and I'd like to get involved.
Recently (as in I have no idea) Cyanogenmod released a new update that doesn't require the user to root their phone in order to install CM. However rooting allows full administrative access which is something that I'd like to have. Does CM root in the process of installation or does CM by itself have enough capability and features so you don't require rooting at all? If not, do people still root their phones before installing CM?
For starters I'm running Android version 4.1.2, if that will help in anyway possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you post a link to the source saying you don't need root to install cm? You can't actually post a link because you're brand new, but post the url anyway.
CM in itself does not root the device. The process of rooting is simply granting administrative permission as you already mentioned. It has root managing applications (such as supersu) installed, and a lot of its built in features require root access. I can't think of any instance where you could install the rom without root permission because it needs to change specific files to run, such as the kernel and system partition. This by default can't be changed without rooting the device.
Rooting is very easy and has to be done first, then you have to unlock the bootloader, then you can install custom roms. As long as you aren't on the 4.3 update.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

BadUsername said:
Could you post a link to the source saying you don't need root to install cm? You can't actually post a link because you're brand new, but post the url anyway.
CM in itself does not root the device. The process of rooting is simply granting administrative permission as you already mentioned. It has root managing applications (such as supersu) installed, and a lot of its built in features require root access. I can't think of any instance where you could install the rom without root permission because it needs to change specific files to run, such as the kernel and system partition. This by default can't be changed without rooting the device.
Rooting is very easy and has to be done first, then you have to unlock the bootloader, then you can install custom roms. As long as you aren't on the 4.3 update.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's on the wiki under "/w/CyanogenMod_Installer"
Code:
Do I need to root my phone before installing?
No. You can have a rooted phone, or not. The installer doesn't care. However, to be in a supported configuration, you need to be running a stock ROM.

taetiem said:
It's on the wiki under "/w/CyanogenMod_Installer"
Code:
Do I need to root my phone before installing?
No. You can have a rooted phone, or not. The installer doesn't care. However, to be in a supported configuration, you need to be running a stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so no, this will not work on our device. Specifically because we have a locked bootloader.
A lot of the coding in the cyanogenmod wiki is extremely confusing. Even doing something as simple as installing the rom written on that website looks very unnecessary to me. There are much easier ways to do it that don't involve such complicated processes, with such potential to brick a device.
I feel like a lot of the developers know how to use heimdall which can write to any device. Our device can use Odin though which is much more user friendly. When they write guides, they write for many devices, and they're unaware of simpler methods on each phone.
In a nutshell, I'd follow guides here on xda on how to root and install custom roms. Just make sure to follow the correct guides for your baseband and you should be good to go. Once you root and unlock the bootloader, you can install any custom rom you want simply by flashing in recovery.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

taetiem said:
It's on the wiki under "/w/CyanogenMod_Installer"
Code:
Do I need to root my phone before installing?
No. You can have a rooted phone, or not. The installer doesn't care. However, to be in a supported configuration, you need to be running a stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agreed with Badusername, to be safe you should just stay within Verizon S3 thread and here is the info how to root/unlock 4.1.2 bootloader, install custom recovery then flash custom rom http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2046439

Should I root?

Everyone got their own reasons.. I'm still new to the Nexus 5 and running stock without root. What do you think? Does rooting really has that many benefits on the Nexus 5?

Yes. Yes you should
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

IVS IVRIS said:
Does rooting really has that many benefits on the Nexus 5?
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Click to collapse
Hi,
Only root will not do anything more, it's what you plan to do once rooted that can have benefits...
abaaaabbbb63 said:
The advantages of rooting
-De-bloat your phone. Uninstall any unwanted system apps.
-More control over how the CPU acts. This can increase performance or battery life, depends on how you configure it.
-More control over power consumption. This implies undervolting your CPU, giving it less power, so it consumes less.
-More control over how apps start up. Prevent apps from starting up when they don't need to.
-Change your Baseband (Radio). Try different radio versions, with the purpose of reducing battery drain or improving your signal strength.
-Flash custom ROMs. Bored of the stock ROM and look? Browse through the hundreds of custom ROMs provided by this community, each having different features and looks.
-Backups. The ability to completely backup your phone, and fully restoring it to the time of the backup. This is done with a Nandroid Backup (we'll talk about this later)
-Mods and Inovations. Use many mods, fixes, tweaks or features created by the community!
-Custom Kernels. As a Nexus device, the Nexus 5 will have tons of kernels with different features, supporting better performance, or battery life! To see what a kernel is, keep reading.
-Run apps that need Root Permission. These apps can be very useful, like Titanium Backup, Root Explorer, Terminal Emulator and many others!
The disadvantages of rooting
-Rooting will void your warranty (Although reverting root is very easy)
-The process a bit dangerous. Something could (99.9% probably not, but still) go wrong, and end up bricking your phone. So, yes, the process is 0.1% risky. You can end up deleting everything on your phone. You'll have to handle this process gently and with care.
-You will be able to do a lot more mistakes. These may cause damage to your phone (But hey, that's why we have these kind of threads, eh?)
-No more over the air official updates. You'll have to update your phone manually, through your recovery. (Which isn't that hard)
...
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Click to collapse
From this useful thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/faq-to-android-read-post-root-t2508292...
And there is also a lot of useful sticky's to read in the General section :good:
And I would say you will have a bunch of different replies, root or not, with a bunch of different reasons, not sure it will help you more in your choice, maybe even not at all...
And a poll for this, if you rely on a poll to know if YOU need root or not...

IVS IVRIS said:
Everyone got their own reasons..
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So then make up your own mind. We can make it for you.

Thanks guys, perhaps I should wait untill the new 4.4.3 is released and then root.. since I do not intend to install a custom recovery.

IVS IVRIS said:
Thanks guys, perhaps I should wait untill the new 4.4.3 is released and then root.. since I do not intend to install a custom recovery.
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root gives you the ability to modify system. I would definitely recommend installing a recovery, if only to take a backup before you change things, then revert

rootSU said:
root gives you the ability to modify system. I would definitely recommend installing a recovery, if only to take a backup before you change things, then revert
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Click to collapse
+1
Definitely!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Unless you have reason to root, you probably shouldn't. However, unlocking the bootloader (which is required to root) will wipe your device, so if you even THINK you may root someday, unlocking the bootloader is not a bad idea early on.
My recommendation: Unlock the device, but do not root until you have reason to root (such as installing an app that requires it).
Having said all that, most backup apps (well, good ones anyway) require root, so that alone may be the reason you need to root. Don't take my recommendation as a sign you shouldn't root. I simply mean that rooting for root's sake is pointless. Only root when you're actually going to do something with it (like make a backup).

I feel like there are 100 threads on this topic already

If you have to ask and take a survey, then I would not recommend it!

Standard XDA answer:
If you don't have your own strong reasons to root, then no, you probably don't need to root.

IVS IVRIS said:
Thanks guys, perhaps I should wait untill the new 4.4.3 is released and then root.. since I do not intend to install a custom recovery.
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Click to collapse
Yes its totally up to you, but remember one thing there is more advantages and positive points for you if you root it.It will modify your apps and power consumption as well.