Hello All,
I am new to the forum. And the more I read on this forum and others re: rooting, the less I feel I understand. I'm decent on computers but tech speak (as I call it) somewhat eludes me. I posted this on another forum and no one has really answered my questions. Hopefully you all can give me succinct and simple answers/advice.
I have a G2 that I adore. The only thing I hate is the bloatware that came on it. I want to get rid of the crap. In searching methods to do so I learned about rooting. So now I am on the fence as to whether or not I want to root or not.
I have heard that someone people experience better performance when they root, but not many go into specifics on what kind of enhanced performance they noticed (eg. internet speed, call clarity, battery life, etc.). If I could get rid of the bloatware, get faster performance (especially when web browsing), and other benefits I wouldn't mind figuring out how to root. What kind of benefits do you notice with rooting? Is it worth rooting since it has been announced that a new version (gingerbread) is supposed to be coming out soon, or is this new version not that much of a big deal?
Is there a program or app (hopefully in the market) that will root for me? If so can it also unroot and bring me back to my original state? Is rooting that easy?
Also what is a ROM, and what does it mean to flash? I semi understand what this is. I'm not confident in my understanding of it though. I understand it to be a file or app that can alter phone settings once rooted. I do think the actual meaning and purpose of ROMs go deeper than that, but a little clarity would be helpful.
Lastly, what does clocking out mean? I have seen a few charts, and people throwing out numbers and saying they are impressive but no one describes what clocking out means. It seem to be something involving speed, but speed in what aspect (eg. web browsing?).
I have never rooted a phone before, but I am willing to try it out if the rewards and enhancements are that much greater. And I also like to tinker with and fully utilize and understand my favorite gadgets from time to time.
Android is a Linux OS. Having root access is like having admin access in Windows. You can modify the system in any way you want. You can do temp root on the G2 but with temp root, all the bloatware you have will come back after a reboot (to my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong.)
There are plenty of guides to doing a full complete root. It includes flashing an HBOOT (the screen you get when you turn the phone on by pressing the back arrow) and that can brick your phone if done wrong. READ! READ! READ!
Flashing a ROM is like installing an OS on a computer. There are plenty of Fro-Yo (2.2 ROMS) Fro-Yo with HTC Sense on top or even Gingerbread ROMs (like CyanogenMod 7 nightlies.) You can install any of them but make sure the ROM comes from the G2 section of the forum to avoid any problems.
In my experience, Custom ROMs are MUCH faster than stock. All those extra things that they tweak/add really makes a difference. I rooted two android phones before and Custom ROMs always make the phone much more enjoyable.
Overclocking or clocking is setting the speed of the CPU. Every phone (even if they are the same phone) has a slight difference in the CPU. Some can clock higher than others and remain stable. Overclocking helps in CPU intensive apps like web browsing, and games. It makes the experience much smoother. The side effect is decreased battery life (since you are over clocking past the factory settings).
This is all I can explain to you. Hope someone else who is more experienced in Android helps you.
Thank you so much! A lot of what you said just helped make everything I have been reading make a little more sense. Thank you soo much! Here is another question what is S-Off? I have seen it in a ton of places now since researching further into rooting.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=789498
I do not have any reboot issues.
Should I update? I do not care about hotspot as I do not use it at all.
One thing I am interested is battery life. Will new OTA update help with battery life?
That is probably a not so easy question to answer, since the OTA is stock and many people around here are running custom roms which have been tweaked every which way to squeeze as much juice out of them as possible.
Depending on who you ask, some will say it's better now or it's worse now.
Problem is that no two people use or run their phones exactly alike. Also, no two phones are exactly alike, so internally, they may not work exactly the same.
So I guess it comes down to a matter of choice. I think the general consensus is that the new update is pretty stable and at some point you are going to have to update your phone to take advantage of new features, so it's really up to you.
I haven't had any issues with the update. However, don't let them fool you, the data connectivity issues still exist.
I got my Thunderbolt March 19th and haven't had the issues that others have reported. My phone use to randomly reboot, but it never got in my way since the reboot occurred when I was sleeping. The only difference I've notice with the update is that my phone has not rebooted one time since I applied the update.
No issues here too...
Overall, I am happy with my phone. Use it mostly for e-mail, websurfing, various apps. Don't need to play around with settings, etc. It just works.
I am interested in possibly rooting, but frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on tweaks, loading ROMS, etc. I just want to use my phone.
If I root without loading a new rom, what are some of the advantages?
I know that I can remove some bloatware, but unless it significantly increases battery life, then it doesn't really matter to me. Will removing bloatware do anything significant to battery life?
I am already SIM unlocked (I called AT&T, and they gave me the code to unlock).
Any other advantages?
I have rooted my wife's NOOK with CM7, and while I like it, there are issues like the Sleep of Death (SOD), occasional lag, etc., that I really don't want to deal with on my phone. I need it to work without any glitches, or constant fiddling.
My guess is I should probably stay unrooted, but wanted to see if anyone can educate me whether there are any benefits in my situation.
Thanks!
f308gt4 said:
Overall, I am happy with my phone. Use it mostly for e-mail, websurfing, various apps. Don't need to play around with settings, etc. It just works.
I am interested in possibly rooting, but frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on tweaks, loading ROMS, etc. I just want to use my phone.
If I root without loading a new rom, what are some of the advantages?
I know that I can remove some bloatware, but unless it significantly increases battery life, then it doesn't really matter to me. Will removing bloatware do anything significant to battery life?
I am already SIM unlocked (I called AT&T, and they gave me the code to unlock).
Any other advantages?
I have rooted my wife's NOOK with CM7, and while I like it, there are issues like the Sleep of Death (SOD), occasional lag, etc., that I really don't want to deal with on my phone. I need it to work without any glitches, or constant fiddling.
My guess is I should probably stay unrooted, but wanted to see if anyone can educate me whether there are any benefits in my situation.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's start with the basics, please search before posting. The advantages of rooting and disadvantages are well documented in numerous threads. It sounds like to me your phone is what you want/need it to be so why change it? If you are explicitly telling me you don't want to spend time flashing ROMs and tweaking the Inspire then I'm telling you its in your best interest not root.
Simply put, every custom ROM on here has its issues. No ROM is perfect, certain things work while others don't and its on you to figure out what you can or cannot live with. The only way to do that is by testing ROMs which brings me back to your statement that you don't want to spend time flashing ROMs and all that stuff..if you don't want to spend time doing this, rooting is not your journey.
Battery life is subjective, overall yes, most rooters see an increase in battery life, how much is subjective. I get 28 hours on one charge while others get 6. The difference? The user and what they do with the phone. My opinion for you is that don't root, you sound content with everything the inspire is.
Devil's advocate though, your inspire could be soo much more.
if you dont know what you want root for, then you dont need to root
if you want simple, do not root. It is not an easier path to walk on. It has its bumps and glitches. Sometimes you have a bad flash or download and have to redo it, or youll forget to back up something and now your sms messages are gone. If you arent ready to dig deeper into the phone and learn and also make it do more than stay as it is, no shame in that. Hes right, if you arent SURE you need to root than you shouldnt because the gains wont be noticed. I think most of us have had an almost brick experience at some point in time, be mentally prepared lol
once i had my phone run good all night, once i got to work it just died. was a bad flash and it didnt show its ugly head till the next day so i had to wait till i got home to fix it properly. lol gave me twitches not having my phone lol
f308gt4 said:
I am interested in possibly rooting, but frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on tweaks, loading ROMS, etc. I just want to use my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree with the posts made here already that suggest rooting may not be for you, there are a couple significant advantages which you may want to consider.
Probably the first biggest advantage from my point of view is to remove the 'spyware' (Carrier IQ) present on most factory ROMs. That's HUGE for me. I have enough government intrusion into my life, I don't need any more. Another element is that - at least on my ROM (Virtuous Unity or Affinity) that they have done an excellent job of blocking ad intrusions.
There are also some applications which require root access, though most of them are system utilities (like Titanium Backup) which you wouldn't be using if you don't intend to experiment with different ROMs.
If I'm not mistaken, there's a path to go back to the OEM (factory) ROM, however you will need to be cautious with how you back up and restore the data you need. However it's something to consider if you felt like you wanted to kick the tires while still being able to go back to stock.
As with anything else in life, there are pros and cons. At this point most ROMs are fairly stable for the Inspire, so you probably won't be at a disadvantage, but if the one thing you need on the one ROM you like is the one thing that doesn't work and it's the one thing you can't live without, then don't do it. Read the documentation for each ROM and you'll know what to do.
I rooted my wife's Inspire so that I could get rid of unwanted AT&T and HTC apps and get rid of Carrier IQ.
The result has been better battery life and no prompts/notifications for updates to apps that were installed as system apps but that I have removed. I believe that the phone runs smoother without the stuff that was running in the background.
She really does not see any difference (except the battery life) in her everyday use.
marvin02 said:
I rooted my wife's Inspire so that I could get rid of unwanted AT&T and HTC apps and get rid of Carrier IQ.
The result has been better battery life and no prompts/notifications for updates to apps that were installed as system apps but that I have removed. I believe that the phone runs smoother without the stuff that was running in the background.
She really does not see any difference (except the battery life) in her everyday use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you install a different ROM, or just keep the stock (except for the rooted part) and delete the bloatware? How much of a difference did it make in the battery life?
Thanks!
Pirateghost said:
if you dont know what you want root for, then you dont need to root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed here. Rooting requires learning more in depth capabilities about your phone. If you are content with the status quo, why complicate?
f308gt4 said:
Did you install a different ROM, or just keep the stock (except for the rooted part) and delete the bloatware? How much of a difference did it make in the battery life?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No change in ROM. Battery usually has better than 50% at night when she goes to bed. She unplugs at 5 AM and usually it's back on the charger around 10 PM. Before it was at about 30% most nights.
I also believe that it uses less background data.
Root that ***** n throw a couple ROMs on there to play with. Ever since I've roted my phone a while ago I can't stop playing with new ROMs as they cone out.
Forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought that thisbphone never had carrier iq
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
Well, I went against the good advice offered here and rooted.
I used the Ace Hack Kit, with Ubuntu, which worked perfectly as expected.
I have not installed any ROM's, as I think I will just try to remove any bloatware, etc to see if the phone battery life increases.
Any suggestions as to what to remove (I am trying a search as we speak)?
Thanks!
f308gt4 said:
Well, I went against the good advice offered here and rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally, I'd suggest removing anything that's carrier-specific. Those apps tend to be better for them than they are for you. To do so, I'd recommend a couple utilities that will help you in your experimentation.
1) Titanium Backup. Good for removing bloatware, when you decide what it is you don't need or want.
2) ROM Manager / Clockwork. Great for downloading ROMs and managing backups from the Android interface.
Part of what might be draining your batter is Carrier IQ, but that's not something easily dug out. You'd do better to just install a ROM that's had it expertly removed. I'd suggest either Virtuous Unity or Virtuous Affinity.
The Inspire was not released w/CIQ.
Tx Redneck said:
The Inspire was not released w/CIQ.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk
Sigh. All was well with my phone, and I had taken the case off to clean it. I was in the back yard with the phone, and boom, I dropped it on the patio. Landed face down and screen cracked.
I guess I'll be looking for a new phone now.
Thanks for all of your help!
f308gt4 said:
Overall, I am happy with my phone. Use it mostly for e-mail, websurfing, various apps. Don't need to play around with settings, etc. It just works.
I am interested in possibly rooting, but frankly, I don't want to spend a lot of time on tweaks, loading ROMS, etc. I just want to use my phone.
If I root without loading a new rom, what are some of the advantages?
I know that I can remove some bloatware, but unless it significantly increases battery life, then it doesn't really matter to me. Will removing bloatware do anything significant to battery life?
I am already SIM unlocked (I called AT&T, and they gave me the code to unlock).
Any other advantages?
I have rooted my wife's NOOK with CM7, and while I like it, there are issues like the Sleep of Death (SOD), occasional lag, etc., that I really don't want to deal with on my phone. I need it to work without any glitches, or constant fiddling.
My guess is I should probably stay unrooted, but wanted to see if anyone can educate me whether there are any benefits in my situation.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Removing bloat is advantageous to battery life, but the best feature IMO is AdFree Android. It , which removes ALL ads, in the browser or in the apps. It makes browsing and apps faster and cleaner.
f308gt4 said:
Sigh. All was well with my phone, and I had taken the case off to clean it. I was in the back yard with the phone, and boom, I dropped it on the patio. Landed face down and screen cracked.
I guess I'll be looking for a new phone now.
Thanks for all of your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just go on craigs list and find a local repair shop. the same thign happened to me, $100 and she's brand new again
IHTFP12 said:
Removing bloat is advantageous to battery life, but the best feature IMO is AdFree Android. It , which removes ALL ads, in the browser or in the apps. It makes browsing and apps faster and cleaner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the best feature is the fact you get full control of the device you purchased, anything else is secondary.
Root if for no other reason than to install CWM and keep up to date nandroid backups of your oem rom. It's always nice to have a quick solution in case something bad ever happens.
Plus, a lot of cool apps require root access.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Before we get started, im looking for opinions more than help here, feel free.
Everyone says the choice of ROM is about personal preference & not so much performance.
From what i read its 50/50.
I run a stock ROM 4.0.3 HTC One XL (Telstra) with Sense 4.0
- unlocked
- rooted
- TWRP (clockworkmod didnt work)
I've narrowed my choices for a custom ROM down to
- MIUI
- CleanROM
- ViperXL
Im not exactly sure how to go about the backup of the stock ROM.
Coming from iOS, backing up the stock version meant simply keeping a copy of the original firmware.
I have installed
- Titanium Backup
- ROM manager
- Root explorer
Im not sure what other details are relevant, im new to android.
I want the end result to be efficient, at the moment im chewing through battery., and experiencing lag.
I want to be able set individual app permissions as at present i have processes chewing data that shouldnt be.
I want the ability to customize my UI, i change my mind every day.
I dont want bugs and i dont like it when things dont work the way they should.
Im not fussed with keeping anything of sense other than
- camera
- beats
I have found one helpful tutorial on backing up stock, but it uses clockworkmod in the example, i dont.
The others are all fairly non descript; "first back up, then flash"
I loved my jailbroken iPhone 4S and spent quite a deal of time getting to know it and customize it.
I want to do the same here but i dont want to screw it up.
The difference between the two, is that after all of my messing about, things on my iPhone worked the way i wanted them to.
Everything i have done so far on the one XL seems to come at the cost of performance.
I've held off for weeks trying to educate myself, but am growing impatient with my phones performance.
Feel free to share your opinions, and any good tutorials i might have missed.
Back up with TWRP (boot into recovery and choose backup). As for the ROM, look at the roms forums and choose the one you think fits your needs. I am running viper, very customizable and I personally have no issues. I am also running the 2.29 radio an battery has been great.
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda app-developers app
do you have issues with performance or stability? i usually worry about the latter.
try to find the bug reports for the ROMs you're looking at. the JB ROMs are a lot less stable at this point, but it's fun to participate with development!
Sent from my One X
bimmernut318 said:
Back up with TWRP (boot into recovery and choose backup). As for the ROM, look at the roms forums and choose the one you think fits your needs. I am running viper, very customizable and I personally have no issues. I am also running the 2.29 radio an battery has been great.
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers. Pretty much what im doing.
I just dont know which one fits my needs.
Tbh alot of it is still babble at this point.
kakeeman said:
do you have issues with performance or stability? i usually worry about the latter.
try to find the bug reports for the ROMs you're looking at. the JB ROMs are a lot less stable at this point, but it's fun to participate with development!
Sent from my One X
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stability is obviously a real concern.
But performance is equally weighted.
I dont think we should have to trade on for the other.
I been reading the bug reports, its the reason i'm still on stock.
5 - 10 years ago i'd be all into development.
Adulthood sux. I get to play with my phone for like an hour a day.
i understand that! originally i rooted and unlocked the bootloader, then flashed the safe 2.20 build that's around here somewhere. pretty basic and bug-free!
now i'm running the CNA ROM and there are some issues, but i have a little time on my hands at the moment to work around them. jellybean is cool, though!
i like ROMs that are simpler- i don't care to delve into GUI tweaks or crazy hacks. just want to get rid of the bloat and set things up the way i like.
i'm curious, though... have you had performance issues?
Sent from my One X
kakeeman said:
- then flashed the safe 2.20 build that's around here somewhere. pretty basic and bug-free!
- now i'm running the CNA ROM and there are some issues
- i like ROMs that are simpler- i don't care to delve into GUI tweaks or crazy hacks. just want to get rid of the bloat and set things up the way i like.
- i'm curious, though... have you had performance issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- 2.20 was ICS i take it?
- CNA???
- same, i want rid of bloat, and i want the freedom to set it up the way i like it.
- yeah i think i have, whether theyre any different to what the majority experience im not sure.
I unlocked, rooted, and started researching custom ROMs, until then i began customizing as much as i can;
- launcher
- lock screen
- widgets
- dock
- music player
- browser
Installed & deleted more apps than i care to think about in a process of trial and error.
When i had a setup that was almost what i want, i kept it and got rid of the rest, but;
- screen transitions are now not as smooth as stock.
- exiting apps or waking from sleep sometimes causes the whole screen to get retarded for a bit before the launcher loads everything.
- battery life is a major issue.
- data usage from apps that should be using it is also a problem.
Wobzy said:
- 2.20 was ICS i take it?
- CNA???
- Installed & deleted more apps than i care to think about in a process of trial and error
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- yeah, 2.20 is ICS. from what i gather, most JB ROMs right now still haven't got the kinks worked out of them because devs don't have HTC source code to pull from. could be wrong on that one.
- CNA = codename android. i'm using it right now. i like it and there are no dealbreaker bugs for me.
- sounds like me. i had a really old galaxy S1 that got realllllyyy slow in its old age. it's a balancing thing, i guess; some apps just have sloppy coding. i think launchers and their settings do make quite the difference in some cases, though.
kakeeman said:
- CNA = codename android. i'm using it right now. i like it and there are no dealbreaker bugs for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet, taking a look now. Tidy download, about the smallest ive seen.
Yeah i can understand an old phone getting slow and laggy in its old age.
I've had the HOXL for about a month.
Hoping a clean custom and minimal messing about with additional apps will fix it now that i have an idea where im headed.
Cheers for the input.