More info on root please - Galaxy S6 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I've read a lot of beginner guides and FAQs about rooting your phone but I still have questions that I haven't seen answered:
If I root my phone, will I still be able to get automatic updates from my service provider? If so, will those updates re-install any bloatware that I had removed? Is it common or expected for some stock apps to stop working when the device is rooted?
I'm trying to figure out what my best option is for getting rid of some bloatware, while having the option to keep certain stock features, for example, the voicemail app, and if this is an option, to keep the ability to auto-update. I no longer have as much free time as I did in the past and reading the latest news about posted ROMs, taking a complete backup, manually installing them, and possibly reverting back to the previous install, is not something that I can keep up with at the moment.

These questions have been answered over, and over again. The same questions were posted about a week ago on XDA.
To answer some of your questions:
-OTA updates : NO
-Stock apps will work fine (minus Samsung pay if you trip knox).
Unless you depend on samsung warranty, ROOT your phone. Install custom stock rom, that gives you the option of installing which stock apps you would like to keep.
Samsung warranty is quite shady at best anyways. Whether they'll make good on manufacturing defect (faulty camera, screen etc.) is a case by case situation if you've tripped knox.

Related

[Q] Is it true that custom ROM's are always less stable than stock ROM's ?

If it's true, why is that? Is it because stock ROM developers are better?
Not being a troll. Honest question.
I'm just curious. I use galaxy Ace, and I would very much like to use a custom ROM to get rid of all the samsung junk apps. But if it's unstable, it may not be worth it.
No. Well made custom roms are usually more stable and faster than stock roms, especially for devices which have unoptimized stock roms, such as the SGS.
You can remove apps from the stock rom by rooting it - Its not necessary to flash a custom one.
Hi 314! Really, I didn't know that. How do I do it safely?
My personal experience is that custom ROMs have been every bit as stable as stock ROMs. I'm quite often running alphas and dailies and impressed with their stability. Of course, doing that, you're bound to run into some gotcha's from time to time but that's part of the fun of dailies, discovering the changes and surprises. I'm on Deck's alpha1 ICS ROM and it's been sweet, but alpha2 hasn't worked for me (wigetsoid seems broken). Shurg. So I restored alpha1, wait for alpha3, and try and get my post count up to give Deck some feedback in his thread.
Thanks mhwarfield. What are dailies? and what is OPS?
"You can remove apps from the stock rom by rooting it - Its not necessary to flash a custom one."
Well i heard this before in some youtube video but exactly not sure how and with which software may be (root manager). Please somebody with experience in this matter give us a full guide how to remove junk apps after rooting. Thanks in advance
rayhan0701 said:
"You can remove apps from the stock rom by rooting it - Its not necessary to flash a custom one."
Well i heard this before in some youtube video but exactly not sure how and with which software may be (root manager). Please somebody with experience in this matter give us a full guide how to remove junk apps after rooting. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do that easy with "Titanium Backup" from the Market after you Rooted your Device. I think you dont need "Titanium Back Pro" to Remove Junk Apps.
rayhan0701 said:
"You can remove apps from the stock rom by rooting it - Its not necessary to flash a custom one."
Well i heard this before in some youtube video but exactly not sure how and with which software may be (root manager). Please somebody with experience in this matter give us a full guide how to remove junk apps after rooting. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's really really not difficult.
Android stores all user apps in "/data/app"
all stock apps are stored in "/system/app" (this includes every system app, even the keyboard, camera and the gallery are in here)
this is the place where the junk apps should be ( i never had a bloated phone, but i guess they are in here, because we need root to manipulate files here)
now use a file explorer with root function (i use root explorer, and i definitely recommend it) and browse to this folder.
search the junkApp.apk and delete it.
you're done
EDIT: oh and yes, you can do it with titanium backup too, but i don't know if you need the pro version for it
Once you get custom ROMs out of Alpha/Beta/RC, they're better than stock, in my opinion. "Custom" means they can be designed for extra speed, power, leanness, beauty, or any combination of the above.
I don't mind helping out with betas and contributing to developers. Usually, by the time it gets to beta, most stuff is buttoned up nice and tight--plus I don't demand much from my phone.
Sounds like you got it covered with root and Titanium Backup. But do not fear the custom ROM.
It really depends. Some developers are EXTREMELY aggressive and throw a ton of crap into their kernel/ROM without much testing so they can "get ahead" - but often this leads to instability.
Others carefully fix issues one by one, with the exception of initially doing "standard" mods (like extended power menu on Android).
Some ROMs will often see releases coming out multiple times a week, often with lots of changes and reverting back and forth, and ALWAYS rebasing on the latest and greatest stock base, even before it's proven. This approach can sometimes pay off, but the risk of screwing up is high. Most such ROMs turn out to be crap.
Other ROMs take the most stable known base available, and fix whatever remaining known issues exist, and make a few standard tweaks. These are the ROMs that you still see people using more than three months after the last update. An example of this is VillainROM over in I9100-land. I only know of two issues with it - one has a one-time-after-install workaround, and the other is specific to trying to run that ROM on a device it wasn't designed for (I777).

benefits of rooting

Hello all.
A newbie here, with a newbie question.
I followed this excellent tutorial for getting ICS in my P6210: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1777003. Everything is working perfectly (although I've been playing for only a few hours), I already like ICS.
Anyway, I stop where the rooting process start. I'm not worry about breaking it, but them I'm just curious: what are the other benefits of rooting? What things I can do when the device is rooted that I can not do now?
I know about using other ROMs, but since I'm happy with ICS and there are no many mature ROMs for our device, I'm don't think that I will need it for now.
Thanks a lot for your answers.
Rooting your device will allow you to customize your UI, colors, icons, fonts, sound effects and other features. Also, some apps require root to perform certain tasks or to function at all. If you are not interested in customizing your device or don't use apps which require root access, then you shouldn't worry about it. Usually apps in the Play Store/Market or other app sources will have notices that will specifically say if root is required for certain functionality or to function at all.
Best part I loved after rooting is the adaway I enjoy browsing without adverts. Go ahead and root your device and you won't regret it. it may void your warranty though, u can always unroot before claiming warranty. Good luck:thumbup:
Sent from my GT-P6200
Rooting, apart from what has been previously mentioned, will enable you to get rid of all those absolutely useless but totally annoying stupid system applications, whose only purpose seems to make your device slow.
Once you will have removed 30, 40, 50 or even more, such apks, you will see that your Tab has became a Formula 1!!
But, before you start to remove those system apks you'll have to make a copy of them, in case you erase one that was useful (coz some are). Many people use titanium backup for their back ups, personally I use ghost commander, it s more simple, you just have to go in the /system/app folder, copy the whole folder to your sd and here you have your back up...
Be careful about which apks you erase, apks like settings, tw framework and the like should not be removed.
All the samsung bloatware, the sns account blah blah should be removed mercilessly and ruthlessly)
One of these days when I have time I ll make a list of removable apks (on my tab I have only 31 system apks left and it feels very light compared to the over weighted original version).
Another benefit of rooting is that it will enable you, through apks like rom toolbox or privacy blocker or lbe or permissions denied or etc., to revoke intrusive and spying apks' authorizations.
So you see, the benefits of rooting are multiple and once one has tried one can t use a non rooted device anymore, it s like day and night, really.
If you are a noob, don't root it. When you pass the initial noob stage, you will got the reasons for root as they will become your necessities.
Enviado de meu GT-P6210 usando o Tapatalk 2

[HOW TO] disable OTA updates

Forgive me if this is the wrong section and I know there are some threads on it, but not specific enough in my opinion as to how this device works. I was going to go to General, but I figured this was important regarding possible impending doom to our phones should a critical update be released. I've seen a lot of confusion throughout some threads on disabling updates. While the process is mostly the same for almost any phone, there is still a lot of different information out there so I figured I'd explain it pertaining directly to i337 owners.
Let's get started, shall we?
1. You'll need to be rooted - see the thread on rooting your phone in original development by djrbliss
2. Once rooted, get Titanium Backup (yes I know there are other ways, but this is the most straight forward - feel free to add if you think there is a better way)
3. Once in Titanium Backup, go to the backup/restore tab at the top and find the following three items on the list:
-keychain
-fwupdater
-AT&T software updater
4. Click on each one individually and hit the "freeze" button at the top. I'm not positive that the fwupdater and keychain will need to be blocked along with the software updater, but it certainly wont hurt anything and it is a general prereq on most phones to disable ota updates.
5. As soon as you disable them (specifically the AT&T one), you'll notice that your postponed notification will be gone. If you did the OTA update already, you wont receive them anymore which is probably a good thing until the unlock is released.
I just figured I'd post this here to be safe rather than sorry. I don't claim to be a professional with these devices and am certainly not a developer so don't flame me, but I thought I'd post and try to be as accurate as possible for those questioning these updates.
Always know that when using root to modify system files, you run the risk of bricking your device. If you are willing to accept this risk and know that your device can be rendered unusable, then proceed with caution. See you all on the other side when we are unlocked!
Just an FYI, I posted this yesterday...
OTA Update now available! - Update: Instructions to block if desired
Using a slightly different method... But works all the same.
Moved to general forum, please pay attention to what forum you are posting to
Just found that actually. I'm sorry about that. I guess it doesn't hurt to have two of them, but I didn't mean to take over yours.

"To Root or not to Root?" that's the question...

I don't want to know how to root, I can find my answer for that on Google, however what I don't get is what it does...
I know it unlocks the device somehow, but can't I simply access everything in the system if I compile android from source and install it on the device?
I have downloaded the android source and I believe I can access every possible thing, so why is rooting needed?
If I install an app as a system app, won't it automatically have the permissions to do what I need it to do?
AFAIK rooting is for the people you'd call the end user/consumer or whatever.
If you have a new phone and want to install one of the many custom ROMs around, you simply need a rooted phone.
A custom ROM is in easy terms a custom made User Interface for the phone.
There is lot more complicated stuff going on under the hood, but in general you change the look and feel of you phone's UI.
The phone has to be rooted, because the manufacturers and net providers around pack a lot of useless crap called "bloatware" (like Samsung Shop and Samsung Play and Samsung Sing and Dance and Music and whatnot) on your phone, which often makes it slower than it can be without it.
But naturally the big corps don't want you to be able to get rid of that **** too easily, which is why you don't have access to the system folders as a normal user.
I guess in your case it's possible that you (if you compiled android from source and installed it on your device) so to say have an already rooted phone, since Android itself is rooted by default. Like I said, the manufacturers are the ones to unroot Android in order to dictate which apps their customers might or might not use.
But I'm a noob and am not sure how you would install Android on your phone if it's new (and unrooted by default?) if you haven't rooted it before?
meh, hope that helped a bit at least...
root- you would love to do it after reading this..
Root? what is it?
it is what i call full access to our phone, flash new roms, have dual boot (example- you can have to os like ics and JB), can access the evasive /data folder which holdes the apk/setups of apps installed from playstore and many other things..
If you are concerned about warranty you can unroot your phone and give in your phone for warranty. i have given my phone for warranty like this.
The most important thing i like about root is that i can fix my phone myself (if it is a software problem). any other question please ask, and i will answer it.
Thanks if helped!
I don't have the time for development anymore. I used to play with stuff like that years ago, but life has taken me away from it. I'd still like to be able to access everything on my phone and play with custom roms, and root lets me do that. The end consumer comment is a good one.
As for to root or not root, I tell most people who ask me to root for them what they use their phone for and explain what they would get out of rooting, and explain the risks involved. Seems that people who understand what rooting does are able to do it themselves, and the ones that ask you to do it for them usually decide against it after hearing "there is a tiny chance that your phone could get bricked" lol
If you just want to play emulators etc, how would you benefit from rooting?
IMO rooting is very useful if you want to keep touching system things in a stock rom, optimizing and debloating it, installing other people ROMs, etc... I believe that if you compile your own flavour of android and find no restriction doing whatever you want, you don't need to.
Android phone without root is nothing
McFex said:
AFAIK rooting is for the people you'd call the end user/consumer or whatever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good:
McFex said:
But I'm a noob and am not sure how you would install Android on your phone if it's new (and unrooted by default?) if you haven't rooted it before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some phones can just be flashed (for example via usb) which gives you full control, others can be cracked.

Bootloader - How bad is it? How much functionality is really lost?

OK, I didn't realize how crappy web browsing is with out Adblock! I can't live like this! I'm so tempted to bootloader unlock and root. But my concern is losing camera features. Can someone really outline EXACTLY what I will lose if I bootloader unlock and how different the camera is as well.
I actually don't take a lot of photos with my camera anyway, but I really want a list of things that change to help me make the right decision. I haven't even installed all my apps yet because we all know what happens when you BL unlock. Actually now that I think about it...I didn't install my apps because I can't restore using Titanium Backup because I have to be rooted. How anyone lived without root, adblock/adaway, and Titanium backup is beyond me. But I'm also a chronic phone swapper. It's a nasty addiction. My favorite phone thus far has been the M8 though. Definitely covered all the bases all it was missing was 3GB of ram and wireless charging. I didn't even mind Sense which I thought I would immediately get rid of and convert it to a GPe edition.
Anyway anyone with UL BL that can tell me exactly what changed I would appreciate it.
I don't know myself, but you might want to ask in the Q&A section instead.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3/general/bootloader-unlock-t2888735 - This thread contains a fair amount of information relating to what is lost, and what isn't lost.
Something worth considering and not listed nearly as often as a possible result of unlocking without trim area / DRM backup (to restore later) ~ upcoming sony apps / not yet released apps that will rely on the keys to run. (hypothetically, a video version of track I'd is released and needs the keys not to fc)
Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk
Thanks all. I figured this has been answered but couldn't find a comprehensive list
Still.open to any other feedback that thread didn't go into a lot.of detail.
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