Related
Was wanting some more help with rooting my Evo for the first time. I know there are a lot of guides for n00bs out there but this stuff moves too fast and they are out of date.
Anyways, my phone is stock:
-Android 2.2
-Software number 3.29.651.5
-PRI version 1.77_003
-PRL version 60671
My intention was to use Unrevoked 3.21 but I read through ALOT of information from different sites and am thoroughly confused. Since my phone has all the recent OTA updates can it be rooted with this? And if so, I most definitely need to not take the Sprint OTA updates and wait for the "rooted" versions correct?
I like the Sense UI (but never used any others) and am happy with the phone the way it is. My hope is being able to use the hotspot feature and remove the bloatware from the phone.
Can anyone walk me through some of this (specific to my need)? As said before, I know there are already some n00b walkthroughs out there but most are too dated and some things apply and some don't which makes it very confusing.
Unrevoked 3.21 is the way to go. I just used it to root my replacement evo and it worked beautifully. Here is the thread for it, just read it and follow the relatively easy instructions and you won't have any issues.
Great.....thanks. This one is the most current I have seen.
I have read that if I take this route the phone could still be flashed back to a stock state in case warranty service (by Sprint) is needed. Am I still correct in assuming this?
Absolutely. It is very easy to unroot and return your phone to stock.
I'm going through the process now. However, my phone has rebooted and unrevoked3 has been sitting doing nothing for awhile. It still says:
Waiting for root...(safe to restart if this doesn't work)
Recovery image: ClockworkMod Recovery
This has been on there for around 5 min now. Do I re-run unrevoked at this point? Do I need to do anything with my phone? What happens if I re-run it and same thing happens?
Thanks.
That happened to me the first time I did it. It worked fine the second. You're ok to run it again.
Nice....it was a success the second time. Thanks.
Now all I have to do is find out what to do from here! lol
You can find info on anything that you might want to do by searching the forums here at xda and by using google. I recommend reading up as much as you can before you start deleting or flashing anything.
The best piece of advice I can give you is to do a nandroid backup before you modify ANYTHING on your phone. That means do one right now so if by chance you screw something up, you can always restore it and be back to where you started. If you don't know what a nandroid is or how to do one, use the search feature here or once again, google.
Good luck and welcome to the xda community
Sorry to jump in on the post but metalhead has been so helpful to how I would like to root. I have searched for nandroid, nandriod backup, and back up nand. None of theme gave a clear path for tutorial. If you could lead me in the right direction I think that this should be made a sticky.
Thanks in advance.
mainstang said:
Sorry to jump in on the post but metalhead has been so helpful to how I would like to root. I have searched for nandroid, nandriod backup, and back up nand. None of theme gave a clear path for tutorial. If you could lead me in the right direction I think that this should be made a sticky.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know what recovery you flashed? regardless, there are two ways to go about it. 1. turn your phone completely. hold Power and VOL - until the boot menu appears, use volume to move the selection and power to select. pick recovery. nandroid backup.
2. get Rom Manager(market). it has a one-touch button to reboot into recovery. easy peasy.
each recovery is different. Whether you have RA or Clockwork or some other third thing, you will get the same result, you just have to go about it differently.
good luck!!
I'm back post root! However, have some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to.
1) Am I OK to take my phone out of USB debug mode, or does it need to stay like that?
2) Can I re-install HTC sync and will it work with all ROMS?
3) I downloaded ROM Manager and Titanium Backup (both paid). When flashing a new ROM, all settings are gone as well as apps from the market. Is there a way to restore a rom without having to go back and re-download ROM Manager from the market then use it to restore? It takes to darn long to reboot the phone into recovery and restore that way.
Also with Titanium Backup, since it just backs up apps what is the point of doing a backup with it? If a complete image is saved by whichever backup you do, all apps in that image will be restored as well. When would anyone ever need to restore just the apps from before with the same rom?
4) Can I do a batch flash with a custom ROM and a custom theme? Or should I do the ROM first then the theme? I wouldn't think the theme can be applied until the ROM is flashed first. I'm not sure if ROM Manager will do this in a specific order.
Thanks.
CCallahan said:
I'm back post root! However, have some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to.
1) Am I OK to take my phone out of USB debug mode, or does it need to stay like that?
2) Can I re-install HTC sync and will it work with all ROMS?
3) I downloaded ROM Manager and Titanium Backup (both paid). When flashing a new ROM, all settings are gone as well as apps from the market. Is there a way to restore a rom without having to go back and re-download ROM Manager from the market then use it to restore? It takes to darn long to reboot the phone into recovery and restore that way.
Also with Titanium Backup, since it just backs up apps what is the point of doing a backup with it? If a complete image is saved by whichever backup you do, all apps in that image will be restored as well. When would anyone ever need to restore just the apps from before with the same rom?
4) Can I do a batch flash with a custom ROM and a custom theme? Or should I do the ROM first then the theme? I wouldn't think the theme can be applied until the ROM is flashed first. I'm not sure if ROM Manager will do this in a specific order.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) i would leave it enabled. it doesn't hurt anything and there are a lot of programs and modifications that use it.
2) in the half dozen roms i've tried, HTC sync does work. i am curious though. what are you using it for?
3) i'm not 100% clear on what you want, but i'll try my best. if all you're wanting to do is restore to a previous rom(for instance, if you flashed a rom to test it out and hate it) as long as you did a nandroid backup BEFORE flashing the rom, you can restore with all your settings and apps in place.
with TB i back up with it in such a way that it preserves all my settings and apps(including PLACEMENT of the apps on my docks and home screens) This is very useful. i'm not really sure why you don't see the significance in TitaniumBackup. it would be an absolute PAIN to restore all your apps from the market. or even better, REMEMBER which apps you had installed after a flash.
4) i would ALWAYS flash a rom first, reboot, check it out to make sure it loads properly. i know it takes a while but it's better to wait, then to try and flash everything at once and frag your phone. it's your phone of course, so do as you wish, but my advice is to flash the rom, reboot, then flash your theme.
good luck!!
Good stuff to know.....thanks.
In response to #2........I'm using HTC sync to sync my contacts/calendar between the phone and Outlook. I do not like using Google apps for this and HTC makes it easy to sync with this program.
In response to #3......You did answer my question. Just wanted to know if there was a faster way to recover (maybe a trick through ROM Manager) that I didn't know about.
To explain more about my Titanium Backup question......now that i think about it I guess if a custom ROM is flashed, one can re-download Titanium and restore all apps/locations on the new ROM setup, which would make things incredibly easier than downloading/placing/sizing apps individually. But, will it also restore widgets with the size/screen placement as well?
CCallahan said:
But, will it also restore widgets with the size/screen placement as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yessir, it did for me
hi everybody you guys are geniuses!
i m new to this whole spartphone thing! i just bought my htc evo and i m trying to root it but i don t even know the basics! what is a flash and how do i flash? what is sd configuration and how do i do that! how do i do backup ;nandroid backup?what is a kernel and how to put it into my rom!! basicly i need all the info from the begining until i run a custom rom! i really need help on this one! thank you!
Google is your friend
_MetalHead_ said:
Google is your friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
There are plenty of people around here that like to help, but asking to have the entire android guide spelled out for ya is a bit much. Go search and read up on what you can understand, then read a little further. When it starts to get confusing again, come back and ask a specific question or two. You will get a lot more help that way.
That s why I m asking! I did look it up, and it s confusing
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
utzu said:
That s why I m asking! I did look it up, and it s confusing
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You gotta look up the tutorials. Flashing means moving something to your SD card and installing it.
unrevoked is kinda advanced since ur brand new..search on youtube for how to root evo 4g
swyped htc supersonic
stay stock
Google the basics . Most people don't have time to explain everything to you. There is a lot to learn, and I would advise you to not mod your phone unless its something you like to do. Your home work too google.
What is : nand recovery, back up, restore
What is: flashing
What is: recovery
What is: sd card, what is stored on it
What is a : rom
What is a :kernel
How do I flash them?
Learn what a ".apk" file is
What two recoveries do you have to choose from?
What is root? And its history (where it came from)
What is "su command"
What is "s" off and "s" on
Like I said, if you don't like too do this stuff and aren't a geek like the rest of us then I wouldn't bother, it takes a lot of reading and learning, one thing we all have in common is we are all still learning.
Sent from my netarchy_toast, froyo beast of a machine evo!
Honestly, I would love to help, but you are asking too much. It takes weeks, months, even years to get fully acquainted with android and hacking it, especially if this is your first smartphone. If I were you, I would enjoy being stock for now. Once you figure out how to use either terminal or command prompt (Mac or pc, in that order) then maybe start making gradual changes. If you need ANY actual help, pm me as you would not be the first noob i helped. I consider it my duty (ha). Take developments from the experts, give info to the noobs. Really, get familiar with everything, look up some stuff, watch some videos, and if you still need any help, shoot me or another one of the experienced and helpful devs at the xda a pm (private message. Click their name and it will give you the option.) and you will be helped, I garuntee it.
utzu said:
hi everybody you guys are geniuses!
i m new to this whole spartphone thing! i just bought my htc evo and i m trying to root it but i don t even know the basics! what is a flash and how do i flash? what is sd configuration and how do i do that! how do i do backup ;nandroid backup?what is a kernel and how to put it into my rom!! basicly i need all the info from the begining until i run a custom rom! i really need help on this one! thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahaha really! I mean c'mon did you even read any of the sticky's (threads at the very top of the forums)? Youll be amazed that all or most of your answers are there..
Heres a link to get you started read the page and click the links and read some more.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Supersonic&useskin=vector
Not picking on ya but you need to understand the basics on yor own because its likely your phone will get messed up if you dont, and you are the only one to blame if it does. Thays why its important to fully understand what you are doing, remember flashing anything to your phone WILL void the warrantee if you screw up so be carefull.
Read for a month!
Read up on everything for a month, then start your EVO hacking experience!
Here are a few that are great starting points:
Common Misconceptions and Info
HTC EVO WIKI
How To Use These Forums
How To Search XDA
Helpful/Popular Threads
REMEMBER! - Any question you are thinking to ask, has most likely been asked and answered before on these forums SO SEARCH!
Good luck, and welcome!
I would start here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=706411
once you get that done the custom recovery is installed things will be much easier
I used that root method one my replacement evo and it worked just fine.
BrianDigital said:
I would start here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=706411
once you get that done the custom recovery is installed things will be much easier
I used that root method one my replacement evo and it worked just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is if the OP does NOT have Android v2.2.
OP - If you go this route you will need to downgrade in Regaw's 2.2 ROOT METHOD, but stop before using unRevoked.
I am in an overly good mood today so i will help out with some basic information
What is : nand recovery, back up, restore - A nand back up is basically a way to back up your phone its rom and settings. a nand restore uses the a nand back up you made to put your phone back to where is was when you made the nand back up (think about a restore point on a windows computer very similar concept).
What is: flashing - Flashing is the process used to install system files. this is usually done through a recovery which i will get into below. the reason it is called flashing and not installing is because it needs to be done through recovery and is a slightly different process but in more basic terms it is basically installing your rom or radio or other system critical pieces onto the phones internal memory.
What is: recovery - a recovery is basically a program that lets you access some advanced system features, these include nand back up and restore, wiping cache, data, and dalvik, and the ability to flash (install) certain files to your phone. to get into a recovery with your phone off hold volume down and the power button you will load to a white screen with several options (this is the hboot or bootloader) select recovery.
What is: sd card, what is stored on it - Out of the gate your sd card is set up as it should be. their are a few reason you might change this however with 2.2 it has become less of a need and i recommend just leaving it be. The main reason people configure there sdcards is to allow a script called apps2sd to work. what this does is it allows you to store all your apps on the sd card they are normally stored on the phones internal memory. Froyo or 2.2 (the android os version on your phone) has the ability to allow apps to move to your sd card through the settings. now this doesn't work for all apps as it has to be turned on by the app creator but many it will. Because of this i would leave your sdcard alone while you learn the ropes.
What is a : rom - a rom is basically the operating system of your phone. what a rom does is replace the default os with a custom one that has been tweaked or built by a developer. this is the piece of the phone you interact with.
What is a :kernel a kernel is basically the software that translates what you do in the rom to the hardware. think of it as the phones steering wheel. you let the phone to do this and the kernel interprets it so the hardware knows what to do,
How do I flash them? To flash files is relatively easy you place them on the root of your sd card (basically drag and rop onto the sd card but not in any folder). then you boot into the recovery. in the recovery you shoudl be able to find the options to wipe cache, wipe data/factory and wipe dalvik. you select each of these and then yuo select flash .zip from sd. next you scroll to the file you want to flash (the rom or kernel etc you want) and select it (normally power button) you should then flash the rom. once it is flashed select back until you see reboot phone and then reboot it and you should boot up with your new rom.
What is "s" off and "s" on - s on and s off is basically the way you can tell you are rooted in the bootloader (or hboot i talked about above) at the very top you should see one of these options. what these mean is whether your phone requires a signed file (s on) or whether it can flash unsigned files (s off). for now just consider a signed file as an official file with an unsigned file being unofficial or modded.
Now hopefully this explains a bit of the basics better and gives you enough information to better understand what is going on. My recommendation is to take the steps to root flash etc 1 at a time it is easy to read through all the instructions and go wow this is confusing. it really isnt as bad as it seems and as long as you follow each step you should be fine. just do exactly what each step tells you to do and dont worry about the next steps till you are there. you still have a lot to learn and the best way you can learn it is by searching the forums think of it as your library.
many people are glad to help however as you can see from some of the posts it is expected that you at least try to learn and research things for yourself. if you get stuck on something ask and you will normally get an answer just try remember if you cant take the time to search and research things you shouldn't expect others to take the time to help. i'm not saying you did i ma jsut giving advice for the future.
anyway best of luck and hopefully this will get you in the right direction.
NOTE: i have "dumbed" down some of the explanations to give the jiest of the idea with out getting to technical so for those that are more technical it is on purposse.
So..I'm pretty noobish at all this, after doing my research I've finally rooted my phone wanting to mess with setCPU, flashing roms, and getting custom themes and boot animations, unfortunately i spent all my time figuring out how to simply root and nothing beyond..
i'd be grateful if anyone could post threads or just help in general with the above topics
Become a flashaholic like the rest of us. BTW once start you can't stop.
Best advice I can give is to read, read, read and then read some more. Trust me the answers to your questions are in the 1000000s of pages.
Myn's ROM is very good. But I like Caulkins ROM the best with netarchy's 4.2.1 kernel. You don't want to use setCPU with 4.2.1 its not needed.
Just my 2 cents.
And then for some real fun start playing with the CM 6.1 RC1. That's were the fun really begins.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
R1pTheJacka said:
So..I'm pretty noobish at all this, after doing my research I've finally rooted my phone wanting to mess with setCPU, flashing roms, and getting custom themes and boot animations, unfortunately i spent all my time figuring out how to simply root and nothing beyond..
i'd be grateful if anyone could post threads or just help in general with the above topics
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first thing I did was to start flashing custom ROMS. In the early EVO days, there weren't many choices. Now, there are tons of good options out there, so get to flashin'! You'll also get lots of good ideas hanging out in the themes and mods forum. Stroll around in the "post your screens" thread and you'll be blown away by what some folks have accomplished.
Just my thoughts, of course, I suspect you'll get lots of other suggestions.
yea unfortunately lots of these terms are like a foreign langauge to me =\
after looking up the process of installing roms i see lots of people are saying do a nandroid back up and then copying the rom, radio/WIMAX/PRI/NV updates and kernel
the definitions/translations for that?
Different parts of your phone have their own embedded software that can and doses get upgraded. For example, when you get a major update from Sprint, either OTA (over the air) or donwloaded to your PC and run from there, it not only updates your operating system (Android) and all the other little apps, but frequently your cell receiver/transmitter (radio or baseband), 4G receiver/transmitter (WiMAX) get their own software updates as well. Custom ROM creators frequently exclude these from their packages, so you have to update them separately.
Nandroid is a backup functionality you have once the phone is rooted. It is available through RECOVERY. So if you boot your phone into the BOOTLOADER by holding down the VOL DOWN and powering up, you should be able to choose RECOVERY by using VOL UP and VOL DOWN keyes as arrows, and POWER button as SELECT (or ENTER). Once in RECOVERY mode, there are several options, including backup/restore. The backup IS the nandroid backup everyone mentions. It creates an image of your phone's current setup. If you mess things up later on and the phone system is damages, you can recover by restoring this image to your phone.
Hope this helps.
R1pTheJacka said:
So..I'm pretty noobish at all this, after doing my research I've finally rooted my phone wanting to mess with setCPU, flashing roms, and getting custom themes and boot animations, unfortunately i spent all my time figuring out how to simply root and nothing beyond..
i'd be grateful if anyone could post threads or just help in general with the above topics
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my first time quoting and I am pretty noobish myself...I don't know these terms either even though I spent all that time trying to root...I still haven't found out how to use a custom rom or boot, I'm a little clueless even after reading for quite awhile. :/
Sent from HTC EVO 4G via xda app
jacoballen22 said:
This is my first time quoting and I am pretty noobish myself...I don't know these terms either even though I spent all that time trying to root...I still haven't found out how to use a custom rom or boot, I'm a little clueless even after reading for quite awhile. :/
Sent from HTC EVO 4G via xda app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using a custom ROM (or kernel) or boot animation is done through "flashing." Flashing is done via Recovery which can be accessed by the steps listed in a post above. I use the Amon Ra recovery and there are directions how to isntall this elsewhere on the site. I copy the ROM (or kernel or boot anim) to the root of my SD Card, boot into recovery, nandroid backup, wipe caches, wipe data, then I can specify an option to boot from zip on sdcard. (don't remember if it's high-level menu item or not) Anyway, find a Recovery you like (Clockwork or Amon Ra) and there will be specific directions on everything you can do on that Recovery's thread.
This is really a condensed version and there's way better and more thorough advice in Development and Q & A forums in stickies. I highly recommend reading those.
Did you know that you can change the whole look of the phone just by changing the system font? And it's real easy too
Sent from my blah blah blah blah
I know how to get to recovery but I don't know which one I have..and wiping data and cache does what exactly (I've wiped my battery stats before because someone said it helps your battery life)
Sent from HTC EVO 4G via xda app
jacoballen22 said:
I know how to get to recovery but I don't know which one I have..and wiping data and cache does what exactly (I've wiped my battery stats before because someone said it helps your battery life)
Sent from HTC EVO 4G via xda app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're using rom manager, it will tell you at the top what recovery is currently installed.
Hopefully you didn't "just" wipe battery stats - there's a process;
It should be done as follows (copied/summarized from the cyanogen wiki found here);
Battery recalibration
1. Charge the phone to full battery; let it keep charging until the battery says it is fully charged. Do not just wait until the light is green, it isn't always fully charged, causing a lot of inaccuracies. (You can check by going to: Settings -> About Phone -> Status -> Battery Level = Full.)
2. Wipe battery stats with Amon_Ra or ClockworkMod recoveries.
NOTE: To have the most accurate of battery stats, reboot the phone immediately after wiping the battery stats and wait for it to boot completely to the desktop. Once your entire boot is done and you have full access to the phone, go ahead and pull the charger and continue with this troubleshooter.
1. Do not charge the phone until after draining the battery completely, resulting in it automatically shutting off.
2. Recharge the phone completely and then use as you normally would.
I am surprised that no one has posted this yet.
Keep in mind, this is reference to the HTC Dream/G1 which is one of, if not the first offered Android Phone. This article explains what root is, how it was established and definition of terms. I hope this helps.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=513061
This is the informative link, which can answer a lot of questions. Just keep in mind the commands/button combos and such are different on the EVO, but in all respects is the same animal.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=543081
And then finally, the wiki with all of the answers for the HTC Subsonic/EVO
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Supersonic&useskin=vector
6uPMAH said:
Different parts of your phone have their own embedded software that can and doses get upgraded. For example, when you get a major update from Sprint, either OTA (over the air) or donwloaded to your PC and run from there, it not only updates your operating system (Android) and all the other little apps, but frequently your cell receiver/transmitter (radio or baseband), 4G receiver/transmitter (WiMAX) get their own software updates as well. Custom ROM creators frequently exclude these from their packages, so you have to update them separately.
Nandroid is a backup functionality you have once the phone is rooted. It is available through RECOVERY. So if you boot your phone into the BOOTLOADER by holding down the VOL DOWN and powering up, you should be able to choose RECOVERY by using VOL UP and VOL DOWN keyes as arrows, and POWER button as SELECT (or ENTER). Once in RECOVERY mode, there are several options, including backup/restore. The backup IS the nandroid backup everyone mentions. It creates an image of your phone's current setup. If you mess things up later on and the phone system is damages, you can recover by restoring this image to your phone.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so the primary point of the nandroid backup is to have the ability to go back to the stock ROM if i choose or even if something screw up while installing a new ROM?
Brutal-Force said:
I am surprised that no one has posted this yet.
Keep in mind, this is reference to the HTC Dream/G1 which is one of, if not the first offered Android Phone. This article explains what root is, how it was established and definition of terms. I hope this helps.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=513061
This is the informative link, which can answer a lot of questions. Just keep in mind the commands/button combos and such are different on the EVO, but in all respects is the same animal.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=543081
And then finally, the wiki with all of the answers for the HTC Subsonic/EVO
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Supersonic&useskin=vector
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good looks! the terms are IMO the most important thing to get a hold of
R1pTheJacka said:
so the primary point of the nandroid backup is to have the ability to go back to the stock ROM if i choose or even if something screw up while installing a new ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is Nandroid back up the same that Titanium pro back up does?
fachadick said:
Did you know that you can change the whole look of the phone just by changing the system font? And it's real easy too
Sent from my blah blah blah blah
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you do this?
fachadick said:
If you're using rom manager, it will tell you at the top what recovery is currently installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2.5.0.1. Is this the recovery that you would have to reboot in if something goes wrong and what does the numbers mean?
TIA!
phillip623 said:
Is Nandroid back up the same that Titanium pro back up does?
How do you do this?
I have 2.5.0.1. Is this the recovery that you would have to reboot in if something goes wrong and what does the numbers mean?
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid isn't the same thing as titanium, think of nandroid as an image, sort of like a disk image or a windows restore point. Once restored, it will take you back to exactly where you were at the time of the backup.
The numbers that you see in Rom Manager represent the recovery version. You currently have clockworkmod version 2.5.0.1 installed.
It's been spelled out above, and elsewhere through the forums, but I'm bored and I want to clean up this post anyway (I tried that new 8whatever keyboard again - still hate it. And before I cleaned it up, this post was three paragraphs of broken english), so here are some basic steps spelled out on what to do immediately after rooting, along with some terms.
The first thing you want to do once rooted is go into rom manager, and towards the bottom, hit the option that says "Flash Alternate Recovery". Once you do this, you'll notice at the top where it used to say Current Recovery: ClockworkMod 2.5.0.1 it will now say Current Recovery: Ra Recovery 1.8.0.
Now close out Rom Manager, and turn off the phone. Turn it back on while pressing down on the volume. The screen with the skateboarding Andy's will show up - this is the hboot screen. Among other things, this screen will tell you the version of hboot you're running, and whether you're S-ON or S-OFF. There may be a few different options listed here, but we're only interested in the one that says Recovery.
Select Recovery. The phone will reboot, and you should end up on a screen with green text. At the top it will say Android System Recovery, and all the way at the bottom, it will say Build : RA-evo-v1.8.0 From here select Backup/Restore. There are a few options, but note the two important ones - Nand backup, and Nand restore. Select Nand backup. It will ask if you're sure, so say yes. It will take awhile and the bottom of the screen will fill with dots. When it's done select Return then Reboot System Now. Congratulations, You just performed your first Nand Backup using Amon Ra recovery.
When you can, mount your phone as a drive, and go into folder inside the nandroid folder on your sdcard. You'll see a folder with today's date. Copy it somewhere safe on your computer. If you're interested, you can look in that folder and note the wimax.img file - this is where you're backing up the infamous RSA Keys (I'm not explaining what that is here, just know that you REALLY want to have this backed up, and kept somewhere safe). once the copying is done, unmount as a drive, and disconnect from your computer. Congratulations, now it's playtime.
Use either Titaniaum Backup or MyBackup Pro to back up all of your apps and data. Mybackup Pro will also backup call logs and text messages and things like that - I'm pretty sure Titanium does also, but I'm not sure. Your contacts should be backed up to google for easy restoration later.
Head over to the dev section and find a ROM that appeals to you. You can go with completely stock rooted if you want (which is essentially where you are now, but stock rooted would have the latest OTA updates when they come out), or stock with some tweaks to Sense, or non Sense at all (the most popular of these is CM, which rebuilds Froyo from the ground up.) Sense refers the stock launcher called Rosie, as well as some buried functionality in the phone - for example the mail, calendar, and dialer apps look and act different between Fresh and CM roms. Sense is a UI developed by HTC to go over what is commonly referred to as vanilla android/AOSP. AOSP stands for Android Open Source Project and is what google released on the n1, CM is an AOSP rom. Also, you're looking for a Deodexed rom (as opposed to odexed) so you can theme it later if you want.
Once you find a rom you like, download it to the root of your sd card (you may want to download it on your computer and move it to your sdcard). Refer to the above to get back into recovery, but this time instead of selecting Backup/Restore, select Wipe. Select Wipe data/factory Reset and let it do its things, then select Wipe cache, and let it do it's thing, then select Wipe Dalvic-cache, and let it do it's thing. What you've just done is erased all of the personal and superfluous data that was in the phone - you want to make sure that when you load the new rom, you're loading it on an empty slate, and that there's nothing of your old data left that could possibly corrupt something in the new rom. Some people say to wipe all of those options 2 or even 3 times each - I don't buy that though. Also, don't worry about the other wipe options you had there. Not needed now.
So once you've wiped, hit return, and select Flash zip from sdcard. It will pull up a list of .zip files found on the root of your sdcard. select the rom you just downloaded, and let it install. This may take a while. Don't freak. Once it's done, select Reboot system now. This will take a while too, maybe even a few minutes. Don't freak. Once it eventually boots up, restore all of your stuff with either Titanium or MyBackup Pro. Congratulations, You just flashed your first rom.
Now head over to the themes and apps section. Find a theme that interests you. Make sure its compatible with your rom (either sense or cm) and download it. Flash this the same way you flashed your rom, but you may or may not need to wipe first. Always refer to the op of those threads for specific instructions.
Finally and most importantly - head over to the thread in my sig and find a new font you like. All the cool kids are doing it. When you find one you like, copy it to your sdcard and flash it the same way you've been flashing everything else. You don't need to wipe anything for those though.
Tips;
1: never forget to wipe. As a rule, when flashing roms, you'll be wiping what people refer to as all three - that means wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, and wipe dalvic cache. When flashing kernels or themes, you'll generally just be wiping cache and dalvic cache. Again though, always refer to the instructions in the op in which you found whatever it is your flashing.
2: if you'll be flashing both themes and roms, and possibly kernels, never flash in the same recovery session. So rom first, full reboot, then kernel, full reboot, then theme, full reboot. In that order, wiping and rewiping as needed.
3: give you're rom at least a few days before you give up on it, most need time to settle into your phone so to speak, and need a few battery cycles to get to peak performance, which brings up to
4: You should wipe your battery stats whenever you flash a new rom. Remember you saw that option under Wipe back in recovery? Well now you get to use it. I posed the link and process above in the thread.
5: At this point most people use Amon Ra instead of clockworkmod because there seems to be uncertainty as to weather or not clockworkmod correctly wipes. ONLY Amon Ra backs up the wimax.img, clockwork does not.
6: rom manager is a graphical front end for clockworkmod. A lot of people still use it to flash, becasue it's so easy to use, it can be used to download roms directly in the app, and doesn't require the zip file to be on the root of the sdcard - it van be anywhere on the card. Don't forget though, you can download the rom through the app if you want, but still switch to amon ra to flash it.
7: you cannot restore a nand backup you make with amon ra with clockwork, and you cannot restore a nand backup you make with clockwork with amonra.
8: on the off chance you need to change your hboot version for any reason, you can only restore nand backups with the same hboot version that they were backed up with. NOTE, were talking about hboot here, not recovery.
Damn, that was a lot of of text. Sorry about that.
i would recommend reading this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=790427
i have only been in the android world for about 3 months now, and was able to root and flash custom roms with ease within a few weeks of getting my evo. its really not hard at all once you understand the process.
as far as what rom to flash, that depends on the user. different rom have different features. if i were you, i would recommend reading the specs on each rom before flashing. some may have features missing, such as 4G, full camera support and such. And usually all that info is provided in the thread along with the rom. so, pay attention to that.
as for me, the goal for rooting was to do certain things that was only possible with root. such as, Nandroid backup, ShootMe, Wifi Tether and to disable some of the Sprint apps. so, i am using a stocked rooted rom. it is what it says. the same stock rom as the factory but rooted.
a lot of ppl use various custom roms to get better battery life. battery life on stock roms have improved quiet a bit lately. at least in the past 3 months, i have noticed a big improvement. hope this helps answer some questions.
and remember to always do a nandroid backup. i also use My Backup Pro to backup my Call Logs, SMS & MMS.
few questions about flashing ROMs..
1. i still have to backup all my contacts,apps,etc, i have titanium backup pro and if i back them all up how do i get them back once the new ROM is flashed?
2. I know im supposed to do a nandroid backup but do i need those special recovery images first? (AmonRA/Clockwork)
3. What's the purpose of ROM M...anager in all of this?
ok, so titanium pro will backup everything, even how your homescreen is set up.
the nandroid is for if there is a problem, or if you want to go back. ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST ONE BACKUP MADE WITH AMON AT ALL TIMES OR YOU COULD PERMANENTLY LOSE 4G (FOREVER, NO FIX EVER)
rom manager can control clockwork recovery while booted up in a touch screen interface. it removes the need to use the annoying volume keys. doesnt work with amon.
i would highly reccomend amon to you. it is just that much better, but doesnt work with rom manager. volume keys arent that hard anyways. use amon.
ONCE AGAIN, ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST ONE AMON BAKCUP AT ALL TIMES, AND ALWAYS BACKUP BEFORE DOING ANYTHING EVEN SLIGHTLY CONSIDERED MODDING. SERIOUSLY, TAKE 4 MINUTES OUT OF YOUR DAY TO WATCH DOTS APPEAR, AND SAVE YOURSELF 200 DOLLARS OR HOURS OF SETTING STUFF BACK UP. SERIOUSLY. DO IT.
Thanks for the detailed and informative post! This should be in the question and answer thread. I'm finally able to change my font and onto ROMS. I'll reply back once I'm on a normal keyboard.
R1pTheJacka said:
few questions about flashing ROMs..
1. i still have to backup all my contacts,apps,etc, i have titanium backup pro and if i back them all up how do i get them back once the new ROM is flashed?
2. I know im supposed to do a nandroid backup but do i need those special recovery images first? (AmonRA/Clockwork)
3. What's the purpose of ROM M...anager in all of this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. all your contacts are backup-ed on your google account. when you sign on to the google account after you flash a new rom, the contacts will be automatically downloaded to the phone. so, no further work needed to be done there. i use My Backup Pro to backup my SMS/MMS and Call logs. I think it is very similar to Titanium. Basically you use the program to backup the stuff you need onto your SD Card. Then, once you have flashed your new rom, you install Titanium or the My Backup Pro and use the Restore feature to restore what you need. As far as Apps go, I found that it was better to use App Brain, since that keeps a log of all the apps install on the phone, its usually a breeze to re-install all of them through that.
2. Amon RA & Clockwork perform the same function. you use either to flash custom roms, perform nandroid backups, etc. so, once you root your phone, you will need to install one of these.
3. ROM Manager.. does what the name says it does. you can change the rom on your phone using that utility app. But i think the Amon Ra/Clockwork Recovery method is the preferred way of changing out roms.
Ok,so i just recently climbed out from the rock i have been hidiing under and found out about rooting my Evo.I did the crap load of reading required before you do something like this and after trying it for 4 hours with some limited help from some friends on XBL and some chat forums i did it.I have rooted it and installed some 2point2 ROM that was recommend to me.Is there anything else i should know or do to unlock me Evos full potential?
Well being Nand unlocked...if you used unrevoked, flash unrevoked forever. Just read up on RUUs, incase oyu need to unroot.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=894880 Just for shows. And read up on roms and enjoy basically.
Yeah,i was told to use Unrevoked3 and that it had Unrevoked Forever included in it.And according to what i read,this 2point2 had really good reviews by current users so i went with that.I was just curious if there was more i needed to keep reading on or things that i may still need to do.Like losing my 4g,although 4g is not in my area yet well there be some way to get it to work when it does come into my area? and besides that 2point2 is there anything else anyone could suggest if i need to do something?
try going to the evo section of the forums and try the "rooting for dummies guide"
its what i did! XD
Aaron,I was looking in the Evo section but could not find that. Would you mind posting the link to that forum please.Its funny,After rooting my phone im all excited and treat it like a new phone.But anyway,yeah a little more directions please cause i couldnt find it.Thanks to all who have responded as well.
I would try flashing other Rom's. Use the one you are using for a couple days and then try another. Also, make sure you backup your RSA keys in case something happens.
Ok,now i am lost.What are those RSA keys? and am i trying out new roms to find one i like or because these go out? Sorry,i am new to all of this stuff.But on the bright side very intersted,lol.
rsa keys are like a wifi passcode, but for 4g. there is one rsa key for every evo, and in this way, if you lose them in a bad flash, you can never get them back and never access 4g again on that particular evo. to back them up, boot into amon ra's recovery, version 2.3. select backup/restore. then nand bakcup. then uncheck all the options but wimax. then back it up. finally, boot up. then mount ur sdcard, and navigate to /nandroid/serial#/dateInAWiredFormat/wimax.img. copy that wimax.img to a very safe place...
welcome to the root crew
Well after reading your post i did notice that my wi-fi is not working so i am to assume that the 4G is not either.Also with this 2point2 i received a wireless tether that does not shut off once i turn it on.I have to take the battery out to make it stop. So thats all kind of a bummer.Also i noticed i have a couple apps that i have never had before,like superuser,spare parts,Rosie settings,DSPManager,and a ROM Manager.What are all of these things? It seems that no matter how much i read,i can never find the answers.LOL i think i just need pictures.
EvoRevived said:
Well after reading your post i did notice that my wi-fi is not working so i am to assume that the 4G is not either.Also with this 2point2 i received a wireless tether that does not shut off once i turn it on.I have to take the battery out to make it stop. So thats all kind of a bummer.Also i noticed i have a couple apps that i have never had before,like superuser,spare parts,Rosie settings,DSPManager,and a ROM Manager.What are all of these things? It seems that no matter how much i read,i can never find the answers.LOL i think i just need pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Superuser is needed to grant permissions to apps that require root. When you run a root app like ShootMe or Rom Manager, you'll get a popup asking you to allow it - that's Superuser. Spare Parts is like an extra settings menu. Just browse through it. Rosie settings lets you customize your Sense launcher. I'm not sure what's in there because I haven't used Sense since I rooted. DSPManager is like an equalizer for all sound that comes through your phone. It's a neat concept but I don't use it. And Rom Manager is an app that works with Clockworkmod Recovery, which is probably what you're using. It allows you to download and install Roms within the app. You can also do backups & boot into recovery.
If you need anything feel free to pm me
Sent from my badass HTC Supersonic (Evo 4g) using XDA Premium App
Thank you,That explained alot and you did nt use pictures which i thought i may have to resort to.lol Thank you
OK, the preface:
1. Rooted the EVO 4G phone with Unrevoked3.
2. It worked, ClockworkMod Recovery is in place - phone says S-OFF on hboot. I did a nand backup successfully.
3. Installed Wireless Tether, works fine.
4. Purchased and installed Titanium Backup Pro - it said I needed Busybox, downloaded it. Everything works fine, did a full backup with it.
5. I like HTC's Sense UI.
Titanium Backup Pro starts fine, reports everything as "OK" - that I'm rooted, the super user app runs - all looks good. It's behaving as its rooted just fine. I went through the app list and started freezing apps like Amazon MP3, Sprint NFL, and all the other bloated crap that comes from Sprint with this phone.
The problem is - that when I reboot the phone, and go to Advanced Task Killer Free - things like FM Radio, Amazon MP3, News, etc - are showing as running. The Freeze didn't freeze these things - they are still launching.
I'm trying to keep it "just rooted" -- it's all new to me, and I'd rather not have to fart with special ROMs or radios, kernels, etc - I'm old, I'll brick the damn thing. Currently I'm armed with the bookmark to unroot with my RUU PC36IMG.ZIP and some unrevoked-s-on.zip, and that's about it.
So - any help here? How come when I freeze these things, the system still launches them on bootup?
I honestly haven't messed with the "freeze" part of Titanium, but I use an app called "Bloat Freezer" from the market that works perfect. If you dont mind spending a couple bucks, it is well worth the money in my opinion
Heres the link thru AppBrian, its on sale
First suggestion get rid of the advanced task killer - it isn't needed.
Secondly, one of the main reasons to root is to remove the sprint bloatware; you could do it through adb, but I am guessing you will think that is too hard. I thought you could uninstall the bloatware using titantium backup which would be easy.
If you can't uninstall them instead of freezing them, the easiest thing would probably be to flash a custom rom. If you want a stock feel that is very fast with no sprint bloatware - download and install MikFroYo 4.5.
Heaterz16 said:
First suggestion get rid of the advanced task killer - it isn't needed.
Secondly, one of the main reasons to root is to remove the sprint bloatware; you could do it through adb, but I am guessing you will think that is too hard. I thought you could uninstall the bloatware using titantium backup which would be easy.
If you can't uninstall them instead of freezing them, the easiest thing would probably be to flash a custom rom. If you want a stock feel that is very fast with no sprint bloatware - download and install MikFroYo 4.5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been reading that if I remove the apps, I run some risk of OTA updates failing or some such. Is that not such a big deal, after all?
I feel confident about rooting and unrooting, reading over those steps a dozen times over. Not so much about custom ROMs and kernels. I read about radio keys possibly getting dorked, making sure you update radios and some other stuff - it starts to get a bit overwhelming - clearing cache, data, dalvik (wtf ever that is), certain features not working (fm radio, 4g, wimax, etc). As it is now, I've managed to root, do a nandroid backup with ClockworkMod Recovery, and a Titanium Backup backup - i feel confident with that.
I really do like the stock Evo 4G - just don't want any of that bloat running. There's no reason Amazon MP3 or Sprint TV should ever want to fire up at random times.
If it was easy to flip into some other ROM and still maintain my stock look, I'd be happy to start researching it. I read some other one was decent too - some Warm TwoPointTwo or something?
I'd like to keep Sense, the basic stock look - and get rid of the bloat.
Like here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=883026
I started reading and my head started spinning with stuff about mods to the MikFroyo 4.5 ROM. NO CLUE how to add any of that or tweak it. Heck, not even a real clue on how to install MikFroyo safely. Is it just a matter of dropping some ZIP on the root of SD card, go to the ClockworkMod and update something or other? I guess I have much more reading ahead of me.
One question I do have -- when I do a backup with the ClockworkMod recovery -- is that everything? Is that my "safe checkpoint" - so if I screw something up, I can restore from that point?
I guess if I biff it entirely, I can always roll back to unrooted stock with that PC36IMG.ZIP and unrevoked-s-off.zip file.
It is a bit overwhelming, I would highly recommend running MikFroyo 4.5 - it is pretty stock feel with some extra eye candy and a whole bunch of mods that make it very speedy.
There are so many links in that thread so, here is the direct link to download MikFroyo 4.5: http://www.mediafire.com/?4v1tz1y3f0nwgwa
1.Download that file to your computer
2.Connect phone, select dropdown and enable usb disk drive
3.On computer right-click the mikfroyo file you downloaded and send it to your phone (i.e. - whatever drive your computer list it as, maybe E:\)
4.That will put the Rom file (which is a .zip file) on the ROOT of your sdcard [Root - meaning the file is not located in any folders on the sdcard]
5. Change usb connection to charge only
6.Boot into recovery
7.Make a full backup of your current Rom (Probably called Backup/Restore Menu in Recovery)
8. AFTER you make a backup, you are still in recovery - now select wipe Data/Factory Reset
9. After that wipe is complete, select wipe cache/dalvik-cache
10. Now, in recovery go back a menu or so and select Flash zip from sdcard, find the mikfroyo rom file you put on the sdcard and select it, Yes, to flash it.
11. Once it is finished, select reboot system now in your recovery
12. Be very patient while booting - can take 5 mins or more sometimes.
13. Once booted, update google info and then go to market and download Titantium Backup and restore the apps you want that you orginally backed up.
That is a very detailed step by step.
Note: Do NOT try to flash anything with battery less than 30%
Wifflepig said:
I've been reading that if I remove the apps, I run some risk of OTA updates failing or some such. Is that not such a big deal, after all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NEVER take an OTA update after Root, it could brick your phone.
It isn't a big deal if you remove system apps and it messes something up assuming you have a backup that you can restore through your recovery.
Wifflepig said:
One question I do have -- when I do a backup with the ClockworkMod recovery -- is that everything? Is that my "safe checkpoint" - so if I screw something up, I can restore from that point?
I guess if I biff it entirely, I can always roll back to unrooted stock with that PC36IMG.ZIP and unrevoked-s-off.zip file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't recommend Clockwork, many people have issues with it and I don't use it so I am not sure, but some versions of Clockwork don't backup everything (which might include 4g keys, etc)
I recommend this recovery: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=705026
Read through this rooting guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=829045
See step 6, this will backup your 4G unique keys:
6A) REQUIRED RSA BACKUP This will back up your RSA keys just in case something goes wrong in that department. You should still be in your command window inside the shell with a #. (The following came from this thread)
mkdir -p /sdcard/nandroid/RSA-PR-BACKUP
cat /dev/mtd/mtd0 > /sdcard/nandroid/RSA-PR-BACKUP/wimax.img
This saves it in a file that can actually be restored. This next step is another type of backup just for good measure
busybox sed -n '/BEGIN CERTIFICATE/,$p' /dev/mtd/mtd0 > /sdcard/rsa_OEM.key
This will dump the RSA keys to a text file on your SD Card named rsa_OEM.key
Mine was about 4575 KB in size, but the size could vary. Go ahead and switch the phone's USB connection over to "Disk Drive" and then browse to your SD Card and verify that the file rsa_OEM.key is indeed on the card.
Heaterz16 said:
NEVER take an OTA update after Root, it could brick your phone.
It isn't a big deal if you remove system apps and it messes something up assuming you have a backup that you can restore through your recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How the heck do you block OTA updates?
how to back up all internal memary
i use titanium backup how to back up internal software and how to restore tham
Also - I already rooted with Unrevoked3 and it put the ClockworkMod Recovery on the Evo 4G (it's hardware 0003). Everything *seems* to be working fine.
If I decide to go back to unrooted (s-on and the pc36img.zip for my phone) - do I need to worry about my wimax RSA keys at all, or can I just flash s-on then the PC36IMG zip and be back to square one?
Attached to the message is a copy of my nandroid backup from clockwork - it sure seems like it backed up the wimax image for me.
Also, just to be safe, I did do the ADB shell to make an RSA_oem.key file - it was 4575kb, in my root folder.
I swear, it sure seems like things are fine. I'm a little apphrehensive about trying to flopswitch to a different recovery tool if things are working as expected. I fired up the 4G antenna, and it came on and tried searching for 4G (I am not in a 4G zone at the moment).
I still have one remaining question - how do I block OTA updates from Sprint, to avoid them hosing the phone? I didn't see anything obvious in the Update Phone bits.
You should be fine running Clockwork - I just recommend Amon.
Glad to see you backed up your RSA keys and I agree it looks like you have a good Wimax.img. You only need either of these if somehow flashing another Rom messes up your 4g - you should be ok, just good to have just in case...
As for blocking OTA updates I haven't had any OTA updates since I have had the EVO, but they don't auto-install, you can just decline them if the message ever pops up.
As long as 4g keys are intact when/if you want to unroot, then all you have to do is run S-on and then restore the ruu as you stated.
Sounds like you definitely have your 4g keys and wimax intact, but you can always download Wimax Keys Checker from the Market for good measure as well to check.
Glad to hear everything looks good - are you going to try MikFroyo?
Heaterz16 said:
You should be fine running Clockwork - I just recommend Amon.
Glad to hear everything looks good - are you going to try MikFroyo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when my testicles grow a few sizes more and I've done more reading and research. I hear nothing but good things about MikFroyo 4.5, and I'm at about page 30 of his 1000+ page home post. I spent two weeks reading everything under the sun just to get to a stage where I felt reasonably confident in rooting.
Wifflepig said:
when my testicles grow a few sizes more and I've done more reading and research. I hear nothing but good things about MikFroyo 4.5, and I'm at about page 30 of his 1000+ page home post. I spent two weeks reading everything under the sun just to get to a stage where I felt reasonably confident in rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just got a serious lawl from reading that...soon my young user. But if you're on a sense rom, just don't accept the OTA, and if you're on aosp, it doesn't even ask you.
Wifflepig said:
when my testicles grow a few sizes more and I've done more reading and research. I hear nothing but good things about MikFroyo 4.5, and I'm at about page 30 of his 1000+ page home post. I spent two weeks reading everything under the sun just to get to a stage where I felt reasonably confident in rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, well you already did the hard part, rooting. Chances of bricking it now are about slim to none, unless you pull the battery during a flash of a rom. Worst case scenario, you get a bootloop because you forgot to wipe first or something, which is easily fixable.
If you want to read up on his thread, I would read starting on last page and read backwards. Otherwise, you will read all the issues in the original version of MikFroyo, the current 4.5 is virtually flawless.
Btw, I am glad to see you are willing to read before you do things - most people don't.
I'll probably tackle a custom ROM (MikFroyo 4.5) next week. From what I'm reading, it's all about staging a ZIP or image to the root, and using the boot tool to flash it into the system. That, and be careful about radio keys, and the like. Seems uncomplicated enough.
Thanks to both of you for the help, I do appreciate it a lot. I've not been impressed with TitaniumBackup's freezing - a buncha junk still fires off on reboot of the phone - I'll try the AppBrain one here, I think. TB works good for backing crap up, though. As far as I can tell - haven't needed to restore anything yet - but it does definitely make a crapton of files in the backup process, so that's a good thing - I guess.