Related
I am definately a beginner at this so any experienced help would be much appreciated.
I want to try out some new roms but im not 100% sure of ALL the steps
1) do I have to do a wipe/factory reset every time before installing a rom
2) do I have to do a nandroid backup everytime
3) Is there a way to save my settings in a particular rom so that it makes it easy to switch back and forth
I'd also like some insight on what roms have an everyday functionality to them. I am running the C-6 rc1 version of Froyo and love it. Only prob is battery life. But i would like to know what other roms work well for everyday use.
Much appreciated people!
1. do so unless instructed by the dev that you dont have to. But always wipe when switching between different roms (e.g cm6-fresh)
2.no, just make sure you have at least 1 good one
3. Not entirely, you can use something like titanium backup though in order to backup settings for specific applications, which could be used to save your custom keyboard dictionary, text messages, and things like that. It can also be used to backup downloaded aps etc.
4. Try a rom like fresh, damage control, baked something. there are so many. I use cm6 so I have no experience with the above
..here is a cute little thread with what some people are using:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=733732&highlight=rom
don't know how statistically accurate it is, but it gives you an idea of the top roms I think who knows D;
What about radios?
I'm running a rooted 1.47.651.1 with the latest radio and wimax (whitslack's fix). Will I need to flash the radio and wimax again if I flash fresh 1.0.1 or something else?
Read the dev forums and all the Wikis.
If something is not clear, read them again.
Then flash and search for any issue you run into.
no radio and wimax are neither backed up or restored during a nandroid, nor are they touched when flashing a new rom unless the dev specifically made the rom to flash the radio also (and I do not think anyone does this)
3) Is there a way to save my settings in a particular rom so that it makes it easy to switch back and forth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually the best way i have found to switch between roms and keep settings - nandroid.
If you are trying multiple roms just make a nandroid once you have it all set up if you later switch to a new rom and want to go back and not have to set everything up just restore that nandroid. Since you probably will know that you want to go back you can store them on a pc if you want to save space and dont switch often. Just remember to always keep at least 1 good back up on the phone.
I rename the back ups to reflect the rom and then switch at will takes about 10 minutes or whatever to do the restore but in my opinion easier then having to titanium back up and re set up all your widgets if you switch a lot. I do use titanium back up for other reasons and NEW roms its great for but if you switch a lot or are testing to see this may be a "easier" option
see signature for daily driver (everyday use rom) and the ones i play with. I personally feel DamageControl gives the best battery life for my device. It is also very stable (though most 2.1 roms are now yay amazing devs )
Using Nandroid to reinstall custom ROMs
I was wondering about that. Would the following strategy work?
1) Wipe as needed and then flash a new ROM.
2) Use Titanium Backup to restore the apps and data you want restored.
3) When the new ROM is all fixed up how you like it, make a nandroid backup of it.
4) Repeat step 1-3 with a different new ROM.
5) When or if you decide to start using one of the previously tried ROMs again, instead of repeating steps 1-3, simply restore the nandroid backup of that ROM.
Wouldn't that work? Wouldn't the nandroid backup restore the custom ROM complete with all the apps and data you restored to it?
Thanks.
--VI
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
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, 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.
Hi all!
I have recently joined the forums because I have heard that you guys are the best when it comes to smart phones including rooting and what not. I have scoured the forums looking for direct answers on how to root my EVO 4G and what I need to use for the best and easiest root. I work as a Network Administrator so I am familiar different technologies and different O/S's including many variations of Linux.
So, moving forward, I want to root my EVO. I have installed all of the latest updates released by both Sprint and HTC. But I have seem so many different ways to do this most notably using Unrevoked. But I've read in the forums that Unrevoked may not work well with the Kernel or Software I have?
I found the leaked Gingerbread and Sense 3.0 image (I believe it was an image) on the forums here and thought about using that one but with so many different ways to "root" an EVO I have no idea on where to begin. I know that many have posted about this before and I hate to be "that guy" whom posts it again but I truly need some expert advice here.
First off, which root method should I use? Secondly, which custom ROM should I use or should I use a custom ROM? I backup my data and apps with myBackup Pro by the way.
And here are the exact specs for my phone:
Software Information:
Android Version:
2.2 (Froyo of course)
Baseband Version:
2.15.00.11.19
Kernel Version:
2.6.32.17-gee557fd
htc-kernel"ampersand"and18-2 #15
Build Number:
3.70.651.1
Browser Version:
WebKit 3.1
PRI Version
1.90_003
PRL Version:
60677
If I'm posting in the wrong forum please do not hesitate to move my thread, I will not be offended like some people are. Lol!
Thanks guys!
Use unrevoked, it should root all versions of the Evo. There were compatibility issues at one point, but I believe that has all been fixed.
You will need to uninstall HTC Sync if you have it installed. If you haven't installed it, do so & then uninstall it. You will also need to install the modified hboot drivers if you're using Windows. You can get those from the unrevoked site. Make sure you have usb debugging turned on before you start the root process & that you've uninstalled anything that syncs with your phone - Doubletwist for one example. If you have problems, disable your antivirus as well.
If unrevoked works for you, I would make sure to do a nandroid backup via recovery before you do anything else. Unrevoked flashes Clockworkmod Recovery. I prefer Amon Ra, but whichever you use is up to you. You can switch recoveries through Rom Manager.
Also make sure you've backed up your RSA keys. Clockwork does this automatically with each backup. You can choose to include/exclude with AR, or do a separate backup of only your wimax keys.
The new GingerSense roms, while neat, are probably not a good idea for a first rom... or even a daily driver. They're going to be really buggy.
If you need anything else or another method to root, I'll be around. Good luck & have fun!
Sweet!
Thanks a ton PlainJane!
I won't be able to try this until tomorrow but rest assured I will try and most likely succeed with your advice. Speaking of Nandroid, I haven't been able to find it on the Android Market, unless I'm over looking it. So if you were doing it, which recovery/backup method would you use and where can you find it if not in the Android Market?
Again, thank you so much and I will probably wait until I get Nandroid or one of the others before I proceed. Hopefully that will be tomorrow.
Regards!
PAinguIN
Nandroid is just the name for the backup made in recovery. If I remember right, ClockworkMod doesn't call it that, nor does Rom Manager (the dev that made Clockwork made Rom Manager to go with it). Recovery is where you'll be doing all of your flashing & backing up. Titanium Backup (or MyBackup) will be needed to back up your apps + data so you can restore them after flashing a new Rom. Doing a nandroid backup is needed in case anything goes wrong or you just want to go back to the ROM/setup you had before. Nandroid backups take an image of your phone at that given time. When you restore a nandroid, it looks exactly as it did when you made the backup. Your rom/kernel are restored as well as your homescreens, apps, everything. They really come in handy. I'd suggest keeping at least one, along with your RSA keys if they're done separately, on your computer just in case. You cannot restore backups made with Amon Ra with Clockwork or vice versa, so I would go ahead and decide which recovery you want to use to avoid having to switch around later.
To get to recovery, you need to power down the phone. Hold the volume down button & the power button at the same time until you see a white screen - that's the bootloader. At the top in should say Supersonic something something ship S-off. The s-off means that you're nand unlocked, fully rooted. Use the volume buttons to move up & down through the menu. Hit the volume down button to highlight "recovery" then the power button to select it. You'll see the white Evo splashscreen & then you'll be in recovery. I'm not sure how Clockwork is laid out because I haven't used it in a while, but there should be a backup/restore option in the recovery menu. Choose that & the rest is pretty self-explanatory. In Amon Ra, choose backup/restore then nandroid backup. You'll be given options what to backup (only in AR, not CWM). Leave the first three checked and do your backup. If you want to include wimax keys, just use the volume down button to highlight it & power to select it. You'll see the box next to it checked. I would suggest doing a separate backup of only your wimax keys after doing a full backup. Just uncheck the first three and then check only wimax.
Remember, before flashing a new ROM, wipe everything in recovery but the SD card. When flashing anything else that goes with the rom - kernels, themes, add-ons, etc - just wipe cache & dalvik cache. In Clockworkmod, I think dalvik is under advanced.
Let me know how it goes!
EDIT: I'm not sure of what wipe options are in Clockwork, and I don't want you to accidentally wipe something on your SD or something else that you shouldn't. So if you use CWM, just wipe data, dalvik, and cache. Or you can use a format all zip (King's format all will work with Clockwork) to do it. In Amon Ra, it's safe to do what I said before, even though data & dalvik/cache should be all that's necessary.
plainjane said:
Nandroid is just the name for the backup made in recovery. If I remember right, ClockworkMod doesn't call it that, nor does Rom Manager (the dev that made Clockwork made Rom Manager to go with it). Recovery is where you'll be doing all of your flashing & backing up. Titanium Backup (or MyBackup) will be needed to back up your apps + data so you can restore them after flashing a new Rom. Doing a nandroid backup is needed in case anything goes wrong or you just want to go back to the ROM/setup you had before. Nandroid backups take an image of your phone at that given time. When you restore a nandroid, it looks exactly as it did when you made the backup. Your rom/kernel are restored as well as your homescreens, apps, everything. They really come in handy. I'd suggest keeping at least one, along with your RSA keys if they're done separately, on your computer just in case. You cannot restore backups made with Amon Ra with Clockwork or vice versa, so I would go ahead and decide which recovery you want to use to avoid having to switch around later.
To get to recovery, you need to power down the phone. Hold the volume down button & the power button at the same time until you see a white screen - that's the bootloader. At the top in should say Supersonic something something ship S-off. The s-off means that you're nand unlocked, fully rooted. Use the volume buttons to move up & down through the menu. Hit the volume down button to highlight "recovery" then the power button to select it. You'll see the white Evo splashscreen & then you'll be in recovery. I'm not sure how Clockwork is laid out because I haven't used it in a while, but there should be a backup/restore option in the recovery menu. Choose that & the rest is pretty self-explanatory. In Amon Ra, choose backup/restore then nandroid backup. You'll be given options what to backup (only in AR, not CWM). Leave the first three checked and do your backup. If you want to include wimax keys, just use the volume down button to highlight it & power to select it. You'll see the box next to it checked. I would suggest doing a separate backup of only your wimax keys after doing a full backup. Just uncheck the first three and then check only wimax.
Remember, before flashing a new ROM, wipe everything in recovery but the SD card. When flashing anything else that goes with the rom - kernels, themes, add-ons, etc - just wipe cache & dalvik cache. In Clockworkmod, I think dalvik is under advanced.
Let me know how it goes!
EDIT: I'm not sure of what wipe options are in Clockwork, and I don't want you to accidentally wipe something on your SD or something else that you shouldn't. So if you use CWM, just wipe data, dalvik, and cache. Or you can use a format all zip (King's format all will work with Clockwork) to do it. In Amon Ra, it's safe to do what I said before, even though data & dalvik/cache should be all that's necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PlainJane,
Thank you again for your advice. So from what I understand this is what I need to do. First, I need to "root" my device using Unrevoked. Once rooted I then boot my phone up in "Recovery Mode" and at that point I will be able to make my Nandroid image via the recovery method I choose. Correct?
But, where and when do I install these mods? For instance, just for an example, if I wanted to use ClockworkMod would it already show up in Recovery since my phone is now rooted or do I have to install it separately?
This gets more and more confusing as time goes by. I would certainly want to make my Nandroid backup before I would root the phone I would imagine but doing so is not possible unless the device is already rooted correct?
I'm going to give this a shot right now starting with the first set of instructions you gave me.
I hope all goes well.
Thanks and please feel free to respond with any additional information I may need or if it sounds like I have confused myself, which I believe I have.... Lol!
PAinguIN
PAinguINx said:
PlainJane,
Thank you again for your advice. So from what I understand this is what I need to do. First, I need to "root" my device using Unrevoked. Once rooted I then boot my phone up in "Recovery Mode" and at that point I will be able to make my Nandroid image via the recovery method I choose. Correct?
But, where and when do I install these mods? For instance, just for an example, if I wanted to use ClockworkMod would it already show up in Recovery since my phone is now rooted or do I have to install it separately?
This gets more and more confusing as time goes by. I would certainly want to make my Nandroid backup before I would root the phone I would imagine but doing so is not possible unless the device is already rooted correct?
I'm going to give this a shot right now starting with the first set of instructions you gave me.
I hope all goes well.
Thanks and please feel free to respond with any additional information I may need or if it sounds like I have confused myself, which I believe I have.... Lol!
PAinguIN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unrevoked automatically installs ClockworkMod Recovery, so no need to do that. If you want to use Amon Ra - I think it is the more popular, easy to use option - you will have to flash it over CWM. You can do this easily by downloading Rom Manager from the market & choosing "flash alternate recovery". Other functions of Rom Manager won't work without Clockwork, but trust me, learning to do everything manually will really help you out.
Since it seems that you're a little confused on this point - you only have one recovery at a time. For the Evo, there's ClockworkMod & Amon Ra. You have to have one or the other to boot into recovery, otherwise you'll get a black screen with a red triangle in the corner.
If for some reason flashing AR doesn't work from Rom Manager, let me know & I'll walk you through the manual installation. If you just want to learn that method, I'm all for that too. I just don't want to confuse you with that information unless you need it.
You cannot do a nandroid backup until you root the phone. It's just one more limitation of not being rooted. You have to have a custom recovery installed, and I don't think this is possible without being rooted. You can go ahead & do the backup once you've rooted, just be sure to switch recoveries first if that's something you plan on doing. I'm not saying Clockwork is bad, I just recommend AR for multiple reasons... one of them being that Amon Ra supports both edify & amend scripting. With newer versions of ClockworkMod, you can only flash edify scripted zips, older versions are amend only. If you flash enough you'll run into a problem with this one-or-the-other way of doing things.
Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. I found that watching videos on YouTube helped me feel more at ease before my first time rooting and my first time flashing. Once I saw how easy it was, I felt more comfortable doing it. Read the stickies and any kind of guides you can find in the Evo forums. I've learned a lot just by reading the Evo Q&A section.
If you want to pm me with any more questions, go ahead. You can ask them in the thread too, if you want... either way.
I'd like to hear how everything goes for you. Most people are happy with how easy unrevoked is, but a few do have problems. Anyway, good luck!
PlainJane,
Well, I've installed the modified HBOOT drivers successfully. I have ran UnrEVOked3 and am now in the process of creating my first NANDROID backup. I just stuck with ClockWorkMod because once I actually ran UnrEVOked3 and it finished it reboot my EVO into recovery mode. So rather than rebooting my phone again and flashing Amon Ra (and possibly running into any problems) I just stuck with CWM. I may regret this later but at this point I am just glad that my phone hasn't been "bricked". Lol!
It's still running the NANDROID backup right now. Now I need to clarify what needs to be done when that has finished. I guess I need to flash a custom ROM of my choosing right? Will I do this using ROMmanager or do I need to d/l one from the net somewhere first?
Also, you mention something about wiping the data on my phone aside from the SD Card. I only need to do this just before I flash a "New ROM" correct? Or should I go ahead and do this now?
Anyway, it looks like "so far so good" in my case. Thanks to you that is! ; ) And the backup has completed, I'm going to see if I can boot into my phone now.
Oh, and this is what I am seeing in CWM:
ClockworkMod Recovery v2.6.0.1
- reboot system now
- apply sdcard:update.zip
- wipe data/factory reset
- wipe cache partition
- install zip from sdcard
- backup and restore
- mounts and storage
- advanced
- +++++Go Back+++++
So that's what you see with ClockWorkMod these days.
Now, back to what I was saying. Do I choose a custom ROM now or am I good with what I have? Also, about wiping, that's only done when I flash a new ROM?
Thanks yet again PlainJane!
PAinguIN
I created the attached document for myself when I was learning how to root and what all steps that need to be taken. Its not perfect, but when i root a phone for my friends, i still reference this and make changes when needed.
/*** Follow these steps at your own risk. Like is said, these are the steps that I use and this is NOT an "official" guide.
/*** I take no responsibility for "bricking" during this process
I have to put some sort of disclaimer in here, lol
fikusunc said:
I created the attached document for myself when I was learning how to root and what all steps that need to be taken. Its not perfect, but when i root a phone for my friends, i still reference this and make changes when needed.
/*** Follow these steps at your own risk. Like is said, these are the steps that I use and this is NOT an "official" guide.
/*** I take no responsibility for "bricking" during this process
I have to put some sort of disclaimer in here, lol
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Click to collapse
Thanks!
So what ROM/Kernel is the best or coolest to have these days? I already tried to uninstall some factory installed apps with no luck. I also tried to use the "Root" features in JuiceDefender and when I allowed the app to scan to see if my Kernel/Rom supported CPU controlling it said that it was not supported. So I certainly need to get a new ROM/Kernel.
Perhaps you guide will hold the secret!
Thanks guy!
PAinguIN
yw, check out this site. This person put together a page that makes looking for roms very easy. http://evo4g.roms-db.com/
As far as what is the "best" or "coolest", that just depends on what you want. I basically wanted a rom that that was stable and had hotspot and tethering enabled and working. I think that I have had almost every rom that is on above link and I finally decided on sticking with the Eternal Prophecy rom. I kept going back to it so now im sticking with it until I get more knowledge to build my own.
I dont know enough about Kernals to flash one or make modifications, yet.
to uninstall some apps that come default on a rom, I use "root explorer".
just check out the section of the file called:
######## TO REMOVE BLOATING HTC / SPRINT APPS, FOLLOW THE STEPS HERE OR KEEP READING ########
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So I downloaded the Eternal Prophecy v5.7 ROM. Do I place this in the root of my SD card? Also, can I flash this rom using ROM Manager or do I have to do it through ClockWorkMod recovery? Do I have to wipe my phone beforehand if I use ROM Manager?
One other question, how do I choose a Kernel and what is the benefit of using a different Kernel. For instance, if I use this Kernel "Netarchy 4.3.4 CFS HAVS SBC More Aggressive" what will it do for me? And do I have to have a custom kernel for a custom rom?
Thanks!
By the way, your guide was helpful. I like what has been done in the Eternal Prophecy Rom, I haven't installed it yet but based on the change notes I've read it sounds great. Although I don't see why someone would want to remove Adobe Reader. I have to work with PDF files a great deal and I also read e-books in PDF format as well. I guess I'll just install it after I flash the ROM.
Thanks again,
PAinguIN
Wow, I missed a lot overnight apparently, hah.
First off, don't wipe data unless you're about to flash! Otherwise you won't have any data. Sorry for the confusion.
I'm not familiar with the Rom you chose, but I'm sure it'll be fine. The most popular roms are usually on the first couple of pages of the Evo Development forums, but popularity shouldn't be the deciding factor. Run through the thread for the rom & just make sure it's stable & people aren't having a lot of problems. It's usually best to choose a rom that's up to date, but I stuck with CM6 until CM7 nightly 20-something was out because I liked how stable it was & didn't feel the need to jump on the Gingerbread bandwagon.
Okay, since you downloaded the ROM externally, you can't flash through Rom Manager... I think. I've never used it so I'm not sure. But for learning purposes, go ahead and do it manually. Read the thread for the rom - at least the first few posts, not the whole thing - and make sure there isn't anything else that's required before flashing. If you don't need anything else, you can go ahead and flash the rom by itself. You can flash kernels, etc later. Now I'm not exactly sure where things are in Clockwork (thanks for showing me the first level, it sounds odd compared to what I'm used to), but you need to wipe cache, dalvik cache & data. I have heard that dalvik is under advanced, but I don't remember if the rest is under wipe data/factory reset or not.
After you've wiped, choose install zip from sd card. All of the zip files are at the bottom, so it's easiest to hit the volume up button to take you to the bottom unstead of going down from the top. If I remember right, Clockwork makes you choose yes in the middle of a bunch of noes. I think that's what I miss the least about CWM, lol. When it finishes flashing just choose to reboot, and hopefully you'll be done with that ugly boot animation & sound from Sprint :]
Okay, on to kernels. Most likely all you need is a CFS kernel. BFS kernels give you better quadrant scores, but quadrant scores are just a competition for teenage boys. You can use them for testing purposes, but take them with a grain of salt. There's a great kernel starter guide. I have it saved, but just search for kernel starter guide & you should be able to find it. With a havs kernel, you can't change your cpu speed without interfering with the kernel. Havs kernels do a good job of undervolting to save battery when the phone isn't in use, eliminating the need for SetCPU or anything similar. You will still be able to use the app, but doing so will kind of fight the kernel. Make sure you choose an AOSP kernel for AOSP & Sense for Sense. Also take into account if you're on 2.2 or 2.3, but this mostly matters for AOSP right now. You do not need a custom kernel, every rom comes with one. You can choose a different one to suit your needs.
I'm sure I missed something, so if I think of anything else, I'll let you know
Ok, well, I've already bought SetCPU and I've purchase Rom Manager Pro and Bloat Freezer. Problem though, I was going to try and d/l and flash a rom using Rom Manager but when I press download ROM it tells me this: "You must have ClockworkMod Recovery installed before continuing! Install the recovery through ROM Manager first."
But I already have ClockworkMod installed because Unrevoked did it for me. If I click on Reboot into Recovery it works fine. But why does it tell me I need to install ClockworkMod recovery when it's already installed? It gives me the choice to install it but I don't want to reinstall it and cause any problems you know?
What should I do? Should I use Rom Manager at all now or should I just work manually?
Thanks!
PAinguINx said:
Ok, well, I've already bought SetCPU and I've purchase Rom Manager Pro and Bloat Freezer. Problem though, I was going to try and d/l and flash a rom using Rom Manager but when I press download ROM it tells me this: "You must have ClockworkMod Recovery installed before continuing! Install the recovery through ROM Manager first."
But I already have ClockworkMod installed because Unrevoked did it for me. If I click on Reboot into Recovery it works fine. But why does it tell me I need to install ClockworkMod recovery when it's already installed? It gives me the choice to install it but I don't want to reinstall it and cause any problems you know?
What should I do? Should I use Rom Manager at all now or should I just work manually?
Thanks!
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This was more of a curiosity question to be honest with you. I have copied the ROM and Calkulin's combo update to the root of my SD card and am performing my NANDROID right now. I decided to try out "Myn’s Warm TwoPointTwo" ROM instead of Eternal Prophecy. I will probably flash a Cyanogen ROM later and perform a NANDROID of that as well so I can switch back and forth.
I really appreciate all of your help PlainJane, oh, and Fikusunc too!
This is truly the best forum for Android/Linux development and modifications. I'll spread the word about XDA to my friends for sure. ; )
Still curious about that Rom Manager thing though...strange....
I bought the Pro key too when I first rooted. I used it to download one ROM that I never flashed and I haven't touched it since. I learned to do everything manually from the get-go... I think I just didn't trust Rom Manager to do its job. As for the error, I got that too with the premium version. I think I downgraded to a previous version & it worked for me. You can also try reflashing the recovery through Rom Manager, that may help. If not, go to settings and clear cache/data for Rom Manager & then try again. I really think you'd benefit from learning to do it manually... it's not hard at all, and if you're in a pinch where your phone won't boot, it'll help to know your way around the recovery. If you can get Rom Manager working and want to use it, go ahead, there's nothing wrong with using it. You've already paid for it.
I think you'll really enjoy Myn's, especially coming from stock. It took me some time to flash a custom rom after I rooted, but once I did I was amazed to see what I'd been missing.
Let me know how you like Myn's, though. I've pretty much settled between CM & MIUI, but I feel it's time for something new. I haven't used Sense in what feels like forever, so I may give it a shot.
Wow! Quick learner! It took me some time to wrap my head around all this stuff! You had good coaches also. Good luck and have fun with your "new" Evo!
New EVO user as well and I'm eager to get rooted and get CM7 flashed. I've read that WiMax isn't working with most custom ROMs. I'm wondering, if I decide to restore back to stock ROM, would WiMax work again? (assuming of course I back up my RSA keys) or am I SOL after flashing a new ROM?
Thanks all! Just upgraded from an HTC Rhodium 400 and am still new to this whole thing.
BTW - thanks for the thread, It's been useful
gm87 said:
New EVO user as well and I'm eager to get rooted and get CM7 flashed. I've read that WiMax isn't working with most custom ROMs. I'm wondering, if I decide to restore back to stock ROM, would WiMax work again? (assuming of course I back up my RSA keys) or am I SOL after flashing a new ROM?
Thanks all! Just upgraded from an HTC Rhodium 400 and am still new to this whole thing.
BTW - thanks for the thread, It's been useful
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this is actually not correct. wimax works with most roms. EVEN CM7 NOW! it took 4 months for 2 guys to reverse engineer closed-source wimax drivers to the evo. so now you have 'MOAR GEES' as we call it, on cm7. even if you flash a rom w/o 4g, you'l still have it when you come back to one that does.
btw, SAVE YOUR RSA KEYS! have at least one nandroid bakcup wiht wimax.img so that if you keys (the way into sprint's 4g network) gets corrupted, you aren't sol.
plainjane said:
I bought the Pro key too when I first rooted. I used it to download one ROM that I never flashed and I haven't touched it since. I learned to do everything manually from the get-go... I think I just didn't trust Rom Manager to do its job. As for the error, I got that too with the premium version. I think I downgraded to a previous version & it worked for me. You can also try reflashing the recovery through Rom Manager, that may help. If not, go to settings and clear cache/data for Rom Manager & then try again. I really think you'd benefit from learning to do it manually... it's not hard at all, and if you're in a pinch where your phone won't boot, it'll help to know your way around the recovery. If you can get Rom Manager working and want to use it, go ahead, there's nothing wrong with using it. You've already paid for it.
I think you'll really enjoy Myn's, especially coming from stock. It took me some time to flash a custom rom after I rooted, but once I did I was amazed to see what I'd been missing.
Let me know how you like Myn's, though. I've pretty much settled between CM & MIUI, but I feel it's time for something new. I haven't used Sense in what feels like forever, so I may give it a shot.
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Painjane,
Actually I think I'm going to stick with your advice and handle everything manually from now own. While I could probably reflash recovery through ROM Manager and get it working properly recovery does work. So as they say, if it's not broken don't fix it right? Lol!
I'll keep ROM Manager though, since I've paid for it, and possibly try to use it when I flash my next ROM. Just to see what happens.
One of the guys posted in the thread something about how fast I caught on and that I had a good coach. Thanks! I think I did catch on pretty quickly, and yes I had a very good coach. Lol!
I've actually owned my EVO since its day of release. I pre-ordered that device once I heard of it and did my research. I originally wanted the Nexus One but settled on the EVO as the NEXUS One was only available through T-Mobile or something. Nothing against T-Mobile, they just don't offer good service in my area.
Anyway, it took me this long to buildup the courage to finally root my phone. The last thing I wanted was a $600 paper weight you know? Lol! But as smooth as this process went I would recommend this process to anyone.
And PlainJane, Myn's is working great! It has an amazing interface and is just plain (no pun intended) sweet!. Here's something for everyone else out there which I did differently.
Instead of wiping ALL of the data on my phone I only wiped the dalvik and cache instead of doing a complete wipe. This way everything was still setup exactly the way I had it before the flash. i.e. E-Mail, Contacts, SMS logs, music, photos, etc. Moreover, wireless tether works great, Wimaxx still turns on but we don't have 4G around here so I've never been able to use it. Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS work just fine too.
In fact, there is nothing that doesn't work the way it should. So, in my opinion, wiping your device of all of it's data is not necessary but I did not develop the ROMS so check with the devs before doing anything out of the norm.
; )
PAinguIN