To root or not to root... - Samsung Epic 4G Touch

I've read all the posts, but I'm still torn. This phone is the best I've ever had. I can't imagine it being better than it already is. What do I stand to gain by rooting and what problems might I encounter after rooting?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

You can read the dozen or so threads already posted about this.

You can always unroot, so...nothing. The benefits? Lots.

If you haven't gotten an LOS yet, I say leave it alone for now.......

No LOS for me. Is it the consensus of the masses that Rooting causes the LOS?

hotspace said:
No LOS for me. Is it the consensus of the masses that Rooting causes the LOS?
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Click to collapse
No actually there is a kernel to fix LOS. I actually rooted because I had LOS. Now I don't have it at all after rooted. Also of you root, you get a smoother experience than what you already have.

If you just want root without modifying the kernel that came with your phone then i would suggest that you look at this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1282415

I rooted for adaway (great ad blocking app), titanium backup (backs up apps and THEIR DATA), and lbe privacy guard (allows you to individually block certain permissions - no reason a dictionary app should access my contacts!).
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

I rooted because of many reasons. One in which of course, is to prevent LoS (which I have never had, but heard it happens alot.) I also like the idea of overclocking to 1.6GHz. And setting a min underclock on demand to save battery. So i'd basically say, 1. For LoS, 2. For Battery, 3. For the kernals themes and ROM's.

Interestingly, I never had an LOS in the first 2 weeks I ran the phone stock. I rooted by Odining LostKernel (the kernel designed to prevent LOS), and had 6 LOS events the next day. Returned to stock and haven't had one in the two weeks since.
Whenever I get around to rooting again, I'll probably use the stock+ root file system CrawJr released.
This is not to knock LostKernel, which I understand has helped many people. My point is that these phones all react differently to being flashed. My phone happened to not like the very kernel that FIXES this problem for many others.
Further, my point is that if you root and end up with LOS, the awesome devs who gave us root and fun roms to begin with have also given us the ability to undo it all and return to stock. Worked for me!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

i've been on the fence on whether to root or not too, cause with the last phone i had(Motorola Atrix), i rooted and loved it, but after a while after flashing different roms, kernals, mods, and themes the battery strength began to decrease dramatically, and no matter how many fixes i installed, i could never get the long battery life i had before root, and i don't want that to happen to my E4gT

G1-8701 said:
i've been on the fence on whether to root or not too, cause with the last phone i had(Motorola Atrix), i rooted and loved it, but after a while after flashing different roms, kernals, mods, and themes the battery strength began to decrease dramatically, and no matter how many fixes i installed, i could never get the long battery life i had before root, and i don't want that to happen to my E4gT
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Click to collapse
Completely different phones and different situations. Just because one girl/guy told you no does not mean they all will...lol
Plus going back to stock is easy as hell and to be honest rooted stock w/mods seems to be the route most people are taking...
---------- Post added at 11:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:38 AM ----------
phatmanxxl said:
You can read the dozen or so threads already posted about this.
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Click to collapse
he is right about this why start a new thread about the same thing.. In reality its your choice and why should you need others to convince you... Do the research and make your own decision...IMHO

Related

Rooting Leading to LoS

I rooted my phone for the first time yesterday after having it for two weeks. I never had a LoS issue and was getting 3 days of battery life. About an hour after rooting, I got my first LoS. I charged my phone overnight, and verified everything was okay in the morning (had sync). After 6 hours of being at work, I got a low battery warning and noticed it hit LoS again.
I know people with stock phones have reported LoS, but I'm convinced that it's either significantly worse with a rooted phone.
install starburst v1.6 which includes lost kernel.. lost kernel fixed my LOS issues.. maybe it will do the same for you..
Question: I flashed the stock kernel from Bubby to get rid of the LoS problem. Everything succeeded, but I still have root. How is that possible if I put the stock kernel in?
shaklee3 said:
Question: I flashed the stock kernel from Bubby to get rid of the LoS problem. Everything succeeded, but I still have root. How is that possible if I put the stock kernel in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you flash a ROM?
Sent from my SPH-D710
I haven't got Los on my new ept4g. S
I don't think its root though
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
shaklee3 said:
I rooted my phone for the first time yesterday after having it for two weeks. I never had a LoS issue and was getting 3 days of battery life. About an hour after rooting, I got my first LoS. I charged my phone overnight, and verified everything was okay in the morning (had sync). After 6 hours of being at work, I got a low battery warning and noticed it hit LoS again.
I know people with stock phones have reported LoS, but I'm convinced that it's either significantly worse with a rooted phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has absolutely nothing to do with root.
That is nothing more than a rumor.
Developers have stated, and so has Sprint, that this is a problem with the Samsung firmware with the phone.
If this is true it was just a mere coincidence.
mattykinsx said:
It has absolutely nothing to do with root.
That is nothing more than a rumor.
Developers have stated, and so has Sprint, that this is a problem with the Samsung firmware with the phone.
If this is true it was just a mere coincidence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you, but I also believe it's worse with rooting or something caused during the rooting process. I had the phone for two weeks and never once saw a LoS. I rooted it using CWM + su, and had 4 LoS over the next two days. It just seems like too big of a coincidence.
ripalsanghani, no I didn't flash a ROM
root does NOT cause LOS. It happens on stock firmware also. It does happen more tho after you root (seems like it)
If it doesn't, then it definitely makes the problem EXTREMELY worse.
I've had two EPIC 4G Touchs (replace one before return policy ended because of stuck pixel) both phones I had running for about a week and half before rooting without issue.
Both immediately had LoS after rooting (and frequently.)
Haven't tried the newest kernel that is supposed to be much better though.
I'll probably feel brave enough soon.
For both phones, they immediately were better after putting stock kernel back in place. So YES definitely the previous kernels at least were either causing or exacerbating the issue. I've been able to recreate it.
I hope the new kernel is better.
100% rooting was the cause of my LoS's.
I had the phone for 2 weeks before rooting, not a single time did I have an LoS, and I was on the thing pretty much constantly. I rooted the phone, tried all 3 of the popular roms out there with the zedo kernel, 30 stock, and stock, and within 2 hours of rooting I had an LoS. After a few days, it got worse and worse, I would get LoS's at least 3 or 4 times a day, and I'd wake up every single morning with it having LoS'd over night.
I have since gone back to stock with the image available on XDA about 4 days ago, and I haven't had a single LoS since with no change in usage and all the same apps and settings as I had before. The only change was no root, and stock image.
It's too bad, I really loved my Evo and how responsive it was to rooting, kernels, and roms. I love this phone, I hope they get this part worked out.
Mario
LOS definitely can happen with stock kernel+stock ROM, but it happens in much fewer cases.
"Root" doesn't cause LOS.
However, many methods of "Root" include a "recompiled" kernel from Samsung stock source code.
It is the "recompiled" kernel which can in some cases exacerbate LOS. In cases where people were already seeing LOS, it could get worse. For people who never saw LOS before, they could start seeing it. There is an attempt to minimize the LOS effects in the "recompiled" kernels. It is called lostkernel.
It is unclear whether LOS getting exacerbated is due to Samsung source code being problematic or the build parameters being slightly off from what Samsung originally used.
Also keep in mind on Samsung Recovery and Android use the same kernel. On other platforms, Recovery and Android are separate so the kernels can be updated independently. What this means is if you install a Custom Recovery, your Android will also start using whatever kernel it came with (because there is only one kernel for both). Up until recently (as in a few days ago) every Custom Recovery came with a "recompiled" kernel so you might have been using a "recompiled" kernel from stock sources even if you didn't realize it, especially if you came from another platform expecting Recovery and Android to have separate kernels.
sfhub said:
LOS definitely can happen with stock kernel+stock ROM, but it happens in much fewer cases.
"Root" doesn't cause LOS.
However, many methods of "Root" include a "recompiled" kernel from Samsung stock source code.
It is the "recompiled" kernel which can in some cases exacerbate LOS. In cases where people were already seeing LOS, it could get worse. For people who never saw LOS before, they could start seeing it. There is an attempt to minimize the LOS effects in the "recompiled" kernels. It is called lostkernel.
It is unclear whether LOS getting exacerbated is due to Samsung source code being problematic or the build parameters being slightly off from what Samsung originally used.
Also keep in mind on Samsung Recovery and Android use the same kernel. On other platforms, Recovery and Android are separate so the kernels can be updated independently. What this means is if you install a Custom Recovery, your Android will also start using whatever kernel it came with (because there is only one kernel for both). Up until recently (as in a few days ago) every Custom Recovery came with a "recompiled" kernel so you might have been using a "recompiled" kernel from stock sources even if you didn't realize it, especially if you came from another platform expecting Recovery and Android to have separate kernels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good explanation - that being said, at the root of the issue, no pun intended, after having rooted/kernelled/rom'd my device, I started getting LoS's, before, and after, I haven't had a single one.
Just hope they get it worked out, blame isn't something I am throwing around or pointing at, if it gets fixed, that's all I care about It's a great phone, best phone I've ever used by far.
desantim said:
Good explanation - that being said, at the root of the issue, no pun intended, after having rooted/kernelled/rom'd my device, I started getting LoS's, before, and after, I haven't had a single one.
Just hope they get it worked out, blame isn't something I am throwing around or pointing at, if it gets fixed, that's all I care about It's a great phone, best phone I've ever used by far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's definitely not the rooting itself, but rather the recompiled kernels that seem to cause the increase in LOS.
There are non-kernel roots in the dev forum that don't have this increase in LOS behavior that people complain about in the custom kernel threads.
Maybe I'm just new to this, but I don't believe I flashed a new kernel. All I did was install CWM, then flash the su program. This is when the LoS started for me.
Which CWM did you install? Every CWM except the repacked one from chris41g that came out 2 days ago includes a "recompiled" kernel.
It was the one referenced in the thread at the top of the development forum summarizing the status of everything.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App

Anyone Still Have Their Phone Unrooted / LOS Bug?

So I would like to know if anyone out there besides me has not rooted their phone yet and if not, have you gotten the LOS bug?
I had purchased an E4GT when it came out and ran it stock for about a week. Did not have on LOS. Then decided to root it and within 12 hours I had an LOS. Within another 12 hours I got another one. Nothing in my use had changed and it happened in my house both times so it was not like I was in another situation that I have not been in.
I exhanged the phone for another one and obviously did not root it this time around. It has been over a month now and I have yet to get an LOS. I have traveled in areas where there is no Sprint service, through farmlands, etc. My phone roams fine. I have been on 3G, 4G, wifi, and an airave and there is nothing that will give my phone an LOS.
I also have a friend who owns the phone and I refuse to root his because he also never got an LOS since release day and I would be willing to bet if I rooted it one would show up not long after.
This is not to bring out the haters but I want to hear from people who have never rooted their phone. Not the ones who rooted then re-installed stock. I am sure we will also get some liars in here but I usually can pick out the trolls.
This is for true LOS, not that your internet connection wasn't working or your calls went straight to VM. I have had things like that happen for years already on all of my past phones.
Never rooted, never had LOS. Damn do I miss wifi tether.
You have been Epicly Touched by Jesse Buck
Yes I'm not rooted and I have gotten LOS. Not as of late (for over the last week) but I've had 4 total the 4th one I really can't blame the phone or Sprint since everyone at the time that was/is on sprint was having the issue (20+ people I go to school with)
Outside of that I've not had an issue as of late but yes I've never been rooted and I've had LOS as have other people in this forum as well.
I do not have LOS with Chris41g's kernel.
My brother who is completely stock/never rooted gets LOS from time to time.
Never rooted, and no LoS for me.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
mattykinsx said:
I do not have LOS with Chris41g's kernel.
My brother who is completely stock/never rooted gets LOS from time to time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How long have you ran that kernel for?
[email protected] said:
How long have you ran that kernel for?
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Click to collapse
Couple of weeks. I find the newer versions are better than the old.
I haven't rooted yet and I haven't had a single LOS since I got the phone on release day. That's the only reason why I haven't rooted, I'm afraid that if I do then I will start getting LOS. I wish there was a root method that didn't involve flashing anything, then I would pull the trigger on it. But for now, tethering and adfree are not a compelling enough reason for me to root and deal with the risk of LOS. I see no reason to flash a custom ROM or kernel on this phone seeing as though it is fast as hell and butter smooth the way it is. I would like to delete some crap from it though.
_MetalHead_ said:
I haven't rooted yet and I haven't had a single LOS since I got the phone on release day. That's the only reason why I haven't rooted, I'm afraid that if I do then I will start getting LOS. I wish there was a root method that didn't involve flashing anything, then I would pull the trigger on it. But for now, tethering and adfree are not a compelling enough reason for me to root and deal with the risk of LOS. I see no reason to flash a custom ROM or kernel on this phone seeing as though it is fast as hell and butter smooth the way it is. I would like to delete some crap from it though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totolly Agree and feel exaclty the same way. Although, even with the crap on it their really is no negative effect on the phone at all.
I am willing to say that almost everyone that has rooted their phone has seen an LOS where the ones that never did will most likely never see one.
Everyone is *****ing about Samsung that really is more of a rooting issue and not a manufacturing issue. I hope this gets sorted out and whatever Samsung updates will fix the issue with root. I can hold off for now but once an ICS Rom hits, it is going to be much harder!
Had this phone since launch and haven't rooted yet. No LOS at all. Phone goes on roaming and out just fine. First phone I have had stock but this phone is a beast. Will root once the LOS is solved or there is a rom that I can't wait for.
Sent From My Evo Killer!!!
I got the phone on launch day, LOS (stock) started on day 3. Rooting didnt help. Took it back for a replacement and havent had LOS at all... I rooted/added CWM yesterday, no issues. BUT, I havent flashed a rom yet, and I wont until this "update" is out...
I was stock until 2 weeks ago, and I've had the phone since one week after it came out. On stock, I had LOS 1 time. After I rooted just two weeks ago, I've had it 2 or 3 times.
[email protected] said:
Totolly Agree and feel exaclty the same way. Although, even with the crap on it their really is no negative effect on the phone at all.
I am willing to say that almost everyone that has rooted their phone has seen an LOS where the ones that never did will most likely never see one.
Everyone is *****ing about Samsung that really is more of a rooting issue and not a manufacturing issue. I hope this gets sorted out and whatever Samsung updates will fix the issue with root. I can hold off for now but once an ICS Rom hits, it is going to be much harder!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it were a rooting issue and not a manufacturing issue, then why is the manufacturer admitting that it's a manufacturing issue and releasing an update to fix the manufacturing issue? If it were a rooting issue, they'd have said "don't root and you won't have the problem".
I didn't root at first for fear of LOS, then I got it twice on the 4th day after release so I rooted anyway. Got it 1-2 times a day for a few weeks. Started running chris41g's lostkernel and now I get it once every two days to once a day tops.
Can't wait for Samsung to fix their stock problem at least they're on it this time and not screwing us like the epic 4g...which just got gingerbread i heard.
Not rooted, have had the phone since the week it launched - experienced LOS ONCE while in my house on the couch where I use the phone a lot. Haven't seen it since. I really, really miss being rooted mainly due to wifi tether and hiding annoying ads but I think the biggest thing right now is the effing camera click sounds.
I really wish there was a simple, straightforward root process that just "unlocked" the phone without really changing anything. Is such a thing even in process? Until then, I'm likely not going to do jack because LOS problems would be a ***** compared to the annoying camera clicks.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1269890
17 page thread with all types of users reporting it.
[email protected] said:
Totolly Agree and feel exaclty the same way. Although, even with the crap on it their really is no negative effect on the phone at all.
I am willing to say that almost everyone that has rooted their phone has seen an LOS where the ones that never did will most likely never see one.
Everyone is *****ing about Samsung that really is more of a rooting issue and not a manufacturing issue. I hope this gets sorted out and whatever Samsung updates will fix the issue with root. I can hold off for now but once an ICS Rom hits, it is going to be much harder!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing may trigger LOS, but it is not the root cause (no pun intended). My phone is bone stock and had LOS bug pretty bad. Even happened in a Sprint store while I was showing them.
CS had me do a data profile clear/re-update and all has been good since.
If you think rooting is the cause of LOS you're wrong, plain and simple. Some kernels may cause it to happen more often however. I had it 4 or 5 times when stock. I'm rooted now with chris41g's stock pulled w/cwm5 kernel and haven't had LOS since. I won't be surprised if I get LOS again, but it's definitely not because I rooted my phone. It's a problem right out of the box
Once again, root (su binaries and busy box, typically) DOES NOT CAUSE LOS.
The phones can get LOS bone stock. Mine did.
Custom kernels seem to exacerbate the problem...though new kernels seem to have figured it out. (current kernel is over a week in use with no LOS...as good as stock)
You can have root with a stock kernel.
You can debate LOS occurrence frequency differences between stock and custom kernels but please get your terminology straightened out. All of this is causing the conversation to always turn into a debate into an argument, every time and scaring people who want to root...and them the conversation comes back, the cycle persists and just gets louder every time.
Get your terminology straight...
...root has nothing to do with this. Period.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA App
daneurysm said:
You can have root with a stock kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you - that is what I was wondering. I understand what you're saying about rooting not being the cause of LOS but, as you said yourself, some of the kernels used to root these phones seem to exacerbate the problem. There are a few different camps of thinking here and one of them is the group that almost never or never experienced LOS out of the box. To them, the link between rooting and seemingly more frequent occurrences of LOS is enough to make them hesitate to root. Another group are those that experienced LOS already and maybe have nothing to lose to rooting and seeing what happens. I can tell you that, having experienced only one LOS since launch on a stock GS2, if I were to root today and experience LOS tomorrow I'd just have to link the two.
I'm not very knowledgeable on the rooting process but I have rooted almost every android phone I've ever had: Hero, EVO, Photon. ... I'll have to read up on which of the latest root methods for this phone seem to be the best as far as not experiencing LOS and maybe I'll just give it a whirl and see. If nothing else, it'll add to the body of knowledge and experience for this phone.
I'm a month into ownership and still no LOS. Been rooted on and off for 3 weeks and have run both types of LoStKernel and the Stock Pulled Kernel. I've flashed back to completely stock unrooted twice to have a clean slate to work with. No issues yet.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Reasons to root?

I have never rooted a phone before(well technically I rooted an HTC Inspire, which I was asked to do, but I did nothing on it involving the Root). What are some reasons I should root, and can anything go wrong during the root process? Just putting this out there, I will not be flashing any ROMs, as I know there is a chance that the device can be bricked While flashing if something goes wrong, and I do not have a spare phone to go back to if something does go wrong.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
If your not going to use customs ROMs having root access will allow you to delete any app you desire including all the preloaded sprint ones. You will also be able to download and use any apps that require root for enhanced functionality. Beyond that, there's not a whole lot of difference you'll see.
In the early days, people would do root only to adjust memory values on phones like the g1 and hero. There were a lot of settings you could tweak on a stock phone to make it better with the addition of root. Now with today's technology and phones like the E4GT, alot of those tweaks are unnecessary. The ones that are helpful are lower level and best done by a ROM dev or someone who knows what they are changing. Custom ROMs will have these included usually.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Removing bloatware that wastes ram and flash storage space, certain apps are smoother (tasker, some launchers, and custom lockscreens for example), ability to block ads, better backup capabilities, ability to underclock the cpu for those times you need to squeeze extra battery life out, and so on.
If none of this sounds important, then don't root. It can be a little bit of a puzzle getting back to stock sometimes, but it is extremely extremely hard to do something to your phone that is not reversible at this point. Note this statement is not true for all phones, especially newly released phones. But it is true for the epic touch.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Yeah.. I second what the guy above said..lol.
Wasup King..
I third the guy above the guy above me and second the guy above him... My thoughts are if you have to make a thread asking others should I root when the basic community offers all the info on the profit or lost of rooting then I say leave your phone alone.
Do yourself a favor and get an extended battery and download foxfi and you will be just fine. Most of us... ok all of us in here are flash-a-holics and can't help ourselves that's why we do it... Do some reading in here take a look at rom pics and see if you really really really like something...
Good luck
playya said:
I third the guy above the guy above me and second the guy above him... My thoughts are if you have to make a thread asking others should I root when the basic community offers all the info on the profit or lost of rooting then I say leave your phone alone.
Do yourself a favor and get an extended battery and download foxfi and you will be just fine. Most of us... ok all of us in here are flash-a-holics and can't help ourselves that's why we do it... Do some reading in here take a look at rom pics and see if you really really really like something...
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The truth can sometimes be cruel..lol. +1 to Playa..
The best thing about rooting for me is adblocking, I cant believe how many apps and things are bundled with intrusive ads.
Indrid Cole said:
The truth can sometimes be cruel..lol. +1 to Playa..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just trying to keep it real up in herrrrre! Ya Ya!
someguyatx said:
The best thing about rooting for me is adblocking, I cant believe how many apps and things are bundled with intrusive ads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just another app that root brings to the table:
Roam control lets you force into roam when you are stuck with one bar on Sprint.
Godsend for me!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
playya said:
I third the guy above the guy above me and second the guy above him... My thoughts are if you have to make a thread asking others should I root when the basic community offers all the info on the profit or lost of rooting then I say leave your phone alone.
Do yourself a favor and get an extended battery and download foxfi and you will be just fine. Most of us... ok all of us in here are flash-a-holics and can't help ourselves that's why we do it... Do some reading in here take a look at rom pics and see if you really really really like something...
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen several ROMs I love the look of, including AOKP, CM9, and Caulkin's ROMs. My only issue with ROMs is the fact that things can go wrong with flashing, and they can brick the device. And from what ive heard, there is an increased chance of bricking when flashing an ICS ROM while on GB. I have no backup device to go to if something like that does happen, so thats why Im staying away from flashing for now.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
EggosEvo said:
I have seen several ROMs I love the look of, including AOKP, CM9, and Caulkin's ROMs. My only issue with ROMs is the fact that things can go wrong with flashing, and they can brick the device. And from what ive heard, there is an increased chance of bricking when flashing an ICS ROM while on GB. I have no backup device to go to if something like that does happen, so thats why Im staying away from flashing for now.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The brick usually come from flashing to gb from ics using ics repacked kernels. There is always some risk/chance of brick from a bad flash, but El26 with cwm is fairly safe and the last kernel to have offical cwm. That is the only kernel i will use to flash anythin. I flash new roms every week. I have flashed to and from ics with no issues.
Sent on HyDrA using Tapatalk 2
EggosEvo said:
I have seen several ROMs I love the look of, including AOKP, CM9, and Caulkin's ROMs. My only issue with ROMs is the fact that things can go wrong with flashing, and they can brick the device. And from what ive heard, there is an increased chance of bricking when flashing an ICS ROM while on GB. I have no backup device to go to if something like that does happen, so thats why Im staying away from flashing for now.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My friend you have been misinformed.... There is a risk in everything we do so like I said if worried don't do it. If you take some more time and read you will see that the tar files are pretty brick proof and problems have occurred when flashing roms on ICS and using an ICS recovery. Most developers have stopped using CWM in ICS roms.
Clearly you need to do a lil more reading if you want to root but like suggested just relax and wait for the OTA and you will be OK.... One more thing all instructions say to flashEL26 kernel which is GB to flash anything ICS..... so flashing ICS rom while on GB is wrong
EggosEvo said:
I have never rooted a phone before(well technically I rooted an HTC Inspire, which I was asked to do, but I did nothing on it involving the Root). What are some reasons I should root, and can anything go wrong during the root process? Just putting this out there, I will not be flashing any ROMs, as I know there is a chance that the device can be bricked While flashing if something goes wrong, and I do not have a spare phone to go back to if something does go wrong.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Titanium Backup: remove those pesky system apps that Sprint really thinks you need.
2. File explorers: Being able to modify system folders to change things like the boot animation, etc.
3. Ad blocking: The ability to block ads (moral issues notwithstanding... but some apps have no paid version to get rid of the ads.)
4. Once you've rooted, it's just the beginning. You may change your mind about flashing and rooting your phone is the first step in learning more about your phone and the AndroidOS in general.
I have not seem anyone mention that it's also about the about the damn principal of the matter... why shouldn't you have root access for a device you bought? Also if you ODIN back to EL26 to flash, carefully read all instructions posted with the rom, and wait a day or two after the release and check the comments to make sure there hasn't been some sort of inexplicable rash of bricks thanks to the rom you won't have any problems to speak of... other than not being able to fathom how much better something like AOKP is than stock touchwiz gingerbread
Thanks to everyone. I've decided that I will root when the official ICS launches for my phone.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Personally, I root to follow fledging developers open their ROMs. It is exhilarating to see the new stuff that people come up with and the creativity that ensues because of it.
Also enhancing my phone experience with free hotspot access and customization doesn't help. However if none of these interesting you I wouldn't recommend it.
Reason to root
I root because it can be done. It's that simple. To me, it feels like regardless of the magnitude of what you can or cannot do while rooted, or how easy or difficult it may be to root your phone, a skilled user should have access to everthing your phone is capable of.
Plus, I feel like I'm "sticking it to the man", which is an added bonus!
My main reason for rooting was to remove the bundled software that comes with the phone. But I love that fact that I don't have any ads either! If u decide to root, download AdFree from the market & u'll realize just how many "free" apps use adware

[Q] Is there a genuine, legitimate reason to root

I've had my E4GT for about 2 or 3 weeks now, I received the OTA update to FI27 last week, and overall I'm pretty happy with it (I was happy before the update though, but to be honest because I only had the phone a few days I haven't noticed a difference ).
I rooted my last phone, which was a Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V, but that was because Virgin loaded it with a bunch of bloatware and there was a very good ROM that removed all of it, improved battery life, etc etc.
But with this phone, I don't find I have any issues with battery life, I have plenty of space on my phone with way more apps installed than I had on the Optimus, it runs smoothly, and the only complaint I have is that my LED notification light isn't working correctly, which I know can be fixed with an app.
So, to all the people that have rooted and know what else this phone can do, is there a good reason other than "you can install lots of different custom roms" that I should root my phone? What else will I be able to do with it? What benefits will I see? Installing different ROMs doesn't mean much to me. Even though I did that on my old phone, there was a real reason to do it: I could install more than 4 apps on it (and I kept that same ROM on it the entire time). I don't have that issue with this phone, so why should I?
Thanks
I personally consider customization, removing bloatware, and tweaking to your own liking genuine and legitimate reasons. You also have Ad blocking & WiFi tether though.
You shouldn't if you are happy with it.
I rooted for those reasons..
-Tired of stock look. Install new roms.
-Use apps needing root like titaniun backup.
-Get rid of stock apps.
I didnt root for almost 2 months. I was eager to try ics leaks before ota so I eventually rooted.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
someguyatx said:
I personally consider customization, removing bloatware, and tweaking to your own liking genuine and legitimate reasons. You also have Ad blocking & WiFi tether though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this is what I don't really understand. What sort of customization and tweaking can be done to the phone? What are the effects of it?
BluesRulez said:
You shouldn't if you are happy with it.
I rooted for those reasons..
-Tired of stock look. Install new roms.
-Use apps needing root like titaniun backup.
-Get rid of stock apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't you really only need Titanium Backup if you are gonna be rooting though? The bloatware I can deal with as the phone hasn't (yet) told me that I don't have enough space to stop me from installing new apps.
mewikime said:
I've had my E4GT for about 2 or 3 weeks now, I received the OTA update to FI27 last week, and overall I'm pretty happy with it (I was happy before the update though, but to be honest because I only had the phone a few days I haven't noticed a difference ).
I rooted my last phone, which was a Virgin Mobile LG Optimus V, but that was because Virgin loaded it with a bunch of bloatware and there was a very good ROM that removed all of it, improved battery life, etc etc.
But with this phone, I don't find I have any issues with battery life, I have plenty of space on my phone with way more apps installed than I had on the Optimus, it runs smoothly, and the only complaint I have is that my LED notification light isn't working correctly, which I know can be fixed with an app.
So, to all the people that have rooted and know what else this phone can do, is there a good reason other than "you can install lots of different custom roms" that I should root my phone? What else will I be able to do with it? What benefits will I see? Installing different ROMs doesn't mean much to me. Even though I did that on my old phone, there was a real reason to do it: I could install more than 4 apps on it (and I kept that same ROM on it the entire time). I don't have that issue with this phone, so why should I?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no reason for you to root. You are happy that's good.
XDA's 4,697,117+ Members are just nuts. We're unhappy with our stuff and insist on making it less useful to us.
Nothing to see here....
Seriously if you need to ask and don't want to investigate for yourself then rooting and certainly these forums are not for you.
I root because
- Hate Touchwiz look
- Customization
- Themes
- Battery Saving options
- AOSP (AOKP)
- JELLYBEAN
- Better reception and data
You may be happy with bloat. I do not want battery resources going to apps I will never open. I like battery life. I like optimization. I like customization. If you don't see a need then don't do it. But if your phone ever drowns don't complain that you lost all your game data or texts and stuff. With titanium backup I can even set a schedule to back up those items for me at whatever time to my sd card. So if my phone drowns I pop my as card into my new phone and its all there. Also make nandroids when I receive my replacement its like my phone never died. Its all exactly how I had it.
sent from my BAD A$$ Epic touch
I run stock 90% of the time.
My main reason to root at least after FF18
-Tethering
-Tethering nothing more
I said after FF18 because on Gingerbread there's no need to root for tethering thanks to FoxFi but since ICS, Sprint block it and they are working on a new version for ICS when they found a way again I'm back to Stock.
Do what you want!
That is what is most important.
If there was any legitimate reason, it would be because you want to.
Otherwise you are just following what someone else says. Of course, there are very good reasons for both. The one thing I am told a lot by people on the other end of the phone conversation consistently, is that there seems to be feedback and they hear themselves a lot(- since I started Modding). What do I care, I hear everyone just fine. But I do care. I use my phone for work a lot. NOW, someone else is going to post after this that you can play with modems and what not to clear this up... which is true. And also you can reflash and do this & do that. What if the person using the phone just wants simplicity.... stay stock! Do not pass go. It takes tweeking, fine adjustments, research and ROM updates(The almighty Search box on XDA is awesome) and time to figure some of this stuff out. And ALSO it doesn't hurt to have an interest in android, Apps, ROMs and so on and so on.
Sometimes either the manufacturer or the carrier sends out updates that just don't work well. I like having the ability to keep it working properly, not working the way Sprint thinks is best for me.
You have only had your phone for a month. I have had mine for about a year, and others here have had it longer. If you are trying to convince us not to root, you should spend your time on the Sprint message boards instead of here.
Your happy that's what matters. Your choice
Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2
It comes down to personal choice. Android is customizable right out of the box. It is even more so once you root and get under the hood.
Agreed with all that say it's your choice. Also your habits are very important. One of the reasons why I love Android is that I can literally change my software whenever I want. I was running AOKP 2 days ago, M'ICS the day after. Now today I'm on stock rooted FI27.
Honestly though, this phone is really good out of the box. I had the LG Optimus V for over a year as well, and the only way to get that phone to perform was to root it and put a custom ROM on it. It was actually a great phone for being low end. I had said that when I upgraded to this phone that I wouldn't root it, but that didn't last long. Really though, you can easily get the performance you're looking for on this phone without rooting it.
I rooted for UV/OC ability.
And I really didn't like touchwiz, but I accidentally found that it comes stock with both the ICS launcher and TW launchers, so that was a plus.
I'm on a stock rom running agat's source 6.5 kernel. Runs great. Only thing better would be if I could find an optimized stock rom (much like Sprint Lovers on the OG Evo 4G.)
I'm rooted because I like to tell my devices what to do.
I guess rooting might make more sense if you've ever been an administrator or if you've ever ran any Linux machine.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Tethering and titanium backup. There is no way to truly backup data without root and on something as accident prone as a smartphone that's a necessity.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
mewikime said:
Don't you really only need Titanium Backup if you are gonna be rooting though? The bloatware I can deal with as the phone hasn't (yet) told me that I don't have enough space to stop me from installing new apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't reliably backup say your angry bird progress without TiBu or the like and being rooted. Sure for this specific series of apps there have been applications made to back up the save progress but they have proven often at times to be unreliable.
Maybe your favorite app gets pulled from the market, lets say flash. Too bad you didn't back up the APK. Of course for flash you can download the apk from adobe still so not a great example but you get the idea.
But overall something like Titanium Backup comes in handy if you ever need to format the phone. Like say the OTA to ICS, problems for unrooted users were easily solved by a factory reset (except for that brick bug triggered by factory reset...). Nice to be able to restore all your user apps with all their settings and save data.
I rooted so I could use a PS3 controller back on gingerbread. As time goes on many things that required root like taking screenshots have become officially available in Android or OEM firmware. Question is you want to be able to do completely normal and reasonable things up to a couple years ahead of Google catching up? Surely if someone locked down your windows PC so you couldn't do things you take for granted you would wish for root access.
I waited about 5 months before I finally rooted my phone. My old phone was rooted and I liked CM7 and MIUI but with stock ICS on this phone I was getting amazing battery life and I was using GO Launcher and it looked great. The only thing I hated was the black status bar and it could only be changed if it was rooted.
There are a lot of roms for our phone but I really missed the CM7 rom I had on the old optimus S. It supported status bar transparency and I could change the color of the status bar and status bar text. It looks like no rom for our phone has that feature. Right now I'm on MIUI which has a great looking UI but battery life isn't nearly as good as the unrooted FH13. I get the best battery life with CM9 which is still a lot less than before when it wasn't rooted. My phone used to last around 60 hours with very light use and now I could only get around 48 hours with CM9 and maybe 30 hours with MIUI. But I'm still happy with it since I get tons of beautiful themes and new features and I like to try new roms and it keeps me busy lol.
Rooting allows you to have full control of the device whether its software or hardware. I agree that this phone is just fine stock. It just works and its fast.
Reasons why I'm rooted
Titanium backup, roam control, extended toggles, root explorer to push custom themed apps to /system/app. When rooted you can do almost anything with your phone that comes to your mind. There's a pic of the super super handy extended toggles that I can't live with out.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
leaderbuilder said:
There is no reason for you to root. You are happy that's good.
XDA's 4,697,117+ Members are just nuts. We're unhappy with our stuff and insist on making it less useful to us.
Nothing to see here....
Seriously if you need to ask and don't want to investigate for yourself then rooting and certainly these forums are not for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
byrdcfmma said:
You have only had your phone for a month. I have had mine for about a year, and others here have had it longer. If you are trying to convince us not to root, you should spend your time on the Sprint message boards instead of here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't trying to imply that anyone who has rooted this phone is nuts, you shouldn't have done it, and that it's less useful. I was asking what are some specific advantages to rooting, how does rooting make it more useful, as at the moment I have had no issues with the operation of the phone, but I don't know the full extent of what it can do when rooted, and I thought that these forums would be the place to get such answers from experienced rooted users who have had their phones for a year and know more than I do. I should have worded my initial question differently to explain that better.
hrffd said:
I root because
- Better reception and data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is interesting to know. At home I get 1 bar of reception if I'm lucky, dropped calls, and no 3G data. I had to ask Sprint for an Airave. When I leave my street but am still in the general neighbourhood I get no service again. Is reception improved by root-only apps or certain ROMs?
patrao_n said:
You may be happy with bloat. I do not want battery resources going to apps I will never open. ... But if your phone ever drowns don't complain that you lost all your game data or texts and stuff. With titanium backup I can even set a schedule to back up those items for me at whatever time to my sd card. So if my phone drowns I pop my as card into my new phone and its all there. Also make nandroids when I receive my replacement its like my phone never died. Its all exactly how I had it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for telling me that. It's not that I'm happy with them, I just haven't yet had my phone tell me I can't install a new app. When that happens no doubt I wouldn't be pleased. I assumed that because I hadn't opened the bloatware apps that they weren't using battery resources so it's good to know that they do, and that this is a good reason for rooting and removing them. Your reasons for using Titanium backup were something I hadn't thought of as well.
Omar04 said:
I run stock 90% of the time.
My main reason to root at least after FF18
-Tethering
-Tethering nothing more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, good to know. As I said, I've had the phone a couple of weeks and only now with a lower workload have I really had time to sit and contemplate what to do with my phone, and look into what it does and what it can do. I have the paid EasyTether app but I haven't used it on this phone yet. I also saw that it comes preloaded with Sprint Hotspot app.. I take it then that EasyTether won't work on this phone with current stock setup?
mjs2011 said:
Agreed with all that say it's your choice. Also your habits are very important. One of the reasons why I love Android is that I can literally change my software whenever I want. I was running AOKP 2 days ago, M'ICS the day after. Now today I'm on stock rooted FI27.
Honestly though, this phone is really good out of the box. I had the LG Optimus V for over a year as well, and the only way to get that phone to perform was to root it and put a custom ROM on it. It was actually a great phone for being low end. I had said that when I upgraded to this phone that I wouldn't root it, but that didn't last long. Really though, you can easily get the performance you're looking for on this phone without rooting it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think if I did root, I'd do what I did with the OV and stick with the same ROM for a good time. Again, not to insult those that do (see above reply), but I don't think I'd have the balls to run different roms on a daily basis in fear of bricking it and also because once I've found something I'm happy with I'm usually okay not to look any further!
Mattix724 said:
I'm rooted because I like to tell my devices what to do.
I guess rooting might make more sense if you've ever been an administrator or if you've ever ran any Linux machine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, no. No Linux experience here except for a tiny bit of stuff on my seedbox, installing 7zip and using Putty to unzip iso's and stuff.
I'm going to spend the next couple of days reading the various forums, looking at what ROMs are available, what they do, etc etc, checking out what apps that require root access I'm missing out on.. one has piqued my interest already: Root Call Blocker. But I use my phone to make calls, make texts, check emails, surf the web a bit, and let the kids play a few games on it. So this is why I was wondering if there were any other benefits for me to do this.

Rooting versus not Rooting

Hey guys, is rooting really worth it on this phone. I mean just look at all the threads of this issue and that issue after somebody roots. I mean for me the phone is awesome as it is with exception to it's poor SPARK speeds. But that can't be fixed by rooting. I have yet to see any real gain posted by anyone other than removal of Sprint bloatware which is much less than any other carrier. So really is the gain worth the hardship and potential issues this phone seems to have after rooting?
All I see is this phone has X issue and then next line is always the same I rooted or I installed Y ROM. It seems to me that Samsung has done something to make this phone unreliable/unstable once the Factory integrity has been compromised either through rooting or ROM replacement. I did root mine using CF auto root before seeing all these issue posted. I can say now after rooting that I as well am seeing little bugs with touch screen response, as well as other little bugs it did not have before rooting. So this just strengthens my hunch about Samsung somehow making this device less stable once it is compromised.
I don't think I am going to fool with it any further. I don't want to become one of the many help I rooted and my phone won't boot post popping up around here lately.
You dont have to install ROMs to better your device, you can root stock odexed and it will be fine.
It unlocks more capabilities the phone cant do when its pure stock, such as Freezing wake locking apps that drain battery, or enabling etc mods that make the device better under certain circumstances.
You will run into issues whether rooted or not.
Is it worth it? Depends on user opinions. Does it have more problems than usual, Sure from time to time.
The peoples reviews of custom roms are there for a reason. There are things that are fixable and others that cant be fixed or modified upon.
Its more about exploring the full capabilities your device can do when it is rooted.
How far this device has come is massively huge because of the help brought from the community and devs.
You will typically find best performance and reliability with stock android with very few modifications. I use to flash a lot of roms/kernels on my Epic 4G and 4G touch and wouldn't call either of them reliable. I stay with mostly stock roms with my GS4, just Knox removed and everything is real stable.
Solarenemy68 said:
Hey guys, is rooting really worth it on this phone. I mean just look at all the threads of this issue and that issue after somebody roots. I mean for me the phone is awesome as it is with exception to it's poor SPARK speeds. But that can't be fixed by rooting. I have yet to see any real gain posted by anyone other than removal of Sprint bloatware which is much less than any other carrier. So really is the gain worth the hardship and potential issues this phone seems to have after rooting?
All I see is this phone has X issue and then next line is always the same I rooted or I installed Y ROM. It seems to me that Samsung has done something to make this phone unreliable/unstable once the Factory integrity has been compromised either through rooting or ROM replacement. I did root mine using CF auto root before seeing all these issue posted. I can say now after rooting that I as well am seeing little bugs with touch screen response, as well as other little bugs it did not have before rooting. So this just strengthens my hunch about Samsung somehow making this device less stable once it is compromised.
I don't think I am going to fool with it any further. I don't want to become one of the many help I rooted and my phone won't boot post popping up around here lately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both rooted and unrooted, stock roms and custom roms on a few devices at home. Does JUST ROOTING cause any additional problems? No. Its essentially like installing any other apk. Where majority of the bugs and problems come in is user error and custom roms. Don't get those confused as they typically are. Most "I rooted any my phone isn't booting" posts are from people that do things improperly. Or sometimes things just don't stick and you have to try again. CF Autoroot didn't work the very first time I flashed it on my wifes device (last night) after I had used it more times than I can count on my own since 1 week after device launch. I flashed it again, worked great. She didn't like stock, so I flashed my own custom rom on her device.
Custom Roms come with their own bugs if they aren't just simply stripped stock. Want less chances of bugs? Use the completely debloated and no-knoxed ones. They just make things simple by removing both carrier bloat and added items (can also be buggy themselves). Also keep in mind that the software shipped isn't always bug free . We saw some big changes to the actual code from NIE to NK2, we aren't 100% sure why they changed things in some places but I'm not an expert there at all. Ever wonder why Tmobile or verizon may have a feature thats actually turn off or locked on our device? It could be buggy for a specific carrier and the carrier just decided they wouldn't include it for their customers.
Samsung perposely sabatoging our devices because they are rooted...... eh they did have nexus devices at one point in time. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say this isn't the case. You may have just experienced bad results. I don't go a device without rooting, if not only to remove carrier bloat. MY last 3 devices I did not even let sprint reps boot before I took it home and rooted (literal first boot is rooted stock) I have been to the sprint techs LESS than when I had stock devices. This also allows certain users to fix their own problems themselves, and not leave device issues in the hands of carrier techs who by default will generally do a software reset and send you out the door.
Pros vs cons of rooting? Completely down to each specific user.
Yes rooting is absolutely worth it. For hotspot tethering, and Xposed. But you do need to add a fix to Xposed if you do decide to install it on this device.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
beezar said:
Yes rooting is absolutely worth it. For hotspot tethering, and Xposed. But you do need to add a fix to Xposed if you do decide to install it on this device.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have hotspot tethering included in your plan like I do why would you need to root to have it? Unless you are trying to get it for free?
Solarenemy68 said:
If you have hotspot tethering included in your plan like I do why would you need to root to have it? Unless you are trying to get it for free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
reguardless if you pay for it or not, it limits the amount of devices you can connect/tether to. Who's to say I only want to tether 4-5 devices? What If I'm traveling and have 6 devices?
If you don't like rooting, this certainly isn't the place to try and shun it. If you are looking to be convinced to root again? Still the wrong place. You root because you want to, or you want to do something that you can't without root. Plain and simple. Rooting is essentially controlling your own device while you OWN IT. Not owning a device someone else has complete control over.
millerboy3 said:
reguardless if you pay for it or not, it limits the amount of devices you can connect/tether to. Who's to say I only want to tether 4-5 devices? What If I'm traveling and have 6 devices?
If you don't like rooting, this certainly isn't the place to try and shun it. If you are looking to be convinced to root again? Still the wrong place. You root because you want to, or you want to do something that you can't without root. Plain and simple. Rooting is essentially controlling your own device while you OWN IT. Not owning a device someone else has complete control over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems you aren't running the right rom. I haven't had any major instabilities.
It's not the rooting that causes the problems, its what they do after they root.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As we all have said before, its user opinionated and what they do regarding with root in general.
I go with rooting because of extra battery saving features such as Greenify + Xposed, Underclocking GPU and CPU. To top that off, force lower dpi resolution and tablet mode on specific apps to see more on the screen. Modifying files such as build.prop and user key controls for enhanced performance, and like everyone, changing Sounds and boot anims, moving apps from user to system to help with stability etc.
If its unstable doing certain things well thats the bummer downside to the Apps or devices capabilities. But as long as you can get more out of the device ( which you can! ) with all the freedom of not being locked to user specific controls. It makes it better!
Thats how i feel.
I mean you can root the device and just install twrp and just keep it like that just until something catches your eye. I personally say if you rooted your previous devices. You should root the note 4. I am rooted and I am just plain stock cause I almost bricked my device. So I am going to wait until 5.0 gets to our phones before I flash anymore roms but until then I'm going to be completely stock.
Root your phone immediately.
Root your phone immediately. My god, what are you thinking going around unrooted?
Oh, you want details?
Open the hidden stuff if you want details.
Just kidding. I too suffered from doubts and waited several months before popping my phones warranty cherry.
Root is nice, even on the Note 4. But:
If you don't need root for anything special and you are perfectly happy with stock without root, DON'T ROOT!
If you need superuser authority (titanium backup?), if you want to disable Exchange Security so you can have work email but still use the fingerprint scanner, or you just like having better/different looks than stock in some way not achievable without root, ROOT. ​
That advice is general and applies to all phones. If you don't need/want it, why ask?
I can vouch that rooting the Note 4, installing custom Recovery and operating the custom ROMs is the similar to any other Samsung phone of recent vintage both in manner and difficultly (e.g. S3, S4, S5). (not the same though so do your research)
I have nothing against any ROM but, from personal experience, the ROMs from Pongoface and co work extremely well and look really nice. Make sure to wipe data and let them have 10 minutes or so to settle after first boot.
Those are:
[PORT] BoBCaTROM
and
[Port] Sprint Xnote (The time to settle was important on this one for me. Else, I got forced closes, not sure
Everything is stable on my phone after rooting and a LOT of Xposed mods. It just makes my phone much better.
If you have rooted all your other phones, then really why are you asking this question? You already know the benefits and risks of rooting so there is no need for us to tell you what to do.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
False. False. False. What's shady is the lack of knowledge on behalf of a user which these issues are caused by. There is no "shady" business going on that would cause instability issues upon rooting your device. Instead of a carrier or Samsung playing shenanigans with it's customers by introducing bugs and instability issues if a user roots their device, it would be more logical for Sprint and Samsung to simply lock down the bootloader and take measures to prevent root in the first place... such as all the Verizon and AT&T customers who are still crying about not having root. If you want to believe otherwise that's up to you.
As already mentioned by millerboy3, rooting doesn't cause the instability issues you or anybody else might be having. The more mods you do the more unstable the rom??? That's just plain and simple ignorance my friend. Yes it could be true that a rom might be "buggy" but if a rom is well planned and time taken to ensure everything is right, then there will not be stability issues. There are roms out there with tons of mods that are 10 times more stable and faster than the stock rom. I happen to have a rom that fits that criteria along with a few other people. With that said, I do agree with you on the fact that the Note 4 is perfectly awesome straight out of the box without the need to root it. This is the first phone I've owned that I really don't feel the need to change anything because everything works great stock. There are a few mods that I find are well worth the effort and definitely worth rooting the phone for.
tx_dbs_tx said:
False. False. False. What's shady is the lack of knowledge on behalf of a user which these issues are caused by. There is no "shady" business going on that would cause instability issues upon rooting your device. Instead of a carrier or Samsung playing shenanigans with it's customers by introducing bugs and instability issues if a user roots their device, it would be more logical for Sprint and Samsung to simply lock down the bootloader and take measures to prevent root in the first place... such as all the Verizon and AT&T customers who are still crying about not having root. If you want to believe otherwise that's up to you.
As already mentioned by millerboy3, rooting doesn't cause the instability issues you or anybody else might be having. The more mods you do the more unstable the rom??? That's just plain and simple ignorance my friend. Yes it could be true that a rom might be "buggy" but if a rom is well planned and time taken to ensure everything is right, then there will not be stability issues. There are roms out there with tons of mods that are 10 times more stable and faster than the stock rom. I happen to have a rom that fits that criteria along with a few other people. With that said, I do agree with you on the fact that the Note 4 is perfectly awesome straight out of the box without the need to root it. This is the first phone I've owned that I really don't feel the need to change anything because everything works great stock. There are a few mods that I find are well worth the effort and definitely worth rooting the phone for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said it much better than I.
i'll also throw a vote in for rooting. i've come to consider AdAway & Xposed as must-haves, which both require root.
The N4 was the first phone I considered not rooting, it was that good straight away. However, then I remembered why I rooted, besides custom ROM's, and it was 2 (now 3) main reasons.
1- AdFree: After seeing ads all over a bunch of my favorite apps, I remembered I didn't have AdFree installed, which requires root. This is my biggest quality of use reason, if you've ever went to tap something in an app only to have a ninja ad come out of nowhere right as your finger hit the screen and redirect you to a website or the app store, you know what I mean.
2- TWRP + Titanium Backup - The ability to backup ALL my apps and settings to a separate SD card was huge, plus all the other features of TB.
3 - Lastly, I found Xposed: I'd never used before, but now, I couldn't imagine not having it. It's allowed me to tweak things that irritated me, like color schemes on the contacts and dialer screens, without the worry of installing custom ROM's or RW editing mods.
Just my feedback, your requirements may differ.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Newbie, who wants to have better use of ExtsdCard
I am looking into rooting, for the first time. After an update to my, prior, S4, I couldn't edit my ebooks, about 700, delete photos, several thousand, or remove duplicates, on my extsdcard. I just got a new Note 4, and a 128G extsdcard. If there is anyway to restore my control of the sdcard that I paid for, other than rooting, please tell me. Otherwise, Android and Samsung are forcing me to root. Am I wrong??
Thank you very much,
Randy "Pugmeister"
Pugmeister said:
I am looking into rooting, for the first time. After an update to my, prior, S4, I couldn't edit my ebooks, about 700, delete photos, several thousand, or remove duplicates, on my extsdcard. I just got a new Note 4, and a 128G extsdcard. If there is anyway to restore my control of the sdcard that I paid for, other than rooting, please tell me. Otherwise, Android and Samsung are forcing me to root. Am I wrong??
Thank you very much,
Randy "Pugmeister"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a little fuzzy on what your saying. Are you saying that you can't edit or delete the contents of your external SD card in the note 4? If so, that's not a problem root could solve, as you should have full control over everything on the external card. Rooting would allow you access to edit the main android system files on the internal storage.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

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