Develop Bugs

[Q] n00b rooting help please

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 I know there are a lot of guides for n00bs out there but this stuff moves too fast and they are out of date.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

[Q] How to root without changing anything?

I want to root my phone so I can use rooted apps like tether, but I dont want to change anything else. I am perfectly happy with the way the phone is set up right now and which apps I have loaded.
So my question is, is it possible to root the phone and then not load a custom Rom or erase ANYTHING I have on the phone now. Honestly I have the phone exactly how I want it and don't want to have to set it all up again.
Before anyone says anything, yes I know there are better roms out there that are faster, I know there are cooler roms out there, Yes I know there are roms that I can customize any way I want. And eventually I will use them, but for now I dont want to change anything except for the root issue.
I have used the sdearch feature and i keep coming up short. So please dont flame me for not using the search, I have been using the search for 2 and a half hours now and am tired.
I have seen multiple different one click tutorial on here but most of them I read comes with a new rom.
Here is what I have:
SUPERSONIC EVT2-3 SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-2.10.0001
MICROP-041f
TOUCH PANEL-ATMELC03_16ac
RADIO-2.15.00.11.19
Oct 15 2010,12:-7:00
ANDROID VERSION 2.2
BASEBAND VERSION 2.15.00.11.19
KERNAL VERSION 2.6.32.17-gee557fd
BUILD NUMBER 3.70.651.1 CL294884 release-keys
SOFTWARE NUMBER 3.70.651.1
BROWSER VERSION WebKit 3.1
PRI VERSION 1.90_003
PRL VERSION 60672
If you do know of a way to root this without changing anything please post a link to the tutorial for me if you have it or keywords I can use to find the tutorial you are talking about.
Thanx in advance.

Unrevoked will do exactly this. It just roots your phone, adds clockwork mod recovery, and a superuser app. Other than that, everything else is left the same.
Here is the link to the thread on here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=895208
And everything you need can be found at www.unrevoked.com.

Yep. Use revoked. I did mine over the weekend for the same reasons. My only question would be which version. 3.30 vs 3.31. I believe 3.31 was in response to the older way some Roms are done.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

unrevoked is what you are looking for.
BUT I WARN YOU unrevoked has led to many bricks. it is the #1 brick method i have heard of recently. so be wary.
still, #1 is still bearly any. maybe 1 in 5000? more?
all i know is there are many people that pop up on the irc stuck at a white screen after running unrevoked.

It doesnt have to hurt to wipe......
Swyped from a galaxy far far away......

eventually, after you root, you can use an app called titanium backup in order to backup all apps and the data that they contain, keeping all info of everything. you will need to root first. i know the feeling, of only wanting to root for the wifi tether, so start with unrevoked (cross fingers, there really is not much of a chance of brick) and maybe once the next ota comes (which you wont be able to recieve with root) you can switch roms.

Is that an Evo? You need to update your prl. Current is 60674.
-----
Sent from my CDMA Hero. I got some hot Froyo-on-Hero action here!

sitlet said:
Unrevoked will do exactly this. It just roots your phone, adds clockwork mod recovery, and a superuser app. Other than that, everything else is left the same.
Here is the link to the thread on here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=895208
And everything you need can be found at www.unrevoked.com.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx it worked great. You da man!!! Thanx for the links

dkdude36 said:
unrevoked is what you are looking for.
BUT I WARN YOU unrevoked has led to many bricks. it is the #1 brick method i have heard of recently. so be wary.
still, #1 is still bearly any. maybe 1 in 5000? more?
all i know is there are many people that pop up on the irc stuck at a white screen after running unrevoked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worked with no brick but thanx for the heads up.

Jimdog420 said:
It doesnt have to hurt to wipe......
Swyped from a galaxy far far away......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, I wiped my hero and would put new roms and even did a custom boot screen. Just not that interested in doing it to the evo right now. Honestly I am perfectly happy with it the way it is.

dkdude36 said:
eventually, after you root, you can use an app called titanium backup in order to backup all apps and the data that they contain, keeping all info of everything. you will need to root first. i know the feeling, of only wanting to root for the wifi tether, so start with unrevoked (cross fingers, there really is not much of a chance of brick) and maybe once the next ota comes (which you wont be able to recieve with root) you can switch roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx for the heads up. Seams to be a good prog. Had it go into an infinite loop a couple times when trying to do certain tasks but backs up files nicely.

Revoke was bricking due to the new way some things were done with the 3.3xxx Evo updates. The 3.3 and 3.31 of unrevolked fixed that (well for most I would think)
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

3.3.1 is out? ok it might be brick free then

Well, you can use a "temporary" root, such as z4root so you don't loose anything and if you reboot you won't have root, leaving your phone the way it is

FDDT said:
Well, you can use a "temporary" root, such as z4root so you don't loose anything and if you reboot you won't have root, leaving your phone the way it is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that almost always only works if you wipe first so it can exploit. sorry to say, but it is true.

dkdude36 said:
that almost always only works if you wipe first so it can exploit. sorry to say, but it is true.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was rooted with Unrevoked 3.21, and then decided to unroot. I was able to use z4root (temporary root) once after I unrooted - just long enough to restore my apps and data from Titanium Backup. But now whenever I run z4root, it says it completed the temporary root, but Titanium Backup no longer works saying I'm not rooted. So why would z4root work once and then stop?

because you wiped (unrooted) before you used it the first time. i'm telling you it almost ALWAYS only works after a full wipe for a strange reason.

Rooting won't wipe anything. It just turns s-off and gives you superuser app. Once you root you should get Titanium backup. Once installed, open and hit menu. Then select batch and then run backup all apps and system settings. This will backup EVERYTHING to your sd. Now, if you do install a rom, all you have to do is run a batch restore all apps and system data. You can set schedules to backup in the middle of the night while you sleep, every other couple of days. This will be your best friend and I suggest getting pro. It's worth the couple bucks.
Also once rooted, power off and go into recovery (hold volume down and press and hold power) till you get into bootloader. Now select recovery. Go to nandroid and and make a backup imediately. This backs up the the entire system, so if anything goes wrong with flashing anything, you can just go into recovery again and restore. I like to connect to the computer right after I make a backup and go into my sd/nandroid/backup and rename the file with the name, date and time. If you do this right after rooting, I would call it stock.
I hope this helps you out and makes you feel better about rooting. You won't loose your apps or settings so go ahead and root.
If you want help or advice with more things you can do once rooted, send me a personal message and I will be help you out.
Steve

squick said:
Rooting won't wipe anything. It just turns s-off and gives you superuser app. Once you root you should get Titanium backup. Once installed, open and hit menu. Then select batch and then run backup all apps and system settings. This will backup EVERYTHING to your sd. Now, if you do install a rom, all you have to do is run a batch restore all apps and system data. You can set schedules to backup in the middle of the night while you sleep, every other couple of days. This will be your best friend and I suggest getting pro. It's worth the couple bucks.
Also once rooted, power off and go into recovery (hold volume down and press and hold power) till you get into bootloader. Now select recovery. Go to nandroid and and make a backup imediately. This backs up the the entire system, so if anything goes wrong with flashing anything, you can just go into recovery again and restore. I like to connect to the computer right after I make a backup and go into my sd/nandroid/backup and rename the file with the name, date and time. If you do this right after rooting, I would call it stock.
I hope this helps you out and makes you feel better about rooting. You won't loose your apps or settings so go ahead and root.
If you want help or advice with more things you can do once rooted, send me a personal message and I will be help you out.
Steve
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correction: UNREVOKED doesnt wipe anything, but it also can damage or corrupt phone sometimes. doing the manuall method is much smarter and safer, and you also get to learn the ropes of android a bit.
wiping really isnt as devistating as you think. just backup contacts, all your apks (sorry no data) and anything else important.

Back up EVERYTHING before rooting?

Alright, as some of you know, I really, really, REALLY, messed up on my last root attempt.
Apparently I didn't backup what I was supposed to. That was my own stupid a55 mistake and I have admitted to it.
I DO plan to attempt a root again so that I can get this theme on my phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1042268
There are things that I need to know before I attempt this (and yes I know there are forums already on this but I need to be 110% sure)
1) How do I back up EVERYTHING on my phone and put it on my computer or SD card or somewhere that I can go to incase I mess up again?
2) What is the EASIEST program/method to root this Samsung Epic 4g?
3) (I'm not too sure what I'm talking about here ((remember, I'm a total noob)))
I tried CWM 3.0.0.5 before... is this a ROM that I attempted to go to?
3ii) If I should'nt be using CWM, what should I use?
4) Is Froyo and CWM the same time of thing? or two different things completely?
and finally:
5) Give me all of your recommendations on this please! I DON'T WANNA MESS UP AGAIN!
And please none of this "You messed up before, dont try it again!" crap, I know I messed up, and I know this is stupid, but the fact of the matter is, I'm trying it again to get this theme on my device. So PLEASE help me out!
Thanks everyone!

cheech92007 said:
Alright, as some of you know, I really, really, REALLY, messed up on my last root attempt.
Apparently I didn't backup what I was supposed to. That was my own stupid a55 mistake and I have admitted to it.
I DO plan to attempt a root again so that I can get this theme on my phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1042268
There are things that I need to know before I attempt this (and yes I know there are forums already on this but I need to be 110% sure)
1) How do I back up EVERYTHING on my phone and put it on my computer or SD card or somewhere that I can go to incase I mess up again?
2) What is the EASIEST program/method to root this Samsung Epic 4g?
3) (I'm not too sure what I'm talking about here ((remember, I'm a total noob)))
I tried CWM 3.0.0.5 before... is this a ROM that I attempted to go to?
3ii) If I should'nt be using CWM, what should I use?
4) Is Froyo and CWM the same time of thing? or two different things completely?
and finally:
5) Give me all of your recommendations on this please! I DON'T WANNA MESS UP AGAIN!
And please none of this "You messed up before, dont try it again!" crap, I know I messed up, and I know this is stupid, but the fact of the matter is, I'm trying it again to get this theme on my device. So PLEASE help me out!
Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, first things first. Not to be rude, but you are at the first step of enjoying Epic goodness; rooting your phone. It should be obvious that this step is covered ALL over XDA and a simple google search would have lead you to the following page:
CWM 3.0.0.5
There are already wayyyy too many threads asking questions that were answered long before they were ever even asked in the first place.
Okay, now that that's out of the way .
1. If you're absolutely freaked about losing anything, MyBackup and MyBackup Pro will back up all your apps. Then simply plug your phone into your computer and copy the entire contents of your sd card to your harddrive. Mybackup Root can be used once your rooted and is free.
2. Use the link i posted.
3. CWM is not a Rom. It replaces the default recovery subsystem with one you can use to flash Roms. You enter it from the off state by pressing Volume Down+Camera+Power. Do not use CWM 3.0.2.4.
4. Froyo is simply the version of android. The Samsung Epic is on Froyo, or 2.2. Roms come in various flavors like Eclair(2.1), Froyo(2.2), and hopefully soon for the Epic, Gingerbread(2.3).
5. Search around the Epic Android Development for a Rom that makes you excited. A good suggestion for you would be Midnight 5.2. All you have to do is download the Rom .zip file to your SD, boot into CWM 3, Install from SD, and point it to the .zip. Read the forums for how to safely install their Roms like clearing data and making/restoring backups.
Remember, everything you've asked has been asked and answered many times, so please search next time to avoid making unnecessary threads and to gain your answer faster!

RandomKing said:
Ok, first things first. Not to be rude, but you are at the first step of enjoying Epic goodness; rooting your phone. It should be obvious that this step is covered ALL over XDA and a simple google search would have lead you to the following page:
CWM 3.0.0.5
There are already wayyyy too many threads asking questions that were answered long before they were ever even asked in the first place.
Okay, now that that's out of the way .
1. If you're absolutely freaked about losing anything, MyBackup and MyBackup Pro will back up all your apps. Then simply plug your phone into your computer and copy the entire contents of your sd card to your harddrive. Mybackup Root can be used once your rooted and is free.
2. Use the link i posted.
3. CWM is not a Rom. It replaces the default recovery subsystem with one you can use to flash Roms. You enter it from the off state by pressing Volume Down+Camera+Power. Do not use CWM 3.0.2.4.
4. Froyo is simply the version of android. The Samsung Epic is on Froyo, or 2.2. Roms come in various flavors like Eclair(2.1), Froyo(2.2), and hopefully soon for the Epic, Gingerbread(2.3).
5. Search around the Epic Android Development for a Rom that makes you excited. A good suggestion for you would be Midnight 5.2. All you have to do is download the Rom .zip file to your SD, boot into CWM 3, Install from SD, and point it to the .zip. Read the forums for how to safely install their Roms like clearing data and making/restoring backups.
Remember, everything you've asked has been asked and answered many times, so please search next time to avoid making unnecessary threads and to gain your answer faster!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay the main thing that I am confused about is number 5. Why do I want these ROM's exactly? Pretty much all I want is that Red Angry Alien theme.

cheech92007 said:
Okay the main thing that I am confused about is number 5. Why do I want these ROM's exactly? Pretty much all I want is that Red Angry Alien theme.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reviewing your other posts, I am now aware that you have asked a lot of this and already been answered but are clearly not interested in reading the information presented to you. This should have been continued in the last thread that you started, but what's done is done. Your key problem is rooting with CWM which converts the file system to EXT4. You will have to flash a new rom or kernel immediately following or the phone can't boot. This means that you must have a new rom or kernel .zip file on your sd card PRIOR TO ROOTING. I haven't messed around too much with a rooted stock rom, but at the least you need a new kernel, search for and try VisionKernel if thats all you want.
Please refrain from starting any more threads, you've already been given more information than you need by myself and others. Search around XDA, it can be fun!

RandomKing said:
You will have to flash a new rom or kernel immediately following or the phone can't boot. This means that you must have a new rom or kernel .zip file on your sd card PRIOR TO ROOTING. I haven't messed around too much with a rooted stock rom, but at the least you need a new kernel, search for and try VisionKernel if thats all you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, I just downloaded the EB13-DUALFS-KERNEL.zip to my desktop...is THIS what you were talking about that I need on my SD card first? I looked inside it and it has a KERNEL file in it... So I put this on my SD card, then ROOT, then UNZIP the EB13 on my devices when Im in CWM Reboot?

cheech92007 said:
Alright, I just downloaded the EB13-DUALFS-KERNEL.zip to my desktop...is THIS what you were talking about that I need on my SD card first? I looked inside it and it has a KERNEL file in it... So I put this on my SD card, then ROOT, then UNZIP the EB13 on my devices when Im in CWM Reboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no unzipping. In CWM, you simply select "Install from sd", point to your .zip file, and tell it to start. CWM is pretty straight forward to navigate. It will probably take a couple minutes, after which you will select the Reboot option and watch your phone load.

cheech92007 said:
Okay the main thing that I am confused about is number 5. Why do I want these ROM's exactly? Pretty much all I want is that Red Angry Alien theme.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What randomking said....and
I didn't see what the red angry alien theme was designed for.... it just says ec05...ec05 is the latest build of froyo we have. Because all you want is a theme I'm going to suggest you do the oneclick root cwm version 2.5.5(stock file system).
I assume you'll need to be on a deodexed rom to flash that, but you may want to try it(since you learned how to odin you can just about recover from anything) and see if it works.
After you run the oneclick 2.5.5 root your good to go, just boot back into clockworkmod(2.5.5 is green text and not orange) click down to backup/restore, click on it and then click backup. This is what's called a nandroid. A nandroid is a complete backup of your entire system, including all user data. The only thing it will not backup is the kernel, since your not changing the kernel it won't matter. If you have problems or mess up you just wipe everything/factory reset/cache/dalvik cache and instead of going to backup, you select restore....blaam exactly the way your phone was when you backed it up. BTW backing up and restoring takes about 10minutes and don't try it when your battery is almost dead.
Hope that helps a bit more and don't rush it, the theme will be here for a long while I'm sure.

RandomKing said:
There is no unzipping. In CWM, you simply select "Install from sd", point to your .zip file, and tell it to start. CWM is pretty straight forward to navigate. It will probably take a couple minutes, after which you will select the Reboot option and watch your phone load.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, Thank you so much I really appreciate it.
Now all I need to do is get my theme on here xD

cheech92007 said:
Great, Thank you so much I really appreciate it.
Now all I need to do is get my theme on here xD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On second thought cheech, go herehttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1009997 and watch every single one of these videos and don't ask anything more untill you have.....deal?

epic4GEE said:
On second thought cheech, go herehttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1009997 and watch every single one of these videos and don't ask anything more untill you have.....deal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yessir!

cheech92007 said:
yessir!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll thank that post later if you really watch ALL those videos.....they're really helpful

First things to do when I get my Galaxy Nexus?

I am getting my Galaxy Nexus Tomorrow. This is my first smartphone. I would like to back up the phone completely so that I would have a way to "restore" the phone to it's original state, should I mess something up when I begin to customize the phone. This would also be good if I decide to sell the phone later should the Galaxy Nexus 32GB model become available, I could put the phone back to its original state.
What is the best way to back up my Galaxy Nexus out of the box?
In addition to backing up the phone, what are some other things that you guys do when you first get a new smartphone?

In terms of backing up, simply create a Gmail Account before-hand, or make one right on the device and check all the boxes that say "Backup my data to Google's servers". It will keep all contacts, apps, WiFi passwords, and even your wallpaper backed up (if you want to delete the backup, there's an option in settings as well). If you prefer local backups, there is a way to do that and even encrypt the backups, but I believe you need to be an Google Apps Account holder.

Enjoy your new phone...... Google backs most everything up so you can hit the ground running!! Being your first smartphone you will have plenty of exploring to do!
Danny

You don't need to back it up. There's an option to restore to factory settings which wipes all your data and returns it to out of the box state.
Even if some disaster happens and it won't boot, you can boot into recovery and restore it from there.
And, Even if the sky falls and recovery doesn't boot you can put it into a low level state called fastboot and flash the stock update using your computer!
Don't panic, there isnt anything you can do to take it to an unrecoverable state, unless you root it, and even then the chances are sooooo low.
The first thing i'd say you should do it look into getting a case or pouch (my personal preference). Especially if you're not use to a touch screen phone you'll probably need a bit of time getting use to the idea that it s a little more delicate.
Next, make sure you charge it overnight.
Lastly just play around with the settings and mess around as much as you like. Figure out what you do and don't like settings wise without worrying about returning the settings back. Then restore to factory settings from the settings menu, and set it up properly with everything you learnt from your playing!
EDIT: I read from your post you wanted to backup the phones virgin state, if you meant data backup, the other posters covered that

Wow, this is going to be easier than I thought. Thanks for all of the great replies and suggestions so far. I am really going to enjoy this phone!!!
edit. I tried to thank all of you guys, but I am only allowed 5 thanks a day and I ran out.

Yes, and this is a great smartphone to start with!! The new settings are really user friendly!

First thing to do when you get this beast is admire it, Its truly a fantastic device. Id recommend watchin a few 1080p HD videos on youtube with the screen brightness at 100% you will looovvveee the screen its truly amazing

I ordered the phone this evening. Since it's Sunday tomorrow I suppose it will dispatch on Monday and arrive this Tuesday.
I'll probably give it a go normally for a week or two, before I customise it (in terms of unlocking the bootloader, rooting, and installing custom roms).
What would be the process of customising once I'm ready?
1) Unlock bootloader
2) Install CWM
3) Root device
4) Install custom ROM
Or is there other appropriate steps? Also, when do I take backups? I understand I should back up with CWM or something?
I'm coming from a BB9700 so this will be a big (good) change for me.

darrendm said:
I ordered the phone this evening. Since it's Sunday tomorrow I suppose it will dispatch on Monday and arrive this Tuesday.
I'll probably give it a go normally for a week or two, before I customise it (in terms of unlocking the bootloader, rooting, and installing custom roms).
What would be the process of customising once I'm ready?
1) Unlock bootloader
2) Install CWM
3) Root device
4) Install custom ROM
Or is there other appropriate steps? Also, when do I take backups? I understand I should back up with CWM or something?
I'm coming from a BB9700 so this will be a big (good) change for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just unlocked the bootloader and rooted and installed CWM right off so I didn't havetoo mess with the unlock deleting anything (backup with CWM). I'm still happy with the stock 4.0 so thats what im running now.

Danny80y said:
I just unlocked the bootloader and rooted and installed CWM right off so I didn't havetoo mess with the unlock deleting anything. I'm still happy with the stock 4.0 so thats what im running now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh right yeah. I will most probably unlock the bootloader first (as soon as the device comes) because that does wipe everything right? Does rooting wipe everything too or can that be done later?

No, root can be flashed whenever you want. I just wanted it all done so when I do flash I have a CWM backup of the stock ROM.

Danny80y said:
No, root can be flashed whenever you want. I just wanted it all done so when I do flash I have a CWM backup of the stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right thanks, and lastly must the phone be rooted for CWM to work?

First thing to do? Patch that damn volume bug If you ever get the patch....

This is the guide I used.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362957 Once you flash root just get Rom Manager from the market when your ready and flash CWM. But thats the easy step so you might as well....lol
---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------
IvanDobskey said:
First thing to do? Patch that damn volume bug If you ever get the patch....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have had issues with it?? I haven't yet.....

Cheers for all the info Danny!

Danny80y said:
This is the guide I used.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362957 Once you flash root just get Rom Manager from the market when your ready and flash CWM. But thats the easy step so you might as well....lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will this affect the warranty?

it _could_. Basically you can relock and flash back to a stock rom to take it back to how it was. But if your phone melts or something while overclocked with a custom rom, and no longer powers up - so you can't relock/restore) , they could blame the rom and void your warranty.
Having said that there's not much chance of that happening if you're not a developer trying extreme things. And even then the chances of them trying (/being able) to check the lock in that state is unlikely.

For completeness, there's a guide on how to return an i9250 to stock here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1366806
It even provides a dl link to a backup from a phone with the volume bug OTA update.

Some questions from a new android user?

Hey guys,
So i recently got an LG gpad and I've always used apple devices. I usually like to not interfere with anything software for the first couple of weeks till i get the hang of it then i like to tweak my device. Same for my iphone and ipod, jailbroke it and installed all sorts of goodies.
Now it's time for this beauty but first i have a few questions. I know the questions I'm asking have probably been asked before but it would be great if I could find more tailored answers under one post, thank you.
My first question is about a bug or something, i'm not sure.
For some reason whenever i used firefox's keyboard and sometime other apps too the screen flashes. Dont think it's a hardware problem since it doesnt happen everywhere. Any theories?
Now for the really tweaking questions
1. Is there a way to unroot and go back as if nothing happened while i'm on kitkat?
2. Is there a way to restore stock recovery? With keeping root ? And without keeping root?
3. I've seen a flashing tool mentioned more than once, does it work for the gpad? Is it recommeneded or should i go manual? I'm. Prepared to learn the manual way either way and then use the app simply coz i like to learn technical things. Any post or instructions to help me here would be great.
4. CWM or TWRP. Yes I'm a new user but i learn extremely fast so go going for the "easy" option isn't necessary. Is there a way to switch from one to the other? Anything i must be cautious about?
5. Is there a way to install multiple roms? I wanna try new ones but i don't like the idea of losing the stock. Not yet at least, still having cold feet. If there's a way to use both that would be great.
6. One of the reasons i want to root is be able to move apps from internal to external sd using link2sd and foldermount. Any drawbacks to that? Would it slow my device? Is it normal that nearly every app I have created a folder in my emulated/0/ folder? Hate having it too populated. Can i delete/move them?
7. If you mention a couple of apps to get after rooting that would splendid.
Thank you in advance and again I'm sorry if this was posted again, but as i said i wanted everything tailored and under one roof.

krusion said:
My first question is about a bug or something, i'm not sure.
For some reason whenever i used firefox's keyboard and sometime other apps too the screen flashes. Dont think it's a hardware problem since it doesnt happen everywhere. Any theories? Try it with auto brightness disabled.
Now for the really tweaking questions
1. Is there a way to unroot and go back as if nothing happened while i'm on kitkat? I am running a V510 (GPE) and can't help you on 1) and 2)
2. Is there a way to restore stock recovery? With keeping root ? And without keeping root?
3. I've seen a flashing tool mentioned more than once, does it work for the gpad? Is it recommeneded or should i go manual? I'm. Prepared to learn the manual way either way and then use the app simply coz i like to learn technical things. Any post or instructions to help me here would be great.
4. CWM or TWRP. Yes I'm a new user but i learn extremely fast so go going for the "easy" option isn't necessary. Is there a way to switch from one to the other? Anything i must be cautious about? Chevy or Ford? American or Japanese? Try them both and decide for yourself.
5. Is there a way to install multiple roms? I wanna try new ones but i don't like the idea of losing the stock. Not yet at least, still having cold feet. If there's a way to use both that would be great. Once you have a custom recovery installed, you can make a nandroid backup of any ROM you are running. Then it's very easy to just restore another nandroid backup.
6. One of the reasons i want to root is be able to move apps from internal to external sd using link2sd and foldermount. I'm not familiar with this. Any drawbacks to that? Would it slow my device? Is it normal that nearly every app I have created a folder in my emulated/0/ folder?Yes it's normal. Hate having it too populated. Can i delete/move themYes you can.?
7. If you mention a couple of apps to get after rooting that would splendid.
Root Explorer is well worth the $2.99 cost.
Thank you in advance and again I'm sorry if this was posted again, but as i said i wanted everything tailored and under one roof.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answers to a few of your questions in RED above.

cam30era said:
Answers to a few of your questions in RED above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does backuping the nand include all apps and settings etc.? And if I were to have things linked to my SD using foldermount would that get linked back on too? What about apps ?

krusion said:
does backuping the nand include all apps and settings etc.? And if I were to have things linked to my SD using foldermount would that get linked back on too? What about apps ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does. When you restore a nandroid, it will be identical to when you made the backup. I am not familiar with foldermount. Try to google your question.

cam30era said:
Yes it does. When you restore a nandroid, it will be identical to when you made the backup. I am not familiar with foldermount. Try to google your question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks