Develop Bugs

why isnt there a root for 2.3 yet

i know there isnt a root for the evo with 2.3 yet but im just curious why not

If you think you can do it..by all means...it takes a lot of work to find a root. Ways that use to work get fixed by companies...basically it boils down to detective work which cannot have a time table and takes a incredible amount of patience and brainpower..along with luck. Basically it boils down to finding a exploit...a way to somehow get foot in door...then once that is done...exploring the exploit for options to elevate privileges to get temp or permanent root. How they do this takes time..and a lot of tinkering. And once the root method is out...companies fix it and the game starts all over again.

ok cus i was just wondering if htc blocked it for some reason

Companies do block it..but mostly for security reasons..the same exploits used for rooting also can be used for malware and some nasty other type of software...spyware and so on.

ok thanks i was under the assumption that thats the best part of android, to you know mess with it and mold it and hack it .....thats why android is suppose to be better then apple as well as different....oh well we cant have everything
thanks for clearing it up though

as its been said, this stuff takes time, and luck, and sometimes not even that works,,
i believe they have made some progress, monitor the irc channel yourself during nights and you can see some chatter about it, but it looks like its not quite ready and/or stable as of yet, though i hear the hboot problem has already been beaten...
we shall see, just be patient and try to not make the mods work more by asking this questions in a separate thread, you could have very well asked this in one of the other ones talking about this

deanventure said:
ok thanks i was under the assumption that thats the best part of android, to you know mess with it and mold it and hack it .....thats why android is suppose to be better then apple as well as different....oh well we cant have everything
thanks for clearing it up though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't call it a part of Android since every non-Nexus/dev Android phones required the exploitation of the software for root to be possible.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

Actually I think its all non samsung phones. But of course I could be totally wrong.

deanventure said:
ok thanks i was under the assumption that thats the best part of android, to you know mess with it and mold it and hack it .....thats why android is suppose to be better then apple as well as different....oh well we cant have everything
thanks for clearing it up though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android itself is open, but any phone that the carriers and manufacturers have control over generally gets locked down. The Nexus phones are the notable exception, and are intended for use by developers and tinkerers. In particular, the bootloader is locked down to prevent you from tinkering. However, there's been a big push to get manufacturers to release their phones in way where the bootloader can easily be unlocked. Many have stated they will move in this direction, but it's a recent development. I'm also still not fully convinced the carriers won't try and succeed in blocking it, but getting the manufacturers to commit to it is a great start.
Until then, we have to rely on an exploit, which for almost all versions of almost all phones, they've been able to do. But it isn't necessarily easy. You still have FAR more customization and tinkering opportunities on Android even without an unlocked bootloader, but once you have that, yes, you can tinker with Android in ways you couldn't even imagine with Apple.

I don't see how this is legal. We're paying on average $300-$500 for phones, that are mini-computers. I can pay that for a laptop and get a mobile usb stick for it on the same carrier, and I have many options of Operation Systems to put on said laptop, even though it's an HP, or a Dell, or a Chinese Knockoff.
Same with Sony and XboX, such Bullcrap!

[Q]Why "root" your phone ?

Hi, everyone.
I am fairly new on the forum. I keep reading about "rooting" your phone. I have a Samsung Galaxy SII T989 and my questions are:
1. What is "phone rooting" ?
2. What are the advantages of having your phone "rooted" ?
Thank you.

I'm *hoping* this is a joke, but if it isn't, here's a good place to start:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=why+root+your+phone

unclespoon said:
I'm *hoping* this is a job, but if it isn't, here's a good place to start:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow that's pretty awesome, would have never thought about that ha ha ha
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Yes... It is a job to think: Why would you risk to unstable your phone by "root" it?
I see that:
- people are removing the wrong apps that negatively affect their phones (e.q. a ccounts and sync).
- people's phone are missing other thinks they used to like (bars, the small flashing blue light when you scroll to the top and to the bottom of the screen).
- the pletoria of apps for rooted phone are not that great...
- the advantage you get is that you only free up some internal space?

I have no issues with my phone rooted. I am on a stock T-Mobile ROM and froze all the bloatware. You can get rids of ads in apps when rooted which is pretty damn convenient for me. Do research on what is safe to freeze and you wont have any problems. Freezing is more safe than uninstalling...
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

The reason is you then have 100% control over your system. If you know what you're doing, having root can be a very powerful tool. You can greatly speed up the phone, free up ram, theme things, it gives you total control.
Now this is a double edged sword too. All the horror stories you're hearing about root are by people who don't have the faintest idea what they're doing and are breaking things.
Think of it in terms of computers. On linux, having root is, well, having root. You have full access to the system. On windows, (vista and above mainly) it's like having an administrator account with UAC turned off. In the right hands, this is very very nice. In the wrong hands, it can cause problems.
If you don't see the benefit of rooting, then I'd highly suggest you do not do so. These devices are not windows boxes where you screw up and "oh well, guess it's time to bust out the windows cd and do a re-install. I'd also suggest perhaps looking through the market at things that require root, and the benefits they give you. (Titanium backup, for instance. Or tethering when your provider doesn't want you to.)

Sui Generis said:
Yes... It is a job to think: Why would you risk to unstable your phone by "root" it?
I see that:
- people are removing the wrong apps that negatively affect their phones (e.q. a ccounts and sync).
- people's phone are missing other thinks they used to like (bars, the small flashing blue light when you scroll to the top and to the bottom of the screen).
- the pletoria of apps for rooted phone are not that great...
- the advantage you get is that you only free up some internal space?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly if you don't want to root your phone do not root it. A lot of the problems you mention stem from people attempting to root and don't know what they are really doing. I am one of those people who are strictly against one click root methods. Because you literally don't need to read anything to understand what exactly are you doing.
If you know what you can do with a rooted phone things like
-Better battery life by manipulating the cpu cycles and governors.
-Change the entire look of the phone to look as if it a totally different os.
-Better performance overall of your phone
-Overall better experience than what the carrier give you.
I could name endless things about why rooting is better than what the stock gives you.
A lot of people I hear just say go to xda and root your phone. Which is very ignorant. Not everyone should root. If your phone is doing what it needs to do then leave it alone. My friends who have android phones ask me to root for them i tell them no root it themselves. With one click methods people make an xda account and blame the developer saying their rom sucks and is bad battery life where as the problems stem most of the time the user side.

I agree. I haven't rooted my SGS2 yet because the stock ROM, for me, seems to be serving its purpose very well. All my benchmark scores are within standard deviation of the OC kernels and now we've got wifi calling. I use ADW for a new UI and that suits me just fine. Yes, ICS will come from CM long before it does from the carriers, but I'm ok with that - even though I'll probably end up rooting and installing ICS once it's stable. My previous Android phones were rooted within days of purchase, and yes I would like to remove bloat, but with all the internal storage and my 32gb sd card I think I'll be a happy camper. It would be nice to know carrier IQ was gone, though...

rooting = control
no root = no control over settings
they don't let you root by default to prevent noobs from damaging their phone by changing some settings they should have not touched

when i rooted my phone and got beastmod 4.0 with flaux kernal my battery life increased like 50x than stock x.x
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

I personally don't think I'll be rooting (at least not while the phone's still new). I'm happy with the level of customization on the stock.
One question though. So basically, when rooted, you are "logged in" to your phone as root user? Are there any security risks with this?

Killbynature said:
Honestly if you don't want to root your phone do not root it. A lot of the problems you mention stem from people attempting to root and don't know what they are really doing. I am one of those people who are strictly against one click root methods. Because you literally don't need to read anything to understand what exactly are you doing.
If you know what you can do with a rooted phone things like
-Better battery life by manipulating the cpu cycles and governors.
-Change the entire look of the phone to look as if it a totally different os.
-Better performance overall of your phone
-Overall better experience than what the carrier give you.
I could name endless things about why rooting is better than what the stock gives you.
A lot of people I hear just say go to xda and root your phone. Which is very ignorant. Not everyone should root. If your phone is doing what it needs to do then leave it alone. My friends who have android phones ask me to root for them i tell them no root it themselves. With one click methods people make an xda account and blame the developer saying their rom sucks and is bad battery life where as the problems stem most of the time the user side.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree entirely, back on the ns forums I was constantly advising people against one click.
Sent from my Hercules with xda Premium.

eMace said:
I personally don't think I'll be rooting (at least not while the phone's still new). I'm happy with the level of customization on the stock.
One question though. So basically, when rooted, you are "logged in" to your phone as root user? Are there any security risks with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only if you use bad apps. Its just like on any other os: if you're the administrator you have to be twice as careful wity what you install
Sent from my Hercules with xda Premium.

Rooting your phone is like getting under the hood of your car.
If you have never worked on a car, it would not be wise to just start pulling out plugs/wires, moving things around and installing enhancements as you would probably ruin your car and end up paying a mechanic to fix it.
However, if you take the time to read up on any changes before you make them, then you could end up with a turbo-boosted hot rod with a custom Chrome setup that not only looks better but performs like a champ.

www.youtube.com/themrroxtar noob tutorials and rom reviews. Check it out. Plus everyone can find how to win a free Hercules at the end of this month!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

for me, rooting is mainly removing bloatware.
just like when you buy a new laptop, they install a lot of crap and it slow your computer down.
rooting can remove bloatware and also give you more speed, but you might lose the upgrading from the OTA(official t mobile update) and need to check update in here.
but if you are ok with the performance that you can on your phone now, stay with it.

It's all about the flash (yeah, bahby!) The custom ROM's can't be flashed without root: Forget about deleting/freezing unwanted applications and find a developers ROM you like - experiment a bit and have some fun with the phone.
As well, applications that require root - quick boot and appinstaller, are a must for me, making root mandatory for my phoning pleasure.
I had an HD2 before, and while there's greater variety in the ROM's, set-up to root is a biach on the HTC devices, so we can thank our lucky stars Samsung makes this easier (prolly not on purpose, though )

TheMrRoxtar said:
www.youtube.com/themrroxtar noob tutorials and rom reviews. Check it out. Plus everyone can find how to win a free Hercules at the end of this month!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's up man...wheelerhomes from YouTube.
Enjoying my rooted sg2! Have to agree with some comments ...understand what you're doing or don't do it. I learned just enough to be dangerous! But am picking up more and more as I read. I do wish the tutorials went a little more into WHY you're doing this or that vs just saying do this. It confusing to grasp what rooting is but when start downloading Odin, loading superuser, clockwork mod recovery, titanium, etc its REALLY overwhelming not knowing what each step does.
I certainly did not need to root. But like all these phones, it started out nice and snappy and within a week it was glitching like my old vibrant ...all kinds of stupid crap running in the background. Rooting was stressful because I didn't know exactly why I was doing these different steps!! Once I did it I was stoked at how fast my phone was. Just flashed wifi stock rom today that whitehawkx put up and I'm already missing my Juggernaut! But wifi calling/texting is slick for my location!

OK,
- better battery life can serve me better...
- being able to install other apps (such call recorder) can also be beneficial...
The problem is that I come from the Windows side rather than the Linux or Apple so I do not excel into this so I am afraid not to brick the phone.
Having said that, it would be VERY, VERY, VERY nice of you (or everyone else with a very rooted stable phone) to post clear and "for dummies" instructions on how to:
1. root your phone
2. install customed rom (beastmod, juggernaut or odin, etc - upon your recommendation).
Many thanks in advance !

eMace said:
I personally don't think I'll be rooting (at least not while the phone's still new).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installed clockwork mod recovery on the first boot while the phone was still in the plastic wrap. Rooted via superoneclick on the 2nd boot ONLY because you have to reboot after flashing clockwork mod.
The process is easy if you read the instructions.
Sent from my Hercules using XDA App

[Q] Clarifications on R800x Rooting Status

I know all of this has been covered but when searching all the threads I found were from last year at some point so I figured I would see if there was any new news that I just wasn't finding with my search terms. I apologize in advance if I put this thread in the wrong place or didn't follow the forum format in some way.
Basically, is the Verizon version of the Xperia Play, R800x with 2.3.3 still locked and there is no way to root this phone now? Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought the Supreme Court or something had ruled that we were legally able to do what we wanted with devices we owned? Does that not apply here or am I crazy? Let me guess, I inadvertently signed all my rights away by clicking something that automatically means I agree with whatever restrictions they wish to put on me, am I getting warm? Lol.
I knew I should have done this earlier but I honestly wanted to give my phone a good run stock before tinkering with it. Now that I am having to delete just about every app I have downloaded on my phone, including games I paid good money for, just so I don't get continuous memory warnings mostly due to updates for the preinstalled software that I never use that Verizon saw fit to saddle me with, I decided to look into rooting it only to find that this is no longer an option. Honestly, I am fed up with this phone, Verizon, the whole nine yards. Excuse me while I rant a bit but I wish I have never upgraded to a "smart" phone and I am seriously considering dropping back to a normal plan without all the data and use my old, reliable Samsung Flipshot. It was a phone and a camera and it did both very well. My Play is supposed to do all sorts of things but it does nothing well and even when I am inclined to surf the 'Net or play a typical game or even txt I am constantly bombarded with the popup that the app has stopped responding and do I want to Wait or Force Close. It honestly smacks of the Windows 95 and 98 days when nothing seemed to work right and the BSOD was a common, everyday thing. Ok, rant over, I apologize.
Seriously though, is there anything I can do to stop the slow, inevitable death of my phone? I have uninstalled the largest of the updates for most of the programs I don't use like the Kindle app, some sort of "office" app and a few other updates that were over the 10mb mark but is this a viable solution? Are these apps just going to update again later or harass me with notifications to update? What the hell happened to the 250mb of extra space I had before and why can't I get it back by deleting the apps I downloaded myself? When my phone was new I had all kinds of room to do stuff and had many apps installed that I rarely used but were very handy when I needed them, now I find that I have to delete anything non-essential just to get my phone to operate on a somewhat normal level. Is there anything I can do to fight this and get back enough memory to make my phone fun and somewhat useful again? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I guess I am just very disappointed with my first foray into the "smartphone" world. I honestly feel they are pushing the technology too far to fast since it seems almost like your phone is only something cool when it's new sitting on a shelf, then when you get it home and use it, it turns to crap in you hand. I suppose I am just angry over the whole situation and I feel sort of cheated. Maybe I misunderstood something somewhere but I thought these cool little gadgets were supposed to make life better and actually be useful. Then again, maybe I am just getting old.
So is there any hope or am I stuck with this for the time being or as long as I am stuck with Verizon in my rather remote area?

Read my sticky thread on "R800x Users: You've got Custom ROM questions? I've got answers." It still applies, at least until May 1st when you get an update.
In short: you can root your phone. There is something else called a bootloader that remains locked that controls whether you can use certain custom ROMs and kernels. There is a paid way to unlock it which gives you more access. There are quite a few custom ROMs you can use with a locked bootloader that will improve your phone's performance, and even more if you unlock the bootloader.
About the locked bootloader thing, Verizon can do that because they subsidize the cost of the phone in your contract. So, technically, they "own" the phone for the contract period and can dictate what you can do to said hardware.
You need to do a bit more digging. You can do a LOT more than stock.
Sent from my R800x using xda premium

Thanks for the info. I skimmed through the thread but I wondered if it still applied, good to know that it does so I'll go back and read it in detail. I guess I understand the Verizon thing. This is the real cost of buying my phone for a penny off Amazon, lol. Again, thanks for the info and I will definitely check out the info on rooting my phone, even if it's not totally unlocked. As long as I can get rid of most of the bloatware, I will be satisfied with that. Not really looking to make my phone do anything more than it does now, but improving it's performance and storage is definitely my motivation so hopefully something along those lines is still possible. Thanks again!

netizenmt said:
About the locked bootloader thing, Verizon can do that because they subsidize the cost of the phone in your contract. So, technically, they "own" the phone for the contract period and can dictate what you can do to said hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I paid the unsubsidized price for my Play (~$500 if I recall) so I wouldn't have to sign a contract, and they still won't let me unlock it, not that that stopped me...

Mogul345 said:
Well, I paid the unsubsidized price for my Play (~$500 if I recall) so I wouldn't have to sign a contract, and they still won't let me unlock it, not that that stopped me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically you pay for the device but Sony holds the rights to what is contained within. You don't own EVERYTHING in the phone. Just the right to use it. Sure its in the Terms and Conditions
Sent from my R800i using xda premium

Well even with Verizon's meddling I was able to root my phone even without unlocking the boot loader. I got Titanium Backup installed and was able to remove a lot of the bloatware on my phone and free up a lot of memory. I wasn't able to delete all that I wanted but I was able to get back about 100mb of phone memory with just the things I did delete and that is good enough for me. The phone is acting normal so I guess I did everything right and didn't do any damage and I got the space I needed so I am pleased. Maybe down the road I will want to do more to the phone and workarounds will exist then but for now I am happy with what I have achieved.
Thanks again to Netizenmt and all the people who posted the information listed in your sticky. It was a great help once I calmed down, dug below the surface and did some more research.

is the att version locked down like the note 3?

The note 3 is a great piece of hardware but it was a nightmare for devs I hope they backtrack on that with this one. Not getting my hopes up though.

powdered_donuts said:
The note 3 is a great piece of hardware but it was a nightmare for devs I hope they backtrack on that with this one. Not getting my hopes up though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably...Maybe...Absolutely and most Definitely LOCKED.

powdered_donuts said:
The note 3 is a great piece of hardware but it was a nightmare for devs I hope they backtrack on that with this one. Not getting my hopes up though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it will be locked down!!! Us consumers never really OWN our phone that WE purchase!!! So tired of AT&T and others. I sure hope Geohot can bring us some towelroot

chrispyutec said:
Of course it will be locked down!!! Us consumers never really OWN our phone that WE purchase!!! So tired of AT&T and others. I sure hope Geohot can bring us some towelroot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root took a long time for the note 3 but in the end the real fight was and still is the bootloaders. No custom kernels means even with root all you get is basically a bunch of differently themed semi customized stock Roms to play with

powdered_donuts said:
Root took a long time for the note 3 but in the end the real fight was and still is the bootloaders. No custom kernels means even with root all you get is basically a bunch of differently themed semi customized stock Roms to play with
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's right. I gave up my AT&T note 3 for T-Mobile S5 just for the unlocked bootloader. Although I really would like to see the bootloader unlocked, I can kinda live without unlocked bootloader if I have at least root. I will no longer buy a phone if I can't at least get root. I always wait until root has been achieved before making any purchase. Gotta love HTC for not locking down, but I just don't like their phones that much.

99.999% sure the ATT version will have a locked bootloader. This means it will always be a cat and mouse game with root.
My advice is to wait and not pre-order anything yet. Let the dust settle and see which device will work for you and have root available.
1. You have to ask yourself how long do you normally keep phones? Can you afford to wait 6 months or more (or never if you accidentally take an update) for root on an ATT device you are going to have for 1-2 years?
2. The Tmobile version will most likely have an unlocked bootloader which means you never have to worry about root. It will also most likely work on ATT like the GS5 and the Note3 before it and it will have updates long after Tmobile and Samsung stop supporting it.
If you have Tmobile in your area and you want root it really is the best way to go and cheaper. Why not give them a try? The next best is a Tmobile device on ATT, and third, well.... forget about root.

I have the same very question.
Being on ATT, will the Note 4 be able to be Rooted, and even more important, allow Custom Recovery for ROM's ? If not, NO WAY I can get the Note 4. And Safestrap is not an option, that's a handicapped and gimped wannabe recovery.
Nice thing with HTC, they openly and officially allow their One M8 to have the bootloader unlocked directly through HTC's own website. I did just that with my ATT carrier One M8, and converted it to a GPE. Would like to see Samsung allow that too.

Without a doubt it will be locked.

Ikr! I had T-Mobile but we moved a few years back to an area where they don't have service really at all. I wish I could let them pay my termination fees and bring my four lines there I would save money too. Oh well..

powdered_donuts said:
Ikr! I had T-Mobile but we moved a few years back to an area where they don't have service really at all. I wish I could let them pay my termination fees and bring my four lines there I would save money too. Oh well..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get the Tmobile device instead and use it on ATT. Don't be pulled in by the ATT Next hype\propaganda either. You still pay full price for the device. Why not get one that you actually own.

mircury said:
Get the Tmobile device instead and use it on ATT. Don't be pulled in by the ATT Next hype\propaganda either. You still pay full price for the device. Why not get one that you actually own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I know I'm not falling for the next plan and all that crap not interested in adding more to my monthly bill. I thought about getting the T-Mobile version but I'm starting to just lean towards getting a nexus from google when the new one comes out. Hate to leave Samsung behind but I'm feeling like the time has come to move on

mircury said:
99.999% sure the ATT version will have a locked bootloader. This means it will always be a cat and mouse game with root.
My advice is to wait and not pre-order anything yet. Let the dust settle and see which device will work for you and have root available.
1. You have to ask yourself how long do you normally keep phones? Can you afford to wait 6 months or more (or never if you accidentally take an update) for root on an ATT device you are going to have for 1-2 years?
2. The Tmobile version will most likely have an unlocked bootloader which means you never have to worry about root. It will also most likely work on ATT like the GS5 and the Note3 before it and it will have updates long after Tmobile and Samsung stop supporting it.
If you have Tmobile in your area and you want root it really is the best way to go and cheaper. Why not give them a try? The next best is a Tmobile device on ATT, and third, well.... forget about root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a good idea. If you want the phone, go get it now. I remember very well that after someone root the HTC phone with s-off, they make it not rootable with it being s-off. It took many months and ransom money for hacker to find it get rid of the s-off.

chong67 said:
Not a good idea. If you want the phone, go get it now. I remember very well that after someone root the HTC phone with s-off, they make it not rootable with it being s-off. It took many months and ransom money for hacker to find it get rid of the s-off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very, very bad advise. You are basically advising people to buy and hope that an exploit will be found, and it's a bad gamble at most. Have you gotten any recent Samsung phones? We aren't talking HTC here. Look at the Note 3, Galaxy S4 and S5 history. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy the phone. I'm saying you should not pre-order it or get it on day one. With the Tmobile note 3 it took a week and a half after release to confirm that it had an unlocked bootloader. At that point a custom recovery was ODIN flashable and root was forever available. It was even faster to confirm that the ATT version was locked down and as of today the bootloader has NEVER been cracked! No CM or AOSP! Only stock kernels are usable. The same with the ATT S5. The bootloader is still locked down. Root has been obtained through an exploit that has since been patched. So if you take an update you are screwed. A bootloader exploit for the latest samsung devices has not been found for the ATT S4, S5, and Note 3 for 1.5 years now.
I have a huge info thread over in the ATT Note 3 section if you want to read it.
My point is, wait for confirmation that a particular device is bootloader unlocked before you put down $750 on a device.

mircury said:
Very, very bad advise. You are basically advising people to buy and hope, and it's a bad gamble at most. Have you gotten any recent Samsung phones? We aren't talking HTC here. Look at the Note 3, Galaxy S4 and S5 history. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy the phone. I'm saying you should not pre-order it or get it on day one. With the Tmobile note 3 it took a week and a half after release to confirm that it had an unlocked bootloader. At that point a custom recovery was ODIN flashable and root was forever available. It was even faster to confirm that the ATT version was locked down and as of today the bootloader has NEVER been cracked! No CM or AOSP! Only stock kernels are usable. The same with the ATT S5. The bootloader is still locked down. Root has been obtained through an exploit that has since been patched. So if you take an update you are screwed. A bootloader exploit for the latest samsung devices has not been found for the ATT S4, S5, and Note 3 for 1.5 years now.
I have a huge info thread over in the ATT Note 3 section if you want to read it.
My point is, wait for confirmation that a particular device is bootloader unlocked before you put down $750 on a device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
better advice! But you can certainly blindly guarantee that at&t is locked down.

Am I wanting Root for wrong reasons?
I have been rooting and installing custom ROMS for a few years now. All Samsung phones.
I'm growing tired of custom ROMS. While some are very solid, I have not tried any at all that don't have one problem or another. So, I'm hoping I can be satisfied with just rooting and maybe even staying on TW. I'll be trying to analyze the features I'd lose from Nova if I stay on TW, vs the TW features of the Note 4 I'd lose by going to Nova.
But my main question is do I really NEED root? I'm thinking I want it in order to do true backups (with more concern about data than backing up apps). I am of the impression that data backups may not be possible w/o root. True? Or, depending on App? I know that TIBU seems to want root...I've never tried to use TIBU w/o root.
Also, I use other apps that seem to work better with root, ie. Lightflow, TIBU, Tasker (a must), ES File Explorer, Gravity Box, Notification Shortcuts, Utter, Widget Locker, and others I suppose.
Seems to me I NEED root. Am I misinformed?
Maybe the T-Mobile version of the Note 4 is what I should look for.

ewingr said:
Also, I use other apps that seem to work better with root, ie. Lightflow, TIBU, Tasker (a must), ES File Explorer, Gravity Box, Notification Shortcuts, Utter, Widget Locker, and others I suppose.
Maybe the T-Mobile version of the Note 4 is what I should look for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't forget adaway, my number 1 use for root, and ya you should be looking at the tmo note. That's coming from someone who did it on the 3rd gen note.

mircury said:
..., and ya you should be looking at the tmo note. That's coming from someone who did it on the 3rd gen note.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll probably look into that. I typically take advantage of subsidy, but may be worth going with TMO. If the Note 4 had 4GB mem, that would make it easier to make the extra spend. I was hoping for a phone that I may be happy with for longer than 2 years. (Of course the root issue may be the driving factor for purchasing the TMO version, irrespective of other considerations).

ewingr said:
I have been rooting and installing custom ROMS for a few years now. All Samsung phones.
I'm growing tired of custom ROMS. While some are very solid, I have not tried any at all that don't have one problem or another. So, I'm hoping I can be satisfied with just rooting and maybe even staying on TW. I'll be trying to analyze the features I'd lose from Nova if I stay on TW, vs the TW features of the Note 4 I'd lose by going to Nova.
But my main question is do I really NEED root? I'm thinking I want it in order to do true backups (with more concern about data than backing up apps). I am of the impression that data backups may not be possible w/o root. True? Or, depending on App? I know that TIBU seems to want root...I've never tried to use TIBU w/o root.
Also, I use other apps that seem to work better with root, ie. Lightflow, TIBU, Tasker (a must), ES File Explorer, Gravity Box, Notification Shortcuts, Utter, Widget Locker, and others I suppose.
Seems to me I NEED root. Am I misinformed?
Maybe the T-Mobile version of the Note 4 is what I should look for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree with you on all points. Except not sure we "have to root". The Note 4 will be able to handle all "Bloatware" and still fly. Koush's Helium does a good job backing up apps/data. No Nandroid, but if you are not rooting and running the risk of soft bricking and needing to restore a Nandroid, they won't be needed. The cloud for Google will always be there to restore those accounts. The rest you can backup to your sdcard and pc. Not sure I need theming like Xposed offers. As, I am liking the stock look of the S5 which I am running on my S4.
That all being said I would probably get a TMO one on ATT if LTE runs fine and root/flash roms since it is in the blood at this point--

Off topic...
rugmankc said:
..Koush's Helium does a good job backing up apps/data...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you posted this. I had not heard of Helium. I'll have to check it out.
One thing I like to be able to do is backup and restore just data. I'll have to see if that can be done. It's interesting that it doesn't require root, when everything else does.
....
Just went to Play Store, and leaves me a bit confuse. The instructions are a bit confusing, as 1a says "Root user? You're done", then goes on to say to install on the PC, which implies to me if non-rooted, you must do backups to PC.
I'll go and read the Wiki.
[Update]
A few things that are discouraging, from the WIKI, re: Helium:
If you're using a non-root device, you MUST connect to a PC via the USB port of your device to enable ADB backup permissions.
In problematic applications, ALL Google Apps are listed
...you are using a non-root device, you need to enable Helium at every reboot of the device. This is a PITA
You made a backup to a removable SD card. Again, not advisable as mounting then re-mounting a physical card between devices is problematic for backups. Use PC Download, a cloud destination or device-to-device sync.
Those are just the issues I'm not sure I'd want to mess with. So, hoping to ultimately achieve ROOT.

ewingr said:
Glad you posted this. I had not heard of Helium. I'll have to check it out.
One thing I like to be able to do is backup and restore just data. I'll have to see if that can be done. It's interesting that it doesn't require root, when everything else does.
....
Just went to Play Store, and leaves me a bit confuse. The instructions are a bit confusing, as 1a says "Root user? You're done", then goes on to say to install on the PC, which implies to me if non-rooted, you must do backups to PC.
I'll go and read the Wiki.
[Update]
A few things that are discouraging, from the WIKI, re: Helium:
If you're using a non-root device, you MUST connect to a PC via the USB port of your device to enable ADB backup permissions.
In problematic applications, ALL Google Apps are listed
...you are using a non-root device, you need to enable Helium at every reboot of the device. This is a PITA
You made a backup to a removable SD card. Again, not advisable as mounting then re-mounting a physical card between devices is problematic for backups. Use PC Download, a cloud destination or device-to-device sync.
Those are just the issues I'm not sure I'd want to mess with. So, hoping to ultimately achieve ROOT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try MyBackUp Pro from Play Store--Have used it for years. Assuming it updates for Note 4--sure it will. You can email them--

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