Develop Bugs

Root After Update?

I've been considering rooting my phone at some point. I read in one post that the new OTA update might make rooting impossible. Is this true?
As a follow up question- Seems from the forum posts that some people end up with various problems after flashing. Is it really worth rooting and flashing? What are the most important advantages and improvements?
Thanks
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

Dude just root your phone. Having complete control over your device is reason enough to do it. Some programs don't even work without it. Rooting is simple too btw with Unrevoked3. Make sure to get unrevoked3 because unrevoked forever will void any chance at a warrenty claim.

I'm a total noobie to rooting and flashing so please excuse me if I have this wrong.
I would be fine waiting for the official OTA update and then rooting and flashing a cooked ROM but I read on some posts that rooting may not be possible after the update. The advice seems to be to run unrevokedforever to get "s-off" and gain permanent root access. My biggest concern with this is voiding my warranty. I already had to return one of these for a bad speaker.
Can I just refuse the OTA until unrevoked gets s-on?

Before you do any rooting; consider the reason you want to root your phone. If you want official OTA updates then don't bother. IF you want to have the freedom and take on the responsibility of doing whatever you want to your phone and the consequences of not fully understanding what you're doing, then root your phone.
Rooting is not for everyone, decide what you want from your phone first, then consider what you'll gain from having root.
You can re-root your phone, but like anything else it carries risks, be ready to buy a new phone for $600 when you blow this one up. Then you are ready to root for certain.

Good advice DIC. I certainly don't want to shell out the dollars for a new phone. My main reasons for rooting and flashing would be:
- Better battery life
- wifi tethering
- having control for reasons I might realize later
- fun
Will the OTA update address the first 2 issues?
Will rooting still be possible after the OTA? If so I can just enjoy the benefits of that and then root and flash if I still want to.

Rooting after the 2.2 OTA
I ran across some older Unrevoked comments that were in the vein that all of their exploits had been plugged in the 2.2 OTA so finding new ones might take time. That was a few weeks ago so who knows what they have now. So if you accept the 2.2 OTA without the S-OFF mod, then you will have to wait for Unrevoked 4(?) to find a new exploit.
S-OFF on the other hand will let you accept any official, locked down update, load you own recovery (ClockworkMod) and from there load su/Superuser.apk.
I happen to be a Linux developer, so I'm interested in unlocking the phone so I can understand the lower levels (below the Android java machine). But I am also cautious, so I would prefer to start with stock and mod the system in bits and pieces as I need and understand it.

S-OFF on the other hand will let you accept any official, locked down update, load you own recovery (ClockworkMod) and from there load su/Superuser.apk.
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Click to collapse
So are you saying you recommend applying forever and s-off now before accepting the OTA update?
As a "cautious" linux developer what have you done with your phone at this point?

I think I will root the phone with unrevoked3 and just install wireless tethering from the app store for now.
I would also like to update the radio for better performance. I read I can only update to 2.05 without applying s-off and that it can brick my phone if I install it twice. Is this a good idea?
If the official OTA shows up can I run it on a rooted phone? I assume I can. More importantly, do I want to?

marcmarshall said:
So are you saying you recommend applying forever and s-off now before accepting the OTA update?
As a "cautious" linux developer what have you done with your phone at this point?
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Click to collapse
I applied the S-OFF mod specifically because I want to use stock as a starting point rather than relying upon a rebuilt or reconstructed MOD from someone else. Not that I don't trust the developers - they do a lot of great work. But with so many files flying around and very little source code behind those mods, I rather build the pieces myself (as much as is feasible). Koush has a lot of his work available on github, for example, and you can see exactly how he goes about replacing a kernel. I've also been able to recompile the kernel from the HTC released sources - now if I can find the configuration files that the Hydra Kernel developer uses, then I can roll my own kernels - again from stock sources.
To address your second question - I've done a network port scan on my phone to identify open TCP or UDP ports and found an unidentified UDP port listening. I posted a thread and some deductive reasoning from other XDA users narrowed down the source to the new Chrome to Phone feature. I'll be able to verify this after the stock 2.2 OTA comes through, but the phone is really a little Linux system under the Java machine that "traps" most of the Android apps. Root privilege bypasses the Android security and the hardware security (NAND lock) and could allow a "root" only app to install something under the hood. The phones are trapped in Verizon's network, so they are hard to get to, but the standard firewall (iptableS) is down by default.
So as Spiderman's Uncle Ben says, "With great power comes great responsibility". If you root your phone, but do not compile your own apps/mods from source, then you must rely upon the integrity of the community and file sharing systems for the mods that you install. S-OFF will let you install stock images and then as a minimum you need a replacement recovery (ClockworkMod) and the superuser package. But from there, you can work as you see fit.
It may benefit the community to have some form of central "Modding integrity verification" system for example where source codes, update zips and md5sums are fully documented so that if you pull down a mod from a file sharing site, then you have a good idea that the file is from the original developer. Then if the developer is good with changelogs and source, the user can feel reasonably good as to the integrity what's running on the phone. It would slow down innovation however.

I like the way you think Starfire. Last night I rooted with Unrevoked3, no s-off. I've only added a few root only apps and removed a couple bloats so far. I'm concerned about not being able to root after the OTA update so I think I will stop worrying so much and apply Unrevoked forever, update the radio, and apply the leaked or a custom ROM.
I like Sense and I would like a kernal with the adaptive cpu clocking, or whatever it is called, so I can improve battery life. Any suggestions?
Thanks much............mm

If you wait for the official ota its gonna be a while until a developer group like unrevoked finds a way to root it. If you want wifi tethering and froyo now I suggest rooting.
youtube.com/user/mejdam
^has several guides on how to root upgrade to baseband 2.05 and downgrade back to stock. Most roms can run on 2.05. If you want to extend battery life I suggest installing a hydra kernal that is undervolted or kingxkernal (if you want more control in oc). Also only way to get true wifi tethering for free is through rooting.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

marcmarshall said:
I like the way you think Starfire. Last night I rooted with Unrevoked3, no s-off. I've only added a few root only apps and removed a couple bloats so far. I'm concerned about not being able to root after the OTA update so I think I will stop worrying so much and apply Unrevoked forever, update the radio, and apply the leaked or a custom ROM.
I like Sense and I would like a kernal with the adaptive cpu clocking, or whatever it is called, so I can improve battery life. Any suggestions?
Thanks much............mm
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Click to collapse
I played with SkyRaider 2.2 Sense and liked it a lot. 2.5.2 sounds even better although I have not tried it because (1) I have my phone S-OFF, rooted stock 2.1 with the stock 605.2 recovery waiting a few more days for the OTA and (2) there was a lot of back and forth with boot loops, sound fixes, Hulu fixes, etc. so I'm letting it settle out a bit. The SkyRaider dev does a great job with extras and themes available through ROM Manager. If the OTA takes too much longer, I may give that one a shot again - and keep looking under the hood.

I think I will play a little wait and see also. I was also leaning to skyraider based on what I had read. I might use it and then patch this kernal http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=760050&highlight=cpu+rom+battery . It is optimized for battery usage. I need to do some homework about it though to see if Skyraider is not already using the same optimization and that it is stable.
Thanks!

[Q] Unlocking Bootloader and Rooting

Hey guys, sorry if this has already been answered somewhere else but I couldn't find it anywhere.
I bought a Galaxy Nexus a couple weeks ago and am loving it (except for battery life) and am interested in rooting it. But I have a few questions first:
1. What is the difference between unlocking the bootloader and rooting a phone. I know what unlocking a bootloader is, but I don't know much about rooting.
2. If I unlock and root, will I still be able to get updates from Google directly wihtout issues? Like, will I get the 4.0.3 update whenever it comes out even if I'm rooted?
3. Will my warranty be voided if I unlock the bootloader?
4. And if I do root it, what ROMs do you guys suggest I use? Which ones are the smoothest in performance and give the best battery life and customizations etc?
5. There is a new unlock/root tool made for the SGN, shown here: droid-life.com /2012/01/04/simple-galaxy-nexus-lte-rootunlock-and-unrootre-lock-tool-released/
Is it as effective as unlocking and rooting manually or does it have some drawbacks since it does everything for you automatically? BTW, thanks to whoever made that tool.
I know these are dumb questions but I'm new at this, so please bear with me. Thanks for any help in advance!

Peesashiz said:
Hey guys, sorry if this has already been answered somewhere else but I couldn't find it anywhere.
I bought a Galaxy Nexus a couple weeks ago and am loving it (except for battery life) and am interested in rooting it. But I have a few questions first:
1. What is the difference between unlocking the bootloader and rooting a phone. I know what unlocking a bootloader is, but I don't know much about rooting.
2. If I unlock and root, will I still be able to get updates from Google directly wihtout issues? Like, will I get the 4.0.3 update whenever it comes out even if I'm rooted?
3. Will my warranty be voided if I unlock the bootloader?
4. And if I do root it, what ROMs do you guys suggest I use? Which ones are the smoothest in performance and give the best battery life and customizations etc?
5. There is a new unlock/root tool made for the SGN, shown here: droid-life.com /2012/01/04/simple-galaxy-nexus-lte-rootunlock-and-unrootre-lock-tool-released/
Is it as effective as unlocking and rooting manually or does it have some drawbacks since it does everything for you automatically? BTW, thanks to whoever made that tool.
I know these are dumb questions but I'm new at this, so please bear with me. Thanks for any help in advance!
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1) I have an app called All About Root which should answer the majority of all basic questions and even some advanced technical ones regarding root.
2) Yes, if you're still on stock and dont change/modify any of the stock apk/framework files. Once the OTA update finishes, root access will be removed and a stock recovery will be reloaded. Will have to fastboot flash the custom recovery back and set the permissions back on root (permissions are a topic in All About Root)
3) Depends on who is covering the warranty or another way to put it, who/where/how device was purchased.
5) I would always recommend learning the manual method. Once you load the android-sdk, which is needed for many customizations, the unlock is a simple command and learning adb/fastboot will be very useful in the future for most operations.
Hope that helps! I'm sure others will chime in with their opinions and experiences to cover any gaps I might have missed. Good luck!

1) Unlocking allows you to modify the kernel and flash custom roms. Rooting allows you root access to the OS. Root is the equivalent of an admin in windows, but in the context of android it gives you write access to the full device. Basically it allows you to access lower level system functions (ie droidwall is a gui for iptables which is a firewall).
2)My understanding is that if you unlock and root, you'll be running a custom recovery (clockwork). I'm not sure if that means you won't see the OTA or if it'll just revert to stock or it may not work at all. Perhaps someone else can explain, but frankly when you get to #4 I don't see any reason why OTA updates are relevant.
3) I think the bootload can be relocked so even if it does void the warranty it can be reversed. Whether or not they can tell that it has been unlocked I don't know, and if they wanted to find a reason to deny a warranty I'm sure they could find one whether or not it's unlocked. I'd be surprised if they denied it though since the nexus devices are important because they can be unlocked.
4) I've used Axiom pretty much since the day after I got my phone. Most of them are all the same 4.0.3 core just various modifications to 'improve' the experience. The one other rom I'd look at is kang's because it's based on CM9. Kernels are another issue from there - I've liked both leankernel and franco's. Note that you should check out the forums over at rootzwiki as their dev area seems more active than around here. The kernel is the main source of battery and performance boosts.
5) I would recommend attempting it manually. The most difficult part imo is getting the drivers installed and the device recognized by adb. From there it's just executing a single line to unlocked. Unlocking will wipe your data. I'll say it again...unlocking will wipe your data. I used superboot myself, but if you're going to a custom rom then getting root access is really only needed temporarily to get clockwork installed - any custom rom has root access already. Here's a link to superboot. I *think* you just execute it from your computer (its a batch file) and it will root the device for you. I'm not sure if it installs clockworkmod so the first thing you should do after booting is download rom manager and reflash recovery to be sure. Then you can use clockworkmod to move to a rom.
Happy flashing.

Do Official OTA Updates and Factory Resets Work After Rooting?

Maybe someone can throw a new guy a bone here? ....
One thing I had on my jailbroken iPhone was free tethering. My Xfinity went down the other day and I realized I couldn't tether my new Android without paying AT$T. So from what I understand, like the iPhone I need to root it and then download a third party tethering app?
If I root now, I'll probably be tempted to give Black Jelly or Frost ROMs a try. I know with this 'Odin' program or 'Nandroid' backup with CWP (still figuring all this out) I can switch between ROMS pretty easily. It takes me about an hour though to download all my apps and reconfig my phone after a reset though. I think Titanium backup or something solves this, but seems to me using something like that with custom ROM, as opposed to a 'clean' install and just start installing/configuring from scratch may pose higher risk of having issues?
So my question is, if I root and install custom ROM, how hard is it to get the official update installed, or any more official future updates installed if I decide I don't want to stay on a custom ROM?
Being an experimental person and my first time to Android, I'm sure I'm going to eventually cave (for sure root) and try a custom ROM. I see SO many posts though in these ROM forums with all sorts of little issues. I want to go back to stock and get official updates if I need to.

When the official jb drops there will most likely be some debloated version on here in a day or so. If you're rooted with a custom recovery it will take no time to install. I would also seriously consider titanium backup, it makes the process much easier.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

OTA after Rooting - Yes and No....
jazee said:
Maybe someone can throw a new guy a bone here? ....
So my question is, if I root and install custom ROM, how hard is it to get the official update installed, or any more official future updates installed if I decide I don't want to stay on a custom ROM?
Being an experimental person and my first time to Android, I'm sure I'm going to eventually cave (for sure root) and try a custom ROM. I see SO many posts though in these ROM forums with all sorts of little issues. I want to go back to stock and get official updates if I need to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are two issues you mention: 1) Having a custom ROM and doing an Custom OTA, and 2) OTA with stock ROM and after you you have rooted your phone.
Stock ROM and OTA after Rooting
In times past, there have been vendors that look for rooting and refused to OTA the phone. Citing it violated warantee, contract, whatever. AT&T use to do it, but with current ROMs, especially with the S3, they simply turn off the SUID bit on /system/xbin/su during the update.(They turn off the Root modification, of sorts). The current OTA of 4.0.4 does this trick. Making near impossible to root afterwards.
Usually it is always best to flash back to stock to insure you get a clean OTA.
Some versions of rooting will allow you to keep root even after OTA, but I would not count on it.
The other issue that some forget is any modification to the ROM may trip a counter which may cause OTA's to fail. In the S3 there is a counter on how many times the ROM has been flashed by custom software. Once it is tripped, any warantee you have on the device is voided. You can see the information when you set your phone into flash mode.
There are programs to reset the counter, and other methods, but it gets pretty ugly and you can hard brick your phone in some cases. Just use them with care.
Custom ROM and OTA after Rooting
With custom ROM's rooting is the norm. OTA's will usually not affect them. In fact some OTA's will include updated 'su' programs. There are some custom ROM's that are not able to OTA.

So it sounds to me like if I plan on rooting to get the free tethering, I should always wait until there's a stock ROM available here and manually install it? That way, I don't lose my root and I don't increase the counter unnecessarily?
Thanks for your help.

Thinking about rooting - need some advice

Hey all!
First Nexus device ever here, and I'm loving it! I've long been an amateur tinkerer with Android things (I've been through the Droid X, Bionic, Razr, Razr Maxx, and currently rocking the SGS3; Tablet wise I've had the OG Nook Color pimped out with Cyanogenmod, the HP Touchpad with Android, and more recently an Asus TF201 Transformer Prime).
Needless to say, I'm not completely useless with this type of stuff! I am, however, a little curious as to the rooting / unlocking process.
1) It looks like you need to unlock to root this device? Just double checking because that's new to me. (yes, I already know you lose your data if you do)
2) If I unlock / root but don't change the system files other than the custom recovery, can I still flash the OTAs when they come? I am not currently interested in a custom ROM, and I know I won't actually be PROMPTED for the OTAs if I have a custom recovery, but can I simply sideload the official update .zip and install via TWRP? Or is that impossible? I also understand Voodoo would be necessary (or re-rooting if Voodoo doesn't work on the update)
3) If 2 is impossible, what is the procedure to install official updates while rooted / unlocked?
Sorry for all the questions! Any help is appreciated

Yes. Unlock is needed. But it is sooo easy on Nexus: fastboot oem unlock
Now, with OTAs, I would stick with a stock deodex or odex ROM and just update when your dev updates. Trust me, saves a lot of headache.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

swagstr said:
Yes. Unlock is needed. But it is sooo easy on Nexus: fastboot oem unlock
Now, with OTAs, I would stick with a stock deodex or odex ROM and just update when your dev updates. Trust me, saves a lot of headache.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick response! See the thing was, I didn't want to have to have to flash a ROM because I like how quickly Nexus devices get updated and I'm worried it'll be delayed by that process.. I'm not even certain I need to root yet anyway haha..My phone is rooted (mostly for hotspot, wireless adb, etc.), but I've yet to come across a compelling reason to root the N7 in the first place. Can anyone offer some examples?

SJonesGSO said:
Thanks for the quick response! See the thing was, I didn't want to have to have to flash a ROM because I like how quickly Nexus devices get updated and I'm worried it'll be delayed by that process.. I'm not even certain I need to root yet anyway haha..My phone is rooted (mostly for hotspot, wireless adb, etc.), but I've yet to come across a compelling reason to root the N7 in the first place. Can anyone offer some examples?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium backup. Adblockers. Etc. If you don't got a reason to root. Don't

Here's my Nexus 7 rooting notes (I use fedora linux on my system and root from there):
http://home.comcast.net/~tomhorsley/hardware/nexus7/hacking.html

you are always safe with nexus
all nexus devices have stock images located on google's site and they are flashable in fastboot so you will never be outdated only these methods you will lose your data my suggestion is with whatever you do in your tinkering is back up everything just to be safe and make data recovery a breeze good luck

albundy2010 said:
Titanium backup. Adblockers. Etc. If you don't got a reason to root. Don't
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Click to collapse
I don't use Titanium Backup, and I don't use adblockers on principal (I'm an app developer and make most of my revenue from ad clicks).
At this point, I'm thinking I'm just not going to go through the trouble if I can't think of a specific reason to. Thanks everyone.

There is plenty of ways to root and unlock with AIO's out there but there is no point of really doing it at this moment as there is not that much development for N7-2

I would suggest you do the unlock, even if you don't plan on using custom recovery or rooting at this time.
Otherwise if you find something where you need root or custom recovery for in the future, you'll end up wiping your data then, after everything is set up and you've installed your apps.
Unlocking won't affect your ability to receive OTAs and neither will installing root.
Custom recovery can affect your ability to receive OTAs, but you actually don't need to install custom recovery to root. You can just temporarily boot into twrp or cwm (ie don't write the custom recovery onto your phone) and run the update.zip for SuperSU. Use fastboot boot twrp.img to do a one-time boot into custom recovery.

Upgrade path for root? Question

Hello i used to have a pretty near stock flavor htc one m8 kernel on my phone with root. I personally just wanted root, didn't feel the need for fancy new features. I am curious since I removed root. how I can stay on root but have an easy upgrade path in the future if i root. I'd like to be up to date, and not have to unroot each time a new update comes around. unless I am wrong, and you just use like twerp, backup your current after you root, then when you go to upgrade you just flash new kernel then if something goes wrong you just reflash your latest good backup? Idk, and plus my internet currently isn't the fastest at 6mbit wifi home. phone is faster, I'd like to not have to redownload apps and such, if you catch my drift.

aphixe said:
Hello i used to have a pretty near stock flavor htc one m8 kernel on my phone with root. I personally just wanted root, didn't feel the need for fancy new features. I am curious since I removed root. how I can stay on root but have an easy upgrade path in the future if i root. I'd like to be up to date, and not have to unroot each time a new update comes around. unless I am wrong, and you just use like twerp, backup your current after you root, then when you go to upgrade you just flash new kernel then if something goes wrong you just reflash your latest good backup? Idk, and plus my internet currently isn't the fastest at 6mbit wifi home. phone is faster, I'd like to not have to redownload apps and such, if you catch my drift.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
New versions usually means new firmware. Not just kernel.
The easiest way to stay up to date with root is by being S-Off. I usually have the new stuff around two months before my carrier updates.
With S-Off you can just flash the new firmware in fastboot or by using the hboot option.

Okay I've done s-off before. but how does the flash part work? do you use a RUU? and whats the process, and do you lose your apps. I have an SD card, so with root perhaps can transfer all the apps to it so it doesnt get nuked?
xunholyx said:
New versions usually means new firmware. Not just kernel.
The easiest way to stay up to date with root is by being S-Off. I usually have the new stuff around two months before my carrier updates.
With S-Off you can just flash the new firmware in fastboot or by using the hboot option.
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Click to collapse