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Hi guys,
I've brought up the question in a few places (on here and elsewhere) but it hasn't been a topic of discussion anywhere yet.
With the current flurry of activity in Defy development, does anyone know whether or not eFUSE is enabled on the Defy? I think this fact may be very critical in determining the future of the device. Cooked ROMs will still be limited by whatever the latest version Moto have released if eFUSE is active.
Some small part of me hopes that it is mysteriously disabled, like on the Droid..
This is what the (US?) law thinks about playing with "your" phone.
It’s worth noting that the jailbreak ruling does not force Apple or other handset makers to remove copy protection from their software. Rather, those users who do choose to circumvent the protections will not be subject to criminal prosecution for the act of circumvention. In addition, the ruling only provides for jailbreaking for the use of legally-acquired software, meaning that users cannot use it as a defense for installing pirated applications.
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I doubt eFuse is disabled - Motorola wants you to buy a new handset if you want new software. There are too few people who woudn't buy the phone because it's locked and there is no other reason to provide an unlocked phone.
They also don't want to let others profit from updating their phones, but a planned 2011Q2 update (to 2.2) for the buggy Defy is not competitive.
Ya know what they say "Motorola screw me once shame on you screw me twice ain't going to happen".
Well then, fingers crossed they "accidentally" left it turned off like in the Droid..
Since eFUSE really doesn't sound like it's ever going to get cracked.
Passa91 said:
Well then, fingers crossed they "accidentally" left it turned off like in the Droid..
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure it was an accident.
The whole point about eFUSE is that it's a chip that bricks the handset if it detects the wrong software on it.
Whilst the Motorola handsets have this chip, a fact that came out around the time of the Droid X's release, I was under the impression that it wasn't enabled.
I know there's an encrypted bootloader or something that some Motorola handsets have but I'm sure I read in one of the other sections that the Defy didn't have this.
Or maybe I'm confusing myself again...
It doesn't brick the handset, but it prevents unsigned kernels from running on the CPU I believe..
The Droid X was not the first Moto to sport eFUSE. The Milestone (GSM version of the Droid) was the first one with eFUSE enabled. The only reason they've got a Cyanogen 2.2 kernel ROM right now is because a signed Froyo ROM from Moto was leaked.
Well, if that's what the eFuse chip does, then according to this, it's apparently not enabled on the Defy.
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
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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
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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!
Please forgive the catchy title as well as my ignorance as while I have been around computing stuff for a long time, am kinda new to the Android stuff.
For me, I picked up a Samsung Strat II this summer, an have gotten a bit used to that, so just grabbed a 8.4 for Xmas as I have more uses for that, an would like to get that running as best as possible.
For the Strat II, I did root it with Towelroot an with no noticeable side effects, so understand the hows an why's of this.
But in reading the forums for the 8.4, have been seeing this thing about tripping the Knox from messing with the OS in anyways in regard to rooting.
From the little bit I have read, it seems to be some kind of root tripper, an would assume that voids any warranties too, but was wondering if some could explain it a bit more to me, an perhaps answer the following questions.
1: Does it in fact trip from a root an does this void the warranty?
2: This does not seem to be part of my Strat II OS, so is this something newer?
3: If indeed it is just a warranty thing, do I care once it's out of warranty? Which I think is one year?
4: Is it just a OS recording thing, or does it mess up the tab in anyway, software or hardware wise?
5: From what I have read, once tripped, its permanent an there is no way to reverse that even from a complete system reset, so is that true?
So those are just a few at the moment an again, please forgive my ignorance, but hey, if you don't ask, you don't learn.
Thanks for any help
if you used towelroot then you probably didn't trip knox, knox will trip if you use other root methods like cf-auto-root or flash custom firmwares like CM.
knox is a hardware fuse (at least on the snapdragon cpu) that once tripped cannot be undone as it actually modifies hardware kind-of like burning out a circuit and Samsung checks the flag to see if the device was tampered with and it will void warranty (though they may or may not make an exception depending on the issue like if something was hardware related they might still honor it).
TowelRoot uses a kernel exploit and doesn't mess with bootloaders ..etc , thus keeping knox happy
Thanks for the reply otyg, so can I use towelroot on my 8.4, or does this not work with something like this, or with this OS?
WBFAir said:
Thanks for the reply otyg, so can I use towelroot on my 8.4, or does this not work with something like this, or with this OS?
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Towelroot only worked on ND1~ND3 Firmware on the tab pro 8.4 then the kernel was patched on newer firmwares--- so if your tab has a newer firmware it won't work anymore without some headaches.
Basically you need to flash the Kernel (not the full firmware) from ND3 root the tab with towelroot then swap the kernel back to the current firmware, and knox should stay at 0x0 .
One of the things that puzzles me is why did they even do this?
Seems that the customization that rooting is needed to be done for, is such a big part of why many buy these things?
Guess there is some that damage things by over clocking or something else, an then rest everything an try to claim warranty, but still gotta be a small amount as apposed to those who buy them as they can do all the software stuff to them.
Seems like they are trying to lock out a good amount of their customer base.
WBFAir said:
One of the things that puzzles me is why did they even do this?
Seems that the customization that rooting is needed to be done for, is such a big part of why many buy these things?
Guess there is some that damage things by over clocking or something else, an then rest everything an try to claim warranty, but still gotta be a small amount as apposed to those who buy them as they can do all the software stuff to them.
Seems like they are trying to lock out a good amount of their customer base.
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It could be worse, the efuse(s) can be used for all kinds of things like completely locking the bootloader, luckily Samsung didn't go to that extreme
Yeah, I understand.
So by any chance otyg, do you know if regarding my question on anything else it might do, does tripping the knox do anything other then the hardfuse, an the reporting of it?
Does it effect the device in any other way?
Basically I tried the unit I have for just a little bit as I wanted to setup the basics before Xmas an make sure it would work with my WiFi, but all in all the unit ran pretty nice with just the way it was.
So I really even wonder if I want to root it, an then with this Knox thing, its deterring me even more.
But then too, I know some apps just really require it.
So kinda torn.
But if it does something else negative to the device other then what we have already discussed, might just leave it alone for the time being.
Btw, thanks for all the help so far.
There are benefits to rooting like being able to use your sdcard properly , I rooted mine, never tripped knox,
As with all rooting It's a risk if you do trip it it will probably void warranty, it could also brick your device if something goes wrong.
Another common problem I have been seeing is random reboots for people who have a tripped knox flag (this is due to software on the tablet that checks knox and somehow causes reboots, you can disable the software but still troublesome and doesn't work for everyone).
If you really want to root I would go with towelroot method, its the safest and less risk for triggering any knox problems.
you basically update your firmware to the latest version first, extract the kernel from the tar file, download the ND3 firmware extract the kernel, tar the kernel's , flash the nd3 kernel with odin, boot-up , towelroot, install supersu , reboot - switch back to download mode and re-flash the latest kernel)
Read through this thread too, some people have prepared standalone kernels to use if you don't want to do it yourself. you probably need ND3 (or ND1 will work) and K1 if your tablet is the XAR model.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2786800
^ND1 kernel
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...320xar1ank1-extracted-stock-firmware-t2954549
^K1 kernel
Thanks greatly otyg, will have to look into this more after the holidays, an thanks so much for the info
WBFAir said:
One of the things that puzzles me is why did they even do this?
Seems that the customization that rooting is needed to be done for, is such a big part of why many buy these things?
Guess there is some that damage things by over clocking or something else, an then rest everything an try to claim warranty, but still gotta be a small amount as apposed to those who buy them as they can do all the software stuff to them.
Seems like they are trying to lock out a good amount of their customer base.
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Click to collapse
Because people mostly don't care and don't know.
If you don't like what they do, then don't support them. Stop buying their products, or buy used if you have to.
Personally, Samsung is the #1 company on my **** list, with Apple being a close 2nd, due to their policies towards their customers.
I only bought my 12.2 Note Pro because nobody else make anything in this class.
I already have Nexus 4 & 7. Xperia. And if I was shopping for a small tablet, I'd get the new Nexus (despite the HTC crappy quality lottery).
I also bought it used/refurbished, not new.
WBFAir said:
Yeah, I understand.
So by any chance otyg, do you know if regarding my question on anything else it might do, does tripping the knox do anything other then the hardfuse, an the reporting of it?
Does it effect the device in any other way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For this device, once you trip Knox you can no longer update firmware through the traditional methods, you have to do it manually through something like Odin or a custom recovery, as far as I can tell. Samsung recognizes that you've "modified" your device and will not let you update through official channels.
gidal said:
Because people mostly don't care and don't know.
If you don't like what they do, then don't support them. Stop buying their products, or buy used if you have to.
Personally, Samsung is the #1 company on my **** list, with Apple being a close 2nd, due to their policies towards their customers.
I only bought my 12.2 Note Pro because nobody else make anything in this class.
I already have Nexus 4 & 7. Xperia. And if I was shopping for a small tablet, I'd get the new Nexus (despite the HTC crappy quality lottery).
I also bought it used/refurbished, not new.
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I suspect it's to honor their high level contracts (like the govs, and fortune 500 company's) who need to keep the devices secure, knox is a good way to tell the customer their device could have been compromised, unfortunately it does effect normal users like us who like to tweak the devices a little .
otyg said:
I suspect it's to honor their high level contracts (like the govs, and fortune 500 company's) who need to keep the devices secure, knox is a good way to tell the customer their device could have been compromised
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This is pretty much true, in my understanding. KNOX is aimed at enterprise users (company provided devices) as a means of ensuring the devices are kept in an "approved" or "compliant" configuration. Once a device is rooted, root can be hidden (as well as any number of changes made to the system) so it makes sense for IT departments to want a non-reversible hardware fuse to detect the device has been tampered (mainly by the employees).
Android hasn't had the widest adoption for enterprise use, mainly due to the open nature of the OS. So such security measures are an attempt at changing that perception.
Folks on here have argued that KNOX counter does not void the warranty, and its only purpose if for use along with the KNOX security software. Whether that is 100% true or not, I can't personally say.
Knox allows a device to be setup as two completely separate devices in one. One secured for business use the other for personal use. I tripped Knox immediately on mine when I rooted it.
Can i towelroot and install cm without knockig trox?
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.
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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
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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?
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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.
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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?
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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
Hi All,
Been a while on here - please be gentle!
I have spent the last 6 hours looking into updating my firmware from Android 10!
I have done this on previous phones, but my current phone is proving a little more difficult. For the life of me, I cannot find the correct ROM to flash. Whenever I come to something I think I have found I seem to have another issue.
I've tried using various tools (Bitfrost) but got errors.
I'm in the UK, and as far as I can tell, my phone is “XAA”, “USA unbranded (default)”. I'm not bothered about changing the region code (unless it can be done easily).
Details::
SW ver.: SAOMC_SM-N975U_OYN_XAA_PP_0001
XAA/XAA/ATT
I would really appreciate some help from you guys who are way more informed and cleverer than me!
Thanks guys and gals!
Simon
EDIT: I have found a bit more informstion - I think I would be ok using SM-N975U1 - is this correct?
That's the umlocked Snapdragon variant...
I have two N10+'s; N975U/Pie, N975U1/Android 10. I would stay on Android 10 unless you want cpu cycle sucking scoped storage in all its glory.
Personally I prefer Pie to 10, better functionality and usability. With 11 you lose even more and 12 is fubar... in my opinion.
The best way to trash a stock N10+ is to mess with its firmware.
Rule #1 if a OS is fulfilling its mission, let it be!
Upgrades/updates can and do break things.
blackhawk said:
That's the umlocked Snapdragon variant...
I have two N10+'s; N975U/Pie, N975U1/Android 10. I would stay on Android 10 unless you want cpu cycle sucking scoped storage in all its glory.
Personally I prefer Pie to 10, better functionality and usability. With 11 you lose even more and 12 is fubar... in my opinion.
The best way to trash a stock N10+ is to mess with its firmware.
Rule #1 if a OS is fulfilling its mission, let it be!
Upgrades/updates can and do break things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that info ... I actually have no beef with A10 other than one issue which I thought maybe a firmware issue.
My NFC works (I can transfer files between phones) however, I cannot use Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. I have read somewhere that this was a firmware issue, hence my desire to update.
I have tried literally everything to get it working (cleared cache, re-booted). NFC Tools confirms it works, but it just does nothing at the checkout.
If I can fix this issue, I'll be happier!
Ratzz2 said:
Thanks for that info ... I actually have no beef with A10 other than one issue which I thought maybe a firmware issue.
My NFC works (I can transfer files between phones) however, I cannot use Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. I have read somewhere that this was a firmware issue, hence my desire to update.
I have tried literally everything to get it working (cleared cache, re-booted). NFC Tools confirms it works, but it just does nothing at the checkout.
If I can fix this issue, I'll be happier!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome. It may be doing that because big sister Google thinks you need to upgrade to be secure. May have to do with the region you're using it in. I don't know. I never use those features and don't want them on the phone. Don't want anything to back door in using that route.
Depends how hell bent you are on having those features. You could easily lose more than you gain by upgrading, worse it may not resolve the issue. The N10+ is a valuable and reliable work horse that will run for years... just as it is. If it's running well otherwise I would try to find the root cause of this issue or simply use other workarounds rather than the shotgun approach.
Yeah, I was wondering about being in the UK with a phone registered in the US. But NFC doesn't read my credit card either. Would have thought that would be an option.
I'm not necessarily a huge NFC user, but the other day I forgot my wallet at the petrol station after filling my car. If I'd have had my NFC working, I'd have been able to fire it up and avoid the embarrassment!
Anyway, thanks for your help!
Be glad you have the Snapdragon variant. They are very reliable and run well stock when optimized. If you do upgrade to 11 a rollback to 10 isn't possible if you upgrade the boot loader.
There's always at least a small risk when flashing firmware which can trash the device. The only time I would flash a N10+ is if the rom was corrupted which barring a hardware failure is a very rare SUE, single upset event.
I never tried mine to see if Pay works nor have I ever set a screen lock. The fingerprint scanner could be dead for all I know.
The flip side to that is never being locked out* of my own device, no data lose, and double tap on/off. The device is glued to me as physical security is the only real security. I realize this may seem extreme to some, but it works well in the real world.
*a SEU or partial hardware can lock you out of your device. Had no lock been set, no lockout would have occurred. Got locked out of a PC bios like that. The password -was- correct
That caused a mountain of trouble...
Thank you my friend. Wise words indeed and duly noted...