Android Rooting

[Aztecs27]

What a terrifing and uplifting experience.

Rooted my phone last night. The possibilities with the custom UI's is endless! The manufacturers really don't get full use out of the power of new smartphones.

Highly recommended for anyone with an Android phone who likes to tinker with technology.

 

[Imurg]

I would.....


If I had the slightest idea what you were spouting on about......

 

[bobmac]

Sounds dirty to me

 

[USER1999]

I'm lost too.

Sounds good though.

 

[chrisd]

That's easy for you to say .......................



Chris

 

[Imurg]

So come on Jon-Boy

What the Photon does it all mean...?

 

[Aztecs27]

Basically it unlocks your phone (kind of like iPhone "jailbreaking") allowing you to install 3rd party custom Operating System/user interfaces onto it (i.e. HTC's "sense" is their generic operating system). These are generally written by total nerds and open up the phone and gets it's "full potential" out of it and they're generally slicker than standard UI's because they're not full of bloatware that you don't need.

It's a bit of a pain to do and is quite scary (VERY) small chance of bricking it and rendering it useless when doing it (especially if you're a tech noob like me and when you've only had the phone 4 days into a 24 month contract) but once done allows you free access to install pretty much anything you like on the phone.

 

[USER1999]

That's pretty much cleared that up then.

 

[Monty_Brown]

Get the most out of the operating system, open up endless possibilities, better interface, blah blah...

Cut to the chase: will it improve the viewing quality of p0rn?

 

[Aztecs27]

Get the most out of the operating system, open up endless possibilities, better interface, blah blah...

Cut to the chase: will it improve the viewing quality of p0rn?

Of course!

 

[chrisd]

Cut to the chase: will it improve the viewing quality of p0rn?

Isn't it the same effect as squinting?



Chris

 

[RGDave]

What a terrifing and uplifting experience.

Rooted my phone last night. The possibilities with the custom UI's is endless! The manufacturers really don't get full use out of the power of new smartphones.

Highly recommended for anyone with an Android phone who likes to tinker with technology.

As a 2-year Linux user, I'd say that control over the "root"/being the root user is essential, so it's no surprise you can do it with Android.

Fun? yes.... Interesting? yes.... Time consuming? for sure.

I'm not going to ask how you did it, but I know a few folks who are running newer/modified versions of Android on their mobile devices, which seems kind of fun. My next project is to buy a honeycomb tablet and get into Android more fully. I could install it on a laptop, but every blog I've read says it's kind of pointless.

 

[daymond]

Is'nt total ignorance a wonderful thing.

 

[One Planer]

Forgive my pitiful ignorance........... But...

... Doesn't rooting/jailbreaking invalidate any manufacturers warrenty on the product?

 

[Aztecs27]

Forgive my pitiful ignorance........... But...

... Doesn't rooting/jailbreaking invalidate any manufacturers warrenty on the product?

Potentially yes. But with alot of Android phones (the HTC Sensation, which I have, is one of them) you can revert back to factory settings, without any evidence of rooting ever being done. So if I need a replacement, I can do it and shouldn't have a problem. It's only recommended as a last resort, but it's something that is possible to do. Also HTC are in the midst of opening up the "background stuff" on their phones to let you freely mess around with it. They are pro "meddling".

So, like alot of things there are risks with doing it, but the rewards are great. Just like when you nail that 5 wood over the lake to a protected pin position to leave you a 10ft putt for eagle (which you'll probably miss right! )

 

[sev112]

After having a "basic" Nokia for years, albeit it took a few photos, i got a HTC wildfire on Android in Spring.

I lasted 1 months with it, and eventually switche dth SIm back into teh Nokia. I got totally fed up with having to charge the bloomin thing EVERY DAY whether it was switched on or not, and it was bloomin slow on teh Internet, and the screen is too slow anyway. If i actually kept it switched on and usedthe internet once or twice a day the battery runs out after 4 hours ???? How on earth is that practical - or what am i missing ?

I have NO IDEA why everyone thinks these phones are any good based on my own experience.

 

[RGDave]

I have NO IDEA why everyone thinks these phones are any good based on my own experience.

I'm not quite sure I agree with you, but one thing that depresses me is the speed of mobile broadband.
I was out and about today and searched for some things on my wife's android smart phone. In the centre of a small city, it was absolute rubbish. I would have been quicker to phone my Dad or something and got him to do stuff on his home PC and talk me through it.
I was travelling with a chap t'other day and we got confused about something. He searched on the internet for the answer......4-5 minutes to load ONE page of a website.
And to think, some people are wasting £30-40/month on this rubbish.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I'm thinking about rooting my Desire. I'm getting peed off with the lack of storage space onboard. HTC advertise half a gig but Sense takes up so much room that you only get about 40 meg to play with. That isn't really good enough, imo.

Aztec, how did you do it and how successful has the transplant been?

 

[Aztecs27]

I'm thinking about rooting my Desire. I'm getting peed off with the lack of storage space onboard. HTC advertise half a gig but Sense takes up so much room that you only get about 40 meg to play with. That isn't really good enough, imo.

Aztec, how did you do it and how successful has the transplant been?

Just (finally) managed to get round to loading CyanogenMod 7 which is "the" OS to have, apparently and first impressions are very good. It strips the Android interface right back, but it's really quick and easy to customise.

With regards to rooting, it's actually fairly simple, but quite time consuming. (allow a couple of hours) If you can give me til tonight, I'll PM you with the necessary links you need and any advice I can give you.

Be warned - you will poop yourself when doing it thinking your going to brick your phone, but hopefully this won't happen! My friend rooted his desire and uses CM7 as above and loves it. Also, if you don't like it, you can choose a different one or go back to using HTC sense if you back it up first (which you're instructed to do).

I've spent most the morning playing with my modded phone and got absolutely no work done...and have LOADS to do lol

 

[DaveM]

Yes second that Stranglybrown. Same prob here.