Smartphone Rooting?

[dpzelenak]

Ive been trying to update my phone but it seems like the only way is to root it. Im basically looking for some insight about rooting from ppl who've done it, what is the pros and cons of rooting? Right now im running android 2.3.4 on the incredible 2.

[TLSheff]

I've rooted my EVO4G because I hated the sprint bloatware and limited functions from Sprint.

You say update... can you elaborate?

Pros are rooting allows a multitude of designs and functions to be enabled, custom roms can be made to make it act differently depending on what you want (eye candy, or just basic and fast as heck)

Cons - only big one is that most vendors don't like to deal with rooted phones, sprint can't connect to them so if you have a problem with the phone you better be able to put it back to stock for them to be able to test it. Other big one is you CAN POSSIBLY brick your phone, but if you follow most guides you can't really go wrong. If your the village idiot tho, don't bother rooting :P

[TLSheff]

HTC Droid Incredible 2 - Android Forums - <Become a member here, I used them alot for my Evo, if they support the Incredible2 the same you will have no problems.

Read into the "All Things Root" section and learn first.

How to Root HTC Droid Incredible 2
Basic ^ How-to w/video. If you do this and it's wrong, don't come crying to me. I did weeks of research and watched a multitude of videos so that I knew exactly what I was doing and where you could go wrong should something happen. I was a pro and the phone was still stock lol.

Like with our cars, better to know what to do than facepalm and ask yourself why later.

[dpzelenak]

Ok, basically from what I've read in that thread is I have to downgrade to version 2.3.3 from 2.3.4 like what I have now, is there not a way to root the 2.3.4? I'm wanting to do this to make my phone better/faster. Will you lose everything on the phone like pics, contacts, apps stuff that that of will it all be the same. and what happens after you root it, what do you next?

[hockey101]

I rooted my thunderbolt a while ago. Unless they have changed the way things are done yes you will lose all data on your phone so be sure to back it up. The guide you follow should tell you whether or not it will wipe your phone. After you root then you can start to customize. The next step would be getting a custom ROM. ROM's are essentially customized operating systems.You would have to look around on one of the forums to find a ROM you like then follow the steps to run that ROM.

[NegativeOne13]

Droid Incredible 2 probably has no warranty.

Rooting cons... none.

[dpzelenak]

Nope no warranty. By using a ROM file is like the theme or layout that the phone with have right?

[hockey101]

Ya but a ROM doesn't have to change the theme but most do. The ROM is custom software and different ROM's have different options. Some are theme and UI only, others leave you with a stock look and just remove all the pre-installed stuff that you weren't able to delete when you were unrooted, some change the speed of your processor, and other's can do all or none of those. When you are looking for ROM's they will say what firmware the are (i.e. 2.3.4 gingerbread or 2.x.x ice cream sandwich), they should also say what their ROM has to offer, like the ability to overclock your processor, if it removed the bloatware, what theme or UI it has.

As long as you do your homework, follow the directions, and don't mess with something you don't fully understand yet you should be fine

[NegativeOne13]

ROM is essentially an operating system. Outside of HTC Sense, there is AOSP (Android Open Source Project) which is the pure Android experience. This is how Android is meant to be, without all the other manufacture float crap. MIUI is another form of a ROM. Different developers, totally themeable, kinda a merge of Android and iOS (gonna get kicked in the nuts from all you MIUI nutswingers). Cyanogenmod is also a very nice themeable ROM. The developers do a thumbs up job, and simple theme change by just hitting "Apply Theme" thanks to the T-Mo Theme Chooser.

I would get an AOSP ROM or CM ROM.

[LowRidinCrew]

Droid Incredible 2 Android Development - xda-developers

[jteske88]

o boy remeber when rooting was a 2 day process, you can do it fairly easy and with cynageon mods now adays i wouldnt worry about data cause once the recovery menu is on there you can back up and put back to normal. only pro i like was overclocking a slow phone.

[TLSheff]

I rock CM7.1 on my Evo. Cyanogenmod is amazing. Gives the stock phone settings, plug their own setting for everything else including processor clocking. Just FYI clocking speeds on the processor isn't just for making it faster than stock, it can reduce speed if you don't have alot running and there-by increase battery life. I bumped my cpu to get more speed out of my Evo but if I underclock it I can get amazing battery life, just runs a little slower. So its not all bad.

HTC Sense is nice and pretty and all but after playing with the phone and settings I will never go back to stock. Even if I get a SG3 later it will be rooted as soon as I get it home.

[dpzelenak]

Ok so ive been doing alot of reading just trying to figure out all the terms and names, i think im starting to understand. but im still fuzzy on some things, like underclocking and cyanogenmod? Is cyanogenmod a different type of rom? or just another name for it. And does the program you load change all the setting for you, like setting the processor speed, and where do you find ROM's? like on a forum or a website with a list or something?

[jteske88]

go read around xda developer site? i think thats it. i been on ios for so long its hard to remeber, or if i break out the old laptop i have a bunch on there

[TLSheff]

Ok so ive been doing alot of reading just trying to figure out all the terms and names, i think im starting to understand. but im still fuzzy on some things, like underclocking and cyanogenmod? Is cyanogenmod a different type of rom? or just another name for it. And does the program you load change all the setting for you, like setting the processor speed, and where do you find ROM's? like on a forum or a website with a list or something?

K... in order of Q's asked

Underclocking/overclocking. Imagine your engine holds 4k all the time... over clocking makes it run faster, gets you more power and performs better. underclocking lowers the throttle down to a more reasonable level and makes it easier on the cpu (engine) but will make it alot harder to get thru the 1/4 mile lol

Cyanogenmod is a ROM group, a team if you will. They make their own ROMS for a multitude of phones, each setup to work everything for yours in their own way. The are amazing.
CyanogenMod | Android Community Rom based on Jelly Bean -/- HTC Incredible 2 | CyanogenMod

99% of all phones come locked from the vendor. You have to read on how to unlock (usually refers to "S-off") your phone so you will be able to clear the phone, put the ROM on and start over. For that info you will need to find a how-to either from forums or youtube lol.

You will lose all your settings, apps, contacts, ect... Settings on the phone I wouldn't worry about, they will be different with each ROM. Apps I would write them down, once rooted you can get backup programs to keep track and allow you to play without losing them. Contacts, if they are added to your Google account like most andriods, you will have to log into Google upon installation of the new ROM and it will sync all saved contacts, if they aren't saved, write them down. Pictures/Videos will be saved if you have a SD card installed and they are saved to them, but you will want to make sure you back them up to the computer because you have to install the ROM and stuff based off the card and if something goes wrong it can corrupt the card and may need to be formatted. Doesn't happen often, but seen it happen before.

[dpzelenak]

ok, so i was thinking about starting the process today, but im just going to get everything in order first so im good to go when i actually start,
First- i founded the link ^^^ and lead me to this and now i have a dumb question, there is 3 downloads on this page
CyanogenMod Downloads

now heres the dumb question, do i need the first download or just start with the lastest update? my guess is the first one but i want to double check

[TLSheff]

No just the latest update. The old files are kept incase you run into problems with the newer update. You will find there will always be some bugs/qwerks with custom ROMs. But start with the latest stable version and have fun.