Thinking about rooting

[mwhartman]

Did you read any of the tutorial that Matt developed? Steps 1 through 34 will answer many of your questions. If you can get an understanding of these steps you will be successful.

I know it seems daunting but you really need to be prepared.

Mike

[DigiK]

Replacing stock recovery console is the most difficult part of the process, but is necessary for proper backup, recovery, & installation of new ROMs.

Follow this exactly!


Root: Obtaining Root | Root Your Droid
This will disable OTA updates. Five minutes.
-------------
Install Custom Recovery to back your Droid up (the most difficult step): Custom Recovery Image | Root Your Droid

**Important: Download the flash and recovery files using these links:
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service
http://rootyourdroid.info/files/flash_image.zip

Per the above instructions, you also have to download Android SDK. Unzip it to the root of your hard drive, so the file path is pretty short, i.e.: C:\Android\Tools
That's all you have to do for getting ready to use ADB.

Read the instructions here: Android Debug Bridge | Root Your Droid
for using ADB to know how to copy file paths to the command prompt. Then return to Step 3 of 'Installing Custom Recovery.' Note that the files you downloaded above and are going to push to the phone need to be in the ...\Tools\ directory

In step three, when you initially type 'SU' in ADB, watch your phone carefully. In order for the commands to work, you will need to allow and remember permission in the pop-up that appears on your phone.

Finally, when you get to the step:
* "Flashes the image to the recovery partition"
Use this command instead:
/data/local/flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-0.99.3b.img
(I had you download a newer version of recovery console in the above link, so I just replaced the file name with the updated version)

If all went well, you shouldn't receive any errors and the phone will reboot into the new recovery console.

Don't worry about the 'Upgrading Recovery Console Section'; you'll already be up to date.

From the recovery console, perform a Backup of Stock OS:
Full System Backup Using Nandroid | Root Your Droid
(I would suggest naming your backup this something obvious like 'Stock201' by going to Advanced backup and choosing backup name, then doing a full backup.)

You're halfway done!

[Skyscraper38]

I did. and i attempted it also. just didnt workout for me. but im going thru it again and downloading everything it says to download so that way i dont have to wait for everything once i start.

[Skyscraper38]

is there an easy way to use droidmod and put a 2.1 rom on and use smoked glass theme.? ive read everything over and it just confuses me.

[Mojo]

is there an easy way to use droidmod and put a 2.1 rom on and use smoked glass theme.? ive read everything over and it just confuses me.

No.. DroidMod can only be used with their ROM's as of right now. The easiest way to go from a 2.0.1 ROM to a 2.1 ROM is via a Nandroid backup. If you need more help on how to do that let me know.

[Skyscraper38]

I've been having lots of trouble actually. only thing i know how to do so far is root the phone, which a 3yr old can do, i have no clue what sprecovery is or, nandroid. nor know how to obtain it.

[cupfulloflol]

I've been having lots of trouble actually. only thing i know how to do so far is root the phone, which a 3yr old can do, i have no clue what sprecovery is or, nandroid. nor know how to obtain it.

I haven't read this entire thread. So forgive me if I am being redundant, or flame me and call me an idiot whatever

SPRecovery is a recovery you install, that replaces the current recovery on your phone (the hold X while powering on the phone that you used to install the update.zip to obtain root is the default one). SPRecovery has many more options and is more powerful, and it will allow you to make your own backups (called nandroid backups) as well as restore backups or ROMs, among some other things.

Complete How-To on How to Mod Your Phone (2.1 ROM, O/C, MM, Boot Animation, etc)

I assume you have been using that guide? As it is a fairly easy guide to follow, with "error free" solutions to a lot of problems people may run into (like flash_image getting saved as a .txt incorrectly).

If you are following that guide I linked above, steps 9 through 21 are how you go about installing SPRecovery. You will need to get your hands dirty with a few console commands to install it manually. It may look scary but it is probably the only time you will ever really need to use terminal. Make sure you type them exactly as you see them, spacing and capitalization matter.

or....

If you are more confident on a PC, you can install the Android SDK and then you won't have to type at all on your phone, because you can copy and paste the commands into adb. [ HOW TO ] ADB AND WHY I LOVE ADB commands <3 <-- guide to install ADB on a PC. Custom Recovery Image | Root Your Droid <-- guide on how to install SPRecovery using adb. I personally would recommend downloading and installing http://downloads.droidmod.org/recovery-0.99.3b.img , instead of .2b like the guide uses. Just when the guide says "/data/local/flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-0.99.2b.img" substitute it for "/data/local/flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-0.99.3b.img" (no quotes).

[mwhartman]

Skyscraper38, please check your PM (private messages) at the top of the page.
Mike