Is it possible o tether on a LIMITED Date Plan

[Boaty1302]

Dear Friends,

I am thinking of buying a Xoom. I don't want to have to pay an extra $30 per month to have another 2Gb data plan on top of my 2Gb data plan for my phone. I don't want to have to pay $20.00 per month to be able to tether my already limited data Droid X. I would only use the tether to support my xoom when I am on the road. I have limited knowledge of technology, but am savy enough to be very dangerous. What I want to know is what is the best way to be able to tether a xoom to a Droid X as of 7.20.2011. Is there a good way to do it without having to root the phone. Thanks for your help.

 

[Kasey Krehbiel]

Nope. You have to root the phone.

 

[Boaty1302]

Nope. You have to root the phone.

OK, So now I am in a rooting conversation. I have never used a rooted phone. I have the dumb blank expression on my face when some talks about a rooted phone on one of the forums. They typically follow that with a lot of Jargon, lingo, and names of applications that I have never heard of and don't understand. So if I was to root my phone, what would it allow me to do that I do not do already? What is the true risk that someone like me who is not very familiar with Android code screw things up and Brick my phone? Will Verizon care if I root my phone (not that I would tell them).

Thank you for all of your help.

 

[Beka27]

For the most part, developers do the hard work and release files ready to go for us common folks. All you need is some basic phone understanding, the downloaded files... as well as a few apps. Most importantly, you have to read directions carefully.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

 

[Kasey Krehbiel]

1. According to Verizon, rooting your phone voids your warranty. But that isn't anything to worry about, because you can do something we call SBFing your phone to get it back to "stock" before you send it in.

2. If you are on FroYo, you can root your phone relatively easily. Just google z4 Root apk (it's a free download) install it, run it and click permanent root. Bam you have root.

3. If you're on Gingerbread, and you want to root your phone, you have no choice but to SBF. I've done this about 1 gajillion times, and I have provided pretty good instructions over on the Liberty forum (a ROM I strongly recommend to anyone) on how to do it. You'll find those instructions here:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/li...-1-stock-apex-cm7-etc-any-rom-liberty-gb.html

Now a note. If you do NOT want to install the Liberty ROM, then just skip the download/installation of the LGB 0.x file. When finished, you'll have the same thing you have now, except it'll be rooted. Like I said, I recommend Liberty to anyone, but if you're not comfortable with a new ROM just yet, you can skip the part where I tell you to install that zip.

Feel free to post your questions right here or in that thread. We're here for you.

 

[Boaty1302]

So what will rooting allow me to do that I am not already allowed to do (other than milk the data plan off my phone)? Why does everyone say it is so awesome?

 

[Boaty1302]

Thanks so much for the info. So what you are saying is that while "Bricking" is a risk, for the most part even I can do it, and there is a way to go back to the origional software. Very Cool. Just a few questions. What is a ROM? And why is rooting awesome.

 

[jonathon1289]

Rooting gives you full control to the phone. Android is based off of Linux, and Root is the full machine administrator.

With root access on your phone, you can uninstall system apps, use tethering apps, make full backups, install custom ROMs (different Android versions, with different charateristics). This allows you to speed up your phone and save battery life

 

[jonathon1289]

Thanks so much for the info. So what you are saying is that while "Bricking" is a risk, for the most part even I can do it, and there is a way to go back to the origional software. Very Cool. Just a few questions. What is a ROM? And why is rooting awesome.

With the Droid X (and many other phones out there) it is almost impossible to 'brick' the phone as long as there is no hardware damage. If the phone will power on, you can go into the bootloader and run the SBF, providing the hardware is correctly responding and will let you overwirte.

 

[Kasey Krehbiel]

After you have obtained root, in order to get wireless tether working, you're going to have to download this stuff:

1. Android WiFi Tether - android-wifi-tether - Wireless Tether for Root Users - Google Project Hosting Download the beta (it's required.)
2. TBH_DX_Tether_Patch_1.0.zip (google it)

Install and execute the app, go into settings and change the device profile to "Motorola Droid X (CDMA)". Then reboot your phone into recovery mode** and flash the .zip file just like you did to install the 2-part rooted GB in the instructions linked in the previous post. That will get your wireless tether working. Any questions, let us know.

**If you pull your battery while your phone is on, it should reboot into recovery mode. If it doesn't, either use Liberty Toolbox (download from the market) or LGBootstrap (which you'll find in the link in the prev. post) to tell your phone to reboot into recovery.

 

[Boaty1302]

So if I understand you correctly, If I root my phone, then I can uninstall all of the stupid apps Verizon put on the phone before I bought it (Like VZ Navigator, My Verizon, and Blockbuster), and I can easily get different versions of Android? Way cool. And I can get my phone's data plan to allow me to tether? Even better. Now I have more questions. So, if I want Gingerbread on my phone now, I should just do the SBF? Can verizon stop me from tethering?

 

[Kasey Krehbiel]

For the lay user, rooting comes with a lot of benefits. With a rooted phone, you can install a ROM like the Liberty ROM. I won't list that ROM's benefits here. I'll just link you to this page, which does a pretty good job of describing it to you itself:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/liberty-rom-dx/151273-rom-liberty-gingerbread.html

Some of the features will be over your head for now, but as you get into this whole new world, you'll wonder why you never did it before, and you'll refuse to ever go back to a non-rooted phone.

 

[Kasey Krehbiel]

So if I understand you correctly, If I root my phone, then I can uninstall all of the stupid apps Verizon put on the phone before I bought it (Like VZ Navigator, My Verizon, and Blockbuster), and I can easily get different versions of Android? Way cool. And I can get my phone's data plan to allow me to tether? Even better. Now I have more questions. So, if I want Gingerbread on my phone now, I should just do the SBF? Can verizon stop me from tethering?

Verizon tried to stop us from tethering. If you follow my instructions, you'll be able to do it anyway.

And yes, you can uninstall those stupid apps Verizon put on your phone that you can't remove.

 

[Kasey Krehbiel]

If your phone was updated recently to Gingerbread (you'll know because the interface changed) then yeah, you have to SBF. No worries though. It really is an easy process.

 

[jonathon1289]

To check your current version, go to settings>about phone and check the system version. If it is '4.5.596' you will need to SBF. You then have the option of the stock, rooted .596 gingerbread build or a custom ROM of Gingerbread.

As for uninstalling the apps, you can, but itbe careful. If you uninstall the wrong thing, other functions go out the door like email. I suggest using Titanium backup or something similar to 'freeze' the unwanted apps.