My Adventure in Rooting and Coming Full Circle

PhDCow

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I've had Merlin, my Droid, since November. As time has passed, I got braver and tried several ways of making Merlin better, including home replacement apps and other apps like Juice Defender. I did the 2.01 and 2.1 updates on my own with the guidance of the fine people here. :)

I didn't root because I was scared that I would turn Merlin into a brick. But then I noticed that Launcher Pro wasn't working as well. And that Juice Defender wasn't effective because I didn't have root access.

So about a week ago, I took the death-defying plunge and rooted. The instructions here were simple and very user-friendly. Within an hour, I was in! I was running Froyo and conservatively overclocking. Merlin was a rockstar!

Then Launcher Pro started to hang. Then games. SetCPU ws funky. Then I started with spontaneous reboots. I did a factory reset and started over. Soon the same thing happened again and I worried for Merlin's safety.

Thursday, I did a complete wipe. Factory reset. And this time, I didn't root. I patiently installed apps. I switched to ADW. And I'm happy. Merlin's happy. 5 screens and fast enough.

Moral of the story: You always find your way back home. And it helps to have wise guides (y'all) along the way.
 

Viper323

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If that works for you then run with it. Personally I rooted and will never looks back. My phone is faster, it can do new things (Wi Fi tether baby =D), it has a new look, and the battery lasts longer! No complaints about root here :cool:
 

xxxsteveoxxx

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The day after I got my droid i embarked on a rooting journey. I rooted and Un-rooted within an hour. Rooting for me is a no go now. not worth it. I couldnt buy apps that cost money. phone locked up twice and kept rebooting. I really want to overclock but way to scared now. plus un rooting was harder than rooting IMO.
 

SGTiger

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If that works for you then run with it. Personally I rooted and will never looks back. My phone is faster, it can do new things (Wi Fi tether baby =D), it has a new look, and the battery lasts longer! No complaints about root here :cool:

I have also been rooted for a long time without any problems. With froyo and setcpu profiles, my battery lasts much longer than it did before root. I haven't seen a FC in forever. I wouldn't take a thousand dollars to go back to stock 2.1.
 
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PhDCow

PhDCow

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See, this was a learning experience for me. I've avoided doing a lot of "hard things" and I was so proud that I could root. I also learned that I can keep searching for the latest, greatest thing when I'm perfectly happy with what I have.

Rooting was nice for a while and then I became neurotic about it. :)
 

SGTiger

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See, this was a learning experience for me. I've avoided doing a lot of "hard things" and I was so proud that I could root. I also learned that I can keep searching for the latest, greatest thing when I'm perfectly happy with what I have.

Rooting was nice for a while and then I became neurotic about it. :)

No neurosis here. I was just never happy with the slowness and instability of 2.1. With Froyo, Launcher Pro, and my apps I am quite content with no more upgrading. I doubt I will take the OTA update when it comes out. My phone is too perfect now to be messed with. I wish you had been able to get to the bottom of whatever app or hardware issue was causing your issues. Root wasn't the cause as it just gives more permissions. Don't get me wrong, I see your point in that you are happy now which is all that counts.
 
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PhDCow

PhDCow

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My husband's fond of saying that I know just enough to be dangerous!
 

hookbill

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No neurosis here. I was just never happy with the slowness and instability of 2.1. With Froyo, Launcher Pro, and my apps I am quite content with no more upgrading. I doubt I will take the OTA update when it comes out. My phone is too perfect now to be messed with. I wish you had been able to get to the bottom of whatever app or hardware issue was causing your issues. Root wasn't the cause as it just gives more permissions. Don't get me wrong, I see your point in that you are happy now which is all that counts.

I'm rooted but I could say the same thing for your experience with 2.1. My Droid wasn't laggy or slow after the update, if anything it was a definite improvement.

The only reason I'm rooted now was because when I loaded the latest Froyo update it came with root. So I figured since I was rooted I might as well overclock, move some apps to the SD card, etc.

I don't like how my Droid heats up, I understand it's a safe range but I still liked it better when it was cool with 2.1

I probably won't downgrade for the official, if it ever gets here.

I'm reluctantly rooted, I guess you might say. :)
 

erasmussen14

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I have been happy with my non-rooted droid since day one. LauncherPro is all I really need, the phone is pretty fast already, no need to root.

But with the Droid X coming soon, I've decided to pick that up when it comes out, and would like to start playing around with my old droid, especially since rooting the phone will now allow me to get flash.

Problem is, every source I check out on how to root assumes that the reader is familiar with how to root already, and what a kernal and all that other stuff is.

Being someone that was also clueless, could you point me in the direction of a source that can educate a newbie to the rooting world?

Thank you.
 

fichdak

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If that works for you then run with it. Personally I rooted and will never looks back. My phone is faster, it can do new things (Wi Fi tether baby =D), it has a new look, and the battery lasts longer! No complaints about root here :cool:

I have also been rooted for a long time without any problems. With froyo and setcpu profiles, my battery lasts much longer than it did before root. I haven't seen a FC in forever. I wouldn't take a thousand dollars to go back to stock 2.1.

Uh, I like being rooted and all too, but personally I'd take the money and run ;)
 

cpjr

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I guess I live life a little more on the edge....I wanna hack something the second its possible and then push it to its limits, lol.

**knocks on wood** In 3 years of hacking iphones and now the past several months of rooting and overclocking my droid......I havent toasted anything yet.

And I have an Incredible sitting here that is really getting tired of waiting for a custom ROM and/or overclocking ;)
 

icculusX

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I had my phone for about a month before I decided to root. I rooted, tested some fun stuff, then unrooted within an hour just to see how easy it was. About 2 hours later (i was out somewhere) minutes later I got home and rooted again... and been that way for months.

I have had MANY issues being rooted, some that scared me half to death, but it is just like anything new, you have to try things out till you understand them or till you see what works best. I came in to android knowing absolutely nothing about this phone, and now I have re-designed every single graphic on my phone, edited market apps, modified hex XML files, and more.

I am running UD-Froyo eXtreme RC2 with my own Luna Theme, flash player v3, and OC at 1100, and my phone is flawless. Fast as lightning, does more than it should, and harldy ever have a problem. Moral of the story: Root, read and learn, and don't give up....
 

cpjr

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Ive been lucky to really not have any issues due to rooting or overclocking so Im probably not as shy for that reason.

I have put the droid in a boot loop a time or two due to a ROM or kernel install, but thats not a big deal.
 

EbE404

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I've had Merlin, my Droid, since November. As time has passed, I got braver and tried several ways of making Merlin better, including home replacement apps and other apps like Juice Defender. I did the 2.01 and 2.1 updates on my own with the guidance of the fine people here. :)

I didn't root because I was scared that I would turn Merlin into a brick. But then I noticed that Launcher Pro wasn't working as well. And that Juice Defender wasn't effective because I didn't have root access.

So about a week ago, I took the death-defying plunge and rooted. The instructions here were simple and very user-friendly. Within an hour, I was in! I was running Froyo and conservatively overclocking. Merlin was a rockstar!

Then Launcher Pro started to hang. Then games. SetCPU ws funky. Then I started with spontaneous reboots. I did a factory reset and started over. Soon the same thing happened again and I worried for Merlin's safety.

Thursday, I did a complete wipe. Factory reset. And this time, I didn't root. I patiently installed apps. I switched to ADW. And I'm happy. Merlin's happy. 5 screens and fast enough.

Moral of the story: You always find your way back home. And it helps to have wise guides (y'all) along the way.

More power to you, and go with whatever gets you the best experience out of your phone.

I'm a tweaker, and have really enjoyed rooting, trying new things and playing around with the phone. My wife, who also has a Droid and is also a geek like me, is exactly the opposite-for her use, she just wants something stock, stable and reliable.

The technology is here to serve us, and you should absolutely use it in the way that works best for you.
 

nateccnn

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I rooted within a few weeks of buying the Droid. Ra into a few snags but got them, all worked out. Was very happy...but got bored one day and unrooted and accepted the OTA 2.1 update. Wrote a short novel like you did about coming full circle.

A week later (I promissed to give it three days) I could not lie anymore. The 2.1 was stable and quick enough but I had been rooted and knew the phone could do so much more. I re-rooted. But stayed very conservative with OCing.

Now I am testing a 1250 kernel just because I can. I've got it up to 1000 mhz now with little effect on battery life or temps. Thinking of cranking it up to 1250 now to see what that does. But I did see temps spike when I first installed it and ran at 1250 for a few minutes. I assume it will create heat. And to be honest...800 is enough for most tasks. No real need for 1250.

I just like to play. I'm not searching for the greatest, fastest rom out there. I change clocks and home screens and widgets on a daily basis too.

Nate
 
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