Rooting - What is it and why do I want it?

Rooting?

• Rooting is a mixed bag for most users, even in the most simple form of a test software leak it means that users may be hard pressed to return their phone due to a warranty violation. As a result I would suggest that anyone inquiring be sure that they like their phone and plan to stick it out for a while, not every model is the same and many do not have rollback options to load the stock OS again.

Gains from rooting

• Custom operating system updates
• Community supported troubleshooting for phone issues
• Outside market access
• Legacy support after discontinuation
• Overclocking
• Custom loaders such as ADW or Launcher 2, in past cases this included unique launchers like the Nexus One

Issues you may face

• Rooting isn't always a simple flash file, users may need more technical knowledge or access to a linux system to run the root procedure.
• Rooted phones need user attention and care, a poorly written app may crash the phone but a bad ROM can brick the phone making it unusable
• Support is community based for rooted phones, calling up HTC, LG or Motorola is pointless once you breach that gap

I'm up for helping as I can to get root information from around the web to those interested in rooting their phones and exploring the options of their Android devices. I'm sure the rest of the community will lend a hand as they can too.

When checking if your phone is rooted try to include the following:

• Device Name:
• Software Version:
• Kernel Version:
• Baseband Version:

In some cases a simple OTA update can render a phone unable to be rooted, so the info does help eliminate issues finding out what options there are.

With that said. Welcome to the Neoseeker Android Community and hopefully the legions of root users.

I'm currently not rooted either. It seems like a bit of a tricky process, where too much can go wrong. If it were simpler to do so, I reckon I'd go for it, just to get more customisation options and new OS ROMS before they were commercially released.

I like my Desire as is at the moment, but I reckon I'll be tempted, sooner rather than later.

Just getting familiar with my droid x.
I had each version of iphone and jailbroke each one except for the i4.
giving serious consideration to rooting my X and am just beginning the research.
i'll be paying attention, of course to u guys on this forum thanx

I finally gave in and rooted, about 5 minutes ago. I used the unrevoked method, so I'm still running LauncherPro, but with superuser permissions. I think I'll try and work out apps2SD soon, but it looks pretty tricky...

Glad i rooted though, and glad it worked. I was shitting myself when the root process started.

I would hope so, man, it was terrifying, haha.

However, I feel like I know a lot more about Android, now that I've rooted. I just feel smarter, even though I'm really not...

Ok, so as stated, my phone is rooted. However, I'm getting more and more interested in flashing a new ROM to the phone... my problem is that everywhere I've looked for walkthroughs on how to do this are complicated, at best.

Is it just my puny mind that can't comprehend what I'm supposed to do, or am I just looking too much into it?

Hmm, sounds like there are a lot of risks tbh. I might do it when I get bored with my phone, but it's fine the way it is now.

quote morean51

i don't know about it what to do now

Hah um I'd love to help out but what's wrong? What Android phone do you have? What are you trying to do to it, just root or root and flash a ROM? More info please.