Do a lot of you root who shouldn't?

[Rule9]

I know XDA generally has very little patience for people who root and/or unlock their devices without knowing what they're doing and then coming to ask questions about basics they should already know. I'm just wondering about this because I've noticed a LOT of this lately:

"I'm rooted, will I still get OTA updates?"

Which baffles me, really. How can you go through learning more advanced activities such as rooting but not know basic things like this? Perhaps those who've been criticizing automated root scripts were right after all?

 

[Scott Kenyon]

I lean that way. The thing I always tell people is not to root unless you have a specific need to. I've fixed a lot of computers because people feel the need to go fooling around in the registry or something. Those sort of people have no business even knowing root exists.

 

[garublador]

I don't think it helps that so many people talk about rooting as if it absolutely necessary for a phone to work correctly. It also seems like people brag about rooting and running different ROMs just for the sake of bragging so you'll get a lot more people doing it just for that bragging right.

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[Rule9]

I don't think it helps that so many people talk about rooting as if it absolutely necessary for a phone to work correctly. It also seems like people brag about rooting and running different ROMs just for the sake of bragging so you'll get a lot more people doing it just for that bragging right.

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I don't knock the ones who know what they're doing. Even if I don't feel it's a worthwhile pastime, everyone has their hobbies. I waste too much time on my deck guzzling beer so I'm not one to criticize interests, as long as they try to be good at it

 

[Jennifer Stough]

When I first unlocked my phone, I had no idea what I was really doing. I knew the end result I wanted (the ability to flash a sense 5 rom), that there was a method that would help me achieve that, and so I did. The key thing here though, is that I took all the necessary steps in the manner they were meant to be. I made sure to follow the instructions carefully, slowly, and precisely. I double and triple checked all software and hardware (usb) to make sure that they were meant for my device. I also had someone more knowledgeable guiding me through it (thanks jerry!) I would say that since then, I have become much more knowledgeable about it, such to the point that I could help others if the need be. I've found that most instances, it isn't the first time rooters who brick. The rooting itself doesn't seem to be the issue. It's the flashing of roms, where they normally don't flash the proper firmware for their device. It is here that reading comprehension is critical. These individuals are also the ones who tend to have not made a backup, or formatted their sd. In their defense, often time roms do not come with a step by step specific walk through, often using lingo that only experienced users would know. (clean flash, dirty flash, nandroid) Regardless, every one starts somewhere. No one was born with an indefinite well of knowledge of hacking electronics. No one should be ridiculed for making a mistake, no matter how crucial or obvious the mishap or fix is. The pompous, entitled, and condescending attitude of most users on xda is precisely why I do not participate in discussion there. It doesn't make a noob feel welcome, therefore causing them to attempt rooting on their own. Just imagine how much smoother it could have gone if an experienced user took them under their wing instead of "use search you doof. There's millions of these threads already." Also, while I can walk someone through the steps of setting up to use adb, how to arrange the files, and what commands to type, I couldn't for the life of you tell you exactly what each and every one of those commands are doing. Root methods can be pretty easy know a days, so most people don't even think to learn what it does before doing it. They get the "hard part" out of the way first, and then learn how or what to do with the root afterwards. That may not be your method of achievement, but it is for some. If it weren't for the forums, I wouldn't know half of what I do. I owe it to the calm, collected, knowledgeable users who took the time to politely and without an entitled snare, explain to me things, even if to others they were thought to be rudimentary or common knowledge.

 

[The Perfect Paradox]

I think this has more to do with people choosing not to do some researching on the topic and instead inconveniencing everybody else. I'm relatively new to rooting, but with all of the tutorials and information available simply by running some Google searches, I haven't really run into any problems (or have had to ask questions for that matter).

I actually encourage others to root their phone so they get to harness the power of the that they paid for. However, this is something that others should be cautious about and make sure they get acquire some background knowledge about beforehand.

 

[Rule9]

When I first unlocked my phone, I had no idea what I was really doing. I knew the end result I wanted (the ability to flash a sense 5 rom), that there was a method that would help me achieve that, and so I did. The key thing here though, is that I took all the necessary steps in the manner they were meant to be. I made sure to follow the instructions carefully, slowly, and precisely. I double and triple checked all software and hardware (usb) to make sure that they were meant for my device. I also had someone more knowledgeable guiding me through it (thanks jerry!) I would say that since then, I have become much more knowledgeable about it, such to the point that I could help others if the need be. I've found that most instances, it isn't the first time rooters who brick. The rooting itself doesn't seem to be the issue. It's the flashing of roms, where they normally don't flash the proper firmware for their device. It is here that reading comprehension is critical. These individuals are also the ones who tend to have not made a backup, or formatted their sd. In their defense, often time roms do not come with a step by step specific walk through, often using lingo that only experienced users would know. (clean flash, dirty flash, nandroid) Regardless, every one starts somewhere. No one was born with an indefinite well of knowledge of hacking electronics. No one should be ridiculed for making a mistake, no matter how crucial or obvious the mishap or fix is. The pompous, entitled, and condescending attitude of most users on xda is precisely why I do not participate in discussion there. It doesn't make a noob feel welcome, therefore causing them to attempt rooting on their own. Just imagine how much smoother it could have gone if an experienced user took them under their wing instead of "use search you doof. There's millions of these threads already." Also, while I can walk someone through the steps of setting up to use adb, how to arrange the files, and what commands to type, I couldn't for the life of you tell you exactly what each and every one of those commands are doing. Root methods can be pretty easy know a days, so most people don't even think to learn what it does before doing it. They get the "hard part" out of the way first, and then learn how or what to do with the root afterwards. That may not be your method of achievement, but it is for some. If it weren't for the forums, I wouldn't know half of what I do. I owe it to the calm, collected, knowledgeable users who took the time to politely and without an entitled snare, explain to me things, even if to others they were thought to be rudimentary or common knowledge.

Hope you don't think I intended to ridicule or be condescending Jenn, believe me I've dealt with those guys at xda and yep you're right, they are there. Unfortunately a beginner is going to have to deal with their nonsense at times. What I'm saying is that learning certain basic aspects of rooting really ought to be undertaken by the would be rooter before actually taking the plunge. Speaking for myself, I didn't attempt it before knowing all the consequences and how to handle them just like you did. I have no problem with that.

 

[Jennifer Stough]

Hope you don't think I intended to ridicule or be condescending Jenn, believe me I've dealt with those guys at xda and yep you're right, they are there. Unfortunately a beginner is going to have to deal with their nonsense at times. What I'm saying is that learning certain basic aspects of rooting really ought to be undertaken by the would be rooter before actually taking the plunge. Speaking for myself, I didn't attempt it before knowing all the consequences and how to handle them just like you did. I have no problem with that.

I didn't mean to insinuate that you behave that way It is definitely in everyone's best interest to research before acting. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen nearly as much as the contrary.

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[Golfdriver97]

All right; My 2 cents...

I think people should have a good reason to root and flash what they can to their devices. Conformity is not a reason either. When I first rooted my Epic 4G Touch (Galaxy S2) I wanted to get rid of bloatware because on 2.3, rooting was the only way. I spent weeks studying, taking notes, and asking questions from people who I knew that had done it before.
Now that Google has made that a little easier, rooting your device needs to be a lot more justified in my opinion. I won't go into specific reasons.
However, Jennifer is correct that it's not really rooting that causes problems, it's flashing ROMs. People for the most part are not reading carefully. Now, conversely, there are a lot of ROM developers that are becoming more and more lax in what their ROM is for which specific devices. I have found a couple ROMs on XDA that do not specifically have a file name for my S3, so I leave it alone.

Something I think should be stressed more is not only should someone learn how to root, but unroot, and common ways to stop a bootloop. Example; The other night I flashed a Kernel on my S3 which had 4.3 on it. I went into a bootloop. I got back into recovery, reflashed the ROM, and then tried to figure out what went wrong. After about 10 minutes of going back over what I did, I realized the Kernel was for 4.2.

Being snotty like those on other forums, XDA especially, doesn't help much. I help people because they are already stuck. When they are back up and running I tend to give slight lecture. But that's it.

 

[gollum18]

I always advise anyone to study all things root before they actually do so. As the process varies per device, it can actually become a challenge to do so. Although with background knowledge about all of the correct terminology and risks involved, it does provide some help when a user actually does do the root process.

I remember when I got my optimus s, I had to manually root it using terminal commands and adb as we didn't have any fancy one-click programs to do it for us. I had to learn everything about it and even a little Linux to do so. Then when I switched to my s3, I was completely dumbfounded again, I didn't know what Odin was.

To anyone would be rooters reading this, don't use one-click programs until you are completely familiar with the process. Learn how to do it yourself first, one-click root programs are never guaranteed to work 100% and the risk of something going wrong is even greater because you aren't doing it yourself. That way incase anything does go wrong, there's a good chance you know where it happened, instead of fumbling around in the dark looking for an error message (if the Dev was nice enough to include them).

Sent from the stars...

 

[Jennifer Stough]

I always advise anyone to study all things root before they actually do so. As the process varies per device, it can actually become a challenge to do so. Although with background knowledge about all of the correct terminology and risks involved, it does provide some help when a user actually does do the root process.

I remember when I got my optimus s, I had to manually root it using terminal commands and adb as we didn't have any fancy one-click programs to do it for us. I had to learn everything about it and even a little Linux to do so. Then when I switched to my s3, I was completely dumbfounded again, I didn't know what Odin was.

To anyone would be rooters reading this, don't use one-click programs until you are completely familiar with the process. Learn how to do it yourself first, one-click root programs are never guaranteed to work 100% and the risk of something going wrong is even greater because you aren't doing it yourself. That way incase anything does go wrong, there's a good chance you know where it happened, instead of fumbling around in the dark looking for an error message (if the Dev was nice enough to include them).

Sent from the stars...

I had to use adb and terminal commands as well

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