Brand New - Nervous Rooter - Help me understand, please?

[rodeowearden]

Hey guys, brand new to this business, I've had my Nexus 7 for a little over a week now, and I love it. I keep hearing about rooting and unlocking and installing ROMs. I'm fairly tech-savvy but also fairly new to Android. I don't get luxury items for myself very often, so I am torn between the desire to do awesome things with my fun new toy and the crippling fear of destroying my new $250 device. I've been playing it very safe, following all the guides step by step, and I believe I have successfully unlocked, rooted, and made a backup of my Nexus without troubles. Now I am faced with the decision of what to do now??

I'm guessing the next thing to do would be to install a ROM. After reading this forum, it seems pretty divided over whether there are good stable roms worth installing right now. I've been reading a lot of posts about roms and I am having the damndest time figuring out the most basic of questions: What does it actually do? I hear terms like 'performance boosting' and 'new functionality' but is that worth taking the risk of installing a new rom if I'm new to this, albiet extremely cautious and thorough in following directions and guides?


I guess my tl;dr version of this post would be: Is it worth installing a rom? Is there a good 'starter' ROM for new guys like me? And can anyone give me a clear example of what installing a ROM would actually do for me?

Thanks guys. This seems like a really helpful forum and I'm glad to have found it.
~Rodeo

 

[Paul627g]

Welcome to AC and the N7 forums!

First, we have two excellent guides.. One is video related so that will be very helpful along with the second guide.

Second you have the best device to play with, Nexus branded devices are always root friendly and easy to unlock.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/ne...deo-unlock-root-clockwork-nexus-7-tablet.html

http://forums.androidcentral.com/ne...se-kraken-rooting-hacking-your-nexus-7-a.html

Seeing how you have already unlocked and rooted your ready for those ROMs.

In short the ROMs will bring more customized options to your plate. Things like battery meter options, changeable lockscreens, extended power menu options (reboot/reboot to recovery/screen shot, etc) lots of user selectable options for your status bar and other areas of your device (depending on ROM developer). Performance will be based on custom kernels included in these ROMs or independant kernels from devs like Franco's and others to give you great processing speed and the best battery possible in return.

Enjoy and good luck!

 

[rodeowearden]

Thanks for the tips! I appreciate it.

 

[a1kemist]

Using custom roms is like a drug. Once you start, you don't want to stop and want to taste every flavor.

While I still prefer a stockish layout, roms provide much more customability. Kind of like things that Google should of put in but never did. Before 4.1.2, an example would be home screen rotation. For some reason Google forgot to put that in or some ?? reason not to, but custom roms would have it. I can change the color of the font on my lock screen if I wanted to. I can change the color of my icons, or even change and add to the icons itself in the status bar. I can add toggles to the notification bar. That is just the surface. I've been using Codename Android but am trying out Xenon HD Sweet Sixteen. They are both like stock but so much more.

 

[a1kemist]

Oh, and double check to see if the rom comes with gapps. If it doesn't you will have to flash it separately after you flashed the rom but before you reboot.

 

[AppleBonker]

Welcome, and good questions. Definitely read the guides Paul pointed out as they are very thorough on the explanations (though it may take multiple readings to digest).

And can anyone give me a clear example of what installing a ROM would actually do for me?

For one example, I'll show some screenshots I've posted before. I prefer Paranoid Android on my 7, so that's what these are:

It should be evident that this look is much different from stock (and cannot be configured in the stock OS). This is how I prefer my tablet to be set up (split screen in the settings menu, notifications on the bottom, on-screen buttons to the side - all from the Tablet UI). I've been running PA for weeks now and have no stability issues so far. I know many others on AOKP who have no issues there either (plenty of customizations on that ROM as well, though different from PA).

 

[Tomen8r]

I am a former crack flasher who has become a nightly whore. Fortunately we have great support groups!

 

[Tbayrgs]

For one example, I'll show some screenshots I've posted before. I prefer Paranoid Android on my 7, so that's what these are:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/14/2aburygu.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/14/ujypy5yq.jpg

It should be evident that this look is much different from stock (and cannot be configured in the stock OS). This is how I prefer my tablet to be set up (split screen in the settings menu, notifications on the bottom, on-screen buttons to the side - all from the Tablet UI). I've been running PA for weeks now and have no stability issues so far. I know many others on AOKP who have no issues there either (plenty of customizations on that ROM as well, though different from PA).

+1 for Paranoid Android. I've been using it for a week but love the changes it brings vs. stock ROM, specifically the tablet layout Applebonker prefers (as do I). Was also very easy to flash using ROM Manager. I'd also recommend installing Titanium Backup--makes setting up after flashing a ROM a breeze.

 

[gollum18]

Run the nexus stock for a few weeks and see how you like it( personally I wouldn't root mine that tegra 3 is blazing fast so I don't see a benefit to it ), while there are many benefits to rooting if it is rooted and Asus services it and they find out in the process you'll be charged the full cost of the repair if they can prove the damage was done by rooting.

However if you do I +1 paranoidandroid as well its friggin sweet in running it on my gs3 and I love it. I combine apexs tablet mode with pas tablet mode just for workspace and it works great here let me show you.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[2defmouze]

Run the nexus stock for a few weeks and see how you like it( personally I wouldn't root mine that tegra 3 is blazing fast so I don't see a benefit to it ), while there are many benefits to rooting if it is rooted and Asus services it and they find out in the process you'll be charged the full cost of the repair if they can prove the damage was done by rooting.

However if you do I +1 paranoidandroid as well its friggin sweet in running it on my gs3 and I love it. I combine apexs tablet mode with pas tablet mode just for workspace and it works great here let me show you.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/10/21/yqyrajyt.jpg

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

Fwiw, you really can't damage a Nexus device by unlocking/rooting, and if you ever have a hardware issue you can restore factory images extremely easily

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[CompuDino]

Paul I very much appreciate your and others help in these matters. Like rodeo I am also a brand new Android user and contemplating the rooting process as what I need to do for my Android uses. I've copied and printed the guide and will watch the video too, but what I really need to do first is make sure that my efforts will result in achieving what I am looking for it to do.

What I am attempting to do is

1) 'clean' off many of the 'bonus' apps that Google plastered onto the stock device. I hated and didn't sit for that on my computers where I 'reset' them immediately to bare bones OS before I loaded them with the programs and data I use only and I would like to have my Nexus in the same 'clean' (virgin state before loading with apps etc.

2) will doing 1) result in a release of claimed memory for my apps?

3) I have read, see that there are even more references here - hooray! - to via rooting being able to make use of EXternal discs like flash drives which can 'extend' the limited memory (8GB) that my Nexus is at.

Beyond that I have some questions about some app types, but will look further in the forum for those questions. Right now I really really really would appreciate some feedback and straight forward answers to my initial concerns. If I'm off base on what I want vs. reality, now is the time to learn that :-$ Many thanks!

 

[a1kemist]

Once you're rooted, you can delete to your hearts content. You just need to be careful on what you do, but yes, this does allow you to get rid of "bloatware".

You can also run an OTG cable and run a thumb drive to read and write, however installing programs and running is another story and more difficult.

Also you can run custom roms. You normally have to install gapps also which is the bare bone apps to be functional.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[CompuDino]

I am sure my questions seem like pretty simple ones to most of the forum users here, but I've learned to 'measure twice and cut once' when it comes to totally new undertakings. And this is my first mobile type device and OS other than Microsoft (which I'm not a huge fan of either). Do I need to read up on custom roms before I do the rooting or are those issues that can be dealt with separately - rooting first roms next? Sorry if this sounds overly cautious but its all new to me and I want to get it as correct as I can before I proceed.
Thanks again

 

[2defmouze]

I am sure my questions seem like pretty simple ones to most of the forum users here, but I've learned to 'measure twice and cut once' when it comes to totally new undertakings. And this is my first mobile type device and OS other than Microsoft (which I'm not a huge fan of either). Do I need to read up on custom roms before I do the rooting or are those issues that can be dealt with separately - rooting first roms next? Sorry if this sounds overly cautious but its all new to me and I want to get it as correct as I can before I proceed.
Thanks again

Unlock first... Any ROMs you flash will come rooted so that part will essentially take care of itself, though you can root stock if you like. Check the rooting/unlocking guides and also be sure to read through the "Release the Krakken" sticky

 

[nexusisneecesary]

I'm running AOKP build 5 it's sweet... don't need to be nervous just follow the guide and their is almost no way to screw it up and if you do you can fix it easily

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[dmmarck]

Fwiw, you really can't damage a Nexus device by unlocking/rooting, and if you ever have a hardware issue you can restore factory images extremely easily

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

This. I'd be shocked to see an actually bricked device from unlocking and flashing.

Dropped by Felix from 24 Miles above the Earth

 

[CompuDino]

LOVE the new (to me) term 'bloatware'!! Too true

 

[rodeowearden]

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. I'm taking things slow and enjoying stock for the moment, but I check this thread every day and I feel much braver about venturing into new territory. You guys are great, thanks!
~Rodeo

 

[AppleBonker]

I am sure my questions seem like pretty simple ones to most of the forum users here, but I've learned to 'measure twice and cut once' when it comes to totally new undertakings.

Everyone has to start somewhere. I'm glad you're reading thoroughly as that will make the process much easier if you decide to unlock/root/tinker.

 

[wtherrell]

Unlock first... Any ROMs you flash will come rooted so that part will essentially take care of itself, though you can root stock if you like. Check the rooting/unlocking guides and also be sure to read through the "Release the Krakken" sticky

Also, be sure you flash a custom recovery to use. I love TWRP for its ease of use, but I have also used CWM recovery. Some crackflashers use Rom Manager but I have had some bad experiences with it and tend to use the custom recoveries exclusively.