questions from a confused root noob

[pkgear]

alright so im thinking of getting a s3 right now but im totally confused by this rooting/rom speak

does it matter what rom you root your s3 with? seems like there are so many different ways and roms

how many roms do you/can you have on a phone at once?

when updating to a new platform like jelly bean, do you have to reroot or will it update with no problems?

when rooting, where does your backup go?

 

[Skunkape60]

Think of a rom as an operating system like windows. You can only have one at a time. Roms are device specific and such you must flash one made for your phone. Roms can also be carrier specific (Sprint , AT&T, T-Mobile) The US Samsung GS3 is both carrier specific and device specific. Therefore If you Have a Sprint GS3 you must only flash roms for the Sprint GS3. If you are on T-Mobile, you must Flash a rom for the T-Mobile GS3.

As for root, The first time you root you will obviously be on a stock rom (one that came originally on the phone) as you can normally not flash a rom without root. Depending on your device, there are several methods to root. But no matter what method you use, the file you use must be for that specific device and in the GS3's case, the specific carrier as well.

Here at Android Central the Samsung GS3 has it's own forum for each carrier. Please be sure you are in the correct forum before downloading anything you intend to put on your phone.

 

[pkgear]

Think of a rom as an operating system like windows. You can only have one at a time. Roms are device specific and such you must flash one made for your phone. Roms can also be carrier specific (Sprint , AT&T, T-Mobile) The US Samsung GS3 is both carrier specific and device specific. Therefore If you Have a Sprint GS3 you must only flash roms for the Sprint GS3. If you are on T-Mobile, you must Flash a rom for the T-Mobile GS3.

As for root, The first time you root you will obviously be on a stock rom (one that came originally on the phone) as you can normally not flash a rom without root. Depending on your device, there are several methods to root. But no matter what method you use, the file you use must be for that specific device and in the GS3's case, the specific carrier as well.

Here at Android Central the Samsung GS3 has it's own forum for each carrier. Please be sure you are in the correct forum before downloading anything you intend to put on your phone.

ah makes more sense now
so if i want to backup my numbers or w/e, i saw that i do that during the rooting process right?
when i have backed it up, where does it go? and how do i access it

 

[Skunkape60]

ah makes more sense now
so if i want to backup my numbers or w/e, i saw that i do that during the rooting process right?
when i have backed it up, where does it go? and how do i access it

Numbers or w/e???? Now you lost me...

 

[pkgear]

Numbers or w/e???? Now you lost me...

terribly worded while watching the game

i was talking about backing up the entire phone in case anything goes wrong. ie : phone numbers, texts, pics, whatever i would want backed up

 

[Skunkape60]

terribly worded while watching the game

i was talking about backing up the entire phone in case anything goes wrong. ie : phone numbers, texts, pics, whatever i would want backed up

The nandroid backup can only be performed after you install the custom recovery and can be performed prior to installing root. It will backup everything system and app wise including setting and wallpaper but not anything on your internal or external sdcard. If you are saving contacts (addressbook) to your phone then you are not very wise or haven't been told. Save all of that to the Google cloud. No matter what phone your on, just sign into your Google account and your contacts will appear. Never save that information on your phone if you have an Android.

The earlier mentioned nandroid backup you will choose to backup to your sd or your external sd card. And when you restore, you will tell it where where to look for the file (internal or external sd). Then it will show you all the backups stored there and you will choose it.

 

[pkgear]

The nandroid backup can only be performed after you install the custom recovery and can be performed prior to installing root. It will backup everything system and app wise including setting and wallpaper but not anything on your internal or external sdcard. If you are saving contacts (addressbook) to your phone then you are not very wise or haven't been told. Save all of that to the Google cloud. No matter what phone your on, just sign into your Google account and your contacts will appear. Never save that information on your phone if you have an Android.

The earlier mentioned nandroid backup you will choose to backup to your sd or your external sd card. And when you restore, you will tell it where where to look for the file (internal or external sd). Then it will show you all the backups stored there and you will choose it.

where do i get nandroid backup?
does that come with the phone? would that come with the "how to root" sticky you posted up in this section?
things are starting to make sense now...

---------- Post Merged at 09:07 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:02 PM ----------

The nandroid backup can only be performed after you install the custom recovery and can be performed prior to installing root. It will backup everything system and app wise including setting and wallpaper but not anything on your internal or external sdcard. If you are saving contacts (addressbook) to your phone then you are not very wise or haven't been told. Save all of that to the Google cloud. No matter what phone your on, just sign into your Google account and your contacts will appear. Never save that information on your phone if you have an Android.

The earlier mentioned nandroid backup you will choose to backup to your sd or your external sd card. And when you restore, you will tell it where where to look for the file (internal or external sd). Then it will show you all the backups stored there and you will choose it.

where do i get nandroid backup?
does that come with the phone? would that come with the "how to root" sticky you posted up in this section?
things are starting to make sense now...

also what do you mean by my sd or external sd card
there are such things as external sd cards for phones?

 

[asscancer]

An external SD card, like you know, a Micro SD that you plug into your GS3

 

[pkgear]

An external SD card, like you know, a Micro SD that you plug into your GS3

well what did he mean when he said sd or external sd card?
could be an incredibly stupid question

 

[Skunkape60]

If you have a removable sdcard, you have 2 storage areas. All GS3's have either 16 or 32 gb of built in memory. The non removable storage is called sdcard by the phone. The removable sdcard is called external sdcard by the phone.

Why do you really want to root?

 

[Paul627g]

@pkgear, is there any remaining questions you need to be answered that Advisor Skunkape hasn't already explained?

In short the SGS3 is an awesome device stock. Rooting is not a necessary option unless you are thinking about doing as you explained like full device backups or individual/custom backup's of apps & the data associated with them. My wife has a SGS 3 and tell ya the truth its the first device in a long time that I can honestly say aside from rooting for backup purposes I could live with the stock OS as is.

If you do decide to take on the task of rooting Skunkape has written up some great guides and how to's here in the Sprint Rooting & Hacking forums for you too look over. Questions, chances are they have already been mentioned and answered in those threads but still your free to ask questions if need be.

Just so your not confused the sd card question. On the SGS 3 and many other devices they have 2 storage options. First is the internal storage card which in the case of most devices is either 8/16/32 GB options and this is NOT REMOVABLE. Then you have external or "removable" storage by means of a micro sdcard which can also vary in size, in case of the SGS 3 you can put a 64 GB card max. In case you don't know, you have to purchase the external/removable sdcard separately. Both areas will be referred to as sdcard, external/internal sdcard in every day conversation.

Hope this helps clear things up a bit more and good luck in whatever path you choose to take, were here to help

 

[pkgear]

If you have a removable sdcard, you have 2 storage areas. All GS3's have either 16 or 32 gb of built in memory. The non removable storage is called sdcard by the phone. The removable sdcard is called external sdcard by the phone.

Why do you really want to root?

ah i see what you mean. misunderstanding there

i just heard that you can backup your phone + improve your battery + make your phone faster w/o the bloatware
these 3 things sound like things i would love
also there are some apps that need root i heard?
im just trying to get the most out of my phone

and can i update the phone's updates w/ root? or do i gotta unroot -> update -> root?

 

[Skunkape60]

There's always way to get updates but if you root and remove bloat, it won't be with an ota.

The backup is not something you add. It's built into the custom recovery.

You really should take a little while and read and search a little bit. Many of your questions are answered throughout these threads.