Noob questions...

[sttngagt]

I have been monitoring this and the xda boards for weeks and am thoroughly confused about rooting, so my apologies for likely sounding like a moron. Is there anywhere that has a step by step approach for how to get s off, root, etc? From what I understand u have to also then flash a Rom? What all files do u need to do all these steps? What are the steps exactly? All the abbreviations add to my confusion too. Sorry guys.

Also, how do u unroot and get s on in case I have some warranty issue? Is that even possible yet? Would it just be wiser to wait longer? Get the GB ota update and wait? Wait for the seemingly easier unrevoked solution? Sorry everyone, I feel way stupid and lost, especially since I've been reading this and the xda forums for weeks trying to understand all this stuff. I just can't find any simple guide, and this rooting process seems incredibly complex. I read about sometimes this or that not working so then u have to manually do this or that, with what feels like 20 different links to as many different files, and its very overwhelming. Added to that I have a mac, although I have Vista installed so I can run that with bootcamp. I have no HTC software or drivers on anything. I have never even plugged my phone into my computer. Just lost and frustrated. This phone runs great tho as it is, but it sounds like its capable of so much more. This is my first Droid, coming from a BB curve. Just hoping for any friendly help. Thanks to everyone who runs this forum, and to all the developers here and on xda. I'm grateful for any help.

Oh... And once upon a time I was really good with dos and Windows up thru xp. So I really can understand a lot of stuff, just very confused bc it feels like there's 10 different ways to do the same thing, that's all.

 

[valorian]

I asked a very similar question on Androidforums.com. Read through this link and see if it helps.

Am I the only noobie who's confused? - Android Forums

If not, there really is no "Rooting for dummies" (not that I'm calling you dumb) out there, I've looked.

 

[djaquez21]

Rooting is a simple task. If your phone is not S-OFF, use AlphaRevX (AlphaRev X - Make it your phone). It's simple to check. Make sure fastboot is off and turn off your phone. Hold the power button and volume down until it gets to the Hboot screen. It will tell you if it's S-ON, S-OFF and etc. Then install ClockworkMod right away, AlphaRevX gives you the option to install it. Take a backup right away by going to recovery, then backup and restore, then backup. That will take a nandroid (full) backup of your current ROM (software) which you can always restore later on. Download a root file such as the one from here ([GUIDE] How To Install ClockworkMod - xda-developers) which also helps explain rooting and ClockworkMod. Place it on the SD card and install using ClockworkMod and now you are rooted, meaning you have SuperUser. Download ROM Manager to help manage ROMs if you ever want to experiment with different ones. If you want to take off the root, restore your first ROM which doesn't have the root file installed. And if that doesn't help you, use SuperOneClick (SuperOneClick | shortfuse.org) to unroot. From my experience, it took multiple attempts but it did unroot my phone in the end. By the way, warranty is voided when you S-OFF your phone, unless it already was. So rooting shouldn't matter anymore. Let me know if you need anything else.

 

[sttngagt]

Thanx dj. I just today checked and saw it was s-on. I wanted to see the menu. I'm curious though, I visited the links but am unclear. I get I install the HTC drivers, but where do I install them? What about the other files? Does everything just go on the root of the SD card? So Alpharevx has clockwork integrated with it? How does the phone know which to run? Is clockwork what does the backing up? Then I root with Alpharevx I guess? And then I can flash a Rom? Thru the same menu? And do I restart the phone before or does it just return to that same boot menu every time? Sorry. I think I'm starting to understand how it works, but I wanna make sure I have the proper backups and don't brick my phone. I love this thing. Haha

 

[Last Ride]

At the risk of sounding like a jerk, have you considered paying someone locally to do it for you? While there are many steps, it's pretty straight-forward given the guides posted. Hell, even I could do it! But if you are still having trouble, $25 might be a good investment if you are afraid you might screw something up. They have a local classifieds section online here, and I see people advertise to do the root process for you all the time.

To answer your most recent questions, install the HTC drivers on your computer. Follow the directions on the AlphaRevX to S-off, and yes, ClockWork Recovery should be an available option after that. After you get that far, do a nandroid backup in ClockWork Recovery. Then come back here before you start flashing ROMs. This is a great community, and they are good at answering questions! Hope this helps.

Bryan

 

[sttngagt]

Thanks for that last paragraph bryan. I only am a bit confused and intend to root this weekend if not sooner. I just wanted to know what files go where and if any go on the SD card etc. But I found this....

HTC Incredible 2: Full Update Guide - CyanogenMod Wiki

I think that is a rather clear step by step guide, it was what I was looking for. It was buried in the middle of the s-off achieved string on the xda forum. I had followed that thread but stopped bc everyone was complaining that Alpharevx hadn't publicly released it. I'm glad I looked through it.

Can you or anyone confirm that the steps on that site are indeed accurate? Having read it thru it seems rather simple now. I knew some of what's there, but not about all the backing up steps before doing anything. Million dollar question tho is whether it really is accurate. Anyone? Thanks again for everyone's help. I intend to follow that guide, although I will stop before putting on any mods since maybe there is something better. That is, of course, if that guide is accurate. Thanks again.

 

[djaquez21]

Yes the steps on the guide are accurate. But as far as the ClockworkMod installation, you don't need fastboot. AlphaRevX gives you the option to install right away after getting S-OFF. If you didn't install it then, then yea you'll probably need those fastboot instructions. And may I suggest looking at other ROMs besides CM7. It's good and customizable but there is nothing HTC about it, pure Android. For me I wanted other things like HTC Sense 3.0 on my phone. But it all just depends on what you want.

And by the way, if you root make sure to get the app ROM Manager. If you're like me, I like to have a variety of ROMs to choose from. For instance, I have about six different ROMs saved to my SD card, which includes CM7. This app let's you restore and backup your ROMs as well as download others. This way you can always switch ROMs if you don't like them and always have them on hand for later. In other words a necessity.

 

[sttngagt]

Thanx a bunch. This finally seems even easier with the new revolutionary way. I have only a couple questions before I do it tomorrow... Is there a way to back up the unrooted stock froyo I'm using right now? Do I even need to? Would it be a shortcut to flash it back to achieve s-on and stock/unrooted in case of some unforseeable issue over the next year?

Next, is titanium backup needed now that all my contacts and apps are synched to either my Google account or amazon account? The apps I've downloaded from the android market will just redownload after I reconnect to my Google account right? I don't care about the apps saved data just the apps themselves. Also I really don't care about backing up my texts and such. If everyone here uses titanium tho I will get it, just asking.

I was watching a couple videos about the process and noticed the guys doing it weren't doing much backing up. Shouldn't one do backups one clockwork is installed as well as maybe at other times. That's it. Thanks all, excited to do it already. I will def have some questions about what the good roms are tomorrow if all goes well and I get these questions cleared up. Thanx again.

 

[djaquez21]

It is a smart idea to make a backup of your ROM before you do anything else, that way you can always revert back to it when need be. You should probably do that before you root, but if not you can unroot it with tools like SuperOneClick.

As for getting your phone back to S-ON, you would need to go back to the original bootloader. You'll need a backup of your stock ROM, if you want to get OTAs in the future, as most ROMs won't support those updates.

The only backup you should need to do is contacts and apps. That way its much easier than downloading all your apps again. Other things like photos, videos and music will be on your SD card. It might be an idea to export your contacts to your SD card, that way its much easier to put them back on when using other ROMs.