new phone dropping signal, is it rooted?

Penny Fallon

Member
Jul 17, 2013
7
0
0
Visit site
not sure where to post new to this. I purchased my phone from the "phone guy" I do have a few questions. The stupid thing will not hold a data signal to save its life(very very annoying, and before you ask yes other phones on the sprint network have GREAT signals). How can I tell if its been rooted? I really don't know what that means. and last but not least there is an app on there named "superuser" found in play store but have no clue ( by now you know that I have no clue) Thank you in advance. Any help would be great.
 

Jennifer Stough

Retired Moderator
Feb 12, 2013
1,971
7
0
Visit site
Hey Penny.
I changed the thread title to something more specific to draw people in to help.

If the phone has superuser, I would believe that it is rooted. But to be for certain, you can Download an app from the playstore called root checker basic to check. Being rooted gives you access to system files that you wouldnt have access to prior. You cannot receive OTAs when rooted. A root can be undone.
 

seanskiT1

Well-known member
Jan 7, 2013
418
0
0
Visit site
Root gives you access to certain parts of the phone's programing and/or functions that were locked during production. It has advantages by being rooted. Since you say it has superuser, then its prolly rooted. Like Jennifer suggested, download root checker to verify.

sent from my GS3 running Wicked
 

meyerweb#CB

Banned
Sep 4, 2009
6,668
5
0
Visit site
Rooting, in and of itself, won't affect reception. But other things the prior owner might have done after rooting could have. As a first step, go into settings / System update and do Update PRL and Update Profile. See if that helps.

Either way, go to Settings / About device, and tell us what the first line under "Legal information" says, and what is the Build number, Baseband version, and Kernel version.
 

Golfdriver97

Trusted Member Team Leader
Moderator
Dec 4, 2012
35,367
113
63
Visit site
not sure where to post new to this. I purchased my phone from the "phone guy" I do have a few questions. The stupid thing will not hold a data signal to save its life(very very annoying, and before you ask yes other phones on the sprint network have GREAT signals). How can I tell if its been rooted? I really don't know what that means. and last but not least there is an app on there named "superuser" found in play store but have no clue ( by now you know that I have no clue) Thank you in advance. Any help would be great.

Welcome to the forums!
Getting the root checking app like Jennifer suggested will help check if the phone was rooted.
Meyer's suggestion of updating PRL and your profile may help your signal.


Sent from a SlimROM S3.
 

Penny Fallon

Member
Jul 17, 2013
7
0
0
Visit site
yes I have done the updates on PRL, Profile, I have done soft resets and factory restore. Helps for all of 15 min max. OK under legal info we have model #sph-l710, android version-4.1.1, Baseband version l710vpblj7, kernal version 3.0.31-329968 dr.infra@sep-97#1 smp preempt tue oct 16 22:37:51 kst 2012, uild number jroo36ll710vpblj7, hardware version l710.14 all this is a foregin langue to me. But I am grateful have found people who are willing to give me a hand. especially since the "phone guy" pretty much told me where to shove it today.
 

seanskiT1

Well-known member
Jan 7, 2013
418
0
0
Visit site
Ok, your phone is behind a few updates, but that shouldn't necessarily cause the problem. Are you in an area that normally has good signal? Do you by chance now if you are in an area that is having the network upgraded to LTE? There are ways to get it upgraded to the current android version and baseband.
 

meyerweb#CB

Banned
Sep 4, 2009
6,668
5
0
Visit site
Those appear to indicate the stock ROM is installed, rooted or not. It's several versions old, though. Have you tried updating the firmware (Settings / System Update / Update firmware)? Getting to the latest ROM and modem might help. Try it and let us know what happens.
 

Golfdriver97

Trusted Member Team Leader
Moderator
Dec 4, 2012
35,367
113
63
Visit site
ok got root checker from app store, wouldn't run??? I have updated everything or it says everything is up to date

Strange....either days you are rooted or not. But according to your readout of your device info, you are behind on the current version of android.

Sent from a SlimROM S3.
 

DoesItMatter

Well-known member
Dec 3, 2010
294
37
0
Visit site
not sure where to post new to this. I purchased my phone from the "phone guy" I do have a few questions. The stupid thing will not hold a data signal to save its life(very very annoying, and before you ask yes other phones on the sprint network have GREAT signals). How can I tell if its been rooted? I really don't know what that means. and last but not least there is an app on there named "superuser" found in play store but have no clue ( by now you know that I have no clue) Thank you in advance. Any help would be great.

If you goto Settings -> System Update

Can you do an update Firmware?

Your other option is to take it into a Sprint store and they can do an update.

Even if you don't have warranty on the phone, if you are not getting good signal, they need help you update the phone to resolve the issue.
 

gollum18

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2011
1,485
32
0
Visit site
not sure where to post new to this. I purchased my phone from the "phone guy" I do have a few questions. The stupid thing will not hold a data signal to save its life(very very annoying, and before you ask yes other phones on the sprint network have GREAT signals). How can I tell if its been rooted? I really don't know what that means. and last but not least there is an app on there named "superuser" found in play store but have no clue ( by now you know that I have no clue) Thank you in advance. Any help would be great.

1st) Samsung phones have horrible radios period. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Case in point the Galaxy nexus.

Fix - Go into your settings -> System update, then update your profile then prl.

2nd) there's a 50% chance you are rooted, if superuser is installed. Either it was downloaded from the Play store and is lacking the su binary (no root) or it was installed by actually rooting the device (root).

Fix - To tell if you are rooted or not, go into settings -> about device -> status, the scroll all the way down to device status. If it says "modified" your most likely rooted. But if it says "normal" then you are not rooted and are fine to take it in.

Root on Unix systems simply means you are an administrator. It grants you full access to modify system level setting, folders, and files. Which is a very dangerous thing to do, if you don't know what you are doing.

Also can you open the superuser app and take a screen shot of it for me and post it here? That would confirm 100% if you're rooted or not as apps would be listed with either granted or denied status if you are.

Sprint GS3 Running TN's Msg and Chubbs
 

Golfdriver97

Trusted Member Team Leader
Moderator
Dec 4, 2012
35,367
113
63
Visit site
OK Only somewhat related your opinions please the "phone guy" says he will swap this galaxy for an HTC evo lte I have no other info but that.....

You are behind on your updates. Being rooted stopped that. Check out QBKing77 on YouTube.

Sent from a SlimROM S3.
 

gollum18

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2011
1,485
32
0
Visit site
Okay since you're rooted, you'll want to follow the unroot guide that skunkape put together for the sprint s3 over in the rooting and ROMs section for the sprint s3. Its stickied so it should be at the top of the page when you get there.

Skunkape did a really good job explaining step by step what you need to do to unroot. Just follow the guide step by step and go slowly, take sure you understand what you are doing at each step.

I would post the link but I don't know how in the new tapatalk yet.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 

Forum statistics

Threads
943,150
Messages
6,917,531
Members
3,158,850
Latest member
kerokekerol