Couple of questions re: rooting

[stunatadonna]

I've been reading the how-to's and my fingers are itching to give it a shot. But, I'm usually one of those people that when I have a problem with my computer (or anything I can't get to work beyond replacing the batteries), I call my husband because he's the tech person in the house. But you guys make it sound easy and I want to dive in and join the pool party!

If I screw this up, can I fix it without having to buy a new phone? I just got my Samsung Fascinate the other day, and I know there's a 30 day window with Verizon, but will they give me a new one if I've obliterated it by attempting to hack the thing?

Can I come crying to you guys screaming "HELP!" because my personal techie is on the other side of the world playing in the sand and he's not easy to get a hold of?

Also, can I come here jumping up and down with excitement if I actually succeed? LoL

Beth

 

[user7618]

Of course, you can do all of that. I don't have a facinate, as I hate at&t, but I'm sure there are plenty of resources to assist you. Once you get rooted, check out xda for ask of your rom needs.

Sent from my CDMA Hero. I got some hot Froyo on Hero action here!

 

[jdbower]

The first question you should ask yourself is WHY you want to root your phone. While the guys in the Fascinate-specific forums can give you (or your husband) a lot of help recovering from a boo-boo, it's my impression that a lot of people root without knowing what their doing or why. If there's specific functionality that requires root go for it, if you're doing it because the cool kids are you'll end up with lung cancer. Oh wait, that's smoking...

Remember, root allows the applications you run (and give root access) to have full control over your phone. How much do you trust the guys writing the applications you're loading? Depending on the application, how much do you trust yourself to safeguard your phone?

As an example, iPhone users all flocked to jailbreak their phone and as part of the process opened up an SSH server. They never bothered to change the default password and someone wrote a worm that would scan for rooted iPhones and stole their banking information. A modicum of prevention can protect you, but you actually need to understand the risks in order to mitigate them.

 

[thekarens]

Sounds like you're like me, you like to tinker. I say go for it. I am not at all tech savvy or computer savvy, but I love to read, research and I can follow directions with the best of them. If you do your research, read instructions twice before starting it really isn't hard and it's unlikely you'll brick your phone. Most every problem out there there's an answer for it.

I recommend you do your research on XDA. There's a lot more info there, though the people here are extremely helpful.