First Time Basic Root

[UJ95x]

Ah I see. But I'm guessing rooting then getting titanium backup will let me freeze apps that could not be disabled without root? Can you freeze any app on your application manager "All" apps list? I do understand that disabling certain apps could screw things up and maybe brick the phone. But I'm just wondering about the level of control titanium backup would give me.

You can freeze anything, even apps that couldn't be disabled before.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

You can freeze anything, even apps that couldn't be disabled before.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

That's the kind of control I have been wanting. Thanks for answering so many of my questions!

 

[UJ95x]

That's the kind of control I have been wanting. Thanks for answering so many of my questions!

No problem. Glad I could help

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

I just stumbled onto this thread http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...62376-android-system-structure-sgh-i257m.html and checked out the link you posted about partitions. That whole thread is a good read! Thanks again.

 

[Rukbat]

Did this boot loader come with the 4.3 update? Or is it something that was there from before?

It's one of the "benefits" of 4.3.

You make a very good point about there not being much point to rooting for a lot of people. I don't see it really being a benefit for the way I use my phone. So far for me my motivation has been the frustration of seeing apps in that application manager that just have no business being on a device of mine. But I am still not sure if I will be able to uninstall them by rooting.

If they're user apps you can uninstall them without rooting. (Settings/General/Application manager.) If they're system apps you have to be routed. Be careful, though - something you think has no business being on a device of yours may just be something that makes the phone complete the boot process. Remove it and the phone stops working. (The way Android is going, it looks as if more and more of the operating system is going to be apps. So if they have to, say, totally redo how LTE works, they don't have to issue an OS update and take weeks slipping it out to users, they just issue an update to the "LTE app" and a few MB per user fixes everything.)

My girlfriend thinks I am crazy for wanting to void the warranty when my phone won't really be more useful to me. But if it gets me the ability to uninstall some of my carriers apps it feels like its giving me the ability to give them the finger. I like the sound of that.

With me it depends on the value of the phone. When I got a Precedent (they sell new for bout $40 now), I rooted it, put in ROMs, experimented all over the place. If you smoke, you blow that in a week or less. With my Note 3s? $700 and change isn't something I want to watch go up in smoke. I don't need to remove the bloat - with all the junk I''ve been playing with and haven't uninstalled yet, I still have just under 22GB free internal storage. And a lot more on the 32GB external card. There aren't any root-only apps I'd run on a daily basis. It might be interesting to play with some of the Xposed modules, but not $700 interesting. I can do GPS analysis, wifi analysis, 2G/3G./4G analysis with non-rooted apps. I can even capture wifi signals (there's a wireshark equivalent for Android) without rooting. I've got EXIF-stampers, cameras that are almost as feature-loaded as my old Canon 35mm, I read all the magazines I'm interested in on the phone - and no root. My finger isn't worth $700, so these phones stay stock until something comes along that's going to earn me a nice vacation with enough left over to buy a new phone if it goes and Samsung won't honor the warranty because of the su file I copied to it. I guess I agree wih your girlfriend.

 

[7plymaple]

It's one of the "benefits" of 4.3.

If they're user apps you can uninstall them without rooting. (Settings/General/Application manager.) If they're system apps you have to be routed. Be careful, though - something you think has no business being on a device of yours may just be something that makes the phone complete the boot process. Remove it and the phone stops working. (The way Android is going, it looks as if more and more of the operating system is going to be apps. So if they have to, say, totally redo how LTE works, they don't have to issue an OS update and take weeks slipping it out to users, they just issue an update to the "LTE app" and a few MB per user fixes everything.)

With me it depends on the value of the phone. When I got a Precedent (they sell new for bout $40 now), I rooted it, put in ROMs, experimented all over the place. If you smoke, you blow that in a week or less. With my Note 3s? $700 and change isn't something I want to watch go up in smoke. I don't need to remove the bloat - with all the junk I''ve been playing with and haven't uninstalled yet, I still have just under 22GB free internal storage. And a lot more on the 32GB external card. There aren't any root-only apps I'd run on a daily basis. It might be interesting to play with some of the Xposed modules, but not $700 interesting. I can do GPS analysis, wifi analysis, 2G/3G./4G analysis with non-rooted apps. I can even capture wifi signals (there's a wireshark equivalent for Android) without rooting. I've got EXIF-stampers, cameras that are almost as feature-loaded as my old Canon 35mm, I read all the magazines I'm interested in on the phone - and no root. My finger isn't worth $700, so these phones stay stock until something comes along that's going to earn me a nice vacation with enough left over to buy a new phone if it goes and Samsung won't honor the warranty because of the su file I copied to it. I guess I agree wih your girlfriend.

Good advice. I have had the files on my laptop ready to root for a few days now. But it just doesn't seem like its going to be worth it now that this boot loader issue will prevent root from reducing the device to something I would have more control of. Then start learning what is what. I don't mind risking the device to learn as I experiment with it. But it totally makes sense to start messing around on a cheaper device and not the one I rely on for most of my communication right now.

When I get a new computer I wipe it and do a clean install just because I like to feel like I have only what I need to do what I want on there. Since I got the s3 about a year ago I have been wanting to look into getting it as close to that as possible. It seems pointless to do everything through google apps when the device is capable of doing everything I need without signing up to have everything I do be someone else's business. I don't know enough about this stuff to know if that's even possible with a google phone. The feeling that there is no such thing as a device that was released to us without the ability to track us built into it is motivation to start learning. Android devices seemed like they would have the most options to remove things I am not comfortable with.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I've got another question that's been bugging me.. What does "google backup transport" do? Edit: Better yet what do you think is the reason for them not allowing you to disable it? It's one of the apps I can't disable that I really don't like the smell of.

 

[srkmagnus]

I've got another question that's been bugging me.. What does "google backup transport" do? Edit: Better yet what do you think is the reason for them not allowing you to disable it? It's one of the apps I can't disable that I really don't like the smell of.

That is included as part of the backup of apps when you enable the option with Google. It allows a developer to enable the backup data of their game or app to Google so you can restore it at a later date. Say for example, after a factory reset.

Here is the developer page talking about the feature : https://developer.android.com/google/backup/index.html



Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Rukbat]

Can you freeze any app on your application manager "All" apps list?

Someone did an experiment on a Linux computer (Android is a distro of Linux) - the kind of experiment you do for the knowledge gained, even knowing that you may destroy your experimental gear.

He rooted. (Different meaning - he was using a terminal and told Linux to elevate his login to root status.) Then he told Linux to destroy itself. It actually can't be completely done. So, no, rooting doesn't allow you to do "anything", but it does allow you to do things like using a lit match to check if there's gas in the tank. Stupid things. Things that, on a phone, makes it almost landfill. Doing it on your new Windows 8.1 desktop, when you have an installation DVD, makes you smack your head and waste a few hours getting the desktop working again. Doing it on an Android phone, unless you really know what you're doing, makes you buy a new phone. (And don't let anyone tell you that having to reflash a phone can't damage the hardware - Samsung knows better. That was my second Note 3. As a tribute to Pete Seger, "Where has all the memory gone? It's gone to keep the dead software company.")

Will I root my Note 3s? Probably not. The only thing it would give me is the ability to tell the truth when I say the phone is rooted. If I want to play I have Android and Linux running on desktops and laptops. And CDs to reinstall them. Brick my phone and, since I still don't have a micro-to-full SIM adapter, it's 15 minutes until I can communicate again.

 

[UJ95x]

Someone did an experiment on a Linux computer (Android is a distro of Linux) - the kind of experiment you do for the knowledge gained, even knowing that you may destroy your experimental gear.

He rooted. (Different meaning - he was using a terminal and told Linux to elevate his login to root status.) Then he told Linux to destroy itself. It actually can't be completely done. So, no, rooting doesn't allow you to do "anything", but it does allow you to do things like using a lit match to check if there's gas in the tank. Stupid things. Things that, on a phone, makes it almost landfill. Doing it on your new Windows 8.1 desktop, when you have an installation DVD, makes you smack your head and waste a few hours getting the desktop working again. Doing it on an Android phone, unless you really know what you're doing, makes you buy a new phone. (And don't let anyone tell you that having to reflash a phone can't damage the hardware - Samsung knows better. That was my second Note 3. As a tribute to Pete Seger, "Where has all the memory gone? It's gone to keep the dead software company.")

Will I root my Note 3s? Probably not. The only thing it would give me is the ability to tell the truth when I say the phone is rooted. If I want to play I have Android and Linux running on desktops and laptops. And CDs to reinstall them. Brick my phone and, since I still don't have a micro-to-full SIM adapter, it's 15 minutes until I can communicate again.

You can't delete the OS with root access, but you can do it with TWRP or CWM.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[Alexwong26]

Dear sir/madam,

Last few week ago, i factory reset my android phone( Model = Mini 7562) due to lagging of my phone.
Right after i reset it, i realize that the setting apps is gone. I try to reset it again but the setting icon doesn't show up.
I have no idea what should i do.
I cant even connect to wifi and install apps since the security have block~
Without setting app, my phone just can answer and sms.

please help and reply ASAP~
thanks for your concern~

 

[Rukbat]

You can't delete the OS with root access, but you can do it with TWRP or CWM.

You can also put a Linux drive into a Windows box and repartition it. We're talking about how badly you can damage a Linux installation by being rooted, as opposed to not being rooted. TWRP and CWM aren't running in Android, they're running as a separate computer with access to the Linux partition.

 

[7plymaple]

Dear sir/madam,

Last few week ago, i factory reset my android phone( Model = Mini 7562) due to lagging of my phone.
Right after i reset it, i realize that the setting apps is gone. I try to reset it again but the setting icon doesn't show up.
I have no idea what should i do.
I cant even connect to wifi and install apps since the security have block~
Without setting app, my phone just can answer and sms.

please help and reply ASAP~
thanks for your concern~

Can you get to the settings through the pull down menu?

Thanks for the help guys I have been out of commission since Friday night. My back locked up tighter than the 4.3 boot loader.

 

[Alexwong26]

maple,
i cant get to setting through the pull down menu~
it stated that application is not installed in your phone~

 

[7plymaple]

maple,
i cant get to setting through the pull down menu~
it stated that application is not installed in your phone~

I wish I knew enough to help you. But I am just learning about android myself. You should post a thread in the "General Help and How To" forum so more people see your question. I will be interested to read their advice in case this ever happens to me.

 

[Rukbat]

There's an app called Settings. If it's missing, see if someone near you has the same phone, running the same version of Android. Have them back up Settings to an apk file (which is what most backup programs back up to). Move the apk file to your phone (your SD card is fine) and press it. (If it asks you which app to use, use the one with the little Android guy - I forget the name of it, but it's the installer.) It'll install Settings back into your phone.

 

[7plymaple]

Ah cool. So can you back up any app that way and have a quick way to put individual apps back on the phone if you decide you want to use them?

 

[Rukbat]

Not only that, but you can back it up on one phone and restore it on another phone.

If you want to make sure that you always have the current copy of an app, in case the developer goes in a direction you don't like - like Google Navigation - back your current apps up. It's also faster to restore an app from a backup than it is to download it again if you need it, say for a new phone.

 

[7plymaple]

Not only that, but you can back it up on one phone and restore it on another phone.

If you want to make sure that you always have the current copy of an app, in case the developer goes in a direction you don't like - like Google Navigation - back your current apps up. It's also faster to restore an app from a backup than it is to download it again if you need it, say for a new phone.

That is great! Okay to start this process I have no clue where to find the app files to back them up. Do I go in through the all files folder then device storage?

 

[Rukbat]

Install App Backup and Restore to back up apps. Install Helium to back up the data for the apps. (Or root and run Titanium Backup to back it all up.) You find the apps you want to back up in the backup apps, you don't have to go looking for them.

 

[7plymaple]

Install App Backup and Restore to back up apps. Install Helium to back up the data for the apps. (Or root and run Titanium Backup to back it all up.) You find the apps you want to back up in the backup apps, you don't have to go looking for them.

Thanks. I am still reading every chance i get to learn more about android before rooting. I will chrck out helium.