I rooted my LTE and its like I have a whole new phone!!!

[chud]

I should have asked what effect would rooting and loading a CM9 ROM have on the operation of the camera?

Awesome.

 

[Impulses]

I

Now this is what I'm curious about and why I haven't and won't load any ROM's. I need to be sure that I will not lose the awesome camera features.

Most ROMs are built off the official stock ROM, as such they'll rarely alter core functionality or strip features (except for removing bloat apps, etc). The typical custom ROM simply adds many of these performance tweaks along with other functionality tweaks like Extended Quick Settings in the notification pane, battery percentage icon, etc etc. If you're the tinkerer type you can obviously implement a lot of it on your own, there are numerous guides for just about every mod...

A lot of people aren't interested in that or don't have the time tho and that's why they flash a custom ROM, the ROM's dev acts as a sort of curator, choosing worthwhile tweaks and mods to implement for you... He also makes it all far easier come update time, since he'll re-implement the mods and give you one file to flash with all those mods plus whatever the manufacturer has updated or fixed. Otherwise you'd have to flash a stock rooted ROM and re-implement everything yourself.

It's generally not recommended you accept official updates since they can break root, however since we're using HTC's official unlock method for the EVO it's actually not not a huge concern.

Anyway, a custom ROM is sort of like having someone pimp your car instead of spending the weekend in the garage doing it yourself. Personally I'm well aware of how to implement most mods that I want, but it's still awfully convenient to get most of them off the one ROM... Some seemingly simple tweaks like hiding Sense's useless location services reticle on the notification bar are actually super tedious to do manually.

I might still go in after flashing a ROM and add something else or undo a particular alteration I wasn't fan of but a good custom ROM that properly documents all changes (that's key for me) is a great starting point.

Now, if you opt for CM or AOKP or other ROMs based almost entirely on the AOSP code, THEN you're potentially trading away things like the camera interface or even 4G... Because those ROMs eschew anything developed by HTC or other manufacturers. Said ROMs have their advantages, they'll often be on a new version of Android far earlier than ROMs based off stock builds (since devs need something to work off for the later), but they're definitely not for the casual enthusiast IMO...

At least not unless your phone's stock software just blows completely and it's beyond help, or it's simply woefully outdated and the manufactured gave up on it, clearly not the case for a new flagship device like the new EVO. Some people might dislike Sense with a passion too (or TW etc) and they're willing to give up things like a better camera for a stock Android feel.

Originally i became interested in rooting just for tethering, but a lot of the enhancements and improvements out there are just too hard to ignore, so i get dragged into it all with every new phone (by contrast my tablet is rooted but still mostly stock, literally just rooted it to copy game progress files back and forth to phone). Anyway, it takes a while to figure out some of this stuff, but if you put in some time at XDA and READ a lot it's really not complicated at all.

From what I've seen flipz's Fresh and ViperROM by viper and Vincenzo are two of the better custom ROM options right now, not surprising considering they did great work for both previous EVOs.

 

[Impulses]

I wanna root but I wanna wait for a update (that is hopefully soon) to fix WiFi connection

sent from a EVO that survived a Apple attack... thug life

AFAIK there's no real issues with Wifi, it disconnects randomly at night when the phone's idle (along with 3G) but that's because HTC put in some stood e power saving profile that shuts those connections down at night and gave users no option to the schedule... You can easily disable that once rooted or even without root thru a paid market app.

Personally I think it was one of the sillier changes in Sense 4, between 12 and 7 I'm either at home with the phone charging (or soon to be) or I'm out partying and the last thing I need is for data to drop in the background and then make me wait for a reconnect when I need it. Almost as bad as the over aggressive memory management if you ask me.

 

[Impulses]

And so the mysteries of rooting continue.

Hopefully my diarrhea of a post above helped, otherwise ask away...

 

[chud]

Hopefully my diarrhea of a post above helped, otherwise ask away...

Ha, nah, I'm good. Thanks though.

 

[Impulses]

Just curious- Where did you pick up the above settings recommendations? Xda?

As for rooting- like many people, I am not afraid of rooting, that is easy. I am concerned about what happens AFTER that. When I rooted my Evo OG, no more updates, and it was not possible to unroot it without wiping the phone completely. Never bothered on the Evo 3D. Does that "unroot" app you mention (and in the article) just perform a temporary unroot, or permanent? Does it require wiping the phone??

They are showing the RUU, which is a complete wipe, and apparently the only way to remove the "TAMPER" flag.


I figured I would wait until after the first update, to give HTC a chance to fix things. We shall see how patient I am (or am not).

Ok, to provide some clarity here we have to get a bit technical, but before I do that lemme just say that Sprint's policies regarding rooted and unlocked phones are very very lenient. They'll usually service rooted or unlocked phones without issue, hell I sold back my EVO 4G to Sprint last year for $125 and the thing was fully unlocked. (they were offering only $90 for the EVO 3D tho so I sold that one for $150 to a guy that wanted to use it on Cricket)

Ok, so there are two root methods for the EVO LTE... One is an ICS exploit that has been used to root many other devices and the other is HTC's official unlock which isn't a root method per se, it unlocks the bootloader so you can then root or do whatever the heck you want.

The first method doesn't touch the bootloader, it just you grants you root access. That means you can run root apps and do some customization but you can't flash a custom ROM or go all out. It also means when an update comes around you might face a touch choice, either accept it and potentially lose root or don't (and miss out on whatever's fixed or improved). This is often called soft root for those reasons.

This type of root could potentially be undone without wiping or leaving a trace, but I don't think anyone's bothered to develop a method for that yet so the only other option is to return the phone to factory state with a RUU (I could be mistaken, I didn't care much for this root method so I haven't kept up with any info surrounding it). After RUU there's no trace left you ever rooted. This root exploit doesn't wipe anything when done.

Now the second method is to unlock the bootloader thru HTC's official method (tho there's two one click apps that make it much simpler, they still employ the same method at heart). Once unlocked you can flash completely custom ROMs, radio updates, whatever. You could just gain root by flashing SuperUser over the stock ROM too. This method will wipe your phone in the process of unlocking it. This seems potentially scarier and more complex but it's really much more convenient in the long run.

You can return the phone to stock thru the same RUU file tho a notice or flag remains on the bootloader (like I said tho, Sprint's really not bothered by it AFAIK). You're probably aware of much of what I've written but I went into detail for the benefit of others.

Chopping this post in two to make it less unwieldy...

 

[Impulses]

Just curious- Where did you pick up the above settings recommendations? Xda?

As for rooting- like many people, I am not afraid of rooting, that is easy. I am concerned about what happens AFTER that. When I rooted my Evo OG, no more updates, and it was not possible to unroot it without wiping the phone completely. Never bothered on the Evo 3D. Does that "unroot" app you mention (and in the article) just perform a temporary unroot, or permanent? Does it require wiping the phone??

They are showing the RUU, which is a complete wipe, and apparently the only way to remove the "TAMPER" flag.


I figured I would wait until after the first update, to give HTC a chance to fix things. We shall see how patient I am (or am not).

As to the subject of unrooting, wipes, and updates...

Your biggest reservation about rooting seems to be a distaste for having to wipe either to root or unroot... But that's exactly why in the long run the second method is so much more flexible. Once you're unlocked you can perform backups of the entire phone (NAND backups done in recovery, they 're like system images on a PC created with Ghost or Arconis), and then try an entirely different ROM, if you don't like it you can restore the backup and everything is exactly as you left it. Same deal when updates roll out and you wanna install an updated ROM.

You can also backup individual apps instead (or all of them) using something like Titanium, you can backup app data too (tho you have to be selective, it's ok to restore texts or game data but restoring data for system apps can be dicey).

If you've already invested some time in customizing your phone you can even take advantage of both root methods... Use the first one until an official update comes around to see what it's all about OR use it to root sans wipe so you can backup everything and then root for real with the second.

There's one other form unroot which involves giving up the actual root privileges in order to run the rare app that balks at a rooted device (such as Play Store video rentals), usually that's done using something like Voodoo Root Keeper, which at times can even restore root after an update... Don't think that's available yet for the EVO tho.

Your other big reservation regarding root centers around updates I think... Again with the first method you can sorta paint yourself into a corner. You can accept an update but it may undo root (however the official HTC unlock method will always be an option), in some rare cases you may even have to RUU in order to accept an update. With the second method you sorta have to take a more hands on approach but updates become very trivial.

Custom ROM devs (good ones anyway) will have an update to their ROM with all the manufacturer's changes within a day of the official update rollouts, sometimes even before then since updates have a tendency to leak early lie a sieve... And with all the backup options at your disposal (I only touched on a couple) you can flash a new/updated ROM and have everything working and configured how you like in less than 15 min.

Having all those backup options actually gives me a great deal of peace of mind that I can experiment with my phone and whatnot but I can always quickly get back to a known working state. It's probably the second or third best thing about full root or an unlocked bootloader.

Frankly manufacturer updates, when performed in place, often end up in a very buggy state anyway (particularly when it's to a new Android version, just like upgrading a desktop OS without a drive format), and the solution ends up being a full wipe/restore... Difference being you then have no recourse for backing up diddly.

I'm not advocating everyone should root or that it's some sort of panacea to every issue... But if you're knowledgeable enough to be bothered by some of the shortcomings of a stock device (like the EVO's memory handling) and you even understand why those things are like they are, then you'd be silly not to take advantage of the available options to address said issues or improve your device.

Granted not every tech oriented user will always have the time or disposition to research this kind of thing properly in order to tinker with the device in an informed manner (sort of like building your own desktop PC)... But message boards like these and XDA can quickly bridge the gap.

 

[Jon_C]

I had no plans to root, but after watching the video I did it. Unroot was very easy (thought I messed up).

No that I'm rooted, if there is an update available that comes down will it update or do I have to unroot first?

[QUOTEAfter doing that, tap the back key, and tap on "build.prop Tweaks".][/QUOTE]

What exactly does this do?

Thanks,
Jon

 

[crxssi]

Now the second method is to unlock the bootloader thru HTC's official method (tho there's two one click apps that make it much simpler, they still employ the same method at heart).

Yes, I believe this method even notifies HTC immediately (calls home) that you have done so, so the warranty can be remotely voided.

 

[crxssi]

AFAIK there's no real issues with Wifi, it disconnects randomly at night when the phone's idle (along with 3G) but that's because HTC put in some stood e power saving profile that shuts those connections down at night and gave users no option to the schedule... You can easily disable that once rooted or even without root thru a paid market app.

There is a free version and a donation version of the app that disables "SmartSync". No paid required. No root required. And it works (I can confirm this).

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...44Ny5zbWFydHN5bmNkaXNhYmxlciJd&token=BnhSBifF

 

[ninhead]

BE WARNED! I followed the directions for using ROM Toolbox Lite given in the first post, and now my phone is essentially worthless other than the dialer. Constant Sense force closes and prompts to send an error report. Can't even get into the app to reset everything.

 

[AlternetConcept]

I think the only thing that is stopping me is getting official updates.. which is what many people have said..

I shall wait

 

[psm9]

I followed the instructions and it's working for me.
Chrome no longer reloads the page when I open another app and then return to it

Thanks, Captain

 

[ecoleye]

Does anyone else have a difficult time getting the Auto Memory Manager values to stick? After a reboot, my values always go back to default. I had this problem with ROM Toolbox for my OG Evo as well. "Apply on boot" is checked. I even ponied up for the Pro verison.

My VM Heap does seem to stick, however.

 

[strudel#AC]

Use the sliders for each section to slide to the following values:

Foreground Application: 10 MB
Visibile Application: 12 MB
Secondary Server: 20 MB
Hidden Application: 40 MB
Content Provider: 40 MB
Empty Application: 64 MB

Then tap "apply". If you ever want to play with these values on your own, remember that you have to arrange them in a pyramid. That means that each value must be smaller than the one below it, or you will notice apps crashing.

After doing that, tap the back key, and tap on "build.prop Tweaks".

Again, get a pen or pencil to write down the values if you want to go back to the original ones.

use the slider to adjust the VM Heap to 75m

I was unsure about what settings to use in ROM Toolbox so I was just using the "Mild" Preset. It looks like you did your homework so I am going to use your settings.

I am going to try being a little more aggressive with the VM heap and set it to 64 MB. It was far lower on my Epic 4G (either 48 or 32 MB if I remember correctly) and I didn't have issues with apps crashing. I will update this post if I notice any issues with stability.

Thanks for giving your detailed settings and continuing to spread the word of how well this works. Like you say, it is like having a new phone!

 

[Muffspring18]

I don't know how it works but couldn't we just update to the OTA when it comes and then use the app Voodoo OTA RootKeeper? I would love to have all the bugs fixed, keep all of my apps and still have root. I don't want the RUU to wipe all of my data.

 

[Starfleet Captain]

I had no plans to root, but after watching the video I did it. Unroot was very easy (thought I messed up).

No that I'm rooted, if there is an update available that comes down will it update or do I have to unroot first?

[QUOTEAfter doing that, tap the back key, and tap on "build.prop Tweaks".]

What exactly does this do?

Thanks,
Jon[/QUOTE]

I assume that you are talking about the VM HEAP. That setting allocates the maximum amount of Ram that a single app can use. If the apps tries to go above that, the OS rearranges some things going on in the app (like deleting worthless data) so that it does not go beyond that threshold. This is why setting this value too low can cause a resource intensive app to crash. It also makes it so that other apps can stay loaded into the memory longer (multitasking)

 

[sveilien]

I'm trying it out now! I love my root, I have Fresh 5.1.1 installed. It's like stock but with nice tweaks here and there. I like having my Menu button back.

 

[m3lover1]

forgot to write down default value for the empty application setting. Anyone know what the value is? Thanks!

 

[sveilien]

forgot to write down default value for the empty application setting. Anyone know what the value is? Thanks!

Foreground Application: 30 MB
Visibile Application: 38 MB
Secondary Server: 46 MB
Hidden Application: 54 MB
Content Provider: 62 MB
Empty Application: 77 MB

VM Heap: 128m