New to Android and LG Optimus S: Horrible mistake?

[memsman]

Re: Rooting?

Is this "rooting" process difficult or risky with respect to the phone? How much danger is there of turning it into a brick?

And do I need to root it before I begin to use the device?

It is not difficult or risky but it requires you to follow the instructions word to word (or better bit to bit ).

Rooting is a process that provides you root (i.e. administrator) access to your smartphone's operating system as opposed to the restricted access that you have when you get the phone. The restricted access does not prevent you from using the phone, but limits its potential.

See the subforum and read carefully before you decide on anything.

And if you come across something called ROM Manager DO NOT use it.

 

[Dark Penguin]

Re: Rooting?

See the subforum and read carefully before you decide on anything.

You mean, this subforum on this site, right?

And if you come across something called ROM Manager DO NOT use it.

And the first thing I noticed was the sticky about this.

 

[kingdavidbaker]

As for the phone itself I highly doubt you will be disappointed. I constantly stream music via pandora and google music beta and it is seamless. I also watch youtube clips (and pornography lol) on my phone and that streams perfectly fine as well. I have speeds that reach over 1Mbps and regularly tether my netbook to it.

As for rooting it is extremely simple and not very risky if the directions are followed properly. While it is definitely not a requirement it will give you access to more applications and customizations which for most people make the phone MUCH better. Its kinda like the difference between a Pinto and a Ferrari....they will both get you where you are going but one has way more features and is a lot more fun to drive lol

 

[jimt1029]

I don't get anything like that from my airave. I may have to give sprint a call. Granted I have an old version so that may be the issue


Sent from my LG-LS670 using Tapatalk

The old Airave was only 1x, not 3G.

 

[dizzle16]

Is this "rooting" process difficult or risky with respect to the phone? How much danger is there of turning it into a brick?

And do I need to root it before I begin to use the device?

The difficulty and brick risk depends on your knowledge of computers (both windows or Mac and Linux) but the biggest factor is how well you follow directions. You have to do exactly what you're told including where it may say "read this entire page before beginning" and make sure you have a nice amount of power in your phone. No its not necessary to root but in my opinion a stock lg optimus s is a 6.5. Or 7 out of 10. Rooting it makes it a easy 8-8.5. You get more internal memory and have access to the latest android software version. But to do that you need to root, install recovery and flash a rom.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[sonicbluemustang]

I am very pleased with the S. But not with the stock sprint rom. I recently put it to the test for a three week time locked in a hospital Streaming netflix, hbogo, and 3 billion texts and calls. All on Reborn.

 

[Dark Penguin]

You get more internal memory and have access to the latest android software version. But to do that you need to root, install recovery and flash a rom.

Do what with a ROM? I mean, I know what the ROM is...I may not be the best candidate to do this, until I become more familiar with the phone and the OS.

If I do root the phone, I can do that any time? e.g., some days from now after I've become more familiar with everything?

 

[blackops1125]

Do what with a ROM? I mean, I know what the ROM is...I may not be the best candidate to do this, until I become more familiar with the phone and the OS.

If I do root the phone, I can do that any time? e.g., some days from now after I've become more familiar with everything?

. But to do that you need to root, install recovery and flash a rom.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

What he says is a process, first you Root, Then IF YOU WANT install a custom recovery, which then will allow you to Flash/install a custom ROM.
But you just have to do it in that order! The rooting part is the easy part, More or less a one button click and your done. So my advice is just take it one step at a time. First you root your phone, get comfortable with it. Then a week, month later or when ever your ready, start reading about installing a custom recovery and ask question of us here!

BUT WHAT EVER YOU DO STAY AWAY FROM ROM MANANGER!

 

[memsman]

Do what with a ROM? I mean, I know what the ROM is...I may not be the best candidate to do this, until I become more familiar with the phone and the OS.

If I do root the phone, I can do that any time? e.g., some days from now after I've become more familiar with everything?

Flashing a ROM is to install it, but you have to install it through a recovery. A ROM has the operating system and some essential applications. By installing a rom like Drew's CM7 you get the latest android os and more control over it. Imagine something like using Windows XP Home Edition and having the opportunity to install Windows 7 Professional. Or since I liked the car example, imagine like you have a sports car with automatic transmission and changing that to manual. Car still the same, but driving is more exciting. In the optimus' case you can overclock, so it's like adding a supercharger as well

The "difficult" part is to install recovery and root. Not difficult, but susceptible to human error Then it's piece of cake to install roms etc. Just remember to make a nandroid (backup) of your original rom before installing another one.

 

[dizzle16]

What he says is a process, first you Root, Then IF YOU WANT install a custom recovery, which then will allow you to Flash/install a custom ROM.
But you just have to do it in that order! The rooting part is the easy part, More or less a one button click and your done. So my advice is just take it one step at a time. First you root your phone, get comfortable with it. Then a week, month later or when ever your ready, start reading about installing a custom recovery and ask question of us here!

BUT WHAT EVER YOU DO STAY AWAY FROM ROM MANANGER!

Thanks for explaining that. This is such a bizzy time for me. Unusually bizzy week

 

[dizzle16]

Do what with a ROM? I mean, I know what the ROM is...I may not be the best candidate to do this, until I become more familiar with the phone and the OS.

If I do root the phone, I can do that any time? e.g., some days from now after I've become more familiar with everything?

"Flash" a rom basically means install a rom. That's the lingo used in the instructions and in custom recovery. I didn't understand it either back in may but I got really lucky because I was impatient to get cm7 but didn't know much about the process but I got lucky and found a member that took his WHOLE DAY to help me (thanks again Jondevere). Like bakethis said wait until you're comfortable or your chances of making mistakes and brick risk% will go up. Bakethis is real knowledgeable. Trust his info.

 

[Dark Penguin]

I need to thank everyone for the helpful comments and advice.

In case some other noob wanders in here with the same concerns I had, I should also announce that I finally got the phone late yesterday afternoon, and all in all I'm quite pleased with it. It does seem to be just a tad slower at downloading, and a tad longer at buffering, than my old HTC, but still quite usable.

If what some of you have told me about rooting works out, I'm sure it'll run a lot faster. But even without that, the usefulness of the Android OS and the availability of innumerable apps more than makes up for it. Apparently I can even tether it, too, though I need to check that it's included in my data plan.

 

[kh777]

One other thing to consider about these phones is the phone's available internal memory space. I think the total is 164MB which isn't a lot. I am constantly mindful of the available space (even after moving everything that can be moved to the SD card). I like the phone and I think it's probably the best choice for non-4G, but I wish it had more internal storage space. In hindsight I should have considered going to a 4G device more seriously, since I like playing with apps.

 

[DoesItMatter]

You could dry doing the following - best is if you can get a class-6 or class-10 micro-sd card.
For best results and storage - try to use a 16GB micro-sd card

Get access to a linux box or download GPARTED (google it) and burn the ISO to a CD

Boot with Gparted or use gparted on your linux box.

Pop in a USB-Micro-SD adapter with your fresh 16GB card OR dump the data off of it onto
a Windows box before you do any of the following

Using GPartEd - delete any partitions on the micro-sd and apply settings

Create new partions on the micro-SD - Partition 1 MUST be a Fat-32 partition so that the card
will be recognized on a Windows machine.

Partition as follows:

Partition 1 = 14.xx GB ( or you can do 6 GB with an 8 GB Micro-SD)
Partition 2 = 1 GB ext2 ( or 1 GB ext2 on 8 GB sd)
Partition 3 = 512MB-ish linux-swap

Apply all settings and wait for it to complete.

Put the freshly formatted/partitioned SD card back in your windows machine and you
can copy all the original files back onto the fat-32 partition

Pop it in the phone and reboot - and droid should auto use the swap and ext-2 space.
There are also some apps -> ext2 tweaks out there as well.

 

[On3wheels]

If what some of you have told me about rooting works out, I'm sure it'll run a lot faster. But even without that, the usefulness of the Android OS and the availability of innumerable apps more than makes up for it. Apparently I can even tether it, too, though I need to check that it's included in my data plan.

Once rooted, you can use the wireless hotspot for free without having to make changes to your account...just be sure you have one of the unlimited data plans. I modified my phone about 2 weeks after i got it and havent looked back. Its more than a phone, now, its a device. Battery life, performance, and functionality all improved substantially.

The optimus has been around long enough that most of the kinks have been worked out and you can changed or customize almost anything you want. anything you might think to ask... be sure to search first, chances are someone else has beat ya to it.

 

[Dark Penguin]

4G v. 3G

In hindsight I should have considered going to a 4G device more seriously, since I like playing with apps.

For better or worse, 4G wasn't an option for me. According to Sprint's own coverage maps, I'm in a 4G dead spot of approximately half a block.

Or do 4G-enabled devices also do 3G if that's all there is?

 

[sfhub]

Re: 4G v. 3G

Or do 4G-enabled devices also do 3G if that's all there is?

That's what they do.