New to Rooting... Pros and Cons

[Longhorn22]

I haven't yet rooted my htc Inspire but was curious on the reasons why I should and how. Also what are some cons that could appear. Want a Gingerbread ROM and possibly Sense 3.0. If someone could give me a rooting 101 class that would be great. Thanks!

 

[Longhorn22]

Also what is CM7 and what are the benifits?

 

[Jimbo5000]

There are certain apps in the market that are root only, so that might be a consideration for you to try rooting. Some of the ROM's work to minimize the so-called 'extras' that come pre-loaded on your phone, so more than likely you won't see carrier-branded apps after rooting. This may allow the phone to run smoother or faster and possibly free up resources to put apps of your choosing on your phone. Rooting really opens up your phone to customize it as much, or as little as you choose. If you are interested in over or under clocking, you would be able to do some tweaks for that if you root.

On the con side, really it comes down to how tech savvy you are and how well you can follow the instructions the developer laid out for the process. Over on xda-developers there are at least two methods for rooting the Inspire. I believe someone posted a thread here also that mentioned a third-party outfit that will root your phone for you (for a fee). Also, if you are of the personality to always follow the rules, you have to know that rooting your phone will void your warranty (if your carrier finds out). There is a potential to brick the phone in the process as well.

The Inspire is my first Android phone, my previous phone was a Blackberry and in my opinion the BB was somewhat easier to switch OS than this phone. I'm sure others will have their opinions as well. Good luck with your decision! I think it's a pretty fine phone either way.

CM7 refers to Cyanogen Mod 7, one of the ROM's available. The standard is the most stable, there are also nightlies that are less stable and considered to be in development so they are subject to wigging out I guess.

 

[Longhorn22]

Thanks for your response. I have found a gingerbread rom and want to use it. I'm just not sure if the risk is worth taking and how big the risk really is. If my phone gets bricked, what happens. What does that mean? Again, bear with me i'm new to this

 

[Jimbo5000]

Thankfully I have never bricked my phone (and hopefully you won't either if you decide to root). There are probs that pop up as folks root and flash ROMs and such. That other website with the ROMs (xda) has some good guidelines for things such as bootloader loop or HTC whitescreen and other things that occur. I know the tendency over there is to bite the heads off of n00bs, but the advice to read through the pages and pages of the threads is very helpful. I guess the biggie is to not interrupt the process as the ROM is being flashed or the root process is running....sometimes it seems like nothing is happening, but most times you have to give it time. If you're super worried, you might check to see if the dev or someone else knowledgeable happens to be online or available via chat or email as you run through the root or ROM flashing process for the first time. Again, good luck!

 

[shansmi]

Exactly why does rooting "void" the warranty? Is that some BS because your running an unsupported ROM? I have ran just about every BB leak and a few hybrids over the last few years and never had anyone say my BB warranty was void. Matter of fact I even did a few warranty exchanges and did not roll the OS. Of course the reason for exchange had nothing to do with software. Is this in writing somewhere?

 

[Jimbo5000]

"Devices purchased for use on AT&T's system are designed for use exclusively on AT&T's system ("Equipment"). You agree that you won't make any modifications to the Equipment or programming...."

There's other legal mumbo jumbo that says if they don't go after you it doesn't constitute a waiver on their part for whatever bad thing you might happen to be doing to the "programming" of your device. I've heard stories on some boards of people going in after rooting for service and admitting to rooting and still getting their phone worked on. Just saying they don't have to help you if you brick your phone from rooting. When it comes to David (the customer) going up against Goliath (AT&T and their lawyers), my money would be on Goliath.

 

[fernandezhjr]

"Devices purchased for use on AT&T's system are designed for use exclusively on AT&T's system ("Equipment"). You agree that you won't make any modifications to the Equipment or programming...."

There's other legal mumbo jumbo that says if they don't go after you it doesn't constitute a waiver on their part for whatever bad thing you might happen to be doing to the "programming" of your device. I've heard stories on some boards of people going in after rooting for service and admitting to rooting and still getting their phone worked on. Just saying they don't have to help you if you brick your phone from rooting. When it comes to David (the customer) going up against Goliath (AT&T and their lawyers), my money would be on Goliath.

Lol. Anyone that roots their phone knows to go to the devs for support. The dumbbells at AT&T don't even know the difference between hspa+ and LTE. Apart from that, the warranty is actually with the manufacturer and not AT&T. Calling AT&T only gets you some low paid, non caring employee reading scripts from a monitor.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[shansmi]

Careful! Employees that do know the difference and MUCH more are members of these forums as well.


Some things we can share and some we cannot by NDA.

 

[fernandezhjr]

Careful! Employees that do know the difference and MUCH more are members of these forums as well.


Some things we can share and some we cannot by NDA.

Yes, I am aware that there are some knowledgeable reps. Interesting that you mention they are here. Didn't I say something about knowing where to go for support? When you call AT&T, you have no control over who you are going to get and many times getting past those frontline guys and gals to the more knowledgeable ones can be a real battle. As far as rooting, they are not going to give you support anyways, xda is the place to go. I would rather trust my phone to one of those devs over there vs a rep at AT&T.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk