New to this please help-rooting

[chewiekw]

I have a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon. I have done a lot of searches on Google about rooting, but the articles i read have so much lingo i don't understand. I was hoping you guys can help me with some basics so that the articles make a little more sense..

What is unlocked?
What is rooting?
What is flashing?
What is a ROM?
What is a bootloader?

These are the things i hear most but none of the articles really explain what each one is or does. thanks again for you help and sorry for the newbie questions...

 

[dmmarck]

I have a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon. I have done a lot of searches on Google about rooting, but the articles i read have so much lingo i don't understand. I was hoping you guys can help me with some basics so that the articles make a little more sense..

What is unlocked?
What is rooting?
What is a ROM?
What is a bootloader?

These are the things i hear most but none of the articles really explain what each one is or does. thanks again for you help and sorry for the newbie questions...

Please read my Don't Panic guide, it should have all the answers you need .

 

[chewiekw]

thanks for the information. It was some good reading...probably going to go over it again...

Couple more questions if you can help me out. I will back up my phone, contacts, pictures, etc with various ways, i can't seem to find a solution that backs up the entire phone. Do you know of one?

Once i do unlock or root the phone if all goes well will i still have everything on my phone? contacts, pictures, apps, etc? Or will i have to move everything back over?

If i decide to add a custom ROM, (probably going to wait for the stock google JB to come out), again i will back up but once the new ROM is installed will my stuff be there or will i have to mover contacts, pictures, Apps. etc back onto my phone?

If i can find a way to do a complete backup that if i mess things up i can get back to where i am now fairly easy, then i would feel more comfortable trying this...

thanks again,

 

[scarryman04]

When you first unlock your boot loader everything will be wiped but after that you won't have to back anything up besides app data ie saved games using an app called Titanium Backup. You will have to re-download all the apps you had from the market but as long as you have a Google account everything will back yo to that except pictures but those won't be affected by wiping data or cache when you flash a ROM.

You back everything up from one ROM to another by Nandroids, you do that from within your custom recovery that gets put on your phone when you go through the unlock and root method. Or you could use an app called ROM Manager you can download free from the market to automate this step, although I prefer and recommend you learn how to do this manually.

I believe there is a desktop backup feature in Wugs root toolkit that will back everything up.

 

[chewiekw]

So i am going to try an unlock my phone this weekend...

1) I would like to unlock/root my phone

2) Then back it up with Titanium

3) then maybe install ClockworkMod

does this sound like the right order? if so can you guys provide a link (step by step guide) to do the unlocking & rooting?

thanks again guys for your help.

 

[racedog]

So i am going to try an unlock my phone this weekend...

1) I would like to unlock/root my phone

2) Then back it up with Titanium

3) then maybe install ClockworkMod

does this sound like the right order? if so can you guys provide a link (step by step guide) to do the unlocking & rooting?

thanks again guys for your help.

Nope, not the right order.

1) good to go on this

2) install clockworkmod

3) use clockwork mod to make a nandroid backup

4) use titanium backup to backup APPS ONLY.

Never use Titanium backup to backup system stuff or system data. If you restore that when you flash a new rom you're going to bork something in there because you will be using old system data on a new rom and they may not be (think "likely won't be") compatible.

 

[davey11]

I have a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon. I have done a lot of searches on Google about rooting, but the articles i read have so much lingo i don't understand. I was hoping you guys can help me with some basics so that the articles make a little more sense..

What is unlocked?
What is rooting?
What is flashing?
What is a ROM?
What is a bootloader?

These are the things i hear most but none of the articles really explain what each one is or does. thanks again for you help and sorry for the newbie questions...

Check out the android central's dictionary. Lots of android jargon explained.
The Android Dictionary | Android Central

 

[chewiekw]

do i need to instal the addroid sdk like this video says?
How to install the Android SDK, ADB and Fastboot on your PC - YouTube

And it also says to install a Samsung driver?

thanks again for your patience guys...

 

[dmmarck]

do i need to instal the addroid sdk like this video says?
How to install the Android SDK, ADB and Fastboot on your PC - YouTube

And it also says to install a Samsung driver?

thanks again for your patience guys...

You'll want the ADB/fastboot drivers for your phone. The SDK is a good idea, but not 100% necessary. Use Wug's Toolkit to install the drivers and go from there .