Questions I Gotta Ask

[ruh-roh-raggy]

I've been following the threads about questions folks new to rooting/romming have been asking. Some things I just don't "get", so please bear with me.

1. Superuser: When people recently flashed the 4.0.4 leak, Superuser didn't work? Is there another Superuser app somewhere or did someone tweak Superuser just for the 4.0.4?

2. ROM Manager: I don't get it - people have posted it's a good program to have, while other people have stated strongly not to get it. (See #4)

3. Is Titanium Backup Pro the program of choice for backing up apps & data vs. MyBackupPro? I've seen video reviews of both programs. From what I've read recently, TBP seems to be the favorite here.

4. ClockworkMod Recovery vs. ClockworkMod Touch Recovery: The guide I used to unlock & root my Nexus mentioned using ROM Manager, which included CWM Recovery that I used, following the guide; also in ROM Mgr is an option to flash touch recovery. One of the threads here mentioned using ADB to flash the touch recovery from another source. This is another "I don't get it". Is it the same CWM or CWM Touch but from another source?

5. Some apps require root, so does that mean I have the choice not to give them Superuser permission or that I have to give them permission? I wasn't sure if denying SU permission would cause an app to malfunction.

6. Adfree is worth its weight in gold! Could Adfree be the reason that some websites don't display photos next to the articles they're connected to but instead a "?" is displayed? Not a big deal, but just wondered if Adfree was the cause.

Any other recommendations?

We had a houseguest for several days, so I was not able to keep up on the forums and have been trying to catch up. I would much rather draw from your expertise any day than stumble through the hard way. :-[ Thanks,everyone!

 

[2defmouze]

I've been following the threads about questions folks new to rooting/romming have been asking. Some things I just don't "get", so please bear with me.

1. Superuser: When people recently flashed the 4.0.4 leak, Superuser didn't work? Is there another Superuser app somewhere or did someone tweak Superuser just for the 4.0.4?

2. ROM Manager: I don't get it - people have posted it's a good program to have, while other people have stated strongly not to get it. (See #4)

3. Is Titanium Backup Pro the program of choice for backing up apps & data vs. MyBackupPro? I've seen video reviews of both programs. From what I've read recently, TBP seems to be the favorite here.

4. ClockworkMod Recovery vs. ClockworkMod Touch Recovery: The guide I used to unlock & root my Nexus mentioned using ROM Manager, which included CWM Recovery that I used, following the guide; also in ROM Mgr is an option to flash touch recovery. One of the threads here mentioned using ADB to flash the touch recovery from another source. This is another "I don't get it". Is it the same CWM or CWM Touch but from another source?

5. Some apps require root, so does that mean I have the choice not to give them Superuser permission or that I have to give them permission? I wasn't sure if denying SU permission would cause an app to malfunction.

6. Adfree is worth its weight in gold! Could Adfree be the reason that some websites don't display photos next to the articles they're connected to but instead a "?" is displayed? Not a big deal, but just wondered if Adfree was the cause.

Any other recommendations?

We had a houseguest for several days, so I was not able to keep up on the forums and have been trying to catch up. I would much rather draw from your expertise any day than stumble through the hard way. :-[ Thanks,everyone!

1. Modified SU for 4.0.4, flash in recovery: http://db.tt/7UEjif83

2. I hate it. I advise you learn to use recovery and to flash roms, wipe, etc all from within recovery. I refuse to help anyone using ROM Manager (half joking, lol.. Just don't use it unless it's only to flash recovery)

3. Tibu is great so long as you never restore system data with it.. Just pretend that option does not exist. Haven't used any other apps but I've heard good things about mybackup root and appmonster.

4. CWR Touch 5.8.0.2 is what you should use, IMO.. You can pay to have rom manager flash it for you or flash it via fastboot on your own. The image file is available free on koush's site or here: http://db.tt/SU55GI8d

5. So long as you know and trust the app and got it from a good source, just give it root access and check the box to always allow it. If you have any specific app questions feel free to ask, overall just use your best judgment.

6. Umm.. Probably? Lol

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[zero neck]

1. this is the latest super user. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/25213603/su-latest-404.zip
2. rom manager is useful for flashing cwm and making backups (bc you can name it yourself). otherwise there is no benefit, and using it to flash roms can result in bad flashes and problems.
3. tib is good for backups. mybackup pro is fine as well, but the only benefit is backing up homescreens (which can sometimes cause issues between different roms), and this benefit is negated if you use nova or apex or another launcher. because they backup your homescreens.
4. cwm vs cmw touch - these are the same, with different interface and different versions. There are also different touch recoveries that are not exactly the same as cwm touch/regular. doesnt matter which you use, but between different recoveries you may not be able to restore a backup made with one thru the use of another.
5. if an app requires root and you dont give it permission the app wont work.
6. no idea, i dont use adfree bc it has messed up things in the past. may not be an issue these days tho.

 

[davey11]

1. Its just that there are 2 versions of the leak. One totally stock and unrooted (most who had root and flashed this lost root) and the other that has been "massaged" with root and other enhancements.

2. I am along with many others use and endorse rom manager. It works fine, except the downloading roms section. The stuff on there is painfully outdated. An equally large portion of users loathe and despise rom manager and advise ppl to stay away like a plague. Very controversial app for sure.

3. I have never used anything but titanium and it just works for everything backup related and is a godsend when flashing roms. Never had a reason to look for another backup app.

4. They are both the same recovery. When it is flashed in rom manager it costs 2 bucks. You can download the same thing as an .img file from the clockwork website for free and it needs to be installed via fastboot from your comp with a command in a cmd window.

5. Yes you are totally in control of giving superuser permission to any app. Denying permission will not harm anything except use of that app.

6. Adfree is the bomb. Not sure of the photos you mention, but it works well with in app ads.

My recommendation is to unlock, flash cwm, install a custom rom like aokp...and you are golden. Prerooted, full of customizations and super stable. The user experience from stock is night and day.

 

[davey11]

3 fine responses...except for the rom manager one which I knew would be all over the place.

And I'm the slowest typer so mine was last.

 

[davidnc]

3 fine responses...except for the rom manager one which I knew would be all over the place.

And I'm the slowest typer so mine was last.

Actually you were the 3rd response wasnt you ? Along with the 4th response.haha
Anyways all good responses .Just my 2 cent observation

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2.1.0

 

[ruh-roh-raggy]

I appreciate your responses!

2def, I've only used ROM Mgr to flash CWM Recovery. Thx for the link to CWM Touch; you mentioned Koush's site - where? When there's an update, I should check there?

zero, thx for the link to the most recent SU. So, how will I know when there is another update if this is different than the play store SU app? Is there a site I should be checking?

davey11, do you use any part of ROM Mgr other than CWM/CWM Touch? BTW, one of your screenshots awhile back reminded me of days gone by. We used to live in Kaneohe, then later in Kailua. Good times.

I need to brush up on fastboot, that's for sure. Unlocked, rooted, flashed the 4.0.4 radios ... as far as I got before our guest arrived. I'm thinking AOKP is where I'll start when I make the move. If you were me, did I forget to ask anything important?

 

[2defmouze]

Koush's site is clockwordmod.com.. CWR images are all under the rom manager tab there.. But don't worry about updates, they are rare and someone here will probably post a thread to draw attention to it if there is one. Same with SU you don't need to stress updating it.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[davey11]

davey11, do you use any part of ROM Mgr other than CWM/CWM Touch? BTW, one of your screenshots awhile back reminded me of days gone by. We used to live in Kaneohe, then later in Kailua. Good times.

I use it daily. The "install rom from sd card" mainly. I do daily flashes of zipthemer mods, my personal theme concoctions of theme mashups, and font flashes. It works flawlessly. I know how to use cwm but using rm to flash just automates the process with a straightforward ui while in the os. It just eliminates the scrolling and button presses in an arkane ui (cwm). It just does its thing and reboots without any user input. Anything that makes things easier and doesn't muck up is fine in my book. On many other phones rm has been a trainwreck and hence the bad rep. But on the nexus, its just solid for me. Oh and the backup/restore funtion is flawless too.

I am in Hilo. Oahu is too crowded for my tastes. I visit there often but I prefer the laid back lifestyle of the big isle.

 

[loraque]

ROM Manager is nothing more than a front end for CWM. As a certified geek, you should KNOW how to do it yourself, even if you use a front end to do it most of the time. Even if you are not certified, it will provide an actual understanding to do the button codes and use CWM yourself. If you want to use ROM Manager to flash ROMs and whatnot after knowing what it is that it does, go for it.

My opinion on it is that it is nice for doing backups, because you can give a name to it and it just does it. It is also fine in my experience to flash a rom that I downloaded myself. My problems with ROM Manager are that it is ALWAYS a pita to flash CWM from it, and I was never able to see the download items from the app reliably. I use it only for backups at this point, simply for ease of use (it boots to CWM, gives a name I choose, and reboots when done. I can leave it in my pocket).

 

[zero neck]

Rm doesn't always wipe dalvik correctly. At least in the past. That's mainly why it causes problems with auto flash, aside from bad dl's, and why it gets a bad rep for that stuff.

Dunno if its a persisting problem on gnex, but old habits ...

 

[2defmouze]

I use it daily. The "install rom from sd card" mainly. I do daily flashes of zipthemer mods, my personal theme concoctions of theme mashups, and font flashes. It works flawlessly. I know how to use cwm but using rm to flash just automates the process with a straightforward ui while in the os. It just eliminates the scrolling and button presses in an arkane ui (cwm). It just does its thing and reboots without any user input. Anything that makes things easier and doesn't muck up is fine in my book. On many other phones rm has been a trainwreck and hence the bad rep. But on the nexus, its just solid for me. Oh and the backup/restore funtion is flawless too.

I am in Hilo. Oahu is too crowded for my tastes. I visit there often but I prefer the laid back lifestyle of the big isle.

I am officially declaring that I no longer support davey11.

Lol.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[davey11]

I am officially declaring that I no longer support davey11.

Lol.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

We can respectfully agree to disagree.

I am suspecting that you have a preconcieved notion about rm from a previous phone. On my 2 previous phones, the fascinate and charge, rm was just plain ish.
I ask you to just do a simple zipthemer mod flash with rm one time and see what you think.

If you still don't like it its fine.

I like it and we can leave it at that.

 

[2defmouze]

We can respectfully agree to disagree.

I am suspecting that you have a preconcieved notion about rm from a previous phone. On my 2 previous phones, the fascinate and charge, rm was just plain ish.
I ask you to just do a simple zipthemer mod flash with rm one time and see what you think.

If you still don't like it its fine.

I like it and we can leave it at that.

Lol nope its not that.. I've actually never used it. My gripe is twofold:
1. People are always complaining about its screwing up or not doing things right, or that the roms you download through its are outdated or the gapps are or they both don't match up.. etc etc there's always something...
2. Sooner or later almost everyone finds themselves in a situation where they screwed something up and can't boot up properly and don't know how to get to recovery or fastboot flash it if they need to, or even how to navigate it when they get there..... All because stupid ROM Manager is the only thing they know. If everyone just learned how to use recovery and do basic adb and fastboot commands from the get go their lives and our (the teachers) lives would all be easier *smugface*

Same principle with 1-click root tools.. Nobody learns anything when they just click ROOT ME or UNLOCK... But if they see the steps involved and understand what they're doing they will get a better understanding, be easier to help later, and in the end feel smarter and have a more enjoyable experience, I believe.

In summary.. Rom manager and 1-click tools and toolkits are devil tools that dumb down the population. That's my gripe. Lol.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[davey11]

Lol nope its not that.. I've actually never used it. My gripe is twofold:
1. People are always complaining about its screwing up or not doing things right, or that the roms you download through its are outdated or the gapps are or they both don't match up.. etc etc there's always something...
2. Sooner or later almost everyone finds themselves in a situation where they screwed something up and can't boot up properly and don't know how to get to recovery or fastboot flash it if they need to, or even how to navigate it when they get there..... All because stupid ROM Manager is the only thing they know. If everyone just learned how to use recovery and do basic adb and fastboot commands from the get go their lives and our (the teachers) lives would all be easier *smugface*

Same principle with 1-click root tools.. Nobody learns anything when they just click ROOT ME or UNLOCK... But if they see the steps involved and understand what they're doing they will get a better understanding, be easier to help later, and in the end feel smarter and have a more enjoyable experience, I believe.

In summary.. Rom manager and 1-click tools and toolkits are devil tools that dumb down the population. That's my gripe. Lol.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

OK not wanting to get out of hand and obviously you feel strongly about the subject, but you said "I've actually never used it."
That says alot. You have a negative opinion without experiencing it.
You know I am very familiar using all the functions of cwm. Maybe you don't but I am.
So with that said, I still believe rm is useful for the mere fact that it reduces sloppy presses and scrolling around in cwm. It's just an automated process which I like.
So you probably don't even have rm installed, so you can't try it out, but trying a simple flash ONE TIME can't hurt?
I totally agree about the one click stuff and these toolkits. I have done rooting and unlocking all manually and just think those things are not conducive to actually learning the process.

Again, I know you are passionate on this subject, so we can just leave it be.

 

[2defmouze]

OK not wanting to get out of hand and obviously you feel strongly about the subject, but you said "I've actually never used it."
That says alot. You have a negative opinion without experiencing it.
You know I am very familiar using all the functions of cwm. Maybe you don't but I am.
So with that said, I still believe rm is useful for the mere fact that it reduces sloppy presses and scrolling around in cwm. It's just an automated process which I like.
So you probably don't even have rm installed, so you can't try it out, but trying a simple flash ONE TIME can't hurt?
I totally agree about the one click stuff and these toolkits. I have done rooting and unlocking all manually and just think those things are not conducive to actually learning the process.

Again, I know you are passionate on this subject, so we can just leave it be.

No worries I'm not actually arguing I appreciate a discussion

No I've never used RM to flash anything, I think I might have used it to flash a recovery on my bionic or early on my Nexus, honestly can't remember. Sounds like you may not have used CWR Touch tho.. All the sloppy volume scrolling and presses are gone, it's a much easier to use interface now by comparison to the old way.

I'll tell you what.. In the interest of the discussion, next time I flash something I'll consider trying it.. But you know I'm going to be biased and hate it I refuse to download any roms or gapps through it as I said I've heard nothing but issues doing that. If I download them on my own can I then use RM to just backup and flash? Next week I'll probably be flashing AOKP or a new Patient Zero if th3ory keeps up with it so I'll decide then.

Again no hard feelings at all.. I'm mature enough to participate in a discussion and was just teasing earlier

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[davey11]

If I download them on my own can I then use RM to just backup and flash?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Yupz. Gives you the option of dalvik or data wipe or both. Put the rom in the root of sd. The only problem I have had is I have 2 download folders, one with a capital D and the other without.
I believe dolphin browser is doing the small d one. But rm does get confused wnen a file is in either one of those.

You may not do a total flip flop but still, you may have a tiny tiny soft spot for it after you try it. :O

 

[2defmouze]

You may not do a total flip flop but still, you may have a tiny tiny soft spot for it after you try it. :O

LOL we'll see

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[oxymoron]

The only thing I use RM for is to rename nandroids. For some reason, if I rename them with root explorer they become corrupt occasionally. Not always, just sometimes. Yes, I always use underscores.

Control freak, I guess. I hate leaving tasks to an automated function. My OCD about it probably comes from witnessing first hand what happens when you haven't considered every variable when writing code. I've destroyed a machine or two during debug over the years. Whoopsie

Definitely don't fault anyone for using it, as long as like everyone says... you know what to do without it. It's like driving an automatic all your life, then in an emergency you don't have your car, and the only one available is a manual... you better learn quick or you're SOL. Better to already know how to drive it, because there's not always going to be someone there to teach you... especially in an emergency.

Captain Analogy has finished. Sail on.

*customized tapatalk signature*

 

[2defmouze]

The only thing I use RM for is to rename nandroids. For some reason, if I rename them with root explorer they become corrupt occasionally. Not always, just sometimes. Yes, I always use underscores.

Control freak, I guess. I hate leaving tasks to an automated function. My OCD about it probably comes from witnessing first hand what happens when you haven't considered every variable when writing code. I've destroyed a machine or two during debug over the years. Whoopsie

Definitely don't fault anyone for using it, as long as like everyone says... you know what to do without it. It's like driving an automatic all your life, then in an emergency you don't have your car, and the only one available is a manual... you better learn quick or you're SOL. Better to already know how to drive it, because there's not always going to be someone there to teach you... especially in an emergency.

Captain Analogy has finished. Sail on.

*customized tapatalk signature*

Pretty good analogy, capt. 4/5 stars.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2