Root my device?

[Mingneh]

Hi guys!

I'm new in the forum and Android(luvin' it!) and after poking around i found out about 'rooting'. To me it essentially is the equivalent of jalbreaking for Android and i'm wondering if i should do that. Basically what i am after is:

1) Better battery time
2) Free Market applications(is it possible?)
3) Some kick-ass themes available only to rooted device
4) Faster phone. (According to some article it actually speeds up the phone. Really?)

I'm not sure if all these justifies rooting. I'm not a tech-head so i don't need developers authority at all. Could someone please advice? thanks! >_<

P.S Also, i'm from outside the US now. So i'm not really using the T-mobile sensation D:

 

[211]

I just rooted my phone and installed the Revolution HD ROM last night!
The first thing I noticed within the first night was increased battery life! And that was my primary reason for installing the Rev HD rom.

I cannot comment about “free” apps since most are and I’ve never bothered to look for hacked ones (probably not a condoned topic here anyway).
The nice thing about the Rev HD rom is it’s a modified version of the stock HTC Sensation rom. Looks and feels the same but is missing all the bloat ware T-Mobile $h!t. This makes it nice for us first timers who just want to get a Root under our belt but don't want to be overwhelmed by a whole new gui. As for speed, I haven’t felt much of an improvement but again I’m just barely on my first day.

Took me roughly 1.5 hrs to S-Off, Install Recovery, Root and Rom. This includes running all the recommended backups and recoveries.

Check out this thread for a list of improvements Rev HD does to your phone.

I'd say go for it if you're not worried about any warranty. It's pretty easy!
I've compiled a pretty extensive list of tutorials and links. I'd be happy to pass those along if you decided to root.

 

[SuckerDucker]

I just got my phone the other day. Considering doing this too.
Would love to find a step-by-step guide to do that.

 

[211]

The first thing I would do is read, Read, READ...
I'll post some links and tutorials but I would recommend reading the tutorials in their entirety several times until you can clearly understand what the authors are referring to. There are lots of acronyms flying around and several steps involved just to get a rom on your phone, be sure to understand all of it.
I researched for over a month before finally feeling comfortable enough to root and rom on my own.



Revolution HD: About + FAQs’. This is the ROM you'll flash. Read all about it and understand it

XDA Tutorial: How to S-Off, Root, etc (noobproof). Ultimately this is the step-by-step guide you will follow. I recommend you read this at least 7 times all the way through before proceeding. Read it and understand it thouroughly; know the difference between S-Off, recovery, Hboot etc. This covers everything up to when you actually flash your phone with Rev HD (above post covers that) but by then you'll be comfortable with moving files back and forth from your phone so flashing the ROM will be childs play.
Tip: more than likely you can skip the Super CID step (again, look it up if you don't know what that is)

Addictive Tips: How to gain S-Off HTC Sensation w/ Revolutionary [Guide].
This guide and the other Addictive Tips guides below are a good SUPPLEMENT to the XDA guide. They are better written from a clear step-by-step-tutorial stand point but use the XDA guide as your final guide.

Addictive Tips: What is Clockwork Mod

Addictive Tips: Install Clockwork Mod for Sensation 4G

Addictive Tips: Quick Sense Custom Gingerbread ROM (Revolution alt)

And finally...
The following will be your first step in the custom rom flashing process. You need S-OFF first.
If you follow the guides above, this next site is mentioned several times.
Revolutionary: S-Off tool download for windows

Here's an ouline of the steps involved in order:
1. S-Off
2. Install Clockwork Recovery Console
3. Backup stock ROM to Recovery Console
4. Root
5. Download Titanium Backup and backup all apps and settings.
6. Backup all contacts.
7. Install Revolution HD custom ROM
8. Enjoy your phone.

BTW, I'm 3/4 through the day on a full charge from this morning. Prior to installing Rev HD my phone would be 1/2 dead or more. Right now the battery icon is still fully green!

 

[SuckerDucker]

Great! Thanks.
The two things I really don't like about the phone is the ty battery life and not being able to delete the pre-installed programs that came with it.

Going to really look over all that and give that a go.

 

[211]

I say go for it! It's really pretty easy if you follow the XDA tutorial.

BTW I got a full 24hrs on a single charge since installing the Revolution HD rom!!!
That's a HUUUUUGE increase considering I could only go 6hrs or less before feeling like I needed to plug my phone in.

~EDIT~
Correction, according to the battery properties I got exactly 21h 39m 39s of batterylife on a single charge.

I also noticed, now that I've finally plugged it in for the first time, the phone charges MUCH faster and doesn't get hot in the process, which is weird cause you would think that a faster charge is more stress on the battery thus making your battery hotter.
Whatever, so far I have ZERO complaints about rooting!

 

[wcassell]

Appreciate all of the guidance on this board/thread. While I feel comfortable with technology, (building computers, programming, etc.) I'm still a newbie when it comes to android/phone (Sensation was my first "smart" phone if you don't count a work blackberry).

One question that I had... I know that HTC was supposed to start "condoning" the rooting of their phones. Are they actually giving people the tools to do so, or just agreeing to look the other way? In other words, are the steps above the HTC approved way to root, or is this just something that independent developers have created?

 

[211]

Supposedly Rooting your phone will void your warranty with HTC.That being said, the steps above is not an "HTC approved" way to root.

This is a risk I am willing to take, especially since my battery life has doubled after rooting.

In the XDA tutorial above there are directions for going back to stock but if you were to hand your phone in on a warranty to HTC I don't know if they do forensics, and if they do, could detect traces of rooting.

 

[Mingneh]

Great help 211! Can't thank you enough for sharing your experience and resources. I'll say its bloody daunting for a noob like me to filter out all the information floating out there!

Clearly you've saved my arse.

20 odds hours on a single charge will be the utopia of my phone using life. Guess i'll read up and do the rooting when time allows

 

[SuckerDucker]

I went for it today.
It wasn't smooth, but it looks like it's rooted and I have Revolution up and running.

Still can't figured out how to delete programs, would like to get rid of Twitter, and a few other apps.
And I don't know why there are some programs like "Mail" and the "Profile Widget" and I want to use that are on there but they aren't listed under "All apps" and I can't put them on the homescreens.

Going to keep searching...

 

[211]

I went for it today.
It wasn't smooth, but it looks like it's rooted and I have Revolution up and running.

Still can't figured out how to delete programs, would like to get rid of Twitter, and a few other apps.
And I don't know why there are some programs like "Mail" and the "Profile Widget" and I want to use that are on there but they aren't listed under "All apps" and I can't put them on the homescreens.

Going to keep searching...

If you felt real ambitious you could run ROM Cleaner to remove any apps you don't want.

Addictive Tips: ROM Cleaner ? Remove Unwanted Apps From Android Custom ROMs

Also I would recommend flashing your radio as well. This is explained in the Revolution HD thread. The radio update is optimized for the new rom and could cause performance issues if left unchanged. Although I didn't "feel" any issues I flashed it anyway. Took about 5 min and was a super easy process. All the directions are in the readme file

 

[danperde]

If you felt real ambitious you could run ROM Cleaner to remove any apps you don't want.

Addictive Tips: ROM Cleaner ? Remove Unwanted Apps From Android Custom ROMs

Also I would recommend flashing your radio as well. This is explained in the Revolution HD thread. The radio update is optimized for the new rom and could cause performance issues if left unchanged. Although I didn't "feel" any issues I flashed it anyway. Took about 5 min and was a super easy process. All the directions are in the readme file

No need to use ROM Cleaner, in Titanium you can freeze, uninstall or convert in user app all the apps on your phone.

If you have no issues with your current radio, don't mess with it. I've been using the original radio with all ROM versions (3.1.1, 3.6.1, 3.6.2, 4.1.3) and I never had an issue.