Rooting for Noobs

[fbords]

I'm a former T-mobile iPhone user. So, I'm pretty well versed in hacking those devices. I'm now a happy Verizon Incredible user. Throughout getting acclimated to android and rooting, i do have 1 question. I'm pretty happy with the stock ROM on the incredible. However, I do have a few needs that would be met by rooting whenever that becomes availble. My question is, nowadays, is rooting a phone without having to flash its rom doable?

For example, the ONLY 2 things I want to be able to do that I currently can't are wifi tethering via Barnacle or similar, and some sort of VPN client compatible with Cisco IPSec VPNs. When root is obtained will I most likely have to wipe my phone and reload a new ROM or are there other ways? With my old fruit phone, I had to backup, restore custom firmware, and then restore all my data which after a while wasn't even worth my time.

Also, if I do have to use a custom ROM, will I be able to just restore my data (apps, SMS, email accounts, etc), or will i need to start over?

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Wifi tethering would work (or could be made to work) out of the box, but for your VPN client you'll need a custom kernel and the correct kernel modules.

It will take about an hours setup time to get your phone ready to flash this, and if done right, you shouldn't have to wipe any info or data off your phone.

 

[fbords]

Wifi tethering would work (or could be made to work) out of the box, but for your VPN client you'll need a custom kernel and the correct kernel modules.

how can wifi tethering be available "out of the box"? You kinda lost me there.

It will take about an hours setup time to get your phone ready to flash this, and if done right, you shouldn't have to wipe any info or data off your phone.

That's along what i was thinking. It looks like Android ROMs are done via upgrade/downgrade so the device just thinks its getting an update. Not like what I had to do in the past which was basically a reload of the OS, correct?

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

You will just need to download a version of wifi-tether
android-wifi-tether - Project Hosting on Google Code
that's compatible with your phone model. HTC kernels already have netfilter built into them, so nothing else would be needed. (Root of course)

And yes, Android is capable of upgrading the OS (either bits and pieces or the whole thing) when you're booted into the separate recovery OS on the phone. It's a software tinkerers delight

 

[fbords]

You will just need to download a version of wifi-tether
android-wifi-tether - Project Hosting on Google Code
that's compatible with your phone model. HTC kernels already have netfilter built into them, so nothing else would be needed. (Root of course)

With Barnacle i thought I dont need custom Roms or a custom kernel. Just root. which leads me to one of my original questions. Nowadays, is it even possible to get root without a custom rom, or does that go back to the "bits and pieces" part you were referring to? In other words, not a complete upgrade, just enough to get root access.

 

[korp#IM]

I'm a former T-mobile iPhone user. So, I'm pretty well versed in hacking those devices. I'm now a happy Verizon Incredible user. Throughout getting acclimated to android and rooting, i do have 1 question. I'm pretty happy with the stock ROM on the incredible. However, I do have a few needs that would be met by rooting whenever that becomes availble. My question is, nowadays, is rooting a phone without having to flash its rom doable?

For example, the ONLY 2 things I want to be able to do that I currently can't are wifi tethering via Barnacle or similar, and some sort of VPN client compatible with Cisco IPSec VPNs. When root is obtained will I most likely have to wipe my phone and reload a new ROM or are there other ways? With my old fruit phone, I had to backup, restore custom firmware, and then restore all my data which after a while wasn't even worth my time.

Also, if I do have to use a custom ROM, will I be able to just restore my data (apps, SMS, email accounts, etc), or will i need to start over?

To have wifi tethering and VPN you shouldn't need a custom rom but root permissions are needed. For wifi you probably need a custom kernel that allows it and will have to flash that but that doesn't do anything as far as deleting any user data.

Some rom's provide a zip file that you can just flash without deleting anything but it's always a good idea to make a backup before doing so. If you have to use the nandroid method, you will need to create a backup then wipe everything ... takes about 20 seconds, restore the backup of the rom, then restore the data from the backup you made of your system. Pretty much all roms have directions on how to do it and it doesn't take very long. IMO you are probably going to come back to sense ui though because it's basically the best thing out there and the only competitor would be Froyo ... os 2.2 and it still doesn't have many new things.