Scared as hell to root

[1320INC]

Ok guys, first of all hello!! I just got my Mez yesterday and have been doing some reading on here. Whats the worst that could happen if I root it? I have NO experience doing anything like this with a cell phone. Then on the other side, what would be my main benefits of the root. I have no insurance on this phone(I never have insured one) Thanks in advance and for the kick butt site!!

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Hey there!

First off, welcome to the site, glad you're liking it

I want to suggest you go read this: Rooting - is it for me? Some Q&A | Android Central first. Things change and new phones come out, but this pretty much covers the basics.

Another thing I think you should consider -- do you really need to root your phone? Some of us here (including me!) will root anything that holds still long enough, even if it works just fine and nothing needs changed. Don't listen to that nonsense. You decide if you want to try to improve anything, if your happy with what you have, or if you want to risk your warranty.

Now all the responsible adult kind of talk is done

I have a Mesmerize here that I'm reviewing for the site. I rooted it, for two reasons:
1. Cause I'm an idiot like that (See second paragraph)
2. Because someone had to see what methods work, and what methods don't.

The Mesmerize is one hell of a phone. US Cellular has one of the best Android phones to date in their line-up now. But it is US Cellular, which means it's never going to be a super popular phone, and the third party development community (the hackers) is going to be very small. There won't be hundred page long forum posts about rooting, or customizing the ROM. There will be some, I'm sure some hackers are using US Cellular for their carrier.

If you decide to root the phone, DON'T FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANY OTHER PHONE, NO MATTER HOW SIMILAR THEY APPEAR TO BE. The Mesmerize is not the Fascinate, or the Vibrant, and will need/use it's own techniques for removing some stock apps, or tweaking the system. I'm sure that somewhere a Mesmerize hacker will turn up and all the options you see for phones like the Fascinate will be made available for the Mesmerize. Until then, stick with things that are easy to revert. Root required apps from the Market (Root Explorer, Titanium Backup, etc) are fine, I'm using them myself on the Mesmerize.

Here's what I would suggest --
Go ahead and root your phone. Use the automatic method I mention HERE. Then stop. Read everything you see about Mesmerize hacking, both here at Android Central and at any other Android site you can find. Don't do anything you don't understand fully, and that a number of people have reported as working well. If you come across an app or hack that says it is for any phone, but needs root, that's you. Read up on it, be sure you understand how to do it (and more importantly, how to undo it) then try it. Ask for help if you're unsure. There are a lot of jerks out there, but there are just as many people who are happy to help someone willing to learn.

Sorry 'bout the wall o' text Hope this helps, and feel free to ask away if you have questions!

 

[ragnarokx]

Rooting is a relatively safe process - I've never heard of anyone doing anything irreversibly bad to their phone by doing it. All rooting does is give you access to directories and files on your phone that you normally couldn't touch. If you ever need to take your phone in for warranty repairs, you can just flash it back to stock and nobody's the wiser

As far as benefits - it opens up a world of possibilities, like running tethering apps, backup programs, totally customizing the way your phone looks, or if you get more advanced you can flash ROMs/kernels which can speed up your phone and increase its battery life.

 

[1320INC]

Those are some excellent answers guys. I need to do some reading it looks like. I am really happy with the Mes so far. My buddy has a Droid X and of course we are in a ongoing discussion as to whose phone is better!! I will read the links you posted and see if rooting is for me. Most times I can't leave things that are perfectly functional alone though... Thanks again!!

 

[CloudStrife7]

Thanks for all the great information. I'll most likely root my phone once a Cyanogen mod/froyo is out, until then there's not much motivating me Since the mesmerize isn't a very popular phone I'm not counting on these anytime soon.

 

[Travis Nd Samantha Blackmon]

does anybody know if you root your phone if you can use a different providers sim card?