Stupid noob question - will rooting void my warranty (EVO)

[briandap]

I am picking up my EVO 4G tomorrow and figure the best time, If I am going to root it, would be when it is brand new. It is my first Android smartphone. In fact, it's my second smartphone ever, first being an iPhone (if you can consider it a smartphone).

Question is, if it ever had to go in 'for service' and it was rooted would they deny me service? Will it void the warranty?

Also, the recovery mode (not sure what it's called), does that allow you to convert back to stock?

Sorry I'm new to Android... :-(

 

[brontron]

yes sirr it will void your warranty.

 

[GenericMessage]

Honestly? Yes.


Many in here will try to tell you otherwise though. Try not to listen to them

 

[Brett]

will it void your warranty by root? yes. Is it possible to unroot and then bring it in for service? most likely.

if you are going to root and are concerned about what might happen if you have to bring it in to get fixed or replaced, find a way to unroot before you root. I am not sure if the EVO is different than the droid when it comes to root access and unrooting but if it is the same all it takes it placing an update.zip file (that can probably be found on many android forums) on the root of the sd card and then flashing it through a recovery. Just make sure you get the right update.zip file because i am sure there are many that are used for other purposes like other roms etc...

i was also very concerned about rooting my droid for the longest time until i decided to bite the bullet and go for it. i have never looked back. a lot of the things that go along with rooting can be learned along the way and there are a lot people in this forum who can help you along the way.

my advice? do some research and make sure you know how to unroot if you had too. it is far better to be prepared for what may happen then it is to go into it and not know what do if the bad does happen.

Honestly? Yes.


Many in here will try to tell you otherwise though. Try not to listen to them

and generic have you ever rooted your phone? just curious because i have never really seen you go into the hacking forum for the droid. and next time when you respond to somthing like this, please try to elaborate and explain your response rather than just saying "yes". this question does not have a cut and try answer.

 

[GenericMessage]

will it void your warranty by root? yes. Is it possible to unroot and then bring it in for service? most likely.

if you are going to root and are concerned about what might happen if you have to bring it in to get fixed or replaced, find a way to unroot before you root. I am not sure if the EVO is different than the droid when it comes to root access and unrooting but if it is the same all it takes it placing an update.zip file (that can probably be found on many android forums) on the root of the sd card and then flashing it through a recovery. Just make sure you get the right update.zip file because i am sure there are many that are used for other purposes like other roms etc...

i was also very concerned about rooting my droid for the longest time until i decided to bite the bullet and go for it. i have never looked back. a lot of the things that go along with rooting can be learned along the way and there are a lot people in this forum who can help you along the way.

my advice? do some research and make sure you know how to unroot if you had too. it is far better to be prepared for what may happen then it is to go into it and not know what do if the bad does happen.




and generic have you ever rooted your phone? just curious because i have never really seen you go into the hacking forum for the droid. and next time when you respond to somthing like this, please try to elaborate and explain your response rather than just saying "yes". this question does not have a cut and try answer.

I have hacked multiple android devices across the board. I have been at this for a little while so I pride myself on knowing what I talk about before I say it. And just because I do not openly participate on a daily basis in these forums on hacking doesn't mean I don't know anything of the like.

And I had no need to elaborate! The question was "does rooting my evo void my warranty?"

The answer is "yes"

But if you feel the need for me to be more specific I can appease you.

Rooting your device alters the software. Any altering of the software voids your warranty.

Is it possible to "un-root"?
Sorta.

Do the wireless companies have ways of detecting it anyway?
I cannot personally speak for all of them, but Verizon can. Even if they choose not to 99% of the time.



So yeah, go ahead and root your device and such. But I gotta ask you: You have the latest and greatest phone on the market that does so many amazing things, what stuff would root possibly grant you that would make it "better" for you?

 

[korp#IM]

I am picking up my EVO 4G tomorrow and figure the best time, If I am going to root it, would be when it is brand new. It is my first Android smartphone. In fact, it's my second smartphone ever, first being an iPhone (if you can consider it a smartphone).

Question is, if it ever had to go in 'for service' and it was rooted would they deny me service? Will it void the warranty?

Also, the recovery mode (not sure what it's called), does that allow you to convert back to stock?

Sorry I'm new to Android... :-(

Yes, rooting the phone voids your warranty because you are altering it from factory setup so they can refuse to service your phone.

If you have to go get service, unroot the phone following similar steps which unflashes the recovery and removes super-user permissions .... just as easy as rooting it. Some people are under the impression that you can restore your virgin-oem recovery file and that makes you unrooted ..... that is false .... you have to unflash things but if you rooted the phone it's not hard to unroot.

If you are referring to the stock setup, just make a backup after you root and you will have the stock setup without a new theme and then you can go ahead and start putting roms and themes on the phone and if you want stock, restore the backup. You cannot use the recovery to restore a backup that removes root.

Make sure you read up on rooting and issues that other people have so you are comfortable rooting the phone. It's pretty hard to 'brick' an Android device but in the unfortunate situation that you do, it will be unusable and cannot be restored at this point. That's one thing I love about blackberry is that you can restore a bricked phone.

 

[baiatul]

I have been with Sprint for over 10 years, so for those costumers, you are entitled to upgrading a phone every year, instead of every 2 years. So I may root it, if I break it, I can get a new Evo2 in a year....

 

[bettythegrouch]

Perhaps you could just "lose" the phone and pay the 100$ deductible for the insurance to overnight you another refurbed phone, should you wind up in this situation.

I'm not saying that I condone doing that sort of thing on a regular basis, but it's an idea.

 

[Brett]

Perhaps you could just "lose" the phone and pay the 100$ deductible for the insurance to overnight you another refurbed phone, should you wind up in this situation.

I'm not saying that I condone doing that sort of thing on a regular basis, but it's an idea.

Not a good idea . That's considered insurance fraud. I don't know what penalty there would be if they find out but I would not take the risk personally.

 

[Degarmo2]

So yeah, go ahead and root your device and such. But I gotta ask you: You have the latest and greatest phone on the market that does so many amazing things, what stuff would root possibly grant you that would make it "better" for you?

I stumbled across this site, because I am upgrading from AT&T and the iPhone 3G for Sprint and the EVO 4G instead when my contract with AT&T ends in about 2 weeks. I was curious about the risks of rooting the EVO and if it can brick the phone and what it does in regards to warranty.

But my main reason for signing up to this site is to answer the question you asked.

The answer is very simple: Saving $360 a year on Wi-Fi tethering. As you are undoubtedly aware, by rooting your EVO 4G, you can install a FREE Wi-Fi tethering app and save on the $30/month ($360/year) that Sprint charges for the service.

 

[shanesol]

I stumbled across this site, because I am upgrading from AT&T and the iPhone 3G for Sprint and the EVO 4G instead when my contract with AT&T ends in about 2 weeks. I was curious about the risks of rooting the EVO and if it can brick the phone and what it does in regards to warranty.

But my main reason for signing up to this site is to answer the question you asked.

The answer is very simple: Saving $360 a year on Wi-Fi tethering. As you are undoubtedly aware, by rooting your EVO 4G, you can install a FREE Wi-Fi tethering app and save on the $30/month ($360/year) that Sprint charges for the service.

True, but is you use it too much there is always the chance that Sprint will find out what you are doing and charge you up the butt. Not saying that happens often but it can

 

[GenericMessage]

I stumbled across this site, because I am upgrading from AT&T and the iPhone 3G for Sprint and the EVO 4G instead when my contract with AT&T ends in about 2 weeks. I was curious about the risks of rooting the EVO and if it can brick the phone and what it does in regards to warranty.

But my main reason for signing up to this site is to answer the question you asked.

The answer is very simple: Saving $360 a year on Wi-Fi tethering. As you are undoubtedly aware, by rooting your EVO 4G, you can install a FREE Wi-Fi tethering app and save on the $30/month ($360/year) that Sprint charges for the service.

Just remember the risks.

Sprint does monitor data traffic. If you use more than the "norm" or more than you normally do, they'll look at your account. If it keeps happening they'll flag it, charge you, and suspend your service.