Thinking of finally rooting this bad boy

[skyo12]

Hi folks, I love the phone but I saw what the new ICS is going to look like when the folks in the U.S. finally get our updates for this phone... and it's a bit disappointing. I've never rooted a phone before (but read enough to feel comfortable) and I'm interested in flashing a ICS ROM that looks close to the stock ICS as possible.

With that said, I have too many apps and a lot of junk that needs to be backed up before I think about rooting, but it seems like my best options to backup the files REQUIRE rooting... so I have a dilemma. For a person like me, what would be the best option to backup everything on my phone before I root this sucker? I really don't want to reinstall every app one by one, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[VDub2174]

There's an app called MyBackup that doesn't require root access to use. There are 3 versions of the app; MyBackup (free), Mybackup Root (for root users only and free), and MyBackup Pro (paid version and works for both rooted and non-rooted devices). The Pro version has added functions such as online storage.

Titanium Backup is only for rooted phones.

 

[skyo12]

Thanks!

I did see that app in the market while doing research. Again, I've never done a wipe and restore before so forgive me if the following is a dumb question. If I used the app you suggested, rooted the phone and restored the data, would it look the same as it did previously in terms of customization (home screens, app drawers, folders, etc)?

 

[VDub2174]

Thanks!

I did see that app in the market while doing research. Again, I've never done a wipe and restore before so forgive me if the following is a dumb question. If I used the app you suggested, rooted the phone and restored the data, would it look the same as it did previously in terms of customization (home screens, app drawers, folders, etc)?

No such thing as a dumb question

If you were to root your phone and flash a stock ROM, everything will look the same. I know Calk's ROMs are as stock as they get and come loaded with the TouchWiz launcher. So restoring your apps through MyBackup wil install all the apps you had installed before the wipe. The only things that sometimes don't get placed on your screen would be widgets. I've had luck with stock widgets restoring but sometimes the 3rd party apps don't get placed on your screen.

 

[JayWill]

If your goal is something close to stock vanilla ICS, I would wait on flashing until ICS is officially released for our phone and Samsung provides the kernel source code. The AOSP ICS ROMs should get much better shortly thereafter, and hopefully we will be able to use custom recovery like CWM on an ICS kernel again. When that time comes, the prime choices for vanilla ICS will likely still be:

CM9: [ROM] CyanogenMod 9 alpha2: Android 4.0.4 for Samsung Epic 4G Touch - xda-developers

Codename: [ROM][03-25-12][AOSP][4.0.3] Codename Android 1.5.6 - xda-developers

AOKP: [ROM]AOKP|Build 28|UPDATED [03/20/2012]

Finally, you could also choose to use a Samsung Touchwiz based ROM then flash an ICS theme designed for it.

Regarding backups of your Apps and App Data, Titanium Backup Pro is money well spent. Once you've rooted and installed CWM, use CWM to make a full Nandroid image of your system, then install Titanium Backup and batch backup all of your User Apps. Assuming you have all of your contacts in the cloud, the last thing you may want to do is backup your SMS messages, which is easily done with SMS Backup and Restore.

Then flash your ROM, re-install Titanium Backup and batch restore your Apps.

 

[skyo12]

Thanks Jay!

Which ICS theme would you recommend if I choose to go that route? I will definitely wait a bit until I flash a ICS ROM since I would prefer a low maintenance route.

 

[JayWill]

Thanks Jay!

Which ICS theme would you recommend if I choose to go that route? I will definitely wait a bit until I flash a ICS ROM since I would prefer a low maintenance route.

[THEME] ICS-4-ICS Theme [04/01/2012][V1.9] FC24 4.0.3 [SSCONCEPTZ & Overstew] - xda-developers

These guys will likely have their ICS theme updated for whatever the final Samsung ROM build version is. Although for the time being, it's only designed for Calkulin's custom ROM, so it may be necessary to be running that ROM when the time comes. However, Calkulin may not be around in the not too distant future. He's getting frustrated with Sprint's 3G data speeds and the 4G situation where he lives.

 

[boriqua2000]

app brain is a good way to back up all of your apps

 

[DirkBelig]

App Brain doesn't back up apps; it centralizes what's installed for easy reloading. To genuinely backup apps - and the data like your Angry Birds saves - you need to use something like Titanium Backup.

 

[skyo12]

Thanks for the help folks! Quick update:

- Backed up my data with MyBackup Pro and rooted the phone last night
- Flashed the newest Calkulin's Rom and flashed the ICS theme
- Decided to run Go Launcher EX

Some questions:

- Which ROM in your opinion feel the smoothest and is the most battery efficient?
- Should I still buy Titanium backup even if I have MyBackup Pro?
- Do people even backup contact if they're on gmail? I'm ending up with too many duplicates....

Still getting used to the new world of root and I'm actually a bit overwhelmed at the number of options so any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[VDub2174]

Some questions:

- Which ROM in your opinion feel the smoothest and is the most battery efficient?
Calkulin's ROMs are good with battery life. I'm actually using MIJJz BLEND ICS XPLOD MINI ROM now and its pretty good, his GOODNESS ROM has good battery life too.

- Should I still buy Titanium backup even if I have MyBackup Pro?
You can if you want but I personally like MyBackup Pro better.

- Do people even backup contact if they're on gmail? I'm ending up with too many duplicates....
I've never backed up my contacts since my gmail account does that anyway.

Still getting used to the new world of root and I'm actually a bit overwhelmed at the number of options so any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Batting1000]

I've been using Codename for a few days. Battery life is pretty good for me, but I'm not a heavy heavy user. It's stock ICS 4.0.3, no Touchwiz.