When should I root?

[ChezDigital]

I've read a few of the FAQ threads, and I've got a pretty good grasp on this.

But when I root, my phone wipes, correct? And am I wrong in assuming that rooting has no relation to installing a custom ROM, but it's best to root when I am installing a custom ROM?

When you root, install the recovery partition with clockworkmod, and install a ROM, is it best to perform those steps in that order, backing up with Titanium backup (or Nandroid?) first?

My plan when I get my TB, if a custom ROM is out, is to root before I do anything at all so I have nothing to backup, and then perform the above steps. Is that a good plan?

 

[botero]

rooting doesn't wipe anything. It is generally safe. It's what you do afterwards that can be dangerous. You should probably do a little more research and wait until an easy 1 click root comes out for the TB if you aren't 100% certain what you are doing.

As far as Titanium Backup goes, there are definitely a few different views on how to use it, or whether or not it is complete crap. I use it, but very selectively. I only use it to backup my free apps. All your paid ones will download automatically when you open the market after you first setup your phone. if you just blindly backup all of them, you will frequently end up with multiples of certain programs if your custom ROM has those programs preloaded. Examples I have run into are multiple messaging or gallery apps.

Basically, just do some research. Rooting/ROMing is not really that scary if you are prepared in advance. Once you do it a few times it goes by so quickly and easily.

 

[bkorver]

I would wait until there is a relatively safe and straight forward way to do it. Rooting does not wipe your phone. I would HIGHLY recomend you do a Nandroid backup as soon as you root and never ever ever delete that file... I think botero covered Titanium in enough detail. While installing a custom ROM, you should wipe the phone clean, to include the Dalvik cache.