The Noob’s Guide to Rooting your Android Phone
// July 23rd, 2010 // Uncategorized
FAQ
I recently rooted my HTC Incredible and I thought I’d compile all that I had learned in the process here. I can only guarantee that the following information applies to the HTC Incredible, the Desire, the Aria, the Hero, and the EVO. The method I will be describing uses the tool by Team Unrevoked, who did an outstanding job. First, some commonly asked questions, and questions that I had prior to rooting:
What is rooting?
In Linux, the root user is the equivalent to the administrator in Windows. Just like in Windows, you can right click things and choose “run as administrator”, in Linux you can run things as superuser. Basically it lets you run things as root even though you are logged in as a regular user. When you root your phone, you are allowing yourself to run things as superuser which means powerful applications can be run that can do things normal apps can’t.
Why should I root?
There are a couple reasons to root. First, you can run apps that require root access, like the wireless tether (turn you phone into a wireless access point using your phone’s data plan). You can also change the behavior of the lights on your phone, take screenshots, and get access to a terminal. The second main reason to root is to use custom ROMs. A ROM is basically a customized version of the Andriod OS. Developers can make tweaks and fix annoyances that are in the stock version of Android and can make their own user interface. The most popular ROM is Cyanogen. There are a bunch of ROMs out there and there’s an app that lets you manage them and boot into the one you want. The third reason to root is the Clockwork Recovery mod. Normally, if you turn your phone on while holding the volume down button, you will see a white screen with a bunch of text and options on it. This is the built in recovery and isn’t really used except for special purposes. the Clockwork Recovery mod replaces that screen with a different one that lets you upgrade your Android version and make something called a nandroid backup. It’s a complete image of your phone that you can use to revert back to a working installation in case you accidentally screw something up.
Ok, so I want to root. Is it hard? Will it take a long time? Is it possible my phone will get bricked?
Thanks to the Unrevoked Team, it’s insanely easy. Just follow the guide below and you’ll be fine. I had never rooted a phone before and it took about 4 minutes from unrooted to rooted. There is almost zero interaction on your part, so it’s highly unlikely that your phone will get bricked. However, I can only speak for the phones listed above. Also, I don’t take any responsibility if you do manage to brick your phone.
Will rooting my phone void my warrenty?
Yep, it sure will. But don’t worry, you can unroot your phone almost just as easily as rooting it. I’ll post a guide on how to unroot later. You can google for tutorials if you need to know. Once you have unrooted, there is no way that your carrier can tell that it was ever rooted.
Will I lose all of my data during the rooting process?
No! Again, thanks to the great work of Unrevoked, you will not loose your contacts or apps.
What about my user interface? I like the HTC Sense UI, will it go away? How will my phone be different after it’s rooted?
All rooting your phone does is allow you to have more permissions. Unless you specifically install another ROM, the only difference you will see on your phone is the addition of a superuser app. Other than the changes made under the hood, you will notice nothing different about how your phone behaves.
How to root
If you are running Windows
You need a driver for the process to work. If you’ve installed HTC Sync or any program from Verizon or Sprint, uninstall it and any drivers they came with. Turn off your phone. Go to unrevoked.com and pick your phone. Download the file for your OS. Run it and extract the contents to somewhere you’ll remember (I used my Desktop). Open the HBOOT.html file that it unzipped and follow the instructions to install the driver for your phone. If you have and Android SDK installed, you may see the phone appear as Android ABD instead of Android Bootloader. To fix that, just right click on it and choose update driver. It’ll ask if you want to search for drivers online or in a specific location. Choose specific location and point it to the Android USB Driver folder. It should reappear as Android Bootloader.
If you’re running Linux or Mac
You’re good. Don’t worry about the driver thing.
Rooting
Ok, so now comes the easy part: rooting your phone. Turn on your phone like you normally would and let it boot up. Unplug it from your computer. Start the EVO3 application on your computer and it should say that it is waiting for USB connection. Once your phone is done booting, plug it in and don’t touch it anymore. The phone will reboot a couple times. Watch the text on the EVO3 program, as it’ll tell you what’s going on and what it’s doing. After a while, if everything went well, the EVO3 program will say “Done”. You can unplug your phone from USB. Your phone will be in the Clockwork Recovery screen. To boot back into your phone, just choose the top option by pressing the optical sensor button (if you have an Incredible) or by pressing the power button. It’ll reboot into Android and you’re done! You can go to the Market and download root only apps. If something doesn’t work, google the message that EVO3 give you and there is a big community that will be able to help you better than I can.
Wireless Tether
I found out the long way that on an Incredible, the Wireless Tether app doesn’t work out of the box. First, make sure that you have the latest drivers for you wireless card on your computer. Next, download this file: http://www.mediafire.com/?undhjydn0oy
Make a directory on your SD card called android.tether (just in the root directory, ie F:/android.tether) and paste the file you downloaded in there. Reboot your phone for good measure and you should be good to go.
So that’s how to root your phone. If you’ve got any questions, comment and I’ll try to answer. You can also try googling for errors and stuff because a lot of people have done this and there’s a large support community. All in all, the Unrevoked method of rooting is pretty foolproof and unlocks the full potential of your phone.
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