I saw that the XDA team had rooted the new software, so I went ahead and did an upgrade via my PC instead of over the air. Now that I've started researching the root methods it looks like all of them void your warranty, so if your phone dies (and lets be honest phones do die often on their own accord), you will be stuck buying a brand new phone.
I like the new software, but there are tools I use that need root such as titanium backup, and settings profiles (for gps scripting). Will there ever be a root going forward that won't break your warranty?
vmlinuxz said:
I saw that the XDA team had rooted the new software, so I went ahead and did an upgrade via my PC instead of over the air. Now that I've started researching the root methods it looks like all of them void your warranty, so if your phone dies (and lets be honest phones do die often on their own accord), you will be stuck buying a brand new phone.
I like the new software, but there are tools I use that need root such as titanium backup, and settings profiles (for gps scripting). Will there ever be a root going forward that won't break your warranty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, the act of rooting voids your warranty not the method. How hard motorola actually tries to determine if your phone is rooted is another matter though especially if something is making your phone disfunctional.
Warranty is not a tangible item that is "broken." It is a legal agreement. By rooting your phone, you are exposing the delicate inner workings to possible breaking. However, since the manufacturer doesn't see what happens to the phone and it stops working, you can generally at least partially restore it, hiding the fact it was rooted. Is your warranty still void? Technically yes. However, the manufacturer doesnt know. Further, Although it is possible to break your phone, you will never have any trouble as long as you follow these guidelines:
- Avoid rooting phones with the OTA 2.3.4
- DO NOT FLASH SBF TO OTA 2.3.4 ATRIX. IT WILL BREAK FOR GOOD
- Read all instructions
- Make sure all mods are for YOUR specific version of the OS
- Backup with CWM before every mod.
- Lastly, insure that the phone battery is fully charged before doing any flashing. This will avoid the possibility that your phone will get bricked and then run out if battery b4 u can fix it (bricked phones do not charge).
- Aside from that, as long as u do not have OTA gingerbread 2.3.4 on your phone, don't freak out if u brick your phone. I have done it 9 times in the past month and everytime managed to restore it with RSD Lite.
Finally: IF YOU DON'T HAVE GINGERBREAD 2.3.4 OTA DO NOT UPGRADE VIA THE OTA UPDATE. USE THE FRUIT CAKE METHOD OR YOU MAY BRICK YOUR PHONE NEXT TIME THAT YOU ROOT/UNLOCK IT.
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App
Excellent replies. That makes sense, I just didn't realize it was a legal issue more than technical.
Another quick question. If I used the Motorola PC upgrade to 2.3.4 is it still considered an OTA update since I downloaded the stock from Motorola and upgraded it via PC?
Sun3vi1 said:
- Avoid rooting phones with the OTA 2.3.4
Finally: IF YOU DON'T HAVE GINGERBREAD 2.3.4 OTA DO NOT UPGRADE VIA THE OTA UPDATE. USE THE FRUIT CAKE METHOD OR YOU MAY BRICK YOUR PHONE NEXT TIME THAT YOU ROOT/UNLOCK IT.
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? you can root just fine with the OTA 2.3.4 using the preinstall method. Works perfectly. If you OTA'd to 2.3.4 you don't ever want to attempt to flash back down to a previous version. You can still root and unlock the phone even with OTA 2.3.4.
The only thing that using the OTA breaks is being able to SBF to previous builds. But you can still use pudding to unlock and use other roms including froyo ones with pudding built in.
I highly doubt it is illegal to root. Where did you hear this?
Google doesn't charge to license Android, and it's their license, AFAIK individual companies cannot do what they want with this license. It remains open source software that anyone can develop for. It's based on Linux/Unix.
Does anyone here even know what rooting does? It is the act of re-enabling the Superuser. A right EVERY Linux distribution should have. Phone or not.
nexxusty said:
I highly doubt it is illegal to root. Where did you hear this?
Google doesn't charge to license Android, and it's their license, AFAIK individual companies cannot do what they want with this license. It remains open source software that anyone can develop for. It's based on Linux/Unix.
Does anyone here even know what rooting does? It is the act of re-enabling the Superuser. A right EVERY Linux distribution should have. Phone or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sun3vi1 said "the warranty is a legal agreement". It says that if your phone breaks within a certain period of time they'll replace it, *provided* you haven't modified it in any way. Rooting may or may not be legal in your jurisdiction, but either way it voids the warranty by modifying the phone.
If you only root in a method that allows you to unroot easily enough, there's no problem. Since rooting is not a particularly invasive set of changes, unrooting should not be difficult.
Related
Okay, here is the situation: I have an Atrix (obviously) that I rooted using the Gingerbreak.exe downloaded from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1046626. I just tried to update my phone to Gingerbread using the OTA update in About Phone and it failed; I’m assuming it is because I have rooted the device (if not please correct me and tell me what I did wrong). So I hopped onto these forums looking for a way to undo the root, or a way to get the update to work, and my eyes have glazed over. Could someone please tell me how to unroot my atrix before i use it as a hockey puck
I posted a thread very similar to this. You should look around.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1184199
Now honestly, I have no idea why it didnt let you update, since I used SuperOneClick with Gingerbreak and it seemed to work after updating, Didn't really test out any SU apps but I still had it. To think of it, It's kinda useless for me to state that, however it states success...
One of the options for you, since you are still on Froyo and apparently rooted are to install Gingerbreak 1.2. I'm not 100% sure if it will work, but i do know it can't harm your device.
After you install Gingerbreak 1.2, you should root again, then after the reboot, reopen the app and unroot. This method should be flawless since you did re-root with the app. But again, Not 100% sure. And right now you can unlock your bootloader and just start loading if you'd like. That is a much easier and safer way to do it. Plenty of tuts on Android Dev forum here.
lol don't worry about unrooting. I'll tell you that much.
It's not so much of a problem with root, but moreso the pre-test that accompanies the OTA. If you fail it because you use Titanium to clear out bloatware and stuff like that. even if you remove root, you still won't be able to upgrade. Instead, just use this method.
Just download the Automated Upgrade for PC Users and let your phone upgrade. All your data should still be there, but backup before just in case. Oh, and if you wanna root again after you upgrade (cause i mean, why WOULDN'T you want root?!), just use the preinstall method (hehe I'll leave this for you to search. it'll be good practice for the future, i promise =])
happy upgrading!
~jojojohnson7410~
Following is not really a tutorial or manual to be followed without questioning. You need to know what you are doing with your phone by yourself and not follow what others say.
What is safe?
Before all, know what you are doing!!! Processes that may be safe in certain conditions may brick your phone in other circumstances. Don't just flash to get root or some custom FW like you install your market apps. Flashing can go wrong even if everything "should be safe" either because of hardware or software failures/oddities/other factors. So before you do anything with your phone study what you're about to do and what will it give as a result, has anyone had problems with similar process, if there are not safer methods, etc.
Currently one safe way to get root access is by unlocking bootloader and using recoveryNeo.img provided by Bin4ry to install RootXperia.zip. Bootloader can be safely locked after this and only this tweak.
Another safe way to get root is to unlock bootloader and flash custom kernel.
What is not safe?
Since Sony Ericsson Arc 2.3.2 update to 2.3.3 we can observe that phones do get bricked by OTA update.
OTA is very unreliable method of flashing. Via cable you can be assured that connection will not fail as easily. Also files can become corrupted via any network connection. Consider that before you decide in favor of OTA.
OTA is not meant by SE for you to keep your root access. So your using it for this purpose is an unofficial and unsupported tweak. SE may include features and settings in FW that conflict with root access.
Secondly SE seems to have made lot of changes between 2.3.2, 2.3.3 and 2.3.4. If you have unlocked your bootloader and want to root your phone there is absolutely no reason to flash 2.3.2 and then to 2.3.4. These firmwares are so different that mere OTA, which does not perform full erasing and flashing of your Nand memory, is logically not safe practice.
If you have 2.3.3 and rooted then wait till OTA becomes available in your country and then update to 2.3.4. Even this is bad suggestion, given that SE officially does not support root in any of their firmwares, so beware. If your local FW does not have OTA available then you should not get another FW that allows you. Remember, providing these updates needs to be supported by SE. If they don't provide your local FW OTA update then they don't support it in your area and are not liable to damages you may cause to your phone by misusing their services.
Consider what you need more, a working phone or root access or tweaked kernel? You can always wait and maybe later you'll have tested, working and safe methods for rooting and all else.
Good things come over time, with patience, not by rushing.
You make some really good points there.
Sent from my MT15i using XDA App
Alright, so over the last few weeks my phone has developed touchscreen issues, with large parts of the screen now not registering touches. The phone is very close to unusable and I plan to have it exchanged on warranty. HOWEVER, I was rooted back on Froyo (I lost root access with the Gingerbread update) and now I'm stuck with Superuser as a system app (unremovable). I need root access to remove SU, but I haven't been able to find whether or not rooting via .zip flash is reversible or not. I need an answer on whether or not it is, and if so, how.
Also, I'm not simply flashing back to stock because I've heard rumors that the phone keeps track of how many flashes it recieves. How credible is this?
Thanks for any help!
Chairsofter1138 said:
Alright, so over the last few weeks my phone has developed touchscreen issues, with large parts of the screen now not registering touches. The phone is very close to unusable and I plan to have it exchanged on warranty. HOWEVER, I was rooted back on Froyo (I lost root access with the Gingerbread update) and now I'm stuck with Superuser as a system app (unremovable). I need root access to remove SU, but I haven't been able to find whether or not rooting via .zip flash is reversible or not. I need an answer on whether or not it is, and if so, how.
Also, I'm not simply flashing back to stock because I've heard rumors that the phone keeps track of how many flashes it recieves. How credible is this?
Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is reversable download root uninstaller from the market if you are worried about it. me personally i have returned about 4 rooted phones ony to have them fixed and updated when sent back.
dont worry about it, its not unlocked so no harm done
what will this method do exactly to my phone when i flash it?
bare with me as i am completely new to android.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1286432
its the [Heimdall][Odin][Stock][Root]UCKH7 Return/Unbrick to Stock (or Root) by Entropy512
like if i flash that, what will happen?
example questions:
1)Will the os be the exact same as when i first took it out of the box?
or will somethings be gone, e.g. TouchWiz, AT&T apps, apps already pre installed ect..?
2) or is this method's soul purpose is to achieve root and upon flashing, it will retain everything that was loaded on the phone when first taken out of the box?
sorry about the noob question. but i have to get started somehow.
pistolberserk said:
what will this method do exactly to my phone when i flash it?
bare with me as i am completely new to android.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1286432
its the [Heimdall][Odin][Stock][Root]UCKH7 Return/Unbrick to Stock (or Root) by Entropy512
like if i flash that, what will happen?
example questions:
1)Will the os be the exact same as when i first took it out of the box?
or will somethings be gone, e.g. TouchWiz, AT&T apps, apps already pre installed ect..?
2) or is this method's soul purpose is to achieve root and upon flashing, it will retain everything that was loaded on the phone when first taken out of the box?
sorry about the noob question. but i have to get started somehow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Still be EXACTLY LIKE stock with TW and all. You will just have ROOT. Which is like having FULL ADMIN capabilities when relating it to windows computers. ROOT is just the Linux dirivitive of it.
2. Yes.
It is up to you what you want to keep or get rid of as far as any apps/bloatware that ATT/SAMSUNG put on the phone.
Sent from My KickAss Captivated CM7 OC'd 1.5Ghz/Undervolted
I really appreciate it, thanks. Do you recommend i root? i kind of want to delete all that bloatware and all that crap.
Does rooting (w/o installing a new rom) still allow me to get updates from AT&T? When ICS comes out (assuming it does), will we still get an OTA update for it?
Thanks,
pistolberserk said:
I really appreciate it, thanks. Do you recommend i root? i kind of want to delete all that bloatware and all that crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rooting, in itself, doesnt do anything to your phone. if you plan on removing all the crap from the phone, then you will need root access. So yes, if thats what you want ... root away. Just be careful of what you remove. You CAN screw up your phone if you remove too much.
GeremyHamlett said:
Does rooting (w/o installing a new rom) still allow me to get updates from AT&T? When ICS comes out (assuming it does), will we still get an OTA update for it?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because you need to flash a new kernel, I can't say for sure. I dont see why it wouldn't work but then again ... you did mofidy the phone ever-so-slightly, so it might not work. Not sure why you would want OTA updates anyway. The great devs in here will have those OTA updates incorporated into their ROMs shortly after the OTA is released.
@pistolberserk,
Entropy512's stock + root will not change the flash counter. If you are concerned about voiding the warranty, you might want to read the guides linked in my signature.
@Geremyhamlett,
That AT&T would release an OTA of ICS is highly speculative. But I agree with nyydynasty (and almost all other experienced users here that wouldn't even do an OTA update).
So ive read that rooting the Touchpad voids your warranty. Ive rooted many devices and there is always a way to unroot if the device needs to be sent back to the manufacturer. Is there a way to do this with the Touchpad? I also wonder how HP would even service or replace this device since its discontinued.
androidmonkey said:
So ive read that rooting the Touchpad voids your warranty. Ive rooted many devices and there is always a way to unroot if the device needs to be sent back to the manufacturer. Is there a way to do this with the Touchpad? I also wonder how HP would even service or replace this device since its discontinued.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unrooting in webOs is a simple as turning off developer mode.
Unrooting on the Android build would be removing su. But you are talking about removing Android, which is why there is the ACMEUninstaller. Deletes everything Android related and places partitions back to normal.
Then you can use webOSDoctor if you want to go back to a full stock device.
And yes, they support the hardware for a full year from purchase date.