ICS and OTA Ready, and keeping/regaining root - HTC Rezound

ICS is on the horizon, and we have already have one update available for the Rezound. So, if you're like me, you want an OTA update to be as hassle-free as possible. I am unlocked through HTC-dev, and I am all stock, so this is mainly for Stock and Rooted users, although it may work for others.
This thread will tell you how to keep your phone OTA-ready, so that your phone updates AND keeps what you want on it, at least, as much as possible. I will also give methods of keeping or regaining root.
Staying OTA-ready, and updating through OTA, while protecting root:
First off, make sure you have installed OTA RootKeeper. OTA RootKeeper has been confirmed to backup superuser and is a simple way of restoring superuser after an OTA.
Second, before uninstalling or freezing bloat, make sure you have them backed up. How you go about this is your choice, but I personally use Titanium Backup. My method is to assign everything I'm going to freeze or Uninstall to a label within Titanium Backup, which makes freezing, unfreezing, installing, or uninstalling that much easier. See my examples:
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Thirdly, make sure you have a regular or dependable back up program/s. I personally have a scheduled back up with Titanium Backup and Go SMS Pro that backs up everything I want, daily. I also use My Sync Center to back up anything that I want, and anything new in the folders I've selected, every time I connect to my home WiFi network. These are what I use, and will work well, and across many phones, not just through updates, if you put the effort to schedule and set everything up. I don't do anything, and it's all automatic. There are many other options out there, but this is my preferred method of backup.
Now, you are OTA-ready. As soon as you get that OTA update prompt, simply Unfreeze or reinstall your bloat, back up everything to be safe, then install the update. After updating, you should be able to reinstall your root with OTA RootKeeper, and if you use TB like me, just filter your bloat with the label you created, and take care of them in whatever fashion you prefer. That's it. If you lost root, for whatever reason, I also have a method to regaining it, and still being OTA ready afterwards.
I did not lose any internal data, but I still backed everything up. Be safe, and be sure that you always back your stuff up. Even in the best situation, something unplanned could happen.
Regaining Root, if lost, after OTA:
First off, download Scott's CleanFLASH,
con247 said:
amonra
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, and
andybones said:
stock recovery
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.
What you will be doing, is flashing two recoveries, or if your prefer, just one. For the purposes of this thread, I will be instructing how to stay OTA-ready, but Amon Ra is a good recovery if you want to make nandroid backups. I currently don't use anything other than the stock recovery, because, like I said, I want to be OTA-ready, and TB meets all my needs for the moment.
Secondly, put all three files on your computer. I made two folders, within the folder I was using, and named them stock and Amonra. I then placed the stock recovery file within the stock folder, and unzipped it within that folder. I did the same with the Amon Ra recovery file, but within the Amon Ra folder. This was to ensure that I didn't flash the wrong recovery file.
Thirdly, back up your phone, in your preferred method. There are some good applications out there, like MyBackup Pro, that can backup a lot of applications and settings, even without root. I did not need to backup anything, as I found out later, but always prepare for the worst. I personally did not lose anything using this method.
You are now ready to flash the recovery. Plug your phone into the computer. You do not need to do anything with it, except to make sure debugging is enabled. Make sure HTC Sync is also disabled on your computer. Place the Amon Ra recovery image into the same folder as the CleanFLASH, then open CleanFLASH. Use option one, just wait, and you're done. Unplug your phone, and go into recovery. You should be at the HBOOT screen at this point, but however you get into the Recovery menu is your choice. Once you are in the Amon Ra recovery menu, go to the Developer option and install superuser there. After completing this, just get out of recover, and reboot your phone.
The next step is to wait after your phone is at the main screen, after booting up. Plug your phone in, like before, and make sure everything is ready again for CleanFLASH. Delete the current recovery image that's in the CleanFLASH folder and put the stock recovery image in it's place. Use CleanFLASH, as before, to flash the Stock Recovery, and after completion, just reboot your phone.
Once your phone is finished rebooting, go into the market and install superuser, then go into the settings of superuser and update the SU binary. See my examples:
You should now be re-rooted successfully and still OTA and ICS ready. Follow my instructions in the other section on how to remove or freeze bloat in such a way that it will be easy to take minimal steps when it's time to install the next OTA update.
I hope this is informative and helpful to someone. Feel free to share your thoughts and/or tips, and I will be updating and changing the OP accordingly, should it be necessary to do so.
Thanks to con247 and andybones for pointing me in the right direction.
I am not responsible for any issues with your phone, so proceed at your own risk.

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Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello, I am a noob and I was following a link in the Development section on how to root my phone. But I could not get Terminal Emulator to allow me to change to SU. I kept getting Access Denied. I asked for help but nobody understood why that was happening. I should mention that Root Explorer requested authorization from SuperUser and it was granted. So I started searching under General and I found your post. I followed it step by step and this time the root took with Terminal allowing me to change to SU.
I would like to mention that when you talk about rebooting twice I got lost. I believe when you did this you booted back to bootloader and then did the reboot from there (Yes?). Since at the time I did not understand, I rebooted out of RA which then boots into phone mode. So I shut down and then restarted to get my two times. What I am saying after all of that is maybe adding more detail about that step would be helpful.
Again Thank You for you detailed post.

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dnvm said:
Hello, I am a noob and I was following a link in the Development section on how to root my phone. But I could not get Terminal Emulator to allow me to change to SU. I kept getting Access Denied. I asked for help but nobody understood why that was happening. I should mention that Root Explorer requested authorization from SuperUser and it was granted. So I started searching under General and I found your post. I followed it step by step and this time the root took with Terminal allowing me to change to SU.
I would like to mention that when you talk about rebooting twice I got lost. I believe when you did this you booted back to bootloader and then did the reboot from there (Yes?). Since at the time I did not understand, I rebooted out of RA which then boots into phone mode. So I shut down and then restarted to get my two times. What I am saying after all of that is maybe adding more detail about that step would be helpful.
Again Thank You for you detailed post.
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I'll just remove it. I'm not sure it's even needed.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW... An HTC Rezound