/Update: Rooting went fine. Updated this thread - maybe it helps if somebody wants to root his/her 2.3.3 DZ and is being overwhelmed by guides etc.
Hi there!
I finally decided to root my Stock 2.3.3 Desire Z - I've read a lot, but I'm still confused when it comes to certain steps of rooting. I just wanted to get "green light" by someone who certainly has more experience in rooting etc.
First I read this ADB guide to get familiar with it. I certainly didn't understand everything about it, but the basic stuff should be clear.
Next step is downgrading my phone. I want to use this guide as mentioned in the HTC Vision wiki.
Which raises the first question: What's with that post, which Desire Z users should read. I don't really see the connection to the guide I want to use - it's stated that one should replace psneuter with fre3vo in step 4. But which step 4? Little confused.
So which step is different to execute for me?
No step is different, the guide is up to date and can be used with every device stated in its headline.
Next steps should be clear.
So after downgrading I planned on sticking with the Vision wiki - seems that every step is described clearly, even for an ADB dummy.
If everything went well, I planned to flash the Virtuous Sense v2.0.0 which requires a "full wipe".
So it's nonsense to save application settings via titanium backup in the first place, because I want to set Virous 2.0.0 as backup-rom anyway? Are there files I should backup - besides contact info etc.?
Application settings can be restored if you stick to the downgrade guide, only system settings/stuff should not be restored.
And am I missing anything important? Are there other (better) ways of rooting my device?
No
Tiny, rather unimportant last question - is there a way to save my savegames to just load them later if needed? Since the "full wipe" wipes everything (?), I don't see how I could save them.
See above.
Looking forward to be enlightened!
Greetings!
Kueber said:
Hi there!
I finally decided to root my Stock 2.3.3 Desire Z - I've read a lot, but I'm still confused when it comes to certain steps of rooting. I just wanted to get "green light" by someone who certainly has more experience in rooting etc.
First I read this ADB guide to get familiar with it. I certainly didn't understand everything about it, but the basic stuff should be clear.
Next step is downgrading my phone. I want to use this guide as mentioned in the HTC Vision wiki.
Which raises the first question: What's with that post, which Desire Z users should read. I don't really see the connection to the guide I wan't to use - it's stated that one should replace psneuter with fre3vo in step 4. But which step 4? Little confused.
So which step is different to execute for me?
Next steps should be clear.
So after downgrading I planned on sticking with the Vision wiki - seems that every step is described clearly, even for an ADB dummy.
If everything went well, I planned to flash the Virtuous Sense v2.0.0 which requires a "full wipe".
So it's nonsense to save application settings via titanium backup in the first place, because I want to set Virous 2.0.0 as backup-rom anyway? Are there files I should backup - besides contact info etc.?
And am I missing anything important? Are there other (better) ways of rooting my device?
Tiny, rather unimportant last question - is there a way to save my savegames to just load them later if needed? Since the "full wipe" wipes everything (?), I don't see how I could save them.
Looking forward to be enlightened!
Greetings!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed the downgrading guide you linked to in order to downgrade from 2.3.3 and it worked perfectly for me (and many others, it seems). The guide uses fre3vo so I think you are safe to just follow the steps described in it.
I used SMS Backup & Restore and Angry Birds Backup free, both worked a treat. Other than that I restored everything from scratch.
It's probably a good idea to do a nandroid backup after rooting the stock froyo ROM but before flashing something else. Just in case.
Good luck
Yeah, and you probably should have posted this in Q&A
Eventually it would have been better, yup, but then I considered this thread more like a list of steps you want to go through to root your Desire Z 2.3.3 successfully - maybe it helps someone.
Anyway, thanks for your answer. I'll try that SMS Backup app.
Now I have to gather some informations about that "nandroid" backup - I've read it several times, but still I don't know what exactly it does / its benefits are.
If anyone would like to give a brief explanation, feel free!
Greetings
/edit: Well, a nandroid backup can be done with clockwork recovery, which installation is kinda part of the rooting process. There's one thing I don't understand yet - how to load that backup if it's needed?
Kueber said:
Now I have to gather some informations about that "nandroid" backup - I've read it several times, but still I don't know what exactly it does / its benefits are.
If anyone would like to give a brief explanation, feel free!
Greetings
/edit: Well, a nandroid backup can be done with clockwork recovery, which installation is kinda part of the rooting process. There's one thing I don't understand yet - how to load that backup if it's needed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Part of the rooting process gives you a better recovery partition that you can boot into, where you can flash roms, backup/restore ROMs and has some other tools,this is independent of the ROM you flash and is a safety net when messing with your phone.
bombadier said:
Part of the rooting process gives you a better recovery partition that you can boot into, where you can flash roms, backup/restore ROMs and has some other tools,this is independent of the ROM you flash and is a safety net when messing with your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, essentially, as you already mentioned, that means I got safety tools that work independent. For example - if everything goes wrong and I have a copy of that nandroid backup somewhere, I could easily adb push that onto my sd card and flash it? Or has this backup to be on my sd card all the time, because in certain cases the sd-card is not mountable?
Just want to make sure that I understand what I'm doing..
Kueber said:
So, essentially, as you already mentioned, that means I got safety tools that work independent. For example - if everything goes wrong and I have a copy of that nandroid backup somewhere, I could easily adb push that onto my sd card and flash it? Or has this backup to be on my sd card all the time, because in certain cases the sd-card is not mountable?
Just want to make sure that I understand what I'm doing..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to have the nandroid backup on your SD card at all times. You can do a backup, copy it to your computer and keep it there if you need the space on your SD card for daily use. There is also the possibility to keep multiple backups of different ROMs if you wish to change UI more often.
Whatever your needs, you should at least keep one backup from a stable setup. If anything goes wrong you can copy it back to your SD card (if it is not already there), boot into recovery (volume down + power) and choose backup/restore and restore your backup. Everything will be exactly as it was when backing up - very convenient
Everything went fine, updated thread - maybe it helps someone.
Thanks again!
Good to hear it went well
Got full root access and all the way to step 5 on the Wiki and go to verify that it worked and I get the...
secu_flag = 1
CID = T-MOB010
SIMLOCK = 01
Please disregard.
For my DZ:
secu_flag = 0
CID = 11111111
SIMLOCK = 00
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
which method do i follow to just root my Desire z.
I dont want to update h-boot, or install clockwork recovery.
My device has S-off with stock htc sense rom...i just want root
sandipbarik said:
which method do i follow to just root my Desire z.
I dont want to update h-boot, or install clockwork recovery.
My device has S-off with stock htc sense rom...i just want root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just follow the xda Vision wiki.. read it attentively.
You'll see that you can just skip these steps.
Im using that method & rooted my DZ.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
look, I don't want to downgrade my system.
I want to root 2.3.3. is this possible ?
artur-x said:
look, I don't want to downgrade my system.
I want to root 2.3.3. is this possible ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't root 2.3.3 directly. In order to root you need to first downgrade to 2.2 and then root. Afterwards you can choose to install a rooted 2.3.3 stock ROM, a custom ROM with 2.3.5 or 2.3.7 depending on what you choose. Or you can try out one of the ICS alphas.
Sendt fra min HTC Vision med Tapatalk
I have factory 2.3.3 in my desire z , is it possible to root it (downgrade and change to something new ) and not to lose my data and installed applications?
Zocca: You have to downgrade, but the downgrade guide contains a section to get Titanium Backup running, so you can backup your apps and data.
-Nipqer
Related
hi ive been looking round how to root my g1 and had no conformation if the UK version g1 are different to root than the US.
can some give me some clarification on how to root them.
thanks in advance
i am a us g1 users so i might be incorrect but i believe that you need to use rc9 or a gold card. if it is rc9, the rest of the method is the same just a different .nbh
porkky said:
hi ive been looking round how to root my g1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you didn't.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=442480
Afirejar said:
No, you didn't.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=442480
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I’m having some trouble getting to grips with rooting too; there is quite a lot of information (some of it contradictory or at least inconsistent) for someone new like myself to take in. I consider myself pretty tech savvy but my G1 is uninsured and I’m frankly terrified of bricking it as I’ve got a year left on my contract to pay.
Anyway my point being...the guide your pointing to is specifically tailored to US models as are most guides on the net it’s very hard to find anything definitive about rooting the UK models with regard to SPL and Radio, etc. Also, given that this stuff moves soo quickly (which is an amazing testament to the hard work that all the devs and everyone else involved puts in, thank you!) it’s hard to catch up on everything and understand what exactly to do.
One click root works fine on crc37 uk phones ive rooted a couple now just follow the usual instructions, there's little danger of anything getting bricked if you arent touching radio which you dont need to do to load CM using the one click root app
http://www.ryebrye.com/blog/2009/08/16/android-rooting-in-1-click-in-progress/
seaweeduk said:
One click root works fine on crc37 uk phones ive rooted a couple now just follow the usual instructions, there's little danger of anything getting bricked if you arent touching radio which you dont need to do to load CM using the one click root app
http://www.ryebrye.com/blog/2009/08/16/android-rooting-in-1-click-in-progress/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a little confused with all this too.
I've been to that blog and that seems simple enough.
It should work on this right? -
firmware - 1.5
kernel - 2.6.27 [email protected] #1
Build Number - CRC 1
Now, this means by phone is rooted, (Basically giving me sys admin rather than root user?)
Which in turn means I can install custom ROM images? Is there anything else this allows me to do?
And is all this permement? Or will it go back to the original ROM on the hardware when I hard reboot?
Sorry for all the questions, I got my phone today .
That's an original and most up to date UK version, so no you're not rooted. Easiest way is the one-click root, just install, put rom on SD card, run prog, reboot, flash (Read full instructions though).
Having root enables you to have full access, so you can do whatever you like from terminal and applications which require special permissions to run can, some cool stuff can only be done with root.
AdamPI said:
That's an original and most up to date UK version, so no you're not rooted. Easiest way is the one-click root, just install, put rom on SD card, run prog, reboot, flash (Read full instructions though).
Having root enables you to have full access, so you can do whatever you like from terminal and applications which require special permissions to run can, some cool stuff can only be done with root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply and I'm not trying to Hijack the thread, (But the OP will probably want to know this too), once I've rooted and installed the new ROM from the boot menu loader thing, how do I go about formatting my SD card to ex2?
I'm looking at this guide - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=535232
But in this thread - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=537204 CM himself says not to install APPS2SD. Can you do the format from inside that ROM or does it do it automatically for you?
Yeah cyanogen roms already contain their own method of app2sd, so trying to use another method on top just screws things up.
All you need to do is partition the card, then when you reboot it will see the partition, move your current stuff over and be good to go.
Follow this guide for partitioning from recovery console: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=534714
Hi. I'd like to completely image my wildfire before rooting so that I have an image of it before I did anything. Just in case. Is it possible with soft root or unrevoked?
Bump......
Hi. I used androot to get a soft root. Any way to backup rom?
You could use adb to extract the whole tree, but it won't preserve permissions so will be useless.
Short answer: no. Do a proper root.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App
Yes, but the thing is that I want the ROM preserved completely as-is, with no custom recovery or anything. Say, something got broken in hardware, so to get the phone serviced I'd need to flash the stock ROM back on. I heard they don't even check the recovery, but if someone did I'd be in trouble.
On my Linux, I used "dd if=/dev/sda of=/root/hddimg" to get the byte-for-byte copy of my HDD. Will that work in Android as well?
EDIT: Of course I didn't mean /dev/sda, the ROM device is another one, right?
i don't think you can with soft root, you can dl titanium backup and save all your apps and settings on your sd card, but that won't backup your entire rom. i would just do a full root, im not that clumsy enough to kill my phone
you can also use the ruu to go back to your stock rom, but use the right one in case you lose root
I'm looking for a way of backing up my Vodafone Rom so when I install a sim free one I can restore all settings if I ever need to send if off for warranty, it won't void it.
Anything I can do???
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App
This doesn't make sense.
You can't ROOT a device, surely, without flashing the ROM?
So... ROOTING the device, by flashing the ROM, and THEN you want to backup the entire device? This sounds useless, as as soon as you ROOT the device, you've overwritten the original ROM! So how can you backup the Original ROM if you've overwritten it?
Which came first? The Chicken (ROM) or the Egg (Root)?
I didn't flash a ROM to get a root. I used Universal androot which does soft root on wildfire as well. Soft root means just getting root without modifying the system files permanently (ie. Changes disappear at reboot). Secondly, full root like unrevoked only write-unlocks the phone and flashes custom recover y. What I want is to have full backup of the phone WITHOUT the custom recovery so that when I flash it, it is the actual stock ROM. I know this is quite hard to do but I'm sure it is doable one way or another.
Can someone please link me to a thread on step by step Rooting
and backing up my entire device
its my first android phone and took me a long time to install apps n games n contacts a backup would help me a lot.
kindly help thank u
realxception said:
Can someone please link me to a thread on step by step Rooting
and backing up my entire device
its my first android phone and took me a long time to install apps n games n contacts a backup would help me a lot.
kindly help thank u
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you did a search of the forum or looked around the wildfire threads you'd easily find it... anyway here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=788776
to backup your rom you need to do a nandroid backup, to backup apps and data dl titanium backup
I know about nandroid. Don't you have to flash a custom recovery to use it? If so, then the original aim of preserving the ROM completely the way it is becomes broken, right?
xc1024 said:
I know about nandroid. Don't you have to flash a custom recovery to use it? If so, then the original aim of preserving the ROM completely the way it is becomes broken, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid backs up your original rom, there is no other way to back up without root... unless you use a ruu to return to stock
Aren't RUUs a bit risky to use?
Yes if you use the wrong one. But rooting and flashing a custom rom is not , very simple and not hard
Wildfire is also my first android phone but I easily learnt by reading and searching around the forum.
Hi there everyone,
I want to root my Desire HD, but I don't want to install any custom roms, radios, etc. I only want to root my HD so I can install apps that require root. I see no advantage in installing any custom ROMs, so I want to leave that alone.
What's the best way to go about this? I've found this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=834427. Do I need to do anything else, except what is in this guide? I'm terrified of bricking my phone!
Could I brick my device if I made a mistake with the above guide, or S-OFF?
Thanks in advance,
Alex
Sorry for the question (no doubt it's been asked before), I've rooted my old HTC Hero before, found that easy, but this I'm confused!
Hi there. I'm actually quite a noob at all this since rooting is all new to me but seems you and I went after similar threads because I also read that guide to rooting the DHD at first. But after some further reading I discovered this is actually a much more difficult method of rooting (maybe because it's older?).
It will really, really help to look in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=846248 as it explains so much and has many useful links.
But in answer to your question read this guide - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=841076 A much easier method of rooting =)
Good luck.
nikmesh said:
Hi there. I'm actually quite a noob at all this since rooting is all new to me but seems you and I went after similar threads because I also read that guide to rooting the DHD at first. But after some further reading I discovered this is actually a much more difficult method of rooting (maybe because it's older?).
It will really, really help to look in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=846248 as it explains so much and has many useful links.
But in answer to your question read this guide - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=841076 A much easier method of rooting =)
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that link! Looks a lot easier haha!
Detailed description:
1) Download Paul's Visionary+ tool
1.1) Click here to download http://android.modaco.com/content/ht...ne-click-root/ or download it from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/atta...3&d=1290501865
1.2) Install Visionary+ on Your DHD
1.3) Run it, enable "Set system r/w after root
1.4) Click "Temproot Now!" - Wait until it's finished
1.5) Click Attempt Permroot Now!
1.6) DHD automatically reboot's
To test that everything went fine download from market application "terminal emulator"
run it, type su
If You get after that sign # it mean's that everything went fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After I've ran that step - do I have permroot and I don't need to do anything else? I only want root, not custom ROM's.
I'm scared of doing the permroot, sounds like I'll break my phone if I even attempt it! Is there any way to ensure it will work?
Yeh you will be perma rooted if you follow the steps. About ensuring it will work, this is something I am now looking into myself. I'm getting the impression that it's possible to create a copy of the stock rom even without the perma root and using that to do a recovery in the event of a root failure. Though I would have thought perma root would have been needed to do a recovery in the first place....
I've got a thread below yours where I'm still trying to get a clear answer as to how to do all that. If I find out I'll let u know =P
nikmesh said:
Yeh you will be perma rooted if you follow the steps. About ensuring it will work, this is something I am now looking into myself. I'm getting the impression that it's possible to create a copy of the stock rom even without the perma root and using that to do a recovery in the event of a root failure. Though I would have thought perma root would have been needed to do a recovery in the first place....
I've got a thread below yours where I'm still trying to get a clear answer as to how to do all that. If I find out I'll let u know =P
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By "if you follow the steps" - do you mean I only have to follow step 1 for perm root? Or more than that?
Sorry for all the questions, I really do appreciate your help, thanks!
And also - if it fails, the stock WWE RUU can be flashed to restore the phone, can't it?
EDIT: Followed step one, restarted device and everything - perm root stays. Thanks for all your help mate!
Detailed description:
1) Download Paul's Visionary+ tool
1.1) Click here to download http://android.modaco.com/content/ht...ne-click-root/ or download it from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/atta...3&d=1290501865
1.2) Install Visionary+ on Your DHD
1.3) Run it, enable "Set system r/w after root
1.4) Click "Temproot Now!" - Wait until it's finished
1.5) Click Attempt Permroot Now!
1.6) DHD automatically reboot's
To test that everything went fine download from market application "terminal emulator"
run it, type su
If You get after that sign # it mean's that everything went fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go all way through these steps from 1.1 to 1.6. Once you've done 1.6 your phone should be rooted. Just download the terminal emulator from the market and do that last thing that is mentioned to test the perma rooting. If that works then your good.
Oh just so you know the temp root option in Visionary is apparently completely safe and won't harm nothing because it makes no changes to the system partition.
Not sure about the WWE RUU. I'm not sure it will be compatible with your current ROM (Only thing I do know is that if it's older then your current it won't work). Don't know how to flash it either tbh, that's something I ain't found out yet =P
Hi all,
[I originally posted a question about this in the General Discussions forum, before I realized that there were dedicated forums for each phone model. So please forgive me for effectively double-posting]
Totally new to Android, only got my Desire Z last Friday. I'd like to root my phone and play around with custom ROMS, but I'm worried if I ever need to return the phone for warranty purposes, and for when I buy another phone and want to sell this one.
So my objective is to make sure I have a failsafe way to revert back to my current stock HTC ROM before I start messing around with rooting/custom roms.
As I understand it, the generic steps for rooting/s-off/custom rom are:
- Gain temproot
- Gain permroot + S-OFF
- Install custom bootloader and recovery image (ROM Manager/Clockworkmod)
- Install custom ROM
So if I want to revert back to the stock HTC ROM, I image I need to do the following:
- Restore HTC ROM
- Restore original recovery image and bootloader
- Remove permroot and set S-ON back
- Remove all traces of the method to gain root/S-OFF
Is that generally correct?
I'm currently thinking about using the following procedure, but there's a few gaps in there still. I'd appreciate it if people could verify my procedure and fill in the gaps...
Permroot+S-OFF the phone
Step 1. Back up phone data
Planning to use HandyBackup for that, just need contacts, SMS and call log...
Step 2. Flash older HTC firmware
There's no permroot/S-OFF hack for firmwares >=1.72 at the moment, so we have to first downgrade to 1.33.405.5 using the method described on http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=905261 (steps 1-12)
After I do this, make sure I never ever upgrade this phone to >=1.72 again!
Question: this guide tells me to make a goldcard first. As I understand it that's only required if you have a branded phone. My Desire Z is not branded as far as I know, so is it correct to say that I do not need a goldcard?
Step 3. permroot+S-OFF
Follow steps 13-19 from the link above.
Better get the original CID here as well? How?
Step 4. Create a backup of the existing bootloader and recovery image
Question: how can I do this?
dd if=/.... of=/....
dd if=/.... of=/....
Step 5.Install ROM Manager
Step 6. Install recovery image from inside ROM Manager
Step 7. Create a backup of the phone using ROM Manager
This will be a backup of the stock HTC rom, which is rooted+S-OFF. I will need this later in case I ever want to revert the phone back to factory defaults
Now how to revert back to factory defaults:
Step 8. Restore stock HTC ROM using ROM Manager
Restore using the backup I created in step 7 above.
Step 9. Restore original bootloader and recovery image
Question: how can i do this?
dd if=/... of=/....
dd if=/... of=/...
Step 9. S-ON and remove root
Question: "gfree -r -f"? This link here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Returning_to_Stock talks about using "gfree -r" to restore "partition 7", but I've not seen anywhere where this backup of partition 7 is actually created...
Step 10. Clean up after myself
remove psneuter, gfree, uninstall ROM Manager, Visionary, SuperUser
So, summarizing my questions:
- Do I need to make a goldcard/debrand my phone first?
- How can you make a backup of the existing bootloader/recovery image?
- How can I restore the original bootloader/recovery image?
Kind regards...
Just root your thing already. I'm not confirming anything or nothing in your very well put escape route...but worry about that later. Yes there's always going to be a way to unroot. Especially when we have the files nao.
Root via the wiki page to downgrade then use the rage/gfree method to temp then permroot.
You CAN (and should) backup your stock ROM, but there is no need to revert to it before unrooting. The method of unrooting restores a completely bone stock ROM anyways. The backup is just useful to keep around if you ever make a misstep installing a new ROM and need to revert back.
To unroot, follow the wiki to unroot lol.
As long as you keep a program like Titanium Backup up to date, you'll always have your apps and system data backed up too. This much extreme caution is not necessary as much as it pains me to put it that way. Just backup your apps and be smart when u install a new ROM and you'll be fine.
martonikaj said:
You CAN (and should) backup your stock ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, then how (and at which stage) do I back up my stock ROM? Before or after downgrading and rooting?
To unroot, follow the wiki to unroot lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the wiki only says:
In case of the original T-Mobile G2 the stock rom is called PC10IMG_Vision_TMOUS_1.19.531.1_Radio_12.21.60.09b_26.02.01.15_M2_release_149459_signed.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, guess what: I don't have a T-Mobile G2. I have an unbranded Desire Z. So which stock rom do I use in case I have to restore, and where do I get it from?
Sorry for being paranoid, but given the trouble my wife would give me in case I somehow ruined my phone (yes, I'll get into trouble even if it's my phone and not hers ), a bit of advance planning is worth it to me.
I'm about to take my baby steps and root my Nexus 4 for the first time. I've read the sticky's and have a good idea of what I'd be doing, but I don't see much in the way of backing things up before root and as I understand, rooting wipes your data. Can anyone help me on this or at least better understand what I should do?
I'm also having difficulty understanding the whole bootloader and custom recovery too but not too much trouble. I'd just like to know how to install a custom recovery and how much risk I'm at of messing up my bootloader.
PGvossman said:
I'm about to take my baby steps and root my Nexus 4 for the first time. I've read the sticky's and have a good idea of what I'd be doing, but I don't see much in the way of backing things up before root and as I understand, rooting wipes your data. Can anyone help me on this or at least better understand what I should do?
I'm also having difficulty understanding the whole bootloader and custom recovery too but not too much trouble. I'd just like to know how to install a custom recovery and how much risk I'm at of messing up my bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting does not wipe data, the unlocking process does. There is no really good way to backup everything prior to unlokcing, you could use My Backup but you should really use the Pro version which is $4.99 (Many people swear by it for unrooted phones, I have no real experience with it). Wugfresh's toolkit has a backup and restore when doing unlock, but honestly, it messed up my phone and I had to factory default anyways.
As long as you are syncing stuff to Google (contacts, pictures, videos, etc), have Android Backup& Restore enabled (handles apps and common system settings), SMS Backup & Restore (text and pix messages), and you pull of the other files you want, there is no real need to backup at all. I swap ROMs all the time, and this is all I do to go from one ROM to another.
As far as the actual rooting process, ie. flashing SuperSU, there is no need to backup prior to that... all that is going to do is add a few files in some system directories and that's it.
The greatest thing about a Nexus device is it's ability to be modified... and within normal means it is virtually unbrickable, so give it a shot, and if you screw it up ask for help, thousands of people here have done it and can help, and if you still can't figure out a problem just restore the Google system images and whoalla... your phone is back to out of box condition.
You are able to root and unlock without wiping any data. Just check out my guide (the link is in the stickies, too)
mihahn said:
You are able to root and unlock without wiping any data. Just check out my guide (the link is in the stickies, too)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I opened your links but they all seem to be about Xperia devices.
I don't quite understand. Isn't the unlocking process needed to root the phone, thereby loosing all the data?
easy
before rooting, you hav to unlock bootloader and it wipes your all pics videos etc so better backup in your pc and thn try root. foloow guide ,its easy, or search on youtube for videos...
parveen75 said:
before rooting, you hav to unlock bootloader and it wipes your all pics videos etc so better backup in your pc and thn try root. foloow guide ,its easy, or search on youtube for videos...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I guess that makes sense. Does that include phone contacts, SMS and passwords?
And I suppose my final question is the danger of the bootloader. Is it possible for a newbie like myself to ruin something accidentally?
PGvossman said:
I opened your links but they all seem to be about Xperia devices.
I don't quite understand. Isn't the unlocking process needed to root the phone, thereby loosing all the data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I meant the one in the stickies here, I'll add the guide to my signature later
But I meant this guide. It'll root before unlocking the bootloader and you are able to unlock without wiping then. Check it out
PGvossman said:
OK I guess that makes sense. Does that include phone contacts, SMS and passwords?
And I suppose my final question is the danger of the bootloader. Is it possible for a newbie like myself to ruin something accidentally?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I m also a newbie earlier . lol.. Only follow guide corectly for rooting.. U wl b good to go
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
mihahn said:
Yeah I meant the one in the stickies here, I'll add the guide to my signature later
But I meant this guide. It'll root before unlocking the bootloader and you are able to unlock without wiping then. Check it out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Where does the whole custom recovery and such come into play on this though?
PGvossman said:
Thanks. Where does the whole custom recovery and such come into play on this though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not necessary to flash the recovery, but you may flash it if you want to and if you need it
Couple ways to do a backup without root.
Use adb,
eg. adb backup -all -apk -nosystem
Then pull files you want to backup
eg. adb pull /sdcard/
Or use helium app available from play store which is basically a gui for the adb backup command.
Thanks. I notice the -nosystem command, does that mean it won't back up system details?
I suppose my final question is Windows 8 support. I saw a thread a while back when you have to do something extra for the drivers and I can't seem to see it in the sticky threads.