Rooting Your Android Phone #1

Some people have been asking around about how to root there android device and what is the advantage of rooting your phone.

Well for starters ill just explain what is rooting, its risks and advantages.

The first question that arises from a die hard android fan when they get hold of a new device is "how do i root it?".

WHAT IS ROOTING?-

Rooting a phone is the process of gaining root access of your device's O.S and provides you with full control, pretty simple definition . Obviously everything you do has some risks.

Every one hate the BLOATWARE, which clog up most network locked phones, apps you neither want or need, but can't delete because they're baked in the O.S. With a rooted phone you can get rid of them fast.

A rooted phone also lets us install custom versions of android also known as ROMS, which can bring all kinds of benefits -zero bloatware, smaller size, faster performance and a newer Android version not yet available from your phone provider.

THE RISKS INVOLVED-

You can take it to d bank tha t rooting your phone will void your warranty. although you can fool the representatives like i've done countless times :P. 

Though the odds are small, rooting gone wrong can come with a heavy price, it can damage your phone beyond repair( in other words your phone will be useless brick). 

BACKUP BEFORE YOU FLASH-(if you didn't do this,then my friend you just made a huge mistake)

You also need to back up your phone before you flash a new ROM. Flashing ROMs requires your phone’s flash storage to be wiped, so you need to back up everything — files, apps, contacts, SMSs, emails, the whole shebang — as they won’t be there when you launch your new ROM.

First, install MyBackup Root from Google Play. It’s an easy-to-use app for backing up your data. For backing up apps, the best option is Titanium Backup. It’s also free from Google Play. Other apps like SMS Backup and Restore are worth a look and don’t forget Google’s own Sync option.

And most importantly, don’t leave your backups on the phone storage — copy them to your computer.

ADVANTAGES OF ROOTING-
Android is one of the most open, versatile, and customizable mobile operating systems out there. You may think you don't need to root your phone, but you'd be surprised at how much more you can accomplish with a little work here. Here are 10 reasons rooting your phone is worth the hassle.

10.Unlock Hidden Features and Install "Incompatible" Apps

9. Automate Everything
8. Boost Your Phone's Speed and Battery Life
7. Block Ads in Any App
6. Back Up Your Phone for Seamless Transitions
5. Remove Preinstalled Crapware
4. Tweak the Dark Corners of Android
3. Flash a Custom Kernel
2. Flash a Custom ROM
1. Truly Own Your Device


PROCESS-

The process of rooting varies widely by device, but usually includes exploiting a security bug(s) in the firmware (i.e. in Android) of the device, and then copying the su binary to a location in the current process's PATH (e.g. /system/xbin/su) and granting it executable permissions with the chmod command. A supervisor application like SuperUser or SuperSU can regulate and log elevated permission requests from other applications. Many guides, tutorials, and automatic processes exist for popular Android devices facilitating a fast and easy rooting process.

For example, shortly after the HTC Dream was released, it was quickly discovered that anything typed using the keyboard was being interpreted as a command in a privileged (root) shell. Although Google quickly released a patch to fix this, a signed image of the old firmware leaked, which gave users the ability to downgrade and use the original exploit to gain root access. Once an exploit is discovered, a custom recovery image that skips the digital signature check of a firmware update package can be flashed. In turn, using the custom recovery, a modified firmware update can be installed that typically includes the utilities (for example the Superuser app) needed to run apps as root.

The Google-branded Android phones, the Nexus One, Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4, as well as their tablet counterparts, the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10, can be boot-loader unlocked by simply connecting the device to a computer while in boot-loader mode and running the Fastboot program with the command "fastboot oem unlock". After accepting a warning, the boot-loader is unlocked, so a new system image can be written directly to flash without the need for an exploit.

Recently, Motorola, LG Electronics and HTC added security features to their devices at the hardware level in an attempt to prevent users from rooting retail Android devices. For instance, the Motorola Droid X has a security boot-loader that puts the phone in "recovery mode" if a user loads unsigned firmware onto the device, and the Samsung Galaxy S II displays a yellow triangle indicator if the device firmware has been modified

CHOOSE YOUR ROM CAREFULLY-

There are ROMs available for every phone, so it’s important you select a ROM that’s designed for your specific model. We can’t stress this enough. For example, ‘Galaxy S2’ is the generic name for up to five different models: the GT-I9100, GT-I9100G, GT-I777, SGH-T989 Hercules and Skyrocket. If you have a GT-I9100 (it’s shown on the Samsung splash screen when you boot up), you can’t use a ROM meant for the GT-I9100G because they’re not the same phone under the bonnet.

MORE ARTICLES WILL COME UP SHORTLY FOR DIFFERENT PHONES OF DIFFERENT BRANDS(ONLY POPULAR PHONES)

IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS FEEL FREE TO ASK US.

CREDITS- M.B.P.V