Rooting G1

[simms22]

Hello Mr simms22,

I'm considering rooting also, but was hesitant because of fear of bricking my G1. I know this question has been asked dozens of times, but what are the advantages of rooting, and is it reversible in case I mess up. Maybe you could point me to a link on this forum where the benefits of rooting is mentioned.

Also, thanks for having a link on your sig that points us to an easy and unintimidating way to root! Is your info on wiki the most current?

Thanks!

Everything in that link is current but the rom , when rooting check what the current cyanogenmod rom is .

[extorian]

I was about to say that you can just install the standard version of your firmware again to reverse the process, but I'm just thinking (someone else can answer this)... Given Cyanogen's firmware re-partitions your internal memory, surely the standard firmware will no longer work? The cache partition is effectively removed altogether and the standard firmwares need this for OTA updates. So what happens? Also what happens with the SPL? Can you revert that back to standard? I'm curious to know myself what the deal is here these days.

I'll answer my own question with "Yeah - you use the Nandroid backup".

[Hands0n]

Lol - nah - just have too much spare time while my gf watched X Factor.

I hear ya LOL

It has been a bit of good fun playing around with the various distributions of Android that are about. I did also try the Hero ROM and it was, for me, a disaster. I couldn't get back to the Google Android OS quickly enough!

Right now I am running CyanogenMod 4.2.5 and it is a superb implementation of Android, possibly the best, certainly so in my own opinion.

I think that all of the points that Extorian made earlier are completely valid. If you're just having a play around, as I am, then okay fair enough. But if you actually rely upon your handset a great deal then you really do need to think carefully about what it is you're setting out to do.

Again, if you're confident with rooting and changing the ROMs then none of this is going to be a challenge or worry. You will know that you can get the handset back to a working condition easily. And so the actual risk behind any of this is much smaller, although not gone completely.

One thing I will stress though - backups. It is absolutely vital that you update the Recovery ROM using either Cyanogen or Amon-Ra to do a Nandroid backup. It makes for a very simple and easy way to get your handset back to a working version. I have a strict regime of backing up the current version immediately before doing any updates. It takes ten minutes more to do but at least once I have rescued my handset from disaster by doing this. Nandroid restores in either of those two Recovery ROMs is a breeze.

Other than that, have a bit of fun and check out what is out there.

[rnee67]

Thank you everyone for the prompt answers. You've been all helpful. I also read somewhere that a rooted phone causes some incompatibility with some of the apps in the market? True or false? If so, which ones, since I've purchased a few.

Again, thanks in advance for all your help and advice!

[extorian]

It's more a case that some apps don't work with specific OS. You get apps that only work with Cupcake (1.5), only work with Donut (1.6), only work with Eclair (2.0), and only work on a given phone (e.g. just the G1, just the Droid, etc), or don't work on a given phone. As most custom firmwares are a mix and mate of the latest version (e.g. 2.0) and a load of stuff that hasn't officially been released yet, there are sometimes compatibility issues. In general, these are very rare though, and in most cases it's people trying to run 1.6 only apps on a 2.0 flavour of a custom firmware, and the same app wouldn't work on the Droid, for example, even though it has the official OS. It just depends on a lot of factors.