Rooting & Themes-The Basics Please

[xxmillertimexx]

Now, before you jump the gun and yell at me for this thread, I KNOW there are thousands of posts on rooting, how-to root, and the benefits of rooting. I understand the basics, such as backing up and what not, considering I flashed rom's for TP. But, it is so different from flashing a rom that I don't grasp everything that it entails.

1. WHY ARE THESE THEMES SO CHEESY?! They look like a flippin' hot air balloon with all these children colors and cheesy graphics-this is the number one thing from keeping me from rooting my Droid.

2. I don't understand this Metamorph. I think this utility is supposed to allow me to create my own themes, correct? I'd rather just download (decent ones at least) and install them.

It's funny that there are so many threads explaining this and how we should all stop asking what rooting is, well let me say this-there is not one thread that explains how to use Metamorph, how to back up your Droid, how update OTA when your rooted. It takes so much time for one person to go to each and every thread and read pages and pages about one specific topic instead of reading one thread that explains it ALL. Everything you could know about Rooting, Themes, UnRooting, OTA updates, Back to stock, and installing Rom's. Now please, without hesitation and/or insults, gather up all your knowledge and let us know exactly what to do and what each step requires.

Once again, I am fully aware of the warranty that is voided by rooting, and I do not need any replies that will put this post to shame. I simply want the facts, and that's it.

[raidzero]

Originally Posted by xxmillertimexx

Now, before you jump the gun and yell at me for this thread, I KNOW there are thousands of posts on rooting, how-to root, and the benefits of rooting. I understand the basics, such as backing up and what not, considering I flashed rom's for TP. But, it is so different from flashing a rom that I don't grasp everything that it entails.

actually if you follow the SBF method it is exactly like flashing a nbh for HTC, except its an SBF for motorola. You will need an app called RSD Lite, google for it.

1. WHY ARE THESE THEMES SO CHEESY?! They look like a flippin' hot air balloon with all these children colors and cheesy graphics-this is the number one thing from keeping me from rooting my Droid.

There are many more reasons to root than themes (overclocking, anybody? wireless tethering? CPU frequency scaling?), but check out darkedge, its awesome. Way more complex than a regular theme though, there is a full 10 page or so guide on how to install it. there is also an irc channel #darkedgedev on freenode that is helpful.

2. I don't understand this Metamorph. I think this utility is supposed to allow me to create my own themes, correct? I'd rather just download (decent ones at least) and install them.

Metamorph does not create themes. It simply edits existing applications on the device. You can create your themes relatively easily that can work with metamorph. The reason metamorph requires root is because it can only modify apks in the system partition. (will be fixed in future releases). s far as theming goes, all those apks are already in system (framework-res.apk among others)

It's funny that there are so many threads explaining this and how we should all stop asking what rooting is, well let me say this-there is not one thread that explains how to use Metamorph, how to back up your Droid, how update OTA when your rooted. It takes so much time for one person to go to each and every thread and read pages and pages about one specific topic instead of reading one thread that explains it ALL. Everything you could know about Rooting, Themes, UnRooting, OTA updates, Back to stock, and installing Rom's. Now please, without hesitation and/or insults, gather up all your knowledge and let us know exactly what to do and what each step requires.

Once again, I am fully aware of the warranty that is voided by rooting, and I do not need any replies that will put this post to shame. I simply want the facts, and that's it.

when you "root" your phone, all you are doing is inserting some binaries into the system that allow escalation to root. that is all. you can now perform tasks that require elevation, which are managed by the superuser apk (comes with the su binaries). After you attain root, you can overwrite the recovery binaries with modified ones which enable you to use nandroid to backup and restore. from here, the sky is the limit. ROMs come in many different forms, the most common being nandroid backups that you simply put on your sd card and install them through the modified recovery. Darkedge comes as a nandroid and a series of metamorph themes.

if you can get that down then you will have no problems

(The droid world is different than WM, WM really holds your hand and tells you how to DO everything to the letter, like following a recipe and then you don;t learn anything. Then you end up with idiots with bricked phones. If someone were to make a post that you are asking for, there would be many more idiots with broken phones. Once you have root, if you are messing around in the terminal and you type one wrong thing, it could all be over and all that can save you would be SBF. If you are not willing to research and learn how it all works then just don't. The cons will far outweigh the benefits if you do not understand why you are doing what you are doing.)

[Dmordarski]

i think you should get yourself a kin 2, that thing is sweet

[raidzero]

Originally Posted by Dmordarski

i think you should get yourself a kin 2, that thing is sweet

completely off topic, but then again, the post I am replying to is also

the kin2 looks like the microsoft xbox and palm pre had a baby, and that baby was completely dependent on social networking.


haha

[xxmillertimexx]

I completely understand where everyone is coming from-it must get frustrating to have all these posts about rooting. Also:

1. Can overclocking overheat your phone? Can it damage any part of the phone?

2. CPU Frequency? I have NO idea what that means. My guess is that you control what programs are running and how much of the CPU they're using?

3. And after all, I can honestly say that I don't need all the extras-I don't need wifi tethering or any of the speed boosts and all that-isn't that what Froyo is gonna give us anyways? I mainly want a different theme, I get tired of always using a different home launcher.

4. And updates; lets say that 2.2 comes out next week and I root-how do I get my phone to accept 2.2? What's the point of rooting when you have upcoming updates which will make the phone way more then it already is?

And thanks for a detailed reply, it really did help.

[xxmillertimexx]

Originally Posted by Dmordarski

i think you should get yourself a kin 2, that thing is sweet

I would NEVER in my life get that phone-it looks like one of those child play phones and when you press a number on the dial pad it plays a song. That thing is the cheesiest phone if I ever saw one.

[tvandyck7]

Your warranty is only technically void if you root. If you return it to it's stock, unrooted form, they will never know and you will still be covered. If you totally screw your phone up by rooting (which IMO is hard to do), they will not cover it. I have had 5 replacements and all have been rooted and returned to stock. VZW never even knew. NOT THAT I AM DECEIVING OR ANYTHING. They all had issues that weren't related to rooting.

[xxmillertimexx]

Well, I'm not as concerned about the warranty as I am about bricking. If thats even possible? I don't usually have any kind of phone problems so no worries there. And what about updating? If 2.2 comes out I'm pretty sure that's all I'll need

[gardobus]

As far as themes being cheesy, many of them are. You just have to find the right ones. I prefer dark/black ones with minimal design. Not too colorful, no gaudy images. Just simple, gradual gradients and whatnot.

This is my current setup as an example:

Originally Posted by xxmillertimexx

1. Can overclocking overheat your phone? Can it damage any part of the phone?

3. And after all, I can honestly say that I don't need all the extras-I don't need wifi tethering or any of the speed boosts and all that-isn't that what Froyo is gonna give us anyways? I mainly want a different theme, I get tired of always using a different home launcher.

4. And updates; lets say that 2.2 comes out next week and I root-how do I get my phone to accept 2.2? What's the point of rooting when you have upcoming updates which will make the phone way more then it already is?

1. Overclocking CAN make it run a little hotter but the app that overclocks (SetCPU) has a built in "FailSafe" profile. You can set it to any temperature and when your phone hits that temperature, SetCPU will drop the CPU speed down to whatever you choose. So you can set that failsafe temp as low as you want to avoid unwanted heat.

3. Kinda. Froyo will add wifi tethering on some phones but so far it looks like the Droid won't be getting it. It also won't overclock. It WILL add JIT and improve performance a lot but now imagine that PLUS overclocking. Super fast. Also, everything Froyo will add WILL be in ROMs in no time. Sometimes ROMs get the code and release new features before updates even hit the network.

4. When an update comes out, it only takes a few minutes to download it and install it if you think that you'd rather have the new update than a rooted phone. Official updates will remove root. Now what most rooted people do is just wait a little while. Once an update is released, ROM builders usually have a rooted version out right away or at least take all the features from that new update and integrate them into their ROM. ROMs will always have more features than official updates, that is just how it is. I already have Apps2SD, wifi tether, wired tether, PIN lock, etc. Those are main points of Froyo.

Another thing to think about are small features that may not seem big but are handy. I am running CyanogenMod right now. Some options I use all the time that come with it are:

- While phone is sleeping, hold Vol up/down to change tracks in Music
- Change the "User Agent" on the browser to make it think you're on a Desktop.
- Change the color of the clock, notifications, "Verizon Wireless" label, etc with a simple dialog.
- Remove the clock from status bar with a simple check box.
- Change vibration and LED color for text messaging.
- "Turn over silence" silences ringtone when phone is flipped.
- Set custom message on the lockscreen using Settings.
- Hide the "USD Debugging" notification.
- Remove unwanted apps like Amazon, Facebook, VisualVoiceMail, etc.

Those are just a few. None of the above requires any special apps, its all built into the rom. There are also a lot more settings in the Phone, Messaging, and Browser apps.

Hope this helps a little.

[xxmillertimexx]

Hey, that was a great reply. So, as my main point was-when Froyo comes out all I would have to do is accept the OTA update and it will install with no problems and will unroot the phone? I want all the FEATURES of these rom's but they all come with those super unrealistic themes that make the Droid like a lame phone.

And I've looked into backing the phone up before you root-it seems kind of confusing. I'm not sure what files/folder to copy and I definitely want to be able to return to stock if need be.