Source
r/HTCDesire•
Valmain

Thinking of rooting

I would like to root my HTC Desire. I downloaded unrevoked and got ready to do the deed, then got cold feet. If I could get a couple of questions answered before going through with this, I'd be grateful (please bear with this Android noob).

I live in Japan and my carrier has a custom mail app that they use. I don't think I will be installing any custom roms yet, but will I be able to keep using this app as normal with a rooted phone?

In the case that things do go wrong, is it easy to unroot a phone? Will I lose my data in doing so?

BTW, I'm using stock Froyo right now.

Posted Dec 7, 2010, 10:59 AM UTC

612
sheddykins•

I don't have any first hand experience (I should be getting my first Android phone in a few days), but as far as I know 'rooting' just gives you the ability to do more with your phone, like going from a normal user to an administrator account in Windows. Everything will still work the same, you can just do a lot more.

4
ValmainOP•

Thanks for the input.

I wasn't too sure since unrevoked claimed it was a "root and flash utility," so I thought maybe it would try to flash a new ROM to my phone.

Rooting was a success!

2
dancingbear7777•

Hi Valmain, I'm a HTC Desire user and I've rooted and flashed to LeeDroid 2.2f.

Sheddykins comment below is correct. Rooting the phone won't change any of the apps or data on the phone. All it does is give you a higher level of "privileges". It allows you to access the "root" folder on your phone and this allows you to install some extra apps that need deeper phone access.

Using unrevoked is pretty easy (the program does all of the hard work and steps you through it nicely).

I followed this guide: http://www.htcinside.de/android/htc-desire/anleitung-so-installiert-ihr-die-htc-desire-hd-rom-auf-euer-htc-desire.html

I know it's in German (but I was able to follow along and I don't speak German). The key steps seem to be removing HTC Sync from the PC and getting the AndroidUSB driver installed on the PC before running unrevoked.

Once you are rooted you can perform a Titanium backup of the mail app and you should be able to use Titanium to reinstall the app on a new ROM.

Have fun.

4
ValmainOP•

Thanks for the help! I ended up just taking the dive and rooting.

I had some trouble because I hadn't installed (the uninstalled) HTC Sync so I was missing some drivers. In the end, everything is good and I have tons more space for apps.

Thanks for the tip with Titanium! I'll remember that when backing up carrier-specific apps.

3
dancingbear7777•

Glad to help.

1
Caddy666•

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPkdLFic10s&feature=related

3
ValmainOP•

Gracias, there were some tips in there that I should try as well as some other helpful video links.

2
tebee•

Even after rooting with Unrevoked you won't be able to just uninstall your provider's applications (other than by changing your ROM). You need to also install AlphaRev, which makes the system folder writable.

So you need to first use unrevoked and then install alpharev. I did it with my Desire a month ago, without any real problems. After this procedure your phone will be as open as it gets.

3
ValmainOP•

Thanks, I was wondering about that. I ended up rooting last night, but thought that I might have done it wrong since I still was unable to remove stock apps.

3
tebee•

Yeah, I was confused by the same thing. Programs got root rights and still didn't want to work. AlphaRev fixed that. Just download this iso-image, burn it, and reboot your computer from it. It will lead you through the process.

2
selfish_meme•

You can delete applications on your rooted phone using ADB in the Android SDK tools as well. Phone will probably need to be in recovery mode.

1
selfish_meme•

Hi Valmain,

The others are correct, there are two images (ROM's) on your phone, the recovery image and the OS image. Unrevoked gives you access to the System folder but it also replaces the recovery image. This gives you the ability to install a custom OS ROM but doesn't actually do it.

If you want now you can do a nandroid backup of your phone, this will allow you to go back to your factory image and data. Once you have a nandroid backup you can experiment with new ROM's, also you could find the .apk of your operators mail app and see if you can install it on a Custom ROM, best of both worlds.

2