New to Rooting

#1 mod2max

Members
1 posts

Device Model:HTC Google Nexus One
MOD Version:Unknown
Recovery Image:Stock

Posted 09 January 2012 - 02:07 PM

Hi all,

New to this forum, proud Nexus One owner running 2.3.6 :rolleyes:

My questions is simply, what is "rooting" and how do I do it?

I've heard of the terms "ROM Manager" and "ClockworkMod", but as far as I can see "ROM Manager" is pointless if you've downloaded CM7 to your PC then stick it on your SD card ready for when you access the recovery menu/boot loader thingy. I'm not sure what "ClockworkMod" or what it does, do you need it for this sort of task?

What I think I need:

1. Phone

2. Data sync cable

3. 8GB SD card

4. CyanogenMod ROM for Nexus One (stable 7.1.0)

What I want out of it is:

- Back up of current ROM (including system wide settings, apps, personal info etc etc just everything) just as one huge image. Then I will take the image from my SD and make lots of back ups of it, so I don't loose it!

- SDK privileges, so I force apps to the SD for example. (Is this a different job completely?)

- Flash to CM7 (Is there anyway whats so ever, to restore the system wide settings, apps, personal info etc etc...? I know my Google account link will restore some things, but I'm unsure what)

- Flash the Google apps, since CM7 cannot come with them as a package for legal reasons.

So lastly, is there anything I'm missing? And how do I do this? :blink:

I should point out I want to use my PC for all this, nothing like "ROM Manager" where you can flash to a new image directly from the phone.

Cheers all.

#2 bassmadrigal

Moderators
4,058 posts

LocationRamstein Air Base, Germany
Country:
Device Model:Nexus One/HTC One X
MOD Version:Nightlies/Stock
Recovery Image:ClockworkMod

Posted 09 January 2012 - 02:53 PM

With what you are wanting to do, most likely, you will use ROM Manager for a bit. I will explain why a bit further down. Rooting a phone gives you administrator access on it. Most phones require rooting to put a custom OS on it. This is because the stock recovery of the phone needs to be replaced with one that allows flashing updates that are not signed by the manufacturer. The N1 (and all Nexus devices) are an exception to this rule. The reason is because you can unlock the bootloader using fastboot and flash a custom recovery right through there. Unfortunately for you, you will not want to go this route, because it will erase all your user data. So, you will have to go the old way and root the phone. Unfortunately, I haven't been keeping up with the various rooting directions out there, so I don't know what is needed to root 2.3.6. But I think I remember reading that zergrush on xda can do it.

Once you root your device, you would install ROM Manager onto the phone. This is what allows you to flash a custom recovery. Also, you can use this time to install Titanium Backup onto the phone. This allows you to save individual apps and data to the sdcard for future restoration. Unfortunately, you should not back up most of your system information, as restoring it to CM could cause problems (as it is different enough from stock that restoring the settings can prevent the phone from booting). I would highly recommend getting the pro version of Titanium Backup, because otherwise you will have to allow every single program to install... individually, when you restore your apps into CM.

Once this is all done, you can download the latest CM and gapps (gapps found at http://goo-inside.me/gapps) and store them on your sdcard. Make sure you used ROM Manager to flash a custom recovery and use it to reboot into recovery. Once in recovery, you can perform a nandroid backup. This will create the image files you were wanting and store them on the sdcard. From there you need to wipe the /system partition, followed by doing a Factory Reset/Data Wipe. Once that is done, install CM and gapps and reboot. You are now running CM. Now go get Titanium Backup and start restoring your apps.

CM allows you to move any app to the sdcard, but you will run into the same limitations that you had with the stock OS. Namely,widgets and things interacting with the system accounts (like facebook or twitter), will not function properly. If you want to increase your space, you can partition your sdcard and use S2E to give you more space.

And for most ROMs out there, you can't use your pc to flash them. Flashing from the PC is only available if they release the image files (and you would have to unlock the bootloader), which very few ROM makers do. Most flashing will be done in recovery.