Android What's better? Rooting HTC at fw 2.1 or 2.2??

[SamAsh07]

And will I be able to use the Android Market after my phone is rooted? What about the official firmware updates? Will I be able to install them on a rooted htc?

 

[rikuumi]

And will I be able to use the Android Market after my phone is rooted? What about the official firmware updates? Will I be able to install them on a rooted htc?

You can root without installing a custom ROM and rooting won't "change" your phone in any way. Of course you can use market etc.

 

[SamAsh07]

So I can root it if its fw 2.2??

And I saw at some forums - Asphalt 5 HD android, I checked the Android Market, it wasn't there. What gives? Does this game require your phone to be rooted??

 

[Originality]

"Rooting" the phone just means unlocking access to core features (like CPU clock settings). You have to "root" the phone before you can install custom ROMs like CyanogenMod. As rikuumi said, you can also just "root" the phone without installing a custom ROM.

As for Asphalt 5 HD, if you can't find it on the market, it might have been removed from the market, or it might just not be compatible with your phone (hardware or firmware version - I don't know because I've not had much chance to experiment). All I know is that there were many applications that my G1 (running 1.6) didn't find that my new HTC Desire HD (2.21) found straight away.

As for which firmware is better... well, I don't know that either. I flashed CyanogenMod 6.0 to my G1, so now it's running Froyo (2.2). I like the whole native USB tethering and WiFi AP abilities.

 

[Synchromatic]

The Android OS firmware number won't really make getting root harder or not. It's more of the HBoot and radio version that would rooting a bit harder. If you had a higher hboot version (I think 0.93), you might need to downgrade it in order to root, but more methods might have come out since the last time I rooted an HTC Desire. EDIT: You can try using unrevoked to root your device.

As for Asphalt 5, it may not show up because you're in a country where it's not published.

 

[SamAsh07]

So I have successfully rooted my HTC Desire (2.1 update-1, HBOOT 0.83)...now where to head from here?? I'd love some detailed explanations and oh, does rooted mean I'll be able to download paid apps for free from sites?? I'm a BIG NOOB at Android Hacking & to the phones themselves (Just my 3rd day using an Android Device) so that's why all these weird questions pop in my head.

 

[Originality]

You don't need a rooted phone to install downloaded apps (paid or free) from random sites. You just need the .apk file on your SD card and a file manager (like Astro) to search for that file and install it. To install unsigned apps, just check the box under Settings > Applications > Unknown Sources.

The only downside to this is that quite often, you won't get the latest version of the app. You'll only get the version they uploaded, and many sources can't be bothered to re-upload the app every time there's an update. That also means that your installed app won't update automatically - you'll have to find another .apk of it and download/install that. That's the tradeoff for not just going through the Android Market and actually buying the apps.

 

[Synchromatic]

So I have successfully rooted my HTC Desire (2.1 update-1, HBOOT 0.83)...now where to head from here?? I'd love some detailed explanations and oh, does rooted mean I'll be able to download paid apps for free from sites?? I'm a BIG NOOB at Android Hacking & to the phones themselves (Just my 3rd day using an Android Device) so that's why all these weird questions pop in my head.

Rooting means that you have complete control over your device. You can now do nandroid backups, use applications that need root (like SetCPU or Titanium Backup), and install custom roms.

Custom roms usually have features that aren't in stock roms (like an OC'd kernel). You can also usually get firmware updates earlier with custom roms. The earlier updates would be like a stock Android 2.3 or the new HTC Sense that comes with the HTC Desire Z and Desire HD. With an rooted HTC Desire, you can either go with an AOSP rom (vanilla android), an HTC Sense rom (what you already have), or MIUI rom (community made).

 

[SamAsh07]

So I have successfully rooted my HTC Desire (2.1 update-1, HBOOT 0.83)...now where to head from here?? I'd love some detailed explanations and oh, does rooted mean I'll be able to download paid apps for free from sites?? I'm a BIG NOOB at Android Hacking & to the phones themselves (Just my 3rd day using an Android Device) so that's why all these weird questions pop in my head.

Rooting means that you have complete control over your device. You can now do nandroid backups, use applications that need root (like SetCPU or Titanium Backup), and install custom roms.

Custom roms usually have features that aren't in stock roms (like an OC'd kernel). You can also usually get firmware updates earlier with custom roms. The earlier updates would be like a stock Android 2.3 or the new HTC Sense that comes with the HTC Desire Z and Desire HD. With an rooted HTC Desire, you can either go with an AOSP rom (vanilla android), an HTC Sense rom (what you already have), or MIUI rom (community made).

Learning all this will take quite awhile, thanks for this info, just one more noobie question, you said custom ROMs have their own updates...right?? Do custom roms have an unofficial updater or do I need to download them off a site and flash it myself??

 

[Synchromatic]

Learning all this will take quite awhile, thanks for this info, just one more noobie question, you said custom ROMs have their own updates...right?? Do custom roms have an unofficial updater or do I need to download them off a site and flash it myself??

In the old days, you would have to download the rom onto your computer, put it on your SD card, and install it through recovery itself (there are some cases where you still have to do this). Now there's an app called ROM Manager. It essentially is a recovery interface app on your phone that allows you to download roms directly to your phone, and automates the installation process.

 

[shamiko_]

You don't need a rooted phone to install downloaded apps (paid or free) from random sites. You just need the .apk file on your SD card and a file manager (like Astro) to search for that file and install it. To install unsigned apps, just check the box under Settings > Applications > Unknown Sources.

The only downside to this is that quite often, you won't get the latest version of the app. You'll only get the version they uploaded, and many sources can't be bothered to re-upload the app every time there's an update. That also means that your installed app won't update automatically - you'll have to find another .apk of it and download/install that. That's the tradeoff for not just going through the Android Market and actually buying the apps.

Well thats one way of getting .apk files but there are apps like *snip which downloads apps directly, no sd card transfer needed (*snip isn't for android) *snip quite new and so far it's having uptime issues

btw is fastboot in certain devices? Because getting cyanogen on the gt540 needs fastboot.

 

[Terminator02]

im pretty sure u can't mention either the iphone or android warez apps ^^^^

but i follow the owner of the android warez app, he's getting a new server soon, the app's popularity has exploded and he can't keep up with demand

 

[SamAsh07]

Learning all this will take quite awhile, thanks for this info, just one more noobie question, you said custom ROMs have their own updates...right?? Do custom roms have an unofficial updater or do I need to download them off a site and flash it myself??

In the old days, you would have to download the rom onto your computer, put it on your SD card, and install it through recovery itself (there are some cases where you still have to do this). Now there's an app called ROM Manager. It essentially is a recovery interface app on your phone that allows you to download roms directly to your phone, and automates the installation process.

Wow dude thanks, yesterday late night I went through the "old" days process and successfully flashed a Radio and a custom FroYo (2.2) ROM, just barcode scanned ROM Manager and downloaded it, will try some day when I find a "nice" ROM. Thanks alot to Synchromatic & Originality for all the helpful intel.