Rooting Phones

[Coriolis]

**WARNING: Potentially Dumb Questions ahead**


Has anyone experience rooting their phone? I am assuming an android phone here. I know there are lots of websites out there about this, and have read quite a few. I am looking for personal experiences and recommendations, including if you know of any websites that are especially helpful or reliable.

Specifically: I am interested in rooting an LG phone, partly because I want to remove all vestiges of google on it. We don't have google accounts, and it keeps coming up with annoying popups about google play store, etc. It also seems like there is no good way to update the OS without essentially rooting. Currently has Android 4.4.2.

So, any advice for my specific case is welcome. Also any more general discussion about phone rooting - how, why, all devices, all methods, etc.

 

[Fidelia]

What is it? I don't know that term.

- - - Updated - - -

Potentially dumb question, Cor. What is it? I don't know that term.

 

[Totenkindly]

I assume it means stripping the OS back to bare bones-- I only know the term "root kit". But I haven't heard of this until now.


EDIT: Oh. I guess it's more of this (general explanation).
Root Your Android Phone: What is Root & How To | Android Central

i.e., it sets you up as a superuser so you can break out of the defaults.

 

[Coriolis]

i.e., it sets you up as a superuser so you can break out of the defaults.

Exactly this. When you buy a computer, you start by setting up an administrator account that allows you to do pretty much anything you want with the software. You can make additional "standard user" accounts for, say, kids or friends or guests or even yourself to use. The latter is a common security measure, and one built into linux. You are not automatically doing everything from an account with administrator permissions, so less that malware can do.

Phone software, however, does not provide administrator access to the user/owner, and yes, this prevents alot of customizations. Phone sellers will ship phones with their own flavor of android, which often contains bloatware that takes up memory and the user does not have permissions to remove. After rooting, one can install a "plain vanilla" version of android without all this.

Anyway, that is what I want to do, but if not done carefully/correctly, you can brick your phone, i.e. render it inoperable. Obviously I don't want that, hence the request for advice and others' experiences.

 

[The Cat]

Exactly this. When you buy a computer, you start by setting up an administrator account that allows you to do pretty much anything you want with the software. You can make additional "standard user" accounts for, say, kids or friends or guests or even yourself to use. The latter is a common security measure, and one built into linux. You are not automatically doing everything from an account with administrator permissions, so less that malware can do.

Phone software, however, does not provide administrator access to the user/owner, and yes, this prevents alot of customizations. Phone sellers will ship phones with their own flavor of android, which often contains bloatware that takes up memory and the user does not have permissions to remove. After rooting, one can install a "plain vanilla" version of android without all this.

Anyway, that is what I want to do, but if not done carefully/correctly, you can brick your phone, i.e. render it inoperable. Obviously I don't want that, hence the request for advice and others' experiences.

Have you taken it to a place that unlocks phones? or are you wanting this to be a DIY?

 

[Coriolis]

Have you taken it to a place that unlocks phones? or are you wanting this to be a DIY?

Not the same as unlocking. That just allows you to use it with any service provider of your choice. Phone is already unlocked. I wouldn't buy anything else.

 

[The Cat]

Not the same as unlocking. That just allows you to use it with any service provider of your choice. Phone is already unlocked. I wouldn't buy anything else.

I KNOW it's not the same as unlocking. But I would bet a person who fiddles with phones in such a way for a living might be able to slide you a tip or two.

 

[Coriolis]

I KNOW it's not the same as unlocking. But I would bet a person who fiddles with phones in such a way for a living might be able to slide you a tip or two.

Tips are what I am looking for here. I do want to do it myself, so I understand what is done and how it works, etc.

 

[The Cat]

Tips are what I am looking for here. I do want to do it myself, so I understand what is done and how it works, etc.

Well then I guess consider yourself lucky you're spoiled for choices?

 

[Coriolis]

Well then I guess consider yourself lucky you're spoiled for choices?

Yes - have watched a bunch of these. Looking for recommendations and experiences. Some of these folks probably don't know what they are talking about, or the explanations or lacking, or they point you to rootkits that aren't available, etc.

So, anyone with personal experience or simply interest in phone rooting - have at it.

 

[???]

I loaded a custom firmware on a Note 4 Verizon with a locked bootloader. I may not understand this completely, but from what I gathered in the process

ROOT
Rooting gives superuser access and permissions, similar to superuser on Linux. You then have access to locked filesystems and the ability to change programs that were otherwise protected.
*Note: rooting is usually necessary to first modify the bootloader and install a custom firmware.

BOOTLOADER
The bootloader is what allows you to install a custom firmware/OS. I think it's computer execution code that the phone defaults to when it starts up, similar to a bios on a computer. Most people that install their own firmware also modify the bootloader to include bios options, similar to a computer bios. TWRP is what I have for that.
*Note: Verizon locks their bootloaders, so usually somebody has to find a software bug or hack to get passed the bootloader security.

ADB
This is used to interface, transfer files, and control your Android phone with a PC. I've seen people even mirror and control their phones on their computer with this to get advantages in certain games like PUBG Mobile.

WHEN ROOTING and INSTALLING CUSTOM FIRMWARE
You install the firmware through TWRP. You can backup the original OEM firmware through TWRP and you'll need to install one of the GAPPS packages if you want certain google services, such as Google Play for installing apps and such. GAPPS usually has to be installed with the firmware as well and not added later or it causes problems for some reason. You also might need to change code sometimes to get certain firmwares to install. For example, LineageOS would not install because the code that checks if the phone is compatible saw a false positive for being incompatible. So I deleted that code check and everything was fine after that.

I couldn't tell you any more than that. I always follow guides and don't really know much about ADB or how all these rooting programs work exactly. I do suggest installing official firmwares though, since the unofficial tend to be broken sometimes or don't have the proper OS security activated. And this wasn't really an easy process; I think I spent about 4 hours of mild frustration trying to get everything working right. But I'd think any phone that doesn't have a locked bootloader would be easier. So good luck if you bother.

 

[JocktheMotie]

What is your device? You mentioned LG, and Android 4.4.2, so I'm assuming it's older. But the ROMs and their support are very device specific. There's a bunch of custom ROMs out there. A while back I tossed CyanogenMOD on an old Nexus tablet since google stopped providing updates and the update it did provide severely killed the battery life.

Now I just use the Pixel phones, since I don't have as much time now to tinker with gadgets. But if I had older devices I wanted to use more often I'd use definitely flash something onto it, at this point they're all super easy. If you've ever flashed a bios, dual-booted a computer OS, or flashed DD-WRT onto a router everything will make a ton of sense.

CyanogenMOD doesn't exist anymore but it's been replaced by Lineage OS. It's one of the better ones.

Here's a decent link that goes through 10 good ones:

10 Best Custom ROMs for Android You Should Try - CrunchDroid

However from the ones I've personally tried:

• Paranoid Android - by far the most stable, refined and complete ROM. Main problem is lack of updates, but if you're the type to set and forget this is a good one.
• OmniROM - Lots of features and tweaks but not over the top. Generally pretty stable with consistent updates.
• LineageOS - Pretty barebones, uses a ton of open source apps when it can, and has consistent updates.
• Ressurection Remix- Crazy customizable but not the most stable. Very fun if you're into tinkering.

 

[Coriolis]

What is your device? You mentioned LG, and Android 4.4.2, so I'm assuming it's older. But the ROMs and their support are very device specific. There's a bunch of custom ROMs out there. A while back I tossed CyanogenMOD on an old Nexus tablet since google stopped providing updates and the update it did provide severely killed the battery life.

Now I just use the Pixel phones, since I don't have as much time now to tinker with gadgets. But if I had older devices I wanted to use more often I'd use definitely flash something onto it, at this point they're all super easy. If you've ever flashed a bios, dual-booted a computer OS, or flashed DD-WRT onto a router everything will make a ton of sense.

CyanogenMOD doesn't exist anymore but it's been replaced by Lineage OS. It's one of the better ones.

Here's a decent link that goes through 10 good ones:

Thanks. I'll check these out. I didn't realize about cyanogen; that was one I remembered from the last time I did research on this. The phone is a LG G3.