What is Rooting, and Why you should or shouldn't care? (Updated 28-10-11)

After seeing this question countless times, I decided to put it to rest.

So What is Rooting?

Just Rooting by itself will give you one thing.

Root Privilege

Root is the equivalent of Administrator Privilege in Windows.

Why is this important?

Well it isn't to most users, root just allows you to change system files, or in the other terms hacking.

Once your device is rooted you can do whatever you want the sky is the limit and your brain the engine.

Why do most people root on this forum?

Hmm, I can't speak for all but I believe the major force driving people to root is the Lag-fix and Market Enabler/Access!

The Lag-whaat?

The Galaxy S uses the RFS File System (in layman's term: A standard in which your Media is formatted).

Now this file system is a bottle neck for the device and a solution to this problem is adding a virtual Drive of another more efficient File System that is native to Linux. (Yes, if you didn't know yet Android is based loosely on a Linux Core).

There are two popular methodologies. EXT2 and the much newer EXT4

The Differences Between the two:

EXT2 was made in an era when 10 ~ 30 GB was the norm in a Desktop machine.
And in that it was more efficient for storage of those drives, albeit EXT2 can handle upto 32TB.

EXT4: is a much Newer File system that has been stable since 25 Dec 2008. It is the default in many popular Distros Such as Ubuntu, Redhat, and as of Ginger Bread 2.3 so is Android.

Now why choose one over the other:
SSD Drives are rated at a number of cycle counts for each sector before failure. (SSD Drives are what are used in most mini Storage Devices like Mobile Phones, Memory cards and USB Pen Drives.)

So what does this mean:
Lets, Say you have a 10 GB SSD Drive which is Rated at 10,000,000 (10 Million) Read/Write Cycles for each Sector. A normal 10GB Drive has 19,531,250 Sectors. So now once your phone has copied about 100,000,000 Kb ~ 100 GB worth of data on and off your Drive it will start to cry. if you wish to understand the calculations go here.
In Contrast a Magnetic HDD (Normal Laptop and Desktop Drives with a spinning Motor) are rated in Number of Hours. So you have unlimited Read/Write Cycles (well sort of), but you have a time Limit.

Now the thing is I don't know what the Drive in the SGS is rated at, but lets Proceed.

EXT2 File System is more Efficient in terms of longivity of the Drive, it needs less Read/Write Cycles to complete Tasks then the EXT4, but EXT4 is alot Faster when compared to EXT2.

So it's a trade of Between Life and Speed. So it's your choice.

There are two Lagfixes Available for the SGS:
OCLF by RyanZA Explores the EXT2, and the Voodoo Project uses the EXT4.

At the time of writing this RyanZA the Author of OCLF has left the project and as of now the Project is Abandoned. If you are using anything Less then JPY OCLF is still an option (Last I heard JPY is supported please tell me if I am wrong).

What about Market Enabler/Access?

Different Regions have a market lock for software for Political reasons that are beyond my reasoning. So what you see in India on the Market may not be everything you see in the USA, and Vice Versa.

Market Enabler/Access tricks the phone into believing that you are not where you are, and lets you use apps from other Markets.

My Quadrant Result is *#$%^

The Galaxy S Runs the Hummingbird Processor Developed by Samsung.
Quadrant was specifically written for Qualcomms's SnapDragon Processors.

Quadrant is not a good way to test the speed of your phone on a Galaxy S. Sure HTC and Moto use SnapDragon Processors so it's cool for them.

What is the easiest way to Root my Galaxy and also push my phone to it's limit?

2 Words: Custom Roms!!!!

Custom Roms are Roms with custom settings with additional code to make the phone leaner and meaner.

How?

Well for one Most Custom Roms have modified kernels that boost the R/W speed and some even overclock the CPU speed, then there is the custom menus that let you change aspects of the phone that you would normally not be allowed to, but Of course the cherry-on-top in this case is the look of the device.

What do you mean?

The real reason most people use custom Roms (or at least I do) is because the phone gets a unique look, the OS ceases to exist as it was and begins to look like it could have. This brings extra individuality to the phone, it's not like changing wallpapers this a little different, you can change the color of the status bars, add battery percentage to the default battery icon, add an over-scroll glow, change the multicolored menus to single solid colors, etc. Ofcourse different Roms do it differently not all Roms are alike.

So which one is the Best one?

That is the beauty of the community there is no single best ROM. you have to try different ones to see which one you like, it's like asking what is the best color? well I think black is but then I am not you and you may not like black so it's not really the best for you. is it?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

One last question, do I need to root to use custom Roms?

NO, you need either CWM or Odin. Root is not a prerequisite, it is the end result.


---------------

I hope this small Q and A helped quell your dilemmas.

On a final note,

Rooting can void your warranty, if Samsung finds out that is.
The process of rooting can brick your phone, it is due to the nature of Linux and how flashing works. I should also mention that the likely hood of bricking your phone is very very small.

So please understand that rooting and installing programs that allow you to change system files (hacking) must be done at your own peril.

In the end, it comes down to your personal choice and comfort level, it was my duty to inform, and I feel I did so.

For Instructions on how to Root Click Here.

Peace.
IronSingh

_{Edit - Updated 10-03-11}

No problem.

Since I stickied this thread to enlighten people on the mysteries / misconceptions surrounding rooting, in return if you don't mind and have free time, could you please post if you did root or not, and if so why or why not.

And how difficult or easy it was.

I ask this so other people new to this concept are at ease knowing how someone else in their situation reacted.

Peace.
IronSingh

Thank you for sharing your experience, it means alot to me and hopefully someone else thinking "To Root, or not to root, That is the Question".

I believe more replies like yours will help forum members and non-members alike in figuring out what rooting is and what potential it brings with it.

Saying there is 0% chance is encouraging, but still it is a possibility. Maybe I should also mention that there are methods to make your phone beat it's heart again even if you brick it. (I will not go into it).

As for your question, You can do it as many times as you want. Re-partition just deletes the partition table and creates a new one.

I must warn you though that the drives in these things are similar to SSD in design, and have a higher rate of wear and tear than the standard Magnetic Drives. I will also mention that their durability is higher, so you will still average 3 to 4 years before the drive will start to cry, but extreme usage can accelerate that process.

It is also worth mentioning that by the time that happens you would probably have changed the phone.

Peace.
IronSingh

Thank you raineverafter for sharing your response. Repped.

On a side note I wished to point something out about your comment

Even on a desktop with full bells and whistles. (QuadCore i7, 8GB RAM, SSD Drive, etc). You will still face lag.

The problem lies in the architecture, the big struggle for a mobile device is that it is a battle for power (Battery) or Speed (CPU).

The HummingBird (Samsung's S5PC110A01 Processor) runs on a 45-nm Architecture it is meant to be efficient in terms of Battery Power, that means if you were to match it with lets say AMD Athalon 1Ghz (For quite a while they were faster then intel), you would notice immediately that the Athalon outperforms the the ARM 8 SoC processor. Why? the AMD is rated for more electricity.

The problem is you will never be able to test it fairly. Since the ARM processor is fundamentally different. What runs on ARM doesn't run on x86 and vice versa. ARM is an optimized Processor it doesn't carry all the instructions a normal x86 Processor carries. So even if you were to write the OS for X86 as well as ARM, it would have to be coded differently and so it would be a similar test not an exact comparison.

Peace.
IronSingh

This thread is great. I think i want to root my phone ( SGS Froyo XXJPY ) as Im already experiencing lag and have only had it 2 weeks. But Im peftrified of bricking it. I use my phone for everything lol (Us truckers get lonely on long trips)

Problem is when it comes to smartphones, or Android, Im fairly noobish. Just reading some of the terms,baseband, RFS, EXT2, EXT4, etc, etc n the like gets me confused.

To Root or not to Root, that is the question.....

hi ironsingh.

thanks for the explanation, but i meant just general terms i dont really get all the lingo. sorry if you misunderstood and thought i was asking for explanations of all the terms hehe. Although, i do appreciate it, and as that old saying goes. "You dont know, if you dont ask" (did i make that up )

Please inquire as to what specifically you don't understand, I will do my best to clarify.


@charles king

There are a lot of How-To.

But the Easiest Way I know of achieving what you described is using Z4root and OCLF.

Z4root is a one click root Application, that used to be available on the Market. You will have to manually get it from Xda, and copy it to your Phone and install it.

Once installed plug it into a PC with USB debug on (Settings -> Application -> Development -> USB Debugging)

Now run the App Z4Root and click on Perm Root. Wait and Let it do it's thing.

Once it's done get OCLF by RyanZA, and install it in the same manner as you did Z4root from XDA.

Run the App OCLF and Click on Install EXT2 Utils wait for it to do it's thing, then click Install Lag Fix.

Done.


Peace.
IronSingh

ok. How do i know that the phone is  rooted and that lagfix is installed?