Rooting yes/no/maybe/why

[leeshor]

There have been quite a few posts recently from member who have rooted their Transformers. The vast majority of those posts were because they had a problem related to rooting. Many of those problems were just that, problems.

Some of those who rooted found they couldn't get firmware updates. This may indicate that not enough research was done before rooting their device, mostly due to issues with later hardware versions of their Transformers.

It seems that some people feel that rooting is a must. Consider these points:

1. Ask yourself if there really is a good reason to root. Is there a must have app that won't install without a root?

2. Many have, in the past, determined they needed to root in order to backup, (Titanium Backup). I feel that ASUS wisely included an app that took care of that in order to reduce the possibility of rooting related problems.

3. Consider that the FW updates from ASUS have added value (AppBackup, SuperNote for example) that may reduce the need to root. I'm not even addressing custom ROMs. These value added apps and tweaks may have negated the original reason for the root so patience may pay off.

4. Consider ICS (nuff said)

5. Rooting has become a big part of the developers discussions but many of the posts are about a root that went wrong or messed with an update. I do feel for people who in some cases, at least temporarily, bricked their Transformers but keep that in mind

I'm not recommending for or against rooting here but you should really consider why you want to root, have a good reason, and do your due diligence research before jumping into a potential quick sand pit.

WHY? should be the first thing you ask.

[Ads]

[Frederuco]

Well said.

You should not be rooting your device just because that is what all the nerdy kids are doing with their devices. There are some serious pits you can get into if you do root and do not know what you are doing.

Research on your serial number and not just how to root, but how to UNROOT if you need to, as well as how it affects OTA updates. If you are running a stock rooted device, this is important. If you are running rooted with a non-stock ROM, then OTA updates from ASUS will not be as critical.

Just my $0.02 to add to this.

[Detection]

Agreed, well said, great post and hopefully this thread will help a few people, although I have a feeling many arrive here looking for help After rooting

[ICS]

I asked myself WHY and my answer was NO - I have therefore not rooted and not - so far - found any need to.

[janner43]

Great post - will hopefully prevent many from making a mistake & thinking it is something that MUST be done in order to gain full funtionality.

ICS got it spot on - "why do I want to do this?" If the answer is no particular reason, then it is just not worth the risk.

[Detection]

I asked myself WHY and my answer was NO - I have therefore not rooted and not - so far - found any need to.

That's exactly what I did for a long time after getting my TF, eventually me being me, I caved and Rooted, Flashed custom ROMs, blocked ads, Overclocked, it was all fun, but I am back on stock now and apart from the Ads, I don't miss any of it really

[Seg2012]

I found myself rooting within a week of getting mine, probably just because I could. There wasn't a fundemental reason why, I just wanted to. I did try out different roms, and as good as they were and the improvements they brought to some areas, they maybe suffered in others. I thought to myself that this device really isn't bad at all without overclocking or removing bloatware. I liked it as stock and the option to update as opposed to waiting for developer updates.

Unfortunately for me, my TF had a fault un-related to the whole rooting scene and has subsequently gone back to ASUS on RMA.

I will however, when it comes back, be leaving as stock, as I personally dont feel any need to root.

I agree with the OP, you do need to ask yourself "Do I need to root?" or "What will I gain from rooting?" Alot of help post could be avoided if ppl just read first, think second then read some more.

Seg

[Garemlin]

I personally have never been compelled to root my TF. It does everything I need and want it to do. My phones on the other hand rarely go a week without being rooted and ROM'd. I have flashed 3 different ROMS, two different sets of radios and flashed and reflashed several combinations of leaked systems and radios on my Galaxy Nexus in the last week alone. Some people root for reasons. Some people root just because they can. And with those there are some that feel that they need to root because they have read about it and then dive in without knowing what they are doing. Not a good idea.

Rooting is not necessary and is not for everyone. I'd say that the majority of android tablet and phone users don't even have the slightest idea what rooting is and really don't need to know.


Moving to development.

[ASUSFAN0001]

Like other posters so far, I have yet to find a single reason to root my device.

With the imminent release of Android 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich)...rooting a Transformer or Transformer Prime at this point raises the risk of successfully getting that new OS update. In addition, it would seem that there is very little reward for the risk associated with the process.

The OP is right that for every post here about someone rooting, there seems to be a corresponding 2-3 about problems related to rooting. That seems to send a pretty clear message on the subject.

Still - there will always be folks who don't mind tinkering. That's their choice...but it's not one for me.

[The_Cageybee]

For me the big reason to root is CIFS support.

I really can't understand why Google don't just bake it in as standard. It's crazy.

I have a TF101, which is now unrooted thanks to the latest update so can't access my network drives easily.

I also have an Android phone which would still be stuck on 2.1 if it weren't for rooting and installing CM7. Really a no brainer if a device manufacturer won't release updates.

I see a lot of stuff on this site which really demonizes rooting/CFW and can't quite understand it.
Rooting is not dangerous. It doesn't suddenly turn your device into a security threat. Nor does it mean your device may suddenly brick.

Before running anything as root you have to explicitly give it permission and as long you don't do things like 'rm /' then there's very little risk.

I also see a lot of BS and misinformation regarding needing to unroot to update with official firmwares. Absolute BS.

I've read many posts on the forum were people have had to RMA their devices (not root/CFW) yet very few disasters due to rooting/CFW, if that was the problem anyway.

So enough of the misinformation. After all, all root is is admin rights on the system.