How safe is rooting, and what is bricking?

[defective by design]

I've searched around on rooting and was wondering how safe it is. I'm on a DroidX with Android version 2.2.1
I saw a video for an app called Easy Root. The video made it look simple enough. I have no interest in flashing ROMs to my droid i just want to be able to do the wireless tether. I don't care to overclock or anything like that, just wireless tether. I was wondering how safe it is to root the phone.
Are there any rooting apps that a computer novice can use safely?
What are some suggestions?
Reading around i came across the term, "Bricking". not too sure what that is. What is Bricking and what does it do to your phone. From the sounds of it does not seem like something I want to happen to my Droid X.
If there are any tips or advice you could give me on rooting and whats the best app for a noob to use that would be awesome.
Reading around it seems you can unroot your phone if you have any troubles. What exactly does rooting do?
If i root my phone does it change the way it performs?
Any answers would be great and some links to more reading would be much appreciated as well.
Thanks. I want to keep my phone in good working order. I just don't see the point in paying for a phone, then paying for service, then paying more on top of it to use the 3G hotspot.dancedroid

 

[Backnblack]

Rooting is safe when you read up and do it correctly...

Bricking is turning your Droid into a paperweight.....

 

[mwhartman]

Here are a few links that may help:

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/re...-dummies-guide-android-terminoligy-lingo.html

http://www.droidforums.net/http://w...s/70875-what-you-need-know-about-rooting.html

/droid-hacks/632-what-root-means-stop-asking.html

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/re...08-multiple-phones-root-them-unroot-them.html

As BacknBlack said prepare by reading and making notes. If you have questions post them. Then, if you decide to root the community will be here to assist you.

Mike

 

[defective by design]

sweet. thanks. i love this place.

 

[furbearingmammal]

Depends on your definition of safe -- the actual process is safe if you read up on it and know what you're getting into, but what it actually does isn't very safe; there's a reason why Linux boxes don't run as root by default. However, until actual attacks on the Android OS haven't happened. Don't worry about it, just read read read.

Bricking has already been discussed, but there are two kinds of bricks -- hard-bricking (device won't turn on) and soft-bricking (device bootloops/stuck in bootloader). Softbricked devices can almost always be saved. Motorola devices have files called SBFs that can be flashed onto the phone to restore the device. HTC devices have something similar. Not sure about Samsung, however.

 

[devator22]

So, I don't know much about the x, but here are some universal truths...
Easyroot, z4root, or similar will work for giving you enough root access to use wireless tether. If you want to do more, I wouldn't really recommend that way.
There's something about a bootstrapper for the x...don't know specifics, but I know the process of rooting is more difficult than it used to be. Maybe you don't need that with easyroot's shell root though.
Always make sure your phone has at least 70% battery before attempting anything. In my experience, the number 1 bricker of phones is a dead battery during flashing. As long as your battery is sufficiently charged, the danger of bricking is minimal.
Most importantly, know that rooting voids your warrenty. What this means in the short term is that if you brick it, verizon won't help you. What this means in the long run is that for warrenty things - dead screen, broken speaker, etc - you will have to unroot in order to get verizons help.
Imo, tethering alone makes rooting worth the risk, not to mention the numerous other benefits.


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