[Verizon Droid Charge] dandaman96:
I purchased a Charge today, and I'm trying to make sense of the options. I was spoiled with the ease by which one could modify my first Android phone, the Eris. I was just getting comfortable with the methods used to modify Motorola phones with my latest Droid X, and now I find myself a Samsung owner. Having spent the better part of the last two days reading threads, I'm starting to piece together the world of Charge. I'm hoping those here with more experience can validate some of my assumptions and fill in the blanks where needed on the items below.

1) How do you translate EE4, EP1W... etc? I assume these align to versions of Android, but what tells me what version (example: does EE4 = 2.2.1?)?

2) Flashing data onto the phone... I see instructions on both Odin and ClockWork Recovery (CWR). So, Odin is a PC based program which is used to flash .tar or .tar.md5 files onto the phone and CWR is initially installed via Odin. From there, one could use CWR to flash ROMs that are are stored on the flash card of your phone. Is there a version of CWR that can create a complete backup of the current status of your phone (similar to a NAND backup on the Eris)? Does the current version of CRW successfully restore these backups? I assume Odin vs. CMR is just preference, depending on how the cook wanted to create the ROM, correct? Is it possible to remove CWR once it is installed, i.e. is there a stock recovery available to be flashed via Odin?

3) Rooting... From what I can tell, rooting this phone is achieved by replacing the stock kernel with a kernel modified to grant root access, either directly or as packaged with a ROM, with either CWR or Odin, correct? I have come across previous posts speaking of "one click" methods that appear to no longer be valid, and methods only for EE4, etc. I cannot discern what is the correct method by which to obtain root access on a phone that is purchased as of today (15Oct11) (which goes to question 1, what does EE4 mean). Ideally, I would like to obtain root access without changing ROMs. Is this achieved by using Odin (or CWR) to flash a rooted kernel? Can anyone provide input here?

4) ROMs / kernels / compatibility..... The "Flashing Roms with Odin 1.82 GB 2.3.4 edition" (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1160580) and "Get a rooted version of EE4" (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=14692818) threads give good descriptions of how to flash a ROM and the HOW TO thread (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1107797) contains links to several ROMs, but reading through the posts I've noticed little mention of weather the ROM provides root access and what else is required with the ROM (additional flash for correct kernel or radio). Is it to be assumed all of the ROMs posted include root? Do each of the ROMs require a kernel with root access be installed before or after? What are the compatibility concerns with different ROMs and different kernels? Another "New to Charge" thread (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1285473&page=2) states that as long as the ROM is matched to the kernel (i.e. Gingerbread ROM with Gingerbread kernel) there will be no issues, but are there any other compatibility concerns?

Thanks for any help you guys can provide to help me get up to speed with the Charge.