[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] caine0001:
All finished...

Ok, I have finished and here is the complete story which may help answer a question or two that some people may have about rooting, CWM recovery, updating, updating and keeping root, etc. on the Express i437 that has the file install-recovery.sh on it. The first thing I did was name "install-recovery.sh" back to its original name and revert back to stock recovery. Then I flashed my phone back to ICS 4.0.4 and enjoyed all the lack of performance that came with it. I then did a factory reset to attempt to get back to its original "out of the box" condition". After doing this I did an OTA update to JB 4.1.2. I then used motochopper to root the phone. I used a backup from My Backup Pro to put my apps back on. I then renamed "install-recovery.sh" so I could install CWM 6.0.3.4. Everything is running ok but performance is still not enhanced. Now for some reason, and I can't remember why I did it, but I had originally taken my phone back to 4.0.4 so I figured to keep apples as apples that I would return it to ICS 4.0.4 again so I flashed the ICS firmware after reverting back to stock recovery like I did several months ago. I then did the update back to 4.1.2 again and this time I put my apps back on with My Backup Pro before I rooted again. When I did I noticed as I did originally, that Superuser was restored, but as a user app, not a system app. I ran Root Checker and my phone had retained its root even after being flashed back to 4.0.4 and updated back to 4.1.2, just like it did back a few months ago. And it was not temporary root that had to be re-granted every reboot. It was permanently rooted. So flashing back to 4.0.4 and then updating OTA back to 4.1.2 did not unroot me. It seemed like it until I restored the APK for Superuser and installed it. The app installed from the user folder and not the system folder but I still had permanent root after all of this. My Baseband and Build version told me that I still needed the newest update so before I installed CWM again I ran Software Update again (OTA from the phone) and it installed the new modem update and whatever else is in that 80.04MB of update. But I forgot an important step. I didn't install OTA RootKeeper before doing this and my backup from My Backup Pro did not include it. So I was unable to do a temp unroot, and I didn't realize that I had forgotten this important step until the phone was rebooting after installing the update. Well as luck would have it, unlike one of the other members who lost root when he did the modem update, my phone retained its root right through the OTA install of the newest July 31st update package. So I didn't lose root ever. Not when I flashed back to 4.0.4 and updated back to 4.1.2, and not when I applied the OTA modem update. I have now installed OTA RootKeeper, but that is closing the barn door after the horse is out. Luckily, I didn't need that horse. Now as to the performance. Once again, when I applied this newest update I saw a noticeable improvement in performance. It wasn't as shocking as it was the first time but I think that is because I had seen it once already and wasn't completely surprised by it. So anyway, that sums up my experience with investigating what happens to root when flashing back to ICS and using OTA to update back to current software. I didn't lose root ever. For those of you who do, I can't explain why, except maybe you have a different version of the phone than I do. And by that I mean that the i437s coming out now do not have the file "install-recovery.sh" to rename so that you can install CWM and who knows what other differences there could be. But this is how my phone did after all that flashing back and forth. I now am fully current, I have CWM 6.0.3.4 installed, I am rooted, and the world seems right side up again. I want to repeat that this is my own experience with this phone and my experience is that you can't lose root just by flashing back to another firmware or updating to 4.1.2. I cannot guarantee that yours will act like mine did or that it will not act like mine. So whatever you do, always make sure you have your Nandroid backup of your phone handy and ready for use just in case. If you are lucky, your phone will act just like mine and you won't have to worry about losing your root no matter what you do up till the current update released July 31st. The only thing to remember is that to do your OTA update you have to uninstall CWM. That is it. Good luck to all of you Express i437 users. If you have the file "install-recovery.sh" there is a much higher likelihood that your phone is just like mine than there is if you are one whose phone does not have that file to rename. Something they did to the phones when they stopped selling them with that file on them has made them act somewhat differently than mine in many situations. So once again, I share my experience for informational purposes only, for those who are asking themselves about how to do updates and what will happen to the phone (ie., rooting, CWM, etc.) if they do, and to share my experience of making sure that this last update really did give my phone a kick in its pants. :cowboy: