[EVO 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sekigah84:
ROOTING + UNROOTING INFORMATION + COMMON QUESTIONS + PROBLEMS w/ LINKS​

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT OCCURS TO YOUR PHONE. THIS IS A COLLECTION OF INFORMATION I FOUND TO BE USEFUL. I ONLY ORGANIZED IT HERE TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO FIND.

Don't forget to thank people who made the ROMs, Root Methods, etc. They put in a lot of work and take a lot of time helping people. All it takes is a click of a button. One for me too! It's a lot of work trying to keep everything updated. =P

This will and always will be a work in progress. If you feel something should be added, clarified, or corrected feel free to PM me. I'm not perfect and I can't read everything so any and all help is appreciated. (Yes of course I will credit you. Just no plagiarism!)

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Preface:

I made this guide to be a collection of information for the latest rooting methods as well as common questions and problems that arise from rooting/flashing/etc. Please read the entire guide if you are new to rooting. Also the common questions and problems are found in posts 2 and 3 of this thread. I hope you find this to be helpful. Happy and safe rooting.

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Rooting Information

What is rooting and why should/shouldn't I do it?

Rooting is a way of gaining access to the root directory of your phone enabling you to change every aspect of your phones software that the manufacturer has locked. This enables you to do many things with your device that the manufacturer did not intend. Here are some reasons why people root and why people don't.

Reasons to root:

Get the latest versions of Android on your phone before anyone else.

Try faster and more optimized versions of your phone's software.

Overclocking and underclocking your phone.

Longer battery life.

Theme your phone a lot more.

FREE Wireless Tethering.

Remove unwanted Sprint software.

Reasons to NOT Root:

Not comfortable with troubleshooting your phone and phone problems.

Do not have the time to spend going through countless forums to find solutions to problems.

Possibility to break your phone permanently causing you to go back to Sprint (IF YOU HAVE INSURANCE) to get another one or buy another if you don't have insurance.

VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY WITH SPRINT. (Can be undone)

Very time consuming and addicting.

Do not know what a "driver" is for a computer.

Have no knowledge of DOS.

So how do I root?

-Don't use any method just because the guide says "ROOT METHOD". Make sure its the latest root method used for your situation. Even this guide will get outdated one day (I'll try my best to keep it up to date).

-Rooting will cause all your information to be lost if you did not properly back them up. You will lose anything saved on the phone, such as contacts (not synced to Google) and applications and settings. Anything on your SD card will still be there such as music and pictures and video.

Basic terminology:

ROM - The phone's software

Flashing - Installing. Pertains to ROMs, kernels, radios, themes, etc.

0) Make sure you have at least 30% battery. You do NOT want to have your phone die when flashing. Your phone will turn into a very pretty and expensive paperweight.

1) Turn on your phone and hit Menu > Settings > About Phone > Software information. Make a note of your Baseband Version, Kernel version, Software Number, and PRI Version. Now press your BACK button and go to Hardware information. Look for your 4 digit Hardware Version. Write this down too. This information is helpful when troubleshooting issues you may have.

2) Power your phone off. Hold VOLUME DOWN and your POWER button till you see the following screen

This is called the Bootloader Screen. Remember it. You will see it very often. There are two pieces of crucial information on this screen that you will be concerned with. On the first line, you will see S-ON. This stands for Security-ON. It means you are not rooted more or less. On the second line you will see "HBOOT #.##.####" This is your HBOOT version number.

3) Now that you have this information, it is time to pick your root method. You only need to root once and only need to pick ONE of the following methods.

Revolutionary: - This will unlock the bootloader for the latest stock GB. Follow all instructions to the letter.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1218386

IF YOUR VERSION IS BEFORE 4.22.651.2, UPDATE YOUR PHONE USING OTA THEN ROOT USING REVOLUTIONARY!!!!!!

PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN YOU GO TO THESE RESPECTIVE LINKS, MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE STILL UPDATED! CHECK THE LAST PAGE OR 3 TO SEE IF IT IS STILL UPDATED. IF NOT SOMEONE WILL GENERALLY SAY IT IS OUTDATED. SUPPORT FOR THE ROOT METHODS SHOULD BE DONE ON THEIR RESPECTIVE PAGES OR IN THE Q+A PAGE. ALSO MOST ISSUES YOU WILL RUN INTO, SOMEONE ELSE PROBABLY ALREADY HAS SO PLEASE USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION.

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How do I know if I am rooted?

Go into Bootloader. If you see S-OFF at the top, you are fully rooted.

I am rooted now. What can I do?

FIRST MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP! ALWAYS DO THIS BEFORE YOU FLASH SOMETHING. THESE ARE BIG FILES SO TRANSFER THEM TO YOUR COMPUTER TO SAVE SPACE ON YOUR SD!

A nandroid backup basically takes a snapshot of your phone which you can restore. While it will fix most problems, it is not a cure all. It will fix most if not all ROM flashing blunders.

How do I make a Nandroid Backup?

1) Power off your phone.

2) Hold VOLUME DOWN and POWER to till you see the Bootloader screen.

3) Use VOLUME UP and VOLUME DOWN to navigate to RECOVERY and push the POWER button to select.

4) Once in Recovery, Look for an option that says NANDROID or NANDROID BACKUP.

5) Select that and hit power.

6) Wait till your NANDROID BACKUP is finished and then proceed to flashing anything you want.

7) ALWAYS DO THIS BEFORE FLASHING ANYTHING.

8) If you run out of space on your SD card, your backups are saved to your SD card under the Nandroid Folder. Back up this folder to your PC.

OK. I made my Nandroid Backup. What can I do now?

You can now flash custom ROMs, kernels, radios, themes, etc.

If you aren't sure what a ROM/Radio/Recovery is check out ricsim78's post here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=790427

Here is a great guide on kernels. Kernels are what you want to flash if you want to improve battery life.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=894880 - Kernel information. What each does and what each stands for?

Here is where you can find most of the goodies here on XDA for the Evo:

Head on over to the Android Development forums for Custom ROMs/Kernels/Radios/Recoveries.

If you want themes, clocks, widgets, UI, etc, head on over to the Themes + Apps forum. Make sure you flashed a "Deodex" ROM for theming.

How do I flash a ROM/Kernel/Theme/etc

99% of all ROM's, kernels and radios come flashable (will be a .zip file).

0) MAKE SURE YOU HAVE 30% BATTERY AT LEAST!

1) Plug your phone into your computer and connect it as Disk Drive.

2) Place your ROM/Kernel/Radio/Theme/ETC into your SD card. (If you have the 4 in 1 option skip to step 5)

3) Power your phone off. Hold VOLUME DOWN and POWER at the same time till you load into Bootloader.

4) Select recovery by using the volume buttons to move and hit the power button to load into Recovery.

5) Once in recovery, make a NANDROID BACKUP and wipe your data/cache/dalvik! If you are flashing an update to your ROM and want to keep your apps, don't wipe your data. If you run into errors or FC (Force closes), wipe your data/cache/dalvik and flash again.

6) Flash your file by going to Install/Flash zip from sdcard.

7) Select your file and hit the power button. Press power again to confirm if needed.

8) Wait till the flash is complete and reboot.

How do I return to stock (unroot)?

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1218386 Go down to the FAQ. Your answer lies there.

How do I backup my apps?

Use MyBackup. You can use this to backup and restore your apps without the need for rooting. (Thanks teh roxxorz)

Appbrain is good if you are using market only apps. However app data won't be saved.

Titanium Backup is also good if you are rooted.

Credits:

teh roxxorz aka time traveler, xHausx, ricsim78, zikronix, djR3Z, mroneeyedboh for their work on the guides I linked and to all the devs out there cooking up ROMs/Recoveries/Themes/Kernels/ETC to bring everyone rooting joy.