# One-Click Root FAQ



## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

[hide=I can't get ADB working on my computer. How can I still root my phone?]
You can't nor should you. If you cannot get ADB working, you SHOULD NOT root your phone at this time!

HOWEVER, a much better question is: How can I get ADB to work? PLEASE ask this question and get help with this! There are already several threads specifically on this question and we encourage you to do this![/hide]

[hide=Where is a one-click for this?]
All known one-clicks brick phones at this time. All one-clicks are more dangerous than if you manually do it and mess it up. You SHOULD NOT use a one-click but instead should do it manually via ADB and Fastboot.[/hide]

[hide=But it's just a temporary thing that I don't have ADB working. I'm at work and need to root a co-worker's phone but my functional ADB is at home. How can I root it without ADB?]
Please see the answer to "Where is a one-click for this?".[/hide]

[hide=No, seriously. I get that it's risky. How do I do it?]
No, seriously, all one-clicks do at this point are brick your device. You waste your time, and other peoples' as well, even trying it. Please, just don't do it. I'm not going to help you do it, though.[/hide]

[hide=Okay, you've convinced me. So how can I do this manually?]
Here: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/12013-welcome-to-rootzwiki-editionstep-by-step-oem-unlock-and-root/[/hide]


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## Mexiken (Jul 23, 2011)

Good show.

My phone is in the mail. Now, where's the one click solution ???? Surely a day is enough to make one, right ????


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## XiriX12 (Jul 5, 2011)

So Jax, tell me what method do you think is the best? I have adb working am able to see devices and can boot into fastbook with adb. I just get the "waiting for device" that others seem to get. Thanks


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

XiriX12 said:


> So Jax, tell me what method do you think is the best? I have adb working am able to see devices and can boot into fastbook with adb. I just get the "waiting for device" that others seem to get. Thanks


Check out this thread with a suggestion for a fix.


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## XiriX12 (Jul 5, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> Check out this thread with a suggestion for a fix.


Will do thanks Jax.


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## Blunderbuss (Aug 24, 2011)

Well, I used the superboot 3 method after I had already unlocked the bootloader, and it did in fact root and install SU correctly for me...I was on 4.02, for reference. I thought it had failed because it just appeared like running superboot kept it stuck at the google screen, but I let it sit for awhile, pulled the battery to restart the phone, and viola I was rooted.


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## scooby0u812 (Jul 31, 2011)

hey jax. i agree we should stay away from the one clicks. im sure some of them may work but there are some others that wont. there are even some of them that have the," this method will root all android phones" tag still with them. but they dont tend to read the rest of the post where the last post on the topic was way back in 2009. with they way that android is growing it is better we all just learn adb. and by no means should we "root a friends phone" with an untried one click. that friend may not be a friend for long if we do.


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## XiriX12 (Jul 5, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> Check out this thread with a suggestion for a fix.


I wanted to say thanks for your help! I finally unlocked the bootloader and now need to root. I had to manually update the driver which i was doing WAY wrong the first 8 times!!


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## Rodeojones (Jun 13, 2011)

This thread made me laugh. I'm no professional Android hacker, and I had a hell of a time getting ADB setup properly on my laptop (stupid platform-tools/), but the thought of a one-click method never crossed my mind. I rooted my OG the old-fashioned way and I was determined to do so on my Nexus.


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## Whyteboyello (Jun 7, 2011)

I had used ADB a little in the past but nothing to this extent. I was excited to read everything and actually learn what was being done to my phone and to be able to do it myself. So to anyone scared just follow the instructions in the other posts word by word and you will be fine and be a little more knowledgeable.


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## EricErK (Jun 8, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> Expect this to be the answer to these questions for the next month (or possibly much longer):
> 
> [hide=I can't get ADB working on my computer. How can I still root my phone?]
> You can't nor should you. If you cannot get ADB working, you SHOULD NOT root your phone at this time!
> ...


I did a one click i'm fine i think?


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

EricErK said:


> I did a one click i'm fine i think?


What process did you use? I'm still unaware of a one-click that works...


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## EricErK (Jun 8, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> What process did you use? I'm still unaware of a one-click that works...


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1400871 Windows Only!


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## DizzyThermal (Jun 15, 2011)

Great post, ADB isn't even that hard to get working.. >.>


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

EricErK said:


> http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1400871 Windows Only!


FWIW, following this method still requires you to do the hard part of rooting it manually. In addition, it introduces you to some fairly complex processes that are MUCH more likely to brick your device than if you manually perform it and type a command incorrectly. So I'm sticking with my OP here and saying that I don't trust this one-click. Not saying the devs are malicious (in fact, they're quite well respected) but I still am not comfortable with that. Once you get to the point where you can run their software, well, you're about 5 lines in a command prompt away from doing it yourself.

As always, YMMV but that's just me.


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## EricErK (Jun 8, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> FWIW, following this method still requires you to do the hard part of rooting it manually. In addition, it introduces you to some fairly complex processes that are MUCH more likely to brick your device than if you manually perform it and type a command incorrectly. So I'm sticking with my OP here and saying that I don't trust this one-click. Not saying the devs are malicious (in fact, they're quite well respected) but I still am not comfortable with that. Once you get to the point where you can run their software, well, you're about 5 lines in a command prompt away from doing it yourself.
> 
> As always, YMMV but that's just me.


Idk it worked for me, and i'm still up and running


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

EricErK said:


> Idk it worked for me, and i'm still up and running


Precisely why I said YMMV.

My sister used to ride in cars without her seatbelt on. She was in a very bad accident and was thrown 30 feet out of the car yet she's still okay. Do I recommend people ride in the car without a seatbelt because she's okay? NOPE!


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## EricErK (Jun 8, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> Precisely why I said YMMV.
> 
> My sister used to ride in cars without her seatbelt on. She was in a very bad accident and was thrown 30 feet out of the car yet she's still okay. Do I recommend people ride in the car without a seatbelt because she's okay? NOPE!


Idk what ymmv or fwiw and i'm too embarrassed to admit it :/


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

EricErK said:


> Idk what ymmv or fwiw and i'm too embarrassed to admit it :/


No worries.

YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary.
FWIW = For What It's Worth.
IDK = I Don't Know. Oh, wait, that one was yours! ;-)


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## EricErK (Jun 8, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> No worries.
> 
> YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary.
> FWIW = For What It's Worth.
> IDK = I Don't Know. Oh, wait, that one was yours! ;-)


hahahahhaahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!


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## nocoast (Oct 17, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> FWIW, following this method still requires you to do the hard part of rooting it manually. In addition, it introduces you to some fairly complex processes that are MUCH more likely to brick your device than if you manually perform it and type a command incorrectly. So I'm sticking with my OP here and saying that I don't trust this one-click. Not saying the devs are malicious (in fact, they're quite well respected) but I still am not comfortable with that. Once you get to the point where you can run their software, well, you're about 5 lines in a command prompt away from doing it yourself.
> 
> As always, YMMV but that's just me.


fwiw i used the xda method and honestly if i was less technologically inclined I woulda soft bricked my phone no doubt. That tool sucks, it doesnt flash su to your stock 402 right, it flashed a broken cwm to my phone but it unlocked the bootloader and that was enough...only reason i couldnt use a more legit method was because the only computer i had over xmas vacation was my moms netbook with 6000 viruses on it and each page load takes about 45 min (not kidding) so i needed something that would do it for me...NEVER AGAIN.


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## EricErK (Jun 8, 2011)

nocoast said:


> fwiw i used the xda method and honestly if i was less technologically inclined I woulda soft bricked my phone no doubt. That tool sucks, it doesnt flash su to your stock 402 right, it flashed a broken cwm to my phone but it unlocked the bootloader and that was enough...only reason i couldnt use a more legit method was because the only computer i had over xmas vacation was my moms netbook with 6000 viruses on it and each page load takes about 45 min (not kidding) so i needed something that would do it for me...NEVER AGAIN.


lol that sucks!


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## jt1359 (Jun 21, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> Expect this to be the answer to these questions for the next month (or possibly much longer):
> 
> [hide=I can't get ADB working on my computer. How can I still root my phone?]
> You can't nor should you. If you cannot get ADB working, you SHOULD NOT root your phone at this time!
> ...


Wug's Toolkit counts as a one-click, right? Seems almost idiot-proof. http://www.galaxynexusforum.com/forum/galaxy-nexus-hacks-mods-lte-cdma/1445-wugs-galaxy-nexus-root-toolkit.html
I haven't tried it yet myself, but it's something to check out


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

jt1359 said:


> Wug's Toolkit counts as a one-click, right? Seems almost idiot-proof. http://www.galaxynex...ot-toolkit.html
> I haven't tried it yet myself, but it's something to check out


Go check our news article on this for one answer to that.

My answer to this: Yes, it's a one-click. Is it safe? I still claim no because:
1) If you need to use a one-click like this, then it's probably because you don't know enough to follow rooting instructions. If you don't know enough to follow rooting instructions, then you don't know enough to deal with problems that come up once you root your phone. I guarantee you that if you root your phone, at some point a problem will come up. Guaranteed! Additionally, you probably don't know enough to understand how to keep your phone secure while it's rooted. By its very definition, rooting a phone is a MAJOR security risk and THAT is why all of these trojans exist that send texts to premium numbers and essentially steal your money. So if you need to use a one-click tool like this, then you WILL have problems. If you want a rooted phone, then you should do the diligence of learning what you need to learn in order to manage your phone. There is simply no such thing as a rooted phone that "just works" - it NEEDS to be actively managed and that REQUIRES technical knowledge. Period.
2) Assuming that you understand enough from point 1) that it's not a problem, then you understand enough to root your phone and properly manage it. If you understand this, then you're at least vaguely familiar with using ADB and Fastboot and how to install drivers. If you can do that, download 2 additional files (Recovery and SU.zip), and run 2 command lines in Fastboot, then you're done rooting. That is easy and you know exactly what's going on. However, with a one-click like this, do you know what that button is doing? Probably not. What assumptions does it make about the recovery file? Does it check MD5 before flashing? What assumptions does it make about your partition tables? Where they changed by an OTA? How could it know? What if an OTA is released tomorrow that changes your partition tables and the result is that flashing your recovery hoses your partition tables? Then you're in a spot where it would take a very special dev to fix your phone (but still be possible - I watched somebody help b16 do this a while ago). What if a 16GB LTE model is released - will this tool brick that? Again, you simply do not know what this tool does, what files it uses, what assumptions it makes, and what is going to happen in the future that will cause it to brick your phone. Also, let's say something unexpected happens - you accidentally rip out the USB cable while you're doing this. What exactly was it doing? Was it simply copying files? Was it halfway through flashing recovery? What should you do next? Should you reboot your phone? Should you keep your phone from rebooting upon all costs? Who knows? You don't know what was going on so when the unexpected happens, you have no idea how to recover from it because, well, you don't know what's going on.

For the record, I have a ton of respect for WugFresh - he's a great guy and I've talked with him many different times! That said, I simply CANNOT advocate one-clicks for these reasons on the Galaxy Nexus where it's easier to manually root a device than it is to use a one-click. Unlocking my Nexus is 1 single command line command. Flashing a recovery on my Nexus was 1 single command line command. And rooting it initially was 0 command line commands, although pushing a file to my phone was 1 single command line command. If ANY of these command line commands are too complicated for you to use or you struggle using them, you SHOULD NOT have a rooted phone (see point #1). On other phones that require (sometimes very complex) exploits in order to unlock the device and/or root the device, I step back quite a bit from this argument of never recommending one-clicks. However, with a Nexus, you should not need or use a one-click because it is only arguably easier, it only arguably saves time, and it adds TONS of risk. Buying a lottery ticket for $100 with a one-in-four chance of winning a million bucks - that's a risk that's worth it. Buying a lottery ticket for $100 with a one-in-four chance of winning $101 - that's stupid and not worth the risk. With the Nexus, using the one-click has a significant risk and the reward, if it even exists, is practically non-existent, just like the $101 lottery prize.


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## TeeX (Jun 6, 2011)

so tell us how you _really_ feel, Jax









I've rooted and rommed the heck out of my DroidX and my Droid Bionic. I got the GNex on release day and I'm loving it. I'm loving it so much that I'm still in love with stock ICS. I've battled Moto skins and bloatware for years, and I'm really enjoying "the pure google experience".

Once that wears off, I'll undoubtedly unlock and root my Nexus. I run a Linux machine, so I can do some basic command lines.	Wug's process is tempting because it also backs up all app data, but I'll probably end up just manually unlocking and rooting my machine. Mostly because it's fun. It's bonding time with my phone (geek points?), it makes me feel like a programmer or developer, even thought I'll never, ever have the skill to do that.

I have no doubt that I can manually unlock and root my phone, but I might also use his version on occasion, because it's faster (arguably) and easier. I see both points of the argument, but I really appreciate Wug's support of the community and the time it must have taken to put out his method.


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## jt1359 (Jun 21, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> Go check our news article on this for one answer to that.
> 
> My answer to this: Yes, it's a one-click. Is it safe? I still claim no because:
> 1) If you need to use a one-click like this, then it's probably because you don't know enough to follow rooting instructions. If you don't know enough to follow rooting instructions, then you don't know enough to deal with problems that come up once you root your phone. I guarantee you that if you root your phone, at some point a problem will come up. Guaranteed! Additionally, you probably don't know enough to understand how to keep your phone secure while it's rooted. By its very definition, rooting a phone is a MAJOR security risk and THAT is why all of these trojans exist that send texts to premium numbers and essentially steal your money. So if you need to use a one-click tool like this, then you WILL have problems. If you want a rooted phone, then you should do the diligence of learning what you need to learn in order to manage your phone. There is simply no such thing as a rooted phone that "just works" - it NEEDS to be actively managed and that REQUIRES technical knowledge. Period.
> ...


So you're just against one-click rooting on this phone specifically because it's so easy on this phone? Or are you against all one-clicks? Don't worry I've had a rooted phone for about a year now and I know quite a bit about rooting and how to do it. Would you ever suggest using this even for people who do know somewhat what it's doing?


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

jt1359 said:


> So you're just against one-click rooting on this phone specifically because it's so easy on this phone? Or are you against all one-clicks? Don't worry I've had a rooted phone for about a year now and I know quite a bit about rooting and how to do it. Would you ever suggest using this even for people who do know somewhat what it's doing?


I'm generally against one-clicks but there are sometimes when they really are safer than manually performing the unlock and/or root if the exploit required is too risky.

With the Nexus, I am totally against it because it is far too easy to perform manually.

I'm also generally against people rooting/unlocking their Android device if they aren't capable enough to properly maintain the rooted/unlocked device. Again, performing this is a MAJOR security risk that you MUST actively manage. If you cannot properly manage a fairly insecure Linux-based system, you should not be rooting your device. Seriously. FAR too many people root their device without realizing what they're actually doing. And we're starting to see FAR too many trojans take advantage of these ignorant users. It's like putting a noob on a Linux box without being behind a firewall or installing Windows XP without any service packs and putting it online without a firewall - that would be idiotic to do!


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