Given that I've gotten another private message on the process and related difficulties of Platinumtel Samsung Intercept rooting and after consolidating the previous advice sent in PMs on the subject this afternoon (and also did the boneheaded thing of not proof-reading as closely as I should and being distracted and screwing up some code IDs), I figured I'd just post it here. It's been a learning process for myself, but I've gotten it down to a sweet science mostly thanks to the work of others.
First, why did I root my Intercept? I'll go into greater detail later, but ultimately because it's a cheap hackers phone... this phone is
usable stock configured with the current FB01 update, but most people
hate it, and for good reason. In the hands of a skilled tech, the phone can sing. I've been working IT for nearly a decade and a half and one of my many hats is *nix sysadmin. I know what I'm doing, and I'm not afraid to be stupid.
ROOTING YOUR ANDROID PHONE IS STUPID! If I could make that sentence blink as well, I would. Got that? Good. If you need or want a phone that doesn't require rooting to make it awesome and highly usable, spend the extra money on a better phone like the HTC Hero when it's in stock.
Also, my apologies in advance for spending the time posting this instead of the updates the guide so desperately needs. Anyway, here we go:
ROOTING YOUR SAMSUNG INTERCEPT TO MAKE IT SUCK LESSLessons and experiences tempered by the past month of living with the Pink Platinumtel Samsung InterceptNormally, I don't like helping others root their devices at all, but I'll make a minor exception with this one post. Rooting the Intercept is actually one of the easier phones to root with the highest payback reward for success versus risks taken (which is great from a Mustachian standpoint), but you need to know a couple things and ask some questions going in.
First question: Why do you want to root the device, and do you already know the security risks involved with a rooted device?Read this article before going any further. If you're doing it for the right reasons given what I know of the Intercept, fantastic, but I want to make sure
you know as well
because the stock FB01 update isn't that terrible... it's still got some bloatware and the vestigial remnants of CarrierIQ,
but it isn't terrible, and it's better than having your phone be vulnerable to every fart in the wind and virus that comes knocking on your door.
Clockword Mod Recovery (CM01) is a fantastic bootstrap replacement to have on your phone, but you don't need to leave your phone rooted to use it, or even necessarily need it rooted to install at all given
the work done by spaztecho at SDX... heck, you don't even have to have it installed at all. It's not necessary
to make it go.
Second question: What firmware version are you running?The phones being shipped from P'tel should be running DL05, but there's been a firmware update from Sprint since this past March (FB01) that will change your approach as the GingerBreak exploit being used to root DL05 had been patched (which isn't a bad thing). Of the two methods, DL05 is far easier to root than FB01, but if you've already upgraded to FB01 before rooting, all is not lost.
Third question: Do you have your MSL code handy?Before you do
any of this, make sure you have the MSL code and voicemail number for your phone from P'tel handy (those were the numbers you had to enter to configure the phone number and voicemail number) as you will need to re-configure your voicemail settings afterward.
Finally, don't forget: You're doing this of your own free will. I will not take responsibility for or help you repair or unbrick your phone if you run into problems. I'll do my best to keep you on the straight and narrow in the rooting process, but things can and do go wrong, including turning your new $60 Intercept into a doorstop. Fortunately, doorstop mode is pretty difficult to achieve if you've succeeded in getting Clockwork Mod Recovery on the device and been sane enough to back up the stock firmware (both data and system), but this is why I don't normally recommend rooting to
anyone but really savvy technical people who know su from their elbow.
Haven't scared you off from the task at hand? Alright, you've been warned. Let's begin!
Getting there from DL05If you're running DL05 still, all you need to do is install the Intercept Root APK on your phone and run it and have it install CM01 (Clockwork Mod) after the root reboot:
http://code.google.com/p/intercept-root/From there, here's what you do:
- Boot into CM01 (Clockword Mod) recovery either from the Intercept Root app or by holding the Vol-Down+Call+End buttons to turn the phone on.
- Do a reset on the phone, wipe battery cache, make a stock backup image of the firmware, install T.J. Sanders FB01 Almost Stock followed immediately by JosephMother's CrappyKernel 1.5 (note, JM's Crappy Kernel is pre-rooted). (Official report on Smoke Kernel 1.2 after testing: really great performance, effin' kills the battery... like 8 hours in airplane mode kills. Definitely use CK. These two steps brings you current on Android FroYo build and gives you a kernel that outperforms stock in everything - speed, battery life, app management, etc.)
- While in recovery mode, do permissions and file system fixes, and make recovery images of the new install for data and system.
- Install ES File Explorer after rebooting into the phone (it'll take a while first boot, don't panic) and re-configuring voicemail using the MSL code configuration. Use ES to back up system apps and gut the Sprint bloatware and remove the following CarrierIQ files:
/system/bin/iqmsd
/system/lib/libiq_client.so
/system/lib/libiq_service.so - Do a single 100% charge and battery drain until it powers itself off to set battery life range, then charge as normal.
That's all there is to it. It'll bring the firmware current, fully remove CarrierIQ, it's fast, battery life is excellent, relatively secure (at least as secure as a rooted phone can be). Customize to your heart's content from there, and don't be afraid to uninstall ES File Explorer after you're finished with it. It's useful for cleaning up and gutting, but in day to day usage, it's a bit too heavy in its memory footprint to use with this phone.
Minor note: why use
T.J. Sanders FB01 Almost Stock at all in this process? Because the released FB01 stock firmware images that I
have found don't work and I'm too busy/lazy to release myself. Honestly, you're better off updating to FB01 over upgrading from DL05, but rooting and installing CM01 is so much easier from DL05. With the exception of gutting Sprint bloatware, I always recommend running as close to stock as possible for the base firmware and system software.
Getting there from FB01Getting root is a bit different with FB01 as the approach is a bit different, and you'll need access to a Windows machine to pull this off. You'll want to start here:
http://forum.sdx-developers.com/index.php?topic=15586.msg194417#msg194417You'll note that although spaztecho hasn't been able to autoroot FB01, he has released a Clockwork CM01 auto-installer script for Windows (there at the bottom, read the whole post). Once you've got CM01 recovery installed, you can boot into recovery mode (power on holding volume down + call + end call) and do a factory reset, cache clear, root install, and/or kernel/firmware flash from there.
From that point, here's what you do:
- Boot into CM01 (Clockword Mod) recovery by holding the Vol-Down+Call+End buttons to turn the phone on.
- Do a reset on the phone, wipe battery cache, make a stock backup image of the firmware, install either Superuser from ChainsDD or JosephMother's CrappyKernel 1.5. Superuser will give you root and proper SU support for the device, and I consider it more secure (as secure as the spectrum of what secure can be on a device that's running as root can be, anyway) than Crappy Kernel at the moment. Superuser is also easier to remove, making it far easier to UNroot the phone when you're finished needing root access - THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- While in recovery mode, do permissions and file system fixes, and make recovery images of the new install for data and system.
- Install ES File Explorer after rebooting into the phone (it'll take a while first boot, don't panic) and re-configuring voicemail using the MSL code configuration. Use ES to back up system apps and gut the Sprint bloatware and rename or backup plus remove the following CarrierIQ files:
/system/bin/iqmsd
/system/lib/libiq_client.so
/system/lib/libiq_service.so - Do a single 100% charge and battery drain until it powers itself off to set battery life range, then charge as normal.
You'll notice that the instructions are similar after the second step.
GIGANTIC WORD OF WARNING, HOWEVER! Removing the CarrierIQ files shouldn't brick the phone with the stock FB01 kernel given it should be deactivated, but I have not personally tried doing it. It is entirely possible and even
probable that you could boot loop your phone on reboot after removing these files!
I know for a fact that you will if you did it with DL05 as the kernel is built with dependencies on those libs! I'd love confirmation on how safe it is to remove them without checking myself, but like everything else in this less than detailed guide, JUST DON'T DO IT,
especially if you don't know how to restore those files from a command line! The presence of CarrierIQ binary libs are bad even if unused, but a $60 electronic doorstop is worse!
Is there anything else that should be done while rooted?Maybe yes.
Autostarts is a good thing to buy and run at least once, but just like everything else that relies on root, you can mess your phone up and boot loop or brick it if you don't know what you're disabling, but with cautious disabling of certain apps, you can help improve overall system performance and memory management.
Personally? The combo of CrappyKernel, Autostarts, and Zeam Launcher with Kik, Wunderground's weather app (we live in tornado alley), a mostly disabled Winamp, Dolphin Browser, K-9 Mail, Easy Battery Saver, Calls Blacklist, Note Everything, Unlock With WiFi, Google Voice, WiFi Widget, and WiFi on on AC Power has treated us well (no, we aren't currently running Sipdroid). Data usage is low, battery life ranges close to 60 hours on 3G (with Easy Battery Saver disabling 3G for 8 hours a day), 40 on WiFi, 72+ish on airplane mode, and used base memory hovers around 100MB out of the available 161MB, so it's responsive most of the time but can still choke with heavier apps. Since removing ChompSMS, I've also been nearly two weeks without restarting my phone yet. My wife's phone has run similarly.
Set your expectations low, don't expect those results with your phone.
Final notes and thoughts.Why exactly did I root and I recommend considering rooting the Platinumtel Intercept specifically?Because this is a phone that has the reputation of people loving to hate it. It's got a good hardware backbone to it, it
should be a good phone, but between Sprint and Samsung's firmware, the experience is a bit... stunted and frustrating. Without rooting, I wouldn't have been able to disable software startup events, remove bloatware, replace certain software with leaner replacements, have greater control over the firewall and traffic blocking/shaping, etc. Normally, I recommend people not to do extreme modifications to their phones as it typically only makes things worse. For the Intercept, it's already near the bottom of the barrel, so there isn't much to lose. After all, we're talking about a $10 Android smartphone subtracting the airtime card. Stock firmware also has CarrierIQ spyware on it, and the kernel can't handle proper voice multiplexing for VoIP calls on Sipdroid (more on this in a moment). Fact is, my wife went from hating her Intercept to loving it after I finally rooted and modified the thing... but I'm also a bit of an old tech hand and had hammered out all the learning curve bugs with this device on
my Intercept and all the consequent headaches therein before doing it for her.
Why do I both recommend and warn away from using JosephMother's CrappyKernel 1.5 on the Intercept?The great thing about CrappyKernel is its performance, memory management, the VoIP sound fix, and battery management. Heck, I'd say the phone is almost like a completely different model running CrappyKernel. They're all great things to have, but it's a permanent root solution which frankly gives me the heebie jeebies running as even though I've secured the phone quite well otherwise and I know what the crap I'm doing with a rooted phone. I haven't sat down yet and properly looked into the process necessary to run JosephMother's beautiful kernel yet without his implementation of root, but it is on my short list. I'd like to gut his permanent root solution and replace it with Superuser eventually to do it right, but it takes time that I haven't had yet and just going in and deleting su from inside Clockwork isn't enough. If you don't need VoIP on this phone, I recommend just sticking with stock and taking your lumps with the slightly shorter battery life. It is technically a $10 Android smartphone after all, keep those expectations low.
Is there anything else that can be done to improve performance and life beyond rooting?Yes! The biggest suggestion would be to replace the stock homescreen with
Zeam Launcher. Keep running widgets on your screen to a minimum. Also, don't listen to my recommendation in the guide for using Juice Defender or Onavo Count, you don't need them.
Easy Battery Saver is worth it for the battery life, though. Also, don't take me up on my suggestion of using ChompSMS. After a month, my family collectively gave up on it. There's memory leaks, long delays on delivery at times, etc. We've all settled on Kik instead, and Kik seems to be a more palatable option to the SMS junkies and is sufficiently lean on data that it's still a frugal text message solution. Also, keep installed apps to a minimum as well.
What about general phone security beyond just keeping track of it, keeping it off strange networks, and not just randomly downloading applications?That leaves physical theft as the primary security topic outside of simply not listening to any of the advice on rooting your phone that I offer or take me as an authority on these subjects or do as I suggest without vetting my knowledge for yourself and understanding the risks associated with it.
- Again, the most obvious suggestion is to not root your phone ever! Not temporarily. Definitely not permanently! Use security best practices and be cautious about what you install. Also look over application permissions and don't download free or knock-off games on Google Play as they're usually the infected ones. Having the Intercept Root app use GingerBreak can be a good thing, but having some knock-off of Angry Birds that utilizes GingerBreak to root your phone can be disastrous. And don't rely on those free (or even paid) antivirus solutions to keep you fully safe, they're mostly snake oil.
- The next most obvious is not to use your phone to carry any truly sensitive information or use it for any sort of banking. I know a lot of people are pushing for that, but banking on a mobile phone is financial russian roulette. Like jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, just because your friends are doing it doesn't mean its a good idea.
- Use aggressive locking for when out and about. This is why I suggest installing Unlock With WiFi so the aggressive security is only annoying when you're away from home. The number pin method is the fastest to unlock and adapts well to mental alphanumeric wordcodes for remembering (think Seinfeld: BOSCO!), IMHO. I'm not a fan of the touch pattern because it makes it potentially harder for your S.O./friend/etc. to unlock if they need to, YMMV.
- CM01 recovery supports passwords: set one. This means that they can't just boot into recovery mode, wipe the phone and get past the password locks to start using it.
- Install Contact Owner from Paranoid Android to set basic contact info on the lock screen. Offer an undisclosed "Good Samaritan reward" - it's a psychological gambit trying to immediately trigger a biblical "do the right thing" emotion on first view.
- Place a similar message in the SD card's root directory with a file named IF-FOUND-README.TXT. You could also include emergency contacts and brief medical history in the file as well, if so desired.
- Install and configure Android Lost from Theis Borg. Website here. Related review video here. The app is awesome. Tiny, doesn't chew up battery life, and gives you enterprise grade remote management of your phone. Remote wipe, photos, turn on GPS, intercept SMS messages, sound alarm, have it speak, the whole nine. It even has the option to hide itself from the app menu. Well reviewed and liked, but it also means your phone can now be spied on by anyone who has your Gmail credentials without you necessarily knowing it.
That should slow a thief down and overall make it worth their while to try not to snoop too hard and just return the thing (unless you're being specifically targeted). Most casual convenient phone thieves aren't smart enough to know how to get past most of that, and there's no value in a doorstop.
All that said, best of luck with your little pink phone that could, fellow Mustachians! Just remember, listen to your old pal Daley:
Don't be stupid like he is.