Is it possible that I could mess up my phone if I unlock the bootloader and root it?

[Bakgrund]

So I saw this guide on how to root and unlock the bootloader on the Oneplus One, but I'm pretty scared to mess something up so my device becomes worthless.

 

Is that a good and proper guide to follow? Any way I can take backup of the entire device including the operating system before I root and unlock the bootloader, so if I mess something up, I can just restore?

 

Thanks!

[Excon]

You could soft brick it @_ASSASSIN_ has one and I would consider a pro though

[flibberdipper]

You could mess it up if you do it wrong, or something else goes awry.

[Speedbird]

If you do it right, you'll be fine. I've heard that Titanium Backup backs up everything, try that.

[LarsReviews]

The guide is from xdadevelopers. It can't get anymore legit than that. My favorite Source for Android. 

 

Why would you need to root a OPO? It already has CM.

 

Please tell me why?

[Bakgrund]

You could soft brick it @_ASSASSIN_ has one and I would consider a pro though

 

 

You could mess it up if you do it wrong, or something else goes awry.

 

Okey so if it becomes bricked, can i just throw it in the trash or is there something you can do to get it set up and working again?

[Excon]

Why would you need to root a OPO. It already has CM.

Not everyone likes CM

[Bakgrund]

Why would you need to root a OPO. It already has CM.

 

Some great applications need root access.

[Excon]

Okey so if it becomes bricked, can i just throw it in the trash or is there something you can do to get it set up and working again?

Soft Bricks according to _ASSASSIN_ are incredibly easy to fix. 

[LarsReviews]

Some great applications need root access.

 

The guide is from xdadevelopers. It can't get anymore legit than that. My favorite Source for Android. 

[RevoltTrain]

If you do it right you'll be fine.

[_ASSASSIN_]

Why would you need to root a OPO? It already has CM.

 

Please tell me why?

because you can do hella cool mods like changing the color of the lockscreen and other crap like that.

That and why nat.

[_ASSASSIN_]

oneplus one is probably the easiest phone to root. Since it's an XDA guide, it's trust worthy. Just keep in mind when you unlock the bootloader, everything is wiped.

[flibberdipper]

Soft Bricks according to _ASSASSIN_ are incredibly easy to fix. 

Wonder if I can tag the no-tag wonder for you.

 

@_ASSASSIN_

[TheSLSAMG]

It's possible, but only if you are doing something blatantly wrong.

[LarsReviews]

because you can do hella cool mods like changing the color of the lockscreen and other crap like that.

That and why nat.

 

I know. I just wanted to make sure that it is really necessary for the OP to root it.

 

 

I'm pretty sure samsung phones are the easiest to root you just download an apk and install it then your rooted but the bootloaders are locked so you can't flash anything on it 

 

 

Nexus  is even easier. Just enter fastboot oem unlock in cmd

[Bakgrund]

Thanks for all your replies! I'll try to root and unlock bootloader tomorrow I think, if it doesn't turn out any good I guess I'll just come back

[Golfball_Pro]

I agree with @LarsReviews, Nexus devices are the easiest to mod. If you follow an XDA guide exactly as it is written, hardly anything can go wrong.

Just make sure that you are using a good micro usb cable (solid connection, not unstable easily disconnects) and that your computer does not lose power while you are flashing.

Make sure that the custom recovery you get matches your device exactly. I prefer TWRP but you could use CWM (doesn't make much of a difference). Before flashing, make sure you make a Nandroid backup (just called backup in recovery) of your phone. That way, if something goes wrong, you can restore it exactly to its current configuration.

Once you have custom recovery installed, it's easy to recover from a softbrick. Have a ROM you know works handy, enter adb-sideload mode on the device, and push the (ROM).zip file to the phone using ADB on your PC.

Good luck and have fun

Remember: There is always the risk (albeit small) of bricking your device... It's half the fun

[LarsReviews]

I agree with @LarsReviews, Nexus devices are the easiest to mod. If you follow an XDA guide exactly as it is written, hardly anything can go wrong.

Just make sure that you are using a good micro usb cable (solid connection, not unstable easily disconnects) and that your computer does not lose power while you are flashing.

Make sure that the custom recovery you get matches your device exactly. I prefer TWRP but you could use CWM (doesn't make much of a difference). Before flashing, make sure you make a Nandroid backup (just called backup in recovery) of your phone. That way, if something goes wrong, you can restore it exactly to its current configuration.

Once you have custom recovery installed, it's easy to recover from a softbrick. Have a ROM you know works handy, enter adb-sideload mode on the device, and push the (ROM).zip file to the phone using ADB on your PC.

Good luck and have fun

Remember: There is always the risk (albeit small) of bricking your device... It's half the fun

 

Do you know if the OP could use the Backup function via CMD? was it "adb backup all", to long ago it did that. 

[shadowblitz3]

Bricked my phone first time i tried unlocking the bootloader. Fastboot and flashboot saved my life.

[Bakgrund]

Ok just another quick question, in the video he said nothing about unticking update cm recovery, which people in the comment points out that you should, should i untick that?

[Golfball_Pro]

Do you know if the OP could use the Backup function via CMD? was it "adb backup all", to long ago it did that. 

 

 Yeah I guess you could. Although unless you are doing it to a rooted device, some app data may not get backed up or you may have some issues restoring the backup to a new device/ROM. If you specify what to backup like this:

 

adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|nosystem] [<packages...>]

 

Then you could just backup user data and ignore app data.

 

I tried messing around with this and from my experience, it's just too buggy, takes a long time, and is not guaranteed to work.

 

Maybe it was just my device (Nexus 4) and my particular configuration at the time (kernel version, Android version... etc), and it may work on other devices. If you would like to try it, this is the guide I used when trying it myself:

 

http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-phone-backup-unlock-root-t1420351

 

I think it is pretty comprehensive but if anyone else knows of a better one, please feel free to post a link to it.

 

That is only if you want to (attempt to) backup the device in an unrooted state. If the device is already rooted, you can use an app such as Titanium Backup (found on the Google Play Store) to backup all apps and app data. I have used it and it works really well, assuming that you are going to be using the same Android version.

 

I find that it is best to connect the phone to the computer and manually transfer personal data (Photos, Videos, Music...), backing up contacts to the SIM card, and using a third party app to backup your text messages (if you feel that is necessary). Afterwards, start clean with a brand new flash of your preferred ROM.

 

Oh yeah, I don't accept any responsibility for bricked devices resulting from any advice given. I am almost certain that the above methods work, but unforeseen circumstances (cat yanking cable out of computer, power surges, blackouts/brownouts) can happen.

 

Once you are rooted though, backing up data should no longer be a problem.

[Bakgrund]

Just followed the video, I didn't have root access when I first checked, but I solved it by going in to supersu and then unticking the respect cm root settings.
 

Everything works fine now.

 

Thanks yet again!

 

Time to do a nandroid backup.