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Right now I have in my phone the stock rom and I haven't rooted it. I want to root it and change the rom.

  1. What should I do first, root or flash the rom?
  2. I don't want to lose all the configuration, apps, apps data or files (images, music, videos, etc in the SD). How can I do to be sure to avoid this?
  3. I want to make sure I can go back to the stock rom if I need, is there any special thing I should do?

If its relevant, I have a Samsung Galaxy I5510.

Thanks!

2 Answers 2

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  1. You should flash the ROM first, unless you need root in order to flash it. (You can flash via Odin without root, but you need ROM Manager, which needs root, or something to flash if you don't use Odin). When you flash a ROM that's rooted, your device will be rooted; if the ROM is not rooted, the device will not be rooted.

  2. You need root to make a full backup. See How to backup an Android device?

  3. If you root first, you can install a custom recovery (e.g. ClockworkMOD, via ROM Manager) that will let you create a Nandroid backup of the full ROM. That said, with a Samsung device you don't need to do this. You can use a tool called Odin to reflash the original firmware as long as you've found it for download somewhere.

If you need more details on anything I've mentioned, I suggest searching first -- we have lots of questions on rooting, backups, Nandroid / Clockwork / ROM Manager, and Odin. See also How do I root my Android device?, which has some info on considerations and things you can do before rooting.

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    You recommend to flash before root but you also say that I need root to make a full back up, how can I do? Should I flash after rooting to succeed backing up?
    – Diego
    Aug 24, 2011 at 16:41
  • @Diego If you want to back up before flashing, which wipes your device, then you need to root first. After rooting, backup (I recommend Titanium like the other answer) and then flash; afterwards, restore the backup. Restoring a Nandroid backup will write over the ROM, whereas Titanium just restores apps and data. Aug 24, 2011 at 20:47
  • Thanks! I'll give it a try this weekend and then (hopefully) accept the answer based in my experience.
    – Diego
    Aug 24, 2011 at 23:16
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  1. You will need to root first. Without rooting your device, you will not have access to certain parts of the system, and flashing a ROM might crash the device (most ROMs need root). You can root without erasing or resetting anything, so you can continue with #2 and back stuff up before you flash your ROM.

  2. Configuration you will probably lose, but apps and app data can be backed up through Titanium Backup. The SD card will not be affected by rooting, resetting, or flashing ROMs.

  3. Going back to the stock ROM is more difficult, unless you're okay with still being rooted. After root, boot into Recovery and choose Backup and Restore->Backup or similar (different on different recovery versions) to do a NANDROID backup. This will store an image of your original ROM, and is a one step restore to normal.

3a. Unrooting is entirely a more complex process and will involve re-installing your stock ROM (if you can find it online) and deleting everything on your device. NOTE: again, SD card will be okay, and apps can be restored with Titanium backup.

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