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I've rooted my phone but now I'm scared that it would be bricked. I've seen a page on "Tips to prevent from bricking" and it said to install custom ROM recovery or something like that. I think there were two things; ClockWorkMod and Team Win.

I tried to install one and downloaded ROM manager but didn't work (didn't find my device model name).

Doing what kind of things increases the probability of bricking my device?

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  • Why did you root in the first place ?
    – Иво Недев
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 12:42
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    Curiosity, Internet pressure and someone saying "OMFG, ROOTING IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER KNOWN". It's pretty cool actually.
    – Slim Shady
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 12:47
  • It's good but in most cases you don't even need root.
    – Иво Недев
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 12:47

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Doing exactly what you are doing is probably the biggest chance of bricking your phone - experimenting without proper knowledge and understanding of how things work. Go into xda-developers and find your phone's forum. Then start reading - how to install a ROM and a Recovery, change kernels etc. Read the threads and follow the steps exactly as they are shown and you won't be having any problems. All it takes is for you to mess up a single step, to brick your phone - may it be you download wrong file, not for your model or you type in wrong command etc. Still Android these days (not like back in 2010 for example) are quite resilient. It's not too difficult to recover from almost all kinds of bricks.

TLDR Read how other people did it before you on accredited sites like XDA-Developers and be careful.

Story time: I've been doing this (rooting, installing roms etc. - being power user) for 5-6 years now so I know my stuff. I started unlocking my LG G4, then rooting, then installing recovery. What I did here was really stupid. Instead of installing a recovery I booted into it - so I had access to it only once. But I didn't notice right away. I installed my files, and the installer required a restart, and to boot back into recovery. But since I didn't install recovery the first time, as soon as I restarted my phone I literally messed up. I went into semi-soft brick. No access to fastboot, couldn't hook up my phone to my PC to execute commands, and the phone was in bootloop, only going as far as the logo. Well I panicked a bit, went into the forum and started reading for solutions. At the end, something written for totally different thing allowed me to push some commands, and salvage my phone.

Also on your comment: And in general, don't root if you don't know what it is. Many people do root exactly for your reasons "people say its cool" I rooted to install xposed and get some modules I need.

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  • Short, straightforward and precise answers, please.
    – rjt.rockx
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 12:54
  • @rjt.rockx I have bolded the TLDR section just for you. OP might be able to benefit from my personal experience story ;)
    – Иво Недев
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 12:56
  • Excellent example, sir. Although I prefer a more empirical approach (and bricking things is what you should go through in order to learn how to fix them), it's generally better to learn from others' mistakes. Of course, this doesn't stop me from messing with the bootloader, but reading is a must, and something to do -before- playing with something you don't know about.
    – Grimoire
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 13:30
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Things like :

  • Flashing a recovery/ROM that is built for a different device other than yours
  • Installing beta/unstable builds of ROMs/recoveries
  • Messing about with system files without a proper backup
  • Typing the wrong command while modifying your device

These increase the probability of your device getting bricked.

Always ensure that you have something to fall back onto in case of an error. A NANDroid backup is recommended.

In case you run into any problem, sites like XDA-Developers are a good source of help.

Rooting isn't bad, as long as you know what you're doing.

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  • Actually, I've just downloaded some apps like xposed, system app uninstaller, gravity box, tinted status bar and apk2rom. I've downloaded them to modify the appearance. And I've changed the boot audio and animation, also deleted the camera sound nothing much.
    – Slim Shady
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 13:03
  • @BenJunior As long as you know what you're doing, nothing much won't happen. But sometimes, conflicting modules might cause soft bricks.
    – rjt.rockx
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 13:05
  • Can downloading some modules from other websites other than Google Play be dangerous?
    – Slim Shady
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 13:11
  • @BenJunior Nope, nothing like that. There is no guarantee that those modules might be malware-free, though. Google checks the APKs uploaded to the Play Store, so there is a comparatively lesser threat level there.
    – rjt.rockx
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 13:15
  • Is it possible to unbrick without any recovery installed?
    – Slim Shady
    Commented Apr 8, 2016 at 13:21

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