It was not my first experience rooting a device (a few weeks ago I rooted and made my HP TouchPad a dual boot tablet with the CM9 ROM so it runs Android and WebOS... sweet!). But I was leery of bricking my cellphone (HTC Thunderbolt). But waiting on Ice Cream Sandwich got old, so... Rooted using a one click tool called the Thunderbolt Tool. A pretty easy and straightfoward approach to adding SuperUser to my phone. Once rooted, I added the BAMF Son of A Bliss (SOAB) 1.4 ROM. That process was actually a lot more tricky, and I stayed up to 3am wiping data and downloading the ROM and radio a few times only to find my phone would constantly freeze up. It wasn't until the next day and some helpful messages from other users that I was able to get the new ROM and phone to work perfectly with each other (essentially had to raise the minimum CPU speed of the phone to stop the freezes). It now runs faster, with a bit longer battery life, and is extremely customized to my needs and taste. I was also able to cancel the monthly wifi tethering I was paying for (rooted phones can USB and wireless tether for free). And I don't have a phone that works and looks like everyone else's. May not even care if the Thunderbolt ever gets ICS. heck, I don't even think I will replace my phone (and lose my unlimited contract). And... if I tire of how the phone looks and works, I can download a new ROM and customize differently. Other than the stress involved when the initial downloads didn't work, the hardest decision was which ROM to go with (others were faster and less of a battery draw... may eventually switch to one of those). I know it was the nerdiest thing I have ever done... but really happy I did it!
Welcome to the dark side... I gotta warn you though, it can get addicting. I flash a new ROM on my phone about once a week. Gonna try out Jelly Bean today.
i don't know about any of this ****, but i got an update for my droid a couple weeks ago and it has devastated my battery life. i have a galaxy s2, has anyone been experiencing the same problem? maybe some advice as to what i can do about it?
I have had success with Juice Defender (free app in Play Store). Also turning down the brightness and using wifi as much as possible (4G is a big battery user).
Skyrocket? That one, and possibly the normal S2 received an update that destroyed battery life. You'll need to download ICS using KIES or get a new phone (lul).
Sigh. I wish people would stop using and making these one click root utilities. I say that due to lots of people not knowing how to recover their devices manually if the need ever comes. Congrats though. BAMF is probably one of the best series of ROM'S for the Thunderbolt. If you like Sense of course.
I see your point. I planned to use the Revolutionary tool (less automated) but my T-Bolt had the OTA so the One click tool was recommended to avoid downgrading and then rooting. I have only have experience with Sense so for my first ROM it made sense, plus I read that BAMF ROMs were pretty stable. I want to try an ASOP ROM like Liquid Smooth or one of the ICS variants like IKREAM. Which ROM do you have on your Thunderbolt?
I haven't had a Tbolt since May 2011 lol. I have friends with them so I just occasionally visit the forums. Are most of the ROMS out for it Gingerbread still? Or ICS?