I have ADOSD – Attention Deficit…Oohh!  Shiny!! Disorder. 

When it comes to mobile devices, I can’t seem to last for more than 6 months on a single device.  I get bored quickly and start looking for the latest greatest and often get disappointed.  Why disappointed?  Simple. 

I be po’.

Like most everyone else with a family and other obligations – like groceries and the mortgage – (and little to no mad money or disposable cash just for me), I have long been a fan of cooked ROM’s for the devices I truly do like.  While putting a cooked ROM on a device can technically void your warranty (and certainly will if it gets bricked during flashing), leaving you with nothing more than a fancy paper weight and a monthly cell bill, if done correctly, a cooked ROM can go a long way to helping you get through the next two years on your contracted device.

Please note: This article does not recommend, suggest, condone, or imply in any way that you SHOULD jailbreak your device, despite the recent federal ruling regarding its legality. Jailbreaking your device is a personal choice and not without its risks.

With this in mind, the following is the experience I recently had while trying to root the MyTouch 3G Slide, a T-Mobile, locked,  Android 2.1 update1 device and a recent addition to the mobile phone stable in our house.  A full review of the device is currently in the works, so make sure you check back in a few weeks for it!

The MyTouch 3G Slide is an Android device.  And as Android is a Linux variant, the only way to get the MT3GS (or any Android device) to accept a custom ROM usually involves a 1 to 2 step process – Unlocking the bootloader (as in the Nexus One… though this is not required with every device) and getting root (or super user/ admin privileges… this IS required).

First things first… props and kudos to the authors of all the posts, tools and instructions I’m probably gonna site while I go through this. While there are a number of methods and tools out there that will help you root your device, this is by no means an easy task; and if you’re not 100% comfortable with working with a command prompt; or aren’t confident in your abilities to keep the Brick Faerie away from your device, then I wouldn’t recommend this.  Bricking your device is a VERY real possibility.  I actually thought I had done that with the MT3GS at one point, as it got caught in a boot loop near the end there, but I was able to work around it and got the device back.

1. Unlocking the Bootloader
   The first step you need to do is determine whether or not you need to unlock your bootloader in order to root your device. The Nexus One requires you to unlock the boot loader in order to root the device.  Thankfully, the MyTouch 3G Slide does not.
2. Rooting the Device
   Not all devices are created equal. Those of you that have been with me for a while will know that my device reviews tend to be very critical and often telling. Those that have had more than one mobile device within the last couple of years will also know that one may have been better than the other. This being the case, rooting one device may not be as easy as another device; and the same procedure you used to root one may not work on another.  Rooting the Nexus One was easy. Rooting the MyTouch 3G Slide took a great deal of persistence and furthermore, a great deal of patience.

   There are a great deal of posts out there trying to explain how to do this. I found the XDA Dev’s post near impossible to follow. It assumes you know a great deal about Unix or Linux and is written un uber geek speak. I’m a little light on the lingo, and really couldn’t follow it.

   There are a couple different methods out there that try to make the process somewhat automated.  SimpleRoot 1.3 simply didn’t work for me or my device. For some reason, and I don’t know why. When I contacted the author of the scripts about the problems I was having, he told me that there were other methods available. I tried following these instructions, as well as using the scripts and required support files, but all I did was ending up having to hard reset my device over and over.  The method just didn’t work for me.

   So, off I went, googling some more, trying to find the simpler, easier ways I was told existed. I bumped into the Universal Root, which offers one click rooting (and unrooting!) for select devices.  I got conflicting information information that indicated that the method worked for the 3G Slide.  It doesn’t. The app’s home page is here, and if you have a supported device, you can pick up the app and root and unroot to your heart’s content.

   So, again… off I went, searching some more, trying to find a method that worked for me, that I could understand, didn’t assume that I knew my way around the Android SDK, and provided complete resource files.

   I was finally able to find a method that worked. There are a few different posts out there that cite this particular method.  The thing that you need to understand is that it comes in two parts.  Once you root the device, in Step 1, you have to stop, leaving the device in the state that its in, and then move to Step 2 (via the link near the bottom of the article). I’m not going to recreate the steps here.  You can go take a look at both articles if you’ve got a MyTouch 3G Slide and read the articles. 

   The problem with the number of different rooting methods that are out there for any number of devices is that some of them don’t work with every device and every stock ROM out there, despite what some users say.  I had to try about 5 different methods before I found one that worked, and then, it was one that I had tried before and had fail. Not only do you have to have the right drivers, but you have to have the right OS and OS version. I was not able to root the device on my 64bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate on my MacBook. I WAS able to root the device on my 32bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate on my Fuji Lifebook.

   After you complete the permanent rooting via the flash of the engineering ROM, then you can flash a custom ROM.  There are a number of them at XDA Developers.  There’s even a version of CyanogenMOD 6.0.0 available for the MT3GS.  Its kinda cool to see a Nexus One styled image on the MT3GS.  Cool, but kinda freaky…

   Also, you need to know that if you don’t install the Clockwork Recovery Image and ROM Manager, after  you install your first ROM, installing a second ROM is going to require you to reflash recovery again and again.  According to the author of SimpleRoot, the custom recovery doesn’t "stick" like you would think it should.  However,using Clockwork Recover and ROM Manager, resolves this problem and makes working with your device a lot easier.  It also makes working with Nandroid a lot easier, automating the entire backup process.

3. Flashing my First Custom ROM
   Picking a custom ROM is not as easy as you might think it would be. Aside from finding one you really do like, not all ROM’s are created equal. Not all of them work like you would think they should. The first ROM I chose, wouldn’t boot.  The initial device screen came up, then the screen would go black, and then the device would reboot. I thought I had bricked the device. I hadn’t.  I pulled down CyanogenMOD for MyTouch 3G and flashed it instead. Thankfully, it worked and I soon saw a smaller version of my Nexus One, but with a slide out keyboard, staring back at me.

   Shortly after I did that, I installed ROM Manager.  With it I was able to pull down Clockwork Recovery and reinstall it to the device. That pretty much has automated most of the actions I’ve wanted to complete on it as far as custom ROM installs.

I am in the process of reviewing this device, and thankfully, I was able to find a rooted version of the stock ROM.  Now, I’ll  be able to take screen shots of the device screens for the review.