How To Root The Samsung Fascinate (Mac)

‘Free like a puppy’ is certainly much, much better than an atrociously priced and uncontrollably incontinent, rabies-infected mad hound.

Posted on Android Authority (www.androidauthority.com)

Admittedly, this is more for my own future reference, and a little behind the times (this tutorial is based on Eclair and Froyo), but if any of you still have a first-generation Samsung Fascinate (Galaxy S), you may find this handy.  Rooting the phone was the first thing that excited me about getting an Android phone, and is still one of my biggest selling points.  Verizon tends to bog their phones down with lots of bloatware that comes preinstalled, whose removal is otherwise prohibited, and requires a separate purchase or subscription to use (BAD, VERIZON!  BAD!).

Before you follow the tutorial in the video, you will need to download and unzip the following archive:

FascinateRoot_v02.zip

From there, it’s as simple as following the directions laid out in this video:

Enjoy your newly freed Android OS!

How To Set Up Custom Notification Tones On Samsung Galaxy S

If you’re like me and enjoy delving into a little hackery on your devices to make them “function correctly”, then welcome!  I did a little futzing around with my Galaxy S to try and get a particular email notification working, so I thought I may share the process with you all here.  First and foremost, you must have enabled root access on your phone, so go check that post out if you haven’t already.  As always, no warranty is implied and you might void your warranty following this procedure.  Perform at your own risk!

You will need:

Galaxy S phone with root access
Computer with Audacity installed and Bluetooth connectivity
Root Explorer application installed

Procedure:

  1. Open the sound file you wish to use with Audacity.

  2. Export the sound as *.ogg (Ogg Vorbis) format.

  3. Rename the new file “22_FILENAME.ogg” where FILENAME is some short name describing the file.

  4. Bluetooth transfer the file to your phone.

  5. Open Root Explorer on your phone.

  6. Navigate to ../sdcard/bluetooth/

  7. Tap-hold the filename to bring up the options menu.

  8. Click “Move” from the dialog.

  9. Navigate to ../system/media/audio/notifications/ and make sure that “Mount R/W” is selected.

  10. Click “Paste”.

  11. Exit Root Explorer and reboot your phone.

  12. Change your sound settings and enjoy!

BONUS:

I’m going to link you to a couple files that I used and, specifically, the email notification that I specifically figured this process out for.  Enjoy!