I just got the phone couple hours earlier and was able to root the Samsung Vibrant and install free wifi tethering app that turns your Samsung Vibrant into a mobile hotspot.
What does rooting do for your Samsung Vibrant?
Rooting your Samsung Vibrant gives you superuser “root” access to your Vibrant’s system. This can be great for installing 3rd party apps like the wifi tethering app and custom ROMs. Sometimes you can get updates quicker through custom ROMs.
How to Root Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S!
The rooting method shown here will work on all Samsung Galaxy S Android smartphones including the T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant, AT&T Samsung Captivate, Verizon Samsung Fascinate, and Sprint Epic 4G.
1. Mount the SD card of your Vibrant after connecting it to your computer via micro USB cable.
2. Download this update.zip file and put it in the root folder of your internal memory card. (not SD!) You will see two drives connect when you connect your Samsung Vibrant to your computer. Put it in the root folder of the one that has the folder “DCIM”.
3. Unmount the SD card, then unplug your USB cable.
4. Go to Settings->Applications->Development and make sure “USB Debugging” is checked.
5. Plug the USB cable.
*Note – For Windows 64-bit systems, you need to download this Samsung USB Driver Program and run the Setup to install drivers. For Mac/Linux you shouldn’t need to install any drivers, lucky you.
6. Download and Install Android SDK. Put the unzipped Android SDK into a directory like c:\sdk for easiness.
7. Run the SDK update program and update it. (Make sure you have Java installed!)
8. Open a command prompt (terminal) and browse to your sdk\tools directory:
For Windows, it’s something like cd \sdk\tools and for Mac/Linux, it’s cd /sdk/tools.
9. Type adb reboot recovery to reboot your Samsung Vibrant into recovery mode.
10. You should see a “blue” menu come up. Using your Volume Keys, select “Reinstall packages”.
11. Your phone should find the update.zip file, install it, and reboot.
12. Once your Samsung Vibrant has rebooted, check for “Superuser Permissions” app under Applications. If you see that then, you’ve successfully rooted your Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S Android smartphone! (From:http://samsungvibranthacks.com/samsung-vibrant-hacks/how-to-root-samsung-vibrant-galaxy-s/)
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How well does the wireless tethering work on the Epic 4g? I was thinking of getting the Sprint 3g mobile hotspot for my internet access.
I think that Sony needs to pull their ass together, if they desire to maintain their consumers!