[cartisdm]

Pardon my ignorance but what is all the talk and worry about "bricking/nuking" phones? Later on this week when I have some time to invest into my Storm I'm going to try out my first beta OS (.109). But I'm a little hesitant about messing up my phone permanently.

Since when does software mess up hardware? I've been working on computers for a long time and it's almost unheard of that a software/OS install would actually harm the hardware. If you screw something up can't you just wipe it clean, and restore the original OS?

I'm only concerned because I don't have the insurance on my phone. My friend used his upgrade (verizon) and then gave the Storm to me as a gift. I was told that you can't transfer the insurance so he didn't bother putting it on (correct me if I'm wrong - I only bought it a week ago and I'd love to add the insurance still if possible)

[jeffh]

You're correct. Nuking or bricking your phone doesn't harm the hardware, it just makes the phone inoperative. Wiping the OS and reinstalling it will solve the problem, as long as you have the foresight to have your last good OS available on your PC. Nuking a phone is often done deliberately, by completely removing the OS, so you can rebuild from a known good condition.

[cartisdm]

Ok, that makes more sense. I will install DM and backup my device when I get a chance (I don't run Linux 99% of the time so it's a pain to get working).

Does anybody have any insight about whether or not I can still get the insurance added onto my phone?

[substring]

....Does anybody have any insight about whether or not I can still get the insurance added onto my phone?

As far as I know, you can add insurance at any time. But of course you are not going to tell them what you are planning to do. Keep in mind that installing an unsupported OS might void the warranty of the device. It will be at Verizon's discretion whether they will honor it or not. So make sure you know what you are doing.

[MCAP]

Its my understanding that you have 15 days to add insurance

[cartisdm]

Well like I said, I just got it a week ago so I will try to add it before I install the beta OS

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[jeffh]

The only real risk you run in installing the beta is that after you do it, some unrelated insurable event happens that precludes you from being able to reload the original OS. Now you've got a phone that should be replaced by insurance, except you have an unofficial OS on it. You may still get it replaced, but as the previous poster said, it leaves you at the mercy of the insurer's interpretation. That's probably not that big a risk, and one you might reasonably accept.

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[cartisdm]

Good call, I didn't even think about messing it up physically and not being able to restore it. That would suck

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[jeffh]

If it were run over by a truck or drowned, nobody would know or care what OS was on it. But if the USB connector fell out of an otherwise unharmed phone, you'd have a perfect example of an insurable failure that would keep you from reloading the OS. Like I said, probably not all that likely, but not impossible.

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