How do you know if you have a rooted phone?

Titanium Backup > Error; Sorry, I could not acquire root privileges. This application will *not* work! Please verify that your ROM is rooted and includes BusyBox, and try again.

I started with z4root, several attempts. It just hangs at "Running exploit in order to obtain root access..." at the bottom, however now there is a button to Unroot where there wasn't before the last couple of times.
Second attempt was SuperOneClick, one attempt. That is when SuperUser showed up, however it never installed BusyBox and didn't complete correctly according to the instructions, no reboot. I restarted the phone, but only found SU, no apps in list...
Third attempt was Universal Androot, 2 attempts. "Failed ! No ~~~Fu goo~~~"

I also have tried Droid Explorer and Android Commander on my PC; Windows Vista Home Premium, 32bit, SP2 updated.
Droid Explorer accessed the phone once but the battery died on me and now I just get an annoying "out of memory" error every time I try to use it. I was getting this before the one time it opened so I was awful mad when the battery died! Oh well, my fault for not paying attention!
Android Commander opens and works, however there is a button at the bottom of the window that says "Root Access: NO". But when I open a command window, it shows the # instead of $, which I have also read means the phone is rooted.

Needless to say, I am very confused and lost with this phone. I am very interested in this, to the point I have downloaded Eclipse and SDK tools as I would like to experiment with different things, but I haven't had time to use them yet because I have been trying to get this POS rooted. I apologize for the lengthy post, I am frustrated as it is all I have to work with and I'm trying to provide as much info on background of my trials so far.

Any advise is welcomed and thank you in advance if anyone can point me in the right direction. I have spent the better part of a weeks worth of my spare time just trying to root the phone, which is suppose to be an easy thing to do. My GF is getting frustrated with me as well!

I will give it a try, thanks. I tried rageagainsthecage, terminal emulator does not re-open on step 7, however at least I learned how to use ADB to communicate with the phone.

Success! Awesome, and thanks! Gingerbreak worked like a charm, Titanuim Backup works and Root Explorer shows ALL files. Finally time to play!

It appears that CM7 is not compatible with my phone, can anyone recommend another strong ROM that would work?

Does gingerbreak work with the HTC EVO 3D? I've seen a few out there but the only "1 click" type I found was the gingerbreak but I tried it on a friend's EVO and it just doesn't do anything, just keeps running.....

Try searching those particular topics, this one is for LG Apex. As I have seen, there is much more info available for your friends phone. I had to do a lot of reading and trying things before I got it. Also listen to what the members with knowledge of these things say, they usually know what works and what doesn't. Good luck!

I've been jailbreaking iPhones forever and a member on this forum learning about androids for a while but thanks for the advise. I did many searches and it says it's for any 2.3.3 however we tried it and it just hangs.

Are you saying gingerbreak is only for the LG Apex or that this topic is only for the Apex?

Thanks, I saw another one like that and tried it but couldn't get the SD card to read the apk. Guess he's going to have to wait for the 1 step to come out for his. Thanks again.

Got rid of all stock apps that aren't necessary or used with Antek app manager and running SetCPU. Used the startup manager in EX Task Manager to stop unnecessary start-up apps. Besides a small screen and inadequate phone storage this thing isn't too bad. Wish I could find a decent ROM to use on it, but I guess I'll just customize it to how I want it until I can mod a better device. Thanks for the patience and advice.

Sent from my US740 using Everything Android

What a shame that android hackers can't do like iPhone hackers where you know precisely which program to run for each phone so you avoid getting bricked.

Maybe the only manufacturer but hardly the same model or OS or even carrier. Every time there's a software update there has to be a new jailbreak for each model (3G, 3GS, iP4, iPod, iPad, AppleTV, etc.) and each software version. For example the jailbreak for the 3GS and the iP4 are not the same even if they both are on version 4.3.3 plus the Verizon version is also a different jailbreak than the AT&T version. Add to that they have jailbreak programs that are also different if you're going to use a Mac or Windows to jailbreak.

Fact is that the jailbreak for the new IOS5 which hasn't even come out is already available.

What I'm getting at is if that can be done and in a matter of days after a new updated version is released on a closed OS like the one Apple uses I'm sure it can be done on an open OS like Android. Of course this is all my opinion based on the jailbreaks I've been doing on my phones and what I've researched on Android.

Is there a website or a matrix where you can find the specific programs which will unroot specific devices and their software revisions or is it more of a search, hit and miss deal?

My main goal here is to find an Android phone that I can un-root so I can use tethering without the additional $30 dollar a month surcharge Sprint is charging. I don't really care what phone it is because I won't be using it as a phone but as a mobile hotspot for my laptop when I'm on the road. If I can find an Android I'll get it now. I'm trying to get out from under Apple but up to now it seems I can't yet. If I can't find an Android now then I'll have to wait for the iPhone5 when it comes out because there's no doubt it will be jailbroken quickly and I'll be able to do it then.

The Sprint hotspot devices aren't unlimited data but if I use a phone I get unlimited data. That's why I'm looking for a matrix or list to then research that phone on battery life, 1 step root, etc...

Cool. I'll look it up now. Thanks !