james27007

Note these like any hack/mod, doing the following will 100% void your warranty and can (though very unlikely) brick your phone. By doing the following you agree that you fully understand the risk (and reward) and that if something goes wrong, we did not make you hack your phone. Enough said, now to the fun...

The newest and easiest way to root (and unroot) is Pete's Motorola Root Tools here:Pete's Motorola Root Tools


Old Method (hidden because it clears out the /preinstall/apps folder and that could cause an issue with OTA updates)

__________________
"Do all the good You can, in all the ways You can, for all the people You can, while You can."
Cool things to do w/Note 2 to make prople jealous
Amazing Note 2 - 3D UI

Last edited by james27007; October 4th, 2011 at 07:09 PM.

morejaylesswar

Eh, I clicked that stuff and got intimidated. I psyched myself up to believe that I was ready to root my phone and now I'm just as lost (intimidated) as I was before I started my heavy reading a few days ago. I have no idea what sideloading is. Maybe I didn't read thoroughly enough because I don't remember covering that in the tutorials.

Maybe one day.

Thanks for the info, though!

deathcylon

I rooted before the update, and than never ran the update. So I still have root. Can I just run the update now and than use the above method to root again ?

james27007

If you try and install an app from anywhere other than the official android market (like amazon's app store) you cannot install the app. Sideloading is installing apps not from Market without a computer. AT&T locked this down, so the only way to install a non-market app without using a computer is by rooting and enabling sideloading. If you don't mind having to use a computer, then google sideload wonder machine, it works great and does not require root. You just have to wait until you get to a computer with it to be able to install amazon's apps.

If you update to 4.1.57 without running the script (which I no longer recommend using), you will lose root. That script is not the best way to keep root, and if you have to do a factory reset, you lose root and have to sbf back to the old version to get it again. HOWEVER that is no longer the case with this. I recommend undoing any and all mods, unfreezing any apps you have frozen and unrooting the device before you update. Then run the update, when done you will not have root, but that is ok. Just install the app, and you will be rooted again the correct way. By the way, unrooting is a little complicated now, but it can be done.

jonnyweb

worked for me and it didn't delete anything off of my phone at all. I backed up a lot of my folders off of card before running this just in case, but it ended up being unnecessary as everything is as is and I now have root and am on 4.1.57.
Thanks for posting this!

Falchion

So if I was rooted, then got the update a few weeks ago when it was pushed, and now use this root method I'll be fine?

I'm just wondering because although it unrooted my phone, I still had side loading and wanted to make sure that partial root wouldn't mess anything up.

james27007

Yes you will be ok.

When you ran the update the su file was removed and you lost root 100%; however since the edited file that allows sideloading was not changed in the update, you keep that. Since Gingerbreak only puts the su file superuser.apk files back, no other mods will be affected.

ultradroid

Dumb question time: How *do* I backup my folders, etc., before running the program to root the Atrix? Just got it today, at lunch time, and can't wait to get rooted.

Currently have the OTA update installed, so I'm at version 1.8.3.

-Mike

__________________
Rooted HTC Inspire 4G
NINJA-0817 (2.3.4) Rom

Rooted Motorola Atrix 4G
With UNLOCKED Bootloader
The DarkSide v1.4 - Empire Rom

james27007

If you do not know and did not ask, that would be dumb. Not knowing and asking is smart

Anyways. Plug your phone into the computer with your usb cable. You will see a USB icon pop up in the top notifaction bar, press and pull that bar down. You will see "USB Connection" select it and USB Mass Storage. Your computer will pop up with MB600 as a flash drive. now you just copy the files off of your phone and onto your computer. So far I have done this 10 times and it has erased my internal and external memory cards 10 times.

BTY welcome to the dark side.

ultradroid

This will be the fifth android phone I've rooted. Hopefully, it'll be easier than the HTC Inspire was. That one, was a total BEAR to root. Took me about an hour. Last year's phones took me, on average, maybe 10-15 minutes to root, but the ones being released now are a chore to get rooted - wouldn't you agree?

Thanks for your help on this! That's what I like about THIS forum - friendly, helpful people.

-Mike

dwaded

I have a question about this.
I have an unrooted Atrix. I've updated to 1.8.3. I've copied and pasted the phone's internal and external card files to my computer.
I installed Gingerbreak on the phone, but I have not pressed the "root" button yet.

While doing more reading/researching, I read that with backups you don't want to backup the system and data files as it could cause problems such as force closes.

Does this copy/paste method copy any system/data files?

Thanks
Don

james27007

No. You are only backing up the sdcards (the internal phone memory is considered an sdcard, since most phones do not have this they come with an sdcard; but AT&T is cheap and did not want to include sdcards, so they made a fake sdcard canned internal memory)

ultradroid

I was, just now, successful at rooting my Atrix! Then I installed/setup sideloading - and now, for the recovery, so I can back things up. Is there a special recovery for the Atrix, or is there a Bootstrap type setup for it? I'm assuming, because of the locked bootloader, I can't just install Clockwork Mod Recovery though Rom Manager - right?

-Mike

james27007

There is a kindof ClockworkMod over at XDA, but I do not know how well of a backup/restore it does. I would just make sure to keep the sbf close incase something goes wrong.

wellsies2

I tried installing the software to install Gingerbreak automatically and it did not work. I was using my wifes Vaio running Windows 7 64 bit. I fired up my Imac to Windows XP and it worked like a charm.

ultradroid

Yeah, I found that program and, following the instructions, installed it on my phone. It appears to work just like "the real thing", in that it installed a form of recovery which is accessible through rebooting - although you have to have your phone plugged into a wall charger to do it. I did a backup, and *that* seemed to work too.

I realize that we're dealing with a variation of the "locked bootloader" scenario from Droid X, so I've proceeded with caution - I had an *incident* with the Droid X bootloader, and don't want a re-play of that with the Atrix.

BTW, I downloaded a copy of the Atrix sbf to my PC, just in case, as you suggested. Thanks for the tip!

-Mike

GreenishApples

So does this work on 4.1.26 with a mod installed? I have a webtop hack installed and I want to remove it by getting root access. After I remove it can I just update my phone and it will get rid of root?

james27007

Yes as far as I know it works on all versions of the Atrix, BUT BACKUP YOUR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SDCARD. Your Webtop backup files are on the internal sdcard and there is a 99% chance that this will wipe it clean.

Last edited by james27007; May 9th, 2011 at 08:56 AM.

kilasix9

Will this root work on the Atrix with the latest software update AT&T just pushed out? Will it affect the HSUPA upgrade? Do I need to backup my files as the rooting wipes everything or is it just a precaution?

Thanks in advanced.

james27007

Yes, works great on all software versions and almost all phones. If you were rooted and lost it during the update to 4.1.83; it works. It also works if you are now on 4.1.873 and have never rooted. Also it only gives root access, it does not touch anything else and will not cause issues with HSPA.

This root method (for most people) wipes the internal and external sdcards. It wiped mine and has everytime I have used it. So doing a backup, in my opnion, is required

kilasix9

So I've got up to step #3 and I'm kind of unsure what I do next....It says:

"Next launch from command prompt move to where adb is c:/path/to/adb/ and then run the following command"

Can someone PLEASE explain this step?

Edit: Figured it out. I didn't realize that when I ran Gingerbreak.exe it was installing the app on my device and was sitting there waiting to be opened. lol.

This noob guide helped me out: http://briefmobile.com/motorola-atrix-4g-root

Last edited by kilasix9; May 11th, 2011 at 09:29 PM.

_sC

i totally know what u mean. of course for some of these ppl who have done it many times to several phones its easy as pie to them, but for the rest of us it may seem quite daunting.

i thought it would be rather simple rooting my phone and once i started reading, saw all these ppl coming back onto a particular thread and asking for some help with a step they are having trouble with.

i love the end result of rooting a phone, i just dont quite fancy the process of getting there..

kilasix9

I promise you this is the easiest process of rooting you will ever encounter. I found the instructions on the the forum a bit confusing but then they made this guide for us with less experience:

How To: Motorola Atrix 4G Root - BriefMobile

I'm positive anyone will be able to root using those instructions. It wont take longer than 10 minutes.

Good luck.

thepartybeaver

If you've backed up the phone's memory contents using the copy and paste method, then apply this root, when you copy/paste the files back to your phone afterwards, does your phone then look/act/feel like it did before the root? I mean, will I need to reinstall all apps, re-setup all the different configurations I've set (ringtones, message tones, etc.)? I want to get root, but not if it means I have to spend countless hours (again) on getting my phone how I want it. Thanks!

kilasix9

Using this method, I rooted AND installed Gingerblurr and I only lost my sd card contents. Everything else I kept.

james27007

OK I think I see the confusion. Most android phones have memory in 2 places, the internal phone (which you cannot really access without root and you cannot edit) and the external sdcard (the sdcard you put into the phone). Well on the Atrix, you have 3 locations. The internal phone where the system and data files are (again which you cannot really access without root and you cannot edit also you are not backing up these); the internal sdcard, this is also internal memory but is memory set aside like an sdcard, this was done so AT&T did not need to include sdcards with the phone and then you have the external sdcard, this is one your purchased and put into the phone. Gingerbreak erases the internal and external sdcards, it does not touch the internal phone memory. If you open the app called "files" you will see Internal phone storage (that is the internal sdcard not the phone's system or data files) and SD card which is the sdcard you purchased and put into the phone. So you are backingup your sdcards not the phone

Since Gingerbreak will not touch the internal memory (well it does add root) your settings and everything is ok. The issue is if you have apps installed on your sdcard, they will not work until you put the files back on the internal sdcard.

Kilgore Trout

Stupid question I'm sure, but why does it say an external sd card is needed? I don't see where it is used in the instructions.


I know these are about as simple instructions as you can get, but I'm still kind of nervous and feel like I might do something stupid.

Edit: Never mind. Rooted succesfully and easily. Also I didn't loose any data which is a plus.

Last edited by Kilgore Trout; May 24th, 2011 at 07:17 PM.

ultradroid

Damn J - you really know your stuff! I never *knew* that until I read your excellent explanation. Thanks for the insight, much appreciated!

-Mike

camp0s

Wow, needless to say, that info was truly what I was looking for! Thanks for encouraging other user to ask!!

I know I could go a little off topic, but I'd like to say that I'm not succesfull running Gingerbreak on my Android 2.3.1 MID816 tablet. It runs forever, but isn't able to root the tablet.

I think I'm missing "su" program from system/bin/ or system/xbin.. what do you think? all the other method that rely on a .bat file signal that "su" is not found when working via ADB on the tablet shell.

Have you got other info to spare?

Tnx.

james27007

Just to make sure, you do have USB debugging enabled and you have the gingerbreak app installed? First try uninstalling it, rebooting the tablet, install again, reboot one more time. Then try running gingerbreak.

If this does not work since I do not have an MID816 so I do not know if the following works or not. Also I hate to have you check out another site but it is the only thing I could find HOW DO I ROOT THE MID816 2.3 VERSION - SlateDroid.com this is the only thread that says it will root . Let me know if it works out.

camp0s

Hi, ys, Gingerbreak is installed, and USB debug is on (I can see when I connect the usb to pc, in the notification area).

Gingerbreak is just spinning the icon forever, but nothing is happening :\

I also follower your instruction to remove, reboot, install, reboot, apply root for gingerbreak but nothing more has happened so far.

I'm going to ask a few question on the other forum, thanks for pointing it out!

brawndo

Took me literally ten minutes to root with this method and enable sideloading. And I also only lost my SD card stuff. Hellz yeah.


edit: nevermind I lost my internal memory, not my SD card data. All of that stuff was saved.

Last edited by brawndo; June 24th, 2011 at 01:10 PM.

irieone

I think I want to root my phone. I want to overclock and all that, I am not vary smart when it comes to this kind of stuff so I don't want to F myself. Can I unroot back to stock if I get over my head with it??

Last edited by irieone; June 29th, 2011 at 10:18 AM.

james27007

Yes, there is an unroot option, but unrooting will not undo any other mods you do; so make sure you undo any mods before you unroot.

kilasix9

Glad it worked for you.

aklbeach

so a quick question since this requires an sd card to do. How big does the card have to be. i have an old 1 gig card is that big enough

james27007

I have not tried it that small (did you ever think we would consider 1 GB small? lol) anyways, as far as I know even the 512MB cards work. If it does, please let us know

aklbeach

well i don't think i'm going to try the 1 gig. Because it is just an extra card i have. i already backed up up my 32 gig. I was going to use the other one but i'm not sure do I need to use the same card in my phone as the one that i use to root it. do i also need to remove the sim card for the process. here goes nothing

Last edited by aklbeach; July 8th, 2011 at 01:43 PM.

aklbeach

Alright Great Success. I have root verified with busy box. now still running 2.2.2 4.1.83. Another question. I would like to get ginger bread, should i get it here ( Download Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread for Motorola Atrix 4G - BriefMobile ) Or should I wait for the update that is coming this month. And if I get it from the update, will I lose root. And if I lose root will I be able to get it back.

Last edited by aklbeach; July 8th, 2011 at 02:57 PM.

aklbeach

Hey I downloaded that sq lite and I looked through the files and didn't find that .mksito file. I would really like to get to enable the non market apps any help with that.

james27007

There are threads over at XDA on how to get root and such with that build. But to be safe, look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1159385 that is the best version that I can see

Look for "Settings Storage" com.motorola.android.providers.settings (it has a gear icon next to it) then click settings.db and then settings. Then look for line 107 and change from 1 to 0

aklbeach

well i found those files but when i click on them i just got a file path message and all I could do is click on it and say ok which brought me back to the previous screen. oh well I just downloaded an app that gave me the option for non market apps and it worked.

But I'm still wondering is should I wait for att to push this update out soon for gingerbread or just do it on my own. And if I get it from them will I lose root and can i get it back

pinballd

Newbie to the forum,first ever post, hope I'm in the right place,just dumped my iphone for an Atrix it is a branded AT&T ,so it was unlocked then rooted ok but I still cannot share my carrier (FIDO) data connection to work on the phone itself.I tried configuring the APN to the carriers specs but it appears the phone's AT&T OS is blocking me from accessing my FIDO carrier data connection.
anyone know what I need to do so I can use the data network on my phone & share my internet data connection via bluetooth or wifi to my samsung galaxy tab?
thanks to all , Pinballd

fugitive

Hi everyone ..
I have a friend who has an AT&T atrix that he bricked .. How? well, he got the latest Gingerbread update .. but that didn't have arabic, so he needed root, then he couldn't so he tried Downgrading to the older version where he knew how to root ==> Bricked it.

So here is my first question, that would seem quite dumb .. is there any known normal solution? he gets the black screen with failed to read something at 0x00.. or so .. then the phone turns off right away ..

My second question is, if there is no Straight forward solution, I was thinking about something deeper, like replacing the bootloader memory altogether (if I could locate it, and was able to Remove it, find another Similar memory, write another Bootloader on that new Memory .. ohh, too much Ifs ) ??

it seems pretty hard, at least lacking the appropriate hardware tools to do so; the ones on the production line of Motorola .. you know
The reason I am thinking this is because I believe Moto can NOT do anything in this phase, except if they send the mobile back to production; can they ?!!

he will try to get it to the support in US soon (of course you guessed am not in US, right ) ..
well, waiting for your reply

Last edited by fugitive; August 24th, 2011 at 03:59 PM.

jared1234

You could always try to flash a different radio! Try flashing 1.77.30P from xda and then re enter your apn settings

__________________
====>Click Here For My Android YouTube Channel For Reviews And Tutorials<====

james27007

As far as I know, you cannot fix that kind of a brick, more information here: [WARNING] Hard Brick with Official 4.5.91 Update - xda-developers

fugitive

Well I thought so .. Thanks for replying.
don't you know about the replacement? can I replace it from AT&T or that's not going to happen?

james27007

As far as I know AT&T knows to look for that issue and knows it is from hacking (which voids the warranty anyways). I would keep an eye on XDA to see if there ever come up with a fix.

tea1988

wont let me past step 1, tried to navigate to c:/moto-fastboot-win32, not recognized as valid internal or external command

speedyrev

Could use some help. I have the phone in fastboot mode, hooked up usb to a windows vista computer. When I type in the first line to flash the preinstall, I get...
<waiting for device>

What am I missing?

***Edit*** I had to uninstall the motorola software, then go to the motorola website and download the latest drivers. - fixed!

Last edited by speedyrev; September 2nd, 2011 at 08:53 PM.