Captainflowers91

So every site I've found on how to root requires me to use ABD (or ADB I forget) to root my Samsung Droid Charge. I have Android SDK running and so far it says that it failed to mount the Android device (the Charge). I have USB debugging enabled and everything should allow it to detect my phone. Any one else had this issue?

ChrisAC

I'm a Windows only guy so . . .

From a cmd prompt: adb devices
If it fails to see your device, it almost always means the Samsung drivers did not install correctly. This seems to be the hardest thing to troubleshoot with the different 32/64 XP, Vista, W7 systems folks are using.

You didn't say if you are running Windows, if you are, I believe the Samsung drivers need to be uninstalled / reinstalled. Easier said than done, because many devices & drivers are installed when you run the install package.

If you are running Windows, I recommend the following just as a general rule for un-installing & re-installing drivers:

First off, make sure the Droid Charge is disconnected from the computer.

I'm looking at a Vista Ultimate screen, but most versions are similar.
Right-click on "My Computer". Select "Properties"
Click "Advanced system settings"
On the "Advanced" tab, click "Environment Variables"
Create a "New" "System variables"
Type for the "Variable name:"
DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES
Type for the "Variable value:"
1
Click "OK"
Reboot computer

After reboot, again . .
Right-click on "My Computer"
Select "Device Manager"
On the pull down menus of device manager
View > Show hidden devices

Now your device manager shows all drivers that are installed even if they are not connected at the moment.

I enable the environment variable on all of my Windows machines for troubleshooting driver problems.

At or near the top of the list, you should have an entry for:
ADB Interface
Inside that you should have an entry for:
SAMSUNG Android Composite ADB Interface

If you do not have this item, your computer will never connect correctly to the ADB device. Make sure you downloaded the correct drivers.

If you do have this item, I would consider uninstalling from the device manager.

Other drivers the Samsung driver package installed may be:

SAMSUNG UMS CD-ROM USB Device
SAMSUNG Android USB Modem
SCH-I510 (under Portable Devices)
SAMSUNG Android USB Diagnostic Serial Port (DM) (COMx)
SAMSUNG Android USB Diagnostic Serial Port (WMC) (COMx)
SAMSUNG Android USB Composite Device (Under USB Controllers)

I would manually uninstall everything in your device manager for the Samsung, and start again by:

Running the driver package installer again (I have to assume you have the correct driver package). When I do this, I usually do one thing first.

Right-click on the file I downloaded, be it .zip, .exe, whatever. Select "Properties". At the bottom of the General tab, if it says (something like) This file came from another computer . . . I always check the "Unblock" button, then "Apply"

Now, I can install the package, but I always right-click the package & "Run as administrator" to install drivers.

When the install is complete:

Plug in your Droid Charge via USB (USB debugging must be enabled on the phone)

Let the driver package re-install the drivers for "Found" devices.

Double check the "device manager" again to see if the drivers were installed.

SAMSUNG Android Composite ADB Interface
and
SAMSUNG Android USB Diagnostic Serial Port (DM) (COMx)
I believe are the important ones you need for using ADB

If you are not running Windows, sorry, disregard everything.

IIRC
I must have missed those instructions that allowed you to root only using ADB. (of course I am Windows only). Everything I read told me to use the ODIN program to flash the modified CWM (for the Charge). With the modified CWM, you could then flash a rooted kernel. Although if the ADB program can't see the phone, it's unlikely that ODIN would.

Regards,
Chris

moondrius

Well the adb root method is only for the release firmware and not the most current update. All you have to do to root now is flash a custom kernel through odin and it will root upon boot.