Guide(s) to EVERYTHING Root related! Updated for 2.1
Ok since www.rootyourdroid.info seems to go down often I have decided to add all the guides for rooting here to the post. UBRocked was a huuuuge help in this so thank him also.
What you need to know first:
Benefits of Rooting
Okay, so you know “how” to Root your phone… but why do it? What exactly can you get out of a Droid that has been rooted?
Well, aside from being cool and geeky, there are a few real benefits. Think of you Droid as a supercar. If you drive it only in subdivision streets, you aren’t really pushing it to its capabilities. However, if you take it to a track or maybe the Autobahn, you can open her up and unleash its power. Obtaining root is like taking your car to the Autobahn, except nerdier!
Enough of the analogies! Show me what I can do.
Most people want to root their phones for one reason: loading custom ROMs. A ROM, when it is applied to smartphone operating systems, is a fully customized image that alters the function and form of the device. For instance, a ROM could be a port of the HTC SenseUI found on Android phones like the Eris and the Hero. A person with root could potentially take this port, if made available, and put it on their Droid. At this time, there are no real custom ROMs for the Droid, though advancements are being made every week.
Another benefit of obtaining Root is the use of Root-only applications. Some applications require Superuser permissions in order to operate. You can think of “Superuser” as a limitless administrative role for the Android OS. It is given full control over what can be done on the software level. Superuser requires Root, and thus, so do certain apps. You can download Terminal apps which allow you to enter Android OS code to communicate with the system, Drocap2 which can take screengrabs anywhere on the phone, Adfree which disables advertisements on the web and in other apps, etc… There are many very cool programs being created specific to Root users!
One of the richest abilities given to Root users is scripting and customization. Given a mix of apps, the SDK, and scripts, Root users can change the way their phone feels and operates. Things like skinning every aspect of the OS, upgrading features that aren’t yet released, and creating all new functionality altogether could not be possible without Root. There is so much capability at such an early phase (remember, the Droid was first rooted only a few weeks ago), it’s an awesome time to be a part of the Root community. There will be groundbreaking discoveries and releases that will completely change the way you think about your Droid.
Rooting your phone is a fun, educational, and useful way of getting the most out of your device. But as always, there are risks involved every step of the way. Just be smart and careful, and don’t get ahead of yourself. I created this site as a guide for the average Joe, but even a plain-English guide can seem daunting for the more advanced operations. You need to keep in mind that by Rooting your Droid, you are most definitely going against the Verizon TOS and will be breaking your warranty. Though there are ways to revert back to a completely Root-free device, I can’t assure you this will not get you into trouble in the future.
Avoid Bricking
If you have read about the new brick scale, perhaps you are wondering why you would even attempt to follow one of these guides- -why would anyone in their right mind put such an expensive device at risk of becoming a paper weight?
The answer is: if you simply take your time and do things right, you can eliminate much- -if not all- -of that risk!
Obviously, our goal around here isn’t to pile as many non-working Droid’s into landfills as possible. We want you to successfully enhance the ability of your phone! So here are a few tips to help keep you from the dreaded brick…
Follow directions carefully, making sure to read through them before beginning.
Go slow and take your time on every detail.
Research the action you are about to perform; if you don’t know much about it, become educated.
Trust your instinct. If you are unsure about something, perhaps you shouldn’t try.
Follow instructions fully. If you forget a step or quit before you’re done, there may be problems.
So happy rooting! And remember, as always, we are not responsible for your mistakes.
Brick-ability Scale
One feature RootYourDroid will offer is a quick look at how at risk your phone is with a certain action performed to it. Since the universal term for a broken phone is called a brick, we shall use the brick scale. The more at risk your phone is to becoming a brick, the higher amount of bricks it is scored (0-5). If you are a beginner, you may want to stick with the guides that have minimal risk to your Droid.
Remember, regardless of brick scale, your phone is still vulnerable to failure. We are not responsible for bricked devices and/or voided warranties. Please read more on our disclaimer page: RootYourDroid Disclaimer
Here is an example of the brick scale: (3.5/5)
This would mean a mid-high level of risk. In other words:
(0/5) would equal no feasible risk to your phone while:
(5/5) would mean only advanced Root users should attempt such an action.
Preliminary Skills: USB Debugging
USB Debugging is a common procedure used in Rooting and hacking the Droid. Simply said, it allows the Android Debugging Bridge to work its magic by allowing a seamless handshake between Droid and PC. We use this mode for copying data between the Droid and PC, installing apps, reviewing phone data, and for development purposes. It is very easy to setup, requiring only a system setting to be enabled.
Begin by connecting your Droid to a PC via USB. Go into the Droid settings and select Applications.
Select Development.
Ensure “USB debugging” is checked. You will be asked if you want to enable debugging, select yes.
And that is all there is to it. You now have a direct connection with ADB and your PC. We will do this to our phones most every time we need to transfer files via ADB.
Sometimes, people will have incompatible preloaded drivers on their computers. This may result in a “Device Not Found” error when following some guides. To remedy this, please refer to the USB Debugging Drivers guide.
Mounting The SD card to transfer files
Since your MicroSD card is buried underneath your battery, it is silly to remove it and use a card reader every time you want to copy files over to it. Fortunately, the Droid allows you to easily mount the MicroSD card as a mass storage device, similar to a USB Thumbdrive. Though we may also use ADB to copy files from our PC to our MicroSD card, this requires no Command Prompt or code use.
Mounting the MicroSD Card:
Connect your Droid to a PC via USB. You will be notified that there is a USB connection. Drag down the notification shade and select “USB connected.”
You will now see an option to mount your phone; do so at this time by selecting “Mount.”
This will turn your Droid into a mass storage device. Your computer should automatically recognize it and an autorun popup should appear on your desktop.
Browse the files so that you see the contents of your SD card. You are now ready to upload files onto the MicroSD card. Turning Off MicroSD Mounting:
Slide down the notification shade and select “Turn off USB storage.”
An option will popup allowing you to “Turn Off”–select this now.
If you haven’t closed the SD Card folder on your computer, the window should close automatically once you turn off USB storage.
ADB, command line bridge between the Android SDK and the Droid
The Droid is a highly hackable device, and much of this is due to the rich developer support directly from Google. As many of you know, the Droid runs the Android operating system which has been developed and pushed by Google. Not only do they provide the end-user OS you use on the phone, but they have created a full-featured SDK for private developers.
An SDK, or Software Developer’s Kit, is a collection of scripts, code, programs, and knowledge bases that assist people in creating Android apps and working inside the OS. It is a completely free package and is absolutely essential for higher level mods. You can read more about the SDK and download it from here: Android SDK | Android Developers
There is also an in-depth installation guide. It does not matter where on your computer the SDK folder is located and installed to. Follow the install guide before proceeding.
Inside of the SDK is the cornerstone of most Android mods: Android Debug Bridge. It is located within the tools folder (android-sdk-windows/tools) and can be accessed through Windows Command Prompt. This small application is a bridge between your computer and the Android OS on your phone. It allows you to push, pull, copy, and delete files as well as advanced scripts that perform specific tasks directly on your phone. You can think of it as an interface which extends your computer’s keyboard and files to your Droid.
In most of the upcoming Root Your Droid guides, you will see me reference the use of ADB, command prompt, Superuser permissions, and Linux code. This will all center around the SDK and Android Debug Bridge. But before you can use it, it’s important to learn what it is you’re doing.
How to access ADB through your Windows computer:
The first thing to know is how you access ADB to be able to use it. If you notice, double clicking on adb.exe in the tools folder does not open or run anything. In order to run ADB, we must do it through the Command Prompt.
To do this, go to your Start Menu and select “Run…”.
A Run dialogue will pop up; type “cmd” and hit OK.
This will open a new window called Windows Command Prompt.
This program is similar to DOS in that it allows you to input text-based commands in order to perform tasks. From here, we need to navigate to the tools folder inside of the Android SDK folder (where adb.exe is located). To do this, we need to know the exact file path of the tools folder. Open up the tools folder and at the top of the Windows Explorer window is the address, or file path, of the folder.
For instance, my tools folder is on the Desktop of my XP machine. Thus, the full file path of the folder is:
C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\android-sdk-windows\tools
Where “user” is the username of your computer. Copy your file path for use in the Command Prompt.
Back to the Command Prompt, we now need to point to the file path we copied. To do this, we need to type: “cd” for change directory, then add a space. This will preceed the file path of the folder. Right click inside Command Prompt and select Paste. You cannot use a keyboard shortcut to paste into Command Prompt, this will simply type out the keystrokes you used. Once we have typed in “cd ” and then pasted the file path, your Command Prompt should look like this:
Press enter and you will notice that where “c:\” use to be is now replaced with the full file path of the tools folder.
If Command Prompt alerts you that “The system cannot find the path specified”, you probably have not pasted the correct or full path of the folder.
Tip: Windows Vista and 7 users may go into their tools folder, highlight the full address and simply replace it with “cmd”. Press enter and Command Prompt will open and will be pointed at the folder.
Once you have pointed Command Prompt to your tools folder, you may test to see if you have everything in order by typing “adb” and hitting enter.
If all went well, Command Prompt should display a long list off available commands and descriptions. Here is an explanation for the most commonly used ADB commands:
adb push – Copies a file from the computer onto the Droid.
adb pull – Copies a file from the Droid to the computer.
There are many more commands as you can see from the list Command Prompt gave you. These are simply the most common commands used in these guides. The guides will go more in depth as you go along. To use these commands, you must ensure your directory in Command Prompt is pointed to your tools folder.
You must be made aware that when accessing your Rooted phone through ADB, that you may be prompted to accept a Superuser Permission. To avoid seeing this in the future, simply select “Always” when this pops up. If you do not accept the permission, it will fail ADB.
Basic commands used within ADB
While working with a Rooted Droid and ADB, you will notice that there is an extensive use of code. Much of this code may be unfamiliar to you, but it shouldn’t be scary.
When you see lines such as:
su
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /system/bin/flash_image
chmod 755 /system/bin/flash_image
sync
You may feel like you are in over your head. But it’s a lot simpler than it looks!What you see above is called Unix commands. These commands are recognized by the base Linux kernel which controls the Android OS. Linux is an open source computer operating system; Google uses it to create Android. So these Unix commands are similar to the Windows Command Prompt commands we learned about in the Android Debug Bridge guide except they are used for different systems.
When using Unix commands in future guides, it is important to read through them carefully and copy them exactly. Though a mistake will most likely return an error message and cause no harm, it is possible to miss a character and do some damage. Caution and deliberation is key! Here are a few common Unix commands used for Droid modding purposes. These certainly aren’t all of them, and all commands will be described within individual guides.
su – (Substitute User) Used to change to “root user” to perform Superuser Permission commands.
mount – Readies a file system for use; allows the user to perform commands to a directory.
cd – (Change Directory) Changes to the proceeding directory.
chmod – (Change Mode) Changes the mode of files and directories; commonly used to change permissions.
mkdir – (Make Directory) Makes a new directory for files.
mv – (Move) Moves a file or directory from one place to another.
sync – Synchronizes all data which has been scheduled for writing.
As I’ve stated, there are many more commands which may be used while sending commands to your phone. Don’t fret; they will be described fully as you go along.
One important consideration to make is that after EACH line of Unix commands, you must hit enter to run the command before going on to the next line. You may not copy and paste multiple lines into Command Prompt at once.
I bet you’d never guessed you would be learning a new programming language while working on your Droid! Though you are far from mastering the Unix system, I hope this has familiarized you with some of the necessary commands needed for advanced root-related functions.
PC Drivers needed for the Droid
Some people are having problems with getting their Droids to connect to ADB after enabling USB Debugging. The reason for this problem may be incompatible USB drivers. To manually install the correct Droid USB Debugging drivers, please go to this link: Motorola USB Drivers
Simply download the Windows drivers that pertain to your system (32 or 64 bit), extract the installer, and install the drivers. Then, reconnect the Droid via USB and enable USB Debugging.
This will solve some of the “Device Not Found” problems people are having.
Installing apps not found in the market
Sometimes we want to install an app that has not been downloaded from the market. When we download an app from a developer or website directly, this is called an “Unsigned App”. Sometimes while hacking, we need to use an app that isn’t in the market. For this reason, we need to enable the installation from unknown sources.
Begin by connecting your Droid to a PC via USB. Go into the Droid settings and select Applications.
Ensure “Unknown Sources” is checked. You will be asked if you want to enable debugging, select yes.
You have now allowed your Droid to install apps not downloaded from the market.
Now onto the good stuff..... How to get Root
Obtaining Root access to your Droid is a great way to extend the benefits and usefulness of your phone. It is one of the easiest hacks, though, it is not without it’s risk. Go slowly and read through the entire guide before starting. It should take you no longer than 10 minutes. Happy rooting!
To learn more as to why you might want to Root your Droid, please read this article: Benefits of Root
As always, before you dive into any of our guides, please review our disclaimer. We are not responsible for the outcome of performing any task on this website. (0.5/5)
Prerequisites: (Please be familiar with the following)
Using the method found in the MicroSD Mounting guide, connect your Droid to a PC via USB and mount your MicroSD card.
Step 2: Uploading the Update Package
Download the Droid Root Update Package (update.zip). This is a customized version of the update.zip your phone receives when it gets an Over The Air Android update from Google and Verizon. It has the dirty work built in so all the hard work is taken care of.
Once you have downloaded “update.zip” drag it onto the MicroSD card folder you opened on your computer. After the file has transferred to your MicroSD card, you must unmount your Droid. You are now ready to apply the update package.
Step 3: Preparing the Droid for Root
Once you have unmounted the phone, it is now time to prepare the Droid to receive the Root files. You will be accessing Recovery Mode to do this, a special Android console which can be used to manually recover and install updates. Start by powering down the phone completely.
While holding “X” on the physical keyboard, hold the power button to turn on the phone. You may let go of the power button, but do not let go of X.
After a few seconds, an Exclamation Mark icon will appear. You may now let go of X. To access Recovery Mode from the exclamation mark icon, hold the volume up button and then press the camera button.
Step 4: Rooting the Droid
You will then open a text menu with four options. You will only concern yourself with “apply sdcard:update.zip”. Using the directional pad, navigate to “apply sdcard:update.zip” and push the gold, center button to select it.
The update process will begin immediately and should take no longer than a minute or two. It will let you know when the process is complete.
From here, navigate to “reboot system now” and select it. Your phone will shut off and reboot. Your Droid is now officially rooted. To check and see if all went well, go into your Application Drawer and search for an app called Superuser Permissions with a ninja icon.
Upon opening this app, you will notice a blank screen. This is normal as the app has not created permissions yet. This will be populated as you use Root-specific apps and continue to hack! You have now completed the Obtaining Root guide!
How to install Busybox
Busybox is a useful tool; a package of applets which provides additional Unix tools that are otherwise missing from the Android shell. That may not make a lot of sense, but here’s what it does for you. Busybox allows you to perform more advanced root-related functions on your Droid. That’s good, right? Yes it is, and for some guides, it is absolutely necessary.
As always, before you dive into any of our guides, please review our disclaimer. We are not responsible for the outcome of performing any task on this website. (2/5) Prerequisites: (Please be familiar with the following)
Using the method found in the USB Debugging guide, connect your Droid to a PC via USB and enable USB Debugging.
Step 2: Prepare Busybox Files
Download busybox.zip and extract it to your Android SDK tools folder. Make sure file busybox is in the same folder as “adb.exe”.
Step 3: ADB Commands
Using the method found in the Android Debug Bridge guide, open Command Prompt and point it at your Android SDK tools folder. You will now be entering in the following commands, please read and copy all lines carefully. If you will be copying and pasting, remember to right click inside of Command Prompt and select “paste”, otherwise it will display your keystrokes. After each line, press enter to input the command.
adb push busybox /data/local/busybox
Copies the busybox.zip file from your tools folder into the Local Data directory on your Droid.
adb shell
Initiate the Unix terminal emulator so that Unix commands may be sent.
su
Connect as a “substitute user” to gain permissions for the following commands.
cd /data/local
Change to the Local Data directory on your Droid.
chmod 755 busybox
Changes the permissions to the busybox file so that anyone can read/execute but only the owner can write to it.
./busybox
Executes the Busybox shell script.
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system
Readies the mtdblock4 and System filesystems.
mkdir /system/xbin
Creates a new directory called “xbin” in the system filesystem.
Copies Busybox from the Local Data directory to the System Bin directory.
cd /system/xbin
Change to the newly created xbin directory on your Droid.
busybox ––install .
Installs and executes Busybox in xbin.
mount -o ro,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system
Unmounts the mtdblock4 and System filesystems that are no longer in use.
sync
Synchronizes all the aforementioned commands to the Droid.
reboot
Reboots the Droid
You have now successfully installed Busybox and can now utilize its functionality in future hacks!
How to install a custom Recovery
With great power comes great responsibility. Likewise, with Root, you have access to some very fragile files and settings; some of which may adversely affect your phone (brick!). Sometimes we load custom apps/roms/commands onto our phone and they just don’t work the way we wanted them. Other times we make an error while hacking and completely mess things up. Whatever the case may be, it’s important to have the option of making backups and be able to restore your phone to a working state.
This is where a custom recovery image comes into play. A talented Android hacker, SirPsychoS, has developed his very own Recovery Console which replaces the stock console we used in the Obtaining Root Guide. In addition to some other powerful features, this custom console allows us to make full backups of our phone. What does this mean? Let’s say I try a new hack, but something goes terribly wrong; I brick my phone! Well, if I used SirPsychoS’ Recovery Console, I could have made a backup from before I tried the hack, load the backup, and get my working Droid again. Not only this, but some hacks require this custom image be loaded. Here is how to do it. Disclaimer (2/5) Prerequisites: (Please be familiar with the following)
Using the method found in the USB Debugging guide, connect your Droid to a PC via USB and enable USB Debugging.
Also, using the method found in the MicroSD Mounting guide, connect your Droid to a PC via USB and mount your MicroSD card.
Step 2: Uploading Recovery Files
Download the flash_image and recovery-0.99.2b.img files. These customized files will be flashed onto your Droid to replace the stock Recovery Console. (If you are having problems downloading the flash image file and it only opens, try downloading the flash_image.zip and unzipping the flash_image. It should NOT have an extension.)
Once you have downloaded both files, drag them onto the MicroSD card folder you opened on your computer. After the file has transferred to your MicroSD card, you must unmount your Droid. You are now ready to install the custom image.
Step 3: Installing Custom Image With ADB
Using the method found in the Android Debug Bridge guide, open Command Prompt and point it at your Android SDK tools folder. You will now be entering in the following commands, please read and copy all lines carefully. If you will be copying and pasting, remember to right click inside of Command Prompt and select “paste”, otherwise it will display your keystrokes. After each line, press enter to input the command.
adb shell
Initiate the Unix terminal emulator so that Unix commands may be sent.
Renames recovery-from-boot.p to recovery-from-boot.p.bak. FILE MAY NOT EXIST! If your Droid came preloaded from factory with Firmware 2.0.1, these files do not exist. This step is only necessary for Droids which were preloaded from the factory with the original 2.0 Firmware.
Renames install-recovery.sh to install-recovery.sh.bak. FILE MAY NOT EXIST! If your Droid came preloaded from factory with Firmware 2.0.1, these files do not exist. This step is only necessary for Droids which were preloaded from the factory with the original 2.0 Firmware.
reboot recovery
Reboots your Droid into the Recovery Console.
Step 4: Inside the SPRecovery Console
You will see one of two Recovery Consoles: the stock one or the SPRecovery Console created by SirPsychoS. If all went well, you should see a different Recovery Console than what you saw during the Obtaining Root guide. Instead of a large “!” graphic, you should see a greenish-gold Android graphic.
As you can see from the above, we want to see the new “SPRecovery” and not the old stock recovery console. You may use the direction pad or a combination of volume, camera, and power buttons to navigate in this screen. If you see the SPRecovery console, you have successfully completed this guide and are now able to make complete backups and restore points.
Upgrading SPRecovery Console:
The developer, SirPsychoS and Sholes.info release new versions of the SPRecovery custom image often. You may notice that a newer version has been released than the one you have on your Droid. It may not be too big a deal, but some hacks require the latest version and it may also be enticing to upgrade for newer, better features. Upgrading the image is a very easy process and requires minimal commands to execute.
Simply download the latest version from this website (or immediately reflected at sholes.info) and save it to your MicroSD card. You do not need to download the flash_image file again, only the recovery.##.img file. You will then need to load ADB and input the following commands:
adb shell
Initiate the Unix terminal emulator so that Unix commands may be sent.
flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-0.99.2b.img
Flashes the new image to the recovery partition.
exit
Exits ADB Shell
adb reboot recovery
Reboots your Droid into the Recovery Console.
Once you are in the SPRecovery console, you should see the version number at the top reflect the new recovery image you upgraded to.
How to block OTA updates
OTA, or “over-the-air”, updates are data packages sent by Verizon to update the Droid’s firmware. They add features, fix problems, and speed up the phone. So why would we want to block these updates? Well, with the update comes a wipe of all our hard work–Root and other hacks alike. Also, with the upcoming 2.1 update comes a patch to remove the loophole used to obtain Root. Until Root is achieved on an official Droid 2.1 firmware, it is necessary to block OTA updates if you want to keep Root. Disclaimer (2/5) Prerequisites: (Please be familiar with the following)
Using the method found in the USB Debugging guide, connect your Droid to a PC via USB and enable USB Debugging.
Step 2: Enabling Airplane Mode
Because we will be modifying a file that will interact with OTA updates, there is a potential problem if the file receives an update while we are working on this hack. For this reason, we will turn on Airplane mode which disables all wireless communications to and from the Droid. Go into the phone settings.
Select Wireless & Networks.
Ensure that Airplane mode is checked.
You will notice the wireless signal icon in the notification bar now has a small airplane on top. You are now ready to modify the OTA update file.
Step 3: ADB Commands
Using the method found in the Android Debug Bridge guide, open Command Prompt and point it at your Android SDK tools folder. You will now be entering in the following commands, please read and copy all lines carefully. If you will be copying and pasting, remember to right click inside of Command Prompt and select “paste”, otherwise it will display your keystrokes. After each line, press enter to input the command.
adb shell
Initiate the Unix terminal emulator so that Unix commands may be sent.
su
Connect as a “substitute user” to gain permissions for the following commands.
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system
Readies the mtdblock4 and System filesystems.
cd /etc/security
Change to the Security directory on your Droid.
mv otacerts.zip otacerts.zip.bak
Renames otacerts.zip to otacerts.zip.bak.
exit
Exits su session.
exit
Exits shell session.
This hack is very simple; we are merely renaming a file necessary for OTA updates. When Verizon pushes an update, it will look for this file. Because we renamed it, the update will not be pushed to the Droid. You now no longer need to worry about losing Root! Also, at this time, you may disable Airplane mode.
Fortunately, this process is completely reversible.
Optional: Unblock OTA Updates
If by chance you have a change of heart and would like to accept OTA updates, we can easily reverse our hack. Simply follow everything in Step 3 except when you get to the renaming command. Instead, flip the command to rename the file back:
mv otacerts.zip.bak otacerts.zip
Renames otacerts.zip.bak to otacerts.zip (the original file name recognized by Verizon OTA updates).
Remember to do everything else in Step 3 exactly.
How to make a complete system backup
As you learned in the Custom Recovery Image guide, SPRecovery is a powerful recovery replacement that allows you to make full system backups. What do we mean by “full system backup?” It is a package created by Nandroid, a utility within SPRecovery, that contains all of the data and system information on your phone. In essence, it’s a direct 1-to-1 copy of your Droid’s software. We can take this copy and save it in case something goes wrong. If we don’t like the way our Droid operates after a certain hack or if we brick it completely, we can take this backup and restore our phone to a working state.
It’s a very simple process and does not require a computer at all. I recommend making a Nandroid backup at least once a month and before every major hack you perform on the Droid. You can never be too safe, and it would be a nuisance to backup to an earlier state that does not have your most recent data. Remember, save often; avoid frustration. Disclaimer (1/5) Requirements:
Step 1: Boot into SPRecovery
Power down the Droid completely.
While holding “X” on the physical keyboard, hold the power button to turn on the phone. You may let go of the power button, but do not let go of X.
After a few seconds, a green-gold colored Android logo should appear behind the SPRecovery Console menu.
You may now let go of X and are now ready to perform a Nandroid backup.
Step 2: Perform Backup
From the SPRecovery menu, use the directional pad to navigate to “backup/restore”. Hit the gold, center button to select it. This will open a new menu with 4 options. For now, we will only concern ourselves with the “Simple Nandroid backup”. Select it at this time.
Once the process has begun, do not power off the phone or press any buttons. At the bottom of the screen, you will see a progress bar showing the progress of the system backup. In orange text, you will also see what is currently operating.
After a few minutes, the backup process will be complete. You will see “(done)” towards the bottom.
You have now successfully backed up your Droid’s system. Next, you will learn how to restore a backup you’ve made.
Step 3: Perform Restore
Navigate to the “backup/restore” menu until you see the 4 Nandroid options. This time we will select “Simple Nandroid restore (latest)”.
Once again the process is completely automatic. Just like in the backup, you will see a progress bar and informative text. After a few minutes, the restore process will be complete. You will see “(done)” towards the bottom.
Using “Simple Nandroid restore (latest)” is useful if you simply want to return to your most recent backup. However, if you want to restore to a specific backup out of a group, you will need to select “Advanced Nandroid restore”. The first menu option is “Choose backup”; select this.
You will now be presented with a list of your backups. If you’ve only made one, it will be the only option. Select the backup you’d like to revert to.
It will take you back to the previous menu where you can select and deselect certain areas of the backup to restore. You will also see the chosen backup displayed on the top. Keep the default options of BOOT, DATA, and SYSTEM checked and select “Perform Restore”.
After a few minutes, the backup process will be complete. You will see “(done)” towards the bottom. You have now successfully restored your Droid’s system. When you are ready, press power until you back out to the main SPRecovery menu. Select “reboot system now” to reboot and finish loading your backup. Hopefully you won’t ever need to use this, but if you do, it’s a lifesaver that could help avoid frustration.
To install a ROM you should follow the instructions from where you got the ROM, but just in case you don't see any I will explain the basics. If it is in nandroid form then you want to extract it (make sure it is a single folder and not 2) then transfer it to the nandroid folder on your sdcard, now reboot into recovery and select backup/restore then choose advanced restore and choose backup, once you have selected it then you can hit perform restore. Done
If it is a update.zip then you transfer it onto the root (as in not in a folder) of your sd card, then reboot into recovery and choose install, then allow update.zip installation, and finally hit install /sdcard/update.zip.
Personally I always do full wipes before updating or installing a new ROM either through nandroid or update.zip methods. This is just how I have always done it but you may not need to.
And that is pretty much it! I would like to add Big Lou's Donate link since he put all these guides together for everyone. If you need support you can always ask here or try his site. I hope this clears things up for everyone and provides you with the info you need.
__________________ So I'm guessin' there's questions that need addressin' like how he fresh in the adolescence and wreckin em' Rules & Guidelines, Zero Tolerance Policy.
Last edited by CRPercodani; April 28th, 2010 at 07:16 PM.
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Thank you for taking the time to post these guides. I am going to read till my eyes start to bleed. You did help yourself out in a way too.... you saved yourself from me annoying the $h!+ out of you with personal messages!
There is....although I don't have the files personally. I know sholes.info offers a way to unroot, basically you need to use a completely stock backup that will flash over everything, including recovery.
So to install a ROM do I need to follow the "Obtaining Root" guide first with the update.zip posted on the site then repeat with the update.zip from the ROM I want, or do I just follow the guide and use the update.zip that I want to use first?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alostpacket
Make sure you follow the guides on how to install SPRecovery and backup with a nandroid backup first
the guides really should be in this order:
1) how to root
2) how to download and install the SDK (for adb)
3) how to install SPRecovery
4) how to make a backup
5) how to install a ROM
6) (optional) how to install busybox
.
So if I'm just going to root my phone for now, do I need to install the SDK?
I only plan on installing 2.1 when I hear that it's the one for the Droid and it's stable and whatnot.
I'm treading on thin ice here as I'm a noob so I don't want to screw things up and need help finding the "Any" key and whatnot.
So if I'm just going to root my phone for now, do I need to install the SDK?
I only plan on installing 2.1 when I hear that it's the one for the Droid and it's stable and whatnot.
I'm treading on thin ice here as I'm a noob so I don't want to screw things up and need help finding the "Any" key and whatnot.
You need to install the SDK if you root using the guides in this thread, yes. You need it for a tool it comes with called ADB (Android Debug Bridge) which is like a command line that can run commands on your phone over USB.
Last edited by alostpacket; February 26th, 2010 at 08:57 PM.
You need to install the SDK if you root using the guides in this thread, yes. You need it for a tool it comes with called ADB (Android Debug Bridge) which is like a command line that can run commands on your phone over USB.
I've always wondered why everything involves ADB. Many of the custom software at AllDroid tells you to install with ADB commands. Once you have root access, can't you do most of these things with Terminal Emulator on your phone? Or am I missing something obvious here?
__________________
Current phone: Droid Charge @ 1200MHz. ROM jumping, waiting for CM to arrive!
Quote:
Originally Posted by UBRocked
Just put your phone in airplane mode and tell him you loaded an iPhone 4 simulator on your Droid.
I've always wondered why everything involves ADB. Many of the custom software at AllDroid tells you to install with ADB commands. Once you have root access, can't you do most of these things with Terminal Emulator on your phone? Or am I missing something obvious here?
I *think* you can do most of it with the emulator yes, but I think it's just easier to type with ADB and you can cut and paste commands more easily.
Plus, I was referring to the guides linked to in this thread being written with ADB in mind.
When it comes to rooting, you dont actually need a terminal at all if you dont want to use one, you could just use DMupdater.
It's certainly a matter of preference and whatever works for someone is what they should use, but those following the guides should probably stick to ADB since that's the method used in these particular guides.
As I said before, it seems like Terminal Emulator has some limitations too? I don't know if I was doing something wrong, but I could not get Busybox from my SD card to /data/local. I tried everything. Even as su, cp or mv couldn't get it over, and it didn't change anything if you chmod 777 /data.
I think Terminal Emulator is a lot more convenient, but I guess you gotta use ADB for some things.
As I said before, it seems like Terminal Emulator has some limitations too? I don't know if I was doing something wrong, but I could not get Busybox from my SD card to /data/local. I tried everything. Even as su, cp or mv couldn't get it over, and it didn't change anything if you chmod 777 /data.
I think Terminal Emulator is a lot more convenient, but I guess you gotta use ADB for some things.
I hate ADB because you have to have a computer handy to do all of it, but really, it's no different than using the terminal on your phone. You could do it in the Terminal if you know what you're doing though. For some reason, "cp [file] [new location]" never worked for me in Terminal Emulator, even as su, but "cat [file] > [new location]" is a suitable alternative.
I was seriously considering rooting, and trying some of all the things all you guys are bragging about,, but after reading through most all the,, what you need to know first, preliminary Skills, and all the stuff from the other pages you link to, and all the, you will need this, and this, and this. you need to understand what this is, and once I got to where it was saying,,you "MAY" need to download this, ... well that s#it scared me off,, I don't need it that bad, my phone works fine now, and I don't want to risk bricking it. I think it seems to complex for me, even though its so easy for people to say,, just go ahead and root.. like its that easy. I'll just wait and maybe someday,, MAYBE I'll get an update that gives me some of the things i want on my Droid, someday.. but for now its not worth the risk, only half understanding what I'm being shown I need to do/ know.
I was seriously considering rooting, and trying some of all the things all you guys are bragging about,, but after reading through most all the,, what you need to know first, preliminary Skills, and all the stuff from the other pages you link to, and all the, you will need this, and this, and this. you need to understand what this is, and once I got to where it was saying,,you "MAY" need to download this, ... well that s#it scared me off,, I don't need it that bad, my phone works fine now, and I don't want to risk bricking it. I think it seems to complex for me, even though its so easy for people to say,, just go ahead and root.. like its that easy. I'll just wait and maybe someday,, MAYBE I'll get an update that gives me some of the things i want on my Droid, someday.. but for now its not worth the risk, only half understanding what I'm being shown I need to do/ know.
If you want something simple, all you need to do is download DroidMod Updater. Go to droidmod.org on your phone and download their updater and launch it. This method is more useful because if something goes wrong in DroidMod you won't have any idea what to do. Also, their ROM is inferior to newer releases (but still miles ahead of stock ).
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Things like DroidRootHelper are also VERY handy because all that code stuff and entering things into the terminal emulator are pretty much taken care of automatically. I was nervous as all get-out when I rooted, and even more nerve-wracked when I loaded my first ROM and rebooted.
But you know what? IT WAS WORTH IT!
The freedom I have to do so much with my phone, to have the latest and greatest, and to know I'm not subject to the Powers That Be who control updates... I already have all that stuff and then some.
If you don't want to root, don't. But don't let sheer FEAR stop you from doing something that you want to do. Ask yourself this: in all these forums, how many posts are from n00bs who have truly bricked their phones?
I want to root. Only to overclock a little and really just to get wifi tether. The gallery and music apps would be a plus but that is about it. The only thing that keeps me from it is these roms update very often and not knowing what most of the stuff in them is before saying load/no load on individual stuff. My Droid is near flawless right now and I would like to keep it that way but........
I want to root. Only to overclock a little and really just to get wifi tether. The gallery and music apps would be a plus but that is about it. The only thing that keeps me from it is these roms update very often and not knowing what most of the stuff in them is before saying load/no load on individual stuff. My Droid is near flawless right now and I would like to keep it that way but........
So can I just root(which looks simple enough) and get a wifi tether apk or something?
But what about a back-up?
what I really need is a day where someone holds my hand through this and explains it all in the process. I want to learn but get lost in the lingo. I know I can do it but don't really want all that other stuff in most of these roms plus I don't really understand what most of it is even after doing my homework on it.lol
Thanks
ps. i am not afraid of bricking my phone. Just don't want a lot of that other stuff.
Last edited by istolvampire; March 16th, 2010 at 07:58 PM.
So can I just root(which looks simple enough) and get a wifi tether apk or something?
But what about a back-up?
what I really need is a day where someone holds my hand through this and explains it all in the process. I want to learn but get lost in the lingo. I know I can do it but don't really want all that other stuff in most of these roms plus I don't really understand what most of it is even after doing my homework on it.lol
Thanks
Yes you can just get a wifi tether apk, but I think if you root with Droidmod it does it for you and adds a wifi tether which is nice.
You generally only need a backup when installing custom ROMs. If you brick your phone while rooting... well I have never even heard of someone doing that.
If you need faster help go to the "Chat live!" button on top of the toolbar and people(including me) will help you to the best of our abilities.
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rooting and installing roms for the squeamish
Quote:
I was seriously considering rooting, and trying some of all the things all you guys are bragging about,, but after reading through most all the,, what you need to know first, preliminary Skills, and all the stuff from the other pages you link to, and all the, you will need this, and this, and this. you need to understand what this is, and once I got to where it was saying,,you "MAY" need to download this, ... well that s#it scared me off,, I don't need it that bad, my phone works fine now, and I don't want to risk bricking it. I think it seems to complex for me, even though its so easy for people to say,, just go ahead and root.. like its that easy. I'll just wait and maybe someday,, MAYBE I'll get an update that gives me some of the things i want on my Droid, someday.. but for now its not worth the risk, only half understanding what I'm being shown I need to do/ know.
if you follow the directions it isnt too bad...i am pretty good with a puter but once rooted i used droid root helper, played with a few roms and used the nandroid update method to install 2.1...i have messed up many times but my droid keeps on running...as long as you have a backup your good
Yes you can just get a wifi tether apk, but I think if you root with Droidmod it does it for you and adds a wifi tether which is nice.
You generally only need a backup when installing custom ROMs. If you brick your phone while rooting... well I have never even heard of someone doing that.
If you need faster help go to the "Chat live!" button on top of the toolbar and people(including me) will help you to the best of our abilities.
Well Knite I rooted and tried to install wifi tether apk but it says my kernel is not supported so I don't know where to go from here. Any help would be great. I tried live chat but got no answer but maybe I am working it wrong. Thanks
So i managed to install smokedglass 6. Is there a rom that gives me all this without the smoke glass? Like the native green look on the phone dial and grey notification bar? I still want wifi tether,gallery 2.1, live wallpaper, pinch zoom, etc. just not the theme part of this rom. Or just change the notification color to green text? Thanks in advance.
Also would like to thank m3gatron and knitewulf for all their help. Still not sure i know what i am doing but at least it is running ok.lol
Last edited by istolvampire; March 19th, 2010 at 02:13 AM.
I've tried to do everything in here, EVERYTIME i have to use flash_image it say "no such directory" I've tried leaving it zipped. I've tried extracting it. Nothing works. what am I doing wrong?
I tried rooting with the easy method by copying the renamed update.zip file to my sd card and installing. It says that it cannot verify the signature and aborts installation. What do I do?
Every time I go to these pages I get a Bandwidth Exceeded message. Perhaps he should consider hosting somewhere else or paying his bill or upping his bandwidth amount?? Jeez....
You'll need to read and prolly won't get to see the neat pictures, but if you follow these instructions, you'll be good to go and shouldn't be bothered with anyone's inability to pay their bills.
Most (if not all) of the links are down on the page, so an alternate location for your update.zip can be found by clicking HERE.
Last edited by hard2say; March 28th, 2010 at 07:31 PM.
You'll need to read and prolly won't get to see the neat pictures, but if you follow these instructions, you'll be good to go and shouldn't be bothered with anyone's inability to pay their bills.
Most (if not all) of the links are down on the page, so an alternate location for your update.zip can be found by clicking HERE.
Do you need to rename the file at all after your download it?
Guide(s) to EVERYTHING Root related! Updated for 2.1
... well that s#it scared me off,, I don't need it that bad, my phone works fine now, and I don't want to risk bricking it. I think it seems to complex for me, even though its so easy for people to say,, just go ahead and root.. like its that easy. I'll just wait and maybe someday,, MAYBE I'll get an update that gives me some of the things i want on my Droid, someday.. but for now its not worth the risk, only half understanding what I'm being shown I need to do/ know.
).
