[How-To] Install SPRecovery on unrooted 2.1 OTA

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 11:28 AM

All of those asking for the root exploit for the 2.1 OTA, or those unsatisfied with 2.1 and wanting to go back can now use this method posted by Droidmod. It is essentially an .sbf file that will install SPRecovery on the OTA update, and eliminates the need to downgrade back to 2.0.1 to get SPRecovery.

Once you have SPRecovery, you can just flash any new ROM that has superuser permissions. The link is here:

2.1 SP Recovery SBF - DroidMod

The post is as follows:

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgx

SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf

[mbm] was kind enough to provide this.

That should help people going from stock ESE81 OTA 2.1 get a root friendly recovery. No more downgrade, root, apply zip, install update fun.

Just flash that, and you will have the latest SPRecovery version installed.

Please note that this WILL reflash the boot image to stock ESE81! This is required to keep recovery from being overwrote on reboot. A few bits in the boot image were changed to break the checksum hash that the recovery update checks.

The md5sum of the image is:

9b6a336cd8f067d4487935468c758d89 SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf

PLEASE VERIFY THIS HASH! This is the ONLY way to verify that you have the correct image!

Linux users can run “md5sum SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf” in the folder you downloaded to

Windows users can download md5sum.exe from etree.org | md5sum.exe

Place md5sum.exe in c:windowssystem32 to get it into your path

syntax is the same as for linux

As always, we are not responsible for user errors, and it’s your responsibility to obtain any other tools that you may need.

You'll need to follow the instructions for RSD Lite from the following thread, just replace the .sbf file with the one from Droidmod:

http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-droid/47349-now-you-can-live-without-fear-bricking.html

-----------------------------------
Once you have SPRecovery installed, you can root your current 2.1 by flashing this update.zip file created by OMJ:

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMJ

I dont know why I didnt think of this a long time ago but...

In order to avoid having to use abd to push the su and superuser.apk I editted the update.zip of the 2.1 version of superuser to work with spr. I unrooted and gave it a shot just to be sure and it worked fine.

So after you finish the sbf flash of SPRecovery then just put this update.zip in the root of your sd card then reboot into recovery. Go to install then press allow update.zip installation then install update.zip depreciated.

After that you will have root access without using adb and without losing any data.

update.zip

Manual Method of Rooting 2.1

Props to the DM team! This is a sick release. And all you unrooted 2.1'ers out there, enjoy SPRecovery.

OMJ · April 13th, 2010, 11:39 AM

thats awesome. Fab you should add a link to this in op in now you can live without fear of bricking sticky

ljbaumer · April 13th, 2010, 11:47 AM

this won't work if you leaked android 2.1 onto the droid eris right?

OMJ · April 13th, 2010, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljbaumer

this won't work if you leaked android 2.1 onto the droid eris right?

This won't work on an eris at all

ljbaumer · April 13th, 2010, 12:06 PM

ugg, thanks anyway though

UBRocked · April 13th, 2010, 12:19 PM

Props to the DroidMod team. They may not update their ROM often...they may cause drama while standing on the shoulders of giants

but they have given us two nice tools that have and will come in very handy for many people!

Thanks for posting this Fab!

tom108 · April 13th, 2010, 01:17 PM

Nice!

gwlaw99 · April 13th, 2010, 01:58 PM

Does this mean you can just install a rooted rom like Bugless Beast from recovery without first rooting the phone?

Mazinga · April 13th, 2010, 02:57 PM

I've ran the flash twice now, and my droid still says I'm on 2.1
At this point I'm a bit puzzled. Does this mean I can just run droidmod updater and root it, or do I need to go back to 2.01 somehow then root it once that's done? Original post @ droidmod is bit unclear as to exactly what this is supposed to do.

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwlaw99

Does this mean you can just install a rooted rom like Bugless Beast from recovery without first rooting the phone?

Exactly!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mazinga

I've ran the flash twice now, and my droid still says I'm on 2.1
At this point I'm a bit puzzled. Does this mean I can just run droidmod updater and root it, or do I need to go back to 2.01 somehow then root it once that's done? Original post @ droidmod is bit unclear as to exactly what this is supposed to do.

Yes, you will stay at 2.1, and you will not be rooted. What you will have is SPRecovery, which will allow you to load any other ROM.

So if you want to stay at the 2.1 OTA with root, you just follow the steps in this thread to load that ROM:

http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-droid/58248-rom-ese81-completely-stock-proper-root-su-baseband.html

Or try any number of other ROMS found all over the forum.

gwlaw99 · April 13th, 2010, 03:32 PM

ok thanks Fabulous. I think I figure it out. Didn't see the link in the first post

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gwlaw99

Can anyone go over step by step how to use the md5sum.exe file to install spr?

You don't, it's just a md5 checker to make sure the download wasn't corrupt.

you run this command:

md5sum SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf

and make sure it returns the same md5 checksum as in the OP. The instructions on where to put the .exe file are in the OP as well.

You need to use RSD Lite to actually flash the .sbf file. Those instructions are, wait for it, in the OP as well.

Kmart95 · April 13th, 2010, 03:42 PM

So if we dont install a custom rom we cant do things that require root access.But if we install say... Ultimate Droid will we then have root access? Sorry im not exactly sure how this works.

Redflea · April 13th, 2010, 03:47 PM

Yes...installing a rooted ROM gives you root access.

Kmart95 · April 13th, 2010, 03:48 PM

Thanks, in that case this is really cool

samedroidsex · April 13th, 2010, 04:13 PM

step zero: download attached zip and extract
step one: boot into sprecovery
step two: mount /system from sprecovery
step three:

Code:

adb push su /system/bin/su
adb shell "chmod 6755 /system/bin/su"
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk
adb shell "chmod 644 /system/app/Superuser.apk"

step four: reboot
step five: stay alive

enjoy rooted stock ESE81, with no need to screw up your shit or install a hacked together copy of ota...

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 04:19 PM

Well done, I'll add that to the OP.

Kmart95 · April 13th, 2010, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabolous

You don't, it's just a md5 checker to make sure the download wasn't corrupt.

you run this command:

md5sum SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf

and make sure it returns the same md5 checksum as in the OP. The instructions on where to put the .exe file are in the OP as well.

You need to use RSD Lite to actually flash the .sbf file. Those instructions are, wait for it, in the OP as well.

Where do we run that command exactly?

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kmart95

Where do we run that command exactly?

Again, from the OP...

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgx

Linux users can run “md5sum SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf” in the folder you downloaded to

Windows users can download md5sum.exe from etree.org | md5sum.exe

Place md5sum.exe in c:\windows\system32 to get it into your path

syntax is the same as for linux

You need some basic, very, very basic knowledge of windows command prompt.

Windows Key + R = run
type in cmd

now, make sure you have md5sum.exe in your /system32 folder as stated in the OP

make sure the .sbf is on your desktop

in your command prompt:

cd desktop
md5sum SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf

Kmart95 · April 13th, 2010, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabolous

Again, from the OP...

You need some basic, very, very basic knowledge of windows command prompt.

Windows Key + R = run
type in cmd

now, make sure you have md5sum.exe in your /system32 folder as stated in the OP

make sure the .sbf is on your desktop

in your command prompt:

cd desktop
md5sum SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf

OK thank you so much, it worked! My problem before was when i was in command prompt it couldn't locate the .sbf because i didn't tell it where to look.

kellex · April 13th, 2010, 05:16 PM

"'md5sum' is not recognized as an internal or external command"

Any idea why I'm getting that? And yes, the md5sum.exe is my system32 folder.

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 05:17 PM

just make a copy of it on your desktop (or whatever folder you're working from) then, along with the .sbf and run the command

kellex · April 13th, 2010, 05:30 PM

thanks that worked.

craigrn16 · April 13th, 2010, 07:17 PM

ok...Im not the rooting expert here, so everything I have read so far has made no sense to me. Let me try to get this straight. If I download this file, what do I do? Install it like an update.zip then it will give me super user... To be honest guys I love 2.1 the way it is the only thing I want is wifi tether and I want to be able to get it the easiest way possible. If someone can explain this to me like Im a 5 year old that would be greatly appreciated.

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigrn16

ok...Im not the rooting expert here, so everything I have read so far has made no sense to me. Let me try to get this straight. If I download this file, what do I do? Install it like an update.zip then it will give me super user... To be honest guys I love 2.1 the way it is the only thing I want is wifi tether and I want to be able to get it the easiest way possible. If someone can explain this to me like Im a 5 year old that would be greatly appreciated.

1. Use the .sbf file provided in the OP to flash SPRecovery. You may have to read the sticky about RSD Lite to figure out how to do so. The link is in the OP.

2. Now you have two choices:

a. Install a ROM that is already rooted. You can find all those instructions in the respective ROM's threads.

b. Root your current 2.1 OTA. That requires knowledge of adb, and the file attached to the OP. If you have both of those, then you just follow the commands posted.

philsfan · April 13th, 2010, 07:32 PM

so i'm getting an error "chmod: not found" error when using adb....???

philsfan · April 13th, 2010, 07:38 PM

what would happen if i just push "su" and "superuser.apk" without the "chmod" part??

craigrn16 · April 13th, 2010, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabolous

1. Use the .sbf file provided in the OP to flash SPRecovery. You may have to read the sticky about RSD Lite to figure out how to do so. The link is in the OP.

2. Now you have two choices:

a. Install a ROM that is already rooted. You can find all those instructions in the respective ROM's threads.

b. Root your current 2.1 OTA. That requires knowledge of adb, and the file attached to the OP. If you have both of those, then you just follow the commands posted.

LOL ok...Who here lives in New Jersey and knows how to do this. I'll pay them to show me step by step how to do this stuff or better yet i'll pay to have it done.

Kmart95 · April 13th, 2010, 07:55 PM

Here is a video from motodroidlife doing this:

YouTube - Flashing SPRecovery SBF File to a Motorola Droid

cap808 · April 13th, 2010, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kmart95

Here is a video from motodroidlife doing this:

YouTube - Flashing SPRecovery SBF File to a Motorola Droid

Running RSDLite 4.5 on Windows 7 x64

When opening the SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf in RSDLite, it says: "Unknown Platform"

Filename: SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf
Creation Date: 04/14/2010 01:44:23
File size: 6345657
RAM DL Version: N / A
Bootloader Version: N / A
Platform: Unknown Platform
HAB Type: Signed Production

The flash will not continue beyond this point. I verified the md5 sum on the .sdf file.

Any suggestions?

cap808 · April 13th, 2010, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cap808

Running RSDLite 4.5 on Windows 7 x64

When opening the SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf in RSDLite, it says: "Unknown Platform"

Filename: SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf
Creation Date: 04/14/2010 01:44:23
File size: 6345657
RAM DL Version: N / A
Bootloader Version: N / A
Platform: Unknown Platform
HAB Type: Signed Production

The flash will not continue beyond this point. I verified the md5 sum on the .sdf file.

Any suggestions?

Ok, I figured it out. Make sure you have the latest RSDLite #1 I had to run RSDLite as an Administrator for it to run correctly.

PoKnow · April 13th, 2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabolous

1. Use the .sbf file provided in the OP to flash SPRecovery. You may have to read the sticky about RSD Lite to figure out how to do so. The link is in the OP.

2. Now you have two choices:

a. Install a ROM that is already rooted. You can find all those instructions in the respective ROM's threads.

b. Root your current 2.1 OTA. That requires knowledge of adb, and the file attached to the OP. If you have both of those, then you just follow the commands posted.

What if we don't have knowledge of ADB?

I booted into recovery... mounted /system

adb usb
adb shell (got # sign)
adb push su /system/bin/su

and that last command hung!

Please help!

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoKnow

What if we don't have knowledge of ADB?

I booted into recovery... mounted /system

adb usb
adb shell (got # sign)
adb push su /system/bin/su

and that last command hung!

Please help!

Do you have the two files from the .zip file IN the same folder as adb? That's where 'push' will look for the file to copy onto your Droid.

PoKnow · April 13th, 2010, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabolous

Do you have the two files from the .zip file IN the same folder as adb? That's where 'push' will look for the file to copy onto your Droid.

Got it working for those who need to know

1. Install Android SDK
2. Follow instructions up to mount /system
3. adb usb

adb devices (to verify)
adb shell (to verify you get #)
if you don't get # don't bother going forward

4. adb push su /system/bin/su
5. adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk
6. adb shell

/system/bin/chmod 6755 /system/bin/su
/system/bin/chmod 644 /system/app/Superuser.apk"

7. Reboot and you'll have root
8. Install tethering? Forget it... no netfilter...

Fabolous · April 13th, 2010, 11:21 PM

That's right, by default the kernel does not support tethering.

You will need to flash one of the many custom kernels to take advantage of wireless/wired tethering.

I suggest using these:

P3Droid Kernels

jroc · April 13th, 2010, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by samedroidsex

step five: stay alive

enjoy rooted stock ESE81, with no need to screw up your shit or install a hacked together copy of ota...

LMAO @step 5........

I will definitely be trying this out. Alot quicker and less of a headache then going all the way back to 2.0.1

waffles · April 14th, 2010, 12:14 AM

Thanks for the instructions below to get su and superuser on there. FYI - if you just add /system/bin/ before the chmod commands in the OP it will work and wont give you the "not found" issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoKnow

Got it working for those who need to know

1. Install Android SDK
2. Follow instructions up to mount /system
3. adb usb

adb devices (to verify)
adb shell (to verify you get #)
if you don't get # don't bother going forward

4. adb push su /system/bin/su
5. adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk
6. adb shell

/system/bin/chmod 6755 /system/bin/su
/system/bin/chmod 644 /system/app/Superuser.apk"

7. Reboot and you'll have root
8. Install tethering? Forget it... no netfilter...

FusionX · April 14th, 2010, 02:23 AM

Works like a charm! Thanks for this post. This definitely needs to be a sticky.

Now I am on to finding some good custom ROMs :-)

Jerry-rigged · April 14th, 2010, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philsfan

so i'm getting an error "chmod: not found" error when using adb....???

I was having this issue, the problem is my PC needed the proper debugging driver for the Droid.

check here for instructions to get driver:
USB Debugging Drivers | Root Your Droid

slick · April 14th, 2010, 08:36 AM

I'm back, you sons-a-bitcheeees!!!!

*crickets*

*slowly backs out of thread*

kslim · April 14th, 2010, 12:41 PM

any mirror for the spr reecovery?

jroc · April 15th, 2010, 07:36 AM

I'm trying this right now. Turns out I had to force SDK to update/install thru http. I didnt actually have adb installed. Now I should be getting somewhere. I was getting the chmod errors too.

j4claerr · April 15th, 2010, 07:41 AM

Works like a charm..... Exactly what I have been waiting for. Total time takes about 5 mintues to complete!!!!!!

dwoid · April 15th, 2010, 11:18 AM

Yes, or, use Barnacle, [currently] available on the Market. It does a very good job of wireless tethering without having a specialized kernel.

Btw, Fab, wonderful thread. Thanks!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabolous

That's right, by default the kernel does not support tethering.

You will need to flash one of the many custom kernels to take advantage of wireless/wired tethering.

I suggest using these:

P3Droid Kernels

jroc · April 15th, 2010, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoKnow

Got it working for those who need to know

1. Install Android SDK
2. Follow instructions up to mount /system
3. adb usb

adb devices (to verify)
adb shell (to verify you get #)
if you don't get # don't bother going forward

4. adb push su /system/bin/su
5. adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk
6. adb shell

/system/bin/chmod 6755 /system/bin/su
/system/bin/chmod 644 /system/app/Superuser.apk"

7. Reboot and you'll have root
8. Install tethering? Forget it... no netfilter...

Yes this worked for me too. Thanks. Also, I had to update the program that uses adb. Mighta been the drivers. I saw those update right at the end.

DarthMuffin · April 16th, 2010, 11:48 AM

This looks really great! Got a quick question though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabolous

Please note that this WILL reflash the boot image to stock ESE81! This is required to keep recovery from being overwrote on reboot. A few bits in the boot image were changed to break the checksum hash that the recovery update checks.

I'm not clear on this -- does it mean my droid will be reflashed to stock config and I'll lose any apps and data too? Or does it just put my stock ESE81 to a stock ESE81 with sprecovery ability and leave the apps/data alone?

jasonb1985 · April 17th, 2010, 10:46 PM

wow! this was super easy. my brother just got a droid with the 2.1 update and asked if we could hack it. this was easier than rooting my phone was back in the day.

gurnzb · April 18th, 2010, 02:21 PM

i've used this to root my droid, but now my headphone jack is busted and i gotta replace, how can i unroot my droid after using this process?

thanks

Larry_ThaGr81 · April 18th, 2010, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabolous

All of those asking for the root exploit for the 2.1 OTA, or those unsatisfied with 2.1 and wanting to go back can now use this method posted by Droidmod. It is essentially an .sbf file that will install SPRecovery on the OTA update, and eliminates the need to downgrade back to 2.0.1 to get SPRecovery.

Once you have SPRecovery, you can just flash any new ROM that has superuser permissions. The link is here:

2.1 SP Recovery SBF - DroidMod

The post is as follows:

You'll need to follow the instructions for RSD Lite from the following thread, just replace the .sbf file with the one from Droidmod:

http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-droid/47349-now-you-can-live-without-fear-bricking.html

-----------------------------------

Additionally, once you have SPRecovery, you can just root your OTA 2.1 (no need to flash another ROM), though this requires you to be competent with adb.

These are the instructions, thanks to samedroidsex.

Props to the DM team! This is a sick release. And all you unrooted 2.1'ers out there, enjoy SPRecovery.

Thanks for the previous tip, in regards to renaming my ESE81 to update. When I download and install Smoked Glass 6.0.1 by Adamz, I loose my super user permissions. So here I am trying to add super user permissions to Smoked Glass 6.0.1 by Adamz. How do I go about this process?

I have a superuser permission file, but I don't know if its the right one for an ESE53 ROM. I've installed the SDK on my computer and also need to know if that is where the commands (from cmd prompt) will be entered to manually install the super user file, while my phone is in SPRecovery mode.

Speaking of that I've downloaded ClockworkMod and no longer have SPRecovery mode. Does this matter?

Currently running Bugless Beast V0.9 over ESE81.

jasonb1985 · April 18th, 2010, 10:56 PM

from what i heard the version of adamz smoked glass thats on rom manager is a bad file. i would guess that's why you lost superuser permissions.

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