Root help!

[morgan_allstar]

i had stock 2.2 OTA update recently and then used the guide from this forum to try to get root access. everything went well until the last step of installing the update.zip and rebooting.....my phone goes black and then when it goes to reboot the motorola logo is all that shows up on the screen....that's it and i've let it sit for quite a while.

any thoughts/tips/help? much appreciated!

 

[johnlgalt]

Which steps exactly did you use?

 

[morgan_allstar]

Which steps exactly did you use?

got it figured out, had to take the SD card out and pop it into the computer and re-add the update.zip file ...it kept freezing up on me but i just restarted it and let it be for a while and it's working fast this morning! hooray

 

[The_Chief]

Welcome to the wide world of rooting and ROMming! Make lots of backups!

 

[morgan_allstar]

Welcome to the wide world of rooting and ROMming! Make lots of backups!

backups of my data, i assume?

 

[The_Chief]

Right. As soon as you can get into recovery using x+power, make a nandroid backup of your phone's current state. Then if something messes up along the way you can always restore back to your last known good state. I make backups every month or so and before I undertake any major changes.

 

[morgan_allstar]

Right. As soon as you can get into recovery using x+power, make a nandroid backup of your phone's current state. Then if something messes up along the way you can always restore back to your last known good state. I make backups every month or so and before I undertake any major changes.

is nandroid something i need to download in the first place or should it already be on there?

 

[The_Chief]

It's part of the recovery image that needs to be flashed after you root. What do you intend to do, actually, with your rooted Droid?

 

[nstallion]

is nandroid something i need to download in the first place or should it already be on there?

You will definitely want to learn how to make nandroid backups. Having a working backup will get you out of many problems, especially if (no offense intended) you don't really know anything about rooting. Using the ROM manager app to make them is the easy way but that just reboots into Clockwork Recovery anyway and performs the backup.

Figuring out how to use your recovery software properly is a better idea.

 

[morgan_allstar]

It's part of the recovery image that needs to be flashed after you root. What do you intend to do, actually, with your rooted Droid?

change themes, maybe try some of the overclocking, just putz around i guess.

do you have a link on instructions to flash the recovery image? i'm not sure that i get that.

 

[morgan_allstar]

You will definitely want to learn how to make nandroid backups. Having a working backup will get you out of many problems, especially if (no offense intended) you don't really know anything about rooting. Using the ROM manager app to make them is the easy way but that just reboots into Clockwork Recovery anyway and performs the backup.

Figuring out how to use your recovery software properly is a better idea.

no offense taken! just learning a lot of this stuff, been reading a lot on it but it can get confusing at times.

 

[The_Chief]

First things first:

Download ROM Manager from the Market and install it. Run it and flash ClockworkMod Recovery.

Then scroll down and flash SPRecovery, and then flash ClockworkMod Recovery AGAIN. CWRecovery is a bit finicky that way... but it should take on the second install.

Then read through:

http://androidforums.com/droid-all-things-root/136508-guide-all-things-root-related.html

... and learn all about rooting, ROMming and overclocking. Especially the part about nandroid backups. I'm a big advocate of backing up.

Before you flash ANYTHING, make sure you can get to Recovery using x+power, NOT ROM Manager. Yeah, you'll reboot a couple of times but the peace of mind is worth it.

 

[morgan_allstar]

looks like i have a project for tonight!

 

[The_Chief]

Just make sure you have a good charge on your battery before you start doing anything fancy and you'll be fine. Have fun

 

[morgan_allstar]

can anyone explain to me in non-techy terms the big difference between sprecovery and clockwork?

 

[The_Chief]

SPRecovery by Sir Psycho is an older recovery program, many months long ago the only recovery. It is capable but limited in its abilities. For example, it can ONLY flash files named "update.zip" so any ROM, kernel or theme has to be renamed.

ClockworkMod Recovery is more updated and has more features. The backups are thorough, you can wipe individual partitions (data, system, cache and boot) and you needn't rename a zip file to run it.

Anybody else have anything to add?

EDIT: Yeah, I'll add something: SPRecovery is VERY stable. You KNOW it's going to work every time you need it. CWRecovery, however, is very finicky and may have to be flashed several times. Always make sure you can access recovery through x+power before doing anything, just to make SURE your recovery is still there.