• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Root XT862 Root Help

I have had problem after problem with my droid3. Its been slow and laggy since about a month after i purchased it. the camera often forces closed, as well as many other programs. It frequently locks up to the point i have to pull the battery to reboot. I am an electrical/computer engineer yet i basically know nothing about android systems. Simply havent takent the time to learn. And i have very limited knowledge of linux period.
I have spent the better part of the day exploring all the forums and playing with my droid3 trying to figure out how to get it rooted and what ROM is the best (most stabil, best battery life, quickest) in that order.
I cant seem to get a sucessful root.

I have system version .906
Can someone please help me with how to get it rooted successfully.
Next what is the newest but still stabil ROM?

thanks in advance for your help and time
 
I got motofail and Steel droid 3 4500 ROM to work.
Dont know if its the best out there but at lease it worked.
Please let me know if there are better ROMs out there. I would love to get ice cream or jelly bean if anyone know of anything comeing soon.

If you want to to use ICS or JB, at the moment you can only do with some compromises - no camera; bluetooth messes up audio; things like that.

Steel Droid 4.8 (the Gingerbread version of SD), Maverick 4.0 or 4.5 - both are great. Liberty is also quite good, but has not been updated with the changes that Motorola made in the latest update. If you are not happy with SD going forward, you can try one of those two.
 
Upvote 0
If you want to to use ICS or JB, at the moment you can only do with some compromises - no camera; bluetooth messes up audio; things like that.

Steel Droid 4.8 (the Gingerbread version of SD), Maverick 4.0 or 4.5 - both are great. Liberty is also quite good, but has not been updated with the changes that Motorola made in the latest update. If you are not happy with SD going forward, you can try one of those two.
What would you say are the pros and cons of the various Gingerbread roots you mentioned: Steel Droid 4.8 vs. Maverick 4.0 vs. Maverick 4.5? TIA. :)
 
Upvote 0
Very new to this trying to root my droid 3 xt862 downloaded it to pc connected phone ran program it shut phone off looked up how to see if im rooted said use terminal app type su should get # and be able to type cd/data/app-terminal said should not be able to type it all if not but i didnt get # got not found for su and no such file or directory for other so am i rooted or no
 
Upvote 0
What would you say are the pros and cons of the various Gingerbread roots you mentioned: Steel Droid 4.8 vs. Maverick 4.0 vs. Maverick 4.5? TIA. :)

Let me first say that this is all my opinion. Honestly, you may be better off trying them out for yourself.

Steel Droid is now up to 5.0.

Both Mavericks (as I recall) include a reboot and screenshot option in the menu when you long-press on the power button; Steel Droid 4.8 and 5.0 do not. I think that all three are based on the latest XT862 5.7.906 system update.

I've read that some people have had battery drain issues with Maverick 4.5 compared with 4.0, so that they have stayed with 4.0. I did not notice any such difference. Maverick has a configuration utility that lets you change the theme, as well as which messaging app is used. That particular utility is not working right, though. (You can run the utility and then flash the zip file that it makes on your SD card to get it to work, but that's pretty kludgy.) Steel Droid also has replaced the Blur launcher with a customized version.

The Mavericks report battery usage at 1% increments; I believe that Steel Droid does not, though.

Both SD and the Mavericks work well for me. I think that they are both fine.

On the con side, for some reason, both developers have customized the default typeface. It's arguably more attractive, but you cannot distinguish between normal type and bold face on any of these. That's important to me, as a user of the GMail app, which shows unread messages as bold text. It is almost impossible to tell unread from previously read messages in Gmail. For this reason alone, I do not use either of these ROMs.

The two that I like are Minimoto (currently at version 1.7) and this ROM from Q9Nap on xda-developers.com (which, unlike stock Droid 3 Gingerbread at version 2.3.4, is Gingerbread 2.3.6.) The DST ROM from Q9Nap has a different lockscreen (which you may prefer) but is otherwise indistinguishable from stock.

Minimoto is also based on the 5.7.906 update but the developer (thingonaspring on xda-developers.com) has customized it - mostly by making it much "lighter" - he's removed a lot of inefficient code, replaced the Motorola Blur messaging and MMS with stock Android versions, replaced the launcher, implemented the 1% battery reporting, etc. Many people find that it reduces battery usage, all other things being equal, compared with rooted stock; I agree, though I find the difference to be rather smaller than many others. (Where I may find my phone after 18 hours at about 60% on average with stock, with Minimoto it may be on average at about 65% to 70%.) However, there are some things missing from Minimoto, such as the car dock app (there are several good ones on the market, though.) The GMail app is not included by default, but you can install it from the market (you must also go into settings->accounts->your GMail account to turn on GMail sync.) It also removes all of the stock battery handling (nighttime mode, performance mode, etc.), which also removes the ability to turn off mobile data from settings. These are not a big deal to me, though. You can read the other differences at the Minimoto thread that I linked above.

As I said, what you need may be different from me. But, my two favorites at the moment, and the ones that I switch between, are the XT862 2.3.6 DST SafeStrap Rom GSM Compatible from Q9Nap and Minimoto v1.7 XT862/XT860.
 
  • Like
Reactions: beowulf7
Upvote 0
Very new to this trying to root my droid 3 xt862 downloaded it to pc connected phone ran program it shut phone off looked up how to see if im rooted said use terminal app type su should get # and be able to type cd/data/app-terminal said should not be able to type it all if not but i didnt get # got not found for su and no such file or directory for other so am i rooted or no

Champ, which rooting method did you try to use? Do you have a link?
 
Upvote 0
Let me first say that this is all my opinion. Honestly, you may be better off trying them out for yourself.

Steel Droid is now up to 5.0.

Both Mavericks (as I recall) include a reboot and screenshot option in the menu when you long-press on the power button; Steel Droid 4.8 and 5.0 do not. I think that all three are based on the latest XT862 5.7.906 system update.

I've read that some people have had battery drain issues with Maverick 4.5 compared with 4.0, so that they have stayed with 4.0. I did not notice any such difference. Maverick has a configuration utility that lets you change the theme, as well as which messaging app is used. That particular utility is not working right, though. (You can run the utility and then flash the zip file that it makes on your SD card to get it to work, but that's pretty kludgy.) Steel Droid also has replaced the Blur launcher with a customized version.

The Mavericks report battery usage at 1% increments; I believe that Steel Droid does not, though.

Both SD and the Mavericks work well for me. I think that they are both fine.

On the con side, for some reason, both developers have customized the default typeface. It's arguably more attractive, but you cannot distinguish between normal type and bold face on any of these. That's important to me, as a user of the GMail app, which shows unread messages as bold text. It is almost impossible to tell unread from previously read messages in Gmail. For this reason alone, I do not use either of these ROMs.

The two that I like are Minimoto (currently at version 1.7) and this ROM from Q9Nap on xda-developers.com (which, unlike stock Droid 3 Gingerbread at version 2.3.4, is Gingerbread 2.3.6.) The DST ROM from Q9Nap has a different lockscreen (which you may prefer) but is otherwise indistinguishable from stock.

Minimoto is also based on the 5.7.906 update but the developer (thingonaspring on xda-developers.com) has customized it - mostly by making it much "lighter" - he's removed a lot of inefficient code, replaced the Motorola Blur messaging and MMS with stock Android versions, replaced the launcher, implemented the 1% battery reporting, etc. Many people find that it reduces battery usage, all other things being equal, compared with rooted stock; I agree, though I find the difference to be rather smaller than many others. (Where I may find my phone after 18 hours at about 60% on average with stock, with Minimoto it may be on average at about 65% to 70%.) However, there are some things missing from Minimoto, such as the car dock app (there are several good ones on the market, though.) The GMail app is not included by default, but you can install it from the market (you must also go into settings->accounts->your GMail account to turn on GMail sync.) It also removes all of the stock battery handling (nighttime mode, performance mode, etc.), which also removes the ability to turn off mobile data from settings. These are not a big deal to me, though. You can read the other differences at the Minimoto thread that I linked above.

As I said, what you need may be different from me. But, my two favorites at the moment, and the ones that I switch between, are the XT862 2.3.6 DST SafeStrap Rom GSM Compatible from Q9Nap and Minimoto v1.7 XT862/XT860.
Thanks for the very informative post. (I apologize for my delay in responding.) Do you have to reinstall all your apps and settings every time you change the ROM? I assume that would have to be the case. I realize that apps can be changed from the phone to the microSDHC card. Now that I finally got some breathing space (I upgraded from 8 GB to 32 GB yesterday), I can move those apps that allow it to be moved to the external card.

I've never rooted before which means I've never changed the ROM before, so I have quite a bit of apprehension as you can imagine. As far as the types of ROMs available, I'm not picky. I'm looking for something relatively lightweight that allows the phone to look and act somewhat stock, but get the bloat and bugs out that the stock 5.7.906 version has. There are times it literally takes me over a full minute to make a phone call after I press call button. Unacceptable. Yet sometimes it calls within a couple seconds. It makes no sense and is very frustrating.
 
Upvote 0
Thanks for the very informative post. (I apologize for my delay in responding.) Do you have to reinstall all your apps and settings every time you change the ROM?

Yes, but there is a great app called Titanium Backup Pro that makes it pretty easy to reinstall your apps (with their data), so it's just some settings that you need to readjust.

There is a great FAQ for TiBu here: http://androidforums.com/faqs/607141-guide-titaniumbackup-tutorial.html

(My only change to this is to tell you that restoring SMS messages back to Motorola "Blur" phones like the Droid 3 will restore all of the messages with the date and time that you run the restore, which is rather annoying. I just start text messages from scratch. I'd also avoid restoring the call log. In fact, I have noticed that call delay myself, and I wonder if it is worse when the call log is long. It may also be due to the phone running a long time between restarts, though.)

TiBu: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...Backup&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd

The Pro key: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...iY29tLmtlcmFtaWRhcy5UaXRhbml1bUJhY2t1cFBybyJd

(Honestly, I think it is worth the $7...)


I've never rooted before which means I've never changed the ROM before, so I have quite a bit of apprehension as you can imagine.

Everyone does before they have rooted a phone for the first time. I did. (It was almost three years ago since I rooted my first phone, though. A long time ago now!)

As far as the types of ROMs available, I'm not picky. I'm looking for something relatively lightweight that allows the phone to look and act somewhat stock, but get the bloat and bugs out that the stock 5.7.906 version has.

I think that you would like the two ROMs that I list. Minimoto, by the way, comes without a soft keyboard, so you need the hardware keyboard to set up the phone and then install a keyboard from the market. I use Swiftkey myself anyway, but if you use Swype or the Motorola keyboard, you may prefer to try that other ROM from Q9Nap that I listed.

Minimoto is definitely lighter, but the ROM from Q9Nap also is missing of all of the Verizon bloatware, like the Blockbuster app, the NFL app, etc.

If you use Safestrap, you can always go back to the stock system quite easily if you do not like the custom ROMs that you try.
 
  • Like
Reactions: beowulf7
Upvote 0
Yes, but there is a great app called Titanium Backup Pro that makes it pretty easy to reinstall your apps (with their data), so it's just some settings that you need to readjust.

There is a great FAQ for TiBu here: http://androidforums.com/faqs/607141-guide-titaniumbackup-tutorial.html

(My only change to this is to tell you that restoring SMS messages back to Motorola "Blur" phones like the Droid 3 will restore all of the messages with the date and time that you run the restore, which is rather annoying. I just start text messages from scratch. I'd also avoid restoring the call log. In fact, I have noticed that call delay myself, and I wonder if it is worse when the call log is long. It may also be due to the phone running a long time between restarts, though.)

TiBu: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...Backup&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd

The Pro key: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...iY29tLmtlcmFtaWRhcy5UaXRhbml1bUJhY2t1cFBybyJd

(Honestly, I think it is worth the $7...)




Everyone does before they have rooted a phone for the first time. I did. (It was almost three years ago since I rooted my first phone, though. A long time ago now!)



I think that you would like the two ROMs that I list. Minimoto, by the way, comes without a soft keyboard, so you need the hardware keyboard to set up the phone and then install a keyboard from the market. I use Swiftkey myself anyway, but if you use Swype or the Motorola keyboard, you may prefer to try that other ROM from Q9Nap that I listed.

Minimoto is definitely lighter, but the ROM from Q9Nap also is missing of all of the Verizon bloatware, like the Blockbuster app, the NFL app, etc.

If you use Safestrap, you can always go back to the stock system quite easily if you do not like the custom ROMs that you try.
Thanks, again, much appreciated. I guess the first thing I should do is root my phone and then install a ROM of my choosing.

I use Swype, so that simplifies my choice to XT861 5.8.25 Stock ROM. Android 2.3.6 - UPDATED 1/23 that you recommended as one of your 2 choices. In that link, they have 2 download links (in the updated section). One is a regular link and the other is "Deodexed ROM". What does that mean? :thinking:

You're right that I don't care for some of the Motorola bloatware apps like Blockbuster, etc. Thanks, I will check out Titanium Backup to backup my apps and settings! :) I also have SMS Backup & Restore that a friend recommended, so I'll download all my texts as an XML file.
 
Upvote 0
You're right that I don't care for some of the Motorola bloatware apps like Blockbuster, etc. Thanks, I will check out Titanium Backup to backup my apps and settings! :) I also have SMS Backup & Restore that a friend recommended, so I'll download all my texts as an XML file.

Actually, I've handsome decent luck with SMS backup & Restore getting the text messages restored properly. If they still come in with the wrong timestamp, you can just use that app to delete all of the messages quickly.
 
Upvote 0
Actually, I've handsome decent luck with SMS backup & Restore getting the text messages restored properly. If they still come in with the wrong timestamp, you can just use that app to delete all of the messages quickly.
Speaking of SMS B&R, it was just updated today.

I think I answered one of my questions from an earlier post: What does deodexed mean?

doogald, do you prefer the deodexed version or not?
 
Upvote 0
doogald, do you prefer the deodexed version or not?

It depends on the ROM. I rarely theme, so I don't need it deodexed.

Honestly, these days I am finding I get great battery results from stock debloated compared with custom ROMs, so I'm just running my phone that way. I'll probably try the next version of Minimoto and perhaps stay with it for a while, but I am fine with the stock debloated ROM if it doesn't work out.
 
Upvote 0
It depends on the ROM. I rarely theme, so I don't need it deodexed.

Honestly, these days I am finding I get great battery results from stock debloated compared with custom ROMs, so I'm just running my phone that way. I'll probably try the next version of Minimoto and perhaps stay with it for a while, but I am fine with the stock debloated ROM if it doesn't work out.
I see, so deodexed isn't a cut-and-dry answer as far if it's worth it or not. It's one of those "it depends". If one wants to do a lot of customizing and tweaking, take deodexed. If one mainly wants mostly stock but un/de-bloat the OS (ROM), then choose the regular odexed version. Is that fair to say?

Also, getting back to Titanium Backup that you mentioned, is the free version sufficient or do you highly recommend coughing up the hefty $6.58 to get the Pro version?

Edit: I was surprised that even though I'm now rooted on my phone, I wasn't able to uninstall crap like Blockbuster app from the typical Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All section. :thinking:
 
Upvote 0
I see, so deodexed isn't a cut-and-dry answer as far if it's worth it or not. It's one of those "it depends". If one wants to do a lot of customizing and tweaking, take deodexed. If one mainly wants mostly stock but un/de-bloat the OS (ROM), then choose the regular odexed version. Is that fair to say?

Perfect. There may be other reasons to run deodexed or odexed; odexed ROMs may be faster, though a good developer will do something called zip-aligning a deodexed ROM to make it just as fast.


Also, getting back to Titanium Backup that you mentioned, is the free version sufficient or do you highly recommend coughing up the hefty $6.58 to get the Pro version?

I think that the pro is the way to go. First, TiBu allows you to batch run some of its commands, one of which is to restore all user apps not on the phone. That can be a long list when you first set up a new ROM. The free version will make you say yes or no to each app; the pro version just goes through each app that you selected to restore without prompting. That can get old fast. The pro version also adds the ability to have multiple backups per app, which is useful if a new version of an app does not work well; you can go back to the old version quite easily in TiBu. Also, you can create XML backups of your WiFi access points and call log that can be restored across ROMs safely.

And, as I will detail in a second, you can "freeze" apps with the pro key.

Edit: I was surprised that even though I'm now rooted on my phone, I wasn't able to uninstall crap like Blockbuster app from the typical Settings > Applications > Manage applications > All section. :thinking:

No. However, you can use an app like Root Explorer or ES File Explorer to go to /system/app and rename the Blockbuster.apk file to Blockbuster.apk.old (I suggest renaming rather than deleting, so you can go back to stock if you wish).

OR you can use Titanium Backup Pro, find the app that you do not want installed in the list under the Backup/Restore tab, tap it, and choose the "Freeze" option at the top. This will remove the app from the app drawer and prevent it from running again.

BE VERY CAREFUL about deleting/renaming/freezing apps. Some apps seem unimportant, though they turn out to be critical.

Pete Souza put together some scripts to debloat, and it still works well with the latest release. See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1238472

(He lists the files that are safe to rename/freeze, though, as far as freezing is concerned, the names that you'll see in Titanium will be different.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: beowulf7
Upvote 0
By the way, it is nearly Super Bowl time; I won't be checking for posts for the rest of the night. Good luck if you decide to go ahead with flashing! Remember that with Safestrap you can always go back to stock in a couple of minutes!
Much appreciated once again, doogald. I also found this video that gives a quick ~4 min. tutorial on using Titanium Backup that may be of help for fellow rooting/ROM'ing newbies like me. :cool:

I think I'll take baby steps and first freeze the bloatware that you mentioned in one of those links that mentions those apps that are safe to freeze. Then I'll try adding a ROM (the one you mentioned that has Swype enabled), haven't decided deodexed version or not (maybe I can put both on the phone since Safestrap allows up to 4 ROMs plus stock).

Hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl, power outage notwithstanding. :smokingsomb:
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones