Root Trying to root and sweating bullets...

[esmith818]

As a fairly tech-savvy guy, I finally decided to give rooting a shot. I followed the first 10 steps in svt_gEEk's reply to the "The All-new Guide to All Things Root-related" thread and everything seems to have worked as explained EXCEPT that when the phone reboots, it returns to the Bootloader screen:

Bootloader
2C.6C

Battery OK
OK to Program
Connect USB
Data Cable

Technically, I am ready to move on to flashing a ROM with his 2nd 8 steps (I was planing on loading NexBeast 1.1), but I don't know how to get past the Bootloader screen in order to mount my SD card. I did not do any sort of backup because I was under the impression that I had to be rooted first in order to install a backup/recovery tool and/or run it.

Please (PLEASE) tell me I'm overlooking some dumb step and that I'm not screwed so soon!

 

[xmr405o]

When I rooted my friends and wife's droid, I used these instructions.

http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-droid/63010-how-install-sprecovery-unrooted-2-1-ota.html

After I followed those instructions, I downloaded NexBeast 1.1 renamed it update.zip and put it in the root of my SD card. Once I did that, I ran SPRecovery and installed Nexbeast and kernals.

So, it looks like you got the 2.1 SBF, the correct windows drivers, and RSDlite 4.6. You should be done and have a 2.1 stock rom with SPRecovery.

 

[nstallion]

As a fairly tech-savvy guy, I finally decided to give rooting a shot. I followed the first 10 steps in svt_gEEk's reply to the "The All-new Guide to All Things Root-related" thread and everything seems to have worked as explained EXCEPT that when the phone reboots, it returns to the Bootloader screen:

Bootloader
2C.6C

Battery OK
OK to Program
Connect USB
Data Cable

Technically, I am ready to move on to flashing a ROM with his 2nd 8 steps (I was planing on loading NexBeast 1.1), but I don't know how to get past the Bootloader screen in order to mount my SD card. I did not do any sort of backup because I was under the impression that I had to be rooted first in order to install a backup/recovery tool and/or run it.

Please (PLEASE) tell me I'm overlooking some dumb step and that I'm not screwed so soon!

LOL. Unplug the USB cable from your computer... reboot. Problem solved.

 

[esmith818]

Sorry guys, apparently not so simple as we all hoped. I did manage to restart the phone while holding the X key which took me into SBRecovery. From there I was able to force the phone to mount the SD card so that I could upload NexBeastV11.zip as "upgrade.zip". From there, I was able to install from upgrade.zip using SBRecovery and things were looking good as it uploaded the upgrade and indicated upgrade complete. I then navigated back to "Reboot", the phone rebooted... back to Bootloader screen. When rebooting, I am NOT connected to my PC. Any ideas?

 

[ska.t73]

How much battery did you have when you started?

 

[esmith818]

How much battery did you have when you started?

I was at 80% when I began. Of course, I have also tried rebooting while plugged into the USB wall outlet with the same results.

 

[ska.t73]

leave it plugged into the wall for a few hours the reboot it after you un plug it and see if it works...

 

[nstallion]

Oh hm. I jumped the gun.

 

[esmith818]

I'm currently trying to install VZW_A855_ESD56_QSC6085BP_C_01.3E.01P_SW_UPDATE_03.sbf with RSD Lite while simultaneously running through my head how to play dumb in the Verizon store tomorrow if I can't get back to some kind of a working phone.

 

[nstallion]

Your phone isn't broken. Just gotta wait for someone to come along who knows what's going on with your problem.

I've only ever encountered the boot loader when either the battery is too low to start up Android, or when I boot the phone up with the USB connected to my computer.

Once the sbf is done flashing I'm sure it'll be fine and I would recommend trying again because rooting is worth it. Sorry it's been such a pain in the ass for you though!

 

[esmith818]

Well, I successfully installed the aforementioned stock sbf file, rebooted, re-logged into my Google account, and applied the OTA update to 2.1. I now appear to have a working, non-rooted phone that looks just like it did when I bought it. Better than a brick, but all the apps, and customizations I have applied are gone. The start screen also shows "No Service" but I'm guessing that's a minor problem.

Not sure of the easiest way to get back to what I had as of this morning, or if I should spin the "root-lette wheel" again. I guess it's at least comforting to know I won't have to play dumb at the VZW store tomorrow.

 

[EAK128]

Did you do a *228 option 1 yet? To reactivate/reprogram your phone.

Also Droid-life.com has video tutorials to follow on how to root your phone.

 

[bp328i]

Well, I successfully installed the aforementioned stock sbf file, rebooted, re-logged into my Google account, and applied the OTA update to 2.1. I now appear to have a working, non-rooted phone that looks just like it did when I bought it. Better than a brick, but all the apps, and customizations I have applied are gone. The start screen also shows "No Service" but I'm guessing that's a minor problem.

Not sure of the easiest way to get back to what I had as of this morning, or if I should spin the "root-lette wheel" again. I guess it's at least comforting to know I won't have to play dumb at the VZW store tomorrow.

Now that your at 2.1 the easiest way to root is

[How-To] Install SPRecovery on unrooted 2.1 OTA

After you flash with RSD Lite then put a ROM like NexBeast on your sdcard after you rename it update, reboot into recovery and install. This will give you a great ROM and the Superuser app.

 

[nstallion]

Well, I successfully installed the aforementioned stock sbf file, rebooted, re-logged into my Google account, and applied the OTA update to 2.1. I now appear to have a working, non-rooted phone that looks just like it did when I bought it. Better than a brick, but all the apps, and customizations I have applied are gone. The start screen also shows "No Service" but I'm guessing that's a minor problem.

Not sure of the easiest way to get back to what I had as of this morning, or if I should spin the "root-lette wheel" again. I guess it's at least comforting to know I won't have to play dumb at the VZW store tomorrow.

When you root you lose all of that anyway. Once rooted you can use Titanium backup which saves all your apps and their data so you can switch ROMs easily without losing everything.

 

[djkeller3]

Well, I successfully installed the aforementioned stock sbf file, rebooted, re-logged into my Google account, and applied the OTA update to 2.1. I now appear to have a working, non-rooted phone that looks just like it did when I bought it. Better than a brick, but all the apps, and customizations I have applied are gone. The start screen also shows "No Service" but I'm guessing that's a minor problem.

Not sure of the easiest way to get back to what I had as of this morning, or if I should spin the "root-lette wheel" again. I guess it's at least comforting to know I won't have to play dumb at the VZW store tomorrow.

I can help you. I am a noob to rooting, was looking for someone to root my Droid, then someone posted the link below (not sure who). This was easy enough that I was able to do it (with a little help with some initial questions). It is from DroidMod, but it does not install DroidMod roms - it is simply to get your Droid rooted. I am going to root my son's Droid tomorrow, these are the same instructions I will be following.

How-To Root your stock 2.1 Droid

If you have any questions, there are many here who are very knowledgeable and will help you, so if you get confused, don't assume, just ask!

Happy rooting! You'll never look back once you root.

 

[esmith818]

Ah, the joys of peer pressure.

So I decided to take bp3281's advice. I followed the "[How-To] Install SPRecovery on unrooted 2.1 OTA" guide to reinstall SPRecovery on my (new) 2.1 stock install, then uploaded the NexBeastV11.zip to my SD card and renamed it update.zip. I ran a simple nandroid backup (in hopes I won't sweat any more bullets), wiped the cache, and then installed from the sd card (deprecated).

SPRecovery returned the error:

E: update.zip install blocked
Installation aborted.

I still have 2.1 running without problems, and SPRecovery is installed. Am I missing something? Was I supposed to enable USB debugging or Unknown Sources in Application Settings first?

EDIT: I picked up with following the instructions in the thread djkeller3 linked to and the update is successfully running.

 

[bp328i]

You have to pick allow update.zip install and then installed from the sd card or you will get the error install blocked

2nd option then 3rd option

 

[esmith818]

You have to pick allow update.zip install and then installed from the sd card or you will get the error install blocked

2nd option then 3rd option

Thanks (again) bp. I figured that out after reading the thread on droidmod.org and the update installed successfully. Except that when I rebooted, I wound up in a boot up loop. I thought I had forgotten to disable my SD card notification setting, so I pulled the battery and restored my 2.1 stock (with SPRecovery) installation only to find that that setting was correctly unchecked prior to the update.

Now I'm not sure what would have been causing the reboot loop, but since it's midnight and my battery is down to 20%, I'm calling it a night. I figure I'll take another stab tomorrow afternoon.

As a last request tonight, is there a better option than NexBeastV1.1 for someone new to rooting? I picked it thinking I'd prefer a custom ROM that I can play with for awhile rather than trying new ROMs every couple days. Ultimately I'm just looking for the ability to overclock (1 GHz seems to be the fastest trouble-free speed I've seen posted here) and open up wifi tethering.

Thanks for everyone's help thus far. It has been an adventure...

 

[CalledFollower]

NexBeast seems to be a great ROM, and Fab is here if you have any problems. That being said I really like Cyanogenmod. It just seems to have the right bells and whistles in it for me.

 

[djkeller3]

NexBeast seems to be a great ROM, and Fab is here if you have any problems. That being said I really like Cyanogenmod. It just seems to have the right bells and whistles in it for me.

Pete's Bugless Beast 1.1 is another great rom. BB1.1 and Cyanogenmod are probably the two most popular within the rooted community. Both are available in Rom Manager, so if you haven't installed that from the Android Market, you should.

 

[bp328i]

Thanks (again) bp. I figured that out after reading the thread on droidmod.org and the update installed successfully. Except that when I rebooted, I wound up in a boot up loop. I thought I had forgotten to disable my SD card notification setting, so I pulled the battery and restored my 2.1 stock (with SPRecovery) installation only to find that that setting was correctly unchecked prior to the update.

Now I'm not sure what would have been causing the reboot loop, but since it's midnight and my battery is down to 20%, I'm calling it a night. I figure I'll take another stab tomorrow afternoon.

As a last request tonight, is there a better option than NexBeastV1.1 for someone new to rooting? I picked it thinking I'd prefer a custom ROM that I can play with for awhile rather than trying new ROMs every couple days. Ultimately I'm just looking for the ability to overclock (1 GHz seems to be the fastest trouble-free speed I've seen posted here) and open up wifi tethering.

Thanks for everyone's help thus far. It has been an adventure...

No problem this is what I'm currently running:
http://androidforums.com/all-things...x-v0-8-7-themes-built-source-many-extras.html

It's a themed version of CyanogenMod's latest ROM 5.0.7.1 I'm running the NexTheme. CyanogenMod is a great ROM that is built from source. You will find a lot of little extra's in a CyanogenMod ROM that you don't in others. Options like 360 degrees screen rotation and when you press the power button you have a 4th option (Reboot Phone) just to name two, just little extra's that keep me coming back to CyanogenMod ROM's.

 

[Papadroid]

This might seem like a stupid question but did you make sure to do a wipe data/cache before trying to install NB V1.1? I remember when I rooted after I had root with the initial root rom, I didn't think that I needed to do a wipe because I hadn't even setup that root rom up at all. It would not load and was constantly rebooting, and I tried installing like three times before I figured out that I needed to do a wipe. Not sure if this is your problem but this was my experience, I hope it helps.

 

[esmith818]

This might seem like a stupid question but did you make sure to do a wipe data/cache before trying to install NB V1.1? I remember when I rooted after I had root with the initial root rom, I didn't think that I needed to do a wipe because I hadn't even setup that root rom up at all. It would not load and was constantly rebooting, and I tried installing like three times before I figured out that I needed to do a wipe. Not sure if this is your problem but this was my experience, I hope it helps.

Ding, ding ding!
This morning, since I now have a working backup from nandroid, I got a little braver and wiped everything in SPRecovery before applying the update and it worked like a charm. I'm now on to trying to OC the kernel to 1 GHz. I can already tell that the downside to rooting is that the tinkering is neverending (by choice).

 

[Papadroid]

Congrats!!! You'll never look back from here, it's way better than stock IMO! Plus it's fun constantly customizing stuff because now you can!

 

[emdmao]

Congrats on rooting. If you havent I would suggest downloading rom manager and giving the steam 6.1 rom by mr. bobrowitz a shot as well. Easily customizable though rom manager and uses the new ultra low voltage kernels by jdlfg. Best rom I have ran yet it is blazing fast