This is nothing new, I just took the liberty of consolidating several threads to keep from having to thread-hop to find different files and instructions for different parts of the process.
As a warning before you start this process, THIS WILL ERASE ALL OF YOUR INSTALLED APPS. Don't worry, they can be re-installed from the market and I'm fairly certain there is a backup procedure that helps in the restore process. I will do some research and try to add that in the coming days. I'm still fairly new at this and don't know all of the tools and processes very well yet, but this was just one of the things I have done that was confusing to me that I thought I could clear up for some folks.
Windows Instructions:
1.) Download
2.1 SP Recovery sbf to your C: root directory (C:\)
2.) Download
md5sum
3.) Place md5sum in c:\windows\system32
5.) Download in install
RSDLite 4.6 for this file you may need an un-zip tool like WIN RAR
6.) Download and install the correct motorola drivers for your windows machine (32 for XP, 32 or 64 for Vista depending on Vista version)
32-bit drivers
64-bit drivers
4.) Run command prompt (Start->Run then type "cmd" and hit enter)
5.) Change directories to your C:\ root directory (cd c:\)
6.) Type in "md5sum SPRecovery_ESE81.sbf"
7.) Make sure the sum of the image is EXACTLY 9b6a336cd8f067d4487935468c758d89
7.) Connect phone via USB and reboot, while rebooting hold UP on the dpad
8.) Run RSD Lite 4.6 as administrator
9.) Select the SPRecovery 2.1 SBF file
10.) Click Start and wait for RSD Lite to flash the SPRecovery image onto phone and then wait on phone to reboot.
Linux Instructions (Click me)
Once this is done you have SPRecovery on the phone. You can close out RSD Lite.
Now if you just want root access without a custom ROM follow these instructions by OMJ (big thanks!):
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.
http://www.mediafire.com/?5tcwnwyz2yy
If you want to flash a ROM to gain root, perform the following.
1.) Download the ROM of your choice (I'm running BB v1.0)
2.) Rename this ROM download to "update.zip"
3.) Mount your phone's sd card if you haven't already and move update.zip into the root directory of the sd card.
4.) Turn your phone off and then turn it back on while holding the 'X' key on the physical keyboard, this boots you into SPRecovery.
5.) Use the volume rocker down to move the cursor to "Wipe data/factory reset" then press the gold camera shutter button to select this
6.) After that has been completed perform "Wipe cache partition" in the same manner.
7.) After this is complete select install from the menu, then select "Allow update.zip installation"
8.) Then select "Install /sdcard/update.zip"
When this is done the progress bar will be full and it will say Installation complete or something to that effect. Press the power button to go back in the menus until you get to the main menu and select reboot and reboot your phone. When your phone has rebooted you will have the new rom installed and will have root access. To confirm this, go to your app drawer and confirm that a little black ninja looking character is on there labeled "Superuser Permission" After this, you are done.
To install new kernels for overclocking (install SET CPU first for control), download the kernel, rename to update.zip, place on the root directory of the sd card, then follow the same process of installing a ROM EXCEPT, DO NOT PERFORM ANY WIPES!! When you boot into the SPRecovery menu, just select the allow install and then simply install and then reboot. Do the same to install some themes if not using metamorph.
If there is anything I have left out, someone please let me know. I just thought this would be helpful for new users who want to root but may not be as tech savvy as some others. Every download should be linked on this page that you need in the instructions. This is nothing new and I do not take credit for anything I have listed here, I just consolidated several posts, threads, and links into my own compact set of instructions. Hope this is helpful to someone.
