Motorola DROID rooted plus guide on how to root
Android enthusiasts dream, phone rooting, has now been accomplished on the Motorola DROID. For those of you who do not know what rooting means, think of it as a way to gain “Super User” access on your phone. Those of you familiar with Linux should already know that in Linux and Unix like computer operating systems, root is the conventional name of the user who has all rights or permissions (to all files and programs) in all modes (single- or multi-user). Since Android operating system runs on the Linux Kernel, gaining “Super User” or “root” access to your mobile phone will allow you to install/modify/fix/break anything you want.
What does this mean for you ?
Say you have the DROID, but you like HTC’s Sense UI on the DROID Eris like me or Motorola’s Motoblur. Now you want to get the DROID for whatever reason, but the only think holding you back is the bare look of the theme or the lack of HTC’s Sense UI.
Now wouldn’t it be awesome if you could mix the two ?
Well, then rooting is the path to follow. After gaining root access to your phone, you will be able to flash you phone with custom ROMs. Of course the custom ROM has to be loaded with Sense UI before you can accomplish that task. This is just one of the possibilities with root access. If you are a PC overclocking enthusiast, you will be extremely interested in knowing that rooting will allow you to overclock or underclock the CPU on the phone using the right app.
Before you know how to root your phone, you must understand that there are risks involved with this process. You can also brick your phone, if you do something wrong during this process. If you follow any of the steps listed below, you understand that you assume the responsibility for any damage that may occur to your phone.
Now for the fun part, Jarek over at Androidforums has done the hard work in getting a rooting guide ready for first time rooters.
You will need the following:
http://www.4shared.com/file/168496608/8fa27888/droid-root.html
OR
http://www.mediafire.com/?ydaqjmditjh
OR
http://www.multiupload.com/XYPZLK4K22
(Those 3 are the same file, just use either link, and choose another if any is dwn)
AND
http://developer.android.com/sdk/download.html?v=android-sdk_r04-windows.zip
AND
http://www.magicandroidapps.com/su.zip
AND
http://www.smilepak.com/temp/Droid_USB_Driver.zipOnce you have all these files downloaded, extract them all into a new folder at C:\Android
You should now connect your Droid to your computer and Mount the SD Card through the phone (A dialogue will pop up on your phone asking to connect your SD Card. Click Mount)Courtesy of Fadelight:
(go to Device Manager. There you will see your droid (A855) with a yellow "!" next to it. Right click. Select "Update driver" and point it to the android folder. That is where the drivers are.)Go to the C:\Android folder you created. Rename the file droid-root.zip to update.zip. Then take update.zip and move it to the SD Card on your phone.
Once this is done, unplug your phone and turn it off by holding the top button, then selecting Power Off.
Open your phone’s keyboard. Hold down the letter X key on the keyboard and power your phone on WHILE HOLDING THIS KEY DOWN. You will see the Motorola logo, followed by a graphic with an ! mark on it. At this time let go of the X key and the power button. Press and hold the Volume + key on the side of your phone, then press the camera button while holding the Volume + key.
Now you will be presented with a menu. Navigate to "update" using the D-pad, and click the middle button. Now wait for the process to finish.
When it is complete, your phone will power up again. Go to Settings->Applications->Development and check the USB Debugging checkbox.
Connect your Droid to the Computer again.
Click Start on your computer, and click run. Type cmd in the box, and hit ok. Now type the following, pressing Enter after each line:
cd c:\Android\tools
adb push su /data/local
adb shell
su
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
cd /system/bin
mv su osu
cat /data/local/su > su
chmod 6755 su
ls -l *su(you should see the following)
-rwsr-sr-x root root 76200 2008-08-01 05:00 osu
-rwsr-sr-x root root 76200 2009-05-30 11:28 su(now continue typing these following lines to finish)
sync
reboot
You’re done!
Happy rooting !
