Unroot/Back to Stock (2.2) Without .sbf or RSD Lite - Droid 1 Only

[jntdroid]

Updated for FRG83G. Due to the way the system is currently handling OTA's, there are now a few additional steps, but this will still get you to the most up to date version of stock Android 2.2.2 (FRG83G), in the purest way possible, without having to connect to a computer.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST A 70% CHARGE ON YOUR BATTERY BEFORE DOING THIS (ESPECIALLY IF YOU WON'T BE CONNECTING TO A COMPUTER AT ALL)

*THIS IS FOR THE ORIGINAL MOTOROLA DROID 1 ONLY*
​

What's the point of this? I'm posting this as a simpler method to unrooting and reverting back to the latest pure stock Android 2.2.2 build (FRG83G). The benefits of this method:

- if done right, you never have to connect to a computer
- you don't need to use RSD Lite (especially beneficial for Mac/Linux users, or those with 64 bit Win7)
- you simply want an easy/backup method to unroot/revert to stock, all with a couple of files sitting on your SD Card

If, for whatever reason, this does not work, please see this thread: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/rescue-squad-guides/39254-sbf-root-unroot.html . That .sbf method will work perfectly, and is an awesome tutorial, but is more time consuming, and has more moving parts to coordinate, so I like to think of it as more of a "last resort" and/or failsafe, if this method doesn't work.

Teddyearp has also put together a much more in depth and thorough description and tutorial on this same subject here - he knows about 1000x more than me on all of this: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/rescue-squad-guides/39807-how-unroot-your-phone-complete.html

Christim's instructions (the "SBF to Root and Unroot" linked above) also include a basic set of instructions for this method in Box Option 06.

Those are both awesome, I simply wanted to do my own set of instructions that followed the way my brain works.

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Note: If you are already familiar with using custom recoveries and flashing custom ROMs, you likely don't need this tutorial. Just know that the FRG22D Master OTA file can be flashed just like any other custom ROM (in a custom recovery only), and it will replace your custom recovery, ensure you're on the latest bootloader and baseband, and obviously replace your /system with FRG22D's system. Currently (as of 3/19/11) my phone receives both FRG83D and FRG83G automatically via OTA after flashing the FRG22D file, so nothing more really needs to be done besides that. If you're returning the phone, it's probably a good idea to go ahead and wipe data/cache before flashing FRG22D.
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INITIAL SETUP
If you won't be able to connect to a computer, and will be doing 100% of this on your phone...

• You will need a file manager, such as Astro, off of the Android market.
  
• When you download any files from this thread, it should go into your /download directory on your SD Card. You'll need to move the from that directory to the root (base directory) of your SD Card.

You will need two files - the FRG22D Master OTA file and FRG83G Patch OTA file

• FRG22D Master OTA: click here
• FRG83G Patch OTA [update: you might not need this... since I updated this thread, my phone is now receiving both FRG83D and FRG83G via OTA, in succession - but still good to have it]: click here
• Once the files are downloaded, place them on the root (base directory) of your SD Card and make sure there are no other files titled "update.zip" on the root of your SD Card. Do NOT rename these files yet - instructions below will specify how/when/why to rename them.
  

Determine which recovery "program" you have...

There are 4 recovery "programs" that we have available on our Droid 1's: RZRecovery, Clockwork Recovery, SPRecovery, and the stock recovery that comes with the phone. All four have a slightly different set of instructions for installing a .zip file, so I'm going to break it down with those four "programs" in mind.

If for some reason you don't know which recovery "program" you have, here's how you can test...

Power off your phone. Then, hold down the 'x' key on your keyboard and power it back on while holding down the 'x' key the whole time.

If you see a black background with a blue menu on top and white text on the bottom, you have RZRecovery. RZRecovery can have different colors, but this is the base look upon initial install.
Example:

(thanks to raidzero for the image)

If you see a black background with mostly green or light green text, you have Clockwork Recovery. Example (old image - text/version is different, but look is the same):

If you see a black background with a puke-green Android, blue text at the top, and orange text in the middle, you have SPRecovery. Example:

(thanks Motocache1 for the image)

If you see a triangle with an exclamation point in the middle, you have stock recovery. Example:

(thanks Motocache1 for the image)

Once you know which recovery "program" you're using, you can skip to the appropriate set of instructions in the next post.


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[jntdroid]

Updated for FRG83G. Due to the way the system is currently handling OTA's, there are now a few additional steps, but this will still get you to the most up to date version of stock Android 2.2.2 (FRG83G), in the purest way possible, without having to connect to a computer.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST A 70% CHARGE ON YOUR BATTERY BEFORE DOING THIS (ESPECIALLY IF YOU WON'T BE CONNECTING TO A COMPUTER AT ALL)


RZ RECOVERY

• With RZRecovery, you do not have to name everything "update.zip". Because of this, you'll want to leave the FRG22D file as it is currently named, and you'll want to rename the FRG83G patch file to "update.zip" (Make sure you can see file extensions in Windows [or whatever OS] in order that you don't accidentally name the file update.zip.zip.) This will make sense later in the post.
  
• Power down your phone
• Open your keyboard, hold down the 'x' key, and power on your phone while holding the 'x' key.
• You should now see the RZRecovery menu (see description above to verify). You can now close your keyboard if you want. You navigate RZR the exact same as SPRecovery (volume rocker to move, camera button to select, power to go back) except for one thing - you do a full press of the camera button to select, not just a light press.
• If you want to wipe your phone completely clean (I highly recommend, especially if you're returning your phone), choose "wipe options", then at the very least "wipe data" and "wipe cache". In both instances, when you select them, you will see a second window where you choose "yes -- wipe **** " - choose that, and let it run. This will wipe your phone of any apps and data associated with those apps that is not saved on the SD Card.
• Because RZR does not require files to be named "update.zip" to install, at this point you simply select "Install" from the main menu, find the FRG22D Master OTA .zip file. Select the file, it will take you to a confirmation menu, select "Install ****.zip".
• Once your phone is done installing the FRG22D Master OTA file, reboot it and proceed to the "AFTER YOU'VE INSTALLED FRG22D / STOCK RECOVERY" section at the bottom of this post.

CLOCKWORK RECOVERY

• [I've seen a handful of people having problems with bootloops when doing this through Clockwork, so I'm going to go ahead and recommend a full wipe before doing this through Clockwork - that should eliminate any bootloop issues.] With Clockwork, you do not have to name everything "update.zip". Because of this, you'll want to leave the FRG22D file as it is currently named, and you'll want to rename the FRG83G patch file to "update.zip" (Make sure you can see file extensions in Windows [or whatever OS] in order that you don't accidentally name the file update.zip.zip.) This will make sense later in the post.
• Power down your phone
• Open your keyboard, hold down the 'x' key, and power on your phone while holding the 'x' key.
• You should now see the Clockwork Recovery menu (see description above to verify). You can now close your keyboard if you want. You navigate Clockwork the exact same as SPRecovery (volume rocker to move, camera button to select, power to go back) except for one thing - you do a full press of the camera button to select, not just a light press.
• If you want to wipe your phone completely clean (I highly recommend, especially if you're returning your phone), choose "wipe cache partition", then "Yes - wipe cache", let it run, then choose "wipe data/factory reset" which will take you to a second window where you choose "yes -- delete all user data"... choose that, and let it run. This will wipe your phone of any apps and data associated with those apps that is not saved on the SD Card.
• Because Clockwork does not require files to be named "update.zip" to install, at this point you have two ways of installing the file:
• First, if the file is titled "update.zip", you can choose "apply sdcard:update.zip", then "Yes - install /sdcard/update.zip", and the file should install. Once it's done, reboot and proceed to the "AFTER YOU'VE INSTALLED FRG22D / STOCK RECOVERY" section at the bottom of this post.
  
• Second, if the file is not named update.zip (or if it is, this way works as well), choose "install zip from sdcard", then "choose zip from sdcard", then you should see a listing of the directories and files on the root of your SD Card. Simply find the correct .zip file and select it, then select "Yes - install ****.zip". Once it's done, reboot and proceed to the "AFTER YOU'VE INSTALLED FRG22D / STOCK RECOVERY" section at the bottom of this post.

SPRECOVERY

• SPrecovery requires every file you install to be named "update.zip". Therefore, you will have to use Astro or another file manager to change the filenames appropriately as you proceed through this process. (This can be a headache, so one solution is to install RZRecovery, which can simply be installed as an update.zip in SPRecovery - here is the link if you want to do that, then follow the RZRecovery instructions above and ignore the rest of the SPRecovery instructions). So, to start, you'll want to rename the FRG22D Master OTA file to update.zip. Make sure you can see file extensions in Windows [or whatever OS] in order that you don't accidentally name the file update.zip.zip.
• Power down your phone
• Open your keyboard, hold down the 'x' key, and power on your phone while holding the 'x' key.
• You should see the SPRecovery menu now (see description above to verify). You can close your keyboard if you want, and use the volume up and down buttons to navigate the menu, and the camera button (light/focus press, so be careful!) to select items - the phone's power button acts as a "back" button.
• If you want to wipe your phone completely clean (I highly recommend, especially if you're returning your phone), choose "wipe cache partition", let it run, then choose "wipe data/factory reset" which will take you to a second window where you choose "yes -- delete all user data"... choose that, and let it run. This will wipe your phone of any apps and data associated with those apps that is not saved on the SD Card.
• Choose "install", then "allow update.zip installation", then "Install /sdcard/update.zip (deprecated)". This will install stock FRG22D.
  
• Once it's done, reboot and proceed to the "AFTER YOU'VE INSTALLED FRG22D / STOCK RECOVERY" section at the bottom of this post.

AFTER YOU'VE INSTALLED FRG22D / STOCK RECOVERY

Update: my phone is now receiving both FRG83D and FRG83G via OTA, in succession, after flashing back to FRG22D. It was not doing this originally. So, before you read the rest, I would see if your phone does that. It could save you the trouble of going through the following steps.

Here is where these instructions have changed since FRG83G. The FRG22D Master OTA file will replace your /system partition with the FRG22D system, it will update your bootloader to the latest version (2C.7C) if you don't have it already, it will update your baseband to the latest version if you don't have it already, and it will replace your custom recovery (RZR, CW, SPR) with the stock recovery. Since it is the latest version of a "Master" OTA file we have, once you have installed this, your phone will be in it's "purest" form. You could stop here, especially if you're taking the phone back in, and you'll be fine. Once it's reactivated, it should automatically download, at the very least, FRG83D anyway. But, we're still a couple of builds behind, so if you want to get fully up to date on FRG83G, we will now deal with that:

1) After you have finished installing FRG22D, reboot your phone. If it requires an activation (it could, depending on your previous baseband), go ahead and activate it.

2) Within a few minutes of being activated, if not immediately, your phone should start downloading the FRG83D patch - at least that's how the OTA's are going out as of 3/17/2011 - this could change, and I'll update this appropriately when/if it does. Let it finish downloading, and choose to restart and install it when you're prompted. [If, for some reason, your phone does not receive the 83D update automatically, HERE is the official file. Put it on your SD Card, rename it to update.zip, and follow steps 4 - 8 below, twice. First, for the 83D update, and then for the 83G update. In other words, the same instructions twice - first with 83D, then with 83G. Since Stock Recovery requires the file to be named "update.zip", you'll need to use Astro or some other file manager to rename the files appropriately as you repeat these steps for each one.]

3) Once FRG83D is finished installing and your phone has rebooted, go into Settings>About Phone and make sure the Build number is FRG83D and the Android version is 2.2.1. If that's the case, proceed... if not, see the instructions in the brackets in #2 above.

4) Power down your phone

5) While holding down "x" on the keyboard, power it back on. Keep holding down "x" until you see the triangle with exclamation point (see the post above for an example of what Stock Recovery looks like).

6) Close the keyboard (don't have to, but I find it much easier), hold down the volume-up button, and tap the camera button while holding volume-up. You should see a menu now - use the D-pad on the keyboard to navigate and select.

7) Choose "apply sdcard: update.zip". As long as you have verified #3 above, and made sure the FRG83G .zip is named "update.zip", this will now install FRG83G.

8) Reboot and verify in Settings>About Phone that you're now on 2.2.2 and FRG83G. If so, you're good to go on your pure, unadulterated, stock Droid.



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[OneTenderRebel]

Awesome write up, just in time for me to return my phone back to Verizon. I have a Mac so rsdlite is not an option for me without the proper virtual machines in place.

sent from the great depths of my phones internet (thanks Al Gore)

 

[nickelocene]

Thanks for making our newbie lives easier.
Any way we can get a MD5 Checksum so we know the file we downloaded is good?

 

[jntdroid]

Thanks for making our newbie lives easier.
Any way we can get a MD5 Checksum so we know the file we downloaded is good?

You're over my head on that one. That first link is on google's server, and is also linked in this post - that's not as good as a MD5 checksum, but it's something. As for the file in the dropbox link, if you know how to compare, you can do that between the files... other than that, you just have to trust that I uploaded the correct file... unless someone else can come along and do what you're asking. Sorry I don't have a more thorough answer!

 

[markwebb]

Good job! Dl'd and saved it to my phone's SDcard if I ever need to immediately return the phone to Verizon. I even renamed it unrootstockFRG22d to remind me what it is.

 

[nickelocene]

You're over my head on that one. That first link is on google's server, and is also linked in this post - that's not as good as a MD5 checksum, but it's something. As for the file in the dropbox link, if you know how to compare, you can do that between the files... other than that, you just have to trust that I uploaded the correct file... unless someone else can come along and do what you're asking. Sorry I don't have a more thorough answer!

The MD5 Checksum has nothing to do with the authenticity of your file, which I have absolutely not doubt about. It's just a method to tell us that the file we downloaded is good, not corrupted or anything, as that might happen during downloading process.

 

[jntdroid]

You're over my head on that one. That first link is on google's server, and is also linked in this post - that's not as good as a MD5 checksum, but it's something. As for the file in the dropbox link, if you know how to compare, you can do that between the files... other than that, you just have to trust that I uploaded the correct file... unless someone else can come along and do what you're asking. Sorry I don't have a more thorough answer!

The MD5 Checksum has nothing to do with the authenticity of your file, which I have absolution not doubt about. It's just a method to tell us that the file we downloaded is good, not corrupted or anything, as that might happen during downloading process.

Gotcha... well, if this helps at all: Show md5,sha256 checksum in web interface Dropbox Forums

 

[Droids]

I have the master FRG22D file that was pushed to my phone by Verizon, and the same file I just downloaded directly from Google's server, and the update.zip file from jntdroid's dropbox, and the MD5 hash is identical for all three.
2043cc3707dfe02194b49c546bafc2e1

 

[jntdroid]

I have the master FRG22D file that was pushed to my phone by Verizon, and the same file I just downloaded directly from Google's server, and the update.zip file from jntdroid's dropbox, and the MD5 hash is identical for all three.
2043cc3707dfe02194b49c546bafc2e1

thanks! 10

 

[Abe21599]

nice writeup. makes some of out lives easier lol

 

[jntdroid]

nice writeup. makes some of out lives easier lol

well that's better than none!

 

[LCH]

Returning my phone today for a replacement to replace the defective replacement and this write up was perfect timing and worked flawlessly. Thank You! LCH

 

[fullthrottle]

I followed the stock recovery method but when I try to apply the update.zip file it says failed to open /sdcard/update.zip (no such file or directory) and then signature verification failed. And yes I do have the file on the root of my sd card.. thoughts? I cant get the superuser icon off my phone

 

[jntdroid]

I followed the stock recovery method but when I try to apply the update.zip file it says failed to open /sdcard/update.zip (no such file or directory) and then signature verification failed. And yes I do have the file on the root of my sd card.. thoughts? I cant get the superuser icon off my phone

and you're sure it's simply "update.zip" and not "update.zip.zip" or any slight variation of that?