[HOWTO] How to root and flash PROPERLY!!!

[chuck54]

Well, I just got the bionic, webtop, and xtended battery and im ready to start rooting and flashing 4Glte style. Im on .902, but i wanted to create a step by step guide on rooting, flashing, and sbf'ing (if the bionic even has sbf's...) so could anyone fill me in on this information? i am going to make the OP the guide and we can fill in from there. Thanks for all the help!!


Okay, so .905 is the latest, and has now been pulled? Is this rootable? I am aware that some phones that are nearing the end of development have released updates that prevent rooting and/or SBF'ing, so just making sure

Here i will post ways to root all builds released for the bionic, and some links that hopefully people inform me on.

 

[chuck54]

Okay, this is pretty much going to be a sum of other guides and my own findings. So.....

• First, fully charge your phone! (or at least above half, but be careful!)
• Double check your USB Motorola drivers. (or you could just reinstall any way, it won't harm anything...)
• Download the root exploit HERE (must run on computer, not phone. You can download it onto your phone then plug your phone into your computer and transfer the zip to your computer. Make sure that your phone is on USB mass storage mode.)
• Once its on your computer, Unzip it so you see a folder called motofail (only difference should be the folder icon not having the zipper image on it). The folder should contain adb, run.exe, and some other files.
• Find the run.exe and excute it (if windows requires administrator access, allow it.You should see a screen saying that the publisher coudn't be verified. Click "Run". It will bring up a black screen with white lettering and the top might say something about CMD. CMD is command prompt, it is like terminal for android or MACos)
• Now Go to settings on your phone. Go to applications. Go to development. Then check the "USB debugging" box (it's the top one).
• Plug your phone into your computer via stock usb cord (the reason i say stock is because some aftermarket USB cords screw up things, i have no idea why...)
• Drag down your notification bar and select "USB Connection". Select USB Mass Storage.
• Click anywhere on the black screen with white text (to control it) and hit enter on your keyboard. Should take awhile. Don't unplug your bionic untill it says exploit complete. Rebooting phone. Wait till your phone is completely booted and the sd card (if you have one) is mounted before you unplug your device. Look through your app drawer for Superuser. If you have it, continue down. If not, Reboot and retry this process.

Now your rooted!!! You may be wondering about all the cool stuffs that you can do now do. Here's a small list:

• Titanium Backup : backs up ALL apps and any saved data. Works on games tool. Needed for flashing roms! (REQUIRED) GOOGLE PLAY
• Safestrap Recovery : Better option for noobs than Bionic Bootstrapper because of the safe mode. Needed for flashing roms! (REQUIRED) DOWNLOAD

These aren't needed, but i recommend them to make things easier in the future.

• Wifi tether : for free hotspot service DOWNLOAD
• Rom Toolbox : (JRummy16 is my idol, created liberty ROM) Has a root browser (reads memory from within the phone like the system files and whatnot. This is where the boot animation and ringtones sit.) Also has boot anim. changer, Very handy GOOGLE PLAY
  
• SQLite Editor :Changes system settings that the SQL reads (i have no idea what that means...) GOOGLE PLAY
• Game cih2 :Hacks your games easily, our very own Holocaust kid's forum for that HERE

Now, as OTA (over the air) updates roll out from verizon, your acheivment of root will be lost if you take the update UNLESS you use 43V3R (forever) root. Here's how to perform this mod:

• This is copied from DroidmodderX's Website, I don't take credit for any of this, NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT YOU MODIFY ON YOUR PHONE BUT YOU, NO MATTER HOW SAFE OR EASY IT IS!!! (i have to say it, forum rules....)

• This is strictly from P3Droid
• Doing the following will allow your device to maintain root through any upgrade (unless motorola changes things)
• This works on all moto devices. It has been said that you should start from a stock (if on Bionic 5.5.886) then root via Pete’s RootTools (actually, you can do it on 5.5.902 and root through motofail also)
• To get to stock check here To Root your Bionic
• I use root explorer, but you can also use adb pull and push.
• RootExplorer Method
• go to /system/bin/
• open in text editor – mount_ext3.sh
• add the following lines to the very bottom

chmod 4755 /system/bin/su
chmod 4755 /system/xbin/su
chmod 4755 /system/app/Superuser.apk

Now, You should keep your root through the OTA's, (not very helpful unless if your on 5.5.905 because most likely the next update will be ICS and Motorola/Verizon might break this method by then, but who knows?)


Now if your into flashing roms, you will want the safestrap app. Not to unadvertise the Bionic Bootstrap app (GOOGLE PLAY), but the safestrap app is safe biggrin. If Your not into Flashing roms, then this is as far as you need to go!


Cheescake stuffs **********AS OF 6/14/12, I CANNOT LOCATE THE CHEESECAKE APP!!!! I have no idea why...



I will post some accessory info here.... The Droid Bionic has the capacity to accept Class 10 SD Cards (for those that had older droids, you will know what this means!)

And other things my forgetful mind forgets...

 

[chuck54]

Here i will post on flashing roms.


Okay, sorry for the delay, (Work keeps me busy, a LOT)

REQUIRMENTS :

• Rooted
• All apps are backed up from Titanium Backup (link in post above) (to alleviate headaches, backup before EVERY flash of EVERY zip!!!)
• Safestrap is installed (If you use Bionic Bootstrap, I assume your smart enough to get your self out of an SBF (SBF is where to COMPLETELY wipe your phone and return it to a specific build number, will get into that later!!!))
• A ROM that you are wanting to install downloaded to the download folder on your internal or external memory card

Not sure of what ROM to install???
Here are some choices for noobs (and the experienced, the reason why these would be reccomended to noobs is because of the stability and battery life!)

Eclipse : A beautifully made ROM, No bugs, Excellent battery life,


Must be on 905 to install eclipse 3.0!!!

Name:	Pros	Cons
Eclipse 3.0	No bugs, Battery life, Sexy theme	NONE!!!
Liberty

***************************************Going to bed, 6/14/12 10:53:?*******************************

















Whats cool to flash,
What to wipe,
What strapper to use and things along this nature

 

[chuck54]

And if anything goes wrong in any of the posts above, then we will have the sbf guide here! With all the methods and all the builds to sbf back to!!!! So excited to fill this in! !!!

 

[94lt1]

Misunderstood...

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

 

[chuck54]

Sorry, used to dxf setup..... lol

 

[shadowsjc]

He's going to go back in and fill in the posts so that subsequent viewers of the thread can see the instructions in order (as opposed to all over the place because people replied before he was done). How is that an abuse of reserving?

 

[94lt1]

He's going to go back in and fill in the posts so that subsequent viewers of the thread can see the instructions in order (as opposed to all over the place because people replied before he was done). How is that an abuse of reserving?

Lol, I guess it isn't. I've never seen this before. My bad. It appeared to me that he was bumping to stay on the top of the updates list. I apologize

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

 

[chuck54]

Well, just tried using the droid 4 method (the one posted on droidmodderx 's website ) i uodated the moto drivers and then ran tge run.bat and no luck....

 

[milski65]

Well, just tried using the droid 4 method (the one posted on droidmodderx 's website ) i uodated the moto drivers and then ran tge run.bat and no luck....

Worked fine here. Followed instructions to a tee?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[grgguy]

Well, just tried using the droid 4 method (the one posted on droidmodderx 's website ) i uodated the moto drivers and then ran tge run.bat and no luck....

Run it as administrator

 

[chuck54]

Well, sorry to take forever on this, but i have realized that development on this phone isn't fast or there isn't much of it...... looked for roms and there arn't too many that are updated to. 902.... some roms look good but they are on the cm9 builds and are bugged (still cant find the bugs list for them....) i will make a decent guide here tho, and it will get updated!!!

 

[My351]

Well, just tried using the droid 4 method (the one posted on droidmodderx 's website ) i uodated the moto drivers and then ran tge run.bat and no luck....

Also make sure to reboot your computer after installing the most current Motorola drivers. It's not in the instructions, but is on the page with the drivers. I had to do that in order to get it to work myself.

 

[HDG55]

What are the main advantages of rooting? Can I get rid of the bloatware that came with the bionic? I'm not sure but the back up application sounds like a good idea. I'm afraid I'll get stuck in the tech stuff and not know what to do. Any advice?

 

[milski65]

What are the main advantages of rooting? Can I get rid of the bloatware that came with the bionic? I'm not sure but the back up application sounds like a good idea. I'm afraid I'll get stuck in the tech stuff and not know what to do. Any advice?

I'm sure many have different reasons for rooting. Mine is to get rid of the enormous amount of bloat included using titanium backup (other apps on the market) and for wireless tethering. It's actually easy to root the Bionic, if you have an general understanding of what is needed. If you don't I'd read and ask questions before putting yourself in a position that will be more difficult to get out of. I'm new to the Bionic but not to rooting/flashing roms, and I learned the hard way not to assume I can't screw up my phone. If you're going to alter it, you have to know how to restore it to stock and have the tools necessary to get there BEFORE you start modding your phone. That's just my opinion.