On the MyDroidWorld forums, site founder p3droid has recently shared some new and disheartening information about the Droid X. While we reported that the Droid X is locked down with an encrypted bootloader, it now seems Motorola has taken an extra step to ensure no one starts tinkering under the hood.
In the event that the bootloader, kernel, or ROM are noticeably compromised, your Droid X will try to brick itself.
How does it work? While p3droid’s technical explanation will be far more informative than my brief summary, the technology at work here is known as eFuse. It has a simple purpose: to check the version of the bootloader, kernel, and ROM of your phone against those which eFuse is programmed to look for.
If the check fails, eFuse corrupts your bootloader, rendering your phone completely useless (well, it might make a good paperweight). To fix it, you must take your phone to a Verizon store, and presumably they would have to ship it to a Motorola facility where the necessary hardware exists to resuscitate your device.
This has major ramifications for those who would attempt to find a way to unlock the Droid X; one wrong move could destroy hours, days, or weeks of effort. It would also be likely that Verizon (or Motorola) would also charge for this “service,” since you are likely aware that trying to unlock the phone will void your warranty.
Below, Motorola’s statement about the Droid X’s security “features”:
“Securing the software on our handsets, thereby preventing a non-Motorola ROM image from being loaded, has been our common practice for many years. This practice is driven by a number of different business factors. When we do deviate from our normal practice, such as we did with the DROID, there is a specific business reason for doing so. We understand this can result in some confusion, and apologize for any frustration.”
Credit: MyDroidWorld, Quote via AndroidAndMe
![droid_done[3]](http://www.androidpolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/droid_done3_thumb.png "droid_done[3]")
17 Comments:
This is pretty sad – I find myself recommending Droid Incredible to my friends over Droid X, even though Droid X has better specs.
We want open, Motorola, OK? This is Android, not some closed source OS.
I am sorry, I haven’t been watching news lately.When did Apple and Steve Jobs aquire Motorola?
I bought the original Droid and it has been amazing,I even had friends go with that model. UNTIL this is fixed we will never purchase another Motorola PRODUCT again. A very dissapointed EX-Customer.
Good news for Samsung, who is pumping their OPEN fists up in the air with even BETTER specs of their own.
Well that’s not very encouraging. I don’t even care that much about the whole rooting aspect, but the fact that the phone would brick itself is totally BS; don’t destroy the whole damn phone just to stop rooting.
Then again, I have to ask, what is the main advantage to rooting a phone?
I could see if this was an AT&T phone which doesn’t allow you to download apps, or trying to get Froyo onto the device early, but honestly I think I am willing to wait a couple of weeks to get an official version of 2.2.
There are many advantages to rooting a phone. Putting early builds on your phone, does not require rooting if it’s officially signed by Google as the leaked froyo incremental updates were. However they were for the T-mobile n1, so rooting was necessary to get them on an ATT phone.
Having said that, one of the best reasons to root your phone are the Roms. I’ve used Cyanogen as my rom of choice and there’s no going back. Cyanogen updates his roms frequently and is always adding the latest Google code that is out there.
It’s true that the majority of the users out there will buy the Droid X because they have no intention to root, and more than half of them probably don’t know what rooting is. Perhaps if the public was more informed they wouldn’t buy the device, whether they intended to root or not, as a FU to Motorola.
Motorola isn’t shooting itself in the foot necessarily because this device will still sell because of Verizon’s marketing. However, they’ve certainly loaded the proverbial gun and are beginning to aim at their giant toe.
It’s not normally a couple of weeks. As with my Inc, I’m looking more at half a year behind the official release of Froyo. However, with Sky Rider or the-soon-to-be CM6, I can get Froyo now instead of Q3 or whenever HTC/VZW feels like pushing the update.
Here are the list of apps on my phone which request su (root) privileges.
Titanium Backup – Able to backup otherwise locked files.
GScript Lite – Scripts run as root can do pretty much anything.
Quick Boot – Able to reboot phone or reboot into recovery mode.
SetCPU – Overclocking/underclocking for increased performance & battery life.
ShootMe – Screenshot utility
MarketAccess – Spoof SIM data to gain access to otherwise blocked market apps.
Shark – Able to capture packets off any network interface.
So fucking sad they had to go and pull this shit. I’m guessing the only reason they made an exception to the Droid was because they needed to make a huge comeback in the smartphone sector, and what better way then by making ur first Android phone ‘easily’ rootable and creating a large community for it.
And the reason they don’t want their phones rootable is for the same reason as to why the g1 and mt3g (and other old Android phones) are still alive n kicking – custom roms that prolong the life of a device. Think about how many ppl haven’t upgraded to newer devices because of Cyanogenmod…
Shame on u Moto, I hope this decision backfires and u go back to being a nobody in the smartphone market
Just say no to Moto! Motorola has now shown that they have no interest in their customers. I cannot in good faith purchase or recommend for purchase a Motorola handset unless Motorola revises this policy.
It is going to be a funny funny day the day the eFuse database goes offline or experiences a glitch, and every DroidX has to go back to Verizon.
And it WILL happen …
At least with Android we have a variety of hardware vendors and networks from which to choose. (Thanks Google)
If you really want Verizon, there’s the Incredible. Otherwise the Evo is the closest spec’d device but it’s on Sprint.
Total bs ! Ill never get a phone thsts locked.
This is sad, as a proud Moto Droid user I was willing to pay for this new phone; I just got my Droid in March and I’m not eligible for an upgrade.
I will have to wait for Q4, when the 4G lineup is out there. I’ll also have to start looking more at HTC for hardware.
Samsung looks better and better every day. But I’m happy with my evo on sprint.
Lol.. well that confirms it.. ill never buy another Motorola phone again. They want to piss on all the people that makes android great I think they are just shooting themselves in the foot.. and who wants a product with a built in self destruct function?. I will be spreading the work high and low to stay away from Motorola android phones that’s for sure
What happen to “Droid Does”, if I cannot unlock it? So much for this Does…
So much for customizable… fuck you motorola. I think we can safely say who wont last another 20 years
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