root - 24/27 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jul

How The Mighty Has Fallen – The DROID X Has Been Rooted!

Posted by Ron Hamelin in Development, Droid X (Shadow), News, Verizon Wireless

This article discusses rooting your device. THIS BREACHES [VOIDS] THE TERMS OF YOUR PHONE’S WARRANTY AND YOUR VERIZON SERVICE CONTRACT. Proceed at your own risk.

For those of you who have been wondering if the Droid X would ever be rooted, you can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The folks over at AllDroid just posted that Verizon’s biggest and baddest Android device has been rooted!

So those of you new to Android and/or the DROID X, you might wonder what this “rooting” business is all about. We have published an article just for you: Rooting Explained + Top 5 Benefits Of Rooting Your Android Phone.

Jul

Motorola Won’t Blow Up Your Droid X With eFuse If You Try To Mod It - It Just Will Not Boot Until Reverted Back To Stock

Posted by John Thompson in Droid X (Shadow), Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the bootloader of the Droid X, and more specifically, whether the ‘eFuse’ will render your phone inoperable if you choose to replace the boot loader.

If you’re not up to speed with the story, it all started with this post a few days ago on MyDroidWorld, which claims that the Droid X boot loader is fitted with eFuse technology, which can physically brick the phone if you try to alter the boot loader in any way. Altering the boot loader is needed to install a custom recovery, which is then capable of doing full Nandroid backups and restores, as well as allows for installing custom ROMs.

Jul

Unrevoked 3 Finally Brings Easy 1-Click Root, Recovery, Nandroid Backups, And Custom ROMs To HTC Droid Incredible. [Explanation + Instructions]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Aria (Liberty), Desire (Bravo/BravoC), Development, Eris, EVO 4G (Supersonic), Incredible, News

Unrevoked, a tool that brought the ability to run applications that require root and originally developed for the HTC EVO 4G and HTC Hero, was just updated to version 3.

Unrevoked 3

With this new version 3, Unrevoked finally brings a 1-click root solution to the HTC Droid Incredible that also allows you to flash a custom ClockworkMod recovery, custom ROMs, and take backups of your phone with Nandroid Backup.

Compared to version 2, you no longer need a previously rooted phone - Unrevoked 3 roots for you.

The only thing that Unrevoked doesn't do is unlock NAND permanently, meaning you won't be able to write to the system partition after the OS boots and therefore won't be able to uninstall various carrier installed garbage apps.

Jul

International Samsung Galaxy S Root Method Working On Vibrant/Captivate (T-Mobile/AT&T)

Posted by Nate Kimmey in AT&T, Captivate, Development, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, T-Mobile, Vibrant

Were you planning on holding off on your purchase of one of the US Samsung Galaxy S variants because you require root? Well, worry no more – the root method used on the international version of the Galaxy S has proven to work on T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant and AT&T’s Samsung Captivate.

Two methods are already available, and both are fairly simple. Read the instructions below, or check out the source link for the most up-to-date instructions.

First method:
If you have adb and you know how to use it!
1. Download: update.zip
2. Put update.zip to SD card
3. Enter

Code:
adb reboot recovery
4.

Jul

SimpleRoot OTA 1.47.651.1 Edition Now Unlocking Root And NAND On Post-OTA EVO 4G Phones

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, News, Sprint

This article mentions rooting and flashing of custom ROMs. If you’re unfamiliar with either term, hit up our primers here and here for additional information

Remember the 3-click SimpleRoot app that brought full root, including permanently unlocking NAND (that's something unrevoked doesn't do), to your EVO 4G? I sure do, as that's exactly how I rooted my EVO. However, If you applied the latest god forsaken EVO OTA, you may have found that that version of SimpleRoot no longer worked.

Fear not, jiqqaman, the app's developer, recently released an updated version, this time containing 4 steps. It works with the EVOs upgraded to 1.47.651.1 like a charm.

Jul

Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About, Part 1: Apps 1-8

Posted by David Ruddock in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Best Apps For Rooted Users Series, Development, Reviews, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Ok, I’ve Rooted, So Now What?

Aside from allowing the installation of popular ROMs developed by the Android community, rooting your phone also comes with the benefit of being able to install apps that require root permissions.

Finding such apps can be a hassle, so we’ve done some of the leg work for you and come up with a detailed rundown of our top 8 root-only applications.

Titanium Backup

Cost: FREE (Full Version: $3.99)

The thought of losing all the apps on your Android device likely evokes a slight sinking sensation in your gut.

Fortunately for root users, Titanium Backup provides a 2-click peace of mind solution, should such a tragedy befall you.

Jul

Verizon’s Motorola Droid X Uses Same Bootloader Encryption As The Yet-To-Be-Defeated Milestone. Translation: Good Luck Unlocking

Posted by David Ruddock in Droid X (Shadow), Motorola, News

According to two separate sources on the XDA forums, the Droid X is loaded with the now-infamous locked bootloader present in the Milestone. If you’re unfamiliar, this site explains the current methods being deployed to defeat the Milestone, but none have managed to succeed without killing the phone functionality. Motorola locks the bootloader using a proprietary encrypted private key scheme, and without access to Motorola’s encryption method, the hope for unlocking lies in exploits. Currently, an exploit known as the “kexec” method ranks highest in terms of hopes of success.

What does this mean for Droid X users? Custom ROMs and recovery images may be a pipe dream, unless a serious vulnerability is discovered.

Jun

Newest Android 2.2 Froyo For Droid Allows Update From Rooted Eclair 2.1 Droids, Older Froyo Builds

Posted by David Ruddock in Development, Droid (Sholes), Froyo 2.2

MyDroidWorld founder p3droid is reporting that he has obtained an official Google update of Android 2.2 dubbed FRF84B. The version proximity to the Nexus One’s official Froyo update (FRF85B) is certainly uncanny. Based on the large file size, it appears to be a full ROM. Unfortunately, no official Google link for the client is available, only p3droid’s rooted (read: now technically unofficial) version. The update comes with superuser permissions for root only apps, as well. It is available for download below.

Certainly, someone has obtained a potential Droid Froyo release candidate from Google, that much seems safe to assume. The big question, though, is whether or not this update can be installed straight from Eclair 2.1 Droids.

Jun

SimpleRoot - Fully Root Your HTC EVO 4G In One Click, Including Unlocking NAND And Flashing Recovery [Hands-On]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, News, Sprint

Last Updated: August 31st, 2010

This article mentions rooting and flashing of custom ROMs. If you’re unfamiliar with either term, hit up our primers here and here for additional information

This root does not work for Froyo. If you're reading this now, chances are very high that you already have Froyo or something higher, in which case stop and don't run steps from this method. For Froyo root, see this post instead.

Note: If your EVO software version starts with 1.47.651, we have an updated post with an updated SimpleRoot version right here.

EVO 4G owning ladies and gentlemen, if you've been waiting for a simpler full root that, unlike the first version of unrevoked, offers full write access to /system from within Android, you are in luck.

Jun

Get The Beautiful Samsung Galaxy S Live Wallpapers On Your Own Rooted Phone (Nexus One, EVO, etc)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Galaxy S, Samsung

Last Updated: May 3rd, 2011

Samsung Galaxy S comes with 4 absolutely stunning live wallpapers, exclusive to Samsung. User persiansown from xda forums was able to port all of them to his Nexus One, and I don't see anything technically stopping any other phone supporting live wallpapers from using them too - EVO 4G was already also confirmed working.

There is only one caveat - you have to be rooted and flash the provided .zip file from recovery.

For more information on root, head over here. This tutorial will show you how to install ROM Manager, which will enable you to flash a custom recovery, in order to use these livepapers.