I finally decided to root my Droid X and get some customization and unveil the full potential of a smart phone with out all the bloatware and Cyanogen Mod 7. Why would you want to do this? For me it was due to the following:
1. Root access
2. Be able to Tether Wifi
3. Get rid of all the Motorola bloatware
4. Go back to Froyo for better battery life
5. Add a custom ROM
During this process i actually had quite a bit of reading, because not everything i wanted was in one place. Here's a tutorial of what i did on my phone.
Here are a few disclaimers.
1. Do this at your own risk. Don't blame me if you brick your phone
2. This guide is for MOTOROLA DROID X, the files included are also for Droid X, which means if you have a Samsung Galaxy S - the procedures and files will be different. Check your respective Android forums.
First you will need to download some files.
1. Android Froyo 2.3.340 - I've felt that Gingerbread on the DroidX was very buggy. Also the battery life went from 3-5 day standby to about 2 days. The current Gingerbread OTA that was release by Verizon is not rootable, so you will not be able to have superuser access. Going back to Froyo is not optional.
2. RDS Lite 4.9 - This is a program used on your computer. This program allows you to SBF your phone back to Froyo.
3. Motorola Drivers for PC - My system automatically detected and installed the drivers. If yours doesn't install from the link.
4. Latest build of the Cyanogen Mod - Make sure you have the latest file. Generally listed at the top.
5. Z4Root - You need this to root your phone and get superuser access.
6. Bootstrapper - You need this file to install custom ROM's
7. Google Apps - Cyanogen is still in beta and i believe there is a problem with Google Apps. You will need this file so that things like the Android Market works
8. All in one fix for CM4DX - This file fixes many items in Cyanogen like 1% increment battery indicator, camera, etc.
9. Bouchigo Theme Pack
Now you have all the files. #1 and #2 will be used from your PC, and the rest need to be moved to your phone's SD Card.
Before you begin you may have some questions.
• What is Rooting? Rooting gives you access to SuperUser. It's like administrative permissions on your PC. You need to root so that you can tether and install custom ROM's.
• What is SBF? Is a way to restore your phone to nearly stock format.
• Why do i need to SBF my Droid X? Currently all Droid X's received an OTA (Over The Air) update to Gingerbread. However, because there is a bootloader lock on it, you cannot Root the phone. So you will need to SBF back to Froyo, then root, then etc.
• What is Cyanogenmod? This is a custom ROM. It hacks your phone's OS and removes bloatware and adds some new features
• What is Theme? In Windows, you can change the appearance of your desktop by changing themes. It's the same for your phone.
Ready? Set? Go!
Now that we have all the files, we can get started.
DO NOT PROCEED UNLESS YOUR BATTERY IS @ 80% OR HIGHER. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
• Unzip the sbf (#1) to a working/temp folder
• Open RSD Lite, tap the “...” button
• Select the SBF file that you just unzipped
a- Now we need to boot your phone into bootloader
b- With your phone Powered OFF do the following
c- HOLD the Volume Down Button + Camera Button + Power Button
d- You should see a small screen flash.. once u do release the buttons
• Connect your phone to your PC using a USB cable
• You should now see your phone in RSD Lite.
• You may need to click show devices in RSD Lite.
• Click the start button and allow your phone to flash the sbf
• Wait for the process to complete and then unplug your phone.
• Now reboot your phone Good Job your all done!
e- When you boot your phone up for the first time you might get stuck in a boot loop NO WORRIES!
f- If stuck in a boot loop do the following!
g- Pull the battery out of the phone.
h- Replace battery and then do the following with the phone powered OFF
i- HOLD Home and turn the Phone On. When you see an android with a exclamation mark Release HOME and press the Search Button.
• Use the volume up/down buttons to highlight the option “wipe data/factory reset” and "wipe cache"
• Press the camera button to select it
• When it finishes choose the option to reboot your phone
• That’s it you are now back to stock
Rooting Your Froyo System and Installing Bootstrapper
• Just skip all the setup the first time around by pressing "top left, top right, bottom right, bottom left" quickly (it will go to your home screen now)
• Using the "files" inside of the app drawer go and find where you put z4root at and click on it to install
• It will ask you to go to settings, go to settings and enable "unknown sources" then also go to development and enable "usb debugging" while your at it. then hit back on click on z4 root again and install.
• Phone will do its thing and reboot. If this process takes longer than 5 minutes, you will have to pull the battery and try again.
• Go to files again after reboot and install droid2bootstrapper. (IMPORTANT: After you install Cyanogen, don't use Bootstrapper. You will brick your phone)
• After installed open and click on the top button, click ok or yes when a popup comes up. then click on the bottom button once it says success.
Installing CyanogenMod7
• Once in clockwork recovery, format system and wipe data and cache. Now you are going to flash the 3 zip files you placed on your sdcard using the install from sdcard option.
• First do the newest nightly zip (#7).
• Then do the gapps zip.
• Lastly, do all in one fix zip.
• Reboot the phone once finished.
• Install Bouchigo Theme Pack
Tada! You are now done. Here are some things you will notice.
1. The camera app is different. Currently the dedicated shutter button does not work, you will have to change the settings so that you can use your volume buttons. However, the camera app itself is MUCH faster than stock.
2. When you shut off your LCD, it looks like a TV going off. SWEET
3. Make sure you go to Theme Chooser in your app drawer and select Bouchigo's theme. You will now see the new battery level indicator with 1% increments
4. CM4DX comes with AWDLauncher. I personally prefer Launder Pro, but it's up to you which one you choose.
5. The music player is a LOT better than Moto's version. I no longer use Cube as my music player
6. Power User functions have many more options! Ringer On/Off, Auto Rotate On/Off, Torch (Camera Flash) On/Off,
7. All of the old bloatware that came with the phone are gone. But so did many Google products. You will have to reinstall things like Google Maps, Gmail, and Youtube.
8. When you try to power off your phone, the list of options has now increased! You have now the option to REBOOT!!! YES!
When all is done and you've reinstalled many of your old apps, your phone should look similar to this:
Now then, my original list of must have droid Apps changes again.
• Amazon Appstore - Daily Free Apps!
• Battle.net Authenticator - Good only if own Blizzard Games
• Dolphin Mini Browser - So far, the best browser i've used on my phone
• Movies Flixter - Many great options such as Box Office, Theaters, Upcoming and DVD Releases
• Pudding Face Detector - This is mostly in Korean, and tries to match a face to a Korean celebrity
• Kakaotalk - Why pay for text messages? Kakaotalk is sorta like AIM, sorta like Gtalk... 99% of Koreans use it.
• Launcher Pro - I prefer this launcher to customize my homescreen
• Music Junk (Must Google, not available in market) - Find MP3's free
• Fancy Widget (Must Google) - This is the big clock on my homescreen
• 한글 (Korean IME KB) - Only applies to you if you type in Korean
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• Audio Manager - I still love this thing. It's such a hassle to edit all your music volume settings
• Handcent SMS - Best text message app alternative to stock
• Smooth Calendar - This is still better than the stock calendar app
• Astro File Manager - Better than stock file manager
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• StopWatch & Timer - This would be optional
Reference Links:
Droid X SBF Files
How to SBF your Phone Guide
How to install CYanogenMod 7
Bouchigo Theme Pack
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