How To Guide: Root Your DROID BIONIC

Hey all -- just a quick web page to give you guys a head start when it comes to rooting your DROID BIONIC. This method works on Motorola phones running Android OS 2.3.4 or earlier.

These scripts and methods were designed for Windows users rooting a DROID 3 device, however, this root method is known to work for the following devices too, with some notes:

If you need to perform this method using MacOS or Linux, please see this adaption of my script.

If you want to remove Verizon/Motorola bloat and bundled software, please see my thread at XDA with scripts. This may also work for your DROID BIONIC

Enjoy and feel free to send me any comments (twitter is the same as this domain name)!


Switch to Windows XP
Switch to MacOS or Linux
How To Root: One-Click for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008
  1. Your phone must be connected via USB data cable to your computer and recognized.

  2. If your phone is connected, but not recognized, you may need to install one of these software drivers:

  3. Download this one-click root package: PetesMotorolaRootTools_v1.07.zip

  4. Extract the contents of the one-click root package to a new folder on your computer.

  5. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled on your device. This should be under Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB Debugging.

  6. From the new folder on your computer, double-click on Pete's Motorola Root Tools to begin the root process.

  7. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the root process.



Switch to Windows Vista/7
Switch to MacOS or Linux
How To Root: One-Click for Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server

Please try the Windows Vista/7 method first! It will work better for most Windows XP users.
Only use this method if the other has not worked yet.
  1. Your phone must be connected via USB data cable to your computer and recognized.

  2. If your phone is connected, but not recognized, you may need to install one of these software drivers:

  3. Download this one-click root package: http://www.mediafire.com/?pj5lk8u2s0zhqo8

  4. Extract the contents of the one-click root package to a new folder on your computer.

  5. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled on your device. This should be under Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB Debugging.

  6. From the new folder on your computer, double-click on Click to root your DROID 3 (even though you are rooting a DROID BIONIC) to begin the root process.

  7. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the root process.



Switch to Windows Vista/7
Switch to Windows XP
How To Root: One-Click for MacOS or Linux

Please visit the adaptation of my scripts here:

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/3216-rootunroot-droid-3-root-instructions-one-click-added-for-windows-linux-osx/page__p__74595#entry74595


Droid X Notes

Your phone may need to be in either charging mode or PC mode or you may need to toggle it a number of times for the device to recognized correctly.

If you are trying to root from the OTA Gingerbread update and you were previously rooted, you will probably experience problems with this root method because of the pre-existence of busybox and superuser.apk. For that reason, you may need to attempt both the script method (for Windows XP users) and program executable method (Windows Vista/7 users). If you are still having problems, please follow these instructions:
  1. Open a Command Prompt in the folder where you extracted the one-click root package (see instructions for rooting). If you are using Windows 7, you can just use Shift+Right-Click on the folder you extracted the package and choose to "Open a command prompt here". For other operating systems or versions of Windows, you may require some DOS experience or need to Google how to change directories.

  2. In the command prompt, type the following command:

    adb shell

  3. If you receive any kind of error, then you may not be in the folder where you extracted ADB.exe or you may need to reboot your computer, your phone, or check the connection. You should receive an ADB prompt ending with either a # or a $.

  4. If the line ends with a $, then run the one-click exploit for Windows XP (even if you have Windows Vista or 7) and only complete step 1.

  5. When you have adb shell ending with a #, type the following commands:

    mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/system /system
    rm /system/bin/su
    rm /system/xbin/su

    Ignore any messages that warn you about the file not being found/missing. We're removing old copies of su/superuser which are causing this one-click root method to fail.

    (credit: KevlarGibs)

Additionally, during the parts of the one-click root that reboot your phone, your phone will most likely reboot into recovery instead of into the standard Android lock screen. If this is the case, simply unplug the cable and reboot the phone manually. When you are finished rebooting, plug the phone back in again. Some people have had to reboot their PC too.

Finally, some users have mentioned that the root isn't taking affect right away for all apps. Eventually, after several reboots, the phone finally takes root. We're not sure why this is (I don't have a Droid X -- I'm just re-posting this information for brevity).


Credits

A special thanks to Dan Rosenberg ('djrbliss'), who discovered the vulnerability used in this exploit method. You can find his original audit and discovery published at his website here: http://vulnfactory.org/blog/2011/08/25/rooting-the-droid-3/.