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Droid 2 Global root CD for .629 (not necessary to brick phone)

27K views 70 replies 18 participants last post by  themib 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have assembled a rooting CD for Droid 2 Global phones that have taken the .629 update.
I got the info on how to do this from phifc's post at
http://rootzwiki.com...nd-droid2-r2d2/
so all credit for this method go to phifc, djrbliss, and the others who developed the method.
I have simply taken the method, and assembled the tools for the Droid 2 Global.
Credit for the idea behind the CD method should go to 1KDS, as I have mostly patterned this CD after his method.
Credit should also go to Skrilax_CZ, as without his Motorola Android Firmware (De)packer, we wouldn't be able to have a CD under 50 meg.
I have tested this CD on my phone, and found it to work properly, but I can't guarantee that it will work for others. Others have also found it to work, but I can't guarantee you will have the same results.
You are welcome to try it, and I hope it is helpful to someone, but as with all modifications, you do so at your own risk.

Instructions for using this CD.
Download and burn this image file to CD. (or create bootable USB)
It might be a good idea to do a factory reset before starting this process, but you might be ok without it. My phone had already been rooted, so I had to sbf it back to stock, in order to test the CD, so I have only tried it after a factory reset.

1 Enable USB debugging on the phone,
2 Boot computer off of this CD
3 Hook up phone to computer (phone needs to be on at this point)
4 Start the root process by selecting option 1
5 When it says on the screen that phone needs placed in bootloader, (almost right away, as it only needs to send 1 command before placing in bootloader) power off the phone, and put it in bootloader by holding the up arrow on the keyboard of the phone while powering on.
6 when in bootloader and hooked up to the phone, press enter on the computer to proceed, a preinstall image will be flashed to the phone, providing the exploit that will root the phone.
7 When it has flashed, the phone should reboot. If it hangs when booting, unplug phone, remove battery, replace battery and power back on. When powered on, hook up cable again, and the process will continue (it will immediately reboot again)
8 When the phone reboots, ADB should be root, so it will push the necessary files to the phone, and reboot the phone again. Per Morlok8k, cache should be wiped to avoid bootloop problems, so the phone will be rebooted into Recovery.
9 You will have to press both volume buttons to enter recovery, where you should wipe cache partition and reboot.
If all went well, your phone should be rooted.
If you try it, please verify if it works for you, or gives you trouble.
Hope this helps someone.

I updated the CD (mainly just made it a bit smaller) and uploaded it to Mediafire
http://www.mediafire...394ha4dzjtyqpqb
I also uploaded it to rapidshare,
https://rapidshare.c..._CD-updated.iso
the md5 for the updated CD is
84ff5a572e98c3eb366cc6fec13f99d5
I also previously forgot to mention that this method works fine off a bootable usb drive, a CD is not necessary. I use Unetbootin to create the bootable usb, and it works well for me.
Update:
I went ahead and put together an EzSbf style CD that contains both the full .629 sbf, as well as the root option.
I tested it out on my phone, and it appears to work fine. However, if you don't have over 1 GB of RAM, it will be necessary to reboot the computer between flashing 629, and rooting the phone. The reason for this is that the CD loads into RAM, and the SBF file unzips to around 600 Meg, and the preinstall to close to 300. So, they can't be both unzipped at once. I tried the idea of having the script rezip the sbf after flashing it, but it took longer than rebooting the computer. If you run this with under a GB of RAM, the computer will not be able to unzip the SBF, and will crash the script, without giving error messages, as when the command fails, it will try to advance.
I noticed there are no instructions for putting your phone in bootloader mode, in order to flash .629 SBF. So if you are going to SBF the phone, you need to get into bootloader first. To do that, boot while holding the volume down and camera buttons, or holding both volume buttons, or holding the up arrow on the keyboard. Any of the three methods should take you to bootloader.
If rooting, the phone needs to be booted up to start.
All that to say, if someone wants the CD for recovery and root, here it is.
https://rapidshare.c...-and-RootCD.iso
md5 is
579d7d5095fc2560205033456db150a2

Additional Mirror:
Rapidshare has had some trouble recently, but thanks to themib for putting up a mirror that has most of these CD images as well. They can be found at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Oj1a1wNZKhZMPUqU_6KzzYzQJ2RKzvvumTx-41f3h4/edit#
 
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#5 ·
If you ever bothered to read, this CD was made after the CD made for the Droid 2.

But yeah who needs to read?
 
#7 ·
Actually, the method was done for the D2 first, but this CD was made for the D2G first. Since I don't have a D2, I put together a CD for the D2G a few days ago, and just put one together for the D2 last night. Since I don't have a D2, haven't been able to verify it working, but it is posted in the other thread if someone wants to try it.
 
#10 ·
Another successful root thanks to the cd. Very easy. I didn't do a full wipe. Maintained all my old data.

Have super user....

But am having some trouble with clockwork recovery (rom manager in play store) not booting into recovery mode.... Resets to try.... But ends up just rebooting... Trying to research that part now.

But thanks for the first part!
 
#11 ·
But am having some trouble with clockwork recovery (rom manager in play store) not booting into recovery mode.... Resets to try.... But ends up just rebooting... Trying to research that part now.
Don't worry, you're expected to, because 99% of Android users never actually bother to read prior to acting. Refer to http://droid.koumakan.jp/wiki/ClockworkMod_Recovery for instructions.
 
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#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Finally home, and worked like a charm. Had a bit of a scare when it booted up though, black screen and complete unresponsiveness after the lockscreen but I guess I just underestimated how much stock relied on the cache after wiping it. No data wipe needed here either!

Now the question is whether I restore my CM7 nandroid... or whether I try an ICS ROM. I think before I go for an ICS ROM, I'll need some sort of backup plan in case something goes wrong after wiping data like the last time I tried flashing a ROM that wasn't fresh off an SBF as well...

EDIT: On that note, is it even safe for me to attempt to restore that Nandroid I made before? IIRC, I used the old pre-rooted TBH GB leak .zips I believe, never bothered booting it back up and just flashed CM7 directly. I haven't worked with .629 before and I'm worried that if I bootloop I won't have a clue what to do, I don't have adb setup nor would I know how to utilize it properly, and I would prefer not to have to go through the whole SBF, brick, repacked SBF etc. etc. madness in case something is lost in translation...
 
#16 ·
Finally home, and worked like a charm. Had a bit of a scare when it booted up though, black screen and complete unresponsiveness after the lockscreen but I guess I just underestimated how much stock relied on the cache after wiping it. No data wipe needed here either!
Glad it worked for you.
One question, when you say that no data wipe required, you are saying that you were able to do this root procedure without doing a factory reset either before or after rooting? I think that is what you are saying, just wanted to verify.
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
if (Bootloop)
{
Android Recovery(Wipe data);
if (Helped) { YAY(); exit(0); }
else { Start(RSDLite); Load(4.5.629); Flash(4.5.629); Burn(the root CD image from this thread); BootFrom(CD); Perform(Root on 4.5.629); YAY(); exit(0); }
}

Disclaimer: I am high on kvass and ginger ale. The above instruction would like to thank the following sponsors:

Common sense
Forum threads around here
 
#24 ·
Hi guys, New member. Ive been hunting around for info about rooting my D2G with .629. Tried this method, burned the cd, booted from it, but was given an error and not sure what it means. (Im running Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit, btw) The error i get says that it cannot find the kernel: linux? You'll have to excuse me for not knowing this before hand, but does that mean that I have to be running Linux as my OS for this method to work? Or is there something simple that im missing?
 
#25 ·
Ok, this CD is a self contained OS, so it doesn't matter what OS you are running.
As to the error you had, were you able to verify the MD5 of the CD? Also, could you tell me how you burned the CD? Also, which CD was it, the one just for rooting, or the recovery and root one with the full SBF as well?
 
#26 ·
Ok, thanks for clearing the Os part up for me. I was unclear on that because i hadnt heard anyone mention anything regarding it. I did verify the Md5 for the Root CD method only, because i had previously downloaded and installed the .608 to .629 update method since my phone would not install it OTA. I used RSD Lite to install the .629 update as well. The method i used to burn the cd image was PowerIso. It told me the image was bootable, which i knew to look for. And i am currently downloading the Full SBF + root image as we speak to try that one.
 
#27 · (Edited by Moderator)
Ok, either CD should be bootable, so not sure why it gave you the error,
I have used imgburn, available at http://www.imgburn.com/
which is freeware and I have found to work well.
If you end up with the same problem with the second ISO, you could maybe try imgburn and see if it has the same trouble.
I also use Win7 64 bit on my computer, and the iso burned and worked fine with imgburn on it.
 
#28 · (Edited by Moderator)
Alright, thanks, i also have that program, so i might try that next. For some reason the full Sbf+root image is taking VERY long to download from Rapidshare. When i try it again, ill write down what the error says exactly if it might help.

EDIT: Burned image using Imgburn this time. Booted from Cd, Got this message.
"ISOLINUX 3.82 2009-06-09...
Found something at drive = EF

Could not find kernel image: linux
Boot:"

Any idea what this might mean?
 
#29 ·
Ok, that is interesting, but not sure what it means.
Do you have access to another computer to try booting it in?
If both CD's have the same issue, I don't know what to suggest. You could try using Unetbootin to make a bootable USB drive, but if it has trouble with the CD, will likely have trouble with that as well.
When you try to boot, does it bring up a yellow page, letting you hit tab for different boot options?
If it gets that far, you could try another option, I forget what subtitles are available on it.
I have tried making a CD for the Droid 2, using the newer version of slitaz (current one you have is slitaz 3, and slitax 4 is available), so if you want to try and download the ISO I built it off of to see if you can boot off of it, I can then get you an updated ISO either later tonight or in the morning.
Here is the ISO if you wanted to try that, but it is totally unmodified.
http://mirror.slitaz.org/iso/stable/flavors/slitaz-4.0-core.iso
If that makes a difference, I will go ahead and make updated copies of the CD's.
 
#30 ·
Ok, that is interesting, but not sure what it means.
Do you have access to another computer to try booting it in?
If both CD's have the same issue, I don't know what to suggest. You could try using Unetbootin to make a bootable USB drive, but if it has trouble with the CD, will likely have trouble with that as well.
When you try to boot, does it bring up a yellow page, letting you hit tab for different boot options?
If it gets that far, you could try another option, I forget what subtitles are available on it.
I have tried making a CD for the Droid 2, using the newer version of slitaz (current one you have is slitaz 3, and slitax 4 is available), so if you want to try and download the ISO I built it off of to see if you can boot off of it, I can then get you an updated ISO either later tonight or in the morning.
Here is the ISO if you wanted to try that, but it is totally unmodified.
http://mirror.slitaz...az-4.0-core.iso
If that makes a difference, I will go ahead and make updated copies of the CD's.
I get no page with options. When i boot from the CD, i get a black screen with what i posted in quotes on it. If i hit enter, i keep getting that error saying kernel not found. I can type a destination into the "boot:" line, but even trying to find the destination of the file it wants gives me no luck. I have tried other Rooting methods in the other forums here, but none have allowed me to genuinely become rooted. I will try using it in another computer, and also try the updated ISO you linked, to see if that allows me any usability.

I was also wondering if it were at all possible to do this particular method manually without having to boot into anything? Similar to the RSD lite methods ive read and tried. Because that method succeeded in installing .608 and .629 for my phone. (Previous owner had phone rooted) As i had to find that method in order to get it fully functional again.

It was just odd that finding the "rootable" SBF of .629 was not in fact rootable after flashing my phone with it.
 
#31 ·
there is a long way of doing this rooting method, the first post has a link to where i got all info.
The only problem is that everything is written for the Droid 2, not the global.
you can go the long linux way, and it will work.
However, this CD should work on another computer, and that would be the simplest.
 
#32 ·
Yea, im not familiar with Linux, and my other computer would not boot from the CD. So i have one other Pc to try, and when the Full SBF file finishes (going on 2 hours now) i will try that as well. Im hoping that your ISO method does end up working for me, as i would really like to try the new MIUI Rom with ICS 4.0.4.

Also is it just my luck that I get a buggy D2G everytime? Ive had about 7 of these things since last Xmas, and every single one has had the same issues. Led stops functioning, random reboots during operation, lock screen does not show the lock slider, Keyboard light dies intermittently while texting, touch detection goes haywire while using virtual keyboard..
 
#33 ·
UPDATE: I tried the USB method and I can confirm this method works!! Booted up with no errors thoughout entire process. ( I have 8gig Ram so i did not need to restart Pc) Took maybe 15 minutes tops from start to finish. Phone shows Superuser app with valid su binary. ( my version was 3.0.3.2, newest version is 3.1.1) Not sure if I should update binary? Any suggestions on that would be appreciated.

Thanks go to beh for following me through my issues. Anyone else involved in the making and distribution of these rooting methods.

Confirmed D2G successfully rooted Using beh's updated .629 root CD method.
 
#34 ·
Ok, glad that worked.
I was working on building a CD with the newer Slitaz linux build, and it did not want to run a necessary program, and not sure why.
Weird that it worked fine on Usb, and not CD, my desktop has the opposite problem.
As far as the su binary, it shouldn't be necessary, as the one I put on there is only a couple of months old. I am not sure what the latest advantages to the updates are though, so it might be helpful.
 
#35 ·
I went ahead and updated the binary, even though i havent checked the changelog yet to see what changes were made.. Also, within superuser after it updated, the 3 aspects of the su binary (rwsr-sr-x, root app_***, system/bin/su) the root one is in red, but the other 2 are in green, not sure what that means exactly.

But yes, even though multiple tries with CD would not work for me, the first time I tried with USB, it worked. So im happy for that.
 
#36 ·
The issue you mentioned might be due to a specific hardware configuration where the kernel doesn't see the CD drive etc.

For USB sticks, a different set of drivers is used and UHCI/EHCI is pretty much as versatile as it gets, so no wonder it worked.
 
#38 ·
EF is the BIOS identifier, not the Windows name of a drive.

Linux has no knowledge of Windows logical drive names.
 
#40 ·
Great idea to make this a bootable CD! How can I verify that root does indeed work? After completing 1, I assume the phone should be rooted. However after installing software that requires root (Titanium Backup) , it states that it it cannot run due to lack of root. I tried 2 and it goes thru the process of rooting the phone. However after "Phone should reboot, and then continue with the rooting process." is displayed, it is stuck at "---Waiting for Device---". The phone does reboot and is in the bootloader screen. However, nothing happens at this point. Thanks for any assistance.

CJ
 
#41 · (Edited by Moderator)
Ok, which CD did you download, the combined SBF and root, or just the root CD? If the combined SBF and root, then option 1 does not root the phone, just has the full SBF of .629, to flash back to stock or recover the phone.
If you have less than 2 GB or RAM, you need to reboot the computer between options 1 and 2, or the CD won't be able to unzip the files due to lack of memory, and will skip steps. I am guessing that is the issue you are having right now, so you should be able to reboot off of the CD, and run option 2 again.
If that is the case, you will also need to start step 2 with the phone booted, and with USB debugging enabled
 
#44 ·
Strange, I haven't run into that. I assume that the phone boots up fully? Once, when I was experimenting, the phone would hang on bootup, and I had to pull the battery and restart it. But then it started fine and worked. I have done a reset since then, and never ran into that issue again, but I did run into it a few times.
There is also a root only CD available, you could try that to see if there is a difference.
 
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