Unroot & Back To Stock
by
Big Lou on Jan.21, 2010, under
Guides,
Root
Though Root is a powerful tool that will allow you to do so much more with your Droid, sometimes people need to completely remove it. Whether you need to turn your phone in to get serviced or would like to revert back for personal reasons, removing all hacks is a relatively easy process. If you are wanting to turn back because you are having troubles, I understand the frustration, but I urge you to stay with it and learn all you can to improve your situation. However, I can’t stop everyone, and in some cases going back to stock is necessary.
Stock is how the Droid came from the factory without Root or any hacks applied to it. Because obtaining Root goes against the Verizon Wireless TOS, if we were to have any problems with our phone that would require Verizon Servicing, we would obviously need to remove everything we’ve done. Fortunately, this guide will only target Root-specific files; no user data or Market apps will be deleted! Here is what will result from reverting back to stock:
- Removal of Superuser Permissions App
- Restore all default Verizon Apps
- Restore stock Recovery console/remove SPRecovery and Nandroid
- Remove Busybox
- Disable Root-required Apps
- Remove Root
Disclaimer
(2/5)
Prerequisites: (Please be familiar with the following)
Requirements:
It is strongly suggested that you follow the Full System Backup guide and create a backup of your Rooted Droid before you perform the Unroot. If you do make a backup, you can always restore your Root settings if you plan to re-root your Droid.
Step 1: PC Connection
Using the method found in the
MicroSD Mounting guide, connect your Droid to a PC via USB and mount your MicroSD card.
Step 2: Uploading the Unroot Update Package
Download the
Droid Unroot Update Package (unroot_update.zip). Unlike what we used in the Obtaining Root guide, this package is a modified OTA update which REMOVES all Root files and settings. This will not, however, remove any of your personal settings or apps.
You must rename this zip file to “update.zip”. That means you remove the “unroot_” at the beginning of the name. If you are on Vista or Windows 7 and file extensions are hidden, do not add “.zip”; the “.zip” is just hidden.
The Unroot package is named with a “unroot_” so that you don’t mix it up with the original Root package before you use it.
Once you have downloaded and renamed the package to update.zip, drag it onto the MicroSD card folder you opened on your computer. After the file has transferred to your MicroSD card, you must unmount your Droid. You are now ready to apply the update package.
Step 3: Preparing your Droid for Unroot
There is one of two ways of performing the next step. It all depends on if you have flashed the custom SPRecovery to your Droid. As stated above, it is highly recommended that you use SPRecovery and make a full backup of your Rooted Droid. Either way, you must boot into your Recovery Console.
Power down the Droid completely.
While holding “X” on the physical keyboard, hold the power button to turn on the phone. You may let go of the power button, but do not let go of X.
After a few seconds, you will boot into your Recovery Console and you may now let go of X. If you are booting into the stock Recovery Console, you must hold Volume Up and then press the Camera button to access the menu.
Step 4a: Using SPRecovery
Using the directional pad, navigate to “install” on the main SPRecovery menu and select it using the gold, center button.
Inside the install menu is three options. You must first select “Allow update.zip Installation”, though it may appear that nothing has happened. After you select it, select “Install /sdcard/update.zip (deprecated)”. This will begin an automatic installation process.
After a few minutes you will see “Install from sdcard complete.” From here, navigate back to the SPRecovery main menu by tapping the power button. You will now select “wipe cache partition”.
The automatic Cache Wipe process will take no longer than a few seconds. This clears the cache that may hold on to Root-related data. Navigate to “reboot system now” to reboot your Droid and complete the process of Unrooting.
Step 4b: Using Stock Recovery Console
Using the directional pad, navigate to “apply sdcard:update.zip” and push the gold, center button to select it.
The update process will begin immediately and should take no longer than a minute or two. It will let you know when the process is complete.
Navigate to “reboot system now” to reboot your Droid and complete the process of Unrooting.
Step 5: Ensure your Droid is Unrooted
Once your Droid has rebooted, open the app list. If everything worked properly, you should no longer see the Superuser Permissions app with the Ninja icon. If you used the Removing Default Verizon Apps guide, you should also notice that the apps you removed have now been restored. If you had flashed SPRecovery to your Droid, this too will be gone and be replaced with the stock Recovery Console.
You are now safely Unrooted. One thing you may want to do is clean up any Root-only apps you may have installed, but this is not necessary.
