There have been many, many questions regarding Koush's bootstrapper app not only among D2G users, but also DX and D2 users. Most of this is old news, but since the questions continued to be asked, I though it might be helpful to put everything we know in one convenient place.
What is the point of D2/DX Bootstrapper?
All Android based phones have a recovery partition of some sort. This is essentially a menu that, among other things, allows the phone to be updated by the carrier/manufacturer. The factory recovery menu only allows signed Update.zip files to be flashed. In order to load custom roms, a custom recovery needs to be flashed. On previous generations of Motorola phones, we were able to simply "flash" the recovery. In these new Droid phones this isn't possible because of the locked bootloader. The bootloader checks for factory software before it is allowed to run. A custom recovery would fail this check, and therefore brick the phone (to a state supposedly only recoverable by Moto themselves). This is where Bootstrapper comes in. It "hijacks" the boot process after these checks have taken place and loads a "fake" recovery partition that allows us to modify /system files and create backups. Since it is not flashed to the recovery partition, it does not provide the high level of fail safe older phones had.
Installing D2/DX Bootstrap?
Pretty self explanatory really, you can get it from the market for a couple bucks, or download it from Koush's site for free.
Once installed, there are two buttons:
The top button installs the "hijack" and the bottom button reboots into clockwork recovery.
This is a great app, however it lacks one key feature...Uninstalling the app, will not disable custom "recovery." Before unrooting you will have to manually remove the files (instructions are included below).
How does Bootstrap work?
According to my best interpretation of this:
Droid X/2 Bootstrapper
Bootstrapper works by doing the following.
When you hit the "Bootstrap Recovery" button the app renames logwrapper to logwrapper.bin, adds a file called Hijack and symlinks a new logwrapper file to Hijack. (For you windows people, a symlink is like a shortcut...)
At boot, init.rc calls for logwrapper, which now calls Hijack (by way of symbolic link) which is how we can load into Clockwork recovery.
When Hijack runs, it checks for a file called /data/.recovery_mode if it finds that file, it unmounts /system and boots into Clockwork recovery, if it doesn't find that file, it creates it and calls logwrapper.bin (the factory logwrapper file) and boots normally.
When the OS is completely booted, Droid 2 Bootstrapper (the app) is loaded and deletes the file /data/.recovery_mode. Since the boot was successful, it assumes you don't want to boot into recovery next time.
If on the other hand, the OS doesn't boot normally, and Droid 2 Boostrapper never loads and therefore never removes /data/.recovery_mode, it should let you into Clockwork on your next boot.
Now, when you open the Bootstrap app and hit the "reboot recovery" button, it manually adds the /data/.recovery_mode file and then begins the reboot process. Upon reboot, Hijack finds the file /data/.recovery_mode, and boots into Clockwork.
What if a ROM flash goes bad and I get stuck in bootloop?
Everybody seems to have a different trick for getting clockwork recovery to load, here are a few options:
Pull the battery during boot after you see the Boot Animation (not the M logo), unfortunately this only works if you are booting past the moto logo...
from Jolly
from Abe21599 (This one works for me on the D2G)
from X-Tac23 (Didn't work for me on D2G)
This is not a complete list, I am sure there are a couple methods I missed however if none of those work it may be time for an SBF.
Boostrapper Quirks
Several people have had issues with Clockwork booting everytime (even after a successful boot)
So my guess as to why Clockwork boots every time:
For some reason, /data/.recovery_mode, isn't getting deleted by the bootstrapper app upon a successful boot.
To prove this theory (or disprove it) someone who has the problem, should check for the /data/.recovery_mode file using Root Explorer after a successful boot. If it's there, thats the problem. Delete it and you should then reboot normally. (although if Bootstrapper isn't automatically removing it, there is probably something else going on...like autostarts keeping Bootstrapper from starting at boot...)
If you still boot into Clockwork every time, the other option is to remove it completely, see below.
Uninstalling D2/DX Bootstrapper
from Hostility6
What is the point of D2/DX Bootstrapper?
All Android based phones have a recovery partition of some sort. This is essentially a menu that, among other things, allows the phone to be updated by the carrier/manufacturer. The factory recovery menu only allows signed Update.zip files to be flashed. In order to load custom roms, a custom recovery needs to be flashed. On previous generations of Motorola phones, we were able to simply "flash" the recovery. In these new Droid phones this isn't possible because of the locked bootloader. The bootloader checks for factory software before it is allowed to run. A custom recovery would fail this check, and therefore brick the phone (to a state supposedly only recoverable by Moto themselves). This is where Bootstrapper comes in. It "hijacks" the boot process after these checks have taken place and loads a "fake" recovery partition that allows us to modify /system files and create backups. Since it is not flashed to the recovery partition, it does not provide the high level of fail safe older phones had.
Installing D2/DX Bootstrap?
Pretty self explanatory really, you can get it from the market for a couple bucks, or download it from Koush's site for free.
Once installed, there are two buttons:
The top button installs the "hijack" and the bottom button reboots into clockwork recovery.
This is a great app, however it lacks one key feature...Uninstalling the app, will not disable custom "recovery." Before unrooting you will have to manually remove the files (instructions are included below).
How does Bootstrap work?
According to my best interpretation of this:
Droid X/2 Bootstrapper
Bootstrapper works by doing the following.
When you hit the "Bootstrap Recovery" button the app renames logwrapper to logwrapper.bin, adds a file called Hijack and symlinks a new logwrapper file to Hijack. (For you windows people, a symlink is like a shortcut...)
At boot, init.rc calls for logwrapper, which now calls Hijack (by way of symbolic link) which is how we can load into Clockwork recovery.
When Hijack runs, it checks for a file called /data/.recovery_mode if it finds that file, it unmounts /system and boots into Clockwork recovery, if it doesn't find that file, it creates it and calls logwrapper.bin (the factory logwrapper file) and boots normally.
When the OS is completely booted, Droid 2 Bootstrapper (the app) is loaded and deletes the file /data/.recovery_mode. Since the boot was successful, it assumes you don't want to boot into recovery next time.
If on the other hand, the OS doesn't boot normally, and Droid 2 Boostrapper never loads and therefore never removes /data/.recovery_mode, it should let you into Clockwork on your next boot.
Now, when you open the Bootstrap app and hit the "reboot recovery" button, it manually adds the /data/.recovery_mode file and then begins the reboot process. Upon reboot, Hijack finds the file /data/.recovery_mode, and boots into Clockwork.
What if a ROM flash goes bad and I get stuck in bootloop?
Everybody seems to have a different trick for getting clockwork recovery to load, here are a few options:
Pull the battery during boot after you see the Boot Animation (not the M logo), unfortunately this only works if you are booting past the moto logo...
from Jolly
from Abe21599 (This one works for me on the D2G)
from X-Tac23 (Didn't work for me on D2G)
This is not a complete list, I am sure there are a couple methods I missed however if none of those work it may be time for an SBF.
Boostrapper Quirks
Several people have had issues with Clockwork booting everytime (even after a successful boot)
So my guess as to why Clockwork boots every time:
For some reason, /data/.recovery_mode, isn't getting deleted by the bootstrapper app upon a successful boot.
To prove this theory (or disprove it) someone who has the problem, should check for the /data/.recovery_mode file using Root Explorer after a successful boot. If it's there, thats the problem. Delete it and you should then reboot normally. (although if Bootstrapper isn't automatically removing it, there is probably something else going on...like autostarts keeping Bootstrapper from starting at boot...)
If you still boot into Clockwork every time, the other option is to remove it completely, see below.
Uninstalling D2/DX Bootstrapper
from Hostility6
