First part is rooting the phone...2nd part is doing a back-up in case of failure down the line...3rd part is installing a ROM...
1) Download z4root...search on Google and you will find it...should be version 1.6 I believe. Install it and then run it as you would any other app. Prepare to wait a few minutes...3-5 normally. If in that time frame it has not shut down and rebooted on its own...do so yourself. Boot the phone back up and then restart z4root and allow it to run again...shouldnt take more than 2 times in my experience. When it does shut down and reboot on its own, when it boots back up go to your App Drawer and scroll down until you find the new "Super User" app and icon (Pirate Skull)..if you see this, you should be rooted...you will know for sure when you go to do the next step...
2) Go to the Market and download/pay for Koushs DX Bootstrapp/Recovery and let it install...it should ask you for Super User Access/Permission..allow it.
3) Once Bootstrapp is installed, fire it up and select Back-up/Recovery. You are about to make a back-up of your phones current configuration in case something were to go sideways at a later date, you can boot into Recovery and load this "saved image" file and have a working phone again.
4) Steps to making the back-up, courtesy of
Droid-Xer on Droid X Forums, are as follows:
1. Click on Droid X Bootstrap app
2. Click Bootstrap Recovery, then click OK when it says Success
3. Click Reboot Recovery, phone will automatically reboot
4. Once in the black screen with green writing, you will use the side volume rockers to move up and down and then the camera hard key to select.
5. Move down to backup/restore and select it.
6. Move to Backup and select it
The phone will begin to create a full backup (nandroid) of your system, data, and cache. This will take about 5 minutes to generate. After it is finished it will take you back to the main screen. If you want to move back to previous screens use the back hard key.
7. Select reboot system now.
8. You can view your backups in your file manager. There will be a clockworkmod folder where the backups reside. You can change the name of the file, but do not use spaces or odd characters. For example, use a dash - rather than a backslash / for dates.
3) Installing a ROM instructions from
via Droid-Xer on Droid X Forums are as follows:
1. Click Droid X Bootstrap app, hit bootstrap recovery, click ok, then reboot recovery.
2. Go to mounts
2a. (
Optional, read instructions on ROM install) Mount system. If system is mounted, prompt will read "unmount system"
3. Format data, click yes
4. Format cache, click yes
5. Back arrow
6. Install zip from sd card
7. Go to folder where zip is. If you downloaded zip from stock browser and didn't move it, it will be in the DOWNLOAD folder.
8. Click on the zip you want to install, then yes.
9. Once install is finished, back arrow, and reboot.
Does this seem any less intimidating? Really, its not as bad or as hard as you think...it just looks that way. Best thing to do is read about each step involved until you feel comfortable to give that step a go, ie "rooting" first..
