Want to root new phone on 6.12.181 -- should I take OTA 6.16.211 first?

[Jayfore]

I've been reading thru posts on this site for about the last hour, after attempting to root my phone unsuccessfully using this method. Here, I saw the sticky about how to root, but it pertains to Gingerbread and not ICS, so I assume that does not apply to me. Is there a similar guide here, for ICS? I am no expert in rooting -- I rooted my HTC EVO 4G (Sprint) and loaded a custom ROM, and love it. Looks like I won't be able to do as much of that on this RAZR, but I would definitely like to root if I can, for starters. Can anyone point me in the right direction, for a good breakdown of what is needed?

I just activated the phone today. It's on 6.12.181 and wants me to take the OTA 6.16.211 update. Not sure if I should do this right now? I'm guessing I should, and then I should attempt rooting thru whatever method, but I will wait for confirmation. Also, I saw the Droid RAZR Utility 1.8, but am not totally sure what all that will do for me. Looks like it will get me root access, but there is other stuff too.

Please help a n00b out! Thank you!

 

[MattyP]

The 1.8 Utility is about as easy as it gets. Enable USB Debugging, plug it in to your laptop or PC, make sure Motorola drivers are installed, then run the utility and select option 2.

But 1.8 is for ICS ... there is a Utility for rooting Gingerbread as well, it's version 1.6.

As far as upgrading from Gingerbread to ICS, that choice is pretty much yours. Some like it, some don't, but everyone's mileage varies.

 

[TisMyDroid]

Welcome to DF jayfore! Your possibilities are almost endless. Explore in the razr ICS section to help with your decision. I can recommend that if you update to ICS, that you install the .215 leak after.... the 215 leak improved ICS performance considerably. Feel free to ask any questions along the way.

Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx using Droid Forums

 

[Jayfore]

I thought I was already on ICS... So 6.12.181 is still Gingerbread, then, and 6.16.211 is ICS? Learned something new today. I will definitely do the OTA update, then, and look into the "215 leak" afterward. Thank you!

 

[MattyP]

I thought I was already on ICS... So 6.12.181 is still Gingerbread, then, and 6.16.211 is ICS? Learned something new today. I will definitely do the OTA update, then, and look into the "215 leak" afterward. Thank you!

You are exactly right... .181 is Gingerbread and .211 is ICS ... but Matt's Utility 1.8 is the version to root ICS, works the very same way and just as easy.

 

[Jayfore]

You are exactly right... .181 is Gingerbread and .211 is ICS ... but Matt's Utility 1.8 is the version to root ICS, works the very same way and just as easy.

Thanks! I just went ahead with the OTA update. Nice to see that they finally took a great feature from WebOS and made it so the notifications can be swiped away one by one. Would be great if this feature were integrated with other apps too, like text messaging and email. One thing I just cannot figure out is WHY they can't put a percentage NUMBER in the battery indicator? Doesn't pretty much everyone really want to know the actual number, and is it that hard to do it? Jeez... I know there are addon apps for this, but then they are in the notification area as an extra icon, instead of replacing the stock one. Oh well.

Later this week I will try the 1.8 utility, and see how things go.

 

[sniperf250]

Before you root make sure you do what we call foxkatting

Battery Training information courtesy of "FoxKat", our resident battery guru:

Meter calibration for Droid RAZR & RAZR MAXX;

1. Power off the phone (press and hold the Power button, then select "Power off" from the pop-up menu).
2. Plug the Stock Motorola charger into the wall outlet, then plug the Stock Motorola USB Charging cable into the Motorola charger, and finally plug the other end of the cable into the phone.
3. The phone will boot itself into the "Charge Only" mode. This is identified by first the large Red M logo, followed by a large Battery icon with a "floating" level and percentage of charge in numbers.
4. After 10 seconds or so, the display will shut off, but the charging continues.
5. Allow the charger to continue uninterrupted for 3 hours minimum (Droid RAZR), or 5.5 hours minimum (Droid RAZR MAXX). It's OK to allow it to charge overnight in this mode. The charger will shut itself off when the maximum charge has been reached so there is no fear of "overcharging" or damaging the battery/phone.
6. Once charged to 100%, you may remove the phone from the charger. To check the charge level at any time during charge, briefly tap either volume up or down and release. In about 3 seconds the display will wake and show the charge level, then after 10 seconds or so will shut down again.
7. After the initial charge to 100% with power off, power up the phone and use normally but pay attention to the battery as it nears the "Low battery" warning (Gingerbread shows at 15%, ICS shows at 10%).
8. Once the phone displays the "Low battery" warning at 15% (10% ICS), repeat steps 1 through 7.

Now you may use your phone normally. Repeat the above procedure about every 2 months for the Droid RAZR and every 2-3 months for the RAZR MAXX (more often if you are a heavy user, less often for light use).


Only reason i put this is because many people have soft bricked their phones and had to order special factory cables to get their phone to charge after deep battery discharge. Oh and make sure your phone has NO LESS THAN 80% battery when you try to root if you dont believe me read some of the horror stories on here about phones dying while rooting

Sent from my DROID RAZR in blue! using Droid Forums

 

[jpcalhoun]

I thought I was already on ICS... So 6.12.181 is still Gingerbread, then, and 6.16.211 is ICS? Learned something new today. I will definitely do the OTA update, then, and look into the "215 leak" afterward. Thank you!

Welcome to the forum, Jayfore. Now that you are on ICS and hopefully have "trained" your battery you can root if you'd like. By the way, it is a good idea to do the battery training exercise every couple/few months, but do not let the battery get so low (<15%, safety level) that it will not charge or boot...that's a serious situation that sometimes is not recoverable. If you choose to root I recommend using Matt G's RazrUtility version 1.81. You can find that utility here: Droid Razr Utility 1.81 [Windows] For Verizon Droid Razr/maxx Only! - DroidRzr.com. As far as flashing .215 after you root that is totally up to you. You may want to wait a week or so and see if Moto releases another update. It's been two months since ICS was released for the Razr/Razr Maxx and typically Moto releases an update two months later. The update could be .215, but maybe not. If you flash .215 you'll have to restore back to .211 to recieve the next offical OTA, thats why I say you may want to wait before flashing .215 (see how your phone behaves on .211 first). If you root then you'll have to restore to stock .211 with the utility anyway to get the official OTA. If you root do not delete any app that you could not delete without root (there are a few that don't require root to delete/uninstall). Use Titanium Backup or something like that to freeze them.

 

[MattyP]

Thanks! I just went ahead with the OTA update. Nice to see that they finally took a great feature from WebOS and made it so the notifications can be swiped away one by one. Would be great if this feature were integrated with other apps too, like text messaging and email. One thing I just cannot figure out is WHY they can't put a percentage NUMBER in the battery indicator? Doesn't pretty much everyone really want to know the actual number, and is it that hard to do it? Jeez... I know there are addon apps for this, but then they are in the notification area as an extra icon, instead of replacing the stock one. Oh well.

Later this week I will try the 1.8 utility, and see how things go.

I use a very simple battery widget called "Gauge Battery Widget" ... looks like a fuel gauge. It shows 1% battery increments. Very simple and easy to use and looks nice.

 

[Jayfore]

I use a very simple battery widget called "Gauge Battery Widget" ... looks like a fuel gauge. It shows 1% battery increments. Very simple and easy to use and looks nice.

Thanks! That's really nice, but I just with there could be a tiny one in the notification area, since it would take up so much less real estate.

Welcome to the forum, Jayfore. Now that you are on ICS and hopefully have "trained" your battery you can root if you'd like. By the way, it is a good idea to do the battery training exercise every couple/few months, but do not let the battery get so low (<15%, safety level) that it will not charge or boot...that's a serious situation that sometimes is not recoverable. If you choose to root I recommend using Matt G's RazrUtility version 1.81. You can find that utility here: Droid Razr Utility 1.81 [Windows] For Verizon Droid Razr/maxx Only! - DroidRzr.com. As far as flashing .215 after you root that is totally up to you. You may want to wait a week or so and see if Moto releases another update. It's been two months since ICS was released for the Razr/Razr Maxx and typically Moto releases an update two months later. The update could be .215, but maybe not. If you flash .215 you'll have to restore back to .211 to recieve the next offical OTA, thats why I say you may want to wait before flashing .215 (see how your phone behaves on .211 first). If you root then you'll have to restore to stock .211 with the utility anyway to get the official OTA. If you root do not delete any app that you could not delete without root (there are a few that don't require root to delete/uninstall). Use Titanium Backup or something like that to freeze them.

Ah, now it's making sense... The ".215 leak" refers to a leaked ROM of some kind. OK, yes, I would prefer to wait for that to come as OTA, unless I am just loading a completely custom ROM, like I did on my (Sprint) EVO. It sounds like this is not as easy and mainstream a thing to do, with Verizon / Moto RAZR, though... So at this point I expect my updates to come via OTA.

Thanks for all the tips!

 

[wholesaletrash]

2. Plug the Stock Motorola charger into the wall outlet, then plug the Stock Motorola USB Charging cable into the Motorola charger, and finally plug the other end of the cable into the phone.

Is this something that can be done with the stock charger only?

 

[sniperf250]

Using foxkats meter training method yes it is because your charger was made for your phone so therefore it is the best one to train your meter not all cellphone chargers are created equal so some may be more powerful and others may be weaker it all depends so use only your motorola charger and cable i hope this helped explain it better

Sent from my DROID RAZR in blue! using Droid Forums

 

[Jayfore]

7. After the initial charge to 100% with power off, power up the phone and use normally but pay attention to the battery as it nears the "Low battery" warning (Gingerbread shows at 15%, ICS shows at 10%).
8. Once the phone displays the "Low battery" warning at 15% (10% ICS), repeat steps 1 through 7.

OK, so I powered off and am charging now. Are you saying that once charged, and I use the phone, I should now refrain from charging it agagain, until it only has ~15% left? Then do this again every couple of months? Thanks.

You may want to wait a week or so and see if Moto releases another update. It's been two months since ICS was released for the Razr/Razr Maxx and typically Moto releases an update two months later. The update could be .215, but maybe not. If you flash .215 you'll have to restore back to .211 to recieve the next offical OTA, thats why I say you may want to wait before flashing .215 (see how your phone behaves on .211 first). If you root then you'll have to restore to stock .211 with the utility anyway to get the official OTA. If you root do not delete any app that you could not delete without root (there are a few that don't require root to delete/uninstall). Use Titanium Backup or something like that to freeze them.

I am fine w/ waiting a bit, as OTA is preferred. I just want root access, so I can disable things like the PIN that was imposed on my by my work's Exchange server. If a phone is rooted, but no custom ROM is loaded, do you have to do anything special before or after installing an OTA update?

 

[sniperf250]

If your on ics (ice cream sandwich android ver. 4.0) run it down to 10% but no lower then charge to 100% again with your phone off

Sent from my DROID RAZR in blue! using Droid Forums

 

[TisMyDroid]

OK, so I powered off and am charging now. Are you saying that once charged, and I use the phone, I should now refrain from charging it agagain, until it only has ~15% left? Then do this again every couple of months? Thanks.

I am fine w/ waiting a bit, as OTA is preferred. I just want root access, so I can disable things like the PIN that was imposed on my by my work's Exchange server. If a phone is rooted, but no custom ROM is loaded, do you have to do anything special before or after installing an OTA update?

Yes, once charged, refrain from charging again until you get to 10-15%. Then turn off and charge again to 100%. Then you can use and charge it as you normally would.

If you are rooted with no rom, then to get the OTA you will need to defrost/enable any stock apps that are frozen/disabled and temporarily unroot using Voodoo rootkeeper to get the OTA.

Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx using Droid Forums