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Kellen

Kellen

It’s not often that you get to merge personal passions into a professional life, but that’s what Kellen did when he launched Droid Life in 2009. After working years of unsatisfying jobs in the medical and property management fields, he took a risk to try and create an online community while playing with the coolest gadgets on the planet each day, a risk that has turned out to be incredibly rewarding. Outside of Droid Life, Kellen is your typical Portlander who drinks way too much good beer, complains often about the Trail Blazers, and can be found out on the streets for a run, rain or shine.

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215 Comments

  • when i try to install the sbf file with rsdlite, trsdlite says flash failed platform wrong.
    I have flashed my phone 3 times already before, but now i need to send it in for a repair and i am trying to get back to 2.1 unroot, which i have but the ninja icon is still there in the home screen even though i get permission deny with terminal.. any help… it is verizon droid.

  • When i try and go back to 2.0.1 with the sbf file rsdlite says the phone is not in the right platform. any help?

  • when i try to install the sbf file with rsdlite, trsdlite says flash failed platform wrong.
    I have flashed my phone 3 times already before, but now i need to send it in for a repair and i am trying to get back to 2.1 unroot, which i have but the ninja icon is still there in the home screen even though i get permission deny with terminal.. any help… it is verizon droid.

  • When i try and go back to 2.0.1 with the sbf file rsdlite says the phone is not in the right platform. any help?

  • will doing this allow me to overclock? i used rom manager to get the stock 2.1 rom with root and it wouldnt let me overclock past 550mhz, the default

  • Okay, I'm here again. It must be bad news. Well I have the super users permission ninja now, but I can't get any roms. I've downloaded that DM Uploader and that's where everything stopped. I'm crushed. Once I downloaded DMU it automatically said I needed to upgrade to 1.1. There was no other choice. Now that doesn't work. It keeps asking me to check a permissions block that never appeared on the phone. I have done a few things searching around on this site and all the recommended ones also. Still no way to fix this? I would've loved to just do the ROM Flash with the sp recovery but the jay rummy links were bad and simply stunning wouldn't load into my droid. CAN ANYONE OUT THERE HELP? Is there a way to get back to stock 2.1 so I can try the SP Recovery thing again? Am I just wasting my time with the whole thing? I'm not an engineer so any help would be appreciated….especially if it works.

  • Finally did it and I'm glad to report “WE HAVE NINJA! I repeat, the NINJA is in the building!” So what next?

  • Okay. As of now I am having nothing but troubles. I've tried the SPflash recovery ROM addition…it didn't work, and now I'm having problems rooting my droid the old fashioned way. I've typed everything into my computer exactly as it says in this post, but at the cmd prompt it just says it can't find these files. What next? I gotta believe that rooting my phone is worth all this hassle! The Verizon wireless site is down now too and I cant even reactivate my phone. 🙁 Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I'm going to bed. I hope someone can finally set me straight on this process.
    goodnight all!

  • I'm runnin windows 7 I did everything as told. I confirmed the correct spelling and punctuation of both files.

    C:UsersCrushDesktop>copy /b update-2.zip+droid-ESE81-update-2.zip update.zip
    The system cannot find the file specified.

    that is the error that I keep getting.
    I've even pasted the filenames in the rename fields. I've also pasted the command to make sure it was all correct. I bet its probally something simple. Someone lend a hand.

  • the first post for “1.Returning back to stock 2.0.1” has difficult instructions!!!!!!

  • http://droidmod.org/android/2-1-sp-recovery-sbf/ i found this a little while ago for people who have 2.1 OTA and want to root. i wish someone would tell me how to use it tho lol because i am new to this. in the link it says no more downgrading or anything just flash the image but i have no idea what i'm doing. someone please give me steps that knows their droid well

  • How before there is a process that is not totally RISKY to go to rooted 2.1?

  • i am running Mac OSX on my desktop and i cannot run the command prompt to combine the files.

    is there a reason why this file must be combined on your local computer?

    would someone be so kind as to post this result file “update.zip” so that i can root?

    thanks!

  • hey can someone help me out I get back to stock and then I can't install my new update zip file. it gets an error in recovery mode after I push apply update from zip it comes up with an error.

  • I would like to tell everyone my mistakes I made so maybe all of you can learn from them. I'm not a genius with this kind of stuff but I know enough. First off it says:

    2. Once downloaded, name it update-2.zip and place it on your desktop.
    3. Download this file, rename to droid-ESE81-update-2.zip and place it on your desktop.

    When you rename them, DO NOT add the .zip part, This is already included in the name as it is a .zip file.
    So just rename then update-2 and droid-ESE81-update-2

    Another thing, I actually reinstalled 2.0 instead of 2.0.1 on my droid. If you get an error when on step 9 you don't have the right version.

    Stupid mistakes? Yes, but at least this might solve some problems people are having.

    By the way Kellex this is my first post and Droid-Life.com is amazing.

  • I would like to tell everyone my mistakes I made so maybe all of you can learn from them. I'm not a genius with this kind of stuff but I know enough. First off it says:

    2. Once downloaded, name it update-2.zip and place it on your desktop.
    3. Download this file, rename to droid-ESE81-update-2.zip and place it on your desktop.

    When you rename them, DO NOT add the .zip part, This is already included in the name as it is a .zip file.
    So just rename then update-2 and droid-ESE81-update-2

    Another thing, I actually reinstalled 2.0 instead of 2.0.1 on my droid. If you get an error when on step 9 you don't have the right version.

    Stupid mistakes? Yes, but at least this might solve some problems people are having.

    By the way Kellex this is my first post and Droid-Life.com is amazing.

  • When I am applying the update.zip, it says signature verification failed and Installation aborted… Help?

  • What a scary ordeal. I finally figured out what i was doing wrong an got back to 2.0.1 took the next step and went to rooted 2.1 After i go and change my diaper maybe someone can give me the next step to getting a rom and overclocked. I've had my Droid for almost a month and i've gone from stock 2.0 to rooted to unrooted to 2,1 updated back to 2.0 and then to rooted 2.1 Thanks to those that gave me advice along the way.

  • I downloaded all the programs but I cant install any of them…whenever I try to open RSDlite it asks me what program I want to run it with…can anyone help me out on this issue?

    • Mike, you are trying to run an executable on the mac. It is like apples and PCs 🙂 You need to do this all on a PC. It works very smoothly.

  • ok so what if I have a mac??? Does the process go down the same or no? Can you please post a video on how to do this?

  • anyone help? i did First steps: Returning back to stock 2.0.1, then Rooting Steps: Stock 2.0.1 to Rooted 2.1… and i dont have the superninja? i double checked every part that i was suppose to do while doing it… please help!!!

  • I keep the error
    E: can't open/ cache/recovery/command
    signature verification failed, installation aborted

    I reverted to 2.0 from official 2.1.

    Help

    • Here is your problem like I had. Make sure that you use a PC. I was downloading to a mac and using a jump drive to bring to a PC… No good. Do the entire procedure on the PC. Also make sure you change the name right at the point when you downloaded and it says save to desktop.Just change the name and leave out the .zip extension. It is there already. Change it BEFORE it hits your desktop. Also bring it onto your SD card's root by using the usb connect function on the droid. Of course be careful with the command lines, and take your time. It works, My Droid is now rooted. I am using the Barnacle WiFi and it works great with MACs or PCs and it is pretty quick. You may notice that the Verizon update still wants to deliver the 2.1 update, and it gets annoying. I followed instructions by Perigee?, and downloaded an called Best Terminal from the market, so I could change the name on the file. Cost $3.99 but now no update notifications, and accidental installs of an update that would break the ROOT permissions. This forum is great and the procedure is so easy, just follow simple protocols, like I mentioned, and it works.

    • Also I reverted originally from the official 2.1 update 1 to the 2.0.1 before I did anything else like they said.
      Look at your procedure carefully. It is probably a simply little something that gets in the way.

  • Can someone give me some advice? I'm about to try and return to 2.0.1 but when i downloaded the files and started to install the 16-bit usb drivers on computer(xp) it would not and said i had a more up to date version already installed. Question is can i still move forward or do i need to install the 32-bit drivers? Last question, when holding up on dpad how long am i holding it and am i waiting for a certain screen to appear?

  • it will not manually return to stock android 2.0.1
    got the update and it unrooted my phone now it is
    unrooted at 2.1
    HELP

  • it will not manually return to stock android 2.0.1
    update unrooted my phone and will root back.
    HELP

  • Awesome! Followed directions exactly, and got expected results! Took a couple hours….All to install Barnicle. Now I am not stuck inside with my iPad (which IS awesome)

    Thanks

  • Uhh for some reason I downgrade fine and update just fine, all the steps seem to work without a hitch but for some reason it seems I do not recieve root. Any help?

    • Same here. I downloaded both files and ran the copy command and the update installed without a hitch. I downloaded ROM Manager and ran Flash ClockworkMod Recovery and it tells me an error occurred attempting to run privileged commands

      • Update. I got it to work by going back to stock 2.01 using RSDLite. I was then able to apply the update and I now have root working on 2.1.

  • I finally got this 2 work 4 me & it's working good & I'm rooted…lol Thanks KELLEX. I do have 2 questions 4 u or the droid-life team. 1- how do i get the OTS note 2 stop? 2- Can I get the CyanogenMod on the 2.1 and overclocked? Thanks again.

    • once your on a custom rom the notices should stop. I'm not sure if you can accept the update and the install will be blocked see the newest article, it says if your on droidmod or something not really sure. I got the notices when I went back to 2.0.1 right away, I just ignored them clicked install later, and then I downloaded rom manager and chose my rom. If you did all the steps it actually gets your phone to a rooted 2.1update-1 with ese81 the newest build of cyanogen is based off of this build you may still have to do a radio update which you will need to activate your phone. Another hickup I had was it wouldn't activate for some reason I thought it had to do with my phone did reset and everything but I later found out that sometimes the activations don't work and you have to wait it out.

      You can't overclock right away, Koush has decided not to add the kernel that let's you overclock, you have to choose your kernel after you've installed the Cyanogen. Go to main menu of rom manager enable developer mode by pressing menu key then hitting the developer, then go to download rom – cyanongenmod – bekit kernels, then choose your kernel. You can read about kernels in the forums aswell and they have an overview on what the kernels are and their settings. An app called setcpu $1.99 will let you overclock your droid in real time there's also a video that kellex made about setcpu..

      • I got the ROM Manager, I haven't did anything w/ it cause it said that I
        have 2 have the clockworkmod recovery installed 2 flash & restore ROM. I
        can't find that, can u point me n the right direction?

        • if you have rom manager then when you tap it to open it up it is at the very top. it simply reads ” flash clockwork Recovery” Just hit that and it will flash it on its own.

          • i saw that, but wasn't sure if i had the clockworkmod, cuase it said that i
            had 2 have it…lol but i'll tap it & c, thanks 4 all ur help… sry 4 all
            the ?s

      • sry 4 all the questions, as u can tell I'm very new 2 this and want 2 make
        sure I'm doing things right & not end up w/ a brick…lol

  • For the renaming of the programs all you have to do it right click and hit rename. The first file should show up as “update” and be in a zipped file. Right click, go down to rename and then type in “update-2” without quotation marks. If it doesnt originally show the extension the you do not have to typ the .zip portion.
    The same goes for the second file “droid-ESE81-updat&#” is how it shows up on the desktop. Right click it go down to rename and type in “droid-ESE81-update-2” without the quotes. then hit enter. Again if it doesnt show the.zip extension then there is no reason to type it again.
    When you go to start, then go to run and type in cmd. It will bring up the black box witht he command prompt in it. If you are not sure whether or not you are typing it in correctly then copy it form this post.
    Copy this “cd Desktop” witthout the quotes paste it in and hit enter. Then copy this “copy /b update-2.zip+droid-ESE81-update-2.zip update.zip” without the quotes paste it it and hit enter. That is all that you have to do. It will automatically create the file on your desktop. Then just close out the command prompt box and transfer the update file from your desktop to your phone. Make sure to move any other update.zip file out of your root on your phone before you put this one there to make sure you install the correct one.

  • Here are some of the issues I ran into doing and the workarounds that i found.
    First, it doesnt matter if you download 2.00 or 2.01. The difference is 2.01 is the last updat before 2.1. make sure you save it to a seperate file and not the desktop. it wont work right if it is sitting on yor desktop.
    Second, if you are not sure whether you need 32 bit or 64 bit then most likely you need the 32 bit. You would know if you needed the 64 bit.
    Third, make sure to downlaod and install RSD Lite before you downlaod and install the Motorola USB drivers. If you have downloaded the drivers first then just uninstall, restart your computer, install RSD lite then the drivers. This is where i ran into most of my problems. i kept getting flash incomplete or RAM loader errors and all sorts of things. If you are still having issues, then on the Motorola program click the button for clean and reinstall and then restart your computer.
    Fourth, make sure to connect your phone USB while it is on, then reboot it while holding up on the D pad if you are in landscape mode (wide) and Right on the D pad if you are in portrait mode (tall). You will know if you did it right because you will see a screen that says program mode and i think it says method of transfer USB. At that point you should be able to start RSD Lite, click on the “….” button and direct it to where you saved the .sbf file. double click the .sbf file and hit start. Dont freak out if it takes a while. When you are done it will restart itself and you will have to reactivate it. dont worry the phone makes the call on its own.
    Good luck, i know I thought for a while i screwed up my phone, but with a lot of searching i was able to fix it. The biggest key for me was making sure RSD was installed first and then when I had issues I restarted my computer and it worked.

    • what os do you have.. I didn't have as many issues as you had, maybe it's due to the os? I'm running windows 7 64-bit. I've also learned reading allot of forums helps.

        • I'm glad you worked out all the issues. Maybe it will solve the enumeration issue! And it's good to have a failsafe just incase your droid has issues!

          • I read elsewhere that the re-enumeration issue is related to older, slower usb ports. If you try the process on a computer that has usb 2.0 ports it eliminates the re-enumeration failure issue.

    • Thanks for the information you gave me. I had tried it twice and could not get it to start at all. The problem was i was not in the right program. I didn't hit the dpad soon enough so i kept missing the right area. It failed the first time so i downloaded all the files to my 10 year olds computer and made sure i didn't put the drivers on the desktop and did not install them first and it worked fine. Sign back in and activated the phone and when back to the market and almost made the mistake of updating back to 2.1 Thanks for giving this information it helped alot.

  • I followed the above instructions, and have the little ninja guy, but if I go to terminal and type su I get a response of permission denied, and I can't run barnacle. Any ideas?

    • from what I've read as long as you have the ninja your rooted. But I could be wrong.

  • I got both files downloaded on my desktop. I do the start>run>cmd, and type n everything u told me 2. I hit the enter key and it say that it can't find the file & doesn't make a update.zip file. what am i doing wrong?

    • type dir then enter it should give you a list of files if it's not there then right click the file and check the location then you can type “cd (location of the file) eg. cd c:usersdesktopdownloads

      • I have the 2.1 update waiting on my phone, but i want 2 root & get the
        custom roms. do i still follow the step u have n ur blog or is there away 4
        ppl that still has 2.0.1?

        • Once your at 2.0.1 you have plenty of options, Rom manager is your best bet once your rooted you can pretty much choose what rom you want.

  • ok, there has been a bunch of people stating that this does not work!!! Well now I'm another one. I have followed the instruction to the letter and it says it can not find the files!!!! So will someone please post something that will work!!!!!! There is none of “must have renamed it wrong or missed a step” I did it EXACTLLY like the post says and BAM can not find the files!!!!!!!!! So KELLEX waqnt to please chime in here and help a fellow droid owner out because this AINT WORKING!!!!!!!

    • are you having trouble with the command prompt? You can always do this the long way.. As long as you can get the phone to go back to 2.0.1 then you can download a update.zip with root access, I believe they have it in the forums. I'll edit the post once I see it..

    • If it's the command issue, make sure you you type cd desktop then enter, you should see c:usersuserdesktop> then do the copy command. you can also make sure the file is in that directory by typing dir if you don't see the file then right click the file and use the command to get to that directory.. so if the file is located on your c:/ you can go to the command prompt and type “cd c:” enter if it is in a folder then type “cd (folder name)” enter you can check if it's there by typing dir to make sure..

      • Ok I did this, got a file called update on my desktop, how do I know its the correct file? if it created the right file? before it would just copy ONE of the files on the desktop without combing the two. How can I be sure it combined the two files?

        • it should say file was created, and the fact that it wasn't there before. When I did the update on my phone I thought it failed but once it rebooted, I was rooted with 2.1

  • Just did this for my wife's phone did the exact step by step procedure and it worked flawlessly, though I was worried when I did the update.zip when it was updating the device I saw status 7?! but when it rebooted sure enough it was 2.1 with root access!! From there I just went to Cyanogen using Rom Manager and I also updated the radio. Great job Kellex! I did my phone without your tutorial but I just did it the long way around, this way is much more efficient!

  • can i just root 2.0.1 then download the 2.1 file from ROM manager and still be rooted?

    • windows 7 or xp? I'm on windows 7 and i just type in the search box cmd then enter

  • it says it can't recognize the file you put in on the command prompt, both files on the desktop, do i need to put .zip on the end of both files?

    • yes. if you right click the file make sure it has a .zip you don't want to make a file that has update.zip.zip

  • Will 2.1 eventually be able to be rooted??? Or is it impossible to root the Droid the old way forever??? I sure hope not, hopefully there will be a new version of dmupdater some day that will root the droid and work the way it did with 2.0.1, in the sense that it would go through the same process of rooting and flashing DroidMod, but only this time running 2.1 instead of 2.0.1. I mean is this possible?? I was able to root and unroot like a champ when running 2.0.1, DroidMod made life sooo easy for the average Droider. Hopefully this can happen again

  • I followed the instructions and it says it updated. I was on 2.01. Now it says 2.1-update1 and ESE81…but i dont have the ninja icon. Any suggestions?

    • You could try just rooting 2.0.1 again, then downloading 2.1update that already has a superuser access. See alldroid forums.

  • I used the RSD Lite and performed this process 3 times and each time it failed. It flashes 100% but fails the renumeration… ? Not sure why this will not work for me.

    • The same thing is happening to me, No one is helping me not even Kelex! I thought this site was supposed to help people but i guess not

      • After letting it sit for up to a half an hour I finally give up. While sitting on that black bootloader screen, finally pull the battery out and reboot. I am able to boot back up normal to 2.1 and all is ok, but just not sure what to do to get this process to work correctly.

        I have everything loaded and it all seems to be working, but for some reason it just fails. I am on Windows XP…. The only thing I can think of is to uninstall rsdlite and the drivers and reinstall and try again. If that doesn't work, maybe try the process from a different computer. Any other ideas?

        • What happens at the end? When RSD Lite is done it should reboot your phone and you should be back to stock 2.0.1 don't put the sbf file on your desktop put make sure it's in a different location. Hope that helps.

      • I didn't post the steps to flash an SBF file for a reason. I am not an RSD Lite pro. However, I followed the instructions exactly as they are laid out at that post and have flashed SBFs probably a dozen times and never once run into an issue.

        Hate to say this, but you might be skipping a step? Did you make sure to install the correct USB drivers? Try putting the SBF file somewhere other than on your desktop.

        • Well I've been trying everything, plus I might note that I'm very comfortable in flashing roms and all that stuff, so this isn't the first thing I've tried to do. My mistake is that I loaded the 2.1 update…

          I've uninstalled the software and reloaded the driver and even tried it on one of my other computers with no success. I am going to continue working on this and if I figure it out I will post.

          It says it flashes the sbf but it fails during the re-enumeration process.

          • Simple question. In what order did you install the programs? RSD Lite is installed first, then install the motorola drivers. If you are not positive then uninstall them both, then install RSD Lite and then Motorola. Try clicking in the motorola program the button that says clean and reinstall. After that restart your computer. Make sure you have the .sbf file in a different folder than just your desktop otherwise it wont work. i know it seems pointless to constantly restart your computer, but for some reason it has worked on alot of peoples phones that are doing this, mine included.

          • I tried everything you said to do. I uninstalled RSD Lite and the 32 bit driver. I re-installed RSD Lite first, then the driver and rebooted the pc. I've taken the sbf file off the desktop and put it in C/program files. I then tried the install process and the result was the same failure during the re-enumeration process. I am getting nothing but failure in my efforts. Yesterday I even tried it on a different computer with the same result.

            There seems to be a bunch of us failing at the exact same point. In may cases I agree when someone says that maybe there is a step being missed, or maybe doing something wrong… but this is a pretty simple process and I know I am following the very few simple instructions correctly.

            I see it gets the file loaded 100% and completes that part, but whatever re-enumeration is it gets stuck. Since I know the file was loaded I wonder if there is a way to reboot the phone after it fails without pulling the battery. Cause I read that someone else had a failure but it was actuall back to 2.0.1. But when I pull the batter it just undoes whatever I did. However I also don't want to do something wrong and brick my phone. Because if I do that I don't seem to have the option of bringing it back to life with RSD Lite.

            Also if I did brick my phone I wouldn't return it for a new one since I am the one who caused the failure, not the phone. However I would like to avoid this of course. I am starting to wonder if I will just have to wait till 2.1 us rooted if it ever does.

          • Looks like you've taken all the necessary steps and have even tried to install in a particular order as said in a previous posts! I'm not sure what more can be done, RSD Lite is from Motorola are there any updated versions?

            Just checked and got this link from google http://www.motorolafans.com/forums/a1200-applic…

            Maybe it will help if you have a newer version?! Or like you said just wait for 2.1 to be rooted, shouldn't be too long, the only other advantage of getting rsd lite to work is you'll have the utility to unbrick your phone just as if you were to bring it into VZW store. Let us know what you decide to do..

          • Just read some more info on the net, this could be caused by the program not being run as admin..

            Found this aswell..
            http://www.mydroidworld.com/forums/android-hack…

            sorry – not bad w.tech stuff (comps, xboxs, wii's, arcade, etc) but complete noob to cell's … had bought an app that rooted your phone and did all sorts of stuff all in one shot. now i want to update and i found these instructions. i downloaded and installed everything. when i turn my phone on and hold up as its connected to usb it reads:
            Bootloader _ 2c.6c___battery ok__ok to program__transfer mode: _ usb

            i run RSDLite 4.6, find the SBF file and click start..
            it stops at re-enumeration then says:
            “Failed flashing process. Failed flashing process. Phone [0000]: Phone did not re-enumerate after RAM-downloader was sent. (Ox703E); phone disconnected
            Exectuded: 100%
            Result: FAIL”

            then my phone stays on previously stated screen and had to pull battery to shut down…
            HELP PLEASE!!!!

            Also, when it gets to that point, did you try to click the “Show Device” button in RSD Lite? Sometimes, this process takes a while and either your phone will appear stuck, or the “Show Device” button will be greyed out. Usually a quick click of that will reboot the device if it is finished.

          • I read elsewhere that the re-enumeration failure is due to using computers that have older, slower usb 1.0 ports. If you try the RSD Lite process on a computer that has new 2.0 usb ports it works fine. I have had the re-enumeration error MANY times and can't get it to work, and I am going to try it on one of my computers that has 2.0 ports and will let you know if this takes care of it.

    • maybe you don't have the proper drivers for usb?! That's just my guess just by reading your problem make sure to install proper version of the usb drivers 32bit or 64bit, I know that if you try to install a 64bit on a 32bit you'll get an error message.. Also make sure to run the program as Admininstrator.. Hope this helps.

  • Trying to download the droid-ESE81-update-2.zip but keep getting error message, has file been moved???

    Thanks Kellex…..

  • It fails at re-enumeration WTF!!!!!!!!! I have tried this way too many times. can somebody please shed some light on this?

  • Kellex, or anybody for that matter. I followed the steps completely..and well…I'm not rooted. Halp?

  • this part on the alldroid site
    “3. Connect your phone to USB and turn it off then while your phone is booting hold up on the DPAD.”
    my phone just reboots holding up on the dpad doesn't do anything and i can't do step 4.

    wtf a i doing wrong lol

      • you guys are the fuckin bomb. I rooted at work today 😀 I tried the right, up so many times but it magically worked today!!!! have you guys noticed that this ROM is taking up a lot of RAM? i kill all apps running and it's still at 49MB – 55MB. but it does run a lot smoother than OTA. Anyway thanks guys! this shit is the fuckin shit. did i say that? yes, THIS SHIT IS THE SHIT~! keep doing your thing kellex~!

    • Yeah its sort of confusing. If your keyboard is open then it's up on the d-pad. However, if you turn your phone upright, it would be “right” on the d-pad.

      • i tried up, right watever like329482398 times lol. It boots up regularly and when i open RSD Lite and find the sbf file, click start, i don't see anything new on the window. No percentage bar, nothing! i click on show device and still nothing ;

        • don't open rsd lite until it goes into usb mode.. once you see usb mode on your phone then rsd lite will detect that the phone is ready to be flashed.. maybe that's the problem..

  • Hello anybody there?? it wont let me flash 2.0.1 or 2.0., it gets to 100% and then it says fail, can anybody help me please!?

    thanks

      • No luck ive tried everything, i guess we will have to wait until 2.1 is rooted 🙁

          • Sounds like you guys have the exact same failure point I do. I do a battery pull and reboot and all is well, but still stuck at 2.1. There has to be a simple solution as to why we all have this same issue. If one of you guys figure it out, please post. Thanks

          • is the sbf file on the desktop just like all the other files? The only time I got stuck was because I had the file on the desktop but it wouldn't even let me start the process, I'm on windows 7 though on 64bit, once I moved the file it let me flash. The sbf file I have is exactly 129 MB (135,888,164 bytes) maybe you have a bad file?

          • I read on DroidForums.net that RSD Lite failures in the re-enumeration process is a usb issue. Try the process on a computer that has usb 2.0 ports and it should work. I am going to try this shortly myself and will post the result.

          • I kept doing the battery pull thing and it wouln't work…I guess I ruined my phone (BRICKED!!)…no worries…took it to Verizon this morning, played dumb (kinda like when I screwed up when I did something wrong flashing my phone). They asked me if I had tried to root it, and I asked them what root meant…(I also kept my sd card at home)…So now I have a brand new phone at stock 2.0.1…which is where I wanted to be in the first place…haha

  • well i did step 1 for everyone and my droid still lives and i must say i think its going to come in handy;-)

  • I cant do step four its not working for me any help??
    4. Open the command prompt (Start>Run>cmd) on your PC and type the following commands:

    cd Desktop
    copy /b update-2.zip+droid-ESE81-update-2.zip update.zip

      • Yea im getting an error and both are on my desktop and renamed ill keep trying hopefully it ends up working

        • I had this issue as well, I noticed I had it named update-2.zip i decided to removed the .zip on both files and it worked

        • This is a very late reply, but I had this issue at first and then realized it was because I have my User directory on a separate partition. The files need to be located at C:Users[user]Desktop

      • once your at the command prompt you can check to see if the file is in that directory by typing dir then enter. if it's not there then right click the file and see the exact directory it's located copy that directory and type cd then the exact location of the file once your there you can do the copy command.

  • quick question…how do you know whether to use the 32 bit or 64 bit motorola usb drive..?

    • I'm pretty sure it depends on whether you use 32 bit or 64 bit Windows. If you don't know, go to My Computer/Properties or something like that, depending on what Windows you have…
      Anyway, you can probably use the 32-bit one and if it fails to install, try the other one. 🙂

  • The hardest step has to be the 2.1 to 2.0.1, ironically using motorola's own software, It was nerve racking but if you've read the forums it will say do not disconnect the phone from your computer once it starts flashing! Once you download the sbf file it won't flash if you have the file on your desktop, I found that out myself. Flash takes about 15-20 mins, or maybe it seemed like it cause I was definitely nervous! I believe it's what they use to restore bricked phones!

    • This is the hardest step. I'm having an issue where it won't let me start the flash(2.1 -> 2.0.1) to the device which is frustrating. Going to try a few more things. If anyone else has this issue and can comment let me know.

    • Hopefully you can help me out…don't want to brick my phone and I'm just as nervous as you are. Quick question everything is done on the computer while your phone is connected to the USB? When I get to SBF do I just double click it on the computer and will it automatically flash my DROID? Thanks.

      • after you select the sbf file and double click it it will go back to rsd lite main screen then you have to click start at which point you make sure not to unplug or do anything to your phone or your pc. I would not even browse the internet at that point just leave your pc and let it finish.

      • sorry for the long replies just figuring out this disqus.. I just signed up today!

        • And thanks for all the replies to people's comments! Greatly appreciated! Can't thank you enough actually heh. 🙂

          • NP, I'm glad to help and contribute to the site! I'm always on it, and since I have two droids I get to do things twice. I've been meaning to get to answer some posts but I wanted to be sure I have hands on experience, I'm no tech expert but I'm into hacking and computers! My next goal is to do a video..

        • Dude thanks! Everything went totally smooth and so forth. Kellex thank you too for helping me out. You guys are the best!

    • I just wanted to take a moment and personally thank you for all your little tid bits and advice that I have read here. I finally rooted and with all your advice and my homework from other people, it went off without a hitch. I am back to being rooted with my custom rom and theme…thank you so much.

      -Dave

  • I dont like Neural Network but i do like the pic of the red and black background Kellex has posted i updated to the official 2.1 update its fine but im not satisfied with it. Kellex can you post a video on how to get back plz man

  • Did I ever tell you how great this blog is? Pretty much any instructions I could ever want for rooting my Droid I can always find here. I love the fact that you take the time to post step by step instructions for even the seemingly simple tasks.

  • I am ambivalent, or at least conflicted. On the one hand, the addict in me misses the constant tweaking and playing with the rooted phone, checking out new ROMs and configurations. On the other hand, the official 2.1 has been SMOOTH AS SILK. There has not been a glitch or lag or fc once. So, it's a trade-off, between the OBSESSIVE and the PRACTICAL.

  • First of all, thanks a lot for your effort!
    I just got a Motorola Milestone with firmware 2.1-update1 (stock, presumably). There are two reasons why I seem to need to root it: 1) OpenVPN client, and 2) tethering, although that seems to be possible without root (but with money).
    I'm totally new to this and somewhat confused. Is there a good introduction into the whole thing somewhere? I have so many questions…
    For starters, I have no idea what is ESE81 (some kind of build ID?) and how do I tell what build I have?
    Is any of this applicable to the Milestone at all, or is it just for the Droid?
    Is there a way to backup whatever build I have now, so that I can go back if I don't like the result of my tinkering?
    Is there a better way to achieve what I need, perhaps even without rooting?
    Thanks…

    • “Milestone” is the name given to Motorola's Droid outside the U.S. They are the same phone. Sounds like the one you bought came with Android 2.1-update1 already installed. This particular release has not yet been rooted, as Kellix pointed out at the top of the post. It is likely to get rooted fairly soon – I'd be surprised if it didn't happen within the next two weeks.

      • That much I know already. (Although, they are surely not completely the same – the Milestone is GSM, the Droid is CDMA if I'm not mistaken. I'm in Europe, Czechia, T-Mobile GSM. T-Mobile doesn't carry the phone, though – it's an import from Poland, I think. I got it through some local e-shop.)
        I guess the wisest thing for me to do would be to wait for a rooted 2.1, though as you can imagine I can hardly wait 😉
        But anyway, even if I do wait, I'd love to start learning about the terminology and things like that in the meantime. I don't like doing things I don't understand. 🙂

  • Unsure of why I've had success but I went from stock 2.0.1 to a rooted 2.0.1 with the stock ROM, my little ninja was karate chopping away. Then I downloaded the 2.1 update from here in that first step (Download the 2.1 update.zip file from our manual update post. update.zip (alt link)
    ) updated thru the standard recovery console to have a rooted 2.1 with a stock ROM. No issues, and still have that ninja kickin up a storm. Can someone explain why its working for me?

    • You are not on the 2.1 you are still on 2.01 i believe my friend did the same thing

      • Yep definitely on 2.1 update-1… All updated Google apps, new Gallery, active/live wallpapers Settings|About shows new version… no sure what else I can do to confirm…

  • What is the point of rooting your phone to rooted 2.1 instead of keeping it at rooted 2.01 and then installing the custom rom with the 2.1 build?

  • question DL folks, i'm currently on 2.1. can i do a nandroid restore to when i had 2.0.1 and go back that way?

    • Well if you are unrooted on 2.1 then no, because you can't install a nandroid unless you have SPRecovery or clockwork recovery. 😛

  • Hi guys, I have a question for you…. When I try to install a Cyanogen mod, I keep getting this message ” SD card mounted… Checking MD5 sums… MD5 mismatch!…… ClockworkMod Recovery v1.8.0.6″ any ideas what that means? It won't even let me apply my backup, I just get this message.

    Thanks

    • Did you try booting into recovery? if that doesn't work you may have to do a manual nandroid restore assuming you have one.

      • Kellex, have you flashed back to stock 2.0.1 using the .sbf file and updated to the rooted 2.1 yet? If so, are you planning any video tutorials on the subject? Any news about a new DMupdater?

        Thanks, Keep up the stellar work

  • just looking at the shit…damn the process is long. i gotta do it when i get home from work ;p

  • your a god… ive been debating on doing this all weekend but i just got around to it today. It was well worth it.. i missed my rooted Droid :')

    • I think we'll eventually have the ability to root…at least that is what we were counting on. If we knew there was zero chance of root after the jump to 2.1 ese81, then I'd imagine most of us would never have gone stock 2.0.1 waiting for the 2.1 OTA

  • Sounds like athe 2.1 update to me and if so it will ping you every half hour supposedly:-/

  • WHY YOU GUYS KEEP ON MODIFYING YOUR PHONE?….DONT YOU HAVE SATISFACTION?….ITS JUST A PHONE!!!!… ITS ALREADY BEEN UPDATED TO 2.1 update1.

    • For that matter, why do we keep doing anything? Why do we buy new cars/ new shoes/ new printers/ new underwear….because we want more and we want better things. We want 'NEW' and 'IMPROVED', just ask any commercialized manufacturer out there. Kudos to you for being satisfied, but if I can do something to improve what I own and make it more to my satisfaction…well I'm glad there's others like me and a community that supports it.

    • bc

      1. it's fun
      2. i paid my $, so now I can do to my phone as I please
      3. you're right, it's just a phone..if i break it, i can buy another one

  • AWESOME!!! It says I'm running 2.1 update1 and I have the Ninja guy!!
    I have 1 question though: when the phone rebooted, it's telling me there is a “system update ready to install” my options are “install now”, “install later” or “more info”. Do I install it, and if so, will it take away the root I just put back on? Thanks again Kellex, you sir……..ROCK!!

  • I learned this the HARD way yesterday. After about 5 attempts at frustration I SBF'd back to stock 2.0.1, rooted w/ DMUpdater, and did the ROM Manager dance.

  • is there a way to return to 2.0.1 from 2.1 so we can do the steps from the beginning

      • yes but it tells u how to do so from a mod droid, i was at stock 2.0.1 and i got the 2.1 official update, and now im wondering how i return to 2.0.1 from the official 2.1 so i can try this

        • 1. If you have already updated to the official 2.1 follow the steps at this post.

          • Kellex, sorry broheim, but I'm quite nervous doing this…quick questions, is everything done on the computer while your DROID is connected to the USB? Also, do I just double-click the SBF file when I'm ready and will it'll automatically prompt it to my DROID?…any suggestions? Thanks!

          • anyone help? i did First steps: Returning back to stock 2.0.1, then Rooting Steps: Stock 2.0.1 to Rooted 2.1… and i dont have the superninja? i double checked every part that i was suppose to do while doing it… please help!!!

  • Process sounds a little too crazy for me… will wait till 2.1 is properly rooted. I've had no issues with the official 2.1 after coming back from Cyanogen 5.0.5.4 kind of happy I unrooted (can't believe I posted that)

  • Don't really need this now… Koush has come through like a champ, and except for the loss of the 3D app drawer [oh well lost some eye candy], Cyanogen 5.0.5.6 is awesome and runs on ESE81.

      • Is there a reason why after downloading 5.0.5.6, setCPU will only let me max out at 600 mhz?

        • It is using the Stock Kernal which is limited to 600mHz. I posted in the other thread the steps to fix that. which I shall do the same here…

          here is what you do… Go into Rom Manager –> hit menu –> select Developer Mode –> go into Download ROM –> CyanogenMod –> bekit Kernals –> Choose one

          Here is the break down of what you need to know…

          Stock is what you have now, so it will change nothing

          The number of slots is how many slots you have when you go into SetCPU

          And the mHz is the max mHz for that kernal.

          0.8.1 is simply the version number.

          So what that all means is that if you choose say 5 slot 1.0gHz you'll have 5 choices between the minimum and 1.0gHz

          if you choose 7 slot 1.0gHz you'll have 7 choices between the minimum and 1.0gHz. This is the one I personally use because 5 slots skips over 600mHz. I like being able to go to that when my battery gets low.

          I know NOTHING about Increased Voltage. I do not suggest doing that. I have a feeling that may have some adverse effects.

          Like upgrading the ROM you have the choice to Back-up (I suggest doing this) and DData wipe (you dont' need to do this)

          Consequently this will also allow you to use Apps2SD, after you use ROM Manager to Partition your SD card.

          Hope that helps

          (Thank you Copy and Paste)

    • Glad to see Koush has gotten out some ESE81 builds already!! Can't wait to try one out soon…

  • Awesome!
    I might wait till 2.1 is rooted though. Don't wanna mess anything up. Thanks for the option. =)

  • when I click on the link for this one: “1. If you have already updated to the official 2.1 follow the steps at this post” it tells me it can't find the page. Is there another one?

  • I am waiting for the “My phone is screwed up… how do I fix it?” posts to begin.

  • i love that KELLEX takes a whole day off and then comes back STRONGER than ever thanks MAN

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