Noob Friendly Verizon Root and CM7 ROM Guide for Droid X .621 OTA Update

[holycow131415]

Since info is scattered all over the place, I figured I'd condense it into one post after successfully rooting and flashing my DX to CM7. Remember, this all voids any warranty, and I'm not responsible for bricking/damaging your phone! =)

Backup

• Backup everything files/whatever just to make sure. Make sure your contacts are synced with Verizon backup assistant or Google sync.
• Go to market, download App List Backup and back your list of apps up to SD. After flashing you have to download it again and choose restore. It gives you the list of apps you had and direct links you to the Market to reinstall them. I wouldn’t recommend using Titanium Backup, as I read it creates bugs, besides, clean installs are always better in every situation.

Gaining Root

• Go to Linux solution to your Windows/RSD lite problems
• Download the .604 ISO file. It will flash android euro version milestone, and it also has ZergRush to root Milestone after its done flashing. This Linux way will leave radio alone to keep it working with Verizon.
• Use imageburn/cdburnerxp or usb universal installer to make a bootable device.
• Go into your computers boot menu, and select your drive (CDDVD drive or USB) that will suite your created bootable device (CD/DVD or flash drive). Boot off the image from a computer.
• Allow USB Debugging mode.
• Power off phone, then reboot into Bootloader (hold Camera button, Volume down, and Power til you see a flash on the screen then let off). Go ahead and plug phone into computer now
• The linux CD will boot into a script. Let it do its own thing until you see a menu. From there follow the screen prompts.
• After this is done, you have a rooted phone with android version 2.3.5 (newer than OTA) and the MSX kernel. You can stop here if you only want a rooted phone.

The Process to Flash CM7

• Download Droid 2 Bootstrap from Market. (Yes there is a DX version, but it doesn't work well/isn't up to date)
• Open Droid 2 Bootstrap and select Bootstrap Recovery, it will ask for Superuser permission.
• Grant it permission; this is how you will be able to tell if you're rooted. If it errors, allow USB Debugging again, go back to the CD/Flash drive, and run ZergRush again(I had to to this).
• Try to run D2 Bootstrap again to give it superuser permission. You always need to run this first before opening ROM Manager.
• Install ROM Manager free version from Market. Run D2 Bootstrap again to give it root access. Open ROM Manager and install latest Clockwork Mod Recovery (CWM). If a loading bar and gear spin but nothing happens, check to see if ClockworkMod ROM Manager - Recoveries page is down. If it is, you need to wait til it comes back online. If it prompts you for phone type choose Droid X, NOT DROID X 2ND INIT.
• Go to this Forum Post with DX CM7 instructions.
• Download CM7 from Goo.im Downloads - Browsing RandPooka , newest right now is Goo-inside.me Downloads - Downloading Pooka-CM4DX-GB-20120324.zip . Copy this ROM zip to your SD card
• Reboot into recovery from ROM Manager
• Wipe data/Factory reset (Volume keys to navigate menu, Camera button to select, power button to go back to previous menu)
• Wipe Cache partition
• Install ZIP from SD card
• When its completed, use the power button to go back to see the reboot option.
• Reboot, let the phone do its thing and get ready to set your phone up from scratch starting with signing in to your Google account.

Flash Google Apps

• Go to Goo.im Downloads - Browsing gapps
• Find a file called "gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip" from Goo-inside.me Downloads - Downloading gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip .
• Put the zip file on your SD, and just flash that (Install as any other Custom ROM -DON'T WIPE-) with ROM Manager and then, when you turn on the phone, you will get the default setup where Google configures your account and download Google Apps such as Market. Make sure you are in a good 3g/wifi area, as it connects to the internet to complete installation.

Reinstall App List Backup and Contacts

• Go back to market, download App List Backup and restore your list of apps. It gives you the list of apps you had and direct links you to the Market to reinstall them.
• During setup with Google, it should have asked permission to sync apps and contacts. Verizon Backup Assistant is not available for re-download. So if Google didn’t back up all your contacts, you need to go to the Verizon back up assistant website to export a CVS file to import into Google contacts on the website. If you have many contacts, the Verizon site will take a while to load them all on to your screen. For a while, I thought that my contacts weren’t backed up.

Other Apps

• For swype: sign up and install @ http://beta.swype.com/
• For Battery Life: make sure your screen brightness is all the way down, and install ROM Toolbox. Make sure to check off to use the profiles in the upper right hand corner. Battery life is actually better now than on OTA.
  screenshot-1333833183295.png
• Alarmdroid - excellent free alarm clock, just like the stock one on OTA
• Weather Widget free and weather widget forecast addon - excellent free weather widget just like OTA version.
• Voice Search - To add text to speech capabilities for texting, etc.
• Barnacle Wifi Tether - Free app to make your Droid x a wireless hot spot for computers to connect to for internet. Works flawlessly.

Flash Back to the .621 Kernel for Better Battery Support, Multitasking, and Other Things

• As per here, you can learn about the benefits of returning to the .621 kernel.
• Download the .621 kernel @ http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45928747/604...ges-Update.zip
• Connect your DX to your computer via USB, and place the zip file on your SD card.
• Disconnect from your computer.
• Go into rom manager, and choose the option to reboot into CWR
• Choose to install zip, and choose to choose the zip. Flash it, and reboot the device after its done. That's it!, you have the newest kernel.

Enjoy! Remember, check the CM7 ROM page for updates

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[aryavat]

I registered on the forum just to thank you for the useful info. It really saved me a lot of effort. Thanks a lot!

[holycow131415]

I registered on the forum just to thank you for the useful info. It really saved me a lot of effort. Thanks a lot!

Thanks, you are welcome! It is suprising how there arent really any consolidated guides that explain everything to make this easier for each OTA verison =D

[aryavat]

You are right.. and i have searched all major android forums. There are 100s of pages of threads on rootzwiki dealing with this..but nothing consolidated from SBF to ROMS ..

anyways...i am having an issue with CM7 that my homescreen is stuck in landscape orientation...i have tried everything in the phone settings, cm7 settings, and even reflashed CM7 ..but it stays in landscape...any ideas?
thanks

[holycow131415]

You are right.. and i have searched all major android forums. There are 100s of pages of threads on rootzwiki dealing with this..but nothing consolidated from SBF to ROMS ..

anyways...i am having an issue with CM7 that my homescreen is stuck in landscape orientation...i have tried everything in the phone settings, cm7 settings, and even reflashed CM7 ..but it stays in landscape...any ideas?
thanks

Ah not really, only thing I can think of is to wipe cache in CWM, and flash to the latest rom Goo-inside.me Downloads - Downloading Pooka-CM4DX-GB-20120330.zip

It might be better to ask here in the ROMs development post. There is alot of activity there.

[aryavat]

thanks - will check it out. Meanwhile went on to flash a liberty rom ..bricked the phone, sbfed using rsd lite (as i was already on milestone - i thought it shouldnt be a problem as it was on .621) - right now stuck on activation screen..

[holycow131415]

Umm yeah when you bricked it I would have just used the linux CD again (since youd have it anyway) to go back to milestone, and to reroot it to flash another ROM.

[aryavat]

I will do that at home...i am at work and do not want to mess around with the PC as it is a huge hassle if anything goes wrong because of me messing around with the operating system. Got Admin rights after a long struggle!. Anyways - did you have to activate your phone after sbfing..if so - how did you do it...i am unfamiliar as for some strange reason i did not have to do it the first time i sbfed with linux

[holycow131415]

I will do that at home...i am at work and do not want to mess around with the PC as it is a huge hassle if anything goes wrong because of me messing around with the operating system. Got Admin rights after a long struggle!. Anyways - did you have to activate your phone after sbfing..if so - how did you do it...i am unfamiliar as for some strange reason i did not have to do it the first time i sbfed with linux

The Linux LiveCD way doesn't touch the radio part, which leaves the activation intact with Verizon. Using RSD lite to sbf to milestone would leave you a system that only can connect to the euro providers. Youll need to reactivate before going back to milestone, which shouldnt be a big deal if you SBF to .621. remember you cannt flash to anything lower than 621 because of the bootloader.

BTW, booting off a livecd doesnt touch the hdd of a computer.

[aryavat]

Understood. I thought being on 604 i could use the rsdlite.

Just to get this straight, you think i should SBF to 621 with linux and then activate it with verizon? then go about the whole process of sbfing to milestone with the linux cd and root and rom...?

Thanks BTW for the prompt replies!