Database Users

How to UNINSTALL unwanted stock/preinstalled apps from G1

How to remove unwanted stock/preinstalled apps
This is not a question. This is howto
I DID search through the forum and found nothing but
Q: how to remove/uninstall preinstalled apps ?
A: no way !!!
WHAT ??? WRONG ANSWER !!!
Here is how:
First of all I’ll describe my rooted, of course, phone configuration, so if you are on the same boat you can do same trick 99% if not you’ll know where to go
- CyanogenMod 4.1.2.1 (this is latest experimental as of sept-05-09) –works very stable for me
- 4GB SD card partitioned: FAT32, ext3 (512mb), linux_swap (32mb)
(great guide how to part your sd here: http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f56/compcache-userinit-22465/index4.html#post232988 (page 4)
- CompCache with Backing Swap (here: http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f56/compcache-userinit-22465/index4.html#post232988 (page 1)
Requirements:
1) G1 rooted phone
2) Explorer with ability to explore /system folders – I use Astro (market)
3) PC/MAC
4) SDK installed on it (http://developer.android.com/sdk/download.html?v=android-sdk-windows-1.5_r3.zip)
Steps:
1) first and very important: full backup of your system.
- DO NANDROID (it’s preinstalled in Cyano, search forum for “nandroid” if you don’t have it)
- DO ext3.tar (if you use ext3)
- Make full SD copy to your PC
As described here: (yes, same tread, thanks to bdb4269) http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f56/compcache-userinit-22465/index4.html (page 4)
Now we are safe..well, almost
2) find full name for the application you want to uninstall, say for Amazon MP3 it will be com.amazon.mp3.apk
I did it like this
- open Astro explorer
- go to the very top (/)
- search “amazon”
- when search done, write down full app name
- long press trackball – chose – open containing folder – remember the path (ie /system/app)
3) Assume SDK and USB drivers are installed ( http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/device.html )
And phone is connected to pc/mac
= below guide is from http://oneclickandroid.blogspot.com/ with my comments =
- Start emulator (don’t think it is necessary, but lets follow – emulator located in SDK folder\tools\emulator.exe in my case C:\SDK_15\tools\
CMD window pops up for a second and disappeared
- open CMD prompt (in Windows: Start > run > print: cmd , hit OK/enter)
- execute "adb shell" in on terminal from SDK_ROOT/tool folder
(if you did not register SDK folder in windows variables you need to cd to this folder first:
print: cd c:\sdk_15\tools hit enter
print: adb shell hit enter, you’ll see new prompt appeared: #
- print: mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
This will mount your system folder with read/write permission
- go to system/apps folder of your phone
(print: cd /system/apps hit enter)
*** guide says “/system/apps” but in my case it is “/system/app” ??? (remember I asked you to write down full path and name from Astro ? check your path first ***
- print: rm yourunwantedapplication.apk
i.e. rm com.amazon.mp3.apk hit enter
now, check installed apps in your phone (no reload req.) – is amazon disappeared ?
I wish to try this with app for that has a replacement from the market, like
Dialer – aTakePhone or Music – Meridian etc
Hope someone brave will do it before I do
Deleting may be unsafe if other preinstalled apps or process have links to uninstalled app
What happens in this case? wish someone knows the answer.
I dont think this trick will speedup your phone if you've moved your apps to ext2/3/4 already I just dont want to see useless apps in my phone/pc
Please reply here if you have experience of deleting preinstalled apps
sorry, english is my second languague
Good luck !

Hahahaha... all that trouble just to install a few unnecessary apps off of a ROOTED phone?! If you had searched, you'd have seen the numerous posts where we've posted instructions on uninstalling apps through Terminal. Literally 4 lines of code at most! Note that you can do this with any app you don't want. I have xROM, and one of the first things I do whenever I clean install to the latest version is replace ringtones and remove apps, including HTC Mail, Email, Amazon mp3, and Android Music. It takes me about 2 minutes to remove these apps.
Example for removing Amazon MP3:
su
mount -o rw,remount /system
rm -r /system/app/com.amazon-mp3.apk
mount -o rw,remount /data
rm -r /data/data/com.amazon.mp3
exit
exit

uansari1 said:
mount -o rw,remount /data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/data is never mounted read-only.

zelipukin said:
...
- Start emulator (don’t think it is necessary, but lets follow – emulator located in SDK folder\tools\emulator.exe in my case C:\SDK_15\tools\
CMD window pops up for a second and disappeared
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not how you start the emulator, in the window that disappears is a message telling you to start with the proper parameters, which you'd see if starting from a command line. If the emulator actually was running, then all your adb commands would then fail because it wouldn't know what device you wanted to address, you'd have to use "adb -d" to tell it to use the real device rather than the emulator.

jashsu said:
/data is never mounted read-only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info.. guess I've been doing an extra step, but this means I can do I through terminal even faster.

Easy way to remove unwanted preinstalled apps
Use Root Explorer to browse to /data/app_s and find the applications you don't want. Delete the APK and ODEX files and you are done.
Always remember to make a backup of your phone, before you start deleting.

ewaldtx said:
Use Root Explorer to browse to /data/app_s and find the applications you don't want. Delete the APK and ODEX files and you are done.
Always remember to make a backup of your phone, before you start deleting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The app_s folder is only used for Hero ROMs because there isn't enough space in /system, so it's placed in /system/sd (the mount point of the ext partition) if you have an ext partition for A2SD.
For regular google source builds just go to /system/app.

there is an app called rootexplorer it has a button to remove syatem apps. real easy to use. http://www.cyrket.com/package/com.sp...e.rootexplorer

saprano614 said:
there is an app called rootexplorer it has a button to remove syatem apps. real easy to use. http://www.cyrket.com/package/com.sp...e.rootexplorer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and it works great

Sorry to kind of hijack this but cyrket.com always shows as a blank page.
anyone know why or how to fix that?

i think simply deleting the apk files and data folder will keep an entry in some kind of registry in android. if i just delete the apk files and data folder and run fix_permissions, it shows the same number of processes.

SUFBS
is a rooted file browser and it is, by far, the easiest way of uninstalling any stock apps.
Click one button to make the system folder re-writable (same thing with data folder, just a button), navigate to the apps directory and just delete. or you can search for the app and just delete it from the search window. Voila!

Ssantos6981 said:
is a rooted file browser and it is, by far, the easiest way of uninstalling any stock apps.
Click one button to make the system folder re-writable (same thing with data folder, just a button), navigate to the apps directory and just delete. or you can search for the app and just delete it from the search window. Voila!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you talking about rootexplorer or what? elaborate a little..
i just bought and downloaded/installed rootexplorer simply to delete stock apps. upon opening it ask me to allow it. i say yes and it says my phone isn't rooted.
weird.. i just upgraded from cyanogen v4.1.999( or something around that) to the newest 4.2whatever. so how if my phone not rooted?!

blackinches said:
are you talking about rootexplorer or what? elaborate a little..
i just bought and downloaded/installed rootexplorer simply to delete stock apps. upon opening it ask me to allow it. i say yes and it says my phone isn't rooted.
weird.. i just upgraded from cyanogen v4.1.999( or something around that) to the newest 4.2whatever. so how if my phone not rooted?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try it again lol. it should work
make sure your not on the stock adp recovery

Root explorer!!!

Hi,
i'm trying ro remove stock apps for quite a few days, and i'm getting desperate!
I have everything... titatium, terminal, root explorer, etc etc
with terminal I also receive "directory not empty", but with root explorer I can delete the apk's from /system/app ... I confirm after that they are not there, bus as soon as I reboot the phone they come back.
what can I do ?
I have HTC desire with stock android, rooted .. and also a couple of programs I instaled I don't really knwo what they do.. like rom manager, clockword recovery, etc
plz help!

Sleeepy2 said:
Sorry to kind of hijack this but cyrket.com always shows as a blank page.
anyone know why or how to fix that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is because the full url path is not correct. Hover cursor over link and look at lower left corner to view the url path...it has those .... in it and will not work. We need the full exact url path.

just use titanum backup,rt click on application it will show (remove),be sure u didn't updated any stock app e.g gmail update

Regarding using Root Explorer on stock G Tab updated to 1.2-4349...
Trying to remove some of the apps preloaded and using Root Explorer get a statement - my phone not rooted.
I want to get the apps off. What to do now? Thanks http://media.xda-developers.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Thanks for this clear procedure !

Best Guide Online on how to Root your X

I don't feel like reformatting it to make it look good. You can find my post at AllDroid.org or by following this link http://alldroid.org/Default.aspx?tabid=40&g=posts&t=554 let me know if this helped you out. If you follow it to a tee you should have no problems at all.

This is what the link that they OP posted says.
This is a walk-through of how to root your Droid X using the Birdman's method. This walk-though is based off of Rainabba's walk-though but I am going to go into a little bit more detail on some sections to make it more understandable for newer people to rooting.
Before starting this walk-through make sure you do not have any Server Applications running on your computer. This includes stuff like PDAnet's or Some Bluetooth server apps. I noticed that PDAnet will close the adb.exe so you can't do anything. It has also come to my attention that bit-torrent and U-torrent applications may interfere with this process shut those down to.
First you will need to download 3 files, just put these files onto your desktop.
Download the DroidXRoot_v2.zip file from http://alldroid.org/default.aspx?g=posts&t=493
Download the ADBDriver_v3_Google.zip from http://alldroid.org/Defa...40&g=posts&t=495
Download the correct SDK for your OS (Operating System) from http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Now that you have all 3 files downloaded and put onto your desktop its time to do stuff with them.
Extract the DroidXRoot_v2.zip to drive "c:" and just name it "DroidXRoot" so it will look like "c:/DroidXRoot"
Extract the SDK folder into your "DroidXRoot" it doesn't matter what the name of this folder is I used the preset name. This should not look like "c:/DroidXRoot/android-sdk-windows"
Open the "android-sdk-windows" folder and then open the "Tools" folder. From here copy ALL of the files from this folder.
Back out of the "Tools" folder and then out of the "android-sdk-windows" folder. You should now be in "c:/DroidXRoot" Paste those files in here.
Right now Bookmark this page, doing the ADB driver install requires a reboot. This way you can find this post instantly.
Time to install the ADB drivers. For these instructions go to http://alldroid.org/Defa...40&g=posts&t=495 and follow the instructions.
Assuming that the installation went through with no problems, its time to move on.
(Where you see the "Run" at type the command in the quotes ("") but with out the quotes. You should also be able to just copy and past whats inside the quotes if your lazy)
Go to the phone it should still be plugged in from doing the ADB driver install if not plug it in now.
Go to your phone: Home, Menu Button, Settings, Applications, Development: Make sure the "USB debugging" option is enabled/checked.
Hit your Home Button and pull down the Status Bar and click on USB connection: Make sure its set to PC MODE.
Open a command prompt (On Windows 7 and Vista: Start, then type cmd, Right click the cmd and make sure you run as admin. Linix just open the terminal and make sure your running Root through it. If you don't know how to get that good terminal root.)
Ok now that you have your command prompt open Run "cd c:\DroidXRoot"
Run "adb devices" you should see your device listed with a whole bunch of numbers. If you get the message "No devices found" you didn't copy and past the files correct from the tools folder to the "DroidXRoot" folder or you didn't install the driver right from the previous post. If you get the message "adb is not recognized as an internal or external command" you may still have a server file running, make sure there all exited since you rebooted while installing the "adb" drivers. Well if you see your device your doing great keep moving.
Run "adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/Superuser.apk"
Run "adb push su /sdcard/su"
Run "adb push busybox /sdcard/busybox"
Run "adb push exploid /sqlite_stmt_journals/exploid" If you have any problems with the pushing as in getting the "access denied" response then you did not start in an admin or root and need to restart...
Run "adb shell"
Run "cd sqlite_stmt_journals"
Run "chmod 755 exploid"
Where doing great if you didn't have any problems. From here pick up your phone, and navigate to a screen where you can turn on/off your WiFi with a widget, turn your WiFi on. You will need to turn it off then back on instantly after the following command.
Run "./exploid" turn your Wifi off then turn it back on. Now follow the directions on your command prompt. When that completes you will be back at a shell prompt.
Run "rootshell" You will be prompted for a password enter "secretlol" and press Enter. You are now root but you still have more to do. (You will know that you are in root because your prompt will be a "#" instead of "$")
Run "cp /sdcard/Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk"
Run "cp /sdcard/su /system/bin/su"
Run "cp /sdcard/busybox /system/bin/busybox"
Run "chmod 4755 /system/bin/su"
Run "chmod 4755 /system/bin/busybox"
Run "rm /system/bin/rootshell"
Run "exit" to drop from root to a non-root user, you will still be logged into the phone.
Run "exit" again to drop back from your phone to your computer command prompt, you should be at "c:\DroidXRoot"
Now you need to confirm that you have established Root:
Run "adb shell"
Run "su" you should now see the "#" sign which indicates you are root)
WATCH YOUR DROID X SCREEN SO YOU CAN ALLOW SUPERUSER ROOT ACCESS!!!
Credits
Sebastian Kramer for this blog post - http://c-skills.blogspot...07/android-trickery.html
Birdman - for editing Sebastians work for the droidx
[mbm] - for answering birdmans many questions while root was tried (and failed xD)
Rainabba - for the original post located at http://alldroid.org/default.aspx?g=posts&t=493
The blog list
Birdman - @mrweeeedbirdman - http://stevenbird.info
Rainabba - @rainabba - http://rainabba.blogspot.com
Videos
Evidence of root: http://tiny.cc/DroidXRootProof
Video tutorial for root: http://tiny.cc/How2RootDroidXVideo
As is always the case with this sort of activity, you do this completely at your own risk. AllDroid, Rainabba, Birdman, and myself take NO responsibility for the outcome.
Edited 7/27/10
Added the section about shutting down the Bit-torrent and U-torrent applications - Thanks sanzy for finding that out.
Fixed a typo in line 21 - Thanks kdkinc fo noticing that.

Alright. Thank you very much.
I'm new to the DroidX. I'm trying to root my friend's phone.
Before updating to the OTA 2. 2 does the DroidX need to be "S-Off" as we Incredible users call it?
Or does this process cover that?
Thank you again.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

ksidirt said:
Alright. Thank you very much.
I'm new to the DroidX. I'm trying to root my friend's phone.
Before updating to the OTA 2. 2 does the DroidX need to be "S-Off" as we Incredible users call it?
Or does this process cover that?
Thank you again.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply put... S-Off does not work for anything other than HTC phones. So your Motorola Droid X will not need S-Off because it's not an option.
As of right now.. the leaked 2.2 is rootable but I don't know if the OTA that Verizon release for the DX will block the root or not.
To be safe, if you really want froyo now... use the leak, I have no problems with it, or you can wait until the OTA is released and confirmed rootable.
Your choice...To each his own

MrDanger said:
Simply put... S-Off does not work for anything other than HTC phones. So your Motorola Droid X will not need S-Off because it's not an option.
As of right now.. the leaked 2.2 is rootable but I don't know if the OTA that Verizon release for the DX will block the root or not.
To be safe, if you really want froyo now... use the leak, I have no problems with it, or you can wait until the OTA is released and confirmed rootable.
Your choice...To each his own
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome. Thank you.

I ended up using the following:
http://alldroid.org/default.aspx?g=posts&t=553
Worked first try.
If you're going to update to 2.2, you will need to run some additional commands prior to the update via adb or Root Explorer.
I've not had any issues with 2.2 - and I upgraded the day I got my X. No complaints here.
I'm also not really concerned with getting the official OTA -- chances are it (or a version of the update that is compatible with the leaked 2.2) will be found in the wild before long.

EASIEST sdk adb guide tutorial instructions

I have learned alot from this site so i figured i'd give something back. these are the the two easiest methods i have found for setting up the android debug bridge. one for windows and one for linux... these instructions should work for any version of windows.
first make sure you download the latest sdk by going to android.com and clicking on developers.
windows:
after you have download the sdk, unzip it to your desktop. rename it to sdk. cut the UNzipped folder on the desktop that you just renamed by right clicking and hitting "cut" then go to start>my computer>c: and paste the folder here. now go into the new "sdk" folder and right click on the "tools" folder and click "send to" then choose "desktop (as shortcut)" you should now have a shortcut on the desktop called "tools-shortcut"
now for the easy part: hold shift and right click on tools-shorcut, holding shift adds the option "open command window here" to the context menu that comes up so click on that. now just make sure your phone is connected to the computer and on ur phone debugging is enabled (menu>applications>development>debugging). on ur command window that came up you should see a black box with white text and the cmd should be c:\sdk\tools> just type "adb devices" and you should see your phone under "list of devices attached" if you do see it you should be able to start running adb commands
adb pull "/location to file or folder on phone" -(the pulled folder or file will be in the tools folder we created earlier which you can still access by clicking on the tools-shortcut on your desktop)
adb push "name of file or folder to be placed on the phone sdcard" -(make sure the file or folder you wish to place on the phone has been placed in the "tools" folder on the computer, again its the same folder the "tools-shortcut" opens up)
hint and examples: i have found a good way to back up and reinstall all ur apps using just adb push and pull. just experimenting and playing around with it i have found you can accomplish installing with just knowing these commands above... if you plan to data wipe and flash a new rom but you don't want to go through the tedious task of reinstalling and you have a rooted android phone then you may use this method to backup/reinstall ALL of your apps. plus this will give you good practice using adb.
backup example:
adb pull /data/app .... let it finish
adb pull /data/app-private ...let it finish
now you should have ALL of ur apps in ur tools folder on ur computer! in the tools folder, create a new folder and name it what u want, i named mine APPS4EVO because i have an evo and and epic and some apps don't work for both so i keep them seperate. cut and paste all of ur apps and put them into your newly made folder. now back to the adb window
restore example:
adb push /APPS4EVO /data/app/
this will push all of your apps in your backed up folder you made earlier to the folder where apps go when they are installed and if you wait 1-10 minutes depending on how many apps you have you should be able to see them on ur phone as if you had installed them one by one. also notice the space between /APPS4EVO and /data/app/ the space seperates the folder from inside ur tools folder you wish to install and the location you wish to put them on ur phone. please be aware that you do not need to type c:\sdk\tools\APPS4EVO because the command window is already being ran in the tools folder, so the location would just be /APPS4EVO in my case.
adb shell -opens up the terminal shell to run commands specifically for the phone, while in the shell you cannot run other "adb xxxxx" commands, you will have to exit the shell by typing "exit"
OPTIONAL: i marked this as optional bc with the above it is not necessary... i have never done this and my adb works great but i have seen it often in other tutorials around the web.... i believe its only necessary on windows 7 and maybe vista. go to start then right click on "my computer" and click on "properties" then in the left pane click on "advanced system settings" then in the window that pops up click on "environment varables" button, in the next window that pops up, under "system variables" scroll down to the "path" variable and double click it. in the "variable value" box do NOT erase anything but add ";c:\sdk\tools" (without quotations). then click ok on all the windows cuz ur done.
thats all for windows.
linux (ubuntu)
extract the sdk to your home/name/ folder and rename it to sdk. now right click on the folder and go to permissions and make sure (run as executable) is checked, now go into the folder and do the same permission change to the tools directory.
now you should be able to run adb commands in the terminal when your phone is connected. same as in windows except your commands will be preceded by your tools folder location....
FOR EXAMPLE:
/home/jay/sdk/tools/adb devices
/home/jay/sdk/tools/adb push xxxx xxx
/home/jay/sdk/tools/adb pull xxxx
EXTRA:
if your having troubles connecting ur phone to ur computer over usb, even after installing drivers, like i sometimes have with my epic, you can download "wireless adb" from the market which i found to be surprisingly easy to use, just like if u were connected by usb, except under adb devices you will show up as your gateway address not ur device name but trust it still works the same.
good luck everyone, i hope this post isn't redundant and i really hope i help someone out there just starting! adb is confusing at first.

Droid starts in recovery mode all the time

When I turn it on in the morning it goes into recovery mode I then select the reboot and it boots up and I'm good. I turn it off at night and charge it then when I turn it on again its in recovery mode. I was rooted and had bootstrapper but I do not have bootstrapper any more but still rooted. I deleted every file and everything that was related with bootstrapper. Please help me and I'm a noob at some of this stuff.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Most will tell u this is a blessing z better to always boot into recovery than to ppotentially not boot at all one day. If you TRULY want to remove bootstrap completely, google "completely remove droid X bootstrap"
The process involves renaming a logwrapper file that bootstrap had renamed, and deleting the one created by bootstrap
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

I agree that its not a problem but still don't want it. Can you please tell me how to do what you said. I have no clue in how to do that. As simlp as possible please and thank you
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Ok... Here goes:
1) connect your phone to ur pc in charge only mode. Makr sure it is recognized by adb
A) open command prompt and type "adb devices" (hit enter, your phone should show up)
2) in the command prompt, type "adb shell" (press enter)
3) type "su" (press enter)
4) type "mount -o rw, remount /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system" (press enter)
5) type "cp /system/bin/logwrapper.bin /system/bin/logwrapper"(press enter)
6) type "adb reboot" (press enter)
Bootstrap should now be completely removed.
Note: all text in quotes is just what you should type...do not include the quotation marks when entering commands.
Disclaimer: I take no reaponsibility if you mess up your phone. Typing these commands incorrectly CAN mess up your phone. By following thesr directions, you do so at your own risk.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

One question about adb you said it will recognize it. Is it on my phone or is it something that I need to installed. That's the only thing I'm a little confused on everything else I'm good on.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Adb is the driver interface between your computer and your phone. You will need the latest motorola drivers installed on ur computer. Adb is on your computer
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Sorry for the stupid questions but is adb going to pop up on my computer when I plug my phone in or is it something im going to need to find. Again thank you.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

spacecasespiff said:
Sorry for the stupid questions but is adb going to pop up on my computer when I plug my phone in or is it something im going to need to find. Again thank you.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a way to tell if you have adb drivers installed.
1) plug in your phone via usb to your computer.
2) open a command prompt. Type "adb devices" and press enter. (you don't need the quotes)
If it returns text that looks like " device 05842688788" adb is working correctly. The random numbers will be unique to your phone.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

actually if this continues and you have koush's droid x bootstrapper open it and click the first option and give it superuser permission and it should stop

ok i pluged in my phone and put it on charge mode now I clicked on the start botton on my computer brought up the search bar and typed in command prompt. Is that correct. I then entered adb devices and i said it was not reconized as and external device. now im not sure if that is what i was sopposed to do. I think i was expecting something to just pop up. This is the only thing that i dont know how to find. You say its on my computer but where do i find it.

some people who dont know what theyre doing in the first place shouldn't start....smh just saying

Funnyface19 said:
some people who dont know what theyre doing in the first place shouldn't start....smh just saying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh... Yes and no. he wants to learb, and we all had to start somewhere.
Spacecase:
You need to download and install the android sdk. Google this and post back when you have it installed =)
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

So how am I going to learn how to do something if I don't start some where I just don't wake up and go " I know how to do it" no one told me about the sdk and now I know thank you. It will be tomorrow before I do any more.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

I downloaded the ask and have no clue inn how to use it. I click on the ask within the file it then brings up a black menu then wants me to download all sorts of stuff. The black box is where I type in the stuff but it wont let me type anything. Is this the only way to fix my problem
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

spacecasespiff said:
I downloaded the ask and have no clue inn how to use it. I click on the ask within the file it then brings up a black menu then wants me to download all sorts of stuff. The black box is where I type in the stuff but it wont let me type anything. Is this the only way to fix my problem
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Space,
I will need some time to try and put together some steps for you.
My suggestion would be to be careful with modding your phone. I feel like you may be in a little over your head. I do not say this to belittle you, but merely out of concern. I don't want to see ur phone break on you, and you not have the means to fix it yourself, that is all.
I am glad you have a desire to learn what you want to, but be careful, as these tools can also cause more harm than good. I will try and get you some info to set you straight!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Can't you just use root explorer to delete the hijack file and modified logwrapper, then rename logwrapper.bin to logwrapper? Instead of using all the sdk stuff?
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App

spaceman4 said:
Can't you just use root explorer to delete the hijack file and modified logwrapper, then rename logwrapper.bin to logwrapper? Instead of using all the sdk stuff?
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes! If you've purchased root explorer.... So kinda has a caveat there! But definitely a recommended program if you know what you are doing with root privileges...

Just posting a few files for a tutorial I am typing up to come later...

GUIDE PART I:
Ok, here are the steps for setting up the sdk, getting rooted, and all that good stuff... have a feeling I will be making this into a new thread...perhaps....
SDK:
First off... you will want to go to the following site to download the sdk:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Grab the following download: android-sdk_r08-windows.zip
I saved it to C:\sdk (i created a folder called SDK right at the root of C: drive). When it finishes, unzip this using 7zip (or any other unzip program you like) to the sdk folder. When it is finished unzipping, you should have a folder called "android-sdk_r08-windows". If you open up that folder, you will find a folder called "android-sdk-windows". Open this folder up and double click on the "SDK Manager.exe". This will open up a window, and bring up additional windows, one of which will ask you to "choose packages to install". You can download any or all of them. I recommend downloading the following:
• Android SDK Platform-tools, revision 1 (the top-most download)
• SDK Platform Android 2.3, API 9, revision 1
• SDK Platform Android 2.2, API 8, revision 2
• USB drivers (I don't think this shows up in the latest version of the sdk's first download window. I believe it is found if you go to the available packages section the "Android SDK and AVD Manager and expand the 3rd party section....but if you happen to see it in there...grab it)
This should be sufficient for now. All packages are accepted by default. If you do not wish to download all of them, simply highlight each one (one at a time) and then click the reject button towards the bottom middle of the window. When you have selected the packages you wish to download, click the install button.
After this has installed, you now have the Android SDK installed on your machine. You can close all windows related to the SDK, as we don't actually need to do anything with it, it simply has tools within it that we will need later. (This is where the adb command originates from. There is an adb.exe tool in the "tools" folder of the sdk install, but we will get to this later).
Now you will want to go to your desktop (or anywhere you have a shortcut or icon for My Computer), right click on My Computer, and select properties. Under the "advanced" tab of the window that opens, you should see a button at the bottom that says "environment variables". Click on this, and then find the "Path" variable under System Variables NOT user variables. Click Edit and go to the end of the "Variable Value" field. You will want to make sure there is a semicolon ; at the end of this before typing any additional info. You will want to add the full path of your android SDK install. For example, if you followed my example for download/saving/extracting/installing above, you would type the following information into the end of the "Variable Value" section:
C:\sdk\android-sdk_r08-windows\android-sdk-windows\tools
If you installed to another location, be sure to type the correct path to the "tools" folder within your installation of the Android SDK. Then click the OK button, and close any windows that were opened from adding to the "path variable".
Droid X Drivers
This section is a little more difficult to explain, as there are so many variables depending on what operating system you are running (windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, etc). and whether or not you are running a 32-bit or 64-bit instance of your chosen Operating system.
Here is one link for Droid X drivers:
http://www.verizon-phones.org/verizon-motorola-droid-x-usb-drivers-pc-charging-drivers-download.html
I simply googled Droid X drivers, I'm sure this isn't the best link, but just for example I'm throwing it out there. If you google Droid X USB drivers <your operating system> you should be able to find the drivers you need, as well as help and instructions on how to get everything working.
Once you get the usb drivers installed, you will want to connect your Droid X to your computer. If it is recognized, you will get a notification in your drop down bar on your phone. On your phone, press on the USB connection in the drop down menu, and select "charge only". Next, open up a command prompt on your computer. Type the following in and hit enter:
adb devices
You should see something simiilar to the following come up if everything is configured correctly:
C:\>adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
015A882315005010 device
If you see something similar to what I have above... then ADB is working correctly, and we can continue! Now we will move on to getting your device rooted! You will want to grab the z4root.apk that I have attached earlier in this thread and download it onto your computer. We will now test out if adb is indeed working! Save the z4root.1.3.0.apk and put it in the "tools" folder of the sdk we downloaded earlier. Now open up a new command prompt (or use the one we opened earlier if you haven't already closed it!) Change directories to the "tools" folder of the sdk:
If you installed the SDK where I used in my example.... type the following:
cd C:\sdk\android-sdk_r08-windows\android-sdk-windows\tools (press enter)
type the following: adb install z4root.1.3.0.apk (press enter)
You should now see the following:
C:\android-sdk-windows\tools>adb install z4root.1.3.0.apk
1833 KB/s (978414 bytes in 0.521s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/z4root.1.3.0.apk
Success
z4root and ROOTING
If you get all of this, you have now installed a package using adb and we know the interface works. If you don't want to have to mess with this method of installing, you could also download "Astro File Manager" from the android market. You would then need to save z4root.apk to your sdcard of your Droid X. Then open the Astro program and browse to your SDcard and file the z4root.1.3.0.apk. Press on the .apk file and it should come up with a box that says something similar to "open with app installer" or "app manager"... don't recall exactly what it says, but should be something similar to package management or install of some sort. After pressing on that, you should see an install button. Press on that to install z4root.
Now that z4root is installed, you will want to go to your application list on your phone and press on the z4root to open the application. Press on the permanent root button and wait! This process may take a while, and your phone will reboot, but when it does, you are now rooted.
Removing BOOTSTRAP COMPLETELY
If you would like to completely remove Droid X bootstrap from your phone, here is what you need to do:
1) connect your phone to ur pc in charge only mode. Make sure it is recognized by adb
A) open command prompt and type "adb devices" (hit enter, your phone should show up)
2) in the command prompt, type "adb shell" (press enter)
3) type "su" (press enter)
4) type "mount -o rw, remount /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system" (press enter)
5) type "cp /system/bin/logwrapper.bin /system/bin/logwrapper"(press enter)
6) type "adb reboot" (press enter)
Your phone will reboot after typing adb reboot, and may take a little bit longer to boot the first time after bootstrap is removed (it may not, I just haven't gone through this process in a while).
Bootstrap should now be completely removed.
Note: all text in quotes is just what you should type...do not include the quotation marks when entering commands.
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you mess up your phone. Typing these commands incorrectly CAN mess up your phone. By following these directions, you do so at your own risk.
Installing Droid X Bootstrap
You can grab this .apk file from this thread as well, as I have it posted in one of my previous posts. You will then install this .apk file the same way that you installed z4root. Obviously if you are using the adb command prompt method, you will want to replace z4root.apk with the full name of the droid X bootstrap apk; if you are using a file manager or installer, just follow the same instructions as before as well.
With the bootstrap installed, you are now able to take backups and restore them as well in the event your phone has problems.
There will be more to come...but it's late, and I have already type 4 pages worth of text into Word already... Add 8 hours of server management to this... equals one fried brain...gonna get some sleep.

I know I was over my head a little and did my home work about how to fix any problems that I may encountered but didn't think that I would need to use adb. I know how far I can go and be ok now. I greatly appreciate what you are doing for me. I will get back on my computer when im done at work. I seem to have the right file downloaded so im good there. I will let you know how it goes. Again thank you. Im done messing with my phone and I find out that it runs great and is quick even with no roms or tweeks. Best phone I've owned.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

DX noob here. Anybody wanna help me out?

I ordered my DX earlier today and should have it tomorrow afternoon. (yay!)
I'm coming from the LG Ally, which I played around with quite a bit as far as root/roms go. I ended up bricking it when the Froyo update came out trying to get from 2.1 to one of the new 2.2.1 roms.
I've seen a lot of stuff about the DX and it looks like a lot of progress has been made (yay, again!). I love the look of Gingerbread, so I'd probably look into flashing one of the roms that supports a GB theme (Liberty looks cool!), but I don't want to run into trouble when the official GB release comes out.
So, how hard is this on the DX? What are the general steps? What in the world is a SBF?
Any sort of basic noob-friendly introduction would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

Here is a bunch of stuff I have put together for various people that should get you started:
Ok, here are the steps for setting up the sdk, getting rooted, and all that good stuff... have a feeling I will be making this into a new thread...perhaps....
SDK:
First off... you will want to go to the following site to download the sdk:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Grab the following download: android-sdk_r08-windows.zip
I saved it to C:\sdk (i created a folder called SDK right at the root of C: drive). When it finishes, unzip this using 7zip (or any other unzip program you like) to the sdk folder. When it is finished unzipping, you should have a folder called "android-sdk_r08-windows". If you open up that folder, you will find a folder called "android-sdk-windows". Open this folder up and double click on the "SDK Manager.exe". This will open up a window, and bring up additional windows, one of which will ask you to "choose packages to install". You can download any or all of them. I recommend downloading the following:
• Android SDK Platform-tools, revision 1 (the top-most download)
• SDK Platform Android 2.3, API 9, revision 1
• SDK Platform Android 2.2, API 8, revision 2
• USB drivers (I don't think this shows up in the latest version of the sdk's first download window. I believe it is found if you go to the available packages section the "Android SDK and AVD Manager and expand the 3rd party section....but if you happen to see it in there...grab it)
This should be sufficient for now. All packages are accepted by default. If you do not wish to download all of them, simply highlight each one (one at a time) and then click the reject button towards the bottom middle of the window. When you have selected the packages you wish to download, click the install button.
After this has installed, you now have the Android SDK installed on your machine. You can close all windows related to the SDK, as we don't actually need to do anything with it, it simply has tools within it that we will need later. (This is where the adb command originates from. There is an adb.exe tool in the "tools" folder of the sdk install, but we will get to this later).
Now you will want to go to your desktop (or anywhere you have a shortcut or icon for My Computer), right click on My Computer, and select properties. Under the "advanced" tab of the window that opens, you should see a button at the bottom that says "environment variables". Click on this, and then find the "Path" variable under System Variables NOT user variables. Click Edit and go to the end of the "Variable Value" field. You will want to make sure there is a semicolon ( at the end of this before typing any additional info. You will want to add the full path of your android SDK install. For example, if you followed my example for download/saving/extracting/installing above, you would type the following information into the end of the "Variable Value" section:
C:\sdk\android-sdk_r08-windows\android-sdk-windows\tools
If you installed to another location, be sure to type the correct path to the "tools" folder within your installation of the Android SDK. Then click the OK button, and close any windows that were opened from adding to the "path variable".
Droid X Drivers
This section is a little more difficult to explain, as there are so many variables depending on what operating system you are running (windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, etc). and whether or not you are running a 32-bit or 64-bit instance of your chosen Operating system.
Here is one link for Droid X drivers:
http://www.verizon-phones.org/verizon-motorola-droid-x-usb-drivers-pc-charging-drivers-download.html
I simply googled Droid X drivers, I'm sure this isn't the best link, but just for example I'm throwing it out there. If you google Droid X USB drivers <your operating system> you should be able to find the drivers you need, as well as help and instructions on how to get everything working.
Once you get the usb drivers installed, you will want to connect your Droid X to your computer. If it is recognized, you will get a notification in your drop down bar on your phone. On your phone, press on the USB connection in the drop down menu, and select "charge only". Next, open up a command prompt on your computer. Type the following in and hit enter:
adb devices
You should see something simiilar to the following come up if everything is configured correctly:
C:\>adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
015A882315005010 device
If you see something similar to what I have above... then ADB is working correctly, and we can continue! Now we will move on to getting your device rooted! You will want to grab the z4root.apk that I have attached earlier in this thread and download it onto your computer. We will now test out if adb is indeed working! Save the z4root.1.3.0.apk and put it in the "tools" folder of the sdk we downloaded earlier. Now open up a new command prompt (or use the one we opened earlier if you haven't already closed it!) Change directories to the "tools" folder of the sdk:
If you installed the SDK where I used in my example.... type the following:
cd C:\sdk\android-sdk_r08-windows\android-sdk-windows\tools (press enter)
type the following: adb install z4root.1.3.0.apk (press enter)
You should now see the following:
C:\android-sdk-windows\tools>adb install z4root.1.3.0.apk
1833 KB/s (978414 bytes in 0.521s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/z4root.1.3.0.apk
Success
z4root and ROOTING
If you get all of this, you have now installed a package using adb and we know the interface works. If you don't want to have to mess with this method of installing, you could also download "Astro File Manager" from the android market. You would then need to save z4root.apk to your sdcard of your Droid X. Then open the Astro program and browse to your SDcard and file the z4root.1.3.0.apk. Press on the .apk file and it should come up with a box that says something similar to "open with app installer" or "app manager"... don't recall exactly what it says, but should be something similar to package management or install of some sort. After pressing on that, you should see an install button. Press on that to install z4root.
Now that z4root is installed, you will want to go to your application list on your phone and press on the z4root to open the application. Press on the permanent root button and wait! This process may take a while, and your phone will reboot, but when it does, you are now rooted.
Removing BOOTSTRAP COMPLETELY
If you would like to completely remove Droid X bootstrap from your phone, here is what you need to do:
1) connect your phone to ur pc in charge only mode. Make sure it is recognized by adb
A) open command prompt and type "adb devices" (hit enter, your phone should show up)
2) in the command prompt, type "adb shell" (press enter)
3) type "su" (press enter)
4) type "mount -o rw, remount /dev/block/mtdblock4 /system" (press enter)
5) type "cp /system/bin/logwrapper.bin /system/bin/logwrapper"(press enter)
6) type "adb reboot" (press enter)
Your phone will reboot after typing adb reboot, and may take a little bit longer to boot the first time after bootstrap is removed (it may not, I just haven't gone through this process in a while).
Bootstrap should now be completely removed.
Note: all text in quotes is just what you should type...do not include the quotation marks when entering commands.
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you mess up your phone. Typing these commands incorrectly CAN mess up your phone. By following these directions, you do so at your own risk.
Installing Droid X Bootstrap
You can grab this .apk file from this thread as well, as I have it posted in one of my previous posts. You will then install this .apk file the same way that you installed z4root. Obviously if you are using the adb command prompt method, you will want to replace z4root.apk with the full name of the droid X bootstrap apk; if you are using a file manager or installer, just follow the same instructions as before as well.
With the bootstrap installed, you are now able to take backups and restore them as well in the event your phone has problems.

Thanks for the reply, but it's actually pretty confusing...
To install z4root, do I NEED to do any of those adb steps or can I just sideload it? I'm not sure if you're telling me to do both of those steps or just either/or. Sideloading is much easier, if it's an option.
And as far as the bootstrap goes - am I removing the original bootstrap and then installing the apk you attached to replace it with a custom bootstrap? Is this different than a custom recovery?
Also, what are SBFs and how do they fit into all of this?
Thanks!

lextex said:
Thanks for the reply, but it's actually pretty confusing...
To install z4root, do I NEED to do any of those adb steps or can I just sideload it? I'm not sure if you're telling me to do both of those steps or just either/or. Sideloading is much easier, if it's an option.
And as far as the bootstrap goes - am I removing the original bootstrap and then installing the apk you attached to replace it with a custom bootstrap? Is this different than a custom recovery?
Also, what are SBFs and how do they fit into all of this?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you do not have to do it this way. I just used this as an example for something I was doing for someone else, especially since they needed the sdk anyways... Just was practice.
(PS, not sure what you mean by sideloading... sorry just not familiar with the term...) Nonetheless...
You can just download the file, and then use file manager to install the file or any app installer you may normally use. Just make sure that under Settings-->Applications-->Unknown sources, that the check box is marked. Then you should be good to go.
As for bootstrap... You are basically replacing a logwrapper file that tells the phone to boot to Motorola's built in recovery. Koush's bootstrap hijacks this and writes its own logwrapper and allows for the recovery process to be interrupted so backing up/restorying, etc. You can load that apk the same way you do Z4root.
As for SBF files, I'm can't recall what it actually stands for, but it is basically a file from Motorola that allowed their employees to flash a phone back to "out of the box" state in the event that a customer ruined their phone or had issues with it... this goes way back to even the Motorola Razor days I believe... In any event, it is used alongside a program called RSDlite. This program allows you to connect your phone to your computer and flash the sbf files that have been released, and as a result allows you to restore your phone back to a "clean" state in the event that you mess up the /system partition and for other uses as well.
I will be adding more to a basic guide for all things Droid X later this weekend. If you have more questions, feel free to post back. And check out my other post here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=940986
This includes the same info as I posted here already, but should have some more updates this weekend.
Good luck!

new here also.
i thought droid x could not be rooted.
i bought mine in october 2010; it's running 2.2.1
thanks in advance