Droid Charge Rooting

(Working on connecting links to downloads. For now go over to Chargeforums for updated links)

How To: ROOT your Droid Charge
Credit to da2zoe, Brewer, ofcrlawless, jspradling7 and jdpeters79 for input to this guide.

Updated: 3/31/2012 for FP1.

DISCLAIMER: ChargeForums.com, myself, and anyone mentioned (in links provided) take no responsibility for anything that may happen to your device by following this guide. You do so at your own risk. But on a good note, this phone is very hard to truly brick and we are here to help should something go wrong.

**NOTE: This guide assumes you are on the latest stock build (FP1). If you're on stock EP4D (older build) this guide will still work, but you should first flash imnuts' Charge OTA Update file and follow his instructions for EP4 to FP1**

**Additional note: These instructions require the use of a Windows PC. Sorry, but we don't have a known good method for Linux or Mac.**

**Here's a link to my video Video: FP1 Root Method**

If you are rooted and on a custom EP4D rom/kernel and want to be rooted on FP1 Build:
You must first return to stock with THIS GUIDE. once you return to stock you'll be on the EP4 build. You must then take the OTA update to become stock FP1 or flash Imnuts EP4 TO FP1 UPDATE.ZIP Follow the directions for flashing the imnuts .zip in the link. You will now be stock FP1 and can follow the steps in this guide to re root on FP1 build.

If this is your first time rooting the Charge, download and install the following:
Install Odin: Download
Install Samsung Drivers: Download
Install Winwar: Download (7zip also works but Winwar can extract multiple types of files)

You'll also need to download these files:
ClockWorkMod (CWM) Recovery: Go here

Superuser (this is not the Market version, do NOT use the market version): Download and place on your SD Card (somewhere you'll easily find it)

*Make sure your battery is charged to a minimum of 50% before flashing anything in CWM or Odin.
Our phones don't like it even though they charge when plugged in via USB.*

First, install CWM on your phone using Odin:
1. Edit: no need to extract CWM...it's ready to go.

2. Turn off your phone.

3. Put phone in download mode. Volume Down + Tap power for 1 second (literally count one-one-thousand), let go of power button only. Once you see a yellow triangle then release Volume Down button. Connect to computer. If that is a no go, some have had better luck doing it this way: Power down your phone. Remove battery. While holding volume down, plug your usb cable in with Odin open. Download mode should appear. Put battery back in.

4. Connect phone by USB. Open up Odin (note - we recommend right clicking and opening as Admin in Windows). Odin sees your phone if you have a yellow square with [COMx].

5. UNCHECK Auto Reboot. The ONLY checked box is F. Reset Time.

6. Check PDA and ONLY PDA box (choosing any other box can result in an unrecoverable bricked phone…as in an expensive paper weight).

7. Click PDA and open the .md5 file.

8. Double check you have selected PDA!!

9. Press Start. Odin will show a progress bar above the [COMx] port. You will get a green “PASS” when it is finished.

10. Disconnect USB cable and remove battery.

Quick Primer on using CWM Recovery
Boot in to recovery by holding down Volume Up+Power+Home key. Let go of all three buttons just after the SAMSUNG logo appears. If this doesn't work try again using same combination but let the Samsung logo come up once then go away. On the second time just as logo appears, let go of all the buttons.

Navigating in CWM:
Move through menus using volume up/down keys.
Select with power key.
Go back a menu by navigating to menu option.
***(Optional but a very good idea) Backup your phone with Backup and Restore option in CWM before flashing anything. Give it some time to do it's thing.***

With the latest update, you now have a few options to proceed with. Please read through the following three options and pick one to complete the root process.

If you are on the latest build (FP1) and you just want to root and stay on Stock, without losing user data, follow these steps:
**Note: To keep stock recovery from overwriting CWM you'll need to make an edit to a system file. If you are uncomfortable with this, you might want to skip this step and go to the next section.**

1. Boot in to CWM recovery, use the quick primer instructions above if you're new to this (Note: You should already have installed CWM as instructed above)
2. Select "mounts" menu then mount/system. If the option says unmount/system then you are good to go.
3. Select "install zip from sdcard" then "choose zip from sdcard"
4. Find and install the Superuser zip.
5. Select “Reboot” option.
6. Get root explorer (or similar, such as ES or Astro) from the Market/Play Store. Make sure you mount as R/W (in root explorer, there's a button at the top)
7. Navigate to system, etc and locate the file "install-recovery.sh" and either delete it, or rename it to "install-recovery.sh.bak"
8. You will now have to go back and use Odin and install cwm once again (follow steps above as you did the first time)
9. Reboot phone.
10. You're done. You now have a rooted phone and you can install an app (we recommend Titanium Backup) to freeze and/or remove bloatware.

If you are on the latest build (FP1) and want to root and install a compatible rom, follow these steps:
Note: with this method, you will lose user data (such as apps, text messages, contacts, etc). This is all recoverable on the market (and with google sync with contacts) but backup what you can ahead of time! We recommend an app such as MyBackup Pro for apps (doesn't require root access). Try other apps for texts and contacts as well.

1. Go Here to find the latest FP1 roms and choose one, then place it on your SD card where you can easily find it.
2. Boot in to CWM recovery, use the quick primer instructions above if you're new to this (Note: You should already have installed CWM as instructed above)
3. Go to "wipe data/factory reset." Select "Yes" to wipe data.
4. Go to "wipe cache partition" and select "Yes" to wipe cache.
5. Go to "Advanced" and "wipe dalvik cache." Select "Yes" to wipe dalvik cache
6. Mount system using the same method as above (when you installed superuser).
7. Select "install zip from sdcard" then "choose zip from sdcard"
8. Find and install the rom zip file.
9. Select “Reboot” option.
10. You're now finished and rooted, and debloated!

**Nitro's rom package includes Superuser. However, you might want to have a copy of it on your SD card anyway, for future use/issues.**

If you plan to install an older custom rom (EP4D) shortly after rooting follow these steps:
1. Download Imoseyon's v.4.0 Kernel, and place it on your SD Card: Download
2. Boot in to CWM recovery, use the quick primer instructions above if you're new to this (Note: You should already have installed CWM as instructed above)
3. Select "install zip from sdcard" then "choose zip from sdcard"
4. Find and install the kernel zip file.
5. Select "mounts" menu then mount/system. If the option says unmount/system then you are good to go.
6. Select "install zip from sdcard" then "choose zip from sdcard"
7. Find and install the Superuser zip.
8. Select “Reboot” option. NOTE: You'll here a robotic lady voice... this is normal! It's repartitioning your system and will take about 5 minutes. Be patient.
9. You're now finished and rooted. You can install a custom rom or kernel. You can also install an app (we recommend Titanium Backup) to freeze and/or remove bloatware.

**This replaces the FP1 kernel but keeps the FP1 radio/modem. You can install a different kernel after this at any time.**

Other useful information:

Droid Charge Bloatware Safe to Freeze - xda-developers

You can use Titanium Backup to freeze apps. (I don't recommend deleting. Freezing gives you a much easier option to restore them should you need them for an update or any other reason.)

Troubleshooting:

If you don’t get a pass in Odin then start process over.
If you still don’t get a pass try these one or any combination of these options:
Choose a different port on your computer,
Re-download the file(s)
Close Odin, restart your computer and start again.
Troubleshooting for Odin recognizing phone. THANK YOU dlwhtrose for your trial and error suggestions!
a) make sure you are logged in as Administrator when you open Odin
b) if Odin still doesn't recognize your phone make sure you have the most recent drivers installed. Before turning off your phone, connect to your compter. You should see a prompt stating it is downloading drivers.

Droid Charge Rooting

Pages

Thursday, July 5, 2012

How To: ROOT your Droid Charge with Video!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Samsung Droid Charge Rooting