Rooting Droid Pro (GB 2.3.4 and Sys Ver 4.7.3.XT610.Verizon.en.US)

Rooting Droid Pro (GB 2.3.4 and Sys Ver 4.7.3.XT610.Verizon.en.US)

NOTE: I assume no responsibility for bricking your phone! I took the same risk with mine in trying to root it and fortunately everything worked out for me! So, I am posting my experience. This does NOT mean I am liable for whatever you do to yourself / your phone! ;-)

Hello All,

I had been owning a Droid Pro for some time now and I like the phone for its keyboard and its ease to type! But, my experience of using the Droid Pro was very bad because of all the bloatware running on it... Skype, VZ Navigator, City ID to name few...  and I was getting sick of my phone's performance day by day..

It was so bad that my phone was not allowing me to even place calls the moment I click the call button and there were times that I will have to wait for 20 - 30 seconds to place a call.. and for all I can say, shouldn't a phone's primary functionality be allowing a user to place a call??

So, I had no options other than to root, because, from what I read about it on the net, it was my only option to get rid of the bloatware!

I had no idea how to root my Droid Pro. But, I started to learn!

I am sure there are many other Droid Pro users out there who are searching for links / articles to figure out how to root their phone... 

Since I was able to successfully root mine, I thought let me write up something and help others who were in my situation.. So, here it goes...

The Idiots Guide to Rooting Droid Pro, Droid Pro Rooting for Dummies, Droid Pro root tutorial (whatever you wanna call it!!) :-)  Hope this helps you guys!

Before I start, things to note:

• I was on the fully updated version of Gingerbread for Droid Pro i.e., 2.3.4 with System Version 4.7.3.XT610.Verizon.en.US.
• I tried using Z4Root on my Droid Pro 2.3.4, but that didn't work out.
• I read through many forums and I learnt that the promising way to Root Droid Pro 2.3.4 is by downgrading it to Gingerbread 2.3.3 and using Pete's motorola tools or by using Super One Click. Hence I took this approach.
• The above rooting method may not work for you if you are on a different version or if your Droid Pro is from Argentina etc. Mine is a Verizon US Droid Pro.
• I have brought my Droid Pro from US and I am right now in India
• I got the phone SIM unlocked before coming to India (got the unlock code from Verizon)
• I am using this in GSM mode
• Though this has got nothing to do with rooting process and rooting the Droid Pro does not lock the SIM - I am writing this here to clarify the International Droid Pro users like me that this process does NOT effect the SIM lock.

What will you need to root the Droid Pro?

1. A Droid Pro with OS Version 2.3.4
• a.k.a Gingerbread with System Version 4.7.3.XT610.Verizon.en.US.
2. A PC with "Windows XP" (or) "Windows 7 32-bit"
3. Motorola Droid Pro PC Drivers
• USB Driver - Download here
4. Android Device Bridge (ADB) on your PC.
5. RSD Lite 5.6 - Download here
6. Droid Pro System Boot File (SBF) - Version 4.6.8
• File Name: VRZ_XT610_4.6.8_user_signed_1FF.sbf.zip). Download from here
7. Pete's Motorola Root Tools 1.06 - Download here
8. Some courage and patience! if you are new to rooting and impatient like me! :-)

How to root the Droid Pro? (an outline)

1. Downgrade the Droid Pro OS version from 2.3.4 to 2.3.3 by flashing SBF.
2. Wipe Cache / Data by using Stock Recovery
3. Root the application by using Pete's Motorola tools
4. Backup the root using the OTA Rootkeeper
5. Upgrade the phone to 2.3.4 OS version by using Motorola System Updates
6. Restore the root by using the OTA Rootkeeper
7. Freeze / remove the bloatware

How to root the Droid Pro? (in detail... for people / noobs / dummies / idiots like me who have no idea about rooting and have only basic knowledge of using a windows PC.)

1. Install Motorola Drivers for Motorola Droid Pro
2. Install Android Device Bridge (ADB) on the PC.
• This step is critical.
• Follow this super informative blog on how to install ADB and validate it with your device
• Connect Droid Pro using the USB Cable and make sure the PC is recognizing your device and it installs all the necessary drivers
• To cross check everything went right, make sure that the Droid Pro device is detected when using the Windows command prompt as indicated in the blog, while using the command "adb devices". If this is not recognized here, stop proceeding further and ensure that this is happening first.
3. Connect the Droid Pro to the PC using the USB cable
1. Switch the Phone to "PC Mode"
1. Once the phone is connected to the PC, pull down the notification menu and touch the USB Connected menu item and select the "PC Mode" option
2. Turn on the USB Debugging
1. Go to Settings >> Applications >> Developement >> Enable USB Debugging
2. I also enabled "Stay awake" just to check if the phone is prompting for anything during the process
3. Using the windows command prompt, make sure the PC is recognizing the Droid Pro device by using the "adb devices" command
4. On Droid Pro, back up apps / data that are deemed necessary before starting to root
• I backed up my apps using "App Backup & Resore" - link
• I backed up my SMS using "SMS Backup & Resore" - link
• I backed up my call list using "Call Logs Backup & Restore" - link
5. On Droid Pro, unmount SD card
1. Go to Settings >> Storage >> Unmount SD Card
6. Install RSD Lite 5.6
7. Make sure the phone's battery is fully charged
8. NOW - Ready to start the Rooting process
9. Open RSD Lite 5.6 and click the "Show Devices" button.
1. Give it a few seconds and RSD Lite should detect the phone and lsit with the model name "XT610"
• If the phone is not detected and listed, ensure that -
• The phone is properly connected via USB to the PC
• The phone is listed in Windows Command Prompt using the command "adb devices"
• Try killing the process "Motohelper.exe" from the Windows Task Manager. Per some forums on the internet, sometimes, this process also seems to interfere with the RSD Lite software recognizing the phone being connected to the PC
2. Copy the downloaded System Boot File (SBF) to the C:\ drive.
• Make sure that it is placed in the root of C Drive, NOT anywhere else.
• There are links on the net where people have indicated possible failures during the SBF process if the SBF is not placed in the root.
3. Once the phone is detected and listed as outlined in Step 7.1, select the 4.6.8 SBF file placed in the C:\ root drive to the "Filename" field by clicking the "..." button.
1. At this point, you should be able to see the SBF properties (on right) and Device Information (on left)
4. In RSD Lite Click "Start" to downgrade the Droid Pro's OS Version from 2.3.4 to 2.3.3
5. Pray! 
1. And wait till the whole process completes...
2. Keep an eye on the Status of the phone next to the Device information in RSD Lite.
3. Note that I had no errors during this process.
4. After this process completes, you should be seeing the phone rebooting and coming up as if nothing had happened to your data. Thats because, your data is not touched while the flashing the phone's SBF.
10. OK, if you are reading till now, I assume all is well with the SBF.
11. Disconnect the phone from the PC and try using it and you will see a lot of "Force Close" pop ups from com.android app
12. To resolve this, you will need to wipe data / cache using the Stock Recovery mode
1. To go to Recovery mode - 
1. Switch off the phone
2. Switch on to recovery mode by pressing the "R + M + Power" buttons all together at the same time.
3. This should take you to a screen with an exclamatory (!) sign in the yellow triangle and the green Android Robot.
4. Press the Volume Up & Down buttons at the same time to see the menu
2. To wipe data/factory reset
1. Use the Volume Down button to scroll down and select "wipe data/factory reset"
2. Press Enter button to wipe data/factory reset
3. Use the Volume Down button to scroll down and select "Yes"
3. Once this is done, the phone should reboot normally.
13. Bypass the activation screen on your phone - see link
14. Make sure the phone's OS version now is 2.3.3 and the System Version is 4.6.8
15. Switch on the USB Debugging on the phone
16. Connect the phone to the computer in the "PC Mode"
1. I had a problem of my phone not being detected here for some reason.
2. I had to uninstall the Motorola Drivers and reinstall them to have the phone connected
3. Validate that your phone is recognized by ADB in the windows command prompt by using the command "adb devices"
17. Install and open the "Pete's Motorola Root Tools"
1. Click the "Root" button to root the phone
2. Follow the status updates on the screen
18. If Pete's Motorola Root Tools screen acknowledges that your phone is successfully rooted, and if you can see the "Superuser" app with the Skull Icon (the android skull) - your phone is rooted and its time to save your root.
19. Install the "OTA Rootkeeper" app (link) from the Andriod Market / Google Play Store. (you may need to sign in to your google account for this)
20. Open the OTA Rootkeeper app
1. Click "Protect root"
2. Once the root is protected, Click "Temp. un-root"
21. If you are a US Verizon subscriber
1. This step is required to perform steps 22 & 23.
2. You have to dial *228 to activate your phone now.
22. On the Droid Pro, Go to Settings >> About Phone >> System Updates
23. The phone will prompt for an Version upgrade to 2.3.4.
1. Download the updates and install the same.
24. If you are a US Verizon subscriber, you have to dial *228 to activate your phone now.
25. Open the OTA Rootkeeper app
1. Click "Restore root"
26. At this point, you are free to sign in and restore all the data from the backups (apps / sms / calls).
27. To uninstall / freeze the bloatware
1. I bought Titanium Back Up Pro for managing the bloatware apps.
2. Open Titanium Back Up Pro and provide super user permissions
3. Go to Backup / Restore tab
1. Select any bloatware app - for example, City ID / Skype / VZ Navigator
1. If you want to freeze the app (freezing an app is not allowing it to run while your phone is on)
1. Select the yellow triangle next to the app and press the "Freeze" button
2. Before uninstalling the bloatware, it is recommended that you freeze the app for few days and make sure your phone is working well with out any issues.If all is well - then you may as well try uninstalling the app.
2. If you want to uninstall the app
1. You will first need to convert it to a user app.
2. To convert to a user app, long press the app and in the menu that pops up, scroll down and select "Convert to a User App".
3. You can uninstall the app from Titanium backup Pro or even by long pressing any normal android app.
3. For the list of apps that can be frozen / uninstalled safely with out bricking the phone - see this link

Credits:

1. Jackpot Calvin: Thank you for the 1 Click root tools. If it wasn't for you I would still be cursing my Droid Pro. Profile here
2. Rooting Terminology - link
3. Motorola Drivers source link
4. RSD Lite source link
5. Droid Pro 2.3.4 SBF source link
6. Rooting guide outline courtesy source link
7. Motorola - Thank you for a good phone! (but you are not allowing people to realize its goodness by giving it with bloatware)

Finally Motorola - No thank you for putting up all the crapware and making me go through this hell of a process to remove it... You know what???

Before rooting, the phone used dry out in 6hrs after every charge and now, I am able to see that the phone is running for 12 - 15hrs till the battery completely dries out! I love the Droid Pro minus bloatware, this is all I wanted when I bought it... 

Thank you.