How to Root Motorola Milestone on Android 2.1
The bootload process of Motorola Milestone running on Android operating system version 2.0 or 2.1 has been locked down by Motorola, as the firmware for Motorola Milestone has been digitally signed by Motorola with the company’s digital signature. As the result, the process to root the Motorola Milestone is slightly more complicated, as the user will need to flash vulnerable recovery image (SBF) to Motorola Milestone to make an “unrootable” firmware to become rootable.
Here’s the step-by-step guide to root the Motorola Milestone on Android 2.1.
Prerequisites to Root Android 2.1 based Motorola Milestone
- Download and install Motorola Mobile Phone USB Drivers from motorola.com (32-bit Windows: USB_Drivers_32_bit_4.6.0.zip or 64-bit Windows: USB_Drivers_64_bit_4.6.0.zip)
- Download and install RSD Lite with at least minimum version of 4.5.3 or 4.6 (RSD Lite version 4.6: RSDLite4.6.msi)
- Vulnerable Recovery SBF (CG47) for mobile with bootloader RAMDLD 90.78 and lower only (vulnerable_recovery_only_RAMDLD90_78.sbf), which was made from SHOLS_U2_01.14.0 with SBF Recalc and HexEdit.
- Milestone root update.zip (milestone_root.zip).
Procedure to Root Motorola Milestone 2.1
- Plug in the phone into the PC using the USB connection cable. On the notification bar of the Android phone, a “USB Connection” icon should be shown. Open the notifications page, and click on USB Connection option with “Select to manager your USB connection” note.
- Select Memory Card Access and click OK to access the phone like a external USB mass storage drive.
- Rename the milestone_root.zip downloaded from link above to update.zip.
- Copy the update.zip to the root directory (folder) of the SD card on the phone.
- Ensure that the file is copied over on the phone, and the file is not corrupted by using any file manager on the phone.
- Run RSDLite on the computer.
- Go to the USB Connection app on the phone again, and select the mode as Portal & Tools. If the MotoConnect Moto Phone Portal or MediaLink appears, ignore and close the web page or program.
- In RSD Lite, the phone should be listed as “Connected”. Select the vulnerable recovery SBF file downloaded from link above, and click Start button.
The Motorola Milestone phone will reboot automatically to bootloader mode, and start flashing the vulnerable recovery firmware. The process may take a while, and once the process is completed, the phone should start back up with RSD Lite showing a “Finished” and/or “PASS” status.
- Power off the phone by pressing and holding the Power button for a while, and select Power off.
- Start Motorola Milestone in recovery mode by pressing and holding the X key on the hardware QWERTY keyboard, and pressing the Power button to switch on the phone until a triangle with exclamation mark /!\ is shown on the screen.
- Display the system recovery menu by pressing the Volume Up and Camera button simultaneously.
- Use the D-pad to choose Apply: SDCard update.zip. Wait the process to complete
- Use the D-pad to choose ‘Reboot phone’. Wait for phone to start up.
- The Motorola Milestone on Android 2.1 has been rooted.
Tip: To verify the the phone is rooted, install a Terminal Emulator from Android market. Then run the Terminal Emulator, and type su. A dialog box should be prompted to ask user to grant permission to continue, and once permission is granted, the $ sign should change to #.
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just got an error:
failed flashing process. Unable to retrieve initialization values from INI file. (0×7029); phone connected
[...] read many articles and found this one to be the best one- http://www.mydigitallife.info/2010/05/29/how-to-root-motorola-milestone-on-android-2-1/ . Basically I this following things (although during the whole [...]
I did the same in step by step mode. but when i pressed the D-pad to apply sd card: Update.zip it says: Installation aborted.
Where did i do something wrong? can you please help me.
It seems that the milestone_root.zip file may possibly be corrupt. You can get another version here:
http://craigcrawford.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/milesto…
Hi. I tried and it did work. However,there is probably a typo in the directions or software itself. you have to provide the file path into the file name section of RSDlite and not just the name. It can be done first copying the windows explorer folder path then follows "" w/o quotes and then then files name which you can change to any small name for your convenience. For example the path for me was:
C:UsersNEWTONDesktopNew foldervulnerable_recovery.sbf
hope it helps.
@Fuzzy or anyone who can help.
I tried copying the .sbf file to my desktop and loading it from my desktop instead of my download folder, but I still get the greyed out start button. How's about another solution?
When i start RSD Lite 4.5.3, my milestone is recognized, shown as connected but the IMEI/DSN/MEID is N/A. If i click start, the device reboots, installs in the flash mode but then RSD reports that the result is FAIL, due to not being able to retrieve initialization values from the INI file (0×7029).
I have tried on XP SP3 32bit and Win 7 x64.
Any suggestions?
Hi, I am facing similar problem. When I click on Start in RSD Lite (after selecting the SBF File), is shows FAIL message. Please help me ASAP in resolving the issue. I am using Motorola Milestone in India. Your help will be highly appreciated. Thanks !!
Can we upgrade motorola milestone from Android 2.1 to 2.2?
btw…
got
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/command
sory for my bad english
Hye…
i got problem in step 12….
my phone can't install update.zip
can u help me..
i'm using starhub singapore milestone but use in malaysia
Heh, nevermind. Just need to hit the power button to turn the screen off and on again, then it works just fine.
This worked perfectly (thanks!), but after doing it, the buttons (back, home, etc) won't light up anymore. How do I fix that?
heya I did all the steps and followed all the directions and when I go into the terminal to test I type su and it says access denied where did I go wrong with this..
@DJJoeJoe : I had the same problem with the Start button being greyed out.
I solved it by copying the sbf file onto my desktop. When I loaded the file from my desktop the Start button became active.
Doesn't work any more for Starhub Singapore Milestones. You need to do the extra step of flashing another SBF before flashing the Vulnerable Recovery SBF. Steps 6-8 on this page: http://androidforums.com/milestone-all-things-roo… The rest of the steps are the same.
This is at the edge of my technical competence. I really appreciate those who have written these guides for the novice. However, I have a few inconsistencies with my Milestone.
1. My Milestone uses camera button in recovery mode, which from the message from TimeTurn above, implies that my bootloader is < 80.78 rather than the x key.
2. My Build is SHOLS-U2_02.38.0 while the Vulnerable Recovery is based on SHOLS_U2_01.14.0
Will this procedure work for this phone?
3. I don't see a backup as part of this process. Is there a backup procedure that I could use before rooting to enable me to put the phone back in the unrooted state if I needed to?
Thank you for any help you might provide.
Sigh.. why would the Start button on RSD lite not be selectable and instead stay grayed out? This is where I'm stuck right now, is it probably due to the app thinking something is not compatible with my telus milestone?
Image of RSD as I see it currently: http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j133/DJJoeJoe/m…
Also, note this if you're having problems:
2. "E:EOCD marker occurs after start of EOCD E:signature verification failed" error after you apply the update.zip in recovery means that the vulnerable recovery has not been flashed successfully.
It seems that the key to successful recovery flash in some cases is to not let the phone to boot to android or recovery until the RSD Lite will signal PASS. When the RSD Lite is restarting the phone during flash, hold the D-Pad Up, so the phone enters the bootloader again immediately.
Cute guide, works well
[...] have no idea. I don't see why. If not, that's what step 2.5 is for. 3 easy steps; 1. Root. 2. Install OpenRecovery. 2.5. MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP OF YOUR STOCK SOFTWARE!! I can't stress how [...]
[...] a few more resources you'll need loading this particular ROM flash. You will need 3 things; 1. Root access. 2. OpenRecovery. 3. Telus Fast and Light Nandroid [...]
[...] You sir, are a life saver, thanks a lot, and just another question can I reflash the device with a UK variant? I believe it is the EMEA variant that disallows the market !! Thanks a lot for the link – I was tired searching for a link to official ROMs Cheers EDIT: I'm new to this reflash and stuff for the motorola, just wondering if I can use the following guide to re-flash it? http://www.mydigitallife.info/2010/05/29/how-to-root-motorola-milestone-on-android-2-1/ [...]
Doesn't work.
Milestone in HK.
When it gets to flash update.zip I get signature verification failed.
Any ideas?
Already tried most of the "should work" solutions from forums and all.
appreciate it
Thanks it worked perfect.
Quick note: my bootloader is 98. and only X key worked to make it load.
Yes this does work. To un-root you just flash to original firmware
has anyone tried this? I dont want to brick my phone..
one more question please, if this process fails, is there still a possibility to reset the phone to the factory defaults?
but how do we unroot it?
"…Holding the X Key" – that only works on Milestones with boot loader 80.78 or higher – on older boot loaders you need to press and hold the camera key instead of x. While flashing the recovery you see what version your Milestone has.