Getting Root on your 3G Xoom




DO NOT USE ON THE NEWLY UPGRADED 4G Xoom. This is the only way to get root for now on a 4G Xoom.


Thanks to Steady Hawkin over at the Xoom forums for this one.

Disclaimer: In no respect shall XoomFAQ incur any liability for any damages, including, but limited to, direct, indirect, special, or consequential damages arising out of, resulting from, or any way connected to the use of the item, whether or not based upon warranty, contract, tort, or otherwise; and whether or not loss was sustained from, or arose out of, the results of, the item, or any services or instructions that may have been provided by the XoomFAQ.

PLEASE NOTE: The system img used in the download is from a 3G Xoom. This will work on both models, however please note there are two main differences:

  • If you want to flash a theme select a theme made for a 3G/4G Xoom
  • You will have Verizon content in the market


Prerequisites:


  1. Copy whatever you want to retain, your device will wipe when it unlocks
  2. You must have SDK/ADB set up, for instructions please see - Setting up ADB on Windows 7 64 bit (and other Windows platforms)
  3. Open SDK and copy all of the files inside of tools folder and paste them inside of platform-tools folder. Vice versa will work as well. If it asks you if you want to replace files select no. The folder you paste these files into will be the folder you will run ADB commands from. (or set up your pathing correctly)
  4. Download all the files from the link you see below.
  5. Place recovery.img in the file you will run commands from in ADB (if you have not set up your path)

Wifi-Only Users - manually put the System and bootloader zips files onto a sdcard card and insert card into xoom.

G/4G Users - manually put the System, bootloader, and 3G fix zips onto a sdcard and insert card into xoom.

Downloads:


Recovery
System
Bootloader
3G Fix


Notes:


In the following two sections you will see blue text. This text represents the command that needs to be entered in ADB/Command Prompt. After each command press enter and wait for your computer to push the info to your Xoom. When you see the next command line come up you are ok to enter the next command. You can copy and paste the commands if you would like.

  1. To start the process place your Xoom into USB debugging mode. This is done by going to settings, applications, development, and checking the box next to USB Debugging.
  2. Plug your Xoom into your computer, open your command prompt (with the path set to the correct folder) and type adb devices
  3. If you get a string of numbers your good to proceed, if not refer back to Setting up ADB on Windows 7 64 bit (and other Windows platforms) to see where you went wrong.


Unlocking:


  1. adb reboot bootloader
  2. Xoom will reboot into a screen with text on the upper left corner. While you are on this screen enter the following
  3. fastboot oem unlock
  4. A bunch of text will appear and you will need to use the down volume rocker to select yes, followed by volume up to confirm
  5. Xoom will then wipe, reboot, and your back up and running. At this point you will need to go back and re-enable USB debugging



Flash Recovery Img:


Make sure Xoom is connected to computer. Test connection by running adb devices if you get the string of numbers then, proceed.


  • adb reboot bootloader
  • Xoom will reboot into a screen with text on the upper left corner. While you are on this screen enter the following
  • fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
  • Wait for it to finish (read the below note before you enter the next command)
  • fastboot reboot

Note: As soon as you enter the "fastboot reboot" command in the previous step, your device will reboot. You have to boot into recovery right away or your Xoom will reflash the stock recovery over the custom recovery you just flashed. Follow these next steps very carefully

  1. When you see the Motorola logo appear, wait approximately 3 seconds.
  2. Tap the Volume Down button. You should see the words "Android Recovery" appear at the top of the screen. Now tap the Volume Up button to boot into recovery.
  3. If when attempting to boot into recovery it says, 'Starting Fastboot protocol support' then you hit Volume Down too soon. Hold Vol UP + Power to reboot and try again.

Root:


(For the following use the volume rocker to move the selector up and down, use the power button to select)

  1. Select wipe data/factory reset and confirm
  2. Select install zip from SD and confirm
  3. Select the system file and confirm
  4. After it loads select install zip from SD again and confirm
  5. Select the bootloader file and confirm 3G USERS ONLY - Select 3G fix and confirm
  6. Select Reboot and confirm


At this point Xoom will reboot. Please note the first boot will take a while. After it boots up you will be rooted and you should have SDcard support!

To ensure that you are rooted download Terminal Emulator from the market (its free). Open it and type su followed by pressing enter. On the next line you should see #. If you do you are actually rooted.


To view your SDcard use a file manager program such as Root Explorer. Your sdcard will be located in /sdcard/external.

Getting Back to Stock

You will need:

  • Fast boot software but if you already rooted you should have it ;)
  • The latest Motorola USB drivers. Download here
  • RSDlite Software installed with Admin privileges. Here is a link that is currently working. (rar password alabama)
  • The correct SBF downloaded and extracted. When I say correct I mean you are going to have to check the build number and model of your Xoom. Loading a WiFi Xoom SBF on a 4G model would be “all bad” and vice-versa. Here is a link to the most recent 3G/4G one I know of. I do not have a link to the WiFi SBF as of yet. Note: For reasons beyond me Verizon and Motorola do not like users to be able to reset their own devices, so you may have to hunt RSDlite and or the SBF down.

Flashing the SBF:

  1. Run RSD Lite as Admin
  2. Power off your Xoom, press volume up and power at the same time until the device starts. It should boot with "Starting RSD protocol support 3"
  3. Connect your supplied USB cable (I say supplied because 3rd party cables can cause issues)
  4. Browse to the SBF file you extracted in the filename box (use the ... button to select)
  5. Click on Port 1 and select Show Device. If it looks similar to the below image (Device and File Properties are both populated) you are all set
  6. Click Run
RSDliteconnectedWeb

Relock the bootloader



  1. Power off your Xoom
  2. Power on by holding down the volume down button and power button until the fastboot protocol text appears in the upper left
  3. Open a command prompt in your sdk
  4. Run fastboot oem lock

Congratulations! You Are Stock