This page details how to hack a Motorola Droid three different ways. 1) The most reliable way uses the Android Debug Bridge (ADB). 2) Droids that still have the unpatched Motorola Droid System 2.0.1, can be hacked by sneaking in the droid-superuser.zip file. 3) A rooted version of Motorola Droid System 2.1 can be installed on some Droids. This page provides instructions on these three methods of rooting a Motorola Droid.

The benefit to hacking your phone is that you can run 3rd party Motorola Droid root applications that you download from the Android Market on the Internet. There are locks in the phone normally that prevent these 3rd party applications from running. Hacking a phone in this way is commonly called rooting a phone, because the hack allows you to access the phone's root directory. Programs that run in the phone's root directory are called root applications.

Not many Motorola Droid root applications have been created yet, so some hackers are waiting for these to be created before hacking their Motorola Droid phone to gain root access. About the only things that can be done with root access so far are re-naming pre-installed applications so that they don't run, and dimming the phone's brightness so that the battery charge lasts longer. Some say that not running pre-installed applications saves on processing speed and RAM allocation.http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/7601-what-i-have-done-rooted-droid-i-couldnt-do-before-13.html

Change your phone's default passwords if you hack it. Hacked phones are easy for other hackers to access. They often use them to send spam. Procede through any the steps on this page with caution. Doing any of these steps incorrectly can brick your phone (lock it).

Hacking the Motorola Droid is easy if you still have the unpatched version of System 2.0.1. Try it, because it just won't work if your system 2.0.1 is patched. The number at the end of this sentence links to directions for obtaining the Motorola Droid System 2.0.1 if your system is older than 2.0.1.http://alldroid.org/viewtopic.php?f=210&t=568

Download Cyanogen's droid-superuser.zip file, but do not unzip it. The numbers at the end of this sentence link to places you can download it.http://android-devs.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=37http://search.4shared.com/network/search.jsp?searchName=droid-superuser.zip&searchExtention=&searchmode=2http://www.sholes.info/important-files/ Rename this file to update.zip and copy it to the root (bottom level) of the sd card on the phone.

Boot the phone to recovery mode by turning it off and then holding down the X key while pressing the power key. Press the volume+ and camera keys at the same time When you see an "/!\" symbol. Install the update.zip file you just downloaded, using the onscreen menu.http://techie-buzz.com/mobile-news/how-to-root-motorola-droid-android-201.htmlhttp://alldroid.org/viewtopic.php?f=210&t=567

You can hack your Motorola Droid that has already patched system 2.0.1 by installing a rooted version of system 2.1. A rooted version of a system is one that gives you root access to the phone. This allows you to install whatever applications you have, without being limited by which applications the phone provider wishes to be on the phone. Remember though that once you do this, your phone will no longer be updated automatically. You will have to manually download and install updates. This is because updates may undo any hacks you have done on the phone. Seasoned hackers check the forums that are referenced at the bottom of this page for warnings and advice on which updates are safe to install on a hacked Motorola Droid phone.

The number at the end of this sentence links to the very detailed instructions for installing a rooted version of system 2.1 on your Motorola Droid phone.http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-hacks/10247-how-install-2-1-easy-way.html The links on that instructions page are broken, though. The numbers after the file descriptions below link to places where you can still download these files needed to hack a Motorola Droid that patched System 2.0.1.

• On the above referenced instructions:
• THIS FILE means Cyanogen's droid-superuser.ziphttp://search.4shared.com/network/search.jsp?searchName=droid-superuser.zip&searchExtention=&searchmode=2http://android-devs.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=37http://www.sholes.info/important-files/
• The rest of the files are available at Sholes.http://www.sholes.info/howto-install-and-update-sprecovery/

It is rumored that an official version of System 2.1 will be on all Motorola Droid phones that have not been hacked by the end of January 2010. It is not yet known if installing the rooted version of system 2.1 will work once an official version has been installed by a cell phone provider.

If no other method to hack a Motorola Droid works for you, there is always the Android Debug Bridge (ADB). ADB is part of a free download called Android SDK, which can be found by clicking this number.http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html In addition to Android SDK, you will also need USB Debugging Drivers, which can be found by clicking this number.http://www.motorola.com/consumers/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=bda09ec8009a0210VgnVCM1000008806b00aRCRD

If you need help with any of this, detailed directions for Windows XP and earlier, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Linux, and OS X are available by clicking this number.http://www.sholes.info/howto-install-and-update-sprecovery/ Once you have ADB working on your computer, here is how to hack your Motorola Droid:

• Settings>Applications>Development>USB Debugging>OK
• Download Cyanogen's droid-superuser.zip file, but do not unzip it.http://android-devs.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=37http://search.4shared.com/network/search.jsp?searchName=droid-superuser.zip&searchExtention=&searchmode=2http://www.sholes.info/important-files/
• Rename this file to update.zip
• Use ADB to copy update.zip to the root (bottom level) of the sd card, mounted on the computer.
• Turn the phone off.
• Put the sd card back in the phone.

Boot the phone to recovery mode by holding down the X key while pressing the power key. Press the volume+ and camera keys at the same time When you see an "/!\" symbol. Use the onscreen menu and select the option apply sdcard:update.zip. http://techie-buzz.com/mobile-news/how-to-root-motorola-droid-android-201.htmlhttp://alldroid.org/viewtopic.php?f=210&t=567 Turn the phone off and back on again normally. Now, flash a new image:

• $ cd /d %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
• $ adb push recovery-0.99.2b.img /sdcard/
• $ adb push flash_image /sdcard/
• adb shell
• $ dd if=/sdcard/flash_image of=/data/local/flash_image
• $ chmod 755 /data/local/flash_image
• $ rm /sdcard/flash_image
• $ su
  1. /data/local/flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-0.99.2b.img