HowTo: Perform a SBF ("factory restore") of your Motorola Droid X2

Moon Shadow's Droid X2 Tutorials - HowTo: Perform a SBF, or "factory restore" of your Motorola Droid X2

Please keep in mind that this tutorial is specifically for the Motorola Droid X2. These procedures MIGHT work for other phones, however, I would not recommend taking the risk of bricking, or even soft bricking, your phone.

Standard disclaimer: I, nor XDA Forums, are responsible for what you do to your phone. Just because these tutorials work for me, does not mean that they will work for you.

I make no claims to be the original owner of this process. I am just consolidating the process into an easy to follow (hopefully) guide that will help everyone from noobs to experienced users.

This tutorial has been adapted from the post: [updated][how-to] sbf tutorial [how-to][updated] by DAG425 who compiled a SBF Tutorial from everything he found.

This method uses Windows! (I know, I'm a Linux guy, but...) My Linux system crashed several months ago and I do not have the funds to purchase new hardware. I can try to assist as I am a mixed environment System Administrator, however, I make absolutely no claims of being a guru. I have heard (not substantiated) that people are having success using Virtual Box. I highly recommend Virtual Box as it seems to be the only free virtualizing environment that supports accessing hardware directly, as long as Linux sees the hardware, Virtual Box and use it (for the most part).


I am making some assumptions in this tutorial:
1. You understand and are comfortable with installing software on a Windows computer.
2. You understand and are comfortable with downloading programs.
3. You understand and are comfortable with extracting compressed files (*.zip, *.rar *.7z, etc.) (I recommend 7zip to extract all compress files.)
4. You are willing to read this entire tutorial and ask questions if something is unclear to you, BEFORE you start this process. (Better to be safe than sorry.)


Now, on to the good stuff…

Hints:
Text in green are applications to launch or buttons to push within an application.
Text in red are warnings.
Orange is reserved for text that must be typed or copied. – Specific commands are also listed in code boxes.
This process will revert your phone to any one of three “Verizon factory original” states.
2.2.2 – Froyo (Why anyone would want to go that far back is beyond me, but I’ll include it anyway.)
2.3.3 – Gingerbread
2.3.4 – Gingerbread
Note: There is a KNOWN problem with the battery indicator and the way Android interprets and displays the battery percentages in Gingerbread 2.3.4. Currently, there is no known fix for this. This problem plagues the original build and any custom ROM based on the 2.3.4 kernel. Until the bootloader is unlocked and we have the source code for the kernel, do not expect this to be fixed any time soon.

UPDATE! Peperm1nt has given us a work around that works. See his post: [MOD]GingerBread Battery Fix v0.8 11/25/11 PSA op update! It has worked well for me and has been integrated with the CM7DX2 ROM.

PLEASE make sure you have a backup of your existing system, or at least your data. To back up your data, I recommend Titanium Backup (TiBu). Purchase the TiBu key, it is WELL worth it! To back up your entire system, goto Moon Shadow's Droid X2 Tutorials - How to perform a backup of your Droid X2. I have performed this method of flashing my phone back to stock using the 2.3.4 SBF file from both Windows XP (SP3) and Windows 7 Professional x64. I have not used or tested the 2.2.2 or 2.3.3 files. The process is identical for all three SBF files.

1. First make sure you have the correct Motorola driver installed on your system (you may have to right click and select "Save Link As").
a. Windows universal 32-bit Motorola drivers version 5.2.0
b. Windows universal 64-bit Motorola drivers version 5.2.0
2. Next download the SBF file you want to load to your phone (you may have to right click and select "Save Link As"):
a. Froyo 2.2.2 SBF File (you may have to right click and select "Save Link As")
b. Gingerbread 2.3.3 SBF File (you may have to right click and select "Save Link As")

3. Once you have downloaded the file, use 7zip to extract the file (whether it ends in .gz or .zip, I recommend using 7zip). You CANNOT just remove the .gz from the end of the filename! It is a compressed file. Using 7zip to extract it will ensure the file is intact and will have the extension of .sbf.
4. Next download RSD Lite and install it. I have used both and currently use 5.4.4. (You may have to right click and select "Save Link As"):
a. RSD Lite 5.3.1 and Drivers
b. RSD Lite+ 5.4.4 - Thanks to motcher41 for getting this to me!
5. Once you have installed the software on your computer, REBOOT it.
6. Turn off your phone.
7. While your computer is booting back up, power up your phone by pressing and holding the VOLUME UP BUTTON and then pressing the POWER BUTTON until you see the words STARTING RSD PROTOCOL SUPPORT (in white) at the top of the DX2’s screen. This should only take about 3-5 seconds.
8. Once your computer has come up completely, start RSD Lite.
9. Once RSD Lite has started, click the three dots (…) in the upper half of the window. It is located to the right of the long blank box labeled Filename:.
10. Using the Open dialog box, navigate to the sbf file and click the Open button.
11. If you correctly extracted the file in step 3, you should see information fill the right hand box called File Properties.
12. Plug your factory Motorola USB cable into the DX2, then into an available USB port on your computer.
13. When you plug the DX2 into the USB port, the RSD Lite screen will update the first line in the lower section of the window (Port No. 1.) with the following information:
Model: SE Flash Daytona
Port Type: USB
IMEI / ESN / MEID: N/A
Status: Connected…
14. If it does not have the preceding information, make sure you are not plugged into a USB hub; if problems still persist, restart the process at step 5.
15. Click Start, and WAIT! Laugh at me, but the first time I performed an SBF, I did it on a computer with an Intel Pentium 4, 2.66 GHz processor, and 1 GB of memory. It took OVER AN HOUR for the SBF process to complete! RSD Lite first backs up what is on the DX2, then it proceeds to flash each of the 5 sections (partitions actually).
16. The Progress and Result columns will update with information as the flash progresses. When the flash is complete, the phone will reboot and RSD Lite SHOULD inform you that the process is complete. If not, you might have to do the process over. You may also receive a message to manually reboot your phone, this is normal and seems to happen about 30-40% of the time.
17. Whether or not your phone boot loops at this time, I HIGHLY recommend performing a factory reset from the Android Recovery menu. This is also the process of fixing the boot loop.
a. Pull the battery.
b. Plug the battery back in.
c. Power up your phone by pressing and holding the VOLUME DOWN BUTTON and then pressing the POWER BUTTON until you see the words FASTBOOT (in white) at the top of the DX2’s screen. This should only take about 3-5 seconds.
d. Press the VOLUME DOWN BUTTON 7 times, or until you see the words ANDROID RECOVERY.
e. Press the VOLUME UP BUTTON and the screen will add “Entering Android Recovery” under the words ANDROID RECOVERY.
f. In about 5-7 seconds, you should see a white triangle with a yellow exclamation point in the middle and a little android down and to the right of the triangle.
g. Press both volume buttons at once.
h. The Android system recovery utility (second line of text) will come up.
i. Press the VOLUME DOWN BUTTON until “wipe data/factory reset” is highlighted.
j. Press the power button to start the process.
k. Once the wipe data/factory reset process has completed, press the VOLUME UP BUTTON until reboot is highlighted.
l. Press the power button to reboot your DX2.
18. Congratulations! At this point in time, you have successfully flashed your phone back to “factory stock”. Now you can root your phone, install a custom ROM, or return it.

Note: If you are going to flash a custom ROM, make sure you SBF the correct kernel for the ROM. For example for CyanogenMod 7 ROM (cm7dx2) you must be on Gingerbread 2.3.4. For the Eclipse v2.03 ROM, you must be rooted and on Gingerbread 2.3.5. For the Liberty ROM, you must be on Gingerbread 2.3.4. Please make sure you read all of the posts in the thread for that ROM. Somewhere in there it will tell you what build you need to be on.

For a great video tutorial, following what I have written out here, se UbuntuBrandon's youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lfkJ2heXos. Thanks, UbuntuBrandon!

Again, if you have any questions, or comments, either post them here, or PM me! Thanks all!

Ciao!

ashclepdia said:

Just want to add that yes 5.4.4 rsdlite works the same and just fine. I JUST used it an hour ago.

Also wanted to add and easier way to get ur phone to "starting rsd protocol "
Just hold power and VOLUME UP buttons for about 8seconds and it starts rsd protocol. U don't have to scan through any other menus or press anything else. Just hold power and VOLUME UP buttons and it will work. I have done it this way EVERY time I sbf.
((A couple times u referred to RSDlite as SBFlite. ..just trying to eliminate any confusion ))

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Good to know on the RSD Lite 5.4.4. I hadn't used it yet so I put that disclaimer in there. I don't want to put in information that I personally have not verified. At this time, I haven't had a need to SBF, so... I'm stuck with what I have done. I'll update the OP when I have have the opportunity to actually use 5.4.4.

Thanks for catching the typos. I have fixed them. Also, because the volume down method is intuitive (well, okay, not really), and it is easiest for a user to watch what scrolls by, instead of counting out 8 seconds, I think I will leave it in there. However, if people reach the end of my post and get to yours, I will leave the easier method glory to you.

I truly appreciate your feedback! Thank you again!

Just want to add that yes 5.4.4 rsdlite works the same and just fine. I JUST used it an hour ago.

Also wanted to add and easier way to get ur phone to "starting rsd protocol "
Just hold power and VOLUME UP buttons for about 8seconds and it starts rsd protocol. U don't have to scan through any other menus or press anything else. Just hold power and VOLUME UP buttons and it will work. I have done it this way EVERY time I sbf.
((A couple times u referred to RSDlite as SBFlite. ..just trying to eliminate any confusion ))

Try ezSBF link in my list
sd_shadow's (themib) [Collection] of Links for Droid X2

Sent from my Amazon Otter using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 07:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:06 PM ----------

Or you will need to fix drivers, see my drivers errors link in my list

Sent from my Amazon Otter using Tapatalk

canooten said:

OK, so if RSD can read it, it's good to go? I haven't tried that, just assumed it would be in a compressed format since the instructions specified that.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

sd_shadow is right on the money.

you aren't opening the file if it's ALREADY in sbf. the download links may have been changed from when the original instructions were typed out, which means that the file you have could very likely already be ready to use.

only extract the sbf file if it has been compressed from wherever you downloaded from.

if you try to flash it, and it isn't in correct format, rsdlite won't be able to flash it, should be no harm done and it would just tell you aborted/failed install.

let us know how it goes for ya, if you hit any issues I'm ALMOST certain we can get ya up and running.

May I ask why exactly you WANT to sbf restore the device? just curious

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

EDIT::
@sd_shadow- I don't know why I even come in to confirm what you tell people anymore I don't think I've ever seen a single post from you that has "bad info" in it. awesome job stepping up to the plate EVERY time and hitting a grandslam lol. not only do you give good info, but ya ALSO give MULTIPLE ways to fix a problem. awesome stuff brotha!