Either way, I'm gonna keep bumping it up along and along. If it's buried deep in the thread, it may not be found. There's still alot that don't use the "search."
The Complete Guide on Tinkering with your Motorola Milestone X2
- Thread starter grizzlayleslay
- Start date
eagleeyetom
Retired Senior Mod & DC Lead - Active Pole Dancer
I had a discussion with other mods and we decided to allow such sticky, but we need your help.
The idea is to create a roll-up sticky thread, where all stickies will be placed. That will reduce the number of existing stickies and make forum much easier to read.
Can some of you suggest such threads and I will create such thread?
The idea is to create a roll-up sticky thread, where all stickies will be placed. That will reduce the number of existing stickies and make forum much easier to read.
Can some of you suggest such threads and I will create such thread?
eagleeyetom
Retired Senior Mod & DC Lead - Active Pole Dancer
Yes you can PM me this or post it here. I will do a clean up after receiving it.
Leslay, thank you so much for compiling this information. I've had this MX2 for a while now, but have been a bit skittish about rooting/flashing because of how scattered all the information was. This thread made it very easy for me.
I did run into a snag, however. After flashing the new rom and letting it settle, I noticed that a few apps were crashing. The only two that did it consistently were the email app and the Google search widget (once I enable the Google Now feature). I decided to boot into recovery and wipe the Dalvik cache to see if that helped. Once I rebooted, the phone wouldn't go past the Motorola logo. Had to SBF and start at the beginning. Just a heads up.
I did run into a snag, however. After flashing the new rom and letting it settle, I noticed that a few apps were crashing. The only two that did it consistently were the email app and the Google search widget (once I enable the Google Now feature). I decided to boot into recovery and wipe the Dalvik cache to see if that helped. Once I rebooted, the phone wouldn't go past the Motorola logo. Had to SBF and start at the beginning. Just a heads up.
People like yourself are EXACTLY why I made this thread. You are very welcome :laugh:
Thanks for the heads up. I'm not surprised as I've seen stories about app crashing happen over at the main thread for DZK's rom. I was disappointed to see that the Chrome and Firefox browsers both fail on this phone. Just opening a new tab in Chrome would crash it. Firefox would run out of RAM. I haven't tried the Mail app but it's good to know what works and what doesn't.
Our only options are to
- Find alternative apps that don't crash (trial and error, yay!).
- Report the bad stock apps to the main thread so that dzk might find a way to fix them (if he has time).
I don't have this phone but it's obvious you did a LOT of work to help others out. Thanks for all of your hard work... People like you make xda great and easy for people like me to do whatever we want with our phones.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Anyone have any tips for extending the battery life beyond the obvious?
The obvious would include:
New battery
Juice Defender app
The obvious would include:
New battery
Juice Defender app
I did this 7 times at least in my dx2.I used cm10.2&3 both of them no wifi.I can't figure it out.I've tried different procedures different file downloads still no wifi.I used the patch no patch.Installed cm and ggaps wiped everything then put the patch in .I did it your your way nothing.Do you have any advice? Im on a sbf 2.3.4 rooted with clock work mod.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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robcross72
Guest
I just want to say thank you for all your hard work. This is by far the best guide ever for rooting a phone and for upgrading to 4.1. I was very nervous to say the least since I have messed up phones in the past, however, I simply followed every step exactly as written and I had absolutely no problems whatsoever. Again thank you for all you have done and thanks to all the other people that you gave credit to!
I do have one quick question. Your guide said to install Busy Box (which I did) but after installing the cm10 upgrade Busy Box was gone. Is that an app I need to have on my phone? Also, do I need to keep Android Terminal Emulator on my phone? Thanks again for everything!
I do have one quick question. Your guide said to install Busy Box (which I did) but after installing the cm10 upgrade Busy Box was gone. Is that an app I need to have on my phone? Also, do I need to keep Android Terminal Emulator on my phone? Thanks again for everything!
R
robcross72
Guest
Milestone X2 issues after root
I am going to revert back and restore from a nandroid backup for now. The issues that I am having seem to be known issues but without a reliable fix. The issues I am having are (1) sms won't split. It converts texts to mms and then it hangs up sending. (2) I cannot send pics via text, even when trying alternatives such as Go sms. (3) all of the google apps shut down as quickly as I open them. This is very annoying when trying to check and send email. I am completely unable to send email via the gmail app. (4) minor issues are other apps hanging up even if they are small apps. I absolutely love the fact I have been able to root my phone and cm10 is amazing, especially with utilizing themes. I hope that fixes will be found because I am totally clueless when it comes to the tech stuff. I will continue to check back and hope that someone posts any updates or clues as to how to make this work. For now I will return to stock. Thanks again for this guide. It was amazing and so detailed. That totally made the process flawless for me.
I am going to revert back and restore from a nandroid backup for now. The issues that I am having seem to be known issues but without a reliable fix. The issues I am having are (1) sms won't split. It converts texts to mms and then it hangs up sending. (2) I cannot send pics via text, even when trying alternatives such as Go sms. (3) all of the google apps shut down as quickly as I open them. This is very annoying when trying to check and send email. I am completely unable to send email via the gmail app. (4) minor issues are other apps hanging up even if they are small apps. I absolutely love the fact I have been able to root my phone and cm10 is amazing, especially with utilizing themes. I hope that fixes will be found because I am totally clueless when it comes to the tech stuff. I will continue to check back and hope that someone posts any updates or clues as to how to make this work. For now I will return to stock. Thanks again for this guide. It was amazing and so detailed. That totally made the process flawless for me.
Download ROM manager, under utilities run Fix Permissions. That might help with the apps closing. I am having those same problems as you are. Fixing permissions has reduced my apps from closing but some still close unexpectedly. I also cannot send MMS.
Also another thing I forgot is that every time I restart my phone, to receive phone calls I have to go into my network settings and change the CDMA roaming mode to Automatic.
I hope someone else can help us more?:good:
Last edited:
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robcross72
Guest
Thank you very much! It seems downloading ROM Manager and doing what you suggested has helped. Still wish I could send MMS and that my SMS wouldnt automatically convert to MMS. I take back what I said about reverting back to stock. I think this will do the trick, at least for the apps closing. Thanks again!
Lrs121
Senior Member
For those having issues with cm10 they can't stand but still want to be using a custom rom, check out the other roms like cm9 cm7 and eclipse. There are some things dzk just isn't able to fix due to the locked down nature of the phone.
Sent from my Nexus 7
Sent from my Nexus 7
R
robcross72
Guest
Hey! Thanks man for the advice! I appreciate all you guys on here who know what you're doing and have the patience to help us noobies.
Question for you. I believe it was you who did the workaround so that dzk's cm10 would work on our Milestone X2's so do we need a workaround to make cm9 or eclipse work for us? Thanks in advance for everything!
Lrs121
Senior Member
there is already a thread in the development sections that has the kernel check removed for cm9 already done by twobare i believe. the latest version had a few major hicups but nothing coperable to cm10s issues( been too long since ive played with cm9) as for eclipse i dont remember doing anything special to get it to run on my phone but i cant remember exactly (again been too long since ive played with it, to busy on stock screwing with kernel stuff) though if any doesnt want to flash just let us know and someone will get it going fairly quickly. (time to download it modify it and upload a modified version) ill upload a the version of eclipse i used if i can find it to my google drive i keep a lot of stuff there including roms.
---------- Post added at 04:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:21 PM ----------
cm7 had a kernel check i removed it and am in the process of getting it ready to upload to my google drive i also found the eclipse zip i used and am uploading that as well enjoy people. (yes i am aware my drive storage looks like a mess but it actually is organized. its not hard to find what you need just look its most likely there)
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robcross72
Guest
Thanks! I appreciate it. I was having a hard time finding the thread until you pointed out how to find it. Unfortunately I made two critical mistakes. The first was I installed the wrong gapps.zip then the second mistake was when I went to install the correct gapps.zip for cm9 I didn't do a nandroid restore. Now my phone is stuck on the boot logo, the big m with the words dual core thechnology under it. Been that way for two hours. I have tried everything but nothing works. Looks like it is bricked because I do not have a linux computer and do not know anyone that does so I can't do the sbf method.
But I will say that from what I saw of cm9 and played around with it that it was way better for the mx2 than cm10. But that's just my opinion.
Again, i wish to thank you for all your hard work and help.
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9grizzlayleslay presents:The Complete Guide on Tinkering with your
Motorola Milestone X2
Greetings and Welcome!
If you're here, you have a Motorola Milestone X2. You have 2.3.6 Gingerbread, and you probably hate the Blur stuff forced upon you in 2.3.6. We know. This is a dual-core phone and it feels like you're not getting the full potential out of it. Thanks to the courage and hard work of many members, we CAN get more out of this phone. Believe the impossible.
What follows is the most thorough guide on XDA for tinkering with your Milestone X2. There are many parts to this guide, and I recommend reading through all of it if you plan on tinkering with your Milestone X2.
Before going forward, I must repeat: This guide is for, and only for, Gingerbread 2.3.6 running on your Motorola Milestone X2.
I'm sure some parts of the guide can be utilized for the Droid X2 but considering that us Milestone X2 users are lumped into the Droid X2 forum and must frequently scavenge several topics before getting the documentation we need, this guide is written under the assumption that you have a Milestone X2 and that you're modifying it.
This guide is not for Android 2.3.4, 2.3.5, 2.3.batman, or anything NOT called 2.3.6. The Milestone X2 was shipped with 2.3.6 so this guide is written FOR 2.3.6, and will not be revised for any other version of 2.3. If you're not running 2.3.6 on the Milestone X2 and you choose to follow the guide anyway, that's your choice and I hold no responsibility for your gallivanting ways.
With that, let's go forward.
==================================================================
Table of Contents
Part 1: Back up the Personal Essentials
Part 2: Factory Reset Time
Part 3: Install and Update the Bare Essentials
Part 4: Rooting the Milestone X2 with 2.3.6
Part 5: Creating the Nandroid/BSR Backup
Part 6: Nandroid Restore Procedure
Part 7: Custom ROM Installation with DZK's CMOD10 2.9999999 Alpha
Part 8: Performance gains with CM10 and the MX2
Part 9: Performing an SBF Restoration on the MX2
==================================================================
REQUIREMENTS:
It is assumed that you have the following utilities handy before going forward:
- A computer running Windows XP/Vista/7/8
- A computer ALSO running Linux
- A Motorola Milestone X2 with the USB cable that it came with when you bought it.
- A Wall Charger for your Milestone X2
- Your mileage may vary.
- I take no responsibility what you do to your Milestone X2.
- I take no responsibility if you use a different phone NOT called the Milestone X2 and end up breaking it.
REFERENCES:
Part 4: Guide adopted from user clcrawl here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1405077
Part 4: How to tell if your phone is rooted: http://www.androidcentral.com/is-my-phone-rooted
Part 5: Guide adopted from Moon Shadow here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1318083
Part 7: DZK's original Thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1912280
Part 7: Lrs121's modification Thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1914238
Part 8: sbf_flash on Linux: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1321061
==================================================================
CREDITS:
This guide would simply not exist without the help & efforts of the following XDA users:
DragonZKiller (creator of the original CM10 mod for the Droid X2)
Lrs121 (creator of the port of dragonzkiller's port of CM10 for the Milestone X2, hoster of the nTelos sbf file we use)
clcrawl (creator of the original 2.3.6 Root thread for the MX2)
Moon Shadow - NM (creator of the Nandroid thread for the DX2/MX2)
imchairmanm (creator of the sbf_flash thread for the MX2)
Booga Booga (fellow MX2 user and all-around badass resource for creating this guide)6Part 9: Performing an SBF Restoration on the MX2
If you're utilizing this part of the guide, that means you're either:
- itching to go back to Gingerbread
- you dun goofed (it's okay, we all do)
- testing various builds of roms and wanting to start over
For this guide, we'll be using the "sbf_flash" program and a Linux operating system.
Before going forward, I'm going to make this very obvious.
DO NOT USE RSD LITE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER.
I MEAN IT.
RSD LITE CAN REWRITE THE BASEBAND OF YOUR MX2, PERMANENTLY BRICKING IT FROM WORKING WITH YOUR CARRIER. THE BEST THING THAT CAN COME FROM USING RSD LITE IS THAT YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR MX2 TO YOUR CARRIER'S HEADQUARTERS TO BE REFLASHED, WITH A SMALL CHANCE THAT IT WILL ACTUALLY BE RESTORED.
DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.
DO NOT USE RSD LITE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER.
For SBF restoration on the MX2, it is imperative that we use "sbf_flash" for Linux. Yes, this means if you don't have Linux, you'll have to get yourself a copy of Linux. Any distro of Linux will probably work but for this guide I will recommend you use either Wubi or Ubuntu.
1) Acquire this SBF file from user Lrs121: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0BzuX6WLejxQwWUJXQjBFUG1sZUU/edit?docId=0BzuX6WLejxQwMXlvYUswblVIZzg
2) Download Linux if you haven't already, and run it.
3) Download the sbf_flash program here: http://blog.opticaldelusion.org/
4) Put sbf_flash and the SBF file on your Linux install.
5) Open a terminal in the directory where you have the sbf file and sbf_flash program. Type "chmod +x sbf_flash". This will make the sbf_flash file executable.
6) Turn off your MX2.
7) Hold down the Power Button and the Volume Down button until the MX2 displays "Fastboot" above the normal Motorola start-up screen.
8) Press the Volume Down button until it reads "RSD". Press the Volume Up button to select.
9) Plug your MX2 into the computer using the usb cord. Wait a few seconds to allow your computer to recognize the device.
10) In the terminal (still opened in the same directory as the sbf_flash program and the .sbf file), type "sudo ./sbf_flash nameOfSbfFile.sbf" (obviously you're going to want to change the last part to the actual name of the sbf file you have on your computer) and enter your password when prompted.
11) Allow the program to work. It'll take several minutes and your MX2 will reboot at the end.
12) At this point you'll have reverted back to 2.3.6 Android under nTelos. Refer to Parts 3-6 for re-rooting your MX2, and restoring from the Nandroid backup that you kept safely hidden somewhere (but obviously don't do all of Part 5, no need to backup again).
13) You're done!3
Yes you can PM me this or post it here. I will do a clean up after receiving it.3Part 5: Creating the Nandroid/BSR Backup
Now that we're rooted, it's time to make a backup of the MX2 for future recovery. This will come in handy if at any point, you decide to roll back to Gingerbread or if something weird/bad goes wrong.
If you're confused by the term "BSR", it's because the Nandroid backup process on the MX2 hijacks the Charge animation screen when you're charging your MX2 from a wall outlet. Technically it's known as the Boot Strap Recovery, but this is what we do to get a Nandroid backup of our MX2's.
Here's how we make a Nandroid Recovery:
1) Install the BusyBox app from Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=stericson.busybox&hl=en
2) Run the BusyBox app and grant it SuperUser permissions.
3) Download the "Droid X2 Recovery APK" here (yes, it will work for the MX2): http://www.markhm1972.com/MotorolaDroidX2/MOTODX2_Bootstrap_signed.rar
4) Using an archive utility like 7zip, extract the .apk file from the archive.
5) Plug the MX2 into your computer, and enter it in USB Storage Mode from the dropdown.
6) Copy the .apk file to your MX2.
7) Open a File Explorer application (or install one if you don't have it).
8) Navigate to the folder where you copied the .apk file and select it to install it. If you're warned that your phone isn't set to install non-Market applications, it will allow you to go into the Settings, where you can select the checkbox for “Unknown Sources”.
9) If it doesn't launch immediately, you can find it in the App Drawer as an app called "System Recovery".
10) Once System Recovery has been launched, select "Install Recovery".
11) Select "Allow"? when Superuser asks for permission.
12) Wait about 5 seconds to ensure the Recovery Install has completed successfully.
13) Unplug your MX2 from the computer, completely. Make absolutely sure that your MX2 is NOT plugged into a USB port on your computer or in a USB hub.
14) Plug your MX2 into a Wall Charger. Plug the Wall Charger into a nearby electrical outlet.
15) Be absolutely certain you have followed Steps 13 and 14 to the letter. Your MX2 should NOT, for any reason whatsoever in the known universe, be connected in any way/shape/form to your computer right now.
16) I am incredibly serious, make sure you have followed Steps 13 and 14 EXACTLY!
17) Double-check time. If you've followed Steps 13 and 14 like a good owner, you may skip to Step 18. Even so, it doesn't hurt to read the entire checklist again:
DOUBLE CHECK THE FOLLOWING!
- Take the Motorola factory USB cable and unplug it from everything. The computer, the wall charging block, the MX2, EVERYTHING!
- Plug the micro USB end into the MX2.
- Plug the male USB-A end into the wall charging block.
- Plug the wall charging block into the wall.
18) Select "Recovery Mode". In 3-5 seconds the MX2 will appear to reboot. What it is actually doing is performing the hijack of the Power Off Charge Mode of the MX2. The MX2 actually powers off, but because the BSR hijacks the Charge Animation screen (the battery with the fuel level showing the amount of charge), it will look like it is booting up. In a sense, it is, but it will boot into the Bootstrap Recovery. The battery will continue to charge as well.
If you followed the previous steps correctly, the MX2 will reboot into a screen saying "Droid X2 Recovery GFAN.COM".
19) Press the VOLUME DOWN BUTTON 6 times. This should highlight the option to "Backup & Restore".
20) Tap the power button. This selects the Backup & restore option.
21) Use the VOLUME UP or VOLUME DOWN buttons to select the memory location you would like to store the backup on. If you have not enabled the SD Card flip, or you don’t know what the SD Card flip is, store the backup on the External SD Card. I highly recommend backing up to an external SD Card.
- Internal SD Card = the 8GB internal, non-removable memory. (The Internal SD Card has a little over 6.4GB of usable storage space.)
- External SD Card = your removable MicroSD card.
23) On the next screen, tap the power button again, since the Backup option is already selected.
24) Now, wait, the backup takes about 10 minutes to complete. Once it is complete, you should be back at the "Droid X2 Recovery GFAN.COM" screen, with a message at the bottom of the screen saying “Backup complete!”
25) Now press the power key since the menu selection is already on Reboot system now.
26) You have successfully made a bootstrap recovery backup of your Milestone X2.
Note: The bootstrap recovery backup does not erase old backups. You must do that yourself from within your preferred file explorer. The backups are located in /mnt/sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/YYYY-MM-DD.HH.mm.ss.
- YYYY = the 4 digit year. 2011 for example.
- MM = the 2 digit month. Such as 10 for October.
- DD = the 2 digit day. Such as 24 for the 24th day of October.
- HH = the hour in 24 hour time. Such as 14 for 2PM.
- mm = the 2 digit minute of the hour. Such as 34 for 34 minutes
- after 2PM, or 2:34PM.
- ss = the 2 digit seconds the backup was created. Such as 17 seconds, or 2:34:17PM
27) You're done!2Part 2: Factory Reset Time
Before going forward with any custom ROM's, it is absolutely imperative that you have a place to go back to should something go wrong, or if you want to revert back to the stock OS of your MX2. The best way to do this is to have the freshest, cleanest version of the stock OS on your MX2. Doing a factory reset gets you that freshest, cleanest version.
1) Go to your App Drawer, go to "Settings".
2) In Settings, go to "Privacy Settings".
3) Under "Personal Data" at the bottom, select "Factory Data Reset".
4) You'll be prompted with a message explaining all the important stuff about the Factory Data Reset. There are two checkboxes for erasing Internal and SD storage, this is not mandatory as it only wipes apps & media files but it's up to you if you want to do that. When ready, select "Reset Phone".
This process takes a varying amount of time, but eventually it will complete.
5) You're done!
