Root 4.5.91 With a Mac

slushy · Aug 1, 2011

Verily, we have entered a golden age of rooting for the Atrix! There are so many options to choose from... maybe a few too many. And they seem to all be developed for Windoze platforms.

So here is the simplest route I could glean. This is just a root -- no bootloader unlock. This is for Atrix running on 4.5.91 (latest OTA update).

Thanks to
eval- (see XDA thread here) for the mac fastboot build
and /preinstall image (download from XDA here)

Now, to the rooting

Charge your battery!
Back up any data that you want to keep. You never know what can happen...
If you haven't already done so, load the OTA update
Download the following files:

preinstall.zip from the bottom of this post at XDA

moto-fastboot-osx.zip from post #1 on this XDA thread

adb.zip from the attachment to this post
Unzip the 3 files
power down your phone
Put your phone into FASTBOOT mode by powering up your phone and holding the volume rocker DOWN.
When the word Fastboot appears on the screen above the Moto logo, release the Down volume and press the up volume just once. You'll see the words "Starting Fastboot protocol support"
Connect your phone to your computer by the USB cable
Fire up you command prompt and cd to the directory where you unzipped those files
If you are on an updated (Leopard or better) Mac you're probably running 64-bit, so use the moto-fastboot-osx64 executable. If not use the 32-bit version
Let's make sure we're talking to the phone via fastboot. Issue this command
Code:
```
./moto-fastboot-osx64 devices
```
It should respond with the ID of your phone. If you don't get any devices check your connections or pull the battery and restart your phone in fastboot mode again.
now let's install the partition with the Superuser.apk and su binary
Code:
```
./moto-fastboot-osx64 flash preinstall preinstall.img
```
reboot it by
Code:
```
./moto-fastboot-osx64 reboot
```
When your phone comes back up make sure to enable USB debugging
In your command prompt type the following. Note how the prompt changes from a $ to a # when you switch to being root. If you already have Superuser installed from a previous rooting make sure to accept the request for su permissions when you run the second line
Code:
```
./adb shell
$ /preinstall/su
# /bin/mount -o remount,rw /system
# cp /preinstall/su /system/bin/
# chmod 6755 /system/bin/su
```
If you've been rooted before you already have the Superuser.apk installed.
Code:
```
#exit
$exit
```
If this is your first rodeo then type this
Code:
```
# PATH=/system/bin:$PATH
# pm install /preinstall/Superuser.apk
#exit
$exit
```

Blam, done.

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 4, 2011

First of all thank you so much for taking the time to write this up!!! I have downloaded all of the files and unzipped them and started terminal and was able to run the devices command and I got this:

Code:

/moto-fastboot-osx64 devices
TA20706O0Z	fastboot

then the next step is to install SuperUser.apk and su binary but I ran the command as you said but I got this:

Code:

/moto-fastboot-osx64 flash preinstall preinstall.img
error: cannot load 'preinstall.img'

What do I do now?

slushy · Aug 5, 2011

Sorry for taking so long to get back, I forgot to subscribe to the thread...

So the preinstall.img file comes from the preinstall.zip file downloaded from the XDA thread above. Make sure that you unzipped all of the downloaded files into the same directory together.

The files you need (all in the same folder together) are:
Preinstall.img
moto-fastboot-xx
adb

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 5, 2011

slushy said:
Sorry for taking so long to get back, I forgot to subscribe to the thread...

So the preinstall.img file comes from the preinstall.zip file downloaded from the XDA thread above. Make sure that you unzipped all of the downloaded files into the same directory together.

The files you need (all in the same folder together) are:
Preinstall.img
moto-fastboot-xx
adb

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Ok I did all of that but when I just click on preinstall.img after the extraction it says: warning: the following disk images couldn't be opened: preinstall.img: no mountable file systems.

I know that isn't what the steps were but I just clicked it to see how it would behave on my macbook. I was expecting some installation procedure to begin as with other .dmg files but this one is a .img so maybe I am mistaken...

Please help I have been trying to root and unlock my phone for the longest time but there seems to be no love for macs

also I tried opening the file with Disk Utility and got this:

Disk Description : Apple read/write Total Capacity : 31.5 MB (31,457,280 Bytes)
Connection Bus : Disk Image Disk Write Status : Read/Write
Partition Map Scheme : No partition map
Disk Image Path : /Texas/Users/ZeeBee/Downloads/preinstall.img

slushy · Aug 5, 2011

The preinstall.img actually does perform the same function as a Mac .dmg but it isn't mac compatible. It only works on the android file system.

I noticed that your code blocks above show
/moto-fastboot-osx64

But the code from the first post is

./moto-fastboot-osx64

Notice the extra "." in front of the command. Is that an omission from your post or how you actually typed that command in?

Based on the info from your last post, change the command to

./moto-fastboot-osx64 flash preinstall /Texas/Users/ZeeBee/Downloads/preinstall.img

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 5, 2011

slushy said:
The preinstall.img actually does perform the same function as a Mac .dmg but it isn't mac compatible. It only works on the android file system.

I noticed that your code blocks above show
/moto-fastboot-osx64

But the code from the first post is

./moto-fastboot-osx64

Notice the extra "." in front of the command. Is that an omission from your post or how you actually typed that command in?

Based on the info from your last post, change the command to

./moto-fastboot-osx64 flash preinstall /Texas/Users/ZeeBee/Downloads/preinstall.img

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

yay!!!! so I was able to flash the preinstall.img and then rebooted the phone. I thought the "." was just to make sure I entered all of the directory info and didn't think it was necessary but it totally changed and worked! Ok now when I'm trying to run the adb script it says

Code:

new-host:moto-fastboot-osx ZeeBee$ ./adb shell
$ /preinstall/su
Permission denied

Thanks for all of your help so far.... I can see the light at the end of the tunnel... almost there!

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 5, 2011

I think I did it!!!!!! I downloaded Superuser from the market and then ran the adb script and it totally worked!!!!! YAAAAAAY but I also forgot to mention that I am doing this from 4.1.83 and android 2.2.2 because I replaced my phone this morning....

How should I install the update to 4.5.91? I want to still be rooted and all that good stuff.

slushy · Aug 5, 2011

Go ahead and do that OTA update. I'm not sure whether you'll need to re-flash the preinstall img or not...

After the OTA try picking the process up with the adb script and report what happens

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 5, 2011

will i be able to unlock the bootloader after the OTA update?

slushy · Aug 5, 2011

Yep. The bootloader unlock (called Pudding on XDA) for mac will be coming soon (when I have a few free hours this weekend I hope)

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 5, 2011

slushy said:
Yep. The bootloader unlock (called Pudding on XDA) for mac will be coming soon (when I have a few free hours this weekend I hope)

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Thanks I'll go ahead and do the update and let you know if I needed to reroot. You are seriously a lifesaver. The members over at XDA are kinda intimidating so I was afraid to ask them LOL. THANKS AGAIN!!!

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 5, 2011

Well I downloaded the update just fine and when it was time to install it rebooted for a second and then showed up in recovery mode. It was able to start the install but got stuck on the error code of verifying the system. I just rebooted it and it started up fine in but no update. Looks like I will have to flash it manually.

is SBF_flash available for Mac?

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 5, 2011

this was the exact log:

Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
Verifying current system...
assert failed: apply_patch_check ("/preinstall/app/com.mobitv.client.tv" , e442e64ee08cfba278f444bb1bdf566bccb451d5" , "f0638d6cc48ff347aa771e8c8824c72eedf0e785")
E:Error in /cache/Blur_Version.4.1.83.MB860.ATT.en.US.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

slushy · Aug 5, 2011

ZyanyaMJ said:
this was the exact log:

Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Verifying update package...
Installing update...
Verifying current system...
assert failed: apply_patch_check ("/preinstall/app/com.mobitv.client.tv" , e442e64ee08cfba278f444bb1bdf566bccb451d5" , "f0638d6cc48ff347aa771e8c8824c72eedf0e785")
E:Error in /cache/Blur_Version.4.1.83.MB860.ATT.en.US.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

Here is a link to the 1.83 SBF.

Here is the link to the sbf_flash utility for mac. How to use it is here.

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 10, 2011

I ended up swapping that phone back to my original and then replacing the original again yesterday. I updated OTA to 4.5.91 and then I rooted. Everything went super smooth.

Any news on unlocking for mac?

slushy · Aug 11, 2011

ZyanyaMJ said:
Any news on unlocking for mac?

My efforts have been thwarted thus far but I'll get it. The downloads for the bootloader unlock I found on XDA all uncompress with a CRC error. I tried every mirror I could find and every download had the same CRC error.

So I think that the 7-zip/rar/whatever tool on my machine must have a bug in it -- clearly those downloads are working for the Windoze users. Next time I work on it I think I'll use my XP virtual machine to unzip the downloads...

ZyanyaMJ · Aug 11, 2011

slushy said:
My efforts have been thwarted thus far but I'll get it. The downloads for the bootloader unlock I found on XDA all uncompress with a CRC error. I tried every mirror I could find and every download had the same CRC error.

So I think that the 7-zip/rar/whatever tool on my machine must have a bug in it -- clearly those downloads are working for the Windoze users. Next time I work on it I think I'll use my XP virtual machine to unzip the downloads...

Ok no rush just wondering how it was going.

Quick question. I'm sending my phone in for a replacement because the display is all out of whack but I'm worried they will say I voided the warranty and charge me $399. I only rooted it. It is NOT unlocked. Is there any "mac-friendly" way to return to stock?

slushy · Aug 11, 2011

Reflashing the 1.83 SBF should be sufficient to get it stock. The Sbf is the complete software image and it overwrites all of the /system partition where the su binary lives.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

szotz926 · Aug 16, 2011

slushy, I'm sorry because I am a noob to rooting and I can run around the BB OS like nobody's business but Android confuses the crap out of me some days.

Any part of this let me do a carrier unlock as well, or am I paying a code for that as I do with most other models?

slushy · Aug 16, 2011

szotz said:
Any part of this let me do a carrier unlock as well, or am I paying a code for that as I do with most other models?

As far as I know, nobody has a free carrier unlock hack. The Atrix does unlock with a code from the usual online providers though.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Root 4.5.91 With a Mac

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