[How-To] Root Eclair on your Captivate

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Rooting your Captivate while on the latest firmware is pretty darn easy. It can be done using an application you install on your phone, called z4root.

This application isn't available in the market, but thats a small hurdle and easy to overcome. All you need is a file browser, and your USB cable

File browser -- if you don't have one, I suggest Astro. There are many others, but Astro is very simple to use and I highly recommend it to those who might be new to the Android platform. Search for "Astro file manager" in the Android Market, and install it on your phone.

Then it's a few easy steps to root:

1. On your computer, visit the z4root developer's thread at XDA-Developers. Read the first post in the thread carefully, and download the file that's attached. Also, notice the donation link if you feel like passing a few dollars to Ryan.
   
2. Attach your phone to your computer, and just like you would drag a music file or picture to your phone, copy the z4root.apk file to your SD card. You can put it in any folder you like, just remember where you put it
   
3. Unmount your SDcard from your computer, and unplug it.
   
4. Go to menu>settings>applications. Make sure the "unknown sources" box is checked. Then go into the development settings, and make sure USB debugging is checked.
   
5. Now open your file manager, and find the z4root.apk on your SD card. Press it, and choose Open App Manager (Astro gives this choice), then press the install button.
   
6. Once installed, find the z4root app in your app drawer, and run it. Decide if you need a temporary root, or permanent. Select your choice, and go.

One last step you may want to do if you have chosen to permanently root is install busybox. Search the Android Market for "Busybox by Stephen (Stericson)" and install it. Busybox provides commands like copy and paste to the shell (the inner workings) of your OS.

 

[fldude99]

Step 4: menu>settings>applications, unknown sources, doesn't exist on a stock unrooted Captivate afaik..so I suppose one can use sideload wonder?

 

[loraque]

Yes, load it with the Wonder Machine.

Also, for those that plan on flashing a ROM... you should only ever need to root ONCE, the first time. After the first time, when you flash Clockwork Recovery with ROM manager for the first time, copy the update.zip ROM Manager puts on your sdcard off to your computer. From there on out, whenever you flash to stock, copy that update.zip over to your phone and APPLY PACKAGES twice to get CWM installed.

From there you can install any ROM, no need to re-root. Ever. Saves you 5-10 minutes in the flash process.

 

[MadDogE134]

the SWM beta is working fine for me so should i install z4root using the SWM to get it installed on the phone first? then run z4root on the phone while USB debugging is on and USB cable connected to PC?

i have the z4root.apk on the SD card but from the different instructions i have found here and on XDA forums i am not sure if i MUST install it from the SD card. SLW will install app from anywhere the .apk is placed. (i also have all my .apk's saved to a folder on the PC)

once z4root is installed on the phone... apparently it is just there waiting for execution. i reckon i should turn on debugging, connect USB cable and launch z4root from app menu while the USB is still connected to PC? i know it must be common sense but i have not seen anywhere where it says to leave USB connected under debug mode when you launch app.

sry to be so infantile but i am new to android but have dabbled with linux quite a bit in the past. i take it that the Windows PC is needed during the root process for data swapping. correct me if i am wrong please.

P.S. i am waiting til the 30 day return runs out. just preparing for the root and trying to understand what is happening before i do it. i want full access of my Captivate and i want to remove the AT&T software that i will never use.

 

[justlaxin13]

Root help

Hi, I'm planning on rooting my Captivate and honestly am not exactly experiences at this kinda thing. Is there any site or anyone that can walk me through what i need to do/should do. I plan on rooting and probably flashing some roms...at least one that will give me froyo... I keep reading about recovery programs and such, where do I start? thanks.

 

[XANAX]

http://forum.androidcentral.com/t-c...video-samsung-captivate-video-how-thread.html

 

[justlaxin13]

Thanks, does rooting do anything to damage or erase any of the data already on the phone? I've been using my phone for a few months now and want to make sure i dont lose everything.

 

[DroidXcon]

Thanks, does rooting do anything to damage or erase any of the data already on the phone? I've been using my phone for a few months now and want to make sure i dont lose everything.

Rooting by itself does not touch any data ... but always backup your contacts to gmail.. just in case but really rooting is nothing more than jumping through a window because the front door is locked , then unlocking it from the inside so you have access to the house....sorry if that was a corny analogy

 

[justlaxin13]

Ok so, I made sure the drivers were updated and such, but when i go into the one-click-root program and click "root" i get an error message that says: "unhandled exception has occurred in your application......the system cannot find the file specified." How do I fix this?

 

[DroidXcon]

Never heard of that error..ill see what I can dig up

Ok so, I made sure the drivers were updated and such, but when i go into the one-click-root program and click "root" i get an error message that says: "unhandled exception has occurred in your application......the system cannot find the file specified." How do I fix this?

Sent from my SCH-I400 using Tapatalk

 

[justlaxin13]

The more i try to make it work, the more I think it has something to do with my computer not recognizing it being plugged into the USB. for example, when I plug it in no new icon appears in the bottom right toolbar section and no new "usb device" shows up in My Computer. But the phone shows the USB symbol and starts charging and the phone and the computer make the "USB plugging in noise"...

 

[DroidXcon]

Try putting the phone in debugging mode

The more i try to make it work, the more I think it has something to do with my computer not recognizing it being plugged into the USB. for example, when I plug it in no new icon appears in the bottom right toolbar section and no new "usb device" shows up in My Computer. But the phone shows the USB symbol and starts charging and the phone and the computer make the "USB plugging in noise"...

Sent from my SCH-I400 using Tapatalk

 

[justlaxin13]

it has been the whole time i've been trying this. The instructions for rooting with this program specified to put it in debugging mode before rooting.

 

[DroidXcon]

I think its the computer

it has been the whole time i've been trying this. The instructions for rooting with this program specified to put it in debugging mode before rooting.

Sent from my SCH-I400 using Tapatalk

 

[justlaxin13]

damn i was afraid of that, thanks though.

 

[bay_wolf]

Try out my program: Here.

 

[XANAX]

You might need to use a different USB port. I also recommend bay_wolf's program.

 

[tout59]

have z4root in astro manager, it says wont load because app is not from android market, rooted with it once 4 months ago, bricked phone, flashed froyo with odin3, phone no longer rooted, when connect usb, say samsung driver is missing, have loaded the ones available 4 times, missing abstract control drive, cant find been working on problem,need help.thx

 

[tout59]

I am a newby, purchased captivate in july, rooted first time in sept using z4root. Flashed many roms using rom manager and titanium backup, flashed a bad one in december, bricked phone, only thing it would do when turned on was att logo, no shot to get to reboot area. read mulitple post when I came along the one that said connect to oden3 with froyo, hold volume up down pop battery in and it jumped it into downlode mode with froyo. Havent been able to get phone to synk with the samsung driver I downloaded, have uninstaled and reinstalled several times, keep getting error that says needs abstract control driver, so what ever root method that I have tried, and I have tried a few, I cant get driver right so it wont work. went to best buy because I am running vista, same problem on windows 7. so out of desperation I downloaded z4root thread from xda and used dropbox with astro manager, keep getting message, app wont load because its not from android market, so here I am still stuck, if anyone COULD help me with my problem it would be greatly appreciated,thx.

 

[stew1411]

so out of desperation I downloaded z4root thread from xda and used dropbox with astro manager, keep getting message, app wont load because its not from android market, so here I am still stuck, if anyone COULD help me with my problem it would be greatly appreciated,thx.

Stock Captivate cannot sideload apps directly from the device. What you need to do is download Sideload Woner Machine, found here on AndroidCentral, and put the .apk file in the SWM folder. Connect your Captivate, run the SWM program, choose z4root.apk, click go, then the app should be on your phone. Thats when you go to your phone and open z4root from the app drawer. Let the app do its thing, then you should be rooted.

Sideload Wonder Machine:
http://forum.androidcentral.com/android-sideload-wonder-machine/