If You Are Getting Errors, Try This Exact Sequence
First of all, like a complete idiot, the first time I tried this I had a Droid X and a Bionic plugged in via USB at the same time...needless to say that confused Pete's tool and failed at Step 3.
Once I unplugged the X and replugged the Bionic, Pete's tool wasn't picking up my phone like many others have experienced. So here's what I did exactly to get it to work (who knows if every step is needed but for those crying out for help, here's my best effort):
Backdrop
- I have a 64bit win 7 PC and a Verizon Bionic
- I have a USB 3.0 port and I made sure NOT to use that port
- I used the USB cable the Bionic came with (which if you're like me, with USB cables all over the office, it might not be too easy to find the original)
Detailed Procedures
1. Download the zip file at the beginning of this thread...do it again if you've had errors just to be safe
2. Create a folder on your desktop called "The Bills Rock" and extract the zip file into that folder
3. Unplug your phone from the USB port on your computer if it's plugged in
4. On your phone, go to Settings (you'll find it if you click the left most hard button on the bottom of the screen with 4 squares...to the left of the little house icon!), Applications -> Development and make sure all three choices are NOT CHECKED (USB Debugging, Stay Awake, Allow Mock Locations
5. Press the Home key to go back to your phone's desktop
6. On your PC, double click the file Motorola_End_User_Driver_Installation_5.2.0_64bit or 32bit for some of you
7a. If you get a choice to Repair or Uninstall, then Uninstall the drivers.
7b. If you Uninstalled, as soon as it's done, Re-Install the drivers.
7c. If you did not get the choice in 7a, you were installing the drivers for the first time so just proceed with the install
8. Plug the USB cable into your phone and into your PC in a USB 2.0 port
9. At the top of your phone screen you'll see a little USB icon....drag that down showing your notifications and press the USB icon
10. Press on Charge Only, click Okay (even if Charge is already selected, press it again)
11. Next, repeat what you did in Step 4 (Settings, Applications, Development) except this time, you are TURNING ON USB DEBUGGING by checking the box next to it...make sure you leave the other two choices unchecked
12. Again, press the home key to return to your phones home screen
14. On your PC, navigate to your desktop, open the Bills Rock folder, and double click the file Pete's Motorola Root Tools
15. Note, Bionic is not listed on the main page of the app - irrelevant, this approach works on virtually all Ginger Bread phones. Pete says so himself at: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1240130. I'm sure it was an oversight that it wasn't listed.
16. On the bottom left of Pete's Tool you should see a big button that says Root My Phone
17. Click That Button and you should be on your way
At this point, your phone will be recognized in about 5 seconds. It will also reboot a few times. The process takes probably 7 minutes in total, so find something to do....don't touch the phone!!
While waiting for the rooting to complete, I killed time by composing this post...hopefully someone finds it useful!! And as always, if anything goes wrong, it's on you.