After all of the hullabaloo regarding the Droid X’s encrypted Bootloader, it’s refreshing to see the userbase offering Motorola a kick in the proverbial pants. While it doesn’t give access to the bootloader or allow custom ROMs to be flashed to the device, the new root exploit will, at the very least, allow users to remove Verizon’s bloatware and start theming the operating system. Details, as well as instructions, follow the break.

The root exploit was put together by Android Hacker Birdman, and requires a fairly lengthy process, as far as rooting goes. That being said, it isn’t particularly difficult for those of you familiar with hacking Android.

1. Download the attached archive and expand it to a folder you can find (eg. c:\DroidXRoot_v2)
2. Set up ADB
3. On the phone: Home, Menu Button, Settings, Applications, Development: Make sure the “USB debugging” option is enabled/checked.
4. Status bar, USB connection: Make sure “PC Mode” is selected.
5. Open a command prompt (Windows: Start, Run, “cmd”, OK; Linux: Terminal)
6. Run “adb devices”. If you don’t see your device listed under “List of devices attached”, return to step 2 and follow the link to setup ADB (use that topic for support) and return here when “adb devices” lists your X.
7. Run “CD c:\DroidXRoot” (or where ever you expanded the archive)
8. Run “adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/Superuser.apk”
9. Run “adb push su /sdcard/su”
10. Run “adb push busybox /sdcard/busybox”
11. Run “adb push exploid /sqlite_stmt_journals/exploid”
12. Run “adb shell”
13. Run “cd sqlite_stmt_journals”
14. Run “chmod 755 exploid”
15. On your phone, navigate to a screen where you can switch wifi/bluetooth on/off easily (settings, or a home screen with a widget)
16. IMMEDIATELY after executing the next step, toggle wifi or bluetooth off and back on
17. Run “./exploid” and follow directions on screen. Once this completes you’ll be back at a shell prompt.
18. Run “rootshell”. You’ll be prompted for a password.
19. Type in password “secretlol” and press Enter then you are root! (You’ll know because your prompt will now be a “#” instead of “$”)
20. Run “cp /sdcard/Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk”
21. Run “cp /sdcard/su /system/bin/su”
22. Run “cp /sdcard/busybox /system/bin/busybox”
23. Run “chmod 4755 /system/bin/su”
24. Run “chmod 4755 /system/bin/busybox”
25. Run “rm /system/bin/rootshell”
26. Run “exit” to drop from root to a non-root user shell (on phone still)
27. Run “exit” to drop back to your machine command prompt (instead of phone)

All in all, this is a positive step forward, but it really means nothing in regards to unlocking the troublesome bootloader. Whether or not that obstacle is ever overcome will really determine the future of the Droid X’s popularity among Android customization enthusiasts.

You can download the root exploit at the original forum thread, although you must register first.