[Xoom Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hchxoom:
cwm before root, because you need to flash a new recovery to root and flash a new ROM. I'm a noob, too, and just figuring this out myself, but think I am explaining this right.

one of the many guides I reviewed was by steady Hawkins (now part of team tiamat) over on xoomforums... partly pasted below... I actually rooted using the older files and images he references, then upgraded cwm to 3.2 then flashed tiamat 2.0... probably more steps than necessary, but these were the clearest directions and by going through several rounds of flashing I learned a good bit about the process.

Prerequisites:

1) Copy whatever you want to retain, your device will wipe when it unlocks 2) You must have SDK/ADB set up, for instructions please see- Setting up ADB on Windows 7 64 bit (and other Windows platforms) 3) Open SDK and copy all of the files inside of tools folder and paste them inside of platform-tools folder. Vice versa will work as well. If it asks you if you want to replace files select no. The folder you paste these files into will be the folder you will run ADB commands from. 4) Download the files from the link below. Place recovery.img in the file you will run commands from in ADB. ***Wifi-Only Users***- manually put the System and bootloader zips files onto a sdcard card and insert card into xoom. ***3G/4G Users***- manually put the System, bootloader, and 3G fix zips onto a sdcard and insert card into xoom.

Downloads:

Recovery- http://db.tt/GXNxZkF System- 3.1 System - Downloads - Android Forum Bootloader- Bootloader Patch - Downloads - Android Forum 3G Fix- 3G Fix for 3.1 - Downloads - Android Forum

Notes:

In the following two sections you will see red text. This text represents the command that needs to be entered in ADB/Command Prompt. After each command press enter and wait for your computer to push the info to your Xoom. When you see the next command line come up you are ok to enter the next command. You can copy and paste the commands if you would like.

1) To start the process place your Xoom into USB debugging mode. This is done by going to settings, applications, development, and checking the box next to USB Debugging. 2) Plug your Xoom into your computer, open your command prompt (with the path set to the correct folder) and type adb devices 3) If you get a string of numbers your good to proceed, if not refer back to Setting up ADB on Windows 7 64 bit (and other Windows platforms) to see where you went wrong.

Unlocking:

adb reboot bootloader Xoom will reboot into a screen with text on the upper left corner. While you are on this screen enter the following fastboot oem unlock A bunch of text will appear and you will need to use the down volume rocker to select yes, followed by volume up to confirm Xoom will then wipe, reboot, and your back up and running. At this point you will need to go back and re-enable USB debugging

Flash Recovery Img:

Make sure Xoom is connected to computer. Test connection by running adb devices if you get the string of numbers proceed.

Rename the Recovery img you downloaded ~~~> recovery.img

adb reboot bootloader Xoom will reboot into a screen with text on the upper left corner. While you are on this screen enter the following fastboot flash recovery recovery.img Wait for it to finish, then read the below note before you enter the next command!!!!!!!!! fastboot reboot ***As soon as you enter the "fastboot reboot" command in the previous step, your device will reboot. You have to boot into recovery right away or your Xoom will reflash the stock recovery over the custom recovery you just flashed. Follow these next steps very carefully-

a. When you see the Motorola logo appear, wait approximately 3 seconds. b. Tap the Volume Down button. You should see the words "Android Recovery" appear at the top of the screen. Now tap the Volume Up button to boot into recovery. c. If when attempting to boot into recovery it says 'Starting Fastboot protocol support' then you hit Volume Down too soon. Hold Vol UP + Power to reboot and try again.

Root Time:

***For the following use the volume rocker to move the selector up and down, use the power button to select***

1)Select wipe data/factory reset and confirm 2)Select install zip from SD and confirm 3)Select the system file and confirm After it loads select install zip from SD again and confirm 4)Select the bootloader file and confirm

***3G USERS ONLY- Select 3G fix and confirm***

5)Select Reboot and confirm

At this point Xoom will reboot. Please note the first boot will take a while. After it boots up you will be rooted and you should have SDsupport!

Root info:

To ensure that you are rooted download Terminal Emulator from the market (its free). Open it and type su followed by pressing enter. On the next line you should see #. If you do your dialed in.

To view your SDcard use a file manager program such as Root Explorer. Your sdcard will be located in /sdcard/external.

Big thanks to Bigrushdog for the imgs!!!!!