[Other SmartWatches] Powers88:
Hopefully Better Instructions

UPDATE: Jay4255 (aka Gnu4Lyfe) has updated his program since I wrote this, it adds more features so I would recommend searching this thread for the most up to date information.

To try and alleviate more heartbreak from people not understanding the instructions. I will post my own version of what I did following CMW's instructions and what helped me, also tips on how to not brick the device and have to return it like my friend did :P

Credit goes to Andrew for buying the watch and letting me brick it, returning it the next day and having a successful Round 2 with it.

CMW for rooting it and Gnu4Lyfe for posting his zip file.

THE PREREQUISITES:

1. You need ADB and Fastboot for these commands so make sure you have them installed on your computer. Someone who's smarter then me can correct me if i'm wrong but if its not installed on your computer I believe you can download Gnu4lyfe's MOTOACTV.zip file which has adb and fastboot files in it and when you get to the fastboot/adb parts in the command console type "cd (the directory to where you unzipped the motoactv.zip file to)"

Example: (from the command prompt)

"cd C:/Motoactv/adb"

2. You need to ensure that the watch is charged to a maximum possible level so as to ensure that it doesn’t get turned Off in the middle of rooting update.

3. Ensure that you are on the 4.55.78 version firmware version which you can check from your Moto Actv device from About section from the Settings.

4. If you have data on the device it will be erased during this process so if you want to keep it be sure to sync it with Moto Sync.

5. Note that from what I have read this method is ONLY for the 8GB model

HOW TO ROOT THE MOTOACTV:

Download the Motorola Actv Firmware Boot.img (attached, have to unzip it)

Turn off the watch so you can put it into fastboot mode

If the watch is connected to your computer disconnect it

While the watch is off hold the POWER key and START key for 3 seconds and release them at the same time to make the watch enter fastboot mode. If it powers on like normal, turn it off and try again.

Once into fastboot mode, connect the Moto ACTV to the computer using the original USB cable that it came with.

Now you must open a command prompt window, to do this hold the windows key + "R", this will open up the Run window. From there just type cmd and it will open a command prompt window.

If you need to, cd to your adb folder now. Once you've done that, in the command prompt window type "fastboot devices"

If your device shows up under there then we are ready to begin. If not then you most likely need to install the drivers which usually auto install once connected.

In the command prompt window, type

"fastboot flash boot boot.img"

(boot.img being the directory to where you have downloaded the boot.img)

Example if you have it saved to the root of drive C:

"fastboot flash boot C:/boot.img"

Assuming all went well and no errors were thrown, type in

"fastboot reboot"

This will reboot your device with the vulnerable boot.img

Now we can root the device. The easiest way is to download SuperOneClick Root app, do a google search and it should be the first thing to pop up.

Download and unzip SuperOneClick Root and run the program

On the right side of the program where it says exploit change it to Zergrush

Hit root and let the program do its magic and if all goes well your device should now be rooted.

Now that's that we need to make a backup of your system.img and also userdata.img. Gnu4Lyfe has been kind enough to make a batch file, available just a couple posts above this, that will do all the code work for you so go ahead and download his Motoactv.zip, unzip it and run the Start.bat

Gnu's program should pop up, from there type "1" to get to the backup menu and then "3" to backup the system.img and userdata.img

Gnu has also been kind enough to automate remapping the keys and installing custom launchers amongst other things.

Go ahead and fiddle with your new smart watch now, impress your friends. My fiend left all the stock MotoActv apps on there and is able to switch between a normal android launcher and the MotoActv launcher and is still able to get notifications from his phone. Hope this helps.

FAQ

I removed my launcher and now my screen is blank.

This is where me and my friend went wrong. If you are following the original instructions by CMW and get to the part about "cp Launcher2.apk" and "rm Launcher2.apk" and you have not loaded on another Launcher yet your screen will go black because the two commands you just ran were to copy the Launcher2 to the MotoACTV's sdcard and then to uninstall it. DO NOT RESTART YOUR DEVICE, a simple fix is to pull the Launcher2.apk from the sdcard and then adb install it. The commands look like this

"adb pull /sdcard/Launcher2.apk Launcher2.apk"

"adb install Launcher2.apk"

What if I removed my launcher and don't have a backup?

No worries, I have attached the original launcher to this post.

I removed my launcher and turned off my device and now it boot loops.

If you followed this set of directions instead of CMW you should be fine because we made a backup of your userdata.img. Boot your watch into fastboot mode and then you can use Gnu's MotoACTV program to restore your userdata.img. or if you want to do it yourself you can type

"fastboot flash userdata userdata.img"

when its done "fastboot reboot" to get your watch out of fastboot mode

I have attached the boot.img and the stock MotoACTV launcher for those who may need it.