[Droid 2 General] robkermit:
Hi everyone,

Recently, a friend gave me my first Droid phone. It is a Droid2 A955 which had 2.3.20, and a cracked digitizer. My intentions were to get this device functional and rooted before replacing the digitizer. Well, like a tard, I let the device update to 2.3.4, and like an even bigger tard, I attempted to load the 2.3.3 SBF without doing my research first. Oops. Wait, scratch that. Big oops.

Now I am sure all of you know what the end result of that was, and you don't have to rub my head in the sand over it because I've been doing that for about a day now myself!!!

Either way, I have found someone who is willing to sell me their "went to collections" Droid2, with accessories, extra battery, and whatnot for around $50.. Their Droid2 already has Gingerbread 2.3.3 on it. I got him to give me the MEID, and I changed the MEID through VZW site on my "spare phone", and had him *22899 to OTA. All was successful, so it is free and clear for me to immediately activate and start using.

Here is what I need to know before I go messing with this phone, because I definitely can't afford to FF the bits on this phone up, especially when I'm having to pay for it, if you know what I mean!

1. From research, Droid 2 Gingerbread 2.3.3 can be rooted. How complex of a task is it? In fact, exactly what does "root" allow one to do? About the only real goal I have is to sparingly tether my laptop via wifi without having to sacrifice my soul to Verizon each month.

2. I understand that this phone will "nag" you to 2.3.4 and will automagically do the update if you don't stop it in 30 seconds, very much like my Droid2 did. What can I do to permanently disable the 2.3.4 update check once I have this functioning 2.3.3?

3. There is supposedly an "X" button that you push with the power button to enter RECOVERY MODE... Just what, exactly, is the "X" key?

I don't want another repeat of the D2.3.7 MEM_BLANK screen.

Actually, playing around, I was able to take the D2.3.7 down to D2.3.5, but unfortunately it still refused to take the stock Froyo flash or the 2.3.3. Is there earlier "bootloaders" SBF's out there that can be loaded into the Droid that *maybe* will allow us to unbrick them? When the memory is blank (according to MEM_BLANK), what is preventing the phone from committing the flash?? Mine stops at 99% and cries about something dealing with "BP". As if the bootloader is refusing to commit the flash to ROM after being uploaded into the phone's RAM.

Either way the Bootloader Screen displays Battery Low, so I'm spent trying to revive this device until I get the other one from my friend tomorrow.

I don't understand what is part of this Bootloader that is preventing us from fixing this. Better yet, I can't understand how Motorola would do such a shameful act of sabotage against their customers. I've been a hardcore Motorola fan since the StarTac/TimePort days, and Motorola has always been my #1 phone of choice. Not just because of its stability and reliability, but how easy they are to "monster flash" back to factory when things go crazy. Maybe I should just stick with my Razr MAXX and be a happy little boy.

I have noticed the 2.3.4 Gingerbread has been leaked for the Droid2 Global. It is not compatible with the regular Droid 2, unfortunately, and I hope that enough people are interested in restoring these bricks that some solution is released to bring them back to life.

I am reading that people are taking "backup repair" ROM's and storing them to the MicroSD card, and successfully wiping .621 from the device and reverting to a previous version. What is the odds of getting a "backup rom" from a 2.3.3 Gingerbread, or whatever device, and using that backup to unbrick the bricked pones because of .621? I don't know, because my experience with the Droid involved about 3 hours before I was at the Bootloader error screen. LMAO!

I am just trying to throw some ideas out there, because, the last time I flashed firmware on a phone, it was the Motorola V710, E815, RAZR, RAZR MAXX, v325(i), and a slew of LG's. The last "Smartphone" I flashed was the XV6700 (that WM5 phone was hilarious with the Apache WM6.0 code on it). So, as you can tell, I'm a little behind on the times, but I'm not too far behind you guys. :)

I thought about calling and complaining that this update "screwed my phone up" but I am also concerned if I have to return the core of this phone, and they see how bad the digitizer is in, I'm going to get a heaping bill. Either way it worked fine with the cracked digitizer, it was ultimately their software that crashed the device. Guess I could order and replace the digitizer and get them to replace it, but I'm not 100% positive they would still replace the device since it's technically not "under warranty." May be one of those "I'm out of contract you make this right or US Cellular is opening us with open arms"....

PS-- I used to be a VZW Customer Support/Service Techican. Back in my day we could get whatever firmware we needed through NetAce from "InfoCenter", not just for Moto phones, but LG and all the other devices as well. On some "returns" we had no choice but to do a factory "Monster Flash" in order to rid of the previous customer's data and bring the phone back to virgin status. I don't know how things are inside the Tech's office these days, though. Maybe I should call my Service Techs who still have jobs and see what they can do (I prefer not to get them involved because I don't want them risking their job).

I've also replaced many of the digitizers in these Droid 2's for my friends. They're a pain in the @$$, but retail on these puppies aren't exactly cheap, either.

Any advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. Also, please be honest with me. Don't sugarcoat ****. If you guys don't think this phone is going to work right under "root" conditions with 2.3.3, or the phone simply isn't worth $50, please let me know!

Thank all of you!