Tag Archives: Motorola RAZR Maxx

[Tutorial] Rooting and Installing Cyanogenmod 10.2 w/ Google Apps on the Droid RAZR Maxx

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Check out my new tutorial for upgrading to Cyanogenmod 11! http://jackstromberg.com/2013/12/tutorial-rooting-and-installing-cyanogenmod-11-android-4-4-kitkat-w-google-apps-on-the-droid-razr-maxx/

Here are my notes on rooting and installing Cyanogenmod 10.2 on my Motorola RAZR Maxx.

By reading this, you are agreeing that I take no responsibility for what you do with your phone, nor will send me angry emails saying I janked your phone.

  1. Enable USB debugging
    1. Settings->Developer Options->Enable Developer options at the top-> (Hit ok on the notification asking for Allow development settings)->Check USB debugging (Click OK on the Allow USB debugging? dialog).
  2. Download a copy of latest build of Cyanogenmod
    1. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Spyder_Info
    2. I am going to live on the edge and install a nightly to get to 10.2.  If you don't want bugs, use a stable version.
    3. Notes: I found a pretty sweet page that lists the nightly changes to the rom.  If you are curious, you can view the nightly changes here: http://10.2.cmxlog.com/?device=xt907
  3. Download a copy of Google Apps
    1. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Gapps
    2. By default, Cyanogenmod cannot ship with Google Apps by default, so these will need to be installed manually.  Without these, you will not have Google Play, Music, Maps, etc.  In this case, grab a copy of gApps for 10.2.
  4. Download a copy of RazrBlade, which we will use to exploit the phone and gain root access:
    1. http://cmw.cmfs.me/razrblade/razr_blade_win.zip
  5. Extract the files of the razr_blade_win.zip archieve.
  6. If you are running windows, download a copy of the Motorola drivers to connect your phone.
    1. Motorola x86 drivers: http://goo.im/devs/Hashcode/moto_root/Motorola_End_User_Driver_Installation_5.9.0_32bit.msi
      Motorola x64 drivers: http://goo.im/devs/Hashcode/moto_root/Motorola_End_User_Driver_Installation_5.9.0_64bit.msi
  7. Run through the Motorola driver installation if you are running windows.
  8. Plug your phone in to your machine
  9. Navigate back to the files you extracted, right click Run.bat, run as Administrator
    1. If you are on Linux, execute RootLinux.sh and if you are on Mac OS, execute RootMac.sh
  10. Press any key to continue
    Razr Blade - Phase 1
  11. Once your phone has completed phase one (which ends up with a reboot of the phone), complete the following tasks on your phone
    1. Click Apps->SmartActions->Get Started->Next->Battery Saver->Save->Home button
  12. Press any key to continue with "Phase two"
    Razr Blade - Phase 2

    1. Your phone will reboot again
    2. Phase four will start
    3. Your phone will reboot again
  13. After phase four completes, you should be notified the phone has been rooted.
    1. Phase 3 & 4
      Notes: I received some permission errors the first time I ran through this (as shown in the picture above).  I ended up rebooting the phone, making sure I had the latest version of SmartActions and then reran the batch file.  After that, I was able to successfully get the Superuser program (which we talk about next) to run.
  14. Next, grab a copy of Superuser.apk (included inside the razr_blade zip file) and copy it over to the SD card.
  15. At this time, copy over the cyanogenmod zipped file you downloaded earlier.  Throw it on the root of your SD card.
  16. Copy over the gApps zip file we downloaded earlier and throw that on the root of your SD card as well.
  17. Disconnect the phone from the computer and install the SuperUser application.  Apps->Files->SD Card->Superuser.apk, Install, Open.  If it asks to update, go ahead and allow it to update the binaries.
  18. Next, grab a copy of SafeStrap.  We will use this as the bootstrap to flash your phone to Cyanogenmod as well as provide an easy way to switch between different ROMs.
    1. http://goo.im/devs/Hashcode/spyder/safestrap//Safestrap-Spyder-3.63.apk
  19. Copy the file over to your phone
  20. Apps->Files->SD card->Safestrap-RAZR-D4-BIO-3.11.apk->Package installer->Install->Open
  21. Hit Ok when prompted for superuser privileges, and then select Agree.
  22. Once inside the Safestrap application, click Install Recovery.
    1. Once installed, you should see the Recovery State say Installed
  23. Reboot your phone
  24. When you see the Safestrap splash screen, hit the Menu button on your phone.
  25. Once you have hit the Menu button, there will be a brief delay where you screen goes black and then redirects you to one with a couple of big buttons.  Push the button labeled Boot Options.
  26. Push the ROM-Slot-1 button.
  27. Select the size of your data store (I used 3GB, couldn't find any documentation on what that actually does), and then hit Activate.
  28. Once it is done doing its shindig, hit the back button twice to get to the screen that shows Boot Options, Install, Backup, Restore, Mount, Wipe, Advanced, and Reboot.
  29. Push the Install button.
    1. Note, if the Install button is Red, you are going to override your stock ROM.  Make sure that you have activated ROM-Slot-1 before proceeding.
  30. Scroll down and select the Cyanogenmod zip file you copied to the SD card earlier.
  31. Swipe the "Swipe to Confirm Flash" area to begin flashing your phone with Cyanogenmod.
  32. Once done, it should say Successful in blue text.  Hit the Wipe cache/dalvik button.
    1. Swipe the Swipe to Wipe area (lol)
  33. Hit the Back button.
  34. Hit the Reboot System button.
  35. At this point, you should be greeted by the Cyanogenmod welcome screen upon boot.  I opted out of the Cyangenmod account and decided to continue on.
  36. Next, we need to install Google Apps on the phone.  To do this, reboot the phone and press the Menu button when you see the SafeStrap splash screen.
    1. Note, Google Apps are totally optional.  If you want to roll with Stock Cyanogenmod and manually install apps via their APK files for ultra security, that is totally cool.
  37. Hit the Install button.
  38. Select the gApps zip file from your SD card
  39. Swipe the Swipe to Confirm Flash area
  40. Once the apps have been successfully installed, hit the Wipe cache/dalvik button.
  41. Swipe the Swipe to Wipe area
  42. Hit the Back button
  43. Hit the Reboot System button
  44. Once you are greeted by a "Allow Google's location service to collect anonymous location data." prompt, you will know you have successfully installed the Google apps! 😛

That should do it!  Enjoy Cyanogenmod 10.2! 🙂

P.S. Here is the official Cyanogenmod info page for the Motorola Droid RAZR/RAZR MAXX (CDMA)
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Spyder_Info