[Instructions] How To Root The Verizon Samsung Droid Charge

Neither z4root nor SuperOneClick is currently working on the Charge (though I'm sure someone will come up with a one-click method soon enough), but guess what - Gingerbreak sure does. Follow these instructions, and you should have root and full /system unlock on your Droid Charge in a few minutes. Credit goes to the Exploid Crew and unnamed testers.

No custom recovery, such as ClockworkMod or RA, is available yet, but it is surely going to arrive very soon.

Pros

Permanent root
Read/write access to /system
The bootloader is factory unlocked, so no additional fiddling is required
All Droid Charges survived testing
No data wipe is needed

Cons

Voids warranty
Could brick your phone if you aren't careful

Android Police and Team AndIRC disclaim all liability for any harm that may befall your device, including, but not limited to: bricked phones, voided manufacturer warranties, exploding batteries, etc.

The instructions below assume you already have a strong familiarity with adb command lines.

The instructions were created using Linux, but should work the same way on Windows, Mac, etc. You may require additional USB drivers on Windows - check with Samsung and Verizon if you can't see the phone in adb.

If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

Rooting Explained + Top 5 Benefits Of Rooting
Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About: Part 1 (Apps 1-8),Part 2 (Apps 9-16), Part 3 (Apps 17-25)
Custom ROMs Explained And Why You Want Them

Step 1

Download the zip archive containing the exploit and other needed files (MD5: c6f2f4119f4a640571c3ab50c3287aae).

Step 2

Unpack the downloaded zip - you should now have 3 files:

GingerBreak
su
Superuser.apk (Update: use the one off the market instead of this one)

Step 3

Enable USB debugging on your phone - go to Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging and put a checkbox there.

Step 4

Push the files to the phone:

adb push GingerBreak /data/local/
adb push su /data/local/

Step 5

Gain root (this can take upwards of 10 minutes, and if it fails, reboot and try again):

adb shell

Now the shell should display "$".

Run:

/data/local/GingerBreak

At this point, the shell should display "#".

Step 6

When your prompt changes from $ to #, you have temp root. Now let's make it a permanent root:

At this point, the shell should display "#".

Run:

mount -o remount,rw -t rfs /dev/block/stl10 /system
cat /data/local/su > /system/xbin/su
chown 0:0 /system/xbin/su
chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su
reboot

Now install SuperUser off the market. Your Charge should now reboot. Enjoy permanent root!

If you have a problem, and need to run GingerBreak a second time, delete the tmp files by running:

adb shell rm /data/local/tmp/*

If you have questions, use our webchat or go to irc.andirc.net and join #charge.

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