a few of you expressed some concern about the new beta version of swype that was released yesterday as it appeared that it was missing the "edit" keyboard.  well a few of our amazing readers would like to point out that it's still definitely there!  in fact all you need to do is make a swype from the swype info key over to the "SYM" key and it pops up!

on a side note, are many of you still having issues installing?  try again today as i'm sure they were getting crushed yesterday with massive amounts of users wanting this.

huge thanks to everyone that sent his in!

the main request i've received over the last week has been "can you show us how to install a custom rom?!?" and today i finally had a chance to put a video together.  in this video we chose to use Blackdroid's new Ultimate Droid 5.0 over Bugless Beast, but as i've noted in the video, the installation instructions are the same for both so please after this video, do not ask me to do another video for Bugless.

*warning time* - as always, you are performing these tasks at your own risk.  we are not recommending that you do ANY of these, but simply providing information to you.  there is a chance you could brick your phone or do other permanent damage so please do as much research as you can beforehand.

before we get started - you need to make sure you've rooted your phone.  the best way to do that is by using droidmod1.0 or through this video.  you should also install the droidmod1.0 rom which this video will show you how to do.  after you've completed those 2 steps, you need to download the file below and then it's on to the video or step-by-step instructions...

download: ultimate droid 5.0 (alt link)  (alt link2)

video instructions...


step-by-step instructions...

Nandroid Backup Installation Instructions:
-Update & backup any files you wish to restore, this will wipe /data
-Extract the files from the archive using WinRAR or a similar program
-Place the extracted folder (the ROM) into the "nandroid" folder on your sdcard
-Reboot into recovery mode (hold the power and "x" button at the same time)
-Wipe data/factory reset
-Wipe cache partition
-Backup/Restore
-Advanced Nandroid Restore
-Choose backup (select the ROM) "ultimatedroid5"
-Perform Restore
-Enjoy!

*note 1* update 3/4 -  to get back to stock - in theory you should be able to get back to droidmod1.0 by booting into recovery and choosing one of the nandroid backups that droidmod created during its install.  once you get back to that recovery image, you should then be able to install droidmod1.0 again and revert back to stock.  (any rom pros want to weigh in on that logic?)

*note 2* - for all the support in the world on this rom, visit Blackdroid's running thread here.

*note 3* - metamorph tutorial in the works still.

*note 4* - "will i receive the 2.1 ota official update if i do this?"  answer is "no."

there may be a ton of amazing alternative browsers on the market for android, but come on, aren't we really all just waiting for firefox mobile?  the firefox posse teased everyone with the above photo via facebook yesterday.  sneaky sneaky.

we've had a ton of requests to do a simple motorola droid "tips and tricks" styled video and we finally found a few minutes to step aside and whip one out.  the challenge with this was to put 25 of them into one video under 10 minutes which somehow, we managed to do.  overall, this video is for the newbies, but many of you droid masters could probably learn a couple of things too.

i'm not sure i'll ever be able to talk this fast again...


and feel free to leave your own tips and tricks in the comments!

just wanted to take a quick minute and show motorola droid users how to get access to their stock apps without actually rooting your phone.  what does that mean?  it really just means that you are making your stock apps viewable in your application manager to clear defaults associated with an app or even go as far as force closing one.

those of you who have dealt with the 2.1 launcher not showing up will want to watch this...

you would think that this issue had been fixed now that the motorola droid has been out for 4 months or so, but i still get questions about it almost daily.  users are still struggling to mount their droid to their pc for easy file transfer and it couldn't be more frustrating.  my windows 7 machine never had an issue, but my windows xp machine still doesn't like to recognize a good "mount" (bad joke).

if you are still struggling to mount your droid in windows xp try this out...

1.  On your phone, go to Settings->Applications->Development.
2.  Check the box for “USB debugging” and press “OK”.
3.  Open your Windows Device Manager.
4.  Connect phone via USB cable to PC.
5.  Under “Disk drives” you will see an exclamation mark next to “Motorola A855 USB Device”.
6.  Right click on that drive and click “Uninstall” and then click “OK”.
7.  On your phone pull down your notification bar and select “USB connected”.
8.  “Mount” your phone.
9.  Back to your PC – Right click on “Disk drives” and “Scan for hardware changes”.
10.  Your phone should now be mounted.

you can also try the usb drivers posted at the motorola site which appear to work for some people permanently and others only momentarily.

we've had a lot of chatter lately about "rooting" and "unrooting" your droid and wanted to point out a couple of quick tips that will help you through the process.  last night we posted information about rooting and installing a custom rom which included live wallpapers using the droidmod updater.  we then followed that up with a q&a session from comments people had been leaving which we thought would make your life easier throughout the install.

well one that really stuck out that i want to make sure all of you see is the issue that arises when "unrooting" your device through the DMUpdater.  for those of you like me who are voice search machines, you probably noticed that your voice search microphone no longer existed after unrooting.  don't panic!  there is an easy fix which was pointed out by reader Chris.  (who has been amazing at answering questions for people.  huge thanks goes out to him.)

voice search fix instructions...

1) Go into Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->Menu button->Filter->All
2) Find "com.google.android.voicesearch" and click on it.
3) Click "Uninstall".
4) Reboot your phone.

and that should do it.  if for some reason that does not fix your problem, please let me know.

after posting our droidmod 1.0 experiences last night and including a video of the outcome, we received a ton of questions; many we expected, and a few others we were looking for answers to as well.  so rather than hanging you out to dry, we decided to throw most of the questions from that post into a separate post to act as a q&a session to help you along if you decide to go this route.

if you do not find the answers to certain questions you may have, feel free to ask in the comments or head over to droidmod.org and check out their forums.  they are the experts as this is their work.

*note* - i want to remind you all again that rooting and flashing your droid is incredibly risky and we are not liable if something happens during this process.  we are also not recommending that you do this, but just showing you some of the options you have out there and also how amazing this device truly is.

q:  Do you have step-by-step instructions for using DroidMod 1.0?

a:  You can find them at the DroidMod.org forums here.

q:  Think Flash will work on DroidMod or rooted phones in general right off the bat?

a:  That's a good question. I would say probably not as it'll be built for 2.1, but the developers that work on all these will likely make a fix right away.

q:  Is this still as easy to unroot at sholes? I'm getting tired of waiting for the 2.1 update, and this is looking more and more tempting.

a:  It is as easy. I think the recovery image might be the same exact one.

q:  Does it work on milestone?

a:  As far as I know, it does not. If you have 2.0.1 it might but I suggest going to the DroidMod.org website and asking around.

q:  I have never rooted my droid. What is the possibility of someone bricking their phone doing this.

a:  Pretty unlikely as the process is almost completely automated, but the risk is still there.  Remember that this will also void your warranty.

q:  Is that you in the video or someone else?

a:  That is definitely me and my lovely little phone.

q:  How long does this take?  It seems like the process is frozen.

a:  Be patient, it could take up to 20 minutes to complete although will likely take less than 10.

q:  The Live Wallpapers show up, but will not respond to touch?

a:  You need to install the 2.1 Launcher in order for these to respond to touch.

q:  Are there other Live Wallpapers than the stock ones?

a:  Yes.  Many are available in the market and work without the buggy 2.1 Launcher.

q:  Who created the Live Wallpapers?

a:  Xeudoxus who also created the 2.1 Sense UI Launcher.

q:  Are you noticing any lag or bugs with 2.1 launcher?

a:  Yes.  This is the same version of the Launcher as used before with the same bugs.  Overclocking does help with the lag, but it will still lock up from time to time.

q:  How do you overclock?

a:  There is an app in the market called SetCPU.  After installing, and it asks for your device, select "Autodetect" not "Motorola Droid/Milestone."

q:  So what all do I need to run this mod and then go back to stock?

a:  Download the DroidMod Updater, follow it's instructions on rooting and flashing.  If you do not like what you get, open up the Updater>ROM Menu>Stock 2.0.1 (no root).

 q:  After unrooting, voice search disappeared.  How do I get it back?

a:  Try these steps:

1) Going to Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications -> Menu button -> Filter -> All
2) Find com.google.android.voicesearch (that may not be the exact name but it will look similar...) and click on it
3) Click "Uninstall"
4) Reboot your phone

q:  Will I receive the 2.1 OTA update if I have DroidMod installed?

a:  To my knowledge, no.  When that update rolls out you will have to unroot your device which DroidMod allows you to do.

this is one of those questions we get quite a bit actually. "hey droid life! how the heck do we sync facebook with our contact list?!? only some of them will show up!" and obviously this is a good question as the facebook sync is pretty much the most wishy-washy thing on the planet. (did facebook forget about android? i'd say so.)

fortunately for us this process is pretty simple.  and here we go...

1. open up facebook and go into your "friends."
2. find the friend that you want sync'd.
3. tap on their picture and choose the "contacts" icon.
4. tap your options button and select "edit contact."
5. tap options button again and select "join."
6. if the correct contact is not suggested, tap "show all contacts."
7. choose the contact you want and select "done."
8. bam, that's it!

as always, let me know if you run into any issues with that.

since we just gave you this application to take screen captures with a rooted phone, it probably would have been nice of us to give you an option without rooting right?  luckily we have the greatest readers on the planet and they quickly pointed out this link which gives you the instructions to do just that...

How to take the shots:

1. Download and install the Android SDK. Don’t worry – unlike some SDKs, installing the Android kit is completely straightforward.
2. Enable USB Debugging on the device by going to Settings -> Applications -> Development and checking the proper box.
3. Plug the Android device into the USB port.
4. Find the folder containing the SDK you just installed. The location will vary depending on which operating system you’re using, and where you chose to install it. On all platforms, the folder name should begin with “android-sdk-”. For example, the folder for the current build on OS X is “android-sdk-mac_x86-1.0_r1″
5. Open the tools folder within the Android SDK folder.
6. Double click the file titled “DDMS”. This stands for Dalvik Debug Monitor Service.
7. In DDMS, your device should be listed. Highlight it by clicking on it.
8. In the application’s top menus, go to Device -> Screen capture.

You should be good to go. Use the handset to navigate to whatever screen you want a shot of, press the “Refresh” button to recapture the screen, and once you’ve got it just right, hit the “Save” button. Once you’ve gone through it the first time, the process is actually easier than busting out the point-and-shoot.

thanks andrew!

i've been avoiding this post for quite some time now as this is a subject best left for developers, hackers and people with far more knowledge of the android operating system than myself.  gaining root or superuser access enables you to have complete control of your device which means you can tweak and modify almost anything to your liking.  the possibilities are endless, but the consequences can also be extremely serious.

*warning* - please take this as a warning that if you choose to complete this task that you do so at your own risk and that you will not hold us responsible if you end up "bricking" your phone.  this process is fairly simple, but if you have any hesitations about this, then this may not be for you.  please do not feel pressure to do this.

*note 1* - while we are almost always here for help and support, with this subject you will find the best support in the "droid hacks" section of droidforums.net, in the "droid development" section of alldroid.org, or at rootyourdroid.info.

*note 2* - before gaining root access, i highly recommend that you research every single thing possible such as:  what "rooting" means,  what a nandroid backup is and if/how you can get back to stock.

*note 3* - why am i posting this now?  with 2.1 about to roll out to motorola droid's we have no idea how long it will take before root access is gained to it and your time may be limited to finally gain access with 2.0.1.  while it takes only a few days on certain android versions, we really have no idea.  the next few days might be your last chance.

*note 4* - if you are wondering why you would finally go this route please visit the above sources i've provided.  there are countless reasons that would fill up an entire post.

*note 5* - !noitnetta gniyap llits era uoy fi gniees tsuj - yeah that's backwards.

how to "root" your motorola droid:

the instructions...

1.  connect your droid to a pc via usb cable and "mount" your sd card.
2.  download this file to your pc:  update.zip (alt link)
3.  once you are finished downloading, drag the file into the root folder of your sd card.  (root folder is the main folder that opens up when your phone is mounted.)
4.  unmount your droid.
5.  power off your droid.
6.  hold the "X" key down and press the power button.  (do not let go of the "X" key.)
7.  when an exclamation mark appears, you can let go of the "X" key.
8.  hold "volume up" and press the camera button.
9.  using the d-pad move to "apply sdcard:update.zip" and press the gold button in the middle of the d-pad.
10.  the update will begin and should take less than a minute.
11.  once finished, navigate to "reboot system now" and your phone will restart.
12.  you have now rooted your phone.

you sure you have "root" access?  to make sure you have completed this process successfully, open your app drawer and look for an icon that resembles a ninja and is called "superuser permissions."  if this exists, you have successfully rooted your device.  congrats.

*root note 1* - if you open the superuser permissions app, it will be a blank black screen.  this is normal and just shows that you have no root-specific apps installed or no other permissions created.

*root note 2* - if you want step-by-step instructions which include pictures and far more detail, check out big lou's version at rootyourdroid.info.

*root note 3* - if you do not enable an ota blocker, you will still receive the 2.1 ota update.  once you receive this update your device should become "unrooted" automatically.

like i said previously, i hate to abandon support on this, but i am by no means an expert at rooting and feel you will find much better support at the sites i have listed above.

so you know, i rooted last night, created a nandroid backup, and returned back to stock in about an hours time.  the process has been spelled out all over the internet and can be done, but make sure you know why you are doing it.

if you decide to go this route, good luck and let me know how it turns out!

we've had various readers come to us while experiencing sync issues with gmail on their droid phone. they apparently have been forced to manually sync rather than use the phone's awesome auto-sync feature.  our first look was obviously to make sure they had "background data" and "auto-sync" checked in accounts and sync settings which they had.  and then also made sure that if they clicked on the particular gmail account in question, that the "sync gmail" box was checked which it was.

and then we discovered this handy little trick...

Go to menu -> Settings -> Applications -> Manage Applications.

Then click menu -> Filter -> All.

Scroll down until you see the Gmail and Gmail Storage. Click both of these and select clear data.

The phone will then resync with Gmail and all should be well.

let me know if you are still having gmail sync issues after this tip, but this should do the trick!