Motorola Defy: Full Update Guide

This guide will walk you through the process of taking the Motorola Defy from stock to having a custom recovery image and the ability to flash the latest version of CyanogenMod.

Contents 1 Before you do anything — Make a backup 2 Rooting the Motorola Defy 3 Installing bootmenu & the ClockworkMod Recovery 4 Flashing CyanogenMod 4.1 Method via Recovery 4.2 Method via ROM Manager

Before you do anything — Make a backup

Don't forget to back up your data. If you have synced the device with a Google account, then the contacts, calendar, Gmail, & select other Google-related data will not be lost and will come back after the next sync. However, you should backup anything you want to keep that is not stored on the SD card:

• SMS/MMS messages,
• Call Log,
• Bookmarks,
• Applications; use Titanium Backup or the Astro File Manager, for example,
• Any application data not on the SD card.

It would also be a good idea to backup everything stored on the SD card in the rare case the SD card must be formatted to resolve any major problems.

MyBackup Root, SMS Backup & Restore, and Call Backup & Restore are all free applications that can assist with backing up your data.

NOTE: If your contacts are only in MotoBlur, you will have to backup them to something else. It's recommended to transfer them to a Google Account, due that would the easiest to restore the contacts on the Motorola Defy after flashing CyanogenMod.

Rooting the Motorola Defy

1. You will need ADB on the computer to root the Motorola Defy. Follow the Android SDK guide, to get the ADB shell on the computer.
2. Download rageagainstthecage-arm5, the Motorola Drivers & the Superuser package:
   • rageagainstthecage-arm5: Download

     md5: bfa28d457b54508326ab55d11399c586

   • Superuser package: Download

     md5: f17fe359a527f60b272066946ede27b9

   • Windows Only: Motorola 5.4.0 device drivers: Download
3. Windows Only: Install the Motorola device drivers.
4. Unzip rageagainstinthecage-arm5 & the Superuser package to the same folder as adb (the /platform-tools folder within the Android SDK folder).
5. Connect the Motorola Defy to the computer via USB.
6. On the computer, open terminal and run the following commands:

   adb push rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin /data/local/tmp/

   adb shell

   chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin

   /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin

7. Once the exploit finishes, in terminal, run the following commands:

   exit

   adb kill-server

   adb start-server

   adb shell

   NOTE: You should see a "#". If you see a "$", then the exploit didn't work, please repeat steps 6.

   mount -o rw,remount /system

   exit

   adb push su /system/xbin/

   adb shell chmod 4755 /system/xbin/su

   adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/

8. The Motorola Defy is now rooted, please continue to the next section.

Installing bootmenu & the ClockworkMod Recovery

If the Motorola Defy already has bootmenu & the ClockworkMod Recovery installed, you may skip this section.

1. You will need ADB on the computer to install bootmenu the Motorola Defy. Follow the Android SDK guide, to get the ADB shell on the computer.
2. Download the latest version of bootmenu (includes the latest version of the ClockworkMod Recovery):
   • bootmenu 0.6.1: Download

     md5: 33e0f340350f1c12fdda394a07c4e529

3. Unzip the bootmenu package into a folder called bootmenu & copy this folder to the root of the SD card.
4. Connect the Motorola Defy to the computer via USB.
5. On the computer, open terminal and run the following commands:

   adb shell

   su

   cp -R /sdcard/bootmenu /data/bootmenu

   cd /data/bootmenu

   chmod 755 *

   ./install.sh

   rm -R /data/bootmenu

6. Bootmenu is now installed on the Motorola Defy. See Motorola Defy: bootmenu, on more info on booting into & using bootmenu.

Flashing CyanogenMod

Method via Recovery

1. Download the latest version of CyanogenMod.

   Optional: Download the Google Apps for the device.

2. Place the CyanogenMod update.zip file on the root of the SD card.

   Optional: Place the Google Apps .zip on the root of the SD card also.

3. Boot into the ClockworkMod Recovery.
4. Once the device boots into the ClockworkMod Recovery, use the side volume buttons to move around, and either the power button or the trackball to select.

   Optional: Select backup and restore to create a backup of current installation on the Motorola Defy.

5. Select the option to Wipe data/factory reset.
6. Then select the option to Wipe cache partition.
7. Select Install zip from sdcard.
8. Select Choose zip from sdcard.
9. Select the CyanogenMod update.zip.

   Optional: Install the Google Apps by performing steps 7 - 9 again and choosing the Google Apps update.zip.

10. Once the installation has finished, select +++++Go Back+++++ to get back to the main menu, and select the Reboot system now option. The Motorola Defy should now boot into CyanogenMod.

Method via ROM Manager

1. Launch RomManager.

   Optional: Choose the first option in the app, Flash ClockworkMod Recovery to update to the latest version.

2. Select the Download ROM option from the main menu in the ROM Manager.
3. Select the CyanogenMod option, and then choose the latest version of CyanogenMod from the menu.

   Optional: When you select the latest version of CyanogenMod, check the Google Apps option.

4. Once the ROM is finished downloading, it asks if you would like to Backup Existing ROM and Wipe Data and Cache.
5. If Superuser prompts for root permissions check to Remember and then Allow.
6. The Motorola Defy will now reboot into the recovery, wipe data and cache, and then install CyanogenMod. When it's finished installing it will reboot into CyanogenMod.