How To: Root the Motorola CLIQ (Updated 04.09.10)

I. Download and Install the Motorola Drivers

1. Download and Install the Motorola Drivers:

Windows 32 bit
Windows 64 bit

II. Set up the SDK/ADB if you haven’t already.

Use our How To Setup ADB procedure and then come back to this once you are done and can see the serial number.

*Make sure you do the step in the ADB procedure (On your phone, click Settings > Applications > Development and make sure USB Debugging is on.)

III. Flash the Rooted Update

1. Download the update and save it somewhere on your computer.

Rooting Update

2. Plug in your phone via USB cable.

3. Mount the SD card so we can transfer files to it.

4. Save the update.zip file you just downloaded it to the root of the sd card (NOT in any folders, just on the SD card itself). Once it is done transferring, leave the phone plugged in to the computer.

5. Turn the phone off

6. Turn the phone back on by holding down Camera and Power (keep holding it until it tells you to stop). Then press volume down to get into recovery.

7. Hit Alt L to bring up the menu. Then select Apply Update and wait for it to flash. Click reboot device.

8. NOW, GOTO THE HOW TO LOAD A CUSTOM ROM PROCEDURE AND FLASH A CUSTOM ROM TO GAIN FULL ROOT ACCESS! (FLASHING A NEW CUSTOM ROM WILL ALSO FIX YOUR KEYS BEING MAPPED WRONG!)

Thanks HandlerExploit!

275 thoughts on “How To: Root the Motorola CLIQ (Updated 04.09.10)”

  1. yooo im super JAcked about this root! but prob more jacked about the fact that it was all dun by a guy who shares the name of my FAV F!@#in movie !!!! dude mind if i burn a jay hahahhaha nice

  2. oh happy days are almost here.
    one problem. i did the first part and made sure i could see the serial # through the command promp. My problem comes when i use RSD. ive installed and reinstalled the RSD lite and the drivers multiple times without a change. It reads the SHX file fine, but it never ever finds my moto cliq. Ive installed all the files you have pointed to. Do you know why it might be doing this, or what the work-around might be?
    Thanks for your time!

  3. Yes, RSD doesn’t recongizne my CLIQ for some reason. ADB is working fine. The drivers that you have on this page is for Vista x86, we need 64-bit drivers, I think. I’ll open the shx file and click start but nothing happens? Any help? Thanks.

  4. Anyone who is having problems with your cliq being recognized do the following:

    1. Disconnect your cliq and power it off
    2. Right click RSD, go to properties and choose run as administrator.
    3.Open RSD
    4.Hold the Menu button on your cliq then plug it in to your computer.you should get a blue bootloader screen.
    5.RSD should now show your phone and you can resume the process

    1. i have a problem with rsd lite i download everything to unroot my phone the files and it reconized my phone but when i click start is says wait for tci and try again help please

  5. im running vista 32bit, so thats not an issue for me. tried everything. i guess ill just go to work with a non-rooted phone.. 🙁

  6. Nice but i just wait for the one click procedure. I know somebody will figure it out. Thanks for the info Theunlockr. Merry christmas.

  7. LOVE THE TUTORIAL! I have followed everything though and still no root access… 🙁

    WE NEED TUTORIAL VIDEO!!!! please 🙂 Im better with a visual set of instructions…

  8. Now that this phone is rooted, I wonder how long it will take before we get new versions of this phone’s ROM that get all the gadgets working. I think this phone has one of the best User Interfaces with the integrated social sites and contacts.
    Merry Christmas, Everyone!

  9. What do you do if you have a MAC for SDK? It says to save as androidsdk in drive C:…. but Mac’s don’t have a C drive…

    Thanks TheUnlockr!

  10. rooted! thanks for the help. Now i get to go reinstall and recustomize everything i just finally got where i wanted it… lol
    cant wait for what the community can do w/ this phone.

  11. sooooo mad it is 2010 and my cliq is not rooted. i did everything and all the root applications dont work on my cliq

  12. I’m having a hard time 🙁 and I followed all instructions piece by piece…help! I’m running Windows Vista..

  13. So I was having trouble for a while. What I did was look thru all the files I downloaded and found out that since I had to track down a RSDlite that I got the 4.5.3 version. As soon as I downloaded 4.5.7 everything went perfectly. At 5AM this morning I install all the apps and drivers. I went into cmd and activated adb.exe and my device came up. I started RSDlite and I got an error when i clicked start. So I upluged the usb cable pluged it back in. Double checked with the adb command and got the ok. reopened RSDlite and saw my phone. selected it with the new firmware. clicked start and success. Superuser went smoothly and by 5:30AM I was running a fully rooted Motorola Cliq.

  14. i am gonna sell my cliq on cl. no 1 care for the cliq. no roms. so whats the point that i have root. if i dont have ap2sd or wifi tether. the nexus it just came out and there is a rom. and i think my g1 works really nice. so i dont need the cliq.

  15. ok so on rsd it recognizes my phone but for some reason it doesn’t recognize the .shx file. because of this im not able to hit start. what do i do?

  16. okay everythings fine but when i get into RSD Lite it sees my phone but i add the SHX file and start is greyed out. everywhere i look no one has this happen and i dont now what to do. i cant hit start! ahhh! i wanna overclock my phone!

  17. i can not for the life on me get the rsd to let me run as admin, ive done everything i possiblly can and it will not work at all….. please help me please…….

  18. wes! I’m having the same problem as you! It sees the Cliq, but my start button remains greyed out! What are we gunna do?!

  19. just rooted my cliq and now the android market will not download any apps! keeps displaying ” download error” , “download was unsuccessful, please try again”. the phone wont download anything from the market! Any suggestions?

  20. chris ….. get a nexus… the cliq dont work. i cant use mine when is charging.. it gos crazy

    oscar just try it,,,,,,,,,

    and for who cant get rsd lite to work dont worry anyways after you root the cliq all you will be able to do is use rooted applications. so whats the point to root it if no roms yet.

  21. Hey I followed all the steps no problem, it worked perfectly the first time. After next time I turned phone completely off though I hit a boot loop. I know it’s nothing I did wrong because I double and triple checked each step, and am very computer savvy. Anyways I had to hard reset… do I just follow the last steps (from Numeral “IV” on) to go back to where I was before? It still has the flashed SHX on it, as it says in about phone. Just no superuser. Also any ideas for why the boot loop?

  22. adb shell chmod 4755 /system/bin/su (is what i meant to paste in) i unplugged my phone and made sure it has debugging on and restarted it all, still doesnt seem to work at the prompt

  23. andrew push super user using cmd …. i was having the same problem. and now i do like my cliq alot. i have wifitether and runing a really fast rom.

  24. cd\
    cd AndroidSDK\tools
    adb remount
    adb push c:\bin/su /system/bin
    adb shell chmod 4755 /system/bin/su
    adb uninstall koushikdutta.superuser
    adb install c:\bin/Superuser.apk

    this is to push superuser.

  25. TheUnlockr,

    Yea, i figured, haha. Everything went ok until when i loaded the RSD, it connected, my phone rebooted with the blue screen, Then the phone was like when i took it out of the box, i had to reset the time and put in my account. However, it wouldnt let me go on, it says something’s wrong with my clock? =[ Did i do something wrong? Now my phone’s not working… it turns on though, so im pretty sure its not bricked

  26. I’m having the same problem chris had my phone finished the update and then went to the setup screen and it says there is a problem with the clock and to contact customer service. The clock is set at dec 1, 1969 and 6a.. andhelp would be appreciated..

    Devildogg2001@gmail.com

  27. I guess the better question is whether or not the Backflip, if rooted, will be worth a damned? It’s slower processor and lack of processing power put it a gen behind the currect crop of Android phones already release never mind those that are soon to come.

  28. Hi I try to many different ways and still does not works I got this phone 3 days ago and it cam with the 1.3.18. Please anyone know how to root this new FW. Or if is a new FW coming out? Thank U.

  29. Hey Unlocker,
    Dont see an answer to this question but i am having the same problem as others with the error in the clock. Always says 12/1/69. starting at 6 and counting. Have a sim card in it for now but it is a spare phone so it will not stay in that phone. It does not seem to be correcting itself. Please help. Lol

  30. Same problem here. Fix it with the link jonathan and took the root away. Any help please… want to root my cliq.

  31. @ jonathon
    I just found that fix as well and went through the steps. It did fix the problem and allow me to at least get into the phone. I guess i will try to re-root it and see what happens. Ill post back. Thanks for the response

  32. @ twenty. It is a well reported problem with the 1.3.18 update the cliq got from what I have read. Guess we are stuck until new fw comes out unless someone has a fix. Motorola dropped the ball I think.

  33. Do you guys think this process will work for a motorola Cliq XT? I know it uses the same OS as the Cliq(1.5 cupcake).I’m trying to do wifi tether on it, but i understand that the rooting process must be done. Please let me know and thanks.

  34. I think i f%$*@ my phone ; when i end the process all the phone get reset to the factory default and i have to reenter to my account but when i do that shows me message :Error Signing Into account
    there is a problem with the clock device.Please contact costumer service.
    Can somebody please tell how can I fix this problem?

    1. Luis,

      You had the latest cliq update before you started this procedure, seems to stop the rooting sometimes. Just goto motorolas support site and get the update from there and reflash it to get back to stock.

  35. Hey buddy thanks for your prompt response ; already did the thing that motorola shows in the support center but nothing happens I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong but my phone still have the same problem.

  36. Hi, Worked great until I tried to sign in. The Moto-blur sign in says, That there is a problem with my clock, and the date is December 1st 1969. I let it sit there, but to no avail it did not correct itself. Please help me, I am getting texts and e-mails that I can’t read! I know people have asked this before but the phone hasn’t reset the time on its own, Help me out AIM Godmilla19 or xPR1D3x@gmail.com any help would be awesome!

  37. When I tried to apply the update.zip from my SD card… I get a message that says

    –Install from sdcard…
    Finding update package…
    Opening update package…
    e:Can’t open /sdcard/update.zip
    (No such file or directory)
    Installation aborted.

    Help please?

  38. ramon gutierrez

    hello ive been wanting to root my cliq and i have everything downloaded i had the clock problem and fixed it but i want to know if my phone can be rooted my software version is 1.3.18 mb200.tmobile.en.us some one please help i am a very big fan of you guys my email is ramon22gutierrez@gmail.com thank you

  39. ok so ive downloaded the rsd lite 4.5.7 but every time ive installed it says 4.5.3 and it wont let me run as administrator. im really new to this and dont want to mess up my phone plz help

  40. There is a link to a file download that will fix the clock error for all who are having that come up. Just scroll up in comments to find it. I think its safe to assume that this method does not bypass that problem? Still waiting on new fw to see if it fixes it i guess?

  41. Hello friends,
    Am I so dumb to ask this question in this forum, or the question is too stupid. I kindly asked for a simple information which is very easy to answer I guess.
    “Does this rooting unlock the phone (cliq) to use any sim?”
    Hoping Mr.TheUnlocker” is willing to help/answer me.

    Leo

  42. Hi UNLOCKR,
    i rooted my cliq and noticed when i type on the keyboard some of the letters dont correspond to what is type like if i press “a”, “q” will show up and the same with other keys. what would you reccomend and is there a fix?

    1. Dan Z,

      What ROM did you flash? You might have flashed a ROM with a french keyboard layout it sounds like (the french use AZERTY keyboards instead of QWERTY). Load a different ROM.

  43. your probably right cause when I loaded up instead of the T-mobile logo I saw orange logo i’ll try loading another rom.

  44. I have the same problem as Dan, where would I find the right ROM with the QWERTY keyboard && I also have the date and time problem

  45. I just did this tonight and now I have the french orange version on there with Blur_Version_.1.3.20.MB.200.Orange.en.FR and I want to change it back to the US proper version. I can not find a update.zip for the correct version. I checked to see if the phone was rooted and it said it was not. And when I go into the boot menu by holding the camera+Power button down at the same time and then pressing the down volume key it says that i pressed the volume key but will not allow me to get into the boot menu. The phone shuts off and will not do anything until I remove the battery and put it back in. HELP PLEASE?!

  46. Yes my keyboard is also acting weird, when I type the letter “a” the letter “q” showes up, also with the letters w and z, i have not flashed any ROM, I am using stock ROM, I just did whatever was said to do on this page..also when i boot up a orange block appears..i dont know if the other person Dan. Z was able to fix the same problem im having..I would rather stick with my stock ROM with root access, so does TheUnlocker have a way to fix this?

    1. EVERYONE!

      To fix the qwerty keyboard issue and the su issue, you MUST goto the next procedure! Load a custom rom and choose Handlers ROM (best one there and has wifi tethering too).

  47. I had most of these issues before i even rooted thanks to the motorola update. Even in rooting i flashed the wrong rom and had problems. If u wipe and flash the handlers rom it will fix everything. Orange screen goes away. Keyboard works perfect. Even has a new on screen kb that looks cool. Tethering and su permission among others. Very clean stable fast rom. Once u try it u wont want the stock rom anymore trust me.
    Thanks for all your hard work Unlockr, Handler and everyone else out there for making the cliq such a cool phone

  48. This probably a dumb question…anyway…I jus got an update screen for the moto cliq which I guess is the new firmware version of somethin to improve features of the device…if I install them would that unroot my phone or will briq or change my phone in any way than what is mentioned n the update?

  49. @unlockr question i was on 1.1.31 on my friends cliq and i use rds lite to flash it and everything works ok. but it wont let me install recovery img i tryed adb and olso terminal emolator, i have a cliq myself and i rooted using rsd lite and i flash the recovery using terminal emulator but on this 1 super user wont let me. i type su on terminal and go s in to black screen and super user never ask me nothing just the black screen. what can i do. should i just use the handler update zip. or should just flash it again with rsd lite?????????

  50. stupid cliq yesterday didnt want to work today i just typed su and it worked just fine……….. now it is rooted.

  51. III. Flash the Rooted Update
    7. Hit Alt L to bring up the menu. Then select Apply Update and wait for it to flash. Click reboot device.

    Is the phone still usable at this point or do you have to go on to the next step, flashing new ROM before you can use it again?

  52. Thanks for the quick reply. This is all new to me so another stupid question. I have an unlocked Motorola Dext which I am using on three.co.uk. If I do the new ROM install will the phone still be unlocked and is there a ROM that avoids having to log into Motoblur and indeed disables all the Blur stuff as it seems to have a reputation for killing battery life and using up too much data on 3G. I not into the social stuff and did not realise how intrusive it can be when I bought the phone.

  53. Ok… Got it to root… But now after reboot the A is Q and Z is W… on the qwert keyboard Any Ideas? Freaken Weird…. This isn’t going to work.. Please help

    Thanks guys…

  54. I did this to my cliq and now a few of the letters on my keyboard somehow got swapped. I.E. when i press the letter “A” a “Q” appears. what happened to my phone during this process?

  55. what exactly is rooting your phone does to your phone?? sorry i’m a newb at this.. i have this issue.
    i just got a new plan from tmobile with the 2 free nokia nuron phone with unlimited text and web. then a week later i purchase a used motorola cliq from some dude and to find out that after installing my sim card from the nokia to the cliq. i can’t surf the web nomore. it said “subscription upgrade required: your current plan is not compatible with this device” so i’m wondering will rooting the motorola cliq be able to let me browse the web again?? appreciated if anybody can help…

  56. Try settings, locale and select your region – this may reset your keyboard back to where it was, try it anyway…

  57. When I pressed the update.zip on the recovery screen it said the file doesnt exist or something. can someone help me. I did a wipe factory for nothing

  58. UNLOCKR I NEED HELP!

    I did everything correctly and I got the serial number. I downloaded rooting update. and I put it on my SD card. and I followed the procedure. But when I put apply update.zip its it says

    –Install from sd card…
    Finding update package…
    Opening update package…
    E: Can’t open /sd card/update.zip
    (No such file or directory)
    Installation aborted.

    PLEASE HELP!

  59. I rooted perfectly and updated rom to handler 1.5. Like an idiot I just did the system update to 1.4.8 and now I cant do ANYTHING…. am I screwed??? please help, thx

  60. I was able to unlock and installed handler’s ROM, many thanks. Question I am wondering is if I have root/superuser correct on the system. How can I test and if I need to re-root will it undo Handlers ROM and have to reload the ROM?

    My understanding was that the rooting did not effect the ROM. I am basically not versed on nix commands but want to essentially be root with Handlers ROM.

  61. I was getting the errors that file could not be found, what I ended up doing was disconnecting the USB and stop using the phone as a USB drive.

  62. Will he OTA update to 1.4.8 screw Handler’s ROM? I got notified this morning and was not certain if I should accept it, any suggestions or answers?

  63. I currently Have the 1.4.8 update installed on my cliq and wanted to know if I am able to root my phone? also when Motorola releases the 2.1 android update will I be able to update my phone to it? without messing it up?

  64. Sorry its me again last question if I just follow all the steps without doing a custom rom flash on the phone would I be able to use the applications on the market place that need root access or do I need to flash a ROM if I could get a answer I would really appreciated it thank you.

  65. @ Jesus – No i would not do the update via OTA once your Cliq is “rooted” it can potentially brick your Cliq. You can always “unroot” then once the 2.1 is released then it will be safe to flash the new 2.1 update.
    about your second question….No you will not be able to do anything to it. This update.zip is a French or European version for the Dext and it does not allow full root access. Also your keypad will be a zwerty and not qwerty..lol believe me its frustrating. I believe that they did this update because it has some sort of loop hole so root can be obtained (but not too sure) but it does work….there are 2 developers that have ROM’s out that are running the current 1.4.8 radio and they both do excellent work! Yes i have used both and they are probably equal in comparison both are fast ROM’s and both have FMRadio and wireless tethering…
    google HandlerExploit and KB7SQI you cant miss with their ROM’s. visit http://www.Modmymoto.com

  66. @Reggie

    Thank you so much for your valuable information I would Google their ROM’s Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me I really do appreciated it thank you again.

  67. Ok i followed the procedures perfectly and now my keyboard buttons are scrambled, i tried factory and master reseting but it didnt work. How do i unroot my cliq

    1. Rizzl3,

      You need to goto the next procedure and load a custom ROM (choose Handlers from our ROMs section) and you’ll have WiFi tethering and your keyboard will be back to normal. Its not scrambled, its that the ROM we load is a ROM from another country and other countries have AZERTY Keyboards instead of QWERTY (so the A and Q are switched and the Z and W are switched etc).

    1. you have to load a secondary ROM onto your phone, via their “how do i load a custom ROM” you will see some new icons depending on the ROM developer.

  68. omg your kick ass dude ive been looking forward to this root for awhile and ive been looking for a great detailed video and ill be damned and raped by a thousand monkeys if your videos aren’t THE BEST so far on how to unlock with DETAILS!!

    1. Aces,

      Read the last part of the procedure. You have to goto the Load a Custom ROM section and load a ROM and that’ll be fixed (also read a few comments up).
      Glad it worked though!

    2. Sorry if this is a newbie question, but I made the poor decision to purchase a Motorola Cliq when they first came out to replace my G1. I am sick of Motoblur and very sick of waiting on an update. I have a programming background – but I have never rooted a phone. I have been reading about the procedure and I understand the basics of how to root the phone and install the new custom rom. I do have a question I am hoping someone can answer. I know how to back up my data, apps and settings – do I need to somehow back up my current ROM? Not sure how to do that – in the event I wanted to go back to the stock rom – how do I get the current ROM off my phone.

      1. Charles78,

        With most phones, you would root your phone and flash a custom recovery image. The recovery image almost always has the Nandroid backup option in it. That will backup the entire Nand memory of the phone (the ROM, Radio, everything). Then you can always boot in to recovery mode and restore it.
        With the CLIQ though, you might need to goto the Market (or Google it) and look for Titanium Backup and use that before you begin.

  69. Hey Unlockr,
    Is SDK a must have? Why can’t the zip file downloaded straight to the phone and then execute the flash? I’m trying to learn this stuff hence the possible stupid question.
    Thanks for all you do
    Todd

  70. @ nex1tk
    Yes SDK ADB is necessry to load a custom recovery image. Without it you will not be able to tell your phone to perform the flash command which is needed in the NEXT step to gain FULL ROOT ACCESS! Please read the bottom of the tutorial…

  71. Ok so i rooted my cliq. everything was fine until I noticed that my keyboard is messed up. When I press letter A it types a Q. When I press the Q, it types the A. Press W and types Z. Press Z and types W. WTF ! =S Any suggestions?

  72. My cliq now switched the a, w, q and z keys? Why is this. It also has Orange on the front instead of t-mobile at the splash screen

  73. @ Jay & Sokedroid

    Please re-read the bottom of the turotial. To fix the problem you MUST install a ROM and it will fix it.
    You have not completed the entire ROOT PROCEDURE.
    Basically you just flashed Frances version of MotoBlur and France has an “azerty” keyboard and the US has a “qwerty” keyboard. This “update” is has the loop hole so our Cliqs can be rooted. If you are looking for a stable ROM install HandlerExploits 1.5 he even has 1.6alpha7 that was released earlier this month. You can also google KB7SQIv1.4.8 and his ROM is also up to date and very fast and stable. Hope this helps!

  74. I need to unroot my Motorola Cliq. I went through all the steps here and thought everything was fine BUT my keyboard buttons are not mapped to the correct letter. Now I can’t find a way to restore my phone back to it’s original state.

    1. Carl,

      You just need to goto the next procedure (read the bold writing at the bottom of the procedure). Once you load a custom ROM the keys will be fine.

  75. I have completed all the steps up to download rooting update. I click on the link and takes me to megaupload, click on reg download and nothing happens. Is there another way to download update or a different link. Really need help!!!!

  76. i followed every procedure rite. i went to dl a theme for and every since i flashed the theme my phone has not been loading up…any ideas of wht might have happened and wht might have caused this to happen? thankyou

  77. Hi,

    I rooted exactly like the instructions, but my Cliq still says version 1.5, and the keyboard does not type right. Is your UPDATE.ZIP file the right 2.1 version … or it has been changed/censored?
    Also, I have the update.zip version 2.2 for Nexus One. Can I use it for the Cliq ?
    Thanks,
    Vince

    1. Vince.

      Flash a custom ROM (the bold writing at the bottom of the procedure).
      No it won’t flash, you just have to wait for someone to make custom ROM based on 2.2 for the CLIQ.

  78. i would like to first apologize to u for u having to answer my question cuz i was a dumb ass and didnt follow the steps properly.i got to the last step and waited for the flash to finish but it seemed like something was wrong and it kept going through the process over and over again so i pulled the battery out.now when i turn on my cliq it doesnt come and i have to keep taking the battery out and putting it back in for it to finally come on and it takes while. i just want to know is there a way for me to fix this or maybe start all over….oh and i already did a hard reset..thank u for your help

  79. hey after everthing is done when you go to recovery mode and get to the exclamation mark inside triangle. How do you bring up menu if you have an xt i don’t have a keyboard to press alt+L

  80. @ Carl if u really want to “un-root” then you MUST 1st COMPLETE the root procedure and install a ROM. The ROM should fix the problem.
    To unroot you need to dl the Tmo 1.4.8 firmware > extract it > find the .shx or .sbf file > and flash it using RSD Lite 4.5.7. Also your phone must be in the bootloader screen.

  81. i dont get it so i have to load just 1/3 ROMs? im looking all over the net and i cant seem to find anything that says “get 2.1 here” or something does anyone have any roms running that is better then the 3 listed? or atleast explain more on what they have to offer? (may be in wrong forums sorry for the troll)

  82. hey guys…. i have a moto cliq, was succesful rooting the device but can only use handler 1.6 rom without recieving a date error of dec. 1969 does ne one know what im doin wrong? please help me it would be appreciated!

  83. @ Jorge – What step are you having problems with? The NEXT step in ROOT process is to flash a custom recovery image. THEN after that is done you need to flash a STABLE & UPDATED ROM! I cannot stress that enough! If you use any other ROM that has the old 1.1.x radio then you will get stuck in 1969 and it will not let you log onto MotoBlur. I recommend using a ROM that has the current 1.4.8 radio or the one previous to that which is 1.3.18..both will be ok..in my experience but you still have to becareful on which ROM u flash.

    @James – You need to flash the ROM. It sounds like all you did was do the UPDATE.zip. Like I mentioned to Jorge above…You need to get a custom recovery then flash the HandlerExploit1.6Alpha7 ROM.

    any one else haveing issues with root please feel free to email me double0ek@gmail.com

  84. TheUnlockr,

    No Problem. Thank you also for such a great site. I used your videos awile back to get my Cliq rooted..If it wasnt for your videos i wouldnt know what steps to take to get where im at. So just returning some of the favors you have provided me. Everything seems so repetative and I know how frustrating things can get at times.

  85. Unlockr,
    Thanks so much for the useful tutorial. This is my first root ever.

    I ran in some issues with setting up and using adb.

    To anyone with this issue with adb, you should google: The Cliq Bible and read the post: Setting up and using adb by Danation (not sure if I should put the link to the site in so i wont). I had my adb up and running in less than 1 min. After that process come back here and continue with this process.

    Thanks again for the information.

  86. heysooo…
    i tried to root my cliq, irt worked but’ i must of messed up somewhere because now somehow my keyboard is french! so when i press the A button it puts in a Q, instead of an A and the same goes for the W and Z. they are switched. I think this is the configuration of the frnch keyboard because, the things that came along wiith the root(orange maps, and the help reference) are both in french, so can anyone help me now!? cause i would like to fix it

  87. i hav 1.1.14 i get a pop up option to OTA update to 1.3.19 can i update and still be able to root or shud i root first? plz reply soon

  88. Do you have an Update.zip that unroots the Cliq without messing up the keyboard? I want to unroot my Cliq so that I can use the Barnacle wifi tether, but don’t want to load a custom ROM.

  89. i get the redo cannot install radio multi radios installed and kept repeating and i turned off after aort. now i get moto screen then it shuts off…. i can send to moto for warranty dont really want to though any way else to fix

  90. i put in a rom and it was in french and had messed up buttons and i want to put a different rom in how do i do that?

    1. Deriq,

      Read the last step, the one in bold and caps…

      8. NOW, GOTO THE HOW TO LOAD A CUSTOM ROM PROCEDURE AND FLASH A CUSTOM ROM TO GAIN FULL ROOT ACCESS! (FLASHING A NEW CUSTOM ROM WILL ALSO FIX YOUR KEYS BEING MAPPED WRONG!)

  91. i read step 8 and i still unable to change rom please explain how to change roms or how to get original back

  92. Rooted my cliq..and have Eclair2cliq Handler1.5 and another one (xlmod or somethin 0.5) on my card. To unroot i realize i’ll lose these and i’ll go back to basic Tmo 1.4.8 firmware, and i’m fine with that, my question is..where do i download that firmware at??? tmobiles site doesn’t have it.

  93. Homesicktexan

    I’m all messed up. Ok, so I followed the instructions exactly, got the funky French rom on with the AZERTY keyboard, however I’m unable to load ANY rom! Every single one says “not signed, installation aborted” and yes, the update.zip is in the file root of my SD card. I assume it’s sucessfully rooted since I have the French rom but how in the hell can I flash a new rom? I even tried to unroot but RDS Lite won’t recognize my phone. Any advice?

    1. same problem……says its rooted in the adb stuff but will not flash recovery to save my life 130trys so far n 3 days……..so now stuck with stupid french keyboard i dont want! and dont look like they wanna even help us.and unlockr its on the root of the sd and also tried the rename it hint to. notta thing works to make it flash

  94. I did All of this but it is stuck, my screen shows

    E:failure at line 74:
    write_radio_image PACKAGE:radio
    img
    Installation aborted.

    and then it begins all over again.

  95. My Cliq is rooted but keeps coming up with the update screen, I’ve been told not to update ever as the phone is rooted but how do I stop the update screen appearing every hour?

      1. Thanks for your reply but I cannot see an option in Settings to turn off the updates. How do I load a ROM? I’m not very technical!

  96. I have the Cliq but it comes with Moto Blur, I did everything right and got it to boot and everything but when i go and try to get past the signing into moto blur to get to use the phone i cant get past it and when i try to just log into my account it tells me their is problems with the clocking on the phone and wont let me do anything, what should i do?

  97. Hi,
    I’m an Orange UK Dext user and I’m not sure about doing this for one reason: I’m not sure if this root is only for American Cliqs or for any Cliq/Dexts. Also how will I be able to unroot it if I decide I don’t like it?
    Thanks

  98. Hey Unlockr,

    I followed all of your steps perfectly, but im not rooted when i install the rooting update you provide up the top, like it wont let me use terminal emulator su commands, it says access is denied, which in other threads you have said it means that you are not rooted. any help would be appreciated.

    1. Sajid,

      Yup! So long as you don’t have auto updating turned off in the settings. BUT if you do an official update you will lose root. It is better to wait for the official update to be made into a custom ROM and just flash that so you don’t lose root and all it’s benefits.

  99. haveing a hard time i had my g1 rooted but broke it and got cliq…..but some reason the page on how to must be out of date…..cause it willNOT install evn the first driver cause i have newer ones running already and the sdk stuff works till i type the tool prompt then says file not found and i see the vid dont match the directions so help me asap cause i did get the orange update installed anyway but cant say its fully rooted!HELP I USE VISTA

  100. Thanks now im stuck with a suposedly rooted messed upkeys french program since no one will post a new or correct recovery image or u tell us the lil secret ya did on the vid cause ya writen direction dont work…….i see im not the only one haveing the same issue looks like ya would care nuff to help us out.

  101. Hey unlocker, my battery fell out while i was doing the update. now when i start my phone or go into recov mode, it blanks out for about 2 minutes and the status light comes on and i can press the lock button to unlock it. when i go to recov mode, i can press volume down and 3 seconds later everything goes off. still connects to computer when i goes off.

    i try pressing volume up in recov mode. took me to fast boot and says security on….disabled type of thing

  102. hey mr. unlockr quick question for you . can this method be used with baseband 5030? this method doesn’t affect the radio correct? and when i flash a new rom that doesn’t include a rdio either right? just trying to keep my canadian 3g.

  103. i did it fine..but i still need help pls as soon as possible..
    now on my keyboard, when i push ‘q’ it brings out ‘a’ .when i ush ‘a’ it brings out ‘q’ .wehn i push ‘w’ it brings out ‘e’. & when i ush ‘e’ it brings out ‘w’ ..pls i need help with that ..
    & also im not able to access market after i rooted it ..ii need help pls .im juss frustrated riite now

  104. total nube once i root my cliq where can i find android 2.2 froyo….trying to make sure i have every thing in order before i root thanks

  105. Hi, i have the same yawe problem!
    I did it all right but my QWERTY keyboard its now AZERTY and i cant instal any other Rom, The message says “installation aborted”
    What can i do???
    Please help!

    1. Read the last step.

      8. NOW, GOTO THE HOW TO LOAD A CUSTOM ROM PROCEDURE AND FLASH A CUSTOM ROM TO GAIN FULL ROOT ACCESS! (FLASHING A NEW CUSTOM ROM WILL ALSO FIX YOUR KEYS BEING MAPPED WRONG!)

  106. hey i just tried to root my cliq, and it said that it didnt root it. but it change me from tmobile to orange. is that normal??? what do i do know??? oh and it switch some of the keyboaqrd words. help please.

    1. @Teto… you’d didn’t finish rooting it… you have to load a secondary ROM on it from their “how to load a custom ROM” section. i just got done doing it and it worked like a charm.

  107. I have almost finished the root process, but have hit a problem that stops the last step. While the phone is processing the update.zip file, I get a message that the radio piece at line 74 cannot be completed and it fails at that point. Is that because the SD card does not have sufficient space? It is a 2gig card. If that is not the problem, what is?

  108. Re: Problem of space in my message of Sept. 6. It was unavailable space. I cleaned pictures from the SD card and the update.zip worked like a charm. So I have the Handler ROM, but my CLIQ is not rooted and the A,Q,W&Z keys are still screwed up. I will try again the root process with the additional SD card space and see if that will not do the trick.

  109. Hello,

    I am experiencing a problem too. After the update, My phone cannot get pass the white screen with the Motorola Logo. I have tried to hold both the power and camera buttons simultaneously to get back to the recovery mode still nothing happens. Please I need help. Could it be my phone is damaged?

  110. Followed everything and now have the French orange rom. Though handler is on sd card when i go to choose handler it will not let me and automatically chooses and only recognize the orange rom 1.3.20. Can I remove the orange French rom? Have retried and followed procedure 7 times and cannot get phone rooted. Thanks!

  111. to unroot cliq did all steps for rsd lite but when i click start i get please wait tci and try again anybody have this problem

  112. i currently have a moto cliq with the highest system update, 1.4.8. i think’ can i still root. also im tethering off of pdanet can i still root?

  113. have rooted moto cliq , can load any rom i want no problem. but i have the wrong time/date error! i have been to motorola site and downloaded the update.zip file and when i try to flash with that rom , i get ” no signature (766 files)”
    “verifacation failed ” installation aborted. my recovery screen is not oem recovery it is a white screen with a green android , has nand backup/restore in one of the options. have used every option in the list still no luck can someone help( list of screen options )

    MB200 Android Recovery

    -Reboot system now
    -USB-MS toggle
    -Backup/restore (this is the one with nand)
    -Flash zip from SD
    -wipe
    -Partion SD
    -other

  114. I got an over the air update the other day that made my phone loop in a reboot. Now when I try to add a custom rom I cannot get to the menu. Instead it always comes up with the exclamation point in a triangle icon. Any idea?

  115. hey my cliq is at the motoblur account set up screen.. when i hook my cliq up to my computer it wont let me open up my file.

  116. I am thinking about rooting my Cliq, but I want to make sure there is a way to unroot it if I need to send it in for repair. I’ve read through the comments and saw that there is a tmo firmware that needs to be downloaded. Where is this firmware located? Can you guys do a unrooting video like you did with the G1?

  117. when i reboot and try the update process and press the volume down key to go into recovery it acknowledges it but i get the triangle with the exclamation point and the phone below it every time and it stays there. any suggestions?

  118. I successfully rooted my cliq. Now my android market and browser dont work,. Is there a setting? I cant download anything. How do I install apps now?

    1. Blur_Version.2.1.5.MB200.T-Mobile.en.US.zip     download this file find
      it in google… rename file to update.zip….. the it put on sd
      card….turn phone off ….hold power and camera key….press volume
      down button….you will get a triangle ….touch bottom right side of
      screen ….u will get three options ….press update.zip then press ok
      ……..this will fix market problem

  119. I successfully rooted my cliq. Now my android market and browser dont work,. Is there a setting? I cant download anything. How do I install apps now?

  120. Hi, would just ask if this would work with my phone

    T Mobile Motorola Cliq
    System Version : Blur_Version.2.1.5.MB200.T-Mobile.en.US
    Hardware Version : SJUG5141AA
    Firmware Version : 2.1-update1
    Baseband Version: 76XXC-63805041-SDCBALUM
    Kernel Version : 2.6.29 build01@ca25rhe78 #1

    I have this version since I got the official update from motorola..

    Absoultely NOOB HERE.. HOPE I GET AN IMMEDIATE REPLY SINCE I REALLY WANT TO HAVE APPS2SD CAPABILITY.. THANKS!

  121. hi I had 2.1 on my cliq. We decided to root it and it said it was rooted. We then went to back it up before putting a custom ROM on it and now it is broke lol. It brings up the Motorola start up and before it gets to the *blur start up it cuts back off. I have gotten into boot mode but the rsd lite 4.5.7 wont recongnize my phone. 4.5.3 will but it says it Fails….. I used this method to put 2.1 on the phone but don’t know why I cant get it to work this time. Please help……

  122. hi I had 2.1 on my cliq. We decided to root it and it said it was rooted. We then went to back it up before putting a custom ROM on it and now it is broke lol. It brings up the Motorola start up and before it gets to the *blur start up it cuts back off. I have gotten into boot mode but the rsd lite 4.5.7 wont recongnize my phone. 4.5.3 will but it says it Fails….. I used this method to put 2.1 on the phone but don’t know why I cant get it to work this time. Please help……

  123. man this shit fucked my cliq all the way up…. im sittin here reversing everything now…. all i wanted was for my shit to operate how the g2 operates… but fuck it…. i had the 2.1 upgrade before i fucked wit this shit.. all i wanna know is how do u get the keyboard back in its original state

  124. Hello here is my problem! I attempted to root my phone, and loaded the recovery one instead of the rooted file and bricked my phone. (so stupid) so I followed the directions on another site which I believe caused me to down grade my phone from 2.1 to which ever update was changing the date and time on peoples phones. So now my phone starts from motorola straight to motoblur log in. When I attempt to log in to motoblur it get the time and date error message. So I have tried step 6 and it takes me to the fastboot but when I prees the down volume it goes black and nothing happens? I NEED HELP

    1. I would do a full wipe (ie from recovery), then reflash the orange update. That should hopefully fix anything else they had you do 🙂 AFTER that, do a search for cm4morrison and try out that rom…it’s a 2.3 rom that works pretty good.

  125. Hi, I’m a Dext owner from Singapore. Can I root my phone using these procedures? I want to upgrade it to 2.1 (from 1.5).

  126. Hi everyone i think it is urgent that i clarify a few points
    i just got my motorola b200/dext/cliq/…
    i wanted to tether it to my computer through wifi i downloaded the app from market and it said i needed to root it
    i just followed the instructions above i missed out the first bit on the computer of sdk/adb but i turned on usb debugging.
    i put the update.zip on sd and followed the instructions now i want to know what the CUSTOM ROM IS AND IF IT IS REQUIRED?
    also can i update the android from 1.5 to say 2.1?
    can everybody with experience try and help please QUICK PLEASE

    1. Blur_Version.2.1.5.MB200.T-Mobile.en.US.zip     download this file find it in google… rename file to update.zip….. the it put on sd card….turn phone off ….hold power and camera key….press volume down button….you will get a triangle ….touch bottom right side of screen ….u will get three options ….press update.zip then press ok …….. all done …happy days…. have fun

  127. Problem : When I get to the bootloader screen and try to select apply update, it tells me that the ‘update.zip’ file is “bad” and goes on to abort update. I’ve redownloaded the ‘update.zip’ file and even unpackaged then repackaged the files and still no luck. ANY HELP?

    Thank you!

  128. i had a blur 2.1 i thought this is newer one and i rooted my phone, found that this was preety damm old, i can’t unroot it, i tried to master reset it, even master reset does not clear it. i bricked up my phone.
    any help or suggestation.

  129. the first time i did this it fucked up if it does that to you which it seems it has try and reboot into recovery mode again and re do the process with the update zip it should pop up with three choices again telling you what to do hold menu+back it should now reboot with the orange box (cell provider in france) your phone will load to the main screen plug in phone once it gets to main screen and go into usb mode delete the update zip and put on the custom rom you want (i used the superosr you can look for the one you want) and the flash image from the page in step 8 from there you now put the phone back into charge mode using your adb script type from the folder you downloaded your sdk tools into(you will have to cd into that folder ie : cd c:program filesandroidandroid-sdkplatform-tools <- this is the path where my adb is located in and then follow my steps) type
    adb devices
    your phone should show up in the terminal then type
    adb shell
    you should have a # on your computer terminal from there type
    flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-cliq-v1.5.2.img
    once it finishes another
    #
    should appear now close the command window
    next power down the phone if its plugged in its going to automatically turn back on and when it does
    hold the power and camera button
    this will put you back into recovery mode it should look different than it did before
    from there hit the volume down key
    you'll now either have to hit alt+l to get the options up or they will already be there
    use the volume down key until you get to wipe click the home button then hit the home button again on the wipe to factory default setting that will run and complete then you go back to the 1st options list and click flash from zip use your custom ROM or the one i used and the itll flash through the setting youll probably have to hit menu+back to get it to reboot or something i just did it but dont remember if it did automatically or if i had to click something and presto your phone will turn back on and youll enter your google account and life will be good

  130. the first time i did this it fucked up if it does that to you which it seems it has try and reboot into recovery mode again and re do the process with the update zip it should pop up with three choices again telling you what to do hold menu+back it should now reboot with the orange box (cell provider in france) your phone will load to the main screen plug in phone once it gets to main screen and go into usb mode delete the update zip and put on the custom rom you want (i used the superosr you can look for the one you want) and the flash image from the page in step 8 from there you now put the phone back into charge mode using your adb script type from the folder you downloaded your sdk tools into(you will have to cd into that folder ie : cd c:program filesandroidandroid-sdkplatform-tools <- this is the path where my adb is located in and then follow my steps) type
    adb devices
    your phone should show up in the terminal then type
    adb shell
    you should have a # on your computer terminal from there type
    flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery-RA-cliq-v1.5.2.img
    once it finishes another
    #
    should appear now close the command window
    next power down the phone if its plugged in its going to automatically turn back on and when it does
    hold the power and camera button
    this will put you back into recovery mode it should look different than it did before
    from there hit the volume down key
    you'll now either have to hit alt+l to get the options up or they will already be there
    use the volume down key until you get to wipe click the home button then hit the home button again on the wipe to factory default setting that will run and complete then you go back to the 1st options list and click flash from zip use your custom ROM or the one i used and the itll flash through the setting youll probably have to hit menu+back to get it to reboot or something i just did it but dont remember if it did automatically or if i had to click something and presto your phone will turn back on and youll enter your google account and life will be good

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