How to Root the HTC Droid DNA

If you happen to own the recent launch of HTC, you probably know the power it comes with. The HTC Droid DNA falls under the high-end category smartphones capable of doing multitasking with ease and no freezes, you heard it right. Any Android device’s true potential lies inside the system files and if you could get your hands there, you can do almost anything to your device. From installing the root-only apps to customizing the device with custom ROMs, everything’s possible once you have access to root files. To root your HTC Droid DNA, we’ve got a nice guide just below. Follow each step carefully and get your device rooted.

I. Before You Begin:

1. You must have unlocked bootloader of your device. You can unlock the bootloader from here.

2. Rooting the device voids its warranty, keep it in mind. However, you’ll be able to restore the warranty by unrooting the device.

II. Downloading Required Files:

1. ClockworkMod Recovery (Download link’s given in the first post, in step-2)

2. Superuser (Download link’s given in the first post, in step-3)

3. Fastboot

III. Installing ClockworkMod Recovery on the HTC Droid DNA:

1. Put all the files you have downloaded to your Desktop.

2. Extract files from the Fastboot archive to your Desktop. You should get adb.exe and fastboot.exe along with some other files.

3. Turn OFF your Droid DNA.

4. Reboot it into the Fastboot mode. To do so, press and hold the Volume DOWN+Power buttons together.

5. Select the Fastboot option on the screen.

6. Connect the device to your PC via USB cable.

7. Open a Command Prompt Window on your Desktop. To do so, press and hold the Shift button on your keyboard and right-click on any empty area on the screen, then select Open command window here.

8. Type in following command into the Command Prompt Window. Make sure to replace recovery.img with the actual name of the recovery image you downloaded.

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

9. Once it’s done, issue the following command:

fastboot reboot

10. The device should reboot in normal mode.

Great! As you now have ClockworkMod Recovery installed on your device, you can flash the Superuser package to gain root access on the device. Here’s how you can do it:

IV. Rooting the HTC Droid DNA:

1. Connect your device to your PC using the USB cable.

2. Copy the Superuser file over to the root of your SD card.

3. Disconnect the device from your PC.

4. Enable the USB debugging on your device from Menu>>Settings>>Developer options>>USB debugging.

5. Connect the device to your PC once again.

6. Open a Command Prompt Window on your Desktop. To do so, press and hold the Shift button on your keyboard and right-click on any empty area on the screen, choose Open command window here.

7. Type in following command into the Command Prompt Window:

adb reboot recovery

8. The device should reboot into the Recovery Mode.

9. Once inside the Recovery, choose install zip from sdcard followed by choose zip from sdcard.

10. Select the Superuser file you copied earlier for flashing.

11. Once done, choose reboot system now from the Recovery menu.

12. And you’re all done!

Great! You’ve successfully gained root access on your HTC Droid DNA smartphone. Though the procedure had some commands to be issued, altogether it was easy to do!

V. Flash a Custom ROM (Optional):

1. If you are ready to flash custom ROMs on your device, head to the How To Flash a Custom ROM on the HTC Droid DNA to learn how to do that.

If this procedure helped you please thank/donate to the original developers here.

If you need help with this procedure, please ask in the comments below or in the forum.

This is part of our Android How To’s. We have how to’s on rooting, loading ROMs, and tons of other tips and tricks for your specific device or for Android devices in general! For all of our Android How To’s, head here.