Droid Pro Cyanogen Instructions

This guide will walk you through the steps of how to install Cyanogen to your Verizon Motorola Droid Pro. Specifically, these files and instructions are for VanillaLVL's CyanogenMod 7.2, but they should be applicable to any Droid Pro compatible versions of CyanogenMod, and possibly other ROMs as well.

1. Copy Files to SD Card

Make sure the SD card has plenty of free space! I recommend at least a 2GB MicroSD card, as your backups alone could exceed 1GB.

Copy all 5 files from this directory to /sdcard on your Droid Pro (do not unzip them):

2. Root

  1. Install Framaroot-1.6.1.apk from /sdcard.
  2. Run Framaroot.
  3. Select InstallSU and click Gimli.
  4. Reboot the phone.

Note: Many older guides suggest using z4root or SuperOneClick's ZergRush exploit, but these don't work with the latest Verizon software -- you'll get a "hellions with blue flames" error.

3. Install ClockworkMod Bootstrap

  1. Install bootstrap-1.0.0.5-droid2.apk from /sdcard.
  2. Run Bootstrap for Droid2.
  3. When it asks for root permission, click Allow.
  4. Click Bootstrap Install.
  5. Press home to quit.

4. Backup Your Data

The data on your phone's internal memory will be completely obliterated, so save whatever you want to keep to /sdcard!!

Personally, I used Super Backup Pro: SMS&Contacts to save my contacts, messages, and call history. They also have an ad-supported free version.

Any apps purchased through Google Play (or Marketplace) can be re-downloaded for free, so I wouldn't worry about that. But keep in mind, you will lose your settings and saved data for those apps.

5. Factory Reset

From the official Motorola factory reset instructions:

  1. From the home screen, press the menu button.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Privacy.
  4. Click Factory Data Reset.
  5. Click Reset Phone.
  6. Click Erase Everything.

This will wipe your phone's data and reboot it.

6. Reactivate Your Phone

Follow the on-screen instructions to reactivate your phone with Verizon.

You do not need to activate any other accounts, since we'll be wiping the phone's data again.

7. Install CyanogenMod from Clockwork Bootstrap

Adapted from the CyanogenMod Droid 2 install instructions:

  1. Shut down the phone.
  2. Hold X and power until the phone boots to ClockworkMod. This may take about 30 seconds.
    In ClockworkMod, the volume buttons move up and down, the enter key selects, and the power button goes back.
  3. Select Backup and Restore, then Backup. This will copy the current installation to your SD card. (This process is called a Nandroid backup.)
  4. Select Wipe Data / Factory Reset and confirm.
  5. Select Install Zip from SD Card, then Choose Zip from SD Card. Do this for KernelPROGB.zip, CM7-V8.zip, and gapps.zip. The order doesn't matter.
  6. Return to the main menu (using the power button to go back) and select Reboot System Now.

Note: If you need to access ClockworkMod after flashing CM7, wait for the blue LED to flash during reboot, then press volume down. This brings up Android Bootmenu. From there, you can select Recovery, Clockwork Recovery.

8. Restore Your Backups

You can use Super Backup Pro: SMS&Contacts to restore SMS and call logs, but I recommend using the CM7 Contacts app to restore contacts from the .vcf file (vCard).

Congratulations, you're all done setting up CyanogenMod 7.2 on your Droid Pro!

9. Optional: Update to CM9 (Not Recommended)

It turns out it's really easy to install a new ROM once you have a rooted Droid Pro with ClockworkMod and the 2.3.7 kernel installed. However, in my experience, CM7 is faster and more stable than CM9. I don't recommend upgrading unless you need to use apps that aren't compatible with Gingerbread.

These directions can also be used to switch from one variety of CM9 to another. Note that the CM9 "Reboot to Bootloader" doesn't work on the Droid Pro; you'll have to press volume down at the blue LED flash instead.

  1. Pick your poison, and put the zip on your SD card:
  2. Put gapps-ics-20120429-signed.zip onto your SD card too.
  3. Reboot to Android Bootmenu by pressing volume down after the blue LED flashes.
    Just like ClockworkMod, the volume buttons move up/down, enter selects, and power goes back.
  4. Select Recovery, then Clockwork Recovery.
  5. Select Backup and Restore, then Backup. When it's done, use the power button to go back.
  6. Select Wipe Cache Partition.
  7. Select Mount / Format, then Format /system.
    Do not format /data or /sdcard!
  8. Go back and select Install Zip from SD Card, then Chooze Zip from SD Card. Do this for one CM9 zip and gapps-ics-20120429-signed.zip.
  9. Go back and select Reboot Device.

Since we didn't wipe our user data, CM9 will detect and upgrade your apps and settings on first boot. No need to restore from your backups!

WiFi MAC Address Fix

If it's your first time running CM9 or you wiped /data, you may need to run a small script to store a permanent MAC address for reliable WiFi connectivity. Turn on WiFi, then try this in the Terminal Emulator:

su
mac-address-fix.sh

If it can't find the script, then the version of CM9 you're running probably doesn't need a MAC address fix. If it gives a bunch of errors, make sure you've enabled WiFi first and have granted root permission.

Install ADW Launcher

When using CM9 on the Droid Pro, I recommend replacing the default CM9 Trebuchet launcher with ADW Launcher, which was the launcher included with CM7. It seems to operate more smoothly on old hardware like the Droid Pro.

Fix "Clock Has Stopped" Errors

If you encounter the error "Unfortunately, Clock has stopped", it's probably because you have a CM7 alarm clock database, which is incompatible with CM9. It's an easy fix from the Terminal Emulator:

su
cd /data/data/com.android.deskclock/databases
mv alarms.db alarms.db.cm7

How to Revert to CM7

If you want to revert to CM7, you need to use ClockworkMod to wipe /system, /cache, and /data. Then for a fresh install, install gapps.zip and CM7-V8.zip from your MicroSD card. Otherwise, restore your CM7 backup (Nandroid).

Your Next Phone: Successor to the Droid Pro

Unfortunately it appears there will never be a Droid Pro 2. Android manufactuters have abandoned hardware keyboards to cut down their design and manufacturing costs.

I've happily switched to the BlackBerry Classic. The physical keyboard is even better than the Droid Pro's, and the BB10 operating system is a pleasure to work and play with. The Hub provides a more streamlined approach to communication than any other smartphone, and BlackBerry's Android 4.3 runtime can run apps much faster than the Droid Pro; this means switching to BlackBerry will actually give you better access to apps!

Sadly as of 2022, BlackBerry OS 10 devices can no longer reach back-end servers, and Verizon's network will no longer support the BlackBerry Classic at the end of the year. I am now using the Unihertz Titan Pocket, an Android 11 smartphone with a full qwerty keyboard. Although I wish I could continue to run BBOS devices indefinitely, the Titan Pocket is a good Android phone and a more true successor to the Droid Pro.

I have also written a similar root guide for the Titan Pocket.