How to Root the Motorola Moto X (Android 4.4)

Recently we’ve been seeing most of the Android devices running KitKat update getting rooted and the Motorola Moto X is not an exception. The Moto X has been rooted, all thanks to the XDA developers. Once rooted on KitKat, you’ll be able to load a number of root-only apps on your device and not only that, you’ll even be able to flash custom recoveries and then custom ROMs. Sounds good? huh. Let us show you how you can root your Moto X running Android 4.4 KitKat:

I. Before You Begin:

1. This will void the warranty of your device. However, you can reinstate the warranty by unrooting your device if there’s any unrooting procedure available.

2. You must have the Camera update installed on your device and you must be running stock firmware.

3. This should only work on Windows based PCs.

II. Downloading Required Files:

1. Cydia Impactor (Download link’s given in the first post, in step-3)

2. SlapMyMoto (It’s attached in the first post)

3. Fastboot

III. Rooting the Motorola Moto X running Android 4.4 KitKat:

1. Download and place all three files onto your Desktop.

2. Unzip files from all three archives over to your Desktop.

3. Enable the USB debugging option on your device by heading to Menu>>Settings>>Developer options>>USB debugging.

4. Plug in your device to your PC using the USB cable.

5. Open a Command Prompt Window on your Desktop. To do that, hold down Shift button and right-click on any blank area on your screen and select Open command window here.

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

adb push SlapMyMoto.jar /sdcard/SlapMyMoto.jar

7. Now type in following command and note down the IP address it shows:

adb shell getprop dhcp.wlan0.ipaddress

8. Double-click on the Cydia Impactor executable and it’ll launch.

9. Select # start telnetd as system on port 2222 from the dropdown menu and hit Start.

10. Next, issue the following command replacing IP with the actual IP address you noted down in step-7.

telnet IP 2222

11. Next up issue the following command:

dalvikvm -cp /sdcard/SlapMyMoto.jar SlapMyMoto

12. It should ask you to reboot your device. Issue the following command and your device will reboot:

adb reboot

13. Repeat the step-9 to step-11 once again and the device will automatically reboot this time.

14. Once your device reboots, issue the following command:

adb reboot bootloader

15. Your device should reboot into the bootloader mode.

16. Once in bootloader mode, type in following commands:

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot reboot

17. The device should reboot and you’ll get the 4.4 KitKat OTA. Allow it to be installed on your device.

18. Once the update’s been installed, issue the following command to get your device into bootloader mode:

adb reboot bootloader

19. Once in bootloader mode, issue following commands:

fastboot flash partition gpt.bin
fastboot flash motoboot motoboot.img
fastboot flash logo logo.bin
fastboot reboot

20. Your device should reboot and once it boots-up, issue the following commands:

adb push su /data/local/tmp/su
adb push install.sh /data/local/tmp/install.sh
adb push rec.sh /data/local/tmp/rec.sh
adb push install-recovery.sh /data/local/tmp/install-recovery.sh
adb push setup.sh /data/local/tmp/setup.sh
adb reboot

21. Your device should reboot. Once it boots-up, issue following commands:

adb shell
echo "/data/local/tmp/rec.sh" > /sys/kernel/uevent_helper

22. Toggle Bluetooth on your device.

23. Your device should reboot.

24. Once it boots-up, type in following commands:

adb shell
echo "/data/local/tmp/install.sh" > /sys/kernel/uevent_helper

25. Head over to the Google Play and download and install the SuperSU app on your device.

26. You’re now fully rooted!

Excellent! Your Moto X has been successfully rooted on 4.4 KitKat and you’re now all set to enjoy a number of third-party developments available for your device!