How to 'root' (or gain root access to) a Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 with Android 2.1-update1?

Question

I have a Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 with Android 2.1-update1 and I need a quick easy way to get root access so I can boot it through a custom ROM me and a friend have been working on (the custom ROM is like Gingerbread (Android 2.3), but with a different UI so that it's compatible with my phone)

Answer 1

Taken from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=811457

This hack (http://c-skills.blogspot.com/2010/07/android-trickery.html) is almost universal. I've compiled and tested a version for X10 mini.

Download: exploid_x10mini.zip

Download and extract the archive.

You will need ADB from Android SDK and USB drivers for X10 mini (part of Sony Ericsson PC Companion).

Enable USB debugging on the phone in Settings>Applications>Development and connect the phone to PC via USB.

Add the Power Control widget to your active widgets on the phone, so you can quickly turn off and on the wi-fi function.

From the command line (on windows it's cmd.exe):

1. cd c:\exploid_x10mini (or another folder where you've extracted the files from exploid_x10mini.zip)
2. adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/Superuser.apk
3. adb push su /sdcard/su
4. adb push exploid /sqlite_stmt_journals/exploid
5. adb push busybox /sqlite_stmt_journals/busybox
6. adb shell
7. cd sqlite_stmt_journals
8. chmod 755 exploid
9. chmod 755 busybox

Immediately after the next command, you will need to disable and enable the wi-fi using the power widget on the phone:

./exploid

Then run:

1. rootshell and enter password rootnow

Prompt will change to # - now we have root. Enter the following to make it permanent:

1. ./busybox cp /sdcard/Superuser.apk /system/app/
2. ./busybox cp /sdcard/su /system/bin/
3. ./busybox cp busybox /system/bin/
4. chmod 4755 /system/bin/su
5. rm /system/bin/rootshell
6. exit - out of rootshell
7. exit - out of adb shell

Verification:

When you run the abd shell again and issue su command, the Superuser.apk will run on the phone and will ask whether to allow the root permissions...

Answer 2

It appears that you can do it with SuperOneClick. See here for details.

Answer 3

I use Kingo Root app on PC, it basically does the work for you. I successfully rooted my Xperia Arc S, and all I did was sit back relax and wait for the magic to happen, and voilà, say hello to my newly rooted phone. All that is left is to install CM which I don't know how.