Google intelligently took a leap when it bought Motorola and designed its first series of smartphones. Moto X and Moto G are two such renowned Android-based devices which took over the smartphone market in several countries, judging by its price and the configuration it offers the two are best in their kind. The Moto X is a strong contender to many high-end devices including Google’s own Nexus 4, offering a Qualcomm Pro Snapdragon Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait processor, Adreno 320 GPU, 10 MP HD camera and a Corning Gorilla Glass 4.7” display.
On the other hand, the Moto G supports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Quad-core 1.2 GHz CPU, Adreno 305 GPU and a 4.5” display, which is just a bit less from the X. Another great thing about these devices is the support for the latest Android version. Taking the latest KitKat 4.4.3 as an example, which was released and pushed to these devices in a matter of weeks. This also brings a great deal of effort for the developers to come up with a root method, jcase is one such worthy Android developer at XDA forums, who has been contributing to a long list of devices and has lately released a new exploit to Root Moto X and Moto G on KitKat 4.4.x.
It is named “Pie”, kindly do not confuse it with Pie controls. The exploit is, for now, the only one to be able to Root your Moto on KitKat 4.4.x, which is a tethered exploit that means you need to run it on every boot to enable the root. The developer has also stated something important “You do not get system write access, you do get root and busybox“. This is a statement you need to understand and cope with until a permanent root method is detailed. If you are also a developer and seek a much more in-depth view of how it works.
Warning!
DroidViews or any of its members do not encourage rooting, it voids the warranty. Understand the risk and proceed only then. It is also important to note that the exploit is meant only and only for the Moto X and Moto G, irrespective of its variant. But, do not attempt to try this on any other device.
Preparations Before Root
- Install the appropriate Motorola USB drivers.
- A USB data cable compatible with the device
- Backup everything including storage, SMS, Contacts, etc.
- Enable USB debugging on your Moto X or Moto G.
- Download and install the Android SDK platform-tools.
- Download the exploit package and extract it to a suitable folder.
Root Moto X and Moto G on KitKat using Pie exploit
- Connect your Moto X or Moto G to the PC via USB data cable.
- Open the folder where the exploit files were extracted. Now, inside an empty space within that folder, press SHIFT key and Right-click. A pop-up will appear, select Open command window here.
- Its time to execute the exploit, enter the following commands one after the other to push the exploit to the device:
adb push pie.jar /data/local/atvc adb push root.sh /data/local/atvc
- Enter the following commands to execute the adb shell:
adb shell chmod 755 /data/local/atvc/root.sh adb shell /data/local/atvc/root.sh
- The expected output should be similar to the one below:
Retina:package jcase$ adb push pie.jar /data/local/atvc 5288 KB/s (1538203 bytes in 0.284s) Retina:package jcase$ adb push root.sh /data/local/atvc 81 KB/s (137 bytes in 0.001s) Retina:package jcase$ adb shell chmod 755 /data/local/atvc/root.sh Retina:package jcase$ adb shell /data/local/atvc/root.sh pie by jcase want to buy me pie? paypal-> jcase@cunninglogic.com Retina:package jcase$ adb shell shell@ghost:/ $ su root@ghost:/ # id uid=0(root) gid=0(root) context=u:r:kernel:s0
It’s pretty simple for anyone to perform and take seconds to finish. Note, that with every reboot, you will need to run the exploit again. Tell us if you’re enjoying your rooted Moto on the latest KitKat version. Wait, till we get back with a new permanent method to Root Moto X and Moto G on KitKat 4.4.2.
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