“Kexec” Unlocks Bootloader a Bit on GSM and CDMA Droid RAZR — Custom ROMs Flashing Begins!

If there’s one thing that Motorola is infamous for, apart from their often criticized MotoBlur UI, it’s their policy of locking down the bootloaders on all their Android devices, making it difficult to install custom kernels and full custom ROMs (instead of just modified stock ROMs) and preventing a lot of cool stuff from happening on their phones. The Motorola Droid RAZR was no exception when it came out.

However, developers kholk and [mbm] from the Eternity Project Development Forums, have been working on the Kexec project, an attempt to bypass the bootloader on the Droid RAZR, since mid-March. And now, the bypass method is available for everyone to try out. The bypass allows booting a custom kernel, which should pave the way for better custom ROMs and other sorts of magic that the developers in the custom Android community are capable of.

The Kexec bypass is still a work in progress, and there are a few limitations at this point. Right now, only one of the two processor cores of the phone is running after bypassing the bootloader. Also, on some CDMA RAZRs, the bypass fails to run at all. Both of these problems are being looked at by the developers, with the latter issue being on top of the priority list.

So, many of you must be pretty excited to try it out, so head on to the official project page to get more details and to download the necessary files. Do be cautious though, as the project is a work in progress and therefore can be dangerous. Do share your thoughts on how it works for you, in the comments below.