Moto Droid X bricks itself, if eFuse tripped (and iPad... what?)

By Richi Jennings. July 15, 2010.

It's emerged that the Motorola Droid X contains an 'eFuse', which it is speculated will brick the phone if it detects that you've tinkered with it. It's designed to stop you upgrading to unapproved firmware, for example. Motorola's position is that tinkerers are customers-non-grata. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers are up in arms and calling for a Motorola boycott.

Update: it might not be true, but a misunderstanding -- see the comments.

Your humble blogwatcher selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention a Dutch iPad disaster...
(MOT)
 
 
Devin Coldewey blows way-cold on the Droid X:

I’m going to have to give this one a big fat DON’T BUY on principle. ... Once I pay money for the item, it’s mine, and disabling my device because you don’t like what I’m doing with it falls under the category of sabotage. ... This is the equivalent of a MacBook detonating some core component if you try to install an OS to dual boot.
...
Android is a platform that not only was founded on the idea of openness, but thrives because of it. ... That idea is [an] anathema to Motorola. ... So here’s my official recommendation: don’t buy a Droid phone and don’t recommend them to your friends.

Woop-woop! Dat's the sound of David Ruddock:

New and disheartening information about the Droid X. ... Motorola has taken an extra step to ensure no one starts tinkering under the hood. ... The technology at work here is known as eFuse. It ... checks the version of the bootloader, kernel, and ROM.
...
If the check fails ... your Droid X will try to brick itself.

Matthew "p3droid" Pierce tells us what he knows:

Once the the eFuse verifies that the information ... that has been passed through to it by the bootloader is correct then the boot process continues. ... If the eFuse failes to verify this information then [it] receives a command to "blow the fuse" ... resulting in a permanent bricking of the Phone.
...
The eFuse is a rewritable module and thus ... it can be repaired but this procedure can only be done by Motorola.

Blake Stimac spies, with his little eye, something beginning with X:

The Droid eye doesn't look as cool anymore. ... While manufacturers have every right to do this ... it’s puzzling why some feel that they need to. ... Apple is also notorious for such things. ...  I’m not from Consumer Reports, but ... I can not recommend the Motorola Droid X to anyone that wants to tinker.
...
They have even gone so far to say that if you’d like to apply unofficial ROMs to your device, get the Android Developer’s Phone, the G1, or the Nexus One. Thanks for the tip, Motorola. ... Go get the Samsung Vibrant, Captivate, Fascinate, or Epic 4G. ... Google, please continue your Nexus line.

Mike Norris tries not to get hysterical:

Moto doesn’t even care about this issue. ... Moto seems to have an assumption stuck in their mind that it’s a very small number of people who want “to go above and beyond” the normal Android experience ... when in fact, that’s far from the truth. ... No matter how great you think an Android phone is stock, you haven’t truly experience Android’s greatness until you’ve rooted.
...
Motorola is completely failing to read and understand a fair chunk of their user base and what drives them towards Motorola Android devices — customization. ... It’s pretty simple. If you favor tinkering ... do not buy Motorola handsets..

G'day, Geordie Guy; here's the essence of your blog post:

This nonsense will see ... Motorola ... fall behind.
...
No. Bad. ... This is not part of Google’s vibe for the platform.

And a succession of Redditters call "veto":

I literally had the window open to purchase the x when I read this article. That's one less sold at least. ...
Two. ...
Three. ...
Four. Seriously. ...
五. ...
Sechs. [Und so weiter -Ed.]

And Finally...
Dutch iPad disaster
[warning: contains swimsuit, C64, and... what the heck is that?]
 
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com.

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