Motorola: eFuse Will Not Brick Motorola Droid X

Yesterday, rumor surfaced that the new Motorola Droid X included an eFuse chip that would lock the bootloader, rendering the device useless. Erictric noted that it was very unlikely that modding the device would end up bricking it. Motorola has now confirmed our theory, stating that the eFuse chip will only lock down the device in case that unauthorized software is installed. In other words, modding your Droid X will not brick it, but it will lock it down. However, according to Motorola, installing the approved version of the software will unlock the device. Motorola states that they do that to “protect the user against potential malicious software threats.”

The company released the following statement:

“Motorola’s primary focus is the security of our end users and protection of their data, while also meeting carrier, partner and legal requirements. The Droid X and a majority of Android consumer devices on the market today have a secured bootloader. In reference specifically to eFuse, the technology is not loaded with the purpose of preventing a consumer device from functioning, but rather ensuring for the user that the device only runs on updated and tested versions of software. If a device attempts to boot with unapproved software, it will go into recovery mode, and can re-boot once approved software is re-installed. Checking for a valid software configuration is a common practice within the industry to protect the user against potential malicious software threats. Motorola has been a long time advocate of open platforms and provides a number of resources to developers to foster the ecosystem including tools and access to devices via MOTODEV at http://developer.motorola.com.”

We’re pretty sure that Android developers will eventually find a way to mod the Motorola Droid X without sending it into lockdown. Just give it some time.