How to become root on a N810 with the latest OS2008 update

I couldn't be bothered with the earlier versions of the Nokia Internet Tablets which lacked a hardware keyboard, but when Nokia released the N810, I had to get one!

One of first problems get root access. With the latest update of the OS, the root password has changed and the only solution is to enable R&D mode. Despite what the HowDoiBecomeRoot wiki page says, enabling R&D mode with the flasher tool works on the N810 (no idea about N800):

1. Get the flasher-3.0 tool from the Nokia restricted downloads
   
   
2. Run 'flasher-3.0-static –enable-rd-mode’ using the same process described for firmware updates (plug in the N810 with the power off, run command, power on while holding home key). Thanks to Mike Rowehl for the tip.
   
   
3. On the N810, start Xterm and enter 'sudo gainroot'. You're in business!
   
   
4. Now you need to secure the root account. The following is taken from the HowDoiBecomeRoot wiki page. Needless to say that if you don't understand what you're doing or make any typos during this process, there's a very high chance that you'll turn your tablet into a paperweight.
   
   
1. Set a password for your user account:

   passwd user

2. Allow "user" to use the su command so that you can actually logon as root (better that the gainroot method). Watch out, it's ">>" not ">"...

   echo "user ALL = PASSWD: /bin/su" >> /etc/sudoers

3. Now we need to secure the root account, i.e. disable any direct logons as root by disabling its password:

   passwd -l root

4. Done! From now on, all you have to do to login as root is:

   sudo su -

Happy hacking!