Information Overview / Getting started - Desire General

Hi Guys,
I just got my phone two days ago, so I’m lacking a lot of information and can’t really find a good entry point to get started (though maybe it’s because the wiki is down?).
So here are a first couple of questions for which I could not yet find answers:
How exactly works the trusted boot chain? Where are keys stored etc?
Is hboot generic for all android smartphones or is it something specific to desire / htc? Is it open source? (If yes: where to get it? If no: has anyone a binary / already reverse engineered it?)
How did people find out about the goldcard? Which part of the phone actually checks it and what’s the algorithm to calculate that special number?
Hope someone has some answers for me Thanks!

Related

KNOWLEDGE needed!

Hi there,
first of all, many thanks to all the talented people here, who give their time and energy to serve pda enthusiasts! I'm new to the htc smartphone world, just bought a Magician, a Prophet (G4), and a Universal to get a nice introduction into the mobile world. So far, I've read tons of materials before first deciding on changing ROM on my Magician, with success. Well, it's a risky business, and so many times you read alarming posts from people who wracked their nice working devices just by lack of knowledge. In fact, it all reminds me of walking on a ground stuffed with landmines. There are leaders who find a safe path (write an instruction), tell the others to follow, but never miss saying "remember, we don't take any responsibility".
I think the instructions are fine, but what I would really appreciate is to have some light shed on how the things work, so that I know what I'm doing, not just following the footsteps of someone who knows. I'm desparate to see some real piece of knowledge, but they are scarce. Take, e.g. a paragraph I found here (http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=FAQ#faqOsPhone) on IPL/SPL:
"IPL: Initial program load - usually paired with Secondary Program Load (SPL), is the boot loader of your phone, much like the BIOS is the boot loader for your PC. Note: IPL/SPL are highly hardware dependent, flashing the wrong IPL/SPL is much more serious than a flashing the wrong ROM. It may be noted that, sometimes a ROM package also contains the IPL/SPL which will be flashed into your phone. Hence be extra careful what you are flashing. Note: although a ROM may also contains the IPL/SPL, `ROM` usually refers just to the OS (eg. the Windows Mobile 5, not the IPL/SPL) and the ExtRom."
Well, it looks like this stuff is absolutely vital to anyone who ventures beyond entering the bootloader screen of their device, but why the fundamental questions raised there are left without answers? Some of such questions are:
1. Why do some ROMs contain IPL/SPL, if IPL/SPL are hardware dependent?
1. How do I know if a specific ROM I'd like to flash on my device contains the IPL/SPL? And then - can I flash its IPL/SPL on my original IPL/SPL?
2. What does it mean "flashing the wrong IPL/SPL"? How do I find out which ROM is suited for the IPL/SPL on my phone?
3. How do I find out the IPL/SPL for my Magician, if it's not desplayed neither on the spash screen, or in device information tab?
Please have some understanding for those newbe's questions. Maybe they are naive, but I don't want to learn the hard way... My question is: do you know any good site (or hardcopy materials) with regular knowledge to learn from about the mentioned and other important issues on pda modding/upgrading? I'll be really grateful for some guidance tips on how to guide myself
Many thanks in advance,
greg

[Q] Jargon Buster

I'm new at these forums, I came here for tips & advice to learn how to get rid of all the T-Mobile branding from my HTC Desire HD. With no technical experience of such devices (other than standard use) I soon found out there was a lot to learn.
The purpose of this thread is to get as much information for myself (and other newbies) to learn about the technical terms used, all in one place.
Would anybody be so kind as to offer plain English explanations of the following words/phrases.
Although I have a little understanding of some of these words/phrases, I have had trouble in the past so I am listing them for the benefit of others;
S-OFF/S-ON
HBOOT
ENG
Root
Flash
ROM
Radio
ClockWorkMod
CyanogenMod
RUU
BootLoader
Kernal version
Build number
Superuser
I think this is all for now. If you are also a newbie, feel free to post more related Jargon here to help build an all-in-one jargon busting thread!
I am my no means an expert but will try and help as much as I can.
S-OFF/S-ON - Security On/Off, this is to do with being able to write to protected parts of the device memory.
ENG <----This is the custom HBOOT that is part of the security work around ^^
ROM - Read Only Memory, usually this is the operating system that you are installing, eg LeeDroid or CyanogenMod.
Radio - Is the software used to link the hardware to the operating system.
ClockWorkMod - A custom recovery image that is used to install new roms, also allows you to do backups of the existing rom (operating system) before upgrading or patching.
CyanogenMod - A team of people developing an AOSP (Android Open Source Project) rom. It has no "sense" from HTC and is very minimalistic, usually very fast and stable.
RUU - (ROM Update Utility) The stock rom installer, use the correct one to return your phone to stock, usually used for returning to the manufacturer.
Build number - The version of the software you are looking at, usually it is in chronological order.
I have not answering the one's I know nothing about, better to wait for someone with more knowledge to come along. I may not be 100% correct, I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.
Good luck.
Blinky
Thanks Blinky!
On another thread CitizenLee pointed me to a website that contains a lot of the jargon and their descriptions! I found this unbelievably helpful. Here it is guys;
http://www.villainrom.co.uk/vBwiki/index.php/Glossary_of_Android_Terms
Very nice site, have bookmarked that myself, cheers.

[Q] About dhd usb host!!

did they stopped developing with the function,
i want to make it go on ,is there any idea? how can i begin
i have c c++ asm experiences. but it's the first time for android what do i need to learn.i am a noob in linux!!!
I was very excited about the USB-Host development, but was disappointed to find that the instructions no longer worked - the device rejected the boot image...
Though it would be nice to contact the developer for some advice or to offer help, it seems we're restricted to posting here?
OK, so I've realised that the Devs are actually doing something far more interesting - it requires a bit more work, but you can run ubuntu with usb-host support by following the steps here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1045910

[Q] Source Code and Version Questions

I bought this phone (V 3.6.8) to get re-involved with programming (away for over a decade). It's a nice piece of hardware at an incredibly cheap price. Like everyone here, I am frustrated with a locked bootloader and now no root. While I "try" to get up to speed (a lot to learn!) in the android world, I'll be glad to help in any way I can. Some questions I have:
1. Does anyone know some of the differences in V3.5.0 which can be rooted and V3.6.8 which can't be downgraded to V3.5.0?
2. Has anyone compared the now available source code versions released by Amazon?
3. Does anyone know which source code versions are used with V3.5.0 and V3.6.8 (or is it the same)?
4. Does anyone know if the partition setup for V3.5.0 and V3.6.8 are the same?
I realize there might be more important questions (build.prop issues?), so any help I can get to get started would be appreciated.

Currently on Oreo, December 1st patch

Hey team,
I'm very new to working with smart phone bootloaders and flashing different ROM's. Currently I have only ever played with ADB a little bit, have never come close to flashing another ROM/firmware, let alone rooting.
Here's the thing, is that I've very interested in running a couple operating systems on my S7 Active, however it seems that if I am on Oreo, this process becomes much more difficult.
I come here for 2 reasons, first is that I need points to ask questions in other forums. I figure here is the best place to start on getting answers and where to look for information.
My second reason is so that I may get some help / information on how to get my S7 Active set up for using at least 2 operating systems - Regular Oreo, as well as Android's PostMarketOS. I am a new user, so I cannot post a link, however you can find it at reddit r/PostMarketOS. I am fully aware that I will likely need to build my own version of PostMarketOS. I'm not here for help with this, so much as I am here for getting help to prepare my S7 Active for this process.
So, I suppose to start, my questions are as follows:
1. Am I stuck with Oreo?
2. While I have unlocked OEM in developer settings, I feel that there's more to unlocking the bootloader - is there information for Oreo on how to do this?
3.I understand that there is root for Android N (7.0), however I have read that you cannot downgrade to (7.0). Furthermore, I am not sure if this would even be necessary.
To give a bit more information, to create the PostMarketOS for Android, it must be created using Linux, and I have a link to post, however I am a new user, the guide for creating PostMarketOS is on the sidebar of Reddit.
Hopefully I can get some help, but I would be happy with just some resources on where to go about starting/finding information. I'm a total noob in this regard, but I am a quick learner and motivated to get my S7 Active to not run so laggy... Plus it would be fun to use 2 operating systems
If you need any other information, I'm happy to find and give it.

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