How do I get S-Off - G2 and Desire Z Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have permerooted my DZ but now I seem to be having trouble understanding How to get S-Off and I can't do a nandroid backup unless I get S-off right.

Manarch101 said:
I have permerooted my DZ but now I seem to be having trouble understanding How to get S-Off and I can't do a nandroid backup unless I get S-off right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you following the guide in the wiki?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Manarch101 said:
I have permerooted my DZ but now I seem to be having trouble understanding How to get S-Off and I can't do a nandroid backup unless I get S-off right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, yes you need S-Off to do a nandriod back up.
Second, you do not have permroot if you do not have S-Off. To get S-off there are several ways but I recommend using Rage+gfree found Here: in sub section "Rooting the Vision (G2/DZ) and DHD" This by far is the safest way to root.
But to let you make an informed decision there is also Visionary, now people in properly using this method, has produced a lot of soft bricks, I my self rooted this way, but again I still recommend using Rage+Gfree. But if you wish to still give Visionary a shot, Heres a link on how to properly use Visionary, make sure you follow everything to the "T". Read everything I have written in the post, do everything I have written in the post, then follow the videos exactly. But just to be clear, I am still recommending using the Rage+Gfree method. Happy Rooting.

ok joemm I tried the rage directions that you told me and I am not sure if it worked is there a way of knowing if it worked or not
Edit: nvm I can now get into CWM area which I could not get into before thanxs for the help and info.

What!!?? I know for a fact that you don't need s-off to do a nandroid. In fact, the ONLY thing s-off does that's of any significance is allow you to write to the system while it's booted - that's it. It's not some magic thing you absolutely need, just like having an ENG hboot isn't necessary to do 99% of the modifying you'll ever do.
This is a technical forum not some fire and brimstone 'do it or you'll die' sermon. Let's not construe fact and fiction/personal opinion on here. Just dish the facts unless otherwise rerquested.
As for gaining s-off, follow the wiki, push the files and you can literally copy and paste the commands if you need to (I suggest that so you don't screw up and brick your phone).

KCRic said:
What!!?? I know for a fact that you don't need s-off to do a nandroid. In fact, the ONLY thing s-off does that's of any significance is allow you to write to the system while it's booted - that's it. It's not some magic thing you absolutely need, just like having an ENG hboot isn't necessary to do 99% of the modifying you'll ever do.
This is a technical forum not some fire and brimstone 'do it or you'll die' sermon. Let's not construe fact and fiction/personal opinion on here. Just dish the facts unless otherwise rerquested.
As for gaining s-off, follow the wiki, push the files and you can literally copy and paste the commands if you need to (I suggest that so you don't screw up and brick your phone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL..........how does he flash a custom CWM recovery with out having a rooted phone? Remember he is using ClockWorkMod to do a back up?

KCRic said:
What!!?? I know for a fact that you don't need s-off to do a nandroid. In fact, the ONLY thing s-off does that's of any significance is allow you to write to the system while it's booted - that's it. It's not some magic thing you absolutely need, just like having an ENG hboot isn't necessary to do 99% of the modifying you'll ever do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S-OFF lets you flash unsigned images and overrides version checking ,it isn't just about writing to the system while booted. I think you may be confusing defeating the NAND write protection with the actual S-OFF.
As far as I know you need S-OFF to flash a custom recovery, and you need CWM recovery to do a nandroid backup. I have never tried flash_image but I would be suprised if that let you flash a custom recovery while S-ON, because flash_image is just a regular binary.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z

steviewevie said:
S-OFF lets you flash unsigned images and overrides version checking ,it isn't just about writing to the system while booted. I think you may be confusing defeating the NAND write protection with the actual S-OFF.
As far as I know you need S-OFF to flash a custom recovery, and you need CWM recovery to do a nandroid backup. I have never tried flash_image but I would be suprised if that let you flash a custom recovery while S-ON, because flash_image is just a regular binary.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True you can't flash a custom recovery and have it stick after a reboot but you can package it into an update.zip and flash it when you get into recovery. Aside from that you're phone performs the same. That's how we did everything on the MT slide before some one found a method to gain s-off. Of course there were no custom MTD partitions and we couldn't change the splash but that falls into the 1% of things the average 'rooter' will not attempt. The only reason we needed the ENG hboot was so that adb would catch our phone in recovery every time without running a loop.bat and praying to god. As far as NAND write protection, normally when a dev manages to break s-on they also break the write protection. At least that's what I've seen in phones with s-off. Are there any not like that?
Hopefully I didn't come off as an ass earlier, didn't mean it. I got 3 hours of sleep and I'm pulling a 13 hour day with a foot of fresh snow outside

I think you might be drawing too much comparison with earlier phones. The DZ and DHD have much stronger security than earlier phones. People familiar with experience of older HTC Android phones have often made incorrect assumptions about how things work on the DZ, some things are quite different (and typically much more complicated to unlock)
Sent from my HTC Desire Z

steviewevie said:
People familiar with experience of older HTC Android phones have often made incorrect assumptions...
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Click to collapse
Hell yes! And I'm one of them!
Last night I put some Cyanogen 6.1 flavoured ROM on my Magic/Sapphire. It was so easy: like 2 years ago or so I flashed some S-OFF ENG hboot, put some nice custom recovery on the phone and there I went, peacefully since ever. Reason for flashing the 6.1 CM was me giving the fone to my GF so that I can pick up a brand new Desire Z.
I came here, wanted to quickly crack that thing to play around with it and I find some gFree, Visionary, adb push stuff blah blah blah (I know my way around adb, that's not the point), it seems to have become alot more difficult than back in the days, as pointed out by steviewevie.
So, anyone willing to *quickly* summarize what has changed in the last 12 months regarding "rooting", "cracking" and ROM-customizing HTC devices for me...? I'm still, uhm... well, I'm shocked and overwhelmed. In the store I thought: cool, 7pm, device mine, home by 7:30, rooted by 8, Gingerbread-flavour on it by 8:30-9pm, ROM customization (settings and such) from 9-10, sleepy time by 10:30pm. Nah, it's past 10:30 and I'm still trying to figure out what's what with the new devices...

schaggo said:
Hell yes! And I'm one of them!
Last night I put some Cyanogen 6.1 flavoured ROM on my Magic/Sapphire. It was so easy: like 2 years ago or so I flashed some S-OFF ENG hboot, put some nice custom recovery on the phone and there I went, peacefully since ever. Reason for flashing the 6.1 CM was me giving the fone to my GF so that I can pick up a brand new Desire Z.
I came here, wanted to quickly crack that thing to play around with it and I find some gFree, Visionary, adb push stuff blah blah blah (I know my way around adb, that's not the point), it seems to have become alot more difficult than back in the days, as pointed out by steviewevie.
So, anyone willing to *quickly* summarize what has changed in the last 12 months regarding "rooting", "cracking" and ROM-customizing HTC devices for me...? I'm still, uhm... well, I'm shocked and overwhelmed. In the store I thought: cool, 7pm, device mine, home by 7:30, rooted by 8, Gingerbread-flavour on it by 8:30-9pm, ROM customization (settings and such) from 9-10, sleepy time by 10:30pm. Nah, it's past 10:30 and I'm still trying to figure out what's what with the new devices...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its become more difficult because device manufacturers have made it more difficult. The "official" means to root the Vision is posted on the Vision wiki page here at XDA.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Thanks for the answer. I got the thing cracked in the meantime. The device feels so much smoother without Sense... and Gingerbread is good for one's soul

Related

[Q] Gonna take a dive and root my evo.

I've been going back and forth on whether or not to root my evo for the past week, and I think I'm finally up for it. I've done some basic looking around and I believe that I need to follow this method http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=765496. I would like to keep 2.2 and not have to go back down to 2.1. One thing that I did notice was the whole HBOOT ordeal. I checked and I have the .97 version. Is there anything special that I need to do before following the instructions in the link above? I plan on using the stock 2.2 rom and possibly experimenting with different roms in the future. I'd say I'm experienced with computers, although I will admit that I'm new to rooting and have yet to toil with coding. If anyone has any suggestions or a better method, I'm all ears.
i would suggest you follow this method instead: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=838448
i rooted my evo with the method that you mentioned but that is an older process, it involves downgrading and then upgrading. even though the process will still work, you will be better off using an updated method.
spalding1028 said:
I've been going back and forth on whether or not to root my evo for the past week, and I think I'm finally up for it. I've done some basic looking around and I believe that I need to follow this method http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=765496. I would like to keep 2.2 and not have to go back down to 2.1. One thing that I did notice was the whole HBOOT ordeal. I checked and I have the .97 version. Is there anything special that I need to do before following the instructions in the link above? I plan on using the stock 2.2 rom and possibly experimenting with different roms in the future. I'd say I'm experienced with computers, although I will admit that I'm new to rooting and have yet to toil with coding. If anyone has any suggestions or a better method, I'm all ears.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With your hboot you can use unrevoked 3.21 and not have a problem them just download Rom manager and get amon ra recovery img and flash that through Rom manager and you have full root nand unlock and a good custom recovery. Plus its ten times easier
Sent from my EVO at the edge of hell
rajas_evo said:
i would suggest you follow this method instead: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=838448
i rooted my evo with the method that you mentioned but that is an older process, it involves downgrading and then upgrading. even though the process will still work, you will be better off using an updated method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I was hoping that my post would bring about results or suggestions. I think I'm gonna hold off on Rooting until tomorrow night since it's already 3 am and I would prefer doing this with a fresh mind, haha. Thanks again. I'll make sure to post my success!
Jbcarrera said:
With your hboot you can use unrevoked 3.21 and not have a problem them just download Rom manager and get amon ra recovery img and flash that through Rom manager and you have full root nand unlock and a good custom recovery. Plus its ten times easier
Sent from my EVO at the edge of hell
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unrevoked.com/recovery/ just download the exe from that link and run it? Sorry for being a bit confused >.<
I'll link you djrez's instructions when I get home but its really simple
Thanks a bunch! I'm sure this'll help other "newbies"
here is djrez's thread link and a link to unrevoked's download areahttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=787304
and this is for unrevoked download unrevoked3 painless root
http://www.unrevoked.com/#evo
Not to hijack your thread, but I'm also considering rooting my phone to stock android, but have never rooted and have a couple questions.
Why do it? And the software (I guess?) That Evo comes with is designed to work specifically with the Evo(right?)...well if I rooted, is that software or whatever its called (yes, I'm a newbie) designed to take advantage of the Evo hardware etc..?
Thanks
Edit: oh and if I don't like it can I undo it like I never did it in the first place?
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.
First off, Jbcarrera thank you so much for the links (and I LOVE your avater, being a huge AC fan)! I just rooted my evo in I'd have to say about 10 minutes. That's a good question for the seniors here, josh. My phone right now (rooted) looks exactly the same as it did beforehand. All apps still there, sense is still on it, and for me, I'm going to use this to turn on my mobile hotspot feature for free. My way of seeing it (and I'm sure others see it this way too) is that android is OPEN SOURCE carriers will lock features down, and rooting just unleashes the full potential. again, thanks to everyone here, I am sure to visit back often for many tips and tricks!
Hmmm if I were to root I'd want just deadstock original froyo 2.2. No sense no nothing lol.
10 mins is all it took? I'm just nervous, my luck I'll ruin my phone lol
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.
josh995 said:
Hmmm if I were to root I'd want just deadstock original froyo 2.2. No sense no nothing lol.
10 mins is all it took? I'm just nervous, my luck I'll ruin my phone lol
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
firstly what hboot do you have? 10 mins is for anything with hboot under 2.02. if you don't know how to get to your hboot its easy just turn off your phone and let it power all the way down, next your hold the volume down and power button at the same time and voiala you are in hboot at the top of the phone it will state a few things one of them says hboot that number is your version of hboot if it says .97 or below your good to go if not then you will have to root with a more complicated method.
spalding1028 said:
First off, Jbcarrera thank you so much for the links (and I LOVE your avater, being a huge AC fan)!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you it took me a while to find it
Jbcarrera said:
firstly what hboot do you have? 10 mins is for anything with hboot under 2.02. if you don't know how to get to your hboot its easy just turn off your phone and let it power all the way down, next your hold the volume down and power button at the same time and voiala you are in hboot at the top of the phone it will state a few things one of them says hboot that number is your version of hboot if it says .97 or below your good to go if not then you will have to root with a more complicated method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Says 0.97.0000
So if I follow the method you posted earlier, I'll have stock 2.2?
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.
josh995 said:
Says 0.97.0000
So if I follow the method you posted earlier, I'll have stock 2.2?
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah now to answer your other question a no sense rom there are a few that do this but to my knowledge no 4g on these roms one is cyanogen i have never tried it but there are very good reports very very few bug almost non existant and then there is virus airborne i belive both awsome no sense roms they're others but i don't know much about them feel free to search the development section of the forum for more info now sense roms i can name some very good ones but i'll let you decide after you decide what to do
Ok I will check those out. Thanks
And thanks spalding for starting this thread. I think it helped me in my decision to root!
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.
No problem! I'm glad it wasn't a waste of time for people! By the way, wifi tether works like a champ! not sure if I can post the how to for that on here or not, so I will leave it up to a senior/admin to post if it's allowed.
Scared S!ht-less
I recently purchased a White Evo a few weeks ago. I've been reading the forums and in a few months i'll probably look back at this post and LOL at myself. Anyways I have HBOOT 2.02 with S-On. I tried installing Unrevoked when i first got the phone (easier way), but got the infamous "misc error"
I want to make sure I do this right and root the right way. I want to do a complete back up of the stock rom, but i tried doing a recovery with the HBOOT and all i got was a phone with a red triangle. I pulled the battery out and the phone restarted. Got scared.... So how do i do this the right way? Looks like I need to do some sort of nandroid backup, but what and where do i download nandroid? I also want to install this ROM http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=808656 I also don't want any radio problems since i have great 4g service. Do i need to do a backup of radio files since i also want to do this mod http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=696073
Thanks and hope you can help me out.
Hardware version 0004
Build Number 3.30.651.3
Yeah - This Thread is pretty helpful to me as well... Im still reading greek 'cause - although Im no noob when it comes to tech challenges I am a noob to rooting. I taught my self Homebrew for PSP, How to build themes for my PS3, how to write HTML for my website and have always been good at learning this kind of stuff on my own, BBUUTTTT I also like to read ALOT before I do some thing. This thread is now book marked and will probably be referred back to a million times...lol - THANKS!!
I have a ton of questions but I am searching the forums for the answers - I will probably be posting up my own thread when I get done doing my current research.
Jbcarrera said:
firstly what hboot do you have? 10 mins is for anything with hboot under 2.02. if you don't know how to get to your hboot its easy just turn off your phone and let it power all the way down, next your hold the volume down and power button at the same time and voiala you are in hboot at the top of the phone it will state a few things one of them says hboot that number is your version of hboot if it says .97 or below your good to go if not then you will have to root with a more complicated method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly if you have .97 or below simply use unrevoked3 one click root works great and installs clockworkmod recovery bootloader. My one recommendation after that is to then download Rom Manager and flash the bootloader to Amon_RA and do a nandroid backup before deciding to flash any roms. Clockwork does not create a wimax image and people have been having issues while trying to flash the wimax. I personally created a nandroid using clockwork then flashed to Amon and did another backup with it. Safe is better then sorry.

[Q] need help installing gingerbread keyboard

i have installed the gingerbread keyboard file on my sd card and have rooted my phone using the visonary method but now i cant seem to get into recovery mode. I have rom manager installed and have flashed clockwork recovery mode. it said that it had sucsessfully installed.
I then flashed it again as i read somewhere that i might need to do it twice as sometimes it dosent work.
when i now click on the recovery option in rom manager all i get is the red triange with the ! in the middle.
any ideas what im doing wrong?
Have tried reading the threads but with 30 plus pages i am now completley confused
Sounds like you don't have S-OFF. What does it say in HBOOT (e.g. hold down volume down and the power button with the phone powered off) ?
steviewevie said:
Sounds like you don't have S-OFF. What does it say in HBOOT (e.g. hold down volume down and the power button with the phone powered off) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the quick reply, i think from what i have read that this s-off thing maybe the problem.
can you tell me how do this please
simple steps please as i am struggling with this
just done the hboot hing and at the top of screen it says
vision pvt ship s-on
hpsauce37 said:
thanks for the quick reply, i think from what i have read that this s-off thing maybe the problem.
can you tell me how do this please
simple steps please as i am struggling with this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a bit confusing because there is more than one way to do this. But by far the safest way is to follow the guide at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=857390
Have a good read, then if you're not sure, ask questions in that thread on the process.
steviewevie said:
Sounds like you don't have S-OFF. What does it say in HBOOT (e.g. hold down volume down and the power button with the phone powered off) ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S-OFF is a completely different animal. Don't get it confused with being able to boot into recovery.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk Pro
rwcj63 said:
S-OFF is a completely different animal. Don't get it confused with being able to boot into recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't think you could flash recovery without S-OFF though ? Surely ROM Manager doesn't have the ability to write to the NAND, since the write protection will be on if you're at S-ON ?
steviewevie said:
I didn't think you could flash recovery without S-OFF though ? Surely ROM Manager doesn't have the ability to write to the NAND, since the write protection will be on if you're at S-ON ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again. S-OFF is a different issue altogether. Being able to write to NAND is a part of the rooting process. Setting security off is not a part of the rooting process. It's a totally different process for a totally different purpose. The caveat would be if unrevoked has been revised to full root and set S-OFF during the same process. I haven't used it in awhile so on that point, I'm not certain.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk Pro
rwcj63 said:
Again. S-OFF is a different issue altogether. Being able to write to NAND is a part of the rooting process. Setting security off is not a part of the rooting process. It's a totally different process for a totally different purpose. The caveat would be if unrevoked has been revised to full root and set S-OFF during the same process. I haven't used it in awhile so on that point, I'm not certain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but that's not right for the DZ/G2. I wonder if you're thinking of how it works on a different Android phone ? The security has been increased on the DZ/G2/DHD compared to, say, the original Desire.
Writing to the system and recovery partitions isn't possible until you get S-OFF. This has nothing to do with rooting, it it because of the increased security on these phones where the NAND is in a hardware write-protect mode for those partitions by default. You can appear to write to the partitions, but it's actually going to cache and is lost when you reboot, until you get S-OFF.
steviewevie said:
Sorry but that's not right for the DZ/G2. I wonder if you're thinking of how it works on a different Android phone ? The security has been increased on the DZ/G2/DHD compared to, say, the original Desire.
Writing to the system and recovery partitions isn't possible until you get S-OFF. This has nothing to do with rooting, it it because of the increased security on these phones where the NAND is in a hardware write-protect mode for those partitions by default. You can appear to write to the partitions, but it's actually going to cache and is lost when you reboot, until you get S-OFF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually yes. S-OFF on the EVO is to make sure no matter what, you're always rooted. It came about after the new stock flash would unroot the phone. With S-OFF active, you can flash any stock rom and not lose root. All you would need to do is reflash RA or Clockwork to get back to recovery and flash roms again. Unrevoked forever is the program we used to change the security setting.
So. That is only true for the EVO?
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk Pro
rwcj63 said:
Actually yes. S-OFF on the EVO is to make sure no matter what, you're always rooted. It came about after the new stock flash would unroot the phone. With S-OFF active, you can flash any stock rom and not lose root. All you would need to do is reflash RA or Clockwork to get back to recovery and flash roms again. Unrevoked forever is the program we used to change the security setting.
So. That is only true for the EVO?
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah I think so.
The new HTC Desire Z and HD had "better" security from htc, basically you can't write anything to nand (/system) until you perma rooted, even then some things such as recovery needed s-off before we could write to that partition.
im going to have to give up on this
i have tried to follow the guide to get s-off but i find it too complicated. I have my phone rooted with visionary but i think thats as far as im going to get.
tried to install the adb thing and get that working but it never recognises the phone. when i remove the drivers and plug it back in then windows automatically installs the drivers again so i never have the option to manually instll them.
this is just becoming a nightmare
someone make it simple for me please....the thread is pages and pages long and even then it seems there are problems
hpsauce37 said:
im going to have to give up on this
i have tried to follow the guide to get s-off but i find it too complicated. I have my phone rooted with visionary but i think thats as far as im going to get.
tried to install the adb thing and get that working but it never recognises the phone. when i remove the drivers and plug it back in then windows automatically installs the drivers again so i never have the option to manually instll them.
this is just becoming a nightmare
someone make it simple for me please....the thread is pages and pages long and even then it seems there are problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried my guide on adb ? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=865685
OK, I can use some help too
I have a DZ with stock ROM, root and s-off and CWR.
In my enthusiasm that I knew how to flash rom updates with clockwork (I am running the Godspeed 1Ghz) I downloaded the Gingerbread keyboard rom update from the G2 forum. I think I jumped off a bit too fast...
And now I am stuck in an infinite boot loop. I can get into Clockwork recovery but it just loops the "HTC Quietly Brilliant" forever including the annoying boot sound...
I tried some suggestions to download and reflash a second time, no effect.
I tried to mount /system before flashing, no effect.
Am I forced to go back to factory now?
Also, I found 2 gingerbread keyboards, one in the G2 forum and one over here.
Anyone know what the difference is? They have a different filesize..
Any help is welcome...
*edit*
OK so now I read that it is only to be flashed on a non-stock ROM... so I am now flashing Cyanogen 6.1
try wiping all the caches...
Lennyuk said:
yeah I think so.
The new HTC Desire Z and HD had "better" security from htc, basically you can't write anything to nand (/system) until you perma rooted, even then some things such as recovery needed s-off before we could write to that partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. I'm really sorry guys. I never knew that's how non evo worked. That totally sucks.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk Pro
rwcj63 said:
Wow. I'm really sorry guys. I never knew that's how non evo worked. That totally sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S'alright.
HTC really ramped up the security on these new phones, as Lenny said, with this hardware write-protection on certain partitions. But even given that, I was amazed by just how quickly the guys on the #G2ROOT IRC channel, especially Scotty2, managed to crack it !
It also looks like they've opened the phone even wider than many others before, with the "true" radio S-OFF that they achieved.
You can read up all about it in the Wiki - http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision

Rooting with Visonary 14 killed me phone

I didnt think this was possible but I think I bricked my phone by using Visionary and permroot.
I clicked on the permroot, the icon went on, rebooted and got stuck at the HTC green screen.
After pulling the battery;
I tried doing a factory reset, nothing.
I tried a stock image of tmobile, nothing (at least I think I did this right)
ADB doesnt recognize the device in windows
I have only seen a red triangle and exclamation point after trying several posts suggestions.
I'm stuck on what to do, and have a replacement coming, but not soon enough.
Can I do anything with this? Like get the original Tmobile image back on? If so, how? I'm not the brightest bulb when it comes to this, as the g1 was so much easier. A bit of instructions would be great.
Thank you!
People have been warned about visionary's high chance of bricking over and over again and that they should just use the rage method but they can't seem to get it.
Also: you do realize that the nand lock was to prevent this exact thing: people bricking their phones then returning them hoping to get them replaced. If it doesn't get replaced then you full well deserve it for not reading the countless posts about people bricking their phones using visionary.
First off: are you s-off?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.
You didn't read the post which said you should not try to install the stock rom?
fastludeh22 said:
Ok mods, I know this normally isn't the place, but I think this is very important as I'm seeing more and more semi bricks, some of which are not recoverable without HTC signing keys!
So I ask you mods, please don't lock this, if anything it really needs to be a sticky!
That being said, if you are s-off, do NOT flash the signed offical PC10IMG.zip. if you don't have the correct rom on there when you do, as per the unroot thread you will get stuck.
Let me give u an example of what I've been seeing and why its happening so everyone understands. Example: you perm root/s-off your phone. You decide to do some rom playing. You end up boot looping and can't fully boot into android. So u say hey, ill reload pc10 and start over, WRONG.
What happens is s-off does no checks, sigs, version number etc. So when you load it up it starts to flash. Hboot(s-on) is first, then recovery, then radio. Thing is it has to reboot to do radio, so it reboots, at this point your s-on so it does a version check. "Main is older" then it quits before ever touching the system.img or boot.img. at this point you are locked. You have s-on, stock recovery, and can't boot android. Long story short, your screwed.
Now depending on the rom/kernel u had/have installed you may have adb access. At this point you have a small chance of recovering, which is better then some. I just spent the last 5 hours working with someone on a fix and think we got it, but the bat has died and will have to pick back up tomo. If this works or not, I also have one more idea we can try. I will update OP with any fixes we find.
*If your system was bootable when you started this, it may still boot. but you will be s-on, stock recovery, and still on whatever rom you were running. at this point you will have to hex edit to downgrade, or wpthis.ko if there is one for your kernel to get back to s-off.
*ive seen some people saying. i did it, it worked for me, but don't add any supporting info. this is bad for people new to android cause it makes them feel they will be ok. the only way this can work is if you have a version installed as old or older then the official img, or if you take hboot out of the update which then makes it no longer the official update. but my question is why are you flashing this? if you want to fully unroot, then follow the unroot guide. if you just want to go back to stock w/root, grab one of the stock w/root roms.
Long story short, do your rom flashing from recovery. Stay out of hboot unless you are following proven instructions to a T, or being walked though be a "pro". I hope this helps save some people!
* if you just read all this going DAMN, i already did that, then go here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842495
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
@ddgarcia05 - that should be ok if he wasn't at S-OFF with the eng hboot though, which I don't believe that Visionary applies.
ibemad1 said:
People have been warned about visionary's high chance of bricking over and over again and that they should just use the rage method but they can't seem to get it.
Also: you do realize that the nand lock was to prevent this exact thing: people bricking their phones then returning them hoping to get them replaced. If it doesn't get replaced then you full well deserve it for not reading the countless posts about people bricking their phones using visionary.
First off: are you s-off?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked and it said S-On and this was in recovery
ddgarcia05 said:
You didn't read the post which said you should not try to install the stock rom?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADB doesnt recognize the device in windows and this was also in recovery
Anyone? Bueller?
cwis said:
ADB doesnt recognize the device in windows and this was also in recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out the adb guide at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=865685
If you install the HTC Sync software, as mentioned in that guide, that should give you the drivers that you need.
This looks bad. Being that you're new. this can be very bad.
You have three choices:
1: study each thread about Bricking G2.
2:find a more experienced person to help you unbrick your phone.
3:find a very strong magnet and place it on your phone leave it there for an hour and bring it back.

[Q] Help for noob - riskfree root / S-OFF / flashing

Although I rooted my own Desire back in May of last year, I have since moved on to a different phone and hence stopped following development etc for the Desire.
I have a work colleague who would like the benefits of a rooted, custom ROM but he has no experience in phone-modifying. He basically wants better battery life (so SetCPU would do the job for that) and more space for apps (Apps2SD the original, not Google's implementation). On top of that I'm sure he would probably enjoy the enhancements of the new Sense ROMs as well.
When I rooted my own Desire it was back in the days of fake-flash and I don't think my Desire was ever S-OFFed - I only had a moderate understanding of what I was doing, and there were a few brown trouser moments as I recall!
What I'm looking for is a complete guide start to finish of the easiest, least risky way to currently root a Desire and install custom recovery (presumably ClockworkMod & Rom Manager are standard for the Desire still?).
I've looked around the forums and found guides which explain some of it, however these threads run into 30, 40, 50+ pages which I think is a bit much reading if you don't really understand what you're reading about. Luckily I have an interest in it, but to my colleague it's just a means to an end, to get his phone working in a decent manner! Unsurprisingly, he is not interested in learning how a combustion engine works in order to drive his car either.
So, can someone write me a FOOLPROOF guide from start to finish:
1. Rooting and S-OFF (with a basic explanation of what this is),
2. Installing a custom recovery (again with an explanation of what this is, and how to use it, Nandroid backups etc)
3. Installing ROMs
I know I'm asking a bit much - I'm just trying to make it as easy as possible for my colleague without actually doing it myself, as I'm not really a good enough friend that if I did take his phone away for a couple of days, that he wouldn't mind if it came back bricked! It needs to be his decision to do it, and him doing it.
I am willing to donate if someone can put all this together for him.
This should have most of the things needed.
Don't worry about S-off since it is not needed and one of the only procedures that can really brick a phone.
Edit: Before starting with rooting, boot in to hboot and check the pvt version. If it's pvt4, the best thing to do is to use Amon_RA as a alternative recovery image. To do this just follow the guide but befoer clicking on root in Unrevoked go to "file" and select the alternative recovery.
You can use the unrevoked way which is too easy to do and if you want to S-Off, although not needed, you can visit AlphaRev
I would say for definite, forget about s-off. Not exactly sure what it is myself, but as it's completely unnecessary for the whole rooting/flashing procedure, why bother?
I rooted from a linux boot cd which sounds complicated but I think is actually easier as there's no faffing about with installing sync and then uninstalling it again.
S-Off disables NAND security on GSM phones. When you use unrevoked, it only disables it for CDMA. Also disabling the phones NAND security enables you to do further things like change the splash screen, install another Hboot, delete system apps and so on. If you think rooting gives you more freedom, S-Off gives you even more. It's there for those that need it though. It's not difficult if you do your research. But to be honest, it's an automated process with it working 99.9% of the time.
I did s off without hitch 100% safe.
Also new hboot new recovery with android flasher.
GoogleJelly said:
S-Off disables NAND security on GSM phones. When you use unrevoked, it only disables it for CDMA. Also disabling the phones NAND security enables you to do further things like change the splash screen, install another Hboot, delete system apps and so on. If you think rooting gives you more freedom, S-Off gives you even more. It's there for those that need it though. It's not difficult if you do your research. But to be honest, it's an automated process with it working 99.9% of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
S-OFF does nothing though bar mean you can delete apps without having to be in recovery. for someone who has no idea about modding it's just not worth doing. Rooting and using a custom Senes-based ROM will do the job just fine
It does way more than mean you can just delete apps. The methods for installing stuff these days are more or less 100% bug free and won't bugger up your device. Why not give it a go? Just make sure you read info and research it a little first before you start. Just don't do what I did and almost brick it
But if the OP doesn't know how to root then they're not going to need to S-OFF are they? Seems pointless
I did S-OFF for two reasons:
1) To install custom HBOOT so that I get more space in /data
2) For the hell of it.....
EDIT: I think some of the ROMs need S-OFF enabled (I'm not sure....) but, at the same time, I don't think S-OFF is absolutely necessary.
S-Off isn't necessary to have. No rom requires you to have it. It is just something that you may as well have if you root because it gives you way more freedom.
Totally disagree, it's not needed at all if you just want the phone to work. Custom ROM with A2SD+ is MORE than enough for a complete n00b
EddyOS said:
Totally disagree, it's not needed at all if you just want the phone to work. Custom ROM with A2SD+ is MORE than enough for a complete n00b
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree completely. If you want to explore custom ROM's, get A2SD etc then root. Once you're happy with the whole root/recovery/flashing thing THEN look at s-off if it is necessary to do what you want. For a lot of people it really isn't required at all, and it definitely shouldn't be the first thing you think of doing.

[Q] Trouble achieving S-Off

Howdy! Lemme preface all of this by saying that I'm less than a noob here....really inexperienced. Here's the background......
I rooted my DInc and I can't even remember which unrevoked tool I used. I was just reading along and punching commands and when the process was done I was rooted. I installed CWM successfully and flashed to CM7.2 which I've been running for quite some time. Lately I got an itch to try a JB ROM like infected, so when I looked into it, it clearly says I need S-off to accomplish that flash so I checked and realized I was S-on still.
At this point, I added the unrevoked-forever.zip to my sdcard root and tried to flash that ZIP by way CWM and i get these error messages:
E: unsupported radio version
E: update failed. Check/sdcard/soff.log
E: error in /sdcard/unrevoked-forever.zip (Status 42)
I am running Android version 2.3.7 and radio baseband version 2.15.10.12.20
Is this one of those things that I shouldn't be trying from CM7.2 and I should've dealt with before my initial flash to CM7.2?? Basically I'm totally freakin lost and in WAAAAY over my element, so any guidance would be duly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Scott
Just going to leave this right here...
http://unrevoked.com/rootwiki/doku.php/public/forever
Read the page, tell me what your issue is, and we'll go from there.
PonsAsinorem said:
Just going to leave this right here...
http://unrevoked.com/rootwiki/doku.php/public/forever
Read the page, tell me what your issue is, and we'll go from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry....i guess it pays to be extra thorough in the description of the problem. The link you left me is the one that I followed. I researched achieving S-Off on the DInc first and found this same page in my research. I followed the process and all went smooth right up until i started to flash the unrevoked-forever.zip from my sdcard via CWM. The aforementioned error messages came up on my phone and it said the process failed.
I thought it might be because the radio baseband versions that are list as "supported" do not match mine
smvogel73 said:
I thought it might be because the radio baseband versions that are list as "supported" do not match mine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good to me. With the way HTC handles S-OFF, you don't really need it. I'd go the legit way and unlock your bootloader with HTCdev.
http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/
Edit: and for the record, you're lucky you didn't brick your device. Reading the supported requirements and ignoring them is a good way to do it.
PonsAsinorem said:
Sounds good to me. With the way HTC handles S-OFF, you don't really need it. I'd go the legit way and unlock your bootloader with HTCdev.
http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/
Edit: and for the record, you're lucky you didn't brick your device. Reading the supported requirements and ignoring them is a good way to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes thx....I'm gathering that! So this is where terminology gets so dang confusing for me. I didn't think unlocking my bootloader meant the same thing as achieving S-Off?? I already thought my bootloader was unlcoked, as I was able to flash CM7.2, which I didnt think I would be able to do if I had a locked bootloader. So wicked confused!!! And try as I miught to educate myself in these forums, I haven't located a sticky or guide that really thoroughly explains all the vernacular regarding android dev/modding/rooting/flashing/etc
So this other method will work with any radio baseband version then?? Or is it important to check compatibility there too??
What's the very top of your HBOOT say, UNLOCKED? Some more reading:
S-Off vs Unlocked, and flashing firmware
About Unlock and S-ON
PonsAsinorem said:
What's the very top of your HBOOT say, UNLOCKED? Some more reading:
S-Off vs Unlocked, and flashing firmware
About Unlock and S-ON
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says "UNLOCKED" and below that it says "S-ON
Thank u for the materials too!
So after looking at those two links, it sure seems like not only is S-Off a potentially dangerous thing to do, it might also not even be necessary on the long-run. I say that carefully tho, as u just got thru telling me that flashing a new ROM against spec is a very dangerous thing to do and could potentially brick mu phone.
The ROM I'm looking to flash is Infection JB 4.2.2. The instructions say that if you're coming from. A non-AOSP ROM and are S-On that you've gotta extract boot.img and fastboot it after the ROM flash......whatever the heck that means???
smvogel73 said:
So after looking at those two links, it sure seems like not only is S-Off a potentially dangerous thing to do, it might also not even be necessary on the long-run.???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Staying S-ON minimizes the danger. It locks your radio, and HBOOT, which are the main dangers.
smvogel73 said:
I say that carefully tho, as u just got thru telling me that flashing a new ROM against spec is a very dangerous thing to do and could potentially brick mu phone.???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really ROM flashing, but radio and HBOOT flashing, which is what unrevoked-forever tweaks.
I'd try to flash it one more time. When you do, what, if anything, are you wiping? You should be doing a factory reset, system, and boot wipe/format, then flash the ROM.
If that doesn't work (it might not, it's been awhile since I've worked with S-ON devices), then we'll move on to S-OFF (if you want).
Oh no.....I didn't even attempt to flash the Infection JB ROM specifically because I was not able to achieve S-Off. Whether it was intended or not, yea.....u sufficiently scared me about bricking the phone if I'm not to spec per the developer.
Are u saying I should wipe and then try to flash this ROM despite still being S-On?
Up to you. Personally, if it were me, I would try flashing the ROM with S-ON. The inc is a very friendly device, as long as you don't try to break the HBOOT and/or radios. It is next to impossible to break those with S-ON.
If you want to go S-OFF instead, grab the latest supported radio from http://dinc.does-it.net/ and then do the unrevoked-forever.
PonsAsinorem said:
Up to you. Personally, if it were me, I would try flashing the ROM with S-ON. The inc is a very friendly device, as long as you don't try to break the HBOOT and/or radios. It is next to impossible to break those with S-ON.
If you want to go S-OFF instead, grab the latest supported radio from http://dinc.does-it.net/ and then do the unrevoked-forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there you have it....I will trust your wisdom (as it is far supperior to my own) and I shall flash this ROM tonight!! I already have a nandroid backup of CM7.2 that Im running, as well as a Titanium backup of all my user apps/files.
Sincerest thanks for all your help!!
Hello. Im no expert but i think Cyanogenmod is aosp so you should be good.
I was where you were 2 yrs ago when I rooted my 1st phone: a friends froyo Dinc (ahhh...froyo). A few months ago I aquired my own and went to research how to root GB and everything has changed and is now vastly more complicated. Also I think every phone has a locked bootloader but not encrypted and I think Soff is extra security since I've only encountered it on htc phones. Anyway I've managed to get my inc to Soff but its still locked, idk how lol
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

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