Develop Bugs

Root help please

So I finally got my G2/Vision, I want to perm-root my G2. But I fail so much, I can't even put Visionary into my G2.... I downloaded Astro, but I need to place Visionary r14 in my SD, but I can't find a place to put it.
When I look in my SD through windows, it shows me a LOST.DIR, .Trashes, .Spotlight-V100, .fseventsd, .android_secure, Android, etc. etc. But I still can't find the spot to place Visionary, Help?

place it in that folder

ilikepu said:
place it in that folder
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Click to collapse
Haha, I figured I'd just dl it off the internet through my G2. It worked. Configured it.

Word to the wise, stay away from visionary. Use rage.

ddgarcia05 said:
Word to the wise, stay away from visionary. Use rage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats the difference? And... What happens if I already used Visionary?

If you used Visionary and it worked for you, then that's great.
I also try and steer folks away from Visionary myself. Quite a few seem to end up with a lot of problems after using Visionary. The "rage" method of rooting is a lot more reliable, it's just that it looks a lot more "scary" to newcomers because there are commands you have to type in and run on your PC and phone. But if you read up on it, and ask questions if you don't understand, then follow the instructions carefully, you'll be fine - and even if rage goes wrong then you won't end up with a semi-brick, you just won't get root (until you fix the problem).

Ohhhh, Ok. Yeah I couldn't get Visionary to work until several tries. Took me a while. I was supprised I hadn't bricked my phone already. But now I'm pretty satisfied with CM 6.1 w/ MattedBlues theme. Sucks though I couldn't get it to work with Virtuous. I really like Sense alot more than the stock Rom (I consider CM 6 to be pretty stock)

Hope this helps!!!
steviewevie said:
If you used Visionary and it worked for you, then that's great.
I also try and steer folks away from Visionary myself. Quite a few seem to end up with a lot of problems after using Visionary. The "rage" method of rooting is a lot more reliable, it's just that it looks a lot more "scary" to newcomers because there are commands you have to type in and run on your PC and phone. But if you read up on it, and ask questions if you don't understand, then follow the instructions carefully, you'll be fine - and even if rage goes wrong then you won't end up with a semi-brick, you just won't get root (until you fix the problem).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on the reliable and +1 on the scary!!!!
I am very new to Android,...I've only had my G2 for about 2 months...I ran Visionary temp root without issues (r10). When I tried to install in r14 to perm root, I encountered a myriad of errors, and decided not to root.
But I just couldn't give up on it....two weeks ago I got food poisoning, which rendered me useless and home bound, I decided to attempt it. I decided to use the rage method, but found that the instructions assumes that you know something about rooting. There are alot of people on this forum that are willing to help (steviewevie was one of them) to get you your through what ever hurdle you encounter.
Personally I found the rooting process very rewarding as I now have less of a vague idea of what is happening in my phone (ie not as lost as before).
Some of the basics:
- Install adb on your pc (not that scary), and read a bot on it...understand what some of the basic commands are trying to do. (see the rooting guide for those commands)
- set your path on your PC to point to the correct directory from where you are pushing (There are a few forums here that will guide you setup by step on how to do this)
-Follow the instructions to the T, and you should be ok.
Click here to go to the thread that these guys helped me while I going through the process. Post #4 makes reference to the path on your pc.
NOTE:This Path should point to the location where you have your adb tools and location of the files you are trying to push to your phone.
Post #17 goes step by step on what you need to do, and how the lines on the terminal should look like.
This is really not that difficult once you get your bearings, and for me it was a lot of fun...actually a little bored with the phone after having done this.

Put (SOLVED) in your thread title please.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

You all seem to suggest to not use visionary but use rage but from what I saw yesterday we had 2 "bricks" from people rooting with rage, compared to none from visionary

Lennyuk said:
You all seem to suggest to not use visionary but use rage but from what I saw yesterday we had 2 "bricks" from people rooting with rage, compared to none from visionary
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Click to collapse
Ouch! Really? So no method is any "safer" yet then? Was planning on return to stock then Rage today. I take it I can't update my radio without full radio s-off? Or can i"?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

ddotpatel said:
Ouch! Really? So no method is any "safer" yet then? Was planning on return to stock then Rage today. I take it I can't update my radio without full radio s-off? Or can i"?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you know how to read, you can safely root using rage. Just read over the instructions a couple times first.

If you know what your doing both methods are as safe as each other. From what I can see there is a larger margin of error using Rage, however its entirely in your own hands, so as long as you make sure you input it all correctly it should be fine.
Both "bricks" yesterday were recoverable, and both times the user was sure they followed it all correctly, it just seems that their rom corrupted during the process so ended up stuck on a bootloop.

blackknightavalon said:
If you know how to read, you can safely root using rage. Just read over the instructions a couple times first.
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Click to collapse
Lennyuk said:
If you know what your doing both methods are as safe as each other. ...
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Click to collapse
So we not talking about the random occurance of file corruption then?
Thank you both (i'll add the to your thanks meters when I have some available). Just need to find how to fully reverse the rage method if needed.

Lennyuk said:
If you know what your doing both methods are as safe as each other. From what I can see there is a larger margin of error using Rage, however its entirely in your own hands, so as long as you make sure you input it all correctly it should be fine.
Both "bricks" yesterday were recoverable, and both times the user was sure they followed it all correctly, it just seems that their rom corrupted during the process so ended up stuck on a bootloop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure the corruption didn't stem from an earlier unsuccessful attempt to root with Visionary ?
I've yet to see a thread where someone has done something bad to their phone via rage, all it does is fire up a ton of process to use an exploit which gets you root. That can't corrupt your phone on its own.
Do you have some links ?

ddotpatel said:
So we not talking about the random occurance of file corruption then?
Thank you both (i'll add the to your thanks meters when I have some available). Just need to find how to fully reverse the rage method if needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go.

[Q] Yet some more noob questions

Having only rooted my old MyTouch 3G via Universal Androot, I'm still somewhat of a noob with all this. I plan to follow the G2 "Easy Root" guide found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=928160
It all seems pretty straightforward. I'm wondering if there is a way to do a backup before attempting this root in case something goes wrong as I'm pretty sure something such as Clockworkmod will not work until root access is gained. Or just man up and go? Also are there reccomendations on which ROM to install? I'm thinking CM6, as its the latest stable release. My biggest concerns are Wi-Fi calling and GPS. Especially the first one. I completely depend on wi-fi calling as I get NO T-mobile signal at home, so if it is known to be spotty on CM6 or 7, I'd like to know before I take the plunge. Thanks in advance!

I find the rage/gfree method on the Wiki page a lot more straightforward. People say that method results in the least bricked devices so take it for what its worth. it did not involve visionary
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

From what I have gathered over several weeks, Visionary is cool for temproot, but very risky to attempt permroot. The method I follow does not utilize Visionary at all for the permroot part. That is left to Gfree. Visionary is wiped out after perm root is complete. I'm just trying to tie up a few loose ends before I attempt the root process. You only get one chance! (Or so I hear....)

Yes you need root before you can make a backup so man up and go! Really though why would you want to back anything up at this point? If your worried about some apps or app data then just get titanium backup and back up data after a temp root. (I think that will work)
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Yeah I realized that when I thought about it. But I WILL still have wi-fi calling available if I flash something like CM6 right? That feature is pretty much why I got the G2 in the first place.

Check each roms log to see if they got it working. I know I used it on virtuous if you like sense roms. I can't speak to any other roms.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

I am only really familiar with CM ROMS, though I have heard some good things about Virtuous. Where would I find their ROMS?

[Q] PLEASE HELP Visionary Perm root

i used visionary to temp root my device, then i clicked on the perm root option just to say what happened then my phone froze i started touching the screen and a menu popped up and i clicked an option on accident. the option on the left. then my phone shut off and is froze on the htc boot screen. i pulled the battery and the same thing happened. i tried a factory data reset and the phone is still frozen on the boot screen. please help T-Mo G2, 2.2, no roms

I really do not know why the visionary guides are allowed on these forums. I find it GROSSLY irresponsible of the mods. It has been proven TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND TIME again that visionary bricks phone. For god sakes there is a sticky at the top of the forum saying DON'T USE VISIONARY FOR PERM ROOT. Your phone might be screwed. And its really not your fault. Those threads need closed. Period. Seriously mods, how many phones do you want ruined before you rid the forum of the visionary crap. The gfree method among MANY other alternatives works and DOESN'T BRICK PHONES. WHY LET THIS CRAP STAY FOR PEOPLE LIKE THIS WHO SEE IT AS AN EASY METHOD AND JUMP AT IT UGH.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

if you'd done some research (not picking on you, just for future reference), you'd have found many a testimony that visionary should not be used on the vision--oh, the irony--to obtain permanent root. visionary temp root is fine, but its perm root is dangerous to our phones.
are you able to boot into recovery? do you have a custom recovery (ie clockworkmod) installed? do you have the engineering hboot installed?

Visionary's Perm root will basically brick your phone... sorry

i can boot into recovery but i dont have cyanogen or any roms or anything installed i just rooted my phone

will htc help me?

AroundTheWorld said:
Visionary's Perm root will basically brick your phone... sorry
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Click to collapse
Not always but a lot of people it does.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

paulwoods1114 said:
will htc help me?
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Click to collapse
Don't tell them that you tried to root your phone, just tell them it did it on it's own.
sure, they'll probably find out once they've got it, but by then they'll probably just fix it. htc sometimes fixes rooted phones if the they belive the problem was something else.
for example (this has actually happened):
lets say your phones screen stopped working, but it was rooted. the root has nothing to do with the screen, so they'll fix it, but when the phone was returned to the customer it was no longer rooted.

Is sending my phone to HTC my only option because i can still boot into to recovery and get into the bootloader and all that. i just want to know that HTC is my last resort

If your bootloader says S-ON, and your recovery is not CWM then you're good to go.

Visionary works for exactly what it is supposed to do. Temp root. Then you can achieve perm root with the various methods depending on your build #. It perm roots on earlier phones - so I hear, as well. The OP hit the perm root button without s-off. Easier to find warnings about that could be instructive, but the mods can't take the visionary instructionals off the forum. ABD is not exactly a friend to the G2. There are a number of things the OP can try. If they really release the update - that should do it. Thread-rom manager,rom backup, and red exclamation point. Etc.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

My bootloader says S-ON

My bootloader says S-ON

paulwoods1114 said:
My bootloader says S-ON
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Click to collapse
yea warranty will cover it... just dont mention root or anyting.... it did it by itself you hear me (personal experience.... one of the first to brick using visionary....)

Visionary works for exactly what it is supposed to do. Temp root. Then you can achieve perm root with the various methods depending on your build #. It perm roots on earlier phones - so I hear, as well. The OP hit the perm root button without s-off. Easier to find warnings about that could be instructive, but the mods can't take the visionary instructionals off the forum. ABD is not exactly a friend to the G2. There are a number of things the OP can try. If they really release the update - that should do it. Thread-rom manager,rom backup, and red exclamation point. Etc.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually they can take them off the forums, and even if that was true, they can close the threads and let them fall into oblivion. They do all of xda a gigantic disservice by being so irresponsible and letting that junk linger so noobs can brick there phone within the freaking day of buying it. Its outrageous and I'm not gonna listen to any other arguement.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA Premium App

+1
There's a perfectly good guide on XDA Wiki for permrooting the G2, and other sub forums on XDA for each device to root. There's no need for Visionary at this point. There will always be alternative ways to root phones.

Well,
I was using the word "can't" for emphasis. I suppose in some ways "don't" would have been more accurate. Let me try again. Feel free not to listen. I will always be grateful to Modaco. Here's why: I had a G1 (gf has it now -running froyo at the moment), TouchPro 2 (my Dad is using it now - so not that modified, but it was); I finally get a G2 and I can't do anything with it. I sat there for 24 hours trying to root it before I called 1 of the 2 guys in Austin on Craigslist offering flashing/rooting/unlocking services. Sat with him for 12 hours. On the plus side he did show me how to set up ABD. On the other hand lot of time with an irate stranger who won't even take the money he is so upset with himself.
Finally figured out if you use the root no abd required method twice (on everything but the G2s with Gingerbread) you can sneak by barely and downgrade etc. Visionary provided the temp root.
I wasn't lucky enough to get a G2 on the first day. I was in the same boat as the folks with Gingerbread. Thought I had waited too long. My parting words from the professional flashers place. But Visionary and the automated scripts for Gfree saved me. Should the perm root button contain a warning that you need s-off first? Sure. But developers have little incentive to update when criticism is so harsh. I have a feeling every root method is indebted to Visionary. If I had a "ginger" G2 I would be praying they were working on a fix.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

[Q] Can't seem to get S-off.

I have a T-mobile G2.
I am not really a n00b to rooting and such. I had modded my former G1 without issue.
I had permanent root via Visionary back in December and never went the next step to turn S-off. Now I am really wanting to try out some new roms and want S-OFF.
I have tried following the guide Here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=928160 but have not had any luck.
I have even gone back and unrooted the phone and tried the original rom as well as the OTA and I never get a S-OFF. I never have any errors and always come out with Root access.
I went through page after page of that thread and couldn't find anything similar to my issue.
Anything I could be doing wrong? Any good steps for me to take next?

You could try this guide, which never fails. Since you're a veteran with the G1 hopefully you're familiar with adb

c00ller said:
You could try this guide, which never fails. Since you're a veteran with the G1 hopefully you're familiar with adb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, when in doubt (or even when you don't doubt), go to the wiki; the wiki guide was developed by the devs who cracked the device and is considered the safest; just watch out for typos!
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

[Q] Rooted, didn't do nandroid backup -- any chance of recovering data?

My fiancee's EVO 4g was in desperate need of replacing, so we went and got new phones. She had been playing this damned Smurf Village game for about a year and a half, and I thought I'd pull a white knight -- root the phone, back it up on Titanium, transfer the backup to the new phone, root that, restore. She insists she's okay starting over, but I thought it'd be a nice gesture. Rooting the new phone (LG Optimus G) was a piece of cake. The EVO 4g took me some time to get it to work ...
In my poor attempts at multitasking, I didn't do a nandroid backup and completely overlooked where it said it would restore to factory settings.
Is all lost? I did a search on it while it was plugged into the PC as an external drive and found a bunch of (edit: Smurf-related) files, so I feel like the data might still be there.
If not, it's all good. I learned from my mistake (I mean, c'mon, big_onion, every damn set of instructions says "make a nandroid backup") but if there's any way to get it back it might make her day.
Data restoration aside, after flashing Superuser, I still can't get TitaniumBackup to obtain superuser privileges. Any ideas what I might've done wrong? The method I used was to unlock the bootloader via HTC site, then flashboot recovery, then flash superuser. The app is there, but it doesn't seem to issue SU rights to TitaniumBackup.

Best way to gain root is to flash any custom rom here on xda. Unless it is a completely stock rom it is rooted and works without any issues. I rooted my second og evo a few days ago and had the same issue with the stock rom. After flashing a custom rom I had full root access.
Now as far as data goes most apps store that on the sdcard. I suggest installing the game on the new phone then power off and insert your old sdcard into the new phone. Hopefully it will use the old data and return your wife's game to her last state and make you look like a champ.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda app-developers app

jlmancuso said:
Best way to gain root is to flash any custom rom here on xda. Unless it is a completely stock rom it is rooted and works without any issues. I rooted my second og evo a few days ago and had the same issue with the stock rom. After flashing a custom rom I had full root access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhm...
You don't root android by flashing a rooted custom rom on a non root phone.
Rooting a phone must be done via a PC there is no other way.
Some stock roms ARE root.
The reason you had problems is because you were root and tried to install a non-root stock rom, if you would have installed a rooted stock rom you would of had no problems.
smh

Umm root is done by rom. Unlocking bootloader is the part done by pc.
You can be unlocked without root but can not root until you are unlocked. Rooting is the granting of admin rights to the user's apps.
I did not have an issue because I installed a non rooted rom. The rom was already on the phone which is the same spot the op is in. He is unlocked but not rooted. The htcdev unlock does not grant root rights to the current stock rom. Also the flashable zip did not grant the rom root rights.

jlmancuso said:
Umm root is done by rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't go from not being rooted to being rooted by flashing a custom rom on the phone from the recovery menu, unless you accidentally flashed a non-root rom while you were already root.
Unlocking bootloader is the part done by pc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They're both done via PC at the same time with the same program (Unrevoked3 is only temporary nand)
Unrevoked Forever unlocks the bootloader permanently via recovery with an .img
http://wiki.rootzwiki.com/UnrEVOked

Wow man this will be my last response here about this but I want to say a couple quick things. First did you even read the link you posted? Yes with unrevoked you can gain nand unlock and root at the same time but if you also read it says this.
Does unrevoked³ give me root?
Yes. It previously did not; as of version 3.0, it does.
So root and nand unlock are not the same and is not always done at the same time. It is possible to be nand unlocked and not have root. Which is the case when you use htcdev unlock. Do your homework before you go making statements please.
I am not here trying to run anyone down and start fights but I am here to spread knowledge and help out others with problems. If you give someone bad information it will cause problems down the line later. Most people will assume you know what you are talking about when you make a post even if the information is not correct. So please take the time and make sure your information is correct before you post it.
So take a look at links I have posted and see what root is, how it is used, and see the difference.
This is a general overview of the root permission (depending on os it is called many different things)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superuser
This is what it means with the android
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/05/rooting-for-android-what-why-and-how/
Again not fighting but giving information that is benifical to everyone.
Peace,
Love, and
Happiness

Fail troll is fail.
OP has the information he needs.
He already is rooted and needs permanent unlock which is what Unrevoked Forever does, which is linked in the link I posted.
Edit: The PM j sent me.
jlmancuso said:
Hey man. I am not trolling. The information is real. I am a knowledgeable dev and don't want anyone getting the wrong information. Bad information leads to big mistakes that can be a devs worst nightmare. Just read the articles and if you still don't agree well that is fine by me. I at least tried to give you the correct information.
Have a nice day and enjoy this beautiful day.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess he thinks Unrevoked Forever is bad information and harmful to Evos.

Backedup
If you backed up the game, you can always download titanium backup and restore. Make sure you didn't delete the files from sd-card (they should be there). Sorry if this was already answered or i'm wrong. :fingers-crossed:
edit: if its a stock rom and you backup every app with titanium back up you could.

jlmancuso is having a hard week. i would give him a break. as far as i can tell he's genuinely trying to be helpful and is catching crap from all sides these days. eventually he will slow down and not accidentally provoke people (or take things personally). but he seems like valuable asset to the community overall so i'm rooting for him. OP good luck with your issue.

It's already unlocked, via the instructions from the HTC dev site. I didn't use Unrevoked -- I tried, and got a message about something being too new of a version. I'll dig around more, but I before I spent too much time I wanted to make sure I could restore the data on the stupid Smurf game for her.
I did NOT do a Titanium Backup of anything on there before I started. The LG Optimus G doesn't have an SD card, so I can't just swap SD cards. I can copy files from the EVO to the PC then to the LGOG. I think I might install Smurfs on the new phone, root it, then just try and copy the Smurf files from the EVO over to the Optimus G and see if overwriting the data files would restore her game.
Will report back on whether or not it works, or if I can't get superuser working.
And chill out, friends. I appreciate all sorts of info, even if it's not what I'm looking for. Y'all rock.

I am not taking it personally and dont think unrevoked is harmful. I am not going to argue with anyone about the facts. I posted the articles al5uwtqind if anyone wants to read them and learn more than cool. The information is for the benefit of everyone. Call troll or a$$ or whatever. I am here to help like most everyone.
Knowledge is power so empower someone else today.
Peace,
Love, and
Happiness
Sent from my PC36100 using xda app-developers app

big_onion said:
Data restoration aside, after flashing Superuser, I still can't get TitaniumBackup to obtain superuser privileges. Any ideas what I might've done wrong? The method I used was to unlock the bootloader via HTC site, then flashboot recovery, then flash superuser. The app is there, but it doesn't seem to issue SU rights to TitaniumBackup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he meant "Htcdev site" then "fastboot flash recovery", but it seems like Big_Onion did everything right as far as rooting the phone, but there can be other reasons why Titanium is not working properly. It could be Titanium data needs to be wiped or it could be an issue with busybox. He never said he was not rooted, he only said that superuser was not giving Titanium root permissions, which has happened to me also. I wish he would have ran the root checker app too, to verify did he really have root or not. Then it would be easier to tell which path to take.
And also, why are we arguing over unrevoked and unrevoked-forever? Those don't work on the newer stock roms, because they were patched in 2011 by the first Gingerbread update on. Since big_onion used the Htcdev site, he is likely on Gingerbread. They, unrevoked3 and forever, would only work if he downgraded the radios to the ones which came with either Eclair or Froyo, the two previous operating systems. Titanium backup only needs an unlocked bootloader from the Htcdev site, and superuser permissions from the superuser app to work. Anything else is just extra, at least on Gingerbread.