Hey everyone...I'm finally about to root my phone and I'm pretty excited. But before I do this, I want to learn/fully understand some of the terminology that gets discussed in guides, etc.
The term S-Off and S-On. S-Off pretty much gives you FULL access to everything in the phone, correct? I've seen people say that if you unlock the bootloader, the bootloader is unlocked, but you still have S-On. What I'm wondering is what can you achieve with just having an unlocked bootloader with S-On? People can seem to get root and install/remove applications, but when it comes to flashing ROMs, what happens there? I've read that flashing ROMs can still happen, but some of the optimizations/code/whatever in the ROMs won't be applied because it wouldn't have permission to do them. Am I right?
Just trying to finally figure out why people unlock the bootloader without doing the S-Off function.
if you unlock the bootloader using revolutionary then you'll have a fully unlocked phone(s-off/security-off). if you use the htc Dev site you'll get an unlocked bootloader but it'll stay s-on(security-on) because it keeps things like the partition where radio is and some other stuff locked. you can still install custom ROMs though because it does unlock your system,recovery,and bootloader partitions.
Rockin' the Miui Incredible 2 w/xda premium
here I went and found the stuff I'd read....
Why is my security still on (S-On) after I have unlocked my bootloader?
Your device is shipped with Security on (S-ON) to protect your system software configuration (such as the bootloader, radio, boot, recovery, system and others). After you have unlocked the bootloader, however, you will have lifted the restrictions on boot, recovery and system. This means you can customize boot, recovery and system images on your phone as you desire. You can easily see that you have successfully unlocked the bootloader by looking at the top of the screen when entering the bootloader screen. Security is left on to protect things like the radio, and SIM lock.
If you should require support, please feel free to contact us via the support section of our website, http://www.htc.com
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Hello,
i want to try this root / unlock all in one tool, but it say: Caution- This unlock bootloader and rooting tutorial hardly not permitted for network locked devices, so don’t ever try this update on your network locked devices.
http://androidflip.com/htc-wildfire...stall-drivers-root-lockunlock-bootloader-app/
my htc wildfire S has a t-mobile logo at boot, but other branding except the navigion select install isnt there. how can i identify if its network locked?
my goal is to install a fast custom rom. maybe i am on the wrong way with the all in one installer and there are other possibilitys.
Thanks for answers.
I don't see why not. Mine is network-locked and I've flashed over fifty ROMs on it
It does void your warranty if you unlock the bootloader and get S-OFF, but you can get it S-ON again and relock the bootloader, so that shouldn't be an issue (though there isn't really a way to S-OFF the WFS without XTC-Clip, meaning you can't do that at home anyways).
oke! thx.
but what means s-off / s-on? i cant find it in glossary.
To you, nothing
I don't think we'll ever get it anyway, so it's basically nothing important. It used to be a dream that we could get our warranties back, flash a new radio or h-boot, network-unlock our phones and resize our system partitions, but now it appears all progress towards that dream has halted.
As the title states, is the unlock_code.bin from HTCDev a permanent unlock of the bootloader? I got the unlock file while it was still possible, but for various reasons I am holding off on using it. Can a future OTA make it unusable?
Thanks.
As far as I know, once you have the unlock token, you can flash it and unlock your bootloader regardless of any OTA updates. Even if an update locks it back, you can unlock it again by flashing the token.
Sent from my phone using an app
sanders539 said:
As far as I know, once you have the unlock token, you can flash it and unlock your bootloader regardless of any OTA updates. Even if an update locks it back, you can unlock it again by flashing the token.
Sent from my phone using an app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is also my understanding, just save your code, you can prob even get it back anytime, you can even run command
adb relock bootloader to lock it up. and then re-unlock if so pleased.
it would still be seen that you did the htc unlock and may be void of the warranty.
Thanks, that's what I'm hoping. I was worried about a future OTA that included an upgrade to the HBOOT/bootloader invalidating previous unlock tokens. Might be doable by HTC but unlikely as they would have to either invalidate and reissue all tokens or encode a list of invalid tokens into the upgrade.
The main reasons I haven't unlocked yet are laziness and also concerns about potentially getting s-off with a java card. I've been following discussion over at the general HTC One forum regarding getting s-off from FoneFunShop's mailing service (which presumably uses a java card) and issues with phones with the TAMPERED flag set. Specifically, see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45071848&postcount=152 . Not an issue for the ones that are still locked but concerning to those that unlocked and flashed a custom recovery.
xenakis said:
Thanks, that's what I'm hoping. I was worried about a future OTA that included an upgrade to the HBOOT/bootloader invalidating previous unlock tokens. Might be doable by HTC but unlikely as they would have to either invalidate and reissue all tokens or encode a list of invalid tokens into the upgrade.
The main reasons I haven't unlocked yet are laziness and also concerns about potentially getting s-off with a java card. I've been following discussion over at the general HTC One forum regarding getting s-off from FoneFunShop's mailing service (which presumably uses a java card) and issues with phones with the TAMPERED flag set. Specifically, see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45071848&postcount=152 . Not an issue for the ones that are still locked but concerning to those that unlocked and flashed a custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't worry about an OTA, I don't think you can take one with a custom recovery.
andybones said:
I wouldn't worry about an OTA, I don't think you can take one with a custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. OTA won't work with a custom recovery.
the .bin file is good for as long as you have the same motherboard in the phone.
Hello fellow TMO brethren....
I just got the M8 maybe a week ago... I was busy and had to wait before I could pull up XDA and start reading about this phone (getting root, etc.). Before this, I unfortunately allowed a few updates (2 maybe?) to install, which I believe will prevent me from using Firewater for S-Off... but no big deal....will get sunshine when I need it. However, though firewater won't work, I had no problem using HTCDev to unlock the bootloader (didn't know of towelroot at the time), flashing TWRP 2.8.0.1, and installing SuperSU....so I am currently rooted with stock Rom...
Further...I have not touched any applications. And although I have unlocked the bootloader using HTCDev, my calculator and flashlight are still available. I have read in this M8 general forum that the flashlight and calculator are deleted when you unlock the bootloader using HTCDev... This did not happen to me. Does anyone know if this is this just a T-Mobile thing? or has this changed for all carriers?
Anyway, I am now getting notice for yet another update...So I might as well install it. As we all know, I need to re-flash the stock recovery to get the OTA. Here is where I am confused. My current firmware is 2.22.531.5. I don't know what firmware I had a week ago when the phone was purchased.
This was the info on the bootloader screen yesterday, immediately prior to unlocking the BL or rooting the phone:
[btw, can someone tell me how to do a info dump from the bootloader?? is it just an option I missed?]
*** LOCKED ***
M8_UL PVT SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-3.18.0.0000
Radio-1.19.213311491.03G
OpenDSP-v38.2.2-00542-M8974.0311
OS-2.22.531.5
eMMC-boot 2048MB
Jul 16 2014,03:33:24.0
1. My first question is what version of the stock recovery do I use?? On the page that contains the stock recoveries, it only shows these two:
Stock Recovery - 1.12.531.19
Stock Recovery - 1.57.531.7
2. Secondly, and I am really irritated about this.... but I never went and accepted the Google Drive free 65GB promo offered by HTC. When I start google drive it states it cannot determine the user (or something like that). I read elsewhere that this is because I unlocked the bootloader. I will do whatever it takes to get HTC to give me this because I think it is pretty low that they would invalidate the offer to anyone who has unlocked the bootloader pursuant to their website, their instructions, and their so-called "open atitude". Obviously I can re-lock the bootloader, but I do not know if that will matter. Plus... if they say that I requested a token .bin file to unlock, I can say that I changed my mind and decided not too. OR, I can get Sunshine, get s-off, and use the s-off ability to relock the bootloader. Does anyone have any advice on any of this?
3. Any general advice from anyone based on the info above??? (lI don't want to foreclose any other options by upgrading or whatever... ).
Thank you very much in advance!
P
NB: Wanted to mention that last night I was about to use Titanium to freeze and/or uninstall some crap software I didn't want, and to that end, disabled Amazon, Facebook, Facebook for HTC, and Kid Zone (and uninstalled Amazon MP3, which is not a system app). Just an FYI... disabling one (or more) of these apps (maybe Kid Zone?) prevented Wifi calling from functioning correctly...it would not let me call and every in-call received while on wifi calling went straight to VM. I have renabled the above apps to get wifi-calling working again, but also because I want to install this update and figured that disabling/freezing any original stock apps might cause problems. I will look around for a thread on safely deleting apps after I get this udpate...
Try this for getting your drive space.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2708571
Its now 100GB so its definitely worth a shot. As for getting back to stock for an update you can always use a RUU since relocking your bootloader will drive space then unlocking it again after will cause a factory reset anyway. Back up everything that isnt already, relock with the instructions from the thread I linked, run a ruu to get back to stock, update the system, then unlock your bootloader again with your unlock code bin file.
phil.culler said:
Try this for getting your drive space.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2708571
Its now 100GB so its definitely worth a shot. As for getting back to stock for an update you can always use a RUU since relocking your bootloader will drive space then unlocking it again after will cause a factory reset anyway. Back up everything that isnt already, relock with the instructions from the thread I linked, run a ruu to get back to stock, update the system, then unlock your bootloader again with your unlock code bin file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK... that sounds like great info.... But to confirm though... I need S-off to relock bootloader. This is because I am essentially going back to factory default lock (without dealing with HTC at all). And by doing this, and then flashing the RUU (backing up everything first of course), I will be back to square one stock. For one, this will make it tough for HTC to claim I unlocked the bootloader (minimizing potentially any dispute over Google Drive promo). Then I would get any/all outstanding updates. I guess if I need S-off, then I would need to get sunshine, so I could just let that app re-unlock the bootloader. instead of using the .bin file (presuming I need s-off)?
Sorry... just confused as to when and for what specifically I need S-off (as your link emphasizes this).
Thanks a lot!!!!:good:
syntropic said:
OK... that sounds like great info.... But to confirm though... I need S-off to relock bootloader. This is because I am essentially going back to factory default lock (without dealing with HTC at all). And by doing this, and then flashing the RUU (backing up everything first of course), I will be back to square one stock. For one, this will make it tough for HTC to claim I unlocked the bootloader (minimizing potentially any dispute over Google Drive promo). Then I would get any/all outstanding updates. I guess if I need S-off, then I would need to get sunshine, so I could just let that app re-unlock the bootloader. instead of using the .bin file (presuming I need s-off)?
Sorry... just confused as to when and for what specifically I need S-off (as your link emphasizes this).
Thanks a lot!!!!:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks like you will need S-Off to factory lock the bootloader. S-Off allows you to make changes to otherwise protected areas of the file system. To clarify, I haven't tried this method myself as I haven't had a need to factory relock my device yet. I ran full stock for months before I rooted. As for HTC knowing whether or not you unlocked your bootloader, if you used the HTCDEV method then they have record of you receiving an unlock token from them but if they go into bootloader for any reason and see Locked instead of Relocked they shouldnt give you any trouble I would think. I believe you can also reset it to S-On but again I've never tried and I'm not sure its entirely safe. You'll have to look into that.
Hello,
My UK Vodafone branded phone has been rooted with custom recovery installed. Its still s-on.
I searched XDA and getting some mixed information hence I decided to open a new topic to get so answers.
I would like to achieve full STOCK without flags.
In case of a warranty claim I believe I need to install stock recovery, unroot and lock the boot loader. However locking boot loader again - will create RELOCKED message instead of Locked. Which is still not good for warranty claim.
In order to removed RELOCKED I would need to get S-Off and modify flags manually via commands. However having latest FW OTA installed it is not possible to get S-OFF (according to my knowledge). Having said that it will not be possible to remove any flags such as relocked so basically I'm stuck.
Please correct me if I'm wrong here or give me so hope
Thanks for your help.
All correct sir.
Hope you say ?
Sunshine should be updated soon and it should handle latest firmware
a bit disappointed
did not know that rooting will invalidate warranty for good
Recently, I used Sunshine and my phone now is S-OFF, the main reason is to change CID and MID.
After I turned to S-OFF, I flashed with RUU WWE. At this point, all seems to be ok, but I advised than Phone Encryption (normally shown when phone is booting), is not anymore. This is normal? When I enter to security settings, Phone Encryption is locked for change that setting, Im not sure if my phone is encrypted, or not.
Can I change to S-ON again? if yea, how is possible?
Exactly, what changes between S-ON and S-OFF?
Thanks,
sloaxleak said:
Recently, I used Sunshine and my phone now is S-OFF, the main reason is to change CID and MID.
After I turned to S-OFF, I flashed with RUU WWE. At this point, all seems to be ok, but I advised than Phone Encryption (normally shown when phone is booting), is not anymore. This is normal? When I enter to security settings, Phone Encryption is locked for change that setting, Im not sure if my phone is encrypted, or not.
Can I change to S-ON again? if yea, how is possible?
Exactly, what changes between S-ON and S-OFF?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S-on can be achieved via fastboot command once the phone has been returned to stock (un-rooted w/stock recovery).
As far as the difference between the two, S-off simply means that bootloader security is off. For more info, read the thread linked below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1680928
Sent from my HTC 10
Magnum_Enforcer said:
S-on can be achieved via fastboot command once the phone has been returned to stock (un-rooted w/stock recovery).
As far as the difference between the two, S-off simply means that bootloader security is off. For more info, read the thread linked below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1680928
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Which command I need to use? Actually I have a RUU, but I changed CID and MID. If I convert to S-ON, I need to use original CID/MID?
What are the main disadvantages if I'm S-OFF?
No real disadvantage to being S-off. You just need to keep in mind that bootloader security is off so care should be taken when flashing things like firmware to your phone, because there is no security in place to prevent you from flashing something to your phone (wrong firmware, for example).
Sent from my HTC 10
From the horse's mouth: http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/about_unlock_process (last few paragraphs explain the difference)
Any permanent side effect of unlocking HTC 10's bootloader?
I'm a newbie HTC 10 user. I have in mind to unlock my phone's bootloader. But coming from Xperia user, I'm currently afraid that there will be any specific DRM related features that will be gone forever once I unlock the HTC 10's bootloader (in Xperia, you will at least lose forever your X-Reality/Bravia Engine, send current location in messaging app, lose algorithm of the phone camera, etc).
Please advice whether there are same issues in HTC 10 or not.
Lucaviola said:
I'm a newbie HTC 10 user. I have in mind to unlock my phone's bootloader. But coming from Xperia user, I'm currently afraid that there will be any specific DRM related features that will be gone forever once I unlock the HTC 10's bootloader (in Xperia, you will at least lose forever your X-Reality/Bravia Engine, send current location in messaging app, lose algorithm of the phone camera, etc).
Please advice whether there are same issues in HTC 10 or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, the only potential ill effect of unlocking your bootloader is loosing Android Pay, and even there I think there is a work around. None of the types of issues that you mentioned though.
Lucaviola said:
I'm a newbie HTC 10 user. I have in mind to unlock my phone's bootloader. But coming from Xperia user, I'm currently afraid that there will be any specific DRM related features that will be gone forever once I unlock the HTC 10's bootloader (in Xperia, you will at least lose forever your X-Reality/Bravia Engine, send current location in messaging app, lose algorithm of the phone camera, etc).
Please advice whether there are same issues in HTC 10 or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds horrible. No, nothing like that with the phone itself. How third-party apps handle it (like the aforementioned Android Pay) is on them.
You can always relock the bootloader with fastboot or restore it to locked with a utility.