Develop Bugs

[Q] Rooting - security issues & 'unrevoked'

Just came across this article while researching how to root my new HTC Desire (sweet phone!) ... is this still true and should I be concerned?
Also - has anyone got thoughts on the 'unrevoked' 'one-click-root'? - is it as safe as doing a more 'manual' method?

Well i have heard of several apps still storing passwords as plain text, so might still be a problem. This is also the case on unrooted phones though. The real problem here regarding root is, that apps, which you have given root access, can access those files which is normally available only to the actual app. So it is more a question of only allowing root to trusted apps, which you should always do anyways, as anything run with full access have the possibility to do major damage.
And regarding unrevoked, it should be as safe as rooting using pauls method, which only supports the old hboot versions by the way. There will always be a risk to it, but if you do everything right, it is very easy. The difference in the rooting methods is more the way they hack the recovery in order to let you flash unsigned or test-signed zip files. So just go with the latest unrevoked and make sure to install the drivers the right way first and you should be fine

Brilliant, thanks so much for the informative background, I will be rooting!
Read the OP too by Cory which has made me less worried - http://forum.androidcentral.com/hacking/35470-aware-clear-text-passwords-database-files.html

No problem I hope it helped you understanding.

[Q] Newbie questions about DHD rooting and memory

Hi,
I'd be really grateful to anyone who can answer my newbie questions.
I'm looking to follow the guide to downgrade my non-network-branded (i.e. sim-free) Desire HD, so I can permanently root it. Then I intend to follow the other guide so I can still update to the latest official release. My primary requirement for rooting is just so I can make complete backups of my phone's state in future. Though I'll probably play about with other community ROMs too!
Sorry if answers to my questions are elsewhere, and feel free just to point if that's the case. I've searched but haven't found definitive answers. Knowing these things will increase my understanding. Although I'm used to tinkering with things a little am in no way a programmer and my last phone was a Nokia E65!
1) Please can someone list the different parts of the phone's memories, including which are impossible to write over and which are. E.g. my understanding is:
--One flash chip with:
- 'bootloader', which to me sounds like a PC's BIOS or the kind of app you can boot into on a standard desktop PC when choosing which OS to boot into;
- factory image partition;
- separate partition for over the air updates;
- 1GB partition for user-writeable memory for things like apps installed on the phone, contacts, etc.
--Physically separate 'radio' chip that can be overwritten (I don't understand the difference between this and the OS though)
--RAM;
--microSD card.
2) After following the two guides mentioned above, will I still be able to receive over the air HTC updates in future? And if not, does that mean I'd be relying on the community to make available any official updates? I bought my DHD through an official UK retailer.
3) After following the two guides mentioned above, will it still be possible to restore my phone to its factory state in future, e.g. for resale or sending back to HTC, so everything that we unlock ('eng s-off', 'radio s-off', etc., which fries my brain right now) is locked again? If so, can a guide to this process be linked to?
4) I understand it's possible to switch between custom ROMs easily. When this is done, does that mean all system settings, such as phone contacts and app settings are also switched, or are these settings written to a different part of the phone memory?
I'll be sure to thank (and donate) for your time. Many thanks in advance as well!

Hi, I just bought the DHD 3 weeks ago and it is still difficult to understand to understand all this android stuff sometimes
1) I was a little lost at the beginning too, I don't know if this is what you are looking for but this is what I understood.
There are 4 flashable "things" :
- ROM OS (android OS)
- Linux Kernel (linux kernel)
- ROM radio (another ROM that manage ONLY the hardware stuff like 3G, Wi-Fi, bluetooth, GPS...)
- bootloader (exactly like a bios) and contains a recovery menu (that can be flashed by clockworkmod for example)
The ROM radio seems independant and you can flashed it separatly from the other it doesn't bother. The last versions improve battery life or GPS startup etc...
The ROM OS (android) need to be flashed with the kernel otherwise you can have some problem (wi-fi or data network that doesn't work anymore...).
S-Off means security off and it is necessary to do it if you want to write a new recovery on the bootloader or flash a new radio ROM...
Ther is two kind of S-Off but I'm not sure of the meaning so I let you watch about it.
When you install through the official ways :
1 OTA : You need to have the official recovery from the bootloader otherwise it will NOT work (no OTA with clockworkmod)
If your phone is network-branded you need a goldcard here and/or superCID (I don't really understand here lol)
After the installation I think you keep the S-Off but you're not root anymore.
2 RUU : It will install/reinstall everything (ROM OS, kernel, ROM radio and bootloader).
It is even capable of reseting your CID (your not concerned here because your phone is non-network-branded)
If think you loose the S-Off (or ENG S-Off -> SHIPS S-Off), you're not root anymore...
If you want to keep S-OFF, SuperCID and ClockWorkMod you need to :
1 flash the ROM OS through the ClockWorkMod recovery -> update.zip (you can give it the OTA file .zip, it will only flash the ROM OS)
2 flash the kernel manualy with fastboot (you can also use the boot.img contain in your OTA file)
3 flash the ROM radio (there is the excellent tuto here on XDA about this)
2) OTA will not be possible if you want to use clockworkmod. I was a little anxious about that too at the beginning! But you can find the official
ROMS REALLY easily on XDA probably before your provider send it to you. And when you do everything manually, you can CHOOSE wich radio ROM you want,
you can do backup REALLY quickly with clockworkmod and you can come back (things you can't do if you use OTA)... The last point that confort me
in doing all of this is that you can download OTA but not install it to pick up the ROMs inside and the kernel ! I did it last week and my phone
is now running the two ROMS that was contained in the OTA file AND the kernel. This is why I'm not worried anymore.
3) I never tried to restore my phone to its exact factory settings but I think you can...
4) I don't really now. In my case, I decided to use Google for my contact too, so when I flash, a few minutes later I have all my contacts
I hope my english is not too bad for explainations like this

Hi poumpoum,
Firstly, thanks so much for taking the time to help. Your English is ten times better than my Française! If you've a PayPal account you'd like to Personal Message me, or just the name of your preferred charity, I'd like to say a little thanks that way too.
Okay: so I understand that doing these cool things to my phone means I won't be able to update it over the air. You've convinced me this isn't a problem because any updates find their way to the community.
I'm also convinced I can restore my phone completely to factory defaults due to this thread (the thread's for a different region but the principle still stands).
Thanks for clarifying the radio ROM shares the same physical chip as all the other memory (including the RAM actually, I found this out).
This thread also explained some of the jargon to me.

You're welcome

[Q] My Head Hurts

Hi to all and thanks in advance to anyone that helps.
I've finally moved to Android and purchased a DHD branded to Orange. I've unlocked it for any SIM card, after following recommendations on this site and so far, so good.
Now, I want to remove all the Orange stuff from the phone so I can have what I want on it to make it my own. I've read so many threads/guides my head is spinning and I'm a bit confused as to what I need to do and how to do it.
The phone is running the following:
Android version 2.3.3
HTC Sense version 2.1
Build number 2.37.61.11
Software number 2.37.61.11
I wouldn't want to start trying things without really knowing if I was doing the right thing, so If someone could point me in the right direction as to where I need to go and what I need to do, it would be much appreciated.
I've seen websites offering the debranding service for a price, but I would rether learn how to do it myself.
Again, thanks in advance.

Basically what you need to do is this:
1. Downgrade phone and get RADIO S-OFF
2. Create a goldcard as your phone is branded. This is used to install zips from CWR.
3. Root phone
4. Backup everything
5. Install roms, kernals, anything you want, or
5.1. Remove programs you have on current ROM and install new kernel for improvements. Up to you!
It is scary at first. I'd suggest looking into, but not necessarily trying the guides, one could be: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=905003 how to Downgrade.
If you want to remove the Bloatware (the apps Orange installed) You'll need to root, which I am assuming you've already looked into.
The DesireHD was "fixed" so you can't root if you are running later releases. Downgrading is a necessity. Look in to that first.
edit; this worked for me when creating a goldcard: http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile...gold-card-for-htc-desire-without-hex-editing/

Thanks for the quick response. I'll take a look at your suggestions later and post back.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

OK, I've read the guide which pushed me onto other guides which I've also read. I've also printed them off so I can follow them as I go along.
As the phone is new to me I don't need to back up any data so that's something I can avoid at present.
A few questions;
Do I transfer the PD98IMG.zip(stock) ROM to the SD card whilst it's still in the phone or from my PC via a card reader?
When does the Goldcard (I've created one) come into play?
Do I do all this with/without the SIM card in the phone?
Do I need to disconnect the phone from my PC to change from 'charge only' to 'disk drive' for file transfer and then reconnect it?
If something goes wrong, can I recover my phone back to the state it's in now?
I'm sure that I'll have a few more questions before I take the plunge so any help is appreciated.
Edit: I've found a guide for my software build so will move questions there to avoid duplication (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1152233)

[Q] Root injected ROMS and CLEANROM

Hey guys,
Im a recent android convert after having bought an iPhone on the first day it was available, and almost all revisions since. I bought my Note II just before Xmas and cannot believe how satisfied I am with the new OS and the hardware.
Now in the android world, I'm lookign to gain the full functionality of multi-view by rooting and installing CLEANRom. However after reading all the guides I still have a couple questions.
1) By using the root injected roms (Im on Rogers), will the phone be ready to accept CleanRom? Im just unclear if root injected methods allow a custom ROM to be installed without any issue. If not, is there an alternative or easier rooting method that will allow cleanrom to be installed?
2) finally, due to my noobness, Im just wondering if there exists a very clear guide (perhaps with a video or picture step by step) that uses as few acronyms as possible (im still getting the hang of the jargon) for first root injecting/rooting a note II/similar phone and also installing a custom ROM?
Also, as Im a mac user, any tips on being able to carry on this on a mac would be appreciated. As it stands, Im boot-camping windows XP using a virtualizing software with windows 7 to be able to do this.
Thanks in advance guys, looking forward to being a part of the community.

It sounds to me like you are looking for a "laymans terms" description on the physical mechanics of installing a custom ROM. Here is a link to a post where I gave the best instruction I could to install a custom ROM (in this example the jedi rom) for someone on att. Most of the steps will be exactly the same for Cleanrom and I think there will be seperate instructions for Rogers in the actual Cleanrom thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2058320
4th post in the thread I believe.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

Thanks topshelf. That thread clarifies things big time.

as a fellow Mac user, you are pretty much going to be frustrated and pissed off when trying most Mac methods to root. I dual booted mine with Windows 7 just for the purpose of screwing around with my phone(s).
I don't know about root injection or whatever. I know I used Odin on Windows to flash a single .tar file and that gave me superuser, and my cleanrom 4.05
There are several ways to root and it seems there are different methods here and there. It is quite frustrating at first.
http://galaxynote2root.com/ is a good site and I believe it is the same guy that has made like 60 videos for the Note 2.
There are different Roms and people sometimes try different ones. I like the cleanroms by scott. Just search for scotts roms on google and it will take you to his site.
You will have to do a factory reset on your phone first. It will erase everything and bring it back to how you got it out of the box. Reset won't touch your external sdcard.
I don't know how anything works with virtual windows. You may also have to download Samsung drivers to get the computer to recognize your phone.

[Q] Complete noob -please help me get started

Hi!
I want to revert to JB 4.3 from KK 4.4.2. Partly because of battery life, RAM use but also because I'm using an external SD card - which basically is pointless from 4.4. on as I've understood... Yes, I can store media files there, but I cannot move 3rd party apps from my internal storage (which I want to keep "clean"); e.g. I cannot move a Kindle book from the internal storage and on to the external SD card.
Also, I've noticed that when I take a picture it is stored on my SD card as I've chosen in the options, but if I edit it the edited version is saved on the internal storage... and uses precious space there. And the only program I can use to relocate it to where it belongs is FileCommander, which isn't the file manager of my choice, to put it that way...
The reason I chose this phone rather than i.e. an iPhone 32GB was, apart from it's (at least supposed to be ) waterproof, is (or rather was, at the moment) the option of using an external SD card to augment the somewhat abysmal storage capacity of 16 GB. With Google's new policy that only 1st party apps can write to it, the point of having an SD card becomes quite debatable...
So, basically - I want to go from Sony KitKat 4.4.2 back to Sony JellyBean 4.3 - nothing more.
And then, the questions I need to ask - and hopefully receive answers to. Perhaps people in the Nordic countries - and specifically Norway are best suited to help me.
1) I was thinking of simply using the approach in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNE3eZnlHIw
Which is basically using an official Sony 4.3 flash and use that and flashtool to overwrite 4.4.2 on the phone. ...or did I miss something?
I've noticed that I do not have any Developer options under my settings, but it seems that USB debugging is on by default.
a) Will this require that I unlock the bootloader (and perhaps void my warranty - living in Norway)? I can do so (unlock bootloader says "yes").
b) Should I root the device - do I need to back up the TA partition? Also because of potential warranty issues... I cannot understand why, as the phone had JB 4.3 when I got it anyway...
2) Is this 4.3 ftf usable for me, living in Norway? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2657610
I've noticed that some have expressed a little irritation since this ROM is in Chinese... Which I of course can't use. Is this usable anyway? Or are there any other more or less official ROMs I can download - I'd be happy enough even if from Sony itself?
I think that's all - at least for now. Hope some guru out there is able to help me.

You can use any ftf (Z1 compact firmware of course), but I don't recommend the one you linked as it's a chinese firmware. Check here for firmwares: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2631291
You don't need root or an unlocked bootloader to flash stock firmwares.
As for developer options, go to Settings => 'About phone' and press 7 times on 'Android Build'. This will unlock the Developer options in Settings.

zxz0O0 said:
You can use any ftf (Z1 compact firmware of course), but I don't recommend the one you linked as it's a chinese firmware. Check here for firmwares: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2631291
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, perhaps this is better then? I see that's older than the Chinese ROM....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2633924
This and the Chinese ROM mentioned in my OP are the only I can think of "match" my phone, as the other two appear to be UK and Germany specific, respectively...? Remember, I was thinking of going from KitKat back to Jelly Bean...
That is from 14.3.A.0.757 to 14.2.A.1.142 (or maybe I have to settle for 14.2.A.1.114).
Also, if any one has good arguments for keeping KitKat or perhaps know of work-arounds for my main issues (file management and OS and app RAM usage), I'm all ears.

As I said you can use any firmware. The UK and german are not specific for that country, they just have a different customization. For example the UK version has the 4G icon and the option to enable national roaming. The pre-installed apps are also not the same.
I don't know any work-arounds as I've not experienced any problems since I upgraded to KitKat. There is a fix though for the SD card but it requires root.

zxz0O0 said:
There is a fix though for the SD card but it requires root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, wasn't thinking of going there originally, but JUST IN CASE I want to try that... Could you give me a pointer as to the procedure? That would be most helpful.
EDIT: Is it about rooting "only" (will probably be challenging enough...), and then installing this one: "SDFix: KitKat Writable MicroSD" ?
(forum rules prevent me from using an external link it seems, sorry)

Yes, that's the fix I was talking about. I'm not using it because I didn't face any problems yet with KitKat's SD policy.

Sorry, but one thing remains somewhat unclear for me.
If I decide to stick to KitKat, is it enough if I root the phone (and keep the stock installed 757 OS) and then install the SD Card KitKat fix? Or do I also have to unlock the bootloader?
I'd be very happy if I don't have to do the latter, I must admit... I don't like the idea if I screw up totally while unlocking the bootloader and void my warranty and DRM rights, as it seems to me now that I've read a bit about this that unlocking the bootloader is what can really cause trouble... If I've understood everything correct.

Bootloader unlock is only required if you want to use custom kernels.

zxz0O0 said:
Bootloader unlock is only required if you want to use custom kernels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In other words, this should work just fine?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2642081

LostInNorway said:
In other words, this should work just fine?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2642081
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can just do the rooting part. I recommend to upgrade to the latest KitKat firmware after rooting ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2688933 )