Develop Bugs

[Q] Does unlock Bootloader mean out of warranty?

Yes, it looks like a very common question, but I used to own HTC-Wildfire once.
After installing custom ROMS, I have problems with battery malfunction. Untill now, I cannot fix it even if I brought a new battery.
I had purchased HTC One X, before I have found that the official ROM is not the best. I would like to try CUSTOM ROMS, but I'm afraid that it will make my mobile phone out of warranty.
However, I heard that after unlocking bootloader, we can lock it again and install an official ROM but the status of the phone will show " re-lock " instead of lock.
That means someone will know that I used to unlock it.
What do you think about this? Can I do it and also make it restore as untouched when my phone need fixing?
Thank you in advance.
KhSom

It will show re-lock, and I guess this is the purpose.
khom27820 said:
Yes, it looks like a very common question, but I used to own HTC-Wildfire once.
After installing custom ROMS, I have problems with battery malfunction. Untill now, I cannot fix it even if I brought a new battery.
I had purchased HTC One X, before I have found that the official ROM is not the best. I would like to try CUSTOM ROMS, but I'm afraid that it will make my mobile phone out of warranty.
However, I heard that after unlocking bootloader, we can lock it again and install an official ROM but the status of the phone will show " re-lock " instead of lock.
That means someone will know that I used to unlock it.
What do you think about this? Can I do it and also make it restore as untouched when my phone need fixing?
Thank you in advance.
KhSom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

khom27820 said:
Yes, it looks like a very common question, but I used to own HTC-Wildfire once.
After installing custom ROMS, I have problems with battery malfunction. Untill now, I cannot fix it even if I brought a new battery.
I had purchased HTC One X, before I have found that the official ROM is not the best. I would like to try CUSTOM ROMS, but I'm afraid that it will make my mobile phone out of warranty.
However, I heard that after unlocking bootloader, we can lock it again and install an official ROM but the status of the phone will show " re-lock " instead of lock.
That means someone will know that I used to unlock it.
What do you think about this? Can I do it and also make it restore as untouched when my phone need fixing?
Thank you in advance.
KhSom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your phone will still be in warranty in case of any hardware defects however should you break your phone as a result of flashing firmware then HTC will not assist you.

Yes, I believe that ANY rooting (and therefore ROM changes) voids the warranty of ANY phone however there are ways of unrooting your phone so that it appears completely unrooted.
Here's one method that may work: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=900875
However if you use a program such as superoneclick, ginerbreak, etc then an unroot feature is often included.
I believe that these methods don't leave an obvious trace, thus allowing a warranty claim to be made.

dr9722 said:
Your phone will still be in warranty in case of any hardware defects however should you break your phone as a result of flashing firmware then HTC will not assist you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means if something wrong to my phone such as the screen is broken, I can still claim it, right?
If it is, I will begin to unlock my phone and install other ROM doubtlessly.

dr9722 said:
Your phone will still be in warranty in case of any hardware defects however should you break your phone as a result of flashing firmware then HTC will not assist you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to send my HOX back to the shop because of a dodgy touchscreen. Of course, I had already installed ARHD so I was faced with the same issue. I reinstalled the proper RUU and relocked my bootloader. The shop accepted my RMA after finding the defect and told me that they had sent the phone to the HTC Service Center. So as of now the phone is wherever that is awaiting repair. The jury is still out as to whether they will investigate if the bootloader is relocked. I don't think it will be an issue, but I will report back as soon as I get word!
Cheers,
Mathieu
ps - I will change my signature as soon as I get my HOX back...

HTC will still honor warranty claims even if your phone was unlocked via HTCdev. The lcd on my One X decided that it would display the screen whenever it wanted to and not when I did. I called HTC and opened a ticket, shipped it to them, paid their slightly frustrating $20 USD handling fee, and now it's in repair with nothing else I need to pay.
This is with a unbranded HTCdev unlocked phone that had at least 4 different ROMs flashed as well as 2 kernels.
As far as your question of dodging the RE-LOCKED screen:
Until someone finds a way to S-OFF, we're stuck with it. But believe me that RE-LOCKED looks a whole lot better in HTC's eyes than TAMPERED.
If all you want to do is flash ROMs, just do it the HTC provided way.
Unless you manage to fry your phone by overclocking to 2.5ghz or overvolting, you'll be fine if the phone breaks.

Hi guys,
Just an update. I just received an email in which I was informed that my HOX has been repaired/replaced (I wonder which it is?). So either they didn't check the bootloader (or any secret log files of what has been installed) or they just didn't care. It would seem to have gone well...

return to stock rom

hi, I did a trade with some here on the XDA for a galaxy nexus. The phone comes with BAMF ROM but I am thinking of returning to the completely stock rom. Since I do not know much information on this phone, I thought I will ask before doing anything stupid.
I am not sure exactly if this is a international or playstore phone (I think it is international) but I do know it is a GSM phone.
Also, it appears to me that the phone is already unlocked (and I think rooted but cannot be sure).
So my question is how exactly should I go through to get the completely stock as I kind of want to try stock JB first. Do I need to relock it and download the image from google (which image as I see there are two version of phone.
I may try different rom in the future so can I just download teh image and flash the rom without relock it? Or I should still lock the phone, flash, unnlock, unroot?
A little bit of background. I am using the phone on T Mobile's network here in the US, so I want to be able to continue using hte phone on the same T MO.
Thanks a lot for all of the helps guys.

Link to the step-by-step, amazing, descriptive guide here

thanks a lot. I follow that thread and I think I have returned the phone to the stock rom.
Quick question, I think my bootloader is still unlocked as when I checked the bootloader, it looks it still says unlocked. Now after I have flashed the stock rom, should I still root it and also install the recovery if I ever plan to play around with the different roms? As of now, when I into recovery, I see the little andrid icon but no selection.
thansk a lot guys.

PUTALE said:
thanks a lot. I follow that thread and I think I have returned the phone to the stock rom.
Quick question, I think my bootloader is still unlocked as when I checked the bootloader, it looks it still says unlocked. Now after I have flashed the stock rom, should I still root it and also install the recovery if I ever plan to play around with the different roms? As of now, when I into recovery, I see the little andrid icon but no selection.
thansk a lot guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If/when you want to root and mess with ROMs, you'll be using a custom recovery like CWM. You don't need to flash it until you choose to do those things.

thanks. Would I need to root again? The phone is already unlocked (as I did not lock it again). So, I would just have to root and then flash the custom recovery then?
BTW, I notice there's a very nice tool on the sticky that does everything. I am curious if I use that tool and let say choose to unlock it again or root again and such, would that be any issue? Ie, if it's already unlocked and you run unlock again, would that relock, etc?

PUTALE said:
thanks. Would I need to root again? The phone is already unlocked (as I did not lock it again). So, I would just have to root and then flash the custom recovery then?
BTW, I notice there's a very nice tool on the sticky that does everything. I am curious if I use that tool and let say choose to unlock it again or root again and such, would that be any issue? Ie, if it's already unlocked and you run unlock again, would that relock, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can easily root too if you want to in the future
I think you're talking about the toolkit... Me and others here don't recommend using that... Unlocking/locking the bootloader is easy anyways...
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using xda app-developers app

PUTALE said:
thanks. Would I need to root again? The phone is already unlocked (as I did not lock it again). So, I would just have to root and then flash the custom recovery then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing a custom recovery is part of the rooting process.
BTW, I notice there's a very nice tool on the sticky that does everything. I am curious if I use that tool and let say choose to unlock it again or root again and such, would that be any issue? Ie, if it's already unlocked and you run unlock again, would that relock, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't use 1-click toolkits. You know how to do it manually, do it manually.

got it, thanks a lot guys. Will have to read up more on the root and flashing rom. Android is still relativly new to me.

[Q] FB Mode question

Fastboot Mode
PRODUCT NAME - tuna
VARIANT - maguro 16gb
HV VERSION - 9
BOOTLOADER VERSION - PRIMELC03
BASEBAND VERSION - I9230XXLH1
CARRIER INFO - NONE
SERIAL NUMBER - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
SIGNING - production
LOCK STATE - unlocked
When it says unlocked, is it talking about my SIM or my bootloader?
Do Nexus's come bootloader unlocked, I mean; they are dev friendly.
Don't make fun of me, I'm only curious and trying to start learning about android and maybe even develop things considering I do know alot about graphics.
Thanks in advance.
Edit: I forgot it meant bootloader (blonde moment?), but is this regular for nexus devices?

I'm almost certain it's talking about your bootloader but to be certain reboot your device. If you see an unlocked padlock under Google when you turn on your device your bootloader is unlocked.

063_XOBX said:
I'm almost certain it's talking about your bootloader but to be certain reboot your device. If you see an unlocked padlock under Google when you turn on your device your bootloader is unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it is, I know that; i edited my post after realizing that.
But what I'm asking is; Is it typical for nexus devices to come with unlocked bootloaders or not?
I got my from i wireless and I believe it is a imported device.

It's not. Probably was returned/refurbished.

Haaah.
What are the chances that it's rooted and how can I check?
I traded in my One S and got this phone as a replacement.
Strange that it came in the original boxing with everything.
Thanks man.

If it doesn't have superuser then it isn't rooted.

Thanks.
I'm gonna be a noob and ask one more question.
Is it easy to brick your phone from rooting?

Or SuperSU. Try rootchecker. "Is it easy to brick your phone from rooting?" Not from rooting but perhaps flashing if you tend to jump into things..

brainfart moments can give you a softbrick pretty easily, but with fastboot and (we arent quite fans of this like the fascinate people were) ODIN you would have to realllllly screw up and probably try to completely brick it. make sure you have fastboot set up and working correctly before doing anything questionable. it will save your ass lol
edit: speaking of fastboot, i would probably use it to format and reflash all partitions with the latest stock image before messing around since it sounds like your phone has been screwed with before you got it (you never know what other people did to it). theres a really good guide about resetting to stock in either the general or q/a section here. dont worry about relocking the bootloader, there isnt really a way to unlock it wrong... it either works or doesnt. since you sound pretty tech savvy, please dont use toolkits, learn fastboot. it seems like toolkits are a one click problem, not a one click fix lol.

electro` said:
Thanks.
I'm gonna be a noob and ask one more question.
Is it easy to brick your phone from rooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Practically impossible. You'd have to not read anything and then willfully do something to ruin your device. And even then it's almost certainly recoverable so not bricked.

It seems nearly impossible to brick your device. x.x
I installed ParanoidAndroid last nigh but for some reason I tried installing a mod and I lost the status bar and home buttons.
I was so pissed off, I had to unroot my device and reflash the stock rom.
I'm going to try using CyanogenMod 10.1 and see where it gets me. It will probably be better considering you can make alot more customizations to your device ui and such.
Thanks 063_XOBX.

Question on root and unlock bootloader

I am new to the nexus 7.
Can I root without unlocking the broader?
What is the side effect of unlocking the boot loader?
Is there existing method to root without installing customer recovery?
Thanks

macaumen said:
I am new to the nexus 7.
Can I root without unlocking the broader?
What is the side effect of unlocking the boot loader?
Is there existing method to root without installing customer recovery?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is currently no known way to root without unlocking the bootloader and using a custom recovery.
Unlocking the bootloader allows you more control over the tablet. Specifically to install custom recovery, ROMs, etc. Most of the benefits from an unlocked bootloader are things you do from a custom recovery, not through the bootloader itself. The only real negative 'side effects' are that you lose some of the safety benefits, since you can do dangerous things if you don't know what you are doing, and that it may void your warranty.

So, if want to root, I must unlock bootloader?
Well I still get ota with bootloader unlocked?

macaumen said:
So, if want to root, I must unlock bootloader?
Well I still get ota with bootloader unlocked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes
2. Technically you can, but not recommend; just wait for the rooted stock and flash that.

teh roxxorz said:
1. Yes
2. Technically you can, but not recommend; just wait for the rooted stock and flash that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding your #2, there is no reason not to unlock the bootloader to get OTA updates. The only thing that breaks OTA is custom recovery.

phonic said:
Regarding your #2, there is no reason not to unlock the bootloader to get OTA updates. The only thing that breaks OTA is custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely correct. I just said not to do it, cause he seems less experienced, and from my experience, they get freaked out afterwards trying to put it back on. So trying to save him a headache, lol.

I recommend staying stock unless you absolutely need a specific root required app.
Right now there isn't a reason for root access except titanium backup.
I do recommend, however, to go ahead and unlock. It will wipe your device including personal data, so might as well get that out of the way now before you risk losing something important.
You can easily flash a custom recovery and root anytime after that, but I would wait until knowledgeable devs figure out the device a little more first.
Sent from Nexus 7 FHD from XDA Premium HD

player911 said:
I recommend staying stock unless you absolutely need a specific root required app.
Right now there isn't a reason for root access except titanium backup.
I do recommend, however, to go ahead and unlock. It will wipe your device including personal data, so might as well get that out of the way now before you risk losing something important.
You can easily flash a custom recovery and root anytime after that, but I would wait until knowledgeable devs figure out the device a little more first.
Sent from Nexus 7 FHD from XDA Premium HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure why you would suggest people not to root now. You mentioned a very good reason to do so - Titanium Backup. Not only is it useful for backups in general, but it's also a lifesaver for copying apps and their data from one device, like someone's old N7, to their new N7.
While I would certainly agree that people should wait before flashing custom ROMs, kernels, hacks, etc., nothing is going to change with rooting your N7 today versus a week or month from now. All the pros and cons will still be the same.

phonic said:
I'm not sure why you would suggest people not to root now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They guy doesn't need root. He also doesn't understand root. So his chances of softbricking are good, and then, instead of us trying to talk him out of rooting, we now have to talk him through how to fix it.... .. Can we count on you to provide this support since your are so OK with him rooting now?

tweaked said:
They guy doesn't need root. He also doesn't understand root. So his chances of softbricking are good, and then, instead of us trying to talk him out of rooting, we now have to talk him through how to fix it.... .. Can we count on your to provide this support since your are so OK with him rooting now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither you nor I have any idea what he needs or doesn't. He hasn't said anything other than asking some basic questions about the process. There are numerous guides on here that walk people through rooting step by step. There are also a handful of people who have soft bricked their device and asked for and received help. And yes, I have assisted people with similar issues in the past. Everyone on this board has at one point in their lives screwed something up - that's how we learn.
In any case, my point was that there is no clear reason for him not to do it if he wants to. The device is pretty forgiving unless he kills the bootloader.

Should I unlock my bootloader for safety reasons

I've always had my devices rooted and running a custom rom or at least a custom kernel or something of the sort "But" ever since I got my pixel about a year ago I haven't felt the need to root at all, stock rom is just perfect and so battery life and I don't see a reason to.
However I was just thinking that now with locked bootloader if for any reason my phone gets bricked then I'm probably [email protected]*t out of luck because I won't be able to flash a factory image to bring the phone back to life.
Should I unlock my bootloader just in case the worse does happen or is there another workaround for such a situation?

Getting bricked is the direct result of flashing images.

nabbed said:
Getting bricked is the direct result of flashing images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could not disagree more. There are countless threads of individuals taking OTAs and running into boot loop. Additionally I have read through multiple threads where individuals were simply using their phone to play a game, text, phone call etc and the phone shuts off and goes into a loop.
The users with an unlocked bootloader were able to salvage the device. Users without a locked bootloader looked for a RMA.
To the OP- I personally will never own an Android device with a constantly locked bootloader. The safety net of being able to factory reset and flash stock images is something I've always cherished and do not wish to get rid of.
There are security risks to having an unlocked BL. If an Android savvy criminal were to steal your device they could do a lot of damage with obtaining personal information. For me, I'm much more worried about my phone going in to boot loop than I am some criminal being able to take my phone from me.

Sab3elbromba said:
Should I unlock my bootloader just in case the worse does happen or is there another workaround for such a situation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if for any reason, something did get corrupted on your phone with a lockedbootloader and it tripped verified boot. you would be locked out, no course of action but to get an RMA... so if u plan on tinkering with your phone or just would like a failsafe, at least with an unlocked phone. you would be able to flash firmware, etc...
just remember, not to relock your bootloader; unless your phone is running stock firmware and is wiped.... otherwise you will trip verified boot and brick it...
nabbed said:
Getting bricked is the direct result of flashing images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, it's not. getting a bricked phone is pretty much always because the person did something ill advised or dumb... like relocking their bootloader running custom firmware...
so a diect result of user error, nothing to do with flashing images.