Develop Bugs

[Q] Is rooting a G2 with GFree safe?(And what should I know before rooting?)

I am getting a G2 in the next few weeks and I'm coming from a rooted G1. I have been reading about the G2 and root ever since the first way to root it was available with VISIONary, but now it seems that we(the community) have found out that the old way to root was unsafe and "fake" and now every one uses GFree. I am planning to root the phone the INSTANT that it is out of the box, just gonna enable debugging in the settings then root it with GFree. Is there anything I should know before rooting with GFree? And how safe is it? Has anyone had any bricks with it? I'm not really a noob to cell phone modding if anyone is wondering, I used to mod Motorola's back in the day before Android was around, and I rooted my G1 the manual way. I already have ADB set up for my G1(the whole Android SDK rather,) so I'm guess that all I have to do is plug in the G2 to the computer and if needed, Windows will install the correct drivers automatically then I can root it with rage and GFree?
And thank you for anyone that helps me!

If you already have ADB set up you will just have to load the drivers for the G2 onto your computer, they easy way would be to just download HTC Sync to your home computer and when you hook the phone up the first time it will install the correct drivers, although the HTC Sync program wont actually work with the G2 because its sense based and the G2 is not it will still install the proper drivers for you. As far a gfree it is the safest way to root your G2, although I havent seen any bricks from the gfree method I have seen a few phones stuck in boot loops but usually theres a fix for it because gfree will usually get the phone to S-off stage before any problems arise.
For more info read this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wik...Subsidy_Unlock.2C_SuperCID.2C_and_Radio_S-OFF
and this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=855764
Read the entire thread even if its long it will benefit you in the long run, if you run into any problems more than likely they have already been solved somewhere in the thread. I always read the enitre thread before trying any mods to my phone.

Not to be a debbie downer but you may want to consider waiting a little bit before rooting, unless there is something about the phone that makes it unsuitable for your use out of the box. You may have a problem with the phone, a result of manufacturing problems or damage during shipment that may not show up until you've used it for a bit. My original G1 died a week after I got it, I had to take it back to the store where they gave me a replacement right away (That G1 still works after >2 years of daily use). If your phone is unmodified you will have a much easier time returning or exchanging it if you need to. BTW I waited about 3 weeks before I rooted my G2.
The gfree method is indeed safe, the problem most people seem to have with it is getting ADB working. I have not heard of any bricks with the method, I personally used it on two different G2s (mine and my brothers) and my wifes MyTouch 4G.
If you are already familiar with ADB you are already ahead of the curve. Though even if you have ADB up and running you may well need a different driver before ADB can connect to the G2.
The process is pretty solid and there is a lot of info here in case you run into issues but I don't think that's likely.
BTW when you are at the point where you want to install a recovery you might want to look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=902493 if you are a G1 user you are probably already familiar with flash_image.

joemm said:
If you already have ADB set up you will just have to load the drivers for the G2 onto your computer, they easy way would be to just download HTC Sync to your home computer and when you hook the phone up the first time it will install the correct drivers, although the HTC Sync program wont actually work with the G2 because its sense based and the G2 is not it will still install the proper drivers for you. As far a gfree it is the safest way to root your G2, although I havent seen any bricks from the gfree method I have seen a few phones stuck in boot loops but usually theres a fix for it because gfree will usually get the phone to S-off stage before any problems arise.
For more info read this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wik...Subsidy_Unlock.2C_SuperCID.2C_and_Radio_S-OFF
and this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=855764
Read the entire thread even if its long it will benefit you in the long run, if you run into any problems more than likely they have already been solved somewhere in the thread. I always read the enitre thread before trying any mods to my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
raitchison said:
Not to be a debbie downer but you may want to consider waiting a little bit before rooting, unless there is something about the phone that makes it unsuitable for your use out of the box. You may have a problem with the phone, a result of manufacturing problems or damage during shipment that may not show up until you've used it for a bit. My original G1 died a week after I got it, I had to take it back to the store where they gave me a replacement right away (That G1 still works after >2 years of daily use). If your phone is unmodified you will have a much easier time returning or exchanging it if you need to. BTW I waited about 3 weeks before I rooted my G2.
The gfree method is indeed safe, the problem most people seem to have with it is getting ADB working. I have not heard of any bricks with the method, I personally used it on two different G2s (mine and my brothers) and my wifes MyTouch 4G.
If you are already familiar with ADB you are already ahead of the curve. Though even if you have ADB up and running you may well need a different driver before ADB can connect to the G2.
The process is pretty solid and there is a lot of info here in case you run into issues but I don't think that's likely.
BTW when you are at the point where you want to install a recovery you might want to look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=902493 if you are a G1 user you are probably already familiar with flash_image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah thanks guys! I'll just follow the instructions in the wiki.

Ok, I have some more questions, if I get stuck in a boot loop when I first root it with GFree then I should be already S-OFF so all I have to do is boot into fastboot and flash CWM to the phone then do a wipe and flash a good ROM? And if so, do I have to flash that new HBOOT that is optional in the XDA Wiki in order to flash the recovery via fastboot? And when I root my phone, I want to jump strait into CM7, so for my first recovery that I flash, can it be the new 3.0+ recovery? Also if I get stuck in the boot loop, can I flash the 3.0+ one then then wipe it and flash a new ROM or does it have to be with the old 2.0 recovery? Sorry for all the questions, I have looked some stuff up myself, but I just want to double check with someone that knows what he's doing or has done it before.

KoolKidsKlub said:
Ok, I have some more questions, if I get stuck in a boot loop when I first root it with GFree then I should be already S-OFF so all I have to do is boot into fastboot and flash CWM to the phone then do a wipe and flash a good ROM? And if so, do I have to flash that new HBOOT that is optional in the XDA Wiki in order to flash the recovery via fastboot? And when I root my phone, I want to jump strait into CM7, so for my first recovery that I flash, can it be the new 3.0+ recovery? Also if I get stuck in the boot loop, can I flash the 3.0+ one then then wipe it and flash a new ROM or does it have to be with the old 2.0 recovery? Sorry for all the questions, I have looked some stuff up myself, but I just want to double check with someone that knows what he's doing or has done it before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you need to have the engineering HBOOT to use fastboot to flash your recovery.

raitchison said:
Yes you need to have the engineering HBOOT to use fastboot to flash your recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, then how would I recover from a boot loop if I just rooted with GFree? Because if I just rooted with GFree, I would have to reboot and it would then get stuck in a boot loop before I could even flash the new HBOOT, right?

raitchison said:
BTW I waited about 3 weeks before I rooted my G2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOLz, I rooted my G2 the night it was shipped to me, probably within the first hour after playing around with the stock setup.

How would I recover from a boot loop if I just rooted with GFree? Because if I just rooted with GFree, I would have to reboot and it would then get stuck in a boot loop before I could even flash the new HBOOT, right? Or with GFree, do you not get a boot loop? From what I have seen, people are getting boot loops if they tried with VISIONary or an older tutorial that uses Rage, as in not the one thats on the Wiki.

All I can say to this thread is that the following guide worked flawlessly for me:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2

dustrho said:
All I can say to this thread is that the following guide worked flawlessly for me:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is the tutorial that I am going to use to root my G2 when I get it, I just want to know if anyone has bricked with it or had a boot loop with it. Has any one? And when it says to install ROM Manager to get the CWM on the phone and do a backup, I just wanted to install the new 3.0+ version of it that DOESN'T come with ROM Manager so I can jump strait to CM7 as my first ROM, can I? I was just going to flash the new 3.0+ recovery with the one here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=902493

KoolKidsKlub said:
And when it says to install ROM Manager to get the CWM on the phone and do a backup, I just wanted to install the new 3.0+ version of it that DOESN'T come with ROM Manager so I can jump strait to CM7 as my first ROM, can I? I was just going to flash the new 3.0+ recovery with the one here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=902493
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, after you successfully root your phone you can install CWM 3.0+ and then install CM7 if you want.

dustrho said:
Yes, after you successfully root your phone you can install CWM 3.0+ and then install CM7 if you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah alright, thank you! Sorry for all the questions, but I just wanted to be sure; I search everything I want to know before I ask questions. I'm coming from a G1 which is pretty old, you have no idea how excited I am to have a current Android phone that will actually run stuff smoothly, I just don't want to brick it when I first get it.

KoolKidsKlub said:
I am getting a G2 in the next few weeks and I'm coming from a rooted G1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the same boat. The new phone is sooo much faster!
joemm said:
the HTC Sync program wont actually work with the G2 because its sense based and the G2 is not it will still install the proper drivers for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can we uninstall HTC Sync afterwards? Will the drivers stay around?
dustrho said:
Yes, after you successfully root your phone you can install CWM 3.0+ and then install CM7 if you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cyanogenmod has their own instructions for rooting. Which is safer or more recent?
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=TMobile_G2:_Rooting#Gaining_Temporary_Root_Access

endolith said:
I am in the same boat. The new phone is sooo much faster!
Can we uninstall HTC Sync afterwards? Will the drivers stay around?
Cyanogenmod has their own instructions for rooting. Which is safer or more recent?
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=TMobile_G2:_Rooting#Gaining_Temporary_Root_Access
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the XDA Wiki, I've seen issues with people using the Cyanogen Wiki.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

Rooting latest OTA, maybe?

I don't post often so I can't post over in development but I had originally unrooted my phone to prep for return to get the EVO 3D. However, I decided to purchase and Acer Iconia A500 tablet and keep my EVO. I used the latest OTA update to play around with it until I returned it. So my dilemma in that I read you can not root the newest OTA. Ack no! So I tried anway and now I have a rooted phone again. This is what I did and hopefully it is not a fluke or maybe something left over from the old root (I had flashed an old unrooted version then did 3 OTA updates).
1. Connected phone to computer with USB cable (Android SDK installed).
2. Put the Amon RA 2.3 recovery image on to the SDCARD (named PCIMG36.zip)
3. Performed "adb reboot bootloader".
4. Let the recovery image do its thing and reboot phone.
5. Put the latest rooted image on to the phone.
6. Again in ADB I ran "adb reboot recovery".
7. Booted in to Amon RA and flashed image.
8. Rebooted phone and YAY I had root again. I can do everything I used to before.
Please test this out so I know its not a fluke and maybe this can get moved to development.

root 2.3
since you were rooted before, you had the bootloader set to s-off. a new, never before rooted phone with the gingerbread update cannot at this time be rooted.

I was afraid it might be something like that but I am not in the know enough to be sure. Thanks for letting me know.

dbug2008 said:
since you were rooted before, you had the bootloader set to s-off. a new, never before rooted phone with the gingerbread update cannot at this time be rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there any indication of when - if ever the latest OTA will be rooted? I am receiving a refurbish today and guessing it will not be rooted.

Freeze during OTA update

I unlocked my wife's (carrier-free) WFS via HTCDev, then rooted it shortly after just fine. After rooting it I did the Link2SD procedure to releave the internal space problem and that went well too.
Some time later an OTA update notification appeared that is 14MB in size. I downloaded & tried to install it, but the phone just reboots to begin the update, then stays on a screen that has the Android robot & an "!" inside a triangle. It never does anything from there, just stays frozen on that screen.
Please can someone help me by showing me the cause & solution, or a way to install the latest WFS OTA manually. Thanks in advance.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G with Beats Audio using XDA App

Pull the battery and reboot, you will then be able to continue to use the phone as normal.
As for OTA update; it doesn't work on phones with modified recovery e.g. CWM, try searching this forum, all the answers to your question already exist.
Sent using tapatalk 2 via an Android telephonic device.

Yeah, I did pull the battery before and let her use the phone as usual while I searched for answers, which was some weeks ago. Guess I didn't look hard enough.
Thanks, let me try search some more...
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G with Beats Audio using XDA App

inferKNOX said:
Yeah, I did pull the battery before and let her use the phone as usual while I searched for answers, which was some weeks ago. Guess I didn't look hard enough.
Thanks, let me try search some more...
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G with Beats Audio using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok...like this...since you are rooted and have custom recovery installed you are not able to complete OTA update.
Here is what you need to do-you need to go back to stock recovery..then update and install OTA.
NOTE: after that your phone BL will be locked again and you will lose root.
NEXT STEP: After updating you will need to repeat the procedure of unlocking with HTC.dev and of course root again if you want that.
more info you can find in the thread in link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1474067
Hope i helped a litlle bit
dont forget thanks button if i did

How a positive conclusion was achieved
Well, after Aef 101's suggestion, I ended up downloading the new RUU 2.13.401.3 from Shipped-ROMs.com, which of course refused to install saying the phone already got 2.17.0000 installed (a version number produced by RUU 2.13.401.2 + HBoot 1.08.0099), so I reduced the version number to the SuperVersion (0.0.0.0) and relocked the the BootLoader with the first tool suggested here.
That allowed me to successfully install the new RUU, but I got the problem spoken of here, of the locked/unlocked field disappearing from the top of the BootLoader because the RUU downgraded the BootLoader to the outdated 1.08.0000. So, I downloaded the new HTC EU HBoot 1.09.0099 from HTCDev, which I linked here and installed it.
After I did that, the BootLoader said it's locked again (the field that had completely disappered after the 2.13.401.3 RUU update, was back to normal), so I just reused the same "Unlock_code.bin" file I got from HTCDev the first time I unlocked, to re-unlock the BootLoader.
Once that was done, it was a quick root with SuperOneClick 2.3.3 and the job was done. I won't be putting any custom ROM(s), so I didn't bother re-adding CWM, in case it gives me hassles on my next update attempt if there is one.
Thank you gentlemen for your responses and I hope my breakdown of how I got it to work in the end helps others that may suffer this dilemma.

[Q] Downgrade from JB to ICS possible?

Hi there,
Had a HTC One X for a while, was running ICS and Leedroid's rom. It's been really buggy for the last couple of months and I finally bit the bullet and started looking, once again, at how to upgrade etc.
Ended up reinstalling stock and then...I did the OTA to 4.1. Immediately regretted it. I've just spent the last 3 hours trying to root it! From a bit of googling it seems that it might be impossible to root it if updated OTA? I guess I have 2 questions:
1) Can I root it on JB and, if so, what the heck am I doing wrong? Constant adb errors.
2) If not, is it possible to revert back to ICS?​
Please could you point me in the right direction for tutorials, if I'm being dense and missing something obvious? I'm totally frazzled by this time at night with no success!!
Thanks

Yes, you can root jb, all you need to do is unlock you bootloader via htcdev.com , flash a custom recovery and then flash the supersu.zip via recovery!
Recovery : http://db.tt/sEQHjLwu
SuperSU : http://d-h.st/B2K
No, it's not possible to return to ICS after updating to JB, many have reported that the touch isn't working...
PS: Don't forget to make a nandroid backup of your stock jb rom before rooting! You're gonna need it if you want to return to stock!
-Sent from my IceCold One X!

onedayillflyaway said:
Hi there,
Had a HTC One X for a while, was running ICS and Leedroid's rom. It's been really buggy for the last couple of months and I finally bit the bullet and started looking, once again, at how to upgrade etc.
Ended up reinstalling stock and then...I did the OTA to 4.1. Immediately regretted it. I've just spent the last 3 hours trying to root it! From a bit of googling it seems that it might be impossible to root it if updated OTA? I guess I have 2 questions:
1) Can I root it on JB and, if so, what the heck am I doing wrong? Constant adb errors.
2) If not, is it possible to revert back to ICS?​
Please could you point me in the right direction for tutorials, if I'm being dense and missing something obvious? I'm totally frazzled by this time at night with no success!!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have already unlocked your phone once you can use the original Token htcdev sent you. If not get yourself over to htcdev.
Also if you want it easy (ie no manual fastboot commands) just use an upgrade tool. There's plenty about but I like this one.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1924003
Make sure you have adb/sdk tools and htc drivers installed before begining.
As your already on Jellybean dont worry about all the cid/hboot stuff.
Put your htc token in the app folder. Put your phone in fastboot mode and plug in the usb.
Open the app and select '4' 'toolkit with all fastboot commands' on the app.
Here you'll find 'flash recovery' (9)and it will install clockworkmod.
there are loads of rooted JB roms to choose from, I use ViperX

Thank you so much - just what I needed :good:

[Q] State of root access, 4.3

Hey all,
I just wanted to pose a few questions. I've spent about 20 hours going through forums and articles to root my Verizon HTC One, and a heck of a lot of the information out there is very dated, and often contradictory. I've tried condensing it into a single procedure, but am having problems.
Here's the procedure for a brand new phone straight from a verizon store yesterday, running Android 4.3, with hboot 2.55, as I understand it; the information that I believe is now out of date, wrong, or not for 4.3/ 2.55; and the problem(s) I'm running into:
Procedure:
1) Unlock the bootloader and get s-off -- Firewater should be able to do this using the temproot method
2) Flash recovery mod, I was going to use CWM since it worked so nicely on my Incredible for 4 years -- this requires an unlocked bootloader and s-off, done the standard way via fastboot
3) Use CWM to flash superuser in recovery -- push the zip to sd, flash it from recovery
4) Happy times with my old set up back
Misinformation:
1) HTCdev -- no longer allowed for HTC One by Verizon, can't unlock bootloader this way. Renders a lot of the threads irrelevant now that this is not a valid route
2) rumrunner -- works for Android 2.2.4, not 2.3, and up to hboot 2.54
3) firewater "standard method" -- useless to anyone attempting to root a new device for the first time
4) "flash ARHD, then run firewater" -- again, not useful if you're trying to get CWM and SU on your phone for the first time
Problems:
1) The big one. Running temproot/ firewater, I acquire root access after running temproot, but when I run firewater after I get
!!If firewater hangs for more than 2 minutes or device enters qhusb mode, hold power for 60 seconds !!
preparing, one moment
The first bottle is open
chugging..........
C:\adb>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
with the adb shell crashing out, and my phone will freeze, requiring a hard reboot.
2) I got a few suggestions to use rumrunner (before I decided rumrunner was 2.2.4, from the sources I could find). The process would be going fairly smoothily, until it would crash with the error "looks like device is not rooted AND lacks an unsecure kernel. su or FU!!" I also once got an error about "unexpected process or ROM" but haven't been able to replicate it.
3) Found some advice for "flashing CWM without s-off"...that obviously didn't work, but I thought I might as well try
4) Not so much a problem as a concern...I'm a bit worried about my drivers. I think they are good and up to date, I got them from HTCsync, and have full adb and fastboot control to my device, but still...
The Jury
So, what's your take? Am I missing something obvious?

Update
atewsleybooth said:
So, what's your take? Am I missing something obvious?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update
I tried going through the firewater procedure on OSX instead of Windows, with the exact same results (crashing out of adb shell). This leads me to believe that the problem is with the device, and not the computer. Does that sound right?
I switched cables, got one instance where I actually received "somebody pissed in the firewater reboot and try again." However, 2 reboots since with the same cable and port have both gone back to crashing out of the shell.

Rumrunnwr is only for 4.2.2. Firewater is for 4.3. You need to be complete stock and follow temproot method. Firewater was written for multiple devices so the whole HTC dev unlock and other methods won't work for the m7vzw. If you are on 4.4.2 then you are sol for now.

Gizmoe said:
Rumrunnwr is only for 4.2.2. Firewater is for 4.3. You need to be complete stock and follow temproot method. Firewater was written for multiple devices so the whole HTC dev unlock and other methods won't work for the m7vzw. If you are on 4.4.2 then you are sol for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on full stock 4.3 device, running firewater using the temproot. I've made sure not to got to 4.4.2.

atewsleybooth said:
I'm on full stock 4.3 device, running firewater using the temproot. I've made sure not to got to 4.4.2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have u tried to factory reset the device?

Try redownloading the firewater file, mabey it was a bad download, or got corrupted somewhere along the way. If thays not the issue try below.
You shouldnt have to do this but its worth a shot. Once you aquire temp root, try pushing the su binary to /system/xbin, and the superuser.apk to /system/app. Then reboot the phone. This should technically give you root. Then try running firewater again to unlock and get s-off.

cmlusco said:
Try redownloading the firewater file, mabey it was a bad download, or got corrupted somewhere along the way. If thays not the issue try below.
You shouldnt have to do this but its worth a shot. Once you aquire temp root, try pushing the su binary to /system/xbin, and the superuser.apk to /system/app. Then reboot the phone. This should technically give you root. Then try running firewater again to unlock and get s-off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it working. What I wound up doing was saying "No" to the first prompt from firewater, then restarting firewater, and saying "Yes." Twice this gave me "somebody pissed in the firewater," but on the third try, it went through. Not initiating firewater twice and canceling out of the first run would always crash my shell.
Go figure.

atewsleybooth said:
I got it working. What I wound up doing was saying "No" to the first prompt from firewater, then restarting firewater, and saying "Yes." Twice this gave me "somebody pissed in the firewater," but on the third try, it went through. Not initiating firewater twice and canceling out of the first run would always crash my shell.
Go figure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weird. Glad you got it to work though.