Develop Bugs

[Q] 2.2 OTA update issues

Hi guys,
I have a Desire I bought unlocked on eBay. Though initially thinking it was factory unlocked, and having bought it under that pretense, I now think it's been unlocked by some other means. It doesn't appear to be rooted, having no superuser app but I'm not sure how else it could have been unlocked? If any one can shed some light here, that would be great.
I received the OTA update tonight, and after downloading and resetting it simply wouldn't get past 90% on the install before resetting itself. After about 15 minutes I switched it off and switched it on again, and it booted into my homescreen, with a "loading" alert and a rotating circle, no percentage.
Eventually that stopped, and it looked like everything was ok. I checked the version and it said I was running 2.2. Awesome, so I go about my business and realise I have no 3G or wireless connections. I check the settings and under WiFi it says "error", and I can't enable it. My APN is gone too. I can get that online, but it seems like there's an issue with the radio so I haven't bothered. It doesn't connect to the network anyway. It also resets occasionally, it seems when it has to load SenseUI but I can't confirm this.
What could it be? I'm not sure where the phone came from. It's a Black a8181 model with the Orange case branding, but the OS is unbranded. The locale is English (Singapore/Taiwan/a few others), though I thought the Black model was only in the UK. I'm in Australia, on vodafoneAU.
Is there anything I can do?
Cheers guys, I really hope I haven't (basically) bricked it.

Firstly, removing the SIM lock from the phone has nothing to do with rooting. Usually, you just stick in an "incorrect" SIM, and it will ask for an unlock code which you can buy online.
Given that the OTA update was a patch, it sounds to me like you have a partially patched ROM and this is causing your problems.
However, since it basically boots up and works to a fashion, it isn't bricked and chances are it is fairly easily recovered.
IMHO, you have two options.
1. Install a 2.1 RUU to downgrade your phone.
2. Root the phone using UnreEVOked and load a custom 2.2 ROM.
Both of these should be quite easily so long as your previous attempt to upgrade hasn't already updated HBOOT.
Turn you phone off and then power on again whilst holding down the volume down button - your phone should boot into HBOOT.
Look for the HBOOT version on the second line and post back what it says here.
Regards,
Dave

You've received a branded phone that has been debranded (you should have been told this) - you can't upgrade these without a goldcard. What's happened is part of the upgrade has worked, but other parts failed.
To recover you'll need a goldcard, which will be more difficult to make with the phone rebooting all the time.

teppic74 said:
To recover you'll need a goldcard, which will be more difficult to make with the phone rebooting all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the OP can get UnrEVOked running, and doesn't mind having a custom recovery image (good thing!), he/she shouldn't need a goldcard.
Regards,
Dave

foxmeister said:
If the OP can get UnrEVOked running, and doesn't mind having a custom recovery image (good thing!), he/she shouldn't need a goldcard.
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true, though it does mean going down the custom ROM route, which might not be wanted.

Thanks guys, that's really good info.
I'm not too concerned about running custom ROMs, I've been thinking about doing it for a while, just don't know enough about how to root and flash. There are some good guides here, I'm just a bit nervous about doing it. I also don't know what the best ROM would be. I'm really just after a factory standard Desire with Sense ROM, the most out of the box it could be.
I assume an RUU is like a rollback? In which case, what would I be rolling back to. I have no idea how it was debranded, so I don't know what ROM I'd need to roll back to.
As for the goldcard, what would that do? Is that rolling back, or fixing what I have now? It doesn't crash too often, I can probably baby it through.
Sorry for the questions guys, just want to know my options. I didn't think it was too badly bricked, but you never know. I bricked my XDA Mini II trying to flash a new ROM, so you can see my hesitation :/

An RUU is an official way to flash the phone with HTC's own software. That is how the phone was debranded in the first place, and you can do the same to get it back to normal. It does require a goldcard though, which is a minor software patch on the sdcard.
If you root and install a custom ROM (and update the radio) you'll have a working phone again, and you can make a goldcard in your own time.

If I go with an RUU, will OTA updates work? That's really the only thing I'd miss about a custom ROM, the convenience of OTA.
foxmeister said:
Look for the HBOOT version on the second line and post back what it says here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hboot - 0.80.0000

papalazarou said:
If I go with an RUU, will OTA updates work? That's really the only thing I'd miss about a custom ROM, the convenience of OTA.
Hboot - 0.80.0000
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll get ota updates if you use an ruu. Just make sure you have your goldcard in when you apply them.

teppic74 said:
You'll get ota updates if you use an ruu. Just make sure you have your goldcard in when you apply them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, will the process in the link in your sig do the trick? And the goldcard, will I need to keep it in permanently, or only when updating? Trying to decide if I should use a dedicated card for it, or include it on the card I keep in there.
Thanks for the help, I'll run the RUU tomorrow morning.

I'm trying to run unrevoked to root and reflash it, but it get's to a point and fails, saying "failed to flash recovery image".
Any thoughts?
EDIT:
I've now created a goldcard and am trying the downgrade process in the link in your sig. I've followed all the instructions, but when I ran the downgrade util, after asking for my password, nothing happens.

papalazarou said:
I'm trying to run unrevoked to root and reflash it, but it get's to a point and fails, saying "failed to flash recovery image".
Any thoughts?
EDIT:
I've now created a goldcard and am trying the downgrade process in the link in your sig. I've followed all the instructions, but when I ran the downgrade util, after asking for my password, nothing happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's my fault for leaving a testing point in the Mac/Linux version of the utility. It was mentioned in the bugs section, but probably not made clear enough. It's fixed now.

Rooting with Visonary 14 killed me phone

I didnt think this was possible but I think I bricked my phone by using Visionary and permroot.
I clicked on the permroot, the icon went on, rebooted and got stuck at the HTC green screen.
After pulling the battery;
I tried doing a factory reset, nothing.
I tried a stock image of tmobile, nothing (at least I think I did this right)
ADB doesnt recognize the device in windows
I have only seen a red triangle and exclamation point after trying several posts suggestions.
I'm stuck on what to do, and have a replacement coming, but not soon enough.
Can I do anything with this? Like get the original Tmobile image back on? If so, how? I'm not the brightest bulb when it comes to this, as the g1 was so much easier. A bit of instructions would be great.
Thank you!

People have been warned about visionary's high chance of bricking over and over again and that they should just use the rage method but they can't seem to get it.
Also: you do realize that the nand lock was to prevent this exact thing: people bricking their phones then returning them hoping to get them replaced. If it doesn't get replaced then you full well deserve it for not reading the countless posts about people bricking their phones using visionary.
First off: are you s-off?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.

You didn't read the post which said you should not try to install the stock rom?
fastludeh22 said:
Ok mods, I know this normally isn't the place, but I think this is very important as I'm seeing more and more semi bricks, some of which are not recoverable without HTC signing keys!
So I ask you mods, please don't lock this, if anything it really needs to be a sticky!
That being said, if you are s-off, do NOT flash the signed offical PC10IMG.zip. if you don't have the correct rom on there when you do, as per the unroot thread you will get stuck.
Let me give u an example of what I've been seeing and why its happening so everyone understands. Example: you perm root/s-off your phone. You decide to do some rom playing. You end up boot looping and can't fully boot into android. So u say hey, ill reload pc10 and start over, WRONG.
What happens is s-off does no checks, sigs, version number etc. So when you load it up it starts to flash. Hboot(s-on) is first, then recovery, then radio. Thing is it has to reboot to do radio, so it reboots, at this point your s-on so it does a version check. "Main is older" then it quits before ever touching the system.img or boot.img. at this point you are locked. You have s-on, stock recovery, and can't boot android. Long story short, your screwed.
Now depending on the rom/kernel u had/have installed you may have adb access. At this point you have a small chance of recovering, which is better then some. I just spent the last 5 hours working with someone on a fix and think we got it, but the bat has died and will have to pick back up tomo. If this works or not, I also have one more idea we can try. I will update OP with any fixes we find.
*If your system was bootable when you started this, it may still boot. but you will be s-on, stock recovery, and still on whatever rom you were running. at this point you will have to hex edit to downgrade, or wpthis.ko if there is one for your kernel to get back to s-off.
*ive seen some people saying. i did it, it worked for me, but don't add any supporting info. this is bad for people new to android cause it makes them feel they will be ok. the only way this can work is if you have a version installed as old or older then the official img, or if you take hboot out of the update which then makes it no longer the official update. but my question is why are you flashing this? if you want to fully unroot, then follow the unroot guide. if you just want to go back to stock w/root, grab one of the stock w/root roms.
Long story short, do your rom flashing from recovery. Stay out of hboot unless you are following proven instructions to a T, or being walked though be a "pro". I hope this helps save some people!
* if you just read all this going DAMN, i already did that, then go here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=842495
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

@ddgarcia05 - that should be ok if he wasn't at S-OFF with the eng hboot though, which I don't believe that Visionary applies.

ibemad1 said:
People have been warned about visionary's high chance of bricking over and over again and that they should just use the rage method but they can't seem to get it.
Also: you do realize that the nand lock was to prevent this exact thing: people bricking their phones then returning them hoping to get them replaced. If it doesn't get replaced then you full well deserve it for not reading the countless posts about people bricking their phones using visionary.
First off: are you s-off?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 running Cyanogenmod.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked and it said S-On and this was in recovery

ddgarcia05 said:
You didn't read the post which said you should not try to install the stock rom?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADB doesnt recognize the device in windows and this was also in recovery

Anyone? Bueller?

cwis said:
ADB doesnt recognize the device in windows and this was also in recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out the adb guide at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=865685
If you install the HTC Sync software, as mentioned in that guide, that should give you the drivers that you need.

This looks bad. Being that you're new. this can be very bad.
You have three choices:
1: study each thread about Bricking G2.
2:find a more experienced person to help you unbrick your phone.
3:find a very strong magnet and place it on your phone leave it there for an hour and bring it back.

[Q] A few questions before rooting

Hey guys, first time poster here and a bit of a newb to rooting, Android and smart-phones in general.
I've been hanging on these forums the past 3 months researching the rooting process for a Desire and all the relevant stuff that goes along with it. So please go easy on me. I've also read all the 'similar threads' suggested to me at post-time.
I'm almost ready to begin the process but there's a few bits of information that's got me pretty scared before I go ahead. I wasn't able to find much of a concrete answer/s to these questions, from Googling around.
Well without further ado.
What is the difference between GSM & CDMA and do I need to know which my phone is before proceeding?
If I DO need to know, how do I find this out?
My phone is branded (Orange splash-screen at boot) and locked to Orange network (Newly recieved contract phone).
I've heard that I may need a goldcard to proceed with the Unrevoked process due to the branding. Is this correct?
Another guide on the net (can provide link if necessary), mentions upgrading the radio on Orange phones can permanently break the wifi OR permanently simlock your phone.
Will I need to worry about this during the Unrevoked rooting process? And will this be avoidable after installing a custom rom. (If I get that far )
I read somewhere on these forums (I forgot where exactly), something about the newest Orange OTA update causing problems with the rooting process. Is this still the case or has Unrevoked been updated to avoid that now? Also, how can I check if I have that update?
I can provide all the information about my Hboot, radio and kernel versions etc, if you need it (I guess you will), but for some reason, I keep getting a spam warning as this is my first post. I can only assume the version numbers are being interpreted as IPs...
Well sorry for the wall of text, but I greatly appreciate any help I can get regarding these issues. I'm so scared of bricking my Desire and not being able to return it, if bricking does occur.
Yours a worried root newb!

1. We use GSM phones in the UK as we use SIM cards. CDMA phones don't use SIM cards and are locked/released to one network
2. You don't need a gold card to root, no. As there isn't an Orange RUU available to go back to stock for warranty you will need one to flash a non-Orange RUU. Best to make one before starting
3. This was the case a while back but I'd wait for confirmation before changing it
4. No as the radio isn't flashed during a ROM (unless stated in the ROM thread that it does)
5. Shouldn't be an issue, just get the latest version of unrEVOked from their website before starting

Great, that's most of my questions/concerns answered. Although the below answer has brought a new question to the front
EddyOS said:
2. You don't need a gold card to root, no. As there isn't an Orange RUU available to go back to stock for warranty you will need one to flash a non-Orange RUU. Best to make one before starting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately my knowledge of RUU is almost non-existant, other than that it stands for Rom Upgrade Utility and is used to upgrade the software on my phone? Right?
And forgive me if I'm being dumb here but, if
EddyOS said:
there isn't an Orange RUU available to go back to stock for warranty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
and yet I
EddyOS said:
will need one to flash a non-Orange RUU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then how can I do this? Or am I totally misunderstanding you?
Do I somehow use an application without root permission to perform a procedure similar to hdd ghosting?

Basically, if you wanted to return to stock for any reason you wouldn't be able to go back to the Orange ROM as the RUU doesn't exist so you'd have to go to a generic ROM. To flash any ROM other than the originally on the phone you need a gold card
It's the same for me, if (for some strange reason) I'd want to flash a branded ROM on my Desire I'd need a gold card. Thankfully, I have an unbranded handset so I can get the stock RUU and use it without a gold card

EddyOS said:
Basically, if you wanted to return to stock for any reason you wouldn't be able to go back to the Orange ROM as the RUU doesn't exist so you'd have to go to a generic ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically if I were to screw it up, which I hopefully won't, I'm buggered as far as getting my phone fixed cos they'll see the Orange rom is no longer installed? Not too fussed about that, as I'm super-careful with my phone.
I guess my next issue would be, after rooting using Unrevoked, I'd need to gain S-OFF right? Which I understand is done via AlphaRev. Only issue there would be related to this
"Please revert to a rooted stock ROM if possible. Your /data partition is used for temporary storage of important files." If I'm reverting to a stock rom, while gaining S-OFF presumably there's a high chance that'd upgrade my radio - a potentially very bad thing.
THEN I go about choosing a rom to flash. Then Nandroid backup. Then flash the rom, hopefully love it and voila?
Also, what would you suggest as a good rom for someone like me just starting out with a fully rooted phone? I was thinking one of the official builds to lose all the crap, but then the above issue of the radio creeps up again...

I have been flashing ROM's since I got my phone rooted last year and I have never bothered to S-OFF. It's not a requirement.
I have tried a number of ROM's (it becomes a bit addictive!) there is not normally a need to flash a new radio, just leave it be. If you are worried about it and the ROM requires a new radio don't flash it. There are plenty to choose from.
As for recommendations, everyone has their own tastes and likes. That's the beauty of modding. Just flash a few ROM's and see which you like. I have tried most of them, stuck with MIUI for ages, but am now on Cyanogenmod 7 Nightly's.

There is nothing to really worry about. There is a remote chance of bricking your phone for a start, like 0.0000000001% chance. Only way of doing it is disconnecting during say an S-Off.
As for the Orange issue. I had a locked, Orange Desire with 2.2 on it (the first update) and when I rooted and S-Off'd I had no problems. I also have updated my radio to 5.14.05.17 and have no issues at all. To be honest, I found issues to do with signals and Wi-Fi are to do with the ROM you install and the kernel as well which can be frustrating but fun as well.
As for choosing a ROM, choose one, flash it then see what it's like. It's purely down to what you like most about each ROM. I've been through so many ROMs in the past few months but now I am sort of staying with 1 ROM. I will say that when I installed a custom ROM, I had to pay to unlock my sim because it was being gay and Orange wanted £20 of my hard earned cash to unlock it and send it off. So be prepared.

thetasigma3 said:
So basically if I were to screw it up, which I hopefully won't, I'm buggered as far as getting my phone fixed cos they'll see the Orange rom is no longer installed? Not too fussed about that, as I'm super-careful with my phone.
I guess my next issue would be, after rooting using Unrevoked, I'd need to gain S-OFF right? Which I understand is done via AlphaRev. Only issue there would be related to this
"Please revert to a rooted stock ROM if possible. Your /data partition is used for temporary storage of important files." If I'm reverting to a stock rom, while gaining S-OFF presumably there's a high chance that'd upgrade my radio - a potentially very bad thing.
THEN I go about choosing a rom to flash. Then Nandroid backup. Then flash the rom, hopefully love it and voila?
Also, what would you suggest as a good rom for someone like me just starting out with a fully rooted phone? I was thinking one of the official builds to lose all the crap, but then the above issue of the radio creeps up again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't bother about S-OFF at the moment, you don't need it. Just get rooted and then look into custom ROMs for now

Ok I've taken a tiny step further forward. I'm at the point of making a goldcard but one thing concerns me... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6710085&postcount=3 According to that it won't work with the 2.2 OTA update from HTC.
I know, I have 2.2 installed but this was already on the phone when I received it, so I've no idea if this was an OTA or not... So I guess I need a different method to make a goldcard now?

Use this:
http://android.modaco.com/content/software/308798/pc-application-goldcardtool/
Probably need to register to get the file, though

Hmmm tried using that tool and no joy... Get my img file downloaded, but then the tool refuses to recognise my phone, despite doing the appropriate change over to 'disk drive'. I tried re-plugging the un-mounting and re-plugging the usb cable. Still no joy.
I'm beginning to lose hope here... That tool won't work and the tutorial here says it's incompatible with 2.2...
**edit**
Been Googling around a fair bit and I can't find any information at all on downgrading a branded 2.2. Only information on people with branded handsets wanting to update to 2.2.
After a bit more searching, I found someone else with the exact same issue as me. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10370443&postcount=977
Only one difference though. He doesn't mention if he managed to flash a custom rom after his root. I'm guessing he probably wouldn't have been able to going by your post:
EddyOS said:
To flash any ROM other than the originally on the phone you need a gold card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

A gold card is only needed to flash a STOCK ROM different from your original - it's not needed to flash a custom ROM. The gold card isn't even needed to root. It's just handy to have in your case as you'd need it to go back to stock due to the lack of an Orange RUU
I'm out of ideas I'm afraid, never had to deal with a gold card as I'm unbranded

Use this:
http://android.modaco.com/content/so...-goldcardtool/
Probably need to register to get the file, though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does that work a lot better then?
I used the method posted by thetasigma3 and I can't get OTA 2.29.405.5 but I can get 2.29.405.2. To get round the problem I installed the 2.29.405.5 RUU and rooted

Anyone who's debranded will need to use the RUU as the OTA won't go through

GoogleJelly said:
I will say that when I installed a custom ROM, I had to pay to unlock my sim because it was being gay and Orange wanted £20 of my hard earned cash to unlock it and send it off. So be prepared.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call me crazy, but why the heck would flashing a custom rom require you to unlock and send off? Presumably the sending off thing would've been for Orange to perform the unlock procedure?
Anyway, back to my main issue, I know I've probably tread the same ground a few times now, but I really don't wanna end up bricking, cos I overlooked a tiny element, or something.
Could someone confirm I have these points all correct please?
Goldcard NOT needed for rooting.
Goldcard NOT needed if/when I flash a custom rom.
Goldcard needed if I wanted to go back to a STOCK rom.
Only reason to flash a STOCK rom is if I need to send back to Orange for repairs etc.
Oh and thanks for the clarification on your earlier post EddyOS. About goldcards not being needed for custom roms as opposed to stock etc.
Think I'm ready to go ahead with the process now, but if I go ahead and something goes wrong, what's my safety net, so to speak? Presumably my battery would die on me long before I get a response here

What you have there is correct (point 2-5)
The unlocking issue was down to some radios causing Orange handsets to become SIM locked. If you're using an Orange SIM this isn't an issue but others who got an Orange handset but use a different SIM card found they wouldn't work.
This was earlier in the Desire's life and I don't think it's applicable now

Try using "GoldCard Helper" app from Android Market, in case you want to try and make a goldcard (as the other methods did not work for you).
As mentioned as EddyOS, all your points from 2 - 5 are correct.

Ok finally got the guts together to go ahead and run unRevoked. (Already had done the driver steps etc).
I've checked with an app from the Android Market, called 'Root Check' to verify root access. That's saying I do have it and it also asked for Root permissions on start-up, which it never did before root. So I assume that's a good sign. I also checked for the 'Superuser Permissions' app in my apps menu. Found it was present and clicked it. Started without any problems. So I guess that's another good sign.
So I guess my next set of questions are reasonable simple.
Does this seem like my phone is now 100% rooted? I think it is, but I could be wrong.
Do I need to install Busybox? Root Checker seems to like seeing it there.
Does it matter if I use Titanium Backup Pro or free? I'm guessing it won't but I'd like to be certain.
If I backup my current Orange rom with Titanium Backup will I be able to go back to that without a goldcard? My guess is no. I didn't make or use one for the root process.

1. Yes
2. For Titanium Backup, yes
3. No
4. You don't backup the ROM with TB, you boot into Recovery and do it there

kvphani said:
Try using "GoldCard Helper" app from Android Market, in case you want to try and make a goldcard (as the other methods did not work for you).
As mentioned as EddyOS, all your points from 2 - 5 are correct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, I downloaded that app and found a fairly easy looking guide on the Unlockr http://theunlockr.com/2010/03/10/how-to-create-a-goldcard/ . Just wanted to check, if I use that app plus this guide. I skip steps 1-6 right?
Ok gone ahead and done that now. Just having some trouble finding instructions on backing up my Orange rom.
Oh and now that the forum won't grumble at my phone info, here it is. Hopefully that'll shed some more light on my situation, if I need further help.
BRAVO PVT4 SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.93.0001
MICROP-051d
TOUCH PANEL-SYNW0101
RADIO-5.10.05.30
Aug 10 2010, 17:52:18
Android Version
2.2
Baseband Version
32.48.00.32U_5.10.05.30
Kernel Version
2.6.32.15-g29e526b
[email protected] #1
Build Number
2.17.61.3 CL274424 release-keys
Softare Number
2.17.61.3
Browser Version
WebKit 3.1
Model Number
A8181

How do I get S-Off

I have permerooted my DZ but now I seem to be having trouble understanding How to get S-Off and I can't do a nandroid backup unless I get S-off right.

Manarch101 said:
I have permerooted my DZ but now I seem to be having trouble understanding How to get S-Off and I can't do a nandroid backup unless I get S-off right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you following the guide in the wiki?
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Manarch101 said:
I have permerooted my DZ but now I seem to be having trouble understanding How to get S-Off and I can't do a nandroid backup unless I get S-off right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, yes you need S-Off to do a nandriod back up.
Second, you do not have permroot if you do not have S-Off. To get S-off there are several ways but I recommend using Rage+gfree found Here: in sub section "Rooting the Vision (G2/DZ) and DHD" This by far is the safest way to root.
But to let you make an informed decision there is also Visionary, now people in properly using this method, has produced a lot of soft bricks, I my self rooted this way, but again I still recommend using Rage+Gfree. But if you wish to still give Visionary a shot, Heres a link on how to properly use Visionary, make sure you follow everything to the "T". Read everything I have written in the post, do everything I have written in the post, then follow the videos exactly. But just to be clear, I am still recommending using the Rage+Gfree method. Happy Rooting.

ok joemm I tried the rage directions that you told me and I am not sure if it worked is there a way of knowing if it worked or not
Edit: nvm I can now get into CWM area which I could not get into before thanxs for the help and info.

What!!?? I know for a fact that you don't need s-off to do a nandroid. In fact, the ONLY thing s-off does that's of any significance is allow you to write to the system while it's booted - that's it. It's not some magic thing you absolutely need, just like having an ENG hboot isn't necessary to do 99% of the modifying you'll ever do.
This is a technical forum not some fire and brimstone 'do it or you'll die' sermon. Let's not construe fact and fiction/personal opinion on here. Just dish the facts unless otherwise rerquested.
As for gaining s-off, follow the wiki, push the files and you can literally copy and paste the commands if you need to (I suggest that so you don't screw up and brick your phone).

KCRic said:
What!!?? I know for a fact that you don't need s-off to do a nandroid. In fact, the ONLY thing s-off does that's of any significance is allow you to write to the system while it's booted - that's it. It's not some magic thing you absolutely need, just like having an ENG hboot isn't necessary to do 99% of the modifying you'll ever do.
This is a technical forum not some fire and brimstone 'do it or you'll die' sermon. Let's not construe fact and fiction/personal opinion on here. Just dish the facts unless otherwise rerquested.
As for gaining s-off, follow the wiki, push the files and you can literally copy and paste the commands if you need to (I suggest that so you don't screw up and brick your phone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL..........how does he flash a custom CWM recovery with out having a rooted phone? Remember he is using ClockWorkMod to do a back up?

KCRic said:
What!!?? I know for a fact that you don't need s-off to do a nandroid. In fact, the ONLY thing s-off does that's of any significance is allow you to write to the system while it's booted - that's it. It's not some magic thing you absolutely need, just like having an ENG hboot isn't necessary to do 99% of the modifying you'll ever do.
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S-OFF lets you flash unsigned images and overrides version checking ,it isn't just about writing to the system while booted. I think you may be confusing defeating the NAND write protection with the actual S-OFF.
As far as I know you need S-OFF to flash a custom recovery, and you need CWM recovery to do a nandroid backup. I have never tried flash_image but I would be suprised if that let you flash a custom recovery while S-ON, because flash_image is just a regular binary.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z

steviewevie said:
S-OFF lets you flash unsigned images and overrides version checking ,it isn't just about writing to the system while booted. I think you may be confusing defeating the NAND write protection with the actual S-OFF.
As far as I know you need S-OFF to flash a custom recovery, and you need CWM recovery to do a nandroid backup. I have never tried flash_image but I would be suprised if that let you flash a custom recovery while S-ON, because flash_image is just a regular binary.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z
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True you can't flash a custom recovery and have it stick after a reboot but you can package it into an update.zip and flash it when you get into recovery. Aside from that you're phone performs the same. That's how we did everything on the MT slide before some one found a method to gain s-off. Of course there were no custom MTD partitions and we couldn't change the splash but that falls into the 1% of things the average 'rooter' will not attempt. The only reason we needed the ENG hboot was so that adb would catch our phone in recovery every time without running a loop.bat and praying to god. As far as NAND write protection, normally when a dev manages to break s-on they also break the write protection. At least that's what I've seen in phones with s-off. Are there any not like that?
Hopefully I didn't come off as an ass earlier, didn't mean it. I got 3 hours of sleep and I'm pulling a 13 hour day with a foot of fresh snow outside

I think you might be drawing too much comparison with earlier phones. The DZ and DHD have much stronger security than earlier phones. People familiar with experience of older HTC Android phones have often made incorrect assumptions about how things work on the DZ, some things are quite different (and typically much more complicated to unlock)
Sent from my HTC Desire Z

steviewevie said:
People familiar with experience of older HTC Android phones have often made incorrect assumptions...
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Hell yes! And I'm one of them!
Last night I put some Cyanogen 6.1 flavoured ROM on my Magic/Sapphire. It was so easy: like 2 years ago or so I flashed some S-OFF ENG hboot, put some nice custom recovery on the phone and there I went, peacefully since ever. Reason for flashing the 6.1 CM was me giving the fone to my GF so that I can pick up a brand new Desire Z.
I came here, wanted to quickly crack that thing to play around with it and I find some gFree, Visionary, adb push stuff blah blah blah (I know my way around adb, that's not the point), it seems to have become alot more difficult than back in the days, as pointed out by steviewevie.
So, anyone willing to *quickly* summarize what has changed in the last 12 months regarding "rooting", "cracking" and ROM-customizing HTC devices for me...? I'm still, uhm... well, I'm shocked and overwhelmed. In the store I thought: cool, 7pm, device mine, home by 7:30, rooted by 8, Gingerbread-flavour on it by 8:30-9pm, ROM customization (settings and such) from 9-10, sleepy time by 10:30pm. Nah, it's past 10:30 and I'm still trying to figure out what's what with the new devices...

schaggo said:
Hell yes! And I'm one of them!
Last night I put some Cyanogen 6.1 flavoured ROM on my Magic/Sapphire. It was so easy: like 2 years ago or so I flashed some S-OFF ENG hboot, put some nice custom recovery on the phone and there I went, peacefully since ever. Reason for flashing the 6.1 CM was me giving the fone to my GF so that I can pick up a brand new Desire Z.
I came here, wanted to quickly crack that thing to play around with it and I find some gFree, Visionary, adb push stuff blah blah blah (I know my way around adb, that's not the point), it seems to have become alot more difficult than back in the days, as pointed out by steviewevie.
So, anyone willing to *quickly* summarize what has changed in the last 12 months regarding "rooting", "cracking" and ROM-customizing HTC devices for me...? I'm still, uhm... well, I'm shocked and overwhelmed. In the store I thought: cool, 7pm, device mine, home by 7:30, rooted by 8, Gingerbread-flavour on it by 8:30-9pm, ROM customization (settings and such) from 9-10, sleepy time by 10:30pm. Nah, it's past 10:30 and I'm still trying to figure out what's what with the new devices...
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Its become more difficult because device manufacturers have made it more difficult. The "official" means to root the Vision is posted on the Vision wiki page here at XDA.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Thanks for the answer. I got the thing cracked in the meantime. The device feels so much smoother without Sense... and Gingerbread is good for one's soul

[Q] MAJOR PROBLEM. Cannot S Off or Radio S-Off. BOOTLOADER CORRUPT

Hi everyone
I was advising somebody on rooting their Desire HD.
We got as far as installing the 1.32 stock ROM and I stupidly (and now I regret it so damn much) forgot about radio S-offing the device first so we tried Eng-S-Off. That said do not turn off the device because the bootloader is corrupt.
Then we tried the Radio S off tool and that said Unknown error, possibly connection.
How can we fix this?
EDIT: Will installing an RUU fix it?

raze599 said:
Hi everyone
I was advising somebody on rooting their Desire HD.
We got as far as installing the 1.32 stock ROM and I stupidly (and now I regret it so damn much) forgot about radio S-offing the device first so we tried Eng-S-Off. That said do not turn off the device because the bootloader is corrupt.
Then we tried the Radio S off tool and that said Unknown error, possibly connection.
How can we fix this?
EDIT: Will installing an RUU fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya it will just do that way and do the rooting again after following these steps.....
find the stock splash screen here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=15430340&highlight=stock#post15430340
Uncompress that and put the .img file in the same folder as your fastboot file (in the Android SDK, it used to be in the Tools folder but nowadays they put it in the Platform-Tools folder), then open a CMD window, (Make sure the file is called splash1.img) and type:
fastboot flash splash1 splash1.img
That will restore the stock splash screen.
To restore the software you have to:
1: Find a 1.32.405.6 RUU that matches the original state of your phone. 2: Flash that RUU 3: Use Visionary R14 to Temproot and then Permroot 4: The Jkoljo's Easy Radio Tool to change the CID back to stock (If you phone was unbranded it will be HTC__001)
Now its ready to root again...
Hope that helps.

No I'm saying because the bootloader is corrupt, will installing an RUU restore the original bootloader?
There is no custom splash screen. We got as far as installing the 1.32 ROM.

raze599 said:
No I'm saying because the bootloader is corrupt, will installing an RUU restore the original bootloader?
There is no custom splash screen. We got as far as installing the 1.32 ROM.
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I honestly think people are just copying and pasting stuff they've read somewhere without thinking about what they're saying. The bulk of that is nothing to do with the query you asked (apart from maybe the line about the RUU); I mean, replacing the splash image?! How's that going to help with a corrupted bootloader? Let alone telling you to download the full Android SDK just for that
On topic: the RUU should do it, but I've never tried it myself so you're probably safer waiting for someone with some actual experience to confirm before you flash. I have seen that error mentioned in one of the guides I used back when I rooted (January time), so I'll see if I can dig that out.
//sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk; all errors entirely intentional.
---------- Post added at 08:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:42 AM ----------
Okay, found it: a few people were having "bootloader corrupt" issues using the One-click ENG S-OFF tool.
Try the advice in that post (or maybe search that thread a bit further for mentions of "corrupt") before you waste time flashing a RUU. IIRC you can do Radio S-OFF & ENG S-OFF in any order (the ENG S-OFF tool has a box to tick whether you have Radio S-OFF or not); I don't think that's the problem here.

Thanks I will try that later. It seems like from the thread that if you didnt get a superuser message on the phone, nothing actually happened to the bootloader. We didnt get a superuser message on the phone. So could it be a false alarm and safe to reboot?
EDIT: By the way what the other user copied and pasted, I wrote originally lol but I didnt want to say that then in response.

raze599 said:
Thanks I will try that later. It seems like from the thread that if you didnt get a superuser message on the phone, nothing actually happened to the bootloader. We didnt get a superuser message on the phone. So could it be a false alarm and safe to reboot?
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that should be fine. If you didn't allow it root access when you ran it then it's not going to have been able to do anything. Reboot, clear the request in your superuser app and start again.
You don't mention it, but I assume you've already used Visionary to permroot before you tried the S-OFF tool? Just a thought when you mentioned you didn't get the su request on the phone.
raze599 said:
EDIT: By the way what the other user copied and pasted, I wrote originally lol but I didnt want to say that then in response.
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Click to collapse

Lol this is quite funny. I was actually instructing him over skype and then when I left Skype last night he did something and it worked lol THANK GOD!
I have no idea what he did but wierd things happen when I'm not looking lmao
Still though, since we have had some major problems, do you recommend that we install an RUU and start again from scratch? Just to avoid any future problems?
EDIT: Yes it was Permrooted, the superuser came up when he tried it himself and it worked.

I wouldn't bother personally; as long as you're s-off it doesn't matter how you got there. It's not like the phone's going to be left half s-on or something.
Besides, why let him waste time redoing that when he should be using that time to flash a load of new ROMs
//sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk; all errors entirely intentional.

Thanks very much