Develop Bugs

[WARNING] Do not flash a new official RUU/ROM/OTA if you have root and/or S-OFF

DO NOT FLASH A NEW RUU OR OFFICIAL ROM IMAGE UNLESS YOU *REALLY* KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING !
Sorry for shouting, but this is very important. Thanks to the mods for making this sticky.
The latest official RUU that has been released - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=870369 - has been found to break the existing methods of rooting and getting full S-OFF.
This shouldn't be a big suprise, because when HTC saw that the amazing devs on XDA had cracked the existing security, we should expect them to put something even tougher in later releases.
So flashing any later release, whether that's an official RUU or just the ROM image (PC10IMG.zip) is a very dangerous thing to do until it has been fully tested and "cleared" by the devs here. i.e. your previously rooted and S-OFF'd phone might lose root and go back to S-ON, and be unable to be rooted and S-OFF'd again.
It's of course fine if your phone came with a particular ROM release to flash that *exact same* release back onto the phone if you want to return to stock. What I'm referring to is flashing a brand new release that isn't the one that came with your phone.
It's fine to flash custom ROMs of course, because those have already been tested out. In general, it's probably best to steer very clear of new official releases, and wait till the devs have pulled them apart and put any cool new stuff into a custom ROM. Then you know it'll be safe to flash.
Currently I don't think it's entirely clear what just flashing a new *radio* on its own will do, as opposed to the entire ROM/RUU. That's still being worked on. But steer clear of even that if you're not sure what you're doing or dont' want to take any chances of losing root/S-OFF.
Thanks for reading

Thanks for the heads up.

I flashed the ROM you mentioned.
For those who want to try:
Just remember to get REAL S-OFF using gfree before flashing it.
This provide you a medicine for regret. You can get back to WWE ROM using WWE RUU and root/recover your old ROM.

What is RUU? What is it to do with ROMs? Did HTC provide a change log for newer Radio? Or does anyone know what changes are , in the latest Radio?
Just to be clear. Don’t flame me for this please. I’m still learning just like many others in here.

androidtoy09 said:
What is RUU? What is it to do with ROMs? Did HTC provide a change log for newer Radio? Or does anyone know what changes are , in the latest Radio?
Just to be clear. Don’t flame me for this please. I’m still learning just like many others in here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We don't have a changelog, no.
RUU is ROM Update Utility. It's a program to run on Windows (.exe) which flashes your new ROM for you, and holds your hand through the process. It's possible to extract just the ROM zip file from the exe so you can flash it yourself if you want.
The thing about the RUU and stock ROMs is that they will flash pretty much *everything* on your phone. So as well as a new system partition (the main stuff for Android), you'll probably get a new hboot, new radio, new recovery. Those *might* all have increased security which is a lot more difficult to crack. So generally you should not flash it until we know it's "safe" to do so, i.e. it can be re-rooted and S-OFF'd etc.

steviewevie said:
We don't have a changelog, no.
RUU is ROM Update Utility. It's a program to run on Windows (.exe) which flashes your new ROM for you, and holds your hand through the process. It's possible to extract just the ROM zip file from the exe so you can flash it yourself if you want.
The thing about the RUU and stock ROMs is that they will flash pretty much *everything* on your phone. So as well as a new system partition (the main stuff for Android), you'll probably get a new hboot, new radio, new recovery. Those *might* all have increased security which is a lot more difficult to crack. So generally you should not flash it until we know it's "safe" to do so, i.e. it can be re-rooted and S-OFF'd etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks for clearing it up. So, RUU is pretty much similar to the method RIM uses to flash its OS on the Blackberries.

Im a little confused here.. So just to clear some things up i hope someone will answer these questions i have.
I have the software on my Desire Z that it came with (1.34.405.5), which i've rooted, S-off'ed and installed another kernel for OC porpuses. This is working fine, but lets say that i wanted to try another rom .. After some time i decide to go back to the stock software and then update to the newest software, would that be a problem? And has HTC released some newer software than the one iam using?

If you flashed back to stock, that would be fine. But if you flashed a new official update (e.g OTA), then you run the risk of installing something that you can't root/S-OFF.
It is best to steer clear of any official upgrades until they've been checked by the devs here and been given the all-clear.
Given that the phone came with certain areas write-protected, and the devs managed to crack that, we should be expecting HTC to release an even more secure update.
Yes, there is a new ROM out, at the moment for Egypt, that seems to have increased security. It would not be a suprise if HTC rolled out similar security as an OTA update for all existing ROMs. Right now there is something in that Egypt ROM (probably the hboot, at the minimum) which mean existing permanent root and S-OFF methods fail. It may be this is easily cracked again, or maybe it will take some time, who knows.
Bottom line - don't apply any official updates to your phone if it is rooted/S-OFF or you plan to root/S-OFF.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z

perm-rooted g2 stock tmobile rom s-off
ok, my question is....i perm-rooted my g2 and have s-off, does this mean that i cant except the new gingerbread OTA update? ive had my fill of flashing roms with my old windows phone.. att tilt, tmobile touch pro 2, and tmobile hd2. im not looking to flash my g2 with a new rom...no offense to the chefs. love there work. but i only rooted the g2 to get rid of the bs apps that tmobile and google added to the phone. and i thought i heard that wen u root the phone tmobile cant tell wen u tether, so there for no more throttle b/s but thats not true...i must have miss read. but i would like to stay w/the stock rom and still b able to install the Gingerbread OTA. please someone provide an answer for me or point me in the right direction. thank you in advance.... sorry if the answer is already provided somewhere and i over looked it, i tend to do that a lot.

blitz69 said:
ok, my question is....i perm-rooted my g2 and have s-off, does this mean that i cant except the new gingerbread OTA update? ive had my fill of flashing roms with my old windows phone.. att tilt, tmobile touch pro 2, and tmobile hd2. im not looking to flash my g2 with a new rom...no offense to the chefs. love there work. but i only rooted the g2 to get rid of the bs apps that tmobile and google added to the phone. and i thought i heard that wen u root the phone tmobile cant tell wen u tether, so there for no more throttle b/s but thats not true...i must have miss read. but i would like to stay w/the stock rom and still b able to install the Gingerbread OTA. please someone provide an answer for me or point me in the right direction. thank you in advance.... sorry if the answer is already provided somewhere and i over looked it, i tend to do that a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The trouble is, HTC/T-Mobile don't want you to root and/or S-OFF your phone, because it's a lot easier to end up bricking the phone if you don't know what you're doing. They put greatly increased security on the G2/DZ/DHD when they came out, in order to help prevent this.
Now this security has been cracked, we can expect HTC/T-Mobile to try and increase security even further (e.g. closing loopholes that let our current methods of root/S-OFF work) in future updates.
So if you accept any future OTA, you run a high risk of accepting something that will lock you out of root and S-OFF, at least temporarily, and possibly permanently (depending on how good a solution they come up with).
If you are not bothered about root/S-OFF, then that's fine of course.
This doesn't mean that you necessarily have to switch to a custom ROM to get updates though. If you stay with the stock ROM (and I'm still on a stock ROM too right now), then just do not accept the update when an OTA comes out, and keep checking these forums to see when the devs say that they can root/S-OFF with the new version. When they say it's ok then you know you can apply the update and still get root/S-OFF.
This already happened with the G2. Very soon after release, but after rooting had been achieved, there was an OTA. Most people here decided to wait until the OTA had been looked at, and sure enough there was a small adjustment needed to the rooting method. But of course this OTA was before HTC had a chance to respond to the cracking of the security, so as I said, any future updates may well require a lot more time and effort from the devs to investigate and crack again.

Ok. Thank you very much

Will this muff up my phone if I factory reset it by using the Power+Volume Down option?

Ok,there is a new gfree method to get root and S-Off.
And gfree can now also be used to set radio S-ON.
But what about the backup "part7backup-1291675121.bin"
which gfree created at my sdcard?
No longer needed?
And with the new root and S-Off method,is it now possible to
to flash stock RUU 1.34.405.5 to get all original?
Because with old UBERROOT method this doesn`t work!

Ganii said:
Ok,there is a new gfree method to get root and S-Off.
And gfree can now also be used to set radio S-ON.
But what about the backup "part7backup-1291675121.bin"
which gfree created at my sdcard?
No longer needed?
And with the new root and S-Off method,is it now possible to
to flash stock RUU 1.34.405.5 to get all original?
Because with old UBERROOT method this doesn`t work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean with gfree?
Is my waranty broken When i execute radio s-off?
Is it possible to make it radio s-on?

Yes,warranty is broken,but with the new gfree method
you can go back to S-ON:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2

ericjosepi said:
Will this muff up my phone if I factory reset it by using the Power+Volume Down option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do a factory reset then I think you'll lose root, but you can get it back again easily enough. The issue for this thread is flashing new updated stuff from HTC etc.

Ganii said:
Ok,there is a new gfree method to get root and S-Off.
And gfree can now also be used to set radio S-ON.
But what about the backup "part7backup-1291675121.bin"
which gfree created at my sdcard?
No longer needed?
And with the new root and S-Off method,is it now possible to
to flash stock RUU 1.34.405.5 to get all original?
Because with old UBERROOT method this doesn`t work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might still need that backup, e.g. if you don't know what your old CID was and you want to un-do that bit too. I would keep it.
Sorry I don't think I understand your last question though, or why you say the uberroot method (I'm personally not keen on that name, it's just the usual method using Visionary/rage with gfree, not a new method) doesn't work.

Ok,so I can go back to S-ON with gfree commands from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
If you are only interested in permanent root you only need radio S-OFF and then it is sufficient to use
# ./gfree -s off
instead of
# ./gfree -f
in the following commands.
And gfree can now also be used to set radio S-ON by using the "-s on" option and to change the CID back to the original value be using i.e. "-c T-MOB010" if you want or have to go back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But for CID (you mean SuperCid right?) I need the backup?
And with the last question which you don`t understand,I mean
with flashing the HTC RUU 1.34.405.5 I don`t go back to S-ON
and original CID whether I use UBERROT method or this from here:
(Rooting the Vision (G2/DZ) and DHD)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2

Thanks for the advice, I will stick myself with the current rom for a while

Ganii said:
Ok,so I can go back to S-ON with gfree commands from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
But for CID (you mean SuperCid right?) I need the backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I mean to go from your SuperCID back to your regular CID. You might not know what your original CID was.
And with the last question which you don`t understand,I mean
with flashing the HTC RUU 1.34.405.5 I don`t go back to S-ON
and original CID whether I use UBERROT method or this from here:
(Rooting the Vision (G2/DZ) and DHD)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if you flash a stock ROM then it won't affect your S-OFF and CID status (or SIM unlock). These are stored in your radio configuration partition, and not in any of the partitions which are overwritten by the ROM flash.

[Q] Please Help! I've created a Frankenstein phone by accident

So here's my story. I bought my VZW HTC One on day one. Brought it home and immediately unlocked (via HTCDev) and rooted it before Verizon blocked the unlock the next day. So I am bootloader unlocked, rooted, and S-ON. Now here is where I screwed up in two areas. The first being that I think I have somehow over written the original stock recovery with my Frankenstein one. So the Frankenstein one is that I originally had an HTC Incredible 2 unlocked, rooted, and S-OFF and I took my last full TitaniumBackup from the Inc2 and restored it to the new HTC One. The problem with doing this was the backed up system files from the Inc2 were applied to the One and now it causes some strange crashes when using some of the HTC sense apps such as HTC's contact list. However in this strange setup most everything works perfectly and I've left it this way since that first day. The other annoyance here is that I keep getting reminded to install some of the OTA updates that have come out but it will not install them so I've missed them all and it stills keeps alerting me to install them.
Now what would I like to do from here? I would like to be able to keep root, keep unlock, gain S-OFF and start over with stock rom and be able to get the OTA updates (if possible). This way I can still get back to the backups I have made in Titanium, only this time instead of restoring all, I would only restore hand picked apps, leaving out the old Inc2 system files. Is there anyone out there who would be willing to help me with step-by-step detailed instructions? I would greatly appreciate it.

lostnsound said:
So here's my story. I bought my VZW HTC One on day one. Brought it home and immediately unlocked (via HTCDev) and rooted it before Verizon blocked the unlock the next day. So I am bootloader unlocked, rooted, and S-ON. Now here is where I screwed up in two areas. The first being that I think I have somehow over written the original stock recovery with my Frankenstein one. So the Frankenstein one is that I originally had an HTC Incredible 2 unlocked, rooted, and S-OFF and I took my last full TitaniumBackup from the Inc2 and restored it to the new HTC One. The problem with doing this was the backed up system files from the Inc2 were applied to the One and now it causes some strange crashes when using some of the HTC sense apps such as HTC's contact list. However in this strange setup most everything works perfectly and I've left it this way since that first day. The other annoyance here is that I keep getting reminded to install some of the OTA updates that have come out but it will not install them so I've missed them all and it stills keeps alerting me to install them.
Now what would I like to do from here? I would like to be able to keep root, keep unlock, gain S-OFF and start over with stock rom and be able to get the OTA updates (if possible). This way I can still get back to the backups I have made in Titanium, only this time instead of restoring all, I would only restore hand picked apps, leaving out the old Inc2 system files. Is there anyone out there who would be willing to help me with step-by-step detailed instructions? I would greatly appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would
1) flash the signed RUU (not 100% necessary)
1a) Gain S-OFF using rumrunner (it supports ALL versions, so just download the correct one, I am assuming 1.10.605.8 as you said you missed the two OTA updates)
2) Once you are S-OFF, go into fastboot, and fastboot flash the stock recovery.
3) Now that you are S-OFF and on the stock recovery you may take the OTA (Or just flash a ROM such as Santod040's that is based on it, that's what you do when rooted, NEVER take an OTA just wait for ROM DEVs, but these two OTA's have been deemed OK and doesn't touch root)
I don't know a thing about Titanium backup, sorry.
Best to start fresh on the HTC One, IMHO.

Thanks so much for the response! This is very helpful. One question though, after getting S-OFF from Rumrunner you say to flash stock recovery. I'm not sure if it is still intact or not. Can I just proceed with flashing the ROM or is it absolutely necessary to flash stock recovery first?
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

andybones said:
I would
1) flash the signed RUU (not 100% necessary)
1a) Gain S-OFF using rumrunner (it supports ALL versions, so just download the correct one, I am assuming 1.10.605.8 as you said you missed the two OTA updates)
2) Once you are S-OFF, go into fastboot, and fastboot flash the stock recovery.
3) Now that you are S-OFF and on the stock recovery you may take the OTA (Or just flash a ROM such as Santod040's that is based on it, that's what you do when rooted, NEVER take an OTA just wait for ROM DEVs, but these two OTA's have been deemed OK and doesn't touch root)
I don't know a thing about Titanium backup, sorry.
Best to start fresh on the HTC One, IMHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#2 is not necessary. The RUU will flash a stock recovery.

sorry guys, was late. def no need to re-flash stock recovery after RUU. Noob mistake, my apologies

OK, I'm not very familiar with RUU's. Where does this come from? A quick search in the forum yielded a list of a bunch of them. I'm not sure which one is the right one. To me they don't look any different from custom ROMs. Sorry for being a noob, still learning how all this works.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

when you go into fastboot mode on your phone read and see what the radio you have... and based on that number you could get rumrunner and also you can get the right RUU i dont know if the RUU will relock the phone tho but i think you can unlock it if you saved the tocken in case you dont want to get s-off
---------- Post added at 06:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 AM ----------
and dont worry we all were noobs before, fact im a noob when it comes to HTC phone used to have Motorolas.. but couldnt overlook the speakers on this beauty...

[Q] Is stock possible?

Recently been looking into purchasing a new HTC One for myself, but after reading up on it, I see that there are a ton of S-Off and stock issues flying around. I guess I have a few clarifying questions then...
If I buy the phone today, is S-Off still possible?
Is S-Off risky?
Can I return to 100% complete stock yet if I need to or not? If yes, how?
Really I'm wondering if it's worth it to even purchase this phone as I don't want to be without flashing ROMs but at the same time, I resell my phones after awhile so I'm going to need to go back to 100% stock eventually. Sorry if these questions have already been asked, my xda search function is a bit broken. Thanks for reading this far.
Edit - Did some more searching and found the HTC One m8 now has the RUU's? Could someone also explain this? I'm new to HTC devices, coming from a nexus 5 here.

Nobody knows at all...?
Sent from my HTC M8

DinoSoup said:
Recently been looking into purchasing a new HTC One for myself, but after reading up on it, I see that there are a ton of S-Off and stock issues flying around. I guess I have a few clarifying questions then...
If I buy the phone today, is S-Off still possible?
Is S-Off risky?
Can I return to 100% complete stock yet if I need to or not? If yes, how?
Really I'm wondering if it's worth it to even purchase this phone as I don't want to be without flashing ROMs but at the same time, I resell my phones after awhile so I'm going to need to go back to 100% stock eventually. Sorry if these questions have already been asked, my xda search function is a bit broken. Thanks for reading this far.
Edit - Did some more searching and found the HTC One m8 now has the RUU's? Could someone also explain this? I'm new to HTC devices, coming from a nexus 5 here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably, it will be. But it's not for certain. If your phone comes with the stock 1.12 software, then you can do it. But there's also a possibility of your phone being one of those unlucky "Whelp, this sucks..." phones. If it comes with the latest 1.57 software installed, it won't be possible.
That being said, if it comes with 1.12, which it probably will, and you unlock the bootloader, root, and S-Off, you can always go back to 100% stock with no trace at all of it ever being rooted if you want to return it for warranty, exc.
IF it is one of the unlucky "Whelp, this sucks..." phones, and you unlock your bootloader, root, and try to S-Off, but can't, then you can re lock the bootloader, run the stock RUU, and the only trace of it being unlocked and rooted would be that in the bootloader, it would say "Relocked" instead of "Locked."
Remember that if the phone comes with the 1.12 software, NEVER accept the OTA update. If you do accept the update, you will never be able to S-Off.
But again, chances are you will probably get the 1.12 software and be able to S-Off your phone. Hope this helped.

XxKINGxX2580 said:
Probably, it will be. But it's not for certain. If your phone comes with the stock 1.12 software, then you can do it. But there's also a possibility of your phone being one of those unlucky "Whelp, this sucks..." phones. If it comes with the latest 1.57 software installed, it won't be possible.
That being said, if it comes with 1.12, which it probably will, and you unlock the bootloader, root, and S-Off, you can always go back to 100% stock with no trace at all of it ever being rooted if you want to return it for warranty, exc.
IF it is one of the unlucky "Whelp, this sucks..." phones, and you unlock your bootloader, root, and try to S-Off, but can't, then you can re lock the bootloader, run the stock RUU, and the only trace of it being unlocked and rooted would be that in the bootloader, it would say "Relocked" instead of "Locked."
But again, chances are you will probably get the 1.12 software and be able to S-Off your phone. Hope this helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a ton, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Final question - how do I go about getting to stock. I found the RUU and stock files but I don't know at all what to do. After I know that, I'll be ready to root!
Sent from my HTC M8

DinoSoup said:
Thanks a ton, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Final question - how do I go about getting to stock. I found the RUU and stock files but I don't know at all what to do. After I know that, I'll be ready to root!
Sent from my HTC M8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply,
To get to complete 100% stock, you have to download and run the RUU. It's a simple EXE file. There are a bunch of Youtube videos on how to run RUUs. Before running the RUU, you have to re-lock the bootloader. But, to go to 100% stock, you first have to to reset the tampered flag, LOCK, not re-lock the bootloader (there is a thread on how to make the bootloader say LOCKED, not Re-Locked) and then S-ON. After that, run the RUU file, and it will take you back to complete stock. Like you never unlocked the bootloader or rooted.
But, I would do everything except S-ON. If you go to S-ON and run the RUU, you will not be able to go back to S-Off again. The RUU will install the 1.57 software, and that version isn't supported by Firewater.
The only thing you really have to do is a simple re-lock of the bootloader before running the RUU. But, doing what I said would make the phone look like it was never rooted. Again, I would do everything I said except going back to S-ON.

I just successfully achieved completely stock with S-On. I gave my details here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55374644&postcount=2

[Q] Sunshine / 5.0 OTA

So I used Sunshine to go S-OFF on my M7, but other than that I am bone stock- no ROM or custom recovery- not even rooted. Will I have any issue with the 5.0 OTA, or is there something I should be doing to prep it for the update?

Rule of thumb - never OTA if you're s-off or rooted or anything until you've seen on XDA or similar that there aren't any associated problems

In the life of HTC, no update has turned the secure flag to on (s-on). But as post two said, at least wait for confirmation. It shouldn't turn s-on or lock the bootloader, but just wait until you get confirmation.
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using XDA Free mobile app

I probably should have phrased my original question differently. I already intend to wait on the OTA to see what others experience as far as setting s-on. I'm mainly wondering if, once I decide to take it, the OTA will install properly if I've already gone s-off via Sunshine. From what I've read, it sounds like to OTA will install if you're s-off, but was just looking for some confirmation.

dberthia said:
I probably should have phrased my original question differently. I already intend to wait on the OTA to see what others experience as far as setting s-on. I'm mainly wondering if, once I decide to take it, the OTA will install properly if I've already gone s-off via Sunshine. From what I've read, it sounds like to OTA will install if you're s-off, but was just looking for some confirmation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far with all HTC devices (that exist as of now), s-off itself has never affected or prevented an OTA.
Now on the other end, if you're Not ALREADY s-off, each new OTA brings with it the possibility of not being able to gain S-off...

bdizzle1686 said:
So far with all HTC devices (that exist as of now), s-off itself has never affected or prevented an OTA.
Now on the other end, if you're Not ALREADY s-off, each new OTA brings with it the possibility of not being able to gain S-off...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my understanding as well. Thanks!

Do I Really Need S-OFF???

Sorry im a bit of a Noob and was wondering what benefit i would get from being S-Off
To be honest 25 for sunshine to get S-Off is a bit extreme but thats why im asking the question, im not here to start moaning about the cost, if i find that s-off is worth it i will get it.
Thanks

What may be worth doing is rooting the phone and purchasing sunshine if and when soff is needed to restore the tamper flag in the bootloader for warranty purposes. If you dont need to send it back dont bother paying for soff. Obviously if you want soff for other reasons then its worth it but only you would know this. Personally were both **** out of luck as its the only method to gain soff on the latest m8's. I will more than likely be getting it as i want root only but to have son bl locked and tamper flags removed whilst retaining root. For this reason alone its worth it to me but i hear ya. Still not to happy about paying it but theres no other choice atm unfortunately.
Im still not happy the bootloader has to be unlocked just to gain root. Ive always rooted my phones whilst keeping everything else stock, but again its tough **** until devs find an exploit, if they are even searching for one, who knows.

bornnslippy said:
Sorry im a bit of a Noob and was wondering what benefit i would get from being S-Off
To be honest 25 for sunshine to get S-Off is a bit extreme but thats why im asking the question, im not here to start moaning about the cost, if i find that s-off is worth it i will get it.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best part of S-Off for me is that I can always be running the newest firmware, and therefore the newest ROMs. I never have to wait for my carrier to update (for example AT&T just got Lollipop a few weeks ago but S-Off users updated in January with WWE firmware)

This ^^^^
I got s-off in the beginning. So I've never had to worry about official updates, or finding firmware for my exact model (which is Telus... So harder to find). I did SuperCID, so I can flash firmware anytime, even downgrade firmware. I can use new roms, or old roms... Covert to GPE if I wanted... Etc.
Do you need it to fully enjoy the phone? No. But if you like having total control... Then yes you do.
$25 wasn't a big deal for me, for complete freedom. :good:

It depends where you live, what carrier your on, & if you want to tinker with your phone. I'm in the US, on Verizon, & want to stay up to date on firmwire & the latest android. Finally, I want full access to my device, so that's why I paid $25 no question !!!!!

Last thing does s-off void your warranty
Thanks

bornnslippy said:
Last thing does s-off void your warranty
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly. But unlocking your bootloader technically does. But with s-off, you can reverse everything you've done, including the red tampered banner, and return your device to its stock state.

sjpritch25 said:
It depends where you live, what carrier your on, & if you want to tinker with your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And specifically what you want to tinker with. But otherwise I agree.
If you own a version that gets relatively quickly updated (GPE, Dev Edition, many WWE versions) its probably not that necessary. But on AT&T for instance, we had to wait a few months (after other variants) to get the "official" 4.4.4 and 5.0 firmwares (hboot, radio, etc.). Meaning we couldn't properly run most custom ROMs for a while without s-off.
I did s-off when I got the phone about a year ago. So I've fortunately never had such limitations. I've been running LP since January, where folks on AT&T with s-on had to wait until April for the proper firmware.
Plus, with s-off you can flash modified hboots, manually flash different radios, and "fully convert" to other versions (other CIDs, of Google Play Edition).