Coming from Samsung phones... Need some help :) - Motorola Photon 4G

I'm very familiar with Samsung and Odin, but Motorola stuff its confusing as hell. I've got a Photon now (and my ET4G). I've been reading through the stickies and the general / Q&A section and can't seen to find a definitive answer to a few questions...
1. I am 2.3.4 running 4.5.1A-1_SUN-198_6. What is the latest root method?
2. Do I need an unlocked bootloader to flash roms and kernels?
3. Any fix for the random "sleep of death" without updating to 2.3.5?
Thanks in advance for any help you all can give!
- Z

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zzelinka said:
I'm very familiar with Samsung and Odin, but Motorola stuff its confusing as hell. I've got a Photon now (and my ET4G). I've been reading through the stickies and the general / Q&A section and can't seen to find a definitive answer to a few questions...
1. I am 2.3.4 running 4.5.1A-1_SUN-198_6. What is the latest root method?
2. Do I need an unlocked bootloader to flash roms and kernels?
3. Any fix for the random "sleep of death" without updating to 2.3.5?
Thanks in advance for any help you all can give!
- Z
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny because Samsung's are the complicated ones. All rooting info is listed in development section. One click root should work.
And yes you must of course unlock the bootloader to do any of that.
Sleep of death? Heard of it from like two random people. Never had it happen.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA

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zzelinka said:
I'm very familiar with Samsung and Odin, but Motorola stuff its confusing as hell. I've got a Photon now (and my ET4G). I've been reading through the stickies and the general / Q&A section and can't seen to find a definitive answer to a few questions...
1. I am 2.3.4 running 4.5.1A-1_SUN-198_6. What is the latest root method?
2. Do I need an unlocked bootloader to flash roms and kernels?
3. Any fix for the random "sleep of death" without updating to 2.3.5?
Thanks in advance for any help you all can give!
- Z
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you are familiar with odin then its gunna be a breeze, tars = sbf's, and odin = rsd lite. if you bork something youve gutta get into the proper mode (download mode = rsd mode) load up rsdlite and add the sbf in and click start.

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shabbypenguin said:
if you are familiar with odin then its gunna be a breeze, tars = sbf's, and odin = rsd lite. if you bork something youve gutta get into the proper mode (download mode = rsd mode) load up rsdlite and add the sbf in and click start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. I am contemplating just updating to the newest update and not needing with anything for now. I pretty much bought it to use for my $59.99 lapdock. I actually bought two off Craigslist for $230. They are both pretty much brand new and came with original boxes, etc.
I'm still on the fence. It randomly shuts off and won't turn back on without a battery pull. Its frustrating as hell. Its done it probably 5-10 times tonight alone, and tonights the first night I've had it! I've read that updating to the newest system update takes care of the problem.
- Z

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na7q said:
Funny because Samsung's are the complicated ones. All rooting info is listed in development section. One click root should work.
And yes you must of course unlock the bootloader to do any of that.
Sleep of death? Heard of it from like two random people. Never had it happen.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It just seems like its so much more complicated. Seems like I can brick my phone more easily with all this Moto software.
- Z

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zzelinka said:
It just seems like its so much more complicated. Seems like I can brick my phone more easily with all this Moto software.
- Z
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Click to collapse
I urge you not to take the 2.3.5 as if it doesn't fix your sleep of death, there is literally no way to get it off your phone. Our stuff only seems a bit confusing because there is an extra step in there (unlocking) that you people don't have to contend with. Also, we lack a definitive AIO that does everything within one program. It takes a bit of getting used to but as shabby said, the concept is generally the same and there are simple guides for each step.
-Root using torpedo method (aio will probably work but torpedo never fails)
-unlock bootloader
-install a recovery (twrp is fine but you're probably used to cwm)
-flash yo sheet

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Acvice said:
I urge you not to take the 2.3.5 as if it doesn't fix your sleep of death, there is literally no way to get it off your phone. Our stuff only seems a bit confusing because there is an extra step in there (unlocking) that you people don't have to contend with. Also, we lack a definitive AIO that does everything within one program. It takes a bit of getting used to but as shabby said, the concept is generally the same and there are simple guides for each step.
-Root using torpedo method (aio will probably work but torpedo never fails)
-unlock bootloader
-install a recovery (twrp is fine but you're probably used to cwm)
-flash yo sheet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Werd. Was there ever a fix for sleep of death?

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Do not update it with ota.
Flash 198_7 sbf and then flash only locked bootloader from 2.3.4 sv1 custom sbf thread.
It should solve the problem.

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peetr_ said:
Do not update it with ota.
Flash 198_7 sbf and then flash only locked bootloader from 2.3.4 sv1 custom sbf thread.
It should solve the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll check it out. Thanks for the info!
- Z

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peetr_ said:
Do not update it with ota.
Flash 198_7 sbf and then flash only locked bootloader from 2.3.4 sv1 custom sbf thread.
It should solve the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw the SV1 Locked Bootloader.sbf.zip but no 198_7 file. Am I missing something obvious. I probably am
EDITED: I'm a moron. Found it on Loikifish's site...

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One more question, your phone is unlocked or locked, when the sleep of death problem occurs?

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peetr_ said:
One more question, your phone is unlocked or locked, when the sleep of death problem occurs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's unlocked. Totally stock, nothing on it. No apps, nada. Just takes a nap on me and never wakes up... I switched back to my ET4G for now. At least until I can get the sleep of death figured out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Gonna sell one of my MoPho's and maybe the second one w/ my lapdock if I figure out what to do about it. I don't want to pay to get a replacement either....
- Z

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Ok so do what I wrote before, that should solve the problem an you will stay unlocked.
Actually you can try, that just flashing 198_7 sbf and not unlocking, will solve the problem.

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I mistyped. It's LOCKED. Should I still just flash the 198 and the locked only?
EDIT: Shabby's AIO worked and I'm thinking about unlocking the bootloader. I can't remember if I saw somewhere where I can retain 4G with unlocking the BL. I can't seem to find it now...

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Yes, if it's 198_6 now, you can flash 198_7 sbf, so that 2.3.5 update won't bother you and unlock only with bootloader, not derpunlock.sbf.
Tell me, if that helped with those deaths.

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So I did an expirement to test a theory... I activated my Photon on my line the day before yesterday. I had a sleep of death if I let the phone sit too long (maybe 20-30 minutes). I was in good radio areas. I took the Photon off my line and let it sit to see if it would go to sleep and not wake up.
Guess what? I left it on for 12+ hours unattended and when I went to turn it on... No sleep of death! I'm going to put it back on my line and see if it sleeps hard again. I think we can then say the problem is most likely some sort of radio related. Am I correct?
- Z

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It is possible. You could try to find out where is the problem on yours.
I only know, that one man had this problem everytime he tried to unlock his phone with derpunlock.sbf. When he flashed full 198_7 sbf, everything was fine. Once he tried to unlock different way, that sleep of death was gone.
But this looks like the cause of your problem could be somewhere else.

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peetr_ said:
It is possible. You could try to find out where is the problem on yours.
I only know, that one man had this problem everytime he tried to unlock his phone with derpunlock.sbf. When he flashed full 198_7 sbf, everything was fine. Once he tried to unlock different way, that sleep of death was gone.
But this looks like the cause of your problem could be somewhere else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unlocked using the derpunlock and fastboot method for CWM. It went off without a hitch. Switched back to the Photon to see if the SOD's still occur. I'll keep this thread updating to see if the problem gets resolved. Thanks for the help!

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Many helpful people here .
Thanks to all, I might get a photon soon
Buttery Smooth THS15 Deviled

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lord dredd said:
Many helpful people here .
Thanks to all, I might get a photon soon
Buttery Smooth THS15 Deviled
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We try