Hey guys,
I'm a long time android user,I've dealt with HTC mytouch 4g and evo then moved on to Motorola droid razr and then the gs3,I came back to HTC because their phones feel more better in the hand and have better specs in my opinion. I've rooted plenty of phones and I have one question,I'm seeing a lot of instructions of how to unlock,s-off but one thing that doesn't make sense is loading a boot.img for every rom? If I'm correct,I have to flash any given Rom and then flash a boot.img and then do a different method for a custom kernel? I thought I could load a custom Rom and a custom kernal in a custom recovery? Please forgive me for asking a lot of questions but it seems the whole custom Rom methods has changed for specifically HTC phones? Is all this due to locked bootloaders?
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda premium
ali87va said:
Hey guys,
I'm a long time android user,I've dealt with HTC mytouch 4g and evo then moved on to Motorola droid razr and then the gs3,I came back to HTC because their phones feel more better in the hand and have better specs in my opinion. I've rooted plenty of phones and I have one question,I'm seeing a lot of instructions of how to unlock,s-off but one thing that doesn't make sense is loading a boot.img for every rom? If I'm correct,I have to flash any given Rom and then flash a boot.img and then do a different method for a custom kernel? I thought I could load a custom Rom and a custom kernal in a custom recovery? Please forgive me for asking a lot of questions but it seems the whole custom Rom methods has changed for specifically HTC phones? Is all this due to locked bootloaders?
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah the whole s-on and off creates some confusion but you can have s-on and still flash custom recoveries and kernels,
I havent really found a need to achieve s-off yet (probably when the unofficial cm10 release is complete i will), but i would leave s-off.
Having to flash roms is easy and pretty straightforward. I also had trouble with flashing kernels in which case you flash the boot image and then flash the zip. It also depends how they are packaged, because the boot.img is sometimes packaged in the zip in which case you have to unzip it to get the img and the zip and then flash the new zip after the img.
I've also been an android user a decent amount of time but it seems like htc devices are slightly more complicated.
almo40192 said:
yeah the whole s-on and off creates some confusion but you can have s-on and still flash custom recoveries and kernels,
I havent really found a need to achieve s-off yet (probably when the unofficial cm10 release is complete i will), but i would leave s-off.
Having to flash roms is easy and pretty straightforward. I also had trouble with flashing kernels in which case you flash the boot image and then flash the zip. It also depends how they are packaged, because the boot.img is sometimes packaged in the zip in which case you have to unzip it to get the img and the zip and then flash the new zip after the img.
I've also been an android user a decent amount of time but it seems like htc devices are slightly more complicated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think a lot of people (like me) got into rooting phones where the phone we owned already had s-off and as such all the roms we were flashing were made while that was true. The DNA has only recently had s-off so most of the roms were made with s-on being the only option.They needed the boot image flashed seperately to work. My understanding now is even with s-off, if the rom was made prior to s-off, you still have to flash an image file. Probably soon enough most will not need that extra step.
In a simple nutshell, the s stands for security flag, and prevents access of the boot partition from recovery, as well as low level stuff like firmware.
Turning security off, known as s off, allows a user to write to the boot partition (like a boot.img) and write firmware such as the radios (telephony and modem firmware) from recovery.
So s off has pros and cons. It's there as a protective measure, and being s on slows the HTC Dev bootloader tool to be a reality and still have a safety measure in place for the general public that doesn't know squat and doesn't follow the forums or keep up with their device's software.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2
Related
Evo3d had same s-on, place your recovery image in your same folder as fastboot and adb and do: fastboot boot recovery.img(assuming you renamed your amon ra to recovery) and flash anything. I think even radios but dont know that one for sure.
Link:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1239821
1) I don't think belongs in development. 2) You cannot flash radios with S-ON. 3) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1419587 4) Not really any new or useful information.
I understand there are other way to do this but you can just flash a single zip in the phones recovery this way. then a dev can do roms including a costum kernel and flash as one. Like normal. Not to mention devs make one package. Just seems so much easier to me.
lawnguy said:
I understand there are other way to do this but you can just flash a single zip in the phones recovery this way. then a dev can do roms including a costum kernel and flash as one. Like normal. Not to mention devs make one package. Just seems so much easier to me.
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Click to collapse
If the devs could do this on the Rezound where you can install everything using one zip they would be doing so.
I suspect the largest reason this hasn't happened is the lack of s-off devices in developers hands to build with.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk
The drawback is it requires fastboot. that is hard for some people. I use this type of stuff myself, but I make easy tools for people anyway.
Deathbyfugu said:
If the devs could do this on the Rezound where you can install everything using one zip they would be doing so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There IS a way of installing kernels with a single zip on the Rezound... DSB did that with his kernel for the Rezound on rootzwiki. It basically still is two steps, but simplified into one zip and a script that automatically reboots to the bootloader and installs the boot.img from there.
a.mcdear said:
There IS a way of installing kernels with a single zip on the Rezound... DSB did that with his kernel for the Rezound on rootzwiki. It basically still is two steps, but simplified into one zip and a script that automatically reboots to the bootloader and installs the boot.img from there.
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Click to collapse
That is not the way to do it. It uses a hardcoded boot image which is BAD.
Con, I've seen the automated script you made and that's cool. I just wanted to add what we had done with the 3d. But certainly appreciate your work.
lawnguy said:
Con, I've seen the automated script you made and that's cool. I just wanted to add what we had done with the 3d. But certainly appreciate your work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand that. I prefer using fastboot and the methods you have described. But a hardcoded boot.img is not good for people with custom roms... if a rom needs a customized boot image and you flash dsb's kernel, you might have a bootloop on your hands.
Thread reported, this is ridiculous. How can you not understand not to post in development?
Alright so I'm coming from a Droid 2. I come from the land of CWR and having to SBF before I could go back to a FroYo ROM from Gingerbread because we couldn't flash kernels.
Basically, this is my very first HTC phone and although its similar to a Moto phone, I am realizing more and more that things are much different. I'm unlocked and rooted running Bamf ICS but I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing lol. With S-OFF now, I want to be careful not to screw up my device and know exactly what I'm doing.
So my questions are...
What is an RUU?
What all is flashable through a recovery with S-Off?
If I don't have S-Off, what is this p(something)img.zip file that I'm always flashing?
Anything else you feel is important lol.
Sorry if this has been well explained somewhere else. I have just been reading through a lot of forums on here and it seems that most people are coming from HTC phones and already know the processes. If someone also coming from a Moto phone has any insights or explanations they would be greatly appreciated
GetRipped said:
Alright so I'm coming from a Droid 2. I come from the land of CWR and having to SBF before I could go back to a FroYo ROM from Gingerbread because we couldn't flash kernels.
Basically, this is my very first HTC phone and although its similar to a Moto phone, I am realizing more and more that things are much different. I'm unlocked and rooted running Bamf ICS but I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing lol. With S-OFF now, I want to be careful not to screw up my device and know exactly what I'm doing.
So my questions are...
What is an RUU?
What all is flashable through a recovery with S-Off?
If I don't have S-Off, what is this p(something)img.zip file that I'm always flashing?
Anything else you feel is important lol.
Sorry if this has been well explained somewhere else. I have just been reading through a lot of forums on here and it seems that most people are coming from HTC phones and already know the processes. If someone also coming from a Moto phone has any insights or explanations they would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a RUU is a rom update utility that returns you to stock factory settings that is flashed through the bootloader or by .exe file.
With s-off you can flash radios,hboots,splash screens,firmware,recoverys (through bootloader). And in recovery i think just kernels without having to flash the boot.img through adb
Not sure since i dont have this device. But i believe it is the firmware needed to run ICS roms without problems
The PH .img thing is the kernel. If you try to flash a Rom with an incompatible kernel it won't boot. Likewise, if your going between say to gb roma that use the stock kernel, you don't need to mess with the ph thing.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
great to have you here man!! and s-off is great now that we have it. give the devs time and everything will be flashed in a one step process (kernel, rom, boot screens etc)
ph98img.zip is not the kernel ...but it can be...
ph98img.zip's are anything from kernels, spash screens, radios now, etc.
the new ics leaked firmware for example came in ph98img.zip format
it had included a new, ... well everything
so ph98img's are updates you run in the bootloader and dev's package different things in them.
Ok thanks, I'll be getting this phone sometime soon and coming from Moto the process of doing things seem way, way more confusing and more time consuming when it comes to backups and what not. Do you guys recommend when I first get the phone before even setting it all up to unlock BL, perm root, S-Off and flash my Rom of choice then doing a backup? Also are the backups the same as moto, just one click and it makes a zip to flash whenever?
RoryHe said:
ph98img.zip is not the kernel ...but it can be...
ph98img.zip's are anything from kernels, spash screens, radios now, etc.
the new ics leaked firmware for example came in ph98img.zip format
it had included a new, ... well everything
so ph98img's are updates you run in the bootloader and dev's package different things in them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right but he's talking about the ones you need to flash with roms, which are all kernels. But right nonetheless could be a 3mb kernel or 600mb ruu
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
So we all know there's going to be people who won't go for s-off due to the nature of the exploit
So I was thinking, since developers are going to eventually migrate to flashing kernels in recovery that wouldn't it be possible for someone to make a script that tells if your s-off or s-on by a txt file placed on the root of your sdcard by the user and then either flashes the kernel in recovery if your s-off or pushes the hboot file to the root of your sdcard?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2
That's a good question man.
My thinking is that since S-On people cannot flash a boot.img in recovery, why can't devs just package the rom/kernel together for everyone to flash? The S-Off people will be able to flash one package for the full rom and since the boot won;t be flashed for S-On users, just provide the boot.img or PH98IMG.zip to flash in bootloader.
The only thing is I don't much of the intricate details on if this would work properly and if S-On users would get an error/have issues if a rom attempted to flash the boot.img.
Marcismo55 said:
That's a good question man.
My thinking is that since S-On people cannot flash a boot.img in recovery, why can't devs just package the rom/kernel together for everyone to flash? The S-Off people will be able to flash one package for the full rom and since the boot won;t be flashed for S-On users, just provide the boot.img or PH98IMG.zip to flash in bootloader.
The only thing is I don't much of the intricate details on if this would work properly and if S-On users would get an error/have issues if a room attempted to flash the boot.img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know the syntax of the updater script but it shouldn't be to hard, maybe a file that says .soff
Then again a separate kernel would fix that as well
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2
Flashing the "old" way with s-off shouldn't make a difference though right? So really why change it.
loki993 said:
Flashing the "old" way with s-off shouldn't make a difference though right? So really why change it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thought was not to kick the s-on people to the curb and tell them either s-off or learn how to flash via a computer
I agree they should posses that knowledge but making it simpler for everyone benefits us in the fact that if it isn't simplified we are going to have a whole bunch of "I flashed this ics Rom and it won't boot" threads
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2
Right I understand. I just flashed my first ROM though. It flashed, loaded the PH98IMG on its own rebooted into fastboot and I just had to vol up to flash it. That will work if your s-off or s-on. So I say just write them all like that
Unless Im missing something.
loki993 said:
Right I understand. I just flashed my first ROM though. It flashed, loaded the PH98IMG on its own rebooted into fastboot and I just had to vol up to flash it. That will work if your s-off or s-on. So I say just write them all like that
Unless Im missing something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very many people including me don't want to bother with hboot zips for a kernel when it can be a one shot flash in recovery if your s-off
If someone has the knowledge could they shoot me a pm on if this is possible? I have an idea but I can't apply it
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2
loki993 said:
Right I understand. I just flashed my first ROM though. It flashed, loaded the PH98IMG on its own rebooted into fastboot and I just had to vol up to flash it. That will work if your s-off or s-on. So I say just write them all like that
Unless Im missing something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What superchillpill is saying that if repackaged for s off, it wouldn't goto bootloader at all. Takes out that step altogether. If your point happened to go over my head, my apologies lol
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2
What I wil l try and do is provide PH98IMG flashable zips that can flash via HBoot. Let the ROM flash the kernel, its the way its been on other phones and I don't see any reason to change it. Consistency is key no need to learn something new. The kernel guys could just change their scripts and hopefully package boot.img's which are easy to replace in the ROM .zip (along with the WiFi module). It would be great to see init.d supported so we could add some speed tweaks using scripts.
Just have to provide a PH98IMG of the kernel for the ROM is all. Take an extra download for S-On. You can boot into the bootloader by using the recovery option reboot into bootloader in the developer menu.
It's also more convient when you don't have to remove the ph98img off the root of your sd everytime you flash a Rom!
HTC REZOUND
i have been reading about the new HTC One X+. so far i have understood S-off is still unavailable, so was wondering can you still change roms with s on. i have rooted my phone. i seen people say you have to update your hbootloader to 1.36 is that true? trying to avoid bricking my phone lol if that was to happen. id like to be ready for the cm10 for att when it is released, or would international owrk in the us on att carier?
rorreo said:
i have been reading about the new HTC One X+. so far i have understood S-off is still unavailable, so was wondering can you still change roms with s on. i have rooted my phone. i seen people say you have to update your hbootloader to 1.36 is that true? trying to avoid bricking my phone lol if that was to happen. id like to be ready for the cm10 for att when it is released, or would international owrk in the us on att carier?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its almost impossible to brick an HTC phone if you know what your doing. The basic rule is make sure your flashing for the correct device because in each market each phone is a little different. On the original One X, the international versions partitions were different than the XL's partitions so if you flashed the wrong recovery it wouldn't boot because the recovery partition would be where root should be (just an example and on top of the HOX and HOXL had different hardware). On the X+ its more or less the same. I don't know anything about updating HBOOT but I would strongly discourage it. With every update there is the possibility of loosing the possibility to root; also flashing a new bootloader is VERY risky.. Yes, you can flash new ROMS without S-OFF however depending on the HBOOT version you have to flash the kernel or BOOT.IMG in the zip separately via fastboot. There are programs to do this or you just use adb/fastboot. CM for international won't work on out AT&T devices because of issues with the differences in the radio.
Hope I helped! Press 'thanks' if I did.
-Irish
well i am pretty new at this dev experience and i would like to know more wish i new more and didnt have to ask stupid questions. i dont understand "by however depending on the HBOOT version you have to flash the kernel or BOOT.IMG in the zip separately via fastboot. There are programs to do this or you just use adb/fastboot."
my hboot is 1.32 and bootloader is unlocked and i am rooted. did it a few nights ago. boot img is in any new rom correct? cant stand sense roms. looking forward to using cm10 when its released for att. just thought id prep my phone for it
I think what he's saying is that before you could just copy the rom.zip to your phone and then flash from recovery(because the kernel stuff was included in the rom.zip) but now, because of various things, you have to flash the kernel stuff seperately(usually by extracting it from the rom.zip then running the fastboot cmd as he said). Once you've copied the rom over and flashed the kernel, then you can flash the rom from recovery like usual.
I think that's pretty much it and you don't really need to mess with anything else. But, of course, I'm not an expert by any stretch, so take it with a grain of salt.
What S-ON means for us is that we cannot flash the BOOT partition directly from the phone. This means, that Kernels (boot.img files) need to be flashed via fastboot. S-ON/OFF has nothing to do with changing ROMs, just Kernels.
The reason why we cannot use the same ROMs on ATT/Telus and Intl version of the HOX+ is that the US version has LTE support, which means it has a different radio.
Also i think the newest HBOOT you can get for the HOX+ is 1.35 but be careful with that and make sure you have the right file and correct md5 sum.
I flashed maximus Rom for the one x+ didn't have issue using tarp. The kernel was updatin with the new rom
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium
It worked because it was unlocked by htcdevs
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium
info first: hboot 1.25.0002, S-ON, unlocked, cid: HTC__032
fastboot and recovery work and connect with computer, any rom i flash doesn't boot (shows the boot logo, logo disapears with a light backlight only and stays that way. also i flashed a couple of roms and the current logo is from one that should be overflashed, but i don't know what i did different then)
the cache partition has 0 size and seems to cause troubles, tried all 3 recoveries to delete/repair cache partition but doesn't work. should i try to repair it via adb shell?
help :-/
three things:
1. you know you can only use jellybean based roms with hboot 1.25? try one of the sense5 roms.
2. you know you have to flash the kernel (boot.img) seperately via fastboot for every rom you flash?
3. you know there are different recovery versions for ics (hboot 1.24) and jellybean (1.25)?
realCyphox said:
three things:
1. you know you can only use jellybean based roms with hboot 1.25? try one of the sense5 roms.
2. you know you have to flash the kernel (boot.img) seperately via fastboot for every rom you flash?
3. you know there are different recovery versions for ics (hboot 1.24) and jellybean (1.25)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was following the stickied tutorial - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2076675
1. i'm flashing only 4.1 based roms as from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=35735267#post35735267
2. read somewhere that kernel - boot.img is automatically flashed with the rom and you only reflash to use another kernel? will definitely try your suggestion
3. as per the tutorial, i'm only using 1.25 recoveries (in twrp adb doesn't seem to work, so using PhilZ Touch, CWM based atm)
also as per the tutorial i made a nandroid? backup with twrp if thats of any use? so i first unlocked, flashed twrp and then made backup
flashing the kernel automatically when flashing the rom is only possible when the phone`s S-OFF. and afair its only implemented in vimiro roms.
yes, you dont HAVE to flash the kernel every single time, for example when you move from one jellybean sense-rom to another. but you definitely have to do it when you`re going from sense to cyanogenmod, or even from cyanogenmod 10 to 10.1, from cyanogenmod back to sense and so on.
realCyphox said:
flashing the kernel automatically when flashing the rom is only possible when the phone`s S-OFF. and afair its only implemented in vimiro roms.
yes, you dont HAVE to flash the kernel every single time, for example when you move from one jellybean sense-rom to another. but you definitely have to do it when you`re going from sense to cyanogenmod, or even from cyanogenmod 10 to 10.1, from cyanogenmod back to sense and so on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible with S-ON and is very easy to do (day 1 noob level easy.) See this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191723
Will_Xda said:
It's possible with S-ON and is very easy to do (day 1 noob level easy.) See this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2191723
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
didnt work for me at all. and have a look at the last post. duh.
realCyphox said:
didnt work for me at all. and have a look at the last post. duh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would probably suggest your dumber than a day 1 noob or you/ OP has not got the latest TWRP available for DX installed,which is quite important... duh.
This has worked for me numerous times when bouncing from various roms/ kernels on HTC desire X and sensation and is very similar to a zip supplied in quite a few viper rom threads that are used for the exact same purpose
DAAAAAAAAAAMN
flashing the kernel afterwards solved the problem, it even says so in the tutorial, reading comprehension problem or PEBKAC, anyway ofcourse i had to try another custom rom just for fun (and risk of breaking stuff again )
where do i send the money to?
kinda offtopic, any other general advice? like should i try S-on? is there a big difference between the roms? custom recoveries?
thx again
potepuh said:
DAAAAAAAAAAMN
flashing the kernel afterwards solved the problem, it even says so in the tutorial, reading comprehension problem or PEBKAC, anyway ofcourse i had to try another custom rom just for fun (and risk of breaking stuff again )
where do i send the money to?
kinda offtopic, any other general advice? like should i try S-on? is there a big difference between the roms? custom recoveries?
thx again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks Like your already S-ON buddy, S-OFF allows further access to the device so you can achieve things such as SuperCID and flash kernel's from recovery (can still do this S-on)
As there is further access to these files there is a potentially higher risk of hard bricked device if not careful when playing around with these files you would have access to.
Had the Desire X quite early on from release date and have not S-OFF'd since (no need for me)
Will_Xda said:
That would probably suggest your dumber than a day 1 noob or you/ OP has not got the latest TWRP available for DX installed,which is quite important... duh.
This has worked for me numerous times when bouncing from various roms/ kernels on HTC desire X and sensation and is very similar to a zip supplied in quite a few viper rom threads that are used for the exact same purpose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry about the "duh", that was unnecessary.
im pretty sure i used the latest twrp at that time when i tried. the flashing process just didnt come to an end. so the "looping" assumption sounded accurate.
edit: yes, if you dont need supercid, s-off is pretty useless.
"normally" s-off its also usefull to deactivate the write-protection of the system-partition, but all custom kernels out there have some kind of hack to bypass this even with s-on.
Will_Xda said:
Looks Like your already S-ON buddy, S-OFF allows further access to the device so you can achieve things such as SuperCID and flash kernel's from recovery (can still do this S-on)
As there is further access to these files there is a potentially higher risk of hard bricked device if not careful when playing around with these files you would have access to.
Had the Desire X quite early on from release date and have not S-OFF'd since (no need for me)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah my phone is S-on, my mistake, was tired
i understand that S-off is permanent root (which i get with supersu) and supercid means i can flash other language roms?
i'm sticking to S-on and trying out different roms
thx again for help