[Q] Kernel Questions and Such - HTC Droid DNA

Good Afternoon,
I am trying to get an idea of how the kernels/modules work in regards to S-ON, S-OFF, etc. Basically, Im just trying to understand the concept. I have noticed that a lot of the Kernels in the Custom Development thread say that you need to flash the kernel via fastboot, and then flash the modules via recovery, but others state that if you are S-OFF you can simply flash the .zip?
I suppose here are my questions:
What all does S-ON "protect" or impact?
Why can you simply flash the zip with S-OFF, but have a two-part process with S-ON?
What is the boot process for the DNA? Specifically, there is a boot.img, system image, etc. When someone says "bootloader" are they referring to the boot image, or is that a level lower than the boot image, that gets handed off to the boot image from the boot loader?
Thanks in advance for your answers!

DroidHaxxor said:
Good Afternoon,
I am trying to get an idea of how the kernels/modules work in regards to S-ON, S-OFF, etc. Basically, Im just trying to understand the concept. I have noticed that a lot of the Kernels in the Custom Development thread say that you need to flash the kernel via fastboot, and then flash the modules via recovery, but others state that if you are S-OFF you can simply flash the .zip?
I suppose here are my questions:
What all does S-ON "protect" or impact?
Why can you simply flash the zip with S-OFF, but have a two-part process with S-ON?
What is the boot process for the DNA? Specifically, there is a boot.img, system image, etc. When someone says "bootloader" are they referring to the boot image, or is that a level lower than the boot image, that gets handed off to the boot image from the boot loader?
Thanks in advance for your answers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To the best of my ability... S-on/S-off is a security flag engrained into the system. This influences write protections and your ability to change them. When your S-off(securty flag off) then you have the ability to manipulate write protections as you please on the root directory(like c:\ on windows)... the boot partition exists on this directory... without s-off you only have write capabilities while in recovery or bootloader mode(cept for a few kernels that provide this ability). The bootloader is actually a sub OS level interface that allows for the flashing of firmwares and whatnot. Since you cant write to the boot partition without s-off then you have to acess the bootloader and push the system into fasstboot mode which is a manufacturer method of firmware flashing... with me??? ok so then the modules are the remainder of the kernel and reside in the system partition and therefor can be written in recovery and hence flashed with a .zip package. So when you have s-off this can all be accomplished in one go because you have write permissions on all directories and paritions greatly simplifying the process as well as providing system write capapbility natively (without kernel mod) during system up time. hope that all made sense at work and didnt have time to read back through
edit: heres a good read about android boot order and the meanings/descriptions of each item http://www.kpbird.com/2012/11/in-depth-android-boot-sequence-process.html

Thanks for the info. That makes sense. I appreciate it.

Nice writeup, and the link you provided is educational too :good:

Related

Quick question about bootloader

So from what i've been reading is that we cant root yet because of the locked bootloader. Is this what s-on, s-off is? Because my htc hero is s-on right now and its rooted and flashed to cyanogen. So what am i missing that i dont understand? Thanks for all the help
bavman said:
So from what i've been reading is that we cant root yet because of the locked bootloader. Is this what s-on, s-off is? Because my htc hero is s-on right now and its rooted and flashed to cyanogen. So what am i missing that i dont understand? Thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a couple of different ways to root.....As was the case with our beloved heros we had temp root, which allowed us to flash recovery and custom roms and only after that were we able to get access to the bootloader.
The other way of rooting is to go through the bootloader and use it to flash recovery, and then flash a pre-rooted rom.
2 Methods, same result.
Cool thanks for clarifying.
I remember when i was rooting my hero i had to push some files to my phone using command prompt in windows. And we cant us that for our evos? Is it just a case of someone actually coming along and making an image to flash?
A boot loader is a little section of code that starts up and will load a section of the software that loads other sections of software and so on..now..this boot loader is encrypted and has a certain electronic signature that must be there to let it go on and load the rest of the program..kernel..drivers....and so on. Root is different..it is elevation of privileges to parts of the programs. We can still have root even with a locked boot loader. It just means we cannot flash custom roms with different items on it.
bavman said:
Cool thanks for clarifying.
I remember when i was rooting my hero i had to push some files to my phone using command prompt in windows. And we cant us that for our evos? Is it just a case of someone actually coming along and making an image to flash?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We could if we had temporary root access....That would allow us to make the /system files read/write. Then you would be able to push the recovery files from ADB as you did with the Hero.

Big Issue [regards to rooting]

I did the HTC Dev Bootloader Unlock;I installed custom recovery; and I installed a rom via fastboot that had everything....... including the hacked 1.05 hboot now i keep getting boot loop and forsome reason even though the bootloader says ***UNLOCKED***" at the top; it still says S-on.... any help?
Sorry I don't know the answer but maybe you'd get a quicker and better response in the Rooting thread in the Dev section.
Did you downgrade the software if it was @ the most current OTA version?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1401959
Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App
yeah from .9 to .5 then unlocked bootloader
smtom said:
Did you downgrade the software if it was @ the most current OTA version?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1401959
Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You install (flash) the super user app?
Sent from my HTC ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App
You downgraded and then you unlocked the bootloader? Had never heard of doing any phone in that order
FWIK and from my personal experience with HTCDEV unlock is that you will never have S-Off, not without an Eng-HBoot. Hacked HBoot's and other exploits can help gain it but "S-On" is in reference to a security feature in relation to the kernel and recovery partition, it was a safety measure to (in theory) keep you from bricking your phone by flashing an unstable kernel on it through recovery mode and possibly being unable to restore your previous nand by effing your recovery up. That is a simplified explanation and not all the reasons but you get the idea. I hope you can get it fixed. Best way to try to fix it is to go back and start from the beginning with just getting an Eng-HBoot or a hacked one that will allow writing to the secure kernel partition through recovery (one that will allow you to copy the NAND part of your device and it's kernel, htcdev unlock only allows nand no matter what the recovery's log says), if you can't do that then try using fastboot in a cmd window to boot a saved recovery image from the fastboot directory on your computer, that may allow you to fix your issues, good luck, hope it helps
if i get the eng hboot how am i going to flash it if its not letting me run pc'img's?
loveableterrorepic4g said:
You downgraded and then you unlocked the bootloader? Had never heard of doing any phone in that order
FWIK and from my personal experience with HTCDEV unlock is that you will never have S-Off, not without an Eng-HBoot. Hacked HBoot's and other exploits can help gain it but "S-On" is in reference to a security feature in relation to the kernel and recovery partition, it was a safety measure to (in theory) keep you from bricking your phone by flashing an unstable kernel on it through recovery mode and possibly being unable to restore your previous nand by effing your recovery up. That is a simplified explanation and not all the reasons but you get the idea. I hope you can get it fixed. Best way to try to fix it is to go back and start from the beginning with just getting an Eng-HBoot or a hacked one that will allow writing to the secure kernel partition through recovery (one that will allow you to copy the NAND part of your device and it's kernel, htcdev unlock only allows nand no matter what the recovery's log says), if you can't do that then try using fastboot in a cmd window to boot a saved recovery image from the fastboot directory on your computer, that may allow you to fix your issues, good luck, hope it helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried using fastboot as a way to reboot the bootloader? I mean, my big thing is if you can get the pg img for the eng-hboot then you should be able to put it on your SD and then reboot the bootloader to let it try to boot the Pg, I know that I had a panic moment on the original EVO before they figured out a downgrade fix that I nearly bricked it, it wouldn't run the PG img check on first boot of the bootloader until I used fastboot to actually reflash the partitions on the phone (i may hate heimdall when I am working with samsungs but fastboot damn near broke me ha) the best thing to do it get a more intimate knowledge of the process and of fastboot and adb, they are great things to know how to use. Like I said I don't have a Thunderbolt but in dealing with HTC and HTCDEVs unlock tool I am pretty knowledgeable after working with it multiple times, I do know I had to downgrade my EVO (original) by manual partition flashing after I used the HTCDEV unlock tool, it unlocked the bootloader to allow me to boot what I flashed, but the kernel partition was still secure (S-On) this is what the tool, it seems that it was an attempt to cover their ass to ensure that those who don't know what their doing couldn't fully eff things up without more knowledge of the system and could reverse anything that may be unstable.

[DEV][Pulled]Flashing Boot Images From Recovery.

Edit: PULLED
Some other stuff is WIP and this is just gonna add to the confusion having these zips in user's hands. There are a couple possibilities of future tools that are superior to this. This was also more of a POC more than anything.
Video Demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXcl_QgQEDU
THIS IS NOT S-OFF. IT NEVER WILL BE AND THIS DOESN'T CLAIM TO GIVE YOU S-OFF. IT JUST ALLOWS FOR ROMS TO BE INSTALLED AS IF WE HAD S-OFF WITH ONE EXTRA STEP.
IF YOU ARE ONLY A USER THERE REALLY ISN'T MUCH YOU CAN DO THIS THIS RIGHT NOW. GO AHEAD AND READ THE THREAD, ASK QUESTIONS, ETC, BUT DON'T FLASH ANYTHING UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
Background:
htcdev.com unlock allows us to modify /system from recovery. However, /recovery, /system, and /boot are writable when the system is booted into the OS. This is because htcdev.com unlock allows things booted from the boot partition to flash this stuff. So?
Why is this useful? We can flash recovery to /boot. This will cause the phone to boot into recovery, but since it is loaded from the boot partition, we have write access to /boot, /system, and /recovery. If recovery, such as amonra, is booted from /boot, we can flash boot images like we could in the past with other phones as if the device was S-OFF. When the new boot image is installed, it overwrites the recovery that was installed to /boot and the device will operate normally again.
How this works:
User flashes a PH98IMG.zip in hboot. This will flash amonra to /boot. When the user is asked to press power to reboot, the device will reboot into recovery with full permissions as if the device was S-OFF. Then, whatever rom they flash will be able to flash the boot image the rom needs within recovery.
Why is this better than just flashing the boot image with a PH98IMG.zip?
ROM Devs don't need to worry about mainver issues anymore. The only mainver issue will be the initial PH98IMG.zip that needs to be flashed. But, this PH98IMG.zip will be the same for every rom distributed no matter what, the user can just download the one they need for their mainver and use that one forever. No longer will you need to manually alter android-info.txt for every rom you flash. Plus, the PH98IMG.zip can just be left on the memory card forever because it will just take you to recovery if you flash it. So you can just leave it on your card and forget it. When you want to flash a rom, boot to hboot and the PH98IMG.zip will get loaded up, taking you to a full permission-ed recovery.
How to implement this:
Drop PH98IMG.zip on your SD card that is assigned to your mainver. This is the last time the mainver needs to be worried about until a new OTA comes out. When this is flashed, it will take you to the unprotected recovery so you can flash a new rom. Need to flash a new rom? Just run the PH98IMG.zip again and it will take you to unprotected recovery.
Devs, just add a boot image flashing line to your updater-scripts. No need to pack in PH98IMG.zips and the scripts that deal with them anymore.. The Rezound can now take "normal" roms despite S-ON.
Current Drawbacks
1. zImage Kernels still can't be flashed with this? Why? When they dump the boot image, they will actually be dumping the recovery image that the device is currently booted into. I am still thinking of a workaround for this. I have a few ideas, but I would like to do some testing to see what is the most simplistic for both kernel devs and the end user
2. If you use this to boot into recovery but don't flash a boot image your device will be stuck booting into recovery until a boot image is flashed. Still working on a workaround for this. It will likely be similar to the zImage workaround.
*Even with the drawbacks, this will work well for full roms.*
Attachments: PH98IMG.zips that will fire up recovery. Named [Mainver]PH98IMG.zip.
So the user just flashes the PH98IMG.zip, that will boot them into recovery, which then your rom+boot image can be flashed without worrying about Mainver. The dev can then make S-OFF like roms for the Rezound.
This thread: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/liberate-your-unlocked-sensation-or-evo-3d-with-dumlock/ got me thinking about this. Unfortunately we don't have TWRP, so we can't use their implementation. But this is almost as good
Great job on figuring this out Con.
Sent from my Xoom using xda premium
You saw the article on rootzwiki too? nice
con247 said:
Video Demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXcl_QgQEDU
*Currently adding annotations so the video makes sense lol*
Background:
htcdev.com unlock allows us to modify /system from recovery. However, /recovery, /system, and /boot are writable when the system is booted into the OS. This is because htcdev.com unlock allows things booted from the boot partition to flash this stuff. So?
Why is this useful? We can flash recovery to /boot. This will cause the phone to boot into recovery, but since it is loaded from the boot partition, we have write access to /boot, /system, and /recovery. If recovery, such as amonra, is booted from /boot, we can flash boot images like we could in the past with other phones as if the device was S-OFF. When the new boot image is installed, it overwrites the recovery that was installed to /boot and the device will operate normally again.
How this works:
User flashes a PH98IMG.zip in hboot. This will flash amonra to /boot. When the user is asked to press power to reboot, the device will reboot into recovery with full permissions as if the device was S-OFF. Then, whatever rom they flash will be able to flash the boot image the rom needs within recovery.
Why is this better than just flashing the boot image with a PH98IMG.zip?
ROM Devs don't need to worry about mainver issues anymore. The only mainver issue will be the initial PH98IMG.zip that needs to be flashed. But, this PH98IMG.zip will be the same for every rom distributed no matter what, the user can just download the one they need for their mainver and use that one forever. No longer will you need to manually alter android-info.txt for every rom you flash. Plus, the PH98IMG.zip can just be left on the memory card forever because it will just take you to recovery if you flash it. So you can just leave it on your card and forget it. When you want to flash a rom, boot to hboot and the PH98IMG.zip will get loaded up, taking you to a full permission-ed recovery.
How to implement this:
Drop PH98IMG.zip on your SD card that is assigned to your mainver. This is the last time the mainver needs to be worried about until a new OTA comes out. When this is flashed, it will take you to the unprotected recovery so you can flash a new rom. Need to flash a new rom? Just run the PH98IMG.zip again and it will take you to unprotected recovery.
Devs, just add a boot image flashing line to your updater-scripts. No need to pack in PH98IMG.zips and the scripts that deal with them anymore.. The Rezound can now take "normal" roms despite S-ON.
Current Drawbacks
1. zImage Kernels still can't be flashed with this? Why? When they dump the boot image, they will actually be dumping the recovery image that the device is currently booted into. I am still thinking of a workaround for this. I have a few ideas, but I would like to do some testing to see what is the most simplistic for both kernel devs and the end user
2. If you use this to boot into recovery but don't flash a boot image your device will be stuck booting into recovery until a boot image is flashed. Still working on a workaround for this. It will likely be similar to the zImage workaround.
*Even with the drawbacks, this will work well for full roms.*
Attachments: PH98IMG.zips that will fire up recovery. Named [Mainver]PH98IMG.zip.
So the user just flashes the PH98IMG.zip, that will boot them into recovery, which then your rom+boot image can be flashed without worrying about Mainver. The dev can then make S-OFF like roms for the Rezound.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, nice work Con ! so we just have to wait for Devs to adapt building the rom images to include the kernels again now correct ? I was thinking maybe this will help with flashing the new anthrax kernel that I am having a hard time getting to take.
---------- Post added at 09:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 PM ----------
con247 said:
Video Demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXcl_QgQEDU
*Currently adding annotations so the video makes sense lol*
Background:
htcdev.com unlock allows us to modify /system from recovery. However, /recovery, /system, and /boot are writable when the system is booted into the OS. This is because htcdev.com unlock allows things booted from the boot partition to flash this stuff. So?
Why is this useful? We can flash recovery to /boot. This will cause the phone to boot into recovery, but since it is loaded from the boot partition, we have write access to /boot, /system, and /recovery. If recovery, such as amonra, is booted from /boot, we can flash boot images like we could in the past with other phones as if the device was S-OFF. When the new boot image is installed, it overwrites the recovery that was installed to /boot and the device will operate normally again.
How this works:
User flashes a PH98IMG.zip in hboot. This will flash amonra to /boot. When the user is asked to press power to reboot, the device will reboot into recovery with full permissions as if the device was S-OFF. Then, whatever rom they flash will be able to flash the boot image the rom needs within recovery.
Why is this better than just flashing the boot image with a PH98IMG.zip?
ROM Devs don't need to worry about mainver issues anymore. The only mainver issue will be the initial PH98IMG.zip that needs to be flashed. But, this PH98IMG.zip will be the same for every rom distributed no matter what, the user can just download the one they need for their mainver and use that one forever. No longer will you need to manually alter android-info.txt for every rom you flash. Plus, the PH98IMG.zip can just be left on the memory card forever because it will just take you to recovery if you flash it. So you can just leave it on your card and forget it. When you want to flash a rom, boot to hboot and the PH98IMG.zip will get loaded up, taking you to a full permission-ed recovery.
How to implement this:
Drop PH98IMG.zip on your SD card that is assigned to your mainver. This is the last time the mainver needs to be worried about until a new OTA comes out. When this is flashed, it will take you to the unprotected recovery so you can flash a new rom. Need to flash a new rom? Just run the PH98IMG.zip again and it will take you to unprotected recovery.
Devs, just add a boot image flashing line to your updater-scripts. No need to pack in PH98IMG.zips and the scripts that deal with them anymore.. The Rezound can now take "normal" roms despite S-ON.
Current Drawbacks
1. zImage Kernels still can't be flashed with this? Why? When they dump the boot image, they will actually be dumping the recovery image that the device is currently booted into. I am still thinking of a workaround for this. I have a few ideas, but I would like to do some testing to see what is the most simplistic for both kernel devs and the end user
2. If you use this to boot into recovery but don't flash a boot image your device will be stuck booting into recovery until a boot image is flashed. Still working on a workaround for this. It will likely be similar to the zImage workaround.
*Even with the drawbacks, this will work well for full roms.*
Attachments: PH98IMG.zips that will fire up recovery. Named [Mainver]PH98IMG.zip.
So the user just flashes the PH98IMG.zip, that will boot them into recovery, which then your rom+boot image can be flashed without worrying about Mainver. The dev can then make S-OFF like roms for the Rezound.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, nice work Con ! so we just have to wait for Devs to adapt building the rom images to include the kernels again now correct ? I was thinking maybe this will help with flashing the new anthrax kernel that I am having a hard time getting to take. When would you wipe then ? after running the Ph98img.zip or after it reboots you to unprotected recovery ?
Thanks Con. But we all know this is going to be asked so ill be the dummy to ask (here we go) So will this work with any recovery, even clockwork touch!!!!!
And this is why ALL devs dont get enough thanks!!!! That mainver issue can be a real pia if a person doesn't know how to fix, or how to do the work arounds.. Took me a few times, but now its become habit..lol Con, keep up the great work, we all appreciate it very much!
So this is really good, right? lol
Very excited to see how this develops!!!
i hope all the dev's adopt this to their roms
So would this effect the flashing of custom kernals as well?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Njenson said:
So would this effect the flashing of custom kernals as well?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the thread
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Nice. Cant wait for a true complete rom. Hope you figure a way around the kernel issue. Complete roms will be a dream come true.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
con247 said:
Read the thread
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry... I didn't really connect the dots on the whole zimage thing. I understand now
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
evilstewie23 said:
Thanks Con. But we all know this is going to be asked so ill be the dummy to ask (here we go) So will this work with any recovery, even clockwork touch!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. For example, if you have an image for CWM touch called recovery.img, rename it to boot.img and swap it out with the boot.img in the PH98IMG.zip files.
Noob proof now
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
localceleb said:
Noob proof now
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost... ideally we would get DumLock support that would supplement this for kernel installations. Then it would be almost 100% noob proof for both roms and kernels, but I am sure someone would find a way to screw it up.
con247 said:
Almost... ideally we would get DumLock support that would supplement this for kernel installations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Con, no homo or anything, but I kind of have a nerd-man-crush on you Well, your work, at least. lol I'm glad you have the Rez It's gonna be a tough choice to choose a phone next because I'm hoping you, Scott, Joel, Newt/Chingy, and everyone else will be on the phone I choose
WasabiWa83 said:
Con, no homo or anything, but I kind of have a nerd-man-crush on you Well, your work, at least. lol I'm glad you have the Rez It's gonna be a tough choice to choose a phone next because I'm hoping you, Scott, Joel, Newt/Chingy, and everyone else will be on the phone I choose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. I just try to make things easier. If I can get the DumLock dev to support us partially, I can supplement our lack of TWRP recovery with a touchscreen Aroma installer zip
con247 said:
Lol. I just try to make things easier. If I can get the DumLock dev to support us partially, I can supplement our lack of TWRP recovery with a touchscreen Aroma installer zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Siiiiiiick. Well, it's much appreciated. And you're still in college. I couldn't do what you do in college. Hell, I can't do it now lol. What are you studying?
WasabiWa83 said:
Siiiiiiick. Well, it's much appreciated. And you're still in college. I couldn't do what you do in college. Hell, I can't do it now lol. What are you studying?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mechanical Engineering. This stuff is just a hobby.
con247 said:
Mechanical Engineering. This stuff is just a hobby.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet. That should give you a nice paycheck when you get done. Well, for my sake and the sake of all of the other Rezound users, I'm glad you've chosen this as your hobby

How Eliminate Bootloops After Flashing ROMs on the HTC EVO 3D

-DISCLAIMER: DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THIS GUIDE CAUSES YOU TO DO. THIS WORKED FOR ME, BUT RESULTS MAY VARY.-
-PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE GUIDE BEFORE FOLLOWING ANY STEPS TO AVOID ANY CONFUSION-
-THIS GUIDE ONLY APPLIES IF YOU ARE ROOTED WITH S-OFF ON HBOOT 1.58-
-IF YOU HAVE INSTALLED THE ICS OTA UPDATE THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE HBOOT 1.58, UNLESS YOU HAVE DOWNGRADED.-
-IF YOU HAVE DOWNGRADED YOUR BOOTLOADER AND ARE NOT ON HBOOT 1.58, LEAVE THIS PAGE-
-I ALSO RECOMMEND THAT YOU HAVE TWO SEPARATE SD CARDS YOU CAN USE FOR THIS. NO DATA WILL BE DELETED OFF OF EITHER-
-KEEP IN MIND, THAT IF YOU DO THIS, YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BOOT BACK INTO YOUR STOCK ICS ROM FROM THE OTA UPDATE-
-YOU WILL ALSO NEED A MICRO SD CARD READER TO PLUG YOUR SD CARD STRAIGHT INTO YOUR COMPUTER-
If you are not rooted, and do not have S-OFF, check out this guide by crimsy. It has all the instructions you need to root and obtain S-OFF. It worked for me.
Now for the fun part. You're positive you're on HBoot 1.58, and you're getting bootloops when you flash roms. The fix is actually quite simple.
First, go to this thread by mpgrimm2
Scroll down until you see a post on the thread by ramjet73. This post contains a list of HBoot downloads. These are all free.
First, find the one that says "PG86IMG_JBear_1.58.5858_hboot_Sprint_ICS.zip". Download that to use as a backup.
Now, we're gonna go by exactly what I did. But I recommend you do your own research on which Hboot is the best for whatever ROM you're trying to flash.
First off, all of these are already S-OFF, so you wont need to redo the wire trick.
Anyway, I downloaded the first one on the list, "PG86IMG_1.40-hboot.zip".
Now, to install this, you're pretty much gonna trick your phone into "updating" to it.
To do this, just download the HBoot you've chosen to be the best for you (in my case it was the first one on the list, 1.4).
Now just rename that file to "PG86IMG" without quotation marks.
Next, copy it to the root of your SD card.
The rest takes place on your phone. Power off your phone, and boot into the bootloader (Hold volume down + power button).
If you've done the previous steps correctly, your bootloader should detect the HBoot you downloaded, and ask if you want to update.
Volume up= Yes
Volume down = No
If you're positive about this, then choose "Yes".
It should update and tell you to reboot.
This is where I ran into a problem. I was still running stock ICS from the OTA update, and I got stuck in a bootloop. My phone would freeze at the the Sprint animation, turn off, and repeat. I thought I could just disregard it, boot into recovery, and flash my new ROM. But every time I booted into the bootloader all I could do was either update or reboot. This is where that micro SD card reader comes in. Just pop your SD card into your computer, and remove the HBoot you downloaded. Then put your SD card back in your phone and try rebooting into the bootloader again.
If it boots into your bootloader as normal, then that should be it. You should be on whatever HBoot version you chose to download (this worked for me with 1.4)
Now try flashing that ROM again and let me know how it goes.
Keep in mind, different ROMS may have different results. You may still need to flash certain kernals or wipe specific partitions as instructed by the developer of the ROM you want to flash.
Feedback is appreciated.
I prefer to put the PG86IMG file on my sd card while booted up normally. Then reboot straight into recovery bypassing the hboot screen. Wipe, flash rom then boot into bootloader and run the update. This prevents getting bootloops and keeps you from having to use the computer to rename or remove the file. Saves you some work!
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2
If you are S-OFF you can also flash a different bootloader from fastboot on a PC avoiding the need to deal with the PG86IMG.zip file at all, then boot directly into recovery from the new bootloader. See my post here for alternative methods to flash a new bootloader when S-OFF, including multiple ways to delete the the PG86IMG.zip file when flashing one from the current bootloader.
ramjet73
Theres also
fastboot oem rebootRUU
fastboot flash zip PG86IMG.zip
fastboot reboot-bootloader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
enter recovery & clear cache then reboot.
I believe this is the fastest way to flash a different hboot
iTzLOLtrain said:
I believe this is the fastest way to flash a different hboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you look at the guide I linked in my previous post which has similar instructions that I took from the unlimited.io website and tested, you can do this fastboot sequence to clear cache, flash a different bootloader, then reboot back to your current ROM:
fastboot erase cache
fastboot oem rebootRUU
fastboot flash zip new_hboot.zip
fastboot reboot
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The hboot filename can be anything you want, and doesn't necessarily have to be "PG86IMG.zip" using this method.
If you need to flash another ROM before the reboot or do something else in recovery, you can issue the "fastboot boot recovery.img" command instead of "fastboot reboot" to go directly to your custom recovery since there is no "fastboot reboot-recovery" command.
ramjet73
ramjet73 said:
The hboot filename can be anything you want, and doesn't necessarily have to be "PG86IMG.zip" using this method.
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I know.. & because this thread is about bootloaders I thought that's how I would explain myself. Instead of going into more detail & say how you can flash .img files through that process....
iTzLOLtrain said:
I know.. & because this thread is about bootloaders I thought that's how I would explain myself. Instead of going into more detail & say how you can flash .img files through that process....
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That's fine.
For clarification, the command I suggested to get back to recovery (fastboot boot recovery.img) is not flashing it, only booting it directly to avoid having to go to the bootloader first to get to recovery.
ramjet73
Guys, I made this guide because it seemed like the most basic and simple way to do it. I speak from experience when I say that the command prompt can be a little intimidating. It can be get pretty nerve wrecking when you dont have a back up phone and you feel like you have lots of room for error and you're terrified you might brick your device. This guide doesn't use any sort of external commands, making it seem a lot less manual. I wasn't trying to show people the fastest way. Just the easiest, less nerve wrecking way.
sawyerbenjamin said:
Guys, I made this guide because it seemed like the most basic and simple way to do it. I speak from experience when I say that the command prompt can be a little intimidating. It can be get pretty nerve wrecking when you dont have a back up phone and you feel like you have lots of room for error and you're terrified you might brick your device. This guide doesn't use any sort of external commands, making it seem a lot less manual. I wasn't trying to show people the fastest way. Just the easiest, less nerve wrecking way.
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Click to collapse
The guide I linked in post #3 of this thread provides alternatives for flashing a different bootloader and for deleting the PG86IMG.zip file if you choose that method. Some people are very comfortable with the fastboot commands and that method saves having to worry about deleting the PG86IMG.zip. It's always good to have alternatives because one size never fits all.
You asked for feedback in the OP and we're providing that.
ramjet73
ramjet73 said:
The guide I linked in post #3 of this thread provides alternatives for flashing a different bootloader and for deleting the PG86IMG.zip file if you choose that method. Some people are very comfortable with the fastboot commands and that method saves having to worry about deleting the PG86IMG.zip. It's always good to have alternatives because one size never fits all.
You asked for feedback in the OP and we're providing that.
ramjet73
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Feedback - Information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task, etc., used as a basis for improvement.
You were promoting your own threads, not giving feedback. I have to thank you for the post that helped in making this guide, but your alternate methods aren't really necessary. I'm not sure how to say that without sounding rude or hostile, but Im sure you get my point.
sawyerbenjamin said:
You were promoting your own threads, not giving feedback. I have to thank you for the post that helped in making this guide, but your alternate methods aren't really necessary. I'm not sure how to say that without sounding rude or hostile, but Im sure you get my point.
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OK, and if you want to be blunt my point was that your guide wasn't really necessary, and I think that's feedback on your "product", since the content was already covered in the guide I setup for people that want to change bootloaders when S-OFF, but if people prefer to use your version in the OP of this thread that's fine with me.
As I already stated, alternatives are good.
ramjet73
ramjet73 said:
OK, and if you want to be blunt my point was that your guide wasn't really necessary, and I think that's feedback on your "product", since the content was already covered in the guide I setup for people that want to change bootloaders when S-OFF, but if people prefer to use your version in the OP of this thread that's fine with me.
As I already stated, alternatives are good.
ramjet73
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Ouch. That was uncalled for. To far bro. This is just a guide trying to help people. Not a place to get all ugly. Lol.
Dear sir
i have the same problem my phone get stuck on white htc screen
unrooted
s-on
relocked
hboot 1.5.0007
so can any one help me how to solve this problem
thanks
i also tried factory reset and to setup ICS ruu but it got stop when it try to reboot boat-loader and still the same problem
when trying to flash any thing recovery or boot failed and trying to put rom as pg86img also failed any one help me please this phone part of my daily life:crying::crying::crying:
The problem with s-on is that the kernel does not flash when you flash a rom. That is why it won't boot.
To fix the issue after flashing a rom, you need to pull the boot.img from the rom.zip and use fastboot to flash it.
fastboot flash boot boot.img
There are two options when you are s-on and flashing roms to flash the kernel with the rom and avoid bootloop.
The no pc method:
The easiest method is to use 4ext recovery with smart flash enabled. That will allow you to flash roms and kernel and avoid bootloop.
The PC method:
Keep a recovery.img in your fastboot directory. When you want to flash a rom, boot your recovery into the phones memory which allows you to flash the kernel with the rom.
You use: fastboot boot recovery.img
Then just install the rom once booted into recovery. While it seems the same, Booting into recovery using fastboot is different and will allow the kernel to flash.

[Q] S-On

If I am S-On, is there a way to set it up so that i don't have to manually flash the boot.img every time? Btw, I am using TWRP
TRWP includes HTC Dumlock which makes it easier, but you'll always have to do some level of extra work when you're s-on. That's just the facts of life with HTC.
gleggie said:
If I am S-On, is there a way to set it up so that i don't have to manually flash the boot.img every time? Btw, I am using TWRP
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Click to collapse
S-off your phone, it's the only way to allow boot.img to be installed automatically along with a rom/kernel installer/etc..
Check out the second section of the TWRP OP: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1902381
It basically replaces your bootloader with a copy of recovery that is allowed to flash boot.img files directly, after which you have to replace the default boot again before you can boot. It lets you flash a kernel completely PC free, but it doesn't necessarily make it easier or simpler. There are still extra steps involved if you are s-on.
mjones73 said:
S-off your phone, it's the only way to allow boot.img to be installed automatically along with a rom/kernel installer/etc..
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Click to collapse
If you don't flash often I don't recommend going s-off. It makes it easier to brick the phone.
feralicious said:
If you don't flash often I don't recommend going s-off. It makes it easier to brick the phone.
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Click to collapse
I was just pointing out the only way to avoid manually flashing boot.img is to s-off.
Personally I've been s-off since the day the process was released and I've flashed numerous roms without issue.

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