[Q] Can I get S-Off without flashing a different ROM?

[Q] Can I get S-Off without flashing a different ROM? - AT&T HTC One (M7)

I have the 1.57 hboot and TWRP, stock ROM and kernel. Is there a way to get S-Off without flashing a different ROM? I like my phone the way it is except for the bloatware. I can uninstall it with Titanium Backup but every time I reboot, it just reinstalls it all. I have made a filter with all the bloat in TT that I run to quickly remove it but it would be nice to be able to reboot without uninstalling all the bloat each time. Is there a way to gain write permissions to the system partition without getting S-Off? I'm not very savvy when it comes to the more complicated processes involving using ADB and command lines, by the way, so if it involves a lot of that I may just have to keep doing what I'm doing. Any help or points in the right direction would be appreciated. Thanks!

If Firewater won't S-OFF your phone with the stock ROM, then your next step would be to create a nandroid of your current stock ROM, flash a custom ROM and try Firewater again. If it's successful in gaining S-OFF, you can then restore the nandroid of stock. If Firewater comes back with the message saying it can't gain S-OFF no matter what you try, then you're stuck S-ON for now. Restore your nandroid and you're back to where you started.
If you just want to remove the bloatware and not have it return, and don't care about getting S-OFF, I believe you can flash an insecure kernel, such as ElementalX. After you install the insecure kernel, run your script to delete the bloatware and it should be gone for good.
I'm not 100% positive about this though, maybe more like 98%, b/c I've been S-OFF from the beginning and not entirely sure on the limitation of being S-On w/ unlocked bootloader. But I'm running the stock ROM, with ElementalX kernel and I've removed bloatware and it doesn't come back for me.

Thank you!
sharksfan7 said:
If Firewater won't S-OFF your phone with the stock ROM, then your next step would be to create a nandroid of your current stock ROM, flash a custom ROM and try Firewater again. If it's successful in gaining S-OFF, you can then restore the nandroid of stock. If Firewater comes back with the message saying it can't gain S-OFF no matter what you try, then you're stuck S-ON for now. Restore your nandroid and you're back to where you started.
If you just want to remove the bloatware and not have it return, and don't care about getting S-OFF, I believe you can flash an insecure kernel, such as ElementalX. After you install the insecure kernel, run your script to delete the bloatware and it should be gone for good.
I'm not 100% positive about this though, maybe more like 98%, b/c I've been S-OFF from the beginning and not entirely sure on the limitation of being S-On w/ unlocked bootloader. But I'm running the stock ROM, with ElementalX kernel and I've removed bloatware and it doesn't come back for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! This is just the information I was looking for. I won't be able to try it for a week or so, but when I do I'll post back here with the results.

Related

Question about rooting procedure for Rezound ICS OTA

Hi all! This is my first post and hope it's not too silly of a question. I am currently using a Thunderbolt but very likely will be upgrading to a Rezound (I have both phones now). I know the ICS OTA is out for Rezound. I want to get root and S-off on Rezound running the stock ICS OTA, but I am not sure about the order of events.
1. Should I get S-off and root on the stock Gingerbread rom per the instructions in this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1823362), and then upgrade to the ICS OTA? Or should I upgrade the stock Gingerbread to ICS OTA and then attempt to get S-off and root?
2. Is a confirmed s-off/root procedure out for the stock ICS OTA? sorry if I missed it - I promise I did my best searching through the forum before posting
I thought I'd start with the stock ICS OTA rom so I'll get a baseline for when I try out other roms down the road. And from what I've read here, the stock rom is probably a little bit more robust for day to day (correct me if I am wrong!). I hate the verizon bloatware and I think I'd be happy for a while if I can have S-off and root on the stock ICS.
thanks in advance for any help!

from scratch
Hiya, You're getting ready to become addicted to roms, by the way.
All your choices are kind of 'what do you want' things, but assuming you
receive it with stock Gingerbread, easiest thing would be to:
1 unlock by way of HTC Development instructions - lots of info here on xda
2 flash Cleanrom 175 a gingerbread stockish rooted rom
3 do the S-0ff thing with Juopunutbear, being careful not to amend or skip
any instructions in the S-0ff recipe (critical).
4 now your phone is s-0ff and locked. leave it just that way: no unlocks ever needed again and no pink warnings
5 flash Android police newest ICS RUU
6 flash amon ra as a PBIMG in recovery
7 use amon ra to wipe and install ANYTHING you want

haha Yeah roms are pretty addictive! So my background in rooting is limited to the Thunderbolt, which is my first smartphone. I used the Revolutionary IO method, which got me S-Off and root. But after reading through the Juopunutbear (Unlimited IO), I am slightly confused. I definitely did not do the wiring procedures involving the antennae contacts to get S-Off with the thunderbolt. I did more research and it sounds like the S-Off in thunderbolt is a "fake" S-off from a patched hboot?
That also leads to my next questions... up until now, I thought the following:
1. hboot = bootloader, which is the "BIOS" of the phone
2. In order to be rooted, S-off must happen first (this I guess is not true from your steps)
3. Recovery = part of hboot (from what I've read so far, this is incorrect too)
Also, would you elaborate on step #4? I thought unlocked is what I want, but instead I really want to have S-off and locked bootloader?
Thanks!
michaelbsheldon said:
Hiya, You're getting ready to become addicted to roms, by the way.
All your choices are kind of 'what do you want' things, but assuming you
receive it with stock Gingerbread, easiest thing would be to:
1 unlock by way of HTC Development instructions - lots of info here on xda
2 flash Cleanrom 175 a gingerbread stockish rooted rom
3 do the S-0ff thing with Juopunutbear, being careful not to amend or skip
any instructions in the S-0ff recipe (critical).
4 now your phone is s-0ff and locked. leave it just that way: no unlocks ever needed again and no pink warnings
5 flash Android police newest ICS RUU
6 flash amon ra as a PBIMG in recovery
7 use amon ra to wipe and install ANYTHING you want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

yep
yo!
hboot is bootloader alright: some folks like a modified hboot which lets you do more than stock hboot.
personally I keep the stock ICS hboot 2.25.
nope, you dont have to be s-0ff to be rooted, only unlocked.
You can do most all modifications with unlock EXCEPT go back to previous hboot & rom.
Recovery is separate from hboot. Recovery is a menu choice in hboot.
A new recovery can only be installed if unlocked or s-0ff.
There's ClockworkMod and AmonRa. You'll wanna check them out both, I like Amon Ra.
re: step #4.
I know it's counterintuitive, but if you unlock it again after s-0ff, even though it's s-0ff, you will
have a nasty PINK Tampered flag every time you boot to hboot/custom recovery. And that crappy reminder stays
even after you you relock. The Juopunutbear process relocks the phone, making it S-0ff, Locked. Perfect.
Now with S-0ff, locked or unlocked doesn't matter regarding any roms or radios you may install and No warning flags.
Dont be intimidated by the wire procedure for s-0ff, just read it so many times beforehand that you effen KNOW it.
Enjoy: my Zound is so fast cool and perfect now that ive customized it to my useage pattern - hoping for
same experience for you!.

dashbored said:
Hi all! This is my first post and hope it's not too silly of a question. I am currently using a Thunderbolt but very likely will be upgrading to a Rezound (I have both phones now). I know the ICS OTA is out for Rezound. I want to get root and S-off on Rezound running the stock ICS OTA, but I am not sure about the order of events.
1. Should I get S-off and root on the stock Gingerbread rom per the instructions in this thread (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1823362), and then upgrade to the ICS OTA? Or should I upgrade the stock Gingerbread to ICS OTA and then attempt to get S-off and root?
2. Is a confirmed s-off/root procedure out for the stock ICS OTA? sorry if I missed it - I promise I did my best searching through the forum before posting
I thought I'd start with the stock ICS OTA rom so I'll get a baseline for when I try out other roms down the road. And from what I've read here, the stock rom is probably a little bit more robust for day to day (correct me if I am wrong!). I hate the verizon bloatware and I think I'd be happy for a while if I can have S-off and root on the stock ICS.
thanks in advance for any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I basically had the exact same questions. Here's what I figured out:
S-Off, then Stock Recovery, then ICS OTA:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1821303
After post #6, go to the next link...
... Then flash AR Recovery 3.15:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1827263
I had to unlock my hboot again, which means I wiped my data... However, I've read that adding a custom hboot is very risky, since your phone can't run anything if this gets screwed up. I'm no expert, but this is what I've read. So re-unlocking felt safer to me, even if it was probably a little more hassle. Better than bricking, imo.
A word of caution about custom recovery: Clockwork Mod (CWM) has a serious bug that does not allow the Rezound to charge properly! When my battery died, I had to use my wife's Thunderbolt to charge the battery before I could turn my Rezound back on... A royal pain. I installed AR Recovery, and it's perfect.
... Then continue at the first link at post #7 for how to use AR Recovery to flash superSU to restore root.
I'm thinking about writing up a simple guide, since that was the hardest thing for me to find through this process.
Rezound
AR Recovery 3.15
Stock hboot
ICS OTA
Rooted

I sold the Thunderbolt today and so now I've officially transitioned over to the Rezound! The phone is the stock gingerbread. I am dying to root it if only just so I can use titanium back up to transfer my crap over.
Thanks guys for the helpful replies! I've decided that right now, what I want is to be on the ICS OTA but with S-off & root so I can remove the bloat and optimize it. I'll stay with that for a bit to get a baseline before trying out different ROMs
What kind of wires did you guys use for the S-off procedure? Do I need to go out and buy something specific, or is there something around the typical household setting that I can grab? Obviously, not frying the phone is top priority. I've read through too much posts in the past 48 hours and I've come across a few that mentioned fried USB ports and even dead phones that had to be returned, which's made me a bit tentative. But I want S-off, so any pointers/comments you may have that would help about this would be much appreciated!
michaelbsheldon - question about your steps #1 & #2. Aren't these extraneous steps, as in you could just do the S-off wire with the stock Gingerbread? I am kinda confused as to the purpose of unlocking it first via HTC Dev and flashing a stockish ROM before the wire trick.

bloodymurderlive said:
I basically had the exact same questions. Here's what I figured out:
S-Off, then Stock Recovery, then ICS OTA:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1821303
After post #6, go to the next link...
... Then flash AR Recovery 3.15:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1827263
I had to unlock my hboot again, which means I wiped my data... However, I've read that adding a custom hboot is very risky, since your phone can't run anything if this gets screwed up. I'm no expert, but this is what I've read. So re-unlocking felt safer to me, even if it was probably a little more hassle. Better than bricking, imo.
A word of caution about custom recovery: Clockwork Mod (CWM) has a serious bug that does not allow the Rezound to charge properly! When my battery died, I had to use my wife's Thunderbolt to charge the battery before I could turn my Rezound back on... A royal pain. I installed AR Recovery, and it's perfect.
... Then continue at the first link at post #7 for how to use AR Recovery to flash superSU to restore root.
I'm thinking about writing up a simple guide, since that was the hardest thing for me to find through this process.
Rezound
AR Recovery 3.15
Stock hboot
ICS OTA
Rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip about the CWM recovery! As I no longer have a thunderbolt, I would've been totally screwed. Question though - it sounds like you did what michaelbsheldon said not to do, re-unlock after you're S-off. Do you have the pink flag that he mentioned?
So here's my plan to get my Rezound into a S-off, rooted ICS OTA - please let me know if it's valid:
1a (waiting for michaelbsheldon reply if truly necessary, or if can proceed on stock GB) - HTC Dev unlock and flash Cleanrom 175
1. S-off wire procedure
2. Apply ICS OTA update
3. Apply global roaming update (if available? read about this in the past few days)
4. Since no need to unlock, flash appropriate Superuser for ICS OTA (will google, or if anyone would like to help make sure I find the right one, please feel free to link )
5. flash Amonra recovery. Keep stock hboot.
6. Install root explorer to delete VZ bloatware and titanium backup to restore apps and data from Thunderbolt

dashbored said:
Thanks for the tip about the CWM recovery! As I no longer have a thunderbolt, I would've been totally screwed. Question though - it sounds like you did what michaelbsheldon said not to do, re-unlock after you're S-off. Do you have the pink flag that he mentioned?
So here's my plan to get my Rezound into a S-off, rooted ICS OTA - please let me know if it's valid:
1a (waiting for michaelbsheldon reply if truly necessary, or if can proceed on stock GB) - HTC Dev unlock and flash Cleanrom 175
1. S-off wire procedure
2. Apply ICS OTA update
3. Apply global roaming update (if available? read about this in the past few days)
4. Since no need to unlock, flash appropriate Superuser for ICS OTA (will google, or if anyone would like to help make sure I find the right one, please feel free to link )
5. flash Amonra recovery. Keep stock hboot.
6. Install root explorer to delete VZ bloatware and titanium backup to restore apps and data from Thunderbolt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to give you a response this afternooon... I recommend that you don't do anything until I can clarify some things. brt...

dashbored said:
Thanks for the tip about the CWM recovery! As I no longer have a thunderbolt, I would've been totally screwed. Question though - it sounds like you did what michaelbsheldon said not to do, re-unlock after you're S-off. Do you have the pink flag that he mentioned?
So here's my plan to get my Rezound into a S-off, rooted ICS OTA - please let me know if it's valid:
1a (waiting for michaelbsheldon reply if truly necessary, or if can proceed on stock GB) - HTC Dev unlock and flash Cleanrom 175
1. S-off wire procedure
2. Apply ICS OTA update
3. Apply global roaming update (if available? read about this in the past few days)
4. Since no need to unlock, flash appropriate Superuser for ICS OTA (will google, or if anyone would like to help make sure I find the right one, please feel free to link )
5. flash Amonra recovery. Keep stock hboot.
6. Install root explorer to delete VZ bloatware and titanium backup to restore apps and data from Thunderbolt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dashbored... The thing you need to understand is that everyone has their own way of doing things. You need to either (a) study everything everyone says until you understand everything well enough to create your own process, or (b) follow somebody else's process. I will provide you with one below.
In regards to the latest comments...
Flash CleanROM?
I see very little point in flashing a ROM, if you're trying to get the official ICS, root, and S-OFF. I believe the purpose of flashing the ROM is that the ROM is already rooted for you. However, you will need to re-root after you install the OTA, so why not do the same process twice (flash superSU) rather than two different processes (flash ROM, flash superSU)? Seems to me that flashing CleanROM introduces more variables than necessary.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but I wouldn't try to install the OTA unless you are running stock Gingerbread. Alternatively, you could try to find a ROM based on the official ICS OTA, but the OTA is still very new... I would just do it the "proper" way (install through Gingerbread) and let those ROMs cook a little more before playing with them.
S-OFF before or after OTA?
I recommend achieving S-OFF before installing the OTA. The S-OFF procedure may very well work with the OTA, but it is guaranteed to work with stock Gingerbread. There is an ICS option in hansoon2000's all-in-one toolkit, but this is based on a leak... Which again is probably very similar (if not identical) to the OTA. But the official OTA is very new, so... In my opinion, the surest thing is to achieve S-OFF before installing the OTA.
Unlock after S-OFF?
My bootloader was locked after I installed the OTA update. What I discovered was that I was unable to flash any custom recoveries (AR Recovery 3.15). Even though I was S-OFF, I still needed to unlock before it would let me flash a recovery.
What I think some people do after achieving S-OFF is install a custom bootloader, and this is why they're able to install custom recoveries without having to unlock again. This is risky. As I understand it, nothing can run on your Rezound if your bootloader has a problem. So if you happen to install a corrupt bootloader, you could brick your Rezound.
It is kind of a pain to go through the HTC unlock process twice, but hey... It's up to you how much risk you're willing to take with your brand new Rezound. I took the safe route. It took maybe a little more time, and I had to do some steps twice (achieving root for GB, then for ICS... unlocking before and after ICS...), but since you only have to go through this whole process once, I recommend playing it safe.
PINK Tampered flag?
I unlocked again after achieving S-OFF. I just double-checked, and I do not see any pink "Tampered" flag anywhere in my bootloader. If you follow my instructions below, this shouldn't happen.
My start-to-finish recommendation:
If the end result you're looking for is ICS OTA, rooted, S-OFF, then I recommend you follow these guides, in the following order:
1: Scotty's noob-friendly guide to root Rezound:
http://androidforums.com/rezound-al...ys-noob-friendly-root-guide-start-finish.html
One thing to note: Scotty gives instructions both for temporary and permanent flashing of custom recovery. In your case, I would recommend doing the temporary flash. This will allow you to flash superSU (achieve root) - which you need to do in order to achieve S-OFF - but it will also save you the hassle of later having to flash the stock recovery back - which you need to have in order to install the OTA.
2: My guide to achieve S-OFF:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_kRxD5LtazP7vEnr9cDb3iHwWB1ZfJD_yn6xXo7d1bo/edit
3: My guide to install the OTA after rooting and S-OFF:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tmlh4OnplVfBNSjSyXfTYIVGfyb9lgI6ABpfg7gHY44/edit
If you flashed a temporary recovery, then you can skip to step 7 in this guide to verify that you have stock recovery on your device. If you do, then you should be able to initiate the OTA from within Gingerbread, and successfully install. In other words: If you flashed a temporary recovery, you can follow steps 7 to the end in this guide.
These three guides together, in the order that I listed them, are the exact steps I followed to achieve the same thing that you say you're shooting for: official ICS, rooted, S-OFF. I think these steps are the least risky steps you can take to achieve these things.
Keep us posted on how it goes!

bloodymurderlive said:
dashbored
Unlock after S-OFF?
My bootloader was locked after I installed the OTA update. What I discovered was that I was unable to flash any custom recoveries (AR Recovery 3.15). Even though I was S-OFF, I still needed to unlock before it would let me flash a recovery.
What I think some people do after achieving S-OFF is install a custom bootloader, and this is why they're able to install custom recoveries without having to unlock again. This is risky. As I understand it, nothing can run on your Rezound if your bootloader has a problem. So if you happen to install a corrupt bootloader, you could brick your Rezound.
Keep us posted on how it goes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI: AFter you s-off you can not use fastboot flash commands unless you install the JB Hboot at the end of the S-off process (it should offer you the option) That is the custom hboot you refer to. All flashers are encouraged to check MD5 sum of the files they download before flashing (primarily RUU, hboot/radios..not so much roms). This will guard against corrupted files, making the process less risky.
If you have the ph98img.zip file version of amonra, it will flash just fine in the stock hboot. Hboot picks it up when it scans for ph98img.zip files and you select yes to install.
Personally, I've kept the stock hboot because there are ph98img.zip files of anything I've needed to flash so I don't have a need to be using a lot of fastboot commands.

topgun1953 said:
Personally, I've kept the stock hboot because there are ph98img.zip files of anything I've needed to flash so I don't have a need to be using a lot of fastboot commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly... I prefer that my Rezound is self-sufficient, without needing a PC to mess with it.
Good note on fast boot!

stock or rooted
Dashboard:
Juopunutbear instructions require a rooted rom.
So if you wanna go S-0ff, you CAN use a stock rom, but it must
be rooted (SU and Busybox) for the S-0ff process to work.

michaelbsheldon said:
Hiya, You're getting ready to become addicted to roms, by the way.
All your choices are kind of 'what do you want' things, but assuming you
receive it with stock Gingerbread, easiest thing would be to:
1 unlock by way of HTC Development instructions - lots of info here on xda
2 flash Cleanrom 175 a gingerbread stockish rooted rom
3 do the S-0ff thing with Juopunutbear, being careful not to amend or skip
any instructions in the S-0ff recipe (critical).
4 now your phone is s-0ff and locked. leave it just that way: no unlocks ever needed again and no pink warnings
5 flash Android police newest ICS RUU
6 flash amon ra as a PBIMG in recovery
7 use amon ra to wipe and install ANYTHING you want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am new to this and need help when performing a wipe with amon ra there are a lot of options in recovery for the wipe, and I am not sure which option to do. Can you help.
Thanks

flspanky said:
I am new to this and need help when performing a wipe with amon ra there are a lot of options in recovery for the wipe, and I am not sure which option to do. Can you help.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you trying to accomplish? Root? In that case, I believe you need to use amon ra to Wipe cache, then Wipe dalvik cache. Then.com use it to flash superSU.

bloodymurderlive said:
dashbored... The thing you need to understand is that everyone has their own way of doing things. You need to either (a) study everything everyone says until you understand everything well enough to create your own process, or (b) follow somebody else's process. I will provide you with one below.
In regards to the latest comments...
Keep us posted on how it goes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow thank you for that informative reply! That really cleared up all of my questions. I now have two new, minor questions.
1. The audio clip for the S-off wire trick has two distinct tones. From watching the video, it looks like the different tones don't matter. Basically just hit tap and release as the metronome hits the first beat, and then again on the second beat. Correct?
2. This is probably a silly question, but what are the advantages of Amon Ra recovery over the stock?
I am too tired tonight, but I think I am going to give this a go this weekend...

michaelbsheldon said:
Dashboard:
Juopunutbear instructions require a rooted rom.
So if you wanna go S-0ff, you CAN use a stock rom, but it must
be rooted (SU and Busybox) for the S-0ff process to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up for me!

bloodymurderlive said:
What are you trying to accomplish? Root? In that case, I believe you need to use amon ra to Wipe cache, then Wipe dalvik cache. Then.com use it to flash superSU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I was installing the ICS Global root and ROM and the instructions said to wipe all, and I was not sure how many areas under the wiping options I should perform.

Quick update - I've rooted my Rezound. Have not done the S-off wire trick yet. Still on stock GB.
Question - none of the wifi tether app seems to be working! Open garden was working perfectly for me with my old rooted Thunderbolt. A quick search seems to show that Rezound has issues with wifi tethering?! This was one of the main motivations behind rooting, so I am a feeling a bit underwhelmed right now with my new Rezound...

Newest wifi tether works fine...even has Rezound settings. Since you are still on GB search for sirgatez mod. Worked great for me when I was still on GB.
Sent from my HTC Rezound / ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk v2.2.7

Just finished S-OFF Need some help.

OK
Originally rooted my phone and the decided to try the S-OFF. Kind of messed up on the way, but have fixed everything. I am now at a locked bootloader which is where I know where I needed to be. I am able to boot into my phone and everything is smooth. Now my phone still thinks it is not rooted, so I am assuming that I need a custom hboot or am I missing something? Any information or links would be appreciated. I did look, but some threads are old and just wanted to be sure I get the most current files. I am looking to get rid of bloat ware and maybe a little overclocking. I might be interested in some roms, but I personally like the stock so if you could recommend something close but better as far as stock goes then I am all ears. Thanks in advance!

if you want root, then download the latest version of SuperSU zip file
http://download.chainfire.eu/204/SuperSU/
o place this zip file on your sd card
o boot into a custom recovery like amon ra recovegy or the touch recovery
o flash the zip file using recovery
now you will have root.
Regarding juopunutbears' custom hboot, I don't recommend it. if sometime in the future one switches back to s-on with a nonstock hboot, then you will have a nonrecoverable brick. Perhaps some day a Verizon OTA will try to switch you back to s-on?
The only thing the custom hboot accomplishes is the ability to show everyone your bootloader says it is locked, yet it acts like it is unlocked. its purpose is to try and fool Verizon employees that your screwed up phone you are returning was not tampered with.

Noob questions about getting my EVO3D ready for a custom rom

I tried looking around, but a lot of the posts were from mid/late 2011 about this.
Currently my EVO 3D is still on stock Gingerbread.
I tried to lookup a stock ICS rom, but almost all of them are custom roms based on the stock rom. Basically, ATM all I want to do is upgrade to a rooted version of the sprint ICS rom, not install a completely custom rom. Also, I have heard that with the official rom you can upgrade without losing any information. Is it possible to do that with ANY of the custom roms or would they all require me to backup my data because it will have to reformat my phone? ATM I am not looking for a custom rom and really, just want to be able to upgrade to the stock ICS while still having root purely so I can delete all those annoying preinstalled apps.
Will backing up data from a gingerbread rom and then restoring it to a ICS rom cause any problems?
And I have no idea how to go about doing it, I know I should at first use the temp root just to backup my information.... but I am lost on the whole S-OFF and flashing from past that point thing.

Cyber Akuma said:
I tried looking around, but a lot of the posts were from mid/late 2011 about this.
Currently my EVO 3D is still on stock Gingerbread.
I tried to lookup a stock ICS rom, but almost all of them are custom roms based on the stock rom. Basically, ATM all I want to do is upgrade to a rooted version of the sprint ICS rom, not install a completely custom rom. Also, I have heard that with the official rom you can upgrade without losing any information. Is it possible to do that with ANY of the custom roms or would they all require me to backup my data because it will have to reformat my phone? ATM I am not looking for a custom rom and really, just want to be able to upgrade to the stock ICS while still having root purely so I can delete all those annoying preinstalled apps.
Will backing up data from a gingerbread rom and then restoring it to a ICS rom cause any problems?
And I have no idea how to go about doing it, I know I should at first use the temp root just to backup my information.... but I am lost on the whole S-OFF and flashing from past that point thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Virus has a thread with the stock rooted rom in the development form. As for restoring apps, you shouldn't have a problem, if you do clear caches and reboot
Sent from my EVO 3DMA with a little "Common Sense"

Thanks for the help
I'm guessing thats this one?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1808150
So, he mentioned I won't loose root if I am dev unlocked? What about if I use a 3rd party unlock method? I remember reading that HTC's unlock method still leaves some aspects unlocked while the 3rd party methods can fully unlock the device.
And can anyone help me with the other questions I asked?
Thanks

Cyber Akuma said:
Thanks for the help
I'm guessing thats this one?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1808150
So, he mentioned I won't loose root if I am dev unlocked? What about if I use a 3rd party unlock method? I remember reading that HTC's unlock method still leaves some aspects unlocked while the 3rd party methods can fully unlock the device.
And can anyone help me with the other questions I asked?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HTC method will leave you with unlocked, s-on. That is what some folks seem to to refer to as the partially still locked issue.
I would just use the HTC method, and then use the wire trick method to get s-off. Then you are unlocked and have control of what ever you want to do.
When it comes to the roms, you need to do a little research and make sure you have compatible components. If you upgrade to the latest H-boot, then certain roms will no longer run. Personally I am running the cool rom as of last night, but have been on mean rom for the last couple of weeks. I have been using the "other kernel" with hboot 1.58 and things have been pretty good.
The meanrom 2.6 is a good choice for you in my opinion as it will give you root access with as close to stock as you can get. It has the kernel and new hboot instructions in it also so I would consider it a good fit for what you are looking for. I do not believe you can overclock the kernel it comes with, but you did not request that.
As to backing up your data. Everyone will have their preferred program or method. I have purchased the rom tool box pro edition from market, I use it to back up apps and data. Regardless of what you use, be careful when restoring the backups. I restore data like wifi, messages, contacts. I do not restore the system data, especially if I am changing between roms as it is much easier to type in a little data than to figure out why the thing is unstable.
It just takes a bit of research, but all the information you need is available.
Have a good weekend.

sonza said:
The HTC method will leave you with unlocked, s-on. That is what some folks seem to to refer to as the partially still locked issue.
I would just use the HTC method, and then use the wire trick method to get s-off. Then you are unlocked and have control of what ever you want to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But dosen't the HTC method force me to reformat my memory, thus requiring me to do the temporary root so I can run titanium backup before doing it?
On a related note, I am not sure just how I would restore my apps actually. I mean, the first thing my phone would ask me to do is to sign into my Gmail account, and when I do that, it will automatically attempt to re-download all of my apps wouldn't it? (And fail spectacularly since I don't have enough space, nearly all of my apps are on my SD card and my internal memory is still full, lousy preinstalled bloatware that you cannot remove...)
sonza said:
When it comes to the roms, you need to do a little research and make sure you have compatible components. If you upgrade to the latest H-boot, then certain roms will no longer run. Personally I am running the cool rom as of last night, but have been on mean rom for the last couple of weeks. I have been using the "other kernel" with hboot 1.58 and things have been pretty good.
It just takes a bit of research, but all the information you need is available.
Have a good weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said, I just want a rooted stock rom for now, not a custom rom.

Cyber Akuma (is that a reference to "D.Gray.Man?)
Shameless self promoting here but, for some background info have a look at:
[Guide]My Hboot 1.5x HTC Unlock/recovery/rom/kernel flashing notes
Evo3d(CDMA)HBoot/S-off Differences & Rooting Background Info
I've been using MeanRom ICS since it came out. Very solid, very similar to stock, smooth, reliable, fast, but all the extras. S-Off is strongly recommended b/c HTC Unlocked (S-on) users are hit or miss on being able to install ICS Roms. If you are still on Hboot 1.50 you can get s-off by downgrading Hboot to 1.40 or the Jbear wire Trick. If you take the official ICS update Jbear is your only option at the moment.
You may be able to use EsFileExplorer to back up your user apps w/o rooting, but an option to consider is to HTC Unlock, install a recovery, flash SuperUser and have a full rooted stock (S-On) phone that you can backup with Ti Backup or the custom recovery (don't think you will lose anything in the process).
With HTC Unlock, you wont be able to update to ICS while rooted, you'd have to relock and flash the full RUU (erasing the phone) and unlock/root again.
Upgrading to ICS, you should be able to restore your user apps, but system settings/google accounts (especially GB backups) etc will cause issues so you will most likely need to just bite the bullet and plan on re-entering things the first time through. FYI, Virus's update thread only works for S-off users.

Wait, if I do S-OFF and then use an official rom, would I be stuck with S-ON again?

Cyber Akuma said:
Wait, if I do S-OFF and then use an official rom, would I be stuck with S-ON again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not if it's a rooted version of the rom found in the Dev section.

Cyber Akuma said:
Wait, if I do S-OFF and then use an official rom, would I be stuck with S-ON again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once s-Off, always s-Off. (unless u send the command via fastboot)
S-Off trumps unlocked bootloader (htc unlocked)
Running a full stock Ruu will not reset to S-on
Sent from my "Up all night, Sleep all day" EVO3D!

But when you htc unlock yes it will format the device, so temp root, titanium backup, htc unlock, jbear, then custom recovery and finally flash stock rooted....
Good luck its all not too complicated. Just allot of steps

J.eremy said:
But when you htc unlock yes it will format the device, so temp root, titanium backup, htc unlock, jbear, then custom recovery and finally flash stock rooted....
Good luck its all not too complicated. Just allot of steps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A word of warning about temp rooting: it caused my phone to bootloop so I personally was unable to save my data. Hopefully you'll have better luck.
Read, Search, Read again, ... Then Ask with Tapatalk 2

[Q] Install Recovery

I was having extreme problems after flashing a custom ROM on my TB, so I took extreme measures and flashed an RUU, and now I'm back to stock. Well, stock except being S-OFF with the Revolutionary hboot. The RUU's kept saying "cannot roll back bootloader", which is fine by me. My phone is still booting, and running just like stock.
I was just wanting some directions on how to just install a recovery and get root again. All the instructions I can find, including the All In One tool, run me through gaining S-OFF and then rooting. I'm still S-OFF, so I'd rather not touch replacing hboot again.
Or, would it be easiest to flash a Stock/Rooted ROM, and if so, can someone provide a reference or link? I've been burned in the past of people claiming Stock/Rooted on my old phone, but actually making custom changes with negative effects for me.

dbighead77 said:
I was having extreme problems after flashing a custom ROM on my TB, so I took extreme measures and flashed an RUU, and now I'm back to stock. Well, stock except being S-OFF with the Revolutionary hboot. The RUU's kept saying "cannot roll back bootloader", which is fine by me. My phone is still booting, and running just like stock.
I was just wanting some directions on how to just install a recovery and get root again. All the instructions I can find, including the All In One tool, run me through gaining S-OFF and then rooting. I'm still S-OFF, so I'd rather not touch replacing hboot again.
Or, would it be easiest to flash a Stock/Rooted ROM, and if so, can someone provide a reference or link? I've been burned in the past of people claiming Stock/Rooted on my old phone, but actually making custom changes with negative effects for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use S-OFF but no root in the extras menu of the tool if it doesn't ask you to install on first open

S-off required to convert user app to system app?

I am trying to convert a user app (cerberus anti-theft) to a system app using link2sd (also tried titanium). Worked perfect on my other phone with link2sd.
Does this require S-off? If not, any help or pointers would be appreciated.
I have android 5.0.2 I checked and I do have enough space on my system partition. I know I can flash zip file, have done that, but not what I am trying to do.

System partition is write-protected on this device, even with unlocked bootloader and root.
S-off is one way, but I don't personally suggest spending $25 on sunshine s-off just to remove system write protection; since it can be accomplished with s-on and the proper kernel mod.
What you need is the wp_mod kernel mod. I don't think the specific mod was ever posted for Lollipop. But since most custom ROMs have this kernel mod applied; you can extract boot.img from a custom ROM with same/similar software number, and flash in fastboot. Or just use a custom ROM to begin with.
Make a TWRP backup before trying to restore a modded kernel, just in case you need to revert. I've seen a couple folks fail to boot afterward, and while I'm not sure why that happened; I don't want you getting unnecessarily stuck due to a recommendation of mine.

Thank you so much for you answer. My confusion was the fact that I did not think with the HTC M8, S-on, that you could flash custom ROM's.

rockfordpi said:
My confusion was the fact that I did not think with the HTC M8, S-on, that you could flash custom ROM's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is not true. Custom ROMs flash fine with s-on. The only exception is the Verizon M8; for which indeed you cannot unlock the bootloader or flash custom ROMs unless you s-off first.
Your firmware (hboot, radio, etc.) also needs to be up-to-date (compatible with the custom ROM). Updating firmware is "easier" with s-off; but it can also be done by s-on by installing OTA or RUU update.

Yes, I have flashed the official RUU updates, I knew that could be done, it was the custom ROM issue that confused me. I think a lot of my confusion was semantics. I am slowly learning.

Better Mobile App

welcome