This is seriously impressive stuff - the guys from the unrevoked team did it again, and this version 3.2 is definitely their best release yet. Most of the credit, outside of the core unrevoked team, belongs to Sebastian Krahmer for discovering the exploit that works on all supported phones.

This article mentions rooting, Nandroid, and flashing of custom ROMs. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up our primers here:

  1. Rooting Explained + Top 5 Benefits Of Rooting
  2. Custom ROMs Explained And Why You Want Them
  3. How To Fully Back Up And Restore Your Android Phone Using Nandroid Backup

Unrevoked 3.2 Features

  1. One-click root without reinstalling/reflashing/wiping your existing stock Android OS.
  2. Flashing of custom ClockworkMod recovery that allows installation of custom ROMs and nandroid backups/restores.
  3. NAND unlock and S-OFF (disabled security) for select devices (see the title as well as the quote below).

Supported Devices

Here is the list of supported Android handsets, as per the unrevoked3 wiki:

  • Sprint EVO 4G (HTC Supersonic)
  • Droid Incredible (HTC Incredible)
  • HTC Desire GSM
  • HTC Desire CDMA (HTC BravoC)
  • HTC Aria
  • Droid Eris (HTC DesireC)
  • HTC Wildfire (HTC Buzz)

unrevoked3 will permanently unlock NAND write protection by default on the following phones:

  • Sprint EVO 4G
  • Droid Incredible (HTC Incredible)
  • HTC Desire CDMA (HTC BravoC)

New in 3.2

  • v3.2:

    • Added support for Froyo builds on all supported devices (thanks to Sebastian Krahmer)
    • Added support for the CDMA Desire
    • Optionally disables security on supported CDMA devices

  • FAQ

    • Does unrevoked3 give me root?
      Yes. It previously did not; as of version 3.0, it does.

    • What does this do, then?
      unrevoked3 will replace the stock Android recovery with a custom one, which adds many features including “nandroid” backups, the ability to use custom ROMs, and a greater amount of flexibility and customization of your Android phone.

    • Does this permanently unlock the NAND flash on my phone?
      Yes. The default configuration of this tool disables the phone's security, which also disables the NAND locks placed on the storage by the bootloader. If you choose not to disable security, the /system partition will be read-only after the tool completes.

    • How do I re-enable security on my device?
      If you wish to re-enable security on your device, please follow the instructions for S-ON on the unrEVOked forever page.

    • How do I use a custom recovery image instead of the packaged ClockworkMod?
      You will need to choose a .img file, which is a binary file suitable for flashing. A .zip file will not work and may render your recovery partition inaccessible until you run unrevoked3 with an appropriate image.

    • Are any drivers required?
      On Linux and OS X, the program is self-contained. For Windows users, please install the HBOOT drivers available here.

    • I'm running Linux and it won't detect my device!
      Either run the program with root permissions, or add appropriate udev rules to the file /etc/rules.d/51-android.rules. Instructions are available at the Android Developers website.

    • The program hangs when “waiting for the system to settle.”
      Uninstall any programs that may connect to the phone over USB and automatically sync. Specifically, we have had interference from HTC Sync and Doubletwist in the past; other programs may also cause trouble.

    • Will you release the source code?
      At this time, we are not disclosing the vulnerability we have exploited to unlock the NAND flash.

    • That doesn't seem fair! Android is about open source.
      In some senses, we agree; but at times, a tradeoff needs to be made. Releasing the source code for this, we believe, would compromise the greater ability to unlock devices like these in the future. Given the choice between sacrificing the liberty of running code on our handsets and the liberty of reading the code by which we unlock it, we feel that the millions of handsets are more important. It is unfortunate that we must make such a choice, and we look forward to the day in the future that no such decision need be made.

    • I found this software useful, and I would like to donate to the team!
      Thank you for your support. At this time, the team behind unrevoked3 does not accept donations; but we highly encourage our users to donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF performs the important role of standing up for our digital liberties, including the liberties to reverse-engineer devices that we own. If you are able, please consider making a contribution to them so that they can continue to perform this valuable service.

    Download

    Windows users, please download and install these HBOOT drivers first.

    Update 9/6/10 10:30PM PST: Unrevoked just posted a note on twitter:

    We're seeing some strange problems with Unrevoked 3.2, so we've pulled the release for a bit. Please hold on!

    and followed it by another:

    Don't worry if you've already run 3.2 - you are rooted and everything is OK. It's just a problem for users while running it.

    So unrevoked 3.2 is temporarily unavailable, but should be patched up and back shortly:

    We're looking at some minor bugs that a very small number (two) EVO users have encountered and have taken the tool down for a short while until we're satisfied that they have been resolved.

    – unrevoked team

    You can download unrevoked 3.2 for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS from this page.

    Credit: Unrevoked, thanks Rudy

    You can discuss this unrevoked3 release over at DroidForums.net