bootloader

Mar

Sony Ericsson Promises Unlocked Bootloaders In Some Flavors Of All Upcoming Xperia Devices (Arc, Play, Neo, Pro)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Mods, News, Sony Ericsson

Today is starting out pretty well - minutes ago, we finally got the HTC Thunderbolt kernel source, and now Sony Ericsson decided to lift our spirits even further via a blog post announcing their commitment to the Android development community. And a commitment it is - Sony Ericsson may just be the first large manufacturer truly listening to us.

Sure, Motorola unlocked the bootloader of the XOOM, and Samsung did the same to the Nexus S, but Sony Ericsson is promising to release versions of ALL Xperia phones with easily unlockable bootloaders, at least ones slated for 2011. This includes the Xperia Arc, Play, Neo, and Pro, but SE is quick to clarify - by far not all devices will be this open.

Mar

Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Root Now Available (Sans Bricking Feature)

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Mods, News, XOOM

In typically blisteringly-quick fashion, the hackers at XDA have managed to root a Wi-Fi XOOM in no time at all - good news, considering that the root method for the regular XOOM was bricking the Wi-Fi models. It's worth noting that unlocking the XOOM's bootloader (which is required for root) wipes the device.

The current method does require some ADB commands, but certainly nothing tricky. Still, for those who are hesitant, it's likely that an automated method won't be far behind. The instructions, as posted by Xaositek:

This is it guys... HUGE props to MADindustries and modplan!
Download the Motorola WiFi Xoom Root Zip file and unzip it.

Mar

It Wasn't Just Verizon - The HTC Incredible S' Bootloader And Recovery Are Signed As Well

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Incredible S (Vivo), Mods, News

Conspiracy theorists would have you believe that the ThunderBolt's signed (and locked) bootloader was all Verizon's doing, but it appears that isn't quite the case - the Incredible S, one of HTC's unlocked GSM phones, is shipping with a similar failsafe system. That basically means no custom ROMs for you (at least until a viable workaround is discovered).

Proof? Look no further than the contents of this Incredible S RUU:

From what our friends at AndIRC can tell (note that they don't have a device in hand), the Incredible S includes a signature check much like the one on the ThunderBolt.

Mar

HTC Thunderbolt Bootloader Unlocked, ClockworkMod Recovery Loaded, ROM Floodgates Opened

Posted by David Ruddock in Dev, HTC, Mods, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

That didn't take long. A collaborative effort between numerous Android hackers just managed to crack the Thunderbolt's bootloader wide open, successfully booting a custom recovery image. They also incidentally discovered a new root method in the process. Credit goes to jcase, jamezelle, and scotty2 (and all of andirc) for working out the details, and ProTekk and Trident for putting their shiny new Thunderbolts on the line. Here's the visual proof:

Image credit: Trident, ProTekk

We'll keep you apprised on the situation with instructions on how to go about unlocking your own Thunderbolt as we get more information.

Feb

This Changes Everything: Motorola XOOM's Bootloader Will Be "Unlockable/Relockable"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Mods, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XOOM

Sure, the first part of that title might sound like a Steve Jobs quote, but Motorola's latest tweet merits the expression:

That's right - unlike almost all other Motorola devices in recent memory, the XOOM will ship with an unlocked (or at least "unlockable/relockable") bootloader. That means modders will be free to create custom ROMs and kernels for the tablet - not as surprising as it would be were the XOOM not a flagship Google device, but still very reassuring.

Now, Motorola, about your other devices' bootloaders...

Source: Motorola (Twitter)

Feb

Motorola Atrix 4G Rooted Before Release, Bootloader Confirmed To Be Signed

Posted by Josue Alamo in AT&T, Atrix 4G (Olympus), Mods, Motorola, News

Last Updated: February 22nd, 2011

AT&T users, rejoice! Brief Mobile has been informed that user DesignGears, along with Getaphixx, has rooted the Motorola Atrix before its official release.

AT&T is notorious for restricting its users to only Market apps. Through rooting, however, non-Market apps can run via sideloading. These privileges also provide an easy way to free users of the bloated social-networking service MOTOBLUR and disable many other unnecessary applications.

Full instructions follow:

What you’ll need first:
.NET Framework 2.0 or Mono v1.2.6 (more information on Linux) (Windows XP: Download .NET Framework 2.0)
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Ubuntu Hardy (8.04 LTS)
Ubuntu Jaunty (9.04)
Ubuntu Karmic (9.10)
Ubuntu Lucid (10.04 LTS)
Ubuntu Maverick (10.10)
Debian Lenny (5.0)
Debian Squeeze (testing)
Debian Sid (unstable)
Debian Experimental
Install Motorola drivers on your computer
Mount the device for Media Sync.

Feb

HTC Thunderbolt Rooted With S-OFF, Successfully Running ClockworkMod Recovery

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Dev, HTC, Mods, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

The gang at AndIRC - lead by Jamzelle and TheEndGame7 - has already managed to completely root the HTC Thunderbolt, and with Koush's help, has ClockworkMod Recovery up and running on the device. Apparently, it was a surprisingly easy task in just about every way.

The team started with a pre-production, unbranded Thunderbolt running a January 3rd ROM. What they found was that the phone had a bootloader with S-OFF, although they note that it's not an engineering bootloader, and that it's likely a different one than production models will ship with. Even more surprisingly, the phone had no write protection.

Feb

Half-Baked Port Of Cyanogen Mod 7 Hits Galaxy Tab - Why This Is Hurting Android

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, Mods

There's been exciting news floating around the blogosphere today of a "working" beta of CyanogenMod 7 for the Galaxy Tab being released. Just one caveat - it isn't really CyanogenMod 7.

Before I go onward with this rant, I want to make it crystal clear that I have nothing personally against the developer who ported CyanogenMod 7 to the Galaxy Tab, people like him (or her, of course) are part of the reason I love Android. But they're also part of the reason I have become increasingly frustrated with the custom ROM community's professionalism and ethical standards at large. Let me explain.

Jan

Motorola Working On A Developer-Friendly "Bootloader Solution" After YouTube Comment Debacle

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Mods, Motorola, News

Oh, boy... what a mess this is. Earlier this week, a Motorola employee with access to the company's official YouTube account replied to a (now deleted) comment about their locked bootloaders with "if you want to do custom roms, then buy elsewhere, we’ll continue with our strategy that is working thanks." Issues about eFuse aside, that's a pretty poor thing to say from a customer service perspective. Apparently, Motorola recognized that fact after somebody posted on their Facebook page they'd be taking that advice:

Does this mean they're doing away with eFuse? Maybe... maybe not. But at least we know they're exploring the possibility, and that a more modder-friendly Moto isn't completely out of the question.

Dec

Android Devs To Manufacturers and Carriers: It's Not Rooting, It's Openness

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials, News

The Android dev team has generally been assumed to have a passive stance on rooting and unlocking Android devices. That is, do it if you want - we won't stop you. And there's certainly evidence abound supporting this - Google's Nexus One could be unlocked via a simple ADB (Android Device Bridge) command: fastboot oem unlock. The same is true of the Nexus S.

Of course, it only makes sense - Google doesn't want to put any unnecessary barriers between Android developers and the open source OS, especially on developer phones.

But a new post on the official Android Developers Blog shows that team Android is a little more concerned with how their operating system is being used than some of us may have previously assumed.