[Q] Engineering HBOOT - myTouch 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Ok lets start the Q&A
First:
1) What is engineering HBOOT?
2) What benefits it brings to the mytouch 4g?
3) what is Danger SPL or something like that?
4) what benefits it brings if any?
I already search the forum but to be honest xda is by far the hardest place to find stuff even thou the answers are probably here.
People talk about it but what the hell is engineering HBOOT I did a google search and theres lots of threads saying i have this HBOOT or that one but none of those define its use or purpose.

cruzantis said:
Ok lets start the Q&A
First:
1) What is engineering HBOOT?
2) What benefits it brings to the mytouch 4g?
3) what is Danger SPL or something like that?
4) what benefits it brings if any?
I already search the forum but to be honest xda is by far the hardest place to find stuff even thou the answers are probably here.
People talk about it but what the hell is engineering HBOOT I did a google search and theres lots of threads saying i have this HBOOT or that one but none of those define its use or purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HBoot (engineering Screen) would be similar to the BIOS on a Windows based Computer. It is what physically loads the OS up for us to use.
As far as benefits? you can flash specific sections that compile a ROM, and or Change the Splash Image, what you see when the phone turns on.
and you do not need to worry about the Danger SPL on this phone.
SPL is the secondary program loader... it gets loaded by the IPL and then it loads the OS.
IPL : Initial Program Loader
initial hardware bootup. just like a BIOS
-borrowed from a different forum.

neidlinger said:
The HBoot (engineering Screen) would be similar to the BIOS on a Windows based Computer. It is what physically loads the OS up for us to use.
As far as benefits? you can flash specific sections that compile a ROM, and or Change the Splash Image, what you see when the phone turns on.
and you do not need to worry about the Danger SPL on this phone.
SPL is the secondary program loader... it gets loaded by the IPL and then it loads the OS.
IPL : Initial Program Loader
initial hardware bootup. just like a BIOS
-borrowed from a different forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks neidlinger for your answer now my new question would be like what if I choose not to change the HBOOT once i root the phone? besides changing the splash image is there any true benefit like saving your phone from a brick perhaps? something really useful more than eye candy?

cruzantis said:
Thanks neidlinger for your answer now my new question would be like what if I choose not to change the HBOOT once i root the phone? besides changing the splash image is there any true benefit like saving your phone from a brick perhaps? something really useful more than eye candy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll get mixed answers on that one. Personally as long as you have a working recovery image, and make sure to do things correctly bricking a phone is pretty hard to do. As far as the Engineering HBoot v. the stock one with the engineering screen you can flash different parts of the ROM.

Related

Mt3g 1.33.2009 spl?

Just wondering if there is any reason to move from 1.33.2005 to 1.33.2009.
I would like to know this aswell
Bad idea. You cannot root 2009, so to root the phone you'd have to flash 2005 anyways. If you already have it, just keep it.
Is 1.33.2005 the default spl for MT3G? What are the benefits of going to other SPLs? I read somewhere that it allows you to change the initial myTouch logo when you start your phone.
I don't know if that by itself is worth it for me to risk bricking my phone.
don't try and fix it if its not broken, if you start flashing spl's you do run the risk of bricking. I think you need certain spl to run certain ROM's. id just leave it alone unless your going to do something specific to thr phone.
I remember seeing a thread a few weeks ago how to change the startup screen and they had some cool images. it might have been in the development forum, I forget. it did seem kind of complicated so I wasn't comfortable trying it out.

WTF is an SPL?!

LOL I have this:
SAPPHIRE PVT 32B SHIP S-ON G
HBOOT-1.33.0006 (SAPP30000)
CPLD-10
Radio-2.22.19.261
May 27 2009, 19:06:41
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's a perfected SPL but who knows.. Satan?
I want to update my lame ass SPL to one of these bad boys:
Haykuro's "Death" SPL
OR
Magic SPL HBOOT Collection
From these Awesome Website and Also Awesome, I've narrowed down the steps to Victory!
Here's what my Brain thinks:
1.) Download an SPL (i.e Haykuro's "Death" SPL).
2.) Transfer to SD Card.
3.) Go into Recovery Mode (Amon_Ra-v1.5.2G)
4.) Scroll down to "Flash zip from sdcard".
5.) Flash Haykuro's "Death" SPL.
6.) Reboot system now and wait for it to enter Recovery Mode again.
8.) Check for new SPL, and you're done?
My Q's:
1.) Are my steps horribly wrong and could possibly brick my phone?
2.) No wiping required?
3.) If it gets stuck on Formatting CACHE for a long long long time..what to do?
your rooted
SAPPHIRE PVT 32B SHIP S-ON G
so i doubt you can get to recovery
sitimber said:
your rooted
SAPPHIRE PVT 32B SHIP S-ON G
so i doubt you can get to recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know I'm rooted. I just want to update my spl to the latest. And I can definitely get to recovery mode, was just flashing a couple of roms earlier.
Give me some help, bro!
i am also confused. I have a mytouch 3g with a "perfect" (1.33.0006)SPL... what does that mean? what cant I do with this SPL that I can do with a danger SPL? I already have CM Recovery 1.4 + latest Cyanogen Mod rom...
Man, if you don't know what an SPL is, then you're "so 2000 and late." Haha sorry, I had to man
k but instead of sounding smart cause you know something us people who are late dont... how bout explaining?
kareeem said:
Man, if you don't know what an SPL is, then you're "so 2000 and late." Haha sorry, I had to man
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahaha and that beat goes zoooom zoooom zooom
kareeem stop making jokes help us out, LOL
What's your current SPL, and how did you install it?
melterx12 said:
k but instead of sounding smart cause you know something us people who are late dont... how bout explaining?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only said that line because it was the only one i could find that fit with the lyrics I don't even have an Android device so there's your answer.
this is so frustrating ive googled this for almost an hour and I still cant find anything that explains exactly what a non perfect SPL does and how to go about flashing it and which one to flash!
melterx12 said:
this is so frustrating ive googled this for almost an hour and I still cant find anything that explains exactly what a non perfect SPL does and how to go about flashing it and which one to flash!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yeah same here bro.
Hope someone can enlighten us about how they upgraded their spl.
All I know is that its short for "splash image" and has something to do with the boot up process. My dad is a programer (during a coversation about android and linux) explained the SPL to me during Fourth of July but I was a little too drunk to care and pay attention.
well actually SPL stands for Second Program Loader. That much i know for sure. I also know that its the equivalent of a bootloader. what i DONT know and neither does anyone else by the looks of it (lol), is what the difference is between a perfect SPL and a Danger SPL, and how to go about flashing a danger SPL for mytouch 3g? and which danger SPL is the best?
BoomBoomPOW said:
LOL I have this:
I think it's a perfected SPL but who knows.. Satan?
I want to update my lame ass SPL to one of these bad boys:
Haykuro's "Death" SPL
OR
Magic SPL HBOOT Collection
From these Awesome Website and Also Awesome, I've narrowed down the steps to Victory!
Here's what my Brain thinks:
1.) Download an SPL (i.e Haykuro's "Death" SPL).
2.) Transfer to SD Card.
3.) Go into Recovery Mode (Amon_Ra-v1.5.2G)
4.) Scroll down to "Flash zip from sdcard".
5.) Flash Haykuro's "Death" SPL.
6.) Reboot system now and wait for it to enter Recovery Mode again.
8.) Check for new SPL, and you're done?
My Q's:
1.) Are my steps horribly wrong and could possibly brick my phone?
2.) No wiping required?
3.) If it gets stuck on Formatting CACHE for a long long long time..what to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people can be d!cks in this forum. Your steps are right from all that I know. Changing your SPL is an at your own risk sort of venture, though. Haven't even had the balls to do it myself yet. But, first, do try to use the search function in these forums. Pretty new myself but have good luck finding the resources I need through search. Lastly, here are a couple of links that have helped my in regard to SPL research. The first is more general and worth reading through the comments. The second one specifically relates to you...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=548218
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=570659&highlight=hboot
Good Luck. Hope it helps.
melterx12 said:
this is so frustrating ive googled this for almost an hour and I still cant find anything that explains exactly what a non perfect SPL does
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your google-fu is weak old man!!
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Sapphire_Hacking#sec01
"Perfect" SPL Revisions (that prevent us hacking)
Currently HBOOT-1.33.0006 and HBOOT-1.33.0010 are the known 'Perfect SPL' revisions on the Sapphire handsets that we know of.
It is not possible to fastboot a ROM using these and you need to wait until someone has hacked it.
Edit (12 Aug 2009) : Now you can! Refer to How-To - Fix that perfected SPL - Root the T-Mobile myTouch 3G
So what is an SPL anyway? What does it do?
The SPL, or Second Program Loader, is essentially the Android bootloader. It's job is more than just loading the Android OS - it also offers several other boot options, including Recovery mode, Fastboot, and HBOOT modes, and ultimately it's the SPL that allows manipulation of the flash nand on your device. Part of the SPL's job is to ensure that the data flashed to the device is correct. Most of the current shipping SPLs (apart from the "Perfect SPL's) let us flash a complete ROM image, but don't let us flash a recovery rom or boot image as it checks the verification signature. Haykuro has modified the SPL's available to remove this check and this is what the Engineering SPL's available offer. As the SPL is so crucial to the handset though, you have to be very careful when flashing it as if it's updated incorrectly then you may be incapable of restoring it without specialised hardware and knowledge. You essentially have a very expensive brick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looktall said:
your google-fu is weak old man!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Off topic, but thanks for posting. I wish more people were this patience and helpful. Kudos. Especially on the comedy inoffensive flame.
ive already seen that article, but it still does not explain what i want to know. I already know what an SPL does, but what does a Danger SPL do that my perfect SPL cant. is it worth flashing my SPL? which one should i flash and how? I cant find answers to these questions.
ok ive just foudn a bit of info saying that a danger SPL allows you to flash hero ROMS onto your mytouch.. but WTF??? Ive already flashed 2 different Hero ROMS onto my mytouch with no problems and I have a Perfect SPL. the only reason i didnt keep em was cause the device was slow! So wtf is going on with my phone? what am I missing here rofl
The "Danger" (or "Death") SPL is Haykuro's 1.33.2005 and there is only one. It changed the nand partitions sizes (or sth like that) on the G1 and that was why it is required to run Hero ROMs on it. It's not required to run Hero ROMs on the Magic though. What you're talking about are "Engineering" SPLs and the main difference with stock SPL is that, AFAIK, they bypass security checks to allow the flashing of unsigned update packages. Also, I think only Engineering and non-perfected SPLs allow the use of the fastboot protocol, the possibility to flash recovery images directly and the use of Nandroid to make backups.
To me it's all about unlocking everything but I could have lived with my stock non-perfected SPL as I could already do everything I wanted.
Signature checking is not necessary a bad thing. Perfected SPL is a different story as it really reduces you possibilities but I know there are workarounds.
swissp said:
The "Danger" (or "Death") SPL is Haykuro's 1.33.2005 and there is only one. It changed the nand partitions sizes (or sth like that) on the G1 and that was why it is required to run Hero ROMs on it. It's not required to run Hero ROMs on the Magic though. What you're talking about are "Engineering" SPLs and the main difference with stock SPL is that, AFAIK, they bypass security checks to allow the flashing of unsigned update packages. Also, I think only Engineering and non-perfected SPLs allow the use of the fastboot protocol, the possibility to flash recovery images directly and the use of Nandroid to make backups.
To me it's all about unlocking everything but I could have lived with my stock non-perfected SPL as I could already do everything I wanted.
Signature checking is not necessary a bad thing. Perfected SPL is a different story as it really reduces you possibilities but I know there are workarounds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very informative. I was able to perform a Nandroid backup successfully while still on the "perfected SPL" so what's up with that? I guest I'll just stick with my perfected stock SPL for now, until I find a really great rom I want to flash but requires a non-perfected/eng spl.
BoomBoomPOW said:
Very informative. I was able to perform a Nandroid backup successfully while still on the "perfected SPL" so what's up with that? I guest I'll just stick with my perfected stock SPL for now, until I find a really great rom I want to flash but requires a non-perfected/eng spl.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I said "I think"... fortunately I've never had a perfected SPL and I can only repeat what others have been saying about it. Can you restore the backup too?
As you'd already noticed, information on the subject is quite vague but you are right anyway, the only reason to change SPL should be if the ROM you want to install requires it ;-)

spl makes me confused and insecure.

Hi I'm new here and I'm new at rooting my phone and such.
I've been reading a lot about rooting and creating goldcards and installing roms and I've Finally managed to actually root and install a rom on my phone.
now I started out from a situation were I had what I think was called a perfect spl I had the 1.33.0010 on my phone. now I have a 1.76.0008. personally I'm annoyed tried the android 2.2 and couldn't make it work then tried another one android 2.1 with UISense and it worked now I don't mind having UISense but I'd rather have 2.2 I read somewhere that changing the spl could make some roms work but haven't been able to change the spl at all. and I don't really like one of the ways I read cause it involved some thing were you erased the through fastboot.
However a friend of mine have the 1.33.0009 and we can't change that at all We have tried to may things to say by now and we have been able to put another rom on his phone.
Now my question is what advantages does it give to actually change the spl I understood it was something about which roms can be used or am I totally wrong here ?
And the second question How do I proceed if the reasons for changing the spl is overwhelming.
And preferable explained in a way that makes me comfortable with trying it. I don't like doing dangerous things if I have Any questions about how or were with it.
and please do ask if there is information I didn't give that is needed to answer my questions.
I've used some time today because I was annoyed I couldn't change my spl.
keep in mind I allready have a custom 2.1 rom with UISense in my phone.
and my information of my current spl is:
SAPPHIRE PVT 32A SHIP S-ON H
HBOOT-1.76.0008(SAPP10000)
CPLD-12
radio-6.35.08.29
and my current recovery is :
recovery-RA-hero-v1.6.2.img
so what I did was this:
Download update-hboot-1.76.2007-signed.zip, rename it to update.zip and copy to my sdcard.
Turn Off the phone.
- Restart the phone with press HOME+POWER go to recovery page.
- Choose Flash zip from sdcard option, choose “update.zip“, use trackball to select , press HOME to confirm
what am I doing wrong. =?
last I would like to apologizes if my question is a often asked question but as far as I've read now the answers often change or there are several answers on same issues and that makes me uncomfortable.
I am not sure if flashing an update.zip from recovery works for the SPL. I think the instructions are to flash from fastboot.
Have you tried flashing it in fastboot as per Cursor's post?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=605239
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=594504
From what I can read there I must say I have not tried it Since I've been warned so many places that changing the spl through fastboot have a higher risk of giving me a brick phone.
And all the places I've been through so far claims that it is posible to do through the recovery mode and much safer. however for me it so far doesn't seem to work either because I'm doing something wrong.
another thing is I don't want to do risky things when I don't completely understand what is happening.
I know that the fastboot(also called bootloader) is the most risky thing to change.
I also understand why it's so risky. I've read through a lot of post. here and other places because I wanted to be sure before I started and it did went well with one exception I have now a 2.1 android on my phone with root access. but I'd like to change the spl in to a engineering spl since I've heard it enables me to try a wider variety of roms.
have I really misunderstood those post and blogs so much that it can't be done to change the spl without useing fastboot ?
my Great place of comfort was the wiki of this site but it have been down for some time. whenever I needed to know things I mostly went there to learn them.
The only possible way to change a SPL of a phone from stock to engineering is to flash it from a recovery in form of an update.zip . The name of the actual .zip does not matter.
Fastboot flashing is the most secure, if you heard otherwise your sources were wrong.
Also fastboot, bootloader, hboot and SPL are the same thing. (fastboot and bootloader being the interface visible on the phone)
Another false thing that you heard was that an engineering SPL will allow you to use a wider variety of ROMs. That is only true for the G1 and its Danger SPL. With your current SPL you can flash and use ANY new radio ROM.
P.S where you are standing now you cannot flash anything from fastboot - your S-ON SPL disables that option.
problem is if you flash an SPL via recovery, it will often try to boot back into recovery, which can be a problem since the new spl may be incompatible with your old recovery image, for instance some SPL images will flash a new radio, etc.
if you can manage a goldcard the best way to get out of a perfected SPL is detailed here
from there you will have an engineerings spl with which you can use fastboot and flash any other spl your heart desires.
Are you kidding me? An SPL will flash another radio?
You are right about one thing - it does involve risk to flash SPL from the recovery.
I see well thanks for clearing that up for me
so from what I understand I can use any rom with my current spl ?
which would mean I don't need to flash any other spl on to it correct ?
then I don't understand why the CM6 - FroyoRedux Mod v1.2 rom doesn't work on mine.
the S-ON thing means security on but what does that exactly mean.
Does it mean that I can't do anything in fastboot ?
Because I thought that it just made it impossible to downgrade the spl ?
okay I've been reading up on the wiki site now and I think I've answered my own questions.
just to be clear ! that I havn't missunderstood anything I'm gonna make a few statemens here please correct me if I'm wrong in any of them.
1. Spl is not needed to be changed to install any android system rom's once I've got a recovery ROM like for instance Amon_RA's recovery roms.
2 As I understand the recovery rom in my phone have to be capable of running on my specific spl
I tried magic specific recovery roms and ended up with a hero specific recovery rom because it was the only one that worked.
3. Now if I want any android system roms they have to be combatible with that recovery rom or am I still missunderstanding something here ?
Exactly which recovery image did you flash? The ROM's are specific to the SPL stuff (bootloader, radio, mainboard, etc.) not the recovery.
Radios
Ok, I understand also. But it still does not clear up if the MT3G 1.2 can use any other SPL/Radio combonation. Can this be done yet with this device?
Looking at your fastboot info, you don't have the MT3G 1.2, that's the one with the 3.5mm jack. You need to find a ROM specific to your radio. If you look through the ROM bible in the Devlopment Section, there's plenty of ROM's in there that are for the 32A board and 6.35 radio.
DonJuan692006 said:
Exactly which recovery image did you flash? The ROM's are specific to the SPL stuff (bootloader, radio, mainboard, etc.) not the recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well at the moment I'm using recovery-RA-hero-v1.6.2.img because it's the only one that seems stable with my current spl.
and it seems I have some troubles with flashing a eng spl but it seems that what I understand I should just find a rom that works on my phone instead of thinking it's the spl that is a problem. I have found 2 roms that works but one is slow and the other is unstable so I'm still searching.
But I want to say thanks to everyone who have helped making me understand this just a bit more.

[Q] A few questions

Hello there guys.
I have a few questions which I think have never been asked (at least not as I'm about to ask) before. I reckon they may seem silly and even idiotic at first, but I'm almost sure they're kinda relevant in a way or another.
First: What are the possible methods to really brick your phone?
Explanation: should I take real care with radio/SPL and SPL/bootloader versions? If I flash an incompatible ROM/SPL and/or bootloader, will I be able to boot into fastboot and debrick it, or it's bricked for good?
If I flash an incompatible ROM/Radio will it brick? Also, what kind of impact am I supposed to expect from radio versions? I was using 3.xx and all comms were terrible, now I went back to 6.35 and everything is great, only wifi is kinda weak.
Second: What kind of precautions should I take for testing kernels and mixing them with radio versions?
Explanation: I'm really looking for a Froyo with good battery life (good is like three days with not much data usage - My HTC Touch HD (T8282) was able to do that) and I'm planning to test a few kernels to see which is better in terms of stability, speed and battery life.
Third: How do I extract certain things from a given ROM and port it to another? What kind of importance the kernel has on it?
Explanation: I'm looking for HTC's default softwares (dialer, contacts, album, weather, "Clock" w/ alarms and timer, calendar), and I want to put it in a Froyo. I don't mind if I can't get Sense since I'm using Launcher Pro, the only thing Sense has of interest are a few widgets - which can be mimicked by other ADW.Launcher widgets. But how difficult is it to port that stuff to my Feeyo ROM? How would one do that?
Thank you all for your time, and I think it's all for now.
Not a single answer?
shinobih2o said:
Hello there guys.
I have a few questions which I think have never been asked (at least not as I'm about to ask) before. I reckon they may seem silly and even idiotic at first, but I'm almost sure they're kinda relevant in a way or another.
First: What are the possible methods to really brick your phone?
Explanation: should I take real care with radio/SPL and SPL/bootloader versions? If I flash an incompatible ROM/SPL and/or bootloader, will I be able to boot into fastboot and debrick it, or it's bricked for good?
If I flash an incompatible ROM/Radio will it brick? Also, what kind of impact am I supposed to expect from radio versions? I was using 3.xx and all comms were terrible, now I went back to 6.35 and everything is great, only wifi is kinda weak.
Second: What kind of precautions should I take for testing kernels and mixing them with radio versions?
Explanation: I'm really looking for a Froyo with good battery life (good is like three days with not much data usage - My HTC Touch HD (T8282) was able to do that) and I'm planning to test a few kernels to see which is better in terms of stability, speed and battery life.
Third: How do I extract certain things from a given ROM and port it to another? What kind of importance the kernel has on it?
Explanation: I'm looking for HTC's default softwares (dialer, contacts, album, weather, "Clock" w/ alarms and timer, calendar), and I want to put it in a Froyo. I don't mind if I can't get Sense since I'm using Launcher Pro, the only thing Sense has of interest are a few widgets - which can be mimicked by other ADW.Launcher widgets. But how difficult is it to port that stuff to my Feeyo ROM? How would one do that?
Thank you all for your time, and I think it's all for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's easy to brick your phone if you flash the wrong spl with the wrong radio. Basically if you try to flash a HTC spl (one that comes with SenseUI) on a Google phone (non-SenseUI). You're almost always going to brick. Wrong SPL+right radio for your device = brick. Right SPL+wrong radio = possible brick. Wrong SPL+Wrong radio = definite brick.
Test out a bunch of kernels... just make sure you do a nandroid backup first!
It's very rare that you will manage to brick your phone by testing kernels. A nandroid backup backs up the kernel in the boot.img file so if the kernel that you are testing doesn't work then you can always just do a restore. Most of the time anyway...
Most HTC system apps are completely incompatible with Google roms. It's not just kernel but also framework. It's not impossible, just not practical. It's so much easier to design a similiar app to match HTC's than to modify/crack and use the original.
Binary100100 said:
It's easy to brick your phone if you flash the wrong spl with the wrong radio. Basically if you try to flash a HTC spl (one that comes with SenseUI) on a Google phone (non-SenseUI). You're almost always going to brick. Wrong SPL+right radio for your device = brick. Right SPL+wrong radio = possible brick. Wrong SPL+Wrong radio = definite brick.
Test out a bunch of kernels... just make sure you do a nandroid backup first!
It's very rare that you will manage to brick your phone by testing kernels. A nandroid backup backs up the kernel in the boot.img file so if the kernel that you are testing doesn't work then you can always just do a restore. Most of the time anyway...
Most HTC system apps are completely incompatible with Google roms. It's not just kernel but also framework. It's not impossible, just not practical. It's so much easier to design a similiar app to match HTC's than to modify/crack and use the original.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Binary!
If you flash a 32B radio/spl/recovery into a 32A phone it'll obviously brick it, but "how bricked" will it be?
And if I only flash the ROM?
I'm trying to figure out a way to make a FAQ or troubleshooting guide or something you can follow to unbrick your device, and I'm also considering making myself a ROM.
Oh, just out of curiosity: why are the Hero ROMs so popular among Sapphires?
Thanks again Bin!
shinobih2o said:
Thanks Binary!
If you flash a 32B radio/spl/recovery into a 32A phone it'll obviously brick it, but "how bricked" will it be?
And if I only flash the ROM?
I'm trying to figure out a way to make a FAQ or troubleshooting guide or something you can follow to unbrick your device, and I'm also considering making myself a ROM.
Oh, just out of curiosity: why are the Hero ROMs so popular among Sapphires?
Thanks again Bin!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How bricked will it be? Allow me to elaborate. The spl calls for a certain radio type to boot the phone. Say you have the 0013 spl that requires the 2.22.23.02 radio. And you flash a radio that is not compatible. The SPL (or bootloader) will continue attempting to activate the radio that is literally not present. It will endlessly loop until it finds that radio which cannot be flashed. Now... sometimes (depending on the situation) you can still get back into the bootloader and simply flash the right radio... but that depends on the situation. Many times you can fix the problem by using the goldcard method but if the spl flash doesn't complete (either because of a hardware malfunction, battery dies (or pulled) while flashing, incompatible spl, etc you will not be able to access the bootloader to flash either a radio or a goldcard. Brick. Also keep in mind that 32A devices (with the exception of the 1.2 devices better known as LE or Fender) require certain SPL and radios and normally come equipped with the HTC Sense UI interface. Because the ROM requires more RAM and ROM to operate the kernels require a different memory map to take the full advantage of it. The kernels usually only operate with certain radios which is one of the reason why there are different ROMs out there (32A/32B). Along with the fact that the 32A ROMs require more space it's pretty much a no brainer.
As for why Sense UI is so appealing... I think it's because of the eye candy and integration. But it's not for everybody. I personally like it but find it too complicated for people that simply want a phone to make calls, sends texts, check e-mail and browse the web. Just my opinion anyway.
single answer^
Binary100100 said:
How bricked will it be? Allow me to elaborate. The spl calls for a certain radio type to boot the phone. Say you have the 0013 spl that requires the 2.22.23.02 radio. And you flash a radio that is not compatible. The SPL (or bootloader) will continue attempting to activate the radio that is literally not present. It will endlessly loop until it finds that radio which cannot be flashed. Now... sometimes (depending on the situation) you can still get back into the bootloader and simply flash the right radio... but that depends on the situation. Many times you can fix the problem by using the goldcard method but if the spl flash doesn't complete (either because of a hardware malfunction, battery dies (or pulled) while flashing, incompatible spl, etc you will not be able to access the bootloader to flash either a radio or a goldcard. Brick. Also keep in mind that 32A devices (with the exception of the 1.2 devices better known as LE or Fender) require certain SPL and radios and normally come equipped with the HTC Sense UI interface. Because the ROM requires more RAM and ROM to operate the kernels require a different memory map to take the full advantage of it. The kernels usually only operate with certain radios which is one of the reason why there are different ROMs out there (32A/32B). Along with the fact that the 32A ROMs require more space it's pretty much a no brainer.
As for why Sense UI is so appealing... I think it's because of the eye candy and integration. But it's not for everybody. I personally like it but find it too complicated for people that simply want a phone to make calls, sends texts, check e-mail and browse the web. Just my opinion anyway.
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Thanks again Bin, that's pretty clarifying.
Except for hardware problems while flashing stuff (battery removal, cable removal, pc crashing etc) it's probable that ou can still recover and unbrick it, right?
I still wonder why the Hero ports are so common for the Magic... Technical specs are so similar that there's minimum driver adaptation?
I didn't like the Sense launcher, but the HTC softwares are cool - clock, dialer, weather etc.
Do you think it's possible to make a Wiki or FAQ for people who have bricked their phones and troubleshoot it following step by step procedures for specific cases...?
shinobih2o said:
Thanks again Bin, that's pretty clarifying.
Except for hardware problems while flashing stuff (battery removal, cable removal, pc crashing etc) it's probable that ou can still recover and unbrick it, right?
I still wonder why the Hero ports are so common for the Magic... Technical specs are so similar that there's minimum driver adaptation?
I didn't like the Sense launcher, but the HTC softwares are cool - clock, dialer, weather etc.
Do you think it's possible to make a Wiki or FAQ for people who have bricked their phones and troubleshoot it following step by step procedures for specific cases...?
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Click to collapse
I don't think it's necessary b/c there is plenty of information here in the forums.
Plus there are dozens of different MyTouch devices... with different spl versions all requiring their own type of radio. I think that's the reason why it's so confusing. It would be nice if I was smart enough to make a GUI Windows application so simply boot your phone into bootloader mode where you select what you see on the screen and press a selectable option of what you want to do such as flash spl, flash radio, make goldcard, flash goldcard, etc. If you don't see the option then it probably isn't possible yet. That way so many people would mess things up by mistaking their devices for something different. Regarding the wiki... I'm pretty sure there already out there. But I don't know all of the details to make it myself and have it be accurate. I make it a point to be as close as accurate as possible since I'm a mod.

Engineering bootloader?

Just wondering why this is so special? I flashed just for the hell of it but now I'm kinda curious why the devs and a few others recommend it.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
If you do run into an issue like a soft brick, it is easier to fix your phone as it allows you to use fastboot on your computer. I'm no pro, but I am pretty sure that is the correct answer, I'm sure someone else will chime in.
if thats the case, thats pretty nice. may explain why i couldnt flash a splash screen through fastboot before i flashed the engineering bootloader.
mustk1ll20 said:
if thats the case, thats pretty nice. may explain why i couldnt flash a splash screen through fastboot before i flashed the engineering bootloader.
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The reason alot of us recommend it is pretty simple. HTC Locks the bootloader so we cannot flash specific images to our phone. OR Specific sections of a ROM build. If you can flash the Engineering screen it will allow you to flash stuff from the HBoot. SO if you find your self in pickle and the phone will not mount specific sections you can always revert to HBoot to flash it. The reason you cannot flash the splash image is the same reason, it's locked and will not allow you to do it, it's one of the few things they locked down.
neidlinger said:
The reason alot of us recommend it is pretty simple. HTC Locks the bootloader so we cannot flash specific images to our phone. OR Specific sections of a ROM build. If you can flash the Engineering screen it will allow you to flash stuff from the HBoot. SO if you find your self in pickle and the phone will not mount specific sections you can always revert to HBoot to flash it. The reason you cannot flash the splash image is the same reason, it's locked and will not allow you to do it, it's one of the few things they locked down.
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This.
Theres an epidemic of people getting softbricks lately, that we can't get fixed because of not having the eng bootloader installed.
neidlinger said:
The reason alot of us recommend it is pretty simple. HTC Locks the bootloader so we cannot flash specific images to our phone. OR Specific sections of a ROM build. If you can flash the Engineering screen it will allow you to flash stuff from the HBoot. SO if you find your self in pickle and the phone will not mount specific sections you can always revert to HBoot to flash it. The reason you cannot flash the splash image is the same reason, it's locked and will not allow you to do it, it's one of the few things they locked down.
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option94 said:
This.
Theres an epidemic of people getting softbricks lately, that we can't get fixed because of not having the eng bootloader installed.
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looks like i made the right choice to flash this then. thanks for the info guys. gonna try changing my splash screen now make this thing even more mine. lol
also if i did soft brick it i would use ADB while the phones at the hboot screen correct? i had it on the hboot screen while it was plugged in to my computer and noticed a install driver thing pop on, but couldnt install because i didnt have the driver. said somethikng like android 1?

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