Database Users

[Q] Intro and a uple ??s

Hi people,
I am a noob as far as Android goes, but I am pretty good at PC stuff. I run a 3D CAD department and I've been the "unofficial" tech guy at every job I've had in the last 10 years.
That being said, I just got the HTC Hero from Sprint last weekend, Android 2.1, update 1. I have always wanted to play with Linux but have never really had the time. So, this is my first encounter with Android or Linux.
So ..... , as much as I'd love to root the phone, I'm afraid to brick it. Is there any way to get rid of all the bloatware without rooting my phone? Also, what are the chances of bricking the phone? I've read a couple "how to root" articles on the net and it doesn't seem like it would be that hard, but I LOVE this phone so far (other than battery life) and I honestly can't afford to go buy a new one at full price if I end up killing my phone.
Another question; I've seen a few people in other posts who have the HTC Hero and say they're running 2.2. How is this done? Is this something else that I would need to root the phone to accomplish?
Also, I just ordered an 8GB microSD card. My laptop has a card slot, so I'm figuring I can put the new card in the slot, connect my phone via USB, and copy everything on the phone to the new 8GB card, then just swapping the cards.
Am I correct thinking this should be as simple as it sounds, or is there more involved?
I appreciate you taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to reading/posting here on a regular basis.
Thanks,
Eric Mortenson

Hey, welcome to XDA!
It is VERY HARD to brick this phone, so don't worry....about the only way we've seen that is by flashing a GSM radio to it, so just don't do that and you'll be fine trying anything else.
There are a couple rooting methods here, and there won't be any problems at all as long as you follow the instructions. It's not as daunting as it may first seem. You do have to root to get rid of bloatware, it can't be done without rooting. I recommend this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=694572 although there are 'one-click' and 'universal' methods out there too.
The ones running Android 2.2 are doing it through a custom ROM called Cyanogenmod. Check out the Development section to find it. It doesn't have the HTC Sense UI though, so it will look and feel different than your stock 2.1. But lots of people here are using it and loving it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=755795
And yes, you should just be able to swap out the SD cards with no problems.

chromiumleaf
Thanks for the quick and helpful reply. It is greatly appreciated.
I think I am going to try to root my phone. Pre-installed "bloatware" on PCs is one of my biggest pet peeves. So, the biggest reason I have right now for rooting my phone is to get rid of the stuff I don't want/need/use.
I will probably leave the 2.1 on the phone because I love the phone so far and if as you say, it will look and feel different. Maybe I'll keep digging through the site and change my mind later. Thanks for the "heads up".
Please do me one favor, and I hate to sound ignorant (I did say earlier I was new at this), but what does "flashing a GSM radio to it" mean, and is it something I could do my mistake?
Sorry, tried doing a search so I wouldn't have to bother you but I'm just not sure.
Thanks again.
Eric

Eric_1966_FXE said:
...what does "flashing a GSM radio to it" mean, and is it something I could do my mistake?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To "flash" some code means to burn it into your phone's read-only memory. A number of things can be flashed to your phone's memory, including the radio operating code, high-level operating system code, and "kernel" (system "core") code.
What the poster meant by "flashing a GSM radio" is "downloading the code that operates the phone's radio". Our Sprint Hero phones have what is called CDMA radio hardware, while European Hero phones have GSM radio hardware. The two different radios are not compatible with each other's operating code. So if you ever download ("flash") the wrong radio code (GSM code) into your CDMA phone, that will render your radio inoperative, which will effectively brick your phone.
With that in mind, just read carefully any information relating to any system code you're considering flashing to your phone, and make SURE it's for a CDMA phone, and you'll be fine.

I loved sense and was all against even trying an aosp rom( vanilla/ stock android), but once I flashed CM6 and found beautiful widgets and launcher pro plus and dialer one I haven't looked back. The speed of my phone and the overall appearance is far better than Sense UI. Rooting the 2.1 is far easier than it was when I got mine. You had to download and type in a whole bunch of crap, now its as easy as installing an app and running it.

Thanks
Thank you to all three of you for your quick (and more importantly useful) answers.
You guys are awesome.

Go for it
I have 4 Hero's here at my home on a family plan,and mine is the only one running CM6-RC1 and they are all jealous. Every one that has a Hero at work or a different Android running 2.1 that has seen mine including a few Evo users loves the way mine looks and how fast it is. I thought in the beginning I wouldn't want to loose Sense and feared I would brick my phone as well,but these guys here are great and are a very supportive Hero community and walked me through the process. It is a lot easier now with the universal 1 click method than before,so that was what I did. The nice thing is if you do everything correctly,you can revert right back to you stock phone if you ever have to take it in for service.
Taking your time and researching all of this pretty good before deciding what to do is a good thing,but I can honestly say, there is so much more you can do once you unlock your phone than just downloading apps and bloat ware...you can actually make it work and do what you want it to do.
The chiefs here at XDA are working hard to bring us stable working Roms for everyday use,and I tip my hat to all of them and I certainly am loving how my Hero is now compared to what it was when it was stock.The RC-1 build I am running is awesome and (knock wood) haven't crashed 1x with it where I needed to do anything nor have I had any shutdowns or unexpected forced closed programs that were installed correctly.
So I say... Don't be afraid and just go for it.. you can still have it similar to what it is now,or you can see what aosp is all about like many here have and try it.That's the beauty of Rooting...YOU have the choice of what is on your phone..not someone else.
Good Luck
Mac

Thanks Mac
And Thank you to all who responded.
Like I said in my intro, I am a tech geek when it comes to PCs but this is my first venture into this kind of forum.
You have all been extremely helpful and have made me feel welcome.
I only hope that I can return the favor at some point to others on XDA.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.
Thanks again,
Eric

Give me one reason I need an unlocked bootloader.

Other than these two:
Overclocking
Loading modded roms
I mean let's all be honest, even if you undervolt and remain stable, any overclocking that will allow noticable performance, will have just as much noticable effect on the battery. And these are mobile devices. Battery should be considered top priority, not speed.
And what's the deal with wanting to load all these custom roms? Are they significantly better than stock, Adeo, or gingerblur? What do we need to load a fully custom rom for? Are they lightning fast and extend battery life by 100%? I guess I just don't get it. Deodexing and visual mods can be done without an unlocked bootloader.
Basically what im trying to say is. What is everyone *****ing about?
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App

As far as I know, there is no way to unlock the Atrix's bootloader. It is encrypted. You may check the xda's frontpage, there is news several weeks ago regards to the Moto's bootloader.

mccoy007 said:
As far as I know, there is no way to unlock the Atrix's bootloader. It is encrypted. You may check the xda's frontpage, there is news several weeks ago regards to the Moto's bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you missed the purpose of the thread. He is not asking HOW to do it, only WHY you would need to, other then overclocking or loading ROMs.

Honestly, it does make a big difference. Battery life can be very substantially increased in many of these roms. They both over and under clock processors to maximize the life. It's possible to get gingerbread on the inspire right now through custom roms because the boot loader isnt locked. It's possible to completely remove sense, whereas we have to live with motoblur. There really are a lot of reasons. Honestly, look at what Xda is all about, it's android development. Just take a look at the atrix dev forum vs the inspire one. Phones with a strong development community tend to live far longer because they can upgrade the os long after the company stops trying. The original g1 was only officially upgraded to 1.6 (I believe) but Xda has a few 2.2 roms that actually run pretty solid.
Tl:dr the list goes on and on of reasons that you want an accessible boot loader.

Ability to load a custom recovery menu. Nandroid.

it's simple dude. people do it because they can.

Besides the fact you would get work and support from the awesome devs here another good reason would be most phones have their shortcomings.Most of the time this can be fixed in the software.The awesome devs here are able to in most cases get it sorted out within a week or 2 whereas if the phone manufacturer or carrier is gonna do something about it your gonna wait 6 months to get an update. A prime example of this was the rediculously low external and earpiece speaker volume on the inspire.On max volume it was just too low. Now the rom chefs can cook up custom roms with 20% volume increase.

The 2 reasons you want to exclude are the main points. It's like saying "other than drowning; what's the point of learning to swim".

i want android 2.3.3 , can i ? no! i have to wait to an official update from motorola.. why ?!
i want htc sence in motorola , can i ? no !
we love to play and change things.. uman nature

seh6183 said:
Other than these two:
Overclocking
Loading modded roms
I mean let's all be honest, even if you undervolt and remain stable, any overclocking that will allow noticable performance, will have just as much noticable effect on the battery. And these are mobile devices. Battery should be considered top priority, not speed.
And what's the deal with wanting to load all these custom roms? Are they significantly better than stock, Adeo, or gingerblur? What do we need to load a fully custom rom for? Are they lightning fast and extend battery life by 100%? I guess I just don't get it. Deodexing and visual mods can be done without an unlocked bootloader.
Basically what im trying to say is. What is everyone *****ing about?
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your first question says "ignoring custom ROMs..." and your second question says "What about custom Roms..." so I'll address the second question.
ROMs. Gingerbread. AOSP. Stock Android. Kernels.
Another consideration in favor of ROMs is the continuation of support by the dev community even after the manufacturer has EOL'ed a product. You still see the Dream (G1) getting roms with new features even though the phone has been effectively dead for a while now.
It is always in the phone manufacturer's and the carrier's best interests to kill off support to get you to buy the newest, latest device.

daveop said:
Just take a look at the atrix dev forum vs the inspire one. Phones with a strong development community tend to live far longer because they can upgrade the os long after the company stops trying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love my atrix.. but I visited the Inspire 4G dev forums... and.. yeah I got a little bit jealous. lol
I hope the few devs we have don't end up leaving and can crack this bootloader!!!!

s1mpd1ddy said:
I love my atrix.. but I visited the Inspire 4G dev forums... and.. yeah I got a little bit jealous. lol
I hope the few devs we have don't end up leaving and can crack this bootloader!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know what you mean. That's one thing I like/liked about my FUZE: there was a pretty active dev community, at least until the HD2 came out.
I'm planning on getting an Atrix on Monday and this is making me think about getting an Inspire instead. I guess I'll get the Atrix and if it blows I can take it back, get an inspire, and pocket $100.

Wow is this seriously a question?
Nandroid backups, AOSP ROMs like Cyanogen where you get updates every NIGHT if you wish from the source Android build so it'll always be the latest version - no waiting for Motocrap. Battery life is usually way better, TONS of tweaks (being able to tweak my color balance of the screen, gamma levels, haptic feedback behavior, autobrightness levels and thresholds, lockscreen and messaging gestures, etc). That's all before even mentioning performance increases like overclocking, deodexing for themes, ext4 modifications for faster I/O. There's just way too many things to list but if you've never experienced a phone that has custom ROMs (especially Cyanogen) then I can see why you don't miss anything, but if you have, like me, you'll probably never want to settle for an Android phone that doesn't allow custom ROMs.

custom roms is reason enough...like dinan said if you ever used them you would understand. pretty much all the problems that people are having with the atrix could be solved if our devs had access to the bootloader.

I do see the importance of having continued support after moto leaves the phone behind. And it would be nice to have a dev make a rom to fix the coloring on the Atrix screen. Also I didn't realize that updates to custom roms come so often and that they had that much support.
I am starting to see now.
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App

mccoy007 said:
As far as I know, there is no way to unlock the Atrix's bootloader. It is encrypted. You may check the xda's frontpage, there is news several weeks ago regards to the Moto's bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Luckily, there are a few other people working on the bootloader (I hope), as it is signed, not encrypted; there is a difference.
My phone before the Atrix was the TytnII, and the only reason I was able to keep it as long as I did was because of custom ROMS. If they are able to increase the performance of this phone the way they increased the performance of my 300Mhz/128MB RAM TytnII, then I will be giddy as a school-girl.
Do I need an unlocked bootloader? No, I absolutely love my phone the way it is right now, as this is my first Android, so I don't know what else is possible.

Battery life?
I am running a test of a custom kernel for my captivate. I turned off everything and wanted to see how long it would last.
No wifi or data (no sim card installed) it ran idle for 11 days.
Custom Kernel with no wifi or data its going to last about 50 days. (based on current estimate as im still testing it)

Just an FYI, there are devices with locked bootloaders that have custom ROMs. This includes the X10, which has a Gingerbread ROM. The issue is getting a newer Android build to work with a stock kernel. Unlocking the bootloader is key to building custom kernels but there are methods for getting custom ROMs without a custom kernel.

Developer support.
/thread
-Sent from my Galaxy Tab

Athailias said:
Battery life?
I am running a test of a custom kernel for my captivate. I turned off everything and wanted to see how long it would last.
No wifi or data (no sim card installed) it ran idle for 11 days.
Custom Kernel with no wifi or data its going to last about 50 days. (based on current estimate as im still testing it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well this isn't exactly a real world situation. Who's to say that you're not running the cpu at 1mhz with the screen powered off 24/7. wouldn't you prefer to test under load and real use?
Sent from my Atrix using XDA App

Thinking of getting the Atrix

Okay, so I've been thinking of getting a Motorola Atrix to put on H2o wireless (att based mvno) however I had a couple of concerns. I'm a MAJOR performance junky and love Cyanogenmod on my current phone however I'm nervous about the locked bootloader, the instructions at the atrix dev team google code page does not state that the phone's bootloader needs to be unlocked so can somebody please clarify this? Also the guide mentions you can use Rom Manager to install the CWM however I know on the Tmobile G2x that uses the Tegra processor as well you aren't supposed to use Rom Manager but instead use NVFlash, I take it the Atrix is safe using Rom Manager?

kc3 said:
Okay, so I've been thinking of getting a Motorola Atrix to put on H2o wireless (att based mvno) however I had a couple of concerns. I'm a MAJOR performance junky and love Cyanogenmod on my current phone however I'm nervous about the locked bootloader, the instructions at the atrix dev team google code page does not state that the phone's bootloader needs to be unlocked so can somebody please clarify this? Also the guide mentions you can use Rom Manager to install the CWM however I know on the Tmobile G2x that uses the Tegra processor as well you aren't supposed to use Rom Manager but instead use NVFlash, I take it the Atrix is safe using Rom Manager?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bootloader needs to be unlocked to install custom ROMSs. There is an automated script to do just that.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1182871
Yes u can flash CWM from Rom Manager. Although I prefer RomRacers CWM. It can be easily installed via fastboot.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1204500

Thank you and bookmarked

out of curiousity, what made you choose the Atrix over the Galaxy S II?

More than anything was price, however I've never been one to believe in setting when it comes to these things but one of my top priorities with new phones is has it been hacked. I like modding my devices so I would much rather aside from spending less money on a phone (without contract) I would also like a phone that already has a good development community. The GS2 is like $600 without contract, but the Atrix is $450 directly from ATT or roughly $300 to $400 from a few places on ebay.

Just to clarify, you need to have the bootloader unlocked before you flash recovery through rom manager.

Thanks Bender beat you to the punch though

this is a no brainer, buy the atrix.

Yeah I think near the end of the month I'm going to, it seems like for the money it's the best phone you could get.
Sent from my LG-VM670 using xda premium

i bought atrix instead of SG2 because of the price difference, and i have to say that the atrix is better than the SG2 and cheaper. But samsung is promoting its phone more than motorola.

i love my atrix and its easy to mod thanks to all the great devs

I ordered one today :-D
Sent from my LG-VM670 using xda premium

Vanilla (stock) ICS vs. Sense 4.0 + ICS

In my recent mental debate over the EVO 4G LTE vs. the Nexus, I've pondered the differences between stock ICS (pure/vanilla/etc) and the ICS we will see on the One series by HTC, including our very own EVO sequel. From the few screenshots I've seen of the One X, it does not remotely resemble the ICS I've learned to know and love with the work our devs our doing to bring the latest and greatest to the OG. Examples include the lockscreen (the Sense ring appears to still be the default one - is there an option to go straight ICS for the lockscreen?), the dock (I'm sure I can switch the launcher to fix this issue...), the notifications pulldown (I've actually not seen the Sense one yet, but I've heard various things indicating it is different from the one I'm no accustomed to), etc. Heck, even the color of the battery meter is green instead of blue!
Does anyone know or at least have an idea if we can change some of those things without rooting our devices? Having a brand new device, I don't plan on needing to root (or at least install custom ROMs, that is) for a while. But I am already missing the slick new interface Google has provided. While many claim that Sense 4.0 is going for the minimalistic approach to the latest iteration of their infamous skin, why do I feel like they have completely altered a widely praised operating system that has barely rolled out? I'm a little saddened when I see the video of the EVO 4G LTE and feel like the look of everything is dated.
But then I look at the hardware, think about the devs who'll inevitably move to this phone, and that excites me about the possibilities. I guess I'm more curious than disappointed, but I was wondering others' feelings on this topic.

Long answer short, you'll get aosp, miui and sense on the HTC which is nice if you get bored and want something different.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

alaman68 said:
Long answer short, you'll get aosp, miui and sense on the HTC which is nice if you get bored and want something different.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you make your short answer slightly longer? Haha how would I get AOSP and MIUI on the EVO LTE? You mean one devs get to work on it? Or stock?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

PsiPhiDan said:
Can you make your short answer slightly longer? Haha how would I get AOSP and MIUI on the EVO LTE? You mean one devs get to work on it? Or stock?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. Not stock, would have to be rooted. My bad. The devs will be all over that phone anyway so it will be a blast
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

It's a *good* thing the phone comes with Sense, its one more option you have, and Sense does add some useful features. Custom rom's will offer all kinds of options including optimized and bloatware free versions of Sense.

alaman68 said:
Right. Not stock, would have to be rooted. My bad. The devs will be all over that phone anyway so it will be a blast
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely agree. I'm kind of thinking of galaxy nexus, cuz I'm not fond of sense. But, I'm sure in no time we'll be able to rip sense OFF that SOB and put AOKP or some other variant of vanilla ICS.
Then, if you wanna run sense for a few days, that option will still be there. It's win-win.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

If I'm running Sense 4.0, do you think I'll still be able to get the Quad ICS unlock screen, or something like that? I LOVE that lockscreen - way better than the silly ring that Sense creates. I don't understand why they didn't change that from 3.0 and 3.5 to something fresh. Oh, I would assume I have the "unlock with face" option too on this phone? It's been so long since I ran Sense, I forgot if these things are changeable or not!
My only concern with the custom ROMs is whether things will run okay, like camera and such. Also, if you are running AOSP, you'll miss out on the supposedly amazing camera suite that Sense 4.0 provides, right?
Tough choice!!!

Sense 4.0 + ICS ALL DAY!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

I went to tmobile today and toyed with the one s. I will say it isn't the ICS we know from the current development but it is beautiful and sleek. The soft keys are a bit cumbersome but I could get used to it. I am in no way drawn away from the evo lte and am more than anxious to own that device!
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

imheroldman said:
I went to tmobile today and toyed with the one s. I will say it isn't the ICS we know from the current development but it is beautiful and sleek. The soft keys are a bit cumbersome but I could get used to it. I am in no way drawn away from the evo lte and am more than anxious to own that device!
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's awesome, especially considering the One S is inferior to our EVO we're getting...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

Well I will answer my own question at this moment, because I stopped into a T-Mobile and played with the One-S for about 10 minutes. It appears that ICS as we know it is VERY coated by Sense, but not necessarily in a bad way. It is still beautiful, just very different. I noticed that there were no quick settings in the notifications menu, which is one thing I was very curious about. But overall, really nice and REALLY amazing! Considering that is the crappy version of our EVOs, I cannot wait for this thing. The One-S screen was awesome, and I know it can't touch the screen (both size and resolution-wise) of our new toy coming out. But the UI was terrifically smooth, the feel was nice (physically), and Sense was overall not intrusive. It was just omnipresent. I'm not disappointed at all - and I know the devs will give us amazing options in terms of removing Sense, or tweaking Sense to give us cool features like quick settings and slide to change brightness.
I can't wait until the One-X is out so that I can play with that one, since it will give a much more accurate portrayal of our experience we can expect. May 18th can't get here soon enough!

I'm posting this everywhere . Its a post by toastcfh over in the oneX forums about how much HTC locked the phone down. Among many things, it is impossible to mount SD from recovery due to their locking, even with custom recovery and HTC dev unlock. If toast says it, it is so, I mean, the guy is an Android/Linux GENIUS. he's the one that had the Evo root method instructions posted before launch day.
Quote.....
no, USB mount does not work in recovery. It appears to be locked out in recovery mode. the workarounds to get it working are one of two things.
(1) fastboot boot awesomeRecovery.img (this works because fastboot then boots recovery on the boot/temporary partition. So the you're not actually in recovery mode
(2) Offmode (this works because again you're again not technically in recovery mode. It uses the recovery ramdisk, kernel, and binaries but its still not technically recovery.
On that note I've seen suggestions that it's possibly a recovery issue with cwm and twrp. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be the case. If it were then in CWM u wouldn't have usb when u fastboot boot the recovery or in offmode (fair assumption since both these options use the same kernel, ramdisk and binaries as recovery?). Can it be fix? Not that i know of. It looks to me like a total radio or bootloader lockout from using USB in recovery. Which means on a radio or bootloader level USB is disabled in recovery mode.
On that note I think we should raise the point to HTC that this locking down of the device does not suite our needs.Key points of fail would be as follows.
(1) Can NOT flash the boot partition from recovery. I've personally contacted HTC on this numerous times and they seem to just not care. Responding with "It's a security issue" and so forth. I would love to know how this is a security issue of any sort. Every other Android device has this ability except HTC devices since they started the HTC unlock ordeal. It's utter fail IMHO and HTC should listen to our needs .
(2) Can NOT flash recovery or boot partitions from system. This issue is NOT a deal breaker and isn't so bad when it comes down to the nitty gritty. But since the issue above exists, flashing with applications like htc dumlock and such were our only options. These work around apps cant be used to flash now because of the lockpout from system and it wouldn't be such an issue if HTC didnt lock us out in recovery from flashing boot.
(3) Can NOT flash P*IMG.zips in hboot/bootloader anymore. For the unlocked device running a custom firmware this is a must. Specially when radio updates and such are needed from the OEM. We seen a big use of this on the Sensation when HTC updated the device from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich. The update required new hboots, radios, and partitioning to actually use. So in that instead of having to flash a RUU Which didn't exist the only choice was to flash a custom P*IMG.zip that included all the radios and images need to run the builds. At this point we can't update those image/partitions without flashing an RUU. This makes no since and doesn't seem to do anything but make things more difficult on the unlocker to customize and modify their device.
(4) If all the conditions above HAVE to exist. Then why not give us documentation or utilities to flash fimware.zips from recovery like HTC does? When HTC was the proud Nexus device there was full support and documentation available on how to flash firmware on their devices. This made anyone choosing an HTC device blessed with knowing that their device was not only open and unlocked, but when flashing firmware that it was being flashed correctly to Google and HTC's standards. This code has now been moved out of recovery since right before the move to edify scripting and moved to vendor/htc/ (not arguing this choice as thats where it belongs from a maintaining point of view). But the problem is that vendor/htc is proprietary now. Which means Documentation and support for flashing firmware correctly is not available and left to developers of recoveries for the community to figure out. One would think if HTC was standing behind us that they would step up and give us a PROPER/OPEN/REAL unlock, or if they cant for the lame excuse of security concerns, then give us the documentation and utilities to flash the boot and firmware partitions properly. I mean really... what is there to lose there?
(5) WHAT WAS THE POINT OF HTC UNLOCK? I was to reach out and except us as a community. It was to keep us from having to exploit their firmware and look for holes to gain control of a device we rightfully own. WHAT DID HTC UNLOCK DO? It unlocked the devices at first and with each new revision of the unlock it gets more locked down and harder for us to use it as intended. WHAT DOES THAT LEAD TO? It leads to us hoping someone will take the time out of their life and exploit HTC's firmware so we can have access and control of our devices. I mean, it's bad when u have people poking a device with a paperclip to get a device unlocked to avoid a official unlock.
Bottom line; I'm personally fed up with HTC's unlock. It's absolute crap! It does not serve the purpose it was intended and only makes things harder then they were before. As a devoted HTC customer it has me questioning if my next device will be an HTC. With all the other options that would allow me to spend less time trying to gain proper access to my device and more time actually having fun with it, why choose HTC? Everyone else is shying away for these same issues. Everyone with an HTC unlocked device waits for someone to exploit HTC's firmware and give them a proper unlock. Why not just choose a device without the locked down/unlock instead? IDK but HTC needs to step up and listen to us. Every HTC forum with an HTC Unlock is screaming for these issues to be fixed.
My call to HTC is to fix these issue and/or give us proper documentation on flashing firmware to our devices via custom recoveries. The boot flashing lockout is dumb, pointless, and in NO WAY a security threat AT ALL and is nothing more then a CRAP RESPONSE to something that they sould be working to correct, instead of ignoring. In the end its hurting HTC's relations with developers and is ultimately doing the opposite of what it's original intent.
HTC, PLEASE READ AND LISTEN!!!11ONEone
To everyone else, SPREAD THE WORD!!!ONEone
End quote.........
There has to be a way to petition HTC. Reading this is making me lean galaxy Nexus, ...and I F$%kin HATE Samsung.
Edit: this post is from the One X forum TWRP topic.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

No way I'm buying a Samsung phone.
I'll trust that someone will figure out how to get around the issue at some point. I love how the phone is stock anyway.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

PsiPhiDan said:
In my recent mental debate over the EVO 4G LTE vs. the Nexus, I've pondered the differences between stock ICS (pure/vanilla/etc) and the ICS we will see on the One series by HTC, including our very own EVO sequel. From the few screenshots I've seen of the One X, it does not remotely resemble the ICS I've learned to know and love with the work our devs our doing to bring the latest and greatest to the OG. Examples include the lockscreen (the Sense ring appears to still be the default one - is there an option to go straight ICS for the lockscreen?), the dock (I'm sure I can switch the launcher to fix this issue...), the notifications pulldown (I've actually not seen the Sense one yet, but I've heard various things indicating it is different from the one I'm no accustomed to), etc. Heck, even the color of the battery meter is green instead of blue!
Does anyone know or at least have an idea if we can change some of those things without rooting our devices? Having a brand new device, I don't plan on needing to root (or at least install custom ROMs, that is) for a while. But I am already missing the slick new interface Google has provided. While many claim that Sense 4.0 is going for the minimalistic approach to the latest iteration of their infamous skin, why do I feel like they have completely altered a widely praised operating system that has barely rolled out? I'm a little saddened when I see the video of the EVO 4G LTE and feel like the look of everything is dated.
But then I look at the hardware, think about the devs who'll inevitably move to this phone, and that excites me about the possibilities. I guess I'm more curious than disappointed, but I was wondering others' feelings on this topic.
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There IS PLENTY of apps on the play store that offer home screen and lock screen customization, such as launcherpro, milocker, gosms, as far as changing the status bar and battery bar i'm not so sure, i haven't been on a phone with s-on in a while and can't tell you what rootless tweaks would work

Evo LTE...In layman's terms...

So my 2 year contract just ran last month.
I have LOVED my EVO 4G. Have flashed countless roms. Favs have to be Tommy's and MIUI but I also really liked Synergy before Tommy's was released.
So I hear all this talk about the EVO LTE not being fully rootable. So, can someone please point me in the right direction...?
The biggest selling point for me when it comes to getting a new phone is the screen/display. I NEED a large screen and want it to look nice (vibrant colors). I know the LTE has a 4.7inch screen which is very attractive to me.
I assume the LTE will be fully rootable sometime down the road. Maybe like a month or two after release I hope. I hear all this talk about the Galaxy Nexus and another model so I'm not sure if going LTE is the right choice? I want to be able to flash new roms when needed. I don't mind Sense as you can see based on my fav roms but I am not "tech" savvy so will it still be possible to flash roms on the LTE using Amon Recovery? I don't know how to push things using the PC and root commands like "su" so if that is the only way to flash stuff on the LTE then I will have a problem.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I think it'll be possible to fully root it, I don't think Sprint will go the same route AT&T went with when they had HTC lock down the One X, though that's certainly within the realm of possibility as well. We'll just have to wait and see if the unlocker tool will work for the EVO LTE. If not, then I give it a few months. Somebody will find a work around.

You'll be able to flash ROMs just fine from what I understand. Unless boot.img has to be done thru fastboot. I saw that being the case somewhere recently, I just can't remember where. But you won't be able to flash splashscreens and radios until/if S-off.
From what I've seen you can flash kernels and recoveries using flash_image GUI app. Now, that was the case apparently for Evo 3d, but if the partitions are written and protected differently from that then this may not still hold true.
I intend to get it, see how it goes over the first 14 days, and if it looks like brick walls on S-off or easy kernel flashing, I'll exchange it for galaxy nexus on 15th day.
sent from 2yr old Evo on ICS

if rooting and flashing roms really are important factors in your decision, just wait. Wait until devs have the LTevo in their hands and what happens with root (shouldnt be more than a couple weeks) if there arent any issues than jump on board. if for some reason there are issues, go with the gnex. it sucks that sprint is now charging a $35 restocking fee for all its phones if you swap within the grace period (you could always go this route too if you have the extra cash)
they both have big, beautiful screens and both are excellent phones. one gripe i hear about for the gnex is battery life but then you have removeable batteries as an option

Until the Evo LTE is sitting in the hands of developers for a few weeks at the minimum, a question like this can NOT be answered.

Starzboy77 said:
So my 2 year contract just ran last month.
I have LOVED my EVO 4G. Have flashed countless roms. Favs have to be Tommy's and MIUI but I also really liked Synergy before Tommy's was released.
So I hear all this talk about the EVO LTE not being fully rootable. So, can someone please point me in the right direction...?
The biggest selling point for me when it comes to getting a new phone is the screen/display. I NEED a large screen and want it to look nice (vibrant colors). I know the LTE has a 4.7inch screen which is very attractive to me.
I assume the LTE will be fully rootable sometime down the road. Maybe like a month or two after release I hope. I hear all this talk about the Galaxy Nexus and another model so I'm not sure if going LTE is the right choice? I want to be able to flash new roms when needed. I don't mind Sense as you can see based on my fav roms but I am not "tech" savvy so will it still be possible to flash roms on the LTE using Amon Recovery? I don't know how to push things using the PC and root commands like "su" so if that is the only way to flash stuff on the LTE then I will have a problem.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Go into an AT&T store and play with the One X, you WILL want this phone! This is basically the same as the EVO LTE, though the LTE does have some nicer specs!
Scott is right, you will be able to have access to flash ROM's, I don't know about the flash image GUI, I heard that they lock out any flashing from within /system...
About recovery, I don't know which ones will be available as one will need to be ported. Hopefully someone will work on porting Amon Ra, usually Clockwork is the first available.
You WILL have to learn fastboot commands prior to a one-click type of root being made available, this isn't that hard, if you can get through the HTC unlock process you can do pretty much anything in fastboot or ADB.
With Sense 4 being so light, beautiful and functional you won't have much need of flashing ROM's until some good tweaks are developed. Basically all of the tweaks you would make to a normal ROM have now become built into Android. Swipe to clear notification? Stock. Inverted pull down menu? Stock. Anything ICS styled? Stock. Plus there is more. Really go play with the One X and you won't regret your decision to get the LTE.
This is coming from someone who is not going to get the phone, by the way... I plan to get either the Galaxy Nexus or the next Nexus unlocked from Google and put it on a sim plan with T-mobile. This is primarily for monetary reasons, and it doesn't hurt to get a device designed for developers...

imheroldman said:
With Sense 4 being so light, beautiful and functional you won't have much need of flashing ROM's until some good tweaks are developed. Basically all of the tweaks you would make to a normal ROM have now become built into Android.
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Your forgetting about an important aspect which is tethering..

^^^^that will be taken care of by simply using HTCdev then flashing SU
@imheroldman
Good point about flash_image GUI and writing to system from within android. I know that hasn't happened yet for one x. It must be locked differently than 3d. But swagstr wrote that on 3d they could use flash image to flash recovery and kernel, but couldn't use ROM Manager (which I would never use) cuz they can't write to /system from within Android. Interesting puzzles.
sent from 2yr old Evo on ICS