Database Info

T-Mobile Branded Desire S Rooting

Hi all
I just wanted to make this post to make sure I know the exact process before I go ahead with this. Let me give you a little background....
I got a T-Mobile branded Desire S about 8 months ago and left it completely stock, after a while had an OTA update and from then on had constant problems with not receiving txts etc. So I S-offed and rooted with the RevX website and manually updated the radio to the latest version I could find. This fixed all my problems and everything was fine for months but then one day the phone just froze and without reading up too much I just started pressing buttons to reset/pulled the battery etc and ended up killing the phone completely.
Fast forward to now and I've just got a replacement phone but it has the older software on again so I'm not receiving txt messages again. I guess I need to update the radio image again to sort it but was hoping someone could let me know the exact process.
I assume I should use the RevX website again to S-Off/root then install CWM and the updates but which order and which versions should I be installing? I want to get it right up to date with 3.3.5 and sense 3.0 but not one of the custom ROMs.
Really appreciate anyone who takes the time to answer so thanks in advance.

First of all, please post stuff like this in Q&A. Secondly alpharevx is outdated now. Use revolutionary to S-OFF.
But now I'm confused. Do you want to update the radio and then S-ON again and get the latest update, or install a stock rom?
Sent from my Desire S using xda premium

Well ideally I'd like to not need to do anything! but at the moment I don't receive txt messages so I need to get it working. I don't want to use custom roms anyway so just need to upgrade to the latest official version.
If I understand correctly from what I've read I should use revolutionary to s-off then a program to root the phone. Then I could install 4ext and then install one of the 3.3.5 versions that works on a s-off/rooted phone and then finally update the radio to the version that works with 3.3.5?

Been reading up a little more and I will be using revolutionary to s-off the phone but should I install the recovery that comes with that? I assume this is CWM? Can I then overwrite it with 4ext if I want to?

rlzzzz said:
Been reading up a little more and I will be using revolutionary to s-off the phone but should I install the recovery that comes with that? I assume this is CWM? Can I then overwrite it with 4ext if I want to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can.

[Q] HTC Desire S stuck on yellow exclamation mark when updating to Android 2.5

Hi all,
I've been trying to update my HTC Desire S for a few days.
I want to update from Android 2.3.3 to 2.5 but I can't get it to work.
I will try to provide you with as much info as possible.
I have a rooted phone and I've also made backups of my ROM and apps using clockworkmod and titanium backup.
Now, if I try to update from within Android (I get a message sayin an OTA update is waiting for me) then it will reboot, but get stucked at the infamous white triangle with yellow exclamation mark.
Next thing I tried is booting in recovery mode and select apply update from zip file.
This gives me a whole list of errors, and I thought the update file was corrupt.
Note that every time the phone gets stucked I remove the battery, otherwhise I can't boot the phone again.
Now, I deleted the update from my sdcard and downloaded it again. Tried the same steps but nothing happened.
Last time I tried to get into recovery mode it got stuck at the pink T-Mobile logo. I'm looking at this screen for half an hour now.
To make a long story short:
- Update from 2.3.3 to 2.5
- Carriër: T-Mobile (NL)
- Phone: HTC Desire S
- ROOT: YES!
- HBOOT: 6.98.1002
- RADIO: 3805.06.02.03_M
I hope anyone is able to help me with this, right now I don't know what my phone is doing, and I cannot use it.
Best regards,
Marcoevich

Ok, I've removed the battery and managed to boot it again.
Now, I renamed the update file to update.zip and put it in the rood of my sdcard.
I got into recovery mode again, tried update from zip file on sdcard. Here's the error I got:
assert failed: check_cid(getprop("ro.cid"). "0000000" , "1111111" , "2222222" , "3333333" , "4444444" , "5555555" , "6666666" , "7777777" , "8888888" , "9999999" , "T-MOB003") == "t"
E:Error in /sdcard/update.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted.

If you can get into recovery again I would recommend trying to restore your back up. You should not try to apply an OTA update to a rooted phone at all, you could have got a 2.5 update from a thread here. Sorry I can't help more but as far as I know you really need to get into recovery and get the back up restored or try and flash a new ROM.

Yeah, try a custom rom out there. Saga3D v4 is based on official desire s sense 3 update. Official ota can't work because hboot needs to ne updated (new partition table), and revolutionary hboot (6.98.0002) can't be overwritten by ota. Plus official ota needs stock recovery. Clockworkmod, 4ext recovery won't work. So either restore your backup or try a custom rom
Sent from my Desire S with Virtuous Quattro

Ok thx. Didn't knew i couldn't apply an OTA over a rooted ROM. I thought I would only lose my root after update.
But I've done some research in the meantime. I think I'm gonna flash the latest coredroid ROM, that one looks very promising

Thx again for your help, but I got one more question.
First i'd like to test the original htc OTA. So a workaround for that is restore my backup from before I rooted the phone.
The only thing is, will I be able to go back to the rooted ROM afterwards? OR do I need to root it again?

Well that is a little more complicated. The problem applying ota isn't the rooted rom, it is the custom recovery. Ota needs stock recovery to work.
And if you restore stock recovery and apply ota, your only possibility to root will be using htcdev unlock and permanently losing your warranty. (Htc will register your serial number and will be able to say that you voided your warranty)
Better using a custom rom.
Sent from my Desire S with Virtuous Quattro

Lol, I didn't saw that one comming
If I go to the htcdev site, I get the idea that HTC supports software development, and that it will repair phones even if they are rooted. So what's the point here? Why can't I 'normally' root my phone after upgrade to android 2.5?

Ok, to make things more clear for myself and others, I've done a conversation with an employee of the Dutch customer care department. I've translated the conversation to English, so you can understand it.
Here you go:
You are now connected with Susan.
Susan: Dear Marcoevich, thank you for your contacting HTC customer support.
Susan: What is your question exactly?
Marcoevich: Hey susan
Marcoevich: I will explain
Marcoevich: I have a rooted Desire S with Android 2.3.3
Marcoevich: Now I get an OTA update to Android 2.5 and Sense 3.0
Marcoevich: that update should be easy to apply when I restore a backup from Before my root
Marcoevich: But if I then go back to a custom ROM it is another story
Marcoevich: according to my friends at xda-developers I should do that with the htcdev unlock tool.
Marcoevich: but then I will lose all my warranty
Marcoevich: is that right?
Susan: Yes, if the unit is rooted u will void the warranty on your device. I understand that you have done this already?
Marcoevich: It is. but I think I read somewhere that HTC supports software development, and will fix rooted phones since August last year
Susan: HTC repairs the phones as usual, but the costs will be payed by the customer.
Marcoevich: Ah I see.
Marcoevich: What's the difference between a normal root or unlock the recovery using the htcdev tool? Because according to xda-developers I am losing my full warranty
Susan: It is exactly the same. No mather how you root the phone, you always lose the warranty.
Marcoevich: Hmm ok sin..
Marcoevich: I have one more question
Marcoevich: it is possible to restore your phone using a backup from before you rooted it.
Marcoevich: Can anyone, after I do this, see afterwards that it was a rooted phone?
Susan: I can give no answer. If a technician can see that the device has been rooted, it will be outside warranty. It is up to the repairers from Dynafix to determine this eventually.
Marcoevich: ok fine Thanks for your time!
Susan: Can I help you with anything else today?
Marcoevich: No, I understand now, I think
Marcoevich: thanks for your help!
To make a long story short: No matter how you root it, you will always lose your full warranty.
That's good to know
Edit: One more question remains: If I restore my phone with a backup from BEFORE I rooted it, will someone be able to see that it was a rooted phone?
Thanks in advance!
Marcoevich

Marcoevich said:
To make a long story short: No matter how you root it, you will always lose your full warranty.
That's good to know
Edit: One more question remains: If I restore my phone with a backup from BEFORE I rooted it, will someone be able to see that it was a rooted phone?
Thanks in advance!
Marcoevich
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand it, no.
If you root it using htcdev they will have a record that you accepted their terms and conditions and rooted the phone thus voiding your warranty. If you have rooted using another method (Revolutionary for example) they have NO record that the phone was ever rooted.
You SHOULD be able to either restore your back-up (I'm not sure if this will bring it right back to stock, how did you make the back-up if it wasn't rooted?) or alternatively flash the stock rom you originally had from this site. There are threads on doing this right, and it will return your phone to stock, no one will be able to tell it was once rooted and you can then also download and apply the OTA update. I'm not quite sure why you might want to do that though as there are roms available here based on the ota update already, and much more exciting roms available as well. You should try some of these first before losing root with the ota update.
Also in future or for others reading this with similar situations: as Floatshow said I think the problem is partly caused by the revolutionary hboot being changed to 6.98.000, which the phone sees as higher than the ota roms hboot - to avoid this kind of problem it might be best to flash a new hboot - there are threads on this in the development section.
Good luck!

Thank you 4myphone! You explained it very clear
I made a backup using ROM Manager of my stock ROM. I hope the hboot etc is included in such a backup?
Thx for your explanation, I understand it now and if I ever have to send my phone to HTC I will use this site to return my phone to stock. I'm glad that it's possible
Best regards,
Marcoevich

Good question! I don't know if the hboot is part of the backup, it certainly doesn't change when you switch roms. I'd guess that restoring a back up would not change the hboot but I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Let me know if you test it

Nope. The hboot would NEVER be included in the recovery backup.

[Q] Regarding about revolutionary root

Im a noob so dont bash me, thanks. Also, I tried to search for something similar with my question but I end up wasting alot of time and just got me confused. Sorry if this was already discussed or something.
So here is my situation, I s-off and rooted my sensation using revolutionary, and thats all I have done. Everything else are stock.
By the time the official HTC ICS OTA arrives will I be able to download and install it without any problems? I read alot of topics regarding about root and ota but those just got me so confused, so can someone give me a solid answer? Thanks
Cheers.

For OTA, S-OFF doesn't matter, but root could be a problem.
Also, I think you have a custom recovery now.
To receive OTAs need to have stock recovery and hboot image (not 100% sure about hboot thou).
The best is to run an official RUU before the OTA.
This will prevent any problem and you can always gain root again later.

[Q] How can i root after installing ics ruu?

Hey guys, I'd like to root and S-OFF my HTC desire s. Which is the best way? The only thing I've done to my phone since I own it is install the official ruu running ICS.

bubi90 said:
Hey guys, I'd like to root and S-OFF my HTC desire s. Which is the best way? The only thing I've done to my phone since I own it is install the official ruu running ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do yourself a favour and read the stickies in the Dev forum, then search the DS forums as this question has been asked and answered countless times already. You need to know and understand what you are doing and why or you risk getting yourself into a situation you will struggle to get out of.

I'm not an absolute beginner. I've already rooted and S-OFF my previous phone, the HTC Desire. I know what I am going to do.
I just wanted to know if the procedure to root this ics ruu is the same as before.
Thanks

If you know what you're going to do - then do it.
If you don't - read the stickies.
This thread is a waste of time, yours and others'.

You cannot S-OFF the default ICS RUU hboot - for that, you will need to downgrade to an older hboot (0.98.x) by flashing an older RUU for your phone (there are threads around here that will let you know how to do that) and then S-OFF.
However, you do not need to S-OFF to root the ICS rom - you only need to unlock the bootloader through htcdev.com. Keep in mind that this voids the warranty. After you unlock the blootloader, you can flash a custom recovery via fastboot commands (search the forum) and then flash the SU (or SuperSU) binary and app in recovery. That's exactly what I had done as soon as the ICS RUU came out. This is hardly a detailed guide, but it's a starting point, good luck.

Cannot update my M4 to Sense 6.0?

I recently unlocked my bootloader and now I tried to update my android to HTC Sense 6.0 and half way through it shows a red triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle. Why is it doing this? The phone isn't yet rooted but I was on my way to root it right after I did this update. Am i required to relock bootloader then update then reunlock it again after I've updated it?

Exhibitioner said:
I recently unlocked my bootloader and now I tried to update my android to HTC Sense 6.0 and half way through it shows a red triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle. Why is it doing this? The phone isn't yet rooted but I was on my way to root it right after I did this update. Am i required to relock bootloader then update then reunlock it again after I've updated it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
last night, I was just playing with restoring my mini to stock and seeing at what point in the process OTA updates stopped working. I did too many steps, but i got the same message as you when A) rooted and B) Unlocked. So, i think, from the clues you've given, OTA won't work anymore once you're unlocked. I tried locking using revone and re-running OTA, and it still failed. I'd be interested to know if it will work in a re-locked bootloader
As a test, this morning, i re-stocked my device using RUU and OTA worked perfectly. so i don't think the problem was an issue with the download or my phone itself (hardware).

jollywhitefoot said:
last night, I was just playing with restoring my mini to stock and seeing at what point in the process OTA updates stopped working. I did too many steps, but i got the same message as you when A) rooted and B) Unlocked. So, i think, from the clues you've given, OTA won't work anymore once you're unlocked. I tried locking using revone and re-running OTA, and it still failed. I'd be interested to know if it will work in a re-locked bootloader
As a test, this morning, i re-stocked my device using RUU and OTA worked perfectly. so i don't think the problem was an issue with the download or my phone itself (hardware).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not rooted, would you suggest me to try relock it and then try or what else could I do? Is the update from HTC Sense 5.5 to 6.0 much of a difference?

Exhibitioner said:
I'm not rooted, would you suggest me to try relock it and then try or what else could I do? Is the update from HTC Sense 5.5 to 6.0 much of a difference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty new at this and just enjoy playing with my own device, so i don't want to make recommendations for what you should do. I was just letting you know that OTA update didn't work for me when i was unlocked and did work for me when I was factory locked. Sorry, but i didn't try it re-locked, but maybe i could do that this weekend and let you know.
If that were my phone, i would re-lock it and try the OTA again, but, like i said, i'm pretty new to this and there may be ramifications that i don't know about.
What was your goal for unlocking in the first place? For me, i wanted to A) update to sense 6 and B) get all the bloatware off my phone. I think sense 6 is a LOT better, but I've read posts from people who hate it and are desperate to get back to 5.5. I ran the ROM you flashed for a couple of weeks, then i decided to check out InsertCoin with sense 6. That's what I'm using now and really like it. But to get it, i think you'll have to s-off your device since you're likely on older firmware (Are you on hboot 2.21?).

jollywhitefoot said:
I'm pretty new at this and just enjoy playing with my own device, so i don't want to make recommendations for what you should do. I was just letting you know that OTA update didn't work for me when i was unlocked and did work for me when I was factory locked. Sorry, but i didn't try it re-locked, but maybe i could do that this weekend and let you know.
If that were my phone, i would re-lock it and try the OTA again, but, like i said, i'm pretty new to this and there may be ramifications that i don't know about.
What was your goal for unlocking in the first place? For me, i wanted to A) update to sense 6 and B) get all the bloatware off my phone. I think sense 6 is a LOT better, but I've read posts from people who hate it and are desperate to get back to 5.5. I ran the ROM you flashed for a couple of weeks, then i decided to check out InsertCoin with sense 6. That's what I'm using now and really like it. But to get it, i think you'll have to s-off your device since you're likely on older firmware (Are you on hboot 2.21?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think i'm going to try relock then update it, I wanted to update to latest version then root my device so I can play around with my device a little more like you said you did with your phone too since when it is rooted there are a lot of advantages that look interesting to me. Not sure about my HBoot version but I'll check later since I'm downloading something onto my phone at the moment. HBOOT version is 2.21.0000