Database Info

Questions about using Bootstrap on Atrix 2

I feel monumentally stupid asking this question, but I've run out of options. I have tried searching first, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to phrase the search and most of the search results are for non-Atrix 2 phones, so I don't know how reliable the information is.
My previous phone was an HTC Evo which was fully rootable and unlockable etc., and an HTC Evo 3d which was fully rootable and unlockable at the time I managed to do it (apparently the 3d goes through phases where it is, then phases where it isn't, depending on its updates). My basic and non-technical understanding of the Atrix 2 environment is that becauase the bootloader is currently locked, the backup/restore/flashing solutions have to perform a few tricks to work.
So from what I can tell in the dev forum, there are currently two ways to backup and flash roms. There is safestrap, which apparently isn't quite working yet, which partitions your microSD card and runs everything from there -- essentially when you boot your phone it tells the OS to boot from the microSD card which effectively lets you treat your Atrix 2 as a fully unlocked and rooted device with a remarkably large and well-configured recovery partition. Unfortunately, according to the title of the safestrap thread, it's not quite working yet, and a few of the roms posted in the development forum specifically say not to use it.
OK, so bootstrap. It was updated as of Jan 1. If you have already rooted your Atrix 2 (I have) then it throws up a menu that lets you boot into recovery, and it will install (I think this is my understanding) a custom version of ClockwordMod Recovery? But you can't get there from boot, you have to boot into Android and then reboot back into the recovery environment.
Is that correct?
If that is correct, then my next question is what happens in the hypothetical scenario where you install a rom, something goes wrong, and you want to restore a previous backup but you can't boot into Android?
There's something I'm missing about how all this is supposed to work and it looks like it's something so obvious that nobody actually talks about it in the threads -- or when they're talking about it, I don't actually realize that's what they're talking about so it doesn't register.
Anyway. Thanks for your time.

There's a script in the thread that gives you cwm on boot. The catch is it goes to recovery first EVERYTIME you boot.

ubersoft said:
I feel monumentally stupid asking this question, but I've run out of options. I have tried searching first, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to phrase the search and most of the search results are for non-Atrix 2 phones, so I don't know how reliable the information is.
My previous phone was an HTC Evo which was fully rootable and unlockable etc., and an HTC Evo 3d which was fully rootable and unlockable at the time I managed to do it (apparently the 3d goes through phases where it is, then phases where it isn't, depending on its updates). My basic and non-technical understanding of the Atrix 2 environment is that becauase the bootloader is currently locked, the backup/restore/flashing solutions have to perform a few tricks to work.
So from what I can tell in the dev forum, there are currently two ways to backup and flash roms. There is safestrap, which apparently isn't quite working yet, which partitions your microSD card and runs everything from there -- essentially when you boot your phone it tells the OS to boot from the microSD card which effectively lets you treat your Atrix 2 as a fully unlocked and rooted device with a remarkably large and well-configured recovery partition. Unfortunately, according to the title of the safestrap thread, it's not quite working yet, and a few of the roms posted in the development forum specifically say not to use it.
OK, so bootstrap. It was updated as of Jan 1. If you have already rooted your Atrix 2 (I have) then it throws up a menu that lets you boot into recovery, and it will install (I think this is my understanding) a custom version of ClockwordMod Recovery? But you can't get there from boot, you have to boot into Android and then reboot back into the recovery environment.
Is that correct?
If that is correct, then my next question is what happens in the hypothetical scenario where you install a rom, something goes wrong, and you want to restore a previous backup but you can't boot into Android?
There's something I'm missing about how all this is supposed to work and it looks like it's something so obvious that nobody actually talks about it in the threads -- or when they're talking about it, I don't actually realize that's what they're talking about so it doesn't register.
Anyway. Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the situation that you describe, even the CWM on boot that mtnlion mentioned, still may not get you into CWM. In that case your ONLY option is to flash the fxz file with rsd lite, that will restore you to a full stock out of the box atrix 2, which you then have to re-root, then re-install bootstrap, then restore your backup.
Sorry there is not an easier way right now, but until the bootloader is unlocked we can't flash CWM, so that we can get to it, as you would the default android recovery, because that does require the default recovery to be replaced, and an unlocked bootloader is required for that to work.
Safestrap is really a tool that is only useful to those actually developing, or people that we have asked to test something out, and since lfaber06 and I don't have a version to release to the public that we are happy with yet, that is not an option.

Oh!
So you install bootstrap, then you install the script, and when you do that it basically acts like a grub menu? That makes sense.

ubersoft said:
Oh!
So you install bootstrap, then you install the script, and when you do that it basically acts like a grub menu? That makes sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, if you get a bad flash you still may not be able to get into CWM, since it requires files that are actually in the Android ROM, to fully work. Read my post above ^^^

Heh. Apparently I started posting at about the same time you posted your detailed explanation...
Thanks for the additional information. Based on that, it looks like I need to wait a bit longer before mucking about with my Atrix 2. Thanks for the update!

ubersoft said:
Heh. Apparently I started posting at about the same time you posted your detailed explanation...
Thanks for the additional information. Based on that, it looks like I need to wait a bit longer before mucking about with my Atrix 2. Thanks for the update!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it is perfectly safe, but the restore is just a little more complex than you had to deal with, with other phones. I have done exactly what I mentioned above SEVERAL times, with out issue, since I am doing a ton of dev work on this phone.
The ROMs that are out there are great right now, and lfaber06s ROM is really good, and I will be releasing a version of CM7 very soon. If you wait for a bootloader unlock, it may never come, or at least it may not be very soon.
The worst thing that happens is that you have to flash the fxz, which it is documented how to do that with RSD lite very well in the noob thread here. then you can restore your backup with out issue, it is just a few extra steps.

Bootstrap is really safe as is all of lfaber06 Roms right now. I have no problem recommending either of his roms to anyone. They are both very good. As Jim has stated the only problems we have is if something wrong happens on boot, but with the fastboot files, RSD lite, and the one click root method you have everything available to get you right back to where you were before you flashed.
I can promise you everything works very good as I have soft bricked my phone so many rimes in the last 2 weeks that I have become very efficient at getting back to stock, rooting and then flashing a backup with bootstrap and can be back in business n around 20 mins. Just always be near a computer when you start flashing things. One thing that will help out is to keep a backup of the bootstrap on tour SD card so if you have something go wrong you don't have to redownload it again.
We have a very good group of people here and if anyone has any problems we can get you through them and back running

Well there we are then!
So after getting a clearer picture of the situation (thanks for the explanation) I blocked off most of the night, installed bootstrap, then installed lfaber06's Supercharged v4. It took forever, but it worked flawlessly.
Thanks everyone for your patience and encouragement.

[Q] Do i have to have an unlocked bootloader to flash lithium 1.3.1?

i have a sg3 unlocked and rooted and my girl decided she wants her atrix 2 rooted. im not even going to bother with unlocking the bootloader as from what i read, its a pain in the ass. so im just wanting to debloat and hopefully put her on a nice rom and she likes the look of lithium. i read where it has some OC potential and was wondering if it was going to try and flash a kernel....
so can i flash this without an unlocked bootloader?

dearbeloved said:
i have a sg3 unlocked and rooted and my girl decided she wants her atrix 2 rooted. im not even going to bother with unlocking the bootloader as from what i read, its a pain in the ass. so im just wanting to debloat and hopefully put her on a nice rom and she likes the look of lithium. i read where it has some OC potential and was wondering if it was going to try and flash a kernel....
so can i flash this without an unlocked bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ATRIX 2's bootloader IS locked, and to date there is no known way of unlocking it. That being said, you (or your girlfriend, or both) are stuck with the stock Moto kernel. As far as Lithium v1.3.1, its a very nice rom. However, there are several very nice roms available to the ATRIX 2 -you'll just have to peruse the thread posts for each in the development section to see which one works for what you want. Also, most, if not all roms are already running the init.d supported 00pptimize for overclock, as well as partially or fully de-bloated. Many, have been updated to run at either 1.1GHz or 1.2GHz, but you can always raise that with some careful editing, patience, and extensive testing. You cannot flash a kernel because, as mentioned before, the bootloader on the ATRIX 2 is locked. You can still flash custom roms, but you need to do a little leg work to get the appropriate measure in place first. Start by reading The Beginner's Guide for most all your preemptive knowledge with the ATRIX 2. This will show you rooting methods used, as well as our custom recovery (CWM). Once you have that, you should should be in good standings to move forward from there to get what you are looking for with the phone...

i appreciate the feedback. I havent had to face a locked bootloader so i was wondering but already knew i couldnt flash a kernal over it. Ive got bootstrap to get into recovery pretty knowledgeable android and the Root/flash/bootloader deal but this phone seems to be a pain compared to what im usually working with.
she doesnt need to be oc'd but just wants a new look... so ill give her this until she whines later about another one and how to do it.... or how i should do it.
thanks again.

question about unlocking bootloader on d2vzw sch-i535

Hello XDA Developers,
Okay so here is my unusual situation...
I have two phones. I have one Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 that I run CM 11 on with CWM Touch installed on that phone. On my second phone which is also a Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 i was running stock 4.1.2 ROM which was rooted with CWM recovery manager. The stock SGS3 was the baseband version that supported multi windows.
Okay so today i decided to go ahead and check for an OTA update on my stock (rooted) SGS3. I knew there had been an update available for some time but I never decided to update my phone because i figured with it being rooted and with CWM recovery manager installed there was no way that the OTA update would work...
So like an idiot i went ahead and tried the update. I figured what is the worst that could happen? I figured that at the worst it was just going to tell me that the update failed and i would just be stuck with Android 4.1.2 which isn't the end of the world. I really like the multi windows setup. Moving on...i downloaded the update and I hit the install update button. My phone booted into recovery manager and it installed the update. When the phone rebooted I saw the message "Android is upgrading" and i thought whoa! no way!. After android finished upgrading which i believe was the dalvik rebuilding I saw a message in notifications saying "upgrade installation failed", however when i went into settings it now told me that i was running Android 4.3. So to me it looked like the upgrade took but I think the problem was that when it asked me to flash the stock recovery there was an option in CWM to say no and i choose that to keep CWM recovery manager instead of the stock recovery manager. Maybe i should have let the update install the stock recovery manager...
Now i knew ahead of time that if this update worked I was going to loose root but again I didn't think it was that big of a deal since I could just re-root my phone and I would be on a newer Android version. I looked around for the best rooting option and I wanted to use Chainfire's CF-AutoRoot exploit but I know that if you do not have the bootloader unlocked that there is a chance of bricking your phone. So after some research (which i should have done before i updated my phone!) i saw that there was an exploit out called "saferoot.zip" and that you could root your phone running a windows.bat file or a shell script if you are in Linux. Even though the program is for SGS4 many users on XDA with SGS3 phones reported success with "saferoot". So i tried saferoot 2 times with no luck. Finally on the third attempt (3rd times a charm!) i was able to root my phone and SuperSU was able to "disable KNOX".
So i now had my Verizon SGS3 updated from Android 4.1.2 to Android 4.3 and I had successfully re-rooted my phone. I was feeling good...
Until I wanted to make sure that CWM Recovery Manager was still on my phone. I opened up the app "quickboot" and choose to boot into Recovery Manager this is where the trouble began...
When my phone booted into recovery mode i saw a big Yellow Triangle. Under this very scary yellow triangle it said that "Verizon has detected unauthorized software on this phone. Please turn off the phone and take it into your nearest verizon store". Other something along those lines...
I thought I was in big trouble...
I could not get the phone out of recovery mode. I tried pulling the battery but every time my phone rebooted it just kept going back into recovery mode. The trick to get out recovery mode was to hold down Volume Down + Home for a few seconds then press the power button. This brought me to a new menu and i was able to hit "cancel" on installing a new OS and it rebooted my phone back to its normal state.
So finally here is my questions...
Question 1: I know i need to unlock my bootloader again. After you apply an OTA update it re-locks your bootloader right? Does anyone know of a method of unlocking the bootloader with the Verizon (d2vzw) SGS3 baseband version I535VRUCML1 running on Android 4.3?
Before when my phone was running 4.1.2 I unlocked the bootloader with Odin and the app EZ-UNLOCK but i don't think EZ-UNLOCK is going to work with Android 4.3
Question 2: Is there a way to get rid of that message about Verizon has detected unauthorized software on this phone? Now I know that ChainFire has a Yellow Triangle Away app on the Google Play store and I will happily buy it but I know that in order for it to work you first must have your bootloader unlocked right? If i try to use that app with my bootloader in a locked state i could brick my phone permanently right?
Is there possibly any file or exploit i can flash with either Odin or the app "Flashify" so that I can unlock my bootloader. Has anyone here tried unlocking their bootloader on their SGS3 running 4.3 with the app "EZ-UNLOCK" ?
I am very concerned about damaging my phone which is a company work phone so if i mess it up i will be in deep trouble...
Oh, one last question...
Question 3: Since i got that yellow triangle message about unauthorized software when i tried to boot into recovery mode could it have possible been because CWM recovery was somehow deleted with the OTA update? After i was able to get out of recovery mode I used the app "ROM Manager" to install CWM Recovery Again hoping that I might have a recovery manager... Now ROM Manager says that CWM Touch was installed successfully but I am not sure since I am kind of scared to boot into recovery mode again until I unlock this bootloader.
If my recovery manager is being blocked until I get my bootloader unlocked could i use the app "flashify" if i need to flash any files?
I know my situation might be a bit unusual but I am really going to need some help on this and someones expertise advice.
I hope to hear from someone soon...
XDA Members, have a great New Years and make 2014 count!
I thank you all for your time and assistance.
-droidshadow

After accepting the 4.3 OTA, your bootloader is locked and there is no way to unlock it. My suggestion to you would be to grab the 4.3 ODIN file, reflash to 100% stock, root using saferoot, debloat as wanted, and hope for the best.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but there is no way to unlock the bootloader once taking the 4.3 OTA. Attempting to do so will brick the phone.

well that stinks...
podspi said:
After accepting the 4.3 OTA, your bootloader is locked and there is no way to unlock it. My suggestion to you would be to grab the 4.3 ODIN file, reflash to 100% stock, root using saferoot, unbloat as wanted, and hope for the best.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but there is no way to unlock the bootloader once taking the 4.3 OTA. Attempting to do so will brick the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only reason that I even attempted the upgrade is because next week I am going to purchasing the smart watch from the Samsung Galaxy Gear. For that watch (you can make calls from the watch) you need the upgrade to pair my SGS3 with my smartwatch when I get it next week.
Now this OTA update is quite new so that means that there still might be a chance to unlock the bootloader eventually when someone works it out right?
Big question:
Is it still possible to have CWM or TWRP with this 4.3 OTA update?
Thanks for the reply.
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
The only reason that I even attempted the upgrade is because next week I am going to purchasing the smart watch from the Samsung Galaxy Gear. For that watch (you can make calls from the watch) you need the upgrade to pair my SGS3 with my smartwatch when I get it next week.
Now this OTA update is quite new so that means that there still might be a chance to unlock the bootloader eventually when someone works it out right?
Big question:
Is it still possible to have CWM or TWRP with this 4.3 OTA update?
Thanks for the reply.
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To bad you took the ota. There is a twrp flashable rom for stock 4.3. And no you can not have custom recovery.

droidshadow said:
Okay so today i decided to go ahead and check for an OTA update on my stock (rooted) SGS3...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no need to read any further than that.... Sorry to be another bearer of bad news, but if a phone is rooted and you want it to stay that way, "OTA" should be a term that you never, ever, ever even think about !

The S4 boot loader has been locked down with Knox longer than the S3 has, and no one has cracked it yet. I'd say the chances of this boot loader being cracked wide open are slim to none. If unlocking this boot loader were as simple as using EZ unlock 1.2, it would have been written about all over these and all forums.
Sent from the Shark Tank using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

so what entails for the future of samsung phones?
landshark68 said:
The S4 boot loader has been locked down with Knox longer than the S3 has, and no one has cracked it yet. I'd say the chances of this boot loader being cracked wide open are slim to none. If unlocking this boot loader were as simple as using EZ unlock 1.2, it would have been written about all over these and all forums.
Sent from the Shark Tank using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Will KitKat + SELinux + Knox no longer allow us to enjoy the true beauty of Android? I think that is major BS.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones? I love Samsung phones and I love having the options of flashing custom roms or reverting back to stock and I really really love CWM recovery or TWRP recovery.
These phones are our property...
I understand that the software and the code is Samsung's or Verizon's yet we should be able to do what we want to our property. Could you imagine if Toyota or Chevy said that after you purchased one of their cars you could never paint it a different color or add custom rims + wheels! That would be ridiculous... It is the same concept here really.
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Will KitKat + SELinux + Knox no longer allow us to enjoy the true beauty of Android? I think that is major BS.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones? I love Samsung phones and I love having the options of flashing custom roms or reverting back to stock and I really really love CWM recovery or TWRP recovery.
These phones are our property...
I understand that the software and the code is Samsung's or Verizon's yet we should be able to do what we want to our property. Could you imagine if Toyota or Chevy said that after you purchased one of their cars you could never paint it a different color or add custom rims + wheels! That would be ridiculous... It is the same concept here really.
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Difference is though, if you were to somehow screw up your car by customizing it you wouldn't try to take it back to the dealership and get a new car under a warranty claim. I would have to think at least part of the reason phone manufacturers and mobile carriers are locking down phones is all the "warranty" claims people are submitting after screwing up while rooting and flashing their phones. Warranty claims are for inherent manufacturer defects, not a hard brick from flashing the wrong software. If more people took responsibility for their mistakes and bought a new phone instead of making the carriers or manufacturers pay for their mistakes, perhaps this wouldn't be happening. I'm not saying absolutely, just perhaps. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now. Happy New Year everyone.

Different animal. You own the hardware, but the providers have the right to control the firmware since it can change how the phone interacts with the network.
Just like the firmware in your cars computer. The manufacturer and the federal government have control over what went in. Modifying it can be done, but it is a violation of EPA emission laws.
Modifying the paint, tires, rims etc is like putting a different case, bling etc on your phone
Your phone needs to have the 4.3 odin tar installed to clean the recovery.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
These phones are our property...
It is really sad that Samsung and Mobile carriers such as Verizon have resorted to this...
-droidshadow
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its really Verizon, They have had many Moto and HTC phones with locked bootloaders , unless Verizon unlocks it, it won't be cracked.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2586319
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

DigitalMD said:
Its really Verizon, They have had many Moto and HTC phones with locked bootloaders , unless Verizon unlocks it, it won't be cracked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know but still i think it should be our choice! While there are millions of us out there that love to customize the software on our phone's by adding new recovery managers or custom rom's we are a small population to the rest of the stock phone using world...
Insurance companies make big bucks by all the people who never file a claim...but i won't get into that.
Many of you have made excellent points and i respect that. I especially liked the comparison of car rims to phone cases i thought that was great!
Hopefully someone will work it out soon or some how an unlocked bootloader will get leaked.
Come one Verizon developers! Leak it! We wont tell!
I was planning on getting the NOTE 3 but i doubt that phone comes with an unlocked bootloader so this d2vzw (sgs3) will most likely be my last samsung phone that I ever buy. I guess i will have to stick with the Nexus phones... I am going to miss micro sdcards!
-droidshadow

droidshadow said:
I know but still i think it should be our choice! While there are millions of us out there that love to customize the software on our phone's by adding new recovery managers or custom rom's we are a small population to the rest of the stock phone using world...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having that debate at this site is kinda silly.... Fact is, "we" will lose the fight against the carriers and/or manufacturers as it stands. The only way to really impact them is to STOP giving them our money, but you know what ? The number of people who "hack" their phones is a tiny percentage in the grand scheme. We'd probably get a "good riddance" response from them anyway.

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct and.... read on.
So what are our options now? Are we going to simply have to choose different phones like future Google Nexus phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That could be the only solution. I believe the success that Samsung/Verizon have had with locking down their phones will soon result in ALL phones on ALL carriers being locked down with little or no possibility of rooting or flashing.
I suspect we've seen the end of modifying any phone on any network. I sure hope I'm wrong....

It would be a shame....
xs11e said:
I suspect we've seen the end of modifying any phone on any network. I sure hope I'm wrong....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just rooted and got into CM in the last month. Got rid of all the bloat and installed some neat little apps. And now, just when I get hooked, it's possible that my drug of choice may be going away.

hey there guys, i know this post is a little old, but i just wanted to share my story real quickly with you and to reiterate that messing with the boot loader on an sch-i535 running 4.3 is a HORRIBLE idea.
this is the first phone i have ever tried to root. i successfully rooted the phone, immediately i tried to run cwm recovery. HARDBRICK. i was so proud for all of five minutes that i rooted a phone on my first try. The phone would not power on in ANY mode. i could only get a red light to come on by plugging my phone into my computer with the battery out of the phone. after three days and alot of reading and some help from xda i managed to (amazingly) debrick my phone. I am now very VERY cautious of what i do with my rooted sch-i535 with its HORRIBLE 4.3 crap.
If you are truly hardbricked, im told that jigs (despite what is all over the internet) will not work. (maybe they do but a shop in texas told me a hardbrick will not revive by jig).
JTAG is the most dependable repair.
I revived my phone via debrick image on an sd card.
Bottom line, do everything you can to avoid the situation in the first place.

Never take updates. I unlocked boot loader on 4.3 with ez-unlock app booted into recovery and hard bricked my phone... The fun is over after 4.3...Had to send it to Tampa fl. To get JTAG and it worked.

droidshadow said:
So what is the going to happen to the future of Samsung Phones? Are we no longer going to be able to put custom ROM's and custom Recovery Managers on Samsung Phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's correct, given the amount of time the Devs have had to find a way to unlock the bootloader on the S3 and S4 w/o success, I believe it's hopeless.
Worse, I believe Samsung will share their technology and ALL cell phones will eventually have locked boot loaders and be un-rootable, un-flashable and, to me, at least, un-desirable!
I sincerely hope I'm wrong but I believe in a year or two any cellphone will be locked down to whatever software is installed at time of purchase.

xs11e said:
That's correct, given the amount of time the Devs have had to find a way to unlock the bootloader on the S3 and S4 w/o success, I believe it's hopeless.
Worse, I believe Samsung will share their technology and ALL cell phones will eventually have locked boot loaders and be un-rootable, un-flashable and, to me, at least, un-desirable!
I sincerely hope I'm wrong but I believe in a year or two any cellphone will be locked down to whatever software is installed at time of purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How's the fun over??? Haha I've seen this same junk many times... I'm running 4.3 rooted. Safestrapped (cwmis garbage) alliance 23 build ROM CSC & build prop tweaks on sch-i535v on straightalk att side. Knox removed manually by me. All bands open except domestic 3g. (Working on it now).
So the funs over? I'm confused.. And how is that? Lol take your time. Research. Learn. Adapt. Achieve. If it can be locked. It can be unlocked. I've yet to run across a phone that I couldn't bring back from the supposed "hard brick" but I did find one I COULDNT brick on purpose. And I threw everything at it. Huwaei m8665 I think it was. I tried for two days to brick that little piece of junk, and not even wrong roots etc could. Lol

An0nYm0u5.bat said:
How's the fun over??? Haha I've seen this same junk many times... I'm running 4.3 rooted. Safestrapped (cwmis garbage) alliance 23 build ROM CSC & build prop tweaks on sch-i535v on straightalk att side. Knox removed manually by me. All bands open except domestic 3g. (Working on it now).
So the funs over? I'm confused.. And how is that? Lol take your time. Research. Learn. Adapt. Achieve. If it can be locked. It can be unlocked. I've yet to run across a phone that I couldn't bring back from the supposed "hard brick" but I did find one I COULDNT brick on purpose. And I threw everything at it. Huwaei m8665 I think it was. I tried for two days to brick that little piece of junk, and not even wrong roots etc could. Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you if there is a way to lock it there is a way to unlock it.
is just a matter of time some smart brain will figure it out how to and share LOL

[Q] Can someone braindump me on M8 hacking?

Hoping some kind soul will take a few minutes to get me up to speed on what I need to know about hacking the M8.
I am not a total newb, and have lingered around XDA for a while. I've rooted many phones and tablets, even worked with cooking my own ROMS for android and older winmo 4+ years ago. I've just not been involved in the scene and am just about to get my new M8 and would like a crash course.
I really don't mind reading - so if someone has a great all-in-one guide they recommend, I'll certainly start with that...its just the endless searching for the up-to-date info I'm looking to avoid. I actually prefer to understand what I'm doing rather than just click "unlock"
Top most questions in my mind:
1) The biggest thing I would like to know to start is the best way to backup/up protect my device before I do anything to it.
I'd like to be able to return it to total stock (minus any impossibility in re-locking a bootloader) in case I mess things up or need to return, etc.
2) Current best methods for rooting, unlocking, etc. I just want to make sure I'm not doing something out of date that might be more effort than necessary/dangerous.
3) I see this new TWRP thing...which looks like an alternate to CWM. Which is better for me to use for M8?
4) Any M8 specific big dangers to watch out for to prevent bricking.
I always look to XDA for the best advice, but sometimes the site is difficult to navigate to find the most clear explanation.
TIA!

TraderJack said:
Hoping some kind soul will take a few minutes to get me up to speed on what I need to know about hacking the M8.
I am not a total newb, and have lingered around XDA for a while. I've rooted many phones and tablets, even worked with cooking my own ROMS for android and older winmo 4+ years ago. I've just not been involved in the scene and am just about to get my new M8 and would like a crash course.
I really don't mind reading - so if someone has a great all-in-one guide they recommend, I'll certainly start with that...its just the endless searching for the up-to-date info I'm looking to avoid. I actually prefer to understand what I'm doing rather than just click "unlock"
Top most questions in my mind:
1) The biggest thing I would like to know to start is the best way to backup/up protect my device before I do anything to it.
I'd like to be able to return it to total stock (minus any impossibility in re-locking a bootloader) in case I mess things up or need to return, etc.
2) Current best methods for rooting, unlocking, etc. I just want to make sure I'm not doing something out of date that might be more effort than necessary/dangerous.
3) I see this new TWRP thing...which looks like an alternate to CWM. Which is better for me to use for M8?
4) Any M8 specific big dangers to watch out for to prevent bricking.
I always look to XDA for the best advice, but sometimes the site is difficult to navigate to find the most clear explanation.
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) The best most efficient way of backing up your device is to make a Nandroid backup with a recovery such as CWM or TWRP, but of course there will always be times where you could do something simpler to solve your problem such as disabling the Xposed framework but how? My phone is stuck in a bootloop, how would I disable it? The answer is when installing the framework make sure to first in the settings select to create flashable zips (manual) then once they are created go back and do the 'Classic' method. Now I'm sure if you're as new as you say you are you most likely don't know what Xposed is, it is a separate framework which allows you to customize your ROM to do things similar to what a 'Custom' ROM would normally always do. Most people don't think before installing these modules and end up soft-bricking their device and have to use their Nandroids to restore them but the way I mentioned is far simpler.
2) The utmost best method currently available (and only available) for rooting, unlocking, S-OFF & etc is currently Sunshine, you can read up about it here. Sadly and or not so sadly it costs $25 per device but it will do everything you will need to get started such as S-OFF (Security OFF, S-ON prevents writing to the /system partition and some other things I can't remember), Bootloader unlock & root.
3) Personally I prefer TWRP because it just feels like it has more ease of use towards it but thats just my opinion. There is an alternative to it which is CWM as you mentioned or 'PhilZ' CWM, Philz CWM is a touch-based version which to my experiences is a bit buggy but it works. I personally recommend TWRP but you might as well play around with them and see which one you like best.
4) Biggest danger of them all: To my knowledge that is, attempting to revert to S-ON. That is the most dangerous thing I am aware of at the moment but there may be something more dangerous but from what I know that is the most risky thing that is HTC based and or anything based.
This can be considered a good "All in one guide" for you to follow, it has pretty much everything I can think of at the moment.
An alternative to that one would be this one excluding all of the stuff involving Weaksauce and Firewater as Firewater does not work on newer devices and already rooted users don't have a use for Weaksauce. Still though it's a good tutorial for flashing a recovery and rooting.
Here is a solid tutorial on how to revert to stock if you ever decide to (once more do NOT attempt S-ON).
& if you're interested in using ROM's for other carrier variants of your phone then this one may be of interest to you.
Lastly, if you're concerned about any warranty things then as long as you do an RUU like the one mentioned in the 'Reverting to Stock' thread you will have no problems with it even if you're bootloader is unlocked and you're S-OFF. Why you may be wondering?? HTC sometimes ships phones already S-OFF/Bootloader unlocked and also I sort of think they just don't really care... you know as long as you didn't mess the phone up.
-----------------------------------------------------
If you have any further questions, I left something unclear or you just need me to elaborate further on something then feel free to ask further questions and I recommend doing your own research on these things before attempting them. Good luck and happy modding!

TraderJack said:
Hoping some kind soul will take a few minutes to get me up to speed on what I need to know about hacking the M8.
I am not a total newb, and have lingered around XDA for a while. I've rooted many phones and tablets, even worked with cooking my own ROMS for android and older winmo 4+ years ago. I've just not been involved in the scene and am just about to get my new M8 and would like a crash course.
I really don't mind reading - so if someone has a great all-in-one guide they recommend, I'll certainly start with that...its just the endless searching for the up-to-date info I'm looking to avoid. I actually prefer to understand what I'm doing rather than just click "unlock"
Top most questions in my mind:
1) The biggest thing I would like to know to start is the best way to backup/up protect my device before I do anything to it.
I'd like to be able to return it to total stock (minus any impossibility in re-locking a bootloader) in case I mess things up or need to return, etc.
2) Current best methods for rooting, unlocking, etc. I just want to make sure I'm not doing something out of date that might be more effort than necessary/dangerous.
3) I see this new TWRP thing...which looks like an alternate to CWM. Which is better for me to use for M8?
4) Any M8 specific big dangers to watch out for to prevent bricking.
I always look to XDA for the best advice, but sometimes the site is difficult to navigate to find the most clear explanation.
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The above post about covers it. Only thing I would like to add is I much prefer Phil's touch recovery based on CMW and try firewater method for soft and unlocking boot loader before paying for sunshine. It may or may not work. But could possibly save you the cash.

mdorrett said:
The above post about covers it. Only thing I would like to add is I much prefer Phil's touch recovery based on CMW and try firewater method for soft and unlocking boot loader before paying for sunshine. It may or may not work. But could possibly save you the cash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Philz recovery is amazing, have you used the M8 unified builds yet? Or are you still sticking to the last Verizon build?
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Thanks all. I will certainly read up on what you've written and follow up with any questions I may have.

So I read a little bit on the posts above... Ick...when I was deciding on the M8 I checked to see if it was all hackable and apparently found the positive information for only the old methods and didn't realize a $25 price tag was the *only* way to really unlock the phone.
I mean...I don't totally begrudge the devs charging for it...but honestly I've never heard of this before in the 8-10 years I've been modding with smartphones of charging for this. While $25 may be nothing compared to a $700 unlocked phone, it sure is a heck of a lot more than $0, which was where the previous bar was set. You'd think $5 or $10 would be a better place to start.
Of course, it doesn't look like I have any other option though. I do have some more questions:
1) What are the pieces that sunshine does that can't be done elsewhere? It looks like there are several root methods - so is sunshine the only way to S-OFF or is it also the only way to unlock the bootloader?
2) If I don't do sunshine, and therefore can't S-OFF (and maybe can't unlock bootloader), can I still root? If so, is it only a temp unroot? And is there really a downside to that?
3) In all honesty, while I'd like to have everything unlocked, I think I will be happy with a root for now if that's enough to do some hacks (like maybe energy saving and wifi tether, etc.). Will I be able to do those with just root? I'm not really clear on the actual purpose of the S-OFF vs. the unlocked boot loader. Maybe in a few months I will be tired of the stock ROM and cough up the dough.
4) In order to do the backups to revert to stock, what steps must I first obtain and can I do those steps for free (aka no Sunshine) and are they reversible? IOW, what's the minimum I must "hack" the device in order to get a stock backup and/or to recover it.
Finally - when did the "firewater" method stop working? Is it newer hardware being shipped or a certain firmware/OS level update that blocked it? It sounds pretty unlikely that it will work for a new phone, but it won't hurt to try if it doesn't, right?
thanks again for the jump start....I think just jumping in and doing is the best way to learn, but I don't want to leap without protecting myself at the outset.

TraderJack said:
So I read a little bit on the posts above... Ick...when I was deciding on the M8 I checked to see if it was all hackable and apparently found the positive information for only the old methods and didn't realize a $25 price tag was the *only* way to really unlock the phone.
I mean...I don't totally begrudge the devs charging for it...but honestly I've never heard of this before in the 8-10 years I've been modding with smartphones of charging for this. While $25 may be nothing compared to a $700 unlocked phone, it sure is a heck of a lot more than $0, which was where the previous bar was set. You'd think $5 or $10 would be a better place to start.
Of course, it doesn't look like I have any other option though. I do have some more questions:
1) What are the pieces that sunshine does that can't be done elsewhere? It looks like there are several root methods - so is sunshine the only way to S-OFF or is it also the only way to unlock the bootloader?
2) If I don't do sunshine, and therefore can't S-OFF (and maybe can't unlock bootloader), can I still root? If so, is it only a temp unroot? And is there really a downside to that?
3) In all honesty, while I'd like to have everything unlocked, I think I will be happy with a root for now if that's enough to do some hacks (like maybe energy saving and wifi tether, etc.). Will I be able to do those with just root? I'm not really clear on the actual purpose of the S-OFF vs. the unlocked boot loader. Maybe in a few months I will be tired of the stock ROM and cough up the dough.
4) In order to do the backups to revert to stock, what steps must I first obtain and can I do those steps for free (aka no Sunshine) and are they reversible? IOW, what's the minimum I must "hack" the device in order to get a stock backup and/or to recover it.
Finally - when did the "firewater" method stop working? Is it newer hardware being shipped or a certain firmware/OS level update that blocked it? It sounds pretty unlikely that it will work for a new phone, but it won't hurt to try if it doesn't, right?
thanks again for the jump start....I think just jumping in and doing is the best way to learn, but I don't want to leap without protecting myself at the outset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) sunshine is the only way to s-off if firewater doesn't work. It pushes an exploit that turns the secure flag off so s-off is achieved, then it pushes a separate exploit to unlock the bootloader. You may be able to change your phone carrier ID so htc dev can s-off your phone, but it doesn't do everything sunshine does.
2) without using sunshine you can still have temporary root with weaksauce, but it's really limited. Since your phone is still s-on, it isn't able to write to the system partition. It means you lose root on every reboot, and you have to wait up to a minute for weaksauce to root again.
Also without an unlocked bootloader you are unable to flash a custom recovery, which means you can't make a nandroid. Not having a nandroid sucks because if you soft brick your phone you have no choice but to go completely back to stock. Not a great situation to be in.
Any root framework or application that requires modification of your system folder won't work.
There's no question paying $25 for sunshine is worth it.
3) here's the some definitions:
S-on = security flag on, system write protected
S-off = security flag off, system write enabled
Unlocked bootloader: ability to flash custom kernels and Recoveries.
Having access to a custom recovery is everything. Allows easy backup capabilities in case a rom modification goes bad. Allows super user permissions to be flashed directly into the system partition to allow permanent root. And gives you the ability to keep an unlocked bootloader without worry that Verizon will patch the current exploit.
Even on a stock rom it's worth it to have an unlocked bootloader. The modifications you're referring to require a custom recovery, and even if you could install them without it, it's still recommended to have a nandroid available in case your phone doesn't boot afterwards. I'm still running stock myself.
4) getting back to stock isn't easy. Verizon or HTC didn't release an official ruu. You'd have to flash the unofficial ruu, then turn your flags back to S-on, and hope it doesn't detect anything weird and flag your phone as tampered. The information was already linked to you in earlier posts, you just have to read up on it.
5) firewater stopped working on newer hardware versions, has nothing to do with firmware versions. There's no harm in trying it, but it most likely won't work on a new phone.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

BadUsername said:
1) sunshine is the only way to s-off if firewater doesn't work. It pushes an exploit that turns the secure flag off so s-off is achieved, then it pushes a separate exploit to unlock the bootloader. You may be able to change your phone carrier ID so htc dev can s-off your phone, but it doesn't do everything sunshine does.
2) without using sunshine you can still have temporary root with weaksauce, but it's really limited. Since your phone is still s-on, it isn't able to write to the system partition. It means you lose root on every reboot, and you have to wait up to a minute for weaksauce to root again.
Also without an unlocked bootloader you are unable to flash a custom recovery, which means you can't make a nandroid. Not having a nandroid sucks because if you soft brick your phone you have no choice but to go completely back to stock. Not a great situation to be in.
Any root framework or application that requires modification of your system folder won't work.
There's no question paying $25 for sunshine is worth it.
3) here's the some definitions:
S-on = security flag on, system write protected
S-off = security flag off, system write enabled
Unlocked bootloader: ability to flash custom kernels and Recoveries.
Having access to a custom recovery is everything. Allows easy backup capabilities in case a rom modification goes bad. Allows super user permissions to be flashed directly into the system partition to allow permanent root. And gives you the ability to keep an unlocked bootloader without worry that Verizon will patch the current exploit.
Even on a stock rom it's worth it to have an unlocked bootloader. The modifications you're referring to require a custom recovery, and even if you could install them without it, it's still recommended to have a nandroid available in case your phone doesn't boot afterwards. I'm still running stock myself.
4) getting back to stock isn't easy. Verizon or HTC didn't release an official ruu. You'd have to flash the unofficial ruu, then turn your flags back to S-on, and hope it doesn't detect anything weird and flag your phone as tampered. The information was already linked to you in earlier posts, you just have to read up on it.
5) firewater stopped working on newer hardware versions, has nothing to do with firmware versions. There's no harm in trying it, but it most likely won't work on a new phone.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It also seems that firewater has nothing to do with hardware versions either. As I have a buddy with same hardware versions as me and FW worked perfectly. I am not exactly sure why FW works for some and not others.
---------- Post added at 08:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:06 AM ----------
Also as far as changing CID I have not found a way to do this with out having S-Off already. If there is one please point me in the right direction. Thank you!

mdorrett said:
It also seems that firewater has nothing to do with hardware versions either. As I have a buddy with same hardware versions as me and FW worked perfectly. I am not exactly sure why FW works for some and not others.
---------- Post added at 08:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:06 AM ----------
Also as far as changing CID I have not found a way to do this with out having S-Off already. If there is one please point me in the right direction. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I meant hardware variation, not version, it's not something you can simply check, but the internals of each phone is different. If htc used different manufacturers for the same internals it'll break firewater. The hardware version number would look the same.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

So I've read up on a good bit of what you've all posted - again thanks for that.
My M8 will be here tomorrow and I plan to use it for a few days without any tampering to ensure that I like the phone and that the reception in my home is adequate (problem had on my last upgrade attempt a year ago to a Razr M with Verizon). If all looks good, I will attempt the firewater method this weekend. If unsuccessful, I think my plan is probably to just play with the stock configuration for a month or two just to get used to working with a modern android version (I'm coming from a Droid 2 with large areas of pixel smear...so anything will be an improvement).
Hopefully, after a couple months if I am feeling like I want to tinker, sunshine will have come down in $$ or there is another working method. If not, I'll pay for it if I feel it's worth what I'll gain at that time. In all honesty, I like knowing I have the power to do whatever I want on my phone, but because I use my phone day in and out for business, I'm not often that adventurous in constant flashing ROMs as I want a very stable experience and don't want to take the time to constantly flash and restore.
I do have a few follow-up questions from some of my reading:
1) My understanding is that S-Off is also equivalent to a bootloader unlock. And that if you S-OFF, there is no need to also unlock the bootloader (it's either done as part of it, or simply not needed since S-Off overrides any boot lock). Is this correct?
2) Is CID unlock necessary to flash custom ROMs? Does doing a CID unlock also have the same benefit of a SIM unlock? Some pages I read indicate that setting to the superCID (11111111) is basically the same as a region unlock and therefore your SIM is also unlocked?
3) Since you can apparently gain temp root with weaksauce, is it possible to use this temproot with xposed framework? Or is S-off still required to apply the xposed framework modules?
thanks!

TraderJack said:
So I've read up on a good bit of what you've all posted - again thanks for that.
My M8 will be here tomorrow and I plan to use it for a few days without any tampering to ensure that I like the phone and that the reception in my home is adequate (problem had on my last upgrade attempt a year ago to a Razr M with Verizon). If all looks good, I will attempt the firewater method this weekend. If unsuccessful, I think my plan is probably to just play with the stock configuration for a month or two just to get used to working with a modern android version (I'm coming from a Droid 2 with large areas of pixel smear...so anything will be an improvement).
Hopefully, after a couple months if I am feeling like I want to tinker, sunshine will have come down in $$ or there is another working method. If not, I'll pay for it if I feel it's worth what I'll gain at that time. In all honesty, I like knowing I have the power to do whatever I want on my phone, but because I use my phone day in and out for business, I'm not often that adventurous in constant flashing ROMs as I want a very stable experience and don't want to take the time to constantly flash and restore.
I do have a few follow-up questions from some of my reading:
1) My understanding is that S-Off is also equivalent to a bootloader unlock. And that if you S-OFF, there is no need to also unlock the bootloader (it's either done as part of it, or simply not needed since S-Off overrides any boot lock). Is this correct?
2) Is CID unlock necessary to flash custom ROMs? Does doing a CID unlock also have the same benefit of a SIM unlock? Some pages I read indicate that setting to the superCID (11111111) is basically the same as a region unlock and therefore your SIM is also unlocked?
3) Since you can apparently gain temp root with weaksauce, is it possible to use this temproot with xposed framework? Or is S-off still required to apply the xposed framework modules?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) s-off is not equivalent to bootloader unlock, they are different things. S-off is needed to unlock bootloader.
2) super cid is only needed if swapping carriers, it allows another rom specific to any carrier to be flashed. If you flash any rom on Verizon it won't work, so you have to use a compatible Verizon rom anyways.
3) maybe, I never use xposed anyway because it breaks some apps I use. My guess is that it would be hit or miss depending on what the module does.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

TraderJack said:
So I've read up on a good bit of what you've all posted - again thanks for that.
My M8 will be here tomorrow and I plan to use it for a few days without any tampering to ensure that I like the phone and that the reception in my home is adequate (problem had on my last upgrade attempt a year ago to a Razr M with Verizon). If all looks good, I will attempt the firewater method this weekend. If unsuccessful, I think my plan is probably to just play with the stock configuration for a month or two just to get used to working with a modern android version (I'm coming from a Droid 2 with large areas of pixel smear...so anything will be an improvement).
Hopefully, after a couple months if I am feeling like I want to tinker, sunshine will have come down in $$ or there is another working method. If not, I'll pay for it if I feel it's worth what I'll gain at that time. In all honesty, I like knowing I have the power to do whatever I want on my phone, but because I use my phone day in and out for business, I'm not often that adventurous in constant flashing ROMs as I want a very stable experience and don't want to take the time to constantly flash and restore.
I do have a few follow-up questions from some of my reading:
1) My understanding is that S-Off is also equivalent to a bootloader unlock. And that if you S-OFF, there is no need to also unlock the bootloader (it's either done as part of it, or simply not needed since S-Off overrides any boot lock). Is this correct?
2) Is CID unlock necessary to flash custom ROMs? Does doing a CID unlock also have the same benefit of a SIM unlock? Some pages I read indicate that setting to the superCID (11111111) is basically the same as a region unlock and therefore your SIM is also unlocked?
3) Since you can apparently gain temp root with weaksauce, is it possible to use this temproot with xposed framework? Or is S-off still required to apply the xposed framework modules?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) No, s-off simply allows you to write to the /system partition and do some other stuff like RUU's and etc that i cant think of at the moment but no it is not equivalent to bootloader unlock. Bootloader unlocking allows you to flash recoveries, roms, scripts, kernels, etc. S-OFF allows the more advanced stuff like firmware flashing in fastboot. (at least I think that's what s-off does)
2) Super CID allows you to flash ROM's made for other carriers. So if you set your CID to super CID or another carriers CID then you could flash their ROMS and receive OTA Updates from them. It does not allow Sim unlock and or is not a Sim unlock.
3) I'm quite sure that weak sauce only allows access to /system/xbin but I may be wrong BUT in the case I'm right then no you cannot use xposed without S-OFF because without S-OFF you can't flash a system write enabled kernel to allow it.

Ok... so two more questions:
1) Verizon M8 is already SIM unlocked, correct?
2) I can see that firewater/sunshine do both an S-off and bootloader unlock. However, they don't seem to differentiate between these two things, simply stating they do both. Is there another stand-alone method to unlock the bootloader and if so, do you gain anything having an unlocked boot loader but not s-off? I know you can unlock the bootloader on all the other M8 variants via HTCdev, but they have blocked Verizon.

TraderJack said:
Ok... so two more questions:
1) Verizon M8 is already SIM unlocked, correct?
2) I can see that firewater/sunshine do both an S-off and bootloader unlock. However, they don't seem to differentiate between these two things, simply stating they do both. Is there another stand-alone method to unlock the bootloader and if so, do you gain anything having an unlocked boot loader but not s-off? I know you can unlock the bootloader on all the other M8 variants via HTCdev, but they have blocked Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) No, you have to manually unlock it.
2) HTCDev is the only way that I've heard about for unlocking the bootloader alone & the only thing different is you wouldn't be able to flash firmware I believe.

S1L3nTShaDoWz said:
1) No, you have to manually unlock it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://htcsource.com/2014/06/how-to-sim-unlock-the-htc-one-m8-for-free/
"Verizon: the HTC One (M8) from Verizon is SIM unlocked right out of the box."
Also found this on Verizon's Global Ready policy FAQ:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/faqs/InternationalServicesandRoaming/faq_global_phone.html
"We do not lock our 4G LTE devices, and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier."
Some info on this thread people seem to indicate it is already unlocked:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2730159
So are those sources above incorrect? I can't find any guide on how to SIM unlock the M8 on verizon... this is why I'm thinking it was already unlocked?

TraderJack said:
http://htcsource.com/2014/06/how-to-sim-unlock-the-htc-one-m8-for-free/
"Verizon: the HTC One (M8) from Verizon is SIM unlocked right out of the box."
Also found this on Verizon's Global Ready policy FAQ:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/faqs/InternationalServicesandRoaming/faq_global_phone.html
"We do not lock our 4G LTE devices, and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier."
Some info on this thread people seem to indicate it is already unlocked:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2730159
So are those sources above incorrect? I can't find any guide on how to SIM unlock the M8 on verizon... this is why I'm thinking it was already unlocked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is sim unlocked, you can take it into any carrier and it'll work. The only reason it wouldn't work is if you don't have the correct bands to get LTE or GSM data.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

So i got my M8 yesterday and could already tell that reception wise it was much better than my previous upgrade attempt with the RAZR M.
Since there aren't a lot of options for customizable phones anymore with VZW, I've decided to keep it and am happy to report that firewater worked for me to S-OFF!
I had some issues with weaksauce and superSU...the latter not seeming to want to run, but eventually I determined that it wasn't necessary to actually run and update the app to get firewater to work (even though I never got any toast pop-ups from weaksauce after boot).
Firewater ran find and unlocke me after 4 bottle chugs.
I then had some problems loading on CWM. The reason is that on the CWM site the list the M8 down at the very bottom away from all the other HTC devices (including the HTC One - which they don't qualify as the M7 or M8). I accidentally flashed the recovery for the M7 since that is what was listed. After that I couldn't get into any recovery, although the phone still booted. When I realized what happened, I was a little peeved that they so carelessly listed these on their site that I chose not to continue using the stock CWM even though I prefer it's streamlined approach.
I went ahead an installed this version of PhilZ CWM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2725348
It sounded like you guys were praising this one, and I do prefer CWM. Even though it sounds like TWRP is more popular now, I saw several threads where it seemed like there were issues with TWRP doing funky stuff that CWM users didn't have issues with.
So, after I got that on I removed weaksauce and SuperSU.
What I would like to do now is probably reset to factory defaults and do a nandroid backup. Then, I would like to perma-root.
Some questions on this:
1) Do i need an SD card to nandroid backup? It appeared to work when I started a backup without an SD card...I didn't let it finish, but I'm not sure this method will work. I want to make sure I have a backup that I can use to revert to stock. I do have an sd card coming, but if I can do a successful backup without one I will go ahead.
2) Do I use all the default settings in Philz/CWM for the backup, or do I need to tweak anything in the advanced to ensure that I get *everything* that would be stock on the phone?
3) I saw some method that involved flashing a supersu update to get perma-root? Is this the best method?
Thanks again for all the help.

TraderJack said:
So i got my M8 yesterday and could already tell that reception wise it was much better than my previous upgrade attempt with the RAZR M.
Since there aren't a lot of options for customizable phones anymore with VZW, I've decided to keep it and am happy to report that firewater worked for me to S-OFF!
I had some issues with weaksauce and superSU...the latter not seeming to want to run, but eventually I determined that it wasn't necessary to actually run and update the app to get firewater to work (even though I never got any toast pop-ups from weaksauce after boot).
Firewater ran find and unlocke me after 4 bottle chugs.
I then had some problems loading on CWM. The reason is that on the CWM site the list the M8 down at the very bottom away from all the other HTC devices (including the HTC One - which they don't qualify as the M7 or M8). I accidentally flashed the recovery for the M7 since that is what was listed. After that I couldn't get into any recovery, although the phone still booted. When I realized what happened, I was a little peeved that they so carelessly listed these on their site that I chose not to continue using the stock CWM even though I prefer it's streamlined approach.
I went ahead an installed this version of PhilZ CWM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2725348
It sounded like you guys were praising this one, and I do prefer CWM. Even though it sounds like TWRP is more popular now, I saw several threads where it seemed like there were issues with TWRP doing funky stuff that CWM users didn't have issues with.
So, after I got that on I removed weaksauce and SuperSU.
What I would like to do now is probably reset to factory defaults and do a nandroid backup. Then, I would like to perma-root.
Some questions on this:
1) Do i need an SD card to nandroid backup? It appeared to work when I started a backup without an SD card...I didn't let it finish, but I'm not sure this method will work. I want to make sure I have a backup that I can use to revert to stock. I do have an sd card coming, but if I can do a successful backup without one I will go ahead.
2) Do I use all the default settings in Philz/CWM for the backup, or do I need to tweak anything in the advanced to ensure that I get *everything* that would be stock on the phone?
3) I saw some method that involved flashing a supersu update to get perma-root? Is this the best method?
Thanks again for all the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) You don't need an SD card but I recommend it because if you ever encounter the dreaded "encryption" glitch that some AOSP ROM's have then you'll lose everything on your internal storage. I also recommend you back your Nandroid backups to your computer or some other sort of storage too so that if you ever encounter it or somehow manage to lose it then you can get it back.
2) It doesn't really matter what settings you choose or at least it never has for me but it should backup everything (ROM & apps)
3) Yes, that is the best method for getting perma-root is to flash the SuperSU zip in your recovery. You can find the latest version of the flashable zip at Chainfire's thread over here or the direct download link to the flashable zip here on his official website
Also I'd like to apologize for the invalid information I gave you yesterday on the SIM unlocking, my bad on that. I've had a cold for the past few days and it's been making me lazy lol.

S1L3nTShaDoWz said:
1) You don't need an SD card but I recommend it because if you ever encounter the dreaded "encryption" glitch that some AOSP ROM's have then you'll lose everything on your internal storage. I also recommend you back your Nandroid backups to your computer or some other sort of storage too so that if you ever encounter it or somehow manage to lose it then you can get it back.
2) It doesn't really matter what settings you choose or at least it never has for me but it should backup everything (ROM & apps)
3) Yes, that is the best method for getting perma-root is to flash the SuperSU zip in your recovery. You can find the latest version of the flashable zip at Chainfire's thread over here or the direct download link to the flashable zip here on his official website
Also I'd like to apologize for the invalid information I gave you yesterday on the SIM unlocking, my bad on that. I've had a cold for the past few days and it's been making me lazy lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Ok...but to get my first stock backup so I can proceed with everything else, it's safe to nandroid to internal memory? Where exactly will it place a nandroid backup if I don't have an SD card?
2) I was looking at the Misc Nandroid Settings like "include /preload" "use TWRP mode" etc. No reason to use anything but the defaults?
3) Cool...as soon as I have my nandroid I will go that route.
No worries about the SIM data...you guys have helped accelerate me pretty fast, and I'm thrilled that firewater worked. I'd now just like to get my full backup so I can begin fully migrating to the new phone and having fun

TraderJack said:
1) Ok...but to get my first stock backup so I can proceed with everything else, it's safe to nandroid to internal memory? Where exactly will it place a nandroid backup if I don't have an SD card?
2) I was looking at the Misc Nandroid Settings like "include /preload" "use TWRP mode" etc. No reason to use anything but the defaults?
3) Cool...as soon as I have my nandroid I will go that route.
No worries about the SIM data...you guys have helped accelerate me pretty fast, and I'm thrilled that firewater worked. I'd now just like to get my full backup so I can begin fully migrating to the new phone and having fun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's safe, it will be stored in a folder called TWRP/Backups/Phone_Id_Here/ in the storage/emulated/0 folder (in root Explorer).
Also you can change them around to what you like, it doesn't matter.
& glad we could help!

Verizon Galaxy S3 4.4.2 Rooted Custom Recovery Question

Looked through google, looked through threads, can find nothing whatsoever to help.
Have Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III Unlocked running Straight Talk VIA sim card. Everything works.. as a regular old phone with root. (rooted with Kingoroot - basically I googled "root galaxy s3" and followed those steps.. that much works fine, though it is not to be confused with the chinese king root. I tried the trick of swapping out king root for SU and, well.. yeah didnt work.)
Problem is I'm running 4.4.2 (the dreaded locked bootloader) and everything I try when it comes to installing custom recovery either doesn't work, bootloops the phone, or hard bricks it. v_v
so as someone who backs up their backups, (thank you OCD fairy), running around with a phone I can't backup puts me on edge, to say the least.
tried safestrap (says not secured. still says not secured after install. does nothing.)
tried various CWM and TWRP via apk installs (whatever that app is you install then tell it to install cwm) ..wouldn't install
Odin, depending on which version I install (e\ not which version of odin, which version of custom recovery), either gives me errors or hardbricks my device.
SO.. I'm looking for someone who has a Verizon Galaxy S III and who has a custom recovery on it to tell me how the devil they managed that one.
Cheers all!!

Drach0n said:
Looked through google, looked through threads, can find nothing whatsoever to help.
Have Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III Unlocked running Straight Talk VIA sim card. Everything works.. as a regular old phone with root. (rooted with Kingoroot - basically I googled "root galaxy s3" and followed those steps.. that much works fine, though it is not to be confused with the chinese king root. I tried the trick of swapping out king root for SU and, well.. yeah didnt work.)
Problem is I'm running 4.4.2 (the dreaded locked bootloader) and everything I try when it comes to installing custom recovery either doesn't work, bootloops the phone, or hard bricks it. v_v
so as someone who backs up their backups, (thank you OCD fairy), running around with a phone I can't backup puts me on edge, to say the least.
tried safestrap (says not secured. still says not secured after install. does nothing.)
tried various CWM and TWRP via apk installs (whatever that app is you install then tell it to install cwm) ..wouldn't install
Odin, depending on which version I install (e\ not which version of odin, which version of custom recovery), either gives me errors or hardbricks my device.
SO.. I'm looking for someone who has a Verizon Galaxy S III and who has a custom recovery on it to tell me how the devil they managed that one.
Cheers all!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A custom recovery can only be flashed on an unlocked bootloader. Trying to flash a custom recovery on a locked bootloader will result in a brick. The only available recovery on it is safestrap
Sent from my Nexus 5

ShapesBlue said:
A custom recovery can only be flashed on an unlocked bootloader. Trying to flash a custom recovery on a locked bootloader will result in a brick. The only available recovery on it is safestrap
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..I gathered that. I was basing my attempts off the threads I found where the OP "forgot" to mention which android OS he was using on his (or her) galaxy s3 and then omigawd installed custom recovery on it. Where nobody has yet been able to unlock the 4.3 and 4.4.2 bootloader for the galaxy s3 as yet (to my knowledge; if I'm wrong please correct me) this leaves me with safestrap, the custom recovery that doesn't touch the bootloader during install. I know this as well. Perhaps I should have clarified this, but I thought it was obvious to the folks at xda. *shrugs*
And the part where I said safestrap isn't working for one reason or another is where I was hoping to attract someone who knew how to help instead of someone who only knows how to make generic statements (+1) [e\ ftr, attempting to flash non-safestrap recoveries resulted in an error 4 times out of 5, not a brick.]
that said, I will ask again, if someone has 4.4.2 on their s3 as well as custom recovery, please come post here.
sadly, inb4 more +1ers

When you ask a question that's been asked and answered dozens of times before, you're going to get the same "generic statement" in response, because it's the right answer to your question. Your bootloader can't be unlocked, and therefore you can't install a custom recovery on your phone.

Jacquestrapp said:
When you ask a question that's been asked and answered dozens of times before, you're going to get the same "generic statement" in response, because it's the right answer to your question. Your bootloader can't be unlocked, and therefore you can't install a custom recovery on your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*sigh* another illiterate. Try reading before posting yeah? I *know* my bootloader cant be unlocked, and I know that a custom recovery /can/ be installed, or are you saying safestrap doesn't exist? look I'm asking for help here not drivel.
..rerolling..

Q: What did you have for breakfast today?
A1: last week, I had breakfast in Deleware!
A2: Last night's dinner was good!
...
xda: the community where post count means more than relevant answers.
*sigh*
looks like I'm going to have to figure out safestrap on my own. whether there is another method for installation besides via apk, why it failed to install, whether safestrap is the only custom recovery that works by not touching the bootloader, why it hardbricked my phone.. etc
guess I'll post the answers somewhere intelligent like Android Authority.
have fun with your +1s
now go die in a fire. cheers

Drach0n said:
Q: What did you have for breakfast today?
A1: last week, I had breakfast in Deleware!
A2: Last night's dinner was good!
...
xda: the community where post count means more than relevant answers.
*sigh*
looks like I'm going to have to figure out safestrap on my own. whether there is another method for installation besides via apk, why it failed to install, whether safestrap is the only custom recovery that works by not touching the bootloader, why it hardbricked my phone.. etc
guess I'll post the answers somewhere intelligent like Android Authority.
have fun with your +1s
now go die in a fire. cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I answered your question. It's hard to talk about safestrap other than what I've learned about it. The other member was right, it gets tiring answering the same questions all the time and once in awhile people don't appreciate the answers they are given.
There are threads for safestrap as well as most of the options here on xda. And feel free to go to another forum, your posting questions in a dying forum for the VZW S3. There's not many people who are really that interested in the locked down version anymore. It's very sporadic as far as people and questions go. But to be rude about it just isn't needed.
It's not about post count at xda it's about helping the community. I've been around here long enough to know this. And if you feel someone isn't helpful there's something called a PM instead of calling them out here on the forums. I grow tired of people not being appreciative of anything when someone takes the time to do there best to explain something to someone else
Sent from my Nexus 5

running 4.4.2
PM sent. I might be able to help with that.