I was playing around with disabling startup apps (to make ooodles more free RAM) after rooting my device, which is still locked mainly so I could retain the warrantee, and was searching for info on what CMClient and DMClient were and what they did, to see if I could safely and functionally disable them or not, and I ran across this post below on XDA. It states the title of this thread, ie: that Asus can void your warrantee for being rooted when you are still locked and cites the case of an XDA member who had it happen to him.
Asus Big Brother is watching your every move folks! If you've registered your device with Asus and you are rooted and didn't disable these apps they already know you are rooted and can/will void your warrantee based on being rooted alone even if you are still locked! This isn't some old thread, this was posted 08/12. Beware!!
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PS-If you are rooted you can disable CMClient and DMClient with apps like System Tuner and ROM Toolbox. But these are also the apps that make it possible to locate, shout, and wipe your remote device in case of theft but are being used by Asus in other ways for their and not our benefit. Kinda a double-edge sword.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1833442
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Also, if this is true as it appears to be [Edit: unsubstantiated], why do most of the rooting posts here on XDA claim that only unlocking voids the warrantee, and since rooting is "100% reversible", it does not. Who validates such statements?? XDA should do something about this to avoid misleading the masses who come here seeking a source for quality and valid information about their devices. I feel VERY misled by XDA after learning this. [Edit: Red underline bold removed]
Comments?
elfaure said:
Who validates such statements?? XDA should do something about this to avoid misleading the masses who come here seeking a source for quality and valid information about their devices. I feel VERY misled by XDA after learning this.
Comments?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whom do you intend to impress with red underlined bold text? Forum posts are not official XDA statements. This is a community. You should not blindly believe what you read. Not only on this forum.
What would you suggest XDA to do to ensure only correct information is provided? How did you validate the story of the one user who allegedly got his warranty rejected for rooting? Did you count how many users were rooted and got a warranty repair without issues?
Warning: This post contains false information, including this sentence.
There's nothing like a good panic attack someone else suffers. Never had I heard about rooting affecting your warranty, and as _that has alreay stated, there have been LOTS of owners having had no issues at all RMA'ing their rooted devices.
Things to take home:
1) ANYONE can post ANYTHING on the web. ANYTHING. I am confronted professionally by this kind of biased false information on a pretty much (work-)daily basis.
2) Look up a nice introductory work on statistics - it will serve you well the rest of your life. I gleefully quote Samuel L. Clemens (better known under his writer's pseudonym, Mark Twain): "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Look, more panic-induced rubbish. What is this, the Daily Mail?
Rooting doesn't void warranty as far as I know, considering pretty much everyone here is rooted (myself not included), and quite a lot of them have had to RMA and had no issue.
Unlocking voids warranty, yes. The same way opening up any device does (which is pretty much what unlocking does in a digital sense.).
There is, however, a law in process (or has it already been pushed through?) that renders rooting illegal in the USA. About as illegal as removing the simlock used to be, and we all did that anyway, too.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2
This is probably a random nip picking from Asus support, someone at Asus decided to pick on rooting, but again this is a very small and isolated incident case if it did happen. My suggestion is to play it safe, by make sure you flash your device back to factory stock (remove root), before send it back for RMA. Problem solved!!
ShadowLea said:
There is, however, a law in process (or has it already been pushed through?) that renders rooting illegal in the USA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incorrect. The law that just took effect makes it illegal to unlock (jailbreak) a phone or tablet to use on a different carrier while you're under contract. It is not illegal to unlock or root a device for any other purpose.
_that said:
Whom do you intend to impress with red underlined bold text? Forum posts are not official XDA statements. This is a community. You should not blindly believe what you read. Not only on this forum.
What would you suggest XDA to do to ensure only correct information is provided? How did you validate the story of the one user who allegedly got his warranty rejected for rooting? Did you count how many users were rooted and got a warranty repair without issues?
Warning: This post contains false information, including this sentence.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How many damn posts do I need before I can edit a post without having to wait two (2) minutes?
0. Thanks for all your feedback and constructive/destructive criticism. Exactly what I was looking for. Many different perspectives and new info on this topic. Great to find out this is seemingly an isolated incident if indeed it actually occurred at all.
1. Not looking to impress or offend anyone, simply directing your attention to the bolded items. As users scroll thru posts I want to draw their short attention span to the highlighted items so they don't miss the theme of the post and don't scroll past to the next post without mentally filing the highlighted items and to prompt them to comment if they have opinion or information. Seems to have worked well.
2. Point well taken. I know XDA can't police all threads and I did not validate the one users story. And I agree I should have posted this as more of a question than a statement. All I am seeking is the truth about this issue. I don't "blindly believe everything I read" in fact quite the contrary, hence the reason for this post. Your feedback was useful in determining that this post is not generally true for the majority of rooted members. I am very happy to learn this and I will revise my original post accordingly.
3. Good to know that many rooted users have RMA'd without issue. I now rest much easier with root. And in my opinion it should NOT void my warrantee as I am still prevented from damaging the device (can't flash custom ROMS, kernels, overclock or alter bootloader with just root; need to unlocked bootloader for these features which does understandably void warrantee)
buhohitr said:
This is probably a random nip picking from Asus support, someone at Asus decided to pick on rooting, but again this is a very small and isolated incident case if it did happen. My suggestion is to play it safe, by make sure you flash your device back to factory stock (remove root), before send it back for RMA. Problem solved!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great to hear and thanks for your feeback!
MartyHulskemper said:
There's nothing like a good panic attack someone else suffers. Never had I heard about rooting affecting your warranty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nor had I. That is why I was shocked to run across the link in this post.
Trying to just sim unlock. Still S-on, no roms flashed yet other than the recovery and super user thing. (which works according to the terminal emulator.)
No just trying to unlock it so I can stick in my tmobile prepaid sim. They tell me once the phone is unlocked I can just drop it in and everything will be fine.
Problem is, the only way to unlock it I can see is to screw around with downgrading my firmware, using ace to unlock and then bringing i5t back up to date and none of the methods seem current. They virtually all have dead links or are for earlier version of everything.
Having managed to root (more or less, still s-on) is there any way I can get the unlock code for my imei without having to pay someone or go beg at&t in person?
Or can someone confirm for me with some kind of citation that unlocking an htc inspire is not possible even when rooted?
Thanks very much for your time
After thought: would flashing MIUI or some other rom sim unlock my phone?
The AAHK site by attn1 has a manual method.
shall Henbil
bananagranola said:
The AAHK site by attn1 has a manual method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for responding
I've been all over that site. Starting here: (I'm not allowed to post links) *sigh*
And I can't find anything relevant to my particular combination of circumstances. I've been googling and reading all day.
Could you provide a more specific link?
To my understanding the ace hack method will require me to relock my phone and then employ it to unlock it, but this will also entail a down grade of my radio firmware. I would like to avoid that because the ace kit is apparently no longer supported and I'd like to not risk bricking my phone with an extraneous process. (relocking with the intent of unlocking.)
What part of the phone controls the sim lock? Is s-off relevant in this context? In a sense search engines, forum or Google, are worthless because of the sheer number of variables and old answers. This problem is made infinitely worse by the general trade for forums to outlaw "necro posting." (Which preserves outdated information while simultaneous severing links to new information, on tops of creating false positive results.)
I haven't even begun to play with my phone only options. For all I know there is some off market third party app out there that will unlock my phone from its home screen hehe.
I'm rambling. Sorry.
http://tau.shadowchild.nl/attn1/?cat=6
Ironic. That's the link I wasn't allowed to post above
It's useless to me because I'm not a developer. It's rather blatant and mean about running non-devs off.
This is NOT a step-by-step, but a description of the activity. This is deliberate. If you don’t know what you are doing and don’t understand what’s going on – DON’T EVEN TRY THIS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fact I don't know what I am doing.
Do you (or anyone) have any alternative resources?
How is it pay sites are able to generate unlock codes?
All I know to do is go ask your provider for an unlock code.
bananagranola said:
All I know to do is go ask your provider for an unlock code.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm starting to agree, but given my inexperience I was hoping I just missed something in my research.
Thanks for your time.
Is it silly to hope this update will provide a pathway to re-unlocking the boot loader?
If so, I'll update, if not, I'll hold off. *le sigh*
It has been stated over and over again that the security hole was patched. 4.4 is even more secure. People need to stop asking about unlocking, it's getting old.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
RikRong said:
It has been stated over and over again that the security hole was patched. 4.4 is even more secure. People need to stop asking about unlocking, it's getting old.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, thanks for your asinine, non responsive reply. The question was whether the update could provide a pathway to unlocking. I assure you I am more familiar with the situation of the boot loader than you are. Acceptable answers would include
1. Yes
2. Yes because blah blah blah
3. No
4. No because blah blah blah
It has already been debated that the update could possibly include a change to the boot loader that could be exploited. Since there are those that are more knowledgeable than me and are able to give actual answers, I shall ask you to have a good day, sir.
brownrt said:
So, thanks for your asinine, non responsive reply. The question was whether the update could provide a pathway to unlocking. I assure you I am more familiar with the situation of the boot loader than you are. Acceptable answers would include
1. Yes
2. Yes because blah blah blah
3. No
4. No because blah blah blah
It has already been debated that the update could possibly include a change to the boot loader that could be exploited. Since there are those that are more knowledgeable than me and are able to give actual answers, I shall ask you to have a good day, sir.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just because this question gets asked over and over and over again. A little bit of searching will pretty much explain how this was an exploit, not an actual path to unlocking the bootloader. Once this was patched and fixed, the hopes of finding another exploit to unlock the bootloader on a phone that was not meant to have it's bootloader unlocked, were pretty much gone. Dan, who found the exploit, had done a LOT of exploring that took a lot of time, trial and error, etc. It wasn't an easy exploit that just showed up all of a sudden. The same goes for getting root. It's not an easy thing to get. As each patch comes out for Android, more and more exploits are patched. it's just part of the business to make the OS more secure.
Going to KK, as explained in the previous posters comments, pretty much makes it possible only if pigs fly. KK is more secure than JB and as each iteration of Android comes to being, it means it becomes more and more secure, which means less exploits to find to gain root. This also means, unless they reintroduce a new exploit (highly unlikely), then don't hold your breath for an unlocked bootloader as well.
If you're more aware of the situation than I, why did you ask about it? I meant no disrespect, but it has been frustrating seeing many people come in and asking about the BL, almost a year after the OTA was released to lock it back up. If you think KK will offer you a path to unlocking, then I invite you to go through the Moto X and S5 forums and see how much trouble they're having even attaining root.
iBolski said:
It's just because this question gets asked over and over and over again. A little bit of searching will pretty much explain how this was an exploit, not an actual path to unlocking the bootloader. Once this was patched and fixed, the hopes of finding another exploit to unlock the bootloader on a phone that was not meant to have it's bootloader unlocked, were pretty much gone. Dan, who found the exploit, had done a LOT of exploring that took a lot of time, trial and error, etc. It wasn't an easy exploit that just showed up all of a sudden. The same goes for getting root. It's not an easy thing to get. As each patch comes out for Android, more and more exploits are patched. it's just part of the business to make the OS more secure.
Going to KK, as explained in the previous posters comments, pretty much makes it possible only if pigs fly. KK is more secure than JB and as each iteration of Android comes to being, it means it becomes more and more secure, which means less exploits to find to gain root. This also means, unless they reintroduce a new exploit (highly unlikely), then don't hold your breath for an unlocked bootloader as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see no pigs flying.
RikRong said:
It has been stated over and over again that the security hole was patched. 4.4 is even more secure. People need to stop asking about unlocking, it's getting old.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See how asinine you were now?
brownrt said:
See how asinine you were now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just run and do it they were helping you to the best of there knowledge at the time
billycar11 said:
just run and do it they were helping you to the best of there knowledge at the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Feel free to explain to me what was helpful about their replies to the OP?
brownrt said:
Feel free to explain to me what was helpful about their replies to the OP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they were right at the time and now things have changed the community as a whole was just really annoyed about getting the same question so much so they were frustrated and i know users who missed out were even more frustrated with not being able to do what they want with there phones so don't take your frustration out on people who were trying to tell you the right answer at the time , take it out on your boot loader and unlock it yayayayay
brownrt said:
Feel free to explain to me what was helpful about their replies to the OP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Feel free to explain to me what was helpful about your posts?
brownrt said:
I don't see no pigs flying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brownrt said:
See how asinine you were now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Past has shown that as old as these phones are, a new root exploit, when all others have been patched, never occurs.
What just happened was luck:
Someone was working on a root exploit not specific to this phone AND you got lucky that it worked for the RAZR HD/MAXX/M.
You got REAL lucky with Motorola basically screwing up and re-introducing the bootloader unlock exploit. This was patched with version 9.18 last year and has been unavailable since then. THIS was dumb luck, period. Well, dumb on the part of Motorola for somehow falling back to the old code that is located on a protected zone of the phone. This was the ONLY way it could have be re-introduced and this RARELY happens, so again, dumb luck.
However, there is another OTA coming (I was just emailed asking to participate in it yesterday). I'm pretty sure it will fix the Towelroot exploit (all 2013 phones running 4.4.2 as well as any 4.4.2 kernel whose date is >= 6/3/2014 disallow the Towelroot exploit) as well as the bootloader exploit.
So, now is your chance to root and unlock the bootloader and it's high time everyone takes advantage of this because we will get the same questions, over and over again when the next OTA comes out.
Our main point, as has been stated, was if people would just search and read, rather than being lazy and just asking the same question that has already been asked a hundred times before, they would find their answer a lot quicker and the rest of us who have been helping so many other people would not feel we would have to rehash the same answer again. It's like being in class, the teacher explains something, and then 10 other people raise their hand and ask the teacher about the exact thing the teacher just went over, so now the teacher has to stop class, explain it again, and then 10 more kids raise their hands and ask the same, exact question. It pollutes the forums with the same questions and then the same answers.
We weren't being mean about saying no root, but what just happened was pure luck, especially with the bootloader unlock.
BTW, I think I did see a pig fly in Minecraft yesterday, so I guess they did fly which makes sense. :laugh:
In the end, we are all very happy for those that have locked bootloaders because now, they can root and then unlock this phone. But, they need to do it NOW before the next OTA comes out. And I can guarantee you that those who fail to do it will be back on here asking the same question over and over again. So, let's spread the word and beg and plead that these people root their phones now and unlock the bootloader so that when the next OTA comes out in the next couple of weeks, they won't have to worry about another root exploit, if at all.
Again, those with locked bootloaders got real lucky.
As far as warranty goes, who cares. The phone is old (18+ months) and most people who have turned in their locked phones for warranty have gotten their replacement without having to pay anything, so the company will accept them and they don't charge for it. Besides, would you rather have an unlocked phone knowing you can have root no matter what the next OTA does or do you want to wait and have to do an exploit? Sideloading is SO much easier and just requires a reboot into a custom recovery (like TWRP) and then you do an "adb sideload" and you reboot and your done. Pretty easy, no muss, no fuss.
billycar11 said:
they were right at the time and now things have changed the community as a whole was just really annoyed about getting the same question so much so they were frustrated and i know users who missed out were even more frustrated with not being able to do what they want with there phones so don't take your frustration out on people who were trying to tell you the right answer at the time , take it out on your boot loader and unlock it yayayayay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being annoyed by the question is not the same as the quest. In fact the question had not been asked before.
killrhythm09 said:
Feel free to explain to me what was helpful about your posts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasn't a post. It was a question. Questions are not meant to help anyone but the asker. Being that I was the asker and people that had no idea about actual development decided to answer, I am in fact the best person do judge whether or not they were helpful.
iBolski said:
Past has shown that as old as these phones are, a new root exploit, when all others have been patched, never occurs.
What just happened was luck:
Someone was working on a root exploit not specific to this phone AND you got lucky that it worked for the RAZR HD/MAXX/M.
You got REAL lucky with Motorola basically screwing up and re-introducing the bootloader unlock exploit. This was patched with version 9.18 last year and has been unavailable since then. THIS was dumb luck, period. Well, dumb on the part of Motorola for somehow falling back to the old code that is located on a protected zone of the phone. This was the ONLY way it could have be re-introduced and this RARELY happens, so again, dumb luck.
However, there is another OTA coming (I was just emailed asking to participate in it yesterday). I'm pretty sure it will fix the Towelroot exploit (all 2013 phones running 4.4.2 as well as any 4.4.2 kernel whose date is >= 6/3/2014 disallow the Towelroot exploit) as well as the bootloader exploit.
So, now is your chance to root and unlock the bootloader and it's high time everyone takes advantage of this because we will get the same questions, over and over again when the next OTA comes out.
Our main point, as has been stated, was if people would just search and read, rather than being lazy and just asking the same question that has already been asked a hundred times before, they would find their answer a lot quicker and the rest of us who have been helping so many other people would not feel we would have to rehash the same answer again. It's like being in class, the teacher explains something, and then 10 other people raise their hand and ask the teacher about the exact thing the teacher just went over, so now the teacher has to stop class, explain it again, and then 10 more kids raise their hands and ask the same, exact question. It pollutes the forums with the same questions and then the same answers.
We weren't being mean about saying no root, but what just happened was pure luck, especially with the bootloader unlock.
BTW, I think I did see a pig fly in Minecraft yesterday, so I guess they did fly which makes sense. :laugh:
In the end, we are all very happy for those that have locked bootloaders because now, they can root and then unlock this phone. But, they need to do it NOW before the next OTA comes out. And I can guarantee you that those who fail to do it will be back on here asking the same question over and over again. So, let's spread the word and beg and plead that these people root their phones now and unlock the bootloader so that when the next OTA comes out in the next couple of weeks, they won't have to worry about another root exploit, if at all.
Again, those with locked bootloaders got real lucky.
As far as warranty goes, who cares. The phone is old (18+ months) and most people who have turned in their locked phones for warranty have gotten their replacement without having to pay anything, so the company will accept them and they don't charge for it. Besides, would you rather have an unlocked phone knowing you can have root no matter what the next OTA does or do you want to wait and have to do an exploit? Sideloading is SO much easier and just requires a reboot into a custom recovery (like TWRP) and then you do an "adb sideload" and you reboot and your done. Pretty easy, no muss, no fuss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First off, my phone was an insurance replacement, not a **** up "oops I accidentally updated"
But I have to ask you, when you decided to answer originally, did you actual contemplate the question? Or did you assume that it was the same that had been asked before? I assure you that if you had thought about it, you would have considered the plausibility of an answer other than no. (yes and maybe being the alternatives). The post didn't ask you how to do it. And also, EXACTLY what would the OP search for to find an answer. KitKat was still in Soak Test at the time of the OP, but the all knowing non developers seemed to have the answer (this seems unacceptable). I think if the question had been pondered by the respondents they would have realized the question had not been asked before.
1. Historically, new root an boot loader exploits have been found AFTER an update has been released.
2. Historically there has not been a phone that jumped an entire cycle of updates to a new release. And that is hundreds of phones over many OSs over many iterations.
3. The idea that it was plausible should have been at the forefront of peoples minds, because the boot loader was required to be changed. There have been many posts about the nature of root being changed in kitkat. So the jump would absolutely open up risk to exploit.
4. Google wants devices to be open. Did no one think it was plausible that the exploit would be reintroduced after the hand off to Lenovo?
So I ask again, the present situation not withstanding, do you honestly think that anyone answered my question? A bunch of people tired of reading a similar question, giving the answer to a different question. As a member and contributor to the xda community for quite a while now, I've learned that it's important to actually answer the question that's actually asked and not assume the OP is not fully aware of the question they are asking. Especially if the qualify the question in the first place to differentiate it from the question he knows responders are going to assume the OP is asking. Cheers.
P.S. The idea that any of you were actually being "helpful" is cockypop.
brownrt said:
P.S. The idea that any of you were actually being "helpful" is cockypop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize if it came off gruff, but we have been helpful before, it just gets aggravating when it appears as if someone didn't do their due diligence in doing actual research, especially if when we've answered the same question numerous times.
In the future, I'll work at being more helpful and if it's the same question that I've already answered, maybe instead of going off, I can just wait for someone else to answer, especially if I've already typed the same answer numerous times to other people.
In any case, whether you think it's poppycock or not, we are genuinely happy for everyone that has now had a second chance at unlocking the bootloader with this "mistake" from Motorola. I just hope everyone takes advantage of it.
^^^I won't apologize for appearing "gruff."
brownrt said:
See how asinine you were now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't feel asinine, in the least bit. What happened was pure, dumb luck (or someone at Moto "accidentally" putting the TZ back into the KK update). You all also got lucky when someone decided to try out Motopocalypse just for the hell of it. At the time, there was no "path" to the unlock and every experienced dev (I'm no dev) was under the notion this would never happen. Thanks for bringing this up, I always enjoy a good discussion. I was wrong, the devs were wrong, the experts were wrong.
ill just leave this here
im not getting involved in this bickering, ill just say this:
-it took Dan (a security expert by trade) a long time to find the BL unlock. so when he says "it will never happen again", i tend to belive him. therefore "the never going to happen" post by others.
-i highly doubt moto forgot on purpose to apply the known exploit patches, or let us have it back on purpose, so someone over there is probably fired right about now.
-had geohot not found a blanket root, something that is quite rare, there still would be no root as no one is actively trying.
so, however it may have not been worded in the best manner, the assumptions at the time of the op were accurate.
that will be all, as you were....
I made this thread to try and get the get the flame burning again on this topic. It seems since we've achieved safestrap people don't seem too interested in pursuing an unlocked bootloader. I understand that if i want AOSP i should try trading my phone for one with an unlocked bootloader (knowing that somebody is going to comment saying that). But what does that do for the community? Nothing productive. Speaking theoretically here, how is a bootloader unlock achieved with the bootloader lock key? Is there some way of inputting it to unlock the bootloader? What happens if you have the wrong key? Is there a way to create script a keygen that goes through every possibility of however many digit of a code the bootloader lock key is? Or can it only be done via exploit?
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Let the discussion begin.
Travisholt92 said:
I made this thread to try and get the get the flame burning again on this topic. It seems since we've achieved safestrap people don't seem too interested in pursuing an unlocked bootloader. I understand that if i want AOSP i should try trading my phone for one with an unlocked bootloader (knowing that somebody is going to comment saying that). But what does that do for the community? Nothing productive. Speaking theoretically here, how is a bootloader unlock achieved with the bootloader lock key? Is there some way of inputting it to unlock the bootloader? What happens if you have the wrong key? Is there a way to create script a keygen that goes through every possibility of however many digit of a code the bootloader lock key is? Or can it only be done via exploit?
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Let the discussion begin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you took the time to read the numerous discussions on this you'd know the answers. People are dropping the unlocked bootloader since even the S4's hasn't been unlocked (since MDK baseband). Regarding the five key questions, it would take a super computer thousands of years to try every possibility. Wrong one would equal bricked phone. Exploit would be only way, and now that Geohot works for Google, he's out of the picture and I'm sure the other Devs aren't going to bother. SS is fine for now, you can always switch carriers if you care that much.
So the community on this device will never progress. Awesome.
Travisholt92 said:
So the community on this device will never progress. Awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a real possibility. Now with this lesson learned, look for a carrier or device next time that does not lock the bootloader. HTC locks their bootloader but is good enough to provide us users with a way to unlock it. As mentioned, bootloaders are WAY different than obtaining root and there is a very real chance of killing the device in the trial and error process.
I feel where you are coming from i felt the same way. Switched for an HTC One m8 and besides the fact that the bootloader can be unlocked, it's just a much better phone. Should give it a shot! A GS5 is an equal trade for an m8 on craigslist so it shouldn't be too hard. It does seem the general consensus is that the dev's have given up on even trying to unlock it so i would just accept it and move on unfortunately.
What's legal and illegal when it comes to hacking android (in USA)? I want to unlock the bootloader on my Verizon gs3. Is that illegal?
If you can point me to some definitive or authoritative resources, I would appreciate that. I have been googling this topic for a couple weeks, and as far as I can tell, it's currently legal to unlock your phone for use on another wireless carrier, but it is technically illegal to root or unlock bootloaders (by hacking). But what doesn't fit with that are the bounties I see offered for these activities, so I'm very uncertain either way.
bump
Its legal to do anything to your own device.
You can unlock the bootloader, root the phone, install custom firmwares, or break it to pieces with a hammer as long as it's yours...
Worst case scenario you can always start a new life in Mexico
ishaang said:
Worst case scenario you can always start a new life in Mexico
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That just made my day.
ishaang said:
Its legal to do anything to your own device.
You can unlock the bootloader, root the phone, install custom firmwares, or break it to pieces with a hammer as long as it's yours...
Worst case scenario you can always start a new life in Mexico
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you allowed to post the info of how to do it?
squebler said:
What's legal and illegal when it comes to hacking android (in USA)? I want to unlock the bootloader on my Verizon gs3. Is that illegal?
If you can point me to some definitive or authoritative resources, I would appreciate that. I have been googling this topic for a couple weeks, and as far as I can tell, it's currently legal to unlock your phone for use on another wireless carrier, but it is technically illegal to root or unlock bootloaders (by hacking). But what doesn't fit with that are the bounties I see offered for these activities, so I'm very uncertain either way.
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The real issue is with the contract you sign with your carrier. As long as you are in the subsidised portion of your contract (generally 2yrs), the phone technically still belongs to them, not you.
Are they going to look for you to make an issue of it, no. If you need to make a warranty claim though, and they find out it's modified, they have the right to not honor the warranty if they choose (happens occasionally, but not widespread).
I mod my phones all the time, but I do it without any expectation of help from vzw if I break something and can't fix it.
Jmo, hope that helps
squebler said:
What's legal and illegal when it comes to hacking android (in USA)? I want to unlock the bootloader on my Verizon gs3. Is that illegal?
If you can point me to some definitive or authoritative resources, I would appreciate that. I have been googling this topic for a couple weeks, and as far as I can tell, it's currently legal to unlock your phone for use on another wireless carrier, but it is technically illegal to root or unlock bootloaders (by hacking). But what doesn't fit with that are the bounties I see offered for these activities, so I'm very uncertain either way.
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In my opinion, as long as you have warranty, don't root your phone because it will void the warranty.
Its legal, but can void your warranty with the manufacturer or if you have bought your phone through a carrier they may have a clause in the agreement related to this.
Sony as a manufacturer is cool with you unlocking your bootloader, and they offer the instructions and code on their own website officially, here -http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-yourboot-loader/
So that's an example of it being legal.
Very helpful info, thanks! Now I think I'll switch to Sony instead of Samsung.
No problem, and good idea!
I've been a Sony user for a very long time, and generally their devices have never failed to deliver. On top of that they are very developer friendly and support the open source community a lot. This has been referenced in XDA also, many times. Besides that I do feel the build quality of Sony products is superior, and in phones their hardware specs and stock UI is also pretty decent.
oh it's good:highfive:
ite's legal to do anything on your phones of course (like unlock bootloader),
but if you want to test(hack) on other's phones, make sure you get their permission ^^