Hi, I'm receiving my new Moto G this week and I've read that the only way to gain root access at the moment is asking motorola to unlock the bootloader and thus, losing the warranty.
1.Does Motorola keep track of those who unlock the device so, even if you relock it, your warranty is still void?
2.Is there any other possible way to do that so you don't lose warranty?
3. And if so, is anybody working on that? Because if there will be another way I'd rather wait until some awesome developer achieves that.
Yes because you have to submit “fastboot oem get_unlock_data" to Motorola on their website to get the unlock code for the Bootloader secondary there is a qfuse and/or a flag which can not be set to default (at the moment).
At the moment not.
No idea, i'll wait some time, hopefully there will be a workaround someday. But if i remember right there is no way at the moment to revert the changes once the qfuse is broken.
Read more the questions have already been answered.
Much of Qualcomm's security architecture is implemented using QFuses, which are software-programmable fuses that allow one-time configuration of device settings and cryptographic materials such as hashes or keys. Because of their physical nature, once a QFuse has been blown, it is impossible to "unblow" it to revert its original value.
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Link: Once you REQUEST!!! the unlock code, your warranty will be voided.
Related
Just curious if anyone knows if this might work for the Photon Q eventually.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2225022
We don't need that, Photon Q BL is normally unlockable officially.
Yeah, but WOULD it work if we wanted to unlock that way?
Just curious.
It would - but your warranty would still be void (because if they are actually checking it, they will use the phone's fastboot).
Yes.
The result is the same, no matter if you use the official or the unofficial way.
The qfuse is blown > the bootloader is unlocked > the moto warranty is void.
No difference.
Thanks. That's all I was wondering.
I could see where someone would prefer to use an unofficial method. Seems like Moto wants a lot of info for "permission" to mod a phone. So, maybe someone would want to unlock, but not go through registering all of that with Moto.
Warranty, swarranty. Not too concerned about that personally. My experience with warranty is that they will find a reason not to honor the warranty anyway.
kabaldan said:
Yes.
The result is the same, no matter if you use the official or the unofficial way.
The qfuse is blown > the bootloader is unlocked > the moto warranty is void.
No difference.
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Just wondering, what exactly is the "qfuse" ? I am deducing that it is a file that tells if the Q's boot loader has been unlocked, but does it determine that fact regardless of if it's unlocked officially or unofficially? And, if done so unofficially, would re-locking the boot loader change the "qfuse" and dupe the Motorola team from determining if the boot loader has ever been unlocked? Thanks!
Moto Q stock with Arrrghhh's kernel v.0.10
galacticservant said:
Just wondering, what exactly is the "qfuse" ? I am deducing that it is a file that tells if the Q's boot loader has been unlocked, but does it determine that fact regardless of if it's unlocked officially or unofficially? And, if done so unofficially, would re-locking the boot loader change the "qfuse" and dupe the Motorola team from determining if the boot loader has ever been unlocked? Thanks!
Moto Q stock with Arrrghhh's kernel v.0.10
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Here's some info I found:
"There are two kinds of electronic fuses: Qfuses and efuses. efuses are programmable, usually by software once and by JTAG multiple times. However, Qfuses are WORM according to the information I have, which means iff the Milestone has a security Qfuse, and it is blown, then this cannot be reversed. There is usually no software programming to the Qfuses available, it is blown once during manufacturing/initial programming."
Source
Has anyone actually tested this on the photon Q and can say beyond a shadow of a doubt? I am guessing I am not the ony person who really wishes they could unlock the bootloader but can't because moto said no when they tried the official way, but I worry that trying an untested method for another phone has a chance to brick.
Every Photon Q is unlockable the official way, even from CSpire. You have a typo somewhere.
Since rooting the device voids the warranty, and now the only method to obtain root with 4.4 triggers the tamper flag, if one is going to root, is there any reason to NOT request a bootloader unlock code from Motorola?
And if the bootloader is unlocked via the request, does that essentially turn it into an non-warranty Dev phone? (ie would we then have the ability to roll back from 4.4 to 4.2?)
jkhouw1 said:
Since rooting the device voids the warranty, and now the only method to obtain root with 4.4 triggers the tamper flag, if one is going to root, is there any reason to NOT request a bootloader unlock code from Motorola?
And if the bootloader is unlocked via the request, does that essentially turn it into an non-warranty Dev phone? (ie would we then have the ability to roll back from 4.4 to 4.2?)
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You can only get the unlock code if you have the dev edition. And if you do, unlocking the bootloader won't void your warranty.
jkhouw1 said:
Since rooting the device voids the warranty, and now the only method to obtain root with 4.4 triggers the tamper flag, if one is going to root, is there any reason to NOT request a bootloader unlock code from Motorola?
And if the bootloader is unlocked via the request, does that essentially turn it into an non-warranty Dev phone? (ie would we then have the ability to roll back from 4.4 to 4.2?)
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Non dev vzw devices are not eligible to receive unlock codes.
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ah thanks.
Just got the D6633 dual Sim for my wife. I use Nexus devices exclusively but since Sony offers bootloader unlocking I decided to get this phone instead of a Nexus for her.
My question is, should I go through the steps to actually get the bootloader unlock code for future use. I don't plan on unlocking the bootloader just yet but I worry that in the future the service might be discontinued and I'll never get a code from Sony.
It's still under warranty and I'd like to keep it that way so I guess the real question is, is getting the code what voids the warranty or actually preforming the unlock that does it? Is there a counter or some type of a flag in the device that is set permanently or can the bootloader be locked back again like any Nexus device?
Thanks for your help.
No, it's not like KNOX [SAMSUNG] or S-ON [HTC]
Keep the code if you want.
That is one of the reasons I prefer SONY devices, besides the specs and build quality. No stuff like tripping KNOX fuse or getting S-OFF to make an HTC a Google Play Edition for example.
Keep the code, just in case.
TheTeslaCoil said:
No, it's not like KNOX [SAMSUNG] or S-ON [HTC]
Keep the code if you want.
That is one of the reasons I prefer SONY devices, besides the specs and build quality. No stuff like tripping KNOX fuse or getting S-OFF to make an HTC a Google Play Edition for example.
Keep the code, just in case.
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OK, but if there is no tripped flag, how do they know I didn't use the code? I guess you didn't understand my initial question. I can understands the code doesn't expire, but doesn't the act of getting the code voids warranty?
obsanity said:
OK, but if there is no tripped flag, how do they know I didn't use the code? I guess you didn't understand my initial question. I can understands the code doesn't expire, but doesn't the act of getting the code voids warranty?
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You trigger something on their servers, it's all about the IMEI and Serial Number.
Even if you relock the bootloader, they will still know it was unlocked, I for example relocked the bootloader the official way, via SONY website, and got the code in my email.
Not quite. Warrenty is coded when you unlock the boot, nor when you ask for the code.
You can get the code and keep it forever.
Officially there is no way to re lock the bootloader anyway.
However, if you root first, backup the TA patition them unlock the boot, you can restore the TA partition to re lock and don't will not know.
gregbradley said:
Not quite. Warrenty is coded when you unlock the boot, nor when you ask for the code.
You can get the code and keep it forever.
Officially there is no way to re lock the bootloader anyway.
However, if you root first, backup the TA patition them unlock the boot, you can restore the TA partition to re lock and don't will not know.
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True, it is a good idea to backup the TA partion, I myself didn't do it, but it is a good advice.
OK, so I'm gathering that there is a way to root and install recovery without unlocking the bootloader. If that's the case, why would anyone need to open the bootloader?
Also, I'm still not clear on my initial question. Do I loose warranty as soon as I get the unlock code from Sony or does the act of unlocking what voids it.
obsanity said:
OK, so I'm gathering that there is a way to root and install recovery without unlocking the bootloader. If that's the case, why would anyone need to open the bootloader?
Also, I'm still not clear on my initial question. Do I loose warranty as soon as I get the unlock code from Sony or does the act of unlocking what voids it.
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Only when you unlock you lose warranty. But you can backup the TA partition, and relock later, if you want.
With an unlock bootloader you can root Lollipop easy, with a lock bootloader, there are a few steps, like downgrading, for example.
And many more stuff you can do, with an unlocked bootloader, flash custom ROM's...mods, tweaks, etc.
TheTeslaCoil said:
Only when you unlock you lose warranty. But you can backup the TA partition, and relock later, if you want.
With an unlock bootloader you can root Lollipop easy, with a lock bootloader, there are a few steps, like downgrading, for example.
And many more stuff you can do, with an unlocked bootloader, flash custom ROM's...mods, tweaks, etc.
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So if you can lock it back and need to claim warranty they won't know you ever had it unlocked? Something seems not right.
obsanity said:
So if you can lock it back and need to claim warranty they won't know you ever had it unlocked? Something seems not right.
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If you restore your TA partition, yeah, you can claim warranty.
Hello everyone. I just got I'm mate 9 and I'm totally psyched. Seems like it's one of the best phones out there currently. I know I will be spending a lot more time here from now on. Looking around and doing some searches, I found a few threads that sort of answered this question but I'm still not a hundred percent positive. I have a couple of questions as follows:
1) I know that the bootloader unlock process has to be officially done through Huawei. My first question is when I request an unlock code, is my warranty void after that? Do they have a list of people who have requested these unlock codes that would be denied warranty even if the bootloader is locked when and if the warranty service is requested?
2) if the bootloader is re locked, is there any way for Huawei to tell that it was ever unlocked thereby denying warranty coverage?
Thanks in advance and it's good to be part of the mate 9 pack on XDA.
Going through Huawei will certainly void your warranty as they will have record of you requesting the unlock code (it's sent via email after you provide your IMEI). There's an app on the playstore that can provide you the code (DC Huawei bootloader codes) that can unlock it without their knowledge and flashing an official ROM will relock your bootloader every time.
CandyFoxJ said:
Going through Huawei will certainly void your warranty as they will have record of you requesting the unlock code (it's sent via email after you provide your IMEI). There's an app on the playstore that can provide you the code (DC Huawei bootloader codes) that can unlock it without their knowledge and flashing an official ROM will relock your bootloader every time.
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Thanks so much for that response. I was about to go through a Huawei but I think I will much rather use an app like this. It's a paid app right? And you have to use ADB to do the actual unlock.
The app is free but the service is not, I think it's 4-5 $. You'll need ADB to unlock, that is correct.
CandyFoxJ said:
Going through Huawei will certainly void your warranty as they will have record of you requesting the unlock code (it's sent via email after you provide your IMEI). There's an app on the playstore that can provide you the code (DC Huawei bootloader codes) that can unlock it without their knowledge and flashing an official ROM will relock your bootloader every time.
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I don't really see how requesting the bootloader unlock code can be seen as a proof of actually unlocking it.
Per Huawei's unlock agreement you're forced to accept.
"Unlocking the bootloader may result in unpredictable consequences for your device, including but not limited to those listed above. The user shall be held responsible in the event that the device malfunctions and cannot be recovered. Huawei will record your unlock request information; for software and hardware failures arising as a result of unlocking the bootloader, Huawei repair centers can provide repair services charged at the standard rate for repair work outside the scope of the warranty."
I am aware that there is already a thread for unlocking Bootloader on Android 8.1.0, but I tried the steps in that article and it unfortunately was unable to unlock my device. I bought my Pixel 2 secondhand, but because the OEM Unlocking toggle in Settings is grayed out and in the off position, I am led to believe that I have a Verizon model. I have an AT&T SIM card however. I also tried looking up how to downgrade my phone to the Google version of Android 8.1.0 but they all require that OEM Unlocking be turned on. Is there any updated guide on how to unlock the Bootloader for my phone so that I can possibly root it?
Not right now but there is an interesting vulnerability out right now.... I'd turn off updates for a little while incase something arises
Unlocking the bootloader is a totally different prospect than gaining root. Root can be obtained with an exploit, the recent one being a good example, but it will only be temporary. To make it permanent you need to unlock the bootloader. To unlock the bootloader you need yet another exploit for the bootloader since all the refurbished models appear to be unable to use the factory unlock process. Combine that with low demand for a two year old device and odds are it will never happen unless Google itself provides a solution. In short, I wouldn't hold my breath or leave a giant security hole on your device in hopes that it can be bootloader unlocked in the future. If you need a device that can be bootloader unlocked, go to Google and buy one.
***Unlocking the bootloader is a totally different prospect than gaining root.
Agreed
***Root can be obtained with an exploit, the recent one being a good example, but it will only be temporary.
Not always true, there have been many roots that didn't require bootloader unlock. Towel root comes to mind also many sunshine roots and countless others.
***To make it permanent you need to unlock the bootloader.
It helps a lot but see above....
*** To unlock the bootloader you need yet another exploit for the bootloader since all the refurbished models appear to be unable to use the factory unlock process. Combine that with low demand for a two year old device and odds are it will never happen unless Google itself provides a solution. In short, I wouldn't hold my breath or leave a giant security hole on your device in hopes that it can be bootloader unlocked in the future. If you need a device that can be bootloader unlocked, go to Google and buy one.
I don't want to buy a other phone..... The first one I bought was supposed to be unlockable. I'll deal or hope. The security hole really doesn't worry me at the moment. I won't leave it open permanent.
After thinking about it, the a/b partition may throw a serious monkey wrench in the full root issue.
Is there a way then to root my Android without turning on OEM Unlocking? My limited research on this makes me conclude that there's no such method for the Google Pixel 2.
Right now there is a temp root.
mrkhigh said:
Right now there is a temp root.
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Would you be able to provide a link on how to do a temporary root on the Pixel 2?
I believe if you read the whole thread one person said it worked on the p2.
Careful though, change system they say it bricks the phone.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pi...-magisk-root-vzw-pixel-2-xl-xl-t3981423/page5