If you were considering the HTC One X that is headed to AT&T, not only for its power, but also because of HTC’s commitment to unlocking bootloaders, you may want to look elsewhere. Early adopters of the device noticed a constant error when trying to unlock it through HTCDev’s bootloader tool, prompting the media to ping HTC for a comment on the matter. What did they have to say? Here you go:

HTC is committed to listening to users and delivering customer satisfaction. Since announcing our commitment to unlockable bootloaders, HTC has worked to enable our customers to unlock the bootloader on more than 45 devices over the past six months. In some cases, however, restrictions prevent certain devices from participating in our bootloader unlocking program. Rest assured, HTC is committed to assisting developers in unlocking bootloaders for HTC devices and we’ll continue to unlock additional devices in the future.

“Restrictions” or better yet, a PR person’s way of saying, “the carrier” is the reason for this phone to remain locked. This is a sad turn of events in HTC’s journey to appease the developer community. Last May, HTC’s CEO Peter Chou announced via Facebook that after an overwhelming amount of customer feedback that they “will no longer be locking the bootloaders” on their devices. He didn’t say “where carriers permit it” or anything of that nature, so this move is a bit shocking. We watched HTC provide unlocking tools for all of their Verizon devices, leading us to believe that the stand they had taken was going to make it.

Only one way to tell if the dark days are on the verge of returning, and that’s to see the status of the Incredible 4G LTE when it gets released in the next couple of weeks.

Via:  Modaco

Cheers to everyone who sent this!

After months and months of attempts, S-OFF has finally been achieved on the HTC Rezoundand a handful of other devices including the Amaze 4G through a new tool called JuopunutBear (someone say that 5 times fast). For those not familiar with S-OFF, just think of it as giving you the most access you can possibly have to an HTC phone. Sure, you can unlock the bootloader using HTC’s dev tool, but the device is still semi-protected even in that state as it is still S-ON. If a phone has toggled S-OFF (which stands for “security off”), you are opening it up to even more hacker-friendly fun. There are more risks involved, but we never took the DL community as one to shy aware for a little danger.

The team that released the tool is called Umlimited.IO. After looking at their instructions, I think you will understand why this took so long to complete. It involves wiping an SD card and some form of a wire and pin trick (pictured above). It will get you S-OFF if done correctly though, so hit up either of the source links below and take your time. Be sure to report back with any issues. This is one of those processes that will only get better as users share their experiences.

Via:  Unlimited.io | XDA

Cheers Nicholas, Bob, Matt, Geoff and Gerry!

A “kexec” bootloader bypass method was discovered back in mid-March for the GSM RAZR, giving hope to the growing community of DROID RAZR owners who want nothing more than to run fully stock Android. This method in theory, allows you to flash custom kernels and full custom ROMs, something that most Moto devices are incapable of thanks to Moto’s ridiculously anal approach to device security. After hours of work from developers kholk and [mbm] on the project, this kexec bypass is now public and available for you to try.

There are a couple of things you need to know though. First, after bypassing the bootloader, only 1 of the 2 cores in the processor is firing (they are working on a fix). Second, with some CDMA RAZRs, the bootloader bypass itself is simply not working (they are attempting to fix these issues as well).

RAZR owners, time to spend your weekend tinkering. Full details and instructions can be found at the source links below.

Via:  Eternity Project | XDA

Cheers [TSON]!

In the never ending battle with bootloaders of Motorola devices, developer kholk thinks he may have found a way to bypass that of the GSM RAZR and maybe even the LTE DROID RAZR here in the States. He is said to be using the kexec method that was last used on the original DROID X, but so far other details have not been made public. Over the last couple of weeks, he has popped into this XDA thread to give a status report on his findings. As of Sunday, he seems convinced that his method works on the GSM and LTE RAZRs, but so far, only 1-core of the dual-core OMAP4430 is functioning. Once he can get the 2nd core fired up, he plans to make everything public.

From my understanding of kexec, this method won’t unlock the bootloader of the device, but it will allow you to flash a custom kernel. This would be a major happening in the land of the RAZR should kholk succeed. I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath on this one as someone seems to get “close” with each new Motorola release and then eventually gives up. Feel free to cross a couple of toes though.

Cheers Trevor!

Android and bootloaders, a topic we can’t seem to get away from. Starting back with the locking of the original Motorola Milestone and then kicking into overdrive with the DROID X, the battle of consumers vs. OEMs and carriers has been an ugly one. As many of you know, a locked bootloader denies an end user the ability to take full advantage of their device. For those that choose to hack on their phones, install custom ROMs, etc., this is the piece of the puzzle that can ruin it all.

Companies like HTC, Samsung, and even LG have been pretty open for the most part when it comes to bootloaders, however, there is one that remains hell bent on keeping them as secure as possible: Motorola. In fact, we have the history of their stance on locked bootloaders documented here. But is it all Moto’s fault? Initially, they were the target, but after publicly placing blame on carriers for their bootloader locking, it’s clear that there are numerous parties involved. 

Keeping to their word, Asus has released the bootloader unlock tool for the Transformer Prime before the end of February. After catching more than a little flack for launching the product it locked, the social media and consumer outrage was enough to get them to turn to the good side of the Force. It took two months, but that’s actually not that bad if you consider that Motorola is almost at 2 years.

There aren’t instructions per se, but you should be able to simple download the .apk file below and run it to unlock.

Download:  Unlock_Device_App_V6.apk

More info:  Asus Support

Cheers Bill, Tony, FAL_fan, tjhrulz and everyone else!

Fastboot files for the latest DROID Bionic build were released on Friday from daywalker04 which had us hoping that he would drop the new DROID RAZR 6.12.173 as well. He did just that. So for those of you interesting in rooting your RAZR, flashing ROMs, or hacking on it in general, you will want to grab this file before it is gone. This is your ticket back to safety should you soft-brick your device at some point.

Download Link

Via:  XDA