The kexec development to get custom kernels onto the locked-down Galaxy SIII was nothing short of valiant, but since yesterday things have changed. An insecure bootloader can be flashed to the device now making things much easier. To reflect this change, the CyanogenMod team has released an alpha build of CM10 that has to be paired with the new bootloader.

This build has better 4G connection than had been reported in the earlier builds along with a few other bugfixes and changes. The link below has the downloads for both the CM10 file and the bootloader in case you missed it.

Via: Google+

Cheers Jigga_Z!

CyanogenMod Posts Update to Galaxy SIII Build Using New Unlocked Bootloader is a post from: Droid Life

DROID RAZR and RAZR MAXX owners, full custom ROMs will soon be in your future, thanks to @dhacker29, @hashcodeof, and @therealjonpry. Using the kexec method that has become famous on older Motorola phones and now the Galaxy S3, custom kernels are now an option. Well, once they are built by the ever-growing RAZR dev-community. This also means that you will see full and official CyanogenMod builds, something that should excite many of you.

As of today, it doesn’t appear as if there is a public way for you to test custom kernels or find ROMs that have them, but it likely won’t be long.

Via:  Twitter

Cheers Jeremy and Brandon!

Custom Kernels Make Their Way to the DROID RAZR Thanks to Kexec is a post from: Droid Life

The kexec boot sequence that CVPCS created earlier in the week is close to being ready for prime time. So close in fact, that an eager developer grabbed it, along with a data fix for CM9 on Verizon’s Galaxy S3 and tossed it all together with instructions for you to take for a test drive. The instructions look fairly simple, but it will require that you have the Android SDK working and know some adb commands. We have them for you below if you are ready. 

Downloads:  CM9 ROM | Recovery | Gapps

Instructions:

*We take no credit for these. Pulled straight from BeansTown106′s post.

1.  Transfer the CM9 ROM, Gapps, and d2vzw_recovery.img to the root of your emmc.
2.  Push the kexec cwm to sdcard and install:

adb push d2vzw_recovery.img /sdcard/
adb shell
su
dd if=/sdcard/d2vzw_recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p18 bs=256k
sync
reboot recovery

3.  Reboot into recovery.
4.  Wipe data/factory reset.
5.  Install CM9 zip.
6.  Install Gapps.
7.  You should be booting into CM9.

Should you run into issues, hit up the source link for support.

Via:  RootzWiki

Cheers Steve and Matthew!

CM9 for Verizon’s Galaxy S3 Now With Working Data is a post from: Droid Life

Rather than focusing on the negative aspect of the locked bootloader that accompanies the Galaxy S3 on Verizon, developer CVPCS decided to figure out a way around it. Using kexec, which has become synonymous with signed bootloader devices, he has created a boot sequence that allows you to flash custom kernels to the device, leading to CyanogenMod compatibility.

In a Google+ post released this morning, he breaks it all down. 

So for anyone who is wondering, this last weekend I finalized a kexec-based boot sequence for CM9 on the d2vzw (Samsung Galaxy S3, Verizon variant) that will allow standard installs to the device.

All of the kexec internals are now stored on the system partition, and cold booting into the stock kernel will result in the following:
1.) boot is hijacked immediately after the filesystems are mounted
2.) kexec-boot.zip is copied to /cache and set to auto-flash on reboot
3.) device is rebooted into recovery
4.) kexec-boot.zip is auto-flashed without user interaction
5.) device is kexec-rebooted with androidboot.mode=kexec
6.) boot is not hijacked since it is within a kexec environment
7.) the system is now booted with a custom kernel

This means we now have custom kernels that can be booted directly from a cold boot (no booting into recovery and flashing a zip manually, that will be done for you). Also this means that all of the kexec internals are on the /system partition, so backups and restores from recovery function as expected. The only downside to this is that the boot process actually involved 2 quick reboots, but it’s preferable IMO to having to flash manually from recovery.

The main problem still existing with the device is the lack of data connectivity. This is currently being looked into. Voice calls and SMS function as expected, but the SIM appears to be failing provisioning resulting in no 3G/4G connectivity.

I’ll keep you posted.

As you can see, there is a problem with the SIM and radios, which Austen does not believe to be because of bootloader situation. It sounds like they should be able to fix it in time.

Locked or unlocked, the devs are coming through in magnificent ways.

Via:  Google+

Cheers Steve!

CM9 Inches Closer to Verizon’s Locked Galaxy S3, Kexec Boot Sequence Created is a post from: Droid Life

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]!

DROID RAZR Bootloader Bypass Released in Semi-working Form, A New World Awaits is a post from: Droid Life

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!

Motorola RAZR GSM Bootloader Bypass Discovered, Could Work on LTE RAZR is a post from: Droid Life

After months of attempts from some of the industry’s best, the DROID X bootloader and stock kernel remain in tact.  While there are ways to tip-toe around it, we have never actually had full access to the phone and have always approached ROMs on the device with extra caution.  Today though, it looks like a new challenger has accepted the task and claims to have made some actual progress using kexec in an attempt write over the stock DX kernel.  What is kexec?  With my lack of linux knowledge, I’m not about to attack that one, but do know that it’s a way for someone to boot a new kernel over a currently running one.

Will it finally be done?  I have no idea, but I wish this brave soul the best of luck.

You can follow him on Twitter:  @aliasxerog

You can also check his new site dedicated to the task, plus look for mirrors of his first attempt later on today.  From what I’ve gathered, his first attempts at flashing a new kernel were semi-successful, but are completely unstable and needs help from the community to make this thing work.

Good luck!

DROID Bootloader Accepts a New Challenger, Progress Already Made? is a post from: Droid Life