yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[HTC Droid DNA] karn101:
How would you go about unlocking it then? I thought the HTC-DEV site doesn't support our phone which is why we have the Super CID method.

So let's say I want to flash a recovery, do I just do it through fastboot commands with a locked bootloader? Didn't think that was possible.

Same for if I wanted to flash a ROM... I'm used to Nexus devices so excuse my confusion.
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Correct me if I am wrong because I don't want to propogate bad information.

Once you have s-off, you can fastboot flash a custom recovery, and then use that recovery to flash kernels and ROMs. S-Off means the phone doesn't check for a security signiture when flashing things through recovery or fastboot. That's why you can flash everything in recovery similar to a nexus device (I'm coming from a GNex, so I'll be learning as I go along here).
[HTC Droid DNA] bakemcbride21:
Yeah, pretty much S-Off the phone disregards the locked bootloader so you an do whatever your heart desires with it...
[HTC Droid DNA] beaups:
I'm not so sure about that.

While s-off will allow you to BOOT custom (unsigned) kernels and recoveries on a locked BL, I don't "believe" it will allow you to FLASH kernels and recovery, on the stock hboot, at least.

So if you go s-off/locked, you would still need a root exploit to flash your custom recovery and/or chang the CID and/or write the unlock flag.
[HTC Droid DNA] bakemcbride21:
Oh..my bad :( I was under the impression once you S-Off via the Jtag...you could adb push(fastboot flash) a custom recovery to your phone (the ol' fastboot flash recovery recovery.img)...seeing how an S-Off phone should have no restrictions on what you write to it (or at least that's what I thought)? Then from there flash in recovery whatever you wanted..namely a custom ROM with root access already built into it...and you'd be humming along.

I will stop spreading bad info :)
[HTC Droid DNA] beaups:
I believe you'll get a "not allowed" or a Sig failure flashing recovery on a locked BL, even if s-off. I know I've tested this before, but can't remember for certain (since there's really no point)
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
So these people who get jtag still have to find a way to unlock the bootloader and/or root the phone?

Without that ability are they wasting their money jtagging?
[HTC Droid DNA] Zarboz:
It's easy to downgrade hboot with s off
[HTC Droid DNA] orateam:
So the steps after Jtagging are :

downgrade bootloader - > root -> unlock bootloader -> custom rom?
[HTC Droid DNA] kaliblazin707:
Yea you can't flash. Have to be umlocked
[HTC Droid DNA] Bigandrewgold:
Downgrade, supercid, htcdev unlock.

But again, I do bot believe it is necessary. Afaik with s off you can be locked and still do everything.

---------- Post added at 03:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 PM ----------

Replace root with supercid.
[HTC Droid DNA] bakemcbride21:
I guess when enough users here get their JTAG'd phones back..a new thread with instructions on how to go from S-Off to S-off, unlocked and rooted would be of great assistance to the masses :)

I honestly thought once you were S-Off it allowed you to write to anywhere regardless if locked...it basically just ignored the locked bootloader. Apparently there's more to it!
[HTC Droid DNA] Bigandrewgold:
It's really not that complicated.

Run 1.15 ruu

Follow unlock process(supercid/htcdev)

Profit
[HTC Droid DNA] eakeller:
So HTCDEV will change its tune from denial (my current state) to allowing the unlock process to go forward once the supercid is changed? I apologize for the ignorance, but this whole ability to "allow" an unlocked bootloader is new to me; I'm used to either using a hack or a bootstrapper to get around it in the past.

=Locked down tight DNA LE=
[HTC Droid DNA] bakemcbride21:
Oh...being S-Off allows you to downgrade the RUU? that's simple enough...I have that windows executable 1.15 RUU saved (used it to return to stock when sending back my screen defective unlocked, S-Off, rooted DNA).

From there following the SuperCID HTCDEV unlock is easy!
[HTC Droid DNA] beaups:
Nope, not true. You will need to manually downgrade the hboot before you can ruu lower. Thats the issue with the ota. The ota hboot is not able to decrypt the pre ota rom.zip. s-off or otherwise.

Now, being soff you could decrypt the rom.zip before flashing it, if you know what you are doing.
[HTC Droid DNA] bakemcbride21:
Then I refer back to my previous post of having a helpful "Now that we found S-OFF, what are we going to do....wih it?" Thread...lol

Going old school with the song reference there :)

You can all thank me later when Heavy D is stuck in your head....
[HTC Droid DNA] karn101:
Glad I brought this up then. I was really getting confused about this as unlocking the bootloader is more important to me than being S-Off. I can deal with doing fastboot commands like we did prior to s-off anyway. I dropped my DNA and the glass shattered so I had to order a new one and am pretty positive it will come with the new update.
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
So:

S-off

Downgrade hboot

Ruu 1.15

Supercid

Unlock

Fastboot custom recovery

Flash root (i was reading through the original rooting thread and after unlocking you fastboot a recovery then flash superuser and busybox in recovery. Now you have root access but to make the root changes stick we needed to fastboot an unsecure kernel since s-off was not available back then. At what point during the process was the root exploit executed?)
[HTC Droid DNA] Bigandrewgold:
What do you mean by "root exploit"
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Sorry for the late post, but mobile tech marked my order as complete today! Now I just wait on USPS *taps foot impatiently*

Towards the beginning of this thread I had asked about a path forward after I get my DNA back home. I appreciate all of the discussion so far about this. I will try to stumble through the process when I get it back. If by some fluke I get it right, I'll try to write a "me proof" (read dummy) step by step.
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
An exploit used to gain admin privileges so we could use SU. I'm trying to merge the info in the three active threads on this topic so I can better understand things.

Maybe the root exploit used to allow us to write cidblock remains after unlocking and all we need to do is flash su after fastbooting the custom recovery?

The problem we currently have is not because of a lack of root access but our inability to get around the security measures that prevent us from modifying cidblock so we can get supercid?
[HTC Droid DNA] LakerStar25:
There is no need to flash unsecure kernel for write privileges since s-off gives you write privileges.

After you receive jtagged s-off DNA all you do is.

1. Downgrade hboot

2. Run ruu

3. Flash eng hboot then flash recovery (see exact directions in development thread)

4. If you want stock hboot then Supercid and htcdev unlock (not really needed with s-off) then fasboot flash recovery and then flash Super Su or Superuser in recovery to gain root if your staying on stock or just flash any Rom of choice most have root already.

5. If you want to flash a different kernel you can since there are a few out that have different options.

Sent from my 5 Senses of DNA
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Thanks for this. Two dumb questions:

Could I just flash a pre-rooted rom after getting custom recovery, or do I need to do step 4?

I have no issues with voiding my warrenty, so is there a good reason to not keep the eng hboot?
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Just got the USPS tracking number for my phone. USPS says it will be here monday the 15th (it's going to be the longest weekend ever!)
[HTC Droid DNA] Bigandrewgold:
You can just flash a pre rooted rom.

If you try to s on your device while rocking the eng hboot you will hard brick your device, and the only way to fix it is jtag.
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
So has anyone who has jtagged been able to downgrade hboot, ruu 1.15, and then unlock?
[HTC Droid DNA] MicroMod777:
If it's s-0ff it should be possible. It's part is what s-off allows.
[HTC Droid DNA] karn101:
"Should" is the scary word here. I haven't seen anyone who has done it respond. I just sent my device for the JTAG today so if no one responds then I'll make a post with the steps involved.

If I can't do it then I'll put my DNA up for sale as I require root access. So upset I dropped my current DNA :'(
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
Without the ability to downgrade hboot and then ruu 1.15 they can't unlock and root their phone such is the purpose of going through jtag.
[HTC Droid DNA] kaliblazin707:
Just fastbootflash the eng hboot, recovery. Then flash ROM of your choice
[HTC Droid DNA] karn101:
Why flash the Eng. HBoot? Isn't the available one downgraded already?

EDIT: Meant it as replacing step 1 with 3 and skipping part 3. Can't we just flash the current ENG Hboot and then run the RUU?
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
While beaups says it should work, has anyone actually done it yet? You also have to unlock the phone too. The goal is to unlock the phone, so they would have to downgrade hboot, ruu 1.15, go through the unlock process, flash recovery and su.
[HTC Droid DNA] Lykarsis:
I personally have not. But my cousin sent his in and received it back s-off. He was OTA'd before hand and he is currently running newts sense 5 ROM. He; in this order

1. Flashed hboot

2. RUU'd 1.15

3. Unlocked

4. Flashed latest TWRP

5. Rooted

6. Installed ROM
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
Perfect, now the people who jtag know what to do :good:
[HTC Droid DNA] fronc:
Not to hang a hard left at tangentville here, but I just noticed your username/avatar and laughed for a solid minute. I don't know why its so funny to me lol...

Sent from my locked down Droid DNA...
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
When you have a son that reignites your childhood interests you do silly things :victory:
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
My shipment arrival date has been bumped to today!!! I'm really temped to take off the rest of the day and wait for USPS (am I pathetic?). I'll try to get pictures up by tonight, but no promises.
[HTC Droid DNA] Zarboz:
I've done it.... Not to say I condone it but yeah I've done it
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
I think USPS is going to think it's under attack because I am F5ing to s*** out of them :D

*UPDATE* It's been delivered! So it's just sitting at my front door.... waiting for me..... and I don't get to leave for two more hours.....
[HTC Droid DNA] eakeller:
What's your address? I'll go make sure it's "safe". :)

Sent from my HTC6435 using SwiftKey
[HTC Droid DNA] ocman40:
Look forward to seeing your pictures and method for flashing a new rom.
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
Me too, we will take good care of it :angel:
[HTC Droid DNA] CharliesTheMan:
Is this your first s off DNA?
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
6969 Fuq St.

Yes, I'm so looking forward to tinkering this weekend :)
[HTC Droid DNA] nived09:
Oh man! I'm excited for you!

Eager to hear how the phone looks on the outside, I'd imagine minimal to nothing

changed, but just want to make sure.

Sometimes getting into devices can be annoying, but judging by the company, I'm

sure they got it down.
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
So I have the DNA in hand now, and I wanted to share its current condition;

It arrived in a plain padded envelope

There was a small puncture in the envelope, probably from USPS since there was no fragile stamp on it.

There was another inner padded envelope inside of the outer one. You can see the tear made it through both envelopes.

I took the phone out and there was no damage from the tear, so I was relieved.

I could see a few very minor scratches around the edge at two corners. I'm guessing from just being out of a case and being procesed with all of the other phones. The scratches are on the matte portion of the corner and not the gloss (the lighting makes it look worse than it really is).

Near the charging port, I could see tool marks, probably from where the tech started his/her pry tool.

The seam near the headphone jack is not as flush as the rest of the seams around the edge.

Conclusion:

You really wouldn't be able to tell it was opened unless you were looking for signs. When I first removed it from the envelope it still looked in pristine condition. You can only see the imperfections when you examine it very very closely. Your phone probably won't come back in absolutely perfect condition, but I think the imperfections are worth S-OFF. I hope this helped someone here, and I look forward to tinkering this weekend :D

Note: I have full size images if anyone wants them. Just message me and I will get them to you.

Update:

Almost forgot.... I'll just leave this here ;)
[HTC Droid DNA] sdamark:
:fingers-crossed: Please, stick with us on this thread. We are all interested in knowing how it goes, getting bootloader unlocked etc. [at least I am]. Really excited for for you. :D Looking forward to a step by step. Thanks in advance.
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Oh I plan to. This forum has helped me sooooo much since my first days with the Eris. I'm glad I can give a little back.
[HTC Droid DNA] ocman40:
What you waiting on? Get to flashing haha
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
I have this little problem called wife and kids....but I'm starting to gather my tools :cool:
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Victory!

I've been making notes and will put something together sometime today. Time for some sleep.
[HTC Droid DNA] badogg:
Heh, I have a wife and a 4 year old and a 8 month old and I haven't done anything with my tool in a while. Lol
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
Got a case of blueballs?
[HTC Droid DNA] beaups:
What are you guys working on here exactly? I'm confused.
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
A cure for 2.x blue balls ;)
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
He is trying to find a way to get the kids out of the house so he can use his "tools" with his wife. Unlocking is secondary.
[HTC Droid DNA] ocman40:
Just the steps to go from S-OFF back from JTAG to a custom ROM/ROOT etc.

I believe soon we will have a "Preferred" Method after several people have got their phones back etc.
[HTC Droid DNA] beaups:
Ah. I believe they install CWR recovery during jtag. So that would be where I'd start.
[HTC Droid DNA] eakeller:
You live on Fuq street? I went to university at Fuq U!

Hope you're having success in hacking the phone!
[HTC Droid DNA] kaliblazin707:
So much easier
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
If you pay for it. I think it's $10 extra.
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
Did you unlock it?
[HTC Droid DNA] bakemcbride21:
That's true for so many things....lmao
[HTC Droid DNA] orateam:
I'm in the same boat as you. I only get to use my tool when the kids are in school and I work from home. :)

sorry, too easy..
[HTC Droid DNA] ickedmel:
Sic thanks for all the posts and pictures.
[HTC Droid DNA] shizumie:
So is it confirmed to be able to unlock after jtag? I was about to send mine off, but don't see a need if I can't unlock fully like i was.

Signed with the blood of my DNA
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=40238807&postcount=123

I got that after bootloader unlock and CWR flash.

On another note, I'll try to get my procedure posted today. I basically just pieced together from other guides already available, but I'll try to have it all in one place.

Edit: see below. (your tax dollars at work ;))
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Post JTAG rooting steps I followed

So here are the steps I stumbled through to get unlocked and rooted after jtag. Is there a better/faster/more effecient way? Probably, but this is just what I did to get from point A to point B. Please note that nothing here is my work. I have only stood on the shoulders of the great devs on this site and followed their existing guides.

So to start, make sure you have adb working and the correct drivers installed. I'm assuming that you can use command prompt with some of this, so if you can't then go do some reading.

First thing I did was get back to the 1.15 hboot. Download the 1.15 hboot from here:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=38379254&postcount=19

Make sure you drop the .zip into the same folder where adb.exe is located and rename it per the above post.

cd to your directory where adb.exe and your .zip is located.

I like to make sure the phone is connected and visable, so I run

adb devices

You should get a text string, if not then make sure you're connected and your drivers are correct. The set I downloaded were not good, so I installed with hasoon2000's tool here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2000896

(you'll need his tool later anyways, so might as well get it up and running now)

Once the above command returns a value, follow the guide from .torrent by running the following commands:

adb reboot bootloader

fastboot oem rebootRUU

fastboot flash zip PL83IMG.zip

You should now have the 1.15 hboot installed.

Next you'll want to ruu back to 1.15 system. I had a hard time finding the right ruu file, but I finally found one at this link:

http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=9390188424645836809

If for any reason you can't get the file, then let me know and I will host it somewhere.

Just run the ruu file and follow the instructions.

Now it's time for the bootloader unlock.

Follow beanups' instructions here to get supercid installed:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2109862

Now off to htcdev to get your unlock code:

WARNING: YOUR ENTIRE PHONE WILL BE ERASED, EVEN YOUR INTERNAL STORAGE. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO LOSE IT, THEN BACK IT UP!!!

http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader

Create an account first. Once that's done then select "Other supported device" from the dropdown menu then begin.

Follow htc's instructions (you can skip all of the adb setup steps since you probably alread have adb working).

Once your bootloader is unlocked, you can use hasoon2000's tool again to flash recovery. From there you can flash the su program of your choice.

You should now be rooted and all set for some fun. If I confused you at all, then feel free to curse me out in the thread and I will try to help you. Credit to all of the hardworking people who make our lives easier with their tools/guides/ etc. Make sure you thank the people I linked.
[HTC Droid DNA] smokeinluke:
jtag

I am probably wrong but I'm going to ask anyways cuz I should have my DNA back from MTV Thursday.

If the phone is s-off why do you need to unlock the bootloader doesn't s-off bypass all the signature checks that a locked bootloader performs?

If so couldnt you just leave it as is and flash a recovery then go to town with a custom Rom?

Like I said I'm probly wrong but explanation would be good.
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
From my understanding, s-off is just a security flag. You still need an unlocked bootloader the get custom recvoery and root.
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
Yes. A couple people are supposed to post the exact steps but you have to downgrade hboot so you can ruu 1.15, then you can get supercid, go to htcdev and unlock it, then install superuser and busybox.
[HTC Droid DNA] jdholladay:
I'm a noob so this is probably a dumb question, but does the SIM card need to be in for MTV to perform JTAG? When I got the DNA it didn't come with a SIM, so I just xferred the SIM from my Nexus. I was planning to use the Nexus while MTV has the DNA and would like to avoid a trip to VZW to get a new SIM for the Nexus. Thanks!
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
It shouldn't be required.
[HTC Droid DNA] karn101:
It isn't required. MobileTechVideos states in their instructions to remove it before shipping.
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
See post 140
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
How did I miss that? Derp:silly:
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
all good ;)
[HTC Droid DNA] smokeinluke:
enghboot

So I was on a different forum and the word is if your comfortable flashing the enghboot then that's all you got to do here would be the steps.

1. Fastboot aflash the enghboot via fastboot OEM reboot ruu

2. Flash a recovery any way you would like

3. Do a nandroid backup

4. Flash a custom rom
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Cool. Give it a shot and let us know.
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
He could replace the old hboot with the eng hboot, but you still have to unlock the phone.
[HTC Droid DNA] Berzerker7:
No. S-OFF means every partition is not write-protected, meaning you can install whatever you want to wherever you want and it won't be sig checked. "UNLOCKED" is a special type of S-OFF that only applies to certain partitions in certain situations.
[HTC Droid DNA] orateam:
thanks, that's the best description i've yet between unlocked and S-off.
[HTC Droid DNA] jonesin:
Except for that it is completely innacurate. Unlocked is not a type of soff at all. Unlocked" means your bootloader is unlocked allowing you to flash custom recoveries and boot.imgs . Soff itself allows the flashing of the recovery and un locking of the bootloader by removing the security flag from the boot partition.

---------- Post added at 03:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:58 PM ----------

Read this > http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=40152477
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
I remember someone said that the jtagg people install cw recovery, so is unlocking the bootloader unnecessary? I'm thinking that once cw is installed they can flash su for admin privileges (root access).
[HTC Droid DNA] karn101:
I believe that's an extra service you have to pay for.

BOOTLOADER:

http://www.androidcentral.com/unlocked

S-OFF and S-ON are just extra security features HTC placed on their phones. They are not the same thing. Unlocking and S-OFF are not equal. Once our phones were unlocked and our great Devs opened up 'write to system' while booted in Android, S-OFF honestly wasn't that big of a deal.
[HTC Droid DNA] sic4672:
Thank you for educating me. I'll edit my post.
[HTC Droid DNA] orangechoochoo:
Am I correct, or can you flash a custom recovery via eng hboot without the need to unlock the bootloader? I think once this is answered I will have a good understanding of the diffferent capabilities when unlocked, or s-offed, or both.

Here is an explanation of s-off, I read through it and I think most of it is true except for the part about only being able to flash su with s-off since we were able to gain admin access prior to s-off on our phones. There are a few other things that don't jive according to beaup's prior posts.

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=26732440&postcount=1

So, someone who is s-off via jtag can flash unsigned firmware since signature checking is disabled. They can also flash older versions of hboot, kernels, radios, etc. They can also flash su or supersu to control admin privileges. However,

Therefore, something else remains that prevents us from fastbooting a custom recovery even with s-off, and that's the locked bootloader. To fastboot a custom recovery we have to be on the 1.15 hboot since the 2.04+ hboot cannot decrypt the 1.15 ruu, then use beaup's supercid process, then go to htcdev and unlock, then you can fastboot a custom recovery.

I suppose the people who had a custom recovery installed during the jtag process don't need to unlock their device unless they want to change recovery. Would flashing an eng hboot allow us to fastboot a custom recovery? I'm guessing the answer is no. Although the eng hboot has more fastboot commands available, I'm not sure if it can flash a custom recovery when the bootloader is still locked.
[HTC Droid DNA] orateam:
Sounds like a bootloader is a BIOS.

I've been downloading roms and kernals and for each one, it says you have to do special things if you are s-ON. They say that if you're S-OFF, just flash, but do these things if S-ON. From what i'm reading, most issues are with people who are S-ON. I havne't seen anything that says it absolutely won't work on S-ON devices though. So there are workarounds for S-ON. I still don't know what exactly it is, but i'm glad the phone is S-OFF. Just look at the kernal and ROMs out there and look at the install steps.