[AT&T, Rogers HTC One X, Telstra One XL] nerdo:
This is for International hTC One XL/Evita - Hboot 2.14 & firmware 3.17 (Orange UK)

If you own AT&T One X please look elsewhere, this guide is not for your phone

There is an abundance of information scattered in these forums and not all root methods/exploits work universally due to variation in firmware builds and Hboots.

I had to read a lot of threads to figure out how to S-off my Orange UK One XL with Hboot 2.14 and firmware build 3.17.

I was only interested in attaining S-off but had to start with HTCDev bootloader unlocking which I didn't really want to do but none of the known root exploits worked on my firmware.

I am sharing this hoping it would help others avoid taking pills for headaches when pursuing this noble quest ;)

AIM:

Provide a short guide to others with similar device and configuration on where to start and simple clear steps to follow with needed links.

PREREQUISITES:

1. latest htc drivers for your Windows PC/laptop if you have one of those. Check here.

2. a working adb environment preferably from latest Android SDK, if you don't have this already set up please check here.

3. "USB debugging" must be checked under Phone settings>Developer options

4. an original htc USB cable is strongly recommended.

5. phone charged at above 50%

6. basic knowledge of using command prompt (cmd) in Windows and adb commands.

STEPS:

So in my case the steps were:

[1] Unlock bootloader through htcdev.com

[2] Flash/install TWRP recovery

This is done manually. All-In-One Toolkit didn't work for me BTW.

1. download latest TWRP recovery for One XL/Evita from here

2. you can rename file for easier command prompt typing later, like TWRP5.img

3. place file recovery file in your adb/fastboot folder

4. connect phone in fastboot mode to PC, make sure it displays fastboot USB on phone before you proceed.

5. start command prompt from within fastboot folder by right clicking inside folder and choosing "open prompt here", type following command:

C:\yourFastbootFolder> fastboot flash recovery TWRP5.img

Not a bad idea to test your recovery by making a nandroid backup before proceeding to next step.

[3] Flash a custom rom (root)

All custom roms are rooted by definition. If you chose e.g. ViperXL like I did remember to flash boot.img extracted form same rom zip afterwards, otherwise bootloop!

You can of course flash a SuperSU zip instead to gain root but I don't see the point.

[4] SuperCID

This is the simplest way that I found accidentally during my endless searches, all credit goes to [MENTION=711482]beaups[/MENTION] for this one and [MENTION=5242126]Austempest[/MENTION] for sharing :good:

1. connect phone to PC in Android mode (mode where you can use phone;))

2. Run the following command from command prompt (CMD):

C:\>adb shell

To enter adb shell, then enter following commands after each other:

# su
# echo -ne "11111111" | dd of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p5 bs=1 seek=20

3. Reboot to bootloader and hopefully you'll see 11111111 as your CID ...... yes :D

[5] S-Off

Now that your are rooted with SuperCID you can just follow [MENTION=711482]beaups[/MENTION] simple steps for S-Off found here Facepalm S-Off

That is it.... you broke your shackles :laugh:

I am not a dev and for sure not taking credit for other people's work, merely giving back and hoping this assists clarify stuff and save some time.

Cheers!