[G2 and Desire Z Android Development] gtrab:
Original, obsolete ROOT / S-OFF method from November 2010

(for reference purposes only)​

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS: HOW TO PERMANENTLY ROOT the HTC VISION

(aka "HTC Desire Z", european or american version, not valida for UK Vodafone, Asia Desire Z and newer serial numbers)​

1.- On your PC, download paulobrien's VISIONary+ R14 rooting tool app installer from his thread [click here], and copy it to your phone's SD card.

(Thanks to the authors of the rage exploit and to paulobrien for the rooting tool)

2.- On your phone, download any File Explorer from the Android Market and install it.

TIP: I use and recommend EStrongs File Explorer, but Astro or any other is OK.

3.- From the "All apps" menu, go to Settings -> Applications

There, check "Unknown sources", and turn off (uncheck) "Fast Boot".

Now tap "Development" and check "USB debugging".

Press back, and back again.

TIP: After you have finished this tutorial and rooted your phone, you can come back to Settings to re-enable Fast Boot and disable the USB debugging, if you wish.

TIP: Make sure your USB cable is unplugged form the phone during the rooting process (thanks for reporting, Thedeadcpu)

4.- Open your File Explorer, scroll and search for the VISIONary app you just copied to your SD card, and tap to install.

Now press back, back, and exit the File Explorer.

5.- From the "All apps" menu, tap VISIONary+

Check the "Set system r/w after root" option, leave the others unchecked.

Tap "TempRoot Now!" and wait... let it finish...

Tap "Attempt PermRoot Now!" It will ask for SuperUser permissions: allow.

Phone will reboot by itself.

NOTE: Remember you disabled "Fast Boot" ?? Be patient and let it boot, takes time, its normal, that's a real boot.

TEST: To test if you successfuly achieved permanent root: turn phone off, remove the battery for aprox. 30 seconds, reinsert the battery and power on.

Now you can test if your "root" is still there:

Go to "All apps", search for an app called "Superuser" and open it. If it's there and opens, well, CONGRATS: you have permanent root.

Also, you can try downloading some root-requiring apps from the market (like Titanium Backup, Root Explorer or Bernacle WiFi); if they run is because you still have root after the full reboot, which means your root is permanent.

TIP: Hey, paul spent many hours making this shizz happen, please consider following this link and saying "thanks!"

EZ-DZ GUIDE to INSTALL the ENGINEERING BOOTLOADER (hBoot) and TURN S-OFF

WITHOUT "ADB" or "SDK" SKILLS​

- Again: please scroll down to posts 2 and 3 to read the FAQ to learn what's this !!

- After rooting, and if you want to flash unsigned images or make a full NANDroid backup, you need an Engineering Bootloader to switch "S-ON" to "S-OFF".

- S-OFF is different from root: S-OFF lets you flash unsigned images using the Fastboot option on the Bootloader, or through Clockwork Recovery.

- This guide will install an Engineering hBoot to get full write access to your Desire Z.

(Thanks MrPavel for the Engineering hBoot for the Desire Z !! Also, many thanks to scotty2, tmzt, adwinp, unforgiven512, vro25, schriss, and especially stridger for their efforts, testing, sharing, writing instructions; I modified it to avoid ADB shells and USB PC connection bugs)

1.- You only need to get two files: wpthis-Z.ko and hboot_7230_0.84.2000_100908.nb0. You can find them on stridger's guide thread. Download both files and come back.

Get any MD5 checksum software and check both downloaded files to see if they match the MD5 checksums listed on stridegrs post (I use WinMD5sum on my Windows PC, which is free).

It is VERY IMPORTANT to check the MD5 checksums of the downloaded files because flashing a corrupted hboot will brick your phone !!

Now, do yourself a favor and rename hboot_7230_0.84.2000_100908.nb0 to hbooteng.img (you'll thank me for this on step 5 :)).

Copy both files to your phone's SD card, make sure you have a good SD card without errors, and make sure the SD card is inside your phone.

2.- Just as you did when rooting, first you need to temporarily disable "Fast boot" and enable "USB debugging" from your phone's Settings -> Applications

3.- On your phone, download "Android Terminal Emulator" from the market and install it.

Open your Terminal Emulator, and using the hardware keyboard type "su" and press Enter to gain Superuser priviledges; if you are asked for Superuser permissions, tap "Allow".

The $ prompt should have changed to #, confirming you are now typing commands as a Superuser.

4.- Now, to temporarily diasble the write protection, type this and press Enter:

insmod /sdcard/wpthis-Z.ko

It will say "insmod blah blah failed (Function not implemented) blah blah" but that's OK: your phone is complaining because you just pulled down his pants :D This temporary change will be gone next time you reboot, but for now, it will let you flash the engineering hBoot in the next step.

NOTE: The "wpthis-Z.ko" file you downloaded is specific for the stock Desire Z kernel, if it says something different ("exec format") is because you have a different kernel (cyanogenmod or a newer build).

5.- Now let's apply the Engineering hBoot, but PLEASE BEWARE, make sure to type the memory address mmcblk0p18 (zero p one eight) EXACTLY as you see it here, if you type something different you could brick your phone forever, so be careful and double-check you didn't mistype anything before hitting Enter !!

(don't worry, nothing bad should happen if you checked the MD5 checksum to confirm the file downloaded correctly, and you type this right)

dd if=/sdcard/hbooteng.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p18

6.- Now type sync and press Enter to make sure your changes are loaded to memory, type exit and press Enter, close the Terminal Emulator and breathe.

7.- Reboot the phone: Power off, then power on. Let it boot completely.

TEST: Let's check if you got S-OFF.

After the reboot, Boot to Bootloader and in the first line you will notice if you are "S-ON" or "s-OFF".

To enter Bootloader, power off the phone, then hold the volume down key and the power button, and you are there. To exit Bootloader, remove and reinsert the battery and power on.

Congrats !! Now you can install Clockwork Recovery (read the FFAQ !!) and use it to flash images or make a full NANDroid backup.