Write protection thread

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super65man

Member
Mar 25, 2014
44
10
Kansas
So I'm making this thread because it appears that there are now 2 exploits able to root the moto devices, idk about you but I don't feel safe sending money to a guy all the way over to china just to get root, so I'm bringing attention to all devs to try and create an exploit to disable write protection. With geohots towelroot it will work on 4.4.3 and below but only if write protection is disabled. Who knows, maybe someone could offer geohot a challenge to do it. :fingers-crossed:
 

br0adband

Senior Member
Mar 28, 2008
1,718
781
But the purpose of "sending money to a guy all the way over to china" isn't to just root, it's to unlock the bootloader of your device which makes everything possible.

If that's not worth $45 - considering the cost of the Moto X or any of the X8 chipset based devices and considering you have a device that is unlockable as that guy can't do anything for devices made in 2013 now - then what's the point? :D

It's not like just one person did that and was posting about it being successful, hundreds of people have used that service, including me for a Droid MAXX I owned earlier this year, and everything went off without a single hitch. This isn't some fly-by-night scam, the guy has access to the necessary info for 2014 devices so, it's most definitely worth the $45 considering what you get in return: a device you can pretty much do anything you damned well please with.

Seem like people would have figured that out by now...
 

collinjames

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2011
90
25
I sent him money in hopes that he would have my code. Because that would mean that for the rest of the life of my X I would always have root. He unfortunately did not have my code and immediately issued a paypal dispute for the charges and I got all my money back. Paypal is very reliable for this transaction and if you think that this man has been in business for a while now just to specifically scam you out of $45 then I think you have bigger problems.
 
D

Darth

Guest
To add....dreaming about disabling write protection on 4.4.2 and up is probably wasted energy. The one person who may have been able to figure it out won't be trying to, or can't.....I doubt its ever happening.

Three choices are available:

1. Keep waiting. Eventually pass the phone on to your great grandchildren... So they can continue the wait. ;)

2. Unlock with Chinese fellow, if your phone is on the list. Not one report of him being shady so far.

3. Sell the phone and buy a dev edition, or any model that can be unlocked....with the radio bands you need.

Oh.....a forth option, crack the write protection yourself...and be a hero to many xda'ers. :)

Good luck, whatever option you pick. ?
 
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bigv5150

Senior Member
Jan 8, 2011
1,275
360
One other problem we won't get 4.4.3 its been scraped. Were getting 4.4.4 and that is closing the vulnerability that was found. So I guess its China or nothing at this point. By the way I unlocked very early on and it worked great.

Sent from my XT1080 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

super65man

Member
Mar 25, 2014
44
10
Kansas
But the purpose of "sending money to a guy all the way over to china" isn't to just root, it's to unlock the bootloader of your device which makes everything possible.

If that's not worth $45 - considering the cost of the Moto X or any of the X8 chipset based devices and considering you have a device that is unlockable as that guy can't do anything for devices made in 2013 now - then what's the point? :D

It's not like just one person did that and was posting about it being successful, hundreds of people have used that service, including me for a Droid MAXX I owned earlier this year, and everything went off without a single hitch. This isn't some fly-by-night scam, the guy has access to the necessary info for 2014 devices so, it's most definitely worth the $45 considering what you get in return: a device you can pretty much do anything you damned well please with.

Seem like people would have figured that out by now...

If someone can find a hardware exploit to disable write protection then nobody would have to pay $45 to unlock their bootloaders and instal root. I do understand you can also install custom roms and recovery's, but for some of us we don't want to spend anymore money, however if the chinaman offered a 45 dollar simunlock then I'd pay for that, the resale would be higher with it.
 

KidJoe

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Aug 23, 2008
3,211
1,561
Thorndale/Romansville, PA
If someone can find a hardware exploit to disable write protection then nobody would have to pay $45 to unlock their bootloaders and instal root. I do understand you can also install custom roms and recovery's, but for some of us we don't want to spend anymore money, however if the chinaman offered a 45 dollar simunlock then I'd pay for that, the resale would be higher with it.
Actually, there are many web sites selling SIM UNlock codes for the X (as long as you don't have Sprint or Republic Wireless). Just pick one, and most of them are cheaper than $45. Due to the "low cost" of SIM unlock, and how easy it is to get done, I can't see it raising the resale value.

Unlocking, or an unlocked bootloader, is more valuable as it allows you to root no matter what ROM or update is on there, without having to wait for vulnerabilities to be found and processes exploiting them to be produced.

The one vulnerability that was able to be expoited to disable write protection, was patched in 4.4.2 and up ROMs. We were lucky that it was left unpatched for that long. (4.2.2, 4.2.2 w/camera update, and 4.4). It does not appear that Beaups, Jcase or the other top devs are working on anything new for 4.4.2.

With 4.4.3 coming, and now 4.4.4, is it really worth their time until things stabilize again? I mean, why bring out a write protection disable exploit for 4.4.2, only to see 4.4.3 or 4.4.4 patch it?

I applaud you for trying to bring focus, but that is what the Bounty threads were for. And I can assure you that Jcase, Beaups, Geohot, and the others know about the write protection issue on the X.

In the past I said I didn't expect to see future root exploits without unlocked bootloader, but Jcase came out with PIE. SO I could be wrong about expecting to NOT see a future write protect disable on locked bootloaders.

BUT I still agree with options 2, 3 and 4 @KJ suggested in Post #4
 
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zxz0O0

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2011
1,533
5,169
Does anyone know where the code of the write protection resides? Seems it's not in the kernel.
 

KidJoe

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Aug 23, 2008
3,211
1,561
Thorndale/Romansville, PA
Does anyone know where the code of the write protection resides? Seems it's not in the kernel.
The write protection appears to be enabled BEFORE the OS loads.

Based on comments from Beaups in the MotoWpNoMo thread when he found out that 4.4.2 change the GPT.BIN, Motoboot/Bootloader, and something in the partitioning, I would assume its in one of those. See post 301 through 307...
 
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Darth

Guest
Alls I knows is 4.2.2 had a vulnerability, it got exploited, so write protection could be hacked and turned off. Then that vulnerability was closed and no one has hacked it since....not even the best and brightest.

So just saying I think holding on to another exploit hope is futile. Doubt its ever happening.

Just being realistic here. ;)
 

zxz0O0

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2011
1,533
5,169
I doubt it's something as simple as in the GPT schema, otherwise someone would have already patched it.
 
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dlumberg

Senior Member
Jul 24, 2010
451
414
I highly doubt it's this simple but in init.rc there's
Code:
on post-fs
# once everything is setup, no need to modify /
mount rootfs rootfs / ro remount

I have a dev phone, but if someone with locked BL using PIE or something wants to try
Code:
mount rootfs rootfs / rw remount

in a terminal and then edit that line out of init.rc

It'll more than likely just reboot when you do the remount.
 
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zxz0O0

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2011
1,533
5,169
What happens if you do mount -o remount,rw /system? Do you get permission denied or reboot? Sorry, never owned a HTC phone.
 

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    If someone can find a hardware exploit to disable write protection then nobody would have to pay $45 to unlock their bootloaders and instal root. I do understand you can also install custom roms and recovery's, but for some of us we don't want to spend anymore money, however if the chinaman offered a 45 dollar simunlock then I'd pay for that, the resale would be higher with it.
    Actually, there are many web sites selling SIM UNlock codes for the X (as long as you don't have Sprint or Republic Wireless). Just pick one, and most of them are cheaper than $45. Due to the "low cost" of SIM unlock, and how easy it is to get done, I can't see it raising the resale value.

    Unlocking, or an unlocked bootloader, is more valuable as it allows you to root no matter what ROM or update is on there, without having to wait for vulnerabilities to be found and processes exploiting them to be produced.

    The one vulnerability that was able to be expoited to disable write protection, was patched in 4.4.2 and up ROMs. We were lucky that it was left unpatched for that long. (4.2.2, 4.2.2 w/camera update, and 4.4). It does not appear that Beaups, Jcase or the other top devs are working on anything new for 4.4.2.

    With 4.4.3 coming, and now 4.4.4, is it really worth their time until things stabilize again? I mean, why bring out a write protection disable exploit for 4.4.2, only to see 4.4.3 or 4.4.4 patch it?

    I applaud you for trying to bring focus, but that is what the Bounty threads were for. And I can assure you that Jcase, Beaups, Geohot, and the others know about the write protection issue on the X.

    In the past I said I didn't expect to see future root exploits without unlocked bootloader, but Jcase came out with PIE. SO I could be wrong about expecting to NOT see a future write protect disable on locked bootloaders.

    BUT I still agree with options 2, 3 and 4 @KJ suggested in Post #4
    2
    Take a look at this thread http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2795129 probably with GeoHot's towelroot there's still hope for a working root exploit, but we need a little help.

    Swifted from my Moto G with TapaTalk
    1
    here is something that helped a similar situation on my Motorola Razr M:
    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2524277

    perhaps the answer could lie in this file or the build.prop (or would that be too simple?)
    1
    Does anyone know where the code of the write protection resides? Seems it's not in the kernel.
    The write protection appears to be enabled BEFORE the OS loads.

    Based on comments from Beaups in the MotoWpNoMo thread when he found out that 4.4.2 change the GPT.BIN, Motoboot/Bootloader, and something in the partitioning, I would assume its in one of those. See post 301 through 307...