[Q] Is it still unsafe to go from S-Off to S-On?

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fenstre

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Jan 9, 2012
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I just S-Offed with Firewater. I know in the past (maybe in the revone days), I read a lot of warnings about not going back to S-On because you might never be able to gain S-Off again. Is this still the case? I think I need to have my phone serviced, and I'm worried they might not replace it--in that case, I don't want to be stuck with a devie whose firmware I can't ever upgrade.
 

alray

Inactive Recognized Contributor
May 22, 2012
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I just S-Offed with Firewater. I know in the past (maybe in the revone days), I read a lot of warnings about not going back to S-On because you might never be able to gain S-Off again. Is this still the case? I think I need to have my phone serviced, and I'm worried they might not replace it--in that case, I don't want to be stuck with a devie whose firmware I can't ever upgrade.

S-OFF is hard to achieve on hboot 1.56. If you turn s-on on hboot 1.55 and above, the tampered flag will come back after a few reboot. So only s-on on hboot 1.44-1.54.
 
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fenstre

Senior Member
Jan 9, 2012
1,097
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S-OFF is hard to achieve on hboot 1.56. If you turn s-on on hboot 1.55 and above, the tampered flag will come back after a few reboot. So only s-on on hboot 1.44-1.54.
Thanks! So the biggest problem is that people S-Off, then upgrade hboot, then turn S-On again? I suspected that... sounds like the problem with people that convert their phone to GPe, and then relock their bootloaders.

I have hboot 1.54, so I guess I'm good to S-Off and S-On at will? Thanks! :)
 

NxNW

Senior Member
Apr 11, 2011
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Sure, that's a good HBOOT to start with if you want to S-OFF.

But just to get back to the original topic of this thread, it's not particularly "safe" to go S-ON. Ever.

The danger is not about whether it's easy to change your mind and go back to S-OFF later.

The larger danger is you can brick the phone (for real-- hard brick, truly dead phone) if your HBOOT has been modified or damaged at some point before you attempt S-ON.

Going back and forth between S-OFF and S-ON "at will" is just asking for trouble.

My personal policy is never S-ON for any reason. Not even warranty repair.



Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
 

fenstre

Senior Member
Jan 9, 2012
1,097
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The danger is not about whether it's easy to change your mind and go back to S-OFF later.
The larger danger is you can brick the phone (for real-- hard brick, truly dead phone) if your HBOOT has been modified or damaged at some point before you attempt S-ON.
Oh, that makes sense. And I see that, for example, modifying HBoot would make it pretty easy to make it so you can't ever root. So I'll cross "hboot mod" off my list of options.
 

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    I just S-Offed with Firewater. I know in the past (maybe in the revone days), I read a lot of warnings about not going back to S-On because you might never be able to gain S-Off again. Is this still the case? I think I need to have my phone serviced, and I'm worried they might not replace it--in that case, I don't want to be stuck with a devie whose firmware I can't ever upgrade.

    S-OFF is hard to achieve on hboot 1.56. If you turn s-on on hboot 1.55 and above, the tampered flag will come back after a few reboot. So only s-on on hboot 1.44-1.54.