TRUE PermaRoot and the ULTIMATE S=Off!!! Check this out even if you're rooted!!!

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larryg2k3

Senior Member
Jun 28, 2006
100
8
This was a known "bug" from the beginning ever since rooting and clockwork for our device came about. Mine does the same thing but it's only when it is plugged in and off. Since I hardly ever shut my phone down I haven't worried about this. :)

Same here, noticed it yesterday when I tried to do some 'battery conditioning' - just wanted to know if it was only me. Thanks!
 

wadie

Member
Mar 19, 2010
22
2
help pls

can i use AT&T after doing this with no issues???
i need to know b4 i buy this phone for my sis ...she is with AT&T and loves this phone
 

QMAN101

Senior Member
Jun 5, 2009
133
11
Minneapolis, MN
After reading thru the posts up to this point, I am somewhat surprised that this question was not asked.
It is not unusual at all for a new radio to come out that has 'supposedly' better speed, distance, etc. Does this gfree change some parameter called by the radio file making it independent of the version of the radio or does it change the radio.
If the radio changes, does the gfree portion of this guide need to be repeated to get S-OFF for radio?
 

grankin01

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2008
973
658
Georgetown, KY
can i use AT&T after doing this with no issues???
i need to know b4 i buy this phone for my sis ...she is with AT&T and loves this phone

Yes, you should be fine. :D

After reading thru the posts up to this point, I am somewhat surprised that this question was not asked.
It is not unusual at all for a new radio to come out that has 'supposedly' better speed, distance, etc. Does this gfree change some parameter called by the radio file making it independent of the version of the radio or does it change the radio. If the radio changes, does the gfree portion of this guide need to be repeated to get S-OFF for radio?

I am testing this right now and will get back with the info ASAP. The only way I can test it as of yet is to downgrade my device and see if root sticks. Give me a little bit. :)
 

frostmartinez

Member
May 11, 2010
20
1
Ran gfree again, CID displays as 111111111 now, simlock option remains in bootloader, but phone now boots into android and not clockwork without fastboot enabled. I can't quite figure out why she's booting with airplane mode enabled though.
 

frostmartinez

Member
May 11, 2010
20
1
And after rebooting my phone again, it comes up without airplane mode enabled. Gotta love Android, if at first it doesn't succeed, flash, flash again!
 

smirkis

Senior Member
Oct 8, 2010
1,820
611
San Diego, CA
I did everything and have s=off and installed engineering hboot but after every reboot i lose su permissions?

edit: I had to rerun temproot and permroot from visionary so it would stick. weird, what exactly does gfree do then if it doesnt give su after? what good is s=off without su?

Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
 

grankin01

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2008
973
658
Georgetown, KY
I did everything and have s=off and installed engineering hboot but after every reboot i lose su permissions?

edit: I had to rerun temproot and permroot from visionary so it would stick. weird, what exactly does gfree do then if it doesnt give su after? what good is s=off without su?

Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

You still have to root the device with visionary(rage) no matter what s=off procedure you use to make it permanent afterwords. S=off just means that the security built into the hardware on the device has been turned off and you are now able to gain root access.
 

smirkis

Senior Member
Oct 8, 2010
1,820
611
San Diego, CA
that should be added in as part of the necessities for first time rooters. i figured because i rooted my g2 already and it was necessary to run it again after to make it stick. thanks for your help tho, and thanks to everyone who made it possible
 

grankin01

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2008
973
658
Georgetown, KY
UPDATE:

When you run gfree it permanently turns s=off, sets SuperCID, and simunlocks even if you change radio versions. I downgraded the radio on my device to the pre-OTA radio and reinstalled stock hboot then restarted to see if s was still off, CID was still 11111111, and simlock option in hboot would error out. All of it was still good. :D

The pics below show the results of my test. The first one is with stock hboot and pre-OTA radio. Notice s=off in top right corner still. The second one shows the simlock option in hboot failing out. The third shows the output from the system info option in the 0.85.2007 bootloader.

This could still be patched by another ota update so I would suggest if they do put another one out not accepting it. The dev community will get hold of it and make the necessary changes to protect our root status.
 
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sovereignty68

Senior Member
Jun 9, 2006
281
9
Any instructions to revert it back to S=ON? Is it same as the one mentioned in previous permaroot guide? I'm working on a script and would like to test it.
 

southsko

Senior Member
Jan 3, 2009
90
8
ok, I did the dd.......

and now I get 5 vibrates when trying to get into the SPL... Where did I **** up?????

Edit: Pushing both volumes causes this...... Everything is fine
 
Last edited:

poulosjr

Senior Member
Aug 5, 2008
313
21
Chicago
does the mt4g have to be on 2.2.1 to perform these commands or can it be on 2.2? also is there any way to force update the mt4g to 2.2.1 if users are on the 2.2?? (my situation) :(
 

grankin01

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2008
973
658
Georgetown, KY
does the mt4g have to be on 2.2.1 to perform these commands or can it be on 2.2? also is there any way to force update the mt4g to 2.2.1 if users are on the 2.2?? (my situation) :(

There is a way to force the upgrade but if you could try these steps while your device is still pre-OTA and report back as to whether it worked or not that would be awesome. I still haven't been able to confirm this. :D
 
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    Ok guys, first of all Scotty2 gets all the credit for the program R&D. I used my device as a test bed and have tried a couple different kernels (Gr8Gorilla's O/C Kernel and the stock kernel).

    Now for the boring stuff ...

    This is a very invasive way of rooting your device but the benefit is TRUE S=Off and root privileges throughout the system. As such, you do this at your own risk and if you brick your device neither Scotty2 nor myself are responsible, YOU ARE!!! Do this at your own risk!!!

    This is not for the faint of heart and if you have any reservations about doing things like this do not do it.

    This process will do three things for your device. I will explain them here:

    1. It will set up Super CID on your device allowing you to flash any carriers rom (not just tmobile). Giving you more freedom with your choice of software. The software still needs to be device specific to the glacier for compatability reasons though. Like vodafone glacier roms etc.

    2. It will subsidy unlock your device. In other words, it will SIMUNLOCK your phone allowing you to use an AT&T sim card and so on in your device without needing the unlock code from HTC.

    3. Most important of all it will turn the RADIO S=Off. This is the ultimate S=Off because the radio is what controls the security flag in the first place. Once you turn it off here it is off everywhere and will allow you pure unadulterated access to your device.

    This process will not change your bootloader (unless your on 0.86.0000 and you follow the optional steps).

    Now, you may be asking "Why do this? I already have root from your other guide and it has given me r/w access to system and recovery. I thought this meant we had permanent S=Off." This is only partially true. We have had an engineering bootloader and "Label" s=off not radio s=off. When you turn the security off in radio it is off permanently no matter what hboot you have installed engineering or otherwise. However, it is optional but you can still copy the engineering hboot over and it will allow you to flash whatever you like without (as much) fear of bricking your device.

    This guide assumes you know how to use ADB. If you do not there are guides all over XDA to show you how. There is even a really good one in this forum. Also here is a video on how to setup adb discovered by topgun303: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UF5w1dKe2U

    *NOTE*
    For some reason this process can bork your recovery. If you notice after following the steps below that in order to reboot from recovery you have to uninstall/reinstall the battery and hit the power button, just install/reinstall clockwork recovery through Rom Manager in the android market and it will fix your problem. :)


    CONFIRMED: Guide does work for pre-OTA devices!!! Thanks xanz!

    Here we go:

    If you are already permarooted per the other guide just follow the first 11 steps.

    Make sure you have visionary installed on your device. (If you were already permarooted w/s=off ignore this step.)

    Download this file:
    http://www.mediafire.com/?s7afymwe2wb3x60 New version of gfree with more options! See below.
    md5sum: b73c56ca0e21664c5756d4ad295063c5

    1. Now unzip the file into your SDK tools directory.

    2. Plug your device into your computer.

    3. Now open explorer and hold down shift at same time you right mouse click on your SDK tools directory (platform-tools if you have the R8 version of the SDK). Select open command window here. If you are in linux (ubuntu) right mouse click on your SDK tools folder, choose actions, and choose open command window(or whatever it's called). Otherwise, open a command prompt and cd your way to your SDK tools directory.

    4. Type "adb push gfree /data/local" and hit enter.

    Optionally, you could dl the file to your phone use androzip or something like it to unzip the file and then use root explorer to move the file named gfree to /data/local. Not the gfree.h file. All the other files are source code inlcuded for the gnu license. This would skip the first 4 steps. :)

    5. Now unplug your device from the computer.

    6. Run visionary to gain temp root. (If you were already permarooted w/s=off ignore this step.)

    7. Open terminal emulator on your device, type "su", and hit enter to gain root privileges.

    8. Type "cd /data/local" and hit enter.

    9. Now type "chmod 777 gfree" and hit enter to make the program executable.

    10. Type "./gfree -f" and hit enter.

    New features in gfree.
    gfree usage:
    gfree [-h|-?|--help] [-v|--version] [-s|--secu_flag on|off]
    -h | -? | --help: display this message
    -v | --version: display program version
    -s | --secu_flag on|off: turn secu_flag on or off
    -c | --cid <CID>: set the CID to the 8-char long CID
    -S | --sim_unlock: remove the SIMLOCK

    With the new features you can turn off one thing at a time. You can also turn security back on and set the CID back to stock if you wish. To turn simlock back on you still have to follow the revert procedures on this page as the information that is patched to turn the lock off is encrypted and we can't write back to it other than restoring the entire image.

    So, if you wanted to leave simlock on but turn security off and set super CID the command would be "./gfree --secu_flag off --cid 11111111" + enter. The -f switch after ./gfree that is now in the above step (./gfree -f) just tells gfree to patch everything.

    11. Wait for the program to finish and then reboot into HBoot to see if S=Off. Also, check your bootloader version. If it says s=off and has bootloader version 0.86.0000 it worked.

    If you already had hboot 0.85.2007 you can check it through the hboot menu. It gives you an option for "system info" in the hboot menu. Highlight it and hit power. It should say CID = 11111111 or something like that. If it does your golden. :D
    Congratulations!

    12. If this is the first time you have rooted your device you will need to run visionary again (temproot w/set system r/w after root checked and then attempt permroot) to make root privileges permanent and then reboot again. Now "su" should work properly for you.

    Gfree writes a backup of the file that it patches named Part7backup-numbers.bin on your sdcard. I suggest putting this file in a safe place as it is the only way to revert if you need to.

    [Optional] Steps to flash engineering bootloader.

    1. Restart your phone and plug it back into your computer.

    2. Download this file: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NN5726Z8
    md5sum: df4fd77f44993eb05a4732210d2eddc6

    3. Copy the file to your SDK tools directory.

    4. Open a command prompt again and cd into your SDK tools directoty (platform-tools if your on the new R8 SDK).

    5. Type "adb push hboot_dhd.nb0 /data/local" and hit enter.

    6. Now open terminal on your device and type "su" and enter to gain root priviliges.

    7. Type "cd /data/local" and enter.

    8. Now type "dd if=hboot_dhd.nb0 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p18" and hit enter.

    9. You should see something like: 2048 bytes in 2048 bytes out 1048576 bytes copied blah blah blah.

    10. Now restart the device into hboot and check if your bootloader version is 0.85.2007. That is what you want to see.

    Congratulations, you now have a TRUE root and engineering bootloader on your shiny MT4G!!!

    Procedure to revert

    1. Rename the part7backup file that you already have to something just so you know that it is the original backup.

    2. Open up terminal emulator or adb shell and type "su" + enter to get root privileges.

    3. Type "cd /data/local" and hit enter.

    4. Now type "./gfree -f" + enter to run gfree again. It will disable wp on the emmc and remove the brq filter in the kernel. (as well as make another backup, which you can delete if you wish)

    5. Now run the "dd if=/where/your/part7backup-numbers.bin of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p7" and it should show the output:
    xxxx bytes in
    xxxxbytes out
    xxxxxxxxxx copied in blah blah blah

    6. Run "sync" and then reboot. (I didn't do this and it worked fine but it won't hurt either. :))

    If you have the engineering hboot 0.85.2007 installed you will still be showing s=off when you do the above revert steps. Follow these steps to reflash the stock hboot and turn s=on:

    Download this file and unzip it to /sdcard on your device.

    unroot.rar
    http://www.mediafire.com/?12oi5elu7v2y8og
    md5sum: aad4e64126cf8d92d7e8b5abb48fdadd

    Terminal Emulator Method
    1. Open up terminal editor on your device.(I prefer this method b/c you can see the output.)

    a. Type "su" + enter to gain root privileges.

    b. Type "cd /sdcard/unroot" + enter.

    c. Type "sh unroot.sh" + enter.

    d. Follow the onscreen prompts.

    File Explorer Method

    2. Open root explorer, sufbs, or some other file browser with root access.

    a. Navigate to /sdcard/unroot.

    b. Click on unroot.sh and allow it to run. Some file browsers ask permission before they execute scripts.

    c. Wait 18 to 20 seconds and reboot your phone into the bootloader to check if S=on.

    You now have S=ON again.


    Here is a pic of the stock HBoot 0.86.0000 with S=Off to prove it. :D
    2
    The latest MIUI build... do I have to be on froyo?

    Yes, download a rooted stock froyo ROM, then try it

    If I helped, give thanks, if you please.
    ........Death before dishonor........
    2
    Sorry for the bump, but can I get some feedback on this? I'm still not certain if it's "Better" to go with the engineering bootloader or the stock.

    Go with engineering boot instead, you can fully modify your phone, with custom splash screens. An having the engineering boot, there less likely of a change of you flashing something that requires eng an possibly messing up the phone.

    From my fist to your face, enjoy.
    2
    Needing a mirror to the engineering bootloader...since megaupload is down forever...

    Here's the engineering HBoot for ya.

    http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/HTC_Glacier:_Support_Downloads
    2
    Hey Grankin, thanks again for all your hard work and quick replies...I have to unroot and send my phone back, but I'm unsure what to type in this area, please help...thanks
    Now run the "dd if=/where/your/part7backup-numbers.bin of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p7" and it should show the output:
    xxxx bytes in
    xxxxbytes out
    xxxxxxxxxx copied in blah blah blah
    my part7backup is on my sd card named Originalpartbackup7, so would I type
    "dd if=/sdcard/Originalpart7backup-numbers.bin of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p7 ?
    Thanks again

    Yes, that is correct.

    Hallo please advice
    I am going to purchase a locked t-mobile 4G
    Can I have it unlocked with that method? (and rooted and s-off)?
    what can I do and watch?

    Yes you can root this way and I'm not sure if there is a video on it. :confused: