Why one should never unlock the Motorola Razr HD bootloader (xt925) !

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itzik_man

Senior Member
Nov 13, 2010
508
87
Saint-Laurent, Quebec
The pro & cons of unlocking the bootloader:
Pro: Install customs ROMS with custom kernels (basically that's it)
Cons: - Loosing warranty from Motorola & your carrier
- No more firmware upgrades (your IMEI is dropped out of Motorola databank)
- Little verity of quality custom ROMs or development (close to none) exist for the Razr HD
- Future upgrade to JB & KLP will never happened (this phone is listed as a potential candidate for KLP update)
- Keeping your xt925 beyond your 1 year warranty will still guaranty, a steady upgrades of firmware
- Can root a phone with bootloader locked (without loosing warranty - root is reversible)
- Legally (Motorola binding Bootloader unlock contract), you can't sell a BL unlock Motorola Razr HD phone !

If someone can add some Pro's to an unlock bootloader please do it..
 

bluefoxreg

Member
Feb 7, 2013
24
2
I'd add this to Pro:

If you're stuck on Rogers 49003 ICS because you flashed the ROM trying to get root, your best option to get anything above 4.0.4 is to unlock bootloader? :(
 

PantsDownJedi

Senior Member
Oct 30, 2011
285
81
Perhaps a CWM install will be possible for those with unlocked bootloaders when updates come.

It seems that in one form or another an unlocked bootloader means being able to push all the new files in doesn't it? Is there any limitation on this phone, for example flashing a new modem or kernel?
 

Skrilax_CZ

Inactive Recognized Developer
Dec 20, 2009
1,240
2,398
Cons one by one:
- Loosing warranty from Motorola & your carrier
True, but obvious.

- No more firmware upgrades (your IMEI is dropped out of Motorola databank)
Nope. Even if you were not to receive OTA, which by the way is not true as I've observed on my Photon Q, you can still freely flash the new firmwares yourself ^^

- Little verity of quality custom ROMs or development (close to none) exist for the Razr HD
Depends on ones point of view. Usually a CM port means you get newer Android sooner.

- Future upgrade to JB & KLP will never happened (this phone is listed as a potential candidate for KLP update)
Why it wouldn't? Unlocking BLs has no impact on upgrade schedule.

- Keeping your xt925 beyond your 1 year warranty will still guaranty, a steady upgrades of firmware
No. That's solely on Moto / Google decision. They don't have to update it at all. (See Droid 3, Milestone 3, Motorola XT720 etc.)

- Can root a phone with bootloader locked (without loosing warranty - root is reversible)
Yes, although you have to be careful, because there are scirpts checking if you're rooted.

- Legally (Motorola binding Bootloader unlock contract), you can't sell a BL unlock Motorola Razr HD phone !
You can sue Moto for breaking laws. They can't forbid you doing that (don't know honestly how is that in US / Canada, but I doubt that seeing how it works with computer games).

So please, while for normal user not willing to flash custom ROMs it's true that they should not unlock the bootloader, don't spill nonsenses around that. It's just that when you unlock your bootloader, you're on your own when playing with the firmware. But when you have stock firmware back on it, nothing prevents you from getting the OTA.
 
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itzik_man

Senior Member
Nov 13, 2010
508
87
Saint-Laurent, Quebec
don't spill nonsenses around that. It's just that when you unlock your bootloader, you're on your own when playing with the firmware. But when you have stock firmware back on it, nothing prevents you from getting the OTA.
Possible 90% of your response represent just false theories..
OTA is goneforever once you unlock your bootloader ! If & when you be able manually to install JB, still your IMEI (not registered with Motorola) wont OTA.
You can sue nobody ! it's a contractual agreement you "sign" when you agree to unlock BL !
And if you can't OTA, No future auto upgrades.
So, before you use a statement "don't spill nonsense" make sure you are talking sense...
 

Skrilax_CZ

Inactive Recognized Developer
Dec 20, 2009
1,240
2,398
Possible 90% of your response represent just false theories..
OTA is goneforever once you unlock your bootloader ! If & when you be able manually to install JB, still your IMEI (not registered with Motorola) wont OTA.
You can sue nobody ! it's a contractual agreement you "sign" when you agree to unlock BL !
And if you can't OTA, No future auto upgrades.
So, before you use a statement "don't spill nonsense" make sure you are talking sense...
Once again.

A) The reason why the page says "no updates" is beacuse OTA updates only work when you're on stock firmware, which is unlikely when you have the bootloader unlocked. That's all.

B) There are things that such "agreement" cannot contain. Being unable to sell the phone is one of them in most countries.
 
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epinter

Inactive Recognized Developer
Feb 26, 2011
906
7,347
Sao Paulo
www.linuxmobile.org
I disagree from the op.
Every change to device firmware compromises the warranty, not just bootloader, read the agreements ... If you exploit a bug to have root access, you will have to fool everyone who will have contact with your phone so they don't see what you have done. Even if you try to "reverse" the root, you(or the program you use) will always leave a trace.
 
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ibsk8

Senior Member
Mar 1, 2011
381
51
Clinton IA
We should be promoting "unlock the world"
This is not to imply everything should be free, however if I own something it should be mine in every regard, that includes breaking it.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

---------- Post added at 03:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:12 PM ----------

@skrilax thanks for you work on the a500.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
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itzik_man

Senior Member
Nov 13, 2010
508
87
Saint-Laurent, Quebec
Once again.

A) The reason why the page says "no updates" is beacuse OTA updates only work when you're on stock firmware, which is unlikely when you have the bootloader unlocked. That's all.

B) There are things that such "agreement" cannot contain. Being unable to sell the phone is one of them in most countries.

To end my part in this discussion: The limitations, restrictions & disadvantages of unlocking the bootloader are much greater then any benefit or gain under the current availability of development !
 

itzik_man

Senior Member
Nov 13, 2010
508
87
Saint-Laurent, Quebec
To epinter -
I disagree from the op.
Every change to device firmware compromises the warranty, not just bootloader, read the agreements ... If you exploit a bug to have root access, you will have to fool everyone who will have contact with your phone so they don't see what you have done. Even if you try to "reverse" the root, you(or the program you use) will always leave a trace.http://www.linuxmobile

I did not notice your response at first, now to the point -
Without any disrespect to the work, time & effort invested, the main point is being ignored by the developers: All comments I got on this OP didn't touched the number one reason of my suggestion to not unlock the bootloader: There in not really enough of a variety of development options today to justification the bootloader unlocked of the xt925.
 

PantsDownJedi

Senior Member
Oct 30, 2011
285
81
Cons one by one:
Yes, although you have to be careful, because there are scirpts checking if you're rooted.

Can someone elaborate on this point; I read in another thread that when you remove all rooted apps and data, clear out the files left in /system, that there is still info stored stated if the device has ever been rooted, and that this can be cleared using an app on a PC (don't remember which) however when I looked at the app it was specific to the XT926 and thus I wouldn't be able to use it.

After a thorough clean of every rooted app and everything left behind by rooted apps, is there a known way (or assumed to be working way) on XT925 to erase the record of the root.

Also, assuming I was to get my phone back to that state and remove proof of root, what specifically do I need to do in order to be careful as stated... or is epinter correct in saying that there is always a trace left behind, and if so, is this a blatant trace or something that hasn't been of much concern for Motorola in the past when servicing phones?

At least on my O2 Germany xt925 I got the update OTA from ICS to JB after unlocking. Had to return to the stock bootloader because the OTA relies on it after rebooting though.

How would I return to a stock bootloader if I were to unlock mine and an OTA didn't work? How did you do it?
 

Skrilax_CZ

Inactive Recognized Developer
Dec 20, 2009
1,240
2,398
The limitations, restrictions & disadvantages of unlocking the bootloader are much greater then any benefit or gain under the current availability of development !
It's your decision whether to unlock the bootloader or not. I'm just saying (for other users) that many of the cons you wrote were absolutely incorrect.

Can someone elaborate on this point; I read in another thread that when you remove all rooted apps and data, clear out the files left in /system, that there is still info stored stated if the device has ever been rooted, and that this can be cleared using an app on a PC (don't remember which) however when I looked at the app it was specific to the XT926 and thus I wouldn't be able to use it.

After a thorough clean of every rooted app and everything left behind by rooted apps, is there a known way (or assumed to be working way) on XT925 to erase the record of the root.

Also, assuming I was to get my phone back to that state and remove proof of root, what specifically do I need to do in order to be careful as stated... or is epinter correct in saying that there is always a trace left behind, and if so, is this a blatant trace or something that hasn't been of much concern for Motorola in the past when servicing phones?
I believe there is something stored in the pds partition. Or at least it is that way on Droid RAZR XT912 and you had to fix it to remove the remaining traces. Flashing FXZ is also a way how to get a clean stock firmware, but pds partition is not affected that way.

How would I return to a stock bootloader if I were to unlock mine and an OTA didn't work? How did you do it?
I think he meant "stock firmware" instead of "stock bootloader" ;)
 
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PantsDownJedi

Senior Member
Oct 30, 2011
285
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So if that were the case on this phone, I wonder if doing a dd backup of the pds partition before rooting at ICS, for restoring after downgrade, would be the way to go. Assuming it restores properly, it would be a good thing to add to the sticky thread about rooting. I did a dd of all my partitions except for /data last night, but I'm already rooted.

hmm... I'm wondering if there's something inaccessable in /system or even the sdcard since they get mounted with fuse. My only other Android phone was the Galaxy S II which was pretty straightforward and dead simple to root and unroot. I was surprised to see the fuse module being used to mount anything when I got this one.
 
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  • 9
    Cons one by one:
    - Loosing warranty from Motorola & your carrier
    True, but obvious.

    - No more firmware upgrades (your IMEI is dropped out of Motorola databank)
    Nope. Even if you were not to receive OTA, which by the way is not true as I've observed on my Photon Q, you can still freely flash the new firmwares yourself ^^

    - Little verity of quality custom ROMs or development (close to none) exist for the Razr HD
    Depends on ones point of view. Usually a CM port means you get newer Android sooner.

    - Future upgrade to JB & KLP will never happened (this phone is listed as a potential candidate for KLP update)
    Why it wouldn't? Unlocking BLs has no impact on upgrade schedule.

    - Keeping your xt925 beyond your 1 year warranty will still guaranty, a steady upgrades of firmware
    No. That's solely on Moto / Google decision. They don't have to update it at all. (See Droid 3, Milestone 3, Motorola XT720 etc.)

    - Can root a phone with bootloader locked (without loosing warranty - root is reversible)
    Yes, although you have to be careful, because there are scirpts checking if you're rooted.

    - Legally (Motorola binding Bootloader unlock contract), you can't sell a BL unlock Motorola Razr HD phone !
    You can sue Moto for breaking laws. They can't forbid you doing that (don't know honestly how is that in US / Canada, but I doubt that seeing how it works with computer games).

    So please, while for normal user not willing to flash custom ROMs it's true that they should not unlock the bootloader, don't spill nonsenses around that. It's just that when you unlock your bootloader, you're on your own when playing with the firmware. But when you have stock firmware back on it, nothing prevents you from getting the OTA.
    4
    btw. it's a little OT but it was "spoken about": Anybody (who's unlocked and somehow customized) tried updating the firmware through Motorola Device Manager (https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/prod_answer_detail/a_id/91999/p/1449,8620)?
    3
    Oh boy, this thread again.
    3
    At least on my O2 Germany xt925 I got the update OTA from ICS to JB after unlocking. Had to return to the stock bootloader because the OTA relies on it after rebooting though.
    3
    I disagree from the op.
    Every change to device firmware compromises the warranty, not just bootloader, read the agreements ... If you exploit a bug to have root access, you will have to fool everyone who will have contact with your phone so they don't see what you have done. Even if you try to "reverse" the root, you(or the program you use) will always leave a trace.