[BOOTLOADER] Locked bootloader research and news [Updated: 7/16/2012]

Robster180 · Jul 7, 2012

the original guy w/ the lock and custom screen is ready to dump but i don't know how to walk him through ADB, anybody up to see if his is the key?

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1754173&page=6

invisiblek · Jul 7, 2012

stiltzkin said:
Really appreciate you trying anyway dude. Huge fan of your work on the Inc, especially on kernels.

So essentially we can overwrite the boot.img, but it's still getting checksummed/verified somewhere by the system, right? Where is that check taking place, and is it feasible to modify/overwrite that portion of the system as well? Just throwing ideas out there, even though this seems like a very long shot.

Thanks again invisiblek.

that's what i'm looking into next

tekhna · Jul 7, 2012

invisiblek said:
well, i've got here:

thats from flashing a custom boot.img using dd
i got the same thing yesterday flashing a kernel using cwm but, i didn't get the unlock icon by doing that

unlock icon sticks after reverting to the stock kernel using odin

Wow, that "Software not authorized by Verizon Wireless notification is just insidious.

NightxFall · Jul 7, 2012

I think we got a really good dev community going on here, and the fact that its not a Moto bootloader means we'll get this figured out in no time. We already have root, and I'm sure Samsung left us a loophole or didn't lock it down as heavily as Motorolas phones are.

Good luck to all you dev's! I'm getting my phone Monday; will be glad to help with any testing then.

Sent from my Ally using XDA

ddggttff3 · Jul 7, 2012

invisiblek said:
well, i've got here:

thats from flashing a custom boot.img using dd
i got the same thing yesterday flashing a kernel using cwm but, i didn't get the unlock icon by doing that

unlock icon sticks after reverting to the stock kernel using odin

have you tried flashing the original unlocked vzw kernel people had issues with at first? how about a kernel from another device (ex sprint model?) because isnt the bootloader in the boot.img file? granted flashing the files is kind of risky.

AdamLange · Jul 7, 2012

boot.img == kernel not boot loader

majmuni · Jul 7, 2012

Please forgive me but i have a question about this phone. Will the phone have a place for a sim card so that we can use it internationally. thanks guys.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

dchurch85 · Jul 7, 2012

majmuni said:
Please forgive me but i have a question about this phone. Will the phone have a place for a sim card so that we can use it internationally. thanks guys.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Yes it has a Micro sim card slot on it. It is currently not open to use on international networks, but that feature should be unlocked in a future software update.

satadru · Jul 7, 2012

tekhna said:
Wow, that "Software not authorized by Verizon Wireless notification is just insidious.

ok here's an idea:

We can boot a customized recovery, so...

boot.img -> recovery partition and boot to recovery.

if normal boot then

modified boot.img -> recovery partition

if this boots then

modify boot.img to call something else on system partition (init2?) and -> recovery partition

move init to init2 on system partition

change init on system partition such that it tells system to boot to recovery.

now normal boot -> recovery boot -> modifed kernel booted.
recovery boot -> modified kernel booted

sure you lose recovery partition here, but you can always either reflash system or modify the boot partition on the recovery to have a backup mode that starts a normal recovery.

(Discussed with JackpotClavin on IRC)

NegativeOne · Jul 7, 2012

isn't that just "2ndinit" like they did for dx?

JackpotClavin · Jul 7, 2012

not exactly, because the dx can't boot custom kernels

NegativeOne · Jul 7, 2012

It can't boot custom kernels b/c the bootloader is encrypted, like VZW SGIII. It's the same situation.

tonu42 · Jul 7, 2012

NegativeOne said:
It can't boot custom kernels b/c the bootloader is encrypted, like VZW SGIII. It's the same situation.

Apparently there is a way to sacrifice the recovery partition in favor of a custom one that can boot into android.

Warjcowski · Jul 7, 2012

Take a look at the galaxy tab 2 7.0 dev forum. Sammy had a bootloader overwrite on that which was bypassed

JackpotClavin · Jul 7, 2012

Well that's what we're looking into now. The fact that you might be able to use your recovery partition as a boot partition means booting with the recovery key combination pressed will take boot you up normally. All the recovery really happens to be is a ramdisk. We've already proven that modifying the ramdisk of the recovery.img will allow the phone to boot (the ramdisk being 1/2 of the recovery.img) and the other half being the kernel. If the kernel of the recovery partition *isn't* signed (just like the ramdisk) (this is is likely) (good news) you should be able to have a custom kernel stored on the recovery partition which means you can boot into android using the key combintion for recovery. The only downside is A: as of right now, you'll lose clockwork recovery, (but you can easily get it back) and B: Not pressing the recovery key combination will boot up the stock kernel, not the custom one

ckochinsky125 · Jul 7, 2012

NegativeOne said:
It can't boot custom kernels b/c the bootloader is encrypted, like VZW SGIII. It's the same situation.

not really the same. Moto has everything locked down sammy left some openings.

ylexot · Jul 7, 2012

NegativeOne said:
It can't boot custom kernels b/c the bootloader is encrypted, like VZW SGIII. It's the same situation.

Who said the S3 bootloader was encrypted? I must have missed that post.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

NightxFall · Jul 7, 2012

ylexot said:
Who said the S3 bootloader was encrypted? I must have missed that post.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

Someone who apparently had a conversation with a Samsung rep. Even if it is encrypted, its still not locked down as much as Motos bootloaders are; as we have already found out.

Sent from my Ally using XDA

ylexot · Jul 7, 2012

NightxFall said:
Someone who apparently had a conversation with a Samsung rep. Even if it is encrypted, its still not locked down as much as Motos bootloaders are; as we have already found out.

Sent from my Ally using XDA

Oh, and reps have never been wrong... You'd have better odds going with the opposite of what reps say.

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

ckochinsky125 · Jul 7, 2012

NightxFall said:
Someone who apparently had a conversation with a Samsung rep. Even if it is encrypted, its still not locked down as much as Motos bootloaders are; as we have already found out.

Sent from my Ally using XDA

and we all know how the reps are always right.....

But anyway it is nowhere near the level of moto lock down so hope that is a good sign and the great devs can figure out how to crack it.

[BOOTLOADER] Locked bootloader research and news [Updated: 7/16/2012]

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