[GUIDE] HTC Unlock Hboot 1.50 + TWRP Recovery + Root + Flash!! [9.11.11]

[JTNiggle]

This guide will leave you with S-on, but you can still flash any ROM, kernel, theme or most anything you want.

The limitation with HTC's unlock method is that the boot partition is not flashable from recovery. This means that Kernels and ROM's with custom kernels must be flashed from Fastboot. It's easy, just see the 2nd post for the guide.



There have also been a couple reports of difficulty applying HTC's unlock to new phones that shipped with the updated software preloaded.
During the process, and after this output,

sending 'unlocktoken' (0 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.152s]
writing 'unlocktoken'...
(bootloader) unlock token check successfully
OKAY [ 0.006s]
finished. total time: 0.159s

Nothing happens on their phone and the remain locked.

Thanks to lchupacabras for posting about this and his solution. Run the 2.08 RUU and then retry the HTC unlock, hopefully this works for everyone. I will do some more looking into this when I get a chance. My phone took a swin today and I'm awaiting a replacement, good thing i'm insured.

2.08.651.2 RUU
http://www.multiupload.com/09NOXKCUN0 Thanks lchupacabras for mirroring!

Before & After shots

-

A short video of navigating from Unlocked Hboot 1.50 to TWRP Recovery

This is only for people stuck with HBOOT 1.50 and currently unable to root any other way. If you can't wait any longer to flash some ROM's then give this a shot. Please read the whole post before you start.

I'm posting this mostly because the info is on this site, but seems to be convoluted and spread out. I have gotten a few pm's from people asking for help with this after discussing it in other threads, so, here it is. I take no credit for any of these files, or any of the development. I'm just trying to get a good guide posted in one spot for people to use and learn from. I have tested this on my girls phone and everything is working great.

To start, you need to follow HTC's steps to unlock, so go here http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/

It should be mentioned that HTC's unlock will factory reset ur phone. So if you have texts or anything else you want to backup, do it now.

Here are the required downloads to get you started with HTC's Unlock if you don't already have adb or HTC sync setup.
Android SDK
HTC Sync 3.0.5551
Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

If you tried these links over the past couple days, and they were bad, try again, they are re-hosted on mediafire for now, sorry for the trouble.

After you've followed their instructions, you can come back here to get your custom recovery and Superuser setup.

So, you got ur Bootloader unlocked via HTC, now, on your phone, go to menu > settings > applications > development and check the box net to usb debugging.

Now, here are the rest of ur required downloads for the next steps:
su 2.3.6.3
TWRP Recovery

Thanks to Brandas for the above version of TWRP that works with HTC's unlock. He posted it in a thread last week, I just tested it and am posting it here.
Here is where he originally posted it, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16964833&postcount=223

Take both the su.zip and recovery.img files and put them in your sdk tools folder.

Then, get in your command prompt from ur sdk tools folder.

Small tip, with windows 7, if you hold down the shift key and right click on ur sdk tools folder, the 4th option is to open a command window there. It's much easier then manually navigating there.

Now do the following in ur command prompt, hitting enter after each command.

adb push recovery.img /sdcard/

And,

adb push su-2.3.6.3.zip /sdcard/

Then,

adb reboot bootloader

Ur phone will go to fastboot and should look like the after picture above. Now you can flash the twrp recovery, so do,

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

It will ouput something like this,

sending 'recovery' <5068 KB>... OKAY
           writing 'recovery'... OKAY
finished. total time: 11.355s

Now you have twrp recovery, so you can navigate to it. On ur phone, use the power button to pick bootloader, then scroll down to recovery and pick that. You will then be booted into recovery.

Here you can pick "install zip" and then pick the "su-2.3.6.3.zip"
It will flash, the you can pick "back to main menu", then "reboot system now"

You will boot back up and have working Superuser. I have had no trouble with Titanium Backup, Root Explorer, Quick Boot or any other app that requires root. Before you do too much, it would be good to go back to recovery and do a Nandroid backup. Always best to get one ready before you start modding anything.

There is a limitation with HTC's unlock, recovery does not have permission to write to the boot partition, this is where the kernel goes. What this means is that you can't flash a kernel through the normal recovery. Which also means that you can't flash a ROM that requires a custom kernel. There are two ways that I know of to work around this. One is to just flash the kernel(boot.img) from fastboot, the other, and easier way is to boot recovery from fastboot and just do everything from there.

Please see 2nd post for ROM and Kernel flashing instructions

 

[JTNiggle]

How to Flash Any ROM or Kernel You Want

Just in case ur wondering, yes you can flash Cyanogen Mod, did my girls as soon as it was available.

You can get recovery to flash kernels for you, you just have to have fastboot boot up recovery for you. It's very simple really, and thanks again go to Brandas for pointing it out. I'm just putting it here for everyone to use.

This method will allow you to simply flash any ROM you choose without extracting any boot.img's and worrying about flashing from recovery and then going to fastboot. It's kind of a one stop shop for all ur needs.

To do this, you need to have already followed the instructions in the first post. So you are rooted and have the necessary files for adb installed. You should also have your ROM or kernel of choice on ur sd card.

This is also assuming that the recovery.img you downloaded from the first post is still in your sdk tools folder. If it isn't, now is the time to put it back there.

Now, all you have to do is get back in ur command prompt from ur sdk tools folder and do,

adb reboot bootloader

Once it says fastboot usb, you can do,

fastboot boot recovery.img

Now it will boot you into TWRP and you can flash whatever kernel you like, or just flash a ROM with a custom kernel already built in. It all works and everybody's happy.

I will post a quick vid to go along with this in a few. Hope this helps.

From the 2 minute mark on, it's just booting up and showing that the kernel version did in fact change, nothing interesting to see really. Sorry for the blurry video, shot in the dark with my evo 3d, so ya know it's gonna be bad, lol.

 

[LiquidSolstice]

Fantastic guide!

I wouldn't recommend the Synergy Nightlies for your girlfriend, I'd go with a more stable less "exotic" ROM. Synergy is a playground that Virus/TrevE/Ziggy have fun in, and sometimes they break stuff

 

[JTNiggle]

Thanks

Synergy may be a bit much, but its running good for now. I just used it cause that's what I run, and it was the only 2.3.4 based ROM I had on my laptop. We'll see what she has to say when I get home from work.

Sent from my 3D EVOlution

 

[Scott]

Thanks to Brandas for this version of TWRP that works with HTC's unlock. He posted it in a thread last week, I just tested it and am posting it here.

I'm sure most of you know, but I better mention it here. With HTC's unlock tool, you aren't fully unlocked. As you can see from my pic above, the phone is still s-on, and there are limitations because of this. Most notably is that you can't flash a new kernel. So, if you want to flash some rom's you'll need to stay with roms based on the 2.08.651.2 update so that everything will work properly. If you try to flash a different rom that requires a different kernel, the kernel will not actually flash, and you will likley have some broken features/apps.

Couple things...

1. Can you link to the original thread where the modified twrp is?

2. Im not so sure about the kernel issue you are describing. I know lots of people that are flashing my ROM with freeza's modded kernel and it works just fine. More than likely this perceived issue comes from the fact that people are trying to flash a kernel sourced on 2.3.3 with a 2.3.4 ROM causing the issue.

 

[JTNiggle]

Couple things...

1. Can you link to the original thread where the modified twrp is?

2. Im not so sure about the kernel issue you are describing. I know lots of people that are flashing my ROM with freeza's modded kernel and it works just fine. More than likely this perceived issue comes from the fact that people are trying to flash a kernel sourced on 2.3.3 with a 2.3.4 ROM causing the issue.

1) I can link the thread later tonight. It was in the general section, you can search Brandas' posts if ur really interested.

2) it is a real issue, but it won't be a big factor until the developers have source to make kernels from. You can flash a modified stock kernel, but if you flash a 2.3.3 ROM, the kernel won't change. You will still have the 2.3.4 kernel trying to run with the 2.3.3 ROM you flashed. I can get you some pictures tonight.


Sent from my 3D EVOlution

 

[Scott]

2) it is a real issue, but it won't be a big factor until the developers have source to make kernels from. You can flash a modified stock kernel, but if you flash a 2.3.3 ROM, the kernel won't change. You will still have the 2.3.4 kernel trying to run with the 2.3.3 ROM you flashed. I can get you some pictures tonight.


Sent from my 3D EVOlution

Wow, thats wierd!

 

[Scott]

Instead of flashing recovery though hboot you can also flash from SD Card to make it that much easier....

I have attached the twrp that you listed in the op in a flashable zip format.

Instead of doing the fastboot commands just place this zip on the root of sd card and reboot into hboot and it will scan it then flash it.

I tested it working 100%

Also, instead of messing around with Android SDK, Java, etc... you can just use the second attachment, it has all the needed files....

 

[Scott]

2) it is a real issue, but it won't be a big factor until the developers have source to make kernels from. You can flash a modified stock kernel, but if you flash a 2.3.3 ROM, the kernel won't change. You will still have the 2.3.4 kernel trying to run with the 2.3.3 ROM you flashed. I can get you some pictures tonight.
Sent from my 3D EVOlution

Just wanted to say that this is not true.

I took the plunge to test... Here is what I did....

1. Flashed 2.08.651. RUU. This put me at full stock locked bootloader etc etc etc...
2. Did HTC Unlock and used my files I posted a post up instead of installing all that stuff (I had it installed anyways but for simplicity for newbs I used those files to test)
3. After unlock I flashed the twrp you linked to the method that I noted above (in hbott 1.5).
4. Flashed an older series ROM of mine, Any 2.3.3 ROM would suffice but for obvious reasons I flashed CleanROM 1.3.
5. Confirmed that the kernel version DID change back to the 2.3.3 source kernel.
6. Downloaded No lights based on silver needle overclock then flashed it in recovery.
8. Downloaded set cpu and quadrant and set to my liking.
7. Profited!

Just saying!



EDIT: The only difference I can think of is I was S-OFF before this debacle. But I am not sure how that affects kernel... I will re-lock s-on and see if that makes a diff.

 

[mikedavis120]

S off is needed to flash kernels. Your s off it worked fine for you. As it should. No need to test that one.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

 

[Scott]

S off is needed to flash kernels. Your s off it worked fine for you. As it should. No need to test that one.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

Wow... That really blows! I am sorry to all the people that took the OTA before S-OFF.

Thats b/s from HTC. Real B/S. They make it possible to root but not custom ROM. A-holes!

 

[JTNiggle]

Instead of flashing recovery though hboot you can also flash from SD Card to make it that much easier....

I have attached the twrp that you listed in the op in a flashable zip format.

Instead of doing the fastboot commands just place this zip on the root of sd card and reboot into hboot and it will scan it then flash it.

I tested it working 100%

Also, instead of messing around with Android SDK, Java, etc... you can just use the second attachment, it has all the needed files....

That's cool, but I find the fastboot method to be much quicker. I can push the files, boot to fastboot, flash, and boot to recovery in under a minute.

If you really want it easier, use flash image gui

Also, I didn't write HTC's instructions. They are meant to be dummy proof. I use adb to boot to fastboot, and of course I already have the sdk, we all should anyway.

But thanks for offering up more options for people, it will help more people understand what to do, and what's easiest for them.

Sent from my 3D EVOlution

 

[JTNiggle]

Just wanted to say that this is not true.

I took the plunge to test... Here is what I did....

1. Flashed 2.08.651. RUU. This put me at full stock locked bootloader etc etc etc...
2. Did HTC Unlock and used my files I posted a post up instead of installing all that stuff (I had it installed anyways but for simplicity for newbs I used those files to test)
3. After unlock I flashed the twrp you linked to the method that I noted above (in hbott 1.5).
4. Flashed an older series ROM of mine, Any 2.3.3 ROM would suffice but for obvious reasons I flashed CleanROM 1.3.
5. Confirmed that the kernel version DID change back to the 2.3.3 source kernel.
6. Downloaded No lights based on silver needle overclock then flashed it in recovery.
8. Downloaded set cpu and quadrant and set to my liking.
7. Profited!

Just saying!



EDIT: The only difference I can think of is I was S-OFF before this debacle. But I am not sure how that affects kernel... I will re-lock s-on and see if that makes a diff.

Yeah, if you've had s-off before, it doesn't matter. I can make a video of me trying to flash a kernel to show what happens.

It sucks that HTC did this, but maybe they will release an update to this unlock that will help everyone out. Probably won't matter though, revolutionary will hopefully support 1.5 soon enough.

Sent from my 3D EVOlution

 

[Scott]

Yeah, if you've had s-off before, it doesn't matter. I can make a video of me trying to flash a kernel to show what happens.

It sucks that HTC did this, but maybe they will release an update to this unlock that will help everyone out. Probably won't matter though, revolutionary will hopefully support 1.5 soon enough.

Sent from my 3D EVOlution

Yeah, thats total B/S! I cant believe they did that. I thought people were just newbs, guess I am the newb!

You don't need to make a video but can you tell me what exactly happens?

I almost went S-ON to test this! I would been hosed. But I also wonder why RUU didnt put me back at S-ON?

 

[cbrown245]

Wow... That really blows! I am sorry to all the people that took the OTA before S-OFF.

Thats b/s from HTC. Real B/S. They make it possible to root but not custom ROM. A-holes!

As BS as it is, HTC did hold up there end of what they said, they said they would unlock the boot loader and they did. They never said you could put custom roms on you're phone once you used their unlock . Lmao

Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium

 

[mikedavis120]

U can load a custom ROM just flash one that's got a stock kernel. There are several

 

[Scott]

As BS as it is, HTC did hold up there end of what they said, they said they would unlock the boot loader and they did. They never said you could put custom roms on you're phone once you used their unlock . Lmao

Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium

True true, lol

U can load a custom ROM just flash one that's got a stock kernel. There are several

True that!

Still kinda shady though!

 

[snxxxxx]

Instead of flashing recovery though hboot you can also flash from SD Card to make it that much easier....

I have attached the twrp that you listed in the op in a flashable zip format.

Instead of doing the fastboot commands just place this zip on the root of sd card and reboot into hboot and it will scan it then flash it.

I tested it working 100%

Also, instead of messing around with Android SDK, Java, etc... you can just use the second attachment, it has all the needed files....

I just place it on root of sdcard. But cant flash.. nothing happen here.. any suggestion??

Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium

 

[mikedavis120]

What? What r u trying to do? If u wanna download wireless adb I can flash your recovery from Oregon

 

[snxxxxx]

What? What r u trying to do? If u wanna download wireless adb I can flash your recovery from Oregon

Lol.. i understand now..
I think no need computer to do this step..
I just remembering when i root my nexus one berfore..
The zip has update script to flash recovery, so i can get recovery after that. And flash custom root rom to get superuser.
I think its just like that..
Sorry..


Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium