what does "locked bootloader" mean?

[jennan88]

What's up guys

I'm considering getting an Atrix when it eventually hits Europe, but people always talk about Motorola's locked bootloader. What does that actually mean? Does it mean custom ROMs are impossible? I love the look of this phone but I'd like to be able to modify it if I can't live with the supposedly-awful Motoblur.

Thanks for reading,

jennan

 

[t0dbld]

What's up guys

I'm considering getting an Atrix when it eventually hits Europe, but people always talk about Motorola's locked bootloader. What does that actually mean? Does it mean custom ROMs are impossible? I love the look of this phone but I'd like to be able to modify it if I can't live with the supposedly-awful Motoblur.

Thanks for reading,

jennan

please search forums before starting new topics
this question and discussion is in almost every topic under atrix in all categories and is cluttering up badly
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=957461

 

[sdlopez83]

But this thread is straight forward and good for noobs.

Sent from my MSM using XDA App

 

[darkamikaze]

IN SHORT.
It pretty much means you can't change the KERNEL .. which means you're limited to customization to the phone. (e.g. No cyanogenmod, No MIUI, no community upgrades to gingerbread or honeycomb etc., no custom ditbits that only a kernel can provide).

/end.

 

[sdlopez83]

IN SHORT.
It pretty much means you can't change the KERNEL .. which means you're limited to customization to the phone. (e.g. No cyanogenmod, No MIUI, no community upgrades to gingerbread or honeycomb etc., no custom ditbits that only a kernel can provide).

/end.

Locked you can, encrypted you can't. All phones come locked bootloader. So we are praying that its locked and not encryped although it will likely be encrypted


Sent from my MSM using XDA App

 

[BoogWeed]

Why would they do this?

Surely they know most users will want this feature... Once they save sold it, what it is to them..?

Maybe I'm missing something here?

 

[bigmout]

EDIT: Posted this on the wrong thread. Please delete.

 

[edgeicator]

Why would they do this?

Surely they know most users will want this feature... Once they save sold it, what it is to them..?

Maybe I'm missing something here?

Wrong. Few users even know about locked/encrypted bootloaders. We are a very small minority who cares about this issue.

 

[ftdn2006]

One thing you'll note if you look around the forums are people still using older model phones like the 8525 which have lost support from the manufacturer a long time ago. Keeping legacy hardware current is costly to manufacturers due to development costs and from competitors releasing newer model phones. Look at what happened to Motorola when they clung to the Razr. They have to keep up with the others. Every sale lost is a potential profit gain for the competition. So they always have a "newer/better model" right around the corner. Keeping their boot loaders encrypted is an attempt at forcing the user to upgrade by limiting the amount of development required to keep the phone current. Even though we are a minority, we are still viewed as lost profit if we are still staying attached to our old phones when newer models are released.