[DaChipsta]

Hi all,

Anyone know of a good step-by-step guide to root/unlock/install custom ROMs on an AT&T HOX? I see Windows guides all over the place (some much more coherent than others) but OS X guides seem few and far between.

I'm running software version 2.20 and everything else on the phone is up to date.

Any links/guidance you guys could provide would be great!

Also, just to make sure I understand everything properly, I read something that gave me the impression rooting was not required if the goal is only to install ROMs. Is that true?

Thanks guys!
Chip

[patrixl]

Xda had Mac guides, good place to look for those. Most commands are the same though once your bootloader is unlocked and a custom recovery installed.... Fastboot adb etc all work pretty much the same in Windows or Mac, with fewer messing around with drivers on the Mac hehe

Root is a user on Unix systems. Most custom roms come rooted, but to install custom roms what you really need is to unlock your bootloader and install a custom recovery. Then you can put custom roms or root your phone or both.

Unfortunately in popular internet speak, rooting and unlocking the bootloader have nearly become synonymous even though they are separate things. On some phones though rooting is required for custom roms because no official unlock exist for bootloaders, meaning security vulnerabilities and such must be used to gain root access and thus access to base level functions.



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[loraque]

Link above is basically a repository of HOX stuff at XDA. You do not need to root, specifically, if you intend on flashing a ROM. That is usually just part of the step in getting the Recovery loaded. Fastboot is accessible, so you will use that to put the Recovery on instead of rooting, and then you can flash what you want.

This assumes that you have already unlocked the bootloader. Don't do this stuff until that is completed. The thread above does have some Mac stuff, but you are mostly just looking for the ability to use Fastboot from your mac to put the Recovery on there, and do whatever you need to do to unlock. You are on the newer 2.2 OTA so you will also have to use Fastboot to load the boot.img... there has been some activity lately on 2.20 rooting exploits, so perhaps that has or will change. The link above should have some things to start your reading .

[DaChipsta]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say thanks to you both. Using your advice and links to get me started, I was able to successfully install CM10 last night. It took six hours, and I thought I'd bricked my phone at least twice, but all's well that ends well.

Now, for trying out other ROMs, is there anything more to it than installing the .zip via custom recovery (I'm using TWRP) and flashing the boot.img?

Thanks again!
Chip

[loraque]

Always wipe Cache and Dalvik Cache when flashing a new ROM. Make backups frequently during this beginning stage... one for each ROM you try. It can take some back and forth, with time and usage in between to get a good picture of what you want to do, and having a backup of the likely canditates saves a ton of time in long run. CM is easy to, since you can always just flash the latest nightly over the top of wherever your last backup was with no issue. Sense ROMs do not go so easy, and usually require a Wipe between any significant upgrade. Not a huge deal, but time.

While not always desirable with the quality Sense ROMs available (meaning they are good), choosing a launcher with save/restore options can really help getting up and running quickly. Titanium Backup is good for the same reason.with restoring your apps (only restore missing apps with data, no system data). Those are optional, but if you start to enjoy the tweaking around, they are good investments.