[moosc]

Just read on xda the thunderbolt has been rooted. This is nice next up cm7. Clockwork installed

[biff6789]

Gotta love HTC... Easiest phones to root

[Chrisy]

Is there one click root avail? For noobs?

[biff6789]

Is there one click root avail? For noobs?

From one of the devs involved in the root process:

"This phone was the official non production HTC Mecha (codename). It may vary from the one released (HTC Thunderbolt). Things to note:

*The phone in the pictures came with Ship S-OFF
*No temp root but perm root with recovery

However, us over at AndIRC are very confident the same methods will still apply but we are keeping that information confidential at this time. Definitely get excited but remember things can always change."

[moosc]

Yea its normal to keep the process low key so HTC doesn't find a way a way to fix the root hole.

Sent from DroidX running DarkSlide4.2

[INK]

Is there one click root avail? For noobs?

I've never owned a HTC android, but I wonder will super 1 click, z4root, or Unrevoked will work.

[SUB-dawg]

you can tell the unit is preproduction. the place where the FFC is is slanted to the side and the plastic part at the bottom looks uneven.

[Chris Kerrigan]

Definitely an early pre-production unit, but it's a step in the right direction.

[roxy surf]

Is there one click root avail? For noobs?

I was actually wondering about this too. I'm still not completely sure what rooting means. I've been with crackberry for so long, downloading leaked OS's come like second nature...this is a whole new world for me lol

[I am Fake Jesus]

oh yippy! now i really cant wait to get this phone. hurry up!

[biff6789]

I was actually wondering about this too. I'm still not completely sure what rooting means. I've been with crackberry for so long, downloading leaked OS's is like second nature...this is a whole new world for me lol

In a nutshell, rooting gives you full access to parts of the filesystem that the manufacturer normally tries to lock you out of.

Once you have root (superuser) access, you can install certain apps that need access to those "locked out" parts of the filesystem (apps like wifi tether, screenshot apps, overclocking apps, full filesystem browsers, etc). Rooting also provides you with the ability to remove bloatware, install custom themes, remove Sense (for those that don't like it), and install custom ROMs.

Another part of rooting is the installation of a custom recovery partition like clockworkmod. This allows you to make full and complete backups of you filesystem in the event that something on your phone goes wrong. You can recover from soft bricks by restoring to one of these backups.

Point is: Everything to gain by rooting, nothing to lose - well, except maybe your warranty :P

[shaddix]

Noob question: does this information give any indication of a locked bootloader?

[biff6789]

Noob question: does this information give any indication of a locked bootloader?

You can see in one of the pictures the word "S-OFF" which means no locked bootloader.

It means the security switch is set to "off" which means you CAN install unsigned ROMs (the very thing that locked bootloaders try to prevent).

HTC doesn't use locked bootloaders, Motorola does - hence the reason that many people prefer this phone over the Bionic (which is expected to have a locked BL)

[roxy surf]

In a nutshell, rooting gives you full access to parts of the filesystem that the manufacturer normally tries to lock you out of.

Once you have root (superuser) access, you can install certain apps that need access to those "locked out" parts of the filesystem (apps like wifi tether, screenshot apps, overclocking apps, full filesystem browsers, etc). Rooting also provides you with the ability to remove bloatware, install custom themes, remove Sense (for those that don't like it), and install custom ROMs.

Another part of rooting is the installation of a custom recovery partition like clockworkmod. This allows you to make full and complete backups of you filesystem in the event that something on your phone goes wrong. You can recover from soft bricks by restoring to one of these backups.

Point is: Everything to gain by rooting, nothing to lose - well, except maybe your warranty :P

good info, thanks...so when you go to do the actual "rooting", do you just click on a link, or is there a lot more involved? Are there updates to roots to where it has to be done more than once? I probably sound like a beginner who shouldn't even be messing with this stuff (which I am with android), but once I do it for the 1st time, I will be good to go in the future..(sorry, this prob isnt the place to ask these questions, so i'm gonna search around too)

[shaddix]

You can see in one of the pictures the word "S-OFF" which means no locked bootloader.

It means the security switch is set to "off" which means you CAN install unsigned ROMs (the very thing that locked bootloaders try to prevent).

HTC doesn't use locked bootloaders, Motorola does - hence the reason that many people prefer this phone over the Bionic (which is expected to have a locked BL)

Thanks for the explanation. Yeah I had a droid 2 global and the development on that thing is just dead lol

[biff6789]

good info, thanks...so when you go to do the actual "rooting", do you just click on a link, or is there a lot more involved? Are there updates to roots to where it has to be done more than once? I probably sound like a beginner who shouldn't even be messing with this stuff (which I am with android), but once I do it for the 1st time, I will be good to go in the future..(sorry, this prob isnt the place to ask these questions, so i'm gonna search around too)

Heh, no worries, it's fine. We were all n00bs at one point :P

The rooting process for each phone is different. Sometimes it's as easy as a 1-click method, others require you to ADB into the phone via a terminal or command prompt and use more complex Linux commands like "mount -o rw,remount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk1p21 /system", for example. But there is always a tutorial on how to do it

This phone is going to be very popular, and as such, will have a lot of development behind it. The team is usually the main group of devs that focuses on HTC devices, so I imagine they will eventually have a 1-click method for you to use just like they have for all other HTC phones pictured on their webpage.

Just google "rooting FAQ" to find plenty of links that discuss the overall process of rooting, as well as the risks involved. Once this root is made public, there will be plenty of information and support about how to do it, so don't worry

[roxy surf]

Thanks biff, I appreciate your help Can't wait to finally have the tbolt to have some fun!

[biff6789]

Thanks biff, I appreciate your help Can't wait to finally have the tbolt to have some fun!

Sure thing! That's what this forum is for

[the one and only M]

Wow this is great news. Can't wait to say goodbye to the locked bootloaders for good and run a true aosp rom!!!

[upz3]

Good news with the root. I plan to rock HTC Sense stock for a while but will be nice to root this at some point.

[Bushido Brown]

The actual production model probably won't be so easy.

[zshazz]

The only thing I really want to do with root is use SetCPU to underclock the processor when the screen is off...

... and overclock to 2GHz when the screen is on >_>

[blizz419]

The only thing I really want to do with root is use SetCPU to underclock the processor when the screen is off...

... and overclock to 2GHz when the screen is on >_>

you sure OC'n all the way upto 2Ghz wont kill your phone?

[zshazz]

you sure OC'n all the way upto 2Ghz wont kill your phone?

Actually, it's more of a joke. They overclocked a G2 (I think) to 2GHz. Same processor. But I'm pretty sure they had to over volt it quite a bit as well. Not something which would result in a long lasting phone, that's for sure.

A more realistic overclock is going to be 1.5GHz, probably.

[Comineeyeaha]

Great, this means I'll have my wifi hotspot on day one. I'm driving to California mid March, so now I'll be able to share wifi with the laptop so people can stay entertained. Naturally, I'll be testing out WOW on 4G.