[PSA] ROOTING Help, Info & Asking for help (updated 1/24/11)

[the_eran_trio]

how many times have you heard of a phone bricking though? i have a root method and an un root method but i want to know if its fairly common for phones to brick

 

[GPz1100]

Q) Why are there so many different root guides?
A) HTC/Sprint continually release software updates for the EVO, when they do they usually update their phone inventory with the latest software. For phones that came with a hboot of less than 2.02 it was possible to just tell the EVO (via temp rooting) that it had an old software version on it, then to use HTC's engineering EVO software image (with default s-off and root access) to flash over the current installation. As of hboot 2.02 it's still possible to tell the EVO it has an older version of software, but when the bootloader flashes the engineering file it will bypass the hboot "downgrade" because a) it has a different partition layout and b) the hboot itself now has a version check.

Q) So what are the differences between hboot 2.02+ phones and older phones?
A) The partition layout has changed, this is re-writable via older hboot installation (and some formating in recovery to get it all working again), though it's not 100% clear yet as to why there are new partitions.

Fred, my phone came with the following

hw ver 0003
rom 3.3xxx
hboot 2.10

I followed zikronix's guide over at xda to root/unlock the device. Completed successfully without any issues. However, I was still stuck at hboot 2.10 which does not permit fastboot commands. Reading another thread Link over there lead me to the possibility that I may yet be able to flash over the engineering hboot successfully.

Apparently, the issue is the erase block size of the nand memory. My understanding is that this is not something that can be rewritten or changed, but rather is a function of the design of the nand itself. The older devices/hboots had 20000 byte erase blocks, while the newer ones have 40000 byte. The problem is, the older hboot does not support this 40000 byte layout. Older/newer is not necessarily accurate, as there have been some reports of ver 0004 having the 20000 erase blocks.

Anyways, I was still within my 30 return period (best time to hack the device), so I tried downgrading my hboot following your guide.... And it worked!! So, although it is more likely that having ver 0004 will not permit you to downgrade, it is not entirely correct.

Edit: A few interesting links about erase block size

http://book.opensourceproject.org.cn/embedded/embeddedprime/opensource/0136130550/ch02lev1sec3.html

http://support.gateway.com/s/Manuals/Desktops/5502664/NOR_vs_NANDwhitepaper.pdf

Oddly enough, smaller erase blocksizes offer greater write performance since less data has to be read, erased, and rewritten. After reading this, it is indeed very unclear why htc would choose to implement the larger eraseblocks, other than perhaps a cost saving measure.

 

[T3CH9ICIAN]

any help would be great i have a friend wit evo and when sent a pic message or any message with a download content he gets a message/notification saying (Message not Download Generic Network Failure) any ideas what it is or how to fix it would b great thanks

 

[turq28]

Im so stuck and I need some help from anyone with rooting experience in Ubuntu....im running 10.10 and Im trying to root my htc evo4g with unrevoked3....so the problem is that unrevoked sits at "waiting for device"....

yes:
i have charge only checked
ask me box checked off
i have debugging on

also:
formatted sd card
factory reset phone

i am still to no avail as unrevoked just hangs on "waiting for device"

Im trying to do this as we speak and will try methods as they are posted and repost results....thanks in advance

 

[turq28]

Im so stuck and I need some help from anyone with rooting experience in Ubuntu....im running 10.10 and Im trying to root my htc evo4g with unrevoked3....so the problem is that unrevoked sits at "waiting for device"....

yes:
i have charge only checked
ask me box checked off
i have debugging on

also:
formatted sd card
factory reset phone

i am still to no avail as unrevoked just hangs on "waiting for device"

Im trying to do this as we speak and will try methods as they are posted and repost results....thanks in advance

figured it out....successfully rooted

 

[SurrenderonDemand]

Any help on rooting with a mac for an evo4G running android 2.2 software 3.70.651.1? have been trying but I keep running into the error that my system is old and the PC36IMG.zip fails. Help Please!!

 

[DirkBelig]

I thought I'd rooted OK with UnrEVOked3 but I have a thread about being unable to run any sort of nandroid backup:

I rooted with Unrevoked3 and ran a Titanium Pro backup in the process of trying to sort the stupid Sprint proxy issue with Amazon Cloud Player. Since I want to be safe in my experiments, I decided to try making a full backup using the methods in this Good and EVO tutorial and DLed ROM Manager and flashed ClockworkMod to 3.0.0.7.

My first attempt had a space in the backup name so I didn't think anything of it, but when I tried a 2nd and 3rd time to backup the ROM with a custom name w/o spaces and the default name, it reboots to the white HTC screen and sits there until I pull the battery. I tried booting into Recovery mode, but after I select Recovery and press the power button, it goes to the white screen and stays there as well.

The phone is booting normally and appears functional, but there seems to be no way to back up the ROM, thus making further tinkering impossible without risking total borkage.

I haven't gotten any replies and looking at some of the threads here about various HW/SW/HBOOT combos and I'm wondering if that's what's causing my troubles.

HW: 0002
SW: 3.70.651.x
HB: 2.10

How do I get things out of the white (screen) and back into black?

 

[jrmoore10]

Weird but I bought a Evo back in December and it came with the latest build. I was ready to root only to find unrevoked wouldnt work for this build. Gingerbread is rumored to be coming by june OTA so i figured i would wait. I was however gonna use z4root to temp root, and I GOT PERM ROOT!!!! I am now running Cyanogen Mod 7!! #EpicWin!!!!

 

[twisted69]

How do i root my htc evo 4g without useing a computer?

I need help plz !!!!!

 

[jrmoore10]

I need help plz !!!!!

Though I've read and "studied" rooting and the like for months (literally) before I even attempted to root, I still consider myself somewhat of a rookie since the only devices I have rooted have been the optimus s and the evo. (btw I was unsuccessful in flashing a custom recovery onto the otimus #fail) anyway, you should be able to follow the instructions for rooting on the website from your phone. You will need a file explorer (I prefer Astro) to be able to access the files on your sd card. From there you should be good to go. *THIS IS ASSUMING Z4ROOT WILL WORK ON YOUR PHONE BUILD* from what I have read, it doesn't work on the latest build (although, strange enough it did work on mine) I would not suggest you do anything to your phone until you are well versed in the "rooting lingo" and you are willing to take full responsibility for what could possibly turn out to be a HUGE mistake. Don't rush it. Be patient and learn.

 

[yota265]

Ok I don't know what the problem is but I followed the directions on here to root my girls EVO and it worked fine last night. But now she has can not make call or send text mess. Any ideas????
I did mine a week ago and have had no problems work like a champ.

 

[cheesemonster1]

Help!!! I have Myn 2.2 which was working fantastic, especially compared to cm7. Then I got greedy and tried flashing Netarchy toastmod kernel and I screwed up... I didn't wipe Dalvik cache and I got stuck on the white HTC screen. I went back in and wiped the cache and the dalvik cache & that didn't work. Then I did a Nandroid restore and I'm still getting stuck on the white screen when I hit reboot. What should I do next???!!!

 

[soker78]

Root Access not granted problem

ok so i am new at this i figured some how how to root my phone with unrevoked and i stumbled on to cm7 rom which i installed over the phone dont know how but anyway everything was fine until i decided to mess with it and installed another rom which i dont know why i even tried to do but now i cant seem to get root access to any of the things that need root access i tried to set cpu and the wireless tether and nothing i running cm 7.0.2 supersonic ....kernel version 2.6.37.4 cyanogenmod-01338-g0374804 shade@toxygene #1 and i use a mac if that helps

thanks

 

[Bmilano3161]

If I root my eve will I be able to switch carriers from sprint to Verizon?

 

[lawnman40]

Folks, I'm panic mode here and can't seem to find an answer when searching.Keep in mind I'm a bit freaked out. I decided to take the plunge and root my EVO. All was fine until I tried to flash Warm Twopointtwo. Phone keeps sticking on white htc screen, and I can't get passed that when I reboot. Tried to restore and nothing. Please help.

Thanks

 

[jrmoore10]

Warm keeps sticking on me too. Did you do a backup of another rom?