Rooting: RUU and hboot screen

[jdroid8]

My apologies if this question has been asked before or if I?m asking it on the wrong forum. I?ve looked for the answers to these questions for hours (days!) but everything about rooting seems so unit specific that I?m never sure if I have the right information.

I have a HTC (Verizon) Droid incredible Version 2.3.4 (just updated). I want to root the unit.

To root the unit and am following directions on http://androidforums.com/incredible...ow-unlock-downgrade-achieve-s-off-htcdev.html (which seems to be the route most people stand by)

I?m at the point in that page ?2)unlock using htcdev? which instructs me to go to HTCdev page but first to ?*check your hboot screen? unless I have hboots 1.02.0000,or 1.07.0000

Question #1: How do I find out which version of hboots I have and how do I check the hboot screen? (Note: I tried holding down the Volume Down key and Power Button but that doesn?t do it.)

The HTCdev page http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/ruu-downloads says ?After your computer has found your phone, double click on the RUU to start the process.?
I?ve enabled USB debugging, connected the computer to the phone (don?t know if I should connect using HTC Sync or Disk drive, but I can get on either way. I can also see the android in my command prompt window?)

Question #2: Which way should I connect to the computer and what do I double click?
(I downloaded PB3120000_Incredible_C_hboot_1.02.0000_4.08.605.2.exe from Stock Images | PvilleComp's Is this what I double click? And if so, where should I locate it on my computer?)

Thanks

 

[mrbowlman]

Question #1:

Power off the phone. (The newer versions do some sort of hibernation for quicker startup, so pull the battery to be sure)

Hold the volume down button, and press the power button. That should get you into the hboot screen.

Question #2:

It's been awhile since I've used an RUU, but if i recall correctly, it either doesn't matter what state your phone is in, or it will tell you what state to put the phone in. Just make sure you have the HTC Sync software installed as it provides the necessary drivers for your computer.

 

[jdroid8]

Thanks, Rooting a phone is probably a simple process to someone who's (successfully) gone through it but for a first timer it's scary.


hboot screen:
I understand that when a screen comes up giving you the option to Power Down, Airplane Mode, and some other options that if you press the Power Down option that this really does shut the phone off. But I can't figure out how to get this screen to consistently come up. I know this should be a no-brainer but I've yet to figure out how to get to this screen. Any ideas?

RUU
With regard to the RUU, I was wondering:
a) if I should connect using the HTC Sync option or mount the phone as a disk drive
b) where the PB3120000_Incredible_C_hboot_1.02.0000_4.08.605.2. exe executable needed to be placed (on the C (root) drive; on the mounted phone drive; anywhere on the computer...) when I run it.

 

[mrbowlman]

I would just pull the battery. That way you know it's off and not in some other state. ("hibernation" or "sleep" or whatever they call it)

Put the battery back in. Hold the volume down button, and press the power button. That should get you into hboot.

For the RUU, I think the phone just needs to be plugged in, not in any particular state. Just leave it in charge only state, and try the RUU. If thats the incorrect state, the RUU will provide onscreen instructions with the correct state.

The executable for the RUU can be placed and run from anywhere on your computer. On your desktop is fine.

 

[PvilleComp]

jdroid8 - you can run the RUU exe file from anywhere - be sure you installed HTC Sync to get the drivers and then follow the instructions in the RUU carefully. It will walk you through step be step.

Hope this helps.

 

[jdroid8]

Thanks for your help. Yes, removing the battery was the lynchpin that allowed me to view the hboot screen!!

And I found out that I have hboots 1.07.0000! This seems to be good news, because according to...

http://androidforums.com/incredible-all-things-root/531353-how-unlock-downgrade-achieve-s-off-htcdev.html
?if you allready have hboots 1.02.0000,or 1.07.0000 then skip ahead to the next step,?​

What?s not clear is what the ?next step? means. (The page is a bit confusing to understand.)

Does knowing I have hboot 1.07.0000 mean I don?t need to go through the unlock using htcdev process at all and can skip adb reboot bootloader? fastboot devices?fastboot oem get_identifier_token?fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin and go directly to ?2)flash recovery?

I'm not taking anything away from the author of that page--without whom I (and probably many other people) wouldn't have a clue how to root my device, but (spelling errors notwithstanding) I'm having a difficult time understanding how to follow the process he describes. And I don't want to make any mistakes.

Thanks

 

[mrbowlman]

I think by skip to the next step, he means you can skip updating the .92 hboot, since you already have the required version.

I used unrevoked to root and get s-off back when I did it, so I'm not familiar with HTC's method. That definitely looks more painful that what I had to do. I looked at the "Preview Unlock Process" graphic on HTC's site, and it looks like your next step would be to get the device identifier token from your device:

-steps 1-4 are describing how to get your phone into bootloader mode and connect it to your PC,wich we have done above. ignore these steps and simply type in your cmd window:

adb reboot bootloader

 

[jdroid8]

You were right?in fact, the steps leading up to "3) flash superuser root files" seem to be describing what happens when you follow the (very clear) HTC site instructions?

So I got the device identifier token and now have an unlocked unit .​

Apparently, now I need to:

• flash superuser root files;
• rewrite the misc image with adb and downgrade to froyo
• etc.

The next instructions include:

1)place superuser 3.07 onto the root of your sd card.
Question: By superuser I assume he means the file ?Superuser-3.0.7-efgh-signed.zip? but What is the ?root of the sd card?? Is the SD card what you see when you open the phone as a disk drive and does "place superuser 3.07 onto the root of your sd card" just mean drag over a copy to the drive window?

2)enter recovery via the hboot menu(power off,power on while holding vol down. once in hboot,wait for green writing to flash,then select recovery with power button and vol rocker)

3)use the recovery menu on your phone to:
-make a backup of your stock,unrooted rom. completely optional,but a very good idea,IMO.
Question: How do you use the recovery menu to make a backup of the stock.unrooted rom? [for example: Does the recovery menu ask you to pick a directory on your computer?]

-wipe cache
Question: How do you wipe cache on the phone? Is there a menu entry in hboot that says ?wipe cache??

-wipe dalvik cache(youll find this in the "advanced" menu)
Question: How do you wipe dalvik cache on the phone? Is there a menu entry in hboot that says ?wipe dalvik cache??

-install zip from sd card(chose your superuser file)
Question: How do you ?install zip from sd card?. Zip is just a compression routine employed to store and (often) compress files. A zip file is just a file containing other files. I know about adding and extracting but what is ?installing? a zip file?

And, by the way, what does "flash" mean and how do you do it? (flash superuser root files, flash recovery; flash ?forever? patch, etc.) [Does it just mean "delete"?]

 

[mrbowlman]

The root of the SD card is the top level of the directory structure. (this is a different definition of root than 'rooting' your phone)

Take your computer's hard drive for example. You have folders like C:\Windows and C:\Program Files. The root of your hard drive would simply be C:\

"Flash" means reprogramming your phones memory. It's basically just copying files from one location to another. It's typically done through the "install zip from sdcard" in Clockworkmod Recovery. It's copying the files contained in the .zip file to the Read Only Memory on your phone.

As for your other questions, they are all done through Clockworkmod recovery. I've never seen the stock recovery screen.(if there even is one) The first time I looked there was after the Clockworkmod recovery was flashed to my phone.

I feel obliged to warn you. I've never unlocked my phone with HTC's method like you have, and you're on a different HBOOT version than I am, so what worked on my phone may not work on yours. Do your homework and read up on incompatibilities with your specific hardware/software, because I have not done this for you. (ie, if you're left with a brick, it's not my fault)

If your phone is unlocked, I would start by flashing the Clockworkmod recovery. You can do this two different ways. The easiest is by using ROM Manager. (App from the Market) When you run the app, the top two buttons are "Flash Clockworkmod Recovery" and "Reboot into Recovery." I don't think you need to be rooted to do this, just unlocked. (or s-off)

If that doesn't work, you can download Clockworkmod recovery. (5.0.2.0 is what i use) Just rename the file to PB31IMG.zip and place it in the root of your SD card, then restart your phone in HBOOT. You'll be asked if you want to install it. Once installed, you can reboot to recovery from HBOOT by selecting RECOVERY. (if you don't see that, you'll want to pull the battery and then hold volume down when pressing power. you should now see it) You will want to remove or rename the PB31IMG.zip file on the root of your SD card after you've flashed it, or HBOOT will try to flash it again whenever you start HBOOT.

The rest of your questions will be easier to understand from within Clockworkmod.

* Backups are stored in \clockworkdmod\backups on your SD card.
* "wipe cache partition" is an option on the first screen in Clockworkmod
* "wipe dalvik cache" is an option under advanced in Clockworkmod
* "install zip from sdcard" is an option on the first screen in Clockworkmod

The first thing you're going to want to do once you have Clockworkmod installed is a backup. Just select the Backup and Restore, then Backup. It'll take a few minutes. When it's done, if you ever want to restore your phone from that backup, just select Restore. It saves the backups by date. Keep in mind that your backups will take quite a bit of space. (600+ MB) I don't know how big your SD card is, or how much space you have free.

Just about everything you will try to flash to your phone will be contained in .zip format. To do so, all you need to do is have the .zip file somewhere on your SD card, and select the option in Clockworkmod. You can then browse to the file, and you'll be given a confirmation to flash. Once the flashing has finished, you'll be given the option to reboot the phone.

 

[Yoknapatawpha]

I got to the step that you stopped talking about here. My phone hangs after I choose "Recovery."

It sits at the white screen, with the green "htc" letters there, forever. I've waited up to 10 minutes. Is it supposed to take longer than that?