[Q] Can I root my Desire if locked on Vodafone? - Desire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys,
I know my question maybe dumb, but I am not as much an expert in this android business.
So, can I use Unrevoked to root my desire if it is locked on Vodafone (Romania)? Can I debrand or unlock it, via a ROM , a MOD or anything simillar? Or only in specialized centers?
Thanks for your ideas.

It is possible to root and debrand your desire using the unrevoked method and to use a custom ROM.
If it's a branded phone, you may need to use a gold card. If it's recent model, then you may need to downgrade the boot loader to an earlier version. There are some excellent guides out there (see this post for links).
A friend of mine believed that his HTC Legend was still SIM locked after all this, so I'm not entirely sure you'll be able to unlock the phone that way.

Thanks man for the quick reply. I used unrevoked with no issues on my previous Desire (which I sold to try the nokia N8) but that was not locked. Now I have a chance to get a locked one at a more reasonable price and that is why i was wondering. So practically it is ok, I just need to root so that I can have a few minor tweaks like on my previous one. No major stuff: just for instance installing the ROM manager or backup pro or A2SD+. So if this is possible I dont need the phone to be unlocked, as I actually am on Vodafone.

Related

[Q] Rooting UK T-Mobile Desire

Right, first of all, I've tried searching and have found LOADS of really helpful information. But nothing seems to clearly answer my query which should hopefully be a quick one for someone to answer.
I previously had a G1 and have rooted/flashed a custom rom onto that, so I am familiar with the whole process. My only concern is that things seem a bit different with the Desire.
To set the scene, I have a T-Mobile branded Desire with default 2.1 ROM (Build 1.15.110.11). There is no specific T-Mobile software other than the boot animation. But I've read that this build of the OS is specific to T-Mobile, so I assume it is branded...
I currently have no need to unlock the phone to allow for other networks as I'm in my contract for the long haul! My questions are:
Do I need to have my phone unlocked in order to root?
Secondly, to root and install a custom rom, do I need to use a gold card if I am going to use unrevoked? Or is the unrevoked method an alternative to the gold card method?
And lastly, is there a specific radio image that I need to use for T-Mobile?
Any additional tips specific to T-Mobile handsets are appreciated!
Thanks in advance for any help, and let me know if I've missed off anything important.
Apologies for the length of the post, I just wanted to make you sure I got all the details down.
Hi Mate
1: No you dont
2: No gold card for root but I think yes for custom rom or you get the endless reboot prob.
3: I don't think so but wouldn't like to say for sure.
i have a UK TMobile phone and I always use the recommended radio that goes with the customer ROM.
I am currently running LeeDroid 1.8 with radio 32.43.00.32U_5.09.00.20
Thanks for your reply. I've managed to root it with unrevoked, even easier than I expected. But your comment on the gold card is well timed as I was going to put a rom on in the next couple of hours, without a gold card!
I'll hang fire and see if anyone else can confirm whether I need one or not...
Cheers
to be honest mate for how easy they are to create you may as well have one even just as a safe guard for the future
MajorTomUK said:
Right, first of all, I've tried searching and have found LOADS of really helpful information. But nothing seems to clearly answer my query which should hopefully be a quick one for someone to answer.
I previously had a G1 and have rooted/flashed a custom rom onto that, so I am familiar with the whole process. My only concern is that things seem a bit different with the Desire.
To set the scene, I have a T-Mobile branded Desire with default 2.1 ROM (Build 1.15.110.11). There is no specific T-Mobile software other than the boot animation. But I've read that this build of the OS is specific to T-Mobile, so I assume it is branded...
I currently have no need to unlock the phone to allow for other networks as I'm in my contract for the long haul! My questions are:
Do I need to have my phone unlocked in order to root?
Secondly, to root and install a custom rom, do I need to use a gold card if I am going to use unrevoked? Or is the unrevoked method an alternative to the gold card method?
And lastly, is there a specific radio image that I need to use for T-Mobile?
Any additional tips specific to T-Mobile handsets are appreciated!
Thanks in advance for any help, and let me know if I've missed off anything important.
Apologies for the length of the post, I just wanted to make you sure I got all the details down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was in exactly the same boat as you. i unlocked my phone cos is was visiting germany for a while. you dont need to unlock but you do need to debrand i.e flash a non branded ROM to the phone to root.
follow this guide:
http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Other-Off-Topic/Debranding-Unlocking-an-HTC-Desire/td-p/23317
once debranded you can run unrevoked to root the desire. after this point you have a decision to make: which ROM to flash through clockwork recover(what unrevoked installs so you can flash ROMs).. if i were you i would make sure you flash a ROM that doesnt upgrade the hboot to 0.92( you can downgrade but its a pain in the ass!).
so to answer you questions:no, yes and no. no specific radio image needed for t mobile as in order to root you need to debrand anyway so any operator specific radio is redundant. i used the sd card that cam with my phone to make the goldcard( copy the contents of the card to your PC, format the card, make goldcard, once you have made the goldcard you can put all the stuff back on the sd card, the card will remain a goldcard until its formatted again).
its all pretty simple really, i was hesitant but half an hour late was wondering what i was so worried about.!
good luck
bob dylan said:
you dont need to unlock but you do need to debrand i.e flash a non branded ROM to the phone to root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rooted my Virgin Media branded phone with unrevoked without flashing a debranded rom
I used the goldcard method to root my T-Mo UK Desire that had 2.1 on, but now you can just use Unrevoked to install a recovery image and then use recovery to flash the ROM of your choice, easy as pie
Thanks for all the replies guys. I'll do a gold card in a bit.
Unrevoked ran ok and ClockworkMod is installed ok, so I assume I didn't need to de-brand in any way?
I think I might go with LeeDroid, but I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers!
jamesmcuk said:
I rooted my Virgin Media branded phone with unrevoked without flashing a debranded rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you rooted with unrevoked you debranded! unrevoked flashes a custom recovery( ie a non branded recovery.
bob dylan said:
if you rooted with unrevoked you debranded! unrevoked flashes a custom recovery( ie a non branded recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am quite sure thats not correct. Debranding removes the operator logos and software - rooting modifies the bootloader to install the custom recovery
I used unrevoked and still had all branding in place. I have now debranded and no Virgin Media stuff remains
Hi there,
I installed the LeeDroid rom earlier today.
This was installed on a debranded orange phone. I rooted first with Unrevoked then used the clockwork recovery to install the associated zip files for the rom.
In post one of the thread LeoDroid makes the comment "everyone needs an ext3 partition on there SD" so I made sure I had this in place before starting.
During the process of making the EXT3 partition I formatted my SDcard then used this card to install the rom. So during the installation I didn't use a gold card.
Everything is working great.
Hope this helps.
Matt
jamesmcuk said:
I am quite sure thats not correct. Debranding removes the operator logos and software - rooting modifies the bootloader to install the custom recovery
I used unrevoked and still had all branding in place. I have now debranded and no Virgin Media stuff remains
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
really? weired, i used unrevoked and it removed my operator logos and software.
odd.
maybe its different depending on who branded the phone there seems to be much variation in the software which is one aspect in which the iphone does win out. The only one mind you lol
Right, gold card done just in case. Just copying everything back onto the SD card. I definitely still have a T-Mobile boot screen which shows after the HTC logo after I've used unrevoked, although maybe this will disappear when I flash a custom rom?
Regarding an ext3 partition, I thought this was only necessary if I wanted the old style A2SD? I don't run a massive amount of apps as I've managed fine up to now, so the Froyo implementation should be fine for me. I'm dual booting to Ubuntu, so may be worth setting up a 1gb ext3 partition just in case as it won't take long to do...
Again, thanks for all your help!
Mine is T-Mobile UK too. I'm moving between 3 ROMs to test something temporarily but I'm running the stock HTC 2.2 with root. You don't need a goldcard to use these stock ROMs. Just root and then flash.
Flash the correct radio image before the ROM to avoid many potential problems (install zip from SD card through recovery).
-----------------------------------
- Sent via my HTC Desire -
th3 said:
Mine is T-Mobile UK too. I'm moving between 3 ROMs to test something temporarily but I'm running the stock HTC 2.2 with root. You don't need a goldcard to use these stock ROMs. Just root and then flash.
Flash the correct radio image before the ROM to avoid many potential problems (install zip from SD card through recovery).
-----------------------------------
- Sent via my HTC Desire -
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers mate, literally just about to do this. Latest radio is now on and working ok with stock 2.1. Now to flash rom! Also decided to use HTC 2.2 with root, and take it from there I reckon.
As you said in your opening post T Mobile has for a change not put a whole load of rubbish on the phone and the main thing appears to be the splash screen.
I debranded my phone after unlocking & rooting as it is a quick and simple thing to do and just in case there was something lurking that I was not aware of
wgg said:
As you said in your opening post T Mobile has for a change not put a whole load of rubbish on the phone and the main thing appears to be the splash screen.
I debranded my phone after unlocking & rooting as it is a quick and simple thing to do and just in case there was something lurking that I was not aware of
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, after I flashed a custom rom, even the T-Mobile logo has disappeared from the boot/splash screen. So no branding anywhere now!
All that's left is the pink circle when I first power the phone on, which looks T-Mobile'ish! That'll be contained in the HBOOT won't it?
I have absolutely no T Mobile branding, would go straight to HTC when using a stock rom.

[Q] Orange branded Desire - rooting clarification needed...

Hi there
I have an Orange branded Desire running HBoot version 0.75 (if that makes any difference)
I'm wanting to root my phone and try various different ROM's out there...
What I need clarifying is whether I will need to unlock my phone first of all after hearing stories about Orange handsets becoming simlocked after updating to FroYo, although I think that this may just be in cases where the handsets werent rooted first....
hope that makes sense!
Cheers!
By SIM locked people are meaning that you can't use another carriers sim in there, if you are with Orange then it doesn't matter. I've an Orange handset and rooted with Unrevoked and running OpenDesire 3.2 all working fine and dandy.
Yes dude you would be advised to. I have found Orange to be so tetchy. I had an upgrade from HTC on my brand new desire and installed it and it locked my phone up. It was nothing to do with the sim or carrier, it was by the manufacturer to their own phone. I unlocked mine as I heard so many people were having issues with Orange.
Sent from my HTC Desire using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
^what he said
so best steps are to unlock phone, root and then play happily with any roms i fancy! cool.... off to get an unlock code now then!
tthew said:
so best steps are to unlock phone, root and then play happily with any roms i fancy! cool.... off to get an unlock code now then!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats the way Good luck dude.
cheers for the clarification earlier guys, phone unlocked, rooted and running opendesire - no sense.... running spot on so far and loving the flexibility! now time to try some others maybe?.....

Unlock Vodafone Desire HD Ready For Custom Rom

Hi,
Will be receiving an Vodafone upgrade Desire HD soon and was wondering, what do I need to do before I can flash a custom ROM? Cheers
Try to use this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=905003 or this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=905261
It was really helpful for rooting my vodafone locked DHD
Thanks, I have no idea how to use adb etc....
So I need to create a gold card? Then I can root and flash a custom Rom?
There is no need for a gold card on Vodafone with DHD as it will most likely be stock pretty much, as long as there is no Vodafone logo or branding
scent from my armpit
Hi
I dont have the phone yet but on the box image I can see Vodafone services like Vodafone 360 apps on the homescreen.
yes u need to create a goldcard, it's really simple follow the guide provided, because your phone will arrive with a 1.72 o .75 baseband version. And till now, goldcard option, is the only way to downgrade to 1.32. Maybe in the next days there will be something new as a new version of visionary+.
So, when I have goldcarded it, I can then root, and flash custom roms?
I'm being careful here and dont want to brick a new handset.
Your advice is appreciated
Maybe mine is different as I got mine through carphonewarehouse, in fact most likely it was different, but I had no need for a goldcard. Best of luck.
scent from my armpit
Sn0tters said:
Maybe mine is different as I got mine through carphonewarehouse, in fact most likely it was different, but I had no need for a goldcard. Best of luck.
scent from my armpit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So how will I know if I don't need to goldcard mine? How did u know that yours was already unlocked?
Sent via my Lee Droid custom HTC Desire mobile phone by the power of Grey Skull......
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=824357&highlight=stock+rom
Download one of the stock Roms, not 1.15.405.1 and just connect your USB and run it, few next button clicks, wait for few min and you’re done!
I used 1.32.405.6 to debrand my vodafone phone so later on if i want to root it i can. you cant with 1.72.405.3
I spent days goggling and searching on the forum on how to remove Vodafone branded rubbish from my DHD, people saying only way is to root it bla bla bla.
After i was half way through rooting my phone got to the point of making goldcard and it took hours to get to that point reading up on rooting (still don’t understand most of it) and because of not so great step by step guide and android updating their sdk that screwed up the step by step info.
ijob said:
Hi,
Will be receiving an Vodafone upgrade Desire HD soon and was wondering, what do I need to do before I can flash a custom ROM? Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know,that I flashed mine as soon as the NAND lock was cracked, but my advice would be to play around with it for a few days before and make sure that you want it rooting and more importantly whether you like / want Sense, it's a great device and would be a shame to waste the opportunity to get to know it in it's virgin state first, but a good start would be to read up here
Over 4 hours of hard work and its now downgraded, debranded, unlocked, fully rooted, s-off and now running a custom Rom. Last night was intense but the advice provided here meant that I had easy access to guides and tools so MANY THANKS FOLKS!
I had to do the lot!
Sent from the back of Michael Caine's Mini Cooper S, holding on for dear life......
Enjoy!!! For me it was the same hard work

(Q) HTC unlock bootloader... but my phone's already ENG-HBOOTed... =_=

...hope this isnt a pointless thread, but I felt these are a valid set of questions... might be wrong though... >_<
In any case, I've just been informed that the HTC now officially unlocks the DHD bootloader through their website.
Now, my questions...
Does anyone know the difference between the Official HTC bootloader unlock procedure versus the Radio and ENG-HBOOT procedure posted by jkoljo?
Also, note that the HTC way looks like its just one procedure... whilst jkoljo's are distinctly two (one for Radio and one for HBOOT)... if the HTC procedure is initially used, would you still need to do either of jkoljo's? ie the Radio S-Off one... assuming the HTC way gives you only Eng-HBOOT S-OFF?
Hell, do you still need to downgrade with the HTC bootloader unlock?
Lastly, I've already used jkoljo's procedure and now fully Radio & HBOOT S-Off'ed... is there any point of doing the HTC unlock bootloader procedure? Would it actually give me a negative result if I actually go through the HTC procedure now with the current state of my phone?
Anyways, thanks for reading through my musings... and here's hoping someone with the knowhow answers well... ^_^
/Peace
I would like to no this to, but do we really need to worry now we are rooted ?
Yes me 2. What are the pros and cons of them?
...from reading the FAQ on the HTCdev about it.
...according to its FAQ
It seems you're still S-ON after their procedure. This is to apparently secure the radio as well as the SIM-Lock...
So me thinks we might still need jkoljo's ENG-S-OFF procedure afterwards...
...Although, with HTC leaving that lock... I'm a bit dubious about advocating their procedure now as opposed to jkoljo's as well as the Advanced Ace Hack kit. The latter of which is actually the most effective imho, though it still needs jkoljo's ENG-S-OFF procedure...
Do not try to unlock the bootloader of your phone.
it's not locked.
If someone can clarify this: for me the DHD bootloader has never been locked!?!
I was planing to go for sensation when HTC launched it but kept my DHD as sensation was locked and it was not possible to put custom ROM.
From my first HTC, the first thing I always do was removing Sense... (HD, HD2 then DHD). As far as I know Sensation was the first with locked bootloader.
if someone can explain... i'll be more than happy
truc007 said:
Do not try to unlock the bootloader of your phone.
it's not locked.
If someone can clarify this: for me the DHD bootloader has never been locked!?!
I was planing to go for sensation when HTC launched it but kept my DHD as sensation was locked and it was not possible to put custom ROM.
From my first HTC, the first thing I always do was removing Sense... (HD, HD2 then DHD). As far as I know Sensation was the first with locked bootloader.
if someone can explain... i'll be more than happy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root is different from unlocking bootloader eg the Motorola Milestone has root but the bootloader is still locked. This still allows you to load partially customized ROMs but prevents loading custom kernels for one thing.
My question though would be:
What exactly is the point in HTC's bootloader unlocker? Say you go from a stock phone, upgraded froyo to GB all the way. You dont have s-off or eng-off or anything, what would the benefit be to now unlock the bootloader "officially"?
Does it supply a recovery with nandroid backup or allow GB to be rooted or anything like that?
The benefit would be that you lose your warranty because HTC saves your serial, which wouldn't happen if you do it yourself.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk
Exactly...and thanks to AAHK it's not really difficult to get Root, S-Off and CWM on our phones
DN41
Wonder why HTC went through "all the trouble" to do a bootloader unlocker for Desire HD now anyway? its like p#ssing on the ashes AFTER the house burnt down, surely they know there's a dozen ways to get there that are far less involved than their convoluted scheme. *shrugs*
I did this just because there's no major action on ICS and no action on rcmix runny, so i needed to do something to my phone.
Its a real convoluted process.
you need to restore to stock and update to the latest ruu before you can then install the new hboot to then unlock.
The only difference is now i have locked, then unlocked at the top of the bootloader screen.
still needed to re root the stock rom to install 4ext to nandroid the stock and restore ICS.
Really not worth the effort trying ifyou already have a custom recovery and s-off.
Unless you want the latest possible date to show off...
But if you unlocked the bootloader, what is the best way to get root access?
I want to use eg Titanium backup
Pibroens said:
But if you unlocked the bootloader, what is the best way to get root access?
I want to use eg Titanium backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the stickies in the dev forum like this one.
If you have S-OFF, obviously you can skip to the next steps, which is to root.
Make sure you read, read, read so you don't miss anything important.

Root HTC One M8 with Vodafone branding

Dear friends,
Yesterday I sold my Oneplus One to get a brand new HTC One M8. Thing this is gorgeous, but the only thing I'm missing from the Oneplus One is the software. Which isnt the least important aspect of a Phone imo. So I'm considering rooting my Phone and getting CM11 on it. The only thing is that I want to root it, but it has Vodafone branding on it. Can I just use the normal root methods or isnt that possible for Vodafone branded M8's? If so does anyone know a different method? If no does anyone know a link to the best (and simpliest ) root method for my Htc One m8 . Ive been out for a while from this rooting stuff and id be pretty upset if id screw this **** up. lol
Kind regards.
Normal rooting method will work. Unlock bootloader, flash/boot custom recovery, flash SuperSU or any rooted custom ROM.
Another thing, this thread isn't supposed to be in this section. Questions and troubleshooting go into Q&A section not general section.
I agree with above post
I have the same.Unlocked bootloader through HTC and flashed custom recovery and flashed SU.
PS I have not flashed any modified ROM and it i still S-on

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