mikeyandroid

All the instructions I've found for using unrevoked3 to root an Evo on a Windows PC seem to be piecemeal (all over the place and incomplete), so I thought I'd give a rundown of what worked for me. Some of these steps may be unnecessary but doing all of them should result in a "safe" root. This is written for those with little to no knowledge of rooting but with basic Windows/PC skills and knowledge of how to navigate the Evo interface:

Prep

Before beginning the process, I would recommend doing the following to your phone:

(1) If you have the original unrevoked root installed, uninstall it by using "Menu", "Settings", "Applications", "Manage Applications" and scrolling to "Unrevoked" at the bottom. Tap it, click "Force Stop" at the bottom and then "Uninstall", "OK" to uninstall it. Then power off/on your phone just to be sure.

(2) If you haven't already installed the OTA 1.47 update, do it now: "Menu", "Settings", "System Updates", and "HTC software update" at the bottom, then click "Check Now" to get the 1.47 update. If you do this update, it takes up to 10 minutes so be patient and let the phone reboot (a few times) until it is done. Then once the update is done, power off/on one last time to get a clean start.

(3) Set your phone to "Charge Only": "Menu", "Settings", "Connect to PC", tap "Default connection type" and select "Charge Only".

(4) Enable USB debugging: "Menu", "Settings", "Applications", "Development", and put a check in "USB debugging".

The root process

(1) Go to Control Panel on your system and uninstall any "HTC" software such as "HTC Sync".

(2) Download the unrevoked3 install package: Go to
unrevoked3 recovery reflash tool, v3.0 and click "Download for Windows". Save the "Reflash-bundle.exe" file somewhere that you can find it on your system.

(3) Using Explorer, run the "Reflash-bundle.exe" file you just downloaded. It'll ask where to install it. Don't just accept the default: change the install location to a folder you can remember: it's just going to unzip some files there: it isn't really a software installer.

(4) Once the files have unzipped, go to the folder you chose in the above step. You should find an "hboot driver.htm" file in that folder: double click on that to open the html instructions on how to install the drivers. Follow the instructions in the html file starting with downloading the actual driver files at the very top. When you download those driver files and unzip those, those are the files (the folder) you'll point to in subsequent steps in those instructions. When done with the html instructions, you should have drivers installed and shouldn't have to come back to this step.

(5) At this point, if you needed to install the drivers, you are probably still sitting at a boot menu on your phone. UNPLUG the phone from USB and select "Fastboot" and then "Reboot" to reboot the phone to restart it. Before the next step, your phone should be on and booted up in its normal operating state (not some boot menu).

(6) If you are running anti-virus software, turn it OFF or disable it now.

(7) Now go to the folder where you unzipped the reflash bundle (step 3 above). In XP or older systems, just double click the "Reflash.exe" file. On Vista and Win7 systems, I'd recommend right clicking on "Reflash.exe" and selecting "Run as Administrator". While this may not be necessary, I know that some USB drivers get really mad if you try to access the USB port without admin privileges (sorry, I'm a coder so I run into that stuff and warn you so you don't have to) so I did it as a precaution.

(8) You should get a window with "Unrevoked 3" on it (on the computer of course). Just follow the instructions in smaller font below "Unrevoked 3" to finish rooting. Note that when it says "Waiting for device", it wants you to plug your Evo into the computer via the USB cable. Note that it wants the Evo to be fully booted normally (not in the Hboot or recovery menus). The prompts at this point are very specific so no need to repeat them. If all works as it is supposed to, the only thing you really have to do is scroll to an item on the phone and select it when instructed. The rest is automated and should result in a "Done" message. The whole thing at this point took maybe one minute so it isn't something you have to wait for or stare at for a long time so if something gets "stuck" for a while... there's likely a problem.

(9) Don't forget to turn your anti-virus software back ON.

Now, when I followed these steps on my Win7 x64 system, reflash.exe detected the phone and started working (we're in step 8 here) but about 4 messages into the process I got the "communications lost... try again" message that unrevoked refers to on today's Twitter. Some say that (contrary to step 1) installing HTC sync actually solves the problem. I didn't try that. After about 6 tries on my Win7 system and even pulling some "tricks" to try to pause reflash.exe at certain points, I gave up and simply booted my old XP laptop and repeated the above steps and it worked perfectly the first time. At the point of the failure, you hear the two tone usb-device-disconnected sound followed by a use-device-connected sound about 20 seconds later. Somewhere in between is where the "communications lost" message appears so it looks like some sort of USB ack/nack issue. Hopefully it'll be resolved soon. My best advice if you get that error: try a new machine. The XP machine that worked perfectly for me had never seen any HTC software. Maybe that helped. And maybe after I uninstalled the HTC software on my Win7 x64 system (the one that didn't work) I should have rebooted before continuing: I didn't because it didn't prompt for a restart and I couldn't find anything "HTC" running in task manager.

Feel free to copy this text, post on other forums, modify it, mutilate it, whatever. I don't want any "credit"... just trying to help.

Mike

Nitraine21

I see that this is a great way for windows, but does anyone know of way to do unrevoked through a Mac?

Never mind....It was actually a lot easier then all those above steps for Windows!

Last edited by Nitraine21; July 15th, 2010 at 10:32 AM. Reason: Added something

rtmeikle

So just to clarify, this method doesn't change anything on the phone except that it will let me download a wireless tether app from Market and it will work on my phone?

Does it affect 4G or anything else on the phone?

Thanks!

Nitraine21

According to their website, this is their changelog:

So for version 2.1 and up, you can apparently you flash custom roms......?

Daft Punk

i just flashed the FPS fix on my EVO, installed UR3 this morning.

DucatiDude

How did you accomplish this on the Mac? Thanks.

mikeyandroid

I did the PC instructions as I don't have a Mac, hoping that someone would start another thread "Unrevoked3: complete Evo/Mac instructions". I can only do the PC side. Hopefully someone with a Mac side will chime in with similarly detailed instructions. Other than maybe installing the drivers though, I bet the instructions are quite similar.

Mike

lnong

Based on what other ppl claimed, and what I saw after rooting, the phone settings/apps/etc all remained the same. The ONLY difference I saw was in the Market, there's a new app called "SuperUser Permissions". that was it.

I dont have 4G in my area so i didnt enable it. So i dunno if/how it affects 4G.

Nitraine21

Go to the link listed in the first thread, and you have the option to download for mac.

Once download, run the .dmg file and install it into your applications.

Afterwards, connect your phone via usb into your mac, place it in debug mode (instructions above also) then click on the application to run it, and it will walk you through...easy as pie, and a lot easier than windows...

So glad I am on a mac

Nitraine21

Did you use unrevoked to apply this? If so, how did you go about doing this? When it comes to flashing roms, I am a noob.

Thanks in advanced

Daft Punk

well after you root via unrevoked. Simply go to

[Kernel]FPS 'fix' for Epson AND Nova screens (No need for evo switch!) Version 3.6.2 - xda-developers

download the 3.6.2 .zip for both screens.

then put it on the root directory of your phone via connection to computer.

power off.

hit power and only hold down button.

follow instructions on screen to flash .zip using power as ENTER button and up/down arrows to navigate.

once flashed, reboot, done.

Nitraine21

Thanks man!

Does it wipe your phone when you do this or is it all good?

Daft Punk

Mine was all good.

rtmeikle

This is great! I'm a total newb to Android, but following your instructions was able to root my phone in just a few minutes. I downloaded the wireless tether for rooted users app, and it's working!

Thanks

bobodobo

Super thanks to Mikey! After completing the OTC update, first I confirmed that 4G was still working - it was, with typical speeds. I turned off 4G, got much lower speeds, turned on 4G again, got the higher speed. So 4G was definitely working before installing unrevoked3. After the install, I tested it again – same result. I also checked WiFi tethering – still worked just as it did before the OTC update and installation of unrevoked3. ShootMe (screen shot program requiring root) works too. All data was preserved in the update/rooting process. Life is good!

For the "Prep" I did steps 1 - 4 exactly as Mikey suggested. For the root itself, I used a MacBook Pro. I didn’t have to do anything like steps 1 – 7 under “The root process” in Mikey’s original post. There were a lot of apps from HTC on the EVO but not a sync app. In fact I didn’t uninstall anything other than the original unrevoked app. On the Mac side all I did was install the unrevoked3 .dmg file, double clicked to mount the virtual disk, clicked again to open, plugged in the USB cable, and followed the simple directions on the unrevoked screen (on the Mac). It couldn’t have been easier. The hardest part was reading the tiny font on the EVO when in the “debug mode” or whatever you call that when its working.

Now to see if the OTC update actually helps with anything (e.g. battery life) which was the whole purpose of doing the update…

BTW the unrevoked team is so cool, and their program is free, I suggest you donate something to the cause they recommend (Electronic Frontier Foundation). I did.

I posted this via the MacBook using the WiFi tethered EVO.

Last edited by bobodobo; July 15th, 2010 at 04:01 PM. Reason: Clarifications

boofa75

I installed Unrevoked3 without any problems. I was able to download the WiFi Tether app and it worked great.

Only one problem, when I turn on wifi and try to connect to my network here at home...it sees it, but doesn't connect to it.

Any thoughts?

DucatiDude

I am rooted (UnrEVOked2) and not on the newest update and using WiFi Tether. Before I do this should I
a) uninstall urEVOked?
b) Run the new update?
c) THEN follow these instructions?

Thanks!

mikeyandroid

Logic would dictate that your a,b,c is correct because that should put you in a stock after-OTA 1.47 state. Should work since that's the state I started with. Anyone disagree?

Mike

j3cubcapt

Man I LOVE MACS!

OK, I downloaded the dmg from unrevoked3 recovery reflash tool, v3.0 launched the app, plugged in my phone and within 1 minute, ROOT!

Does anyone know if there is a donation link for the Unrevoked crew?

Will
Dallas Texas

AliasMangler

I went through this successfully at work in about 6 minutes, only that long cause Unrevoked 3 was opening behind an active window and didn't show up on my tool bar!!!

Thanks guys

brian23la

my phone wont find the ota update, i use to have the update, then did the simple 4 click root. then my tether wouldnt work so i used the original unrEVOked and my wireless tether worked, i just uninstalled unrEVOked and i still cant find the ota update when i check for it...help?

Last edited by brian23la; July 15th, 2010 at 07:06 PM. Reason: says im running firmware version 2.1-update1, baseband version 1.36.00.04.02, kernel version 2.6.29-ac94cf60,build#-1.1.651.1

mikebgb4

followed steps -- not working

brian23la

anyone? why wont my "simple root" evo find the new ota update...i want to use unrevoked 3 but i cant update my phone now it just says its up to date but i know its not.

Daft Punk

i think you need to unroot.

nizmoz

Mine froze up on the flashing the recovery image. Not sure why.

nizmoz

This time it rebooted into Clockworkmod recovery menu, and the unrevoked said communication with phone unexpectedly interupted. So no idea what to do.

brian23la

thats what i was thinking, but i cant find a way to do it?

Nitraine21

To unroot from previous versions, just uninstall superuser permissions and the unrevoked that is on your phone.

When doing the unrevoked 3 root, make sure your phone is in DEBUGGING mode, that would probably fix any connection/communication problems

nizmoz

Mine was in debugging mode, still got a Comm error.

brian23la

i uninstalled SU and unrevoked, but when i search for system updates it says im up to date, but my numbers are not in 1.47.

so i wont be able to run unrevoked 3 right?

i need to get it to let me update...

LiquidFusion01

Got mine to work, took a bit though.

My machine is running Windows 7 x64, followed all instructions, and would get the "communication error" after the phone rebooted, and was left at the clockwork recovery screen. I followed every direction, tried rebooting my machine, ran the software in compatibility mode, same error every time. I had HTC Sync a while back but had uninstalled it, so I tried re-installing and re-rooting, no dice. Uninstalled again, back to the previous error.

Went over to my Wife's laptop, running Windows 7 x32. It has never seen my Evo before or any HTC software in any way. (well, actually I tethered to it once before the OTA update killed that...but that was just Wifi, so it has seen it once.) Followed the directions to the letter, worked exactly as it should have. Tethered right back up shortly after.

Hope this info helps in some way.

355spider

Crap this isn't working for me. I think I am a bit computer ******ed. I am stuck at step 4. I am at the point of installing the drivers. I am following Windows HBOOT driver installation instructions. What does, "Download the unrEVOked modified USB driver and expand it somewhere you will remember." I have it in winzip and I extracted it to my computer but now what do I do with it? I tried clicking on it but it just gave me a bunch of files which I don't know what to do with so I figured I was done with that step. I tried to open device manager on my computer but I dont see it under my computer and I am not seeing my phone recognized under drives. Please help. Thanks guys.

backdown

When i select hboot, it does not show anything on the computer screen. I have followed each step, step by step..going to do a hard reset and see what i yield.

mikeyandroid

The files you downloaded will be used by the driver install manager. One way to kick off the driver install manager is to use Device Manager in the way specified on the instructions page (right click on Android 1.0 Device, then do "Update Driver"). Another way that should work is to use "Add New Hardware" or "Add Device" in Control Panel after you've plugged in your phone. The bottom line is that you want to get to the point where the device/driver installer gives you the option to "search windows" or "manually install". What you want to do is do the manual install option and point the installer to the "Android USB Driver" folder that was created when you unzipped the drivers via the html instructions. As long as you can get Windows to prompt you to install a driver after it has detected a new/unknown device, you can point it there and the install should work.

I don't remember the XP prompts for installing a driver but they all work the same. Plugging in any USB device should prompt Windows to search for a driver. If you don't have HTC Sync installed, it isn't going to find one and it'll ask you. Then you basically select the "I have a disc" or equivalent option and point it to that "Android USB Driver" folder where you unzipped the files.

Mike

mikeyandroid

Oh, and if you're having trouble starting/finding the Device Manager specified in the instructions, try clicking "Start", then "Run" and type devmgmt.msc in the box and click "OK". The Device Manager window should pop up.

Mike

backdown

New problem. I get to the reflash.exe, and run it. Down at the bottom it says "Waiting for device. Plug phone in now and enable usb debugging" The phone is plugged in, and i have tried Disk drive, charge only and htc sync. Any ideas?

355spider

Ok we are both at the same point and no dice. It doesn't seem to be recognizing my device. Nothing happens. It just stays on that waiting for device screen.

Nitraine21

Your software number should be

1.47.651.1

That is what it says for me under software information

Try turning off the phone then turning it on

unless you used the update that unrevoked put out, Then I don't know unfortunately.

P.S. Try turning off the phone then turning it

Last edited by Nitraine21; July 15th, 2010 at 11:16 PM.

355spider

My computer sees it. It keeps asking if I want to open files or look at pictures and doubletwist opens so I know it's getting through. Unrevoked just isn't seeing it.

Nitraine21

Perhaps try a different usb port??

And I am sure you are doing it, but I believe being in usb debugging mode is the key for unrevoked to see it.

backdown

Got it!

backdown

I found out how to do it. Go under device manager (start, right click my computer, properties, hardware, device manager" Look under other devices and see if "ABD" is listed. If so, right click on it, update driver, install from a specified location, and select your first set of files that you first unzipped (the reflash). Then it should recognize it via the reflash.exe.

gear.h34d.2012

So just to clarify, this is a full root correct? The ability to flash custom ROMs, run wireless tethering, and all of the other great things that come with root? Not like UnrEVOked2 where you have to "re-root" every boot and it's not a "real" root? If so I'll definitely be donating to the unrEVOked team and rooting here before too much longer.

Thanks guys!


~Cheers.

355spider

Thanks so much. It looks like it worked. It says done on my computer screen. I now have a green screen at the top of my Evo with some instructions. What do I do? I just don't want to mess this up.

backdown

I got it...i don't know how though, actually. Once i got the the recovery screen, i just rebooted and put a rom on my sd card named "update.zip". I went into recovery mode (power off, volume down and power button), recovery. and i selected to install files from sd card, and selected that one.

Last edited by backdown; July 16th, 2010 at 12:04 AM.

355spider

LOL. You first.

StatFlow

So you were able to flash a custom rom on your Evo using unrevoked3?

What rom was it? This is the question I've been wanting answered since I used unrevoked.

355spider

Ok it looks like it worked. I can wireless tether again. So what else can I do with this root? What's a custom ROM?

backdown

Well, depends on what you install really. I have fresh installed, and it deleted all the bloatware off my phone..like nascar, nfl, shit like that. Dont really know other than that.

StatFlow

Wait so you flashed the latest Fresh Rom from recovery using unrevoked3?