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Root REFERENCE: What HTC ROM Do I Have?

erisuser1

Android Expert
Nov 11, 2009
1,644
759
Who would have thought that one of the frequent questions we would see here on Androidforums would be,


"Am I root? I'm not sure what ROM I have on my Eris!".


Here we have, in one place, version numbers as reported by the phone GUI, for all the HTC ROMs (leaked or official). This list only applies to HTC ROMs - things that arrived as either an OTA process or an HTC-signed "PB00IMG.ZIP" file, not "dev" ROMs

You can cross-check your version by going to the menu on your phone and selecting


Settings -> About Phone -> Software information



None of the identifiers are absolutely unique; the two that come closest are the "Software version", and "Kernel version".

Up until the OTA-2.1, the "Software version" number was unique; but it shares the same value with Leak-V3. Also, Leak-V3 and OTA-2.1 report the same value for kernel version. This is consistent with other reports that they are extremely similar, if not identical releases.


Code:
   ROM          Software version

RUU-MR1         1.16.605.1
RUU-MR2         1.17.605.1
LEAK-V1         2.26.605.2
ROOTROM         2.19.605.1
LEAK-V2         2.26.605.4
LEAK-V3         2.36.605.1
OTA-2.1         2.36.605.1
OTA-7-2010      2.37.605.4
OTA-3-2011      2.41.605.6


Code:
   ROM          Kernel version

RUU-MR1         2.6.27-95442eff htc-kernel@and18-2 #976
RUU-MR2         2.6.27-c77ff39d htc-kernel@and18-2 )
LEAK-V1         2.6.29-5cf233c2 htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
ROOTROM         2.6.29-5898f66b htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
LEAK-V2         2.6.29-564a4a15 htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
LEAK-V3         2.6.29-8a03cb9a htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
OTA-2.1         2.6.29-8a03cb9a htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
OTA-7-2010      2.6.29-8a03cb9a htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
OTA-3-2011      2.6.29-bcb140a0 htc-kernel@and18-2 #1



All of these values were derived "the hard way" - I loaded every one of these releases onto my phone (taking great care to avoid any of the leak-ROM bootloaders). In the case of the OTA-2.1, I rolled my phone back to 1.5(MR2) and accepted the OTA update. (I have screenshots of all of them if you need further convincing.)


All Details

Code:
MR1

Firmware version  1.5
Baseband version  2.32.40.11.09
  Kernel version  2.6.27-95442eff htc-kernel@and18-2 #976
    Build number  1.16.605.1 CL88486 release-keys
Software version  1.16.605.1

MR2

Firmware version  1.5
Baseband version  2.32.40.11.09
  Kernel version  2.6.27-c77ff39d htc-kernel@and18-2 )
    Build number  1.17.605.1 CL104882 release-keys
Software version  1.17.605.1

Leak-V1

Firmware version  2.1
Baseband version  2.41.04.02.02
  Kernel version  2.6.29-5cf233c2 htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
    Build number  2.26.605.2 CL134869 release-keys
Software version  2.26.605.2


Root-ROM

Firmware version  2.1
Baseband version  2.40.00.01.22
  Kernel version  2.6.29-5898f66b htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
    Build number  2.19.605.1 CL123435 test-keys
Software version  2.19.605.1


Leak-V2

Firmware version  2.1
Baseband version  2.41.04.02.02
  Kernel version  2.6.29-564a4a15 htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
    Build number  2.26.605.4 CL140744 release-keys
Software version  2.26.605.4


Leak-V3

Firmware version  2.1
Baseband version  2.42.00.04.12
  Kernel version  2.6.29-8a03cb9a htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
    Build number  2.36.605.1 CL165907 release-keys
Software version  2.36.605.1


21-OTA

Firmware version  2.1
Baseband version  2.42.00.04.12
  Kernel version  2.6.29-8a03cb9a htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
    Build number  2.36.605.1 CL165907 release-keys
Software version  2.36.605.1


OTA-7-2010

Firmware version  2.1
Baseband version  2.42.01.04.27
  Kernel version  2.6.29-8a03cb9a htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
    Build number  2.37.605.4 CL185970 release-keys
Software version  2.37.605.4


OTA-3-2011

Firmware version  2.1
Baseband version  2.42.01.04.27
  Kernel version  2.6.29-bcb140a0 htc-kernel@and18-2 #1
    Build number  2.41.605.6 CL335228 release-keys
Software version  2.41.605.6
 
Can someone explain to me exactly what the "Root-ROM" is? (i.e. file name, which leak it's based on, etc).

All of the ROMs (or OTA update files) mentioned in the OP came from HTC, as evidenced by their ability to "get past" the cryptographic security checks enforced by the HTC bootloader (or HTC recovery boot, in the case of OTA/update files).

So, the root Root-ROM is not "based off something else". It appears to be an HTC 2.1 test/engineering-use ROM that is rather old, likely pre-dating the Leak-V1 HTC ROM. It happens to have a bootloader that has all security checks disabled, and thus is the pathway to loading anything onto the phone. If you have that bootloader on the phone, anything can be loaded onto the phone.

When put to use, all of them (except the OTA) are named PB00IMG.ZIP.

NOTE THAT THERE ARE SIX DIFFERENT FILES NAMED PB00IMG.ZIP FROM HTC, SO YOU NEED TO BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN YOU ARE USING THE CORRECT FILE.

You can do this by computing the "md5sum" hash of any PB00IMG ZIP file you download, and comparing the result with this reference table on XDA

eu1
 
Upvote 0
Great info, thanks!

So the root-ROM appears to update to the 1.49 S-OFF bootloader. Do all rooted ROM's leave you with 1.49, or do some leave you with 1.47 or 1.48?

Please, be careful with your nomenclature!

There are only 6 ROMs from HTC, and only one of them - the "Root-ROM", have the 1.49 - S-OFF bootloader. The three "leak" roms also show a version number of 1.49, are S-ON (Security-ON), but are to be strictly avoided because using them (currently) renders the Root-ROM useless. You should also never say "1.49" by itself, because its meaning is ambiguous. Say either "1.49 S-ON", or "1.49 S-OFF" to distinguish the two clearly.

As for "aftermarket" or "dev" ROMs, none of them install bootloaders, or recovery partitions, or cache partitions.

When you say "all rooted ROMs", you are lumping together dev ROMs (which don't touch the bootloader that pre-exists them), and HTC roms, which do re-flash the bootloader (the HTC OTA updates have not - in the past).

Perhaps what you are asking, though, is "Is the desired outcome, no matter what ROM I decide to use, to always preserve the 1.49 S-OFF bootloader on my phone?", then, the answer is decidedly, and emphatically, YES.

Another way of saying that is that all roots start with the HTC Root-ROM (PB00IMG.ZIP md5sum 63eacc5ede3b179f95dc22d8ef585f94 )

Having said that, this thread is about HTC Signed ROMs ONLY.



eu1
 
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Not to be a pain...But I installed v3 leak, but *for certain* have the kernel version OTA in the list above. My phone is also totally screwed, but v3 was fine. I think problems started when I dialed *228 1, which maybe I shouldn't have done? But I was looking for OTA, didn't really know what it would look like (now I've read on that). So I don't know if that's significant. I'm a tech, but not for this stuff, so I'm a bit out of my depth and really just want my phone to work!

Thanks,
Brian
 
Upvote 0
Not to be a pain...But I installed v3 leak, but *for certain* have the kernel version OTA in the list above. My phone is also totally screwed, but v3 was fine. I think problems started when I dialed *228 1, which maybe I shouldn't have done? But I was looking for OTA, didn't really know what it would look like (now I've read on that). So I don't know if that's significant. I'm a tech, but not for this stuff, so I'm a bit out of my depth and really just want my phone to work!

Thanks,
Brian

My v3 leak also has the same kernel number as the one listed for OTA. I know that I got leak from these forums and I know no OTA has been done, not sure if it means anything.

Brian, lg4420:

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Indeed, I had apparently made an error. I reloaded the leak-V3 (system & boot partitions) onto my phone to recheck the version info, and sure enough, you are correct: leak-V3 and OTA report the same values in the

Settings -> About phone -> Software Information display.

I corrected the table(s) in the OP. Thanks for speaking up, especially since I want this to be a reference that others can use; that's the way things should work. (I'm not happy to have made an error, but I am glad it got caught and fixed up).

eu1
 
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