Motorola: Locking the Droid X

[phandroid]

Motorola’s been under heat lately regarding the locked bootloader that the Motorola Droid X will be shipping with. We learned a few days ago that the bootloader would be locked and encrypted to thwart off anyone attempting to load custom ROMs that have not been officially approved and signed by Motorola. Lori Fraleigh explains on their [...]

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[IOWA]

Ugh.. time for another letter

Tapatalk. Samsung Moment. Yep.

 

[MutantCheese]

So much for Open Source programming...

 

[IOWA]

I think a boycott is in order

Tapatalk. Samsung Moment. Yep.

 

[Pryomancer]

I reckon it'll be cracked pretty quickly.

 

[grainysand]

I reckon it'll be cracked pretty quickly.

I have got some bad news for you.

 

[mrmojoz]

I think a boycott is in order

I'm not sure a Sprint customer boycotting a Verizon phone is going to hold much weight.

 

[ari-free]

he can still organize a boycott but I'm sure the custom rom community is already aware and won't buy.

 

[UrbanMuppet]

No longer a contributing member. Account pending for deletion.

 

[genxgeek]

DroidX, the new Android iPhone.

For something we pay $1000-$2000 a year for and $200-$500 upfront the sure do want to control us. I wouldn't buy a car if I couldn't modify it or put what gas I want in it. The cell phone market is still developing. I am hoping in the next few years/decade it will be more open.

The only reason Sprint/HTC prevented unrevoked and Motorola is locking the boot loader is profits. Want tethering? Gotta pay. Want updates? Buy a new phone. If companies like Motorola and HTC and the rest of the phone market would update their OS's within a reasonable amount of time I wouldn't have an issue with it. But in 6 months to a year when they forget about the phone and Android 3.0 comes out and the powerful hardware is stuck on the old OS version, customers will be SOL.

I am not rooting my phone now or any time soon, but when updates stall I will.

To me a custom ROM is more like changing the motor in your car. Your gas is more like an app which you are welcome to change / delete whatever. Most people aren't going to need to change the motor in their car when it works fine just because a new motor came out. Same goes with the operating system...most people won't feel the need to update if it is just fine as is.

 

[importtooner]

Rootable phone is of no concern to me. I'm too paranoid I will brick the damn thing and I don't want to

A. Pay retail for a new phone because I voided the warranty or
B. Go back to my BB Storm

This is no issue for me and I can't wait to have this sucker in my hot little hands.

 

[dmdroid]

So much for the X until the great minds on here figure out how to root it.

This is such bulldung, maybe another Blackberry is in my future.

Oh while I'm at it so much for the Android community remaining open source.

 

[ari-free]

To me a custom ROM is more like changing the motor in your car. Your gas is more like an app which you are welcome to change / delete whatever. Most people aren't going to need to change the motor in their car when it works fine just because a new motor came out. Same goes with the operating system...most people won't feel the need to update if it is just fine as is.

I see it more of insurance. Once everyone gets froyo there won't be a need for apps2sd and other optimizations. But what if they decide to 'forget' to update your phone? Custom will be the only way to go to get the latest OS version.

 

[imtoomuch]

DroidX, the new Android iPhone.

For something we pay $1000-$2000 a year for and $200-$500 upfront the sure do want to control us. I wouldn't buy a car if I couldn't modify it or put what gas I want in it. The cell phone market is still developing. I am hoping in the next few years/decade it will be more open.

The only reason Sprint/HTC prevented unrevoked and Motorola is locking the boot loader is profits. Want tethering? Gotta pay. Want updates? Buy a new phone. If companies like Motorola and HTC and the rest of the phone market would update their OS's within a reasonable amount of time I wouldn't have an issue with it. But in 6 months to a year when they forget about the phone and Android 3.0 comes out and the powerful hardware is stuck on the old OS version, customers will be SOL.

I am not rooting my phone now or any time soon, but when updates stall I will.

I'm sure Motorola is locking it down so that they aren't going to lose money with it.

But...

I also think they are sick of people, who don't know what they are doing, modding their phone and then calling customer support and/or trying to make warranty claims.

 

[IOWA]

I'm sure Motorola is locking it down so that they aren't going to lose money with it.

But...

I also think they are sick of people, who don't know what they are doing, modding their phone and then calling customer support and/or trying to make warranty claims.

No, this was probably done at the request of VZW.

 

[grainysand]

So much for the X until the great minds on here figure out how to root it.

This is such bulldung, maybe another Blackberry is in my future.

Oh while I'm at it so much for the Android community remaining open source.

?

Android is open-source. The code's there. Anyone can grab it, compile, and go. No licensing fees. No anything: you can also mod the source code until kingdom come. That's what open-source means--and it also means that someone can take it, modify it, and make it proprietary.

 

[ari-free]

No, this was probably done at the request of VZW.

no because they did it to the Milestone

 

[IOWA]

?

Android is open-source. The code's there. Anyone can grab it, compile, and go. No licensing fees. No anything: you can also mod the source code until kingdom come. That's what open-source means--and it also means that someone can take it, modify it, and make it proprietary.

But they are still subject to Google's ToS. A quick change in the ToS would mean future iterations couldn't contain encrypted bootloaders. But that's probably not going to happen.

 

[Bitbang3r]

I hate to say it, but writing letters to Motorola is futile. If you look at their entire corporate culture, they've been locking down Linux phones tighter than Tori Spelling's 90210-era chastity belt since before the iPhone even existed. Without pressure from Google and/or Verizon, Motorola's never going to change. I mean, for god's sake, they locked down and embedded suicide bombs in UNLOCKED, UNSUBSIDIZED phones sold directly to consumers (the Droid's GSM cousin). Not even APPLE is that messed up and evil.

The only thing that might get Verizon's attention is, if they have a 30-day guaranteed 100% refund policy, for Verizon customers eligible to buy one to engage in an organized act of public civil disobedience, like buying one, then returning it for a full refund exactly 3 days later and, if asked, saying they returned it due to the locked bootloader. It wouldn't *crucify* Verizon (they'd just end up getting RMA'ed to use as insurance replacements), but it would definitely get their attention as long as users returned the phones after EXACTLY 3 days -- a length of time that would be unmistakable and definitely NOT just users who wanted one to use free for a month, or who just "didn't like" it.

In the longer run, besides actively shunning them and creating a culture of negative peer pressure against buying a Motorola phone, there's not much we can do short of coming up with an easy way to hack a cheap JTAG programmer together using a FTDI usb-FIFO bridge chip on a breakout board (they came out with new chips a few months ago that have native extensions to handle things like SPI, I2C, and JTAG). Or at least make it accessible enough for the independent phone dealers that will now unlock a phone to be able and willing to rewrite a Motorola bootloader with a JTAG for $25 if you take/ship your phone to them for the mod.

 

[IOWA]

I hate to say it, but writing letters to Motorola is futile. If you look at their entire corporate culture, they've been locking down Linux phones tighter than Tori Spelling's 90210-era chastity belt since before the iPhone even existed. Without pressure from Google and/or Verizon, Motorola's never going to change. I mean, for god's sake, they locked down and embedded suicide bombs in UNLOCKED, UNSUBSIDIZED phones sold directly to consumers (the Droid's GSM cousin). Not even APPLE is that messed up and evil.

The only thing that might get Verizon's attention is, if they have a 30-day guaranteed 100% refund policy, for Verizon customers eligible to buy one to engage in an organized act of public civil disobedience, like buying one, then returning it for a full refund exactly 3 days later and, if asked, saying they returned it due to the locked bootloader. It wouldn't *crucify* Verizon (they'd just end up getting RMA'ed to use as insurance replacements), but it would definitely get their attention as long as users returned the phones after EXACTLY 3 days -- a length of time that would be unmistakable and definitely NOT just users who wanted one to use free for a month, or who just "didn't like" it.

In the longer run, besides actively shunning them and creating a culture of negative peer pressure against buying a Motorola phone, there's not much we can do short of coming up with an easy way to hack a cheap JTAG programmer together using a FTDI usb-FIFO bridge chip on a breakout board (they came out with new chips a few months ago that have native extensions to handle things like SPI, I2C, and JTAG). Or at least make it accessible enough for the independent phone dealers that will now unlock a phone to be able and willing to rewrite a Motorola bootloader with a JTAG for $25 if you take/ship your phone to them for the mod.

Who said the letter was going to be to Moto? I was wanting to send it to google.

 

[swagner53]

Personally I am all for rooting and modding- but I don't fault either Moto or Verizon for this. They want the phone to work "as intended". Yep, Verizon is protecting its network from unauthorized tethering (@#$!). Motorola is protecting it's custom parts of the OS and the device from possible security issues, unintended modding like overclocking- things that can make the phone unstable. Motorola knows the majority of users won't root anyway and they need the device to be secure and as bug free as possible. Verizon needs it to work well and be reliable as they are heavily subsidizing the phone.

Do I want free tethring?- yep. Am I against custom roms?- nope- it is your phone, do what you like. However, both companies here are simply protecting themselves, the device, and the networks they run on. I'll be at the verizon store to get mine at 8AM.

 

[peadar]

Motorola is protecting it's custom parts of the OS and the device from possible security issues, unintended modding like overclocking- things that can make the phone unstable.

Nope. Even developer phones such as the Nexus One lose warranty the second you unlock the bootloader. So the risk belongs to the user and the user alone.

Motorola have nothing to lose except customers such as me.

 

[BoogieNYC]

Personally I am all for rooting and modding- but I don't fault either Moto or Verizon for this. They want the phone to work "as intended". Yep, Verizon is protecting its network from unauthorized tethering (@#$!). Motorola is protecting it's custom parts of the OS and the device from possible security issues, unintended modding like overclocking- things that can make the phone unstable. Motorola knows the majority of users won't root anyway and they need the device to be secure and as bug free as possible. Verizon needs it to work well and be reliable as they are heavily subsidizing the phone.

Do I want free tethring?- yep. Am I against custom roms?- nope- it is your phone, do what you like. However, both companies here are simply protecting themselves, the device, and the networks they run on. I'll be at the verizon store to get mine at 8AM.

I'm all for laissez-faire economics and I support a company's decision to do whatever it wants to do. And as a result I agree with your point. However, being that I'm all for choice, I hope this phone tanks.

I'm probably going to buy one -- because I need to upgrade right now and this is, even with the crappy policy, the best for me out there. But I hate the fact that I have no real choice but go along with it.

I'm doing a one-year contract and unless something happens to change my mind, I'm done with Motorola after this. I wish there were other real options right now, as I'd even go with the Incredible if not for the battery/voice issues it's exhibited.

Really sucks...the phone is already pissing me off and I haven't even gotten it yet.

 

[dmdroid]

i hate to say it, but writing letters to motorola is futile. If you look at their entire corporate culture, they've been locking down linux phones tighter than tori spelling's 90210-era chastity belt since before the iphone even existed. Without pressure from google and/or verizon, motorola's never going to change. I mean, for god's sake, they locked down and embedded suicide bombs in unlocked, unsubsidized phones sold directly to consumers (the droid's gsm cousin). Not even apple is that messed up and evil.

The only thing that might get verizon's attention is, if they have a 30-day guaranteed 100% refund policy, for verizon customers eligible to buy one to engage in an organized act of public civil disobedience, like buying one, then returning it for a full refund exactly 3 days later and, if asked, saying they returned it due to the locked bootloader. It wouldn't *crucify* verizon (they'd just end up getting rma'ed to use as insurance replacements), but it would definitely get their attention as long as users returned the phones after exactly 3 days -- a length of time that would be unmistakable and definitely not just users who wanted one to use free for a month, or who just "didn't like" it.

In the longer run, besides actively shunning them and creating a culture of negative peer pressure against buying a motorola phone, there's not much we can do short of coming up with an easy way to hack a cheap jtag programmer together using a ftdi usb-fifo bridge chip on a breakout board (they came out with new chips a few months ago that have native extensions to handle things like spi, i2c, and jtag). Or at least make it accessible enough for the independent phone dealers that will now unlock a phone to be able and willing to rewrite a motorola bootloader with a jtag for $25 if you take/ship your phone to them for the mod.

"Great idea".... "Can you here me now"?????

 

[ari-free]

I don't hope it tanks...you'd rather have iPhone restrictions? But it gives an opportunity for others to give better options.