edit: this thread is being unstickied so i can start a new one to clean it up. please see the new thread here: http://androidforums.com/thunderbol...-methods-updated-9-23-2011-a.html#post3242725
if the last few pages are of any interest feel free to comment,but otherwise please do not bring this thread back to the top with root questions. please post a new thread,or in the new stickied thread at the top of the forum. thanks!
this thread is dedicated to the current known methods of rooting the thunderbolt.
i will do my best to change this post as these methods are modified or become outdated,and keep the best,current methods here.
after root see the Thunderbolt ROM list for a list of roms,kernels and mods
for some extra info and "how to"s of rooting see http://androidforums.com/thunderbolt-all-things-root/352729-how-some-root-terminology.html
if youre reading this and considering rooting your device,a word of warning:
DO NOT ever attempt to accept an OTA while rooted and running a custom recovery.
an official OTA update needs the stock recovery to apply it. attempting to take an OTA without the stock recovery can result in a failed harmless attempt,a fixable bootloop,or even a brick. so please... dont do it.
and now,on with the info. enjoy
Revolutionary
a new method has just become available that does not wipe your data. this is 100% the best,and most reccomended way to root your thunderbolt at this time.
see this page for info:
Revolutionary
and a video from nate mills:
How to Root - HTC Thunderbolt (No Data Wipe! Newest & Fastest) - YouTube
_________________________________________________________________
how to unroot
the revolutionary method of rooting uses a sneeky hboot exploit,and replaces your stock 1.04.0000 or 1.05.0000 bootloader with a modified permanent hboot. it not only gives you all the same fashboot flash abilities as the original engineering bootloader,but it very effectively blocks other hboots for overwriting it. its good,as you will remain s-off if you accidentally flash a full RUU,or accept an OTA,but makes it a little trickier to remove.
for the time being, removal requires ADB to be set up and running and some commands entered in "fastboot" to to allow the permanent hboot to be overwritten. once an "s-on" tool is release,ill take th is part of this guide down.
if you rooted the old skool manual way and have adb setup and working,you can use this guide to remove the permanent hboot.
with Revolutionary,will come a new wave of rooters that have no clue what adb,or fastboot even are. for you folks, Sele and the crew in the "rescue sguad" at HTC Thunderbolt Forum have come up with a really clever way to get the adb basics,and the eng bootloader to flash,with minimal setup and confusion. with their permission,im borrowing it for our guide here.
*WARNING* no siginture or file checks will be done flashing the new bootloader in hboot or fastboot.fastboot will literally flash "lets golf" as a bootloader if you tell it to. DO NOT mess with your hboot unless absolutely neccessary to return to stock for warranty purposes. if youre just tired of being rooted,flash the mr2 ruu to get back to unrooted firmware and factory recovery. leaving the revolutionary s-off bootloader in place is the safest,and best option,and will not affect your ability to recieve OTAs.
*AGAIN- if youre just following this procedure because youre tired of being rooted,skip this next section and leave the permanent hboot in place. jump to "Putting current stock firmware and s-on back onto the phone" and flash only the first "PG05IMG_1.70.605.0_nohboot.zip" file(you can flash the 2nd file too if you want,but the permanent hboot will block it )
Setting up adb and removing the permanent hboot if youve never used adb before
1)if you no longer have the htc drivers that you installed when rooting with revolutionary,download them again from here on revolutionarys website.
2)next download this file to somewhere convenient that youll be able to find it,like your desktop,or a "downloads" folder. it contains the old eng 1.40.2000 s-off hboot,and the bare minumum tools to install it.
3)the following directions were using windows 7 and chrome browser. other OS may be slightly different-the end result is you want unzipped,inside tbolt folder to be on the root of your C: drive.
-find the tbolt.zipdownload
-click on tbolt.zip download and open it.
-inside tbolt.zip,there is a folder labled tbolt. drag it to the root of C:. inside tbolt is the unpermanent hboot and some adb tools.
4) charge your Thunderbolt to 100%
5)click on then "start" bubble in the lower left corner of your screen. type "command" in the search window and hit enter. this will open a small black command window.
6)enter the following command(by typing or copy/paste):
you should see your promt in the window change to: c:\tbolt>
7)enter the follwing command:
check the output on the command window. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. the command must equal exactly 6991368ee2deaf182048a3ed9d3c0fcb if it does not,STOP!. delete the tbolt.zip download,and the unzipped tbolt folder from C:,re download and try it again. again,do not procede if the output in your command number does not equal it exactly.
8)once the number matches,you can continue. copy and paste the following codes into the command window:
the output should be your phones serial number
now enter:
this will cause your phone to boot into FASTBOOT mode,wich is a white screen with colored letters.
now enter:
the result again,should be your phones serial number.
9) now youre ready to enter the command to unlock the permanent hboot and flash the new,non permanent one.
to unlock,enter:
write the new hboot:
if you select bootloader at this point from the fastboot menu, youll still see the permanent s-off hboot,so select reboot with the volume rocker and power button and let the phone reboot. after it boots,you can adb reboot bootloader again,or power off, then power on/vol down and check that your pink "UNLOCKED" or "REVOLUTIONARY" is gone and you have the old 1.49.2000 bootloader.
here is what you should see in the command window,the red are my inputs:
Putting current stock firmware and s-on back onto the phone
after getting the bootloader back to the original s-off,engineering 1.04.2000 hboot download these 2 files:
1)PG05IMG_1.70.605.0_nohboot.zip
md5: c2c61df561e8a74cd103f0b9b89d81d6
and
2)PG05IMG_hboot_only_1.04.0000
md5: 584a4cdc12658835cb2a7885e8e44fd2
rename PG05IMG_1.70.605.0_nohboot.zip to "PG05IMG",move to your sd card,and flash in hboot.
this is important! you must flash the PG05IMG_1.70.605.0_nohboot.zip first
after successfully flashing that,you will be on unrooted mr2 with an eng s-off bootloader. delete the PG05IMG file from your sd card. now place the PG05IMG_hboot_only_1.04.0000 on your sd card. check the md5. once youve verified it matches,you can rename PG05IMG and flash it.
again, only flash the hboot file after you have successfully flashed the rom.
now you are 100% stock on latest firmware. unrooted MR2(1.70.605.0),with s-on 1.04.0000 bootloader.
as always,be as cautious as possible doing hboot flashes,and follow directions in the http://androidforums.com/thunderbolt-all-things-root/353591-how-some-root-terminology.html to flash these files if youre unfamiliar with hboot flashing.
*please start a new thread before attempting this if any part of this confuses you. without a bootloader your phone is a paperweight,so we want to help you prior to making any mistakes
_________________________________________________________________
*make sure you read this:
[WARNING] Do not downgrade to 1.0xxxxx after root
*last and not least the standard discalaimer. i take no credit for anything listed in this post,i am only responsible for placing the information here in one spot. please do your research before attempting to modify your phone,i take no responsibility if any of the methods listed above aid you in turning yout thunderbolt into an expensive paperweight.
heres a link to the old manual rooting methods thread,for anyone interested: http://androidforums.com/thunderbol...ting-methods-archived-outdated-8-14-11-a.html
if the last few pages are of any interest feel free to comment,but otherwise please do not bring this thread back to the top with root questions. please post a new thread,or in the new stickied thread at the top of the forum. thanks!
this thread is dedicated to the current known methods of rooting the thunderbolt.
i will do my best to change this post as these methods are modified or become outdated,and keep the best,current methods here.
after root see the Thunderbolt ROM list for a list of roms,kernels and mods
for some extra info and "how to"s of rooting see http://androidforums.com/thunderbolt-all-things-root/352729-how-some-root-terminology.html
if youre reading this and considering rooting your device,a word of warning:
DO NOT ever attempt to accept an OTA while rooted and running a custom recovery.
an official OTA update needs the stock recovery to apply it. attempting to take an OTA without the stock recovery can result in a failed harmless attempt,a fixable bootloop,or even a brick. so please... dont do it.
and now,on with the info. enjoy
Revolutionary
a new method has just become available that does not wipe your data. this is 100% the best,and most reccomended way to root your thunderbolt at this time.
see this page for info:
Revolutionary
and a video from nate mills:
How to Root - HTC Thunderbolt (No Data Wipe! Newest & Fastest) - YouTube
_________________________________________________________________
how to unroot
the revolutionary method of rooting uses a sneeky hboot exploit,and replaces your stock 1.04.0000 or 1.05.0000 bootloader with a modified permanent hboot. it not only gives you all the same fashboot flash abilities as the original engineering bootloader,but it very effectively blocks other hboots for overwriting it. its good,as you will remain s-off if you accidentally flash a full RUU,or accept an OTA,but makes it a little trickier to remove.
for the time being, removal requires ADB to be set up and running and some commands entered in "fastboot" to to allow the permanent hboot to be overwritten. once an "s-on" tool is release,ill take th is part of this guide down.
if you rooted the old skool manual way and have adb setup and working,you can use this guide to remove the permanent hboot.
with Revolutionary,will come a new wave of rooters that have no clue what adb,or fastboot even are. for you folks, Sele and the crew in the "rescue sguad" at HTC Thunderbolt Forum have come up with a really clever way to get the adb basics,and the eng bootloader to flash,with minimal setup and confusion. with their permission,im borrowing it for our guide here.
*WARNING* no siginture or file checks will be done flashing the new bootloader in hboot or fastboot.fastboot will literally flash "lets golf" as a bootloader if you tell it to. DO NOT mess with your hboot unless absolutely neccessary to return to stock for warranty purposes. if youre just tired of being rooted,flash the mr2 ruu to get back to unrooted firmware and factory recovery. leaving the revolutionary s-off bootloader in place is the safest,and best option,and will not affect your ability to recieve OTAs.
*AGAIN- if youre just following this procedure because youre tired of being rooted,skip this next section and leave the permanent hboot in place. jump to "Putting current stock firmware and s-on back onto the phone" and flash only the first "PG05IMG_1.70.605.0_nohboot.zip" file(you can flash the 2nd file too if you want,but the permanent hboot will block it )
Setting up adb and removing the permanent hboot if youve never used adb before
1)if you no longer have the htc drivers that you installed when rooting with revolutionary,download them again from here on revolutionarys website.
2)next download this file to somewhere convenient that youll be able to find it,like your desktop,or a "downloads" folder. it contains the old eng 1.40.2000 s-off hboot,and the bare minumum tools to install it.
3)the following directions were using windows 7 and chrome browser. other OS may be slightly different-the end result is you want unzipped,inside tbolt folder to be on the root of your C: drive.
-find the tbolt.zipdownload
-click on tbolt.zip download and open it.
-inside tbolt.zip,there is a folder labled tbolt. drag it to the root of C:. inside tbolt is the unpermanent hboot and some adb tools.
4) charge your Thunderbolt to 100%
5)click on then "start" bubble in the lower left corner of your screen. type "command" in the search window and hit enter. this will open a small black command window.
6)enter the following command(by typing or copy/paste):
Code:
cd c:\tbolt
7)enter the follwing command:
Code:
md5sums hbooteng.nb0
8)once the number matches,you can continue. copy and paste the following codes into the command window:
Code:
adb devices
now enter:
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
now enter:
Code:
fastboot devices
9) now youre ready to enter the command to unlock the permanent hboot and flash the new,non permanent one.
to unlock,enter:
Code:
fastboot oem mw 8d08ac54 1 31302E30
Code:
fastboot flash hboot hbooteng.nb0
if you select bootloader at this point from the fastboot menu, youll still see the permanent s-off hboot,so select reboot with the volume rocker and power button and let the phone reboot. after it boots,you can adb reboot bootloader again,or power off, then power on/vol down and check that your pink "UNLOCKED" or "REVOLUTIONARY" is gone and you have the old 1.49.2000 bootloader.
here is what you should see in the command window,the red are my inputs:
Code:
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\Scott>[COLOR="Red"]cd c:\tbolt[/COLOR]
c:\tbolt>[COLOR="red"]md5sums hbooteng.nb0[/COLOR]
MD5sums 1.2 freeware for Win9x/ME/NT/2000/XP+
Copyright (C) 2001-2005 Jem Berkes - http://www.pc-tools.net/
Type md5sums -h for help
[Path] / filename MD5 sum
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[c:\tbolt\]
hbooteng.nb0 6991368ee2deaf182048a3ed9d3c0fcb
c:\tbolt>[COLOR="red"][COLOR="red"]adb devices[/COLOR][/COLOR]
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
HT126S005970 device
c:\tbolt>[COLOR="red"]adb reboot bootloader[/COLOR]
c:\tbolt>[COLOR="red"]fastboot devices[/COLOR]
HT126S005970 fastboot
c:\tbolt>[COLOR="red"]fastboot oem mw 8d08ac54 1 31302E30[/COLOR]
...
OKAY [ 0.006s]
finished. total time: 0.006s
c:\tbolt>[COLOR="red"]fastboot flash hboot hbooteng.nb0[/COLOR]
sending 'hboot' (1024 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.183s]
writing 'hboot'...
OKAY [ 0.219s]
finished. total time: 0.403s
c:\tbolt>
Putting current stock firmware and s-on back onto the phone
after getting the bootloader back to the original s-off,engineering 1.04.2000 hboot download these 2 files:
1)PG05IMG_1.70.605.0_nohboot.zip
md5: c2c61df561e8a74cd103f0b9b89d81d6
and
2)PG05IMG_hboot_only_1.04.0000
md5: 584a4cdc12658835cb2a7885e8e44fd2
rename PG05IMG_1.70.605.0_nohboot.zip to "PG05IMG",move to your sd card,and flash in hboot.
this is important! you must flash the PG05IMG_1.70.605.0_nohboot.zip first
after successfully flashing that,you will be on unrooted mr2 with an eng s-off bootloader. delete the PG05IMG file from your sd card. now place the PG05IMG_hboot_only_1.04.0000 on your sd card. check the md5. once youve verified it matches,you can rename PG05IMG and flash it.
again, only flash the hboot file after you have successfully flashed the rom.
now you are 100% stock on latest firmware. unrooted MR2(1.70.605.0),with s-on 1.04.0000 bootloader.
as always,be as cautious as possible doing hboot flashes,and follow directions in the http://androidforums.com/thunderbolt-all-things-root/353591-how-some-root-terminology.html to flash these files if youre unfamiliar with hboot flashing.
*please start a new thread before attempting this if any part of this confuses you. without a bootloader your phone is a paperweight,so we want to help you prior to making any mistakes
_________________________________________________________________
*make sure you read this:
[WARNING] Do not downgrade to 1.0xxxxx after root
*last and not least the standard discalaimer. i take no credit for anything listed in this post,i am only responsible for placing the information here in one spot. please do your research before attempting to modify your phone,i take no responsibility if any of the methods listed above aid you in turning yout thunderbolt into an expensive paperweight.
heres a link to the old manual rooting methods thread,for anyone interested: http://androidforums.com/thunderbol...ting-methods-archived-outdated-8-14-11-a.html