All right... I am confused why I need S-Off.
I have an EVO 4G LTE. I used htc's method to unlock the phone and this is what I see when I go the the Bootloader screen:
*** TAMPERED ***
*** UNLOCKED ***
JEWEL PVT SHIP S-ON RL
HBOOT-2.09.0000
RADIO-1.13.11.0830
OpenDSP-v31.1.0.45.0815
eMMC-boot
Oct. 18 2012, 15:46:20
Once it was unlocked, it was easy to install TWRP v2.6.3.0, SuperSU Pro v1.80, Titanium Backup and ROM Toolbox Pro.
Still on the stock ROM, but checking out possible new ones.
As I already have an unlocked, rooted phone with various tools for installing new ROMs, what advantages does S-Off give me? I've been looking for an explanation, but all I'm finding is forums like this were everyone seems to know more than I do (and they haven't been wasting everyone else's time by stating what's obvious - but not to me).
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
An unlocked,s on phone is only giving you access to modify boot,system,and recovery. The good news is that this is all that is needed to flash a custom ROM. The bad news is that the phone is still doing a multitude of security checks which prevent you from installing older firmware,and modifying other partitions.
If all you want to do is flash Roms and/or kernels,or add root acces to stock,then an s on phone may work fine for you.
With s off you are able to:
-install older factory firmware
-install files that are not signed by HTC
-change your phones cid and mid and convert to another variant(for example,convert an at&t phone to developer edition or google play edition)
-remove the tampered banner
-change your lock status back to locked(while s on,best you can do is relocked)
-possibly a couple others slipping my mind at the moment
IMO,s off is better,as long as you are able to exercise caution as to what you flash and why. A bad boot loader or radio flash can brick your phone,so don't blindly flash anything withouT an understanding of what and why it will benefit you,use only files from trusted sources,and make sure to check and double check the md5 sum of anything you flash(if you just asked "what's an md5 sum?", stop and Google that now)
An s off phone let's you completely remove all visual traces of having modified it,and allows far more rescue options for soft bricked devices. Good for legitimate warranty claims and rescuing your phone if it for some reason won't boot.
Hope that helps