1) On your phone, navigate to Settings>Applications>Development
Download the appropriate file for your computer: (
Windows/
md5sum) or (
Linux/
md5sum).
Verify the md5sum! The zip file contains necessary files for obtaining S-OFF and rooting your phone on Windows or Linux. If you are on Linux, certain assumptions will be made in this guide (i.e. that you know how to move around in a terminal, and that you can navigate a file tree. If this assumption is incorrect, please let me know so I can update the guide.
WINDOWS ONLY: Download
this file, and double-click it to open it. Merge the changes to your registry. This will add an entry to your elevated right-click menu, so that you may open a command window in a specific folder as an Administrator. This will be important later on; please do not skip this step!
- We will be using Harmonia ROM in this guide. Please download that file as well, and support the developer if you're happy at the end of this guide. When it comes time to flash the ROMs, you will be free to use almost any ROM you wish, but this guide will deal exclusively with Harmonia for simplicity's sake.
2) Extract the shooter-root-soff-fix file to your C:\ drive on windows, or to your home directory on Linux. Do not make a new folder, just extract; folders are already built in, and they will be referenced in the following steps. Failing to keep these folders will limit your ability to copy/paste. If you need a zip application, my preferred zip application on Windows is
PeaZip. It is based on 7zip, and handles almost any archive you can imagine.
3)
Windows: Press the WINDOWS KEY+R, and type [HIGH]C:\shooter-root-soff-fix[/HIGH]
Windows: Double-click on the "
HTCDriver4.1.0.001.exe" file & install it like any other program. You may need to unplug your phone and then reconnect it for your computer to recognize the drivers.
Windows: Hold down the shift key on your keyboard, and right-click on the
S-OFF folder, then select "Open command window here as Administrator" (it will have a shield icon next to it). MINIMIZE this window; you will bring it up later.
Linux: You do not need to install any drivers. Right-click on the
S-OFF folder from your file browser and open it in a terminal. Issue the following command:[HIGH]chmod 755 ControlBear adb fastboot[/HIGH]MINIMIZE this window; you will bring it up later.
Windows & Linux: Place the Harmonia ROM file you downloaded into the ./shooter-root-soff-fix/roms folder.
DO NOT extract it, just put it in the folder as-is.
4) On your computer, do the following:
- Restore your command window and type this in:
[HIGH]adb reboot bootloader[/HIGH]Your phone will reboot into the HBOOT/bootloader. This is a screen with a white background, where you can control your phone from your computer by issuing "low level" commands - you will be guided step-by-step in this guide. Once your phone reboots to this screen, leave it alone.
Minimize the command window again.
- Unlocking the bootloader is key, and we have to make an account with HTC Dev to do it. Once your account is confirmed, you'll want to go to the unlock bootloader page. Once there, select "All Other Supported Models" at the bottom of the list and click "Begin Unlock Bootloader". Agree to continue. Navigate to Step 8 in the process, and follow the directions until you've finished with that page.
- Retrieve your unlock code from your email, and save it into your S-OFF folder. Once the file is in the S-OFF folder, bring up your command prompt or terminal, and type this:[HIGH]fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin[/HIGH]
- Your phone will ask you to accept this token. Press the volume key up to accept it, then the power button to confirm. Your phone will apply the token and reboot. If it shuts off, wait about 5 seconds and turn it back on.
5) On your phone, navigate to Settings>Applications>Development
Navigate to Settings>Power
6) Issue the following command through your command prompt:[HIGH]adb reboot bootloader[/HIGH]Your phone will reboot into the HBOOT. Verify that it is UNLOCKED at the top.
7) Verify that your HBOOT says "fastboot usb" on it, then issue the following command:[HIGH]fastboot flash recovery recovery.img[/HIGH]You have flashed your first recovery, 4ext recovery. It is an awesome recovery that I
highly recommend you purchase from the Play Store to keep up to date. Please support the developer!
Now issue this command:[HIGH]fastboot reboot-bootloader[/HIGH]Your phone will reboot the HBOOT. Once the HBOOT has come back up, use the
volume down key to highlight
bootloader, then press the
power button to confirm your selection. On the next screen, choose
recovery to boot into your newly flashed recovery.
8) We're about to do S-OFF, but we're going to back up the current setup first.
This is the same procedure that you will want to do every time you install a new ROM. This way, if something goes wrong and your chosen ROM doesn't work, you can restore your backup and it will be like nothing happened.
Inside of 4ext, press
backup | restore, then choose
Backup. Confirm that backup name, and let it do its magic. When it is done, go back to the main screen of 4ext and select
power menu, then
Reboot.
9) Now it's time to get S-OFF! Once your phone has finished booting back up, unplug the USB cable and
remove the back cover from your phone, exposing the battery. Plug the USB cable back into the phone. This is required for the "wire trick". Then:
Windows: Bring your command prompt back up, and type this in:[HIGH]ControlBear.exe[/HIGH]
Linux: Bring your terminal back up, and type this in:[HIGH]sudo ./ControlBear[/HIGH]
Windows & Linux: Follow the instructions on screen. When it asks you to do the wire trick, using a metronome set to 48bpm works great (
Windows/Linux: open a new terminal window and type:
sudo aptitude install gtick).
A rubberized paperclip with the ends removed is your best bet for a well-controlled trick. If you don't have a rubberized paperclip, wrap a normal paperclip in electrical tape around the middle (where your fingers will be touching the metal).
This is where you want your paperclip to touch (it is the outer hole of the 2).
This YouTube video is also helpful for about 45 seconds.
If it fails, don't panic. Simply re-run ControlBear until it works.
If your phone turns off and won't turn back on, don't panic. Pull the battery out, disconnect the USB cable from the phone, and wait about 15 seconds. Put the battery back in and reconnect the USB cable. Wait for the red light to come back on, and turn the phone back on. Run ControlBear.exe again.
Once the program completes, it will tell you that you were successful. Put the back cover back on your phone, plug it back in to the USB cable, and continue on to step two!