Root Great Read for Rooted Droid X users

[D13]

Follow _Mrbirdman_ on Twitter, some more cryptic messages in the last hour but something big is going to happen real soon. Please try to donate to the developers, they do this for the love of it on their own time so we all can enjoy a true Open Android experience.

yeah I saw them, can't wait

 

[LexusBrian400]

It has been 10(almost 11) days since he made that statement, if something is going to happen in the "within 2 weeks" time frame, it had better come quick because it's closing in.

I'm still very hopeful, just not expecting anything to happen, I'm pretty sure that somebody, anybody else would have heard something about this.

I told ya so!

But...

You'll have to check out @nenolod on twitter. He's a well respected and known Debian dev. He already has an unlock b/l method, but wont release it cuz he hates "fanboyism" and providing support to "noobs".

He provided the method, now we just have to figure it out 100%.

Since he wont do it, we have people that will. Its being worked on, so, the public may not have it, but it IS possible, and it HAS been done.

Dont bug the guy about it, just LOOK at his tweets.


So right now I can only half say "i told ya so" cuz it is working, its just not out in public yet.

He told me in mid August that he was going to release it first week of September, but since ppl got wind of what he was doing, and CONSTANTLY nagged him about it, he reneged on his word to release.

So bottom line, its possible, its been done, its just not ready for public, YET

 

[OMJ]

I told ya so!

But...

You'll have to check out @nenolod on twitter. He's a well respected and known Debian dev. He already has an unlock b/l method, but wont release it cuz he hates "fanboyism" and providing support to "noobs".

He provided the method, now we just have to figure it out 100%.

Since he wont do it, we have people that will. Its being worked on, so, the public may not have it, but it IS possible, and it HAS been done.

Dont bug the guy about it, just LOOK at his tweets.


So right now I can only half say "i told ya so" cuz it is working, its just not out in public yet.

He told me in mid August that he was going to release it first week of September, but since ppl got wind of what he was doing, and CONSTANTLY nagged him about it, he reneged on his word to release.

So bottom line, its possible, its been done, its just ready for public, YET

Looks like he explained what has to be done pretty well. Its way way over my head but hopefully someone gets it figured out.

 

[irishpride]

I told ya so!

But...

You'll have to check out @nenolod on twitter. He's a well respected and known Debian dev. He already has an unlock b/l method, but wont release it cuz he hates "fanboyism" and providing support to "noobs".

He provided the method, now we just have to figure it out 100%.

Since he wont do it, we have people that will. Its being worked on, so, the public may not have it, but it IS possible, and it HAS been done.

Dont bug the guy about it, just LOOK at his tweets.


So right now I can only half say "i told ya so" cuz it is working, its just not out in public yet.

He told me in mid August that he was going to release it first week of September, but since ppl got wind of what he was doing, and CONSTANTLY nagged him about it, he reneged on his word to release.

So bottom line, its possible, its been done, its just ready for public, YET

What an a$$hole! I mean, I appreciate what he's (hopefully) done, still no real proof yet, but the guy could not be more of a d!ck.

 

[travishamockery]

i almost wish he did not release that info prior to froyo coming out. hope motorola doesn't do a quick about face and patch it prior to the release, though i think it's so close to the 'end of summer' date they gave i doubt they would go and cook up the fix.

 

[Phantom_DroidX]

What an a$$hole! I mean, I appreciate what he's (hopefully) done, still no real proof yet, but the guy could not be more of a d!ck.

I do not feel he is a dick because I understand his frustration but it doesn't really matter if he doesn't want to deal with it no big deal he said he gave it to the smart people. Which means _mrbirdman_ and the like surely have it and that is what they are working on so don't get upset at him he has already done a great deal of good it seems so just sit back and wait like Beesley said its coming.

 

[irishpride]

i almost wish he did not release that info prior to froyo coming out. hope motorola doesn't do a quick about face and patch it prior to the release, though i think it's so close to the 'end of summer' date they gave i doubt they would go and cook up the fix.

I wouldn't doubt anything Motorola did to keep their phones locked down.

 

[aflat]

i almost wish he did not release that info prior to froyo coming out. hope motorola doesn't do a quick about face and patch it prior to the release, though i think it's so close to the 'end of summer' date they gave i doubt they would go and cook up the fix.

Except for the fact that we already have the 2.1 sbf, so even if they "fix" it in 2.2, everyone can just go back to 2.1 and do whatever they want anyways.

Nevermind the fact that it is the bootloader, not the kernel that is being cracked. So it doesn't matter what version 2.1, 2.2 whatever, all of the work now is how to run code BEFORE any of the OS stuff is loaded.

 

[D13]

Man did you read his rant. That was some pretty heavy stuff. I guess we should all move on a forget about android

 

[OMJ]

Man did you read his rant. That was some pretty heavy stuff. I guess we should all move on a forget about android

yea he really hates java huh

 

[D13]

yea he really hates java huh

Yeah that was the impression I was getting , makes me wonder why he even worked on it in the first place.

 

[OMJ]

Yeah that was the impression I was getting , makes me wonder why he even worked on it in the first place.

I got the impression that he was doing it to put one of the Nokia OS on it meego or symbian.

 

[izomiac]

Wow, that's a major blunder by Motorola. Seriously, why buy such an impressive DRM from TI if you're going to leave it in engineering mode? Here's my understanding of the exploit given the tweets (I'm probably wrong):

When the OMAP is turned on, it loads the first stage bootloader from NVRAM in a secured part of the chip. This NVRAM is locked so you can't modify that bootloader. The first stage bootloader is very small, since NVRAM has extremely limited storage, so it verifies and loads a larger, second stage bootloader, which continues along with the boot process. Since the NVRAM is locked the chip will always start with Motorola's software which will do all their signature checks.

The exploit is when you upgrade the firmware. In engineering mode, apparently the bootloader is unlocked during the upgrade. An unlocked bootloader is writable, so we can replace it with one of our own with a specially crafted "ROM" (hate that term, but I'll use it so people know what I mean). From there, we can completely replace Motorola's software with whatever we want. Heck, we could even install something other than Linux, with a different partition layout, filesystem, kernel, and everything.

As for nenolod's frustration, I can see where he's coming from. Android may be an open source OS, but the developers are commercial through and through, and the fans are a more normal sort than your average Debian user. The open source world is highly philanthropic and obsessed with technology, but far less concerned with what you do with it. Developers will open the door for possibilities, but you are expected to solve your own problems (and hopefully share the solution so people can build upon your work). Showing a developer a lot of attention isn't a great idea since they're developing for their own reasons, not yours.

 

[Piiman]

Wow..

I promise within 2 weeks, that article will be proven wrong.

For now, I have to bite my tongue.

Fear not X'ers... Our day will come.

You have my word

Damn if he didn't hit that two week mark right on the head.

 

[Deodexed]

Wow, that's a major blunder by Motorola. Seriously, why buy such an impressive DRM from TI if you're going to leave it in engineering mode? Here's my understanding of the exploit given the tweets (I'm probably wrong):

When the OMAP is turned on, it loads the first stage bootloader from NVRAM in a secured part of the chip. This NVRAM is locked so you can't modify that bootloader. The first stage bootloader is very small, since NVRAM has extremely limited storage, so it verifies and loads a larger, second stage bootloader, which continues along with the boot process. Since the NVRAM is locked the chip will always start with Motorola's software which will do all their signature checks.

The exploit is when you upgrade the firmware. In engineering mode, apparently the bootloader is unlocked during the upgrade. An unlocked bootloader is writable, so we can replace it with one of our own with a specially crafted "ROM" (hate that term, but I'll use it so people know what I mean). From there, we can completely replace Motorola's software with whatever we want. Heck, we could even install something other than Linux, with a different partition layout, filesystem, kernel, and everything.

As for nenolod's frustration, I can see where he's coming from. Android may be an open source OS, but the developers are commercial through and through, and the fans are a more normal sort than your average Debian user. The open source world is highly philanthropic and obsessed with technology, but far less concerned with what you do with it. Developers will open the door for possibilities, but you are expected to solve your own problems (and hopefully share the solution so people can build upon your work). Showing a developer a lot of attention isn't a great idea since they're developing for their own reasons, not yours.

I like the way this is sounding!

 

[D13]

I like the way this is sounding!

hey deodexed, welcome to androidforums

 

[vanilla_android_fan]

Wow, that's a major blunder by Motorola. Seriously, why buy such an impressive DRM from TI if you're going to leave it in engineering mode? Here's my understanding of the exploit given the tweets (I'm probably wrong):

When the OMAP is turned on, it loads the first stage bootloader from NVRAM in a secured part of the chip. This NVRAM is locked so you can't modify that bootloader. The first stage bootloader is very small, since NVRAM has extremely limited storage, so it verifies and loads a larger, second stage bootloader, which continues along with the boot process. Since the NVRAM is locked the chip will always start with Motorola's software which will do all their signature checks.

The exploit is when you upgrade the firmware. In engineering mode, apparently the bootloader is unlocked during the upgrade. An unlocked bootloader is writable, so we can replace it with one of our own with a specially crafted "ROM" (hate that term, but I'll use it so people know what I mean). From there, we can completely replace Motorola's software with whatever we want. Heck, we could even install something other than Linux, with a different partition layout, filesystem, kernel, and everything.

As for nenolod's frustration, I can see where he's coming from. Android may be an open source OS, but the developers are commercial through and through, and the fans are a more normal sort than your average Debian user. The open source world is highly philanthropic and obsessed with technology, but far less concerned with what you do with it. Developers will open the door for possibilities, but you are expected to solve your own problems (and hopefully share the solution so people can build upon your work). Showing a developer a lot of attention isn't a great idea since they're developing for their own reasons, not yours.

So does this mean the Droid X is on the "recommended buy" list now? Is it really possible to load a vanilla version of froyo on the the X? New kernals can be loaded on the X?

 

[D13]

So does this mean the Droid X is on the "recommended buy" list now? Is it really possible to load a vanilla version of froyo on the the X? New kernals can be loaded on the X?

not yet but probably soon