Root [T-Mobile] Unlocking the boot loader

[LoyalServant]

I have a sneaky suspicion that this device might not have a software solution for S-OFF.
They are getting better at the software end of things and some of the latter devices (Rezound comes to mind?) involved people shorting the JTAG interface out and causing bus glitches.

HTC has a history of leaving the JTAG location somewhat obvious and accessible, like on the Rezound where the interface was accessible with the battery cover off.
EDIT:
My HTC One S also has the JTAG visible under the sim card door at the top....

I was just looking at images taken of the One by Chipworks and iFixIt and I think the JTAG might be on the board that has the headphone jack and RF frontend test points.
The pads are obviously for testing, just a matter of figuring out which pads are clock, data, etc.

Scotty: If your interested in electronics I say go for it.
I am winding down after 20 years but I still keep a full bench and "dabble"
There are a few guys on youtube that you might pick up some stuff from guys like Dave Jones (EEVBlog), The Signal Path, and Mike's Electric Stuff.

It's a fun hobby and occupation.
I got out because I was offered a position developing and maintaining a custom software package that paid more
Still love my electronics projects and I really do miss field work however.. I had a lot of fun.

 

[scotty85]

I have a sneaky suspicion that this device might not have a software solution for S-OFF.

i have a feeling you may be right(or i wouldnt have bought an s off unit ) but then ive felt that way before,about the rezound,then the one s/xl.

the prollem now is that the same write protections gaurding the radio secure flag now are also gaurding the CID blocks(currently p4 and p5) so some sort of hack needs put together to disable write protection from them to change cid,but then,if such a hack was found,you could prolly go ahead and write the secureflag in p3

on the one xl there was no use in the jpbear wire trick,as the pretend sd card came into play too late in the boot sequence,unlike the external sd with the s3 processors. i assume the one will be the same

looks like those willing to wait may be doing so for awhile those willing to pay for MTV's service can have it whenever

any idea on a grounding point to casue a similar reaction with the flyers s2 processor?

 

[LoyalServant]

The problem with the One is that the disassembly is difficult.
It was a lot easier to take a Rezound or One S/X apart to do a JTAG or glitch by loading the clock or data bus.

If you look at the teardowns of the One you can see that virtually all the chips are BGAs and the only accessible components are passives.
There is a very good chance that one of the passives is connected to a pin that you want to get at on the processor or flash - the problem is finding it.

I would think that the potential hardware damage possible by glitching the bus is too great to even bother trying to find a glitch point.
Hardware damage is not reversible... software damage is so IMHO JTAG is really the best option for the average joe, or the guy that has tons of cash to throw at phones to try glitches.

I have not needed S-OFF myself... the HTCDev unlock suffices for my needs and I am not stupid enough to tinker with the radio on a cellphone.

 

[chong67]

My past experience, I was able to get S-off on my HTC EVO 4G LTE.

If you don't do this, then flashing a cook rom maybe a little difficult. And if you don't get s-off, you cant flash the Radio.

It is best to get s-off.

 

[LoyalServant]

S-OFF is preferable, yes.

Radios don't happen but less than a handful of times in the lifecycle of a device so IMHO they are a non-issue.

I can live with difficult myself... I used to flash everything I could get my hands on but these days I stick to something.

 

[chong67]

HTC has the Developer editon on sell on their website now and it is 64gb and its $650. Only $70. Might as well go all the way. Half half arse purchase is never a good thing!

And it say bootloader unlock? That means s-off? If it is, might as well get this!

 

[scotty85]

HTC has the Developer editon on sell on their website now and it is 64gb and its $650. Only $70. Might as well go all the way. Half half arse purchase is never a good thing!

And it say bootloader unlock? That means s-off? If it is, might as well get this!

Unfortunately,no... The dev edition is still s on. It just comes pre-htcdev unlocked

 

[chong67]

I see.

The 32gb is SIM unlock.

The 64gb is SIM + HTCDev unlock.

Since the 64gb is unlock my HTC, it will not void the warranty? And if you do the 32gb unlock yourself, it will void your warranty?

 

[scotty85]

I see. That is super confusing. It is no different than the 32gb version then, just 2x the memory.

yup. a "developer edition" should come s off,IMO!!

as you said,its the same as the others,just 64 gb,pre htcdev unlocked,and sim unlocked.