HTC EVO 4G rooted in record time (video)
By Vlad Savov 
posted May 24th 2010 3:47AM
posted May 24th 2010 3:47AM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted May 24th 2010 3:47AM
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I wish people were this dedicated to rooting the Droid. Everyone seems to figure that "We already did that for 2.0.1, just flash yourself a rom...". I wish someone would figure out how to do it natively on 2.1 or 2.2 presumably, seeing as the original method was ruined by 2.1.
@Evan I know!!! I tried to root my 2.1 Droid today, and I just found a bunch of guides on how to downgrade to 2.0.1 and root from there. It seems simple enough, but apparently the application to downgrade is Windows ONLY!!! Not to mention it extremely dangerous and easily brick my phone. It's just amazing the that the most popular android phone isn't even rooted on it's current firmware!
@malibumac
Stop Complaining, Do it yourself. Be glad there are people out there that will release their hacks for the world to use, they have a life too, let them enjoy it.
People of USA,
I pronounce you LUCKY and EVO.
@fowenati
I agree people should be thankful for the efforts of others.
But.
I think the real point here should be that we wouldn't need to go through this BS if shit was just open.
I for one am tired of the mf'n lock devices and exclusionary agreements as well as proprietary standards. (Oxymorons)
What a waste of time. Just make everything open and make it GSM!
@lowdrag O but I thoght android was open source, isn't that it's main selling point to the geeks?
@Evan
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=102966&highlight=root
that tells you how to root your droid... maybe you should look before u post bs
@Evan the problem is that these dev's have to buy each phone they root. It's hard to keep buying every android phone. You see more sim card phones cracked because they can be used on multiple networks rather than a Verizon/Sprint that are limited to one.
I think if someone donated a phone, or more people donated to the developers there would be more effort spent on individual phones.
Also, the Droid isn't the latest and greatest any more and it's not going to get as much recognition as something like a Evo 4G (which was given to them btw)
@lowdrag, I believe you're confused to what open-source is, by your logic, Google should not be able to protect ANYTHING! If Google allowed anyone to root, a lot of folks will f--k things up, subsequently bricking their devices, then turn around and blame Google. Also, us folks who visits sites like engadget make up no more than 3% of the folks who by these high-end devices, of that only a very-small portion are interested in rooting. As for the general public, they couldn't care less about rooting, they just want a cool device that does cool things. A device like the EVO is more than the average person can ask for.
@drksilenc Evan specifically was asking for a root method for Eclair 2.1, that did not include downgrading to 2.01. The link you sent requires just that. I'm not saying their is a native method of rooting from 2.1 (just like for the Dream/Magic you have to go back to R29), but your answer did not address his issue. Did you even read his entire post or did you just fire off a reply?
@scorpeo
"If Google allowed anyone to root, a lot of folks will f--k things up, subsequently bricking their devices, then turn around and blame Google."
This same argument doesn't seem to work when it's used in Apple's favor. But whatever.
@scorpeo Hopefully, the next root that we will receive is the Froyo. It would be the best treat for anyone buying an EVO on June 4. http://j.mp/evo-4g-june-review
Good. I don't see why Google doesn't allow anyone to unlock root permissions through ADB. It would make it so much better. Clueless people still wouldn't be able to do it and screw their phones up, and everyone who knows what they are doing won't be screwed if some manufactures had their way such as with Motorola and the Milestone. The only reason that is rootable is because of a exploit in one of recovery firmwares. If Motorola hadn't made that one mistake, Milestone owners would be SOL.
@Peter F
It also seems that HTC intentionally makes their phones easy to hack. They have weak security such that people can't install unofficial ROMs by default but that can be easily bypassed. HTC phones are always cracked very quickly.
@Peter F Well.. sort of. Incredible has survived so far.
@Peter F HTC accepts that their is a huge community behind their phones and "hacking" them is what makes the community continue to purchase HTC phones.
@Peter F Uh not so easy any more...the Desire was particularly difficult according to Paul form Modaco
@blisk
yea cmon, how long does it take to root the incredible??
@Peter F HTC has become increasingly more hostile in terms of Android rooting. They have updated phones to close root exploits - the Rogers Magic/Dream became unrootable after the "mandatory" 911 update - for many in the community, it was either lose root completely or lose the data plan they were paying for. Oops.
Starting with the HTC Tattoo (and continuing to the Legend, Desire, and beyond), HTC has implemented a sneaky "memory protection" into all of their Sense-based devices, making it difficult to flash custom ROMs even if a root exploit is found.
Make no mistake: The Nexus One and the Android Dev Phones are the only hacker-friendly Android phones made by HTC. Speaking as a prominent member of the Nexus One community, HTC would love nothing less than to kill Android flashing completely.
@Peter F Not true, the HTC Desire is still only a really a partial root due to changes HTC implemented. It locks down access to /system/ whilst android is booted and thus /system/ write permissions are lost.
Lets root for the home team, they got to the root of the problem in record time
A Rooted Evo... nothing on the market will beat this. Not even a jailbroken iPhone 4.
@TheHypnotist
You don't know what the iPhone 4 is like...
lol jks, this wins.
@TheHypnotist
I didn't even read any of what which you said. All i saw was DOOM, and for that you got a "+"
Operation Doomsday FTMFW. that is all.
@TheHypnotist
Naaah.. You are just crazy, I'm sure Stevie got something cooking, a la 4GS lol.. This thing is sweet only if they could offer to multiple cariers (but I guess they need 4G network). Damn Sprint got it good!
@SPENone
Yeah, Doom is such a boss, the greatest rapper, he probably uses an Android phone. He's got (Madvillian) a new single dropping on Wednesday.
P.S. Operation Doomsday is epic, I got the vinyl LP hanging up in my room.
@hero785
pfft, let's get real. I can't remember the last time I watched an Apple press conference without being disappointed. Seriously, can you tell me the last time you weren't? Because if the iPad blew you away... then... enough said.
@TheHypnotist
Dude that was all sarcasm in there. Get real and read between the line coz anyone that sees that lol at the end know what I mean
@hero785 Just tell me the last time you weren't disappointed by an Apple press conference?
@TheHypnotist You mean it's no better than the iPhone.
Tell me, if Google is so "open & free", why does one have to root every device Android is installed on to gain added functionality? And why do you have to wade through a pool of different OS versions, skins, etc if you choose to go Android??
Just saying, if thats what "beats" an iPhone, then I'm not sure your standards are set too high. I'm not saying one is better than the other, just dont act like Android is some wonderland of free & openness.
@TheHypnotist
Always have been. You just had to get that out of me.The last time they said it was all magical and revolutionary and we found out it was lie apart from the looks of it. Leave me alone, I want some Evo 4G or the next best thing!
@peestandingup
But you don't hear google making an update to iron-out those tweaks that people make. But the big brother, big gay Apple (no disrespect to any homosexual person here, and if you find this word used as offensive then I apologize), has to do something about jailbreaking. The rebels always win, the sooner the realize the better!
@peestandingup
Google wants phones unlocked, manufacturers don't. The nexus one was under googles control and getting complete access to the phone takes one short command (on a computer with the right drivers installed). Motorola have the milestone locked down so tight you can't patch any kernel not signed by motorola onto it (even after rooting) and the latest HTC phones are similar, rooting is a pale shade of what it is on the Dream and Magic where you can put on an engineering SPL (bootloader) and do absolutely anything you want. Root on the incredible, desire, evo gets you root access to the filesystem but you can't flash something like cyanogen mod on there.
@peestandingup I don't even know where to begin.
The fact that you can't video record on the iPhone 2G without jailbreaking is plain unacceptable.
The fact that the weather app hasn't changed at all since 1.0 is sad, and it always says 73 degrees.
The clock app always says the same time too. I mean, no dynamic icons... seriously, how stupid is that.
It's half way through 2010, and you still can't change your wallpaper.
It's an ipod, but you can't even pick a song from your library to be your alarm tone.
It's like a tiny little sandbox.
@hero785
I mean... is it THAT hard not to use gay as a synonym for stupid. Or is your vocabulary just that bad. Yes, I'm sure it's very offensive to many Engadget readers, gay or straight.
@hero785 but yeah, sorry for not catching the sarcasm, my bad.
@TheHypnotist
Dude you made my day with that "gay" shit! I'm literally dying with laughter!
@TheHypnotist
About missing the sarcasm, don't worry about it. But yeah some of us are a bit tolerant and wouldn't want to make other people feel bad for who they are. You catching my drift?
@SPENone
Don't forget "MM...Food?".
@TheHypnotist I have the last time I was disappointed with an Apple press conference. We added a camera to the nano, iPod touch, nada.
Ah when I get my evo I don't think I'll be rooting it. Sure, you certain benefits, but I don't think it's worth the time, effort, warranty void, and risk of bricking. Besides, when I rooted my nexus, I found myself switching rims at least once a week. Looking back, the benefits weren't all that much greater than a stock rom.
@n8equalsd Lol, that's an epic album, I got the Vinyl single for Hoe Cakes/Pot Holderz. Do you have AIM or email or something, I'd love to chat with you about Doom, other music and technology.
@hero785
thats what i thought when they announced the ipad...
he must have something cooking up his sleeve after announcing the ipad hahhaha but he didnt
@TheHypnotist You can do all that with a jail-broken phone.
@hero785 I thought everyone already knew this on the intertubes, but when you want to say "gay" but not in a way that could offend homosexuals, you just switch up the word play ("Amiga is so ghey!"). Then if anyone gets offended at that, you are free to slap them about.
What exactly does this rooted phone do or don't? I've read the article 3 time fyi.
@cdf74dc9
are you serious? ?
enjoy oblivion.
@apristel
I like that game :) and fyi I've never rooted a phone b4 nor am I a walking dictionary for geeks.
@cdf74dc9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_(Linux)
@Bahumbug Hooray for the comment system to destroy my link. I learned my lesson and will use tinyurl from this point on forward, even for short links like that...