Android News
DEBUNKED? T-Mobile G2 has chip that prevents permanent root [UPDATE]
October 6, 2010 | by Andrew Kameka
Uncategorized
UPDATE:
Earlier this morning, New America linked to and XDA thread in which members complained of the G2 being unable to maintain root because the phone reinstalled the firmware after every boot. It was suggested that HTC was purposely trying to block the device from being hacked with a “rootkit.”
Chris Soyars, a member of the Team Douche group of Android modders, posted this tweet since then showing that’s not the case. The phone does feature settings that make it difficult to obtain permanent root, but it does not appear to be malicious. Previous efforts have not been as successful or quick as they have been on some other models, but Cyanogen tweeted that it’s being worked on. Below is the original article as it was published earlier this morning.
[Chris Soyars via Android Central]
—————————————-
HTC has apparently taken a page out of Motorola’s playbook and released a phone that actively blocks users from altering the device. According to New America, the T-Mobile G2 ships with a rootkit that blocks a device from rooting. When a user attempts to root a device a load custom software, the phone automatically reinstalls the original firmware and throws previous progress out of the window.
Members of the XDA Developers forum have managed to achieve temporary root; however, the bootloader and /system section, portions of the phone required for loading custom ROM’s, are inaccessible. It’s possible that a new method can be discovered once HTC releases the kernel or through trial and error, but current knowledge has hit several roadblocks.
Imagine how frustrating it would be to buy a product with the intention of hacking it, a description that many G2 owners are likely to fit, only to discover that the manufacturer decided to stand in your way. It’s a terrible practice that is out-of-character of the typically open-to-hacking stance that HTC has taken in the past.
I’m confident that the developer community will eventually find a workaround, but it’s ridiculous that companies are starting to put up this many hurdles at all.
[XDA via New America]
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It's so dumb. If you pay them the money to buy the phone, why do they care what you do with it after you've bought it–they already have your money? I wonder if they were asked to put the feature in by t-mo?
Or by Google?
They doesn't have all of your money… They want your clicks at ads, they want you to buy apps…
This is especially surprising from the G series of phones, as the G1, a la Cyanogen, is what started the hacking wave…
The carrier doesn't want you tether and suck up data without paying extra for it because that's another potential revenue stream…
Our friends will find a way
They always do.
HTC probably still doesn’t care if people hack their phones, and T-mobile might not be concerned about the small percentage who are going to inevitably get root. But T-Mobile does care about a large number of people being able to root their phones easily like we have seen with these one-click root methods lately. If rooting is that easy, than more people would be likely to start tethering without buying a t-mobile tethering add-on plan which it has been suggested they might introduce in the near future. T-Mobile is the most likely culprit here because they, unlike HTC, actually have some future potential cash flow to protect after a user gets the phone in their hand. HTC makes their money on the phone and then walks away. T-Mobile doesnt make their money until they start feeding their data into your phone, and they want to control how you can use your phone to manipulate that data. But in the end, I believe that TMO has accepted the fact that some people will get root. They may have requested this new style of iNAND and these crazy partitions be included in the phone in order to make the process of obtaining permaroot a grueling one, thus keeping a higher percentage of players out of the hackorz game.
In my opinion, most people would rather just pay a little extra to TMO to get reliable tethering and UMA calling and so forth. The majority dont want to have to void their warranty to get these features. So TMO should just offer these features from the beginning and then less people would even consider root…
If you're BUYING the phone (or a piece of software) then yes you should technically be able to hack it, since you own it and are allowed to do whatever you wish with it. However, if you actually read the terms of service, you aren't BUYING anything. For example, when you buy a game, you're actually leasing it under the terms you agree to before installation. These terms prevent you from making modifications.
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HTC says it's not their fault!! it blames google or t-mobile
http://www.osnews.com/story/23881/G2_Restores_Unh…
Its ok as of today it is busted, the folks over at XDA have managed to permanently root the G2.