55 replies to this topic

[2302jason]

Motorola has been talking about releasing a bootloader unlock tool for a while now. But VERY recently they've said that more info is coming soon. So let's say this DOES happen. Do you think the Droid Razr (CDMA) will be included in this fun, or will we somehow get screwed over? I have a feeling we will be out of luck, but I am no expert.

Secondly, what will this mean for us, if we can unlock the bootloader? I had a Galaxy Nexus up until a week ago, and obviously the unlocked bootloader resulted in a huge variety of ROMs to choose from. Do you think this will happen for us? Will devs suddenly start developing more for us, and make bigger and better ROMs? Or will the activity kind of stay the same?

Discuss.

[Nanniepoo]

There might not be more ROMs, but development would definitely be faster, as the dev could attach a kernel with the ROM instead of designing the ROM around Moto's kernel. Also flashing everything would be easier and we wouldn't have to bother with safestrap.

[Nanniepoo]

_{And I would think....maybe...that an unlock tool would work for all Moto devices.}

[fusion3286]

Anyone got a link for a source for this? I'm curious.

Sent from my XT912 using Tapatalk 2

[mattlgroff]

_{And I would think....maybe...that an unlock tool would work for all Moto devices.}

I follow Motorola on all social media and haven't heard anything.

[neur0tk]

Motorola has been talking about releasing a bootloader unlock tool for a while now. But VERY recently they've said that more info is coming soon. So let's say this DOES happen. Do you think the Droid Razr (CDMA) will be included in this fun, or will we somehow get screwed over? I have a feeling we will be out of luck, but I am no expert.

Secondly, what will this mean for us, if we can unlock the bootloader? I had a Galaxy Nexus up until a week ago, and obviously the unlocked bootloader resulted in a huge variety of ROMs to choose from. Do you think this will happen for us? Will devs suddenly start developing more for us, and make bigger and better ROMs? Or will the activity kind of stay the same?

I replaced my Gnex with a Razr Maxx I like this phone a lot wish the boot loader was unlocked so we could have a variety of roms/kernels to flash bra />
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Nanniepoo]

I follow Motorola on all social media and haven't heard anything.

Neither have I. Just my thought that if they do unlock, it would be available for all devices. But I don't think they will anytime soon.

[2302jason]

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[PillClinton]

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Don't hold your breath!

[fusion3286]

*holds breath patiently waiting for bootloader unlock* .... *passes out*

[thisismalhotra]

Kernels are the big thing, specially for OG razr owners, if bootloader is unlocked we can get custom kernels to improve battery life responsiveness etc

[JimmyInTheROC]

My crystal ball says...

You might actually see this happen before too long. The main reason that Verizon didn't want people rooting/rom'ing their phones is because of the free tethering. Get everybody off of the unlimited plans, then who cares. They can't use more data then they are allocated. And if they do, more cash to Verizon.

Crazy?

[FutureBear]

The unlimited data might be a bit of it, but since you can do that just rooting, and if I am not mistaken, there are ways to do it without root I wouldn't say it plays a big part. The biggest part is people ruining their phone and then trying to get warranty. it is the same people on here that blame developers for bricking their device. Companies might be trying to rip us off, but that is no excuse for us to rip them off. Honesty and integrity is what we need and I don't see that happening on either side. The only way things will get better is if we as consumers stop trying to rip companies off like walmart and verizon by returning defunct items beyond their date or wrongly returning items we ourselves damaged, then we request that the warranties become better and the bootloaders become unlocked. After that if it doesn't work we need to boycott and do petitions. However as it stands right now for every honest consumer, there are ten dishonest ones. So I do not think it will get better. If you really want an unlocked bootloader start MIT. Do some advanced engineering classes. Learn about programming at a base level. Do some reverse engineering. Become as good as the guy that hacked the ps3, then hack the razr. Until then, we are stuck!

This of course comes from someone who has lost all faith in humanity by seeing lying and cheating.

Unlocked bootloaders would mean much better rom releases. I personally can not wait till i can get a fully ported Diaxianos with the kernal. It is by far my favorite rom. Also the CM9 rom releases are not as fast as they would be if we had the kernel.

[JimmyInTheROC]

I agree to a certain extent, because replacing those devices does have an administrative cost associated with it. But unless you physically damage the phone it isn't "dead." Manufacturers have toolsets that we don't have and can restore a device to original state very quickly. Our "Hard Brick" is usually just a "Reimage" to them.

[Bytecode]

Nevermind, already posted.
I think that Motorola is just stringing us along.

[arcanexvi]

I wouldn't expect one for vzw devices. Might be able to trick it though...

[larrygeary]

Hey, whatever happened to the RAZR "Developer Edition"? Last I heard it was released with a locked bootloader and it couldn't be unlocked.

[Shinare]

They can combat the warranty repair problems if they treat it like the unlock for the bootloader on my Transformer Prime. It sends a message to Asus and puts your device's SN into a database of unlocked devices so that you can never claim warranty service again. (permantly voids mfg warranty)

(And permanatly adds text to the BL screen indicating your unlocked, no way to "re-lock" your device)

[joeyx2]

If i understand this correctly with a factory cable and a unlocked bootloader you can't brick your phone which would mean less replacement phones. I remember my og Droid with unlocked bootloader. I was able to wipe the phone completely with only the recovery installed and install whatever i wanted. I do think its because of people tethering to much and once just about everyone is on the shared data plan they will consider unlocking the bootloaders.

[iDroidGuy]

I asked a guy at Verizon tonight why they locked them down. He's a manager and said exactly what I thought. They lock them because of false warranty claims. They say that unlocking them means people would hack, some that don't know how to recovery would claim warranty replacements when issues happened.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Droid2drummer]

I wouldn't expect one for vzw devices. Might be able to trick it though...

Yeah I've seen the recent work...basically runs around via bypass...it works too but how stable is different... but progress is what we are all about regardless or speed we will always have someone pushing the bar...lol lovely.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[arcanexvi]

I asked a guy at Verizon tonight why they locked them down. He's a manager and said exactly what I thought. They lock them because of false warranty claims. They say that unlocking them means people would hack, some that don't know how to recovery would claim warranty replacements when issues happened.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I posted a long article about this roughly 6 months ago.

[DirtyDroidX]

I posted a long article about this roughly 6 months ago.

Yes you did.

Im sorry to say this but VZW will NEVER let this happen. Maby moto gsm phones but not us, jmo. They locked down the sgs3, first sammy device to be locked up. That should tell you right there, what the future is. Teathering and other things is nothing to them we are still paying high monthly payments and buying phones. So why would they change anything? To them they are going to make it so secure, that if, the sec you root your phone or alter anything, system wise, you will be red flagged. I think this is the case with the new sgs. Im afraid its only going to get worse. If it gets better, i will be surprised. I say hope for the best and expect the worst!

[droidian1441]

Yes you did.

Im sorry to say this but VZW will NEVER let this happen. Maby moto gsm phones but not us, jmo. They locked down the sgs3, first sammy device to be locked up. That should tell you right there, what the future is. Teathering and other things is nothing to them we are still paying high monthly payments and buying phones. So why would they change anything? To them they are going to make it so secure, that if, the sec you root your phone or alter anything, system wise, you will be red flagged. I think this is the case with the new sgs. Im afraid its only going to get worse. If it gets better, i will be surprised. I say hope for the best and expect the worst!

GSM might get it first, if at all, IMO. The SGS3 was completely screwed over by Verizon. I saw a picture over on Droid-Life that somebody sent back his SGS3 because of the bootloader being locked. He plainly wrote on the package "Bootloader locked -- No thanks!" and sent it back. Lmao.

VZW is going to make things go way downhill from here. Just like you, if it gets better, I too will be a bit surprised.

Meanwhile it is not like we aren't having fun doing with what we have accomplished now!

[G8orDroid]

I asked a guy at Verizon tonight why they locked them down. He's a manager and said exactly what I thought. They lock them because of false warranty claims. They say that unlocking them means people would hack, some that don't know how to recovery would claim warranty replacements when issues happened.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I realize this was just a store manager and not someone who makes the policy, but that reasoning is IMO, ridiculous. The fact is, if there were an unlock method for the bootloader, they would probably have fewer warranty claims, since MOST people who would actually unlock it, would be able to recover it. Either with their own personal knowledge or help from the community.

Also, why not have the ability to restore a phone available at the VzW store? Since they're all about making money, charge $50 bucks a pop to restore the phone. A couple hours training and some online documentation and any 18 yr. old nerd could do it with minimal infrastructure costs. If the bootloader were unlocked, this would be a practical way of doing things.

Lastly, why not provide an unlock method that would caution the user that unlocking the phone would void the warranty and if they proceeded the IMEI of the phone would be logged and no warranty repairs would be allowed. Oh wait, I think someone already did that.

I know this has been beaten to death in thread after thread, but I just had to vent a little. Sorry.

[VincentL2189]

I realize this was just a store manager and not someone who makes the policy, but that reasoning is IMO, ridiculous. The fact is, if there were an unlock method for the bootloader, they would probably have fewer warranty claims, since MOST people who would actually unlock it, would be able to recover it. Either with their own personal knowledge or help from the community.

Also, why not have the ability to restore a phone available at the VzW store? Since they're all about making money, charge $50 bucks a pop to restore the phone. A couple hours training and some online documentation and any 18 yr. old nerd could do it with minimal infrastructure costs. If the bootloader were unlocked, this would be a practical way of doing things.

Lastly, why not provide an unlock method that would caution the user that unlocking the phone would void the warranty and if they proceeded the IMEI of the phone would be logged and no warranty repairs would be allowed. Oh wait, I think someone already did that.

I know this has been beaten to death in thread after thread, but I just had to vent a little. Sorry.

I'm with you on this one. Locked bootloader has nothing to do with warranty claims. Verizon has stated their reasoning publicly.

[cardidark09]

Unlocked bootloaders mean fully functional jelly bean cause u can flash the jb kernels and radio

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Bytecode]

Unlocked bootloaders mean fully functional jelly bean cause u can flash the jb kernels and radio

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

The kernel for JB and ICS are almost exactly the same, and it doesn't matter what radios you have for a build. .181 radios will work on ICS. So we can have an almost fully functioning JB build already.

[Memnoch73]

The kernel for JB and ICS are almost exactly the same, and it doesn't matter what radios you have for a build. .181 radios will work on ICS. So we can have an almost fully functioning JB build already.

Well this is true an unlocked BL means CUSTOM kernels. This is huge. It was a night and day difference on the ThunderBolt with custom kernels over stock.

[FutureBear]

I agree to a certain extent, because replacing those devices does have an administrative cost associated with it. But unless you physically damage the phone it isn't "dead." Manufacturers have toolsets that we don't have and can restore a device to original state very quickly. Our "Hard Brick" is usually just a "Reimage" to them.

Still have to hire people to do that which they don't have to have as many if there weren't crooked people.