# [VZW] The war has begun - Devs vs Bootloader



## theMichael (Aug 26, 2011)

Adamoutler, a very well established dev and HW engineer has organized a formal attack on the bootloader over on xda.

This is most likely our best chance of having the thing unlocked, check out the thread but *DON'T* post unless you are going to contribute worthy information, its a very serious operation.

Check out the link here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1769411

Also if you want to contribute to the bounty for the first person to unlock the device, head here:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1760568&highlight=bounty

Scary yet exciting times for Verizon S3 owners.


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## johndoe86x (Jul 25, 2011)

Has anyone seen this?

http://syserr.com/i535/unlockpost.jpg


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## johnomaz (Jul 18, 2011)

To leave that XDA forum free of clutter, is the S3 bootloader locked or encrypted? I've yet to find a definitive answer on this.


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## johndoe86x (Jul 25, 2011)

johnomaz said:


> To leave that XDA forum free of clutter, is the S3 bootloader locked or encrypted? I've yet to find a definitive answer on this.


Likewise, I would also love to know. I would say just locked, but I'm no dev. Regardless, I seriously doubt that Samsung followed in Motorola's footsteps. I see you had a Droid X, that was such an amazing phone (and my first android phone), it would have had so much more potential with an unlocked bootloader, though!


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## Gelu (Jun 14, 2011)

I believe it is just locked. It is no where as severe as the infamous Moto bootloaders.


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## johnomaz (Jul 18, 2011)

johndoe86x said:


> Likewise, I would also love to know. I would say just locked, but I'm no dev. Regardless, I seriously doubt that Samsung followed in Motorola's footsteps. I see you had a Droid X, that was such an amazing phone (and my first android phone), it would have had so much more potential with an unlocked bootloader, though!


Yes, I love my DroidX. It too was my first Android phone. My daughter has it now. Shes 6 and its wifi only for her to play games on. It has some dead spots on the screen so I may get a replacement screen for it soon as I can't stand seeing it injured =P.


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## theMichael (Aug 26, 2011)

i believe parts are locked and parts are encrypted, it just depends on which parts now...


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## kipland007 (Sep 29, 2011)

johnomaz said:


> To leave that XDA forum free of clutter, is the S3 bootloader locked or encrypted? I've yet to find a definitive answer on this.


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I'm not a dev so take this with a grain of salt... But here's what I understand.

I don't think locked or encrypted is a good description since it isn't very specific. Basically the boot.img (which contains the kernel) has to be verified by Verizon. This is encryption, but to a much lesser extent than moto devices. We won't "crack" the encryption code but there are a few exploits to get rid of this check that will work as normal that are being looked into. For more info look at AdamOutlers thread on xda.

If anyone wants to correct me feel free.


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## skruid (Nov 1, 2011)

Couldn't you just extract the boot loader from the s3 developer phone and fast boot it or something along those lines to have an unlocked boot loader, or does the lockdown cover that too
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

skruid said:


> Couldn't you just extract the boot loader from the s3 developer phone and fast boot it or something along those lines to have an unlocked boot loader, or does the lockdown cover that too
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


The bootloader lock would prevent overwriting the bootloader with the one from the Dev phone.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## sneakysolidbake (Jun 8, 2011)

jellybellys said:


> The bootloader lock would prevent overwriting the bootloader with the one from the Dev phone.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


Incorrect, you can flash bootloaders. Although someone has bricked a phone with the sprint bl. With the dev phone bl it will either work, fail and do nothing, or fail and brick. Won't know until someone tries it.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## th3taman (Jul 14, 2011)

Wish we knew when Dev phone was coming out, haven't seen hard any release date.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

theMichael said:


> Adamoutler, a very well established dev and HW engineer has organized a formal attack on the bootloader over on xda.
> 
> This is most likely our best chance of having the thing unlocked, check out the thread but *DON'T* post unless you are going to contribute worthy information, its a very serious operation.
> 
> ...


Check out that link. That is some serious work being done. Good luck to Adam.


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## joshw0000 (May 30, 2012)

My main reason for holding out on buying one of these is the locked bootloader (dealing with that on my Maxx ATM but love the battery too much to go back to Nexus). To add salt to the wound, the Verizon S3 is the only one to be locked. I'm sure devs will figure something out considering all other S3's are unlocked and Samsung will be one day releasing an unlocked version directly to the public.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## RMarkwald (Oct 19, 2011)

00negative said:


> Check out that link. That is some serious work being done. Good luck to Adam.


Wow no kidding! I just read through all 11 pages...that is some serious, serious work going on there. Makes my head spin, and I don't even own a VZW SGS3. I hope they crack it and stick it to Big Red.


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## mean sixteen (Nov 20, 2011)

joshw0000 said:


> My main reason for holding out on buying one of these is the locked bootloader (dealing with that on my Maxx ATM but love the battery too much to go back to Nexus). To add salt to the wound, the Verizon S3 is the only one to be locked. I'm sure devs will figure something out considering all other S3's are unlocked and Samsung will be one day releasing an unlocked version directly to the public.
> 
> Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


Keep in mind though, even though the boot loader is locked down we already have a work around that, while not ideal, still has almost all we "need" done.

I am running a custom rom, cm10 to be exact, and a custom kernel. We can change boot animations, kernels, and roms. Having the boot loader unlocked will make it a little easier but it is not a big inconvenience to work around it now.

I will not be upset if they never get it cracked. Still rooting for them but if not then I am just fine.

Sent through mental telepathy...or a TF201


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## joshw0000 (May 30, 2012)

mean sixteen said:


> Keep in mind though, even though the boot loader is locked down we already have a work around that, while not ideal, still has almost all we "need" done.
> 
> I am running a custom rom, cm10 to be exact, and a custom kernel. We can change boot animations, kernels, and roms. Having the boot loader unlocked will make it a little easier but it is not a big inconvenience to work around it now.
> 
> ...


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

While I fully support efforts to crack the bootloader, if for no other reason than I want to stick it to those bastards are Verizon, at this point I think the dev community has already won this battle. Coming from a DX, I can already see how the S3 bootloader is nowhere near as locked down as the DX was. The fact that we can access the recovery partition and through Kexec install custom kernels and do whatever we want to the phone despite the locked bootloader proves how ineffective Verizon's efforts have been. Yet again, in the battle between the OEMs and the carriers and our wonderful development team, our devs come out way ahead.

Props to all, and the moment CM10 looks stable I'm ditching Touchwiz for some AOSP goodness.


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## Jgrimberg1979 (Jul 7, 2011)

TenderloinShadow said:


> While I fully support efforts to crack the bootloader, if for no other reason than I want to stick it to those bastards are Verizon, at this point I think the dev community has already won this battle. Coming from a DX, I can already see how the S3 bootloader is nowhere near as locked down as the DX was. The fact that we can access the recovery partition and through Kexec install custom kernels and do whatever we want to the phone despite the locked bootloader proves how ineffective Verizon's efforts have been. Yet again, in the battle between the OEMs and the carriers and our wonderful development team, our devs come out way ahead.
> 
> Props to all, and the moment CM10 looks stable I'm ditching Touchwiz for some AOSP goodness.


Yes it is definitely a good that we are able to at least flash a kernel in some form but I definitely think we haven't "won" yet. Unlocking the bootloader is a huge for a number of reasons.

1. Right now we can't flash a kernel without losing our recovery and vice versa. It is a pain in the ass to have to go back and forth. Kexec helps with this but it is definitely not ideal for anyone including devs.

2. If the bootloader is not unlocked the chances of a developer moving on to another phone to make kernels and Roms is a lot higher for phones with a locked bootloader. There will always be development but not as much as if we had a unlocked bootloader.

I am really pulling for our devs and I am blown away by their efforts. If you look at there thread you will be lost because what they are doing is pure genius. They are a lot smarter than I will ever be.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

Correction to what you just said: We DO have a recovery in Kexec. Modified versions of CWM have been released that can be run while running a Kexec ROM. As for devs moving on to other phones, the SGS3 has solid over 10 million units already. Devs will be creating ROMs for this device like crazy, and in many cases the only difference between the VZW version and some of the others is the locked bootloader. As the Kexec process becomes more settled and familiar, I think we'll see some intrepid devs do what devs like 13thangel did for the Droid X and just port ROMs from other SGS3s over to the VZW version. Overall though I expect a vibrant development environment to this phone with or without the bootloader unlocked


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## droidstyle (Oct 22, 2011)

Jgrimberg1979 said:


> Yes it is definitely a good that we are able to at least flash a kernel in some form but I definitely think we haven't "won" yet. Unlocking the bootloader is a huge for a number of reasons.
> 
> 1. Right now we can't flash a kernel without losing our recovery and vice versa. It is a pain in the ass to have to go back and forth. Kexec helps with this but it is definitely not ideal for anyone including devs.
> 
> ...


You are misinformed...Kexec allows us to have both a custom kernel and recovery!! Its a process that hijacks the boot process and sideloads the custom kernel. The only thing you notice is the device boot loops twice before booting. The locked bootloader means nothing at this point...what was more of an issue was the RIL but that has been covered aswell. Samsung left holes in the locked bootloader for a reason...it made verizon happy while still allowing customers to load third party software. Even if the bootloader never gets unlocked, this device wont suffer...I know 30 seconds extra boot time wont make or break me... Im going AOSP all the way wants the little things are fully functional. Also the methods we are using does not trip the flash counter since were not flashing a custom recovery or kernel thru odin. The stock kernel is seen at first boot and passes signature verification, the kexec comes in, hijacks the boot process and loads the custom kenel= We Are Golden!


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## Jgrimberg1979 (Jul 7, 2011)

droidstyle said:


> You are misinformed...Kexec allows us to have both a custom kernel and recovery!! Its a process that hijacks the boot process and sideloads the custom kernel. The only thing you notice is the device boot loops twice before booting. The locked bootloader means nothing at this point...what was more of an issue was the RIL but that has been covered aswell. Samsung left holes in the locked bootloader for a reason...it made verizon happy while still allowing customers to load third party software. Even if the bootloader never gets unlocked, this device wont suffer...I know 30 seconds extra boot time wont make or break me... Im going AOSP all the way wants the little things are fully functional. Also the methods we are using does not trip the flash counter since were not flashing a custom recovery or kernel thru odin. The stock kernel is seen at first boot and passes signature verification, the kexec comes in, hijacks the boot process and loads the custom kenel= We Are Golden!


Dude I know how kexec works, I am not misinformed! If unlocking the bootloader is nothing like you say then why are some of the best devs working hard to get it unlocked? Fact of the matter is that running a clean kernel without kexec is a lot better than a work around hence its called a work around ! Without an unlocked bootloader we will always be lower on the tot um pool than we would if it were unlocked

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## droidstyle (Oct 22, 2011)

Jgrimberg1979 said:


> Dude I know how kexec works, I am not misinformed! If unlocking the bootloader is nothing like you say then why are some of the best devs working hard to get it unlocked? Fact of the matter is that running a clean kernel without kexec is a lot better than a work around hence its called a work around ! Without an unlocked bootloader we will always be lower on the tot um pool than we would if it were unlocked
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


Have you flashed cm10 yet or any other aosp rom?


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## Jgrimberg1979 (Jul 7, 2011)

droidstyle said:


> Have you flashed cm10 yet or any other aosp rom?


Yes I have. Anyways not trying to argue, just saying that everyone wants the bootlaoder unlocked and not unlocked means less, maybe not a lot less but no one can argue that it isn't less.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## ImaComputa (Sep 8, 2011)

Some good stuff going on in the xda r&d thread. It sounds like we are well taken care of.


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