Well, in the world of technology, new terminologies keep surfacing all the time. Most of which can really boggle down an average, the regular user. The Android development world is no exception to this rule, and also among the lots of new words that keep sprouting, one confusing term is basically that S-OFF or S-ON. Generally, these terms are basically applies to HTC’s Android phones, specifically the Droid Incredible and EVO 4G. In this article, we are now going to talk about What is HTC S-Off – How to Gain it n HTC Phones. Let’s begin!
Well, in a nutshell, S-OFF basically means that the NAND portion of the device is unlocked and can also be written to. The default setting for HTC’s devices is actually S-ON, which means that neither can you guys access certain areas of the system. Nor can you guys guarantee a permanent root. Moreover, signature check for firmware images is also to make sure via the S-ON flag.
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How Do I Know If My Device Is S-ON Or S-OFF?
That is pretty easy to verify. Simply boot into HBOOT on your device, and then the text on top will also show the flag status. Because of either S-OFF or S-ON. A full root generally means S-OFF actually.
S-OFF – What And Why?
In their devices, HTC has also installed a sort of security check that whose level is actually determined via S-OFF or S-ON. Important, this security level is basically a flag that is saved on the device’s radio that checks signature photos for any firmware. Before it is permitted to write to system memory actually. This hinders through any custom ROMs, splash pictures, and then recovery, etc.
And also restricts access to the NAND flash memory. But, when the security level is actually set to S-OFF, the signature check basically bypasses. Permitting a user order to upload custom firmware images, unsign boot, recovery, splash, and HBOOT images. As well as official firmware that modifies, this turning on maximum customization of your HTC Android device.
Moreover, S-OFF also decreases restrictions on accessing the NAND flash memory on the device. That permits all partitions (including /system) to be mounted in write mode while the operating system is booted well.
Update: Past this point, the post is only applicable to the older HTC devices. The tool mentioned does not actually work with the latest releases.
How Do I Get S-OFF On My HTC Android Phone?
Thanks to the team behind the unrevoked tool, it is really easy to get S-OFF permanent on your device. unrevoked forever is basically a painless root for HTC Droid Incredible, the HTC EVO 4G, HTC CDMA Hero, and also HTC CDMA Desire as well. Usage is just as simple as you can imagine, and you can have to approach the process actually:
- If you guys are looking for a simple root, visit https://unrevoked.com/m/ on your HTC Android phone. Press the logo to download the apk, install it and then tap on Start. Your root is absolutely ready!
- In order to get root along with permanent security level S-OFF, then just visit this link. Then download and install the appropriate program for your operating system (Windows, Mac OS, and Linux supported). Now, just simply plug in your phone to PC via USB cable, and then run the program that you installs – neat and simple as well.
Just like that, you can consider visiting the unrevoks team’s official Wiki. That basically even more details instructions and explanations as well.
Main Benefit Of unrevoked forever
The main advantage of using unrevoked forever is just having S-OFF as the permanent security level flag. We know HTC also likes OTA updates, so just having a permanent S-OFF means even if you guys flash an unrootable update. You guys can still flash a custom recovery and ROM, thus making your root permanent. You also cannot lose the ability to flash HBOOTs and radio images via FASTBOOT, which is again safer than via recovery mode – another perk of having a permanent S-OFF.
For those thinking how unrevok forever manages to get S-OFF permanent. It actually grants root access to the radio or NVRAM image rather than the traditional bootloader method. Thus, even if any update flashes a new bootloader, and then root access stays.
Conclusion
Alright, That was all Folks! I hope you guys like this article and also find it helpful to you. Give us your feedback on it. Also if you guys have further queries and issues related to this article. Then let us know in the comments section below. We will get back to you shortly.
Have a Great Day!
