Database Develop

[Dev Poll]

Without an unlocked boot loader, which would allow for a custom kernel, we will never see substantial development on the Atrix.
Lack of (the ability to run) custom kernels prevents many of the modifications that have made Cyanogenmod and other popular ROMs appealing. (including overclocking, enhanced power management and screen color adjustments just to name a few)
The best we could hope for (without an unlocked bootloader) would be a stock version of android, devoid of all things Blur.
Luckily the latter will happen sooner rather than later, imo.
Like some other posters said, we still have hope. There are three main sources of unlocking the bootloader, I will list them here in the order I feel they are likely to actually happen chronologically:
1. Information gleaned from the LG Optimus 2X will directly translate into an unlocked bootloader on the Atrix:
If unconfirmed rumors are to be believed, the LG Optimus 2X, which runs the same Tegra 2 SOC (system on chip) as the Atrix, has already had its bootloader unlocked. With a European March release eminent (its only available in South Korea currently) it could only be a small matter of time before the same methods used to unlock the 2X fall into our hands.
2. Out of the box thinking by Developers leads to exploiting the bootloader:
Inquisitive and risky developers here at XDA have been laying waste to bootloaders and the like for years now. The Tegra 2 System On a Chip Platform is still very much in its infancy, it stands to reason that there are quite a few vulnerabilities hiding just under the surface awaiting the prodding minds of credit hungry devs.
3. Motorola makes good on their "promise" and gives us the keys to the castle:
Motorola has alluded to the possibility of releasing their secure grasp on our most prised dual core phone. Rest assured it won't literally be "keys" they give us, and more likely they will provide a flashable development bootloader accessible as a download to registered developers.
What method do you think will happen, first?

I think we may learn something from the Optimus 2X.

im feeling pessimistic about this. im not thinking its going to get cracked. hope im wrong though

The Devs always win, why would Moto release the software? Because they feel like it? Sorry they are worried about one thing and that is the bottom line, they wont do anything to help a small portion of their customer base.

You need to have an option for "DG will figure it out"

if anything we'd learn we should learn that from the XOOM, no ?
LG use the tegra 2 and all, but different company do ( lock ) things differently

oFUNGUSo said:
im feeling pessimistic about this. im not thinking its going to get cracked. hope im wrong though
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately I'm in line with you. It doesn't seem like there's any motivation for Motorola to release the keys, and from past history with their devices cracking the bootloader does not look promising.
It's a shame because this is a very good phone that just needs a little tweaking (removing Blur).

There has to be some way without the keys.. I don't know what, but it can't require just those. We need to get other developers to look at the Atrix. Like I said in the other thread, jimmydafish and maybe even koush could help DG try to find some way to bring ROMs. Even if they don't fully unlock it, just do it similar to the droid x.
Atrix4G Rooted!

the poll results speak truth.
*sad face*
its dumb too because i returned my craptivate to get this phone, and now i wont be able to do all the same cool stuff to it.
i guess i have 20 more days where i could return this and either go to the crappy again, or inspire. im juggling the idea, but the dual core, large ram and good battery life are making me lean towards just keeping this phone.....oh and the fact taht the GPS works when the crappy didnt

oFUNGUSo said:
the poll results speak truth.
*sad face*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sir are no economist!
But seriously... if you look at the results, an overwhelming majority believe that we will in one way or another obtain an unlocked bootloader:
66.18% of all voters think it will happen, while only 33.82 think it never will.

Have faith in the DEVs, I'm voting on option 2!

it won't be cracked, it's almost impossible, but the droid x wasn't doomed because it still has greats rom. No unlocked bootloader only means no custom kernels, not roms.
i would like those 100+ people that signed the petition about at&t's block of hsupa instead post on motorola's twitter accounts all day. the only way we MAY get an unlocked bootloader would be for moto to do it.

jruweaver said:
Have faith in the DEVs, I'm voting on option 2!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what if one of those DEVs is the ony who actually told me, and i quote:
"it wont get cracked"

oFUNGUSo said:
what if one of those DEVs is the ony who actually told me, and i quote:
"it wont get cracked"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it depends on which dev said it.

Designgears told me more than once, and everyone else in the IRC channel that we more than likely will not be able to unlock it. Never said it was impossible, but the thing that checks the kernel and recovery, whatever it is, is lower than the bootloader, that is why the bootloader is only signed.

Out of curiosity is it possible at all to OC without cracking the boot loader and loading a new kernel? I'm pretty sure it's not but just double checking.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

DemonWav said:
Designgears told me more than once, and everyone else in the IRC channel that we more than likely will not be able to unlock it. Never said it was impossible, but the thing that checks the kernel and recovery, whatever it is, is lower than the bootloader, that is why the bootloader is only signed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohhh boy.. That does not sound good at all What to do, what to do?

Give up. It's tilting windmills without a leak from within moto.

I think you mean tilting at windmills, in reference to Don Quixote tilting his lance at a windmill thinking it was an enemy.

All literary references aside, even with a "leak from within moto" the chances of unlocking the bootloader are negligible.
We had all of the documentation and files from Motorola for the Droid devices including efuse implementation and emulation on unsecured hardware, all of component files themselves for both secured and unsecured hardware and all of the firmware builds.
None of it helped unlock the bootloader. We even have the methods and tools for setting and blowing the fuses with RadioComm.
It is irrevocable once set and we have been told that Motorola themselves cannot "unlock" them. All they can do is replace the chip with an unsecured one.

Safestrap for the LG G4?

Since the lg g2 has gotten Safestrap shouldnt the lg g4 get one too? I mean we dont have a bootloader thingy for our device cant we just develop one?

I believe the problem is they cant side step the bootloader the same way as they have in the past. Truthfuly im just waiting on 6.0 before i put any major effort into developing for this phone. I have it pretty tricked out now without being unlocked but just rooted. Once 6.0 comes out i will put much effort into exploiting a loophole in lgs bootloader. This is my first lg phone had no idea it was so dead on the developers side but i see why now. I have been hacking phones since the htc touch before android even existed. Anyways between work and knowing it will shortly be updated to 6.0 im just waiting for that and then i will rip this phone apart. I got this phone for a penny and could care less about it so when i say i will give her hell i mean ill go at it with no worries.

danweb66 said:
I believe the problem is they cant side step the bootloader the same way as they have in the past. Truthfuly im just waiting on 6.0 before i put any major effort into developing for this phone. I have it pretty tricked out now without being unlocked but just rooted. Once 6.0 comes out i will put much effort into exploiting a loophole in lgs bootloader. This is my first lg phone had no idea it was so dead on the developers side but i see why now. I have been hacking phones since the htc touch before android even existed. Anyways between work and knowing it will shortly be updated to 6.0 im just waiting for that and then i will rip this phone apart. I got this phone for a penny and could care less about it so when i say i will give her hell i mean ill go at it with no worries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally another old schooler!
I miss how much fun it was to hack phones back in the day, and some of the stuff we had to do back then makes Android phone development look simple. Oh man, back when you could do everything just right and still brick the hell out of your phone because htc or palm would sneak in a hardware change in the middle of a production run

I may start a new thread in original development thread. One on the sole purpose of unlocking the bootloader. For those of you with advance coding skills this is a very interesting read and may eventually lead us in the right direction. http://blog.azimuthsecurity.com/2013/04/unlocking-motorola-bootloader.html?m=1
I am currently in the process of pulling our blocks and ciphering through the code. Im not sure if his exact method will work as it looks like they may have reversed engineered his exploit and fixed it. But i believe that the basic concept of going after unlocking the bootloader by manipulating the code itself from tge blockchains will still work we just need to see what has been done and start back tracking to the point of where it can be xploited.
Like i stated earlier i may open a thread in original development devoted to this and maybe get a meeting of the minds. Like a think tank if you will. If i could get a team together of oldschoolers and new millenniumers and assign a block to be sifted through to groups rather than by myself im sure we could figure this out.

danweb66 said:
I believe the problem is they cant side step the bootloader the same way as they have in the past. Truthfuly im just waiting on 6.0 before i put any major effort into developing for this phone. I have it pretty tricked out now without being unlocked but just rooted. Once 6.0 comes out i will put much effort into exploiting a loophole in lgs bootloader. This is my first lg phone had no idea it was so dead on the developers side but i see why now. I have been hacking phones since the htc touch before android even existed. Anyways between work and knowing it will shortly be updated to 6.0 im just waiting for that and then i will rip this phone apart. I got this phone for a penny and could care less about it so when i say i will give her hell i mean ill go at it with no worries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u need anyy help let me know i can restore most bricks working on qloader brick fix like g2 and g3 but if u need any testing im game

Well...

Appears this is where we come to an end with development and rooting. All other g4s have been Rooted on Android m. We just don't have any love for this device. Appears we all messed up when we chose sprint as our carrier. Argh!

Wat, who are you? What makes you think you can make that call? There are people that spent countless hours making ROMs and Developing for the Sprint LG G4 and you think you have the final say?
Quoting what you said just in case you edit you post: "Appears this is where we come to an end with development and rooting. All other g4s have been Rooted on Android m. We just don't have any love for this device. Appears we all messed up when we chose sprint as our carrier. Argh!" with screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/DxsEmvG.png
Not the right way to think, just wait. Have you contributed in anyway to the Sprint LG G4 here on XDA? I sure have with my free hotspot bug (patched on Android M).

I highly doubt Verizon G4 is rooted on m.
In fact I don't think they even have Marshmallow update yet.

what is so appealing in Marshmallow to make one want to upgrade urgently? If you have stable L with root and xposed, why not staying with it. I do not think there is Xposed for M anyways yet, which is the main reason to root this phone.

I am with you. This phone is the most disappointing tech purchase in all my years of existence. I love the camera and removable battery but this phone is just crap and doesn't get much dev love. I beat if the bootloader got unlocked and I can load a true rom on it this phone would be great. I think most of the problems is LG's crappy modifications to android. Every time it get slow, unresponsive, the touch screen lags behind, or a stupid Sprint notification advertisement pops up I want to chuck it against a wall and then jump off a cliff.
I am just using this as a rude awakening to the future. This will most likely be one of the last phones that isn't sealed tight. Guess I need to carry around a clunky battery pack with cable dangling from my pockets instead of a small quick batter swap. Rooting and unlocking the bootloader will become ever more difficult with upcoming phones. The glory days are over I feel

centran said:
I am with you. This phone is the most disappointing tech purchase in all my years of existence. I love the camera and removable battery but this phone is just crap and doesn't get much dev love. I beat if the bootloader got unlocked and I can load a true rom on it this phone would be great. I think most of the problems is LG's crappy modifications to android. Every time it get slow, unresponsive, the touch screen lags behind, or a stupid Sprint notification advertisement pops up I want to chuck it against a wall and then jump off a cliff.
I am just using this as a rude awakening to the future. This will most likely be one of the last phones that isn't sealed tight. Guess I need to carry around a clunky battery pack with cable dangling from my pockets instead of a small quick batter swap. Rooting and unlocking the bootloader will become ever more difficult with upcoming phones. The glory days are over I feel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disabled and uninstalled everything I could with sprint software. Haven't had any of their pop ups in months. It seems you bought a phone in one of the bad batches with your lagging screen.
I hate their UI though...

One of the best phones I've had in terms of specs etc. Would be something if I could run CM13 on this one day..
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

I don't have Android M on my phone yet....
...so maybe I can keep my hopes up. Sprint didn't give me Marshmallow on my phone. I'm not begging for it either. From what I'm gathering here, you're all good if you're on Lollipop (5.1) Right?

EmSeeMAC said:
I disabled and uninstalled everything I could with sprint software. Haven't had any of their pop ups in months. It seems you bought a phone in one of the bad batches with your lagging screen.
I hate their UI though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep I had a bad batch phone and it was before Sprint admitted the problem so I sent it to LG. LG fixed my phone but did not replace it. That is probably the big problem. Now I have a phone that is only having lagging problems and since that is subjective and random so not easily repeatable I am screwed.

SeeLaH said:
...so maybe I can keep my hopes up. Sprint didn't give me Marshmallow on my phone. I'm not begging for it either. From what I'm gathering here, you're all good if you're on Lollipop (5.1) Right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We do have Marshmallow, but the OTA is taking reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally long.

I just got the notification a few minutes ago for the update. I'm from Michigan and figured I was one of the last places to get it but I guess not. Newho, I've read that there's gonna be more dev work on our g4 but they were waiting for Android m to come out before they focused their energy to cracking the bootloader. Stay patient as the carriers are getting wise to what our devs have been doing and they try to seal up the phone to keep us out. But when there's a will there's a way and it will happen eventually.

Well I'm hoping for ultrapop marshmallow, lol. The phone stock was fine and ultrapop was perfect for me. Would be nice to have cm in this phone but ultrapop was all I really need.
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

esloudan said:
Well I'm hoping for ultrapop marshmallow, lol. The phone stock was fine and ultrapop was perfect for me. Would be nice to have cm in this phone but ultrapop was all I really need.
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think that's gonna happen, as MM security is the reason we don't even have systemless root yet. UltraPop relies on changing the system partition, which the Lollipop boot sequence isn't as strong. in MM as soon as the system partition is changed, it causes hashes and whatnot to change, the boot sequence detects the changes and doesn't allow the phone to boot. I think we'll need an unlocked bootloader for UP-type "pseudo-roms"

natator99 said:
Don't think that's gonna happen, as MM security is the reason we don't even have systemless root yet. UltraPop relies on changing the system partition, which the Lollipop boot sequence isn't as strong. in MM as soon as the system partition is changed, it causes hashes and whatnot to change, the boot sequence detects the changes and doesn't allow the phone to boot. I think we'll need an unlocked bootloader for UP-type "pseudo-roms"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. I was able to work-around the system partition in ZV6 because LG security only checked for certain files were present. In ZV8, there is LG security checksum for the whole system partition. Since we have a locked bootloader, we can't modify Kernel without tripping the boot security. I am still going to try to get a modified stock ROM working, or maybe mix of ZV6/ZV8, but have not had much time lately.

Roms for our phone? please tell me where roms are at for our phone. i only see 1. that is still stock. ultrapop

Go to the Sprint Fun and Games app and hit the menu button, then settings, then deselect the box Atuomatically install Zone / Fun & Game updates and the notifications boxes. Super disappointed in Sprint for having this.

centran said:
I am with you. This phone is the most disappointing tech purchase in all my years of existence. I love the camera and removable battery but this phone is just crap and doesn't get much dev love. I beat if the bootloader got unlocked and I can load a true rom on it this phone would be great. I think most of the problems is LG's crappy modifications to android. Every time it get slow, unresponsive, the touch screen lags behind, or a stupid Sprint notification advertisement pops up I want to chuck it against a wall and then jump off a cliff.
I am just using this as a rude awakening to the future. This will most likely be one of the last phones that isn't sealed tight. Guess I need to carry around a clunky battery pack with cable dangling from my pockets instead of a small quick batter swap. Rooting and unlocking the bootloader will become ever more difficult with upcoming phones. The glory days are over I feel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This phone has plenty of "dev love". Some of the best developers are trying their hand at it. There's a huge bounty for unlocking the bootloader, and plenty of people trying to earn it.
The problem is, until one of them (or the part timers like me) stumble across something that works, we're in a holding pattern. We have something stable that works in Android L with root and xposed framework, and until the bootloader issue is solved, that will have to do.
Be patient, OR hit the general Android development section and LEARN. Do it yourself. Grab the bounty. There's plenty of us doing what we can, even as far as hard bricking our devices and getting them replaced by trying methods that work for other devices. I myself am on my second LS991 from trying a method that worked on the kindle fire where you get into fastboot by nuking laf and still haven't had any luck getting a patched bootloader to stick.
So cool off and have some patience. Some people haven't even had the official OTA roll out to their area yet and you're crying that you don't have rooted M? Grow up.

+1
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 09:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 PM ----------
agentfusion said:
This phone has plenty of "dev love". Some of the best developers are trying their hand at it. There's a huge bounty for unlocking the bootloader, and plenty of people trying to earn it.
The problem is, until one of them (or the part timers like me) stumble across something that works, we're in a holding pattern. We have something stable that works in Android L with root and xposed framework, and until the bootloader issue is solved, that will have to do.
Be patient, OR hit the general Android development section and LEARN. Do it yourself. Grab the bounty. There's plenty of us doing what we can, even as far as hard bricking our devices and getting them replaced by trying methods that work for other devices. I myself am on my second LS991 from trying a method that worked on the kindle fire where you get into fastboot by nuking laf and still haven't had any luck getting a patched bootloader to stick.
So cool off and have some patience. Some people haven't even had the official OTA roll out to their area yet and you're crying that you don't have rooted M? Grow up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk

LG will not be unlocking any other G4's except the Euro H815.
Hello,
Thank you for your interest in LG mobile devices.
Currently, you can only unlock bootloader for LG G4 for the European market with model number H815.
And we have no plan to support bootloader unlocking for H815T.
If there are any changes to the supported devices, we will let you know via our website.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

DaemeonZane said:
LG will not be unlocking any other G4's except the Euro H815.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And? That doesn't mean they can't be unlocked by other means. It just means LG will not be providing the binary file for oem-unlock via fastboot. Some of us have already gotten limited fastboot access by willingly destroying the laf partition and using a serial USB connection. Right now I'm working on trying to figure out how to get access to other fastboot commands not available in this limited mode, then it's just a matter of creating a reliable semi-automated process so it's accessible to less technical users, and if no one beats me to it; collecting the bounty on a reliable bootloader unlock and ability to flash recovery and make it stick. (Which, to be absolutely honest ... Though I'm not working with anyone else, I would not have gotten *anywhere* without ideas others have bounced around on these forums that helped me make progress when stuck, so I will contact each of them privately to divide half of the bounty between them if I am first to be able to collect it)

Do people even work on the locked up US Snapdragon variants?

All I read is negative on the topic of the US Snapdragon Galaxy S10 receiving root/an unlocked bootloader as I understand Samsung has kept these variants locked since the S7 series.
But is it not true that anything that can be locked can be unlocked? It's impossible to have a truly unbreakable lock, hardware or software, no?
And if it is completely impossible, why is this? Are people actively working on it/is there any potential we will receive root in a way similar to the SamFails exploit for the S8 series?
Of course, I'm just a consumer. I'm not exactly sure what goes into this. It would be helpful to gain some insight on what is and is not possible for my S10.
Kind of disappointed I'm unable to afford a Canadian or other foreign variant because I do payment plans. But I really would love the feeling of having root again. I really do miss it.

CrackyRaps said:
. I really do miss it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But why?

CrackyRaps said:
All I read is negative on the topic of the US Snapdragon Galaxy S10 receiving root/an unlocked bootloader as I understand Samsung has kept these variants locked since the S7 series.
But is it not true that anything that can be locked can be unlocked? It's impossible to have a truly unbreakable lock, hardware or software, no?
And if it is completely impossible, why is this? Are people actively working on it/is there any potential we will receive root in a way similar to the SamFails exploit for the S8 series?
Of course, I'm just a consumer. I'm not exactly sure what goes into this. It would be helpful to gain some insight on what is and is not possible for my S10.
Kind of disappointed I'm unable to afford a Canadian or other foreign variant because I do payment plans. But I really would love the feeling of having root again. I really do miss it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have purchased another phone, because it's not going to happen on this one.

raduque said:
But why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because I enjoyed the extra features associated with it?
Superuser, flashing a ROM, even just getting rid of certain bloatware or using a PS3 controller with bluetooth.
There's just a bunch of small things that I miss being able to do, but Samsung has been progressively locking their **** up more and more.
Why does it matter why I want it?

raduque said:
But why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tel864 said:
You should have purchased another phone, because it's not going to happen on this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the sort of thing I'm talking about. I don't know how you can definitively say this other than for the fact that nobody seems to even be giving a ****.
And that's how it goes, nobody gives a **** until it's figured out.
I'm sure a lot of people had the same exact mindset when the S8 got root without tripping Knox, but it got it eventually.
Maybe if more people had been working on it, it would've come about much earlier than it did.
So what is your reasoning other than "well Samsung made it hard to do so nobody attempts it?"
Nothing is impossible to break into.

CrackyRaps said:
This is the sort of thing I'm talking about. I don't know how you can definitively say this other than for the fact that nobody seems to even be giving a ****.
And that's how it goes, nobody gives a **** until it's figured out.
I'm sure a lot of people had the same exact mindset when the S8 got root without tripping Knox, but it got it eventually.
Maybe if more people had been working on it, it would've come about much earlier than it did.
So what is your reasoning other than "well Samsung made it hard to do so nobody attempts it?"
Nothing is impossible to break into.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait wait wait lets clear this up. the s8 got root within a month or two of it being out. However, this was NOT because "people worked on it hard enough" It was because an engineering boot/build got leaked. This was not matter of working to root the thing then they had a magic breakthrough due to hard work. It was rooted because of the leaked engineering build.
I hope that they end up having the same thing happen there too, I really do. However, I would not keep your hopes up. Samsung is very good about locking their devices down when they want to. The level of dedication and work that a team would have to put in would have to be the equivalent or bigger than the team samsung has working to lock these things down. The problem with that? any team that has that time and money is not going to be working to root a samsung device. they are going to be taking paid jobs and if they did find a security flaw to exploit, they would probably turn it into samsung for a payout.

CrackyRaps said:
So what is your reasoning other than "well Samsung made it hard to do so nobody attempts it?"
Nothing is impossible to break into.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, welcome to the real world, because things can be made impossible to break into. I'm still amazed at people buying a phone they know can't be rooted, get buy it anyway.

Hey guys I agree with the OP of this thread. I am by no means a dev but want to try and help where I can. I posted a thread on galaxy s10+ forum regarding the eng bootloader from Pakfirmware. If you are interested check it out https://forum.xda-developers.com/s10-plus/how-to/eng-bootloader-t3914050

ait1071 said:
Hey guys I agree with the OP of this thread. I am by no means a dev but want to try and help where I can. I posted a thread on galaxy s10+ forum regarding the eng bootloader from Pakfirmware. If you are interested check it out https://forum.xda-developers.com/s10-plus/how-to/eng-bootloader-t3914050
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good dialog here. One question, is the Exynos version the same in every way as the Snapdragon, especially the having the same 3G/4G LTE Bands?
If so, why not just buy the Exynos version Unlocked from an overseas website?
The only disadvantage would be if they fail to include the newer bands like 23, 66,71,14....etc...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

CrackyRaps said:
But is it not true that anything that can be locked can be unlocked? It's impossible to have a truly unbreakable lock, hardware or software, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That locked down phone is a selling point. They'll sell far more phones to people that don't care about rooting... and that's before the corporate and government sales.
Can it be unlocked? It's possible. It could happen today, or it could take two years like the Verizon Note4 and require such a convoluted process that many people will screw their phones up in the attempt. In the case of the Note4, it took so long that many developers had long moved on to newer devices.
Are there people working on the unlock? Undoubtedly. But I've found that this work goes on quietly, less the unwashed masses try incomplete methods and end up making their phones useless. (I hesitate to use the term "bricked," because that implies a phone that cannot be fixed by anyone. It is an overused term on these forums.)
I used to flash two or three ROMs a day back when I first got an Android phone in the Droid Incredible days. Perhaps it's my age, but most of the ROMs I flashed had issues I don't want to mess with anymore. While the One UI isn't a perfect experience, the only possible enticement I could see to root my phone would be a full nandroid backup.
And if they do find a way to root, I'll be in the thread laughing my ass off at the idiots who don't know what they're doing and can't follow directions "brick" their phones. A word of wisdom: don't try to be the first. Let others screw up and get the process refined.

CrackyRaps said:
Because I enjoyed the extra features associated with it?
Superuser, flashing a ROM, even just getting rid of certain bloatware or using a PS3 controller with bluetooth.
There's just a bunch of small things that I miss being able to do, but Samsung has been progressively locking their **** up more and more.
Why does it matter why I want it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't matter. I was genuinely curious. You might gain a few little things, but you break everything that uses Knox. Samsung Pay, S-Health, Secure Folder, apps like Adhell and Disconnect Pro. Oh, and you NEVER get those back even after un-rooting, so you have to sell it for a significantly lower price because the device is crippled.
Samsung is locking their devices down so they can provide a secure environment for US Government and company use. 97% of the consumer market appreciates the lock down as well, because it's more difficult for malware to use an exploit to gain root and use that to steal passwords, pins, numbers and so on.
If you want to be able to unlock a devices bootloader, add root access and flash community roms, you need to get another device. If you still want to root a Samsung, you need an Exynos device. But again, see my first paragraph.

If you really want to have root then probably the best thing is not to buy a phone till root has been made available. For certain type of phones this is unlikely to ever materialize. The situation is not unique to Samsung, particularly Samsung phones with Snapdragon; as also Huawei phones have become increasingly difficult/impossible to unlock and root.

Question Should I Unlock the bootloader?

First off, yes i have searched thru the forums for an answer but none of those that I found are direct to my questions...
I just placed an order for S21 Ultra Exynos. Should be arriving within the next 2 days or so..
My questions are: (this will be my first Samsung phone)
1) Is one UI good enough? or is it worth it to flash a custom from (previously I used to flash custom from for better battery life and also advance customization.
2) If I unlock the bootloader, will I still receive firmware updates?
I'm basically buying this particular phone for its excellent battery life, camera, and performance.
And also because Samsung promised 3-4 years for firmware updates. I believe this phone will last for at least 3 years.
And I'm thinking of unlocking the bootloader on day 1 itself before even setting up anything. That way I would save my time from losing stuff by resetting after unlocking BL.
3) and also, did anyone get the Samsung care+ extended warranty? Is it worth it?
I have never broken a phone before in my life thus far. But since this is gonna be the most expensive phone I have ever bought, I would prefer to secure my investment. (another reason why I'm considering not to unlock bootloader/root as of yet).
Thank you soo much.
Have not done rooting for a long time. Lost touch will all this stuff.
Hence the noobie questions.

1. One UI is quite good. There aren't a ton of custom ROMs out there for this phone. Even the most popular ones that exist are still based on one UI.
2. and 3. contradict each other. If you're bothered about warranty AT ALL, don't unlock your bootloader. You can never return to 100% stock on Samsung. Knox will remain tripped so bye bye warranty. Unless of course your country has laws allowing this and you can fight Samsung. They tend to deny warranty if you've modified your phone software. YMMV. I don't have Samsung Care so I don't know about that.
Since you asked for suggestions, mine would be not to be hasty and play around with the device to see if you need to unlock/root/flash etc.
Rooting on day 1 just so you can avoid having to set up phone again is pretty lazy and dangerous. Especially since you've been out of the game for a while.
Baby steps buddy. Better safe than sorry.

enigmaamit said:
1. One UI is quite good. There aren't a ton of custom ROMs out there for this phone. Even the most popular ones that exist are still based on one UI.
2. and 3. contradict each other. If you're bothered about warranty AT ALL, don't unlock your bootloader. You can never return to 100% stock on Samsung. Knox will remain tripped so bye bye warranty. Unless of course your country has laws allowing this and you can fight Samsung. They tend to deny warranty if you've modified your phone software. YMMV. I don't have Samsung Care so I don't know about that.
Since you asked for suggestions, mine would be not to be hasty and play around with the device to see if you need to unlock/root/flash etc.
Rooting on day 1 just so you can avoid having to set up phone again is pretty lazy and dangerous. Especially since you've been out of the game for a while.
Baby steps buddy. Better safe than sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn´t it sad, that we spent more than 1000 bucks on a device, that in the end, we will never truly own?
I´ve been thinking about this issue since i got my Note 9 (3 years ago)...
The balance between, what we want the device to do for, and what we are allowed to do in the device, without losing support in case of hardware failure...
I, mainly, used to root for 3 reasons: 1 - Ads removal from software; 2 - Control/modification of the system files and 3 - Easy backup and restore with TWRP
And as we all are aware, a few changes in a system file, can avoid the installation of a third party software (e.g. Call Recording) so it seems to be more efficient to root... but then come the brands claming that we can´t do it because that would ruin the user experience that they planned for the device...
The Knox feature as been buffed up to a point that is increasingly harder to install a custom recovery. Something that a few years ago was a solution for a big number of users, now its just a work for those "geeks" that live for the challenge... The risks of brincking a VERY EXPENSIVE device are becaming bigger than the advantages that we would get with root... I guess we are playing into brands plans...
To be fair, brands also understood that they would have to give what users wanted if they wanted to avoid software alterations (except maybe Apple, who just gives what Apple consideres users should have)...
Customizations and bigger control of the software are trends that are growing up in Android skins (like OneUi).
I got my S21 Ultra a few weeks ago, and normally it would rooted and with a custom recovery by now, but the problems i faced with that in my Note 9, are still present in my mind... and i don´t want to face them again...
I manage to get my basic needs with some non-root software, and with GoodLock and Bixby Routines and can do almost everything i would do with the root... Still can´t avoid to have to install a third party software to record calls, something that could be done better with the native system, but that´s it...
In the end, you do you...
Just keep in mind the risks, and be ready to take responsability when something goes wrong... and the possibility of that happen is getting bigger every time they launch a new device...
RSGI

RSGI said:
Isn´t it sad, that we spent more than 1000 bucks on a device, that in the end, we will never truly own?
I´ve been thinking about this issue since i got my Note 9 (3 years ago)...
The balance between, what we want the device to do for, and what we are allowed to do in the device, without losing support in case of hardware failure...
I, mainly, used to root for 3 reasons: 1 - Ads removal from software; 2 - Control/modification of the system files and 3 - Easy backup and restore with TWRP
And as we all are aware, a few changes in a system file, can avoid the installation of a third party software (e.g. Call Recording) so it seems to be more efficient to root... but then come the brands claming that we can´t do it because that would ruin the user experience that they planned for the device...
The Knox feature as been buffed up to a point that is increasingly harder to install a custom recovery. Something that a few years ago was a solution for a big number of users, now its just a work for those "geeks" that live for the challenge... The risks of brincking a VERY EXPENSIVE device are becaming bigger than the advantages that we would get with root... I guess we are playing into brands plans...
To be fair, brands also understood that they would have to give what users wanted if they wanted to avoid software alterations (except maybe Apple, who just gives what Apple consideres users should have)...
Customizations and bigger control of the software are trends that are growing up in Android skins (like OneUi).
I got my S21 Ultra a few weeks ago, and normally it would rooted and with a custom recovery by now, but the problems i faced with that in my Note 9, are still present in my mind... and i don´t want to face them again...
I manage to get my basic needs with some non-root software, and with GoodLock and Bixby Routines and can do almost everything i would do with the root... Still can´t avoid to have to install a third party software to record calls, something that could be done better with the native system, but that´s it...
In the end, you do you...
Just keep in mind the risks, and be ready to take responsability when something goes wrong... and the possibility of that happen is getting bigger every time they launch a new device...
RSGI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree. The trend for Android devices aping the Apple philosophy is disturbing. But for lack of good alternatives, we are left without too many choices. OnePlus seemed to be doing well on this front but lately they've also gone rogue. So we have to live with what we have, whether we like it or not...

guyderam said:
I'm basically buying this particular phone for its excellent battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay so who's gonna tell him?
To be perfectly honest, the battery life is the only gripe I have with this phone. It's quite mediocre for a 5000mAh battery. Of course everyone's usage is different, but I expected better battery life. If you're not a "heavy" user you should be fine though!!
As for bootloader unlocking: I've had 2 S21 Ultras. I had the first one unlocked for a dumb reason, wanted to flash some magisk module to enable all lenses in Google Camera ports basically. Which is kinda funny because now with OneUI 4.0 all the lenses are available in GCam
back to the actual topic, now that I have my second S21U, I don't see a reason to unlock the bootloader. From what I've seen there's only one or two Exynos custom ROMs that are regularly updated. That's the first thing. The 2nd thing is, I just don't wanna trip Knox again and void my warranty.
For me unlocking the BL is not worth it (at the moment). You should consider the pros and the cons of unlocking and hopefully it'll be easier to decide then.
With that being said, enjoy your S21 Ultra, man.

jericho246 said:
Okay so who's gonna tell him?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thank you so much for the feedback guys.... got my questions answered. Doubt ill be doing anything for now. Gonna use it as it is and see how it goes.
Sadly yes, androids used to be fully customizable and this was the main reason people used to buy them. Unfortunately, phone companies seem to be making it harder and harder for us to do anything to our phones anymore these days.
Oh well....

guyderam said:
Thank you so much for the feedback guys.... got my questions answered. Doubt ill be doing anything for now. Gonna use it as it is and see how it goes.
Sadly yes, androids used to be fully customizable and this was the main reason people used to buy them. Unfortunately, phone companies seem to be making it harder and harder for us to do anything to our phones anymore these days.
Oh well....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But really, what do you want to do with your phone that's not already in-built. I was thinking the same but over the years Android (and it's custom OEMs) have gotten a lot better with companies baking a lot of the magisk modules (their versions) into their ROMs...I didn't root my OnePlus 7Pro, neither the S21U..don't see the need to (at least for the time being)...

A few things, updates are forfeited after root and also be aware Android 12, One UI 4.0 is far from stable. If it hasn't been preinstalled you should consider ignoring the update until the numerous bugs are addressed. I've had a number of S Series devices, only the S8+ was a Exynos variant, all others had the Snapdragon SoC's and never had a warranty issue. I wouldn't buy the Samsung Care+ but it's like any other insurance, you hate paying for it but happy you did if you ever need it. Unless you're a power user battery life shouldn't be an issue but if it is you can review numerous posts for corrective solutions. Based on what you've shared it's probably best you hold off on unlocking the bootloader, to me there aren't many compelling reasons when one considers all the consequences. I think you'll be OK with the stock device.

I consider myself as a relatively advanced user and was always playing rooted with all of the S devices I had. There were always workarounds for root detection by apps and samsung itself BUT now things have changed and I regret having rooted my S21.
As samsung is enforcing its restrictions against root, I find myself (while being rooted) unable to connect my GW4, unable to use latest Samsung Health app, unable to use Samsung Pay and lately even the samsung account keeps disconnecting for "security reasons" several times a day... What a mess !
As previously said, returning to stock with locked bootloader won't give a 100% functional device as the tripped Knox will still be there preventing you from using some samsung apps and features !
If it gets more complicated, I only have 2 choices : get a "virgin" S21 or say goodbye to Samsung.
With that said, you now know where you're going if you choose to go that way