How to Gain S-Off on Android
Although you probably try to keep up with Android’s development we are more than sure that some of you might be a little confused when it comes to explaining the S-On and S-Off terms. First of all, they are applied exclusively to some HTC’s Android phones that we are going to present you later. The S-Off term is related to the unlocked NAND portion of the device, while the default setting for HTC’s devices is S-On, which means that you cannot access certain areas. To be more specific, HTC has some sort of security check and its level is determined exactly by S-Off/S-On. Its security level is a flag that usually checks signature images for any firmware before it is allowed to be written to system memory. So you can easily verify which of these two can be found on your device by simply booting into HBOOT and the text will show the flag status as S-Off or S-on.
Buy what exactly happens when security level is set to S-Off? It seems that the signature check is bypassed, so you have the possibility to upload custom firmware images, also reducing the annoying restrictions on accessing the NAND flash memory by letting all partitions to be mounted in write mode while the operating system is booted. And we can finally say that it enables the maximum customization of your HTC Android handset.
How to Gain S-Off on Android
So, if you want to gain S-Off on your device, here we come with two suggestions. The tool called Revolutionary (created by AlphaRev and Unrevoked groups) is one of them and in order to install it, you need to follow the steps:
How to Gain S-Off using the Revolutionary tool
- Download the latest version of the tool from here. Choosing one of the initial versions it means that you’ll have to generate a beta key in order to use the program, while the newer versions skip this step;
- Connect your device to the computer via the USB cable;
- Click on ‘Settings’, ‘Applications’, ‘Development’, ‘Turn USB Debugging ON’;
- Find the program that you have downloaded and unzip it;
- Right click it and select ‘Open as Administrator’;
- Input the beta key that you have received and in a couple of minutes you’ll manage to gain S-Off on your device.
But be careful as long as this Revolutionary tool currently supports a limited number of HTC Android phones: HTC Aria, HTC Desire, HTC Desire S, HTC Desire CDMA, HTC Evo 3D, HTC EVO 4G, HTC EVO 3D GSM, HTC Flyer, HTC Incredible S, HTC Droid Incredible 2, HTC Thunderbolt, HTC Sensation, HTC myTouch Slide 4G, HTC Wildfire, as well as HTC View. This tool isn’t the only one that you can use. It wants to be revolutionary, buy even its developers admit that it isn’t so easy to use for everyone and the bugs are a real danger.
How to Gain S-Off using the Unrevoked tool
So, some of you should also take in consideration the Unrevoked forever tool which sets S-Off as the permanent security level flag. It also has its limitations, being available just for some older devices (HTC CDMA Desire, HTC CDMA Hero, HTC Droid Incredible, HTC EVO 4G) and it comes with no warranty, but using it is very easy and the installation process requires just some simple steps. To be more specific, you have to download and install the appropriate program that will work with your Windows, Mac OS or Linux operating system from here, to plug in your device to PC using the USB cable and to run the program that you have installed.
Like that, you can successfully achieve the S-Off in your HTC smartphone, so let us know in case if you need additional help or if you have have any questions.
