[Guide] Unlocking, Rooting, ROM'ing, and FAQ

[MrSmith317]

Table Of Contents

Prep
Unlocking
Rooting
ROM’ing
FAQ

Foreword:

This guide is meant to assist you in unlocking, rooting and ROM’ing your HTC Rezound. The Rezound is part of HTC’s Sensation line of phones and was released on November 14 2011. The Rezound comes with Android 2.3.4 stock with Sense 3.0, and will soon receive an upgrade to Android 4.0.3 with Sense 3.6. Chances are you own a Rezound but some of you may not know what this phone has to offer. The Rezound sports a 4.3 inch 720p(720 x 1280) Super LCD screen, and boasts a whopping 1.5Ghz Snapdragon processor with 1GB of RAM. Add on to that beautiful 8MP(with dual LED Flash) rear facing and 2MP front facing cameras and the ability to record in 1080p at 30fps, and you’ve got a pretty rocking phone.

Preparation:

In order to get to all of the fun things the Rezound has to offer, you’ll need a few tools:

• A passing familiarity with DOS/Command Prompt/Terminal Emulator
• Android SDK (Win/Mac/Linux) : LINK **This install may take a while**

*Note: It is easiest if you install it to a directory like “c:\AndroidSDK” rather than “c:\program files (x86)\AndroidSDK “ or for your Mac/Linux users “/home/<user>/AndroidSDK”

• HTC Drivers (Win): LINK

--While you’re waiting for your downloads/installations, take the time to sign up on htcdev.com. You’ll need this later. Make sure you use a real email address.

 

[MrSmith317]

Unlocking:

The unlocking process is fully detailed on HTCDev.com, however it never hurts to have additional information on hand. Warning that unlocking the Phone will result in a factory reset. Backup your data!
First you’ll need to reboot your phone into HBOOT. To do this:

• Take off the rear cover
• Remove the battery
• Reinsert the battery
• Replace the rear cover
• Hold down Power and Volume down until the phone turns on

*Advanced users can reboot into HBOOT using “adb reboot bootloader”
Now connect your phone to your PC.
Open a command prompt and issue the following commands:

Cd \AndroidSDK\platform-tools    ***Linux/Mac users use a “/” instead of “\”***
fastboot oem get_identifier_token

You will get a lot of information from this. You’re going to highlight and copy the block of information from start to end(including the lines you see below)

<<<< Identifier Token Start >>>> 
<<<<< Identifier Token End >>>>>

(See illustration here: http://www.htcdev.com/images/uploads/bootloader/pict_6a.png)

*To copy in DOS, right click the DOS window and choose Mark. Highlight the text and then hit Enter to copy it to your clipboard

Don’t close the DOS window just yet. Now login to HTCDev.com and start the bootloader unlock process. Head to Step 10 and paste in the information you copied above. HTC will email you a file called Unlock_code.bin Copy that token to your AndroidSDK directory
Now head back to your DOS/Command prompt/Terminal Emulator window and issue the command:

fastboot flash unlocktoken ..\Unlock_code.bin

You will be prompted on the phone to accept the terms of the unlock and that your phone will now be factory reset. Press the appropriate volume key and power to accept. Your phone will reboot and is now unlocked.

 

[MrSmith317]

Rooting:

For those that don’t know what rooting is, I’ll explain. Rooting allows you to act as the “superuser” on your device. This gives you privilege to do things that the developers didn’t quite intend you to do(but most are really fun). Rooting is a harmless process, and should only take you a few minutes. If you’re jumping in without using my Unlocking guide, then please see the Preparation section above. If you plan on installing a rooted ROM you can skip this section

YOU MUST BE UNLOCKED IN ORDER TO ROOT
First you’ll need to download a custom Recovery call AmonRa. Here’s a link to it: [Recovery] Amon Ra style vigor - xda-developers

I’m using version 3.14 as my example. Copy your newly downloaded recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm.img file to your AndroidSDK folder above(like you did with Unlock_code.bin).

• Reboot your phone into HBOOT
• Make sure your phone is connected to the PC
• Now open a Command Prompt and issue the following commands:

 Cd \AndroidSDK\platform-tools
                Fastboot flash recovery ..\recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm.img
                Fastboot reboot-bootloader

When your phone reboots, choose the “Recovery” option. This will bring you into Amon Ra. Use the volume up/down keys to choose the “Developer Menu”, and press the power button to accept. Now choose the option that says “Install su & superuser” and click the power button. Once this is complete choose return/Reboot now and click the power button. Your phone will reboot normally.

When you’re all back up and running you still need to do one last thing. Head over to the Android Market(Play Store) and download Superuser by Chainsdd. Here’s the web link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sMSwyLDEsImNvbS5ub3NodWZvdS5hbmRyb2lkLnN1Il0.

If you’re on the ICS Leak, you’ll need SuperSU found here: [25.03.2012] SuperSU v0.87 - xda-developers

Congratulations you are now rooted.

 

[MrSmith317]

ROM’ing:
(or the reason you came here)
Hopefully you’ve followed me through the rest of this guide and now you’re in the home stretch. Ready to install a ROM and see what all the hub-bub was about? Before you start there are a few things to know. First is that you need to understand that there are two parts to flashing a ROM. Flashing the ROM and flashing the kernel. There are multiple ways to do this but I’m only covering the fool proof way. Second, if you have a mismatched ROM/kernel set, your ROM will not boot and if it does it will not work properly.

Please note that different ROMs have different install instructions so this will cover the very generic process. You will need a custom recovery (ClockWorkMod or AmonRa)

First you’ll need to select a ROM. Here’s a short list of currently available Rezound ROMs:
Team BAMF: Link
Scott’s CleanROM: Link
NilsP Business Sense: Link
Ineffabilis: Link
RezROM: Link

If you haven’t already, then copy the ROM to your external SD card.
If your ROM doesn’t automatically flash the kernel for you (read the ROM install directions) then you’ll want to pull the file “boot.img” out of the ROM’s zip file. You will need this file on your PC, so keep it handy.
Now, reboot into recovery. There are several ways to do this:

• Power off, then power on holding power and volume down then select recovery from the menu
• Use an application such as quickboot
• If you’re plugged into a PC use the command “adb reboot recovery”

Whether you're coming from a ROM or stock, you may want to backup your current setup before continuing.

• For AmonRa: In recovery, choose Backup/Restore, nand Backup, then Perform backup. You don't need to change any options.
• For ClockWorkMod: Open ROM Manager, and choose backup.

To install your ROM, in recovery choose the “Install zip” or “Install ROM” option from recovery

• Select where you stored the ROM zip file and go ahead and install it.
• Once this completes (if your ROM doesn’t automatically install the kernel) reboot into the bootloader(HBOOT). In Amon Ra, you can go back to the main menu and look under the developer menu to go directly into the bootloader menu.
• Make sure you’re plugged into a PC and open a command prompt. Issue the following command:

Fastboot flash boot <your_boot.img>

*where <your_boot.img> is the boot.img file you stored above.

Provided that everything went according to plan, you now have a ROM installed.
Reboot again(and be patient). Some ROMs do take a while to load on first boot.

 

[MrSmith317]

[h=2]FAQ[/h]
Q: I can’t get XXX command to work, it says “Command not found”
A: You are probably not in the proper directory to run the command. If you type dir and don’t see your file(s) listed, then you’re not in the right spot.

Q: I typed the command like you said but it just says “<Waiting for Device>”
A: If you issued a fastboot command, you need to be in HBOOT. Make sure you’re plugged in to your PC and that your device is recognized. Always make sure HTC Sync is not running.

Q: I installed a ROM and now all I see is the white HTC screen.
A: More than likely you need to flash the kernel for your ROM.

Q: I don’t have any signal, what’s wrong with my phone?
A: Make sure you put the battery cover back on your phone. The metallic connectors there act as antennas for your phone.

Q: I want to change the color of my xyz icon.
A: If it’s a desktop shortcut, try desktop visualizer. If it’s in the status bar or part of the system, wait for my next guide on Rezound Theme’ing.

 

[HowardZ]

If somehow everything gets screwed up,
or someone doesn't like the ROM and
wants to go back to stock, then...

it might be nice to have a few lines on
how to restore everything back to stock
via RRU ?

Perhaps a Nandroid backup should be made before ROMing.
Will this made going back to stock less painful?

Regards,

Howard

 

[MrSmith317]

If somehow everything gets screwed up,
or someone doesn't like the ROM and
wants to go back to stock, then...

it might be nice to have a few lines on
how to restore everything back to stock
via RRU ?

Perhaps a Nandroid backup should be made before ROMing.
Will this made going back to stock less painful?

Regards,

Howard

You're right, I should mention backing up in here. In my opinion running an RUU should be the last option to getting a working phone, unless the goal is to get as close to stock as possible.

 

[Bpowder33]

I think I'm about ready to try an ics rom from Scott, I'm still on stock gb, since I'm still on old firmware will I have do flash the patch he is talking about in his instructions or is that for ppl on the new leak? confused

Sent from my HTC Rezound

 

[jntdroid]

awesome guide!

 

[JSM9872]

Great job on the guide smith!!

 

[orihc]

Thanks Mr. Smith!

 

[nmos]

I'm now unlocked and rooted. Thanks!

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[mpguzman04]

Rooting:

• Now open a Command Prompt and issue the following commands:

 Cd \AndroidSDK\platform-tools
                Fastboot flash recovery ..\ recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm.img
                Fastboot reboot-bootloader

When your phone reboots, choose the “Recovery” option. This will bring you into Amon Ra. Use the volume up/down keys to choose the “Developer Menu”, and press the power button to accept. Now choose the option that says “Install su & superuser” and click the power button. Once this is complete choose return/Reboot now and click the power button. Your phone will reboot normally.

When you’re all back up and running you still need to do one last thing. Head over to the Android Market(Play Store) and download Superuser by Chainsdd. Here’s the web link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sMSwyLDEsImNvbS5ub3NodWZvdS5hbmRyb2lkLnN1Il0.

If you’re on the ICS Leak, you’ll need SuperSU found here: [25.03.2012] SuperSU v0.87 - xda-developers

Congratulations you are now rooted.

This is where I got stuck. I have the "recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm".img in the same folder as the "Unlock_code.bin" (C: > AndroidSDK > platform-tools)

In my cmd I have the path:
C:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>

If I tag onto that path:
C:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>Fastboot flash recovery ..\ recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm.img

I get an error:
cannot load ..\

I have tried every variety of input for the commands you have given and still no success. May have been something easy I have overlooked, since my eyes and brain are worn out at this point of the night. Thanks in advance.

 

[MrSmith317]

This is where I got stuck. I have the "recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm".img in the same folder as the "Unlock_code.bin" (C: > AndroidSDK > platform-tools)

In my cmd I have the path:
C:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>

If I tag onto that path:
C:\AndroidSDK\platform-tools>Fastboot flash recovery ..\ recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm.img

I get an error:
cannot load ..\

I have tried every variety of input for the commands you have given and still no success. May have been something easy I have overlooked, since my eyes and brain are worn out at this point of the night. Thanks in advance.

Sorry, looks like there's a space between ..\ and recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm.img there shouldn't be. it should be ..\recovery-ra-vigor-3.14-gnm.img

 

[mpguzman04]

View attachment 49226

This is what my command line looks like when entered. My phone is connected via USB and Unlocked in the HBOOT screen. Does my phone need to be in the FASTBOOT screen instead? Or am I entering in the command prompt wrong?