Nice Little Convo I had with a Moto Technician about Bootloader

[SanJuan]

Ceasar: Hi, my name is Ceasar. How may I help you?

Eddie San Juan: Why won't Motorola unlock the bootloader on the Droid X?

Ceasar: Is your phone stuck on that screen right now?

Eddie San Juan: No it is not, I am just curious as to the incentives behind the locking of something that the average user has no idea about and will probably never encounter. The success of the Droid 1 lied heavily on the ability to customize it through custom kernels and ROMs. While I am aware that there were probably issues with returns of bricked phones, what would be the harm in just not accepting bricked phone returns, and making that clear?

Ceasar: The reason for that is the phone comes with a motorola software, or an android operating system for that matter. If a customer would customize the software or do anything similar to it, it will void the warranty of the phone.

Eddie San Juan: Shouldn't people have that choice? Quite frankly, I bought the phone so why can't I void the warranty if i want to?

Ceasar: You have the option to do that. Just in case something will happen to your phone, you can still send it in for a software reflash but we will have to charge you for the repair costs.

Eddie San Juan: But I still do not have complete control over my phone with the locked bootloader.

Ceasar: I believe that policy is applicable to all mobile phones, regardless of the manufacturer.

Eddie San Juan: HTC does not Lock their bootloaders, neither does Samsung or LG.

Ceasar: We appreciate your feedback. We do apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and want to assure you that Motorola does value your feedback. We open a record for all consumer contacts which are then routed to the proper department for any further research.

Eddie San Juan: Did you go into generic response mode? I sincerely am not happy with that cookie cutter response, but thank you for your time.

 

[xixgrimmxix]

Exactly the reason I bought the fascinate over the x...

I understand the x is upgraded higher right now and mayb better in some ways, but the fascinate is getting there. Id rather have the ability to do as I please on my phone than b limited. Screens r the same size, carries a fast processor, and is still very responsive. And they both cost the same. Just depends on the person if u can wait for upgrades, or b limited.

Even on the 4g phones comin out, I won't get the bionic cuz rumors already say it will still b limited. Samsung n lg don't care. So ill remain loyal to them.

lg ally <rooted velocity 0.4>
samsung fascinate <rooted>

 

[Abe21599]

he ran out of answers lol

 

[Martin030908]

I love how the rep spoke as a normal person until you mentioned other mfgs... then you put it perfectly... 'cookie cutter response' lol

 

[SanJuan]

It is Honestly Frustrating...:icon_evil:

 

[Abe21599]

you shoulda said it was stuck on the bootloader and you need the key to get in

 

[SanJuan]

you shoulda said it was stuck on the bootloader and you need the key to get in

If only.....

 

[aggie12]

Back in November I felt like lashing out at Moto and sent this email to Greg Brown Co-Ceo or something and it was forwarded from his mail to be handled accordingly.. well just see below.

My first message to him: [email protected]
Greg,

Please provide me with the keys to my phone. I purchased this phone and I should be able to do what I want with it. How would you like it if you purchased a car and the dealership put a lock on the hood not allowing you to access the engine. You would then have to go to that dealership each time you wanted anything done even though you are a mechanic yourself. This is exactly what is happening here. I'm tired of you guys locking down devices that a consumer has purchased. If I should so choose to do stuff that would violate warranties then that's all on me. You can reply with the keys.
Thanks.

Their response:
Dear Mr. Williams,

Thank you for contacting Motorola. Your e-mail below was forwarded to me to address for Mr. Brown.

Motorola's primary focus is the security of our end users and protection of their data, while also meeting carrier, partner and legal requirements. The Droid X and a majority of Android consumer devices on the market today have a secured bootloader. In reference specifically to eFuse, the technology is not loaded with the purpose of preventing a consumer device from functioning, but rather ensuring for the user that the device only runs on updated and tested versions of software. If a device attempts to boot with unapproved software, it will go into recovery mode, and can re-boot once approved software is re-installed. Checking for a valid software configuration is a common practice within the industry to protect the user against potential malicious software threats. Motorola has been a long time advocate of open platforms and provides a number of resources to developers to foster the ecosystem including tools and access to devices via MOTODEV at MOTODEV.

Thank you,

Anne Arroyo
Motorola Consumer Advocacy Office

My response to that. No reply lol:
I am not satisfied with that response. That is a cookie cutter response and you know it. If I wanted to implement malicious software on a DX I could easily do so without ever thinking about the eFuse. I could simply right an app that exploits root access and right a few files to /system. The eFuse is a bull**** way for you all to keep us on your crappy MOTOBLUR which is laggy and poorly designed. My battery life suffered tremendously when running it. It now runs great since I was able to run it blur-less. I will NEVER buy another MOTO product until this is addressed and you actually support an open community. If it's so open as you claim why can't my phone be open. People say that android is 'open' but it's not really. It's open to the manufacturers to put all that crappy bloatware on top of the oh-so-good-looking android OS.


Meh. What can you do? I mean I blame myself because I knew what I was getting into on launch day. I had read about the locked bootloader but shied it out of the way. Still a great phone and I love it. I would just love it more with some custom kernels and screamin ROMs. GummyJar has helped ease the pain though lol. Sorry for the long read.

 

[Vulcan1600]

I love how the rep spoke as a normal person until you mentioned other mfgs... then you put it perfectly... 'cookie cutter response' lol

He probably had to look up "cookie cutter" in his Englsh translation dictionary.

 

[moosc]

I just love all this *****ing about a locked bootloader. U say other manufactures aren't doing it. Well what was that trick HTC did on the g2, look how long it to unlock the incredible a long time. It took less time to root the x then the incredible. It may not have been a efuse but guess what we still found away around it. I can run a Rom over clock root it remove bloat. I'm more then happy with my X. Stick with the fascinate and lack of manufacture support. ill be first in line to buy the Bionic.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

 

[chkmate]

@San Juan, very funny post. If the guy had continued putting his head any further up his @ss while talking, he would have had to $#!t to part his hair.

At moosc, whoa whoa whoa, settle down and I completely agree The Facinate is making no progress, I would way rather have my X than a Samsung at this point. And I like Sumsung products (have a Sammy Netbook).

Not bashing those that bought a Facinate, but isn't that what the xixgrimmxix did above about the X?

I will continue to buy new toys regardless of locked bootloaders and such. I never had the honor of owning an OG droid that was completely open. Almost bought one as an extra just to play around, still might. But am awaiting the Bionic myself

//Tap'd on CM8's DX w/DF app\\

 

[darkwolf]

I would just love to make my EVDO settings stick like in all other MFG phones. But nope, not on Droid 2, not on Droid X.

Thanks Moto for being such a pain in the butt.

 

[slayer249]

Haha your rant is gold, but the response is sadly way to typical. As a DX owner even with a locked bootloader I am not unsatisfied with the device and I still keep finding plenty to do with it, though I wont lie I would like the keys to the car.

 

[Fate0n3]

Stick with the fascinate and lack of manufacture support. ill be first in line to buy the Bionic.

Def agree with all of what you said especially the part of quoted. I think it is stupid so many people make a deal about the locked boot loader with devs still being able to provide what they can for this phone. Many do not even truly understand a locked bootloader. It would be really nice to have an open bootloader but it is not gonna happen and I hope the Bionic maybe does, but with moto line they have going now I doubt it will.

I came from ATT with a Captivate and I can honestly say I will NEVER own another Samsung device. They are too worried about producing newer devices then upgrading the ones they already have out. Most of the Galaxy S series is plagued with severe issues of GPS and extremely poor battery life. Mine would barely last a day with using my droid x more I last 2 days without worrying anymore. The quality of the of the Captivate was crap I felt like I had a $49.99 phone in my hand not the full $200 when I purchased it.

 

[SquireSCA]

The problem with your car analogy, is that the phone, while you may have purchased it, still has to run on someone's network. And if they want to help lock down the chances of devices causing problems, or spreading malware or something to their network, they have a right to do that.

Just as when you mod your car, the DMV still has to inspect your car each year, and if you fail your inspection and they deem it "unsafe", they will pull your registration and your car will not be allowed on the road.

Here, there is no inspection process, it is handled electronically, and part of that process is locking things down.

I want freedom with my phone, but you don't have freedom with their network, and so they are taking steps to minimize their risk.

I do see both sides of the argument...