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Root [CDMA] My experience rooting with Revolutionary

R

Roymus

Well-Known Member
Last night I was able to successfully root my EVO 3D using Revolutionary, but it wasn't easy...took nearly 4 hours, and I would consider myself a power user (coming from a fully rooted EVO 4G with many custom ROMs). Here was my experience...not for the faint of heart, but it will work if you persevere!

1. Running the Revolutionary application was the easiest part of the whole process. It's basically a batch script that will take your phone through several boot iterations, the final of which will result in S-OFF (but NOT full root...there's still another step after that, more about that later). There is a step that requires you to provide the HBOOT version which kind of stumped me at first, but there is help on the thread for this. Running Revolutionary was relatively painless, and should be for most, except for...

2. The last step of the Revolutionary script is supposed to flash a recovery image (ClockworkMod) to your phone. This is required in order for you to acquire full root and do anything remotely useful with the phone. Unfortunately, this step seems to be failing on most (it did with mine), and the instructions and process for flashing a custom recovery image are tricky at best. Try as I might, I couldn't get the ClockworkMod image I downloaded into the proper file format (ZIP) and naming convention...and yes, I know what I'm doing with file formats and names! I had better luck with the TWRP recovery image, as the download of this image was already in the correct format and just needed to be renamed. The TWRP recovery seems to be working fine, so no reason not to stick with it so far.

3. Next hurdle: once you get a recovery image loaded, you must use it to flash the superuser ZIP file to gain su rights to the phone. This in theory is easy, but is made harder by the fact that there are apparently many versions of this file and not all of them will work. The one posted on the instructions page (the"goo inside me" link, I should've known better) was a dead link. I found more than a few by doing a google search of the superuser/su-2.3.6.3-efgh-signed.zip file name. The first couple resulted in an error, but eventually I got one that worked. Took a while, though.

4. Next, rooting with Revolutionary will probably make you lose your ability to make and receive calls, as well as data, which can freak you out if you're not ready for it. There are a number of posts about this, but save yourself the trouble and just call Sprint tech support. They were able to get me cleared up (essentially it requires a phone reactivation), but it took a few tries.

All in all, I would say that rooting the EVO 3D was harder than rooting the EVO, especially given that I was much less experienced with the EVO. The developers have done a great job with Revolutionary, but I would say that it has a ways to go before the rooting process is hands-off (like it was with the EVO. The good news is that I've been using the phone for a day or so and not only is it completely normal, overall performance is better, and the good old root apps I was used to (WiFi Tether, Titanium, SetCPU, SystemPanel) all work fine.

Summary: If you've got some experience with rooting/flashing and you have a few hours, you should be fine...if you're new at this and not hell bent on having root, best to wait until the process is fully baked.
 
I'm curious when you tried this. I did this a few days ago and the goo-inside-me link worked. Maybe their server went down?
 
Roymus said:
Last night I was able to successfully root my EVO 3D using Revolutionary, but it wasn't easy...took nearly 4 hours, and I would consider myself a power user (coming from a fully rooted EVO 4G with many custom ROMs). Here was my experience...not for the faint of heart, but it will work if you persevere!

1. Running the Revolutionary application was the easiest part of the whole process. It's basically a batch script that will take your phone through several boot iterations, the final of which will result in S-OFF (but NOT full root...there's still another step after that, more about that later). There is a step that requires you to provide the HBOOT version which kind of stumped me at first, but there is help on the thread for this. Running Revolutionary was relatively painless, and should be for most, except for...

2. The last step of the Revolutionary script is supposed to flash a recovery image (ClockworkMod) to your phone. This is required in order for you to acquire full root and do anything remotely useful with the phone. Unfortunately, this step seems to be failing on most (it did with mine), and the instructions and process for flashing a custom recovery image are tricky at best. Try as I might, I couldn't get the ClockworkMod image I downloaded into the proper file format (ZIP) and naming convention...and yes, I know what I'm doing with file formats and names! I had better luck with the TWRP recovery image, as the download of this image was already in the correct format and just needed to be renamed. The TWRP recovery seems to be working fine, so no reason not to stick with it so far.

3. Next hurdle: once you get a recovery image loaded, you must use it to flash the superuser ZIP file to gain su rights to the phone. This in theory is easy, but is made harder by the fact that there are apparently many versions of this file and not all of them will work. The one posted on the instructions page (the"goo inside me" link, I should've known better) was a dead link. I found more than a few by doing a google search of the superuser/su-2.3.6.3-efgh-signed.zip file name. The first couple resulted in an error, but eventually I got one that worked. Took a while, though.

4. Next, rooting with Revolutionary will probably make you lose your ability to make and receive calls, as well as data, which can freak you out if you're not ready for it. There are a number of posts about this, but save yourself the trouble and just call Sprint tech support. They were able to get me cleared up (essentially it requires a phone reactivation), but it took a few tries.

All in all, I would say that rooting the EVO 3D was harder than rooting the EVO, especially given that I was much less experienced with the EVO. The developers have done a great job with Revolutionary, but I would say that it has a ways to go before the rooting process is hands-off (like it was with the EVO. The good news is that I've been using the phone for a day or so and not only is it completely normal, overall performance is better, and the good old root apps I was used to (WiFi Tether, Titanium, SetCPU, SystemPanel) all work fine.

Summary: If you've got some experience with rooting/flashing and you have a few hours, you should be fine...if you're new at this and not hell bent on having root, best to wait until the process is fully baked.
Click to expand...


While it was Difficult - My experience was far easier -
There were many tips if you read all before proceeding.

Agree Running Revo was easy - s-off Bamm
Cw Recovery failed.....Run again - Installed right away - if fail try again (have read some takes three or four times)

Allow the Hands Free Activation to RUN - Noticed a trend (not an absolute) of people that panic and cancel - this has been the cause of the need to call sprint.

Root Again Ran no issues. - until Titanium Backup. Could find root.
read a bit more - I had use root explorer to clean out all the Fre3vo files from temp root - ran again.....PERFECT.

Note - this all done at Midnight after 2 bottles of wine.
Not a noob but not an expert either. No ADB Skills what-so-ever.
 
I'm having a problem with my SD card and I was wondering if maybe one of you guys can help with this. I was able to complete Revolutionary without any problems at first, but then I got a notification saying "Blank SD Card: SD Card blank or has unsupported filesystem". I also got the "error 16" message where I couldnt make any phone calls. Since this is my first attempt at trying to root my phone and I didnlt know what this meant, I kinda worried that it was bricked or something. So I did a factory reset and it still couldn't read the SD card or make phone calls. I fixed the error 16 by having a sprint CSR reset my profile, but I still need help with the SD card. I formatted it, but still nothing. Any ideas on why its doing this or what can I do to fix it?? Thanks so much!!
 
billville said:
I'm having a problem with my SD card and I was wondering if maybe one of you guys can help with this. I was able to complete Revolutionary without any problems at first, but then I got a notification saying "Blank SD Card: SD Card blank or has unsupported filesystem". I also got the "error 16" message where I couldnt make any phone calls. Since this is my first attempt at trying to root my phone and I didnlt know what this meant, I kinda worried that it was bricked or something. So I did a factory reset and it still couldn't read the SD card or make phone calls. I fixed the error 16 by having a sprint CSR reset my profile, but I still need help with the SD card. I formatted it, but still nothing. Any ideas on why its doing this or what can I do to fix it?? Thanks so much!!
Click to expand...

Wait - You formatted the SD Card? :confused:
Did you make a back up.....
 
MahaloCat said:
Ummmm yeah.....dont format the SD card.....Transfer you backup Back to the sd card.

Did you acheive S off? Or did it stop?

Stock SD Card Here : ftp://www.gooinside.me/Shooter/EVO3D%20ROMS/evo3Dsd/
Click to expand...

Thank you so much MahaloCat! When I go to that stock SD card link it asks for a username and password? Also, my phone cant mount the SD card when I plug in the USB. If I put the microSD into an adapter and just pop it in to my laptop that way, will it be readable?

Also, I was able to achieve S-OFF with the only problem of it not being able to download and install ClockworkMod. Thats where I started to worry and reset everything. Now I know exactly what I need to do as I read over everything for manually flashing the recovery image. I think Im going to use the TWRP image as it seemed the easiest. I just need to get the recovery to work and then get the Superuser access.

**EDIT**
Nevermind everything I just mentioned about the SD card. I pulled the battery out and SD card, then put them back in and everything started working again. Yea...I feel like a complete NOOB!! Im learning though..lol

Now, I will definitely try the root again and this time Im going to be sure to read evrything twice first then attempt it. Any advice on the recovery issue though? As far as I know, I have to rename the zip and put it at the root level on the SD card, then run HBOOT...correct?
 
billville said:
Thank you so much MahaloCat! When I go to that stock SD card link it asks for a username and password? Also, my phone cant mount the SD card when I plug in the USB. If I put the microSD into an adapter and just pop it in to my laptop that way, will it be readable?

Also, I was able to achieve S-OFF with the only problem of it not being able to download and install ClockworkMod. Thats where I started to worry and reset everything. Now I know exactly what I need to do as I read over everything for manually flashing the recovery image. I think Im going to use the TWRP image as it seemed the easiest. I just need to get the recovery to work and then get the Superuser access.

**EDIT**
Nevermind everything I just mentioned about the SD card. I pulled the battery out and SD card, then put them back in and everything started working again. Yea...I feel like a complete NOOB!! Im learning though..lol

Now, I will definitely try the root again and this time Im going to be sure to read evrything twice first then attempt it. Any advice on the recovery issue though? As far as I know, I have to rename the zip and put it at the root level on the SD card, then run HBOOT...correct?
Click to expand...

Yeah....I think there is an Hboot Recovery - DL it to the Root of your sd Card. Name it PG86IMG.zip Boot into h-boot - it should read the Zip and ask you if you wan to update the recovery image.

My CW failed the first Time re-ran and it Flashed successfully.
Happy with it as thats what I am used to Im sure TWRP is just as good.
 
Thanks for the feedback...trust me, I'm a big fan of these forums and read the Revolutionary threads a few times before starting. Not sure what you mean by flashing CW mod again as part of Revolutionary...my understanding is if it doesn't flash the first time, you can't run it again and must manually flash, that's where I first had trouble because of ZIP and file naming. Also, the phone went through all the normal activation process after rooting (no cancel), but I still got Error 16 like a lot of folks. Sounds like you maybe had temporary root first...maybe that helped? Anyway, all is still well...thanks for listening :)
 
Roymus said:
Thanks for the feedback...trust me, I'm a big fan of these forums and read the Revolutionary threads a few times before starting. Not sure what you mean by flashing CW mod again as part of Revolutionary...my understanding is if it doesn't flash the first time, you can't run it again and must manually flash, that's where I first had trouble because of ZIP and file naming. Also, the phone went through all the normal activation process after rooting (no cancel), but I still got Error 16 like a lot of folks. Sounds like you maybe had temporary root first...maybe that helped? Anyway, all is still well...thanks for listening :)
Click to expand...

Roymus...No worries...Again....I was Half in the bag when I did it...soooo.
I know CW failed...then I ran again and it worked.
Maybe temp root helped me avoid Error 16.....ahhh well -

know I just sit an patiently await a nice clean AOSP Rom....CM7 or Pure google.
 
I didn't temp root and never got error 16. But I did the process a little different than what most people did. After completing revolution (I was lucky and CW flashed successfully), I rebooted the phone. It did it's reactivation thing, updated PRL and profile. Then I went back in and flashed the root ROM. It's something I learned on my last device. No sense in flashing this and that if you're just going to have problems because the first thing you did needed more attention.
 
jerofld said:
I didn't temp root and never got error 16. But I did the process a little different than what most people did. After completing revolution (I was lucky and CW flashed successfully), I rebooted the phone. It did it's reactivation thing, updated PRL and profile. Then I went back in and flashed the root ROM. It's something I learned on my last device. No sense in flashing this and that if you're just going to have problems because the first thing you did needed more attention.
Click to expand...

My experience was the same as yours, except I had to install recovery separately.
 
Yea my experience was painless too. Got S-off right before I went to work, rooted while I was at work. There were a couple of hiccups with recovery, my password & error 16 but overall I'd say it was very easy, easier than when I rooted my hero even. In the long run, it's not how you got there, as long as you got there.
 
I ran revolutionary last night, took nearly 3 hours. This was my first experience with rooting. I had studied until my eyes bled, and then took the plunge. I thought it was easy until clockwork would not load. I freaked out, terrified that I would be the idiot newb who bricks his phone. Thankfully, after several Google searches I found a forum thread with the zip file for install.

I'm now up and running, but hunting for a good forum just to discuss process and recommendations. Many many many questions... :)

G
(Still a newb, but I'm fighting it!)
 
grepper said:
I ran revolutionary last night, took nearly 3 hours. This was my first experience with rooting. I had studied until my eyes bled, and then took the plunge. I thought it was easy until clockwork would not load. I freaked out, terrified that I would be the idiot newb who bricks his phone. Thankfully, after several Google searches I found a forum thread with the zip file for install.

I'm now up and running, but hunting for a good forum just to discuss process and recommendations. Many many many questions... :)

G
(Still a newb, but I'm fighting it!)
Click to expand...


Welcom.e G. You will find folks here very helpful...feel free to ask away
 
Ok so I am new. I would like to do this but I want to be prepared to know how to manually flash CW in case it doesn't go.

Can someone give me noob directions on it? Or am I reading correctly that I can run Revolutionary multiple times until Clockwork shows on my phone??
 
That's crazy! Mine took less than 12 minutes to achieve S-OFF and Clockwork installed. Was easier rooting the 3D than it was the 4G.
 
megarot said:
Can someone give me noob directions on it? Or am I reading correctly that I can run Revolutionary multiple times until Clockwork shows on my phone??
Click to expand...

It wouldn't run for me again after it crashed the first time saying yes to install CWM after achieving S-OFF. I had to flash it manually using the fastboot method. I used the sticky at the top of this forum, pretty simple to follow.
 
megarot said:
Ok so I am new. I would like to do this but I want to be prepared to know how to manually flash CW in case it doesn't go.

Can someone give me noob directions on it? Or am I reading correctly that I can run Revolutionary multiple times until Clockwork shows on my phone??
Click to expand...

Someone confirmed for me on the Evo 4G root forums that the latest version of Revolutionary allows you to rerun it if the recovery part didn't work the first time. Earlier versions of the tool would fail once it gave you S-OFF. So it sounds like they changed it so you can retry the recovery flash.

If it still doesn't work, then just manually flash it, using this thread as a guide:
http://androidforums.com/evo-3d-all...lash-recovery-image-via-fastboot-sd-card.html
 
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