One-click root redux: Unrevoked 3.21 now available for HTC EVO
It's been about two weeks since unrevoked 3.2, the permanent one-click root solution for HTC EVOs running the OTA Froyo update (and earlier versions of Android), was put up and then pulled down for bug fixes. Anyone who wanted to reap the rewards of rooting during the wait could download test builds by visiting the dev team's IRC channel, which is what I did, and now the official unrevoked 3.21 is available for those with more patience than me.
If you're a Windows user, make sure you:
- Uninstall HTC Sync, PdaNet, doubleTwist, and other apps that talk to your PC.
- Install the HBOOT driver before running the unrevoked reflash tool.
- Keep trying even if the reflash freezes.
I had to run the tool at least a dozen times (seriously) and disable WidgetLocker to get it to work and even then, I still had to manually reboot the EVO once through the custom recovery mode and flash unrevoked forever to get the phone's security level to S-OFF. Note that I used the pre-release 3.21RC, though, so your experience may be different with the official version.
It took me about an hour but if you don't encounter any speed bumps, then your EVO should be rooted in about 5 minutes.
Something like Universal Androot is actually easier since rooting/unrooting is done directly on the phone, but since the app doesn't support the EVO, unrevoked is the best one-click root method around. Plus, with the S-OFF component (which is actually built in; I don't know why I had to flash unrevoked forever separately), NAND is permanently unlocked (unless you flash the S-ON tool), which means that an OTA update won't re-lock it.
In any case, unrevoked is back, my EVO is rooted, and I'm happy.
[unrevoked]
