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How To: Gain Permanent Root and S-OFF on the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G / HTC Glacier

December 10, 2010 in Android How To's, Featured, How To's, HTC MyTouch 4G How To's, Video

I. Before You Begin

1. An explanation of what S OFF is and why you might want it - S Off means security off for your HBoot mode (aka Bootloader). The bootloader is what allows you to flash updates and write to the file system of your phone. By turning the Security OFF, we can flash any updates/ROMs we want without the phone checking to see if it is an official update or not.

2. You MUST have done our Temporary Rooting Method before coming to this method.

3. This ONLY works on T-Mobile MyTouch 4G’s that have gotten the OTA. You can check by going to Settings > About Phone > Firmware and your Android Version should read 2.2.1 or higher! If you are Android 2.2, either just wait for Android 2.2.1 to automatically come to your phone OR download this file save it to the root of your sd card and then turn off your phone and turn it back on holding down Volume Down and Power and then apply the update when asked. After that, you can continue with this procedure.

Thanks to Grankin01 for his rooting scripts!

II. Flash the S-OFF Hboot Image and Gain Perm Root

1. Download the rooting files from here.

2. Extract the files somewhere to your computer.

3. Plug your phone in via USB cable and mount the SD card so we can transfer files to it.

4. Copy the entire root folder from inside the extracted folder from step 2 to the root of your sd card on your phone (NOT in any folders, just on the SD card itself).

5. Unplug the phone.

6. Go to the Market on your phone and download/install Android Terminal Emulator (free).

4. Open the Terminal Emulator app and type the following with hitting enter at the end of each line (to get the touch screen keyboard to come up hit the menu button then toggle soft keyboard):

su
cd /sdcard/root
sh root.sh

5. Now, wait for it to finish.

6. After that is done, reboot the phone. When it boots back up, turn it off and back on holding down Volume Down and Power until the HBoot screen comes up. Confirm it says S-OFF at the top. If so, you have S-OFF.

10. Now, to get permanent root, turn the phone back on to get to the normal home screen.

11. Open Visionary and Uncheck TempRoot on Boot and click Temproot Now.

12. Then select Attempt Perm Root Now and the phone should reboot.

13. Once the phone reboots, open Terminal Emulator on the phone and type su and hit enter. If you get the # symbol, you have permanent root access and S-OFF, enjoy!

IV. (Optional) Load a Custom ROM

1. Head to our How To Load a Custom ROM on the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G / HTC Glacier procedure.

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184 responses to How To: Gain Permanent Root and S-OFF on the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G / HTC Glacier

  1. Becca Annabell said on February 17, 2011

    I have also tried these steps many times but can’t get S-OFF.
    I also have .86 and have tried the link to the other site and that way doesn’t even get me close to what they are saying to do.

    Any help would be appreciated! Thank you in advance!

    • King_of_kod said on February 20, 2011

      THAT METHOD DEFINITELY WORKS.. IF U DONT UNDERSTAND THE SDK COMMANDS.. UNDER STEP 4.. HE GIVES U OPTION TO UNZIP FILES AND PUT IT IN A SPECIFIC PART OF MEMORY CARD.. IT WORKS THEN FOLLOW REST OF GUIDE TILL U GET S OFF

  2. Josh2633 said on February 18, 2011

    when u click attempt perm root is it supposed to turn off immediately?
    and if so after that when i went to type in su at terminal it said permission denied

  3. King_of_kod said on February 20, 2011

    FOR THOSE WHO CANT FOLLOW THE SDK COMMANDS.. THE PROCEDURE GIVES U THE OPTION OF EXTRACTING FILES AND PUTTING THEM ON A CERTAIN PART OF YOUR MEMORY CARD THAT REQUIRES A TEMP ROOT AND ROOT EXPLORER APP.. THAT BYPASSES THE SDK ADB COMMNADS AND U GO RIGHT IN TERMINAL.. THAT WAY IS MORE STRAIGHT FORWARD AND THATS HOW I DID IT

  4. DamnIt said on February 21, 2011

    Simply does not work. S is still on after multiple attempts.

    • DamnIt said on February 21, 2011

      Well.. Got it to work with the non-SDK directions.. But could not move the files to /data/local with a file manager but was able to with the terminal emulator.. Whatever works.

  5. Andrew Hong said on February 21, 2011

    This tutorial will work with hboot ver .76. Tried this method last night and didn’t work with hboot .86. Can you do a tutorial for the newer mytouch?

  6. Logan6wolverine said on February 24, 2011

    the sim card has to be in the phone when i do permroot?

  7. Bprescot01 said on March 1, 2011

    I’ve tried every method I can finsmd and can’t seem to get s off for the life of me. I’ve rooted different phones in the past with no issues… really unsure of what I’m doing wrong.

  8. Bprescot01 said on March 1, 2011

    I’ve tried every method I can finsmd and can’t seem to get s off for the life of me. I’ve rooted different phones in the past with no issues… really unsure of what I’m doing wrong.

  9. androidvic said on March 6, 2011

    meen! this work for me thank’s a lot, {mytouch 4G} after try other methods, i try this only once

  10. androidvic said on March 6, 2011

    meen! this work for me thank’s a lot, {mytouch 4G} after try other methods, i try this only once

  11. Acevedo said on March 7, 2011

    I have done this steps every single time and it stills stay s-on there is no other way to put it off, im no expert but ive already unlock g1 and hero so… i kind of know what im doing… what is happening to my phone?… also what is the update that i need to have, and how do i verify if i have it?

  12. Colbert Jamaal said on March 8, 2011

    Just confirming that the briefmobile steps work like a charm.

  13. Mrducedime Dc said on March 8, 2011

    when in terminal it says sdcard not found wat could it be

  14. Stockypeasant said on March 13, 2011

    question. in the sentence “Optionally, you could dl the file to your phone use androzip or something like it to unzip the file and then use root explorer to move all the files to /data/local. ”

    does it mean move the files on to the “/data/local ” found on the sd card or the one found on the phone?

    I am having trouble locating the /data/local folder.

  15. Cesarrivera86 said on March 15, 2011

    when I type in cd /sdcard/root into the emulator, it says “can’t cd to /sdcard/root, whats going on?

  16. Rainbowbright081 said on March 19, 2011

    I keep having the problem that everytime i temp root, the su, cd /sdcard/root and sh method, i get all the same prompts im supposed to see, but when i reboot into hboot it keeps saying S=off, i can get super user status and temp root so long as i dont reboot the phone, just cant get it to perma root, could someone please help me… i do not know how to use sdk, or adb lol, big n00b here.

    • Rainbowbright081 said on March 20, 2011

      also i have bootloader version 0.86… android os 2.2.1, mytouch 4g, i seriously have followed the directions literally to the T, for temp root then permaroot, still no success… :(

    • The_Big_O_ said on April 3, 2011

      If your hboot says S=off then your good, that’s exactly what this process does… now do steps 10-12

  17. Rainbowbright081 said on March 19, 2011

    I keep having the problem that everytime i temp root, the su, cd /sdcard/root and sh method, i get all the same prompts im supposed to see, but when i reboot into hboot it keeps saying S=off, i can get super user status and temp root so long as i dont reboot the phone, just cant get it to perma root, could someone please help me… i do not know how to use sdk, or adb lol, big n00b here.

  18. Tony365 At said on March 27, 2011

    Can you make an update to this for the new batch of mytouch they roled out with the new bootloader 0.86.0000. It’s much needed.

  19. Tony365 At said on March 27, 2011

    People check tour bootloader there is no method for the 0.86.0000 yet that’s why its not working for some

  20. mattfre87 said on March 28, 2011

    Can someone please help me with this? I am a new android user. Here is what I have/Done

    MyTouch 4g ver. 2.2.1
    I have Visionary+ on my phone
    I copied the root folder onto my SD card
    I have the terminal emulator

    So I run Visionary, then after I temproot it I go into the TE and run those three commands, my phone looked just like his in the video but S=ON still. Can someone please help me?

    Thanks

  21. Matthew freshwater said on March 28, 2011

    Can someone please help me with this? I am a new android user. Here is what I have/Done

    MyTouch 4g ver. 2.2.1
    I have Visionary+ on my phone
    I copied the root folder onto my SD card
    I have the terminal emulator

    So I run Visionary, then after I temproot it I go into the TE and run those three commands, my phone looked just like his in the video but S=ON still. Can someone please help me?

    Thanks

  22. Anonymous said on March 28, 2011

    Can someone please help me with this? I am a new android user. Here is what I have/Done

    MyTouch 4g ver. 2.2.1
    I have Visionary+ on my phone
    I copied the root folder onto my SD card
    I have the terminal emulator

    So I run Visionary, then after I temproot it I go into the TE and run those three commands, my phone looked just like his in the video but S=ON still. Can someone please help me?

    Thanks

  23. Anonymous said on March 28, 2011

    Can someone please help me with this? I am a new android user. Here is what I have/Done

    MyTouch 4g ver. 2.2.1
    I have Visionary+ on my phone
    I copied the root folder onto my SD card
    I have the terminal emulator

    So I run Visionary, then after I temproot it I go into the TE and run those three commands, my phone looked just like his in the video but S=ON still. Can someone please help me?

    Thanks

  24. Augen83 said on March 29, 2011

    Mr. David I tried that method and it does not work it still S-ON

  25. Clo292311 said on March 31, 2011

    doing this exactly as it is explained and no matter what it ends up saying s on in hboot. im stumped. did this on my g2 and it worked perfectly.

  26. The_Big_O_ said on April 3, 2011

    Unlockr thank you so much this worked perfectly. I had bootloader 0.86.0000 & after reading some of the comments I thought this might not work for me, but it worked flawlessly. I strongly believe everyone who has bootloader 0.86.0000 & having issues might be over looking some key step in the process cuz this works

    • Pgallardg1 said on April 3, 2011

      Nop, I am not over looking any of the steps it just don’t work for me.
      3 days I go I post here how to root Mytouch 4G and unlock a the same time in just 2 a 3 minutes and my post still not be a Approved and I don’t I understand why.
      The way I found out to root will root any my touch that will help alot people.

  27. Fake_sk8er said on April 8, 2011

    Nothing happens when i click the “Attempt permroot now”. I press on it and it acts as though nothing happened. Everything was successful until now.

    • Ian Brock said on July 20, 2011

      the temp root didnt take  some times it takes two or three times to get it to work with visionary  try a reboot use visionary  hit temproot “if its not set to temp root on boot”  it wont shut off but will show super user app after finishing  then hit perm root.   make sure you have already flashed it before doing this .

  28. Valeriy said on April 14, 2011

    Thank you! I have bootloader version 0.86 android os 2.2.1, mytouch 4g. I try this only once. This method worked for me. S-Off !!!

  29. Useless17 West said on April 15, 2011

    Hey I just don’t know what else to do. I’ve done everything as followed and I still get the s-off. Can someone help me figure this out. my email is useless17.west@gmail.com

  30. dude said on April 17, 2011

    word. this worked. permroot took some convincing, but it happened. thanks for the walkthrough.

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