Universal Android Temp Rooting Method (Visionary Method) (Updated 12.01.10)

I. Before You Begin

1. Because this is a Universal Android Rooting Method it works on multiple phones. Here are the phones it is confirmed to work on:

  • HTC G2 (T-Mobile G2/HTC Vision)
  • HTC Desire Z
  • HTC Desire HD
  • HTC MyTouch 4G (T-Mobile MyTouch 4G)

2. This will give you temporary root access (you can still unroot using the same app)., you can head to your phone’s permanent root and s-off procedure after.

II. Temp Root the Phone

1. Download the latest Visionary rooting app from here:

Modaco Visionary Rooting App

2. Plug in your phone via USB Cable and mount the sd card so you can transfer files to it.

3. Copy the .apk file to the root of the SD card in your phone (NOT in any folders just on the SD card itself).

4. Unplug the phone.

5. On the phone go to Settings > Applications > Development > Make sure USB Debugging is Checked ON and Fastboot is checked OFF (if it is an option).

6. Go to the Market and download a file manager (the free Linda File Manager is recommended).

7. Open the file manager app and locate the .apk file on the sd card and click it.

8. Follow the instructions to install it.

9. Once installed, open Visionary and check ON temp root after reboot, and check ON System R/W after Root. Then click TempRoot and wait for it to finish.

10. Once it is done with the TempRoot, open the Visionary again (if it closed itself) and click Attempt PermRoot. Click Allow when it asks for permissions. The phone will reboot and it will take a long time. Be patient.

11. Once it is done, turn off the phone, take out the battery, wait 10 seconds, put the battery back in and turn the phone back on. If when it turns back on you have the Superuser permissions app still in your app drawer, you still have root and it worked. Enjoy!

III. Load a Custom ROM

1. Head over to the Perm Root and HBoot S-Off method for your specific phone below:

How To: Gain Permanent Root and S-OFF on the T-Mobile G2 / HTC Vision

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

How To: Gain Permanent Root and S-OFF on the HTC Desire Z

How To: Gain Permanent Root and S-OFF on the HTC Desire HD

96 thoughts on “Universal Android Temp Rooting Method (Visionary Method) (Updated 12.01.10)”

  1. I tried this with the HTC Legend and got temp root. When I tried permaroot it rebooted and I still have superuser but no root access. Did this happen to anyone else?

    1. Read the list of phones this works for…
      For the HTC Legend, please click on How To’s at the top of the site here. Then click Android then the HTC Legend and use one of the procedures there instead.
      Good luck!

    2. I have the G2 and that happened to me also. I tried unrooting and tried many times and I can only get the Superuser but when I try to tether It tells me the kernal is not correct.

      When I temproot the tethering works. Hmmmmmmmm

  2. I’m not getting perm root from this. after step #11 I do have superuser in app drawer but no su access in terminal. any ideas what this could be?

  3. This isn’t working for me either…. after it reboots from attempting permanent root it just loads up like normal nothing happens.

      1. Well I will start with everything I did before up till the end. First of all I removed visionary r11 and SU from my phone (I wanted to start clean)and I made sure I rebooted it to have no root access. I I made sure debugging was on and everything as well. Then I got Visionary r12, installed it, and opened. I did not check anything like instructed and I followed with doing temp-root and everything was perfect, Visionary did not close down so I just followed with attempt perm root. And it immediately restarted and rebooted like normal. (which you claimed in step 10 that it would take long) It didn’t take long at all. After that I turned it off and pulled out the battery and rebooted it after a couple seconds. Turned it back on and the SU app was there since it doesn’t get deleted (like other times before) but I had no root access. So I tried doing this a couple of times. I even altered it but nothing worked. I get no error messages or anything so I can’t help with that either.

      2. Well I will start with everything I did before up till the end. First of all I removed visionary r11 and SU from my phone (I wanted to start clean)and I made sure I rebooted it to have no root access. I I made sure debugging was on and everything as well. Then I got Visionary r12, installed it, and opened. I did not check anything like instructed and I followed with doing temp-root and everything was perfect, Visionary did not close down so I just followed with attempt perm root. And it immediately restarted and rebooted like normal. (which you claimed in step 10 that it would take long) It didn’t take long at all. After that I turned it off and pulled out the battery and rebooted it after a couple seconds. Turned it back on and the SU app was there since it doesn’t get deleted (like other times before) but I had no root access. So I tried doing this a couple of times. I even altered it but nothing worked. I get no error messages or anything so I can’t help with that either.

  4. I too am getting stuck at the same part. i do everything exactly as said in the steps and when i come to reboot my phone and check if i still have root i still have su but when i go to check if i have permroot it says i do not. why is it not permrooting if all the steps are being followed?

  5. dosent work for me. after i temproot then attempt to permroot it reboots, then i power down and remove the battery like the instructions say, reboot and i have no root. what gives? t-mobile g2

      1. I’ll be waiting. Been coming here for root since the G1, then Nexus, then Vibrant, then HD2, now G2. Keep up the good work, I hope to get this thing rooted soon, I’m thirsty for Cyanogen.

      2. Could it be anything to with the New update? maybe it would work with Pre OTA phone. I doubt it would make a difference but I am just throwing ideas out there. My G2 has the update but I installed manually. Anyone tried this and not have the update or got the update directly from T-mo?

  6. I went through all the steps hit root and the last command that came up was “Running rageagaisntthecage….” It sat on this for over five minutes before I disconnected my phone. Was I supposed to live it on longer? I rebooted and got no SU app. Should I try again or is there a risk of damaging the phone. Thanks

  7. I went through the instructions and when i turned the phone back on i went to ROM manager, but it said my phone was not rooted still.. any leads?

  8. I went through the instructions and when i turned the phone back on i went to ROM manager, but it said my phone was not rooted still.. any leads?

  9. The same problem as few people reported. Permission denied after running perm root. The Superuser icon stays, I click on it and get message:

    There is a new version of the su binary available. Press OK to attempt to install it.

    I do that and get:

    Error – su not updated. File su-2.3.1-bin-signed.zip has been placed on your SD. Reboot into recovery and flash it.

    So I do that and:

    failed to open /sdcard/update.zip (No such file or directory)
    E:signature verification failed
    Installation aborted

    I go to SD and the file is there, clicking on it shows:

    Archive: /media/42E5-1302/su-2.3.1-bin-signed.zip
    [/media/42E5-1302/su-2.3.1-bin-signed.zip]
    End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not
    a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the
    latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
    the last disk(s) of this archive.
    zipinfo: cannot find zipfile directory in one of /media/42E5-1302/su-2.3.1-bin-signed.zip or
    /media/42E5-1302/su-2.3.1-bin-signed.zip.zip, and cannot find /media/42E5-1302/su-2.3.1-bin-signed.zip.ZIP, period.

    I removed VISIOnary and everything and started again and no luck…

    Thanks for all your work…

  10. im having the same issues with my g2…attempt perm root and fail.. superuser app still stays in the drawer but no access when i go to rom manager or terminal emulator. i dont see any helpful responses from the unlockr and its been over a week…anyone find a way around it yet?

  11. Unable to root my Desire HD. I have done everything as written above, yellow triangle appears for a while, then disapper and i can see only black screen with status bar on top. Any idea what i have messed up?

  12. I don’t know what happened, but I followed your instructions to the letter on my HTC Desire Z. All I got was a blank screen after the triangle so I pressed home and tried again. Still nothing. However now, even after a reboot my phone is lagging all to hell. Even the live wallpaper its jittering all over the place and its taking me forever to open apps or do ANYTHING. Also, I can no longer run VISIONary anymore either. HELP

  13. I cannot permroot my desire HD, i have 2.2.1 installed,

    ive temp rooted it…i think, the screen kept flashing with the visionary logo, when i click to permroot it, it keeps telling me i must temproot it???

  14. I cannot permroot my desire HD, i have 2.2.1 installed,

    ive temp rooted it…i think, the screen kept flashing with the visionary logo, when i click to permroot it, it keeps telling me i must temproot it???

  15. I cannot permroot my desire HD, i have 2.2.1 installed,

    ive temp rooted it…i think, the screen kept flashing with the visionary logo, when i click to permroot it, it keeps telling me i must temproot it???

  16. Found this on the forums:

    “Sadly there have been changes to the firmware that you have installed which stop Visionary+ from working (they patched the exploit that it used to gain temproot).
    At the moment there are 2 choices that I know of:
    1. Downgrade to different firmware … quite a complex process.
    2. Be patient and wait for an update of Visionary+

    A lot of us are in the same position.”

    1. I wouldnt mind going back to the last firmware, the fact that I cannot root my device is killing me… Anyone know how to go back to 2.2 from 2.2.1 on the HTC Desire HD.

    2. I wouldnt mind going back to the last firmware, the fact that I cannot root my device is killing me… Anyone know how to go back to 2.2 from 2.2.1 on the HTC Desire HD.

  17. Found this on the forums:

    “Sadly there have been changes to the firmware that you have installed which stop Visionary+ from working (they patched the exploit that it used to gain temproot).
    At the moment there are 2 choices that I know of:
    1. Downgrade to different firmware … quite a complex process.
    2. Be patient and wait for an update of Visionary+

    A lot of us are in the same position.”

  18. When I click on temproot all i get is rooting in device for minuteand then blank black screen, I have HTC desire HD on 2.2.1. I have vodafone ROM on it and I want to put original HTC ROM on it. Please help

  19. Brilliant! Simple. I am an experienced user, rooting many Android devices. Failed at the exploid method for MyTouch Slide. Stumbled upon this extrordinarily easy method, and viola! ROOT ACCESS! I finally pwn mytouch slide. Buh-bye bloatware, hello custom rom and full access. I am so grateful. THANK YOU!!!

  20. Be aware. Downloaded file is a trojan.
    Your PC will most likely be a part of a criminal/terrorist group if you allow this program to be downloaded to your PC.

  21. is the permroot really nessacary? im abit scared that it will destroy my phone because i saved up a long time for this phone and i dont want it to die so soon if you know what i mean…

  22. Hello I have been using the visionary method for a while with no probs ….Well today on visionary menu I clicked RUN VISIONARY.SH AFTER RO,,,AND SET SYSTEM RW AFTER ROOT AND ATTEMPT PERROOT NOW……Now im stuck on white screen with HTC ”BOOT SCREEN” Any suggestions on how to help my sorry butt!?

  23. Just a question: have i rooted my HTC successively, as my fone shows up with the triangle sying rooting… everytime i turn on my HTC?? and i hav got the Superuser permissions app.

    1. im no expert but is sounds like you Have! if you havnt already download Wireless Tether For Root Users just google it and download it then send it to you phones sd card,,then unmount your phone,then go to your file manager on your phone and open wifi thether and run it it runs then you have gained root access Good Luck!

      1. i hav downloaded wireless Thther.. do i need data allowance to be able to let the computers to connect to it?? it runs and my computer can find it but my computer cannot go online( as i dont have data allowance) so have i successfully rooted my fone??

  24. Macschenk2010

    On step “III Load a Custom Rom” there is only a video and guide for the G2, if I follow that would it work on my HTC Desire HD. Need a answer please hehe been wanting to root my DHD for quite a while :'(

  25. Temproot works like a charm, but when trying to Perm Root using this method, I can click the “Attempt Permroot now” button 20 times and nothing ever happens. Has this been disabled within VISIONary itself somehow?

  26. AMAZING method!  Worked flawlessly on the mytouch 4G and then I used titanium backup.  My phone went from “annoyingly quirky” to “blistering fast.”  Thaaaaaaaaaaaaank you D. Cogen! 

  27. hi need some help,ive done everything as mentioned above when i hit temp root i get a black bklank screen?plz do email shaukatali5379@googlemail.com me what to do 2.36.405.8 cl47853 is the firmware.ive factory receted fone severel times restarted severel times itwas working fine fewdays ago but then suddenly didnt work right.

  28. Hi wonder if u can help me out ,I have downloaded a lot of apps that need root and all of them say u don’t have root, I installed visionary r14 but then decided to uninstall it but then remembered to unroot so downloaded it and tried to unroot but it won’t do it I have tried it with older versions of visionary I have restored done severaal times but still no luck it says it has system permission on start up hence when ever I install it it always says rooted already.I really don’t no what to do now I only got the fone 3 days ago ?
    if I take it to a mobile shop and ask them to flash it to latest software do u think it will get rid of the root ?I installed the latest software I think yesterday that’s when these problems started.I would really appreciate your help .I can’t use Rom manager titanium superuser cause super user doesn’t give ant permission that’s another story plz do email at shaukatali5379@googlemail.com

  29. this is doesn’t work on my G2. too bad.
    apparently, it is a common problem that this app doesn’t function, which is why it was removed from Android. after reading other forums, i am just glad that my phone didn’t get “bricked” when VISIONary failed to do what it was supposed to do.  TMobile G2, Android 2.2 Froyo

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