Unlock the bootloader already!

[bigrjsuto]

With the release of ICS I am getting tired of Motorola claiming they would gladly unlock the bootloader if the carrier permitted. 

That's you, Verizon!

I bought this phone, let me do as I wish with it. I have been a customer for many years. I love your service. This is the one thing though recently that has really gotten me mad to your practices. 

If you bought a car, you are allowed to do what you want with the car because YOU BOUGHT IT! It's yours. GM or Ford or any other car manufacturer can't restrict how you modify your vehicle. Yes, modifying your vehicle could void the warranty, but we don't even have that choice with our phones. 

I would gladly risk voiding my warranty if it meant I could do as I wish with what is mine.

I had the OG Droid before this. The UI of the Bionic is good. But I want the choice to change it if I so pleased. 

Imagine if the rims/engine/exhaust on your car had a lock that could only be unlocked by the carmaker, so that even if you wanted something different, to make it look/perform a little different, you couldn't. it's pathetic. Verizon is telling me I can only use something that is righfully mine and in my posession in a way that they prefer. 

[razz1]

im with you on this!!
i had the droidx and love the ability to overclock it. now i have the bionic, and honestly doesn't seem to run much faster. all i want to do is overclock it but not untill verizon unlocks it. PLEASE DO IT!!
why not?? especially considering the price we paid for this thing! you wont unlock it, and its a slap in the face to your top paying customers!!

[gerio]

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razz1 wrote:
im with you on this!!
i had the droidx and love the ability to overclock it. now i have the bionic, and honestly doesn't seem to run much faster. all i want to do is overclock it but not untill verizon unlocks it. PLEASE DO IT!!
why not?? especially considering the price we paid for this thing! you wont unlock it, and its a slap in the face to your top paying customers!!

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If the inability to unlock your Bionic is your biggest issue, you can thank your lucky stars. I would have loved to have that problem instead of the ones that finally sent me running to an iPhone 4S.

Geri O

[Tidbits]

I never get why people complaining about "unlocking"...

If you can't unlock it what's the point of buying it if that is an "important" feature to you?  Not purchasing it until AFTER it is unlocked does more than buying it and complaining why it isn't unlocked...

[Tidbits]

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bigrjsuto wrote:

With the release of ICS I am getting tired of Motorola claiming they would gladly unlock the bootloader if the carrier permitted. 

That's you, Verizon!

I bought this phone, let me do as I wish with it. I have been a customer for many years. I love your service. This is the one thing though recently that has really gotten me mad to your practices. 

If you bought a car, you are allowed to do what you want with the car because YOU BOUGHT IT! It's yours. GM or Ford or any other car manufacturer can't restrict how you modify your vehicle. Yes, modifying your vehicle could void the warranty, but we don't even have that choice with our phones. 

I would gladly risk voiding my warranty if it meant I could do as I wish with what is mine.

I had the OG Droid before this. The UI of the Bionic is good. But I want the choice to change it if I so pleased. 

Imagine if the rims/engine/exhaust on your car had a lock that could only be unlocked by the carmaker, so that even if you wanted something different, to make it look/perform a little different, you couldn't. it's pathetic. Verizon is telling me I can only use something that is righfully mine and in my posession in a way that they prefer. 

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There's HUGE difference between a phone and a car.  I won't go into it, because not like you'd try and understand the legalities and the difference between the two.

You CAN chance the UI if you chose to btw locked or unlocked...  

[rcschnoor]

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bigrjsuto wrote:

If you bought a car, you are allowed to do what you want with the car because YOU BOUGHT IT! It's yours. GM or Ford or any other car manufacturer can't restrict how you modify your vehicle. Yes, modifying your vehicle could void the warranty, but we don't even have that choice with our phones. 

---

I wasn't aware that GM or Ford were the owners of the roads where you drive your car.

There are things that you ARE required to have on your car or else you will not be able to get it inspected and lisenced in order to drive on the public roads. This is more equivalent to the bootloader being locked.

Additionally, you say GM or Ford doesn't restrict how you use your car. These are the manufacturers, much like Motorola and HTC. Verizon is not a manufacturer of phones. You may say that Verizon requires that the manufacturers put restrictions on your phones, well this would be equivalent of California and other states, let alone the federal government, putting restrictions on your car in order to use it on THEIR roads. So don't go saying you can use your car however you want. There ARE restrictions to using your car on the public roads, much like using your phone on Verizon's network.

You may say that Verizon does not give you instructions on how to alter your phone in order to use it how you would like. I also don't think that I have ever seen ANY level of government give you instructions on how to remove any mandated items on your car, either.

[mdram4x4]

its well known that motorola locks thier bootloaders

other manufatuers dont

if that option is important to you get an htc or a samsung

research the phone before you buy it

[PJNC284]

HTC locks theirs from the factory if I'm not mistaken (granted they now provide unlocks online for a lot of the newer models).  Luckily engineering bootloaders were leaked out for previous devices which makes it a good bit easier than previous devices.  Verizon's excuse is that it's more "safe" for the end user to be locked but they're having the opposite effect.  There will always be people working to get around them so they're just making it unsafe and more of a pain in the long run.

[mdram4x4]

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PJNC284 wrote:

HTC locks theirs from the factory if I'm not mistaken (granted they now provide unlocks online for a lot of the newer models).  Luckily engineering bootloaders were leaked out for previous devices which makes it a good bit easier than previous devices.  Verizon's excuse is that it's more "safe" for the end user to be locked but they're having the opposite effect.  There will always be people working to get around them so they're just making it unsafe and more of a pain in the long run.

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i thought htc annoucne dit would unlock them all from the factory

[PJNC284]

afaik, they still plan to ship them locked but you have the option of going to them for an unlock code IF the carrier will allow it so you may not even be able to unlock HTC devices on Verizon with that method. http://htcdev.com/bootloader/

"HTC is committed to assisting customers in unlocking bootloaders for HTC devices. However, due to some of our carrier customers concerns, certain models with specific restrictions may not be able to be unlocked. Please refer to our list of supported devices to see if your device is eligible for unlocking the bootloader."

[mdram4x4]

aahh, ok, m usta read that article wrong before

but samsung is still unlicked iirc

[PJNC284]

yeah, Samsung devices seem to be fairly open but they don't give timely updates and source code to help developers.  Seems to be a lose-lose regardless of manufacturer except for the Nexus line.

[compchick]

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PJNC284 wrote:

afaik, they still plan to ship them locked but you have the option of going to them for an unlock code IF the carrier will allow it so you may not even be able to unlock HTC devices on Verizon with that method. http://htcdev.com/bootloader/

"HTC is committed to assisting customers in unlocking bootloaders for HTC devices. However, due to some of our carrier customers concerns, certain models with specific restrictions may not be able to be unlocked. Please refer to our list of supported devices to see if your device is eligible for unlocking the bootloader."

---

I think HTC's solution is fine - I would rather void the warranty on my device than have it be locked.  I don't get why this isn't acceptable to Verizon since you have to register your device with this unlock method, but they haven't allowed any of HTC's devices on their network to be a part of this program.  This would be a fine solution for Motorola as well.

[razz1]

What about that "C BLOCK" Verizon? Don't we have to be careful not to lock certain phones on this block as per FCC regulations??

[PJNC284]

don't believe everything you read on xda.  http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/10/24/psa-verizon-locking-bootloaders-on-lte-devices-likely-does-n...

[Tidbits]

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razz1 wrote:

What about that "C BLOCK" Verizon? Don't we have to be careful not to lock certain phones on this block as per FCC regulations??

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There's a HUGE difference between an unlocked bootloader, and an unlocked device.  The device must be unlocked if it is a C Block device, but there is nothing in there against unlocked bootloaders.  All devices that are LTE capable can work on any LTE network granted if they have the same frequencies.  They are complying with the regulations.  Anything considered security measures are considered OK to lock which a lock bootloader does provide for most end users.

[razz1]

wow!
the purpose i have in unlocking my droid bionic is simply to overclock it. i had a droidx and had no problems overclocking and figured it would be the same with the bionic.
if you wish to bash me for not looking into this and not researching before i bought it, then so be it. i didnt research before my purchase. but...i can assure you i now have the facts and will not be purchasing a moto phone in the future till there policy changes. it will be samsung or htc.

[mdram4x4]

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razz1 wrote:
wow!
the purpose i have in unlocking my droid bionic is simply to overclock it. i had a droidx and had no problems overclocking and figured it would be the same with the bionic.
if you wish to bash me for not looking into this and not researching before i bought it, then so be it. i didnt research before my purchase. but...i can assure you i now have the facts and will not be purchasing a moto phone in the future till there policy changes. it will be samsung or htc.

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its not bashing

if something is important to you you should do the research first

imagine wanting a deisel car, and you buy the one that looks pretty. then get home and find out its gas.