# Solved: Why and How does unlocking cause physical damage?



## machv (May 23, 2009)

I often see warnings about possible damage to your smart phone if you choose to unlock the bootloader. How and why does that sometimes cause heat damage to your phone? I mean technically all you are doing is gaining access to the administrator account. I am not thinking of unlocking a smartphone myself I don't have one and I have had a hard time Googling the answer all I seem to find is the warning without the explanation as to why this happens. I could understand if after gaining root privileges you then overclocked the device. Anyway can someone answer this for me. Thanks


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

Man! I thought that someone would know the answer to this question. I did not expect that this question would go unanswered after so many views coupled with the overall level of quality and knowledgeable members that are part of this site. Plus the fact that the bricking aspect associated with rooting devices is widely known etc... I thought that if someone knew how to gain admin rights on an Android smart phone they would also know why damage can be caused by doing it.

If I find the answer elsewhere I will update this thread. I want to add that I know that sometimes it can take a while for an answer to a question and to be patient. From my experience for posts relating to topics other than malware that have many views get at least one or two replies and if they don't they likely won't and I am just trying to do an more in-depth and lengthy search for the answer so that I can then post the answer here for those that were hoping to find an answer too. On occasion when this has happened before I have sometimes been able to find the answer elsewhere. I then post what I found and mark the topic solved in order to add to the sites db as my way of contributing to the site when I can.


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

I'm usually able to offer a decent response in this forum, but you have a lot of mixed terminology in your post.

Unlocking, rooting, and overclocking are all completely different operations. I've honestly never heard of overclocking a phone, and I have no idea why anyone would do that.

A phone is not like a computer in that you can "reinstall" the operating system from external media. It's possible that during the rooting or unlocking process that you overwrite the on-board radios, recovery partition, ROM, etc, and you can't always recover from that.

If you want to learn more about these process, check out this forum.

http://www.xda-developers.com/


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

DoubleHelix said:


> I'm usually able to offer a decent response in this forum, but you have a lot of mixed terminology in your post.
> 
> Unlocking, rooting, and overclocking are all completely different operations. I've honestly never heard of overclocking a phone, and I have no idea why anyone would do that.
> 
> ...


I was told that rooting/gaining administrator rights is the same as unlocking/rooting a device. I reread my posts and didn't see the reference to overclocking and if it is in there it is a typo for unlocking. I am currently learning about software development for smartphones using the android platform. I was prompted to get a motodev and htcdev account for testing out apps I make on their devices (other brands didn't need them) anyway, while I was waiting for Eclipse plugins to install I was reading HTC's disclaimer for their "unlock bootloader" software for their devices. It mentioned that it may cause physical damage due to overheating when you unlock the bootloader. http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/ is the URL.

NOTE: If I have used incorrect terminology it is due to my lack of knowledge on the subject I am at the "Trog, rub stik make fire. ??? What stik duz Trog use???" stage of my programming evolution. And I am also using the internet as my school instead of racking up a huge student loan to end up a scared slave to a workspace. No offense to those that do, I have much respect, I just couldn't handle the ulcers and stress that would cause me. Anywho moving on, The URL above has the "physical damage" warning in it.

The warning explains what and why for the software trouble it can cause. Like being unable to return your devices software/firmware back to its original state after settings and references to your 3rd party apps not working afterwards. But all those issues are for other posts when I reach those stages where that is more of a concern for me i.e., when I set up a dev environment on a HTC that I am thinking of getting for this purpose. HTC provides the correct software for free not a third party hack from a possibly unreliable source.

As far as the software goes that doesn't really bother me as it will be a brand new phone that I buy specifically for that purpose and not for everyday use. The possibility of physically damaging the phone would impact whether or not I get one for that purpose or at least risk it on a brand new one. I might chance it on an older used one though.

sorry if I rambled on there I hope that it clarifies what I wanted to have answered and where I am coming from and hopefully going to. Thanks for getting back to me.


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

Did I miss something or am I still not giving you the information that you wanted?


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

And I am not OK with any third party app that needs me to disable my AV or firewall first in order to work. Unless you supply me with the source code and as long as that is in python. (I can at least somewhat read that language even if I am not good enough yet to design and write my own, I can't wait for the day)


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

I don't know what information you're looking for. Anti-virus applications for Android make people feel better but don't really provide any protection against anything. Again, Android is not Windows. I've never heard of a firewall application for Android.

You don't get to view people's proprietary code. If you don't like the permissions an app requires, don't install it. Those are your options.

Maybe things work differently in Canada, but in the US, you can't activate a phone without some kind of plan whether it be pre-paid or contract. Buying a used phone is just one, very small cost involved in owning a smart phone. The data plan makes up the bulk of the cost.


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

one of the warnings on htc dev


> http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/
> " In the worst case scenario, it is possible that your device may be physically damaged due to overheating or the behavior of your device might be altered including, but not limited to, hearing aid compatibility (HAC) and specific absorption rate (SAR) values."


Why does unlocking the bootloader (to gain admin/root access rights) cause this physical damage?


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

You're altering the firmware. Cell phone don't have hard drives where a change in accounts or OS functionality is just swapping bits. If you want an in-depth technical explanation of all things cell-phone tech related, go to the XDA Developers forum.


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## prunejuice (Apr 3, 2002)

machv said:


> Why does unlocking the bootloader (to gain admin/root access rights) cause this physical damage?


Because many dev builds unlock the _possibility_ of overclocking on the Android platform.

Having your phone overheat by simply rooting it is unlikely (never heard of it personally and I'm a regular at *xda*).
The disclaimer is most certainly a CYA provision.


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

OK. Thanks that clears it up for me. The theory I was leaning towards was that they wanted to dissuade people from doing it in order to keep them under their providers thumb.


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## Aerodamus (Jun 10, 2010)

For the Android platform, I'd agree with prunejuice. Simply unlocking/rooting an Android device is _HIGHLY_ unlikely to cause any heat damage. As prunejuice said, it simply unlocks the capability of overclocking the device, which may cause overheating if you don't know what you're doing.

Apple products are another story. I've heard dozens of claims that jailbreaking/unlocking/rooting an iPhone shuts off its internal fan and allows it to overheat, as a sort of anti-piracy measure.


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## machv (May 23, 2009)

so prunejiuce aleviates overheating? hmmm I'll have to give that a try.
Sorry couldn't help myself there. And as for the apple products it doesn't suprise me as they are worse than MS for a KungFu grip on their products. I couldn't even pass a simple silly voice recording to my friends iPhone4. And if I wanted to via iTunes then it want ed to erase all my stuff or his. Nice how you get he choice of which person to screw over.


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