How to Unlock HTC Droid DNA Bootloader [Guide]

HTC lets its customers unlock the bootloader on most smartphones of HTC, enabling them to flash custom ROMs on the devices people buy with their hard-earned money. However, Verizon has always been strictly against allowing bootloader unlocking and custom software and doesn’t let any HTC devices it sells into HTC’s bootloader unlock program, arguing that it doesn’t “provide a good experience”.

But surprisingly, the newly announced HTC Droid DNA for Verizon can currently be unlocked from HTCdev, the official website for unlocking bootloaders on HTC devices, as found by Droid Life, who have access to a Droid DNA and were able to get its bootloader unlocked without any hassle. Though with the device yet to be launched in the market, it is possible that a software patch in the future will prevent HTCDev from working, but for now, it seems Droid DNA owners are in luck.

We’ve prepared a guide for the entire procedure that needs to be followed to unlock the bootloader on the HTC Droid DNA. However, remember that unlocking the bootloader will void your warranty and you will be unable to receive future official updates, and will have to resort to manual ways to update if need be.

Now, let’s take a look at how the HTC Droid DNA bootloader can be unlocked.

Compatibility

The procedure described below is only for the HTC Droid DNA. Do not try it on any other device.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky, so try them out at your own risk, and make sure to read each step carefully before attempting anything. We will not be held responsible if anything goes wrong.

How To Unlock HTC Droid DNA Bootloader

Unlocking the bootloader causes all the data on the device to get wiped, including everything on your internal storage. First, backup installed apps and other data such as contacts, messages, bookmarks, etc, by referring to our Android Backup Guide for help. Then, copy everything from the SD card to your computer, which will also include the apps and data you backed up.
First, you’ll need to have the drivers for the phone installed on your computer. Download the HTC Sync Software and install it on your computer, which will install the drivers as well.
Download HTC Sync software
Download Fastboot.
Download Fastboot | Filename: Fastboot.zip
Extract the Fastboot.zip file you just downloaded to a convenient location on the computer to obtain a folder named Fastboot which will have four files inside it. To keep things easy, extract the Fastboot folder to drive C.
Now, download the following files:
1. Backup.ab: Download Link | Alternate Link 1 | Alternate Link 2
2. DNA_TeamAndIRC.zip: Download Link | Alternate Link
Copy the Backup.ab file to the Fastboot folder that you obtained in step 4.
Also, extract the contents of the DNA_TeamAndIRC.zip file to the Fastboot folder as well, so that you have 8 files (and one folder) in the Fastboot folder, as shown in the screenshot below.
On the phone, go into the Settings » Developer options menu, toggle the button on top to ON if it is currently OFF, then enable USB Debugging (or ADB Debugging, whichever it is listed as on the phone).
Connect the phone to the computer, and if this is the first time you’ve connected the phone to your computer, wait for the drivers to finish installing. For reliability, ensure that you use a USB port at the back if you are using a desktop computer, as the front panel ports can be loose and cause problems.
Click on Start menu » All Programs » Accessories, right-click on Command Prompt and click on Run as administrator. If you are using Windows 8, this can be done by right-clicking on the extreme bottom left corner of the taskbar, then selecting “Command Prompt (admin)”.
In command prompt, change the path to the Fastboot folder. For example, if the Fastboot folder is in the C drive, type in cd C:Fastboot in command prompt to change the path to “C:Fastboot>”.
Type adb install CIDGen.apk in the command prompt. This will install an app CIDGen on your phone.
Run the CIDGen app on the phone, then follow the directions on the app.
Now, we need to confirm if a file named CIDBLOCK.img exists on the SD card on the phone. To do that, type in adb shell ls -l /sdcard/CIDBLOCK.img in the command prompt. If the file exists, you should get a one line output that says “CIDBLOCK.img” at the end and starts with something like “-rw-rw-r”.
If the CIDBLOCK.img file does not exist on the SD card after entering the command in step 14, re-run the app (repeat step 13), then again check if it exists by repeating step 14. Do not proceed if the file doesn’t exist on the phone.
Now, in command prompt, enter the following commands, pressing Enter after each to execute them:
adb push runme.sh /data/local/tmp/
adb shell chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/runme.sh
adb shell /data/local/tmp/runme.sh
After entering the last command in step 16, the process in the command prompt will start repeating endlessly, with “No such file” or “link failed” errors. Ignore these errors and let it continue, and minimize the command prompt window.
Now, open a new command prompt window by repeating step 10. Remember, make sure that the command prompt window we opened earlier is still open and minimized.
In the new command prompt window, again change the path to the Fastboot folder by repeating step 11. Then, enter adb restore backup.ab, then accept the restore on the phone.
After the restore is complete, close the first command prompt window that we had minimized in step 17 to stop the repeating process.
Now, in the command prompt that is still open (the one we opened in step 18), enter the following commands:
adb shell rm /data/data/com.htc.usage/files/exploit/*
adb shell mv /data/DxDrm /data/DxDrm_org
adb shell mkdir /data/DxDrm
adb shell ln -s /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /data/DxDrm/DxSecureDB
adb reboot
After the phone reboots, enter adb shell /data/local/tmp/runme.sh in the command prompt. This will again result in a repeating process similar to what happened in step 17. Once that starts happening, minimize the window.
Open yet again another command prompt now, and again enter adb restore backup.ab, then accept the restore on your phone once again.
After restore is complete, close the command prompt window with the repeating process, the one that we minimized in step 22.
Warning! Before going ahead with the steps below, make sure you have your phone charged to at least 50%, and also note that if you disconnect or reboot the device in between, it will get bricked and stop working.
Now, in the command prompt, enter the following commands:
adb shell mv /data/DxDrm /data/DxDrm_trash
adb shell dd if=/sdcard/CIDBLOCK.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p5
adb reboot
Your phone will reboot after completing step 26. Keep the command prompt open, then follow the steps below to unlock the bootloader using the official HTC bootloader unlock service.

Unlock DROID DNA Bootloader from htcdev.com

Open your Internet browser and go to this URL → http://www.htcdev.com and create a account for yourself using the Register link.
After completing the registration and verifying your e-mail, login with your new account and open the “unlock bootloader” page.
Here’s the direct link to the unlock bootloader page → link.
Now select “All Other Supported Models” from the dropdown menu in the right and then click on the “Begin Unlock Bootloader” page.
You’ll get a pop-up warning, read it if you care, and hit the “Yes” button.
Now you’ll be asked to accept some legal terms, tick on both the check boxes and hit the “Proceed to Unlock Instructions” button.
You’ll see four steps on the next page, below’s a more simple explanation to those steps:
1. Switch OFF your phone and disconnect it from the computer.
2. Press and hold “Volume down + Power button” together until your phone boots into bootloader mode.
3. Select Fastboot using the Power button.
  You can use the Volume buttons to go up & down and Power button to select the highlighted option in the bootloader mode.
4. Connect your phone to the PC.
Go to the second page on the htcdev site, click the “Proceed to Step 5” button.
Now on the second page, you really don’t have to follow anything htcdev site is saying, instead, do this:
- In the command prompt window, type the following command:
  fastboot devices
  This is to ensure that your device is detected, if nothing appears on screen with this command, then it means you don’t have the proper drivers installed on your PC. And if that’s the case you should download and install/re-install the HTC Sync software given in Step 2. And also restart your PC if required.
That’s all you’ve to do on the second page. Now go to the third page on the htcdev site by clicking the “Proceed to Step 8” button at the bottom of the page. Remember to keep the command prompt window open.
On the third page, follow all the Steps given on the htcdev site very carefully. And click on the “Submit” button when you’re done
If you’ve followed the steps correctly, you will see a “Token Submitted Succesfully!” message on the next page. And also receive an e-mail with the unlock key attached as a file.
Open the e-mail you received from HTC, and download the “Unlock_code.bin” file attached to it.
Copy/transfer the “Unlock_code.bin” to the Fastboot folder.
Open the link given in the e-mail for further instructions.
Flash the Unlock_code.bin file on your phone using fastboot:
1. Type the following command in the command prompt window:
  fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin
2. Now on your phone you’ll receive an Unlock bootloader request. Use Volume Up button to select Yes and Power button to confirm and continue
3. Your phone will reboot and will factory reset itself.
That’s all. Congratulations, your Droid DNA’s Bootloader is now unlocked. To confirm, boot into bootloader mode (follow Step 6.1 & 6.2) and you’ll see “UNLOCKED” written at the top of the screen.

The bootloader on your HTC Droid DNA should now be unlocked, and you can flash any custom ROM that you want, root it, etc. Do let us know how the procedure works for you, in the comments below.

Via: Android Police