Today marks the launch of the Motorola Droid X on Verizon Wireless for $199 on contract. The phone, which has generated plenty of press recently is sure to be bought by many consumers interested in Android, or smartphones in particular. However, before you make the decision to buy the phone, it is important to read the following text if you EVER plan on tinkering with the phone.
MobileCrunch is reporting that the phone will come with a locked bootloader. What's more, if an individual attempts to mod or hack (or anything that involves tinkering with the phone), a program insde the phone disrupts the boot process, bricking the phone.
MyDroidWorld reports based on a mixture of conjecture and hard facts that the phone is using a technology which will render the phone useless if a chip inside the phone detects tinkering with the device.:
The eFuse is coded with information that it either looks for or is passed to it from the bootloader. The bootloader is loaded with information it looks for when it begins the boot-up process. (I have seen the sbf file look for a certain bootloader when it begins so its safe to assume that this is the process).
Once the the eFuse verifies that the information it is looking for or that has been passed through to it by the bootloader is correct then the boot process continues. What type of information is written to the bootloader? So far i've been able to verify that the firmware
information (what we call ROMS), the kernel information, and the bootloader version.If the eFuse failes to verify this information then the eFuse receives a command to "blow the fuse" or "trip the fuse". This results in the booting process becoming corrupted and resulting in a permanent bricking of the Phone. This FailSafe is activated anytime the bootloader is tampered with or any of the above three parts of the phone has been tampered with.
What happens if you do trip the feature? MobileCrunch says that:
It requires a hardware fix, apparently, only available through Motorola, of course. This is the equivalent of a MacBook detonating some core component if you try to install an OS to dual boot.
Assuming that MyDroidWorld is right, it will be, as they noted, "a tough nut to crack."
Other Sources: AndroidCentral, MobileCrunch
Image from MobileCrunch
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