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May 13, 2013 By: Conan Troutman
There has been a bit of a back and forth between the development community and Verizon lately, specifically relating to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. It is perhaps best summed up by XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler:
“Well, this has been quite the saga thus far…
Us: Suck It Verizon (exploit)
them: Suck it XDA-Developers (OTA patch)
Us: Back Atcha Verizon (exploit)
them: Stop it XDA (OTA Patch)
Us: No You! (exploit)”
The combination of Adam’s CASUAL deployment system and Recognized Developer Ralekdev‘s exploits themselves has been continually providing Verizon Note 2 owners with the ability to free their device through each OTA. The pair have once again managed to undo the restrictions put in place by the latest update, and they have released that exploit to the public. Be aware that this is only for those who are running a completely stock ROM. If you are not stock and have already installed a custom recovery, this will cause you issues.
This exploit lifts the restrictions put in place by Verizon that prevent the device from running unauthorized software. Be warned that it will leave you unable to accept their OTA updates. However, you will now have a much friendlier bootloader, and who doesn’t want that?
For those of you who are running a stock ROM and looking to unlock their device, the usual rules apply. Windows(7/8)/Mac/Linux users can all make use of this cross platform tool, which will take you through the process quickly and easily. Make sure you have Java installed beforehand and you’re all set. As always, be prepared to take a log if you run into any issues, and make sure to have a thorough read through the development thread before starting the process.
May 4, 2013 By: Mike Szczys
Owners of the Verizon variant of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet will no longer feel left out, thanks to the unlock package that XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler posted late Friday night. Although he takes issue with the word ‘unlock,’ preferring to call it a ‘jailbreak’ because that term is exempted by the DMCA.
The process couldn’t be easier thanks to Adam’s CASUAL software. I’m sure you’ve heard of it before since it’s been features on XDA TV and several Portal posts. The software provides a GUI for scripts that use the Android Developer Bridge (ADB) and it works on Linux, Mac, and Windows. The power of CASUAL is well represented in this procedure. Adam’s demo video shows that clicking the Do It button and following the prompts is all it really takes. From there, the script performs an IROM unlock using exploits discovered by Lee Harrison (Recognized Developer Ralekdev).
Get your hands on the unlock package by heading over to the original thread. While you’re there, heed Adam’s warning about flashing once you unlock your Note. The exploit used leaves it vulnerable to being bricked if you flash a file not meant for this specific hardware.
April 29, 2013 By: Conan Troutman
It used to be the case that whenever you wanted to use ADB or FastBoot with a device, you were required to install a specific driver for each device. For anyone regularly flashing several devices or developers who test on numerous different phones and tablets, this could prove to be something of an inconvenience, especially when setting up for the first time and having to hunt around in a dingy corner of an OEM website looking for the correct driver. Thankfully, things are somewhat simpler nowadays thanks to several different solutions to this old issue.
You may remember us previously talking about the Universal Naked Driver by XDA Senior Member 1wayjonny. This is a Windows based tool (compatible with XP, Vista, 7 and 8) that allows you to make use of ADB, Fastboot, and (for ASUS devices) APX on over 250 different devices with minimal effort. Check out the link above and the forum thread for more information on this one.
Continuing on from the success of the Universal Naked Driver, Koush has taken the device/vendor ids collected within the UND thread and used them to create an alternative solution, which claims to work on all Android phones and all versions of Windows, presumably XP and above. You can find Koush’s Universal ADB Driver and the source for it from the G+ post linked to above.
Last but certainly not least is a project entitled Casual Android Driver Installer, or CADI for short. This is the brainchild of XDA Senior Member jrloper, and like the two already mentioned options, it attempts to alleviate the frustration of device-specific drivers. The difference with CADI though is that it is fully integrated into the CASUAL by XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler and takes a somewhat different approach to the problem. It uses elements of an open source USB device driver installer called libwdi by Pete Batard and essentially determines which devices are connected via USB before generating drivers on the fly and automatically taking care of the installation process. That’s a pretty good example of three open source projects coming together in a glorious trinity of non-proprietary loveliness if ever I saw one.
So if you are still plagued by the problem of individual drivers for each of your devices, it’s definitely in your best interests to look into one, or indeed all of these options. Let us know your preferred method of driver avoidance in the comments below.
March 22, 2013 By: Jimmy McGee
XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler has updated CASUAL for the Verizon Galaxy Note II and the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III. That story and more are covered by Jordan, as he reviews all the important stories from this week. Included in this week’s news is the article about the deodexing and odexing converter.
Jordan talks about the other videos released this week on XDA Developer TV. XDA Developer TV Producer Steve gives his explanation for switching Back to Android, XDA Developer TV Producer AdamOutler gives his thoughts of Google I/O, and XDA Developer TV Producer TK released an Android app review of aeGis. Pull up a chair and check out this video.
March 21, 2013 By: Conan Troutman
XDA Elite Recognised Developer AdamOutler is at it again. Following up on his Verizon Note II root method, he continues to roll out safe and easy-to-deploy root exploits via CASUAL, the Cross-platform ADB Scripting, Universal Android Loader.This time, the device in question is the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S III.
One of the major benefits of CASUAL is that it is cross platform. Adam has been spending a great deal of time in bringing support for many different platforms to a consistent level. If you have him circled on Google+, you may have already noticed him tackling the OS X upgrade process in an effort to test these exploits for Mac users. That’s where you come in. Adam is especially keen to hear from users of both OS X and various different Linux distros about how CASUAL functions for them. It even works on the Raspberry Pi, so if you want to test it out on one of those and report back, I’m sure it would be much appreciated.
This latest mod will root an AT&T Galaxy SIII incredibly easily, as CASUAL handles the download and installation of drivers and runtimes. The end result is a fully rooted device courtesy of Elite Recognised Developer Chainfire’s CF-Auto Root. This will work even for those who are already rooted, so if you’d simply like to help test for compatibility you can do so without unrooting beforehand.
So if you have an AT&T SIII, rooted or not, what are you waiting for? Head on over to the development thread and lend a hand in making this the ultimate cross platform utility.
March 20, 2013 By: Conan Troutman
Verizon Galaxy Note II owners may remember our previous article on the work of XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler and Recognized Developer Ralekdev, which used CASUAL to automatically unlock, root, and install a custom recovery on the device. While the previous iteration was pretty much completely automated when run on Linux, running the tool on Windows meant that some users were required to finish off the process manually using ODIN. This has been addressed, and the process is now completely automated for Windows users and also greatly improved for Mac users.
If you aren’t familiar with CASUAL, it stands for Cross-platform ADB Scripting, Universal Android Loader. The CASUAL scripting language is wrapped in JAR files, allowing various hacks and exploits to be deployed quickly and safely on various platforms. If a serious issue arises, the script will do the decent thing and direct you to a support page instead of fobbing you off with an error message. And if the scripts themselves are outdated, they will be brought up to date automatically.
If you have a bone stock Verizon Note II and wish to begin modding it, this is without doubt the quickest and safest way to go about it. Simply enable USB debugging, connect your device, and run the CASUAL application. Providing you already have Java installed, everything will pretty much take care of itself. Just in case you don’t believe how easy this is, here’s some proof in video form courtesy of DroidModd3rX.
Check out the development thread for more info on unlocking this device.
January 26, 2013 By: Joseph Hindy
There is nothing better than a good story line. When it comes to good story lines on XDA, few are better than the Verizon locked bootloader debacle. It’s always big news when one is unlocked, and it’s always tragic when one is re-locked. This happened recently with the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II. First, it was unlocked by XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler. A few months later, Verizon pulled a slick one and locked it back up. Now, there is a new way to unlock the Verizon bootloader.
XDA Recognized Developer Ralekdev discovered the exploit while Adam helped deploy it. Much the same as the first time around. It’s an entirely new exploit designed to take care of Verizon’s latest ninja OTA. If you’re unfamiliar with the specifics, Verizon released an OTA that updated the bootloader. Of course, the sole purpose of the updated bootloader was to patch the exploit being used to get around the first one.
This new exploit is delivered using Adam’s tool CASUAL, so it’s very easy to use. Users download the tool and use it to unlock the bootloader. As Adam explains, CASUAL will boot your Note 2 into bootloader mode. In Linux, the tool uses Heimdall to auto-flash an exploit, whereas Windows users have to manually use Odin. It then reboots and performs a few more exploits. After that, the devices enters download mode. From here, a custom bootloader and recovery are flashed. Once again, this is automatic on Linux via Heimdall, whereas Windows users have to do it manually. When everything is said and done, the device then boots into recovery to allow users to immediately flash and make backups. After this extremely easy to follow process is complete, the Note 2 is unlocked once again. There isn’t any Mac support just yet, so you’ll need Linux or Windows.
CASUAL, the tool itself, also received some updates. For those who may not know, CASUAL is a multi-device, multi-platform tool in which Adam likes to place his work. Given that it’s open source, it’s also customizable and modifiable by anyone. Some of the other things CASUAL is capable of doing are rooting the Droid RAZR, enabling hidden menus on the Galaxy Note II, and the Note 2 bootloader exploit. The newest feature is a built-in kill switch. This has a lot of uses, but how it works is pretty simple. If you’re running CASUAL revision 200 with a script revision 1, and revision 2 gets released, CASUAL will automatically obtain revision 2 before the script is run again. Essentially, it checks to make sure you’re on the most updated revision of any given script before execution. If you aren’t, auto updates to the latest script. If CASUAL itself updates, users are sent to a support page. This new update system ensures that everyone using CASUAL has the most updated scripts available.
It’s a whole lot of awesome packed into one mod. To learn more about the Galaxy Note 2 unlock method, check out the new bootloader unlock thread. You can find more info on CASUAL in its repository here. If you’d like to see how it happens in a video, check out the YouTube video below:
May 7, 2012 By: Will Verduzco
You may remember previous work we’ve discussed on the XDA Portal regarding XDA Elite Recognized Developer AdamOutler‘s root method CASUAL. For those who don’t, we previously covered how the aptly named Cross-platform ADB Scripting Universal Android Loader helped users root their Motorola Droid RAZR without much hassle or user intervention.
As before, the Java-based CASUAL is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It performs all the difficult steps for you, allowing you to simply specify what you want done—ranging from installing busybox to rooting and loading up a compatible recovery. And following in the footsteps of the previous supported device, you can use any of Adam’s other script with the app as well. According to Adam:
Introduction
I put together a one-click root in CASUAL format. Because it’s in CASUAL format, the same Java JAR will work on Windows, Linux and Mac.This package contains
- root your device without unlocking/wiping.
- install busybox without unlocking/wiping.
- install Clockwork Mod Recovery for GSM or CDMA without unlocking/wiping.
Download and Instructions
CASUAL is easy to use, and fairly self explanitory.
- Launch the downloaded application using Java with right-click-open, or from a command line: “java -jar GalaxyNexus.jar”
- Select “Galaxy Nexus root”
- Click the “Do It’ button
- Optionally: Repeat the previous step with “Install Busybox” option selected to install Busybox.
- Optionally: Select Install Galaxy Nexus CDMA or GSM ClockWork Mod Recovery
If you want to root your Galaxy Nexus the CASUAL way, head over to the development thread.
April 10, 2012 By: Joseph Hindy
There’s only so much awesome one can cram into a title, which is why there’s typically several hundred works to describe it underneath. For those who own the Motorola Droid RAZR, you have experienced quite a bit of awesome things in the recent past including some developments that have flung the doors wide open on development. This is no different. XDA Elite Recognized Developer and XDA TV Producer AdamOutler has released a one-click-root method called CASUAL—or Cross-platform ADB Scripting Universal Android Loader—for the Droid RAZR, and it’s a truly unique piece of work. While it’s only in beta testing right now, AdamOutler will be supporting this nifty application until bugs are gone and beyond.
Being JAVA-based, CASUAL is compatible for the big three—that would be Windows, Mac, and Linux. The application itself uses a nice, easy to understand interface, and the popular MotoFail root exploit. Since it is beta, Adam asks anyone who experiences problems to post logs in the thread to aid in debugging. And, of course, any suggestions are welcome in thread as well. Along with rooting the device with a single click, the application also gives voice feedback. Beat that, other root methods. As if that weren’t enough, AdamOutler has designed the application so that the .jar can be opened up and the build.properties can be changed to form an entirely different application with different functions. Does it stop there? Of course not. Here are a few scripts AdamOutler threw together that change CASUAL’s functionality to pretty much whatever you want it to be.
Users of the Moto RAZR have been waiting awhile for a slam dunk piece of development to show up, and if this application dunked any harder, Kobe Bryant’s head would explode. Additional information, all the usual disclaimers, download links, instructions, and much more can be found in the development thread.
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