Many manufacturers have proprietary tools to flash firmware. Samsung uses tar files via Odin and Heimdall, Motorola uses SBF files via RSD Lite, and so on. So what if one wanted to create an SBF file for a Motorola phone? It’s not an easy process, but it is now possible for Motorola Photon 4G owners.

The process is fairly complicated. XDA Senior Member peetr_ has written up a tutorial guide on creating a custom SBF file for users to flash via RSD Lite. There are a lot of pros to having a custom SBF of your own, especially on locked bootloaders. As peetr_ explains:

But the better from this comes on locked bootloaders.
In case of softbrick, you don´t have to flash full SBF, root and install bootstrap.
You can just make your own SBF with custom rom (mof 2.3.5ish for locked for example), and in case of some system brick, just reflash your custom sbf without even wiping data and recover from brick after a few minutes.

And the best is, I am almost sure, that you can make custom SBF for recovering from Photon 2.3.5 ota brick, with CG2, CG3, CG39, RDL3 with signature version 2, taken from USC Electrify 2.3.5 SBF and Photon 2.3.5 OTA system dump (CG60).

You can probably install custom Webtop on locked 2.3.5 – OSH is not signed.

You cannot install AOSP roms on locked bootloader this way. You can change only not signed SMGs.

Do not try to flash radio this way, it´s not working. Locked or unlocked, always remove RDL1.smg and CG5.smg.

As mentioned, the process isn’t easy. Users are required to download an SBF codec that allows you to compile and decompile SBF files. From there, users need SMG Version, which will identify SMG signatures. Next comes a whole tutorial on the various kinds of SMG signatures, what they do, and what users need to remove or replace to get what they want.

The guide also includes some basic stuff as well, such as dumping whole partitions and a complete partition guide. For anyone with a locked bootloader—and we’re talking Motorola, so there are quite a few of  you—this is definitely something worth checking out. Do so at your own risk, however, as an improperly made SBF file can brick the Photon 4G.

To learn more, head over to the original thread.

One of Sprint’s major selling points with the Motorola Photon 4G is that it is a world phone. In addition to picking up service from Sprint’s CDMA network, it can also connect to GSM networks worldwide, allowing travelers to continue using the phone despite not being in a Sprint area anymore. However, users have found it quite hard to get working on domestic GSM networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile, and it actually hadn’t been done yet. Until now, that is.

XDA Senior Member halfevildruid released a modem that unlocks the Photon and allows it to work freely on AT&T and other GSM networks. The method does have its issues though. Using this radio and switching to a domestic GSM network will break your ability to use CDMA completely. So once set up, users would no longer have access to Sprint at all, and would have to rely on whatever GSM network they wished to switch their Photon to.

The method itself is relatively simple. Be sure you’re on the firmware that’s been tested, flash the radio, pop in your GSM SIM card, and go through a set up process. Not too terribly difficult, but do be sure you’re on the suggested firmware versions because otherwise, things may go drastically wrong.

While the radio currently breaks CDMA, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Users can restore their old settings and get back to Sprint with a couple of flashable zips provided by halfevildruid. Not enough? An upcoming update will no longer break CDMA, allowing you to use Sprint and GSM networks at the same time. So those who don’t want their CDMA broken only have to what a little longer.

For more information, visit the original thread.

Not long ago we brought you a couple of tweaks for the Droid X2 that brought 3G speed improvements.While we live in a world of 4G internet for mobile phones, there are still a whole bunch of users out there who either don’t live in a 4G area or don’t use 4G because they like their phone battery to extend past the traditional workday, so they stay on 3G speeds and reap the battery benefits.

Recently, XDA Forum Member mykeevee got a little bold and tested the tweaks on the Motorola Photon 4G. Surprisingly, they actually worked, despite being on a different Motorola phone on a different carrier. Mykeevee tested the tweaks on CyanogenMod 7.2, so it’s unclear if it’ll work with every ROM. However, most in the thread have reported moderate to significant gains in transfer speed.

Those looking to give it a shot can head on over the mykeevee’s thread to check out other user reports to see if they could get it to work as well or straight to the original Droid X2 thread to try the tweaks for yourself. As always, make a backup before changing anything in case you wish to revert.

Sometimes, flashing to root a device, unlock a bootloader, install a ROM or kernel, or even install a theme can seem like a task one would rather not take. After all, there are many root methods out there that, if done incorrectly, can hurt your device.

Users with the Motorola Photon 4G can now gain full fastboot support and unlock their radios with extreme ease. XDA Forum Member scottgl9 has written up methods for Moto Photon users to do both with two fastboot flashable files. The methods are a little bit of a misnomer because while there isn’t any flashing via recovery or use of ADB, there is a package users must download and install via fastboot. So technically, there is a little flashing, but it’s all done on the computer and not the device.

In the words of the developer:

This will load the unlocked ramloader (unlocked will be displayed at the top even if your phone is locked) which is normally only loaded into ram when flashing an SBF! Amazing, I know. Now you can do all kinds of stuff and you’ve made no modifications, just issue a “fastboot reboot” and nothing has been modified.

For additional information, full instructions, discussion among other users and more, visit the original thread.