Bad News of the Day: Motorola is Installing a 'Root Checker' on VZW ICS Devices

[gjkrisa]

Lame!

i just have to log in for one and reply that verizon is dumb they grew to be a money hungry company when they could have better happyer and more customers if they just were tech friendly sure they get some of the best phones but my little local phone company gci is giving me better rates and dosnt mind i use hotspot for free worth buying a non contracted awsome htc one x and going with them im pritty happy even if the one place i dont get signal is at my house but they make things for that too.

 

[cruiser86]

root checker

this already show as 1/1 on my bionic running ics.

 

[TatDroid]

Warranties cannot be denied unless it can be shown that direct action by the customer was the cause of irreparable failure, and unless whatever occurred was the result of rooting or flashing then anyone's warranty should still be good.

Really? For many, many years scores of electronics manufacturers have put a seal on their hardware and said "if you open it, you void the warranty". Has anyone won a lawsuit claiming that's not legal?

And isn't that the same as saying "if you hack our device and load unauthorized software on it, you void our warranty"?

 

[gjkrisa]

hardware vs software hacking

That's different I think software is easily fixed hardware is not you can pay a kid $10hr to reload software but it usually will cost $14 to $18hr to fix someone doing a bad solder or something stupid to hardware. Or seeing that they were curious probing something and fried it that cost money for parts and labor that's understandable big loss software not so much

 

[LaurelRaven]

That's different I think software is easily fixed hardware is not you can pay a kid $10hr to reload software but it usually will cost $14 to $18hr to fix someone doing a bad solder or something stupid to hardware. Or seeing that they were curious probing something and fried it that cost money for parts and labor that's understandable big loss software not so much

Not to say I agree with them on this, but loading unauthorized software that has access to all hardware/firmware components can cause hardware failure if done poorly. Say you root and install a CPU tuner that let you over clock to whatever value you want, overriding safety checks. Then turn it up as far as possible, and the chip melts.

It's hard to tell the difference between a legitimate hardware failure and someone doing something stupid. A car maker won't honor their warranty if you add something that causes it to operate well outside their parameters, and their testing.

Again, I don't agree with this, but there are valid reasons on their end as well.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[MissionImprobable]

Still, it depends on what is actually done. Dealerships have tried to void warranties when people have added performance parts to their vehicles but when taken to court have been proven to be in the wrong unless they could show that the modification was the likely cause of the issue. For example, they were voiding warranties when customers were adding exhausts, aftermarket intakes, etc, and by happenstance transmissions and other unrelated engine and drivetrain failures were popping up. Certainly there are mods to our phones that can cause hardbricks, but even if you TiBu and wipe every system file and app you're generally just left with a phone that needs an SBF or equivalent system restoration. Perhaps in those cases there should be a charge to the customer for the necessary service rendered but it's not something that should invalidate warranties.

 

[LaurelRaven]

Still, it depends on what is actually done. Dealerships have tried to void warranties when people have added performance parts to their vehicles but when taken to court have been proven to be in the wrong unless they could show that the modification was the likely cause of the issue. For example, they were voiding warranties when customers were adding exhausts, aftermarket intakes, etc, and by happenstance transmissions and other unrelated engine and drivetrain failures were popping up. Certainly there are mods to our phones that can cause hardbricks, but even if you TiBu and wipe every system file and app you're generally just left with a phone that needs an SBF or equivalent system restoration. Perhaps in those cases there should be a charge to the customer for the necessary service rendered but it's not something that should invalidate warranties.

And I generally agree...I'm just saying I see their argument.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[Goddessmiamia]

I concur

Take the ads and bloatware off, or allow me to uninstall the bloatware and block ads.
My phone, I don't want ads or bloatware on it, my choice, not VZW's.
The only reason I root is to get rid of the junk VZW places on my phone, allow me to remove without rooting and I will be happy.
VZW imposes the bloatware and then tries to make it impossible to remove, NOT COOL!
I smell a Class Action Lawsuit coming.

I complete agree with you 1linuxfreak - if Verizon didn't put crapware on my phone, I wouldn't have felt the need to root it in the first place. There is no reason why I need CITYID and three quarters of the crapware that runs in the background on my phone.

If they let us take it off and then every upgrade put it back on our phones, then at least we would have the option of shutting down these stupid programs and save space for apps that really matter and ones that we use every day.

 

[LaurelRaven]

I complete agree with you 1linuxfreak - if Verizon didn't put crapware on my phone, I wouldn't have felt the need to root it in the first place. There is no reason why I need CITYID and three quarters of the crapware that runs in the background on my phone.

If they let us take it off and then every upgrade put it back on our phones, then at least we would have the option of shutting down these stupid programs and save space for apps that really matter and ones that we use every day.

Starting with ICS, most of that can be disabled without rooting.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[713King]

They can be disabled but are still on the phone..

 

[LaurelRaven]

They can be disabled but are still on the phone..

Okay? Once disabled, they don't affect you. It really isn't a big deal at that point.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[lillac]

I have motorola droid razer maxx i got it in Jan let me ask noob question i have see this on things before what is ice cream on a phone and how do i find out if i have it. Thanks

 

[r1nstang]

got my galaxy nexus and sold my moto bionic. couldnt be happier. can overclock up to 1.8ghz when ever i want now.....good riddence to my motorolas.

 

[TauntingBull]

Has anybody tried to do an ICS FXZ back to stock and verify if this counter still reads 1/1?

I would do it but I'm travelling and don't want to take a chance with a non working phone...

 

[sargentmajord]

Has anybody tried to do an ICS FXZ back to stock and verify if this counter still reads 1/1?

I would do it but I'm travelling and don't want to take a chance with a non working phone...

Only on an ICS leak that can be flashed back to GB