The best, easiest and safest way to root and S-OFF the HTC Sensation [Tutorial]

To prove that TechCredo isn’t dead and that it just has been hibernating for a few months, here’s a guide to root the HTC Sensation. It also describes how to S-OFF the Sensation and install ClockworkMod Recovery. There are tons of different tutorials on the interwebs for rooting HTC’s flagship Android and it can be difficult to know which method to use. Look no further, because here’s the best and safest guide to rooting the HTC Sensation.

The guide is based on instructions from an excellent thread on the xda-developers, but I’ve tried to make the directions more user-friendly and pedagogical. You should be able to easily root your HTC Sensation by following the steps in this tutorial, even if you lack previous experience. The method is safe, too. I just tried all this on my own HTC Sensation with superb results.

Please note that some people start the rooting process by applying S-OFF to the HTC Sensation. However, I did this step last and it worked like a charm. It’s your choice. Here we go.

Update: While this rooting method worked like a charm on the initial firmware on the HTC Sensation, it apparently isn’t compatible with Sensations running Android 2.3.4.

Install ClockworkMod Recovery

To be able to root your HTC Sensation, you first need to install ClockworkMod Recovery. As explained in TechCredo’s ROM & rooting dictionary, Recovery Mode is a boot menu that is shown without Android being loaded. It gives you access to certain features such as doing complete backups of your phone (Nandroid backups) and installing custom ROMs. ClockworkMod is the most popular Recovery Mode.

• Download Recovery v5.0.0.8 for the HTC Sensation.
• Copy the file PG58IMG.zip to the root of your Sensation’s memory card (in other words, it shouldn’t be copied to a folder).
• If you have HTCs Fast boot option enabled, you need to disable it from Settings > Power > Fast boot. You can also take out the battery and put it back in again if you prefer that.
• Turn off your HTC Sensation completely and then start HBOOT by pressing and holding both the hardware Volume down button and the Power button at the same time.
• From the HBOOT menu, press Volume up to select the option that will install the update.
• When the update has been applied, press the Power button to reboot your sensation and get back into Android. ClockworkMod Recovery has been installed.
• Delete the file PG58IMG.zip on your SD card.

How to root the HTC Sensation

Now it’s time to actually give the HTC Sensation permanent root access.

Download the required file

• Download su-2.3.6.3-ef-signed.zip and copy it to the root of your HTC Sensation’s SD card.

Start ClockworkMod Recovery

• If you have HTCs Fast boot option enabled, you need to disable it from Settings > Power > Fast boot. You can also take out the battery and put it back in again if you prefer that.
• Turn off the HTC Sensation. Start Clockwork Recovery by simultaneously pressing and holding the Volume down button and the Power button. From the resulting HBOOT menu, press Volume down to select the Recovery option and press the Power button to activate it.

Make a backup of the stock firmware

• Now you’re in ClockworkMod Recovery. To be able to restore the stock firmware later, you should make a backup of your current system. Use the hardware Volume buttons to jump down to the backup and restore option and push the Power button to select it.
• Select the Backup option from the next menu to make a backup of the stock firmware. You will be able to restore it later from the same menu.

Root the Sensation

• Select the Go Back option from the bottom of the menu, then select “install zip from sdcard”.
• Select “choose zip from sdcard” and navigate to the file su-2.3.6.3-ef-signed.zip and press the Power button. Confirm your choice to apply the update.
• After the update has finished, choose to go back a step in the menu and select the “reboot system now” option.
• Now you have Superuser access and your Sensation has been rooted, congratulations!

How to S-OFF the Sensation

On the HTC Sensation and several other HTC Android phones, the company has implemented a form of “security.” It’s called @secuflag, and it controls whether your phone has its NAND or flash unlocked. S-ON (security on) will read-lock your /system and /recovery partitions, blocking you from performing certain root level actions directly from Android.

You can disable this security measure with S-OFF (security off). Why would you want this? Well, it seems like most custom ROMs for the HTC Sensation require S-OFF. So if you want to be able to flash them, you need S-OFF as well as root.

1) Visit revolutionary.io on your PC and download the Revolutionary: S-OFF & Recovery Tool for your operating system. Extract the ZIP-file to the folder of your choice.

2) Now you need to fill out the form on the revolutionary.io website to get a beta key. If you’re unsure of your HBOOT version, start HBOOT by turning off your HTC Sensation and start it by holding down both the Power button and the Volume down button. My HBOOT version was 1.17.0008.

3) Please note you shouldn’t enter your Sensation’s serial number in the serial number field on the website. It’s a number that the S-OFF tool will supply you with later on.

4) Make sure your HTC Sensation is turned on and Android is running. The USB debugging option should be enabled from Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging. Connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable. Select the Charge only option and not the disk drive mode.

5) Launch revolutionary.exe on your computer. It should detect your device and the tool should state a serial number. Enter that number in the form on the website and press the Generate key button to get a beta key. Enter your beta key in the revolutionary.exe tool on your computer and press Enter.

6) Let the Revolutionary tool take care of business by itself. I didn’t have to do anything, but follow the prompts on the screen if the tool should ask you about anything.

That’s it! Good luck, and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.