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Most SOCs have a mode you can put them into with just the hardware switches that runs firmware in the mask ROM which waits for a bootloader over USB. It's pretty hard to actually brick modern devices.



Yeah, but most non-brand manufacturers don't release the tools, driver packages or the full firmware images at all - meaning you have to rely on questionable third party sites, hackers and leakers to obtain them to recover your device. I don't even want to know how many people ended up with malware from shoddy SEO-spam domains advertising Samsung's ODIN tool.

If Google had forced everyone to use the aboot boot loader and to allow rooting, we wouldn't be in this damn mess of people using all kinds of highly questionable stuff.


The carriers wouldn't allow that, though. The carriers only permitted the iPhone because Apple guaranteed it would be locked down.

I am, of course, talking about the USA. I believe EU law forbids cellular carriers from being so thickheaded.




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