Lord Kayoss Official

Hello Droid DNA!

I finally have my Thunderbolt replacement!

Ah, the good ol’ T-Bolt. The out-dated dinosaur aspect didn’t bother me nearly as much as the phone being riddled with problems. Touch screen was on the fritz and most aggravating was the 4G radio having consistent connectivity issues. Didn’t seem to matter how strong my signal was, the phone often times had a mind of it’s own in terms of staying connected to the network. What made it worse was it’s inability to foul over to 3G when the 4G radio decided to tank. Basically, unless I had wifi, I’d be left with no connection until the phone randomly decided to connect to Verizon’s network again. Not fun. I researched the problem and troubleshot it to infinity. No dice. Most feel the Thunderbolt was plagued with problems the moment it launched, and several of those bugs are still rendering multiple users with unresolved issues. I decided to move on.

When the HTC One X went to AT&T and Samsung’s Galaxy S3 didn’t quite sell me, I found myself kinda stuck with the Thunderbolt. I refused to pick a device I didn’t like and sign a new contract, being forced to fall into Big V’s poverty-row tiered data plans. I had just purchased an iPad and needed a reliable device that could tether Verizon’s lightning fast 4G on demand (for free), without fear of exceeding a bandwidth cap. I had heard rumblings that HTC was working on a new, fully loaded flagship device for Verizon. Enter, Droid DNA. Purchased one outright with no contract. Still have unlimited data with Verizon. Score.

Ok, now on to the fun stuff.

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Several people have asked what’s up with me selling so much stuff on the LK eBay Blowout Sale post. Do I owe the I.R.S.?? Am I going bankrupt?? Thankfully, no (knock on wood). It was a fundraiser for my new PC build!

When I decided it was finally time to upgrade from my old dinosaur Pentium 4, I made a commitment to not touch my checking account and raise the money by getting rid of some old junk that’s been sitting in boxes/bins for years and was starting to seriously clutter my basement. Using eBay, about a month and a half later here we are.

Not a bad rig considering it technically didn’t cost me anything. No busted bank account. No spouse backlash. Plus, I had a blast putting it all together. Satisfaction is in the air.

It’ll be nice editing video with this badboy. Making the jump from a Pentium 4, I can’t even imagine how much this will reduce post-production time.

A huge thank you to EVERYONE who participated in the eBay campaign and made it such a success. I hope you’re enjoying your new stuff.

Those of you asking for new vids, you’ll be hearing from me soon!

Have a great day, peeps!

~LK

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After upgrading to the HTC Thunderbolt, the Droid Incredible is officially for sale on ebay. I left the root and s-off intact, wiped the hard drive, installed SkyRaider 4.2, and formatted and loaded the included 4GB SD card with a few things (SkyRaider 4.2 backup file, multi-touch keyboard, and Evo cam). This is being sold as a nice bundle — complete with phone, HTC silicone soft case, Steinheil screen protector, 4GB SD card w/transflash adaptor, battery, extended battery (1800mah), and home charger. The screen is crystal clear without one blemish anywhere on it.

This is a damn fine smartphone loaded with extra goodies that expand the phone’s capabilities way beyond it’s original OTA limitations. Perfect for anyone looking for a multi-tasking device armed with FREE WiFi Tethering right out of the box.

You can get after it here: LK’s HTC Droid Incredible – SOLD!!!

UPDATE – 10:00pm
Item has sold! Thanks Guys!

~LK

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Got the Thunderbolt this week and have been hard at work researching and familiarizing myself with unlocking and rooting. Those of you who follow my Twitter page saw that I successfully rooted a couple nights ago. And, I have to say the process for cracking HTC’s most locked-down phone to date isn’t nearly as difficult as some of the online walkthroughs may have you believe. Contrarily, the process is fairly simple when you follow directions and understand exactly what you’re dealing with. Since there is no (and likely won’t be a) one-click root method by unrevoked due to the complexity of this phone, the process is broken down into multiple steps that involve using ADB Shell.

After thoroughly reading the official guide on xda’s forum, I began with nat3mil’s youtube video, How to Root the HTC Thunderbolt, Setting up ADB – Step 1 to familiarize myself with ADB Shell and make sure I got the correct drivers for the Thunderbolt set up. The walkthrough nat3mil provides is thorough and very easy to follow. I hacked the driver file to read the Thunderbolt, and moved on to his second video, How to Root the HTC Thunderbolt – Version 2.5. In this walkthrough, nat3mil shows you step-by-step how to crack the seal on the Thunderbolt and root. As advised on xda, I decided to keep the official guide pulled up as a fail safe fallback if something explained in the video didn’t make sense or differed at all from what they recommend. I was pleasantly surprised that there was only two instances when I questioned the video.

The first was during the temp root downgrade, right around the 5:23 mark. To save time, nat3mil transitions from the SD card reading the files and jumps straight to the update complete mark where you restart the phone. What he fails to mention is that his transition skips the step of H-Boot restarting before the actual update installs, which left me wondering if I had done something wrong or if I should go ahead and reboot the phone as he advises. Thankfully, H-Boot reads the SD card a second time and THEN proceeds to install the update after which you restart the phone. I point this out because it left me a bit confused for a second. If I had gone ahead and restarted during the short interlude I might’ve bricked my phone. I’m not sure if this happens every time or if it was an incident isolated to just my experience. Either way, be advised it could happen and if so continue to wait it out until H-Boot actually tells you the update is complete and gives the option to restart. DO NOT pull your battery thinking you messed up and this will restart the process for you — BRICK.
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After my recent Hacking My Droid Incredible – Part 2 post I’ve been getting several emails regarding the alleged 4G hack, asking if there really is a hidden 4G setting and is it possible to rig the Incredible to operate on Verizon’s 4G LTE network.

The short answers — yes and no.

Yes, there is a hidden 4G setting on the Incredible. Despite some calling the rumor a hoax, I can confirm that the setting is indeed there. The easiest way to find it is to download gesture search from the Android market and search “4G” by simply drawing it on your screen within the app. If you draw it legibly, the result will find the hidden 4G setting, pictured below.

*These screens are directly from my own Incredible. You can rest assured they are legit.*

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So, I decided it was time to give the DINC another upgrade. I still have nearly a year left on my current agreement with Verizon and the Incredible continues to serve me well. Verizon’s super 4G LTE network is still at least a good year away from being available in Louisville, if not longer (though recent unofficial reports claim it is being rolled out right now, stay tuned). Not much reason to run out and slap down $500+ for a full-price HTC Thunderbolt when there’s absolutely nothing to gain save for a slightly bigger screen. Besides, the ol’ DINC still has plenty of potential when one knows how to unlock it.

Can’t say enough about the good guys over at xda-developers.com. The man known only as ihtfp69 has done it again with his latest masterpiece, SkyRaider 4.0 (w/Sense). With version 4.1 already on the way, ihtfp69 takes Android 2.2 above and beyond it’s OTA limitations and blends in 3.0 (Gingerbread) elements to sweeten a near-perfect rom.

Just before I wiped and installed SkyRaider 4.0, I took the time to upgrade the DINC’s radio to the unofficial EVO version, 2.15.00.11.19. I had read some things about it boosting download speeds and locking in on GPS locations instantly. I flashed it and yep, it’s pretty badass though I hear it varies by area. Next, I wiped and installed SR4. Then, I sweetened in a nifty blue theme, created by MicroMod777.

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Mortal Kombat returns with a vengeance! The all-new, return to 2D-style tournament fighter spills gallons of blood and brings the fierce brutality long-time fans of the franchise have been thirsting for. Dive in head-first and unlock all the hidden secrets as well as the exclusive PS3 content. All you need to know is right here!

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For my fellow gamers, here is a complete rundown of the current known cheats and tips for WWE All Stars for the PS3. I personally feel this is the greatest, most pure fun wrestling game in the last 25 years (if not ever).  Here’s the skinny on how to get the most out of it.

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For all you Droid users out there, this is a follow up to the subject I addressed on LK Shoot 64.

If you’ve been waiting patiently (or seething) for the long-awaited, and yet still unfulfilled long-promised Froyo update to be pushed out by Verizon, you don’t have to keep sitting here with your fingers crossed, hoping that the almighty powers-that-be will grace you with the courtesy of actually following through on what the hell they promised they’d do sometime soon, or otherwise forevermore.

I grew tired (and tired) of waiting all the while being forced to carry a smartphone that only utilizes half of what it’s capable of. I did some vast research and took it upon myself to unlock the true power of my Droid Incredible by upgrading to Froyo on my own. The mythic update leaked and has been hacked and tweaked to near perfection by the good, hard-working folks at xda-developers.com.

I hacked my way to Froyo goodness by taking the following steps:

I love this OS. It feels good to have a completely working smartphone that I have full control of, devoid of carrier-limitations via stupid marketing positioning and propaganda. Among the many tasty goodies unlocking your phone brings, one of my personal favorites is the wireless tethering. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase 3G mobile hot-spot, which essentially allows you to turn your smartphone into a wireless router that you can connect your laptop/mac/pc/etc to and have internet access anywhere on the 3G network. It’ll come with the official release of Froyo, and is a fee-based wireless tether app courtesy of Verizon (the same guys who don’t want you canceling your $70+/mth wireless internet plan). Screw that. Rooting my Incredible allowed me to install a 3rd-party tethering app that completely bypasses Verizon’s fee-based hot-spot feature and make full use of the $30 unlimited data plan I’m already paying for. To hell with another fee on top of that. No thank you.

All in all, rooting and upgrading to Froyo is well-worth the risks in my view. For those who’ve been tempted to try it, yes there are heavy risks involved. You must follow the directions implicitly or could end up with a brick (a phone that is worthless forevermore). This operation should be a snap for those who live, breathe, eat, sleep, and shit technology. For those who don’t live it by waking moment, but rather like to dabble in it occasionally like me, it will come as a mild challenge. But, one that is accomplished through patience and attention-to-detail. Study the instructions and follow them accordingly. Novice users may want to refrain. Wait for Froyo to be eventually pushed out by your carrier, or have your techy buddy handle this procedure for you. However you go about it, I highly recommend rooting regardless of how you pursue Froyo. Set your Droid free!

Hacking My Droid Incredible – Part 2
6.10.2011