Develop Bugs

[WARNING] Do not flash a new official RUU/ROM/OTA if you have root and/or S-OFF

DO NOT FLASH A NEW RUU OR OFFICIAL ROM IMAGE UNLESS YOU *REALLY* KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING !
Sorry for shouting, but this is very important. Thanks to the mods for making this sticky.
The latest official RUU that has been released - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=870369 - has been found to break the existing methods of rooting and getting full S-OFF.
This shouldn't be a big suprise, because when HTC saw that the amazing devs on XDA had cracked the existing security, we should expect them to put something even tougher in later releases.
So flashing any later release, whether that's an official RUU or just the ROM image (PC10IMG.zip) is a very dangerous thing to do until it has been fully tested and "cleared" by the devs here. i.e. your previously rooted and S-OFF'd phone might lose root and go back to S-ON, and be unable to be rooted and S-OFF'd again.
It's of course fine if your phone came with a particular ROM release to flash that *exact same* release back onto the phone if you want to return to stock. What I'm referring to is flashing a brand new release that isn't the one that came with your phone.
It's fine to flash custom ROMs of course, because those have already been tested out. In general, it's probably best to steer very clear of new official releases, and wait till the devs have pulled them apart and put any cool new stuff into a custom ROM. Then you know it'll be safe to flash.
Currently I don't think it's entirely clear what just flashing a new *radio* on its own will do, as opposed to the entire ROM/RUU. That's still being worked on. But steer clear of even that if you're not sure what you're doing or dont' want to take any chances of losing root/S-OFF.
Thanks for reading

Thanks for the heads up.

I flashed the ROM you mentioned.
For those who want to try:
Just remember to get REAL S-OFF using gfree before flashing it.
This provide you a medicine for regret. You can get back to WWE ROM using WWE RUU and root/recover your old ROM.

What is RUU? What is it to do with ROMs? Did HTC provide a change log for newer Radio? Or does anyone know what changes are , in the latest Radio?
Just to be clear. Don’t flame me for this please. I’m still learning just like many others in here.

androidtoy09 said:
What is RUU? What is it to do with ROMs? Did HTC provide a change log for newer Radio? Or does anyone know what changes are , in the latest Radio?
Just to be clear. Don’t flame me for this please. I’m still learning just like many others in here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We don't have a changelog, no.
RUU is ROM Update Utility. It's a program to run on Windows (.exe) which flashes your new ROM for you, and holds your hand through the process. It's possible to extract just the ROM zip file from the exe so you can flash it yourself if you want.
The thing about the RUU and stock ROMs is that they will flash pretty much *everything* on your phone. So as well as a new system partition (the main stuff for Android), you'll probably get a new hboot, new radio, new recovery. Those *might* all have increased security which is a lot more difficult to crack. So generally you should not flash it until we know it's "safe" to do so, i.e. it can be re-rooted and S-OFF'd etc.

steviewevie said:
We don't have a changelog, no.
RUU is ROM Update Utility. It's a program to run on Windows (.exe) which flashes your new ROM for you, and holds your hand through the process. It's possible to extract just the ROM zip file from the exe so you can flash it yourself if you want.
The thing about the RUU and stock ROMs is that they will flash pretty much *everything* on your phone. So as well as a new system partition (the main stuff for Android), you'll probably get a new hboot, new radio, new recovery. Those *might* all have increased security which is a lot more difficult to crack. So generally you should not flash it until we know it's "safe" to do so, i.e. it can be re-rooted and S-OFF'd etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks for clearing it up. So, RUU is pretty much similar to the method RIM uses to flash its OS on the Blackberries.

Im a little confused here.. So just to clear some things up i hope someone will answer these questions i have.
I have the software on my Desire Z that it came with (1.34.405.5), which i've rooted, S-off'ed and installed another kernel for OC porpuses. This is working fine, but lets say that i wanted to try another rom .. After some time i decide to go back to the stock software and then update to the newest software, would that be a problem? And has HTC released some newer software than the one iam using?

If you flashed back to stock, that would be fine. But if you flashed a new official update (e.g OTA), then you run the risk of installing something that you can't root/S-OFF.
It is best to steer clear of any official upgrades until they've been checked by the devs here and been given the all-clear.
Given that the phone came with certain areas write-protected, and the devs managed to crack that, we should be expecting HTC to release an even more secure update.
Yes, there is a new ROM out, at the moment for Egypt, that seems to have increased security. It would not be a suprise if HTC rolled out similar security as an OTA update for all existing ROMs. Right now there is something in that Egypt ROM (probably the hboot, at the minimum) which mean existing permanent root and S-OFF methods fail. It may be this is easily cracked again, or maybe it will take some time, who knows.
Bottom line - don't apply any official updates to your phone if it is rooted/S-OFF or you plan to root/S-OFF.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z

perm-rooted g2 stock tmobile rom s-off
ok, my question is....i perm-rooted my g2 and have s-off, does this mean that i cant except the new gingerbread OTA update? ive had my fill of flashing roms with my old windows phone.. att tilt, tmobile touch pro 2, and tmobile hd2. im not looking to flash my g2 with a new rom...no offense to the chefs. love there work. but i only rooted the g2 to get rid of the bs apps that tmobile and google added to the phone. and i thought i heard that wen u root the phone tmobile cant tell wen u tether, so there for no more throttle b/s but thats not true...i must have miss read. but i would like to stay w/the stock rom and still b able to install the Gingerbread OTA. please someone provide an answer for me or point me in the right direction. thank you in advance.... sorry if the answer is already provided somewhere and i over looked it, i tend to do that a lot.

blitz69 said:
ok, my question is....i perm-rooted my g2 and have s-off, does this mean that i cant except the new gingerbread OTA update? ive had my fill of flashing roms with my old windows phone.. att tilt, tmobile touch pro 2, and tmobile hd2. im not looking to flash my g2 with a new rom...no offense to the chefs. love there work. but i only rooted the g2 to get rid of the bs apps that tmobile and google added to the phone. and i thought i heard that wen u root the phone tmobile cant tell wen u tether, so there for no more throttle b/s but thats not true...i must have miss read. but i would like to stay w/the stock rom and still b able to install the Gingerbread OTA. please someone provide an answer for me or point me in the right direction. thank you in advance.... sorry if the answer is already provided somewhere and i over looked it, i tend to do that a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The trouble is, HTC/T-Mobile don't want you to root and/or S-OFF your phone, because it's a lot easier to end up bricking the phone if you don't know what you're doing. They put greatly increased security on the G2/DZ/DHD when they came out, in order to help prevent this.
Now this security has been cracked, we can expect HTC/T-Mobile to try and increase security even further (e.g. closing loopholes that let our current methods of root/S-OFF work) in future updates.
So if you accept any future OTA, you run a high risk of accepting something that will lock you out of root and S-OFF, at least temporarily, and possibly permanently (depending on how good a solution they come up with).
If you are not bothered about root/S-OFF, then that's fine of course.
This doesn't mean that you necessarily have to switch to a custom ROM to get updates though. If you stay with the stock ROM (and I'm still on a stock ROM too right now), then just do not accept the update when an OTA comes out, and keep checking these forums to see when the devs say that they can root/S-OFF with the new version. When they say it's ok then you know you can apply the update and still get root/S-OFF.
This already happened with the G2. Very soon after release, but after rooting had been achieved, there was an OTA. Most people here decided to wait until the OTA had been looked at, and sure enough there was a small adjustment needed to the rooting method. But of course this OTA was before HTC had a chance to respond to the cracking of the security, so as I said, any future updates may well require a lot more time and effort from the devs to investigate and crack again.

Ok. Thank you very much

Will this muff up my phone if I factory reset it by using the Power+Volume Down option?

Ok,there is a new gfree method to get root and S-Off.
And gfree can now also be used to set radio S-ON.
But what about the backup "part7backup-1291675121.bin"
which gfree created at my sdcard?
No longer needed?
And with the new root and S-Off method,is it now possible to
to flash stock RUU 1.34.405.5 to get all original?
Because with old UBERROOT method this doesn`t work!

Ganii said:
Ok,there is a new gfree method to get root and S-Off.
And gfree can now also be used to set radio S-ON.
But what about the backup "part7backup-1291675121.bin"
which gfree created at my sdcard?
No longer needed?
And with the new root and S-Off method,is it now possible to
to flash stock RUU 1.34.405.5 to get all original?
Because with old UBERROOT method this doesn`t work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean with gfree?
Is my waranty broken When i execute radio s-off?
Is it possible to make it radio s-on?

Yes,warranty is broken,but with the new gfree method
you can go back to S-ON:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2

ericjosepi said:
Will this muff up my phone if I factory reset it by using the Power+Volume Down option?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do a factory reset then I think you'll lose root, but you can get it back again easily enough. The issue for this thread is flashing new updated stuff from HTC etc.

Ganii said:
Ok,there is a new gfree method to get root and S-Off.
And gfree can now also be used to set radio S-ON.
But what about the backup "part7backup-1291675121.bin"
which gfree created at my sdcard?
No longer needed?
And with the new root and S-Off method,is it now possible to
to flash stock RUU 1.34.405.5 to get all original?
Because with old UBERROOT method this doesn`t work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might still need that backup, e.g. if you don't know what your old CID was and you want to un-do that bit too. I would keep it.
Sorry I don't think I understand your last question though, or why you say the uberroot method (I'm personally not keen on that name, it's just the usual method using Visionary/rage with gfree, not a new method) doesn't work.

Ok,so I can go back to S-ON with gfree commands from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
If you are only interested in permanent root you only need radio S-OFF and then it is sufficient to use
# ./gfree -s off
instead of
# ./gfree -f
in the following commands.
And gfree can now also be used to set radio S-ON by using the "-s on" option and to change the CID back to the original value be using i.e. "-c T-MOB010" if you want or have to go back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But for CID (you mean SuperCid right?) I need the backup?
And with the last question which you don`t understand,I mean
with flashing the HTC RUU 1.34.405.5 I don`t go back to S-ON
and original CID whether I use UBERROT method or this from here:
(Rooting the Vision (G2/DZ) and DHD)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2

Thanks for the advice, I will stick myself with the current rom for a while

Ganii said:
Ok,so I can go back to S-ON with gfree commands from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
But for CID (you mean SuperCid right?) I need the backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I mean to go from your SuperCID back to your regular CID. You might not know what your original CID was.
And with the last question which you don`t understand,I mean
with flashing the HTC RUU 1.34.405.5 I don`t go back to S-ON
and original CID whether I use UBERROT method or this from here:
(Rooting the Vision (G2/DZ) and DHD)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if you flash a stock ROM then it won't affect your S-OFF and CID status (or SIM unlock). These are stored in your radio configuration partition, and not in any of the partitions which are overwritten by the ROM flash.

[Q] S-OFF on hboot 2.16

I have a few questions about s-off and being in the latest OTA.
Here is the short and skinny...
When my wife got the evo when it first was released last year i tried to root it since i wanted to install a program that needed root. i had no real idea on what i was doing and think i might have gotten root, although I am not sure. I never flashed any rom nor did I ever flash that apk and just gave up since I didnt want to break her new phone. (basically got a bit scared)
As for the main screen if you reboot and hold down volume and power, it will display "s-OFF".
She did the two Gingerbread updates OTA and is now on GB 2.3.3. stock.
I noticed that the hboot is set at 2.16...and it still displays "s-off".
I just read that there are different types of "s-off".
Now, the questions are:
1. Is her phone actually rooted?
2. Can I turn on the "s-off" to "S-ON" so that we can bring the phone in for repair?
3. Is there anything that anyone here can gain from her phone being in the state that it is in for people who cant get root under the latest hboot version?
4. I just read that s-off has multiple meaning. How can i tell which one I have on her phone? ie. radio, nand??
Thanks in advance.

pretty sure sprint wont notice the s off so dont bother going s on to ttake it in, even if they do, they dont really care anymore, so long as its got the stock os at least, but they really dont care bout it being rooted anymore
but yeah, your phone basicaly kept the root

I agree with LCL22.
Unrevoked does have an S-ON tool, but I've never used it and I'm not even sure it works anymore. Just leave it S-OFF and flash one of the stock unrooted ROMs from recovery. But I've heard people take their phones back with CM6/CM7 on there, MIUI, etc. It probably depends on the store/rep to be honest.
"Rooted" means having access to the SU binary (superuser). It's a linux thing. It's like having Administrator access to a windows computer. This allows complete control over the currently installed phone software.
S-OFF means that the phones protections have been disabled and you are free to flash unsigned ROMs via the bootloader (HBOOT).
S-OFF is nice, because you can flash any ROM you want via the bootloader; there is no need for a custom recovery to be installed. Of course you can also use the bootloader to flash a custom recovery such as ClockworkMod or Amon_RA.

github said:
I agree with LCL22.
Just leave it S-OFF and flash one of the stock unrooted ROMs from recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will flashing the latest unroot ROM from sprint (which is already on there from the OTA update) will turn the s-off to s-on??
Also, if it says s-off, does that mean that it is fully rooted?
The reason why she is considering bringing it into sprint for repair/replace is that is having problems sending texts multiple times to the person she is texting...basically, she sends one text and the receiver gets the same text 20 times.
Either there is something wrong with the phone, the network, or the fact that it is s-off and she is running a non-rooted rom. This issue has been happening since January and on the stock Froyo.
Lastly, I just noticed that she had advanced task killer and I uninstalled it just to make sure it wasnt anything that she has running which is causing the issues.
Thanks in advance.

amart79196 said:
Will flashing the latest unroot ROM from sprint (which is already on there from the OTA update) will turn the s-off to s-on??
Also, if it says s-off, does that mean that it is fully rooted?
The reason why she is considering bringing it into sprint for repair/replace is that is having problems sending texts multiple times to the person she is texting...basically, she sends one text and the receiver gets the same text 20 times.
Either there is something wrong with the phone, the network, or the fact that it is s-off and she is running a non-rooted rom. This issue has been happening since January and on the stock Froyo.
Lastly, I just noticed that she had advanced task killer and I uninstalled it just to make sure it wasnt anything that she has running which is causing the issues.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
S-off only means you are nand unlocked so you can flash a custom recovery and flash a ROM. To be rooted, you have to flash a rooted rom which 99.999% of all the ROMS are rooted on XDA.

S-off just means that you can flash an alternate recovery and custom roms. It doesn't mean that it is rooted.
check in your app list and see if the Superuser app is there. If it isn't, it probably isn't rooted.

S off is perfect! Don't go s on if you can help it.
At my local repair store I chatted with the tech (after running s on tool) if they even check. The guy said not usually. They mainly check if it is stock sense like the Rosie and stuff. And even then they don't usually. They only check if someone brings in their phone with technical or software issues. With hardware they don't bother.
But that is my store.
S off and root are separate things but they kind of depend on each other. To root permanently you need s off, at least for devices with nand.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

But since the Hboot is listed as 2.16, Should I just flash a rooted stock rom to see if this clears up the texting problems she was experiencing?
Most importantly, will flashing a odexed rooted rom work or brick it because it has the 2.16?

amart79196 said:
But since the Hboot is listed as 2.16, Should I just flash a rooted stock rom to see if this clears up the texting problems she was experiencing?
Most importantly, will flashing a odexed rooted rom work or brick it because it has the 2.16?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint is currently having issues on their end in regards to texting. I've attached an article that you can read over.
http://m.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/07/sprint-sms-text-problem/

ENG S-OFF
EDIT: Nevermind, I just took the risk and it paid off.
I was actually about to start a thread asking the exact same thing. I'm selling my phone and I've heard that if it's not relocked it can't be activated on the Sprint network so I've been trying to get S-ON. I have "EVT2-2 ENG S-OFF" right now.
By the sounds of this all I really need to do is flash a good PC36IMG and all should be good, right? No chance of a brick?

i will read that shortly, but i am more interested in the fact that there is a OTA update done and it now has 2.16 as the hboot. Is this now going to brick if i try to flash a rooted stock rom since she isnt into custom roms?

Now, the questions are:
1. Is her phone actually rooted?
2. Can I turn on the "s-off" to "S-ON" so that we can bring the phone in for repair?
3. Is there anything that anyone here can gain from her phone being in the state that it is in for people who cant get root under the latest hboot version?
4. I just read that s-off has multiple meaning. How can i tell which one I have on her phone? ie. radio, nand??
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answers :
1. If you flash a recovery.img it will be.
2. You can't really do anything with the s-off right now because I don't think that any of the tools that would do that have been updated to work with hboot 2.16.
3. I'm not sure if anyone can use what you have but I would write up a post in a dev thread to be sure.
4. There are only two meanings that I know of when it comes to s-off. The first is accepting the OTA while rooted which will put your phone in a weird state. If you can use your phone after then I don't think this applies to you. The other is just not having a recovery installed which will render you just unlocked and not rooted.

amart79196 said:
i will read that shortly, but i am more interested in the fact that there is a OTA update done and it now has 2.16 as the hboot. Is this now going to brick if i try to flash a rooted stock rom since she isnt into custom roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Flashing a regular rooted odex or deodex version of the RUU won't hurt you if your s-off. I would make a nand backup using amon ra recovery before flashing anything just to be safe.
Amon Ra Recovery - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=705026
Rooted OTA ROM - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1133379

amart79196 said:
But since the Hboot is listed as 2.16, Should I just flash a rooted stock rom to see if this clears up the texting problems she was experiencing?
Most importantly, will flashing a odexed rooted rom work or brick it because it has the 2.16?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't matter what hboot you have so long as you're s off
No bricks don't worry. Bricks usually occur during manual radio updates
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

S-OFF still showing after OTA?

My wife got her replacement Inc2 today after the one she got last week just died. She was on Froyo so I might of.. swapped her phones.. anyways, I rooted, went to the bathroom and the stupid ota ran I guess because when I came back the phone was on GB 2.3.3 however my boot screen shows S-OFF. Can anyone help me to verify that S-OFF is indeed still off. I can post any screen shots etc.. I am still a noob when it comes to the Inc2.

If your boot screen says S-Off, you are S-Off
Sent from my stock, bloated ADR6350 using XDA Premium App

Did you flash clockworkmod recovery when you rooted? I didn't think the OTA would take if you had a custom recovery. In any event, since you're still s-off, you're fine.

I actually hadn't flashed recovery yet. Went ahead and flashed recovery. Superuser installed but busybox keeps failing. I am manually installing them since the patch I found also includes a rooted kernel but it is for Froyo.
The biggest deal for me is I am still S-OFF. I'm just confused as to how I managed to remain S-OFF after the OTA went through. If I can't get busybox installed I'll probably install Ginger Sense to obtain it.

kujayhawks77 said:
I actually hadn't flashed recovery yet. Went ahead and flashed recovery. Superuser installed but busybox keeps failing. I am manually installing them since the patch I found also includes a rooted kernel but it is for Froyo.
The biggest deal for me is I am still S-OFF. I'm just confused as to how I managed to remain S-OFF after the OTA went through. If I can't get busybox installed I'll probably install Ginger Sense to obtain it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alpharev changed ur hboot to a higer version than the one in the OTA.. this is why it kept you S-OFF.. if I'm wrong someone correct me.

So basically I just got really lucky and kept my S-OFF even though the OTA went through.

kujayhawks77 said:
So basically I just got really lucky and kept my S-OFF even though the OTA went through.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. stock hboot is .97. alpharev bumped you up to 1.something.. idk I used XTC clip.. since your hboot is newer than the OTA.. it keeps you S-OFF, pretty smart by alpha.

So does this open a gateway to first root in Froyo and then go gingerbread and retain the root?

Only way to be able to tell is to have someone repeat my steps which were: stock froyo, run AlphaRevX, did not flash recovery, Run OTA (this happened by accident I did not intend for the OTA to go through) after the OTA is finished reboot and if it is indeed a "gateway" then S-OFF would still be on. (After seeing S-OFF was on (and making sure it was okay) I went ahead and installed cwm recovery at that point)
Now when I use the term "gateway" I say this loosely because it doesn't fix anything for anyone who is already on GB. If indeed this works, it would only work for a small percentage who get Froyo and don't flash clockwork before running the OTA.

I just got my Inc2 as a replacement for my fascinate, came with 2.1 might try your steps and see if my root will stay after doing the OTA

tnez said:
I just got my Inc2 as a replacement for my fascinate, came with 2.1 might try your steps and see if my root will stay after doing the OTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2.1??? I think you are mistaken, sir

beenz said:
2.1??? I think you are mistaken, sir
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He was mistaken cause it is sense 2.1 but android 2.2
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA Premium App

kujayhawks77 said:
Only way to be able to tell is to have someone repeat my steps which were: stock froyo, run AlphaRevX, did not flash recovery, Run OTA (this happened by accident I did not intend for the OTA to go through) after the OTA is finished reboot and if it is indeed a "gateway" then S-OFF would still be on. (After seeing S-OFF was on (and making sure it was okay) I went ahead and installed cwm recovery at that point)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been wondering about this. I got my Dinc2 early July and I'm still on stock, unrooted Froyo. Somehow the OTA update to GB hasn't hit yet. Could I run ApharevX to get S-off and stop there for now? I am happy with bloated stock for the time being and want to be able to receive OTA updates, but would like to have the option down the road to add Clockworkmod and flash custom ROMs. From kujayhawks experience it seems that this should be possible.
Basically, if I achieve S-off with AlpharevX now, will I be able to pretty much do anything later?
P.S. First post, though I've been lurking around for a while. Great forum/community.

xenakis said:
Basically, if I achieve S-off with AlpharevX now, will I be able to pretty much do anything later?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears from reports that S-off stays after the OTA to 2.3, so yea, that would seem to be the case.
If you turn S-off with AlphaRev, you might want to just go ahead and install Clockwork recovery at the same time. Doing so won't root or install SuperUser or anything, but you would be able to then backup your phone and be ready to flash if you wanted.

If you install clockwork recovery you won't be able to receive OTAs though, just keep that in mind. You can flash back to the stock recovery, but unless you are familiar with ADB, it won't necessarily be an easy process.

A point where my HTC is perfect

I have an HTC One M8 from T-Mobile
S-ON and UNLOCKED
I was just wondering how to get to a point where my phone wont brick on me, soft brick or hard brick.
I have the Insertcoin mod, 3.0.6 and it keeps prompting for an update on 3.0.7. When I click download and install it, it says "installation aborted" and then it exits me out.
I tried Googling the issue, but someone said that they did it manually and it actually soft bricked their phone and they got stuck in a bootloop.
I don't want that to happen to me because I've been dealing with my friend's HTC One M7 for the last few weeks where he was doing a normal HTC Update to 4.4 and his phone got soft bricked, stuck in bootloop. Tried factory reset, flashing RUU, wiping dalvic cache, and normal cache. Put it in fastboot and tried flashing it, nothing worked.
I'm thinking the reason is because it's S-ON and LOCKED. It got to a point where I just don't know what to do with it, so I kind of gave up.
But what's a good way of getting out of soft brick if you do get stuck in it?
I figured it should be easier than this, but this is really difficult.
-Thanks

Those 2 cases are completely different from each other (OTA install on a stock M7 versus updating a custom ROM on a M8); so I would not lump the 2 together.
IMO, best way to get out of a brick is to practice some good sense preparation:
1) Achieve S-off before you try to flash the new ROM. This will give you a lot more recovery options if things go south.
2) Make sure adb and fastboot is working properly with your device
3) Make sure TWRP is up to date, and check if the latest version has any known issues of bugs
4) Make a nandroid, and keep it on the internal memory. Copy it to your computer to be safe. This is really important; and one of the easiest and most reliable way to get back up and running if you run into trouble (or simply don't like the new ROM and want to revert). Yet, a lot of folks flash ROM without making a nandroid backup. I have no idea why.
5) Have a known good ROM handy (such as InsertCoin 3.0.7 which you say has been working "perfect" for you) on your PC or possibly even on the phone's internal memory
"How to get out of a bootloop" depends on what is causing it, what errors your are getting, etc.. There isn't a silver bullet solution. I would normally say RUU is that silver bullet; but you have found that is not the case. In general, you were on the right track with your friends M7 (which I won't comment on, since I never owned that phone). But a few guidelines are given below. Its listed sequentially for the most part, meaning if a particular solution fails, proceed to the next one.
1) A "dirty flash" (wipe only Dalvik and cache, keep user data) is often possible when updating within a particular custom ROM. But check the InsertCoin thread to see what the dev recommends, or how this went for other user on 3.0.8. If a bootloop occurs, or any other random bugs, do a factory reset in TWRP (wipe user data, Dalvik and cache) and flash again.
2) Try to download the ROM again, if you're bootlooping maybe the download was corrupt. Check the MD5, if available
3) Boot into TWRP and restore your nandroid
4) Try to flash a known good ROM, or another ROM.
5) Use fastboot to wipe cache and flash recovery again. Try again to flash a known good ROM or nandroid
6) All else fails, run the RUU (requires you to relock bootloader if S-on)
7) Whatever you do, do not do a factory reset in bootloader (only within the OS Settings itself, or TWRP). There is a known bug where factory reset in bootloader on a modded phone will corrupt the phone's internal memory (including loss of nandroid and ROM zips on the memory).

Thanks!
I'll take a look at all of it.
And a nandroid backup is when you use your custom recovery to make a backup right? If so I already did that for my M8
I have S-ON for my M8, how do I get it off? And is it worth getting it off? I haven't had any problems with access or ROMS yet with it being on.
Thanks
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

technocrat7 said:
And a nandroid backup is when you use your custom recovery to make a backup right? If so I already did that for my M8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, nandroid is just a generic term for TWRP or CWM backup. You'd be amazed at home many folks flash mods to their phones without making one. You're already a cut above those folks!
technocrat7 said:
I have S-ON for my M8, how do I get it off? And is it worth getting it off? I haven't had any problems with access or ROMS yet with it being on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firewater S-off: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2708464
I already told you why S-off is important in my previous response; so I don't know why you are asking "is it worth getting?"
S-off can be important for recovery as it lets you run previous ("downgrade") RUUs (perhaps not as relevant this early, as most M8 versions only have one RUU version, or none at all) and RUUs for other carrier versions (may need to change CID also).
S-off also eliminates the requirement to relock the bootloader to run RUUs. So this saves you the extra steps of relocking to run the RUU, then unlocking again. Plus, you save yourself from the position of being relocked and in a bootloop (if RUU fails), which is a bit complicated and scary situation.
Further (aside from recovery options), S-off also permits you to flash different radios, mod hboot, update firmware packages, and other things not normally permitted with S-on.
The only downside to S-off, is that it bypasses all security and safety checks. For the most part while modding, this is a good thing. But you just have to be extra careful you only flash mods meant for the M8. Since device check is bypassed with S-off, its possible to flash a mod meant for another device and damage your M8 (such as different partitioning, damage partition table, etc.). But as long as you only flash things in the M8 forum, you will be safe.
So S-off has lots of upsides, very few downsides. Of course, its up to you whether to do it or not. But to me, the choice is pretty clear.

Thanks! I'll work on getting S-OFF on my device.
Also if you do screw it up and damage your M8, can you run the nandroid backup and get to where you were or no?
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

technocrat7 said:
Thanks! I'll work on getting S-OFF on my device.
Also if you do screw it up and damage your M8, can you run the nandroid backup and get to where you were or no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking specifically about the firewater s-off process? If so, then no, a nandroid will not reverse this. But there isn't much to "screw up". Its a very easy process, and I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Alright thanks! I'll do that and then report back later!
Sent from my HTC One_M8

I ran firewater, it says:
Whelp, this sucks, firewater cannot work on your device. No amount of refreshing, retrying, or ruuing will fix this...
Sorry it didn't work out

Okay so I found out the real issue, and for those who saw my other post, the reason it said it could not be completed is because after I launch "adb shell"
I type "su"
And nothing happens. It's supposed to prompt me for my SuperSU permission but it doesn't.
SuperSU is not listed as a device manager under my security too. And in the shell it shows a # and I've granted other applications permission before so I know I'm rooted. Any help?
I'm running InsertCoin if it matters.

Have u tried the new other s-off methods? They do cost around 20 bucks I thinm
Sent from my HTC One_M8

technocrat7 said:
Okay so I found out the real issue, and for those who saw my other post, the reason it said it could not be completed is because after I launch "adb shell"
I type "su"
And nothing happens. It's supposed to prompt me for my SuperSU permission but it doesn't.
SuperSU is not listed as a device manager under my security too. And in the shell it shows a # and I've granted other applications permission before so I know I'm rooted. Any help?
I'm running InsertCoin if it matters.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it doesn't prompt you for su access and doesn't seem to do anything when running firewater it's probably because the rom is not "stock" enough. Running Maximus or other near stock roms is more likely to succeed. But anyway if you previously got the whelp message in firewater I suppose you're like many of us out of luck using that since it seems HTC has closed the exploit that firewater used on some phones.
So as MotoTurbo said, you'll probably need to use Sunshine (http://theroot.ninja) rather than Firewater. It's made by the same devs, but works on all M8's (even the ones that got whelped in Firewater). It does cost $25 but it was really simple to use and worked perfect on my phone. The newest version even seem to root your phone if it's not rooted already and then s-off's your phone after it has made sure it will work on your phone and paying using Paypal or creditcard from within the app...
The close to stock requirement also seem valid for Sunshine, but you can always try from your current rom since it won't allow you to pay until it's sure it can s-off your phone.

Ah I see.
Thank you. It sucks I'm out of luck but I think it's worth the $20. I am pretty sure I plan on keeping the phone around long enough.
One more question. The newest update for InsertCoin, or even some xposed modules are falling to work. It says "installation aborted" after not being able to extract to some directory or find it or something.
But I was installing updates fine a week ago. It's just the newest one giving me trouble. Someone said I have to go to the website manually and just put it in my SD card and zip install it through recovery.
I don't want to screw things up because I heard someone got stuck in a bootloop by doing this.

technocrat7 said:
I ran firewater, it says:
Whelp, this sucks, firewater cannot work on your device. No amount of refreshing, retrying, or ruuing will fix this...
Sorry it didn't work out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Later hboots don't work with firewater. What hboot version is your device on?
---------- Post added at 09:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 AM ----------
technocrat7 said:
But I was installing updates fine a week ago. It's just the newest one giving me trouble. Someone said I have to go to the website manually and just put it in my SD card and zip install it through recovery.
I don't want to screw things up because I heard someone got stuck in a bootloop by doing this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no reason to believe the new InsertCoin has any higher change to cause a bootloop than any other update or mod. I just manually flashed InsertCoin 3.0.8 and things went just fine. Side note: its funny I haven't been keeping up with the InsertCoin versions, and this thread made me realized how out of date I was . . . I was still on 3.0.4!
I'd relax on the "fear of a bootloop" thing. Bootloops happen, its just a fact of flashing mods. But the solution to recover is often an easy one; its just a matter of knowing or figuring out the exact trick to recover (different based on various causes). S-off is nice to have, but honestly its not an absolute necessity, as long as you've followed the other suggestions I gave previously, you are well equipped to recover from a bootloop, even in the unlikely event that one happens. S-off isn't necessary to flash ROMs, many folks do so S-on. S-off just gives you more options if you run into problems.

Ah I see.
And well, downloading 3.0.7 is aborting the installation so I guess I'll just do it manually or something haha

Also I forgot to mention..
Why doesn't SuperSU show up as a device administrator under security?
How can I fix this? Or is it not supposed to?
When doing firewater, I do "su" and there is no authentication, nothing. It's like SU doesn't exist
-----
EDIT:
also, whenever I download something from the marketplace or something it says "installation aborted" is there a reason for this?

What to do first?

I'm going to pick up a new m8 this afternoon because I can get a great deal on it from my carrier right now. I will eventually want to add TWRP recovery and play with all the ROMs out there as I have with my old HTC Sensation, but first I plan to stick with the stock experience.
Can I S-Off, Unlock, and Root and still get the stock OTA updates after? From my reading it sounds like my first task should be S-Off before any OTA upgrades happen or it's unlikely I will be able to get S-Off until the new version of Sunshine comes out. Is this correct?
Thanks!

Firehawk989 said:
I'm going to pick up a new m8 this afternoon because I can get a great deal on it from my carrier right now. I will eventually want to add TWRP recovery and play with all the ROMs out there as I have with my old HTC Sensation, but first I plan to stick with the stock experience.
Can I S-Off, Unlock, and Root and still get the stock OTA updates after? From my reading it sounds like my first task should be S-Off before any OTA upgrades happen or it's unlikely I will be able to get S-Off until the new version of Sunshine comes out. Is this correct?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you get S-Off, you won't need to get the stock OTAs. That's the beauty of S-Off. You'll have the newest firmware way before you carrier does.

FIrst thing I did was unlocking, flashing recovery and did a nandroid. Then root and custom roms and stuff. Still S-On

Firehawk989 said:
I'm going to pick up a new m8 this afternoon because I can get a great deal on it from my carrier right now. I will eventually want to add TWRP recovery and play with all the ROMs out there as I have with my old HTC Sensation, but first I plan to stick with the stock experience.
Can I S-Off, Unlock, and Root and still get the stock OTA updates after? From my reading it sounds like my first task should be S-Off before any OTA upgrades happen or it's unlikely I will be able to get S-Off until the new version of Sunshine comes out. Is this correct?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should have mentioned, if you are buying a new stock device, S-Off right away. Unlock bootloader, flash custom recovery, install SU, then try to S-Off before flashing any ROMs. The S-Off method works best on the stock ROM.

Excellent, this is the info I needed. Thanks!

Also as for the uproar about Sunshine not being free, at least you get what you pay for. Worked flawlessly the first time to unlock the bootloader and S-Off without having to go through a long process of adb and fastboot commands and so forth. No *Tampered* flags in the bootloader or any other ill effects so far either, so seems worth it to me at this point. Note that this was with a new device that was still on 4.4.3 which may have helped.
However, I do see how some people feel like there should be a free DIY option as well, as I probably would have just taken the time to unlock and S-Off the old fashioned way if it was possible. Did that with my HTC Sensation back in the day.