Recently been looking into purchasing a new HTC One for myself, but after reading up on it, I see that there are a ton of S-Off and stock issues flying around. I guess I have a few clarifying questions then...
If I buy the phone today, is S-Off still possible?
Is S-Off risky?
Can I return to 100% complete stock yet if I need to or not? If yes, how?
Really I'm wondering if it's worth it to even purchase this phone as I don't want to be without flashing ROMs but at the same time, I resell my phones after awhile so I'm going to need to go back to 100% stock eventually. Sorry if these questions have already been asked, my xda search function is a bit broken. Thanks for reading this far.
Edit - Did some more searching and found the HTC One m8 now has the RUU's? Could someone also explain this? I'm new to HTC devices, coming from a nexus 5 here.
Nobody knows at all...?
Sent from my HTC M8
DinoSoup said:
Recently been looking into purchasing a new HTC One for myself, but after reading up on it, I see that there are a ton of S-Off and stock issues flying around. I guess I have a few clarifying questions then...
If I buy the phone today, is S-Off still possible?
Is S-Off risky?
Can I return to 100% complete stock yet if I need to or not? If yes, how?
Really I'm wondering if it's worth it to even purchase this phone as I don't want to be without flashing ROMs but at the same time, I resell my phones after awhile so I'm going to need to go back to 100% stock eventually. Sorry if these questions have already been asked, my xda search function is a bit broken. Thanks for reading this far.
Edit - Did some more searching and found the HTC One m8 now has the RUU's? Could someone also explain this? I'm new to HTC devices, coming from a nexus 5 here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably, it will be. But it's not for certain. If your phone comes with the stock 1.12 software, then you can do it. But there's also a possibility of your phone being one of those unlucky "Whelp, this sucks..." phones. If it comes with the latest 1.57 software installed, it won't be possible.
That being said, if it comes with 1.12, which it probably will, and you unlock the bootloader, root, and S-Off, you can always go back to 100% stock with no trace at all of it ever being rooted if you want to return it for warranty, exc.
IF it is one of the unlucky "Whelp, this sucks..." phones, and you unlock your bootloader, root, and try to S-Off, but can't, then you can re lock the bootloader, run the stock RUU, and the only trace of it being unlocked and rooted would be that in the bootloader, it would say "Relocked" instead of "Locked."
Remember that if the phone comes with the 1.12 software, NEVER accept the OTA update. If you do accept the update, you will never be able to S-Off.
But again, chances are you will probably get the 1.12 software and be able to S-Off your phone. Hope this helped.
XxKINGxX2580 said:
Probably, it will be. But it's not for certain. If your phone comes with the stock 1.12 software, then you can do it. But there's also a possibility of your phone being one of those unlucky "Whelp, this sucks..." phones. If it comes with the latest 1.57 software installed, it won't be possible.
That being said, if it comes with 1.12, which it probably will, and you unlock the bootloader, root, and S-Off, you can always go back to 100% stock with no trace at all of it ever being rooted if you want to return it for warranty, exc.
IF it is one of the unlucky "Whelp, this sucks..." phones, and you unlock your bootloader, root, and try to S-Off, but can't, then you can re lock the bootloader, run the stock RUU, and the only trace of it being unlocked and rooted would be that in the bootloader, it would say "Relocked" instead of "Locked."
But again, chances are you will probably get the 1.12 software and be able to S-Off your phone. Hope this helped.
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Click to collapse
Thanks a ton, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Final question - how do I go about getting to stock. I found the RUU and stock files but I don't know at all what to do. After I know that, I'll be ready to root!
Sent from my HTC M8
DinoSoup said:
Thanks a ton, this is exactly what I was hoping for. Final question - how do I go about getting to stock. I found the RUU and stock files but I don't know at all what to do. After I know that, I'll be ready to root!
Sent from my HTC M8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply,
To get to complete 100% stock, you have to download and run the RUU. It's a simple EXE file. There are a bunch of Youtube videos on how to run RUUs. Before running the RUU, you have to re-lock the bootloader. But, to go to 100% stock, you first have to to reset the tampered flag, LOCK, not re-lock the bootloader (there is a thread on how to make the bootloader say LOCKED, not Re-Locked) and then S-ON. After that, run the RUU file, and it will take you back to complete stock. Like you never unlocked the bootloader or rooted.
But, I would do everything except S-ON. If you go to S-ON and run the RUU, you will not be able to go back to S-Off again. The RUU will install the 1.57 software, and that version isn't supported by Firewater.
The only thing you really have to do is a simple re-lock of the bootloader before running the RUU. But, doing what I said would make the phone look like it was never rooted. Again, I would do everything I said except going back to S-ON.
I just successfully achieved completely stock with S-On. I gave my details here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55374644&postcount=2
Related
This was probably asked before but I couldn't find anything on my searches...
I need to return my phone since I got a refurb'd but I'm having issues turning it back to S-ON... has anyone returned their phone with S-OFF? Did they attempt to charge your account or something to that effect? I can definitely do the RUU and return it to stock unrooted but the bootloader shows S-OFF as well as the 6.17 Hboot instead of S-ON and 2.16 Hboot...
TIA!
gqukyo said:
This was probably asked before but I couldn't find anything on my searches...
I need to return my phone since I got a refurb'd but I'm having issues turning it back to S-ON... has anyone returned their phone with S-OFF? Did they attempt to charge your account or something to that effect? I can definitely do the RUU and return it to stock unrooted but the bootloader shows S-OFF as well as the 6.17 Hboot instead of S-ON and 2.16 Hboot...
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well they can't really do anything about us rooting phones since the supreme court says we can do whatever the hell we want to devices we paid for, thanks to the Apple lawsuit. However rooting voids your warranty so I suppose the question is why are you returning. If you are returning it because it's in some way physically defective, you *might* be ok. But if it has malfunctioned, it could bite you in the ass. More information would be helpful.
You should also realize that Sprint has been very inconsistent on this issue. There are those who have had warranty work/returns done and had no issues with it having S-Off and even custom roms still installed. Then there are those who have gotten caught. It should also be pointed out that this is in your contract, so please don't be one of those guys that get denied then RAGE about it on these forums. When you rooted, you clicked a box that said "Your warranty is now void" or at least read that somewhere I am certain! Anyway more info pls, or try it anyway and good luck! Worst thing they will do is give you the phone back and void your warranty totally. You could always toss it in the sink for a few hours then file insurance claim on it.
gqukyo said:
This was probably asked before but I couldn't find anything on my searches...
I need to return my phone since I got a refurb'd but I'm having issues turning it back to S-ON... has anyone returned their phone with S-OFF? Did they attempt to charge your account or something to that effect? I can definitely do the RUU and return it to stock unrooted but the bootloader shows S-OFF as well as the 6.17 Hboot instead of S-ON and 2.16 Hboot...
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried returning my Evo with S-Off, and the person who was looking at it recognized it in the bootloader. He said "I personally used Revolutionary too. Sadly, we can't return this."
I was able to find a solution, however. Download the zip file attached to this forum post, rename it to PC36IMG.zip, and place on the root of your SD card. Boot into your bootloader. You will be prompted to update. Choose yes. It should flash quick. When it asks you to reboot, choose yes and reboot back into the bootloader. It should show S-ON with 6.17 HBOOT. From there flash your RUU and you should be back to 2.16 HBOOT with S-ON!
I got a refurb a couple months ago and it arrived S-OFF, so I dunno
Thank you all for your responses. I did try to run the RUU and Captain Throwback's S-ON zip but no luck, I'll probably just unroot and RUU it back to the newest firmware and just return it like that. Since borrowedchief said he received his with S-OFF, its probably a hit or miss as most other things at Sprint...
I just sent my old phone back with S-OFF. My issue though was power cycling. Sprint even credited me the $100 premium for my insurance because they failed to replace my phone before it had water damage. I took the phone in multiple times with no luck. Finally the Tech told me I had good news and bad news. Good news, you are getting a new phone. Bad news you have to pay $100 because you have water damage. The first Rep I talked to said we should have replaced the phone the first time. Credited me the money once they received my old phone.
I just returned my phone a few days ago with the s-off but i did have the original rom on the phone. They didnt say anything to me and when i received the new phone, the s was also off.......
Obviously the official rule is that they dont take them back S-off... Some people get lucky and either get a lazy rep or a rep that wants to be nice... It's a gamble
richp1970 said:
I just returned my phone a few days ago with the s-off but i did have the original rom on the phone. They didnt say anything to me and when i received the new phone, the s was also off.......
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Click to collapse
I returned mine too but the terms state that they have up to 2 billing cycles to charge us for any damages or whatnot... guess we'll see...
Their policies at sprint are now that they service rooted phones meaning with S-off they just RUU back up to the latest and it usually reflashes over ENG hboot and other things meaning that it's just gonna be s-on when you get it.
I rooted my phone and is s-off too and cant get it back to s-on
gqukyo said:
This was probably asked before but I couldn't find anything on my searches...
I need to return my phone since I got a refurb'd but I'm having issues turning it back to S-ON... has anyone returned their phone with S-OFF? Did they attempt to charge your account or something to that effect? I can definitely do the RUU and return it to stock unrooted but the bootloader shows S-OFF as well as the 6.17 Hboot instead of S-ON and 2.16 Hboot...
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Originally Posted by Captain_Throwback
Here I will post my 2.16 hex-edited HBOOT to appear as 6.17. I'm not really a good person to put together a guide, but I can give you this file, which should at least help.
I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU (SOMEHOW) BRICK YOUR DEVICE. FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Also note that I have 0003 hardware, so there are no guarantees that this will work for you! That being out of the way, let me continue . . .
I used AndroidFlasher to flash this HBoot, as it was extremely easy (just renamed to HBOOT.img). Flashing through Fastboot (directly on the device) might also work, I guess, if you rename the file to PC36IMG, but I didn't try it that way.
I was able to do this successfully on Windows XP 32-bit (I always have issues getting anything to work on my Windows 7 machine), so I'm not sure how (or if) it'll work on Vista or 7 (or on 64-bit versions).
Note that if you're doing this with your device connected to your computer, USB Debugging MUST BE TURNED ON!!
If you want to return to stock, I first recommend flashing a stock ROM. I recommend the most recent Gingerbread update, which can be found in this post (RUU can be found here).
After successfully un-rooting your device by flashing the unrooted ROM from above, now we must re-lock NAND (set S-ON). Basically, you just flash the hboot.img from the attached zip file, and it will set your device HBOOT version to 6.17, and re-lock your NAND (S-ON). Then, you can re-flash the ROM from the above step, and it *should* overwrite the hex-edited HBOOT with the "official" version, and restore your device to stock.
Again, this worked for me, but if it doesn't work for you, don't go blaming me, and calling my method a sham.
Thanks to {ParanoiA} for posting the link to the thread where the hex-editing was mentioned, and thanks to thefredelement (from that thread) for posting a working method!
Maybe someone else can test my method and confirm it works for them & others, and then put a real guide together, for everyone else (like me) that needs to return their device for service after rooting with Revolutionary.
Thanks man! I rooted gingerbread 2.3.3 with revolutionary and try to unroot with unrevoked foreverson.zip but no luck because I didn't use there method to root. Hours and hours of research came accross your thread and all I can say thank you.
*****Very important to complete last step because if you don't you will have S-on but your HBOOT will be 6.1... For my last step I didn't flash using HBOOT I just downloaded RUU most current file because my phone came with 4.24.651.1 I just ran RUU booted back to white screen and HBOOT now shows HBOOT 2.1
Here you should use this method. It was origanally posted by captainthrowback and thanks to him now im back to s-on I was rooted and went back to stock but had s-off and I used this method to go back to s-on and it worked. My evo is on hardware v0004 and it worked fine too. Hope this method works for you to. Good Luck. Have any other questions just ask
...hope this isnt a pointless thread, but I felt these are a valid set of questions... might be wrong though... >_<
In any case, I've just been informed that the HTC now officially unlocks the DHD bootloader through their website.
Now, my questions...
Does anyone know the difference between the Official HTC bootloader unlock procedure versus the Radio and ENG-HBOOT procedure posted by jkoljo?
Also, note that the HTC way looks like its just one procedure... whilst jkoljo's are distinctly two (one for Radio and one for HBOOT)... if the HTC procedure is initially used, would you still need to do either of jkoljo's? ie the Radio S-Off one... assuming the HTC way gives you only Eng-HBOOT S-OFF?
Hell, do you still need to downgrade with the HTC bootloader unlock?
Lastly, I've already used jkoljo's procedure and now fully Radio & HBOOT S-Off'ed... is there any point of doing the HTC unlock bootloader procedure? Would it actually give me a negative result if I actually go through the HTC procedure now with the current state of my phone?
Anyways, thanks for reading through my musings... and here's hoping someone with the knowhow answers well... ^_^
/Peace
I would like to no this to, but do we really need to worry now we are rooted ?
Yes me 2. What are the pros and cons of them?
...from reading the FAQ on the HTCdev about it.
...according to its FAQ
It seems you're still S-ON after their procedure. This is to apparently secure the radio as well as the SIM-Lock...
So me thinks we might still need jkoljo's ENG-S-OFF procedure afterwards...
...Although, with HTC leaving that lock... I'm a bit dubious about advocating their procedure now as opposed to jkoljo's as well as the Advanced Ace Hack kit. The latter of which is actually the most effective imho, though it still needs jkoljo's ENG-S-OFF procedure...
Do not try to unlock the bootloader of your phone.
it's not locked.
If someone can clarify this: for me the DHD bootloader has never been locked!?!
I was planing to go for sensation when HTC launched it but kept my DHD as sensation was locked and it was not possible to put custom ROM.
From my first HTC, the first thing I always do was removing Sense... (HD, HD2 then DHD). As far as I know Sensation was the first with locked bootloader.
if someone can explain... i'll be more than happy
truc007 said:
Do not try to unlock the bootloader of your phone.
it's not locked.
If someone can clarify this: for me the DHD bootloader has never been locked!?!
I was planing to go for sensation when HTC launched it but kept my DHD as sensation was locked and it was not possible to put custom ROM.
From my first HTC, the first thing I always do was removing Sense... (HD, HD2 then DHD). As far as I know Sensation was the first with locked bootloader.
if someone can explain... i'll be more than happy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root is different from unlocking bootloader eg the Motorola Milestone has root but the bootloader is still locked. This still allows you to load partially customized ROMs but prevents loading custom kernels for one thing.
My question though would be:
What exactly is the point in HTC's bootloader unlocker? Say you go from a stock phone, upgraded froyo to GB all the way. You dont have s-off or eng-off or anything, what would the benefit be to now unlock the bootloader "officially"?
Does it supply a recovery with nandroid backup or allow GB to be rooted or anything like that?
The benefit would be that you lose your warranty because HTC saves your serial, which wouldn't happen if you do it yourself.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk
Exactly...and thanks to AAHK it's not really difficult to get Root, S-Off and CWM on our phones
DN41
Wonder why HTC went through "all the trouble" to do a bootloader unlocker for Desire HD now anyway? its like p#ssing on the ashes AFTER the house burnt down, surely they know there's a dozen ways to get there that are far less involved than their convoluted scheme. *shrugs*
I did this just because there's no major action on ICS and no action on rcmix runny, so i needed to do something to my phone.
Its a real convoluted process.
you need to restore to stock and update to the latest ruu before you can then install the new hboot to then unlock.
The only difference is now i have locked, then unlocked at the top of the bootloader screen.
still needed to re root the stock rom to install 4ext to nandroid the stock and restore ICS.
Really not worth the effort trying ifyou already have a custom recovery and s-off.
Unless you want the latest possible date to show off...
But if you unlocked the bootloader, what is the best way to get root access?
I want to use eg Titanium backup
Pibroens said:
But if you unlocked the bootloader, what is the best way to get root access?
I want to use eg Titanium backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check the stickies in the dev forum like this one.
If you have S-OFF, obviously you can skip to the next steps, which is to root.
Make sure you read, read, read so you don't miss anything important.
Hello guys,
I got a bit confused about all rooting and unlocking and S-OFF... I have htc one m8 european version. I got sick of waiting for lolipop update and was thinking of turning my device to Developer Edition Sense. On Nexus 5 there was easy unlocking bootloader/relocking for gettings warranty back .... Do you guys have any suggestions what to backup and save? I heard there were problems of returning back to complete stock. I was thinking of unlocking my bootloader, then installing TWRP and rooting. Then S-OFF and changing CID number and installing developer rom. But as I was reading firewater doesn't work any more? Can any one suggest what to backup so I can return to complete stock and S-on if I need to get it to complete factory for any reasons? I would like to get everything stock backuped even my old CID .... I would just like to change it to Developer Edition and get OTA first. And is there the only way to S-OFF with sunshine which is 25$?
On Nexus 5 this was quite easier...
Sorry for bad English and thank you for your answers
Basically what you want to do after unlocking the bootlooader and TWRP is create a backup without root
From there if your lucky and haven't updated past 4.4.3 than use Sunshine as it is well worth every penny to gain S-OFF
You then want to use a Dev edition "backup,firmware, stock recovery,MID,CID that all match"
If you want to go back to your stock condition than you will have the TWRP backup you made before you converted to Dev edition, the backup will not restore your MID,CID as that needs to be manually changed every time the same and only way it can be done.
Most people are having trouble going back to stock from GPE edition cause of the partition size and steps involved.
Now I to own a Nexus 5 and well it only comes one version of android so there is no need of changing firmwares or
S-OFF
Ok thank you there is quite a lot of work with this... and a higher change of bricking ... My phone is updated to 4.4.4 to there's that. I'll think about it, because you never know about warranty.
Sorry for bad English
Mariborcan said:
Ok thank you there is quite a lot of work with this... and a higher change of bricking ... My phone is updated to 4.4.4 to there's that. I'll think about it, because you never know about warranty.
Sorry for bad English
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can S-off, the chances of bricking actually go way down, because you have more options to fix things. Yes, it is potentially dangerous if you don't know what you are doing and can't follow directions, but an M8 with S-off is pretty close to a Nexus device in terms of what you can do with it.
That said, it is important to remember that it is *not* a Nexus device. If you get S-off, don't ever go S-on unless you are bone stock root and have a very good reason.
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.
Hello all,
I know lots of threads about different ways to do it, but if I could, I would like to get a step by step on what I need to do.
I was rooted and unlocked, never s-off. I unrooted, relocked, and flashed stock RUU, but it still says relocked and software modified in bootloader. How can I get rid of all of this? What I want, if possible, is S-On, unrooted, locked phone, that doesn't save any of if anywhere and you cannot see anywhere on the device? It looks like I might need to re-root and unlock to do this, which I'm fine doing, if I can achieve my end result.
Is there anyway to do this? Thanks in advance!
Yeah, use SunShine to gain S-OFF after actually you got SuperSU installed back..