So I have totally been off the scene for quite sometime and now finding the time and interest to be involved in this again, but where to start really? I feel so lost and out of the loop. Read through a lot of the posts and done my research for root and s-off. After reading I see that 4.4.3 has been causing some issues. I have my Verizon M8 running Stock. No root. 4.4.3. Where the heck do i begin?
What do I need to do for root since Weaksauce no longer works?
How do I gain root access and what programs am I needing that are up to date and functioning properly.
S-off? Firewater? Understand I need temp root, but I want permanent root.
Interested in TWRP for sure for custom recovery and flashing.
Can I get some help for a returning lost person? I wanna know exactly what programs I am going to need that are up to date. I want to flash custom roms etc of course (already have one in mind) but would like to know what the best android L themed one would be.
Looking forward to hearing from you guys. Thanks for the help and time you took to read this.
You don't need S-OFF necessarily, but you either have to unlock your bootloader on htcdev site, or use Sunshine to unlock and S-OFF for 25 bucks.
Those are your 2 options.
Then you can flash custom recovery and ROOT.
Related
Hello all,
I have some questions about rooting my phone, the HTC One M8. If someone gets a new phone like this one, backs it up after initial setup, roots and does s-off, and then does a second backup (optional).......... is there any reason why that person should need to worry about anything going wrong? I'm replacing my phone and want to know that as long as I back it up before rooting and s-off, I should never have to worry, right?
Also, once you root a phone, you can still get new OTAs right? The rooting doesn't stop that, right? Just a simple yes or no is fine.
Kindly please answer both. I appreciate all those who can shed some light! It seems that rooting is ok as long as you do it (and S-OFF) BEFORE receiving any OTAs, or that's what I think.
Thank You,
RockStar2005
RockStar2005 said:
Hello all,
I have some questions about rooting my phone, the HTC One M8. If someone gets a new phone like this one, backs it up after initial setup, roots and does s-off, and then does a second backup (optional).......... is there any reason why that person should need to worry about anything going wrong? I'm replacing my phone and want to know that as long as I back it up before rooting and s-off, I should never have to worry, right?
Also, once you root a phone, you can still get new OTAs right? The rooting doesn't stop that, right? Just a simple yes or no is fine.
Kindly please answer both. I appreciate all those who can shed some light! It seems that rooting is ok as long as you do it (and S-OFF) BEFORE receiving any OTAs, or that's what I think.
Thank You,
RockStar2005
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
part of rooting is a custom recovery which can block ota's from installing. sometimes the updates can manually be flashed or you can just revert to a stock recovery temporarily but changes to your system can also block the install. as far as the backups it's what ever your comfortable with - I never bother with backups of the stock software and I've never needed one.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
lampel said:
part of rooting is a custom recovery which can block ota's from installing. sometimes the updates can manually be flashed or you can just revert to a stock recovery temporarily but changes to your system can also block the install. as far as the backups it's what ever your comfortable with - I never bother with backups of the stock software and I've never needed one.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thank Lampel!
RockStar2005
I have questions pertaining to Rooting the HTC One M8 aswell.
I moved from Samsung's Galaxy line of phones and have always Rooted without hesitation. Reasons being, I have become comfortable with the way they work and am confident I can return it to Stock (no modded counters on it or whatever), if I need to bring it back to my carrier for some reason.
Now I just got my M8, and definitely want to Root it, but all the new terms for HTC phones confuse me a little. Things I need to know before going forward with Rooting are:
1) What is "S-Off"/'S-On"? And what does it mean?
2) If I Root, can I bring it back to Stock where it will look like I did nothing to it so I can return to the store if I need to?
3) I know there are risks when Rooting, but are there things that become "broken" or don't work because of Rooting? Examples would be like Sony's Xperia devices, the Bravia Engine stops working, and so does the Camera (for some models). Those things become "broken" as a security feature for Sony. Did HTC do anything similar?
4) Anything else you might think I need to know before Rooting?
Thanks in advance!
leo9891 said:
1) What is "S-Off"/'S-On"? And what does it mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not 100% certain on the other questions but maybe I can help with your first question.
Security-ON / Security-OFF. These settings seem specific to HTC. When you purchase a new phone, it will be S-On. This basically means that there are specific areas of your phone that you won't be able to touch, even with root access. However, you can alter the system, boot, and recovery partitions with root access and S-On. S-Off will allow access to the radio and other partitions that you won't be able to access with S-On. S-Off also allows you to change the splash screen. You can check your S-on/S-off status by booting into fastboot (power off phone, press volume down and power until you see the white fastboot screen).
It is my understanding that in order to get S-Off on newer HTC One M8's, Sunshine (http://theroot.ninja/) can be used but it does cost $25. The htcdev.com site has more information on S-On/S-Off along with warnings of why you may not want to go with S-Off here: http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/about_unlock_process.
janderia said:
I'm not 100% certain on the other questions but maybe I can help with your first question.
Security-ON / Security-OFF. These settings seem specific to HTC. When you purchase a new phone, it will be S-On. This basically means that there are specific areas of your phone that you won't be able to touch, even with root access. However, you can alter the system, boot, and recovery partitions with root access and S-On. S-Off will allow access to the radio and other partitions that you won't be able to access with S-On. S-Off also allows you to change the splash screen. You can check your S-on/S-off status by booting into fastboot (power off phone, press volume down and power until you see the white fastboot screen).
It is my understanding that in order to get S-Off on newer HTC One M8's, Sunshine (http://theroot.ninja/) can be used but it does cost $25. The htcdev.com site has more information on S-On/S-Off along with warnings of why you may not want to go with S-Off here: http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/about_unlock_process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your reply, took a day or two after i posted to grab the concept of S-Off/S-On. I'm used to Samsung devices where all you needed was root, and you can do anything.
Okay guys, I just have a couple of quick (I hope) questions in regards to rooting an HTC One M7 on Verizon Wireless.
I've done a lot of research and I am genuinely confused about everything and really just need a few questions answered. I've done my research and done my googling but I still need some help.
I haven't rooted a phone in probably well over 2-3 years. The last phone I rooted was a HTC Evo on Sprint which was a breeze. I've had my HTC One for a little over a year now I believe. I'm getting kind of bored of it and I saw that CyanogenMod has come a long way since I last used it. Through my research I have found that the Verizon HTC One M7 is kind of difficult and complicated to root and I apparently need to S-OFF as well, which I have no experience with. My phone has been kept up-to-date (I know that's a bad thing in this case) and I'm running Android 4.4.3, software number 5.28.605.2, baseband version 1.13.41.0702. I'm not sure what out of that information is relevant but there you have it.
What I'm wanting to do is unlock/root/whatever my phone, install CWM recovery, and CM11. Now from the research I have done it appears that if I purchase SunShine S-Off (which looks like my only option) it will s-off, root, and unlock everything that is necessary to install the custom recovery and ROM.
So my questions are this:
I'm terrified of freezing/boot-loops because this is the first phone I'd be rooting without the ability of popping the battery out for a hard restart. Is it safe to modify this phone? Are there usually any issues?
Will SunShine do everything that I need to go from a stock Verizon HTC One to being able to flash CWM and CM11?
Are there any good tutorials on doing this with the latest updated Verizon HTC One M7? A lot of the tutorials I find seem to be outdated.
If the answer to the second question is yes, then all I need to do is purchase SunShine, follow install instructions for CWM, and follow install instructions for CM11, correct?
Thanks for your time and putting up with my stupid questions.
sector2112 said:
Okay guys, I just have a couple of quick (I hope) questions in regards to rooting an HTC One M7 on Verizon Wireless.
I've done a lot of research and I am genuinely confused about everything and really just need a few questions answered. I've done my research and done my googling but I still need some help.
I haven't rooted a phone in probably well over 2-3 years. The last phone I rooted was a HTC Evo on Sprint which was a breeze. I've had my HTC One for a little over a year now I believe. I'm getting kind of bored of it and I saw that CyanogenMod has come a long way since I last used it. Through my research I have found that the Verizon HTC One M7 is kind of difficult and complicated to root and I apparently need to S-OFF as well, which I have no experience with. My phone has been kept up-to-date (I know that's a bad thing in this case) and I'm running Android 4.4.3, software number 5.28.605.2, baseband version 1.13.41.0702. I'm not sure what out of that information is relevant but there you have it.
What I'm wanting to do is unlock/root/whatever my phone, install CWM recovery, and CM11. Now from the research I have done it appears that if I purchase SunShine S-Off (which looks like my only option) it will s-off, root, and unlock everything that is necessary to install the custom recovery and ROM.
So my questions are this:
I'm terrified of freezing/boot-loops because this is the first phone I'd be rooting without the ability of popping the battery out for a hard restart. Is it safe to modify this phone? Are there usually any issues?
Will SunShine do everything that I need to go from a stock Verizon HTC One to being able to flash CWM and CM11?
Are there any good tutorials on doing this with the latest updated Verizon HTC One M7? A lot of the tutorials I find seem to be outdated.
If the answer to the second question is yes, then all I need to do is purchase SunShine, follow install instructions for CWM, and follow install instructions for CM11, correct?
Thanks for your time and putting up with my stupid questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sunshine will unlock boot loader and gain S_off. I used it on my Vzw m7, best investment I ever made. After using sunshine all u have to do is flash custom recovery and then SuperSu
xxxxxxx
bdizzle1686 said:
Sunshine will unlock boot loader and gain S_off. I used it on my Vzw m7, best investment I ever made. After using sunshine all u have to do is flash custom recovery and then SuperSu
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how do i flash custom recovery? any instruction / link ? tks
**subscribed**as I'm in the almost exact same scenario as OP.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2416431
Adb reboot bootloader.
Fastboot flash recovery *name-of-image*.img
Fastboot reboot (or select recovery to be in twrp from bootloader menu and press power button)
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using XDA Free mobile app
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.
Hello everyone,
I was hoping someone here can help point me in the right direction. I am trying to downgrade my stock t-mobile one m8 from lollipop back to kitkat. I have been very unimpressed with lollipop on this phone, as it has significantly hurt the experience of my phone. While I like some things, the loss of lock screen widgets to be replaced by notifications was a pretty big blow to me. While I could almost like the new notifications, I do not like how I constantly have my wifi calling notification on my lock screen. Sure I could disable it, but then it's disabled when my phone is unlocked too, and I do like to know if wifi calling is on and working. Same goes for things like Pandora.
I could almost live with that, but then HTC decided to remove Zoe video creation out of the gallery and made it standalone. Now it's a watered down version of itself, that forces me to have to upload my vids to htc before I can even save a copy of my own locally generated content. :/ That is some major BS. So, the last gallery app to have zoe vids built in, is only for kitkat. That pretty much sealed the deal for me to go back.
I have done some research, and I have downloaded the RUU that would take me back to 4.4.4. Only problem is my hboot is now newer, so the RUU fails with error 140. I see mention of having to s-off my phone to unlock the bootloader, to downgrade it, but I haven't found any explicit instructions for the m8 on t-mo.
Is this the best way to accomplish what I want? Can someone please point me in the right direction? I've been searching, but I'm still unsure what is going to be needed. I may be ok with staying with lollipop, if I can get the older version of gallery working on it. Anyone know if that's been done?
Thanks in advance!!
Running a previous RUU ("downgrade") is in fact only possible with S-off, as it seems you have already figured out.
S-off by sunshine ($25 US). Its an APK, and self-explanatory. You don't need any more additional guide.
You only need s-off to run a previous RUU ("downgrade"). Unlocked bootloader is not necessary. Although if you choose to pay for sunshine, you might research bootloader unlock and what that means, and see if you want it (since sunshine can also unlock the bootloader).
http://theroot.ninja/
I ran sunshine to see if my device would at least pass the pre-test. Says I need to pre-root my phone. Is there a preferred method to use? I see most of the methods require unlocking the bootloader, but doesn't sunshine take care of that if I want? I really just need temp root to get this to s-off, and then run the RUU. I do not really want to root it after I get this back to 4.4.4, unless I really need to to be able to install the older gallery app, or prevent an auto update to lollipop or something.
Thanks again!
I'm actually not that familiar with the details of sunshine, since I did s-off long ago using the (no longer working) firewater method. I do know there used to be a temp root option in sunshine. But Android 4.4.4 and 5.0 s-off was just added to sunshine version 3.x a few weeks ago. It seems HTC had patched the previous sunshine (version 2.x) exploit, so I'm guessing they patched the temp root as well. So since its asking for the phone to be rooted already, I gather from this that the temp root method does not work for those Android versions.
If that is the case, my previous statement that you don't need to unlock the bootloader is not completely correct (for your Android version). As the only way to root then would be to unlock the bootloader via HTCDev.com; than root by a few different methods (install TWRP and flash SU/SuperSU is probably the most straight-forward).
But perhaps some folks more familiar with the most up-to-date sunshine info can chime in and confirm.
Apologies in advance for being dumb.....
I'm currently on an S4. Things are simple. I root. I install TWRP recovery. I flash whatever ROM I want. I flash back to full stock if I want to. Real easy.
I've been considering the HTC One M9, and reading up for a couple weeks now. I'm confused about some things....hoping someone can help clear things up.
First off, FYI - I'm Verizon.
I just read a page that explained the difference between root, unlocked bootloader, and s-off:
http://www.pocketables.com/2012/08/the-difference-between-root-s-offon-lockedunlocked-bootloader-in-the-htc-evo-series.html
I should clarify the *typical* reasons I don't stay stock with my S4 and previous phones:
Handful of apps I use that need root.
Benefiting from various things that custom ROMs give me - debloat, etc.
Hotspot
Now let's see if I can ask my questions correctly:
Can the HTC One M9 be rooted without unlocked bootloader and/or s-off? If for example I just wanted to be able to run apps that require root.
Unlocked bootloader - This is where I get confused with s-off. I know I can't use HTCDEV. And the folks that are shipping their phones to people with the special cards are looking to get s-off it seems. Can someone clarify if there will likely be a software method to unlock bootloader (without necessarily chasing after s-off)?
s-off: Given the reasons stated above that I typically don't stay stock, do I care about s-off? It sounds like with an unlocked bootloader I can do custom recovery and ROMs, and s-off just allows me to access additional stuff I wouldn't typically want to mess with...is this correct?
In all 3 scenarios above, is there the ability to return phone to full stock?
I'm due for an upgrade, and wanna get the phone, but worried I won't be able to do what I want with it, or be in a situation where I can't get a repair/replacement if something ever happens to it.
Thank you so much in advance for any insight someone can provide....
crackface said:
First off, FYI - I'm Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon does not allow the M9 to be unlocked. In order to do anything with that device, you will need to purchase a java card or find someone with one.
Go to the Verizon M9 forum for more information.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-one-m9
You might want to check other Verizon phones, but I highly doubt that the M9 is the only phone that verizon prevents from being unlocked. So you might be in the same boat no matter which device you choose.
jollywhitefoot said:
Verizon does not allow the M9 to be unlocked. In order to do anything with that device, you will need to purchase a java card or find someone with one.
Go to the Verizon M9 forum for more information.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-one-m9
You might want to check other Verizon phones, but I highly doubt that the M9 is the only phone that verizon prevents from being unlocked. So you might be in the same boat no matter which device you choose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops! Can a mod by chance move this to the Verizon specific forum? I thought that's where I was...
Bootloader boots the os.
Root gives special permissions to allow changes to root but certain parts of the device are locked (modem, radio etc).
S-off (secure off) gives full access to root and partitions. Allows permanent changes to modem, radio etc.
Non of these are needed by the average user and this point is made clear when said average user doesn't understand and cannot get their head around it.
Htc is not like samsung. Samsung openly support flashing devices by not locking the bootloader in the first place but on the flip side samsung roms are blatanly the fastest for their devices over custom roms.
Sent from a stolen HTC M9
shivadow said:
Bootloader boots the os.
Root gives special permissions to allow changes to root but certain parts of the device are locked (modem, radio etc).
S-off (secure off) gives full access to root and partitions. Allows permanent changes to modem, radio etc.
Non of these are needed by the average user and this point is made clear when said average user doesn't understand and cannot get their head around it.
Htc is not like samsung. Samsung openly support flashing devices by not locking the bootloader in the first place but on the flip side samsung roms are blatanly the fastest for their devices over custom roms.
Sent from a stolen HTC M9
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So my apologies in advance if I'm sounding like an idiot here....as with Verizon's announcement I'm now rushed to possibly purchase this phone at discounted rate.
I know with s-off I need to send it off to a friend of these forums with a donation. But I don't think I need s-off (not sure I need to flash radio and whatnot)...as I just want root and ability to flash custom recovery and a custom ROM. Can I do those things without having s-off (my reading tells me no, but want to be sure)? Or can root be acquired and ability for custom recovery without s-off? Or is there somewhere I can read that answers these questions in details?
And is there an ability to return to stock if I run into problems?
Sorry if these questions are redundant to my previous questions or prevailing answers provided.
Thanks for any info.
crackface said:
So my apologies in advance if I'm sounding like an idiot here....as with Verizon's announcement I'm now rushed to possibly purchase this phone at discounted rate.
I know with s-off I need to send it off to a friend of these forums with a donation. But I don't think I need s-off (not sure I need to flash radio and whatnot)...as I just want root and ability to flash custom recovery and a custom ROM. Can I do those things without having s-off (my reading tells me no, but want to be sure)? Or can root be acquired and ability for custom recovery without s-off? Or is there somewhere I can read that answers these questions in details?
And is there an ability to return to stock if I run into problems?
Sorry if these questions are redundant to my previous questions or prevailing answers provided.
Thanks for any info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your only choice is s-off. You cannot unlock your bootloader via HTC dev as Verizon blocks us. So the only way to do what you want is s-off. When I s-off someone's phone I also unlock the bootloader manually and flash twrp and supersu.
Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk
dottat said:
Your only choice is s-off. You cannot unlock your bootloader via HTC dev as Verizon blocks us. So the only way to do what you want is s-off. When I s-off someone's phone I also unlock the bootloader manually and flash twrp and supersu.
Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Verizon M9 S-OFF, but I could not unlock bootloader. Plz tell me how could I unlock bootloader.