Develop Bugs

[Q] Re-stockify can of worms

Sorry, me again!
I needed to re-lock and ‘stockify’ my HTC M8 today for a few reasons. It ended up taking me 4 hours, and I still have no idea if it’s ‘back’ to the way it was before I rooted it. Before you carry on reading, please know I’m fully aware any lack of understanding is my fault, and perhaps I should have realised that compared to the N4s blissfully easy steps, the HTC was a massive can of worms. However, I’m going to ask the below anyway, so hopefully someone is friendly and helpful enough to aid me in my quest for enlightenment of android stuff without me having to spend more hours searching than actually reading useful stuff…
So coming from a Nexus 4, where the guide is super simple:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ne...3923-guide-nexus-4-factory-image-restore.html
It turned out to be SERIOUSLY complicated. I’ve put down a ‘typical’ guide below, and put my questions about each step in bold. Sorry if it seems like I’m just complaining and being trite, but I’d like to know if A) I’ve missed a far easier way of doing this and if not B) is it just me that seems to have a massive amount of issues?
1. Made sure your device is S-Off. If not, download firewater and S-Off your device.
Assume this is just a thing that some phones have and some don’t?
2. Restore a nandroid of the stock Sense ROM, or find a stock ROM to flash. You'll have to dig around; I used a nandroid.
WHY? Is there no such thing as downloadable factory images for HTC One M8s? Also, where’s the step that says ‘run the commands fast boot erase user data, fast boot erase cache’ etc.?
3. Flash SuperSU.zip in recovery on top of the stock Sense ROM. You can find the SuperSU.zip here: http://download.chainfire.eu/396/SuperSU
Fair enough… still an another extra step compared to N4.
4. Use fast boot to flash the stock firmware zip to your device based on CID (this includes the stock recovery)
-This took SO MUCH EFFORT. Turns out I had to Super CID so that one of the recovery zips worked, because I was getting “FAILED (remote: 42 custom id check fail)” - and I’m now paranoid because I have no idea how important it is to get the correct CID-numbered ‘stock firmware’ etc. The ‘stock firmware’ zips seem to contain boot, radios, recovery .imgs, and with about 4 billion versions of the M8 apparently existing, could I have flashed a wrong boot or radio or something? ARE they even different per CID? Then I changed the CID back to O2___001 in case I need to take it in for warranty repairs, but is that trackable? Would someone know that I’ve messed around with the CID? Could someone going to look at my Nexus and be like “Oh this radio seems to be the one we’d expect on a HTC_001, NOT an O2___001 CID device, they must have tampered with it”.
—OH, and I had to boot into RUU mode as well, which apparently no one felt like explaining what the hell that’s for. So I’ve got and HBoot, a Fastboot, and RUU mode, which no clear way of knowing what to flash where…??
—-ALSO there was a HELL of a lot of faffing by people throwing around CID, MID, Verizon, Sprint, and comments like this doesn’t work on this AT&T model but will only work on non branded eu models with a flag attached to the speaker with an SSID of “600TZL” and a it MUST have a holographic projector otherwise your CID must equal the square root of the MID so that the factory image will know which ID your phone carrier provides through an inter web”.
5. Boot back up into sense, and follow this guide to remove the tampered banner in recovery. http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2708565
-Is this just removing a banner? or is it ‘you’ve removed the banner from a visual point of view only, but if they actually look into it it will still appeared ‘tampered’.
6. Follow this guide to lock your boot loader and make it say **LOCKED** instead of **RELOCKED**. http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2708571
-So ‘fast boot OEM lock’ doesn’t work on HTCs then- is that an N4 thing? Why all that complicated cmd line stuff? And on a side note, why is it that when referring to re-locking a N4 people call it just that- locking. But with an HTC people on XDA seem to say ‘to make the banner say locked’ as if its not actually locking it, just changing a bit of writing on the boot loader.
7. Boot your device back up, and open SuperSU. Go into settings and find the "full unroot" option and run that. Reboot your device like it suggests.
Does running the unroot zip (can’t find the thread) work? So I can make it appear like the HTC is brand new out of the box? Rather than having to go through the ‘first setup’ screen?
Other question: people seem to keep yammering on about modded RUUs, is there one? is there a couple? (i.e. should I view it a bit like TWRP and CWM- there’s others but there’s one everyone really uses). And if I ‘flash’ a modded RUU, again, is there an easily accessible stock one?

It's really not that complicated! I think the problem is comparing it to a Nexus 4 which is designed to be easily unlocked and locked, due to being a more developer orientated device.
An RUU is a stock image (like the Nexus images) and a modded one would just have the CID/MID requirement removed or something so it can be used on more phones. It would still be the stock, untampered image.
Also, the whole CID/MID thing is only applicable to American devices which vary between GSM and CDMA radios. ANY international modem will work in Europe and you will never find the wrong one.
S-Off is like unlocking the bootloader on a Nexus device except that in this case, its an extra step after unlocking the bootloader in order to be able to modify every partition and flash unsupported firmware in OEM mode. Every consumer phone is initially shipped S-On.

Thanks very much Veryone's v. helpful around here. Just a few more questions based on what you've said:
Matt said:
Also, the whole CID/MID thing is only applicable to American devices which vary between GSM and CDMA radios. ANY international modem will work in Europe and you will never find the wrong one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why did I have to Super-CID to install the stock recovery? And did I do the right thing by going back to my carrier CID afterwards?
Matt said:
S-Off is like unlocking the bootloader on a Nexus device except that in this case, its an extra step after unlocking the bootloader in order to be able to modify every partition and flash unsupported firmware in OEM mode. Every consumer phone is initially shipped S-On.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I've read in quite a few places I shouldn't have to S-On to take it in for a warranty repair, because some arrive to people S-off and they can't prove that you did it? Is that right?

Thank you for the step-by-step list. I am in the process of restoring my phone and all the guides say to look for "version-main", but that line is empty for me. What other information can I use to determine what recovery image to flash. Also the reason I want to go back to unrooted is so I can recieve OTA updates.

legolator said:
Thank you for the step-by-step list. I am in the process of restoring my phone and all the guides say to look for "version-main", but that line is empty for me. What other information can I use to determine what recovery image to flash. Also the reason I want to go back to unrooted is so I can recieve OTA updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this also happened to me- just another thing to confuse....
Can you not receive OTA updates if you're rooted? I thought it was just if you were running a different ROM?

tmorterlaing said:
this also happened to me- just another thing to confuse....
Can you not receive OTA updates if you're rooted? I thought it was just if you were running a different ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was under the impression that flashing a custom recovery removes the ability for the phone to install OTA updates. But I could of course be wrong about that.

Changing Firmware

Hi, everybody
I have an M8 (India), which had HTC__38 CID. I was on latest firmware with 5.0.1 Lollipop. Yesterday I S-OFFed with Sunshine 3.0 and changed my CID to SuperCID (11111111).
Now I read that if my device is S-OFF, I can flash any RUU or firmware. There is a thread about it, but it's very confusing. Can somebody plz guide me through it and what I can achieve with S-OFF and SuperCID. Thanks.

You can achieve anything - literally. Your phone is now completely unlocked.
If you don't know what you can do with it, though, why did you S-OFF? Cause all the cool kids have done it?

Hey, Eddy. Thanks for replying. I know what we can do with it. I am a little confused about the process. I have an Indian device for which there is no rug available. So I s-off ed the device, so I could flash any ruu or firmware I need. I just am not sure how to do that. There are a couple of guides for it, but they r very confusing.

Then ask for clarification in said thread, that's what it's there for.
Why do you want to change the FW? What are you hoping to achieve?

I already said I am confused about the whole thing.

blinkash said:
I already said I am confused about the whole thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to explain as best you can what you want to do to the phone, and/or what specific items you are confused about.
I can probably type several pages trying to answer you (based on the vagueness of your posts so far), without even properly addressing your concerns, desires, etc.

What I'm trying to say is, I'm on the latest firmware. In future if there is a ROM that requires an upgrade to firmware, would I still be able to flash that ROM or do I need to upgrade the firmware of my device?

If you ROM thread advises a certain FW package, then flash it. If not, don't.
For example, once Sense 7 is out for the M8 it'll be a new ROM build with a new FW package. Typically, the unbranded devices will get this first and it might be a few weeks for your region to get the update. So if a ROM is based on x.xx.401.x then it'd be best to use the same FW build

Running Lolipop ROM - No Wifi

Hey all
I've recently converted to S-OFF and want to run a 5.0.1 ROM and remove the RED TEXT on my splash screen. It should be simple ... but it's really not lol.
I paid the 25$ to Sunshine, but I'm not sure what else to do here.
Anyone able to dumb it down for someone new to this? I've never dabbled in HBOOT before.
The boot times are insane after a ROM flash, the WiFi not working is a problem.
Tips? For what its worth, I'm on ROGERS in Canada.

Long boot time and broken WiFi are a known and common symptom of outdated firmware. You need to update your firmware (easy to do with s-off) there are a couple threads in Development which will tell you how. Some firmwares probably already contain the "no red text" modified hboot.

redpoint73 said:
Long boot time and broken WiFi are a known and common symptom of outdated firmware. You need to update your firmware (easy to do with s-off) there are a couple threads in Development which will tell you how. Some firmwares probably already contain the "no red text" modified hboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm trying to do ... it's not that simple. I'll try to find that thread though. This is driving me insane. Paid the $25 to get S-OFF and I still can't run a 5.0.1 ROM properly ... seems wasteful.

ChrisDuffy20 said:
That's what I'm trying to do ... it's not that simple. I'll try to find that thread though. This is driving me insane. Paid the $25 to get S-OFF and I still can't run a 5.0.1 ROM properly ... seems wasteful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like you didn't thoroughly research what s-off was, before paying for it. S-off in itself doesn't effect the ROM or day-to-day the operation of the phone. Its just a security setting that allows you to access and modify certain partitions (that are normally write-protected). Nothing more, nothing less. S-off gives you the access to do something; now you need to go do that thing.
There are a couple different relevant threads in Development regarding the updating of firmware. Here is the one I prefer to point folks to: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2696282
Plus, many custom ROM threads mention updating firmware in the top posts; and its been discussed quite a bit in the ROM threads and other threads.

redpoint73 said:
It sounds like you didn't thoroughly research what s-off was, before paying for it. S-off in itself doesn't effect the ROM or day-to-day the operation of the phone. Its just a security setting that allows you to access and modify certain partitions (that are normally write-protected). Nothing more, nothing less. S-off gives you the access to do something; now you need to go do that thing.
There are a couple different relevant threads in Development regarding the updating of firmware. Here is the one I prefer to point folks to: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2696282
Plus, many custom ROM threads mention updating firmware in the top posts; and its been discussed quite a bit in the ROM threads and other threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I explained I was unclear with this HBOOT / S-OFF stuff. Hence why I reached out to the community. I attempted to flash a firmware file, but the CID didn't match or something. I'm assuming ROGERS specific matters. I found the carrier specific one, and until I'm advised otherwise, I will download / flash it.

When flashing a Rogers Firmware, I save the file as 0P6BIMG.ZIP, place it on the SD card, boot into HBOOT and wait. It comes up saying Model ID is incorrect. Update Fail. Press Power to Reboot.
All I want is to run a 5.0.1 ROM as close to stock looking as possible, and rooted ...
Am I doing something wrong?
EDIT - For what it's worth, I see the following
CID-ROGERS001
HBOOT-3.16.0.0000
RADIO-1.16.2133156.UA10G

ChrisDuffy20 said:
When flashing a Rogers Firmware
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get this file from?

redpoint73 said:
Where did you get this file from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2710735
That thread there. When it runs, it'll take forever, a small progress bar on the right shows up. About 7-10 minutes later, something written in green is covered up by red text "press power to reboot"
S-OFF is done. SuperCID is done. Firmware is still 4.4.4 and I can't seem to update it.

ChrisDuffy20 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2710735
That thread there. When it runs, it'll take forever, a small progress bar on the right shows up. About 7-10 minutes later, something written in green is covered up by red text "press power to reboot"
S-OFF is done. SuperCID is done. Firmware is still 4.4.4 and I can't seem to update it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those are TWRP backups, you can't update the way you are trying.
They are just stock ROMs. Not the "firmware" we want and are talking about (hboot, radio, etc.).
I'm not having much success finding current firmware for Rogers. Although some posts seem to imply that the AT&T firmware might work just as well. Do you know what bands are used by Rogers for 3G and LTE?

Updater Bug: Unable to restart to recovery

Hello,
I wanted to install the newest nightly update. But when I tap "Install" it says "Unable to restart to recovery". Ive got a few questions here:
What causes this and why doesnt the errormessage explain itself?
Can I apply the update myself somehow (Where is it located and how can I apply it)?
Greetings,
Ravior

Honestly, if you don't know how to get to recovery then I highly suggest you stay away from modding android phones.
Beamed in by telepathy.

shivadow said:
Honestly, if you don't know how to get to recovery then I highly suggest you stay away from modding android phones.
Beamed in by telepathy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did I say anything about that? You assumed that and simply insulted me.
Of course I know how to get there. I did that several times for installing and trying out stuff. But how should I know that I can simply go there and apply the update by selecting it and chosing install. I asked for that information and you didnt gave it to me, instead you where insultive. Had a bad day or what?

can you boot in Recovery via adb (adb reboot recovery)

Have same issue. The other day I tried to go from viperone 3.5, s off, unlocked/rooted, twrp installed 3.0.
After the installation attempt using clean install, got stuck in a bootloop. Finally was able to install a stock rom 5.0 using ruu. S off, unlocked
Now I cannot log into recovery.. I get that splsh screen with red waning text below but the top section in red says cannot load recovery. I tried a few reasons over the last few days, trying fastboot/adb but can not load twrp. Tried everything from 2.8xxx to 3.xxx.
cid is 11111111.
Also tried some other ruu's but says its not for my device, but it is. Unlocked, m9, hima
scratching my head here, I must be missing something

RaviorMetal said:
Did I say anything about that? You assumed that and simply insulted me.
Of course I know how to get there. I did that several times for installing and trying out stuff. But how should I know that I can simply go there and apply the update by selecting it and chosing install. I asked for that information and you didnt gave it to me, instead you where insultive. Had a bad day or what?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If had read anything to do with installing ANY rom it will have detailed instructions on how to install it, usually it will tell you how to get to recovery too. Even if it doesn't tell you how to get to recovery it is a google search away.
Spoon feeding is a no-no. You must try to solve issues yourself before asking and refer to the forum for "obtuse" issues.
As for the detailed output of why it failed, usually you get some sort of error code or phrase as to why. If not then you have to start looking into logcat. You will notice that it failed to boot to recovery so manually doing it will resolve that, then you just follow whatever guide you were using after that step..
I understand that things can get overwhelming when flashing devices but it is all part of the learning curve and knowing how to navigate your device is essential before even considering changing anything.
Further more, I didn't insult you. I didn't intend to. It was an honest opinion because if you don't do the basics you WILL "become a cropper", you'll probably brick your device.
Back to basics is my advice before you proceed to mess with ANY device.
bigjailerman said:
Have same issue. The other day I tried to go from viperone 3.5, s off, unlocked/rooted, twrp installed 3.0.
After the installation attempt using clean install, got stuck in a bootloop. Finally was able to install a stock rom 5.0 using ruu. S off, unlocked
Now I cannot log into recovery.. I get that splsh screen with red waning text below but the top section in red says cannot load recovery. I tried a few reasons over the last few days, trying fastboot/adb but can not load twrp. Tried everything from 2.8xxx to 3.xxx.
cid is 11111111.
Also tried some other ruu's but says its not for my device, but it is. Unlocked, m9, hima
scratching my head here, I must be missing something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, missing the cid is supercid. No longer valid. Cid and mid must match the firmware you're trying to install.
The bigger issue is not being able to get to recovery at all... Will it go to download mode?.
Obviously you've read flippy's thread and sneakyghosts thread?
Beamed in by telepathy.

Yes those threads brought me back from a soft brick....
I remember back when I first rooted and installed viper there has to be a way to change the cid, isnt there?
Thanks btw

bigjailerman said:
Yes those threads brought me back from a soft brick....
I remember back when I first rooted and installed viper there has to be a way to change the cid, isnt there?
Thanks btw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there is, it's done via a command in fastboot but I can't remember if you can do it with just root or if you need s-off too..
Beamed in by telepathy.

So, obviously you both didn't read my thread since it contains a guide for changing your CID/MID...
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs

Flippy498 said:
So, obviously you both didn't read my thread since it contains a guide for changing your CID/MID...
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aint nobody got time fo dat!. It's confusing for idiots like me.. My attention span is... Oo ice cream!..
Beamed in by telepathy.

Flippy498 said:
So, obviously you both didn't read my thread since it contains a guide for changing your CID/MID...
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No honestly, I re read everything and t is right there, no question and it is appreciated. I was just concentrating on how to get back to a version of TWRP. Finally I was able to do that and still unlocked, S Off and have a TWRP 2.7 but every time I try to go higher I get the cannot boot recovery in the red letters. My bottom line was to install a 7.1.x rom. That is what caused all my original issue, tried to update into 7.1.1 RR Rom and everything crashed. I used a RUU you have in that thread (THANK YOU) and was able to get out of bootloop on RR bootanimation. I am running on stock 5.x, rooted as well.
Is there anyway to still move forward? Do I need to change the CID to match the firmware I choose within the device choices?
Thanks for all your earlier posts and it has become invaluable and thanks for any advice going forward.: good:

TWRP versions above 3.x require your M9 to be at least using firmware 3.x. The same applies to android 6/7 based roms. Either restore the correct CID for your SKU, flash the latest available 3.x RUU for that SKU and then install all missing updates via the software update function of the stock rom or restore the correct CID and look for a full-wipe firmware pack in Sneakyghost's firmware thread (located in the development section). Be aware that his packs don't contain a rom but that shouldn't be a problem at all if you want to install RR, anyway.

After S-OFF can I go from 3.xx.yyy.xx to 4.xx.zzz.xx?

I've gone through the (extremely confusing) readme thread several times but would appreciate a concrete answer on dev edition conversion.
My phone is hima_ulatt / firmware v3.38.502.12 / OPJA11000 / CWS_001.
So my question is, once i:
unlock bootloader > s-off > write cid BS_US001,
can i install ruu 4.30.617.12 or would i have to stay within 3.xx.617.xx versions?

jbonetwo said:
I've gone through the (extremely confusing) readme thread several times but would appreciate a concrete answer on dev edition conversion.
My phone is hima_ulatt / firmware v3.38.502.12 / OPJA11000 / CWS_001.
So my question is, once i:
unlock bootloader > s-off > write cid BS_US001,
can i install ruu 4.30.617.12 or would i have to stay within 3.xx.617.xx versions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know you can't install a 4.x Ruu on 3.x firmware.
The encryption is different.

bubba1601 said:
As far as I know you can't install a 4.x Ruu on 3.x firmware.
The encryption is different.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there no way to update to the 4.xx versions then? The AT&T software update won't let me upgrade at all (says no updates found).

jbonetwo said:
Is there no way to update to the 4.xx versions then? The AT&T software update won't let me upgrade at all (says no updates found).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download a 4.x based rom, there are several in the rom thread including the latest development rom.
They are stock ROMs that you can flash through twrp.
This one I've used and had no issues with.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/on...m9-4-14-617-6-stock-root-twrp-backup-t3518149
But if you are locked to ATT (unlike me because I'm in Europe and the European M9 is a GSM version.
You might want to try this version (ATT)
https://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/development/rom-stock-nougat-4-23-617-1-unlocked-t3553470

bubba1601 said:
Download a 4.x based rom, there are several in the rom thread including the latest development rom.
They are stock ROMs that you can flash through twrp.
This one I've used and had no issues with.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/on...m9-4-14-617-6-stock-root-twrp-backup-t3518149
But if you are locked to ATT (unlike me because I'm in Europe and the European M9 is a GSM version.
You might want to try this version (ATT)
https://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/development/rom-stock-nougat-4-23-617-1-unlocked-t3553470
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!!

Please elaborate a bit further which part of the ReadMe thread confuses you. It's meant to be a helpful resource and if it's confusing at some point then it might need to get overhauled.
Flashing a rom won't update the firmware. Therefore, the linked roms won't help you much. (C.f. the article that is linked as "the difference between rom and firmware" in the further reading section of the ReadMe thread.)
You need to update the phone with an unencrypted firmware pack (that means an OTA or one of Sneakyghost's firmware packs). As already explained in this thread, RUUs with firmware 4.x use new encryption keys and therefore can't be used for updating from firmware 3.x. In addition, AT&T won't let you install OTAs on their branded phones if you aren't using one of their sim cards.
Either you convert to the 3.x version of the dev firmware and install the available OTAs afterwards or you need to flash a 4.x AT&T firmware pack from Sneakyghost's thread before you convert if you want to directly use the latest dev edition RUU.
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs

I got confused too. It's confusing because the paragraphs digress and don't just follow the basic procedures. Probably because the information is necessary but not formatted into idiot speak.. idiot speak is what i needed.
So i thought "fk it my phone is dying anyway so how bad can it get"?.
If you're changing the cid and mid via fastboot do it first and get the firmware.zip of the region you want, at the phones CURRENT firmware level.
Flash the zip version of the firmware from external sdcard. To do that you need to
S-OFF: DONT NEED TO CHANGE ANYTHING.
S-ON: LOCK BOOTLOADER?? (CLARIFY)/CHANGE NOTHING?
rename the firmware.zip* file to whatever the filename asks for at the bottom of download mode (voldown+power), eg 0PJA***.ZIP.
copy it to the external Sdcard (not in a folder, just on its own), reboot phone to download mode, follow prompts.
THE PHONE WILL REBOOT MANY TIMES AND SHOULD TAKE AROUND 30 MINS TO 1 HOUR TO COMPLETE. DO NOT TOUCH THE PHONE. DO NOT TURN IT OFF. DO NOT UNPLUG IT FROM THE CHARGER. Leave it alone!!.
Once that completes you can take the ota.

Well, not everyone owns an SD card and there are other methods for flashing RUUs. That's why the RUU section describes all methods and the conversion guide only has a link to the RUU section. (The steps you describe are all mentioned in the guide for the SD card method.) This way users can choose which method they want to use. And describing all methods in both posts doesn't seem to make sense in my eyes, either.
The infos above the instructions of each post are actually needed for understanding why things are how they are if you've never owned an HTC device before. I can add a title "general info" for making clearer that the posts don't start with instructions, though.
The fact that you don't need to re-lock or lock the bootloader (neither for RUUs nor for OTAs) is e.g. explained in these additional infos. It's not mentioned in the instructions since that info itself is not an instruction.
Btw, a RUU reboots the phone only once and the flash shouldn't take longer than a couple of minutes. OTAs on the other hand can take up to am hour and reboot the phone several times.
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs

Yes you are correct as always flippy. The reflash back to stock takes minutes while ota takes an age. Forgot that bit.
You also redefined what i said.. the posts digress to cover all eventualities but it is overwhelming to eejits like myself.
If it was laid out basic THEN cover the eventualities it'd be easier to follow. The english can be a tad broken too, which confuses the fk out of native English speakers like myself.
My post is just the basic. Nothing more, nothing less. If you bork your phone with my instruction it will be a hardware or user fault.
The only thing I'm not sure of, because my phone is s-off, is whether or not the bootloader must be locked or relocked with s-on. Otherwise with s-off they dont matter.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're feeding false info, I'm just saying that non native english speakers seem to have better results following your instructions better than native speakers, for some reason..

Flippy498 said:
Please elaborate a bit further which part of the ReadMe thread confuses you. It's meant to be a helpful resource and if it's confusing at some point then it might need to get overhauled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info @Flippy498. I'll be re-reading everything thoroughly before attempting anything as i don't want to end up with a brick.
The readme is indeed confusing. It captures the evolution of the m9 since fw 1.xx and the corresponding changes to modding procedures. While this makes for a great catalogue of all info, even a seasoned flash-o-phile would find it difficult to navigate the veritable minefield of do's and don't's.
I'd love to redo the logic of the thread myself but don't know enough about this device yet. but perhaps something that determines one's fw/mid/cid through fastboot first, followed by targeted instructions for achieving different goals based on those differences would be much more legible. (e.g. if fw v 3.xx, do this to unlock but warning about flashing 4.xx). As it stands, coming from v 3.xx, one has to read several disjointed notes peppered around the thread only some of which are relevant and this only adds to the confusion via information overload.

If you have s-off youre good to go in any circumstances. Just check the os that it is on and return it to stock of that version os OR
If you change the cid and mid just flash to stock of THAT version AND the region you change to. Like changing from 401 to 617 you flash the 617 because it matches the cid and mid you changed to. It must still match the os version the phone is on ie marshmallow 3.35.xxx.xx, making it the 3.35.617.xx firmware you'd be looking to flash to get stock marshmallow..
Then you just take the ota updates as far as you like.
I flashed 2 s-off phones back to stock in the last week in one sitting and it was easy, just as I explained.
It's just bootloader in s-on conditions that I personally don't know and that throws me a bit. I don't know if it's a requirement or not. I'd highly recommend buying s-off via sunshine in all cases but otherwise flippy would have to answer a simple yes or no to "bootloader locked for s-on flashing?" or you'd have to dredge it up on a search site. The other option is bite the bullet and flash anyway hoping it boots you out with an error.

shivadow said:
flippy would have to answer a simple yes or no to "bootloader locked for s-on flashing?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't matter whether the bootloader is locked, re-locked or unlocked.
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Labs

shivadow said:
If you have s-off youre good to go in any circumstances. Just check the os that it is on and return it to stock of that version os OR
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your method worked great! changed cid & mid to dev edition, flashed dev edition and then used 'software update' to catch up to latest version. couldn't be easier, thanks!
Now for that obnoxious red text...

I take no credit for anything. All I did was make the process clearer. Glad you're sorted!.