Hi,
So ive spent at least a total of 12hours on this phone trying to unlock it. - im only posting this, in the hope to spare a lot of other peoples time by sharing my experience and hoping to get some advice.
I have submitted an unlock via IMEI to 3 different servers to retrieve the factory unlock code, and all codes ive got are not unlocking the phone.
This phone belongs to a customer of mine, and had started into the venture of unlocking it alternatively as they wanted the phone unlocked some how, i had explained its possible with root and custom roms etc.
So i started my venture and have come to very little success.
I had downloaded TWRP recovery and unlocked bootloader, and once it was installed and flashed with fastboot, my phone would not turn on. - i had used HTC M8 files, and not HTC M8s files - i was stuck in M8 recovery. - i had used these files as any search for HTC M8s would fill up with just the M8 edition.
Endless playing with different combinations of buttons, just holding the power button for a long time got the phone to boot up. (if i left the phone off, and had it charging, the charging logo would show up on a "bootloop" and would not power up, back to the "bricked" mode it was in. -unplug charger and playing with combinations of buttons to get back on)
(If your in this state and panicking, dont panic, your phone is stuck in m8 recovery that i flashed and holding power should kick you out of it, make sure your usb isnt connected)
Enter fastboot mode holding volume down and power and flash htc m8s TWRP-recovery solved all issues with recovery loops and boot errors.
It took me a long time to find the M8s TWRP and recovery files, but on flashing them, my phone booted into M8s recovery and i was able to install SuperUser and root phone.
I was then at the situation of turning the S-On, to S-Off. - More problems.
The tutorial i followed was suggesting to use firewater, and after endless rebooting and downloading SDK files etc, couldnt get S-OFF as i was getting error PID file format only. - HTC has patched this method - time to move on......... FIREWATER DOES NOT WORK.
I was trying to avoid the situation of paying any more to unlock, so giving up had turned to the Sunshine S-OFF tool. This costs $25, and is a simple android app to turn rooted devices from s-On to s-OFF. - I installed and downloaded it to find HTC M8s is not compatible.
A message to all HTC M8s Owners looking to unlock there device for Free, or as a last resort if factory unlock is not available. ---> As of this date, its not possible to turn S-OFF without a "javacard" which is a device to plug into sd slot and magically turns it off.... sorry. - Thus not possible to unlock via root.
If there is a solution, please do let me know, this phone has eaten me up. I have to go to the service provider and try get the code from them.
You talking about sim unlocking ? Even with s-off you can't just sim unlock it, even with a custom rom you can't just sim unlock it.
Firewater is offline now for over a year already and if sunshine isn't compatible there is just no (affordable) way to s-off.
All those methods are not working anymore. You really need a working code or help from the carrier.
Bootloader unlocking and running custom roms or rooted stock is totally different to carrier unlocking a device. And also would like to mention that the M8s is not very supported with custom roms. There are about 2 roms i know of.
And make absolutely sure that you know what you are doing and create a pure STOCK NANDROID BACKUP (one before you pushed root) so you are able to bring the device back to stock for future ota updates.
You can not update a rooted rom (also not a stock one) once rooted the system is changed and can't be undone so you definitely need a "never rooted stock rom"
And the needed files are easily to find actually because there is a dedicated thread here for the M8s.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3114245
Related
Well after almost a week of Googling, I've given up.
My Dad's HTC One M7 seems to be soft bricked (i.e. No OS), and will only enter the fastboot menu. All options therein (factory reset, fastboot), just put the device back in fastboot mode.
I then tried to unlock the device on the HTC site. I got to the final stage (flashing with unlock code, which shows as successful on my computer), and the confirmation screen on my phone does not appear. It is still showing *LOCKED*.
Moving from here the only option seemed to be an RUU, however this only seems to work with S-OFF. My S is most definitely ON. To make it S-OFF, I think I'd need to boot onto an OS and enter debug mode.
I have an OTA file for my carrier which seems to be up to date. Is there any chance this would help?
So I'm sort of chasing my tail here, any help would be appreciated. One possible solution would be if I could possibly unlock a bricked device? (A rare request from what I gather, as most phones are bricked after custom ROMs).
I find it so frustrating that this has happened when I've never even rooted/unlocked the device. I'd never seen the bootloader menu before this.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
m7misery said:
Well after almost a week of Googling, I've given up.
My Dad's HTC One M7 seems to be soft bricked (i.e. No OS), and will only enter the fastboot menu. All options therein (factory reset, fastboot), just put the device back in fastboot mode.
I then tried to unlock the device on the HTC site. I got to the final stage (flashing with unlock code, which shows as successful on my computer), and the confirmation screen on my phone does not appear. It is still showing *LOCKED*.
Moving from here the only option seemed to be an RUU, however this only seems to work with S-OFF. My S is most definitely ON. To make it S-OFF, I think I'd need to boot onto an OS and enter debug mode.
I have an OTA file for my carrier which seems to be up to date. Is there any chance this would help?
So I'm sort of chasing my tail here, any help would be appreciated. One possible solution would be if I could possibly unlock a bricked device? (A rare request from what I gather, as most phones are bricked after custom ROMs).
I find it so frustrating that this has happened when I've never even rooted/unlocked the device. I'd never seen the bootloader menu before this.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to ask in the m7 sections. This is the m8 area. What rom was it running? . I have a couple things to try if it's a Verizon one.
m7misery said:
Well after almost a week of Googling, I've given up.
My Dad's HTC One M7 seems to be soft bricked (i.e. No OS), and will only enter the fastboot menu. All options therein (factory reset, fastboot), just put the device back in fastboot mode.
I then tried to unlock the device on the HTC site. I got to the final stage (flashing with unlock code, which shows as successful on my computer), and the confirmation screen on my phone does not appear. It is still showing *LOCKED*.
Moving from here the only option seemed to be an RUU, however this only seems to work with S-OFF. My S is most definitely ON. To make it S-OFF, I think I'd need to boot onto an OS and enter debug mode.
I have an OTA file for my carrier which seems to be up to date. Is there any chance this would help?
So I'm sort of chasing my tail here, any help would be appreciated. One possible solution would be if I could possibly unlock a bricked device? (A rare request from what I gather, as most phones are bricked after custom ROMs).
I find it so frustrating that this has happened when I've never even rooted/unlocked the device. I'd never seen the bootloader menu before this.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe best to see if you can unlock it via HTC Dev(as u are in fastboot mode)
Then install custom recovery, full wipe and flash a new rom via adb sideload, that will give you the system back and it should boot.
m7misery said:
Moving from here the only option seemed to be an RUU, however this only seems to work with S-OFF.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is false. RUU is designed to run on stock devices and will run just fine with S-on or S-off as long as you are running the correct RUU for your version (and also the RUU number needs to be equal or greater than what is on the phone, you can't "downgrade" while S-on).
But as mentioned previously, this forum section is for the M8 as clearly noted in the forum title. You need to get advice in the M7 forum, as advice given here (applicable to the M8) can be incorrect or even harmful to your device.
It been a long time.. Well maybe 3years since i been on xda. I still remember how to root and flash this n that n etc... But yesterday i wanted to get started on flashing my verizon m8 onto a rom. Yeah little complicated. I tried everything to unlock my bootloader i keep getting the 172 error. Still considered S-on, So i just left that alone and tried to go #oldschool. I tried to update using htc sync manager. But I had to leave and go to the store. Left this on the computer to finish updating. came back 20-30mins later its on a black htc screen with the green line across. So i thought it was just finished But my computer had been frozed for 10mins. (ive checked the time) but Now it gotten bricked. i can only boot into hboot... Fastboot... And ruu.. But not recovery... I Already downloaded the rom, and the latest twrp recovery on my pc. But im still s-on.. I really don't got time to start from scratch and just factory reset this.. And im no longer worried about my data and shxt because i know im eventually going to losed them anyway. So right now its on fastboot. My win7 detects it in fastboot usb. So where do i go from here? Anybody? No worries though :fingers-crossed: :angel:
You can't unlock the bootloader on the VZN version by HTCDev.com, you need to s-off by sunshine, then use sunshine to unlock the bootloader.
Unfortunately, sunshine requires a working OS. So first you'll need to RUU back to working stock. http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-htc-one-m8/general/official-ruu1-55-605-2-t2883845
After that, you will need to root (think kingroot is the mot common method) then you can load the sunshine app ($25 license) to s-off and unlock the bootloader: http://theroot.ninja/
Once the bootloader is unlocked, you can load custom recovery TWRP and flash a custom ROM.
But keep in mind, there are kernel differences between the VZN version and most other M8 versions. Meaning, you will need to either flash a ROM that explicitly states it supports the VZN M8; or you can flash other ROMs, but you will need the proper kernel.
You'll want to read up in the Verizon M8 forum section, as this version has some peculiarities, as I've mentioned: http://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-htc-one-m8
hello
i attempted to unlock bootloader on my wife's old HTC M8 (Australian/Vodafone), i was able to unlock the bootloader, but had to do some serious trial and error to get a custom recovery installed, eventually got an older twrp loaded, but the phone just refused to boot into recovery.
i then relocked the bootloader (no S-OFF), and when i try and unlock he bootloader now, the phone attempts to boot into the recovery, and is failing...
i've been trying to find an RUU from somewhere, just to blat the phone back to an old state, and try again.
are there RUUs available anywhere? i dont' care if its not for the local carrier, i just want to get a basic android rom on the thing.
However, im curious if i need to s-off to do this (wasnt the case with my previous HTC)
help!
what an idiot, i assumed this was an htc One m8, it wasnt, its an m7... reposting in there ...
Hi all -
The info I've found here on out on web is a little scattered, I was hoping someone might be able to help me confirm the steps to return this phone to stock OEM so I can ship it back warranty replacement....I already have a new phone in my possession from Verizon. Old phone works fine, just doesn't connect to Verizon's 4G LTE Rage Extender I got, so they decided to replace phone.
What I have:
Obv an HTC One M9 that I got nearly 1 1/2 to 2 years ago.
"The clip" which I used to S-Off.
Unlocked bootloader (which I don't remember how I did that).
Firmware 3.37.605.15.
A ROM, which I'm oddly not seeing in the XDA developer section for this phone anymore, but I still have the zip file if that matters - 3/37.605.15_HIMA_WL_M60_SENSE70_VZW_MRDEODEX_DEBLOATED.zip. This ROM is (obviously) rooted. Perhaps it was retired.
TWRP 3.0.2-0.
When powered off, and I hold Vol Up and Power, I get to hTC FTM mode, which offers me menu items of:
reboot
reboot bootloader
simlock tool
device info tool
If I select reboot bootloader, it goes to another screen where up top is says Software Status Official, UNLOCKED, and S-OFF with the following menu:
REBOOT
REBOOT TO BOOTLOADER
BOOT TO DOWNLOAD MODE
BOOT TO RECOVERY MODE
DDR TEST
POWER DOWN
I found a couple links with guides on loading phone back to stock:
https://boycracked.com/2016/10/31/official-htc-one-m9-usa-verizon-stock-rom/
and......
http://www.droidviews.com/how-to-restore-verizon-htc-one-m9-to-stock-using-ruu/
With the understanding that I'm unclear about all the needed steps, I attempted to list what I think *may* be the steps to return this puppy to full stock/OEM:
Install HTC Sync or HTC USB Drivers
Ensure USB Debugging is enabled
Connect device to PC via USB
Get to command prompt with adb and run 'ADB devices' to make sure the device is seen
Reboot phone to bootloader. The article above says Vol Down + Power, but I thought I got to it via Vol Up + Power???? Vol Down + Power seems to get me to Download mode (which I think is OK as well from what I recall)
....or alternatively run adb reboot bootloader
One article above says go to fastboot, but I see no menus that offer me fastboot? Can I just do this part in download mode?
Run 'fastboot devices' from cmd prompt to ensure everything is working
Run 'fastboot flash zip 0PJAIMG.zip' (the RUU file is linked in the article
Now as far as I can gather, that just gets me stock, non rooted stock ROM, right?
Don't I still need to kill off TWRP?
This link shows a stock recovery, would I then flash this to get rid of TWRP?:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-one-m9/development/stock-5-1-resources-2-6-605-15-t3183752
*EDIT#3"* - In the boycracked link I posted above, is just has me downloading adb and HTC fast boot, the loading a zip file, which it doesn't specify, but I'm guessing would be the ODEX 3.37.605.15 firmware linked further below. This contains firmware AND stock ROM I assume since it's like 2.5 GB? Can I assume I still need to worry about flashing stock recovery? Do I need to do anything with the Boot Img? These are the parts I'm getting confused on.
After handling recovery, the only thing I'm missing is locking getting the bootloader from unlocked to locked (how do I do this??), and then I need to use the "clip" to S-ON the device?
*EDIT*: It looks like sunshine app supports Vzn M9 now, so guess I don't have to use my clip anymore?
*EDIT#2*: Didn't realize the Sunshine app cost $25....may as well try and use the clip I guess.
Am I even in the ballpark?? ANY advice or help is so very much appreciated.....
I don't want to brick my mostly working phone and then hafta consider options for buying a now.
Thank you a ton in advance....
Crackface
It's been a while since I did it, and my M9 doesn't boot anymore (I'm assuming it's a hardware defect) otherwise I'd double check. There's a guide here that goes over putting your phone back into s-on (don't remember which one off the top of my head, just do a Google search for htc one m9 s-on. Actually I remember there being a guide on this site that walks through going back to stock. So you do s-on, and re-lock the bootloader (you need to be root to do that the way I saw, since it's done manually by writing blocks with dd). After that you can reflash the stock firmware, recovery partition and the rom (all of which were available in a single RUU in the guide I mentioned earlier). If I remembered everything off the top of my head I'd give more clear instructions, but this should at least set you in the right direction.
I was finally successful at returning to stock last night. If it helps anyone else, I'd like to confirm what I did. I apologize in advance for some of the spotty and generic information my intent with this post is to just confirm the sequence of events, not list every single command (in case I don't have them right and misinformation), as there's plenty of articles you gather for the specifics.
Install HTC drivers on PC (Mine were already installed).
Download a copy of htc_boot and adb onto PC (I found both on this link https://boycracked.com/2016/10/31/official-htc-one-m9-usa-verizon-stock-rom/).
Grab Stock Boot-Img and Stock Recovery from above link.
Use HTC_Fastboot to flast Boot-Img while phone is in download mode.
Use HTC_Fastboot to flash Stock Recovery while phone is in download mode.
Use XTC 2 Clip to lock bootloader (see XTC 2 Clip instructions pdf).
Use XTC 2 Clip to s-on.
At this point if you boot phone with Vol Down + Power and no sdcard in it you should boot to Download mode, which should show in red text at top that you're locked and s-on.
I got 3.37.605.13 Official Signed RUU (https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=65358513&postcount=4), put on sdcard, renamed to 0PJAIMG.zip, went to stock recovery, and flashed that.
I booted ok, but not done yet because I still had stuff left on internal SD card plus SU app was still there.
Used ES File Explorer to remove stuff off internal sd card (be sure to remove from recycle bin too).
Did factory reset on phone.
Done
That finally got me a 100% stock ROM (no SU), locked, s-on, stock recovery, and I'll be honest I'm not sure what the Boot-Img was for. But I compared everything side by side to new phone and they match 100%.
I welcome any corrections to anything I may have stated wrong, simply trying to save the next person 15-20 hours or so I spent trial and erroring my way through the process.
Best of luck!
Hi guys,
Got a phone a need to revive. I received unusable. Mother gave it to my sisters friend and she said it doesnt work. I now see why cause he was trying to mod it.
I managed to once get into TWRP but cant anymore. It was UNLOCKED but now RELOCKED which I possibly made it a little harder for me.
So currently "fastboot getvars" reports back all the info. It's showing version-main 6.13.206.5 and I just want official O2 stock so can use the phone. Ideally sim unlocked but could hassle O2 for that later since it was my mother's contract.
Basically just want to get a working recovery image on and then flash stock. CID is 02__001
Any suggestion to revive this welcomed, please.
So it still have twrp on it ? If yes, boot to twrp recovery then restore the stock backup.
You can find all you need in my thread - https://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/help/tutorial-how-to-stock-stock-twrp-t3086860
Post #1 - how-to
Post #3 - you'll find the O2 stock backup
Post #5 - you'll find O2 firmware, install firmware after you restore the backup
ckpv5 said:
So it still have twrp on it ? If yes, boot to twrp recovery then restore the stock backup.
You can find all you need in my thread - https://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/help/tutorial-how-to-stock-stock-twrp-t3086860
Post #1 - how-to
Post #3 - you'll find the O2 stock backup
Post #5 - you'll find O2 firmware, install firmware after you restore the backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I cannot get into it. When I select HBOOT, then select recovery it just shows white screen, ANDROID and then back to the menu. TWRP no longer works. That's what I'm trying to fix or put on a stock recovery image and then stock OS/firmware.
Just wondering if I need to UNLOCK it again and also do I need USB debug on. I cannot boot into OS so unable to set USB debug.
To UNLOCK bootloader can that be done if you can only get into bootloader menu? S-ON is enabled but not 100% that will stop recovering it? That's just for signed rom/firmware and I just need something stock.
You don't need usb debugging on to unlock the bootloader as it is done on fastboot mode (bootloader).
First I suggest you install the O2 firmware only then see whether you can boot to OS (assuming the OS is still stock base)
Second, re unlock bootloader with unlock_code.bin that you can get from htcdev.com, install twrp 3.x and restore the stock backup and relock bootloader and reflash firmware. This will get your device to fully stock.
So far, I don't see any RUU for your device version that you can get for free, only paid site has it.
Tainted said:
I managed to once get into TWRP but cant anymore. It was UNLOCKED but now RELOCKED which I possibly made it a little harder for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Relocking the bootloader renders the phone unable to boot into OS by definition, as it expects RUU to be run (but as mentioned, RUU is not available for your CID unless you pay - but it's not needed).
Also, you can't flash TWRP with a locked bootloader, again by definition. The primary limitation of an unlocked bootloader, is that it prohibits flashing unsigned recovery images.
So as suggested, simply unlock the bootloader again (with existing unlock bin code, or get a new one using the HTCDev.com process again). Then flash TWRP and a stock TWRP backup using ckpv5's backup collection (linked in his signature).
redpoint73 said:
Relocking the bootloader renders the phone unable to boot into OS by definition, as it expects RUU to be run (but as mentioned, RUU is not available for your CID unless you pay - but it's not needed).
Also, you can't flash TWRP with a locked bootloader, again by definition. The primary limitation of an unlocked bootloader, is that it prohibits flashing unsigned recovery images.
So as suggested, simply unlock the bootloader again (with existing unlock bin code, or get a new one using the HTCDev.com process again). Then flash TWRP and a stock TWRP backup using ckpv5's backup collection (linked in his signature).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, well made some progress.
unlocked the bootloader the official way. Very quick which I was surprised.
This then repoened up the recovery menu working.
then used fastboot to install latest twrp
then installed S.Team-JW-7.5.0.zip !!!
The install and everything looked good, no errors and now just not turning on. I think now it's a brick? Does not seem to be coming back to the bootloader menu and certainly does not try to boot.
Wondering if end of the line. Any suggestions? I assume need to get into TWRP and flash stock update from ckpv5.
Must say thanks for replies guys. ckpv5 you done some good work on here.
Tainted said:
The install and everything looked good, no errors and now just not turning on. I think now it's a brick? Does not seem to be coming back to the bootloader menu and certainly does not try to boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's really hard to brick this phone (especially with s-on) just flashing TWRP and flashing ROMs. Probably not a brick.
At what point exactly did it shut down/not reboot? ROM installed with no errors, and when you tried to reboot, it went dark? You aren't specific on this point.
How much charge was on the battery when you were flashing the ROM? Did you leave it a long time flashing the ROM, or rebooting, that simply may have drained the battery to shutdown?
Try leaving the phone on charger for several hours, then hold power+vol up for a minute or so, and see if any change (even if just stuck on HTC logo screen).
redpoint73 said:
It's really hard to brick this phone (especially with s-on) just flashing TWRP and flashing ROMs. Probably not a brick.
At what point exactly did it shut down/not reboot? ROM installed with no errors, and when you tried to reboot, it went dark? You aren't specific on this point.
How much charge was on the battery when you were flashing the ROM? Did you leave it a long time flashing the ROM, or rebooting, that simply may have drained the battery to shutdown?
Try leaving the phone on charger for several hours, then hold power+vol up for a minute or so, and see if any change (even if just stuck on HTC logo screen).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there,
Well I expect the bootloader to be separate from the rest so we can get into TWRP and normally get out of this situation?
The ROM install finished, battery was at about 80% and everything looked good and I let it reboot the phone. And then it went dead. Right now the PC keeps beeping as a device has just connected and then again as though it's disconnected. I'm watching the device manager and dont see it listed during the connect but device manager tree refreshes. My S7 edge shows up. It flash an orage dot twice, so appears to be a in loop.
I charged the phoned and no luck with any of the power+ vol +/- keys. No response from any of those? I let the phone sit till flat and no orange light and then charged it today and still nothing. Not sure if it's a bad battery but it was up at 83% showing in the TWRP menu and working plugged or unplugged.
It's become a challenge now to make it work, I havent had to mod phones since my HTC One which got heavily modded and then back to stock. I stopped doing that after modding every phone I had since HTC Desire Android 2.3. So been about 4 years since doing all this again. Never had one that was totally bricked.
Tainted said:
Well I expect the bootloader to be separate from the rest so we can get into TWRP and normally get out of this situation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct that bootloader (AKA hboot) is a separate partition, isn't touched by TWRP, and in fact is "protected", and can't be modified with s-on. Only an official signed zip (RUU, OTA, zip) can write to hboot when s-on, which is one of the reasons why I say this phone is hard to brick with s-on, just by flashing TWRP and flashing ROMs.
Tainted said:
Right now the PC keeps beeping as a device has just connected and then again as though it's disconnected. I'm watching the device manager and dont see it listed during the connect but device manager tree refreshes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't connect to the phone by PC in any way, unless you can get the phone to power on, at least to bootloader.
A few additional suggestions/comments I made to another user (in another thread) who by strange coincidence has a very similar condition (apparent brick after flashing a ROM): https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=73062871&postcount=10
But to be honest, it's not looking too good, since the condition hasn't changed after charging and trying the button combos.
redpoint73 said:
You are correct that bootloader (AKA hboot) is a separate partition, isn't touched by TWRP, and in fact is "protected", and can't be modified with s-on. Only an official signed zip (RUU, OTA, zip) can write to hboot when s-on, which is one of the reasons why I say this phone is hard to brick with s-on, just by flashing TWRP and flashing ROMs.
You won't connect to the phone by PC in any way, unless you can get the phone to power on, at least to bootloader.
A few additional suggestions/comments I made to another user (in another thread) who by strange coincidence has a very similar condition (apparent brick after flashing a ROM): https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=73062871&postcount=10
But to be honest, it's not looking too good, since the condition hasn't changed after charging and trying the button combos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers for that. Not getting much except for the 2 brief flashes of orange light.
Any chance the battery is totally messed and this is the problem?
Tainted said:
Any chance the battery is totally messed and this is the problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's possible. Or it might be something else like motherboard or emmc. It's impossible to say for sure.