Develop Bugs

[Q] Will OTA updates work after flashing back and forth?

Hi all,
so I got my M8 like three weeks ago and made the ultimate mistake of not backing up MY factory ROM before flashing stuff. I went ahead and, following a guide from 'teh internets', turned my phone into a Google Play Edition after a successful S-Off with SunShine. About a week later, I started missing some Sense features and tried to revert back to stock which proved difficult at first due to partition size issues. Finally, I was successfully following a mixture of several guides in this very forum, flashing different combinations and versions of stock ROMs, firmwares and recoveries. I'm on Sense again. Last thing I can't get rid of is a message in HTC Tell that's talking about a testing device and how I could not turn off HTC Tell for that reason.
Long story short, I do now have a phone that reads:
Code:
*** Software status: Official ***
*** UNLOCKED ***
M8_UL PVT SHIP S-OFF
CID-HTC__102
HBOOT-3.19.0.0000
RADIO-XXX
OpenDSP-XXX
OS-3.28.401.7
eMMC-boot 2048MB
Oct 10 2014,00:20:35.0
Unfortunately, I do not exactly remember which Recovery I flashed last. I'm pretty sure it was one from the Stock Backup & OTA Collection thread. If I go into recovery, I get a red triangle and nothing happens.
Now for my question, I want some features of Lollipop really bad and I know HTC is going to come out with their Lollipop-Sense in about two weeks. I would gladly wait and go for it instead of starting over and turn my phone into a GPE again. Question is, will I get the Sense OTA or is there anything that will keep me from it?
Thanks a lot for reading and any information I got (and hopefully will get in the future) from the folks on this awesome forum!

If you are on the appropriate stock ROM for your CID, and corresponding stock recovery, you will get the OTA.
---------- Post added at 09:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:40 AM ----------
jndvid said:
Unfortunately, I do not exactly remember which Recovery I flashed last. I'm pretty sure it was one from the Stock Backup & OTA Collection thread. If I go into recovery, I get a red triangle and nothing happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Red triangle is stock recovery. However, its not clear whether its the right stock recovery. You need to be on the stock ROM for your CID, and the recovery needs to be the one that matches that software number. Just find the stock ROM (and corresponding recovery) for your CID on the following thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2701376
There is no harm in restoring the correct stock ROM and recovery over whatever you have now (whether the current state is correct for your CID or not). But being on the correct stock ROM and recovery will put you in the right place for OTA.

Thanks for the explanation.
So it is safe to assume that if I flash TWRP now and restore the 3.28.401.6 nandroid and recovery from this thread, I should A) get the OTA from .6 to .9 and later on B) the Sense-Lollipop OTA?
Sorry for the redundancy of my question but without a speedy internet connection, downloading ROMs is a time-consuming project, so I want to get it right the first time now.

jndvid said:
So it is safe to assume that if I flash TWRP now and restore the 3.28.401.6 nandroid and recovery from this thread, I should A) get the OTA from .6 to .9 and later on B) the Sense-Lollipop OTA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you restore to .6, it won't install the .6 OTA since its already on that version. But yes, it should install any "more up-to-date" OTAs (and then any future OTAs as they are released) in sequence once you return to stock and check for updates.

Thanks again. I will report back after flashing.

Well, it worked - I think. However, a little more research showed that the red text in HTC Tell is present because I unlocked my phone, particularly the bootloader, via HTCDev. I will consider to revert that change in the future.
I restored (via TWRP) the stock 3.28.401.6 and flashed the corresponding stock recovery. Unfortunately, no update is to be found yet (according to the OTA collection, there should be an update from .6 to .9 which I hoped to get automagically or on manual query in phone settings).
For the time being, I can download the OTA myself from the awesome collection and then update manually through stock recovery, I suppose.

jndvid said:
Well, it worked - I think. However, a little more research showed that the red text in HTC Tell is present because I unlocked my phone, particularly the bootloader, via HTCDev. I will consider to revert that change in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The device will come up as a "test device" since its s-off.
jndvid said:
I restored (via TWRP) the stock 3.28.401.6 and flashed the corresponding stock recovery. Unfortunately, no update is to be found yet (according to the OTA collection, there should be an update from .6 to .9 which I hoped to get automagically or on manual query in phone settings).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not that familiar with the WWE updates, as its not my version. So I don't know of the .7 and .9 updates deployed to all folks in all regions that have the WWE version, etc. You might check with folks that know more about the WWE updates.

my phone messed up

im new to all this.
im S-Off, and semi root, SuperSU doesn't really give half of my apps root acces for some reason.
i want to do a full reset to the phone (Return to 100% Stock)
i want just to clean it all out (which factor reset doesn't do that)
and update my softer from lolipop 5.0 to 5.1
i got HTC__621 (twiwan version)
software number 1.32.709.14
how to do all this? what i need to do?
(to flashout new TWRP2.8.7.0? then superSU 2.49 beta from the beginning?
and if i want to install Viper ROM, i need to do that after all?)
i hope to get explanation cuz i got lost on all the words (OTA - which i dont know yet lol, CID etc etc)
i got like 10 pages of guides open and yet i dont know what to do or what steps to follow.

As far as I know there is no RUU and no stock system backup for your firmware version. Nevertheless that's not a problem since you can always run RUUs that are newer than your firmware (even if you were S-ON you were able to do so). All you need to to is download the RUU.exe from here or here (it's actually the same file so it doesn't matter which link you choose). Then you need to boot to download mode and connect your phone with your pc. If you double click on the RUU.exe it may take some time till it starts but when it starts it will guide you through the rest of the process. During the flashing process your firmware will be updated to 1.36.709.3 but since you want update your firmware anyway I wouldn't consider this as an issue. Depending on your firewall and your antivirus software the RUU flashing might fail. If that's the case you should try again with disabled firewall and disabled antivirus software (I recommend disconnecting your pc from the internet before you do this).
Edit: Some vocabulary:
RUU = Rom Update Utility (a package leaked from HTC that can be used to get fully back to stock)
OTA (Update) = Over The Air Update (updates for your phone you can download via settings>about; some custom roms provide this feature, too)
CID = Customer ID (a combination of letters and numbers that tells you your phones country of origin and whether it is branded or not)
MID = Model ID (a combination of letters and numbers that identifies your phones model and its version; example: the international M9's MID is 0PJA10000 whereas the T-Mobile US version's MID is 0PJA12000)
Edit2: If you want to install the viper rom you don't need to root beforehand since that custom rom already is rooted.
Edit3: I just noticed that my signature isn't visible here. There is a newer version of TWRP at the end of the third post in this thread.

so if i install viper i just need to flash it in?
and what happen if i want to update to normal lolipap 5.1
cuz im at 5.0 and i always geting the update window and sick of it
want to update it alredy XD

The RUU is for restoring the ability of installing HTC's official OTAs. After you used the RUU you can update your phone using the OTA function in settings>about. After that you can reflash TWRP and install the viper rom. Since the viper rom is already rooted there is no need to flash supersu manually via TWRP.
I recommend you to read at least the whole first 3 posts in the TWRP thread I linked in my previous post. There you will find the information you need to create a backup of your stock system that is able to install future OTAs since the 2.10 firmware won't be the last one and you might face a similiar situation like this one in the future.
Edit: Although the RUU.exe will warn you, too: Using a RUU deletes all your data on the phone so back up everything that is important (contacts, messages, pictures, etc.).

Relocked, OS won't boot

Hey so here's my situation:
Installed the CM Nightly on my AT&T One M9, didn't like it, so I tried to revert to stock. I didn't want to pay $25 to S-OFF so I just tried installing various RUUs, but none would work. I read somewhere that I needed to relock my bootloader in order for the RUUs to work, so I did that, and now my phone just boots to Recovery Mode. I've tried installing AT&T RUU 2.6.502.16 (which didn't work because my phone is on a more recent firmware) and reinstalling 2.11.502.18/flashing its 0PJAIMG.zip (which didn't work because it's apparently broken). I've even tried installing T-Mobile's 2.11.531.19 RUU, which of course didn't work because my CID doesn't match and I can't change it because I'm S-ON.
I realize I went about this very badly almost from the start--no stock backup in TWRP, etc. This is my first Android phone so I've been learning this as I go and I was a bit sloppy.
I'm pretty sure I'm screwed, at least until a new update comes out or the current AT&T RUU is fixed, but I'm wondering if there's something else I can try. Any ideas? Thanks.

StageProps said:
Hey so here's my situation:
Installed the CM Nightly on my AT&T One M9, didn't like it, so I tried to revert to stock. I didn't want to pay $25 to S-OFF so I just tried installing various RUUs, but none would work. I read somewhere that I needed to relock my bootloader in order for the RUUs to work, so I did that, and now my phone just boots to Recovery Mode. I've tried installing AT&T RUU 2.6.502.16 (which didn't work because my phone is on a more recent firmware) and reinstalling 2.11.502.18/flashing its 0PJAIMG.zip (which didn't work because it's apparently broken). I've even tried installing T-Mobile's 2.11.531.19 RUU, which of course didn't work because my CID doesn't match and I can't change it because I'm S-ON.
I realize I went about this very badly almost from the start--no stock backup in TWRP, etc. This is my first Android phone so I've been learning this as I go and I was a bit sloppy.
I'm pretty sure I'm screwed, at least until a new update comes out or the current AT&T RUU is fixed, but I'm wondering if there's something else I can try. Any ideas? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I downloaded and flashed the 2.11.502.18 ruu from the HTC website with no problem. Ate you getting an error?
Edit: in my experience, if an ruu.exe starts to run and then never does (like you get the spinning wheel for a minute and then nothing) it's either a bad download or antivirus is blocking the file. But just to repeat...the exe on the HTC website works fine. I used it about three weeks ago.

Hm. Out of the myriad RUU.exes I've tried the most recent AT&T one was the only one I couldn't get to start, and when I tried installing it via .zip it would just restart the phone and nothing else. That in combination with other posts I've seen on this forum saying it's borked (although I might have misread the numbers/misinterpreted the jargon) just lead me to think it was broken. I'll redownload and try again. Thanks!
Edit: Well, it worked! I don't know what I was doing wrong. Thanks a lot!

HELP need serious advice here.

Hi,good afternoon,my friend brought me his HTC one m9,because i have experience with these things, i have flashed many devices of different brands but this is my first HTC device.
Well the problem is this:
He unlocked the botloader,installed TWRP ,super SU.zip (via twrp) and a custom rom with s-on,after that he lost signal,the phone does not have imei and baseband is uknown.
I've searched trough xda ,before posting this,so i came across with a thread that said that the phone can recover signal flashing a custom rom and a kernel,did that with no success. And also i've read that returning the bootloader to locked status,will allow me to flash a RUU file in order to get back to stock.
So, i relocked the bootloader,using CMD, but now the phone just boots into bootloader ,i can enter download mode aswell,but its stucked there.
Phone is recognized by windows,via fastboot.
So,the phone status is bootloader relocked,and s-on.
i´ve tried flashing the RUU via sdcard on download mode and gives me error,also i tried using fastboot commands and the result is the same,i can not flash the RUU file.
Any suggestions are very apreciated. Thanks fot your time.

kalel29 said:
Hi,good afternoon,my friend brought me his HTC one m9,because i have experience with these things, i have flashed many devices of different brands but this is my first HTC device.
Well the problem is this:
He unlocked the botloader,installed TWRP ,super SU.zip (via twrp) and a custom rom with s-on,after that he lost signal,the phone does not have imei and baseband is uknown.
I've searched trough xda ,before posting this,so i came across with a thread that said that the phone can recover signal flashing a custom rom and a kernel,did that with no success. And also i've read that returning the bootloader to locked status,will allow me to flash a RUU file in order to get back to stock.
So, i relocked the bootloader,using CMD, but now the phone just boots into bootloader ,i can enter download mode aswell,but its stucked there.
Phone is recognized by windows,via fastboot.
So,the phone status is bootloader relocked,and s-on.
i´ve tried flashing the RUU via sdcard on download mode and gives me error,also i tried using fastboot commands and the result is the same,i can not flash the RUU file.
Any suggestions are very apreciated. Thanks fot your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For download mode SD card method:
Make sure you're using an external SD card, not internal storage.
Make sure SD card is formatted properly.
Make sure file is named 100% correctly and is meant for that specific carrier /model.
No reason it shouldn't work.
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

kalel29 said:
i´ve tried flashing the RUU via sdcard on download mode and gives me error,also i tried using fastboot commands and the result is the same,i can not flash the RUU file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you flashed the correct one? Some basic information about firmware versions, RUUs and instructions how to flash them can be found in my sticky thread in the general section.
Concerning the reception problem: It's important whether you tried to use a sense-based custom rom or a non-sense-based one. The mono-kernel only works with non-sense roms like CM or Candysix. Moreover the reception problem has been covered in this thread some days ago. If you want to use a sense-based rom the re-flash boot.img "trick" might be working for you, too.
Sidenote: There is absolutely no need for flashing SuperSU if you are going to erase the system and to flash a custom com. It doesn't harm the device but it's a waste of time.

Flippy498 said:
Are you sure you flashed the correct one? Some basic information about firmware versions, RUUs and instructions how to flash them can be found in my sticky thread in the general section.
Concerning the reception problem: It's important whether you tried to use a sense-based custom rom or a non-sense-based one. The mono-kernel only works with non-sense roms like CM or Candysix. Moreover the reception problem has been covered in this thread some days ago. If you want to use a sense-based rom the re-flash boot.img "trick" might be working for you, too.
Sidenote: There is absolutely no need for flashing SuperSU if you are going to erase the system and to flash a custom com. It doesn't harm the device but it's a waste of time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I flashed the one for my operator. Can I flash another RUU?
About your links, I'll check them when I get back from work. Thanks.

Is your phone branded by your carrier? (Can be checked by looking at the SKU of the currently installed firmware.) If not then it's the wrong RUU. Is the RUU made for the same firmware version as the one that is currently installed on the phone or does the RUU even have a newer version? If not then it's the wrong RUU.

Flippy498 said:
Is your phone branded by your carrier? (Can be checked by looking at the SKU of the currently installed firmware.) If not then it's the wrong RUU. Is the RUU made for the same firmware version as the one that is currently installed on the phone or does the RUU even have a newer version? If not then it's the wrong RUU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again, the phone is giving me this error :

im still lost ,hope this helps to point me in the right direction.
Code:
D:\Francisco\Desktop\HTC\fastboot_adb\fastboot_adb>fastboot getvar all
(bootloader) kernel: lk
(bootloader) product: htc_himaulatt
(bootloader) version: 1.0
(bootloader) imei:
(bootloader) version-main: 3.44.600.1
(bootloader) boot-mode: RUU
(bootloader) version-baseband: 01.01_U11440801_97.04.60111G_F
(bootloader) version-bootloader: 1.0.0.0000
(bootloader) mid: 0PJA11000
(bootloader) cid: HTC__332
all:
finished. total time: 0.033s
Thanks

You still didn't mention the name of the RUU you wanted to flash. However a quick search for your SKU (Telcel Mexico) showed me that there is no RUU available you could use. The only one I could find is linked in my thread and that one is too old for your phone since you can't downgrade the firmware with S-ON. You either need to re-unlock the bootloader, flash a sense-based custom rom and buy the sunshine app or try to find someone who has a java card. Both solutions would set the phone S-OFF so that you would be able to use that old RUU. Alternatively you could contact Llabtoofer (a link can be found in my thread and in my google sheet). He has a RUU service with RUUs that are not available publicly*. Neither the sunshine app, nor a java nor the RUU service are for free. Llabtoofer and the sunshine app cost nearly the same. I don't know how much you need to pay for java card services. Be aware that even if it's OK if the phone is running a custom right now** and you don't want to use any of these solutions that you still lack a way back to stock if a new OTA (like the one for Android N) gets distributed and therefore you won't be able to install it.
If you use the old RUU all OTAs that got installed on your phone will need to get re-installed.
However you choose you should read the tab "make your own backup" of my sheet after the phone got recovered and all available OTAs got installed but before anyone starts flashing anything, again. This way you will learn how to create a backup that will help you out if you face such a situation, again. Instructions how to restore such a backup correctly can be found in the tab "twrp backups".You'll always need to create a new backup when a new OTA got installed on your phone and you want to re-root it. Besides if you're willing you could upload the backup (and any upcoming ones) and share it(/them) with the xda community by posting the download link(s) in my thread.
* He wants to know the hboot version of your phone of you request his help. Since the One M9 has no hboot but an aboot and that one never got updated you can enter version 1.0.0.0000. That's the current aboot version.
** Possible solutions for recovering the reception can be found in my first post in this thread. There is no need to flash a RUU since your IMEI and your baseband are still intact but the boot.img of the rom you tried to use was/is incompatible.

Flippy498 said:
You still didn't mention the name of the RUU you wanted to flash. However a quick search for your SKU (Telcel Mexico) showed me that there is no RUU available you could use. The only one I could find is linked in my thread and that one is too old for your phone since you can't downgrade the firmware with S-ON. You either need to re-unlock the bootloader, flash a sense-based custom rom and buy the sunshine app or try to find someone who has a java card. Both solutions would set the phone S-OFF so that you would be able to use that old RUU. Alternatively you could contact Llabtoofer (a link can be found in my thread and in my google sheet). He has a RUU service with RUUs that are not available publicly*. Neither the sunshine app, nor a java nor the RUU service are for free. Llabtoofer and the sunshine app cost nearly the same. I don't know how much you need to pay for java card services. Be aware that even if it's OK if the phone is running a custom right now** and you don't want to use any of these solutions that you still lack a way back to stock if a new OTA (like the one for Android N) gets distributed and therefore you won't be able to install it.
If you use the old RUU all OTAs that got installed on your phone will need to get re-installed.
However you choose you should read the tab "make your own backup" of my sheet after the phone got recovered and all available OTAs got installed but before anyone starts flashing anything, again. This way you will learn how to create a backup that will help you out if you face such a situation, again. Instructions how to restore such a backup correctly can be found in the tab "twrp backups".You'll always need to create a new backup when a new OTA got installed on your phone and you want to re-root it. Besides if you're willing you could upload the backup (and any upcoming ones) and share it(/them) with the xda community by posting the download link(s) in my thread.
* He wants to know the hboot version of your phone of you request his help. Since the One M9 has no hboot but an aboot and that one never got updated you can enter version 1.0.0.0000. That's the current aboot version.
** Possible solutions for recovering the reception can be found in my first post in this thread. There is no need to flash a RUU since your IMEI and your baseband are still intact but the boot.img of the rom you tried to use was/is incompatible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok,thanks, and yes,the RUU I was trying to flash I the telcel one.
I'm going to tell my fiend that he needs to pay in order to get his phone working.
Thanks again for everything. Have a nice day.

Update
I managed to unlock the bootloader again, the phone boots, but it has no signal.
Do I need sunshine and then flash any ruu?
Or what can I do? BTW my friend agreed to pay for sunshine.

kalel29 said:
Update
I managed to unlock the bootloader again, the phone boots, but it has no signal.
Do I need sunshine and then flash any ruu?
Or what can I do? BTW my friend agreed to pay for sunshine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it a sense-based rom? If yes, did you reflash the stock boot.img? Or is it a non-sense-based rom? In that case the mono kernel which is linked above needs to be flashed for recovering the reception.
If you're currently using a sense-based rom (which is not an HTC 10 port - e.g. Viper one m9 4.3) then you can install the sunshine app and start it. The app will explain the rest of the procedure. Just google "sunshine s-off" and you'll find it. After your phone got S-OFF you simply need to try reflashing the RUU.

Flippy498 said:
Is it a sense-based rom? If yes, did you reflash the stock boot.img? Or is it a non-sense-based rom? In that case the mono kernel which is linked above needs to be flashed for recovering the reception.
If you're currently using a sense-based rom (which is not an HTC 10 port - e.g. Viper one m9 4.3) then you can install the sunshine app and start it. The app will explain the rest of the procedure. Just google "sunshine s-off" and you'll find it. After your phone got S-OFF you simply need to try reflashing the RUU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone has the ICE rom,Twrp and superSU,I think it's a sense-based rom, sorry I can't give you more info, as I said I'm new in flashing HTC, but I'm learning thanks to you.

ICE is sense-based. It's using HTCs own launcher and framework which is called Sense. Examples for non-sense-based roms are CM, CandySix or other AOSP roms.
Depending on the version of ICE that got flashed on the phone you might need to revert back to an older version*. The newest ICE rom is based on an HTC 10 port and I've read several posts of users reporting that they couldn't use sunshine with an HTC 10 port.
* I don't know which version that would be. I've never used ICE so you would need to figure that out on your own.

Flippy498 said:
ICE is sense-based. It's using HTCs own launcher and framework which is called Sense. Examples for non-sense-based roms are CM, CandySix or other AOSP roms.
Depending on the version of ICE that got flashed on the phone you might need to revert back to an older version*. The newest ICE rom is based on an HTC 10 port and I've read several posts of users reporting that they couldn't use sunshine with an HTC 10 port.
* I don't know which version that would be. I've never used ICE so you would need to figure that out on your own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically, no matter what rom I flash,sense or no sense based, I will need sunshine in order to have a working baseband?

No. Sunshine is needed for getting back to stock for installing upcoming OTAs. And in case you want to use a sense-based roms it's needed for being able to backup the stock boot.img. As explained before, you need to re-flash that one after you flashed the custom rom. The boot.img of 3.35.y (y is a placeholder for any possible number) custom roms isn't compatible with 3.x firmware if x is not equal to 35 (as in your case). At the moment your only option for not having to use sunshine would be flashing a non-sense-based rom and the kernel I linked in an earlier post. But as explained before you wouldn't be able to install upcoming updates like the one for Android N if you choose not to use sunshine.

Flippy498 said:
No. Sunshine is needed for getting back to stock for installing upcoming OTAs. And in case you want to use a sense-based roms it's needed for being able to backup the stock boot.img. As explained before, you need to re-flash that one after you flashed the custom rom. The boot.img of 3.35.y (y is a placeholder for any possible number) custom roms isn't compatible with 3.x firmware if x is not equal to 35 (as in your case). At the moment your only option for not having to use sunshine would be flashing a non-sense-based rom and the kernel I linked in an earlier post. But as explained before you wouldn't be able to install upcoming updates like the one for Android N if you choose not to use sunshine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally i have signal again,flashed slim 6 and monokernel. Thank you so much,i've learned something new about HTC now im going to return the phone to my friend,also i explained what you told me in order to have a sense based rom.

can't flash ROM or update

I recently got my hands on a One M9 but I'm having trouble updating anything on it. I check for updates and it says there aren't any available. However, my software version is 1.14.531.1, which is older than anything I've seen in any threads anywhere.
Here's the readout from fastboot getvar all:
kernel: lk
product: htc_himaul
version: 1.0
vzwisLTE:
vzwmid: HTC
max-download-size: 800000000
imei:
battery-status: good
version-main: 1.14.531.1
boot-mode: download
version-bootloader: 1.0.0.0000
mid: 0PJA12000
cid: 11111111
It doesn't say it here, but the phone is s-off.
I started by following the instructions at Cyanogenmod: unlocked, installed TWRP, installed ROM. However, it wouldn't install the ROM. It failed at the point where it tries to verify the device. I changed the recovery to the Cyanogenmod recovery and tried again, but that didn't work either. After a bit of reading, I thought that perhaps I needed to update the bootloader and that a RUU update might do the trick. I got the most recent one from HTC and ran it. It stalled where it says "sending" at 0%. I put the ROM.zip on the SD card to try it that way. That also failed. I relocked the bootloader and tried the RUU again with the same result.
I've wondered if I need to update the firmware per this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/development/firmware-t3068243 but I'm still new to the HTC world and not sure if that's it or if I'm just guessing. The firmware files I found there are much smaller than I expected, so I'm not sure what exactly they will update or if they'll fix the problem or just make it worse.
Can anyone tell me where to go from here, or at least point me in the right direction?

You can't flash offical firmwares unless your phone is stock. I think you should be ok flashing unsigned zips though. I couldn't tell you if htc do incremental or if you can just flash the latest. Flippy's thread might shine a light on something.. Your Cid is supercid.
Beamed in by telepathy.

So, are you saying that if I go back to the stock recovery that I should be able to use the RUU to update everything? There are a bunch of stock recoveries here, but none of them match my phone. The oldest ones there are several versions newer than mine and none match my CID. Can I still use one of them or do I need to find one that matches my phone exactly?

When I got the phone there was an SD card in it with a 0PJAIMG.zip file and a text file with a very long name with the software version (1.14.531.1) in it. Fortunately I saved them. I put those files back on and tried flashing that 0PJAIMG file and this time it worked. It seems to have removed the recovery I put on it and now it looks completely stock, with a locked bootloader and everything. Updating with the latest RUU still doesn't seem to work, however. It's still stalled at "sending" and 0%.
I would like to try a different RUU that's a smaller jump, but I haven't had any luck finding one yet.

OTA updates are incremental. A RUU on the other hand contains the whole firmware that has been distributed for its SKU until the point that RUU got released. Besides it contains the whole system. That's why RUUs are so big.
Sneakyghost's files lack some parts of the official firmware packs since they're not meant to get flashed if you want to get back to stock. They're meant to get flashed if you want to update your phone's firmware without reverting it's system back to stock since this way is less time consuming if you want to flash a new custom rom afterwards. That's why they're so much smaller than a RUU. Besides, they're unsigned and you won't be able to use them without S-OFF.
I personally don't like the *.exe versions of RUUs since they use fastboot and many users aren't able to set up their adb/fastboot environment correctly. Therefore, I neither support flashing RUU.exe files nor fastboot flashing of RUU.zip files. However if you extract the RUU.zip from the latest x.xx.531.x RUU.exe you could flash it via a SD card. I don't have a direct link to a guide for the extraction at the moment but there should be several here on xda which you should be able to find via google. It doesn't matter if they're written for an older HTC phone since the steps you need to do are always the same. Instructions for flashing a RUU via SD card can be found in my google sheet (which is linked in my signature).
And one last thing: The SCID prevents the M9 from installing OTAs. Therefore, you should revert it back to its original CID if you want to install any OTA.
Personal opinion: Since you can't use RUUs with a different MID than the one of your phone although you use the SCID (that was possible on older HTC phones) and you aren't able to install OTAs if you use it (that was possible on older phones, too) I personally don't think that there is any benefit left in using it.
Edit: I forgot to mention that there is a dedicated forum for the T-Mobile US M9 here on xda which can be found with the xda search function. You might find the files you need over there. Due to that other forum the T-Mobile US variant of the M9 isn't that much supported here in the forum for the international variant.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA Labs

Thanks for the info on the T mobile forum. I wasn't aware of that and thought this was the only forum for the M9 here. I'll look for it.
I've already tried using the SD card method and that also failed.
I haven't changed the CID. It was the superCID when I got it. I don't think the previous owner changed it either because the phone seems unused. It still has the barcode sticker on the back and it's clearly be barely handled at all. The phone was originally a test unit or something because it has a serial number engraved on the front and it runs some HTC reporting software. It's rooted out of the box. I'm trying to replace the ROM to get rid of that extra software. I just mention that to explain why it's already rooted, s-off and superCID.

drfarmkid said:
Thanks for the info on the T mobile forum. I wasn't aware of that and thought this was the only forum for the M9 here. I'll look for it.
I've already tried using the SD card method and that also failed.
I haven't changed the CID. It was the superCID when I got it. I don't think the previous owner changed it either because the phone seems unused. It still has the barcode sticker on the back and it's clearly be barely handled at all. The phone was originally a test unit or something because it has a serial number engraved on the front and it runs some HTC reporting software. It's rooted out of the box. I'm trying to replace the ROM to get rid of that extra software. I just mention that to explain why it's already rooted, s-off and superCID.
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I would say the phone is modified. As far as I know, test units don't need S-OFF or the SCID since they simply use different firmware versions than normal units. You can change every version of the M9 into a test unit by applying for HTCs beta program.
What was the error that got shown when the SD card method failed? Did you try to flash the correct RUU.zip for your phone? As mentioned before your MID needs to match even if the phone has the SCID. Therefore, you can only use x.xx.531.x RUUs.
Edit: I forgot to mention that every S-OFFed device runs that reporting software you mentioned if that device is running the stock rom. That Software gets triggered by the S-OFF flag.
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA Labs

Well, I managed to find the 1.32.531.33 RUU in the forum for the T-mobile variant (thanks flippy498 for bringing it to my attention) and that ran just fine. Once that was done I tried running the RUU I downloaded earlier from HTC (3.39.531.31) and it worked fine. It seems the problem was indeed that I just needed something that was a smaller jump. I've seen no mention of any software version earlier than 1.32 anywhere in this forum, so I wonder if my phone was an early test unit or something that the version 1.14 mine had was an earlier pre-release version or something and that is why I had the problems I did.
Thanks for the info regarding the reporting software running on all s-off phones. I saw something about red text in other threads and wondered if that's what it referred to. Now I know.