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Help HTC M8S stuck in bootloop and try to instal new ROM

H

HTCstuck

Lurker
Hello all,

I have an HTC M8 and its stuck in boot loop.
I tried to install a new Rom via fastboot and sd but i fail to install something.

my device is not showing up in terminal with adb devices but
i see it popup with de command fastboot devices

Is there anyone who have experience with this so you can help me a bit further.

because iam a bit stuck now. and there an ocean of information but nothing worked for my so far.

id like to install a SLIMROM but back to a stock version is also good for mee.

everything that will do my HTC running again is helpfull.

my getvar info:

(bootloader) version: 0.5
(bootloader) version-bootloader: 3.19.0.0000
(bootloader) version-baseband: 1.0.U20410.1@60201
(bootloader) version-cpld: None
(bootloader) version-microp: None
(bootloader) version-main: 2.21.401.1
(bootloader) version-misc: PVT SHIP S-ON
(bootloader) serialno: HT53SYS02295
(bootloader) imei2: Not Support
(bootloader) meid: 00000000000000
(bootloader) product: m8ql_ul
(bootloader) platform: hTCBmsm8939
(bootloader) modelid: 0PKV10000
(bootloader) cidnum: HTC__031
(bootloader) battery-status: good
(bootloader) battery-voltage: 0mV
(bootloader) partition-layout: Generic
(bootloader) security: on
(bootloader) build-mode: SHIP
(bootloader) boot-mode: FASTBOOT
(bootloader) commitno-bootloader: 0b9a12e3
(bootloader) hbootpreupdate: 11
(bootloader) gencheckpt: 0
(bootloader) mfg-name: 0001

many thanks for having a look!
 
The phone is in fastboot mode, which is why fastboot can see it and why adb cannot. That's fine.

If you want to install a custom ROM then is the bootloader unlocked? If so then download the latest TWRP recovery image for the M8 (must be the version for your phone model) and use fastboot to install it (fastboot flash recovery recovery.img, where "recovery.img" should be replaced by the name of your recovery image file). Then download the ROM, copy it to the phone's SD card (a card reader will be simplest if you've no OS), boot into recovery and use that to install the ROM. Custom ROM zips are not formatted for flashing through fastboot, they are designed to be installed from (custom) recovery.

One thing to watch: your model number is M8QL_UL, rather than M8_UL. I think that means you have an M8s rather than an M8, so any software you flash must be for the M8s - M8 software will not work, as the hardware is different. This includes recovery and ROM.

If you want a stock ROM you need to find an RUU for that model and cidnum. This XDA thread seems to have some resources (RUUs and custom recovery at least) for that model, though I've only glanced at it (don't have time at the moment to check it out in any detail).
 
Thank you HADRON for the quick answers and yes your right about the M8s.

when i try to install the TWRP img i get the folowing error

astboot flash recovery twrp-2.8.7.0-m8s-qlul.img
target reported max download size of 16510976 bytes
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
sending sparse 'recovery' 1/2 (15368 KB)...
OKAY [ 1.558s]
writing 'recovery' 1/2...
FAILED (remote: image error! (BootMagic check fail))
finished. total time: 1.560s

i red something thats it is impossible for the M8s to install via fastboot? i will check more tomorrow.
 
HTCstuck said:
Thank you HADRON for the quick answers and yes your right about the M8s.

when i try to install the TWRP img i get the folowing error

astboot flash recovery twrp-2.8.7.0-m8s-qlul.img
target reported max download size of 16510976 bytes
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
sending sparse 'recovery' 1/2 (15368 KB)...
OKAY [ 1.558s]
writing 'recovery' 1/2...
FAILED (remote: image error! (BootMagic check fail))
finished. total time: 1.560s

i red something thats it is impossible for the M8s to install via fastboot? i will check more tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Your getting that error due to flashing the wrong version of Teamwin.
HTCstuck said:
Thank you HADRON for the quick answers and yes your right about the M8s.

when i try to install the TWRP img i get the folowing error

astboot flash recovery twrp-2.8.7.0-m8s-qlul.img
target reported max download size of 16510976 bytes
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
sending sparse 'recovery' 1/2 (15368 KB)...
OKAY [ 1.558s]
writing 'recovery' 1/2...
FAILED (remote: image error! (BootMagic check fail))
finished. total time: 1.560s

i red something thats it is impossible for the M8s to install via fastboot? i will check more tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Answer: You're flashing a very old version of twrp. The correct one is 3.0.2.0
 
i can't find a twrp version 3.02.0 for M8S.
is see some trheads on xda but with an older version.

So my phone is stuck in bootloop and i can only enter bootloader. when i try to do a factory reset it fails and quit half way.

I am a noob in this subject.
but do i need to install a twrp.zip
or do i need to fix the Kernel first.
what is de right following order of installing.

thanks again
 
HTCstuck said:
i can't find a twrp version 3.02.0 for M8S.
is see some trheads on xda but with an older version.

So my phone is stuck in bootloop and i can only enter bootloader. when i try to do a factory reset it fails and quit half way.

I am a noob in this subject.
but do i need to install a twrp.zip
or do i need to fix the Kernel first.
what is de right following order of installing.

thanks again
Click to expand...
I'm lost is it bricked or do you just want to Install a Rom?

As long as the bootloader is unlocked, fastboot flashing a recovery on a HTC device is easy. That recovery version is for a 5.0, 5.1 build. If you have 6.0 then you need the 3.0.2.0 Twrp recovery.

It's definitely on Xda as i downloaded it myself for future use. Once Twrp is installed and booted rom flashing is a breeze provided they're available for your device.

Not at my laptop currently or I'd be more exact.
 
James L said:
I'm lost is it bricked or do you just want to Install a Rom?

As long as the bootloader is unlocked, fastboot flashing a recovery on a HTC device is easy. That recovery version is for a 5.0, 5.1 build. If you have 6.0 then you need the 3.0.2.0 Twrp recovery.

It's definitely on Xda as i downloaded it myself for future use. Once Twrp is installed and booted rom flashing is a breeze provided they're available for your device.

Not at my laptop currently or I'd be more exact.
Click to expand...

I am sorry if i was unclear. but my phone doesnt boot anymore.
it stays in boot loop, So i guess its bricked.
doesn't finish a factory reset.
so i thought maybe i can install a new rom because the old one is broken?

thanks again.
 
Have you unlocked the bootloader? If you haven't, well it does do a factory reset once it's done. If you have unlocked it flashing a rom to fix it may or may not work.
 
James L said:
Have you unlocked the bootloader? If you haven't, well it does do a factory reset once it's done. If you have unlocked it flashing a rom to fix it may or may not work.
Click to expand...

Hello James, Yes I did unlock the bootloader
So what do you think is neccecary to fix my phone.

because everyting i try to flash ends up in error mesages like, max donwload limit or fail signature error: write_sparse_skip_chunk: don't care size 4020224

Thanks for your help
 
Well if you just want to fix it then one of the RUUs linked from the XDA thread I posted earlier should do it. I think that HTC__031 is a European regional version, so there's a chance that one of the first 5 in the download site linked in that thread (https://ruu.lalleman.net/HTC_M8S(QL_UL)/RUU/) would work. If the downloads are .exes you download them to a PC, connect the phone via USB, put the phone in fastboot mode and run the RUU. The bootloader will I think need to be locked for this. If they are zips there's a slightly more involved procedure to flash them using fastboot: this post contains instructions for flashing an RUU zip (different phone model, but procedure is quite standard for HTC devices).

That's all stock software. I don't know much about this device, so can't give much advice on ROMs (which will not be the same as the M8, which is a very different device internally).
 
Thanks Hadron,

thats excacly what i tried to do.
but i get de folowing error mesages when trying to FLASH.

target reported max download size of 16777216 bytes
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
error: write_sparse_skip_chunk: don't care size 2077023633 is not a multiple of the block size 4096

(bootloader) signature checking...
FAILED (remote: 12 signature verify fail)
finished. total time: 2.667s

i have to say, i do not see my phone in terminal in adb devices, but when i put it in fastboot i can see it.

but i get all the time these error mesages



so i cant see my htc in hboot,
but when i go to fastboot then i can see my device : fastboot devices.
 
Last edited:
Yes, I'd only expect it to respond to fastboot commands when in fastboot mode. ADB requires an adb daemon to be running, which means it must be running either Android or a custom recovery.

What file exactly are you trying to flash? The logical reason for the "signature fail" message would be that the file has been modified (in which case the signature verification would fail and the phone would reject it unless you are S-Off, and I can see from your earlier post that you are S-On). But I don't remember seeing any indication in that XDA thread that the RUUs were modified.

The RUU cannot contain older firmware than you currently have. Those RUUs all looked like they were a similar age or newer, but I was only using the baseband versions to check. So if you have just tried the first one try one with a later baseband version.
 
alright i tried to flash all of de zipfiles listen on this page: https://ruu.lalleman.net/HTC_M8S(QL_UL)/RUU/

with all of them i get the next error:

target reported max download size of 16777216 bytes
Invalid sparse file format at header magic
error: write_sparse_skip_chunk: don't care size 2077023633 is not a multiple of the block size 4096
OKAY [ 1.686s]
writing 'zip' 1/125...
(bootloader) signature checking...
FAILED (remote: 12 signature verify fail)
finished. total time: 2.767s
 
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