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Help Will Pay for M8 Firmware and ROM Installation Help

T

TM8

Lurker
Hi,

I have become frustrated to the point where I can't continue with this HTC One M8 rooting project. It's my first attempt and it isn't fun anymore. I am willing to pay someone who could walk me through every step in hand-holding mode. I can reply with descriptions of what happens after every step (and pics of the phone/PC screens if my new Android Forums account allows it). Despite having spent weeks on this I still don't understand the lingo so exact phrases and descriptive wording would be very helpful. Also I'm not worried about losing any data on the phone or installed 64GB SD card. The phone is essentially new at this point with no important stored data.

This is a new 2014 HTC One M8 unlocked AT&T USA model I purchased a while back on ebay. I have done the following, forgive the probably inaccurate terms:

* Installed ADB package on my PC.
* Went to HTCDEV and did the bootloader unlock procedure.
* Followed instructions to use Sunshine to make S-off and change CID value to 11111111
* Installed TWRP, not sure which version as this is very confusing. It might have been me.twrp.twrpapp-26.apk or openrecovery-twrp-2.8.5.0-m8.img. I don't know which one worked.
* Flashed new firmware, supposedly so that the eventual newer ROM (newer than 4.4.4) would be compatible. This FW version is also confusing due to multiple designations for what seems to be the same thing, but this particular file was called 6.20.502.5. I selected this one because the "502" was the same as part of my original software # 3.42.502.1. It was the only way I could figure to select a compatible but latest FW. I'm guessing 502 means US AT&T model.

At this point I could go no further. Now the phone starts up and hangs at the HTC screen. I can press Power + Volume Up to turn it off but it will restart in a couple seconds and hang at HTC again. If I press Power + Volume Down as soon as it powers off I can get into the "Fastboot USB" screen. From there I tried random things but can't proceed. It appears that I lost TWRP on the phone because of the firmware update (it had worked before) because now all I get in recovery mode is the basic Android Recovery app. I don't have a clue what I'm doing and research is making it more confusing.

My understanding is that this can still be recovered/fixed by an expert.

The phone is just a hobby but a $230 hobby with accessories :-) so I'd like to give it a shot before giving up.

The only thing I wanted to do was create a phone which would bypass the tethering check/denial process. I'm perfectly happy with the way it works otherwise. It would be nice to get an upgrade from 4.4.4 since it is so antiquated I'm afraid some functions will become incompatible over time unless I move to something like MM or Nougat. So a minimally buggy stock or stock-like ROM that bypasses tethering restrictions would be perfect.

Finally, here is some current data from the Fastboot USB screen so you might be able to tell how screwed up it is:

*** Software status: Modified ***
*** RELOCKED ***
M8_UL_CA PVT SHIP S-OFF
CID-11111111
HBOOT-3.19.0.0000
RADIO-4.0.U605761@60220A
OpenDSP-v56.2.2-00593M8974_F0.0126
OS-6.20.502.5
eMMC-boot 2048MB
April 14 2016,19:39:46.27667

Thanks for reading this long help request!
 
OK, I don't know exactly where you got the firmware from or what you did to flash it, but at this point I'd probably try to set it back to stock and try again. You've already got S-Off, and that should not go away. Reflashing the firmware will overwrite TWRP, but that can be reinstalled. So let's start by getting it working again as a phone.

So what I'd do is download the official firmware from HTC. You can get the 6.20.502.5 RUU (ROM Upgrade Utility) from HTC themselves here: https://www.htc.com/us/support/rom-downloads.html (of course this may be where you got it from originally, we don't know). If they provide an MD5 code or similar so you can verify the download before installing then use that. The download is a Windows .exe. Put the phone in fastboot mode, connect to a PC via USB and run the RUU on the PC and follow the instructions. That should be it. This should give you the official Android 6.0 for the ATT M8, as well as the updated firmware you wanted (which I think you may have actually installed already, but a reflash should fix whatever is stopping it from booting normally).

You do need to be a bit careful now, because being S-Off means that the phone won't stop you from installing something that's not intended for your model (for example it would let you install an RUU that's intended for a different M8 model). When you come to reflash TWRP make sure it is for the M8 (not the M8s, M8 Eye or whatever), and to be sure make sure it's described as compatible with the ATT version (though it's usually the CDMA versions that have to be more careful about this).

If it still won't boot after the RUU, try installing TWRP, copy a ROM you want to try onto the SD card, then go into TWRP, factory reset (just cache and data should suffice - the RUU should have done this already) and install the ROM. If we're lucky it's the current ROM that's the problem so flashing a new one should fix.

(I've never owned an M8, so not expert on M8 ROM options).

Good luck.
 
Hadron, thank you for replying. That's good advice, however I can't even figure out how to get TWRP back on my phone to start experimenting.

I still wish to go the route of an expert of sorts guiding me step by step and am very happy to pay for his/her time. I am not in the right frame of mind to keep experimenting with this, I would just like it done. If a reputable service existed I would have already shipped it off for repair.
 
I don't have time to do step by step except at long intervals.

TWRP you just install by unlocking the bootloader again and then using fastboot to flash it. The latest version for your model is usually the one to use, but the M8 development forum at forums.xda-developers.com is a good place to check for advice.
 
Understood. It's not working, I can't install TWRP nor can I move forward. I would like to pay someone to help from start to finish.
 
What have you done? Have you tried reflashing the RUU?

Whether you have or not, how are you trying to install TWRP? What is the error message when you try? And did you unlock the bootloader again before trying to install it (because from your first post you clearly relocked the bootloader)?

I don't know if there's anyone here who would accept payment. I'm hoping that someone else who knows HTC will have a bit of time to spare.

I can tell you that the place I'd get TWRP from is the official site here. One thing you'll notice is a link to a support thread for it on XDA-developers. I would use the "fastboot install method" described on the linked page (actually if you can't boot into Android you've no choice, but it's what I'd do regardless). Since it's an ATT M8 and your currency is $ I'm assuming you are in the Americas, in which case you can get the TWRP image from the linked download page. I don't know any reason not to use the latest one there (which is quite a bit newer than the ones you name), but apologies if you have already tried that without success.
 
I can find no way to unlock the bootloader to even start, now that I can't seem to affect the phone with adb anymore or use twrp natively to try a ROM. I can't load any form of recovery any way I try.

I don't want to seem unappreciative or look a gift horse in the mouth so to speak, but I can't stress strongly enough that a full personalized step by step process or someone just taking the phone and fixing it is what I can deal with at this time. I understand you don't have the time and are self-professed as not an M8 expert per se. Hopefully someone else is interested in a quick buck as there is no reason to expect altruism in this case. I would like someone's expert knowledge and the only thing I have in trade is money. It could be used as a charity donation if that makes things more copacetic.

Maybe if no one wants to make some money doing something that is "simple" to him I will resort to going back and forth on the fora with a kind soul like yourself, but I have seen the seemingly millions of root-related posts that almost always end up being abandoned with no resolution, and I don't wish to go down that path if possible. The guides always start off as "this is simple" and/or "if you don't even know how to xyz you shouldn't root a phone". I'm in the middle. I'm not an idiot in other walks of life but don't want this to be an ever consuming hobby by immersing myself into it 24/7. Obviously it isn't "simple" or there wouldn't be endless threads without resolution.

I may eventually have to try one of the "paid expert" websites but don't hold out much hope; they seem to be broad reaching in topic and offer generalized responses. Or I could throw the phone away. Giving up on this project is trending higher as the days go on.

Thanks again for responding and trying to help.
 
Can't speak for the M8 but on my HTC One SV the rooting process is pretty straight

1. Unlock the phone
2. Install ClockwordMod (CWM)
3. Install SuperSU

Done, phone is rooted with stock ROM.
 
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