yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
My understanding is if he had a Sense based ROM installed (in particular) then it would be technically illegal. That's what I believe got a major HTC ROM site shut down a while back, although my memory's probably rusty.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
So you're saying all these roms are illegal?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
Anything Sense based, probably. AOSP based, not so much.

It's all down in the fine print. And before someone gets all up in arms about the DMCA, DMCA provides exceptions for gaining root access and jailbreak. Redistributing altered versions of protected code is absolutely not protected, and you can get served with some nasty penalties (particularly if you have a US-based presence).

The thing is that it's pretty much entirely at the company's discretion whether or not they care to enforce this, and in doing so likely alienate the developer community.

EDIT: Found the link for the story. As noted, HTC's backed off on the issue for now, but on a case-by-case basis I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see them refusing support for these things.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/0...m-to-shut-down-hand-over-the-roms-and-domain/
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
Ok I can see that but installing a custom rom on your phone is perfectly legal, so long as you own the phone. The dev is the one who could be breaking laws. Although there's no action taken in the development world. The manufacturers only benefit from development of custom roms. It isn't worth battling over either.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
I don't disagree as far as the battling part. But you're pretty off base on the first bit. By using HTC software, you are agreeing to the terms of use that HTC sets out, which does bind you from being complicit in either distributing or using bootlegged software.

If you tried to argue that it was the dev's fault and you were in trouble, you would pretty much get laughed out of court. You knowingly installed software and you agreed to play by a set of rules when you start using the phone (yes, it's your hardware, but the IP that makes it run is property of HTC, and that's a very crucial legal distinction).
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
Certainly blaming the dev wouldn't get you anywhere if you were brought on charges. That's just silly. I don't know if I buy there being anything illegal about installing on your own phone. Say you bought it, you modified it, you used it. You're not profiting from it, distributing or selling it. I know this is a rare stretch of a scenario but I question in that car whether it's illegal. I could be wrong. Either way I don't want to go too far off topic. Thank you for your insight. I never really thought about it that much and just assumed as big and known as this stuff is that it was legal.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
Nah, 's fine. Like you noted, companies tend to look the other way most of the time-- and why wouldn't they? Devs bring energy to a community and really only serve as free advertising. The only times I've seen companies really crack down are if for one reason or another (usually bad dev support), custom software is causing real issues (exploitation of a device, for example the cracks on CSS scrambling on DVD players) or pre-release stuff is getting leaked.

It's a really awful, stupid distinction, but because of how the wording is set up, you're leasing the software on your phone at best, and at worst, you're also more or less leasing your hardware from your carrier.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Guys, calm down.

I'm pretty sure by "illegal", they meant outside of the limited warranty.

What I'm more interested in is how exactly they got a hold of that information. Any ideas? Is it possible for ME to fix my own phone?

I'm thinking probably not. They wouldn't charge $200 for an RUU that required the use a special (or not) device to get into the bootloader. That's frickin' extortion.

EDIT: I sent several messages from the tracking page asking the techs how they knew I was running a custom OS. Still no reply. Maybe if I get a tech who isn't a ****, he'll actually tell me what's wrong/what they'll have to do.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
Who isn't calm? But yes you're right. You have very good questions. I don't have the answers certainly. I hope you are able to. I'd be interested.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
I think it just goes to show. Even if you are diligent and always do your homework, once you root your device, you have to accept that it could brick at any time, and you would be SOL.

So kids, just remember, only root if you are willing to risk the chance (however little) of getting a hard bricked phone!
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
No, it's not extortion (well, it kind of is). It's just SOP for large companies. It's not necessarily the material/equipment, usually that makes up that cost: it's an ambiguous "labor" charge (same reason why getting your car fixed can be so absurdly expensive). Again though, my best bet is that they have a way to just pull storage access (same way you'd mount a flash drive), which would probably require you give in to that cost. Too bad though.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
I said it would be extortion if that was just an RUU. But they're probably gonna have to open up the device (:eek:) and do a JTAG or something.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] SantinoInc:
I know that a lot of people here are questioning whether these brick issues may be related to TWRP Recovery. I never thought it was recovery related but I took it upon myself to PM Dees_Troys, the Dev for TWRP Recovery. I explained to him that there have been numerous people that have run into issues while running an AOSP Rom and as far as we can tell they all had TWRP recovery. Here is his response:

When flashing a ROM, the recovery extracts the update-binary from the zip and executes the binary. From there the binary in the zip does all the work for the flash. Once the ROM is installed and you reboot, it doesn't matter what recovery you have installed as the recovery is not used anymore.

If "all" of the people that have bricked were using TWRP then that's probably just a reflection of how many more TWRP users there are versus CWM users. In some cases the ratio is as high as 10 TWRP users to 1 CWM user, so it's much more likely that people will report using TWRP as their recovery.

I'm taking his word on this. I never thought it was a recovery issue to begin with. If these bricks occurred while trying to flash in recovery then I would say MAYBE the recovery may be involved.

Just wanted to throw this out there so people don't start unnecessarily changing recovery.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Kraizk:
That makes more sense and to a large degree was what I was trying to say before. When I first mentioned recovery issues it had to do with "Off Charging" being a possible reason. That was quickly corrected by Sense based users saying they have run their batteries down and been able to charge just fine.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Just wanted to post this update from HTC:

Well, at least now I know that they're not charging me $200 for an RUU... :D:crying:
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] HTC_M7:
Question how many people have bricked their ones? Is it really that much? And is sprint the only one? I just wanna know before i fool around with aosp
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Aldo101t:
what makes you think it's aosp, i'm not so sure
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] HTC_M7:
I had the thought that only aosp got bricks. Not sense
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Aldo101t:
well, like i said i'm not sure, nobody has pinned this down yet that i know of.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Here's some pics the tech sent me...

My baby :'(

I can't tell if it really is my device, though. Mine had this mark right next to the light sensor that wouldn't come off. The pics are too crappy for me to tell. (He sent me a picture (withheld) with the device sitting on a paper with its serial#, if that means anything.)
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] jcwxguy:
Its been 3-4 weeks and I have yet to hear from HTC ...Sounds like Bad luck
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Embluss:
Possible solution in the GE?

I'm fairly new to rooting and modifications, but I have a theory that may be worth something. The international version is experiencing this error too, right? Has anyone with a GE based ROM experienced this over there? If so, it's probably TWRP... If not, I bet that'd mean there's something wrong with the CM10.1 kernel or whatever else people are using for AOSP ROMs. My understanding is that there are some differences between AOSP and the GE, however slight (beats & 4.3 camera. I know one's just an apk, but... still). Could there be more under the hood?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
I doubt it's twrp. I would be curious to know if the ge is immune though. There are some pretty large differences between cm and htc's ge one. It's a stock Google experience but the hardware and kernel are htc's so it is going to be way more stable out of the gate. It's more like a desensitized one than a custom build.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] HTC_M7:
Iv been looking around and even saw this picture above. It looks as if all these people were s-on. Is there any people here that were s-off and bricked their phone?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:


---------- Post added at 04:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:30 PM ----------

Strange.I meant to edit not quote myself.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Embluss:
Yeah... Tried to edit that out after a bit of thinking, but apparently the new user spam prevention thing also stops edits. Seeing as at least one other person likes the GE angle, I checked out the threads on the international forum. This here http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2307371 seems to be the most popular GE/Sense 4.2.2 kernel. I don't know how widespread this is in the first place, but I've yet to see any discussion of it there (Still reading, though).

Could also just be that people are still getting the error and blaming their ROMs, rather than a kernel... But I doubt that for some reason. I think a bricked user would look at every possible solution.

Is there anyone much more knowledgeable than me who'd care to pursue this further?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] flex360:
S-on had nothing to do with it. It's the kernel
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] HTC_M7:
Yes but s-on controls some of the kernels ability no? Sure it could be the kernel. But couldnt it just be that s-on having an effect on the phone being s-on?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
S_on shouldn't have any effect on the kernels ability. In the case of the htc one, so far it only prevents you from flashing firmware and the ability to change cid really. Dev unlock otherwise allows pretty much anything else that soff does. With future hboots though that could change as was the case with the jewel. They closed some doors to where the kernel of a rom had to be flashed separately in fastboot first, among other things, like closing security exploits used to gain soff. Kernel functionality doesn't actually change though. S-on also allows them to push ota's that could close off these exploits for soff, put you back to s-on, and lock bootloader. That, at least, is how I understand it.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Since no more people have been reporting bricks, is it safe to assume that AOSP is all right now?

Can someone go over the changelog and see if anything has changed in the kernel?

EDIT: I'll keep posting links to things I suspect have to do with the kernel.

http://changelog.bbqdroid.org/#/m7spr/1372842777

Oh wait. nvm. The changelog started on 7/1/13. My phone bricked on 6/12.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
3.4 kernel is in now. Not sure as of when.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] HTC_M7:
We've had 3.4
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Smac7:
I made this to try to pinpoint the issue. This way we can collaborate with all one owners, not just sprint.

If you have this issue, please add your info.

Here is the form

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17NmaM3zhWueTxI_y7f1U7N6Er6tprd22I8_f3aIYmCw/viewform

Here are the responses

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkLYIbykddrAdF9TMXBXaXZjMFhEczlSYUhoVDNHU1E#gid=0

Let me know if i should add any other crucial questions. I encourage people to post this in other threads when relevant.

Edit: page is open for public sharing
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
Thank you, I have filled the form out. maybe we can get op to link to these on the op?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Smac7:
that would be helpful

Does anyone know of any other threads focusing on this issue? I want to bring everyone together regardless of varient since it seems like it may be a universal issue.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2295374

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2321539

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2313098

And while I don't want to solicit, should I go around PMing those affected to contribute?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Smac7:
i don't think they'd mind. I'll bet those affected are the ones who would want to get down to the issue the most.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
To avoid redundancy, I'll (try to) handle it.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
On a side note I would like to mention that I am back in CyanogenMod 10.1 nightly 7/6/13 its is actually the 5th nightly in a row that I have flashed. I obtained s-off, root, the HTC dev unlocked the whole works and I ran sense for 2 weeks before flashing aosp I also am using clockworkmod recovery this time around.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
That takes balls man.

May the force be with you!

Oh BTW. Since you have S-OFF, take away all traces of root so if it does brick, nobody can tell.

---------- Post added at 11:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 PM ----------

OK Here's a list of people I have notified/have already done the survey. Disregard the <BREAK>'s.

xxRAMOTHxx

oOflyeyesOo

funstuff234

barkmarkin

Alex1123

TheWzrd

Deus_eps_machina

<BREAK>

Bonely

SoOpErMaRii0

tugesius

saibogu009

agentdevan

<BREAK>

uZzY94

Asdoos

jcwxguy

XikkeN

air23cpt

<BREAK>

bboysmerf

<BREAK>
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
I have reset the tamper status already. And there has been slot of kernel changes since those early June builds with even more being added on the next nightly I'll keep my fingers crossed!

HTC One+CyanogenMod 10.1​

Samsung Galaxy Note II

Samsung Galaxy S3

Galaxy Nexus

Nexus S 4G

HTC Evo​
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] flex360:
The recovery has nothing to do with it man. You're risking a brick again. All the recovery does is copy the files to the partitions and set the permissions.

What happens during the running of the Rom is dependent on the Rom and the kernel itself. Until we get a new 4.2.2 proper kernel I'm not touching any aosp rom.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
Yeah I realize the recovery does nothing to do with the phone when you are not actually in it. And yes the risk is all mine. I hate sense that much.

HTC One+CyanogenMod 10.1​

Samsung Galaxy Note II

Samsung Galaxy S3

Galaxy Nexus

Nexus S 4G

HTC Evo​
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] HTC_M7:
Yea guys. I would really stop worrying about it. Root your phones. S off do whatever. Just run sense for a while. Atleast until 4.2.2 comes out.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
You do know who you're talking to, right? Lol.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] HTC_M7:
Well it was more a comment on the thread. Not generally to one specific person.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
I'm kidding. such a warning might fall on deaf ears here.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] HTC_M7:
Lol. Yea this thread scred me too root

---------- Post added at 02:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:21 AM ----------

Lol. Yea this thread scared me too root and unlock until i finally did.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
I've never been afraid to brick phones (I make a good tester :D) and so far I never have.... well not quite. ;)
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Alex1123:
Yeah I myself was running sense for a long time and just recently flashed paranoid android and no problems also s off now and using cwm reset the tampered flag and installed a custom splash screen haha couldn't resist aosp
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Wouldn't the custom splash screen give it away?

At least you could argue that the PA was just a custom launcher or something.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Alex1123:
Lol I don't hide the fact that my phone is modified I reset the tampered flag when I installed a custom hboot and that got rid of the red text and says its just unlocked no tampered or moonshine and the splash screen is a Google one like from the Google play editions :P
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] SantinoInc:
I don't think there is any way to fool HTC if you have to utilize their warranty. It seems that this issue is on their radar and that most of, if not all people that are having these issues have unlocked the bootloader and have custom software running on their phones.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
All right. HTC literally JUST shipped packaged my phone, guys.

If my phone comes back all screwed up, should I talk to HTC about it? I mean, covered in scratches, gaps etc.

My phone was in perfect condition (I mean perfect, except for a small stain at the top, which I caused) and I would be disappointed if a repair costing a third of the value of the phone caused external damage.

Does HTC even care about cosmetics? I could imagine them being like, "Oh, you shouldn't have bricked your phone if you didn't want it damaged."

Will they fix it if it comes back cosmetically damaged?

Does anybody have prior experience?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Sitrep on smac7's list:

The latest report said that the phone was running 6/29/13 nightly. We have two Sense bricks and another CWM one.

Majority is still CWM/TWRP.

Most reported extreme battery drain and battery temps.

I know some of this is review, but it's all available in one list for easy reading.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Alex1123:
Only thing I see we all had in common was s on now hmm
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Embluss:
Could be similar to initially blaming TWRP... But is s-off that rare? If not, maybe it's the stock hboot. I don't understand how that would effect... Whatever is going on here, though. I thought hboot was only really used at boot?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] :
Doubt it. I absolutely had S-OFF.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Smac7:
how do you relock the bootloader if the device doesn't turn on?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Let's define "hard brick" again.

A brick is a phone that:

-Does not boot into any mode (os, hboot, recovery, download etc.)

-does not charge (no charging light at all, not even blinking or getting hot)

-is not recognized by the computer (eliminating the possibility of a side load or ruu)

-does not respond to any buttons at all (not even blinking capacitive button lights)

-and though this is implied, the screen does not turn on or show anything at all (ie no boot loops or splash screens)
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] Alex1123:
Oh well when I looked at the Google doc they made I thought they all said s on. Also back when mine bricked there was no way to s off yet it had literally just came out after it bricked haha
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
OK so here's a changelog.

http://10.1.cmxlog.com/?device=m7spr

I really think this issue has been fixed. There have been no new reports, and there have been several changes to kernel since the last recorded brick (6/29). There apparently was also an update from the GE kernel source (not sure how much that changed, though).

I think there's no real reason to be afraid anymore, but if anybody gets any bricks at all, I'll be watching.

However, we still don't know exactly what was causing this. We may never know.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] adamlee011:
Ok. That sounds promising. Maybe. I hope. Maybe people can post some positive experiences if they go a week or so with aosp successfully? I plan on keeping sense on my one because, as insane as it sounds, I'm using it as a remote for my tv and that's about it! I went back to my evo because I love pac rom and it has halo now. I would love to see some aosp in action though on the one. Basically what I'm saying is I can wait. But it might be helpful if we get some positive feedback and hopefully no new negative experiences to help confirm and set us at ease if it is in fact resolved.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Since no more bricks are being reported, can we turn this thread around?

Can people who have been running an AOSP Rom for 2 weeks (continuously) or more, and have been updating their devices regularly (about 3-4 times a week) comment here? It would inspire confidence, to say the least.

Also, please include since when you've been running, which rom, recovery, hboot, and s-off status.
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] a13xemz:
June 20

CM10.1 NIGHTLY have updated daily up to 7/8 due to issues

TWRP 2.5.5

S-OFF
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] sauprankul:
Wow. HTC DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO REPAIR THEIR PHONES.

I just got my phone back. I know it's mine and not a replacement because mine had a unique stain/discoloration (barely noticeable, but it's there).

First thing I noticed? The power button is RECESSED! No, not barely extruding out the top, like it was before, not flush with the plastic, but RECESSED. As in, I have to use my nail to press the power button. With just my fingertip, the button doesn't feel anything! I have to hit the part of the power button closest to the back, which is EXTREMELY HARD with a TPU skin on.

Pictures coming. I'm gonna have a chat with HTC now.

Also, the back of my phone is COVERED in scratches. I know HTC did it because the IMEI/SN stciker they put on was scratched up, NTM I put my phone in a case. Thankfully, the scratches didn't go through the anodized layer, but they're still visible. EDIT: So my camera can't see the scratches, and I won't be uploading pics of the scratches, because if the camera can't see it, nobody can... (in theory).

This is just sad, especially for a company that's trying to be in the Top 3.

If HTC/whoever HTC is outsourcing its repairs to were a guy, I would slap him.

UPDATE: My chat with HTC, summarized.

I called. He answered. I told him wazzup. He said that's weird and asked me for my # so he could see what repair had been done.

Me: "My #"

Him: "OK thanks. (Asks me my name) Let's see here....

Oh wow... Seems like they had to replace the main board (no $#!+)

So I ask him if I have to pay for shipping and how long it'll take. It'll be on the house (as long as I have my own box) and shouldn't take "very long."

At this point I get a splitting headache. I have been phoneless for a good 1/2 month (which I blame not on HTC) only to have to send it back the moment I receive it? That's completely HTC's fault.

I really don't wanna send my phone back, you guys. They might actually scratch through the anodized coating this time, and they may even BS me and call my power button a non-issue.

Is it? Should I just stack 2-3 mm of nail polish on the phone? Will HTC actually fix my phone? Is it worth the hassle?
[Sprint HTC One (M7)] felacio:
The first pic of the power button actually kindof looks photoshopped, but the second picture is CLEARLY real. So yeah, that sucks a hairy hang-down.

I don't know, technically the phone still functions without any issue, and you could always install a mod that uses the volume to turn screen on or a kernel to use the Logo2wake and such. But it would be a huge annoyance that you would never forget about. I mean, anytime you wake or sleep your phone you'll remember "oh yeah, that f**king thing RIGHT THERE."

I'd probably send it back, but that is just me and I even use the logo2wake feature in ElementalX exclusively. But I'd still send it back.

That is some ****ty luck man, sorry to have to read that. :(