[AT&T, Rogers HTC One X, Telstra One XL] Heisenberg:
[SIZE=+3]Heisenberg's How-To Guide For Beginners[/SIZE]

[SIZE=+2]HTC One XL, AT&T, Rogers HTC One X, Telstra One XL[/SIZE]

​

[SIZE=+1]Intro[/SIZE]

This thread will serve as a location for basic how-to guides for the HTC One XL (Evita). I'm going to start off with a couple of the more obvious ones and go from there. If anyone has any suggestions for additions please feel free to let me know.

Please note: you'll need a working adb/fastboot environment on your PC to get through some of these guides. There are many guides on how to install adb/fastboot available on XDA.

This is not a q&a/help thread, if you have questions regarding the processes mentioned here please ask in the appropriate place

By attempting any of the processes listed this thread you accept full responsibility for your actions. I will not be held responsible if your device stops working, catches on fire, or turns into a hipster and claims to have been modified before it was cool. Make sure you read a section and fully understand it

before

attempting it.

​

[SIZE=+1]Index[/SIZE]

How To Unlock The Bootloader On An AT&T Phone With 3.18 Software

How To Unlock The Bootloader On An AT&T Phone With 5.18 Software

How To Install A Custom Recovery On Your Device

How To Make A Nandroid Backup With TWRP Recovery

How To Install A ROM with TWRP Recovery

How To Flash A Boot.img With Fastboot

How To Install A Custom Kernel With TWRP Recovery

How To Make Sure You Can Pretty Much Always Recover From An Accidentally Wiped System

How To Flash The 2.15 Firmware

​

[SIZE=+1]1. How To Unlock The Bootloader On An AT&T Phone With 3.18 Software[/SIZE]

All AT&T phones are blocked from having their bootloader unlocked at htcdev, they achieve this by checking the CID of the device. Any device with the at&t CID (CWS__001) will not be able to do it, so you need to get temp root which allows you to get SuperCID (11111111). There is a dev thread dedicated to this exploit but it doesn't contain the most user-friendly directions so here's a quick guide.

Download the xpwn.tar.gz file from here.

Extract it into your fastboot folder.

Make sure you're booted into Android with usb debugging enabled. Connect your phone to your PC via usb cable.

Open a command prompt from within your fastboot folder (navigate to where you have fastboot.exe located on your PC, shift + right click anywhere within that folder, select open command prompt here).

Test the connection by entering this command:

adb devices

It should return your device serial number, once you've verified a connection you can start the process.

Command #1

adb push oneXchopper /data/local/tmp/xpwn

Command #2

adb push busybox /data/local/tmp/busybox

Command #3

adb push ownage /data/local/tmp/phase1.sh

Command #4

adb shell chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/xpwn /data/local/tmp/busybox

Command #5

adb shell ln -s /data/local/tmp/busybox /data/local/tmp/sed

Command #6

adb shell "/data/local/tmp/xpwn"

Command #7

adb reboot bootloader

Now test if it worked by entering this command:

fastboot oem readcid

Hopefully you'll see 11111111, then you can go to htcdev and unlock your bootloader.

​

[SIZE=+1]2. How To Unlock The Bootloader On An AT&T Phone With 5.18 Software[/SIZE]

All AT&T phones are blocked from having their bootloader unlocked at htcdev, they achieve this by checking the CID of the device. Any device with the at&t CID (CWS__001) will not be able to do it, so you need to use an exploit which allows you to get SuperCID (11111111). There is no actual single exploit to do this on the 5.18 firmware, you need to use a couple of separate methods in conjunction to get it done.

Go to the Weaksauce thread and get temporary root using that tool.

Once you have temp-root you need to go to the Rumrunner S-off site and use that tool to get s-off. Make sure you read the instructions carefully. The device will have to reboot during the s-off process, which means that the Weaksauce app may or may not automatically root again after boot, you need to keep an eye on this because if it doesn't you'll need to do it manually when the device boots up otherwise the rumrunner method won't work. This can be frustrating, this is a finicky process, this isn't exactly the easiest method in the world but it does indeed work.

Checking your bootloader to ensure that you have s-off.

Boot into the bootloader, make sure your phone is connected to your PC via usb, and issue this command:

fastboot oem writecid 11111111

Confirm that you now have SuperCID with this command:

fastboot oem readcid

That's it, once you have SuperCID you can go to htcdev and unlock your bootloader.

​

[SIZE=+1]3. How To Install A Custom Recovery On Your Device[/SIZE]

Prerequisites: unlocked bootloader.

Download the recovery of your choice.

Check the md5 to verify its integrity (where possible).

Place the file in your fastboot folder (this is where fastboot.exe is located on your PC).

Put the phone in fastboot mode and connect it to your PC via usb cable.

Open a command prompt from within your fastboot folder (shift + right click, select open command prompt here), and enter the following commands:

fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.8.7.0-evita.img

(The recovery filename in the command will change depending on which recovery you're flashing)

fastboot erase cache

fastboot reboot

Select the recovery option from your bootloader screen to enter your custom recovery.

​

[SIZE=+1]4. How To Make A Nandroid Backup With TWRP Recovery[/SIZE]

Prerequisites: unlocked bootloader, TWRP recovery.

A nandroid backup is a very important thing to have before installing any custom software on your device. It's basically a backup of your stock system that you can fall back on if anything goes wrong or if you just want your stock ROM back. You can also use the backup tool to create a backup of your favourite ROM set up exactly the way you like it. The backup you create can be easily restored using the restore tool in TWRP recovery.

All you need to do is enter TWRP recovery, select the backup option from the TWRP home screen, check the system/data/boot boxes, and swipe to backup. The process will take a few minutes.

Please note: Backups can easily take up over 1gb of space in your internal storage. Moving them to a PC or external drive is a great idea to save space on your phone.

​

[SIZE=+1]5. How To Install A ROM with TWRP Recovery[/SIZE]

Prerequisites: unlocked bootloader, TWRP recovery.

Installing a ROM is a pretty straight forward and easy process. Before you install anything you should make a nandroid backup (instructions above).

Download a ROM and appropriate Gapps package (if required) and place on your device.

Boot into your custom recovery.

Perform a full wipe.

Select the wipe option from the TWRP home screen.

Select advanced wipe.

Check the system, data, cache, and dalvik cache options.

Swipe to wipe.

Install the ROM.

Select the install option from the TWRP home screen.

Navigate to where you have the ROM zip stored on your sd card and select it.

Swipe to install.

Most ROMs will run an installer script at this point but some ROMs have what is called an Aroma Installer which allow you to choose some install options before the script runs.​

If you're flashing an aosp (not Sense based) ROM you will also need to install the appropriate gapps package directly after installing the ROM.

Once you've installed all necessary zips you'll have an option to wipe cache/dalvik and an option to reboot system. Wipe the cache/dalvik, hit the back button, and hit the reboot system button.

Please note: if your phone has a hboot of 1.14 or higher and is s-on you'll also need to flash the boot.img with fastboot. Do not hit the reboot system button at the end of this process. Hit the home button, select the reboot option from the TWRP home screen, then hit the reboot bootloader button. Instructions to flash the boot.img are below.

​

[SIZE=+1]6. How To Flash A Boot.img With Fastboot[/SIZE]

Prerequisites: unlocked bootloader.

If your phone has a hboot of 1.14 or higher and is s-on, flashing a ROM or kernel through your recovery of choice won't be enough to boot the phone. The boot.img included in the ROM zip is unable to be installed by the recovery due to a security restriction that was introduced in the 1.14 hboot. Every time you want to flash a ROM you also need to flash the boot.img manually via fastboot.

Open/extract/view the ROM zip and in the root directory you'll see a file called "boot.img", copy this file and put it in your fastboot folder on your PC.

After you've flashed the ROM in recovery, instead of selecting a normal reboot select to reboot to the bootloader.

Once your phone has booted into the bootloader you can connect it to your PC, it should now say "fastboot usb" on the screen.

Open a command prompt from within your fastboot folder (shift + right click, select open command prompt here) and issue this fastboot command:

fastboot flash boot boot.img

It'll take a few seconds to flash the boot.img.

Once it's finished you can use the following command to reboot:

fastboot reboot

Now your phone should successfully boot up into your brand new ROM. Remember, each time you want to flash a new ROM you need to flash the boot.img as well. If you decide to get s-off on your device you will no longer need to go through this process.

​

[SIZE=+1]7. How To Install A Custom Kernel With TWRP Recovery[/SIZE]

Prerequisites: unlocked bootloader, TWRP recovery.

A custom kernel can open up a new level of control over your device, such as overclocking/underclocking, undervolting, changing governors, changing I/O schedulers, adjusting colour calibrations, adjusting sound calibrations, and many other options.

Download a kernel that is compatible with your current ROM.

Check the md5 to verify its integrity.

Enter TWRP recovery.

Select the install option from the TWRP home screen.

Navigate to the kernel and select it.

Swipe to install.

You'll have an option to wipe cache/dalvik and an option to reboot system. Wipe the cache/dalvik, hit the back button, and hit the reboot system button.

Once your phone has booted up you can use a kernel tuning app to change governors, I/O scheduler, clock speed, and other options. Some of the popular kernel apps are Trickster Mod, No Frills, Kernel Tuner, and many more.

​

[SIZE=+1]8. How To Make Sure You Can Pretty Much Always Recover From An Accidentally Wiped System[/SIZE]

Prerequisites: unlocked bootloader, TWRP recovery.

There may come a time when you accidentally wipe your OS while trying to perform a basic cache wipe in recovery. Don't laugh, it can happen to the best of us. The best way to insure yourself against being stuck in recovery is to keep a ROM zip or a TWRP/CWM backup (a nandroid backup) on your sd card at all times.

This solution seems like common sense but apparently there are quite a few people out there who don't store a ROM or backup on their phone. You might think it's easy to just mount the sd card and copy a ROM across to your phone from your PC (which is definitely an option), but there's always a chance that you won't be near your PC at the time, or it won't recognise your phone properly. Basically you need to insure yourself against Murphy's law.

​

[SIZE=+1]9. How To Flash The 2.15 Firmware[/SIZE]

Prerequisites: unlocked bootloader, s-off, SuperCID.

Warning! If you have the middle eastern variant (Evita_utl) do not flash this firmware, it is not compatible with your device and will cause irreparable damage.

Download the firmware from here.

Place it in your fastboot folder and rename it to "215firmware.zip" to make things easier later on.

Reboot into the bootloader and connect your phone to your PC via usb cable.

Open a command prompt from within your fastboot folder (shift + right click, select open command prompt here) and issue this fastboot command to check your fastboot connection:

fastboot devices

Once you've established a working connection (it'll show your serial number) you can start the process with this command:

fastboot oem rebootRUU

The phone will now boot into rebootRUU mode which is a black screen with the HTC logo.

Issue this command:

fastboot flash zip 215firmware.zip

If the output ends with "FAILED (remote: 90 hboot pre-update! please flush image again immediately)", run the previous command again. If it ends with "INFO..... OK", just reboot to the bootloader with this command:

fastboot reboot-bootloader

Verify the flash was successful by checking the hboot version and radio version in the bootloader screen. They should be as follows:

Hboot: 2.15

Radio: 1.31a.32.45.16_2

Reboot your phone by issuing this command:

fastboot reboot

Please note that the progress bar on the screen of your phone won't ever reach 100% even after the process is finished. As long as the process says it's finished in the command prompt it's safe to reboot.

​

Donate To Me

Sent from my Evita