[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] GedBlake:
Successfully S-OFF 'd my M8 - My experiences, thoughts and ruminations.

Hi, all...

Well... I rooted my M8 about a month ago, the old fashioned way (via htcdev.com - unlocked bootloader, fastboot flashed TWRP, & then flashed Chainfire). No difficulties.

But with the Stagefright OTA patch being pushed out by various carriers, it seems many who are currently rooted are finding themselves bootlooped/softbricked as a consequence of applying this OTA. Even when the stock recovery is restored, and as is required.

My own carrier (CID: H3G__001) has yet to push this Stagefright patch/OTA... And unrooted/unmodified Nandroids for my carrier (3Mobile UK) aren't easy to come by. In fact, I've found none, despite my best efforts :(.

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Yesterday, I decided to bite the bullet and acquire S-OFF via Sunshine. I was already rooted, with Chainfire v2.46 and TWRP 2.8.7.0 installed.

So... my plan with S-OFF, is to eventually convert my branded M8 to a WWE device (Is that correct? I'm not totally sure.), and run an RUU, (thereby restoring back to stock Sense, and allowing future OTAs).

But my concern was paying for Sunshine...

Not the money itself... $25 (which is around £16.50 UK sterling), and which I have no problem paying, but with the

method of payment

.

I don't have a Credit card, just a Visa Debit card. So I had no idea if it would work.

But it did!!!

... And wonderfully so... :):):).

The whole process, from installing the Sunshine APK right through to achieving S-OFF took about 10 minutes...

...and most of that was spent Googling "What the hell is a CVV number?", and which I eventually found on the back of my Visa Debit card near the signature strip!!!

Anyhow, whilst running Sunshine, I took a dozen or so screenshots, which illustrates just how straightforward this procedure is.

I've uploaded them to my Google Drive account for viewing should anybody be considering S-OFF and would like to get a sense of what's involved...

https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B8X-LxB5lQGMdkpaajNpQ1ZMTHM/edit

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I know it's bit of a loose comparison, but anybody who grumbles about the price of Sunshine is a bit like somebody grumbling about paying £10 for the HDMI cable that connects the £950 HiDef TV

they've just bought

, to the £350 BlueRay player

they've just bought

. In other words, it's a trivial sum compared to the price of the primary hardware... And the benefits conferred are significant. And that's before considering the financial costs to [MENTION=2376614]jcase[/MENTION] and [MENTION=711482]beaups[/MENTION], who bricked many phones in their efforts to discover how to reliably and **safely** S-OFF devices for their customers. I don't know how Sunshine works it's magic, but I would imagine if not done precisely and correctly, there would be potentially huge scope for lots of phones being bricked.

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Anyway, I now have S-OFF, and I have more options should the Stagefright OTA softbrick my rooted M8, as reported by others on XDA. I still have lots more reading to do before I actually start availing myself of what S-OFF confers. (I understand I could actually now downgrade back to KitKat...?? I really have tons of questions :):):) )

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I come from a Nexus 7 & Nexus 9 tablet background, where flashing and rooting is a piece of cake - it's a relationship of just two... Myself and Google.

With my HTC One M8, there are an additional two interlopers... HTC themselves and my carrier/provider, and both significantly complicate matters... with lots of complex jargon about CIDS and MIDS and sundry other acronyms which I'm still trying to wrap my brain around.

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Right... sorry for waffling on. I'll wrap it up for now.

Thanks [MENTION=2376614]jcase[/MENTION] and [MENTION=711482]beaups[/MENTION] for Sunshine.

It worked perfectly... and well worth the money.

Cheers, all...

Rgrds,

Ged.