yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
Hoping some kind soul will take a few minutes to get me up to speed on what I need to know about hacking the M8.

I am not a total newb, and have lingered around XDA for a while. I've rooted many phones and tablets, even worked with cooking my own ROMS for android and older winmo 4+ years ago. I've just not been involved in the scene and am just about to get my new M8 and would like a crash course.

I really don't mind reading - so if someone has a great all-in-one guide they recommend, I'll certainly start with that...its just the endless searching for the up-to-date info I'm looking to avoid. I actually prefer to understand what I'm doing rather than just click "unlock"

Top most questions in my mind:

1) The biggest thing I would like to know to start is the best way to backup/up protect my device before I do anything to it.

I'd like to be able to return it to total stock (minus any impossibility in re-locking a bootloader) in case I mess things up or need to return, etc.

2) Current best methods for rooting, unlocking, etc. I just want to make sure I'm not doing something out of date that might be more effort than necessary/dangerous.

3) I see this new TWRP thing...which looks like an alternate to CWM. Which is better for me to use for M8?

4) Any M8 specific big dangers to watch out for to prevent bricking.

I always look to XDA for the best advice, but sometimes the site is difficult to navigate to find the most clear explanation.

TIA!
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] mdorrett:
The above post about covers it. Only thing I would like to add is I much prefer Phil's touch recovery based on CMW and try firewater method for soft and unlocking boot loader before paying for sunshine. It may or may not work. But could possibly save you the cash.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] BadUsername:
Philz recovery is amazing, have you used the M8 unified builds yet? Or are you still sticking to the last Verizon build?
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
Thanks all. I will certainly read up on what you've written and follow up with any questions I may have.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
So I read a little bit on the posts above... Ick...when I was deciding on the M8 I checked to see if it was all hackable and apparently found the positive information for only the old methods and didn't realize a $25 price tag was the *only* way to really unlock the phone.

I mean...I don't totally begrudge the devs charging for it...but honestly I've never heard of this before in the 8-10 years I've been modding with smartphones of charging for this. While $25 may be nothing compared to a $700 unlocked phone, it sure is a heck of a lot more than $0, which was where the previous bar was set. You'd think $5 or $10 would be a better place to start.

Of course, it doesn't look like I have any other option though. I do have some more questions:

1) What are the pieces that sunshine does that can't be done elsewhere? It looks like there are several root methods - so is sunshine the only way to S-OFF or is it also the only way to unlock the bootloader?

2) If I don't do sunshine, and therefore can't S-OFF (and maybe can't unlock bootloader), can I still root? If so, is it only a temp unroot? And is there really a downside to that?

3) In all honesty, while I'd like to have everything unlocked, I think I will be happy with a root for now if that's enough to do some hacks (like maybe energy saving and wifi tether, etc.). Will I be able to do those with just root? I'm not really clear on the actual purpose of the S-OFF vs. the unlocked boot loader. Maybe in a few months I will be tired of the stock ROM and cough up the dough.

4) In order to do the backups to revert to stock, what steps must I first obtain and can I do those steps for free (aka no Sunshine) and are they reversible? IOW, what's the minimum I must "hack" the device in order to get a stock backup and/or to recover it.

Finally - when did the "firewater" method stop working? Is it newer hardware being shipped or a certain firmware/OS level update that blocked it? It sounds pretty unlikely that it will work for a new phone, but it won't hurt to try if it doesn't, right?

thanks again for the jump start....I think just jumping in and doing is the best way to learn, but I don't want to leap without protecting myself at the outset.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] BadUsername:
1) sunshine is the only way to s-off if firewater doesn't work. It pushes an exploit that turns the secure flag off so s-off is achieved, then it pushes a separate exploit to unlock the bootloader. You may be able to change your phone carrier ID so htc dev can s-off your phone, but it doesn't do everything sunshine does.

2) without using sunshine you can still have temporary root with weaksauce, but it's really limited. Since your phone is still s-on, it isn't able to write to the system partition. It means you lose root on every reboot, and you have to wait up to a minute for weaksauce to root again.

Also without an unlocked bootloader you are unable to flash a custom recovery, which means you can't make a nandroid. Not having a nandroid sucks because if you soft brick your phone you have no choice but to go completely back to stock. Not a great situation to be in.

Any root framework or application that requires modification of your system folder won't work.

There's no question paying $25 for sunshine is worth it.

3) here's the some definitions:

S-on = security flag on, system write protected

S-off = security flag off, system write enabled

Unlocked bootloader: ability to flash custom kernels and Recoveries.

Having access to a custom recovery is everything. Allows easy backup capabilities in case a rom modification goes bad. Allows super user permissions to be flashed directly into the system partition to allow permanent root. And gives you the ability to keep an unlocked bootloader without worry that Verizon will patch the current exploit.

Even on a stock rom it's worth it to have an unlocked bootloader. The modifications you're referring to require a custom recovery, and even if you could install them without it, it's still recommended to have a nandroid available in case your phone doesn't boot afterwards. I'm still running stock myself.

4) getting back to stock isn't easy. Verizon or HTC didn't release an official ruu. You'd have to flash the unofficial ruu, then turn your flags back to S-on, and hope it doesn't detect anything weird and flag your phone as tampered. The information was already linked to you in earlier posts, you just have to read up on it.

5) firewater stopped working on newer hardware versions, has nothing to do with firmware versions. There's no harm in trying it, but it most likely won't work on a new phone.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] mdorrett:
It also seems that firewater has nothing to do with hardware versions either. As I have a buddy with same hardware versions as me and FW worked perfectly. I am not exactly sure why FW works for some and not others.

---------- Post added at 08:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:06 AM ----------

Also as far as changing CID I have not found a way to do this with out having S-Off already. If there is one please point me in the right direction. Thank you!
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] BadUsername:
I guess I meant hardware variation, not version, it's not something you can simply check, but the internals of each phone is different. If htc used different manufacturers for the same internals it'll break firewater. The hardware version number would look the same.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
So I've read up on a good bit of what you've all posted - again thanks for that.

My M8 will be here tomorrow and I plan to use it for a few days without any tampering to ensure that I like the phone and that the reception in my home is adequate (problem had on my last upgrade attempt a year ago to a Razr M with Verizon). If all looks good, I will attempt the firewater method this weekend. If unsuccessful, I think my plan is probably to just play with the stock configuration for a month or two just to get used to working with a modern android version (I'm coming from a Droid 2 with large areas of pixel smear...so anything will be an improvement).

Hopefully, after a couple months if I am feeling like I want to tinker, sunshine will have come down in $$ or there is another working method. If not, I'll pay for it if I feel it's worth what I'll gain at that time. In all honesty, I like knowing I have the power to do whatever I want on my phone, but because I use my phone day in and out for business, I'm not often that adventurous in constant flashing ROMs as I want a very stable experience and don't want to take the time to constantly flash and restore.

I do have a few follow-up questions from some of my reading:

1) My understanding is that S-Off is also equivalent to a bootloader unlock. And that if you S-OFF, there is no need to also unlock the bootloader (it's either done as part of it, or simply not needed since S-Off overrides any boot lock). Is this correct?

2) Is CID unlock necessary to flash custom ROMs? Does doing a CID unlock also have the same benefit of a SIM unlock? Some pages I read indicate that setting to the superCID (11111111) is basically the same as a region unlock and therefore your SIM is also unlocked?

3) Since you can apparently gain temp root with weaksauce, is it possible to use this temproot with xposed framework? Or is S-off still required to apply the xposed framework modules?

thanks!
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] BadUsername:
1) s-off is not equivalent to bootloader unlock, they are different things. S-off is needed to unlock bootloader.

2) super cid is only needed if swapping carriers, it allows another rom specific to any carrier to be flashed. If you flash any rom on Verizon it won't work, so you have to use a compatible Verizon rom anyways.

3) maybe, I never use xposed anyway because it breaks some apps I use. My guess is that it would be hit or miss depending on what the module does.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] S1L3nTShaDoWz:
1) No, s-off simply allows you to write to the /system partition and do some other stuff like RUU's and etc that i cant think of at the moment but no it is not equivalent to bootloader unlock. Bootloader unlocking allows you to flash recoveries, roms, scripts, kernels, etc. S-OFF allows the more advanced stuff like firmware flashing in fastboot. (at least I think that's what s-off does)

2) Super CID allows you to flash ROM's made for other carriers. So if you set your CID to super CID or another carriers CID then you could flash their ROMS and receive OTA Updates from them. It does not allow Sim unlock and or is not a Sim unlock.

3) I'm quite sure that weak sauce only allows access to /system/xbin but I may be wrong BUT in the case I'm right then no you cannot use xposed without S-OFF because without S-OFF you can't flash a system write enabled kernel to allow it.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
Ok... so two more questions:

1) Verizon M8 is already SIM unlocked, correct?

2) I can see that firewater/sunshine do both an S-off and bootloader unlock. However, they don't seem to differentiate between these two things, simply stating they do both. Is there another stand-alone method to unlock the bootloader and if so, do you gain anything having an unlocked boot loader but not s-off? I know you can unlock the bootloader on all the other M8 variants via HTCdev, but they have blocked Verizon.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] S1L3nTShaDoWz:
1) No, you have to manually unlock it.

2) HTCDev is the only way that I've heard about for unlocking the bootloader alone & the only thing different is you wouldn't be able to flash firmware I believe.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
http://htcsource.com/2014/06/how-to-sim-unlock-the-htc-one-m8-for-free/

"Verizon: the HTC One (M8) from Verizon is SIM unlocked right out of the box."

Also found this on Verizon's Global Ready policy FAQ:

http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/faqs/InternationalServicesandRoaming/faq_global_phone.html

"We do not lock our 4G LTE devices, and no code is needed to program them for use with another carrier."

Some info on this thread people seem to indicate it is already unlocked:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2730159

So are those sources above incorrect? I can't find any guide on how to SIM unlock the M8 on verizon... this is why I'm thinking it was already unlocked?
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] BadUsername:
It is sim unlocked, you can take it into any carrier and it'll work. The only reason it wouldn't work is if you don't have the correct bands to get LTE or GSM data.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
So i got my M8 yesterday and could already tell that reception wise it was much better than my previous upgrade attempt with the RAZR M.

Since there aren't a lot of options for customizable phones anymore with VZW, I've decided to keep it and am happy to report that firewater worked for me to S-OFF!

I had some issues with weaksauce and superSU...the latter not seeming to want to run, but eventually I determined that it wasn't necessary to actually run and update the app to get firewater to work (even though I never got any toast pop-ups from weaksauce after boot).

Firewater ran find and unlocke me after 4 bottle chugs.

I then had some problems loading on CWM. The reason is that on the CWM site the list the M8 down at the very bottom away from all the other HTC devices (including the HTC One - which they don't qualify as the M7 or M8). I accidentally flashed the recovery for the M7 since that is what was listed. After that I couldn't get into any recovery, although the phone still booted. When I realized what happened, I was a little peeved that they so carelessly listed these on their site that I chose not to continue using the stock CWM even though I prefer it's streamlined approach.

I went ahead an installed this version of PhilZ CWM:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2725348

It sounded like you guys were praising this one, and I do prefer CWM. Even though it sounds like TWRP is more popular now, I saw several threads where it seemed like there were issues with TWRP doing funky stuff that CWM users didn't have issues with.

So, after I got that on I removed weaksauce and SuperSU.

What I would like to do now is probably reset to factory defaults and do a nandroid backup. Then, I would like to perma-root.

Some questions on this:

1) Do i need an SD card to nandroid backup? It appeared to work when I started a backup without an SD card...I didn't let it finish, but I'm not sure this method will work. I want to make sure I have a backup that I can use to revert to stock. I do have an sd card coming, but if I can do a successful backup without one I will go ahead.

2) Do I use all the default settings in Philz/CWM for the backup, or do I need to tweak anything in the advanced to ensure that I get *everything* that would be stock on the phone?

3) I saw some method that involved flashing a supersu update to get perma-root? Is this the best method?

Thanks again for all the help.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] S1L3nTShaDoWz:
1) You don't need an SD card but I recommend it because if you ever encounter the dreaded "encryption" glitch that some AOSP ROM's have then you'll lose everything on your internal storage. I also recommend you back your Nandroid backups to your computer or some other sort of storage too so that if you ever encounter it or somehow manage to lose it then you can get it back.

2) It doesn't really matter what settings you choose or at least it never has for me but it should backup everything (ROM & apps)

3) Yes, that is the best method for getting perma-root is to flash the SuperSU zip in your recovery. You can find the latest version of the flashable zip at Chainfire's thread over here or the direct download link to the flashable zip here on his official website

Also I'd like to apologize for the invalid information I gave you yesterday on the SIM unlocking, my bad on that. I've had a cold for the past few days and it's been making me lazy lol.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
1) Ok...but to get my first stock backup so I can proceed with everything else, it's safe to nandroid to internal memory? Where exactly will it place a nandroid backup if I don't have an SD card?

2) I was looking at the Misc Nandroid Settings like "include /preload" "use TWRP mode" etc. No reason to use anything but the defaults?

3) Cool...as soon as I have my nandroid I will go that route.

No worries about the SIM data...you guys have helped accelerate me pretty fast, and I'm thrilled that firewater worked. I'd now just like to get my full backup so I can begin fully migrating to the new phone and having fun :)
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] S1L3nTShaDoWz:
Yeah it's safe, it will be stored in a folder called TWRP/Backups/Phone_Id_Here/ in the storage/emulated/0 folder (in root Explorer).

Also you can change them around to what you like, it doesn't matter.

& glad we could help!
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] TraderJack:
Some additional questions as I get ready to root. I found this thread here:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2731893

That seems to indicate that just rooting with SuperSU after S-Off isn't enough to really unlock the system.

It mentions the following:

- System write protection removed

- Unsecured boot.img

Are the above two hacks still required to fully unlock?

Some posts seem to indicate that if I use something like ES Root Explorer I will have no problems modifying /system even without this.

I'm unsure on what the unsecure boot.img would do as well.

I found the following thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2708686

Which seems to indicate some of these changes maybe required...but it was closed months ago and I'm not sure if things have changed since then.

I assume that most custom ROMs have this stuff baked in, but I will likely stay on the Stock ROM for a few months, so do I need it?
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] S1L3nTShaDoWz:
I think that kernel mod is only required if you don't have perm root or are not s-off, may be wrong though. Just do as you were planning and see if everything works fine and you can access /system from within Android, if not then give it a go.
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] Shamestick:
If you're looking to stay stock, I would recommend cleanrom. Its extremely stable, near complete stock, but will have all of these little things taken care for you
[Verizon HTC One (M8)] :
Probably won't be TWRP/Backups as you are using PhilzTouch Recovery but will be in a folder called Backups for sure.
[AT&T Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] XiphoneUzer:
Can somebody please find where the "transmit power mode" is on 900a.

(I just got a 900t for a friend and its under mobile hotspot, but no such option on att rom.

I have a rooted 900a on jb4.3 NB4 unlocked and am on tmo truly unlimited for $80 (no throttle, I'm at 95gigs with 4 days left in cycle) :good:

I got the att rom hotspot to work, but it's random to which power setting is selected, I can easily tell low power/batt save from high power, (crappy range vs great range)

I'm hoping that someone out there knows how I can tweak this setting so its as high as poss so my kids can connect upstairs -
[AT&T Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] XiphoneUzer:
Is this thread in the wrong forum? (100 views, no replies), should it be in the dev forum or something?

If Samsung gave one N3, user selectable transmit power, how could the other N3 NOT have it ???
[AT&T Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] graydiggy:
What exactly is 'transmit power mode'?
[General Questions and Answers] vze326ff1:
Hello, I am new here, but I used this site for custom ROMs on my OUYA, note 2, etc. I bought this tinale tl869 off amazon for 20 dollars. It only has one USB port on it for power and USB. USB hub works great but had a hard time finding developer options. The 7 clicks on the build number does not work. I can get to the deverloper option by downloading a developer options shortcut and checked in the usb debug option. Still, my computer does not detect anything. Used the y cable and direct cable contecting it in my computer. No options to change from charging, mass storage, or debugging??? Has anyone had this problem, just want to root, for more advance apps
[Xperia Z1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PokoJoE:
Recently Sony has launched the Kit Kat 4.4.4 on the T-Mobile Xperia Z1s. I have the Original 4.3 Jellybean Rooted. I would like to update but I downloaded the update thru my phone and it gives me the DEODEX menu I think is what it is called. I am a newbie or a beginner in this. I did the root myself reading and following steps. Is there anyone who can help me out because I know the Z1s comes with bootloader locked. I had to rooted not like many other phones with just one click or a few steps and its done. Please don't judge me or tell me What I should Do. I came here because I know you guys are the best and know WAY MORE BEYOND I know. Please Let me know how to update it with out loosing any info or root. I do not run custom roms, I have also always wondered what are those for, what do they do. But I do not modify anything on my phone but just the SuperSU that grants permission to certain apps that need root access.

Thanks.:cyclops:
[Xperia Z1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] electrash:
You can't update it with root on it.

You need to flash stock rom or unroot to install update and then root it again if new firmware is rootable.
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] Martin Neil:
How to Get the Galaxy S5's New Recent Apps Menu & Toggles on Your Galaxy S3 (KitKat)

This is not my work, I just found this tweak in this website and wanted to share it with you guys!

I search everywhere and this is the only one that works for me.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT THIS MAY CAUSE ON YOUR DEVICE. IF YOU FOLLOW EVERYTHING CORRECTLY YOU SHOULD BE FINE. DO THIS ON YOUR OWN RISK

For this to work you should meet the requirements below:

-Your Device Must be

ROOTED

-You should be on

Stock Android 4.4.2 Kitkat

-You should have Root Explorer, but you can use any other root-capable file explorer for this

How to:

MAKE SURE TO BACKUP YOUR BUILD.PROP FIRST

1. Navigate to your System directory, find the file called build.prop, tap it, and open with RB Text Editor.

2. Find the following two lines, and change them so they say SM-N900S:

ro.product.name

ro.product.device

3. Now hit the "Save" button and reboot your device.

4. Done!
[AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III] talkingmonkeys:
This works better using "klteatt" for just the toggles and recent app menu. Or if you have Quick Connect and S Finder you should use "k2lteatt"

It works the same for other carriers for example kltetmo, kltespr, kltevzw.

You can also use this build.prop editor app to simplify things.https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.apps.build.prop.editor&hl=en
[JAMin, XDA Neo, S200 General] Dater:
Greetings!

I manually copied a japanese font into my windows/fonts folder, but now when i try to delete it, my o2 neo says its in use and i can't delete it.

Of course i terminated all tasks and rebooted several times but i still can't delete it.

Does anyone of you have any suggestions regarding my situation? Maybe a program to unlock files? Or a Program which will delete the file after the next reboot or something similar?

Help is greatly appreciated! :D
[JAMin, XDA Neo, S200 General] Dater:
No response yet?

So i guess the only choice is to do a hard reset?

Isn't there a little trick i could use to delete that stupid .ttf file?
[JAMin, XDA Neo, S200 General] menkul:
Hi,

you must rename the *.ttf to *.old or so.

then softreset and than delete.

*.ttf is loaded automatic at system

Menkul
[JAMin, XDA Neo, S200 General] Dater:
Thats impossible!!!

It really worked! :D

Thank you soo much Menkul! :)

I even didn't try that out, because i thought the OS wouldn't allow me to rename a locked file ;)
[JAMin, XDA Neo, S200 General] husskeydog:
Guys, you are so fantastic, without you life with PPCs would be incredibly harder. This tip saved me hours of restore-work.

Thanks for your engagement, I will honor this
[JAMin, XDA Neo, S200 General] digifan:
rename it

reset

and delete it