yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Vol4Ever:
I started with iPhone many moons ago, then transitioned to Android / Samsung back around the S3 days. Been with Sammy ever since, but they are starting to get like Apple in that they are VERY unfriendly to the mod community and they go to great lengths to stop it. They are also killing their phones with Bloatware.

I am toying with going to either the M8 or M9 with my next upgrade (coming from Galaxy S5). Does HTC tend to have a major security war with their users or are they a little more lax? Does rooting void their warranty like it does with Sammy?

Thanks in advance.

~Vol
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jollywhitefoot:
Get the HTC M9. The M8 is really good, but the M9 fixes just about all of the M8 shortcomings. For unlocking and rooting, HTC is really simple and HTC facilitates the process. You just create an account on htcdev.com and submit a request for an unlock token. A few minutes later HTC sends you an email with the unlock token. Once you have that, you connect your phone to your computer and unlock but using fastboot commands. Once unlocked, you can install a custom recovery, again using fastboot commands, then just enter custom recovery (TWRP), go to the twrp reboot menu and select reboot, then twrp will say hey, you're not rooted, do you want to flash SuperSU and you swipe to flash it. Phone will boot into OS, you open the SuperSU apk and follow some screen prompts and one more reboot and your good to go.

That's it.

Supposedly, simply unlocking no longer voids your warranty, but if it appears that the phone broke because of running a custom rom (like, it overheated and the insides melted), they likely will not void the warranty.

Another reason you should get the M9...in the states, we get uh oh protection. So...you can do anything to your phone...drop it in the toilet, run over it with the car, whatever, and they will replace it, for free, for 1 year (including free overnight shipping of the new phone to you, then you send the broken one back)...so, you really don't need to put this beautiful phone in a case until either the year is up, or you get your second one. Also, if you don't use the uh oh protection, HTC gives you $100 off your next HTC phone. It's a pretty sweet deal.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bigp951:
I agree with the above post. My m9 has been awesome! I recently came from an s3 that had a locked bootloader thanks to Verizon and so I got the dev edition. So far I have flash at least 4 different firmwares and have tried almost every rom that's available. It's extremely easy to do once you get s-off. It will be a little bit of a learning curve so make sure to read the instructions carefully and read down the threads in order to anticipate anything that may go wrong.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonbigwave:
If you come from flashing Sammy roms like I did, then I suggest you think really carefully before buying the M9. I dont hate my M9 as much as when I first bought it, but in hindsight I perhaps should have stuck with sammy. Flashing custom roms and updating firmware on Sammy is easy compared with htc M9 , and the M9 threads are alot more 'quiet' then Sammy S4 , S5 or note4 threads . Also you will find ALOT of conflicting/confusing instructions for M9, especially if you come from Sammy roms.

Here are some other posts worth reading before you decide buy M9 : http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=60244822

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=60245457

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=61298935

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=60238311

With htc you have worry about S-on S-off then CID and supercid, then lock bootloader to run RUU or unlock to run 0PAIMG.zip files (which they call RUUs but they are different to RUU.exe files of course, but still called RUUs), must use smaller than 32Gb FAT32 sd card to update your firmware using sd card method, use htc_fastboot or fastboot etc etc. So confusing if you are from Sammy.

Then if someone, not new to flashing, asks a question and they get "search its been answered many times!' When actually the instructions can sometimes be slightly different from one thread to another , and some threads , not all, simply do not explain clearly why you need to do this or that, and/or give conflicting or incomplete instructions. You will have much less headache with Sammy devices. Also M9 u need to go back to stock to get an OTAs (if you are S-on). So all I am saying is read the M9 threads first, and get a feel if you want to take the dive. But if you want a challenge after (easy) customizing, Sammy roms, then M9 is definitely a good choice. Also there is NO cyanogen for M9 at the moment. But seems there some gr8 roms like Viper, Maximus, Insertcoin and Android Revolution..(.but you gotta make sure your M9s firmware MATCHES the roms firmware before even thinking about flashing them.) Just my two cents worth.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernandezhjr:
It is not really that hard when you know what you are doing. It is gonna be different with each device. You are just accustomed to doing it a certain way. It is always best to follow the golden rule here in XDA. Search first, read read read, and then ask questions. You also have to remember the M9 is a 64 bit phone, so there will be new challenges.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonbigwave:
sure. of course its not rocket science. Ya Everyone knows "Search first, read read read, and then ask questions" but the problem is conflicting info. and Just that the Sammy threads' instructions IMO generally were ALOT clearer and less conflicting and confusing info. and its not just me, I noticed alot of other users had noted same experience in the HTC M9 threads. Its no wonder people keep asking same questions still. IMO If the OP's of alot of the threads were "clearer" and more" complete" in their first instructions, I am sure we would have alot less people in confusion asking things like "help me/ hold my hand to restore to stock/I followed instructions but got error still why". And the biggest problem is the fact that the M9 was a disaster for htc. so as a result, the M9 threads are much more quiet, fewer users, and less active than Sammy threads. My only hope is with the second-hand market forming in the next 6 months, that the M9 threads will pick up, hence more custom roms and updates, when people buy it , when its cheaper.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernandezhjr:
Samsung is a much bigger and more known company. It's phone sales are huge compared to HTC and that will relate to much more active forums. I understand what you are saying, but like I said every device will be different. When I had my Nexus 4, rooting and flashing roms was a piece.of cake. I would just be careful about over complaining. Nobody here is obligated to help anyone. Be nice and someone will eventually come along with the needed help.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] tomorio:
Ive recently done the same. been with sammy for about 4 years, now ive picked the HTC... why? Theyre much more in touch with their users demands. Sure the processes for unlocking / rooting / s-off are a lot different and require you to do some work, but once you get to grips with it it's easy enough and makes you feel more in touch with those sort of processes on your phone.

Also to address the issue mentioned above, the sammy s4 etc have been out a lot longer than the m9 which has only been out a few months so of course it will be quiter in here to start with. *fingers crossed* some more devs will pop up and fill our lives with joy.

The only thing i'm worried about with my recent upgrade to htc m9(literally a few days ago) is that within the year it is going to be outdated by a new device :( but such is life when you buy in to a 2 year contract lol.

Have faith.

As mentioned above also, at first I was quite daunted by the processes of rooting etc for the HTC and was unsure i'd made the right choice. I considered falling back to sammy but even after this last couple of days i've thought to myself I have made the right choice.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Vol4Ever:
Thanks for all the helpful comments. I am a voracious reader, and I would never attempt to do any type of upgrade without quite a bit of research first. I pretty much have my mind made up on the M9, but AT&T has jacked up their upgrade process. This is a company phone & we are on a legacy plan. Until my boss & I get all that worked out with AT&T, I'll be using my trusty S5. AT&T really ticked me off yesterday when I was in the store, so much that we might even look at an alternate carrier.

Thanks again for the help.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jollywhitefoot:
Unsolicited advice, if you're going to root and install custom rom and leaked updates, you're better off sticking with a GSM carrier (AT&T or T-Mobile) over Sprint or Verizon. Sprint and Verizon users almost always have to wait for carrier release to get updates. AT&T works with all of the international updates that are released. T-Mobile does too, but they also offer Wi-Fi calling which may not always work with international roms and firmware. just my .02
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonbigwave:
You missed the point and Who's over complaining? Obviously no one is obligated to help here or any other thread on xda. My point was if someone wanted to buy an M9 he/she should think carefully before taking the 'dive', and it is a fact the M9 threads are much quieter, right? and did you read the posts the urls I posted above? if you look at the urls i posted previous post you will see alot of other users were confused. I wonder why? They had 'searched and searched' but were still confused, I wonder why?. My question was , why do some threads have to make something so simple sound so complex.? After reading hundreds of post from back to front, I realized that had some posts or more detail/explanation been added to the OP of some threads, quite alot of the confusion could have bee avoided in first place, in M9 threads generally. That was the main difference I observed between sammy threads and M9 threads. I dont hate my M9,but I expected alot more from it. The screen display is lacklustre, some devices have a dead pixel problem, and flashing firmware is a nightmare for some experienced sammy users from what I hv read so far, but yes the sound is excellent on m9 and speed is fast (i know S6 has much higher antutu score but I dont believe those scores completely). but for now I do hope that there will be gradual improvement for M9 as more people get involved when the device becomes cheaper. I Just felt need to point out to any sammy user, think very carefully before you switch to htc M9 , if they want go down the customization route. If you dont want pull your hair out then stick with sammy, but if you are up for a challenge and some headaches in the beginning, definitely go for M9. Because it can only get better.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jollywhitefoot:
I kind of understand what you're saying, but I think the reason a lot of advice seems contradictory is because little variables like S-off/on, region, carrier, GSM/CDMA, etc make a difference in the steps you have to take. Also, in a lot of those posts you linked to they were trying to accomplish different things. For example, many people want to upgrade firmware without being S-off and there are several different ways to accomplish this and at the same time it may not be possible at all for that user (because it depends on their carrier/region).

Many of us who do like to help people find that it's like pulling teeth sometimes to get enough information to even offer a suggestion to people. It really shouldn't be that hard to say 1) exactly what you'd like to accomplish and 2) exactly what steps you've already taken. Finally, and I highly doubt this is unique to the M9 forum, but it's extremely frustrating when either someone just asked the same question a few posts back, or the answer is clearly spelled out in the op.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonbigwave:
I think you hit the nail on the head with this. Wondering Perhaps the M9 threads should be divided into sections for this or that carrier 'only'? Eg Verizon users only , international users only etc ..would it work? It might repeat some instructions , but it would make it more clear for people and save alot of the confusion or contradictions we see? Ie this is your device and you can do this and you cant do this, and this way is better than that way because you are xxx carrier, and this is the reason. I am just thinking especially of the new M9 users to come. Is there a way to Make it simple and clear. As you and others have said, its not difficult once you know how. And at same time , we can try to not sounding over complicated or confusing to them....some guys are really very helpful in the M9 threads, as example , after I got a reply I thought, this is so simple(!), why was it made to sound so complicated in first place? Or I thought why didnt someone put that in the OP? Would have saved alot of people alot of time. But I guess M9 is new, threads are relatively new, I get that , and I am sure we will see more and more interest in M9 , and hence more activity in the threads, as it picks up momentum...
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernandezhjr:
You mean like this?
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonbigwave:
Is there an International section? And if there are already different sections for different US carriers , I wonder why are all those confused guys asking in the general forum?
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernandezhjr:
Probably because there is more activity here in the unbranded forum. There are differences with how the various branded phones need to be rooted and roms flashed. Not all the instructions here will work unless you properly debrand/convert the phone.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonbigwave:
Which explains some of the confusion..

Just curious, once the US users from AT&T or whatever have debranded to say developer WWE europe .401 firmware, how is the modem/radio/baseband after? Reception and wifi no problems at all or do they have to flash their local carrier radio again to get good signal? (I ask because my S4 was on Poland or German firmware i think but it still worked great in Asia).
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dlads:
For me, HTC are the pinnacle of devices when you plan to root, believe me its a walk in the park, not only that but the community is friendlier, larger and the level of development and developers is second to none. Take a look at my SIG to see the phones I've had, don't get me wrong the s5 is a special device and I used it underwater for many hours and I loved it but I've always missed HTC when I've been away from it, even the note 4 wasn't enough to keep me away..

The choice at the end of the day is yours..for me there is no choice, the m9 is by far and away the best device there is right now, not without faults but that just adds to its character.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernandezhjr:
Some users have reported the need to flash the radio that comes with the stock firmware. I believe it could be location specific. Best thing to do is if works, don't try to fix it.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonbigwave:
I get your point. Mayb alot of us were spoilt with odin and ease of flashing and customizing sammy devices. My S4 was on CM12.1 lollipop 5.1.1 ages ago , and I didnt need do go back to stock to any 'update firmware' at all when i went from previous lollipop to 5.1.1 so when I got my m9 i was like wtf? ( I thought to myself: Why Gotta go back to stock to take update and then all this s-on s-off cid supercid silly stuff. ) LOL. It didnt help that i had to factory reset my phone 6 times in first few days to get everything working. Mayb i was unlucky as i even had the annoying dead pixel problem in m9. I believe a few other users had same problems. I am sure my m9 gonna get better. I was close to selling it right away, but will stick with it for now. You guys have convinced me its not as bad as it seems. As i said, it can only get better as more users buy the m9 (when it becomes cheaper).

Btw how does the note4 compare with m9 speed wise? Just asking.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dlads:
I can tell you in a few steps how to flash your device, no problem.

HTC dev, unlock bootloader.

Root / Recovery

Flash rom, flash kernel.

Done.

Super CID is only needed to get rid of the branded CID, like VODAFONEs VOD

S-OFF is necessary is you wish to have a custom splash screen without the red writing, having the ability to flash firmwares without reverting to stock.

The first three steps I mentioned are all that's necessary if you just want to root and have a custom rom.

If you wish to return to stock (total stock with no tampered signs) then S-Off would to be obtained.

Other than S-off and super cid, it's very much the same as other devices, except for galaxy devices as once knox is tripped you are without warranty, the note 4 for example there is no way to flash without tripping knox.

HTC always allows a way back.

In terms of pace the note 4 is no slouch but out of the two I find that sense 7 is far more streamlined and quicker to the touch, in terms of raw performance it's difficult to grade the two devices in terms of what they can exactly do besides a benchmark but that'll leave the m9 looking like an inferior upgrade, for the proof is in the pudding and a program telling you how you should feel about a device is not proof it's just some numbers.

I prefer the m9 and i feel like it's a quicker device and in all honest i'm getting better battery life with this phone with no tweaks on same brightness etc, with the note 4 i managed to squeeze out 2.5 days maximum, but day to day I fell short.

The m9 i can muster 2 days quite easily and i haven't even begun to tweak beneath the surface.

I do miss the fingerprint scanner though.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Cryosx:
M8 has better development in that A) the device didn't have any negative press B) it was probably the best device to get at the time (and for the rest of the year and if you want to push it, still is today) C) getting S-OFF was originally free and there wasn't a paywall like today D) it's a GPE device with google supporting it with stock android

Would I recommend it over the M9? Yeah, sure. It's still better than any of the devices today aside from it's camera. Good battery life, good thermals (doesn't get too hot), good sound quality from speakers, nice display, etc.

Either way, you're going to need to go through some initial setup to get your device to flash anything you want. Also, you ideally have a GSM variant.

1) Unlock Bootloader using HTC's Site

2) Get S-OFF

3) Change CID to SuperCID which is 11111111 (eight 1's) which will allow you to flash the International Firmware if you don't have the International version (International version gets the updates quickest, and most ROMs are build around them)

4) Flash custom recovery, use TWRP, requires some knowledge of adb and fastboot. Useful commands: fastboot oem rebootRUU, fastboot flash zip <FIRMWARE>, fastboot flash recovery <RECOVERY>, fastboot reboot-bootloader. When I say <FIRMWARE> or <RECOVERY> you're supposed to specify the path of the file, it's easiest just to drag and drop into Command Prompt or Terminal.

5) Choose the ROM you want, check if it's compatible with the firmware you have, download, then flash through TWRP

6) Repeat step 5, unless you need to change firmware. Changing firmware requires finding firmware zip you want (a NO WIPE version is preferable, most are made this way I think) and then going into the bootloader screen, running fastboot oem rebootRUU, then flashing firmware with fastboot flash zip <FIRMWARE> (you may need to flash TWRP again if the firmware overwrites your recovery).

Personal favorite ROM for sense based ROMs: VIPER One (for customizability)

Personal favorite ROM for GPE based ROMs: SkyDragon

Didn't use AOSP based ROMs

Personal favorite Kernel: ElementalX

Preferred stock android so was running SkyDragon most of the time with my M8 with ElementalX.

M9 stuff

M9 runs noticeably hotter than the M8 (around 3 C to 10 C hotter, you'll likely see 35 C to 40 C for just web browsing and reddit). M9 doesn't have better battery life than the M9 (everyone expected higher battery life than the M8 because the battery was larger and and all other factors didn't look like it would hinder battery performance, unfortunately the S810 was so efficient as we'd hope). The power button takes time to adjust to (since it's so close to the volume buttons). Gaming can get you up to 50 C and above.
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] simonbigwave:
Great details. You mentioned NOWIPE firmware is preferable, but why exactly? I am still slightly unclear after reading sneakyghosts thread. So if i am stock 1.32 rom , after i got s-off (and already rooted/unlocked of course) then should i flash no wipe or full wipe (eg 2.7.401 ) firmware? What is best option usually?
[One (M9) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Cryosx:
I believe WIPE will delete stuff on your sdcard. Pictures, downloads, stuff like that.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] vasu1:
which recovery should i use??? does philz 6.48.4 support 5.0.1 as it is discontinued.. or suggest me other?? thread link would be appreciated...

does the latest cf-auto root work too?

i am using i9500 and lollypop xxuhod3 stock rom..
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Joku1981:
1. Question about Recovery? Try this ONE.

2. Question about root? Yes, you should use cf-auto root.
[Android Apps and Games] shre1811:
Always wanted an app to set timers quickly. Just made one myself:

Quickie Timer Widget - available on google play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shreyasr.quicktimer

• MULTIPLE TIMERS: Five pre-configured timers used most often in everyday situations. Each timer can be set independent of the others.

• ONE TOUCH SETTING: Any timer can be set with just one touch!

• ONE TOUCH CANCELLING: Cancelling an active timer is also just one touch!

• PROGRESS BAR: Each timer has a progress bar below that gives you an idea of the time remaining.

• CUSTOM TIMERS: That's not all, you can also increase the duration of the timers to your desired value by quickly tapping multiple times!

• NOTIFICATION: Notification with sound and vibration once the timer has elapsed. Options to stop or re-start timer

• FLIP DOWN TIMER RESTART: When the notification for an elapsed timer appears, just flip your phone down to restart the timer

screenshots:

[IMG="app"]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mVME-9U1Y7IueYTX_3OqfuWCa1lJsciKLHxniepPwbPM9RU-cl6EGyij4-BMp_ey3vfP=w300-rw[/IMG]

[IMG="1"]https://scontent-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10250171_833788416740545_8887339300505826848_n.png?oh=06623d72d4e843c83c4acdbdbb33fd78&oe=5631FB27[/IMG]

[IMG="2"]https://scontent-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10250171_833788420073878_126074039576315066_n.png?oh=74c2c77ce7f9444c15f8ebdc7b2891c9&oe=5630AC2C[/IMG]

[IMG="3"]https://scontent-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/64288_833788446740542_6399774117407321733_n.png?oh=1b39294115c91dfd60f9f1617fc3891c&oe=56310A54[/IMG]
[Android Apps and Games] bad1080:
that is a fine app, works very well, thanks for making it. i found it because i was looking for a timer widget. one thing i am missing though, would it be possible to have a 1x1 widget with a timer on it i set myself (e.g. 7mins), because tapping the 1min timer 7 times negates the one-tap-and-forget approach?
[G4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Vol4Ever:
I started with iPhone many moons ago, then transitioned to Android / Samsung back around the S3 days. Been with Sammy ever since, but they are starting to get like Apple in that they are VERY unfriendly to the mod community and they go to great lengths to stop it. They are also killing their phones with Bloatware.

I am toying with going to the G4 with my next upgrade (coming from Galaxy S5). Does LG tend to have a major security war with their users or are they a little more lax? Does rooting void their warranty like it does with Sammy?

Thanks in advance.

~Vol