[One (M8s) General] voidzero:
HOW TO get your HTC One M8S back to Factory / stock.

Attention 1: This is NOT for the regular HTC One M8.

Attention 2: This is for the HTC One M8S also known as the M8_QL_UL

(The One M8S does not have a separate subforum on XDA.)

Hi everyone! I saw that many people who have a HTC One M8S have problems with restoring the stock HTC RUU. It is a little bit difficult. So here I'll supply you again with steps that worked for me.

Most of this is a copy from a post I made earlier. But I saw that many of you still have some problems. So here is a dedicated thread.

I have used this method multiple times to restore my phone back to factory defaults. I hope it works for you too!

Warning. You will lose your settings. Everything will be reset to the defaults.

Read these important notes before you begin!

When you need fastboot: only HTC's own fastboot program will work. You will use fastboot, for example, when you want to flash a custom recovery.

Other fastboot applications will not work correctly in my experience! So be sure you use HTC's.

If you need it: HTC will send you a link when you unlock your bootloader. But you can also find fastboot via the same page as where you can find the RUUs.... see below.

Do you have an SDCard ready? You must have one to get this to work and it must be big enough. ADB sideload will NOT work!

Is your phone relocked? It must be! If not, relock it, then come back.

Most of the problems happen because people read too fast. This stuff just takes a long time.. so don't do it if you are in a hurry. And do read carefully.

Are you ready? Ok! Here we go.

Download the RUU zip you want to use. I have used ...

HTC_Europe_1.16

... BUT later I found this did not allow the newest OTA update (as of august 30th, 2015). Maybe I will test 1.11 some day later.

However, I think that 1.11 is the right version. Not sure where to download the RUU or fastboot? Click the button.

For me, I downloaded the RUU zip via the generous hosting by [MENTION=6701903]El-Conkistador[/MENTION]. You can find it via his post here. On his page there is a directory called Firmware (Expert). In there is a directory called Firmware Crypted (Original HTC). In that directory are multiple directories containing RUUs. Choose one for your device, download it, then come back here.

Open your sdcard. It must be fat32 or exFAT formatted.

Copy the RUU zip file onto the root of the sdcard. Do NOT extract it. Just copy it.

You must now rename it to: 0PKVIMG.zip. The first character is the number 0 (zero), not the letter O!

If you know how to do this, take the md5sum from the RUU zip on your computer, and 0PKVIMG.zip on your SDcard. They must be the same! If not, there can be a problem with your SDCard.

Safely unload and remove the SDCard from your computer.

Power off your phone.

Are you sure you want to continue

? :cowboy: Then insert the SDCard into the phone..

Take a deep breath..

Boot the phone to the bootloader: hold Volume Down. Press the power button. Release both buttons when you are inside the bootloader.

When you are in the bootloader, press power once to enter fastboot mode.

The restoration process should will now start. Confirm on the screen when it's asked. Then wait patiently, it takes a long time!

Nice detail: there is a small sidebar at the top right side of the screen that will show you progress. Sometimes it will go back to 0; it will fill up more than once.

In case of failure

In my case it failed the first time. Probably because a sector on my SDCard was faulty. I found out by verifying the md5sum of the file on the sdcard, it was not the same as the RUU zip on my computer, but it has to be.

To fix it, I copied the RUU zip to the sdcard for the second time, *then* deleted 0PKVIMG.img, and *then* renamed the RUU zip to 0PKVIMG.zip. Then I looked at the md5sum again. Now it was the same as on my computer... and then the restoration worked.

Still need help?

If you have questions, ask and wait patiently. I am not on this page 24/7, no one is. Just don't panic. Don't demand help. Maybe read this stuff again and see if you made a mistake somewhere.

It is logical that you are annoyed if this stuff doesn't go how you want, sure, it is not the easiest thing to do. I have tried to make it easier, but again, if it still fails, just ask your questions and wait patiently. Treat others like how you want to be treated yourself. :angel:

Good luck!

-voidzero.