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ROMFlashingGuide

UnlockBootloader
FrequentlyAskedQuestions
PreviewUnlockProcess
AboutUnlockandSON
ROMFlashingGuide
BuildingKernels

ROMFlashingGuide:BestPractices
WhatisThisDocument?
Disclaimers
Definitions
Process
Flashing:FromaComputer
Flashing:FromtheDevice

WhatisThisDocument?
ThisdocumentoutlinesbestpracticesforchangingthesoftwarethatoperatesHTCAndroiddevices.Itis
onlyusefultopeoplewhowishtorunsoftwarenotprovidedbyHTCorwirelesscarriersinordertochange
thefunctionalityofthedevice.

Disclaimers
SoftwareprovidedbyHTCorwirelesscarriersisalwaysprovidedas1)aprogramthatrunsonacomputer
connectedtoanHTCdeviceandthatupdatesthesoftwareonthatdevice,or2)anupdatedownloaded
andinstalledbythedeviceitself.Thisguideisnotintendedforuserswhoareinstallingapprovedsoftware
providedbyHTCorwirelesscarriers.
Ourdeviceshavebeendesignedwithourhardwareandsoftwarespecificationsinmindandunlockingthe
bootloaderwillchangethesoftwareandmaycauseunexpectedsideeffects.Ifyouunlockthebootloader
andattempttoflashacustomunsignedROMtoyourdevice,thisROMwillnothavegonethroughour
internaltestingprocess.ItisimpossibleforHTCtoensuretheproperfunctioningofyourdeviceafterthis.
Intheworstcasescenario,itispossiblethatyourdevicemaybephysicallydamagedduetooverheating
orthebehaviorofyourdevicemightbealteredandcertainfunctionsmayceasetowork.
Itisourresponsibilitytocautionyouthatnotallclaimsresultingorcausedbyorfromthe
unlockingofthebootloadermaybecoveredunderwarranty.Pleaseunderstandthatyouwillnotbe
abletoreturnyourdevicetotheoriginalstateandgoingforwardyourdevicemaynotbeheldcovered
underthewarrantyforallclaimsresultingfromtheunlockingofthebootloader.HTCbearsno
responsibilityifyourdeviceisnolongerusableafterwards.Westronglysuggestthatyoudonotunlockthe
bootloaderunlessyouareconfidentthatyouunderstandtherisksinvolvedandthepotential
consequencesbothtoyourdeviceandtoyourwarranty.

Definitions
Thisdocumentattemptstouseinformallanguagethatwillmakeitaseasyaspossibletounderstandfor
anyoneinterestedinthetopic,eveniftheyhavenotbeentechnicallytrained.Herearetheinformal
definitionsofthetechnicaltermsusedinthedocument:
hardwarethephysicalcomponentsofanelectronicdevice
softwareinformationcontainedinthedevicethatdetermineshowitbehavesitcanincludeinstructions
thedevicecanfollow,ordatathatitactson
operatingsoftwaresoftwarethatcontrolshowthedeviceworks,asopposedtosoftwarelikeappsthat
providespecificfunctionsandthatarerunbytheoperatingsoftware
ROMasetofoperatingsoftwareforadevice,derivedfromthetermReadOnlyMemoryduetothefact
thatoperatingsoftwareusedtobestoredinawaythatcouldonlyberead,notwrittento

flashtochangepartoralloftheoperatingsoftwareonadevice,derivedfromthefactthatoperating
softwareisoftenstoredinadeviceinawaythatcanonlybeupdatedinlargepiecesorbyspecialsoftware
orhardware
RUURomUpdateUtility,aprogramprovidedbyHTCthatrunsonacomputerconnectedtoanHTC
deviceandthatupdatestheoperatingsoftware
unlockremovingrestrictionsonadevice,oftenplacedtheretoensurethedevicebehavesinareliable
andknownmannerwitheasierandhigherqualitysupportandtoensurethedevicebehavesasrequired
bytheownerofthecellularnetworkitisdesignedfor
SIMacardinsomedevicesthatidentifiestheaccountonthecellularnetworkandstoressomecontacts
SIMunlockunlockingadevicesothatitcanuseSIMcardsfromadifferentcellularnetwork
bootloaderoperatingsoftwarethatrunswhenadeviceisfirstturnedonanddecideswhatothersoftware
torun
bootloaderunlockunlockingadevicebootloadersothatdifferentsoftwaremayberunenablestheuser
toputcustomROMsonthedevice
unlocked/relocked/locked/tamperedamessagedisplayedbythebootloadertohelpsupportstaff
understandthedevicemaynolongerbehaveastheyweretrainedtosupport
signingputtinganidentifieronsoftwarethatindicateswhocreateditandthatbecomesinvalidifthe
softwareischanged
partitionaseparatelynamedareaofthedeviceforstoringsoftwaredifferentpartitionsareusedfor
differentpurposesandtheamountofaccessallowedbythebootloaderdiffers
SOFFatermusedbyHTCtoindicatenopartitionsaresecured.HTCdoesnotshipdevicesSOFFdue
toregulationsanddangersrelatedtoradiosoftwarebeingchangedandotherissues.HTCdevicesship
withSONstatus

Process
ToflashsoftwarenotsignedbyHTC,youfirstneedtounlockthebootloaderonyourdevice.Youcan
unlockthebootloaderonsupportedHTCdeviceshere:http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/
HTCiscommittedtoassistingcustomersinunlockingbootloadersforHTCdevices.Insomecases,
however,carrierrestrictionspreventcertaindevicesfromparticipatinginourbootloaderunlocking
program.Restassured,HTCiscommittedtoassistingdevelopersinunlockingbootloadersforHTC
devicesandwellcontinuetoassistinunlockingadditionaldevicesinthefuture.Pleaserefertothelistof
supporteddevicestoseeifyourdeviceiseligibleforunlockingthebootloader.Unlockingthebootloader
doesnotunlockallpartitionsonthedevice,suchastheonethatholdsradiosoftwareortheonethat
determinesifthedeviceisSON/SOFF.PleasereferencetheUnlockprocessoverviewhereforadditional
details.

Flashing:FromaComputer
Flashingfromacomputerconnectedtoadevicecanbedoneintwoways.OnewayistorunanHTCRUU
programprovidedtoupdatedevicestoacertainsoftwareROMversion.RUUprogramsincludetheROM
intheRUUprogramitself.TheRUUprogrampresentsagraphicaluserinterfacewhenrunthatguidesyou
throughtheprocesswithbuttonsforthingslikecontinuingandcanceling.

RunninganRUUonacomputertoreplacethesoftwareontheconnectedphone.
Thesecondwayistousethecommandlinetextualcomputerprogramcalledfastboot.Thisrunsonthe
computerconnectedtothedeviceandallowflashingseparateROMZIPsandsepartepartitiondata
images.Copiesofthefastbootprogramareavailableonthesecondpageoftheunlockinstructions.
ToflashaROMsorpartitiondatausingfastbootonanewdeviceliketheHTCOne,youwouldfollowthese
steps:
1)Turnthedeviceoff:StartyourphonesSettings.EnterthePowersection.MakesuretheFastboot
optionisnotchecked.Thisoptionpreventsthedevicefromfullyrestarting.Unplugthedeviceandhold
downthepowerbuttonapproximately15secondsuntilthebuttonlightsflash.Thiscompletelypowers
downthedevice.
2)Startthephoneinbootloadermode:Ifyourdevicestartedbootingautomatically,holddownthevolume
downbuttonwhileitboots.Ifitstayedoff,holddownthevolumedownbuttonandpressthepowerbutton
tobootthephone.ThephoneshouldbootintoatextmenuwiththeFASTBOOToptionhighlighted.Press
thepowerbuttontoselectthisoption.

AphonestartedinbootloadermodewiththeFASTBOOToptionselected.
3)Connectthedevicetothecomputer.Ensurethedevicedriversareinstalled.TheFASTBOOTindicator
onthephoneshouldchangetoFASTBOOTUSBwhenpluggedin.

AphoneafterselectingtheFASTBOOToption,butbeforeconnectingitthePCwithworking
drivers.

AphoneinFASTBOOTmodewithaconnectiontothePCwithworkingdrivers.
4)UsethefastbootoemrebootRUUcommandtopreparethedevicetoreceiveanupdate.Runthe
fastbooterasecachecommandtoclearthetemporaryfilearea.
5)IfyouareflashingaROMprovidedbyHTCandyourdeviceisunlocked,runthefastbootoemlock
command.
6a)ToflashaZIPcalledrom.zipwithmultiplepartitiondatafilesinsideit,usethecommandfastbootflash
ziprom.ziptosendtheupdatetothedevice.NotthatmostHTCandHTCderivedROMsaredistributedin
thisformat.OthercustomROMsaredeliveredasadifferentkindofZIPfilecalledanupdateZIP.An
updateZIPcontainsalistofcommandsthatperformtheactualflashingandneedtoberunasperthe
Flashing:FromtheDevicesectionofthisdocument.YoucannotflashanupdateZIPbythisprocess.

FlashinganentireROM.
6b)Toflashasinglepartitiondataimageforthebootpartitioninafilecalledboot.imgtothebootpartition,
usethecommandfastbootflashbootboot.img.SomecustomROMsrequireperformingthisandthen
installinganupdateZIPafterwardstoflashtherestofthepartitionsonthedevice.
6c)Toflashrecoverydatafromafilecalledrecovery.img,usefastbootflashrecoveryrecovery.img.
6d)Tobootthephoneonlyonceusingabootpartitiondatafilecalledboot.img,runfastbootboot
boot.img.
7)Ifyouarepromptedtoflushagainimmediately,repeatsteps5and6againtoupdatetheremaining
partitions.Runfastbooterasecachewhenfinished.Ifyoudonotclearthetemporaryfilestorage
partition,thephonemaynotbootcompletelyandyoumayseethestartupsequencerepeatoverandover.
Restartfromstep1ifthishappens.
8)Usethefastbootrebootcommandtohavethedevicerebootandruntheupdatedsoftware.

Flashing:FromtheDevice
SomedevicessupportreadinganHTCROMzipfromexternalstorageattachedtothedevice.For
example,toflashanHTCSensationwithanSDcardfromthedeviceitself,connectittoacomputer,put
theSensationinUSBstoragemode,copytheROMtotheSDcardasPG58IMG.zip,thenusesteps12
above.Thenameofthefilechangesdependingonthedevice.Thisprocessworkswithdevicesthat
includeanSDcardslot,suchastheSprintEvo4GLTE.DevicesliketheHTCOnedonothaveanSDcard
slot,butcanreadanupdateZIPfromexternalstorageviaaUSBdongle.
Anotherwaytoflashfromthedeviceistousecustomrecoverypartitionsoftware.Todothisyouwould
copywhatyouwanttoflashontothedeviceaheadoftimewhilefullybootedintoAndroid.Nextfollowthe
stepsforflashingfromacomputertoflashthecustomrecoveryfile.Iftherecoveryfileisnamed
recovery.img,youwouldrunfastbootflashrecoveryrecovery.imgforstep6.Tothenusethecustom
recovery:
1)Turnthedeviceoff:Unplugthedeviceandholddownthepowerbuttonapproximately15secondsuntil
thebuttonlightsflash.Thispowersdownthedevice.Ifyoupowerdownbythepowerbuttonmenuin
Anroidinstead,ensureyouhaveturnedofftheFastBootsettinginthephonesettings.Thissetting
preventsthephonefromfullypoweringoffwhenturnedoffbythemenu.
2)Startthephoneinbootloadermode:Holddownthevolumedownbuttonandpressthepowerbuttonif
neededtobootthephone.ThephoneshouldbootintoatextmenuwiththeFASTBOOToption
highlighted.PressthevolumedownbuttontoselecttheRECOVERYoption.Pressthepowerbuttonto
choosethisoption.Thephoneshouldnowrebootintothecustomrecoverysoftware.
3a)ThecustomrecoverysoftwaremaysupportinstallingaROMupdateZIPfile.Itmayalsocontainsa
commandcalledfixpermissionsthatwillenableinstallingupdateZIPslikethatrequireextraaccessto
thesystempartiton.Manyrecoveriesalsosupportmakingabackupofyourdevicescurrentstate.Itis
goodpracticetomakeabackupbeforeflashinganyfurtherpartitions.
3b)CustomrecoverysoftwaremaysupportrunningtheADBtoolfromthedesktoptorunasrootonthe
deviceandflashpartitionsmanually.ToflashtheHTCOnebootpartitionfromrecoveryyouwouldrunthe
adbshellcommand,thenthistoconfirmwheretowritetoandwrite:
/dev/block#cd/proc/
/proc#catemmc
dev:sizeerasesizename
mmcblk0p19:000ffa0000000200misc
mmcblk0p34:00fffe0000000200recovery
mmcblk0p33:0100000000000200boot
mmcblk0p35:73fffc0000000200system

mmcblk0p26:0014020000000200local
mmcblk0p36:27fffe0000000200cache
mmcblk0p37:68000000000000200userdata
mmcblk0p22:0140000000000200devlog
mmcblk0p24:0004000000000200pdata
mmcblk0p27:0001000000000200extra
mmcblk0p31:04b0020000000200radio
mmcblk0p16:03c0040000000200adsp
mmcblk0p15:0010000000000200dsps
mmcblk0p17:007ffa0000000200radio_config
mmcblk0p20:0040000000000200modem_st1
mmcblk0p21:0040000000000200modem_st2
mmcblk0p28:0010000000000200cdma_record
mmcblk0p18:0200000000000200reserve_1
mmcblk0p30:034ffa0000000200reserve_2
mmcblk0p32:05fffc0000000200reserve_3
mmcblk0p29:06069e0000000200reserve
/proc#ddif=/sdcard/boot.imgof=/dev/block/mmcblk0p33
11500+0recordsin
11500+0recordsout
5888000bytes(5.6MB)copied,1.515062seconds,3.7MB/s
/proc#
4)Besuretousetheerasecacheoptionintherecoverybeforerebooting.

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