All the OEM’s launch their flagship devices every year to showcase the hardware and software advancements achieved by the manufacturers. Most of the OEM’s have their own custom flavor of Android, TouchWiz by Samsung, Sense by HTC are some of the popular among them. The manufacturers include a lot of software improvements, new apps and customizations which will decorate the core Android. These interfaces are eye candy and we agree on that, but they also bring most of the junk to the AOSP in the form of System apps of the manufacturer which can’t be removed unless rooted.
The custom interfaces use a considerable amount of device resources and make the device slow. The Sense UI from HTC is the most optimized Custom Android interface in our experience, the designs are minimal and there are fewer junk apps compared to the TouchWiz and other interfaces. But the updates for the HTC devices arrive at least a month after the Google’s official announcement. That’s where the Google Play Editions come into play with quick updates and pure Android experience. But GPE devices are hard to get and needs pre-orders and many formalities.
Today we will show you how you can convert your HTC One M8 into Google Play Edition HTC One M8 using the simple process. Once completed, you cannot install Sense based ROMs due to the partition variation between the GPE version and the standard version.
Wanning
This Guide is intended only for the HTC One M8 GSM devices, not for any other device of HTC (Non-Compatible with CDMA devices). You alone are responsible for any consequences that might occur during the process. DroidViews or any of its community members shall not be held responsible for any damage to your device.
Prepare Your Device
UPDATE: The Firewater Method has been discontinued!
- Charge your HTC One above 60% battery level to avoid shutdowns during the process.
- Make sure your HTC One is S-OFF’d. If you have not done this yet, you can easily S-OFF your HTC One using Firewater method.
- Install HTC Sync or HTC USB Drivers on your computer: Download here
- Enable USB Debugging on your phone from Settings> Developer options. If you do not find Developer option under device settings, read the instructions given here.
- Either setup ADB and Fastboot on your computer, or download the Minimal Fastboot/ADB tool and unzip it: mfastboot-v2.zip
Compatible CID and MID
Check the compatible CID and MID from the list below. If your CID and MID are different change them to the ones on the list:
- modelid: 0P6B12000
- modelid: 0P6B17000
- modelid: 0P6B*****
- cidnum: 11111111
- cidnum: T-MOB010
- cidnum: CWS__001
- cidnum: BS_US001
- cidnum: GOOGL001
To get the OTA updates from Google, your CID should be GOOGL001 which is the GPE CID for the HTC One M8. If you’re not sure on how to change the CID, follow our guide to change CID and MID on HTC One devices.
Convert HTC ONE M8 into Google Play Edition
- Download the Stock firmware of the HTC One M8 and transfer it to the Fastboot folder → GPe Stock RUU or GPe Pre-Rooted RUU
- Open a command prompt in the Fastboot folder by right-clicking on the mouse in the empty space of the folder while holding the Shift key.
- Connect your device to your computer using a USB cable and reboot your device into bootloader by typing the following command in the command prompt.
adb reboot bootloader
- Type the following command to get to the OEM Flash Mode:
fastboot oem rebootRUU
- Now install the firmware with the following command:
fastboot flash zip RUU-HTC_One_M8_GPE_5.1-4.04.1700.4.zipor
fastboot flash zip RUU-HTC_One_M8_GPE_5.1-4.04.1700.4_rooted.zip - You might the following error message:
FAILED (remote: 90 hboot pre-update! please flush image again immediately)
If you get this error, repeat the Step 5 once again.
- Once the flashing is completed, reboot the device using the following command:
fastboot reboot
Once your device is rebooted, your device is the new transformed GPE HTC One M8.
Leave your feedback in the comments section below.
Can I follow the same process for HTC one m8 eye ?
No.
How can I convert my HTC one m8 eye to gpe version?
Will you get new updates exactly like Nexus devices after this conversion??
Yes.
Thanks for the reply. If I do this conversation what version of android will I get?? KitKat or latest Lollipop?? Many thanks
Lolipop 5.1: http://www.graffixnyc.com/m8.php
Thanks a lot .
Hi Just wanted to know I have a rooted htc m8, if I install the unrooted gpe rom will I get a brick or will I get the stock recovery from the new rom.
If it’s an unrooted ROM, you must download the SuperSU package: http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu
And copy it to device and flash it just after flashing the ROM.
The phone can’t boot with a non’rooted device with custom ROM.
you are one of MANY articles that need to update the content with Firewater discontinuation and either take down the article or provide alternatives
do we need to unlock the boot loader?
Yes.
with the unrooted version, will superSU still be installed? thanks!