Android, being an open source platform, attracts a lot of custom development activities that usually lead to awesome results and sometimes to nightmarish situations. If you are an adventurous Android user who is fond of trying root apps, rooting, flashing custom recoveries, kernels, mods and custom ROMs, you might be caught into a situation where restoring your phone to stock firmware might be your last haven.
Just a few days ago, we did a detailed guide on restoring the stock ROM on the Verizon HTC One M8. The Sprint variant of the One M8 has managed to prompt custom development round it. As a result, you can find a plethora of custom ROMs and mods for the device. At any point of time, if you feel the need to go back to stock, you can easily do it using our tutorial. Today, we’ll see how we can restore Sprint HTC One M8 to stock ROM with RUU (ROM Update Utility).
Warning!
Before to proceed with the steps to return the Sprint HTC One M8 back to stock, please be warned that the involving in such activities is considered risky. Though the procedure described below has been tested successfully for more than once, we do not endorse any responsibility for any kind of damage done to your phone. Do things at your own responsibility and with utmost care possible.
Getting Prepared
- If you want to follow Method 2 from below, S-OFF is required on your Sprint HTC One M8. If you have not done it yet, do it now using Firewater method.
- For Method 1, you need S-ON and locked bootloader.
- Enable USB Debugging on your HTC One M8. For instruction to do so, read this guide.
- On your device, Go to Settings> Power and turn off Fastboot.
- Download and install the latest HTC USB drivers on your computer.
- Setup ADB and Fastboot on your computer. See this guide.
Sprint_HTC_One_M8_non-HK_4.25.651.14_RUU
Sprint_HTC_One_M8_Harman_Kardon_4.25.654.14_RUU
Restore Sprint HTC One M8 to Stock
Method 1:
- Download the RUU file from above and extract the zip on your computer.
- Now boot your HTC One M8 into the Bootloader Mode. You can do this by turning off your phone and pressing and holding the Power+Volume Down buttons together for a few seconds till you see the Bootloader screen. Alternatively, you can use ADB command to get into Bootloader Mode. Just connect your phone to computer via USB cable, launch a command prompt and type the following command and hit Enter key:
adb reboot bootloader
- Having entered the bootloader screen highlight the FASTBOOT option using Volume down key and select it by pressing the Power button.
- Navigate to the platform-tools folder in the Android SDK directory. The location of this folder depends on where you extracted the SDK files while setting it up.
- Now set your phone’s CID to 11111111. To do this connect the device to computer and launch cmd window from within platform-tools folder. Press the Shift+Right click on mouse and select Open command window here option. In the cmd window, type the following line:
fastboot oem writecid 11111111
- To relock the bootloader, type the following command:
fastboot oem lock
- Having, re-locked the bootloader setting up the CID as mentioned above, open the extracted RUU folder and run ARUWizard.exe as administrator.
- Doing this will launch the HTC Android Phone ROM Update Utility. Just click the Update button on RUU to proceed with the installation.
Note: If you see the following warning screen during the setup, just tap the Finish option.
Method 2:
- Download and rename the firmware file to firmware.zip and copy it to the platform-tools folder where ADB and Fastboot files already exist.
- Reboot your device into Bootloader mode using this command:
adb reboot bootloader
- Now highlight FASTBOOT and select it with Power key to get into Fastboot mode.
- Type the following command to boot your phone into RUU mode:
fastboot oem rebootRUU
- When you see the black screen, type following line and press the Enter key:
fastboot flash zip firmware.zip
- When the installation is done, type this:
fastboot reboot
Done!
Method 3:
If you find the Method 1 or 2 a bit complicated you can use this method.
- Get a microSD card and a card reader and format it to FAT32 on your computer.
- Rename the RUU file to 0P6BIMG.zip and copy it to the memory card.
- Insert the memory card into your phone.
- Reboot your HTC One M8 into the Bootloader mode. Highlight the HBOOT option and press the Power key to select it.
- Your device will automatically detect the RUU file and you’ll see installation prompts on your phone’s screen.
Using any of the methods given above, you can easily restore your Sprint HTC One M8 to stock ROM with stock recovery. Cheers!
What is the mid to this rom?
Hi
I have HTC One M8 32gb Model 831c.. I lost OS now how can I install OS Again.? Please Help Me and Give me OS for my mobile I will be thank full to you..!
***Software Status: Modified***
M8_WHL PVT SHIP S-On
OS-4.25.651.18
friend thank you very much’re the best Wish I was in front of you to give you a big wet kiss lol
hello guys, I’m trying to restore my M8 to stock but nothing is working for me. i’ve tried everything and i have tried these options on here , but everything failed. can anyone help me please, i dont want to slam the phone on the ground because its really starting to get me mad.
hello, riaght now i have a htc one m8 HK, with S-ON, i bought it onine and it appears to have a coustom rom, am i going to be able to do this with method 1,
This is going to sound really dumb, but how do I know which model m8 I have? Also can you have s-on for method three?
Reboot the device into the bootloader mode using Volume down+Power buttons. You will see the model of your M8 written on the top.
I do not know what S-OFF is but i clicked on the link provided but it showed 404: not found.
Hi Tron, S-On and S-Off mean Security-On and Security-Off respectively. When your device is set to S-OFF, the security is turned off. This allows you to modify any partition on the device, and changes will not be reset upon a reboot. Also, the signature checking of the firmware zips (ie: PJ75IMG.zip) is disabled, allowing users to flash unsigned firmware zips containing the separate images of the partitions. S-OFF gives the user great power over the device, but also comes with much responsibility to be careful.
As for the Firewater method link, it has been discontinued officially.
Do you have the Harman Kardon edition of the M8 or the normal one?
followed to the letter and when it ask me is I want to run the program yes or no I typed yes and it just kept asking yes or no…..
Does it have to be S-Off, cuz i got one that is unlocked and rooted but not s-off, and tried firewater and even sunshine but could not get s-off, will this help?
Yes S-OFF is a must. What happens when you try Firewater? It’s very easy to follow and I think you might have made some mistake.
The phone has usb debugging enabled, and a follow right to the letter the instructions in the firewater site, so I don’t know what could be wrong
How did you root your phone and what method you used to gain S-OFF?
It was rooted and unlocked when I got it, but it s-on and I have a Windows 7 pc
Does your PC has Windows 8.1?
Thank YOU. My device had problem in getting updates.
After I install this original SPRINT RUM, every thing right now is ok.
MY HTC get updates as usually.
Thanks
Thanks for confirming!
if I have an unlocked Sprint Device, Will this unlock my device again?
If you got a permanent SIM unlock on the device, flashing the RUU will keep it unlocked.