HTC devices to receive Android 5.0 "Lollipop" update

Since quite a long time HTC is doing a great job in terms of having its high-end devices up to date with the latest Android OS version. And it's not different this time! The newest Android 5.0 Lollipop will be soon available for a number of HTC devices, including:

To be honest I can't wait to see my HTC One M8 running Android five dot zero. What's more - together with the new Android OS, HTC will most likely present refreshed version of the HTC Sense interface - HTC Sense 7.0. On the other hand, after latest Android 4.4.4 update (with HTC Sense 6.0) I ask myself - can this be even better?! Oh yes, I'm sure HTC will give us something stunning again!

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Source

New Rooting Tools (0.9) for the HTC One M8 (3.28.401.7)

Along with the latest Android 4.4.4 system dumps for the HTC One M8 we prepared an updated Rooting Tools 0.9 for the newest 3.28.401.7 system software. What's included?

• [boot.img] disabled ro.adb.secure and ro.secure
• [boot.img] disabled USB debugging icon on statusbar
• [boot.img] enabled USB debugging by default
• [boot.img] init.d scripts support (system/etc/init.d)
• [boot.img] removed trigger command to execute install_recovery.sh to prevent stock recovery from being re-installed after each system reboot
• latest SuperSu application (Superuser.apk) and binaries (su, daemonsu) (chainifre)
• proper init.d script to run daemonsu binary as a daemon
• special wp_mod.ko kernel module to disable HTC system RW protection (flar2)
• proper init.d script to insert the wp_mod.ko module into the kernel
• busybox
• sysrw/sysro binaries for quick system partition re-mount

Device rooted with the above method should have no problems installing latest official OTA update because:

a) OTA update checks for files integrity, but it doesn't check if any extra files were added to the system partition.
b) OTA update doesn't check the integrity of the boot.img, so you can even flash a custom kernel if you want.

boot.img source: 3.28.401.7

target device: HTC One M8 (0P6B10000)

target device OS version: 3.28.401.7

Download:

Rooting Tools are available for download here. More details and discussion about Rooting Tools can be found on my XDA thread.

If you are a power user and a custom ROMs flasher, you can also grab the latest Android Revolution HD based on the 3.28.401.6 update with many extra goodies under the hood.

All above files can be accessed via Downloads Page on my blog.

Do you have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) below this post!

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HTC One M8 Android 4.4.4 latest system dumps [3.28.401.7]

Few days ago HTC has officially started rolling out the newest Android 4.4.4 update for the HTC One M8. The newest system version is tagged as 3.28.401.7 and it brings a lot of improvements system wide, including:

• improved rear camera image output, completely new edge/sharpness/noise algorithm,
• other camera improvements, including HTC's EYE experience camera features
• support for hardware video codec
• bluetooth improvements
• car drive mode improvements
• HTC backup improvements
• thermal system improvements
• many audio related fixes and improvements
• overall performance improvements
• improved battery life
• updated kernel
• and many many more under the hood...

If you don't want to wait for the OTA notification you can already flash latest system dumps.  For more details please visit my XDA thread.

If you are a power user and a custom ROMs flasher, you can also grab the latest Android Revolution HD based on the 3.28.401.6 update with many extra goodies under the hood.

Finally, if you only want to root your device and keep the rest stock, feel free to visit my XDA thread with a special rooting tools.

All above files can be accessed via Downloads Page on my blog.

Do you have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) below this post!

For latest news follow Android Revolution HD on popular social platforms:

HTC One M8 3.28.401.6 new firmware details

While the new OTA update for the HTC One M8 is still hot & fresh (HTC One M8 received Android 4.4.4 update with HTC EYE camera experience!) we decided to take a quick look at the new firmware package included in the 3.28.401.6 update. There are few interesting changes in there!

1. Bootloader (hboot)

The new bootloader version is tagged as 3.19.0.0000 (previously 3.18.0.0000) and one of the most noticeable changes is the new "Software status" text at the very top of the screen in the bootloader mode. There are 2 possible variants of this text:

*** Software status: Modified ***

and

*** Software status: Official ***

This new text apparently replaced the existing until now "TAMPERED" text (or some may call it "flag"). When the "Official" will change to "Modified"? It seems that there are 3 commons situations: flashing custom recovery.img, boot.img (both with no HTC digital signature) or modifying anything on the system partition.

• How often that component receives an update? Very often

2. ADSP drivers (Advanced Digital Signal Processor)

The OpenDSP version is now 46.2.2-00564-M8974_F0.0811 and it previously was tagged as 38.2.2-00542-M8974.0311. The Harman & Kardon ADSP drivers were tagged as 45.2.2-00542-M8974_HM.0422 so maybe HTC incorporated proper H&K code changes in the international HTC One M8 as well? Audio and video improvements expected!

• How often that component receives an update? Rarely

3. Boot.img

New boot.img has a few changes in the ramdisk and a new kernel (3.4.0-g222defb) inside.

• How often that component receives an update? With every update

4. Emmc_fw16.img and emmc_fw32.img

These are totally new. We can only guess that emmc_fw.16/32.img are suppose to update the eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Controller) storage firmware.

• How often that component receives an update? Never before

5. Radio.img

The new radio in the 3.28.401.6 firmware is tagged as 1.21.21331147A1.19_2G and it replaced the 1.19.21331147A1.09G version.

• How often that component receives an update? Rarely

6. Recovery.img

As always, recovery images has also been updated (f.g. with a new kernel). Not many use stock recovery anyway.

• How often that component receives an update? With every update

7. Rpm.img

This component is responsible for a chipset firmware, voltage tables, etc.. It's one of the most crucial firmware parts.

• How often that component receives an update? Almost never

8. Sbl1-1, sbl1-2, sbl1-3 and sbl1-4

These are probably related to the bootloader security mechanisms. Sbl1-1, sbl1-2, sbl1-3 are updated in the 3.28.401.6 OTA package and sbl1-4 is a brend new one.

• How often that component receives an update? Almost never

9. Sensor_hub.img

The sensor_hub.img is the firmware for the sensor hub. A sensor hub is in itself a chip with its own LowPower microprocessor that can control the sensors in the device.

• How often that component receives an update? Almost never

10. Splash1.nb0

This is a splash-screen animation that appears right before you see the regular boot-animation.

• How often that component receives an update? Almost never

11. Tz.img

Tz.img is responsible for so called Trusted Zone: DRM keys at stuff. It's another crucial firmware part, better not to play with!

• How often that component receives an update? Rarely

12. wcnss.img

Also known as Wireless CoNnectivity SubSystem (thanks to tonokeemon @XDA for the info!). It's responsible for a Wi-Fi module firmware. Better don't mess with it!

• How often that component receives an update? Almost never

As you can see, the 3.28.401.6 update is not only based on Android 4.4.3 --> Android 4.4.4 change. It contains a fundamental changes in the device firmware too. Android Revolution HD 20.0 based on the latest 3.28.401.6 update is just about to be released. In a couple of hours you will be able to find the download link in my XDA thread or alternatively on the AndroidNow English board thread, where I keep all links to my custom ROMs.

You can download the new firmware from this thread: HTC One M8 firmware collection for different CID/MID.

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) below this post!

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HTC One M8 received Android 4.4.4 update with HTC EYE camera experience!

While Samsung is still in love with Android 4.4.2 (Android version from 2013), HTC recently released Android 4.4.4 update for the HTC One M8. Even if the most recent software version up to date was Android 4.4.3 (still newer than Samsung), the number of changes in the new update is quite impressive. The new OTA update elevates the software version to 3.28.401.6 and apparently brings a lot of fixes, changes and improvements. Here are some of them spotted until now:

Support hardware video codec

Camera improvements

HTC's EYE Experience camera features

Bluetooth improvements

HTC car drive mode improvements

HTC backup improvements

Thermal system improvements

Many audio related fixes and improvements

Overall performance improvements

Updated kernel

There are many more changes under the hood, but what seems to be the biggest new feature is the HTC's EYE Experience camera features. HTC Desire Eye is the new "selfie-phone" released yesterday during the HTC Dual Exposure Event in the NYC. Some of the new camera features presented in the new HTC Desire Eye are now also incorporated in the new HTC One M8 update. You can read more about the new Eye Experience features here - HTC Eye Experience.

The 3.28.401.6 update brings also updated bootloader version (3.19). If you already downloaded the new OTA package from some un-official source and you're not sure how to install it, please read this simple guide - How to: Manually install an OTA update on your HTC device.

But if you are an flashaholic and Android Revolution HD user, we have a great news for you! Android Revolution HD 20.0 based on the latest 3.28.401.6 update is just about to be released. In a couple of hours you will be able to find the download link in my XDA thread or alternatively on the AndroidNow English board thread, where I keep all links to my custom ROMs.

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) below this post!

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How to: Fix a random reboots on the HTC One M8

Some time ago I described a method to format the /data partition on the HTC One (M7) - How to: Fix a corrupted DATA partition on the HTC One. This method is suitable for more HTC devices (all with EXT4 support) and with the mkfs.ext4 tool you can format system and cache partitions as well. All you need to know is the proper /dev/block/mmcblk0pXY number of the partition you want to format.

However, formatting the partition always means that your data will be gone. On the HTC One M8 I noticed a problem, most likely caused by the wp_mod.ko module (module to disable system R/W protection). When the module is loaded too late and anything ever gets changed before the module is loaded the file-structure of the /data partition might (and probably will) get corrupted. As a result your device will reboot each time you'll try to make and change on the /system partition (even if mounted as RW). So removing, copying, moving, re-naming or editing any file on a system partition will result with the following message in the kernel log (last_kmsg.txt):

Formatting the /data partition is not the best idea for some and it's not needed in most cases.

Repair Process

1. Download this mini-sdk package and extract it to c:\mini-sdk
2. Download this fsck.ext4 binary and put it into c:\mini-sdk
3. Connect your device to the PC
4. Boot your device in recovery mode
5. Open a command prompt on the PC (cmd.exe), type and confirm each command with ENTER:
6. cd /d c:\mini-sdk
7. adb push fsck.ext4 /tmp
8. adb shell
9. chmod 777 /tmp/fsck.ext4
10. /tmp/fsck.ext4 -fn /dev/block/mmcblk0p47

This will fix your /data partition and you should see the following output (numbers in the last line will be different in each case):

e2fsck 1.42.9 (28-Dec-2013)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
/dev/block/mmcblk0p47: 19050/712704 files (2.7% non-contiguous), 2320338/2850816 blocks

Your /data partition is now fixed and you should no longer experience random reboots problem on your device (assuming that the corrupted /data partition was the source of the problem). Keep in mind that the fsck.ext4 -fn command can be used to check other EXT4 partitions on any device that has EXT4 file-system structure. All you need to know is the partition name or block number.

Do you have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) below this post!

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My fight with Samsung - part 1.

It is a common knowledge that the theory is one thing and the practice is sometimes completely different. Today I've felt on my own skin how Samsung is trying to fool its customers. Keep on reading and please share this on any of your social network.

Some time ago I bought a Samsung tablet – Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition). Few days ago I realized that the S-Pen stylus is no longer working. The touch screen simply didn't react when I was trying to write anything on the front panel. So I took the device to the authorized Samsung service in Krakow - "W&K Wlodarski Łukasz". 

How much I was surprised when I received a text message after 20 minutes that my device is ready to be picked up. When I came back I was told that the warranty is voided because of "unauthorized software integration". Let's now point out some important technical details.

1. In ODIN mode: CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
2. In ODIN mode: SYSTEM STATUS: Official
3. Current OS: official P605XXUCNF2
4. Kernel: official
5. Recovery: official
6. ROOTED: no!

So... what the f... hell? Where is the "unauthorized software integration"?

I asked the technician for some more details. He wasn't able to answer any of my questions. He wasn't able to show me this "software integration" and what would that be.

Let's now focus on the legal part. Warranty terms attached to my device do state about software modifications, but it's a crucial ability to read it with understanding and a proper interpretation.

What does it mean? The key word in this part is "due to". So basically, there has to be a causal link (a cause ---> effect relationship). So if the modified software caused the failure, the warranty does not cover it. But if the modified software has no relation with the failure, then YOU MUST FIX IT, DEAR SAMSUNG!

The other very important thing is the burden of proof. The burden of proof is the imperative on a party in a trial to produce the evidence that will shift the conclusion away from the default position to one's own position. In simply words that means: if you say something - prove it! It is not MY obligation to prove that I haven't modified the software. If you, dear Samsung claim that my warranty is voided because of software modification, you need to prove this software modification.

To sum up this first part:

1. Samsung service didn't prove their statement that I made an unauthorized software integration.
2. Samsung service didn't demonstrate a causal relationship between the unauthorized software integration (if there was one) and the device failure.
3. Samsung service refused to fix my device and the worker said "Sir you have no chance, just give up and leave".

Few minutes ago I wrote a long e-mail to Samsung support centre, explaining the whole situation. What comes next? Let's wait for a part two...

Please share it.

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