[Solved] Installing OTA with S-Off and Root

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addicted2088

Senior Member
Oct 20, 2010
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154
Pune
Update: Well, I took the plunge on my own, and everything worked fine. Flashed firmware.zip, went to stock recovery and flashed OTA, and voila, all good.

So I've bought an HTC device for the first time. I did S-Off and unlocked bootloader and rooted as well. Now, there's an OTA available (I have the Asia_India variant), and I wanted to ask just how would I go about updating.

Here's what I've surmised till now:

1. Revert changes to system partition or it will fail to update (I moved some system APKs, but I saved them for such a scenario.)
2. Flash Firmware.zip to get stock recovery back.
3. Install OTA normally from the notification.

However, I'm still not sure what else I'd need to do (unroot, using the option in SuperSU?), so was wondering if someone could help me out. I've made backups in Philz and TWRP recovery both just to be sure.

P.S.: I extracted the firmware.zip file from the OTA, and tried to open it, but it doesn't open in apps like WinRAR. Is that normal, with the file only flashable via fastboot?
 
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EddyOS

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2010
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London
Personally, I'd say remove root just incase it stops the OTA but others will say it doesn't matter so long as the rest of the system is 100% stock as HTC intended it
 

KarimSalloum

Senior Member
Apr 24, 2012
397
58
Beirut
For OTA updates after having a custom recovery, just flash your ROM stock recovery (search XDA all are available) then run OTA as you normally would and then flash your custom recovery again (if you like to get root again). However personally I would not do this with S-ON device, probably it's better if you're S-OFF while doing this to avoid any problem.
 

Black Antitoon

Senior Member
May 3, 2008
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Zurich (Switzerland)
I am also interested in this. What would be the risk if I do this with S-ON? Assume I flash the wrong stock recovery or do some other mistake, won't I still be able to flash my custom recovery back from fastboot and get everything back up and running?

Thanks to whom will answer. :good:
 

EddyOS

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2010
15,279
4,034
London
I am also interested in this. What would be the risk if I do this with S-ON? Assume I flash the wrong stock recovery or do some other mistake, won't I still be able to flash my custom recovery back from fastboot and get everything back up and running?

Thanks to whom will answer. :good:

So long as the phone still boots to fastboot, yes (although unlocking the boot loader will delete any backups so make sure you backup the backup to your PC before doing anything else!)
 
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Black Antitoon

Senior Member
May 3, 2008
373
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33
Zurich (Switzerland)
Thank you for your answer. As far as you know, being S-ON, is there really any kind of mistake one can do to brick the phone so that it doesn't even boot to fastboot?

Also, if my bootloader is already unlocked, no data wipe is going to happen again flashing a firmware/OTA in any predictable case, right?

Once again, thank you or anybody else who knows the answer.

By the way, are there any FAQs answering these questions? There are some FAQs here and there, but none seems to be very clear on these matters.
 

EddyOS

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2010
15,279
4,034
London
Thank you for your answer. As far as you know, being S-ON, is there really any kind of mistake one can do to brick the phone so that it doesn't even boot to fastboot?

Also, if my bootloader is already unlocked, no data wipe is going to happen again flashing a firmware/OTA in any predictable case, right?

Once again, thank you or anybody else who knows the answer.

By the way, are there any FAQs answering these questions? There are some FAQs here and there, but none seems to be very clear on these matters.

If you're S-ON there's not a lot you can do to brick the phone. You could wipe the ROM and have it not boot but you should always be able to get back to fastboot. This is where S-OFF is only handy to have if RUUs are about (it's the ONLY reason I am S-OFF, it's purely for a 'going back to stock' standpoint)

Yes, if the bootloader is already unlocked then you're good to go
 
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    I am also interested in this. What would be the risk if I do this with S-ON? Assume I flash the wrong stock recovery or do some other mistake, won't I still be able to flash my custom recovery back from fastboot and get everything back up and running?

    Thanks to whom will answer. :good:

    So long as the phone still boots to fastboot, yes (although unlocking the boot loader will delete any backups so make sure you backup the backup to your PC before doing anything else!)
    1
    Thank you for your answer. As far as you know, being S-ON, is there really any kind of mistake one can do to brick the phone so that it doesn't even boot to fastboot?

    Also, if my bootloader is already unlocked, no data wipe is going to happen again flashing a firmware/OTA in any predictable case, right?

    Once again, thank you or anybody else who knows the answer.

    By the way, are there any FAQs answering these questions? There are some FAQs here and there, but none seems to be very clear on these matters.

    If you're S-ON there's not a lot you can do to brick the phone. You could wipe the ROM and have it not boot but you should always be able to get back to fastboot. This is where S-OFF is only handy to have if RUUs are about (it's the ONLY reason I am S-OFF, it's purely for a 'going back to stock' standpoint)

    Yes, if the bootloader is already unlocked then you're good to go