[HOW TO] Unlock bootloader, Root, Flash Custom ROM, Flash Kernel

Search This thread
By:
Advanced…
hasoon2000

hasoon2000

Senior Member
Feb 22, 2008
3,574
9,705
Orland Park, Illinois
www.hasoon2000.info
Post 1: How to unlock your bootloader, flash a recovery and root
Post 2: How to flash a custom ROM and kernel (boot.img)
Post 3: How to reverse everything and go back to stock
Post 4: How to ADB Sideload a ROM


Alright. This is for everyone who wants to root their phone. I've seen MULTIPLE threads of the same question "Can I root my phone and How do I do it". So I hope I never have to see it again! In this tutorial, I use use my toolkit as the way to root. Doing it manually takes forever and that is why I made my toolkit.

Requirements:
HTC One S (charged to at least 70%)
Windows XP,Vista,7 (8 is not officially supported since I don't have the drivers)
USB cable
Ability to read and follow step-by-step
Understanding that I am no way guaranteeing anything. If you screw up your phone, you probably didn't follow my steps and made a foolish mistake.

Let's begin.

Download my toolkit from here.

Link 1 and Link 2

Extract the FOLDER to your C: drive or to your desktop.

MAKE SURE YOUR DIRECTORY DOES NOT HAVE A PERIOD OR SPACE.

Open One S.exe

So now you have my program open. Great.

On your phone, go to Settings -> Developer Options and Enable USB Debugging.

From my toolkit, Click 1. Install HTC Drivers.

After the drivers install, restart your computer.

After your computer loads up, open my toolkit and connect your phone to the computer. Your phone should now be recognized.

Now, click 2. Register at HTCDev. Register with a VALID email address and LEAVE the web browser open.

Now, under the commands section of my toolkit, press Boot into Bootloader.

You should have a nice, white, shiny screen that says FASTBOOT USB.

Click 3. Get Token ID. Look at the pop up and it will tell you how to get the Token ID.

Highlight where it says < < < < Identifier Token Start > > > > all the way to < < < < < Identifier Token End > > > > > and right click and it will automatically copy it.

Now, click Submit Token ID. Your web browser should now open a new tab. Scroll down and in the empty box, paste your Token ID. Press submit. HTCDev now emailed you your unlock token.

Your phone should still be in the bootloader. Now, go to the email address you registered to HTCDev and DOWNLOAD your unlock_code.bin. Press 5. Unlock Bootloader. Locate your unlock_code.bin and it will flash it to your phone.

READ the warning. THIS WILL WIPE ALL YOUR DATA FROM THE PHONE.

When you agree to it, press the volume up button and press the power button to accept it. Your phone will now restart.

When your phone loads up, go through the set up wizard. Then, on your phone, go to Settings -> Developer Options and Enable USB Debugging.

Under the Extras section, press Perm Root. It will push SuperSU.zip to your phone.

Now, it is time to flash a recovery. The custom recovery is for 2 different devices

TWRP (Team Win Recovery Project) is a custom recovery that will allow you to flash custom ROMs, Mods, etc.

If your phone is the S3 model, then flash the one that says TWRP (S3)

If your phone is the S4 model, then flash the one that says TWRP (S4)

If your phone is the special edition 64Gb model, then flash the one that says TWRP (Special Edition)

After it flashes, remove the USB cable and have HBOOT selected in bootloader. Press the power button and it will reload to another screen. Press the Volume Down button until you get to Recovery. Press the power button to select it.

Go to Backup and back up your boot and system partition. Always have a back up before you flash or do anything.

After that, go to Install and locate SuperSU.zip. Click it and slide the screen on the bottom to flash it. After it flashes, reboot the phone.

In your app drawer (your menu with all the apps), open SuperSU. If it says the binary needs to be updated, then update it. If it doesn't, then you are fully rooted!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: SpiralNature, sparkyuiop, pimppu and 35 others
hasoon2000

hasoon2000

Senior Member
Feb 22, 2008
3,574
9,705
Orland Park, Illinois
www.hasoon2000.info
Post 2: How to flash a custom ROM and kernel (boot.img)

The fun part! Now, I will teach you how to flash a ROM and boot.img

Find a ROM you like, the first thing you should do is make sure it is COMPATIBLE with your phone. If you find a ROM that is for AT&T and you have the International model, don't be an idiot and flash it. I will not help you with that since you already agreed to my warning from the first post.

S3 ROMs don't work on S4 models and vice versa.

Also, DO NOT ASK IF YOU CAN FLASH A ROM FROM ANOTHER DEVICE!

Will it work? NO! Will it ever work? NO! Can I flash it anyways? Brick your device, I don't care. I warned you.

Let's get back on task. So you found the ROM you want to try, so go ahead and download it. KEEP THE THREAD OPEN! MAKE SURE YOU READ EVERYTHING AND REREAD IT AGAIN! READ WHAT USERS SAID ABOUT IT AND ABOUT BUGS! GO AHEAD AND READ THE WHOLE ENTIRE THREAD! GAIN KNOWLEDGE!!

Connect your USB cable to your phone. View the folders on your phone. I like to make a folder called ROMs on my phone and transfer it in there.

After you transfer it, open my toolkit and press Boot into Recovery. When you are in TWRP, MAKE A BACKUP!!!

After you make a backup AKA a Nandroid, click Wipe. Wipe Cache, Dalvik, Factory Reset and System. NOTHING ELSE! If you click anything else, IT WILL WIPE YOUR SD CARD AND YOU WILL HAVE MORE ISSUES ON YOUR HEAD!

So you wiped everything. Great. Your phone is ROMless, Yay!

Now go back and press install. Go to the folder where the ROM you downloaded, is located in. Select the ROM and slide the screen to flash it. After it flashes, press the back button. Press Reboot and Reboot into bootloader. Open the ROM you downloaded from your computer. You should see boot.img. Extract it to your computer. Open my toolkit and press Flash a Kernel. Locate the boot.img and it will flash it.

After it flashes, press reboot from the phone.

Congrats! Enjoy your fully working or borked ROM! Remember, DO NOT ASK FOR ETAs, DO NOT BUG/PM A DEV ABOUT UPDATES, and BE RESPECTFUL TO THE DEVELOPERS!
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpiralNature, johnie75, batistutankamon and 14 others
hasoon2000

hasoon2000

Senior Member
Feb 22, 2008
3,574
9,705
Orland Park, Illinois
www.hasoon2000.info
Post 3: How to reverse everything and go back to stock

Now, let's talk about getting back to stock. There are 2 ways to do this.

1. Flash the stock RUU (If available) (Recommended)
2. Restore your Nandroid (backup that I told you to make earlier)

1. I'll talk about flashing the stock RUU first.

Open up my toolkit and press "Factory RUU" from the links sections. I usually have the most updated RUUs that Football releases on my Dev-Host account. Download the correct RUU for your phone.

Now, back up all your data (pictures, contacts, etc) since this will put your phone back to complete stock.

Connect the USB cable to your phone.

Press Relock bootloader. It may give you a security warning error or it may say failed. Who cares, ignore it. It's normal.

Your phone will boot up normally.

When the phone is fully loaded. Unplug and replug the USB cable back in the phone. Now,run the RUU you downloaded and follow the instructions.

Your phone will be back to stock.

2. Now, we will talk about restoring your nandroid backup.

Connect your phone to the computer. Open up the folder to view the files on your phone.

From your computer, Go to TWRP -> BACKUPS -> (Your hardware Serial Number) -> (Folder you wish to restore to) -> and copy boot.emmc.win to your computer. Rename boot..emmc.win to boot.img

Open my toolkit and press boot into recovery.

Click Wipe. Wipe Cache, Dalvik, Factory Reset and System. NOTHING ELSE! If you click anything else, IT WILL WIPE YOUR SD CARD AND YOU WILL HAVE MORE ISSUES ON YOUR HEAD!

Press back and press Restore. Choose the backup to restore to.

After it finishes, press the back button. Press Reboot and select bootloader.

Open my toolkit and press Flash a Kernel. Locate the boot.img and it will flash it.

You are now back to your stock Nandroid.
 
  • Like
Reactions: johnie75, walker27, still_breathing and 8 others
hasoon2000

hasoon2000

Senior Member
Feb 22, 2008
3,574
9,705
Orland Park, Illinois
www.hasoon2000.info
4. How to use ADB Sideload

You may have seen what ADB Sideload around the forums but have no idea what it is. Since the HTC One S does not have an SD card, it makes things harder when you have to flash a ROM.

Here's a scenario when we need to use ADB Sideload.
1. You accidentally wiped your internal SD and have no ROM on your phone
2. You wiped your ROM and forgot to transfer a custom ROM/have no backups(Nandroid) available.
3, You have none of the above and there is no available RUU for your phone. <----- This is a real bummer.

Here are the steps to load on a ROM
I placed TWRP in my toolkit for a reason. CWM does not support ADB Sideload (as far as I know) and TWRP does.

Boot into recovery manually. Turn your device off and hold the VOLUME DOWN + POWER button together until the BOOTLOADER pops up. Press the VOLUME DOWN button until you have selected RECOVERY. Press the POWER button to get into RECOVERY.

Connect the USB Cable to your phone and computer.

In TWRP, click "Advanced" and select ADB Sideload.

Download a ROM to your computer (if you haven't already done so). Rename it as one word. For example CM10.zip, QX.zip, ARHD.zip, etc.

In my toolkit, under the extras section, press ADB Sideload a ROM. Press "Yes" when it asks you if you are in recovery. Then select the ROM you want to install. It will then sideload it to your phone and flash it.

After it finishes, press the back button. Press Reboot and select bootloader.

Pull the boot.img from the zip file and extract it.

Open my toolkit and press Flash a Kernel. Locate the boot.img and it will flash it.

You now have a ROM on your phone!
 
  • Like
Reactions: johnie75, fgw3987, thevdoguy and 11 others
C

carpetmaven2000

New member
Jan 1, 2013
4
0
hasoon2000 said:
Post 3: How to reverse everything and go back to stock

Now, let's talk about getting back to stock. There are 2 ways to do this.

1. Flash the stock RUU (If available) (Recommended)
2. Restore your Nandroid (backup that I told you to make earlier)

1. I'll talk about flashing the stock RUU first.

Open up my toolkit and press "Factory RUU" from the links sections. I usually have the most updated RUUs that Football releases on my Dev-Host account. Download the correct RUU for your phone.

Now, back up all your data (pictures, contacts, etc) since this will put your phone back to complete stock.

Connect the USB cable to your phone.

Press Relock bootloader. It may give you a security warning error or it may say failed. Who cares, ignore it. It's normal.

Your phone will boot up normally.

When the phone is fully loaded. Unplug and replug the USB cable back in the phone. Now,run the RUU you downloaded and follow the instructions.

Your phone will be back to stock.

2. Now, we will talk about restoring your nandroid backup.

Connect your phone to the computer. Open up the folder to view the files on your phone.

From your computer, Go to TWRP -> BACKUPS -> (Your hardware Serial Number) -> (Folder you wish to restore to) -> and copy boot.emmc.win to your computer. Rename boot..emmc.win to boot.img

Open my toolkit and press boot into recovery.

Click Wipe. Wipe Cache, Dalvik, Factory Reset and System. NOTHING ELSE! If you click anything else, IT WILL WIPE YOUR SD CARD AND YOU WILL HAVE MORE ISSUES ON YOUR HEAD!

Press back and press Restore. Choose the backup to restore to.

After it finishes, press the back button. Press Reboot and select bootloader.

Open my toolkit and press Flash a Kernel. Locate the boot.img and it will flash it.

You are now back to your stock Nandroid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse


I am restoring from my Nandroid... when I get to the end and press reboot select bootloader.... when it reboots it does not go to bootloader, just the white HTC screen, and now I cannot flash the Kernel... what do I need to do to fix this?
 
Darknites

Darknites

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
6,264
2,528
carpetmaven2000 said:
I am restoring from my Nandroid... when I get to the end and press reboot select bootloader.... when it reboots it does not go to bootloader, just the white HTC screen, and now I cannot flash the Kernel... what do I need to do to fix this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hold Vol- as you turn it on should get you into bootloader.
 
J

jserna735

New member
Jan 11, 2013
1
0
hasoon2000 said:


Click 3. Get Token ID. Look at the pop up and it will tell you how to get the Token ID.

Highlight where it says < < < < Identifier Token Start > > > > all the way to < < < < < Identifier Token End > > > > > and right click and it will automatically copy it.
[END QUOTE]

Hopefully this post goes correctly, it's my first post on here. I have the T-Mobile HTC One S. Whenever I get to this step it says there is no internal or external command for 'fastboot', and in another post, you had stated that it should be 1 word for the command prompt, which all of mine are, and it continues to do the same thing, and unfortunately, the all in one kit wont take me to the bootloader. It tries to do it, but then I get the phone with the red triangle with the exclamation point on it. I have to manually get it to bootloader, the command in the tool in one kit wont do it either. Please Advise. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
 
K

kkara13

New member
Mar 30, 2012
3
0
Cannot update binaries for SuperSU

Hi thanks so much for the guide. Followed all your steps and went hassle free. When launching SuperSU, its saying installation failed for updating binaries. Any ideas?
 
L

lolipop91

New member
Jan 25, 2013
1
0
If i accidentaly deleted my TWRP backup and i dont have RUU. What should i do to get back my stock rom
 
OzGurKan

OzGurKan

Senior Member
Apr 12, 2011
534
67
38
Bucharest
Can i root my one s without unlocking bootloader? Just bought one... Thx

Sent from my HTC One S using xda app-developers app
 
hasoon2000

hasoon2000

Senior Member
Feb 22, 2008
3,574
9,705
Orland Park, Illinois
www.hasoon2000.info
B

bswift916

Member
Nov 29, 2011
12
0
Help?

newbie here... I'm running windows vista, dled your prog and followed all the necessary steps. I selected the debugging option, and when I try to "boot into bootloader" it opens a cmd.exe window.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

fipsib
  • Poll
[Tutorial] How to flash a new boot.img via Fastboot
Replies
100
Views
840K
tello999
tello999
torxx
[Tutorial]Root, Unlock, Recovery and flashing a Custom ROM
Replies
547
Views
569K
GoreTan
GoreTan
ascot17
[S4][Hack][Root] SIM Unlock for FREE
Replies
551
Views
650K
H
hakeryk2
torxx
[ROM][S4][06 JAN] TrickDroid 9.1.0 | Jelly Bean | Sense UI 4+ | Fast | Smooth | HQ
Replies
6K
Views
1M
N
natmacax
brwetz
[HOW-TO] ADB Push a ROM to your phone
Replies
71
Views
438K
Bertonumber1
Bertonumber1

Top Liked Posts

24 Hours All time
  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 38
    hasoon2000
    hasoon2000
    Post 1: How to unlock your bootloader, flash a recovery and root
    Post 2: How to flash a custom ROM and kernel (boot.img)
    Post 3: How to reverse everything and go back to stock
    Post 4: How to ADB Sideload a ROM


    Alright. This is for everyone who wants to root their phone. I've seen MULTIPLE threads of the same question "Can I root my phone and How do I do it". So I hope I never have to see it again! In this tutorial, I use use my toolkit as the way to root. Doing it manually takes forever and that is why I made my toolkit.

    Requirements:
    HTC One S (charged to at least 70%)
    Windows XP,Vista,7 (8 is not officially supported since I don't have the drivers)
    USB cable
    Ability to read and follow step-by-step
    Understanding that I am no way guaranteeing anything. If you screw up your phone, you probably didn't follow my steps and made a foolish mistake.

    Let's begin.

    Download my toolkit from here.

    Link 1 and Link 2

    Extract the FOLDER to your C: drive or to your desktop.

    MAKE SURE YOUR DIRECTORY DOES NOT HAVE A PERIOD OR SPACE.

    Open One S.exe

    So now you have my program open. Great.

    On your phone, go to Settings -> Developer Options and Enable USB Debugging.

    From my toolkit, Click 1. Install HTC Drivers.

    After the drivers install, restart your computer.

    After your computer loads up, open my toolkit and connect your phone to the computer. Your phone should now be recognized.

    Now, click 2. Register at HTCDev. Register with a VALID email address and LEAVE the web browser open.

    Now, under the commands section of my toolkit, press Boot into Bootloader.

    You should have a nice, white, shiny screen that says FASTBOOT USB.

    Click 3. Get Token ID. Look at the pop up and it will tell you how to get the Token ID.

    Highlight where it says < < < < Identifier Token Start > > > > all the way to < < < < < Identifier Token End > > > > > and right click and it will automatically copy it.

    Now, click Submit Token ID. Your web browser should now open a new tab. Scroll down and in the empty box, paste your Token ID. Press submit. HTCDev now emailed you your unlock token.

    Your phone should still be in the bootloader. Now, go to the email address you registered to HTCDev and DOWNLOAD your unlock_code.bin. Press 5. Unlock Bootloader. Locate your unlock_code.bin and it will flash it to your phone.

    READ the warning. THIS WILL WIPE ALL YOUR DATA FROM THE PHONE.

    When you agree to it, press the volume up button and press the power button to accept it. Your phone will now restart.

    When your phone loads up, go through the set up wizard. Then, on your phone, go to Settings -> Developer Options and Enable USB Debugging.

    Under the Extras section, press Perm Root. It will push SuperSU.zip to your phone.

    Now, it is time to flash a recovery. The custom recovery is for 2 different devices

    TWRP (Team Win Recovery Project) is a custom recovery that will allow you to flash custom ROMs, Mods, etc.

    If your phone is the S3 model, then flash the one that says TWRP (S3)

    If your phone is the S4 model, then flash the one that says TWRP (S4)

    If your phone is the special edition 64Gb model, then flash the one that says TWRP (Special Edition)

    After it flashes, remove the USB cable and have HBOOT selected in bootloader. Press the power button and it will reload to another screen. Press the Volume Down button until you get to Recovery. Press the power button to select it.

    Go to Backup and back up your boot and system partition. Always have a back up before you flash or do anything.

    After that, go to Install and locate SuperSU.zip. Click it and slide the screen on the bottom to flash it. After it flashes, reboot the phone.

    In your app drawer (your menu with all the apps), open SuperSU. If it says the binary needs to be updated, then update it. If it doesn't, then you are fully rooted!
    View
    17
    hasoon2000
    hasoon2000
    Post 2: How to flash a custom ROM and kernel (boot.img)

    The fun part! Now, I will teach you how to flash a ROM and boot.img

    Find a ROM you like, the first thing you should do is make sure it is COMPATIBLE with your phone. If you find a ROM that is for AT&T and you have the International model, don't be an idiot and flash it. I will not help you with that since you already agreed to my warning from the first post.

    S3 ROMs don't work on S4 models and vice versa.

    Also, DO NOT ASK IF YOU CAN FLASH A ROM FROM ANOTHER DEVICE!

    Will it work? NO! Will it ever work? NO! Can I flash it anyways? Brick your device, I don't care. I warned you.

    Let's get back on task. So you found the ROM you want to try, so go ahead and download it. KEEP THE THREAD OPEN! MAKE SURE YOU READ EVERYTHING AND REREAD IT AGAIN! READ WHAT USERS SAID ABOUT IT AND ABOUT BUGS! GO AHEAD AND READ THE WHOLE ENTIRE THREAD! GAIN KNOWLEDGE!!

    Connect your USB cable to your phone. View the folders on your phone. I like to make a folder called ROMs on my phone and transfer it in there.

    After you transfer it, open my toolkit and press Boot into Recovery. When you are in TWRP, MAKE A BACKUP!!!

    After you make a backup AKA a Nandroid, click Wipe. Wipe Cache, Dalvik, Factory Reset and System. NOTHING ELSE! If you click anything else, IT WILL WIPE YOUR SD CARD AND YOU WILL HAVE MORE ISSUES ON YOUR HEAD!

    So you wiped everything. Great. Your phone is ROMless, Yay!

    Now go back and press install. Go to the folder where the ROM you downloaded, is located in. Select the ROM and slide the screen to flash it. After it flashes, press the back button. Press Reboot and Reboot into bootloader. Open the ROM you downloaded from your computer. You should see boot.img. Extract it to your computer. Open my toolkit and press Flash a Kernel. Locate the boot.img and it will flash it.

    After it flashes, press reboot from the phone.

    Congrats! Enjoy your fully working or borked ROM! Remember, DO NOT ASK FOR ETAs, DO NOT BUG/PM A DEV ABOUT UPDATES, and BE RESPECTFUL TO THE DEVELOPERS!
    View
    14
    hasoon2000
    hasoon2000
    4. How to use ADB Sideload

    You may have seen what ADB Sideload around the forums but have no idea what it is. Since the HTC One S does not have an SD card, it makes things harder when you have to flash a ROM.

    Here's a scenario when we need to use ADB Sideload.
    1. You accidentally wiped your internal SD and have no ROM on your phone
    2. You wiped your ROM and forgot to transfer a custom ROM/have no backups(Nandroid) available.
    3, You have none of the above and there is no available RUU for your phone. <----- This is a real bummer.

    Here are the steps to load on a ROM
    I placed TWRP in my toolkit for a reason. CWM does not support ADB Sideload (as far as I know) and TWRP does.

    Boot into recovery manually. Turn your device off and hold the VOLUME DOWN + POWER button together until the BOOTLOADER pops up. Press the VOLUME DOWN button until you have selected RECOVERY. Press the POWER button to get into RECOVERY.

    Connect the USB Cable to your phone and computer.

    In TWRP, click "Advanced" and select ADB Sideload.

    Download a ROM to your computer (if you haven't already done so). Rename it as one word. For example CM10.zip, QX.zip, ARHD.zip, etc.

    In my toolkit, under the extras section, press ADB Sideload a ROM. Press "Yes" when it asks you if you are in recovery. Then select the ROM you want to install. It will then sideload it to your phone and flash it.

    After it finishes, press the back button. Press Reboot and select bootloader.

    Pull the boot.img from the zip file and extract it.

    Open my toolkit and press Flash a Kernel. Locate the boot.img and it will flash it.

    You now have a ROM on your phone!
    View
    11
    hasoon2000
    hasoon2000
    Post 3: How to reverse everything and go back to stock

    Now, let's talk about getting back to stock. There are 2 ways to do this.

    1. Flash the stock RUU (If available) (Recommended)
    2. Restore your Nandroid (backup that I told you to make earlier)

    1. I'll talk about flashing the stock RUU first.

    Open up my toolkit and press "Factory RUU" from the links sections. I usually have the most updated RUUs that Football releases on my Dev-Host account. Download the correct RUU for your phone.

    Now, back up all your data (pictures, contacts, etc) since this will put your phone back to complete stock.

    Connect the USB cable to your phone.

    Press Relock bootloader. It may give you a security warning error or it may say failed. Who cares, ignore it. It's normal.

    Your phone will boot up normally.

    When the phone is fully loaded. Unplug and replug the USB cable back in the phone. Now,run the RUU you downloaded and follow the instructions.

    Your phone will be back to stock.

    2. Now, we will talk about restoring your nandroid backup.

    Connect your phone to the computer. Open up the folder to view the files on your phone.

    From your computer, Go to TWRP -> BACKUPS -> (Your hardware Serial Number) -> (Folder you wish to restore to) -> and copy boot.emmc.win to your computer. Rename boot..emmc.win to boot.img

    Open my toolkit and press boot into recovery.

    Click Wipe. Wipe Cache, Dalvik, Factory Reset and System. NOTHING ELSE! If you click anything else, IT WILL WIPE YOUR SD CARD AND YOU WILL HAVE MORE ISSUES ON YOUR HEAD!

    Press back and press Restore. Choose the backup to restore to.

    After it finishes, press the back button. Press Reboot and select bootloader.

    Open my toolkit and press Flash a Kernel. Locate the boot.img and it will flash it.

    You are now back to your stock Nandroid.
    View
    2
    Stano36
    Stano36
    Hi, go into bootloader and see if you got VLE (S4) or VILLEC2 (S3)
    View

New posts