Bricked - HTC One Mini (M4)

[KnownAsCJ]

First of all let me say hi and give you all a little background on myself, as I'm new to this forum... Hi

I recently aquired a HTC One Mini, solely for the purpose of using it for a route planning device with the Co-Pilot GPS app (without navigation) and this handset will also have no sim card installed. (current problem detailed a little further below)

This is my 1st HTC, but I've been with Android for a number of years, starting with my 1st phone an early LG Optimus GT540, that's where I got the Android bug and wanted the latest and greatest from there on in, and ended up with the 1st Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000, then onto my current device another LG (of kind) the Nexus 4 (I don't swap and change very often as you can see). I have rooted and set custom roms on my last 2 devices, so not a complete novice to this sort of thing. The GT-i9000 is now being used for the above mentioned purpose but is slow and laggy even as stock Android with no root or other unnecessary apps installed. Hence why I wanted to uprate for quicker easier life while planning my routes.

My problem that I need assistance with is as follows...

This phone appears bricked as it boots into the bootloader screen (HBOOT) only and does not appear to have an OS installed.
I have read up and attempted to run an RUU, but this fails every time, which I believe is due to S-On. I gather that this device was never set to USB debugging when an OS was working.
As no USB debugging is available, I am struggling to get S-Off to force an RUU and no ADB is available, however I can use the fastboot to connect to my laptop and force items to the device.
Can anybody help me get this handset to a usable state for my purposes, I don't mind if its stock or rooted with base Android or custom rom, so long as I can use the one app I require, I really dont mind.
A download link would be appreciated to force update/OS via fastboot or help in obtaining S-Off for RUU.

Thanks in advance for any help in this matter.



Additional Information:

Locked Bootloader
M4_UL PVT SHIP S-ON RL
HBOOT-2.21.000
OS-3.10.401.6
eMMC-boot 1024MB

 

[KnownAsCJ]

selfish nudge

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[KnownAsCJ]

Has anybody got any thoughts or is this handset irreversibly bricked?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[KnownAsCJ]

9 days and not 1 reply, surely somebody has an idea....

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[jollywhitefoot]

First of all let me say hi and give you all a little background on myself, as I'm new to this forum... Hi

I recently aquired a HTC One Mini, solely for the purpose of using it for a route planning device with the Co-Pilot GPS app (without navigation) and this handset will also have no sim card installed. (current problem detailed a little further below)

This is my 1st HTC, but I've been with Android for a number of years, starting with my 1st phone an early LG Optimus GT540, that's where I got the Android bug and wanted the latest and greatest from there on in, and ended up with the 1st Samsung Galaxy S GT-i9000, then onto my current device another LG (of kind) the Nexus 4 (I don't swap and change very often as you can see). I have rooted and set custom roms on my last 2 devices, so not a complete novice to this sort of thing. The GT-i9000 is now being used for the above mentioned purpose but is slow and laggy even as stock Android with no root or other unnecessary apps installed. Hence why I wanted to uprate for quicker easier life while planning my routes.

My problem that I need assistance with is as follows...

This phone appears bricked as it boots into the bootloader screen (HBOOT) only and does not appear to have an OS installed.
I have read up and attempted to run an RUU, but this fails every time, which I believe is due to S-On. I gather that this device was never set to USB debugging when an OS was working.
As no USB debugging is available, I am struggling to get S-Off to force an RUU and no ADB is available, however I can use the fastboot to connect to my laptop and force items to the device.
Can anybody help me get this handset to a usable state for my purposes, I don't mind if its stock or rooted with base Android or custom rom, so long as I can use the one app I require, I really dont mind.
A download link would be appreciated to force update/OS via fastboot or help in obtaining S-Off for RUU.

Thanks in advance for any help in this matter.



Additional Information:

Locked Bootloader
M4_UL PVT SHIP S-ON RL
HBOOT-2.21.000
OS-3.10.401.6
eMMC-boot 1024MB

yeah, this forum is pretty slow.

Do you have custom recovery installed?

FYI - you don't need S-Off for RUU to work, so the problem lies elsewhere. That said, they can be a pain in the butt to get running correctly. It will be easier to push a ROM to your device using ADB in recovery.

Here are the steps to restore your device:

You mentioned you have fastboot working. You'll need to setup ADB as well.
Download a ROM to your computer (this is a good one to start with: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2791725)
Flash latest version of TWRP for HTC One Mini (anything newer than 2.7.1.0 should work)
Boot into recovery
ADB works in recovery. Push the ROM you downloaded to your device's sdcard (use adb "push" command). This takes a while (10+ minutes) with no progress indicator
Once the ROM has been pushed, you can install it from recovery.

 

[KnownAsCJ]

yeah, this forum is pretty slow.

Do you have custom recovery installed?

FYI - you don't need S-Off for RUU to work, so the problem lies elsewhere. That said, they can be a pain in the butt to get running correctly. It will be easier to push a ROM to your device using ADB in recovery.

Here are the steps to restore your device:

You mentioned you have fastboot working. You'll need to setup ADB as well.
Download a ROM to your computer (this is a good one to start with: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2791725)
Flash latest version of TWRP for HTC One Mini (anything newer than 2.7.1.0 should work)
Boot into recovery
ADB works in recovery. Push the ROM you downloaded to your device's sdcard (use adb "push" command). This takes a while (10+ minutes) with no progress indicator
Once the ROM has been pushed, you can install it from recovery.

Cheers for the response, I'll give it a go.
So the ADB will work even tho my laptop won't recognise the ADB device?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[jollywhitefoot]

Cheers for the response, I'll give it a go.
So the ADB will work even tho my laptop won't recognise the ADB device?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

No, you need to fix your Windows drivers. This can be a royal pain.

If you're having windows driver issues, probably the easiest way to get ADB working is to create a bootable linux disc and boot to that. I've posted about this before. I'll try to find that and link to it.

Instructions for creating an ubuntu live CD
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

Once you can boot into Ubuntu, you can follow these instructions to get adb/fastboot working:

Click on the setting icon in the upper right, then select system settings.
In the System section, select Software & Updates
Place a Check in the box next to Community-maintained free and open-source software (universe)
Then Close system settings

Then, open terminal (click the "search your computer and online sources" icon in the top left and type "terminal")

Then paste the three commands from the above link one at a time into terminal
>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
>sudo apt-get update
>sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

You may be prompted to press Y to install.

Once the install is complete, fastboot should work. But unlike Windows, it looks like you need to use the word sudo in front of all fastboot commands.

so...
fastboot devices
becomes
sudo fastboot devices

fastboot flash recovery twrp2.7.1.1
becomes
sudo fastboot flash recovery twrp2.7.1.1

I think the same thing will apply to adb.

Alternatively, you can try a clean install of Windows on your laptop. The Ubuntu method is easier and faster though.

 

[KnownAsCJ]

No, you need to fix your Windows drivers. This can be a royal pain.

If you're having windows driver issues, probably the easiest way to get ADB working is to create a bootable linux disc and boot to that. I've posted about this before. I'll try to find that and link to it.

Instructions for creating an ubuntu live CD
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

Once you can boot into Ubuntu, you can follow these instructions to get adb/fastboot working:

Click on the setting icon in the upper right, then select system settings.
In the System section, select Software & Updates
Place a Check in the box next to Community-maintained free and open-source software (universe)
Then Close system settings

Then, open terminal (click the "search your computer and online sources" icon in the top left and type "terminal")

Then paste the three commands from the above link one at a time into terminal
>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
>sudo apt-get update
>sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

You may be prompted to press Y to install.

Once the install is complete, fastboot should work. But unlike Windows, it looks like you need to use the word sudo in front of all fastboot commands.

so...
fastboot devices
becomes
sudo fastboot devices

fastboot flash recovery twrp2.7.1.1
becomes
sudo fastboot flash recovery twrp2.7.1.1

I think the same thing will apply to adb.

Alternatively, you can try a clean install of Windows on your laptop. The Ubuntu method is easier and faster though.

Cheers Jollywhitefoot,

I just tried this...
Fastboot Devices is recognised on my laptop, just not ADB Devices, so thought I would give it a go from windows....

C:\ADB>fastboot devices
HT*********6 fastboot

C:\ADB>fastboot flash recovery twrp-2.8.6.0-m4.img
target reported max download size of 800227328 bytes
sending 'recovery' (10874 KB)...
OKAY [ 1.658s]
writing 'recovery'...
(bootloader) signature checking...
FAILED (remote: signature verify fail)
finished. total time: 2.780s

Tried it twice and got the same response both times

 

[KnownAsCJ]

Still having an issue getting any sense out of ADB, I can not for the life of me get my drivers to recognise my device....
Is this purely down to the fact that I have no ROM installed to authorise the USB Debugging to activate the ADB drivers I'm trying to use?

How can I push a ROM to my device without using ADB?

Or I need a workaround to enable ADB devices for this handset

 

[jollywhitefoot]

Cheers Jollywhitefoot,

I just tried this...
Fastboot Devices is recognised on my laptop, just not ADB Devices, so thought I would give it a go from windows....

C:\ADB>fastboot devices
HT*********6 fastboot

C:\ADB>fastboot flash recovery twrp-2.8.6.0-m4.img
target reported max download size of 800227328 bytes
sending 'recovery' (10874 KB)...
OKAY [ 1.658s]
writing 'recovery'...
(bootloader) signature checking...
FAILED (remote: signature verify fail)
finished. total time: 2.780s

Tried it twice and got the same response both times

You need to unlock your bootloader before you can flash TWRP.

---------- Post added at 08:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------

Still having an issue getting any sense out of ADB, I can not for the life of me get my drivers to recognise my device....
Is this purely down to the fact that I have no ROM installed to authorise the USB Debugging to activate the ADB drivers I'm trying to use?

No. ADB works fine in recovery. You don't need a ROM installed to use adb commands from recovery. How do you think you push a rom to a device that's been wiped?

How can I push a ROM to my device without using ADB?

Yeah, that's exactly what you need to do.

Or I need a workaround to enable ADB devices for this handset

You can try placing the ROM on a memory stick and installing from an OTG device, but you'll have to borrow or buy and OTG. Also, I've never done that before and can't guarantee it will work.

Trust me, I've been exactly where you are before. A laptop where fastboot works and ADB doesn't. A device that won't boot. And frustration beyond belief. After days of trying to get ADB drivers working, I ended up doing a clean of Windows XP install on an old laptop. But, when I did that, I didn't know about the Ubuntu boot disc method. If I could go back in time, I would do the Ubuntu method 100 time out of 100. It's so simple, you don't need to install anything and it only costs you 1 blank CD (or you can try booting from a memory stick).

Sorry I'm so slow to respond. For some reason I'm not getting notifications when you quote me in this thread.

 

[jollywhitefoot]

How can I push a ROM to my device without using ADB?

I don't have this device anymore, but I just found out that the computer recognizes my M9 as usb storage when booted into the latest version of TWRP. Once you unlock your bootloader and flash the latest TWRP, that would be the first thing I try.