Change frequency band 900 Mhz in M8 T Mobile

[Dark hanzo]

Good

I have a htc one m8 Mobile operator T; changing operator in my country of origin and previously used frequency 850 mhz and 1900; and the new operator uses frequency band 3G and 4G to 900 mhz and m8 T Mobile does not accept that band there any possibility to change this frequency.

I am root, S-Off, super CID Android 6

Some help.

greeting

Enviado desde mi hTC One_M8

 

[redpoint73]

You're s-off, so this isn't too hard. You can either flash another carrier versions firmware.zip, or RUU. Euro and Asia versions should support 900 Mhz for both 3G and LTE (at least in theory - see more below regarding LTE).

You may need to change MID, depending on what route you want to go, and what file you use.

But it should also be noted, that I've seen a number of folks that properly changed to a firmware (or full RUU conversion) containing the radio which supports their carrier's LTE band. But they still were not able to get LTE service. I don't know the reason for this, and have not seen any solution. So be aware, that there is a possibility you may not get LTE, even after adding the proper band support. But you should at least be able to get 3G on 900 MHz.

Firmwares (and info on flashing) are posted here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/development/progress-fuu-m8-t2813792

RUUs are posted in a variety of places. But I can advise, depending on what variant you want to "convert" to (Asia or Euro) if you want to go RUU route. You'll also need to change MID if you decide this route.

 

[guorium]

You're s-off, so this isn't too hard. You can either flash another carrier versions firmware.zip, or RUU. Euro and Asia versions should support 900 Mhz for both 3G and LTE (at least in theory - see more below regarding LTE).

You may need to change MID, depending on what route you want to go, and what file you use.

But it should also be noted, that I've seen a number of folks that properly changed to a firmware (or full RUU conversion) containing the radio which supports their carrier's LTE band. But they still were not able to get LTE service. I don't know the reason for this, and have not seen any solution. So be aware, that there is a possibility you may not get LTE, even after adding the proper band support. But you should at least be able to get 3G on 900 MHz.

Firmwares (and info on flashing) are posted here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/development/progress-fuu-m8-t2813792

RUUs are posted in a variety of places. But I can advise, depending on what variant you want to "convert" to (Asia or Euro) if you want to go RUU route. You'll also need to change MID if you decide this route.

Thank you for this valuable info!

 

[redpoint73]

Thank you for this valuable info!

Tread carefully. The information I gave was for the original poster's specific case. It may or may not apply in your case, and even be dangerous! For instance, if you have the Sprint or Verizon version M8, trying to flash a different radio or firmware will result in a radio brick (possibly permanent)! And you can't always easily tell if it a Sprint/Verizon version - we've seen these devices modified by third party vendors to appear "unbranded".

For the best info and help, please post your specific device info. Do fastboot getvar all, and post the results (delete IMEI and serial number before posting).

 

[guorium]

Tread carefully. The information I gave was for the original poster's specific case. It may or may not apply in your case, and even be dangerous! For instance, if you have the Sprint or Verizon version M8, trying to flash a different radio or firmware will result in a radio brick (possibly permanent)! And you can't always easily tell if it a Sprint/Verizon version - we've seen these devices modified by third party vendors to appear "unbranded".

For the best info and help, please post your specific device info. Do fastboot getvar all, and post the results (delete IMEI and serial number before posting).

Yes I read the unlock qualcomm post and it looks like a dozen GSM handsets failed and only CDMA devices successed. I am just trying to change the radio of mine which getvar reports to be a china mobile issued phone (certainly GSM). The Chinese radio does not support it vital 3G band (900MHz my carrier uses) in my home suburb. Apparently from some digging I did on the Australian forum whirlpool, all three carriers in Australia got different firmware versions but the radio img is all the same and the same radio means all 3 carriers are supported by m8 running the aussie radio in Australia. So I am doing soff on my handset to modify MID and CID so I can flash a Australian firmware to my phone and have full reception at home.

Funny enough I cannot get those firmwares from all three carriers nor htc australia. Their online chat support all refused to offer firmware to me. They did not even tell what the firmware versions are so I could look for it (wasted my time but my research paid off). Fellows on whirlpool offered their RUU in zip form for download. I can't easily tell if the Aussie radio support the bands I needed without using one of the fellow's imei to search for band support spec on imei.info. So yeah not hiding it helped me. I really want to just flash the aussie radio on top of the Chinese firmware I already got though. No one has the radio image for download. Do you know how to extract it from a 0P6BIMG.zip? I kinda wanna avoid having to extract the radio myself... it takes a while to put the Aussie firmware on and after that, extracting radio image would be almost pointless since it is already installed.

 

[redpoint73]

See my responses below in red font:

I am just trying to change the radio of mine which getvar reports to be a china mobile issued phone (certainly GSM). The Chinese radio does not support it vital 3G band (900MHz my carrier uses) in my home suburb.
So I am doing soff on my handset to modify MID and CID so I can flash a Australian firmware to my phone and have full reception at home.
If it is the Chinese M8 variant I'm thinking of, I don't think this will work.
Further, s-off is only possible with sunshine app ($25 US), which is probably wasted money for the above reason.
Please post your getvar data (deleting IMEI and serial number before posting) as previously requested, so we can advise more properly.

Funny enough I cannot get those firmwares from all three carriers nor htc australia. Their online chat support all refused to offer firmware to me. They did not even tell what the firmware versions are so I could look for it
I've never heard of HTC supplying firmware that way. Most they will do is send the RUU for your phone version. They will not support you changing your M8 to another version (different CID, MID) and therefore not supply those files. Also, there are a lot of CIDs that do not even have RUU.

No one has the radio image for download. Do you know how to extract it from a 0P6BIMG.zip? I kinda wanna avoid having to extract the radio myself... it takes a while to put the Aussie firmware on and after that, extracting radio image would be almost pointless since it is already installed.
I don't recommend only flashing the radio. img. Better to flash the whole firmware.zip, to make sure all the partitions are compatible. When I saw "firmware.zip" this is a small package that contains radio, hboot, and a few other partitions, but does not contain the ROM.
Then you say "firmware" it sounds like you are referring to the RUU or ROM, in which case please just say RUU or ROM, to avoid confusion.

 

[guorium]

See my responses below in red font:

Yes it is a 1.5G big boy. A RUU in 0P6BIMG.ZIP form. Changed to super CID and Australian MID. I am flashing it whole now. Keeps reporting large image update fail. Fastboot getvar all below

(bootloader) version: 0.5
(bootloader) version-bootloader: 3.19.0.0000
(bootloader) version-baseband: 1.23.213311231.14G
(bootloader) version-cpld: None
(bootloader) version-microp: None
(bootloader) version-main: 6.30.1403.1
(bootloader) version-misc: PVT SHIP S-OFF
(bootloader) serialno: nopenopenope
(bootloader) imei: nopenopenope
(bootloader) imei2: Not Support
(bootloader) meid: 00000000000000
(bootloader) product: m8_tl
(bootloader) platform: hTCBmsm8974
(bootloader) modelid: 0P6B11000
(bootloader) cidnum: 11111111
(bootloader) battery-status: good
(bootloader) battery-voltage: 0mV
(bootloader) partition-layout: Generic
(bootloader) security: off
(bootloader) build-mode: SHIP
(bootloader) boot-mode: FASTBOOT
(bootloader) commitno-bootloader: 205bdca3
(bootloader) hbootpreupdate: 11
(bootloader) gencheckpt: 0
all: Done!

 

[redpoint73]

Far as I know the Chinese variant isn't compatible with the RUU or firmware.zip for "standard" M8. It's product name is m8_tl
Where most other M8 variants are m8_ul
M8 variants that share the same product name M8_ul can be "converted" between each other using the RUU. M8 variants with different product name (like yours) in every case I've seen, the RUUs are not cross compatible.
Further, the "large image" error when flashing RUU is commonly seen when you try to flash an RUU for a different hardware.
Not sure if it is technically a different hardware, but I tend to think it is. From what I'm reading, China has a specific implementation of 3G, which probably required different hardware.
Moral of the story, I don't think you can mod this phone to add the desired band support.

 

[guorium]

Far as I know the Chinese variant isn't compatible with the RUU or firmware.zip for "standard" M8. It's product name is m8_tl
Where most other M8 variants are m8_ul
M8 variants that share the same product name M8_ul can be "converted" between each other using the RUU. M8 variants with different product name (like yours) in every case I've seen, the RUUs are not cross compatible.
Further, the "large image" error when flashing RUU is commonly seen when you try to flash an RUU for a different hardware.
Not sure if it is technically a different hardware, but I tend to think it is. From what I'm reading, China has a specific implementation of 3G, which probably required different hardware.
Moral of the story, I don't think you can mod this phone to add the desired band support.

Ok thanks for the help. The phone appears to be limbo now. I tried to flash Aussie RUU as 0B6PIMG.zip and it gives me the large file error. Then I thought oh maybe it is because it is still unlock flag for bootloader (But I thought it should not matter sin Soff is there). So I used the fastboot oem lock command. It went to relock. I still cannot flash it. So I used fastboot flash zip RUU.zip to flash A small ~30MB Aussie firmware which actually when through fine, then I flashed the newer version of that firmware (the old one had to be done first). That turned my OS number in the bootloader to the Aussie one instead of Chinese.

Then I cannot flash any RUU in 0B6PIMG.zip anymore, not aussie not Chinese. I can only enter bootloader now. No recovery is present. Cannot flash recovery and cannot unlock bootloader with token. Both just tell me failed. If I try to flash 0B6PIMG.zip via usb cable with "fastboot flash zip 0B6PIMG.zip". It says "load_file: could not allocate blah blah bytes" when I am sure there is a lot of space left. AT&T RUU exe cannot write successfully too.

So I got a semi brick with bootloader only now haha. The 3 little androids look cute though.:cyclops:

 

[redpoint73]

So I got a semi brick with bootloader only now haha. The 3 little androids look cute though.:cyclops:

Maybe I wasn't clear, but you really should have stopped when I said your device is not compatible with other M8 firmware. It is almost certainly a different hardware, which means flashing the wrong firmware (anything but firmware for m8_tl) is not only going to not work (phone will not function properly), but may result in permanent damage.

Just because the firmware flashed, does not mean it is a good thing. You've removed all the safeguards by doing s-off, changing the CID/MID. So it will flash, no surprise there. But folks have previously done something similar with the US CDMA variants (m8_wlv and m8_whl) by trying to flash firmware for m8_ul (the "standard" M8, the most common product name) which results in a radio brick.

These variants are never partitioned the same. What you have done is overwritten the wrong partitions with the m8_ul firmware.zip. Unless there is an RUU or firmware zip for m8_tl, there probably is not a way to fix this.

 

[guorium]

Maybe I wasn't clear, but you really should have stopped when I said your device is not compatible with other M8 firmware. It is almost certainly a different hardware, which means flashing the wrong firmware (anything but firmware for m8_tl) is not only going to not work (phone will not function properly), but may result in permanent damage.

Just because the firmware flashed, does not mean it is a good thing. You've removed all the safeguards by doing s-off, changing the CID/MID. So it will flash, no surprise there. But folks have previously done something similar with the US CDMA variants (m8_wlv and m8_whl) by trying to flash firmware for m8_ul (the "standard" M8, the most common product name) which results in a radio brick.

These variants are never partitioned the same. What you have done is overwritten the wrong partitions with the m8_ul firmware.zip. Unless there is an RUU or firmware zip for m8_tl, there probably is not a way to fix this.

Yes thanks for your advise. Very helpful indeed! I got good support from HTC China. They provided all RUUs including my model for everyone to download. I found out some other dude writing a blog post about how m8_tl can only use m8_tl's RUUs (there are two, one bring lighter with less carrier ****). No surprise my attempt to flash m8_ul's RUUs never succeeded. It will not even begin when I load up the 0P6BIMG.zip. I just unlocked bootloader again (needed a new token since MID was altered) so I can flash twrp and in turn use the adb shell to edit my MID back to orginal so I can put on the lighter version of stock RUU.

The lighter one still runs much better than China Mobiles tainted RUU. It cannot be done unless you soff. The soff was definitely worth it. I flashed some Australian radios and none of them give me the desired 3G band. It kinda behaved the same as the Chinese stock radio image. Very weird. Perhaps the Chinese GSM version of M8 are actually having different hardware compared to the international version. I just have not seen anyone rip a m8_tl apart and introduce us all the components.

I was very much aware that flashing CDMA RUU could do very bad things to a GSM M8. So I did not even think about it. Suppose my last hope of getting an extra 3G band is using QPST but that sounds very dangerous and I have just seen CDMA types succeeding. Will carefully read first...

UPDATE: I skimmed over all M8 related postes on that massive "Unlock all bands for Qualcomm" post. Apparently only the CDMA handsets worked. Those with GSM phones did not get it to work... Probably a hardware limitation. I will stay on my current state of my phone then. I came across a couple Chinese posts talking about replacing carrier_policy.xml with QPST on my exactly model m8t. That had no choice of specific bands. It simply sets the rules of network switching when various SIMs are inserted. Interesting none the less.

 

[guorium]

Yes thanks for your advise. Very helpful indeed! I got good support from HTC China. They provided all RUUs including my model for everyone to download. I found out some other dude writing a blog post about how m8_tl can only use m8_tl's RUUs (there are two, one bring lighter with less carrier ****). No surprise my attempt to flash m8_ul's RUUs never succeeded. It will not even begin when I load up the 0P6BIMG.zip. I just unlocked bootloader again (needed a new token since MID was altered) so I can flash twrp and in turn use the adb shell to edit my MID back to orginal so I can put on the lighter version of stock RUU.

The lighter one still runs much better than China Mobiles tainted RUU. It cannot be done unless you soff. The soff was definitely worth it. I flashed some Australian radios and none of them give me the desired 3G band. It kinda behaved the same as the Chinese stock radio image. Very weird. Perhaps the Chinese GSM version of M8 are actually having different hardware compared to the international version. I just have not seen anyone rip a m8_tl apart and introduce us all the components.

I was very much aware that flashing CDMA RUU could do very bad things to a GSM M8. So I did not even think about it. Suppose my last hope of getting an extra 3G band is using QPST but that sounds very dangerous and I have just seen CDMA types succeeding. Will carefully read first...

UPDATE: I skimmed over all M8 related postes on that massive "Unlock all bands for Qualcomm" post. Apparently only the CDMA handsets worked. Those with GSM phones did not get it to work... Probably a hardware limitation. I will stay on my current state of my phone then. I came across a couple Chinese posts talking about replacing carrier_policy.xml with QPST on my exactly model m8t. That had no choice of specific bands. It simply sets the rules of network switching when various SIMs are inserted. Interesting none the less.

I ended up testing possibility on my machine. The Chinese method in changing policy file with EFS explorer did not give me 900MHz. I then edited NV values with QXDM to enable 900MHz and again it did not give me reception even when the edits were sticking. Just to test I removed 2100MHz as well and sure that killed the 3G reception. My lesson is the TDSCDMA version of m8 just has different hardware compared to the global version. It is incapable of picking up 900MHz. I reflashed the stock RUU and everything is normal again. No brick.:good: