PSA: Buy a Fire Phone during the recent fire sale? Do NOT downgrade the OS! - Amazon Fire Phone

Did you pick up an unlocked Fire Phone from the recent sale at Amazon? You probably got a device running Fire OS 3.6.8.
It may be tempting to flash back to an earlier software version to attempt root, but you should hold off for now. I, and a few others it seems, are now stuck with phones that can't really do much. Registering with Amazon doesn't work, phones get hot, and we have no access to apps. The worst part is that we don't have the 3.6.8 image yet, so there's no way to go back.
Until we get a way to go back to 3.6.8, you should refrain from downgrading.
Has anyone downgraded from 3.6.8 successfully?
If we can't downgrade from 3.6.8, what does that mean for root access? Are we stuck with stock Fire Phone OS?

Downgrading the unlocked 3.6.8 to the ATT 3.5.0 without first clearing data and cache causes bootloops. If the cache and data is cleared the phone boots up but you will have no icons and no internet connection. You will basically be in a unfunctional state and phone keeps getting warmer and warmer.

Flashing back to 3.5.2 will get the phone functioning as a phone
but the Amazon server will not register the device

Cannot locate 3.6.8 file on their server (see download list topic)

Wow this explains a lot. In my efforts to mess with the boot loader and work on the phone, I downgraded to 3.5 and now have this problem. Got it to 3.5.2 which gives me a few apps, but I can't register and its unusable. I hope they release something soon. Might hit up Amazon Support to see if I can get them to help.
---------- Post added at 03:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:38 PM ----------
An update: I just got off the phone with a knowledgeable rep (took 2 tries). She said that they can't pull any information, manuals, or reference to a version higher than 3.5.2.
She did take the time to escalate my issue with a trouble ticket that will go to the advanced IT and devs, which should at least bring the problem to their attention.
She said I will get a response or update in the next 5 business days. Until then, I will just keep trying to reverse engineer the bootloader and see if I can make any edits to it to allow unlocking, or maybe an exploit.

Man....thank goodness I let reason prevail! I thought that after this massive dump, there would be all kinds of devs going wild. 3.6.8 on mine. Mainly got it because my Prime is up this month, and I wanted a backup phone in case I burn up my Note 4 from flashing. Gotta say, it's a solid piece of hardware, and Amazon put some pretty cool fun stuff to play with. Thanks a ton for the heads up!

Thanks for the heads up, pretty sure you saved a few flashaholics from a headache

Have a question:
Is German 3.6.2 (you can choose english as language in it) working without getting hot? (Modem Version is same as in 3.6.8: ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_06_05)
Version 3.6.8:
ro.build.lab126.project= ???? not available
ro.build.product=juniper
ro.product.name=juniper
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_06_05
Version 3.6.2 (German)
ro.build.lab126.project= ???? not available
ro.product.name=caraway
ro.build.product=caraway
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_06_05
Version 3.5.2 (AT&T)
ro.build.lab126.project=duke-1.1_release_lewis
ro.product.name=full_duke_kodiak
ro.build.product=duke
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_05_17
Version 3.5.1 AT&T
ro.build.lab126.project=duke-1.1_release_lewis
ro.product.name=full_duke_kodiak
ro.build.product=duke
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_05_17
Version 3.5 AT&T
ro.build.lab126.project=duke-1.0_release_lewis
ro.product.name=full_duke_kodiak
ro.build.product=duke
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_05_17

B1ackByte said:
Have a question:
Is German 3.6.2 (you can choose english as language in it) working without getting hot? (Modem Version is same as in 3.6.8: ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_06_05)
Version 3.6.8:
ro.build.lab126.project= ???? not available
ro.build.product=juniper
ro.product.name=juniper
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_06_05
Version 3.6.2 (German)
ro.build.lab126.project= ???? not available
ro.product.name=caraway
ro.build.product=caraway
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_06_05
Version 3.5.2 (AT&T)
ro.build.lab126.project=duke-1.1_release_lewis
ro.product.name=full_duke_kodiak
ro.build.product=duke
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_05_17
Version 3.5.1 AT&T
ro.build.lab126.project=duke-1.1_release_lewis
ro.product.name=full_duke_kodiak
ro.build.product=duke
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_05_17
Version 3.5 AT&T
ro.build.lab126.project=duke-1.0_release_lewis
ro.product.name=full_duke_kodiak
ro.build.product=duke
ro.build.version.lab126.modem=PB_02_05_17
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 3.6.2 software worked fine for me ... only thing was no activation with the amazon servers (which basically makes the phone useless. No Market / No video's / No Mayday / No Music nothing related to Amazon works without the activation.
The Phone made calls and sent / received txt no problem.

Thanks for the heads up. Will hold off and side load a few .apks that are a must for my life style. New phone will be here in a few hours.

Pleasantly, I hounded Amazon for 2 days via every support channel (chat, phone, email), hoping i would run into the one overqualified, underpaid 1st tier support guy who can work off script. No luck. Basically at the end of all of this mess, i have to wait 2-5 business days for an engineer to "get back to me". Fookin awesome. 3.5.2 is completely useless without device registration, everything but email is pretty much tied to that. *Sigh*. I really hope someone manages to get the firmware. At this point, im simply waiting out the next few days only to surely be told to RMA the device. I just find it horrendous that a huge company like Amazon does NOT have procedures in place for a potential interrupted OTA, at least one that doesn't require shipping the device back. Shame on me for jumping the gun without verifying that the download to the latest firmware was ACTUALLY for my device (who knew the had another sku?). Shame on Amazon for sucking so bad at every stage of their "shoppers phone" rollout.

Sess said:
Pleasantly, I hounded Amazon for 2 days via every support channel (chat, phone, email), hoping i would run into the one overqualified, underpaid 1st tier support guy who can work off script. No luck. Basically at the end of all of this mess, i have to wait 2-5 business days for an engineer to "get back to me". Fookin awesome. 3.5.2 is completely useless without device registration, everything but email is pretty much tied to that. *Sigh*. I really hope someone manages to get the firmware. At this point, im simply waiting out the next few days only to surely be told to RMA the device. I just find it horrendous that a huge company like Amazon does NOT have procedures in place for a potential interrupted OTA, at least one that doesn't require shipping the device back. Shame on me for jumping the gun without verifying that the download to the latest firmware was ACTUALLY for my device (who knew the had another sku?). Shame on Amazon for sucking so bad at every stage of their "shoppers phone" rollout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the exact same situation as you, waiting for Amazon to fix my phone, so I sympathize. Having said that, let's be fair and not blame amazon for this; they sold us a premium phone for 200 dollars, which I can attest worked very well out of the box. It didn't prompt me to update it or anything and with a few tweaks it was actually giving me a great battery life and performance, until I decided on my own to get adventurous and flash stuff on it. That is certainly not Amazon's fault. If we had used the phone as it was delivered none of this would have ever happened. So let's wait and see what they do to fix it. I am confident they will release the firmware or worst case they replace the phone with a new one.

najoor said:
I am in the exact same situation as you, waiting for Amazon to fix my phone, so I sympathize. Having said that, let's be fair and not blame amazon for this; they sold us a premium phone for 200 dollars, which I can attest worked very well out of the box. It didn't prompt me to update it or anything and with a few tweaks it was actually giving me a great battery life and performance, until I decided on my own to get adventurous and flash stuff on it. That is certainly not Amazon's fault. If we had used the phone as it was delivered none of this would have ever happened. So let's wait and see what they do to fix it. I am confident they will release the firmware or worst case they replace the phone with a new one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then lets also be fair and take note of the fact that the phone is being sold for 200$ because it was grossly overpriced for what was offered. That still has not changed. Regardless, as a good corporate citizen its quite standard to provide tools to enable their users to restore the phone to standard working order. Had i not downgraded the phone i would not be in this mess. I acknowledge that. But i would also like to point out that had they provided something as simple as a release firmware bin file, i would not be in this mess either. Just gonna have to wait this out, but I will not be an amazon apologizer if they can't be bothered to give power users the basic tools to resolve their own issues.

If Amazon didn't lock down the Fire Phone so much, maybe people wouldn't be bothered to attempt to root it and change things Amazon clearly failed to do. Why can't I even change my launcher to Nova without issue? Amazon block wallpapers and widgets, so it's just a black screen with icons. If I wanted that, I would have stuck with iOS 3. The Fire Phone is locked down harder than iOS devices, which I never thought would happen. If they would loosen up to the grip, the phone would probably sell better. People want a phone they can make theirs, and that doesn't mean just what their Amazon portfolio looks like.
Worse yet, they still haven't forked over the latest update. I'm glad I bought two Fire Phones, because I can at least use one.
Now I see why no one wants this thing.

Just a side note re: registration:
I got my device several weeks ago and I think it was an earlier version than 3.6.8 - I downgraded to 3.5.0 per the instructions, rooted, all that works.
Now I just tried to register for the first time to get Prime, and found that I can't. So that doesn't seem specific to having come from the newest version, they must have disabled activation of all old ones?
Given that I'm in a working rooted state, I'm just going to leave it like this for now and hope that I can eventually flash forward without losing features that are unlocked like this, and finally claim that Prime service.

got tired of waiting on amazon, returned the phone, bought an iphone 6 plus. Will be using my shield tablet for all my android specific needs. @#$% amazon.

Side loading apks still works correct?

Yes

B1ackByte said:
Yes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One more question if you don't mind, are you still able to create a wifi hotspot and tether with the phone?

Yes

Related

[SM-T217A] Success with SRSRoot?

Any AT&T SM-T217A users here successfully obtain root via Srsroot on their tabs? They dropped a tweet a month ago that it was supported @ 4.4.2, but it's not sticking for me..
geokhentix said:
Any AT&T SM-T217A users here successfully obtain root via Srsroot on their tabs? They dropped a tweet a month ago that it was supported @ 4.4.2, but it's not sticking for me..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. I tried that one out as soon as it posted. Here is the thread discussing http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-3/help/root-sma-4-4-2-t2902677
bigdawg6183 said:
Nope. I tried that one out as soon as it posted. Here is the thread discussing http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-3/help/root-sma-4-4-2-t2902677
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These T217As I bought are turning out to be the worst experience I have ever had with a decent device. The specs and the battery life are great, but AT&T (or samsung?) has lost their mind. Out of my two tabs (both set up identical) Only one was ever eligible for the 4.4.2 upgrade. The second says no upgrade when I check for one.
The one I did upgrade was so bad on 4.4.2 that I ended up trying to flash back to 4.2.2 before I realized I couldn't and bricked the tab.
2 months later, still no upgrade available for my second tab (probably a good thing except I wanted to try an app that says it can catch the firmware update to use on my bricked tab). Still no 4.4.2 firmware to be found on the internet to download for this device.
The worst part is it doesn't even seem to be available from kies. Kies 3 doesn't even recognize it as a 4.4.2 device anymore after the attempted downgrade and the other kies versions only offer 4.2.2 which the device won't let me flash.
rmntruexjr said:
These T217As I bought are turning out to be the worst experience I have ever had with a decent device. The specs and the battery life are great, but AT&T (or samsung?) has lost their mind. Out of my two tabs (both set up identical) Only one was ever eligible for the 4.4.2 upgrade. The second says no upgrade when I check for one.
The one I did upgrade was so bad on 4.4.2 that I ended up trying to flash back to 4.2.2 before I realized I couldn't and bricked the tab.
2 months later, still no upgrade available for my second tab (probably a good thing except I wanted to try an app that says it can catch the firmware update to use on my bricked tab). Still no 4.4.2 firmware to be found on the internet to download for this device.
The worst part is it doesn't even seem to be available from kies. Kies 3 doesn't even recognize it as a 4.4.2 device anymore after the attempted downgrade and the other kies versions only offer 4.2.2 which the device won't let me flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree rmn, the experience with this tablet has been sub par. I know when I first heard about the update being released I was checking around online to see if I could find a dl for it, none existed. I did finally go through the process of updating OTA after having to remove root from my 4.2 firmware. Since the update my tablet appears to operate the same except for the lag has returned. I believe that is because I now no longer have my tweaks setup on the device since I have no root. My real peeve with AT&T with this tab is the locked bootloader, come on man, I want to load up different roms and get rid of all this bloatware. We cant even get root access with this new 4.4!
Could I get a screenshot of your about screen on the tab that is not updating?
bigdawg6183 said:
I totally agree rmn, the experience with this tablet has been sub par. I know when I first heard about the update being released I was checking around online to see if I could find a dl for it, none existed. I did finally go through the process of updating OTA after having to remove root from my 4.2 firmware. Since the update my tablet appears to operate the same except for the lag has returned. I believe that is because I now no longer have my tweaks setup on the device since I have no root. My real peeve with AT&T with this tab is the locked bootloader, come on man, I want to load up different roms and get rid of all this bloatware. We cant even get root access with this new 4.4!
Could I get a screenshot of your about screen on the tab that is not updating?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's in warranty, take it to the AT&T store. Tell them you did OTA and it 'got all screwy'. don't use terms like "bricked". Feign ignorance on all the workings of rooting and roms and stuff. Don't even use the term "Rom", use "operating system". Assuming you have the same boot error message I did, something to the effect of "there was a problem updating", apparently it's common enough that they'll get you to Samsung. Samsung will email you a shipping label, and in about a week to a week in a half, I had mine back functional again. Granted they put it on 4.4.2, which is a bummer, but at least it works. No questions asked. they didn't ask me about rooting or anything, I just told them I did the update, rebooted, it rebooted once, and then I had to reboot again and it had the error. First I took it so Samsung rep at best buy, he couldn't do anything, then I took it to the AT&T store. AT&T doesn't deal with tablet warranties, so that's why they put me on the phone with Samsung. On amazon, they have refurbished t217a's for $144.00, and on the description it says they're on 4.1.2 (rootable, and upgradable to 4.2.2 w/odin, which is also rootable. 4.2.2 firmware was a gigantic pain in the ass to get a hold of, but it's out there. I know it's not the answer you want, but hope it helps at least return the tablet into working state. I don't think we'll ever see a root for t217a on 4.4.2, nor any way to downgrade back to 4.2.2. Just not enough interest from the guys with the time and know-how. It was Samsung's bottom-end tablet, and the Tab S is just better for almost everyone. I use the Tab3 7.0 for work mainly because of it's size. I'm a pilot and I strap the tablet to my leg for approach plates and maps and stuff, and the size of the 7.0 is just right. The 8.0 and 8.3(?) is just a bit to big for that purpose. Anyway, I just hope (but not holding my breath) that Samsung + AT&T well at the very LEAST update the thing to lollipop so we can at least get full external SD card function again, because aviation maps and references and the sort take up a LOT of memory after a while..
DSTG said:
If it's in warranty, take it to the AT&T store. Tell them you did OTA and it 'got all screwy'. don't use terms like "bricked". Feign ignorance on all the workings of rooting and roms and stuff. Don't even use the term "Rom", use "operating system". Assuming you have the same boot error message I did, something to the effect of "there was a problem updating", apparently it's common enough that they'll get you to Samsung. Samsung will email you a shipping label, and in about a week to a week in a half, I had mine back functional again. Granted they put it on 4.4.2, which is a bummer, but at least it works. No questions asked. they didn't ask me about rooting or anything, I just told them I did the update, rebooted, it rebooted once, and then I had to reboot again and it had the error. First I took it so Samsung rep at best buy, he couldn't do anything, then I took it to the AT&T store. AT&T doesn't deal with tablet warranties, so that's why they put me on the phone with Samsung. On amazon, they have refurbished t217a's for $144.00, and on the description it says they're on 4.1.2 (rootable, and upgradable to 4.2.2 w/odin, which is also rootable. 4.2.2 firmware was a gigantic pain in the ass to get a hold of, but it's out there. I know it's not the answer you want, but hope it helps at least return the tablet into working state. I don't think we'll ever see a root for t217a on 4.4.2, nor any way to downgrade back to 4.2.2. Just not enough interest from the guys with the time and know-how. It was Samsung's bottom-end tablet, and the Tab S is just better for almost everyone. I use the Tab3 7.0 for work mainly because of it's size. I'm a pilot and I strap the tablet to my leg for approach plates and maps and stuff, and the size of the 7.0 is just right. The 8.0 and 8.3(?) is just a bit to big for that purpose. Anyway, I just hope (but not holding my breath) that Samsung + AT&T well at the very LEAST update the thing to lollipop so we can at least get full external SD card function again, because aviation maps and references and the sort take up a LOT of memory after a while..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bigdawg6183 said:
I totally agree rmn, the experience with this tablet has been sub par. I know when I first heard about the update being released I was checking around online to see if I could find a dl for it, none existed. I did finally go through the process of updating OTA after having to remove root from my 4.2 firmware. Since the update my tablet appears to operate the same except for the lag has returned. I believe that is because I now no longer have my tweaks setup on the device since I have no root. My real peeve with AT&T with this tab is the locked bootloader, come on man, I want to load up different roms and get rid of all this bloatware. We cant even get root access with this new 4.4!
Could I get a screenshot of your about screen on the tab that is not updating?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just now saw your post. When I get back home I'll take a screenshot. It's set up identical to the one I upgraded and bricked. Rooted with kingo, installed the tweaks for this tab from development (KoolKit) and using a few xposed modules to change some notification/statusbar icons..Not much else you can do to these things, and if I had to guess, the only difference between the two would maybe be different versions of the KoolKit tweaks.
---------- Post added at 01:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 PM ----------
DSTG said:
If it's in warranty, take it to the AT&T store. Tell them you did OTA and it 'got all screwy'. don't use terms like "bricked". Feign ignorance on all the workings of rooting and roms and stuff. Don't even use the term "Rom", use "operating system". Assuming you have the same boot error message I did, something to the effect of "there was a problem updating", apparently it's common enough that they'll get you to Samsung. Samsung will email you a shipping label, and in about a week to a week in a half, I had mine back functional again. Granted they put it on 4.4.2, which is a bummer, but at least it works. No questions asked. they didn't ask me about rooting or anything, I just told them I did the update, rebooted, it rebooted once, and then I had to reboot again and it had the error. First I took it so Samsung rep at best buy, he couldn't do anything, then I took it to the AT&T store. AT&T doesn't deal with tablet warranties, so that's why they put me on the phone with Samsung. On amazon, they have refurbished t217a's for $144.00, and on the description it says they're on 4.1.2 (rootable, and upgradable to 4.2.2 w/odin, which is also rootable. 4.2.2 firmware was a gigantic pain in the ass to get a hold of, but it's out there. I know it's not the answer you want, but hope it helps at least return the tablet into working state. I don't think we'll ever see a root for t217a on 4.4.2, nor any way to downgrade back to 4.2.2. Just not enough interest from the guys with the time and know-how. It was Samsung's bottom-end tablet, and the Tab S is just better for almost everyone. I use the Tab3 7.0 for work mainly because of it's size. I'm a pilot and I strap the tablet to my leg for approach plates and maps and stuff, and the size of the 7.0 is just right. The 8.0 and 8.3(?) is just a bit to big for that purpose. Anyway, I just hope (but not holding my breath) that Samsung + AT&T well at the very LEAST update the thing to lollipop so we can at least get full external SD card function again, because aviation maps and references and the sort take up a LOT of memory after a while..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish it was that easy, but I ditched AT&T years ago and went to straight talk. These tabs I purchased second hand.
rmntruexjr said:
I just now saw your post. When I get back home I'll take a screenshot. It's set up identical to the one I upgraded and bricked. Rooted with kingo, installed the tweaks for this tab from development (KoolKit) and using a few xposed modules to change some notification/statusbar icons..Not much else you can do to these things, and if I had to guess, the only difference between the two would maybe be different versions of the KoolKit tweaks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries mate. Hmmm, if it was root that was stopping the update from showing it should have been the case on both tabs. Plus, mine was originally rooted when I searched for the update and it found it fine. You do definitely have to remove root to successfully update to 4.4, which totally blows, but with the SD card changes that came out in 4.4 I had to do it.

[Q] What use is a free HTC 1 M8?

But seriously, I have a year-old review unit here and I don't use Sprint personally. So I can use it to play with Android distros, or as a very small tablet, or make it into a remote-control for my TV. What's the most amusement one can get from an off-the-air M8?
And is the Harmon-Kardon branding just advertising, or does it actually have better sound than other phones?
WyomingKnott said:
But seriously, I have a year-old review unit here and I don't use Sprint personally. So I can use it to play with Android distros, or as a very small tablet, or make it into a remote-control for my TV. What's the most amusement one can get from an off-the-air M8?
And is the Harmon-Kardon branding just advertising, or does it actually have better sound than other phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use it as a phone.
And yeah, it's just an advertisement. Only difference is some addition of their software which can be installed on other M8s too.
Why not just use it as the great phone that it is or is this just a wind up?
ashyx said:
Why not just use it as the great phone that it is or is this just a wind up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No wind-up, just that it's locked to Sprint, I have ATT, and so I'd have to SIM-unlock it before I could use it. It was a leftover review unit.
WyomingKnott said:
No wind-up, just that it's locked to Sprint, I have ATT, and so I'd have to SIM-unlock it before I could use it. It was a leftover review unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your sprint m8 is s-off,then you can sim unlock by following this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2718150
WyomingKnott said:
No wind-up, just that it's locked to Sprint, I have ATT, and so I'd have to SIM-unlock it before I could use it. It was a leftover review unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Review unit? Can you please link me the review?
And what phone do you use currently? It might be wworth to get it unlocked.
You can use it as a music player too. It's one of the best Android music phone.
Surely it would be well worth unlocking the phone, where else are you going to get such a top spec device for the small price of an unlock?
I paid a ton of money for this phone 12 months ago and it is still one of the best on the market.
@crazykas
Not s-off yet. I haven't found a method other than sunshine which is $25 and, from what I read, has a spotty reputation. A question: If I got it s-off, instead of that sim unlock (that article is in my list for the m8) should I change the CIM and (DIM?) so it thinks it's an ATT Developer phone? Would that let it use ATT?
EDIT: Now that I re-read this, the $25 isn't that much, and the worst that can happen is that I'm left with a brick that I didn't pay for! But do you know of any self S-off method?
@edios123
From Tom's Hardware.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/htc-one-m8-features-review,26384.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/htc-one-m8-samsung-galaxy-s5-comparison-review,26373.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/htc-one-m8-e8-android,3871.html
A year later they're just dust-gatherers.
I'm pretty happy with my current Galaxy S4, but it's great having a phone that I can load anything on to and not worry that if I brick it I'll be left without a phone or lose a couple of hundred dollars. For example, installing assorted versions of TWRP on this particular phone makes it hang permanently, power and display on, entering recovery. But it works with Clockwork Mod. Now I'm playing with CyanogenMod for the first time.
WyomingKnott said:
@crazykas
@edios123
From Tom's Hardware.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/htc-one-m8-features-review,26384.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/htc-one-m8-samsung-galaxy-s5-comparison-review,26373.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/htc-one-m8-e8-android,3871.html
A year later they're just dust-gatherers.
I'm pretty happy with my current Galaxy S4, but it's great having a phone that I can load anything on to and not worry that if I brick it I'll be left without a phone or lose a couple of hundred dollars. For example, installing assorted versions of TWRP on this particular phone makes it hang permanently, power and display on, entering recovery. But it works with Clockwork Mod. Now I'm playing with CyanogenMod for the first time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're using an S4, IMHO, you must upgrade to this phone. It's plenty fast (I bet miles better in performance than S4) for 2015. Only thing you'll miss is the pretty cool camera in your current phone.
Thanks for the links.
Smelly feet! SunShine doesn't work with CyanogenMod; it asks for a stock rom. Fortunately, lots of stocks to choose from. Back to stock, run Sunshine, S-OFF, back to Cyanogen. Here goes...
EDIT: Well, I gave up. I've flashed four different ROMs and had startup hang at four different places. CyanogenMod works fine. Since I can't get back to stock (some idiot forgot to do a backup before flashing Cyanogen, no excuse, I've been in this business for decades) and Sunshine won't run under Cyanogen, no S-off.
If anyone can point me to a back-to-stock or a ROM that I can load with Clockwork or RUU, it would make me happy. I've got the Harmon Kardon Sprint model, which may be a problem. I've tried roms from Bad Seed, the ND8_STOCK_DEODEXED_ROOTED rom, Renovate_5.0, and cm-11-20141112-SNAPSHOT-M12-m8 . I got so frustrated that I didn't keep page links for these, which I know I should put for reference. The only reason I want to go back to stock is that Sunshine seems to require it. I'm awfully glad that, as I've posted before, this is a don't-care device.
EDIT TWO: Anyone sick of my train-of-thought posting process can leave now. I left Renovate in its stuck mode for a while, and half an hour later it was on. Hurrah! Now to try Sunshine...
Update - it needed a recent RUU from HTC. Year-old firmware was slow with current ROMs and not compatible with TWRP at all. Recent RUU, good behavior. It's s-off, and I'll go for sim unlock tomorrow.

why no updates available?

Just got my phone this morning. No sim, skipped registration (which confused me because I thought amazon would do that?) But the part that puzzles me is its running 3.6.8 and when I check for updates there are none available?
Nothing on my network should be preventing it. Actually won't get a chance to do stuff till later this afternoon so some help would be appreciated. Thanks.
***ok. So I see on Amazon they have what appears to be their version of ruu. So if all else fails, and I go this route...first of all--can I use this? And I'm not 100% on which one to get. I am an AT&T customer but not sure if this phone will be my daily driver. As stated, I don't have a sim right now. Does that matter? And would/should I use the unlocked gsm version?
Sorry to bombard with questions. Wasn't expecting this curveball right at the start and fire phone seems pretty foreign to me despite the fact my kindle is running cm12.1.
sashusmom said:
I just got off the phone with fire phone support and I was told it was a system wide outage and there are many people having this problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He had a problem with the account registration. Amazon goofed up a little, it seems. So maybe you're also a victim, OTA update wise...
And yes, Amazon messed up a number of times, shipping devices that were not pre-registered, so that's not a big surprise.
No SIM is ok, the phone is able to register and you can configure it without one. Maybe turn on 'flight mode' combined with WiFi as long as you don't use a SIM card.
DON'T worry about the update situation. You can try later again. Or go to "settings" ➜ "device" and then there should be a menu item like "install system updates".
Maybe the phone just needs some manual poking to get going. Downloading & installing OTA updates works without Amazon account registration.
You bought the phone from Amazon, so it has no netlock / can be unlocked, in this scenario it doesn't matter who your mobile provider is.
You should use the "GSM unlocked" version if all else fails. You could sideload the latest factory image ➜ click the 2nd link in my signature.
But I would suggest: patience, try it again and see if it starts loading updates...
Bingo Bronson said:
He had a problem with the account registration. Amazon goofed up a little, it seems. So maybe you're also a victim, OTA update wise...
And yes, Amazon messed up a number of times, shipping devices that were not pre-registered, so that's not a big surprise.
No SIM is ok, the phone is able to register and you can configure it without one. Maybe turn on 'flight mode' combined with WiFi as long as you don't use a SIM card.
DON'T worry about the update situation. You can try later again. Or go to "settings" ➜ "device" and then there should be a menu item like "install system updates".
Maybe the phone just needs some manual poking to get going. Downloading & installing OTA udates works without Amazon account registration.
You bought the phone from Amazon, so it has no netlock / can be unlocked, in this scenario it doesn't matter who your mobile provider is.
You should use the "GSM unlocked" version if all else fails. You could sideload the latest factory image ➜ click the 2nd link in my signature.
But I would suggest: patience, try it again and see if it starts loading upades...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation! I actually just hung up with amazon and then read your reply. Yes it is a common issue. They took down my wifi mac address so I think i did need to contact them (or at least it might speed up the process.) Very good info about the manual update in the event that comes up in the future. I'll sit tight and wait for the fix. Thanks again!
Thanks Bingo. I did manually update the 4.6.1 (820) hoping that would nudge the registration. It didn't. I was registered with Amazon upon shipping at least in their system on the website, 12 months prime was added to my account upon shipping of the phone.
My bright idea was to de-register it on the website so I could register it on the phone. That didn't work either. Very frustrating. I am using a black wireless sim and it works fine for calls and data. Also my att sim worked ok too. That is in my 5s till the fire gets sorted out.
I did put on the market and it makes the phone usable to a point. That was pretty easy to do. My one reason to get this fire phone was the amazon connection. So stuff others don't want- I do. I have music and kindle books and paid amazon apps I would like to use.
I'll sit tight for anther day or so and let Amazon do their thing. I hope!
I could really like this phone if it all gets up and running. Fingers crossed.
@KLit75- they took my mac address too. Hope yours gets sorted out soon as well as mine. I read that this happened with their initial release of the phone.
My phone likes are eclectic- I have some $ invested in android market, Amazon, and apple! I like them all for what they offer in their differences.
@Bingo Bronson,
Thinking the "within 2 hours" was just wishful thinking on tech support's part. 4 hours and still waiting. I called to see if something got screwed up and they said it'll get resolved but no eta yet.
I'm now considering downloading 4.6.1 but here's what makes me hesitate...if for any reason I don't want cm11 after trying it (highly doubtful because this os is lousy imho) but if...what'd you think worse case scenario would be? Is there a flashable stock img to flash? Or is there an easier way to return to stock.
Plus I'm a little paranoid they might send the ota at the exact time I'm rooting. Thinking it wouldn't matter cuz it would see I'm using the same version they're sending 4.6.1 but I'm not totally certain. Probably nothing would happen. Guess I'm not in a risk taking mood right now. Anyways, given all the info I provided, are there any added precautions I should take if I decide to just manually install 4.6.1 and root?
KLit75 said:
@Bingo Bronson,
Thinking the "within 2 hours" was just wishful thinking on tech support's part. 4 hours and still waiting. I called to see if something got screwed up and they said it'll get resolved but no eta yet.
I'm now considering downloading 4.6.1 but here's what makes me hesitate...if for any reason I don't want cm11 after trying it (highly doubtful because this os is lousy imho) but if...what'd you think worse case scenario would be? Is there a flashable stock img to flash? Or is there an easier way to return to stock.
Plus I'm a little paranoid they might send the ota at the exact time I'm rooting. Thinking it wouldn't matter cuz it would see I'm using the same version they're sending 4.6.1 but I'm not totally certain. Probably nothing would happen. Guess I'm not in a risk taking mood right now. Anyways, given all the info I provided, are there any added precautions I should take if I decide to just manually install 4.6.1 and root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
from what I saw, there is a safestrap image of fireOS 4.6.1 for multiple regions. so you can always go back to stock :]
Don't download 4.6.1 at this point, even if it takes 1 or 2 days until the issue is resolved.
IF your device was safestrapped and loaded with CM11 you could revert back to Fire OS with the flashable zips OR you could go "squeaky clean" with sideloading the factory image (see links in my sig for "how-to" guides).
Both methods are the "easiest" way back to stock, it takes a bit of work though...
OTA at the same time as rooting is nearly impossible since the main OS updates are big and take time to download AND even IF it's downloaded, you would still be in control to deny the installation of the update at this exact moment.
Precautions? Not really at this point, since your device is a "blank slate". Again, for manual installation of 4.6.1 look up the guide in my sig on how to use the Amazon stock recovery.
My phone magically registered itself to my amazon account OTA. So My Amazon stuff is now working. In reading this thread, I just got the sinking feeling safestrap is only for the old OS. Oh well..... Missed that bit of info.
I take that back!! Just read safestrap again. Wheww...
sashusmom said:
My phone magically registered itself to my amazon account OTA. So My Amazon stuff is now working. In reading this thread, I just got the sinking feeling safestrap is only for the old OS. Oh well..... Missed that bit of info.
I take that back!! Just read safestrap again. Wheww...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats about the time I noticed my amazon content was on my phone, then i saw an update available. But after having some free time I now need to put off the rest for later on. Hopefully all goes well...
KLit75 said:
Thats about the time I noticed my amazon content was on my phone, then i saw an update available. But after having some free time I now need to put off the rest for later on. Hopefully all goes well...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear it I sideloaded the update and ran it that way but I am sure OTA will be just fine. Just make sure you have a full charge. Good luck:good:
sashusmom said:
Glad to hear it I sideloaded the update and ran it that way but I am sure OTA will be just fine. Just make sure you have a full charge. Good luck:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been running CM11 since about 2 hours after my last post in this thread (1 week) and its been an awesome experience. Definetly the best smart phone deal of all time! Glad I pulled the trigger quick when I saw it was on sale.

My HTC 10 only has 3GB of Ram !!!!????

Hello everyone, so I bought a "Brand new sealed in box" HTC 10 from a seller om ebay.
It happens to have the code m10h ( its appeared to be an unlocked Tmobile device as I have checked the IMEI with HTC). Htc said the device is legit.
The phone came with all accesories minus the warranty from HTC. The phone was in decent condition with no scratch or anything it looks completely brand new to me but when I checked the memory it seems to only have 3GB of RAM (2.7 to be exact). HTC told me that my device is indeed an HTC 10 not the Lifestyle version (with only 3GB of RAM and snapdragon 654). Mine came with the 820.
I wonder if you anyone can help me with this maybe a screenshot of your memory capacity would help greatly.
Thank you very much !
Here are the screenshots
imgur(dot)com/gallery/RQ7pT
imgur(dot)com/gallery/4IM8F
They gave you a QC reference phone. It's a prototype for development. You need to report that user to ebay and get your money back.
HTC 10 is 3.7GB ram
Download DevCheck system info and look at the specs that your device has. It should have around 3700 mb of ram.
tabp0le said:
They gave you a QC reference phone. It's a prototype for development. You need to report that user to ebay and get your money back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 @kpha2 this person has obtained this either from a phone shop, prototype from R&D or from a HTC ambassador scheme. Either way it shouldn't be on eBay. hTC should have spotted that first if you've called them.
Performance wise it should still be ok but definitely dodgy.
Sent from my HTC 10 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
I contacted HTC several times. Non of the agent was able to define what was wrong this 3Gb thingy. They all said that they were not familiar to this weird spec.
Honestly, the performance is actually smooth besides the 3GB but the phone wasn't able to read any microSD card
Also, it gave me around 130k on antutu.
But I will definitely as for my refund. Seller hasn't replied to me for 3 days so hopefully ebay can jump in and work its magic
I also bought such a phone from eBay, though from a seller that has 72,000+ transactions and a 98%+ feedback rating. But the model number on the invoice was 10h. It shipped with a Taiwan ROM. However, after unlocking the bootloader, changing CID and MID and flashing a North American RUU, my memory page shows 3.7 gig. Perhaps if you have a TW ROM, the allocation is different? Can't say that's the case, just guessing at it. But if you're not satisfied, I'd deal with it right away by contacting the seller and resolving it, rather that wait it out. I guess it all depends on how much you paid... if you bought a $700 for $300, then you might want to allow for a little 'wiggle room'.
Well this is NOT the thread I wanted to see 3 days after getting my HTC 10 off eBay lol.
What were the seller's names? I bought mine from never-msrp. I initially had a problem with charging (wouldn't go past 69%) but that seems to have gone away now and everything is running smooth as butter. Only issue is that I received a Euro charger, even though they did throw in an adapter as well it's kind of annoying having to carry around 2 pieces of equipment with me.
nubreed000 said:
Well this is NOT the thread I wanted to see 3 days after getting my HTC 10 off eBay lol.
What were the seller's names? I bought mine from never-msrp. I initially had a problem with charging (wouldn't go past 69%) but that seems to have gone away now and everything is running smooth as butter. Only issue is that I received a Euro charger, even though they did throw in an adapter as well it's kind of annoying having to carry around 2 pieces of equipment with me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's who I got mine from. If you look at the storage page in settings, you'll see 3.7G RAM, which apparently is exactly what the machine is supposed to have.
Should you decide you don't like the Taiwan ROM, just unlock the bootloader (free via HTC Dev or for $25 with Sunshine which also gets you S-off) change the CID and MID, then flash a North American RUU. I stuck with MM because I need to run Xposed, but there are other great ROMs out there. I wound up with Maximus HD.
If you need any help, just PM me.
BTW, no need to use the adapter and charger supplied, any USB-C cable will do the trick.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
BillTheCat said:
That's who I got mine from. If you look at the storage page in settings, you'll see 3.7G RAM, which apparently is exactly what the machine is supposed to have.
Should you decide you don't like the Taiwan ROM, just unlock the bootloader (free via HTC Dev or for $25 with Sunshine which also gets you S-off) change the CID and MID, then flash a North American RUU. I stuck with MM because I need to run Xposed, but there are other great ROMs out there. I wound up with Maximus HD.
If you need any help, just PM me.
BTW, no need to use the adapter and charger supplied, any USB-C cable will do the trick.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
I didn't even know that the ROM was Taiwanese. I suspected that it was from somewhere outside of North America though, but so far I haven't noticed anything different (not like I would know what to look for). I think I'm going to refrain from rooting/ROMing this phone for a while. Every phone I have owned I rooted within days of owning it, but after my last phone I completely lost interest in all of that. I guess I just couldn't be bothered to go through all that again (learning how to root that device, flashing a ROM, then trying to unbrick my device/fixing a bootloop issue, then trying to figure out why xyz doesn't work the way it should, etc etc etc.). I'm still running stock MM out of the box! So I will try to hold off on rooting this one for the time being.
And this is actually my first USB C capable phone. I tried plugging the cable into a 2A Samsung charger from my Galaxy Note 8 tablet, and the phone got very very hot very fast. I think I'm going to have invest in some Anker gear. I have a bunch of their Micro-USB cables and they're really high quality. Any experience using their chargers?
Ps. what's "S-Off"?
nubreed000 said:
Thanks!
I didn't even know that the ROM was Taiwanese. I suspected that it was from somewhere outside of North America though, but so far I haven't noticed anything different (not like I would know what to look for). I think I'm going to refrain from rooting/ROMing this phone for a while. Every phone I have owned I rooted within days of owning it, but after my last phone I completely lost interest in all of that. I guess I just couldn't be bothered to go through all that again (learning how to root that device, flashing a ROM, then trying to unbrick my device/fixing a bootloop issue, then trying to figure out why xyz doesn't work the way it should, etc etc etc.). I'm still running stock MM out of the box! So I will try to hold off on rooting this one for the time being.
And this is actually my first USB C capable phone. I tried plugging the cable into a 2A Samsung charger from my Galaxy Note 8 tablet, and the phone got very very hot very fast. I think I'm going to have invest in some Anker gear. I have a bunch of their Micro-USB cables and they're really high quality. Any experience using their chargers?
Ps. what's "S-Off"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you check, some of the apps won't work (like the HTC Club, or something like that) because you're in a different region of the world. However, what concerned me more was what else might be 'under the hood' that I wasn't aware of, and didn't want to suffer any incompatabilities. For example, I'm told that the TW ROM does not display all the apps in the Google Play Store that a North American will.
Like you, I also waited about two weeks, but decided to take the leap. I flashed a stock HTC North American ROM, and it worked great. That got me to the latest firmware versions with all the fixes on MM necessary for the camera, and so on. Eventually, I went with MaximusHD because that is the closest to stock but with some very nice optimzations for speed, thermals and thus most importantly, battery life.
Fortunately you bought an HTC phone, which is very developer friendly and HTC enables you to unlock the bootloader for free. It's very easy and there are even a couple kits here that will help you do it automatically. By changing the CID and MID, you'll be able to flash a stock HTC North American (or any other ) RUU. Rooting gives you access to be able to use certain utilities like Titanium Backup and Xposed/Xprivacy, which has been a lifesaver for me.
As to 'S-Off', that is a security 'switch' in the radio that enables you to flash firmware independently of the rest of the ROM. When you unlock and root, the ability to receive an OTA (Over-The-Air) update is disabled, so future improvements can't be downloaded. Having S-Off enables you to flash firmware updates downloadable from XDA here, directly to your phone to keep up with the latest fixes.
Feel free to PM me to discuss sidebar. Don't want to go too far OT on this thread.
BillTheCat said:
When you unlock and root, the ability to receive an OTA (Over-The-Air) update is disabled, so future improvements can't be downloaded. Having S-Off enables you to flash firmware updates downloadable from XDA here, directly to your phone to keep up with the latest fixes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a correction but unlocking the bootloader does not prevent you from taking OTA updates. Neither does having s-off for that matter. What does prevent you from taking OTA is having a custom recovery and a modified system partition. Using the classic method to root by flashing supersu is one way of modifying your system and blocking OTAs. But rooting with Magisk on the other hand does not modify your system, and you could still take OTA.
Tldr: You don't need S-off to be able to update your phone through OTA, just root with Magisk and flash the stock recovery before taking an OTA.
Tarima said:
What does prevent you from taking OTA is having a custom recovery and a modified system partition. Using the classic method to root by flashing supersu is one way of modifying your system and blocking OTAs. But rooting with Magisk on the other hand does not modify your system, and you could still take OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Point taken, though most are going to flash TWRP. In this user's case, he's looking to go with a MM North American ROM which no longer receives any OTAs so far as I'm aware. We bought the same phone from the same vendor, and since I just went down this path not even a month ago, I figured I'd save him from the mistake I made of forgetting to change the MID to be able to flash the HTC RUU.
Thanks for that clarification.

Flashing Korean update?

Is it possible to flash the latest Korean firmware update to a US unlocked S20 Ultra model?
I would wait for official OTA!
The frying pan may seem hot but the fire is way hotter!
cpufrost said:
I would wait for official OTA!
The frying pan may seem hot but the fire is way hotter!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's kinda what I figured,I'm just one of those flashing firmware via Odin between carrier firmware and unlocked firmware hoping they can kind of get a handle on all this Camera stuff or come out and say sorry we released the phone a little to soon and going to recall it until the issues are completely resolved.Wishful thinking on my part but if you're going to push the envelope to these extremes you might want to take as long as needed to iron out all the kinks.Don't get me wrong I Love the S20 Ultra,just wanting this phone to be the best that it can be.
We all want it to work properly but even though I am a flashing, repairing, backing up, modding guy, I do not recommend flashing it. Samsung must come out with a software update or a hardware update. They have a history of recalling and fixing their products and even though I am also angry about it, I am positive that a fix will come. We could debate about possible causes and the most logical is that they wanted to push the smartphone industry hard but the testing team did not do a great job with it. It could also be an industrial sabotage but let us not fall into that hole. I am also loving the phone just like my predecessor said but the bitter taste is still here and it shouldn´t be because it is a hardware masterpiece.

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