Ok so i have starting to see more and more posts and questions about firmware and how to upgrade them without bricking your phone. This led me to think that there should be a thread that can hopefully address these issues and questions about firmware.
This is your usual disclaimer: AF and myself are not responsible for nuking your phone into uselessness. So please read this guide carefully and thoroughly before doing anything. Messing around with radios and firmware can result in turning your phone into a brick.
On that note, here we go:
What is firmware?
When should i update my firmware?
Do I need to be S-OFF or S-ON to update my firmware?
How do I flash firmware?
Can i downgrade my radios?
So what is this touch panel issue with the latest OTA firmware(3.16)?
Basically, the new touch panel firmware prevents several things from not working right. It boinks touch screen on TWRP 2.4 or below. However the TWRP team has updated the recovery to 2.4.1 which will work with the new tp firmware. Also you will not be able to flash any aosp roms, if you are on the latest firmware with the latest touch panel. You can only flash JB sense roms as of right now.
Now Captain Throwback has also included the tp firmware as a seperate .zip file if you like to flash it. You will need to be s-off in order to flash it. Now keep in mind that you will limit yourself to only sense roms. However, if you ever want to go back, the good captain has provided the older tp to flash, if you want to go back.
How to Flash Firmware
ok so lets get to it, now that we got some of the faqs out of the way. i will go into how to flash with s-off and s-on as well. However, keep in mind that we have s-off(at the time of this guide) for all hboots.....so you should go and get your s-off
Flashing Firmware with S-OFF
Updating Firmware with S-ON:
Links:
You can get all firmware from here:
[FIRMWARE][S-OFF] Jewel Firmware Collection - Latest: 3.16.651.3 OTA
Here is more faq's about firmware:
[FIRMWARE][S-OFF] Jewel Firmware Collection - Latest: 3.16.651.3 OTA FAQ's
Credits:
a huge THANX goes to CapThrowback for everything. We appreciate you not only providing great things like firmware for us, but also for participating and helping out in AF.
so thank you:adore::adore::adore:
This is your usual disclaimer: AF and myself are not responsible for nuking your phone into uselessness. So please read this guide carefully and thoroughly before doing anything. Messing around with radios and firmware can result in turning your phone into a brick.
On that note, here we go:
What is firmware?
Before we go into firmware we need to know what is an OTA. OTA stands for Over the Air updates. It is how phones get the official updates that is put out by the manufacturers. Included in the update is the latest android os as well as whatever the manufacturer adds to it. For us HTC Evo 4g LTE owners, we will get the latest HTC sense as well as the stock updated rom, kernel, and the latest firmware. Also sometimes there might be other things in the OTA like security updates, and some fixes for bugs that were found in previous OTA's.
So what is firmware, again? The firmware will contains updates to the radio, PRI, NV, Touch Panel, boot, etc.
So what is firmware, again? The firmware will contains updates to the radio, PRI, NV, Touch Panel, boot, etc.
It will depend on what rom you want to flash. As of the time of this guide, there are a few roms that require you to be up to date in firmware in order to flash the rom. As with all roms you flash, you need to read the op and look for any special instructions or requirements before flashing roms. For the most part, it is not necessary for you to update your firmware. However, there is a possibility that upgrading radios will improve signal strength or not.
Ok for those who are unlocked and S-ON, you can't flash firmware through the bootloader. You have to be S-OFF for that. Like i have said as well as others, we now have s-off for all hboots so you should not have to go thru this. But i understand that unlocking the bootloader is the easier way to go, so i will provide instructions on how to update later on in the guide.
I will be going into more detail as far as how you will install firmware. It will depend on what is the current state of your phone. There are two ways you can update your phone to the current firmware. There is the PJ75IMG file which is flashed via the bootloader. Or you can use a RUU(Rom Update Utility).exe which is an executable file that you run on your computer and it will update the phone for you.
Yes, now you can, if you are S-OFF. Thanx to Captn Throwback we can now downgrade the radios. But why would i do this? It will depend on the phone as the affect is always different on different phones. Some have reported better radio signal. While others, have reported no change or even worse signal strength after flashing the new radios........so it will depend.
CapThrowback said:
Basically, the new touch panel firmware prevents several things from not working right. It boinks touch screen on TWRP 2.4 or below. However the TWRP team has updated the recovery to 2.4.1 which will work with the new tp firmware. Also you will not be able to flash any aosp roms, if you are on the latest firmware with the latest touch panel. You can only flash JB sense roms as of right now.
Now Captain Throwback has also included the tp firmware as a seperate .zip file if you like to flash it. You will need to be s-off in order to flash it. Now keep in mind that you will limit yourself to only sense roms. However, if you ever want to go back, the good captain has provided the older tp to flash, if you want to go back.
ok so lets get to it, now that we got some of the faqs out of the way. i will go into how to flash with s-off and s-on as well. However, keep in mind that we have s-off(at the time of this guide) for all hboots.....so you should go and get your s-off
Flashing Firmware with S-OFF
Now that we can downgrade radios any time we want, it is not necessary to know what firmware you are currently on like it was before. Just make sure you download the firmware that you want.
The way we flash firmware is thru the bootloader. This requires that you use a PJ75IMG file. Now here is where folks get confused the most. You will need to rename the file and it needs to be exact. The problem is that not all computers are the same(Not that you need a computer. You can use the phone if you like.) and the defaults maybe different depending on what windows version you have. On macs you need to make sure that the file is not automatically unzipped.
On a windows pc, you need to make sure on how the file is named. When you look at the file, does it have a .zip extension to the name? In Windows 7, the extension is hidden by default so all you will see is PJ75IMG with no ".zip" added. If this is the case then all you would need to do is delete everything in the name except for the PJ75IMG in the name.
Now if you see the file as PJ75IMG.zip when it is finished downloaded, then your pc does not hide extensions. When you rename the file, make sure that you leave the .zip to the name. So again, delete everything in the name so that it is named PJ75IMG.zip.
finally here we go:
1. download the firmware file of your choice
2. rename the file accordingly
3. move the file over to the sd card.
5. if the file is named correctly and it is placed on the sd card and not in any folder, the bootloader should ask you if you like to update.
6. select yes and the bootloader should flash the firmware
7. reboot and congrats!!!!!
The way we flash firmware is thru the bootloader. This requires that you use a PJ75IMG file. Now here is where folks get confused the most. You will need to rename the file and it needs to be exact. The problem is that not all computers are the same(Not that you need a computer. You can use the phone if you like.) and the defaults maybe different depending on what windows version you have. On macs you need to make sure that the file is not automatically unzipped.
On a windows pc, you need to make sure on how the file is named. When you look at the file, does it have a .zip extension to the name? In Windows 7, the extension is hidden by default so all you will see is PJ75IMG with no ".zip" added. If this is the case then all you would need to do is delete everything in the name except for the PJ75IMG in the name.
Now if you see the file as PJ75IMG.zip when it is finished downloaded, then your pc does not hide extensions. When you rename the file, make sure that you leave the .zip to the name. So again, delete everything in the name so that it is named PJ75IMG.zip.
finally here we go:
1. download the firmware file of your choice
2. rename the file accordingly
3. move the file over to the sd card.
- You can do this via usb or thru recovery mounted via usb
- Make sure that you do not move it into any folder
- It needs to be on the "root" of the sd card, meaning on the highest level on the sd card
5. if the file is named correctly and it is placed on the sd card and not in any folder, the bootloader should ask you if you like to update.
6. select yes and the bootloader should flash the firmware
7. reboot and congrats!!!!!
The only way you will be able to get firmware updated is to re-lock the bootloader and run a RUU which stands for Rom Update Utility. You can run a RUU with the same radios that you currently have or you can run a RUU that is more current. You can't run a RUU that is from an older OTA as RUU's only updates and does not downgrade. Before you run a RUU make sure that you have the phone set as charge only(not as disk drive) and also that you have usb debugging turned on.
A RUU is the official rom OTA in the form of an .exe file that you run on your pc. It will give you a stock rom as well as a stock recovery, thus wiping the TWRP recovery you had before.
So this is what you do:
1. download the ruu that you will need
2. connect the phone via usb to the pc
3. boot the phone into the bootloader and select fastboot
4. open the command window from the android folder(its the folder that you used to unlock the bootloader) on your pc
5. re-lock the bootloader by typing in:
6. reboot the phone and keep it connected to the pc
8. unlock the bootloader
9. install TWRP
DONE!!!!!!
Do not do this:
There is a third way that you can update your phone and that is by taking an OTA to update the phone. The reason why I put this in is that you will see peeps doing this on the net and I do not want any confusion about this. We have S-OFF for all OTA's and hboots now. There is no way you should accept any OTA while you are rooted, even if you are S-ON with an unlocked bootloader. The latest OTA(3.16) has created issues with the touch panel that will create problems when trying to flash aosp roms. You will only be able to flash JB sense roms.......no aosp roms.
It is a good practice any ways to never accept an OTA while you are rooted. I know that we have the bootloader unlock method, but having S-ON really limits you. By having a S-OFF phone, you will have more freedom to do things. You can flash via the bootloader splash screens, boot animations, and recovery as well as firmware. You can't do that with S-ON.
A RUU is the official rom OTA in the form of an .exe file that you run on your pc. It will give you a stock rom as well as a stock recovery, thus wiping the TWRP recovery you had before.
So this is what you do:
1. download the ruu that you will need
2. connect the phone via usb to the pc
3. boot the phone into the bootloader and select fastboot
4. open the command window from the android folder(its the folder that you used to unlock the bootloader) on your pc
5. re-lock the bootloader by typing in:
Code:
fastboot oem lock- set phone to charge only, and not set as disk drive
- make sure that usb debugging is turned on
8. unlock the bootloader
9. install TWRP
DONE!!!!!!
Do not do this:
There is a third way that you can update your phone and that is by taking an OTA to update the phone. The reason why I put this in is that you will see peeps doing this on the net and I do not want any confusion about this. We have S-OFF for all OTA's and hboots now. There is no way you should accept any OTA while you are rooted, even if you are S-ON with an unlocked bootloader. The latest OTA(3.16) has created issues with the touch panel that will create problems when trying to flash aosp roms. You will only be able to flash JB sense roms.......no aosp roms.
It is a good practice any ways to never accept an OTA while you are rooted. I know that we have the bootloader unlock method, but having S-ON really limits you. By having a S-OFF phone, you will have more freedom to do things. You can flash via the bootloader splash screens, boot animations, and recovery as well as firmware. You can't do that with S-ON.
You can get all firmware from here:
[FIRMWARE][S-OFF] Jewel Firmware Collection - Latest: 3.16.651.3 OTA
Here is more faq's about firmware:
[FIRMWARE][S-OFF] Jewel Firmware Collection - Latest: 3.16.651.3 OTA FAQ's
Credits:
a huge THANX goes to CapThrowback for everything. We appreciate you not only providing great things like firmware for us, but also for participating and helping out in AF.
so thank you:adore::adore::adore:
