How to Debrand, Rebrand & Flash Stock ROMs to your HTC Sensation

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:06:38 +0000

After searching with no success for a clear way to debrand your sensation, I finally found a way reading lots of snippets, so thought I'd write it into one guide, to help others. This guide was written assuming you're running Windows, but other OS users should be able to follow most parts, except extracting rom.zip from the RUU.

This method can also be use to rebrand/reflash back to stock.

NB
If you follow this guide, you do so at your own risk, I cannot be held responsible if something goes wrong.
This process will wipe ALL data, including any recovery partitions or boot loaders you have installed.
All usernames mentioned in this guide, are XDA members. S-OFF WILL BE RETAINED.

S-OFF

First your Sensation needs to be S-OFF, if its not, follow the guide below (thanks to ikhzter's thread).
(99.9% of devices are shipped S-ON)

Step 1. To S-OFF your Sensation
Visit http://revolutionary.io/
download the application for your operating System.

IMPORTANT
Fill out the form under the download links with your OS, Device, Hboot Version and Serial number. This will give your beta key to enable you to S - OFF. Make a note of this.

How To get your Hboot Version - 3 methods below
1. Run the revolutionary Utility you just downloaded from http://revolutionary/.io and if it has found your device it should read
"Found your Device: HTC Sensation Z710* "1.17.****"

2. OR Take out your battery and put it back in. Keep hold of the volume down button and switch your phone on.
3. OR make sure fastboot is disabled in settings and shut down your phone
This can be done via Settings > Power> Untick "FAST BOOT" at the bottom.
4. Keep hold of the volume down button and switch your phone on.

Once you have completed the above
1. Uninstall HTC Sync and/or Doubletwist if you have them installed
2 WINDOWS USERS- You must Install these HTC drivers DOWNLOAD HERE. Linux Users can skip this
3. Confirm that USB Debugging is on (Settings -> Applications -> Development)
4. With phone on (not in HBOOT, just regular home screen), plug in USB cable and set it to HTC sync mode (IGNORE warning messages on your phone telling you it cannot find HTC Sync )
5. Launch revolutionary.exe. It should detect the phone and ask for your beta key
6. You're DONE S-OFF is complete...if it hangs on method 3. Try These Drivers HERE: or Factory Reset and then start again
7. Your Device is now S-OFF

Special Thanks to AlphaRev, unrEVOked Team, Bin4ry & to everyone else that made this happen

DEBRANDING

METHOD 1 - CID CHANGE

Thanks to ikhzter, ironeagle, broncogr and sowen222 for their posts to help create these instructions. You should try this method first, and use Method 2 as a fall back.

NB
Whenever you see: Enter the command "bla bla bla", you should type the text without quotes and follow with a carriage return (ENTER).

Before you can change the CID you need to decide what you want to change it to, a couple of examples:

SuperCID (flash any ROM) = 11111111
Stock Unbranded (UK/EU at least) = HTC__001
Vodafone UK (may cover other countries) = VODAP001

I am getting people to post their CIDs in this thread here:
http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1195475

Otherwise this thread contains a number of different CID codes, although originally written for the DHD, HTC has kept most if not all codes the same.
http://forum.xda-dev...0&postcount=206

1. Uninstall HTC Sync and/or Doubletwist if you have them installed

2. WINDOWS USERS- You must Install these HTC drivers DOWNLOAD HERE. Linux Users can skip this

3. Confirm that USB Debugging is on (Settings -> Applications -> Development)

4. Download and the Android SDK (or if you know where to find it, just the adb and fastboot tools, then skip straight to part 10)
You can get it from here: http://developer.and.../sdk/index.html Choose the zip file.

5. Extract the contents of the zip file, and run the SDK manager

6. Accept and Install the Android SDK Platform Tools, you can reject all others as they are not needed.

7. When the download and install is finished, close the SDK manager.

8. Now copy the newly created "platform-tools" folder found in the SDK folder you extracted to an easy location, e.g. "C:\platform-tools".

9. You also need to copy "fastboot.exe" from the "tools" folder of the SDK folder you extracted, to your newly created "C:\platform-tools".

10. Open Command Prompt, either Run "cmd" or go to Start, Accesories, Command Prompt

11. Enter the command: "cd C:\platform-tools" (Or whatever location you copied the folder to earlier)

12. Ensure your phone is switched on (regular home screen) and connect it by USB in charging mode (Ensure usb debugging is on settings > applications > development)

13. Enter the command "adb devices". It should come back with list of devices attached and then your serial number.

14. Enter the command "adb reboot bootloader". (You device will restart and boot into fastboot USB)

15. Enter the command "fastboot oem writecid [CID number]"
(use the CID number chosen above, do not include square brackets) e.g. "fastboot oem writecid HTC__001"

16. Enter the command "fastboot reboot-bootloader"

17. Enter the command "fastboot getvar cid". If cid is what you entered you have succeeded

18. Enter the command "fastboot reboot"

19. You now need to pick the RUU you wish to flash, a good source is this thread:
http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1074559

To debrand my Vodafone Sensation, I chose "RUU_Pyramid_HTC_Europe_1.35.401.1_Radio_10.43a.900 7.00U_10.51.9007.27_M3_release_198179_signed"

20. Once you have downloaded the RUU you would like to flash, run it (it can take a while to load), follow the instructions and your done!

21. Your phone should now reboot to first time setup, with your newly flashed ROM!

METHOD 2 - ENG HBOOT

Now the method I found to debrand (rather than messing about with CIDs), is using an ENG HBOOT, this is only temporary as the ROM we flash later on overwrites it.

Grab the file below (thanks to Bin4ry), and put it in the root of your SD Card. (i.e. if your on Windows, X:/ [where X is the letter of your Sensation's SD Card])

ENG Hboot:
[thanks Rahan95 for dumping :) ]
http://81.89.105.12/...oot/PG58IMG.zip

Flash ENG HBOOT
1. EITHER:
  1a. Shut down your phone, then take out your battery and put it back in.
OR:
  1b. Make sure fastboot is disabled in settings and shut down your phone (This can be done via Settings > Power> Untick "FAST BOOT" at the bottom.)

2. Keep hold of the volume down button and switch your phone on.

3. When it asks "Do you want to start the update", press Volume Up to accept

5. Press Power Off to reboot back to normal homescreen

6. Remove PG58IMG.zip from your memory card

Download an RUU
1. You now need to pick the RUU you wish to flash, a good source is this thread:
http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1074559

To debrand my Vodafone Sensation, I chose "RUU_Pyramid_HTC_Europe_1.35.401.1_Radio_10.43a.900 7.00U_10.51.9007.27_M3_release_198179_signed"

2. Once you have downloaded the RUU you would like to flash, run it (it can take a while to load), and stop when you get the welcome screen, which has a picture of a Sensation on the left and a red caution notice on the right.

3. Move this window out of the way (it forces itself into foreground), then open up windows explorer and go to:
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp

4. Then sort by Date Modified. Find the newest folder with a long random sequence of numbers as its name, go in here and you should see, three files and a folder: corecomp, dotnetinstaller, IBSEW64. (the files may be different on 32-bit OS), now go into the folder which has another long random name.

In there amongst a lot of files (use search if you need to), you will find rom.zip. This is the rom we want to flash!

5. Copy the rom.zip file to the root of your SD Card
(i.e. if your on Windows, X:/ [where X is the letter of your Sensation's SD Card])

6. Rename the rom.zip you just put on your SD Card, to PG58IMG.zip (ensure you do not rename it to PG58IMG.zip.zip or it wont work!)

7. Find the "HTC Android ROM Update Utility" Window, and hit Cancel.

THIS IS YOUR LAST OPPORTUNITY TO BACKUP DATA, ALL EXISTING DATA, CONTACTS, MESSAGES SETTINGS, APPS, ETC, WILL BE DELETED AFTER THE NEXT STEP.

MAKE SURE THE BATTERY INDICATOR IN THE NOTIFICATION AREA SHOWS GREEN, NOT ORANGE OR RED, BEFORE CONTINUING.

Flash RUU (rom.zip)
1. EITHER:
  1a. Shut down your phone, then take out your battery and put it back in.
OR:
  1b. Make sure fastboot is disabled in settings and shut down your phone (This can be done via Settings > Power> Untick "FAST BOOT" at the bottom.)

2. Keep hold of the volume down button and switch your phone on.

3. When it asks "Do you want to start the update", press Volume Up to accept (this can take a while and its normal for the system part to appear to go in a loop several times)

5. Press Power Off to reboot to first time setup.

6. Your phone is now debranded!

7. Remove PG58IMG.zip from your memory card

Enjoy!

Soft Mods - Articles

How to Debrand, Rebrand & Flash Stock ROMs to your HTC Sensation