How to Gain S-Off on your HTC One M8 (Firewater Method)(Video)
So you’ve rooted your HTC One M8 and now you want more? So be it. The next step would be to gain S-Off, or Security Off, on your device. This allows you to flash other parts of the system (which isn’t included in just rooting the M8). One of the big benefits is flashing ROMs, which are entirely new versions of Android that have been customized (lots of fun) and, recently, you can even flash the Harman/Kardon audio enhancements onto your device to gain that, too. Without further ado, here’s how to gain S-off on your HTC One M8.
I. Before You Begin
1. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled in Settings > Developer Options (this should be the case after you do the How to Root procedure linked below but double check after you complete it).
2. This procedure is using Windows.
II. Root the HTC One M8
1. You must be rooted in order to gain S-Off. If you aren’t, please head to my How to Root the HTC M8 (All-in-One Toolkit Method) video, complete that. and come back here to continue.
III. Gain S-Off on your HTC One M8
1. Download the adb-fastboot installer and save it to your desktop.
2. Double click it to begin installation.
3. Type Y for all questions and continue through the prompts.
4. Download the firewater exploit from the developer’s page (link available under the Instructions section) and save it INSIDE the adb-fastboot folder inside C:/adb/ (needs to be in the same folder as adb).
5. Plug in your HTC One M8 via USB to your computer.
6. Hold Shift and right-click on any empty space in the adb folder and click on Open command prompt window here to open up a CMD prompt window.
7. Type the following with hitting enter at the end of each line in the command prompt window:
adb reboot
adb wait-for-device push firewater /data/local/tmp
adb shell
su
chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/firewater
/data/local/tmp/firewater
8. Type in Yes when prompted and hit enter.
9. When it is done and says you have S-Off, type the following with hitting enter at the end of each line:
exit
exit
adb reboot bootloader
10. When the device reboots, it should say S-Off at the top. If so, you are all set.
11. Use the volume buttons to navigate to Reboot and push the power button to select it.
IV. Flash a Custom ROM (Optional)
1. Head to our How to Flash a Custom ROM on the HTC One M8 video to begin flashing different versions of Android onto your HTC One M8 or head to our How To Enable Harman/Kardon Enhancements on your HTC One M8 video to do that.
it doesn’t have a newly extracted adb folder to put the file so im stuck at that point
Thanks. It shouldn’t say extracted. It should say “new”. Follow the video for where to find it. I’ll update the procedure asap.
Sorry. Your message could not be delivered to:
Joe Lopez (Mailbox or Conference is full.)
hey i have completed the complete procedure i m stuck at yes part its join on asking type ‘yes’ or ‘no’ ??? i gave yes for like ten times no updates
Make sure you type Yes not yes.
oh snap 😕 will try an let u know 😕
an if i wanna claim my warranty is there any option to remove the jailbreak i don know the proper term sorry 🙁
You can relock the bootloader. I’ll do a video on that this week.
thanks a ton 🙂
Nothing appears when you type on this screen at all.
I don’t even get a prompt so that I can enter yes or no. As soon as I type in /data/local/tmp/firewater, it gives me the line I get after typing su, saying I’m in root. Any ideas?
Then Firewater isn’t running yet. Check your phone and make sure there isn’t a superuser request when you type Firewater that you need to accept first. Also make sure where you typed is in the correct directory (it should be if you followed where I put the file exactly inside the adb folder otherwise you might need to make sure it is in that folder, the same as adb)
I followed all of this to a T. Everything is already granted correct permissions, files are in the correct spot, but for some reason it doesn’t start the firewater file. When I hit enter it shows on my phone that shell was granted su permission but nothing happens in cmd. I also double checked that I’m using a usb 2.0 port.
I figured it out. I had to do the chmod line before typing su. Just likein the WeakSauce method on the firewater site.
You mean like in my instructions above? 🙂
no, chmod line then su
Thanks for helping out, Richard!
No problem. More than happy to help prevent others from the headaches I’ve had lol
Yeah, everyone has different setups and runs into different issues, sort of the name of this game. When other people chime in in the comments with how they solved their particular issue it can’t hurt as someone else might have the same. Thanks again and enjoy the new rooted M8.
Feel free to check out the ROM repository that I added better searching functionality to and give me some feedback on that if so inclined (will be adding more M8 ROMs to it ASAP). https://theunlockr.com/roms
David I tried doing it using your method, STEP BY STEP, but after the first “bottle is open……chugging” message I just get: root@htc_m8:/ #”. And yes I did type “Yes” and not “yes” before that. Please help!
actually after
adb reboot, i waited phone to complete boot n working and sometimes entered next command earler just to see. i did entered and also used copy paste too…
after adb reboot, i entered i one line, adb wait-for-device push firewater /data/local/tmp
and enter….rest the same…but after entering last command , the cursor stays blinking but never went to next time….may be i entering some wrong…firewater is in same adb folder on c drive. debugging is on, fastboot is disabled in power options..its giving me really hard time..
don’t wait for the phone to completely reboot before starting the next line. As soon as you hit enter on “adb reboot”, type in “adb wait-for-device push firewater /data/local/tmp” and hit enter. It will wait for the device to boot then push the file to the phone. After that wait for the phone to finish it’s boot procedures. (Mine mounted the storage to my computer twice which kept kicking me out of su in adb). Then enter the rest of the lines and be sure to enter “chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/firewater” before you enter su. That’s what worked for me anyway.
Richard I tried doing it using your method, STEP BY STEP, but after the first “bottle is open……chugging” message I just get: root@htc_m8:/ #”. And yes I did type “Yes” and not “yes” before that. Please help!
can you help? i did exactly as illustrated and did chmod line before as well. i get root permissions asking to grant…but still not getting any further…please help
What happens exactly when you get to that point? An error? If you have a screenshot you can upload it here in the comments to help me help you?
Please advise.
Check the comments below, @Richard offered some advice.
hi david, richard,
I am extremely extremely sad i could not do it. tried amm, many ways on mac and windows, wifi or 4g connection on m8. very upset and sad. i do not know where i am doing wrong. sometimes i think is this firewater method seriously exists for all? please see my final attempt to do it where you can see cursor keeps blinking in the last not giving any error msg.,
please advice or help. i will be extremely more then happy and can do anything to do it.
Sometimes it takes a while, otherwise try and start over. Sorry but that’s all I can really help with from here! Good luck!
thanks david.
i hope you saw my screenshots. did you find something wrong?
i just want to know how did it went with your phone when you did for very first time. i tried this on custom roms too but then reverted back to stock which i backed up in twrp. is there any other way available to do or hoping to arrive?
please see the screenshots. i tried more then 3 times after all help. unlocked m8 canada. external memory card 32gb also added along with 32gb internal.
software no 1.55.631.4.
please advice
Your 2nd attempt here was correct except, after changing its permissions to execute via the chmod command, you mistyped “tmp” as “temp” when trying to execute firewater. That’s why it says “…/temp/firewater: not found”.
In all your other attempts shown in this screenshot, you are incorrectly attempting to chmod the file before you become Superuser (root) by issuing the su command. You must su before chmod.
can you help? i did exactly as illustrated and did chmod line before as well. i get root permissions asking to grant…but still not getting any further…please help
TRIED MANY TIMES…USING STOCK ROOTED SUPER SU 1.94 ROM WITH UNLOCKED BOOTLOADER. ALSO TRIED ON A INSERTCOIN CUSTOM ROM TOO…PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!
This doesn’t work for ALL variants. My nordic HTC were not able to get
S-OFF, just a stupid message that basically tells you to scram and that
the developers of this hack couldn’t care less if it works for you or
not.
I have a UK sim-free M8. All went well getting S-OFF until the end… I typed Yes and got told “whelp, this sucks, firewater can not work on your device…”.
pain.
btw – great site. appreciated.
Thanks! Unfortunately, a few readers are reporting the same issue and the odd message that pops up that you are referring to. I didn’t develop the tool, so there isn’t much I can do for you. Sorry for the lack of support on the developer’s end.
same issue maybe firewater now is only available on verizon m8. we should wait
Apparently you’re right. Seen a few people get that message unfortunately (even though it’s rare). Sorry for the lack of support on the developer’s end :/
chmod is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file.
any ideas?
You need to wait for the superuser permissions to pop up on the device before continuing to type anything after su…
OK, I’ve tried this multiple times. I get past the prompt and chugging bottle 1 (and sometimes 2) and then my Verizon HTC One (4.4.2) reboots, and the adb prompt goes away (closes). Any thoughts?
Check with the developers of Firewater here and see if they posted any updates. – http://firewater-soff.com/
I have the latest…just downloaded today and tried again. Looking at other posts I see USB 2.0 being used. Is there an issue with USB 3.0…perhaps that’s my problem???
Yes, please use a USB 2.0 port and cable and see if that helps.
OK, the USB 2.0 was the solution. Does S-off mean my bootloader is unlocked so I can install a custom rom or is there another step. I’m on Verizon so the traditional HTC unlock does not work, I’ve been told. Appreciate any further assistance.
If you have S-Off you’re ready to flash a custom ROM. Head oto the link of the same name at the end of the above procedure. Good luck!
im unable to type yes. the adb prompt comes right out and i cant type yes
after first bottle chugging i get root@htc_m8:/ #
same here, any fixes yet?
Also having this problem. Tried on USB 2.0 multiple times to no avail.
me 2 , after type adb shell , get root@htc_m8:/ # !!!
why dont go in shell@htc_m8 ?!!!
i have this problem to..how can i solve this problem?
Question…if I get the sprint htc m8 harman kardon will I be able to just follow the same steps that way I can switch to a gsm carrier
No, this has nothing to do with a carrier unlock and also, Sprint doesn’t use GSM even if you unlock it – https://theunlockr.com/2010/09/15/unlocking-101-difference-between-cdma-and-gsm/
You are better off just getting a GSM unlocked one and adding the Harman/Kardon enahancements – https://theunlockr.com/2014/05/08/enable-harman-kardon-enhancements-htc-one-m8-video/#comments
You don’t need S-OFF. I got HK WITHOUT S-OFF. Just use the S-ON zip file (after doing a backup) and it should work for everyone. Not sure why that was made out to be such a big deal. The rooting is prob necessary though, I guess? But S-OFF is not. So just follow all the steps listed but SKIP the S-OFF part entirely. Waste of time. I missed out on having HK an extra 2-3 weeks earlier because of this miscommunication.
S-OFF IS NECESSARY for MOST people. If it worked for you without consider yourself lucky but for most people (including the device I used in the video that I tried to skip getting S-OFF with first) it wont work.
how I wanna know the steps
Hey Clutch,
Just follow all the steps of the main HK page on here (https://theunlockr.com/2014/05/08/enable-harman-kardon-enhancements-htc-one-m8-video/)…….. root your phone, and then skip to flashing the HK Enabler. Follow every step carefully (including the backup step), and it SHOULD work for you. I say SHOULD because apparently not every non-Sprint HK Edition M8 can do this without S-OFF, so it MAY not work, but hopefully it will.
To have the best chance of success, I would recommend rooting AND doing S-OFF BEFORE your phone gets the most recent update. Apparently the new update doesn’t (in many cases) let you do S-OFF anymore, which was the problem I had. But if you already got the new update, then try doing what I said above because chances are the S-OFF won’t work for you (it might, MAYBE). To be honest, it’s all iffy, so you may have to try different things to get it to work. Once Firewater updates their software to be compatible with the new build # (1.57), then S-OFF should work for everyone. But who knows when THAT will be?!
RockStar2005
Just do all the steps here (https://theunlockr.com/2014/05/08/enable-harman-kardon-enhancements-htc-one-m8-video/), but skip the S-OFF part. It may or may not work for your phone, but there’s a pretty good chance it will. If not, you will have to do S-OFF before you can enable HK. If you have the latest update from HTC (build # 1.57), it may be difficult to get S-OFF if the link above doesn’t help (I couldn’t), though there may be other ways I’m not familiar with too. Hopefully it just works with S-ON and you get HK that way. It does clean up and improve the sound quality for songs, phone calls, etc., though BoomSound is still really good too (HK will replace BoomSound if it works, FYI).
Everything works but su don’t pop up on my phone to grant need help
This is the error i am getting, I think i am not getting Root@ after entering SU in the command prompt.
Anyone can help me out please
The # symbol means you have root… you must be missing something before that
==================== firewater S-OFF 8.0.6.3 ===========================
firewater S-OFF comes with NO WARRANTY (express or implied)
and NO GUARANTEE OF FITNESS for any particular task.
We have made every effort we can to make this a safe process for users
however the authors disclaim any liability for damage to your phone
or other materials or devices used during this process.
The entire risk of running firewater S-OFF lies with you, the user.
By using this software you acknowledge and accept that the authors
are not liable for any loss, material or otherwise howsoever caused.
firewater S-OFF may not be rehosted, repackaged, one-clicked, etc.
support is available @ #firewater on the freenode and andirc networks
support is much faster there vs. posting helpme threads on xda etc
Do not operate a motor vehicle after interacting with firewater
Do not inhale firewater or allow firewater to come in contact with eyes
firewater is best served at extremely cold temperatures
firewater has been known to cause temporary lapses in judgement
DO NOT TAUNT FIREWATER, YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
=========================================================================
Do you understand the implications of these warnings?
(Yes/No)
Yes
Yes
!!If firewater hangs for more than 2 minutes or device enters qhusb mode, ho
!!If firewater hangs for more than 2 minutes or device enters qhusb mode, ho
!!If firewater hangs for more than 2 minutes or device enters qhusb mode, ho
ld power for 60 seconds !!
=========================================================================
preparing, one moment
The first bottle is open
chugging……….
********** whelp, this sucks, firewater can not work on your device **********
********** no amount of reflashing, retrying, or ruuing will fix… **********
********** DO NOT COME TO IRC ASKING FOR UPDATES OR ETAS!!!!!! **********
********** if we are able to fix this issue, it will be announced **********
********** bye bye…..sorry it didn’t work out. **********
why it didn’t work out ???
plz help me
Not sure but it sounds like the firewater team won’t help until they’ve come up with a fix.
This didnt work for me.
I get “device patched by HTC, you are out of luck”
Is there a work around?
gettign a “device patched by HTC, you are out of luck”. Any fixes to this yet?
Sounds like your specific device was patched by HTC. You can check with the firewater team and see if they’ve figured it out.
hi, i changed my AT&T HTC M8 rom to Revolution HD 8.1
but my device is s-on
now , can i do s-off my mobile ?
You can. But if you’re flashing ROMs and happy no need to.
I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof 😀
i tried for s-off , but after type adb shell
get root@htc_m8:/ #
in video u get shell@htc_m8:/ $
and after type su , supersu does not prompt …
my mobile is exactly the same mobile phone in the video
*** TAMPERED ***
*** UNLOCKED ***
MS_UL_CA PVT SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-3.16.0.0000
RADIO-1.14.21331931-LA21G
OpenDSP-v26.2.2.99538-M8974.0106
….
Ha.
You’re done by the looks of It that says you have root. Just continue with the procedure and finish typing in the commands.
hi david , i back to stock rom and install last version superSU
and tried for S-Off , but this is my new problem !!!
C:adb>adb reboot
C:adb>adb wait-for-device push firewater /data/local/tmp
10082 KB/s (4522136 bytes in 0.437s)
C:adb>adb shell
shell@htc_m8:/ $ su
su
C:adb>
Hey there,
I have exactly the same problem as you.
Did you ever work a way to fix this?
It is driving me nuts!
🙂
Please let me know
Thanks
After chugging the first bottle I got a message denying me access. I tried again and after typing yes after the “do you understand these implications?” warning, nothing happened. I did not even receive the “if the device hangs…” message.
Not sure what the issue could be, in that case you might have to reach out to developers of Firewater. Otherwise, just try it again and see if it goes through (and do things like try a different USB cable, different port, etc.)
Can I just come to your office and you do it for me? LMAO. I will try again 🙁
Ha, well that would be easiest really, but there’d be a long line if I allowed that lol
Good luck!
Just wanted to say thank you for all of your work here. It took a bit of playing around and reading the comments below, but it eventually worked. I appreciate your time and help with this.
how did it work? i still get the same error Please help me
hi guys trying to s-off htc one m8 without success. I get to the stage were it says do you understand the complications of these warning..so I type yes then it asks me again to type yes or no and that’s all I get waited for a while nothing happens..i guess if I have got this far I have followed the video correctly. does this work after installing a custom rom ?…thanks guys any help would be appreciated
If you are already running a custom ROM you most likely already have S-Off (depending on the ROM). Does it say S-Off in bootloader mode?
no it says s-on I installed android revolution custom rom
Oh, ok. Try a different USB port/cable and try again. Otherwise, might have something to do with his ROM…
could you suggest another rom that may be appropriate or you not allowed to give suggestions about roms..really appreciate your help so far
that should be implications not complications. Although complications somehow sounds right lol..just jesting guys still need help
After chugging…
****** device patched by HTC, you are out of luck *********
Does this just mean I can’t flash a ROM?
I can still use Xposed and all other root tweaks correct?
Correct.
Incorrect
No. Correct. Depending on the “root tweak” in question.
S-on doesn’t let you gain access to the system files which is kinda the point of rooting. Not sure what I can do without s-off
S-on has nothing to do with the system folder. It has to do with security in the bootloader. Long story short root access will still allow you to remove bloatware and in some cases with the HTC One M8 even flash some ROMs.
Here’s one such ROM – http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2694917
Oh, I see now, for some reason ES file explorer wasn’t using root access. Thank you! Is there any page or collection of pages that contain mods for security on HTC ones? Also I looked up an xposed tutorial but it definitely seemed like you needed s-off. Maybe I’m wrong
UPDATE: phone keeps going into bootloop after just rooting. Tried locking bootloader then reinstalling stock. Then re did the root process but end up in the same bootloop situation. Lost all the photos I took on a trip because of this. I am really hating all the frustration and it would be sad if I really can’t even root this stupid fucking phone. Fuck HTC, almost wishing I had bought the year old nexus 5
You can do everything, but flash firmware. I’m s-on with root and recovery
so has htc patche the s-off firewater method ? and if so is there any other ways to get s-off?
Hi after entering the “adb reboot” command i get the following messages:
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
error: device not found
I’ve been trying to make it work for hours now but I can’t get the device to reboot. Any ideas? Cheers
there really isn’t a helluva lot to do here bye.. bye.. what that mean?
After chugging one bottle it says you’re out of luck and that my HTC one is patched. Is it just because I got my phone so recently? Am I really out if luck. Will they find away to get around the patch? Or do I really have no way to get what I want out of my new phone?
Root is kindve useless if you can’t access the system files..
Seems like this has been patched by HTC, guys. Will have to wait for the developers to update their exploit.
can still flash roms. or use sunshine and pay $25 USD
Hey mate. Great tutorials you’ve got. Firewater won’t work for me unfortunately but I do have a question. In your cmd prompt the shell shows up as htc_m8. In mine it shows up as htc_m8whl and I’m wondering if you know if that makes any difference or just what the “whl” means in general. Regardless of a response, cheers and keep it up 😀
Thanks!
Not sure what that means as I’ve never seen that.
Sorry it didn’t work, it seem HTC patched Firewater though.
Heh, think I accidentally figured it out. M8WHL seems to specify the Sprint carrier and the plain ‘M8’ seems to rather be GSM or SIM-Unlocked. If you manage to see this post again do you have any thoughts on the Sunshine method?
Nice!
What’s the Sunshine method? Do you have a link?
Sorry it took so long. Forgot which article I commented on. http://theroot.ninja/ is the link to Sunshine.
Both Firewater as well as sunshine method didnt worked out in my case as my phone is running on Indian version 4.4.3 .
Is there any other way out to gain S-OFF ?
– Thanks in advance
Please any suggestions
Device patched by HTC when I tried to s-off using firewater at end of commend procedure failed with that message. Any suggestion
I get the error with not being able to flash firewater ( I have a UK version but I have a custom recovery plus google play 4.4.3 rom installed) Cant get updates for the rom but someone will probaly share the android L version when its realised anyway.
Just wanted to share that you can still flash roms with S on
I have a problem. Firewater eror when i do command /data/local/tmp/firewater: Segmentation fault. What can caused this ? Thanks.
I DO this on M8 Root/Unlock And
The first bottle is open
chugging……….
********** whelp, this sucks, firewater can not work on your device **********
********** no amount of reflashing, retrying, or ruuing will fix… **********
********** DO NOT COME TO IRC ASKING FOR UPDATES OR ETAS!!!!!! **********
********** if we are able to fix this issue, it will be announced **********
********** bye bye…..sorry it didn’t work out. **********