How to Install Custom Recovery on the HTC One M8 (AT&T)
Every Android device has, what is called, a recovery image on it. This is basically a part of the Android operating system that you or the manufacturer can access if your device becomes unresponsive and then use it to restore your device.
A custom recovery image, however, is a recovery image that a developer has altered that can not only help the device if it becomes responsive, but also has the added benefits of allowing us to make major changes to the operating system and have even further customizations on your device.
In this procedure, we’ll show you how to flash a custom recovery on your AT&T HTC One M8.
After flashing a custom recovery on HTC One M8, you’ll be able to:
- Perform full backups of your device (literally save EVERYTHING from it).
- Increase your device’s performance (after flashing something called a kernel
- Increase your device’s battery life.
- Flash custom ROMs (these make it possible to flash a newer version of Android, totally new user interfaces, add tons of new features, and much more).
Interested? Here’s how to flash a custom recovery on your One M8:
I. Before You Begin
1. Charge your device to 75% or more to prevent unwanted shutdowns.
2. Back up everything you feel is important before you begin.
3. Make sure you have the necessary drivers installed before you start.
4. This procedure will only work with the AT&T version of the HTC One M8 with an unlocked bootloader. If you are not bootloader unlocked, head to the HTCDev site for instructions on how to do this.
II. Necessary Downloads
1. openrecovery-twrp-2.7.0.3-m8_ul_ca.img (link available in this post)
III. Installing TWRP Recovery on the AT&T One M8
1. Extract adb-fastboot.zip to a folder on your desktop.
2. Rename openrecovery-twrp-2.7.0.3-m8_ul_ca.img to recovery.img (for ease of use when typing in commands) and copy it to the extracted adb-fastboot folder which contains the adb.exe file.
3. Boot your device into fastboot mode. To do this, press and hold the Volume Down + Power buttons (when the device is off), then use the Volume/Up down keys to highlight fastboot mode and the power button to select the option.
4. Connect your device to your PC. If there are any drivers being installed at this point, let them do so before continuing.
5. Hold the Shift key and right-click on any blank space in the adb-fastboot folder and click on Open command window here to open up a cmd prompt window.
6. Run the following commands:
fastboot erase cache
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot reboot
7. Your device should now reboot.
All set! Now, you can head to our How to Flash a Custom ROM procedure for the AT&T One M8 to open up a whole new world of customizations for your Android device!
By the way, don’t be scared, you can always put your device back to stock by heading to our Rooting How To’s section, finding your device, and doing the How to Unroot listed for it there.
fastboot flash boot recovery.img? Really? Did you even try this or did you just forget to check for mistakes before posting? PLEASE FIX THAT MISTAKE BEFORE MORE PEOPLE FLASH RECOVERY OVER THEIR BOOT AND CAN ONLY BOOT RECOVERY! Not everyone will figure out how to correct that mistake. For those that already DID follow this post and did exactly that, do the same process, however use the correct command, fastboot flash recovery recovery.img, then when you boot into recovery you can flash a kernel such as elementalx or faux’s kernel to get your system back into a booting state.
Please double or triple check the instructions you’re giving users who are trusting you to provide accurate information.
Hello pio,
I have fixed the grave error you and other avid readers of ours pointed out. You will not end up bricking your device now. Thanks for the input!
Appreciate the opportunity to learn how to recover from a bad flash by following this guide. Clean it up plz.
will this erase the data on the phone?
You really should warn people that this will not only wipe your phone to factory default settings but also erase all content/data on the SD card including your photos. Terrible article for not mentioning this!