Devices like the HTC One are offered at subsidized rates by some carriers around the world. If you are a customer of such a carrier, its unlikely you will spend the full price for the unsubsidized HTC One Google Play Edition. Luckily the devs over at XDA have a much better solution: actually converting your HTC One into a complete factory-fresh Google Play Edition.
Since most of the hardware is the same, it requires only modifying the software. The step by step guide on how to convert your HTC One into an HTC One Google Play Edition follows:
[NOTE] If you have not done anything like this before, we ask you to proceed cautiously. We will not be responsible for any data loss or device malfunction which can occur from following this guide. Please proceed at your own risk.
[NOTE] Before you proceed, you have to turn S-OFF on your HTC One. You can use our guide on how to turn S-OFF on your HTC One as a reference if you have not done it already.
- Download and install the Android SDK
- - Download the the latest ROM Update Utility (RUU) from XDA Developers, and place the file in your SDK tools directory.
- - Backup your SD card
[NOTE] Proceeding with this process will wipe everything from your HTC One, including your SD card data, so make sure you back up your SD card before continuing.
- - Change your Model ID (MID) if necessary
[NOTE] Changing your MID is actually not necessary, even if you have a different Model ID. Use this process only if you want to - Plug your device into your computer, open a command prompt, and reboot to the bootloader manually or by using the command adb reboot bootloader.
- Navigate to the SDK tools directory. (eg: C:\Users\John>cd C:\sdk-tools)
- Once your device is connected (it should say FASTBOOT USB on the screen), check the model ID by typing fastboot getvar modelid
- If it model ID doesn't match PN0712000, you'll need to change it.
- You can alternatively check this detailed guide on XDA by Shadowboy23, which is easy to understand but a lengthy process.
- - You now need to change your Cell ID (CID) to that of a Google Play Edition device.
- Check your CID by typing fatboot oem readcid
- Change your CID by typing fastboot oem writecid GOOGL001
- Check your CID again by typing fatboot oem readcid
- You can change it back to the stock CID (CWS_001) using the same method.
- - Now that your bootloader thinks it's a Google Play Edition device, you can flash the RUU from that phone.
- Type fastboot oem rebootRUU to accept the update.
- Type fastboot flash zip filename to flash RUU on your device. Here "filename" is the name of the downloaded zip file. (eg: fastboot flash zip RUU-HTC_One_GE-2.14.1700.15.zip)
- You will have to repeat the last command again if you come across an error
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- - Once completed, it will boot into the new Google Play Edition bootloader. Use your volume keys to select RECOVERY and press Power.
- - You'll see the Google splash screen and Google Play Edition boot animation, and you'll have a fully stock Google Play Edition HTC One with over the air (OTA) updates.
If you have issues following this guide you can also check out the following video demonstration for added help