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I probably get at least 10 e-mails per day from people asking me, “Max, do I have to unroot to get the latest OTA updates?” or “Max, can you get OTA updates after rooting my phone?”
Well, the answer is no, you cannot get OTA (Over The Air) updates after rooting without doing procedures like unrooting or installing the stock recovery back.
BUT, there’s a better way for rooted users. If you are rooted, usually there’s a CWM flashable zip file floating around on XDA so you can easily update your phone to the latest software without losing root. Better yet, these flashable zip updates usually come with enhancements like Google Wallet working out of the box and more.
So, next time you see OTA update for your phone on Engadget, Droid-Life, AndroidCentral, or your favorite Android blog, DO NOT DO OTA UPDATE!!!
And here’s how to update your rooted HTC Evo 4G LTE to the latest OTA update, software version 1.22.651.3 with root and Google Wallet working.
Step 1. Download and copy the flashable CWM zip file and copy to your phone. (Or download straight to your phone, use Dolphin HD browser for proper download.)
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Download rooted HTC Evo 4G LTE 1.22.651.3 Update
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Step 2. Reboot into bootloader by holding down Power and Volume Down buttons for 10 seconds.
Step 3. Choose “RECOVERY”.
Step 4. Once in TWRP recovery, choose “Install”.
Step 5. Choose the file “jewel_1.22.651.3_rooted_deodexed_07-13-2012.zip”.
Step 6. Swipe to install.
Step 7. Wipe cache/dalvik cache.
Step 8. Choose “Reboot system”.
Step 9. You should now see Android upgrading…
Step 10. Once fully booted, PROFIT!
Step 11. You will get “Unsupported device” but your Google Wallet should still work fine.
Having problems like bootloops after installing?
If you are coming from a CM9/AOKP ROM, this could be the cause. What you can do is do a wipe factory reset in TWRP then reboot. This will erase all your apps and settings so you should have made backup of all your apps using Titanium backup app. And also if you didn’t, you should have make a backup ROM at least so you can go back and do that.
Enjoy and don’t forget to share this with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, or GooglePlus!
Credits – XDA <—— Donate to these guys if this update with root has made your life wonderful. These developers work very hard and no one pays them to make these things happen, thx!
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I bought my Evo LTE yesterday from a tech store after my 3D stopped working. Always been a fan of root but the Sprint rep went ahead and updated my phone to the latest OTA while activating it in store. Is there any available option at this time for root or just hold out until developers find a way around this update?
This method still works but will erase your settings and apps:
https://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-4g-lte-root/how-to-root-htc-evo-4g-lte-unlock-bootloadertwrp-recovery/
I am actually working on a method to backup your settings and apps without root so if you need to backup your stuff, wait for that otherwise go ahead and unlock, then root.
Ok thanks! Also, I’m most interested in the Charmeleon ROM but would rooting under the new OTA affect the ROM a lot, if at all?
No will not.
Hey Garett,, you may have already done it,, but I had chameleon on my LTE for a couple days,, after a couple days i kept getting google services error messages,, so i rewiped and loaded again,, same thing.. did a factory reset and reloaded after a couple days same thing.. after some googling i found “MeanROM ICS” its awesome! and i even get a growling android on startup,, extra bonus… LOL but its solid and been about a week and no google.services errors…. just my two cents…
I had a rooted Evo LTE. Yesterday i downloaded the OTA upgrade, but first i performed step 25 of
~ https://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-4g-lte-root/how-to-root-htc-evo-4g-lte-unlock-bootloadertwrp-recovery/ ~
fastboot flash recovery stock_EVO4GLTE_recovery.img
fastboot erase cache
I updated successfully, but blocked my SU privileges. All my settings and apps were saved. Then I downloaded and copied the flashable CWM zip file to my phone and followed the steps on this page and all worked well. i now have SU privileges and all my settings and apps was saved. i don’t know how but I’m happy.
OK AWESOME!
Does this work if you are Lazy Panda s-off or do you have to just be rooted and unlocked?
What about evo3d? R u dumping us max?
I just posted this yesterday:
https://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-3d-custom-roms/teamgenesisrom3d-ics-rom-for-htc-evo-3d-beatssprint/
FML. 🙂
Did this and my phone locked up on the homescreen. I looked in my recovery and all the internal SD card was entirely wiped. I lost all my photos and Titanium Backup files. Now I’m running the 1.22.651.3, but lost pretty much everything else.
Does this work if you are Lazy Panda s-off or do you have to unlocked?
yes works.
Hey max quick question will this effect the download of custom roms like we had with the 3d where you had to have s-off or chads kernel to download a Rom without bootloops? Just curious cuz I’m not s-off and I’m not having any problems with custom roms and I don’t want any plus I’m afraid of bricking my phone trying to get s-off cuz I’ve seen a lot of people having problems with it… If you can let me know I would appreciate it and as always I love the work you do for us so keep it up…thanks in advance
Only for ICS you need S-off, have you tried ICS roms? If not you need s-off first, try the wire trick method:
https://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-3d-hacks/how-to-get-s-off-on-htc-evo-3d-using-wire-trick-juopunutbear-s-off/
Actually i was talking about this firmware update for the evo 4g LTE which I have now I don’t want to update the firmware and have the problems I had with my EVO 3d…thanks again for the reply
Yes, this method will not give you much headache as it’s a rooted version.
I have ran the lazy panda process and have s-off now, and have unlocked my bootloader using htc website. i have installed clockwork mod recovery, but i am not able to use it to see any files on my sdcard. Do you have any suggestions on how to resolve.
It’s probably the Lazy Panda, it completely wiped my sd card too and bricked my phone. But I did unbrick it which is good. You will need to reformat your sd card.
I have tried format on my sd card and am having the same issue that i had before. i now have lazy panda s-off and clockwork mod recovery installed, but every i hit the power button on the options in clockwork mod recovery it goes blank and doesn’t provide another menu or options to flash a differnet rom
try the camera button instead of power button in CWM.
When you said you bricked your phone what happened? Did it not power on anymore? Or did you get an error message when booting up? And what did you do to unbrick it?
I am asking because I was charging and listening to music with my phone via the aux cable and it just powered off and won’t turn back on. It was charged to about 90%. I tried holding the power but for a long time, the power button and the volume down button and also the power button the volume down and the camera button. Any suggestions?
I had to unbrick using Linux like this:
http://androidroot.org/watch_video.php?v=OYS5BKXBN761
So if I don’t have a linux computer am I stuck like chuck lol?
yup. I wouldn’t do that method unless u have a linux computer nearby otherwise u will be without a phone if u brick.
I tried to plug it into my computer and go to device drivers to see if it is really bricked. Something else must have happened. I ordered another one since I just got the phone about 3 weeks ago. I just really like having S-off so that I can flash radios and kernels if I please. Is lazy panda the only s-off method out right now?
well if that unbrick method can unbrick any bricked 4g lte no matter how it was bricked.
Thankful that I was able to get another evo. Can you go back to the previous version after updating with this zip?
If you have a backup ROM yes. Simply restore in CWM.
Can you still get the old root if you update your phone and with the S-On?
Yes the unlock/root method not just root though.
So just unroot, install the old OTA to get the “Tampered” off the phone, then install the new OTA then use the Evo4GLTERoot to root the phone again?
The Tampered is normal, won’t affect how your phone runs, if that’s what you want, you have to unroot and stay unrooted.
Thanks! I’ll keep my phone the way it is until there can find a way to get things working with the new update.
I was rooted on my evo lte downloaded voodo did the backup,accepted the ota and lost root. My su is still there and voodo cannot restore root. Is there a way to root my phone again.
reflash this in CWM to get root back:
http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/tools/CWM-SuperSU-v0.87.zip
I need to have s off to do this. Am I correct. I only had root.
is it ok to flash this if I have Lazy Panda S-off?
yup.
Thanks. just did it and i am good to go. So when you flash it it replaces the rom you had and goes back to stock? You then have to reflash the rom?
yes, it goes back to stock ROM, you have to restore your old ROM or re-install it.
After installing the Jewel 1.22.651.3 image successfully on my EVO 4G LTE (Your video was perfect), it still tells me I need to update in the notifications… Any way to stop that?
Nevermind, I went into the HTC Software Updates, turned off the check,and using the menu I picked “recheck all updates”, at which point it cleared my notification. THANKS for the AWESOME tutorial!
I DID THIS METHOD TO UPDATE SO THAT I COULD USE GOOGLE WALLET BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT GOOGLE WALLET CAN TELL THAT MY PHONE IS ROOTED AND WONT LET ME SET UP AN ACCOUNT, SO IT KINDA DEFEATED THE PURPOSE OF ME DOING THIS. ANYONE KNOW A WORK AROUND?
install mean rom, works flawless for wallet users.
Im new to all this so cut me some slack, but when i go to install it, it just says failed.
My phone is bricked what do i do?
Bootloop or does not turn on?
Will FoxFi still work after updating using this method? I am rooted and s-off. I would like to update, however I do not want to lose my wifi hotspot.
Yes.
I know that this is answered somewhere, but I really have looked. I used the old method and I am rooted but s-on, and have not accepted the update. Can I download and install a custom rom, or do I need to unlock the bootloader and get s-off? If so, is there a video that I am overlooking? I originally just wanted wifi tether, but now would like to try MeanRom.
I actually meant to say that I am a little confused by all the various answers concerning the need to be unlocked. Do I need to be unlockedto flash a custom rom? Is s-off necessary? I know I will have to get a recovery, but is all the rest required?
I believe the answers that you seek can be found here:
https://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-4g-lte-roms/how-to-install-custom-rom-on-rooted-htc-evo-4g-lte/
Yes unlocked to flash custom ROMs. I don’t recommend S-OFF just yet as I bricked my phone doing so. If all you want is update, you can use RootKeeper app and do the update (i don’t recommend the update though, it SUCKS).
i have loaded the zip file to the sd card but when i go to the bootloader and click install with twrp i cannot find the zip file what am i doing wrong, any advise please
I was running Viper Rom on my EVO 4G LTE and did this update and now I’m at the stock ROM again. Google Wallet works and my apps and pictures are there, I can access super user but I lost my custom rom. Any way to get back to Viper Rom?
Use recovery to restore or install custom ROM again.
Thanks so much, worked perfectly.
Hi, my Evo LTE is rooted using your previously published Root-only method. I’m still running Stock ROM and Stock Recovery. But it looks like in order to perform the procedure above to update to 651.3, I need to have TWRP recovery already installed. And I think I need to dev unlock or Panda S-OFF in order to install the custom TWRP recovery, right? I’m assuming I need to go ahead and do all that before doing this so what do you recommend?
Just use RootKeeper to keep root then do OTA update!
*please delete the above if possible* I accidentally posted outside of the thread I started.
I think I delete it it.
I am rooted with an unlocked bootloader on my HTC Evo 4G LTE. I followed these instructions to complete the update and google wallet is now working fine! However, I didn’t achieve S-OFF status. I’m still S-ON but want to go to S-OFF. Being that I performed the update as shown on this post, will I be able to achieve S-OFF status without bricking my phone?? Any help is greatly appreciated!!
I have transfered the jewel update to sd but when I try to install I cannot find it.. any help ?
Hi I rooted my EVO 4G LTE, and its having location issues. It knows where I am but when i run speedteset its saying that my closest server is in Baltimore, MD….help?
that’s problem with app I believe…
My son accidentally did the OTA update over the air after I did the easy root method. Now I have 1.22 software and SuperSU doesn’t do anything. Can’t do an unroot or reinstall. Apparently I’m not rooted any more, and if I try and run the Evo4gLTE Root again it basically fails because the files are still on the phone.
What can I do to get back to being rooted? I wouldn’t even mind going back to the previous software version 1.13 or whatever. Appreciate any help you can give.
I think u may have to unlock bootloader and root:
https://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-4g-lte-root/how-to-root-htc-evo-4g-lte-unlock-bootloadertwrp-recovery/
How could I just remove all the files and everything off of my EVO (now that it’s in this state) so that it appears as if it was never rooted?
you can unroot.
How would I go about doing that? Since my 2 year old (while playing with my phone) accidentally clicked ok to do the update while the phone was already rooted. Now the phone doesn’t seem to be rooted, but still shows the SuperSU app, and when I go into the app and click unroot it does nothing.
If you never unlocked the bootloader, you can probably do a factory reset in stock recovery to delete everything but make sure you make a backup of EVERYTHING before you do this.
Sorry to be a total noob about all this, but I’m not extremely experienced in all this. Is there a page on here that would show me how to do this? I just don’t want to make things worse that’s all.
Thank you so much for your patience and all your help. It’s deeply appreciated.
I don’t have a tutorial on that, you can however try getting into stock recovery by holding down Volume Down and Power button after turning off your phone then choose “Recovery” then there should be menu where you can do a factory reset. Remember to BACKUP EVERYTHING!
I only need to backup everything if I want to keep all my apps and settings right? Or will it do something to the phone where I’ll need to reactivate it? Sorry for all the questions.
Yes exactly. Use titanium backup app to backup ur apps.
Did this worked Ryan?
I did the unlock bootloader and trwp recovery via the link you provided earlier and it worked like a charm. Thanks for all your help.
I did all the the steps verbatim!! now my phone wont stop boot looping back into recovery mode!! i did a system wipe cleared cache and dalvik… what now???
I flashed the new OTA lastnight, coming from viper rom, and after upgrading, 3G appears to be connected, but it never does anything. Websites and applications never load, and it won’t even connect to the speedtest.net app. How can I fix this?
Try wiping cache in recovery. Reference:
http://androidroothelp.com/android-custom-rom-questions/i-cannot-install-any-apps-from-play-store-after-installing-rom-error-messages/
Hi, I have the same problem as Ryan up there, and I have tried doing the manufacture reset but there is no change everything goes to stock but the super user app is still here and doesn’t work, so now what should I do?
Just so you can understand my situation, I had my EVO LTE rooted with your easy guide on my Mac, with no problem untill I stupidly hit ok on the system update, then the apps that needed the root says that the phone is not rooted even that all on the phone saids that it is, so following your instructions to Ryan I did it all but is still the same. Is there a way using my Mac I can unroot my phone the system version I have now is 1.22.651.3 710RD by the way as now I don’t care of backing up apps all I want is to unroot the phone then rooted again so I can us my apps that need the root. Than You
You can unlock bootloader and re-root:
https://htcevohacks.com/htc-evo-4g-lte-root/how-to-root-htc-evo-4g-lte-unlock-bootloadertwrp-recovery/
No need to unroot first.
Yes that dis it!, thank you!
Worked perfect. Make sure not to forget to clear the cache. This is one of the most common steps people forget .. evo LTE 1.22.651.3 full rooted = success!!
I have successfully rooted this phone using the Lazy panda exploit and have also rooted the evo 3D using unrevoked method..
I have Lazy Panda and TWRP recovery installed. Every tip I try to flash the zip file, it says failed. Cold you help please? Thank You!
*could you please help
Noob question. I was stock rooted on 1.13 and now I downloaded the 1.22 update from your site. so now iam stock 1.22 rooted, but the file name says deodexed: “jewel_1.22.651.3_rooted_deodexed_07-13-2012.zip”
So am I now deodexed? Can I flash the deodexed mod pack that is on xda or not?
Thanks
New release on XDA from 1.22 to 2.13… any thoughts?
pls i need your help as i have tampered with my htc Evo 4g system files and now cant start-up as it keep restarting over and over, what should i do?
did you try flashing this?
i want go back to stock to fix my 3g i have hboot 1.15.0000, s-on ,and unlocked the bootloader this will work?
thanks
It should yes.
I followed the procedure you had for rooting the HTC Evo 4G LTE (How to Root HTC Evo 4G LTE!) and the towns people rejoiced. However, when attempting to follow the procedure above, I kept running into issues – such as, the phone restarting when I tried to go into recovery. I then noticed that in the bootloader, my phone says “locked” whereas your screen capture shows “unlocked.”
Did I not do something correctly when following the original procedure to root the phone?
I followed the procedure you had for rooting the HTC Evo 4G LTE (How to Root HTC Evo 4G LTE!) and rooted w/no problems. However, when attempting to follow the above procedure and I choose “recovery” (Step 3), it won’t boot into recovery. I want to install TWRP recovery and have the file on the phone (twrp2.3.2.1-recovery.zip). How can I install TWRP recovery w/the stock root (1.13.651.1)?
in fastboot usb, did you “fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.1.8-jewel.img” ??
I followed the original video to root and that wasn’t one of the steps. Can I fastboot it w/the stock root?
Its step 25 of original root video.
Tried the same thru “Goo Manager” and it said that recovery was installed, but still won’t reboot into TWRP…back to the drawing board #scratchinghead lol….will try step 25, thanks!
Tried the same thru “Goo Manager” and it said that recovery was installed, but still won’t reboot into TWRP…back to the drawing board #scratching head lol….will try step 25, thanks!
y cant i find the rooted update it sends me to adds can u email it to me,,the stock root update for htc evo 4g lte
Max,
I’m surprised no one has asked this yet. What is the smartest way to get the latest Sprint OTA update on a rooted Evo 4G LTE? The new OTA update being the one that was released in Jan-Feb 2013. Looking forward to your tutorial. Thanks!