Why can't my HTC One M8 restore to 8.1 from 10080?

[Windows Central Question]

HTC One M8 Can't restore to 8.1 from 10080

Hi,

After updating to build 10080, I cannot revert to 8.1. I've performed ~5+ hard resets, numerous soft resets. No windows computer (7, 8.1, or 10) will recognize my phone. It charges when plugged in, but is not recognized in device manager nor windows phone recovery or HTC sync manager.

If I put it into recovery mode it will see it in the device manager as Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed) or sometimes (Port Reset Failed). I've tried different USB cables and made sure the HTC sync manager and HTC drivers are installed on the computer.

I've tried USB 3 and USB 2 ports as well to no avail. I have managed to find the HTC Verizon 8.1 original image/ruu file and can't restore it with the HTC tool because the phone won't recognize.

Any suggestions?

 

[Ryan ODonnell]

Re: HTC One M8 Can't restore to 8.1 from 10080

I assume HTC One (M8) for Windows?

Have you tried updating to the latest build 10149 and then reverting to Windows Phone 8.1 via WPRT?

 

[KMN62]

I suspect that you had the same problem I had which was 10080 wouldn't update to 10149...my phone update would say "phone is up to date".

Anyway, I did have problems trying to recover to 8.1..in fact, it took a couple of tries but finally got it to work...however my computer recognized my phone which seems to be your problem..that is nothing recognizes your phone. This sounds like it may be the computer..a settings thing.

Do you have another computer that you can try? If th other computer recognizes your phone, then I'd download the Recovery Tool and try again.

 

[Jake52]

I'm having the same issue. I'm currently running 10080 on my HTC One (AT&T) and it's not updating to 10149. It keeps saying that I have the most up to date operating system. I'm also trying to use the recovery tool to get it back to 8.1 so I can update but that isn't working either. My computer (Surface Pro 2) is recognizing the device and I can get it into boot-loader mode (there's a lightening bolt and a gear icon on the device) but the recovery tool just sits there doing nothing.

Did you just keep trying or is there some other trick to getting the recovery tool to work?

Also, I used the recovery tool on my older Lumia 920 and it worked fine, so I know the tool at least works.

 

[Majin Static]

Same for me. Only difference is my PC acknowledges my phone is plugged in. It just tells me to put it into boot-loader mode then after I do that nothing happens. It just sits there. I dont even really want the new update. Just wanna go back to 8.1.

 

[bmetelsky]

I tried using the Windows Phone Recovery Tool to restore my phone from build 10149 back to 8.1. I kept having problems. Here are two things that helped me (I was successful in reverting back to 8.1) -
1) The lightning bolt and gear are not what you want to see. Instead of waiting for the phone to vibrate when using the WPRT, hold down on both volume keys as soon as the phone is off.
2) For whatever reason, I could not get the WPRT to work properly on my Windows 7 computer. It would open, identify my phone, but then when I put my phone in boot-loader mode the program would just sit there doing nothing. I finally decided to try it on Windows 10 (I did a dual install of W7 & W10) and it worked the first try.

Just my two cents.