Important Information: Potential DATA LOSS

HTC improved the security of their full disk encryption in their Nougat release. Because of their improved encryption, it no longer possible for a source built ROM to decrypt a userdata partition encrypted with HTC’s Nougat (or later) software.

Terminology

What you need to know

Installing on Sprint or Verizon devices

Sprint and Verizon do not ship with an unlockable bootloader. Even if you do unlock it, something in its firmware is still not compatible with LineageOS. People have had success flashing modified US Unlocked firmware and then RUU’ing back to their proper firmware before installing LineageOS. Please use Google and/or XDA to read more about what has worked for others.

Basic requirements

  1. Make sure your computer has working adb and fastboot. Setup instructions can be found here.
  2. Enable USB debugging on your device.

Unlocking the bootloader

  1. Enable OEM unlock in the Developer options under device Settings, if present.

  2. Connect the device to your PC via USB.
  3. On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type:
    adb reboot bootloader
    

    You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:

    • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down while booting.
  4. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing:
    fastboot devices
    
  5. Now type the following command to obtain your bootloader unlock token:
    fastboot oem get_identifier_token
    
  6. Visit the HTCDev Bootloader Unlock website and follow the instructions there to obtain your unlock key and unlock your bootloader. If your device does not appear in the drop-down list, select All Other Supported Models.

  7. If the device doesn’t automatically reboot, reboot it. It should now be unlocked.
  8. Since the device resets completely, you will need to re-enable USB debugging to continue.

Installing a custom recovery using fastboot

  1. Download a custom recovery - you can download TWRP. Simply download the latest recovery file, named something like twrp-x.x.x-x-pme.img.

  2. Connect your device to your PC via USB.
  3. On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type:
    adb reboot bootloader
    

    You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:

    • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down while booting.
  4. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing:
    fastboot devices
    
  5. Flash recovery onto your device:
    fastboot flash recovery twrp-x.x.x-x-pme.img
    
  6. Now reboot into recovery to verify the installation:
    • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down while booting. Select “Reboot to bootloader” and then in the bootloader select “Boot to recovery mode”.

Installing LineageOS from recovery

  1. Download the LineageOS install package that you’d like to install or build the package yourself.

    • Optionally, download 3rd party application packages such as Google Apps (use the arm64 architecture)
  2. If you aren’t already in recovery, reboot into recovery:
    • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down while booting. Select “Reboot to bootloader” and then in the bootloader select “Boot to recovery mode”.
  3. (Optional, but recommended): Select the Backup button to create a backup. Make sure to create the backup in the external sdcard or copy it into your computer, since the internal storage will be formatted.
  4. Select Wipe, then Format Data and continue with the formatting process. This will remove encryption and also delete all files stored in the internal storage.
  5. Select Wipe and then Advanced Wipe.

  6. Select Cache and System partitions to be wiped and then Swipe to Wipe.

  7. Place the LineageOS .zip package, as well as any other .zip packages on the root of /sdcard:
    • Using adb: adb push filename.zip /sdcard/
    • You can use any method you are comfortable with. adb is universal across all devices, and works both in Android and recovery mode, providing USB debugging is enabled.
  8. Go back to return to main menu, then select Install.
  9. Navigate to /sdcard, and select the LineageOS .zip package.
  10. Follow the on-screen prompts to install the package.

  11. (Optional): Install any additional packages using the same method.

  12. (Optional): Root the device by installing the LineageOS su add-on (use the arm64 package) or using any other method you prefer.
  13. Once installation has finished, return to the main menu, select Reboot, and then System.

Get assistance

If you have any questions or get stuck on any of the steps, feel free to ask on our subreddit or in #LineageOS on freenode.