[AC Question]

Hi, as per the subject title i have just taken delivery of a shiny new M8 from eBay. Phone is perfect apart from it's still running KitKat. It won't autoupdate.

I just asked HTC and they said after looking at the imei that its a US T Mobile version and to ask them.

Anything i can do to manually upgrade? Or will it autoupgrade at some point?

No idea about rooting etc so please go easy.

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Which carrier are you currently using? If you're not on T-Mobile (or their subsidiary, MetroPCS), then you could consider buying their cheapest prepaid plan in order to get a T-Mobile SIM. When you're on the T-Mobile network, you should get the proper system update notification (although it might not happen immediately--you might have to wait a few days).

[b19rak]

Hi, i'm on EE (UK). I haven't put my EE SIM in the phone yet. Does that make a difference?

In the UK TMobile is now EE so i should be ok i'm guessing.

[B. Diddy]

I can't be sure, but I would guess that connecting the phone to EE by inserting the SIM would then make it eligible to receive the system update appropriate for that phone.

[b19rak]

Hi, i've got some more info. I'm in the uk and this is a us t-mobile spec phone. Works perfectly here except for being on kitkat. I spoke to HTC uk support and they basically said there is nothing i can do with it being a uk spec phone.

I've read on another forum that a ROM can be downloaded and installed and HTC US have also confirmed this. Therefore i went to HTC US site and downloaded the T-Mobile M8 version. However, as i run a Mac it won't run an .exe file. I have parallels installed but that seemed to have problems with the file. Maybe because its not proper windows.

Anyway, if i can run this from a windows PC will i have solved my upgrade problems? Are there any Mac alternatives to do this upgrade? Any other ideas welcome.

[Rukbat]

It should run from a Windows PC. It should also run from VirtualBox with Windows installed. Many people use it on MacOS or Linux to run Windows cellphone flashing programs. (Parallels is one of Apple's real failures - it kinda-sorta runs some Windows programs badly. Even WINE [it's a recursive acronym, not a program name] is better, and it's nothing to write home about.)

[b19rak]

Guys, another big problem i have is that i have now discovered 4G will not work. Do you know if this is a US spec incompatibility issue in the UK? I'm wishing i hadn't bought this now. I can live with KitKat but 4g is a must.

[Rukbat]

A TMobile phone has no 4G radio on any frequency EE uses. Sell it as a US TMobile phone and buy a European model. (Swappa is a much better place to buy and sell used phones than eBay.)