HTC msm8960 fastboot with Windows 8.1

If your HTC msm8960 device (evita, fireball, jewel, ville) suffers from an inability to be detected correctly in Windows 8.1 while in fastboot mode, there is a simple registry fix that may help. The issue is described in detail by Microsoft and amounts to a duplicate BOS descriptor which Windows 8.1 does not tolerate. This is something that HTC can easily fix with an updated HBOOT… but we all know that’s not happening for these devices.

Download: htc-msm8960-win81-fastboot.reg (318.00 B)
Simply double-click htc-msm8960-win81-fastboot.reg to import the registry change.

If you’d rather write the changes yourself, here’s the entire file contents:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\usbflags\0BB40FF00100]
"SkipBOSDescriptorQuery"=dword:00000001

Apart from this registry fix, you also need to have a recent release of HTC drivers installed.

The idVendor (0BB4), idProduct (0FF0), and bcdDevice (0100) fields have been verified to be consistent between evita, fireball, and ville as shown by the output of lsusb -d 0bb4: -v on each device while in fastboot mode below:

  • Bus 004 Device 016: ID 0bb4:0ff0 HTC (High Tech Computer Corp.)
    Device Descriptor:
      bLength                18
      bDescriptorType         1
      bcdUSB               2.10
      bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
      bDeviceSubClass         0
      bDeviceProtocol         0
      bMaxPacketSize0        64
      idVendor           0x0bb4 HTC (High Tech Computer Corp.)
      idProduct          0x0ff0
      bcdDevice            1.00
      iManufacturer           1 htc, Inc
      iProduct                2 Android 1.0
      iSerial                 3 (omitted)
      bNumConfigurations      1
      Configuration Descriptor:
        bLength                 9
        bDescriptorType         2
        wTotalLength           32
        bNumInterfaces          1
        bConfigurationValue     1
        iConfiguration          0
        bmAttributes         0x80
          (Bus Powered)
        MaxPower              256mA
        Interface Descriptor:
          bLength                 9
          bDescriptorType         4
          bInterfaceNumber        0
          bAlternateSetting       0
          bNumEndpoints           2
          bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
          bInterfaceSubClass     66
          bInterfaceProtocol      3
          iInterface              0
          Endpoint Descriptor:
            bLength                 7
            bDescriptorType         5
            bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
            bmAttributes            2
              Transfer Type            Bulk
              Synch Type               None
              Usage Type               Data
            wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
            bInterval               0
          Endpoint Descriptor:
            bLength                 7
            bDescriptorType         5
            bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
            bmAttributes            2
              Transfer Type            Bulk
              Synch Type               None
              Usage Type               Data
            wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
            bInterval               0
    Device Status:     0x0000
      (Bus Powered)
  • Bus 003 Device 077: ID 0bb4:0ff0 HTC (High Tech Computer Corp.) 
    Device Descriptor:
      bLength                18
      bDescriptorType         1
      bcdUSB               2.10
      bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
      bDeviceSubClass         0 
      bDeviceProtocol         0 
      bMaxPacketSize0        64
      idVendor           0x0bb4 HTC (High Tech Computer Corp.)
      idProduct          0x0ff0 
      bcdDevice            1.00
      iManufacturer           1 htc, Inc
      iProduct                2 Android 1.0
      iSerial                 3 (omitted)
      bNumConfigurations      1
      Configuration Descriptor:
        bLength                 9
        bDescriptorType         2
        wTotalLength           32
        bNumInterfaces          1
        bConfigurationValue     1
        iConfiguration          0 
        bmAttributes         0x80
          (Bus Powered)
        MaxPower              256mA
        Interface Descriptor:
          bLength                 9
          bDescriptorType         4
          bInterfaceNumber        0
          bAlternateSetting       0
          bNumEndpoints           2
          bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
          bInterfaceSubClass     66 
          bInterfaceProtocol      3 
          iInterface              0 
          Endpoint Descriptor:
            bLength                 7
            bDescriptorType         5
            bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
            bmAttributes            2
              Transfer Type            Bulk
              Synch Type               None
              Usage Type               Data
            wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
            bInterval               0
          Endpoint Descriptor:
            bLength                 7
            bDescriptorType         5
            bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
            bmAttributes            2
              Transfer Type            Bulk
              Synch Type               None
              Usage Type               Data
            wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
            bInterval               1
    Device Status:     0x0000
      (Bus Powered)
  • Device Descriptor:
      bLength                18
      bDescriptorType         1
      bcdUSB               2.10
      bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
      bDeviceSubClass         0 
      bDeviceProtocol         0 
      bMaxPacketSize0        64
      idVendor           0x0bb4 HTC (High Tech Computer Corp.)
      idProduct          0x0ff0 
      bcdDevice            1.00
      iManufacturer           1 htc, Inc
      iProduct                2 Android 1.0
      iSerial                 3 (omitted)
      bNumConfigurations      1
      Configuration Descriptor:
        bLength                 9
        bDescriptorType         2
        wTotalLength           32
        bNumInterfaces          1
        bConfigurationValue     1
        iConfiguration          0 
        bmAttributes         0x80
          (Bus Powered)
        MaxPower              256mA
        Interface Descriptor:
          bLength                 9
          bDescriptorType         4
          bInterfaceNumber        0
          bAlternateSetting       0
          bNumEndpoints           2
          bInterfaceClass       255 Vendor Specific Class
          bInterfaceSubClass     66 
          bInterfaceProtocol      3 
          iInterface              0 
          Endpoint Descriptor:
            bLength                 7
            bDescriptorType         5
            bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
            bmAttributes            2
              Transfer Type            Bulk
              Synch Type               None
              Usage Type               Data
            wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
            bInterval               0
          Endpoint Descriptor:
            bLength                 7
            bDescriptorType         5
            bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
            bmAttributes            2
              Transfer Type            Bulk
              Synch Type               None
              Usage Type               Data
            wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
            bInterval               1