Install Android 4.2.2 on HTC One X

So you bought your HTC One X only a year back and it’s already gotten older now that the HTC One is released. However, HTC One X is a powerful-gorgeous device and installing the latest OS can make it function faster and chances are it will even make you forget that there is a newer HTC on the block. While HTC One comes with the Android 4.1.2 Jellybean, the One X came with 4.0.X Gingerbread. The user experience of android 4.1.2 on HTC One is far better than that of older android operating system like on the One X. Upgrading to a newer operating system is said to improve memory management which means faster operation, a better user interface means easier operation and also visually better looking. However, when it comes to updating Android devices, most HTC One X owners are carrier dependent and the only option to get the latest Android OS fast is to install custom ROMs. One of the best and stable custom ROMs is the latest Cyanogenmod 10.1 which is Android 4.2.2 Jellybean. Here are the steps on how to install Android 4.2.2 on HTC One X:

Note: Make sure your battery is at least 70 percent and you have the HTC USB drivers installed (mostly automatically installed via internet).  The steps may look daunting but the process is simple and won’t take much time. However, try this at your own risk though the chances of damaging your phone are minimum.

A)    Unlock bootloader via htcdev:

1. Kudos to HTC developers’ team for making this step easy. Simply login to htcdev.com and then register or sign up your account. From there on, select the option to unlock bootloader and then follow detailed steps from HTC to unlock the bootloader:
2. Open www.htcdev.com/bootloader and then sign in with your password and username.
3. Select HTC One X or ‘all other supported models’ if not listed from the dropdown menu of supported devices.
4. Click ‘Begin Unlock Bootloader’
5. Remove battery (if applicable) and reinsert it, then hold Vol Down while powering on the device to enter HBOOT.
6. Highlight ‘FASTBOOT’ and hit the Power button.
7. Connect device to PC over USB.
8. On command prompt run fastboot oem get_identifier_token
9. Copy all the text between <<<<< Identifier Token Start >>>>> and <<<<< Identifier Token End >>>>> and paste into website.
10. HTC will send you an email contain unlock_code.bin file. Copy this to your machine.
11. Run fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin
12. Press OK using the Power button

B)   Flash CWR: Clockworkmod Recovery will make installing custom ROMS a breeze. Follow these steps to install CWR:

1. Download the ‘.img’ file of clockworkmod touch recovery here
2. Download fastboot package here and then extract
3. Place the img file in the same dir where you have fastboot binary.
4. Connect your phone via usb to your computer
5. Open a terminal or command prompt in your computer and also enter fastboot mode in your phone

i.      Reboot the phone into HBOOT by powering on the device while holding Vol Down

ii.      Select ‘FASTBOOT’ from the menu and accept it by pressing Power

1. Verify your computer detects your phone by opening the terminal or command prompt of your computer and then typing fastboot devices which should return device serial number and no error.
2. Run fastboot flash recovery name_of_recovery.img
3. Reboot device into recovery by holding Vol Up during boot process

C)    Download  and flash Cyanogenmod 10.1  and Google Apps file
Note: you cannot use touchscreen in this mode. Use volume keys to scroll and power key to select.

1. Download Cyanogenmod 10.1 RC4 and Google Apps.
2. Copy the downloaded zip file to root of your internal SDcard
3. Wipe data or factory reset
4. Wipe cache partition and wipe dalvik cache
5. Select install zip from sdcard
6. Choose your cm 10.1 zip file and flash
7. Choose Google apps or gapps zip file and flash
8. Reboot system

Note: One of the most important steps in flashing any custom ROM on any android device is unlocking the bootloader. Do not skip this step.