Hi everybody, I just bought a HTC Desire from The Carphone Warehouse on the O2 network.
I've taken it home, inserted my simcard, turned it on and put it on charge. I've flicked through the little introduction screens and then connected to my home WiFi.
I have been reading this and other forums for a while. I want to now root the phone and install a custom ROM.
Before I download any apps or do anything should I first root the phone as soon as possible and install the custom ROM of my choice?
The phone came with a 4GB memory card. I of course want to upgrade this to a bigger card. Should I buy and insert the new memory card before rooting and installing a ROM as I have read about people having problems with installing new memory cards.
Removing the back of the phone scared the life out of me. I thought it was going to snap. I don't fancy doing that too often!
Sorry about the long winded thread but any help would be appreciated.
Personally, if this is your first Android phone, I think you ought to just use it for a couple of weeks, to get familiar with it. There is no point in installing custom ROMs right away before you know what the standard software can or can't do, as you will not have anything to compare the new ROM to.
Many ROMs have issues/bugs, and you would do well to spend a couple of weeks reading up on the forums here, to gain an understanding of what rooting entails, and what you can expect from different ROMs. It is likely you will end up flashing multiple ROMs before settling on one you are happy with, so why not just enjoy your phone for a bit first? Trust me, flashing can become addictive, and you can often end up with a phone that has a non-working feature - which can be frustrating, as well as time consuming.
Also, rooting is very safe now, but regularly new problems are discovered - for instance the recent SLCD brick issue. If you don't know what that is then you need to do more reading. Trust me, you will save yourself lots of hassle in the long run - panicking over a £400 phone that won't boot up, not knowing whether you've broken it permanently, is not a nice feeling.
I'm not trying to put you off at all - rooting is the best thing I've done with my Desire (and my Dream before that), and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in unleasing the full power of their phone. But do your research thoroughly first, then ask questions.
In reply to the questions you have asked:
Before I download any apps or do anything should I first root the phone as soon as possible and install the custom ROM of my choice?
If you're going to root then you have to wipe the phone as part of the process, therefore losing any apps you've installed. You would have to then reinstall them. Whether you root now or later, you will still have to install your apps. Once the phone is rooted, you can backup your apps when moving from ROM to ROM - Titanium Backup is good.
Should I buy and insert the new memory card before rooting and installing a ROM as I have read about people having problems with installing new memory cards.
Up to you. If you have the money now then I would go ahead and get the SD card you want now. Saves transferring stuff later on.
When you have any questions feel free to post here in the Q&A section and there will be people more than happy to help you out
Welcome to the world of Android!
EDIT: I have just re-read your post, and realised you said you have been reading the forums for a couple of weeks - I didn't mean to sound patronising at all when I recommended more research. Knowledge is power!
Related
In the N1 General forum there was a great post done - 100% Fool Proof Guide to rooting & ROMs, and I was hoping that we could start a similar thread here.
Please feel free to comment on this post - it is my hope that we can put together a great document for newbs like me in the future. THIS thread is for suggestions on what should be in the guide, not the guide itself. I will reserve the second post for compiling suggestions over the next couple of days.
I just ordered my Desire, and it should be with me in a week or two. I am disturbed by the USB/A2SD issues being encountered by some, and so when I root I want to get it right
imHo, the guide should include:
1) Definitions of Rooting, unlocking, goldcards, generic, kernel, radio and how these relate to future OTA updates. These are concepts which I am familiar with, but feel I know just enough to be dangerous to myself/my device
2) A ballpark comparison of the unique characteristics of ROMs available today (stock-like, minimalist, sense-free, tethering, etc)
3) A step-by-step guide to the most recommended flashing updates people are using today
4) Things to bear in mind if you are a win-x64 user (I understand this is a tripping point for some)
[Reserved for collating ideas]
1) Terminology:
Rooting
Unlocking
Goldcards
Generic
Kernel
Radio
OTA updates, and how they may be affected by flashing your Desire
2) Current ROMs available and their unique characteristics
3) Guide to flashing your desire
4) Win64 users - what to bear in mind
And a big warning that this rooting process can cause unexpected pain on your bank balance if you are unlucky at the minute
I'd say to use the TinyCore method as I had nothing but issues doing it using W7 x64 - there's a guide on MoDaCo that's simple as anything - only a fool would get it wrong!!!
Find it here:
http://android.modaco.com/content/h...inux-download-and-guide-easiest-and-best-way/
And my USB still works fine, not had any issues since rooting and am now happily using an MCRr2 ROM cooked to my liking
I'd have to agree. Tiny Core Linux was so simple to use. I'd never used Linux before and even I could do it!
I did see paul's tweet saying a new safer more reliable method was coming this week hopefully. If that's the case I'll be rooting like mad again!
New, safer, more reliable root method for Legend and Desire coming up next week (all being well). #mcr 7:28 PM May 14th via Tweetie http://twitter.com/PaulOBrien
Only issues I've had was flashing the radio as part of a ROM - wouldn't have it so gonna try it on its own later this evening. Would be nice to get it all in one ROM but meh
EddyOS said:
I'd say to use the TinyCore method as I had nothing but issues doing it using W7 x64 - there's a guide on MoDaCo that's simple as anything - only a fool would get it wrong!!!
Find it here:
http://android.modaco.com/content/h...inux-download-and-guide-easiest-and-best-way/
And my USB still works fine, not had any issues since rooting and am now happily using an MCRr2 ROM cooked to my liking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u guys are getting it wrong!!!!!!
me too i was saying the same thing last week when i was reading about the bricks and stuff. i didnt have any problems till 2 days ago. well let me tell you that the unrooting process went out wonderful... nothing wrong. i even flashed all the roms possible and even started cooking and porting some roms for my own use too.
the problem is not whether the method is complex or not. the ''brick'' does not happen while you are rooting the phone. nobody actually knows what triggers the damage. some get it on 1st attempt, some after 5-6 flashes, and some like me after numerous ones.
so in my opinion, i dont think you can say this is a safe method bla bla bla and i try to discourage ppl wanting to root ''for the moment''.
deeren said:
u guys are getting it wrong!!!!!!
me too i was saying the same thing last week when i was reading about the bricks and stuff. i didnt have any problems till 2 days ago. well let me tell you that the unrooting process went out wonderful... nothing wrong. i even flashed all the roms possible and even started cooking and porting some roms for my own use too.
the problem is not whether the method is complex or not. the ''brick'' does not happen while you are rooting the phone. nobody actually knows what triggers the damage. some get it on 1st attempt, some after 5-6 flashes, and some like me after numerous ones.
so in my opinion, i dont think you can say this is a safe method bla bla bla and i try to discourage ppl wanting to root ''for the moment''.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree, I try to at least warn people that there is a fair chance they will brick their device but this thread is about the best and easiest way to root.
At the end of the day if people know the risks and still want to go for it, then they may as well come here for the easiest method
just a quick question guys as im a total noob in android and rooting, does this method also works with the desire and does not require a goldcard?
cez10 said:
just a quick question guys as im a total noob in android and rooting, does this method also works with the desire and does not require a goldcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This method is for the desire!
If you choose to root, then you will only need a goldcard if your handset was network supplied and branded. If for example you bought it and it came in a plain box, and had no network branding on the software then you can do it without the gold card. I got mine from the Carphone Warehouse so it was unlocked and unbranded. I just rooted with the standard SD card.
The software number on my unbranded device is 1.15.405.4. Hope this helps.
Refer to this
1) Nothing is foolproof. If you're a fool, don't root.
2) Foolproof implies pragmatic. The N1 is designed (basically) to be rooted so there's a universal method for all. The Desire wasn't, so things liks different bootloaders, branded phones and goldcards makes everyone just that little bit different. I mean, the HTC memory protection mean things like Adfree don't work out of the box (causes phone to reboot) - if you create a foolproof method we're just going to get threads about "zomg why wont dis app wrk on my fone" because they expect to be spoonfed everything.
Hello everyone , i was symbian user and used to helloox the phone an do alot of stuff to the phone , but now when i tried to hack (or you guys call it root) the phone then i come across words i dont get , well i want to root my phone and get some things i want to have like make installations directly on the card , get good scores in quadrant (i get 1025) but i want better numbers but still use the htc sense on my phone please help me i dont get this whole thing here , thanks in advance and sorry if this is a wrong thread , i have desire v2.2 , just turned android a week ago and love it
Everything you need to do is here -
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016084
Dont attempt it unless you understand it do lots of reading.
If you want better quadrant scores use photoshop (or paint).
The rooting process is pretty well explained in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=814381
From that point on try searching, it's all been mentioned before.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
AnasNazeer said:
Hello everyone , i was symbian user and used to helloox the phone an do alot of stuff to the phone , but now when i tried to hack (or you guys call it root) the phone then i come across words i dont get , well i want to root my phone and get some things i want to have like make installations directly on the card , get good scores in quadrant (i get 1025) but i want better numbers but still use the htc sense on my phone please help me i dont get this whole thing here , thanks in advance and sorry if this is a wrong thread , i have desire v2.2 , just turned android a week ago and love it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want a nice ROM with Sense I can recommend the LeeDroid ROMs as speedy and stable.
What i found was that Sense was fun for a while but I ended up putting new launchers over the top anyway ....
If you dont mind losing Sense and fancy Gingerbread ROM then im currently using Ginger Villain. Its very impressive and very stable
Redux ROm for the Win
When I got my first Desire, I left it at stock and was still impressed with everything it could do. After a while I decided to root it as I was curious about all of the ROMs available.
I played with various ROMs like LeeDroid, Oxygen, GingerVillain and accidentally stumbled across one called Redux.
I put it on and have not changed since (actually I tried the Villain_au rom for 1/2 an hour, then restored Redux).
My advice would be to root your device, create a Nandroid backup via the recovery boot, then experiment with the various ROMs until you are happy with one. All of the info you need is available through this site, you just need to read a bit.
A word of advice, for the most part, perform a full wipe of the phone with each new ROM. It makes things easier and less things "break".
When you have rooted your phone, make "Titanium Backup" your new friend along with SMS backup tools.
I know enough to be dangerous in terms of rooting and ROMs now, and everything I have learnt so far came from this site.
Hope this helps.
OK, your new to Android.
Actually Desire is also my first Android phone and I have been using it for about 8 months.
What I did until now is first to get use with my phone with its original condition during the first month and also learning if there are more things I could do with my phone, here I found out what is and how to root my Desire.
After about a month, I decided to root my phone because I had problems with the very limited memory for apps installation.
I was confuse which ROM should I use after rooting since I also want better and new ROMs...someone told me about the LeeDroid and I also agreed to use it since LeeDroid is quite similar to the stock ROM but of course with additional functionalities.
Than the flashing-virus got me...and...I flashed many ROMs (RCmixHD, DeFrost, MIUI, RCs Z, etc.) until I decided to settle with BaadNewz 1.3 (now InsertCoin 2.0.1).
S-Off and other more advance things got picked up on the way till now.
All of the knowledge about my Desire came from this incredible Forum and its members...so..search, read and ask to people here...
Here is a start from me:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016084
alright i have decided to install oxygen rom cuz its simple and fast and very good as told by the droid guys here , im waiting for my 32gb card to arrive and then install the rom (for partition of 4gb for internal memory) , thanks everyone now the mods can lock this thread
Its not adviced to use ext partition bigger than 1.5gb (market problems)... you would never used it anyways...
1GB is absolutely enough for ext3/4 partition... you can install apps on SD card anyway. ;-)
yea most advanced users and devs would recommend 1gig was the perfect amount of room. anything more then 1.5 gigs will give you issues
alright thanks guys for the advice , today i will go through the reading and understanding stuff then apply it tomorrow
i have orange phone and there are two orange roms to downgrade me phone (unroved says its too new to root) one is orange ch-fr and other is orange ch . which one should i use
Just use orange ch
I am a normal user, not a developer. Had my desire for about a year now, its quite decent, I think I am gonna keep it when my contract runs out. Althought sometimes it freezes and forces apps to close.
It is very standard, android 2.2 with basic apss, sat nave being the most usefull app.
How do I get more out of this phone?
What will exactly rooting do? If I was to successfully root it (with your help obviously, i hope you have some good tutorials on here), is it likely that it will crash and brick later on?
No way of bricking it if you follow all the steps, even if you screw up something it's really hard to brick it completly...
Root is giving you multiple advantages, its all on the forums tho just have a read!
DanVanBam said:
I am a normal user, not a developer. Had my desire for about a year now, its quite decent, I think I am gonna keep it when my contract runs out. Althought sometimes it freezes and forces apps to close.
It is very standard, android 2.2 with basic apss, sat nave being the most usefull app.
How do I get more out of this phone?
What will exactly rooting do? If I was to successfully root it (with your help obviously, i hope you have some good tutorials on here), is it likely that it will crash and brick later on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting is a relatively risk-free procedure. Having root access means you'll be able to flash custom roms and modify/remove/add system apps, plus you'll be able to overclock or underclock for battery saving purposes. Other than this you'll be able to remove ads from free apps, plus much more things i can't recall.
Rooting is the first thing to do, then, if you want top performances you should really try out a custom rom, maybe an aosp one (aosp are the fastest, hands down). I'd recommend you to use Oxygen 2.1.4, bug free, insane battery life, really fast and even more stable than stock. Imho the best you can do is using Oxygen with its custom partition table and no ext partition: so you can keep all of the sd storage for your music, photos, videos or whatever you want, and you'll still have room for 80+ apps on the phone, and having all of the rom on nand makes it even faster. In order to do this you have to follow the s-off procedure and then flash the oxygen hboot, there is plenty of tutorials for all of this, just use the search function.
Actually if you wanna jump in and enjoy the epicness of Desire roms (we got some of the best devs ever playing with this device) you really should setup your android debug bridge (adb) on your pc: it's a program packed with drivers that will help you controlling your device for debug purposes and is essential for flashing radios, recoveries, partition tables, pushing apps to the system partition and much more things really handy. There are many tutorials also about that, it takes some minute to setup correctly but it's essential if you wanna play with android for real.
I hope i pretty much covered the matter, feel free to ask whatever you want.
Thanks, that helps.
I will attempt to root it over next weekend.
DanVanBam said:
Thanks, that helps.
I will attempt to root it over next weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice tutorial:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016084
First off, yep, I used the search but nothing did quite match the question I have...
Now, one of the main reasons I want to root my phone for, is, that I don't have (even nearly) enough space for the apps I want to use.
1. I saw a ROM floating around here which is enabling the complete installation of applications to the sd card, is this possible with every ROM or just with this specific one?
And:
2 .On the current stock ROM there already is an App2SD function, but I haven't got enough space anyway, does this improve with root access?
The second reason I want to root my Desire is, that I'd like to have 2.3 instead of 2.2, because of some features that were added.
One, actually minor but anyway, more reason for rooting for me is, that I can have a different theme (I'm getting bored of the stock one...)
3. Are this and the first one enough reasons to root your phone? Is it worth it?
Then, some more general questions about rooting:
4. I saw a few tutorials out there, which are "noob proved", is it really that simple? (I'm not complete idiot in terms of technical things, but I haven't got much expirience with android...)
5. I also saw that it is possible to "brick" your device, does this just happen when you do something completly wrong, or is it just random? How "high" is the chance of bricking your device?
6. After you rooted your device, can you "switch" ROMs quite easily or is it a kind of harder process each time?
7. Im not soo familiar with android, as I mentioned before, so, does android write the SMS and so on to the SIM card or are they saved internal? Are they getting lost while rooting?
And now over to some more personal questions:
8. What application or advantage did you root your phone for?
9. Which root apps are really making it worth rooting?
I'd be really thankfull if you could help me with this, and I appreciate each answer!
Best regards
P.S.: Sorry for my kinda bad english, but I'm not quite often using it....
1. You are talking about a feature named a2sd. If a rom supports it, it will be listed in its feature list. To use it, you have to follow the given instructions for partitioning sd card for a2sd in the roms corresponding thread.
2. That's not a2sd, it's the "froyo-style app2sd". The difference is, with the froyo one you can only move the application to sd card if the developer programmed the app for it. With a2sd, all apps you install will be automatically moved to a special partition on your sd card, namely sd-ext. You don't have and must not do anything.
You can already download gingerbread from htcdev.com:
http://htcdev.com/devcenter/downloads
3. Rooting gives you many advantages. Most important things are you can backup your apps/settings and your rom, and you can flash custom roms.
4. Of course they are. That's why they named like this.
5. If you follow all guides carefully and don't do something silly, imho the chance the phone bricks is not higher than an untouched stops working.
6. It's very easy. You do it from recovery, where you can backup your previous rom.
7. Yep, but you have to it with an extra program like sms backup & restore:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore&feature=search_result
8. Flash custom roms, backup and restore apps/rom -> better and so awesome desire experience.
9. Most important one is imho titanium backup:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.keramidas.TitaniumBackup&feature=search_result
i recently rooted and then unrooted and then rooted and s-off my desire trust me reading the instructions makes its sound more difficult than it is. just read carefully dont take shortcuts and ull be ok.
i rooted as i ran low on space also i like the fact i can delete system apps as i dnt use them.
you can use themes.
there are roms with data2sd or data2whatever, better than app2sd.
just read thru ask some questions of people.they will help u out. boobkmark the pages u want to use i always forget and then can never find the advice again!!!
once ur rooted used unrevoked for that. you can swap roms like there ur socks!! i and many others on here im sure swapped roms hourly let alone daily , u need to see which one fits u the best.
this is just what i no from my very limited experience others on here are much more in the know!
good luck
Use this guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016084
If you follow it exactly you should not brick your phone
Switching roms is easy as long as you read the requirements for each rom, which are usually found within the first two posts on the rom thread
If you use cyanogenmod rom you can use the s2e app from market to move apps to your sd card, imho this is a very easy way to implement app2sd, I'm using this, I have heaps of apps installed and still have plenty of space left
Sent from my CM7.1 Desire using XDA Premium App
Read some noob guides you need more knowledge
Thank you very much for the answers!
I downloaded all of the files needed and backed up SMS and contact information and tomorrow I'll root my phone (got more time and patience....).
Just one more quick question: I bought my phone unbranded (on Amazon), so I don't need to make a "gold card", am I right?
Nascor said:
Thank you very much for the answers!
I downloaded all of the files needed and backed up SMS and contact information and tomorrow I'll root my phone (got more time and patience....).
Just one more quick question: I bought my phone unbranded (on Amazon), so I don't need to make a "gold card", am I right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right. But if I were you, I would made one even so, just in case.
Hi All
I'm trying to move apps to SD and the devices tell me I need to root for this to happen. I went through the process of unlocking the bootloader only to have it remind me that it essentially becomes a factory reset, so I'm going to back up all my data and have a go on the weekend. I need to factory reset anyway as the phone has started lagging.
I have read that unlocking bootloader will allow the flashing of custom ROMs, which could include a ROM that is rooted. Is this correct?
If so can someone point me towards a stock rooted ROM, or the process of simply rooting the standard? I have no real desire to start playing with ROMs as the phone functions quite well it just requires a bit of cleaning it currently won't allow me to do.
android 4.2.2 HTC One XL (Telstra Branded)
I just want to delete some rubbish stock apps that I never use (like pocket news) and move the unessential apps like games to SD card as well as delete the hideously bulky little demo movies that these things have to free up some space.
Thanks in advance, and sorry if this is the wrong spot.
If you need any other info on the device let me know and I'll hunt it down. I'm not new to this kind of thing but it has been a while.
Cheers
Glenn
Dzyans15 said:
Hi All
I'm trying to move apps to SD and the devices tell me I need to root for this to happen. I went through the process of unlocking the bootloader only to have it remind me that it essentially becomes a factory reset, so I'm going to back up all my data and have a go on the weekend. I need to factory reset anyway as the phone has started lagging.
I have read that unlocking bootloader will allow the flashing of custom ROMs, which could include a ROM that is rooted. Is this correct?
If so can someone point me towards a stock rooted ROM, or the process of simply rooting the standard? I have no real desire to start playing with ROMs as the phone functions quite well it just requires a bit of cleaning it currently won't allow me to do.
android 4.2.2 HTC One XL (Telstra Branded)
I just want to delete some rubbish stock apps that I never use (like pocket news) and move the unessential apps like games to SD card as well as delete the hideously bulky little demo movies that these things have to free up some space.
Thanks in advance, and sorry if this is the wrong spot.
If you need any other info on the device let me know and I'll hunt it down. I'm not new to this kind of thing but it has been a while.
Cheers
Glenn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wrong forum mate go in ONE XL forum