The HTC Desire thread

[MattHirst]

Just thought i'd let the guys here know as i know there are a few of you.

Been reading XDA-developers and a lot of people are reporting faults with the latest OTA update.

Obviously this is android 2.2. Not going to give the full list of faults as i can't be arsed finding them again but basically some people can't reboot their phone, some can't read from sim and/or SD card, some are reporting no signal, can't connect to 3g/hsdpa and/or wifi.

There is a chance your phone will be perfectly fine but there's a risk that it won't be. Until google/HTC release a new radio img then i don't know what will happen.

It is currently only debranded devices that are getting the OTA update but if you get offered the update then i strongly advise against downloading and installing it.

If you do want 2.2/froyo then i'd advise you to go down the root method. If you do update via OTA then the root method can't be done as it applies the 0.92 bootloader (which will be cracked and rooted in weeks to come but not currently)

Another advantage of rooted devices is you can flash custom (baked) roms with stock apps removed, custom apps, themes and other jargon added. Also with the added bonus that the roms worth flawlessly and don't screw your phone up

The early ones were unstable but the newer ones are based on the official roms (whether leaked before update or based on the new update) but tweaked to iron out all the problems!
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[Vinyardo]

Cheers for the heads up. I was under the impression the Desire was quite hard to root? If not, got any links to a decent guide?!


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--| Current bike: |--
--| Previous bikes: Honda CB500 -- KTM Duke 390 -- Honda CBR1000RR7 Fireblade -- Honda CBR600 FX -- Suzuki Bandit 600 -- Yamaha TTR250 -- Suzuki GN125 |--

[MattHirst]

It's a piece of cake to root, it takes some getting your head round all the weird commands but if you follow the instructions then it is fairly straight forward and you can't really go wrong.

It took a while for the nerds to get round the bootloader (the legend and the desire being the latest with very hard to crack bootloaders and recovery images).

Now you can use a 'fake-flash' recovery image so you don't even need to use cmd to flash a new rom, just put it on your SD card and install it via the custom recovery image.

Use this method to root, it has EVERYTHING you need to know in it.

Only thing i can't seem to see is how to find out what bootloader and ROM you currently have.

To do this, power off your device and hold down the back button and power button. This will load up 'FASTBOOT', it gives you the bootloader version (0.75 or 0.8, if it says 0.92 then you're screwed for now lol). To find out your current rom, go into the software information in settings on your phone, it will probably say 1.15, 1.19 or 1.21.

You will shit yourself a few times and think you have bricked your phone, especially when going into recovery mode (a scary looking red warning symbol appears on your screen but it's supposed to do that!)

If you need any info/help in non-nerd language then just give me a shout and i'll do what i can to help

Once you have rooted it (easy to tell, you will have 'superuser permission' app installed) then it takes all of 5 mins to flash a new rom using fake-flash/clockwork recovery. I reccomend you use Titanium backup to backup your apps etc (included in most roms, especially modaco ones). Just sync your contacts with google, that's the important part, you can always download your apps again.

NOTE - You are best off backing up your SD card of pictures, music or anything else you want as creating a goldcard will require a fat32 format. Also to use A2SD you need to format it to fat32 and create an ext3/4 partition which also wipes it (A2SD comes later though).
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[MattHirst]

Forgot to say, to make a goldcard you are best off using a class 6 card. I don't know how to tell the difference but Kingston 2gb cards ARE class 6 which is what i used (came with my htc legend).

Other cards do work but it's a bit hit and miss, class 6 cards are certain to work.

No harm in trying other cards if you don't have a kingston 2gb one. Just make sure it still functions as a memory card after you've finished making your goldcard. If it doesn't, it hasn't quite worked.

I know it sounds daft but don't worry if you brick your phone, it IS recoverable. You are only at risk of bricking it when gaining root access for the first time (as you are using the usb cable to push files into the root of your phone, hence the term usb-brick). But don't worry, the nerds over at modaco/XDA have figured out how to un-brick it.
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[Vinyardo]

Cool, I'll give that a go and see what happens!
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--| Current bike: |--
--| Previous bikes: Honda CB500 -- KTM Duke 390 -- Honda CBR1000RR7 Fireblade -- Honda CBR600 FX -- Suzuki Bandit 600 -- Yamaha TTR250 -- Suzuki GN125 |--

[MattHirst]

When making your goldcard, you may get stuck when entering this command into cmd:

[UnknownStuntm...]

I updated yesterday with no problems at all. Froyo is quicker, seems the senseUI is fine, and the new features are well received.

And stone the facking crows, my phone now actually vibrates when I have an SMS, using Handcent. Woo.

[MattHirst]

As i said, some people report no issues at all but some report many problems. I don't think anyone has narrowed it down to what is causing it yet.

No harm in rooting though (well you can't now ), the benefits out-weigh (in my opinion) having an official rom. Considering most of the ROMs out there are baked from the official source code anyway, they are extremely stable (some more so than the official rom) and the benefits of having extra goodies that HTC don't want you to have.

One prime example being A2SD. Froyo saves the app to the SD card but it leaves the dalvick cache on the phone memory (generally around 150-200kb) but once you start getting a lot of apps (i probably have close to 70-80 apps/games) then it soon starts taking up space. A2SD+ moves the dalvick cache onto the SD card aswell, totally eliminating any app data on the phone memory (also means you can swap your SD card between phones and still have apps, provided the other phone is rooted). You still get a little bit left on the phone memory like settings and save data for the apps/games, but it takes up a miniscule amount of space.
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[Phil.]

Thanks for the info!

You seem to know your stuff about all this so I have soom noobish questions for you.

I have an Orange desire and whacked a debranded image on it some time ago. It either used the same radio image or didn't touch it, either way, I'm still sim locked to orange, which is fine.

I have read that when upgrading to 2.2 I will need to up the radio to some more recent version and this may cause a simlock for all networks and the only way round that is to buy an unlock code, is this true?

If I put in an unlock code could I start using any desire unbranded image and ignore the fact that it was once a locked orange phone?

I have read that once the unlock code is in, it will last forever, regardless of image / rom done in the future?

At the moment I am waiting till I see some Orange desire specific guides.

[MattHirst]

That is true, to an extent.

When rooting/flashing new roms it DOESN'T unlock it, it only debrands it (unless you flashed it with a stock orange rom which you can do incase of warranty claims etc). You still have to use an unlock code (i paid £8.99 for mine off ebay).

To install froyo/2.2 you will need the latest radio which is 5.09 iirc, the rom i used required 5.09, some still use 5.08 though.

It will not (or shouldn't) lock it. However, the roms i use (LeeDroid from XDA-developers) states that orange users will need an unlock code. Whether this means you will need to unlock after installing the new radio or whether it just needs unlocking anyway i'm not sure, sorry.

When flashing new roms, it won't put a new radio image on unless you do it manually (in the same way that you flash roms via fake-flash/clockwork recovery).

Go into the bootloader/fast boot and see what it says there. It will tell you either way you do it via -

Hold back and press power (fastboot)
Hold volume down and press power (hboot/bootloader)

You use the hboot method in order to get into recovery mode. Anyway, just see what radio version it is using. Mine is running 5.09.00.08 and it didn't 're-lock' it (i had to unlock from t-mobile). If you're unsure, register over at modaco/XDA and ask.

If you are on orange then it shouldn't matter but if you're on another network then flash it with a froyo rom, flash the new radio and then unlock and just try and refrain from upgrading the radio unless its absolutley necessary (can't see why it would be until gingerbread is released, if at all on the Desire).

The r5/r6 roms from Paul at Modaco are stock roms so probably run slightly worse than the official rom does. He doesn't tweak the framework at all so it's just as standard as they come.

Over at XDA is where all the nerds are and put all sorts of little tweaks in (some as daft as the battery symbol being circle with % in the middle) and A2SD+ etc.

It all depends what you want.
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[MattHirst]

Just been reading this thread - https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=724326&highlight=radio+lock+phone&page=3

It seems if you flash a new radio then it WILL lock the phone to orange. Obviously orange don't care because they are hoping you are on their network anyway.

All i can suggest is that you check to see what your current radio is and if it's compatible with froyo. If not then flash rom, flash radio and then get an unlock code.
____________________
It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[Phil.]

Hey

Went ahead and unlocked my phone, guess it was only a matter of time before I needed it, roaming charges being what they are and all.

Radio 4.05.00.11
HBOOT 0.75
Software 1.15

Done the goldcard thing on my phone before so I expect it will work again, shame I gotta do it all from scratch though.

I usually keep an eye on modaco for rom releases, would you say XDA roms are better / more stable?

[JonB]

Just upgraded mine to 2.2

Nothing broken. In fact it is now so much better, no stuttering at all when scrolling through applications or anything. Really good performance boost and very noticeable.

All good so far.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Flip]

I'd just be happy if I could use the Desire without accidentally phoning people at 2AM.

[Tarmacsurfer]

[Flip]

Brilliant, that will stop me waking people up.

[MattHirst]

[Flip]

[Phil.]

I need some more advice....


So all the roms i have been looking at say i need to be rooted, so i need a gold card to put a rooted image on it. But that won't allow me to just put new roms on in the future, i need to be able to launch a custom recovery image instead. So i need to do this fake-flash update to it.

It seems like a lot of redundant steps to me, updating to one rom to be able to install another..

Then there's the whole branded - debreanded branches. My phone is now unlocked and using a debranded image, so it is just the same as a sim free phone? no need to worry about any orange specific posts in the future?

Wish i had more time to research all this stuff properly, it's all making me feel quite dense.

[MattHirst]

You can use any ROM to root your phone, so just find a ROM that suits your needs and use that in the rooting process.

You can use the 'unrevoked' method of rooting which iirc doesn't require a goldcard and is much simpler to do but it's a much newer method and isn't as tried and tested.

Debranding is simply removing Orange's ROM which they fill with loads of crap of their own (like apps and stuff).

Rooting is a once only procedure, providing you don't relfash a stock RUU (which doesn't come with superuser access). You can use 'ROM Manager' (which includes Clockwork Recovery) to flash new ROMs in about 5-10 minutes, allows you to backup your nand and stuff. Much easier than using SDK

I'm just reading up on the unrevoked method now, see how reliable it is.
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[MattHirst]

This seems like a pretty good guide to the unrevoked method -

https://androidforums.com/all-things-root-desire/124085-rooting-tool-one-click-program.html

Seems you don't even need a goldcard

ALWAYS, i repeat ALWAYS backup your nand before flashing a new rom. Last thing you want is a duff ROM (whether its a shitty rom or hasn't flashed properly) and to be left without a working phone. You can still get into recovery but it's a pain in the arse.

Also use titanium backup to back all your user data up
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[MattHirst]

Update.

After a bit of reading it seems that HTC may of temporarily stopped the OTA update.

Quite a few people at Modaco and XDA are saying that it claims their phone is already upto date on 2.1. This is on unbranded/sim-free phones. (OTA is still not available on branded devices)

Also, thos of you that have got the 2.2 OTA update, check that your wifi and GPS are still working (give it 2-3 days after updating), quite a few folk are claiming that these stop working a few days after updating. Not sure why, seems strange.

On a side note, i just updated to LeeDroid 1.7b, running good so far

Apparently, Paul at Modaco (the super nerd that first rooted the Desire and Legend) has stopped working on the stock RUU's and is focusing on tweaking the official 2.2 (based on the OTA) so good things maybe just around the corner
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!

[JonB]

Still no problems with 2.2 here.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Phil.]

Posting this as it may help someone, some day.

Going from 2.1 to 2.2 on a non rooted genric rom on my orange desire didn't go as smooth as i'd of hoped at first.

I tried using a rooting guide:
https://android.modaco.com/content/htc-desire-desire-modaco-com/307365/14-jun-r6-riskfreeroot-htc-desire-rooting-guide-now-with-hboot-0-80-and-os-to-1-21-support/

When it come to actually flashing the phone it threw a few errors about something not being signed, I tried again and it crashed half way through uploading files.

So I ended up using this guide:
https://rootmydroid.co.uk/guides/desire/howto-root-your-htc-desire/

That is, everything except adding the usb drivers from the sdk, windows didn't like them so I downloaded them from htere:
https://www.unrevoked.com/rootwiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?hash=908951&media=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unrevoked.com%2Frecovery%2Fandroid-usb-driver.zip

All went smoothly using this method and I updated using a standard 2.2 rom just with the HBOOT update stripped and rooted:
https://android.modaco.com/content/htc-desire-desire-modaco-com/315108/04-aug-2-09-405-8-froyo-pre-rooted-no-hboot-with-radio-deodex/

[MattHirst]

Thought i may aswell make this the Desire thread, saves everyone else creating threads all over the place.

The only downside to using the 'standard' rooting methods are, you run the risk of usb-bricking your phone. It is reversible by fiddling with some code somewhere (tutorial on modaco).

I've not done it myself but i would reccomend using the unrevoked method for rooting.

Also when flashing roms, use a custom recovery image (like clockword mod that comes with ROM Manager, available from the market).

Glad you got it rooted in the end though

If anyone is interested, here is the 'navigator' panel apk from the Droid. Much sleeker and better looking than google's 'car home' app.

It doesn't replace the car home but there's nothing stopping you from uninstalling it (you have to do it via adb as it's a system app and won't let you uninstall it via settings)

On the note of apps, when you download a new rom, where it may be from, you can install new boot animations. It can be done after flashing the rom but you have to use adb and i don't know how.

Just find a boot animation that you like (loads on xda/modaco) and copy the .zip (DON'T extract it) to Data>Local in the ROM .zip if that makes sense. Remember not to unzip the ROM, just double click it, go into data>local and paste it into there (you may already find a boot animation in there if it's a custom rom, just delete it). If the boot sound annoys you aswell, just delete the mp3 from that folder aswell.

While we're talking about apps, in your new ROM (before flashing), go to system>app in the .zip of your ROM and delete anything that you don't want. Some of them are so small they aren't worth bothering with but stuff like plurk, twitter, flickr are just a couple that i deleted. I won't ever need them/use them so they are just taking up space
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It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt, then it's bloody hilarious!!!