[Desire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] s300pmu1:
2. What do I have to do before I can flash the ROM?

2.1. What is required to flash this ROM?

a. General requirements

- Rooted HTC Desire

- SD card partitioned into two partitions - FAT32 and EXT3 (EXT4 supported, but if you are going to flash mods later on you may have to mount it manually for some of them)

- hboot 0.93.x - I suppose it's same as with LeeDroid 3.0.x, where some have reported successfully flashing with older hboots, but it usually took multiple attempts, so it's easier to S-OFF

- fully charged battery, just in case, and a USB connector to plug it in in case you're not sure if you can turn it off prior to getting advice

- It is always better to flash critical stuff (like hboot) using a notebook or UPS-connected PC for obvious reasons

b. Requirements specific to Data++

- S-OFF

- Bravo CM7 r2 hboot downloaded and ready to flash (Bravo CM7 r1 is NOT compatible!)

- Stock hboot in case you want to go back

2.2. I want to S-OFF, how do I do that?

A video guide on rooting, S-offing and partitioning is available in this wonderful video tutorial thread.

Obtaining S-OFF is also described here: http://alpharev.nl/ OR in detail http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=805811

Brief explanation (sapienti sat): download S-OFF CD http://alpharev.nl/alpharev.iso, burn it and reboot (or mount it as bootcd in a virtual machine and reboot it), connect rooted HTC Desire, cross your fingers and follow instructions. If unsuccessful, try several times, if still unsuccessful, use a different USB port (preferably one on the motherboard, not the front panel, if you're using a desktop and not a notebook) and try several times, if still unsuccessful, try a different computer.

Can be done in a VM such as VMWare as well.

Another way is to use the newer Revolutionary tool.

A brief how-to is here.

2.3. I have to flash a different hboot, how do I do it?

Flashing hboot is described here:

- http://alpharev.nl/

- http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=14259861&postcount=3683

- http://androidtricks.net/fastboot-custom-hboot-partition-table-htc-desire-52

- http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=15646202&postcount=6730

All necessary files can be found in the last section.

2.4. I'm not sure which hboot I have, how do I learn that?

- by internal memory size: your internal memory should read 287 Mb if yoou're on Bravo CM7 r2

- by hboot name: Turn off your phone and hold volume down button and power button at same time. This will open a fastboot after couple seconds. See the top line where it says s-off, and in pink it should say "AlphaRev" and hboot name, e.g. "AlphaRev CM7 r2". Hboot version is couple lines below top.

If you see S-ON instead of S-OFF, you'll have to btain S-OFF first to be able to flash a different hboot.

2.5. Can I change the hboot without reflashing the rom?

If you've flashed Data++ version of this rom on a stock hboot, you can try changing hboot without reflashing the rom by means of nandroid backup.

Of course, it works only if your system\ and data\ are same or smaller than those of the new hboot, otherwise unpacking the nandroid will fail as you run out of space. Data++ rom installed on stock hboot is exactly such a case:

- Make a nandroid backup

- Flash Bravo CM7 r2 hboot

- Restore backup

Should work. But in any case, make sure you back up all the necessary stuff to PC, just to be safe.

If it doesn't work, you can always either

- flash the rom anew

- give up, flash old hboot and restore nandroid

2.6. How do I partition my SD card correctly?

To partition your card, you can use:

- GPARTED (linux software for partitioning, can be run on any PC using a live-cd, site: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php, how-to)

- any other reasonably advanced partitioning program (such as Acronis Disk Director)

- minitool partition wizard (freeware windows partitioning program, site: http://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html)

- your recovery

- ROM Manager app

This list is ordered in terms of success probability:

- GPARTED is the surest way to make good partitioning, although it is not noob-friendly and requires you to use a live-cd if you're using a non-linux OS such as windows, which means (a) rebooting to use it and (b) knowing how to enable booting with CD if it's disabled in your BIOS

- any other reasonably advanced partitioning programs cost money, so if you don't have 'em already, no point in buying them

- minitool partition wizard is windows-native and user-friendly, although marginally not as dependable as the two above options. Had never any problem with it, though

- recovery is another way to partition your card, but you are more limited as to available partition sizes and the probability of errors is higher.

- ROM Manager can also partition cards, but the probability of errors is higher than with recovery

Keep in mind:

- both partitions should be primary (see below on how to check)

- FAT32 should go first, EXT3\4 should go second (EXT4 claimed to be supported, not tested by author of this post)

- if partitioning via recovery\ROM manager, specify swap size as zero

- do not label the partitions

- reasonable size range for ext partition is 1-2gb

- if you are not experienced in partitioning, back up your sd card data (if you need it), for there are many ways to lose it when partitioning and only a few not to. You can just copy your sdcard data to a folder, then copy it back to fat32 partition if necessary.

- method of partitioning should be irrelevant, however, best results seem to be obtained by using GPARTED \ minitool partition wizard. Gparted is the surest way, but least convenient; minitool Partition Wizard is very easy to use and requires no reboots.

2.7. How to check if my partitions are primary and in correct order?

Simply put, you can do that by using programs used for partitioning listed above.

If you partitioned using ROM manager \ Recovery, your partitions should be primary, because the writers of that software are not saboteurs. So you need to check it only if you partitioned the disk yourself using partitioning software and are no longer sure if you did it right (one can always forget).

If you're using Windows, it's very easy:

If you don't have a card reader or do not want to open your desire to get the card out of it:

1. Connect phone to PC with USB and boot into recovery

2. Enter USB-MS mode and wait for the PC to see your flash card

If you have a card reader and don't mind opening it to get the card out:

1. Open Desire, remove card

2. Connect card reader to your PC, stick the card into it, wait for the PC to see it, and then...

...if you have minitool Partition Wizard, you can:

3. Launch it

4. Find your card in the list of disks

6. See partition types in the rightmost column, and partition order in the list under the card and graphically in the bottom half of the window

...if you have acronis Disk Director, you can:

3. Launch it

4. Find your flash card

5. In the top half, partition types are specified

6. In the bottom half, you can check the color of the partition against the legend (primary is yellow), and see if the order of partitions is correct

...if you have not the above software, you can go with Windows Disk Management:

3. In windows, press WinKey+R to get the Run dialog

4. Type dikmgmt.msc and hit ENTER

5. Wait for it to initialize, locate your flash card in the bottom half of the screen, using scroll bar if necessary

6. It should show two partitions, xx.xxGB FAT32 / Healthy (Primary Partition) and x.xxGB / Healthy (Primary Partition)

7. When done, close the window

...if you're masochistic enough for command prompt, you can:

3. In windows, press WinKey+R to get the Run dialog

4. Type DISKPART, wait for a prompt to appear (it could take some time)

5. type LIST and hit ENTER

6. It will show you a bunch of disks that are on your system. You have to find in the list the one which is your flash card (by the size) and mark its number.

7. Type SELECT DISK <disk number here> and hit ENTER

8. Type LIST PARTITION and hit ENTER

9. It will show you partitions, their order and their types

10. After you're done, just close the windows with the mouse

2.7. Do I have to have S-OFF to install this ROM?

Since you've obviously missed the "2.1. What is required to flash this ROM?" section of this FAQ, suggest you scroll up and read it thoroughly.

2.8. I have radio other than recommended by Lee (32.56.00.32U_5.17.05.08). Do I have to flash the recommended radio?

Actually, not. The rom will work with any radio. The best (but a very tedious) approach would be to flash a multitude of radios in succession and see which one is best for your combination of device\rom\cell provider\geographical features :)

This would take a lot of time and effort, and you would still not be sure which radio is really better as the differences are in most cases subtle. E.g. some people reported troubles with gmail sync on standard radio, which were resolved by flashing a different one; at the same time, however, other people live fine with recommended radio and have no gmail problems whatsoever. Get my drift?

Basically, if you're more or less satisfied with your battery life (i.e. it lives at least a day long with moderate to active use), GPS, cell module (no phone dropouts, reasonable signal power), you're good with your current radio. If not, look for a better one.

One more thing: you can flash the radio any time you want, it is not a necessary step for flashing this rom.

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