[Thunderbolt Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] loonatik78:
q AND a v1.45 -The noob questions answered/how-to guide!

I've created this thread in the interest that “noobs” will find it and hopefully find the answers to their most often asked questions and perhaps to dispel myths that seem to crop up from time to time. My goal is to reduce the number repeated thread posts and concentrate these Q&A questions in quick and easy format.

In the event your answer isn't in here somewhere and you need to start a thread, please include your current ROM, Radio (by RUU number of origination), and kernel if you've flashed one that didn't come in the ROM. Summing it up in your sig makes it easy for people to see in any of your posts. (See my sig at the bottom of this post for an example.)

NOTICES:On the evening of 8/31/11 a bug was found to be causing force closes of the camera and Gtalk. The issue has to do with the camera and a solution has been discovered. This LINK contains "camera.zip" and can be flashed via CWM to resolve this issue.

Credit: mpwt51 on the Android Central Forums and Snow02 on the BAMF Forums

The ClockworkMod issues have been resolved in newer releases so I've removed the link.

Index:

1: Rooting your device.

2: What ROM is best for you?

3: Flashing a ROM

4: What radio will work with your ROM?

5: Flashing a radio

6: Flashing an RUU

7: Flashing a kernel

8: Facts about your battery and charging.

9: Titanium Backup-your friend and enemy.

10: Setting S-on/unrooting

11: Troubleshooting!

Useful references

Second Post: OC'ing and leak news

1: Rooting your device.

Rooting your device is not something that should be attempted because your buddy did it and you want to be cool like him. Every rooting guide or tool SHOULD state clearly that you're going to void your warranty and may also destroy your device in the process (a.k.a, “brick” it). Rooting an Android device is to attain superuser permissions to perform various administration level functions which have been deliberately locked out by the manufacturer to prevent you from stealing carrier services, removing software, and damaging the device. I would like to emphasize “damaging the device”.

If you're not rooted already, and you're aiming to, you're life has become easier. We used to do it though ADB, but jcase is endorsing Revolution, so I must deffer to him. For those interested in the "old fashioned" way, you may still find it HERE.

The old ADB method will still work on all firmwares for the Thunderbolt, but different exploit files are needed. Revolutionary is currently the preferred method and will work on all known Thunderbolt firmwares. And by ALL, I mean from the first engineering leak to the latest 2.11.605.3 Gingerbread OTA. This will remain the case for all future leaks, and if this changes, I shall note it accordingly here and indicate what new rooting method will work.

Please direct questions pertaining to the Revolution method to the thread in the development section. I've never used this method, so I'm not a good source of advice.

To stock root users:

I highly advise NOT staying with the stock ROM after rooting. That is a VERY old RUU. Verizon is pushing updates automatically which WILL render your phone fairly useless until you remove the update files. To avoid this, use a custom ROM. Ideally, you SHOULD move to RUU 1.70 ASAP as it resolves many connectivity, power usage. and functionality issues.

If for some strange reason antique firmware lights your fire and you're device has auto-updated to OTA 1.70 and entered something of a boot loop, THIS LINK has fixes for you.

2: What ROM is best for you?

You will never get more answers for any question than this question. What ROM is best for you is HIGHLY subjective and largely hinges on what you expect from your device. I'm going to ask, on behalf of all XDA members, that you DO NOT start a thread like "What ROM is best for me?" filled with requirements, presumptuously expecting an influx of polite and informative answers. Instead, please DO investigate things for yourself. Here's some helpful info to get you started down that path:

Sense ROMs: Sense ROMs are built from RUUs, either officially released or leaked. An RUU is the complete update file for a handset; including the bootloader, radio, and ROM. Currently, all Gingerbread Sense ROMs are based on leaked RUUs. Each RUU has a version number, for example 2.10.605.0. The higher the number, the newer it is. Newer is generally better. Devs will usually include the base RUU version number in their OP. I like to think of custom ROMs developed on a common base as a family of sorts. They're going to generally have some similarities. They can have major differences as well. Some things about them won't ever change though.

Sense ROMs come in many flavors; 2.1, 2.1/3.0 hybrid, 3.0. It's really hard to tell what you like until you play with some and get to know them.

AOPS ROMs: AOSP ROMs are not built from leaked or released RUUs. They are built upon code obtained through the Android Open Source Project and are custom built for the devices. HTC, and manufactures in general, don't support AOSP being developed for their device. As a result, AOSP devs basically have to figure it out for themselves which makes the ROMs much more experimental. These ROMs typically come out in 1 or more versions, usually identified by date of release if it's a final release version, or an RC (release candidate) version if it's still in beta testing. Think of the version number and RC/beta number like the RUU number of a Sense ROM. For instance, CM7.0.3 may have several release versions that are only very slightly different. Then you may have several CM7.1.0 Beta or RC candidates that may less stable, but being offered for real world use and user feed back. That's basically the picture for the dInc currently, not the Tbolt, so don't quote me. CM releases are generally going to all look and feel the same and carry the same group of features. OMFGB is going to be making a name for itself with different features and characteristics. You won't know which you like until you try them.

3: Flashing a ROM

There are 2 ways to flash a ROM, however I'm only going to explain one of them because the second method is not prefered by any dev I'm aware of. The method I'm describing is through ClockworkMod Recovery.

There will be instances where you will not need to wipe anything to update your ROM. Examples would be ROMs called “nightlies” and ROMs that are an evolution, such as CM7. Some ROMs will have a command in the updater script to wipe and/or format directories or partitions, so unless unpacking the ROM and editing the updater script sounds like fun, accept the fact it WILL wipe your device. BE SURE TO READ THE OP BEFORE FLASHING so you know whether it will wipe your device or not, whether you must manually wipe it, or if flashing over your current ROM is acceptable. IF wiping isn't desired or required, skip step 3.

Step 1: Download the ROM of your choice.

Step 2: Reboot into recovery. If this is your first ROM flash, remove the battery and re-insert it, then hold Vol-down while powering the device on. Do not release Vol-down until you see the white HTC screen. When the bootloader comes up, select “recovery”.

Step 3: Wipe user data/factory restore. This will be an option on the main menu of ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM). Confirm the wipe. It's also wise to also format /system. This can be found under "mounts and storage". Select /system and confirm the format.

Step 4: Wipe the dalvik cache. This is done by selecting “Advanced”, then “wipe dalvik cache”. Again, confirm this action to complete it.

Step 5: Flashing your ROM. On the main menu you will be selecting “install zip from sdcard”, then “choose zip on /sdcard”. You'll then see a directory tree of your SD card. Assuming you haven't moved your downloaded ROM, you'll find it in “download”. Select the ROM's zip file, confirm the flash, then sit back and wait. First boots on a new ROM are slow so be patient. The more you do this, the more comfortable you'll get with the whole process.

4: What radio will work with your ROM?

That's a pretty short answer... with some twists. If you're using ANY gingerbread Sense ROM, ANY "MR2" radio will work for you. If you're using Froyo, the answer gets a bit murky. If you're using AOSP, it gets even murkier. Allow me to explain....

Some Froyo builds based on older "MR1" bases have been ported to use newer "MR2" radios. Examples would be Eaton ROM, and BAMF 1.8.6. Some still use "MR1" radios, but they're slowly going extinct. Certain AOSP ROMs come in 2 versions, one for "MR1" radios, one for "MR2" radios. The bottom line is you MUST read the OP. Gingerbread Sense ROMs are the no-brainer. ALWAYS use "MR2" radios.

A note about "MR" designations: "MR(fill in the blank)" really doesn't mean jack. They are numbers made up on the fly to make things easy to describe. A much better way to describe the radio version would be by the RUU it came from using the first 3 numbers of the RUU, such as "2.10" for the 2.10.605.1 RUU radio. I WISH this was the standard method of designation, but it's not.

The following is the most complete list of Tbolt radios I'm aware of. RADIOS

This link is the CDMA and LTE radio packaged together: Adrynalyne's list

These are described THE RIGHT WAY, by the RUU of origination. Adrynalyn's list takes it one step further and describes "MR" version and release details. You will notice that there are actually 2 radios for each RUU number. This is because the radios have been parsed into individual CDMA and LTE radios. The common reference to "the radio" usually refers to the pair of radios from an RUU, so, in order to flash the "MR2" radio, you'd need to flash both the CDMA radio and the LTE radio. The advantage of this is you can mix and match radios depend on what works best for you, your area, and your device. For those not interested in the mix-n-match game, Adrynalyn's list packages the pair nice and neat for simple flashing.

That still leaves us with this whole "MR1/MR2/MRwhatever" quagmire of "what's it mean???" Short answer: MR1 radios are everything from RUU 1.68.605.3 and older, MR2 radios are anything from RUU 1.70.605.0 and newer.

5: Flashing a radio.

Flashing a radio is done much differently than a ROM or a kernel. Instead of using CWM, you'll be doing this through the bootloader. The Tbolt bootloader only recognizes files named PG05IMG. Accordingly, any radio you flash will need to be named PG05IMG.zip. The radio you need will almost always be indicated on the thread for the ROM you're using. If you flash the ROM without the proper radio, you will NOT have any wireless functionality at all. DO NOT PANIC. Flashing back to a compatible ROM will restore functionality, as will updating the radio to the proper version.

Edit: If you're using the radios from the listing provided above, you'll need to do this operation TWICE, once with the CDMA, once with the LTE radio, to have a complete version of a radio. Adrynalyn's radios are complete pairs.

From here you have 2 options. 1) Follow the guide provided in the radio listing, or 2) follow this guide. Option 1 is done through ADB. Option 2 is done solely on the device.

1: Download the required radio(s).

2: Renaming it PG05IMG.zip and placing it on the root of your SD card.

3: CHECK THE MD5 SUM.*

4: Reboot into the bootloader

5: Select “bootloader”

6: The bootloader will automatically search for the update, then it will ask you if you wish to update. Vol-up approves the update, Vol-down declines it. You want to Vol-up to update it.

7: It will unpack and update the radios (or radio, if you're using the singles from the listing), then tell you to push “power” to reboot.

8: After rebooting, remember to remove or rename the radio so that if you need to hard boot into recovery, the bootloader won't find that file and attempt to update it instead of allowing you to move on to CWR.

*Flashing a bad radio can brick your device so it's important to check that MD5. I recommend only using radios from sources that provide MD5 sums for you to verify against. You can use an app from the market to check it, or you may do it through terminal emulator, assuming you have busybox. (Virtually all custom ROMs do, but stock/rooted ROMs don't.) The usual location of busybox is /system/xbin or /system/bin. Sometimes it's found at /local/data. Assuming it's at /system/xbin, your command will look like “/system/xbin/busybox md5sum /sdcard/pg05img.zip”. After a moment, the MD5 for the file will appear and you can compare it to the posted MD5. Assuming they match, happy flashing! If they don't match, delete the file and re-download.

Note about radio file management: It can be a major inconvenience to leave a pg05img.zip file on the root of your SDcard if you need to boot into recovery.... like, it won't be happening. This is what I, and many others, do to manage multiple radio files on our devices.

Rename them instead of deleting them. For instance, you just flashed the 2.10 CDMA radio, so now you've got this pg05img.zip file on your SDcard root. I would rename it something like "2.10_cdma_pg05img.zip" through a file browser as soon as the phone booted back up. Your hboot will ONLY look for files named "pg05img", not simply files with that in the name. What you'll eventually end up with is a quick and easy to understand listing of all your radios, pre-MD5 checked, ready to rename and flash at the drop of a hat. Renaming a file does NOT change it's MD5.

6: Flashing an RUU.

I put this right after flashing a radio because the process is exactly the same. So is the need to check the MD5. An RUU will replace your radio, bootloader, and ROM so don't flash an RUU unless you know exactly what you're doing. In general, you should never need to do this unless you want to return to a completely stock device with S-Off. RUU's are UNMODIFIED firmware that ROMs are built on.

7: Flashing a kernel

Flashing a kernel is done exactly the same as flashing a ROM. In short, you're flashing a new boot image; either provided or created on the fly. The kernel is the guts of Android that interfaces software with hardware and can bring many advantages or disadvantages to the table, depending upon the software and hardware in question. Kernels for HTC devices come in 3 basic flavors: AOSP, Gingerbread with Sense, and Froyo with Sense. These are pretty obvious characteristics of a ROM and determining the kernel you need should be easy. That information can be found on your phone and on the ROM OP. Not all kernels are presently represented on XDA and at this time I will not be providing links to other sources. Let Google be your friend!

8: Facts about your battery

Your HTC contains a variation of lithium-ion technology known as a lithium polymer battery. These are relatively long life batteries which are very resistant to “memory” effects and fluctuations in output voltage. They are the closest thing to ideal that technology provides at this point in time. There's much speculation and rumor floating about these interwebs concerning how they function and how they should be treated. Many of them are imaginative and WRONG. So, here's the real dirt.

First, the BAD things to do with a Li-on battery:

*Keeping it fully charged all the time or storing it longer than a week or so fully charged.

*Shorting it out.

*Storing it for extended periods in a completely discharged state.

*Getting it wet.

*Attempting to overcharge the battery.

*Attempting to overdischarge the battery

Here's why: These batteries can explode gloriously if contaminated with water. Shorting them out generates temperatures that can damage them and cause them to explode. Overcharging can do the same thing as shorting them out. Overdischarging them can permanently alter the components of the cells and render them garbage in very short order.

Next, the GOOD things to do with a Li-on battery:

*Charge the battery and use it.

*Keep it dry, just like the rest of the phone

*If you use multiple batteries, rotate through them so no particular battery is left stored fully charged for an extended period.

*Recharge completely dead batteries as soon as possible as this state my be the most destructive way to keep a battery in. Better yet, if you use multiple batteries, switch them out before it's completely dead.

*Allow the phone or charger to charge the battery as it's designed to. Don't use modified kernels that attempt to trickle charge it. Don't waste your time “bump charging” it.

*Avoid consistently running your battery flat dead.

*If storing your battery for extended periods, run it down to approximately 35% before storing. This is the IDEAL storage charge state.

Here's the why: Li-on batteries have do not exhibit “charging memory” like old Ni-Cad batteries did. The use in running full charge in discharge cycles occasionally is strictly for the benefit of the phone's battery stats. Charging a the battery excites lithium compounds which in turn retain electrons in the shells of the lithium atom. This is due to lithium's volatility and is why it will react violently to moisture and can melt your skin off. Left fully discharged, those compounds are keen to create bonds that fill the void of left by the electrons that powered your device. Left fully charged, the compounds that retain the electrons that power your device can break down under the electron load. Eventually, both of these conditions take place and what's what ultimately ends your battery's useful life, but that degradation can be avoided with proper use. A charge of roughly 35% for long term storage is the optimum to avoid either of those conditions, and a cell in that state can be stored for years without appreciable degradation.

The three most power-hungry devices in your Tbolt are the screen, LTE radio, and CDMA radio, generally in that order. Memory use, as some might suggest, is NOT a significant drain on your battery, and therefore should be used as fully as possible to reduce the use of your forth largest consumer of power, the CPU. Task killers are a waste of time, space, and resources on your phone and have no legitimate use. They are the life support system for poorly designed apps that should have been aborted before birth. Practice software eugenics; keep only the best and most useful apps, delete the apps that abuse your system resources and connectivity. (Your phone doesn't really make convincing fart sounds anyways...)

9: Titanuim Backup-your friend and enemy

Perhaps you've wondered how you might backup all your odds and ends between ROM flashes? Well, the app you're looking for is called Titanium Backup. It comes in two flavors; free and premium. Free is all you really need. What this app will let you do is make full backups of your user app and data, and system apps and data. Sounds pretty groovy, huh? Now you can pick up on your Angry Birds right where you left off, ROM after ROM (Don't lie... we all play it, but don't always admit it.) Hold it right there...

This app is probably more advanced than your average joe needs it to be, and that can get you into trouble. And it's not perfect either.

Generally, all user apps and data can be restored across OS's and platforms. When I moved from my dInc to my Tbolt, it was a breeze. Just had to shuffle a couple files from one SDcard to another and you're back in business. Where people run into issues with Titanium Backup is when they attempt to do a FULL restore. That includes system apps and data that are rarely the same and often not compatible from one ROM build to the next. If you're lucky you only end up with dead apps. If you're not lucky, you get to reflash your ROM and start from scratch. So, here's a few pointers to help avoid complications with Titanium Backup...

*Only use a batch restore operation on USER apps and data. NOT system data.

*Many say NEVER restore app or system data, however, they are wrong. Some system data is restorable, but I suggest manually going down the list and restoring rather than attempting a batch operation restore. The following is system data I KNOW to be stable..

-[User dict] and [user dict htc]. There are 2 keyboard/dictionary system data files that will snap back your dictionary as well as your keyboard settings.

-Bluetooth pairings. This USUALLY works, but not always.

-WiFi hotspots. This will help avoid having to re-enter secured hotspot keys and trusted hotspots to automatically log onto.

-Internet/bookmarks. This will snap your bookmarks back.

-Wallpaper/settings Gingerbread. This SHOULD work... I've never had problems with it.

*It's it's REAL important, make 2 backups of it. Titanium Backup is nice, but it lacks any kind of QoS and does junk out a backup from time to time.

*Backup your SDcard elsewhere from time to time. It's not exactly unheard of in these days of ultra-low voltage and clock settings to corrupt an SDcard. If that's the only place you're data exists, that will be the LAST place your data existed.

Generally, if it's in Red, don't mess with it. If it's white, it SHOULD work, but there's no promise. Some versions of Wireless Tether, for instance, don't restore well from one ROM to another. Green items are system settings and are mostly good to go, but some make assumptions concerning the ROM that might not be true, such as the nature of the framework. Restore with caution. There are many help threads in Q&A regarding Titanium Backup. Please search those before posting. The problems with Ti-Backup have been few and fully explored and explained.

10: Setting S-on/Unrooting

Since there are 2 methods for setting S-Off/rooting your device, there are 2 methods to set S-On and unrooting.

If you used Revolution, follow THIS link.

If you used the jcase ADB method, follow THIS link.

11: Troubleshooting!

As was pointed out to me, there are problems that crop up that seem unexplained to the noob, and even some senior members, so I've decided to add SECTION 10: Troubleshooting!.

1: "EEK! GADS!!! I flashed my first ROM and I have NO SERVICE!!!" Step one: remember the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and "Don't panic". Your problem lies with the fact your stock radio doesn't work with your new ROM. Your fix will be to go up to Section 4, follow one of the links provided, then follow instructions provided in Section 5.

2: "My phone keeps trying to update every time I boot into the bootloader!!! This HAS TO be VERY BAD!!!" No... it's actually good because it means your phone is doing exactly what it's supposed to do. Computers have this uncanny will to do EXACTLY what they're told... And what you've told it, unwittingly, is that there's a new update for it. In other words, you've probably left a file on the root of your SDcard called "pg05img.zip". If you're phone still works, just go into your file explorer of choice and delete it or rename the file to ANYTHING except pg05img.zip. If your phone has gone kattywhampus (yes, that is MY technical term), then you'll be forced to remove the file be installing your SDcard in another device or SDcard adapter and deleting it using another device or computer.

3: "My phone boots, but there's NOTHING but a background and it doesn't respond to any hard or soft buttons! Did you just flash a kernel??? If so, what kind? Kernels come in 4 basic stripes and types; Froyo and Gingerbread, Sense and AOSP. Your fixes at this point are A) restore from your last nandroid backup, or B) find the correctly corresponding kernel type for your ROM and flash that just as you would any other kernel. Make sure to wipe dalvik when you do.

4: "I've flashed like 4 ROMs in a row and I'm still having Force Closes on the system process/reboots! Is it bricked?" No, my friend, you're phone is just fine. There's most likely just garbage left in /system which is usually not formatted in a "factory restore/wipe user data". The assumption is that the new ROM will completely overwrite /system, but that isn't always the case. Easy fix: do a manual /system format, then reflash the ROM. You may have heard some myth about wipe 3 times... I call it a myth because it IS a myth. Your phone and SDcard use NAND memory, not magnetic media like a platter or cassette tape. For an excellent explanation why multiple wipes is a waste of your time and useless, read THIS.

5: "help i'm a noob rooted with revoltion clockwork none apps need root won't work help!" This is NOT a question. It's not even a sentence. PLEASE form sentences and questions with words, not mindless run-ons that require the assistance of the Psychic Friends Network to decode. We want to help, so please do the following:

*Use complete sentences and terms. (You did NOT root with Revoltionary, it doesn't do that. It turns S-Off."

*Don't DEMAND answers or demand credentials of the answer giver.

*Provide basic info: ROM, radio, kernel, other software or hardware at play.

Doing this will get you answers much faster.

6: "Hells bells, Margret! I didn't know I shouldn't take an OTA while rooted!" Don't worry, you're not the first and won't be the last. The following are a few sets of instructions that will fix you right up.

Method 1: (thanks to sonicbuffalo for posting this method)

1) Once you are in ClockWorkMod Recovery, scroll down to "Wipe cache partition".

2) Select "Wipe cache partition" using the home key or power button.

3) Now, scroll down to "Yes - wipe cache".

4) Press the home key or power button to perform the wipe.

5) When done, restart your phone.

6) Your ThunderBolt will boot into the Android operating system and will say that the UPDATE FAILED.

7) Choose Cancel to stop the update.

8) Restart your phone one last time and you'll see that the "Powering Off" loop is gone.

Method 2: This will delete your data

1) Once you are in ClockworkMod Recovery, select "wipe data/factory reset" using volume keys.

2) Press home key or power button to select.

3) Answer Yes, by scrolling with vol keys and home or power key to select.

4) When phone reboots, the powering off loop should be gone.

Method 3: This only works if you have a Nandroid Backup from prior to accepting the update.

1) Once in clockwork select "backup and restore" using vol keys.

2) Select using the home key or power button

3) From next menu select "restore"

4) Choose your backup from list and select.

5) Answer yes to restore backup

6) When phone reboots the "powering off" loop is gone.

Method 4: This is a last ditch effort if all other methods fail.

1) Download the Leaked Rooted Update from HERE.

2) Following instructions in THIS post load the rooted leak.

3) When your phone reboots, the powering off loop should be gone and you should be running the latest software and still rooted.

Useful references:

The Official Thunderbolt ROM & kernel Listing v3.0

The Thunderbolt Root User's Dictionary v1.0.1

You're battery may be lying to you...

If by some miracle my mindless, ill-constructed ramblings have helped you, slap that thanks button! Feel free to PM me with any questions or for clarity on anything covered here.

Credits and thanks:

Gu1dry: for his itemized radio thread.

Adrynalyne: for his HIGHLY organized and descriptive radio thread

MattBeyers: for his Root User's Dictionary

DemoManMLS: for Official Thunderbolt ROMs and Kernels listing (retired)

MyComputerDoctor: for continuing to maintain the R&K listing in the stead of DemoManMLS

Byrong: for his spiffy battery info thread.

jcase: for his ADB rooting guide.