[Desire HD General] antonizoon:
TL;DR: Basically, here is a challenge to all XDA developers: Disprove HTC's statement that ICS updates will require repartitioning or factory reset. If we succeed, HTC will be stuck in a rock and a hard place.

We're getting a major uproar and petition over HTC's refusal to update the Desire HD, and all we get from it is a statement from a PR team giving us these reasons:

For the uninitiated journalist, it seems legit. I mean, we all had to do a factory wipe before trying out XDA's ICS ROMs, right?

However, I don't think a single person on this forum has had to repartition their system to get even Sense 4 ICS, much less Sense 3 ICS working well. And if they had to drop a feature from gingerbread stock to update, just what kind of massive bloatware are they adding in?

I question the validity of this statement, and many others on XDA feel the same. But if we don't counter their argument, the general public will just grudgingly accept it.

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So, XDA, here is a list of challenges for you to complete.

1. Create a Sense 3 ICS ROM within the existing partition size that keeps all existing functionality from the stock Desire HD.

2. Try a test case where we flash over a 2.3 stock ROM with that ROM without data loss or factory reset.

The other challenges are nice touches, but the first two will be enough to reveal the fallacy of their statements.

3. (if needed) Create a method to repartition the user and system data through OTA update

4. Provide examples of phones with similar specs or partitioning scheme that have been successfully updated to ICS, or at least have promises

5. (EXTRA CHALLENGE) Provide an example of a phone that has an OTA update that repartitions the internal memory

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Here are some useful notes that I or other users here have brought up:

1. We will need to find or create a stock-quality ICS ROM that retains all functionality of the existing gingerbread stock, and adds even more apps to accentuate the point. The stock Incredible S ICS ROM is a good start. Better yet, I haven't seen a single rom on this forum that goes over the limit.

2. Factory resets are recommended when switching ROM types, but I think it will be okay to go without for stock ROMS.

3. Take a look at Libparted from Linux, it is constantly used for repartitioning without risking data loss and has been used to good effect on other devices.

4. The Incredible S currently has ICS rolling out, and it is very similar, down to the system partition which is only larger by 3.5 KiB. Why this and not the Desire HD?

5. This is the only truly difficult challenge here, repartitioning in an OTA update is something that has not been done before in recent memory. If you can't find it, create a method to repartition.

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Just for kicks, what is the real reason that HTC isn't updating? A combination of cost and planned obsolescence. The reality is that system updates for smartphones cost a lot to make and get FCC certification. Then the update has to be up to standards unlike our custom ROMs. With the amount of phones they have thrown out into the market, that adds up to a massive sum.

Finally, keeping phones updated just doesn't make sense to shareholders or the CFO, who have to justify going above and beyond to give more features to old phones when 1) HTC has sold you everything they advertised, 2) Few other manufacturers do the same, and 3) It dissuades customers from paying more for the latest and greatest. HTC did not sell you an upgrade service, they sold you a phone designed for Android 2.2.

The importance of software updates are a new thing to a company that was built on hardware innovation. But this is not acceptable in the modern market, one that is undergoing a worldwide recession, and one that demands powerful new software over expensive hardware. Unless they, and the other manufacturers find a solution, HTC's dated business model will lead it to certain destruction.

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I would try and contribute directly, but my main phone is an HTC HD2, and all I have is my grandfather's Inspire 4G, who happens to be away on a cruise in Alaska.