[G2 and Desire Z Android Development] WujaWojtek1:
I recently bought Desire Z and flashed this rom into my "new" phone!

Here are some of my thoughts and problems (some with solutions) I had:

1. Problem with my pc won't see desire z in htc sync. Doing factory reset helped. Without that your pc will not have drivers to send commands by adb to the phone.

2.

The rom have some problems:

default android downloader don't work (if app has its own downloader it can download things), also some shortcuts on desktop disappear after some time (minutes-hours)

3. Performance - it can emulate up to psx/psp, but messaging apps have problems. Messenger is still up to date on android 4.4.4 but it was booting for 10 minutes and I killed it after that time as it would not be usable anyway. Also Signal is crashing upon boot. Network is browsable with smartcookieweb browser (you need to use block js/desktop page sometimes), youtube is not watchable (browser - won't load, newpipe - error while searching, normal yt client - wont work without gapps, and I would not recommend to install them as they will really slow down the device).

4. Biggest problems are dead links. Really - I had to use multiple guides to do it. I will post links at the end.

5. Ram is 338 mb, not 512 like htc said. Its enough to make UI smooth and some 1, low ram demanding app work but nothing more. If you will choose only lightweight apps and close all others you can possibly use it. Using "Swapper 2" didn't changed anything (placebo?)

6. Wifi works, and it loads sites quite fast.

7. Offline navigation works - magic earth app.

8. Battery lasts quite long unless app need to use 1,2ghz to work. But I would say it is not too bad for a 14 yo battery. Not swallen. It uses 1% battery every 5 hours non used. In 1,2 ghz mode it is quite warm but not very. Probebly safe.

9. Keyboard opening mechanism works fine even after so many years, same touchpad but touchpad is rather useless. Maybe for meme pages scrolling

10. Battery is user replacable. There are still batteries for this phone on aliexpress!

11. As far as I know, even if you will install gapps, google store is offline for android 4.4.4 - so you need to install apps manually (in options, enable installing from unknown sources, download app from site like uptodown, apk mirror etc and tap on the .apk in file manager - it will ask if you would like to install app)

12. Price I paid for this phone is in conversion (i live in UE) ~17 USD, which I consider sensible for rather only nostalgia purposes (really, you can't do much on this phone. calling, smsing, meme watching without videos, playing emulated games up to psp/psx, but its hard to play sony games on the keyboard, so only really playable are Nintendo games.. up to N64/GBA - but yes, all emulators I found work with this keyboard! also you can play some android games, but I would not count on playing android 4 games - in times of this system phones were more powerful than our desire Z. Possibly android 2-3 games max. I tried: terraria: 1,2 - app has been stopped. 1,4 - works up to world generation, crash while entering world, VCMI - AI do turns VERY long time, exagear - installed correctly, crash upon booting into emulated windows)

Thats all I think.

Now VERY short instruction how to do the same:

1. Check if you have android 2,2 froyo. In not, you have to downgrade and do root.

HTC Desire Z – Downgrade + S-OFF + perm ROOT – BLOG SŁONIA :)

blog.sloniupl.eu

^ this guide is in Polish (my native) language. The only useful guide I found (other are enigmatic or with dead links). You simply have to: install htc sync -> download AMT (disable windows defender, it delete some files and make impossible to end the process) -> run ADB from this folder and copy commands from 5, 6 and 8 point of this guide, -> copy file PC10IMG.zip to sd card, turn on phone with vol- clicked, wait for phone analysing downgrade, accept, wait -> you have 2,2 and root, you can install now custom recovery.

Also remember to do all settings AMT will ask you!

if you are having troubles you can use english guides that this guide was based on:

[GUIDE] Downgrade G2 (2.3.X) & DZ (2.3.X) & mT4g (2.3.4) & DHD w/ S-ON to Stock Froyo

[GUIDE] Downgrade G2 (2.3.X) & DZ (2.3.X) & mT4g (2.3.4) & DHD w/ S-ON to Stock Froyo This guide is written for anyone who has "Stock Gingerbread" and wants to downgrade their phone which originally had "Stock Froyo". The following is a list of...

xdaforums.com

[TOOL] [15/07/11] AMT v1.8.5 - Sim Unlock, S-OFF, Downgrade - Added Auto Detection!

AMT - Advanced Multi Tools - For HTC Android Devices To Run on Windows XP - Make sure you have .NET Framework 4.0 installed. (Fixed Finally!) :) Changes / Improvements: ---------------------------- Version 1.8.5 -------------- 1. Fixed...

xdaforums.com

but I find them more difficult.

2. CWM app hosting is dead. It won't download. Use 4ext app instead. I downloaded newest recovery with touch driver. It installed rom fine. When installed, turn on phone with volume- button pressed again, choose in custom recovery: first wipe all data, catche, dalvik etc and next install from zip.

http://www.4ext.net/get.php?apk

^install on rooted 2.2 android and choose newest custom recovery.

3. Like somebody above mentioned, link to the rom:

milaq | downloads

download.milaq.net

good luck!

Edit:

Yt works with yt2009 3.5.5 app and its watchable.