yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
Sorry guys originally I believed I am slowly getting into the matter and am begining to understand how flashing / rooting / upgrading home brew firmwares works on these phones.

After these 2 posts I feel like a total noob again.

Now again some very concrete questions:

What about these 2 guides I've posted links to?

Can I somehow got [Recovery] [13-Dec-2009] RA-hero-v1.5.2 installed so I will be able to do nandroid backup and then possibly flash some new roms?

Can I really brick my phone by trying to install amon ra?

Originally I thought the process works as follows:

1) get the custom recovery image installed (that's the amon ra in this case),

2) do a nandroid backup which will dump everything usefull on to the memory card,

3) backup and reformat the card,

4) download a rom, rename it to update.zip, put it onto the root folder of the cart, reboot the hero in recovery mode, do the wipe of the data partition, and run update,

5) reboot again and believe it's good.

Also some very significant bit is the thing you are all calling the radio. I am afraid I've not identified this bit thus it's missing in this summary.

Which files will I need to download if I decide to try Android 2.1 community edition 1.8? Are these files I've copied links to a few posts earlier both needed?

Can you please check this list, identify the things I am missing, and make suggestions and corrections why this may not work on my device based off of those number I tried to put down here?

Even if I won't be able to do this right now I'd be happy to get corrections as I can learn something new.

Of course I won't be doing all this on my own. I will ask my bro to read all the stuff to me and we'll do it according to your advices.

To give some bits about me and my computer skills, I believe I am a Windows power user, Basically I do also understand unix, I know what's bash how the files are arranged in a file system, can use command-line tools, telnet, ssh. I am working as a network administrator here so some background is there really.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pulser_g2:
Hi pvdeejay,

Answers to your questions here.

You can actually use fastboot to 'temporarily' load up the AmonRA recovery image into memory and run it from there. I do that on my phone, for the simple reason that I can't be bothered (:) ) to flash the recovery. Once you get AmonRA running, the first thing you should do is make a Nandroid backup. It will be saved to your SD card, so then get the nandroid directory of your card and save it to your PC (just in case!)

So, here's how you'd go about this.

(Make sure you have the android sdk installed, and that adb and fastboot commands are working). USB cable should be plugged in throughout.

Before you begin, put the ROM you want (ie. Android 2.1 community edition 1.8) into the root of the microSD card (a .zip file).

adb devices

Should list your phone's serial number

Now turn off the phone, and turn it on with the back key held down (the one at the very bottom right of the device).

You should enter fastboot mode. Now type

fastboot devices

and you should see the serial number again.

Now type

fastboot boot AmonRA.img

where AmonRA.img is a file in your present working directory that is the filename of the latest custom recovery image. This does NOT flash your phone, it merely runs the image (pretty much as close as you get to risk free, other than sitting there with a tinfoil hat on ;))

See screenshot of the recovery image here:

http://www.sizzledcore.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/RA-hero-recovery-image-500x375.jpg

Make the Nandroid backup by choosing 'Nandroid Vx.x Backup' and waiting a while.

If your ROM needs a wipe first (most new ones do), select Wipe data/factory reset. You will lose all your user data on the device (but you've got a nandroid backup just in case)

You're now good to go. So choose "Apply sdcard:choose zip"

Now select the custom ROM zip file you downloaded. It doesn't even need to be called update.zip! Choose it from the list and push trackball.

Wait for the update.zip to go in. Do NOT turn off the device or pull the battery. First boot can take a very long time (upto 30 minutes). Just keep it plugged in via USB and wait...

As for radios, see http://android.modaco.com/content/h...-24-11-hero-roms-radios-in-update-zip-format/ and look at the section titled radios. The latest one is in bold. It is a .zip file as well, that you use these exact same instructions for to install (don't do the wipe or anything like that. Just install the .zip file)
[Hero, G2 Touch General] kendong2:
this is correct so far, i did the same, except i installed the recovery. i play a lot with my phone, the installed recovery image with the nandroid backup is the best i have ever seen for a phone... ;)

@pvdeejay

you always write so much... ;)

i try to answer everything:

the two guides you posted are good for your situation. i never tried flashrec, but from what i read it is safe to use. i installed my recovery image through fastboot, the guide is here: http://android.modaco.com/content/h...ng-the-patched-recovery-image-on-your-device/

i have no idea how this works out for you, but my honest suggestion would be that you have someone seeing assisting you, you CAN brick your phone, though it is not likely if you follow the instructions precisely. the process is not very time consuming at all, so you don't need to bother anyone for days of their time.

edit: and now i read your post to the end and saw that your brother will be helping you, so you are on the right track ;)

once you have the recovery installed you can make nandroid backups, and i would suggest that you do this first thing after installing the recovery, better make a backup too much than one too less... ;)

the 5 steps you described are correct, except there is no need to rename the zipfile anymore, you can select any .zip from your sdcard.

the radio part is the number that begins with 63.18.55.06, then comes two letters and then more numbers. as by now the version can be identified by the letters, with JU being the up-to-date one. in general you can say the newer the better, but you have to try for yourself. start with the newest one, if you have problems go back.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
thanks this seems to be pretty doable plus I will easily be able to restore the current data backed using nandroid backup.

Which android SDK do I need the latest one?

The commands I need to type are supposed to be typed on the PC or on the phone? I assume on the PC but I just would like to ensure.

Hero21 1.8 community edition has a recommended radio listed in the first post. Is it necessary to install that one as well? What should I install first the actual rom or the radio? Do I need installing radio at all? Should i do the same with radio i.e. renaming it to update.zip and using amonra to install it?

Also will I be able to use this method even if I install another rom (running amonra without actually flashing it)?

Edit:

sorry guys did not realize renaming to update.zip is no longer needed.

Edit2:

is there an easy way on how to access sd card from windows? I can't just remove the card from phone and insert it into my laptop because I don't have the proper adapter. Previously my boss was using the hero and perhaps it would be nice to backup the sd card first.

Edit3:

uhmmm, installing android sdk is perhaps not as simple as it sounds.

I have just seen this article.

I am on a limited gprs internet connection, can you please suggest sdk features I won't need to save some download bandwith?
[Hero, G2 Touch General] kendong2:
- you need only the adb binary (thats adb.exe for windows) from the sdk, the rest is not needed for this.

- install the radio from the 2.1community-rom-thread, it is the newest. install the radio first. DO NOT PULL THE BATTERY until the phone has rebooted completely. if you pull the battery during radio upgrade your phone will be dead. it takes a few minutes, do not panic!

- you can copy the contents of the sdcard via the usb-cable, plug it into your pc and pull down the notification bar...
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
Do I need to run SDK Setup.exe when I have downloaded android sdk for windows?

Or can I simply run that binary from the command-line without the installation?

Do I need any USB drivers so my phone can be recognized?
[Hero, G2 Touch General] kendong2:
adb can be run standalone, you don't even need to download the sdk as long as you have the binary.

idk about usb drivers, i think you need some, but you have to figure that out with the windows guys around here... ;)
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pulser_g2:
No installation was needed for me. Just used the binaries in Windows. There are drivers needed, but are in a folder called usb_driver for me. I can upload mine, which work perfectly, if needed.

EDIT: Here mine are on mediafire. Unzip and point driver wizard to this folder.

http://www.mediafire.com/?vmemdmdhwoo
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
I have got it set up automagically.

I went to settings -> applications -> development and activated unknow sources and usb debug.

Then my PC found the driver automatically.

Now I've got another problem I can't solve.

When trying to enter the recovery mode using home+power buttons the device boots up like normal.

I've also tried issuing

adb shell reboot recovery

to put it in the recovery mode the other way and still no luck. Now the device is idling here showing just a little triangle and doing nothing.

I can do nothing. my PC doesn't see it nor can I use any buttons or touch screen on the unit.

Other ideas???

Edit: Found this where some guy has the same problem. He feels pressing home+end fixes it. But... What is the end button the end call one? when to press that? while the phone does nothing waiting for the recovery mode to come up? Because in that case it just restarts like normal. When pressed when running it does nothing.

Edit2:

After forced reboot via adb while the phone stays displaying that triangle I've found I can press home+power to popup the recovery mode.

The problem is that at this time

adb devices

returns no devices in the list and

fastboot devices

does nothing just exits.

Edit3:

When home+end is pressed when the device is switched off it displays recovery mode as well but I've got no usb connection.

My PC plays USB connected sound but nor adb or fastboot detect the device.

Edit4:

moved to the other post below.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pulser_g2:
OK, just to check where you are... Have you installed the patched recovery yet? From the sounds of it, no. So here's some instructions to try.

1) Turn the device off. Then turn it on with the back button held down (should enter fastboot- picture at this link

2) Type

fastboot devices

and see if the device is recognised.

3) If so, type

fastboot boot recovery-RA-hero-v1.5.2.img

4) That should get you into recovery, where you can do a Nandroid backup.

As for adb not working when you finally got into recovery, I can explain that :) You are still using the stock (original) recovery, and HTC don't let you use adb from there. Try the fastboot instructions from above. Once you get to step 4 and doing the backup, you can try adb again, and it should now work.

Once they are done, you should be in recovery. If you like it, you can flash the recovery to the device (so you can get into it using the home+power combination) by doing the following:

1) Turn off the device

2) Turn on the device into fastboot mode (back + power)

3) Check device appears on fastboot using

fastboot devices

4) Execute this command

fastboot flash recovery recovery-RA-hero-v1.5.2.img

5) That is the custom recovery now installed on the phone. You can access it using Home+Power

Then, do a nandroid backup and go about wiping and installing your ROM's zip file. If you flash the patched recovery, you can access adb on it at any point in future by booting into the recovery partition (Home+Power) and running adb on your PC

HTH
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
Heh, I am an idiot. I don't need to enter recovery mode with the stock rom. I *need* fast boot mode. Hopefully I am finally reading your advices correct now. I *should* press back+power. I think I've been refering to the back key as the end key so far.

Please accept my apologies.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pulser_g2:
No bother. So press and hold the back key (bottom right hand key) and the one above it (top right hand key). You need to hold the back key down first, and then tap the power key briefly. Keep holding the back key until you get the screen I showed in the link above.

As for apologies, none needed. This is a learning process for us all, and less than a month ago I was doing this myself for the very first time (the day I got my phone).

I've learned what I need to know in a short space of time, and I'm sure you will too. Don't worry about it ;)

Let us know when you get into fastboot OK and manage to 'fastboot boot' the recovery image.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
woohoo! I have now successfully booted into the amonra. However during the nandroid backup + ext I've got something like:

Error run nandroid-mobile.sh

The card I am using was originally used with my Nokia E51, so perhaps I'll need to reformat it.

Edit:

The other mistake I did was that I had the phone disconnected from USB while running nandroid backup.

So, now I am repartitioning using amonra feature and then I'll connect usb and try again.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pulser_g2:
Good to hear you got in.

Out of interest, how large in capacity is the card. It will need to be more than 512MB to fit the backup file. I don't think you need to be plugged in by USB, but it's worth a shot after a repartition.

Hope it works :)
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
the card I am currently using is 1 GB.

I've successfully created the backup but I had to run the mobile-nandroid.sh manually via adb shell. Or is this the incomplete backup? it has about 600 MB.

The problem I am currently having is I am unable to get into the card from my windows computer when the phone is connected. I'd like to store the backup into the pc before continuing.

I've tried to unmount the card from the sdcard menu in the device but still no change. When the device is connected to the PC I can see removable drive but when I am trying to see its content it displays an error.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pulser_g2:
OK.

1) To get the backup onto your PC, boot the phone up normally, and go to the notification bar (black band at top of screen) and drag it down. Then choose 'Mount USB' (I think that's what it says). Now try going into the removable drive and copy it to the computer hard drive.

2) Just to check it is a full backup (600MB sounds like plenty, possible even 2 backups!)

under the folder with your serial number (begins HT....), there is 1 folder (or 2 if you did 2 backups) called CBDMRS12-20100106-2100. The last two parts are the date and time in YYYYMMDD format and HHMM in 24 hour clock.

3) Go into the folder and check you see 7 files.

boot.img,

cache.img,

data.img,

misc.img,

nandroid.md5,

recovery.img,

system.img

Now, if you verify the md5 file, it should confirm that you did this right. (I have QuickSFV installed, so I just double click the file to get a verification. Wait till you get the message 'All files OK' and it sounds OK.

Also, could you post a screenshot of the folder containing the files, just to see why it is 600MB (mine are 175-250MB depending on what I backed up)
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
Okay you are right. I have got over 800 mb because I've created several incomplete backups. Now I've tried it again and I do have the following folder:

BCDMRS-20100107-1745\

and the following files inside:

nandroid.md5
cache.img
data.img
system.img
misc.img
recovery.img
boot.img

The file nandroid.md5 reads as follows:

fd66137cc4c63e064c6794bc21de9904 boot.img
4f8728ded8606a7f64eb1afb2051d7da cache.img
cd8a247f7a7d9b43d8d0d2a4411ea7d9 data.img
8ef7f6a11281d8ecf65f1749e156a810 misc.img
562b417bda691f10d79dbbf877454d0c recovery.img
7a6aa1379d5eb65df3c5d37d41e110b1 system.img

I have verified the files using total commander when transferred to windows.

It's about 169 MB in size.

Now I am installing the radio.

The last prompt I've seen was something like "press home+back to reboot or menu to complete the install".

I've pressed the menu but I am not sure it's doing its thing. I am just waiting in case I am close to brick the phone.

Edit2:

Wipe successfull.

I've started installing hero21 community edition!

Edit3:

Install tok a minute or two.

Then I was returned into the recovery menu.

From there I have just activated reboot now option.

After the reboot the phone played the startup sound and now I am just waiting for it to complete at least I believe it's going fine up to now. My friend has just reported the interface is not shown yet. I haven't seen a phase lasting like 20 minutes you were describing so I believe this is it.

Edit4:

Now the setup vizard started. I've to set my user account etc.

I am a bit surprised because the interface is also getting in czech. hmm. did I actually upgrade it right?

The system -> about screen now gives the following numbers:

firmware version: 2,1

basic band: 63.18.55.06JU-6.35.09.26

kernel version: 2.6.29 - 8D063048

build number: 2009-12-03 hero-generic-wwe#

software version: hero21-community-1.7

Edit5:

Now trying to locate those assistive tools in the market. Talkback is installed but still no speech. Trying to install text to speech data and then possibly all the other tools.

I'll just edit in case I will succeed or I'll got into a problem.

Edit6:

I've got speech. I am only getting pico speech engines. I would like to use espeak. Also the speech is a bit sluggish here and there. the screen reader sometimes reads "htc sense" eventhough nothing such is actually seen on the screen perhaps htc sense is not playing well together with this.

Do you know if there are some related options?
[Hero, G2 Touch General] kendong2:
congrats, you did it!

one note: from what you write you have version 1.7 of the rom, afaik 1.8 is the newest. maybe you should check that, not that you miss out some bugfixes ;)

edit: if you partition the sdcard from the recovery image the backup should work fine. let me know if not. if the script says error AFTER some time it is usually stopping because of an error with the ext partition, and by that time the nandroid backup itself has already completed. so what you call "incomplete backups" are actually not broken, you could restore them if needed. maybe not via menu option, but via shell commands somehow.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pulser_g2:
As for the sluggishness you mentioned, try installing a task manager application. Something like taskiller or advanced task manager (both have a free version iirc).

Set up the accessibility apps you need to be ignored, and you should be able to close a lot of surplus applications that run when not needed.

And, now you've got the phone rooted, don't install any official HTC updates, as you will lose all this hard work, and it could be harder to redo. When 2.1 is official, get the rooted update.zip from the forums (usually within hours of release) and use it instead.

Enjoy 2.1 ;)
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
This is a bit inconsistant I am afraid.

I've downloaded the file HERO21-1.8-Community-signed.zip and it shows it-self as 1.7. Perhaps just a typo somewhere.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] kendong2:
this is a good and valid tip, which i can only support.

somehow i was expecting this, that is why i wrote "check it" instead of upgrade ;) so then you're good, have fun ;)
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
Okay guys, thanks again for all your nice advices.

I am progressing even more.

I am trying to post what I've done so far, perhaps anyone else may find it usefull.

I know everyone likes this hero21 rom because of HTC Sense UI. By experimenting I've found when I replace htc sense screen with plain android home screen (like written here), the responsiveness of the phone is snappier.

Also I've partially succeeded in adding eSpeak engine to supported list of text to speech engines by installing extended tts library from here. In the list of applications I've got extended tts and in there I can set my preffered speech engine. Talkback the screen reading application I've installed from the market still uses svox pico speech engine so there must be some other setting elsewhere.

Also I've enabled Settings -> Sound and display settings -> audible selections, which provides a little audio cue when I activate something on the touch screen or when the selection changes using the trackball.

Nice new thing for Android 2 is ability to specify default action when the phone is connected into the PC via USB. Good thing is I can also access notifications from the menu and they are all spoken.

With htc sense enabled I was also having problems navigating in the manage applications dialog. First I had to tab into the list of applications and then the list has turned out to be pretty accessible; I was able to navigate it using trackball. After switching the htc sense screen off, this is no longer necessary.

I still have some difficulties.

While navigating the menu I don't know how to return to the parent menu.

While navigating lists I don't know how to confirm the choice e.g. in the default ringtone dialog I can use trackball to select the tone I wish but then I am unable to confirm the selected item. Pressing the trackball starts playing the chosen tone again.

One more question: when I am opening various applications how do I exit them?

I am usually pressing the home button to see the home screen. But I am afraid the applications are still opened somewhere in the background.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] kendong2:
the back-button should do it, it is the right half of the oval shaped rocker button on the lower right side below the screen. that does it for me, or are we talking about different menus?

just tried it: you go through the list with the trackball, the tone is played when highlighted. by clicking it you select it, then you can scroll down to the bottom of the list (just scroll down until the ringtone doesn't change anymore), the pointer jumps to the cancel button. one to the left is the OK button ;) let me know if it works.

most of the apps stay in background, and get killed by the system when memory is running low. you can use a task manager or task killer to do it, but you can not kill all tasks that are running (just a note if you try it and have problems ;) ). it is in question whether it is necessary and/or good to mess with the system by killing tasks, i personally use advanced task killer for that job, it works for me and i like the ui of that particular app.
[Hero, G2 Touch General] pvdeejay:
Yes that's it. thanks for the hint. It works as expected

Yeah works like a charm as well. Perhaps there is a bug or so...

Cancel nor ok buttons are announced via speech as thei gain the focus.
[HD2 Windows Mobile 6.5 Themes and Apps] Cret:
I'm guessing from other threads I've read that this is not possible, but I want to confirm it - if I'm running SPB shell, is there any way that I can:

1) Still use the Sense weather application?

2) Install the wonderful animated weather screen from sense as the wallpaper on SPB shell?

3) Access the HTC music player?

I don't think these are possible but would be great if they were, especially #2!!!

Thanks
[HD2 Windows Mobile 6.5 Themes and Apps] devil_82:
yup i very interested to have this 3 part of the htc sense......so far only photo ablum feature is working on my iphonetoday....for the music player, although i can find audio manager but could not run the file...:<
[Android Software Development] 530grafix:
How to tell if I have successfully unrooted my g1. firmware is now 1.0, baseband is 62.33.20.08H_1.22.12.29 kernel version is 2.6.25-01843-gfea26b0 build is kila-user 1.0 tc4-rc29 115247. Phone was rooted and i needed to unroot it. i want to get the the most current radio and firmware, dont really care about root! Can someone with more experience please confirm this info and point me in the right direction.Thanks!!:cool: