[myTouch 3G, Magic Android Development] linuxluver:
No need to downgrade

I have a New Zealand Vodafone Magic 32B and they share the same Hboot 1.33.0004 (SAPP10000) SPL with the UK (and NL and AU) vodafone phones. That means they are VERY easy to load alternate ROMs onto. The horrible stuff many Americans and others have to go through to root their phones isn't required for us.

You do need to get the Android SDK installed and talking properly to your phone.

Assuming you have the SDK set up and you can see your USB-connected phone listed when you enter the "adb devices" command, then the rest should be easy. See the Cyanogen Mod wiki for the details. You want the section on "non-Tmobile 32B magics" on this page:

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php/Full_Update_Guide_-_MT3G/Magic_Firmware_to_CyanogenMod

It starts with:

"Non-TMobile 32B Magics

If the above doesn't work for you, don't despair. Some non-US Magics are shipped with a fastboot compatible SPL installed. If you see 3 skateboarding androids when you boot to fastboot, you should be able to do the following:"

..............

This is the part you want to pay attention to, assuming you have the SDK installed properly. Our phones are actually MUCH easier to load others ROM on because we have those fastboot-enabled SPLs already in place and this is the first, BEST way for us to do it.

Whatever you do, do NOT flash the "Danger SPL". There is no need to for an HTC Magic with the Hboot 1.33.0004 (SAPP10000) SPL.

If you're hopelessly lost at this point, seek hands-on local help. You don't know enough to do this by yourself without risking screwing up. if no one can help you, then take your time. Learn the stuff you need to know....Being in a hurry is a great way to go wrong. I spent 3 months reading and thinking about it before I loaded my first ROM. Much of the advice is for the Dream / G1 or locked MyTouch3G or Magic 32B phone from telcos who lock them....and simply isn't relevant for the HTC Magic 32B from Vodafone. the single section I'm pointing you to above is all we need to get it done.

Finally, here is my own "simple guide" for getting loading alternate ROMs on a Vodafone HTC Magic 32B. This is about OUR phone...and should work if you work your way through it.

http://truthseekernz.blogspot.com/2009/11/simple-guide-to-loading-new-roms-on.html

You don't need to worry about "gold cards" and all that stuff. You'll be flashing an already rooted ROM and you will have backed up your un-rooted original load with "nandroid" before you change ANYTHING. That backup is your path back to the way your phone was before you rooted it by flashing an already rooted system ROM. in loading ROMs like Cyanogen's you're not baking a cake, you're buying one....so you don't need to know how to make one, you just need to know where to get one and how to serve it....if that analogy makes sense.

Simply, you start by: fastboot boot RA-recovery-1.5.2G.img:

Then, from the recovery menu of functions you do these steps:

1. Backup (nandroid)

2. Wipe system / data

3. Wipe cache

4. flash from any zip on sdcard (the one you want to flash today, you may have put several different ROM images in /sdcard)

5. reboot to brave new world.

6. Make a backup copy on your PC of the /sdcard/nandroid folder on your sdcard so you won't lose it accidentally if your sdcard is corrupted, lost or stolen.

Done.

To save time and let you backup / flash ROMs anywhere you happen to be standing, you can flash Amon-RA's recovery onto your phone or you can load it via fastboot every time and leave the default recovery in place. The very first nandroid backup you made will have backed up the factory recovery image as well as the factory system image as they were at the time you backed them up. So they can be restored if you want to at some point update them with an OTA update. I suspect Vodafone / HTC will be rolling out an Android 2.0 / 2.1 update to Magic phones at some point. If they don't that would be a black mark against them....something to remember when thinking about buying any future phone from anyone: "WILL THEY SUPPORT IT FOR THE SAME 2 YEARS YOU'VE SIGNED UP FOR".

If the answer isn't YES......then that's worth remembering. Vodafone / HTC's record so far is good. The last OTA update was barely 3 months ago.