[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] 96edwy:
Just thought i would share a tutorial i made about flashing ROMs

If this helps anyone in any way then i will be happy, i know there is already a few Flash guides out there but i wanted to have a go at my own.

Anyways if you find it helpful please leave a comment on the tutorial or if you have anything i could add leave a comment saying what it is.

Flashing a ROM is a simple procedure but for most the task sounds daunting. For those of you who are ready to take the leap and flash a ROM onto your phone i have good news for you. In this guide i am going to show you how to flash a ROM the easy way.

NOTE: This guide is based on the European version of the HTC HD2 (Leo) flashing process, flashing for other devices may vary. You must also make sure before starting this guide that you know which version of the HD2 you have so that you can flash the right ROM and Radio if needed. The European version of the HD2 has a 512 MB ROM and the US version has a 1024 MB ROM, the European version is also a little smaller than the US version and has less RAM﻿, the US version has 576 MBs of RAM and the European version has 448 MBs. The US version also has a different Radio version that supports T-Mobile US's Frequencys. If you are unsure about which version of the HD2 you have then go to the Settings menu on your device, go to About Phone, and then look at Hardware information and Software information.

The first thing your going to need to check before you begin is that you have HSPL on your phone. If you don’t have any idea what HSPL is, take a step back and read up on it first. (Video on how to install HSPL) (XDA thread on HSPL with download link – For HD2 only) If your not using a HD2 then search XDA forums for the correct HSPL for your device.

Now that you have HSPL or for those that already had it, your going to need two things, a phone with Windows Mobile on it and a USB cable to connect your device to your computer.

NOTE: You may also need to update your devices Radio version depending on which ROM you flash.

So go ahead and plug your device in, a new screen should now show on your device. If not its probably because its your first time connecting the phone to your computer, don’t panic! just wait a while for the drivers to install and you should be up and running in about 20 seconds.

Select the Active Sync connection from the list.

And press done.

Now your device is connected properly you are ready to choose a ROM.

The best place to get ROMs is the XDA Forum. Point your browser to http://xdaforums.com/ and then continue on to the next step.

The main page of the forum gives you a list of devices running Android and Windows Mobile and their respective threads.

Windows Mobile Forums are labelled with a Windows Mobile icon and Android Forums with an Android icon. Find your device and select the “ROM Development” Sub-Forum.

Once your in the Sub-Forum for your device browse through the ROM threads until you find a ROM that best suites you. For the sake of the tutorial we are going to choose the Energy GTX ROM.

As you can see in the screenshot above there are a lot of numbers involved. The only numbers you really have to worry about is the Windows Mobile Build Number. In this case its 21911 and 23673. The difference between the two is that a 21911 ROM has Windows Mobile 6.5 on it and a 23673 ROM has Windows Mobile 6.5.3 on it. There is not a major noticeable difference between the two Builds apart from the change in UI. In 6.5.3 the start menu, lock button and exit button are located at the bottom of the screen where as in 6.5 everything is located at the top, 6.5.3 also sports full multitouch support, threaded email and texting, Office Mobile 2010, the ability to drag and drop start menu icons and decreased page load time, improved memory management and gesture smoothing in Internet Explorer Mobile 6. In my opinion 6.5.3 looks better as it has a more up to date UI and on a device like the HD2 having everything at the bottom saves you a stretch. For more information on Windows Mobile Builds hit this link.

NOTE: Not all builds for 6.5.3 and 6.5 will have the same build number. However all builds with 21 as the first two digits will be windows mobile 6.5 and all builds with 23 as the first two digits will be windows mobile 6.5.3

Now you have chosen which ROM you are going to flash, you will need to download the files for that ROM. In my case the download link is on the second post of the thread.

NOTE: Don’t forget to check if the ROM needs a specific Radio version. Link to the HD2 Radio thread. For other devices search the XDA forum for your devices radio thread.

REMEMBER: Make sure you get the right ROM for your device and the right Radio version as flashing a Radio that is not for your device could brick it.

Hit the download link and save the file to the desktop. The file may be hosted of site but don’t worry, the sites are safe i assure you.

Once you have downloaded the ROM file you will need to extract it. In my case the ROM i downloaded was in the .7z format so i used WinRAR to extract it. WinRAR also works for .rar files and .zip files.

Now you have extracted the files you should have a folder that looks like this.

Inside the folder there should be two files, one .nbh file and one .exe file. If there are any other files in the folder you need not worry about them unless they are named “READ ME” or something similar to that.

NOTE: Do not move or remove any of the files inside the folder as it will cause the flashing process to not work.

The .exe file is the ROM flashing utility and the .nbh file is the actual ROM image that will be flashed to your device. Think of the ROM file as a .zip file and the ROM flashing utility as the extractor program which will extract it to your device.

Now we will begin the ROM Flashing process. MAKE SURE TO BACK UP ALL OF YOUR DATA AS THIS WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE AND PUT IT BACK TO FACTORY SETTINGS. if you need a program to backup your data then i recommend using PIM Backup.

REMEMBER: Make sure your device is plugged in and set to active sync connection mode.

If your using XP run the .exe file which in my case is Leo_softwareUpgrade.exe and if your using Vista or Windows 7, right click the .exe file and choose run as administrator.

The ROM flashing utility will now open, read any warnings and click next.

Again read any warnings and click next

The utility will now take a few seconds to check the information on your HD2

The next screen will open after your information is verified. Click “Update” to proceed.

The next screen will tell you which ROM version you are currently using and which version you are about to flash. Double check that the ROM you are about to flash is the correct version and hit next.

The final screen will now show, read everything on screen and make sure you are ready to continue, if you changed your mind and don’t want to flash anymore you can hit the ESC to exit the program. Hit “Flash” to begin the flashing process.

NOTE: Once the flashing process has started you cannot stop it.

Once you have clicked “Flash” the flashing process will begin and a progress bar will appear onscreen.

REMEMBER: Make sure to read the warnings.

Your device will now restart and boot into the HSPL screen, don’t worry if this looks strange to you, its perfectly normal and safe.

If your device does not show this screen straight the way its probably because the drivers for HSPL mode are installing, be patient as this can time a while. Sometimes when the drivers aren’t already installed for HSPL mode the ROM Flashing utility may give you an error and say something like “Device not connected” or “Could not connect to device”. Don’t worry if this happens, just start the process again and follow the steps until you reach this point again.

The next screen you will see will look like this. So there should now be a progress bar onscreen on your computer and on your device.

NOTE: Flashing times may vary depending on the speed of your computer.

Once the flashing process has reached 100% you should see a confirmation on your computer screen saying “Congratulations your ROM update is now Complete”. Hit the finish button and you are done.

If the ROM has flashed successfully your device should restart and boot up as normal. Notice at the bottom of your screen it should display your new ROM version.

Your device may take longer to boot than normal but this is normal after a fresh ROM flash.

Most ROMs will have their own install screen so after the first boot screen you should see a screen like this.

The best thing about custom ROMs is that most of them have many of the usual settings already set up and skip unnecessary screens like the Screen Calibration setup and Typing Test screen.

The next screen that will show will be the carrier setup screen. Select the option that suites your plan and hit “Next”

NOTE: PostPay = Contract and PrePay = Pay As You Go

The next screen will confirm your selection and download the necessary settings.

Hit “Done” at the bottom when the download is complete.

The device will now load up your home screen, in my case that is GTX Sense.

And now your done! You now have a brand new ROM installed and set up on your device.

Credit to: Cotulla and DFT for the HSPL and NRG for the ROM