[Desire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Droidzone:
Quoting.. See my comments in red..

Hi Droidzone,

Well I finally purchased my new Desire at Dubai Airport yesterday, I’m not sure if it is an AMOLED screen or not, but it does have an infinite viewing angle which I think is characteristic of the AMOLED screen devices? Also there is a referenc to the Disply Panel which might help to identify the screen type?

My device details from the FastBoot screen:

Bravo PVT4 SHIP S-ON

HBoot-0.83.0001

MICROP-051d

Touch Panel-SYNW0101

Radio-4.08.00.09

Jun 10 2010, 12:12:05

I really dont know whether you can differentiate these screens from these ids..

My AMOLED showed:

BRAVO PVT3 SHIP S-ON

HBOOT-0.93.0001

MICROP-051D

TOUCH PANEL-SYNT0101

RADIO-5.09.05.30_2

And my SLCD shows:

BRAVO PVT4 SHIP S-ON

HBOOT-0.93.0001

MICROP-051D

TOUCH PANEL-SYNT0101

RADIO-5.09.05.30_2

That is the same!

Serial SH0AMPL*****

About Serial, I'm not sure. My SLCD starts with SH0 (S for SLCD???) and my AMOLED with MB0 (M for AMOLED???). No idea at all.

The real difference which can be spotted is that whenever the device shows a pure black screen (such as after reboot etc), an AMOLED shows the black as completely DARK, whereas an SLCD will be backlighted. You can see light streaming from the edges in an SLCD, not so in AMOLED.

Currently I have downloaded the OTA update "OTA_Bravo_HTC_ARA_2.32.415.3-1.30.415.3_releasepmkp36xx4xz4efkq" I also unziped this on my PC and found a "firmware.zip" file.....is this the required file for manual flashing by (PB99IMG.zip) or is it only available from the RUU.exe files?

This is not the PB99IMG.zip. This is a partial file which should be used only for update over your current device software, and when it is Unrooted only. Once rooted, this should not and cannot be used to flash the device. The method of updating the current software is mentiloned in the OP of this thread. The whole file named as OTA_Bravo_HTC_ARA_2.32.415.3-1.30.415.3_releasepmkp36xx4xz4efkq.zip should be renamed as update.zip and flashed through Android recovery menu (Not the rooted Clockwork/AmonRa recovery!). You shouldnt and neednt extract this file. This is a whole package.

PB99IMG.zip is the "Rom.zip" in the RUU.exe. You need to see the Temp folder of Windows while the RUU is being run and present in memory. Rename this as PB99IMG.zip.

I have made the original 4GB Memory card to a GOLDCARD and intend to use it as my daily storage card so that it is always available in my device if required. I also made another 4GB GOLDCARD as a back up to be kept safe in my draw for emergency use.

So my questions are;

1) Do you think my device is an AMOLED one? what is your Touch Panel number? Is it an identifier for AMOLED vs SLCD? Answered

2) If i Root using the GOLDCARD and which RUU do you recommend, is it the WWE? Obviously I can not use the MODACO method as it is only for HBoot 0.80 and below and mine is 0.83.

Do you mean which RUU to use in the future, when you unroot? Rooting definitely does not need a goldcard/another RUU. You can root right now with current software. Keep your OTA safe. You can safely use the Unrevoked 3.21 to root.

Since I havent used all RUUs, I cannot make a recommendation unless I know the Ids of the various RUUs. See below.

3) After ROOTING and then installing another Regions ROM or Custom ROM will i be able to get back to the original Device condition of the OTA upgrade that has been sent to me?

OTAs are incomplete files. As of now, I dont think anyone has succeeded in unrooting with just the OTA. There have been reports of people installing OTAs on their devices, botching it up, and then repairing it by flashing the OTA once again from recovery. Obviously I cannot recommend this method, and cant assure you of its success.

What will work is that you need to know specifically which RUU is for your region. It could be the Asia RUU. It's easy to find out, though if you have the patience to download a couple of files.

As I mentioned another post,

I'm guessing that your file is this. (The Asian RUU)

Download it, and follow my instructions on how to get the Rom.zip file from Temp.

Once you have it, open Rom.zip in Winzip and open the file android-info.txt and post the content of this file here..

Once you do that, we can verify that this is your file.

This file, android-info.txt, lists the various regions which are compatible with this RUU. Obviously if HTC__J15 is in the list, this is for you.

4) Can i now just flash a general or Custom ROM directly onto my device using the GOLDCARD which will make it ROOTED, or do i need to first flash the same Region ROM RUU on to my phone to ROOT and then change to another Region ROM?

Hmm..To clear up any confusions you may have,

You can install any custom rom after Rooting

For rooting, just boot up your Current Rom, install HTC Sync software; then uninstall the HTC Sync program alone (leaving behind HTC BMP USB Driver and HTC Driver Setup) from Windows Programs and Features

Now, plug in device, boot up in Fastboot mode, and install the Unrevoked Driver

Now, boot into Android, and run Unrevoked Flasher. You will now have rooted your device

Now, you can download any custom rom. Search for "[rom] desire" in XDA, and can install it from Clockworkmod recovery.

Note Goldcard is not involved at any stage of this process

A goldcard comes in play only while unrooting.

Assuming that you were unable to get the real RUU for Dubai, you will have to unroot to the WWE version. This means debranding and region change. This toggles the HTC InfoCID number mentioned previously. This is the real only only purpose of a goldcard.

This is the output from running ADB:

... INFOsetup_tag addr=0xA0000100 cmdline add=0x8E

07E8CC

INFOTAG:Ramdisk OK

INFOTAG:smi ok, size = 0

INFOTAG:hwid 0x0

INFOTAG:skuid 0x26A02

INFOTAG:hero panel = 0x0

INFOTAG:engineerid = 0x0

INFOMCP dual-die

INFOMCP dual-die

INFOTAG:mono-die = 0x0

INFODevice CID is not super CID

INFOCID is HTC__J15

INFOsetting->cid::HTC__J15

INFOserial number: SH0AMPL*****

INFOcommand line length =402

INFOactive commandline: board_bravo.disable_uart3=0 board_bravo.

INFOusb_h2w_sw=0 board_bravo.disable_sdcard=0 diag.enabled=0 boa

INFOrd_bravo.debug_uart=0 smisize=0 userdata_sel=0 androidboot.e

INFOmmc=false androidboot.baseband=4.08.00.09 androidboot.cid=H

INFOTC__J15 androidboot.carrier=HTC-GCC androidboot.mid=PB992000

INFO0 androidboot.keycaps=qwerty androidboot.mode=recovery andro

INFOidboot.serialno=SH0AMPL***** androidboot.bootloader=0.83.000

INFO1

INFOaARM_Partion[0].name=misc

INFOaARM_Partion[1].name=recovery

INFOaARM_Partion[2].name=boot

INFOaARM_Partion[3].name=system

INFOaARM_Partion[4].name=cache

INFOaARM_Partion[5].name=userdata

INFOpartition number=6

INFOValid partition num=6

INFOmpu_nand_acpu_rw 23A 1000

INFOjump_to_kernel: machine_id(2457), tags_addr(0x20000100), ker

INFOnel_addr(0x20008000)

INFO-------------------hboot boot time:421221 msec

FAILED (status read failed (Too many links))

finished. total time: 7.519s

c:\androidsdk\tools>