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Lots of questions about Rooting/Customs/Apps.

G8D

Android Enthusiast
Sep 2, 2009
533
4
I have seen the rooting video by theunlockr and it seems easy enough. And I can follow instructions so installing the ROM should not be an issue.

What/where is the radio update and how do I install it?

If I backup my apps with MyBackupPro, will they be able to receive updates once reinstalled using MyBackupPro?

Is there any word on an official update? Would I receive it direct from HTC or need to wait for an Orange allowed one?

Thanks in advance..
 
I have seen the rooting video by theunlockr and it seems easy enough. And I can follow instructions so installing the ROM should not be an issue.

What/where is the radio update and how do I install it?

If I backup my apps with MyBackupPro, will they be able to receive updates once reinstalled using MyBackupPro?

Is there any word on an official update? Would I receive it direct from HTC or need to wait for an Orange allowed one?

Thanks in advance..

Re: MyBackup Pro ... yes the apps once restored from the sdcard will be just the same as if they had been D/L from Market.....
 
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One more Q.. Does rooting it actually put it on the SD root or does it mean it allows root access to the phone memory itself?

Rooting is a term that describes that you have access to the root directory of the phone's OS files and folders ...also this means you have permissions to copy/edit/delete/move etc.

Rooting allows changing most anything in the OS ... this is where the power of writing customised OS features comes into play....

Rooting lets those with the knowledge and skills of the coding to do just about anything with the system to make the phone what you want it to be ...rather than a Carrier's or Manufactureres' idea.
 
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Rooting is a term that describes that you have access to the root directory of the phone's OS files and folders ...also this means you have permissions to copy/edit/delete/move etc.

Rooting allows changing most anything in the OS ... this is where the power of writing customised OS features comes into play....

Rooting lets those with the knowledge and skills of the coding to do just about anything with the system to make the phone what you want it to be ...rather than a Carrier's or Manufactureres' idea.
Pretty much the reasons I jailbroke my iPod.. Are there automated tools for themeing/modding or source of mods (like Cydia for iPhone OS). Or is this kind of thing not available yet?
 
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Pretty much the reasons I jailbroke my iPod.. Are there automated tools for themeing/modding or source of mods (like Cydia for iPhone OS). Or is this kind of thing not available yet?

There are different ways of rooting the different models....

Themes are generally just downloads of data that provide a change to the way the UI appears... there are a wide selection of themes for the various phones ...
 
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There are different ways of rooting the different models....

Themes are generally just downloads of data that provide a change to the way the UI appears... there are a wide selection of themes for the various phones ...
I know what themes are etc :p
I just meant where do you get them? Is there an alternative Market you can use natively on the device? Or can they be found within the Market itself? Or is it done manually using a PC/internet?
 
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I know what themes are etc :p
I just meant where do you get them? Is there an alternative Market you can use natively on the device? Or can they be found within the Market itself? Or is it done manually using a PC/internet?

Market has themes for the non-rooted phones ... like "aHome", "dxTop", "better Home"

Rooted phones may have many other themes that work just with that custom ROM ....

Search the Market Place for 'theme' ....
 
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Market has themes for the non-rooted phones ... like "aHome", "dxTop", "better Home"

Rooted phones may have many other themes that work just with that custom ROM ....

Search the Market Place for 'theme' ....
Ok, thanks.
With the rooting thing (I know you have a G1 but bear with me), the files used in the video are just the APK and the IMG, what is with all the other things in the modacorecoverypatch zip file..?
 
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The following refers specifically to the Hero....

Various ROM and Radio versions can be found here.

If you decide to go down the MCR route I strongly recommend that you read this thread thoroughly. Even if TheUnlockr's procedure is used it's a very good idea to have some idea of what's going on 'under the hood' in case of problems.

An excellent source of general info on rooting can be found here.

Themes are, afaik, non-existent for the Hero right now. It's still very new to the market but once the ROM update appears and the handset reaches the US carriers I'm sure this will quickly change.

As far as the availability of the ROM update goes, nothing has changed i.e. no-one knows if/when the carriers will provide their own versions or not yet. I don't think it's far away though - I heard today that HTC are about to release the Hero source kernel. :)

p.s. The modacorecoverypatch zip contains everything required to flash the Cyanogen 1.4 image to the handset permanently. All is explained here.
 
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The following refers specifically to the Hero....

Various ROM and Radio versions can be found here.

If you decide to go down the MCR route I strongly recommend that you read this thread thoroughly. Even if TheUnlockr's procedure is used it's a very good idea to have some idea of what's going on 'under the hood' in case of problems.

An excellent source of general info on rooting can be found here.

Themes are, afaik, non-existent for the Hero right now. It's still very new to the market but once the ROM update appears and the handset reaches the US carriers I'm sure this will quickly change.

As far as the availability of the ROM update goes, nothing has changed i.e. no-one knows if/when the carriers will provide their own versions or not yet. I don't think it's far away though - I heard today that HTC are about to release the Hero source kernel. :)

p.s. The modacorecoverypatch zip contains everything required to flash the Cyanogen 1.4 image to the handset permanently. All is explained here.
Right.. So what files do I want? The latest MoDaCo ROM and the Radio (which one and how do I install?).

As far as I can tell the extra files in the zip are for the older non native rooting technique..

I am getting backup failed on FlashRec, what is the issue? Lack of space perhaps?
 
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Right.. So what files do I want? The latest MoDaCo ROM and the Radio (which one and how do I install?)

Geez dude, it's all there in the links I posted... ;)

63.18.55.06EU_6.35.06.18 is the most recent radio. It's installed the same way as the ROM, as an update.zip.

As far as I can tell the extra files in the zip are for the older non native rooting technique..

I'm not sure what you mean by "non-native", but if you read the link I provided you'll see that the files enable you to access the handset from the command line interface on your PC/Mac and flash the image to it that way. They're actually a subset of the "Tools" folder from the Android SDK and are pretty damn useful in general.

p.s. Can't help you with FlashRec I'm afraid. I stuck with the instructions posted by the guy who cooked the ROM.
 
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You tell me. Do you want/need all the extras added to the MCR, or are you just interested in the performance improvements of the 2.x ROM?
Everything sounds like a good option.
Although I may sound quite nooby asking all of these questions, I do enjoy messing around with things once I have the hardest/trickiest part over and done with.

EDIT: Successfully flashed the recovery image, now what? Power and home from the off position?
 
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Everything sounds like a good option.

ROTFLMAO! You sound like me..... maybe not such a good thing, that. :D

Although I may sound quite nooby asking all of these questions

Everyone is new to something sometime. It's not a badge of shame, y'know. ;)

I do enjoy messing around with things once I have the hardest/trickiest part over and done with.

That's good, 'cos the next question is are you happy with the idea of repartitioning your SDHC card? You really need to in order to get the most out of MCR2.x e.g. AppsToSD.
 
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ROTFLMAO! You sound like me..... maybe not such a good thing, that. :D



Everyone is new to something sometime. It's not a badge of shame, y'know. ;)



That's good, 'cos the next question is are you happy with the idea of repartitioning your SDHC card? You really need to in order to get the most out of MCR2.x e.g. AppsToSD.
Well currently I only have a 2GB (stock card) SD, would I be better waiting until I purchase the 8GB Class 6?

Even if I should wait, what kind of things do I need to do? I have seen on the ROM pages stuff about EXT3 and A2SD partitions..?
 
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Well currently I only have a 2GB (stock card) SD, would I be better waiting until I purchase the 8GB Class 6?

Now you're asking..... I'm not sure if AppsToSD will do its funky magic if it detects an ext2/3 partition in the future. The ROM will work fine without it, but as one of the selling points is being able to free up some of the handset's internal RAM it would be a shame not to use it. I think it will move any installed apps to the card when it finds the appropriate partition type, though. So I think you could install the new ROM now and then replace the card with your new one (already partitioned) when the time comes.

Even if I should wait, what kind of things do I need to do? I have seen on the ROM pages stuff about EXT3 and A2SD partitions..?

You can repartition in various ways. I've used Acronis Disk Director, but as it demands a Windows reboot anyway I prefer booting the GParted LiveCD and using the native Linux tool. It can also be done from Cyanogen's 1.4 recovery image using ADB.exe - told ya those "extra files" would come in handy. ;)

In a nutshell, you decide how large you want the ext3 partition then resize the current FAT32 one to leave the free space, and create the ext3 in that. Insert the card in the Hero, power up and wait anxiously for several minutes staring at the HTC logo while AppsToSD moves stuff onto the card.
 
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Now you're asking..... I'm not sure if AppsToSD will do its funky magic if it detects an ext2/3 partition in the future. The ROM will work fine without it, but as one of the selling points is being able to free up some of the handset's internal RAM it would be a shame not to use it. I think it will move any installed apps to the card when it finds the appropriate partition type, though. So I think you could install the new ROM now and then replace the card with your new one (already partitioned) when the time comes.



You can repartition in various ways. I've used Acronis Disk Director, but as it demands a Windows reboot anyway I prefer booting the GParted LiveCD and using the native Linux tool. It can also be done from Cyanogen's 1.4 recovery image using ADB.exe - told ya those "extra files" would come in handy. ;)

In a nutshell, you decide how large you want the ext3 partition then resize the current FAT32 one to leave the free space, and create the ext3 in that. Insert the card in the Hero, power up and wait anxiously for several minutes staring at the HTC logo while AppsToSD moves stuff onto the card.
Not sure if I understand fully.. but I will leave that for now.
Would this whole thing involve installing the ROM now and partitioning when I want to in the future? Would it be the Enhanced ROM (just for good measure ;) )? Also, is there any further preparation apart from flashing the recovery?
 
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Not sure if I understand fully.. but I will leave that for now.

Probably best to do some reading on the MoDaCo and xda-developers forums; there's tons of good info there on partitioning.

Would this whole thing involve installing the ROM now and partitioning when I want to in the future?
Yup, you can do that.

Would it be the Enhanced ROM (just for good measure ;))?
No reason not to, if you want the additional apps Paul added.

Also, is there any further preparation apart from flashing the recovery?
Not really. Copy the ROM file to your card as update.zip, then power down and boot into the recovery image. Make a Nandroid backup! After that just perform a wipe from the menu, then apply the update.zip from the sdcard. If anything goes wrong (unlikely if you wipe) you can boot into the recovery image again and restore the backup.

Note: the wipe is mandatory coming from stock 1.x ROMs. You'll have to setup WLAN access, Google account etc again and reinstall apps but failing to wipe can cause all sorts of problems. I reverted to my stock 'out-of-the-box' Orange backup for giggles yesterday and was back up and running with MCR2.2, everything reconfigured and apps reinstalled within 30mins.
 
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Probably best to do some reading on the MoDaCo and xda-developers forums; there's tons of good info there on partitioning.

Yup, you can do that.

No reason not to, if you want the additional apps Paul added.

Not really. Copy the ROM file to your card as update.zip, then power down and boot into the recovery image. Make a Nandroid backup! After that just perform a wipe from the menu, then apply the update.zip from the sdcard. If anything goes wrong (unlikely if you wipe) you can boot into the recovery image again and restore the backup.

Note: the wipe is mandatory coming from stock 1.x ROMs. You'll have to setup WLAN access, Google account etc again and reinstall apps but failing to wipe can cause all sorts of problems. I reverted to my stock 'out-of-the-box' Orange backup for giggles yesterday and was back up and running with MCR2.2, everything reconfigured and apps reinstalled within 30mins.
Two more questions :p (thanks for all of your help already!).
Do I need an Orange specific one, or is a ROM a ROM?
Nandroid backup, tell me how? Or is this what I have already made using the FlashRec app? (recovery-backup.img?)
 
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Do I need an Orange specific one, or is a ROM a ROM?

Nope, just apply the MCR over your current one. You effectively end up with a customised version of the generic HTC ROM.

Nandroid backup, tell me how? Or is this what I have already made using the FlashRec app? (recovery-backup.img?)

Sounds like FlashRec has saved your original recovery image.

One of the options in the Cyanogen 1.4 recovery image is "nandroid 2.2 backup". This writes a full image of your current ROM onto /sdcard/nandroid/<device serial number>/, which can then be restored using the menu option below it ("Restore latest backup") should the need arise.
 
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