Telus Hero Reference's

[Frust8edHeroUser]

Hi all.

First post but have been in the background for a long time ... fantastic forum.

In light of the once again bad news on delays for 2.1 ... I believe many are now ready to run the available Roms.

So the object of this post is to gather reference material for the Canadian Telus Hero only.

Anyone and everyone who can guide us on which Rom to use and what are the necessary steps involved in Rooting and Roming.

TIA
Frust8edHeroUser

PS... Just to add my disappointment in HTC and Google for screwing up what seemed like a great phone.

 

[The_Gnome_]

I took the plunge this morning and finally decided to root and upgrade my phone.

I used this guide on xda developers - it specifically deals with rooting the Telus Hero and worked great for me.

From the little research I had done, I decided to load the VillainROM 5.2. To load it, I used the http://androidforums.com/all-things-root-hero/54802-how-root-install-custom-rom-backup-more.html by jUsT2eXy on the All Things Hero(Root) forum here on androidforums to get me through the flashing process.

Hope that helps you out - I know there are other ROMS out there to consider, but so far I'm thrilled with the VillainROM 5.2.

If you have any questions too, let me know - more than happy to try and help, though I will admit there are far more experienced users around these parts than I.

Good luck!

 

[Frust8edHeroUser]

Wow... Like I said ... GREAT FORUM.

Will try your recommendations probably this weekend.


Keep the advice coming guys and gals.



Frust8edHeroUser

 

[Perihelion]

I was just thinking about starting a thread like this. Good to see someone's taken the initiative. I'll likely take the plunge soon too...

 

[The_Gnome_]

After a day of heavy use of VillainROM 5.2, I can happily report I've been nothing but pleased with the use so far.

Today I'm going to try to put the phone through my normal daily use and get a good sense of the battery life on this ROM. I'll let you guys know what I find.

So far, the ROM has been rock stable - I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to root and update heh.

 

[Perihelion]

Edit: Does VillainROM 5.2 have sense UI built in? (Nevermind found out it does).

What about the lag issues after a couple of days mentioned here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=668440

Did you guys find the lag shows up after a few days?

 

[The_Gnome_]

Wasn't aware of that but I'll definitely watch for it over the next few days!

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[android604]

subscribed...

 

[The_Gnome_]

One full day of my normal use, and no lag or slowdown issue to report.

As well, my battery use seems about the same as before - definitely no worse at least. Still very happy with the VillainROM 5.2!

 

[Perihelion]

I tried to boot into recovery mode (having not rooted yet) but I don't seem to have a nandroid option...help?!

 

[The_Gnome_]

When you boot into recovery, choose 'Backup/Restore' then nand backup.

 

[Perihelion]

When I boot up using the Home + Power keys, I just get a picture of the phone and a caution triangle with an exclamation mark in it. The Telus website says that you hit Home + Power again to get the menu which I do but the only choices on it are "reboot system now", "apply sdcard:update.zip", or "wipe data/factory reset". There's no Backup/Restore option on the list. The screen is titled "Android System Recovery Utility".

I haven't rooted yet, do I need to root before I get the backup option?

 

[nomnompie]

I get the same thing. I assume it is because you need root first.. Following the guide Gnome posted to rooting, it doesn't mention backing up the original Telus ROM, just rooting and downgrading straight away... Does this mean you cannot backup the latest Telus ROM?? How does one get it again in the event we want to return to stock.

 

[Frust8edHeroUser]

Well, took the plunge yesterday and Rooted and Romed .... I must say that for a veteran like myself ( built computers and worked with Dos and then Linux for quite a few years ) that the process was just a tad confusing. Seeing everything is scattered here and there. But Villain5.22 is now installed and am in the process of restoring everything.

First thoughts ... Yes I am impressed and should have done this a long time ago. Bluetooth is still not as complete as other phones, but better than it was before. Haven't tethered yet.

i had to swap out my 16gig card and use the 2gig that came with the phone.


Question ... Now that I have installed the new Rom with my 2 gig card can I swap it out and use my 16 gig and still have everything work OK. Don't want to try this without getting an opinion .... for sake of having to go through the whole procedure again cuz of a screwup.


Anyways ... thanks The_Gnome_ for your recommendations. Thanks to all those that wrote the guides. And thanks to all the guinea pigs who dared experiment for our benefit.


And NO THANKS to HTC or GOOGLE or whoever for their lack of interest in their faithful customers. I know for a fact that after my contract expires ... NO MORE HTC .... This after being a 4 or 5 year HTC user.


Anyone wanting to Root and Rom their Telus Hero ... go for it ....


Frust8edHeroUser

 

[The_Gnome_]

Question ... Now that I have installed the new Rom with my 2 gig card can I swap it out and use my 16 gig and still have everything work OK. Don't want to try this without getting an opinion .... for sake of having to go through the whole procedure again cuz of a screwup.

Glad to hear you got through it - congrats!

As far as I know you should be fine to put the other card back in - I think the card you prepared was only for the rooting process (gold card) and now that the phone is rooted, there's no reason you can't swap the other card back in.

Enjoy, and post back any findings you have with this ROM - I'm curious of others opinions as well!

 

[nomnompie]

Just as an FYI, I did some thinking and I am pretty sure that it is impossible to backup the original Telus ROM. I tried installing flashrec before downgrading and it would not backup because it said it could not run the command.

I assume if you want to go back to stock, you have to flash a generic HTC ROM therefore losing the Telus OTA updates, so you'd probably have to get the official 2.1 update from HTC's site when available, and flash it using flashrec because of the serial number differences in devices, I don't think it will install like normal.

Am I at all correct here? I'm not sure if I really really want to do this yet... I don't want to end up with reception issues or anything and not be able to return to stock. You know, the whole "if it aint broke, don't fix it, in case it breaks instead" idea. But I do want the functionality I am missing that 2.1 has.. maybe I should just hold out for official though?

 

[patchez]

um, you guys to do more reading and research =)
all the questions you guys are asking have been asked and answered, try searchesing on these forums and others(ie. xda, modaco, ...)

I tried to boot into recovery mode (having not rooted yet) but I don't seem to have a nandroid option...help?!

yub, you need to goldcard than flash something like amon ra's recovery to be able to nandroid update

Question ... Now that I have installed the new Rom with my 2 gig card can I swap it out and use my 16 gig and still have everything work OK.

yub, or you can format and partition your memory card manually.

Just as an FYI, I did some thinking and I am pretty sure that it is impossible to backup the original Telus ROM... I assume if you want to go back to stock, you have to flash a generic HTC ROM therefore losing the Telus OTA updates...

yub, can't go back to official telus rom as no ruu ever came out with it. you won't be able to tell the difference between the telus stock rom and the other official rom ruu's.
as for telus OTA, i'm not sure as i don't see why i would ever want to lose root privileges going to a official 2.1 rom, when i could just go to a non-modified rooted custom rom.

i rooted my telus phone in the first week(using the same procedure mentioned earlier) i got it=)
welcome to the rooted hero community!

 

[ohmaynitseric]

do you guys have any good SD card's (brands) that are capable of getting the gold card in order to root our phones?

 

[The_Gnome_]

do you guys have any good SD card's (brands) that are capable of getting the gold card in order to root our phones?

Mine worked perfect with the 2GB card that came with the phone.

 

[Frust8edHeroUser]

Update

So far after 36 hours .... loving the VillainROM 5.22. Overall appreciation for the Hero is now at about 95%.

Did have one strange reboot that happened while browsing using Steel. None since then ... will keep an eye out for anything out of the norm.


I saw that VillainRom 5.3 is out .... will probably upgrade to that one this weekend.

I swapped out my 2 gig for my 16 gig .... works a charm.


Leave it to the community to come up with better and faster updates then HTC.


Once again THANKS

Frust8edHeroUser

Update on update:

Installed VillainRom 5.3 .... restored everything .... so far very stable.

I'll keep everyone informed.

 

[The_Gnome_]

Sweet! Updating to 5.3 now as well.

FYI - for anyone who wasn't aware, there's a bug in Villain5.2 and 5.3 where you won't get a notification if you have voicemail. I wasn't originally aware of this (but I realize others may have been) so I thought I'd share. It's being worked on though!

 

[nomnompie]

What about sending and receiving MMS? I saw a note that said it was broken.. but I wasn't sure if it is still true.. I heard google nav is broken in 5.3 too..

I'm confused to whether I want 5.2 or 5.3 lol...

 

[The_Gnome_]

What about sending and receiving MMS? I saw a note that said it was broken.. but I wasn't sure if it is still true.. I heard google nav is broken in 5.3 too..

I'm confused to whether I want 5.2 or 5.3 lol...

Not sure about MMS - I read that too, but Villain lists there's a fix in the forums for it. Personally, I never use MMS, so I can't comment.

I didn't try google nav in 5.2, but I'll try and fire it up in 5.3 when my phone is updated.

 

[IceCreamTaco]

Hey all
any way to do this without having a seperate sd card reader?
I assume no but thought id ask anyways as i do not have one.
And yes , i have a htc telus hero...why did they make it so difficult...instantroot working would of been nice...gd telus

 

[Frust8edHeroUser]

any way to do this without having a seperate sd card reader?

I used the phone and the computer ( XP ) .... No external reader...

Just remember to uncheck READ ONLY when your using the Hex Editor.



Not so Frust8edHeroUser anymore