Root The "Fix everything by turning your phone into an Evo 3d" thread

[Leslie Ann]

Here it is...
This will document how to more or less turn your phone into a Sprint Evo 3D with all the best parts. The purpose of this is to reduce signal fluctuations, increase signal strength, and allow you to run almost any Virgin or Sprint rom, old or new with as few issues as possible. MMS, phone, everything works, exactly as it should.

So how good is it? It's a whole new phone compared to what it was, and that is without changing roms. The original phone was good, with a rom it was better. With these and a rom, it works like you expect a high end phone to work.

Please note that this is not entirely my own work, much of it was derived from the work of others, including Chad Goodman (of Anthrax Kernel fame), Krowley3, Jcfunk, Gamikzone, and Unknownforce. There were also many involved in testing and advice. I did a lot of the research, testing and compiled it all together as one, but I was far from alone in this.



What we will change here are:
ENG Hboot 1.04 - allows other roms and needed for the radio flash. Engineering hboot, more recovery options, less restrictions.
PRI 2.17.651 - fixes some fluctuations, increases radio strength. This will show up as 1.53_145 in about phone.
Radio 0.97.10.0530 - fixes some fluctuations, increases radio strength. (Updated, much better!)
PRL 60690 - Updates the list of towers you can connect to (Optional but highly recommended).
Note: You can change to any Hboot once you are done with the radio, and PRI flashing.


Prerequisits:
1. A good backup! DUH! I recommend using Titanium Backup or Mybackup Pro, as well as a Nandroid (recovery) backup.
2. A backup of your backup... Keeping a backup only on your phone is like backing up your computer to your computer. Worthless.
3. You need to be Root and S-off.

A note on cables...
The use of a USB 3.0 cable has been problematic. Cheap USB 2.0 cables have also created issues. Use the stock cable if you have it.

Warning!!!!!
1. As usual, I try my best to make things as foolproof as possible, but things happen, do this at your own risk.
2. Using the stock rom has been known to cause boot loops, and it is HIGHLY recommended that you install Harmonia or Midnight rom before you change the Hboot. Cm9, MIUI, etc. will not work as they are not Sense based and do not have a diagnostic mode. Midnight uses a newer Anthrax kernel and it's optimized for newer Hboots and may be causing issues, as such i have removed it from the prerequisits. Remember you can always switch to a different Hboot when finished and move to any rom you want.
3. It is highly advised that you backup, but this goes double if you are completely stock. EXPECT to lose everything.
4. If you are on a completely stock rom, when you swap the hboot, your phone will fail to boot. Reinstalling the stock rom or and whatever you were using (wipe dalvik and cache only) should fix it without losing data. However, if you were smart you made the proper backups and can use any rom.




Downloads: (All have been modded numerically to fake our hboot and work with our phones)
PRI - MD5 - 026b0d970b06fe9db88873e375ccbf74 (do not decompress this!)
Hboot - md5 - 99df68934deb03cfcec63d7b1b9cb97b (do not decompress this!)
Radio - md5 - 0ab6aeb4ca9421d5ea8e9ced722554bc (do not decompress this!)
PRL 60690 - md5 - 9dc62e1a8e0991d5bd925c8b5852fa1f (needs to be extracted)
QPST (only needed for PRL)
HTC diagnostic drivers - You should have them by the time you are s-off, but if not, they are here, includes step by step install.


Hboot, Radio and PRI install
We start with the Hboot, since it is needed for the radio.
NOTE/WARNING!!!!!!!!!!: Notice all three files have the EXACT same name.
You cannot use subfolders, you cannot rename them, you cannot do anything except have one of these files on your sdcard at a time. Do not think you are smart by trying to find a way around this, you can't. For the hard headed, this means copy ONE FILE, flash it, then go back and copy the next file and flash it. ONE AT A TIME.

1. Copy the Hboot PG86IMG.zip to your sdcard (the root of it). Do not decompress it, copy it as is.
You can change to any Hboot once you are done. Some roms prefer newer, some prefer older. It will not effect anything else.

2 If you are in Android, you need to reboot into Bootloader, then select Bootloader. If your phone is turned off, hold vol down, and power and it will go straight into Bootloader.

3. Boot to your homescreen.

4. Using the same procedure, do the same as above for the radio and PRI. Order shouldn't matter. Again, one file at a time.

Don't freak out if after you do these, that your phone boots up, then restarts once or twice. It needs a reboot or two to stabilize.


PRL (optional) is a bit more in depth.
This seems to be a pain in the neck for most, however posting the diag drivers above may help. If you can't get it, don't stress as this is optional and usually has the least effect of all of these.

1. Disable debugging on your device (settings, developer options) and connect it to your computer

2. Install QPST

3. Open "QPST Configuration" in the "QPST" folder under Programs

4. Dial ##3424#

5. Click on the “Ports” tab and “Add a new port”, select it based on what your phone connected as. You should find it easily enough.

6. In the top menu, select “Start Clients” and open Service Programming.

7. Select your device

8. Select "Read from Phone". I will ask for your MSL code. If you don't have it, search the Play Store for MSL Reader, it should be the first result. It will tell you your MSL).

9. Go to the "Roam" tab

10. Click Browse and find your PRL file (you will need to unzip it).

11. Select Write to phone, once it reboots, you are are done. Sometimes this generates an error as it finishes, ignore it, it still worked (you can verify in "about phone".


Enjoy your "new" phone.



If you haven't already, install a new rom, and really enjoy what your phone can do.
I recommend Harmonia, but then, I am a little biased.




Changes:
6Nov12
Radio link fixed
28Oct12
Changed info regarding Midnight and cables.
27 Oct12
Added diag drivers and comment about Hboot.
26Aug12
Replaced 2 lines and updated radio
Radio 1.13.652 - fixes some fluctuations, increases radio strength.
Radio - md5 - 58a1de80fc137bf437c1edd5f447a2ac (do not decompress this!)

 

[Leslie Ann]

Common Questions

Will this work with _____ rom.
It needs to be based on Sense in order to make these changes. CM, MIUI, AOKP, etc.. will NOT work. However, once completed, you are free to flash any of those.

Does MMS work?
Everything works, but much better.

What radio, pri, etc, is this?
See the first post, it's included.

Can I go back?
Yes, with the modified Hboot, flashing back is simple, but honestly, I don't know why you would want to, this si just such a major improvement. The only reason i would go back, is if I was selling, at which point, I would flash the RUU and sell it bone stock.

 

[thebryceee]

I thought the prl was 60690?

The link for that doesn't work.

 

[Leslie Ann]

It is 60690, that was a typo.
As for the link, it works fine when I click on it.

 

[thebryceee]

I dont think usb mount works on CM9. That's just lovely. If it don't work on CM9, will it work in recovery? (4EXT)

 

[xploPR]

Thank you, thank you.

 

[Mobstergunz]

All this can be undone by flashing the RUU right? And will this have any effect on a possible future update for the Evo V?

Edit: After getting the new PRL what will the "Update PRL" option in settings do? Will it update to Virgin PRLs or Sprint ones?

 

[skarni]

Thanks for this all wrapped up in one nice package.

 

[koopakid08]

This really needs to be a sticky!

Thanks again LeslieAnn, Krowly, and everyone else for doing what htc refused to do! Loving this phone now!

 

[Revenant Ghost]

This really needs to be a sticky!

Thanks again LeslieAnn, Krowly, and everyone else for doing what htc refused to do! Loving this phone now!

Seriously. Where's a mod when you need one?

 

[Leslie Ann]

You are all welcome.
It really makes a difference, it cut my drops by 75% or more.

I dont think usb mount works on CM9. That's just lovely. If it don't work on CM9, will it work in recovery? (4EXT)

You really should be on Sense to do this, I'll add it to the OP.

All this can be undone by flashing the RUU right? And will this have any effect on a possible future update for the Evo V?

Edit: After getting the new PRL what will the "Update PRL" option in settings do? Will it update to Virgin PRLs or Sprint ones?

Going back to the RUU should work, if not, Krowley or I can make a patch to revert easy enough, you just change a number in the patch in a hex editor to one higher. However, having the ENG Hboot, you can probably flash back and forth much easier now if you ever needed to.

RUU's do tend to just overwrite EVERYTHING, it's kind of like nuking an ant hi'l.

We don't know what the PRL updater will do. It may do nothing, or it could update with Virgin or Sprint. Until one comes out, we won't know. I;m not worried about it, it's easy enough to do manually.

 

[meledall]

so you have to be on sense to get the pri to work

 

[Leslie Ann]

so you have to be on sense to get the pri to work

No, only for PRL.
Everything works from the Hboot, except PRL.

 

[Revenant Ghost]

Now, this is what I'm talking about! The community working together. It's a beautiful thing. Maybe this will shut up some of the naysayers as this progresses further.

 

[Kahroo]

Time to get s-off

 

[xploPR]

I did it.. gave me an error message in the end when i was writing the PRL to the phone, but it did the reboot, here is a screen shot, did the PRL and everything else go thru?

 

[thebryceee]

I flashed back to the stock radio earlier today no problems through the bootloader.

 

[thebryceee]

Apparently AOL is teaming up with a company called "Cellufun" to create an ad-supported community mobile gaming channel. Sounds interesting.

Apparently, the games will be tested popular titles that have proven themselves on mobile phones already.

Take a look at http://wap.aol.com/games where you can currently play mobile games courtesy of AOL. Eh... after seeing Duke Nukem on an Android Phone I'm not sure how excited this makes me.

Yes

Edit: Not sure what happened. I tried to quote xplopr

 

[xploPR]

Yes

Edit: Not sure what happened. I tried to quote xplopr

Lol thanks

 

[Leslie Ann]

I did it.. gave me an error message in the end when i was writing the PRL to the phone, but it did the reboot, here is a screen shot, did the PRL and everything else go thru?

Ignore the error, it worked.
I forgot about that, mine did it as well, but you show correct.

 

[b72roc]

sorry im new to this phone what are the steps to doing this in the bootloader

 

[xploPR]

Ignore the error, it worked.
I forgot about that, mine did it as well, but you show correct.

Thank you for making me like the phone even more now

 

[Leslie Ann]

sorry im new to this phone what are the steps to doing this in the bootloader

Copy one file to your sdcard, boot into bootloader, let it flash, then the next, then the next. Then move on to the PRL section.

Most of it is so simple you think you missed something.

 

[b72roc]

i put all of the files on my sd is that a problem?

 

[Leslie Ann]

Now, this is what I'm talking about! The community working together. It's a beautiful thing. Maybe this will shut up some of the naysayers as this progresses further.

Not sure where you expect it to progress to, you already have the best parts you can use, at least until some new parts come out.

Evo V development is now equal to Evo 3d, which is understandable since we stole all of their stuff.