Guide to beat the wait for 2.1 on Branded phones in UK.

[98082]

Just wanting to point out that I've got an unlocked Orange Hero (on virgin mobile) that's been debranded using this method. No problems as of yet? Occasional duplication of texts sent but thats all.

 

[ookie]

Use XP

oh cheers for that.

i managed to get it working without doing so

although maybe not, half way through the ROM update i get USB error 171...

 

[Moko76]

oh cheers for that.

i managed to get it working without doing so

although maybe not, half way through the ROM update i get USB error 171...

Another user was having a similar problem yesterday, His was a USB 170 problem I believe. He was using Windows 7 also and there are a lot of threads about that seem to suggest an issue with HTC sync and windows 7. Have you got an xp or vista pc available to you?

 

[Moko76]

Just wanting to point out that I've got an unlocked Orange Hero (on virgin mobile) that's been debranded using this method. No problems as of yet? Occasional duplication of texts sent but thats all.

Great to hear of another successful Orange flash using this method. It seems the problems are related to only a few Orange handsets.

The text message duplication is a little strange though, haha. Have you downloaded a secondary text app? like Handcent or Chomp sms? Sometimes they can cause such issues if you don't turn off the notifications on one or the other.

 

[ookie]

Another user was having a similar problem yesterday, His was a USB 170 problem I believe. He was using Windows 7 also and there are a lot of threads about that seem to suggest an issue with HTC sync and windows 7. Have you got an xp or vista pc available to you?

I had the same error as that guy, fixed it and now i lose connection to the phone when the update starts up with a USB 171 error.

I'll keep plugging away at it as im at work for the next few hours, maybe try and find some sort of fix. if not i'll do it on vista when i get home

 

[Moko76]

I had the same error as that guy, fixed it and now i lose connection to the phone when the update starts up with a USB 171 error.

I'll keep plugging away at it as im at work for the next few hours, maybe try and find some sort of fix. if not i'll do it on vista when i get home

I did mine and my friends on Vista, so I'd have to recommend that.

My friend had previously had problems with HTC sync on windows 7.

 

[croc9968]

Just finished now....I'm on 3UK and the process was very easy!!! No real issues and even HTC sync worked with my Win 7 64bit. Going to explore a bit but first impressions are that it seems to be as quick as 1.5 and my contacts etc seemed to have remained on the phone.

Never messed about with my phone before and was surprised how easy it was....just follow the instructions and please thank MOKO76 for all his work on this

 

[98082]

Great to hear of another successful Orange flash using this method. It seems the problems are related to only a few Orange handsets.

The text message duplication is a little strange though, haha. Have you downloaded a secondary text app? like Handcent or Chomp sms? Sometimes they can cause such issues if you don't turn off the notifications on one or the other.

Nope, no secondary apps and what not. It's incredibly rare though, like 1/100 it may have a chance to duplicate. Going to muck about with a few things later though and see if that does the trick or not.

 

[ookie]

Just tried the same thing on XP and still no luck

 

[Moko76]

Just tried the same thing on XP and still no luck

Hmmm, I can't think what the problem might be there. are you getting the 170 or 171 usb error? Have you got a firewall switched on? Or some kind of Virus protection? Zone alarm or something like that.

Just a thought.

 

[ookie]

don't worry, the USB problem for XP was as simple as a dodgy USB port

i'm now up and running and downloading the updates

I would recommend to anybody to avoid using Windows 7!
thanks

 

[sconir]

I too have windows 7 on both home laptops, and wasted three hours today trying to sort this out, lots of hits about "Error 170" when I google, but no definate solution, although one I have not tried is to uninstall the HTC sync and then download it from the US "Sprint" website, as this version aparently works with windows 7, I'll try it in the morning.

 

[Diggauk]

I got bored of the excuses from Orange, so I thought 'what the hell, let's give this a go'.

Well my phone now says Network locked. Please contact customer care. And it wants an unlock code!!! I f%#@ing hate Orange!!!

So to help others from going through the same frustrations as I have, my Hero was bought from Orange last September and it's P/N is 99HHM022-00. Not sure if this will help anyone in identifying if theirs is similar.

Time to flash back to the original ROM and wait.....

 

[ookie]

I copied my apps and media back over to the SD card and cant find them on the phone.

am i doing something wrong?

 

[RichieH]

Just done my G2 and I'm glad to say it was successful and quite straight forward... make sure you download the release version of the ROM not the test ones(can't belive anyone else would be as daft as me).

Anyone else notice the original radio issue is back? I noticed it following the 1st update on the G2, but it's definately showing less bars than it was and is nye on impossible to get full HSDPA strength even when in a city centre.

 

[Xile]

I copied my apps and media back over to the SD card and cant find them on the phone.

am i doing something wrong?

What I did was back up all my apps & data using Mybackup Pro, then copied everything from my SD card onto a folder on my PC desktop before formatting my SD Card.

After I had finished flashing my ROM and installing 2.1, I copied all the data back onto my SD card (took about 45 minutes), but like you when I checked my phone I couldn't see any apps or data, I then went to Android market and re-installed Mybackup Pro, then I was able to restore all my apps, data and settings. Job done.

 

[Xavier]

Okay so.. i've done the above, and I did get the SIM unlock code issue (was branded to Orange)

I've reverted back to the orange 1.5 build now and it's working... is there a way around this at all?

 

[Xile]

Okay so.. i've done the above, and I did get the SIM unlock code issue (was branded to Orange)

I've reverted back to the orange 1.5 build now and it's working... is there a way around this at all?

If you flashed your phone with the 2.73.405.5 ROM and the sim locked, then you will have to wait for Orange to issue the official update, sorry.

 

[Xavier]

If you flashed your phone with the 2.73.405.5 ROM and the sim locked, then you will have to wait for Orange to issue the official update, sorry.

Awesome..... :/


Will gaining a network unlock code work? After all, that is what the phone is looking for?

 

[Xyro]

I doubt it. The bug has affected people using orange sim cards in the orange phones; it still asks for an unlock code.

 

[Xile]

No, the Orange software that you have reverted to will prevent you from receiving any updates regardless if your phone has been unlocked or not.

 

[lumsdot]

Worked on my T mobile branded phone.
I downloaded the generic HTC Rom from the HTC website using the serial number listed in this thread. Goldcard went ok (I am running XP). Once generic rom was installed I downloaded 2 over the air updates and my phone was then 2.1
I find the phone slightly faster, and the google navigation is great, used it in my car to get me home today, I sometimes do not get a data connection, but then again I always had this problem before.
If you are running a T mobile branded phone then I would recommend this (if you are running an orange branded phone then i would avoid due to problems listed in this thread)

With all the calls T mobile and Orange and three are getting, maybe next time they will think twice about messing with the Android software, so what if the phone has the word T Mobile on start up , waste of time.

I think my Hero is now a real iPhone Killer, and I can hold it any way I want!

 

[magicmat]

Hello! I have an Orange branded phone, which I debranded and installed the last Android ROM onto. Am I likely to have the same problems? I am currently using this phone with O2.

 

[rachelisadog]

Thanks to the OP and all those who contributed to this
Have successfully downgraded to generic ROM 2.73.405.5, run the 2 updates to 2.1 and all seems, in the main fine.
Have posted my findings in the Main 2.1 Thread, post 1207.

 

[Thisco]

Registered specifically to thank you for the solution to getting at 2.1

I'm a Belgian HTC Hero user and we're even worse off: there might never be an official 2.1 release!

Anyway: I followed your steps and the upgrade has just finished

If anyone finds this thread as a Belgian Proximus user: this method really works. Only remark from my end (after having tried for over an hour): do NOT try this on a Windows 7 machine! Trust me, if you Google you might find people discussing it and suggesting using Vista drivers to sync: it doesn't work. Find someone who uses anything but Windows 7 (I used Windows XP) and you will not get the 170 or 171 error anymore.

Good luck!