Root [FAQ]ROOTING (Updated 7th April 2012)

[SUroot]

I have a French HTC Desire - does that affect any of the rooting steps?

Also I must say the new part in your FAQ about HBOOT isn't very clear... I've done a bit of research and can't even seem to figure out how to check my phone's HBOOT. Maybe i've just missed the obvious though

From off hold vol down and press power

What's unclear?

I've edited it. Hopefully it makes more sense?

 

[Lmkt]

it does

 

[docnasef]

Hello me again!

Seems the guyz our problem at unrevoked have found a solution to our problem
the foryo 2.32.415.3

They have updated to unrevoked v 3.3

Just now I have rooted succesfully without a hitch!!

Thanks to you all

Keep up the good work!!!

 

[Rastaman-FB]

ahh theyve found a new method it seems, theyve ditched rage against the cage

 

[docnasef]

ahh theyve found a new method it seems, theyve ditched rage against the cage

Thought i could get away so easily!
No such luck!!


Well what happened is i got the walk through for this new unrevoked version 3.3 from one of these cearab forums

They advised for slcd versions to run unrevoked, without connecting the phone, choose custom rom, upload a img file clockworkmod recovery 2.5.0.1 ?
and THEN connect and root

Now I did that and it rooted fine

However,

Firstly to get into recovery mode I need to at least try twice, it hanged first on the white HTC logo had to pull battery out and retry , at least one more time if not twice


Also, I thought maybe for every sd card i use I need to root again, so I had an extra sd card tried to root that it gave me error unable to root? have you newer firmware?"
I AM OnLY ABLE TO ROOT ONCE

My questions please
How to upgrade to clockworkmod 2.5.0.9 or latest?

Also, do I need to unroot first so as to reroot say with the unrevoked normally (i expect it has the latest clockworkmod?

Last one please:
i read somwhere that there was an instruction on how to unroot back to custom stock using "the nandroid" image created AFTER rooting????? is that correct ? how?
I guess I am asking about other options to get to stock without flashing RUU


Sorry to bother u all with this and thank for all your efforts with us newbies!!



EDIT:

used ROM manager let it download update clockworkmod 2.5.0.7 to sd card, ran update.zip from there, now have that version...
However rest of qs still stand!

EDIT 2:
ACTUALLY NOOOO

the version of clockwordkmod STILL REMAINS 2.5.0.1?????

 

[Rastaman-FB]

indeed, rom manager flashes a fake standalone version of recovery
i dont know why the website said to use a different one to the one supplied with unrevoked 3.3
you should use this as its the latest stable release
the only way to change recovery to the latest one if you do not have s-off is to run unrevoked again and select a different custom recovery


you cannot return to complete stock without running RUU or pb99img.zip
there is not a way to "unroot" a device without doing this

restoring a nand would restore it to a rooted state as you have to be rooted to create a nandroid backup

 

[docnasef]

indeed, rom manager flashes a fake standalone version of recovery
i dont know why the website said to use a different one to the one supplied with unrevoked 3.3
you should use this as its the latest stable release
the only way to change recovery to the latest one if you do not have s-off is to run unrevoked again and select a different custom recovery


you cannot return to complete stock without running RUU or pb99img.zip
there is not a way to "unroot" a device without doing this

restoring a nand would restore it to a rooted state as you have to be rooted to create a nandroid backup

Yes that is exactely my point
however when I tried running unrevoked again as it is, without choosing a custom recovery it failed..

Do you happen to have an img file for the latest clockworkmod 2.5.0.7 that i could try flashing with unrevoked to see if that works?


Also, it seems the original ruu arabic foryo 2.32.415.3
from shipped roms site is corrupt or something as I have downloaded three times and it always gives error??!

 

[rx93]

Hi all,

I finally got my repaired Desire to be rooted!!! One stupid question, since I am gonna flash a2sd+ rom. I already created ext3 partition with Gparted before I root. Do I have to re-partition my SD via recovery again? Because there is no option to choose SWAP>0 in Gparted. Thank you.

 

[Rastaman-FB]

Yes that is exactely my point
however when I tried running unrevoked again as it is, without choosing a custom recovery it failed..

Do you happen to have an img file for the latest clockworkmod 2.5.0.7 that i could try flashing with unrevoked to see if that works?


Also, it seems the original ruu arabic foryo 2.32.415.3
from shipped roms site is corrupt or something as I have downloaded three times and it always gives error??!

try downloading it using a download manager like "freedownloadmanager"
img file for 2.5.0.7 can be found here http://koush.tandtgaming.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-2.5.0.7-bravo.img

 

[Rastaman-FB]

Hi all,

I finally got my repaired Desire to be rooted!!! One stupid question, since I am gonna flash a2sd+ rom. I already created ext3 partition with Gparted before I root. Do I have to re-partition my SD via recovery again? Because there is no option to choose SWAP>0 in Gparted. Thank you.

you dont need swap, swap is not enabled by default either
if you already have it partitioned its fine, you do not have to do it again

 

[rx93]

Thanks Rastaman. I am very nervous. My phone went dead because I messed up the partition last time.

 

[Rastaman-FB]

your phone wont die because of a dodgy sdcard partition
you just might get a boot loop.

if it died so bad you had to send it in then it died for different reasons

 

[DexKen]

I would just like to thank Danfrance for this excellent FAQ. Having grown tired of memory issues I decided to bite the bullet and root so I could install the rooted stock rom with apps2sd+, what a difference it has made!!

My phone was down to 18mb free (and this was after removing flash updates) and now with everything back installed on the phone I have 97Mb free

I had a major issue with unrevoked3 failing every time on both my win7 machine and my mac, after much head scratching I remembered something important, previously I had used this guide (Lorin Bute - Home - How to force apps to move to the SD card onFroyo) to allow me to force apps to sd by setting "pm setInstallLocation 2" and it was this that was borking unrevoked3 as it was installing the rooting service to sd and on reboot the sdcard was not being mounted quick enough, changing back to "pm setInstallLocation 0" fixed the problem and the root worked perfectly.

It might be worth making an entry in the FAQ about anyone having done the "force apps to SD" trick in the past to undo it before rooting.

 

[docnasef]

Danfrance thanks for advice so far

Unrooted as you adviced using pbimg.zip
Rooted orig arab ROM back
Now running rooted stock 2.32.415.3
with recovery clockwork mod 2.5.0.7

How to get app2sd?
Do I need to install a certain ROM?
Cant it be done as a "stand alone thing?

Meaning keep rooted stok ROM yet have app2sd also?

I just want to keep my arabic enabled phone and keyboard.

Thanks for everything... REALLY!!

 

[SUroot]

Danfrance thanks for advice so far

Unrooted as you adviced using pbimg.zip
Rooted orig arab ROM back
Now running rooted stock 2.32.415.3
with recovery clockwork mod 2.5.0.7

How to get app2sd?
Do I need to install a certain ROM?
Cant it be done as a "stand alone thing?

Meaning keep rooted stok ROM yet have app2sd also?

I just want to keep my arabic enabled phone and keyboard.

Thanks for everything... REALLY!!

You need a Rom with init.d support.

You can do it yourself, see here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=894445

Then you need to flash firerat or dark tremor app2sd+


Lot of work though

 

[docnasef]

You need a Rom with init.d support.

You can do it yourself, see here:

[HOWTO] Enable init.d on stock *rooted* Desire roms - xda-developers

Then you need to flash firerat or dark tremor app2sd+


Lot of work though

Woooaa

I'll say!
just started reading through and kinda lost my way!

So seems I need to start off by having "S-OFF"

Currently S-ON so how do I start there?

I hope I am not bothering you too much with all this?!

 

[Rastaman-FB]

you dont need s-off

 

[Kryten2k35]

Hi guys

UnrEVOked 3.31 didn't work on my Desire last night. It gave me the am error starting services problem.

http://downloads.unrevoked.com/recovery/3.21/reflash_package.exe

The earlier version linked above worked first time, though.

 

[filthy1980]

hey

apologies for the noob question

but have i have a week old desire HD, is the unrevoked method still valid for my phone?

thanks

 

[solidsplint]

heloooo there I wz a total noob in this android thing but followed the guide and now I have superuser permission in my app list i had stock 2.2 froyo with bootloader 0.93 and BRAVO PVT-4 adioss hatss off thank u soo muchh

 

[SUroot]

heloooo there I wz a total noob in this android thing but followed the guide and now I have superuser permission in my app list i had stock 2.2 froyo with bootloader 0.93 and BRAVO PVT-4 adioss hatss off thank u soo muchh

That's what this faq is for

 

[SUroot]

Updated the following:

**Note, there is a known issue whereby you can sometimes get into a bootloop after your first Nandroid backup if you rooted using unrEVOked 3.21 (or later) due to corruption of the NAND. Booting back into recovery and restoring the backup you have just taken should resolve this##

Added the bold text

 

[Bob the Postie]

Great write up above about rooting the HTC Desire, even as a Postie for the last 40 years I can follow what's being said, but it's one thing hearing the music, another thing trying to dance to it :-(

I always fancied one of these new phones and the wife bought me one off eBay for Christmas, but it's Orange Branded and I use Tesco PAYG. I managed to get that sorted in one of the local unlock shops, but after a few weeks I'm fed up of all the Orange stuff, none of it that I'd ever use or want on the phone.

The problem is, I've asked 3 shops locally (in Blackpool) if they know how to debrand the phone, none of them know how, either that or they think the chance of bricking it is too high.

After 40 years of "walking the streets" I've just retired so I've a bit of time on me hands now to play with this new technology so, I'd really appreciate it if anyone knows a shop or someone in the NW who is capable of doing the job.

Bob the (ex) Postie.

 

[SUroot]

Hi Bob,

Debranding is not that hard. The way it is done is by using an official (unbranded) HTC released RUU. RUU's are Rom Upgrade Utilities. They come in the form of an .exe you run from a PC, with the phone connected in HTC sync mode.

Installing an unbranded RUU on an unbranded phone is really simple. HTC tech staff do this to repaired phones. Its literally plug in the phone and set to HTC sync and press and run the RUU. It does it all in 1 click. Since this is the official HTC way to do it, theres no real danger as its designed specifically for this purpose. The only problem would come if the cable was unplugged or power was lost during the operation.


Now it is a bit different if you want to run an unbranded RUU on a branded desire to debrand it. The phone has a CID (carrier identification number) which uniquely identifies it to the carrier / operator. When an RUU is run, it checks the CID on the phone to make sure it matches to the range of CIDs it expects to see. If it does not match, it aborts.

The CID can be spoofed and the RUU fooled and this is how debranding is done. This is done by making your SD card into what is known as a goldcard. There is a tool for this in the main sticky of this forum. There are also plenty of guiddes around to do this. Its not THAT straight forward of a process (its the hard bit) but its not amazingly difficult either.

I would suggest investigating this a little further yourself to be honest. You can make a gold cards in half an hour or less and you could debrand the phone yourself in little under an hour with the right instruction.

If you're up for the challenge, let us know and we can point you in the right direction.

 

[Bob the Postie]

Thanks for the above, appreciated.

The thing is, although I can follow what you say, I'd be a bag of nerves trying to actually do it, and if I hit a snag I'd be bollocks'd and odds the odds on favourite to brick the phone, if I did that I'd have to leave home before the wife found out that 300 quids worth of phone had been tuned for maximum smoke.

Hope you don't mind me saying this SU, but you lads discount the expertise that you have, even though it's laid out for all to read it's still Greek to the average guy, as mentioned I can follow "hear the music", but I know for sure I wouldn't look good trying to dance to it.

Add to that, (as you say) it gets trickier when the phone is already branded, as mine is, just my luck to finish up with an Orange phone, the toughest of them all to debrand

What I can't figure out is why the local shops in Blackpool shy away from even attempting to do the job for me ? the technicians in places like that are usually pretty decent, well at least in unlocking phones.

The bottom line is, I'm just a retired Postie, and although your footsteps seem clear enough, them damned IKEA flat packs that the wife keeps bringing home test the limit of my technical expertise, and I don't fancy giving the phone a "tap with the hammer" if it's not quite right.

Have to say that although this is out of my league I can follow most (if not all) of it, and I enjoy reading the write ups in here.

Best thing for me is to find a shop or a techie who can do the job, I'd rather pay to have the phone sorted than brick it

Thanks again SU for your time and consideration, it's valued and appreciated.

Bob.