Root Heading for a breakdown!

[skipjimroo]

Let me just start with a small apology. An apology for being the guy who blunders in with a "HOW R I MAK DIS WORK?" Plea.

I have real trouble sitting at my computer desk on account of my never-ending curse that is constant chronic joint pain. As a result, there's only so much time I can put in online before my body craps out on me and I have to go lie down!

For the past week, I have put in as much time as I've been able to handle feverishly reading up on the process of rooting the HTC Desire and flashing with a custom ROM. I think I'm almost ready to take the plunge and follow this tutorial to the letter:

[Video Tutorial] Noob Proof Everything Desire Guide UPDATED [04/04/11][Video Tut] - xda-developers

That said, I still have a few reservations and unanswered questions I can't seem to find a straight up solution/answer to. There's no question that putting in the time with a bit more online research would yield the answers that I'm searching for but at this point I'm at my limit. I'm currently writing.this from my phone which the stock browser doesn't exactly make a joy let me tell you!

I would greatly appreciate any help or advice you guys could throw my way in order to help me get where I need to be a little quicker and help me minimize the amount of time I need to spend at my computer (I'm already dreading the inevitable hours I'll have to put into the physical act of rooting/flashing)

The quibbles I've accumulated so far are thus:

1) Goldcard/RUU ~ My network is Orange (uk) and sadly there doesn't seem to be an RUU I could download for my network, should the need ever arise for me to send it back to my network provider. As far as I can gather, the RUU is everything to do with how my phone looks and functions and having a backup of one's personal network RUU is preferable as it would allow me to put the phone back to the state I originally received it in.

As I can't lay hands on an RUU relative to my network, it is my understanding that I would now, more than ever, have a need for a goldcard to be made. Is that all a goldcard is? an SD card imprint of my phone and the network-altered version of android/HTC sense that I've been supplied with? If so, then why are some guides/ advice that I'm reading online suggesting that both of these be performed in preperation for rooting?

2) App to SD+ ~ Ok, if I've got this right then this functionality differs slightly to the generic 2.2 feature of a similar name by the way that you have to fool the phone into thinking a section of the SD card is the phone's internal memory by partitioning. Am I right so far? My question is this: can it only be done with certain custom ROMs, or could I do this with the basic vanilla version of 2.3 supplied by HTC? This is the functionality that I am most looking forward to. I want to punch an infant every time that damn "memory is low" message pops up!

3) Radios ~ I don't intend to touch my radio at all unless I really really need to. From what I've read, it gets stored in a separate part of the phone that won't be touched during the whole rooting/ flashing process. Is this true? If rooting/flashing is going to inevitably lead to me having to go down a path of trial and error with lots of diferent radios, just to get my network and mobile internet connection... Then I think I'll have no choice but to give it a miss :S

4) GPS problem ~ I read on my internetular journey beyond sight and sound that people were experiencing GPS issues with cyanogenmod. Is this still the case? I can easily find and download the fix when the need arises but I just wondered if this is still a problem people are encountering as I'm pretty heavily dependant on Google navigation to find my way around.

Thanks in advance for any help you can possibly provide.

 

[shauny13]

Read everything here.

http://androidforums.com/desire-all...all-about-rooting-updated-21-july-2011-a.html

 

[saltire]

+1 for the guides on here - the most comprehensive, helpful and up-to-date ones I think you'll find.

Re: radios, yes it's completely separate and isn't touched by rooting/flashing ROMs. Doubt you'll have any problems so best advice is if it works fine just leave it as it is.

Edit: Not tried CM so can't say, but haven't had any GPS issues with Redux or Oxygen.
Oh, and avoid Rom Manager!

 

[Hadron]

GPS has always been fine for me with CM7.

 

[skipjimroo]

Big thanks all round: Saltire, Shauny, Hadron for taking the time to read and reply.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I had already spent a good couple of hours reading the info Shauny linked me to before I posted in here. I can only assume that I must have been achey to the point it was affecting my ability to take in information!

I think I've got all the info I need now. I just need to be sure I'm processing it correctly:

Goldcard: It's what I need to take all the branded junk off my phone, such as the customised internet browser icon and the like. Without it I won't be able to flash a custom ROM?

Radios: Don't need to worry as I won't be touching it. Ever

GPS Problem: Not a problem at all


So I suppose the last thing I need to confirm I've understood correctly is this:

Could I simply use Unrevoked, leave my Rom as it is (Htc sense skinned 2.2 froyo) and have acces to the marvellous feature that is apptoSD+? (as well as the other root only apps)

If so I think that may be the plan of attack

 

[SUroot]

You only need a goldcard to go back to an official (unbranded) rom. You dont need it for rooting or flashing custom roms.

 

[skipjimroo]

You only need a goldcard to go back to an official (unbranded) rom. You dont need it for rooting or flashing custom roms.

That one sentence made it all click into place for me! Thank you so much SUroot. No matter how many times I read over the faq info I still couldn't quite wrap my head around what a goldcard did. Now I get it.

I'm starting to think I should maybe just stick to the FAQs and guides found here on these forums. In my attempt to arm myself with as much information as possible, I seem to have hindered myself with a lot of conflicting (and just plain wrong) information.

 

[SUroot]

Yeah I put these together because I know I'm around to maintain them. Have fun

 

[skipjimroo]

Guys, I think this may be my last, question before I start cracking the whip with the whole rooting process but I'm afraid I need to ask you again about goldcards.

My microSD card is 16Gb. Will I be able to format it, follow the goldcard creation process, and then slap all my data back on it? Before then putting it back to it's normal duties of being my HTC Desire's sorage card?

Or would the goldcard data affect it's function as a normal every day memory card?

If it does affect the function of the card, would it be possible to then move the LOST.DIR &.footprints folders to my hard drive until I need them to be put back on the card?

I've googled the shit out of these queries of mine every which way I can and browsed the FAQs for the best part of an hour! If anyone can find this info anywhere on the site then please direct me to it so I can go bang my head on the wall! :S

 

[SUroot]

You can do that but if you want to partition, it that will break the goldness.

Basically the goldcard is written to the boot sector. Formatting won't break it. Partitioning changes the boot sector though. It works as a normal card in every way

 

[saltire]

Could I simply use Unrevoked, leave my Rom as it is (Htc sense skinned 2.2 froyo) and have acces to the marvellous feature that is apptoSD+? (as well as the other root only apps)

If so I think that may be the plan of attack

If you want something that's close to stock but with a2sd+ (apps on EXT partition on SD Card) you'll need a custom ROM rather than just your rooted stock ROM - you could do a lot worse than Teppic74's GB one here:

[ROM] [20/08] Pre-rooted Stock Gingerbread (3.14.405.1) [Optional Mods] - xda-developers

Also has a Froyo one - link in teppic's sig at bottom of first post

 

[TV!]

If you want something that's close to stock but with a2sd+ (apps on EXT partition on SD Card) you'll need a custom ROM rather than just your rooted stock ROM - you could do a lot worse than Teppic74's GB one here:

[ROM] [20/08] Pre-rooted Stock Gingerbread (3.14.405.1) [Optional Mods] - xda-developers

Also has a Froyo one - link in teppic's sig at bottom of first post

+1

I have used teppic's FROYO and am currently running the GB ROM with A2SD and I can't recommend them highly enough.

Everything works as it should but you have the beauty of tons of space for apps.

I tried a couple of different ROM's but they were either battery killers or something wasn't working quite as it should. So SUROOT suggested teppics ROM and I have been happy with this ever since.

Give it a try , thats the beauty of being rooted if you dont like it try something else.

 

[skipjimroo]

Aaaaaah thanks chaps, that completely clears up my little query.

Teppic74s rom eh? That sounds like the way to go. I shall make it the first rom I try once I'm all rooted up.

TV! wrote:
"thats the beauty of being rooted if you dont like it try something else."

I was about to write "I guess that's where ROM manager comes in" but it came back to me that I just recently read that it's not a good thing to use and can be problematic. Changing the ROM manually is the way to go then I suppose.

I'm off to make my goldcard now. Thankfully I just found a spare 4Gb memory card I have no use for. How lucky is that?

 

[Hadron]

I was about to write "I guess that's where ROM manager comes in" but it came back to me that I just recently read that it's not a good thing to use and can be problematic. Changing the ROM manually is the way to go then I suppose.

Oh yes, definately. Unless you have a burning desire to learn how to fix usb bricks, in which case ROM Manager is the way to go

 

[saltire]

Edit: Not tried CM so can't say, but haven't had any GPS issues with Redux or Oxygen.
Oh, and avoid Rom Manager!

@Hadron - lol Guess he must

 

[skipjimroo]

@Hadron - lol Guess he must

Sorry Saltire, I knew I'd read bad things about Rom manager but my crappy memory neglected to remind me that it was you who'd mentioned it to me a scant few posts back!

If I didn't have such a vehement need for them I'd say right about now that it might be time to cut back on the meds

edit: Incidently, I feel it's worth mentioning; My volume rocker has crapped out on me so my network is very kindly sending out a replacement Desire handset to my house tomorrow morning.

Here's hoping it doesn't have one of the newer Hboot versions.

 

[Hadron]

Not a problem - there are ways of rooting all hboots now.

 

[skipjimroo]

Well guys, I just wanted to thank you all again. The rooting was a success and I'm watching the cyanogen mod logo spinning (for what feels like an eternity, is that normal?) as I now sit here typing.

I'm next going to tackle the app2SD+ process. I see there are a couple of ways to do that. Would you guys recommend:

• The Rom manager method (I know it's a bad piece of coding, but would it be adequate for this process?) Or...
• The Gparted way

I'm a windows XP user if it makes any difference

 

[SUroot]

gparted anyday. if youre not comfortable booting to cd, see my vmware virtual machine guide in my sig. Yes it seems dautning but its a one time thing which will help you in the future

 

[Rastaman-FB]

touch rom manager and i will personally come round to your house and pimp slap you out of your back door

 

[skipjimroo]

Well, as I had no desire to be pimp slapped I went with the gparted process

I went ahead and booted from a flash drive to get the job done in the end. Even though I didn't follow your vmware guide SUroot, I still found the process was entirely dependant on your teachings (you'd be amazed how often you pop up when Googling for android walkthroughs)

After successfully setting up a secondary 1Gb ext3 partition I'm left with a fear that I may have done it all wrong.

I just checked the listed amount of internal storage via menu/setting/storage and it's the same as when I began the process.

I'm currently running cyanogenmod7. Have I ballsed it all up again?

 

[Rastaman-FB]

Well, as I had no desire to be pimp slapped I went with the gparted process

I went ahead and booted from a flash drive to get the job done in the end. Even though I didn't follow your vmware guide SUroot, I still found the process was entirely dependant on your teachings (you'd be amazed how often you pop up when Googling for android walkthroughs)

After successfully setting up a secondary 1Gb ext3 partition I'm left with a fear that I may have done it all wrong.

I just checked the listed amount of internal storage via menu/setting/storage and it's the same as when I began the process.

I'm currently running cyanogenmod7. Have I ballsed it all up again?

no, although i though it should be a primary partition after the fat32

eitherway please read the a2sd faq youll realise that the storage space will not visibly increase within android itself . if you are using cyanogen mod you will need to use s2e (simple to ext) and that will do the a2sd work for you

 

[skipjimroo]

Cheers Rastaman. Unbelievably I had that very faq open and next to me the whole way through the process, I'm just so burnt out with the amount of time I've been putting into this lately that I clearly didn't take it all in.

I downloaded quick system info and it's showing my A2SD storage as 0.98Gb (I set it up as a 1024mb ext 3 partition) so I guess things are all peachy keen.

I just got the "Phone memory is low" message though. Any ideas as to why that could be? I certainly haven't put a Gb of data on it :/

 

[skipjimroo]

Ok guys, don't worry about that last quibble of mine. I ended up changing from CM7 to teppic74's like Saltire suggested.

I loved CM7 but I couldn't live without my 720p video recording functionality

After flashing Teppic's I then flashed the App2SD mod and now it seems that no matter how many apps I throw onto it the available phone storage stays at 131mb. Woot!!!

I think I'm finally where I want to be root-wise and I couldn't be more glad. My hips are hurting to the point I feel I'm being violently stabbed in them and my neck makes a cement mixer sound whenever I move it.

Seems like it was worth it in the end. Thanks so much for all your help guys.