Root Rooting GB, with Amon Ra v2.3 recovery

[andygu3]

So, all this information is in the rooting for gingerbread thread but I felt that we needed to do things a little different. Most of you know that I had a serious issue with my previous phone and now that I've had to root 2 phones in the last 2 weeks, I feel the need to write up a tutorial for rooting the Evo 4G with HBoot version 2.15 or 2.16 and any of the latest Gingerbread releases including 4.54. But after the rooting is done, if you're not sure what's going on, you will have ClockworkMod as a recovery. Nothing against Koush and the wonderful work that he does but most of us use Amon Ra as a recovery. So this tutorial will be for using Amon Ra as a recovery and not ClockworkMod. So again, none of this mine but I wanted to write this up a little different.

Also, at the end of the rooting and recovery tutorial, in the second post, I have instructions for partitioning your SD Card which I highly recommend doing if you decide to try the Sense 3.0 roms and higher. And in my opinion, further development for the Evo 4G may require you to partition anyways


A
If you would like to use ClockworkMod as your recovery, please refer to ocnbrze's Rooting Gingerbread thread found HERE


B
Rooting and using Amon Ra as your recovery

1.
Turn off your Evo4G. Make sure fastboot is unchecked in menu>settings>applications>uncheck fastboot. When the phone shuts down, take off the back cover and pull the battery. Underneath the battery there will letters and numbers after S/N: It should start with HT. Once you find the Serial Number, write it down on a sheet of paper then put battery back in.

2.
Do not turn on phone just yet. Now it's time to check what HBoot you have. While pressing the volume down button, press and hold the power button. Hold both of them at the same for 3-5 seconds and then your phone will go to the HBoot screen. On this screen you will see

Supersonic EVT3 Ship S-On
HBoot 2.15.001 or 2.16.001

Also you will see
FASTBOOT
RECOVERY
CLEAR STORAGE
SIMLOCK
HBOOT USB

Once you know your HBoot version, write it down on the same sheet of paper. You will need these for the rooting process.

3.
Reboot phone

4.
Download the HTC drivers that are needed found HERE These drivers will need to be installed on your computer before plugging your phone in.
Note: Please uninstall all previous drivers and uninstall HTC Sync from your computer.

5.
Download superuser from HERE to your computer.

6.
Download Amon Ra v2.3 found HERE. This will be your new recovery for your phone.

7.
Again, make sure all previous drivers, HTC Sync are uninstalled. Also turn off any Anti-Virus that's on your computer(Make sure Anti-Virus does not come after a reboot, so select never). Your phone will need to be able to root without interference.

8.
Reboot computer

9.
On your phone, press Menu>Settings>Applications>Development and check USB Debugging. Also in Applications be sure to check Fastboot

10.
Plug phone into computer and on the phone, be sure to select Disk Drive.

11.
From your computer, (important)rename the zip exactly PC36IMG.zip and then transfer the PC36IMG.zip (Amon Ra v2.3) to the SD Card. Make sure it's not in any folder and is on the root of your SD Card.

12.
From the computer, transfer the Superuser.zip to your SD Card. Again, make sure it's not in any folder and is on the root of the SD Card.

13.
Now on your phone select, Charge Only from Disk Drive.

14.
Now go HERE to revolutionary website. This is where you will need the information for your phone. HBoot and Serial Number and also since I used Windows, you will need to select Windows for rooting purposes. So after selecting Windows, the revolutionary file will be downloaded. Then select the make of your phone, Evo 4G and your HBoot.

15.
Now, to get your beta key, this will be where you need to input the phone's serial number. Once it gives the beta key, write it down exactly how you see it on the piece of paper.

16.
Open up the revolutionary file and then extract all files. Once that's done then go to revolutionary application at the bottom of the extracted files and right click on revolutionary. This will allow you to run as administrator.

17.
The command prompt will open and then it will find your device. Then it will ask you to input your beta key. Type in beta key and press enter.

18.
Once it finds root, it will boot to fastboot and then it will reboot once moar. And at the top of the screen you will see that you now have S-Off.

Congratulations you are now rooted with S-Off

19.
Important
But before you unplug the phone, it will prompt you if you would like a recovery. Press n for NO. Then the command prompt will disappear. Now unplug the phone.

20.
Now this screen, you will see
BOOTLOADER
REBOOT
REBOOT BOOTLOADER
POWER DOWN

Using the Volume Down key to scroll, highlight BOOTLOADER and then press the power button.

21.
Your phone will scan for the PC36IMG.zip and once prompted, it will ask, "Would you like to update?" Press the volume up key for yes. Then it will ask "Would you like to reboot?" Press the volume down key for no.

Congratulations, you have now successfully flashed Amon Ra v2.3 recovery

22.
On the HBoot screen you will then see the RECOVERY option. Highlight the the recovery option using the volume down button, then press the power button.


23.
You will now boot to your new recovery screen which will be Amon Ra v2.3
On this screen you will see

- Reboot system now
- USB-MS toggle
- Backup/Restore
- Flash zip from sdcard
- Wipe
- Partition sdcard
- Mounts
- Other
- Power off

24.
On the screen, while using the volume up/volume down buttons, scroll to 'Flash zip from sdcard'. On your Sd Card you will find the superuser.zip. Highlight the zip and press the power button. It will prompt you if you would like to install? Then press the power button. After it's finished, it will say 'Installation complete'
Congratulations, you now have superuser permissions

25.
Now at the top of the screen you will see 'Return'. Press the power button once on 'Return'.
Nandroid backup
Now go to Backup/Restore and press the power button. On this screen you will see

[X] boot
[X] system
[X] data
[ ] cache
[ ] recovery
[ ] wimax
[ ] sd-ext
[ ] android-secure

Boot, system and data are selected already so using the volume down button and then using power button to select, select data, cache, recovery, wimax and android-secure. Each of these will then have an X next to it when selected.

Press the power button to confirm. The phone will then do a nandroid which is an exact mirror of your phone. Backing up all data.....

Once done you will have you first nandroid that will be on your SD Card
Congratulations, you now have made your first successful nandroid

26.
Now go back up to return and press the power button and you will return to the main screen

27.
Highlight Reboot phone and press the power button

Your phone will then reboot


Congratulations, you know have rooted the phone with S-Off, successfully flashed Amon Ra v2.3 recovery, flashed the superuser.zip and made a nandroid


Hope this is helpful to others and again I only wrote up this tutorial for the ease of using Amon Ra recovery. Thanks to ocnbrze for his great work on the other 'Rooting' guide

 

[andygu3]

Partitioning the SD Card with Amon Ra v2.3 recovery

Now that you have successfully rooted, I would highly recommend partitioning the SD Card.
It has been recommended to use a Class 10 Sd Card but not necessary. You can use the stock Sd Card that comes with the Evo 4G but getting a higher class will be better in the long run.

Warning: This will erase all contents on your SD Card

1.
Plug phone into computer

2.
Select disk drive

3.
Transfer all files on your SD Card to your computer.

4.
Once the files have been transferred to your computer safely, select Charge only. Unplug phone.

5.
Download Quick Boot from the android market. Once downloaded, go into quick boot and select recovery. Your phone will boot into Amon Ra recovery.

6.
On the main recovery screen you will see, 'Partition SD Card'

7.
Select Partition SD Card

8.
Leave swap at 32mb but I would select 0mb (since most kernels do not support 32mb)

9.
Ext2-size= up to 2048 (2GB) but choosing 1024(1GB) will be sufficient.

10.
Select upgrade ext2 to ext3

11.
Now go to return and reboot phone.

12.
Plug phone back into computer and select Disk Drive. Then transfer all files back to your SD Card. Once all file have been transferred, then select Charge Only.

Congratulations, you're SD Card has now been partitioned


Changing recovery to Amon Ra Style recovery

Changing your recovery to Amon Ra Style will allow you to restore nandroids from both Amon Ra and ClockworkMod

1. Download Amon Ra Syle recovery

2. Transfer the file to the root of your sdcard and make sure it's not in any folders

3. Once it's on the root of the sdcard, rename the file to PC36IMG.zip

4. Turn off phone and while pressing the volume down key, press the power button for 3-5 seconds. This will take you to the bootloader screen.

5. It will ask if you want to update, press volume up for yes.

6. It will then ask you if you would like to reboot, press volume down for no.

7. Now highlight recovery on the bootloader screen and press the power button. You will then boot to your new recovery screen.

8. Here you will see your new options, you can either reboot or do a fresh new nandroid.

9. Reboot phone


Congratulations on updating to your new recovery



FYI, to navigate through the screens in the new recovery, the buttons on your phone will now work!!!

 

[Rxpert83]

Good idea, many will find this helpful

 

[psousa781]

Awesome write up. Only thing I might suggest is clarifying whether or not to keep 'boot', 'system' and 'system' checked when creating the first nandroid.

 

[Xtremedays]

Something that I might have missed in reading it but I don't think there was mention of where to find your serial number. If I missed it, my apologies. Great write up regardless.

 

[psousa781]

Something that I might have missed in reading it but I don't think there was mention of where to find your serial number. If I missed it, my apologies. Great write up regardless.

It's in Step 1.

 

[Xtremedays]

It's in Step 1.

Oops! Guess i did miss it.

Carry on Andy! Good work!

 

[volpe1988]

Awesome write up!! Wish i had this a week ago!

 

[argedion]

Great write up Andy. Only thing I see that I would add is copy the nandroid to your computer. This is invaded something happens to your see card

 

[dustwun77]

Lots of work! Thanks!

2 things, the method of copying and pasting you can use in the revolutionary window? Don't know how to describe it. Only way some folk could get the info entered.

also, a tip someone had in here, to make a copy of just the wimax keys and save them.

 

[andygu3]

Great write up Andy. Only thing I see that I would add is copy the nandroid to your computer. This is invaded something happens to your see card

Lots of work! Thanks!

2 things, the method of copying and pasting you can use in the revolutionary window? Don't know how to describe it. Only way some folk could get the info entered.

also, a tip someone had in here, to make a copy of just the wimax keys and save them.

Initially, after rooting my 2 phones, I went ahead after finding root, flashing recovery, making a nandroid, I then partitioned my sdcard.

So, if someone uses this tutorial, I would follow the first post and then directly partition the sdcard after. Then all nandroids, wimax nandroid would be saved on the computer for safe keeping

 

[Bnice]

So this is only for Window ? Nothing for Mac?

 

[ocnbrze]

So this is only for Window ? Nothing for Mac?

no you can root for macs. it is a little more involved though. go here:http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all...ooting-dummies-guide-gingerbread-edition.html. there is a mac section that ealymon was nice enough to let me put it in the guide.

 

[JasonC71]

First post. I recently (yesterday) bought a Toshiba Thrive tablet and needed a way to wifi tether....sooo....

I bit the bullet and decided to root the Evo (after over a year of ownership).

Anyway...I'm posting here because between this writeup and the gingerbread for dummies post...man you guys made it easy. Thank you.

The root (following the OP's directions) went flawlessly.

And the rewards???? The sprint bloatware is gone! Android-WiFi-Tether works perfectly with the tablet. And I downloaded SetCPU and followed the recommendations here so hopefully that will have an impact on battery life.

Bottom line...I couldn't be happier. Thanks again.

 

[ocnbrze]

First post. I recently (yesterday) bought a Toshiba Thrive tablet and needed a way to wifi tether....sooo....

I bit the bullet and decided to root the Evo (after over a year of ownership).

Anyway...I'm posting here because between this writeup and the gingerbread for dummies post...man you guys made it easy. Thank you.

The root (following the OP's directions) went flawlessly.

And the rewards???? The sprint bloatware is gone! Android-WiFi-Tether works perfectly with the tablet. And I downloaded SetCPU and followed the recommendations here so hopefully that will have an impact on battery life.

Bottom line...I couldn't be happier. Thanks again.

nice glad it worked for you. now go and get your flash on

 

[FailureDrill]

First post. I recently (yesterday) bought a Toshiba Thrive tablet and needed a way to wifi tether....sooo....

I bit the bullet and decided to root the Evo (after over a year of ownership).

Anyway...I'm posting here because between this writeup and the gingerbread for dummies post...man you guys made it easy. Thank you.

The root (following the OP's directions) went flawlessly.

And the rewards???? The sprint bloatware is gone! Android-WiFi-Tether works perfectly with the tablet. And I downloaded SetCPU and followed the recommendations here so hopefully that will have an impact on battery life.

Bottom line...I couldn't be happier. Thanks again.

Gotta echo his sentiments exactly. Thanks for the easy to follow procedure that resulted in my EVO becoming a brand new phone that is fast and fun again!

 

[andygu3]

nice glad it worked for you. now go and get your flash on

Gotta echo his sentiments exactly. Thanks for the easy to follow procedure that resulted in my EVO becoming a brand new phone that is fast and fun again!

Have to echo ocnbrze's statement, now go get your flash on

 

[andygu3]

For the first post, after using the recent amon ra style recovery, I would also highly recommend using this recovery found HERE.

So, I will edit the first post if people would like

 

[cave1238]

Partitioning the SD Card with Amon Ra v2.3 recovery

Now that you have successfully rooted, I would highly recommend partitioning the SD Card.
It has been recommended to use a Class 10 Sd Card but not necessary. You can use the stock Sd Card that comes with the Evo 4G but getting a higher class will be better in the long run.

Warning: This will erase all contents on your SD Card

1.
Plug phone into computer

2.
Select disk drive

3.
Transfer all files on your SD Card to your computer.

4.
Once the files have been transferred to your computer safely, select Charge only. Unplug phone.

5.
Download Quick Boot from the android market. Once downloaded, go into quick boot and select recovery. Your phone will boot into Amon Ra recovery.

6.
On the main recovery screen you will see, 'Partition SD Card'

7.
Select Partition SD Card

8.
Leave swap at 32mb but I would select 0mb (since most kernels do not support 32mb)

9.
Ext2-size= up to 2048 (2GB) but choosing 1024(1GB) will be sufficient.

10.
Select upgrade ext2 to ext3

11.
Now go to return and reboot phone.

12.
Plug phone back into computer and select Disk Drive. Then transfer all files back to your SD Card. Once all file have been transferred, then select Charge Only.

Congratulations, you're SD Card has now been partitioned

I just finished partitioning my 16 gig SD card using your instructions. Before I started it said there was 14. something total space and after partitioning it says there is 12. something total space, is this correct or did I do something wrong, I'm a noobie at this and not sure if I did it right.

 

[mikem0269]

I just finished partitioning my 16 gig SD card using your instructions. Before I started it said there was 14. something total space and after partitioning it says there is 12. something total space, is this correct or did I do something wrong, I'm a noobie at this and not sure if I did it right.

No that is right it dont see the ext part. so the diff is the ext partition.

 

[ocnbrze]

I just finished partitioning my 16 gig SD card using your instructions. Before I started it said there was 14. something total space and after partitioning it says there is 12. something total space, is this correct or did I do something wrong, I'm a noobie at this and not sure if I did it right.

No that is right it dont see the ext part. so the diff is the ext partition.

yeas that is correct. the best way to tell if your partition is working is using titanium backup. if you have the pro key in addition, the main page should show you the sd ext and how much is being used.

 

[andygu3]

For the first post, after using the recent amon ra style recovery, I would also highly recommend using this recovery found HERE.

So, I will edit the first post if people would like

Updated the second post for instructions on changing your recovery to the new Amon Ra Style Recovery Enjoy

 

[Parris]

Hey great write up! I am new to forum and looking to root my phone but I have a few questions first.

1. Does rooting my phone in this fashion erase all the info on it?
2. My phone has been flash for use with another carrier will this ruin that flash?
3. Also whats the point of partitioning the flash drive, why is the partition needed?
Thanks for any help you can give me in advance.

Parris

 

[ocnbrze]

Hey great write up! I am new to forum and looking to root my phone but I have a few questions first.

1. Does rooting my phone in this fashion erase all the info on it?
2. My phone has been flash for use with another carrier will this ruin that flash?
3. Also whats the point of partitioning the flash drive, why is the partition needed?
Thanks for any help you can give me in advance.

Parris

1.no rooting will not erase data. but it is recommended that you do a factory reset before rooting, just as a precautionary measure. it is not necessary though. but, you can use mybackup pro to back everything up before you root your phone.
2. it could possibly do that. but i can't say for sure on that one.
3.partitioning is not necessarily needed to flash roms. but, if you plan on playing with sense 3.0 and sense 3.5 roms then yes you might want to partition your card as sense is huge and the evo only has so much space inside.

hope that helps. any more questions please feel free to ask.

 

[Parris]

1.no rooting will not erase data. but it is recommended that you do a factory reset before rooting, just as a precautionary measure. it is not necessary though. but, you can use mybackup pro to back everything up before you root your phone.
2. it could possibly do that. but i can't say for sure on that one.
3.partitioning is not necessarily needed to flash roms. but, if you plan on playing with sense 3.0 and sense 3.5 roms then yes you might want to partition your card as sense is huge and the evo only has so much space inside.

hope that helps. any more questions please feel free to ask.

WOO HOO just got done rooting my phone all went great just followed the post instructions and everything worked perfectly. Also it did not affect my flash at all! Many thanks once again guys great job.