Root Update Desire to JellyBean- do I need to root?

[CarterC]

Hey

I'm a noob with this so plez be tolerant. Yesterday I sim-unlocked my HTC Desire, apart from that I've done nothing that could complicate things.

I just want to update my operating system(?) so that the phone is more efficient and has more internal space.
I was following a guide on ibtimes about installing the 'CyanogenMod 10 ROM' in order to update to JellyBean.
However when I got to the 'recovery' stage, I got a picture of the phone with a red warning triangle- which I'm led to believe via reading stuff on here means I haven't rooted the phone?

Soo do I need to root the phone? And if so, how exactly? I downloaded the app 'ROM Manager' which I thought was the same thing as 'ClockworkMod Recovery' as it's by the same people and the only (free) app they offer?
But also after reading stuff on here people are saying not to use ROM Manager?

Help much appreciated

 

[Hadron]

Hi CarterC, and welcome to AF

Yes, you do indeed need to root in order to install a custom ROM. Everything ROM Manager does you can do from a custom recovery (that is, a more capable replacement for the very limited recovery program HTC provide). You install a custom recovery as part of the rooting procedure, so ROM Manager is totally redundant, as well as having a tendency to cause problems on the Desire.

The best place to start is in the Desire All Things Root Guide sticky post in this forum. Read the rooting faq in there first. Then it's worth reading the root memory faq, since some of what is described there (partitioning the SD card) will be needed if you both want JellyBean and more space. For rooting itself I suggest the using Revolutionary - again, there's a guide to using that linked in the sticky post.

Read these guides a few times, but some of it may not make sense until you try to do things. If there is anything you are unsure of, do ask before trying.

I should perhaps note that all JellyBean ROMs for the Desire are experimental to some degree. I'm actually still running Gingerbread on mine (though a custom version, of course).

Hope this helps, rather than just adding to the confusion!

 

[CarterC]

Ahh ok, thankyou!

In which case what is a solid ROM I could use? I read through some threads and there's evidently a crazy variety, I'd just want something thats stable, fast, battery efficient and gives more internal memory (can I do this without messing about with SD partitioning?)

Also, I was looking at the guide and my android version is 2.2.2 so should I use the 'S-OFF and Root HTC Android 2.2 and 2.3 with revolutionary'? An issue I can see with that is it says to use HTC Sync and while I was looking at updating my phone I tried to download it but it said it failed to install the drivers!?

 

[CarterC]

In fact, this whole thing started with me trying to follow this How to update your HTC Desire to Android 2.3 | News | TechRadar and running into that problem at the HTC Sync stage also

..but actually that looks like it doesn't achieve many positive results D:

 

[Hadron]

Revolutionary would be my suggestion, especially if you want to increase storage as it gives you more options (makes the phone "S-Off", which gives you full write access to its internal storage). I don't know much about drivers as I don't use Windows for this stuff. What version do you have on your computer?

For ROMs, given your requirements I'd suggest Oxygen (or MildWild's themed and tweaked version) or dGB. Both are small, dGB very much so. Oxygen does support a2sd with a sd partition, though you don't need to use that. dGB does not include that at all.

If you want more storage without partitioning your sd card, you need to repartition your internal storage instead. You do this by loading a custom hboot. This requires S-Off, and hence revolutionary. The trick is that you use a ROM that's smaller than the HTC one, so can use a smaller /system partition, and thus free up space for user apps. dGB is the smallest Desire ROM, so lets you take this further than any other, though a combination of a custom hboot plus ext partition (eg with Oxygen) will give you even more space.

Note that hboot is a critical component, so messing that up can be fatal. So don't rush this without understanding first. It's safe if you know how - I've changed mine twice this weekend - so just ask if at all unsure.

But the first stage is to root. The second is to take a backup. Then you can proceed from there

P.S. I suspect the TechRadar article may just be about installing the official GB, which won't give you extra space.

 

[CarterC]

I have windows 7! Thanks for the information, I searched online about problems with the drivers and it seems like it's a complex issue which is hard to find the solution for so I may just leave it hah

 

[Hadron]

There's also a linux version, so you could run that in a virtual machine.

Hmm, I have a win 7 machine in the house, but other family members are using it and I've never put htc software on it. Where did you get the software from? I'd be tempted to look for a version on the htc website.

 

[CarterC]

Just straight off HTC Support Center :/
It installs a list of components but then it reaches 'HTC Driver Installer 4.0.1.001' and fails every time, even if I temporarily turn off my antivirus as it says!

I just selected to continue the installation anyway, now it's installed but I don't think I should attempt anything while I don't have the driver?!

 

[Hadron]

I've done a little googling, and one thing that's come up in a couple of places is to turn on usb debugging on the phone, then connect it to the PC and see if you can install drivers then.

(Also do any installation as administrator, but I assume you're doing that).

 

[dragginthru]

Hi,

I've been "improving" my Desire as a hobby for about 3 months now - something very satisfying about "beating the system"

In a nutshell the key points are

1. S-off your phone (means turn off security lock - need this to do 3)
2. Root it (give you admin rights that you don't get out of the box so can for example put on new rom)
3. Change HBOOT (like bios on a computer- this allows you to rearrange internal storage) to one with a smaller system partition
4. Install a custom rom (operating system) which is smaller (and better) than stock and supports Apps2SD
5. Partition SD card to make android consider part of it as if it is part of internal storage, then you can put on way more apps (I haven't managed this yet, goes wrong each time!)

Then I think the Desire would be as good as you can get it

 

[togger161]

Don't know if the situation has changed or not, but when I had my Desire last (back in July before the wife nabbed it) Jellybean roms were not really recommended for the Desire. There were a few buggy alpha's and beta's about. Most were slow and had features missing. I'm sure they have improved over the last 6 months though, but my wife is still running Mildwild and things the phone is great.