Database Develop

Andriod Newbie, how to load a ROM?

I'm as green as it gets when it comes to Andriod and all of these custom roms for it and the phones. I am extremely technical, senior dev for 10 years. I know a bit of *nix as well, so command shells aren't new to me and the concept of mounting. I've loaded lots of ROMs (and donated!) on my Windows Mobile device (Touch Pro), so that I have licked fine. Just, now I have an andriod device...
But for the like of me, I am having a hard time finding simple basic instructions on how to load a ROM. All I see are things like "boot to RA". Yes, I've searched and searched with VBulletin's limited forum search (used google to crawl the site too, nada).
What does "RA" mean, and how to do I get to it? LOL See my delima! Does it mean "Root Access", and does that mean I have to root my phone (I am assuming that?). Just don't want to brick my brand new phone!
I just picked up a Sprint Hero and want to load Fresh ROM on it. I have not even activated it!
OS is: 2.27.651.5 I assume this is the "2.1" that people are talking about?
So, if this is the 2.1... Does that mean I cannot root it? And therefore, I cannot load any custom ROM on it?
For example, here are the instructions to load Fresh ROM (and my questions):
•Download and copy the zip to the root of your sdcard
Ok, no problem. The zip is on my flash card. But, do I need to expand it?
•Reboot to RA and do a data wipe / factory reset (REQUIRED)
Again, Reboot to... "RA" what? Root Access?
Also, in the rooting instructions, I don't see anything about "data wipe / factory reset" from whatever this "RA" is.
•You may also need to wipe sd:ext if you are having troubles booting.
How do I do that?
•If you are running Fresh Toast and ext4 then you’ll need to partition back to ext3 if you want to use apps2sd
Say what? How do partition, ext3? ext4? What are those? apps2sd?
Yeah, very new...
The rest of the instructions seem easy enough.
Thanks in advance guys!

You need to root your phone first.
After that the RA everyone is talking about is rebooting into recovery. If you have the android sdk loaded you can send a command like adb reboot recovery or you could also turn on the phone while holding the home button. Then you can do all the wiping and loading of ROMS(just make sure they are for a CDMA hero)
You will need to go into settings -> About phone -> Software Information and look at your firmware version. If it is 2.1 then you can't do anything until an exploit is found. If you are 1.5 then you can root your phone. The easiest way is with fresh kitchen. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=655225

Thank you centran! Fresh Kitchen looks super clean. I'll give that a shot (when I can...).
Humm. The phone came with 2.1-update1 as the firmware.
So I guess that means I am SOL?

yep. sorry

Is there a way to use the normal HTC Utility and flash the ROM to an older version? Sprint has pulled the older versions of the ROM from the site. But, I am sure there's one floating around here somewhere.
Thanks again!

Nope, HBOOT fails to flash, and even though we maanged to bypass HBOOT, main version check still fails.

Looking forward to the hack when it's accomplished! Thanks!

Hahahaha... And as soon as I give up hope, handed it to the wife and said, "Sorry, we can't hack it at this time", I see on xda's homepage that the Hero 2.1-update1 has been rooted!!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=694572
Now, does this mean I can snag any of the custom ROMs here and slap it on it? Or, do I need to/should wait for an RUU-hacked version?

Yep, just Root it and then flash away. No need to wait for anything.

Thanks again for the reply!

[Q] need a permenet andriod rom for xperia x1

Hi,
Can any one suggest a direct boot simple andriod rom(i mean without any windows Rom). with working camera,bluetooth and wifii.

muralikodavati said:
Hi,
Can any one suggest a direct boot simple andriod rom(i mean without any windows Rom). with working camera,bluetooth and wifii.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As there is no option to flash to NAND partition I am afraid there is none other

it would be nice if we had fully working sd version first
(camera, bt...=

[Q] Nexus One stock GRJ22 (rooted) with apps2ext?

I'm currently running with a rooted version of the latest stock firmware on my N1, and I love the stability and all, except Google's apps2sd implementation is really dumb.
With only a dozen or so apps I am already getting low storage errors.
I've tried flashing in DT's apps2sd but unfortunately it didn't seem to work at all. Are there any other options for me to get apps2ext support without switching to a custom rom?

Try Link2sd in the Market.
It may be better, it may not, but it's worth a try...

Hey SmallWalrus,
I am running stock 2.3.4 unrooted Nexus one. (yes, that is GRJ22)
I have never rooted a phone. Can you please point me somewhere which shows how to unlock and root the N1 with my specs. My phone is pretty old. I am only rooting it because this is a spare one and I now have moved to SGS2.
PS: using a mac and Linux machine. If not then please show me a windows one. i'll try dual booting my macbook pro.

painkilleryusuf said:
Hey SmallWalrus,
I am running stock 2.3.4 unrooted Nexus one. (yes, that is GRJ22)
I have never rooted a phone. Can you please point me somewhere which shows how to unlock and root the N1 with my specs. My phone is pretty old. I am only rooting it because this is a spare one and I now have moved to SGS2.
PS: using a mac and Linux machine. If not then please show me a windows one. i'll try dual booting my macbook pro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you unlocked your bootloader? That was how I did it though, there is no other way to root 2.3.4 without doing this at the moment.

That is what i want to know. How do i do that safely?

Well there is a way to safely root your phone without unlocking the bootloader, I did those steps recently and they worked fine for me.
1. You need to downgrade your phone to Froyo. Get the FRG83 image from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Nexus_One/Roms
Rename it to PASSIMG.zip and copy it to the root folder of your SD Card. Boot your phone into the bootloader and flash the image. This will wipe your device, so be sure to make a backup of your data and apps first.
2. Use SuperOneClick to root your phone. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=803682
3. Now you need to flash a custom recovery. I used the Clockworkmod one, because flashing it is very simple: install the Rom Manager app from the market, it has an option to flash the recovery.
4. Now you are set to flash custom ROMs, either through Rom Manager or the Recovery. You should however do a Nandroid Backup first, in case anything goes wrong in flashing the ROM. Boot into Recovery and you should see a menu item saying Backup or something.
It's really not a big deal as it sounds, I can't guarantee that this will work for you. You should know what you are doing and if you feel unsafe about any of these steps, make sure to search the forums or the web about it, before you execute it.

painkilleryusuf said:
That is what i want to know. How do i do that safely?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I didn't see your question until now
Actually, it IS very easy to do this, you can find the instructions here:
http://android.modaco.com/topic/299078-how-to-unlock-the-bootloader-on-your-nexus-one/
It does have some warranty implications though, but since I am already using an import set I don't care. According to some, HTC usually shuts one eye and fix your phone's hardware failures even if it has an unlocked bootloader, but YMMV.

Noob still on CM 7.1 needs KK.

Every time I trie to update to the latest ROMs I notice they specifically target the new bootloader. I have no idea what the old vs new bootloader dilemma is about but I bet my device runs the old one, I read somewhere the white LG logo on startup hints to an old bootloader,
My question is how to upgrade my bootloader or ROM directly to Kitkat the easiest way possible, I bought my handset already CMed and unrooted but I have never done it myself.
Thank you in advance, and if you could bother throw in some links to relevant threadshttp://forum.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

xdaCyborg said:
Every time I trie to update to the latest ROMs I notice they specifically target the new bootloader. I have no idea what the old vs new bootloader dilemma is about but I bet my device runs the old one, I read somewhere the white LG logo on startup hints to an old bootloader,
My question is how to upgrade my bootloader or ROM directly to Kitkat the easiest way possible, I bought my handset already CMed and unrooted but I have never done it myself.
Thank you in advance, and if you could bother throw in some links to relevant threadshttp://forum.xda-developers.com/images/icons/icon8.gif
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for tonyps kitkat , the only one for daily usage workign at the moment. you need his version of twrp 2.6 or as i know the cwm version 6.0.4.7, which can be found somewhere in the development forum.
tonyps cm11 : tonyps Cm11
kowalski kernel: kowalski kernel by pengus
dl links: cm11 by tonyp and bs86
working twrp by tonyp

They are New Bootloader only! The process seems as easy as full wipe + flash the zip (my phone came with ROM Manager 4.5.0.1 with old recovery) but I fear my bootloader in incompatible. Is there a way to update or something.
Also does my sd card and all applications get removed, and how to back them up, also if I brick my device does the recovery still work to flash the back up or what? very noob I know, I learned alot of terms but never managed to make good sense of it all, thank you.............
Oh one minute my ROM Manager has an Install ROM from SD Card button, can I do it right inside ROM Manager?

xdaCyborg said:
They are New Bootloader only! The process seems as easy as full wipe + flash the zip (my phone came with ROM Manager 4.5.0.1 with old recovery) but I fear my bootloader in incompatible. Is there a way to update or something.
Also does my sd card and all applications get removed, and how to back them up, also if I brick my device does the recovery still work to flash the back up or what? very noob I know, I learned alot of terms but never managed to make good sense of it all, thank you.............
Oh one minute my ROM Manager has an Install ROM from SD Card button, can I do it right inside ROM Manager?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With that you can backup/resotre and change the bootloader and alot more AiO-Toolkit
If you change the bootloader layout, as i know all stuf will be removed. so make a nandroid backup, if your new rom is not working and make a sdcard backup(also in aio) to get appdata back if you want.
If you dont want to download all apps new after having new rom use titanium backup. the recovery is not breakable. it will always work. not important if you **** your rom

xdaCyborg said:
They are New Bootloader only! The process seems as easy as full wipe + flash the zip (my phone came with ROM Manager 4.5.0.1 with old recovery) but I fear my bootloader in incompatible. Is there a way to update or something.
Also does my sd card and all applications get removed, and how to back them up, also if I brick my device does the recovery still work to flash the back up or what? very noob I know, I learned alot of terms but never managed to make good sense of it all, thank you.............
Oh one minute my ROM Manager has an Install ROM from SD Card button, can I do it right inside ROM Manager?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you do have CM 7.1 installed, I guess you've got a custom recovery installed too? I don't think you can directly use ROM manager to install a kernel, but you can use ROM manager to boot into recovery mode and flash the zip from there Just be sure to make a nandroid backup, just in case KK isn't compatible with 7.1.
If you ever want to get tonyp's CM 11 though, the AIO toolkit, as @Zubeplanet pointed out, is really easy to use to get the new bootloader.
Happy flashing!

Help a newbie; LG Optimus L90; learning to flash

Current situation: pretty much complete newbie. I broke my factory OS after rooting it, I think I deleted something Settings needs, so anytime it needs to access settings I get "Unfortunately, Settings has stopped." I factory reset it hoping that would help, but now after loading it gets stuck on a cycling white screen reporting that error (I think it's trying to set up the phone.) The error message prevents me from doing the touch-four-screen-corners trick I've read about and bypass set up. So, stuck on phone setup errors as near as I can tell.
I do have my user apps backed up with TiBu, but couldn't get the recovery zip from TiBu to work. I downloaded CWM but didn't figure it out yet. Also unfortunately I can't get the USB drivers to work (the LGE Android MTP Device won't install), so I think my only way of getting files to my phone now is using the microSD cards.
I'd love some help! I think my factory OS is FUBAR, so I'm not trying to fix that, instead I'd rather just get a cool ROM loaded so I can continue learning with a working device with said cool ROM. I don't fully understand terms that I know I need to like "bootloader" or what CWM / TWRP actually does or how to use them (I need to make a custom recovery ROM?). Or where to get a cool ROM or which to pick, some step by step basics on from some experienced users would be fantastic! Thank you so much!

So you were on stock, rooted, backed up and then messed the ROM? Flash stock ROM again using LG Flash tool (there is a thread in the main section), it should not wipe your data but you'll lose root. Hard to fix if you're not sure about the problem and have no easy access to files. Just make sure you flash the correct version for your model (D405, D410hn, etc), preferably the same version you have now so you won't need a factory reset after flashing...

lfom said:
So you were on stock, rooted, backed up and then messed the ROM? Flash stock ROM again using LG Flash tool (there is a thread in the main section), it should not wipe your data but you'll lose root. Hard to fix if you're not sure about the problem and have no easy access to files. Just make sure you flash the correct version for your model (D405, D410hn, etc), preferably the same version you have now so you won't need a factory reset after flashing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, this put me in the right direction. I ended up discovering that even though the " LGE Android MTP Device won't install," the flashing process worked with this program via USB anyway. I'm going to lick my wounds a bit before trying to flash a custom ROM. Thank you!

For the rom installation, after unlocking your bootloader and rooting, download the app Flashify from Google Play, then install TWRP or CWM zip file as recovery image. Then, from there, you can install custom ROMs or make backups of your phone, etc. A cool custom ROM I recommend is CyanogenMod, it ports newer versions for older devices. So, you can have Android 6.0.1 in your phone