HTC Desire Custom ROM Install, Part - 2 [[Root Phone]]

In one of my previous posts "HTC Desire Custom ROM Install, Part - 1 [[Overview]]", I had outlined the different steps, that needs to be done to install a custom ROM, in HTC Desire Android phone(GSM).

In this post, I will take you through the process of: How to root HTC Desire GSM?

Rooting means, to get access to the system files, and the system file locations. These system files, are the integral part of our mobile phone, which makes it work the way it works. Example: to show the home screen, respond to user interactions such as tap on the screen etc.

Before jumping directly into the "topic", I would like to share a word of caution, that Root will void the warranty of the phone, and there is a possibility that, your phone will not respond(aka bricked). My personal opinion on this word of caution is, take the risk, and the reward will be great. I was apprehensive about the whole idea of rooting, which was the first step to install, a custom ROM on my mobile; it took a while for me to finally go for it. Now I am happy, that I did it.

How? Windows users
This section describes the steps that needs to be done, if you are using Windows.

1. Install the Unrevoked Android HBOOT Driver
2. Uninstall the HTC Sync

If you haven't had HTC Sync installed on your pc, first install HTC Sync and then uninstall it. Sounds a bit funny? No problem, that is needed
3. Enable USB Debugging on your Android phone
4. Run Unrevoked 3.21
   My phone was not rooted, when I used the latest version of Unrevoked, but version 3.21 worked fine
5. Connect the phone to the computer using an USB cable
6. The phone will be detected by the Unrevoked 3.21; proceed with the on screen instructions, and the rooting process will be started by the Unrevoked 3.21

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Ubuntu users
This section describes the steps that needs to be done, if you are using Ubuntu.

1. Enable USB Debugging on your Android phone
2. Download Unrevoked 3.21
3. Extract reflash.tar.gz, to a location and run 'reflash'
   My phone was not rooted when I used the latest version of Unrevoked, but version 3.21 worked fine
4. Connect the phone to the computer using an USB cable
5. The phone will be detected by the Unrevoked 3.21; proceed the on screen instructions, and the rooting process will be started by the Unrevoked 3.21

During the process, the phone will be rebooted a number of times, which is normal. One very important thing to keep in mind is: do not touch the phone after the Unrevoked3.21 has started the rooting process.

The phone will be successfully rooted, when Unrevoked displays the message "Done".

To verify if the phone is rooted, open the application drawer, and look for a new app called 'Superuser Permissions'; if this application is present, it means your phone is rooted. Enjoy!!

[Solved]: Ubuntu 11.10 wireless very slow in Dell XPS M1530

In one of my previous posts about slow internet connection experienced in Ubuntu 11.04, I could not solve the problem and finally I had to downgrade my laptop to Ubuntu 10.10.

Today's post is about slow wireless connection experienced in my Dell XPS M1530 laptop after installing Ubuntu 11.10 and how this problem was solved.

In my laptop I have installed Ubuntu on dual boot, along with Vista SP2. The wireless speed from Vista SP2 was fairly fast (after I manage to open a browser and try to download in Windows after long wait to boot and finally another long wait after double clicking on the browser application). So I concluded, the slow wireless speed in Ubuntu is something to do with the driver of the wireless adapter that is installed. From the information I got from lspci command, I searched for Linux driver for my wireless adapter, but I couldn't find any. Finally I got information about an utility in Ubuntu that allows installation of drivers which are released by the manufacturers for Windows OS. That is brilliant. I gave it a shot and got excellent speed in my WiFi connection.

I am listing below the steps that I followed to fix the wireless problem and get the WiFi connection to full speed on my laptop.

1. Downloaded the drivers (.exe files) from dell.com for Windows OS. These driver packages (.exe files) are self extracting zip files, which can be opened and extracted using Archive Manager in Ubuntu
2. Extract the downloaded drivers
3. Using 'Package Manager', search for 'ndisgtk' and install ndisgtk
4. Open 'Wireless Network Drivers', and click 'Install New Driver'
5. Locate the .inf file from the extracted location above and click 'Install'
6. In the 'Wireless Network Drivers' the driver will be listed with status Hardware Present: Yes

Hope this helps. :-)

HTC Desire Custom ROM Install, Part - 1 [[Overview]]

It was a bit of excitement for me when one of my colleagues was showing off his mobile with a custom ROM installed. I have heard bits and pieces like "Root","ROM","Boot"... with respect to android phone. But at that point of time I never got my hands dirty trying out any of them.

It invoked my curiosity when my colleague described me what he had done to get the "Custom ROM" onto the android phone he had.

Initially it all sounded "greek and latin" to me about the complete process. Also I was a bit skeptical about the whole idea of trying to put a "Custom ROM" in my mobile HTC Desire Bravo GSM

It took a while for me to learn "Custom ROM" is nothing but a "Custom Operating System" for the android phone. There are pretty good custom roms available to download from the internet. The rule of thumb for people who have never tried any of such stuffs is -

"Don't be anxious what will happen to the phone, it will be alright if you start after reading and clarifying on each step to get to the ultimate experience"

One of the first questions that came to me when I thought about taking the "Risk" was -

Why should I?

Fair enough. I did not have any idea why should I go for it. I have seen posts in internet forums about discussions on topics about features that I have always dreamt of having in my mobile, which is available in mobiles using custom ROM. To quote a very simple example, the ability to "Reboot Phone". It will sound funny that even to reboot the phone we do not have an option in the operating system that comes by default with the phone. In a nutshell a custom ROM provides lot of Freedom for us and the phone. But I must say that, after I found an answer to the question, I did not waste any time to get started with the process. There comes the next question Where to start?

I opted the first step towards installing the Custom ROM on my android phone was to gather all information and understand what the relevance of each of these steps were. There was ample information available in the internet. It did not take so long for me to know precisely what is needed for my phone. Even after browsing through and reading lot of articles, I do not think I got the complete idea of the "How".

From all the information I gathered about the process, I started linking the information and trying to "Connect the dots" Voila!! I got it!! I got the answers for the Why, What, How and I am all set ready to go ahead and free my mobile phone.

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to The Freedom of Mobile Phones

The steps in the order of how it is done is given below

1. Root the phone
2. Flash the recovery
3. Backup applications
4. Nandroid Backup
5. Other prerequisites
6. Downloading and Flashing custom ROM
7. Enjoying the new ROM on the phone

In the posts to follow, I will explain in detail each of these steps. Till then good bye and take care.