Desire HD - Rooting and Custom ROMs Guide

Mr E

I'm hoping to install a custom ROM later this evening on my DHD. The choice seems to be down to Paul O'Brien's Modaco ROM, LeeDroid HD, CyanogenMod 7 and Android Revolution HD.

I'm leaning towards Android Revolution I think - it is being actively developed, it has tons of 3rd party themes, scripts and addons, and its 130 page thread on XDA has a 4.82 rating from 122 votes, which is pretty impressive.

Has anyone got any thoughts on custom ROMs for the DHD? Any things I should look out for? The process seems a little different from the Hero -- different recovery image (clockwork), Visionary+, S-Off etc.

Mr E

Just to follow up on this, I got around to changing my ROM earlier this evening. My main motivation was to see if it improves battery life... time will tell.

My phone is an unbranded phone from CPW, so I didn't have to create a gold card.

Steps in case anyone wants to try it:

1. Backup anything you need to keep (SMS messages, bookmarks etc.). Anything on your SD card is safe, so don't worry about stuff you have on that.

2. Downgrade phone from 1.75 to 1.32 (link). You have to change the firmware version that the phone thinks its running, reboot to the recovery console (HTC's recovery console), and run a stock installation of the 1.32 ROM (link in thread above - the file is PD98IMG.zip - the filename is important).

3. Once the new version is up and running, you need to (a) permanently root the phone, and (b) change the security on the phone from S-ON to S-OFF. (Link). I just followed the instructions on that thread - very easy. You'll need to download a file manager from the market to access and install the Visionary APK from your SD card (I use Linda).

3b. Follow the instructions to run One Click ENG S-OFF (this is separate to the One Click Radio S-OFF as instructed in Step 3). Unless you do BOTH, you won't be able to flash a radio when you're running a 1.7x version.

4. Now you need to install a new Recovery ROM. By far the easiest way is to download a program called ROM Manager from the Market (the free version is fine). Use it to install the Clockwork Recovery ROM (its the first option on the menu).

5. Grab the ROM of your choice - Android Revolution HD and LeeDroid HD seem to be the most popular. I used Revolution. Put the zip file on your SD card.

6. Reboot to the recovery console (which is now clockwork). Backup the installed ROM in case things go wonky (backup option on menu). Then clear all data (reset to factory settings, clear cache), and install the ROM you chose above.

That's it. If I can give you one extra tip, its to turn off Fastboot (a hibernation mode on the DHD that is on by default). Settings -> Applications -> Untick Fast Boot. Makes restarting the phone a lot easier.

If anyone has any questions, fire away and I'll help if I can.

Mr E

Oh thank God.... reason 2 to change your ROM - it fixes the notification bar bug for SMS messages.

Just doing a full charge now. Will delete battery stats afterwards, and see how it goes.

Rattlehead_ie

let us know how it goes.
Im looking to do the same thing here as well.

_Kaiser_

Sorry to sidetrack this...

My new Desire HD just arrived this morning (wow it seems so much bigger than my original Desire! ) so I'll hopefully be rooting it and putting the LeeDroid HD rom on it later as that rom has worked best for me on the standard Desire till now.

I was all set to download Unrevoked, but it looks like the DHD isn't supported (at least its not on the list). This phone also seems to be VF branded so do I need to go through a whole new process with the DHD to achieve this?

Cheers!

Mr E

Unrevoked is Desire only (not DHD).
Visionary+ (step 3 above) is what you use for the DHD.

If your phone is vodafone-branded (VF logo/splash screen when booting), you will need to create a gold card first.

5500

Thanks for the guide
Any chance you can elaborate a bit more on the downgrade part.

I've an unbranded handset so no goldcard needed. I installed HTC sync, connect the phone to pc charge only & usb sync on, open up cmd prompt and when I type

adb push psneuter /data/local/tmp Im just getting a generic windows not recognised or something to that effect message. Could you dumb down a step by step for this part if possible?

Mr E

Sure. Sounds like you're missing the "downgrade.zip" file, which contains psneuter and misc_version.

The link for this file is at the end of the first post in this thread (same thread as item 2 in my post above).

Unzip it, navigate to the folder in your command prompt, and run the 8 commands from that same link (starting with "adb push psneuter /data/local/tmp")

_Kaiser_

Ok.. so I've made the goldcard, and now ...?

Do I just follow then rest of the instructions here with the GoldCard in the DHD and it connected?

(this was much easier on my original Desire but cheers for any help )

EDIT: Actually the build number is showing as 1.39.161.1 CL278886 .. does this downgrade even apply then?

Mr E

Yup. Do the 8 ADB commands to trick the phone into thinking its on 1.32.
Put PD98IMG.zip on your new goldcard and reboot the phone into the recovery console.

If you've done everything right, the recovery console will detect PD98IMG automatically (watch for progress bar on the right side of the screen).

Just follow on screen instructions and you'll have 1.32 on the phone again.

_Kaiser_

Mr E wrote: »

Yup. Do the 8 ADB commands to trick the phone into thinking its on 1.32.
Put PD98IMG.zip on your new goldcard and reboot the phone into the recovery console.

If you've done everything right, the recovery console will detect PD98IMG automatically (watch for progress bar on the right side of the screen).

Just follow on screen instructions and you'll have 1.32 on the phone again.

Thanks again.. I have the 8 ADB commands done and just waiting for the PD98IMG.zip to finish downloading (eircom BB is crap at night!). Fingers crossed then the rest goes as easy

Mr E

Mr E wrote: »

Just doing a full charge now. Will delete battery stats afterwards, and see how it goes.

Just an update on this. I charged my phone yesterday morning. I kept it charging for an hour after the light turned green, so it really was at 100%.

I cleared my battery stats file yesterday at 1pm after plugging the phone out, and I haven't plugged it back in since.

24 hours later, after moderate to light usage (a couple of calls, a couple of texts, a small bit of browsing, data turned off while I was in work and turned off overnight), I'm on 80%.

I'd consider that a huge improvement over the stock ROM.

5500

Mr E wrote: »

Sure. Sounds like you're missing the "downgrade.zip" file, which contains psneuter and misc_version.

The link for this file is at the end of the first post in this thread (same thread as item 2 in my post above).

Unzip it, navigate to the folder in your command prompt, and run the 8 commands from that same link (starting with "adb push psneuter /data/local/tmp")

Thanks a mill
Just got it sorted now and installing android revolution so hopefully its better than the stock 1.72 with the poxy message notification problem.

EDIT: Im getting a red Triangle with an exclamation mark in it everytime I enter into clockwork and try to either make a back up apply the rom,im getting out of it holding up and power but problem persists each time i go into rom manager

Mr E

A quick google, and voila....
Sounds like you need to apply the update.

_Kaiser_

Cheers for the help Mr E... got it all sorted eventually afterwards the other night.

Ran into a problem where I hadn't ran the ENG S-OFF process before I flashed the ROM (and then couldn't flash the radio), but managed to fix it by downgrading to 1.32 again, flashing the radio and then the ROM.

Hopefully that doesn't mean I can't just flash a radio directly in future?

One strange thing I'm having though is that it keeps asking for my Google password and even though it's correct/was entered right at the start, it keeps popping up every 20/30 mins. I reset the phone to factory settings and went through it all again but it still keeps happening?

Anyone seen anything similar?

5500

Got sorted myself too, using android revolution rom but Im noticing the battery being a bit crap even with light use. Noob question but do I also need to flash the radio? If so which one is it on the page 12.35d.60.140f_26.06.03.24_M2 or 12.28e.60.140f_26.04.02.17_M2_SF?

_Kaiser_

Yea you'll need to flash the radio too. I went for the LeeDroid recommended one (which is the M2 one I think) but the battery life still isn't great. Already down almost 50% after 3 hours of moderate texting web use and a phone call.

It is only a few days old though so maybe it'll get better after a few more charges.

GBX

Can somebody explain what benefits rooting has? Still using it as is out of the box.

Mr E

http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=Why_Root

MrGarak

MIUI is my favourite DHD ROM by far, CyanogenMod 7 is pretty nice too. Lots of flavours to choose from

Mr E

Ugh... correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like I have to downgrade again if I want to update my radio (trying to flash a radio now gives me an incompatability warning).

Looks like I can do a titanium backup of everything, downgrade, update radio, then restore my backup.

dec2000

Thanks Mr E for the guide. Being thinking of doing this for awhile but never really got around to it.

I only completed the process last night with the Revolution HD Rom so waiting to see how it goes with battery life.

I flashed the radio after the ROM...no need to downgrade or anything, just used the radio tool from XDA and flashed with that without any issue. There are two approved radios with this ROM: 12.35d.60.140f_26.06.03.24_M2 or 12.28e.60.140f_26.04.02.17_M2_SF - I flashed the 12.35d version, presuming it's the latest and probably would be better. Is there a reason the older radio is also available?

_Kaiser_

Mr E wrote: »

Ugh... correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like I have to downgrade again if I want to update my radio (trying to flash a radio now gives me an incompatability warning).

Looks like I can do a titanium backup of everything, downgrade, update radio, then restore my backup.

I was worried about that earlier (in the thread) myself but I thought that by flashing the ENG S-OFF after the "regular" S-OFF it took care of that - ie: it specifically says ENG S-OFF is for future flashing of radios?

Be a massive pain if you have to downgrade again first every time.. let us know how you get on as the radio I put on isn't great - wireless signal isn't as good as my Desire was and the battery life is very poor.

dec2000

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

I was worried about that earlier (in the thread) myself but I thought that by flashing the ENG S-OFF after the "regular" S-OFF it took care of that - ie: it specifically says ENG S-OFF is for future flashing of radios?

Be a massive pain if you have to downgrade again first every time.. let us know how you get on as the radio I put on isn't great - wireless signal isn't as good as my Desire was and the battery life is very poor.

Yeh should have mentioned that, you need to make sure your ENG S-OFF to flash a radio, then I followed this guide

Just reading the other thread, you should probably acutally install 12.28e.60.140f_26.04.02.17_M2_SF which is the HTC version, the other one seems to be Telus....i might do that when I get home

Mr E

OK I got my new radio flashed. I had a nandroid backup of by 1.32 ROM (just after my initial downgrade). I backed up my current setup in nandroid, wiped the phone, restored my 1.32 backup, did the S-OFF stuff as detailed below, flashed the radio, then rebooted to recovery, wiped the phone again and restored my Revolution HD backup). Now I'm back to where I was and my phone is in a state where I can flash any radio I want.

Therefore its very important to do an extra step in my original guide, just after step 3. I'll see if I can ask Random to add this to my guide (this will help you avoid what I had to do today)

3b. Follow the instructions to run One Click ENG S-OFF (this is separate to the One Click Radio S-OFF as instructed in Step 3). Unless you do BOTH, you won't be able to flash a radio when you're running a 1.7x version.

dec2000

Glad you got sorted...

I want to install the custom battery icon (with percentage) that is available to donwload on the second post for Revolution HD....it looks like I have to reflash to do this and replace one of the files in the ROM....am I reading this right?

Mr E

Looks like it yeah. There is a download on the second post (first link under "Other visual modifications"). You just need to flash it from Clockwork Recovery.

MaceFace

Mr E wrote: »

OK I got my new radio flashed. I had a nandroid backup of by 1.32 ROM (just after my initial downgrade). I backed up my current setup in nandroid, wiped the phone, restored my 1.32 backup, did the S-OFF stuff as detailed below, flashed the radio, then rebooted to recovery, wiped the phone again and restored my Revolution HD backup). Now I'm back to where I was and my phone is in a state where I can flash any radio I want.

Therefore its very important to do an extra step in my original guide, just after step 3. I'll see if I can ask Random to add this to my guide (this will help you avoid what I had to do today)

Hey Mr. E, All,

Noob on this, so followed a quasi mix of your instructions in post 2 and some things on XDA etc.
I also have Revolution HD running and seems okay - battery is my biggest concern - squeeze every min out of it as possible, so wiped stats, callibrated etc.

A question on the radio though - I don't think (I don't know) what radio is installed. I ran the Easy Radio Tool and (I presume) turned off S-Radio, Super-CID, and SimUnlock.
I did not do ENG S-OFF, and instead proceeded to install the ROM.

Now, your new step 3b - I assume this is to flash a new radio, but I have a couple of questions on this:
1. Should I flash one of the recommended radios (assuming I have a radio that is not on that list)?
2. If I want to flash the radio, can I just do it without having to reinstall the ROM?

Do I just run the ENG S-OFF tool, copy one of the recommended radios to the sdcard, and then use ROM Manager or clockwork recovery to flash a new radio?

TIA,
MF

Mr E

If you didn't run the separate ENG S-OFF application, then you're in the same predicament I was in yesterday. If you try to flash the radio now, you'll get this error when you try to flash radio.img:

writing 'radio' ... FAILED <remote: not allowed>

This means that you haven't done this. Unfortunately if you try this now, you'll get an error in One Click ENG S-OFF that says your kernel is incompatible.

If you took a backup after downgrading, then do the steps at the start of post #25. Took me about a half an hour.

Let me know how it goes.

MaceFace

Mr E wrote: »

If you didn't run the separate ENG S-OFF application, then you're in the same predicament I was in yesterday. If you try to flash the radio now, you'll get this error when you try to flash radio.img:

writing 'radio' ... FAILED <remote: not allowed>

This means that you haven't done this. Unfortunately if you try this now, you'll get an error in One Click ENG S-OFF that says your kernel is incompatible.

If you took a backup after downgrading, then do the steps at the start of post #25. Took me about a half an hour.

Let me know how it goes.

Okay - restored original so back on 1.32, and have radio file, but how do I actually flash it?
Do I need do play around with the SDK or is there a tool (ROM Manager? Clockwork recovery?) that will simply do it?

Mr E

If you're back to 1.32, then its easy:

1. Make sure you've done the S-OFF with the link in my last post.

2. Do the steps here (the "Radio Flash.zip" file basically contains ADB and a batch file to run a command prompt ). Unzip your radio and put radio.img in the same folder you unzip "radio flash.zip" and run the commands in that thread (reboot to bootloader, fastboot flash the radio, fastboot reboot).

3. Done. Once restarted, go into Settings/About Phone/Software Information on your phone and confirm that the new radio is installed (mine says 12.28e.60.140fU_26.04.02.17_M2).

4. Now you can wipe and restore your 1.75 ROM (if you did a backup). Restoring doesn't affect the radio.

MaceFace

Managed to snarf some time to get back to it, and got it sorted, but there was some gotchas I encountered.

The adb.exe was giving problems (out of date, killing error). This was because there was an adb process already running on my machine.

Also, when the instructions say type fastboot..... I was expecting to type it on the phone not the shell on the PC.

Anyways, got it sorted, and the big test will be to see if there is a change to the battery.
Desire HD, with stock ROM was getting > 30 hours with light to moderate use.

Some help please if possible... I received a Desire HD on my v-fone upgrade a few weeks back and have decided to try and root it. I contacted HTC and they informed me that the phone is branded by v-fone (only evidence i can see is the splashscreen and the vodafone360 updates facility). I am in the process of creating the goldcard and am stumped. I have followed all instructions on theunlockr.com i.e. setup Androidsdk/sdk manager, dowloaded latest drivers etc. When in the command prompt and point towards platform-tools\adb devices it returns the firsty code "HT0XXXXXXXXX" fine... when i then enter the adb shell command all i get is "No such file or directory"
The phone connects to my laptop with all functions i.e. HTC sync, hard drive etc any suggestions?

Mr E

So just to be clear, you type:

adb devices

and it gives you your device ID.

Then you type:

adb shell command

What command are you running?

correct, then i type:

adb shell (press return)
cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid (press return)
"No such file or directory"

Mr E

You need to use mmc2 instead of mmc1.

cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc2/mmc2:*/cid

Have a read of this if you're downgrading (and follow the goldcard link while you're there - they're the guides I used).

nice one, thanks a lot dude

5500

I noticed over the past few days the sms delay seems to have appeared for me with revolution 2.09, ugraded to 2.11 and it's still happening.

Anyone else noticed the problem back?

The_B_Man

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

My new Desire HD just arrived this morning (wow it seems so much bigger than my original Desire! ) so I'll hopefully be rooting it and putting the LeeDroid HD rom on it later as that rom has worked best for me on the standard Desire till now.

How do you find the DHD compared to the Desire?

The_B_Man

Also, I've just rooted my Desire today (have that little "superuser" icon in "apps").

Whats the current recommended ROM for the Desire?

srsly78

Latest Cyanogen.

stackeye

Does anybody know the latest on rooting the DHD without downgrading to 1.32, I haven't rooted before and dont want to risk the downgrade, bricking my phone would kill me

Mr E

Unless it has changed in the last two weeks (and I don't think it has), you will need to downgrade first.

Keep an eye on the XDA forums to see if anything changes.

Lenny

flashed witht the leedoird rom(latest).. but whenever i get a sms the phone does not play any sound & I don't get a notify, even the message widget does not change
anyone have a solution?

Mr E

Do you have a 3rd party SMS utility that could be conflicting, or are you just using the Sense one?

Lenny

The only other app I have is textdroid(uses your web texts) I don't really use that at all.
by the sense way you talk of, the text messages all different now, kind of like the iphone layout with the chat bubbles, its starting to become a wreck the head I keep missing the text messages cause I have to check.
When I flashed the leedroid rom, I didn't do a factor reset.
I also seem to have lost a few numbers I had stored on the phone
Is there a way i change the sms back to the other way to see if that makes a difference?

** just sent myself a text on the phone, when I go back to the home screen to see if it makes any sound this comes up

"the application messages(processcom.android.mms) has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again.

So makes me think that its crashing and messages seems to be stopping?

(0000126)
Lee Bailey (manager)
2011-06-10 03:35

The above issue has been resolved and will be available in LeeDrOiD HD V3.1.4 GB

Will upgrade my rom now, seems to be fixed as here
http://leedroid.ftp.rshost.eu/bugs/view.php?id=29

Mr E

Sounds like you installed the Sense 3.0 mods.
If you reflash leedroid (without reflashing the sense 3.0 mods) you should have the old format for SMS messages.

Not sure about your numbers. All mine are stored in my google account, so I don't have tha tissue.

Lenny

I am not sure if I installed sense 3.0 mods,
I have just updated there to leedroid 3.1.4
the sms notifation is back working now, but the sound sounds.. distored..
also the sms display of messages seems to be gone back to the old way(with my facebook profile pic) how do I change it to the way I had it on 3.1.3

Mr E

I'm not using leedroid, so I don't know... sorry!
Try backtracking through the leedroid thread from the last page and see if anyone else has the same comments/issues.

There is a link in the first post in the leedroid thread for a mod that fixes audio issues. Could be worth a shot.

_Kaiser_

So what ROMs are we all using on the DHD and any issues?

Me I'm on CoreDroid 6.7 with the LeeDroid kernel (though I see 6.8 is out since yesterday) and find it excellent - save for regular force close errors when/just after a call is received... anyone else seen this?

Mr E

Revolution here (5.1.9). No major issues and can't remember the last time I had an FC.
5.1.10 due today or tomorrow.

My only problem is the radio. I'm using the recommended radio for Revolution, but there are times where I have 0 or 1 bars of reception. Might try a few other radios this week.