[TUT] How to Unbrand / Debrand your HTC HD2 with PSAS Goldcard [2010-11-29]

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pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
Tired of waiting until your service provider releases HTC updates for your branded phone?
Here comes your step by step guide on how to unbrand or debrand your HTC HD2/Leo using a PSAS Goldcard.
(Thanks go to svc und oliverweidel)


Introduction:
What does a Goldcard do? Mark's post
answers this best:
"All a GoldCard will do is bypass the carrier ID check when you attempt to flash a stock rom via the microsd card that you wrote the GoldCard to. A GoldCard [as such] won't unbrand your phone, that is only acomplished by flashing an HTC Stock Rom [with your Goldcard]. If you flash a carrier's Stock Rom
[with your Goldcard] then it will still be branded with whatever that carrier added to it. That means that you have to use that same card everytime you want to flash a stock rom and you have to use the same method to flash it (via the same microsd card). It wont sim unlock your phone and it wont let you flash any other roms apart from stock roms".

Note:
If you experience problems:
- Check first whether you have correctly followed each step carefully
- Read the Troubleshoot Section below
- Search the thread for a similar problem
- Post a question (Please do not send me a PM with support requests but post them. Thank you!)

A. Prerequisites:
A.1. Micro SD card (no SDHC [HighCapacity], it needs to be <4GB)
A.2. The "PSAS" Software
A.3. PC with ActiveSync or MobileDeviceCenter Connection to your HD2 (Guest is good enough)

B. Make your SD Card a Gold Card:
B.1. Back up your system (especially your SD-Card!! for a Goldcard you have to format your SD-Card)
B.2. Format your Micro SD card with FAT32
B.3. Insert your formatted SD Card into your HD2
B.4. Connect your device to your PC (ActiveSync/MobileDeviceCenter)

B.O.1. Option 1: PSAS Full Version:
..O.1.1. Buy your PSAS Full Version (30€). http://psas.revskills.de/?q=payment
..O.1.2. Following the link in the registration confirmation e-mail, download, install and activate PSAS
..O.1.3. Start PSAS (needs administrator rights)
..O.1.4. Goto "Calculators/Generators" - "Generate HTC Goldcard"
..O.1.5. Select Device Key “LEO”
..O.1.6. Click on "Get SD Card Serial from WINCE Device"
..O.1.7. Choose the right SD Card (note the Size under SD Card Info)
..O.1.8. Click on "Save Goldcard Image to WINSCE SD" (Alternatively, you can save the Goldcard image to file and write the image later - see Option 2.7)
..O.1.9. Now your Goldcard is ready

B.O.2. Option 2: PSAS free Version:
..O.2.1. Download an install the PSAS Free Version: http://revskills.de/downloads/revskills.zip
..O.2.2. Start PSAS (needs administrator rights)
..O.2.3. Goto "Hardware Forensics" - "WINCE SD Card Utils"
..O.2.4. Click on "Get Serial and Disk ID".
..O.2.5. Choose the right SD Card (note the size)
..O.2.6. Copy the displayed CID (i.E. 9E000000400000000000020002000000)
..O.2.7. Send the CID to a friend owning the full version to prepare your image
..O.2.8. If you don’t know one, send a PM to either "lyriquidperfection
", "oliverweidel", "mskip", "sirsmiles" or me ("pcwe")
..O.2.9. Once you have your image, click on “Write Image File”
..O.2.10. Select the image you received (Goldcard.img)
..O.2.11. Now your Goldcard is ready

**********************************
Links to images for frequently used CIDs:
GoldCard_9B000000400000000000020002000000.img
GoldCard_9D000000400000000000020002000000.img
GoldCard_9E000000400000000000020002000000.img
**********************************


C. Flash HTC Stock ROM:
C.1. Download your HTC 3.14 Stock ROM
C.2. Extract your Stock ROM (RUU_Leo_S_HTC_XXX_3.14.XXX_Radio_15.42.50.11U_2.1 5 .50.14_LEO_S_Ship.exe)
C.3. Copy RUU_signed.nbh to your Goldcard and rename it to LEOIMG.nbh (Use the “Explore” Feature of ActiveSync / MobileDeviceCenter)
C.4. Switch Off your device (or remove the battery)
C.5. Press VOL Down and Switch Device on to enter Bootloader
C.6. Bootloader loads your Goldcard (grey screen) and flashes every part of your HD2 (Bootloader, Radio, OS…) Takes up to 10 mins.
C.7. When finished, Reboot your device (remove/insert battery or press red button)
C.8. Congratulations, now your HD2 is unbranded!!

D. Install favored ROM (Artemis!):
D.1. Download your favored ROM
D.2. Connect your device to your PC (ActiveSync/MobileDeviceCenter)
D.3. Run SSPL_RUU.exe with Artemis v40 RUU_Signed_0xxx.nbh in the same folder and follow the instructions
D.4. Hard reset (Press VolUp+VolDown and still holding both press PowerOn and follow the instructions)
D.5. Boot to homescreen
D.6. When on homescreen –> Softreset
D.7. For more information, read the first page of the Artemis Forum

*** Troubleshooting ***
In case you experience a problem check these points:

1. Is your card a no SDHC Card? -> SDHCCards (all cards 4GB or bigger) often cause problems, especially many of the no- or low-brand cards.

Then, follow these steps again:
2.1. Format your card again, using a Windows PC instead of the HD2's card utility.
2.2 File System must be FAT32 and allocation unit size 4096 Bytes

2.2. Make sure your card has no name (no Volume Label).
2.3. Double check your drive ID. You need the CID of drive ID 07.
2.3. Double check your CID.
3.1. Download your HTC Stock ROM a second time.
3.2. Extract
RUU_signed.nbh from the newly downloaded Stock ROM again.
3.3. Rename
RUU_signed.nbh to LEOIMG.NBH.
3.4. Copy LEOIMG.NBH to your newly formatted
and try again.

4. It didn't help? Post a support request on this thread with a detailed description of your problem and when it occurs.

Note: Do not send me a PM with support requests but post your problem here. More persons can help you and others benefit from it as well. Thank you!

 

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Last edited:

oliverweidel

Senior Member
Aug 2, 2009
168
48
Würzburg
www.oliver-weidel.de
Nice job pcwe! Hope this will help many LEO owners to flash the great Artemis v.40 by Sir sternas...

So, HSPL actually will not be neccessary to flash 3.14 Stock roms (SPL 3.03...)

:D
 
Last edited:

pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
Nice job pcwe! Hope this will help many LEO owners to flash the great Artemis v.40 by Sir sternas...

So, HSPL actually wont be neccessary to flash 3.14 Stock roms (SPL 3.03...)

:D
No, HSPL does not go well together with Stock Rom 3.14/Artemis40.
But using Goldcard, you don't need to remove HSPL before starting. It removes everything on the device.
 
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Shinson

Senior Member
Jun 14, 2010
50
8
Howdy,

very nice thread!

One question:
HSPL will be overwritten through this procedure - thats clear as eggs in eggs - but will the stock rom from sd card start to flash without hspl?

Maybe stupid, but I thought, I read something about this somewhere...

Regards
Shinson
 

tvailment

Member
Oct 9, 2006
20
0
Thanks pcwe. The goldcard image you sent worked perfectly. I was able to install the stock 3.14 ROM on my Telstra HD2, and then Artemis v 40.0 ROM :)
 

jressel01

Senior Member
Jan 22, 2007
163
9
Howdy,

very nice thread!

One question:
HSPL will be overwritten through this procedure - thats clear as eggs in eggs - but will the stock rom from sd card start to flash without hspl?

Maybe stupid, but I thought, I read something about this somewhere...

Regards
Shinson

with this Goldcard you can flash every rom on your HD2 you dont need anything on hd2. If HTC Build the HD2 the first flashwas with debug same as Goldcard.
 

pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
Howdy,

very nice thread!

One question:
HSPL will be overwritten through this procedure - thats clear as eggs in eggs - but will the stock rom from sd card start to flash without hspl?

Maybe stupid, but I thought, I read something about this somewhere...

Regards
Shinson
A gold card comes with its own boot environment. Its only kicked on by your bootloader (whatever version) and flashes all: Your current bootloader, radio, OS etc. Aftewards you have an unbranded HTC device like one bought in shop.
 

valeloflo

Member
Mar 21, 2010
24
0
I, yesterday, tried the "gold card-method", following step by step the tutorial.
But, unfortunately, flashing process stopped at "Os" level.
I went back to artemis V37, but i'll try again, perhaps sdcard issue ?
Thank you for your tutorial, pcwe.
 

pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
I, yesterday, tried the "gold card-method", following step by step the tutorial.
But, unfortunately, flashing process stopped at "Os" level.
I went back to artemis V37, but i'll try again, perhaps sdcard issue ?
Thank you for your tutorial, pcwe.
Try formatting your card on Windows PC (it must be FAT32). Then insert it into the device, but do not format it again. Then follow the steps to get to your CID and send a PM for another Goldcard image.
 
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mskip

Retired Senior Moderator
Mar 20, 2008
12,328
16,072
Norfolk
Sorry but I'm just a bit confused why you created a thread with the heading as [TUT] which has no tutorial apart from a link to the artemis roms thread which then links to another thread that gives instructions on flashing via a goldcard (which has already been written a longg time ago). I commend oliverweidel on offering to make goldcards for members as I have made about 20 in the last 2 days and it does get a bit tedious lol.

Maybe you could just explain to me why this thread is labeled as a tutorial when it has no tutorial when its really just a link to a tutorial.. Sorry im not trying to be mean or flame this thread I'm just a bit lost as to what its propose is lol :)

Ohh and I'm on my phone right now using xda app so if something didn't display and I actually missed the proper tutorial then i humbly apologize for this post lol.

Mark.

Sent from my HD2 using XDA App
 

pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
Sorry but I'm just a bit confused why you created a thread with the heading as [TUT] which has no tutorial apart from a link to the artemis roms thread which then links to another thread that gives instructions on flashing via a goldcard (which has already been written a longg time ago). I commend oliverweidel on offering to make goldcards for members as I have made about 20 in the last 2 days and it does get a bit tedious lol.

Maybe you could just explain to me why this thread is labeled as a tutorial when it has no tutorial when its really just a link to a tutorial.. Sorry im not trying to be mean or flame this thread I'm just a bit lost as to what its propose is lol :)

Ohh and I'm on my phone right now using xda app so if something didn't display and I actually missed the proper tutorial then i humbly apologize for this post lol.

Mark.

Sent from my HD2 using XDA App

Thanks for your input. I'm glad you mentioned that you're working on your phone. Maybe I misunderstand what a tutorial is. When you watch it on a PC, though, you see a tutorial that includes 4 sections with a total of 43 steps (including 2 options). I only link to the PSAS page and to the Artemis' frontpage. So IMHO this is a tutorial. Since you are a very experienced XDA moderator, I hope you get to see the full thread and let me know what you think about it. I'm looking forward to receiving your feedback.
(And yes, I made 15 Goldcards over the weekend, so I'm happy we can share the load :D)
 
Last edited:

neonplanet40

Member
Jan 7, 2010
26
0
Belfast
When I turn the phone off after following all the steps and hold volume down and press power button the bootloader screen laods but it doesnt load the LEOIMG.nbh.

At the bottom it just says 'Serial'.

What am I doing wrong? I have followed all the instructions.

Although maybe I didnt get the correct Goldcard image? I went to the psas website and clicked on 'Free Goldcard gererator'

You then enter your email and sdcard id and you get emailed a goldcard image. Does this one not work?

I also got the phone to format the sd card as it does format it to FAT32
 

mskip

Retired Senior Moderator
Mar 20, 2008
12,328
16,072
Norfolk
Thanks for your input. I'm glad you mentioned that you're working on your phone. Maybe I misunderstand what a tutorial is. When you watch it on a PC, though, you see a tutorial that includes 4 sections with a total of 43 steps (including 2 options). I only link to the PSAS page and to the Artemis' frontpage. So IMHO this is a tutorial. Since you are a very experienced XDA moderator, I hope you get to see the full thread and let me know what you think about it. I'm looking forward to receiving your feedback.
(And yes, I made 15 Goldcards over the weekend, so I'm happy we can share the load :D)
Ok I have to apologise as I just viewed this thread on my pc and it shows the whole of your first post including all the steps and yes I would regard it as a Tutorial :)

For some reason when viewed on the xda app it shows absolutely none of your tutorial apart from:

A. Prerequisites:
1. Micro SD card (non HCSD that is
Softreset
7. For more information, read the first page of the Artemis Forum:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=612580

Maybe its all the quotes in your post but you can understand why I was confused when I first saw it lol :D

I may have to contact the creator of psas as ALOT of people are now asking for GoldCards and at the moment they can only be created with a paid for version of the program so if he has objections about using it to make goldcards for anyone who asks then it may have to stop. I originally asked him about 6 months ago for permission to make goldcards for members who had mistakenly flashed a stock rom via sd card whose spl wasnt covered by HardSPL (to get them out of a hole and allow them to flash a rom with a lower SPL). Looks like people are now wanting goldcards purely to change stock roms for which they should really be using a paid for version of psas.

I will try to get hold of him over the next few days and ask if he has objections to making goldcards for users who havent already buggered their phones up then I will let you know.

Keep up the good work :)

Mark.
 

pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
When I turn the phone off after following all the steps and hold volume down and press power button the bootloader screen laods but it doesnt load the LEOIMG.nbh.

At the bottom it just says 'Serial'.

What am I doing wrong? I have followed all the instructions.

Although maybe I didnt get the correct Goldcard image? I went to the psas website and clicked on 'Free Goldcard gererator'

You then enter your email and sdcard id and you get emailed a goldcard image. Does this one not work?

I also got the phone to format the sd card as it does format it to FAT32

That doesn't work, its for Android only (see the title of the page). You have to follow the instructions on the first page of this thread. You either need to by PSAS (Option1) or ask somebody that has it (Option2) to generate one for you.
 

pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
Ok I have to apologise as I just viewed this thread on my pc and it shows the whole of your first post including all the steps and yes I would regard it as a Tutorial :)
...
I may have to contact the creator of psas as ALOT of people are now asking for GoldCards and at the moment they can only be created with a paid for version of the program so if he has objections about using it to make goldcards for anyone who asks then it may have to stop. I originally asked him about 6 months ago for permission to make goldcards for members who had mistakenly flashed a stock rom via sd card whose spl wasnt covered by HardSPL (to get them out of a hole and allow them to flash a rom with a lower SPL). Looks like people are now wanting goldcards purely to change stock roms for which they should really be using a paid for version of psas.
I will try to get hold of him over the next few days and ask if he has objections to making goldcards for users who havent already buggered their phones up then I will let you know.
Keep up the good work :)

Mark.
Thanks for your feedback and for checking with bkerler (last week, he was in vacation). I'm very much interested in his/your feedback.
 

cupper

Member
Feb 11, 2007
19
0
Thank you

Thank you very much for the goldcard pcwe, it worked perfectly.
I already installed Artemis V.41 on my phone without problems.
Thanks again.
 

pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
Guys, last night I got flooded with requests for Goldcards. I case your request is still unanswered, PM me again.
 

pcwe

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
205
67
Feedback appreciated

Did your Goldcard work? Drop a line here. Thanks.:)
 

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  • 49
    Tired of waiting until your service provider releases HTC updates for your branded phone?
    Here comes your step by step guide on how to unbrand or debrand your HTC HD2/Leo using a PSAS Goldcard.
    (Thanks go to svc und oliverweidel)


    Introduction:
    What does a Goldcard do? Mark's post
    answers this best:
    "All a GoldCard will do is bypass the carrier ID check when you attempt to flash a stock rom via the microsd card that you wrote the GoldCard to. A GoldCard [as such] won't unbrand your phone, that is only acomplished by flashing an HTC Stock Rom [with your Goldcard]. If you flash a carrier's Stock Rom
    [with your Goldcard] then it will still be branded with whatever that carrier added to it. That means that you have to use that same card everytime you want to flash a stock rom and you have to use the same method to flash it (via the same microsd card). It wont sim unlock your phone and it wont let you flash any other roms apart from stock roms".

    Note:
    If you experience problems:
    - Check first whether you have correctly followed each step carefully
    - Read the Troubleshoot Section below
    - Search the thread for a similar problem
    - Post a question (Please do not send me a PM with support requests but post them. Thank you!)

    A. Prerequisites:
    A.1. Micro SD card (no SDHC [HighCapacity], it needs to be <4GB)
    A.2. The "PSAS" Software
    A.3. PC with ActiveSync or MobileDeviceCenter Connection to your HD2 (Guest is good enough)

    B. Make your SD Card a Gold Card:
    B.1. Back up your system (especially your SD-Card!! for a Goldcard you have to format your SD-Card)
    B.2. Format your Micro SD card with FAT32
    B.3. Insert your formatted SD Card into your HD2
    B.4. Connect your device to your PC (ActiveSync/MobileDeviceCenter)

    B.O.1. Option 1: PSAS Full Version:
    ..O.1.1. Buy your PSAS Full Version (30€). http://psas.revskills.de/?q=payment
    ..O.1.2. Following the link in the registration confirmation e-mail, download, install and activate PSAS
    ..O.1.3. Start PSAS (needs administrator rights)
    ..O.1.4. Goto "Calculators/Generators" - "Generate HTC Goldcard"
    ..O.1.5. Select Device Key “LEO”
    ..O.1.6. Click on "Get SD Card Serial from WINCE Device"
    ..O.1.7. Choose the right SD Card (note the Size under SD Card Info)
    ..O.1.8. Click on "Save Goldcard Image to WINSCE SD" (Alternatively, you can save the Goldcard image to file and write the image later - see Option 2.7)
    ..O.1.9. Now your Goldcard is ready

    B.O.2. Option 2: PSAS free Version:
    ..O.2.1. Download an install the PSAS Free Version: http://revskills.de/downloads/revskills.zip
    ..O.2.2. Start PSAS (needs administrator rights)
    ..O.2.3. Goto "Hardware Forensics" - "WINCE SD Card Utils"
    ..O.2.4. Click on "Get Serial and Disk ID".
    ..O.2.5. Choose the right SD Card (note the size)
    ..O.2.6. Copy the displayed CID (i.E. 9E000000400000000000020002000000)
    ..O.2.7. Send the CID to a friend owning the full version to prepare your image
    ..O.2.8. If you don’t know one, send a PM to either "lyriquidperfection
    ", "oliverweidel", "mskip", "sirsmiles" or me ("pcwe")
    ..O.2.9. Once you have your image, click on “Write Image File”
    ..O.2.10. Select the image you received (Goldcard.img)
    ..O.2.11. Now your Goldcard is ready

    **********************************
    Links to images for frequently used CIDs:
    GoldCard_9B000000400000000000020002000000.img
    GoldCard_9D000000400000000000020002000000.img
    GoldCard_9E000000400000000000020002000000.img
    **********************************


    C. Flash HTC Stock ROM:
    C.1. Download your HTC 3.14 Stock ROM
    C.2. Extract your Stock ROM (RUU_Leo_S_HTC_XXX_3.14.XXX_Radio_15.42.50.11U_2.1 5 .50.14_LEO_S_Ship.exe)
    C.3. Copy RUU_signed.nbh to your Goldcard and rename it to LEOIMG.nbh (Use the “Explore” Feature of ActiveSync / MobileDeviceCenter)
    C.4. Switch Off your device (or remove the battery)
    C.5. Press VOL Down and Switch Device on to enter Bootloader
    C.6. Bootloader loads your Goldcard (grey screen) and flashes every part of your HD2 (Bootloader, Radio, OS…) Takes up to 10 mins.
    C.7. When finished, Reboot your device (remove/insert battery or press red button)
    C.8. Congratulations, now your HD2 is unbranded!!

    D. Install favored ROM (Artemis!):
    D.1. Download your favored ROM
    D.2. Connect your device to your PC (ActiveSync/MobileDeviceCenter)
    D.3. Run SSPL_RUU.exe with Artemis v40 RUU_Signed_0xxx.nbh in the same folder and follow the instructions
    D.4. Hard reset (Press VolUp+VolDown and still holding both press PowerOn and follow the instructions)
    D.5. Boot to homescreen
    D.6. When on homescreen –> Softreset
    D.7. For more information, read the first page of the Artemis Forum

    *** Troubleshooting ***
    In case you experience a problem check these points:

    1. Is your card a no SDHC Card? -> SDHCCards (all cards 4GB or bigger) often cause problems, especially many of the no- or low-brand cards.

    Then, follow these steps again:
    2.1. Format your card again, using a Windows PC instead of the HD2's card utility.
    2.2 File System must be FAT32 and allocation unit size 4096 Bytes

    2.2. Make sure your card has no name (no Volume Label).
    2.3. Double check your drive ID. You need the CID of drive ID 07.
    2.3. Double check your CID.
    3.1. Download your HTC Stock ROM a second time.
    3.2. Extract
    RUU_signed.nbh from the newly downloaded Stock ROM again.
    3.3. Rename
    RUU_signed.nbh to LEOIMG.NBH.
    3.4. Copy LEOIMG.NBH to your newly formatted
    and try again.

    4. It didn't help? Post a support request on this thread with a detailed description of your problem and when it occurs.

    Note: Do not send me a PM with support requests but post your problem here. More persons can help you and others benefit from it as well. Thank you!

    2
    Nice job pcwe! Hope this will help many LEO owners to flash the great Artemis v.40 by Sir sternas...

    So, HSPL actually wont be neccessary to flash 3.14 Stock roms (SPL 3.03...)

    :D
    No, HSPL does not go well together with Stock Rom 3.14/Artemis40.
    But using Goldcard, you don't need to remove HSPL before starting. It removes everything on the device.
    2
    Could somebody please give me an "image"?

    CID is: 9E000000400000000000020002000000

    Many thanks.

    Good afternoon,

    Please can you help me, I would like to debrand my htc hd2 from t-mobile,

    I have followed your instructions using a 2gb microsd.

    my SD Card Serial is

    C6A9004E01A2121030303030304D531B
    DISK ID 07

    SIZE 1910MB

    Thank you, in advance, for your help.

    I want to upgrade my hd2 from 1.66.415.4 to 3.14, could someone please send me a gold card image

    CID: 9E000000400000000000020002000000

    Thanks

    Aha, thnx, here is the SD CARD Serial: 5EA300F479300610202044535542411E
    send me back plz!:)

    I just sent you all individual PMs with a link to download your generated Goldcard image.
    2
    HI ALL

    I´m doing some tests here with my new HTC HD2 ... i´m facing the "not allowed" error on gold card method and "invalid vender ID" with the sspl ...

    seams that the code i used (from PSAS site) is only for ANDROID ...

    Mr. PCWE could you please gerenate the image for me ??

    F2780089C06F832832313544534D5402 diskid 07

    if it work ... i´ll try to explaine better my tests to support other friends...

    p.s.: PCWE i´ve tried to send you P.M. but it never appear in my SENT box ...
    No problem, got your PM and sent you an image. To have sent items saved, you need to set the option.
    1
    PSAS RevSkills crash

    Hi!

    First of all, thanks you for the awesome guide!


    I run into trouble already when trying to extract the CID. PSAS RevSkills crash and die on me when clicking on the "Get SD Serial and ID" button. Tried two different PC's, both running Win7, one with SD adapter straight in, and the other having the phone+microSD mounted as USB memory. It also crash when no SD is mounted at all.

    I found the serial to be 3A87-1E17, does that help at all? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!



    I have to flash the ROM the gold-card way since I have the wrong HSPA installed now and the screen is constantly unresponsive. RMA!

    ~~~~****~~~~

    Update:

    I found the CID through the android app GoldCard Helper. So easy. 00b900066567250747323041534d5402

    Maybe that helps at least? :)