[GUIDE]Inspire 4G, Rooting, Flashing, Softbrick, Fixes, Sideloading.(4-23)

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In this guide I will attempt to help you learn your way around your device, help you gain a little knowledge, and to eliminate some of the random threads asking the same thing.

I would also like to take this time to especially thank: attn1 and bubby for making rooting possible and easy. I would also like to thank the devs for all the hard work they put cooking all the roms for us to flash.

FROM THIS POINT ON YOU WILL BE VOIDING YOUR WARRANTY!
I TAKE ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING YOU MAY DO TO YOUR PHONE!

Things you will need:
-Spare time, it is going to take you a little while to root your phone and flash a rom.
-A computer it is not OS specific unless you are going to use bubbys GUI.
-A Inspire 4G preferably fully charged.
-Micro USB to connect your phone to your computer.
-External SD card (in most cases the one that came with your phone.)

ROOTTING & FIXES:

Rooting methods (creating a goldcard is included in both methods):
Currently there are two methods to root the Inspire 4G
[mod edit - link deleted, the kit has been replaced](thanks to attn1) simply follow the instructions in the post, as well as in the read me doc. (outdated) video guide can be found here.
-Bubby's one click GUI(thanks to bubby323). Just like before simply follow the instructions provided.(outdated) video guide can be found here.

If you have problems rooting please refer to the dedicated rooting threads, the developers there created the method and will be able to help you more then I will be able to.

The infamous CWM blackscreen:
- I have a thread posted here that gives detailed instructions and the methods to fix this problem.

FLASHING A ROM & RADIO:

Flashing your first ROM:
-Download the ROM of your choice from the dev section
-Do not unpack/unzip the ROM
-Copy the ROM to the root of your sd card (Root= not in a folder)
-(optional) Backup your apps using Titanium Backup.(this only applies once you have root)
-Create a backup of your current ROM using rom manager.(this only applies once you have root)
-Boot your phone into recovery using either rom manager, or by booting into h-boot (to do this you are going to need to turn fastboot off by going to settings>applications>uncheck fast boot, then turn your phone off and turn it back on pressing both power+volume down, until the h-boot menu appears. Use the volume buttons to scroll down to recovery then press power to select.)
-Using the volume buttons scroll down to to down to wipe data/factory reset. (unless you are upgrading, THIS STEP IS NOT OPTIONAL!)
-Press the power button to select.
-Use the volume buttons to scroll down to YES-- delete all user data, use the power button to select.
-Scroll down to Advanced press power to select.
-Scroll to Wipe Dalvik Cache press power to select.
-Go down to Yes-- Wipe Dalvik Cache use the power button to select.
-Select go back
-Go to Install zip from sdcard and select it using the power button.
-Select choose zip from sdcard.
-Scroll down and find the ROM you wish to flash press the power button to select it.
-Select Yes - Install (roms name)
-You are now flashing a rom!
-Once the rom has finished flashing select reboot system now.

Things to note:
-Your first boot might take a few minutes do to deodexing and zip align.
-If your phone keeps cycling the HTC (white screen) you are going to need to go back to recovery, do a full wipe, and reflash the rom.
-Be sure to read the devs full instructions and faq before flashing!

Flashing your first rom a video tutorial:
-You can find a video tutorial I made for this guide here!

	
	

			
				Flashing your first rom (a picture tutorial):

Note: This assumes you have already downloaded the rom and placed on your sd card

- Do your backups!

- You will need to boot into recovery 
ROM Manager:



     or via h-boot (turn your phone off then press power+volume to turn it on)



    -select bootloader



    -select recovery

-Select wipe data/factory reset



     -select yes-- delete all user data



-Select advanced



        -Select wipe dalvik



       -Select yes



-Select go back



-Select install zip from sd card



        -Select choose zip from sd card



        -Select your rom



        -Select yes



-Once your flash has finished select reboot system now


			
		

Flashing a Radio (eng s-off is not required, and it is strongly recommended that you DO NOT eng s-off your phone!)(video coming soon!) :
-You can find a very helpful guide how to flash Radios here(thanks to attn1 and shad0wf0x). (note: this post even includes the radios to make it easier for you!)

GENERAL FIXES:

Recovering from a Soft Brick (HTC white screen)(video coming soon!)
What is a soft brick? A soft brick is where the ROM has been incorrectly flashed. (ie. you didn't data wipe, or the files were corrupt). You will see the bootsplash (htc white screen) or the boot animation continuously cycle.

How To Fix:
-Pull the battery!
-Put the battery back in.
-Turn the phone on using Power+ Vol down to enter boot loader (note: You CAN NOT have a PD98IMG on your sd card)
-Select Recovery using the volume and power buttons.
-Go down to full wipe.
-Select yes -- delete user data
-Go to advanced using the volume and power button to select.
-Select wipe dalvik cache.
-Select yes -- wipe dalvik cache
-Select go back.
-Select install zip from sd card.
-Select choose zip from sd card.
-Choose the rom you want to flash.
-After the rom flashes reboot the phone.

Video Tutorial:
-This is a video tutorial I made for this guide, you can find it Here!

Note: If you end up with a soft brick again, you are going to have to re-download the rom and place it on your sd-card.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Returning to Stock:
(Major thanks to ClearD and Doo Doo)
Well for some reason or another you need to return your phone to stock. You might have avoided the Ace hack kit because it seemed a little complicated, and I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your going to have to use it to get back to stock.

What you will need:
1.Ace Hack Kit v9 (thanks to attn1)
2. The Stock Ruu

Note: when running the RUU make sure debugging is off!

Steps to Return to stock:
-Run the stock RUU (note: This is done on your computer. This is going to unroot your device but you will still be s-off).
-Use the instructions up to step 3 of the hack kit.
-After step three type the following in terminal emulator

cd /data/local

./gfree -s on

sync

-At this point you need to turn the phone off (note: fast boot will have to be off)
-Boot into bootloader by using power+volume down.
-Verify that the top of your boot loader reads ship s-on.
-Rerun the RUU.
-Enjoy your completely stock Inspire.

Note: There are other options, but this method is the most complete and yields the highest success rate.

Sideloading non market apps w/without root(videos soon):

What is side loading apps? Att blocks the instillation of non market apps. Hence the need to side load apps! (Shame on you ATT you monster)

There are multiples ways to do this, and I will be going over three.
-Option 1:(w/out root) Our brother over at android central made a niffty little GUI called side load wonder machine you can find the instructions and program here!

-Option 2:(w/ or w/outroot) You can also use android sdk (adb) you will need to download sdk from google you can find that here!
-You will need to update platform tools.
-I recommend placing the platform tools files into the tools folder.
-Place the apk file you wish to side load into the tools folder.
-Make sure you have charge only, and debugging mode selected (settings>applications>debugging)
-Connect your phone to your computer
- Press shift + right click on the tools folder
-Open command promp here
(ROOT ONLY)

adb devices
      adb remount
      adb push (apks name) /system/app

(W/OUT ROOT)

      adb devices
      adb install (apks name)

-Option 3:(root only)
-Place the apk file on your sd card.
-Insure Unknown Sources is selected (settings>applications>unknown sources)
-Use a root explorer (es file explorer, dual file manager etc. etc.) to locate the file on your sd card select it and select install.

(coming soon: flashing mods, links to return to stock, links to fixes, video tutorials)

Note: This is a work in progress I am working to make this guide better. If you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know. I want to make this as complete as possible to make it easier for everyone.

F.A.Q.

What is a gold card?

The easy answer: You are editing the binary code on the sd card, what this does is allow you to bypass the CID check and downgrade your rom/radio.

Will I loose all my contacts, photos ect when I delete user data?

Yes and No, when you delete user data you are deleting anything pertaining to the rom. Essentially any thing that is on the same partition as the rom will be deleted. Since your photos and music are on your sd card you will not loose these items. It is highly recommended that you save your contacts before flashing, you can also back up sms messages using a third party messaging service called handcent.

What is the difference between ship s-off (radio s-off) and eng s-off (engineering)?

The simple answer is: ship s-off allows you to flash custom roms. Eng s-off allows access to certain partitions within the phones memory, and this is mainly used for development with kernels. Unless you are an experienced dev, I recommend you avoid eng s-off!

What is a radio?

Essential it is firmware for the radio inside your phone. It is stored a separate partition then the rom, to keep the rom from interfering with the radio firmware.

Do I have to flash a radio ?

The only time flashing radio isn't optional, is when you root and s-off the phone. Rooting and s-off requires you to down grade the radio/rom and use the exploit to hack it. Once you have rooted and s-off the phone flashing a radio is totally up to you. Keep in mind that not using a the recommended radio for a specific rom may lead to problems.

Can I install the OTA (over the air) update?

If you are rooted it will fail to update, You will need to flash back to stock in order to do the update, causeing you to loose root. If you stroll over to the dev section of this forum, there are a ROMS that are using the 1.84 (ota updated base) inspire base.

I was just thinking today about the lack of one-stop "guide" threads for the Inspire.

Looking forward to some newbie ROM-flashing stuff, if that's the direction you plan on heading.

The only thing I've done so far is root and a cwm current ROM back-up. That's it. Starting to get the itch to try flashing another ROM, but I'm a scaredy-cat. ;)

Thanks, mudknot!


Sent from my Inspire using XDA Premium

Great work mudknot. This will help a lot of people. Hope this will become a sticky and not get buried within the forum.

EDIT: Let us know if you need help with pictures or anything.
Sent from my calculator

This is an awesome work in progress, mudknot....feel free to reference/use the guide in my signature if you wish.

Great start mudknot. Hopefully this will decrease the amount of threads opened. Keep up the good work.

Edit: Idk if you want to include this but here is a thread that AngelDeath wrote about a gps fix. It worked for me this morning, I have to do more testing later on.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=11342772#post11342772

Edit 2: I think mudknot you are gonna dislike me after so many edits :). Depending on how much work it is, the guide should be turned into a Inspire "bible".

Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

I knew all this things already but I hit the thanks button anyways ... GREAT job keep up the good work... this thread should be sticky...

Thanks every one. Pictures should be up tonight after I do some editing, and host them on photobucket. That and my wife has the memory stick duo adapter... I hate sony products..

I will probably work on a video tutorial, for flashing, and the HTC white screen tonight.

Sent from skynet using XDA Premium Resistance App

Right on! Thanks for this.