How to root (& unroot) a South African HTC Dream (MTN). [Now with froyo!]

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(this comes from my post in the 'Rogers, heres your real root' thread, using a combination of Haykuro's and Lunatik78's methods)

EDIT! now with Froyo (Android 2.2), I've tried Chromatic 4.2, 4.3 & 4.4 (based on Cyanogen 6 RC3), BiffMod, AOSP 2.2 OTA, Yoshi 1.8 pancake and they all work - 12 Jan 2011

EDIT: newer radio works great too - now using 2.22.28.25 and H-Boot 1.33.0013d - follow ezterry's thread after rooting and getting your new ROM running - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=831139

*Please reply to this thread with feedback if you've used this method! (And please let me know if a link is broken!)

I've just re-rooted my South Africa HTC Dream and thought I'd share my successful method, it's actually pretty easy. Please note however, that the steps in this method must be followed EXACTLY otherwise will not be successful.

BTW the HTC Dream's were only released by MTN but as the phone is not carrier specific Vodacom, Cell-C & Virgin-Mobile will work fine too.

To unroot your phone and go back to stock, PM me for the link for the RUU

This will very likely work on the Rogers Dream as that is what the original how-to was based on, if someone tries it, please let me know so I can confirm it here!

Info from phone: (yours needs to be the same otherwise you might have problems, the important stuff is in bold - if you don't know how to find this info then STOP here, you need to search & read up some more to familiarize yourself before rooting the phone)

DREAM PVT 32B SHIP S-ON d
HBOOT-1.33.0010 (DREA20000)
CPLD-4
RADIO-3.22.20.17 (or 3.22.xx.xx)
Jun 2 2009,21:33:16

Firmware: 1.5
Baseband: 62.525.20.18U_3.22.20.17
Kernel: 2.6.27-9af60ed4 u70000@Android-X01
Build: 1.87.421.1 146733 CL#47295 release-keys

Start:

Make sure your battery is fully charged!

This requires that you use SPL 1.33.2005. (this is safe on all rogers (or MTN) dream devices)

You need the Android SDK - get it here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

install SPL 1.33.2005 using this method: One Click Root for Rogers, come back here at Step 11 (see link below this how to install flashrec on a stock phone)

(See: Method to install flashrec (any .apk) on your Dream: steps-to-install-and-uninstall-apk-file-on-android-g1-device)

Check if you have SPL 1.33.2005 (to check, boot into FASTBOOT by holding Send or Answer and then powering the phone on, it should say HBOOT-1.33.2005 near the top)

IF you have it then proceed:
download givemeroot.zip
(md5: 4a58a5702fdf899547011888d9cc066f .. sha1: 99e38e4f8798e952e67421a42e7b053ea70957b7)

Extract the contents of 'givemeroot.zip' to the "android-sdk-windows\tools" folder

IMPORTANT: You have to put the rom you'd like to install (I've used Cyanogen's and SuperD's) in the root of your phone's sd card (a freshly formatted FAT32 SD Card) as well as the rom image "signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-ota-14721.zip" (MD5 checksum b3e12b004c155761a10b1a848288e0c3 - 3rd option - from here: http://developer.htc.com/adp.html#s3)

(YOU WILL NOT HAVE A ROM INSTALLED AFTER YOU COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING STEPS, YOU WILL HAVE TO USE THE ROM IN ZIP FORMAT TO GET ONE)

For Dream/G1 users: power off, then hold "send or answer" button & press power button until you're into "FASTBOOT" mode, make sure the words HBOOT-1.33.2005... appear near the top of the phone's screen!

NOW:
Connect the phone via USB to the computer if it's not connected already, 'FASTBOOT' should change to 'FASTBOOT USB'

Open a command prompt (Start>Run: cmd), navigate to your "android-sdk-windows\tools" folder and type in the following (hit enter after each line and wait for the 'finished.total time: x.xxxs' before continuing!):

fastboot flash radio radio.img
fastboot erase system -w
fastboot erase boot
fastboot erase recovery
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

POWER OFF your phone (not reboot, power it off). (You can do this using the corresponding button [it says it on the screen] or just pull the battery [make sure everything is done flashing of course!])

(if you don't boot into recovery or accidentally rebooted, just pull the battery [if you notice top left it should read "FASTBOOT" or "FASTBOOT USB" if it's plugged in] you're not bricked, you just need to access recovery, not standard boot ;P)

Unplug your phone from the USB connection

Power up your phone in recovery mode (hold "home" + press Power). You should see that you are now in v1.4 + JF, that means you got the right recovery.

Select the option "Apply any zip from SD". Select "signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-ota-14721.zip", and then press the Home button to confirm. Do not reboot your phone yet!

Once that installation is complete, select the option "Apply any zip from SD" again. This time, select "update-cm-4.3.2.1-signed.zip" (or Cyanogen's current version, or your preferred ROM, I've used 1.6, 2.0, 2.1 & 2.2 ROMS, and then press the Home button to confirm.

When this is complete you'll see this:

Build: CyanogenMod v1.4 + JF
Formatting CACHE....

you may see "writing radio..." and boot back into the recovery but just reboot your phone by pressing Home & Back (or the trackball when "reboot" is highlighted). When you see "Formatting CACHE....", it's done, reboot now again (Home + Back).

The first proper boot of the OS may take a while (5+ minutes) then enjoy!

The newer radio image 2.22.23.02 works great on the SA HTC dream - I definately get better reception/more bars, I flashed it like this (In THIS order):

1) fastboot erase recovery
2) fastboot flash radio radio.img (get the img from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=640535)
3) fastboot flash recovery recovery.img (used Recovery-RA-1.7.0 from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=566669) (no need for the "Recovery-RA-1.7.0R" recovery image!)

Thank you, your guide work perfectly on my phone

No luck here, unfortunately. I'm stuck at the Recovery Flasher. I get Flash FAILED: Could not run command. Could be that your kernel was not patched yet as the newer Rogers one is running HBOOT-1.33.0010 (DREA21000). Oh well, I hope someone finds a way soon!

If your phone info is the same as listed in the first post then this will work (if followed correctly). Anything different may require a different method, I suggest searching for a solution.

problem with entering recovery mode using power+home button

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ok, so now i am desperate....

i have read and read and followed instructions in all the forums that google can generate using different keywords and everything about the issue. so i have totally exhausted the options i got.

My phone is the SouthAfrican mtn HTC dream with the so called perfect spl 1.33.0010 SPL.
firmware version 1.5
baseband version
62.52s.20.18u_3.22.20.17
kernel version
2.6.27-9af60ed4
u70000@android-x01
build number
1.86.421.1 146733 cl#47295 release-keys
hboot info is as follows:
Dream PVT 32B SHIP S-ON d
HBOOT- 1.33.0010 DREA20000
cpld-4
radio - 3.22.20.17
jun 2 2009


ok now when i install flashrec, on the top corner it claims that my device is a

i hve tried the fastboot method of rooting, but my attempts end when cmd give a remote- not allow error

so i have tried using the method above. i have successfully installed flashrec, backed up my existing image, no problem. so at this point i am supposed to shut down the phone and reboot into recovery, by holding the home button when powering up.

i tried using the reboot into recovery using the button provided in the new flash rec but nothing happens.
when i restart the phone while holding the home button, the HTC DREAM logo comes up and just freezes there. i have held the button for up to 5 minutes, nothing, i have also left the logo on for almost half an hour and nothng seems to happen.

Please help me out anyone? this phone is pretty lame as stock especially for the amount you pay for it..

sounds like you're not doing it to the letter, after installing flashrec it says "For Dream/G1 users: power off, then hold "send or answer" button & press power button until you're into "FASTBOOT" mode, make sure the words HBOOT-1.33.2005... appear near the top of the phone's screen!" NOT 'i am supposed to shut down the phone and reboot into recovery, by holding the home button when powering up."

if you don't do it right it won't work right

Originally Posted by pardus

sounds like you're not doing it to the letter, after installing flashrec it says "For Dream/G1 users: power off, then hold "send or answer" button & press power button until you're into "FASTBOOT" mode, make sure the words HBOOT-1.33.2005... appear near the top of the phone's screen!" NOT 'i am supposed to shut down the phone and reboot into recovery, by holding the home button when powering up."

if you don't do it right it won't work right

true that.. i found out that i was downloading the wrong recovery image... for you MTN guys, be sure to use

recovery-RA-dream-v1.7.0R.img


and not the previous version as it did not work for me!!!
thanx so much!! cant wait to try our eclair!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,

Thanks for great post on rooting your SA dream. I've been trying to root my phone for ages and have bricked it once.(But thank goodness leaf didnt released it and fixed it at no charge) So this time when I do it, I wanna be very sure.

When you say:

"You have to put the rom you'd like to install (I've used Cyanogen's and SuperD's) in the root of your phone's sd card "

Where do i get the cyanogen or SuperD's rom?

Scratch what i said before... i used Chromatic 4.5 rom and my build number is 1.86.421.1 146733 cl#47295 release-keys.

And it works perfect.

Thanks so much. Looks amazing

If you haven't figured it out already then you can get a ROM from one of the ROM threads in the G1 Android Developement section.

But perhaps it might be a good idea to do a little more reading as to why you would like to root and what ROM you would actually like on your phone, remember you can't just put any ROM on and may brick the phone again if you make a mistake.