[Guide] Complete Newbie Guide to Root & Install a Custom Rom [Updated 26/08]

[B]OLD PROCESS BACKED UP JUST IN CASE. PLEASE DO NOT FOLLOW THIS SECTION OF THE GUIDE![/B]

Largely based upon the Unlockr guides, so thank you Unlockr!

Please do NOT be mislead. This is NOT a quick process, though the time has been reduced significantly if you don't need the goldcard method.
There is no "one-click" version or "quick-install".

You should set aside at least an hour for this process and preferably read through the process once before actually attempting it.


[B]Please make a quick post with your experiences, including your brand of phone and location.
Please check the FaQ first before asking questions :)[/B]


[COLOR=DarkGreen][SIZE=3][U]Contents[/U][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Pre: Backup[/COLOR]

[COLOR=Navy]1. Installing a Recovery Image
a. Installing the Correct HTC ROM
2. Loading the Custom ROM
3. Updating your Radio[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkOliveGreen]Setup Apps2SD
Check A2SD[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]"GoldCard" Test Procedure
I. Setting up the drivers
II. Create a “GoldCard” from a MicroSD Card
III. Downgrade the Hero using the Goldcard[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DarkGreen]FaQ[/COLOR]



[COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=3][U]Pre: Backup[/U][/SIZE]

1. Backup contacts etc with HTC Sync.

2. Backup your SD Card or use a spare

3. Backup SMS Messages with SMS Backup & Recovery[/COLOR]



[COLOR=Navy][SIZE=3][U]1. Installing a Recovery Image[/U][/SIZE]

1. On your phone, go to Settings > Applications - and make sure "Unknown Source" is ticked.

2. On your phone, go to Settings > SD card and phone storage - click Unmount SD card.

3. Then click Format SD card.

4. Plug the phone into the computer via USB, then pull down the notification bar and click on the SD card notification. Then click mount.

5. Download this APK and recovery image and save it to your computer:

[URL]http://zenthought.org/content/project/flashrec[/URL] - FlashRec.apk 
[URL]http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=561124[/URL] - Amon_Ra’s Hero Recovery Image 

6. Copy them both to your SD card (do NOT put them inside any folders on the SD card, just put them on the SD card itself).

7. Unplug the phone from the computer once they are downloaded to the SD card.

8. Go to the Market and download ASTRO File Manager or any file manager program if you do not already have one.

9. Open the file manager and find the FlashRec apk file and click it and choose open app manager and then install it.

10. When it is installed click Open. Click on Backup Recovery Image and wait for it to finish. If you get "backup failed" response see the text on the right for more details, if the backup is a success carry on to step 11.

[RIGHT][SIZE=1][U]a. Installing the correct HTC ROM[/U]

Orange UK Users - Please downgrade your ROM version to [URL="http://www.htc.com/uk/SupportViewNews.aspx?dl_id=675&news_id=261"]2.73.61.5[/URL]

Generic Hero Users - Please downgrade to [URL="http://x7.to/6jexri"]2.73.405.5[/URL], or follow the goldcard method if this doesn't work

T-Mobile UK Users – Please follow the "Goldcard" method below

All Other Users - Please follow the "Goldcard" method below[/SIZE][/RIGHT]

11. Once done, click on the empty text box in the FlashRec program and type:

/sdcard/recovery-RA-hero-v1.6.2.img
(replace exact name as new versions come out)

Then click on the Flash Recovery Image button and wait for it to finish.



[SIZE=3][U]2. Loading the Custom ROM[/U][/SIZE]

N.B. This part of the guide can be repeated with as many different rom's as you like. You do not have to repeat the previous sections once you have a recovery image installed.

1. Download a Custom ROM from  [URL]http://xdaforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=512[/URL]  to your computer.

2. Plug in your phone and pull down the Notification bar when the SD notification pops up.

3. Click on the notification and select Mount.

4. Open the SD Card fonder on your computer.

5. Copy the Custom ROM from your computer to your SD Card, do NOT change it, extract the files or put it in any folders

6. Unplug your phone and turn it off.

7. Turn the phone on by holding down Home and Power till you get to the custom recovery screen.

8. Select Wipe from the menu, then select:

Wipe data/factory Reset
Wipe Dalvik-cache
Wipe SD:ext partition
Press back button
Select Flash Zip from SD Card
Select the file
Click Confirm

N.B. Ignore any "errors", they are normal and usually mean you're not using that feature.

9. Once it is done, select Reboot and you will boot into the OS. Once you are loaded in make sure you format your SD card once more through the settings menu and then reboot the phone one last time. This will ensure you get the correct apps.[/COLOR]



[COLOR=Navy][SIZE=3][U]III. Updating your Radio[/U][/SIZE]

[B]N.B. People have been reporting problems with this part of the guide, try it at your own risk. It is not required to be on the latest radio when using a Custom ROM, however it is usually recommended! The radio deals with your signal levels, I found it to increase my signal from a maximum of 2 bars to full. It is likely to help if you travel, but if you are happy with your signal and tend to stay in the same place it may not be worth it.

Be aware that if this doesn't work it can potentially brick you phone... though I've had no reports of that so far. Just people finding it doing different things after it flashes.[/B]

1. Download the latest radio from the following site:
At time of writing that is: [URL="http://www.villainrom.co.uk/radio/Radio_Signed_HERO_63.18.55.06PU_6.35.15.14.zip"]63.18.55.06PU_6.35.15.14[/URL]
[B]N.B. Radio's are not region specific![/B]

2. Mount your SD Card so your computer can read it and place the downloaded file in the main directory

3. Turn off your phone and boot into the recovery screen (holding Home + Power)

4. Choose:
Flash Zip from SD Card
Click Confirm
Reboot system now when prompted

N.B. This can take anywhere between 1 - 10 minutes or maybe even longer in some cases. Do not touch your phone until you either: get back to the recovery screen or your custom rom loads and you see the unlock screen.

DO NOT PULL THE BATTERY OUT, THIS WILL BRICK YOUR HANDSET.

5. When this process has completed reboot the phone and you should have the new radio. This can be checked in Settings > About Phone > Software Information > Baseband Version[/COLOR]



[COLOR=DarkOliveGreen][U][SIZE=3]Check A2SD[/SIZE][/U]

Please assume it is automatically working unless you can load applications without your SD card inserted. However, here is the process for those who are pedantic about these things. Many thanks to VillainROM Wiki for this process.

1. Download check.zip from the bottom of this guide.

2. Extract check.sh

3. Download GScript Lite from the market

4. Place check.sh on your SD card in a folder named gscript

5. Open GScript and press:
Menu
Add Script
Uncheck "needs su"
Load File
Select check.su
Save

6. Then click check from the main screen and you will get a readout of whether it is enabled or not.[/COLOR]


[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue][SIZE=3][U][B]"GoldCard" Test Procedure[/B][/U][/SIZE]

Please comment on whether this procedure works, it is untested. Thanks to [URL="http://www.villainrom.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=1735"]ante0's guide[/URL] for some details used.

[SIZE=3][U]I. Setting up drivers etc[/U][/SIZE]

1. Download the latest HTC Sync from [URL="http://www.htc.com/www/SupportViewNews.aspx?dl_id=933&news_id=631"]here[/URL] and the latest SDK from [URL="http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html"]here[/URL]

2. Install HTC Sync & extract the Android SDK .zip file to C:\ (may help to re-name the folder to a shorter name, in this tutorial it will be C:\android\ )

3. Click on your Windows Start menu and right click on "Computer" > Properties > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables

Find "Path" under "System Variables" and edit it. Add the following to the end of the text:
;C:\android\tools

4. Restart your computer.
On your phone, click Settings > Applications > Development and make sure USB Debugging is on.

When back at your desktop plug then phone in and wait for it to install the correct drivers, this should be done automatically on the latest version of HTC Sync and adb should be enabled.

5. Type the following into the command prompt window (Start > Search  > "cmd") and enter the following and press enter:

adb devices

You should see a serial number pop up and look like:
000000000000    device
It’s the serial number of your phone. This means the drivers are working in normal boot mode. Next we need to check them in fastboot mode (thanks to janhol for helping with this next part)

6. Turn off your phone and load into fastboot by holding the Back button and pressing Power with the hero plugged into the computer

7. "Start" > Right Click "Computer" > "Manage" > "Device Manager"

8. Check that the "ADB Interface" reads "My Hero", not "Android bootloader drivers" or anything else.

If it does then:
Right click "Android bootloader drivers" > "Update Driver Software" > "Browse my computer..." > "Let me pick from..." > "Have Disk..." > "Browse" > "C:\Program Files (x86)\HTC\HTC Driver\Driver Files\Win7_x64" > "androidusb.inf"

Once selected click "OK".

"My HTC" should show in the list of "compatible hardware" now, so select that and click "Next" to install the driver. Switch off the phone (may have to pull the battery).


[SIZE=3][U]II. Create a “GoldCard” from a MicroSD Card[/U][/SIZE]

(Please keep in mind that some memory cards don’t work for this process)

1. Put the memory card you want to use for the GoldCard into your phone, make sure all the data is backed up before proceeding as it will be formatted.

2. With the memory card in your phone, and not connected to the PC, click on:
Settings > SD and Phone storage > Unmount SD Card

Once it unmounts, click Format SD Card.

3. On your phone, click:

Settings > Applications > Development and make sure USB Debugging is on.

4. Return to the Command Prompt from earlier after re-plugging in your Hero. Then type the following with hitting enter at the end of each line:

adb shell
cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid

5. A code will display, write the code down into a notepad document or similar (MAKE SURE TO WRITE IT DOWN EXACTLY!)

6. Go to this site:  [URL]http://hexrev.soaa.me/[/URL]  then put in your code you just wrote down into the text box and click submit. It will generate the code reversed and replace the first two digits with zeros automatically. Copy this.

7. Then go to [URL]http://psas.revskills.de/?q=goldcard[/URL] and Paste your CID into the box and fill in the other details. You'll be e-mailed the goldcard. Save the goldcard image to disk.

8. Now go to  [URL]http://download.cnet.com/HxD-Hex-Editor/3000-2352-10891068.html?part=dl-HxDHexEdi&subj=uo&tag=button[/URL]  to download the HxD Hex Editor. Install it to your computer.

9. Mount your SD card on your phone so that it shows up on your computer as "Removable Disk" - Pull down the notification bar on the phone and select Mount CD Card.

10. Open the Hex Editor (Run as Administrator if you're in Vista or Windows 7) and click on the Extra menu > Open Disk. Under "Physical Disk" select "Removable Disk". Make sure to UNcheck “Open as ReadOnly”. Click OK. 

11. Go to the Extra menu again and click Open Disk Image. Open up the goldcard.img that you saved from your email. Press OK when prompted for Sector Size 512 (Hard Disks/Floppy Disks). You should now have two tabs, one is the SD card (Removable Disk) and the other is the goldcard.img. 

12. Click on the Goldcard.img tab and press Ctrl + A (select all) Then Ctrl + C (copy).

13. Click on the Removable Disk tab (Your SD Card) and select the complete lines from 00000000 to 00000170 then press Ctrl + V (paste).

14. Click on File then click Save.

15. Close the Hex Editor.

16. Reboot the phone.

Try to open the memory card on the computer (i.e. mount the drive), if it lets you, you are all set. If it asks/tells you to reformat the card, then try steps 13 – 19 again. If it gives you the same error again, then try a different memory card. You can confirm that it has worked by opening the Removable Disk in the hex editor again and making sure the code you pasted in has stayed but this shouldn't be necessary.



[SIZE=3][U]III. Downgrade the Hero using the Goldcard[/U][/SIZE]

1. With your phone plugged in, pull down the notification bar on the phone and select HTC Sync. Make sure it connects to HTC Sync on the computer (not sure if this is necessary anymore).

2. Download this generic HTC Hero RUU

Hero RUU - 
[URL="http://x7.to/6jexri"]2.73.405.5[/URL]
[URL="ftp://xda:xda@ftp.xda-developers.com/Hero/Official-ROMs/RUU_Hero_HTC_WWE_2.73.405.5_WWE_release_signed_NoDriver.exe"]2.73.405.5[/URL] (alternative)

3. Double click the RUU exe you downloaded while the phone is plugged in with the GoldCard in it and follow the on screen procedure. This will install the old generic Hero rom on your phone, this is to allow you to install a recovery image. Reboot and fill in as few details as possible as these will be overwritten soon.

4. Now you have finished this procedure start from the beginning again.[/COLOR]



Website: [URL]http://rootmydroid.co.uk/[/URL]

Other Guides:
[URL="http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=669754"]How to Backup your Phone Between Wipes[/URL]



Even older process - ignore
[COLOR=DarkOrange][SIZE=3][U][B]Old "GoldCard" Procedure[/B][/U][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][U]I. Setting up the SDK[/U][/SIZE]

1. Download the Latest Android SDK from Google

Android SDK -  [URL]http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html[/URL] 
(currently - android-sdk_r06-windows.zip) but get the latest

2. Extract the Android SDK .Zip file to C:\ (may help to re-name the folder to a shorter name, in this tutorial it will be C:\android\ )

3. Run SDK Setup.exe

4. Click "Settings" and check the "Force  [URL]https://.[/URL].. sources ..." option

5. Click "Available Packages" and download the "USB Driver Package"

6. On your phone, click Settings > Applications > Development and make sure USB Debugging is on.

7. Plug your phone into your computer via USB cable.

8. Go into device manager: Start --> Search for "device manager"

9. Here we are checking the driver which is installed for your Hero, you may see either of the following scenarios:

Other Devices > ADB
or
Android Phone > My HTC

Either way you should do the following:
Right Click > Update Driver > Browse > C:\android\usb_driver > Next and it should install "Android Composite ADB Interface"

10. Type the following into the command prompt window (Start > Search  > "cmd") and enter the following hitting enter at the end of every line:

cd c:\android\tools\
adb devices

You should see a serial number pop up, it’s the serial number of your phone. This means you are all set.

If you do NOT see a serial number, then we need to reinstall the drivers.....