[HOWTO] Create a GoldCard - Bypassing the RUU/SPL CID check to Root/Downgrade

[MentalDeath]

Now im not a computer Geek far from it, so what the hell is. Fat32 and adm or what ever it is? People just assume that the whole world knows what these things are. They don't explain in brief what they are, and its not easy to find on the net with our having to read more writing then the Doomsday Book. TBH I have almost had enough of this whole rooting thing. Waste of my day and time.

ADB setup: I found this using believe it or not GOOGLE.

Fat32: Once again found using, you guessed it GOOGLE.

Fat 32 isn't too important, but adb is.... and this guide is for GSM HTC Heros on Android 1.5.

 

[meisa]

Thank you very much.
my magic stuck in the ruu screen at startup and the 'so called' experts @htc in Egypt (Jovitronix) asked me to pay 1800 EGP (~315$) to replace the motherboard.
They want to change the motherboard to fix a software issue!
XDA community rocks

 

[foolmonty]

thanks RUU

ruu, works great on my legend in india thanks you all

 

[bynge]

Is the gold card site working ?
I mean I got the email delivered, but cant download the file "goldcard.img" ?

Any idea ?

EDIT: Oh It took 10 minutes for my download accelerator to get that 384 bytes file called "goldcard.img". We better donate for their servers.

 

[Filo2Th]

I just create goldcard, then downgrade, flash recovery img, and than flash new ROM( CM12), but i ve got some problems,ther was no market app, then i have to donload it trought Pc and then isntal in mobile, but when i tried to open market that somehow turn back to home screen, i´m not able to open any app i installed :-/
Should i upgrate the radio again or something? Wich one? i ve got HTC hero G2
thank ya.

 

[Elgaard2]

stuck

i cant get further in cmd.. it cant find my device..
List of devices attached





Nothing.. plz help

 

[sy1wester]

How about latest ROM 3.36.405.1 RUU?? Just got my phone back from T-Mobile UK and getting 140 ERROR (its not golden card)

 

[RealyPssd]

Alright, so my Desire is rooted and S-OFF'd.

Should I still make a Gold Card?

My 16GB microSDHC card has a 1GB EXT4 partition and the rest is a FAT32.

Can I make a GC with the EXT4 partition there?

And the main reason behind making a GC is for the ability to flash an RUU/downgrade? Am I right there at least?

Thanks

 

[123presto]

i mad the gold card and i still got the CID warning. help? please?!

 

[SM411]

Thanks for the awesome guide. Got my phone unrooted now!

 

[nikz106]

If you are stuck on a ROM you don't like (t-mobile/asian carrier etc.) you can use this howto to create a goldcard to bypass the CID checks so you can downgrade and root your Hero.


01. Download QMAT 5.06 here
It’s a demo version so will only run for 10 minutes.

02. Format your SD card to FAT32. Please keep in mind some brands of SD cards do not work.

03. Use adb to run this command: adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid

04. Copy the SD card cid code displayed after the adb command.

05. Start Qmat and Click on Cyptoanalysis Tools > Crypto Toolbox.

06. Look at the bottom, there is a text box (beside the “Reverse String” button) enter the SD card cid code you got earlier.
Click on the “Reverse String” button, the result is reversed…
Example: 532600bd227d9c0347329407514d5402

07. Copy the reversed SD card cid code.

08. Go to QMAT goldcard site here to generate your goldcard (yes it says for G1 but works for our Hero too).

09. Enter your email. For the correct SD card cid code, you need to replace the first 2 characters to 00.
Example: From “532600bd227d9c0347329407514d5402” to “002600bd227d9c0347329407514d5402”

10. Click Continue and you will receive the goldcard.img in .zip format in your email.

11. Go to your email, download the zip file and save it to a directory and unzip it to goldcard.img

12. Download HxD Hex Editor from here

13. Install and launch HxD Hex Editor program. (make sure you use "Run as Administrator" under Vista and win 7)

14. Go to Extra tab > Open Disk. Under Physical disk, select Removable Disk (Must be your SD card), uncheck “Open as Readonly), click OK.

15. Go to Extra again, Open Disk Image, open up goldcard.img which you’ve saved/unzipped earlier.
Now, you should have two tabs, one is your removable disk, the other is goldcard.img. Press OK when prompted for “Sector Size” 512 (Hard disks/Floppy disks), click OK.

16. Click on goldcard.img tab. Go to Edit tab > Select All, edit tab again > copy.

17. Click on the “removable disk” tab. Select offset 00000000 till offset 00000170 (including the 00000170 line), click on Edit tab and then Paste Write.

18. Click on File > Save. now you can exit the program.

19. Reboot your phone with this SD Card (now GoldCard) inside

20. Use the Official HTC RUU to downgrade to 2.73.405.5 (which you can get here) from which you can fastboot boot and/or root your phone with flashrec.

Done.


Credits:
Original heads up by tangzq with link to this
That site used the XDA Sapphire goldcard howto here

And apparently myself and XDA as this builds on the HTC knowledge from the old days (here)


In any case, enjoy your new found freedom

getting error at this step,
03. Use adb to run this command: adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid


error: device not found..

---------- Post added at 03:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------

If you are stuck on a ROM you don't like (t-mobile/asian carrier etc.) you can use this howto to create a goldcard to bypass the CID checks so you can downgrade and root your Hero.


01. Download QMAT 5.06 here
It’s a demo version so will only run for 10 minutes.

02. Format your SD card to FAT32. Please keep in mind some brands of SD cards do not work.

03. Use adb to run this command: adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid

04. Copy the SD card cid code displayed after the adb command.

05. Start Qmat and Click on Cyptoanalysis Tools > Crypto Toolbox.

06. Look at the bottom, there is a text box (beside the “Reverse String” button) enter the SD card cid code you got earlier.
Click on the “Reverse String” button, the result is reversed…
Example: 532600bd227d9c0347329407514d5402

07. Copy the reversed SD card cid code.

08. Go to QMAT goldcard site here to generate your goldcard (yes it says for G1 but works for our Hero too).

09. Enter your email. For the correct SD card cid code, you need to replace the first 2 characters to 00.
Example: From “532600bd227d9c0347329407514d5402” to “002600bd227d9c0347329407514d5402”

10. Click Continue and you will receive the goldcard.img in .zip format in your email.

11. Go to your email, download the zip file and save it to a directory and unzip it to goldcard.img

12. Download HxD Hex Editor from here

13. Install and launch HxD Hex Editor program. (make sure you use "Run as Administrator" under Vista and win 7)

14. Go to Extra tab > Open Disk. Under Physical disk, select Removable Disk (Must be your SD card), uncheck “Open as Readonly), click OK.

15. Go to Extra again, Open Disk Image, open up goldcard.img which you’ve saved/unzipped earlier.
Now, you should have two tabs, one is your removable disk, the other is goldcard.img. Press OK when prompted for “Sector Size” 512 (Hard disks/Floppy disks), click OK.

16. Click on goldcard.img tab. Go to Edit tab > Select All, edit tab again > copy.

17. Click on the “removable disk” tab. Select offset 00000000 till offset 00000170 (including the 00000170 line), click on Edit tab and then Paste Write.

18. Click on File > Save. now you can exit the program.

19. Reboot your phone with this SD Card (now GoldCard) inside

20. Use the Official HTC RUU to downgrade to 2.73.405.5 (which you can get here) from which you can fastboot boot and/or root your phone with flashrec.

Done.


Credits:
Original heads up by tangzq with link to this
That site used the XDA Sapphire goldcard howto here

And apparently myself and XDA as this builds on the HTC knowledge from the old days (here)


In any case, enjoy your new found freedom

getting error at this step,
03. Use adb to run this command: adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid


error: device not found..

 

[tom0769]

getting error at this step,
03. Use adb to run this command: adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid


error: device not found..

---------- Post added at 03:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------




getting error at this step,
03. Use adb to run this command: adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid


error: device not found..

Have you setup adb correctly on your computer?

 

[nikz106]

Have you setup adb correctly on your computer?

yes it is installed correctly..
getting error : no such directory or file found..

my device is not in usb debugging mode because it does not start and cant change setting in applications..

SOLVED!!