124 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
124 lines
5.4 KiB
Markdown
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Title: long live the hero
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Category: MACHINES
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Date: 2011-07-04 14:29
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Slug: long-live-the-hero
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Tags: android, geeksauce, english
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Thumb: /library/4823086947_e1bb39d526.jpg
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in mid 2009 i bought a HTC Hero (GSM) smartfone and i was amazed by the
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endless possibilites. but soon the first glitches happened, it crashed,
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froze, wifi stopped working, i wasn't able to charge it anymore, and i
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had it sent in for repair and maintenance twice.
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i started to be annoyed by this fone i spent so much money on because it
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seemed that most flaws it had resulted from operating system and
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software bugs.<!-- PELICAN_END_SUMMARY -->
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eventually i flashed a custom ROM on it
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([VillainROM](http://www.villainrom.co.uk/vBwiki/index.php/Main_Page)
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12.0.0) which took days of research, including having an unusable fone
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for two days, but i managed to get it to work. it was definetly an
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improvement. the interface was not as slow as before and everything
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worked flawlessly. but over time i got more and more frustrated by the
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lack of speed of my gadget. seeing other newer HTC smartfones and the
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iPhone and how much snappier they ran i started considering to sell my
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HTC Hero because i was tired of waiting for the user interface all the
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time because it hung itself up.
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<!--more-->
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(Hero running Android 1.5)
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recently i saw a [samsung galaxy
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mini](http://www.samsung.de/de/Privatkunden/Mobil/Mobiltelefone/Style/samsunggalaxymini/GT-S5570EGADBT/detail.aspx)
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in action and i was quite impressed about it's speed and snappiness
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compared to my Hero that was supposed to have the same cpu power
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(\~600Mhz ARM). the big difference between the two fones is the
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operating system. while my Hero was stuck on Android 1.5 the galaxy mini
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has Android 2.2 Froyo which runs incdredibly fast and has many new
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features and much better usability details i was always missing on my
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Hero.
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doing some quick research i stumbled upon a newish release by my
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favorite custom ROM geeks: [FroydVillain
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1.7.3-R2](http://www.villainrom.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/4617-May-15th-FroydVillain-1.7.3-R2-Released)
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- Android 2.2 for the HTC Hero! i gave it a shot and dug out my old
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bookmarks of tutorials how to flash a custom ROM.
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the first boot of my FroydVillain Hero took a long time, but when the
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interface was up and after i played around with it for a while i was
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stunned and happy that my old Hero has become considerably faster and
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much easier to use with the \*much\* improved new operating system.
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everything works like a charm, much more reliable than before, plus the
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custom ROM is a rooted Android opening the doors to cpu overclocking and
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network tethering!
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finally my HTC Hero is what it was meant for - a snappy and usable mini
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communication hub that's fun to use! so if you own a Hero and are
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annoyed by it, try to flash it with Android 2.2+ before you ditch it.
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It's definetly worth it!
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Here's a quick guide on how to do it the fastest and easiest way - ON
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YOUR OWN RISK!
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1. Backup your Data, Media and Applications with a backup app (MyBackup
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e.g.)
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2. Download and install a file manager from the market (Astro File
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Manager or FS File Manager)
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3. [Download Universal Androot](http://bit.ly/aa4jxJt) from here and
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put the UniversalAndroot.apk on your SD card.
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4. Make sure you have "unknown sources" ticked in the Android
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application installation settings.
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5. Open your installed file manager and browse to UniversalAndroot.apk
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and install it.
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6. Open the Universal Androot application and choose "Superuser for
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Android 1.5\~1.6" then choose "Root"
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7. Wait until it says "Woot ! Your device is rooted !" and exit the
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program. (on my phone it was only "rooted" until i rebooted, after i
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always had to apply the rooting which was only valid until the next
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reboot)
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8. Download and install ROM Manager by Clockwork from the market.
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(ROM Manager)
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9. Open ROM Manager and grant superuser permissions when prompted.
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10. In ROM Manager click "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery" and wait until
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it is finished flashing.
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11. Run the "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery" flasher \*again\* to make
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sure it is really flashed!
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12. [Download FroydVillain
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1.7.3](ttp://www.villainrom.co.uk/releases/FroydVillain-1.7.3-R2/Froyd1.7.3-R2-signed.zip)
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and save it on your SD card.
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13. Backup the contents of your SD card to your computer!
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14. Turn off your phone.
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15. Turn it back on holding down HOME and POWER. (keep HOME held down
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for 15sec)
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(Clockwork Recovery)
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16. You should now boot into Clockwork Recovery (if you don't, repeat
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steps 6 - 16)
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17. Select Backup/Restore \> Nand backup \> confirm with Home \> Wait
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until it's done.
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18. select Wipe from the main menu, then select Wipe data/factory reset
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and confirm.
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19. select Wipe cache and confirm.
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20. select Wipe Dalvik-cache and confirm
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21. Go back to main menu (back button) and select "Flash Zip from SD
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Card".
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22. Browse to the Froyd1.7.3-R2-signed.zip file you downloaded onto
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your SD card in step 12.
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23. Select the file and confirm.
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24. Wait until it's done, ignore the errors, and reboot.
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25. Rebooting will take a bit longer than usual and you will be greeted
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by the FroydVillain splash screen.
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(Android 2.2 in action)
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Congratulations, you now have a rooted Froyo based HTC Hero!
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Enjoy!
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