A friend of mine, who just got his HTC Hero from
Sprint, is interested in looking at custom ROMs. However, since
he's new to the Android scene (so am I, for that matter), he wanted to
know how to root his phone. On top of that, he also wanted to
know how to put the custom ROMs on his phone.
So I decided to create a document to show how both rooting and installing new ROMs is done.
Rooting the Sprint Hero
If you have already rooted your phone, skip to the section named Installing a New ROM.
First, you need the following files:
ASROOT2 - This is the file that actually roots your Sprint Hero. RA Recovery ROM - This is a custom recovery ROM used to backup the phone and to install custom ROMs. Rooting the Hero is pretty well documented and
doesn't need to be recreated here. Click on the links below to
see instructions on how to root your phone.
* Linux link talks about Ubuntu, but the instructions will work on other Linux distros.
Installing a New ROM
Installing a new ROM is not difficult so long as
you have followed the instructions in one of the links above to root
your phone.
1. You need to do is to select a a custom ROM of your choice. Check out the Sprint ROMs link and download the ROM you wish to
use. If you use an experimental ROM, just remember not all
functions work and it will require you to do a factory wipe on your
phone first.
2. Transfer the ROM image to your microSD card. The ROM must be in the root of your microSD card.
3. Turn off your phone by pressing the red
Call End/Power button for about three seconds. Tap the option
"Power off", then press OK to acknowledge you wish to power the phone
off.
4. Press and hold the Home button on the
bottom of your phone. While holding the Home button, press the
red Call End/Power button. Once you see the HTC screen, release
the Home button. That will boot the phone into recovery mode.
5. Backup your current ROM. Move the
trackball to highlight Backup/Recover. Press the trackball to
accept. Select one of the following menu options and press the
trackball to accept.
-> If you have an ext2 or ext3 partition on
your microSD card, choose the option 'Nand + ext backup'.
Otherwise, choose 'Nand backup'.
Once you have selected the option and pressed the trackball to accept, press the Home button to start the backup process.
6. Press the Back button on your phone to
return to the main menu. Select 'Flash zip from sdcard' and press
the trackball to accept. Select the ROM you wish to flash and
press the trackball to accept. Press the Home button to start the
flash process.
7. Select the option 'Reboot system now' and press the trackball to accept. The phone will immediately reboot.
