Hey all, firstly great site you've got here! LOTS (too much for me!) of info on here that goes right over my head!
Righty....basically, I want to install 6.5, and I've read lots and lots of threads on here, but there doesnt seem to be a simgle thread that will talk me through it in step by step - there's talk of USPL etc etc and I'm just rather confused!
Anyways, I'm tech savvy, but just not in the mobile world - I've done a lot of modding of other gadgets, and obviously numerous OS installs/homwbews/builds etc.....but phones are new to me!
Can someone point me to a dummies guide??
Thanks in advance!!
M
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Blackstone
The wiki is good as a general source, but for flashing what you need is all here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=505377 (It is your step by step Dummies Guide)
Read the first few posts a couple of times and then if you have any questions ask them there and I or one of the other senior members will try our best to answer you. It looks difficult, but it is not that difficult at all. But it's best to at least try to understand what is happening when you are flashing, there are far to many that rush in and flash before taking the time to read up or even try to understand what they are about to do to their lovely expensive device.
Related
"we should create a newbie forum!"
i ve seen this post in a discussion in reply to someone who was asking for some help and explications.
i do now understand the sarcastic and ironic nature of the reply,but i also would like to point out that is very difficult for beginners(same as me) to understand all of the terminology and issues that are going on in the forum.i believe is also problematic to find the answer some people are looking for (even trying with the search button) and almost inevitably, some questions end up in being asked twice or more by different users.
i know this is an informative as well as technical website but i personally find almost no differences between the "General discussion" or the "Programmers corner", and the forum end up in being instructive only for few and rather confusing for many.
So why not?why not create a newbie forum, like cynical suggested, or (this is my proposal) an explainatory page where listed all the vocabulary that you guys are using here?and maybe why not.... a catalog of all the stupid questions beginners like ma are afraid to ask..
this is only a suggestion and is not intended to be provocative at all...:wink:
ciao.
emiliano
I second that. I have asked a years worth of idiot's questions in the last 12 hours... Thanks for the idea.
We ought to have some sticky posts in that forum of the most common questions and step-by-step guides on troubleshooting. We should maybe start a list of possible topics on this thread.
I vote for:
1. How do I use the XDAtools program to change my ROM?
2. How do I use the XDAtools program for the "SD method" of flashing?
3. How do I upgrade my radio stack (be sure to mention how dangerous this can be )
4. How do I use a ROM kitchen?
5. I've screwed during flashing. How can I recover?
I know of few of these answers now, I can help if the mods are kind of busy. I'll stay away from #3 though
"Stickies" are a good idea first I think.
No-one like to go to 'newbie' forums (i would guess)....unless it was called 'start here first!' forum....but something would be good.
..lance
Hi friends this is saksham frm india when i started surfing on this site, i felt really confusing as any other might be, so i just make a mind to start new topic to learn about the basics of every mobile phone whether it Pda,windows mobile phone or any other device,So friends Plz help to enriched this thread and Give valuable information to all Our inmates,Thanx U understand what i am trying to say,Thanx and Keep on enriching this forum.Byeeeee.
Hi there....oooeww I must agree with Saksham, for the really new guys it all very hardcore. But let me hand a first topic:
I'm getting my T-Mobile locked MDAC next week. I already no how to get it unlocked for almost 30 euros. But what is my next step to boost the Magician? I think it is something with the extended rom...I know, i know....forgive if these questions are so basic...it's just that there are starters on this forum too...
The thing to do is read the manual (except where it's wrong) and look for sites that have "newbie" guides. Your product site such as http://www.clubimate.com will have them, and independent sites like http://www.modaco.com , http://www.compactjam.com and http://www.imate-user.com also have excellent beginners' articles. Look for subjects like "FAQ"s (Frequently Asked Questions), or "Sticky" threads in forums, which usually contain information most often asked for.
XDA-developers, as its name suggests, began life as a site for people who already have a basic working knowledge of HTC devices and wished to push those boundaries further. That does not mean to say it doesn't welcome new users, but the momentum here is to not get bogged down in rewriting product manuals. So you will probably not find as many FAQs here as on other sites.
Then again, sometimes it's hard to get past the first post even here, when some people can't understand the difference between a cellphone and a PDA, or the basics of how to turn their Magician on and off! (Not intended against saksam by the way, for asking a very valid question).
But I do see the need for a FAQ section on XDA-Developers to bridge the gap - even if it only points the new user to more relevant resources. All it needs is someone with the knowledge, time and inclination?
Tnx for the info. I understand the thing your saying and I agree. Your idea of putting a FAQ online, even if it is to redirect newbies to a place on the net were first time user can interact with more experienced user is a good one.
I'll check the sites you mentioned!
guys ive scaned areas but having problems understanding half of what your on about has someone got a guide in simple terms to show us new guys what the potential of these things are bought one, read some reviews found this site and wow blown away. im eager to learn need to know more but need to under stand the basics b4 i can run
many thanks
Do you have any experience with Windows Mobile or is this your first pda?
In general I can recommend you to check out some cool sites and download software to get used to your pda and how it works. One of my favourite sites is pocketpcmag.com - in the best sites section the have tons of links to good sites in many languages.
If you don't understand what people are writing here, don't flash your pda unless you are sure what they are talking about. I read so many threads where people "bricked" their pdas and don't know how to get it working again.
replie thanks
thanks will check the site out its my first phone/pda i feel the need to learn i can do the norm install software to the device but curiosity killed the cat little knowledge IS BAD ive made mistakes in the past and lernt my lesson but still very eager
My own experiance is that sometimes you need to take an educated leap of faith - I am no technical genius but I have an XDA running B&B 4.1, ripping DivX movies to TCPMP and changing my Splash screen.
Pretty much this is all thanks to the great work done on this site - First I suggest yuo browse, read what people are saying, look out for the pit falls (make sure you run USPL before flashing any new ROMs) but more importantly share you experiances and questions - people on the forum are always keen to help
There's a couple things I'm noticing...
First: People post in the wrong places...
Yes I know that some people are just dumb and don't bother reading. But what's the difference between the Herald forum and the Herald Mobile 6 forum? I'm not sure I understand... Although I'm sure there's a sticky note somewhere explaining it all, but I just took a brief look and didn't find it. I think the forum should be redivided into 4 or 5 sections. Ideally it would have: Herald Tutorials, Herald ROM Development, Herald Question and Answers, and Herald Accessories... So that way it's kind of hard to miss where to post the question and answers, and where to find the exciting tutorials.
Second: A lot of these posts are out-dated.
The ROM reviews seems like it would be one of the coolest, but it's falling behind on some of the best and most recent ROMs. The CAB collection(s) hasn't been updated in a while... There's like 8 or 9 cab collections I think... I'm sure there's a better way of doing that and keeping on top of it. Perhaps we just need some more people who are willing to keep up on all of these updates and post them.
Now I understand this would probably be a ton of work to create these forums and then move the threads that are still fine, but I think it would help a lot. I'd be willing to help in the process... I'm not just here to complain and not do anything.
I've been interested in rehauling the Herald forums, but unfortunately, I'm not a mod and they're not taking mod applications at the moment...
The whole thing needs a whole overhaul.
Herald and Herald 6 are redudant. The stickies are innefficient. No one posts where they should. If I were to be a mod, I'd spend a few weeks cleaning the place up. Of course, the ROM review thread and CAB collections would have to be updated by the original owner or by someone who had the time to undergo testing all those ROMs and collecting all those cabs.
wiki?
another idea is to create a wiki. it should based upon mediawiki (used by wikipedia). there you can create create cab collections, tutorials and so on.
it would be possible to create a seperate page for every custom rom.
discussions could already be done here in the forum. in the forum could be special threads for the pages and there could a be a link from the article to the thread.
EDIT: if some is interested in doing that, i would help, of course.
There already is a wiki, look at the top of the screen. It's just that no one uses it. No one writes to it and no one reads it.
i know. don't ask my why, but i don't like this wiki, too.
it is difficult to read because of the design. it is confusing...
rstweb said:
i know. don't ask my why, but i don't like this wiki, too.
it is difficult to read because of the design. it is confusing...
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I agree it's a little... ugly.
But I think that aside from that, out of the few people who DO write on it, most of them don't really format the articles very well.
ivanmmj said:
But I think that aside from that, out of the few people who DO write on it, most of them don't really format the articles very well.
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Yeah, but if the stylesheet is not .. well .. very good, formating the articles doesn't really help.
Yeah, these guys should really be using MediaWiki.
I can write whatever plugins are needed. I'm fairly handy when it comes to writing plugins. I ported DomPDF to MediaWiki as a means of being able to convert any Wiki article into PDF using only PHP.
i've saved a lot of informations i gained form the forum and the wiki in my personal wiki at home (separate wiki only for herald ). when i'm back at home, i will publish these informations in a new wiki and post it here. propably, we can show how comfortable mediawiki and the design is and then propably the admins will use mediawiki
Thought this might be of help to all the newbies out there. Here is a bunch of How To Videos that are very newbie friendly.
Hope they help some people get a start in modding.
How To Root
G1/MyTouch - http://theunlockr.com/2009/08/22/how-to-root-the-mytouch-3g-or-g1-in-one-click/
Magic - http://theunlockr.com/2009/08/29/how-to-root-the-htc-magic-in-one-click/
Hero - http://theunlockr.com/2009/08/27/how-to-root-your-htc-hero-in-one-click/
Hero (Sprint) - http://theunlockr.com/2009/11/18/how-to-root-your-sprint-hero-in-one-click/
CLIQ - http://theunlockr.com/2009/12/24/how-to-root-the-motorola-cliq/
Droid - http://theunlockr.com/2009/12/09/how-to-root-the-motorola-droid-adb-root/
Samsung Behold2 - http://theunlockr.com/2009/12/02/how-to-root-the-samsung-behold-2-samsung-galaxy/
Read the begining and end of the procedures to figure out how to root Donut phones, and how to load a custom ROM.
Good luck! Hope it helps someone! Mods, please sticky for newbies sake!
ask a mod to sticky the g1 video on the dev section, or put them ALL in the android development section...
It is a bad idea to give videos to newbies.
If they can't read technical information, or can't read AT ALL, then they definitely shouldn't be trying anything weird with their phone.
lbcoder said:
It is a bad idea to give videos to newbies.
If they can't read technical information, or can't read AT ALL, then they definitely shouldn't be trying anything weird with their phone.
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you and i both know that still wont stop them from trying though...remember all of the posts about people getting bootloops when they flashed hero roms? there were at least 10 threads on how to fix that, i even started one on how to fix it but still...they kept posting about it.
I figure that a high proportion of them were due to "video how-to's". If you keep it technical, the dumbdumbs will disperse rather than screwing up their phones. Technical information to dumbdumbs is like fire to squirrels. They run. Yes, some will STILL try to follow the instructions, but hopefully at least SOME of them will get blocked by technical ineptitude before they get to the point of brick. The majority probably won't even try something if they can't understand any of it. A *very* few will try to follow the parts they understand and leave out the parts they don't.... those will *always* be a problem -- and those are unlikely to benefit from a video anyways.
lbcoder said:
It is a bad idea to give videos to newbies.
If they can't read technical information, or can't read AT ALL, then they definitely shouldn't be trying anything weird with their phone.
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agree 100%