Related
hi all, i resently got the hd2, updated it with the new rom, and thereby hoped to be free of errors... however i seem to experiense a whole lot of error, more than i had expected... sometimes it wont come back from sleep, it only turns on the backlight of the hardware buttons. then i have to kill it by removing the battery. also sometimes it wont establish connection to the net, then i have to turn off the radio and turn it on again. the phone is 7 days old, and i have had the battery out 20 times allready... is this unusual? should i contact htc? and what are your experiences with their support?
Samoht2003 said:
hi all, i resently got the hd2, updated it with the new rom, and thereby hoped to be free of errors... however i seem to experiense a whole lot of error, more than i had expected... sometimes it wont come back from sleep, it only turns on the backlight of the hardware buttons. then i have to kill it by removing the battery. also sometimes it wont establish connection to the net, then i have to turn off the radio and turn it on again. the phone is 7 days old, and i have had the battery out 20 times allready... is this unusual? should i contact htc? and what are your experiences with their support?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend a hard reset and not installing any software or doing any "tweaks" and test that for a bit.
You should find that fully functioning and stable (on 1.66 ROM) from there add the software that you need and see how that goes and don't bother doing the treaks, registry hacks unless
a) you know what your actually doing and what it changes andb) you actually need the change.
ok, I'll try that is the new ROM from htc that unstable?
as above.... test it with just the 1.66 rom, nothing added, and if it's still unstable get it replaced under warranty.
1.66 ROM is also unstable...
..or if I may refraise: Using ROM 1.66 is no guarantee for stability. My HD2 crashes or locks often when I use the phone functionality. No program or app have made the phone crash. I have tried to monitor what apps are running but I´ve not been able to conclude anything. Hard reset has been done followed by a backup restore.
Now I am uninstalling programs each at a time to see if this improves.
dont restore your backup, there could well be something in your backup causing a problem.
(depending on what you have backed up)
hard reset, or ideally task 29 and reflash then just use it as it is.....
use ms myphone to backup your contacts and sms if you need to.
Sometimes I just hate my phone. I have an AT&T HTC Pure. I haven't done any modifications to the ROM or anything, just installing a few apps. Today my phone turned itself off due to low battery, so I put it on the charger for a couple hours. When I needed it again I turned it on and the HTC TouchFLO 3D loaded, showing my background and the big ugly clock along with my appointments. I noticed after a few minutes the time was off by... a few minutes. The screen had completely frozen. I couldn't use the slider at all. There goes my People, Music, Calendar, Weather, and Programs tabs I use all the time. I soft reset and it comes back, looking normal. I go to use the slider and it freezes in mid-motion... never to move again. I press the Start button and my Start menu comes up. I close the Start menu and I can still see it, although it doesn't respond and the X is gone from the upper right-hand corner. I tap the Notifications bar and my notifications show up. I click close and it's still up, just not responding to taps (frozen is my guess). I've reset it a multitude of ways now all with the same result... even taking out the battery.
I don't get this. It was working fine just a short while ago. I've reset the thing before and not had this problem. I haven't installed any apps since the last time I had to turn it off due to low battery, and it came up fine from that. What could be causing this?
The real thing is this has happened before. It's like if it ever has to reload the TouchFLO interface it just bombs 1 out of 20 times. Hell I was playing around with Android for the thing, which resets the phone when you want to go back into Windows, and not had this problem the whole time I was testing it. If my phone shuts down, roll the dice and I might get lucky enough for it to come back without this problem.
I resolved it before by doing a hard reset. Lost all my stuff. That sucks for what seems no good reason at all. It's not like I was modifying system files or screwing with registry settings. It isn't even a custom ROM.
Any insight on what could be causing this, and how to get it back to normal?
I'm regretting not buying an Android phone every day anyway, but thanks to 2yr service agreements and lack of sufficient disposable income to dump AT&T I'm stuck with this thing for a while.
Thanks in advance for any help and understanding!
Your issue is that you are on the stock ROM.
That's why XDA exists, because stock ROMs are full of bloatware, eating up memory, and lacking any performance tweaks.
Cooked ROMs are not a cause of issues but a solution.
I hated my phone out of the box, but now it rocks...
With that, if you are going to stay stock, I suggest you get a backup program and hard reset.
At this point I'm very interested in custom ROMs, yet I know little about them. Looks like its time to get on it and read up what I can.
reptiletim said:
At this point I'm very interested in custom ROMs, yet I know little about them. Looks like its time to get on it and read up what I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Start with the Hard SPL thread. A link is located in the 2nd sticky.
This is the precursor to flashing a custom ROM.
Once successful, you can cruise the ROM forum for the ROM of your liking.
It's things like this that make me so glad I found this site
You can try installing "CleanRAM" and running it after every initial boot to clear excess memory. You can also configure CleanRAM to schedule your memory cleaning. I recommend you to use "Level 2" cleaning though.
cyberdroxxx said:
You can try installing "CleanRAM" and running it after every initial boot to clear excess memory. You can also configure CleanRAM to schedule your memory cleaning. I recommend you to use "Level 2" cleaning though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately CleanRAM does absolutely nothing. When TouchFLO 3D re-loads it lasts almost literally 2 seconds before freezing at whatever I'm doing. I've even used the customized process cleaner to stop as many processes as I could (or just manila.exe) and it still will freeze when the interface comes up.
I've been able to get it to the standard Windows Default look and it works now, so that will enable me to back up what I'm going to. If I'm going to have to do a hard reset anyway, might as well put something better on there.
Maybe this might help
i experianced the same problem and the cause was i sync my entire e-mail acc. on the pure and it ran ok untill i restarted it and it boom hanged.
So i cleaned up the entire messaging folder under \Windows\
At restarted it and it was fine
So i suggest dont sync up entire e-mail in any form i.e headers only etc.
If this helps do P.M me
I installed a custom rom from dutty, and now it completely dies while in standby, have to remove the battery to boot it up again. Looks like I traded one critical problem for another.
reptiletim said:
I installed a custom rom from dutty, and now it completely dies while in standby, have to remove the battery to boot it up again. Looks like I traded one critical problem for another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you hard reset after flashing?
Also, which version of Dutty's did you install?
Background:
The devs have had some major breakthroughs in getting Android ported over to our HD2s lately. Just a bit ago, they finally got Bluetooth working and I decided it was time to give it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised at the stability of the version I ran and have actually been using it as my primary ROM for five days as of this writing.
My biggest problem was in wading through the myriad of techno-speak and complaints piled on top of vague references to a non-existent thread over on the Leo forums. However, once I got things figured out, I was good to go and haven't looked back!
Please see post 2 for some tips and tricks and "Don't do's" that I learned along the way.
You absolutely MUST HAVE data access to install Android. If you have WiFi, that might work, but if you may be able to talk a friend with a data account to lend you their SIM card for a few minutes
For the curious, I did initially install Android on my 16gb C2 microSD card that came with the phone. See post 2 for why I am no longer doing so
Read "Steps" for the fast and easy version, "Details" if you're a bit nervous or want to see how neurotic I can be with explanations.
And so, without further ado, here is the simple method for locating, download, installing and running Android on your HD2!
Steps:
I recommend finding a nice, stable ROM and flashing it fresh after a Task29 before moving forward. Be sure to hard reset (or use Clear Memory under Settings) and then soft reset your phone to ensure the ROM is stabilized.
If you are using a stock radio you may have issues, the radio I am using is: 2.10.50.26.
Once your phone is up and running, go to Settings Tab->Sound & Display: Single Volume On (100%), Pocket Mode On, then click Backlight: Ensure "Automatically adjust backlight" is NOT checked, adjust your screen brightness to optimal levels, then un-check the other four boxes.
Exit Settings and make a call using the Speaker Phone, then turn the Speaker Volume to 100%.
Visit GameSquare by clicking this link and scroll to the bottom of that page, look for the "Download" link at the bottom. Save the file (currently it is named "HD2Froyo_V2.1.7z") to your computer.
At this point, it would be a brilliant idea to backup the contents of your microSD card and reformat it.
Once your microSD card is ready, place the file you downloaded from GameSquare on the root of the card ("root" means don't put it in any folders you might have on the card) and extract the contents.
If you removed the card to reformat or unzip the file, put it back in the phone. It is a good idea to go ahead and soft reset the phone at this point, just in case some of the hardware has developed some issues while you were working.
Open File Explorer and navigate to Storage Card->Android, then click on CLRCAD.exe (it won't respond, but then it's not supposed to, click it anyway), then click haret.exe. Always run CLRCAD.exe before haret.exe to ensure you can actually hear phone calls
You phone should now show the HTC Penguin and a ton of text. The phone may hang a few times, but it's fine, just let it run.
Once Android has booted, follow the customization prompts. It may seem to take forever to boot, but let it go.
Once Android has completely booted and you can see the Home Screen, wait for the icon on the top left (sd card scan) to disappear and then soft reset and reboot Android. If you have run Android or used Google Backup in the past, wait for the sync icon to disappear before soft resetting the phone.
You should now be able to fully load Android and make calls, texts, data connections etc. Enjoy!
Details:
Myself, I chose to ignore the google location, facebook - twitter - youtube logins and weather; this is because I never intend to actually use the Windows Mobile ROM anyway
You may or may not have luck with a different radio, but I know people running stock are complaining and looking for replacements. I will not explain where to find or how to flash radios in this thread, use the search button above to find one that will.
My screen brightness is set to 50%, which is optimal for me. Un-checking the boxes will prevent your phone from darkening the screen while Android is running!
This seemed to help when I had issues with a very quiet speaker and ringtones running Android.
I will not link directly to the build because (1) it's not my site or work and (2) there are important messages on that page that DarkStone1337 wanted everyone to read. For your edification, the original thread: [BUILD] [18.08.2010] [darkstone HD2Froyo V2.1] [kernel: darkstone 2.6.32.9 #36]
I haven't used a stock ROM in forever, but all of the customs I have run had a "Format SD Card" app in the Start->Tools folder. If you use your PC to format it, be sure to use Fat with a 32 cluster (or allocation) size. Formatting your card will help to eliminate issues that some have been having (I had the same issues and reformatted later). I found that formatting the card via Windows allows for a less-buggy system.
This will create a new directory named Android and a small text file. You can read the "readme.txt" file if you want, but don't move anything around. Unlike the original builds, HaRET is located in the Android folder and should stay there.
If I get a call, text or email on my phone before I get Android booted, I go ahead and soft-reset again. It may be a pain in the butt, but it helps to narrow down any issues you might have to just the Android build.
Android may reboot your phone before you see any prompts, and if so just go back and run CLRCAD.exe and then haret.exe as before.
If you have any issues, reformat the card and start over. Here is where you need that initial data (internet) access. Android does not require you to always have internet, but if you reset or re-install it, you will always need it at this point.
You can turn off the phone by holding the "End Call" button (that's the red one ) and choosing "Power Off" from the popup menu.
Of course, you don't have to enjoy Android, that's just a suggestion
This tutorial is subject to updates and bug fixes in the future, but no promises
Be sure to read Post 2 for lessons I learned along the way!
Tips and Tricks
Format and Content of this post may change, depending on how I feel and what I learn along the way (respectively).
SD Card Care:
I would recommend you to always reformat your microSD card before installing or re-installing Android on it. This is the same as doing a Task 29 on your phone before installing a new ROM.
I don't know much about Android, but I've been using Linux on my personal computers at home for over 10 years. Android seems to continually read and write data to the SD card while the system is running. If it is in "write" mode and you change something on the card or reset the phone, it can damage your SD card. So far, I have managed to get through this by reformatting my card, but you can easily wipe the card by removing the battery or hitting the reset button instead of using "Power Off" via the Android menu.
Never attach your phone to the PC and activate "Turn on USB storage". When I say, "Never", I really mean, "If you ever, ever do this, your children will despise you." Writing to the card while Android is in "write" mode will cause data that is being written by Android to be misplaced and this is a very bad thing.
Do not use the "transfer to sd card" option that some of the apps may offer. For the same reason as the last tip, it will really screw your card up.
Android was not meant to run on external card like your microSD card. Some geniuses here on xda have managed to trick it into doing so, but it will never be safe. Some day the devs may actually manage to hack into the phone's NAND memory and then we can have real Android ROMs running without an SD card, but until then we have to use this system. You do risk ruining your card, but I feel that it is worth the risk
Stability:
Just after running HaRET, hit the back arrow key. This will cause your buttons to light up momentarily. I'm not sure exactly why, but this seems to help the battery drain issue a lot.
The current crop of Froyo (Android 2.2) builds all seem to cause issues with our phone's hardware. Specifically, the screen is often unresponsive, sometimes never waking up after being turned off and necessitating a hard reset or battery pull.
Bluetooth works, but you may have to cycle the service by hitting "Bluetooth" in a call twice, once to turn it off and then again to turn it back on. I have had to do this several times, particularly after a hard reset.
I find that a task killer is particularly helpful. I found a free one called "Advanced Task Killer Free" in the market and it works just fine for my needs. When I need to turn off the screen, I run the killer and wait a few seconds before hitting the End Call button. Using this method, I have reduced the non-responsive screen issues somewhat.
Another trick I have learned is to turn off the lock screen. Even the simple slider seemed to cause issues, so I found "No Lock", a free app in the market that, when activated, will turn off the lock screen. If you keep your phone in your pocket (bad idea, you're gonna scratch or break it!), this is not a solution you will be able to tolerate after a few butt-dials.
Some people over on the Leo forums report that turning off the Live Wallpaper helped with the non-responsive screen issues. I haven't really tried this because I really, really like the wallpaper interaction. Of course, since my issues haven't totally gone away, I gave that a shot, but it didn't seem to help.
I switched ROMs, trying to find a WinMo ROM that was lighter but still up-to-date and every call I made with the phone thereafter caused the "robot voice" (some call it the "android voice"). I am now flashing a new ROM that I found on the T-Mobile USA HTC HD2 ROM Development forum that said "Android" in the title. The chef claims it is "Android Safe" and so I've flashed it, but left the Android installation alone. The "robot voice" is definitely gone, so that's awesome. Not sure what else may have improved, but at least I can make phone calls
I've noticed a trend over on the Leo forums to shy away from "Best WinMo ROM for Hosting Android". Not sure why this is, but I will carry that trend on until I am better informed. That being said, I have flashed three different ROMs to my phone and only one has actually produced a stabilizing effect on my Android. You can find it in the T-Mobile USD HTC HD2 ROM Development forum, just search for "Android"
Apps:
Having trouble getting your apps to install? Try going into Settings - SD Card and "Unmount" your card and then try the install again. This worked for me when installing Angry Birds and Pocket Legends (two very awesome games).
"No Lock": This app disables the default sliding-lock screen. I had some issues early on with the screen locking up as I tried to turn it on. This has helped tremendously.
"Advanced Task Killer": Although cnet says this is rarely needed, they are not running Android from the SD card as we are You will need some sort of task killer because your phone can't handle the RAM drain every day activity brings.
"SlideIT Keyboard": Replacement for Swype. I've used Swype for so long that I consider this app a poor replacement, though you might disagree. It's better than nothing!
More to come!
Snarksneeze said:
Coming Soon!
This is just a placeholder while I get the real deal written. Please be patient, I have a 2yo to care for and my keyboard time is hard to justify these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Snarksneeze said:
Reserved.
Will put some lessons I learned in here later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This just raises the question of why didn't you just wait until you had the tutorial written before creating this thread?
Paten said:
This just raises the question of why didn't you just wait until you had the tutorial written before creating this thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I accidentally submitted my first post instead of previewing it. Had to work fast before I looked like a complete idiot. Guess I wasn't fast enough, eh?
Thank you for this post, Ive been wanting to do this for a while but the other threads were very confusing to me...
sound dll of 2.13.xxx.xx problem
hi i have the tmous rom 2.13.xxx.xx when i run android i have the robotic voice, i understand that the sound dll is different than the 2.10.xxx.xx and this is the couse.
is there any solution??
Did you ever try android on a stock rom? will any of these android set ups work in stock tmous rom?
אםזגםנש said:
hi i have the tmous rom 2.13.xxx.xx when i run android i have the robotic voice, i understand that the sound dll is different than the 2.10.xxx.xx and this is the couse.
is there any solution??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually had a custom ROM installed on my HD2 that caused the "robot voice". This ROM: {ROM}13Sep Omega WM6.5.x24634 Base3.04 manila2018#XT+Dinik+GTX+MaxSense+Black#Android is the only one I've been able to get a decent run of Android on.
We really, really need more than one option when it comes to ROMs that give Android good support, so if anyone else knows of one, this is a good thread to link it to.
szfjcr said:
Did you ever try android on a stock rom? will any of these android set ups work in stock tmous rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried two different stocks: The one my phone came with way back in June and the new one at tmobile.com/wm_update. I was able to make calls, but the other person couldn't hear me.
I would recommend the ROM I linked to in the post just before this one; it's working great for me so far!
gonna try it thanks
for some reason i cant get it to reboot into android, it keeps going back to the stock windows rom, anyone know how to solve this? thanks in advance
dementievafan said:
for some reason i cant get it to reboot into android, it keeps going back to the stock windows rom, anyone know how to solve this? thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might want to check this out: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=723200
hmm so that is the only way to do it currently? what is the logic behind not being able to put android directly on the phone's memory?
thanks again
I'm one of the lucky ones!
So far at least... I have been running Darkstone Froyo/Sense for approximately six hours with zero issues beyond it taking a bit to get used to Android again, which is not a complaint at all.
As I stated, I used Darkstone Froyo with Sense, latest release.
2.11 Radio
I did not have to revert my rom because I was able to use HSPL3 Successfully.
I have read several threads/posts but this was the most helpful, although I could not have completed this task without some other [TUT] threads.
Side note: I stated I have not had any issues, I wanted to mention that I had read some posts stating the 2.11 Radio had caused heat issues. With heavy downloading of apps, chatting, texting, and browsing constantly for the last six hours (as I was a passenger on a long drive right after I completed the install) I never noticed the phone getting hot, and I made a point to watch for this.
Again, thank you.
dementievafan said:
hmm so that is the only way to do it currently? what is the logic behind not being able to put android directly on the phone's memory?
thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies to everyone for not responding to this thread while on vacation in Arkansas.
In order to install Android on the HD2 as a regular ROM we would need access to the NAND processor, which we do not have at this time. We may never be able to get Android to flash that way. In the meantime, we can run it via Linux by using HaRET (Hardware Reverse-Engineering Tool). As far as I can tell, this is the API version of Froyo, the one that can be run via an emulator and downloaded from Google. So it's not really the phone version of Android, but from a user's standpoint, there is no difference.
electshrimp said:
So far at least... I have been running Darkstone Froyo/Sense for approximately six hours with zero issues beyond it taking a bit to get used to Android again, which is not a complaint at all.
As I stated, I used Darkstone Froyo with Sense, latest release.
2.11 Radio
I did not have to revert my rom because I was able to use HSPL3 Successfully.
I have read several threads/posts but this was the most helpful, although I could not have completed this task without some other [TUT] threads.
Side note: I stated I have not had any issues, I wanted to mention that I had read some posts stating the 2.11 Radio had caused heat issues. With heavy downloading of apps, chatting, texting, and browsing constantly for the last six hours (as I was a passenger on a long drive right after I completed the install) I never noticed the phone getting hot, and I made a point to watch for this.
Again, thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your feedback
You mentioned that you could not have completed the install without other tutorials. Would you mind linking to them or telling me what I am missing?
To write this, I reformatted my SD card and installed a fresh ROM, then detailed each step I made along the way. I have looked back but can't see anything that I might have missed.
I see that you are running Froyo Sense. I linked to the regular Froyo, since it was the version that ran without any issues for me. Would this TUT be better if I were to link to the other builds as well?
Thanks for this [TUT]! I have this installed with Omega v13 and Radio 2.12.50.02_02. Works beautifully.
I also added Dual Boot option with Jmz Android Dual-Boot.cab as suggested by you in an earlier post. Very sweet.
wackywalt said:
Thanks for this [TUT]! I have this installed with Omega v13 and Radio 2.12.50.02_02. Works beautifully.
I also added Dual Boot option with Jmz Android Dual-Boot.cab as suggested by you in an earlier post. Very sweet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad things worked out for you!
Keep us informed of any issues, tips or tricks you stumble upon as you enjoy your new Android
i have a few questions
im new to HD2, i want to run android on tmous unlocked hd2, i have stock rom no hspl, my spl version is 2.10.8 or something like that ... so how can i do it. Help appriciated
rukhi said:
i have a few questions
im new to HD2, i want to run android on tmous unlocked hd2, i have stock rom no hspl, my spl version is 2.10.8 or something like that ... so how can i do it. Help appriciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock simply doesn't work for Android. You can boot up, but can't make calls or hear external sound.
In order to get Android running, you will have to (1)Flash HSPL and (2)Flash an Android-friendly ROM.
I am far from being an expert on Android or Windows Mobile, so there may be something that I don't know about. If you are dead set on keeping stock, you might contact one of the Android-friendly chefs and ask them what changes they made to their versions.
Don't forget: Flashing your T-Mobile HD2 is dangerous. Never flash a ROM unless you found it here: T-Mobile USA HD2 ROM Development.
The original (Leo) HD2 is incompatible with the T-Mobile version and it is easy to get confused. Some websites aren't even bothering to mention the incompatibility and lot of folks are bricking their phones as a result.
My phone(s) are both Telstra HD2's that I've SPL'd and flashed with the standard WWE ROM from HTC as well as the latest Artemis ROM's. This behavior happens regardless of ROM.
Here's what happens: When the phone is linked via Bluetooth to either a PhoneLabs Dock-N-Talk or Xlink Bluetooth phone gateway, the HD2's will occasionally Freeze/Lock-Up after a call is ended. The lock-up is so profound that the only way to revive the phone is to remove the battery, re-insert it, and turn the phone back on.
No matter what buttons are pressed, the screen shows only the call in progress display, frozen and no amount of pressing or tapping revives the phone. At first I thought it was a PhoneLabs Dock-N-Talk issue, so I bought an Xlink box which performs the same function as the Dock-N-Talk. As expected, the phone still occasionally locks up with The Xlink box same as the Dock-N-Talk.
Unlike other lock-up threads, the problem is NOT that the phone "locks" itself but rather that the phone Freezes/Locks-Up like a crashed Windows computer. The only difference is that instead of the ever popular "blue screen of death", I have the call in progress screen, frozen on the LCD.
Both HD2's are doing the same thing so I'm fairly convinced it's not just a defective phone unless it is an endemic issue to this design.
I'd appreciate any suggestions from anyone with experience with such a problem.
Thanks
what kind of radio do you have on your phone sir, and can you give your rom version as well. What you might want to try is going down to a rom base of 2.07 or something as well as radio, you might not like the performance but some radios are very incompatible with some bluetooth sets.
Also another idea is running Andriod and seeing if it occurs under that environment, this could tell you some ideas of what the cause is since both OS us the same radio file.
Luckych
Possible Resolution
I may have stumbled on a possible resolution to my problem.
Since I was not convinced it was a Radio/ROM issue, I re-flashed the HD2 with a fresh task 29 and 045 Artemis ROM. What I did NOT do this time is add any applications like memory cleaner, CHT, etc. which appear to work fine by themselves but I strongly suspect that all of them combined are a great toxic soup recipe.
As suspected, no crashes yet in the last 24 hours. Little by little I will be adding them one at a time to see which one is the offender but I strongly suspect it may be one that is related to a tweak that's gone rogue.
I will post results as I discover tem.
I've installed on a friends HD2 one of the WinMo 6.5 ROMs, as they're all better than the stock firmware.
This was around a year ago.
A few months ago he told me he's having problems accessing the net, and that the phone locks up every time.
So I've set up a Skype conversation and wanted to walk him through installing a new firmware (at the moment he wanted to try out WP7). I didn't think it's anything serious; WinMo tends to go a little wonky every once in a while.
So I walk him through the typical steps: Task29 + radio, MAGLDR. All this works fine. Then we proceed to install one of the many WP7 roms (to make sure it's a decent rom I tried it first on my own HD2; it was working fine). However, MAGLDR locked up when preparing and clearing the partitions for the system. I've walked him through the procedure a few more times (thinking he might be doing something wrong or it was a one time fluke; we are still talking via Skype, remember), but it was always the same.
I've then tried to walk him through Android installation, but the process, once more, halted when installing Clockwork Recovery (once more, clearing and preparing partitions).
Finally, with no more ideas, I did the SD card trick to reinstall the original OS. That worked fine, but at the end he said the phone still locked up.
Yesterday he came to visit me, and brought the phone with him. I attempted to install Android, and indeed... the furthest I was able to get was the GO GO GO screen when launching AD recovery, at which point the phone locked up. Earlier, it would lock up on the countdown (123456) throwing errors. I must mention that I was able to install Clockwork, but it took far more time than it should when preparing the partitions.
At one point, when redoing the whole thing over (Task29, radio) the phone vibrated 7 times and refused to cooperate when installing the radio.
At this point, after reading some posts, I decided to give the old freezer a try and... put the phone in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
It came out nice and cold, and to my surprise, I was able to install Clockwork, run it, install Android... and it's still working.
It's definitely warmed up since I took it out, and has been working all night (albeit with no SIM card). I was able to reboot it, enter AD Recovery, and all in all, it seemed rather stable. But if it's just a temporary thing, then my friend is more willing to buy a new phone rather than keep on fighting with this one (and since the phone is way past it's warranty, there's little point in taking it for repairs).
With all that said, what's the chance that the phone will now function properly? Could the freezer trick actually FIX the phone, rather than temporarily mask some underlying hardware issue?
the freezer trick is more of a fast solution, but it won't fix the problem.. there's a thread about how to solve this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=982454
I don't have overheating problems so I didn't bother trying it.
The freezer trick will only serve as an indicator that your phone is suffering from the thermal issues that are being addressed in the link that Dr.Move posted. I had another HD2 that wouldn't get past MAGLDR unless it was cold. Even then once it got warm it would shut off.
I have similiar problems with Shaamaan and I have another HD2, which works flawlessly and doesnt get stuck
while it might be either BAD BLOCKS, or the THERMAL problems as posted above, I am half tempted to put it into the freezer
I have warranty though, which I should probably warranty it before doign anything silly
Sorry for the late reply.
The thing is, after going through the freezer, the phone is now running smooth. Again, I don't have a SIM card for it (it's T-Mobile locked), but other than that, I was playing with it using my home WiFI and it didn't lock once. I've also rebooted it a number of time, entering the AD recovery mode without a problem.
I've taken a quick glance at the thread linked Dr.Move and... whoa, that looks scary. It's not even my phone, and I still wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. There's a certain level of finesse required with electronic devices of this kind; I can take a computer apart, but this?
Anyway, seems like I need to put a bit more stress on the phone. Any suggestions? Would running some of those Android performance tools be enough? Or do I specifically need a CPU stress testing tool like the one mentioned in that scary thread?
EDIT: I've found some stress tool on the store, and it's been running for 15 minutes now, reaching a temperature of 34 degrees and seems to stay there.
try to run games or stress tools while charging, this will heat it to over 40 Celsius, I got it over 42 before with no problems, but be cautious.
currently facing this issue as well
wonder if anyone else tried this and it worked, and what tips / concerns can be shared
Is it still fixed???