Database Users

Newbish Questions

Please forgive these basic questions. I myself am a wing owner, but a coworker is in constant awe of the power of xda and has enlisted my help in maximizing his Hermes. Just a couple of questions:
Meaning to come off as a complete newb or a jacka** is not what I desire, but at the same time I haven't hours to invest towards knowing every detail about a phone I myself do not own. I'm fully well aware of how to search and obviously if I can type I can read, so informing to do either of these tasks will be meaningless to me.
My questions:
1) With the wing, if you "brick" your phone during a ROM flash, you can re-flash an RUU and you'll be just fine. Does this work the same way with the Hermes?
2) How difficult is the HardSPL process with the Hermes and is there anything to watch out for?
3) Are there special steps needed to take in order to upgrade him from wm5 to wm6/6.1 or a ROM based upon either version?
4) Is there a way to overclock the phone, and does it make a noticable difference? I already put batterystatus on it and it isn't giving me the overclocking options it does with my wing. I'm guessing it's because it's a different type of processor or because it's reading the base speed of the CPU @ 400mhz, which is higher than any of the overclocked speeds it offers me on my wing.
5) Is there anything else important to know about his phone? The last thing I want for the guy is to take his phone with promises if grandeur, and hand him back a paperweight without answers.

1) Depends on what brick
if you have hardspl'd and it just failed flashing the OS then you should be able to recover.. providing that you can get into bootloader mode.
if you are flashing the radio and it fails then you own a paperweight..
2) Hardspl on the hermes is simple - just read the thread and its easy

So for the Hermes, you flash the OS seperate from the Radio? Or are you talking about if you're reflashing only the radio?
And if you're not HardSPL and you brick during the OS flash you can't just go into bootloader and flash the RUU to recover the phone?

Well, as an 8525 owner, I'd have to say that flashing ROMs to a Hermes is rather painless and straight forward. I started with the official ROM for WM6 since it covered so many bases. However, I eventually used HardSPL(quite a painless experience) and loaded a ROM to it that didn't take up that much storage.
One word of warning. Make sure that the data connector's in good condition before attempting to flash. If it's not, use the microSD method. This procaution will save you many headaches.
I don't recommend overclocking. 1, it's dangerous. 2, there's few methods out there and many of them are said not to work. 3, by using a ROM with a large page pool you can increase the phone's speed.
Special? Well, that depends on the model.

I'm familiar with the pros and cons of overclocking as I myself have my wing overclocked from 201mhz to 273 and run it that way 24/7/365. Just curious as to how one does it on the hermes since BatteryStatus was a no-go.
Is there a particular wm6.1 rom that anyone would like to recommend? I know itje and ttran do exceptional work for the wings/heralds, but who're the cooks to look out for in the Hermes world?
And what exactly is the SD flash method for Hermes? On mine now that I'm hardspl'ed I can put any .nbh on my sd, rename it to HERAIMG.nbh, put it into bootloader and it'll flash for me.

I've not really delved into 6.1 due to early compatibility issues. I did try one, but I liked Schap's ROM better.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=392777
Basicly the same, but you have to name it HERMIMG.nbh. If you don't know how to get to bootloader mode, just push the side OK button, the power button, and the reset all at once. I used SSPL to put HardSPL onto my phone using the microSD method, so even if the data port's busted, all should be fine.

Basically any cooked rom doesn't have a radio rom cooked in. This allows YOU to decide what radio is best for you. My advice is if it works fine, leave it alone... When kingsizeriz says its a total brick he means that it won't work as a phone ever again... However, as a PDA, no worries, just flash a cooked rom with no radio...
Hard SPL is a MUST.... Also see if you can find out if you friends phone is "locked" to a network, you'll have to unlock first using this : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=293665
Then Hard SPL, Here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=296722
To use the sd card method for Hard SPL, check out page 116.
Then flash with rom of choice... WM 6.1 is MUCH more stable now, & REALLY quick... Would suggest the PDAViet roms as I seem to find them pretty stable though the later versions of other roms seem ok too (19202 & up).
To flash with sd card - MAKE SURE YOU HAVE HARD SPL INSTALLED....
copy .nbh file to root directory of card and rename to "hermimg.nbh". Put in hermes and go into bootloader. Follow the prompts...
Hope this helps...Cheers....

Can you tell me either how many posts per page you use or what post number to start looking for? I use the max number of posts per page so the number might be different.
And I know he bought the phone from and uses it on AT&T, so I'd imagine it's locked to that.
Also, nobody's mentioned if there's any special steps needed to take to upgrade his phone from wm5 to 6(.1). Are there any?

Post #1160, Has all links for apps needed too...
If you want to sim/cid unlock you can run the unlocker v3to use Any sim card .
If you want to do this then do it 1st. It will upgrade your SPL to 1.10.
THEN Hard SPL... THIS IS A MUST. It wont stop you from bricking your device BUT it will improve your chances of recovering from most accidents....
Get you friend to find any HERMES rom they like (I like PDAViet 19588 at the moment as is VERY speedy) & download. I would recommend using the sd card method as it is safer from silly buggers "accidently" resetting pc or pulling out usb cable and power brown/black outs. All you need is for them to leave the hermes alone for 10 minutes or so while it flashes. Make sure you have better than 50% battery power though as flashing is battery draining... Even via usb it stops charging to flash...
Previous post as links for programs needed. Cheers....

New (used) HD2 - Where do I stand?

I'm searching and reading various threads to try to get a grasp of where I stand but I haven't had a WMO phone in so long that it's taking me a little bit to get reacquainted with the process. That said, I traded my iPhone for an HD2 and my guess is that the guy had modded this a bit but I don't know what "stock" is for the HD2 and all that jazz. So here's what I have sitting in front of me:
SPL 2.08.HSPL
ROM version: Kumar's TMob P1.4 WWE
Radio version: 2.08.50.08_2
Flash size: 1024
Now, the phone's a little buggy from time to time in that the wrong time will display and the phone will lock up and need to be hard booted to get it going again and I'm wondering if it's because of the set up that's installed on it or what not? I'm going to keep researching and re-teaching myself on how to install custom ROMs and find one that I think will suit me best (it should come back to me in a bit ... the basics anyway) but if you guys could help me out and let me know where I stand and some suggestions on where I should go from here, that would be cool. I know this is a n00b question but I also know some of you enjoy helping people learn. I'm not asking for anyone to teach me how to do all of this ... I can learn that from the various threads.

i assume this is a TMOUS HD2?
one piece of advice i'll give you is not to flash your radio to any of the .51 variants as it will brick your phone.
eg. your radio is 2.08.50.08_2 -> do not get one with .51
radio's control your communications, 3g, wifi, sms, chatting etc and has effects on battery life
spl 2.08 HSPL means your phone is unlocked and you can run any ROM you like (CHECK FOR COMPATIBILITY WITH US TMOB) -> download HSPL2 and you can change this to w/e version you like.
kumar is one of the ROMS available.
if your phone is buggy i recommend looking at the task 29 stickies, these format your phone so you can install a new rom on a fresh device

Oh, yes, sorry ... TMOUS.
That's exactly the kind of feedback and guidance I'm looking for. Thank you very much. I'll make sure to refer to this as I go. At least I can be a little pleased that he did some of the work for me by unlocking it ... less steps for me.
Other feedback is welcome and appreciated.

a few pointers.
the 1024 flash size means it is a t mobile us (tmous) version.
most things will work just fine, there are two things you really need to know.
roms - your phone will only take roms based on version 2.1. find your roms in the tmous dedicated rom development section, not this rom development section. if you flash thee wrong rom the phone will hang at the boot screen, but is not permanent.just boot to bootloader and re flash.
radio - this is IMPORTANT. any radio with a 51 in the version WILL KILL YOUR PHONE STONE DEAD.
so example a radio called 2.09.51.x will destroy your phone, no known way to fix at the moment.
radios with a 50 in the version are fine. example 2.08.50.x will work.

in response to the other poster, you should only use spl 2.08.hspl, since thee only roms that work are 2.1 it would be pointless and possibly risky to use any lower version of spl/hspl

Okay, awesome. Thank you. You guys rock. I appreciate the help.

.cab files are the windows mobile setup files, they can be ran straight from your phone.
when you download a ROM, you will be given a .nbh file and an installer .exe, the installer and the ROM must be placed in the same folder.
to enter the phone's bootloader, hold down the VolumeDown key while turning on your phone, here you can also install ROM's without having to start the phone, especially useful because if you flash a ROM while the phone is on, battery checks etc will prevent you from flashing, very annoying if you have 49% battery, flashing from the bootloader prevents this.
hard resetting your phone (recommended after ROM flash): press the power button to turn on the phone WHILST holding down both VolumeUp and VolumeDown buttons, press VolumeUp when prompted, this is a hard reset, it simply wipes data from the phone and makes it setup like when you first got it.
currently on your Today screen on the phone, I presume there are 3 icons, and when you scroll down there is a 3x3 grid in which you can add icons to, do a search for Cookie's Home Tab, it adds more links, more functionality, and generally looks much better

You guys are awesome. I know it's frustrating to explain the basics over and over but I appreciate the time you've taken to respond.

Okay, I successfully ran task 29 and then installed a stock ROM (with radio 50) and everything seems to be working well. I think I'm going to leave it like this for a bit and see what I like and don't like about the stock ROM and then I can make a better choice about which ROM to go with if I decide to customize. I sincerely appreciate your help, guys.

sounds like a good idea
I'm glad we were of help

Custom Rom Advice

I've been lurking in this forum for a while now, and given HTC's "We're not updating the Hero until we've milked the market for every last Desire/Legend upgrade" stance, I've decided to take the plunge and put a custom ROM on my unbranded GSM Hero.
There's just a few questions I wanted to ask before I go ahead, and was hoping some of you would be kind enough to help:
1) If I install a custom ROM, is it possible to go back to factory state? I know some of the FAQ's say its possible to go back to the stock ROM, but does that mean EVERYTHING returns to stock? I know this is apples and oranges but when I flashed a couple of PSP's you have a recovery mode at startup, is anything like this left behind when returning to stock?
2) Is it possible to brick my phone? If so, is it recoverable?
3) Can anyone recommend a fast, stable ROM? I was interested in Damage Control but obviously thats for CDMA Hero's not GSM.
4) I see a lot of people with quite complex issues like radio frequencies and battery problems, what are the odds of having something like that happen? Is it quite rare? Also are radio flashes undone by returning to stock?
Thanks for your time guys, I'll be updating here with my progress/Issues later this evening

Arceon said:
There's just a few questions I wanted to ask before I go ahead, and was hoping some of you would be kind enough to help,.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) If I install a custom ROM, is it possible to go back to factory state? I know some of the FAQ's say its possible to go back to the stock ROM, but does that mean EVERYTHING returns to stock? I know this is apples and oranges but when I flashed a couple of PSP's you have a recovery mode at startup, is anything like this left behind when returning to stock?
- Yes, you can return back to stock state. You are correct, we do use a 'custom recovery console' to flash custom ROMs but this is easily removed by applying one of the official RUU .exe files found at Official HTC Hero RUU ROM Links. Connect phone to PC, run .exe, DONE!
2) Is it possible to brick my phone? If so, is it recoverable?
- I personally have only heard of people bricking handsets when, (1) Installing CDMA ROMs onto GSM handsets (you already know the difference so this shouldn't be a problem now), (2) Interrupting the radio update process (when applying update, phone may reboot a few times, do not touch untill you get the lockbar to pull down to unlock).
Iv had mine for about 3 months now and started as a complete noob but my phone is still living.
3) Can anyone recommend a fast, stable ROM? I was interested in Damage Control but obviously thats for CDMA Hero's not GSM.
- Im using MCR3.2 since day one, its fast and stable, what more could I ask for (apart from android 2.1).
4) I see a lot of people with quite complex issues like radio frequencies and battery problems, what are the odds of having something like that happen? Is it quite rare? Also are radio flashes undone by returning to stock?
- I assume its quite rare, again, Ive had no issues whatsoever. I dont know if running the RUU .exe will roll back to a previous radio or not but you can manually rollback, just use the radio update.zip first, then run the .exe if you need to.
One thing I would recomend,... Make sure you'v charged your battery 100% via the mains adapter (not usb through PC) when applying the custom ROM.

ruu contains a radio upgrade. or downgrade, depends on what you have installed and what ruu you are attempting to install.
you can brick your hero by flashing either a wrong radio or a wrong spl, or by flashing the correct ones of either and interrupt it during flashing.
if it was recoverable it wouldn't be bricked, the definition of "bricked" is that it serves the same purpose as a brick. however in most cases there is the possibility of reviving it via jtag, which is a highly complicated process that involves opening the phone and manipulating with the components directly (you could say "solder in a new processor" to express it in laymans' terms). so usually not worth the effort.

@ddotpatel
Thanks for clearing all that up for me
One thing though, with the official RUU files you linked, do you always just pick the latest one? Also do I need to worry about the "No Driver" description, or is it just run and done?
@kendong2
What would consitute a "wrong radio"? Are they not region-free? Or do you mean if I install a lower version than the one I already have? Also I guess seeing as I don't know what an SPL is I don't need to worry about it?
As for the Bricked term, yes your right. Its just coming from the PSP scene they use the term bricked to describe when the firmware will no longer boot, but the hacked in recovery console will. Bad habits and all that

I dont think the nodriver thing is anything to worry about.
Check the ROM your currently on through the settings menu so you know which one to go back to should you need to. I suppose it would look odd if you tried to return a handset for repair and it had an older ROM than the one it shipped with.
If you use this link HTC Hero Radio ROM Links you will be fine. They aren't region specific, I just used the latest one.
I think what Kendong meant was to make sure its for the GSM Hero not CDMA.
And SPL is the ROM I think, so again, as long as its GSM you're good to go!

Thanks ddotpatel
One last question, on the Recovery ROM thread linked to in the "Complete Newbie Guide" it says in rather large red writing "This recovery is NOT yet fully compatible with the new apps2sd method!".
Does this mean if I install A2SD as in the newb guide it will cause issues/break?

Arceon said:
Thanks ddotpatel
One last question, on the Recovery ROM thread linked to in the "Complete Newbie Guide" it says in rather large red writing "This recovery is NOT yet fully compatible with the new apps2sd method!".
Does this mean if I install A2SD as in the newb guide it will cause issues/break?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, no,... If you follow the instructions in BTDAG's guide to setup apps2sd all will be ok.
The warning is referring to CM5.0.7 which I think is a HTC Dream / G1 ROM so that doesn't affect us guys.

Oh good, bid red text has a tendancy to put me off somewhat!
I've plumped for SLIDEVILLAIN 1.1.0 RC, and have a shiny new 8GB class 6 card on the way, should help with the craving to upgrade to a new phone for a while
Thanks for all your help, I'm sure you'll see more threads from me in the not to idstant future

Arceon said:
Oh good, bid red text has a tendancy to put me off somewhat!
I've plumped for SLIDEVILLAIN 1.1.0 RC, and have a shiny new 8GB class 6 card on the way, should help with the craving to upgrade to a new phone for a while
Thanks for all your help, I'm sure you'll see more threads from me in the not to idstant future
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't suppose you could send me a link of the memory card you'v ordered,... I think I'm gona start researching prices, speeds etc and get a new one myself.
Best I found so far was an 8gig Class 6 Transcend for £14 off Amazon but it doesn't state read/write speeds so am a bit reluctant.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-m...USDHC6/dp/B001IAMME8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Yeah, Iv had mine 3 months, initially bought as a temp handset to replace my Nokia 5800. Was planning to sell it on again this month and get myself a Desire for my birthday. But you know what,... I'm still really really happy with it. I think I'll be keeping it for another 6 months or so, at least until we get something similar to the HTC Evo 4G or the HTC Incredible in the uk.

I ended up ordering the Samsung one:
Urgh I can't post links, search for "Samsung 8GB Micro SD PLUS memory card Class 6" on Amazon
The read write speeds are in the comments, but to be honest I didn't pay that much attention to them knowing that the class 4 was the recommended speed and that class 6 is 50% faster.
Pretty much the same here, I was happy with it until the boss ordered a Desire and I had to set it up for him. The screen size combined with 2.1 was seriously making me consider one, but I realised if I could just have 2.1 I could hold out another few months.
And yes the Evo is awesome, can't wait for something like that over here, If it doesn't come then I'll be holding out for Froyo instead

SPL is the secondary program loader. Think of it as the bootloader. You don't need to touch it unless you want to replace the initial static bootscreen image.

[Q] Engineering HBOOT

Ok lets start the Q&A
First:
1) What is engineering HBOOT?
2) What benefits it brings to the mytouch 4g?
3) what is Danger SPL or something like that?
4) what benefits it brings if any?
I already search the forum but to be honest xda is by far the hardest place to find stuff even thou the answers are probably here.
People talk about it but what the hell is engineering HBOOT I did a google search and theres lots of threads saying i have this HBOOT or that one but none of those define its use or purpose.

cruzantis said:
Ok lets start the Q&A
First:
1) What is engineering HBOOT?
2) What benefits it brings to the mytouch 4g?
3) what is Danger SPL or something like that?
4) what benefits it brings if any?
I already search the forum but to be honest xda is by far the hardest place to find stuff even thou the answers are probably here.
People talk about it but what the hell is engineering HBOOT I did a google search and theres lots of threads saying i have this HBOOT or that one but none of those define its use or purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HBoot (engineering Screen) would be similar to the BIOS on a Windows based Computer. It is what physically loads the OS up for us to use.
As far as benefits? you can flash specific sections that compile a ROM, and or Change the Splash Image, what you see when the phone turns on.
and you do not need to worry about the Danger SPL on this phone.
SPL is the secondary program loader... it gets loaded by the IPL and then it loads the OS.
IPL : Initial Program Loader
initial hardware bootup. just like a BIOS
-borrowed from a different forum.

neidlinger said:
The HBoot (engineering Screen) would be similar to the BIOS on a Windows based Computer. It is what physically loads the OS up for us to use.
As far as benefits? you can flash specific sections that compile a ROM, and or Change the Splash Image, what you see when the phone turns on.
and you do not need to worry about the Danger SPL on this phone.
SPL is the secondary program loader... it gets loaded by the IPL and then it loads the OS.
IPL : Initial Program Loader
initial hardware bootup. just like a BIOS
-borrowed from a different forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks neidlinger for your answer now my new question would be like what if I choose not to change the HBOOT once i root the phone? besides changing the splash image is there any true benefit like saving your phone from a brick perhaps? something really useful more than eye candy?

cruzantis said:
Thanks neidlinger for your answer now my new question would be like what if I choose not to change the HBOOT once i root the phone? besides changing the splash image is there any true benefit like saving your phone from a brick perhaps? something really useful more than eye candy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll get mixed answers on that one. Personally as long as you have a working recovery image, and make sure to do things correctly bricking a phone is pretty hard to do. As far as the Engineering HBoot v. the stock one with the engineering screen you can flash different parts of the ROM.

[Q] EU HD2 stuck on 'htc quietly brilliant'

Update: Maybe stock rom is not flashing because i'm not getting the correct ROM for this phone?
Could someone PLEASE help me identify the correct stock ROM with the below serial number of the phone?
Hi Xda gods,
I shows me as a noob because i forgot my old account password!
Anyway, I have with me a friend's EU HD2. Details as follows:
HTC HD2 T8585
S/N: SH06KNW01615
The following are the problems with the phone:
1. I think he had someone try to upgrade the radio on the phone WITHOUT HSPL first because it used to show a 'software update failed, please try again' msg when turned on.
2. Installed HSPL 2.08 successfully and tried to install radio version 2.15.50.** and that didn't work either. got an error 264 i think which said 'this update utility cannot be used on your PDA'.
3. Read in many threads that a possible solution could be to flash back to a stock ROM that came with the phone via SD card method but after abt 3% i get an error saying 'radio v2 FAILED, LEOIMG.NBH FAILED, Update Failed'.
4.Used Mtty and followed the steps..set value to 14 0, task 29, task 8...and then flashed a custom rom through SD card...
5.The cutom rom flased fine but now phone is stuck on 'HTC quietly brilliant' and does nothing else.
Could one of you brilliant minds PLEASE help me solve this problem? i tried for more than 7 hours yesterday but didn't get anywhere...
thanks in advance!

Custom ROM did not have a Radio included so expect trying a Radio such as linked in my sig may be worth another go.
If problems persists could be memory issue or other hardware issue.

Thanks Mister B for the quick response..
I tried flashing a radio before flashing a custom Rom but got the same 'This update utility cannot be used on your PDA' error..tried radios: 2.15.50...2.12.something..even 2.08.50 but all with the same error...

You try radio after flashing ROM ?
What custom ROM are you using ?

Try to flash official ROM. It will update your radio.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

"stuck radio" - pretty common error, with varying symptoms. Yours is the standard set of symptoms, , , everything flashes except radios, nothing boots (because radio is corrupt and cannot initialise, i presume).
Other variants are
- spl/hspl appears to flash ('we hacked it' when running hspl.exe) but doesn't change
- radio wont flash but custom roms WILL flash and boot (radio is stuck but not corrupted)
- spl and radio are both stuck and won't change.
Sadly, there are very few success stories regarding this error, however there are one or two, so don't give up hope just yet.
Primarily though, you need to find the correct stock roms, , tried contacting htc support? that's where i would start.
Then, once you know the correct roms to use, get all versions (i.e the 1.42, the 1.66 ((or 1.72 if its branded)) and 3.14) roms for that region/carrier, and try flashing them from sd card. There have been one or two occasions where trying again and again just suddenly works, and there are one or two more where using the freezer trick makes it work.
If your spl is currently 2.x then you need to change that,,, 2.x is NOT a stock spl for regular hd2's, only for tmous hd2's, and it can cause issues as it doesnt like being downgraded, even by sd card flashing. In which case, use hspl2 to set 1.66.0000 and go from there with the sd card flashes, , start with 1.42.
Mainly tho, prepare for bad news, that way when you've exhausted all possibilities you wont be as disappointed, and if it DOES suddenly take, it will be a bonus.

samsamuel said:
"stuck radio" - pretty common error, with varying symptoms. Yours is the standard set of symptoms, , , everything flashes except radios, nothing boots (because radio is corrupt and cannot initialise, i presume).
Other variants are
- spl/hspl appears to flash ('we hacked it' when running hspl.exe) but doesn't change
- radio wont flash but custom roms WILL flash and boot (radio is stuck but not corrupted)
- spl and radio are both stuck and won't change.
Sadly, there are very few success stories regarding this error, however there are one or two, so don't give up hope just yet.
Primarily though, you need to find the correct stock roms, , tried contacting htc support? that's where i would start.
Then, once you know the correct roms to use, get all versions (i.e the 1.42, the 1.66 ((or 1.72 if its branded)) and 3.14) roms for that region/carrier, and try flashing them from sd card. There have been one or two occasions where trying again and again just suddenly works, and there are one or two more where using the freezer trick makes it work.
If your spl is currently 2.x then you need to change that,,, 2.x is NOT a stock spl for regular hd2's, only for tmous hd2's, and it can cause issues as it doesnt like being downgraded, even by sd card flashing. In which case, use hspl2 to set 1.66.0000 and go from there with the sd card flashes, , start with 1.42.
Mainly tho, prepare for bad news, that way when you've exhausted all possibilities you wont be as disappointed, and if it DOES suddenly take, it will be a bonus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback.
Actually, HSPL flashes fine..after the 'we hacked it' screen i go into bootloader again and the HSPL has installed.
With custom Roms, they flash fine but stay stuck at the boot screen and nothing else.
Tried every possible method even with Mtty but to no avail! No radio will flash!!
I'm currently on 2.08 but i will downgrade to 1.66 or 1.42 like you said and try again..
It was a branded htc but i installed HSPL..should i still try only stock roms or custom roms are fine?
Also, i saw in someone's post that their bricked HTC was brought back to life using the Goldcard method with dutty's Rom...maybe i can try this method.
Will let you guys know how it turns out.

Excuse me "hijacking" the thread with a question - I've been through this and another long thread about "stuck" radios and not seen a definitive answer (perhaps there isn't one).
In which part of the phone's firmware does the "carrier lock" reside, and what form does it take, is it in the bootloader, radio rom, or main firmware?
I've just purchased a second hand carrier locked HD2. I don't specifically want to unlock it as my sim matches it, but I have installed hspl, using hspl4, with a view to playing with ROMs, and wondered how far you can go without unlocking.
I'm quite used to flashing roms from previous unlocked HTCs I've owned, but I've never had a carrier locked phone before, hence the question.

You can flash away as normal, Carrier SIM lock makes no difference but for the cheap price of HD2 unlocking it may be wise to get a code & unlock it know rather than perhaps the future.

Thanks. I might well take your advice on unlocking bearing in mind the minimal cost.
Still puzzled, as a few of the queries I've seen seem to suggest the problems flashing different radios some folk were having were down to the phone being carrier locked. Or, maybe it was just a case of certain radios only working with certain firmwares (and maybe with certain spls) and nothing to do with carrier lock at all?
Sorry for my apparent ignorance on the subject!

Pete_S said:
Still puzzled, as a few of the queries I've seen seem to suggest the problems flashing different radios some folk were having were down to the phone being carrier locked. Or, maybe it was just a case of certain radios only working with certain firmwares (and maybe with certain spls) and nothing to do with carrier lock at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you have a regular hd2, therefore all radios will work on your phone, , but with some caveats.
If you intend to
a - use wp7 or nand android..
b - use a custom wm6.5 rom that unlocks the 576mb ram
then you MUST have a tmous radio - which translates to - you MUST use a radio with ..50.. in teh version.
i.e 2.07.51. will not work, 2.07.50 WILL work.
ALL radios will have either 50 or 51 in that third set of digits, if a radio doesn't, dont download it, go find another one. (some radio downloads may show the protocol version first, so it may say something like ''15.32.50.07U 2.07.51.22 2'' in which case its a 51 radio
Many people (myself included) find that some radios give slightly better reception and/or battery and/or less wake from sleep issues than others, however its not consistent, , what works well for one hd2 may not be the optimal for the next hd2 in the same location.
In general tho, most people seem to have settled on 2.11.50, 2.12.50 2.14.50 or 2.15.50.
(For simplicity, go flash 2.15.50 and you can forget about it till you've got everything else working)
Dont bother going lower than 2.10, theres nothing down there thats any better than those four.
As for the radio brick from flashing the wrong radio, thats tmous hd2 only, you can ignore that.
Carrier being locked will have no effect on anything you do, though you cannot unlock it under android, you need to be running winmo 6.5 to enter an unlock code and make it stick.
(Reports on this vary slightly, some people say they have successfully entered a carrier unlock code under android, , , i'm sceptical)
Big note - - - Anything that refers to a tmous, or a tmobile hd2, or a tmobile radio, , does not apply to you, just because it may be t mo provided, or locked to tmo, or running a tmobile branded stock rom,. its still a regular hd2 you have (well, assuming you didnt get an import from the states? it would say t mobile under the earpiece, and have red and green end/send keys if its a tmous). Only t mobile usa bought a different version hd2 from HTC.

samsamuel said:
(Reports on this vary slightly, some people say they have successfully entered a carrier unlock code under android, , , i'm sceptical)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be! Sceptical, I mean... They're right!
I've managed to unlock by code a few TMoUS-version HD2s under Android(various versions, I don't remember...)!
Unlocking by wires is another story: it can be done under WM, only!

bib*oops said:
Don't be! Sceptical, I mean... They're right!
I've managed to unlock by code a few TMoUS-version HD2s under Android(various versions, I don't remember...)!
Unlocking by wires is another story: it can be done under WM, only!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm interesting, noted.

samsamuel said:
(For simplicity, go flash 2.15.50 and you can forget about it till you've got everything else working)
Dont bother going lower than 2.10, theres nothing down there thats any better than those four.
As for the radio brick from flashing the wrong radio, thats tmous hd2 only, you can ignore that.
Carrier being locked will have no effect on anything you do, though you cannot unlock it under android, you need to be running winmo 6.5 to enter an unlock code and make it stick.
(Reports on this vary slightly, some people say they have successfully entered a carrier unlock code under android, , , i'm sceptical)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for all the nuggets of info. I actually have radio 2.15.50 already, so it can't be bettered and is ready for android if I decide to go that route.
The info relating to Android and carrier lock (that it doesn't make any difference unless you want to unlock) is also very useful.
From what you've said it seems carrier locking has very little effect on anything other than, er, choice of sim
So, sorry to be persistent, where does the carrier lock info reside in the phone? In other words, when you unlock a phone, officially or otherwise, where are the bits of information which change? It's purely out of curiosity - I need to know these things

Sorry, no clue, I'd suspect some dedicated chip somewhere, since its not affected by anything we have access to. Just a wild guess tho.

Pete_S said:
Thanks so much for all the nuggets of info. I actually have radio 2.15.50 already, so it can't be bettered and is ready for android if I decide to go that route.
The info relating to Android and carrier lock (that it doesn't make any difference unless you want to unlock) is also very useful.
From what you've said it seems carrier locking has very little effect on anything other than, er, choice of sim
So, sorry to be persistent, where does the carrier lock info reside in the phone? In other words, when you unlock a phone, officially or otherwise, where are the bits of information which change? It's purely out of curiosity - I need to know these things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SIM lock is part of the bootlaoder, more specifically the IPL. This is what only Win Mo ROMs can be used to SIM unlock a HD2 because only Win Mo ROMs can actually communicate with the IPL of the bootloader. Now let me go a little deeper, like Samsamuel said it is more than likely a seperate chip somewhere on the mainboard of the HD2 that actually stores the SIM lock but only the IPL can access and change the data on that chip.

Thanks to you both for the info. That would explain why being network locked has almost no effect on anything else like ROMs etc. The actual info might even be stored in flash in the chip which "drives" the sim.

I think the problem could be somewhat overcome if i knew which would be the correct stock rom for this phone! Its quite maddening!
My phone's serial starts with SH which i know is Shanghai, China but i haven't been able to find a 1.66 stock rom for this..
Thoughts?
samsamuel said:
"stuck radio" - pretty common error, with varying symptoms. Yours is the standard set of symptoms, , , everything flashes except radios, nothing boots (because radio is corrupt and cannot initialise, i presume).
Other variants are
- spl/hspl appears to flash ('we hacked it' when running hspl.exe) but doesn't change
- radio wont flash but custom roms WILL flash and boot (radio is stuck but not corrupted)
- spl and radio are both stuck and won't change.
Sadly, there are very few success stories regarding this error, however there are one or two, so don't give up hope just yet.
Primarily though, you need to find the correct stock roms, , tried contacting htc support? that's where i would start.
Then, once you know the correct roms to use, get all versions (i.e the 1.42, the 1.66 ((or 1.72 if its branded)) and 3.14) roms for that region/carrier, and try flashing them from sd card. There have been one or two occasions where trying again and again just suddenly works, and there are one or two more where using the freezer trick makes it work.
If your spl is currently 2.x then you need to change that,,, 2.x is NOT a stock spl for regular hd2's, only for tmous hd2's, and it can cause issues as it doesnt like being downgraded, even by sd card flashing. In which case, use hspl2 to set 1.66.0000 and go from there with the sd card flashes, , start with 1.42.
Mainly tho, prepare for bad news, that way when you've exhausted all possibilities you wont be as disappointed, and if it DOES suddenly take, it will be a bonus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Fone HTC support, they'll tell you in seconds.
Also, there are no branded 1.66 roms, ,, because branded 1.66 roms carry the verson number 1.72.