Database Users

HD2 user and totally new to XDA :)

Hi all,
as the title says i'm totally new here with my 6 months old HTC HD2. Reason for participating XDA is the need to learn something about this phone. My former phone, the TYTN2 was a nice one. The HD2 isn't that great in my opinion. Well not yet i hope
Anothere reason is trying to get Android working on the phone. Tried is last night and didn't work out. Both eclair and froyo. Been reading for hours about radio roms etc etc and now..... i'm lost
Regards from Holland!

It will take you a while, but reading through the threads yourself is always better than having people show you what to do. I had my hd2 for about 3 months before I decided to change the rom on it. I've now got the Energyrom.
There are no specific or best ROM and radio combinations, it just depends which is best for you through trial and error. Just make sure you read all the instructions carefully, otherwise you will end up bricking your phone.
As for Android, it's only an alpha release. So it won't always work for everyone, you'll just have to be patient until a more stable version has been made.

Morning Dave,
you're right there. I know first reading the forum and try it yourself. Tried it till 1:30am this morning and read about the radio roms. Then my brain got overloaded and went to bed
Thought it was easy to do (regarding the Youtube i saw) but i'll have to wait, read and study more....
Manilla 2.5.19202525.0
ROM 1.43.404.1 (70124) NLD
Radio 2.04.50.22

It can be straight forward, it's just the first hurdle of installing hspl, new radio then the new rom. After you've done the first one, you'll have no problems changing to other custom roms.

hey if you aren't using it yet,
i want to invate you to tweakers.net http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_messages/1412242/last
her you can talk in NEDERLANDS.
for questions about your phone

go to you tube and search for how to instal hd2 roms and youll pretty much get this forum

How can you even compare the TYTN2(Kaiser) to the HD2(Leo)? The Hd2 is eons beyond the Kaiser. I had the ATT Tilt version of the TYTN2 and now the Hd2. I've also experimented with cooked roms via XDA for both devices. Take the time to explore custom roms for your HD2 and you will see the real capability of this device. I would also look into the android port for the HD2. It is now at a usable stage and expands the use of the phone by a large margin.

Some Conclusions

Dear all
It is my lunch break!! So I have some free time to post some conclusions I reach them after reading many threads in many forms regarding the HD2 t-mobile.
Whenever you looked, there were people says, DON’T do that it will break your device it will burn the motherboard, you will lose it forever it will died, etc..
For a moment, I am scared and changed my mind to get this device!!(I had an universal HD2 for about 3 months and sold it to get the t-mobile because of the RAM and ROM).
It is so simple, my understanding is as follows:
The MAIN/MAJOR problem is the radio, DON’T TRY TO INSTALL ANY RADIO contain the number 51, and/or STOCK HTC ROM for any language because usually the radio is included on that.
You can do the HSPL simply and you can flash it with any custom rom designed for HD2 (noting that there is some rom designed for t-mobile supports the additional/hidden RAM size ) and the rest will treat your device as a normal HD2 512 RAM. READ CAREFULLY IF THE ROM INCLUDED A RADIO.
For Android, you can install whatever you want, because they are depending on SD card and don’t use any windows/rom files.
There are my simple thoughts in this respect, if I am wrong in any part please correct me, because this what I am planning to do with my device, once its arrived (within a few days).
SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH, I HOPE IT WOULD BE BETTER in the next time

Yes, you are correct. For the most part any ROM will work on the T-Mobile HD2 EXCEPT for official HTC or other carrier ROMs besides T-Mobile USA ones. And yes, flashing a radio with XX.XX.51.XX WILL brick your device and it will be unuseable. Just read the stickies and play it safe. If you don't feel comfortable with a step, DO NOT DO IT until you have either read enough to feel confident or asked someone. Hope that helps!

Why bother....

As I'm reading all these forums, I am seeing more and more people downloading roms that are destroying their phones, particularly with the HD2. Now don't get me wrong I have flashed the android Nand Rom, yet I'm missing what I love about the original HD2 Rom so I went back (Android just doesn't pack a punch). I recommend that if your unsure, and you don't want to brick your phone, then don't do it. XDA has many talented Devs, there work is admirable to say the least. I have an original HD2 TMO Rom 3.14. Have I reset a few times, hell yes, I even had to hard reset cause I was a dumb ass. If you look at my phone you would never know it was a stock Rom, everything is changed. I have tweaked my registry settings, some I found by screwing with them (then had to hard reset) some also were really cool and i had no problems. If your a noob...read...read....don't go messing with registry settings, new roms until you do your research. What I would like to see is more development on programs for the HD2, Winmo is bad ass, don't let it die!!!!

I don't really get your point, sir. Why bother with Custom ROMs or why bother with Android?
1) Custom ROMs are always tweaked, themed and packed with cool features not present in stock ROM
2) Android is something different from Windows Mobile and many people really prefers it to WM. Since it's running from NAND like stock Android device, I have to admit, it kicks ass ;].

What about ugly old ROMs
Humongus1 said:
As I'm reading all these forums, I am seeing more and more people downloading roms that are destroying their phones, particularly with the HD2. Now don't get me wrong I have flashed the android Nand Rom, yet I'm missing what I love about the original HD2 Rom so I went back (Android just doesn't pack a punch). I recommend that if your unsure, and you don't want to brick your phone, then don't do it. XDA has many talented Devs, there work is admirable to say the least. I have an original HD2 TMO Rom 3.14. Have I reset a few times, hell yes, I even had to hard reset cause I was a dumb ass. If you look at my phone you would never know it was a stock Rom, everything is changed. I have tweaked my registry settings, some I found by screwing with them (then had to hard reset) some also were really cool and i had no problems. If your a noob...read...read....don't go messing with registry settings, new roms until you do your research. What I would like to see is more development on programs for the HD2, Winmo is bad ass, don't let it die!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not all people have the latest perfect and stable rom from HTC.
in my case i got an Branded HTC HD2 with an original ROM 1.44 and no updates for my serial number. If you had never test an old rom on HD2, i think you cannot understand.

Humongus1 said:
As I'm reading all these forums, I am seeing more and more people downloading roms that are destroying their phones, particularly with the HD2. ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the reports of bricking the HD2 is nothing of the sort, it is incomplete fashing or flashing the wrong ROM or not having the correct RADIO for a custom ROM.
Then there are the phones that have hardware faults and the folks are trying different ROMs to check if it is not a software problem or getting it back to stock for warranty purposes.
One of the main causes of bricking is flahing a .51 RADIO to a 1024LEO. Why does this happen? Well it could be that they were in a rush to get back to stock for warranty purposes or just never read the flashing instructions carefully enough.

fred_up said:
Most of the reports of bricking the HD2 is nothing of the sort, it is incomplete fashing or flashing the wrong ROM or not having the correct RADIO for a custom ROM.
Then there are the phones that have hardware faults and the folks are trying different ROMs to check if it is not a software problem or getting it back to stock for warranty purposes.
One of the main causes of bricking is flahing a .51 RADIO to a 1024LEO. Why does this happen? Well it could be that they were in a rush to get back to stock for warranty purposes or just never read the flashing instructions carefully enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldnt agree more....
The vast majority of issues are caused by user error, usually people not doing their research or just making silly mistakes.
Any issue I've ever had with the phone has been completely my fault (nothing serious thankfully) however some people seem unable to comprehend that they may be at fault for any problems and insist on blaming a "bad" rom / "crappy os" / "dodgy hardware"........
I cant really comment on using magldr / nand builds because I havent gone down that route (yet) but from what I have read it seems that the flashing process is slightly more complex than just flashing a new winmo ROM, we all know how many people rush into that and encounter problems, with the amount of people getting the HD2 with the sole intention of running android/wp7 then you can expect more and more people to end up having problems and finding their way here looking for help.

This was my point!!! Maybe i should clarify...I go out and buy a 500.00 phone, I download a rom that is not compatible with my system, and it crashes my phone. My point was if you dont do your research you will have a very expensive paper weight. There are roms out there that work flawlessly on my hd2. there are many tutitorials out there explainig how to flash all these roms. Its funny but when I see people purchasing the HD2, the first thing i ask them, "are you good with computers". Some look at me puzzled. The puzzled ones are the people returnig their trashed phones in a few weeks. I love XDA, I have learned so much from the devs here. If you dont want headaches ( I mean this by saying not having complete understanding of the winmo OS) then go with the android platform. If you want a phone with endless capability then get winmo. There is nothing that satisifies me the most when I look at my phone, and say "this is me, my tweaks and many from the devs here, can you do this with your phone". I didnt want a **** fest, I just wanted to start a forum, that would start up some cool conversation.

Humongus1 said:
This was my point!!! Maybe i should clarify...I go out and buy a 500.00 phone, I download a rom that is not compatible with my system, and it crashes my phone. My point was if you dont do your research you will have a very expensive paper weight. There are roms out there that work flawlessly on my hd2. there are many tutitorials out there explainig how to flash all these roms. Its funny but when I see people purchasing the HD2, the first thing i ask them, "are you good with computers". Some look at me puzzled. The puzzled ones are the people returnig their trashed phones in a few weeks. I love XDA, I have learned so much from the devs here. If you dont want headaches ( I mean this by saying not having complete understanding of the winmo OS) then go with the android platform. If you want a phone with endless capability then get winmo. There is nothing that satisifies me the most when I look at my phone, and say "this is me, my tweaks and many from the devs here, can you do this with your phone". I didnt want a **** fest, I just wanted to start a forum, that would start up some cool conversation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What?? Uh.. What? Honestly, that statement alone troubles me. Sure WinMo has tweaking possibilities, but it's pretty limited to what Microsoft decided to give the OS update wise now. WinMo is on its way out, sadly. Android is not a "headache free" environment and the whole gingerbread development we're getting just proves that the phone can handle alot. Tweaking the Android OS can go way beyond what WinMo can do according to my experience, and I've owned every phone with every OS imaginable (WinMo 5, 6, 6.5.x, Android 1.6, 2.1, 2.2.1, 2.3.x, iOS, Blackberry OS 3, 4, Symbian OS, etc.) and to each his cup of tea. I just don't get your WinMo vs Android comparison. Android has endless capability when you know what to do with the OS.

@TO
Well, I assume that is all just your personal opinion.
What I don´t get is why bother other people with strange assumptions. HD2 is available since more than a year, and trust me, my device only became fast and stable after installing custom ROMs.
Also, the usability as it is possible today has nothing to do with Microsoft, nor HTC, for that matter. It is much more related to all the great stuff offered by highly creative people here - especially CHT is one unique piece of software.
I am extremely happy I decided to buy an HD2 more than a year ago; as of today, it is the most versatile smartphone on the market, at least for people like me who want to play around and try various things.
Thanks to tutorials, also made by xda devs members, you can almost completely avoid the danger to brick your phone. This way, I learnt how I can try Android, and even WP7. And guess what: I do like the simplicity of WP7, but I strongly miss the possibilities to personalize the interface on my device.
Now, what can we learn from your opening statement?
No big thing, actually. According to Microsoft, Windows Phone Classic won´t die (let´s see) - means, you don´t have to worry.
Also, other users should not worry about bricking the device - as long as you really read, read, read the f**king manuals. And dare to ask questions if you don´t understand any particular thing...
Have fun playing around with your HD2, I would say...

[Q] Difference between HD2 t-mobile version and HD2 european version

I will be buying a HD2 soon and was wondering what the difference (if any) in performance between the 2?
And say if I wanted to dual boot android and wp7 if there would be any performance issues?
The difference with the frequency bands is not an issue for me.

tmous is easier to make a mistake and brick, and the regular hd2 has more range of available roms. other than that you shouldn't see any difference.

samsamuel said:
tmous is easier to make a mistake and brick, and the regular hd2 has more range of available roms. other than that you shouldn't see any difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that's the other way around. the TMOUS version has more roms and not so easy to brick.
to the OP, the band they used is different. the size is bigger on the TMOUS version. the rom size is twice as big as the international version.

coldest~~~ said:
I thought that's the other way around. the TMOUS version has more roms and not so easy to brick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
regular hd2 can take any rom any radio, but the tmous hd2 hangs with non tmous roms, and dies permanently with non tmous radios.
There are very very few (half a dozen, maybe) roms that say specifically FOR tmous, and they are android roms that make use of the extra rom space rather than an sd card ext partition. these roms would still work on regular hd2, and most of them have two flavours, regular and tmous, with the difference being the use of sd card EXT.
On the flip side, there are loads of roms that say specifically NOT for tmous (winmo roms that don't have a tmous base)
And thats not counting the stock roms, there are dozens of stock roms, all the languages and networks and regions and such like, tmous cant touch any of them, except the three or four tmous specific ones, instant death if it tries.
summary, regular hd2 can use every radio and 99.5% of all roms, tmous can use 50% of radios, risks instant death if it touches the wrong radio, and can only use around 60% of the roms.
victory to the regular hd2 in my eyes hehe, not worth the hassle just for an extra 512 meg rom.

samsamuel said:
regular hd2 can take any rom any radio, but the tmous hd2 hangs with non tmous roms, and dies permanently with non tmous radios.
There are very very few (half a dozen, maybe) roms that say specifically FOR tmous, and they are android roms that make use of the extra rom space rather than an sd card ext partition. these roms would still work on regular hd2, and most of them have two flavours, regular and tmous, with the difference being the use of sd card EXT.
On the flip side, there are loads of roms that say specifically NOT for tmous (winmo roms that don't have a tmous base)
And thats not counting the stock roms, there are dozens of stock roms, all the languages and networks and regions and such like, tmous cant touch any of them, except the three or four tmous specific ones, instant death if it tries.
summary, regular hd2 can use every radio and 99.5% of all roms, tmous can use 50% of radios, risks instant death if it touches the wrong radio, and can only use around 60% of the roms.
victory to the regular hd2 in my eyes hehe, not worth the hassle just for an extra 512 meg rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Samsamuel I found your post very informative. I am not trying to say I do not believe you cause I very much do. But I was wondering if this is information you have learned through just your personal research and use of the HD2 or if you could post a link or links to some of this information. Cause I would really like to learn more about it being I have a TMOUS HD2. Any futher info on this would be highly appreciated.

Its all just from reading and being a natural tinkerer, and a keen interest in helping problem solve, plus reading everything, whether it seems like an interesting topic or not. come every day for a month, and read all the new threads, and you'll see there are about 10 main problems, and each time you answer it it gets a little more ingrained hehe,.
If i were to post any link it wouldnt be any particular thread it would be
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=+site:http://forum.xda-developers.com&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all
start your search with hd2 and you wont go far wrong.
The info is all here, most of it several dozen times over,, its just a bit like looking for a needle in a needle-stack.

[Noob] Questions before buying

I am such a noob to this phone that I don't even have it yet! I have been looking to find one to play with but I have a couple of questions because even after digging about the forums and searching, some of the info seems like it could be outdated and since there are multiple OS options, it is hard for me to find anything coherent.
I do, however, have lot of experience with Android phones (rooting, installing CWM, ROMS etc).
My main question is how difficult is it for switch between ROMs and OS versions? If I put Android 2.3 on it for instance, which looks like just running an executable and maybe installing a radio and spl, is it difficult to run WP7 on the phone? I guess what I am asking is it difficult to return the phone to stock after installing Android or WP7? I am used to rooted android phones where once you have the recovery installed, flashing roms is a piece of cake. I am going to want to switch it up a lot.
I saw a posting on Craigslist for a rooted HD2 that can use t-mobile's 4G network but I don't see any posts in the forums. Is that possible or is it just craigslist noise?
Is it possible to use the WP7 marketplace on this phone? I saw an old post that said it was not possible but it may have just been old information.
Thanks!
Rich

richdaley said:
I am such a noob to this phone that I don't even have it yet! I have been looking to find one to play with but I have a couple of questions because even after digging about the forums and searching, some of the info seems like it could be outdated and since there are multiple OS options, it is hard for me to find anything coherent.
I do, however, have lot of experience with Android phones (rooting, installing CWM, ROMS etc).
My main question is how difficult is it for switch between ROMs and OS versions? If I put Android 2.3 on it for instance, which looks like just running an executable and maybe installing a radio and spl, is it difficult to run WP7 on the phone? I guess what I am asking is it difficult to return the phone to stock after installing Android or WP7? I am used to rooted android phones where once you have the recovery installed, flashing roms is a piece of cake. I am going to want to switch it up a lot.
I saw a posting on Craigslist for a rooted HD2 that can use t-mobile's 4G network but I don't see any posts in the forums. Is that possible or is it just craigslist noise?
Is it possible to use the WP7 marketplace on this phone? I saw an old post that said it was not possible but it may have just been old information.
Thanks!
Rich
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've learned a lot in the past 6 weeks, since I bought this device.
It's very easy to root and to run Android: Flash SPL, Radio, Magldr, and then Android ROM. You can also dual boot from stock Windows Mobile 6.5
If you want to run WP7 Mango, you're options for Android become very limited. WP7 requires that it be installed on NAND. So Android would only be able to be used on SD card. The SD builds aren't necessarily as stable as the NAND builds, but are really good anyway. WP7 is also extremely picky about what SD cards it will work with. Cards may appear to be working well, but can pose massive battery drain. Trial and error is the only way to find the right card. I've got a PNY 16GB c4 and it works really well. Over 2x the battery life of my Kingston 8GB c2.
If you want to go back to stock ROM, it's easy to reflash from the bootloader and it wipes everything else out of the picture.
I'm currently dual booting WP7 and AmeriCan Android's 11/07 build w/o issue. It's easy to go back and forth. Installing WP7 and setting up for dual boot requires jumping through a few hoops, but I think it's totally worth it. I love the UI of WP7.
Yes, you can use marketplace. You'll need to connect your Windows Live ID to the phone and you'll get an error about activation. This is where you find the thread here about using the Windows Support chat function and they happily give you the activation code. You should keep this safe, as you'll need it each time you hard reset or reflash the ROM. Once Live services are active, the Marketplace works just fine.
The T-Mobile HD2 works on TMO's HSPA bands, but will only work on the 2G bands for AT&T. I had the TMO version for a few weeks, but decided I wanted to tether through Android, so I sold it and bought a Telstra HD2 from Australia and it works on AT&T HSPA.

Thank you so much for the response! Do you think it is worth trading my Samsung Galaxy S 4G for this phone? I am an HTC guy so the samsung isn't really working for me because there are not many ROMs for it.

That I can't answer, as I don't have an educated opinion. I just got the HD2 so I could play with WP7 and skirt around AT&T's data plan requirements.

richdaley said:
Thank you so much for the response! Do you think it is worth trading my Samsung Galaxy S 4G for this phone? I am an HTC guy so the samsung isn't really working for me because there are not many ROMs for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly,don't trade your Samsung Galaxy s 4g for this phone, but if you want to experience different types of Roms like meego,ubuntu,win7,etc and to experience htc sense then only trade your old mobi. And for your information only Android froyo runs perfectly on this phone while all other versions of android are in beta! Battery life is Bad!

My point of view is that its really easy to install roms.
I have installed Tytung 3.2a the best one^^

Thank you everybody for the information. I think I may just try to pay cash for one rather than trade my Galaxy S and then maybe sell both to upgrade my phone next year.
I like WP7 but I am pretty well indoctrinated into the Android ecosystem and I worry that I might end up with a handset that has battery issues. As an early adopter of Android, I know how frustrating it can be to have a phone battery that won't last more than a few hours.

Concerning battery, my hd2 last all the day from 7am to 10pm running Android.
So, to me, no real battery problem.
sent from my HD2 using XDA App