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debranding a legend

S

stewy

Member
So, with the news today that froyo is coming withing the next few weeks to unbranded phones I'm wondering what it takes to debrand my legend.

I have a Virgin(Bell) legend and I'm concerned that they won't update the phone since Bell has already dropped it and Virgin my follow suit!
 
Hi, I have wondered whether unbranded and unlocked are considered the same thing. I have a bell legend unlocked on fido so no chance for a bell update for me, but I am hoping for an OTA update from HTC.
 
I've got a virgin mobile legend unlocked on fido too. My understanding is that I'd still get the update whenever virgin releases it... I don't think unlocking changes that, i could be wrong though.
 
hello,
unbranding and unlocking are not the same thing
if you phone is locked on a carrier, you can unlock it and then use it with any sim. this deas not mean the phone in unbranded
to unbrend it i think you have to root it first and then install the original htc rom
you can find a lot of guides how to root your legend, but if you know how to instal original rom, and where can it be downloaded please post here
 
Unlocking and de-branding are different things.

I de-branded my Vodafone Legend and it changes it to a phone that you would buy direct from HTC. That is the best way to put it in layman's terms.

It removes any network start up screens and any programs like vodafone 360 etc.

To De-brand - You need to make a gold card. You don't need to go the whole hog and root it. Takes a little while for a novice PC user, but worth it. You get the HTC updates much quicker than waiting for your network provider by unbranding it. Hence 2.2 FroYo will be yours in the very near future. I posted months ago on how to de-brand your phone. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the clarification, I have a goldcard.img and need to setup the actual sd card now so I'm read up on the next steps.
 
I followed the downgrade steps at xda to installed the following rom from that web site, HTC_WWE_1.31.405.5_R_Radio_47.26.35.04_7.05.35.26L_release_126592. Have not gone all the way and rooted (baby steps, lol) because I am waiting for the official HTC upgrade.
 
Thats all you need to do. I havent really found a great need to root the phone to be honest.

Now just hold on and wait for some FROzen YOghurt :D
 
Do you really need to downgrade first? With my Desire I just created the goldcard and flashed to the generic 2.2 ruu from the original 2.1. I was planning to do the same thing on my legend
 
I'm a noob, so I just followed the guide. From what I gathered from reading the different sites is that downgrading is a precursor to rooting the legend. The Legend is otherwise difficult to root but by going to 1.31 it is much easier.
 
does anyone have a good guide for de-branding? i too have a virgin (canada) legend i use on fido...i would like to go directly from stock virgin 2.1 to unbranded 2.2 official froyo

one major problem with the virgin firmware is no 2g edge data is supported
 
Hi there.

You can read this link Detailed guide for Rooting. - xda-developers (don't know if I can post this, if not pls remove). It goes into a lot of detail and it helped. I guess you can use the linked rom or maybe any other generic rom. I didn't root yet as I just want to get the 2.2 update. I had a Windows 7 driver issues which almost lead me to give up but after removing them and reinstalling the HTC_Driver_64.zip file it work without a problem.

Good luck
 
I also have a Virgin Mobile HTC Legend. Would de-branding void the warranty because it's rooting? I rather wait for the Virgin Mobile Froyo than from HTC, unless Virgin doesn't release it at all.
 
Dog_chops said:
Unlocking and de-branding are different things.

I de-branded my Vodafone Legend and it changes it to a phone that you would buy direct from HTC. That is the best way to put it in layman's terms.

It removes any network start up screens and any programs like vodafone 360 etc.

To De-brand - You need to make a gold card. You don't need to go the whole hog and root it. Takes a little while for a novice PC user, but worth it. You get the HTC updates much quicker than waiting for your network provider by unbranding it. Hence 2.2 FroYo will be yours in the very near future. I posted months ago on how to de-brand your phone. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Dogchops

I've been let out of my VF contract. Like you i want to debrand it but not bothered about rooting.
Have ordered a new memory card but can you point me in right direction to do some reading whilst i await memory card for making goldcard.

Info as simple as possible please
 
mancrunch said:
Dogchops

I've been let out of my VF contract. Like you i want to debrand it but not bothered about rooting.
Have ordered a new memory card but can you point me in right direction to do some reading whilst i await memory card for making goldcard.

Info as simple as possible please
Click to expand...

Its months ago that I done it. I remember typing in to google "debrand HTC legend" there were two sites with info, and to be honest both had plus and negative points. I mixed between the two as problems cropped up. I am sure there are more detailed and precise ways on the net now. I did post a debranding note on android forums, perhaps you can trawl back through my posts??
 
Yes done it eventually, like you say dogchops backward and forward a lot.
Seemed to be having a problem with doing it on windows 7 i think.

Anyone else debranding a vodafone on 2.1 update1, i was able to debrand straight to RUU_Legend_HTC_WWE_2.03.405.3_Radio_47.39.35.09_7.08.35.21_release_130330_signed.

Took some trouble to actually download it but found it worked when i downloaded it on XP then used it on memory stick in windows 7, no idea why.
 
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