Root Latest update to use?

[s8lam2000]

Hi all,

I m new to android and HTC and am confusing myself more and more as I try to find answers.

I have an HTC Desire (proper buttons at bottom, charger plugs in bottom middle). The bloke I got it from has already rooted it and put on an OS to try, but it seems a bit unstable and I'd like to sort it.

What is the latest/best OS I can install on it at the moment? and as it is already rooted, will I have to do it again once updated?

All advice welcome,
Thanks in advance.

 

[Hadron]

Hi, and welcome to AF

There are many software suites ("ROMs") available if you have a rooted Desire. Which is best is a personal choice. I'd suggest doing a little reading first and deciding what is best for you.

The most important thing is to read some of the FAQs in the Desire All Things Root subforum. I suggest this because although you are rooted already you didn't do it yourself, so it will help you to understand what the options are now, as well as how to install a new ROM without losing data. There is also a sticky thread in that forum where people discuss the ROMs they are using, which might be helpful to you.

What I'd advise first is to go into the "recovery" program and make a backup from there. That will save a snapshot of your phone to your SD card, so if anything does go wrong you can recover it. To get into recovery, reboot the phone and press the "volume down" key as it starts to boot (and hold it down). You'll get to a white screen with little green androids at the bottom. One of the options in the menu on that screen (the "hboot" screen) is "recovery". Select that and you will get to the recovery program. But while you are there, note what it says at the top of the hboot screen - it will tell us some useful stuff about your phone.

Custom ROMs come pre-rooted, so you won't have to do that again.

What ROM are you currently using?

Finally, as this is a root discussion I hope you won't mind if I move it to the All Things Root forum?

 

[s8lam2000]

Thanks for moving to the correct forum.

Shows how much of a noob I am, i'd assumed ROMs to be apps and not looked at it!

Anyway, advice taken and backup done.
Not sure which information is useful on hboot screen but this is it:
BRAVO PVT4 SHIP s-ON
HBOOT-0.93.0001
MICROP

If it's any help, there was a reference to clockwork MOD, and on the memory card there is a file named UPDATE-CM-7.2.0-RC1-Beta

Looks like I have a bit of research to find the right ROM as you suggest, though the phone is going to be for my wife, so use is mainly checking Facebook, listening to music and browsing the web (she's had an iphone for years and never used more than 1% of it's potential, cant see that changing much here!)

The only annoyance with this while I have been using it is that it's constantly reporting low memory (plenty left on the SD card). Are there specific ROMs to combat this?

Again, thanks.

 

[Hadron]

If that zip is the last thing that was installed then you will be running CyanogenMod 7.2. Look at the bottom of the "About Phone" settings menu and you should be able to see.

There are many ROMs with solutions for extending memory. You can do this with CM7 as well, but you need to add it in. If you add an ext3 or ext4 format partition to your sd card as described in the root memory faq you can install an app called Simple2Ext from the market (Ok, "Play Store", stupid name...) and that can be used to manage moving apps to the partition. The other way is to use a script, which I can point you to, but if the user isn't going to care about the details this is probably the easiest thing to do.

That app only works for CyanogenMod, so if it's a different ROM we'll have to see what that is and work from there. But partitioning the card is the first step with very many ROMs. Do read the root memory faq first, and remember that partitioning the card will wipe it, so back up everything first (including hidden files and folders, e.g. anything with a filename starting with a ".").

There are other memory solutions, but the "a2sd" one is probably the easiest.