Root Root HTC desire slcd

[Tom321]

Hi

Two weeks ago I bought an unbranded htc desire. I'm really happy with is but there is just one thing that I would like to get rid of. The preinstalled facebook app. It takes a lot of internal memory and it's useless to me.

I also want to root it to be able to use a2sd. So yesterday I tried to root with unrevoked3 and i installed al the drivers but the unrevoked program froze and my phone had a black screen. It froze for like 20 minutes. I managed to reboot after taking out te battery a few times (it froze after putting in my sim code).

So now I'm a bit scared of trying to root again and mess it up completely. I was thinking oft using a linux live cd from slax because then i don't have to install the drivers

My phone specs:

BRAVO PVT4 SHIP S-ON (erasesize: 20000)
HBOOT-0.93.0001

HTC Desire A8181
Android version: 2.2
Baseband version:32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27
Kernel version:2.6.32.15-gf5a401c
Build number:2.29.405.5 CL293415 release-keys
Software number:2.29.405.5

My question is if i'm able to root my phone or not.

Thanks in advance.

Tom

ps: I don't speak English nativly so sorry for mistakes (if there are some)

 

[Hadron]

I can't see why you wouldn't be able to root that phone. Read the FAQ and guide in the sticky post "all about rooting" (red link in my signature). Make sure battery is charged and you have a good data cable. Linux isn't a bad idea, so give it a go.

You still won't be able to simply uninstall the Facebook app - there are ways, but probably best to discuss them later. It should not be using storage if you've never set it up - go to the manage applications menu & select clear data for that app. It will waste RAM running in the background, but you can stop that easily when rooted - install Titanium Backup and "freeze" the app. The app itself lives in the system partition, so does not occupy the space you install your own apps in.

P.S. your English is absolutely fine - I'd not be able to tell you are not a native speaker

 

[Tom321]

I can't see why you wouldn't be able to root that phone. Read the FAQ and guide in the sticky post "all about rooting" (red link in my signature). Make sure battery is charged and you have a good data cable. Linux isn't a bad idea, so give it a go.

You still won't be able to simply uninstall the Facebook app - there are ways, but probably best to discuss them later. It should not be using storage if you've never set it up - go to the manage applications menu & select clear data for that app. It will waste RAM running in the background, but you can stop that easily when rooted - install Titanium Backup and "freeze" the app. The app itself lives in the system partition, so does not occupy the space you install your own apps in.

P.S. your English is absolutely fine - I'd not be able to tell you are not a native speaker

So the 28mb + 8mb (facebook app + htc fb app) is not taking internal storage?
I believed that when you root the device i would be able to simply hit the uninstall button and win 36 mb.

Anyway, i will try to find a blank cd and burn my slax live cd and then i will probably wait another day till i have enough courage to go with it.

Thanks for the explanation!

Tom

 

[Hadron]

So the 28mb + 8mb (facebook app + htc fb app) is not taking internal storage?
I believed that when you root the device i would be able to simply hit the uninstall button and win 36 mb.

I don't have either app on my phone, so can't look at them. But the application itself lives in the /system partition, and only it's data are in the /data partition, which is what appears to the user as the internal storage. That's also why you can't simply uninstall them, because when the phone is running android the /system partition is read-only.

(The one thing that might make a difference is something called the dalvik cache, which probably does contain stuff from these apps. So there may be some gain from removing them, but it's not what the system menus report. Might only be visible if you wipe and rebuild the dalvik cache too. Don't worry if you've no idea what I'm talking about here!).

You can remove them from a rooted phone, but it's a bit more involved. Have a look at SUroot's guide for this.

If you go one step beyond rooting and "S-Off" the phone, then you can mount the /system partition read-write and simply uninstall system apps. The space freed will still be in the /system partition, so you only gain the full benefit if you change the sizes of the partitions. I think it's best to do this one step at a time though, since once rooted there are very many options available.

 

[Tom321]

If you go one step beyond rooting and "S-Off" the phone, then you can mount the /system partition read-write and simply uninstall system apps. The space freed will still be in the /system partition, so you only gain the full benefit if you change the sizes of the partitions. I think it's best to do this one step at a time though, since once rooted there are very many options available.

I don't think i will ever try messing around with the system partition since i once messed up my psp 2000 that way, however thats another story.
For the moment I use app2sd, wich is imo for the moment enough. It will take the time to read all the faq's and tutorials.

Thanks again!

Tom

 

[Hadron]

No worries. Actually I ran mine rooted for several months before I started messing with partitions. Eventually though the temptation became too strong....

 

[Tom321]

No worries. Actually I ran mine rooted for several months before I started messing with partitions. Eventually though the temptation became too strong....

I tried to root my desire again today. It was in windows again but on another pc (couldn't find a blank cd for slax).
Now it wasn't frozen or anything (at least not on the desire) but the program itself did. It got stuck at 'installing unrevoked3 service' or something like that. I have watched a lot of youtube tutorials on this and i knew it was supposed to reboot pretty fast after that.

The steps i did:
1) turn of my phone
2)turn it back on while holding - button to install hboot drivers
3)uninstall htc sync but not the usb driver
4 reboot
5)turn on usb debugging and unknown sources
6)reboot the phone
7)connect my phone to the pc and check 'charge only' + don't ask again
8) run unrevoked 3 and press ok
9) unrevoked frozen...
10) close unrevoked and disconnect the phone
11) start to type this message

Maybe there are two steps i have to change place or so.

Thanks

Tom

Update: the desire did freeze just after finishing this post. Had to take out the battery again two times.

 

[Tom321]

Ok I'm rooted.
I used slax on a spare usb drive i had.
Before it worked i failed one more time on slax but when i took out my sim card it went ok.

So now the only thing i have to ask is why my phone randomly freezes after a reboot (had to put in my sim again and take out the battery)

UPDATE
I got it working now. It was because of the htc sense weather widget that came up too fast or something.

Thanks

tom