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Help Silly questions about "debranding"

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stephentw

Newbie
I've been looking through various debranding threads but can't seem to find answers to my specific questions so I'm posting a new thread, sorry!

I've been thinking about "debranding" my HTC Desire. I don't want to root it, just remove all the network specific stuff to make it a standard Desire. I understand that this is possible with a "Goldcard".

1. Is this the only way it's possible?

2. If so does this mean I'm then tied to the goldcard? The guides I've read say use the goldcard to install the HTC rom then keep the goldcard in to perform the OTA update, does this mean in future if HTC push out an OTA update (e.g. v3.0) I won't be able to get it without having the goldcard inserted?

3. I've also read that doing this means the warranty is void, but how would HTC know it's void if theres a genuine OTA update installed and the phone is not rooted? Is the integrity of the update compromised somehow by updating this way so it's isn't quite right?
 
stephentw said:
I've been looking through various debranding threads but can't seem to find answers to my specific questions so I'm posting a new thread, sorry!

I've been thinking about "debranding" my HTC Desire. I don't want to root it, just remove all the network specific stuff to make it a standard Desire. I understand that this is possible with a "Goldcard".

1. Is this the only way it's possible?

2. If so does this mean I'm then tied to the goldcard? The guides I've read say use the goldcard to install the HTC rom then keep the goldcard in to perform the OTA update, does this mean in future if HTC push out an OTA update (e.g. v3.0) I won't be able to get it without having the goldcard inserted?

3. I've also read that doing this means the warranty is void, but how would HTC know it's void if theres a genuine OTA update installed and the phone is not rooted? Is the integrity of the update compromised somehow by updating this way so it's isn't quite right?
Click to expand...


Whilst I posted up a guide to debranding im still quite a noob when it comes to android but i'll try to answer you questions and im sure you will get some replies from the more experienced forum users.

1, If you don't want to root then I 'think' goldcard is the only way.

2, There were reports of some people having problems updating to 2.2 after debranding where they took the goldcard out before checking for updates. In theory once debranded you now have a desire with generic firmware so you should be able to receive OTA updates without needing the goldcard.

3, Remember that you also have network warranty, ie if you got your phone from Vodafone then your warranty may be through them in which case should you debrand you may find that Vodafone could refuse to honor the warranty. That said, I don't see any reason why the HTC warranty should be void becuase you/we are putting their official firmware on our handsets.

If this info is incorrect then apologies in advance.
 
Thanks so how about

1. You say if I don't want to root, how about if I did root, could I debrand that way then remove root? Or does this still involve the goldcard method? If I debrand using root can I then do the OTA upgrade to 2.2? This would remove the root right?

Can anyone with more knowledge of the questions confirm what Bully says re: warranty? As I'm not sure I want invalidate both the network AND the HTC warranty for the sake of getting 2.2 a bit quicker. I'd quite like to debrand but not at the cost of losing all warranty I don't think.
 
I tried to phone uk HTC offices today but they finish at 1 on a saturday. Ill phone on monday to ask about warranty because i would like to know this as well.
 
Told by HTC customer services (uk) that if i flash to an official HTC rom then my warranty is still valid.
 
RetroDude said:
Told by HTC customer services (uk) that if i flash to an official HTC rom then my warranty is still valid.
Click to expand...

EIther whoever told you this is an idiot, or someone's got the wrong end of the stick.

You send a branded device in with a generic ROM on it, and if they notice, they'll charge you for any repairs.

the only official ROM for branded devices is the branded ROM. you put anything else on it, and unless you are lucky and they don't notice, you won't have any warranty if it ever has to go in.
 
rhedgehog said:
You send a branded device in with a generic ROM on it, and if they notice, they'll charge you for any repairs.
Click to expand...

They didn't charge for my wife's when she sent it back, orange branded which I de-branded for her then did an OTA update which killed the wi-fi, I was new to all this hacking so she rang them and told her to send it back to them which we did, they sent it back a week late all working (but back with all the orange cr@p back on) and no bill. So now I been told to leave it alone lol.


I have a VF one which had the latest VF update on which I didn't like so I rooted it, then un-rooted it back to official HTC ROM then updated to official FROYO
 
I cannot see why they would charge you for an official update, if fact from reading various thread the most they do is include a note as a slap on the wrist. Also places like Orange mostly do blind exchanges without really seeing what the issue is. Of course if they do decide it was because of the ROM you installed they may be less forgiving with you.

Of course before sending it back you could always reinstall the original ROM from a backup.
 
If you debrand your phone with a goldcard, you have to use the goldcard for OTA updates otherwise you can & probably will get problems.
This also varies from different branded phones, orange are by far the worst & cause more problems than that.
 
Thanks anoniemouse. So is there another way to debrand that doesn't involve a goldcard? Like the root method mentioned above, can I root, flash a generic HTC rom then upgrade OTA without a goldcard? I just don't want to be stuck with this being the only way to upgrade. I want to keep the phone as "official" and problem free as possible with regards to future updates.
 
Does anyone know if the newly released Telus Desires in Canada are branded? And if so do the old goldcard flashing methods work?

I'm pretty new to the smartphone world lol, but I'm very interested in getting a Desire and Telus would be the cheapest way for me at the moment.
 
stephentw said:
Thanks anoniemouse. So is there another way to debrand that doesn't involve a goldcard? Like the root method mentioned above, can I root, flash a generic HTC rom then upgrade OTA without a goldcard? I just don't want to be stuck with this being the only way to upgrade. I want to keep the phone as "official" and problem free as possible with regards to future updates.
Click to expand...

Can anyone answer the above at all please?
 
This thread is asking all the questions I want to know too. :p

I don't fancy the gold card thing either, so, to me it seems like rooting might be the way forward. I don't care if the phone is un-rooted when I upgrade to Froyo, I just want a factory standard phone.

However, I don't seem to remember seeing instruciton on how to debrand on a rooted phone, all the guides seem to talk about the gold card.

I've debranded nokias before, so I'm not a totaly technophobe but I will admit that on this phone, the process does confuse me! :)
 
stephentw said:
Thanks anoniemouse. So is there another way to debrand that doesn't involve a goldcard? Like the root method mentioned above, can I root, flash a generic HTC rom then upgrade OTA without a goldcard? I just don't want to be stuck with this being the only way to upgrade. I want to keep the phone as "official" and problem free as possible with regards to future updates.
Click to expand...

You cannot debrand without a goldcard. It is impossible to install an official ROM that isn't intended for your phone without one.

You can root your phone and install a rooted official ROM. This is the closest to debranding you can get without a goldcard. You will not receive OTA updates this way and your phone will remain rooted.

If you debrand using a goldcard you will receive OTA updates for new unbranded releases. However, you must use your goldcard with every unbranded upgrade
 
stephentw said:
3. I've also read that doing this means the warranty is void, but how would HTC know it's void if theres a genuine OTA update installed and the phone is not rooted? Is the integrity of the update compromised somehow by updating this way so it's isn't quite right?
Click to expand...

With an official ROM installed HTC may still honour your warranty, but it's entirely up to them.

HTC would know that you have debranded because you can only debrand the phone's software, not the phone itself - that is why you need a goldcard.
 
teppic74 said:
You cannot debrand without a goldcard. It is impossible to install an official ROM that isn't intended for your phone without one.

You can root your phone and install a rooted official ROM. This is the closest to debranding you can get without a goldcard. You will not receive OTA updates this way and your phone will remain rooted.

If you debrand using a goldcard you will receive OTA updates for new unbranded releases. However, you must use your goldcard with every unbranded upgrade
Click to expand...

So basically, there is no way to make a branded phone work exactly like an unbranded one - i.e generic O/S with over the air updates and no gold card.

In that case I'm just going to wait for the official T-mobile update.

Thanks for your reply, very useful!
 
I rooted mine after getting the OTA from VF, then unrooted and put official htc rom back on so in theory I should be able to get the official OTA updates when they come
 
Raggy said:
I rooted mine after getting the OTA from VF, then unrooted and put official htc rom back on so in theory I should be able to get the official OTA updates when they come
Click to expand...

Is this true? Everyone above you seems to disagree. The rest of the thread states that the only way to debrand and recieve OTA updates is to use goldcard.
 
Installing an official unbranded ROM == debranding.

You need a goldcard for it. If your phone is actually unbranded (i.e. bought unbranded) you can install the ROMs without a goldcard.
 
Apologies for thread necromancy, but it seems that the search has directed me to a load of gold-card questions - and I only have one.

I'm assuming that an unbranded phone (like the one I got from Carphone Warehouse, which has received OTA updates fine) does NOT need a goldcard - goldcards are only needed to be able to unbrand an (Orange\Vodafone\Carrier) type of phone, and then allow you to install ROMS on.

For those of us fortunate enough to have an unbranded phone, we can simply root and run around - and could even put the official\stock RUU back on again in future, either from our backups, or from the official RUU file...
 
Well, a backup will still be rooted so the only way to unroot is to use a stock RUU but yes a gold card is only needed for branded handsets so they can flash an unbranded RUU. The only time you'd need one on an unbranded handset is if you, for some reason, wanted to flash a branded RUU
 
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