HTC Desire CyanogenMod 7.1RC1

I tried to install CyanogenMod 7.1 RC1 from their wiki before but it ended with a phone that had no Bluetooth functionality. As I use Bluetooth to interface with my car radio to play music, this was a real problem for me. I eventually managed to restore the phone (HTC Desire) to it's original firmware using the HTC RUU and the method described here. I am very grateful to the author of that post! I did, however, use a ROM from Shipped-ROMs, as have many of the required stock ROMs (locked and unlocked), including the one for my unlocked European GSM Desire. I had already decided they had the best match (PB99IMG_2.29.405.5_Radio_32.49.00.32U_5.11.05.27_release_159811_signed.zip) for my phone.

So with that in mind, I decided to have another go. Once you've run Cyanogen, you don't go back!!!

The first image shows the phone having just been recovered to the HTC stock build. This is exactly as it would have been bought. You notice that bluetooth is on (so that I could check it worked).

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I then opened up Cyanogen Wiki's HTC Desire (GSM) Full Update Guide. In addition to this, make sure you copy all of the information from the phone. Not just your data/contacts/messages, but also make note of the software versions, base-band version, etc. This will save you a lot of time if you wish to restore your phone to the stock HTC build at a later date.

= Rooting the HTC Desire = I have chosen to use the unrevoked method as detailed on the Cyanogen guide. As they mention, this doesn't work on PVT4 versions of the Desire. I downloaded the Linux version of unrevoked (reflash.tar.gz @ 26.3MB) and extracted the archive to the desktop. This download also includes the ClockworkMod Recovery ROM. Run the program as root, connect your phone to the PC via USB and enable USB debugging (Menu > Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging > OK).

The unrevoked3 application will find your device (showing something like "Found a Desire.") and will then (quickly) change to the terms of use. Read them, they are important. If you wish to continue, take a deep breath and press OK - This will install programs to give you administration privileges on the phone (i.e. the root account, hence the term "rooting" the phone). This process takes a while and also installs the ClockworkMod Recovery image.



The phone will restart and show some interesting boot-loader screens, and ultimately come back to life (about 10 minutes later, after about 4 restarts). Unrevoked3 will show "Done." and all should be good. The phone is now rooted.

= Flashing the Radio = I have chosen not to do this, as I feel it is what caused issues with the bluetooth in previous attempts.

= Flashing CyanogenMod 7.1 = Visit the CyanogenMod latest versions page and get hold of the latest version for the HTC Desire. You will probably also want to get the latest version of the Google Apps too. At time of writing, the latest CyanogenMod was version 7.1 RC 1, and the latest Google Apps dated 20110613.

Place the two files update-cm-7.1.0-RC1-Desire-signed.zip and gapps-gb-20110613-signed.zip onto the SD card of the phone using any method. Then you need to reboot the phone into the recovery ROM. This is done by powering the device up whilst holding the back arrow button. Use the volume up and down buttons to make sure "BOOTLOADER" is selected, and then press the power button to select it. Once you're in the boot-loader, wait a few moments for the phone to check for RUU files (green text block will flash up). After this (or after 5 seconds) again use the volume buttons to select "RECOVERY" and press power to select.

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You'll get the HTC screen and then the ClockworkMod Recovery ROM. This part is easiest to explain in bullet points, but you're about to select the two files you put on the SD card earlier and have the Recovery ROM flash them into the appropriate sections of the phone. This time we're using the trackball on the Desire and clicking the trackball to select things. Here we go:


 * Wipe all existing caches & data:
 * Select "Wipe data/factory reset" & confirm with "Yes"


 * Flash CyanogenMod OS
 * Select "Install zip from sdcard"
 * "Choose zip from sdcard"
 * Find the file update-cm-7.1.0-RC1-Desire-signed.zip (or whatever version you're choosing to flash) and select it
 * Read the warnings you're given, and then select yes or no at your will
 * Wait while the phone chugs away.

You will notice after some time "Install from sdcard complete." to show the install of Cyanogen is complete. Once it is, you need to install Google Apps. It is done in the same way as before. Continuing from where the previous install left us:


 * Flash Google Apps
 * "Choose zip from sdcard"
 * Find the file gapps-gb-20110613-signed.zip (or whatever version date you use)
 * Read the warnings you're given, and then select yes or no at your will
 * Wait while the phone chugs away.

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You will again get "Install from sdcard complete." (you hope!) Press the phone's back button to get back to the main menu, then select "reboot system now". The phone restarts to the HTC screen, and hangs there for a bit. You will eventually see the CyanogenMod 7 splashscreen. That's CyanogenMod 7.1 RC 1 flashed. Be sure to check the known bugs in the version of CyanogenMod you're running!

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= Bluetooth = For some reason, after having Bluetooth working in the stock HTC ROM, it does not work within CyanogenMod. I will report back here when I make any progress on this.