HTC HD2 with Android
So, I finally did it. I purchased an HTC HD2 off ebay and loaded android on it.. this is what I did, and what I think…’, ‘Background:
For the past few years I have been using an HTC/T-Mobile G1. I\’ve been extremely happy with it, but felt it was time to finally make the jump to a new phone. My one fear of losing the physical keyboard to an onscreen one has gone away now that they have bigger screens. I type with both thumbs, so they keys need to be big.
I\’ve known for a while that you can load Android onto the HD2, but YouTube videos always left me wondering how stable it really was.. Now, probably 6 months+ later, I decided it wasn\’t worth the risk and ended up buying the Samsung Vibrant. In my opinion, it was the best phone available from T-Moble. Now. this decision was made prior to actually using it. After purchasing it, I loaded all my stuff onto it and was happy, as it was super fast! Even speedtest.net was coming back with superfast downloads, faster than I had ever seen (like 5Mb/1Mb) on 3G.
But, after using it for a while, I began to realize how bad the GPS was. A few weeks later, and I began to realize how important GPS was for me.. and after googling and finding out there are a gazillion people complaining about it.. I was prepared to deal with it.. Till one night…
I was at a friends birthday party when I met a guy that had loaded Android onto an HTC HD2 and I was able to get a first hand experience with it. Nice big screen, super fast.. I was very interested. A few days later, I decided it was time to “upgrade” to it.
Installation:
It\’s a pretty simple process. The only real “hard” part is figuring out what version of Android you want to load. If you hit up the XDA forums, you\’ll find a hundred people that have released a hundred different ROMS for the HD2. This is what I did, and used, and I can\’t say it enough. I\’m loving the HD2 with Android. The only two drawbacks is that it only has 1GB of internal flash storage (vs 16GB on the Vibrant and 8GB on the HTC Evo) and the GPS is slow to lock. When I say slow, I mean like 3 minutes before you can use it slow. But, once it starts working, it is SPOT ON!
1) install Activesync 4.5 on your computer and make sure it recognizes the phone
– Google “Activesync 4.5 download” and download it from M$ website and install it.
2) install HardSPL3
– Google “HardSPL3 download”, I got it from jayceooi.com
– Run HSPL3_PKG.exe and follow the onscreen instructions
3) install Radio Leo 2.15.50.14
– Google “hd2 android radio leo download” and grab the newest from XDA Forum
– Run CustomRUU.exe and follow the onscreen instructions
4) install magldr113_DAF
– Google “magldr download” and grab the latest version.
– Run ROMUpdateUtility.exe and follow the onscreen instructions
Now you are ready to load Android onto the phone. Depending on what version you choose, will decide the next steps. Because I chose a build that used the MicroSD card as part of the OS (creates and ext3 partition on the MicroSD card), there are some extra steps. But, if you are using a clean or slimmed down NAND version, you can just flash it and your done. I tried a clean one.. wasn\’t fancy enough for me. 😉
5) install HD2_Core_Droid_Desire_HD_V1.2
– Google that name, or visit the XDA Forum Thread and grab the latest version. Follow the instructions in the First Time Flash.txt file and you will be all set. It walks you trough creating the partitions on MicroSD card and everything!
Bottom line:
I LOVE THIS PHONE!
Battery life seems to be awesome, at least compared to the Samsung Vibrant. It\’s fast, smooth, everything works with the exception to the slow GPS lock, and I am extremely happy with it. Basically, it is how they should have originally released the HTC HD2.. I mean really.. WinMo?!?!
Why doesn\’t Micro$oft just give up and die already! Linux has taken over the server and mobile device market, and is in the process of taking over the desktop market.. Shouldn\’t be long and we will all truly be free again!