HowTo: Root / Unroot / Install Cupcake & Custom ROM / Apps 2 SD - NEWB GUIDE

Guys i need help i rooted my phone and moved to the jf v1.51 build, felt a lil good about myself and decided to try moving to the haykuro 6.0 build....I began by installing the radio update and my phone after installing the update would go right back into boot/recovery mode everytime, i thought I bricked it but it then miraculously just restarted normally it seems i styll have root i'm styll runnin  jf v1.51. Now for my issue i tried to install some widgets i saw in the forum and noticed it wouldn't let me, did some searchin around and saw that it needed -rw permissions so i went to terminal emulator and typed -rw it replied that permission was denied and when i got to telnet it says;  "Error while connecting to server: Localhost/127.0.0.1:23 - Connection refused" followed by: "Error while receiving from server: Null".....can any1 tell me wuts up with my phone??? and should I be worried?

Ok to make your /system partition read/write access in terminal you can type:

mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system

This will allow you to push items to your /system partition. 

When you attempt to telnet into your phone do you have your wifi radio turned on and are you connected to a wireless router prior to attempting to establish the connection?

i attempted to to connect while connected to 3g....and after imputting the commands listed above it replied permission denied(are you root)....did i loose my root acess? is that possible?

So first in terminal type this:

$ su
# mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system

If the row after you type the 'su' doesn't start w/ a '#' then you don't have root access. 

If it does then type the mount cmd as i did above. 

Also you can't telnet into your phone via GPRS, Edge (2G), or 3G, you have to do this via wifi and being connected to a wireless router.

ok so i did just as you said and first superuser gave me a promt on whether to allow it to run the root permissions i allowed it got "#" and typed in the command the reply was process is busy but the following attempts nothing happened after i typed it in and pressed enter...i apologize in advance for all the questions lol but it seems i dnt have acess to certain permissions

@Enygreatdane, make sure you read my previous post regarding the SU Access freezing if you don't have USB debugging mode turned on.  I'm not sure if this is your problem, but it kind of sounded like it might be.

Sorry to be such a noob, but I'm out of the loop these days.  What is the advantage if I were to go to the Haykuro builds?  From what I can tell, they have some of the HTC Hero features.  Is that correct, and if so, what features do I gain?  Also, why are people sending widgets using linux commands?  With the new 1.5 update, you can download widgets from the market.  Are there even better or different widgets I can somehow get through this method, and if so, where can I find them?  Thanks for the help.  I'm trying to get caught up as much as I can, but obviously I missed a lot of changes.

Edit: Additionally, what are any possible negative impacts of having the Haykuro OS?  Are certain programs not compatible or would I lose any features?  Thanks again.

@jimbo, it's worth a try but how i turn on usb debugging mode? Also this is most likely my last post concerning this issue bcaz I figure i might as well b happy tht my phone's rooted and i've got the latest build runnin smoothly, yet here i am worried about telnet and terminal emulator(which I wouldn't know the first thing about using anyways) lol... thanks for every1's help

From the home screen, press "Menu" then "Settings" and then "Applications" then "Development".  On this screen, make sure "USB Debugging is checked.

jimbo!

Ok, here is some info to assist you.  Here is a website that contains pretty much all the "finalized" builds whom makes them and the differences b/w them.  Now not all the builds have all the information in them as the user generating them is gathering all the data he can to update it.

http://www.simonwalkerphotos.com/android/android_build_information.asp

Basically the HTC Builds contain some additional apps that are not available officially on the non-HTC builds.  Now you can push this files to your phone.  You will also have to push some additional files to certain parts of the /system partition as well to get these .apk's to work.

If you want some information on how to port some of the HTC build's app's to say one of the JF builds you can read some good info here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=515840

Another bonus of using an HTC Build is that the GUI is different from the stock Android look.  Some ppl like the look of it better others don't.

Now one thing to note is that if you attempt to use either haykuro's 6.0 r1 HTC ROM or the haykuro Google Ion ROM or the haykuro's official Hero ROM (aka "Rosie") you will need to flash a new SPL to your phone. The SPL 1.33.2005 has been known to cause some ppl to brick their phone to a point in which the G1 cannot be recovered by any means. 

If you do want to use one of these builds you must first update to the latest radio which is 2.22.19.26I

Both the SPL and the Radio is located on your download page: http://code.google.com/p/android-roms/downloads/list

Hope this helps.

I just wanted to add to the list of builds.  I found this build on XDA:

Cyanogen's Cupcake Build based on JF ADP 1.51

I have tried 2 other cupcake builds and found that this one is so vastly superior, I can't recommend anything else.  First, he added the Amazon and IM apps from the stock build to it, something I always stayed away from ADP for.  Additionally, apps to SD is set up automatically, using a much quicker more reliable EXT3 partition, over EXT2 (which is converted for you by his program).  Everything runs so smoothly with no stutters, force quits, or any of the issues I had with the regular JF 1.51 US version.  Please check this out.  He also updates almost daily and has been fixing almost every single bug found.

Thanks jimbo I was actually testing this build out this weekend as well and I like it also.

I'll update the main post to include this build in the listing

Newb here, I wanna test out Google ION and/or Superhero, but I'm totally lost.

Now yes, I've read much of the thread here, but I'm still confused.

I currently have the official Cupcake installed (I did it through the forums, not OTA, though), so what would it take for me to update to either of those two?

Newb here, I wanna test out Google ION and/or Superhero, but I'm totally lost.

Now yes, I've read much of the thread here, but I'm still confused.

I currently have the official Cupcake installed (I did it through the forums, not OTA, though), so what would it take for me to update to either of those two?

Well, without root access, you have a lot of work ahead of you, starting with flashing the old RC29.  Honestly, all the instructions to get started are in the very first post here.  You will first have the flash the RC29 NBH image to get root back.  Then you can install the Hard SPL bootloder, which will allow you to install whatever custom rom you want, unless you want to use Hero, in which case you need the Haykuro bootloader, which has been known to brick some phones.  Please try to follow the directions in the OP and ask if you have any specific questions/problems.

Newb here, I wanna test out Google ION and/or Superhero, but I'm totally lost.

Now yes, I've read much of the thread here, but I'm still confused.

I currently have the official Cupcake installed (I did it through the forums, not OTA, though), so what would it take for me to update to either of those two?

Well, without root access, you have a lot of work ahead of you, starting with flashing the old RC29.  Honestly, all the instructions to get started are in the very first post here.  You will first have the flash the RC29 NBH image to get root back.  Then you can install the Hard SPL bootloder, which will allow you to install whatever custom rom you want, unless you want to use Hero, in which case you need the Haykuro bootloader, which has been known to brick some phones.  Please try to follow the directions in the OP and ask if you have any specific questions/problems.

After reading the OP, watching the Jailbreaking video and following a third guide, I was able to root it and get Google ION running...

Now my final question is: what's so great about it? (Except that it is wicked fast?) lol. I though it would have some sort of special features, such as saving world hunger or such.

Haven't quite figured out A2SD, but hopefully within the week I will. haha.

Now my final question is: what's so great about it? (Except that it is wicked fast?) lol. I though it would have some sort of special features, such as saving world hunger or such.

Haven't quite figured out A2SD, but hopefully within the week I will. haha.

I don't know much about Ion as I have never used it, but in general, there are a ton of advantages to any of the rooted and hacked ROMs.  The most important to me is the ability to do Apps to SD.  Next are the few programs you can use that require root such as WiFi tethering, CPU Overclocking, Call Blocker, and AdFree (add blocker for your browser).  I'm sure we'll see many more of these.  Additionally, there are customization options available such as themes to make it look however you want.  Specific to ION, I really don't know what is different, but I bet if you look on the ION XDA forum thread, you'll read about it.

First off, thanks for the best tutorial out there on Rooting the G1, fantastic.

Everything works for me except installing applications with the Apps to SD hack.

I was receiving "Installation Error: Insufficient Storage."

In order to fix this, I had to do:

busybox chown -R 1000:1000 /system/sd/app

After that, I was able to install apps fine!

Thanks very much.

hey guys i did apps2sd using this method



BIG DISCLAIMER NOTE: This is a major hack of the phone and it is fully possible that it will break your phone(I've seen no permanently bricked phones but that doesn't make it impossible). Use this method, and my app along with it at your own risk.

REQUIREMENTS:
1: This only works on JF(possibly only on 1.5, not sure about the others) and The Dude's v.1.0 or greater. The Dude's 1.0 or greater actually does the steps in this tutorial for you so you can just run appstosd2 and set it all up from there if you're using his ROM.
2: This still requires you to have 2 partitions set up, first FAT32 and second ext2. Although you can use the appstosd2 app attached to this post and available in the market for $0.99 which will partition the card for you.
3: If you want your apps to go to the sd card, you must have a directory "/system/sd/app" If you didn't have apps to sd before on the ext2 partition do the following in terminal emulator or run my appstosd2 app after finishing the tutorial:
Code:

su
mkdir /system/sd/app

If you want the private-apps, or dalvik-cache moved you can replace "app" in that code with ""app-private", or "dalvik-cache" respectively. Do not copy "data" to the sd card. My script will delete it on the next reboot.

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Alright, first there's some files you need.
1: init.rc in .zip attached to this thread
2: a2sd.sh in .zip attached to this thread

All the above listed files should be put on your sd card(my tutorial will assume they are in the root directory of the sdcard(the topmost folder)

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If you need to undo the normal apps to SD first do the following in the recovery terminal(it's not strictly necessary but I'd recommend it):
Code:

mount data
rm /data/app
mkdir /data/app

if you moved the dalvik cache, repeat steps 2-3 with "dalvik-cache" instead of app. Ditto with "data" for the data cache.

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Then go to terminal emulator and type the following:
Code:

su
cp /sdcard/init.rc /data/
cp /sdcard/a2sd.sh /data/

Then reboot and you're set. By default all future apps are installed to the sd card. In order to move an app to the internal memory do the following in terminal emulator:

Code:

su
cp /system/sd/app/[the app you want to move] /system/intmem/app/
rm /system/sd/app/[the app you want to move]

I will be incorporating this into my appstosd app soon(probably as a JF and TheDude-only version until the rest of the devs get on board).

I have included a copy of appstosd 2, which will copy all apps from internal memory to the sd card with an option to remove them from the internal memory. This will only work if you have followed this tutorial.

If you don't have partitions set up, appstosd2 will now do that for you with user-set partition sizes.

NOTE: If you're using The Dude's ROM and find yourself with an outdated version of this since he doesn't always update his ROMs at the same time I update this, do the following in terminal emulator to update(after putting a2sd.sh from the attached a2sd.zip on your sdcard):

Code:

su
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
rm /system/bin/a2sd.sh
cp /sdcard/a2sd.sh /system/bin/
reboot

For JF1.5, do the following to update:

Code:

su
rm /system/intmem/a2sd.sh
rm /system/intmem/init.rc
cp /sdcard/a2sd.sh /system/intmem/
cp /sdcard/init.rc /system/intmem/
reboot



but for some reason there are certain apps that will make my phone reboot and will not install them, why is that?

hey before I root my G1 I figured I'd ask... I'm running 1.5 cupcake CRB43 (it's completely patched and up to date via T-Mobile), has anyone verified that you can still use this procedure to root your phone?  I've never rooted a phone before... I have rooted a few linux boxes before and this seems extremely straight forward, but the reason I'm asking is I went to my wife's box and plugged in my phone (I run centos on my pc and your instructions detail window usage)... I plugged the phone in and tried to format the 1 Gig MicroSD that came with the phone and it just unmounted itself everytime I tried...

So I figured.... I'd ask before I mount it on my linux box and fdisk the sob :p  (i'm using the microsd card that came with the phone, i figured I'd buy a new card if root was successful, if that's a bad idea I'd like to hear about that too)

Thanks

Oh one other thing... so if you use T-Mobile and you have a hacked phone... what is to stop you from calling them up and saying... "my phone is broken, I am using a Razor V8 again, turn off the Data"?  I know for a fact that T-Mobile has no way of keeping you off the internet on a phone that isn't a "T-Mobile" phone (as I had internet on my Razor and my package did not support it, nor did I ever have it, and it is free). 

If you have no data feature on your T-Mobile account, they will close all ports that are used for data transfer so you will not be able to access data, regardless of what phone you are using.  Sometimes there have been ways to get around this and use a non smart phone plan with a smart phone to save money, but I don't think this has been done with the G1.  A common phone to do this with was/is the iPhone.

So I first want to thank mastermind for all the effort he's put in to making this guide.  I've been on the fence about rooting my phone and installing a custom rom.. I've never flashed a phone before and I'm worried I might brick mine. I have few questions after reading the instructions, I know a wipe is needed while downgrading to RC29, so would I have to backup all my contact info and already downloaded apps manually before this is done, or is there an easier way to do that? And also, I have a mac and reading the part about restoring the phone with backups mentions a couple of windows applications, so I'm wondering if I'd be facing some issues with that. Thanks