Mike Southby

The official HTC RUU files are only available for Windows, however if you are using either Linux or Mac OSX there is now a way to run a modified version of the RUU to enable you to update using the same official ROM, just read down through this guide and follow the instructions below.

Caveat: Please read the entire guide before starting and ensure that you fully understand all of the steps.  If you are unsure about anything, please ask a question using the comments at the bottom of the post before continuing; it’s better to check first before starting and finding you run into problems.  The usual also applies, by following this guide you do so at your own risk, I will not be held accountable for any problems you may encounter along the way.

Next, you’ll need to create your goldcard:

• Backup the data on your microSD card.  You may also wish to make a copy of any SMS or MMS messages that are already on your phone, suitable apps can be found on the market to do this.
• If you took out your microSD in the previous step, ensure it is back in your Desire and click through Menu>Settings>SD & Phone Storage.
• Click Unmount SD card.
• Click Format SD card; by doing this from within your phone instead of formatting it from your computer, you will ensure that it is formatted in the correct format.
• Next, download and install ASTRO File Manager from the market if you do not already have it installed.  Once it has finished being installed open the application.
• Navigate to sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:82d1 (you may find that ‘82d1’ will be different, this is normal just choose the option that you have available on your device).
• Long press on the CID file.
• Select Open As and then Text.
• Select File Editor.
• You’ll be given a long number, make a note of this somewhere safe.
• Open this page in your internet browser on your computer.
• Enter the number you found in the above steps into the SD Card Serial (CID) field.
• Enter all of the other details that you are asked for and hit Generate Goldcard.
• Check your email on your computer, the goldcard image that you have just created will have been sent to you as an attachment.  Save this into the root of your user directory, it’s important that you do not save it anywhere else.
• Connect your Desire to your computer.
• Pull down the notification bar on your Desire and press Charge Only (if you have previously changed the default option this may be different, i.e. HTC Sync).
• Select the Disk Drive option and hit Done.
• On your computer, open Terminal which can be found by clicking through Applications>Utilities>Terminal (depending on which operating system you are using the location of Terminal will vary)
• Type the following:
  diskutil list
• You should be able to see your microSD card; you can recognise it from its size and by the fact that its type is DOS_FAT_32.  You need to make a note of the Identifier for example disk2s1.
• Now you need to unmount the microSD, assuming your Identifier was disk2s1 (change the value ‘2’  based on the number you got after the word ‘disk’) enter the following:
  diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
• Finally, to actually create your goldcard type:
  sudo dd bs=512 if=~/goldcard.img of=/dev/disk2 (remembering to change the ‘2’ if appropriate)
• When prompted, you’ll need to enter your password.

That’s the goldcard created, and the hard work out of the way.  At this stage, double check that anything on your device that you wish backed up has been, as in the following stages you will flash your Desire with a new ROM and wipe any data in the process, then when ready proceed with the next stage:

• Extract the OpenRUU archive that you downloaded earlier.
• Run 2FastbootFlash-xxx.sh, where xxx represents the operating system that you are using; either Linux or Mac OSX (based on the Linux version, to run the file you will need to ensure that the file is executable.  To do this, right click the file and clicking through Properties>Permissions, tick to allow executing file as a program.  Then simply double click the file and choose Run in the popup allowing it to run within Terminal).

The RUU should now run and after a few minutes you will be finished.  Any questions leave a comment below.

Credits:  Thanks to 42turkeys for the tools and scripts used in this guide.

It’s been what seems like an eternity since HTC released the official Android 2.2 – or Froyo as it’s more commonly known – update for the Desire via an OTA update around 6 weeks ago.  It’s important to remember that the update was only for handsets that had been purchased SIM-free and were therefore not considered vendor specific; if you had a Desire supplied by one of the main network operators, say Orange, Vodafone or as in my case Virgin Mobile, the Froyo update was not available at all.  If this was the case, the only way that you could update to the latest and greatest was to de-brand your phone and fool it into thinking you had a handset that was not supplied by a network operator; only then could you receive and apply the update.  At the time, I wrote a post outlining how you could take your Desire, de-brand and then perform the update to Froyo using the generic HTC update and whilst the methods in that post still apply, things have since moved forward.  In keeping with the rapid pace of Android development, there are now new and even safer ways of getting the update if you haven’t yet had it.  I know that all the network operators are slowly starting to roll out their vendor specific OTAs, but most people are still waiting.  Besides, the generic HTC update performs better than the vendor specific updates as it does not have any of the bloat-ware we have all come to know and hate.

If you have been following recent developments, you’ll also know that there has recently been another official update for SIM-free owners, meaning that they are now 2 updates ahead of most users, remembering that most users buy their phone subsidised by a network operator and not outright SIM-free.  So if you are still using Android 2.1 – or Éclair – and waiting patiently for your update, you’re probably not best pleased!

With this in mind, I have decided to update the original post and explain how to take your vendor specific Desire, de-brand it and then update to the very latest official HTC ROM, missing out the first 2.2 update in the progress.

Caveat: Even though the method in this guide uses official HTC software and ROMs, by changing the software on your phone you will be voiding your warranty.  The method is safe and has been tested thoroughly, but please be aware of this before proceeding.  Also, during this guide you will need to format your microSD card so please ensure that you backup all of your files; if you are using Gmail then your contacts and emails will synchronise back to your handset once you have finished but things like your documents and photos will not.  Finally, this guide assumes you have read this post from start to finish before proceeding and that you fully understand each of the steps.  If you are unsure of anything, don’t be put off but please, ask a question using the comment box at the bottom of the page before attempting anything.  This guide is suitable for novices and no specific knowledge is required.  Standard disclaimer applies, you follow this guide at your own risk, please remember that.

The guide is split into a number of steps, if you have not changed anything on your device since you received it then you will need to follow all of the steps, however for some of you, you can skip the steps that are not relevant to you, this will become clear as you read through.

Notes: by looking at some of the comments on my previous Desire posts, I thought I would try and answer some of the more common questions first to further put your minds at rest and hopefully give you the encouragement and confidence to perform the update:

1. Does this guide apply to my handset? Yes, if you are still using Android 2.1 then this guide will work for you, it doesn’t matter which network operator you are using.  if you are unsure of which version you are using then check on your device by going to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Software Information and check your software number; ask below if you are unsure.  It also applies if you are using the previous Android 2.2 update which I used as the base ROM in my original post.
2. Does it matter if I have an AMOLED screen or sLCD screen? No, my previous guide was based on an AMOLED screen but the method in this guide will flash a newer version of the generic ROM which is suitable for both AMOLED and sLCD screens as it contains drivers for both.
3. How do I check my HBOOT version? Turn your device off, and then whilst powering it on press and hold the Volume Down key, this will boot your device into the HBOOT menu showing you not only your HBOOT version but also your RADIO version.
4. I’ve heard of issues with network locking, should I be worried? No, so long as you follow the guide step by step and take your SIM card out of your device before starting, you’ll be fine.
5. Will following this guide give me root? No, this guide is based on the official HTC software which means that you will update not only the firmware, but also HBOOT.  You will get an original HTC software image which does not – obviously – contain root.
6. What’s best, coffee or tea? Do you now follow me on Twitter?  Coffee, obviously.  If you need to ask then you are not drinking enough.  Starbucks rocks.

Now we have the formalities over time to get on with the guide.  The whole process should take around 30 minutes.  You’ll need to ensure that your Desire has a decent amount of charge.  I usually like to make sure that I have at least 50% charge in the battery to make sure I don’t have any issues with the battery running flat; you’ll also need your USB cable and a microSD adapter for your computer.

First of all, you’ll need to download some files to your machine, start the following files downloading and depending on your connection speed, grab a cup of coffee whilst they download.  For simplicity I usually download them to the desktop:

• The official Android SDK from Google [here]
• The latest version of HTC Sync [here]
• The latest Desire Froyo RUU [here]
• A hex editor to create the goldcard [here]

Once the files have downloaded, install the hex editor and unzip the SDK into a new folder called “AndroidSDK” on the root of your c: drive, then before you get going on the update, it’s a good idea to check a few things:

• Backup.  Have you backed up the contents of your microSD card, if not do it now.
• Make a note of your HBOOT, RADIO and FIRMWARE versions.  By doing this if you do run into difficulties it will make it easier for us to help.  I have explained above how to find these if you are unsure.
• Remove your SIM card.  This isn’t strictly necessary but a few users elsewhere have reported issues after updating Orange handsets if they did not do this, best be safe than sorry.

Next, you need to create a goldcard, to do this follow the following steps:

• Install HTC Sync using the default options.
• Take your microSD card out of your device and put it into your computer, once it has been recognised, open up My Computer and right click your microSD card, then format it using FAT32.
• Put your microSD card back into your device, power it up and connect it to your computer using the USB cable.
• Open up a command prompt on your computer and type the following:
  cd [then press Enter]
  cd AndroidSDKtools [then press Enter]
  adb devices [then press Enter]
  you should find that you have one device listed.  If at this stage no devices are listed then you have not correctly installed HTC Sync.
• Back in the command prompt, type the following:
  adb shell cat /sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:*/cid [then press Enter]
  You should now get a long number on the screen, something along the lines of 532600bd227d9c0347329407514d5420.
• Go to this page and copy the number in the above step into the box and hit Submit, you’ll then be given another long number.
• Go to this page and enter this new number into the SD Card Serial (CID) field.
• Enter the other details and hit Generate Goldcard.
• Check your email and save the attached goldcard image file to your desktop.
• Open the hex editor that you installed earlier. If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you must run the application as administrator.
• Go to the Extra menu and select Open Disk.  Under physical disks, select Removable Disk (your microSD card), uncheck Open as Read-only and click OK.
• Go to the Extra menu again and select Open Disk Image.  Open the goldcard image that you received by email and saved to your desktop.
• You should now have two tabs; one is your removable disk and the other is your goldcard image.  Press OK when prompted for Sector Size (selecting 512 (Hard disks/Floppy disks)) and click OK.
• Click on the goldcard image tab.  Go to the Edit menu, choose Select All then select the Edit menu again and select Copy.
• Click on the Removable Disk tab.  Highlight offset (line) 00000000 to offset (line) 00000170, then click on the Edit menu and select Paste Write.
• Click on the File menu and select Save, accepting the warning.
• You can now close the hex editor.  Take the microSD out of your computer and then put it back in again, if everything has worked it should be recognised.  If it gives you a warning that the card needs formatting then something has gone wrong and you’ll need to follow the above steps again.
• Finally, you can take the microSD card and put it back into your device then power it on.

You now have a goldcard and you’ll be pleased to know that is the hardest part out of the way, next you simply need to install the official HTC update:

• Connect your device to your computer again using the USB cable.
• Run the official RUU that you downloaded to your desktop earlier, if you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7 you’ll need to acknowledge the UAC message to proceed.
• Check the check-box and click Next.
• Again, check the check-box and click Next.
• The installer will now verify connectivity with your phone, if during this stage you get  ”ERROR [170]: USB CONNECTION ERROR“, then you have a problem with your installed drivers, please leave a comment below and we’ll help out before continuing (you can continue using your phone in the mean time).
• Click Update.
• You’ll now be asked to verify that you want to change your existing firmware to the new firmware (version 2.10.405.2), click Next.
• Click Next.
• The update will now take place, depending on your hardware this may take around 10 minutes.

Once the update has taken place, you’re finished.  All that remains is to turn your device off again and replace your SIM card, then power on and enjoy, not forgetting to copy your documents and photos back onto your microSD card.  Enjoy!

Let me know if you find this useful by leaving a comment below, and don’t forget to sign-up for further guides using the option on the right.  This way you’ll get the latest guides delivered directly to your inbox.

I have been asked to write a guide for people new to Android explaining how to install TweetDeck.  For those who aren’t familiar with TweetDeck, it’s a cross platform Twitter client that only recently become available for Android.  A lot of people may well have used the desktop version previously; out of all the desktop Twitter clients, TweetDeck is regularly voted one of the top applications and for good reason.  TweetDeck isn’t just all about Twitter however; it allows you to also configure your Facebook, MySpace, Foursquare, LinkedIn and Google Buzz accounts.

The Android client shares many of the features of its desktop sibling; however it will only allow you to integrate Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz and Foursquare accounts.  This really isn’t an issue though as MySpace is not as popular these days anyhow and the majority of mobile users will be consumers who probably don’t use LinkedIn (of course there are other LinkedIn applications available from the market if you do require this).  Another great feature is that you are able to enter your TweetDeck account details and it will automatically sync the accounts that you use in your desktop client meaning you don’t have to worry about remembering all of your account details individually.  Right from the word go the developers over at TweetDeck have given a lot of thought towards the end user experience to ensure it doesn’t become another run of the mill Twitter app (have you looked at Seesmic or Twidroyd recently; both good apps but take away the exterior shell and you are left with very similar and traditional Twitter clients) instead choosing to produce a new, innovative design that’s fresh and exciting.

Installing TweetDeck is simple, although as it is still in beta stage, it is not available to download from the market as yet.  To download and install TweetDeck you’ll need to do the following:

• On your device, navigate through Menu>Settings>Applications
• Ensure that the Unknown sources option is checked; if it was previously unchecked you’ll be shown a security dialogue box, acknowledge this to continue
• Open the browser on your device
• Navigate to http://www.tweetdeck.com/go/android/ and your device will download the required .apk file to your download folder on your microSD card
• Next you’ll need an app that is capable of initiating an installation directly from a native .apk file, for novices perhaps the simplest solution is to go to the market and download Linda File Manager
• Once you have downloaded this, open Linda File Manager from the app drawer
• Click the SD Card option
• You should see a folder called download, this is where the browser will have downloaded the TweetDeck installer, click download
• Click TweetDeck-0.9.5.apk (see note below)
• Once the installer has finished installing, click Open to proceed directly to the app to setup your accounts

Notes:  I have given you the direct download link from TweetDeck so as new updates are released, clicking this link will download the newer files.  You may therefore find that your actual file will differ in version number, this is not an issue; simply install the version that was downloaded.

If you use the desktop version of TweetDeck, you’ll be able to sign in using your TweetDeck account here, this means that you will not have to separately configure Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz or Foursquare as the app will “pull down” your settings and sync your accounts automatically.  If you don’t have a TweetDeck account, then you’ll need to add each account separately by clicking on the appropriate option.

That’s about all there is to it.  One of the great things about TweetDeck for Android is that there are not many options to configure, making the experience a simple one; it just works!  That’s not to say it is short on features.  You’ll notice that your timeline has all of your accounts in one continuous list; each colour coded for easy identification.  You’ll even notice that as you scroll up and down through the list, the time at that particular place in the timeline is displayed at the top which I think is a nice touch.  You can flick right through 2 more screens to see your mentions (which apply not only to Twitter, but anything that is deemed a “notification” in Facebook also) and your DMs; everything is laid out in a simple yet graphically pleasing way.

One thing worthy of mention at this stage is that unlike any other Twitter app I have ever used on Android, the timeline always remembers where you left it.  Not just some of the time, but all of time; no more waking up in the morning and having to manually find where you were the night before because the timeline had somehow managed to “jump” to the top all on its own.

There are four buttons at the bottom of the main screen, the first of which will probably be one of the most used; the button to compose a new update (allowing you to choose which of the accounts you want to update).  Next you have a favourite’s button, once you press this you are presented with a user customisable screen whereby you can store your favourite contacts for one touch access to all of their profile and update information.  Finally there is the Twitter search and location buttons; the Twitter search button allows you to search trends on Twitter, the location button interfaces with Google Maps to show you your current location.

Once you start using the app, you’ll find more too; like the image preview and location map (but only if the posters update was location aware) below any updates you click on, saving you having to click through 2 or 3 pages to get the same amount of information on other clients.  There is the simple slider button to change the display font size and a well laid out configuration screen where you can change your notification options and set the duration between updates; last but not least my favourite feature, whereby the TweetDeck notification icon flips upside down and “dies” if it encounters a problem whilst posting an update.  I can just imagine the response of the other members of the development team whilst sat around a table brainstorming when that idea came up, pure genius.

Remember also that this is still a beta product (although in fairness, it is the most stable beta I have ever used, not a single FC or issue to date), which means that it is going to more than likely be updated again before the final release, adding more features based on user feedback.  The downside of this is that as the app was not downloaded from the market, you will not receive an automatic notification when an update is available; not a huge issue though.  The best way around this is to follow TweetDeck (@TweetDeck) on Twitter as they tweet when an update is available for download (then all you need to do once you click on the link and download any update is to follow the last 5 steps of the guide again to update).

TweetDeck for Android is great app; it’s in a different league to HTC Peep.

A lot of people will be waking up this morning and finding that they are unable to login to Twitter via HTC Peep on their Desires, confusingly your device will report that you have entered an incorrect username or password combination even though you have not made any changes.  The truth is that owing to a behind the scenes change to the Twitter APIs, HTC Peep is no longer compatible and more than likely won’t be for some time.

It’s been common knowledge for some time that Twitter has decided to move away from basic authentication to OAuth for all third party apps; it makes sense that some of the older Twitter clients would be affected by this but you’d have thought HTC would have had the foresight to release an update prior to today, especially given that the switchover date has already been put back previously.  I wonder just how many people will be scratching their heads today trying to figure out why HTC Peep isn’t working, not realising that it’s actually a fundamental problem that they will not be able to resolve, no matter how many times they re-enter their details or reboot their devices.

In honesty HTC Peep is actually a pretty poor client anyway; it does the job if you are after a simple Twitter client but it has been left behind feature wise compared to other apps freely available such as Twidroyd, Seesmic or TweetDeck (though still in Beta, this is by far the best Twitter client around in my opinion, you can download from here).  Of course if you have flashed a custom ROM onto your Desire already chances are you are not using HTC Peep so this will not affect you; certainly if you are using one of the many vanilla ROMs available you’ll probably be sat at home reading this having a little chuckle to yourself.  If not, perhaps this is the excuse you need to delve into custom ROMs and ditch HTC Sense.

Update 02/09/2010 08:30

Here’s an official release from Twitter which I recieved in my inbox overnight; though not effected with the HTC Peep issues myself, frustrating that they only made this public annoucement a full day after the problem manifested itself:

Hi @mikesouthby,

Over the coming weeks, we will be making two important updates that will impact how you interact with Twitter applications. We are sending this notice to all Twitter users to make sure you are aware of these changes.

What are applications?

There are over 250,000 applications built using the Twitter API. To use most applications, you first authorize the application to access your Twitter account, after which you can use it to read and post Tweets, discover new users and more. Applications come in many varieties, including desktop applications like TweetDeck, Seesmic, or EchoFon, websites such as TweetMeme, fflick, or Topsy, or mobile applications such as Twitter for iPhone, Twitter for Blackberry, or Foursquare.

Update 1: New authorization rules for applications

Starting August 31, all applications will be required to use “OAuth” to access your Twitter account.

What’s OAuth?

OAuth is a technology that enables applications to access Twitter on your behalf with your approval without asking you directly for your password.

• Desktop and mobile applications may still ask for your password once, but after that request, they are required to use OAuth in order to access your timeline or allow you to tweet.

What does this mean for me?

• Applications are no longer allowed to store your password.
• If you change your password, the applications will continue to work.
• Some applications you have been using may require you to reauthorize them or may stop functioning at the time of this change.
• All applications you have authorized will be listed at http://twitter.com/settings/connections.
• You can revoke access to any application at any time from the list.

Update 2: t.co URL wrapping

In the coming weeks, we will be expanding the roll-out of our link wrapping service t.co, which wraps links in Tweets with a new, simplified link. Wrapped links are displayed in a way that is easier to read, with the actual domain and part of the URL showing, so that you know what you are clicking on. When you click on a wrapped link, your request will pass through the Twitter service to check if the destination site is known to contain malware, and we then will forward you on to the destination URL. All of that should happen in an instant.

You will start seeing these links on certain accounts that have opted-in to the service; we expect to roll this out to all users by the end of the year. When this happens, all links shared on Twitter.com or third-party apps will be wrapped with a t.co URL.

What does this mean for me?

• A really long link such as http://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446563048 might be wrapped as http://t.co/DRo0trj for display on SMS, but it could be displayed to web or application users as amazon.com/Delivering- or as the whole URL or page title.
• You will start seeing links in a way that removes the obscurity of shortened links and lets you know where each link will take you.
• When you click on these links from Twitter.com or a Twitter application, Twitter will log that click. We hope to use this data to provide better and more relevant content to you over time.

Thanks for reading this important update. Come and check what’s new at http://twitter.com.

Thanks,
The Twitter Team

It will be interesting to see how long it takes HTC to factor in the new OAuth requirement and release an update; watch this space for news!

** Last Updated 30/08/2010 23:45 – I have updated the post to reflect the release of OpenDesire v4.0 (the original post was built around v3.6).  For future releases, I will not revise the post as all you need to do is substitute the ROM file for the newer release if available; the rest of the guide remains the same.  To check the latest file, head over to this thread **

It’s been a while now since the official Froyo OTA was released and installed by most people who will be reading this post.  For most of you, using the official Froyo will be more than enough to satisfy your soul but for some, you’ll be wishing you had waited a few days; certainly enough time to allow the developers to root the official OTA and thereby giving you what we all – apparently – want, value added extras!

Initially, for those who followed the official upgrade path to Froyo, and I include myself here, there was not much we could do once the initial Froyo honeymoon period was over.  The Froyo update also included a new HBOOT driver which meant that we could not perform root, or play with the recovery very easily.  As with all things though, a little time and this has all changed.  So, if your happy with Froyo (and please, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with it, the official Froyo is great and for the average user, will be more than enough to bring a big smile to your face) then you can stop reading this post; but if you crave the ability to root and delve further into your Desire’s abilities then read on, I’ll show you how to downgrade your HBOOT and install an already rooted, custom Froyo ROM image and install a custom recovery along the way meaning you can easily change ROMs at will in the future.

I decided to install the excellent OpenDesire ROM from AdamG which is as close to stock as possible but with performance enhancements and a very small footprint.  It’s also a vanilla ROM so does not contain the Sense UI overlay (which I prefer as it runs much quicker and smoother than the HTC ROM).  Of course, you can choose any ROM you wish; see here for options and more information on each ROM.  Once you have a custom recovery and root, you can of course swap and change between these ROMs at will, daily if you wish.  To use a different ROM, simply change the download in the first step of the guide below.

Caveat: A word of warning, HTC and your network provider will frown at anyone trying to install custom software onto one of their devices and will quite rightly use this as an excuse for not honouring any warranties.  The method shown in this post has been tested by myself and works, however if you do not understand any of the steps or do not follow the guide, you risk damaging your phone and owning a very expensive ‘brick’; please ensure you read the entire post before attempting this yourselves and ask any questions before you need to ask them.  I will not be held accountable for any bricked phones; you follow this guide at your own risk.

This guide is based on an unbranded Desire handset running the latest HTC official Froyo ROM (although my Desire once upon a time used to be a branded Virgin Mobile handset, you can find a guide here for a step by step guide for debranding and upgrading to the official Froyo ROM) meaning a firmware version of 2.09.405.8, HBOOT version of 0.92.0001 and radio version of 5.09.00.20, importantly it is also based on an AMOLED Desire and not one of the newer sLCD versions.  It’s very important that you check to make sure what specifics you have before following this guide; if unsure ask a question.  This guide will also work on other combinations but you may need to follow additional steps depending on your individual device.

Before proceeding with this guide, ensure that you backup any important data on your Device, by following this guide your Desire will be restored to a state which does not have any of your applications or user data.  You’ve been warned.

Ok, now that’s all of the boring stuff out of the way, let’s get on with the guide:

• Download the following files to your local machine, for simplicity I usually save them to the desktop as you’ll be needing them again shortly: [PB99IMG] [Official 2.1 WWE OTA] [misc_update] [OpenDesire ROM] [Froyo Radio]
• Remove your SIM care from your Desire.  You shouldn’t need to do this but some devices has been SIM locked during ROM flashing so best be safe
• Ensure your Desire is sufficiently charged, I usually make sure it is at least 50% charged; you don’t want the battery running out during the flashing process
• As above, triple check everything is backed up that you want to keep

Now we can start the actual downgrade process.

Important:  This guide assumes that you still have your original gold card from previously upgrading your Desire’s ROM.  You will need a gold card in your Desire to successfully complete this guide so if you do not have one or have formatted your microSD since you last used it, create one with the aid of this guide.  If you’re unsure, create a new one anyway.

• Copy the 5 files that you have just downloaded onto the root of your microSD card and then depending on how you did this, either put the microSD card back into your Desire or unplug your Desire from your PC
• Turn off your Desire
• Turn your Desire back on whilst holding down the Volume Down key, this will take you to the HBOOT menu.  Wait until PB99IMG.zip is automatically found and verified
• Press the Volume Up key to begin the downgrade process.  Once the downgrade has started wait until all of the steps have completed, your Desire will automatically reboot during this process.  It’s important that you do not interrupt the power or turn your phone off whilst the downgrade is talking place
• Once the downgrade process has finished, press the Volume Up key to reboot

At this stage, you will have a downgraded Desire running an official 2.1 Éclair ROM.  You can check this by skipping through the initial installation steps and going to Menu>Settings>About Phone>Software where you should now find your firmware is version 1.21.405.2, if you were watching while your Desire rebooted in the above step you’ll also have noted that the HBOOT is now 0.80

You now need to remove PB99IMG.zip (there is no need to remove the other files, unless you want to) from the root of your microSD before continuing with this guide, also download the following files, again to your desktop for ease: [Unrevoked3] [Unrevoked USB driver]

Next continue with the guide:

• Uninstall any versions of HTC Sync that you currently have installed on your PC
• Enable USB Debugging on your Desire, this can be found by navigating through Menu>Settings>Development>USB Debugging, you’ll be asked to confirm this with a security dialogue box, click OK
• Ensure that the correct adb drivers are installed on your PC, to test this restart your phone in HBOOT mode (reboot with the Volume Down key held in) and go to Device Manager on your PC.  You’ll probably find that the adb device – your Desire – will have an exclamation mark next to it meaning the driver is not installed correctly.  Right click this and choose to update the driver, pointing the wizard to the USB driver you downloaded on your desktop earlier (you may need to extract the archive first)
• Start the Unrevoked process by running the reflash_package executable on your desktop and follow the onscreen instructions

The Unrevoked package will now root your Desire and install a custom recovery image, meaning you’ll have far greater control over your Desire in the future and allow you to now continue and install the custom Froyo ROM.

• Once the Unrevoked process finished, you should be in your new custom recovery
• Select install zip from sdcard by using the Volume Up and Volume Down keys to navigate, using the optical trackball to select the correct option
• Select choose zip from sdcard
• Select misc_update from the SD and confirm it by navigating to Yes. This will repair your /misc partition
• Go back to the front screen on the recovery menu by using the Back key
• Select both the wipe data/factory reset option and wipe cache partition option before continuing
• Select install zip from sdcard then choose zip from sdcard
• Choose radio-5.09.05.03 2.zip from the list and wait for the upgrade to take place then update-od-4.0-signed.zip and wait for the upgrade to take place (remembering that if you downloaded a different ROM at the beginning, you’ll need to select that option instead)
• Once the upgrade has taken place, choose reboot from the menu

That’s it.

The initial reboot will take longer than normal, once your Desire has started turn it off again and replace your SIM card, then turn it back on and enjoy your new, even faster Froyo!

Notes: I’ve followed this procedure a few times now to test it all works, on one occasion during the initial reboot after the upgrade process my Desire seemed to sit way too long on the initial boot at the splash screen.  If this happens to you (I mean more than 5-10 minutes, it will take longer than normal this is OK) then don’t panic, just pull the battery and restart in HBOOT mode, then reflash the ROM again by following the final 4 steps above, very occasionally it doesn’t seem to take first time, this used to be the same when I was flashing my old G1!  Before reflashing, use the wipe data/factory reset option and wipe cache partition option.

For those like me who miss the HTC clock widget, there is an alternative available (although it has long since been pulled from the market) called fancywidget which can be downloaded from here.  It’s almost undistinguishable from the original HTC version.

I hope you’ve found this useful, please remember to sign up to my FeedBurner service to receive email updates of further posts.  Please leave any comments of questions below and either I or one of the other frequent flyers will get back to you soon.

Enjoy!