Mike Southby

I have been asked by a few people how to make a goldcard using a Mac, but as I do not have access to one at the moment I have not been able to produce a guide however thanks to Johnny and some research using Google you’ll be pleased to know that I have now produced a guide.

Caveat:  I have not been able to test this myself as currently I do not have a Mac to test with; however I have read various comments confirming that this method works.  Please post a comment to let me know how you get on.

PLEASE backup the entire contents of your microSD before proceeding, in one of the first steps you’ll need to reformat.  I will not be accountable for anyone neglecting to do this and loosing data – you have been warned!

So, to create a goldcard using Mac OSX, simple do the following:

• Backup the data on your microSD
• Click Menu on your mobile
• Go to Settings and then SD & Phone Storage
• Click Unmount SD card
• Click Format SD card

We now need to know the microSD cards CID number, using this method; we can find it by going to the market and downloading ASTRO File Manager.  Once you have downloaded and installed it, do the following:

• Open ASTRO File Manager
• Navigate to sys/class/mmc_host/mmc1/mmc1:82d1 (you’ll find that 82d1 will be different 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

Next we need this long number in order to create your goldcard image; this can be done by using a simple tool found on this page:

• Copy the number carefully into the data field and hit Submit
• Make a note of the new number

Next to create the actual goldcard image by going to this page:

• Enter the number from above 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 user directory

Connect your Desire to your Mac and do the following:

• Pull down the notification bar 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 Mac, open Terminal which can be found by clicking through Applications>Utilities>Terminal (or your Linux Terminal)
• 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 create your individual goldcard do the following:

• Open Terminal once again and type the following:
  sudo dd bs=512 if=~/goldcard.img of=/dev/disk2
  (remembering to change the ‘2’ if appropriate)
• You’ll need to enter your password when prompted (or if using Linux, the password for root)

That’s it, goldcard created!

For anyone wanting to download the official OTA Android 2.2 FroYo ROM for their HTC Desire directly from the HTC live server, you’ll find that they have removed the file.  Fear not, I have uploaded a mirror here.

If you need some guidance on installing the update, including installing on network branded and locked handsets, I have a guide here.

With the release of FroYo on the HTC Desire, HTC also bring us the ability to sync directly with iTunes via HTC Sync.  In order to use this new feature, you will need to download and install both the latest version of iTunes (v9 or greater) and HTC Sync [Mirror] (v3.0.5387).


The new version of HTC Sync not only gives the ability to sync with iTunes, but also allows far greater control over which items to sync with your PC and also, which items to backup from your phone; you can now control separately music, photos, calendar, contacts, bookmarks and documents.

Note: You need to uninstall the old version of HTC Sync before installing the new version and, although not prompted to do so, sync doesn’t seem to work until you have restarted your phone and PC after the install.

All in all, a very welcomed update.

Unfortunately Skype isn’t available on the Market for download, Skype officially do not have an Android product as yet aside from a branded version here in the UK for the 3 network (and I believe a similar version on Verizon in the US).  It’s also not possible to download the 3 version and use it on another network as it’s not a true p2p application. 3 use a ‘Skype bridge’ which routes only part of the call through the Skype network rendering it useless on other networks.

All is not lost though, whilst it is no longer available, Skype at one stage did have a beta product called Skype Lite available for all Android handsets, although it has long since been withdrawn you can download it from here.

There are limitations though.

It would seem that in order to make outgoing Skype calls, Skype Lite dials a local UK landline number to route the calls, which of course for most will not be an issue owing to talk time packages.  However, if like me this isn’t your primary reason for wanting Skype then this itself it not a huge issue; after all if I want to make a call I’ll just use my phone (or Google Voice).  Personally my sole reason for wanting Skype is to be able to use the instant messaging feature as I have a lot of Skype contacts and I’m pleased to report this works just fine, without limitation.

For those wanting all of the Skype features, there are rumours that Skype are developing a full release which will be available later this year.

Enjoy.

Update: 05/10/2010, The official Android Skype client has now been released, details can be found here.

Google Earth works great on the Desire, but owing to the problems with the Desire still not fully working with the Market, it’s not available to download as yet.  This problem seemingly is owing to Google not yet updating their databases with the authentication fingerprint for the Desire; talk to HTC and they’ll direct you to Google, talk to Google and you guessed it, they’ll simply not respond.  Not very helpful to be honest and very frustrating to say the least, you’d imagine between the two companies they’d be eager to ensure full functionability to showcase the full potential of what is essentially the flagship Android device here in the UK.  I could understand Google’s slow progress (read: reluctance) if the Desire were directly competing with the Nexus One but of course it isn’t really, they are selling in different markets.

There is of course a way to overcome this, all you’ll need to do is manually install the .apk file onto your Desire, the easiest way to do this is to install it using the HTC Sync software.

The .apk file can be found here (if you are having difficulty I have also put the file into a .ZIP archive here).

Enjoy.