Bishop of Technology

We are here to help "ordinary" people understand, acquire, and utilize technology in their personal & business environments.

First, let me offer my thanks to all of the developers, testers, and other active users on the XDA Developer’s Forum. Especially those working on the T-Mobile G2, the ViewSonic G-Tablet, and the B&N Nook Color (devices that I own and use). I do not have a clue how they create all the XDA goodness for our smart phones & devices but I do appreciate their work.

I joined the XDA Forum in July ’07 after I purchased my first smart phone (Cingular 8125, “Wizard”). I have provided a considerable amount of funds to both the forum and individual developers. Although I support their work, I also have some problems with the forum (hence the reason I post on this site rather than on XDA).

The XDA Developer’s Forum is just that – a DEVELOPER’S forum. It started (and continues) as a place for those super smart people who CREATE the ROMs & other applications that we USERS lust after! Consequently, there are some inherent problems for non-developers:

• Forum Format. I find this format overwhelming. Although the moderators have done a great job of organizing the forums, there are just far too many posts to read before getting to the heart of any issue. Most of the other “problems” that I mention are actually based in this problem.
• Posters are often rude to new users (“noobies”). There are multiple reasons for this: developers want to spend time doing rather than explaining; knowledgeable users are frustrated that the same questions are asked over and over (“already answered” is a common response but it can take days to find the answers in the multitude of posts); and some “experts” simply “look down” on those who have not kept up with the forum.
• Posts often assume a level of expertise. Another common response is that if you don’t already know xyz, then you don’t need to be here or you will “brick” your device (lock it up so that it serves little more than as a brick doorstop.)

So, rather than attempt to CHANGE the XDA community, I started publishing SIMPLE instructions on this site. The first were for applying custom ROMS to my ATT Tilt (aka “kaiser”).

And, now that I am an Android fan (vs. the old “Windows Mobile Phone”), I want to continue publishing SIMPLE instructions for those devices here on the Bishop. The value is that I have tried each how-to and worked out (most of) the bugs. Also, I am a single person to whom you may direct your questions. Finally, when the instructions are found to need more detail (or change), it is easier for me to correct – and for you to see the LATEST guide in a single post.

Again, I want to thank the developers at XDA for all the excellent work! My intention (in posting these “how-to’s”) is not to take away from their work – but to supplement it by making it more accessible and usable by the common person. Also, let me strongly suggest that you visit the XDA site — and donate to those developers who have been of assistance to you.

XDA Developer’s Forum – Good & Bad

Bishop of Technology

We are here to help "ordinary" people understand, acquire, and utilize technology in their personal & business environments.

Although this guide was written for the Kaiser/Tilt, much of it may be appropriate for other devices as well – I do not know about that. Be certain that you know what you are doing before flashing ANY device. And, make ABSOLUTELY certain that any rom that you use was written specifically for your device.

XDA-Developer’s Site

If you are new to the art of flashing a custom rom then I recommend that you view the Kaiser WIKI and the Forums at the great XDA-Developers site. There is a wealth of information on the site and a lot of what I know about flashing custom roms, I learned from the good people there. I only wrote this guide because of the IMMENSE number of postings there and the resulting difficulty in finding a single post that gives all of the information needed. A second reason for this article is that XDA-Dev is designed for DEVELOPERS and not for first time users. Therefore, many times the posts ASSUME that you know a lot of things and that may not be true. Hopefully, this article will be simple enough that even first-time flashers can follow it without error.

NOTICE

This guide is presented as a help for others who may wish to flash a new/custom rom to their phone. However, I take NO RESPONSIBILITY for any problems or damage that you may experience EVEN if you accurately follow this guide. I have found that flashing a custom rom is easy and safe on my device but I have no way to assure that it will be the same for you.  If you cannot accept these terms, then you should NOT follow these instructions!

Before you begin, you must be absolutely certain that your phone is unlocked! Find the instructions here. Failure to observe this will most likely kill your phone and turn it into a very expensive BRICK!

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Preliminary notes:

If you are CERTAIN that you have unlocked your phone, then here is the process I recommend:

BTW, I use the SD card method to flash everything. It is much safer and can be used even if the battery is low. If you do not know how it is done, check out [cref 16 this post].

Many  people ask, “Why do I have to flash a STOCK/OEM rom before flashing a custom rom?” [cref 14 Get the answer here].

Short cut to avoid re-installing all of your own cab files after flashing a new custom rom. Learn [cref 18 HOW in this post].

General Rom Flashing Procedures for the Kaiser/Tilt/8925 Phone:

1. Flash the Original (OEM) rom for you device (either the ATT357 or – if you don’t have a Tilt – the HTC wm6.1 rom) and SOFT reset (press stylus into the reset hole) when it is finished. Note: you can use Active Sync on your computer and flash via your USB cable. However, I prefer to flash via the MicroSD card. For instructions, [cref 16 see this post].
2. Allow the rom to run through the initial configuration – up to the point where it asks for some input from you. Then do a HARD reset. To read more about how to do hard reset, read this article.
3. Flash the recommended SPL (3.34.hard – dave shaw)
4. Flash the recommended Radio (1.70.xx.xx)
5. Do a HARD Reset – I learned this the hard way. Remember, “Hard Resets are my friend!” Do it any time you will not loose data (and it may be necessary some times when you will loose data.)
6. Flash your chosen custom rom (I like either TPC’s Elite Series or Abusalza’s Ultimate Series.)
7. SOFT reset and allow the rom to configure to the point that it asks for your input then do another HARD reset
8. Allow the ROM to configure again and this time, answer the dialogs.
9. DO NOT INSTALL ANY ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE AT THIS POINT.
10. Check out the operation of the rom on your device. Assure that all the functions that you need are operational.
11. If you downloaded a ROM with the M2D interface and you prefer the Manila interface, then make the change (Settings/Today/Items – click the TOUCHFLO item to activate M2D). BTW, the “Windows Default” will UNclick because that is the Chome/Titanium interface)
12. If all is well, add your choice of additional cabs ONE AT A TIME and after each install, check to assure that it did not conflict with something else (e.g., assure that everything is still working properly.)
13. If any of the software that you install DOES cause a conflict and something stops working, then try going to Start/Settings/System/Remove Programs  and remove the offending program. If this does not fix your problem, you can try the following:

If you have problems, make sure that you followed ALL of these instructions. Then step through the following steps until your phone is working correctly – then stop

1. Do a SOFT reset
2. Do a HARD reset
3. Start over (reflash OEM, hard reset, reflash custom, hard reset, etc)
4. Read the FAQ for the rom that you tried to flash and comply with those instructions
5. Read  the significant posts on the custom rom’s thread
6. Ask for help on the custom rom’s thread

Flashing a new ROM on an AT&T Tilt

Bishop of Technology

We are here to help "ordinary" people understand, acquire, and utilize technology in their personal & business environments.

This article is for the AT&T Tilt phone.

Many  people ask, “Why do I have to flash a STOCK/OEM rom before flashing a custom rom?”

The absolute reason is not totally clear to me. However, ALL of the respected chefs on XDA require that you do so before posting a request for help.

The most common problem that I have seen (which was associated with NOT flashing OEM first) was: The phone works well for a while but then it starts doing HARD resets on its own – for no apparent reason. And, a hard reset erases all of your data and configuration – just like when you flash a new OEM/custom rom. And, if that happens a few times, you will WISH that you had taken the extra 5-10 minutes to flash OEM before flashing custom.

ALWAYS flash the appropriate OEM rom for your phone. If you have an ATT Tilt, then use the rom located here. If yours is an HTC-branded device, the the rom here.

For more info about GENERAL flashing procedures, [cref 4 check out this post].

Flashing Stock/OEM Roms