How I flashed my HTC Dream (T-mobile G1) with CyanogenMod 6.0.0-DS

Remember that post I made on changing the google account of HTC Dream? Then you will remember me saying “I bought a fairly new G1...”

Well, there was this day I posted a tweet on twitter saying I had issues with data usage of my G1, and a friend (@kenniy) responded and told me to mod my G1 for optimum performance and recommended Cyanogen Mod. Since that day (which should be 6 months ago), after reading about the benefits, I decided in my mind that I was definitely gonna mod my G1. Then after reading about doing it on several websites and discovered that most of them had very different ways of doing it with a common recurrent warning that my phone might get bricked, I finally gave it a trial 5 months ago. I choose a website that explained very well with detailed snapshots of the process, then I discovered that I couldn't go past the first stage because my G1 has android 1.6 (donut) and the steps will only work for 1.5 (cupcake). I searched for ways of modding my G1 running donut, and the only site I found that seems to explain it well didn't have a single snapshot and had too much warnings. So I suspended my desire to mod the G1 till when I have used the phone for a considerable time, when I won't be too bothered if the phone bricks.

Well that time came yesterday, I just couldn't put up any longer with the restrictions of the small internal memory and the fact that some applications are now being built for OS 2.1 (eclair) and above. So I braced up and faced my fear, and believe me I'm glad I did. I now have the latest android OS (froyo) running on my G1,can now send files via bluetooth and even operate a swap partition on my phone.

So in case someone might need a more recent post by a more current user, I decided to share my experience, step by step and with snapshots. So let's go!

STEP 1

NOTE: I'll assume you are also using the android 1.6 on a G1.

First you will need to boot into the bootloader of the G1 to record the radio type and ROM type of your G1. 

There are two ROM types,

PVT, and

DVT.

There are two radio types also,

2.22.23.02

2.22.19.26I

To boot into this mode you will need to switch off the phone first. Then press the camera button and almost immediately, without leaving the camera button, press the power button. Below is a snapshot of how I did it with my phone. Now note the multicolor screen that comes up and record the ROM type and the radio type of your phone (it will show at the upper part of the phone screen).

STEP 2

Now you are going to download all the necessary files you will need for the whole modding process.

First, you will download the DREAMING.nbh RC29(US) or DREAIMG.nbh RC7(Europe) file that will downgrade the android 1.6 to 1.0 which is necessary for the whole modding process (actually you won't be able to root the phone without this downgrade, that is why it is necessary).

Secondly, you will download Amon_Ra's Recovery which is the actual rooting image file. 

Thirdly, you will download the appropriate radio for your G1, 2.22.23.02 or 2.22.19.26I

Fourthly, you will download the appropriate SPL file, depending on the ROM type of your G1. If your ROM is PVT, Haytou's SPL is recommended. But if your ROM is DVT, you have to make do with HardSPL to avoid bricking your G1.

Finally, you will now download the Cyanogen Mod 6.0.0-DS and the tiny gapps files (you need this google apps zip file to pre-install the market app during the installation the Cyanogen Mod, this will be very useful)

STEP 3

Get a MicroSD card (the small external memory card the phone uses), format it with FAT32. Copy only the DREAMING.nbh file into it.

Power off the G1 and like you did earlier on in step 1, boot into the bootloader. Follow the instructions to apply the DREAMING.ngh which will downgrade the phone to android 1.0. Now press MENU, HOME and POWER buttons all at once to power off.

STEP 4

Put a SIM that has active data plan or GPRS/EDGE/3G enabled (with enough money in it to access the internet). Power on the G1, it will show you a screen with the Emergency call dial button. Press the MENU button to reveal APNs, touchclick it and create a new APN entering the correct APN setting for your SIM Network provider. If your Provider is already listed in the APN list, do not bother creating a new APN. Now return back to the initial screen, touch the middle of the screen and configure your google account to gain access to other functionalities.

Press the home button and slide the phone to reveal the keyboard. Press ENTER twice, type telnetd and press ENTER (do not bother about the contact screen that comes up and the apparent nothing that happens after pressing ENTER). Go to the market app and install telnet by clockworld, launch the telnet app you just installed and make sure localhost is in the first textbox and 23 in the small textbox to the right. Press ENTER.

STEP 5

Remember the Amon_Ra's Recovery file you downloaded? Rename it to recovery.img and copy it to the MicroSD card and disconnect the phone from the computer. Now open the telnet application you installed earlier on and type the following  flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img  and once this is successful you will notice # # on the screen showing below the command you typed. If you got a "permission denied" prompt, type su flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img 

STEP 6

Power off the phone and remove the MicroSD card, copy the radio file you downloaded (2.22.23.02 or 2.22.1.26I), the SPL file (a .zip file), the Cyanogen Mod 6.0.0-DS (mostly likely named as update-cm-6.0.0-DS-signed.zip)and the gapps file into the card. Replace the memory card.

STEP 7

You will now boot into the recovery mode by pressing the home and power buttons at the same time.

Once the phone has boot into the recovery mode, scroll to "apply zip from sdcard" and select the radio file, press the home button to confirm. The phone will reboot during the installation, once the installation is complete select the reboot option (first on the list).
Now boot into the recovery mode again by pressing the home and power buttons at the same time, scroll to "apply zip from sdcard" and select the SPL zip file, press the home button to confirm. Again you will be requested to reboot, select the reboot option to complete the installation. 

Again boot the phone into the recovery mode, select the "apply zip from sdcard" and select the Cyanogen Mod 6.0.0-DS zip file, press the home button to confirm and the phone will say update successful. Now scroll again to the "apply zip from sdcard" and select the gapps zip file, press the home button to confirm. Then reboot the phone and power off, if it boots back to the recovery mode (power off is the last option on the recovery mode list).

Now you are through installing the Cyanogen Mod 6.0.0-DS which is built on the android 2.2 (code named froyo). Just power on your phone and it will now boot into the new OS that makes your phone operate like a linux computer with the much needed root permission (or superuser capability).

TROUBLESHOOTING

Just like it happened to me, if you notice that the phone after booting to the new OS only shows the lock screen and a black screen with notification bar, and does not detect network or show home screen. Just reboot into the recovery mode and select wipe, apply all the wipe options (wipe data/factory rest, wipe cache and wipe Dalvik-cache) and reboot. That should solve the problem, I don't know why it happened to me but I suspect it's that my cache is full and the /system is also full. But whatever the reason is, wiping did resolve it.

If you need any further clarification or help, feel free to use the comment. I will try to monitor this post's comment as often as possible.