So you own a HTC Desire from Telstra and you want to remove those, dare I say, stupid BigPond applications? Well I have the answer for the Android/Tech savvy, Root your Desire! Now, let’s keep that in context. “Rooting” is the procedure for gaining Root Access of the Device so you can tamper with, normally locked, system files, which allows you to do some pretty cool stuff such a flashing a Generic ROM (no BigPond apps/integration) onto your Telstra Desire.
Now I did this a week ago, and a few of you asked me to write up my experiences and if it was worth it. Click “Read more” to find out!
Is it worth it?
Yes! if you don’t use any of the BigPond apps (like me) then it’s extremely worth it. You don’t have to spend time trying to find the app you want in the app drawer between all the pointless BigPond crap. The only thing I half miss is the Foxtel Mobile application, but even that was filled with repeats.
Is it faster?
No, it’s very much the same speed as the Telstra ROM.
Is it stable?
Absolutely, the only problem I have (which I don’t believe is caused by the ROM) is that music will start skipping to different points in the song and randomly change songs & stop. It’s extremely annoying and only a reboot will fix it. But I never had this problem before I installed the “doubleTwist” music app.
How did you Root & ROM it?
Well I took it out for a coffee & a movie It’s quite simple if you can read instructions & have some spare time on your hands.
The instructions for rooting are here: HTC Desire rooting guide – r5 (Make sure you read EVERYTHING, don’t download the wrong files)
Well, with that week & review over, I’m going to go crazy flashing a heap of different ROMs (including Froyo!). Any questions, hit me up in the comments! 🙂
This is one of the best websites I have read, everything has been described in a systematic way so that the reader could learn many things. Congratulations
Nice!! Great Ifo. Great People. Great Blog. Thank you for all the great sharing that is being done here.
Oh and also, the GPS turn on but does not find satellites in any of the GPS applications I have (e.g. GPS Test).
I rooted my HTC Desire with the r5 guide. Had to run a couple of the steps twice but worked in the end. The new HTC 1.21 update does not install however. Other people who have rooted their phone have reported the same problem.
Yer have the same issue…. anyone know if this is bad? Is there a fix? Anyone tried pushing it from the sd card rather than an OTA update? Ill try it tonight and let u know of the results.. but am very interested to see what others did
Yo, my Desire is my first Android and I like the idea of removing the Bigpond software, but I have a few questions
Just wondering what happens to apps on the device when you root. Does the root only affect the firmware, and not user-added content? Will I need to backup the device and move apps/files back on to the phone after? Also, after using the Goldcard can I swap it out and put my original memory card with all my stuff on it back in?
Thanks
Yer i swapped out the cards no issue…. but forgot to back up all my apps…. 🙁
What’s the free memory like, cause new my Telstra has 120mb free
I’m looking to pick up a HTC Desire soon and am curious as to how your Froyo rom-flash went – any joy? Care to do a brief write-up?
I actually never got around to putting on a Froyo ROM, as I quite like Sense UI (No matter how laggy it is).
does the generic ROM enable tethering?
Yes 🙂
Cheers for the reply mate.
I am considering buying an Android phone. I mean, what else is worth it?
I have the following question: does the rooting unlock the phone for use with other carriers or is it the process of rooting entirely unrelated with unlocking?
Thanks
Rooting has nothing to do with network unlocking phone, it’s not related at all 🙂
Can you recommend a plain ROM or can you post the ROM you used please?
The plain ROM is used is the one that comes with the root access hack.
It will be your earphones.. you’re not using the HTC ones are you?? Apparently older ones use less points of contact. You can get an adapter to fix the issue.
I don’t believe it’s points of contact. As the music plays fine. It’s just the app jumps around & crashes.
This what was in the back of my mind, knew I read it somewhere:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=667240
The Desire uses a 3.5mm TRRS socket. Older earphones are TRS. TRRS allow all those buttons to work I believe (play, skip etc) as their are more contacts. For about $2 you can get a TRS->TRRS adapter on ebay for earphones that aren’t working. The included HTC ones should be fine …
Apparently you can tell if the icon is a headset or earphone or switches between the two in the notification area when it skips.
Or I just read download the widget ‘Headset Blocker’ from the market which should resolve the issue (by ignoring the ‘button presses’).
I had the same problem with skipping music after installing doubleTwist. It’s not the headphones cos I rarely use them, it does the same thing through the speaker. I uninstalled doubleTwist and it solved my problem.
Well we could talk about the desire to root it. Personally I always liked superuser instead. Free of Oz slang connotations, plus it makes me feel “super”.
My non-Telstra Desire is on its way from the UK at last, but I’d be keen to hear about how to get Froyo on it. And also the advantages of being able to move apps onto the memory card. Seems like we all want to put a heap of apps on it.
How about ‘Gaolbreak’?
YO, what is the foxtel mobile app? Is it anything like the foxtel app on iPhone? Cuz if so I want it!! Any chance you can rip the APK’s??