Remember when T-Mobile's G1 was being billed as a potential iPhone killer? Powered by Google's Android platform, the open-source mobile OS was supposed to usher in the end of the iPhone OS era, and who knows, maybe someday it still will. But it won't be on the G1 (otherwise known as the HTC Dream), the chunky alternative that misses the mark of mobile greatness.
But while the G1 might leave a lot to be desired out of the box, power users who aren't afraid to take matters into their own hands have the ability to significantly enhance the handset's capabilities. On the following pages, we're going to show you how to hack your G1 the easy way so you can do things with your phone that other G1 owners only wish they could, like install apps to an SD card. And for you old school traditionalists who like to get your hands dirty, we'll also show how you to root your G1 the old fashioned way and wade through all the necessary code step-by-painstaking-step. After it's all said and done, we'll cover some of the most popular third-party ROMs and tell you which one we're rolling with.
First, you have to understand what it means to 'root' your phone. Google's open-source Android platform is based around a Linux kernel. In the Linux world, root access is similar to having administrative rights on a Windows install, and by rooting your phone, you're giving yourself permission to poke around Linux (in this case, Android) willy nilly.
There are several reasons to root your G1, not the least of which is the same sort of satisfaction you'll get that comes from building your own PC versus buying a pre-built rig. But there are more than just bragging rights and a self-acknowledged 'Job well done' at stake.
Image Credit: SanDisk
One of the biggest benefits of hacking your G1 is so you can bypass the handset's meager memory limits and install applications directly onto your SD card. This isn't something that's possible on a G1's stock firmware, which forces you to make do with a paltry 70MB or so of leftover internal flash memory. With roughly 10,000 apps available through the Android Market, it doesn't take long to fill up your phone, especially if you're into gaming. Many had hoped the much anticipated 'Cupcake' (version 1.5) firmware update would address this shortcoming, but it didn't. Even worse, HTC's shortsightedness could potentially leave G1 owners stranded at Android 1.5, as there's chatter of future updates being too large to fit on the internal flash memory. But with a rooted phone, you needn't worry about such nonsense and can point and laugh at the chumps who have used up all of their phone's internal storage and must uninstall an application before trying out a new one.
In addition to what you'll find on the Android Market, there are a bunch of apps that have been developed specifically with root users in mind. WiFi tethering is probably the most common, which allows you to connect your laptop to your G1 and access the internet through your phone. This comes in handy should you find yourself in a WiFi deadzone.
Other reasons to root include being able to test drive new Android updates before they've officially been made available to the public, the ability to customize your own boot image, you can create a full backup of your phone, install a full-blown Linux distro, and rock out with other root-specific applications, among other uses.
As with any kind of unofficial modification, if something goes wrong, you're on your own. Nobody's going to replace your phone should you manage to turn it into a pricey paperweight, though the risk of something like this actually happening is pretty slim if you take your time and do things right. You're also putting yourself in a position to rely on third-party ROM developers for future updates. Instability and quirky behavior might also rear their ugly mugs, and depending on which ROM you install, certain functions might be disabled
Still ready to root? Let's get started!
Comments are closed on this article
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junaramz
July 18, 2011 at 1:25am
It is so intricate and dull to flutter the book for several hours, but with assistance of technology, it is unproblematic to do research.
greatambition
February 09, 2011 at 11:33pm
I am not in the favor of this post because hacking is bad thing.
markweee
December 03, 2010 at 12:09am
its good to see this information in your post, i was looking the same but there was not any proper resource.
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momo123
July 01, 2010 at 11:06am
which rom is the best i like how JACxHEROSkiv v2.1 looks but which one is better and which is the fastest, the one that doesnt crash and the one that has more features????
plz plz plz plz reply!!!!!
markweee
December 03, 2010 at 6:46am
it won't be on the G1 (otherwise known as the HTC Dream), the chunky alternative that misses the mark of mobile greatness.
thingzero
February 07, 2010 at 12:13am
Hi there,
First off, I'd like to say that this is one of my fav mag to read, when I have time to read that is... I'm in need of some help...
So I just purchased a brand new Andriod Dev, and is is both SIM unlocked and bootloader unlocked. I'd like to run Cyanogen, how do I go about it? Where do I start and what steps do I leave out? Can someone please shed some light? Thanks in advance.
wr31LUCY
January 24, 2010 at 6:22pm
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Heidi Lavern
November 23, 2010 at 11:18am
I don't possess an iPhone or Blueberry or any of these things simply because I fail to see their utility. I mean, honestly, what they do is to take already invented things and put them together. I can easily juggle with what I already have without any complaints. It's not like these devices can store 800 Numbers.
Smokeless Cigarette
December 09, 2009 at 12:58pm
I've had an HTC touch for about 5 months now and the blasted thing won't ring, sound doesn't work and its horrible for roaming when it can't pick up wifi ie. HUGE bills in the mail. I would highly consider another phone before getting one. From what I've seen of my friends Iphones they never have any problems. Between that an a Smokeless Cigarette my buddy is jacked up with tech devices.
miisz terri
November 22, 2009 at 2:59pm
it says:
-- Install from sdcard...
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
E:Can't open /sdcard/update.zip
(No such file or directory)
Installation aborted.
i've followed all the steps and i've repeated them 4x and i get stuck
E Cigarete
November 20, 2009 at 9:13pm
I used to own an HTC phone and store videos on the memory card, but every 5th or so time i turned my phone on it wouldn't recognize the sd card, it was such a hassle. not like the Electronic Cigarette
Alberta
September 29, 2011 at 3:17am
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MariannaBella
November 07, 2009 at 4:43pm
As much as I love and enjoy my iPhone, I had the opportunity to test out my friend's phone and I do like how the G1 seems more "open". With that said, I have had to jailbreak my i so I don't feel as restricted.
Anyway, thanks for providing this information. I'll have to pass it on.e cigarette
DIGITALNINJAH
October 20, 2009 at 1:06am
After the one-touch rooting, I would like to know if you have to do the radio & SPL updates? Also, the partitioning? If I spelt that right. Because, I'm lazy on the radio & SPL part and don't know if it's included with the one-touch rooting, and the partitioning(?) part, I can't find anywhere at all.
mmagee10
October 15, 2009 at 8:49pm
Hey, i am a somewhat beginner when it comes to ROM's and rooting my G1 phone.. i had previously done it to get cupcake a while back.. But i followed the steps in your guide and got to the part of updating the SPL, i went ahead and did the hard SPL to be safe... and yes i did already do the radio. It seemed everything worked fine. i wiped drive then installed the update.zip rebooted once and then rebooted a second time and now it stays at the T-Mobile G1 screen for a substantial amount of time... is it supposed to take a while? or is my phone bricked? please respond. Thank You.
Paul_Lilly
October 17, 2009 at 9:16am
It can take several minutes to boot for the first time after installing a new ROM. Subsequent boots will be much, much shorter.
EDIT: Rereading your post, it sounds like you haven't flashed the firmware to a new ROM yet? If so, and if your phone still isn't fully booting after several minutes, slap a ROM file on your SD card and follow the next step to flash.
-Paul Lilly
radboater
September 26, 2009 at 4:16am
Great article. As a beginner I was able to follow these steps and root my g1 phone & install the CyanogenMod ROM.
Two small problems with this article:
1)
when rooting the phone in the terminal window the article states "cat cm- recovery-1.4.img > /system/recovery.img". Which creates an error. The correct thing to type is "cat cm-recovery-1.4.img > /system/recovery.img". This is a big difference! there should be NO SPACE between CM- and RECOVERY-1.4.IMG.... Once you retype it without the space. It works
2)
The link given to download, in order to partition the SD card is a BROKEN LINK. Clicking the link will say "invalid attachment specified". Which is really too bad. I really wanted to partition the SD card correctly so I could install apps to SD card directly. ...Will someone please post a valid link to download the CORRECT file.
....Other than that- great review! Really helped me and my friends out that have the G1 phone! Would really be great if someone could post a tutorial on how to "install apps directly to SD card". -If anyone wants to walk me through it: AIM: radboater -Thanks
Robot369
January 26, 2010 at 3:52pm
just google ad sdparted.txt click the xda developers link. you should find it there
markweee
December 03, 2010 at 6:45am
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Paul_Lilly
September 26, 2009 at 7:10am
Thanks for the catches, we'll get those corrected. In the meantime:
The direct download link for SDParted is here, but that too could end up broken if the developer updates the file and re-uploads it again. Should that happen, you can find the latest download link in his forum thread here.
As to installing apps directly to the SD card, msot third-party ROMs come with this feature built-in, including the three we covered in this feature.
-Paul Lilly
Capper
September 24, 2009 at 1:24am
Actually, a lot of the information is outdated, it doesnt bother me as I've been following along since the beginning, but for someone who is behind the power curve on rooting their G1 and wants a good starting point, its difficult.
As to your other comment, this thread is but an example of the assholery that goes on there:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=559457
As to the rest of this discussion, I dont understand Cyan or anyone else getting their panties in a wad.....I just read the article again, and I cant seem to find anywhere where One4 says he doesnt like Cyan's ROM, I see him sharing his personal preference....big deal (I actually like Cyan's ROMs a lot)....but for Cyan to tweet "MaxPC doesnt like me" and "Suck it MaxPC" really reflects poorly on him. As to the rest of you guys that came here arguing about ROMs and who built what.....get a life, seriously.
Capper
September 24, 2009 at 1:24am
Actually, a lot of the information is outdated, it doesnt bother me as I've been following along since the beginning, but for someone who is behind the power curve on rooting their G1 and wants a good starting point, its difficult.
As to your other comment, this thread is but an example of the assholery that goes on there:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=559457
As to the rest of this discussion, I dont understand Cyan or anyone else getting their panties in a wad.....I just read the article again, and I cant seem to find anywhere where One4 says he doesnt like Cyan's ROM, I see him sharing his personal preference....big deal (I actually like Cyan's ROMs a lot)....but for Cyan to tweet "MaxPC doesnt like me" and "Suck it MaxPC" really reflects poorly on him. As to the rest of you guys that came here arguing about ROMs and who built what.....get a life, seriously.
ThR1LL
September 23, 2009 at 6:04pm
First of there are stickies in all the different sections with all the info you will ever need neatly organized so I don't see how someone can be overwhelmed unless they expect to be catered even more to the information they need. You're only flamed if you don't follow the forum rules. The Dream section in XDA has many subforums like Development and Q&A. Obviously you ask questions in Q&A and not development. Follow the rules and search and you will never get flamed.
stephenkjanes
September 22, 2009 at 5:17pm
TAKE BACK: It works, Cyanogen rules. My issue was my SD Card was acting up, fixed it and now I'm running a hacked G1. Thanks guys!
Everytime I open up the Recovery Flasher and try to launch the Flash Recovery Image, I get a message saying "Flash FAILED: Could not run command." I followed all the steps and, for the life of me, cannot figure out what to do next. Has anybody experienced this problem and have you found a way to work around it?
I tried the complicated method of rooting the G1 as well, but met with the same results: fail.
Capper
September 22, 2009 at 1:57pm
Please take the "my ROM is better than your ROM" crap back to your forum. One4 put together a nice little article to help introduce people to rooting their phone, and shared with them a couple of ROMs that he has tried and liked. He shared his opinion of the ROMs, which is great, and explained why he liked the different ROMs based on what they had to offer him.
Seriously people.....if you head over to XDA Forums, you are greeted with a mess of information, for someone just getting started, it can be quite overwhelming.....but then if a new person asks questions, or for help, they are flamed, or even given a temp ban...because XDA is a "Developer site" and not for people who just want to root their phone and get cool features. I think you guys need to all crack open a fresh YooHoo and relax.....as I said, this article is simply a starter for the uneducated, and can only help by bringing more people to a growing community.
I'll end my little rant by saying its OPEN SOURCE, its there for people to contribute, and improve. I'm all for giving people credit, and thanking them for their contributions, but you guys are getting way carried away with this argument.
AndroidFan
September 18, 2009 at 10:49am
Android OS Mod Developers are sharing ideas on how to improve it by modding it in their free time "as a hobby", not to act JuniorHigh and feel like their having a contest to see who is the best. Some end-users need to chill-out, its just a mobile OS. We don't care who invented Microsoft DOS, we just want Windows7 to work.
Modders come and go, as their hobby-desire takes a backseat to school or regular day job. So new Android modders take over, where others drop off...
Some end-users don't mind a lot of lag, if they can have fancy looking screens and control.
Some end-users prefer quick non-lag OS and less fancy screens.
In the end, its all about usability, not just showing off a cool theme on your mobile.
SimonNWalker
September 18, 2009 at 4:23am
Thanks for the link guys. Great article.
There are so many releases coming out that I understand it's very hard to mention them all but there are many other ROMs out there that deserve credit. The one thing missing from the ROMs mentioned here is true Microsoft Exchange support. Check out some of the Rogers based ROMs if this is something youe need o your phone.
I would be nice in future if people could directly to our AndroidSPIN homepage as the homepage has all the summary and latest info for ROMs and Theme and release news and is sometimes easier for new users.
The new version of our site is coming real soon and will make it much easier to find relese information.
So if you want to find the latest info for the latest releases, check out the home page at http://www.androidspin.com instead of goinf directly to the ROM Database page.
Again, thanks for the article.
marshallladd
September 17, 2009 at 12:52pm
How do you figure cyanogen is not for power users? It is by far the fastest and most advanced of the ROMs. Its use of BFS and compcache and automatic apps 2 sd card is great. Now if by not for power users, you mean it doesn't have a flashy interface, then you are correct. It looks like stock android but performs nothing like it(leaps and bounds better). If you want a flashy interface, go buy an apple product.
Also, how many times can Donut be called 2.0 before someone realizes that as of now, there is no such thing as android 2.0. 1.5=cupcake 1.6=donut 2.0=bad research
gymbeau2000
September 17, 2009 at 11:43am
After installing one of these "full system replacements", is it possible to restore back to factory version?
gymbeau2000
September 17, 2009 at 11:49am
Is that method in the OS or in those forums? Maybe the author of this article should have posted that as well.
wickedg33k
September 17, 2009 at 11:00am
Latest CyanogenMod has fixed the camcorder issue and the rom is very stable in its experimental stage.
No protons were harmed in the making of this post.
Manup456
September 17, 2009 at 10:37am
Thanks guys for this artical I am manup456 and I did all the graphics for xROM,I just wanted to clear a few things up. The mods that have been done to this build are not taken from other people's work,what gives the build the speed and a lot of the great features come from justanotherdevs kernal and his own hard work so people may be a bit mistaken in a few comments and I wanted to clear that up.
Thanks again.
ThR1LL
September 17, 2009 at 8:27am
Like said before Donute is not Android 2.0 as stated by Google many weeks ago. And like stated before xROM was originally based off of Cyan ROMs. When it first came out it was pretty much a themed Cyan ROM. The camcorder has only been an issue since switching to Donut and not throughout Cyan ROMs builds. Like this article stated these experimental releases are exactly what they say they are. They can be buggy and the reason for them being released is so loyal followers can help find these bugs and report them so they can be fixed. This article also forgot to mention the The 2.1 build of JACxHeroski is also an experimental build. The reason that the homescreens numbers are customizable on xROM is also because of a 3rd party program called Advanced Launcher and is compatable with Cyan 4.0.4. So don't give off the wrong idea that it is xROM exclusive. FYI the camcorder works on current Cyan Experimental builds.
AthlonBoy
September 17, 2009 at 6:37am
I think you're off the mark when it comes to your information on the ROMs available.
For starters, xROM is based off cyanogenmod and other people's work. (I'm not complaining, this is open source development at work; if something is good, use it!) It's best thought of as a collection of features from many people. It's based off of Android 1.6, also known as Donut, just like cyanogenmod. There is no Android 2.0, as Google have only just finished 1.6 (quite literally finalised yesterday).
Looking through xROM's patchnotes, it appears to be very heavily based on cyanogenmod, but with more third-party stuff like the theme, toggle widgets, and the like. Conversely, cyanogenmod has the new official power widget which is part of Donut, and the experimental version has the global search bar; an important new feature not unlike the iPhone's recent search function. It searches the entire phone (contacts, web browsing history, files, what have you) as you type.
The stable version of cyanogenmod is based off of Cupcake, Android 1.5, but with very many parts of Donut backported to it. This is because Donut was largely non-functional at the time, even the GSM radio didn't work. The experimental version instead bases itself off a recent version of 1.6, with Cupcake features ported onto it to fill in any gaps. With the recent official release of 1.6, cyanogen is going to move everything over to that, polish it up, and name it as a stable build. Yes, with a camcorder.
You can see what Donut is all about here.
Oh, and one last thing. Cyanogenmod used to have a very flashy battery life 'widget' on the "screen locked" screen, but it actually drained a lot of battery, so he removed it.
miketaylor00
September 17, 2009 at 10:40am
For starters, xROM is based off cyanogenmod and other people's work. (I'm not complaining, this is open source development at work; if something is good, use it!) It's best thought of as a collection of features from many people.
This is completely untrue. xROM is not a collection of features from many people any more than Cyanogen is. Yes, there are modified apks from various peolpe on xda but Cyanogen has the same thing. I am a part of the xROM team and I can tell you without a doubt that JAC does not just copy Cyanogen's code. Yes, he does use some things from Cyanogen but he gives credit where it is due.
Also, xROM has the donut power widget too which was done by Manup, another member of the xROM team. And it will include the same global search and other donut features in version 1.6. The reason that it hasn't been released yet is that the Donut code is not stable enough. Just because JAC waits to release thing until they are stable that doesn't meant that he is copying Cyanogen or riding his coat tails. He also has 2 other ROMs that he develops, JacHeroSki (a Hero ROM for the Dream/G1) and JacMyTouchSki (a MyTouch3G based ROM).
I know you are probably a big fan of Cyanogen and that is cool. I have a lot of respect for him, he makes a great ROM. But don't post libelous statements on here or anywhere. There is no need to disrespect people who put in a lot of hard work because you wanted the author to say that CM is the best ROM out there.
AthlonBoy
September 17, 2009 at 4:55pm
Fair enough, that shows how much I know about xROM. :)
My one and only beef was that the author is horribly misinformed about both cyanogenmod and xROM, and how because xROM is based off of Android 2.0, it is somehow better. We both know that to be false.
Either way, I still maintain that xROM uses a lot of cyanogen's work, but I like it that way. This is open source. You see a change, use it, give credit where credit is due, and everything moves forward. Cyanogen decides to use BFS, Google pick that up. Ol' Jesusfreke lays a lot of the groundwork for custom ROMs, and this is our payoff. If I sounded like I was suggesting JAC was plagarising, I apologise. I just wanted to make it clear just how similar the two ROMs are at the core, a fact this article completely ignores.
Paul_Lilly
September 17, 2009 at 7:59pm
This article was started awhile back, about the same time when 'Donut' was still being referred to as Android 2.0. We now know that 1.6 is Donut, and you're right, that should have been corrected in the xROM write-up as it was in the Cyanogen summary.
To clarify, the reason I recommended xROM was not because of a misconception that it uses super secret alien technology not available to anyone else, but because it felt a bit more polished. Force close errors are almost non-existent, you can configure up to 10 home screens out of the box, the camcorder works (albeit it can be buggy), the toolbar holds a lot of promise, and some of the advanced settings are both easily accessible and useful.
As noted, Cyanogen also has several upsides that make it a good candidate, and if the latest build that was just released fixed the camcorder issue, then it's even better than before. Maybe the mini-review wasn't entirely clear (and judging by Cyanogen's Twitter comments, it wasn't), but I like what Cyanogen has done overall, and the fact that it's being actively developed is a huge plus.
I would enourage users to experiment with different ROMs, as that's half the fun. And while I think xROM gets a bit more right than the rest, there's no clear cut winner among the top ROMs like there is in, say, music videos (I'm sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time).
-Paul Lilly
nduanetesh
September 16, 2009 at 8:44pm
Thanks very much for this article! I've had a G1 since Feb and I'm really really digging it. Everytime Will Smith is on the podcast talking about how his iPhone broke and Apple told him to go fuck himself, I'm even more thankful for my G1 and all of it's included awesomeness.
I've been thinking for a while about rooting, but wasn't sure there was a really compelling reason to do so. I didn't realize it had become so easy, though, so I'm thinking I might just go ahead and give it a shot!
Thanks again!
Capper
September 16, 2009 at 8:34pm
Yes XDA is the place to go for in depth stuff.....but there is so much information there, thats really poorly organized. One4 did a really great job of cleaning it up, organizing it in an easy to understand manner, and provided you all the links you need to get going.
If you read his instructions, you may even realize that he even shows you an easier way to do everything.
bryanwf
September 16, 2009 at 7:20pm
I have the HTC Dream which is the same phone, but on the Rogers Network in Canada. I'm wondering if I can root the phone and still use it on my network?
charrion
September 18, 2009 at 8:01am
The methods to root a Rogers Dream are indeed a little different from the G1. There are two main methods depending on how far you wish to go. Since the Rogers Dream is slightly different in some respects from the T-Mobile G1 you can't simply follow the general instructions or you will brick your phone or at least cause problems with it accessing the Rogers network.
XDA Forums is your best start and these two threads are your best starting point. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=544654", and this thread includes installing a port of Cyanogen's rom recompiled spefically for Rogers phones http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=544854.
I've also cobbled together instructions for using one-click root on the Rogers phones since that method too is a little different for us poor canucks, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=558301.
Still, the best instructions in this article to follow are to read thoroughly and understand what you are doing and potentially doing first.
comptech08
September 16, 2009 at 7:37pm
Go to xda forums, here is the link for the Dream section
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?s=b28d7e7aa0dbf8854cf33a10d513305a&f=446
You would look under the development section. It would probably be best to
do a search through that section. There are a ton of threads.
XDA is the development community where hacking android first appeared. If
you go to their home page, http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php , they also
support development for numerous other smart phones
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