Sprint Htc Hero - The Latest Android Kid On The Block

[lijodavis 1]

Blue-tooth File Transfer from market not working in hero with firmware 1.5.

Is there any update for hero from sprint?

[doc_anurag 46]

I have just rooted my hero following the link given by dkaile. thanks a lot that was easier then i thought.

Now i was wondering about deleting those sprint apps ( NFL, Nascar etc) which have come preinstalled with the phone. is it worth while and does it really speed up the phone. Can the gurus tell whether its safe to follow the instructions on this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=581635

[dkaile 1,051]

Yes;

just follow instructions carefully; take a nandroid backup; the example he has given of removing is of stock application; be careful what you want to remove; search the program you want to uninstall and use rm command to remove it....

Edited January 16, 2010 by dkaile

[doc_anurag 46]

Well i finally took the plunge and removed all the sprint apps. Although the phone does not show any increase in memory it seems to be working faster and bootup is definitely faster and for the first time i saw the phone looking for network after bootup, otherwise it used to show reliance by the time it used to be fully ready.

I have removed sprint tv, navigation, stock apps, nfl and nascar and amazon mp3, the following guides were helpful

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=581976

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=581635

[dkaile 1,051]

^

good one anurag.... keep it up....

- sms backup and restore is a good application to backup/restore ur sms to your memory card; I also use only sms backup, to backup my sms to my gmail account.

- I did a nandroid backup. It backs up ut complete system (about a 200MB file) into ur memory card. You can later copy it onto ur hard disk on pc and keep it safe there.

- Also before removing any application, I would suggest you take the backup of all the apk's and odex's either to your sd card or to your pc. Best would be to take backup of the complete system/app folder to your pc. Procedure is given in the posts you have mentioned above in xda.

- I was looking for a total backup solution and My Backup is one such good software. However be wary, it does not backup your system; it only backs up your data; For complete backup of phone, insist on nandroid backup only. But unfortunately My Backup has gone paid and is free for 30 days only...

Edited January 18, 2010 by dkaile

[dkaile 1,051]

these 2 are important files to be removed to stop over the air activation each time u reboot ur hero -

OMADM.apk

OMADM.odex

(Thank you Hetal for identifying)

commands are-

ADB remount

adb shell

su

cd /system/app

rm OMADM.apk

rm OMADM.odex

(follow exit and reboot procedure given below after it completes)

PLEASE NOTE : That you will get the OTA error ONLY in brand new sprint hero's. If you dont get that error that means that your phone had already been activated on Sprint before and is hence not brand new...

Also copy your entire system/app directory to your pc's hard disk (say e:\hero) by this -

CMD

E:

CD HERO

ADB pull /system/app .

after it completes successfully-

exit

exit

adb shell reboot

(the last command will reboot ur device; u can remove usb cable after it starts to reboot)

dont try these commands unless u know what u r doing; read xda forums for details; always take nandroid backup before playing with system files. I will not be responsible for any damage to your device, if u dont know what u r doing....

Edited January 18, 2010 by dkaile

[dkaile 1,051]

New Modaco Modified 2.0 based rom is out and running successfully - http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?p=5350871

try and post comments... this is a android 2.0 based rom...

Always do Nandroid Backup first, so in case you dont like it, you can always revert back to your original/last rom (which in my case was/is Modaco 1.3 which ran every smoothly except the BT transfer issue)

Edited January 18, 2010 by dkaile

[doc_anurag 46]

Thanks dkaile, i have been able to remove that irritating on air activation thanks to ur advice . But i think u have missed an important command without which i was getting a read only error.

I would like to restate the steps especially for other noobs like me who have no prior experience as somethings assumed as basic by gurus are quite puzzling to us( well to me atleast they were )

1. First to back up your pre installed apps:

a) i made a new folder "hero" on my C: drive on the comp

b ) Then i opened command prompt from the start folder

c) typed in "cd C:\android-sdk-windows\tools"( assuming u have installed the sdk software on ur C: drive while rooting your phone)

d)typed in "adb pull /system/app c:\hero" this copied all the apps to the hero folder i made on my c drive

2. Now to delete all the apps u dont want

a)type "adb shell"

* daemon not running. starting it now *

* daemon started successfully *

u will get this screen followed by $ symbol

b ) type "su"

u will get #

c)type "mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system"

d) type "cd /system/app"

Now we are into the app folders and then to remove various apps i just typed rm followed by various file names given on the first post on this link. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=581976.

Each file name has to be typed separately with the rm command.

e)type "exit"

f)again "exit"

g)type "adb shell reboot" and ur phone will reboot and be ready to use

I have removed all the sprint apps and the over air activation as per dkaile, without yet killing my phone. I was initially scared but guess its not to difficult to do even for noobs like me.

and most importantly as told by all the gurus before starting anything always make a nandroid backup before fiddling with your phone.

[dkaile 1,051]

^

Just copy all the files of the tools folder of ur sdk kit into your windows folder and then you will be able to run sdk commands like adb etc. from any command prompt... even in e or c:\hero.....

and I think you must have missed the DOT in this command line -

ADB pull /system/app .

the dot is very important and signifies copying the entire folder....

Edited January 19, 2010 by dkaile

[lijodavis 1]

I have removed all stock applications from sprint.I didn't get any increase in internal memory.

When i tried to copy all apps to c:\hero i got a permission denied error.so i removed without copying files.also removed OMADM.apk OMADM.odex files for OTA activation. Now there is no need to cancel activation window when rebooting .

When we will get the 2.1 rom update? any solution to sync the anniversary field in gmail contacts to android calender?

I have noted Birthdays and anniversary fields in google contacts are not in android contacts after sync.

Edited January 20, 2010 by lijodavis

[dkaile 1,051]

^

As you know, google added birthday column to google contacts "recently", so thats probably this column isn't syncing, it doesn't work both ways, if you add birthday via web interface it wont get synced on your phone and also if u add birthday on your phone it wont get synced to google contacts

however, if you add birthday via web interface, you can "sync" them with your google calendar

1. Go to google calendar via web interface, click settings > calendars

2. Click on "Browse interesting calendars" > more

3. Look for "Contacts' birthdays and events" and click Subscribe

this will add an other calendar "on top" of your main calendar, and this calendar will sync with your phone (you get birthday events of your contacts inside google calendar), remember its gonna take some time till this gets synced, but it works

I know its not much, but you get some of the birthday-calendar functionality. I have tried it personally and IT WORKS... (except in the case if your contacts and friends feed their wrong birthdays on facebook etc.; as it syncs those too... lol)

in mean time you can add star here

http://code.google.c...Summary%20Stars

and here

http://code.google.c...Summary%20Stars

Problem should get sorted out in coming updates....

Edited January 20, 2010 by dkaile

[dkaile 1,051]

Also just accessed RWorld on my Hero for the first time by setting Proxy Settings; little tricky but managed to set the proxy settings....

Edited January 20, 2010 by dkaile

[lijodavis 1]

Actually i have synced Birthdays with my Android calender before itself by the same way you have told,problem is with anniversary field.Also birthday and anniversay field not shown in android contacts.I think we need to wait for the rom update.

[dkaile 1,051]

^

You try that option I have told you in Calendar as above; It will work; try adding 2-3 anniversaries in your android phone contacts and check; they will show up in calendar...

[lijodavis 1]

I have contacts with anniversary fields.it won't show up in the Google calender itself. so not on android too.Birthday fields will show up in Google calender,also on android calender.Both birthdays and anniversary won't show up on android contacts/people.

[dkaile 1,051]

^

hmmm.... I think u r right... only birthdays syncing....

[rahujas 16]

please tell me detailed way to activate data on my hero for reliance.

thanks

[doc_anurag 46]

Hi, I just now turned on the mobile data connection on my phone when I got a pop up saying that there is a system update available and whether I want to download it. I have just pressed to remind me later. Has anyone else also gotten this message, any idea what's it about and whether its safe to download or not

[dkaile 1,051]

^

on which rom are you? these pop ups depend from rom to rom....

[doc_anurag 46]

No custom roms for me yet! Am on the stock sprint Rom as supplied by sadikk bhai.

[dkaile 1,051]

^

and is it 1.29 or 1.56? as 1.29 has many bugs and u shud shift to 1.56 immediately... i hv posted links for some roms; if ur device is rooted, go ahead and try them; u can revert back at any time if u first take a nandroid backup....

and @sadikk - us shud start paying me now for running your unofficial customer care... u ***ody dont pay me a cent... LOL... more than half ur clients phones me up every half hour... saari malai akele khata hai...

Edited January 22, 2010 by dkaile

[doc_anurag 46]

I checked up on the rom and its 1.56 only. I was waiting for the android 2.1 to officially come out before fiddling with my rom. Any guesses to when it may be out.

The phone gives me nearly 2 days of usage if i use data sparingly, but if i leave it on continuously it really drains the battery off in no time giving less then a day of battery life. I have switched off nearly all the auto updates still the battery usage with data is amazing. Is this normal???

I forward messages a lot but i have noticed that the moment u sent about a 100 messages in a short interval the phone starts showing a warning it has detected a large no of messages being sent and asks for confirmation for each message. I guess its like a spam filter but is there any way of increasing this limit.

[dkaile 1,051]

^

My battery experience is also similar; without data its 2 days + and with continuous data I was able to squeeze 1 full day;

100 messages in few minutes is incredible; dont know about the spam filter; maybe its there in the original rom; try custom roms; I am on modaco 1.3 which looks and behaves exactly like sprint 1.56 and is based on it only, but is rooted and hence no networks constraints or locks apply; also try modaco 2.0 which I hv heard is very good...

We are hoping for a 15Feb release of official 2.1 rom for Hero... ummeed par duniya tiki hai... lol...

@shubanyu

Even though there is still a BT file transfer issue (the only real issue I could find, and which is solved in all updates after 1.6), I am never going back to wm ever again.... hope that answers your question... now why? personal choice, maybe; but there are such a plethora of options for us geeks that we can get really inside the os that realy excites us with android; though I am still on a learning curve and lots remains to be learnt... It does everything much better than wm, is highly customisable; I just love the HTC sense interface over and above the basic android garb; It has so much more flexibility over wm; it is more feature rich; plethora of softwares; the ease with which it gets back all my contacts and calendars from my gmail account is incredible....

Email is incredible which you can never experience on wm specially if you are a total googler like me; Push mail is so incredible on the Gmail application that you will forget all blackberries; I have not felt the need to configure the HTC mail client till date and am using ONLY the Gmail application; You can gauge by that fact how well it handles Gmail emails;

Music, as I have said before is at par with my ipod specially with the built in 3.5mm jack; Videos it plays but not all formats and needs to be converted to the desired format and resolution to play well; also just like any ipod;

Bottom line is that if YOU ARE A GOOGLER, YOU CANT BE WITHOUT A ANDROID PHONES.... but for others there are still other (lower) options...

Edited January 23, 2010 by dkaile

[rahujas 16]

please tell me how can i enable NAM 2 on my hero... whenever i switch to NAM 2 there is no signal even though i have loaded PRL from QPST in NAM 2.

i want to use my TATA no. in NAM2.

Please help me.

[dkaile 1,051]

^

- best would be to forward all your mails to your gmail account if you want absolutely snappy pushmail; otherwise imap will also work though not as well as with gmail;

- i hv gotten used to the onscreen keyboard very fast; first thing u should do on getting the new device is to TRAIN IT (yes, its possible) to your touch method and typing greatly gets easier; also it starts saving your words into its directory and keeps getting easier as it ages... auto-corrections works fab...

- copy paste all work... from sms to email etc... though it took getting used to first time as to how to do it; but once u get a hang of it, its easy...

- my screen shots follow...