#clockwork recovery

[nawsher-blog-blog]

Custom ROM for your Android

Before we begin:

This is based on my own experience and accumulated knowledge from others on the web. Mine is an HTC Desire and the machine I am using is a Mac. So, I will explain the steps from a Desire/Mac perspective :) By the way, some of the steps might take a while, just be patient throughout the process. And as a precaution, first save all your data on SD Card and phone somewhere else, and then proceed.

Step - 1: Root your Android

This is basically to give you root permissions to your device, which is a mandatory to continue next steps. The rooting procedure differs from phone to phone. The easiest method:

Go to Unrevoked and download the appropriate application for your phone model. Currently they support HTC Evo 4G, Hero, Wildfire, Aria, Desire and Droid Incredible.

On your Desire, go to Settings > Applications > Development and make sure USB Debugging is turned on.

Connect your phone using USB cable.

Now run the downloaded Unrevoked app and follow whatever it tells you to do. Piece of cake!

Step - 2: Install ROM Manager

Go to Android market, and search for ROM Manager. 

Once found, install it. Next Clockwork.

Step - 3: Install Clockwork Recovery (or ClockworkMod or ClockworkMod Recovery)

Make sure your phone is connected to Internet.

Launch the installed ROM Manager on your phone.

In the app, tap Flash ClockworkMod Recovery.

Specify or confirm phone model if prompted during the process, and follow any on-screen instructions. Wala!

Step - 4: Create EXT Partition with Gparted

Get a Ubuntu ISO image and burn it on a CD.

Boot your machine from the Ubuntu live CD.

Connect your phone's SD card with a card reader.

Launch Gparted from System > Administration > Gnome Partition Editor.

Resize your SD card partition and leave/create a 1.5GB (max) EXT3 or EXT4 partition towards the end. The hard parts are done!

Step - 5: Do a Nandroid Backup

Go to ROM Manager.

Scroll downn and tap on Backup current ROM (or Nandroid or Backup and restore).

That's your Nandroid backup! You may restore to this point anytime if something goes wrong!

Step - 6: Get a Custom ROM

Download a custom ROM of your choice for Desire from XDA Developers.

Store the downloaded custom ROM in a folder on your SD card. Almost there!

Step - 7: Install the Custom ROM

Launch ROM Manager from your phone.

Tap on Reboot into Recovery.

After reboot, wipe the following:

Data/factory reset

Cache partition

Dalvik cache from Advanced option

Once done, go to Install from Zip and choose your downloaded ROM from the folder. Done, finally!

  There is no end of it: You can repeat steps 5, 6, 7 for every new custom ROM you get hold of. Good luck with your new freedom!

  References:

http://theunlockr.com/2010/09/20/how-to-root-the-htc-desire-unrevoked-method/

http://myhtcdesire.com/modding/how-to-root-your-desire-easily-method-1

http://unrevoked.com/recovery/

http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-install-clockwork-recovery-to-your...

http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-perform-and-restore-a-nandroid-bac...

http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php

[softchip]

Clockwork Recovery

Porting Clockwork Recovery to New Devices

Update/Preface:

It is difficult for me to port recovery for a device I don’t have. So, people can attempt to port it using this guide. However, if you want it done properly, and probably quicker, you can loan the device to me personally at:

Koushik Dutta 2721 1st Ave 507 Seattle, WA 98121

The package must include:

The rooted phone.

A return packing slip to your address.

A signed statement saying: “I, <your name here>, am lending this device, <name of device>, to Koushik Dutta so that he can try to port Clockwork Recovery to the device. I understand that rooting a phone voids the warranty and tampering with the software may render the device nonfunctional. I realize and accept that the phone may not be functional when it is returned. Koushik Dutta is not liable for any damages to the device.”

BEFORE SENDING ME THE PACKAGE, CONFIRM WITH ME THAT I AM AVAILABLE TO PORT THE RECOVERY.

It will take around a week, and there are no gaurantees whether I will actually be able to do it (due to proprietary software, locked bootloaders, my schedule, etc). After a week (generally quicker), I will send it back. I’m a trustworthy guy and am well known in the Android community. And I’ve already done this for several loaner devices.  So you don’t need to worry about the safety of your precious hardware.

Otherwise, continue on the to the guide!

This guide will assume you have some familiarity with doing an Android Build.

This guide will work for phones that use a standard Android boot image format. This guide will not work for Samsung phones which use an initramfs.

First, let's check out the CyanogenMod tree. The CyanogenMod repository contains Clockwork Recovery, which is part of a full Android build.

repo init -u git://github.com/CyanogenMod/android.git -b gingerbread

repo sync

make -j4 otatools

Now, use dump_image or dd to dump your recovery or boot image from a running phone and copy it to your computer somewhere.

dump_image boot boot.img

To build Android from source for a new device, you need to set up a board config and its makefiles. This is generally a long and tedious process. Luckily, if you are only building recovery, it is a lot easier. From the root of your Android source directory (assuming you've run envsetup.sh), run the following (substituting names appropriately):

build/tools/device/mkvendor.sh device_manufacturer_name device_name /your/path/to/the/boot.img

You will receive the confirmation "Done!" if everything worked. The mkvendor.sh script will also have created the following directory in your Android source tree:

manufacturer_name/device_name

Now, type the following:

lunch full_device_name-eng

This will set the build system up to build for your new device. Open up the directory in a file explorer or IDE. You should have the following files: AndroidBoard.mk, AndroidProducts.mk, BoardConfig.mk, device_.mk, kernel, system.prop, recovery.fstab, and vendorsetup.sh.

The two files you are interested in are recovery.fstab and kernel. The kernel in that directory is the stock one that was extracted from the boot.img that was provided earlier. For the most part, recovery.fstab will work on most devices that have mtd, emmc, or otherwise named partitions. But if not, recovery.fstab will need to be tweaked to support mounts and their mount points. For example, if your /sdcard mount is /dev/block/mmcblk1p1, you would need the following lines in your BoardConfig.mk:

/sdcard vfat /dev/block/mmcblk1p1

Once the recovery.fstab has been properly setup, you can build the recovery using:

make -j4 recoveryimage

Your recovery can then be found at $OUT/recovery.img. If you are in need of building a fakeflash recovery, you will need to run the following to create the update.zip that hot replaces the recovery:

make -j4 recoveryzip

Once this is done, build, and tested, notify me, "koush", on Github and I can build official releases and add ROM Manager support!

Tip: Run "make clobber" between builds if you change the BoardConfig.mk, or the change will not get picked up.

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