[How-To]Windows -- root your HTC Evo and install Clockwork recovery

[ZombieRace]

There is only the # SU in my app drawer. Right after unrEVOked finished running, a SU prompt came up and froze and prompted for force close.

Edit: Considering trying uninstalling the #SU and unrEVOked and then reinstall/root with unrEVOked. Not sure where # SU apk is, might be inaccessible to me without root. | Confirmed: can't do it.

Edit 2: Going to power through a factory restore and performing the root method again. Down the rabbit hole I go..

 

[KSmithInNY]

Edit 2: Going to power through a factory restore and performing the root method again. Down the rabbit hole I go..

This is not a bad thing at all. Hell i can root a stock evo, flash a ROM, and setup a brand new user in about 10 minutes. This didn't happen overnight lol!!!

 

[ZombieRace]

Can't seem to run: RUU_Supersonic_1.32.651.6_Radio_1.39.00.05.31_release_171253_signed.exe

Reboots my phone to a silver HTC logo, and then the windows installer times out with a USB error. Tried twice, once with the HTC sync option and the other with the charge only option.

Is restoring the factory ROM a necessary step, or can I just perform the root method as-is without running into too much trouble?

 

[KSmithInNY]

Can't seem to run: RUU_Supersonic_1.32.651.6_Radio_1.39.00.05.31_release_171253_signed.exe

Reboots my phone to a silver HTC logo, and then the windows installer times out with a USB error. Tried twice, once with the HTC sync option and the other with the charge only option.

Is restoring the factory ROM a necessary step, or can I just perform the root method as-is without running into too much trouble?

You know, we may be over thinking this. Re-download RvU. Put it on the root of your SD card. Using your PC (not rom manager because it needs SU permission) boot into recovery. Select flash ROM from SD. Select the RvU you just downloaded and flash it.

I suspect the problem is not that your phone is not rooted because you would never have been able to load this ROM, but rather that you have something wonky going on with the SU.apk

 

[ZombieRace]

The hits just keep coming... Reflashed RvU 1.3.2 and now I cannot connect to data services. Cannot sign into my gmail account, the market, the web, etc.


Disregard... I toggled my 3G radio and then it connected

 

[KSmithInNY]

And now for the million dollar question ... how's SU working?

 

[ZombieRace]

Like a charm, just set up Rom Manager

Thanks! I'll report back in if something else blows up.

Boiling this all down to a learning experience.

 

[prettyb]

For some odd reason, I am not getting very far with this method. When I go into adb and reboot into recovery, everything checks out. When I run the bat file, all the files push through, but I still can't access the recovery. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. After all the files push through, this is what I get:

31 files pushed. 0 files skipped.
1208 KB/s (3693573 bytes in 2.984s)

C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>adb-wind
ows.exe shell busybox --install /sbin
adb server is out of date. killing...
* daemon started successfully *

C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>echo.


C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>adb-wind
ows.exe shell nohup /sbin/recovery
adb server is out of date. killing...

 

[UTnick]

For some odd reason, I am not getting very far with this method. When I go into adb and reboot into recovery, everything checks out. When I run the bat file, all the files push through, but I still can't access the recovery. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. After all the files push through, this is what I get:

31 files pushed. 0 files skipped.
1208 KB/s (3693573 bytes in 2.984s)

C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>adb-wind
ows.exe shell busybox --install /sbin
adb server is out of date. killing...
* daemon started successfully *

C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>echo.


C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>adb-wind
ows.exe shell nohup /sbin/recovery
adb server is out of date. killing...

if you're worried about the

server out of date

bit -- don't. it is always gonna say that and is normal. as far as not getting into recovery . . . ummmmm i dunno. sorry.

 

[KSmithInNY]

For some odd reason, I am not getting very far with this method. When I go into adb and reboot into recovery, everything checks out. When I run the bat file, all the files push through, but I still can't access the recovery. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. After all the files push through, this is what I get:

31 files pushed. 0 files skipped.
1208 KB/s (3693573 bytes in 2.984s)

C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>adb-wind
ows.exe shell busybox --install /sbin
adb server is out of date. killing...
* daemon started successfully *

C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>echo.


C:\Documents and Settings\Nae.Beautyy\Desktop\EVO-recovery\evo-recovery>adb-wind
ows.exe shell nohup /sbin/recovery
adb server is out of date. killing...

Are trying to type into the CMD window that the batch file opens? If thats the case don't.

Leave the CMD window that the batch file opens alone, just minimize it. All your commands go into the ADB window

 

[UTnick]

The hits just keep coming... Reflashed RvU 1.3.2 and now I cannot connect to data services. Cannot sign into my gmail account, the market, the web, etc.


Disregard... I toggled my 3G radio and then it connected

Classic. If I had a nickel for every time I have done something like that.

 

[Land Master]

First off KUDOS to gbhil for this great tutorial. I looked for the THANKS button and couldn't find it. Where is it? Maybe I need a few more posts?

Either way I went through the steps and now have a fully rooted EVO with ROM Manager installed and an updated radio (updated directly from clockwork recovery). I couldn't be more pleased and the fact that they want no donations is somewhat unacceptable to me. I guess I will have to contribute to the breast fund

I do have some questions that I hope someone can address just so I am 100% sure I have things figured out. I read through all pages of this thread and all pages under the official ROM thread so if these questions have been answered I apologize and simply missed them.

1. What is the best method for wiping the dalvik cache? When booting into recovery from ROM Manager I am presented with "Clear Cache". Is this the same thing or does it need to be done via adb?
   
   
2. When performing a ROM backup is this the same as a nandroid backup? This question was touched on in a prior thread but I am still not certain. In that post it was said that they were accessed via different methods. I don't understand that, and my questions below will probably highlight my questions/concerns.
   
   I don't see ANY difference in the way ROM Manager handles these. In fact the backups I performed via ROM manager appear to be identical to those run in recovery via nandroid. Both are saved in the /sdcard/clockworkmod/backup directory and each contain a nandroid.md5 checksum. Bottom line..... ROM Manager simply reboots and performs a nandroid backup as part of its "backup current rom" command. Further, ALL back-ups whether performed in ROM Manager or directly via recovery in nandroid appear in the "Manage and Restore Back-ups" section of ROM Manager
   
   
3. Am I correct that the the recovery image (in this case "clockwork-recovery")has been written to non-volatile flash which is the essence of achieving a "truly" rooted device? In other words even if my SD Card takes a crap I will be able to "boot" into that recovery program and use all the available options.
   
   
4. It has been written that a nandroid backup is similar to imaging a hard drive. With this said I assume that as long a I store a copy of this back-up on my server I could copy same to a new SD Card and be right back in business. Please confirm and once again is there any difference between this and a back-up performed via ROM Manager?
   
   
5. Can either "image" (ROM Mangers vs. Nandroid) be restored via the non-volatile flash recovery program (currently clockwork) and if so are there any advantages/disadvantages to either method or (image)?
   
   Per my above observations there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE
   
   
6. To complicate matters in my mind, we throw Titanium into the mix. I think I understand that if I back-up "User Data" and "Applications" via Titanium that I could flash a NEW (Different) ROM and then restore a titanium backup instead of downloading and setting up all my apps again. This is of course ONLY a benefit if you are flashing something Different. Correct?
   
   
7. If I ever decide to run the Stock RUU does it re-write the Non-volatile flash as well? I just now though about this question and it leads me to believe that perhaps it is not non-volatile flash at all but simply a different partition on the internal storage. Inquiring minds want to know.

The bottom line is I am an Android n00b but have truly enjoyed my experience and feel like it has somewhat created a monster. I plan on continuing my experimentation in hopes of learning as much as I can about this wonderful OS.

With that said I want to make sure that if I break something (and I'm sure I will) that as long as I have proper "snapshots" of critical components that I can always go back to a known-good state.

Thanks in advance to any and all who have taken the time to read my long-winded post and choose to assist this n00b...

EDIT: Added my experiences in RED. Still would like comments if anyone disagrees

 

[Land Master]

Sorry about the length of my last post but still hoping someone will chime in.

Some more questions:

Does a nandroid backup also backup the currently flashed recovery image?

In other words if for some reason the system won't boot (even into recovery by holding volume down/power button), I assume there is a way to restore the nandroid backup via adb and get everything exactly the way it was?

TIA

EDIT: In viewing the backup directory I see a "recovery.img" file...I assume this means the answer to my first question is YES but would still appreciate a response to my restore question. Thanks.

 

[ChaosShadow]

gbhil, many many thanks for puttin up another AWESOME walk-through

 

[trooper54]

Hope this helps, Its not much, and i'm still new to root, but i had the same questions, and answered most of them i think. =)

1. Got to the advanced button, find clear dalvik there.

2. It is a nandroid back up, it is stored in the the clock work folder, but it is a nandroid.

3. uhhhh, i'll get back to you, or some one else.

4. This is a slight problem, as i renamed one of my backups, and it did not let me boot it. I dont know where exactly the MD5 entries are stored, in theory the answer is yes.

5. Again with the non volatile, form my understanding clockwork recovery uses the nandroid back up, just gives you a more convenient access menu.

6. I have had issues with titanium when going form 2.1 to 2.2, but only with transer of data. it is trully and amazing tool. and if you back up titanium frequently, it can restore your backed up data and apps to any rom you install. You still have to lay your apps where you want them on your home screens though.

7. Again i dont know about this one.

and lastly, i'm not sure you can run a recovery through adb, you can launch the recovery manager, but i'm not sure you can remotely recover using the nandroid image. it would be cool if you could though.

 

[Land Master]

I appreciate that info liquidjesus.

When you say "go to the advanced button" do you mean in recovery? If so... I do NOT have "Clear Dalvik" there. Only options are "Reboot Recovery", "Back", "Wipe Battery Stats" and "Key Test". I'm using a 2.0.0.5 recovery image if that matters.

Thanks again.

 

[trooper54]

hmmm interesting, your in the clockwork recovery right, not the standard android recovery? i'm running 2.0.1.0 but i think i saw it there under the previous version too... hmmm, start by flashing the updated clockwork recovery, you can do that right from inside the clockwork app (first option "flash clockwork recovery") you might have to update the app from the market. Then strait from the the clockwork app hit "reboot into recovery", then under advanced, the second option down should be wipe dalvik.

let me know how it goes.

 

[prettyb]

if you're worried about the

server out of date

bit -- don't. it is always gonna say that and is normal. as far as not getting into recovery . . . ummmmm i dunno. sorry.

Are trying to type into the CMD window that the batch file opens? If thats the case don't.

Leave the CMD window that the batch file opens alone, just minimize it. All your commands go into the ADB window

Sorry I'm so late. When I ran a the bat file a different cmd window popped up. Idk what I was doing wrong, but I have finally been able to get into recovery, but through a different way. I downloaded the ROM Manager app and it downloaded an update.zip to my sd card and I was able to access recovery through that way. Thanks though!

 

[Land Master]

hmmm interesting, your in the clockwork recovery right, not the standard android recovery? i'm running 2.0.1.0 but i think i saw it there under the previous version too... hmmm, start by flashing the updated clockwork recovery, you can do that right from inside the clockwork app (first option "flash clockwork recovery") you might have to update the app from the market. Then strait from the the clockwork app hit "reboot into recovery", then under advanced, the second option down should be wipe dalvik.

let me know how it goes.

YUP...that was it

Updated to latest build (2.0.0.0) and flashed latest recovery (2.0.1.0) and voila...Wipe Dalvik appears under advanced button in recovery.

Thanks..

 

[derik123derik123]

I keep getting...

C:\Users\Derik>cd C:\Users\Derik\Desktop\android-sdk_r06-windows\android-sdk-win
dows\tools

C:\Users\Derik\Desktop\android-sdk_r06-windows\android-sdk-windows\tools>adb she
ll
#
# cat /sdcard/flash_image > /data/flash_image
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /data/flash_image
/sdcard/flash_image: No such file or directory
#

I put the the flash_image.zip and mtd-eng.zip unzipped into the main directory.... ?

confirmed with astro that the files are in the main directory...


nvm, i had to unmount my evo so it could find it.

when running those commands it should look like this..

C:\Users\Derik>cd C:\Users\Derik\Desktop\android-sdk_r06-windows\android-sdk-win
dows\tools

C:\Users\Derik\Desktop\android-sdk_r06-windows\android-sdk-windows\tools>adb she
ll
# cat /sdcard/flash_image > /data/flash_image
cat /sdcard/flash_image > /data/flash_image
# chmod 755 /data/flash_image
chmod 755 /data/flash_image
# /data/flash_image misc /sdcard/mtd-eng.img
/data/flash_image misc /sdcard/mtd-eng.img
#

correct?