Hello guys, mind helping me?

[Guest Shahz]

Hello guys,

I'm totally new here and I just got my hands on the HTC Hero. Everything is totally new to me, and I'm trying to understand what am I doing. I see that most of the people are trying to convert their T-mobile Hero into HTC Hero. I just bought the HTC Hero, so I believe I don't have to mod the firmware?

I was looking for android apps and was searching on Google. Thats how I ended up here on this site and I'm looking at some really cool knowledge I'm about to get from the pros :( What can be done on my HTC Hero? I believe my HTC Hero is running firmware 1.5 and I saw that there is v1.6 already out. How do I upgrade to this? Or, better still, what do you guys recommend me to do? I'm totally new here, so please be gentle guys. I'm getting a grip on the HTC Hero too but I've pretty much understood most of the functions.

I'm tech-savvy, so I can easily understand any directions given to me. I use MacOSX Snow Leopard if it matters at all (coz I didnt really see any application to connect the HTC Hero to even a PC unlike PC Suite. Am I missing anything here?)

I can see that the community is filled with fun and great people. I bet there will be an angel who will guide me through this. Of course, your dedication will not go to waste. We'll build the Android community together ;) Once I learn my stuff, I will definitely help the same people in the future knowing that I'm a noob now and someone else will be in my shoes in the future :)

Cheers guys.

[Guest chucky.egg]

Hey there

First thing is to update your ROM and Radio to get the speed, performance and battery improvements.

Download the latest files:

Radio from the "ROM and Radio" thread here

Modaco ROM from the "Modaco Custom ROM" thread here

Download the Recovery image from this thread here.

Partition your SD card:

Then, I'd suggest partitioning your SD card. Follow the instructions on this page

Install the ROM and Radio:

And finally install those ROM and Radio files using the instructions in their respective threads:

Recovery image

New ROM

New Radio

The instructions can be a bit daunting first time, but they do lead you through everything step-by-step (it really is that simple)

There is an "HTC Sync" app, but I never use it personally. If you want to sync with Outlook you might need it, but if you're sync'ing with Exchange or Google you don't need to bother. The app is on the

Edited October 19, 2009 by chucky.egg

[Guest Shahz]

Hello there chucky.egg,

Thanks a tonne for your advice! Really appreciated. Good people like you make a great community :)

I'll take my time to read through, and go through every single step and make sure I understand everything as I do..That was really helpful of you :(

I'll post the outcome here..

Btw chucky.egg,

What is the purpose of "Modaco ROM"? What can it do that my current ROM can't do?

Edited October 19, 2009 by Shahz

[Guest chucky.egg]

In my (limited) experience it's mostly the speed.

the v1.5 ROM that my device (and probably yours too) came with was dog slow. I put Modaco ROM MCR2.2e on within minutes of getting the handset, and I've just upgraded to MCR 2.6. It's based on the HTC ROM though. The HTC ROM may have got faster in newer versions, but I've not gone back.

If your handset was Orange or T-Mobile branded then putting the Modaco ROM on will remove (most of) that branding. You might have to jump through hoops to get the HTC/Modaco ROM onto a branded handset

[Guest Remington Steale]

If you are on T-Mobile, do not install the official T-Mobile update rom, it will block you from installing anyother modified rom's without jumping through the aforementioned hoops.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Remington Steale

[Guest Shahz]

Thats was very helpful guys..

I have the original HTC Hero and not the branded (orange or T-Mobile) one. In fact, living in Malaysia, I don't think I can get those versions too :( Our local providers have not yet branded the HTC yet (They're too crazed over the iPhone and I have stronger trust in Google Android)..

To me, its a lot faster than my N95 of course, and since you said it will be even faster, I'm getting eager to see what's coming up soon ;)

I saw your thread and it needed a SD card partition. I just got back from the store after purchasing the 4GB Toshiba SD Card. I can't wait to have fun tonight! ;) What is the purpose of partitioning the SD card anyway? I mean, apart from dividing the space of course. Will it speed up anything?

Thanks guys. Having more people like you in Android community will make us better than the iphone community :)

[Guest Remington Steale]

Thats was very helpful guys..

I have the original HTC Hero and not the branded (orange or T-Mobile) one. In fact, living in Malaysia, I don't think I can get those versions too :( Our local providers have not yet branded the HTC yet (They're too crazed over the iPhone and I have stronger trust in Google Android)..

To me, its a lot faster than my N95 of course, and since you said it will be even faster, I'm getting eager to see what's coming up soon ;)

I saw your thread and it needed a SD card partition. I just got back from the store after purchasing the 4GB Toshiba SD Card. I can't wait to have fun tonight! ;) What is the purpose of partitioning the SD card anyway? I mean, apart from dividing the space of course. Will it speed up anything?

Thanks guys. Having more people like you in Android community will make us better than the iphone community :)

If you install the Modaco rom it uses a feature that copies applications to the SD Card, but it requires an ext3 partition on the card to work.

I would personally install the Amon Ra recovery rom for Hero, it has a few extra features that the one linked in the modaco rom thread doesnt have and is designed to be used with phones without a hardware keyboard (like the Hero).

It has an option to automatically partition your sd card as well.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Remington Steale

[Guest Shahz]

Ohh..So the Amon Ra can also be used with MoDaCo ROM though? Any specific version you would suggest? I'm downloading everything now, preparing for the big modification :)

[Guest Shahz]

Hey guys,

I got the build 2.73.728.5 on my original HTC Hero. I believe this can be put to good use for a backup original ROM? Its not yet in the list of Hero ROMs page which was given by chucky.egg.

I'm not sure though, how do I roll it. I believe there is no Nandroid yet in my ROM considering its original fw and not rooted yet?

[Guest Remington Steale]

Ah. You may have a rom with the patched kernel, I think versions 2.73.* and above are the patched ones.

You will need to follow the info in this thread in order to install Amon Ra and the Modaco roms: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=572683

Try the install instructions for Amon Ra here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=561124

But if it wont flash, then you need to follow the goldcard method in the first link.

[Guest Shahz]

Oookay..Lets do this! :) I'm goin to use the first tutorial you gave.. (Goldcard)

[Guest Shahz]

Holy cow! This took me a whole day to figure out - My HTC Hero didnt have a Google Market! Its an app that supposed to be on my phone, but it was not there. No wonder I was having problem finding all the applications at all. Now its clear.

The solution?

I went to this site:

http://andappstore.com/AndroidApplications

And downloaded the necessary applications (file manager) to accomplish the ROM flashing at least. So, with the file manager, I can now proceed with the first link you gave me :) Its getting clearer now finally! Crack! Wonder why I didnt have that app. I have everything else (Maps, Gtalk, etc). I'll keep posted here.

[Guest Shahz]

Awesome, I installed the file manager, followed the tutorial, and I can now go into the recovery! Yay! Time for flashing a new ROM now! :)

[Guest chucky.egg]

Why did you need a file manager? Do you not have access to a PC?

You can copy the ROM and Radio files to your SD card using a PC, then "Home" and power-on to get into the recovery menu to install them.

[Guest Shahz]

I needed it for the "FlashRec" process to install the recovery console :)

[Guest Orgasmatrond]

This might have been asked before, but is it possible to still run the original sense UI widgets like music player and internet bookmarks after flashing the MoDaCo ROM? I have an HTC Hero, by the way, not carrier-branded...

[Guest chucky.egg]

Yeah, the Modaco Hero ROM has Sense in it, so you get the desktop and the widgets by default

[Guest aleis]

hey guys and gals! :D

I am a windows phone guy (booooooo) but i am ready to go droid!

cant take not having innovation.

my thing is, coming from winmo and being a pc tech, i use my phone for a lot of things.

namely as a usb drive. can the droid do this?

if so...based on my other research, im SOLD! :P

also...is it true you cannot download apps to your storage card?

i read that u can only download to the Rom (or ram)?

Edited October 29, 2009 by aleis

[Guest chucky.egg]

a usb drive. can the droid do this?

Yep, it does that "out of the box"

Plug it in, get a Notification, tap it, tap "Mount"

is it true you cannot download apps to your storage card?

i read that u can only download to the Rom (or ram)?

Er, not sure what you mean

You can download some apps from websites. They come as APK files, which you then run (like CAB files in WinMo)

From the Android Marketplace the files are downloaded and installed automatically, you don't "see" them (although I guess they must exist somewhere on your device). If you wipe your device, then just go back to the Market - it lists your apps (free and paid) for you to download again.

The Market will also tell you when there are updates for your apps (did you ever use AppToDate? same idea)