Modding the Monte Carlo

[Guest Nozz]

Hi all. On the point of buying a brand new Monte Carlo and as a complete smartphone novice with minimal understanding of the great work which been done by some of you development guys, I'm wondering if someone could give me some starter tips on the basis I'd like to end up with an unlocked de-branded phone running a decent ROM and with working wifi.

There are some great tutorials on the forum but I'm confused as to what exactly I should be loading and in which order. This is my checklist below but not sure which is best to do first?

1) Install the USB drivers

2) Unlocking - I want to unlock the MC for use overseas but do not require this for a couple of months, so will probably run with the Orange PAYG SIM until then. Does it make any difference if I unlock now, in terms of any other modding below?

3) Download Superboot for rooting the phone

4) ClockworkMod Recovery

5) Backup then wipe data - not sure exactly what this is and how this is achieved? Is it just storing the stock ROM somewhere?

6) Add the latest custom ROM

If I carry out the above in that order, then will everything work OK? Or I am missing something or doubling up on anything or doing in the wrong order?

Lastly, I plan to buy a Micro SD card with a larger memory - should I wait until I receive this before starting any of the above?

Thanks and apologies for the long post.

[Guest Reaskawallah]

Just follow the instructions in the pinned thread Want to unlock your OMC / Skate? Tutorial here! No need to wait for bigger sd card.

[Guest Nozz]

Just follow the instructions in the pinned thread Want to unlock your OMC / Skate? Tutorial here! http://android.modac...tutorial-here/. No need to wait for bigger sd card.

Thanks for the info re the SD card. I've seen the unlock tutorial and the other pinned threads for other stuff. My question is whether there is any overlap or conflict between this with the processes for adding clockworkmod recovery, superboot or adding ROMs. And which order is best to do these in? Obviously rooting before ROM adding, but more wondering more about how the rest interacts and whether there is an optimum way to do all this.

My original post listed what I thought was the correct way to proceed and I just wanted someone to say that was OK or better to do in another way or don't forget to do x,y or z. Just want to do this correctly and do it once without bricking the phone.

Edited November 28, 2011 by Nozz

[Guest Amphoras]

You need the stock recovery to unlock the phone, so if you do it now then you don't need to reflash that later (not that it makes much difference).

If you're going to install a custom rom, you don't need to root first. You just have to flash Clockwork recovery and then flash your rom from that. I think all the custom roms are already rooted, so once its installed that's you.

If you want to backup your current rom, then you just choose the backup option from Clockwork. If you want to save the app data to use on the custom rom you install, then you'll need to root first and use an app like Titanium Backup to do this. Once you've installed the new rom you can restore the data using the same app.

[Guest unrandomsam]

Single most useful feature for doing mod's is - if you do

fastboot erase boot

fastboot erase recovery

then it boots into fastboot without any messing around

Its really useful

If you are messing around with boot.img.

fastboot boot new_boot.img

(If it fails pull the battery - and repeat)

saves allot of time compared to missing the keycombo and having to wait until you can do adb reboot bootloader

[Guest Nozz]

You need the stock recovery to unlock the phone, so if you do it now then you don't need to reflash that later (not that it makes much difference).

If you're going to install a custom rom, you don't need to root first. You just have to flash Clockwork recovery and then flash your rom from that. I think all the custom roms are already rooted, so once its installed that's you.

If you want to backup your current rom, then you just choose the backup option from Clockwork. If you want to save the app data to use on the custom rom you install, then you'll need to root first and use an app like Titanium Backup to do this. Once you've installed the new rom you can restore the data using the same app.

Thanks a lot Amphoras. Things are slowly becoming clearer. So the unlock tutorial includes flashing the stock recovery and also installs ClockworkMod, therefore I can follow that process then only need to add a custom ROM? i.e. no need for Superboot/rooting at all, unless I have saved apps to transfer? I won't add any apps until later in that case.

Should I save/backup the original Orange ROM in case of disaster? There seems to be some sort of backup in the unlocking tutorial (QCN file?) but nothing similar in the latest custom ROM tutorial.

Edited November 28, 2011 by Nozz

[Guest Amphoras]

Thanks a lot Amphoras. Things are slowly becoming clearer. So the unlock tutorial includes flashing the stock recovery and also installs ClockworkMod, therefore I can follow that process then only need to add a custom ROM? i.e. no need for Superboot/rooting at all, unless I have saved apps to transfer? I won't add any apps until later in that case.

Should I save/backup the original Orange ROM in case of disaster? There seems to be some sort of backup in the unlocking tutorial (QCN file?) but nothing similar in the latest custom ROM tutorial.

Yes, the unlock tutorial provides what you need to return to the stock recovery if you've removed it, unlock the phone, then optionally flash Clockwork recovery at the end. If you want to backup your stock rom then you can do that before you start. I think the unlock tutorial flashes the Orange rom as well, so you could do it after as well. There's also a TPT of the Orange rom around, so even if you didn't make any backup you could probably use that if you had to return the phone under warranty.

The QCN file you backup is to stop you losing things like your mac address, you only need to do that when you're unlocking, and you'll restore it at the end of the unlock.

[Guest Nozz]

Thanks again. I think I've got it all clear in my head now, so just need to make the purchase and get started. I've seen a few other posts which seem to indicate that, contrary to the tutorial, the battery should be replaced at certain points in the unlock process (like after FTM appears or adding a port), but I guess I'll just wait and see what happens when I get to that bit.

Cheers for the assistance.