There may be a time where you decide you want to get different radios for HTC Hero. If you’re not sure where to look or what to use, because you may be afraid of flashing a bad radio, or a wrong radio, then please take a few minutes to read the article below on what to do and what not to do when flashing a radio.

First off, you MUST make sure you do not flash a GSM radio to your CDMA phone. This WILL brick your phone, resulting in a pretty paperweight with a touchscreen and trackball. We don’t want that! What our goal is, here, is to get a good radio on your phone that gets you a little bit better signal quality. The difference between a GSM radio and CDMA radio is a very large one, because CDMA and GSM are two totally different radio technologies and do not play nicely together.

With that being said, we want to remind you that we take no responsibility for any actions you make that may cause your phone problems. This is noted in our disclaimer page. This is for our safety as well as yours.

Now, personally, I use the Verizon radio below because it gets me better signal at home as well as almost everywhere else. Some people may experience horrible reception with the Verizon radio while others may find a better experience with the oldest radio on the list. It all depends on your location, and since the United States is so large, it would be hard to determine the best radio for each area. Take a little while and try out each one, pick the one you like, and use it! Simple as that.

The reason we offer so many different radios is because each one processes the wireless signal differently on each device. One that may work like a charm for me or you may not work for anyone else, so that’s just one reason why there are many different radios. Another reason is that supposedly, with each newer radio, they’re supposed to preserve battery life a bit better by polling for networks less frequently, etc. BUT, as mentioned before, the oldest radio might do the trick for you! Less network polling doesn’t automatically mean better battery life. If your phone knows it has a strong cellular signal, it’s going to help out a lot on your battery life as well because the phone won’t constantly be trying to find better signal.

Now, let’s jump into the instructions on how to flash a radio.

1. Once you download the radio of your choice, copy it to your SD card.
2. Boot your phone into recovery, then select “Flash Zip from SDCard“.
3. Scroll to the radio you just put on your SD card, and press the trackball.
4. Press the Home button to confirm your selection.
5. When the update finishes, go back to the main recovery menu and reboot your phone. The phone will boot into a black screen with a phone being removed from a box. This is okay!
6. Wait until your phone reboots back into recovery.
7. Once it boots back into recovery, it will show a progress bar pretty quickly on the bottom of the screen that will disappear.
8. When the status bar vanishes, you’re done! Select Reboot Now to reboot your phone.

Everything should occur without problems. To verify your radio has been updated, please go to Menu – Settings – About Phone – Software Information and check your baseband version. It should match the numbers in the radio filename you downloaded.

Radios for HTC Hero – CDMA Only

2.41.04.02.02-eris – This radio is for the Droid Eris 2.1 dump ROMs for the Hero. Probably not needed, but it’s here anyways.
2.42.00.03.10 – Sprint Radio Release.
1.04.01.09.21-1.5 – Stock Radio for Android 1.5
2.32.40.11.09(verizon) – Radio from Verizon Desire, works with CDMA HTC Hero.
2.42.01.04.27 – Most recent Sprint radio available.

It’s been discovered that a RUU released by Sprint and HTC was indeed to patch the root exploit found by users of the Android hacking community. With this happening, some users who are trying to root their CDMA HTC Hero for the first time may be having an issue finding a ‘Superuser Permissions’ app, found instructions on How to Root Your CDMA HTC Hero.

The problem has been fixed, and it involves running a RUU, which will wipe your phone and you will lose anything that is on there, so you may want to save whatever information you need, backup your contacts, etc to Google, before you run this RUU.

What you need to do, first, is verify that you have the version of Android that has patched root access. To do this, please go to Settings > About Phone > Software Information, and see what Build Number you’re using.

2.27.651.6 – If this is your build number, you will need to run the RUU to revert back to the original release of Android 2.1.
2.27.651.5 – If this is your build number, you need to return to the Rooting Guide, and start your steps over, because you missed something.

If you have the build of Android that requires you to run an RUU to gain root access, please download RUU_Hero_C_Sprint_2276515_R_signed.exe and run it from your computer. This is a desktop based program which will guide you through the steps to return the phone back to 2.27.651.5, so you can root.

Once done, please return to where you left off by using this link, or close this window and go back to the guide yourself.

This is a themed version of our member regaw_leinad’s 2.1 ROM he’s created.

You can download RegawMod 2.1t below, as well as find instructions on how to flash this ROM to your phone!

See the guide here, explaining how to flash this ROM to your phone.

Download RegawMOD_v2.1t_signed.

If you don’t see any point in having the clock in your task bar because you already have a widget on your home screen, then this modification will help you feel at ease, knowing that it removes the clock completely from your task bar!

When you flash this ZIP, it will force your Dalvik-Cache to rebuild when you reboot, so don’t freak out if your first boot after updating takes a few minutes.

So, let’s get into the modification, shall we? Here’s the instructions!

1. Download the clockess_taskbar_fresh_2.1.2 ZIp file and move it to your phone’s SD Card.
2. Reboot your Hero into recovery by powering down then pressing Home and Power at the same time until recovery loads.
3. Scroll down to “Flash ZIP From SDCard”
4. Select the ZIP file named above.
5. Reboot when finished.

This will provide a clear lock screen for the HTC Hero, as well as blank out the “Sprint” text above the clock on the lock screen. Essentially, allowing you to customize a clear lock screen the same way traditionally done on 1.5 ROMs. Also, the Menu unlock is disabled, meaning if your pocket presses the Menu button 2x in a row, it will not unlock your phone and kill your battery any longer!

1. To flash this, you’ll need to download the HtcLockScreen ZIP file, and extract it to your desktop, then move it to your android-sdk-windows/tools folder, or if you followed our Rooting Instructions, the Android/tools folder.
2. Open a command prompt, and navigate to your Tools folder.
3. Enter the following commands:

adb remount

adb shell

cd /data/misc/lockscreen

rm *

cd /system/customize/resource

rm htc_wallpaper*

exit

adb push HtcLockScreen.apk /system/app

adb reboot

This should now give you the resulting clear lockscreen with the background and “Sprint” text removed, leaving just the time and date on your lock screen!

This modification will remove haptic feedback (the short vibrations) from the HTC Dialer. This is tested and known working on the HTC Hero using the latest Fresh or DamageControl ROMs, and all deodexed Android 2.1 releases from the final version, such as DamageControl v2.09, but not other phones. Instructions as well as the download link are below:

1. Download DialerNoHaptic_2.1.2 and copy it to your phone’s SD Card.
2. Reboot into recovery by powering off, then holding Home and Power until recovery comes up.
3. Select ‘Flash ZIP From SDCard’
4. Select the DialerNoHaptic.zip file you just placed on your SD.
5. Reboot when finished.
6. Test and enjoy!

There shouldn’t be any issues with this customization, but if there is, please let us know about it and we’ll get you an answer to your problem!

Due to the Sprint HTC Evo coming out on June 4th and this developer’s purchase of it, DamageControl will no longer be updated for the Sprint HTC Hero, but this is the final build that he did release after the actual Android 2.1 release was finally rooted.

In version 2.09 the following changes were made, all coming from v2.08 and prior versions:

• All current tweaks moved from v2.08 to v2.09 onto the final Android 2.1 build
• Live Wallpapers (with almost everything removed)
• Helix Launcher included (because of signing issues with launcher.apk)
• Added a new DConfig, which fixed many bugs
• Fixed Lockscreen (Go into DConfig and disable stock lockscreen)
• Custom music.apk with great widgets and fixes the music button in vanilla lockscreen
• ROM is deodexed for any theming

It is recommended that you wipe Data, Dalvik-Cache if you’re coming from a leak build (DC v2.08 or earlier)

The download link will arrive soon, as the final build is being worked on right this second.

After dozens, if not hundreds, of hours put in by some really good guys, regaw_leinad for one, permanent root access has finally been achieved for the Sprint CDMA HTC Hero! Without further ado, let’s jump into some information on how to gain root access to the Hero.

1. First, if you don’t already have it, download the Android SDK from here. This contains the tools needed to access your phone from your computer which we will be doing later.
2. Once you’ve download the Android SDK, please unzip it to C:\
   • Once extracted, you should be able to find your “tools” folder path by going to C:\android-sdk-windows.
   • A helpful hint, and it makes typing things much easier, is to rename that android-sdk-windows folder to Android. You’ll see why, later.
3. Next, you’ll need to download HTC Sync v2.0.33 here. Install the program, then restart your computer once finished.
4. Download this hero-root, which contains everything you need to root your Hero.
5. Extract the files inside of hero-root.zip to the C:\Android\tools directory. The actual files from the zip need to go into the tools directory, not the resulting unzipped hero-root folder.
6. Now, you need to turn on USB Debugging on your Hero. To ensure it is on, go to Settings – Applications – Development on your Hero, and make sure the USB Debugging box is checked.
7. Connect your phone to your computer with your USB cord. When the white page pops up asking how you want to mount your phone, make sure the option “Charge Only” is selected.
   • If your computer installs drivers, and asks you to restart, please do that now, then return to the next step to continue.
8. The fun begins! Open up a command prompt, using either the Start – All Programs – Accessories – Command Prompt method in Windows 7, or use the little search box inside your Start Menu and type in cmd. Windows XP should have a Command Prompt option right on the Start menu, if not, find it in Accessories.
9. Once your command prompt is open, you will begin typing the commands below, as directed, one per line. Do not skip any steps in this process or it will cause errors.

1. First, type into the command prompt, the following:

cd C:\Android\tools

Note: This is why I mentioned to change the android-sdk-windows folder’s name to Android, could you imagine having to type in ‘android-sdk-windows’ only to find out you misspelled it and have to retype it? Plus, it’s easier to remember!

Your Command Prompt should now be showing C:\Android\tools>

2. Next, type in:

adb devices

You should now see the word ‘DEVICE’ and a serial number, if you’ve followed all the steps correctly. If not, and you get some sort of error, please re-trace your steps, make sure your phone’s drivers have installed, and that you’ve restarted your computer. Also, check that USB debugging mode is turned on as explained in step 6 above.

3. You will now push the files needed to root your Hero, to your SD card inside your phone. Enter the following commands:

adb push unrevoked /sdcard

adb push recovery.img /sdcard

adb push boot-patched.zip /sdcard

4. Now we will run the scripts needed to gain root access. Please have patience, it is noted that this may take around 40 seconds to complete. Allow 2 minutes for safe measure, though. Enter the following commands into the command prompt:

adb shell

sh /sdcard/unrevoked

You will now see something come up on your command prompt that will look like this:

          # sh /sdcard/unrevoked
          sh /sdcard/unrevoked
          Unpacking, please wait...

          88   88 88b 88 88""Yb 888888 88 dP dP"Yb  88  dP 888888 8888b.
          88   88 88Yb88 88__dP 88__   88dP dP   Yb 88odP  88__    8I  Yb
          Y8   8P 88 Y88 88"Yb  88""   8dP  Yb   dP 88"Yb  88""    8I  dY
          `YbodP' 88  Y8 88  Yb 888888 YP    YbodP  88  Yb 888888 8888Y

          ==================================================================

          unrEVOked: root for HTC evo and hero (http://unrevoked.com)

          $

5. Please go to your Phone’s App Tray now, and select the “Superuser Permissions” app that has now been installed on your phone. Open the app, which will reveal a blank screen for now.

It has been discovered that some users are having a problem finding the ‘Superuser Permissions’ app on your phone. If you have this issue, please stop here, and follow the instructions on the post titled: Missing Superuser Permissions App (opens in a new tab/window)

6. Back in the command prompt, type in the following command:

su

7. On your phone, a prompt will appear asking you to give /system/bin/sh permissions. Press ‘Allow’.

8. Once again, return to your command prompt, which should now be displaying:

$ su

su

#

9. Now, type into the command prompt:

flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img

Note: Flashing the recovery image can take a little bit of time to complete, normally no longer than 2 minutes. Do not worry if it takes longer than 60 seconds, as exciting as this is, 60 seconds may seem like an hour!

Please wait until the # symbol reappears in the command prompt to continue any further.

Now that your recovery.img has been flashed, the command prompt should now show:

# flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img

flash_image recovery /sdcard/recovery.img

#

This means the flash was successful.

10. Now, in the command prompt, type in the following command:

reboot recovery

Your phone will now reboot itself into the recovery program you just flashed.

11. Once in Recovery on your phone, scroll down and select ‘Flash ZIP from sdcard’.

12. Now, select ‘boot-patched.zip’ from the menu that comes up on your phone. Press the ‘HOME’ button to confirm you want to flash this zip.

13. When the Recovery program says ‘Install from sdcard complete’, please select ‘Reboot now’ from the menu which will reboot your phone into normal mode.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed the process to gain root access on your Sprint CDMA HTC Hero!

There’s no better time than now to create a nandroid backup of your phone. This link describes how to do one, if you don’t already know.

Recommended Actions after Rooting:

You may want to disable over-the-air automatic updates that Sprint may send out to patch this exploit. If you want to do this so you don’t lose root, please, open a command prompt (or use the one you already have open) and type in the following commands, one per line:

cd C:\Android\tools

adb remount

adb shell

mv /system/etc/security/otacerts.zip /system/etc/security/otacerts.zip.bak

This is renaming the over-the-air programming ZIP file to a backup file so it will not be executed.

This guide will explain how to get your Sprint HTC Hero MSL (Lock) Code. You may need this if you ever want to change your PRI or something, and there’s many other things you can do that may be discussed at a later date, but for now, let’s show you how to get your MSL.

First off, you need aLogcat, please use your Barcode Scanner to follow this link below to download the app straight from our website, or click it to download the APK directly to your computer so you can install it through ADB or something:

Next, once you download and install it, launch the app and Clear your Logcat, it will be easier to find your MSL this way.

On to the steps, which shouldn’t take you any more than 5 minutes, to get your MSL!

1. Enter the EPST Menu by dialing ##3282# into your dialer, as seen in the first image below.
2. Wait a few seconds for a menu to appear. When it does, press “View Mode”, as seen in the second image below.
3. Now, your screen should open up a new menu with 3 options, as seen in the 3rd image below.
4. Now, press and hold your “Home” button until a menu appears, which should have aLogcat in it since you just ran it. It will now update itself. Once it finishes updating, press Menu, then Pause.
5. Scroll until you see a list of entries that are labeled I/EpstBroadcastReciever, which should be colored Green. You’ll see an example in the 4th image below.
6. Look for the line that has MSL= at the end of it.

Congratulations! You’ve found your MSL code, and can now do some more cool things to your phone!

Screenshots of acquiring your MSL:

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that there will be a new update packed with tons of cool new things coming for RegawMOD very soon, he says probably within the next couple of days! Soon as it is released, I will have it here for you to download and check out, so get your flashing hands ready!