How to root your HTC Desire running Android OS 2.1

Update(05/07/2010) - Added few mirrors links to download the files & HTC Desire with 0.80 and below can also root… Files are below.

HTC Desire is one of the powerful phone powered by Android OS in the present market. We all know having root access will make it even more powerful. I bet most of you HTC Desire users/owners have been patiently waiting for someone to root this awesome device. Paulobrien at Modaco has managed to root HTC Desire. Once you are done rooting and happy with the devices, please support PaulObrien for future rooting developments.

Before we get into a step by step tutorial, let see if your Desire can be rooted or not. If you have a bootloader version of 0.75 or below you can go head with the step by step guide below. If you don’t know how to check your bootloader version – Turn off your device, then turn it back on while holding the back key. On your screen, the second line in green text you will see HBOOT and a number. If your bootloader is anything above 0.75 then you may not be able to root your desire at this time.

With this root process you will be able to…

flash your device with a new, generic 1.15.405.4 based ROM that has Superuser access

show you how to enter the recovery image in future, allowing you to flash update zips

Unfortunately, this root process will not…

enable you to flash your device with a custom recovery image that can be launched easily by just holding down the volume down button when powering on

enable you to have write access to the /system partition in normal use of the device

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Warning: Please do it on your own risk. We will not be responsible for any damage or breakage of your phone.

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So, What do we need to get started

Of-course a HTC Desire

Windows PC

a microUSB cable

a microSD card (to be made into a ‘goldcard’)

Step 1: Download the following ISO image and burn it onto a CD (Its bootable image)

0.75 and below Bootloader with 1.15.xxx.x or below ROM – MediaFire / ROMraid / ROMraid2 – (MD5: 854bdbb3c5898b15f92b5991204c9288)
0.80 and below Bootloader with 1.21.xxx.x or below ROM – MediaFire / ROMraid / ROMraid2 – (MD5: 51565351b3c03c20242ec946c4af6bbc)

Note: If your Bootloader is 0.75 please use the first files.

Step 2: Lets turn your microSD card into a goldcard – Follow the instruction here

Step 3: Now, grab the above CD and boot it, or boot it in a virtual machine

Step 4: Press enter when prompted to load Linux.

Step 5: Once it is loaded, click the Terminal Windows icon at the bottom of the screen (little Monitor icon)

Step 6: Now, Turn OFF your Desire and then Turn it back ON while holding the Back button.

Step 7: Here you will see “FASTBOOT” written on the screen in a red box.

Step 8: Now, connect your Desire to the computer.

Step 9: Back to the terminal windows, type the following commands line by line and hit enter

sudo mkdir /mnt/cdrom

sudo mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

cd /mnt/cdrom/root

sudo ./step1.sh

Step 10: Once you are done with the above commands, using the optical trackball, navigate to the “BOOTLOADER” and then “RECOVERY” option on the menu, using the volume buttons to move and the power button to select.

Step 11: Once that is done, now, lets get back to the terminal windows and type the following command and hit enter

sudo ./step2.sh

Step 12: When this is completed your screen should be in recover screen.

Step 13: Now, Select the Wipe option to wipe the data

Step 14: Once the data is wiped, select option to Apply the Update.zip from the SDCard

Step 15: Once this is done, select “rootedupdate.zip” (This process will take a while. So, just sit and relax.)

Step 16: Once the flash process is done, reboot you device.

There you have it! Enjoy your rooted HTC Desire.

To know more about HTC Desire, you can always follow us on twitter @machackpc and/or follow us on Buzz machackpc and/or join our facebook fanpage to keep yourself updated.

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Tags: android, AndroidOS2.1, Desire, HTC, Root