Rooting the HTC Desire HD

Warning: Rooting the HTC Desire HD will void the warranty.

Downgrade to 1.32.405.6

If the HTC Desire HD is running firmware 1.72/1.75 (Settings » About Phone) you need to downgrade the device first in order to root. If the HTC Desire HD is already running 1.32.405.6 or lower you can skip to the Gaining Temporary Root Access section.

1. You will need ADB on the computer to downgrade the firmware on the HTC Desire HD. Follow the Android SDK guide, to get the ADB shell on the computer.
2. Download psneuter, misc_version 0.01 & the 1.32.405.6 firmware:
   • psneuter: Download

     md5: 89c2dec8d72d87b4c669f44dd31c8d17

   • misc_version 0.02: Download

     md5: 1f40aaf88d1bf15775631a58c4361218

   • 1.32.405.6 firmware: Download

     md5: d5067eaad6d447797a67828b567901af

3. Unzip the psneuter & misc_version package to the same folder as adb (the /platform-tools folder within the Android SDK folder).
4. Connect the HTC Desire HD to the computer via USB.
5. On the computer, open terminal and run the following commands:

   adb push psneuter /data/local/tmp

   adb push misc_version /data/local/tmp

   adb shell chmod 777 /data/local/tmp/psneuter

   adb shell chmod 777 /data/local/tmp/misc_version

   adb shell /data/local/tmp/psneuter

   adb shell

   NOTE: You should have the "#" sign instead of the "$". If you do, you have temporary root, and can continue on.

   /data/local/tmp/misc_version -s 1.31.405.3

   exit

6. Copy the 1.32.405.6 firmware to the root of the SD card (NOT in any folders).
7. On the computer, open terminal and run the following command:

   adb reboot bootloader

8. Follow the on screen directions, on the HTC Desire HD, on flashing the 1.32.405.6 firmware.
9. Once finished you can can continue to the next section.

Root, S-OFF, the ClockworkMod Recovery & the Engineering HBoot

Before you begin, if VISIONary is installed on the HTC Desire HD, uninstall it before continuing.

1. You will need ADB on the computer to root the HTC Desire HD and to flash the necessary files for radio S-OFF. Follow the Android SDK guide, to get the ADB shell on the computer.
2. Download busybox, the ClockworkMod Recovery, the Engineering HBoot, flash_image, gfree 0.06, psnueter, root_psn, Superuser package:
   • busybox: Download

     md5: 94ea71053a842c54559c5d0b8e7bec2c

   • ClockworkMod Recovery: Download
   • Engineering HBoot: Download

   md5: b2c8834905bfa2349f5223077493140a

   • flash_image: Download

     md5: bd475f29e0665c702f8eaf57a0423b58

   • gfree 0.06: Download

     md5: 4c217b7c5f1a6d103393c062cf54e956

   • psneuter: Download

     md5: 89c2dec8d72d87b4c669f44dd31c8d17

   • root_psn: Download

     md5: c8fe38ef55eb8951def9ff17b2eb99c1

   • Superuser package: Download

     md5: 43d9a40b63e916635d5ad7ca32433fab

3. Unzip the zip files and copy the contents to the same folder as adb (the /platform-tools folder within the Android SDK folder).
4. Connect the HTC Desire HD to the computer via USB.
5. Make sure USB debugging is enabled on the HTC Desire HD by checking Settings » Applications » Development » USB debugging.
6. On the computer, open terminal and run the following commands:

   adb push busybox /data/local/tmp/

   adb push flash_image /data/local/tmp/

   adb push gfree /data/local/tmp/

   adb push hboot-eng.img /data/local/tmp/

   adb push psneuter /data/local/tmp/

   adb push recovery-clockwork-3.0.2.5-ace.img /data/local/tmp/recovery.img

   adb push root_psn /data/local/tmp/

   adb push su /sdcard/

   adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/

   adb shell

   chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/*

   cd /data/local/tmp

   ./psneuter

   ./busybox md5sum /dev/block/mmcblk0p18

   NOTE: Take note of this number, we will need it later. For the remainder of this guide, we will refer to this number md5 #1.

   ./gfree -f -b hboot-eng.img

   ./flash_image recovery recovery.img

   ./root_psn

   sync

   NOTE: This may take a moment, just give it some time.

   ./busybox md5sum hboot-eng.img

   NOTE: Take note of this number, we will need it later. For the remainder of this guide, we will refer to this number md5 #2.

   ./busybox md5sum /dev/block/mmcblk0p18

   NOTE: Take note of this number, we will need it later. For the remainder of this guide, we will refer to this number md5 #3.

   • If md5 #1 & md5 #3 match, then gfree 0.06 failed to powercycle the eMMC chip on the device. Either the software version is to high and the device was not downgraded per the previous section or you have to use the gfree 0.05 instead. Please download gfree 0.05, reboot and attempt again.
     • gfree 0.05: Download

       md5: 74aec166f591ec5d25d898a903570931

   • If md5 #2 & md5 #3 match, then everything should be fine and you continue on.
   • If md5 #3 does NOT match md5 #1 or md5 #2, then DO NOT REBOOT and join #G2Root on Freenode for further help.

   reboot

7. The HTC Desire HD is now rooted with S-OFF, the Engineering HBoot & the ClockworkMod Recovery. Continue to the next section.

Flashing a Radio & CyanogenMod