I'm posting this because this was my first experience w/ Android and trying to root. I had some trouble because there are certain steps that are probably obvious to Android regulars or guys that did a lot of research, but it was not obvious to me.
This is written for someone who has absolutely no idea where to began. I've broken down every step. If someone needs more clarification, I'll add more steps.
Items you'll need.
1-
PC36IMG.zip
2-
evorecovery
Here's the steps written in PC android n00b language (which is what I really needed)
****ROOTING****
(This only gives you Superuser Permissions. You CANNOT install custom roms if all you did was root your phone)
By now, everyone has heard of the
unrevoked site for rooting, which is much easier to do. If you use that method, skip this section.
1) Connect your EVO to the PC and select "disk drive" so that you can see your storage card from the "My Computer" window
2) Copy the file PC36IMG.zip to the storage card then unplug the USB cable from your device.
3) Power-off your phone by holding the power-button for several seconds. The top choice is "Power Off."
4) While holding "Volume Up", push the Power button so the phone turns on. You don't need to hold the Power button, but you do need to hold the Volume Up button. This will bring you to a white screen that has several choices.
-BOOTLOADER
-REBOOT
-REBOOT BOOTLOADER
-POWER DOWN
5) The first choice is highlighted already, you just need to use the Power button to select it. (Power button = select, Volume UP/DOWN = move between items)
6) When you select bootloader, it will show you more options. Don't pick anything at this time, just wait. It will read your storage card. This takes about 30secs and there is a progress bar on the top right. It's reading the PC36IMG.zip file you placed on the card.
7) Once that's done, it says, "Do you want to start update?" Volume UP=YES Volume Down=NO. Hit Up and then wait.
8} Once that's done, it says, "Update Complete. Do you want to reboot device?" Volume UP=YES Volume Down=NO. Hit Up and you will reboot.
Now just be patient. It will take a while to start up the first time, but when it's done, you'll be at the setup screen you saw the first time you turned on the device. If you plan to load a custom rom, just skip all the account setups and whatever else. You just want to get to the Home screen so you can go to the next step.
9) Once you're back to the home screen, connect your phone to the pc as a disk drive again. Go to your storage card, and rename the file PC36IMG.zip to something else or delete it. I just called it "root-PC36IMG.zip." This is so that when you go back to bootloader later, it doesn't try to use those files to root your phone again.
****RECOVERY****
(This will give the option to install custom roms. Do this after you root)
Now your phone is rooted but you need to do the recovery to allow you to load custom roms.
A quick note about the recovery. The instructions I've seen going around say to use the command "adb" but that file is not included in the zip. Instead, it was named "adb-windows" so you just need to substitute the new file name.
1) Take the evo-recovery.zip file and extract the contents to the C: DRIVE.
So you should have a folder on C that says,
C:\evo-recovery
2) If you haven't done so before, install HTC Sync. If you have the phone connected as a disk drive, one of the folders is called HTC Sync and you can find the file there. Or you can download a newer version from HTC.
3) Now disconnect and reconnect your phone selecting HTC Sync this time.
4) On your pc, hit the Windows Key + R to bring up a run window.
5) Type "cmd" and hit {ENTER} (no quotes)
6) In the new command window that opened, type the following,
cd\ {ENTER}
cd evo-recovery {ENTER}
Now you'll be at the C:\evo-recovery>
7) Type "adb-windows reboot recovery" {ENTER} (no quotes)
Your phone will reboot and be in the recovery screen. Looks like a black screen w/ an EVO and an
/!\
8} On your PC, go to My Computer and navigate to the evo-recovery folder. Which should be c:\evo-recovery.
Inside are a series of files. For Windows XP, double-click "recovery-windows.bat." (If you're running Windows Vista or Windows 7, right-click it first and choose "Run as administrator") then double click it. Now wait while it does what it needs to do. When it's finish, you'll be on a screen that says, "Android system recovery" in yellow letters at the very top.
At this point, you're essentially done. You can select Reboot system now by pressing the power button. However, many people suggest you make a backup of your Nand first. If you want to make a back up, keep reading.
****Nand Backup****
(DO IT! Because having a backup is always a good thing.)
1) Use the Volume Down to highlight Backup/Restore, push the Power button to select it.
2) Use the Volume Down to select Nand backup, push the Power button to select it.
3) You'll be asked if you want to create a Nandroid backup. Press Power button to confirm any other key to abort.
While it's creating a backup, it will say "Performing Backup" and show dots "....." across the bottom of the screen. It will fill-up about 3 rows of dots before it's done.
When it's finished, you can press Power to return and Power again to reboot.
****Flashing a ROM****
(This is the good stuff and why you went through all that mess above. Bookmark this section!)
Now you're ready to load a custom rom. In this example, I'm going to use OMJ's because I've been using his rom's on my Vogue and Diamond until I got the EVO's.
1) First you have to put a custom rom zip on your SD card. Use the same method we used for moving the PC36IMG.zip file. Just connect using "Disk Drive" and move the file over. I used OMJ_EVO_2.1_Beta_1.1.zip
2) Go into Recovery mode. Either by the method in "Recovery" section above, steps 3-7, or you can power off your phone and press and hold Volume Down while you push the power button. This will bring your phone to a screen w/ choices, including "Recovery." Use Volume Down to highlight "Recovery" and use the "Power Button" to select it.
3) With the phone connected to the pc, you need to run the "recovery-windows.bat" file again from step 8 in the "Recovery" section above.
Now you're back to the screen that says, "Android system recovery" in yellow letters at the very top.
4) From the list select "Wipe"
5) In the Wipe menu you're going to select "Wipe data/factory reset" then "Wipe Dalvik-cache"
I did each one twice to make sure they worked fine. Don't know if that makes a difference, but it didn't hurt. Takes a few seconds each.
After you've wiped both of those, select "Return" to go to the previous menu.
6) Now select "Flash zip from sdcard"
At this point every zip file on your sdcard will show. Make sure you know which one you're using.
7) Select OMJ_EVO_2.1_Beta_1.1.zip (or which ever rom you choose) and sit back and wait. Mine took about 3mins.
When it's done, select "Reboot system now" and enjoy your rooted EVO w/ a custom rom.
Please note: I know there are several ways of doing this. I'm also aware of some shortcuts that could be taken. However this method works, and I think they are written as basic as could be. I'm definitely not an expert, so I wrote them as plain as possible trying not to assume the person following them has any previous knowledge about android. In some cases I took the long way to do something or extra steps, but I'm trying to make it fool proof.