Unlocking & Flashing
When I first unlocked my phone and decided to flash a ROM, I had to do some searching to figure out what exactly I needed. Not everything was in one place, some things were out-dated, and it took quite a bit of research. Hopefully this will help those beginners.
Getting the files you need...
-First you need to download the Android SDK. You can get it from
here.
-You may need an updated USB Driver, so you can download the attachment
here.
-Download your ROM (In this case we're using CyanogenMOD from
here, but you can use any ROM you want).
-Download the latest Google Addon (as of this writing its EPE54B which you can get from
here).
-Download the latest Amon_Ra Recovery Image from
here (as of this writing its 1.7.0). Rename this file to 'Recovery.img' and save it on your computer.
Installing AndroidSDK...
-This is your bread and butter and I recommend you keep this installed because you may need it again.
-You can find basic instructions
here.
-If you can't get the USB drivers to work, use the ones you downloaded earlier that are attached to this post, don't follow the instructions in that Wiki guide since they are dated.
-Once 'adb devices' shows your serial number, you're good to go.
Before We Flash...
-You need to copy your ROM zip file and the Google Addon zip file to the root of your SD card.
Unlocking Your Bootloader...
-This WILL void your warranty. As of now there is no way to re-lock your bootloader either.
-This WILL also wipe everything on your device.
1) Turn on USB Debugging (Settings / Applications / Development). With the phone connected to the computer, power off the phone. Hold down the trackball and turn the phone on. Do not release the trackball until it boots into the bootloader (which is a white screen with three skating droids).
2) Go to your AndroidSDK\Tools folder. Hold down Shift and right click in the folder. Select "Open Command Prompt Here", or open a CMD window and CD to that directory.
3) In the CMD window, type 'fastboot oem unlock' and press enter.
4) On the phone, follow the prompts to unlock the bootloader.
5) Let your phone restart, then turn on USB Debugging again (Settings / Applications / Development).
Flashing Recovery Partition...
1) Move your Amon_Ra Recovery.img file into your AndroidSDK\Tools folder and open a CMD window like you did earlier.
2) Reboot your phone into the bootloader (hold down the trackball while booting).
3) In the CMD window, type 'fastboot flash recovery Recovery.img' and follow the prompts.
Flashing the ROM...
1) You should have the ROM zip and the Google Addon zip in the root of your SD card.
2) Boot into Recovery Mode (hold Volume Down while booting).
3) Select Recovery
4) Create a NAndroid Backup (optional)...Scroll to Backup/Restore, then press the trackball 3 times to follow the steps to perform a backup.
5) Perform a full wipe (follow the menus).
6) Select 'Flash zip from SD Card'.
7) Select the Cyanogen zip file (or the zip file of the ROM you downloaded) and wait for the flash to complete.
8) Select 'Flash zip from SD Card' again.
9) This time select your Google Addon zip file and wait for it to complete.
10) Reboot.
On first boot, it may take a few minutes to boot up, this is normal.
For CyanogenMOD, if you get stuck in a loop or on a screen for more than 5 minutes, you may need to download Cyanogen 5.0.5 and flash that first, then perform an update to 5.0.5.x. This is a well-known issue and this is the only workaround for it as of now.