New to PPC flashing, what to do first?

[kcdale99]

First of all, big shout out to all the hard work the geeks put in here! This site is an amazing wealth of knowledge.

I just received my Verizon VG6900 today, and this is my first PPC/Smart Phone. Being the natural tinkerer I am I won't be able to leave well enough alone. I have never flashed a smart phone, but I have done this kind of thing with other electronics (xbox, wii, PC Bios, etc). I have been reading everything here I can, and I have a general idea of how the process works. I unlock the phone, flash the radio, flash the rom. The info on that is available, and I am smart enough to RTFM.

I have a few questions though, first off all what should I do BEFORE I start hacking the phone? Since I am new to smart phones, do I back it up in some way?

Oh, and one other question I have, I know once I flash the radio, I can never go back. What if I need to take the phone in for service, can I load an original Verizon ROM with the upgraded radio? I would also take any other newbie advice you want to give.

[DesiChora]

First of all welcome aboard.

Originally Posted by kcdale99

I have a few questions though, first off all what should I do BEFORE I start hacking the phone? Since I am new to smart phones, do I back it up in some way?

If you have contacts and text message on your phone use dotfred's PIM Backup app.

http://www.dotfred.net/

Originally Posted by kcdale99

Oh, and one other question I have, I know once I flash the radio, I can never go back. What if I need to take the phone in for service, can I load an original Verizon ROM with the upgraded radio? I would also take any other newbie advice you want to give.

Please read this thread to get your answer

[Dangers of downgrading after installing GPS radio]

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=26082

[Unlock your phone so that you can install custom ROM on it]

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=20370

Now you can install any of the available custom ROMs from the following threads.

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=59

I am personally using WDM's 2.4 (clean) ROM for sprint and pretty happy with it.

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=60778


Happy Tinkering!