Steps to root your G1 and install your first custom rom

Thanks to Neillund @neillund and Garrett Furr @gfurr24

gfurr24 did all these videos. Not me. Thank him for all his hard work.

1.First thing you will need to do is charge your G1 fully (this is wise because you will be using more power than normal to do all the steps to root your phone)

2. Check to make sure you have Android 1.6 OS (you can do this by going to your phone’s settings and selecting “About Phone” and scrolling to the bottom to where you see “Firmware Version” it should say “1.6”) {(Menu/Settings/About Phone)}

3. Once you’re certain that you are on the 1.6 fimware, you’ll want to download this file Original Dream.nbh. Save file to your computer.

(DREAIMG.nbh) - http://android-roms.googlecode.com/files/DREAIMG-RC29.zip

(Use some sort of extractor, such as Winzip. A free download of Winzip can be found by using Google and searching “Winzip”)

4. What you will have after you extract the “DREAMG.nbh” zip folder is called “DREAMG-RC29”

5.The next step you need to do is “mount” your G1 via the USB cable. When mounted, pull down the notification bar and press “mount”

6. Once you’ve “mounted” your sdcard to your computer you’ll need to drag the “DREAMG-RC29” to the “ROOT” of your sdcard (The file must not be placed in any folders, but on the actual ROOT of the sdcard)

7. Now either power your phone off or choose “EJECT” from your computer to allow a safe removal of the sdcard from your computer. If you’ve powered off your phone then go ahead and disconnect your phone from the usb cable that’s connected to your computer

8. The Next step you are going to do is “WIPE” your phone. This is a very important step that has to be done. At this time you might want to backup anything of importance to you (remember all your contacts are already saved in the cloud so you will not lose them, but to play it safe, go to settings Data synchronization and resync everything just to make sure) setting/data sychronization/hit menu and select “Sync now” and let it finish. You will know when it is finished when the circles disappear)

9. Once you have backed up all your files and contacts, you can now turn off your phone. Either take out the battery and pop it back in; or holding the power button till it asks if you would like to shut the phone off.

10. Once the phone is off, turn it back on by holding “Home and then the Power” keys. Hold them for a few seconds until you see the G1 screen then let go. If you’ve done this right (do not be alarmed if you see it) you will see the RECOVERY SCREEN (This will have a Triangle with an exclamation mark ( ! ) inside with a miniG1 at the bottom).

11. Now that you see the recovery screen, press ALT + L at the same time. This brings you your list of options. (There is a list of four options on the stock recovery image)

12. The next thing you need to do, the only thing to do, is to wipe your data/factory reset (ALT + W).Once that has finished and as of right now, your phone is completely wiped.

13. The next thing you want to do is remove your back cover and remove your battery out and place it back in. You can leave the back cover off if you like (recommended).

14. Now you will need to hold the “CAMERA” button down and then press and hold the “POWER” button at the same time. This will put you in to the “BOOT LOADER SCREEN”. When you see the RED, GREEN and BLUE screen you know you’ve done it right. It will begin to check your DREAIMG.NBH file.

15. At this point you will need to press the “POWER” button to apply the update. This may take up to 5-10 minutes. You should see an “updating” bar showing the length until finished.

16. When it is finished press the “TRACKBALL” to take you back to the “BOOT LOADER SCREEN”. In order to reboot your phone you will need to press “MENU + CALL + POWER” at the same time.Once hit, let the phone reboot.

17. Once rebooted, you will now be back to stock Android 1.0, which is the original version of Android for the G1. You want to go ahead and sign in like you did when you first got the phone, but don’t do to much else after you sign in.

18. Next you will need to download this file (we are going to do a manual update to Cupcake 1.5) Official CRB43 Cupcake Update (T-Mobile US Release http://android-roms.googlecode.com/files/signed-kila-ota-148830.de6a94ca.zip

19. Now you will need to reconnect your phone via the USB cable to your computer

20. Next you will need to remove or delete the DREAMG.nbh file from the root of your sdcard

21. Now you need to place the signed-kila-ota-148830.de6a94ca.zip file on the ROOT of your sdcard. Now you need to name this file “update”

22. Now you need to remove your phone from your computer (always do this safely by selecting EJECT)

23. Now you need to power off your phone

24. Now you will need to power on your phone by holding the HOME + POWER buttons like you did before. Again you will see the “RECOVERY SCREEN” (the screen with the exclamation point inside the triangle).

25. Press ALT + L for a list of options.You can not use your trackball with this recovery. So you will need to use your keyboard.

26. Press Alt + S (apply SDcard: update.zip)

27. When the update is finished you need to reboot your phone again. To do this you will need to hold the HOME + BACK buttons. It will say “Writing radio image”. Do not be alarmed if you see a down arrow pointing to a chip or if it takes a long time to reboot.

28. After your phone has robooted you can now go and delete the “UPDATE.ZIP” from the root of your sdcard. If you want to see if you did these steps right, go to Menu/Settings/About Phone and it will say 1.5 in the Firmware andCRB43 in the Build Number.

29. Next you will need to download this file Recovery.apk - http://www.4shared.com/account/file/196526014/ae11f215/flashrec.html to your computer and move the file to the Recovery.apk to the ROOT of your sdcard

30. You will also at this time need to download this file Amon RA Recovery “recovery-RA-v1.5.2.img http://rapidshare.com/files/320335174/recovery-RA-dream-v1.5.2R.img and place it on the ROOT of your sdcard as well

31. Once you’ve transfered the two files to the root of your sdcard you will need to go to the Android Market and download the app called “ASTRO File MANAGER” Once you’ve downloaded and installed ASTRO open it and click on the “FLASHREC”

32. Now click “OPEN FILE MANAGER” at this point your phone will give you the option to go to settings to check the box UNKNOWN SOURCES “Allow install of non-market applications” Make sure this box is checked!

32. Hit the back button till you are back on the ASTRO screen that’s showing the files on your sdcard

33. Press the “FLASHREC” file and select “OPEN FILE MANAGER” again and select “INSTALL”

34. Once it is finished installing you need to select open, now you will see two options, a “Backup Recovery Image” and a “Backup to flash Cyanogen 1.4”. Remember the other file you installed to your SD card, this is where you will use it.

35.First select “Backup Recovery Image” and wait for it to finish. Then open your keyboard and type inside the white space /sdcard/recovery-RA-dream-v1.5.2.img and press “Flash Custom Recovery Image”. Once it is done, it will say at the top, “Flashed New Recovery”

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