Hi! New user reporting in too!

I'm on custom ROM in a matter of hours owning it. I'll recommend the Duttys HD2 v2.4 ROM available in HTCpedia.com (or Miri HD2 or Topix depending on your preference). Its based on WM6.5 (latest build) and comes with Radio ROM (one of the best performance and kind to the battery). It also has Duttys standard tweaks and optimizations. Most important of all, its completely stock with all the programs updated (90% of HTC's standard programs including Sense are updated) complete with Net Compact Framework 3.5. Its a standard WWE 448MB RAM ROM. You can use Ricky's chinese fonts (available as a cab in xda-developers) to display Asian characters.

If you want to unlock the hidden 128MB to achieve 576MB RAM, you can try Duttys ROM too (he has another variant for this). But I'll advise against it for now. Its because you need the specific version of Radio ROM to enable this extra 128MB and from what I have researched call quality performance is not good. Until a similar radio ROM is released, I'll wait and see. After all, it doesn't make your device any faster.

BUT FIRST, you need to flash the Hard SPL by Bepe (available at xda-developers.com) before doing anything. With this HSPL, you can even flash any official ROM available. Remember to do a hard reset after flashing. If you run into problems, read about Task 29 and MTTYs over at xda-developers.com.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Mar 21 2010, 02:12 PM

No problem bro, just helping people up to speed with the HD2.

Yeah, I have a lot of confidence on Duttys despite what happened in xda-developers. He has hopped over to HTCpedia.com now. I used his ROM when I was on Touch Diamond. And yes 448MB is plentiful for WM. For my unit after boot up with some programs running, I average around 45% RAM usage with more than 150MB of RAM free. Pretty good for my standard. I know the HTC Sense uses a lot of resources and RAM.

Actually I have been suspecting where that hidden 128MB RAM came from. HTC won't hide it for no reason, except for the controversies we read about hahaha... One of the more solid evidence point to that 128MB RAM was reserved for use by the radio and other functions. Then a way was found to make it available as system wide memory and for these functions to share with the system.

Regarding your ROM questions, I have not tried valkyrie. Don't know how good. My advise is to pick Duttys most stable ROM and give it a try before moving on. Do check out other Duttys ROM. He has one based on WM6.5.5. But I was taken aback when people reported some bugs.

This post has been edited by davidmak: Mar 21 2010, 02:37 PM

I agree. But I still think the Opera browser can improve further. For example, double tapping does not zoom till content fits side to side of screen. It usually overshoots, though the text is reflowed. On the iPhone it always zoom till the content fits the screen. Also the pinch and zoom on iPhone is more accurate. Maybe because its really smooth and can detect find adjustments.

For those of you who are having call quality issues like background hissing noise, echos when running custom ROMs there is a new recent release for the Radio ROM. Its version 2.09.51.03_2. This version works great for me and the power consumption is good. Call quality is now clear and bright without the background noise issue.

Please note that you cannot just upgrade the Radio ROM over your stock official ROM. This is custom ROM territory and you will need to do HSPL before proceeding. You can get the Radio ROM from xda-developers.

Update:

By the way, has anyone found a nice combo (Custom ROM with 576MB RAM configuration and Radio ROM that does not have call quality issues)?

This post has been edited by davidmak: Mar 23 2010, 08:42 AM

Will it make a lot of difference? I know for GSM radio yes but WIFI quite ok unless you're trying to connect to an access point far far away.

Here's another video --> http://www.gadgetvenue.com/htc-hd2-officia...ideos-03024450/

Nope, I went straight to 1.72 based ROM when I got mine. I have a feeling the 1.66 official ROM is pretty good including the 2.06 radio. Does it crack when on the call?

The Duttys M-Lang v2.4 is a good pick. But the radio ROM is giving me background noise for some reason. Power consumption seems to be great too! But there is a bug which I encountered. DO NOT use Maxis website to send an auto-configuration. For some reason it will disable or crash permanently the HTC Message. So you won't be able to see All Messages or compose new SMS from Sense UI. It will say 'Message Restoring' and nothing happens.

Actually there's an easier way to ensure you get a real clean flash without using a stock ROM. Try Task 29 or MTTY from xda-developers. Task 29 will reformat the entire phone including certain areas not accessible on a normal flash. It will erase everything except Radio ROM and bootloader.

I had a bad flash until I discovered Task 29 and it has been on my procedures from then on. By the way Radio ROM 2.09.xx.xx is out and it has been good for me. But no 576MB RAM Hack.

Don't worry, as long as you get pass the Hard SPL flashing. There won't be any more problem. If you have a bad flash you can always restart in bootloader and try again. All the flashing is script automated and there won't be any human intervention. Just make sure your antivirus is disabled and you have a full charge before starting.

There are a few ways to do it. First you need to Hard SPL the phone. Ensure you have version 1.42 before proceeding. If you have a higher version than 1.42 then you need Hard SPL v2. Then you find a SN that passes the check on HTC website depending on which region you want. Then you flash.

The stock ROM will not be able to do a check because Hard SPL bypasses everything. Only the Radio and Main ROM will be replaced. The Hard SPL will be untouched. If you want to replace Hard SPL to the region that you want. Then you flash from the SD card itself.

Not to mention the Radio ROM compatible with this hack gives very bad call quality. Background noise and cracking is all over the place. Its like talking to a two way radio. Hahaha!

According to Duttys himself (yes I communicated with him), he recommends a Task 29 every 2 flashes.

Yes it has been reported that ROM based on v1.72 causes warming while v1.48 is fine. I would recommend the official Asian ROM v1.66. Maybe that'll help. Also HK just released an official v1.72 ROM with a Radio that is more suited for Asian telcos. Maybe you should try that.

Hmmm that is strange. Whats the best radio do you recommend? I'm on 2.09.xx.xx.

What about call quality?

The 2.08.50.08_2 is not the Radio that enables 576MB RAM Hack right? It should be the variant with 51 in it. Am I right?

Yeah, I wonder why people say HD2 got camera problem. I never had any issues with mine. I know the earlier ROM version has some pinkish tint. Experienced photographer can re-adjust the image properties and the exposure.

I updated mine straight to custom ROM based on 1.72 by Duttys immediately after getting my unit, so I didn't suffer this problem at all. My pictures turned out just as great as yours! So no worries on the picture quality here.

What I see can be improved is the video capturing. Not as good as (I mean smooth) Motorola Milestone. Need to check frame rate and compression levels.

I guess you should do the following:

1. Go to xda-developers.com. Go to forum section and look for HTC Leo, HD2 section. Click on ROM development.
2. Read the WIKI and flashing tutorials there. It will get you up to speed on understanding flashing techniques.
3. Flash Bebe's Hard SPL v2. Follow instructions.
4. In the flashing tutorial there are some standard HTC HD2 set serial numbers you can choose. Pick either WWE HTC or the Asian HTC serial number.
5. Go to HTC website WWE or Asian depending on which serial number you choose. Go to your phone support section and look for ROM.
6. Use the serial number to download
7. Follow instructions on how to flash using the stock ROM. Its all there in the HTC page.
8. Once flashed... voila... done. You have an official ROM.

There are risks involved. The highest is during Hard SPL flashing. If for some reasons it went wrong, there goes. You will have to send it in. To reduce the risks, make sure your antivirus program is disabled, your phone is fully charged and you have a good USB connection to the PC. Do a sync before starting anything just to be sure.

You could try hahaha but no guarantee. Custom ROM-ing your HD2 isn't really a bad idea provided you have gone pass the fear of bricking it. Its actually reversible. Flashing an official ROM from SD card will replace the SPL with the official shipped version and there goes. No traces.

SIS won't go to the extend of 'digging it'. As long as you have all the software versions meant to be in Malaysian sets you will be fine. The beauty of HSPL is that you can flash whatever you want onto the phone.

That red button is the RESET button and it achieves the same objective. There will be times when the device may be in a non-responsive state. Pressing the power button or any buttons will not have any effect. So rather than removing the battery you press that red little button to RESET it.

Some people say removing the battery abruptly when the device is ON may cause damage especially to the SIM card. But there are no sufficient research into that area.

I'm on v1.72 and pictures are very clean and sharp especially on the device screen. But I can confirm that 2.10-based software fixes the LED flash problem many has reported.

Yes, it is a known situation. More like a technology limitation. It has happened on my iPhone 3GS before.

I think HTCpedia.com is better. But for wiki and some low level resources, XDA is the way to go.

I think you could with the latest Facebook application. I saw the Tag Photos option on my Facebook menu.


By the way, does anyone realize that Facebook actually caches all your images in the ROM? My HTC picture gallery would display them and it is annoying.

Guys, anyone of you already running Papago! X5 Mobile Version? I have it installed together with Malfreemaps (3D junction views, etc). Pretty good stuff