Running Android on Windows Mobile Phones

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NB: Supports on HTC devices Blackstone, Diamond, Diamond 500, Fuze, Raphael, Raphael 800, Rhodium, Tilt 2 & Topaz


Last Update: 09 jun 2010 (Android 2.1 (Eclair) Improved GPS and Speed) 

• InitRD - 20100328-d4cd3e8
• Rootfs - 20100606-c369a49
• System - Babijoee 31.5.10 (Thanks to Babijoee for the image)
• Kernel - htc-msm-linux @ 20100606_150546 (No Debug)
• GPS is now reporting speed (and possibly direction) so a big help for navigation
• Speed improvements!
• This release is pretty fast (but I'd advise that once installed, you also launch SpareParts, and configure the window animations etc to 'fast'
• There is a chance that after installation, some Startup.txt settings MAY be incorrect for your device. If you discover any mistake, PLEASE let me know, I will correct asap. I need your help on this guys.

1. Step 1 - Prepare your SD Card
   Find a nice clean SD card to load Android on.
   You can either format your card to get it entirely clean, or you can leave all the files you may already have on there.
   *Warning* - If you have valuable data on your card, back it up. Android is usually safe, but if you can't afford to lose the data on your card, don't risk it!
   Some cards have difficulty working, there is a POSSIBILITY this is due to the formatting of the card. If in doubt, format to FAT32, not FAT16
2. Step 2 - Download and install the CAB
   Download and install the following 'full package' cab (a collection of ALL the files you'll need to run Android on your device) Get it here!                                                                                                                You MUST install on the Storage Card. The cab file will take a couple of minutes to install Android. Please be patient.
   For those that are interested the cab files does the following:
   - Installs Android in the root of the SD Card
   - Deploys the correct Startup.txt for the device (the user can choose their device type)
   - Adds a high res icon for Android in the root of the SD Card
   - Installs a shortcut in Program Files named "Android" (launches Haret.exe)
   - Installs the high res icon in the registry for WM6.5 users
3. Step 3 - Run Android
   Android is now installed... So launch 'Android' from your Program Files menu in WinMo. Your phone should reboot into Android with 2 quick vibrations.
   Have patience... the first time you do this can take a LONG time (3 mins or more). During the first boot on SOME devices, you will be asked to calibrate the screen. This is very similar to Windows Mobile screen calibration (except it's in text mode).
   The reason the first boot takes longer is that Android is 'preparing' your device for the first time.

1. Step 1 - Prepare your SD Card
   Find a nice clean SD card to load Android on.
   You can either format your card to get it entirely clean, or you can leave all the files you may already have on there.
   *Warning* - If you have valuable data on your card, back it up. Android is usually safe, but if you can't afford to lose the data on your card, don't risk it!
   Some cards have difficulty working, there is a POSSIBILITY this is due to the formatting of the card. If in doubt, format to FAT32, not FAT16.
2. Step 2 - Download and extract the ZIP
   Download and install the following 'full package' zip(a collection of ALL the files you'll need to run Android on your device) Get it here!                                                                                                              You MUST unzip to the ROOT of the Storage Card. The zip file will take a short while to extract. Please be patient.
   
   Once you've extracted the zip:
   - Click Auto-Setup.exe to configure XDAndroid for your particular device
3. Step 3 - Run Android
   Android is now installed... So launch 'Android' from your Program Files menu in WinMo. Your phone should reboot into Android with 2 quick vibrations.
   Have patience... the first time you do this can take a LONG time (3 mins or more). During the first boot on SOME devices, you will be asked to calibrate the screen. This is very similar to Windows Mobile screen calibration (except it's in text mode).
   The reason the first boot takes longer is that Android is 'preparing' your device for the first time

Known Issues
Many things are still not working properly, and the developers are fully aware of 99% of them.

* SDCard - Most SDCards are working, but if you the 'waiting for SDCard' message, you should try one of these fixes (and please let us know if it works)
Fix 1: Format your card with this tool http://www.sdcard.org/consumers/formatter/
Fix 2: Edit your startup.txt file and add these entries to your cmdline:
set cmdline "lcd.density=240 msmts_calib=0x395.0x3c9.0x79.0x77 clock-7x00.a11=500 msmvkeyb_toggle=off pmem.extra=1 gsensor_axis=-2,-1,3
msmsdcc_1bit msmsdcc_fmax=14000000 msmsdcc_nopwrsave"
Fix 3: Tell your wife / girlfriend that you are about to make some modifications to her phone... change the ringtone and steal her old Class 2 SD Card to use with Android. She will never discover what you have done, and if she does, you'll be able to use Android to send texts to your former girlfriends ;-)
* Camera - Not working
* GPS - Should be working, but it's only just been enabled (so could be buggy)
* Battery Status - Highly problematic for most users (don't trust the capacity Android tells you, it's simply up and down a lot, and highly inaccurate)
* WiFi - Working for most people, suspected to cause slight heat, definitely drains the battery faster than WinMo. Some users have reported freezes when switching WiFi off
* Audio - Speaker working for most people, microphone can have issues
* Deep Sleep - Working for most people, but can have issues waking up (sometimes, it will not wake up)
* GPRS - Working
* 3G - Working for most
* PIN Code - Not working
* GSensor - Working (Screen only handles 0 and 270 degrees)
* Bluetooth - Experimentally working (don't expect too much, but it's working for a number of users)
* OpenGL ES - Not working
* USB - Supported, but will NOT operate in mass storage mode. You can charge via USB and you can debug, but forget accessing your files by it.
* Headphone Socket - Semi working (see FAQ for details on how to make it work)
* Application Errors: It's very common to see 'Application (xxxxxx) is not responding: Force Close or Wait'. Click wait. I do not know the precise reason for this, but from what I can gather, it COULD be related to the slow speed of the SD Card causing the app response times to JUST be a little too slow for Android's liking, thus causing the message. This seems to happen more after bootup or wakeup when the device is busy doing stuff in the background.
* Cannot choose ringtones: This is believed to be caused by the media scanner failing (due to discovering some filenames with none English characters). The best option of all is to use a CLEAN SD Card. But, if you insist on hosting other files on the same SD Card, you MUST make sure they have English character filenames.

Category: Android , Windows Mobile