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How To: Gain Root Access on the T-Mobile G1 (OBSOLETE)

May 30, 2009 in Featured

PLEASE NOTE! This method is obsolete! Please refer to the newer Rooting/Loading Custom ROM methods on our site:
Unroot (G1) OR Unroot(MyTouch), then Root, then Load a Custom ROM, Apps2SD/Hero etc.

So your friend with a G1 can not only use 2 fingers to zoom in and out on the internet (like the iPhone), but he can also load custom themes for free, AND he can tether his laptop through his 3G connection using Wifi! Let me guess, you want in?

No problem, let me show you how to get the most out of your G1.

1. First off, be sure to check out this great beginner’s guide by Skri11a over at XDA-Developers.com just to get a quick understanding of how this whole process/concept works and for some commonly used terms.
Click Here – http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=513061

2. Download the following required files to a folder on your computer.

Required Files:
 RC29

Recovery Image

HardSPL For G1

3. Rename the HardSPL.zip file to update.zip.

4. Unzip the DREAIMG-RC29.zip file and take the DREAIMG.nbh file out and move that, the recovery image, and the update.zip (used to be HardSPL.zip) onto the very top folder (root folder, not within any sub-folders) of your SD card in the G1.

5. Disconnect G1 and turn it off.

6. Turn back on the G1 by holding down the Camera and End button AT THE SAME TIME until a screen pops up.

7. Follow the onscreen instructions to “update” then restart the phone once it is done.

8.  Once the phone boots up completely and shows the homescreen (with the clock), open the keyboard and hit the Enter key twice then type “telnetd” (without the quotes) and then pres enter (it will show the contacts screen most likely, that’s fine).

9. Open the Market application and search for “Telnet” (again without the quotes) and download/install it. Open it once it is downloaded and click Connect to Local Host. (You should see a # symbol).

10. Type the following commands into the telnet program (make sure spaces are in the proper places and hit enter at the end of each line:

mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
cd sdcard
flash_image recovery recovery.img
cat recovery.img > /system/recovery.img

11. Once you hit enter after the last line you can then power off the phone.

12. Power back on the phone by holding the End key and the Home button AT THE SAME TIME. Do not let go until you see a screen pop up (should have an !)

13. Open the keyboard and hit the Alt key and the L key at the same time. Then hit the Alt key and the S key at the same time to apply the update.zip file we put on the SD card.

14. Once the update is done, press the Home key and the Back key AT THE SAME TIME to restart the phone. DONE!

YOU NOW HAVE ROOT, but where’s the fun stuff? Well now that you have rooted your phone, you can download the custom ROMs that give you all the neat new features. We’ll show you how to do that and give you a few of our favorites in different video. Search the How To section under Categories for videos on how to load custom ROMs.

Here is a link to our video on How to Load a Custom ROM, Radio, or Theme to your now rooted G1.

Reported Issues

Issue: I get an error, failure, or nothing happens when I get to the rainbow screen and try to load Dreaimg.nbh file.

Solution: The dreaimg.nbh file is either not on the topmost folder of the SD card OR the file is corrupt or incomplete.
Delete the file off of your SD card and then re download it from our site or on XDA-Developers.com and then put it on the topmost folder of the SD card. You may have to do this multiple times before it finally works. KEEP DOING THIS UNTIL IT WORKS!

Issue: I’m stuck on the G1 screen!

Solution:
1. To fix this, simply take out the memory card from the G1 and put it into the SD adapter it came with then put that into the computer/laptop.
2. Find the update.zip file that is on your SD card and delete it (if you have one).
3. Then put a ROM you want to use (if a Hero ROM doesn’t work then use a Non-Hero ROM) on the SD card in the topmost folder (not in any subfolders) and rename it to update.zip.
4. Put the memory card back into the phone and turn the phone on by holding Home and End till the recovery screen comes up (for most people this is a triangle with an ! in it).
5. Hit Alt W to wipe the phone (it might reboot, if it does and it is still stuck on the G1 logo, then take out the battery and put it back in and continue to step 6).
6. Turn on the phone again by holding down the Home and End button till you get to the ! screen again and hit Alt S to load the update.
7. Once it is done, reboot the phone and it should pass the G1 screen this time.


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240 responses to How To: Gain Root Access on the T-Mobile G1 (OBSOLETE)

  1. Kiki Iz Wavy said on August 14, 2009

    Ok I Am Having A Problem With Formatting My SD Card, Everytime I Right Click To Format, Its Keeps Disconnecting And Saying “There Is No Disk In My Drive”, Please Help!!!!

  2. Noriega said on August 15, 2009

    Im tring to change the theme for my phone but when i put the home and power button it wont load up it will be stuck with the image of the phone and a exclamation mark what does it mean?…

  3. Jermaine said on August 16, 2009

    Hi, i followed the steps. when i turn off the phone and press the camara & power button to turn it on everything goes good. the rainbow shows up then it goes to the white loading screen. its shows loading but right under it, shows “no image file!” then goes right back to the rainbow. what am i doing wrong? plz help i’v never done this before but it looks pretty cool

    thanks

  4. stevethelesernoob said on August 17, 2009

    hey when i hold the camera button and power it comes up and says image file not found and i have it

  5. evotuned said on August 17, 2009

    Jermaine, you need to make sure that the sd card is formatted for fat32. fat16 also worked for me.

  6. Jermaine said on August 17, 2009

    i tried formating it with the sd card in the phone and it jus disconnects. does that mean i have to have the adapter

  7. Terry~G said on August 18, 2009

    after the rainbow screen it goes to the loading one then says no image…whats going on??? please help

  8. Clashin' said on August 19, 2009

    Hey everything seems to be working fine…but for some reason (im up to step 10) when i type the final command “cat recovery.img > /system/recovery.img” instead of just getting “##” i get cannot create /system/recovery.img: read-only file system

    im rooting my G1 for the HTC hero. Been up since 12am…lol Help would be much appreciated.

    Thanks

    • TheUnlockr said on August 19, 2009

      Hello Clashin’,

      Wish I could help but I can’t figure out what you did wrong without actually watching you do it, too be honest when I made all these videos I had to Google a lot of errors (just type in the exact error you got, Cannot Create /system/recovery.img, and you’ll find someone else with the same issue and usually how to fix it.
      The only thing I can tell most people is to start over the procedure, sorry wish I could help more :(

  9. priyank said on August 19, 2009

    will i be able to install htc hero on 1 GB of SD card?

    • TheUnlockr said on August 19, 2009

      Hello Priyank,

      Not recommended, we need about 500mbs for the ext 2 partiton and 32mbs for the linux-swap partition. That would not leave you very much room for any music, videos, etc. Up to you though (a 2GB card is under $10 at BestBuy or other places).

  10. kyle said on August 19, 2009

    so my phone is already 1.0 firmware and the recovery doesnt work im stuck on 1.0 everytime i press the end and home keys my phone freezes on the g1 screen but i can turn it on regular. i cant restore to factory settings it just freezes on the g1 screen every time what do I do!!?

  11. kyle said on August 19, 2009

    actually now when i boot it up it only goes the the rainbow screen even when i hold end and home keys it takes me their and it says that the dreaimg.nbh has failed and i put that on the sd card please help

  12. priyank said on August 19, 2009

    thanx a lot for ur quick response :) …. i would like to know here that..if its 1 GB only…will work or not…and how to do partition? is it suppose to be done before rooted?

  13. kyle said on August 19, 2009

    what i did was i got my friends g1 put my sd card in his ,transferred the files to my sd card that i needed and it works now but i dont know if i completed the whole rooting process. i did a hard reset to my phone will that take everything off that i put in for the rooting process because i dont want my phone rooted any more but its still firmware 1.0 will i get an update back to cupcake?

  14. gema said on August 19, 2009

    so can i do this with an unlocked phone?

  15. Joe said on August 20, 2009

    What is the EXACT syntax including spaces for mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system

    I get usage error if I use that spacing. I’ve tried 50 times and can’t get past that part.

    • TheUnlockr said on August 20, 2009

      Hello Joe,

      The syntax is exact in that procedure (worked for plenty of people). You may have another issue, try googing the exact error you got and see if anyone else had the issue.

  16. CeCe said on August 21, 2009

    Hi,

    I love this site!!!..I’ve watched the rooting video 3times (lol) and I think Im ready to root my G1 but I have a couple questions. Will my contacts be affected by rooting? Whats a good theme? And how do I check what spl I have.

    • TheUnlockr said on August 22, 2009

      Hello Cece,

      Thanks!
      Just sync your contacts with Google (it should do that automatically) and then when you sign in again when done, you will be all set.
      There are a lot of good themes, we have some in our Downloads section but there are a lot more on forum.xda-developers.com
      Good Luck!

  17. Franky said on August 22, 2009

    Im put in the files and restarted it by holding the camera and on button but it just stays on the rainbow screen. WHAT DO I DO?!?!

  18. carmelo said on October 1, 2009

    Helo david my name is carmelo I have seen ur video at least 8 time. I have done every time as u say almost every thing it seems to look fine but when I do the last step were I have to turn of my g1 and the hold home and end I press alt l and alts. Every time I do this step I get this E can’t open sdcard update.zip no such file ordirectory imstallation aborted. This is what I get every singal time I try it can you please help me I think this is the only thing that is keeping me from rooting my g1 Pls help

    • TheUnlockr said on October 1, 2009

      Hello Carmelo,

      You need to make sure the file is named correctly (update.zip not accidentally update.zip.zip etc) and make sure it is on the sd card NOT in any folders.
      Also check the reported issues below the post.

  19. Materg975 said on July 17, 2011

    so this doesnt work anymore

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