How To: Root the HTC MyTouch 3G

THIS METHOD IS OBSOLETE, SIMPLY USE ONE OF OUR UNIVERSAL ROOTING METHODS TO ROOT THE DEVICE.

I. Before You Begin

1. This works on the OLD MyTouch only (the one without the 3.5mm headphone jack at the top of the phone).

2. YOU MUST DO THIS WHOLE PROCEDURE AND THEN DO THE NEXT ONE ON LOADING A CUSTOM ROM TO GET FULL ROOT ACCESS!

II. Downgrade to Cupcake

1. Download the Original SAPPIMG.nbh:
Original SAPPIMG.nbh

2. Plug the phone into your computer via USB. Select Mount by pulling down on the notification bar at the top of the phone’s screen and selecting the USB notification. You should now be able to access the sd card in your phone on your computer.

3. Now, put the .nbh file that you just downloaded on the root of the SD card (NOT in any folder, just on the sdcard itself).

4. Unplug the phone and turn it off.

5. Turn on the phone by holding the Volume Down button and the End key until the bootloader screen comes up.

6. Hit the End key to start the update. DO NOT INTERUPT THIS PROCESS.

7. Once it is done, hit the trackball to restart the phone. You now are on the stock Cupcake firmware.

III. Flash a Custom Recovery Image

1. On your phone, goto Settings, Applications, and make sure Unknown source is checked ON.

2. On your phone, goto Settings, SD card and phone storage, and click Unmount SD card.

3. Then click Format SD card (it should automatically remount after this).

4. Plug the phone into the compuer via USB, then pull down the notification bar and click on the SD card notification. Then click mount.

5. Download this APK and the recovery image and save it to your computer:

FlashRec.apk

Amon Ra’s Recovery Image

6. Once they are saved to your computer, copy them both to your SD card (do NOT put them inside any folders on the SD card, just put them on the SD card itself).

7. Unplug the phone from the computer once they are downloaded to the SD card.

8. Goto the Market and download Linda File Manager or any file manager program if you do not already have one.

9. Open the file manager and goto SDCard and then find the FlashRec apk file and click it. If asked tell it to use Package Installer to open it. It should automatically install the apk.

10. Open the FlashRec program and click on Backup Recovery Image and wait for it to finish.

11. Once done, click on the empty text box in the FlashRec program and type:

/sdcard/recovery.img

Then click on the Flash Custom RecoveryImage button and wait for it to finish.

12. Turn off the phone and turn it on into Recovery mode by holding down Home and Power to turn it on (keep holding until the recovery screen comes up has a bunch of text on a black background). So long as that screen comes up, LEAVE IT ON THAT SCREEN, you have done it correctly and can now go on to the How to Load a ROM video for your appropriate device!

How To Load a Custom ROM on the HTC MyTouch 3G

13. To get Root access you MUST go to the next video mentioned above and load a custom ROM.

Reported Issues

Issue: I get Invalid Recovery Image or Flash Recovery doesn’t show up, it stays greyed out!

Solution: Make sure that the spell correction and auto completion are OFF in the Text Settings (Settings > Locale and Text > Touch Input > Text Input then turn off Prediction, spell correction, and word completion) of your phone. If not then it may put in spaces where they do not belong. (I had it put a space after .img and couldn’t see it so couldn’t figure out why it kept saying invalid recovery image, like you guys).

Other than that, just make sure it is on the root of the SD card (not in any folder) and that you are typing in:

/sdcard/recovery.img

and it should show Flash Recovery

Issue: When I download the FlashRec.apk it shows up as a .zip not an apk.

Solution: No problem. Do NOT extract it, just simply replace the .zip with .apk and then proceed with the procedure.

Issue: I get backup failed or flash failed when I try to use the FlashRec progam.

Solution: This is most likely because you already have a custom recovery image (OR HAVE DONUT), please use one of the unrooting procedures to get back to the original recovery image and THEN you can use this procedure.

298 thoughts on “How To: Root the HTC MyTouch 3G”

    1. Diaz,

      Yep. Find a 2.0 based ROM in the downloads section.
      ALSO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A MYTOUCH AND NOT A MYTOUCH 1.2. Simply look at the top of the phone, if there is a whole in the top (for a headphone cord) then you have a MyTouch 1.2 NOT a MyTouch. Please search our site for that procedure instead of this one, THEY ARE DIFFERENT!

    2. Can anyone help me to root the mytouch 3G(old one, not slide)? I have tried a several times using the “updated” version on here, but then the video says its the most up to date. Im confused on how to do this. I tried using the sappimg.nbh file to the sd card but it keeps saying no image and doesn’t do anything. I would just like to know the most up to date way to do this because everything I have found so far says its the latest. Any help would be greatly appreciated 😀

  1. After downloading the SAPPIMG file, and getting to the bootloader screen. It says that “update failed, version older than current version”. Is there any other way to root this phone other than the gold card method, which is way more complicated…

        1. We are redoing procedures that are old on the site. This one is coming up this week to be redone.
          You can wait for that or start googling for help and feel free to post any solutions you find for others here.

  2. I have an ATT sim card and my mytouch in unlocked but i did the first step anyway in putting the original sapping to downgrade. i put in the original sapping and did the update and when i restarted my phone and did the setup, it says no network and wont let my sign in to my google account….any suggestion?

  3. found your website, how ever i can’t seem to find the part talking about the steps and the folders to copy. it keep sending me to a video.

  4. Hello, i will root on my htc magic, but it has the 1.6 version. where can i find a solution. can anyone help me please?

  5. same issue as Stephanie. When I press the volume down and power button i get to the boot screen with no problem, but then it trys installing SAPPIMG.nph and says no image.

  6. Does this root allow me to install cyanogen roms as well? Or is that root process different?

    Some background info: myTouch 3G(old one) rooted using unlockr method. Running eclair rom from this site, but it’s old and some features don’t work.

    1. Jason and everyone having issues with the sapping.nbh

      Format your memory card to fat32 first. Then save the file to the ROOT of the sd card (not inside any folders). Then boot into boot loader (camera and power) and then your good to go.
      Good luck.

  7. The process when fine but I trying updating my Google maps it tried to install then it goes like it never was install before. How can I fix that cuz there are more streets with each updated and I can do nothing I am stuck with what every got install for the first time I root the phone. Other than that everything is working fine.

  8. The one thing that scares me is things like this:

    Radio Required: Latest Radio

    SPL Required: Death SPL

    Everything makes sense they I get this stuff. Looking at rooting and trying

    KiNgxKxlick Espresso2G1 v1.3, Release 1.3

    but it says it needs the above. So when I use the Unlocker one click version how do I do the radio and slp? And what exactly are these?

    1. Mitch,

      Most my touches don’t need a new spl or radio (the one they come with is fine). Just flash the rom, not an spl and radio. And you’ll be fine (worst that happens is it won’t load then you can go flash the radio, then the spl, then the rom in that order.

  9. Now I am screwed. Followed the directions perfect and everything worked. Flashed several different roms and then I tried the Espresso one I mentioned above and it did not load. Now none of the ROMS I used before will flash. What do I do????

  10. it is stuck in 6. Hit the End key to start the update. DO NOT INTERRUPT THIS PROCESS. its been like that for 10 minutes!!! does it usually take this long or what should i do???

  11. in the recovery flasher i get error: can’t verify EBI version. when i try to back up it get backup failed. does any1 knows how to fix this thank you

  12. So the only ROM I can load is the 1.6 ROM you have in the videos. I can not get any other ROM to get passed the Boot screen. What have I done wrong?? What can I do to fix this?? I wanna use the Manup’s Eclair 2.1 ROM and I just get the nexus animi X non stop. Please offer some advice! Using MY3G.

    1. Troy,

      You need to click backup first, then make sure you type what is written in the procedure in the textbox and it will appear (you also need to make sure the recovery image is saved in the right place and saved correctly etc.)

  13. 1)The way Unlockr explains the process is for the people with an activated My Touch. I believe there are a lot of people in my situation.I cannot get my phone activated without passing the google account screen. I have no data plan. Using someone elses sim-card with data plan did not work either. Anyway, I decided to at least downgrade to cupcake using SAPPIMG.nbh as described here. It was a success. But what now? In section III. “Flash a Custom Recovery Image”. I cannot do it because I have no access to the phone settings to install that without passing the Google activation screen. Is there any way to do it. Or can I install a custom ROM without doing the section III?Your answer will be appreciated.

    1. Hey Sahin, did you get to bypass the rooting process without having a data plan?? I’m in your situation. If you did, can you let me know how you did it. Or does anybody else know how to bypass the google account screen without having a data plan?

  14. I am using the goldcard method to gain root access, do i use the goldcard to do this process as well?

    1. Jose Luna,

      If you have the old mytouch do this procedure, if your mytouch has a headphone Jack at the top you have a new mytouch, do the mytouch 1.2 procedure instead.

  15. Please!!!! Someone explain why the only ROM I can load is the one in the video??? I cant load ANYTHING else. They all hang at the boot screen.

  16. will not install the roms it says no signature and no verification then installation aborted what do i do?

  17. Please help I’ve attempted to root my phone but keep getting stuck on Part III #11. I get “backup failed: Could not run command”. I did as you suggested and did a unroot just in case I had donut. I never rooted this phone before so I not really sure what the problem is???? Please help…

  18. Hey….after doing the update, my phone goes thru the whole set up process. I can’t get pass the gmail account because it wont let me log in. Any way I can get passed that?

  19. Anthony rothwell

    i tried to do the root on the my touch 3g and when loasing the sappimg.nbh it says failed ect…..then i tried unrooting and it also failed then i went to the goldmethod and started doing the comand promt and its not workin please help thanks

  20. can any one help me out here? i had follow the process above. it says fail and says that it was to old or whatever it is. can anyone PLEASE tell me what i did wrong and how i can get my phone to run faster.

  21. I have the same problem as Mika. I can’t log in through Google to set it up, stuck on a black screen with an android.

    I have used my friend’s T-Mobile SIM card that has data and it keep saying it can’t get a connection despite having service.

    Cvang, try formatting and retrying. Else I think you need to use goldcard method.

  22. When I hold down the volume key and power on it goes through but doesn’t say restart phone with the new file just goes back to what it said before searching for the SAPPIMG file? how come my phone isnt finding it when i restart it.

  23. Hi, my question is if I don’t have a data plan and I try to root my phone, will I have to activate it through gmail again? And if I do will I be able to use wifi this time to activate it?

  24. i trying to get the htc hero rom on my my touch 3.5 and it says on the top i can root it cause its not the old on what should i do then to get this rom on my mytouch 3.5

  25. sahin ans fish, you need to find someone with tmobile and an android phone. androidphone uses android plan, like iphone uses iphone plan. i finally found someone tonight and can finally use my phone because they had some motorola that looked like the mytouch w/ headphone jack on top. and it ran android so i borrowed their sim and login to google now my sim works. i dont have data, i just got the phone to use wifi onit.

  26. How do I unroot using this procedure? I want to go back to the orginal system. Mytouch regular 1.6 Tmobile

  27. hellllppppp i place the sap file but i just wipe the sd card from the phone then i placed it in but try to find it but nothing??? what is wrong??

  28. whole root process works fine untill it says enter /sdcard/recovery.img then click apply custom img button i dont have one….just restore backup….what now?

    1. Roland,

      You want to unlock it or root it?
      Rooting would be jailbreaking (for loading ROMs, overclocking, etc).
      Unlocking is so you can use another GSM carrier (like put a AT&T SIM in the phone and make phone calls etc)

      If you want to root it, goto our How To Root the MyTouch 1.2 procedure.
      If you want to unlock it, goto our Unlock My Phone section and fill out a form (costs money though FYI, as the carriers charge for the code to unlock the phone).

  29. hey it dont work…. i put in the sap file then when i reboot and it try to look for it but nothing??? please help i have a mytouch 3g white 32 b running 1.6 right now???

  30. i think you should put “must have data plan” in the before you begin section…i just did it and i didn’t have a data plan..now i cant go through with the rest of the rooting.

    1. Tim,

      Just add the data plan for the day and remove it once you get past the screen, takes 5 minutes and costs $1 for the day.
      Or use someone else’s SIM card that has a data plan, get past that screen and then put your SIM back in.

  31. ijust receied a replacement mytouch 3g, and i tried everything on this site and i cant get root, i cant get flash recovery,i tried loading the sapping.Nbh it gives me the option to update,so i do then it checks for signature main verion is older updat fail. then i tried the gold card way and the sapping does not even get read.any ideas

    1. Rbaggio00,

      That means the goldcard wasn’t made correctly unfortunately. Try to make it again and be very careful when reader the instructions (like make sure you edit it as a physical disk and run the hex editor as administrator etc, just some common errors).

  32. The Unlockr
    i re did it with a different card, and at the end it said wrong model id again. can it be an issue with maybe something new that tmobile added to the software.

  33. Tried to downgrade to cupcake and got the “Update failed, Version older than current version” message. I want to root my phone but do not want to do it through the gold card method. Is there any other way to get this to work? I only want to root my phone so it can be a wifi hotspot. Any other suggestions to doing this? Can’t tether because I have a WiFi only iPad. Thanks for any suggestions.

  34. This is the guide on Cyangen, very similar to Unlockrs and others. This one however addresses and explains the issue you are having about halfway down.
    http://bit.ly/4ciGdW

    You’ll have to do the goldcard method and flash a different spl and or radio
    You can find the procedure linked here
    http://bit.ly/dfK7f

  35. after i installed the flashrec on my mytouch i pressed backup recover image and it said Backup FAILED: Could not run command. How do i fix this?

  36. ok i have two first gen mytouch 3gs and ive tried to use this method to downgrade them but it says something about the software on the phone is newer them the downgrade why does it say this what can i do? someone please help.

  37. after trying to root the flashrec worked but then the recovery wouldn’t , now it won’t let me flashrec it again it says it can’t be done on my phone and i cant go to factory settings or upgrade it back to 1.6 because it freezes on the my touch screen. can anyone help I have the my touch with google no holes on top.

  38. Curious George

    AGHHHHHHH UNLOCKR HELP ME
    I DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN MY PHONE WONT READ MY SIM CARD 😐 😐
    i have a old mytouch and running your stock root access mytouch ROM >:O please tell me what happened and if i can fix it!

  39. Curious George

    i got it to work without doing that…. i just reset my phone a few times. not sure what happened…

    Okay so when i wipe i have to get everything back again! i hear of a nandroid (or something like that) backup… should i do that b 4 flashing and after i reflash how do i fullfill that backup.

  40. When it asks me to unmount the card and format it, will it erase all my pictures and everything ? I notice it says it will erase everything. Please let me know. Thanks

  41. Hi

    I try to root my mytouch 3g, that was alrdy UNlock,
    when i done the first step with download sapping, than turn back, my phone got locked, which back to getting lock.

    Im a AT&T using tmobile phone, please help

    thanks

  42. Thanks unlocker for the great step by step tutorial. I managed to root my device before but now I don’t get the
    flash custom Recoveryimage bottom.

    Can you please help
    thanks

  43. hi the unlockr, how about the mytouch 3g slide do you know how to root it?. i think someone did it already, saw it over androidspin.com by eugene373. i want to see your step by step video tutorial.

  44. Hi,
    I followed you tutorial almost everything worked except the last part. After loading recovery rom, when I restart holding HOME+Power, the phone hangs (nothing happens), tried holding for around 20+ seconds.

    But my phone is already downgraded to Cupcake COC10

    How can I bypass this step?
    Thanks

  45. Just to let you know, I followed the video as instruction where you have entered ‘sdcard/recovery.img’ (which i have used while flashing rom) but in the text-based guide you used ‘/sdcard/recovery.img’. So, I’m not sure if this difference in path is causing it to hang when loading in recovery mode.

    Some Details About Phone:
    * Mode: myTouch 3G (PVT-32B)
    * Current FW Version: 1.5 | Before Mod: 1.6
    * Current Build: COC10 | Before Mod: DMD64

    btw, I did get notification saying there is update available to 1.6, and as I was stuck in 1.5, I continued the update and it got hanged at same place(green mytouch screen) just after reboot.

    Any ideas or suggestions are much appreciated :-]
    Thanks
    – Hossain

  46. Okay, here is the final update.

    After trying some goldcard stuffs, nothing worked. So, i decided to get back to this article.

    >> I flashed rom with original recovery image which was backedup by FlashRec
    >> I checked if the original recovery booted by holding (HOME+Power), which worked – a screen with triangle and exclamation mark came.
    >> then I re-downloaded the recovery.img which is posted here, and flashed again
    >> now when I restarted to recovery mode, It worked!!! yeppieee! and then I followed loading custom rom article to load 2.1 🙂

    LESSON LEARNED: all files/roms should be hash checked [md5/sha1] (data corruption might not be the case for me, as re-downloaded image was exactly same size which was downloaded b4)
    Missing leading forward-slash(/) in video might be one reason, not sure. sometimes there are things that you can’t explain :p

    Anyway, thank you TheUnlockr

  47. I tried to downgrade to cupcake, followed the instructions, but when the phone boots, it still shows version 1.6. What am I doing wrong?

  48. I have tried this multiple times. Step 12 is where I have a problem. It will boot into recovery mode, but only after the screen with the exclamation point. It will install the new ROMs, but NONE of them work! I keep getting stuck on the Vodafone. I have a MyTouch 3g WITHOUT the 3.5mm jack. Now I’m stuck with 1.5. How do I either fix this, or get back to the original t-mobile setup? Thank you.

  49. Completed all steps…but stuck on final reboot– I press the home and power “mytouch” comes on and nothing happens. Took battery out and Re-installed all over again..still the same. What am I missing?

  50. John Drumright

    I followed the steps as directed. I put the SAPPIMG file on my sdcard, loaded my phone into bootloader, but it keeps saying NO IMAGE. I have a 32B MyTouch with no 3.5mm jack and it has 1.6. What is wrong?

  51. I loaded the sappimg.nbh file with no problem. Now Im trying to flash the recovery file and my phone just say “working, do not interrupt”, its been like that for about 15 minutes. Is something wrong or should I just continued to wait?

  52. i retried all of the steps in the video and its still giving me the back up failed issue… all it says is could not run command…. PLEASE HELP UNLOCKER!!!!!!!!

  53. when i go to install the recovery and press back up recovery on flash it comes up as backup failed: could not run command any help?

  54. I rooted my MT3G and loaded Eclair with almost no problem. Now I was wondering if everything would work the same if I deleted the Eclair and original rooted rom from my Sdcard now, or should I leave them where they are?

  55. hey i have a t-mobile mytouch 3g, but it came with 1.6, despite that i still tried the unroot process and needless to say it failed, is there any way my phone can be rooted at all, or should i just give up? help me please

    1. Raul,

      Click on How To’s at the top of the site, then Android, then click on the MyTouch 1.2 / Fender How To’s. Those are for the MyTouch with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

  56. Hey, Thanks for the detailed guide! Just one question. I have data for couple of days and then I’m going to remove it so if I root my phone now, will the welcome/activation screen be removed from now on? Also, if I unroot to update to Froyo, let’s say, will the activation screen be back?

    1. Raash,

      Most custom roms have the option to skip the setup or connect to wifi instead. So if you are already rooted and running a custom rom that has that feature then you won’t need the data plan. Otherwise you can always add the data plan for a day to get past the activation screen (you get prorated and they charge you the monthly cost divided by the number of days in a month times the number of days you used it; $30 a month / 30 days in a month * 1 day of use = $1).

  57. Hi unlockr,

    well, I followed the guide but ran into a very problematic scenario… it seems that your guide is lacking a very important warning/prerequisite, the phone must be unlocked, otherwise, after executing step #7 you get stuck with the activation screen….

    the thing is that my phone is locked for T-Mobile, I have T-Mobile sim card and also have a valid up-to-date data plan with the company, the only problem is that now I’m abroad (not in the states) and thus, I cannot use their 3G network for the following month…. I’m now stuck at the activation screen and cannot go through it whatsoever, my phone is as good as a brick. I tried using some hacks to bypass the activation via 3G by using wireless with no success. I could not manage to use the adb app as the computer detects the phone only as usb drive, probably the setting to allow debug via USB is set to false… and clearly, I cannot change that setting. On the other hand, spending now 30$ on an unlock code as you publish in your site is merely a waste of money, I have no problem with my phone being locked to T-Mobile as I am their customer.

    Please advise, I’m desperate, left outside the US with no phone…. feeling kind of a homeless or maybe cellless…. HELP

    please save my s on this one…. I must fix this somehow…rollback or anything in order to gain my phone back…

    Thanks,
    G.

    1. G,

      Your phone doesn’t need to be unlocked, you just need a data plan…
      simply add data where you are (it’ll be roaming data since you’re overseas) and activate the phone then turn the roaming data plan off immediately after. The cost of using the data to just activate the phone will be a few cents (so long as that’s all you use it for).
      Good luck!

  58. I got a question, I followed the steps that was giving on this site. when i downgraded to the cupcake , it said that the update was old. OK, I ignored that just because. now i did the second step which i put the two apk(amon recovery and flash rec) and now i typed sdcard/recovery.img and it says…”back up failed” could not run command…..whats going on here?????? im confused….HELP!!!!!!!

    1. Carlos,

      If it says update filaed main version is older, then you need to create a goldcard, put the file on it and try again. Search our site for how to create a goldcard.

  59. Thanks..now..another question. IF i do that gold card like you told me to do…do i first do that(goldcard) and come back here and do these steps all over again?should i be worried about this goldcard thing? I read about it and it sounds like if i make a bad move my phone would be NO longer a phone…or in other words, ill end up frying it and im scared that i will do that with my luck :{. Is there any way you can explain to me what this whole gold card thing is all about? Im scared to do it but i need some visual assistance like on this video, which by the way it was easy to follow …

  60. Curious George

    hey unlockr!
    its me again! umm i am just wondering if you were sure about the fact that once the Google/T-Mobile 2.2 froyo for mytouch comes across the air waves that i will just be able to download it without problems if i’m running CyanogenMod 5.0.7?

    And i’m not so sure that i’m going to get that update to my phone because on my phone i can no longer search for software updates through settings which i used to be able to use before the rooting and ROM switching.

    And if i indeed will be able to get this update what will i have to do to update it, just hit update and the phone will just flash that ROM and not have the Root Access anymore?

    I know i have alot of questions, so i dont expect a quick response but thanks in advance!

    Curious George 🙂

    1. Curious George,

      You will almost always be able to get an update as a custom rom well before you get it via OTA (one of the benefits of being rooted). Other than that most ROMs don’t stop you from getting OTA updates (like my Nexus One rooted rom just told me to update from Google).

  61. Curious George

    okay well im running CyanogenMod 5.0.7 will that allow me to recieve a OTA update?
    and if so do i just hit update once it comes through?

  62. ok so i have
    sapphire pvt 32b ship s- on G
    HBOOT- 1.33.0007 (SAPP30000)
    CPLD-10
    RADIO-2.22.23.02
    Jul 31 2009, 15:49:25

    How can i root this??
    everytime i try to hbbot it says main version is older help plz

  63. Curious George

    HEY I NEED HELP PLEASE
    i flashed cyanogenmod 2.2 (6.0.0) and now i cant flash into recovery anymore why!?!?

  64. Curious George

    i found out what i did i forgot about clockworkMod’s recovery and stuff!
    are you using cyanogenmod 6 also unlockr?

  65. I’ve been tring to load Cupcake on my G3 1.6 for two days now. I tried makeing a Goldcard using a PYN and a Kingston card. Everytime I try to downgrade I get “MAIN VERSON IS OLDER!”. I know I have done everything exactly as told. I’ve done it at least 10 times now. Why am I hitting this wall????

  66. My son was playing with my screen pattern on my 3G Mytouch phone and it was locked. I am living in the Caribbean. I got the phone unlocked from the United States and it was working very well until my son messed it up. i reset the phone to factory settings and now i cannot get pass the Google email screen prompt. I tried my valid email address to gain access but to no avail. Is there a way of getting my phone active again? Can anyone offer any suggestion?
    Roland

    1. Roland,

      On the activation screen, push Menu. Then select APN settings, then Menu again and select New APN and put in the carrier you are using’s APN settings (if you do not know them call them and ask). Then select that APN and click back until you get back to the activation screen. Eventually you should see either an E or 3G at the top of the phone indicating you have data services again. Once that happens, log in with your gmail account.

  67. Hi, Unlockr,

    Brilliant work!! Both videos (this and the custom rom) are nicely produced!

    I am stuck, though because I don’t have data/web-access on my pre-paid t-mobile account. I know you’ve addressed this in other threads, but I’m looking for a way to either work around the problem or revert back all the way… I’m currently at I – 7, where the phone reboots to stock cupcake firmware, but can’t get past the Google account sign in, because it won’t connect over WiFi, and I don’ t have the necessary access to any of the T-Mobile APNs.

    Also, the phone isn’t yet unlocked, so I can’t borrow an AT&T SIM just to push through this step…( and, of course, I don’t know anyone in the area with a T-Mobile account).

    Looking forward to your reply..

    And, thanks again, for all the great work!!!
    /benzo/

  68. Hey, I rooted my last phone using this procedure, but I got a new mt3g, old one replaced under warranty from faulty charger port.
    anyway my new phone came with 1.6 and it will not let me downgrade. it says the version is older. what do I do? I do not want to use the gold card method

    1. Roger,

      If your phone has a headphone Jack at the top go do the How To Root the MyTouch 1.2 procedure on this site.
      If it does not, then do the how to create a goldcard procedure then with the goldcard in the phone start this procedure over.

  69. WHy cant i downgrade from 1.6? it saids i cant downgrade to and older version. I have the older mytouch without the headjack on top. What can i do from here?

  70. Hello,
    I have the mytouch 3G that comes with the 3.5mm headphones jack. This tutorials says it doesn’t work with that phone. Is that correct? How can I get my phone rooted in case this tutorial doesn’t work?

    Thanks
    Juan

    1. Juan,

      Click on How Tos at the top of the site. Then click on Android. Then click on MyTouch 1.2 (the MyTouch 1.2 is the MyTouch with the 3.5mm headphone jack at the top). You’ll find all your procedures there. Good luck!

  71. I havent gotten an answer. Can someone help me please. Thanks you.

    Why cant i downgrade from 1.6? it saids i cant downgrade to and older version. I have the older mytouch without the headjack on top. I try the goldcard and i also try it without the goldcard and i still get the same problem. What can i do from here?

  72. I have tried doing this without a gold card and with but still get the same message “Main Version is Older”
    “Update Fail” can anyone direct me on what to do next?

  73. @TheUnlockr I’ve used your method several times in the past but I recently went legit and want to root again since T-Mobile is taking forever. I’ve downloaded all of the files as instructed(in your method) however, can I use the updated Amon_Ra recovery as it is now at 1.7 instead of the one you provide? Does this change anything? I want to run CM6, but I want to make sure it’s done right. Or do you know with 100% certainty that CM6 works with this recovery image?

    — Thanks in advance.

    1. SaltLife,

      You can use either recovery, Cyanogen would work with both. If you do decide to use the newer recovery just make sure type in the new one’s name correctly (instead of the one listed in the procedure) when you flash it with FlashRec.
      Good luck!

    1. JRoc72,

      No, you can try the How To Root the HTC Incredible procedure using Unrevoked. That should work 🙂 Please write in the comments under that page if it does work for you, thanks!

  74. just a little thing i discovered. i could not get it to work with Linda, but could with Astro File Manager. i had also used it before backing up my apps, and i would recommend NOT using Astro to actually restore the apps once you flash the new rom. i used CyanogenMod 6 rc2 and when i installed the apps from backup, they force closed in the settings for the app and didn’t appear in the market as updates. once i redownloaded all the apps, everything is running smooth.

    thanks for the great instructions

  75. THE UNLOCKR PLEASE HELP! okay so when i try to upgrade ext2 to ext3 it says Error : “‘Run ‘fs ext3’ via console!”‘ i know i put in everything right, but i recently did do the factroy or hard reset or whatever does that have anything to do with it? pleassee help me! and thank you =)

  76. hello unlockr i tried the way you advised but no luck there i put the gold card in my computer and it worked like it should from the goldcard instructions im still getting the same error as before so what do ya think if ya could please give me a direction thank you.

  77. Was up to the point where you add Linda’s File Manager from the market. However, they upgraded to 1.5.12 and it won’t open on the Cupcake OS. I can’t find a older version of Linda’s File Manager. Any alternative File Managers? Thanks.

    1. D.

      Really? It won’t load at all?
      Just search for file manager and try others. Most should let you open and install the file, so shouldn’t matter which one.

  78. Ok, well, I wanna root my MyTouch 3G (The old one)
    but i have the official 1.6 tmobile upgrade, and i don’t think its the so called “Donut” just the original, i bought my phone lets say ever since uhmm February… around that time.
    Is their any way i can root my phone, cause i tried it your way and I can it says something about main version is older, something around those lines, or if theirs a way to downgrade to a version that i can root it.
    Thanks for your time.

    Hope to hear back from yall…

    JV

  79. okay i have downgraded to 1.5 and im encoring some problems i would like to know how to upgrade back to 1.6 the original one i had

  80. when i get to step 10 and press backup recovery image, its says “backup FAILED: could not run command.” What do i do?

  81. Mike-

    i rooted my phone and the intial rom i loaded onto it worked fine but when i tried to load the 2.2 rom i cant get my contacts to sync it tells me unable to open connection to server. i also cannot find the market anywhere,is there something i am doing wrong??

  82. hi, can i root and unlock also my phone with this tutorial, it’s a german vodafone branded HTC magic (with the ‘with google’ sign on the back / 32B). It seems to me it’s the same hardware and i am thinking to try your way of unlocking and installing a custom rom on it. can you tell me if i could run into any trouble?

    1. Nyyrikki,

      Rooting and unlocking are two different procedures. This procedure will root your phone NOT unlock it. In order o unlock your phone you would need to purchase an unlock code (we sell them on here, or you can Google Unlock Codes).
      As for rooting your phone, you need to do our How To Root the Magic procedure not this one.

  83. Can I even attempt this rooting process if I broke the volume button on my phone? Don’t want to take any chances.

  84. So I transfer the SAPP.img file to the root of the SD card, but when I turn it off and then use the Volume Down + End button instead of it recognizing the SAPP.img it says

    image not found (SAPPDIAG.zip)

    It just keeps giving me this file name. What seems to be the problem?

      1. Yeah, something must have been wrong with the file b/c when I re-downloaded it everything was fine… except for now it says “Update Failed” “Main Version Older.” From what it looks like I would need to use the GoldCard method right? No ways around it?

  85. when i connected my phone to the computer, my computer did not recognized it and my phone thought it was connected to my charger??

    1. Did you ever get a response to this?
      This seems to occur pretty frequently, but I have yet to find a solution.

  86. im up to the point where im supposed to drag the apk file and recovery image into the formatted sd card and it wont let me drop the recovery image one in. it says zero kb like theres nothing in it. then it says error -36. what do i do!!

  87. i did the steps up until holding home and power. i held both down for about 2 minutes and the phone never left the mytouch screen. can u help please

  88. Someone please help me. I spent hours on this last night and no matter what I do, I can not get my phone to show in recovery in the command prompt when typing “adb devices”. I have tried every usb port on my computer and done everything in the steps and no matter what I do I can not get it to show recovery. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

  89. maddox black mytouch

    i have an old my touch no head phone jack i just had it replaced today i get the new one and i try to root with the sappimg.nbh file to go back to 1.5 cupcake it tells me……..
    ( main version is older!
    update fail! )
    what should i do abou t this the radio is diffrent from my old phone and i thought the sappimg.nbh file was curopped but it worked fine to un root my old phone… what do i do please help me !!! this is the 5th my touch i have rooted and the only one im having a problem with …..
    the radio and build info is below may be they changed some thing and i need a diffrent (sapp) file

    saphire pvt 32b ship s-on g
    hboot-1.33.0007 (sapp30000)
    cpld-10
    radio-2.22.23.02
    jul 31 2009,15:49:25

  90. so I read youre reported issues and tried every thing still no flash custom recovery image button idk what the problem is but ive been trying to figure this out for about an hour now with no progress

  91. Do I have to downgrade to 1.5 if I currently have 1.6? Very nervous about rooting my phone though the tutourial seems to be straight forward.

  92. I am stuck in sdcard/recovery.img part of flasing recovery image, Button is disabled and showing “Flash Recovery Image” but never gets enabled. I tried reformat and put it back but nothing works. Made sure no space or spelling mistake, as for as I can think I did and no mercy with this one. Please help me out to get over this. Thanks.

  93. so rooted phone and flashed Froyo. Liking the new features but when I go to install apps from the market, they either load or fail to successfully install. I did put a new 16gb sdcard in but did not format it. Should I do that and what else can I do with Froyo or with the phone rooted? Also, when I mount the physical sd card and re-mount it, it loads the “X” screen and have to enter pin # etc. Did I do something incorrect?

  94. i did all this but when i put the goldcard in the phone it just says in the notification : PREPARING SD CARD checking for errors. what do i do help please thank you very much.

  95. HELP! i had installed froyo on my phone after rooting. got it thru cyanogen 5.17 i believe, but I lost earpeice audio so I went back in to reflash to an older SPK and it did the wrong one. now im on a vodafone spk with no touchscreen access. I have a backup of the way it was on my card, but idk how to access that now. I tried the home button and power but when I do that it has a exclamation point in a triangle and a picture of the phone. I do have some access thru USB but not to my SD card. it tried to install something when I plugged it in on the hazard sign screen and it did successfully install, but idk what to do with it! HELP!

  96. everything goes good up until i have to hold down home and the end key to put it in recovey. it stays on the green mytouch no matter how long i hold the keys down

  97. Black screen on boot.

    mytouch logo ok.
    android animation ok.
    goes to black screen and stays there, i even let it sit for 20 mins.

    everything else about the procedure went according to plan…

  98. When I click on the 2 recovery files to download, they both say they are temporarily unavailable. any other way of getting these?

  99. “Maps could not be installed on this phone.”
    or
    “Installation unsuccessful. Package not correctly signed.”

    Everything works but Google Maps won’t install. I’m using the generic mytouch rom with root that’s provided in the how-to. Any ideas???

  100. if you are having trouble getting your flashrec to work, where the top button is still greyed out, try to rename both files to recovery. when i did that, it worked for me, i was able to finally after 3 hours of messing with it, I was able to get past that step.

  101. edit: notice how when he transfers the recovery image that it’s renamed to recovery.img that is why anyone having trouble getting the top button to show up cannot get it to show up. simply rename the recovery image to “recovery” and it will work, or if you do not rename it, you have to type in sdcard/(whatever it is named).img and it will work. easier to just rename the file RECOVERY and just type it in how he does it in the video sdcard/recovery.img and it will work.

  102. for some reason i cannot get my mytouch 3g to load the recovery image after i do the back up recovery. It leaves the download box unuseable.

  103. I got my phone back working. downloaded Tmobile Factory 1.6 SPL and used my card reader to put that on my SD. put the card in and used fastboot to install. thought everything was normal, and for the most part it is, but now my SD card isnt being recognized once the android system boots, but if I hold down the volume button and power I can still flash SPLs from the card, so I know its a software issue since the phone can still read off the card before it boots up.

    but now I cant really change the SPL i used because I cant root since the phone thinks I dont have an SD card.
    any suggestions?

    i was thinking there may be some sort of virtual SD card program maybe? idk? suggestions would be appreciated.

    other than that issue, i think it knocked out my bluetooth as well, but I dont really care about that because I dont use it anyway. but still. everything else works perfectly.

    shewalkslikerain04@gmail.com

  104. uhm.. so i get to the step where i click “flash recovery image”, and i click it, and it’s on the “FLASHING…WORKING, DO NOT INTERRUPT” screen.. working on about half an hour now.. any idea what’s going on? i notice in the video yours takes all of a millisecond..

  105. Hi,
    Trying to get started and my touch doesn’t show a USB notification at all.
    I’ve shut down my computer and restarted the phone, also tried another cord.
    Found on the Tmobile site that other people have this problem too, but have not seen a solution.
    thanks.

  106. Hi-

    I am not a newbie when it comes to rooting (have rooted my “old” MT3G and my Nexus One) however there is something that is not quite right. I am working on my wife’s MT3G (no jack – not Fender) which shipped with 1.6. Have made a Gold Card and verified that it works. Have loaded the SAPPIMG.nbh on the Gold Card, shut phone off and powered-up by pressing the END and VOL DN until I get the white screen. I pressed END and some text flies by and all I can really see is ‘No Image’ or something like that. I press the trackball and nothing happens. I reboot the phone and am right back to 1.6.

    Any ideas on what I am doing wrong or steps that I am missing?

    Thanks in advance.

  107. I download the sapping.nbh and installed it in bootloader, but now I have no no 3g or edge signal to complete the google sign in. Please help. I have 3g and edge on other phones with my sim, I also used a friend’s sim that has the android data plan and still no 3g or edge is appears during the google log in. I’m stuck.

    1. Stuck,

      You might need to put in the APN settings. On the login screen hit Menu then APN and then Menu and click Add New APN and put in your carrier’s APN setting (Google them) then click save and try again.

        1. I do not have a data plan for my sim..
          my HTC Magic is a 32B .. original developer’s conference phone..
          i loaded on sappimg.nbh … but.. now my phone thinks it’s a MyTouch – and wants a data plan to get back in.. Are there any sappimg.nbh equivalents available that skip the Google account login step which requires a data plan?!?!?

        2. I do not have a data plan for my sim..
          my HTC Magic is a 32B .. original developer’s conference phone..
          i loaded on sappimg.nbh … but.. now my phone thinks it’s a MyTouch – and wants a data plan to get back in.. Are there any sappimg.nbh equivalents available that skip the Google account login step which requires a data plan?!?!?

        3. I do not have a data plan for my sim..
          my HTC Magic is a 32B .. original developer’s conference phone..
          i loaded on sappimg.nbh … but.. now my phone thinks it’s a MyTouch – and wants a data plan to get back in.. Are there any sappimg.nbh equivalents available that skip the Google account login step which requires a data plan?!?!?

  108. So everything was going good until I got to the part where you have to “backup recovery image”, it failed. The message said: could not run command. How can i fix this? or can i go past this step?
    -thanks for listening, I’ll be waiting for your response.

  109. hey i have a mytouch 32b and i’ve put the sappimg.nbh on the sd but when i get to the vol down/power button part it doesn’t read the file..

    sapphire pvt 32b ship s-on g
    hboot-1.33.0007 (sapp30000)
    radio-2.22.23.02
    Jul 31 2009, 15:49:25

    help ;(

  110. The Unlockr,
    I have got this entire process (gold card, root, custom rom) to work on 2 MyTouch 3g’s perfectly. Now I’m trying to do a third and it seems like the gold card is not having an effect on the rootability of the phone. When I try to load the sappimg I’m getting the “It’s too old” message. I have redone the gold card several times and even used the sd card that worked in one of the first 2 phones. Still a no-go. Any advice?

    Thanks,
    Jeff

  111. The Unlockr,
    I couldn’t find a place to post this, but I was wondering
    Is it possible to overclock the mytouch 3g without the 3.5mm jack while on a CM6 Froyo?
    There’s a video on Youtube that it’s possible to, BUT I’m not sure if it’s possible to do it on Froyo

    Please let me know

    Thank,
    Derek

  112. okay i did the step where you hold down volume and power button it went threw but now i try too log into my google account to get on my phone it says cannot establish network omg plz help been at this all day i have a data plan but still nothing wont establish my apn is correct too.

  113. hi theunlockr what should i do when i press the home key and power button it wont let me do anything now theres an exclamation mark on my phone

  114. hello unlockr

    I have a mytouch 3g I rooted it using universal androot. Downloaded rom man. and flashed clockworkmod recovery. I have been using cyanogenmod6 runs great. I did the unroot method you guys have and it worked. I re-rooted doing the same steps as before and am using cm6. I tried to unroot using sappimg.nbh file but this time I got no image found and main version older. I put your generic rom with root on, and re downloaded unandroot. if I unroot with that will it unroot the phone leaving that rom?

  115. nevermind I tried it and am still rooted. 🙁 wishing I could get my phone unrooted and back to stock os to get the ota update. I dont understand why it didn’t work. Tho it worked for me before. Ive tried everything except the goldcard way. Has anyone found another way?

  116. This is my first time trying to root the mytouch 3g but I couldn’t get pass III.8 listed above. I downloaded Linda File Manager but when opened it’s blank. There’s no SD file to select. HELP!!! Do I need a class 6 SD card?

    1. mine is doing the same, i noticed if you press the menu button, the keyboard pops up, press the back button and it should work

  117. Hello Can you help me please i’m trying to root my HTC magic on Vodafone 1.6 I’m in the UK will the above instructions help me root my phone? There is now mention of 32A and 32B motherboards for the Anom RA recovery .

    Your help would be greatly recieved especialy if i’m on the wrong instructions.

  118. I have done all the steps. All steps went fine, now when i try to get into recovery mode. pressing the home and power buttons it restarts and just stays at the MY TOUCH 3G green screen. tried restarting, battery pulls, nothing works. when you start with a normal startup the fone works fine. i was suppose to upgrade the fone, now i am stuck with a downgraded 1.5 🙁

  119. hey whats up the unlockr. i downloaded all the files from here to root mmy my touch 3g and everything was working until the recovery img thing. it says FAILED COULD NOT RUN COMMAND. i have a 32b motherboard. please help.

      1. Thanks TheUnlockr but when i went into the file from linda file manager i didnt see any temproot or any root options. I have a HTC mytouch old version with a 2.2 update from tmobile

  120. on the recovery file name bit. For me, I made sure the file name dropped on the cell’s sdcard did not have the file name ending in .img. And for that, it “ungreyed” the next option to flash.

    Hope this helps

  121. I click on ASRO file manager then click “flashrec-1.1.3-20091107-2.apk” and it prompts me to Browse File or Open App Manager. I chose Open App Manager. It then prompts me to Uninstall or Launch. I chose Launch. Next I see the text box where I entered /sdcard/recovery.img. However, the the “Flash Recovery File” button is greyed out. I confirmed my OS is 1.5 and I confirmed the recover.img is indeed on the SD Card as well as making sure it typed it exactly as shown. No caps, spaces etc. Can anyone help?

  122. i did the 2.2 ota update and i am now trying to root my phone and i did everything but when i get to the bootloader screen it doesnt find the update for 1.5 what do i do???

  123. hey i have a problem i followed everything you said but when you i have to press the home and power button it doesnt show me anything its still the same green screen and it just stays frozen like that need help

  124. Very helpful tutorial although I am having one problem in step 10. After I tap “Backup Recovery Image” it says “Backup FAILED: Could not run command.”
    What am I doing wrong?

    1. Did u figure what happened cuz the same thing happened to me… i’m running Adroid 2.2 if that makes a difference…

  125. when i hold volume down and power down the phone comes on and asks me if i want to update. i say yes but then once the phone searches it tell me update failed . something about old data??? please help.

  126. Hey Unlocker,

    I am stationed in Japan and i have the HTC Magic through NTT docomo and they gave me this phone 9 months ago and told me it would be able to update to Android 2.1. Turns out that was not true and i cannot download and add any new apps to my Magic with 1.6. I asked them to update my phone & they said no the phone cannot do it, you will need to buy a new phone (FOKERS!) So, i have tried this process and i get all the way to running the flashrec file and when i try to do the backup it fails. I am using OI file manager because that was the only one i could download from the market. I have tried the Linda one but it won’t download because the market says i have the wrong version. I would really like to be able to install the new Cyanogen 6.1.0 MOD for this phone and be able to download apps from the market again. Any help would be great because i have limited time and resources ($) to replace the phone.

  127. it work perfectly for me.. if you get FAILED: Could not run command. download advance taskiller and kill all the task and reboot ur phone and is going to work and if u get Flash Recovery doesn’t show up, it stays greyed out! typing like this /sdcard/recovery.img

  128. I did the first part but now it says i have to set up a google account. I dont have service on my phone so Its not working. Is there a way to bypass this?

  129. pl deff need help i did everything then an error accured with step ten and i gave up so now it will not connect or update

  130. i am trying to root my mytouch 3g but it is on the android 2.2.1 system and when i try to put the sapimg it says “Main version is older! update fail!” what can i do to root it?

  131. Was on androd 2.2.1 before I started the cupcake root process.
    All data was erased.
    My google account must have been accessible as my phonebook was retrieved.
    When I attempt to access marketplace to obtain Linda, the logon failed.
    Any suggestions?

  132. For some reason the market isn’t letting me download Linda. I then tried to download anything from the market and got nothing….starting to download is enduring and that’s it. Got to go back to unrooting I guess and try a different method. I have the correct phone, went as far as getting to Linda on the market and stopped.

  133. When i try to downgrade to cupcake i get to boot loader and hit update then it does its thing then it comes up and says “update fail main version is older! do you want to reboot device?”

  134. When i try to downgrade to cupcake i get to boot loader and hit update then it does its thing then it comes up and says “update fail main version is older! do you want to reboot device?”

  135. everything went perfectly, except when I turned my phone back on after installing the generic ROM, it was just normal cupcake….tried to d/l wireless tethering and it said my phone wasn’t rooted….but I saw all the right screens, followed prompts… 🙁

  136. Love it, hated what tmobile did to my phone with the upgrade. I wanted them to roll it back, they claimed they would not roll it back…so stick it in your ear now Tmobile cause I am back to the original state before you hosed my phone. Now on to bigger and better things. 

    Side note you have to use the market from the phone, the new market place did not recognize my phone. I almost had forgotten how to use the old settings for a minute, going back to an older operating system layout while familiar you tend to forget where and how somethings worked.

  137. Im have the same problem as someone else. I get to the last step and can not get into recovery mode. it stays frozen on the mytouch green screen.

  138. i was getting the frustrating “Backup Failed….” error. i had previously backtracked using the SAPPIMG.nbh file used in another section of unlockr so i thought it was the same thing.  I reset my phone using the file in this exact thread and it works great. go figure

  139. I keep getting Main Version is Older Update Failed and the first steps of the root. can someone please help me out

  140. I downloaded linda file manger but the program doesnt work it jsut says linda file mangager at the top with a blank screen

  141. my phone wont let me do anything but make emergency calls after the i hit the trackball to start it up again..help

  142. ISSUE: Linda, I had a problem with the linda file manager. As I am attempting to reflash this old phone at a much later date (2011, for my mom) it seems the newest version of linda is not compatible with donut. Astro also does not work. Try using OI File Manager, it worked for me. Good luck!

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