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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Upgrade your HTC Magic to Android 2.3 Gingerbread

I love my HTC Magic (myTouch 3G in the US). Even though it is a model that was released more than 2 years ago and practically today costs nothing (assuming you can find it in order to buy it), I still love it. Ok, it might not have an Nvidia Tegra in, or 8 megapixel camera plus a front one, or an AMOLED WVGA screen but none the less is a very capable phone that has proved to be an excellent familiar. And lets face it. Spending 500 euros per year for a new model of your favorite smartphone family is plain stupid. Of course 2 years in the smartphone industry is a really long time. When HTC Magic came out more than two years ago it was running Android 1.5. Today the latest incarnation of our favorite mobile OS is 2.3 which is light years ahead of 1.5. Unfortunately HTC and the operators have stopped supporting the phone for many versions now(I am assuming to force us to buy newer models). Only a handfull remain that still provide updates, but for the vast majority of Magic users there has been no official update since 1.6 which was a long, long time ago. Of course many users rooted their phone and upgraded it with custom firmware provided buy the ever excellent community but for more than a year now we are stuck with 2.1.

Finally a stable 2.3 firmware was released by the guys in xda-developers forums. I upgraded last night and I can testify that is working great. Everything works and it is significantly faster than my previous ROM Smoki X2. Do not get me wrong, I was happy with Smoki but it is stuck in 2.1 and it is a bit slow. Being intentionally slow though meant that Magic needed a charge every 4-5 days which was amazing. In addition smoki version included the HTC Sense. Thus if HTC Sense is very important to you do not upgrade to this version since it is the stock Google interface(which I like by the way).

Before upgrading you need to have a rooted phone. If you haven't it will not be possible to upgrade. How to root your phone is beyond the scope of this guide. For rooting you phone search specific instructions on the xda forums. Also make sure you have the 32a and NOT the 32b version of the phone. If you have the 32b version and you try to upgrade you might brick your device.

Assuming you have backed up your data and you have connected it to your computer with a USB cable:
  • Shutdown phone
  • From you computer: download the new firmware and the Google apps bundle
  • From you phone: hold down Home button and press power momentarily.
  • Menu:Partition SD card
  • go back
  • Menu: Select wipe
  • Wipe/Factory Setting
  • Go back
  • Menu:Toggle USB
  • Copy the two zip file to your sd card
  • Flash the firmware first
  • Flash the google apps bundle second
  • Reboot your phone(it might take 5 minutes for first boot)
  • Enjoy Android 2.3.4
If you brick/damage your phone following the guide above you are the only one responsible so please do not send me your lawyer/boss/mom/girlfriend/boyfriend to scare me.

Enjoy your 'brand new' HTC Magic!!


25 comments:

poortp said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
poortp said...

I am running Android 2.2 (CM6) already a while on my HTC Magic (Proximus originally installed 1.5) after rooting and wiping (ClockworkMod Recovery v2.5.0.7) as you mention. USB mount and copy of both files went well with my rooting. When flashing the DIET-zip I got following message on the screen :
Installing:SDCARD:Diet-GB-6355-v06-19-2011-signed.zip
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Extracting EBIO patch
Write boot.img
assert failed:write_raw_image("/tmp/boot.img","boot")
E:Error in /sdcard/Diet-GB-6355-v06-19-2011-signed.zip (Status 7)
Installation aborted.

Any idea on how to solve this? Or do I first need to install CM7? If yes, how to do it, where to find all files?
Or do I need to format the system or sdcard or boot? Or do I need first to install the recovery tool from xda-developers (from the link in your post)?
You see, I am not a real expert, but I would also like to upgrade to 2.3 Gingerbread:-). Any help is welcome
Thx already!
Phil

mastorak said...

Hello Phil
You need to wipe/format everything including the sd card and then toggle the USB connectivity and copy the rom from your computer on the formated SD. Then you should flash the zip from the SD

poortp said...

Thanks for the quick response.
I took the original SD-card and formatted everything through ClockWorkModRecovery v2.0.5.7 (formatted boot, system, cache, SD-card). I mounted USB and copied both files and flashed first the ROM (DIET-...). Unfortunately I got the same error.
Luckily I still had my previous SD-card with the Froyo backup.
Since the error is in the boot.img, I guess it has something to do with the original operator of the phone. Everytime I boot the phone, their logo keeps on appearing. This would also mean that I will have to stay with Froyo :-(.
Thanks anyway for your help ... or you might have the solution ?
Regards,
Phil

mastorak said...

I am not sure what the problem is with flashing the zip.
You can try googling
"write_raw_image("/tmp/boot.img","boot"

It came up with many similar issues so you might try one of the solutions proposed
Good luck, I hope you find a solution and enjoy 2.3

Jason Boxman said...

Awesome. I actually managed to find a Magic from Overstock just four weeks ago. I bought it because of all the great reviews it had and it came unlocked, naturally. Might give the upgrade a shot.

heny said...

hey i've come up with a proble like "poortp" nd lose everything cuz i didn't make any backup so plz what shd i do. my phone just sleep on saying mytouch3g so pllllllllz help me out

mastorak said...

Heny
I am not sure I understand your issue. Can you please explain what the problem is? Did you root your phone before attempting to upgrade?
Since you did not back up your data(as you should do always before attempting an upgrade you) you will not be able to restore them, except of course the google specific data such as your contact list or apps.

heny said...

yaaaah mastorak, i didn't root it. just i take the "poortp"'s steps then lost everything. i want to upgrade it to android 2.3 bt that doesn't work like z above man. now my mobile doesn't start it only show htc mytouch 3g logo.
as u said i didn't root it it might be that case. what shall i do or contact me as quickly as possible, i'll ans ur question.
thanks man

heny said...

1 thing i forget, i don't want my data, i just only want my mobile to work with android 2.1 or 2.2 or 2.3 . thanks again

heny said...

anyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

mastorak said...

in order to upgrade it you need to root the phone first.
Search on google 'how to root htc magic'. There are many guides for that, that you will find useful

rj said...

do this only works on PVT32A? cuz i have PVT32B and i want to upgrade it to 2.3.. pls help me. tnx in advance ^_^

mastorak said...

unfortunately no, this only works for the 32A version and not the 32B. Trying to install this on a 32B v. phone might brick it..

Bularca Vlad said...

Hy.I have a htc magic from vodafone romania.I have copy the 2 files on my sd card.I flash the firmaware first and it apeared the message:Instal from sdcard......
Finding update package......
Opening update package......
Verify update package.....
Instaling update......
Extracting EBIO patch
Write boot.img
asert failed:write_raw_image("/tmp/boot.img","boot")
E:Eror in /sdcard/Diet-GB-6355-v06-19-2011-singed.zip
(Status 7)

Installation aborted.

What can i do to finish the update.Please tell me because i am very diperated with the 1.5 android version?
It is a stock htc magic 32a with 288mb rom from vodafone romania.

Bularca Vlad said...

Please help me.I want to upgrde my phone.

mastorak said...

Hi Bularca.
You need to root the phone before upgrading.
To find a guide on how to root it search for "root HTC Magic 32a" or similar at the xda forums.

Bularca Vlad said...

I root my phone with RA-sapphire-v.1.7.OH and I have copy the 2 files on my sd card.I flash the firmaware first and it apeared the message:Instal from sdcard......
Finding update package......
Opening update package......
Verify update package.....
Instaling update......
Extracting EBIO patch
Write boot.img
asert failed:write_raw_image("/tmp/boot.img","boot")
E:Eror in /sdcard/Diet-GB-6355-v06-19-2011-singed.zip
(Status 7)

Installation aborted.

PLEASE HELP ME !I WANT TO UPDATE MY PHONE.

Musawir said...

It is safe to upgrade htc magic on sense 2.2? Plz answer me.

Anonymous said...

Where can i download the Firmware? Please?

ZoRrO said...

Hi mastorak
how may I know wat version of Android I have on my hTc Magic?
I went to settings> about> but all I could find beside with other info was:
Firmaware version: 2.1-update 1
Build no: EPE54B
& Mod version, Kernal version, Baseband version.
DO I have Android 2.1???

TheCorel said...

Power off your phone, and hold the BACK button and POWER button simultaneously. It will show you the version screen.

jitti said...

hai i am using htc magic mytouch 3g with google, my current version is 2.2.3 , can i upgrade it to 2.3.And it was 332b bit phone.please help me.

piyush said...

cn u pls give me detailed steps on how to upgrade my indian htc magic 32a and 6.35x radio

thnx

Niels Jensen said...

nMy son gave me his HTC Magic after receiving a Nexus at Google I/O. At the time it already had CyanogenMod on it - I believe this was 2.2. This fall I found these excellent instruction, and had a successful upgrade to 2.3.
Then I properly went overboard with apps I really did not need. Random app failure occured. Now I am back to a base install with just a few additions, like google+.