Cyanogen ROM Beta 4

Even though the Android platform is technically open, there’s still things that are missing from the Nexus One’s stock ROM.  For one, there’s the use of all of the available RAM on the phone.  With the stock rom and maybe 10 apps running I used to have around 29MB of available RAM.  The next thing is the ability to install applications that require root.  There’s many more benefits for installing a non-stock rom such as the one that Cyanogen has created but chances are, if you’re reading this post you already know about them.  This week I decided that I was going to install the newest Beta version of Cyanogen’s ROM so I went searching for decent directions on how to do it.  I found a bunch of different articles across the web but none of them were overly specific to the Mac platform.  So what I’m going to do is write up a Mac specific step-by-step for you to follow to install a Cyanogen ROM.

INSTALLING A NON-GOOGLE ROM WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY.  I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR TURNING YOUR PHONE INTO A BRICK.

Now that my butt is covered we can get on with it.

Step ONE – UNLOCK BOOTLOADER

Download Fastboot

• Connect via USB to your mac
• Extract the .zip to your desktop for easy access.
• Open up terminal (Applications>Utilities)
• Enter this command to move to the desktop “cd /users/yourusername/desktop/fastboot”
• Enter this command “./fastboot-mac oem unlock”
• Reboot your phone

Step TWO – ROOT

Download Superboot

• Extract the .zip to your desktop for easy access.
• Turn off your nexus one
• Boot up the phone in bootloader mode. (hold trackball and press the power key)
• Open up terminal (Applications>Utilities)
• If you extracted superboot to your desktop enter this command “cd /users/yourusername/desktop”
• Then enter “chmod +x install-superboot-mac.sh”
• Enter “./install-superboot-mac.sh”
• Reboot your phone

Step THREE – Install the recovery image…. This image will allow you to do so much.  Go here for more details.

• Download Amon_RA’s recovery image
• rename the image to “recovery.img”
• Boot into Bootloader mode once again
• cd to your fastboot directory and type in “./fastboot-mac oem unlock”
• Follow the prompts on your phone
• Let your phone reboot and then boot into bootloader mode one more time
• Enter the following command “./fastboot-mac flash recovery /users/yourusername/desktop/recovery.img”

Step FOUR – Install the ROM’s

• Download the most current Cyanogen ROM from here and copy to the root of your flash drive
• Download the multitouch add-on from here and copy to the root of your flash drive
• Download the Google App pack from here and copy to the root of your flash drive
• Boot into recovery mode (hold volume down and hit power) volume down to “recovery mode” and hit the power button
• **If you get an Android with an exclamation point hit the volume up and power keys at random until you get to recover mode**
• Using the trackball scroll to Flash zip from SD Card and select it
• Select the Cyanogen ROM and let it install
• Repeat for the multitouch add-on and the Google app pack
• REBOOT and you’re done!

First thing I suggest you do is install a memory app so you can see how much free memory you now have, it’s exciting!

ENJOY!