It looks as if Éclair will finally be making its way to all HTC Hero handsets by the end of the month. Nearly two weeks ago, we reported that HTC had started the Android 2.1 rollout for the Hero in Taiwan. Now, we have gotten a few reports from our readers and from HTC, stating that the OTA update has initiated. Hero owners in Europe will be getting a two phased Android 2.1 update. The first update will be hitting all the Hero handsets the next time the phone checks for an update (HINT: try restarting your phone pushing the date one year forward). Once the first update is installed, the device will have to wait a little longer to get the full Android 2.1 installation which should ping the HTC Hero before the end of June.
Android Éclair update for HTC Hero will be released by the end of June. The upgrade will come in two parts, the first of which will roll out from this week and will be detected when the Hero next automatically checks for software updates. The second part of the update will follow towards the end of the month. As the second part of the upgrade will wipe all data on the handset, Hero users should ensure any important data has been backed up before proceeding with the installation. Due to the size of the update, wherever possible, we would advise using a WiFi connection for this download to avoid additional data charges.
To be clear, the update will most likely only be hitting unlocked HTC Hero phones. If you have a T-Mobile of Vodafone branded handset, your Android 2.1 update may be a little further out. We would suggest bugging your carrier’s customer service lines to see if they have any news on when they plan to roll the Android 2.1 update out to their customers. If you have already downloaded and installed the first part of the update from HTC, let us know if there are any changes to your device. HTC is being pretty vague about what the first installation actually does to the HTC Hero.
Source: Androinica
I don’t know what it changed. After the firmware upgrade, the first boot was stuck the shiny HTC logo for 10 or 15 minutes (it felt that long) and I was afraid my phone was bricked. But it finally booted.
I feel it’s a little more responsive. I don’t fail the unlock pattern as much as before because of the lag. But that may just be an impression, we’ll see after 2 or 3 days of usage.
pushing the clock forward did the trick for me, without even restarting. the update is a tad over 4MB. the update installed and started rebooted within roughly 3 minutes. the device hung however during reboot. need to take out the battery to try rebooting it again i suppose
MarkGRun the EXE from your PC with the phone cconented via USB cable and HTC Sync installed.
Installed the update today, youtube actually works now, and ther is a new choice in manu/settings/about phone called update…
I’ve just downloaded and applied the update. Like suggested in the article I set the year to 2011, then rebooted my phone. I’ve no idea if setting the year one year ahead really did something, but before I rebooted it did not give me the option to update.
I hit the download button, it’s about 3.7Mb. After the download the phone gives you the option to update. When I hit the update button, the phone reboots into, what I think is the updater, and then installs the update, then reboots again. This last boot really takes a long time, over 5 minutes, and you only see the HTC logo. Probably it’s still applying some part of the update.
One change I’ve seen so far is that in the menu -> settings -> about phone there is now an extra option: System software updates. This is probably the updated FOTA client. The firmware option in settings -> security has been removed. Also the youtube app seems to be working again. I’ve not seen any other changes yet.
I received the message yesterday. All in all went like what Dennis described but Security is still in settings. Factory reset has been moved to under SD card and phone storage. There is some lag and my mms does not work, does not respond with EDGE. Hopefully this will change.
I clicked on ‘later’ last wednesday, so I pushed the date forward to get the message again. The trick worked and I downloaded the patch. Then, I just had to click to confirm the update and it went OK.
But what about Australia?? I’ve put my clock forward, nothing….
I tried putting the year forward to 2011… Nothing. Put it forward to 2012 and the update came in straight away!! Installing now!!
I put the date 2012 and it offered update rigtht away (no reboo trequired for that).
Download size 4,37MB.
After downloading it it took some seconds to ask to update right away or wait.
I chose to update right awai. After that 2-3 minutes Hero logo + update picture.
Reboot took 3-4 minutes – longer than usually.
And now…?
Just pushed the clock forward and without a reboot the update request showed.
A 4.37MB download started and then rebooted the phone, as others stated it stuck on the HTC logo for 10-15 minutes then booted up.
On checking the phone I can see the build number has changed from 2.73.405.5 to 2.73.405.93.
There is now a “System software update” menu within the “Menu” > “settings” > “About Phone” which allows you to set an automatcic check for updates and the ability to “Check now” other than that I can’t see any other change. The text before the download did also mention an update to YouTube so there doesn’t seem to much in this update. The next one will be the big deal.
2.1 is update is live
Just updated in Denmark.
England: Changed date to 2011, switched off, then on, updated 2.1! (Orange network)
Thanks guys!
Updated the initial update 30 mins ago, updating to 2.1 now, already waited 5 minutes at the ‘HERO’ boot screen, still waiting.
In Australia, I did not have to put clock forward initially, but because during the week i decided not to install, i pushed it forward a month today and got the alert.
Europen unbranded Hero BTW
…well, it’s been 2 hours at the ‘HERO’ boot screen, still waiting…
maybe even something to do with my custom bootscreen, i dunno.
I can ‘adb shell” and it seems like phone has booted up, however, su is not there now, busybox is still there and i already loaded back original recovery image before applying update, so, no boot recovery.
HELP
does anybody know that i updated the HTC Hero from Android 1.5 and 1st update was successful but after rebooted it again asked about the update but i didn’t look that much what the update was about and it was sized about 80 mb so after i downloaded it asked me to install now and i clicked yes and rebooted and TRIANGLE sigh with EXCLAMATION mark appeared and after that it is stuck on HERO screen and i couldn’t get out of it
i tried many times and waited for more than 20 mins to boot still bad luck….
Can’t use my phone please help
I think a quick call to HTC’s support line should be your first option.
Hi, I have installed my first part of the upgrade, on my 2nd part now and its just on the HERO boot screen, been over an hour, phone is quite hot now! and wondering if it will ever come again!