HTC HD2 gets full ‘Mango’ Windows Phone build, updateable via Zune Desktop

The HTC HD2 the Swiss army knife of HTC’s line up of phones, it will run any OS out there so it seems. We’ve seen it running Linux, Android and Windows Phone, all functional, and very hard to tell the difference from a real device made for the various OS’s. The HD2 has definitely stood the test of time, it’s hardware has made it a stable development device, that’s still on top of the heap today. All of the ROMs and flashing techniques used to morph the HD2’s functionality, were sourced at XDA Developers, a virtual kitchen full of crockpots and simmering OS’s and apps for any device you can think of. So it’s no surprise that the HD2 stays on the menu, and it was inevitable that “Mango” would make it on to the phone, but there’s an interesting twist.

In a true collaboration, members of two of the great ROM hacking teams, Dark Forces, and Orange, a ROM has been built that allows the HD2 to function normally, like any other native Windows Phone device and update via the Zune Desktop software, all the way up to the Mango Beta 2. It’s then just a matter of doing some simple steps to copy the 7720 cabs that were in the .7720 RTM release, and rebooting and you are there. I probably should not use the term simple anywhere in this post, the whole process appears time consuming, running a whole heap of Zune updates consecutively, and then manually adding the Mango RTM like any other Windows Phone. Advantages are, that the ROM is Chevron unlocked, and this will be preserved through the whole process. As is the case for all Windows Phone users who have been using the Mango beta, Once you install the ROM and update through the Zune client, the backup that Zune makes for you there is vital to keep safe. When Mango becomes really available, you can restore that and with this ROM update the conventional way. That’s right, your HD2 with this ROM becomes a conventional Windows Phone. For the background that actually made this possible you may want to read this thread at XDA. All the usual disclaimers apply here, you do any of this at your own risk, you may end up with an expensive paper weight, I would advise this for experienced users only.

This turns out to be a huge breakthrough for the general hacking community, providing a greater understanding of the way Windows Phone updates online, not using any shortcuts. It also means that developers can deliver a .exe file like the wpupdate.exe that users had to install to get the beta from Microsoft, and host custom ROM updates online, that can be updated via the Zune Desktop as well. This is the sort of activity, that was initiated by the original Jailbreak, Chevron tools, that continues to break down the artifice that is Windows Phone, and provide an in to other device users that want to take advantage of the third great mobile ecosystem, Windows Phone.

Via WPCentral