HTC Titan and Radar Windows Phones get unlocked bootloader and custom ROMs

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

"Enthusiasts" can now load custom ROMs on devices like this HTC Titan

Good news for those with "2nd generation" Windows Phone like the HTC Radar and HTC Titan, the Dark Forces Team (DFT) have released their custom Hard Secondary Program Loader (HSPL) for those devices, including a "wizard" to guide you through the somewhat complicated process. Announced back in March, the team has made solid and steady progress over the last few months on the project.

HSPLs are needed to "unlock" the bootloader of certain smartphones in order to get custom ROMs to load onto them (think of it as a layer of security). Without this tool-set, modified OS's for those devices simply have nowhere to go. Now that these tools are available comes the second step: the creation of custom ROMs which will require some "chefs" to cook them up,

Second generation HTC devices have been notoriously difficult to crack for DFT so this is a fairly big win for the homebrew community. Unfortunately, devices like the Titan II still won't work with this tool so it's best to still wait for DFT to get that going.

In a well planned release, there are at least two custom ROMs now available too:

  1. HTC Titan by mwang - Tango OS (8773), Replace HTC Apps software,add Registry editor,file explorers ...etc; Few tweaks ,DFT FullUnlock support XAP IE download and install,full play XBL games; ISharing,Static MAC Address
  2. HTC Radar by mwang - Tango OS (8773), Replace HTC Apps software,add Registry editor,file explorers ...etc; Few tweaks ,DFT FullUnlock support XAP IE download and install,full play XBL games; ISharing,Static MAC Address

Once again we need to stress to proceed with caution when attempting these modifications as this can "brick" your phone if you don't follow the directions carefully.  Regardless, it's exciting to finally see some movement on these two fantastic Windows Phones. We're sure the community will be releasing some fantastic creations over the next few months.

Source: XDA Forums; via: WP7.com.pl; Thanks, Tony and dragonide, for the tips

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been here covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics and ran the projectors at movie theaters, which has done absolutely nothing for his career.

32 Comments
  • Oh man when I get home I'm totally doing this to my (moms) Titan! Samsung Focus S next?
  • Samsungs are the easiest to crack.... Go to www.windowsphonehacker.com/windowbreak on your (Samsung) phone browser..
  • Costume ROMs for Samsung focus S?
  • Hehe, am i the only one who feel for your mother? :-D (it's just my moms phone thoughts)
  • Also Nice job DFT! I've been using devstore7 and its great.
  • Awesome! Gonna dust off my old Radar & my girlfriends & try out mwang's custom rom.
  • Some of the best news of the day, can't wait to flash!
  • Gah I need to wait for the USB Y cable!
  • Now maybe we can get some MMS settings that actually work for Straight Talk!
  • Awesome! If att does not come out with updates soon this might be the only way to update our titans.
  • I gasp once i saw this... Dropped everything i was doing and ran for the computer
  • Titan restarted, stuck on HTC logo with red light on. Reinstalling the ROM right now, but if it doesn't work - I swear to god i will cry.
  • I am having a similar problem...been waiting for nearly 20 minutes with the stuck htc logo on the phone ....what is the best thing to do?
  • What does "full play XBL games" mean? Do they mean you can play games without paying, as in piracy?
  • I'm not getting any update in my HTC titan
  • On*
  • Finally, if you're using  a European HTC Titan (that's unlocked & unbranded)... Follow this guide :)  Steps : 1) Turn off your HTC Titan.
    2) Turn on your HTC Titan while pressing BOTH volume up and volume down. You will enter SPL mode by doing so.
    3) Unrar the compressed file DFT__HSPL_WP7SG1.rar
    4) Go into DFT_HSPL_WP7SG1\1_SPL205\TITAN\ inside the directory where you extracted the file DFT__HSPL_WP7SG1.rar
    5) Run ROMUpdateUtility.exe
    6) Wait till the precedure finish to install SPL (0% -> 100%)
    7) At the end of the procedure the device will reboot.
    8) Enter SPL mode, or turn the device off and enter SPL mode again if you didn't make it in time.
    9) Go into DFT_HSPL_WP7SG1\2_HSPL\
    10) Run SFT_HSPL_WP7SG1_INSTALL.exe
    11) Install HSPL following the istructions on screen.
    12) At the end of the procedure the device will reboot.
    13) Enter SPL mode, or turn the device off and enter SPL mode again if you didn't make it in time.
    14) This time you should be able to read HSPL2.5.160015.3 and CotullaH at the top of the SPL screen
    15) Unrar the compressed file DFT Eternity 24 langs Freedom V1 Pearl Edition.7z
    16) Run ROMUpdateUtility.exe
    17) Wait till the precedure finish to install the custom rom (0% -> 100% , it will be slower this time)
    18) At the end of the procedure the device will reboot. If now you are stuck on HTC screen (WP doesn't start up) you need to upgrade the radio driver : 19) Unrar the compressed file RUU_ETERNITY_Radio_Signed_17.5006.08.27_17.08.50.0 6.7z
    20) Start ROMUpdateUtility.exe
    21) If you enter SPL mode one last time you should be able to see the updated radio driver version. That's what I did to make it work on my Unlocked European HTC Titan.
  • I would love to see a custom Rom for my Venue Pro.... but this will probably never happen :(
  • Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Anyone tried this yet ? On titan what benifits will I get from this ROM and what does it mean "full play XBL games" ?
  • The "full play XBL games" is for earning achievements and connecting to Xbox live leaderboards, before with the first custom roms, users were not able to earn achievements on xbl games with a custom rom. Most users only want custom rom because they don't want to pay for apps, I assure that is a fact. If Microsoft catches you, well you're on your own.
  • Hey,  I've loaded a custom rom up and have never downloaded a pirated app- I am having tons of fun with some of the homebrew stuff, however.
    I'm not really going to disagree with your assessment, however.  I fear you are correct.
  • 1.  Tethering
    2.  OS updates
     
    Not interested in side loading.
  • Tethering and OS updates always fall to your carrier, so it isn't really Microsofts problem.
  • Who said it was Microsoft's problem?
    If it's AT&T's problem, and AT&T isn't delivering, guess who's problem it is?  Mine.
    I refuse to pay for tethering if I already have a data plan.  I have no moral issues whatsoever.  It's not like there's a hack to bypass the 2GB data cap.  That would be far more questionable.
  • I'd do this in a heartbeat if it would fix the horrible wifi bug on the Titan.  Unforunately, I suspect no one has dug that far down into the firmware...
     
  • I hope DFT knocks out the Titan II soon since I'll be getting mine in a month.
  • Thank you for your explanation. I think the fear of loosing all my paid apps anr xbl titles etc if ms does take any preventative measures in the future against this is enough to steer me away. Good luck though to all you braver than myself :D
  • The only time custom roms will be of any use to me will be when we discover we will not be upgraded to windows phone 8
  • M using one on my focus and this feels great!
  • This is great news. Can't wait to check out what possibilities his opens up.
  • Is it possible to install windows mobile 6.5 professional to HTC Radar C110e