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dcheng11
10-18-2009, 01:11 PM
I've been reading up on rooting my G1, and I'm pretty excited to go through with it. I'm not really a tech guru or anything, but I think I can really appreciate the power of rooting if I actually experience it. That said, out of the risks, I don't think bricking my phone or anything is really an issue. However, unless I'm mistaken, rooting my G1 starts it clean, right? Would it be a problem that I don't have a data plan (i.e. I can't connect to my gmail from the start)?

crazythunder
10-18-2009, 02:08 PM
How to register the G1 without a sim or data plan
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I've found a way to register the G1 in the initial registration screen that comes up the first time you boot the phone (or after you wipe the phone). It will allow you to register if you don't have a sim card at all, or if you have a sim card but no data plan.
First, You must have either RC29 or earlier, or modded RC30. It won't work with official RC30, sorry. If you don't know for sure what version you have, but you know you haven't installed a modified RC30 build, then the easiest way to check is to reboot the phone, and once it starts up and is showing the "click the android to begin" screen, or the "no sim card" screen, then type the following on the phone keyboard
<enter>reboot<enter>
If it reboots, then you have RC29 or ealier. Otherwise you have RC30.
Second, you must have adb installed on your computer, and have the USB drivers installed, or at least ready to install when it asks for the driver when you connect the G1. See this page for details on how to get adb working: http://code.google.com/android/intro...devicehardware
Third, you must have a wifi network that you can connect to.

There are too many possibilities to write specific step-by-step instructions for every case. So I will give an overview of the process instead. If someone else wants to write some specific instructions, that would be welcome
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When you start up the phone without a sim card, it goes into a locked screen that says "no sim card found", and you can't even get into the registration app. So the first step is to get around that screen. You have to connect to your phone with adb shell and get root access, and then type the following command:
sqlite3 /data/data/com.android.providers.settings/databases/settings.db "INSERT INTO system (name, value) VALUES ('device_provisioned', 1);"
And then reboot the phone. When it starts up again it will go into the registration screen instead of the locked "no sim card" screen.
This assumes that you have the sqlite3 binary on your phone. This binary is provided in RC30 v1.2. Alternatively, you could manually copy the binary to your phone with adb push, or put it on the sdcard and copy it to your phone. I can post a copy of just the sqlite3 binary if needed.
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The second step is to enable and configure wifi, so that the registration process can connect to the google servers. In an adb shell session, type the following command:
am start -a android.intent.action.MAIN -n com.android.settings/.Settings
This doesn't have to have root access to work. It works fine with the "shell" user that adb on non-modded phones runs as.
That command will bring up the settings page on your phone. From there, you can enable wifi and connect to your wifi network, and then proceed with registration as per normal .
If you don't want to register the phone at all, you can set the app.setupwizard.disable property to 0 to prevent registration. Once you have an adb shell session open, type the following:
setprop app.setupwizard.disable 1
and then reboot. once it loads back up, it should bypass the registration screen all-together.
But beware, the phone seems a bit glitchy if you don't have it registered. For example, the home button doesn't seem to work. And you can't access the market or any of the google apps of course.
(Note: the following was the previous way to skip registration. I'll keep it here for informational purposes, but its easier to use the app.setupwizard.disable method instead of this)
- If you don't want to register the phone at all, you can edit /data/system/packages.xml and disable the registration screen. Add the following to the end of the <package> section for com.android.setupwizard, and then reboot:
<disabled-components>
<item name="com.android.setupwizard.SetupWizardActivity" />
</disabled-components>
so the full <package> would look something like below after the modification:
<package name="com.android.setupwizard" codePath="/system/app/SetupWizard.apk" system="true" ts="1217592000000" userId="10010">
<sigs count="1">
<cert index="0" />
</sigs>
<disabled-components>
<item name="com.android.setupwizard.SetupWizardActivity" />
</disabled-components>
</package>
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dcheng11
10-18-2009, 05:50 PM
wow, thanks. i'm not really tech guru at all, so that was really over my head. i think i'm gonna just research more and just get more comfortable with the whole process. thanks for the help though.

ggrant3876
10-18-2009, 05:53 PM
Here's a link for adb from the community. I was a little intimidated but if you follow it step by step it's fairly easy.
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/vbglossar.php?do=showentry&catid=2&id=38

dcheng11
10-24-2009, 12:14 AM
Thanks for the help so far! However, everyone seems to be kind of avoiding my main concern right now. Is it a problem that I don't have a data plan? I bought my phone used, so I actually have never even seen the start up screen where I have to log into my Gmail account. From what I've read, I'm pretty much doing a factory reset, so would I need to have an internet connection to log into my Gmail?

Alan703nva
10-27-2009, 12:01 PM
Thanks for the help so far! However, everyone seems to be kind of avoiding my main concern right now. Is it a problem that I don't have a data plan? I bought my phone used, so I actually have never even seen the start up screen where I have to log into my Gmail account. From what I've read, I'm pretty much doing a factory reset, so would I need to have an internet connection to log into my Gmail?

Heres your problem.

Without a data plan or an internet connection you wont get past the google activation steps.(EDIT: you wont get past these steps because by default the phone will not allow you to use wifi during this process)
In which case you would need to use the adb shell. (EDIT: Factory reset wont do a darn thing until you activate)
Trust me, the only hard part of using adb is installing the driver correctly and for a non techie the steps are a bit vague.

once you get adb working then everything is smooth sailing.

Also without a data plan it kind of renders the phone and a lot of the apps (like shop savvy or isafe) useless. You'll be able to use wifi to connect, but you'll be stuck using wifi.

My wife has an iphone with no data plan and its.. ok...

Just get yourself a data plan ^_^
If you can afford this wicked phone then I'm sure you can afford the data. It's worth it.
Once you get it all setup I'll volunteer myself and teach you how to tether your phone and milk every ounce of your 3g

dcheng11
10-27-2009, 11:24 PM
Haha, thanks a lot for volunteering, but I'm under my parents' contracts. And Asian parents and spending money doesn't go too well.

Yeah, I've been trying to search around for apps, and more specifically apps that don't require an internet connection. I've had success here and there, but nothing too major. Any apps you'd want to suggest?

bmcclure937
10-28-2009, 09:17 AM
My question is, why have a smartphone that is very functional and capable of many things... and then handicap it by not having a data plan? If you plan to do that, then why not get any other QWERTY phone on the market that is meant for texting and FREE with contract?? :confused:

It just does not make sense to me that people purchase smart phones and then solely rely on the built-in WiFi for their data. That ties you down to areas that only have WiFi available.

Is it a fashion statement? Is it because of other functionality, like playing music? What is the motivation to have a smart phone without a data plan... I am not being degrading, I am looking for serious answers.

dcheng11
10-31-2009, 01:26 AM
Smartphones are just more fun. I got my G1 both because my Sidekick was getting boring and old, and because I got the G1 used for a very nice price. Honestly, when I get a reprieve from schoolwork, I'm usually playing around with my phone, researching stuff to see what new cool thing there is for me to do (which coincidently has led me to rooting). My G1's fun to play with; who knows, maybe in the future, I'll add a data plan. It just doesn't sound that great right now.

Xenobiologista
11-13-2009, 11:11 AM
What is the motivation to have a smart phone without a data plan... I am not being degrading, I am looking for serious answers.

For me, it replaces several different objects that I used to carry around all the time:


Cell phone (duh! =)
Camera (G1's camera is not that great, true, but if you are patient and good at composition and taking advantage of lighting you can still get nice photos. Also surprisingly good macro shots of insects.)
Memo book (to do list, calendar, shopping list, petty cash spending)
Digital audio player
Portable gaming device
GPS device (I didn't own one of these before getting the G1, actually).

Having Internet access while near WiFi hotspots is enough for me so far. I don't need to be able to check my email constantly.

Also, just because someone can afford to buy a smartphone doesn't mean they can afford a data plan. Maybe, like me, they didn't have much income and saved up for several months to buy one. Or maybe, they bought one and then got fired from their job. I can think of at least a couple of different scenarios that would result in a person with an expensive phone not being able to spend $50 per month on a data plan.

drum4pen81
11-13-2009, 11:27 AM
Speaking as someone who doesn't have a data plan, bought the G1, and rooted it, its very possible to go through with the whole process. One way is to use the adb method posted above. But to be honest, it took me quite a while to get adb set up on my computer when I did it. The usb drivers were being really weird about recognizing my phone. So it might just be a lot easier for you to add the data plan onto your contract for one day and then cancel it. For one day its like 89 cents or something. You only need to use the data plan (or adb method) when you boot up into RC29. Every newer rom has the option of signing into your google account later, so you can enable wifi first, and then go back and do it.

My advice would be to just get the data plan for one day, thats what I did when I first bought the phone. I've never used adb since I rooted it because pretty much every other command you might want to do you can do through your phone.

AndriodJeanIs
11-22-2009, 05:38 PM
okay i tried this over 10x times and it just keep on saying no image found!
why is that happening?