What you need to know about the Dell Streak

About this document

Owning a device like the Dell Streak using Android software opens up a plethora of options when it comes to
modifying or upgrading. I have been struggling to follow the numerous guides and how-to‘s on various websites and
forums and found that often there are steps missing, ambiguous descriptions or assumptions that the end user has an
IT degree. The aim of this document is to provide a general insight into updating your Dell Streak and clear to follow
instructions in layman‘s terms. Most of this is my own work but some is copied from various internet sources including
android.modaco.com and forum.xda-developers.com so if you have any questions then you could try there or you can
email me on raddders.dellstreak@gmail.com and I‘ll try to help.
Contents

1. Fastboot

1.1. What is Fastboot?

1.2. Installing Dell PC Suite and Fastboot.exe

1.3. Putting your device into Fastboot mode

1.4. Manually installing the fastboot driver

1.5. Using Fastboot

1.6. Superboot

1.7. Download

1.8. How to install

2. Root

2.1. What is root access?

2.2. Why root?

2.3. How do I root?

2.3.1.Universal Androot

2.3.2.Superboot

3. Recovery

3.1. Clockworkmod Recovery

3.1.1.Installing Clockworkmod Recovery via Fastboot

3.1.2.Alternative Clockworkmod recovery downloads

3.1.3.Entering Clockworkmod Recovery

3.2. Stock Recovery

4. Roms

4.1. Steps to install a rom

5. Android Debug Bridge

5.1. What is it?

5.2. Installing the software

5.3. Connecting your device to ADB

5.4. ADB Commands

1. Fastboot

1.1. What is Fastboot?

Fastboot is a protocol used to update the flash file system in Android devices from a host over USB. It allows flashing
of unsigned partition images. This is one way to load/delete/modify your recovery image or ROM. To do any upgrading
you really need to use fastboot or ADB (Android Debugging Bridge), hence why I‘ve put this first.

1.2. Installing Dell PC Suite and Fastboot.exe

1. Download Dell PC Suite and install it.

2. Download Fastboot.exe & Koush's Recovery and unzip to the root drive of your PC i.e. c:\ and rename it
something like streak so you can navigate to c:\streak.

3. Open up the new streak folder and find the fastboot application for your operating system and rename it to
fastboot (leave the .exe file extension as it is).

1.3. Putting your device into Fastboot mode

1. Remove and replace the battery.

2. Power the device on while holding the camera button (keep holding the buttons in).

3. It will show a screen that says ‗Touch Calibration‘ and ‗Fastboot‘. Tap fastboot.
 4. You will now see ‗Wait for USB FastBoot detect....‘. Wait for at least ten seconds then connect your USB.

5. The screen should display ‗FASTBOOT_MODE‘.

1.4. Manually installing the fastboot driver

If you have followed the steps above and the screen doesn‘t say fastboot mode then you have to manually install the
driver. Leave the device connected while you do this.

1. Go to device manager (Control Panel>System>Device Manager).

2. You should see an error item called Android 1.0

3. Right click Android 1.0

4. Select Update Driver Software

5. Select ‗Browse my computer‘

6. Select ‗Let me pick‘

7. Select ‗Show All Devices‘

8. Wait for the list to populate (this might take 60 seconds or so) then scroll down to ‗Google INC‘ and select
‗Android Bootloader Interface‘ and click ‗OK‘.

9. It may bring up a warning about not being able to guarantee compatibility but don‘t worry, click ‗OK‘ and it will
bring up another dialogue box saying the device is installed successfully.

10. Click ‗OK‘ and it will take you back to the Device Manager, which will now show zero errors.

11. Look at your device and you will see it is in FASTBOOT_MODE.

 1.5. Using Fastboot

1. Once your device is in Fastboot mode, go to your PC and open a Command Prompt – (Vista/Seven - Start>All
Programs>Accessories>Command Prompt (XP – Start>Run>type CMD and hit enter)).

2. Navigate to your C:\streak folder by typing ‗cd C:\streak‘ and hitting enter (do not type the ‗).

3. Now type fastboot and hit enter. You should see a list of commands appear.

usage: fastboot [ <option> ] <command>

commands:
update <filename> reflash device from update.zip
flashall 'flash boot' + 'flash system'
flash <partition> [ <filename> ] write a file to a flash partition
erase <partition> erase a flash partition
getvar <variable> display a bootloader variable
boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] download and boot kernel
flash:raw boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] create bootimage and flash it
devices list all connected devices
reboot reboot device normally
reboot-bootloader reboot device into bootloader

options:
-w erase userdata and cache
-s <serial number> specify device serial number
-p <product> specify product name
-c <cmdline> override kernel commandline
Familiarise yourself with these. You‘ll often see people say things like, ―Download and flash with fastboot‖,

Code: fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

What they mean is to connect your device in Fastboot mode then follow the above command prompt steps.

Note: If you try to enter fastboot mode and it fails and your pc brings up the ‗found new hardware‘ prompt then you
may need to reinstall the driver as per the above instructions.

2. ROOT
2.1. What is root access?

On many computer operating systems, the superuser, or root, is a special user account used for system
administration. Separation of administrative privileges from normal user privileges makes an operating system more
resistant to viruses and other malware. Additionally, administrative privileges are often reserved for authorized
individuals in order to control abuse, misuse, or other undesired activities by end-users.

In laymans terms root access is the highest level of access to your phones hardware and software meaning you can
manipulate the standard configuration. Rooting your phone is the process of flashing the phone‘s memory to run
(sometimes) customized software to obtain root access.

2.2. Why root?

These are a few things that root access will give you.

1. Full control over your system

2. Ability to alter system files. You can replace many parts of the "Android Core" with this including:
a) Themes
b) Core apps (maps, calendar, clock etc)
c) Recovery image
d) Bootloader
e) Toolbox (linux binary that lets you execute simple linux commands like "ls") can be replaced with Busybox
(slightly better option)
f) Boot images
g) Add linux binaries
h) Run special apps that need more control over the system
i) SuperUser (lets you approve or deny the use of root access to any program)
j) Task Manager For Root (Lets you kill apps that you otherwise could not kill)
k) Tether apps (like the one found at [android-wifi-tether.googlecode.com])
3. Backup your system
4. You can make a folder on your sdcard and backup all of your .apk files to your sdcard (helps if an author decides
to "upgrade" you to a version that requires you to pay to use the version you just had)
5. Relocate your (browser/maps/market) cache to your /sdcard
6. Relocate your installed applications to your /sdcard
7. Reboot your phone from the terminal app easily (su <enter> reboot <enter>)

But the biggest reason is to allow you to install custom ROMs (or operating systems). For example, the Streak
currently runs on Android 1.6 (Donut) and until Dell release 2.1 Eclair or 2.2 Froyo you are stuck with 1.6 – unless you
root your Streak and install a custom ROM. There are currently a number of releases of 2.1 available.
 2.3. How do I root?

2.3.1.Universal Androot

The easiest way to obtain root access is Universal Androot. Unlike the old days of following page long guides there is
a wonderful app called Universal Androot. This application is not on the Android Marketplace but you can download it
from Universal Androot.

1. Either download it through your Streak‘s standard browser or download it on your PC, transfer it via USB to
your Streak

2. Use an application like Estrongs file explorer or Androzip to navigate to the file.

3. In order to install it you need to go to Settings>Applications>Allow installation of non-market applications.

4. Once installed you just have to click Root (or unroot if you want to go back). That‘s it, you‘re rooted!

2.3.2.Superboot

An alternative way to root is Superboot. Superboot is a boot image file that when flashed, will root your device the first
time you boot. As well as rooting it will install superuser and the superuser APK by ChainsDD It is a slightly more
involved process but not difficult and provides better results.

Download

Before download, you should check your device's 'about' screen to determine which build number you are running.
Although the Superboot may work on other builds than that for which it was designed, I cannot guarantee that!

Superboot for build 4399 Android 1.6

Superboot for build 3883 Android 1.6

Superboot for build 6941 Android 2.1

How to install

1. Download the Superboot zip file above and extract.

2. Put your device in fastboot mode using the guide above.

3. Double click 'install-superboot-windows.bat' icon in the superboot folder.

4. That‘s it your done, just remove and replace your battery and reboot your device.

3. Recovery

The recovery image is a special boot mode which is used to back up or restore the device's memory, and repair or
upgrade firmware. To go into the standard recovery mode, turn off your device then turn it back on while holding
BOTH the volume up AND down buttons (keep holding for 10-20 seconds until you seen the recovery menu). You will
see the following options;

1. Factory Reset
2. Software upgrade via Update.pkg on SD card
3. Screen Calibration
4. Power Off

There are custom recovery images available to install with various additional options such as Nandroid backup, data
wipe, cache wipe, dalvik cache wipe, install from a zip file, reset battery stats and more. The most popular is
Clockworkmod Recovery. We‘ll discuss how to install custom recovery later.
 3.1. Clockworkmod Recovery

3.1.1.Installing Clockworkmod Recovery via Fastboot

The Clockworkmod image file was included in the zip folder you downloaded earlier and renamed streak. Open the
folder and you will see the image file called ‗recovery-clockwork-streak.img‘. Follow the steps below to install
Clockworkmod recovery.

1. Firstly you need to connect via fastboot as per the instructions above.

2. Open command prompt and navigate to the streak folder also as above.

3. Type : fastboot –i 0x413c flash recovery recovery-clockwork-streak.img and hit enter.

Note: the last part of this command has to be changed to match the exact filename of your recovery image as
per the above diagram.

4. You will see the command running on your pc...

5. ...and then on your device.

6. Once the device says ‗Download RECOVERY Done!‘ the process is complete.

7. Remove and replace the battery.

8. If you see <waiting for device> in the command prompt then the device is not successfully connected in
fastboot mode. Go back and check each step in the previous guide. If it still doesn‘t work then you are not
doing something correctly. Follow each step to the letter.

3.1.2.Alternative Clockworkmod recovery downloads

Clockworkmod Recovery 1

Clockworkmod Recovery 2

Clockworkmod Recovery 3
 3.1.3.Entering Clockworkmod Recovery

After installing the recovery as per the instructions above you can enter Clockworkmod recovery by following the steps
below.

1. Enter recovery mode by pressing and holding BOTH volume up AND down while holding the power button.

2. Select option 2. Software upgrade via Update.pkg on SD card. (Press volume keys to navigate and camera
key to select)

Sorry for the rubbish picture. White lettering on glossy black screen at night in artificial light = FAIL

3. The screen will go blank for a second or two then flash up ‗ANDROID‘ before entering Clockworkmod
recovery mode.

If you get stuck on a black screen then try one of the alternative Clockworkmod recovery releases listed above.

3.2. Stock Recovery

If you have difficulty installing a rom then it may be worth rolling back to stock recovery. Stock Recovery

4. Roms
4.1. What is a rom?

A rom is the actual Android operating system installed on your device. With a custom recovery you can install a
custom rom. There are currently four roms available;

Official Stock 1.6 build 4399

Custom 2.1 build 6941

Custom 2.1 build 8023

Official 2.1 build 8105

Before you update your rom, check your build number by going to your phones setting then ‗About Phone‘.
 4.2. Steps to install a rom

Note - if you have flashed a custom recovery image OR if you are using a non O2 supplied device (e.g. from Dell
directly) then you should return to the original stock recovery version using the fastboot method above first - Stock
Recovery

1. Download the build you would like to install from above.

2. Rename it to update.pkg and transfer it to your SD card.

3. Reboot your phone in recovery mode (hold volume buttons while powering on)

4. Select option 2. Software upgrade via Update.pkg on SD card. (Press volume keys to navigate and camera
key to select)

5. You will be presented with a warning screen telling you to press the shutter button (camera) to continue or
volume down to power off.*

6. Press the shutter and you should see a progress bar. After this completes you will see the Dell logo and after
5-10 minutes your device will load into your new Android build.

*If you get an error telling you to insert an SD card with a valid update.pkg then mount your SD card on your
PC and check to see if the update.pkg is actually there. You may need to copy it over again. If you continue to
get this error then you will need to reflash the stock recovery using fastboot and try again. Stock Recovery

5. Android Debug Bridge

5.1. What is it?

Android Debug Bridge (adb) is a versatile tool lets you manage the state of an emulator instance or Android-powered
device. Similar to fastboot it allows you to control the root contents of your device through command prompts. You can
read more about ADB at http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/adb.html but for now I‘ll just explain the
basics of use.

5.2. Installing the software

1. Firstly you will need to download the Android SDK (Software Development Kit) from
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html.

2. Extract the contents and run the SDK Setup file.

3. Go to the tools folder and copy the following three files to a new folder in the root of your drive. I use
C:\ADB for my folder. The files to copy are ‘adb.exe’, ‘AdbWinApi.dll’ and ‘AdbWinUsbApi.dll’.

5.3. Connecting your device to ADB

1. Put your phone into debugging mode (Settings>Applications>Development>USB Debugging) and connect you
USB to your PC.
2. Open up a command prompt and navigate to your C:\ADB folder by typing ‘cd c:\adb’

3. Type ‘adb’ and hit enter. This will show the help text and list all the adb commands.

4. Type ‘adb devices’ and it will list any devices attached. It will be a 16 digit number.

5. You can use any of the commands below to copy/move/delete files to your device. Type ‘adb’ then space then
the command.

5.4. ADB Commands

Category Command Description Comments

Options -d Direct an adb command to the only attached Returns an error if more than one USB
USB device. device is attached.

-e Direct an adb command to the only running Returns an error if more than one
emulator instance. emulator instance is running.

-s <serialNumber> Direct an adb command a specific emulator/device If not specified, adb

instance, referred to by its adb-assigned serial generates an error.
number (such as "emulator-5556").

General devices Prints a list of all attached emulator/device See Querying for Emulator/Device
instances. Instances for more information.

help Prints a list of supported adb commands.

version Prints the adb version number.

Debug logcat [<option>] [<filter- Prints log data to the screen.

specs>]

bugreport Prints dumpsys, dumpstate, and logcatdata to the screen, for

the purposes of bug reporting.

jdwp Prints a list of You can use the forward jdwp:<pid> port-forwarding
available JDWP specification to connect to a specific JDWP process. For
processes on a given example:
device. adb forward tcp:8000 jdwp:472
jdb -attach localhost:8000

Data install <path-to-apk> Pushes an Android application (specified as a full path to an

.apk file) to the data file of an emulator/device.

pull <remote> <local> Copies a specified file from an emulator/device instance to

your development computer.
 push <local> <remote> Copies a specified file from your development computer to an
emulator/device instance.

Ports and forward <local> <remote> Forwards socket Port specifications can use these
Networkin connections from a schemes:
g specified local port to a  tcp:<portnum>
specified remote port on
 local:<UNIX domain socket
the emulator/device
instance. name>
 dev:<character device name>
 jdwp:<pid>

ppp <tty> [parm]... Run PPP over USB.

 <tty> — the tty for PPP stream. For
exampledev:/dev/omap_csmi_ttyl.
 [parm]... — zero or more PPP/PPPD options, such
asdefaultroute, local, notty, etc.
Note that you should not automatically start a PPP
connection.

Scripting get-serialno Prints the adb instance serial See Querying for Emulator/Device
number string. Instances for more information.

get-state Prints the adb state of an

emulator/device instance.

wait-for-device Blocks execution You can prepend this command to other adb commands,
until the device is in which case adb will wait until the emulator/device
online — that is, instance is connected before issuing the other
until the instance commands. Here's an example:
state isdevice.
adb wait-for-device shell getprop

Note that this command does not cause adb to wait until
the entire system is fully booted. For that reason, you
should not prepend it to other commands that require a
fully booted system. As an example, the install requires
the Android package manager, which is available only
after the system is fully booted. A command such as

adb wait-for-device install <app>.apk

would issue the install command as soon as the

emulator or device instance connected to the adb server,
but before the Android system was fully booted, so it
would result in an error.

Server start-server Checks whether the adb server process is running and starts it, if not.

kill-server Terminates the adb server process.

Shell shell Starts a remote shell in the target emulator/device instance. See Issuing
Shell
shell [<shellCommand>] Issues a shell command in the target Commands
emulator/device instance and then exits the remote for more
shell. information.

Thanks to everyone at the Modaco and XDA forums. If you have any comments, suggestions or feedback, or you spot
an error then please email me on raddders.dellstreak@gmail.com