The Phones That Never Die - Part II

Missed the first part? Read it here.

Thanks to the community driven development, some phones have not died and they continue to receive more ports and updates from their device developers. In the second part of this series, we will have a look at the  HTC HD2 which got a Marshmallow port in December 2015, similar to the period in which Wave I and Wave II got the Marshmallow port too.

Introduction

HTC HD2 was launched in November 2009 as a Windows 6.5 powered phone. It boasted of a Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon S1 chipset, powered by a 1.0 GHz Scorpion CPU and an Adreno 200 GPU.

It was packed in with a 448 MB RAM and a 512 MB ROM. HTC HD2's 4.3 inch TFT capacitive display was a rare back in 2009.

Commercially, the phone got a great reception and was sold off within hours after it hit the stores. It was tough to get hold off in most of the countries,

Upgrades

The HD2 was originally slated to be upgraded to Windows Mobile 7. But, the HD2 did not meet certain hardware requirements which were necessary for a phone to run Windows Mobile 7.

HTC HD2 did not even a receive an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and Windows Mobile 6.5.5 too.

The Legendary Development

Due to a great commercial response, the HD2 was ensured of a great after market development too. The fact that the developers were able to run multiple different operating systems from the NAND flash or SD card made sure that HD2 would not die soon, even if it was dropped off from official support. Even till date, the HD2 has received the largest number of operating systems ports in the world. Wave I and Wave II follow in at a close second.

One of the first developments for the device came in the form of a Windows 6.5.3 upgrade by XDA senior member taiseer999 in December 2009, just a month after it's launch. Check out the XDA thread by clicking here.

This port was followed by a Windows Mobile 6.5.5 port in January 2010 by XDA member sternas (click here to visit the XDA thread). The HD2 soon received a port of FPSECE (First PlayStation Emulator for Windows CE), a PlayStation emulator for Windows CE devices (XDA thread) in December 2009, which made playing games on it even more fun.

In October 2010, a video was released that appeared to show a HD2 booting Windows Phone (Windows Mobile 7) by way of Russian developer Cotulla's MAGLDR tool (a bootloader), which was initially created to allow the booting of Android from the device's NAND flash. In 2011, MAGLDR and a Windows Phone 7 ROM were made available to the community.

This kicked off ports of Android and other operating systems.

Android Froyo was ported in July 2010 (XDA Thread), Gingerbread in January 2011 (XDA thread), Ice Cream Sandwich in November 2011 (XDA thread), Jellybean in October 2012 (XDA thread), Kitkat in March 2014 (XDA thread) and Lollipop in December 2014 (XDA thread).

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HD2 running Android Lollipop

Finally in November 2015, Marshmallow was ported too. Here is the link to the XDA thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/hd2-android/nand-dev/nov-17-2015-kernel-3-0-101-t3251438

HD2 running Android Marshmallow

Here is a YouTube video of Marshmallow on the HD2:

Some other ports have also been undertaken:

• ubnhd2, Ubuntu port on the HTC HD2 (XDA thread)


• Firefox OS (XDA thread)


• HTC Sense 5 (XDA thread)


• Windows Phone 8

HD2 running Windows 8

The major credits should go to the developers only. The Dark Forces Team (DFT) who have ported Windows Mobile 6.5.3, 6.5.5, Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 7.5, 7.8 and Windows Phone 8.

All of us have heard of dual boot, ever heard of a triple boot? Huh? Check out the XDA thread by clicking here.

So, what's it been, some 7 years and this phone just refuses to die. That's what all of us have expected from HTC over the years, phones with quality hardware that last long.

Wait for part III till tomorrow!

How's the development of your phone going? Let us know in the comments or in the forums.

Krittin Kalra

Krittin Kalra is a 20 year old Android freak. Striving for passions, chasing down his dreams and living a life without regrets is his sole mantra. A bit moody, he also does custom ROM reviews for AndroGuider. Currently pursuing his B.Tech, he aspires to follow his heart.