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Google G1/HTC Dream

An unlocked G1/HTC Dream

Steps to bypass the activation screen on the first Android phone. These initial Android devices required logging in over cellular to a Google account before you could use the device at all. Google login doesn't work any longer on these very old devices from 2008, but you can bypass the activation screen using the steps below. I did this from a Macbook and had no issues with USB drivers, the HTC device was visible in the USB section of the System Information app (Linux and Windows may be more problematic).

With your device connected via an old USB mini cable check the device isn't recognised by your computer:

./adb devices

From any of the impassable initial screens hit the enter key then type the following then enter again, even though there's no on-screen feedback the device still takes the command:

setprop persist.service.adb.enable 1

Check the device is now visible to adb, type `adb devices` again from your computer and hopefully you'll see the device:

./adb devices

List of devices attached
HT92RKV01333	device

At this point you're still unable to get past the activation screen, but you can use adb to start the Launcher, first enter the device shell:

./adb shell

You should now have a $ prompt meaning you're in the device shell, type:

am start -n com.android.launcher/com.android.launcher.Launcher

Hopefully you're now in the Launcher, but you will need to do the last two steps each time you restart the device.

Troubleshooting

If the above didn't work try installing this earlier ROM first which definitely does (this is the method I used):

Wipe a Micro SDCard, format as FAT32 (listed as MS-DOS (FAT) in the MACOS Disk Utility)
Download the DREAIMG.nbh ROM and put it in the root of the SD Card:

DREAIMG.nbh

Put the SDCard in the HTC Dream
Start the device in bootload mode by holding side camera button down, then hold the power on button
Once the install completes restart (I took the battery out to do this), and follow the above steps again