nV News Forums - How to root your HTC Hero phone

Here is are step by step instructions on how to root your HTC Hero phone.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=583291

Quote:

Step 1: Download the Android SDK from http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html The Windows file is called android-sdk_r4-windows.zip. Extract the files to your C: drive so that you now have the folder C:\android-sdk-windows

Step 2: Download the asroot2 exploit file from http://forum.xda-developers.com/atta...2&d=1257621154 Extract asroot2.zip to C:\android-sdk-windows\tools folder.

Step 3: Download the Hero recovery image from http://www.androidspin.com/downloads...roc-v1.5.2.img Place this file in C:\android-sdk-windows\tools as well.

Step 4: Make sure USB Debugging is off by going to Settings>Applications>Development. Now connect the phone to your PC via USB cable.

Step 5: Mount your sdcard; Browse to the HTC Sync folder and install HTC Sync on your pc. After it is done installing unmount the sdcard then enable your USB debugging.

Step 6: Open a command prompt by clicking the Start button and typing cmd into the search box and pressing enter or found under All Programs>Accessories.

Step 7: You will now enter a series of commands which I will place inside code boxes to indicate the entire command. You may copy and then paste them into the command prompt window by right clicking. Only enter one command at a time.

1: Code: cd C:\android-sdk-windows\tools

2: Code: adb devices

If you've been following this guide you will see your phone's serial number. If you get "device not found" error, you either need to make sure you the drivers were properly installed or make sure you enable USB debugging AFTER you connect the USB cable. Continue on once you get the proper phone serial output.

3: Code: adb push asroot2 /data/local/

4: Code: adb shell

5: Code: chmod 0755 /data/local/asroot2

6: Code: /data/local/asroot2 /system/bin/sh

You should see an output that says:

$ /data/local/asroot2 /system/bin/sh
[+] Using newer pope_inode_info layout
Opening: /proc/857/fd/3
SUCCESS: Enjoy the shell.
#

Now for a few last commands.

7: Code: mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system

8: Code: cd /system/bin

9: Code: cat sh > su

10: Code: chmod 4755 su

You are now officially rooted. A few more steps and you will have flashed the recovery image.

11: Code: exit

12: Code: exit

13: Code: adb push recovery-RA-heroc-v1.5.2.img /sdcard

Pushing is equivalent of copy the file to the root of your sdcard. By the time you finished reading this it should be done. You'll know its done because the ouput will say something like transferred X bytes in X secs.

14: Code: adb shell reboot

This will cause the phone to restart automatically. Wait till it is fully booted to continue.

15: Code: adb shell

16: Code: su

17: Code: cd /sdcard/

18: Code: flash_image recovery recovery-RA-heroc-v1.5.2.img

FLASHING TO THE RECOVERY TAKES SEVERAL SECONDS-- BE PATIENT. ENTER THE NEXT COMMAND ONLY AFTER THE COMMAND PROMPT RETURNS TO THE # (ROOT SYMBOL).

19: Code: reboot recovery

Step 8: This is the last command; you may now close the cmd prompt. This will cause your phone to boot into recovery mode; it should take no longer than 30 secs. The third option on the list is "- Backup/Restore"; select it. Now, select the first option "- Nand backup". The phone will prompt you to press HOME to confirm which is want you want to do. The backup will begin. You will see the screen say, "Performing backup : .........." When done, the bottom of the screen will say "Backup complete!" and you will be given the menu options again. Go back to the main menu and select reboot system. Rebooting your phone after installing the new recovery image may take several minutes.

Step 9: Once your phone is fully booted, mount the sdcard. You will see a folder called "nandroid"; I highly recommend you copy this to your pc in case you lose your sdcard data or reformat it. Your phone is rooted, 100% backed up, and ready to install a custom rom if you wish!

*EDIT*

I said android phone but this is specifically for the HTC Hero, but rooting other android phones is pretty similar. The forum on this link will all the information you need to root your specific model android phone.