my own HowTo root a HTC Magic


The road to a rooted HTC Magic (32B, Vodafone branded) was very long, but after more than 5 hours experimenting and a lot of reading through the web, I´m done :D Now my phone is running a clean and fast CyanogenMod 4.1.999 with all Google Apps :)
Now I want to share the instructions with you.

The whole process took less than 30 minutes (if you know how to do it ;)).


  1. Backup data:
  2. Copy music, pictures and all other things that are useful (like the database from Google Scoreboard, if you use it). Folders I backed up are:
    • com.google.android.apps.scoreboard (Google Scoreboard)
    • DCIM (pictures)
    • gpx, kml and maps (saved tracks from My Tracks)
    Maybe you also want to backup your music...
  3. Backup needed apps:
  4. While rooting your phone, ALL data will get deleted! All your apps are lost then. So it´s a good idea to write down which apps you use. You can also back them up by using ASTRO and restore them later.
  5. Backup settings:
  6. You don´t need to backup most settings, instead you´ll think about them after rooting and customize them. But one setting is really important to back up: APN-settings. Write down everything you see!
    CyanogenMod offers a huge built-in APN-list, but you should go the safe way and write them down yourself, in case CyanogenMod doesn´t recognize your APN-settings automatically.
  7. Download necessary files:
  8. Copy them on you sdcard (NOT IN SUBFOLDERS!, directly on the sdcard!)
Now let´s start rooting!
  1. Flash the recovery image:
    • Install Recovery Flasher on your phone
    • Start it
    • "Download Recovery Image" and wait...
    • "Backup Recovery Image" and wait...
    • "Flash Recovery Image" and wait...
    • "Reboot into Recovery Mode" and wait...
  2. Now you should see the recovery screen:
    • "wipe data/factory reset" and wait...
    • "apply any zip from sdcard" and select the one with ADP
    • press Home and wait...
    • "apply any zip from sdcard" and select the one with cm
    • press Home and wait...
    • Finished!! Reboot and enjoy the love of open source :P
My first impression of my "new" phone is very fast and cool :) I like it very much.