Rooting and Installing ROMs on The Huawei IDEOS U8150

In a previous blog post, I reviewed the Huawei IDEOS U8150 based on my interaction with the device, satisfaction, quality assessment and the total android experience.

Special thanks to all those who sent me emails enquiring about the rooting procedure which I had earlier stated that I don’t recommend.

Tired of the default IDEOS ROM? Why not tinker with your device? Root your phone!

What are the advantages of rooting your IDEOS? Many. After rooting you are able to take full control of your beloved device. You can install a wide selection of custom ROMs that have been tweaked and specifically made available for the Huawei U8150 IDEOS. There’s Dronix, FusionIDEOS and of course Gingerman made by the big boys, CyanogenMOD. I am aware that there also exists Gingerbreak although I am yet to test it. There are various versions of Gingerman from CyanogenMOD and you can find them on the Cyanogen website(for other phones NOT the IDEOS) or on the Ideos Developer’s Team blog. For FusionIDEOS, I recommend version 2.7.4. Of course CyanogenMOD have already released CyanogenMOD version 7(already with different updates hence sub-versions. A nightly is also availble) but I recommend version 6.5 of Gingerman.
Myself I first installed version 6.1 of Gingerman. Today I am running v6.5.
*For Kenyan users of the Huawei U8150 IDEOS, Gingerman v6.5 or v6.1 may work without any hitches. However if your device fails to boot after installing either of the Gingerman versions, download the Gingerman Multitouch zip for the particular Gingerman version you have already installed. Install it and it should run without any hitches.

NB: Remember to backup your existing ROM before installing a new ROM, just in case things don’t go as expected. Also ensure your device has enough battery charge as the entire ROM installation process consumes alot of power.

Note: You can only install custom ROMs after rooting your device. So root your IDEOS first.

WARNING: Upon installation of the various Gingerman Versions, your device sound system may not be okay. also the FM radio may not work. I will not be responsible if your device malfunctions.

A friend has published a very informative post on his blog. Check it out for a comprehensive step by step guide on how to go about the rooting process.

All the best with your rooting and migration to Android OS 2.3.4 Gingerbread.

I’ll be posting screenshots of my rooted device running Gingerbread 2.3.4 later. Watch out for them.

THIS IS JUST AN OVERVIEW. THE COMPLETE PROCESS IS LONG.

**UPDATE**

I have written comprehensive blogposts on rooting and also documented the whole process of upgrading the Huawei U8150 IDEOS to Gingerbread. Follow the links.