Rooting HTC Inspire 4G/HTC Desire HD

The HTC Inspire 4G with its 4.3 inch touchscreen and 1.0 GHz processor is a fantastic device for daily use. On paper, the Inspire 4G is overshadowed by many dual-core devices, but once you have root access on this device, the possibilities are endless. My prime for rooting include sluggishness of the device, more than 10 apps installed by service provider AT&T, speakerphone not working (needs patch), inability of HTC to release ICS update.
Thanks to a rooting kit known as the Advanced Ace Hack Kit, HTC Inspire 4G owners will never have problems in rooting their phone again. Using this method will not only root your device but also SIM-Unlocks your phone as well as letting you gain S-OFF on your phone.
Features:

• COMPLETELY INTEGRATED/INVISIBLE GOLD CARD PROCESS
• Only ONE menu step
• No ROM downgrade required (only radio/kernel)
• No wiping data
• Rom is fully functional (yes, inc wifi)
• Fully rooted with insecure boot image (supports adb remount for rw system)
• Busybox manager app installed
• S-Off, superCid & carrier sim unlock
• Correct Radio is automagically restored for HSPA+ operation
• ClockworkMod Recovery and ROM Manager included
• Both stock Froyo and Gingerbread (pre Sense 3.0) supported
• Easy return to stock for AT&T, Telus and WWE CID HTC__001
• Much smaller download
• Much smaller firmware flash to obtain the exploit – comparatively very fast processing.

Warnings

Do not attempt this procedure on any other device other than the HTC Inspire 4G.  Using this procedure on a non-compatible phone can result in damage.
Certain builds of HTC Sense 3.0 will necessitate downgrading to earlier versions in order for the Advanced Ace Hack Kit to work.  Check the manual included in the package for the versions.  The Advanced Ace Hack Kit performs the downgrade automatically but, in the process, your phone data will be completely wiped; so, make sure you create backups of your important phone data including : messages, app data, phone book (sync with google contacts)

Requirements

• HTC Inspire 4G running stock ROM (not a custom ROM)
• A PC running Windows 7, Vista, XP, or XP Home
• If you have Droid Explorer, remove it.
• Remove HTC Sync.
• Remove your phone’s drivers from your computer if the drivers are installed.
• Remove any phone, PDA, or tablet management software on your computer.
• Back up your important phone data.
• Disable all system utilities such as antivirus and firewall programs before extracting the Advanced Ace Hack Kit.
• If you have any Apple program running in the background or as a service, stop it.
• Do not run any other program while the Hack Kit is running.

My idea : use Linux machine (I used my Ubuntu)

Instructions

1. Download the Advanced Ace Hack Kit from here or here (aahk-13012012.zip, md5sum: d04975c6d085419c7c15f6d1934f7852) and save it to your PC.
2. Extract the downloaded ZIP file and place the contents inside a single folder.
3. The package includes the HTC USB drivers for your phone.  Use the installer file inside the “toolswindrivers” subfolder located within the extraction folder to install the drivers.  You may need to reboot your computer after installing the drivers.
4. Enable USB Debugging on your phone. You can do this by heading to Settings > Applications > USB Debugging. Make sure that there is a check mark beside that option.
5. On your phone, go to Menu > Settings > Connect to PC and set the default mode to “Charge only.”
6. Connect your phone to your PC via USB cable in charge-only mode.  Use the USB port that is directly connected to the motherboard.  Do not use the USB port on the front panel.  Do not use a USB hub.  Do not use a USB extension cable.
7. Open the folder where you extracted the Hack Kit files to.  Depending on your Windows version, right-click on the script file and run it as Administrator (from the popup menu):
   • hack-ace.cmd — for Windows 7 or Windows Vista
   • hack-ace.cmd — for Windows XP (make sure you’re logged in as Administrator)
   • hack-ace-xph.cmd — for Windows XP Home (make sure to use an Administrator user account)
8. A command prompt window will open.  Type 1 to select “Hack Ace” and press the Enter key.
9. You will see text on the screen as the script performs the following:
   • Copy the needed files
   • Root the phone temporarily
   • Turn your SD card into a goldcard (required for setting S-OFF)
   • Activating S-OFF
   • Setting SuperCID
   • Unlocking the phone from network/carrier (SIM unlock)
   • Install ClockworkMod Recovery
   • Root the phone permanently
   • Install the Superuser app and binaries
10. During the whole process, your phone will reboot several times.  Do not touch the phone, turn it off, or unplug the phone while the script is still doing its job.

After Rooting

1. Plug your phone into the computer via USB cable.
2. Open a command prompt on your computer.
3. Change directory (using the cd command) to where you extracted the Advanced Ace Hack Kit package files.
4. Change directory to the “tools” folder (i.e., cd tools).
5. Change directory to the “win” folder (i.e., cd win).
6. Enter this command at the prompt:
   • adb reboot recovery
7. The command above will reboot the phone into ClockworkMod Recovery.
8. Reboot the phone into normal mode.
9. Enter this command at the prompt:
   • adb reboot bootloader
10. The command above will reboot the phone into fastboot mode.  The text at the top of the bootloader screen should show “S-OFF” and not “S-ON.”
11. Enter this command at the prompt:
    • fastboot reboot
12. Your phone will boot into normal mode.
13. On your phone, launch the BusyBox Installer app.  From within the app, install BusyBox.  The Superuser app will prompt you to grant the app root permission.  Allow it to.

Congratulations! You successfully rooted your HTC Inspire 4G with S-OFF and with ClockworkMod Recovery installed.