Just like Google's popular Analytics program, it appears that the statistics for publishers in the Android Market are fuzzed as well. After about 8 hours of having my app in the marketplace, and having 5 independently confirmed users install and run the application, including myself, the statistics shown in the store are as follows:

It reports 3 total installs, and 4 net installs. This doesn't make any sense. These statistics mean that 3 people have ever installed my application, but 4 installs remain in production?

Looking depeer into the devices and versions of the users as reported by the control panel also shows some strange data. First of all, none of my devices shown up in the devices list. This is odd, because I was one of the first to download it. Second of all, despite having 4 equal chunks in the pie charts, the numeric breakdowns don't show 50% of my traffic.

These types of errors are common for Google, which processes trillions of petabytes per day. The only thing developers can do is hope that the data is correct and complete, with no additional information or assurances from Google. Google did a great job of Real Time search for Google Analytics. This offering provides up-to-the-second updates regarding visitors to the site. This leads me to trust their data. Google could do several things to improve the reliability of their data.

• Show real time data for statistics
• State assumptions, such as time updated
• State when you are excluding data, such as installs by the owner

You should Download HexSLayer now!

History

I released a linux .deb on hexslayer.com about a year ago, but I haven't really tried promoting it or talking to anyone about it, due to the small market share of desktop linux. Hopefully now with this Android release, I'll actually get a few users, some feedback, and hopefully make a great game.

I built HexSLayer for Android by originally writing the game in Python using Pygame. About a month ago I noticed that they had released a tool called Pygame subset for Android that allows you to add a few minor calls in your game, and then you can package and deploy Android apps. There were a few headaches, such as an issue with the package that made me learn how to build android applications with Ant, but the game is playable on all of the devices I have tested it with.

Current Release

There are a few remaining issues, that seem to be limitations of using Pygame subset for Android. Among these are the inability to determine the screen size in-game. Additionally, it seems like the splash screen doesn't work on 100% of the devices I have tested it with. Overall, I'm not sure how happy I am cross-compiling from Python into Android using Pygame and the NDK, but it's pretty cool to be able to do almost no work and deploy on a great big new platform.

I didn't have to do much work to get it running, but I spent a lot of time focusing on usability on the new platform. I resized and moved everything on the screen so that it is relative to the screen size. I increased the size of the icons while you are dragging them, as a finger blocks the view of a small icon. The game works well on phones, but it works really great on tablets.

With hundreds of millions of Google accounts in existence, and reliance upon Google accounts for your personal life, your business life, your cell phone, your calendar, your documents, etc, you should absolutely consider the security of your Google Account. The easiest way to do this is a strong password. Unfortunately, strong passwords can still be broken by dedicated or interested individuals or groups. One thing you can do to greatly increase the security of your Google account is to add Two-factor authentication. With 2-factor authentication, it is extremely difficult for anonymous remote entities to break into your account.

What is Two factor authentication?

Historically, Two factor authentication relied on a small piece of hardware they would ship to you. This was great from a security perspective, but was not convenient and was not mobile. Google (as well as other such as Blizzard) have begun to allow 2 factor authentication using Smartphones. This enables you to combine something you know (your password), with something you almost always have with you (your smartphone) to achieve better account security.

Setting up Two Factor Authentication on your Google Account

There are about 8 easy steps you can follow to quickly get 2 Factor Authentication working with any smart phone.

1. Log into Gmail and Click on the drop down next to your email address in the upper right hand corner.
2. Click on "Account Settings".
3. Under the Security section, select "Using 2-step verification".
4. Click on "Start setup" from the right side of the screen.
5. Create a backup method by entering a phone number to text or call.
6. Click on "Turn on 2 Step Verification".
7. Decide what smartphone you wish to use to generate codes, and select it from the list at the top. Follow the instructions for your phone.
8. Create application-specific passwords for your mobile devices and special applications, like Google Music.

What to expect

Overall, you should have confidence in the security of your account, but at the same time you should expect the nuisance of needing to run an application on your phone every 30 days, and every time you want to access your account from a new computer. Additionally, some rare applications (such as Google Music for Linux), are not written well, and won't save passwords. This means that any time you want to run that application, you need to log in and generate a new Application-specific password for it.

Google will also create some backup codes for you, I have them stored securely on one of my servers that I can access via SSH. This is in case you lose your phone at any point, you don't lose complete access to your account.

Make sure you delete unused Application Specific passwords, and enjoy the additional peace of mind and security that 2 Factor Authentication provides!

Last week I purchased a new Samsung Galaxy S II. After a week of usage of the stock ROM and root-less capabilities, I was finally ready to root my device. The process for the Galaxy S II is pretty straightforward still. Unfortunately this install requires a Windows machine. At the same time, it has been the most error-free install I've seen to date. The process involves flashing the new recovery using Odin, then using ClockworkMod to install SU.

Most of the instructions from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1311194 work great. All of the files that you will need are there. The only additional step that I had to take was after rebooting my phone with the USB cord plugged in, the Phone asked me if I was willing to install custom software. I had to press volume up to agree to install custom software. After that, Odin proceeded perfectly. I was then able to boot into ClockworkMod, take a Nandroid backup (After I installed an required SD card), and install the SU zip file.

The primary audience for this article is those who already have a working Android development environment, and are looking to get the latest and greatest from Google running in the emulator. Unfortunately, for me, the default emulator settings that ship with Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) do not enable me to actually run an emulated instance of the application.

Fix the Ice Cream Sandwich Settings

To make everything work, I updated eclipse to the latest AVD and SDK versions using both the Eclipse updater, and the new SDK manager. Then I downloaded API Version 14 of the SDK, platform, etc. I opened the new AVD manager and created a new AVD targeting ICS.

The default properties of Max VM application heap size of 24 and Device ram size of 512 resulted in build errors for me. I increased these properties and the machine booted like a charm (albeit extremely slowly).

I increased the Max VM application heap size to 64 and the Device ram size to 1500. You may be able to get away with less, I haven't tried it. Make sure you have plenty of unused RAM before you attempt to increase the RAM available to the AVD.

That was it for me to get it working. Have fun and build some great applications!

Some of us live on the edge. We sacrifice stability to be on the bleeding edge of technology, experiencing new features immediately as they are added. Here are my top 5 pieces of software that are generally safe to update on a daily basis.

Chromium

For the past 60 days I have been experimenting with using a Galaxy Tab as my tablet computer. I bring it with me to work, I take it home with me at night. I carry it in a padfolio to meetings. This review is specific to the Galaxy Tab, but any Android tablet running Honeycomb should enable the same workflow and applications.

Galaxy Tab Applications

I have installed numerous applications in a continuing quest to find the best-of-breed applications that are fun, engaging, productive, etc. After two months, the following are the applications that I find myself using all of the time.

1. Thumbs - Thumbs is the best tablet keyboard I have found. It allows you to hold the device by the corners and use your thumbs to type. On phones I prefer Swiftkey, but for some reason the tablet-optimized version doesn't live up to the same level of accuracy.
2. Gmail - Most of the time I use the tablet, I am reading emails, labeling and archiving email, replying, and occasionally composing emails.
3. Calendar - The calendar app on the Galaxy Tab is quite good. It's easy to view multiple calendars, as well as to create calendar tasks.
4. Camera - It feels a little silly at first to take pictures with the device, but once you get past the stigma, it definitely meets the needs of a basic phone camera. At only 3MP on the rear camera, the picture quality isn't great.
5. Gallery - The real value of the device is in being able to review the photos you take, and the photos from your Google Photos album.
6. Google+ - Google Plus is not very well tablet optimized, but it grants access to the standard Google+ experience. More importantly, this application allows you to automatically synchronize your photos with your device.
7. Evernote - Evernote is a great application for syncing text, recording, and audio. It's tablet version is extremely well optimized. The presentation of the past notes is excellent, and all of the functionality of Evernote is exposed.
8. YouTube - The YouTube application on the tablet is arguably better than the web interface. The application uses RenderScript and a Carousel view to present video thumbnails. The YouTube application makes it easy to flip through videos, and watch or fullscreen videos.
9. Games - I won't list all of the games I have played, but several fun games work extremely well on the tablet.
   • Nano Panda
   • Plants vs. Zombies
   • Dungeon Defenders
   • Angry Birds
   • Tank Hero
   • Gun Bros
   • Blast Monkey

Galaxy Tab Workflow

There are several important places where the tablet has fully entered my workflow. When I attend a meeting, I launch Evernote, begin taking notes, and press the record button at the bottom. This allows me to have a full audio recording of meetings, in addition to my manually typed notes.

The second place that the tab makes a lot of sense if for photo sharing. I take a lot of photos that are automatically synced to the cloud via Google Photos (formally Picasa). Sharing these photos with friends is very natural via the gallery application compared to huddling around a desktop.

Often when I have spare time, or am away from my desk, I'm able to sit on the tablet and read and respond to emails. It feels very natural to do so in spare moments.

The Galaxy Tab works better than the three other tablets I have tried (Iconia, Xoom, and Transformer) because of its size, solid construction. Despite it's lack of dedicated HDMI port or dedicated charging port, it's a very good tablet. It hasn't found a permanent place in my life yet, and there is a lot of overlap with what I want to do with Laptops and Desktops. Despite this, I have definitely found use for it.

Recently a preview release of Google TV for the Logitech Revue was released. This preview has some exciting components. This release is based on Android 3.1 and includes the Android Market. This preview leak isn't a hacked version, and doesn't require root or any customization to work. Simply download and unzip the package, place it on the root of a flash drive and restart the Google TV, it will automatically update your device.

Overall, the only improvement provided by the update is that it will allow you to preview the upcoming release. There are many downsides and I recommend you Don't download and install it as there is currently no stable release, and no way to downgrade your device.

You will be able to browse the internet, and see the new new settings. Beyond that, NOTHING works.

In May at GoogleIO, Google announced that it would begin supporting multiple .APK files, and finally this feature has come to fruition. To get started using this new feature, visit the Android Developer Console and click on your application. At the top of the application information you will notice that the upload .apk feature is now gone. It has been moved to a new tab at the top of the window, "APK files".

Using the Multiple APK Tool

Each of the .apk files that you upload to the Android Developer Console are examined. The system looks at the MinSDK version and the Target SDK version. The new features allow publishers to maintain multiple .apk files that target different screen versions, different version numbers, and OpenGL support. This is simultaneously a boon, and a potential disaster. It should decrease the difficulty of maintaining code that targets and supports different feature sets, but at the same time it supports the further fragmentation and differentiation of different Android devices. In an ideal world, the platform would be standardized in such a way that multiple versions wouldn't be necessary. In the practical world, Google continues to update and improve the API and platform. They break backward compatibility, and come up with new and better ways of performing software development and achieve better user interactions. This means that multiple .apk files will end up supporting the practical fragmentation of the platform.

One of the best ways to leverage these new abilities will be to fork applications at major points in platform revisioning. For example, it will soon make sense to have 3 different APKs, depending on how much historic support is desired. The first group would be platform versions 1.5 - 2.1. The second group would be 2.2-3.2. The final group would be the new Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 platform version.

With every Android Software Development Kit installation, there are several key steps. The following steps will describe my recommendations regarding installation of Android SDK under Linux, and they assume that you will be integrating Android into Eclipse. The last, and most unique step is to add the Android tools to your PATH. This will enable you to run adb and other android tools more easily from the command line. It also makes it easier to use those tools with privilege escalation, such as sudo.

Recommended Android SDK Steps

1. Download the SDK from developer.android.com. Unarchive the tar.gz into /opt/ as /opt/android-sdk/.
2. Install the Eclipse Tool (ADT) - Under Help in Eclipse, click on Install New Software. Add the following as a new site, and give it whatever name you wish: https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/.
3. Configure Eclipse with SDK - Under Window->Preferences->Android, enter the SDK location, or /opt/android-sdk/ and hit OK.
4. Add Android Tools to your PATH - Under Ubuntu, one of the best ways to add something to your PATH is to edit your ~/.bash_profile file. The line in my profile looks as follows:

This file is applied any time a terminal is loaded. This will take the users existing PATH established by other system settings, and add the Android platform tools to it, and then export the variable to apply the change.

After the Android SDK is in your PATH

Because of the Linux permission system, adb often needs to be killed and restarted using root permissions so that your computer can access the USB device. I often pop open a terminal and kill and start the ADB service.

There are many difficulties that come with attempting to root a phone. As time has progressed and the Android platform as a whole has matured, several new techniques have arisen that allow easier rooting of phones. Here are three of the great ways different phones can be rooted using some of the latest tools.

GingerBreak

GingerBreak found on XDA, is a very simple tool for gaining root access. It works very well with the Motorola Droid X2. GingerBreak is a single apk file that when downloaded and run, it uses an exploit present on many devices to remount the internal system memory, write root capabilities, and install a superuser apk file. This root attempt is extremely interesting because it requires no manual reboots, and works with a single apk file downloadable from the internet.

SuperOneClick

SuperOneClick is a Windows focused tool that roots most phone types. Simply put the Android device into debugging mode, connect the device via USB to the computer, and run SuperOneClick. The tool will automatically attempt to install and run the appropriate exploit, as well as install the needed root capabilities and packages.

I have successfully used SuperOneClick with the Galaxy S - Vibrant, as well as with the Galaxy Tab (7 inch version), and the Motorola Xoom tablet.

Cmenard's OverStock kernel

The OverStock kernel is a good tool that works for several phones, including the Galaxy S - Vibrant. This is actually the method recommended by the CyanogenMod team for the Vibrant. The kernel allows the user to continue using the existing ROM, but replaces the Kernel and system features with a version that includes root capabilities for the user. One of the benefits of this method, is that it does not seem to violate the Android security model, as it can only be used with the appropriate desktop software, and by starting the phone into download mode. The software is open source, and is maintained on Github, making the Heimdall project very centralized and well managed.

Summary and Concerns

Despite the ease of use of all of these solutions, the first two rely on security exploits in the Android operating system. This is a huge concern for me because although it makes rooting and flashing very easy, it violates the qualities that should be in place for good security. If GingerBreak works to root the device in the way we want it to, this means that any malicious app could use the same exploit to hurt the user's system. A malicious app could be uploaded to the market containing the same exploit, and install a monitoring system, or hurt the rest of the system. I have not yet been exposed to, or heard about any malicious uses of these exploits, but the fact that it's possible makes it very probable that it will happen in the future.

In the future, we need to find a way to root and flash more phones that doesn't violate the security model, but still allows the user to take full control of their Android phone, and their operating system.

One of the things the Froyo update did to the Samsung Galaxy S, Vibrant model, was not only to remove any rooting that was done (which can be overcome with superoneclick), but also to install a new recovery image that only allows signed updates. This means that even if you successfully root your device, by default you will be unable to install a custom recovery image, which would be necessary to backup your system, or to install a custom rom.

Fortunately, the intelligent people over at XDA have found a solution. The solution involves replacing the existing recovery binary with a modified version of the Android 3e recovery image that allows unsigned binaries. This is not a trivial task, so make sure you have a backup and are familiar with ADB, as I am not responsible for bricks.

1. Download the new Recovery Binary. This is the binary we will be replacing on your system.
2. Make sure you have a good adb connection to your phone. For me, this means running sudo su to become root, then running adb kill-server and adb start-server. I also typically run adb devices to get a list of the phones connected, and to ensure my phone is there.
3. Load recovery onto your device using normal USB file transfer.
4. This step would be easier on windows because the people over on XDA have packaged a windows .bat file that runs these commands in a nice little tool, but as I run linux, I had to open the file and translate the commands. Fortunately they weren't as tricky as I feared. Run the following:

At this point I had to approve SU access using the phone's interface.

You can also delete this file, but I always like to play it safe. The next step would be a simple move, but for some reason I get an error failed on 'recovery' - Cross-device link when I try to move the file directly. Instead, I do a copy/movefrom the sd card.

Now you can quit adb shell by typing quit or pressing CTRL+d

Upon reboot, the updated recovery was loaded and seemed to work fine, so I booted into the system, and used RomManager's ClockworkMod Recovery image flasher. Once it had downloaded and written the appropriate update.zip to the filesystem, I rebooted into the updated 3e recovery, clicked on reinstall packages twice, and I was looking at ClockworkMod's Recovery image. From there I could make backups / flash roms / etc. Rebooting in the future also always returned me to the correct ClockworkMod recovery image.

This morning I watched Google IO and learned several important details about android development that are not readily transparent as one begins developping Android applications. Fortunately, these items are extremely easy to address, and with a few minor changes, the usability and quality of your applications will drastically improve. I loved the presentations given during Google IO, and I could watch days of these sorts of tips, as Android development is a vast and expansive topic.

Tip 1: Specify TextType

This tip has to do with any EditText objects that you include in your application. When building android applications with text fields, you should inform the platform what the intent of the edit text is. You can do this in one of two ways. First is by editing the layout used by your application. Here is an example layout that includes an EditText that has been specified as a URL. This will ensure that the keyboard, whenever possible, shows the most appropriate keys for URL entry.

Use the code as follows:

The second menu is to set the setting via the UI.

Tip 2: Specify Audio Stream Control

This one is a quick fix. By default in Android the audio hard buttons control whatever audio is most foreground. This means that if you have audio playing, it will control that audio, otherwise it will default to the ringer. This one is easy to fix by calling the following code in your OnCreate:

Tip 3: Specify Target SDK Version

The final tip is something that I most likely missed as part of Android Development 101. By default, your application will not specify a minimum or target SDK. Not specifying a target SDK version means that the Android platform will assume your application uses the lowest SDK version, or uses the minimum SDK version that you specified. This is becoming more important starting with Honeycomb, because Honeycomb uses the Target SDK version for choosing some of the visual elements to show. The example that lead to my discovery of this was the menu icon. If you target the wrong SDK version, the menu icon will be shown, regardless of if you have a menu or not.

Fix it by specifying the correct versions. For me at the time of writing, they are as follows:

I was extremely frustrated by the fact that installing Froyo on my Samsung Galaxy S (Vibrant) removed the root of my system. Unfortunately when I did the install, it also broke compatiblity with the existing rooting tools. The good news is that there is a new way to root your Vibrant with Froyo using a tool called SuperOneClick.

SuperOneClick

SuperOneClick is a tool that leverages .NET, so you will need a good Mono install if you are on Linux. I actually recommend borrowing a Windows machine for a smoother experience in rooting your device. SuperOneClick was developped by the XDA Community. It may trigger virus scanners because technically it includes a "fork bomb" designed to hack into Android devices, and I make no warranties that someone hasn't done something malicious, but at the very least, this piece of software successfully rooted my device.

Root your Phone

The following steps should quickly re-root your phone. This works with many different Android devices, and it was the first tool I have found to root The Samsung Galaxy S after the Froyo update.

1. Download SuperOneClick 1.9.1 (there may be newer versions since posting, see XDA).
2. Unzip the archive and run the application.
3. Connect your phone and make sure Debug is On. You can change this in the settings.
4. Click on "Root" in SuperOneClick
5. You are done!

What to do with Root

Besides installing a custom rom (of which there are no good ones yet for the Samsung Vibrant), I typically recommend you install Titanium Backup, it will backup all of your applications and data. This even includes System applications, which is amazing because there is no other way to backup or migrate that data.

It's been over 6 months since Froyo was released, but for Vibrant owners, this has been a very frustrating time.

If you want Froyo for your vibrant, you can download the update software, but it will require Windows.

In order to get the update to work on your phone, or if you are having any issues, go into Settings->Applications->USB Settings and select "Samsung Kies". You will then need to return to the home screen, and turn off the phone before plugging your phone into the computer via USB. As an additional note, you will need to disable any custom home screens, and return to Samsung's launcher.

The update has several problems, such as the fact that the download from the internet and the download to your phone are a single transaction. This means that if you stop in the middle of your Vibrant Froyo update, your phone will have to re-download the entire update via Kies Mini. It's still ridiculous that there is no OTA update, and that you HAVE TO HAVE A WINDOWS COMPUTER to update your phone, but this is the ridiculous proprietary world we live in. We will have to deal with it at least until CyanogenMod is available for the Samsung Galaxy S vibrant.

Another important note is that this update will remove any rooting you have done. Rooting will in theory be possible again, but I have not yet found information or instructions on that.

The biggest shift currently occurring in the software development world is the shift towards application stores and marketplaces. Everyone knows that mobile is currently the new frontier in computing, and we are rapidly moving towards a world where mobile smartphones/tablets outnumber desktop computers. Portable devices will be what everyone is using for everything in 10 years (I believe they will also have the modularity to take on desktop-like qualities when at a "base station" for additional power and bandwidth, but that's a separate thought). This means that the trends and occurrences in mobile will matter greatly, not only on their own, but I also believe these trends are going to make their way back to the desktop and recombine and continue to grow and evolve.

Prediction One: Chrome Web Store supports Android

In short, this means that all of the web applications currently in the chrome web store will become available on Android. This would mean that a company (Flixster for example) could develop an application using HTML that works on desktop computers as well as on mobile. Users could then visit this "application" or website using their computer, or they could install it on the Android phone, and the application would get instant access to location-awareness, notification support, and local storage.

I see these applications being integrated into the Android Marketplace, and users are going to be able to less and less tell the difference between an android application (written in Java using the Android SDK and libraries), and a web application (written in HTML using whatever technology desired, but necessarily using Javascript).

Timing

Google will need to make this move quickly to secure their position as Mobile leader, so I see them announcing this technology at Google IO 2011, which should be happening in May. If they can launch this technology, and quickly follow up with Android 3.0 with full support, this technology should be widespread by 2012. The biggest problem Google and Android are running into is an inability to get manufacturers and carriers to release newer versions of the Android operating system quickly enough. This is evidenced by my phone (which is arguably one of the most advanced Android hardware sets), the Samsung Vibrant, is still only running Android 2.1 (Eclair).

Prediction Two: Windows Live Marketplace for Desktop

In general, Microsoft is great at identifying good technologies, and attempting to recreate them as Microsoft technologies. Microsoft's only entrant into the app store world is currently for their Windows Phone 7, but this will change as the shift to app stores continues. Unix/Linux users have long benefited from a central repository of software (apt repostiories for Debian / Ubuntu, Portage for FreeBSD / Gentoo, yast for Red Hat, pacman for Arch, etc); Microsoft is going to want to capitalize on the capabilities and benefits of these types of systems

Timing

I see them launching this at some point in late 2011 or 2012, probably coinciding with the next version of Windows, whenever that is finally released. Microsoft is slow to catch on to trends like this, but that's something they are always looking to improve and expedite, so we will see how quickly they can capitalize on this idea.

My first experience with the phone has been awesome. The phone is much lighter than my G1 (and is even favorable to even my car key), it's faster, it's stable (although I haven't been able to root or replace the ROM on it yet, hee hee), and the screen is much better. I was definitely afraid of giving up a hardware keyboard, but with Swype, it's very easy to use. I'll post a full video review at some point, but for now I need to get back to playing with my phone.

While you wait, here's a picture I took from the phone on the 5MP camera:

The title of this article is correct, I believe I just upgraded my G1 from Android 2.2 to Android 2.1. Over a week ago now, I had upgraded to CyanogenMod 6.0 RC1, and every day it seemed to slow down a little, and get a little less reliable. Sending messages, launching the phone, or checking settings would sometimes lock the device up for 10-20 minutes, and other times it would reboot the entire phone.

I flashed the CM 5.0.8 image, wiped, and flashed the image again and my phone came back with all of my settings, applications (I was previously using Apps2SD, which doesn't yet work in CM6), and my phone responds about 30 times faster than the G1 on Froyo.

Although I love the idea of CM6 and Froyo on the G1, for me the device was much too slow and lacked stability to continue using it. I'll switch back when the following criteria have been met:

1. Android Marketplace background threads don't crash
2. Settings/Phone/Messaging/Home Screen don't take 20-360 seconds to load
3. Flash is available for the browser
4. Apps2SD works again as an option for storing applications on the SD card

Until then, I'm back on CM 5.0.8 and happier than I could have imagined.

After finally getting CyanogenMod 6.0 RC1 to work on my phone (Hurray for Froyo!), I felt like getting a little dangerous and checking out the ROM Manager, and updating my Recovery partition from the very old JesusFreke version. The problem was that running the "Install ClockworkMod Recovery" tool reported sucesss, but when restarting my phone, neither the recovery partition, nor normal boot worked.

I have learned a lot about my phone while fixing this, and below are the steps to resolve this and get a working Recovery partition. I believe the entire issue is caused by a lack of memory on the G1 when running CM6.0 that results in the Recovery partition install failing, while still reporting success. I'm going to assume you have the Danger SPL because this is required to get G1 working at all with CM 6.0.

Steps to fix

1. Pull the battery or start your phone from the "off" position
2. Let your phone charge for around 20 minutes (or ensure you have at least that much battery power)
3. Hold the back button and press power - The phone should enter "fastboot" mode, which actually comes from your phone's SPL.
4. Press the button associated with "Reset", which is also called "Send' or the "Call button".
5. Reboot your phone - You should now be able to get back into your main CM 6.0 install.
6. Turn off the phone again
7. Hold the back button and press power again - The phone should again enter "fastboot" mode.
8. Plug in a USB cable to your computer
9. Download fastboot from http://developer.htc.com/adp.html
10. Download the Recovery Image you want (For me this was RA-dream-v1.7.0.img, but check the bottom of this forum post to make sure you have the most recent version.
11. Run fastboot flash recovery (On linux this was sudo ./fastboot flash recovery ~/recovery-RA-dream-v1.7.0.img) - This uses your "fastboot" mode phone that has plenty of memory to write the new recovery image properly.
12. Reboot (sudo ./fastboot reboot works in linux)
13. Reboot or power on while holding "Home", and you should boot into your recovery partition.
14. Everything should work at this point, your SPL which you didn't touch, your recovery partition which you overwrote, and your main partition which you reset into a working state. Congratulations!

Still having issues?

Leave a comment and hopefully I or someone else can help you.

This weekend I updated my phone from CyanogenMod 5.0.8 to CyanogenMod 6.0 RC1. This is a great improvement that has improved the stability, speed, and visual appeal of my phone. Despite some ongoing issues with the market, my phone is in the best state it has ever been in.

Since things were going so well, I decided to try using the ROM Manager included in the release. The ROM Manager has a built in tool to install the ClockworkMod Recovery image. A couple of taps later and my device reported that the ROM Manager was installed. I attempted to reboot my phone and was left with a persistant "G1" message that would never go away. This occurred regardless of whether I attempted to boot normally or into Recovery Mode. Thinking my phone was permanently bricked scared me a lot.

The "fix" (although I still have no Recovery Image) was to hold the camera button when booting the phone, and then tell what I believe was Danger SPL to reset my phone. This was a very scary menu option, but thinking my phone was bricked meant I had nothing to lose. After pressing the reset button and restarting my phone, it booted fine back into CM 6.0 RC1, with all of my data, apps, and settings still in place.

End Result

In the end, I am running Froyo (Android 2.2) on my G1, and I'm pretty happy with it. The market crashes and I can't install some apps that started downloaded but never finished. I have no recovery image, my phone is still slower than I would like it to be (Not CyanogenMod or Froyo's fault), and voice text entry doesn't work. On the other hand the Gallery application now has 3D presentation of my photos and videos (including those stored on my device, but not taken from my device); it is reasonably fast too.

I'm waiting to see if any of these items are improved or fixed in the next release, as always.