Reviving the Google Nexus One (HTC)

[Ben]

Just splashed out £14 on a genuine HTC battery for my Google Nexus One.

It ate its last battery; the battery life was so bad that I struggled to keep it charged, and eventually after hitting empty for the nth time I couldn't get it to come back to life. Hopefully a new battery will do the trick!

I have bad memories of this handset... but apparently it should update to 2.3.6, which I think some Android handsets still ship with?

Is anyone still using theirs?

[hecatae]

Motorola RAZR is only just updating to 2.3.6, should run well

[Ben]

Cool, lets hope so. May be no ICS but perhaps I'll at least get a taste of whether I can be sucked back into giving Android another try. The key apps should have matured somewhat since I last dipped my toe into the water.

[Wilt]

I actually quite miss my Nexus One, never quite 'gelled' with my Nexus S as much. The misplaced buttons and random trackball must have made it endearing.

It should still hold its own with 2.3.6, but might be a bit graphically challenged.

If you really want ICS I'm sure xda-dev will be able to help you out, but as I said the GPU might struggle.

[hecatae]

adreno 200 gpu drivers for ics are available, and I've seen a couple of good ics roms on xda for the One

[Ben]

Well, I've just unpacked the Nexus One (it was all back in the box as it came) and put the battery back in. Plugged it in just to see what'd happen and to my great surprise it powers up! Ah, my first-and-only Android has come back from the dead. Doubt it'd hold a charge for toffee but that doesn't matter with the new battery on the way.

As it was on the mains I did the update to 2.3.6 and then wiped it completely clean. Idea being that I can stick in the new battery when it arrives and then set it up as if brand new. Even with the One being a bit long in the tooth now I'm hoping that'll give me a positive (re)intro to Android.

I wasn't planning on installing ICS on the One, but maybe it'd be a good idea? I mean, the 3GS is running iOS 5.1 like a dream, so maybe it has a chance.

[hecatae]

2.3.6 is only what 6 months old, ics is a bit buggy at the moment on One and other QSD8250 chipsets with Adreno 200 graphics, Gingerbread is still being used by the majority of Android users.

If you want to see what an optimised rom can do to the device, I recommend CyanogenMOD http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Nexus_One

[Hands0n]

Yes, CM7 runs on the One like a dream.