Manually updating Nexus One (for multitouch update)

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As an early adopter, I find it hard to wait for Google to pick me, to push out the Over the Air (OTA) update for the Nexus One.   I found a quick and easy way to update the phone, with some super simple steps.  I found these directions at http://mobile-news.tungtram.com/2010/02/why-wait-for-nexus-one-android-ota.html , and I think he originally found them at: Android Forums. I previously used a similair procedure to update my G1, with minimal risk, and success.

I have used these steps, and verified they work.

The process is quick an easy, just follow the directions.

  1. Grab the update from Google: here.
  2. Move the zip file to your sd card, and rename it: update.zip
  3. Boot your device (holding down the trackball and power button at the same time)
  4. Go to bootloader > recovery
  5. When you see the image of the droid with triangle, press the power button and volume up
  6. Select: Apply sdcard:update.zip
  7. Wowza, your phone should be updating
  8. Select Reboot
  9. Wait patiently, and you will be rewarded with multi-touch goodness (and hopefully a better 3G radio).

If something goes wrong, simply restart the phone (the normal way - don't do any of the special key presses) to restart your phone without the update.

Of course, if you are worried about this sort of thing, just wait for the OTA update to be pushed to you, which is less risky.