How To: Install Android Gingerbread on the N900

I recently wrote a post regarding the possibility of installing Android Gingerbread on the Nokia N900. I’m pretty sure a lot of N900 users would want to have their devices running on Android. Well it’s time we make our wish come true.

I’ve written a fairly simple guide on the process. Just follow the steps and you’ll be soon booting Android on your N900.

Note: Make sure you copy all the codes correctly coz even a little mistake in a code can render it useless.

Guide to install Android on the Nokia N900

MicroSD Card

Firstly you will need a MicroSD card.

Enable all repositories

You will need to enable all the repositories from the App Manager (Extras-Testing, Extras-Devel, Extras)

Rootsh and Leafpad

Install rootsh and Leafpad from the App Manager.

Input the commands in x-terminal

Then open x-terminal and type the following:

root

apt-get update

apt-get install nitdroid-installer

y

y again if it asks again.

Wait for the package to be installed

Download Nitdroid

After that download Nitdroid Gingerbread and Nitdroid Kernel

Copy the downloaded file to “/home/user/MyDocs”

Open x-terminal

Next open x-terminal and type:

root

cd /home/user/MyDocs

bzip2 -d gingerbread.tar.bz2

cd /home

mkdir /and

cd /

mount /home /and

cd /and

tar xvf /home/user/MyDocs/gingerbread.tar

dpkg -i /home/user/MyDocs/nitdroid-kernel-2.6.28-06_final1_armel.deb

Edit in Leafpad

Once done, type “leafpad /etc/multiboot.d/11” and press tab on your screen and then press Enter to open it in Leafpad.

The .item file shall open. Search for ITEM_DEVICE and if you are using an MMC the edit it to “ITEM_DEVICE=${INT_CARD}p2” or if you do not have an MMC then it should look like “ITEM_DEVICE=mmcblk0p2”.

Download N900 Gingerbread updates

You can additionally install some Gingerbread updates too.

Download Codec Update and VOIP Update and save them in MyDocs.

Install Gingerbread updates

To install these update, type the following commands in x-terminal:

root

mount /home /and

cd /home/user/MyDocs

bzip2 -d gingerbread_update(x).tar.bz2

cd /and

tar xvf /home/user/MyDocs/gingerbread_update(x).tar

(Be sure to replace update(x) with ‘update1’ for installing the 1st update and ‘update2’ for 2nd update.)

That’s it. You’re done install Android Gingerbread on your N900. Slide open your keyboard and reboot your device. You’ll get two OS options at the startup screen. Select Nitdroid and enjoy the Gingerbread delight!