Owners of the HTC Desire Z are in for a treat as a new custom ROM known as ParanoidAndroid is coming to town. ParanoidAndroid is a custom ROM popular among several Android devices.  It is well-known for its tablet-based interface. XDA member NeverGone\RU has managed to port the ROM to the HTC Desire Z.

ParanoidAndroid is based on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The ROM is still a work in progress with some bugs that need to be weeded out. If you've always wanted to have a tablet-like interface on your HTC Desire Z, now’s your chance to do it.

In this guide, learn how to flash ParanoidAndroid custom ROM on the Desire Z.

Warning

• The instructions in this guide are intended for use with the HTC Desire Z. Applying these instructions on another device or model may produce undesired outcomes.
• The information in this guide is provided for instructional and educational purposes only. There is no guarantee that these instructions will work under your specific and unique circumstances.
• Use these instructions at your own risk. We shall not hold any responsibility or liability for whatever happens to you or your device arising from your use of the info in this guide.
• Read and understand the whole guide first before actually performing the instructions.

Requirements

• Rooted HTC Desire Z with ClockworkMod Recovery installed and must be running a CyanogenMod 9 based ROM.
• Download the following files and save them to your computer:
  • ParanoidAndroid ROM for HTC Desire Z (PARANOIDANDROID_v0_5_beta.zip, md5sum: 4017f65eb28130ab60c04d6a0c0d4126)
  • GApps (Google Apps) Package (gapps-ics-20120511-fixed.zip, md5sum: f40db4a757083a6eb93d15317319e1f5)
    • NOTE: Only use this GApps package. Other GApps packages are incompatible with this ROM.
• Backup all personal data on your phone to make sure you have a copy of your personal data (e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and the like) in case the procedure in this guide erases such data.
  • For backup tips, check our guides on how to sync your data to the cloud and how to create local backups of your mobile data.

Instructions

1. Copy the downloaded ZIP files to your phone’s SD card.
2. Switch off your phone.
3. Boot into ClockworkMod Recovery. You can do this by pressing and holding down the Volume Down and Power buttons until your phone boots into Bootloader Mode. Use the Volume Keys to highlight Recovery and select it using the Power button to boot into ClockworkMod Recovery.
4. Create a NANDroid Backup of your existing ROM so that you can always return to the default ROM if anything should not work out with this ROM. To perform a backup, select Backup and Restore, and on the screen that follows, select Backup again. Head back to the main recovery menu after backup is complete.
5. Select Wipe data/factory reset, then select Yes on the next screen to confirm data wipe.
6. Select Wipe cache partition and confirm the action on the next screen.
7. Go back to the main menu and select Advanced. From there, select Wipe Dalvik cache and confirm the action on the next screen.
8. Select Install ZIP from SD card.  Select Choose ZIP from SD card, then browse for the downloaded ROM file. Confirm the installation by selecting Yes on the screen that follows. It may take 5-10 minutes for your phone to finish the installation process.
9. After the ROM is finished installing, repeat step 8, but this time around choose the GApps package.
10. Head back to the main recovery menu by selecting Go back.
11. Reboot your phone by selecting Reboot system now. It may take a couple of minutes as this is the first time your phone will boot into Jelly Bean.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed the ParanoidAndroid custom ROM based on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on your HTC Desire Z.